Navigation spiritualiz'd: or, A new compass for seamen consisting of XXXII points of pleasant observations, profitable applications, and serious reflections: all concluded with so many spiritual poems. Whereunto is now added, I. A sober consideration of the sin of drunkenness. II. The harlots face in the Scripture-glass. III. The art of preserving the fruit of the lips. IV. The resurrection of buried mercies and promises. V. The sea-mans catechism. Being an essay toward their much desir'd reformation from the horrible and destable [sic] sins of drunkenness, swearing, uncleanness, forgetfulness of mercies, violation of promises, and atheistical contempt of death. Fit to be seriously recommmended to their profane relations, whether sea-men or others, by all such as unfeignedly desire their eternal welfare. By John Flavel, minister of the Gospel. Flavel, John, 1630?-1691. 1698 Approx. 405 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 114 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-11 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A39673 Wing F1173 ESTC R216243 99827983 99827983 32409 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A39673) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 32409) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1925:15) Navigation spiritualiz'd: or, A new compass for seamen consisting of XXXII points of pleasant observations, profitable applications, and serious reflections: all concluded with so many spiritual poems. Whereunto is now added, I. A sober consideration of the sin of drunkenness. II. The harlots face in the Scripture-glass. III. The art of preserving the fruit of the lips. IV. The resurrection of buried mercies and promises. V. The sea-mans catechism. Being an essay toward their much desir'd reformation from the horrible and destable [sic] sins of drunkenness, swearing, uncleanness, forgetfulness of mercies, violation of promises, and atheistical contempt of death. Fit to be seriously recommmended to their profane relations, whether sea-men or others, by all such as unfeignedly desire their eternal welfare. By John Flavel, minister of the Gospel. Flavel, John, 1630?-1691. The fourth edition. [24], 118, [2], 80 p. : ill. printed for M. Fabian in Mercers Chappel at the lower end of Cheapside, London : 1698. An edition of "Navigation Spiritualized", first published in 1677. Title words "pleasant .. reflections:" are set in three lines, joined at left by a brace. Frontispiece is a typeset poem, the words framed and intersected by printers' rules in the form of a St. Andrews cross. Imprimatur at foot of A5r reads: Geo. Stradling, S.T.P. Rev. in Christo Pat. D. Gilb. Archiepisc. Cant. a Sac. Domest. Ex Æd. Lamb. Dec. 14. 1663. The "essay toward their much desir'd reformation" has separate pagination and a separate title page which reads: A pathetical and serious disswasive from the horrid and detestable sins of drunkenness, swearing, uncleanness forgetfulness of mercies, vioation of promises; and atheistical contempt of death. Applied by way of caution to sea-men, and now added as an appendix to their New compass. ..; there is no edition statement; imprint is dated 1698 and reads in part: Printed by Tho. Parkust [sic] and M. Fabian; register is continuous. 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Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Spiritual life -- Anglican authors -- Early works to 1800. Spiritual healing -- England -- Early works to 1800. Sailors -- Religious life -- England -- Early works to 1800. 2002-11 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-01 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-02 Emma (Leeson) Huber Sampled and proofread 2003-05 Aptara Rekeyed and resubmitted 2003-09 Emma (Leeson) Huber Sampled and proofread 2003-09 Emma (Leeson) Huber Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-10 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion Navigation Spiritualiz'd : OR , A NEW COMPASS FOR SEAMEN Consisting of XXXII Points Of Pleasant OBSERVATIONS , Profitable APPLICATIONS , and Serious REFLECTIONS : All concluded with so many Spiritual Poems . Whereunto is now Added , I. A Sober Consideration of the Sin of Drunkenness . II. The Harlot's Face in the Scripture-Glass . III. The Art of Preserving the Fruit of the Lips. IV. The Resurrection of Buried Mercies and Promises . V. The Sea-man's Catechism . Being an Essay toward their much de●●●d Reformation from the Horrible and Destable Sins of Drunkenness , Swearing , Vncleanness . Forgetfulness of Mercies , Violation of Promises , and Atheistical Contempt of Death . Fit to be seriously Recommended to their Profane Relations , whether Sea-men or Others , by all such as Unfeignedly desire their Eternal Welfare . And they said , Come , let us cast Lots , that we may know for whose [ cause ] this evil is come upon us , Jonah 1. 7. Knowing therefore the terrours of the LORD , we perswade Men , 2 Cor. 5. 11. By Iohn Flavel , Minister of the Gospel . The Fourth Edition . London , Printed for M. Fabian in Mercers Chappel at the lower end of Cheapside , 1698. What good might Seaman get if once they were But heavenly 〈◊〉 ? if they could but steer Th● Christ●●s course , the Soul might then enjoy Sweet Peace , they might like Seas or-flow with Joy. Were God our All , how would our Comforts double Upon us ! thus the Seas of all our trouble Would be divinely sweet Men should endeavour To see God now , and be with him for ever . To All Masters , Marriners and Seamen : Especially such as belong to the Borrough of Clifton , Dartmouth and Hardnes , in the County of Devon , Sirs , I Find it Story'd of Anacharsis , that when one Ask'd him , Whether the Living or the Dead were more ? He returned this Answer , You must first tell me ( saith he ) in which Number I must place Sea-men ; Intimating thereby , that Sea-men are , as it were , a Third sort of Persons , to be Number'd neither with the Living nor the Dead ; their Lives hanging continually in suspence before them . And it was anciently accounted the most desperate Imployment , and they little better than lost Men that us'd the Seas . Through all my Life ( saith Aristotle ) Three things do especially repent me : First , That ever I reveal'd a Secret to a Woman . Secondly , That ever I remain'd one day without a Will. Thirdly , That ever I went to any place by Sea , whither I might have gone by Land. Nothing ( saith another ) is more miserable , than to see a Virtuous and Worthy Person upon the Sea. And although Custom , and the great Improvement of the Art of Navigation , have made it less formidable now , yet are you no further from death than you are from the waters , which is but a remove of two or three inches . Now you that border so nigh upon the confines of death and eternity every moment , may well be supposed to be Men of singular Piety and Seriousness : For nothing more composes the Heart to such a frame , than the lively apprehensions of Eternity do : and none have greater external advantages for that , than you have . But alas ! for the generality , What sort 〈◊〉 Men are more ungodly , and stupidly insensible of eterna concernments ? Living , for the most part , as if they had made a Covenant with death , and with hell were at agreement . It was an ancient saying , Qui nescit orare , discat navigare , He that knows not how to Pray , let him go to Sea. But we may say now , ( alas , that we may say so in times of greater light ) He that would learn to be pro●ane , to drink , and swear , and dishonour God , let him go to Sea. As for Prayer , it is a rare thing among Sea-men , they count that a needless-business : they see the prophane and vile deliver'd as well as others ; and therefore , What profit is there if they Pray unto him ? Mal. 3. 4. As I remember , I have read of a profane Souldier , who was heard swearing , though he stood in a place of great danger ; and when one that stood by him warned him , saying , Fellow-souldier , do not Swear , the Bullets flie ; he answer'd , They that swear come off as well as they that pray ▪ Soon after a shot hit him and down he fell . Plato diligently admonisht all Men to avoid the Sea ; For ( saith he ) it is the School-master of all Vice and Dishonesty . Sirs ! it is a very sad consideration to me , that you who float upon the great deeps , in whose bottom so many Thousand poor miserable Creatures lie , whose sins have sunk them down , not only into the bottom of the Sea , but of Hell also , whither divine vengeance hath pursu'd them : That you ( I say ) who daily float , and hover over them , and have the roaring waves and billows that swallow'd them up , gaping for you as the next prey , should be no more affected with these things . Oh what a Terrible Voice doth God utter in the Stroms ! It breaks the Cedars , shakes the Wilderness , makes the Hinds to Calve , Psal. 29. 5. And can it not shake your hearts This Voice of the Lord is full of Majesty , but his Voice in the Word is more efficacious and powerful , Heb. 4. 12. to convince and rip up the heart . This Word is exalted above all his Name , Psal. 138. 3. and if it cannot awaken you , it is no wonder you remain secure and dead , when the Lord utters his Voice in the most dreadful storms and tempests . But if neither the Voice of God uttered in his dreadful Works , or in his glorious Gospel , can effectually awaken and rouze , there is an Euroclidon , a fearful storm coming , which will so awaken your souls , as that they shall never sleep any more , Psal. 11. 6. Upon the wicked he shall reign Snares , Fire and Brimstone , and an horrible Tempest : This is the portion of their Cup. You that have been at Sea in the most Violent storms , never felt such a storm as this , and the Lord grant you never may ; no Calm shall follow this Storm . There are some among you , that , I am perswaded , do truly fear that God in whose hand their Life and Breath is ; Men that fear an Oath , and are an honour to their Profession ; who drive a Trade for Heaven , and are diligent to secure the happiness of their Immortal souls , in the Insurance-Office above : but for the generality , alas ! they mind none of these things . How many of you are coasting to and fro , from one Country to another ? but never think of that Heavenly Country above , nor how you may get the Merchandize thereof , which is better than the Gold of Ophir . How oft do you tremble to see the foaming V , Vaves dance about you , and wash over you ? yet consider not how terrible it will be to have all the waves and billows of God's wrath to go over your souls , and that for ever . How glad are you , after you have been long toss'd upon the Ocean , to descry Land ? And how yare and eagerly do you look out for it ? who yet never had your hearts warmed with the consideration of that Ioy which shall be among the Saints , when they arrive at the Heavenly Strand , and set foot upon the shore of Glory . O Sirs ! I beg of you , if you have any regard to those precious immortal Souls of yours , which are also imbarqued for Eternity , whither all winds blow them , and will quickly he at their Port of Heaven or Hell , that you will seriously mind these things , and learn to steer your course to Heaven , and improve all Winds ( I mean opportunities and means ) to waft you thither . Here you venture life and liberty , run through many Difficulties and Dangers , and all to compass a perishing Treasure ; yet how often do you return disappointed in your Designs ? or if not , yet it is but a fading short-liv'd Inheritance , which like the flowing Tide , for a little while , covers the shore , and then returns , and leaves it naked and dry again : And are not Everlasting Treasures worth venturing for ? Good Souls , be wise for Eternity : I here present you with the Fruit of a few spare Hours , redeemed for your sakes , from my other Studies and Imployments , which I have put into a new Dress and Mode . I have endeavoured to cloath Spiritual Matters in your own Dialect and Phrases , that they might be the more intelligible to you ; and added some pious Poems , with which the several Chapters are concluded , trying by all means to assault your several Affections , and as the Apostle speaks , to catch you with guile . I can say nothing of it ; I know it cannot be without its manifold imperfections , since I am conscious of so many in my self : Only this I will adventure to say of it , That how defective or empty soever it be in other respects , yet it is stuffed and filled with much true love to , and earnest desires after the salvation and prosperity of your Souls . And for the other defects that attend it , I have only two things to offer , in way of excuse : It is the first Essay that I ever made in this kind , wherein I had no President : And it was hastned , for your sakes , too soon out of my hands , that it might be ready to wait upon you , when you undertake your next Voyage ; so that I could not revise and polish it . Nor indeed was I sollicitous about the stile ; I consider , I writ not for Critical and Learned Persons : my design is not to please your Fancies any further , than I might thereby get advantage to profit your Souls . I will not once question your welcome Reception of it : If God shall bless these Meditations to the Conversion of any among you , you will be the Gainers , and my heart shall rejoyce , even mine . How comfortably should we shake hand with you , when you go abroad , were we perswaded your Souls were interested in Christ , and secured from perishing , in the New Convenant ? What life would it put into our Prayers for you , when you are abroad , to consider that Iesus Christ is interceeding for you in Heaven , whilst we are your Remembrancers here on Earth ? How quiet would our hearts be , when you are abroad in Storms ; did we know you had a special Interest in him whom Winds and Seas obey ? To conclude , what Ioy would it be to your Godly Relations , to see you return new Creatures ? Doubtless more than if you came home laden with the Riches of both Indies . Come , Sirs ! set the heavenly Jerusalem upon the Point of your New Compass ; make all the Sail you can for it ; and the Lord give you a prosperous Gale , and a safe Arrival in that Land of Rest. So prays Your most Affectionate Friend to serve you , in Soul-Concernments . IOHN FLAVEL . IMPRIMATUR , Geo. Stradling , S. T. P. Rev. in Christo Pat. D. Gilb. Archiepisc. Cant. a. Sac. Domest . Ex Aed . Lamb. Dec. 14. 1663. To every Sea-man Sailing Heavenward . Ingenious Sea-man , THE Art of Navigation , by which Islands especially are enriched , and preserved in safety from Forensical Invasions ; and the wonderful Works of God in the great Deep , and Foreign Nations are most delightfully and fully beheld , &c. is an Art of exquisite excellency , ingenuity , rarity , and mirability : But the Art of Spiritual Navigation is the Art of Arts. It is a gallant thing to be able to carry a Ship richly laden round the World : but it is much more gallant to carry a Soul ( that rich loading , a Pearl of more worth than all the Merchandise of the world ) in a body ( that is liable to leaks and bruises as any Ship is ) through the Sea of this World ( which is as unstable as water , and hath the same brinish taste and salt gust which the waters of the Sea have ) safe to Heaven ( the best Haven ) so as to avoid splitting upon any Soul-sinking Rocks , or striking upon any Soul-drowning Sands . The Art of Natural Navigation is a very great mystery ; but the Art of Spiritual Navigation is by much a greater mystory . Humane wisdom may teach us to carry a Ship to the Indies ; but the Wisdom only that is from above can teach us to steer our course aright to the Haven of Happiness . This Art is purely of Divine Revelation . The truth is , Divinity ( the Doctrine of living to God ) is nothing else , but the Art of Soul-Navigation , revealed from Heaven . A meer man can carry a Ship to any desired Port in all the World , but no meer man can carry a Soul to Heaven . He must be a Saint , he must be a Divine ( so all Saints are ) that can be a Pilot to carry a Soul to the fair Haven in Emanuel's land . The Art of Natural Navigation is wonderfully improved since the coming of Christ , before which time ( if there be truth in History ) the use of the Loadstone was never known in the world ; and before the vertue of that was revealed unto the Mariner , it is unspeakable with what uncertain wandrings Sea-men floated here and there , rather than sailed the right and direct way . Sure I am , the Art of Spiritual Navigation is wonderfully improved since the coming of Christ : it oweth its clearest and fullest discovery to the coming of Christ. This Art of Arts is now perfectly revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament ; but the Rulers thereof are dispers'd up and down therein . The collecting and methodizing of the same , cannot but be a work very useful unto Souls : Though when all is done , there is an absolute necessity of the teachings of the Spirit , and of the anointing that is from above , to make Souls Artists in sailing Heavenward . The Ingenious Author of the Christians Compass , or the Marriners Companion , makes three Parts of this Art ( as the School-men of Divinity , ) viz. Speculative , Practical , and Affectionate . The principal things necessary to be known by a Spiritual Sea-man , in order to the steering rightly and safely to the Port of Happiness , he reduceth to four Heads , answerable to the four general Points of the Compass ; making God our North ; Christ our East ; Holiness our South ; and Death our West Points . Concerning God , we must know , 1. That he is , Heb. 11. 6. and that there is but one God , 1 Cor. 8. 5 , 6. 2. That this God is that Supreme Good , in the enjoyment of whom all true happiness lies , Psal. 4. 6 , 7. Mat. 5. 8. — 18. 20. 3. That ( Life eternal lying in God , and he being incomprehensible and unconceivable in Essence , as being a Spirit ) our best way to eye him is in his Attributes , Exod. 34. 5 , 6 , 7. and works , Rom. 1. 20. and especially in his Son , 2 Cor. 4. 6. 4. That as God is a Spirit , so our chiefest , yea only way of knowing , enjoying , serving , and walking with him , is in the Spirit likewise , Ioh. 4. 24. Concerning Christ , we must know , 1. That he is the true Sun which ariseth upon the World , by which all are enlightned , Iohn 1. 9. Mal. 3. 2. Luke 1. 78 , 79. 2. That God alone is in him , reconciling himself to the World , 2 Cor. 5. 19. 1 Cor. 1. 30. Iohn 14. 6. 3. That Jesus Christ is only made ours by the union and in-dwelling of himself in us through the spirit , 1 Cor. 2. 9 , 10. and 6. 17. Ioh. 16. 8 , 9. 1 Cor. 12. 3. 13. 4. That the way of the spirits uniting us to Christ , is by an act of Power on his part , and by an act of Faith on our parts , Iohn 3. 16. last 5. 29. Eph. 3. 17. Concerning Holiness , we must know , 1. That whoever is in Christ is a new creature , 2 Cor. 5. 17. 1 Cor. 6. 11. 2. Holiness is the Souls highest lustre , Exod. 15. 11. when we come to perfection in Holiness , then is our Sun at the height in us . 3. Holiness , is Christ filling the Soul ; Christ our Sun is at highest in our hearts , when they are most holy . 4. This Holiness is that which is directly opposite to sin : sin eclipses holiness , and holiness scatters sin , Heb. 7. 26. Phil. 2. 15. 2 Pet. 3. 11. Concerning Death , we must know , 1. Death is certain : the Sun of our Life will set in Death : when our days come about to this Western-point , it will be night , Heb. 9. 27. Psal. 49. 7 , 9. 2. If we die in our sins out of Christ , we are undone for ever , Iob 8. 24. Phil. 1. 21. 3. It is our benighting to die , but it 's not our annihilating , 1 Cor. 15. Rev. 20. 12. 4. After Death comes Judgment ; all that die shall arise to be judged , either for life or death the second time , Heb. 9. 27. Mat. 25. Heb. 6. 2. These four heads , and the particulars under them are as necessary to be known in Spiritual Navigation , as the four Points of the Compass are in Natural Navigation . The things which we ought to do , in order to our arrival to our Happiness , our Author makes as many as there be Points in the Compass . And for an help to memory , we may begin every particular with initial known Letters on the Points of the Compass . 1. N. Never stir or steer any course , but by ●ight from God , Psal. 119. 105. Isa. 8. 10. 2. N. and by E. Never Enter upon any Design , but such as tends towards Christ , Act. 10. 43. 3. N. N. E. Note Nothing Enviously , which thrives without God , Psal. 73. 12 , 13. 4. N. E. and by N. Never Enterprize Not-warrantable courses , to procure any the most prized or conceited advantages , 1. Tim. 6. 9 , 10. 5. N. N. E. Now Entertain the sacred Commands of God , if hereafter thou expect the soveraign consolations of God , Psal. 119. 48. 6. N.E. and by E. Never Esteem Egypt's Treasures so much , as for them to forsake the People of God , Heb. 11. 26. 7. E. N. E. Err not , Especially in soul-affairs , Ia. 1. 16. 1 Tim. 1. 19 , 20. 2 Tim. 2. 18. 8. E. and by N. Eschew Nothing but sin , 1 Pet. 3. 11. Iob 1. 7 , 8-31 . 34. 9. E. Establish thy heart with grace , Heb. 13. 9. 10. E. and by S. Eye Sanctity in every action , 1 Pet. 1. 15. Zech. 14. 29. 11. E. S. E. Ever Strive Earnestly to live under , and to improve the means of Grace . 12. S.E. and by E. Suffer Every Evil of punishment of sorrow , rather than leave the ways of Christ and Grace . 13. S.E. Sigh Earnestly for more enjoyments of Christ. 14. S.E. and by S. Seek Evermore some Evidences of Christ in you the hope of glory . 15. S.S.E. Still Set Eternity before you , in regard of enjoying Jesus Christ , Ioh. 17. 24. 16. S. and by E. Settle't Ever in your soul , as a principle which you will never depart from , that holiness and true happiness are in Christ and by Christ. 17. S. Set thy self always as before the Lord , Psal. 16. 8. Acts 2. 25. 18. S and by W. See Weakness hastning thee to death , even when thou art at the highest pitch or point . 19. S. S. W. See Sin Which is the sting of Death , as taken away by Christ , 1 Cor. 15. 55 , 56. 20. S.W. and by S. Store up Wisely Some provisions every day for your dying day . 21. S.W. Set Worldly things under your feet , before death come to look you in the face . 22. S.W. and by W. Still Weigh and Watch with loins girded and lamps trimmed , Luk. 12. 35 , 36 , 37. 23. W. S. W. Weigh Soul-Works , and all in the ballance of the Sanctuary . 24. W. and by S. Walk in Sweet communion with Christ here , and so thou maist die in peace , Luk. 2. 29. 25. W. Whatsoever thy condition be in this world , eye God as the disposer of it , and therein be contented , Phil. 4. 11. 26. W. and by N. Walk Not according to the course of the most , but after the example of the best . 27. W.N. W. Weigh Not What men speak or think of thee , so God approve thee , 2 Chro. 10. 18. Rom. 2. 28 , 29. 28. N. W. and by W. Never Wink at , but Watch against small sins , nor neglect little duties , Eph. 5. 15. 29. N.W. Never Wish rashly for death , nor love life too inordinately , Iob 3. 4. 30. N. W. and by N. Now Work Nimbly ere night come , Ioh. 12. 35 , 36. Eceles . 9. 10. 31. N. N. W. Name Nothing When thou pleadest with God for thy Soul , but Christ and Free-grace , Dan. 9. 17. 32. N. and by W. Now Welcome Christ , if at death thou wilt be welcomed by Christ. A tender , quick , enlivened , and enlightened Conscience , is the only Point upon which we must erect these Practical Rules of our Christian Compass , Heb. 13. 1. 2 Cor. 1. 12. Our Memory , that is the Box in which this Compass must be kept , in which these Rules must be treasured , that we may be as ready and expert in them , as the Marriner is in his Sea-compass . So much for the speculative and practical parts of the Art of Soul-Spiritual-Navigation . The Affectionate part doth principally lie in the secret motions or movings of the Soul towards God , in the Affections which are raised and warmed , and especially appear active in Meditation : Meditation being as it were the Limbeck or Still in which the Affections heat and melt , and as it were drop sweet spiritual Waters . The affectionate Author of the Christians Compass doth indeed , in the third and last part of his Undertaking , hint at several Meditations which the spiritual Seaman is to be acquainted with , unto which thou hast an excellent Supplement in this New Compass for Seamen . This Collection is prefixt , that at once thou mayest view all the Compasses ( both the Speculative , Practical , and Affectionate ) by which thou must steer Heaven-ward . What further shall be added by way of Pre●●●e , is not to commend this New Compass , which indeed ( 2 Cor. 3. 1. ) needs no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Letters of Commendation , or any Panegyrick to usher it into any honest heart : but to stir up all , especially Sea-men , to make conscience of using such choice helps for the promoting the sanctification and salvation of their Souls , for the making of them as dexterous in the Art of Spiritual Navigation , as any of them are in the Art of Natural Navigation , Consider therefore . 1. What rich Merchandize thy Soul is . Christ assures us , one Soul is more worth than all the world . The Lord Iesus doth as it were put the whole world in one scale , and one soul in the other , and the world is found too light , Mat. 16. 26. Shouldst thou by skill in Natural Navigation carry safe all the treasures of the Indies into thine own Port , yea , gain the whole world , and for want of skill in spiritual Navigation lose thy soul , thou wouldst be the greatest loser in the world . So far wilt thou be from profiting by any of thy Sea-voyages . There is a plain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in those words of Christ , 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 ? More is meant , than is spoken . 2. What a leaking Vessel thy body is in which this unspeakable inconceivable rich Treasure , thy soul , is embarked ! O the many diseases and distempers in the humors and passions , that thy body is subject to ! It is above 2000 years ago , that there have been rekoned up 300 Names of Diseases ; and there be many under one name , and many nameless , which pose the Physicians not only how to cure them , but how to call them . And for the affections and passions of the Mind , the distempers of them are no less deadly to some , than the diseases of the body . But besides these internal causes , there are many external causes of Leaks in this Vessel , as poisonous malignities , wrathful hostilities , and casual mishaps ; very small matters may be of great moment to the sinking of this Vessel . The least Gnat in the Air may choak one , as it did Adrian , a Pope of Rome ; a little hair in Milk may strangle one , as it did a Counsellor in Rome ; a little stone of a Raisin may stop ones breath , as it did the Poetical Poet Anacreon . Thus you see what a leaking Vessel you sail in . Now the more leaky any ship is , the more need there is of skill to steer wisely . 3. Consider what a dangerous Sea the World is , in which thy Soul is to sail in the leaking ship of thy body . As there are not more changes in the Sea , than are in the World , the world being only constant in inconstancy , The fashion of this world passeth away , 1 Cor. 7. 31. so there are not more dangers in the Sea for ships , than there are in the world for souls . In this world Souls meet with Rocks and Sands , Syrens and Pyrates . Worldly Temptations , worldly Lusts , and worldly Company cause many to drown themselves in perdition , 1 Tim. 6. 9. The very things of this world endanger our Souls . By worldly Objects we soon grow worldly . It is hard to touch Pitch , and not be defiled . The lusts of this world stain our glory , and the men of t●is world pollute all they converse with . A man that keeps company with the men of this world , is like him that walketh in the Sun , tanned insensibly . Thus you have hinted the dangerousness of the Sea wherein you are to sail . Now , the more dangerous the Sea is , the more requisite it is the Sailer be an Artist . 4. Consider , what if through want of skill in the heavenly Art of spiritual Navigation , thou shouldst not steer thy C●●rse aright ! I will instance only in two consequents thereof . 1. Thou wilt never arrive at the Haven of Happiness . 2. Thou shalt be drowned in the Ocean of God's wrath . As true as the Word of God is true ; as sure as the Heavens are over thy head , and the Earth under thy feet ; as sure as thou yet livest and breathest in this Air : so true and certain it is , thou shalt never enter into Heaven , but sink into the depth of the bottomless pit . Am I not herein a Messenger of the saddest Tidings that ever yet thy Ears did hear ? Possibly now thou makest a light matter of these things , because thou dost not know what it is to miss of Heaven , and what it is for ever to lie under the wrath of God : but hereafter thou wilt know fully , what it is to have thy Soul lost eternally , so lost , as that God's mercies , and all the good there is in Christ , shall never save it ; and as God hath set and ordered things , can never save it . Hereafter thou wilt be perfectly sensible of the good that thou mightest have had , and of the evil that shall be upon thee ( this is God's peculiar Prerogative , to make a Creature as sensible of Misery as he pleaseth , ) then thou wilt have other thoughts of these things than now thou hast . Then the thoughts of thy mind shall be busied about thy lost Condition , both as to the pain of loss , and the pain of sense ; so that thou shalt not be able to take any ease any moment : then , that thy torments may be increased , they acknowledge , the truth of thy apprehensions , yea . the strength of them , shall be encreased ; thou shalt have true and deep apprehensions of the greatness of that good that thou shalt miss of , and of that evil which thou shalt procure unto thy self ; and then thou shalt not be able to choose , but to apply all thy loss , all thy misery to thy self , which will force thee to roar out , O my loss ! O my misery ! O my unconceivable unrecoverable loss and misery ! Yea , for the increasing of thy torments , thy Affections and Memory shall be enlarged . O that , to prevent that lose and misery , these things may now be known and laid to heart ! O that a blind Understanding , a stupid Judgment , a bribed Conscience , a hard Heart , a bad Memory , may no longer make Heaven and Hell to seem but trifles to thee ! Thou wilt then easily be perswaded to make it thy main business here , to become an Artist in Spiritual Navigation . But to shut up this Preface , I shall briefly acquaint Sea-men , why they should , of all others , be Men of singular Piety and Heavenliness , and therefore more than ordinarily study the heavenly Art of Spiritual Navigation . O that Sea-men would therefore consider , 1 : How nigh they border upon the Confines of Death and Eternity every moment . There is but a step , but an inch or two between them and their Graves continually . The next Gust may over-set them ; the next Wave may swallow them up . In one place lies lurking dangerous Rocks , in another perilous Sands , and every-where stormy Winds , ready to destroy them . Well may the Sea-men cry out , Ego crastinum non habui : I have not had a Morrow in my hands these many Years . Should not they then be extraordinary serious and heavenly continually ? Certainly ( as the Reverend Author of this New Compass well observes ) nothing more composeth the heart to such a frame , than the lively apprehensions of Eternity do ; and none have greater external advantages for that , than Sea-men have . 2. Consider ( Sea-men ) what extraordinary help you have by the Book of the Creatures ; the whole Creation is God's Voice , it is God's excellent Hand-writing , or the Sacred Scriptures of the Most High , to teach us much of God , and what reasons we have to bewail our Rebellion against God , and to make conscience of obeying God only , naturally and continually . The Heavens , the Earth , the Waters , are the three great Leaves of this Book of God , and all the Creatures are so many Lines in those Leaves . All that learn not to fear and serve God by the help of this Book , will be left inexcusable , Rom. 1. 20. How inexcusable then will ignorant and ungodly Sea-men be ? Sea-men should , in this respect , be the best Scholars in the Lord's School , seeing they do more , than others , see the Works of the Lord , and his Wonders in the great Deep , Psal. 107. 24. 3. Consider how often you are nearer Heaven than any People in the World. They mount up to heaven , Psal. 107. 26. It has been said of an ungodly Minister , that contradicted his Preaching in his Life and Conversation , That it was pity he should e're come out of the Pulpit , because he was there as near Heaven as ever he would be . Shall it be said of you , upon the same account , That 't is pi●y you should come down from the high-towring Waves of the Sea ? Should not Sea-men , that in stormy Weather have their feet ( as it were ) upon the Battlements of Heaven , look down upon all earthly Happiness in this World but as base , waterish , and worthless ? The great Cities of Campania seem but small Cottages to them that stand on the ●lpes . Should not Sea-men , that so oft mount up to Heaven , make it their main business here , once at last to get into Heaven ? What ( Sea-men ) shall you only go to Heaven against your Wills ? When Seamen mount up to Heaven in a storm , the Psalmist tells us , That their souls are melted because of trouble . O that you were continually as unwilling to go to Hell , as you are in a storm to go to Heaven ! 4. And lastly , Consider what engagements lie upon you to be singularly holy , from your singular deliverances and salvations . They that go down to the Sea in Ships , are sometimes in the Valley of the shadow of Death , by reason of the springing of perilous Leaks ; and yet miraculously delivered , either by some wonderful stopping of the Leak , or by God's sending some Ship within their sight , when they have been far out of sight of any Land ; or by his bringing their near-perishing Ship safe to shore . Sometimes they have been in very great danger of being taken by Pirates , yet wonderfully preserved , either by God's calming of the Winds in that part of the Sea where the Pirates have sail'd , or by giving the poor pursued Ship a strong gale of Wind to run away from their Pursuers ; or by sinking the Pirates , &c. Sometimes their Ships have been cast away , and yet they themselves wonderfully got safe to shore upon Planks , Yards , Masts , &c. I might be endless in enumerating their Deliverances from Drowning , from Burning , from Slavery , &c. ( Sure Sea-men ) your extraordinary Salvations lay more than ordinary engagement upon you , to praise , love , fear , obey , and trust in your Saviour and Deliverer . I have read , that the enthralled Greeks were so affected with their Liberty , procured by Flaminius the Roman General , that their shrill Acclamations of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , A Saviour , a Saviour , made the very Birds fall down from the Heavens astonished . O how should Seamen be affected with their Sea-Deliverances ! Many that have been deliver'd from Turkish Slavery , have vowed to be Servants to their Redeemers all the days of their Lives . Ah , Sirs , will not you be more than ordinarily God's Servants all the days of your Lives , seeing you have been so oft , so wonderfully r●deemed from Death it self by him ? Verily , do what you can , you will die in God's Debt . As for me , God forbid , that I should sin against the Lord , in ceasing to pray for you , 1 Sam. 12. 23 , 24. That by the perusal of this short and sweet Treatise , wherein the jucicious and ingenious Author hath well mixed utile dulci , profit and pleasure , you may learn the good and right way , even to fear the Lord , and serve him in truth with all your hearts , considering how great things he hath done for you : This is the hearty Prayer of Your Cordial Friend , earnestly desirous of a prosperous Voyage for your precious and immortal Souls , T.M. The AUTHOR to the READER . WHen Dewy-cheek'd Aurora doth display Her Curtains , to let in the New-born Day , Her heavenly Face looks Red , as if it were Dy'd with a modest Blush , 'twixt Shame and Fear . Sol makes her blush , suspecting that he will Scorch some too much , and others leave to chill , With such a Blush , my little New-born Book Goes out of hand , suspecting some may look Vpon it with Contempt , while others raise So mean a Peice too high , by flattering Praise . It s Beauty cannot make its Father dote ; 'T is a poor Babe , clad in a Sea-green Coat . It s gone from me too young , and now is run To Sea , among the Tribe of Zebulun . Go , Little Book , thou many Friends wilt find Among that Tribe , who will be very kind ; And many of them Care of Thee will take , Both for thy own , and for thy Father's sake . Heav'n save it from the dang'rous Storms and Gusts . That will be rais'd against it by Mens Lusts. Guilt makes Men angry , Anger is a Storm ; But Sacred Truth 's thy shelter , fear no harm . On Times , or Persous , no Reflection's found ; Though with Reflections few Books more abound . Go , Little Book , I have much more to say , But Sea-men call for thee , thou must away . Yet e're you have it , grant me One Request ; Pray do not keep it Prisoner in your Chest. BOOKS Lately Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside ▪ MR. Flavel's Fountain of Life open'd , or a Display of Christ in his Essential and Mediatorial Glory , in 42 Sermons , Quarto . — His Treatise of the Soul of Man , Quarto . — Divine Conduct , or Mystery of Providence . Burgesses Golden Snuffers , a Sermon Preach'd to the Society for Reformation of Manners . Sylvester's Reformation Sermon . How 's Reformation Sermon . Singing of Psalms Vindicated from the Charge of Novelty , in Answer to Dr. Russel , Mr. Marlow , &c. Bury's Looking-Glass for the Unmarry'd . Discourses upon the Rich Man and Lazarus , by Mr. Timothy Cruso . BOOKS Printed for and Sold by M. Fabian in Mercers Chappel at the lower end of Cheapside . Viz. HYmens Praeludia or Loves Master-piece , being that so much admired Romance , called Cleopat●a . Gouges Word to Saints and Sinners . — Christian directions . The Protestant School or a Spelling-book , by Moses Lane School-master , being the most copious extant . The Pastoral Letters of the Incomparable Iurieu , directed to the Protestants in France groaning under the Babylonish Tyranny translated : Wherein the Sophistical arguments and unexpressible Cruelties made use of by the Papists for making Converts ; are laid open and expos'd to just abhorrence . Unto which is added a brief account of the Hungarian Persecution . The History of Scotland from the year 1423 to 1542 containing the Lives and Reigns of Iames the 1 2 3 4 and 5 with several memorials of State during the Reigns of Iames the 6 and Charles the 1. Illustrated with their Effiges in Copper Plates , by W. Drummond of Hauthornden With a Prefatory Introduction taken out of the Records of that Nation by Mr. Hall of Grays Inn. The 2 Edition with a brief account of the Authors Life . Collyers Compendions Discourses . — Self denyal . Bampfields reply to Dr. Wallis . Gosnold of Baptism . Post with a Pacquet of Letters . School for Princes . Spiritual guide to disentangled Souls , by P. Molino . Learnings Foundation firmly laid in a short method of teaching to read English , more exact and easie than ever was yet publish'd by any : comprehending all things necessary for the perfect and speedy attaining the same : Whereby any one of discretion may be brought to read the Bible truly in the space of a Month tho' he never knew a Letter before , the truth whereof hath been confirm'd by manifold experience , by George Robertson School-master . A New Compass for Sea-Men : OR , Navigation Spiritualiz'd . CHAP. I. The Launching of a Ship plainly sets forth Our double State , by First and Second Birth . OBSERVATION . NO sooner is a Ship built , launched , rigged , victualled , and manned , but she is presently sent out into the boisterous Ocean , where she is never at rest , but continually fluctuating , tossing and labouring , until she be either overwhelmed and wrecked in the Sea , or through Age , knocks and bruises , grows leaky and unserviceable ; and so is haled up , and ript abroad . APPLICATION . No sooner come we into the World as Men , or as Christians , by a natural , or supernatural Birth ; but thus we are tost upon a Sea of Troubles , Job 5. 7. Yet Man is born to trouble , as the sparks flie upwards . The spark no sooner comes out of the fire , but it flies up naturally ; it needs not any external force , help , or guidance , but ascends from a principle in it self : So naturally , so easily , doth trouble rise out of sin . There is radically all the misery , anguish , and trouble in the World , in our corrupt Natures . As the spark lies close hid in the coals , so doth misery in sin : Every sin draws a rod after it . And these sorrows and troubles fall not only on the Body , in those breaches , flaws , deformities , pains , aches , diseases to which it is subject , which are but the groans of dying Nature , and its crumbling , by degrees , into dust again ; but on all our Imployments and Callings also , Gen. 3. 17 , 18 , 19. These are full of pain , trouble , and disappointment . Hag. 1. 6. We earn Wages , and put it into a Bag with holes , and disquiet our selves in vain ; all our Relations full of trouble . The Apostle speaking to those that Marry , saith , 1 Cor. 7. 28. Such shall have trouble in the flesh . Upon which words one glosseth thus : Flesh and Trouble are Marry'd together , whether we Marry or no : But they that are Marry'd , Marry with , and Match into new troubles : All Relations have their burdens , as well as their comforts . It were endless to enumerate the sorrows of this kind ; and yet the troubles of the Body , are but the body of our troubles : The spirit of the Curse falls upon the spiritual and noblest part of Man. The Soul and Body , like to Ezekiel's Roll , are written full with sorrows , both within and without . So that we make the same report of our lives , when we come to die , that old Iacob made before Pharaoh , Gen. 47. 9. Few and evil have the days of the years of our lives been . For what hath Man of all his labour , and of the vexation of his heart , wherein he hath laboured under the Sun ? For all his days are sorrows , and his travel grief , yea , his heart taketh no rest in the night : This is also vanity , Eccles. 2 22 , 23. Neither doth our New Birth free us from troubles , though then they be sanctify'd , sweetned , and turned into blessings to us . We put not off the Humane , when we put on the Divine Nature ; nor are we then freed from the sense , though we be deliver'd from the sting and curse of them . Grace doth not presently pluck out all those Arrows that sin hath shot into the sides of Nature , 2 Cor. 7. 5. When we were come into Macedonia , our Flesh had no rest , but we were troubled on every side : without were fightings , and within were fears , Rev. 7. 14. These are they that come out of great tribulations . The first cry of the New-born Christian ( says one ) gives Hell an alarm , and awakens the rage , both of Devils and Men against him . Hence Paul and Barnabas acquainted those new Converts , Act. 14. 22. That through much tribulation , they must enter into the Kingdom of God : And we find the state of the Church , in this World , set out ( Isa. 54. 11. ) by the similitude of a distressed Ship at Sea : O thou afflicted [ and tossed ] with Tempests , and not comforted . [ Tossed ] as Iona's Ship was ; for the same word is there used , Ionah 1. 11. 13. as a Vessel at Sea , stormed , and violently driven without Rudder , Mast , Sail , or Tacklings . Nor are we to expect freedom from those Troubles , until harboured in Heaven , see 2 Thess. 1. 7. O what large Catalogues of Experiences do the Saints carry to Heaven with them , of their various Exercises , Dangers , Trials , and marvellous Preservations and Deliverances out of all ! And yet all these Troubles without , are nothing to those within them ; from Temptations , Corruptions , Desertions , by Passion and Compassion : Besides their own , there comes daily upon them the Troubles of others ; many Rivulets fall into this Channel and Brim , yea often overflow the Banks , Psal. 34. 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous . REFLECTION . Hence should the graceless heart thus reflect upon it self . O my Soul ! into what a Sea of troubles art thou lanched forth ! And what a sad case thou art in ! Full of Trouble and full of Sin , and these do mutually produce each other . And that which is the most dreadful Consideration of all , is , That I cannot see the end of them . As for the Saints , they suffer in the World as well as I ; but it is but for a While , 1 Pet. 5. 10. and then they shall suffer no more , 2 Thes. 1. 7. But all tears shall be wiped away from their eyes , Rev. 7. 17. But my Troubles look with a long Visage : Ah! they are but the beginning of sorrows , but a parboiling before I be roasted in the flames of God's eternal wrath . If I continue as I am , I shall but deceive my self , if I conclude I shall be happy in the other World , because I have met with so much sorrow in this : For I read , Iude 7. that the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha , though consumed to ashes , with all their Estates and Relations , ( a sorer Temporal Judgment than ever yet befel me ) do , notwithstanding that , continue still in everlasting Chains , under Darkness , in which they are reserved unto the Iudgment of the Great Day . The Troubles of the Saints are sanctified to them , but mine are fruits of the Curse . They have spiritual Consolations to ballance them , which flow into their Souls in the same height and degree , as Troubles do upon their Bodies , 2 Cor. 1. 5. But I am a stranger to their Comforts , and intermeddle not with their Ioys , Prov. 14. 10. If their hearts be surcharged with Trouble , they have a God to go to ; and when they have open'd their Cause before him , they are eased , return with comfort , and their Countenance is no more sad , 1 Sam. 1. 18. When their Belly is as Bottles full of new Wine , they can give it vent by pouring out of their Souls into their Father's Bosome : But I have no interest in , nor acquaintance with this God ; nor can I pray unto him in the Spirit . My griefs are shut up like fire in my bosome , which preys upon my spirit . This is my ●orrow , and I alone must bear it . O my Soul , look round about thee ! What a miserable case art thou ●n ? Rest no longer satisfied in it , but look out for a Christ also . What though I be a vile , unworthy wretch ? yet he promiseth to love freely , Hos. 14. 4. and invites such as are heavy laden to him , Mat. 11. 28. Hence also should the gracious Soul reflect sweetly upon it self after this manner : And is the World so full of trouble ? O my Soul , what cause hast thou to stand admiring at the indulgence and goodness of God to thee ! Thou hast hitherto had a smooth ●assage comparatively to what others have had . How hath Divine Wisdom ordered my Condition , and cast my Lot ? Have I been chastised with Whips ? others with Scorpions : Have I had no peace without : Some have neither had peace without nor within , but terrours round about : Or have I felt trouble in my flesh and spirit at once ? Yet have they not been extream , either for time or measure , And hath the World been a Sodom , an Aegypt to thee ? Why then dost thou thus linger in it , and hanker after it ? Why do I not long to be gone , and sigh more heartily for Deliverance ? Why are the thoughts of my Lord 's coming no sweeter to me , and the day of my full deliverance no more panted for ? And why am I no more careful to maintain peace within , since there is so much trouble without ? Is not this it that puts weight into all outward troubles , and makes them sinking , that they fall upon me when my spirit is dark or wounded ? THE POEM . My Soul , art thou besieged with troubles round about ? If thou be wise , take this Advice , to keep these troubles out . Wise Men will keep their Conscience as their eyes ; For in their Conscience their best Treasure lies . See you be tender of your inward peace ; That shipwrackt , then your Mirth and Ioy must ceas . If God from you your outward Comforts rend , You 'll find what need you have of such a Friend . If this be not by sin destroy'd and lost , You need not fear , your Peace will quit your cost . If youl 'd know How to sweeten any grief , Though ne'r so great , or to procure relief Against th' afflictions , which like deadly Darts . Most fatal are to Men of carnal hearts , Reject not that , which Conscience bids you chusc , And chuse not you , what Conscience saith , Refuse . If sin you must , or Misery under lie , Resolve to bear , and chuse the Misery . CHAP. II. In the vast Ocean Spiritual Eyes des●ry God's boundless Mercy , and Eternity . OBSERVATION . THE Ocean is of a vast extent and depth , though supposedly measurable , yet not to be sounded by Man. It compasseth about the Whole Earth , which in the account of Geographers , is Twenty one thousand and six hundred Miles in compass ; yet the Ocean invirons it on every side , Psal. 104. 25. and Iob 11. 9. Suitable to which is that of the Poet. Tum freta diffudit , rapidisque tumescere ventis Iussit & ambitae circumdare littora terrae . Ovid He spread the Seas , which then he did command , To swell with Winds , and compass round the Land. And for its Depth , who can discover it ? The Sea in Scripture is called , The Deep , Job 38. 30. The Great Deep , Gen. 7. 11. The gathering together of the Waters into one place , Gen. 1. 9. If the vastest Mountain were cast into it , it would appear no more than the head of a Pin in a Tun of Water . APPLICATION . This in a lively manner shaddows forth the infinite and incomprehensible Mercy of our God ; whose Mercy is said to be over all his works , Psal. 145. 9. In how many sweet Notions is the Mercy of God represented to us in the Scripture . He is said to be Plenteous , Psal. 4. 5. Abundant , 1 Pet. 1. 3. Rich , Eph. 2. 4. in mercy ; then , that his Mercies are unsearchable , Ephes. 3. 8. High as the Heaven above the Earth , Psal. 10. 4. Which are so high and vast , that the whole Earth is but a small point to them : yea , they are not only compared to the Heavens , but to come home to the Metaphor , to the Depths of the Sea , Mic. 7. 19. which can swallow up Mountains as well as Mole-hills ; and in this Sea God hath drowned sins of a dreadful height and aggravation , even Scarlet , Crimson ( i. e. ) deep dyed with many intensive aggravations , Isa. 1. 18. In this Sea was the sin of Manasseh drowned ; and of what magnitude that was , may be seen , 2 Chron. 33. 3. Yea , in this Ocean of Mercy , did the Lord drown and cover the sins of Paul , though a Blasphemer , a Persecutor , Injurious , 1 Tim. 1. 13. None , saith Augustine , more fierce than Paul among the Persecutors ; and therefore none greater among sinners : to which himself willingly subscribes , 1 Tim. 1. 1●● yet pardoned . How hath Mercy rode in triumph , and been glorified upon the vilest of Men ! How hath it stop● the slanderous mouth of Men and Devils ! It hath yearned upon Fornicators , Idol●ters , Adulterers , Thieves , Covetous , Drunkards , Revilers , Extortioners ; to such hath the Scepter of Mercy been stretched forth , upon their unfeigned repentance and submission , 1 Cor. 6. 9. What doth the Spirit of God aim at , in such a large accumulation of Names of Mercy ? But to convince poor sinners of the abundant fulness and riches of it , if they will but submit to the terms on which it is tender'd to them . In the vastness of the Ocean , we have also a lively Emblem of Eternity . Who can comprehend or measure the Ocean , but God ? And who can comprehend Eternity , but he that is said to inhabit it ? Isa. 57. 15. Though shallow Rivers may be drained and dried up , yet the Ocean cannot . And though these transitory Days , Months , and Years will at last expire and determine ; yet Eternity shall not . O! it is a long World ! and amazing Matter ! What is Eternity , but a constant permanency of Persons and Things , in one and the same State and Condition for ever ; putting them beyond all possibility of change ? The Heathens were wont to shadow it by a Cricle , or a Snake twisted round . It will be to all of us , either a perpetual Day or Night , which will not be measured by Watches , Hours , Minutes . And as it cannot be measured , so neither can it ever be diminished . When thousands of years are gone , there is not a minute less to come . Gerhard and Drexelius do both illustrate it by this known similitude : Suppose a Bird were to come once in a thousand years ; to some vast Mountain of Sand , and carry away in her Bill one Sand in a thousand years ; O what a vast time would it be , e're that immortal Bird , after that rate , had recovered the Mountain ! and yet in time this might be done . For there would be still some diminution ; but in Eternity there can be none . There be three things in Time , which are not competent to Eternity : In Time there is a Succession , one Generation , Year , and Day passeth , and another comes ; but Eternity is a fixed [ now . ] In Time there is a Diminution and wasting ; the more is past , the less to come : But it is not so in Eternity . In time there is an Alteration of condition and states : A Man may be poor to day , and rich to morrow ; sickly and diseased this week , and well the next ; now in contempt , and anon in honour : But no change passes upon us in Eternity . As the Tree falls at Death and Judgment , so it lies for ever . If in Heaven , there thou art a Pillar , and shalt go forth no more , Rev. 3. 12. If in Hell , no Redemption thence , but the smoak of their torments ascendeth for ever and ever , Rev. 19. 3. REFLECTION . And is the Mercy of God , like the great Deeps , an Ocean , that none can fathom ? What unspeakable Comfort is this to me ? may the pardoned Soul say . Did Israel sing a Song , when the Lord had overwhelm'd their corporal Enemies in the Seas ? And shall not I break forth into his Praises , who hath drowned all my sins in the depth of Mercy ? O my Soul , bless thou the Lord , and let his high praises ever be in thy mouth . Mayst not thou say , that he hath gone to as high an extent and degree of Mercy , in pardoning thee , as ever he did in any ? Oh my God , who is like unto thee ! that pardonest Iniquity , Transgression and Sin. What mercy , but the Mercy of a God , could cover such abominations as mine ! But O! what terrible Reflections will Conscience ●ake from hence , upon all the Despisers of Mercy , when the sinners eyes come to be opened too late for Mercy , to do them good ! We have heard in●eed , that the King of Heaven was a merciful King , ●ut we would make no address to Him , whilst that Scepter was stretched out . We heard of Balm in Gilead , and a Physician there , that was able and willing to cure all our wounds , but would not commit our seives to him . We read that the Arms of Christ were open to embrance and receive us , but we would not . O unparallel'd folly ! O Soul-destroying madness ? Now the Womb of Mercy is shut up , and shall bring forth no more Mercies to me for ever . Now the Gates of Grace are shut , and no cries can open them . Mercy acted its part , and is gone off the Stage ; and now Justice enters the Scene and will be glorified for ever upon me . How often did I hear the Bowels of Compassion sounding in the Gospel for me ? But my hard and impenitent heart could not relent ; and now , if it could , it is too late . I am now past out of the Ocean of Mercy , into the Ocean of Eternity , where I am fixed in the midst of endless Misery , and shall never hear the Voice of Mercy more . O dreadful Eternity ! Oh Soul-confounding Word ● An Ocean indeed , to which this Ocean is but as a drop ; for in thee no Soul shall see either Bank or Bottom . If I lie but one Night under strong pains of body , how tedious doth that Night seem ! And how do I tell the Clock , and wish for day ! In the World I might have had Life , and would not ; And now , how fain would I have Death , but cannot ● How quick were my sins in execution ? And how long is their punishment in duration ? O , how shall I dwell with everlasting Burnings ? Oh that God would but vouchsafe one treaty more with me ! Bu● alas , all tenders and treaties are now at an end with me . On Earth peace , Luke 2. 13. but none in Hell O my Soul ! consider these things : come , let us debate this matter seriously , before we launch o● into this Ocean . THE POEM . Who from some high-rais'd Tower views the ground , His heart doth tremble , and his head doth round : Even so my Soul , whilst it doth view and think On this Eternity , upon whose brink It borders , stands amazed , and doth cry , O boundless ! bottomless Eternity ! The Scourge of Hell , whose very Lash doth rend The damned Souls in twain : What! never end ? The more thereon they ponder , think and pore , The more , poor wretches , still they howl and roar . Ah! though more years in torments we should lie , Than Sands are on the Shore , or in the Skie Are twinkling Stars : yet this gives some relief , The hope of ending . Ah! but here 's the grief ! A thousand Years in Torments past and gone , Ten Thousand more afresh are coming on ; And when these Thousands all their course have run , The end 's no more than when it first begun . Come then , my Soul , let us discourse together This weighty Point , and tell me plainly whether You for these short-liv'd Ioys , that come and go , Will plunge your self and me in endless woe . Resolve the Question quickly , do not dream More Time away . Lo , in an hasty stream We swiftly pass , and shortly we shall be Ingulphed both in this Eternity . CHAP. III. Within these smooth-fac'd Seas strange Creatures crawl ; But in Man's Heart , far stranger than them all . OBSERVATION . IT was an unadvised saying of Plato , Mare nil memorabile producit : The Sea produceth nothing memorable . But surely there is much of the Wisdom , Power , and Goodness of God manifested in those Inhabitants of the Watery Region : Notwithstanding the Seas azure and smiling face , Strange Creatures are bred in its Womb. O Lord ( saith David ) how manifold are thy works ? In wisdom hast thou made them all ; the Earth is full of thy riches . So is this great and wide Sea , wherein are things creeping innumerable , both small and great Beasts , Psalm 104. 24 , 25. And we read , Lam. 4. 3. of Sea-Monsters , which draw out their Breasts to their young . Pliny and Purchas tell incredible stories about them . About the Tropick of Capricorn , our Sea-men meet with flying Fishes , that have Wings like a Rere-mouse , but of a Silver-colour ; they fly in flocks like Stares . There are Creatures of very strange Forms and Properties ; some resembling a Cow , called by the Spaniards , Manates , by some supposed to be the Sea-monster spoken of by Ieremy . In the Rivers of Guiana , Purchas saith , there are Fishes that have four Eyes , bearing two above and two beneath the Water when they swim : Some resembling a Toad , and very poisonous . How strange both in shape and property is the Sword-fish and Thrasher , that fight with the Whale ? Even our own Seas produce Creatures of strange shapes , but the commonness takes off the wonder . APPLICATION . Thus doth the heart of Man naturally swarm and abound with strange and monstrous lusts and abominations , Rom. 1. 29 , 30 , 31 , Being filled with all unrighteousness , fornication , wickedness , covetousness , maliciousness , fuil of envy , murder , debate , deceit , malignity , whisperers , back-bit●rs , haters of God , despiteful , proud , boasters , inventors of evil things , disobedient to Parents , without understanding , covenant-breakers , without natural affection , implacable , unmerciful . O what a swarm is here ! and yet there are multitudes more , in the depths of the heart ! And it is no wonder , considering that with this Nature , we received the spawn of the blackest and vilest abominations . This original lust is productive to them all , Iam. 1. 14. 15. Which lust , though it be in every Man numerically , different from that of others , yet it is one and the same speciffically , for sort and kind , in all the Children of Adam : even as the reasonable Soul , though every Man hath his own Soul , viz a Soul individually distinct from another Man's , yet is it the same for kind in all men . So that whatever abominations are in the hearts and lives of the vilest Sodomites , and most profligate Wretches under Heaven ; there is the same matter in thy heart out of which they were shaped and formed . In the depths of the heart they are conceived , and thence they crawl out of the eyes , hands , lips , and all the members , Mat. 15. 18. 19. Those things ( saith Christ ) which proceed out of the mouth , come forth from the heart , and defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts , murders , adulteries , fornications , thefts , false-witness , blasphemies : Even such Monsters , as would make a gracious heart tremble to behold . What are my Lusts , ( saith Fuller's Medone ) but so many Toads spitting of Venome , tations , p 11. and spawning of Poison ; croaking in my Iudgment , creeping in my Will , and crawling into my Affecttions ? The Apostle in 1 Cor. 5. 1. tells us of a sin , Not to be named ; so monstrous , that Nature it self startles at it : Even such Monsters are generated in the depths of the heart . Whence comes evils ? was a Question that much puzled the Philosphers of old . Now here you may see whence they come , and when they are begotten . REFLECTION . And are there such strange abominations in the heart of Man ? Then how is he degenerated from his Perfection and Glory ! His streams were once as clear as Chrystal , and the Fountain of them pure , there was no unclean Creature moving in them What a stately Fabrick was the Soul at first ! And what holy Inhabitants possessed the several rooms thereof ! But now ( as God speaks of Idumea ) Isai. 34. 11. The line of confusion is stretched out upon it , and the stones of emptiness . The Cormorant and Bittern posses it ; the Owl and the Raven dwell in it . Yea , as Isai. 13. 21. 22. The wild beasts of the desert lie there ; is is full of doleful creatures , the Satyrs dance in it , and Dragons cry in those sometimes pleasant places . O sad change ! how sadly may we look back towards our first state ! and take up the words of Iob , O that I were as in months past , as in the days of my youth ; when the Almighty was yet with me , when I put on righteousness , and it cloathed me ; when my glory was fresh in me , Job 29. 2 , 4. 5. Again , think , O my Soul , what a miserable condition the Unregenerate abide in ▪ Thus swarmed and over-run with hellish Lusts , ●nder the dominion and vassalage of divers Lusts , Tit. 3. 3. What a tumultuous Sea is such a Soul ! How do these Lusts rage within them ! how do they contest and scuffle for the Throne ! and usually take it by turns . For as all Diseases are contrary to health , yet some contrary to each other , so are Lusts. Hence poor Creatures are hurried on to different kinds of servitude , according to the Nature of that imperious Lust that is in the Throne ; and like the Lunatick , Mat. 17. are sometimes cast into the VVater , and somtimes into the Fire . Well might the Prophet say , The wicked is like a troubled Sea that cannot rest . Isai. 57. 20. They have no peace now in the serv ice of sin , and less they shall have hereafter , when they receive the wages of sin . There is no peaec to the wicked , saith my God. they indeed cry Peace , peace ; but my God doth not say so . The last issue and result of this is Eternal Death ; no sooner is it delivered of its deceitfull pleasures , but presently it falls in travel again , and brings forth death , Iam. 1 , 15. Once more : And is the Heart such a Sea , abounding with monstrous abominations ? then stand astonished , O my Soul , at that Free-grace which hath delivered thee from so sad a Condition ! O fall down , and kiss the feet of Mercy that moved so freely and seasonably to thy rescue ! Let my heart be enlarged abundantly here . Lord , what am I , that I should be taken , and others left ? Reflect , O my Soul , upon the Conceptions and Births of Lusts , in the days of Vanity , which thou now blushest to own . O what black imaginations , hellish desires , vile affections , are lodged there ! Who made me to differ ? Or , how came I to be thus wounderfully separated ? Surely , it is by thy Free-grace , and nothing else , that I am what I am : And by that Grace I have escaped ( to mine own astonishment ) the corruption that is in the World through Lust. O that ever the holy God should set his eyes on such an one ; or cast a look of love towards me , in whom were Legions of unclean Lusts and Abominations ! THE POEM . My Soul 's the Sea , wherein from day to day , Sins like Leviathans do sport and play . Great Master-Lusts , with all the lesser fry , Therein increase . and strangely multiply . Yet strange it is not , sin so fast should breed , Since with this Nature I receiv'd the Seed And Spawn of every Species , which was shed Into its Caverns first , then nourished By its own native warmth ; which like the Sun , Hath quickned them , and now abroad they come , And like the Frogs of Aegypt creep and crawl Into the closest Rooms within my Soul. My Fancy swarms , for there they frisk and play , In Dreams by Night , and foolish Toys by day . My Iudgment 's clouded by them , and my Will Perverted , every corner they do fill . As Locusts seize on all that 's fresh and green , Vncloath the beauteous Spring , and make it seem Like drooping Autumn ; so my Soul , that first As Eden seem'd , now 's like a Ground that 's curst . Lord purge my Streams , and kill those Lusts that lie Within them ; if they do not , I must die . CHAP. IV. Seas purge themselves , and cast their filth ashore But Graceless Souls retain , and suck in more . OBSERVATION . SEas are in a continual motion and agitation ; they have their Flux and Reflux , by which they are kept from putrefaction : like a Fountain it cleanses it self , Isai. 57. 20. It cannot rest , but cast up mire and dirt ; whereas Lakes and ponds , whose Waters are standing , and dead , corrupt and stink . And it is observ'd by Seamen hat in the Southern parts of the World , where the Sea in more calm and setled , it is more corrupt and unfit for use ; so is the Sea of Sodom called , The Dead Sea , APPLICATION . Thus do regnerate Souls purify themselves , and work out corruption that defiles them , they cannot suffer it to settle there , 1 Iob 3. 3. He purifieth himself , even as he is pure . Keepeth himself , that the wicked one toucheth him not , 1 Iohn 5. 18. scil . Tacta qualitativo , with a Qualitative Touch , as the Load-stone toucheth Iron , leaving an Impression of its Nature behind it . They are Doves delighting in cleanness , Isai. 33. 15. He dispiseth the gain of opression , he shaketh his hands from holding of bribes , stoppeth his ears from hearing blood , and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil . See how all Senses and Members are guarded against sin : But it is quite contrary with the wicked ; there no principle of Holiness in them , to oppose or expel corruption . It lies in their hearts as Mud in a Lake or Well , which settles and corrupts more and more . Hence Ezec. 47. 11. their Hearts are compared to myrie or marish places , which cannot be healed , but are given to Salt : The meaning is , that the purest streams of the Gospel . which cleanse others , make them worse than before , as abundance of Rain will a myrie place . The reason is , because it meets with an obstacle in their souls ; so that it cannot run through them and be glorisied , as it doth in gracious Souls . All the means and endeavours used to cleanse them , are in vain ; all the grace of God they receive in vain : They hold fast deceit , they refuse to let it go , Jer. 8. 5. Sin is not in them as floating Weeds upon the Sea , which it strives to expel and purge out , but as Spots in the Leopard's Skin , Ier. 13. 21. or Letters fashioned and engraven in the very substance of Marble or Brass , with a pen of Iron , and point of a Diamond , Ier. 17. 1 , Or as Ivy in an old Wall , that hath gotten rooting into its very intrails . VVickedness is sweet in their mouths , they roul it under their tongues , Job 20. 12. No threats nor promises can divorcethem from it . REFLECTION . Lord ! this is the very frame of my heart , may the graceless Soul say : My corruptions quietly settle in me , my heart labours not against it : I am a stranger to that conflict which is daily maintained in all the Faculties of the regenerate Soul. Glorified Souls have no such conflict , because Grace in them stands alone , and is perfectly triumphant over all its opposites ; and graceless Souls can have no such conflict , because in them corruption stands alone , and hath no other principle to make opposition to it . And this is my case , O Lord : I am full of vain hopes indeed , but had I a living and wellgrounded hope to dwell for ever with so holy a God , I could not but be daily purifying my self . But O! what will the end of this be ? I have cause to tremble at that last and dreadfullest Curse in the Book of God , Rev. 22. 11. Let him that is filthy be filthy still . Is it not as much as if God should say , Let them alone , I will spend no more rods upon them , no more means shall be used about them ; but I will reckon with them for all together in another World ; O my Soul ! what a dismal reckoning will that be ! Ponder with thy self in the mean while , those terrible and awaking Texts , that if possible , this fatal issue may be prevented . See Isai. 1. 5. Hos. 4. 14. Jer. 6. 29 , 30 , Heb. 6. 8. THE POEM . My Heart 's no Fountain , but a standing Lake Of putrid Waters ; if therin I rake , By serious search , O! what a noysome smell , Like Exhalations rising out of Hell ; The stinking Waters pump'd up from the Hole , Are as perfumes to Sea-men : but my Soul Vpon the same account that they are glad , ( Its long continuance there ) is therefore sad . The Scripture saith , No Soul God's face shall see Till from such filthy Lusts it cleansed be . Yet though unclean , it may that way be rid , As Hercules the Augean Stable did . Lord turn into my Soul that cleansing Bloud , Which from my Saviour's side flow'd us a Flood . Flow , sacred , brim my Banks ; and flow Till you have made my Soul as white as Snow . CHAP. V. Sea-men fore-see a Danger , and prepare : Yet few of greater Dangers are aware . OBSERVATION HOW watchfull and quick sighted are Sea-men , to prevent Dangers ? If the Wind die away , and then fresh up Sourtherly ; or if they see the Sky hezy , they provide for a Storm : If by the Prospective-Glass they ken a Pirate at the greatest distance , they clear the Gun-room , prepare for fight , and bear up , if able to deal with him ; if not , they keep close by the Wind , make all the Sail they can , and bear away . If they suppose themselves by their reckoning near Land , how often do they sound ? And if upon a Coast with which they are unacquainted , how careful are they to get a Pilot that knows and is acquainted with it ? APPLICATION Thus watchful and suspicions ought we to be in Spiritual Concernmets . We should study , and be acquainted with Satan's Wiles and Policy : The Apostle takes it for granted , that Christians are not ignorant of his devices , 2 Cor. 2. 11. The Serpent's eye ( as one saith ) would do well in the Dove's head : The Devil is a cunning Pirate , he puts out false Colours , and ordinarily comes up to the Christan in the disguise of a friend . O the manifold depths and stratagems of Satan , to destroy Souls ! Though he have no Wisdom to do himself good , yet policy enough to do us mischiefe . He lies in ambush behind our lawful comforts and imployments : Yet for the most of men , how supine and careless are they , suspecting no danger ; Their Souls , like Laish , dwell carelesly ; their Senses unguarded . O what an easie prize and conquest doth the Devil make of them ! Indeed , if it were with us , as with Adam in innocency , or as it was with Christ in the days of his flesh ( who by reason of that overflowing fulness of Grace that dwelt in him , the purity of his Person , and the Hypostatical Union , was secured from the danger of all temptations ) the case then were otherwise ; but we have a Traytor within , Jam. 1. 14 , 15. as well as a Tempter without 1 Pet. 5. 8. Our adversary the Devil goes about as a roaring Lion , seeking whom he may devour . And like the Beasts of the Forest , poor Souls , lie down before him , and become his prey , All the lagacity , wit , policy and foresight of some Men , is summoned in to serve their Bodies , and secure their fleshly enjoyments . REFLECTION . Lord ! how doth the care , wisdom , and vigilancy of Men in temporal and external things , condemn my carelesness in the deep and dear concernments of my precious Soul ! What care and labour is there to secure a perishing life , liberty , or treasure ! When was I thus sollicitous for my Soul , though its value be inestimable , and its dangers far greater ? Self-preservation is one of the deepest Principles in Nature . There is not the poorest Worm or Flie , but will shun danger if it can : Yet I am so far from shunning those dangers to which my Soul lies continually exposed , that I often run it upon temptations , and voluntarily expose it to its enemies . I see , Lord , how watchful , Jealous and laborious thy People are , what Prayers , Tears , and Groans , searching of Heart , Mortification of Lusts , guarding of Senses : and all accounted too little by them . Have not I a Soul to save or lose eternally , as well as they ? Yet I cannot deny one fleshly lust , nor withstand one temptation . O , how am I convinced , and condemned ; not only by others care and vigilancy , but my own too , in lesser and lower matters ! THE POEM . I am the Ship , whose Bills of Lading come To more than Mans or Angels art can sum . Rich fraught with Mercies , on the Ocean , now I float , the dangerous Ocean I do plow. Storms rise , Rocks threaten , and in every Creek Pirates and Pickeroons their Prizes seek . My Soul should watch , look out , and use its Glass , Prevent Surprizals timely ; but alas ! Temptations give it chase , it 's grappled sure , And boared whilst it thinks it self secure . It sleeps like Jonah , in the dreadful'st storm , Although its case be dangerous and forlorn . Lord , rouze my drowsie Soul , lest it should knock And split it self upon some dangerous Rock . If it of Faith and Conscience shipwrack make , I am undone for ever : Soul , awake ! Till thou arrive in Heaven , watch and fear ; Thou mayst not say till then , the Coast is clear . CHAP. VI. How small a matter turns a Ship about ? Yet we against our Conscience stand it out . OBSERVATION IT is just matter of admiration , to see so great a body as a Ship is , and when under Sail too , before a fresh and strong Wind , by which it is carried , as the Clouds , with marvellous force and speed , yet to be commanded with ease , by so small a thing as the Helm is . The Scripture takes notice of it as a matter worthy our consideration , Jam. 3. 4 Behold also the ships , which though they be great , and driven of fierce winds ; yet they are turned about with a small Helm , whithersoever the Governour listeth . Yea , Aristotle himself , that Eagle ey'd Philosopher , could not give a reason of it , but looked upon it as a very marvellous and wounderful thing . APPLICATION . To the same use and office has God design'd Conscience in Man , which being rectified and regulated by the Word and Spirit of God , is to steer and order his whole Conversation . Conscience is as the Oracle of God , the Judge and Determiner of our Actions , whether they be good or evil ? and it lays the strongest obligatons upon the creature to obey its dictates , that is imaginable : For it binds under the reason and consideration of the most Absolute and Soveraign Will of the great God. So that as often as Conscience from the Word convinceth us of any sin or duty , it lays such a bond upon us to obey it , as no power under Heaven can relax , or dispense with . Angels cannot do it , much less Man ; for that would be to exalt themselves above God. Now therefore it is an high and dreadful way of sinning , to oppose and rebel against Conscience , when it convinces of sin or duty . Conscience sometimes reasons it out with Men , and shews them the necessity of changing their way and course ; arguing it from the clearest and most allowed Maxims of right Reason , as well as from the indisputable Soveraignty of God. As for instance : It convinceth their very Reason , that things of Eternal Duration , are infinitely to be preferred to all momentary and perishing things , Rom. 8. 18. Heb. 11. 26. And it is our duty to chuse them , and make all secular and temporary concernments to stand aside , and give place to them . Yet though Men be convinced of this , their stubborn Will stands out ▪ and will not yield up it self to the conviction . Further , It argues from this acknowledged truth , That all the delights and pleasures it this World , are but a miserable portion , and that it is the highest folly to adventure an immortal soul for them , Luke 9. 25. Alas , what remembrance is there of them in Hell ? They are as the waters that pass away . What have they left of all their mirth and jollity , but a tormenting sting ? It convinceth them clearly also that in matters of deep concernment , it is an high point of wisdom , to apprehend and improve the right seasons and opportunities of them Prov. 10. 5. He that gathers in summer is a wise Son. Eccles. 8. 5. A wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment . There is a season to every purpose , Eccles. 3. 1. viz. A nick of time , an happy juncture ; when if a Man strikes in , he doth his work effectually , and with much facility . Such Seasons Conscience convinceth the Soul of , and often whispers thus in its ear : Now , Soul , strike in close with this motion of the Spirit , and be happy for ever ; thou maist never have such a gale for Heaven any more . Now , though these be allowed Maxims of Reason , and Conscience inforce them strongly on the soul , yet cannot it prevail ; the prou'd stubborn Will rebels , and will not be guided by it . See Ephes. 2. 3. Iob 34. 37. Isai. 46. 12. Ezek. 2. 4. Ier. 44. 16. REFLECTION . Ah Lord ! such an heart have I had before thee ; thus obstinate , thus rebellious , so uncomptrolable by Conscience . Many a time hath Conscience thus whispered in mine ear ; many a time hath it stood in my way , as the Angel did in Balaams , or the Cherubims that kept the way of the Tree of Life , with flaming swords turning every way . Thus hath it stood to oppose me in the way of my Lusts. How often hath it calmly debated the Case with me alone ? And how sweetly hath it expostulated with me ? How clearly hath it convinced of sin , danger , duty , with strong demonstration ? How terrible hath it menaced my soul , and set the point of the threating at my very breast ? And yet my head-strong affections will not be remanded by it . I have obeyed the voice of every lust and temptation . Tit. 3. 3. But Conscience hath lost its Authority with me ▪ Ah Lord ! what a sad condition am I in , both in respect of sin and misery ? My sin receives dreadful aggravations ; for rebellion and presumption are hereby added to it . I have violated the strongest bonds that ever were laid upon a Creature . If my Conscience had not thus convinced and warned , the sin had not been so great and crimson-coloured , Iam. 4. 17. Ah! this is to sin with an high hand , Numb . 15. 30. to come near to the great and unpardonable trasgression , Psal. 19. 13. O how dreadful a way of sinning is this , with opened eyes ! And as my sin is thus out of measure sinful so my punishment will be out of measure dreadful , if I persist in this rebellion . Lord , thou hast said , Such shall be beaten with many stripes , Luke 12. 48. Yea , Lord , and if ever my Conscience , which by rebellion is now grown silent , should be in judgment awakened in this life , Oh what an Hell should I have within me ! how would it thunder and roar upon me , and surround me with terrors ! Thy word assures me , that no length of time can wear out of its memory what I have done , Gen. 42. 21. No violence or force can suppress it , Mat. 27. 4. No greatness of power can stifle it ; it will take the mightiest Monarchy by the throat , Exod. 10. 16. Dan. 5. 6. No musick , pleasures , or delights , can charm it Iob. 20. 22. O Conscience ! thou art the sweetest friend , or the dreadfullest enemy in the World ; Thy Consolations are incomparably sweet , and thy terrours insupportable . Ah let me stand it out no longer against Conscience ; the very Ship in which I sail , is a confutation of my madness , that rush greedily into sin against both Reason and Conscience , and will not be commanded by it ; Surely , O my Soul , this will be bitterness in the end . THE POEM . A Ship of greatest burden will obey The Rudder ; he that sits at Helm may sway And guide its motion : If the Pilot please , The Ship bears up against both Wind and Seas , My Soul 's the Ship , Affections are its Sails , Conscience the Rudder . Ah! but Lord what ails My naughty heart , to shuffie in and out , When its convictions bid it tack about ? Temptations blow a counter-blast , and drive The Vessel where they please , though Conscience strive . And by its strong perswasions , it would force My stubborn Will to steer another course . Lord , if I run this course , thy Word doth tell How quickly I must needs arrive at Hell. Then rectifie my Conscience , change my Will ; Fan in thy pleasant Gales , my God , and fill All my affections ; and let nothing carry My Soul from its due course or make it vary ; ●hen if the Pilots work thou wouldst perform , 〈◊〉 should bear bravely up against a storm . CHAP. VII . Through many fears and dangers Sea-men run But all 's forgotten when they do return . OBSERVATION WE have an elegant and lively description of their fears and dangers , Psal. 107. 25 , 26 , 27. He commandeth and raiseth the stormy Winds , which listeth up the Waves thereof : They mount up to Heaven , they go down again to the depths ; their soul is melted because of trouble ; they reel to and fro , they stagger like a drunken 〈◊〉 ; they are at their wits end . Or , as it is in the Hebrew , All Wisdom is swallowed up . Suitable to which is that of the Poet. Rector in incerto est , nec quid fugiative petotive Invenit , ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis . Ovid. The Pilot knows not what to chuse or flee , Art stands amaz'd in ambiguity . O what strange and miraculous Deliverances have many Sea-men had ? How often have they yielded themselves for dead Men , and verily thought the next Sea would have swallowed them up ? How earnestly then do they cry for Mercy ? And like the Cymbrians , can pray in a storm , though they regarded i● not at other times , Psal. 107. 28. Iona 1. 5 , 6. APPLICATION . These dreadful storms do at once discover to u● the mighty Power of God in raising them , and th● abundant Goodness of God in preserving poor Creatures in them . 1. The Power of God is graciously manifested i● raising them : The Wind is one of the Lord's Wonders Psal. 107. 24 , 25. They that go down to the Sea , see the works of the Lord , and his [ wonders ] in the deep ; for he commandeth and raiseth the stormy winds . Yea , Verse 18. God appropriates it as a peculiar work of his ; He causeth [ His wind to hlow . ] Hence , He is said in Scripture , to bring them forth of his treasury , Psal. 137. 7. There they are locked up and reserved , not a gust can break forth , till he command and call for it to go and excute his pleasure : Yea , He is said to hold them in his fist , Prov. 30. 4. What is more uncapable of holding than the Wind ; yet God holds it , Although it be a strong and terrible creature , He controuls and rules it . Yea , the Scripture sets forth who God , As riding upon the wings of the wind , Psal. 18. 10. It is a borrowed speech from the manner of Men , when they would shew their pomp and greatness , ride upon some stately Horse or Chario : so the Lord to manifest the greatness of his Power , rides upon the Wings of the wind , and will be admired in so terrible a creature . And no less of his glorious Power appears in remanding them , than in raising them . The Heathens ●scribe this power to their god Aeolus ; but we know this is the Royalty and sole Prerogative of the true God , who made Heaven and Earth ; it is He that makes the storm a clam , Psal , 107. 29. And it is He that shifts and changes them from Point to Point as He pleaseth ; for he hath appointed them their Cir●uits , Eccles. 1. 6. The winds goeth towards the South , ●nd turneth about unto the North ; it whirleth about continually , and returneth again according to its Circuits . 2. And as we should adore his Power in the winds , 〈◊〉 ought we to admire his Goodness in preserving Men in the height of all their fury and violence . O what a marvellous work of God is here ! That Men ●●ould be kept in a poor weak Vessel , upon the wild and stormy Ocean , where the Wind hath its full stroke upon them , and they are driven before it as a wreck upon the Seas ; yet , I say , that God should preserve you there , is a work of infinite goodness and power . That those Winds which do rend the very Earth , Mountains , and Rocks , 1 Kings 29. 11. Breaks the Cedars , yea , the Cedars of Lebanon , shakes the VVilderness and makes the Hinds , to calve : which Naturalists say , bring forth with greatest difficulty , Psal. 29. 5 , 8 , 9. Surely your preservation in such Tempests , is an astonishing work of Mercy . O how dreadful is this Creature , the Winds , sometimes to you ? And how doth it make your hearts shake within you ? If but a Plank spring , or a Bolt give way , you are all lost . Sometimes the Lord for the magnifying of the riches of his goodness upon you , drives you to such exigencies , that , as Paul speaks in a like case , Acts 17. 20. All hopes of being saved is taken away : Nothing but Death before your eyes . The Lord commands a Wind out of his Treasury , bids it go and lift up the terrible Waves ; look you in upon the shore , and drive you upon the Rocks , so that no Art can save you ; and then sends you a piece of Wreck , or some other means to land you safe : And all this to give you an experiment of his goodness and pity , that you may learn to fear that God , in whose hand your Soul and Breath is . And it may be for present , your hearts are much affected : Conscience works strongly , it smites you for sins formerly committed , such cannsels of Ministers or Relations slighted . Now , saith Conscience , God is come in this storm to reckon with thee for these things . But alas , all this is but a morning-dew ; no sooner is that storm without allayed , but all is quiet within too . How little of the goodness of God abides kindly and effectually upon the heart ? REFLECTION . How often hath this glorious power and goodness of God passed before me in dreadful storms and tempests at Sea ? He hath uttered his Voice in those stormy Winds , and spoken in a terrible manner by them ; yet how little have I been affected with it ? The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind , and in the storm , Nah. 1. 3. To some he hath walked in ways of Judgment and Wrath , sending them down in a moment to Hell ; but to me in a way of forbearance and mercy . Ah , how often have I been upon the very brink of Eternity ? Had not God shifted or allaid the Wind , in a moment , I had gone down into Hell. What workings of Conscience were at present upon me ? And what terrible apprehensions had I then of my eternal condition ? What Vows did I make in that distress ? and how earnestly did I then beg for Mercy ? But Lord , though thy Vows are upon me , yet have I been the same ; yea , added to , and filled up the measure of my sins . Neither the bonds of Mercy thou hast laid upon me , nor the sacred and solemn Vows I have laid upon my self , could restrain me from those ways of iniquity , which then appeared so dreadful to me . Ah Lord , what an heart have I ? What love , pity , and goodness have I sinned against ? If God had but respited Judgment so long what a mercy were it ! Sure I am , the damned would account it so ; but to give me such a space to repent , Ah what an invaluable Mercy is this ! And do I thus requite the Lord , Deut. 32. 6. and pervert and abuse his goodness thus ? Surely , O my Soul , if this be the fruit of all thy preservations , they are rather reservations to some further and sorer judgment . How dreadfully will Justice at last avenge the Quarrel of abused Mercy ? Iosh. 24. 20. How grievously did God take it from the Israelites , that they provoked him at the Sea , even at the Red Sea ? Psal. 106. 7. where God had wrought there deliverance in such a miraculous way . Even thus have I sinned after the similitude of there transgressions ; not onely against the Laws of God , but against the Love of God. In the last storm he shot off his VVarning-piece ; in the next , he may discharge his Murdering-piece against my Soul and body . O my Soul ! hath he given thee such deliverances as these , and darest thou again break his Commandments ; Ezra 9. 13 , 14. O let me pay the Vows that my lips have uttered in my distress , lest the Lord recover his glory from me in a way of Judgment . THE POEM . The Ship that now sails trim before a Wind , E're the desired Port it gains , may find A tedious passage : Gentle Gales a-while , Do fill its Sails , the flattering Seas do smile , The Face of Heaven is bright , on every side The wanton Porpice tumbles on the Tide . Into their Cahbins now the Sea-men go , And then turn out again , with , What chear ho ? All on a sudden darkned are the Skies , The Lamp of Heaven abscur'd , the Winds do rise ; Waves s●ell like Mountains : Now their Courage flags , The Masts are crackt , the Canvas torn to rags . The Vessel works for life ; anon one cries , The Main mast's gone by th' Board : another plies The ●ump , until a third do strike them blank With , Sirs , prepare for Death , w' have sprung a Plank . Now to their Knees they go , and on this wise They beg for Mercy with their loudest Cries : Lord , save us but this once , and thou shalt see What Persons for the future we will he : Our former ●im's mis-spent , but with a Vow VVe will engage , if thou wilt save us now ; To mend what is amiss . The gracious Lord , Inclin'd to pity , takes them at their word ; The VVinds into their Treasures he doth call , Rebukes the stormy Sea , and brin●s them all To their desired Haven : once ashore , And then their Vows are ne'r remembred more . Thus Souls are shipwrackt , tho the Bodies live , Vnless in time thou true Repentance give . CHAP. VIII . The Navigator shifts his Sails , to take All VVinds , but that which for his Soul doth make . OBSERVATION . THE Mariner wants no Skill and wisdom to improve several Winds , and make them serviceable to his eud ; A bare side-wind , by his skill in shifting and managing the Sails , will serve his turn : He will not lose the advantage of one breath or gale that may be useful to him , I have many times wonder'd to see two Ships failing in a direct counter-motion , by one and the same wind . Their skill and wisdom herein is admirable . APPLICATION . Thus prudent and skilful are Men in secular and lower matters , and yet how ignorant and unskilful in the great and everlasting affairs of their Souls ! All their Invention , Judgment , Wit , and Memory seem to be prest for the service of the flesh . They can learn an Art quickly , and arrive to a great deal of exactness in it ; but in soul-matters , no knowledge at all . They can understand the Aequator , Meridian , and Horizon : By the first they can tell the Latitude of any place , South or North , measuring it by the degrees in the Meridian ; by the second , they can tell you the Longitude of a place , East and West , from the Meridian , measuring it by the degrees of the Aequator : And by the third , they can discern the divers risings and settings of the Stars . And so in other Arts and Sciences , we find men endowed with rare abilities , and singular sagacity . Some have piercing Apprehensions , solid Judgments , stupendious Memories , rare Invention , and excellent elocution : But put them upon any spiritual pernatural matter , and the weakest Christian , even a babe in Christ , shall excel them therein , and give a far better account of Regeneration , the Work of Grace , the Life of Faith than these can . 1 Cor. 1. 26. Not many wise men after the flesh , &c. But God hath chosen the ●oolish things of this world , &c. REFLECTION . How inexcusable then art thou , O my Soul ! and how mute and confounded must thou needs stand before the bar of God , in that great day ? Thou hadst a Talent of natural parts committed to thee , but which way have they been improved ? I had an Understanding indeed , but it was not sanctified ; a Memory , but it was like a Sieve , that let go the Corn , and retain'd nothing but Husks and Chaff ; Wit and Invention , but alas none to do my self good . Ah! how will these rise in judgment against me , and stop my mouth ! What account shall I give for them in that day ? Again : Are men ( otherwise prudent and skillful ) such sots and fools in spiritual things ? Then let the poor weak Christian , whose natural parts are blunt and dull , admire the riches of God's Free grace to him . O what an astonishing consideration is this ! That God should pass by Men of the profoundest Natural parts , and chuse me , even poor me , whose Natural Faculties and Endowments , compared with theirs , are but as Led to Gold ! Thus under the Law he past by the Lion and Eagle , and chose the Lamb and Dove . O , how should it make me to advance Grace , as Christ doth upon the same account , Matth. 11. 25. I thank thee , Father , Lord of Heaven and Earth , that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent , and revealed them to babes . And let it ever be an humbling consideration to me ; For who made me to differ ? Is not this one principal thing God aims at , in calling such as I am ; that boasting may be excluded , and himself alone exalted ? THE POEM . One thing doth very much affect my mind , To see the Sea-man husband every Wind ; With exc'llent Art he shifts the Sails and knows How to improve the barest VVind that blows . If a direct or fore-right gale he want , A side-wind serves his turn , tho' ne'r so scant , And will not this one day in judgment rise Against your Soul ? Ah! can you be so wise In smaller matters ; what , and yet not know How to improve fresh gales of Grace that blow ? Fast mor'd in sin your wind-bound Souls can lie , And let these precious gales rise , blow , and die . Sometimes on your Affections you may feel Such gracious breathings : Ab , but hearts of steel , They move you not , nor cause you to relent , Though able , like Elijah's VVind , to rent The Rocks asunder : If you do not prize Those breathings , other VVinds will shortly rise , And from another quarter ; those once gone , Then next look out for an Euroclydon . A dreadful storm : how soon no Man can tell ; But when it comes , 't will blow such Souls to Hell. CHAP. IX . If Sea-men lose a gale , there they may lie : The Soul , when once becalm'd , in sin may die . OBSERVATION . SEa-men are very watchful to take their opportunity of Wind and Tide ; and it much concerns them so to be : The neglect of a few hours , sometimes loses them their passage , and proves a great detriment to them . They know the Wind is an uncertain variable thing ; they must take it when they may ; they are unwilling to lose one flow , or breath , that may be serviceable to them . If a prosperous Gale offer , and they not ready , it repents them to lose it , as much as it would repent us to see a Vessel of good Wine or Beer tapt and run waste . APPLICATION . There are also seasons and gales of Grace for our Souls ; golden opportunities of Salvation afforded to men , the neglect of which proves the loss and ruine of Souls . God hath given unto men a day of Visitation , which he hath limited , Heb. 4. 7. and keeps an exact account of every Year , Month , and Day , that we have enjoyed it , Luke 13. 7. Ier. 25. 3. Luke 19. 42. The longest date of it can be but the time of this Life : This is our day to work in , Iob 9. 4. and upon this small wyre , the weight of Eternity hangs . But sometimes the season of Grace is ended , before the night of Death comes ; the accepted time is gone , men frequently out-live it , Luke 19. 44. 2 Cor. 6. 2. Or , if the outward means of Salvation be continued , yet the Spirit many times withdraws from those means , and ceases any more to strive with Men ; and then the Blessing , Power and Efficacy is gone from them , and instead thereof a Curse seizeth the Soul , Heb. 6. 7 , 8. and Ier. 6. 29. Therefore it is a matter of high importance to our Souls , to apprehend these seasons . How pathetically doth Christ bewail Ierusalem , upon this account ? Luke 19. 42. O that thou hadst known , at least in this thy day , the things of thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes . If a company of Sea-men be set a-shore upon some remote , uninhabited Island , with this advice , to be a-board again exactly at such an hour , else they must be left behind : How doth it concern them to be punctual in their time ? The lives of those men depend upon a quarter of an hour . Many a Soul hath perished eternally ( the Gospel leaving them behind in their sins ) because they knew not the time of their Visitation . REFLECTION . What golden Seasons for Salvation hast thou enjoyed , O my Soul ? What Halcyon-days of Gospel-light and Grace hast thou had ? How have the precious Gales of Grace blown to no purpose upon thee ! and the Spirit waited and striven with thee in vain ? The Kingdom of Heaven ( being opened in the Gospel-dispensations ) hath suffered violence . Multitudes have been pressing into it in my days , and I my self have sometimes been almost perswaded , and not far from the Kingdom of God : I have gone as far as conviction of sin and misery ; yea , I have been carried by the power of the Gospel , to resolve and purpose to turn to God , and become a new Creature ; but sin hath been too subtil and deceitful for me : I see , my resolutions were but as an early Cloud , or Morning-Dew ; and now my heart is cold and dead again , setled upon its Lees. Ah! I have cause to fear and tremble , lest God hath left me under that Curse , Rev. 20. 11. Let him that is filthy , be filthy still . I fear I am become as that myrie place , Ezek. 47. 11 ▪ that shall not be healed by the streams of the Gospel , but given to salt , and cursed into perpetual barrenness . Ah Lord , wilt thou leave me so ! and shall thy Spirit strive no more with me ? Then it had been good for me that I had never been born . Ah , if I have trifled out this Season , and irrecoverably lost it , then I may take up that lamentation , Ier. 8. 20. and say , My Harvest is past , my Summer is ended , and I am not saved . Every Creature knows its time , even the Turtle , Crane , and Swallow , know the time of their coming , Ier. 8. 7. How brutish am I , that have not known the time of my Visitation ! O thou that art the Lord of Life and Time , command one gracious Season more for me , and make it effectual to me , before I go hence , and be seen no more ! THE POEM . A fresh and whisking Gale presents to day , But now the Ship 's not ready ; Winds must stay , And wait the Sea-mens leisure . Well , to morrow They will put out ; but then , unto their sorrow , That Wind is spent , and by that means they gain Perchance a Month's Repentance , if not twain . At last another offers , now they 're gone ; But e're they gain their Port , the Market's done . For every work and purpose under Heaven , A proper time and season God hath given . The Fowls of Heaven , Swallow , Turtle , Crane , Do apprehend it , and put us to shame . Man hath his season too : but that mis-spent , There 's time enough his folly to repent . Eternity's before him , but therein No more such golden hours as these have been . When these are past away , then you shall find That Proverb true , Occasion 's bald behind . Delays are dangerous ; see that you discern Your proper seasons . O that you would learn This Wisdom from those Fools that comes too late With fruitless cries , when Christ has shut the gate . CHAP. X. By Navigation one place stores another ; And by Communion we must help each other . OBSERVATION . THE most wise God hath so dispenced his Bounty to the several Nations of the World , that one standing in need of anothers Commodities , there might be a sociable Commerce and Traffick maintaintain'd amongst them all , and all combining in a common League , may , by the help of Navigation , exhibit mutual succours to each other . The Staple-Commodities proper to each Country , I find thus expressed by the Poet , Bart. Coll. Hence come our Sugars from Canary Isles , From Candy Currans , Muskadels , and Oyls ; From the Moluccoes , Spices ; Balsamum From Aegypt ; Odours from Arabia come ; From India Gums , rich Drugs and Ivory ; From Syria Mummy ; Black , Red Ebony From burning Chus ; from Peru , Pearl and Gold ; From Russia Furs , to keep the Rich from Cold. From Florence Silks ; from Spain Fruit , Saffron , Sacks ; From Denmark Amber , Cordage , Firs , and Flax ; From Holland Hops ; ●orse from the Banks of Rhine ; From England VVool : all Lands , as God distributes , To the VVorld's Treasure pay their sundry Tributes . APPLICATION . Thus hath God distributed the more rich and precious Gifts and Graces of his Spirit among his People : Some excelling in one Grace , some in another , though every Grace , in some degree , be in them all ; even as in Nature , though there be all the Faculties in all , yet some Faculties are in some more lively and vigorous than in others ; some have a more vigorous eye ▪ others a more ready ear , others a more voluable tongue ; so it 's in Spirituals . Abraham excell'd in Faith , ●ob in Patience , Iohn in Love. These were their peculiar excellencies . All the elect Vessels are not of one quantity ; yet even those that excel others in some particular Grace , come short in other respects of those they so excelled in the former , and may be much improv'd by converse with such as in some respects are much below them . The solid , wise , and judicious Christian may want that liveliness of affections , and tenderness of heart , that appears in the weak ; and one that excels in gifts and utterance , may learn Humility from the very Babes in Christ. And one principal Reason of this different distribution , is to maintain fellowship among them all , 1 Cor. 12. 21. The Head cannot say to the Feet I have no need of you . As in a Family , where there is much business to be done , even the little Children bear a part , according to their strength , Jer. 7. 18. The children gather wood , the fathers kindle the fire , the women knead the dough . So in the Family of Christ , the weakest Christian is serviceable to the strong . There be precious Treasures in these Earthen Vessels , for which we should trade by mutual communion . The preciousness of the Treasure , should draw out our desires and endeavours after it ; and the consideration of the brittleness of those Vessels in which they are kept , should cause us to be the more expeditious in our trading with them , and make the quicker Returns : For when those Vessels ( I mean the Bodies of the Saints ) are broken by Death , there is no more to be gotten out of them . That Treasure of Grace which made them such profitable , pleasant . and desirable companions on Earth , then Ascends with them into Heaven , where every Grace receives its adolescence and perfection : And then , though they be Ten thousand times more excellent and delightful than ever they were on Earth , yet we can have no more communion with them , till we come to Glory our selves . Now therefore it behoves us to be enriching our selves by communication of what God hath dropt into us , and improvement of them ; as one well Notes . We should do by Saints , as we use to do by some choice Book lent us for a few days , we should fix in our Memories , or transcribe all the choice . Notions we meet with in it , that they may be our own when the Book is called for , and we can have it no longer by us . REFLECTION . Lord , How short do I come of my Duty in communicating to , or receiving good by others ! My Soul is either empty and barren , or if there be any Treasure in it , yet it is but as a Treasure locked up in some Chest , whose Key is lost , when it should be open'd for the use of others . Ah Lord ! I have sinned greatly , not only by vain words , but sinful silence . I have been of little use in the World. How little also have I gotten by communion with others ? Some , it may be , that are of my own size , or judgment , or that I am otherwise obliged to , I can delight to converse with : But O , where is that largeness of heart , and general delight I should have to , and in all thy People ? How many of my old dear Acquaintance are now in Heaven , whose Tongues were as Choice silver , while they were here , Prov. 10. 20. And , blessed Souls , how communicative were they of what thou gavest them ? O what an improvement had I made of my Talent this way , had I been diligent ! Lord pardon my neglect of those sweet and blessed advantages . O let all my delight be in thy Saints , who are the excellent of the earth . Let me never go out of their company , without an heart more warmed , quickned , and enlarged , than when I came amongst them . THE POEM . To several Nations God doth so distribute His bounty , that each one must pay a tribute Vnto each other . Europe cannot vaunt , And say , Of Africa I have no want . America and Asia need not strive , Which of it self can best subsist and live . Each Countries want , in something , doth maintain Commerce betwixt them all . Such is the aim And end of God , who doth dispense and give More Grace to some , their Brethren to relieve . This makes the Sun Ten thousand times more bright , Because it is diffusive of its Light , Its Beams are gilded gloriously ; but then This property doth gild them o're agen . Should Sun , Moon , Stars , impropriate all their light , What dismal darkness would the World benight ? On this account Men hate the Vermine brood , Because they take in much , but do no good . What harm , if I at yours my Candle light ? Except thereby I make your Room more bright . He that , by Pumping , sucks and draws the Spring , New streams , and sweeter , to that Well doth bring . Grace is a Treasure in an Earthen Pot ; When Death hath dasht it , no more can be got Out of that Vessel : Then while it is whole , Get out the Treasure to enrich your Soul. CHAP. XI . The Rocks abide , though Seas against them rage ; So shall the Church , which is God's Heritage . OBTERVATION . THE Rocks , though scituate in the boisterous and tempestuous Ocean , yet abide firm and immovable from Age to Age : The impetuous Waves dash against them with great violence , but cannot remove them out of their place . And although sometimes they wash over them , and make them to disappear , yet there they remain fixt and impregnable . APPLICATION . This is a lively Emblem of the condition of the Church , amidst all dangers and oppositions wherewith it is encountred and assaulted in this World. These Metaphorical Waves roar and beat with violence against it , but with as little success as the Sea against the Rocks , Matth. 16. 18. Vpon this Rock will I build my Church , and the [ gates ] of Hell shall not prevail against it . The Gates of Hell , are the power and policy of Hell ; for it is conceived to be an allusive speech to the Gates of the Iews wherein their Ammunition for War was lodged , which also were the Seats of Judicature , there sate the Judges : but yet , these Gates of Hell shall not prevail . Nay , this Rock is not only invincible in the midst of their violence , but also breaks all that dash against it , Zech 12. 3. In that day I will make Jerusalem a burthensome stone for all people : all that burden themselves with it , shall be cut in pieces , though all the people of the Earth be gathered together against it . An Allusion to one that assays to roul some great stone against the Hill , which at last returns upon him , and crushes him to pieces . And the reason why it is thus firm and impregnable , is not from it self ; for alas ; so considered , it is weak , and obnoxious to ruine ; but from the almighty Power of God , which guards and preserves it day and night , Psal. 46. 5 , 6. God is in the midst of her , she shall not be moved : God shall help her , and that right early . Vatab. Dum espieit mane . When the morning appears . Which notes ( saith Calvin ) God's assiduous and constant help and succour , which is extended in all dangers , as constantly as the Sun arises . And this assiduous succour to his people , and their great security thereby , is set forth in the Scriptures by a pleasant variety of Metaphors and Emblems , Zech. 2. 5. I ( saith the Lord ) will be a VVall of Fire round about it . Some think this phrase alludes to the Cherubims , that kept the way of the Tree of Life with flaming swords : Others , to the fiery Chariots round about Datham , where Elisha was : but most think it to be an allusion to an ancient custom of Travellers in the Desarts ; who to prevent the assaults of wilde Beasts in the night , made a Circular fire round about them , which was as a Wall to them . Thus will God be to his people , a wall of fire , which none can scale . So Exod. 3. 3 , 4 , 5. We have an excellent Emblem of the Churches low and dangerous condition , and admirable preservation . You have here , both a Marvel and a Mystery : The Marvel was to see a bush all on fire , and yet not consumed . The Mystery is this : the Bush represented the sad condition of the Church in Egypt ; the Fire flaming upon it , the grievous Afflictions , troubles , and bondage it was in there ; the remaining of the Bush unconsumed , the strange and admirable preservation of the Church in those troubles . It lived there as the three noble Iews , untouched in the midst of a burning fiery Furnace : And the Angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in the midst of the Bush , was nothing else but the Lord Iesus Christ , powerfully and graciously present with his people , amidst all their dangers and sufferings . The Lord is exceeding tender over them , and jealous for them , as that Expression imports , Zech. 2. 8. He that touches you , toucheth the apple of mine eye . He that strikes at them , strikes at the Face of God ; and at the most excellent part of the Face , the Eye ; and at the most tender and precious part of the Eye , the Apple of the Eye . And yet ( as a Learned Modern observes ) this people of whom he uses this tender and dear expression , were none of the best of Israel neither ; but the residue that staid behind in Babilon , when their Brethren were gone to reb●ild the Temple ; and yet over these , is he as tender , as a man is over his eye . REFLECTION . And is the security of the Church so great ! and its preservation ●o admirable , amidst all Storms and Tempests ! Then why art thou so prone and subject to despond , O my Soul , in the day of Sions trouble ? Sensible thou wast , and oughtest to be ; but no reason to hang down the head through discouragement , much less to forsake Sion in her distress , for fear of being ruined with her . What David spake to Abiathar , 1 Sam. 22. 23. that may Sion speak to all her Sons and Daughters in all their distresses : Though he that seeketh thy life , seeketh mine also ; yet with me shalt thou be in safeguard . God hath intail'd great Salvation and Deliverances upon Sion ; and blessed are all her Friends and Favourers ; the Rock of ages is its defence . Fear not therefore , O my Soul , though the Hills be removed out of their place , and cast into the midst of the Sea. O let my Faith triumph , and my Heart rejoyce upon this ground of comfort . I see the same Rocks now , and in the same place and condition they were many years ago . Though they have endured many storms , yet there they abide ; and so shall Sion , when the proud waves have spent their fury and rage against it . THE POEM . Mesopotamia , s●●tuate in the Seas , May represent the Church , or if you please , A Rock , o're which the Waves do wash and swill , May figure it ; chuse either , which you will. Winds strive upon those Seas , and make a noise , The lofty Waves sometimes lift up their voice , And swelling high , successively do beat VVith violence against it , then retreat . They break themselves , but it abides their shock ; And when their Rage is spent there stands the Rock . Then they are out , that do affirm and vote , Peace , Pomp , and Splendour is the Churches Note . And they deserve no less reproof , that are In Zion's Troubles ready to despair . This Rock amidst far stronger Rocks doth lie , VVhich are its fence , so deep , so thick , so high , They cann't be batterr'd , scal'd , or undermin'd : And these , environ'd by them , daily find Their Bread ascertain'd ; VVaters too secur'd Then shout and sing , ye that are thus Immur'd . CHAP. XII . VVhat Dangers run they for a little gains , VVho , for their Souls , would ne'r take half the pains ! OBSERVATION . HOw exceeding solicitous and adventurous are Sea-men for a small portion of the World ? How prodigal of strength and life for it ? They will run to the ends of the Earth , engage in a Thousand dangers , upon the hopes and probability of getting a small Estate . Per mare per terras , per mille pericula currunt . Hopes of gain makes them willing to adventure their liberty , yea , their life ; and encourages them to endure Heat , Cold , and Hunger , and a Thousand streights and difficulties , to which they are frequently exposed . APPLICATION . How hot and eager are Mens affections after the World ? And how remiss and cold towards things eternal ? They are careful , and troubled about many things , but seldom mind the great and necessary matters , Luke 10. 40. They can rise early , go to bed late , eat the bread of carefulness : But when did they so deny themselves for their poor Souls ? Their heads are full of designs and projects to get or advance an Estate : VVe will go into such a City , continue there a year , and Buy and Sell , and get gain , Jam. 4. 13. This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the Master-design , which engrosseth all their time , studies and contrivances . The Will hath past a Decree for it , the Heart and Affections are fully let out to it , They will be rich , 1 Tim. 6. 9. This Decree of the Will , the Spirit of God takes deep notice of it ; and indeed it is the clearest and fullest discovery of a Man's portion and condition : For , look what is highest in the estimation , first and last in the thoughts , and upon which we spend our time and strength with delight ; certainly , that is our Treasure , Mat. 6. 20 , 21. The Heads and Hearts of Saints are full of solicitous cares and fears about their Spiritual Condition : The great design they drive on , to which all other things are but [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ] things on the by , is to make sure their Calling and Election . This is the [ Pondus , ] the weight and byass of their Spirit : if their hearts stray and wander after any other thing , this reduces them again . REFLECTION . Lord , this hath been my manner from my Youth , may the Carnal minded Man say ; I have been labouring for the Meat that perisheth ; disquieting my self in vain , full of designs and projects for the World , and unwearied in my endeavours to compass an earthly treasure ; yet therein I have either been checkt and disappointed by Providence ; or if I have obtained , yet I am no sooner come to enjoy that Content and Comfort I promised my self in it , but I am ready to leave it all , to be stript out of it by Death , and in that day all my thoughts perish . But in the mean time What have I done for my Soul ? When did I ever break a Night's sleep , or deny and pinch my self for it ? Ah fool that I am ! to nourish and pamper a vile Body , which must shortly lie under the Clods , and become a loathsome Carkass ; and , in the mean time , neglect and undo my poor Soul , which partakes of the Nature of Angels , and must live for ever . I have kept others Vineyards , but mine own Vineyard I have not kept : I have been a perpetual drudge and slave to the World ; in a worse condition hath my Soul been , than others that are Condemned to the Mines . Lord change my Treasure , and change my Heart : O let it suffice that I have been thus long labouring on the fire , for very vanity . Now gather up my heart and affections in thy self , and let my great design now be , to secure a special interest in thy Blessed Self , that I may once say , To me to live is Christ. THE POEM . The Face of Man imprest and stampt on Gold , VVith Crown and Royal Scepters we behold . No wonder that an humane Face it gains , Since Head , Heart , Soul , and Body it obtains . Nor is it strange a Scepter it should have , That to its Yoke the World doth so enslave . Charm'd with its chinking Note , away they go Like Eagles to the Carcass , ride and row . Through worlds of hazards foolish creatures run That into its embraces they may come . Poor Indians in the Mines my heart condoles , But seldom turns aside to pity Souls , Which are the slaves indeed , that toyl and spend Themselves upon its service . Surely , Friend , They are but Sextons to prepare and make Thy Grave within those Mines , whence they do take And dig their Ore. Ah! many Souls , I fear , Whose Bodies live , yet lie entombed there . Is Gold so tempting to you ? Lo , Christ stands , VVith length of days , and riches in his hands . Gold in the fire tried he freely proffers ; But few regard or take those Golden Offers . CHAP. XIII . Millions of Creatures in the Seas are fed : Why then are Saints in doubt of daily bread ? OBSERVATION . THere are multitudes of Living Creatures in the Sea. The Psalmist saith , There are in it things creeping innumerable , both small and great beasts , Psal. 104. 25. And we read , Gen. 1. 20. that when God blessed the Waters he said , Let the Waters bring forth abundantly , both Fish and Fowl , that move in it , and fly about it . Yet all those multitudes of Fish and Fowl , both in Sea and Land , are cared and provided for , Psal. 145. 15 , 16. Thou givest them their meat in due season ; thou openest thy hand , and satisfiest the desire of every living thing . APPLICATION . If God take care for the Fishes of the Sea , and the Fowls of the Air , much more will he care and provide for those that fear him . When the poor and needy seeketh water , and there is none , and their tongue faileth for thirst ; I the Lord will hear them , I the God of Israel will not forsake them , Isai. 41. 17. Take no thought for your life ( saith the Lord ) what ye shall eat , or what ye shall drink ; or for the body , what ye shall put on : Which he backs with an Argument from God's Providence over the Creatures , and enforceth it with a [ much rather ) upon them , Matth. 6. 25 , 31. God would have his people be without carefulness ( i. e. ) anxious care , 1 Cor. 7. 32. And to cast their care upon him , for he careth for them , 1 Pet. 5. 7. There be two main Arguments suggested in the Gospel , to quiet and satisfie the hearts of Saints in this particular : The one is , that the Gift of Jesus Christ amounts to more than all these things come to ; yea , in bestowing him , he has given that which virtually and eminently comprehends all these inferiour mercies in it , Rom. 8. 32. He that spared not his own Son , but delivered him up for us all ? how , shall he not with him freely give us all things ? And 1 Cor. 3. 22. All things are yours , and ye are Christ's , and Christ is God's . Another Argument is , That God gives these Temporal Things to those he never gave his Christ unto , and therefore there is no great matter in them : Yea , to those , which in a little while , are to be thrust into Hell , Psal. 17. 14. Now , if God cloath and feed his enemies , if ( to allude to that , Luke 12. 28. ) he cloath this Grass , which to day is in its pride and glory in the Field , and to morrow is cast into the Oven , into Hell. How much more will he cloath and provide for you that are Saints ? This God that feeds all the Creatures , is your Father , and a Father that never dies ; and therefore you shall not be as exposed Orphans , that are the Children of such a Father . For he hath said , I will never leave you , nor forsake you , Heb. 13. 3. I have read of a good woman , that in all wants and distresses , was wont to encourage herself with that word , 2 Sam. 22. 47. The Lord liveth . But one time being in a deep distress , and forgetting that consolation , one of her little Children came to her , and said , Mother , Why weep ye so ? What , is God dead now ? Which words from a Child , shamed her out of her unbelieving fears , and quickly brought her Spirit to rest . O Saint , whilst God lives , thou canst not want what is good for thee . How sweet a Life might Christians live , could they but bring their hearts to a full subjection to the disposing Will of God! to be content not only with what he commands and approves , but also with what he allots and appoints . It was a sweet Reply , that a gracious Woman once made upon her Death-bed , to a Friend that asked her , VVhether she were more willing to live or die ? She answer'd , I am pleas'd with what God pleaseth . Yea , said her Friend , but if God should refer it to you , which would you chuse ? Truly , ( saith she ) if God should refer it to me , I would refer it to him again . Ah blest Life , when the Will is swallow'd up in the Will of God , and the heart at rest in his care and love , and pleased with all his appointments ! REFLECTION . I remember my fault this day , may many a gracious Soul say . Ah how faithless and distrustful have I been notwithstanding the great security God hath given to my Faith , both in his Word and Works ! O my Soul , thou hast greatly sinned therein , and dishonoured thy Father ! I have been worse to my Father , than my Children are to me . They trouble not their thoughts with what they shall eat or drink , or put on , but trust to my care and provision for that : Yet I cannot trust my Father , though I have ten thousand times more reason so to do , than they have to trust me , Mat. 7. 21. Surely , unless I were jealous of my Father's affection , I could not be so dubious of his provision for me . Ah , I should rather wonder that I have so much , than repine that I have no more . I should rather have been troubled that I have done no more for God , than that I have received no more from God. I have not proclaimed it to the World by my Conversation , that I have found a sufficiency in him alone , as the Saints have done , Hab. 3. 17 , 18. How have I debased the Faithfulness and All-sufficiency of God , and magnified these earthly trifles , by my anxiety about them ? Had I had more Faith , a light Purse would not have made such an heavy heart . Lord , how often hast thou convinced me of this folly , and put me to the blush , when thou hast confuted my unbelief ; so that I have resolved never to distrust thee more , and yet new exigencies renew this corruption ? How contradictory also hath my heart and my prayers been ? I pray for them conditionally , and with submission to thy Will ; I dare not say to thee , I must have them ; yet this hath been the language of my heart and life . O convince me of this folly ! THE POEM . Variety of curious Fish are caught Out of the Sea , and to our Tables brought ; VVe pick the choicest bits , and then we say , VVe are sufficed ; come , now take away . The Table 's voided , you have done ; but fain I would perswade to have it brought again . The sweetest bit of all remains behind VVhich through your want of skill , you could not find . A bit for Faith , have you not found it ? Then I have made but half a meal ; come taste agen , Hast thou considered ( O my Soul ) that hand Which feeds those multitudes in Sea and Land ? A double mercy in it thou shouldest see ; It fed them first , and then with them fed thee . Food in the Waters we should think were scant For such a multitude , yet none do want . VVhat numerous flocks of Birds above me fly ? VVhen saw I one , through want fall down and die ? They gather what his hand to them doth bring , Though but a VVorm , and at that Feast can sing . How full a Table doth my Father keep ? Blush then , my naughty heart , repent and weep ; How faithless and distrustful hast thou been , Although his care and love thou oft hast seen ? Thus in a single dish you have a feast , Your first and second course , the last the best . CHAP. XIV . Sea-waters drained through the earth , are sweet ; So are th' afflictions which God's People meet . OBSERVATION . THE Waters of the Sea in themselves , are brackish and unpleasant , yet being exhaled by the Sun , and condensed into Clouds , they fall down into pleasant Showers ; or if drained through the Earth , their property is thereby altered ; and that which was so salt in the Sea , becomes exceeding sweet and pleasant in the Springs . This we find by constant experience , the sweetest crystal Spring came from the Sea , Eccles. 1. 7. APPLICATION . Afflictions in themselves are evil , Amos 2. 6. Very bitter and unpleasant , See Heb. 12. 11. Yet not morally and intrinsically evil , as sin is ; for if so , the holy God would never own it for his own act , as he doth , Mic. 3. ●2 . but always disclaimeth sin , Iam. 1. 3. Besides , if it were so evil , it could in no case , or respect , be the object of our election and desire ; as in some cases it ought to be , Heb. 11. 25. But it is evil , as it is the fruit of sin , and grievous unto sense , Heb. 14. 11. But though it be thus brackish and unpleasant in itself , yet passing through Christ , and the Covenant , it loses that ungrateful property , and becomes pleasant in the fruits and effects thereof unto believers , Heb. 12. 11. Yea , such are the blessed fruits thereof , that they are to account it all joy , when they fall into divers afflictions , Iam. 1. 2. David could bless God , that he was afflicted ; and many a Saint hath done the like . A good woman once compared her afflictions to her children : For ( saith she ) they put me in pain in bearing them ; yet as I know not which child , so neither which affliction I conld be without . Sometimes the Lord sanctifies affliction to discover the corruption that is in the heart , Deut. 8. 2. It is a furnace to shew the dross . Ah! when a sharp Affliction comes , then the pride , impatiency , and unbelief of the heart appears . Matura vexata prodit seipsam . When the Water is stirred , then the mud and filthy sediment that lay at the bottom rises . Little ( saith the afflicted Soul ) did I think , there had been in me that pride , self-love , distrust of God , carnal fear , and unbelief , as I now find . O where is my Patience , my Faith , my Glory in tribulation ? I could not have imagined the sight of Death would have so appalled me , the loss of outward things so have pierced me . Now what a blessed thing is this , to have the heart thus discovered ? Again : Sanctified Afflictions discover the emptiness and vanity of the Creature . Now the Lord hath stained its pride , and vailed its tempting splendour , by this or that affliction ; and the Soul sees what an empty , shallow , deceitful thing it is . The World ( as one hath truly observed ) is then only great in our eyes , when we are full of sense and self : But now Affliction makes us more spiritual , and then it is nothing . It drives them nearer to God ▪ makes them see the necessity of the Life of Faith , with multitudes of other benefits . But yet these sweet fruits of Affliction do not naturally , and of their own accord , spring from it : No , we may as well look for Grapes from Thorns , or Figs from Thistles , as for such Fruits from Affliction , till Christ's sanctifying Hand and Art have past upon them . The reason why they become thus sweet and pleasant ( as I noted before ) is , because they run now into another channel ; Jesus Christ hath removed them from Mount Ebal to Gerezim ; they are no more the effects of vindictive Wrath , but paternal Chastisement . And ( as Mr. Case well notes ) A teaching affliction is to the Saints , the result of all the Offices of Iesus Christ. As a King , he chastens ; as a Prophet , he teacheth , viz. by chastening ; and as a Priest , he hath purchased this grace of the Father , that the dry Rod might blossom , and bear fruit . Behold then , a sanctified affliction is a Cup , whereinto Jesus Christ hath wrung and prest the juyce and virtue of all his Mediatory Offices . Surely , that must be a Cup of generous , Royal Wine , like that in the Supper , a Cup of Blessing to the people of God. REFLECTION . Hence may the unsanctified Soul draw matter of fear and trouble , even from its unsanctified troubles . And thus it may reflect upon it self ; O my Soul , what good hast thou gotten by all , or any of thy afflictions ? God's Rod hath been dumb to thee , or thou deaf to it . I have not learned one holy Instruction from it : My troubles have left me the same , or worse than they found me ; my Heart was proud , earthly , and vain before , and so it remains still : They have not purged out , but onely given vent to the pride , murmur , and atheism of my heart . I have been in my afflictions , as that wicked Ahaz was in his , 2 Chron. 28. 22. Who in the midst of his distress , yet trespassed more and more against the Lord. When I have been in storms at Sea , or troubles at home , my Soul within me hath been as a raging Sea , casting up mire and dirt . Surely this Rod is not the Rod of God's Children . I have proved but dross in the Furnace , and I fear the Lord will put me away as dross , as he threatens to do by the wicked , Psal. 119. 119. Hence also should gracious Souls draw much encouragement and comfort amidst all their troubles . O these are the fruits of Gods fatherly love to me ! Why should I fear in the day of evil ? or tremble any more at affliction ? though they seem as a Serpent at a distance , yet are they a Rod in hand . O blessed be that skilful and gracious hand , that makes the Rod , the dry Rod to blossome , and bear such precious fruit . Lord ! what a mystery of love lies in this dispensation ! That sin which first brought afflictions into the world , is now it self carried out of the world by affliction , Rom. 5. 12. Isa. 7. 9. O what can frustrate my Salvation , when those very things that ●eem most to oppose it , are mad subservient to it ; ●nd contrary to their own nature do promote and ●urther it ? THE POEM . ●Tis strange to hear what different censures fall Vpon the same affliction ; some do call Their troubles sweet , some bitter ; others meet Them both mid-way , and call them bitter-sweet . But here 's the question still , I fain would see , Why sweet to him , and bitter unto me ? Thou drink'st them Dregs and all , but others find Their troubles sweet , because to them refin'd , And sanctifi'd ; which difference is best , By such apt Si●ilies as these exprest . From Salt and Brackish Seas Fumes rise and fly Which into Clouds condens'd , obscure the skie , Their property there alter'd in few hours Those brackish fumes fall down in pleasant showers : Or as the dregs of Wine and Beer distill'd By Limbeck , with ingredients , doth yield A Cordial water , though the Lees were bitter , From whence the Chymist did extract such liquor . Then marvel not that one can kiss that Rod , Which makes another to blaspheme his God. O get your troubles sweet'ned and refin'd Or else they 'll leave bitter effects behind . Saints troubles are a Cord , let down by love , To pully up their hearts to things above . CHAP. XV. The Seas within their bounds the Lord contains ; He also Men and Devils holds in Chains . OBSERVATION . IT is a wonderful work of God , to limit and bound such a vast and furious Creature , as the Sea ; which according to the judgment of many Learned Men , is higher than the Earth ; and that it hath a propension to overflow it , is evident , both from its nature and motion ; were it not , that the great God had laid his Law upon it . And this is a work wherein the Lord glories , and will be admired , Psal. 104. 9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over , that they turn not again to cover the Earth . Which it's clear they would do , were they not thus limitted . So Job 38. 8. 10. 11. Who shut up the Seas with doors , when it breake forth , as if it had issued out of the VVomb ? I brake up for it my decreed place , and set bars and doors , and said Hitherto shalt thou come , but no further ; and here shall thy proud VVaves be staid . APPLICATION . And no less is the glorious Power and Mercy of God discovered in bridling the rage and fury of Satan and his Instruments , that they break not in upon the Inheritance of the Lord , and destroy it . Surely , the wrath of man shall praise thee , and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain , Psal. 76. 10. By which it is more than hinted , that there is a World of Rage and Malice in the hearts of wicked men , which fain would , but cannot vent itself , because the Lord restrains , or as the Hebrew , Girds it up . Satan is the envious one , and his rage is great against the people of God , Rev. 12. 12. But God holds him and all his Instruments in a Chain of Providence ; and it is well for God's People , that it is so . They are limited as the Sea , and so the Lord in a providential way speaks to them , Hitherto shall you go , and no further . Sometimes he ties them up so short , that they cannot touch his people , though they have the greatest opportunities and advantages , Psal. 105. 12 , 13 , 14 , 15. VVhen they were but a few men in number , yea , very few , and strangers in it ; when they went from one Nation to another , from one Kingdom to another people : He suffered no man to do them wrong ; yea , he reproved Kings for their sakes , saying , Touch not mine Anointed , and do my Prophets no harm . And sometimes he permits them to touch and trouble his People , but then sets bounds and limits to them , beyond which they must not pass . That is a pregnant Text to this purpose , Revel . 2. 10. Behold , the Devil shall cast some of you into prison , that you may be tried , and ye shall have trihulation ten days . Here are four remarkable limitations upon Satan and his Agents , in reference to the People of God : A limitation as to the Persons , not all , but some : A limitation of the Punishment , a Prison , not a Grave , not Hell : A limitation upon them as to the end ; for trial , not ruine : And lastly , as to the Duration ; not as long as they please , but ten days . REFLECTION . O my Soul , what Marrow and Fatness , Comfort , and Consolation , maist thou suck from the Breast of this Truth , in the darkest day of trouble ? Thou seest how the flowing Sea drives to over-whelm the Earth . Who has arrested it in its course , and stopt its violence ! Who has confin'd it to its place ? Certainly none other but the Lord. When I see it threaten the shore with its proud , furious , and insulting Waves , I wonder it doth not swallow up all : but I see it no sooner touch the Sands , which God hath made its bounds , but it retires , and as it were with a kind of submission , respects those limits which God hath set it . Thus the fiercest Element is represt by the feeblest things ; Thou seest also , how full of wrath and fury wicked men are , how they rage like the troubled Sea , and threaten to over-whelm * thee , and all the Lord's Inheritance : and then the floods of ungodly men make thee afraid , yet are they restrained by an invisible gracious hand , that they cannot execute their purpose , nor perform their enterprize . How full of Devils and devillized Men , is this lower World ? Yet in the midst of them all hast thou hitherto been preserved . O my Soul , admire and adore that glorious power of God , by which thou art kept unto Salvation . Is not the preservation of a Saint in the midst of such hosts of enemies , as great a Miracle , though not so sensible , as the preservation of those three Noble Iews in the midst of the fiery Furnace , or Daniel in the Den of Lions ? For there is as strong a propension in Satan , and wicked men , to destroy the Saints ; as in the fire to burn , or a Lion to devour . O then let me chearfully address my self to the faithful discharge of my duty , and stand no longer in a slavish fear of creatures , who can have no power against me , but what is given them from above , Iohn 19. 11. And no more shall be given than shall turn to the glory of God , Psal. 76. 10. and the advantage of my Soul , Rom. 8. 28. THE POEM . This World 's a Forrest , where from day to day , Bears , Wolves , and Lions range and seek their prey , Amidst them all poor harmless Lambs are fed , And by their very Dens in safety led . They roar upon us , but are held in Chains : Our Shepherd is their Keeper , he maintains Our Lot. Why then should we so trembling stand ? We meet them , true , but in their Keeper's hand . He that to ranging Seas such Bounds hath put , The mouths of ravenous Beasts can also shut . Sleep in the Woods , poor Lambs your selves repose Vpon his Care , whose Eyes do never close . If unbelief in you don't loose their chain , Fear not their strugling , that 's but all in vain . If God can check the VVaves by smallest Sand , A Twined Thread may hold these in his hand . Shun Sin , keep close to Christ ; for other evils You need not fear , tho' compast round with Devils . CHAP. XVI . To Sea without a Compass none dare go ; Our Course without the VVord is even so . OBSERVATION . OF how great use and necessity is the Compass to Sea-men ? Though they can coast a little way by the Shoar , yet they dare not venture far into the Ocean without it . It s their Guide , and directs and shapes their Course for them : And if by the violence of Wind and Weather they be driven beside their due Course , yet by the help of this , they are reduced and brought to Rights again . It is wonderful to consider , how by the help of this Guide they can run in a direct Line many hundred Leagues , and at last fall right with the smallest Island ; which is in the Ocean , comparatively , but as the head of a small Pin upon a Table . APPLICATION . What the Compass , and all other Mathematical Instruments are to the Navigator , that and much more is the Word of God to us in our course to Heaven . This is our Compass to steer our course by , and it is truly touched ; he that orders his conversation by it , shall safely arrive in Heaven at las● . Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this rule , Peace be on them , and mercy . This Word is as necessary to us in our way to Glory , as a Lamp or Lanthorn is in a dark night , Psal. 119. 105. This is a light shining in a dark place , till the day dawn , and the day-star arise in our hearts , 2 Pet. 1. 19. If any that profess to know it , and own it as a Rule , miss Heaven at last ; let them not blame the Word for misguiding them , but their own negligent and deceitful hearts , that shuffle in and out , and shape not their course and conversation according to its prescriptions . What blame can you lay upon the Compass , if you steer not exactly by it ? How many are there , that neglecting this Rule , will coast it to Heaven by their own Reason ? No wonder such fall short and perish in the way . This is a faithful Guide , and brings all that follow it to a blessed end , Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel , and afterwards receive me to glory , Psal. 73. 24. The whole hundredth and nineteenth Psalm is spent in commendation of its transcendent excellency and usefulness . Luther profest , that he prized it so highly , that he would not take the whole World in exchange for one Leaf of it . Lay but this Rule before you , and walk accurately by it , and you cannot be out of your way to Heaven , Psal. 119. 30. I have chosen the way of truth , ( or the true way ; ) thy Iudgments have I laid before me . Some indeed have opened their detracting blasphemous mouths against it ; as Iulian , that cursed Apostate , who feared not to say , There was as good matter in Phocillides as in Solomon , in Pindarus his Odes , as in David's Psalms . And the Papists generally slight it , making it a lame imperfect Rule ; yea , making their own Trad●tions the Touchstone of Doctrines , and Foundation of Faith. Montanus tells us , that although the Apostle would have Sermons and Service celebrated in a known Tongue , yet the Church , for very good cause , hath otherwise order'd it . Gilford called it , The Mother of Heresies . Boner's Chaplain judged it worthy to be burnt as a strange Doctrine . They set up their Inventions above it , and frequently come in with a Non obstante against Christ's Institutions . And thus do they make it void , or , as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies , Matth. 15. 6. unlord it , and take away its authority as a Rule . But those that have thus slighted it , and followed the by-paths unto which their corrupt Hearts have led them , they take not hold of the paths of Life , and are now in the depths of Hell. All other Lights , to which men pretend , in the neglect of this , are but false fires , that will lead Men into the Pits and Bogs of Destruction at last . REFLECTION . And is thy Word a Compass , to direct my course to Glory . O where am I then like to arrive at last , that in all my course have neglected it , and steered according to the counsel of my own heart ! Lord , I have not made thy Word the Man of my counsel , but consulted with flesh and blood ; I have not enquired at this Oracle , nor studied it , and made it the guide of my way ; but walked after the sight of my eyes , and the lust of my heart . Whither Lord , can I come at last , but to Hell , after this rate and reckoning ? Some have slighted thy Word professedly , and I have slighted it practically . I have a poor Soul embarqued for Eternity , it is now floating on a dangerous Ocean , Rocks and Sands on every side , and I go a drift before every Wind of Temptation , and know not where I am . Ah Lord , convince me of the danger of this condition . O convince me of my Ignorance in thy Word , and the fatal consequence and issue thereof . Lord , let me now resolve to study , prize , and obey it ; hide it in my heart , that I may not sin against it . Open my understanding , that I may understand the Scriptures : Open my heart to entertain it in love . O thou that hast been so gracious to give a perfect Rule , give me also a perfect heart to walk by that Rule to glory ! THE POEM . This VVorld's a Sea , wherein a numerous Fleet Of Ships are under sail . Here you shall meet Of every Rate and Size ; Frigats , Galleons , The nimble Ketches , and small Pickeroons : Some bound to this Port , some where VVinds and VVeather VVill drive them , they are bound they know not whither . Some steer away for Heaven , some for Hell ; To which some steer , themselves can hardly tell . The Winds do shape their course , which though it blow From any Point , before it they must go . They are directed by the VVind and Tide , That have no Compass to direct and guide : For want of this , must run themselves a-ground , Brave Ships are cast away , poor Souls are drown'd . Thy VVord our Compass is , to guide our way To Glory ; it reduces such as stray . Lord , let thy VVord dwell richly in my heart , And make me skilful in this heavenly Art , O let me understand and be so wise , To know upon what Point my Country lies . And having se● my Course directly thither , Great God preserve me in the foulest Weather . By Reason some will coast it : but I fear Such Coasters never will drop Anchor there . Thy Word is truly toucht , and still directs A proper Course , which my base heart neglects . Lord , touch mine Iron heart , and make it stand Pointing to thee , its Loadstone . To that Land Of Rest above , let every Tempest drive My Soul , where it would rather be than live . CHAP. XVII . Look as the Sea by turns doth ebb and flow So their Estates , that use it , come and go . OBSRRVATION . THE Sea hath its alternate Course and Motion , its Ebbings and Flowings : No sooner is it High-water , but it begins to Ebbe again , and leave the Shoar naked and dry , which but a little before it covered and over-flowed . And as its Tides , so also its Waves are the Emblem of Inconstancy , still rouling and tumbling , this way and that , never fixt and quiet . Instabilis unda : As fickle as a VVave , is common to a Proverb . See Iam. 1. 6. He that wavereth is like a Wave of the Sea , driven with Winds , and tossed . So Isai. 57. 20. It cannot rest . APPLICATION . Thus mutable and inconstant are all outward things , there is no depending on them : Nothing of any substance , or any solid consistence in them , 1 Cor. 7. 31. The fashion of this world passeth away . It is an high point of folly to depend upon such vanities , Prov. 23. 5. Why wilt thou set , ( or , as it is in the Hebrew ) cause thine eyes to fly upon that which is not ? For riches certainly make themselves wings , and fly away , as an Eagle towards Heaven . In flying to us ( saith Augustine ) they have Alas vix quidem passerinas , scarce a Sparrow's wings ; but in flying from us , wings as an Eagle . And those Wings they are said to make to themselves , ( i. e. ) The cause of its transitoriness is in itself ; the Creature is subjected to Vanity by sin : they are sweet flowers , but withered presently , Iam. 1. 10. As the flower of the grass , so shall the rich man fade away . The man is like the stalk or grass , his riches are the flower of the grass ; his glory and outward beauty , the stalk is soon withered , but the flower much sooner . This is either withered upon , or blown off from it , while the stalk abides . Many a man out-lives his estate and honour , and stands in the world as a bare dry stalk in the field , whose flower , beauty , and bravery is gone : One puff of wind blows it away , one churlish easterly blast shrivels it up , 1 Pet. 4. 24. How mad a thing is it then , for any man to be lifted up in pride , upon such a vanity as this is ; to build so lofty and over-jetting Roof upon such a feeble , tottering Foundation ? We have seen Meadows full of such curio●s flowers , mown down and withered , men of great Estates impoverished suddenly : And when , like a Meadow that is mown , they have begun to recover themselves again ( as the phrase is ) the Lord hath sent Grashoppers in the beginning of the shooting-up of the latter growth , , Amos 7. 1. Just as the Grashoppers and other Creatures devour the second tender Herbage , as soon as the Field begins to recover its verdure : So men , after they have been denuded and blasted by Providence , they begin after a while to flourish again , but then comes some new affliction , and blasts all . None have more frequent experience of this , than you that are Merchants and Sea-men , whose estates are floating : and yet such as have had the highest security in the eye of Reason , have notwithstanding experienc'd the vanity of these things . Henry the Fourth , a potent Prince , was reduced to such a low ebb , that he petitioned for a Prehends place in the Church of Spire . Gallimer , King of the Vandals , was brought so low , that he sent to his Friend for a spunge , a Loaf of Bread and an Harp : a Spunge to dry up his tears , a Loaf of bread to maintain his life , and an Harp to solace himself in his misery . The story of Bellisarius is very affecting : He was a man famous in his time , General of an Army , yet having his eyes put out , and striped of all earthly comforts , was led about , crying , Date abolum Bellisario , Give one penny to poor Ballisarius . Instances in History of this kinde are infinite . Men of the greatest estates and honours , have nevertheless become the very Ludibria Fortunae , as one speaks , The very scorn of Fortune . Yea , and not onely wicked men , that have gotten their Estates by rapine and oppression , have lived to see them thus scattered by Providence : But sometimes godly Men have had their Estates , how justly soever acquired , thus scattered by Providence also . Who ever had an estate better gotten , better bottomed ▪ or better managed , than Iob ? yet all was overthrown and swept away in a moment : though in mercy to him , as the issue demonstrated . Oh then ! what a vanity is it to set the heart and let out the affections on them ! You can never depend too much upon God , nor too little upon the creature , 1 Tim. 6. 17. Charge them that are rich in this world , that they be not high-minded and trust in uncertain riches . REFLECTION . Are all earthly things thus transitory and vain ? Then what a reproach and shame is it to me , that the men of this world should be more industrious and eager in the prosecution of such vanities , then I am to enrich my Soul with solid and everlasting Treasure ? O that ever a sensual lust should be more operative in them then the love of God in me ! O my Soul , thou dost not lay out thy strength and earnestness for Heaven , with any proportion to what they do for the World. I have indeed higher Motives , and a surer Reward than they : But as I have an advantage above them herein , so have they an advantage above me in the strength and intireness of the principle by which they are acted . What they do for the World , they do it with all their might ; they have no contrary principle to oppose them ; their thoughts , strength , and affection , is entirely carried in one Channel : But I find a Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind ; I must strive through a thousand Difficulties and Contradictions , to the discharge of a Duty . O my God! Shall not my heart bemore enlarged in Zeal , Love , and Delight in thee , than theirs are after their Lusts ? O let me once find it so . Again , is the Creature so vain and unstable , then why are my Affections so hot and eager after it ? And why am I so apt to dote upon its beauty , especially when God is staining all its pride and glory ! Ier. 45. 5 , 6. Surely it is unbecoming the spirit of a Christian at any time ; but at such a time we may say of it , as Hushai of Ahitophel's Counsell , It is not good at this time . O that my Spirit were raised above them , and my conversation more in Heaven ! O that like that Angel , Revel . 10. 1 , 2. which came down from Heaven and set one foot upon the Sea , and another upon the Earth , having a Crown upon his head ▪ so I might set one foot upon all the cares , fears , and terrours of the World , and another upon all the tempting splendour and glory of the World ; treading both under foot in the dust , and crowning my self with nothing but spiritual excellencies and glory ! THE POEM . Iudge in thy self ( O Christian ) is it meet To set thy heart on what Beasts set their feet ? 'T is no Hyperbole , if you be told , You dig for Dross with Mattocks made of Gold. Affections are too costly , to bestow Vpon the fair-fac'd Nothings here below . The Eagle scorns to fall down from on high ( The Proverb saith ) to catch the silly Flie. And can a Christian leave the Face of God : T' embrace the Earth , or dote upon a Clod ? Can earthly Things thy heart so strangely move , To tempt it down from the Delights above ; And now to court the World at such a time When God is laying Iudgment to the Line ? It 's just like him that doth his Cabbin sweep And trim , when all is sinking in the Deep : Or like the silly Bird , that to her Nest Doth carry straws , and never is at rest , Till it be feather'd well , but doth not see The Axe beneath that's hewing down the Tree . If on a Thorn thy heart it self repose With such delight , what if it were a Rose ? Admire , O Saint , the Wisdom of thy God , Who of the self-same Tree doth make a Rod , Lest thou shouldst surfeit on forbidden Fruit , And live not like a Saint , but like a Brute . CHAP. XVIII . Like hungry Lions , Waves for Sinners gape : Leave then your Sins behind , if you 'll escape . OBSERVATION . THE Waves of the Sea are sometimes raised by God's Commission , to be Executioners of his Threatnings upon sinners . When Ionah fled from the presence of the Lord to Tarshish , the Text saith , The Lord sent out a great Wind into the Sea , and there was a mighty Tempest , so that the Ship was like to be broken , Joh. 1. 4. These were God's Bailiffs , to arrest the Run-away Prophet . And Psal. 148. 8. The stormy winds are said to fulfil his word ; not only his word of Command , in rising when God bids them , but his word of threatning also . And hence it is called a destroying wind , Jer. 51. 1. and a stormy wind in God's fury , Ezek. 13. 13. APPLICATION . If these be the Executioners of the Lord's threatnings , how sad then is their condition that put forth to Sea under the guilt of all their sins ? O , if God should commissionate the Winds to go after and arrest thee for all thou owest him , where art thou then ? How dare you put forth under the power of a Divine threat , before all be cleared betwixt God and thee ? Sins in Scripture are called debts , Mat. 6. 12. They are debts to God ; not that we owe them to him , or ought to sin , but Metonymically , because they render the Sinner obnoxious to God's Judgments , even as pecuniary debts oblige him that hath not wherewith to pay , to suffer punishment . All sinners must undergo the Curse , either in their own person , according to the express letter of the Law , Gen. 2. 17. Gal. 3. 10. or their surety , according to the tacite intent of the Law , manifested to be the mind of the Law-giver , Gen. 3. 15. Gal. 3. 13 , 14. Now he that by Faith hath Interest in his Surety , hath his Discharge , his Quietus est , sealed in the Blood of Christ ; all Process at Law , or from the Law , is stopt Rom. 8. 1. But if thou be an impenitent , persisting sinner , thy debt remains upon thine own score . And be sure thy sin will find thee out , where-ever thou goest , Num. 32. 23. ( i. e. ) God's revenging hand for sin will be upon thee : Thou maist lose the sight and memory of thy sin , but they lose not the sight of thee ; they follow after , as the Hound doth the fleeting game upon the scent , till they have fetcht thee up : And then consider , How fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God , Heb. 10. 31. How soon may a storm arrest , and bring thee before the Bar of God ? REFLECTION . O my Soul , what a case art thou in , if this be so ? Are not all thy sins yet upon thine own score ? Hast not thou mane light of Christ , and that precious Blood of his , and hitherto persisted in thy Rebellion against him ? And what can the issue of this be at last , but ruine ? There is abundant mercy indeed for returning sinners ; but the Gospel speaks of none for persisting and impenitent sinners . And though many who are going on in their sins are overtaken by Grace , yet there is no Grace promised to such as go on in sin . O , if God should arrest me by the next Storm , and call me to an account for all that I owe him , I must then lie in the Prison of Hell to all Eternity ; for I can never pay the debt ; nay , all the Angels in Heaven cannot satisfie for it . Being Christless , I am under all the Curses in the Book of God ; a Child of Hagar . Lord , pity and spare me a little longer ! O discover thy Christ unto me , and give me Faith in his Blood , and then thou art fully satisfied at once , and I discharged for ever . O require not the debt at my hand , for then thou wilt never be satisfied , nor I acquitted . What profit , Lord , is there in my Blood ! O my soul , make hast to this Christ , thy Refuge-City ; thou knowest not how soon the avenger of Blood may overtake thee . THE POEM . Thy sins are debts , God puts them to account : Canst tell , poor wretch , to what thy debts amount ? Thou fill'st the treasure of thy sins each hour . Into his Vials God doth also pour Proportionable wrath : Thou seest it not ; But yet assure thy self , there 's drop for drop . For every Sand of Patience running out , A drop of Wrath runs in . Soul , look about . God's Treasure 's almost full , as well as thine : When both are full , O then the dreadful time Of Reckoning comes ; thou shalt not gain a day Of patience more , but then there hastes away Heaven's Pursivant , who comes upon the wing With his Commission seal'd , to take and bring . Do'st still reject Christ's tenders ? Well , next storm May be the Bailiff ordered to perform This dreadful office . O then restless be , Till God in Christ be reconcil'd to thee . The Sum is great , but if a Christ thou get , Fear not , a Prince can pay a Beggar 's debt . Now if the Storm should rise , thou need not fear ; Thou art , but the Delinquent is not there . A pardoned Soul to Sea may boldly go : He fears not Bailiffs , that doth nothing owe. CHAP. XIX . To save the Ship , rich Ladings cast away . Thy Soul is Shipwrackt if thy Lusts do stay . OBSERVATION . IN Storms and Distresses at Sea , the Richest Commodities are cast over-board ; they stand not upon it , when Life and all is in jeopardy and hazard . Ionah 1. 5. The Mariners cast forth the Wares that were in the Ship into the Sea , to lighten it . And Act. 27. 18 , 19. they cast out the very tacklings of the Ship. How highly soever Men prize such Commodities , yet reason tells them , It were better these should perish , than Life . Satan himself could say , Job 1. Skin for skin , and all that a Man hath , will he give for his Life . APPLICATION . And surely , it is every way as highly reasonable , that Men should mortifie , cast out , and cut off their dearest Lusts , rather than their Immortal Souls should sink and perish in the Storm of God's wrath . Life , indeed , is a precious Treasure , and highly valued by Men : You know what Solomon saith , Eccles. 9. 4. That a Living Dog is better than a Dead Lion. And we find Men willing to part with their Estates , Limbs , or any outward Comfort , for the preservation of it . The Woman in the Gospel spent all she had on the Physicians for her Health , a degree below Life . Some Men indeed do much over-value their Lives , and part with Christ and Peace of Conscience for it ; but he that thus saves it , shall lose it . Now if Life be so much worth , What then is the Soul worth ? Alas ! Life is but a vapour , which appeareth for a little while , and then vanisheth away , Jam. 4. 14. Life indeed is more worth than all the World , but my Soul is more worth than Ten thousand Lives . Nature teacheth you to value the first so high , and Grace should teach you to value the second much higher , Mat. 19. 26. Now here is the case : Either you must part with your Sins , or with your Souls ; if these be not cast out , both must sink together . If ye live after the fl●sh , ye must die , Rom. 8. 13. God saith to you in this case , as to Ahab , when he spared Benhadad , 1 King. 20. 40. Because thou hast let go a Sin , which God hath appointed to destruction , therefore thy Life shall go for his Life . Guilt will raise a Storm of Wrath , as Ionah did , if not cast out . REFLECTION . And must Sin or the Soul perish ? Must my Life , yea , my Eternal Life go for it , if I spare it ? O then let me not be cruel to mine own Soul , in sparing my Sin ; O my Soul , this foolish pity , and cruel Indulgence will be thy ruine : If I spare it , God hath said , He will not spare me , Deut. 26. 20. It is true , the pains of Mortification are sharp , but yet it 's easier than the pains of Hell. To cut off a right hand , or pluck out a right eye , is hard ; but to have my Soul cut off eternally from God , is harder . Is it as easie ( O my Soul ! ) to burn for them in Hell , as to Mortifie them on Earth ? Surely , it is profitable for me , that one member perish , rather than that all be cast into Hell , Mat. 5. 24. I see the Merchant willing to part with rich Wares , if embarqued with them in a Storm : And those that have Gangreen'd Legs or Arms , willingly stretch them out to be cut off , to preserve Life : And shall I be willing to endure no difficulties for my Soul ? Christ reckon'd Souls worth his Blood ; And is it not worth my Self-denyal ? Lord , let me not warm a Snake in my Bosom , that will at last sting me to the heart . THE POEM . Thy Soul 's the Ship , its Lading is its Lusts , God's Iudgments stormy Winds and dang'rous gusts , Conscience the Master ; but the stubborn Will Goes Supra Cargo , and doth keep the Bill . Affections are the Men , the VVinds do rise , The Storm increases : Conscience gives Advice To throw those Lusts o're-board , and so to ease The Vessel , which else cannot keep the Seas . The VVill opposes , and th' Affections say , The Master's Counsel they will not obey . The case is dangerous , that no man can doubt , Who sees the storm within , and that without . Lusts and Affections cannot part , no , rather They are resolv'd to swim or sink together . Conscience still strives , but they cannot abide That it , or Reason should the Case decide . Lust knows what Reason in like cases still Determines well : Then chuse ye whom ye will. Shall 's make the Devil Iudge ? This case has been Before him , and he judg'd , That skin for skin , And all men have , they 'll part with for their life . Then how unreasonable is this strife ? They that their sins do with their persons ship , Do for their Souls prepare a dreadful whip . CHAP. XX. Christ with a word can surging Waves appease ; His Voice a troubled Soul can quickly ease . OBSERVATION . WHen the Sea works , and is tempestuous , it is not in the power of any Creature to appease it . When the Egyptians would by their Hieroglyphicks express an Impossibility , they did it by the Picture of a Man treading upon the Waves . It is storied of Canute , an ancient Danish King , That when a mighty storm of Flattery arose upon him , he appeased it by shewing that he could not appease the Sea : But one of his Courtiers told him , as he rode near the Sea-side , That he was Lord of the Sea , as well as Land. Well , said the King , we shall see that by and by : and so went to the Water-side , and with a loud Voice cried , O ye Seas and Waves , come no further , touch not my feet . But the Sea came up , notwithstanding that charge , and confuted the flattery . But now Jesus Christ hath the command of them indeed : It is said of him , Mat. 8. 26. That he rebuked them . And Mark. 4. 38. He quiets them with a word , Peace , be still : as one would hush a Child , and it obeyed him . APPLICATION . Conscience , when awakened by the terrors of the Lord , is like a raging tempestuous Sea ; so it works , so it roars ; and it is not in the power of all the Creatures to hush or quiet it . Spiritual Terrors , as well as spiritual Consolations , are not known till felt . O when the Arrows of the Almighty are shot into the Spirit , and the Terrors of God set themselves in array against the Soul ; when the Venome of those Arrows drink up the Spirits , and those Armies of Terrours charge violently and successively upon it , as Iob 6. 4. What Creature then is able to stand before them ! Even God's own dear Children have felt such Terrours , as have distracted them , Psal. 81. 15. Conscience is the seat of Guilt . It is like a Burning-glass , so it contracts the Beams of the Threatnings , twists them together , and reflects them on the Soul , until it smoke , scorch , and flame . If the wrath of a King be like the roaring of a Lion , then what is the Almighties wrath ! which is burning wrath , Job 19. 11. Tearing wrath , Psal. 50. 22. Surprizing wrath , Job 20. 23. And abiding wrath , Job 3. 36. In this case no Creature can relieve , all are Physicians of no value ; some under these terrors , have thought Hell more tolerable , and by a violent hand have thrust themselves out of the World into it , to avoid these gnawings : Yet jesus Christ can quickly calm these mystical Waves also , and hush them with a word ; yea , he is the Physician , and no-other . It is the sprinkling of his Blood , which , like a cooling Fomentation , allays those heats within : That Blood of sprinkling speaks Peace , when all other have practised upon the Soul to no purpose ; and the reason is , because he is a Person in whom God and Man , Justice and Mercy meet , and kiss each other , Eph. 2. 14. And hence Faith fetches in peace to the Soul , Rom. 5. 1. REFLECTION . Can none appease a troubled Conscience , but Christ ? Then learn , O my Soul , to understand , and daily more and more to savour that glorious Name , even Jesus , that delivers not only from the wrath to come , but that which is felt here also . Oh if the foretaste of Hell be so intolerable , if a few drops let fall on the Conscience in this life , be so scalding and insufferable ; what is it to have all the Vials poured out to Eternity , when there shall be nothing to divert , mitigate , or allay it ? Here men have somewhat to abate those Terrours , some hopes of Mercy , at least a possibility ; but there is none . O my Soul ! how art thou loaded with Guilt ! And what a Magormissabib wouldst thou be , should God rouze that sleepy Lion in thy bosom ▪ My condition is not at all the better , because my Conscience is quiet . Ah , the day is coming , when it must awake , and will lighten and thunder terribly within me , if I get not into Christ the sooner . O Lord , who knows the power of thy wrath ? O let me not carry this guilt out of the World with me , to maintain those everlasting flames ? let me give no sleep to mine eyes , nor slumber to my eye-lids , till I feel the comfort of that Blood of Sprinkling , which alone speaketh Peace . THE POEM . Amongst the dreadful works of God , I find No Metaphors to paint a troubled Mind . I think on this , now that , and yet will neither Come fully up , though all be put together . 'T is like the raging Sea , that casts up mire , Or like to Aetna , brea●hing smoke and fire ; Or like a rouzed Lion fierce and fell , Or like those Furies that do howl in Hell. O Conscience ! Who can stand before thy power , Endure thy gripes and twinges but an hour ? Stone , Gout , Strapado , Racks , whatever is Dreadful to Sense , is but a toy to this . No Pleasures , Riches , Honours , Friends can tell How to give ease : in this 't is like to Hell , Call for the pleasant Tymbrel , Lute , and Harp ; Alas ! The Musick howls , the pain 's too sharp For these to charm , divert or lull asleep : These cannot reach it , no , the wound 's too deep . Let all the Promises before him stand , And set a Barnabas at his right hand ; These in themselves no comfort can afford , 'T is Christ , and none but Christ , can speak the word . And he no sooner speaks , but all is still , The storm is over , and the mind tranquil . There goes a power with his Majestick Voice , To hush the dreadful'st storm , and still its noise . Who would but fear and love this glorious Lord , That can rebuke such Tempests with a VVord ? CHAP. XXI . Our Food out of the Sea God doth command ; Yet few therein take notice of his hand . OBTERVATION . THE Providence of God in furnishing us with such plenty and variety of Fish , is not slightly to be past over . We have not only several sorts of Fish in our own Seas , which are caught in their Seasons ; but from several parts , especially the Western parts of England , many Sail of Ships are sent yearly to the American parts of the VVorld ; as New-found-Land , New-England , &c. Whence every Year is brought home , not only enough to supply our own Nation , but many thousand pounds worth also yearly returned from Spain , and other Countries ; by which Trade many thousand Families do subsist . APPLICATION . But , now , what ret●rns do we make to Heaven for these Mercies ? O what notice is taken of the good hand of Providence , which thus supplies and feeds us with the Blessings of the Sea ? I fear there are but few that own , act in submission to it , and are careful to return according to received benefit . Men do not consider , That their works are in the hand of God , Eccles. 9. 1. And even those that have the most immediate dependence upon Providence , as Merchants and Sea-men , yet are very prone to undertake designes in the confidence of their own wisdom and industry ; not looking higher for the blessing , Iam. 4 13. They often sacrifice to their own net , and burn incense to their drag , because by them their portion is fat , and their meat plenteous , Hab. 1. 16. viz. They attribute what is due to God , unto the creature . Now this is a sin highly provoking to the Lord : for look in what degree the heart cleaves to the second cause , in the same degree it departs from the living God , Ier. 10. 5. And how do you think the blessed God will take it , to see himself thus debased , and the creature thus exalted into his place ; to see you carry your selves to the creature as to a God , and to the Blessed God , as to a creature . Surely , it is a great and common evil , and such as will blast all , if not timely discover'd and lamented . If we make flesh our arm , it 's just with God to wither and dry up the arm . Do we not , my Brethren , look upon second causes , as if they had the main stroke in our business ? And with a neglective eye pass by God , as if he came in but collaterally , and on the by , into it ? But certainly , all endeavours will be unsanctified , if not succes●ess , in which God is not eyed and engaged . It is in vain for you to rise up early , and sit up late , and eat the bread of sorrows ; for so he giveth his beloved sleep , Psal. 127. 2. ( i. e. ) It is to no purpose for men to beat their brains , tire their spirits , and rack their Consciences for an estate . The true way of acquiring and enjoying the Creature , is by submitting quietly to the Will of God , in a prudent and diligent , yet moderate use of lawful means : Nothing can thrive with us till then . REFLECTION . Why then should I disquiet my self in vain ; and rob my self of my peace , by these unbelieving cares and distractions ? O this hath been my sin ! I have acted ; as if my condition had been at my own dispose ; I have eyed creatures and means too much , and God too little . How have my hands hanged down with discouragement , when second Causes have disappeared , or wrought cross to my designs in the World , ready to transfer the fault on this thing , or that ! And again , how apt am I to be vainly lifted up in carnal confidence , when I see my self competently furnish'd with Creature-munition and provision ? Oh , what a God provoking wickedness is this ! How oft hath Providence checked my carnal presumption , and dasht many hopeful projects ? yet have I not owned it , as I ought , and submitted to it . Oh , it is a wonder this hath not closed the hand of Providence against me , and pulled down a Curse upon all ! Ah Lord , let me now learn to acquaint myself with thee , then shall I decree a thing , and it shall be established , Job 22. 28. THE POEM . In all the Gifts of God we should advance His glorious Name ; not say , It came by chance . Or to the Idol of our Prudence pay The tribute of his praise , and go our way . The waves do clap their hands , and in their kind Acknowledge God ; And what , are they more blind That float upon them ? yea , for what they get , They offer Sacrifices to their Net. This is your manner , thus to work you go : Confess the naked truth ; say , Is 't not so ? This Net was wisely cast , 't is full , 't is full : O well done Mates , this is a gallant pull . Thus what is due to God , you do apply Vnto your selves most Sacrilegiously . I cannot wonder such come empty home , That are so full of self and sin : yet some I hope look higher , and on God reflect Due praise . A Blessing such may well expect . CHAP. XXII . Whilst thou by art the silly Fish dost kill , Perchance the Devils Hook sticks in thy Gill. OBSERVATION . THere is skill in Fishing ; they that go to Sea in a Fishing Voyage , use to go provided with their Craft ( as they very fitly call it ) without which they can do nothing . They have their Lines , Hooks of several sizes , and their Bait. They carefully observe their Seasons ; when the Fish falls in , then they ply their business day and night . APPLICATION . But how much more skilful and industrious is Satan to ensnare and destroy Souls ? The Devil makes a Voyage as well as you ; he hath his Baits for you , as you for the Fish : he hath his Devices and Wiles to catch Souls , 2 Cor. 2. 11. Ephes. 6. 11. He is a Serpent , an old Serpent , Rev. 12. 9. Too crafty for Man in his perfection , much more in his collapsed and degenerated State , his understanding being cracked by rhe Fall , and all his Faculties poisoned and perverted . Divines observe four steps , or degrees of Satan's tempting Power . First . He can find out the Constitution-evils of Men ; he knows to what sin their Natures are more especially prone and inclinable . Secondly . He can propound suitable objects to those Lusts , he can exactly and fully hit every Mans humour . As Agrippina mixed her Poison in that Meat her Husband loved best . Thirdly . He can inject and cast motions into the Mind , to close with those tempting objects ; as it is said of Iudas , Joh. 13. 2. The Devil put it into his heart . Fourthly . He can sollicite , irritate , and provok● the Heart , and by those continual restless sollicitations weary it ; and hereby he often draws Men to commit such things as startled them in the first motion . All this can he do , if he find the work stick , and meet with rubs and difficulties ; yet doth he not act to the utmost of his skill and power , at all times and with all persons ; neither indeed need he so to do , the very propounding of an object , is enough to some , without any further sollicitation : The Devil makes an easie conquest of them . And beside all this , his Policy much appears in the election of place , time and instruments to tempt by : And thus are poor Souls caught , as Fishes in an evil Net , Eccles. 9. 12. The carnal Man is led by Sense , as the Beast ; and Satan handles and fits him accordingly . He useth all sorts of Motives , not only internal , and intellective , but external and sensitive also ; as the sparkling of the Wine , when it gives its colour in the Glass : the Harlot's beauty , whose eye-lids are snares ; hiding always the Hook , and concealing the issue from them . He promises them gain and profit , pleasure and delight , and all that is tempting , with assurance of Secresie . By these he fastens the fatal Hook in their Jawes , and thus they are led captive by him at his Will. REFLECTION . And is Satan so subtil and industrious to entice Souls to sin ? Doth he thus cast out his golden baits , and allure Souls with pleasure to their ruine ? Then how doth it behove thee , O my Soul , to be jealous and wary ! How strict a guard should I set upon every sense ! Ah , let me not so much regard how sin comes towards me in the Temptation , as how it goes off at last . The day in which Sodom was destroyed , began with a pleasant Sun shine , but ended in Fire and Brimstone . I may promise my self much content in the satisfaction of my Lusts : But O , how certainly will it end in my ruine ! Ahab doubtless promised himself much content in the Vineyard of Naboth , but his blood paid for it in the portion of Iezreel . The Harlots Bed was perfumed to entice the simple young man , Prov. 7. 17. But those Chambers of Delight proved the Chambers of Death , and her House the way to Hell. Ah , with what a smiling face doth sin come on towards me in its temptations ! How doth it tickle the carnal phantasie , and please the deceived heart ? But what a dreadful Catastrophe and Upshot hath it ? The delight is quickly gone , but the guilt thereof remains to amaze and terrifie the Soul with ghastly forms , and dreadful representations of the wrath of God : As sin hath its Delights attending it to enter and fasten it , so it hath its horrours and stings to torment and wound : And as certainly as I see those go before it to make away , so certainly shall I find these follow after , and tread upon its heels . No sooner is the Conscience awakened , but all those Delights vanish as a Night-vision , or as a Dream when one awakes ; and then I shall cry , Here is the Hook , but where is the Bait ? Here is the guilt and horrour , but where the delight that I was promised ! And I , whether shall I now go ? Ah my deceitful Lusts ! You have enticed and left me in the midst of all miseries . THE POEM . There 's skill in Fishing , that the Devil knows ; For when for Souls Satan a fishing goes , He Angles cunningly : He knows he must Exactly fit the Bait unto the Lust. He studies Constitution , Place , and Time , He guesses what is his delight , what thine ; And so accordingly prepares the Bait ; Whilst he himself lies closely hid to wait When thou wilt nibble at it . Dost incline To drunken Meetings ? then he baits with Wine : Is this the way ; if unto this he 'll smell , He 'll shortly pledge a Cup of Wrath in Hell. To Pride or Lust is thy vile Nature bent ? An Object suitable he will present . O think on this , when you cast in the hook , Say , Thus for my poor Soul doth Satan look . O play not with Temptations ; do not swallow The sugar'd Bait , consider what will follow . If once he hitch thee , then away he draws Thy captive Soul close Prisoner in his paws . CHAP. XXIII . Doth Trading fail , and Voyages prove bad ? If you cannot discern the cause , 't is sad . OBSRRVATION . THere are many sad Complaints abroad ( and I think not without cause ) that Trade fails , nothing turns to account . And though all Countries be open , and free for Traffick , a general Peace with all Nations , yet there seems to be a Dearth , a secret Curse upon Trading . You run from Country to Country , and come losers home . Men can hardly render a reason of it ; few hit the right cause of this Judgment . APPLICATION . That prosperity and success in Trade is from the blessing of God , I suppose few are so Atheistical , as once to deny or question . The Devil himself acknowledges it , Job 1. 10. Thou hast blessed the work of his hands , and his substance is increased in the Land. It is not in the power of any man to get Riches , Deut. 8. 18. Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God , for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth . It is his Blessing that makes good men rich , and his Permission that makes wicked men rich . That Maxime came from Hell , Quisque fortunae suae faber : Every man is the Contriver of his own Condition : Certainly , The good of man is not in his own hand , Job 21. 16. Promotion cometh not from the East or West , Psal. 76. 6 , 7. This being acknowledged , it is evident , that in all disappointment , and want of success in our Callings , we ought not to stick in second cause , but to look higher , even to the hand and dispose of God : For , whose it is to give the Blessing , his also it is to with-hold it . And this is as clear in Scripture as the other . It is the Lord that takes away the Fishes of the Sea , Hos. 4. 3. Zeph. 1. 3. It is he that curseth our blessings , Mal. 2. 2. This God doth as a punishment for sin , and the abuse of mercies : And therefore in such cases , we ought not to rest in general complaints to , or of one another , but search what those sins are that provoke the Lord to inflict such Judgments . And here I must request your patience , to bear a plain and close word of Conviction . My Brethren , I am perswaded these are the sins , among many other , that provoke the Lord to blast all your Imployments . 1. Our undertaking designs without Prayer . Alas , how few of us begin with God ? Interest him in our dealings , and ask counsel and direction at his mouth . Prayer is that which sanctifies all employments and enjoyments , 1 Tim. 4. 5. The very Heathen could say , A Iove Principium , They must begin with God O that we had more Prayers and fewer Oaths . 2. Injustice and Fraud in our dealings . A sin to which Merchants are prone , as appears by that expression , Hos. 12. 7. This is that which will blast all our enjoyments . 3. An over-earnest endeavour after the World. Men make this their business , they will be rich : And hence it is , they are not onely unmerciful to themselves , in wearing and wasting their own spirits with carking cares , but to such also as they employ ; neither regarding the Souls or Bodies of Men : Scarce affording them the liberty of the Lord's Day ( as hath been too common in our New-found-Land Employments ; ) or if they have it , yet they are so worn out with incessant Labours , that that precious time is spent either in sleep or idleness . It is no wonder God gives you more rest than you would have , since that day of Rest hath been no better improved . This over-doing hath not been the least cause of our undoing . Lastly , Our abuse of Prosperity , when God gave it ; making God's Mercies the Food and Fewel of our Lusts. When we had an a●fluence and confluence of outward Blessings , this made us kick against God , as Deut. 32. 15. Forget God , Deut. 4. 14. Yea , grow proud of our strength and riches , Ezek. 16. 15. and Ier. 2. 31. Ah! How few of us in the days of our prosperity , behaved our selves as good Iehosaphat did ? 2 Chron. 17. 5 , 6. He had silver and gold in abundance , and his heart was lifted in the way of God's Commandments ; not in pride and insolence . REFLECTION . Are these the sins that blast our Blessings , and wither our Mercies ? O then let me cease to wonder it is no better , and rather admire that it is no worse with me ; that my neglect of Prayer , injustice in dealings , Earthly-mindedness , and abuse of former Mercies , have not provoked God to strip me naked out of all my enjoyments . Let me humbly accept from the Lord the punishment of my Iniquities , and lay my hand upon my mouth . And O that these disappointments might convince me of the Creatures vanity , and cause me to drive on another trade for Heaven ; then shall I adore thy wisdom in rending from me those idolized enjoyments . Ah Lord , when I had them , my heart was a perpetual drudge to them . How did I then forget God , neglect duty , and not mind my eternal concernments ! Oh , if these had not perished , in all probability I had perished . My God , let my Soul prosper , and then a small portion of these things shall afford me more comfort than ever I had in their greatest abundance . A little that a righteous man hath , is better than the riches of many wicked , Psal. 37. 16. THE POEM . There 's great Complaint abroad that Trading's bad ; You shake your head , and cry , 'T is sad , 't is sad . Merchants lay out their stock , Sea-men their pains , And in their eye they both may put their gains . Your Fishing fails , you wonder why 't is so , 'T is this ( saith one ) or that : but I say No ; 'T will ne'r be well , till you confess and say , It is our sin that frights the Fish away . No wonder all goes into Bags with Holes , Since so the Gospel hath been in your Souls . We kick'd , like Jesurun , when the flowing Tide Of Wealth came tumbling in , this nourish'd Pride . 'Twixt Soul and Body , now I wish it may Fare , as betwixt the Jews and us this day . O that our outward want and loss may be To us a Soul-enriching Poverty ! If disappointments here , advance the Trade For Heaven , then complain not ; you have made The richest Voyage , and your empty Ships Return deep laden with Soul-benefits . CHAP. XXIV . In Seas the greater Fish the less devour : So some Men crush all those within their power . OBSERVATION . THere are Fishes of Prey in the Sea , as well as Birds and Beasts of Prey on the Land. Our Sea-men tell us , how the devouring Whales , Sharks , Dolphins , and other Fishes follow the Caplein , and other smaller Fish , and devour multitudes of them . It is frequent with us , in our own Seas , to find several smaller Fishes in the Bellies of the greater ones ; yea , I have often heard Sea-men say , That the poor little Fry , when pursued , are so sensible of the danger , that they have sometimes seen multitudes of them cast themselves upon the Shoar , and perish there , to avoid the danger of being devoured by them . APPLICATION . Thus cruel , merciless , and oppressive are wicked Men , whose tender mercies are cruelty , Prov. 22. 10. We see the like cruelty in our Extortioners , and over-reaching Sharks ashore , who grind the faces of the Poor , and regard not the Cries of the Fatherless and Widows , but fill their Houses with the gain of Oppression . These are , by the Holy Ghost , compared to the fishes of the Sea , Hab. 1. 13 , 14. This is a crying sin , yea , it sends up a loud cry to Heaven for Vengeance , Exod. 22 , 23. If thou afflict the widow and the fatherless , and they cry unto me , I will surely hear their cry . And Verse 27. I will hear his cry , for I am gracious . Nay , God will not only hear their Cry , but avenge their Quarrel . That is a remarkable Text , 1 Thes. 4. 6. That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter , because that the Lord is the [ Avenger ] of all such . This word Avenger , is but once more used in the New Testament , Rom. 13. 4. And there it is applyed to the Civil Magistrate , who is to see Execution done upon Offenders . But now this is a Sin that sometimes may b● out of the reach of mans Justice , and therefore God himself will be their Avenger . You may overpower the Poor in this World , and it may be they cannot contend with you at mans Barr , therefore God will bring it before his Barr. Believe it , Sirs , it is a sin so provoking to God , that he will not let it 'scape without severe punishment , sooner or later . The Prophet Habbakkuk , Chap. 1. verse 13. wondred how the holy God could forbear such till the general day of reckoning , and that he did not take exemplary Vengeance on them in this Life . Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil , and canst not look upon Iniquity : Wherefore then lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously , and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he ? And Prov. 23. 10 , 11. Enter not into the Fields of the Fatherless , i. e. Of the poor and helpless . But why is it more dangerous violently to invade their right , than anothers ? The reason is added , For their Redeemer is mighty , and he shall plead their cause with thee . It may be they are not able to retain a Counsel to plead their cause here ; therefore God will plead their cause for them . REFLECTION . Turn in upon thy self ( O my Soul ) and consider , Hast thou not been guilty of this crying sin ? Have I not ( when a Servant ) over-reached and defrauded others , and filled my Master's House with Violence and Deceit ? and so brought myself under that dreadful threatning , Zeph. 1. 9. Or since I came to trade and deal upon mine own account , have not the Ballances of Deceit been in my hand ? I have ( it may be ) kept many in my service and employment ; have not I used their labours without reward , and so am under that woe ? Ier. 22. 13. Or not given them Wages proportionable to their work ? Isai. 58. 3. Or by bad Payment and unjust Deductions and Allowances , defrauded them of a part of their due ? Mal. 3. 5. Or at least delayed payment , ou● of a covetous disposition to gain by it ; whilst their necessities in the mean time cryed aloud for it ; and so sinned against God's express commands , Deut. 24. 14 , 15. Levit. 19. 30. Or have I not persecuted such as God hath smitten ? Psal. 69. 26. And rigorously exacted the uttermost of my due , though the hand of God hath gone out against them , bre●king their estates ? O my Soul , examine thy self upon these particulars ; rest not quiet , until this guilt be ●emoved by the application of the Blood of Sprinkling . Hath not the Lord said , Jam. 2. 13. That they shall have judgment without mercy , that hath shewed no mercy ? And is it not a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God , who hath said , He will take vengeance for these things ? THE POEM . Devouring Whales and ravenous Sharks do follow The lesser Fry , and at one gulp do swallow Some hundreds of them , as our Sea-men say : But we can tell far stranger things than they . For we have Sharks ashore , in every Creek , That to devour poor Men do hunt and seek . No Pity , Sense , or Bowels in them be , Nay , have they not put off Humanity ? Extortioners and Cheaters , whom God hates , Have dreadful open Mouths , and through those Gates Brave Persons with their Heritages pass In Funeral-state , Friends crying out Alas ! O give me Agur's wish , that I may never Be such my self , or feel the hands of either . And as for those that in their paws are grip'd , Pity and rescue , Lord , from that sad plight . When I behold the squeaking Lark , that 's born In Falcon's Talons , crying , bleeding , torn ; I pity its sad case , and would relieve The Prisoner , if I could , as well as grieve . Fountain of Pity , hear the piteous Moans Of all thy Captive and Oppressed Ones . CHAP. XXV . In Storms to spread much Sail endangers all : So carnal Mirth , if God for Mourning call . OBSERVATION . IN Storms at Sea , the wise Navigator will no● spread much Sail ; that is the way to lose Masts and all ; They use then to furl up the Sails , and lie a Hull , when not able to bear a Knot of Sail ; or else to lie a Try , or Scud before the Wind and Seas ▪ It is no time then to hoist up the Top and Top-gallant , and shew their bravery . APPLICATION . When the Judgments of God are abroad in the earth , it is no time then to make mirth , Ezek. 21. 10 , 11. Should we [ then ] make mirth ? It contemneth the rod of my son as every tree . ( i. e. ) As if it were a common Rod , and ordinary affliction ; whereas the Rod of my Son is not such as may be had of every Tree , but it is an Iron Rod to such as dispise it , Psal. 2. 9. O it is a provoking evil , and commonly God severely punishes it . Of all persons , such speed worst in the common calamity , Amos 6. 1. VVo to them that are at ease in Sion , that are not grieved for the afflictions of Ioseph , as ver . 4. It may be ( as one observes upon the Text ) they did not laugh at him , or break Jests upon him ; but they did not condole with him . And what shall be their punishment ? See vers . 7. Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive : God will begin with them first . Solomon tells us , Eccles. 3. 4. There is a time to weep , and a time to laugh ; a time to mourn , and a time to dance : Only ( as Master Trap notes upon the Text ) we must not invert the order , but weep with Men , that we may laugh with Angels . To be merry and frolick in a day of tribulation , is to disturb the order of seasons . That is a terrible Text , Isai. 22. 12. which should make the hearts of such as are guilty in this kind to tremble : In that day did the Lord of Hosts call to mourning , and to girding with sackcloath ; and behold , joy and gladness , slaying Oxen , killing Sheep , drinking VVine , &c. Well , what is the issue of this ? Surely , this iniquity shall not be purged from you , till ye die . O dreadful word ! Surely ( my Brethren ) Sympathy is a debt we owe to Christ Mystical . Whatever our Constitution , Condition , or Personal Immunities be , yet when God calls for Mourning , we must hear and obey that call . David was a King , an expert Musician , a Man of a sanguine and chearful constitution ; yet who more sensible of the evil of those times , than he ? Rivers of water ran down his eyes at the consideration of them . Melancthon was so affected with the Miseries of the Church in his days , that he seemed to take little or no notice of the death of his Child , whom he entirely loved . At such a time we may say of laughter , Thou art mad , and of mirth , What doth it ? REFLECTION . Blush then , O my Soul ! for thy levity and insensibility under God's angry Dispensations . How many of the precious Sons and Daughters of Sion , lie in Tears abroad , while I have been Nourishing my heart , as in a day of slaughter ? The voice of God hath cried to the City , and Men of understanding have heard its voice , Mic. 6. 9. But I have been deaf to that cry . How loth ( my God ) have I been to urge my sensual Heart to acts of Sorrow and Mourning ! Thou hast bid me weep with them that weep but my vain heart cannot comply with such commands . Ah Lord ! if I mourn not with Sion , neither shall I rejoyce with her . O , were mine eyes opened , and my heart sensible and tender , I might see cause enough to melt into Tears ; and like that Christian Niobe , Luke 7. 38. to lie weeping at the feet of Christ. Lord , What stupidity is this ? Shall I Laugh when thou art Angry , and thy Children weeping and trembling ? Then I may justly fear , lest when they shall sing for joy 〈◊〉 heart , I shall howl for vexation of spirit , Isai. 65. 13 ▪ 14. Surely , O my Soul ! such laughter will be turned into mourning , either here or hereafter . THE POEM . In troublous Times , Mirth in the Sinners face Is like a Mourning-Cloak with Silver Lace . The Lion's roaring makes the Beasts to quake ; God's roaring Iudgments cannot make us shake . What Belluine Contempt is this of God , To laugh in 's face , when he takes up the Rod ? Such laughter God in tears will surely drown . ( Vnless he hate thee ) e're he lay it down . These Rods have Voices ; if thou hear them well : If not , another Rod's prepar'd in Hell. And when the Arm of God shall lay it on , Laugh if thou canst ; no , then thy Mirth is gone . All Sion's Children will lament and cry , When all her beauteous Stones in dust do lie ; And he that for her then laments and mourns , Shall want no joy , when God to her returns . CHAP. XXVI . A little Leak neglected , dangerous proves : One Sin connived at , the Soul undoes . OBSERVATION . THE smallest Leak , if not timely discovered and stopt , is enough to sink a Ship of the greatest burden : Therefore Sea-men are wont frequently to try what Water is in the Hold ; and if they find it fresh , and increasing upon them , they ply the Pump , and presently set the Carpenters to search for it and stop it ; and till it be found they cannot be quiet . REFLECTION . What such a Leak is to a Ship , that is the smallest sin neglected to the Soul ; it is enough to ruine it eternally . For as the greatest sin , discover'd , lamented , and mourned over by a Believer , cannot ruine him ; so the least sin indulged , covered , and connived at , will certainly prove the destruction of the sinner . No sin , though never so small , is tolerated by the pure and perfect Law of God , Psal. 119. 96. The command is exceeding broa● ; not as if it gave Men a latitude to walk as they please , but broad , i. e. extending it self to all our words , thoughts , actions , and affections : Laying a Law upon them all ; conniving at no evil in any Man , 1 Pet. 2. 1. And as the word gives no allowance for the least sin , so it is the very nature of sincerity and uprightness , to set the heart against [ every ] way of wickedness , Psal. 139. 23 , 24. Iob 4. 23. And especially against that sin which was its darling in the days of his vanity , Psal. 18. 23. True hatred ( as the Philosopher observes , is of the whole † kind : He that hates sin , as sin , and so doth every upright Soul , hate all sins as well as some . Again , the Soul that hath had a saving sight of Jesus Christ , and a true discovery of the evil of sin , in the Glass both of the Law and Gospel , can account no sin small . He knows the demerit of the smallest sin is God's eternal wrath , and that not the least sin can be remitted , without the shedding and application of the Blood of Christ , Heh . 9. 22. which Blood is of infinite value and price ▪ 1 Pet. 1. 19. To conclude , God's People know , that little as well as great sins are dangerous , deadly and destructive in their own nature : A little poyson will destroy a Man. Adrian was choakt with a Gnat ; Caesar stabbed with Bodkins . A man would think Adam's sin had been no great matter , yet what dreadful work did it make ! It was not as a single Bullet to kill himself only ; but as a Chain-shot , which cut off all his poor miserable Posterity . Indeed , no sin can be little , because its object against whom it is committed is so great , whence it receives a kind of infiniteness in it self , and hecause the price paid to redeem us from it is so invaluable . REFLECTION . And is the smallest sin not only damning in its own nature , but will certainly prove the ruine of that Soul that hides and covers it ? O then let my spirit accomplish a diligent search . Look to it , O my Soul ! that no sin be indulged by thee . Set these considerations as so many flaming Swords in the way of thy carnal delights and lust : Let me never say of any sin , as Lot did of Zoar , It is a little one , spare it . Shall I spare that which cost the Blood of Jesus Christ ? The Lord would not spare him , When he made his Soul an offering for sin , Rom. 8. 32. Neither will he spare me , if I defend and hide it , Deut. 29. 20. Ah! If my Heart were right , and my Conversion sound , that lust whatever it be , that is so favoured by me , would especially be abhorred and hated , Isai. 2. 20. and 30. 22. Whatever my convictions and reformations have been , yet if there be but one sin retained and delighted in , this keeps the Devils interest still in my Soul : And though for a time he seem to depart , yet at last he will return with seven worse spirits , and this is the sin will open the door to him , and deliver up my Soul , Matth. 12. 43 , 44. Lord , let me make through work of it : let me cut it off , and pluck it out , though it be as a right Hand , or Eye . Ah , shall I come so near the Kingdom of God , and make such a fair offer for Christ , and yet stick at a small matter , and lose all for want of one thing ? Lord , let me ●●ed the blood of the dearest lust , for his sake that shed his dearest blood for me . THE POEM . There 's many a Soul eternally undone For sparing sin , because a little one . But we are much deceiv'd ; no sin is small , That wounds so great a God , so dear a Soul. Yet say it were , the smallest Pen-knife may As well as Sword or Lance dispatch and slay . And shall so small a matter part and sever Christ and thy Soul ? What make you part for ever ? Or wilt thou stand on Toys with him , when he Deny'd himself in greatest things for thee ? Or will it be an ease in Hell , to think How easily thy Soul therein did sink ! Are Christ and Hell for trifles sold and bought ? Strike Souls with trembling , Lord , at such a thought . By little sins , belov'd , the Soul is lost , Vnless such sins do great repentance cost . CHAP. XXVII . Ships make much way when they a Trade-wind get ; With such a VVind the Saints have ever met . OBSERVATION . THough in most parts of the World the Winds are variable , and sometimes blow from every point of the Compass , by reason whereof , sailing is ●low and dangerous ; yet about the Equinoctial , Seamen meet with a Trade-wind , blowing for the most part one way ; and there they Sail jocund before it , and scarce need to Lore a Top-sail , for some hundreds of Leagues . APPLICATION . Although the People of God meet with many seeming Rubs and Set-backs in their way to Heaven , which are like contrary Winds to a Ship ; yet are they from the Day of their Conversion , to the day of their compleat Salvation , never out of a Trade-winds way to Heaven , Rom. 8. 21. We know that all things work together for good , to them that love God , to them that are the called according to his purpose . This is a most precious Scripture , pregnant with its Consolation to believers in all conditions , a Pillar of comfort to all distressed Saints : Let us look a little nearer to it . ( VVe know ) Mark the certainty and evidence of the Proposition , which is not built upon a guess or remote probability , but upon the knowledge of the Saints : we know it , and that partly by divine Revelation , God has told us so ; and partly by our own experience , we find it so . ( That all things ) Not only things that lie in a natural and direct tendency to our good ; as Ordinances , Promises , Blessings , &c. but even such things as have no natural fitness and tendency to such an end ; as afflictions , temptations , corruptions , desertions , &c. All these help onward . They ( VVork together . ) Not all of them directly , and of their own nature and inclination ; but by being over-ruled , and determined to such an issue by the gracious hand of God : Nor yet do they work out such good to the Saints , singly and apart , but as adjuvant causes or helps , standing under and working in subordination to the supream and principal cause of their happiness . Now the most seeming opposite things , yea sin in itself , which in its own nature is really opposite to their good , yet eventually contributes to it . Afflictions and Desertions seem to work against us ; but being once put into the rank and order of Causes , they work together with such blessed instruments , as Word and Prayer , to an happy issue . And though the faces of these things , that thus agree and work together ▪ look contrary ways ; yet there be , as it were , secret chains and connections of Providence betwixt them , to unite them in their issue . There may be many instruments employed about one work , and yet not communicate coun●els , or hold intelligence with each other . Ioseph's Brethren , the Midianites , Potiphar , &c. knew not one anothers mind , nor aimed at one end , ( much less the end that God brought about by them : ) one acts out of Revenge ▪ another for gain , a third out of Policy ; yet all meet together at last , in that issue God had design'd to bring about by them , even Ioseph's advancement . Even so it is here , Christian , there be more instruments at work for thine eternal good , than thou art aware of ▪ REFLECTION . Chear up then , O my Soul , and lean upon this Pillar of Comfort in all distresses . Here is a promise for me ( if I be a called one ) that , like the Phillosophers Stone , turns all into Gold it toucheth . This promise is my security , however things go in the world . My God will do me no hurt , Jer. 25. 6. Nay , he will do me good by every dispensation . O that I had but an heart to make all things work for his glory , that thus causeth every thing to work for my good . My God , dost thou turn every thing to my advantage ? O let me return all to thy praise ; and if by every thing thou work my eternal good , then let me in every thing give thanks . But ah ! How foolish and ignorant have I been ? even as a beast before thee . How hath my heart been disquieted , and apt to repine at thy dispensations , when they have crossed my Will ! not considering that my God faithfully pursues my good , even in those things that cross , as well as in that which pleases me . Blessed Lord ! What a blessed condition are all thy people in , who are within the Line of this promise ? All things friendly and beneficial to them , Friends helpful , Enemies helpful , every thing conspiring and conducing to their happiness . With others it is not so ; nothing works for their good ; nay , every thing works against it : Their very mercies are snares , and their Prosperity destroys them , Prov. 1. 32. Even the blessed Gospel it self is a savour of death to them : When evil befals them , it is an only evil , Ezek. 7. 5. that is , not turned into good to them ; and as their evils are not turned into good , so all their good is turned into evil . As this Promise hath an influence into all that concerns the people , so the curse hath a influence into all the enjoyments of the wicked . O my soul , bless the Lord , who hath cast thy lot into such a pleasant place , and given thee such a glorious heritage , as this promise is . THE POEM . When once the Dog star rises many say , Corn ripens then apace , both night and day . Souls once in Christ , that Morning-star le ts fall Such influences on them then , that all Gods dispensations to them , sweet or sowr , Ripens their Souls for Glory every hour . All their afflictions , rightly understood , Are blessings ; every Wind will blow some good . Sure at their troubles Saints would never grudge , Were Sense deposed , and Faith made the Iudge . Falls make them waryer , amend their pace ; When gifts puff up their hearts , and weaken Grace . Could Satan see the issue and the event Of his temptations , he would scarcely tempt . Could Saints but see what fruits their troubles bring , Amidst those troubles they would shout and sing . O sacred Wisdom ! who can but admire To see how thou dost save from fire , by fire ! No doubt but Saints in glory wondering stand As those strange Methods few now understand . CHAP. XXVIII . Storms make discovery of the Pilots skill . Gods Wisdom in affliction triumphs still . OBSERVATION . IN fair Weather , when there is Sea-room enough , then every common person can guide the Ship , the Pilot may then lie down and take his rest ; but in great storms and stress of weather , or when neer the dangerous shore , then the most skilful Pilot is put to it : Then he shews the utmost of his Art and Skill , and yet sometimes all is too little . They are ( as the Scripture speaks ) at their wits end , know not what to do more , but are forced to commit all to the mercy of God and the Seas . APPLICATION . In the Storms and Tempests of Affliction and Trouble , there are the most evident and full Discoveries of the Wisdom and Power of our God : It is indeed continually active for his people in all conditions , Isai. 27. 3. Lest any hurt it , I will keep it night and day . Psal. 121. 4. He that keepeth Israel , neither stumbereth nor sleepeth . His peoples dangers are without intermission , therefore his preservations are so too . But now , when they come into the Streight of Affliction , and deadly dangers , which threaten like Rocks on every side ; now the Wisdom of their God rides triumphantly and visibly upon the waves of that stormy Sea. And this infinite Wisdom is then especially discovered in these particulars . 1. In leaving them still somewhat in the lieu and room of those Comforts that they are deprived of ; so that they see God doth exchange their comforts , and that for the better ; and this supports them . So Iohn 14. 1 , 2 , 3. Christ's bodily presence is removed , but the Spirit was sent in the room of it , which was better . 2. In doubling their strength , as he doubles their burdens . It is observed , that the Saints have many times very strong and sweet Consolation , a little before their greatest Trials : And this is so ordinary , that commonly , when they have had extraordinary Consolations from God , they have then looked for some eminent Trial. The Lord appeared to Abraham , and sealed the Covenant to him , and then put him upon that great trial of his Faith. So the Disciples , Luke 24. 49. It was commanded them that they should tarry in Ierusalem , till they were endowed with power from on high . The Lord knew what an hard providence they were like to have , and what great oppositions and difficulties they must encounter , in publishing the Everlasting Gospel to the World ; and therefore first prepares , and endows them with power from on high , viz. with eminent measures of the Gifts and Craces of the Spirit ; as Faith , Patience , Self-denial , &c. So Paul had first his Revelations , then his Buffetings . 3. In coming in so opportunely in the time of their great distress , with relief and comfort , 1 Pet. 4. 14. Then the Spirit of Glory , and of God resteth on them . As that Martyr cried out to his friend Austin , at the very stake , He is come , he is come . 4. In appointing and ordering the several kinds of afflictions to several Saints ; and allotting to every one , that very Affliction , and no other , which is most suitable to his condition : Which Afflictions , like so many Portions of Physick , are prepared for that very malignant humour that predominates most in them . Peter's sin was self-confidence , God permits him to fall by denying Christ : which doubtless was sanctified to his good , in that particular . Hezekiah's sin was vain-glory ; therefore Spoilers are sent to take away his Treasures . 5. In the duration of their Troubles ; they shall not lie always upon them , Psal. 125. 3. Our God is a God of Judgment , Isai. 30. 18. Knows the due time of removing it , and is therein punctual to a day , Rev. 2. 10. REFLECTION . If the Wisdom of God do thus triumph and glorifie itself in the Distresses of the Saints , then why should I fear in the day of evil ! Psal. 49. 4. Why doth my heart faint at the foresight and apprehension of approaching trouble ? Fear none of those things that thou shalt suffer , O my Soul ; if thy God will thus be with thee in the fire and water , thou canst not perish . Though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death , yet let me fear no evil , whilst my God is thus with me . Creatures cannot do what they please ; his wisdom limits and over-rules them all , to gracious and sweet ends . If my God cast me into the Furnace , to melt and try me , yet I shall not be consumed there ; for he will sit by the Furnace himself all the while I am in it , and curiously pry into it , observing when it hath done its work , and then will presently withdraw the fire . O my Soul , bless and adore this God of Wisdom ! who himself will see the ordering of all thine Afflictions , and not trust it in the hands of Men or Angels ! THE POEM . Though tost in greatest Storms , I 'll never fear , If Christ will sit at Helm to guide and steer . Storms are the triumph of his Skill and Art ; He cannot close his Eyes , nor change his Heart . VVisdom and Power ride upon the VVaves , And in the greates● danger helps and saves From dangers , it by dangers doth deliver , And wounds the Devil out of his own Quiver ; It countermines his Plots , and so doth spoil , And make his Engines on himself recoil It blunts the Politicians restless Tool , And makes Ahitophel the veriest Fool : It shews us how our Reason us misled , And if we had not , we had perished . Lord , to thy VVisdom I will give the Reins , And not with Cares perplex and vex my brains . CHAP. XXIX . Things in the bottom are unseen : No eye Can trace God's Paths , which in the Deeps do lie . OBSERVATION . THE Ocean is so deep , that no Eye can discover what lies in the bottom thereof . We use to say proverbially of a thing that is irrecoverably lost , It is as good it were cast into the Sea. What lies there , lies obscure from all eyes , but the Eye of God. APPLICATION . Thus are the Judgments of God , and the Ways of his Providence , profound and unsearchable , Psal. 36. 16. The Righteous is like the great Mountains , and thy Iudgments are a great Deep : ( i. e. ) his Providences are secret , obscure , and unfathomable ; but even then , and in those Providences , his Righteousness stands up like the great Mountains , visible and apparent to every eye . Though the Saints cannot see the one , yet they can clearly discern the other , Ier. 12. 1. Ieremiah was at a stand ; so was Iob in the like case , Iob 12. 7. So was Asaph , Psal. 73. ▪ and Habbakkuk , Chap. 1. 3. These Wheels of Providence are dreadful for their height , Ezek. 1. 18. There be deep Mysteries of Providence , as well as of Faith. It may be said of some of them , as of Paul's Epistles , That they are hard to be understood . Darkness and Clouds are round about the Throne of God : No man can say what will be the particular issue and event of some of his dispensations . Luther seemed to hear God say to him , when he was importunate to know his mind in some particular Providence , Deus sum non sequax : I am a God not to be traced . Some Providences , like Hebrew Letters , must be read backward , Psal. 92. 7. Some Providences pose Men of the greatest parts and graces . His way is in the Sea , his paths in the great VVaters , and his foot-steps are not known , Psal. 77. 19. Who can trace Foot-steps in the bottom of the Sea ? The Angels , Ezek. 1. Have their hands under their wings . The hand is either , Symbolum roboris , The Symbol of strength ; or Instrumentum Operationis , The Instrument of Action : Where these hands are put forth , they work effectually , yea , but very secretly , they are hid under their wings . There be some of God's Works that are such Secrets , as that they may not be enquired into ; they are to be believed and adored , but not pryed into , Rom. 11. 33. Others that may be enquired after , but yet are so profound , that few can understand them , Psal. 111. 2. The works of the Lord are great , sought out of all those that have pleasure therein . When we come to Heaven , then all those mysteries , as well in the Works , as in the Word of God , will lie open to our view . REFLECTION . O then , why is my heart disquieted , because it cannot sometimes discern the way of the Lord , and see the connection and dependence on his providential dispensations ? Why art thou so perplexed , O my Soul , at the Confusions and Disorders that are in the world ! I know that Goodness and Wisdom sits at the Stern : And though the Vessel of the Church be tossed and distressed in Storms of Trouble , yet it shall not perish . Is it not enough for me , that God hath condescended so far for my satisfaction , as to shew me plainly the ultimate and general issue of all these mysterious Providences , Ephes. 1. 22. Rom. 8. 28. unless I be able to take the height of every particular ? Shall I presume to call the God of Heaven to account ? Must he render a reason of his ways , and give an account of his matters to such a worm as I am ? Be silent ( O my Soul ) before the Lord ; subscribe to his Wisdom , and submit to his Will , whatsoever he doth . However it be , yet God is good to Israel ; the event will manifest it to be all over a design of love . I know not how to reconcile them to each other , or many of them to the Promise ; yet are they all harmonious betwixt themselves , and the certain means of accomplishing the Promises . O what a favour is this , that in the midst of the greatest confusions in the world , God hath given such abundant security to his people , that it shall be well with them ? Amos 9. 8. Eccles. 8. 12. THE POEM . Lord ! how stupendious , deep , and wonderful , Are all thy draughts of Providence ! So full Of puzling Intricacies , that they lie Beyond the ken of any mortal eye . A Wheel within a Wheel's the Scripture Notion . And all those VVheels transverse , and cross in motion . All Creatures serve it in their place ; yet so , As thousands of them know not what they do . At this or that , their aim they do direct ; But neither this , nor that , is the effect : But something else they do not understand , VVhich sets all Politicians at a stand . Deep Counsels , as the birth , this hand doth break , And deeper things performeth by the weak . Men are like ●orses , set at every stage , For Providence to ride from age to age ; VVhich like a Post spurs on , and makes them run From stage to stage until their Iourney 's done ; Then take a fresh : But they the business know , No more than Horses the Post-Letters do . Yet though its work be not conceal'd from sight , 'T will be a glorious piece , when brought to light . CHAP. XXX . Millions of Men are sunk into the Main : But it shall not those Dead always retain . OBSERVATION . WHat multitudes of Men hath the Sea devoured ! Thousands have made their Graves in it . What numbers of Men have been ingulfed together in Sea-fights , or Storms , or Inundations , whereby whole Towns have been swallowed up ! Certainly the dead which are there are innumerable . APPLICATION . But though the Sea have received so many thousand Bodies of Men into its devouring Throat , yet is it not the absolute Lord or Proprietor of them , but rather a Steward intrusted with them , till the Lord require an account of them ; and then it must deliver up all it hath received , even to a person . Revel . 20. 11 , 12. And I saw the Dead , small and great stand before God : and the books were opened : and another book was open , which is the book of life ; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books , according to their works . And the Sea gave up the dead which were in it . The Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body , is a Doctrine full of singular Consolations to Believers , 1 Cor. 15. and most clearly asserted in Scripture , Acts 26. 8. Iob 19. 25. 1 Cor. 15 , &c. And it is well for us this point is so plainly revealed ; because , as it is a most comfortable Truth to the people of God , so there is scarce any truth that lies under more prejudice as to Sense or Reason , and is more difficult to receive , than this is . The Epicures and Stoicks laughed Paul to scorn when he preached it to them , Acts 17. 32. The Familists and Quakers at this day reject it as a Fable . The Socinians say the same Body shall not rise , but an aerial Body . And indeed if Men set up Reason as the onely Judge of supernatural things , it is incredible to think that a Body should be restored that hath been burnt to ashes , and those ashes scattered in the wind , as History tells us was frequently done by the Bodies of the Saints in Dioclesian's Reign ! Or when drowned in the Sea , and there devoured by several Fishes , and those again devoured by others . But yet this is not to be objected to the Almighty Power of God , that gave them their first being . Difficulties and Impossibilities are for Men , but not for him . Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you , that God should raise the dead ? Acts 26. 8. REFLECTION . And must I rise again , where-ever my body fall at death ? Then , Lord , how am I concerned to get union with Christ while I live ? by vertue thereof only , my Resurrection can be made comfortable and blessed to me ! Ah , let my body lie where it will , in Earth or Sea ; let my bones be scattered , and flesh devoured by Worms or Fish , I know thou canst and wilt reunite my scattered parts ; and in this body I must stand before thine awful Tribunal , to receive according to what I have done therein , 2 Cor. 5. 10. Thou that commandest me to stand forth amongst the noblest rank of Creatures , when I had no being , and sawest my Substance , being yet imperfect , canst as easily reduce me to that Being again . What though Reason vote impossible , and Sense incredible ? Though all these Difficulties and Encumbrances grow upon my Faith , yet I know my body is not lost for ever ; the sound of thy last and dreadful Trumpet shall awaken me ; and thy mighty Power , to which all things are possible , shall bring me before thy Bar. O Lord , I know that I shall stand in that great Assembly at the last day , when multitudes , multitudes , even all the sons and daughters of Adam shall appear together . O! if I die Christless , it were good for me that there were no Resurrection : for then those eyes that have been windows of Lust , must behold Christ the Judge , not as a Redeemer , but as a Revenger . That tongue that has vented so much of the filthiness of my heart , will then be struck speechless before him ; and this flesh which I so pamper'd and provided for , condemned to everlasting flames . O my God , let me make sure work for such a day . If I now get real union with thy Son , I shall awake with singing out of the dust : And then , as thou saidst to Iacob , so to me , when I go down into the Sea or Grave , Gen. 46. 3 , 4. Fear not to go down into the deep ; for I will surely bring thee up again . THE POEM . It should not seem incredible to thee , That God should raise the dead in Seas that be : We see in VVinter , Swallows , VVorms , and Flies Depriv'd of Life , yet in the Spring they rise . What though you Bodies several Fish devour , Object not that to the Almighty power . Some Chymists in their Art are so exact , That from one Herb they usually extract Four different Elements : what think ye then , Can pose that God , who gave this Skill to men ? The Gard'ner can distinguish thirty kinds Of seeds from one another , though he finds Them mixt together in the self-same dish ; Much more can God distinguish Flesh from Fish. They seem as lost , but they again must live ; The Sea 's a Steward , and Stewards account must give . Look what you are , when in the Ocean drown'd , The very same at Iudgment you 'll be found ▪ I would not care where my vile body lies , Were I assur'd it should with comfort rise . CHAP. XXXI . The Sea-man's greatest danger 's near the Coast ; VVhen we are nearest Heav'n , the danger 's most . OBTERVATION . THough Sea-men meet with violent Storms , yet if they have Sea-room enough , they are not much dismaid ; but if they find themselves near the shoar , they look upon their condition as very dangerous . The sight of the Shore is to them ( as Soloman speaks of the Morning in another case ) like the shadow of death , if not able to Weather it . For one Ship swallowed up in the Ocean , may perish upon the Coast. APPLICATION . The greatest Streights and Difficulties that many Saints meet with in all their lives , is when they come nearest to Heaven , and have almost finished their Course . Heaven indeed is a glorious Place , the Spacious and Royal Mansion of the great King ; but difficilia quae pulchra . It hath a streight and narrow entrance , Luke 13. 24. O the difficulty of arriving there ! How many hard tugs in Duty ! What earnest contention and striving , even to an Agony , as that word imports ! Luke 13. 24. Multitudes put forth , and by profession are bound , for this fair Haven ; but of the multitudes that put out , how few do arrive there ? A man may set out by a glorious profession , with much resolution , and continue long therein ; he may offer very fair for it , and not be far from the Kingdom of God , and yet not be able to enter at the last , Matth. 7. 22. Yea , and many of those who are sincere in their profession , and do arrive at last , yet come to Heaven ( as I may say ) by the gates of Hell ; and put in , as a poor Weather-beaten Vessel comes into the Harbour , more like a Wrack than a Ship , nor Mast nor Saile left . The righteous themselves are scarcely saved , ( i. e. ) they are saved with very much difficulty . They have not all an abundant entrance , as the Apostle speaks , 2 Pet. 1. 11. Some Persons ( as one well notes ) Manton on Iude are afar off , Eph. 2. 23. ( i. e. ) touch p. 119. with no care of Religion : Some come near , but never enter ; as Semiconverts , see Matth. 12. 34. Others enter , but with great difficulty ; they are saved as by fire , 1 Cor. 3. 13. Make an hard shift . But then there be some that go in with full sail before a VVind , and have an abundant entrance : They go triumphing out of the world . Ah! when we come into the Narrow Channel , at the very point of entrance into life , the Soul is then in the most serious frame , all things look with a new face . Conscience scans our evidence most crittically ; then also Satan falls upon us , and makes his sorest assaults and batteries . It is the last encounter ; it they escape him now , they are gone out of his reach for ever : And if he cannot hinder their Salvation , yet if he can but cloud their Evening , and make them go groaning and haling out of the world , he reaches another end by it , even to confirm and prejudice the wicked , and weaken the hands of others that are looking towards Religion . REFLECTION . If this be so , how inevitable is my perdition , may the careless Soul say ; if they that strive so much , and go so far , yet perish at last ; and if the righteous themselves are scarcely saved , then where shall such an ungodly Creature , as I appear ? O Lord ! if they that have made Religion their business , and have been many years pursuing a work of Mortification , have gone mourning after the Lord Jesus , and walked humbly with God ; yet if some of these have such an hard tug at last , then what will become of such a vain , sensual , careless , Flesh-pleasing Wretch as I have been ? Again , Do Saints find it so streight an entrance ? Then , though I have well-grounded Hopes of safe arrival at last ; yet let me look to it , that I do not increase the difficulty . Ah! they are the things that are now done , or omitted , that put Conscience into such an agony then ; for when it comes to review the life with the most serious eye . O , let me not stick my Death-bed full of Thorns , against I come to lie down upon it . O that I may turn to the Wall , in that hour , as Hezekiah did , 2 Kings 20. 2 , 3. and say , Remember now , O Lord , I have walked before thee in truth , and with a perfect heart , &c. THE POEM . After a tedious Passage , Saints descry The glorious Shore , Salvation being nigh ; Death 's Long boat 's launch'd , ready to set ashore Their panting Souls . O , how they tug at Oar , Longing to be at rest ! but then they find , The hardest Tug of all is yet behind . Iust at the Harbours mouth , they see the Wrach Of Souls there cast away , and driven back . A world of dangerous Rocks before it lie ; The Harbours barr'd , a●d now the VVinds blow high ▪ Thoughts now arise ▪ fears multiply apace ; All things about them have another face Life blazes just like an expiring light ; The Soul 's upon the lip , prepar'd for flight . Death , till the Resurrection , tears and rends Out of each other's arms , two parting Friends , The Soul and Body . Ah! but more than so , The Devil falls upon them ere they go , With new temptations , back'd with all his power , And scruples kept on purpose for that hour . This is the last encounter , now or never . If he succeeds not now , they 're gone for ever . Thus in they put , with hardship at the last , As Ships out of a Storm , nor Sail , nor Mast : Yet some go in before a Wind , and have Their Streamer of Assurance flying brave . Lord , give me easier entrance , if thou please ; Or if I may not there arrive with ease , Yet I beseech the set me safe ashore , Though stormy Winds at Harbours mouth should roar . CHAP. XXXII . How glad are Seamen , when they make the Shore And Saints no less , when all their Danger 's o're , OBSERVATION . WHat Joy is there among Sea-men , when at last , after a tedious and dangerous Voyage , they descry Land , and see the desied Haven before them ? Then they turn out of their loath'd Cabbins , and come upon open Deck with much joy , Psal. 107. 30. Then they are glad , because they be quiet : So he bringeth them to their desired Haven . Now they can reflect with comfort upon the many dangers they have past , Olim haec meminisse juvabit ; It is sweet to recount them . APPLICATION . But O , what transcendent Joy , yea , ravishing , will ove-run the hearts of Saints , when after so many Conflicts , Temptations , and Afflictions , they arrive in glory , and are harbour'd in Heaven , where they shall rest for ever ! 2. Thes. 1. 7. The Scripture saith , They shall sing the Song of Moses , and of the Lamb , Rev. 15. 3. The Song of Moses was a triumphant Song , composed for the celebration of that glorious Deliverance at the Red Sea. The Saints are now fluctuating upon a troublesome and tempestuous Sea ; their hearts sometime ready to sink and die within them , at the apprehension of so many and great dangers and difficulties . Many an hard storm they ride out , and many streights and troubles they here encounter with : But at last they arrive at their desired and long expected Haven , and then Heaven rings and resounds with their joyful acclamations . And how can it be otherwise , when as soon as ever they set foot upon that glorious Shoar , Christ himself meets and receives them with a Come ye blessed of my Father ? Matth. 25. 34. O joyful voice ! O much desired Word ? ( saith Par●us ) What tribulation would not a man undergo for his Words sake ! Besides , then they are perfectly freed from all evils , whether of sin or suffering , and perfectly filled with all desired good . Now they shall joyn with that great Assembly , in the high praises of God. O what a day will this be ! if ( saith a worthy Divine ) Diagoras died away with an excess of Joy , whilst he enbraced his three Sons that were crowned as Victors in the Olympic Games in one day : And good old Simeon , when he saw Christ but in a body subject to the insirmities of our natures cryed out , Now let thy Servant depart in peace ; what unspeakable joy will it be to the Saints , to behold Christ in his glory , and see their godly relations also , ( to whose conversion , perhaps , they have been instrumental ) all crown'd in one day with everlasting Diadems of bliss ! And if the stars did ( as Ignatius saith ) make a Quire , as it were , about that star that appear'd at Christ's incarnation , and there be such joy in Heaven at the conversion of a sinner : no wonder then , the Morning-stars sing together , and the Sons of God shout for Joy , when the general Assembly meet in Heaven ; O how will the Arches of Heaven ring and eccho , when the high praises of God shall be in the mouth of such a Congregation ! then shall the Saints be joyfbl in glory , and sing aloud upon their Beds of everlasting Rest. REFLECTION . And is there such a day approaching for the Sons of God indeed ! and have I [ authority ] to call my selfe one of the number ! Iohn 1. 12. O then let me not droop at present difficulties , nor hang down my hands when I meet with hardships in the way . O my Soul , what a joyful day will this be ! for at present we are tost upon an Ocean of troubles , fears , temptations ; but these will make Heaven the sweeter . Chear up then , O my Soul , thy Salvation is now nearer , than when thou first believedsts Rom. 13. 11. And it will not now be long ere I receive the end of my Faith , 1 Pet. 1. 9. And then it will be sweet to reflect even upon these hardships in the way . Yet a few days more , and then comes that blessed day thou hast so long waited and panted for . Oppose the glory of that day ( O my Soul ) to thy present abasures and sufferings , as blessed Paul did , Ram. 1. 18. And thou shalt see how it will shrink them all up to nothing . Oppose the Inheritance thou shalt receive in that day , to thy losses for Christ now ; and see how joyfully it will make thee bear them , Heb. 10. 34. Oppose the honour that will be put upon thee in that day , to thy present reproaches ; and see how easiei● will make them to thee , 1 Cor 4. 5. What condition can I be in , wherein the believing thoughts of this blessed day cannot relieve me ? Am I poor , Here is that which answers Poverty , Jam. 3. 5. Hearken , my beloved Brethren , hath not God chosen the poor of this world , rich in Faith , and heirs of the Kingdom ? Am I tempted ? Here is relief against that , Revel . 12. 16. Now is come Salvation and strength ; for the Accuser of our Brethren is cast down , &c. Am I deserted ? Here is a remedy for that too , Revel . 22. 5. And there shall be no night there , &c. Come then , my Soul , let us enter upon our Inheritance by degrees , and begin the Life of Heaven upon Earth . THE POEM . VVhen Solomon in Isreal first was King , Heaven's Arches , Earth's Foundations seem'd to ring VVith joyful Exclamations ! How much more VVill Heaven resound , when Saints are come ashore ! How will the ravish'd Souls transported be At the first glimpse of Christ ! VVhom they shall see In all his glory ; and shall live and move Like Salamanders , in the fire of love , A flood of tears convey'd them to the Gate , VVhere endless Ioys receiv'd them . Now the date Of all their Sorrow 's out ; henceforth they walk In Robes of Glory . Now there 's no more talk Of fears , temptations , of that snare , or this : No Serpent in that Paradise doth hiss . No more desertions , troubled thoughts or tears ; Christ's full enjoyment supersedes those fears . Delights of Princes Courts are all but toys To these delights , these are transcendent joys , The joys of Christ himself ; and what they are , An Angel's Tongue would stammer to declare . Were our Conceptions clear , did their Tongues go Vnto their Ela , yet the Note 's too low . What! Paint the Son too bright ! it cannot be ; Sure Heaven suffers no Hyperbole . My thoughts are swallowed up , my Muse doth doth tire And hang her Wings , Conception soars no higher . Give me a place among thy Children there , Although I lie with them in Dungeons here . A Concluding Speech . I Have now done , and am looking to Heaven for a blessing upon these weak Labours : what use you will make of them , I know not ; but this I know , that the day is coming , when God will reckon with you for this , and all other helps and means afforded to you . And if it be not improved by you , be sure it will be produced as a witness against you . Sirs , I beg you in the Name of Christ , before whom both you and I must shortly appear , that you receive not these things in vain . Did I know what other lawful means to use that might reach your hearts , they should not be in vain to you ; but I cannot do God's part of the work , nor yours . Onely I request you all , both Masters , common Men , and all others , into whose hands this shall come , that you will lay to heart what you read ; pray unto him that hath the Key of the House of David , that openeth and no man shutteth , to open your hearts to give entertainment to these truths . Alas ! If you apply it not to your selves , I have Iaboured to no purpose , the Pen of the Scribe is in vain : But God may make such an application of them , in one Storm or another , as may make your hearts to tremble . O Sirs ! when Death and Eternity look you in the face , Conscience may reflect upon these things to your horror and amazement , and make you cry out , as Prov. 5. 12 , 13. How have I hated knowledge , and my heart despised reproof ? And have not obeyed the voice of my Teacher , nor inclined my ears to them that instructed me ? And O what a dreadful shriek will such Souls give , when the Lord opens their eyes , to see that misery that they are here warned of ! But if the Lord shall bless these things to your Conversion , then we may say to you , as Moses did to Zebulun , the Mariner's Tribe Deut. 33. 12. Rejoyce Zebulun , in thy going out . The Lord will be with you which way soever you turn you selves ; and being in the bosome of the Covenant , you are safe in the midst of all dangers . O! thou that art the Father of Spirits , that formedst , and canst easily reform the heart , open thou the blind eye , unstop the deaf ear , let the Word take hold upon the heart . If thou wilt but say the word , these weak Labours shall prosper , to bring home many lost Souls unto thee . Amen . FINIS A Pathetical and Serious DISSWASIVE From the Horrid and Detestable Sins OF Drunkenness , Swearing , Uncleanness , Forgetfulness of Mercies , Uiolation of Promises ; and Atheistical Contempt of Death . APPLIED By way of CAUTION to Sea-men , and now added as an APPENDIX to their NEW COMPASS . Being an Essay toward their much desired Reformation : Fit to be seriously recommended to their Profane Relations , whether Sea-men or others , by all such as unfeignedly desire their Eternal Welfare . By IOHN FLAVEL , Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. 5. 19. Knowing therefore the terrours of the LORD , we perswade men . Ezek. 3. 19. Yet if thou warn the wicked , and he turn not from his wickedness , nor from his wicked way , he shall die in his iniquity ; but thou hast delivered thy soul. LONDON , Printed by Tho. Parkust and M. Fabian . 1698. To the Right Worshipful Sir Iohn Frederick , Kt , One of the Worshipful Aldermen of the City of LONDON , and their Honourable BURGESS in the present PARLIAMENT . And to the truly Religious and ever Honoured , Mr. Iohn Lovering , Of the City of London , MERCHANT . Much honour'd and esteem'd , ALthough Dedications are too often abused to a vain flattery , yet is there an excellent use and advantage to be made of them : Partly to encourage Persons of VVorth and Eminency to espouse the Interest of Religion themselves ; and partly to oblige those Readers , for whom such Books are principally intended , to a diligent perusal of them , by interesting such Persons in them , for whom they have great Respects , o● on whom they have any dependance . Vpon the first account , a Dedication would be needless to you : for I am perswaded , you do not only in your Iudgment approve the Design I here manage , viz. The Reformation of the prophane and looser sort of our Sea-men ; but are also heartily willing to improve your Interest to the uttermost for the promotion of it . I cannot look upon you as Persons acted by that low and common spirit that the most of your Profession are acted by , who little regard , if they be good Servants to them , whether God have any Service from them , or no , and if they pay them the Wages due for their work never think of the Wages they are to receive for their sin . You are judged to be Persons of another spirit , who do not only mind , but advance Christ's Interest above your own , and negotiate for his Glory , as well as for your own gain : And yet , herein you consult your own Interest as well as God's : Subordinata non pugnant . Your Interest is never more prosperously managed , or abundantly secured , than when it is carried on in a due subordination to God's . Their Reformation will apparently tend to your advantage . Those sins of theirs , against which I have here engaged , are the Jonahs in your Ships : 't is sin that sinks them , and drives them against the Rocks . One sinner destroys much good , Eccles. 8. 11. How much more a leud Crew of them conspiring to provoke God! The death of their Lusts , is the most probable means to give life to your Trade . And as these Counsels prosper in their hearts , so will your Business thrive in you hands . Piety and Prosperity are married together in that Promise , Psal. 1. 3. Onesimus was never so profitable a Servant to Philemon , as when he became his Brother in a Spiritual , as well as his Servant in a Civil Capacity . Philem. vers . 11. and 16. compared . And yet if your Interest were forced to step back , to give way to Christ's ; I hope you would ( notwithstanding ) rejoyce therein . So that my present business is , not so much to perswade you , whose hearts , I hope , God ha●h already perswaded , to so good a work ; as to make your Fames and Respects , which are great among them , an innocent Bait to tempt them to their Duty . And if either your Name or Interest may be useful to such an end , I presume I may use them freely , and welcome : for , sure I am , they can never be put to a better use . Well then , I will make bould to send this small Adventure in your Ships ; and if the Return of it be but tke Conversion of one Soul to God , I shall reckon that I have made a better Voyage than you , let your Returns be never so rich . How these things will affect them , I know not . I do suppose it will produce different effects upon them , according to the different tempers of their spirits , and according as God shall command , or suspend the Blessing . Possibly some will storm at the close and cutting Rebukes of the Word , ( for most mens Lusts are a great deal more sensible and tender than their Consciences ) and will fondly imagine that this necessary plainness tends to their reproach . But if none but the guilty can be supposed to be angry at them , they will thereby reproach themselves a great deal more than ever I intend to do . I confess it is a bitter Pill , and compounded of many ●perative and strong Ingredients , which do acute it ; ●ut not a jot more than is necessary . I shall beg the ●ssistance of your Prayers to God for them , and of your ●rave Admonitions and Exhortations to them for God ; ●hich will much help its Operation , and facilitate my Design , to do their Souls a piece of everlasting Service ; ●ith which Design I can truly say I even travel in pain 〈◊〉 them . Your assistance therefore in this good Work , ●ill put the highest Obligation upon Your most affectionate Friend and Servant to be commanded , IOHN FLAVEL . A Sober Consideration Of the SIN of DRUNKENNESS . IN the former Treatise I have endeavoured to Spiritualize earthly Objects , and elevate your thoughts to more sublime and excellent Contemplations ; that earthly things may rather be ●● step , than a stop to Heavenly . You have therein my best advice to guide you in your Course to that Po●● of your Eternal Rest and Happiness . In this , I have given warning of some dangero●● Rocks and Quick-sands that lie upon your left hand● upon which millions of Souls have perished , and ●●thers are wilfully running to their own preditio●● Such are the horrid Sins of Drunkenness , Vncleanness profane Swearing , Violation of Promises and Ingagements made to God , and Atheistical slighting and co●tempt of Death and Eternity . All which I have 〈◊〉 given warning of , and held forth a Light to d●cover where your danger is . If after this you ●●●stinately prosecute your Lusts , and will not be ●●●claimed ; you perish without Apology , I have fre●● mine own Soul. Let none interpret this necessary plainness , as●● reproach to Sea-men , as if I represented them 〈◊〉 the world worse than they are . If upon that●● count any of them be offended , methinks these three or four Considerations should remove that offence . First , that if this close and plain dealing be necessary in order to your Cure , and you will be offended thereat , it 's better you should be offend●d than God. Ministers are often put upon lamentable streights , they sail betwixt Sylla and Charibdis ; the wrat● of God upon one side , if we do not speak 〈◊〉 , and home , as the necessity of the Case ●equires ; and Man's wrath , if we do : What shall we do in this streight ? Either God or you , it seems , must be offended ; and if it cannot be avoided , I shall rather hazard your anger than Gods , and think it far more tolerable . Secondly , If you did but see the necessity and end of this manner of dealing with your Souls , you would not be offended . But put it into a more sensible case , and you will see and acknowledge it presently . If I should see an high-bult Wall giving way , and ready to fall upon you ; would you be angry with me , if by plucking you out of the danger , I should pluck your arm out of joynt ? Certainly you would not . Why this is the case here : See Isa. 30. 13. Therefore this Iniquity shall be unto you as a breach ready to fall , swelling out in a high Wall , whose breaking cometh suddenly , at as instant . Thirdly , What a madness is it to abide in a condition over which all Woes and Curses hang , and yet not be able to endure to hear of it ! Why what will it profit you to have your misery hid from your eyes , and kept from your eares a little while ? You must see this wrath , and hear louder vollies of Woes from your own Consciences , If you remain in this condition . You cannot bear that from us , which your Conscience will one of these days preach themselves to you , and that in a more dreadful dialect than I have used here . Fourthly , I do not charge these sins indifferently upon all Sea-men . No , I know there are some choice and good men amongst your men , that fear an Oath , and hate even the garments spotted with the flesh , who are ( I question not ) the credit and glory of our English Nation , in the eyes of Strangers that converse with them . Nor yet do I think , that all that are wicked amongst them , are equally guilty of all these evils ; for though all that are graceless , be equally under the dominion of Original Corruption , yet it follows not from thence , that therefore actual sins must reign alike in them : There is great difference , even among ungodly men themselves , in this respect ; which difference ariseth from their various Customs , Constitutions , Abilities , Educations , and the different Administrations of the Spirit , in enlightning , convincing , and putting checks upon Conscience : For though God be not the Author , yet he is the Orderer of sin . And this makes a great disparity , even among wicked men themselves . Some are persons of good Morals , though not Gracious Principles , which produce a civil and sober , though not a holy and a religious Life . And others , though they live in some one of these Lusts , yet are not guilty of some others of them . For it is with Original Corruption , just as it is with the sap of the Earth , which though it be the matter of all kind of Fruits , yet in some ground it sorts better with one grain than with another : And so in Plants , in one tree it becomes a Apple , in another a Cherry ; even so it is with this Original Corruption : In one man it runs most into Swearing , in another into Uncleanness , in a third into Drunkenness . Lust is nothing else but the corrupt appetite of the Creature to some sinful object : and therefore look as it is with the Appetite with respect to Food , so it is with the vitiated Appetites of Souls to sin . One man loves this Food best , and another that ; there is endless variety in that , and so in this . Having spoken thus much to remove offence , I shall now beg you to peruse the following Discourse . Consider what evidence these things carry with them . Search the alledged Scriptures , see if they be truly recited and applied to the case in hand : And if so , Oh tremble at the truth you read ; bring forth your Lusts that they may die the death : Will you not part with these abominable practices till Death and Hell make the seperation ? Ah how much better is it for you , that Grace should do it ! And because many of you see not the danger , and therefore prize not the Remedy , I do here Request all those that have the Bowels of Pity in them for their poor Relations , who are sinking , drowning , perishing , to spread these following Cautions before the Lord for a Blessing , and then put them into their hands . And oh that all pious Masters would perswade those that are under their charge to buy this ensuing Treatise , and diligently peruse it . And the first Caution I shall give them , is this . I. CAUTION . TAke heed and beware of the detestable Sin of Drunkenness , which is a beastly sin a voluntary madness , a sin that unmans thee , and makes thee like the beast that perishes ; yea , sets thee below the brute beasts , which will not drink to to excess ; or if they do , yet it 's not their sin . One of the Ancients calls it , A distemper of the Head , a subversion of the senses , a tempest in the tongue , a storm of the body , the shipwrack of vertue , the loss of time , a wilful madness , a pleasant devil , a sugar'd poyson , a sweet sin , which he that has , has not himself , and he that commits it , doth not only commit Sin , but he himself is altogether sin . It is a Sin at which the most sober Heathens blushed . The Spartans brought their Children to loath it , by shewing them a Drunkard , whom they gazed at as a-Monster : even Epicurus himself , who esteemed happiness to consist in Pleasure , yet was temperate , as Cicero observes : Among the Heathens , he was accounted the best man , that spent more Oyl in the Lamp , than Wine in the Bottle . Christianity could once glory in its professors : Tertullian saith of the Primitive Christians , They sat not down before they prayed , they eat no more than might suffice hunger , they drank no more than was sufficient for temperate men ; they did so eat and drink , as those that remembred they must pray afterward . But now it may blush to behold such beastly sensualists adorning themselves with its name , and sheltring themselves under its wings . And amongst those that profess Christianity , how ordinarily is this sin committed by Sea-men ? This insatiable Dropsie is a Disease that reigns especially among the inferiour and ruder sort of them . Some of them have gone aboard drunk , and laid the ●oundation of their Voyage in sin . O what a preparation is this ! They know not whether ever they shall see the Land of their Nativity any more ; the next Storm may send them into Eternity : yet this is the Farewe● they take ; this is their preparation to meet the Lord. And so in their returns , notwithstanding the terrible and astonishing Works of the Lord , which they have beheld with their eyes , and their marvellous preservation iu so great and terrible extremities ; yet thus do they requite the Lord , assoon as their dangers are over , as if they had been deliver'd to commit all these abominations . But a few hours , or days since , they were reeling to and fro upon a stormy Ocean , and staggering like drunken men , as it is Psal. 107. 27. and now you may see them reeling and staggering in the streets , drowning the sense of all those precious Mercies and Deliverances in their drunken Cups . Reader , If thou be one that is guilty of this sin , for the Lords sake , bethink thy self speedily and weigh , with the reason of a man , what I shall now say , in order to thy Conviction , Humiliation and Reformation . I need not spend many words , to open the nature of this sin to you : we all grant , that there is a lawful use of Wine and strong Drink , to support Nature , not to clog it ; to cure Infirmities , not to cause them . Drink no longer water , but use a little Wine , for thy stomachs sake , and thine often infirmities , saith Paul to Timothy , 1 Tim. 5. 23. mark ; drink not water , but wine , sed modice ( i. e. ) medice ; pro remedio , non pro delicius , saith Ambrose : that is , use it modestly , viz. Medicinally , not for pleasure , but for Remedy . Yea , God allows it , not noly for bare necessity , but for chearfulness and alacrity , that the body may be more fit and expedite for duty , Prov. 31. 7. But further no man proceeds , without the violation of Sobriety . When men sit till Wine have inflamed them , and reason be disturbed ( for Drunkenness is the privation of reason , caused by immoderate drinking ) then do they come under the guilt of this horrid and abominable Sin. To the Satisfaction and refreshment of nature , you may drink ; for it is a part of the Curse , to drink , and not be satisfied : but take heed you go no further , For Wine is a [ mocker ] strong Drink is raging , and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise , Prov. 20. 1. The Throat is a slipery place ; how easily may a sin slip through it into the Soul ? these sensual Pleasures have a kind of inchanting power upon the Soul ; and by custom gain upon it , till they have enslaved it , and brought it under their power . Now this is the sin against which God hath delivered so many Precepts , and denounced so many Woes , in his Word : Ephes. 5. 18. Be not drunken with wine wherein is excess , Rom. 13. 18. Not in rioting and drunkenness . not in chambering and wantonness , Isa. 5. 11. Wo to them that rise early in the morning , that they may follow strong drink ; that continue until night , till wine inflame them ; with many other of dreadful importance . Now to startle thee for ever from this abominable and filthy lust , I shall here propound to thy Consideration these ten ensuing Arguments : and oh that they might stand in the way , as the Angel did in Balaam's , when thou art in the prosecution of thy sensual Pleasures ! And the first is this . Arg. 1. It should exceedingly disswade from this Sin , to consider that it is an high abuse of the Bounty and Goodness of God , in affording us those sweet Refreshments , to make our Lives comfortable to us upon earth . In Adam we forfeited all right , to all earthly , as will as heavenly Mercies . God might have taken thee from the Womb , when thou wast a Sinner but of a span long , and immediately have sent thee to thine own place : thou hadst no right to a drop of water , more than what the bounty of God gave thee . And whereas he might have thrust thee out of the world , as soon as thou camest into it , and so all those days of mercy thou hast had on earth , might have been spent in howling and unspeakable misery in Hell : Behold the Bounty and Goodness of God in thee ; I say , behold it , and wonder : He hath suffered thee for so many years to live upon the earth , which he hath prepared and furnished with all things fit for thy necessity and delight ; out of the earth on which thou treadest , he bringeth forth thy food and [ VVine ] to make glad thy heart , Psal. 104. 14 , 15. And dost thou thus requite the Lord ? Hath Mercy armed an enemy to fight against it with its own Weapo●s ? Ah that ever the Riches of his Goodness , Bounty , and Long s●ffering ( all which are arguments to lead thee to repentance ) should be thus abused ! If God had not been so bountiful , thou couldst not have been so sinful . Arg. 2. It degrades a man from the honour of his Creation , and equalizeth him to the beast that perisheth . Wine is said to take away the heart , Hos. 4. 11. ( i. e. ) the wisdom and ingenuity of a man , and so brutifies him ; as Nebuchadnezzar , who lost the heart of a man , and had the heart of a beast given him , Dan. 4. 32. The heart of a man hath is generosity and sprightliness , brave vigorous spirit in it , capable of , and fitted for noble and worthy actions and imployments ; but his lust effeminates quenches and drowns that masculine vigour in the puddle of excess and sensuality . For no sooner is a man brought under the dominion of this Lust , but the government of Reason is renounced , which should exercise a coercive power over the Affections ; and all is delivered up into the hand of Lust and Appetite ; and so they act , not by discretion and reason , but by Lust and Will , as the Beasts do by Instinct . The spirit of Man entertains it self with intellectual and chast Delights , the soul of a Beast is onely fitted for such low , sensitive and dreggie Pleasures . Thou hast something of the Angel , and something of the Beast in thee ; thy Soul partakes of the nature of Angels , thy Body of the nature of Beasts : Oh how many pamper the Beast , while they strave the Angels ! God in the first Chaper , put all the Creatures in subjection to thee ; by this Lust thou puttest thy in self Subjection to the creature , and art brought under his power , 1 Cor. 6. 12. If God had given thee the feet or head of a beast , Oh what a misery wouldst thou have esteemed it ! And is it nothing to have the heart of a Beast ? Oh consider it sadly . Arg. 3. It is a Sin by which thou greatly wrongest and abuseth thine own Body . The Body is the Souls Instrument , it is as the Tools are to a skilful Artificer , this Lust both dulls and spoils it , so that it 's utterly unfit for any service of him that made it . Thy body is a curious piece . not made by a word of command , as other Creatures , but by a word of counsel , I am fearfully and wonderfully made , and curiously wrought , ( saith the Psalmist ) Psal. 139. 14. or as the Vulgar : Ace pictus sum , Painted as with a Needle , like a Garment of Needlework of divers colours , richly embroydered . Look how many members , so many wonders . There are Miracles enough ( saith one ) betwixt head and foot , to fill a volume . There is ( saith another ) such curious workmanship in the eye , that upon the first sight of it some Atheists have been forced to acknowledge a God ; especially that fifth Muscle in the eye is wonderful , whereby ( as a learned * Author observes ) Man differeth from all other Creatures , who have but four ; one to turn the eye downward , a second to hold it forward , a third to move it to the right hand , a fourth to the left ; but none to turn it upward as a man hath . Now judge in thy self , did God frame such a curious piece , and enliven it with a Soul , which is a spark , a ray of his own light , whose motions are so quick , various and indefatigable , whose flights of reason are so transcendent , did God , thinkest thou , send down this curious piece , the top and glory of the Creation , the Index and Epitome of the whole world , Eccl. 12. 2. did God ( I say ) send down this picture of his own perfection , to be but as a striner for meats and drinks , a spung to suck in Wine and Beer ? Or canst thou answer for the abuse and destruction of it ? By this excess thou fillest it with innumerable diseases under which it languisheth ; and at last thy life , like a lamp extinguisnt , being drowned with to much Oyle . Infinite Diseases are begotten by it ( saith Zanch. ) hence come Apoplexies , Gouts , Palfies , sudden Death , trembling of the hands and legs ; herein they bring Cain's curse upon themselves , saith Ambrose . Drunkenness slays more then the Sword. Oh! what a terrible thing will in be to consider upon a Death-bed , that these pangs and aches are the fruits of thy Intemperance and Excess ! VVho hath wo ▪ Who hath sorrows VVho hath contention ? VVho hath babling ? VVho hath wounds without cause ? VVho hath redness of eyes ? They that tarry long at VVine , they that go to seek mixt VVine , Prov. 23. 29 , 30. By this Enumeration , and manner of Interrogation , he seems to make it a difficult thing to recount the miseries that Drunkenness loads the outward man with : for look as Vermine abound where there is store of Corn , so do Diseases in the bodies of Drunkards , where crudities do so abound : Now methinks if thou have no regard to thy poor Soul , or the glory of God ; yet such a sensible Argument as this , from thy body , should move thee . Arg. 4. Drunkenness wastes and scatters thine estate , Proverty attends excess : the Drunkard shall be cloathed with Rags , and brought to a morsel of bread . Solomon hath read thy fortune , Prov. 21. 17. He that loveth Wine and Oyl shall not be rich , Luxury and Beggary are seldom far asunder . When Diogenes heard a Drunkards house cryed to be sold ; I thought , quoth he , it would not be long ere he vomited up his house also . The Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifie Luxury ; the former is compounded of two words , which signify , Thou shalt be poor ; and the latter signifies the losing of the possession of that good which is in our hand . The Drunkard and the Glutton shall surely come to poverty , Prov. 23. 21. In the Hebrew it is , He shall be disinherited , or disposessed . It doth not only dispossess a man of his Reason , which is a rich and fair inheritance given to him by God , but it also dispossesses him of his estate : it wastes all that either the provident care of thy Progenitors , or the blessing of God upon thine own industry , hath obtained for thee . And how will this sting like and Adder , when thou shalt consider it ? Apicius the Roman , hearing that there were seven hundred Crowns only remaining of a fair estate , that his Father had left him , fell into a deep Melancholly , and fearing want , hanged himself , saith Seneca . And not to mention the miseries and sorrows they bring hereby upon their Families , drinking the tears , yea , blood of their Wives and Children : Oh what an account will they give to God , when their reckoning day comes ! Believe it , Sirs , there is not a shilling of your estates , but God will reckon with you for the expence thereof . If you have spent it upon your lu●ts , while the necessity of your families , or the poor , called upon you for it ; I should be loth to have your account to make , for a thousand times more than ever you possessed . O woful expence , that is followed with such dreadful reckonings ! Arg. 5. Consider what vile and ignominious Characters the Spirit of God hath put upon the subjects of this sin . The Scripture every where notes them for infamous , and most abominable persons . When Eli supposed Hannah to be drunken , Count not thy hand-maid a daughter of Belial , said she , 1 Sam. 1. 16. Now a Son or daughter of Belial is , in Scripture-language , the vilest of men or women . So Psal. 69. 12. They that sit in the gate , speak against me , and I am the Song of Drunkards , ( i. e. ) of the basest and vilest of men , as the opposition plainly shews ; for they are opposed to them that sit in the gate , that is , honourable persons . The Lord would have his people shun the society of such , as a pest . Not to eat with them , 1 Cor. 5. 11. Yea , the Scripture brands them with Atheism ; they are such as have lost the sense and expectation of the Day of Judgment ; mind not another world , nor do they look for the coming of the Lord , Matth. 24. 27 , 28. He saith the Lord delayeth his coming , and then falls a drinking with the drunken . The thoughts of that day will make them leave their Cups , or their Cups will drown the thoughts of such a Day . And will not all the contempt , shame and infamy , which the Spirit of God hath poured on the head , of this sin , cause thee to abhor it ? Do not all Godly , yea Moral Persons , abhor the Drunkard ? Oh methinks the shame that attends it , should be as a fence to keep thee from it . Arg. 6. Sadly consider , there can be nothing of the sanctifying Spirit in a soul that is under the dominion of this lust ; for upon the first discovery of the Grace of God , the Soul renounces the Government of Sensuality . The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation , teacheth men to live soberly , Tit. 2. 11 , 12. That is one of its first effects . Drunkenness indeed may be found among Heathens , that are lost in the darkness of Ignorance ; but it may not be once named among the Children of the Day . They that be drunken are drunken in the night ; but let us that are of the day be sober , 1 Thes. 5. 7 , 8. And the Apostles often oppose Wine and the Spirit as things incompatible , Eph. 5. 16. Be not drunk with Wine wherein is excess , but be filled with the Spirit . So Jude 19. Sensual , not having the Spirit . Now what a dreadful Consideration is this : If any man have not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his , Rom 8. 9. Sensual persons have not the Spirit of Christ , and so can be none of his . It 's true , Noah , a Godly man , once fell into this sin , but as Theodoret saith , and that truly , it proceeded ab inexperientiae non ab intemperantia , from want of experience of the force and power of the Grape , not from Intemperance ; and besides , we find not that ever he was again overtaken with that sin ; but thou knowest it , and yet persistest . O wretched Creature ! the Spirit of Christ cannot dwell in thee . The Lord help thee to lay it to heart sadly . Arg. 7. It 's a Sin over which many direful woes and threats hang in the Word , like so many lowring clouds , ready to power down vengeance upon the heads of such Sinners . Look as the condition of the Saints is compassed round with Promises , so is yours with Threatnings , Isai. 5. 11. Wo to them that rise up early in the morning , that they may follow strong drink , and continue until night , until VVine inflame . So Isai. 28. 1 , 2. Wo to the Crown of Pride , to the Drunkards of Ephraim , &c. With many other , too long to enumerate here . Now consider what a fearful thing it is to be under these woes of God : Sinner , I beseech thee , do not make light of them , for they will fall heavy : assure thy self , not one of them shall fall to the ground : they will all take place upon thee , except thou repent . There are woes of Men , and woes of God : Gods woes are true woes , and make their condition woful to purpose on whom they fall . Other woes ( as one saith ) do but touch the skin ; but these strike the Soul ; other woes are but temporal , these are eternal ; others do only part betwixt us and our outward comforts , these betwixt God and us for ever . Arg. 8. Drunkenness is a leading sin , which has a great retinue and attendence of other sins waiting on it , it 's like a sudden Land-flood , which brings a great deal of dirt with it . So that look as Faith excels among the Graces , because it enlivens , actuates , and gives strength to them ; so is this among sins . It is not so much a special sin against a single Precept of God , as a general violation of the whole Law , ( saith accurate Amesius . ) It doth not only call off the guard , but warms and quickens all other Lusts , and so exposes the Soul to be prostituted by them . ( 1. ) It gives occasion , yea , is the real cause of many contentions , and fatal quarrels , Prov. 23. 29. VVho hath Wo ▪ VVho hath sorrow , Who hath [ contention ] babling , wounds without cause ? They that tarry long at the wine , &c. Contentions and Wounds are the ordinary effects of drunken meetings : when Reason is deposed , and Lust heated , what will not men attempt ? ( 2. ) Scoff and reproaches of the ways and people of God. Psal. 69. 12. David was the Song of the Drunkards . ( 3. ) It 's the great incendiary of Lust : You shall find rioting and drunkenness joyned with chambering and wantonness , Rom. 13. 13. Nunquam ego ebrium castum putabo , saith Hierome , I will never think a drunkard to be chaste . Solomon plainly tells us , what the issue will be , Prov. 23. 33. Thine eyes shall behold a strange woman , and thy heart shall utter perverse things , speaking of the Drunkard . It may be called Gad , for a troop followeth it . Hence one aptly calls it , The Devils bridle , by which he turneth the sinner which way he pleases : he that is overcome by it , can overcome no other sin . Arg. 9. But if none of the former Considerations can prevail , I hope these two last may , unless all sense and tenderness be lost . Consider therefore in the 9th place , That Drunkards are in Scripture marked out for Hell : the Characters of Death are upon them . You shall find them pinioned with other Sons of death , 1 Cor. 6. 9 , 10. Know ye not , that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God ? Be not deceived : Neither Fornicaters , nor Idolaters , nor adulterers , nor effeminate , nor Abusers of themselves with Mankinde , nor Thieves , nor Covetous , nor [ Drunkards , ] nor Revilers , nor Extortioners , shall inherit the Kingdom of God. Oh dreadful thunderbolt ! He is not asleep but dead , that is not startled at it . Lord , how are guilty sinners able to face such a Text as this is ! Oh Soul ! Darst thou for a superfluous Cup adventure to drink a Cup of pure unmixed wrath ? Oh think when the Wine sparkles in the glass , and gives its colour , think , I say , what a Cup of trembling is in the hand of the Lord for thee . Thou wilt not now believe this ; Oh but the day is coming , when thou shalt know the price of these brutish pleasures . Oh it will then sting like an Adder . Ah! this short-lived beastly pleasure is the price for which thou sellest Heaven , and rivers of pleasure that are at Gods right hand . Obj. But I hope I shall repent , and then this Text can be no bar to my Salvation . Sol. True , if God shall give thee Repentance , it could not . But in the last place , to awaken thee throughly , and startle thy secure Conscience , which Sensuallity hath brawned and cauterized , let me tell thee . Arg. 10. That it is a sin out of whose power few or none are ever rescued or reclaimed . On this account it was that Saint Augustine called it the Pi● of Hell : he that is addicted to this Sin , becomes incurable ( saith a Reverend Divine ) for seldom , or never , have I known a Drunkard recalled . And its power to hold the soul in subjection to it , lies in two things especially : ( 1 ) as it becomes habitual ; and habits are not easily broken ; be pleased to view an Example in the case , Prov. 23. 35. They have stricken me , shalt thou say , and I was not sick ; they have beaten me and I felt it not . When I shall awake , I will seek it yet again . ( 2. ) As it takes away the heart , Hos. 4 11. that is , the understanding , reason and ingenuity of a man , and so makes him uncapable of being reclaimed by counsel . Upon this account it was , that Abigail would not speak less or more to Nabal , till the Wine was gone out of him , 1 Sam. 25. 36 , 37. plainly intimating , that no wholsome counsel can get in , till the Wine be gone out . When one asked Cleostratus , whether he were not ashamed to be drunken , he tartly replied ; And are not you ashamed to admonish a Drunkard ? intimating that no wise man would cast away an admonition upon such an one . And it not only renders them uncapable of councel for the time , but by degrees it besots and infatuates them ; which is a very grievous stroke from God upon them , making way to their eternal ruine . So then you see upon the whole , what a dangerous gulph the sin of Drunkenness is . I beg you for the Lords sake , and by all the regard you have to your souls , bodies , and estates , beware of it . Oh consider these ten Arguments I have here produced against it . I should have proceeded to answer the several Pleas and Excuses you have for it . But I mind brevity , and shall shut up this first Caution , with a very pertinent and ingenious Poem of Mr. George Herbert , in his Temple . Drink not the third glass , which thou canst not tame When once it is within thee ; but before Mayst rule it as thou list , and pour the shame which it will pour to thee , upon the floor . It is most just to throw that on the ground , Which would throw me there , if I kept the round . He that is drunken may his Mother kill , lie with his Sister ; he hath lost the Reins ; Is outlaw'd by himself : all kind of ill did with the liquor slide into the veins . The Drunkard forfeits Man , and doth devest All worldly right , save what he has by Beast . Shall I to please anothers wine-sprung mind , lose all my own ? God has giv'n me a measure Short of his Can , and Body : must I finde a pain in that wherein he finds a pleasure ? Stay at the third glass ; if thou lose thy hold , Then thou art modest , but the wine grows bold . If Reason move not Gallants , quit the room , ( all in a shipwrack shipt their several way . ) Let not a common Ruine thee entomb ; be not a Beast in courtesies , but stay ; Stay at the third Glass , or forgo the place ; VVine above all things doth Gods stamp deface . II. CAUTION . THe Second Evil I shall deal with , is the evil of the Tongue , which , as St. Iames saith , is full of deadly Poyson , Oathes , Curses , Blasphemies : and this poyson it scatters up and down the World in all places ; an untamed member that none can rule , Iam. 3. 7 , 8. The fiercest of beasts have been tamed by Man , ( as the Apostle there observes ) which is a relique of his old superiority and dominion over them ; But this is an unruly Member that none can tame , but he that made it : no beast so fierce and crabbed as this is . It may be , I may be bitten by it for my labour and indeavours to put a restraint upon it : but I shall adventure it . My design is not to dishonour or exasperate you : But if my faithfulness to God and you should accidentally do so , I cannot help that . Friends , Providence oftentimes confines many of you together within the narrow limits of a Ship , where you have time enough , and if your hearts were sanctified , many choice advantages of edifying one another . O what transcendent subjects doth Providence daily present you with , to take up your discourses ! How many experiences of extraordinary mercies and preservations have you to relate to one another , and bless the Lord for ! Also , how many works of wonder do you daily behold , who go down into the deeps ? O what heavenly imployment is here for your Tongues ! How should they be talking of all his wonders ! How should you call upon each other , as David did , Psal. 66. 16. Come hither , and I will tell you what God hath done for my soul , at such a time , in such an extremity . How should you call upon one another , to pay the vows your lips have uttered in your distress ? Thus should one provoke another to this Angelical Work , as one lively Bird sets the whole Flock a Chirping . But tell me , Sirs , Should a Man come abaord you at Sea , and ask of you , as Christ did of those two Disciples going to Emmaus , Luke 24. 17. VVhat manner of communication is this that ye have hy the way ? O what a sad account would he have from most of you ! It may be he should find one Iesting , and another Swearing , a third Reviling Godliness and the Professors of it , so that it would be a little Hell for a serious Christian to be confined to your Society . This is not ( I am confident ) the manner of all . We have a company of more sober Seamen , and blessed be God for them ; but surely thus stands the case with most of you . Oh what stuff is here from persons professing Christianity , and bordering close upon the confines of Eternity , as you do ! It is not my purpose to write of all the diseases of the Tongue ; that would fill a Volume , and is inconsistent with my intended brevity . Who can recount the evils of the Tongue ? The Apostle saith , It is a world of Iniquity , Jam. 3. 6. And if there be a world of Sin in one member , Who can number the Sins of all the members ? Laurentius reckons as many sins of the Tongue , as there are Letters in the Alphabet . And it is an observable Note that one hath upon Rom. 3. 13 , 14. That when Paul anatomizeth the natural Man there , he insisteth longer upon the Organs of Speech , than all the other members . Their throat is an open sepulchre , with their tongues they have used deceit , the poyson of Asps is under their Lips , their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness . But to be short , we find the Spirit of God in Scripture comparing the Tongue to a Tree , Prov. 15. 4. A wholesome Tongue is a Tree of Life . And words is the fruit of the Tree , Isa. 57. 12. I create the fruit of the Lips. Some of these Trees bear precious fruits , and it is a lovely sight to behold them laden with them in their seasons , Prov. 25. 11. A word fitly spoken , is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver . Such a Tongue is a Tree of Life . Others of these Trees bear evil Fruit , Grapes of Sodome , and Clusters of Gomorrah . I shall onely insist upon two sorts of these fruits , viz. ( 1. ) Withered sapless fruit ; I mean , idle and unprofitable words . ( 2. ) Rotten and corrupt fruit ; I mean , prophane Oathes , and prophanations of the sacred Name of God. No fruit in the world so apt to corrupt and taint , as the fruits of the Lips. When it is so , the Scripture calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , corrupt ●r rotten communication , Ephes. 4. 29. To prevent this , the Spirit of God prescribes an excellent way to season our words , and keep them sweet and sound , that they may neither wither nor become idle and sapless , nor putrifie and become rotten , as prophane words are , Col. 4. 6. Let your speech be always with grace , seasoned with salt , that you may know how to answer every man. Oh if the salt of Grace were once cast into the fountain , the Heart , the streams must needs become more savory and pleasant , as the waters of Marah when they were healed . My present work is to attempt the cure of this double evil , of idle words , and prophane Oathes , whereof thousands among you are deeply guilty . I shall begin with the first , viz. 1. IDLE WORDS : that is , useless Chat , unprofitable Talk , that is not referred any way to the glory of God : This is a common evil , and little regarded by most men , but yet a sin of severer aggravations than the most imagine . Light words weigh heavy in Gods ballance . Arg. 1. For first , the evil of them is exceedingly aggravated by this : They abuse and prevert the Tongue , that noble member , from that employment and use which God by the law of Creation designed it to . God gave not to man the Organs and power of Speech ( which is his excellency above the Beasts ) to serve a passion , or vain humour , to vent the froth and vanity of his spirit : but to extol his Creator , and render him the praise of all his admirable and glorious works . For though the Creation be a curious well tuned Instrument , yet man is the Musician that must touch it and make the melody ; this was the end of God in forming those Instruments and Organs : but now hereby they are subject to Satan and Lust , and employed to the dishonour of God that made them . God is pleased to suspend the power of Speech ( as we see in Children ) till Reason begin to bud in them ; they have not the liberty of the one , till they have the use of the other : which plainly shews , that God is not willing to have our words run waste . Arg. 2. It is a sinful wasting of our precious time , and that puts a further aggravation upon it . Consider , Sirs , the time of Life is but a little spot betwixt two eternities . The long-suffering God wheels about those glorious Celestial Bodies over your heads in a constant revolution , to beget time for you ; and the preciousness of every minute thereof results from its use and end : It is intended and afforded as a space to you to repent in , Rev. 2. 21. And therefore great things depend upon it : no less than your eternal Happiness or Misery , hangs upon those precious opportunities . Every minute of it hath an influence into Eternity . How would the damned value one hour of it , if they might enjoy it ! The business you have to do in it , is of unspeakable weight and concernment ; this great work , this Soul-work , and Eternity-work lies upon your hands , you are cast into streights of time about it . And if so , Oh what an evil is it in you , to waste it away thus to no purpose ! Arg. 3. It 's a sin that few are sensible of , as they are of other sins , and therefore the more dangerous . It 's commonly committed , and that without checks of Conscience . Other sins , as Murther and Adultery , though they be horrid sins , yet are but seldom committed , and when they are , Conscience is startled at the horridness of them : Few , except they be prodigious wretches indeed , dare make light of them . But now for idle and vain words , there are inumerable swarms of these every day , and few regard them . The intercourse betwixt the heart and tongue is quick ; they are quickly committed , and as easily forgotten . Arg. 4. And then 4thly , They have mischievous effects upon others . How long doth an idle word or foolish jest stick in mens minds , and become an occasion of much sin to them ? The froath and vanity of thy Spirit , which thy tongue so freely vents among thy vain Companions , may be working in their minds , when thou art in the dust , and so be transmitted from one to another ; for unto that no more is requisite than an objective existence of those vain words in their memories . And thus mayst thou be sinning in the persons of thy Companions , when thou art turned into dust . And this is one reason that Suarez gives for a general Judgment , after men have past their particular judgment , immediately after their death , Because ( saith he ) after this , multitudes of sins by their means will be committed in the world , , for which they must yet be judged to a fuller measure of wrath . So that look as many of the precious Servants of God now in glory , have left many weighty and holy Sayings behind them , by which many thousands of souls have been benefitted , and God glorified on Earth , after they had left it ▪ So thou leavest that vanity upon the mind of others behind thee , by which he may be dishonoured to many generations . And then 2. For PROPHANE OATHES , th● corrupt fruit of a graceless heart ; Oh how common are these among you ! yea , the habit of swearing 〈◊〉 so strengthened in some , that they have lost all Sens●●● and Conscience of the sin . Now , Oh that I migh● prevail with you to repent of this wickedness , an● break the force of this customary evil among you ▪ Will you but give me the reading of a few page● more ; and weigh with the reason of men , what yo● read ? If you will not hearken to counsel , it is a fat● sign , 2 Cor. 2. 15 , 16. and you shall mourn for th● obstinacy hereafter , Prov. 5. 12 , 13. Desperate that evil that scorns the remedy . And if you ha●● patience to read it , the Lord give you an heart 〈◊〉 consider what you read , and obey the Counsels of God ; or else it were better thine eyes had never ●een these lines . Well then , I beseech you consider , Arg. 1. That prophane Oathes are an high abuse of the dreadful and sacred Name of God , which should neither be spoken or thought of without the ●●eepest awe and reverence . It is the taking of that ●acred Name in vain , Exod. 20. 7. Now God is ●xceeding tender and jealous over his Name : it is ●ear to him : his Name is dreadful and glorious , Malac. 1. 14. I am a great King , and my Name is ●readful among the Heathens . The Heathen would ●ot ordinarily mention the names of such as they ●everenced . Suetonius saith , that Augustus pro●ibited the common use of his name : he thought it 〈◊〉 indignity to have his name tost up and down in ●very one's mouth . Yea , saies Dr. Willet on Exod. 〈◊〉 . it was a use among them to keep secret such ●ames as they would have in reverence . They durst ●ot mention the name of Demogorgon , whom they ●eld to be the first God : They thought when he ●as named , the earth would tremble . Also the ●●me of Murcurius Trismegistus was very sparingly ●ed , because of that reverence the people had for 〈◊〉 . Now consider , shall poor worms be so tender 〈◊〉 preserving the reverence of their names ? Shall 〈◊〉 Heathens dare to use the names of their Idols ; 〈◊〉 shall the sacred and dreadful name of the true 〈◊〉 be thus bandied up and down by tongues of his 〈◊〉 Creatures ? Will not God be avenged for these ●ses of his Name ? Be confident , it shall one day 〈◊〉 sanctified upon you in judgment , because ye did 〈◊〉 sanctifie it according to your duty . Arg. 2. Swearing is a part of the Worship of 〈◊〉 , and therefore prophane swearing can be no less than the profanation of his worship , and robbing●● him of all the glory he has thereby , Deut. 6. 13. ● Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God , and serve him , and shalt swear by his Name . So Jer. 4. 2. Thou shal● swear , the Lord liveth , in Truth , in Iudgment , and 〈◊〉 Righteousness . If a man swear by God after thi● manner , God is exceedingly glorified thereby ▪ Now that you may see what revenue of Glory Go●●● hath from this part of his worship , and how it be●omes a part of Divine Worship ; you must know ▪ That an Oath is nothing else , but The asking o● desiring a Divine Testimony , for the confirmation of th● truth of our testimony . Heb. 6. 16. For men veril● swear by the greater , and an Oath for [ confirmation ] is to them an end of all strife . The corruption o● humane nature by the fall , has made man such a fals● and ●ickle creature , that his single testimony canno● be sufficient Security for another , ( especially i● weighty Cases ) to rest upon : and therefore i● swearing , he calleth ●od for a witness of the trut● of that he affirms , or promiseth . I say , calleth Go● to be a witness of the truth of what he saith , becau●● he is Truth it self , and cannot lie , Heb. 6. 18. No● this calling for , or asking of a Testimony from Go● makes an Oath become a part of Gods Worshi● and gives him a great deal of Glory and Honour ▪ For hereby he that sweareth , acknowledgeth 〈◊〉 Omnisciency , and Infallible Truth and Righteousne●●● His Omnisciency is acknowledged ; for by this appe●● to Him , we imply and acknowledge him to be 〈◊〉 Searcher of the hearts and reins ; that he knows 〈◊〉 secret intents and meaning of our spirits . His 〈◊〉 preme and Infallible Truth is also acknowledged ; 〈◊〉 this is manifestly carried in an Oath , That thoug● am a false and deceitful Creature , and my affirmati●● cannot obtain universal and full credence , yet that is greater than I , by whose Name I swear , cannot deceive . And lastly , his Righteousness is acknowledged in an Oath : for he that sweareth doth either expresly or implicitly put himself under the curse and wrath of God , if he swear falsely , Every Oath hath ●n execration or imprecation in it , Neh. 10. 29. They entered into a curse and an oath to walk in Gods law . And so 2 Cor. 1. 23. I call God for a record upon my soul. And the usual form in the Old Testament was , The Lord do so to me , and more also . Now hereby God hath the Glory of his Righteousnes and Justice given him by the Creature , and therefore it is a ●hoice part of the Divine Worship , or of that homage which a creature oweth to his God. And if this ●e so , then how easily may the sin of rash and pro●ane Oaths be hence argued and aggravated ? The more excelle●t any thing is by an institution of God , ●y so much more horrid and abominable is the abuse ●hereof . O how often is the dreadful Majesty of Heaven and Earth called to witness to frivolous ●hings ! and oft to be a witness of our rage and fu●y ! as 1 Sam. 14. 39. Is it a light thing to rob him of his peculiar Glory , and subject poor souls to his ●urse and wrath , who has said , He will be a swift wit●ess against you ? Mal. 3. 5. Your tongues are nimble 〈◊〉 committing this sin , and God will be swift in pun●shing for it . Arg. 3. It is a sin which God hath severely threatn●d to punish , and that with temporal and corporal ●lagues : For by reason of Oaths , the land mourns , Hos. ● . 2 , 3. That is , it brings the heavy Judgment of God upon whole Nations , under which they shall ●ourn . And in Zech. 5. 2 , 3 , 4. you have there 〈◊〉 Roll of cuses , ( i. e. ) a Catalogue of judgments and ●oes , the length thereof twenty Cubits ( i. e. ten yards . ) ●o set out the multitude of woes contained in it ▪ it 's a long Catalogue : and A flying Rill , to denote the swiftness of it ; it flyes towards the house of the Swearer , it makes haste . The Judgments that are written in it linger not , but are even in pain to be delivered . And this flying Roll full of dreadful Woes , flyes and enters into the house of the Swearer : and it shall therein remain , saith the Lord , it shall cleave to his family ; none shall claw off these woes from him : And it shall consume the Timber thereof , and the Stones thereof , ( i. e. ) bring utter subvertion , ruine , and desolation to his House . O dreadful sin ! What a desolation doth it make ! Your Mouths are full of Oathes , and your Houses shall be full of Curses . Wo to that wretched Family into which this flying Roll shall enter ; Wo , I say , to the wretched Inhabitants thereof . The Curse of the Lord ( saith Solomon ) is in the house of the wicked ; but He blesseth the [ habitation ] of the just , Prov. 3. 33. Tuguriolum , ( i. e. ) saith Mercer , his poor little Tenement or Cottage . There is a Blessing , the promises like Clouds of Blessing , dwell over it , and drop mercies on it : but a Curse is in the house of the wicked . Ah , how many stately Mansious are there , in which little other language but Oathes and Curses are heard ! and these are as so much Gunpowder laid under the foundation of them , which when Justice shall set fire to , Oh what work will it make ! Wo to the Inhabitants thereof . Well then , break off this sin by Repentance , unless you intend to ruine your Families , and bring all the Curses of God into your Houses . If you have no pity for your selves , yet pity your Posterity ; have mercy for your Wives and Children , don't ruine all for the indulgence of a lust ▪ Arg. 4. But that is not all ; It brings Soul-judgments and spiritual plagues upon you : It brings Hel● along with it . And if thou be not afraid to sin , yet methinks thou shouldst be afraid to burn if the love of God can work nothing upon thy brawny heart , yet methinks the Terrors of the Lord should startle and affright it . To this purpose , I beseech you , weigh these Scriptures ; and methinks , unless God hath lost all his Authority with you , and Hell all its Terrors , it should startle you . The first is that dreadful Scripture , James 5. 12. But above all things , my Brethen , swear nat ; neither by Heaven , neither by the Earth , neither by any other oath , but let your yea , be yea ; and your nay , nay ; lest ye fall into [ Condemnation . ] O view this Text seriously . Methinks it should be like the ●ingers that came forth and wrote upon the wall , that dreadful Sentence that changed the Countenance of a King , and that in the height of a frolick humour , and made his Knees smite together . Mark , [ Above all things ] a form of vehemency and earnestness , like that , Ephes. 6. 16. But above all , taking the shield af Faith. As Faith hath a prelation there before all the Graces , so Swearing here before all other Vices . [ Swear not ] ( i. e. ) vainly , rashly , profanely ; for otherwise 't is a lawful thing , and a part of Gods worship , as I have shewed : but swear not vain Oaths , by the Creatures , Heaven , or Earth , &c. Which is to advance the creature into the room of God. A sin to which the Jews were much addicted . But , Let your yea , be yea ! and nay , nay ? ( i. e. ) accustom your selves to short and plain Affirmations and Negations , to a simple and candid expression of your minds . And the thundering Argument that backs it , is this ; [ lest ye fall into Condemnation ] ( i. e. ) lest for these things the Judge of Heaven and Earth pass a Sentence of condemnation to Hell upon you . Oh Sirs Dare you touch with this hot iron ? Dare you from henceforward commit that Sin , that you know will bring you under the condemnation and judgment of God ? Do you know what it is for a soul to be cast at Gods bar ? Did you never see a poor malefacter tried at the Assizes , and observe how his face gathers paleness , how his Legs tremble , and Death displays its colours in his cheeks , when sentence is given upon him ? But what 's that to Gods condemnation ? What is a Gallous to Hell ? Another Text I would commmend to your consideration is that Exod. 20. 7. The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain . Where vain Oathes are especially included . Now what doth God mean , when He saith , He will not hold him guiltless ? The meaning is plain , his sins shall be reckoned and imputed to him , they shall lie upon his Soul ; he shall be bound over to answer God for them . O terrible sentence ! What Soul can bear it , or stand before it ! Blessed is the man ( saith David ) to whom the Lord imputeth not inquity . Surely then , cursed is that man , to whom God will impute them . And to the Swearer they shall all be imputed , if he break not off his sin by repentance , and get a Christ the sooner . O Soul ! How dar'st thou think of going before the Lord with the guilt of all thy sins upon thee ? When Christ would administer the very spirit of Joy in one sentence to a poor Sinner , Matth. 9. 4. He said , Son be of good cheer , thy sins are forgiven . And when God would contract the sum of all misery into one word , He saith , His sins shall lie down with him in the dust , Job 20. 11. Ah soul ! One of these days thou shalt be laid on thy Death-bed , or see the waves that shall entomb thee leaping and roaring upon every side ; and then thou wilt surely have other thoughts of the happiness that lies in remission of sin , than thou hast now . Observe the most incorrigible Sinner then ; hark how he sighs , and groans , and cries ; Ah Lord ! and must I die ? And then see how the tears trickle down his Cheeks , and his heart ready to burst within him . Why , what 's the matter ? Oh , the Lord will not pardon him , he holds him guilty . If he were sure his sins were forgiven , then he could die ; but oh ! to appear before the Lord in them , appals him , daunts him , kills the very heart of him . He would fain cry for mercy , but Conscience stops his mouth . Oh , saith Conscience , how canst thou move that tongue to God in prayer for mercy , that hath so often rent and torn his glorious Name , by Oaths and Curses ? Sirs ! I pray you , do not make light of these things : they will look wishly upon you one of these days , except ye prevent it by sound conversation . Arg. 5. And then lastly , to name no more , I pray you consider , that a custom of vain words and prophane Oaths , is as plain an indication and discovery of an unregenerate Soul , as any in the world . This is a sure ●ign thou art none of Christs , nor hast any thing to do with the promises and priviledges of his people : for by this the Scripture distinguisheth the state of Saints and Sinners , Eccl. 9. 2. There is one event to the righteous , and to the wicked ; to the clean , and to the unclean ; to him that sacrificeth ▪ and to him that sacrificeth not : as is the good , so is the sinner : and he that sweareth , as he that feareth an Oath . Mark ; he that sweareth , and he that feareth an Oath , do as manifestly distinguish the Children of God from wicked men , as clean and unclean , righteous and wicked , sacrificing ▪ and not sacrificing This fruit of the tongue plainly shews what the tree is that bears it , Isai. 2. 6. The vile person will speak of villany ; and out of the abundance of the heart , the mouth speaks . Loquere , ut videam , said one ; Speak , that I may see what you are . Look what is in the heart that is vented by the Tongue : where the treasures of Grace are in the Heart , words ministring Grace will be in the Lips , Psal. 37. 30. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom , and his tongue talketh of Iudgment ; for the law of the Lord is in his heart . To this sense we must understand that Scripture , att . 12. 27. By thy words thou shalt be justified , and by thy words thou shalt be condemned . Certainly , Justification and Condemnation , in the day of Judgment , shall not pass upon us meerly for the good or bad words we have spoken ; but according to the state of the Person , and frame of the heart . But the meaning is , that our words shall justifie or condemn us in that day , as evidence of the state and frame of the Soul. We use to say , such Witnesses hang'd a man ; the meaning is , the Evidence they gave cast and condemned him . O think seriously of this ; if words evidence the state of the Soul , what an woful state must thy Soul needs be in , whose mouth overflows with Oathes and Curses ! How many witnesses will be brought in , to cast thee in the great Day ? Your own tongue shall then fall upon you , as the expression is , Psal. 64 , 8. And out of your own mouth , God will fetch abundant evidence to condemn you . And thus I have opened unto you the evil of vain words , and prophane Oathes ; and presented to your view their several aggravations . If by these things there be a relenting pang upon thy heart , and a serious resolution of reformation , then I shall commend these few helps or means to thy perusal , and conclude this Head. And the first help is this . Help . 1. Seriously fix in thy thoughts that Scripture , Matth. 12. 36. But I say unto you , that every idle word that Men shall speak , they shall give an account thereof in the day of Iudgment . Oh let it soun● in thine ears day and night ! Oh ponder them in thy heart . [ I say unto you ] I that have always been in the Fathers bosome , and do fully know his mind , I that am constituted the Judge of quick and dead , and do fully understand the rule of Judgment ; and the whole process thereof , I say , and do assure you , that [ every idle word that men shall speak , ] ( i. e. ) every word that hath not a tendency and reference to the Glory of God though there be no other obliquity or evil in them than this , that they want a good end . How much more then scurrilous Words , bloody Oathes and Blasphemies ! [ Men shall give an account thereof ] that is , shall be cast and condemned to suffer the wrath of God for them ; as appears by that parallel Scripture , 1 Pet. 4. 4 , 5. For as the Learned observe , there is plainly a Matalepsis in these words ; The Antecedent , to give an account , is put for the Consequent , punishment , and condemnation to hell fire ; the certainty whereof admits but of this one exception , viz. intervenient repentance , or a pardon obtained through the blood of Christ here , before you be presented at that judgment-seat . Oh then , what a bridle should this Text be to thy extravagant tongue ! I remember Hierom was wont to say , Whether I eat or drink , or whatever I do , methinks I still hear the sound of these words in mine ear , Arise ye dead , and come to judgment . O that the sound of the words may be always in your ears ! Help . 2. Consider before you speak ▪ and be not rash to utter words without knowledge . He th●● speaks what he thinks not , speaks Hipocitically 〈◊〉 he that thinks not what to speak , sperks inconsi●●rately . You have cause to weigh your words , before you deliver them by your tongue ; for whether you do , or do not , the Lord pondereth them . Records are kept of them ; else you could not be called to an account for them , as I shewed you you must . Help . 3. Resign up your Tongues to God every day , and beg him to guide and keep it . So did David , Psal. 141. 3. Set a watch , O Lord before my mouth , and keep thou the door of my lips . Beg him to keep you from provocations and temptations ; or if you fall into them , intreat him for strength to rule your spirits in them , that you may not be conquered by temptations . Help . 4. But above all , labour to get your Souls cleansed and purified by Faith , possest with saving and gracious Principles : All other means will be ineffectual without this . Oh see the vileness of thy nature , and the necessity of a change to pass upon it ▪ First make the tree good , and then his fruit good : a new Nature will produce new words and actions . To binde your souls with Vows and resolutions , while you are strangers to a regenerate work , is to bind Sampson with green wit hs , whilst his locks remain upon his head . I will shut up this with the Advice of that divine Poet , Mr. George Herbert it may be it may affect thee , and run in thy thoughts when thou art alone . Take not his Name , who made thy mouth , in vain ; it gets thee nothing , and hath no excuse . Lust and wine , plead a pleasure ; avarice gain : but the cheap Swearer , though his open sluce , Le ts his Soul run for nought , as little fearing . VVere I an Epicure , I could hate swearing . VVhen thou dost tell another jest , therein Omit the Oathes , which true VVit cannot need ; Pick out of tales the mirth , but not the sin . He pares his apple , that will cleanly feed . Play not away the virtue of that Name , VVhich is thy best stake , when grief makes thee tame . The cheapest sins most dearly punisht are , because to shon them also is so cheap : For we have wit to mark them , and to spare . O crumble not away thy Souls fair heap . If thou wilt die , the gates of Hell are broad . Pride , and full sins , have made the way a road . III. CAUTION . THe next danger I shall give you warning of , is the sin of Vncleanness ; with which , I fear , too many of the rude and looser sort of Sea-men defile themselves ; and possibly , the temptations to this sin are advantaged , and strengthened upon them more than others , by their condition and employments . Let no Man be offended that I here give warning of this evil ; I intend to asperse no Man's person , nor raise up jealousie against any : but would faithfully discharge my duty to all , and that in all things . It was the complaint of Salvian many hundred years ago , that he could not speak against the Vices of men , but one or other would thus object , There he meant me , he hit me ; and so storm and fret . Alas ( as he replieth ) it is not we that speak to you , but your own Conscience ; we speak to the Order , but Conscience speaks to the Person . I shall use no other Apology in this case . That this Sin is a dreadful Gulph , a Quick-sand that hath suck'd and destroyed thousands , is truly apparent , both from Scripture and Experience . Solomon tells us , Prov. 22. 14. That it is a deep ditch , into which such as are abhorred of the Lord shall fall . Oh the multitudes of dead that are there ! And if so , I cannot in duty to God , or love to you , be silent , where the danger is so great . It is both needless , and besides my intention , here to insist largely upon the explication of the particulars in which uncleanness is distributed : the more ordinary and common sins of this kind are known by the names of Adultery and Fornication : the latter is , when single persons come together , out of the state of marriage ; the former is , when at least one of the persons committing uncleanness is contracted in marriage . This now is the evil I shall warn you of . And that thou mayst never fall into this pit , I shall endeavour to fence and hedge up thy way to it , by these ensuing Arguments : And Oh that the light of every Argument may be powerfully reflected upon your Conscience ! Many men are very wise in generals , but very vain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the reasonings , or imaginations , as the Apostle calls them , Rom. 1. 22. ( i. e. ) in their practical inferences . They are good at speculation , but bunglers at application . But it is truth in the particulars , that , like an hot Iron , pierces ; and Oh that you might find these to be such in your Soul ! To that end , consider . Arg. 1. The names and titles by which this sin is known in scripture , are very vile and base . The Spirit of God , doubtless , hath put such odious names upon it , on purpose to deter and affright men from it . In general , it 's called Lust ; and so ( as one notes ) it beareth the name of its mother . It is Vncleanness in the abstract , Nu●b . 5. 19. Filthiness it self ; An abomination ; Ezek. 22. 11. And they that commit are called abominable , Revel . 21. 8. Varro saith , the word imports that which is not lawful to mention ; or rather , abominable persons are such as are not fit for the society of men , such as should be ●usht out of all mens company : They are rather to be reckoned to beasts than man. Yea , the Scripture compares them to the filthiest of beasts . even to Dogs : When Ishbosheth charged this sin upon Abner , 2 Sam. 3. 8. Am I a Dogs head , ( saith he ) that thou chargest me with a fault concerning this woman ? And in Deut. 23. 18. The hire of a whore , and the price of a dog , are put together . The expression of this lust in words or gesture , is called neighing , Jer. 5. 8. Even as fed horses do , that scatter their lust promiscuously . Or if the Scripture speaks of them as men , yet it allows them but the external shape of men , not the unde●standing of men . Among the Jews they were called Fools in Israel , 2 Sam. 13. 13. and so Prov. 6. 32. Whoso committeth adultery with a woman , lacketh understanding . And sinners , Luke 7. 37. And behold a woman that was a [ ●inner ; ] that is , an eminent notorious sinner : by which term , the Scripture deciphers an unclean person ; as if among sinners there were none of such a prodigious stature in sin as they . And we find that when the spirit of God would set forth any sin by an odious name , he calls it Adultery ; so Idolatry is called Adultery , Ezek. 16. 32. And indeed this spiritual and corporal Adultery , oftentimes are found in the same persons . They that give themselves up to the one ▪ are by a righteous hand of God given up to the other , as it is too manifestly and frequently exemplified in the World. So earthly-mindedness hath this name put upon it , o● purpose to affright men from it , Iam. 4. 4. Now certainly , God would never borrow the name of this sin to set out the evil of other sins , if it were not most vile and abominable . It 's call'd the sin of the Gentiles , or heathen , 1 Thes. 4. 5. And oh that we could say , it were only among them that know not God! Now then , are you able to look these Scriptures in the face , and not blush ? Oh what a sin is this ! Art thou willing to be ranked with Fools , Dogs , Sinners , Heathens , and take thy lot with them ? God hath planted that affection of shame in thy nature , to be as a guard against such filthy lusts ; it 's a sin that hath filthiness enough in it , to defile the tongue that mentions it , Ephes. 5. 3. Arg. 2. It is a sin that the God of Heaven hath often prohibited , and severely condemned in the Word , which abundantly declares his abhorrence of it . You have prohibition upon prohibition , and threatning upon threatning in the Word against it . Exod. 20. 14. Thou shalt not commit adultery . This was delivered upon Mount Sinai , with the greatest solemnity and terrour , by the mouth of God himself . Turn to , and ponder the following Scriptures , among many others , Prov. 5. 2 , 3 , 4. Acts 5. 29. Rom. 1. 24 , 29. Rom. 13. 13. 1 Cor. 6. 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 18. 2 Cor. 12. 21. Gal. 5. 29. Ephes. 5. 3. Col. 3. 5. 1 Thes. ● ▪ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. Heb. 12. 16. Heb. 13. 4. All these , with many others , are the true sayings of God ; By them thou shalt be tryed in the last day . Now consider how terrible it will be ▪ to have so many words of God , and such terrible ones too , as most of those are , to be brought in and pleaded against thy Soul in that day : mountains and hills may depart , but these words shall not depart ; He●ven and Earth shall pass away , but not one tittle of the Word shall pass away . Believe it , Sinner , as sure as the Heavens are over thy head , and the Earth under thy seet , they shall one day take hold of thee , though we poor worms who plead them with thee , die and perish , Zech. 1. 5 , 6. The Lord tells us it shall not fall to the ground . Which is a borrowed speech from a Dart that is flung with a weak hand ; it goes not home to the mark , but falls to the ground by the way . None of these words shall so fall to the ground . Arg. 3. It is a sin that defiles and destroys the body , 1 Cor. 6. 18. He that committeth adultery , sinneth against his own body . In most other sins the body is but the Instrument , here it is the Object against which the sin is committed ; that body of thine , which should be the Temple of the holy Ghost , is turned into a stye of filthiness ; yea , it not only defiles , but destroys it . Iob calls it a fire that burneth to destruction , Iob 31. 12. or as the Septuagint reads it , a fire that burneth in all the Members . It is a sin that God hath plagued with strange and terrible diseases ; that Morbus Gallicus , and sudor Anglicus , and that Plica Polonica whereof you may read in Bolton's four last things , page 30. and Sclater on Rom. 1. 30. These were judgments sent immediately by Gods own hand , to correct the new sins and enormities of the world ; for they seem to put the best Physicians besides their Books . Oh how terrible is it to lie groaning under the sad effects of this sin ? As Solomon tells us , Prov. 5. 11. And thou mourn at the last , when thy flesh and thy body are consumed . To this sense some expound that terrible Text , Heb. 13. 4. Marriage is honourable in all , and the bed undefiled ; but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge : ( i. e. ) with some remarkable judgment inflicted on them in this world : if it escape the punishment of men , it shall not escape the vengeance of God. Ah! with what comfort may a man lie down upon a sick bed , when the sickness can be looked upon as a Fatherly Visitation coming in Mercy ? But thou that shortenest thy life , and bringest sickness on thy self by such a sin , art the Devils Martyr ; and to whom canst thou turn in such a day for comfort ? Arg. 4. Consider what an indelible blot it is to thy nature , which can never be wiped away : though thou escape with thy life , yet as one says , thou shalt be burnt in the hand , yea , branded in the forehead . What a foul scar is that upon the face of David himself , which abides to this day ? He was upright in all things , save in the matter of Uriah . And how was he slighted by his own Children and servants after he had committed this sin ? Compare 1 Sam. 2. 30. with 2 Sam. 12. 10 , 11. A wound and dishonour shall he get ; and his reproach shall not be wiped away . This is to give thine honour to another , Prov. 5. 9. The shame and reproach attending it , should be a preservative from it . Indeed the Devil tempts to it by hopes of secresie and concealment ; but though many other sins lie hid , and possibly shall never come to light , until that day of manifestation of all hidden things , yet this is a sin that is most usually discovered . Under the Law , Cod appointed an extraordinary way for the discovery of it , Numb . 5. 13. And to this day the Providence of God doth often very strangely bring it to light , though it be a deed of darkness . The Lord hath many times brought such persons either by terrors of Conscience , Phrensie , or some other means , to be the publishers and proclaimers of their own shame . Yea , observe this , saith Reverend Mr. Hildersham on the Fourth of Iohn , even those that are most cunning to conceal and hide it from the eyes of the world , yet through the just judgment of God , every one suspects and condemns them for it , this dashes in pieces , at one stroke , that Vessel in which the precious Oyntment of a good name is carried . A fool in Israel shall be thy title ; and even Children shall point at thee . Arg. 5. It scatters thy substance , und roots up the foundation of thy state . Iob 31. 12. It roots up all the increase . Strangers shall be filled with thy wealth , and thy labours shall be in the house of a stranger . Prov. 5. 10. For by means of a whorish woman , a man is brought to a morsel of bread . Prov. 6. 26. It gives rags for its Livery ( saith one : ) and though it be furthered by the fulness , yet it 's followed with a morsel of bread . This is one of those temporal Judgments with which God punishes the unclean person in this life . The word Delilah , which is the name of an Harlot , is conceived to come from a root that signifies●to exhaust , drain , or draw dry . This sin will quickly exhaust the fullest estate ; and oh what a dreadful thing will this be , when God shall require an account of thy Stewardship in the great day ! How righteous is it , that that man should be fuel to the wrath of God , whose health and wealth have been so much fuel to maintain the flame of Lust ! Oh how lavish of their estates are sinners to satisfie their Lusts ! If the Members of Christ be sick , or in Prison , they may there perish and starve , before they will relieve them ; but to obtain their Lusts , Oh how expensive ! Ask me never so much and I will give it , said S●echem , Gen. 34. 12. Ask what thou wilt , and it shall be given thee , said Herod to the daughter of his Herodias . Well , you are liberal in spending treasures upon you lusts ; and believe it , God will spend treasures of wrath to punish you for your Lusts. It had been a thousand times better for thee , thou hadst never had an estate , that thou hadst begg'd thy bread from door to door , than to have such a sad reckoning as thou shalt shortly have for it . Arg. 6. Oh stand off from this sin , because it is a pit out of which very few have been recovered that have fallen therein . Few are the footsteps of returners from this den . The longer a man lives in it , the less power he hath to leave it . It is not only a damning , but an infatuating sin . The danger of falling this way must needs be great , and the fall very desperate , because few that fall into it do ever rise again . I shall lay two very terrible Scriptures before you to this purpose , either of them enough to drive thee speedily to Christ , or to drive thee out of thy wits : the one is that , Eccles. 7. 26. And I find more bitter than death , the woman whose heart is snares and nets , and whose hands are bands : Whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her ; but the sinner shall be taken by her . The Argument which the spirit of God uses here to disswade from this Sin , is taken from the subject ; they that fall into it , for the most part , are persons in whom God has no delight , and so in judgment are delivered up to it , and never recovered by Grace from it . The other is that in Prov. 22. 14. The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit ; he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein . Oh terrible word ! able to daunt the heart of the the securest sinner ; your whores embrace you , yea , but God abhors you ; you have their love , oh but you are under Gods hatred ! What say you to these two Scriptures ? If you are not Athiests , methinks such a word from the mouth of God , should strike like a Dart through thy Soul. And upon this account it is that they never are recover'd , because God has no delight in them . If this be not enough , view one Scripture more , Prov. 2. 18 , 19. For her house inclineth unto Death , and her paths unto the Dead : None that go to her reture again , neither take they hold of the paths of life . Reader , if thou be a person addicted to this sin , go thy ways , and think seriously what a case thou art in . None return again ( i. e. ) a very few of many : the examples of such as have been recovered are very rare . Pliny tells us , the Mermaids are commonly seen in green Meadows , and have inchanting Voices ; but there are always found heaps of dead mens bones lying by them . This may be but a fabulous Story : But I am sure it is true of the Harlot , whose Syren-Songs have allured thousands to their inevitable destruction . It 's a captivating sin , that leads away the sinner in triumph ; they cannot deliver their souls : Prov. 7. 22. He goeth after her straightway , as an Ox goeth to the slaughter , or as a [ Fool ] to the correction of the stocks . Mark ; a Fool : it dementates and befools men , takes away their understanding : the Septuagint renders it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , As a dog to the Collar , or , like as we use to say , a dog in a string . I have read of one , that having by this sin wasted his body , was told by Physitians , that except he left it , he would quickly lose his Eyes ; he answered , If it be so , then Vale lumen amicum , Farewel sweet light . And I remember Luther writes of a certain Nobleman in his Country , who was so besotted with the sin of Whoredome , that he was not ashamed to say , That if he might live here for ever , and be carried from one stews to another , he would never desire any other Heaven . The greatest Conquerors that have subdued Kingdoms , and scorned to be commanded by any , have been miserably enslaved and captivated by this Lust. O think sadly upon this argument ; God often gives them up to Impenitency , and will not spend a rod upon them to reclaim them . See Hos. 4. 14. Revel . 22. 11. Arg. 7. And then in the 7th place , Those few that have been recovered by Repentance out of it , oh how bitter hath God made it to their souls ! I find it ( saith Solomon ) more bitter than death , Eccles. 7. 26. Death is a very bitter thing ; Oh what a struggling and reluctance is there in Nature against it ? But this is more bitter . Poor David found it so , when he roared under those bloody lashes of Conscience for it , in Psalm 51. Ah! when the Lord shall open the poor Sinner's eyes , to see the horrid guilt he hath hereby contracted upon his own poor soul , it will haunt him as a Ghost , day and night , and terrifie his soul with dreadful forms and representations . O dear-bought pleasure , if this were all it should cost . What is now become of the pleasure of sin ? Oh! what gall and wormwood wilt thou taste , when once the Lord shall bring thee to a sight of it , the Hebrew word for Repentance [ Nacham ] and the Greek word [ Metamelia ] the one signifies an irking of the Soul , and the other signifies After grief . Yea , it is called A renting of the heart , as if it were torn in pieces in a mans breast . Ask such a poor soul , what it thinks of such Courses now ? Oh now it loaths , abhors it self for them . Ask him , if he dare sin in that kind again ? You may as well ask me ( will he answer ) whether I will thrust my hand into the fire . Oh it breeds an indignation in him against himself . That word [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] 2 Cor. 7. 11. signifies the rising of the stomach with very rage , and being sick with anger . Religious wrath is the fiercest wrath . Oh what a furnace is the breast of the poor penitent ! what fumes , what heats do abound in it , whilst the sin is even before him , and the sense of guilt upon him ? One night of carnal pleasure will keep thee many days and nights upon the rack of horrour , if ever God give thee repentance unto life . Arg. 8. And if thou never repent , as indeed but ●ew do that fall into this sin , then consider how God will follow thee with eternal vengeance . Thou shalt have flaming Fire for burning Lust. This is a sin that hath a scent of fire and brimstone with it , wherever you meet with it in Scripture . The Harlots guests are lodged in the depths of Hell , Prov. 9. 18. No more perfumed beds ; they must now lie down in flames . Whoremongers shall have their part in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone ; which is the second death , Rev. 21. 1. Such shall not inherit the Kingdom of God and Christ , 1 Cor. 6. 9. No Dog shall come into the new Ierusalem ; there shall in no wise enter in any thing that defileth , or that worketh abomination . You have spent your strength upon sin , and now God sets himself a work to shew the glory of his Power in punishing , Rom. 9. 22. The wrath of God is transacted upon them in Hell by his own immediate hand , H●b . 10. 30. Because no Creature is strong enough to convey all his wrath , and it must all be poured out upon them , therefore he himself will torment them for ever with his own immediate Power ; now he will stir up all his wrath , and sinners shall know the price of their pleasures . The punishment of Sodom , is a little Map of Hell , as I may say . Oh how terrible a day was that upon those unclean wretches ! but that fire was not of many days continuance ; when it had consumed them , and their houses , it went out for want of matter : but here , the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone , kindles it . The pleasure was quickly gone , but the sting and torment abide for ever . Who knoweth the power of his anger ? Even according to his fear , so is his wrath , Psal. 90. 11. Oh consider , how will his Almighty Power rack and torment thee ! Think on this , when sin comes with a smiling face towards thee in the temptation . Oh think ! If the humane nature of Christ recoyled , when his cup of Wrath was given him to drink ; if he were fore amazed at it , how shalt thou a poor worm , bear and grapple with it for ever ? Arg. 9. Consider further , how closely soever thou carriest thy wickedness in this world , tho it should never be discovered here , yet there is a day coming when all will out , and that before Angels and men . God will rip up thy secret sins , in the face of that great Congregation at the day of judgment : then that which was done in secret shall be proclaimed as upon the house-top , Luke 12. 3. Then God will judge the [ secrets ] of men , Rom. 2. 16. the hidden things of darkness will be brought into the open light . Sinner , there will be no sculking for thee in the Grave , no declining this Bar ; thou refusedst indeed to come to the Throne of Grace , when God invited thee , but there will be no refusing to appear before the Bar of Iustice , when Christ shall summon thee . And as thou canst not decline appearance , so neither canst thou then palliate and hide thy wickedness any longer : for then shall the Books be opened ; the Book of God's Omniscience , and the Book of thine own Conscience , wherein all thy secret Villany is recorded ; for though it ceased to speak to thee , yet it ceased not to write and record thy actions . If thy shameful sins should be divulged now , it would make thee tear off thy hair in indignation ; but then all will be discovered . Angels and men shall point at thee , and say , Lo , this is the Man , this is he that carried it so smoothly in in the world . Mr. Thomas Fuller relates a story of Ottocar King of Bohemia , who refusing to do his homage to Rodolphus the first , Emperour , being at last sorely chastised with war , condescended to do him homage privately in a Tent : but the Tent was so contrived by the Emperours Servants , ( saith the Historian ) that by drawing one cord it was all taken away , and so Ottocar presented on his knees , doing Homage to the Emperour , in the view of three Armies . O Sirs , you think to carry it closely , you wait for the Twilight : that none may see you ; but alas ! it will be to no end , this day will discover it ; and then what confusion and everlasting shame will cover thee ! Will not this work then ? Arg. 10. Lastly , consider but one thing more , and I have done . By this sin thou dost not only damn thine own soul but , drawest another to hell with thee . This sin is not as a single bullet that kills but one , but as a chain-shot , it kills many , two at least , unless God give repentance . And if he should give thee repentance , yet the other party may never repent , and so perish for ever through thy wickedness ; and oh , what a sad consideration will that be to thee , that such a poor soul is in Hell , or likely to go thither by thy means ! Thou hast made fast a snare upon a Soul which now thou canst not untie ; thou hast done that which may be matter of sorrow to thee as long as thou livest ; but though thou canst grieve for it , thou canst not remedy it . In other sins it is not so ; If thou hadst stoll'n anothers Goods , restitution might be made to the injured party , but here can be none . If thou hadst murthered another , thy sin was thine own , not his that was murthered by thee ; but this is a complicated sin , defiling both at once ; and if neither repent , then oh what a sad greeting will these poor wretches have in hell● ! h●w will they curse the day , that ever they saw each others face ! Oh what an aggravation of their misery will this be ! For look , as it will be matter of joy in Heaven , to behold such there as we have been instrumental to save ; so must it needs be a stinging aggravation of the misery of the damned , to look upon those that have been the instruments and means of their damnation . Oh , methinks , if there be any tenderness at all in thy Conscience , if this sin have not totally brawned and stupified thee , these Arguments should pierce like a sword , through thy Guilty Soul. Reader , I beseech thee , by the mercies of God , if thou hast defiled thy Soul by this abominable sin , speedily to repent . Oh get the blood of sprinkling upon thee ; there is yet mercy for such a wretch as thou art , if thou wilt accept the terms of it . Such were some of you , but you are washed , 1 Cor. 6. 11. Publicans and Harlots may enter into the Kingdom of God , Matth. 21. 31. Though but few such are recovered , yet how knowest thou but the hand of mercy may pull thee , as a brand out of the fire , if now thou wilt return and seek it with tears ? Though it be a fire that consumeth unto destruction , as Iob calls it , Iob 1. 12. yet it is not an unquenchable fire , the blood of Christ can quench it . And for you whom God hath kept hitherto , from the contagion of it , O bless the Lord , and use all Gods means for the prevention of it . The seeds of this sin are in thy nature ; no thank to thee , but restraining grace , that thou art not delivered up to it also . And that thou mayest be kept out of this Pit , conscionably practice these few Directions . Direct . 1. Beg of God a clean heart , renewed and sanctified by saving grace ; all other endeavours do but palliate a cure : the root of this is deep in thy nature , Oh get that mortified , Matth. 15. 9. Out of the heart proceed fornication , adulteries , 1 Pet. 2. 11 , 12. Abstain from fleshly lust — having your Conversation honest . The lust must first be subdued , before the conversation can be honest . Direct . 2. Walk in the fear of God all the day long , and in the sense of his Omniscient eye , that is ever upon thee . This kept Ioseph from this sin , Gen 39. 9. How can I do this wickedness , and sin agains● God ? Consider , the darkness hideth not from him , but shineth as the light . If thou couldst find a place where the eye of God could not discover thee , it were somewhat : Thou darest not to act this wickedness in the presence of a Child , and wilt thou adventure to commit it before the face of God ? See that Argument , Prov. 5. 20 And why wilt thou my Son , be ravisht with a strange woman , and embrace the bosome of a stranger ? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord , and he pondereth all his goings . Direct . 3. Avoid lewd Company , and the Society of unclean persons ; they are but panders for Lust. Evil communication corrupts good manners . The tongues of sinners do cast fire-balls into the hearts of each other , which the corruption within is easily kindled and enflamed by . Direct . 4. Exercise thy self in thy Calling diligently . It will be an excellent means of preventing this sin . It is a good observation that one hath ; That Israel was safer in the Brick-kilns in Egypt , than in the Plains of Moab , 2 Sam. 11. 2. And it came to pass in the even-tide , that David arose from off his bed , and walked on the roof of the Kings house ; and this was the occasion of his fall . See 1 Tim. 5. 11 , 13. Direct . 5. Put a restraint upon thine appetite : feed not to excess . Fulness of bread and idleness were the sins of Sodom , that occasioned such an exuberancy of Lust. They are like fed horses every one neighing after his neighbours Wife . When I had fed the● to the full , then they committed Adultery , and assembled themselves by troops in the Harlots houses , Jer. 5. 7 , 8. This is a sad requital of the bounty of God , in giving us the enjoyment of the Creatures , to make them fuel to lust , and instruments of sin . Direct . 6. Make choice of a meet Yoke-fellow , and delight in her you have chosen ; This is a lawful Remedy ; See 1 Cor. 7. 9. God ordained it , Gen. 2. 21. But herein appears the corruption of nature , that men delight too tread by-pathes , and forsake the way which God hath appointed ; as that Divine Poet Mr. Herbert saith : If God had laid all common , certainly , Man would have been the closer : but since now God hath impal'd us , on the contrary , Man breaks the fence , and every ground will plow. O what were Man , might he himself misplace ! Sure , to be cross he would shift feet and face . Stollen waters are sweeter to them , than those waters they might lawfully drink at their own fountain : but withal know , it is not the having , but the delighting in a lawful Wafe , as God requires you to do , that must be a ●ence against this sin . So Solomon , Prov. 5. 19. Let her be as the loving Hinde , and pleasant Roe ; Let her breasts satisfie thee at all times , and be thou ravisht always with her love . Direct . 7. Take heed of running on in a course of sin , ( especially Superstition and Idolatry ) in which cases , and as a punishment of which evils , God often gives up men to these vile affections , Rom. 1. 25 , 26. Who changed the truth of God into a lye [ worshipped ] and served the Creature more than the Creator , who is blessed for ever , Amen . [ For this cause ] God gave them up to vile affections , &c. They that defile their Souls by Idolatrous practices , God suffers as a just recompence their bodies also to be defiled with uncleanness , that so their ruine may be hastned . Let the admirers of Traditions beware of such a judicial Tradition as this is . Wo to him that is thus delivered by the hand of an angry God : No punishment in the world like this , when God punishes sin with sin . When he shall suffer those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those common notices of Conscience to be quench'd , and all restraints to be moved out of the way of sin , it will not be long ere that sinner come to his own place . IV. CAUTION . IN the next place , I shall make bold to expostulate a little with your Conscience concerning the precious mercies you have received , and the solemn promises you have bound your selves withal for the obtaining of those mercies . I fear God hath many bankrupt debtors among you , that have dealt slipperily and unfaithfully with him , that have not rendered to the Lord according to the great things he hath done for them , nor according to those good things they have vowed to the Mighty God of Iacob : But truely , if thou be a despiser of mercy , thou shalt be a pattern of wrath ; God will remember them in fury , who forget him is his favours . I will tell you what a grave and eminent Minister once told his people ( dealing with them about this sin of unthankfulness for mercy ) and I pray God it may affect you duely : Let us all mourn ( saith he ) and take on ; we are all behindhand with God : The Christian world is become bankrupt , quite broke , makes no return to God for his love . He is issuing out process to seize upon body , goods , and life , and will be put off no longer : Bloody Bayliffs are abroad for bad debtors all the● world over . Christians are broke , and make no return , and God is breaking all . He cannot have what he would have , what he should have ; he will take what he can get : for money , he will take goods , limbs , arms , legs ; he will have his own out of your skin , out of your blood , out of your bodies and souls . He is setting the Christian world as light and as low as they have set his love . Ah Lord ! what a time do we live in ? Long-suffering is at an end , Mercy will be righted in Iustice , Iustice will have all behind , it will be paid to the utmost farthing ; 't will set abroach your blood , but 't will have all behind , &c. Do you hear , Souls ? Is not this sad news to some of you , who have received vast sums of mercy , and given God your bond for the repayment of him in praise and answerable fruit , and yet forfeited all , and lost your credit with God ? Oh how can you look God in the face , with whom you have dealt so perfidiously ? I am now come in the Name of God to demand his due of you ; to call to remembrance the former receipts of mercy which you mind not , but God doth , and there is a witness in your bosome that doth , and will one day witness to your faces , that you have dealt perfidiously with your God ; your souls have been the graves of mercy , which should have been as so many gardens where they should have lived and flourished . I am come now to open those graves , and view those mercies that your unthankfulness hath killed and buried , to lay them before your eyes , and see whether your ungreatful hearts will bleed upon them . Buried mercies are not lost for ever ; they shall as certainly have a day of * Resurrection as thy self : It were better for thee they should have a Resurrection now in thy heart , than to rise as witnesses against thee , when thou shalt rise out of the dust that will be a terrible Resurrection indeed , when they shall come to plead against thy Soul : nothing pleads more dreadfully against a Soul ▪ than abused mercy doth . But I shall come to the particulars upon which I interrogate your Consciences , and I pray deal truly and ingenuously in answering these Queries . Quer. 1. And first I shall demand of you , Whether you never had experience of the power and goodness of God , in restoring you to Health from dangerous Sickness and Diseases ? Have you not sometimes had the sentence of Death in your selves ? and that possibly when you have been in remote parts far from your Friends and Relations , and destitute of all means and accommodations . Did you not say in that condition , as Hezekiah did in a like case ? Isai. 38. 10 , 11 , 12. I said in the cutting off of my days , I shall go to the gates of the grave , I am deprived of the residue of my years . I said , I shall not see the Lord , even the Lord in the land of the living ; I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world . Remember thy self , man , canst not thou call to mind the day when the Arrows of death came whisking by thee , and it may be hit those next thee ; took away those that were as lively and as lusty as thy self , when you began your Voyage , and yet they were cast for death , thou for life , and that when there was but an hairs breadth betwixt thee and the grave ? Tell me , Soul , What friend was that stood by thee then , when thou wast forsaken of all friends ? When it may be thy Companions stood ready to throw thee over-board , Who was it that pitied and remembred thee in thy low estate ? Who was it that rebuked thy disease ? of ( as one very aptly expresses it ) restrained the humours of thy body , from overflowing and drowning thy life ? for when they are let out in a sickness , they would overflow and drown it , as the Waters would the earth , if God should not say to them , Stay you proud waves . Who was it , man , that when thy body was brought low and weak , and like a crazy rotten Ship in a storm , took in water on all sides , so that all the Physitians in the World could not have stopt those Leaks ; consider , what hand was that which quieted and calmed the tempestuous Sea , careened and mended thy crazy Body , and launched thee into the World again , as whole , as sound , as strong as ever ? Was it not the Lord , that hath done all this for thee ? Did not he keep back thy Soul from the Pit , and thy Life from perishing ? Yea , when thou wast chastened with pain upon thy Bed ( as Elihu speaks ) Iob 33. 19 , 20 , 21. and the multitude of thy bones with strong pains , so that thy life abhorred bread , and thy Soul dainty meat ; thy flesh consumed away that it could not be seen , and thy bones that were not seen stuck out : yet then , as it is , vers . 28. he delivered thy Soul from going down into the Pit , and caused thy Life to see the Light. Had the Lamp of life been then extinguisht , thou hadst gone into endless Darkness ; Hell had shut her mouth upon thee . Now tell me , Soul , What hast thou done with this precious mercy ? Hast thou walked before the Lord in a deep sense thereof , and answered his end therein , which was , to lead thee to Repentance ? Or hath thy stupid or disingenious heart forgotten it , and lost all sense of it , so that God's end is frustrated , and thy Salvation not a jot furthered thereby ? O ▪ If it be so , wo to thee ; for the blood of this Mercy , which thy Ingratitude hath murther'd , like the blood of Abel , cries to God against thee . What a Wretch art thou thus to requite the Lord for such a Mercy ! He saw thy Tears , and heard thy groans , and said within himself , He shall not die , but live ; Alas , poor Creature , if I cut him off now , he is eternally lost : I will send him back a few years more into the World ; I will try him once more , it may be he will bear some fruits to me from this deliverance ; and if so , well ; if not , I will cut him down hereafter : He shall be set at liberty upon his Good Behaviour a little longer . And is all this nothing in thine eyes ? Wretch that thou art , Dost thou forget and flight such a favour as this ? Is it worth no more in thine eyes ? Well , it would be worth something in the eyes of the poor Damned Souls , if they might have so many years cut out of their Eternity , for a meer intermission of their Torments , much more as a time of patience and mercy . O consider , what pity and goodness thou hast abused . Quer. 2. Wast thou never cast upon miserable streights and extremities , wherein the good Providence of God relieved and supplied thee ? How many of you have been beaten so long at Sea , by reason of contrary winds , and other accidents , till your Provisions have been even exhausted and spent ? To how short allowance have you been kept ? And what a mercy would you have esteemed it , if you could but have satisfied Nature with a full draught of Water ? Certainly , this hath been the case of many of you . Oh what a price and vallue did you then set upon those common Mercies , which at other times have been slightly over-look'd ! and when you have seen no hopes of relief , Have you not looked sadly one upon another ? and it may be said as that Widow of Zarephtah did to the Prophet , 1 King. 17. 12. And she said , As the Lord thy God liveth , I have not a cake , but a handful of meal in a barrel , and a little oyl in a cruse : aud behold , I am gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it for me and my son , that we may eat it , and die . Even such hath been your case ; yet hath that God , whose Mercies are over all his Works , heard your sorrows , and provided Relief for you ▪ either by some Ship , which Providence sent to relieve you in that distress ; or by altering the Winds , and sending you safe to the Land , before all your Provisions have been spent . And hast thou kept no Records of these gracious Providences ? yea , Dost thou abuse the Creature , when thou art brought again to the full enjoyment of it ? and possibly receivest the Creatures ( whose worth thou so lately hast seen in the want of them ) without thanksgiving , or a sensible acknowledgment of the goodness of God in them ? I say , dost thou thus answer the expectations of God ? Well , beware lest God teach such an unworthy Creature , by woful experience , that the opening of his hand to give thee a Mercy , is worth the opening thy Lips to bless him for it . Beware lest that unthankful Mouth , that will not bless the Lord for Bread and Water , have neither the one or the other to bless him for . I can give you a sad instance in the case , and I have found it in the Writing of an eminent Divine , who saith he had it from an eye and ear-witness of the truth of it . A young Man lying upon his Sick-bed , was always calling for meat , but when the meat he called for was brought unto him , he shook and trembled dreadfully at the sight of it , and that in every part of his body ; and so continued , until his food was carried away . And thus he did , as often as any food was brought into his presence ; and not being able to eat one bit , pined away : but before his death , he freely acknowledged the Justice of God in this punishment ; For , said he , in the time of my Health , I ordinarily received my meat without thanksgiving . O! Let the abusers and despisers of such Mercies , fear and tremble . Quer. 3. Have you not been eminently protected and saved by the Lord , in the greatest dangers and hazards of life ; in fights at Sea , when men have dropt down at your right hand and at your left , and yet the Lord hath cover'd your heads in the day of battle ? And though you have been equally obnoxious to Death and Danger with others , yet your name was not found among theirs in the list of the dead ? Or in Shipwracks , ah , how narrowly have some of you escaped ! A plank hath been cast in , you know not how , to save you , when your Companions , for want of it , have gone down to the bottome ; or you have been enabled to swim to the Shore , when others have fainted in the way , and perished . In what a variety of strange and astonishing Providences hath God walked towards some of you , and what returns have you made to God for it ? Oh Sirs , I beseech you , consider but these two or three things , that I shall now lay before you to consider of . Consid. 1. An Heathen will do more for a dung-hil-Deity , than thou , that callest thy self a Christian , wilt do for the true God , that made Heaven and Earth , Dan. 5. 4. They praised the Gods of Silver , and of Gold , and of Brass , of Iron , Wood , and Stone . When the Philistines were delivered from the hand of Sampson , the Text saith , Iudg. 16. 24. They praised their God , &c. Then Dagon must be extolled . Oh let shame cover they face ! Consid. 2. That the abuse of Mercy and Love , is a sin that goes neer to the heart of God. O! he cannot bear it . It is not the giving out of mercy that troubles him , for that he doth with delight ; but the recoyling of his mercies upon him by the creatures ingratitude , this wounds . Be astonished , O ye heavens , at this , and be ye horribly afraid . And again , Hear O heavens , and give ear O earth , Isa. 1. 2. q. d. O you innocent Creatures which inviolably observe the law of your Creation , be you all astonished and cloathed in black , to see Nature cast by sin so far below it self ; and that in a Creature so much superiour to you as Man , who in the very womb , was crown'd a King , and admitted into the highest Order of Creatures , and set as Lord and Master over you ; yet doth he act not onely below himself , but below the very beasts . The Ox knoweth his owner , ( i. e. ) There is a kind of gratitude in the beasts , by which they acknowledge their benefactors that feed and preserve them . Oh! What a pathetical exclamation is that , Deut. 32. 6. Do ye thus requite the Lord , O foolish people , and unwise ? Consid. 3. It is a sin that kindles the wrath of God , and will make it burn dreadfully against thee unthankful sinner ; it stirs up the anger of God , in whomsoever it be found , though in the person of a Saint , 2 Chron. 32. 25. But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him : for his heart was lifted up : therefore there was wrath upon him , and upon Ierusalem . And so you read , Rom. 1. That the Heathen , because they were not thankful , were given up to vile affections ; the ●orest Plague in the world . It is a sin that the God of Mercy scarce knows how to pardon , Ier. 5. 7. How shall I pardon thee for this ? This forgetting of the God that saves us in our extremities , is a sin that brings desolation and ruine , the effects of God's high displeasure , upon all our temporal enjoyments . See that remarkable Scripture , Isa. 17. 10 , 11. Because thou hast [ forgotten ] the God of [ thy salvation ] and hast not been [ mindful ] of the rock of [ thy strength ▪ ] Therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants , and shalt set it with strange slips ; in the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow , and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish , but the Harvest shall be an heap in the day of grief and desperate sorrow . The meaning is , that God will blast and curse all thine employments , and thou shalt be under desperate sorrow , by reason of the disappointments of thy hopes . Consid. 4. It 's a sin that cuts off Mercy from you in future straits : if you thus requite the Lord for former mercies , never expect the like in future distresses . God is not weary of his blessings , to cast them away upon such Souls that are but graves to them . Mark what a reply God made to the Israelites , when they cryed unto him for help , being invaded by the Amorites , Judg. 10. 11 , 12 , 13. Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians , and from the Amorites , from the Children of Ammon , and from the Philistines ? The Zidonians also , and the Amalekites , and ye cryed unto me , and I delivered you out of their hands ; yet ye have forsaken me , and served other Gods ; wherefore I will deliver you no more . O sad word ! It is ( as if the Lord had said ) I have tryed what mercy and deliverance will do with you , and I see you are never the better for it ; deliverance is but seed sown upon the Rocks : I will cast away no more favours upon you ; now look to your selves , shift for your selves for time to come , wade through your troubles as well as you can . O brethren , there is nothing more quickly works the ruine of a People , than the abuse of mercy . O methinks this Text should strike terrour into your hearts . How often hath God delivered you ? Remember thy eminent deliverance at such a time , in such a Country , out of such a deep distress : God was gracious to thy cry then ; thou hast forgotten and abused this mercy ; what now , if God should say , as in the Text ▪ Therefore I will deliver thee no more . Ah poor Soul ! What would'st thou do then , or to whom wilt thou turn ? It may be thou wilt cry to the Creatures for help and pity ; but alas , to what purpose ? they will give as cold and as comfortless an answer , as Samuel gave unto Saul , 1 Sam. 28. 15 , 16. And Samuel said to Saul , VVherefore hast ●hou disquieted me , to bring me up ? And Saul answered , I am sore distressed ; for the Philistines make war against me , and God is departed from me , and answereth me no more , neither by Prophets , nor by Dreams ; therefore have I called thee &c. Then said Samuel , Wherefore then doest thou ask of me , seeing the Lord is departed from thee , and become thine enemy ? O! thou wilt be a poor shiftless creature , if once by abusing mercy thou make it thy Enemy . Secondly . For the breach of Vows made in distress to obtain these mercies , and easily forgotten and violated by thee when thou hast obtained thy desire : A word or two to convince you what a further evil lies in this , and how by this consideration thy sins come to be boyed up to a greater height , and aggravation of finfulness ; and then I have done with this Head. A Vow , is a promise made to God , in the things of God. The Obligation of it is by Casuists judged to be as great as that of an Oath . It is a sacred and solemn bond , wherein a Soul binds it self to God in lawful things : and being once bound by it , it is a most heinous evil to violate it . It is an high piece of dishonesty to fail in what we have promised to men , saith Dr. Hall ; but to disappoint God in our Vows , is no less than Sacriledge . The act is free and voluntary ; but if once a just and lawful vow or promise hath past your lips ( saith he ) you may not be false to God in keeping it . It is with us for our vows , as it was with Ananias and Saphirah , for their substance : VVhilst it remained ( saith Peter ) was it not thine own ? He needed not to sell and give it ; but if he will give , he may not reserve ; it is death to save some : he lies to the Holy Ghost , that defalks from that which he engaged himself to bestow . If thou have vowed to the mighty God of Iacob , look to it that thou be faithful in thy performance , for he is a great and jealous God , and will not be mocked . Now I am confident , there be many among you , that in your former distresses have solemnly engaged your Souls thus to God ; that if he would deliver you out of those dangers , and spare your lives , you would walk more strictly , and live more holy lives than ever you did . You have , it may be , engaged your Souls to the Lord against those sins , as Drunkenness , Lying , Swearing , Uncleanness , or whatsoever evil it was that your Conscience then smote you for : the vows of God ( I say ) are upon many of you . But have you performed those vows that your lips have uttered ? Have you dealt truly with God ? or have you mocked him , and lyed unto him with your lips , and omitted those very duties you promised to perform , and return'd to the self-same evils you promised to forsake . I only put the question , let your Consciences answer it . But if it be so indeed , that thou art a person that makest light of thy engagements to God , as indeed Seamens Vows , and Sick mens Promises are , for the most part , deceitful and slippery things , being extorted from them by fear of Death , and not from any deep resentment of the necessity and weight of those Duties to which they bind their Souls : I say , if this sin lie upon any of your Souls , I advise you to go to God speedily , and bewail it ; humble your self greatly before him , admire his patience in forbearing you , and pay unto him what your lips have promised . And to move you thereunto , let these Considerations , among many other , be laid to heart . Consid. 1. Think seriously upon the greatness of that Majesty whom thou hast wronged , by lying to him , and falsifying thy engagements . Oh think sadly on this : It is not man whom thou hast abused , but God ; even that God in whose hand thy life and breath is . For although ( as one truly observes ) there be not in every vow a formal invocation of God , ( God being the proper Correlate , and as it were a party to every vow , and therefore not formally to be invoked for the contestatio● of it ) yet there is in every vow an implicite calling God to witness ; so that certainly the Obligation of a Vow is not one jot beneath that of an Oath . Now if God be as a party to whom thou hast past thy promise , and its obligation on that ground be so great , oh what hast thou done ? for a poor worm to mock with the most glorious majesty of Heaven , and break Faith with God , what a dreadful thing is that ? If it were but to thy fellow-creature , though the sin would be great yet not like unto this . Let me say to thee , as the Prophet Isai. 7. 13. It is a small thing for you to weary men , but you will weary my God also ? If you dare to deceive and abuse men , dare you do so by God also ? Oh if the exceeding villanies of the sin do not affect thee , yet methinks the danger of provoking so dreadful a Majesty against thee should . And therefore consider , Consid. 2. Secondly , That the Lord will most certainly be avenged upon thee for these things , except thou repent . O read and tremble at the word of God , Eccles. 5. 4. When thou vowest a vow unto God , defer not to pay it : for he hath no pleasure in fools ; pay that which thou hast vowed . But better it is that thou shouldest not vow , than that thou shouldest vow and not not pay . Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin , neithey say thou before the Angel , that it was an errour ; wherefore [ should God be angry ] at thy vice , and [ destroy ] the works of thy hands ? Mark , God will be angry , and in that anger he will destroy the Work of thy hand , ( i. e. ) saith Diodate , Bring thee and all thy actions to nought , by reason af thy perjury . Now the anger of God , which thy breach of promise kindles , as appears by this Text , is a dreadful fire . Oh what Creature can stand before it ! as Asaph speaks , Psal. 76. 7. Thou , even thou art to be feared : and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry ? Consid. 3. Consider , thirdly , that all this while thou sinnest against knowledge and Conviction : for did not thy Conscience plainly convince thee , when imminent danger open'd its mouth , that the matter of thy neglected vow was a most necessary duty ; If not , why didst thou bind thy Soul to forsake such practises , and to perform such duties ? Thou didst so look upon them then ; by which it appears , thy Conscience is convinced of thy duty , but Lust masters and over-rules : And it so , poor sinner , what a case art thou in , to go on from day to day sinning against Light and Knowledge ? Is not this a fearful rate of sinning ? And will not such sinners be plunged deeper into Hell than the poor Indians that never saw the evil of their ways , as thou doest ▪ Ponder but two or three Scriptures in thy thoughts , and see what a dreadful way of sinning this is : Rom. 2. 9. ' Tribtlation , anguish and wrath to every Soul of man that doth evil , to the [ Iew first ] and also to the Gentile . To the Jew first ( i. e. ) to the Jew especially and principally ; he had a precedency in means and light , and so let him have in punishment . So Iam. 4. 17. To him thrt knoweth to do good , and doth it not , to him it is sin ( i. e. ) Sin with a witness , horrid sin , sin that surpasses the deeds of the wicked . So Luke 12. 47. And that servant that knew his Lords will , and prepared not himself , neither did according to his will , shall be beaten with many stripes . Which is a plain allusion to the Custom of the Iews in punishing an offender who being convicted , the Judge was to see him bound fast to a Pillar , his cloaths stript off , and an Executioner with a Scourge to beat him with so many stripes : But now those stripes came but from the arm of a Creature ; these that the Text speaks of , are set on by the omnipotent arm of God. Of the former there was a determinate number set down in their law , as forty stripes , and sometimes they would remit one of that number too , in mercy to the offender , as you see in the example of Paul , 2 Cor. 11. 24. Of the ●ews I received forty stripes save one ; but in Hell no mitigation at all , nor allay of mercy . The arm of his power supports the Creature in its being , while the arm of his justice lays on eternally . Soul , consider these things ; do thou not persist any longer then in such a desperate way of sinning , against the clear conviction of thine own Conscience , which in this case must needs give testimony against thee . Well then ; go to God with the words of David . Psal. 66. 13 , 14. and say unto him , I will pay thee my vows which my lips have uttered , and my tongue hath spoken when I was in trouble . Pay it , Soul , and pay it speedily unto God , else he will recover it by Justice , and fetch it out of thy bones in Hell. O trifle not any longer with God , and that in such serious matters as these are . And now I have done my endeavour to give your former Mercies and Promises a Resurrection in your Consciences ; Oh that you would sit down and pause s● while upon these things , and then reflect upon the past Mercies of your lives , and on what hath past betwixt God and your Souls , in your former straights and trou●bles ! Let not these plain words work upon thy spleen● and make thee say , as the Widow of Sarephta did to th● Prophet Elijah , 2 Kings 17. 18. What have I to do wit● thee , O thou man of God ? Art thou come to call my sin to remembrance ? But rather let it work kindly on thy heart , and make thee say as David to Abigail , 1 Sam. 25. 32. 33. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel , which sent thee this day to meet me , and blessed be thy advice . V. CAUTION . THe fifth and last danger I shall warn you of , is , Your contempt and slighting of Death . Ah how light a matter do many of you ( at least in words ) make of it ? It seems you have little reverential fear of this King of terrours ; not onely that you speak slightly of it , but also because you make no more preparation for it , and are no more sensible of your preservations and deliverances from it . Indeed , the heathen Philosophers did many ▪ of them profess a Contempt of Death , upon the account of Wisdom and Fortitude ; and they were accounted the bravest men , that most despised and slighted it : But alas , poor Souls , they saw not their enemy against whom they taught , but skirmisht with their eyes shut . They saw indeed its pale face , but not its sting and dart . There is also a lawful contempt of death : we freely grant , that in two Cases a believer may contemn it ; first , when it is propounded to them in a temptation , on purpose to scare them from Christ and duty , then they should slight it ; as Rev. 12. 11. They loved not their lives to the death . Secondly , When the natural evil of death is set in Competition with the enjoyment of God in Glory , then a believer should despise it , as Christ is said to do , Heb. 12. 2 though his was a shameful death . But upon all other accounts and considerations , it is the height of stupidity and security to despise it . Now to the end that you might have right thoughts and apprehensions of death , which may put you upon serious preparation for it ; and that when ever your turn comes to conflict with this King of terrours , under whose hand the Pompeys , Caesars , and Alexanders of the world , who have been the terrours of Nations , have bowed down themselves ; I say , that when your turn and time comes ( as the Lord onely knows how soon it may be ) you may escape the stroke of its dart and sting , and taste no other b●tterness in death , than the natural evil of it : To this end I have drawn the following Questions and Answers which , if you please , may be called , The Sea-man's Catechism . And Oh that you might not dare to launch forth into the deeps , untill you have seriously interrogated and examined your hearts upon those particulars ▪ Oh that you would resolve , before you go forth , to withdraw your selves a while , from all clamours and distractions , and calmly and seriously Catechise your own selves in this manner . Quest. 1. What may the issue of this Voyage be ? Answ. Death . Prov. 27. 1. Boast no● thy self of to morrow , for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth . Jam , 4. 13 , 14. Go to now , ye that say , To day , or to morrow , we will go into such a City , and continue there a year , and buy and sell , and get gain : VVhereas you know not what shall be on to morrow , for what is your Life ? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time , and then vanisheth away . Quest. 2 What is Death ? Ans. Death is a separation of Soul and Body , till the Resurrection , 2 Cor. 5. 1. VVe know that if our earthly house of this T●bernacle be dissolved . Iob 14. 10 , 11 , 12. Read the words . Quest. 3. Is Death to be despised and slighted if it be so ? An. O no! It 's one of the most weighty and serious things that ever a creature went about . So dreadful doth it appear to some , that the fear of it subjects them to Bondage all their lives , Hebr. 2. 15. And to deliver them who through fear of death were all their lives subject to bondage . And in Scripture It 's called , the King of terrours , Job 18. 14. Or the black Prince , as some translate . Never had any Prince such a title before . To some it hath been so terrible , that none might mention its Name before them . Quest. 4. What makes it so terrible and affrighting to Men ? Answ. Several things concur to make it terrible to the most of Men ▪ As first , its Harbingers and Antecedents which are strong Pains , Conflicts , and Agonies . Secondly , its office and work it comes about , which is to transfer us into the other world . Hence Rev. 6. 8. It 's set forth by a Pale Horse : An horse , for its use and office , to carry you away from hence into the upper or lower region of Eternity ; and a pale horse , for it's gastliness and terror . Thirdly , but above all , it 's terrible in regard of its consequence ; for it 's the door of Eternity , the parting point betwixt the present world and that to come ; the utmost line and boundary of all temporal things . Hence Heb. 9. It 's appointed for all men once to die , and after that the Iudgment . Rev. 6. 8. And I looked , and behold a pale Horse , and his name that sat on him was Death : and Hell followed him . Ah it makes a sudden and strange alteration upon mens conditions , to be pluckt out of house , and from among friends , and honours , and so many delights , and hurried in a moment into the Land of Darkness , to be cloathed with flames , and drink the pure wrath of the Almighty for ever . This is it , that makes it terrible . Quest. 5. If Death be so weighty a matter , am I prepared to die ? Answ. I doubt Not ; I am afraid I want many things that are necessary to a due preparation for it . Quest. 6. What are those things wherein a due preparation for Death consisteth ? Answ. Many things are necessary . First , Special and Saving Union with Jesus Christ. This is it that disarms it of its sting ; O Death , where is thy sting ? Thanks be to God who hath given [ us ] the victo●y through [ our ] Lord Iesus Christ , 1 Cor. 15. 55 , 56. So Joh. 11. 26. VVho soever [ liveth ] and ] [ believeth ] in me , shall never die . Whosoever liveth ( i. e. ) is quickned with a new spiritual Life and Principle , and so puts sorth the principal act of that life , viz. Faith , he shall never die , ( i. e. ) eternally ; This hornet , Death , shall never leave its sting in his sides . Secondly , To entertain Death comfortably , the evidence and knowledge of this Union is necessary , 2 Cor. 5. 1. ●or we [ know ] that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of God , &c. And then he cannot only be content , but groan to be uncloathed , vers . 2. A mistake in the former will cost me my Soul ; and a mistake here will lose me my peace and comfort . Thirdly , In order to this evidence ▪ it's necessary that I keep a good conscience in all things , both towards God and Man , 2 Cor. 1. 12. This is our rejoycing , even the testimony of our Conscience , that in sincerity , and godly simplicity , not in fleshly wisdom , but by the Grace of God , we have had our conversation in the world . This good Conscience respects all and every part of our work and duty to be done , and all and every sin to be renounced and denied : So that he that is early united unto Christ by Faith , hath the clear evidence of that Union ; and the evidence fairly gathered from the testimony of a good Conscience , witnessing his faithfulness as to all duties to be done , and sins to be avoided , he is fit to die ; Death can do him no harm : but alas , these things are not to be found in me . Quest. 7. But what if I die without such a preparation as this is , what will the consequence of that be ? Answ. Very terrible ; even the separation of my Soul and Body from the Lord to all Eternity , John 3. 36. He that believeth on the Son , bath everlasting life ; and he that believeth not the Son , shall not see life : but the wrath of God abideth on him . He shall not see life : there 's the privative part of his misery , separation from the blessed God. And the [ wrath ] mark it , not anger , but wrath ; not the wrath of a man , bat of [ God ] at whose rebukes the Mountains skip like frighted men , and the Hills tremble : The wrath of God not only flashes out upon him , as a transient flash of lightinng , but [ abideth ] dwells , sticks fast , there is no power in the world can loose the soul from it . [ Vpon him ] not the body only , nor the soul only , but on [ him ] ( i. e. ) the whole person , the whole Man. Here is the principal positive part of that man's misery . Quest. 8. Can I bear this misery ? Answ. No : My heart cannot endure , nor my hand be strong , when God shall have to do with me upon this account . I cannot bear this wrath ; Angels could not bear it ; it hath sunk them into the depths of misery . Those that feel but a few sparks of it in their Consciences here , are even distracted by it , Psal. 88. 15. Christ himself had never born up under it , had he not been subported by the infinite power of the ▪ divine nature , Isai. 42. 1. Behold my servant whom I uphold . How then shall I live when God doth this ? what will be done to the dry tree ? Oh! there is on abiding of it , it is insufferable . The sinners in Zion are afraid , trembling surprizeth the hypocrite : who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire ? who can endure the everlasting burning ? Isai. 33. 14. Quest. 9 If it cannot be born , is there any way to prevent it ? Answ. Yes ; there is hope in I srael concerning this thing . And herein I am in better case than the damned ; I have the [ may-be's ] of mercy , and they have not . Oh what would they give for a possibility of Salvation ! Isai. 1. 16 , 17 , 18. Wash ye , make ye clean , put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil , learn to do well , &c. Come now , let us reason together : and though your sins be as scarlet , they shall be as snow . Isai. 55. 7. Let the wicked for sake his way , and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord , and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God , for he will abundantly pardon . Though my disease be dangerous , it is not desperate , it doth not scorn a remedy . Oh there is Balm in Gilead , and a Physician there . There is yet a possibility , not only of recovering my Primitive glory , but to be set in a better case than ever Adam was . Quest. 10 , How may that be ? Answ. By going to the Lord Jesus Christ , Rom. 8. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus . Rom. 8. 33 , 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth : Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died , yea , rather that is risen again . Quest. 11. But what is it to go to Christ ? Asw. To go to Christ , is to * embrace him in his a Person , and b Offices , and to rest c intrely and closely upon him for d pardon of sin , and e eternal life ; being deeply f sensible of the want and worth of him . Joh. 1. 12. To as many as [ received ] him , he gave power to become the sons of God , even to as many as believed on his Name . John 3. 36. He that believed [ on the Son ] hath life . 1 Cor. 1. 30. And of him are ye in Christ Iesus , who of God is made unto us Wisdom , Righteousness , Sanctification , and Redemption . Acts 4. 12. Neither is there Salvation in any other , &c. Acts 13. 39. And by him all that believe are [ Iustified from all things ] from which ye could not be Iustified by the Law of Moses . Isai. 45. 22. Look unto me , and be ye saved . Acts 2. 37. Now when they heard this , they were pricked to the heart , &c. Quest. 12. B●t will Christ receive me , if I go unto him ? Answ. Yes , yes ; He is more ready to receive thee , than thou are to come to him . Luk. 15. 20. And he , ●●ose and came to his Father . But when he was yet a great way off , his Father saw him , and had compassion on him , and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him . The Son doth but go , the Father ran : if he had but received him into the house , it had been much ; but he fell on his neck , and kissed him . He bespeaks him much after that rate he exprest himself to returning Ephraim . My Bowels are troubled for him : I will surely have mercy on him , Jerem. 31. 20. There is not the least Parenthesis in all the pages of Free Grace , to exclude a Soul that is sincerely willing to come to Christ. Quest. 13. But how may it appear that he is willing to receive me ? Answ. Make trial of him thy self . If thou did but know his heart to poor sinners , you would not question it . Believe what he saith in the Gospel ; there thou shalt find that he is a willing Saviour : for therein thou hast , First his most serious invitations , Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me ye that are weary and heavy laden . Isai. 55. 1. Ho , every one that thirsteth , come ye to the waters . These serious Invitations are , Secondly , backt and confirmed with his Oath , Ezek. 35. 11. As I live I desire not the death of a sinner . Thirdly , amplified with pathetical wishes , sighs and groans , Matth. 23. 29. Oh that thou hadst known , even thou , at least in this thy day . Fourthly , Yea , delivered to them in undissembled tears , Matth. 23. 37 , 38. He wept over it , and said , O Ierusalem , Ierusalem . Fifthly , Nay , he hath shed not only tears , but blood , to convince thee of his willingness . View him in his dying posture upon the Cross , stretching out his dying arms to gather thee , hanging down his blessed head to kiss thee : every one of his wounds was a mouth opened to convince thee of the abundant willingness of Christ to receive thee . Quest. 14. But my sins are died in grain : I am a sinner of the blackest hue ; will he receive and pardon such an one ? Answ. Yea , Soul , if thou be willing to commit thy self to him , Isai. 1. 18. Come , now let us reason together : Though your sins he as scarlet , I will make them as snow ; though they be red like crimson , I will make them as wool . See p. 10 , 11. Quest. 25. This is comfortable news ; but may I not delay my closing with him for a while , and yet not hazard my eternal happiness , seeing I resolve to come unto him at last ? Ans. No. There must be no delays in this case : Ps. 119. 60. I made hast and delayed not to keep thy commandments . Quest. 16. Why may I not defer it , at least for a little while ? Ans. For many weighty reasons this work can bear no delays . First , the offers of Grace are made to the present time , Heb. 3. 15. Wbile it 's said to day , harden not your heart . There may be a few more days of God's patience , but that is unknown to thee . Secondly , your Life is immediate uncertain ; how many thousands are gone into Eternity since the last Night ? If you can say to sickness when it comes , Go , and come again another time , it were somewhat . Thirdly , Sin is not a thing to be dallied whith . Oh! who would be willing to lie down one Night under the guilt of all his sins ? Fourthly , delays increase the difficulty of Conversion : Sin still roots itself deeper , habits are the more strengthened , and the heart still more hardned . Fifthly , There be thousands now in Hell , that perish through delays : Their Consciences often urged and prest hard upon them , and many resolutions they had , as thou hast now ; but they were never perfected by answerable executions , and so they perisht . Sixthly , Thy way of sinning now is desperate ; for every moment thou art acting against clear light and conviction ; and that is a dreadful way of sinning . Seventhly , There can be no solid reason for one hours delay ; for thou canst not be happy too soon : And be sure of it , if ever thou come to taste the sweetness of a Christian Life , nothing will more pierce and grieve thee than this , that thou enjoyedst it no sooner . Qu. 17. Oh , but the pleasures of sin engage me to it , how shall I break these cords and snares ? Ans. That snare may be broken by considering solemnly these five things . First , that to take pleasure in sin , is an argument of a most deplorable and wretched state of Soul. What a poysonful nature doth it argue in a Toad , that is sucking in nothing but poyson and filth wherever he crawls ! Oh what an heart hast thou ! hast thou nothing to find pleasure in , but that which makes the Spirit of Christ sad , and the hearts of Saints ache and groan ; which digged Hell , and let in endless miseries upon the world ? Secondly , think that the misery it involves thee in , is infinitely beyond the delights it tempts thee by : It doth but delight the sensual part and that but with a brutish pleasure ; but will torment thy immortal Soul , and that for ever . The pleasure will quickly go off , but the sting will remain behind . I tasted but a little honey on the top of my rod ( said Ionathan ) and I must die , 1 Sam. 14. 43. Thirdly , Nay , that 's not all ; but the Lord proportions wrath according to the pleasures souls have had in sin , Rev. 18. 7. How much she hath lived deliciously , so much torment and sorrow give unto her . Fourthly , What dost thou pay , or , at least , pawn , for this pleasure ? Thy soul , thy precious soul , is laid to stake for it : and in effect thus thou sayest , when thou deferrest the closing with Christ upon the account of enjoying the pleasures of sin a little longer : Here , Devil , take my Soul into thy possession and power ; if I repent , I will have it again ; if not , it is thine for ever . Oh dearb ought pleasures ! What is the the world ? A great exchange of ware , Wherein all Sorts and Sexes cheapning are : The Flesh , the Devils , sit and , cry What lack ye ? When most thay fawn , they most intend to rack ye . The wares are cups of joy , and beds of pleasure ; There 's goodly choice , down-weight , and flowing measure . A soul 's the price , but they give time to pay Vpon the Death-bed , or the Dying-day . Hard is the bargain , and unjust the measure , When as the price so much outlasts the pleasure . Quarles . Lastly , It 's thy gross mistake to think thou shalt be bereaven of all delights and pleasures , by coming under the government of Christ : For one of those things in which his Kingdom consists , is joy in the Holy Ghost , Rom. 14. 17. Indeed , it allows no sinful pleasures to the subjects of it , nor do they need it ; but from the day thou closest in with Christ , all thy pure , real , and eternal pleasures and delight begin and bear date ▪ When the Prodigal was return'd to his Father , then , saith the Text , They began to be merry , Luke 15. 24. See Acts 8. 5 , 6. No , no , Soul , thou shalt want no joy ; for the Scripture saith , They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house , and thou shalt make them drink the rivers of thy pleasures ; for with thee is the fountain of light , &c. Psal. 36. 8 , 9. Qu. 18. But how shall I be able to undergo the severities of Religion ? There are difficult Duties to be done , and an heavy cross to be taken up ; these be the things that daunt me . Ans. If Pain and Suffering daunt thee , how is it thou art not more out of love with sin than with Religion ? For it is most certain , that the Sufferings for Christ are nothing to Hell , the just reward and certain issue of sin : the pains of Mortification are nothing to the pains of Damnation . There is no compare betwixt suffering for Christ , and suffering from Christ , Matth. 5. 29. If thy right hand , or eye offend thee , cut it off , and pluck it out : It is profitable for thee that one member suffer , than that the whole body be cast into Hell. Secondly , thou ●eest the worst , but not the best of Christ. There be Joys and Comforts in those difficult Duties and Sufferings , that thou seest not . Col. 1. 24. Who now rejoice in my sufferings . Jam. 1. 2. My Brethren , count it all joy when ye fall into diverstemptations , &c. Thirdly , Great shall be thy assistance from Christ , Phil. 4. 13. I can do all things through him that strengthens me . The Spirits helps our infirmities , takes the other end of the burden , Rom. 8. 26. What meanest thou to stand upon such terms , when it is Heaven or Hell , eternal Life or Death , that lie before thee ? Qu. 19. But to what purpose will all my endeavours to come to Christ be ? unless I be elected , all will be to on purpose . Ans. True : If thou be not elected , thou canst not obtain him , or happiness by him : But yet , that is no discouragement to strive . For in thy unconverted state , thy Election or Non-election is a secret to thee ; the only way to make it sure , is by striving and giving all diligence in the way of duty , 2 Pet. 1. 10. And if you ponder the text well , you will find , that Election is not only made sure in the way of diligence and striving ; but Calling is put before it , and lies in order to it . First secure thy effectual Calling , and then thine Election . Qu. 20. But I have no strength of my own to come to Christ by ; and is it not absurd to urge me upon Impossibilities in order to my Salvation ? Ans. First , Certainly you are more absurd in pleading and pretending your impotence against your duty : for you do think you have a power to come to Christ , else how do you quiet your Conscience with Promises and solves of Conversion hereafter ? Secondly , Though it be true , that no saving Act can be done without the concurrence of special Grace ; yet this is as true , that thy inability to do what is above thy power , doth not excuse thee from doing what is in thy power to do . Canst thou not forbear , at least , many external acts of sin ? And canst thou not perform , at least , the external acts of duty ? Oh , if thou canst not come to Christ , yet , as the blind man , lie in the way of Christ ; do what thou canst do , and confess and bewail thine impotency that thou canst do no more . Canst thou not take thy Soul aside in secret , and thus bemoan it ; My poor Soul , what wilt thou do ? Oh what will become of thee , thou art Christless , Covenantless , Hopeless , and , which is most sad , sensless and bowelless . O! thou canst not bear the infinite Wrath of the Eternal God , whose Almighty Power will be set on work to torment such as thou art , and yet thou takest no course to prevent it . Thou seest the busie diligence of all others , and how the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence by them ; and art not thou as deeply engaged to look to thy own happiness , as any in the world ? Will Hell be more tolerable to thee than others ? Oh what a composition of stupidity and sloth art thou ? Thou livest after such a rate , as if there were neither Fire in Hell to torment thee , nor Glory in Heaven to reward thee . If God and Christ , Heaven and Hell , were but dreams and fables , thou couldst not be less affected with them . Ah , my Soul ! my Soul ! my precious Soul ! Is it easie to perish ? Wilt thou die as a fool dieth ? Oh that men would but do thus , if they can do no more ! And now , Soul , you see what death is , that you have made so slight of ; and what is the only way that we , poor Sons of Death , have to escape its sting . You have here seen the vanity of all your pleas and pretences against Conversion , and the way to Christ prepared and cast up for you . Now , Sirs , I beg you in the name of God that made you , and as if I made this request upon my bended Knees to you , that you will now , without any more delays , yield your selves to the Lord. Soul ! I beseech thee , hast thee into thy ●hamber , shut thy door , and bespeak the Lord after some such manner as this , before thou darest to launch out into the Deeps again : O dreadful and glorious Majesty ! thou hast bowels of mercy , as well as beams of glory : I have heard the sounding of these bowels for me this day . Lord , I have now heard a representation of the grim and ghastly face of Death ! Ah! I have now seen it as the King of Terrors , as the door of Eternity , as the Parting-point , where sinners take their eternal farewel of all their delights . I have seen this black Prince mounted on his pale Horse , and Hell following him . I have been convinced this day , that if he should come and fetch away my Soul in that condition it is , Hell would follow him indeed . Lord ! I have now heard of the Prince of Life also , in whose bleeding side Death hath left and lost its envenomed sting ; so that though it may kill , yet it cannot hurt any of his Members . To this glorious Redeemer I have now been invited ; all my pretences against him have been confuted , and my Soul in his Name assured of welcome , if I come unto him , and cast my self upon him . And now , Lord , I come , I come , upon thy call and invitation ; I am unfeignedly willing to avouch thee , this day to be my God , and to take thee for my portion . Lord Iesus , I come unto thee ; thy Clay , thy Creature moves towards the Fountain of pity , look hitherto : Behold a spectacle of misery . Bowels of mercy , hear , behold my naked Soul , not a rag of righteousness to cover it ; behold my starving Soul , not a bit of bread for you to eat ; ah ! it has fed upon wind and vanity hitherto : Behold my wounded soul bleeding at thy foot ; every part , Head and Heart , Will and Affections , all wounded by sin . O thou compassionate Samaritan , turn aside , and pour thy Soveraign blood into these bleeding wounds , which like so many opened mouths plead for pity . Behold a returning submitting Rebel , willing to lay down the weapons of unrighteousness , and to come upon the knee for a pardon . Oh I am weary of the service of sin ; I can endure it no longer . Lord Jesus , thou wast anointed to preach glad tidings to the meek , and to proclaim liberty to the ●aptives , and the opening of the prison to them that are bound . Come now , and knock off those fetters of unbelief ; Oh set my soul at liberty that it may praise thee ! For so many years Satan hath cruelly tyrannized over me , oh that this might be the acceptable year of the Lord , and the day of the salvation of my God! Lord , thou wast lifted up to draw Men unto thee ; and indeed thou art a drawing Saviour , a lovely Jesus . I have hitherto slighted thee , but it was because I did not know thee : mine eyes have been held by unbelief , when thou wast opened in the Gospel ; but now I see thee as the chiefest of ten thousands . Thou art the glory of Heaven , the glory of Earth , the glory of Sion ; and oh that thou wouldst be the glory of my Soul ! I confess , I am not worthy that thou shouldst look upon me ; I may much rather expect to be trampled under the feet of Justice , than to be embraced in thine arms of Mercy ; and that thou shouldst rather shed my polluted blood , than sprinkle thine own upon me . But Lord , what profit is there i● my blood ? Wilt thou pursue a dryed leaf ? Shall it ever be said , that the merciful King of Heaven hang'd up a poor soul that put the rope about its own neck , and so came selfcondemningly to him fot mercy ? O my Lord ! I am willing to submit to any terms , be they never so hard and ungrateful to the flesh . I am sure whatever I shall suffer in thy service , cannot be like to what I have suffered , or am like to fuffer by sin : henceforth be thou my Lord and Master ; thy service is perfect freedom ; be thou my Priest and Prophet , my Wisdom and Righteousness , I resign up my self unto thee : my poor Soul with all its faculties , my body with all its members , to be living instruments of thy glory . Let Holiness to the Lord be now written upon them all ; let my tongue henceforth plead for thee , my hands be lifted up unto thy testimonies , my feet walk in thy ways . Oh let all my affections , as willing servants , wait upon thee , and be active for thee . Whatever I am , let me be for thee ; whatever I have ; let it be thine ; whatever I can do , let me do for thee ; whatever I can suffer , let me suffer for thee . O that I might say before I go hence , My beloved is mine , and I am his ! Oh that what I have begged on Earth , might be ratified in Heaven ! My Spirit within me saith , Amen . Lord Jesus , say thou . Amen . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A39673-e1100 Erasmi Chiliad , p. 299. The smallest Pore is a Leak wide enough to let in Death , and sink thy Vessel . In Nubia , quae est Aethiopia , venenum est cu●us grani unias decima pars ●ominem , vel unum granum decem homines , Dan , Senert . Hypom . Phys. Cap. 2. p. 47. Ignis Gehenne lucebit miseris , ut vi●eant unde● doleant . Insid . de sum . bon . l. 1. Terror ubique tremor , timor un●eque & undique terrari . Ovi . Mundi creatio est Scriptur a Dei , Clemens . Vniversus mundus est D●us explicatus . Notes for div A39673-e3620 See Mr. Whatelie's Care-Cloth Notes for div A39673-e7310 Ariftot . secund● . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , c. 5. Notes for div A39673-e10010 Mr. Gurnal . Notes for div A39673-e12960 Correction , Instruction , . page . 182. Notes for div A39673-e13740 * See the Turks Letter to the Emperour of Germany , lately published by Authority . Notes for div A39673-e19350 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Notes for div A39673-e20550 † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Notes for div A39673-e24180 Morning-Exercise , p. 651. Notes for div A39673-e25630 Turbution capitis , subversio sensus tempestas linguae , procella corporis , naufragium virtutus , amissio temporis , ins●nia voluntaria , blande daemon , dulce venenum , suave peccatum , quam quihabet , seipsum no habet , quam qui fecit , peccatum non fecit , sed ipse totus est peccatatum . Aug. ad lacr . Viginis . Qui dedit aquam , dedit vinum . * Columb . de re Anat. Infinitae morborum gener●● inden●scuntur , Apple●●● , Paralyses , Ar●●rides , &c. Ille op●imus me dicus sibi , qui modicus cibi . Aug. Ames , de con●● ▪ p. 139. Guber , Dei , lib. 4. salv . Sine Cerere & Baccho frige● venus . Mr. Lockyer on Col. 1. p. 113. * There is a double resurrection of Mercy : A resurrection of Mercy in Mercy , and a resurrection of Mercy in Wrath. It is the first I now labour for , and that to prevent the second 〈…〉 Mr. Tho. Goodwin . Case of Consc. * Iohn 1. 12. a Iohn 3. 36. b 1 Cor. 1. 30. c 1 Acts 4. 12. d Acts 12. 29. e Isai. 45. 22. f Acts 2. 37.