that Ploughs his Ground, and sows nothing upon it; and he that Resolves, but Executes not, is yet more sottish; for he is at all the cost, and takes all the pains, but reaps no Fruit of his Labours. There is such a near connexion between Consideration, Resolution, and Execution, and they are so Naturally consequent upon one another, that as on the one side, Consideration brings on Resolution, and that Practice; so much more on the other, from a Man's Practice we may ordinarily pronounce of his Resolutions, and from that certainly Calculate his Meditations. But to the point in hand: I (saith the Prodigal) have delayed too long already, I may consider and make Resolutions, and yet sit and starve; it must be doing must Rescue me from my Misery. So he arose: And so doth the true Penitent; and our of hand closes with Jesus Christ upon Gospel-terms.  
But observe further: The Prodigals Repentance is here termed, a coming to himself, as if he had been out of his Wits, or besides himself, before his amendment: So than we may from hence draw this Doctrine, viz.  
Doct. That a Man in his sins is out of his Senses, he is a Madman and out of his Wits: Sinners are Bedlams and Lunatics, void of Sense and Reason. Methinks these words of the Prophet Esay, may sufficiently prove this, in the 46th. Chapter, Verse the 8th. where he saith, Remember this, and show yourselves men, bring it again to mind, O ye Transgressor's. The words may be thus read: Return to your minds, O ye Transgressor's! Or, Return into your Hearts, as Calvin reads them; observing this very point from thence, that they were not well in their Wits before. So Musculus, Mentzerus, with many others.  
And indeed the words usually used for Repentance, both Greek and Latin, doth show as much; the Greek word is derived of another, which signifieth Folly and Madness, and is as much as afterwit: And for the Latin word, the Prophet in the former place cited, seemeth to give the signification of it. And it is no wonder, for their Reason and Judgement are now corrupted through sin; so that, as our Saviour Christ, and blessed St. Steven saith, they know not what they do. And is it not the very definition of a Madman, to be without Judgement, to follow his Fancy, and to be led by appearances without Trial? See for further Proof, 2 Tim. 3.9. Luke 6.11.  
Let the uses of the point be these: First, it may inform our Judgements concerning sin and sinners: Sin is Madness, sinners are Lunatics, being possessed with a Spiritual Frenne and Madness. Look upon them with a Spiritual Eye, and their Actions will declare it. Some run to and fro stark Naked, and blush not, tearing off, and casting away the Garments of Holiness and Innocency. Were they ashamed (saith Jeremiah) nay, nay, they were not ashamed. Are Men ashamed of their flagitious courses, which layeth them Naked both to shame and judgement? Alas no! they glory in them, never blushing for the committing of them: Others, (though sometimes they keep within Compass, and seem to be well governed, as if they were no such Men) being a little displeased, or any thing crossed, straight fall a playing of their Mad pranks, raging and raving against Heaven and Earth, cursing and banning all that speak to them, infecting the very Air with their vile Speeches and horrible Oaths, as if they would pluck God out of his Throne, and again Crucify the Son of God afresh.  
Others foam at the Mouth, their talk is Idle and Beastly, savouring neither of Wit nor Honesty; sparkles of Hell come forth from their lips, whereat the Devil kindles fire of Dissension.  
And again, how deeply are others possessed with this spirit of Madness? Who are never well but when they are Wounding, Beating, and Destroying of themselves and others; wasting their Estates, confuming their Bodies, and pitifully slashing of their Consciences and Souls, yea, killing and destroying whoever they keep Company with, drawing them into the same excess of Riot, that so they may all perish together. And in a word, what Mad Property is to be seen in any Bedlam, that is not to be found in a Wicked Man? Oh! happy were it, if the Rod of Discipline were better used, then there would be hope of more Sobriety.  
Secondly, is this so, that Sinners are Lunatics? Let it then admonish all such as are well in their Wits to keep out of their Companies. Men Bodily Mad, are kept bound and Chained, and narrowly watched over, that they cannot hurt; and yet we are loath to come within their reach, we never fear these Spiritual Bedlams, of whom we ought to be most wary, being they are at Liberty in every place and house, in most Companies, and many times have power to Hunt; and yet (the more is the pity) how careless are we? Oh! be more watchful, you that Love yourselves, be more careful, come not in their Company, receive them not into your Houses, unless Necessity compel: What though they keep within Compass for a time, in some months' Madmen seem sober, yet first or last they will have their Fits, and much endanger your Souls and Bodies.  
The last Use shall be an Exhortation to such as are yet in the state of Nature, to pity themselves, and Pray for themselves, that they may have their Senses restored to them: When thou seest a Lunatic to rage and rave, to rend and tear his Hair and Flesh, thou canst not but pity and send forth a Prayer for him, that God would help him: Behold, Oh Man! thine own Estate, such a one art thou, void of all Sense and Spiritual Understanding, who dost daily wound thine own Soul by sin; be as Merciful to thyself as thou art to others; bewail thine own fearful Estate, cry to God for help and redress; never give over till thou art brought to thyself; and being once Cured, commiserate the estate of others that are not. Turn not their Mad pranks into a Jest (as most do) but turn to God by Prayer for their Recovery, as few do.  
But now let us in the next place see what are the Considerations the Prodigal entertains his thoughts upon in this his Afflicted condition, and here we shall find these reducible to these following heads.  
1. He considers what the condition was he is fallen from, and how Happy he might have been, had it not been 〈◊〉 his own Folly. How many hired Servants, & c q. d. I that am pinched with Want now, felt none in my Father's House; I was Liberally maintained, Honourably treated, wanted nothing but the Wisdom to understand my own Felicity, and in this condition I might have continued; for neither did my Father's Estate complain of the Burden of my Accommodations, nor was he strait-handed, or abated any thing of his Fatherly Affections towards me; it was nothing but my own Folly Ruined me. And then,  
He proceeds to deplore the sad Estate he is fallen into: When I set out from my Fathers. House in quest of Liberty, did I ever dream of becoming a Slave? When I despised the Liberal Provisions of his Family, did I, or could I have thought I should come to want Bread, to feed upon Husks? How sad is the changel how severe is my Fate, which I know no more how to bear, than how to avoid! But this is not the worst yet: For,  
He forethinks what is like to be the Issue of this; it is not only feeding upon Husks, but I perish for Hunger: I have a prospect of nothing but Death before me in the case I am in; I am lost, undone, undone in most dreadful Circumstances; for I perish, and it is with Hunger; Death makes its sure approaches, and that in the most ghastly shape; Vivens vidensque pereo, I see and feel myself dying.  
But yet in the last place, he looks about him to see if there be not some escape. I am dying (saith he) but not quite dead; whilst there is Life there is Hope: Who will not catch hold of any thing rather than perish? And it agrees not with my Condition to stick at any thing that can minister the least probability of safety. Am not I a Son, though I am here a Slave? Have not I a Father, and hath not he pity? Why then do I stand still and die, and not rather make the utmost Experiment?  
And here we may fancy the Prodigal thus Arguing with himself: Woe and alas is me! this miserable Life cannot last always, Death will Arrest me shortly, and present me before a just Tribunal; the Grave will ere long cover me, but not be able to conceal me, for I must come to Judgement; methinks I hear already the sound of the last Trump, Let the Dead arise, let them come to Judgement. I see the Angels as Apparitions gathering all the World together, and presenting them before that dreadful Tribunal. How shall I be able with my guilty Conscience to appear upon that huge Theatre, before God, Angels, and Men? Methinks I see the Devil standing at my Right hand to aggravate those faults which he prompted me to the commission of; I behold the Books opened, and all the Debaucheries, Extravagancies and Follies of my whole Life laid open: Christ the Judge of all the World coming in flaming Fire, to take Vengeance upon them that have not known him, nor obeyed his Gospel; how shall I endure his presence? How shall I escape his Eye? I cannot delude his Judgement, nor evade his Sentence; Come then, ye Rocks and fall upon me, and ye Mountains cover me from the face of the Lamb, and from him that sitteth upon the Throne. But the Rocks rend in sunder, the Sea and the Earth disclose their Dead, the Earth dissolves, the Heavens vanish as a scroll, and I hear the dreadful Sentence, Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Methinks I hear Christ Jesus thus upbraiding me: You have listened to the Devil, and not to me; I would have saved you, but you would not be ruled by me; you have chosen the way of Death, now therefore you shall be filled with your own ways; I forewarned you what would be the Issue of your Courses, but you would have your full swing of Pleasure for the present, whatever came of it hereafter: You laughed at Judgement, and it is come in earnest; you have had your time of Jollity and sensual transports, and now your Portion is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.  
But is there no hope left? Must I lie down thus in sorrow and despair? These things I may justly expect, but they are not yet incumbent upon me; I am yet alive, and they say there is hopes in the Land of the Living; the Door is not yet shut against me, Hell hath not yet closed her mouth upon me. I have heard God is a Merciful God, and thereupon I presumed hitherto, and abused his goodness; but sure his Mercies are above the measure of a Man, if they be infinite like himself; he hath more Goodness than I have Ingratitude. Possibly there may be some hope left in the bottom of this Pandora's Box of Calamities: If there be none, it is in vain to Repent, fruitless to Weep, endless to Bewail, madness to add to my own Infelicities. If there be a rigid Fate upon me, I will curse God, and die. But sure whilst there is a God, there must be goodness, his Name speaks his Nature; will he break a bruised Reed? Will he contend with Dust and Ashes? It is true, he hath no need of me, but for the same Reason he cannot delight in my Misery: He cannot Repent and change his mind, because his Wisdom foresaw from the beginning all possible contingencies; but if I Repent and change my mind, the same unchangeableness of his, will oblige him as well then to save me, as before to destroy me. How far he will extend Mercy, and what instances he will make of it, I cannot define; but who knows but he may yet admit of my submission? however, I cannot be worse than I am, and it is possible my condition may be better; here I perish certainly, if I cast myself upon his goodness, I can but perish, therefore I will try: I will arise, and go to my Father, etc. And thus his deliberation brings him to resolution, which is the second Stage of Repentance.  
But here I think it proper in the next place for the benefit of all that shall read this Book, but especially for the sake of incogitant Youth, here again to give the same Paraphrase (formerly given) upon the whole Parable of the Prodigal Son, that so all may more fully see the deplorable effects of Rashness and Folly, Pride and Curiosity, Insolence and Disobedience, how they work jointly and severally together, and by turns, till by degrees they have trained poor inconsiderate Man to his utter Ruin. And in the following Paraphrase you may see lively Portrayed the beginning, the Progress, the upshot, the Causes, and the Effects of a sinful Course.  
Well then, take the Paraphrase upon the whole as follows, Viz.  
A certain Man had two Sons, one whereof, and he the Eldest, continued always in his Family, content with his Provision, subject to his Government, and in diligent Obedience to all his Commands. But the other, viz. the Younger, full of Juvenile heat and confidence, considers himself at the Age of Discretion, grows impatient of Restraint, and desirous of Liberty, especially fancying that he could Live better to his own content, and every whit as well provide for himself, if he were at his own disposal: Therefore he desires his Father to set him out his share, and to put his Portion into his own Hands, and leave him to his own conduct. The Father gratifies him in all his desires, gives him his Portion and his Liberty; which done, the Son, as if his Father's Presence or vicinage would put too great a restraint upon him, and give check to his Freedom, he betakes himself to another Country, where being in the height of his Jollity amongst his Harlots and lewd Companions, methinks I hear him speak to his own Heart after this manner following, viz.  

Oh! sweet, what rare Felicity is here,  
Where nought offends, where all things sit appear;  
Where Nature's shop full furnished with supply,  
Stands always open to the Passers-by.   

My thoughts, what think you of these Streams so clear?  
My Senses, can you not suck Honey here?  
Affections, can you here not feed desire,  
And with contentment to the Heart retire?   

Here are the Beds where sweetest Roses grow,  
Here are the Banks where purest streams do flow,  
Here are the only Instruments of Mirth,  
Here are the only Jewels upon Earth.   

My straggling thoughts then here set up your stay,  
My striving Senses, seek no Richer Prey;  
Affect'ons, here your Fancies may be quieted,  
My pleased Heart then rest thou here delighted.   
But to proceed: This Prodigal being now out of his Father's Eye, Reach, and Control, he indulges himself in the highest surfeit of Licentiousness, by which means in a short time (whilst he enjoying the present, took no care for the suture) the stock his Father allotted him, was utterly exhausted, and with that his pleasures also fail, the Roots that ministered to them being thus dried up; and where his Pleasure's end, his Cares begin: For now he hath leisure to look a little about him, and finds himself in a bad case, having no course left, but either to return to his Father, and confessing his Folly, implore his Compassion; or to put himself a Servant to a Stranger, thereby to get a mean livelihood; the former of these he was yet loath to come to, having not as he thought tried sufficiently the folly of his own counsel, and to take to himself the shame of his own ill conduct, by so plain a retreat, was thought a sharper calamity than any he yet felt; therefore he resolves upon the latter, as if the severities of a stranger were more tolerable than the Reproaches of a Father: For he concluded, a man was not perfectly Miserable that had no body to upbraid his Folly. And now being in a strange Country, he comforted himself with this, that if he should find none to pity him, he was sure there would be none could torture him with the grating remembrance of what he was and might have been. Well, he becomes a Servant, and he that could not brook the grave restraint of paternal Authority, now feels the heavy yoke of servile obedience; for he is put to the base drudgery of feeding Swine, and hath the coursest fare for his maintenance: the Swine and the Servant feed alike upon Husks, only with this difference, some body cares for the Hogs, but no body for the Slave; and the former have enough of that which agrees with them, but the latter is pinched with hunger, having not allowance of that sordid diet answerable to the importunity of his needs. Being sorely afflicted with this, he that formerly dreamt of nothing but the sweets of liberty, and the surfeits of voluptuousness, and never once thought of those hungry Wolves, Want and Necessity, which now stand at his door, after many a sad sigh, discourses thus with himself: Ah fool that I was, who knew not when I was well, that understood not contentment without satisfaction, nor could take up with the substance, but must grasp at shadows till I lost both; that knew not what it was to be happy, but by the sad experiment of becoming miserable, that could not distinguish between the chastisements of a Father, and the wounds of an enemy, nor believe but all yokes were equal, until I was convinced by trial, that could not brook the Government and restraints of my Father's Family, though endeared by the reverence of my relation, and sweetened by the benignity of his countenance, and liberal provision for all necessity and delight; nor be satisfied of my Father's wisdom, but by the effects of my own rashness and folly. Time was when I had the respect and dignity of a Son at home, who now find the contempt of a Servant abroad. I was then put to no drudgery, nor had other task than to serve the honour and interest of my Father, and in so doing I consulted also my own; for my duty and my happiness were then united, but I am now put to the basest office, to the vilest employment, as if my drudgery were not so much imposed in order to my Master's profit, as to my own contumely. But that which comes nearer to me yet, and pinches me very sore, is, that whereas in my Father's House I could neither feel nor fear want, I can now hope for nothing else; there the meanest servant had bread, not only to the full, but to superfluity; much less was any thing wanting to me then a Son; now the case is sadly altered, I that seldom had so much hunger as might serve for sauce, to the plenty of my Father's Table, feel now the difference between the liberal hand of a Father, and the evil and niggardly eye of a hard Master. Oh the difference between the sweet fumes of Plenty, and the gnawing pains of Wind and Emptiness!  
And here methinks I hear him speaking to Extravigant and headstrong Youth in the following manner, viz.  

Ah! wanton Youth take warning by my woes,  
And see in me the sum of vain repose;  
Which like a Bud Frost-bitten  it blooms  
Appears, but unto no perfection comes.   

All Earthly pleasures are but like a bubble,  
Strait turn to nothing, which were raised with trouble.  
The fairest faces soon change their dye,  
The sweetest Charmers are most apt to lie.   

Thus moved with sorrows I may tell the same,  
And make the World take notice of my shame;  
But till I had experience of this woe,  
No means could make me think it would be so   

But now I think upon my Father here,  
Whose Foresight now I find exceeding clear;  
He often told me, and with many a Tear,  
What would befall, but then I would not hear.   
Ah fellow Companions! what would I give now for what I have formerly wasted or despised! then I loathed wholesome food, and now feed upon Husks; how do I now envy the meanest servant in my Father's House: they have enough of all things, and I the want of all things; they surfeit, I starve. But alas, it is to no purpose to complain here, the Swine I feed cannot pity me, and the Master I serve will not: There is no other choice left me now, but I must return to my Father or perish; little did I think what would come of it when I forsook him, and perhaps little does he think what I have suffered since: If my sufferings have brought down my proud Heart, and taught me submission, it may be, my deplorable condition may move his Bowels; it is true, he cast me not out, but I forsook and abandoned him: My Youthful heat and folly precipitated me upon my own Ruin, but as he hath more Wisdom than I, so perhaps the Affections of a Father are more strong than those of a Child; and the more he sees my Foolishness, the more Arguments he will find to show me Mercy; at least, I will make trial of his Clemency, I will humbly prostrate myself before him, I'll embrace those Knees that Educated me, I'll lick the dust of that Threshold which I contemptuously forsaken, I'll own my fault, and take shame to myself, and so both magnify his Mercy if he receive me, and justify his proceed if he reject me.  
I know my Father is subject or obnoxious to no body, who shall blame him for Pardoning, or set limits to his Mercy? nay, who can tell the measure of a Father's Bowels? It may be too there is irresistible Eloquence in Misery, and the spectacle of a Sons Adversity may have Rhetoric enough in it to carry the cause where a Father is Judge. Or if he, provoked by my Folly at first, and Extravagancies since, will no more own me as a Son, perhaps he may receive me as a Servant; for if my Rebellion hath extinguished in him the peculiar Affections of a Father, yet it hath not destroyed the common Passions of Humanity, Mercy, and Pity; if he will receive me in that lower quality, I am now broken to the condition of a Servant, and shall think his Yoke easy hereafter, having been enured to so sharp and heavy an one; I will cheerfully submit my Ear to be boared to his Door-post, and be his Servant for ever.  
Or, Lastly, if he will not trust a Runagate, nor believe that he will ever prove a constant and perpetual Servant that hath once deserted his station, let him be pleased to take me as an Hired Servant, whom he may turn off at pleasure; make trial of me, and admit me only upon good Behaviour. But if all fail, and he should utterly cast me off (which yet I hope he will not) I can but perish, and that I do however.  
Well, this being resolved, he casts a longing look towards his Father's House, and puts himself on his way thither: But no sooner was he on his way, (though yet a great way off) but his Father spies him: Those lean and wan Cheeks, and the hollow sunken Eyes his Extremity had reduced him to, had not so disfigured him, nor those Rags unable to cover his Nakedness, so disguised him, but his Father knew him; and the memory of his former Disobedience had not so Canceled the Interests of a Son, or shut up the Bowels of a Father, but that the sight of his present Misery kindled his Compassion. And whilst the Son, partly through that weakness which his Vices and his Sufferings had conspired to bring upon him, and partly through a combination of shame and just fear of his Father's Indignation, with difficulty makes towards him; the Father, prompted by Paternal Affection, and transported between Joy and Pity, runs to meet him, falls on his Neck, and kisses him.  
And now see what Entertainment his Father gives him being come into his Presence. He calls for a Robe; yea, the best Robe, and so  him; for a Ring to adorn and beautify him; for Shoes for his Feet, that stones might not annoy nor hurt them; for the fat Calf, to feed and refresh him; and whatsoever is wanting he bestows upon him. Now, had the Father fit time, and his Sons sins deserved it, that he should rip up unto him his former faults, and call to remembrance the Offences of his Youth, and welcome him home after this manner: Ah, Sirrah, are you now come, is all spent amongst your Whores and Harlots? Return unto them, let them provide for you, come you no more within my Doors. But behold the love of this his Father, he useth no such thundering speeches, he threatneth not to cast him off, nor yet doth he cast him in the teeth with his former Courses; he remembreth not any old Reckon, the Offences of his Youth are not spoken of: But he (seeing this his Riotous and unthrifty Son return home with an humble Heart) presently offers himself to his Child, and before he had made an end of his Confession, or could beg a supply of things needful, his Father intercepts him by his hasty calling to his Servants, Bring hither the best Robe, the Shoes, the Ring, let the fat Calf be killed, make a Feast, send for Music; let all be forgotten that is past; let my Sons old Courses no more be remembered.  
And here further we may fancy the Joyful Father thus bespeaking his returning Child, Viz.  

Welcome, my Son, thrice welcome; is't not meet  
Thou shouldst be welcomed with embraces sweet?  
Thou who wert lost, and now art found again;  
Thou who wert dead, dost now alive remain.   

Long have I longed for this thy safe return,  
Whereat my bowels of Compassion yearn:  
Why shak'st thou then, why blushest being poor?  
Thy fear is past, thou shalt have Rags no more.   

Revive, my Son, be cheerful then, my Child,  
And cease thy sorrows, I am Reconciled:  
Oh! let those Tears be taken from thine Eyes,  
They stir the Fountain where Compassion lies.   

Come, taste my Dainties, I have choicest Fare,  
And sweetest Music to delight thy Ear:  
This is my Pleasure, I will have it done  
In spite of Envy, for thou art my SON.   
The Son, though astonished at this condescension, and surprised with the unexpected benignity of such a Reception, yet could not but remember what his Father's Joy made him forget; namely, his former Dis-ingenuity and Rebellion: And therefore humbly falls on his knees again, and with shame and remorse makes his contrite acknowledgement after this manner. Father, (for so this admirable goodness of yours gives me encouragement to call you, more than the Blood and Life which I derived from you) I have, I confess, forfeited all the Interest the Privileges of my Birth might have afforded me in your Affection, having become a Rebel both towards God and you; had I not first neglected him, I am sure I had never grieved you; and having forsaken you, I have not only violated the greatest Obligation I had upon me (save that to his Divine Majesty) but also despised and affronted a goodness like to his; whatsoever therefore I have suffered was but the just demerit of my folly and contumacy, and whatsoever Sentence you shall pass upon me further I will willingly submit to, and here expect my doom from you: I condemn myself, as no more worthy to be called your Son, be pleased to admit me but into the condition of your meanest Servant, and I have more than my miscarriages give me reason to hope for.  
Whilst the Son was going on at this rate, the Father's Bowels yearned too earnestly to admit of the delay of long Apologies, and therefore chooses rather to interrupt him in his Discourse, than to adjourn his own Joys or the others comfort: And because he thought words not sufficient in this case, he makes deeds the Interpreters of his mind, commanding his Servants forthwith, to bring out the best Robe, and to put it upon his Son, together with a Ring on his Hand, and Shoes on his Feet, i.e. in all points to Habit him as his Son, and as a Son of such a Father; by all which he maketh the full demonstration of a perfect Reconciliation; and not content herewith, to give vent to his Joy, that it might not overpower him whilst he confined it to his own bosom, and perhaps also that those who had shared with him in his sorrows for the loss of a beloved Son, might participate also in the joy of his Recovery; he goes on, bring out also the fatted Calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my Son was dead, and is alive again, was lost and is found; and they began to be merry.  
In the midst of this extraordinary Jollity it happens the Elder Son, who had always continued in his Duty towards his Father, comes out of the Fields, where he had been Negotiating his Father's Affairs, and wonders at the unusual Jubilee: And when (demanding the occasion) they of the Family had made him acquainted with the whole matter, he takes it ill, and interpreting this marvellous transport of Joy at his Brother's return, to be in derogation from himself; as if his Father was too easy and inclinable towards him, but severe to himself, and unmind full of the long and faithful Service he had done him, gins to Expostulate the matter somewhat warmly with his Father; but the good Old Man mildly replies: Son, I am very sensible of, and set a just value upon the long course of your Obedience, and I have it both in my Power, and in my Will to Reward you. 'Tis true, I have not hitherto made such Solemn expressions of my Love to you, as I have now done upon this Occasion, for the case did not require it; you, as you have been always Dutiful to me, so you have had my House and all I have constantly to accommodate you; as you have never Rebelled against me, so you have never felt the hardships your Poor Brother hath undergone by his Foolishness; and as you that have never offended me, never could distrust my Favour, nor need not such demonstrations of my Reconciliation, which this former Gild and Extravagancies of your now Penitent Brother renders necessary in his case; so also was I never overwhelmed with Grief for you who were never lost; but forasmuch as we have beyond all expectation received your Brother again, whom we long since despaired of, and had given up for lost; you cannot wonder, and you must allow me this unusual transport; for I say again, This your Brother was lost, and is found; was dead, and is alive again.  
But I will now Paraphrase no longer upon the Parable itself, but proceed to the next Verse in my Text, which containeth in it the purpose and resolution which the Prodigal Son had in his Heart, upon the consideration of his sad and desperate Condition.  
I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee,  
And am no more worthy to be called thy Son, make me as one of thy hired Servants.  
In the former Verse we have this Prodigal in his deep Meditations, comparing things together, and weighing them in the Balance: But behold, whilst he mused, the fire kindled in his bosom, and now he speaketh, I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned, etc. In the words these three specials are observed: First, What he resolves to do, I will arise. Secondly, To whom he will go, viz. to my Father. Thirdly, What he will say, Father, I have sinned.  
It was high time for the Prodigal to think of returning to his Father, when he was perishing by his Disobedience, and had no further refuge but in his Father's Clemency; and sure it is time for the sinner to Repent and return to God, when (if he be sensible of any thing) he cannot but be apprehensive that in the course he is in, the danger of his Eternal Ruin is as certainly impendent as it is more intolerable.  
But now to come to the particulars: And first, we are to consider what he resolves to do: I will (saith he) arise and go, etc. There is a threefold Resurrection of a Christian. The first is Sacramental, and thus we rise again in Baptism: The second is Corporal, and so we shall rise again in the day of the Lord Jesus, in our Bodies from the Grave: The third is Spiritual, which is his Resurrection in this Life in Soul, from the death of sin: Thus did this Prodigal arise, and thus doth every true Penitent arise, while he here liveth on the Earth. The point may be this:  
That Repentance from sin, is as a Resurrection from death; this is plain by the Apostles words, Awake, thou that sleepest, stand up from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.  
Use 1. Is this so, then Repentance is no such easy a matter, as the World takes it to be, the work of Repentance is no less Miraculous than the raising of the dead; it is a work that cannot be wrought by the power of Nature, but such a work as must be wrought by the mighty Power of God.  
Use 2. And that shall be, to stir us all up thus to arise; for if the Soul while it is in the Body, arise not out of the Grave of sin, sure it is, the Body shall never rise out of the Earth, but to shame and confusion; use all good means therefore, that thou mayest have thy part in this, that so the second death may have no power on thee, for otherwise it is impossible to escape the power of it, by no means canst thou escape the pains of Hell Torments, if thou dost not here awake, stand up from the dead, and with Lazarus come forth.  
And go.] It was a good and Holy motion, which he had of arising, this he doth not quench, but cherisheth and nourisheth it; he adds more fuel to this fire begun, though but a spark; to the good motion of arising, he adds the second of going. I will arise and go. First then learn:  
The good motions of God's Blessed Spirit, at any time, in any measure (though never so weak) begun; are not to be choked, but to be cherished. When the Lord shall put any good motion into our Hearts, we are to nourish and cherish the same; to one good motion we must add a second, and to that a third, and to them many more; and so fall to blowing, and give not over until at length they break forth into a comfortable flame of Godly Practice.  
He brings a forcible Reason. Whereby you are sealed unto the day of Redemption: This is the only Evidence we have of freedom from Condemnation; this is God's Mark and Character set on us, and seizing us for his own: This is like the Blood that was stricken upon the door-posts, which shall make the Lord to pass over us, and not to suffer the Destroyer to come near us, when he goeth to smite the Egyptians. By this we are assured, that the day of Judgement shall be to us no day of wrath, but a day of Redemption. Thus we have seen the Point proved. Now it remains to apply it.  
And first, this serveth then to condemn such as nip the bud so soon as ever it peeps forth, and quench every spark that at any time appeareth; yea, wilfully set themselves to repel all good motions, hasting to their cursed Company, to chase away those (which they call (profanely) qualms of Devotion,) sweet inspirements of Gods Holy Spirit. So some have some kind of Remorse wrought at some times upon the hearing of a Sermon, and seem to be much grieved, and are a while perplexed; but they soon quench this grief, being not willing to torment themselves before the time, and therefore run into merry Company, and drink down sorrow, not being willing to be overmuch disquieted with this melancholy.  
And therefore in the next place, let it serve for Admonition to thee and me, and to us all, that we beware how we suffer that blessed heat to slake, which by God's grace gins to be enkindled in our Hearts: Suffer not that coal, that holy motion which the Lord hath cast into thy bosom, to die within thee, but blow it up, lay on more fuel, add daily more and more matter to it, and tremble to lose the least measure of God's gracious gifts: Be frequent in Spiritual exercises, as in Hearing, Reading, Meditation, Christian Conference, Prayer, and the like: Let no means be neglected, that God hath ordained for the working of establishment.  
A second Doctrine, that may hence be gathered, is this; Where spiritual life and new birth is once begun, there will be a growth and an increase in Grace. There will be no standing at a stay, but a proceeding by degrees: After a rising there will be a going.  
First then, let this serve for Examination; Try thyself hereby, see what growth of Grace is in thee, what increase of Faith, Love, Zeal, Patience; and what strengthening of the inward man: Doth Grace get more strength every day than other? Doth it grow to some bigness? Doth it shoot up in tallness, and stature? Surely then it is out of Question, that Grace is true Grace, and thou art made partaker of the New Birth: But doth it remain still Infantlike, and feeble, without any stirring or showing of itself? Then hast thou cause to fear, it is but the counterfeit, and not true Grace indeed; the withering of the blade is a shrewd sign of a stony ground.  
Secondly, this may serve to Reprove such as stand at a stay, and go not forward; but are like the George on Horseback, ever riding, but never go a step further: Where you leave them this Year, there you may find them the next. This is a fearful sign, and a most uncomfortable thing.  
In the third place, let this Admonish every one to grow in Grace, Let us forget that which is behind, and endeavour to that which is before; let us press hard towards the Mark▪ for the price of the high calling of God. Let us not be evermore as smoking Flax, or bruised Reeds, or as new set Plants, but let us abound more and more.  
To my Father▪] Not to my Brother, or Father's Servants, or to my Harlots: But to my Father. Hence learn:  
Relief is to be sought for only at God's hands in time of Misery and Distress. To him are we to betake ourselves, and to none but him.  
Let this serve to Reprove such as betake themselves to other helps in time of Misery, seeking to be relieved, either by Saints or Angels in Heaven; or by Conjurers, Witches, or such like unlawful means here upon the Earth. This was King Ahaziah's sin, who being sick, sent Messengers, and said unto them, Go inquire of Baalzebub the God of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this Disease: contrary to that charge which God doth give his People. Regard not them that have Familiar Spirits; neither seek after Wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.  
Secondly, let this teach us to betake ourselves unto the Lord, when sorrows and griefs assails us. Seek help from him, and that by means, yet only by such Lawful means as he hath warranted in his Word; and beware of trusting in the means that God hath warranted. It is Lawful to seek to the Physician, and use of his help, yet to trust in the help of the Physician more than in the help of God, and to seek first and rather to the Physician than unto God, is sinful.  
And say unto him, Father] He doth here forethink what he should speak when as he comes into his Father's presence (for as yet he was not.) From his Practice learn,  
Not to come into God's presence without preparation, but consider what to say, and what to seek, before you speak.  
Be not rash (saith the Wise man) with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God. We must confer with our own Hearts, and prepare them before we come into the Lord's presence. To this, doth the Prophet Hosea seem to exhort Israel, Take unto you words, and turn to the Lord, and say unto him. And so our Saviour in his direction for Prayer, sets not down the Petitions abruptly, but beginneth with a Solemn Preface, to show that before we Pray, there ought to be a disposition of ourselves, and compossng of the Affections to the Duty. So Psal. 108.10. & 57.7, 8.  
The Reasons of this, Solomon gives in the place before cited: For first, God (saith he) is in Heaven: As if he should say, God is full of Majesty and Wisdom: He is both Lord and Judge; it is not a Man, nor an Earthly Power that you have to deal with, but that God who hath the Angels attending on him, and a thousand times ten thousands of Angel's administering unto him; at whose feet all Kings on Earth cast down their Crowns and Sceptres.  
Secondly, thou art upon the Earth, i. e. a weak, unwise, unworthy Creature, infinitely inferior in degree unto thy Creator: And therefore it becomes not thee to speak unto him but with the greatest Fear, Reverence, and Advisedness.  
And therefore First, this serves to Reprove many, who rashly come into God's presence without any preparation, or due meditation of what they are to say or crave. Small is the number indeed of such as do Pray, but smaller is the number indeed of such as prepare themselves to Pray.  
In the Second place, let this Admonish us to prepare ourselves, before we come to appear before the Lord, to call upon his Name, whether in Public or Private. You know, Goodly Buildings have some Magnificence in the Gate, and great Personages have seemly Ushers to go before them, who by their uncovered Heads, command reverence and way: So should Holy Duties be undertaken, Exod. 19.10. 1 Sam. 16.5. 2 Chron. 19.3.  
And thus much may be spoken of this point: We are now to speak of the words themselves, which he devised to speak.  
Father, I have sinned, etc.  
In these words of his acknowledgement, we may see what it was especially that touched him to the quick; namely this, that he had abused and wronged the love and kindness of so good a Father. This was that which made him so much to insist upon the name of [Father.] I will go to my [Father:] I will say [Father.] The misery that he was in (as his want of Bread and other Necessaries) no doubt was grievous; yet all this troubled him not so much as this, that he had carried himself so undutifully towards so gracious a Parent. Let this then be noted:  
That nothing is so grievous to a true Penitent, as this, that by committing of sin, he hath offended God. This was that which most troubled David, and went nighest to his Soul, that he had sinned against the Lord, and offended his Majesty by his committing of evil. Against thee, against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.  
The Reason of this, the Apostle St. Paul giveth. They have not received the spirit of Bondage again to fear, but they have received the spirit of Adoption: Which Spirit doth make them love the Lord, and fear to offend, and exceedingly grieve when he is offended: As it is with a true Lover towards his Beloved.  
Now for the Uses; and first, we may see here a difference between the sorrow of the Godly and of the Wicked: Both grieve, both mourn. Ahab as well as David. Judas as well as Peter. Yet the sorrow of the one is Godly, and bringeth Life; the sorrow of the other Worldly, and bringeth Death.  
And therefore for thy further establishment, know, if thou dost truly grieve, these things shalt thou find in thee.  
First, thou wilt grieve for sins of all sorts, Original and Actual; of Ignorance, and of Knowledge; of Commission, and of Omission; Secret and Open; for less as well as for bigger; whatsoever is sin thou wilt mourn for, because God's Law is by it broken, and so his Majesty is offended.  
Secondly, If thou grievest because God is offended, then wilt thou grieve also for the sins of others, as well as for thy own, because God is dishonoured by the one as well as by the other.  
Thirdly, if thy sorrow be right, it will be a Proportional Sorrow. A Sorrow answerable to the sin, as we see in Manasses, his sin was great, and his Contrition was great, 2 Chron. 33.12. So in Peter, his sorrow was great for denying his Master, Mat. 26.75.  
Fourthly, If thy Sorrow be Godly, and is for sin as it is an offence against God, thou wilt then be more desirous to be rid of sin, than of any other cross whatsoever; yea, as hearty desirous never to commit it, as thou art desirous that God would never impute it.  
Now in the Second place, this may serve for the Reproof, yea, for the terror of many, who rest in a counterfeit and unsound Repentance. For, doth a true Penitent grieve more for God's cause than for his own? Is he more grieved for the offence against God, than for any manner of respect unto himself? Then surely such are far from true Repentance, who (were it not for fear or shame) could be content to live in sin, and tumble in it all their days.  
And before thee] That is, in thy sight, as afterwards, Verse 21. This did add much unto his sorrow, and did very much aggravate his fault. Two Points are here to be observed:  
The first is this, That God's Eye is on all men's Actions.  
The second is this, The forgetting of God's Allseeing Eye in the committing of evil, doth aggravate the sin, and increase the same.  
To come then to the Reasons:  
First, God is every where present, he can be shut out of no place, as man can, or as the Sun can; because he is infinite in Nature. Do not I fill Heaven and Earth, saith the Lord? Am I a God at hand, and not afar off? And therefore it cannot otherwise be, but he must needs behold our do, and our actions, Psal. 139.7. Acts 17.27.  
Secondly, It is he that made the Eye, and shall he not see? It is he that made the Ear, and shall he not hear? He giveth knowledge, and shall he not know? Can any thing be hid from him from whom they have their being? The work is known unto the worker, the Art unto the Artificer, the Pot unto the Potter: And shall not the Creature be known unto the Creator?  
Thirdly, He it is that chastiseth the Nations (as the Prophet speaks in the same Psalm, Verse 10.) shall not he correct? He shall be the Judge; every one shall be Judged by him, according to his works: Now, albeit he shall not want Witnesses at that day, yet it is fitting that himself should have knowledge of the Actions of all men, seeing he will not reprove after the hearing of his Ears, Isa. 11.3. These Reasons shall suffice instead of many. Now for the Uses.  
Use 1. And first, this may serve for Terror to all such as live in sin; what greater terror to a Thief, than to have the Judge an Eye-witness of his Villainy? So what greater terror to the wicked than this, to have the Lord behold their do.  
Oh think on these things, you lurking Dans, close Enemies of the Church, whose sleep departs from you, till you have caused some to fall: The Lord seethe your Plots and cunning Devices, your close Practices against his Church and People; But he that sitteth in Heaven shall laugh you to scorn, the Lord will have you in derision. Take notice of this also, you Adulterers and Whoremongers, who say in your Hearts, Who seethe us? We are compassed about with darkness, we need not fear: Behold, the Lord himself, who shall be thy Judge, he seethe thy Villainy, and looketh thee in the Face, in the Act doing.  
Use 2. Secondly, this serveth to set forth God's wonderful Patience, and long-suffering: For, is all sin in his Eye? Then wonder at God's forbearance! who seeing so many and outrageous sins daily committed, yet for all that, spares us. Some are Swearing, some Tippling, some Cheating, some Whoring, when his Eye is on them: All our Impurities, Impieties, he doth plainly behold, yet he forbears and doth not strike: Wonder at this, wonder at it, Oh you Sons of Men, and let it teach you to Repent.  
Use 3. A Third Use may serve to stir us up, and encourage us to well-doing, what lazy Servant will not put forth his strength when his Master's Eye is on him? So, who is it (were he well persuaded that the Lord is a spectator and beholder of his do) would not put forth his strength to the Lords work? Were this well considered, how courageous should we be, both in the Duties of our general and special Callings?  
The second Doctrine hence to be observed, is this:  That the forgetting of God's Allseeing Eye in the committing of evil, doth aggravate the sin, and increase the same. 
The Reasons of this Point are these. First, we sin against the means that ought to keep us from sin, and this doth aggravate the sin exceedingly, and make sin out of measure sinful.  
Secondly, we rob God of his Honour, and give not that unto him which is his right, we would pluck out his Eyes that he should not see, or at least, judge him to be blind: To think God seethe us not, is a kind of Atheism, for after a sort, we deny him to be God.  
And am no more worthy to be called thy Son.] See how he humbleth and abaseth himself, even to the uttermost. I am not worthy to be thy Son, nay, not worthy of the name of a Son, make me but as an hired Servant, and I shall think myself most happy. Oh rare Humility! yet greatly necessary, because God is good to such. But, as for the Proud, he beholds them afar off. But to come to the Lesson, and this it is; Where there is true Repentance, there is a sight and sense of a man's own unworthiness.  
And it stands with good Reason; for the Affections must needs follow the temperature of the Mind; so that as the conceit of Holiness and Happiness doth puff up a Man in Pride and Presumption, so the true sight and sense of his sinful and wretched estate, must needs cast him down with shame and sorrow.  
Let us then examine our Repentance by our Humility. Hast thou truly Repent? Then thou art truly Humbled, and cast down with a sight and sense of thy sins and transgressions.  
But in the second place I must fall from Exhorting to Lamenting; for certainly there is but small store of true Repentance upon the Earth, there is so little Humility among Men and Women.  
Thirdly, this may serve for Terror to all such, who as yet have not this mean and base esteem of themselves. Let all such know they are void of Grace: I have God's Word for my Warrant. Behold (saith the Prophet) his Soul which is lifted up, is not upright within him. All those that are void of Humility are far from uprightness: The higher the Sun is, the shorter is the shadow; the more grace, the less conceit: The emptiest Vessel ever sounds loudest, and the fuller the less. Wood that in burning yields the greatest smoke, doth commonly give the smallest heat. Those boughs which are most laden with Fruit, those ears which are fullest of Corn, do ever bend downward; when the barren bough, and empty ear stands upright: So those that are emptiest of Grace, evermore make the greatest ostentation, and crack most of their own goodness.  
Make me as one of thy hired Servants.] As if he should have said, I dare not, I do not make suit to be as before I was, a Son; I am unworthy of such favour, yet vouchsafe me that favour that I may belong unto thee; and although I am not worthy to be called a Son, yet vouchsafe me to be a hanger-on; let me have a Room and Service in thy House, though it be amongst the company of thy hired Servants.  
Here we see the case is altered; while he was in the House no place was good enough for him; but now that he hath been a while in a far Country, and wanted of that Bread which his Father's Servants had, he doth desire to be in the basest Office.  
This teacheth us this Lesson; God's blessings are better known, and more esteemed by the wanting of them, than by their enjoying. The worth and value of God's good Blessings are not known till we be without them. Thus Vision was precious in the days of Ely, when that was wanting. And the Prophet Esay telleth the People of Israel, that the blessings of the Lord should be excellent and pleasant to them, after they had been pinched with the want thereof in their Captivity; yea, the bud shall then be beautiful, etc.  
The Use of this (in a word) is, to teach us to esteem more of the good Blessings we receive from God, and beware of undervaluing them, lest we give the Lord occasion to deprive us of them. These common blessings of the shining of the Sun, breathing in the Air, Meat, Drink, preservation in our going out, in our coming in, use of the Senses, strength of Body, and the like, let them be more esteemed of thee; alas, consider how miserable thou art without these! The Lord is fain (so great is his Mercy, and our Corruption) to deprive his Children of many of these good 〈…〉 inferior in degree unto thy Creator: And therefore it becomes not thee to speak unto him but with the greatest Fear, Reverence, and Advisedness.  
And therefore First, this serves to Reprove many, who rainy come into God's presence without any preparation, or due meditation of what they are to say or crave. Small is the number indeed of such as do Pray, but smaller is the number indeed of such as prepare themselves to Pray.  
In the Second place, let this Admonish us to prepare ourselves, before we come to appear before the Lord, to call upon his Name, whether in Public or Private. You know, Goodly Buildings have some Magnificence in the Gate, and great Personages Text saith, He arose and came unto his Father. Where we have first the parts of his Repentance; which are two, Aversion from his sin, [He arose.] Secondly, Conversion to his God, And came unto his Father.  
Secondly, We have to consider the circumstance of time when he did it, which is employed in this word [And, or So,] that is immediately, he deferred no time, but 〈…〉 and kindness of so good a Father. This was that which made him so much to insist upon the name of [Father.] I will go to my [Father:] I will say [Father.] The 〈…〉 and other Necessaries) no doubt was grievous; yet all this troubled him not so much as this, that he had carried himself so undutifully towards so gracious a Parent. Let this then be noted:  
That nothing is so grievous to a true Penitent, as this, that by committing of sin, he hath offended God. This was that which most troubled David, and went nighest to his Soul, that he had sinned against the Lord, and offended his Majesty by his committing of evil. Against thee, against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.  
The Reason of this, the Apostle St. Paul giveth. They have not received the spirit of Bondage again to fear, but they have received the spirit of Adoption: Which Spirit doth make them love the Lord, and fear to offend, and exceedingly grieve when he is offended: As it is with a true Lover towards his Beloved.  
Now for the Uses; and first, we may see here a difference between the sorrow of the Godly and of the Wicked: Both grieve, both mourn. Ahab as well as David. Judas as well as Peter. Yet the sorrow of the one is Godly, and bringeth Life; the sorrow of the other Worldly, and bringeth Death.  
And therefore for thy further establishment, know, if thou dost truly grieve, these things shalt thou find in thee.  
First, thou wilt grieve for sins of all sorts, Original and Actual; of Ignorance, and of Knowledge; of Commission, and of Omission; Secret and Open; for less as well as for bigger; whatsoever is sin thou wilt mourn for, because God's Law is by it broken, and so his Majesty is offended.  
Secondly, If thou grievest because God is offended, then wilt thou grieve also for the sins of others, as well as for thy own, because God is dishonoured by the one as well as by the other.  
Thirdly, if thy sorrow be right, it will be a Proportional Sorrow. A Sorrow answerable to the sin, as we see in Manasses, his sin was great, and his Contrition was great, 2 Chron. 33.12. So in Peter, his sorrow was great for denying his Master, Mat. 26.75.  
Fourthly, If thy Sorrow be Godly, and is for sin as it is an offence against God, thou wilt then be more desirous to be rid of sin, than of any other cross whatsoever; yea, as hearty desirous never to commit it, as thou art desirous that God would never impute it.  
Now in the Second place, this may serve for the Reproof, yea, for the terror of many, who rest in a counterfeit and unsound Repentance. For, doth a true Penitent grieve more for God's cause than for his own? Is he more grieved for the offence against God, than for any manner of respect unto himself? Then surely such are far from true Repentance, who (were it not for fear or shame) could be content to live in sin, and tumble in it all their days.  
And before ●●ee] That is, in thy sight, as afterwards, Verse 21. This did add much unto his sorrow, and did very much aggravate his fault. Two Points are here to be observed:  
The first is this, That God's Eye is on all men's Actions.  
The second is this, The forgetting of God's Allseeing Eye in the committing of evil, doth aggravate the sin, and increase the same.  
To come then to the Reasons:  
First, God is every where present, he can be shut out of no place, as man can, or as the Sun can; because he is infinite in Nature. Do not I fill Heaven and Earth, saith the Lord? Am I a God at hand, and not afar off? And therefore it cannot otherwise be, but he must needs behold our do, and our actions, Psal. 139.7. Acts 17.27.  
Secondly, It is he that made the Eye, and shall he not see? It is he that made the Ear, and shall he not hear? He giveth knowledge, and shall he not know? Can any thing be hid from him from whom they have their being? The work is known unto the worker, the Art unto the Artificer, the Pot unto the Potter: And shall not the Creature be known unto the Creator?  
Thirdly, He it is that chastiseth the Nations (as the Prophet speaks in the same Psalm, Verse 10.) shall not he correct? He shall be the Judge; every one shall be Judged by him, according to his works: Now, albeit he shall not want Witnesses at that day, yet it is fitting that himself should have knowledge of the Actions of all men, seeing he will not reprove after the hearing of his Ears, Isa. 11.3. These Reasons shall suffice instead of many. Now for the Uses.  
Use 1. And first, this may serve for Terror to all such as live in sin; what greater terror to a Thief, than to have the Judge an Eye-witness of his Villainy? So what greater terror to the wicked than this, to have the Lord behold their do.  
Oh think on these things, you lurking Dans, close Enemies of the Church, whose sleep departs from you, till you have caused some to fall: The Lord seethe your Plots and cunning Devices, your close Practices against his Church and People; But he that sitteth in Heaven shall laugh you to scorn, the Lord will have you in derision. Take notice of this also, you Adulterers and Whoremongers, who say in your Hearts, Who seethe us? We are compassed about with darkness, we need not fear: Behold, the Lord himself, who shall be thy Judge, he seethe thy Villainy, and looketh thee in the Face, in the Act doing.  
Use 2. Secondly, this serveth to set forth God's wonderful Patience, and long-suffering: For, is all sin in his Eye? Then wonder at God's forbearance! who seeing so many and outrageous sins daily committed, yet for all that, spares us. Some are Swearing, some Tippling, some Cheating, some Whoring, when his Eye is on them: All our Impurities, Impieties, he doth plainly behold, yet he forbears and doth not strike: Wonder at this, wonder at it, Oh you Sons of Men, and let it teach you to Repent.  
Use 3. A Third Use may serve to stir us up, and encourage us to well-doing, what lazy Servant will not put forth his strength when his Master's Eye is on him? So, who is it (were he well persuaded that the Lord is a spectator and beholder of his do) would not put forth his strength to the Lords work? Were this well considered, how courageous should we be, both in the Duties of our general and special Callings?  
The second Doctrine hence to be observed, is this:  
That the forgetting of God's Allseeing Eye in the committing of evil, doth aggravate the sin, and increase the same.  
The Reasons of this Point are these. First, we sin against the means that ought to keep us from sin, and this doth aggravate the sin exceedingly, and make sin out of measure sinful.  
Secondly, we rob God of his Honour, and give not that unto him which is his right, we would pluck out his Eyes that he should not see, or at least, judge him to be blind: To think God seethe us not, is a kind of Atheism, for after a sort, we deny him to be God.  
And am no more worthy to be called thy Son.] See how he humbleth and abaseth himself, even to the uttermost. I am not worthy to be thy Son, nay, not worthy of the name of a Son, make me but as an hired Servant, and I shall think myself most happy. Oh rare Humility! yet greatly necessary, because God is good to such. But, as for the Proud, he beholds them afar off. But to come to the Lesson, and this it is; Where there is true Repentance, there is a sight and sense of a man's own unworthiness.  
And it stands with good Reason; for the Affections must needs follow the temperature of the Mind; so that as the conceit of Holiness and Happiness doth puff up a Man in Pride and Presumption, so the true sight and sense of his sinful and wretched estate, must needs cast him down with shame and sorrow.  
Let us then examine our Repentance by our Humility. Hast thou truly Repent? Then thou art truly Humbled, and cast down with a sight and sense of thy sins and transgressions.  
But in the second place I must fall from Exhorting to Lamenting; for certainly there is but small store of true Repentance upon the Earth, there is so little Humility among Men and Women.  
Thirdly, this may serve for Terror to all such, who as yet have not this mean and base esteem of themselves. Let all such know they are void of Grace: I have God's Word for my Warrant. Behold (saith the Prophet) his Soul which is lifted up, is not upright within him. All those that are void of Humility are far from uprightness: The higher the Sun is, the shorter is the shadow; the more grace, the less conceit: The emptiest Vessel ever sounds loudest, and the fuller the less. Wood that in burning yields the greatest smoke, doth commonly give the smallest heat. Those boughs which are most laden with Fruit, those ears which are fullest of Corn, do ever bend downward; when the barren bough, and empty ear stands upright: So those that are emptiest of Grace, evermore make the greatest ostentation, and crack most of their own goodness.  
Make me as one of thy hired Servants.] As if he should have said, I dare not, I do not make suit to be as before I was, a Son; I am unworthy of such favour, yet vouchsafe me that favour that I may belong unto thee; and although I am not worthy to be called a Son, yet vouchsafe me to be a hanger-on; let me have a Room and Service in thy House, though it be amongst the company of thy hired Servants.  
Here we see the case is altered; while he was in the House no place was good enough for him; but now that he hath been a while in a far Country, and wanted of that Bread which his Father's Servants had, he doth desire to be in the basest Office.  
This teacheth us this Lesson; God's blessings are better known, and more esteemed by the wanting of them, than by their enjoying. The worth and value of God's good Blessings are not known till we be without them. Thus Vision was precious in the days of Ely, when that was wanting. And the Prophet Esay telleth the People of Israel, that the blessings of the Lord should be excellent and pleasant to them, after they had been pinched with the want thereof in their Captivity; yea, the bud shall then be beautiful, etc.  
The Use of this (in a word) is, to teach us to esteem more of the good Blessings we receive from God, and beware of undervaluing them, lest we give the Lord occasion to deprive us of them. These common blessings of the shining of the Sun, breathing in the Air, Meat, Drink, preservation in our going out, in our coming in, use of the Senses, strength of Body, and the like, let them be more esteemed of thee; alas, consider how miserable thou art without these! The Lord is fain (so great is his Mercy, and our Corruption) to deprive his Children of many of these good Blessings, till they know the price and worth of them; and in their restraint make them enjoy the smallest blessing more thankfully and comfortably. Hunger is good sauce, and giveth good relish and taste to course Meats and homely Fare, when for want hereof dainty Dishes are but contemned. Should the Lord deprive thee of thy Health, Strength, Sense, Sleep, then wouldst thou see what a benefit thou hast enjoyed. Bewail therefore thy own corruption in this kind, and pray for this Wisdom, that thou mayst rather know the worth of God's blessings by the enjoying, than by the wanting of them.  
And he arose and came to his Father, etc.] This Prodigal now puts in Practice what formerly he had resolved to do. As resolved to arise: So, he arofe. In this his practice we must consider; First, what he did: Secondly, what he said. For the first, the Text saith, He arose and came unto his Father. Where we have first the parts of his Repentance; which are two, Aversion from his sin, [He arose.] Secondly, Conversion to his God, And came unto his Father.  
Secondly, We have to consider the circumstance of time when he did it, which is employed in this word [And, or So,] that is immediately, he deferred no time, but presently put in execution what was before but in purpose and resolution.  
He arose and came to his Father.] His arising is nothing else but his leaving of sin (as formerly we have heard) and his coming to his Father, is his turning to the Lord. So then here we have the parts of true Repentance laid down, which are in number two; first, Aversion from sin: Secondly, Conversion to God.  
He arose] The point we may observe hence, is this:  
Where there is true Repentance, there is a rising from sin; there is a leaving, and a forsaking of all former evil ways and courses. This point might be confirmed by many Examples: As of Paul, Peter, Zacheus, with others, who left their former courses, and committed them no more.  

The Uses follow.  
First, hereby try thy Repentance, whether it be good or no: Hath it wrought a change and alteration in thy Affections, Words, and Actions? Are all old things done away, and new come in the place thereof? Is there a forsaking of sin, a reformation of Life? If it be thus, than it is well, for thus it is, and must be with every true Penitent.  
Secondly, this may serve for terror to such as find no change in themselves, but are the same still that ever they were; of whom it cannot be said, as of the Corinthians, such were you, but now you are changed; But such are you, and so still continue unchanged; Adulterers you were, Covetous you were, Drunkards you were, etc. and so are still; as Proud as ever, as Profane as ever, as Worldly as ever, as irreligious as ever, if not worse than ever.  
In the Third place, this may serve for the comfort of all such as do find this change in them; who can say as that blind man, who had his sight restored, One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see: Whereas I was filthy and unclean, I am now washed and cleansed: Oh, happy is the condition of such a one! thrice blessed is thy Estate indeed, only let me admonish thee, that thou manifest this change unto the World, that others may also say, How is this man changed from what he was? Ambrose makes Report of a Young Man, who having a long time lived in Lust and Uncleanness, at length Traveled, and in his Travel was Converted: Afterwards returning home, meets with one of his old Acquaintance, with whom he had been often naught, but passed away, and would not Salute her; at which the Strumpet wondering, speaks to him after this manner; What, have you forgotten me? It is I: His Reply unto her again was this; yea, I know it, but I am not I. Thus it becomes thee to manifest this change thou findest to be in thee; that as others have been Witnesses of thy sin, so they may be also Witnesses of thy Repentance.  
And came to his Father] From hence we learn:  
In true Repentance there is not only a rising from sin, but also a turning to the Lord, and a setting of our hearts towards him and his Kingdom.  
The Reason is this: As by Faith we are engrafted into Christ Jesus, and so made partakers of his Death, and the power of it, which causeth us to die unto sin: So also by the same Faith we are made partakers of his Resurrection, which causeth us to walk in newness of Life, and live unto the Lord. Secondly, the same spirit that doth cause us to leave sin, doth bring us to the Lord, enabling us to cry, Abba Father, as the Apostle speaketh.  
Use. To Reprove many, who will indeed confess, there must be a turning, and will also practise a change; but it shall be from bad to worse; from one sin to another: As for Example; how many do turn from Prodigality to Covetousness? From Swearing to Cozening? From Atheism to Popery? From Profaneness to Hypocrisy?  
And if these are to be Reproved, then much more are such to be Condemned, who turn from God to Sin; from a Protestant to a Papist, from a Professor to an Atheist. How far are these from true Repentance? What hope can they have, who come short of those that come short of Heaven? Take good notice of this, you that have been forward, and zealous, but now are become Apostates and Backsliders, and hearken to the Council given to the Church of Ephesus, Remember whence thou art fallen, and Repent, and do thy first works, or else I will come against thee quickly, except thou Repent.  
In the last place, let this Admonish us, to look that our turning be a true turning: And as by sin we have departed with this Prodigal from our Father's House, so let us also arise with him, and set forwards towards Heaven.  
So, or And] After this Prodigal had resolved to go and humble himself unto his Father, he did not debate any longer about the matter, but forthwith risen up and went his way.  
Repentance is not to be deferred, but presently to be set upon, so soon as God shall put the motion into our Hearts. There may not be deferring or procrastinating, but a speedy practice and execution.  
First, God is to be served before all: God ever required in his Service the First Fruits, and the Firstborn: The firstlings are his Darlings.  
Secondly, we ought not to defer, in respect of the shortness and uncertainty of Life. Our Lives they are compared to a Pilgrimage, to the flower of Grass, to Wind, to Smoak, to a Vapour, to a Dream, and the like: All which showeth the shortness of our time; and therefore our whole Life is little enough to spend in God's Service.  
But farther, as it is short, so also it is uncertain. We have no assurance to live one hour; we are here but Tenants at will, and know not how soon our great Landlord will turn us out of this earthly Tabernacle: We may be cropped off like an ear of Corn: for what is this life but, as a nest of straw and clay, soon shaken a pieces. Many have seen a fair bright morning, who never beheld the evening (as the Sodomites.) And upon many the Sun hath set in the evening, to whom it never appeared rising in the morning: So was it with the rich Glutton in the Gospel. Seeing this is so, we have great cause speedily to repent.  
Fourthly, because for the present, thy estate is fearful, the wrath of God hangs over thy head by a twined thread, if thou hadst Eyes to see it: thou eatest in danger of thy life, thou drinkest in danger, walkest in danger, sleepest in danger, lying between death and the Devil, as Peter did between the two Soldiers, bound with two Chains. Now who would be in such a danger one hour, for the gaining of a World? But we hasten to the Uses.  
And first: This reproveth that wonderful madness and exceeding great folly of such as procrastinate and defer their Conversion to the Lord; and put off their Repentnace, though the Lord call them thereunto, and offer them never so fit an opportunity.  
But, I have time enough to repent in, say some, what tell you me of Repentance, as yet? Is not God merciful? Did he not show mercy to the Thief at the last gasp? I doubt not but to be saved, as well as the precisest of you all. But thou who thus goest on headlong to Damnation, come hither and let me show thee thy monstrous folly: that if it be possible, thou mayst be recovered out of the snare of the Devil, who art thus taken by him at his will. First, thou blessest thyself with hope of long life, thou wilt repent when thou art old: but how knowest thou, that thou shalt live till thou comest to be old? Dost not thou see, how upon the Stage of this World, some have longer parts, and some have shorter? And as we enter into the Lord's Vineyard, do we not so go out? that is in such a manner, and at such an hour, some in the morning, some at noon, some at night; some die in the dawning of their lives; passing from one grave to another, being no sooner come out of the womb of one Mother, but another Mother receives them into hers: Some die in Youth, as in the third hour, others die at thirty, forty, or fifty, as in the sixth and ninth hour, and othersome very old, as in the last hour of the day. Now tell me how many die before fifty, for one that live till they be passed that age? What hope hast thou to live till thou be'st so old? Dost not thou daily see and hear of many that go well out at night, and are found dead in the morning; and of many other, that are suddenly slain, or come to some untimely death: why may it not be thus with thee? how vain then, and false is thy hope of long life? seeing none can tell what a day, what an hour may bring forth.  
And Secondly, But say thou dost live till thou be'st old, and art freed from much of this trouble; having understanding, memory, sight, and sense, etc. yet who can tell whether God will hear thee at the last gasp? For what can be more righteous, than that the Lord should contemn thee at the hour of death, who hast contemned him in thy whole life?  
Thirdly, let this admonish every one of us to defer no time, but speedily to repent. Abraham risen up betimes to sacrifice his Son; so do thou make haste to sacrifice thy sin. Zacheus came down hastily when he was called, why then do we defer coming to our Saviour? Harken not to that Crow-crying cras, cras, to morrow, to morrow, the voice is dismal.  
But now we will proceed to the next words in the Parable.  
But when he was yet afar off, his Father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him.  
The readiness of the Father to receive his Son, is here noted; First, by his looking on him afar off, For when he was yet a great way off, his Father saw him. Secondly, by running to him, while he was afar off, He had compassion, and ran. Thirdly, by his kind embracing of him, He fell on his neck, and kissed him.  
To begin with the first.  
But when he was yet a great way, he saw him.] Albeit this be put here in the last place, yet it is referred by most of our Expositors to the first time of his Conversion; for it was this look that brought home this Prodigal. He saw him, and looked on him with the eyes of pity, and by looking upon him, infused into him the secret efficacy of his spirit, and pierced his heart with the beams of his grace, which so prevailed with him that it brought him to repentance, as it did with Peter, which made him to go out and weep bitterly for his sins, after he had thrice denied his Master. Thus they make it, as a cause of his Conversion. And taking it thus, this point will follow.  
The Conversion of a sinner is from God's free Grace; God's Grace is the cause of it.  
Many pregnant Examples might be brought, both of the unregenerate before their Conversion: as also of the Regenerate in their falls, after their Conversion, for the further confirming this point in hand. What disposition was there in the Apostle Paul, to further his Conversion? was he not breathing out threaten and slaughters against the Disciples of Christ Jesus? and had he not procured a Commission from the High-Priests, to bind all that were of that way? Did not God behold him a far off? Did he not look upon him from the habitation of his dwelling? And did he not thus behold Matthew the Customer, Zacheus the Usurer, Marry the sinner, and us Gentiles, When we were (as the Apostle saith) without hope and God in the World, being strangers from the Covenant of promise, and aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel? I could bring variety of Examples, that would serve to strengthen the point, but I will remember you but of one more, and so hasten to the Uses, and that is of Peter; was not God fain to look on him afar off before he repent? He had denied his Master once and wept not, yea twice, yet shed not a tear (though the Cock had crowed.) And the third time he denies him, yet weeps not until Christ beholds him, and then (as the Text saith) he wept bitterly. Assuredly, if Christ had not cast an eye on him, and beheld him with a gracious aspect, had a thousand several persons questioned with him about his Master, he would have denied him a thousand times. Thus a sinner is like an Echo, he cannot speak first to God but must answer a voice from God.   

The Reasons.  
And needs must this be so, because we are dead in trespasses and sins, as the Apostle saith, and as the Father of this Prodigal avoucheth of him; dead, not in a swoon, but dead, stone-dead (as we say) and therefore have no more power to stir hand or foot for the furthering of our own Conversion, than Lazarus had power to come out of the grave, before Christ called him.  
A second Reason why God's Grace is all in all in the work of our Conversion, may be this; That all matter of boasting might be taken away, for we are very ready to ascribe unto ourselves, that which of Right belongs unto the Lord. Thus have we seen the Reasons, now let us hear the Uses.  
And in the first place, this may serve for Confutation, first, of the Pellagians, who affirm, that our good Actions and Cogitations proceed only from from freewill, and not from God's special Grace.  
The second Use is for our Humiliation. There is no goodness nor aptness in thee to that which is good: why then shouldest thou be lift up with any conceit of thyself? Oh, beware of this boasting! for whereof hast thou to boast? Surely of nothing, but sin and misery.  
Thirdly, Let it be for Exhortation to all such as have any tokens and signs of their Conversion to ascribe all the Praise and glory thereof unto the Lord. Say with David, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name be the glory. For it is of his mercy not of thy deserving. Is there any difference betwixt thee and a Reprobate? God found it not in thee, but did put it into thee; thou art of the same nature with them; thou hadst no more ability to work out thy own Salvation, than they had. Thou seest many commit lewd pranks, some Murder, others Whoredom, etc. Thou leavest, yea hatest these things: What is the cause? surely God's Grace, and only God's Grace. Give Glory therefore unto God, praise his name, yea, let all that is within thee praise him.  
And ran] Behold the readiness of this Father to receive this his penitent child, the one is not so willing to return, as the other is joyful to receive. The Father seeing of him coming, doth not stay until he cometh, but ariseth to meet him; yea, and when he was a great way off, so far as he could see him, he goeth to meet him, and stayeth not for his coming nigher. Hence learn:  
God is very ready to show mercy to every tr●e Penitent. So saith the Prophet Esay; He is very ready to forgive. Those Titles given him for his name testify as much. The Lord, the Lord, Strong, Merciful, and Gracious, etc.  
The Reasons are these. First, because man is the Workmanship of Gods own hands, and therefore he is the more ready and willing to save him.  
A third Reason may be this; because none might despair of his mercy: he is ready to show mercy, that by the example of such as have found mercy, others also might resort and repair unto him for mercy in the time of need.  
Is this so, that God is ready to forgive every true Penitent, then let none lay the fault upon God, if they perish in their sins, for God is ready and desirous to forgive, and doth often call upon us, to turn from hour; we are here but Tenants at will, and know not how soon our great Landlord will turn us out of this earthly Tabernacle: We may be cropped off like an ear of Corn: for what is this life but, as a nest of straw and clay, soon shaken a pieces. Many have seen a fair bright morning, who never behold the evening (as the Sodomites.) And upon many the Sun hath set in the evening, to whom it never appeared rising in the morning: So was it with the rich Glutton in the Gospel. Seeing this is so, we have great cause speedily to repent.  
Fourthly, because for the present, thy estate is fearful, the wrath of God hangs over thy head by a twined thread, if thou hadst Eyes to see it: thou eatest in danger of thy life, thou drinkest in danger, walkest in danger, sleepest in danger, lying between death and the Devil, as Peter did between the two Soldiers, bound with two Chains. Now who would be in such a danger one hour, for the gaining of a World? But we hasten to the Uses.  
And first: This reproveth that wonderful madness and exceeding great folly of such as procrastinate and defer their Conversion to the Lord; and put off their Repentnace, though the Lord call them thereunto, and offer them never so fit an opportunity.  
But, I have time enough to repent in, say some, what tell you me of Repentance, as yet? Is not God merciful? Did he not show mercy to the Thief at the last gasp? I doubt not but to be saved, as well as the precisest of you all. But thou who thus goest on headlong to Damnation, come hither and let me show thee thy monstrous folly: that if it be possible, thou mayst be recovered out of the snare of the Devil, who art thus taken by him at his will. First, thou blessest thyself with hope of long life, thou wilt repent when thou art old: but how knowest thou, that thou shalt live till thou comest to be old? Dost not thou see, how upon the Stage of this World, some have longer parts, and some have shorter? And as we enter into the Lord's Vineyard, do we not so go out? that is in such a manner, and at such an hour, some in the morning, some at noon, some at night; some die in the dawning of their lives; passing from one grave to another, being no sooner come out of the womb of one Mother, but another Mother receives them into hers: Some die in Youth, as in the third hour, others die at thirty, forty, or fifty, as in the sixth and ninth hour, and othersome very old, as in the last hour of the day. Now tell me how many die before fifty, for one that live till they be passed that age? What hope hast thou to live till thou be'st so old? Dost not thou daily see and hear of many that go well out at night, and are found dead in the morning; and of many other, that are suddenly slain, or come to some untimely death: why may it not be thus with thee? how vain then, and false is thy hope of long life? seeing none can tell what a day, what an hour may bring forth.  
And Secondly, But say thou dost live till thou be'st old, and art freed from much of this trouble; having understanding, memory, sight, and sense, etc. yet who can tell whether God will hear thee at the last gasp? For what can be more righteous, than that the Lord should contemn thee at the hour of death, who hast contemned him in thy whole life?  
Thirdly, let this admonish every one of us to defer no time, but speedily to repent. Abraham risen up betimes to sacrifice his Son; so do thou make haste to sacrifice thy sin. Zacheus came down hastily when he was called, why then do we defer coming to our Saviour? Harken not to that Crow-crying cras, cras, to morrow, to morrow, the voice is dismal.  
But now we will proceed to the next words in the Parable.  
But when he was yet afar off, his Father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him.  
The readiness of the Father to receive his Son, is here noted; First, by his looking on him afar off, For when he was yet a great way off, his Father saw him. Secondly, by running to him, while he was afar off, He had compassion, and ran. Thirdly, by his kind embracing of him, He fell on his neck, and kissed him.  
To begin with the first.  
But when he was yet a great way, he saw him.] Albeit this be put here in the last place, yet it is referred by most of our Expositors to the first time of his Conversion; for it was this look that brought home this Prodigal. He saw him, and looked on him with the eyes of pity, and by looking upon him, infused into him the secret efficacy of his spirit, and pierced his heart with the beams of his grace, which so prevailed with him that it brought him to repentance, as it did with Peter, which made him to go out and weep bitterly for his sins, after he had thrice denied his Master. Thus they make it, as a cause of his Conversion. And taking it thus, this point will follow.  
The Conversion of a sinner is from God's free Grace; God's Grace is the cause of it.  
Many pregnant Examples might be brought, both of the unregenerate before their Conversion: as also of the Regenerate in their falls, after their Conversion, for the further confirming this point in hand. What disposition was there in the Apostle Paul, to further his Conversion? was he not breathing out threaten and slaughters against the Disciples of Christ Jesus? and had he not procured a Commission from the High-Priests, to bind all that were of that way? Did not God behold him a far off? Did he not look upon him from the habitation of his dwelling? And did he not thus behold Matthew the Customer, Zacheus the Usurer, Marry the sinner, and us Gentiles, When we were (as the Apostle saith) without hope and God in the World, being strangers from the Covenant of promise, and aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel? I could bring variety of Examples, that would serve to strengthen the point, but I will remember you but of one more, and so hasten to the Uses, and that is of Peter; was not God fain to look on him afar off before he repent? He had denied his Master once and wept not, yea twice, yet shed not a tear (though the Cock had crowed.) And the third time he denies him, yet weeps not until Christ beholds him, and then (as the Text saith) he wept bitterly. Assuredly, if Christ had not cast an eye on him, and beheld him with a gracious aspect, had a thousand several persons questioned with him about his Master, he would have denied him a thousand times. Thus a sinner is like an Echo, he cannot speak first to God but must answer a voice from God.   

The Reasons.  
And needs must this be so, because we are dead in trespasses and sins, as the Apostle saith, and as the Father of this Prodigal avoucheth of him; dead, not in a swoon, but dead, stone-dead (as we say) and therefore have no more power to stir hand or foot for the furthering of our own Conversion, than Lazarus had power to come out of the grave, before Christ called him.  
A second Reason why God's Grace is all in all in the work of our Conversion, may be this; That all matter of boasting might be taken away, for we are very ready to ascribe unto ourselves, that which of Right belongs unto the Lord. Thus have we seen the Reasons, now let us hear the Uses.  
And in the first place, this may serve for Confutation, first, of the Pellagians, who affirm, that our good Actions and Cogitations proceed only from from freewill, and not from God's special Grace.  
The second Use is for our Humiliation. There is no goodness nor aptness in thee to that which is good: why then shouldest thou be lift up with any conceit of thyself? Oh, beware of this boasting! for whereof hast thou to boast? Surely of nothing, but sin and misery.  
Thirdly, Let it be for Exhortation to all such as have any tokens and signs of their Conversion to ascribe all the Praise and glory thereof unto the Lord. Say with David, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name be the glory. For it is of his mercy not of thy deserving. Is there any difference betwixt thee and a Reprobate? God found it not in thee, but did put it into thee; thou art of the same nature with them; thou hadst no more ability to work out thy own Salvation, than they had. Thou seest many commit lewd pranks, some Murder, others Whoredom, etc. Thou leavest, yea hatest these things: What is the cause? surely God's Grace, and only God's Grace. Give Glory therefore unto God, praise his name, yea, let all that is within thee praise him.  
And ran] Behold the readiness of this Father to receive this his penitent child, the one is not so willing to return, as the other is joyful to receive. The Father seeing of him coming, doth not stay until he cometh, but ariseth to meet him; yea, and when he was a great way off, so far as he could see him, he goeth to meet him, and stayeth not for his coming nigher. Hence learn:  
God is very ready to show mercy to everytrie Penitent. So saith the Prophet Esay; He is very ready to forgive. Those Titles given him for his name testify as much. The Lord, the Lord, Strong, Merciful, and Gracious, etc.  
The Reasons are these. First, because man is the Workmanship of Gods own hands, and therefore he is the more ready and willing to save him.  
A third Reason may be this; because none might despair of his mercy: he is ready to show mercy, that by the example of such as have found mercy, others also might resort and repair unto him for mercy in the time of need.  
Is this so, that God is ready to forgive every true Penitent, then let none lay the fault upon God, if they perish in their sins, for God is ready and desirous to forgive, and doth often call upon us, to turn from our evil ways, that so we might not perish.  
Secondly, seeing this is so, that God is ready to show mercy to every one that seeks it, let this be as a spur and goad in our sides, to make us turn unto him, and seek for Mercy at his hands: He will not be wanting to thee, if thou be'st not wanting to thyself.  
The last Use may serve for Imitation. Let us be like to our Heavenly Father; and be as ready to forgive others who have offended us, as God is to forgive us who have and do daily offend him. It may be foam have offered thee wrong, yea, great wrong; yet must thou forgive, and that readily: Why is there then so much suing and entreating, and begging for Reconciliation before Pardon be obtained? Remember, God is more gracious unto thee, and oughtest not thou to be so unto thy Brother?  
Further, in that we here find the Son coming to confess, and the Father running to forgive: Hence learn we; God is more ready to show Mercy than Penitent Sinners are to sue for Mercy; the one comes softly, the other swiftly; the Father was the forwarder of the two.  
Use. Take notice then of God's wonderful Love, who albeit he be the Party that is offended, yet is more ready to forgive, than we to seek or to beg Pardon.  
Secondly, let this serve to increase our boldness in coming to the Lord; thou canst not be so forward to come, as God is to meet: So ready to crave Pardon, as he is to forgive.  
He fell on his neck and kissed him.] Here is a joyful meeting betwixt so good a Father and so bad a Son: Mercy and Truth are met, and each of them kiss the other: Here is Truth in the Prodigal, for he dissembled not; and Mercy in the Father, He fell on his neck, etc.  
By these Circumstances the heat and fire of his Affections is declared, and his entire Love unto his Son expressed, for a kiss hath ever been as a pledge and pawn of kindness, which is possessed by it. By this Ceremony or Rite, they did express their Love in the time of the Primitive Church one to another, which Ceremony continued till the days of Justin Martyr in customary use before their approaching to the Lords Table, thereby to testify their hearty Reconcilement each to other; this was called a Holy Kiss. It is a Ceremony also of Civility, and hath been, and is still in use. Thus Joseph Blessed his Brethren, and fell upon their necks and kissed them, etc. When Judas the Traitor studied with himself what course might be the best to bring Christ to his death, he could devise not a more subtle shift than under a shift (a pretence of kindness) to cover his Villainy: When the Church in the Canticles sueth to her Spouse, to show his Love unto her, she intreateth him to kiss her with the kisses of his mouth, viz. that he would manifest his Love and Affection unto her by manifest and good tokens. Thus the Father kisseth his Penitent Child, thereby to seal and confirm his love and good will towards him, that he might make no doubt thereof. So then, in that the Father doth thus manifest and declare his love and good will to his Son, after his coming into his Presence; hence let us learn this Lesson.  
God will manifest and make known his love unto his Children by evident signs and tokens upon their Conversion and turning to him.  
And were it not so, how could we be affected with it? What is it for a blind man to know that the Sun is a most glorious bright Greature, when he himself doth not see it? So, what is it for a Man to know there is much love hid in God, except he have some sense and feeling of it?   

Now to the Uses.  
And first, is this so, that God doth not only love, and inwardly affect his Children, but doth also manifest the same by signs and tokens, that they may be out of doubt thereof? Then this may serve to confute that Doctrine of the Church of Rome, who hold that no man can be certainly assured of the love and favour of God, he may hope well, and so forth: But no man can have any assured Confidence. What is this, but a Rack and Torment to weak Consciences? What doth this, but extinguish the truth and sincerity, both of faith and love towards God? What Fruit bringeth this, but impatiency in time of trouble and Persecution, and indeed maketh a way for desperation of God's Mercy.  
Secondly, let this stir up every one of us to a diligent examination of ourselves, whether God hath as yet kissed us with the kisses of his mouth, whether he hath as yet manifested his love unto us by signs and tokens. For, till we have assurance hereof, what comfort can we have?  
And in the last place, this may serve for the great comfort of all such as have Gods love manifested unto them by the former signs. For as the terrors are great which that Man hath in his Conscience, who is in doubt of the love of the Almighty towards him; so is the comfort as great, which that Man hath, who is hereof persuaded: For, come tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, or life, or death, yet the certainty of God's love will support him.  
And the Son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy Son.  
Now we come more particularly unto the words, which are a Confession of sins made by this Prodigal unto his Father. Wherein observe; First, the Matter of his Confession, I have sinned. Secondly, the Circumstances; as First, to whom, viz. to his Father: Secondly, the manner how:  
And that was with 

Exaggeration, Against Heaven, etc.  
Humiliation, And am no more worthy, etc.    
The Reasons of this point are these; First, God cannot in Justice forgive, except we make our Confession unto him. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (saith St. John.) But if there be no Confession, than there is no promise: How can God then without violating his Truth show Mercy unto such? And therefore saith Solomon, He that hideth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have Mercy. Such a one then as doth thus confess, may look for Mercy, and none else.  
A Second Reason is, Because there is no sound Repentance for sin, where there is no true Confession of sin. For the inward sight of sin would open our mouths, and cause us to confess it. When the Heart is pricked, words will break forth, the Tongue cannot forbear: As we see in David, who so soon as his heart smote him for numbering of the People, cried out, I have sinned exceedingly in that which I have done. Thus, out of the abundance of the heart will the tongue speak, as Christ saith.  
These may be the Reasons.  
The Uses follow.  
And First (seeing this is so, That whosoever would have Pardon of sin must confess the same.) This serveth to Reprove such as look for Pardon on God's part, but will bring no Confession for their part.  
Is this so, that there is no Remission, where there is no Confession? Then let this Admonish every one that desires to have their sins remitted, to see, that they be truly and unfeignedly confessed: Conceal them not, hid them not, excuse them not, defend them not, and above all, take heed of glorying in them. Seek not with Achan to hid that cursed thing, it will prove thy overthrow: Be not Secretary to the Devil, it is no good Office; conceal not that which God commands thee to make known. Sins that are smothered, will in the end fester unto Death: Remember Remission is promised, but upon condition of Confession; suffer (then) no sin to go unconfessed, which thou wouldst not have to go unpardoned.  
And so I pass from this to a third Use, which is for our direction: For, must Confession go before Remission, then let every one look that as they confess, so they make an upright confession. Many have confessed, yet found small comfort; as Pharaoh, Saul, and Judas, with many more; if therefore we would speed better than they did, we must look that our confession be better than theirs was.  
Father.] Here we see to whom he makes confession. It is not to the Servants, nor to his Brother, but to his Father. Hence learn;  
Confession of sin must be made unto the Lord. I acknowledged (saith David) my sin unto the Lord.   

The Reasons are these.  
First, All sin is committed against God. True it is, we may hurt and wrong men by our sins, and bring much damage both to the Body and Goods of others by the committing of them, as David to Vriah; but the chiefest dishonour is against God, whose Law is broken and transgressed.  
Secondly, God only can forgive sins, and none but he. It pertaineth only unto God to say, I have Pardoned, I will not destroy.  
And Lastly, Confession of sin is a special part of Divine Worship. Now, God will not give his glory to another, he will not have any part stakes with him; Thou shalt Worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.  
Now for Uses. And first, for that Auricular Confession (held and maintained by that man of sin) which upon pain of Damnation must be made in the Ear of a Priest by every one, immediately before the receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper. A cunning invention for the discovering of all states, and for the upholding and enriching of that Covetous and Ambitious See: Hereby they come to know the Hearts and Affections of Men; and knowing them, they can quickly tell what course to take for themselves, either for bringing good, or preventing mischief, for the enriching themselves, and impoverishing of others.  
Is this so, that confession of sin is to be made unto the Lord: Then see thou fly unto him when thou hast offended, and make known thy faults to him, whom thou hast much dishonoured.  
Against Heaven, and in thy sight] He doth not mince and extenuate the matter; he saith not, Father, I have sinned, but I had no bad meaning, I knew not what I did. Neither doth he plead the instability of his Youth, to extenuate his fault, but he aggravateth and enlargeth the grievousness of his sin, and sets it out to the uttermost. 1. I have sinned. 2. Against Heaven. 3. In thy sight. All tend to the aggravation of his fault. To break a Lawful command enjoined by the Magistrate (though of Ignorance) is a fault; wilfully to break, it is a greater; but to do it in his sight and presence, argueth great Rebellion. From the Prodigal his Practice, let us learn,  
Doct. That it is the property of a true Penitent, not to mince, or extenuate his sin, but to aggravate and set it out in the worst and vilest manner that he can.  
The Reason may be this; Because the Eyes of a Penitent are in some measure opened, so that he now seethe sin in its own colours, and apprehendeth it as a deadly Enemy to God's glory, and his own Souls Health. Now, we know how ready we are to speak the worst we can of those who are Enemies unto us, and to set forth their vile Practices to the uttermost. Thus the hatred he beareth unto sin, causeth him to think, that he can never sufficiently display it, and maketh him so disposed, as that no malicious wicked man can so set forth the faults of his Enemy, whom he deadly hates, as he desires to set forth the loathsomeness of his own sin. Thus we have seen the Reason.  
The Uses follow.  
And is a Penitent thus qualified? Is there such a disposition in him, as that he will lay to his own charge, as much as possibly he can? Then what shall we say of such as study this Art of mincing and extenuating sin? The sins of others they can enlarge, they have both will and skill in setting open to the view of the whole World, in every branch and circumstance the faults of others, so that many times they appear to be greater than indeed they are. But in confessing of their own sins, they have no such gift nor faculty, than they have not done it; or if done it, yet it is not evil; or if it be evil, yet not very evil; or if very evil, yet not with an evil mind; or if so, yet by others persuasions; they do so mince the matter, that Mountains seem Molehills, and Molehills Motes.  
Secondly, Wouldst thou have Pardon at the hands of God? Then enlarge thy sins, and lessen them not, stretch them out to the utmost pin, and set them forth at full, with their parts and circumstances: At what time, in what place, after what manner, with what company they were committed; let no circumstance of aggravation be wanting, by which they may appear the more foul and filthy.  
And am no more worthy to be called thy Son] See how he humbleth and abaseth himself unto his Father, I am unworthy to be thy Son; yea, I am unworthy the very name of Son, so many have been my sins, so lewd hath been my course. The Instruction hence may be this;  
Doct. The only way to obtain Pardon for sin, and procure God's favour, is with an humble heart, and lowly Soul to come before him. The only way to be exalted by him is to come unto him in Humility of Soul, and lowliness of Spirit. The Practice of this Prodigal is a Precedent for us.   

The Reasons may be these:  
First, Such only hath God promised to look upon, and show Mercy to; To this man will I look, even to him that is Poor, and of a contrite spirit: And again, Thus saith the high and lofty one, that inhabiteth Eternity, whose Name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place: With him also that is of a contrite and humbled spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones: As for the other, they have no promise of Favour or of Mercy.  
And Secondly, such only are capable of Grace and Mercy. Full Vessels can receive no Liquor, and haughty Hearts no Favour, for they despise it. As therefore the Vessel must be emptied, and the Air and Wind removed, before any solid Liquor can be received; so must thou first cast out haughtiness and pride out of thy heart, before Mercy can be obtained.  
Let the Use of this be for Exhortation. Come before the Lord with humbled Souls and contrite Spirits, for this is of him much set by. And to stir us up to the putting on of this grace (as the Apostle doth exhort us) consider of these Motives: First, Pride, it is the Devils firstborn, and the Devils first Poison which Satan poured into our Nature; and this (as Bernard speaks) is the Devil's Character: For as the Servants of Christ and Children of God, are known by Charity and Humility; so the Servants of Sin, and Sons of Satan, are known by Pride and Cruelty; and therefore let this move us to embrace the one, and abhor the other. Secondly, God exalts such as are humble, but such as are Proud doth his Soul hate.  
Thirdly, Humility is the keeper of all graces, but Pride is the spoiler of them. No Box better to keep those Jewels in, than a Heart well lined with Humility.  
Fourthly, Humility makes us like Christ himself, and therefore must needs be an excellent Virtue: This Grace he willeth us to learn of him, for he was meek and lowly in Heart. He disdained not to wash his Disciples Feet, to teach them Humility. He made himself of no Reputation, and took upon him the form of a Servant, that we might learn of him to be humble. Let the same mind therefore be in you (saith the Apostle) that was in Christ Jesus. He was Humble, be thou then ashamed to be Proud.    

THE Author's Farewel-Sermon: OR, Last Legacy to his Friends and Parishioners of St. Mary's Parish in Bedford.  
Dear Beloved, Being now come to Preach my Farewel-Sermon (which shall serve as my last Legacy to you, my Dear Friends and Parishioners) I think no Subject more proper for me to insist upon, (for this occasion) then that which may excite you all to Love and Unite as Brethren when I am absent from you: And therefore I shall ground this my Farewel-Sermon upon those words which you find written  In Genesis xiii. Ver. 8. 
And Abraham said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, neither between my Herdsmen and thy Herdsmen, for we are Brethren.  
Dear Friends,  
GOD hath joined us together as we are Men, we are not Dogs, nor Wolves; let us not be so one to another. Acts 7.26. Moses speaks thus to those who strove one with another: Sirs, ye are Brethren, why do ye maliciously asperse one another? The words in the Greek are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Men, ye are Brethren. There is a consideration in this, that ye are Men; if you were no more, yet ye should not strive one with another; but much more considering ye are Brethren. If we are Men, let us be Humane; what is the meaning of Humanity, but Courteousness, Gentleness, Pleasantness in our Carriages one towards another. But still the consideration grows higher, as we are the same Countrymen of Old Acquaintance in the same Employment, of the same Family and Kindred, but above all, joined in such a blessed Root, the Foundation of all Love and Peace: Surely these things should have a great force over us to make us all (that are true Protestants, be we of what persuasion we will) to Unite and Love as Brethren.  
I have read of two Rivers in the East, Sava and Danuby, that run along in one Channel Threescore Miles together without any noise or bubbling, and yet they both keep themselves distinct and the colour of the Waters remain distinct all along; why should we not think it possible for us to go along close together in Love and Peace, though in some indifferent things our Judgements and Practices be apparently different one from another.  
And here I will give you (who are for Brotherly love, and the healing of our Breaches) a Sentence to write upon your Chamber or Closet doors, it is this;  
Opinionum varietas & opinantium unitas non sunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Variety of Opinions and unity of those that hold them may stand together.  
But I'll make no longer Preface, but proceed to the Parts of my Text (which Text is a Treaty of Peace between Abraham and Lot) wherein we have, First, a Supposition, and, secondly, a Proposition; that which is supposed is this, That there may be an Unbrotherly strife between godly Brethren; there was so you see between Abraham and Lot. That which is proposed, is that which should follow upon this; That where such Unbrotherly strife is, all speedy and possible means must be used for a Reconciliation. That there may be an unbrotherly strife between godly Brethren, is certain.  
I would the point were to prove; Alas! it is too manifest, that there is an Unbrotherly strife between godly Brethren. London, England, yea all England will give us in a test to this truth. What County? what City? what Congregation? (yea the Lord be merciful unto us) what Family scarce is there in the whole Kingdom, into which the Spirit of Division hath not breathed some malignant distemper? Here are two Brethren in the Text, as near as Nature, Society, and Religion could make them, whom neither native Country, nor tedious Travel, nor pinching Famine, nor threats of Danger or Distress could separate; yet such an unhappy Breach fell out between them, as that two such ancient and dear Friends could not longer live together. Shall I show you two others, who were Brethren by Country, by Calling, and by Grace, united together in one joint Commission of Apostleship; and yet a very small matter occasioned such a sharp Contention between them, as that those which had been very fast Companions in Love and Labour, were provoked to part asunder. Between Abram and Lot the State peace was broken. Between Paul and Barnabas the Church peace was broken. But from the Text now read, we shall gather this Doctrine:  
That where unbrotherly strife is, all possible and speedy means must be used for Reconciliation.  
I need not light a Candle to this Sun, both Nature and Nation, Civility and Morality, Profession and Religion, Truth and Christ bespeak this Duty from us. There are no Counsels so obvious in God's word, as those which persuade to Brotherly Amity, to Christian Unity and peace, and a blessing is promised to Peaceableness and Peacemaking both in Civil and in Ecclesiastical Differences.  
The Arguments are likewise manifest and manifold, which our Saviour useth to provoke unto Love. How Pathetical and full of Affection are those Arguments of the Apostle, Philip. 2. v. 1, 2, 3. If there be therefore any Consolation in Christ, if any Comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any Bowels and Mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife and vainglory. Methinks the Apostles soul and words flow out together, as he says elsewhere, 1 Thes. 2.8. We are willing to impart not the Gospel only, but our own Souls, because you are dear unto us.  
What a heap of Unities doth the Apostle pile up in Ephes. 4. v. 4, 5, 6. One Body, one Spirit, one hope of our Calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, which is above all, and through all, and in you all. And now what is all this Oneness but to make us One, to impel Saints into the Unity of the Spirit, and Bond of Peace? If all be one, why should Brethren be two?  
What mighty Convictions doth the Apostle hold forth from Nature's light, 1 Cor. 12. showing how the united services of all the members in the Body natural, do tutor the uniting of Christians, and of all their Offices, parts and gifts for the service of the body mystical. Variety of gifts are not bestowed on us to work Contrariety of Affection: It is a sublime notation of unity which the Apostle there gives, v. 12. calling the Head and the Body one Christ, plainly intimating that such who wilfully rend themselves from the Body, do as much as in them lies to rend themselves also from the Head.  
But what need I step beyond the Text for impulsives to enforce the duty of the Doctrine? Two I herefind, one above the Text, the other at the foot of it; Let there be no strife between thee and me, neither between thy Herdsmen and my Herdsmen, saith Abram to Lot, and why? 1. Because the Canaanite and the Perezite dwell in the Land. 2. Because we are Brethren. Let us now examine these Reasons, and  
1. Because of the Canaanite and Perezite which dwell in the Land; as if Abram should have said, Why Brother Lot, do you not see that there is a Generation of ungodly men dwelling amongst us, who would willingly take the Advantage from our Divisions to work us both out of this good Land? I pray thee therefore Brother, let there be no strife between us.  
Why but some will say, Whom do you mean by these Canaanites and Perizites? I'll show you what Characters the Spirit of God doth hint unto us of them; the Canaanite is derived from that cursed Seed, who did mock at his Father's Nakedness, you have the story in Gen. 9.25. The Perezite from an Hebrew root which signifies to divide. Both of these mischievous enough to the power of Godliness, and to the peace of the Gospel. The wild Boar and the little Foxes do exceeding great (though not equal) hurt unto the Spiritual Vine: The little Foxes spoil her Grapes, but the wild Boar would root it up. The Wolves teeth and the Fanthers' breath do both kill, but the Panther with delight, the Wolf with cruelty.  
But what do you tell us of the Canaanites and the Perizites, are there any such dwelling in our Land?  
My Brethren, I accuse none here, but I am very certain you will all bear me witness that there is a Generation of Canaanites in the Land, which scoff at Saints, at Ministers, at Profession, at Ordinances, and would scoff at Jesus Christ himself, if he were alive, who do not only triumph in such nakednesses as they see, but with those in Mioah, They pull off the beautiful Garment from them that pass by them peaceably; they study all the mischiefs they can, to render Religion, and the sincere Professors thereof, odious.  
Beloved, formerly love was the Badge, and true Cognisance of a true Christian: But I much wonder where we may now find a David, and a Jonathan; an Eusebius, and a Pamphilius; yea, a Ruth, and a Naomy? Where shall we now seek unam animam in duobus corporibus inclusam, one Soul in two Bodies? Where shall we look for such as were the Apostles, that had but one heart, and one Soul? Alas, No! those golden days are past and gone, and now the Dog-days are come in, every one biting and barking at his Neighbour: Not like Christians, not like Brethren, nor yet like Saints; but even like Bears and Tigers striving to tear one another; yea, like Scythians and Cannibals, endeavouring to eat up another, as void of all natural Love and Affection. Oh my Friends! is this Christianity? is this to be members of the same Body? is this to be Sons of the same Father? Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us? Why then do we deal so treacherously one with another, every man against his Brother, Mal. 2.10. But hereafter I shall hope better things of you; and let not (I beseech you) my hopes be frustrated, and of none effect, but follow you Peace with all men, especially with those that are of the household of Faith, be ye all of one mind, 1 Pet. 3.9. having compassion one of another, love as Brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, railing for railing: but contrariwise, blessing; knowing that you are thereunto called, that you should inherit a blessing  
But to proceed, there is another Generation of Perizites in the Land, who like Samsons Foxes, have Firebrands at their tails, who make it their design to divide, that they might rule. I mean not such, who through tenderness of Conscience, do separate, but the Politic Perizzite, who is set on work by Rome and Hell to retard the Christian Reformation through the divisions of Brethren. For is not the hand of Joab in all this? Hath not the Devil and the Jesuit made it their Masterpiece by most unhappy Divisions to break the strength of that Party that have resolvedly espoused the true Protestant Religion; yea, and I am persuaded, that there are many truly Godly, who are trappaned by them, that are altogether ignorant of their design: As Philip King of Macedon employed those honest Philoso●●hers in those two famous Cities of Greece, ●o make several Parties in them, that he night be invited in to make himself master of both. And as the same Philip decided the Controversy of the Kingdom of Thessaly, between those two discording Brethren who contending for it, which he fairly took from both.  
Oh that we could undermine the Gates of Rome and Hell this day, by our most happy uniting! Methinks there is no Argument can have more force in it than this, when we know that there are such Generations of men amongst us, who do wait for this advantage, to break in upon us through the Lane of our Divisions, and to raise their decayed fortunes on our miserable Ruins.  
Tully in his Offices presents us with a very pat story to cautionate the Unbrotherly discord of these times. The Nolans and the Neopolitans having a Controversy about a parcel of Ground which lay between their several Countries, Fabius Labeo being invited to determine the difference, gave unto them the exterior limits of the Ground adjoining to their respective Countries, and took unto the State of Rome all the Land which lay in the midst between the Confines. My Brethren, let us be well advised, lest whilst we do most unhappily contend about indifferent things, our good Friends of Rome do not come in, and give us as much sensual Liberty as we desire, but take away from us those saving Gospel-truths', and that Purity and Power of Ordinances which lie between us in medio, on both sides contended for.  
The second Argument that lies at the foot of the Text, is the force of Brotherhood: For we are Brethren, and we are Brethren many ways: 1. We are Brethren by Country.  
Nescio qua natale solum dulcedine cunctos  
Ducit—  
Should the Lord send us into a strange Land to hang up our musical Instruments by the Waters of our Captivity, and to weep over those Songs of Zion which here we might enjoy with peace and spiritual delight, and do not, than this Country Brotherhood would have Argument enough to cement us. Ah my Brethren! do we need such a rod to whip us into the sense of Brotherly love? Surely the Provocations of Sons and Daughters are greatest Provocations, and our Heavenly Father hath Provocations enough to turn us all out of doors, when we cannot live peaceably together in his house.  
But secondly, Brethren by Blood, as some of us are, and Brethren by Grace, as Abram and Lot were, Children of the same heavenly Father, partakers of the same Divine Nature, begotten of the same immortal Seed, bred up in the same household of Faith, made to drink into one and the same Spirit, partakers of the same heavenly Calling, Heirs to the same immortal Inheritance, and bound up together in the same bundle of life, and Bond of the Covenant of Grace. O methinks flesh and Bones should sooner separate in the Body natural, than such Spiritual Nerves and Sinews be broken in the Body mystical.  
Beloved, we should all love as Brethren, as genuinely and naturally as Brethren, that's our Rule; but if we cannot hold proportion with the Rule, to love as Brethren, yet let us keep correspondency with the Object, to love the Brotherhood. There is nothing sets the common Adversary higher in the Scorners Chair, than the Discords of Brethren. The Devil hath Prophesied, that the Rents in Christ's Kingdom should make room for his. Shall I give you his plain Language in some that wish well to his Kingdom? The Presbyterians and Episcopal men will fall out, and then all will be ours again. Now, my Brethren, let not our Divisions make the Devil a true Prophet. Let us honour God, and Religion, and ourselves, and shame the Devil; let our blessed Union discover him, as he is, a Liar from the beginning.  
Use. Shall I need now to make use of this point? Surely there was never more need than now that use should be made of it, and no point more useful, more needful than this. But I shall desire you to save me that Labour, and to take it home with you, each of you, to make use of it upon your own hearts; and one unto the other say, as Abraham unto Lot, Good Neighbour, Dear Friend, Let there be no strife between me and thee, neither between my Pastors and thy Pastors; for we are Brethren.  
Ah Friends, let us labour earnestly for Union and Peace, for the Spirit of God doth show us, that if we either love Jerusalem, or desire to prosper in it, we must ●●ay for the Peace of it; pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee; but if our Practices should give our Prayers the lie, it were an horrid Mockery to God and to ourselves: If we should Petition God or Man for Brotherly Love and Peace▪ and should not endeavour ourselves to keep ●he Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace▪ and, to follow after those things which make for Peace, our Prayers would prove in vain, and our Peace a snare.  
Now, I would encourage your endeavour, by directing it. Some Directions you have from the Copy we have in hand; others we shall add for your Benefit and Practice.  
The first is this: The higher any man is in place or parts above his Brethren, the more is his Duty to be first in seeking Peace. Erat Abraham & major natu & usu rerum prudentior. Abraham was the Elder and Nobler of the two here, both in place and parts, and yet he is the first that sues for Reconciliation: We hear not in his mouth the Language of these times; Sir, I am your Elder, and your better, I look that you should stoop to me; I wonder, Sir, that you will suffer your Servants to fall out with mine; why, have not I bred you up from a Boy? Have you not gotten all that you have under me? And what Common or Pasture can your Shepherd's challenge, but what they have at my Courtesy? Nay, no such Language you hear from Abraham; he that saw Christ's day, had received of Christ's Spirit, to be meek and lowly in heart. He lays aside all thoughts of disparity, either in years or place, and the Foster-Uncle comes an humble Suitor unto his Underdig for an Honourable Peace.  
We are all bound to serve one another in love, and it is not incongruous unto God's way, that the elder should serve the younger. He that is most eminent in grace or place, to be most forward in seeking Peace; this is most Godlike, the most Excellent Majesty that is offended, descends from his Throne of Glory to beseech proud Sinners to be Reconciled unto him. O, my Brethren, you that are more Excellent than your Neighbours, that have parts, or gifts, or places above your Brethren, see how Religion directs you to improve them in the desires and endeavours for Peace. But if this be so, what shall we then think of the wrangling and brawling Spirits of these days, that are of such a salt, fiery Humour, that they can scarce live peaceably with any, just like Flax or Gunpowder, the least spark imaginable will catch them; that will strive and contend about Trifles, like the Frog and the Mouse for the Marish ground, till the hungry Kite come and snatch them both away. Ah! surely these must needs be the last days, since Love and Charity is grown so cold; for you shall scarce find a Parish that is not divided; you shall hardly come into a Family that is not disjointed, every one being ready to by't and devour one another. Beloved, if that you would but seriously consider what wide Ears and long Tongues too many Men now adays have, it would make you blush, sweat, and stand amazed. Where are the Friends whom we dare put Trust in now adays? We are all in pieces, and all divided, like Jacob's Troop, into divers Companies; or like Laban's Sheep of divers colours, some white, some black, and some speckled; some of this mind, and some of that; some of one Opinion, and some of another: We are a Chaos of Confusion, a Tohn, and a Bohn, like the People scattered over the Land of Egypt to gather stubble, and to pick up straws. In a word, there is few amongst us live like Brethren.  
The second Rule is this: Christians must be content to yield in their own Right for a Godly Peace, whose Right was ever clearer or surer to the whole Land of Canaan than Abraham's was? He had it all made over to him and to his Posterity from the Lord Paramount of the whole Earth; and yet when this strife fell out between Abraham's and Lot's Shepherds about common of Pasture, he propounded unto Lot his choice of any part of the whole Land that was before him, and would content himself with Lot's leave. See, saith Abraham, is not the whole Land before thee, separate thyself, I pray thee, from me, (not that Abraham was willing to part with Lot, but that they might preserve that Brotherly Union at a distance, which they could not keep by keeping together,) If thou wilt take the left hand (saith Abraham to Lot,) then will I go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then will I go to the left.  
Now, Lot's Eye was so great upon the fat and pleasant Valleys of Sodom, as that forgetting his good manners to his Uncle, he made his choice, and Abraham lost nothing by his condescension unto him; for as soon as Lot was separated from him, the Lord appears unto Abraham, and renews his promise of the whole Land to him and to his Seed. See, my Brethren, God will not suffer us to be losers in any thing, wherein for his sake we deny ourselves and our own right, in order to a Religious peace.  
If our Brother Lot hath a mind to the fat and pleasant portion of Sodom, let him take it; surely if his design be profit and not peace, the Lord will find a time to fire him out of it again; it matters not what we suffer in our own particular Interests, so as God might have his glory in a godly peace. Were there more of Abraham's condescension amongst us, how easily might our unhappy differences be taken up.  
The third Rule is; That in order to peace all expostulations and exprobrations of injuries be laid aside. We hear nothing from Abraham of any unkindness, but only a loving and humble entreaty; Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee and me.  
The repeating of an old wrong, is but as the rubbing upon an old sore, which doth but anger it, and make the Cure the worse.  
It is an Holy Art of forgetfulness to be forgetful of Injuries. I would there were Graves made, Domicilia silentii, Houses of silence between us and all our Dissenting Brethren, that upon sober and Religious grounds do separate from us, to bury all passions and suspicions of Injuries; and let these Graves be Kibroth Hattaavah, Graves of Lust I mean, to bury all those Corruptions which have provoked one the other.  
My Brethren, you do all profess yourselves to be Abraham's Children, inheritors of those promises which were made to him; remember that Christ's Argument doth as much concern the Children by promise, as the Children by flesh; if you are Abraham's Children, you will then do the works of Abraham: Amongst others forget not these which I have showed you.  
And shall I now, Brethren, take up a Reproof, or rather a Lamentation over those imbittered censures which Godly Brethren let fall one against the other? Are we Brethren? Are we Godly? I am confident that it may be safely concluded, that some on both sides are Brethren truly Godly. Why then, why are we so bitter one against the other? What means the Gall and Wormwood that is in our Discourses and Meetings? Ah, my Brethren, my Brethren! did our Lord Christ wash his Apostles Feet, and amongst them a Judas feet, and shall we throw dirt in one another's Faces? Is this Christ-like? Doth this become Christians? Did he pour out his precious Blood to purchase our Peace, and shall we draw out one another's Blood in breaking our Peace? Did he bequeath his Peace unto his people, as his last and best Legacy he had to leave unto them, and shall we like foolish Children spend our portion in undoing one the other?  
There are two other Rules now, which though they be not in the Text, yet they do belong unto the Doctrine.  
The first is this; There are three Beautiful Sisters, which are inseparable Companions unto this happy Heavenly Offspring, I mean a Religious and well-grounded peace.  
The first is Truth, Love the Truth and Peace, Zach. 8.19. Love Peace, but Truth with it, Truth before it. If you let go Truth, Peace will not be worthy your Love, you love Peace, because it is the Mother of plenty, but if you provide not for Truth to dwell with it, your Peace will prove the Daughter of Vanity, your Peace can be neither true nor lovely, that is separated from the love of the Truth.  
The second is Righteousness. Mercy and Truth are met together, Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other, Psal. 85.10. In that notable meeting of the Divine Attributes in Jesus Christ, these two, Righteousness and Peace are matched together, no Righteousness can procure our Peace with God, but the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, and no Peace can stand with Men, unless the influences of that Righteousness be upon them. If unrighteousness be found in our Courts of Judicature, in our Streets, and in our Houses, and the Land be not purged of Blood, and Justice be not done upon the achan's, the Troublers of our Peace, our Peace will be forced to departed again as soon as it is procured.  
The third is Holiness: Fellow peace with all men, and Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, Heb. 12.14. Fellow peace and holiness jointly, but not equally. Peace for Holiness sake, and holiness above peace; for this is employed in the force of the Reason: For without Holiness no man shall see the Lord. We may see the Lord without having peace with all men, but not without the having of Holiness.  
Let there be no strife between thee and me, saith peace to truth, peace to righteousness, peace to holiness: But let there be nothing but strife between me and thee, saith peace to error, peace to injustice, peace to profaneness. And if any Minister should be so bold to separate those whom God hath joined, or to join those whom God hath separated, he should indeed Preach Sedition, but not against Man, but against a Holy and Jealous God. That true-righteous-holy-Peace, that blessed Daughter of Heaven, will certainly forbid all Contracts that shall be published between error, injustice, profaneness, and herself, there is no peace to the wicked, saith my God, nor no peace with the wicked. Or if it were possible that Peace should own such Contracts, Christ himself, who is the Prince of Peace, would never own her for his Daughter; for in this case he saith, I come not to send Peace on the Earth, but the Sword. In a word, let go either of these sister-graces, and your Peace, be what it will, it will undo you. This is now the first Rule in order to a Godly Peace.  
The second I have to lay before you, is this, That if we will needs be striving, let Massah and Meribah, those Waters of strife, run in their right Channels. And now, to break the strength of our unhappy contentions, I would fix them upon their true and proper Objects. There are two which I shall propound unto you, 1. That which you should contend for. 2. That which you should contend against.  
First, That which you should contend for, is that to which Judas exhorts you, Judas 2. that you should earnestly contend for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints. There is Faith a Grace, and Faith the object of that Grace. Faith a Grace is that whereby we close with all Divine Revelations, not only by a consent unto the truth of them in our understandings, but by a taste of the sweetness of them in our wills and affections; and those Divine Revelations are also called the Faith of Saints: Because they are those things which Saints by Faith do live upon: Now, Saints must contend for both; but that which Judas doth here intent, is the Doctrine of Faith; and for this we must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, contend, above all that strength we contend with. The word is a compound, borrowed from those that did strive for Masteries in the Olympic Games, whose strife was vigorous as for Life, yet here we must strive above that, and we have a supernatural strength given unto us to strive with; we must put forth all that which Nature or Grace can minister unto us. Our Lives must not be dear unto us, or any thing that is dearer than our Lives, to preserve those saving truths which are the purchase of so many Martyr's Blood, yea, of the precious Blood of the Son of God, our New Testament is the New Testament of his Blood.  
There are three energetical Arguments in this persuasive of Judas, inciting the Duty he persuades unto.  
First, The transcendent excellency of that which we contend for.  
Secondly, The mighty opposition which is against it.  
Thirdly, The irreparable loss of it, being once gone.  
First, The transcendent excellency of that which we contend for. It is the Imperial gift, the treasury, the inheritance of Saints. Naboth would rather part with his Life than with his Inheritance, but an Inheritance of a Life Immortal, how much is it to be preferred before a Mortal Life, or Inheritance? It is storied of Troy, that in the Grecian Siege it had an Oracle, that if it could keep its Palladium, the Image of their Goddess of Wisdom, their City should not be lost. Beloved, this is our Palladium, lose it, and lose all. The Glory of God in Ezekiels Visions, did soon departed from the City, when it was once departed from the Sanctuary. If the Lord take coals from the Altar, to scatter over a Kingdom, the Judgement of it shall speed after with a Vengeance. When Hymeneus and Alexander did make shipwreck of Faith, they made shipwreck of a good Conscience with it. It was the great comfort of Paul's Conscience upon his deathbed, that he had kept the Faith; and his keeping the Faith was the main prop of his Confidence, that from thenceforth there was laid up for him a Crown of Righteousness. If you let go Faith, you lose your Comfort, your Confidence, your Crown. If therefore you will contend, contend as earnestly as you will for this. Contend for the Faith once given to the Saints.  
The second Argument to provoke unto this holy Contention, is the mighty opposition which Saints find against the Faith, therefore would the Apostle have us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, contend earnestly; so we translate it, but that is too low; you must more than contend, as Paul speaks in another sense, not only according to your power, but beyond your power: The Doctrine of Faith, as it never wanted some Witnesses to defend it, so it ever had many Adversaries to oppose it: The Gates of Hell, though they cannot prevail against it, yet they will do against it all the spite they can. Heresy is like that Tripleheaded Serpent, if one head be cut off, three will arise in the place of it. And Heretics like those Romans in their Wars with Carthage, they will never be quiet, either Conquerors, or Conquered. Surely, if ever the Gates of Hell were set open in England, they are now set wide open, and the Locusts of the bottomless pit, even cover the face of the Land. It yields yet some comfortable hopes unto us, that the Lord hath a most beautiful work of Reformation upon the wheel in England, for that the Devil and the Jesuit are so put to it to bestir themselves. Never did Heresy and Blasphemy with that whorish impudence oppose the fundamental Truths of Gospel Grace, as now they do, but blessed be God, who hath awakened the zeal of so many faithful Servants of the Lord Jesus in all parts of the Kingdom to give Testimony to his truth.  
My Brethren, let us resolve not to spend our breath only, but our blood in a good Confession, if God should call for it. Josephus hath a story worthy our observance: That when Pontius Pilate would have enforced the Statue of Nero into the Temple of the Jews, the zeal of the people enkindled against it, it being against the Law of their holy Religion; Pilate purposing to enforce that by the Sword, which his Rhetoric could not persuade, drew them into a place where he had laid an Ambuscado of Armed men, who, upon his signal, were to do execution upon those who withstood his command. The Jews being constant to their Principle of Religion, espying their danger approaching, did all, as one man, open their naked breasts to the pointed Swords of their Executioners, resolving rather upon and honourable death with the safety of their Religion, than an ignominious life with the loss of it.  
The third Argument for this holy Contention, is the irrecoverable loss of our Faith being once gone. It was once given unto the Saints, and but once: It was once given unto Rome, and once unto Macedonia, and once unto the seven Churches of Asia minor; and when once they had lost it, it was never as yet given to them again. Sol occidere & redire potest: If the Sun in the firmament doth set, it will rise again; but if this Sun of Righteousness once set upon a Land, an irrecoverable midnight of spiritual darkness succeeds upon it. If we lose our Estates, we may recover them again; if we lose our Friends, God may raise us up some other; if we lose our Lives, we may exchange them for a better; but if we lose the Faith once given to the Saints, being once lost, it is lost for ever; and we lose with it our Souls, our Heaven, our Christ, our God, and these irrevocably. Ah dear Christians, if ever ye will contend for any thing, contend for the Faith once given unto the Saints. And that is how the first object of your holy Contention, that which you should contend for.  
The second is that which you should contend against: and here I shall propound two objects; first, of persons; secondly, of things.  
First, for Persons, the Royal Prophet writes us a Copy, Psal. 139.21, 22. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and do I not earnestly contend with those, that rise up against thee? yea, I hate them with perfect hatred, I count them mine utter enemies. Certainly there is a Generation of men in this Age, whose hearts rise up against God, and against the power of Godliness. God's right hand hath already found out many, and will certainly find out more of those that hate him. Take heed good Friends, how you confederate with those against whom the Lord is engaged. Will you be tutored alittle from that story of Judah in Ahaz's time, in the seventh and eighth Chapters of Isaiah, when profane Syria, and Apostate Israel combined together against honest Judah, their hearts did shake as Aspy leaves: The Lord sends a Prophet to assure them, that these two smoking firebrands, which had more smoke than fire in them, should not hurt them; Judah, though with much ado, believing, prospered; and he combined Armies are scattered. Discontented Israel not humbled under God's hand so visibly against them, resolve yet to recruit greater Forces against Judah: The Bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stones; the Sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into Cedars. Judah forgetting Gods former Promise and deliverance, sends to the Assyrian for aid: The Lord sends his Prophet to them again, and tells them, That because they had refused the soft running waters of Siloa, the mighty waters of Assyria should overflow them. Now what were those waters of Siloa? Siloa was a River that broke out at the foot of Mount Zion, and ran through the Streets of Jerusalem, to which the Church alludes, Psal. 46.4. There is a River, the streams thereof shall make glad the City of God. This River here is Jesus Christ, the Fountain of God's pleasures, the streams are his promises in which he makes out himself for the comfort of his people in saddest confusions. Now Judah had a special intimation of the Covenant of Grace to assertain their former deliverance, as all temporary promises must have, their strength and blessing out of that. But forgetting both their mercy and their duty, and seeking strength from an arm of flesh, which God had despised, they were not strengthened, but distressed by it, saith the story 2 Chron. 28.20. Lo this is all the kindness we are like to receive from such Confederates; the Lord therefore counsels the upright-hearted in Judah; Say ye not a Confederacy to all them to whom this people shall say a Confederacy, neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid, but sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your Fear, and let him be your Dread, and he shall be for a sanctuary unto you. But what got Apostate Israel by her profane Confederates? Why, Isay 9.11, 12. we shall find that they tasted the same bitter sauce with unbelieving Judah, they were with open mouth devoured by their good Friends the Syrians, with whom they had before combined against Judah; Foelix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum. I wish that Judah's and Israel's sufferings may cautionate the godly in London how they confederate with those that are ungodly. Surely they shall not strengthen, but distress themselves by combining with those that are manifest enemies to God and Goodness.  
In Judges the second and the first, we read of an Angel of the Lord that came up from Gilgal to Bochim, to mind the Israel of God of their Forgetfulness of God's great mercy in delivering them out of Egypt, and of their breach of Covenant in making a League with those Canaanites, whom the Lord had cursed. And he wrought so effectually upon their hearts, as that they wept abundantly. Certainly London shall know, that they have had a Prophet amongst them: And they shall one day weep for their Confederacy with wicked men; if the Grace of God doth not now provoke their Tears, the wrath of God will hereafter.  
The second Object which we are to strive against, are our own Lusts, striving against sin, saith the Apostle, Heb. 12.4. I am sure this is without all question, that sin is our enemy, breaking our Peace both with God and man, and killing as well with kisses, as with blows. God hath no enemy but this, or such whom this doth make to be his enemies. Now spend all your Arrows, as long, as strong as you can upon this Enemy: here strive and spare not. If you spare any one, that one may undo your Souls as soon as a thousand. There is more evil in one sin, than there is worth in all the good you do, or can do; yea, more than the virtue of the whole Creation is able to expiate. One Achan is enough to disturb the peace of all Israel, and never let England think to have a firm peace, if England's sins remain unreformed. Now strive as much against your achan's as your Absoloms, your dalilah's as your Thamar's, your Rimmons as your Mammon's, your Davids as your Goliahs, I mean your covert, as your open sins, your loved as your loathed lusts, your Heart-abominations, as your Life-scandals, your Babe-iniquities as your Giant-provocations. And, Oh my dear Friends! How much was the Lord of Sabbaths and his Ordinances honoured, when our Tribes with their Servants did march in good array unto the Temple of the Lord? A great complaint there is every where of bad Servants; but let Governors of Families lay their hands on their own Hearts, and see if the fault be not mostly their own, who take no more care to make their Servants good. I know well, that all Governors have not ability alike to provoke their Servants unto Good, but all have Authority alike to keep them from evil: And if they be not as Eagles to carry them on their Wings to Heaven, yet they should be as Sparrows to lead them unto God's House. Solomon did so order his Family, as that the Queen of Sheba did think them happy that lived under his Roof. You have the choicest Youth of all the Families in England trusted with you in your City; if they should miscarry through your neglect, how public, how great will that mischief be? In a word, may I say to you as that Prophet to the King of Israel, If thou let any escape (if thou connive at any sin or sinner) thy life shall go for his life; but if as the Syrian sword did the King of Israel, you would single out some lusts, let me bring forth to justice, especially these:  
1. Strive against that evil heart of unbelief, which is in some degree in the best of us. There is no sin damns but unbelief is in the company of it. When the Israelites were upon the borders of the Holy Land, their unbelief did send them back to wander forty years in the wilderness, till all their carcases were wasted in it. We lately thought ourselves even entering into our rest, into the possession of those glorious promises which we have long waited for: but now we are in a wilderness, we know not what to do, we know not what to say, we know not what to think, and our great Provocation is our unbelief.  
If we had Faith as a grain of Mustardseed, we should remove mountains, we should cast out Devils. Every lust is a mountain that stands up against the work of Reformation. And all unbelief is that dumb and deaf Devil that casts us so often into fire and water: now some Mountains, some Devils, are too hard for Ordinances, for Apostles themselves if they were alive, only Faith calls forth the fullness of God in Jesus Christ to overcome them.  
In Isaiah 41.14, and 15. verses, the Lord sets a Worm on work to thresh the mountains. Alas! what proportion is there between a small Worm, and a huge Mountain? But fear not, I am with thee (saith the lord) Here is a word for Faith to live upon, and to call out an Omnipotent arm to its aid, whereas our unbelief doth not only weaken us, but even Omnipotency itself, as the Lord Christ saith, He could do no great thing in Nazareth, because of their unbelief.  
Beloved, if you would live as Brethren in love, peace and unity, then see that your Faith do call in God and his Christ unto the Treaty. See that your peace hath a word of Faith to bottom upon, otherwise every Storm will shake, if not overturn the sandy foundation of it. All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.— The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever. There is more in one word of God to establish a lasting peace and union among us, than in all the Counsels of perishing Creatures, who look beside it.  
Had we Caleb's spirit to follow God fully in the guidance and assurance of his Word, what a great measure of self-denial and Christian condescension might we obtain to work towards a Religious and a firm Peace and Unity. Whatsoever therefore you strive against, strive especially against the unbelief of your own Hearts.  
Secondly, Against your Pride: This is a Proclaimed Rebel against Heaven; God will have no Peace with it. And little hope of a stable peace with men, if our Pride stands up to wage War with God.  
He that serves his Lusts, will not spare any thing that may serve them, neither with Haman, the Blood of an whole Nation, nor with Absalon, the blood of nearest Relations, nor with Herodias, the blood of most Eminent Ministers, nor Conscience, nor Religion, nor Christ, nor God, nor any thing that will suit his Design.  
When Donatus was crossed in the Bishopric of Carthage, he turned Heretic, and fired the whole Empire with his Faction. I fear lest Ambition and Malice have made many Malignants in these days. Shall I say as he, Fight not against small nor great. No, fight against all your Lusts: But above all, against this great Lust, this Pride of your Hearts, and against all those Corruptions that strengthen themselves by it. O that I could in this prevail with you this day, fortior est qui se quam qui fortissima vincit maenia, He is stronger that ruleth his spirit, than he that winneth a City. Can you overcome these Lusts of yours, you may not only win a City, but preserve and crown your own.  
My Brethren, take heed how you serve their ends who do serve their own Lusts. How should they govern you aright, that cannot govern their own Passions? Fleshly Corruption will ever lay before us specious pretences, in all those ways into which our Pride or Passion doth prompt us; but Grace will ever have a jealous eye over them. I never suffered my Passion to work, but I suffered by it, and so undoubtedly shall all they which give way unto it.  
I will only bring hither that passage of our Saviour in Luke 17. and the beginning of the Chapter, where he shows the danger of those that give Offences, and the Duty of those that suffer Offences.  
First, for those that give Offences. (And mark your danger you that do it) It were better for him (saith Christ) that a Millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the Sea, then that he should offend one of these little ones.  
Secondly, for those that suffer offences, your Duty is to forgive, and Christ well knowing how hard this Duty is to Corrupt Nature, how apt we are to make Peter's Question, How oft shall we forgive? Preoccupates this Objection, and tells us, that if every day our Brother should offend us, and seven times in every day, and should as often declare himself to be sorry for his Offence, it is our Duty to forgive. Hereupon the Apostles startle, and cry out, O Lord increase our Faith; who hath Faith strong enough to close with such a Duty as this? Our Faith can hardly work us to forgive our Brother if he offends us but once; but if every day, and if seven times in every day he doth offend, where's the Faith that can master Passion so often to forgive?  
Now, mark what Christ Answers, If ye had Faith as a grain of Mustardseed, ye might say unto this Sycamine Tree, Be thou plucked up by the Roots, and be thou planted in the Sea, and it should obey you. Though Christ might point to a Sycamine Tree there present, yet doubtless, that which he did chief aim at, was this root of bitterness, that corruption which is naturally in every one of our Hearts, indisposing us to Reconciliation; whereby the work is as hard to forgive offences, as to root up spreading Trees. Now, if a grain of Mustardseed will stock up this bitter Root, and throw it into the Sea of forgetfulness, where it may never grow nor appear more; Oh, where is your Faith then! where is this grain of Mustardseed to be found? If ever the public good did provoke us to exercise Faith in this Duty of forgiveness, now, even now it doth.  
If the glory of one man of one Parish be great in passing by offences, how eminent and exemplary will the glory of a City be?  
To conclude, Dear Friends, keep your eyes, your ends, your aims Heaven-ward, Christ-ward, God-ward; and whatsoever is against Heaven, against Christ, or against God, be you against it: And whatsoever is for Heaven, for Christ, for God, be you for i● And if we walk according to this Rule, peac● shall be upon us, and upon the Israel of God. But the Peace that is here spoken of, and Brotherly Love being both now adays things scarce to be found, I shall end this my Farewell Discourse with the following Poem out of the Ingenious Herbert, Viz.  

Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell? I humbly crave,  
Let me once know.  
I sought thee in a secret Cave,  
And asked if Peace were there.  
A hollow wind did seem to answer, No:  
Go seek elsewhere.   

I did; and going, did a Rainbow note:  
Surely thought I,  
This is the Lace of Peace's Coat:  
I will search out the matter.  
But while I looked, the Clouds immediately  
Did break and scatter.   

Then went I to a Garden, and did spy  
A gallant Flower,  
The Crown Imperial: Sure, said I,  
Peace at the Root must dwell.  
But when I digged, I saw a Worm devour  
What showed so well.   

At length I met a reverend good old man:  
Whom when for Peace  
I did demand, he thus began;  
There was a Prince of old  
At Salem dwelled, who lived with good increase  
Of flock and fold.   

He sweetly lived; yet sweetness did not save  
His Life from foes.  
But after death out of his Grave  
There sprang twelve stalks of Wheat:  
Which many wondering at, got some of those  
To plant and set.   

It prospered strangely, and did soon disperse  
Through all the earth:  
For they that taste it do rehearse,  
That virtue lies therein;  
A secret virtue, bringing Peace and mirth  
By flight of sin.   

Take of this grain, which in my Garden grows,  
And grows for you;  
Make bread of it: and that repose  
And Peace, which every where  
With so much earnestness you do pursue,  
Is only there.    

Closet Employment: OR, Several Virtues and Vices particularly Characterised, with pertinent Applications under each Head; fit for every Christian seriously to ponder upon all the days of his Life when he is by himself alone.  

1. Of Truth.  
TRuth is like the seamless Coat of our Saviour, without Rent or Division, of Heresy, or Error; it is wove with the fingers of Love, and put upon a gracious Soul by the hand of Faith, which makes her a comely Bride in the Eye of the Bridegroom. Lord, if my mistaken Soul be misled through the dim spectacles of Opinion, strip her of that dark Habit, and vest her in the light of Truth as with a Garment.   

2. The Creator known by the Creature.  
By the portraiture of Hercules Foot we find the Mathematical proportion of his body; by the visible footsteps of the Almighty in the tract of his Creatures, we see in part the perfections of the Creator; the Rays of the Sun directs my Eye to their glorious Orb; the Rivals of the Earth to their Fountainhead, the streams of the Sea to their immense Ocean; that Flower of the Field which darkened the splendour of Solomon's Robe, instructs me to contemplate the beauty of the maker. Clear up, O Lord, the Eye of my dusky soul, that what I cannot reach to by the sight of sense and reason, my Understanding may admire and see thee by faith in thy infinite perfections.   

3. Of Prayer.  
Faithful Prayer is a winged Mercury, which speeds our Necessities to God himself, and pleads our Infirmities at the bar of Heaven, and that with such winning Oratory, as prevails with the Father of Mercies for a Blessing, a promise apprehended by Faith, not returning without the pardon of sin, sealed by the Spirit of God as a Love-token to a Repenting sinner. Gracious Father, let not, I pray, the multitude of my sins, or the greatness of my transgressions cloud my Prayers, so as to turn them into Air, but let them be as faithful Messengers of my Heart's desires to find Entertainment in the Court of Heaven, and bring down the Pardon of my guiltiness, with the Blessing of Grace, to relieve my wants for my future comfort.   

4. Of Repentance.  
The Soul of Man Naturally runs counter to the Commands of God, like our Grandam Eve, after forbidden Fruit, till happily through the grace of God, stopped in the career of her designs by Repentance, as Balaam by an Angel, which shows her Disease in the glass of the Law, also her Remedy in the glass of the Gospel, so that she becomes a gracious Convert, Vomiting up those pleasurable baits of sin, like an overcharged Stomach, Luxurious Morsels that made her sick. So Merciful art thou, O Lord, unto us, which were such Enemies unto ourselves, that while we are posting in the high Road of Iniquity to our own Ruin, thou turnest us back by the Angel of Repentance, changing the complexion of our greedy Appetites from cursed Fruit to a Zealous hunger after the Bread of Life; so good art thou to save us, though against our wills.   

5. Of Humility.  
Humility is rightly defined the Queen of Virtues, the death of Vices, the Looking-glass of Virgins, and the Receptacle of the Blessed Trinity: She is like the Virtuous Woman, whose price is above Gold or Precious Stones; her lowly Habitation is a gracious Heart, where she sits Regent amongst other Virtues, who, as so many Daughters, rise up and call her Blessed; they are all exercised about strengthening the inward Man: Humility leveleth Ambitious desires, Patience teacheth to bear Afflictions, Hope expects a deliverance from them, Charity Relieves the Necessity of the Saints, and covers a multitude of faults; and Faith lays hold on Eternal Life: Thus shall it be done to the Soul that the King will Honour. Honour; O Lord, the Heart of thy Servant with these highborn Graces, then enter, thou King of Glory, Humility's House, thy own Fabric, that the Graces may bid thee welcome: Let Humility Entertain thee as her gracious Guest, Faith embrace thee as a strong Hold, Hope wait upon thee as a sure Defence, Charity relieve thee in thy distressed Members, and Patience bear thy Cross as her Crown of Glory.   

6. Of Self-denial.  
There is nothing brings more Honour to God and Credit to Man than the Grace of Self-denial, which is a Character of Gods own Teaching, but few will take the pains to Learn it, because they must first be untaught self, before they can be taught the Art of Self-denial. Men generally are apt to study Men, and study Books, both Divine and Moral, to increase Humane knowledge, and set up the Interest of Ambition and Covetousness, that when Times change, and Religion and Ambition come in competition, they will steer their Devotions to all Winds to shelter them from the storms of Shipwreck; whereas a gracious Heart will endeavour to study that Chemical Wisdom to draw out the Spirit of Self-denial from the Limbeck of Heaven, which indeed is the Quintessence of all the Graces, and makes a Sovereign Antidote against all Malignant Tumours of Self-love; it combats the passions of the Heart, it allayeth the flateous Humours of Pride and Vainglory; it suppresseth the Earthy Vapours of Avarice, which poisoneth the Heart, and intoxicate the Brain; it bridles intemperate Appetites, which run like a Torrent, having the wind of Satan's Temptations, and our own passionate inclinations to split the Ship of our Souls upon the Rock of Eternal Misery. Preserve me, O my God, from such disasters by this Mysterous Virtue of Self-denial; render me, I beseech thee, a Disciple capable of this Science; teach me effectually to spell my frailty in this golden Alphabet, place it as a Frontlet before the eyes of my Soul, that I may continually read the outstrayings of my Heart with regret of spirit, that I may change my Affections from the love of the World to the love of thyself, that when the Bark of my Soul shall put ashore, it may safely arrive at the Haven of Heaven.   

7. Of Patience.  
Patience under the Cross, is like Gold under the hand of the Finer, when sufficiently tried in the Fire of Affliction, and ordered by the hand of Heaven, becomes a Glorious Crown for a faithful Christian. Lord, if my Earthy heart be so impatient that it needs Refining, purify it, I pray thee, of its drossy quality, that it may be brought into a better temper, and be made tractable to thy gracious Designs.   

8. Of Contentment.  
Contentment is a meek submission of a gracious Spirit to the will of God in every condition; it puts the Heart into a Holy frame, willing to subject and lay itself low to the frowns and stroke of Justice, as well as to the smiles of Mercy. Good is the Word of the Lord (saith Old Elimine) If the Lord say, he takes no pleasure in me (saith David) let him do to me what he pleaseth: Learning, with Paul, in every condition to be content. This gracious disposition is like Wax, capable of any impression; or as Clay in the hand of the Potter, which may be moulded into any form or fashion. Where there is a suitableness between the disposition and the condition, a man will suffer all things, endure all things with contentment. Take from him (as one saith) his Wealth, his Treasure is in Heaven; cast him into Prison, his Conscience is free; take away his good Name, his Innocency will vindicate him against all aspersions; banish him his Country, Jerusalem above is his City of Refuge. Si fractus illabatur orbis impavidum seriunt ruinae vultus. Though the Foundation of the Earth should shake, he will not be moved. It is the mind and apprehension that makes every condition better or worse. Restraints and Confinements to some are as bad as Death, but to others sweet Captivities, places of more Liberty for the Service of God, witness the rejoicings of Paul and Silas. He that hath Christ dwelling in his Heart by Faith, may truly say, with the Philosopher, Omnia mea mecum porto, my Treasure is a hidden Treasure; I carry all within me, and that all I shall carry to Heaven with me. Gracious Lord, who hath the hearts of all men in thy hands, to order and dispose of them to thy own design; impress, I beseech thee, with the seal of thy spirit upon my heart this lovely Grace of Contentment, that I may bear thy Cognisance in every condition; mould it, I pray thee, to such an Holy temper, as my submission to thy will may answer thy expectation: If thou cast me into the Mould of Affliction, let me come out thy contented Patient; if thou take from me all that I have, give me thyself, and I shall enjoy all things. Christus meus & omnia, If Christ be not wanting, Contentment feels no want.   

9 Of Peace.  
Peace is a gracious Acquiescence of the Soul in God, it is one part of that joyful Tidings proclaimed by the Herald of Heaven, Glory to God, on Earth Peace, goodwill towards men; yea, it is that Royal Legacy left by the King of Glory to his Apostles, My Peace I leave with you; as it was his dying bequest, so it was his reviving salute after his Resurrection, Peace be unto you: This is that Peace which passeth all understanding, which keeps our Hearts in the knowledge and love of God. It causeth a cessation of all our Lusts, which War against God and our Souls, it Uniteth God and Man together in a happy Union and sweet Communion in the Court of Conscience, it puts an end to all strife, and begets an harmonious Agreement between man and man. Blessed Saviour, who art the great Peacemaker between God and Man, who stilleth the raging of the Sea; and the madness of the People, I beseech thee, bridle the floods of my Passions, that they run not over me with noise, calm with the word of Peace the boisterous billows of my warfaring Members, that they swell not over the banks of my soul, sending forth mire and dirt: And since there is a necessity of War in my heart, Lord, convert the enmity thereof against sin and Satan, that the end of this War may be Peace.   

10. Of Love.  
Love is a holy flame derived to us from the Altar of God (who is Love itself) whose property is to beget the like; so we come to love God, who first loved us. Philosophy tells us, that Love is grounded upon similitude, Nature instructs sensible Creatures to love their young; and God teacheth Parents to love their Children, because parts of themselves; and Children by a reflective relation to love their Parents, as Authors of their being. How much more ought we to love God, who created both Soul and Body. Our Love being but a part of his parental Affection, who offered himself a Sacrifice for us through the flame of his Affection. Assimilate, O my God, the soul of thy servant unto thee, and let the fire of thy spirit burn up the pile of my sins, purifying my heart, and kindling my Affections, that I may offer up my soul a zealous Holocaust to the flame of thy Altar.   

11. Of Chastity.  
This single Grace of Chastity will admit of no Cor-rival but God himself in her Virgin-heart, in which she erects a Temple of Love for the Lords delight, scourging out all uncleanness with the rod of Sorrow, dedicating it wholly to the Service and Honour of the Lord, where Love and Beauty, God and the Soul are espoused together in holy affection and sweet communion. Give me, O Lord, what wilt thou give? a clean heart truly devoted to thy service. Though the stains of impure Cogitations and verbal Transgressions may unwillingly and unwarily break in to defile thy Temple; O may the rod of Repentance drive them out; but shield it, I pray thee, from that great abomination of desolation, those deathful wounds of actual pollution to make it a stink of all iniquity, but deck and adorn it with the graces of thy spirit, that it may be made a beautiful habitation for thy honour's reception.   

12. Temperance.  
Temperance is as a comely Matron which walks soberly and warily in the wholesome path of Mediocrity, between excess and defect; her actings are to the health both of Body and Soul, avoiding (in order to Food and Raiment) Superfluity and Sordidness, being fed with Frugality, and clothed with Decency; as to the Soul her Religion very Orthodox, running a most even course between blind Zeal and open Profaneness (like the Sun in its Aequinox between the Winter and the Summer Solstice) hating Enthusiasm, Papism and Atheism with other giddy opinions coined out of the Mint of inconsiderate Brains, which begetteth nothing but Division, Contention and Disaffection. Most holy Lord, who art holiness itself, and delightest in the beauty of holiness, pious hearts, as mansions, where thy honour will please to dwell; square my Religion to the strait rule of thy word, and so fashion my Devotion, as may be most agreeable to thy own mind, neither ceremoniously superstitious, or irreverently rude, but zealously affected in a decent and orderly manner, as may be most suitable to piety, and the honour of thy Majesty.   

13. Of Obedience and Disobedience.  
A good natured Child will grieve, that he hath offended his indulgent Father; whereas a more rugged disposition will not come into the School of Obedience, without much swinging. Make me, O Lord, a child of Obedience by the smiles of thy mercy, rather than by the frowns of thy Justice; draw me by the silken twines of thy Affections, and not by the ruff Cords of thy Corrections; but if I be so illnatured, that the rays of thy love will not mollify my hard heart, let the awful stripes of thy fear make it tender; so shall thy rod and thy staff comfort me.   

14. Of Gratitude and Ingratitude.  
Thankfulness is the tribute of our Affections, which we pay as a Rent-charge to the great Lord of Heaven and Earth, by which we acknowledge his property in us, and our Loyalty to him for all his blessings both for Soul and Body; and nothing can out us of Possession, discard us of our freedom, or cancel the obligation of his love to us, but Ingratitude, that monster in nature, which was one of the grand sins, which ejected Adam out of his Garden of Paradise, into a wilderness of Sin; transformed Nebuchadnezar from a man to a Beast, till he returned better mannered; and smote Herod in his Judgment-seat, because he gave not God the glory. Great God in whose hands are all the Corners of the earth, and the fullness thereof, in whatsoever possession of thy blessings thy goodness please to place me as Tenant for life; O may I esteem it far beyond my deservings, that I may learn to be thankful: And suffer not, I pray thee, my nature so ill to degenerate into Ingratitude, as to alienate thy affections from me, to out me of the Eden of thy favour; and let me not be so blockishly dull, as not to acknowledge thy property; or so arrogantly peccant to rob thee of thy honour, lest deservedly I incur thy righteous displeasure, but ingratiate my heart, I beseech thee, with so good a nature, as I may render myself a more perfect Creature, to give thee thy deuce belonging to thy honour, and myself the comfort of thy gracious dispensations towards me.   

15. Of Mercy and Justice.  
Mercy and Justice are the righteous Balances of Heaven poized by the Hand of Truth, which weighs to every one the Rewards of Life and death. Mercy is filled with promises of life, Justice with wages of death; Faith lays hold on the Scale of Mercy through the merits of a Saviour: Infidelity draws down Justice, as a Recompense for Iniquity. So righteous art thou, O Lord, in thy ways, and just in thy Judgements, who dispensest to every one after their deservings. Merciful Father, though the magnitude and multitude of my Transgressions be so heavy to draw down the Balance of thy Indignation upon me, yet being Counterpoized with thy Sons merits in the Balance of Mercy, they shall be found too light to condemn me, and my Faith of sufficient weight to save me.   

16. Of Faith.  
Faith is the Souls Optic, which discovereth things afar off, as if near at hand, though darkly, as in a Glass, yet far surpassing all the Optics of Astrology, which takes the dimensions of the Orbs, according to the sense, whereas Faith maketh search into Heaven, seethe God Almighty with all his Attributes, in the beauty of Holiness, Jesus Christ his Son sitting at his right hand interceding for us; the Holy Ghost proceeding & coming down like fire to baptise the Saints, with all the Heavenly Quires of Saints and Angels singing Allelujah to the King of Glory; yea, it discovereth Hell afar off with all its monstrosity, the reward of our Iniquity, seethe Satan compassing the Earth in pursuit of the Mother and her Child to devour them, but overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Thus (O my Soul) with this Optic of Faith thou mayest survey all the wonders of God, making things, invisible to the eye of sense, visible to the eye of Reason. Thus beholding thee (O my God) in thy glorious perfections, in thy marvellous works, in thy gracious Attributes, let me experiment thy spirit of grace quickening, thy wisdom teaching, thy power supporting, thy love comforting, thy Justice tenderly chastising, and thy mercy saving me; let the light of thy countenance, the splendour of thy Majesty so dart upon my soul through this Glass of Faith, that thou mayest be in love with thy own beauty.  
Faith, again may be said to be the compass of the Soul, which centres one part upon God, the other upon the heart of man, rounding a Sphere of a new Creation with circles of love, through which she draws a Diameter by the Rule of the word, which is as a jacob's Ladder by the hand of an Angel to convey the Graces of God to man, and the Prayers of man unto God. Scale, (O my soul) by this Ladder of Faith, the Battlements of Heaven, contend with thy Maker, and let him not go without a blessing; so shalt thou gain, by the battery of Prayer, a Kingdom by violence.   

17. Of Hope.  
In the greatest difficulties Hope is a comfortable support to an afflicted Soul. When Epimetheus unadvisedly opened Pandoras' Box, he let out all the miseries in the world upon himself, but hastily shutting the lid, reserved hope in the Bottom for his comfort. When the waves of Affliction come rolling like a Land-flood upon a man, Hope buoys up his Spirits that he swims above water; it lightens fears, lessens cares, expelleth despair, fills the Soul with magnanimity against all disanimosity; it is a cordial Grace which revives a fainting Spirit from death; yea, though the Lord writes bitter things against a man, and hedgeth him up on every side with thorns of Affliction, yet Hope breaketh through, inclining the Lord to pity: Though he kill 〈◊〉, saith Job, yet will I trust in him. When Ahasa●erus's Decree of Death went forth for the Destruction of the Jews, though Esther had failed of her duty, yet Mordecai's hope expected deliverance some other way. Endeavour we then to lodge our Hope in the bosom of Heaven, that when the high winds of desolation, the bitter storms of Persecution shall beat down our clay-buildings upon their sandy foundations, our souls may be safely housed upon the stable rock of our Salvation.   

18. Of Charity.  
Amongst all the herbs of Grace planted by the Spirit of God in the Garden of a gracious heart. Charity hath the supreme virtue, it is like the Oil that was poured upon Aaron's head, odoriferous to God and Man. This Oil of Charity is an excellent Remedy to heal the sinful Bruises of the Soul: It expelleth the Poison of Revenge, it cureth the Plague sores of Envy, Hatred, and Malice, and is of a magnetic power to attract the Iron hearts of Enemies to brotherly Kindness; yea, though a man had all Gifts and Graces, as is expressed by the Apostle, and wanted Charity, he is nothing. Charity is kind, envieth not, vaunteth not, is not puffed up, beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things. So rare are the fruits that spring from the root of Charity. Pour upon my Soul, O Lord, this Oil of Love, this Balm of Gilead, this blessed Unction of thy holy Spirit, for the savour of which the Virgins love thee, let me, I beseech thee, experiment the healing virtue, the comfortable effects and fruits thereof in my Conversation, to the joy of my spirit, the benefit of my Neighbours, and all to the praise of thee my Creator.   

19 Of Faith, Hope, and Love.  
Faith, Hope, and Love, as they are the three Theological Graces of the Soul, so they are Handmaids to wait upon her, all exercised upon an object of promise; Faith beholds it, Hope expects it, Love embraceth it. Faith looks upon it with assurance to obtain it, Hope waits for it with patience to get it, Love receiveth it with comfort to enjoy it. Rouse up then thyself, O my drooping Soul, from the slumbers of Sorrow and despair, and milk Consolation from the dugs of the Promises. Art thou poor and needy, the Lord is thy Portion: doth every one reject thee, thy God careth for thee, who hath said, he will not leave thee, or forsake thee. Lay hold on these Promises with thy hand of Faith, secure them unto thee through Hope in thy extremity, so shalt thou enjoy them in God's opportunity.   

20. Of Nocturnal Devotion.  
In the deep of silence, when Morpheus the black Jailer of the night shackles the outward senses, and lays them to rest under his sable Canopy, then, and then only is the time of a gracious Soul that waits upon God (breaking off sluggish slumbers) to awake in God, and to have sweet Communion with him by Meditation, Supplication, and Ejaculation, entering into the secret closet of the heart, where he may examine and read over the Erratas of the misspent day, and with the holy Prophet, with tears of Repentance wash them away. This kind of Devotion hath ever been of the Coram at all times, nothing to interrupt a zealous Votary, but a Clock or a Cock, which are pleasing Monitors of his well-spent minutes; it puts the heart into a holy frame, making it better for the succession of the next day; as Plato's Royal guest with homely, but wholesome Collations of green herbs being well seasoned with the savoury Discourse of the Philosopher. Enter then, thou King of glory into the heart of thy Servant, though I can give thee but mean entertainment; yet if thou please to honour my Soul with the Graces of thy Spirit, thy own beauty shall bid thee welcome. Be thou, O Lord, a Saviour unto me both by night and by day; rouse my Soul from the slumbers of sin, and unfetter it from the gives of carnal security, from the swaddling bands of spiritual darkness, that I sleep not in death; set it at liberty as a bird from the snare, that it may soar up unto thee by the wings of Prayer, and have sweet society with thee before the morning Watch; yea, I say, before the Morning, and be thou as a bundle of Myrrh between my Breasts, and let Love be thy Banner over me; and since it is thy Precept that I should watch and pray, lest I fall into Temptation, though my outward Man sleep for the support of my Spirit, yet let my Heart wait and wake for thee, that when thou comest, whether in the Evening Watch, Midnight, Cock-crowing, or dawning, I may open unto thee, and give thee Entertainment.   

21. The Nature of Sin.  
No sooner is Man Born into the World, but sin, like a Vulture, seizeth, the Faculties of his Infant Soul: So that his Body becomes a Living Monument of his better part, till, like Lazarus, from his four days Tomb, it be Miraculously reanimated by the Word of Life. As it is the greater Miracle (O Lord) to raise my Soul from the Grave of sin, which hath not only been four days, but many Years under the power and shadow of Death, so shall it be through thy grace the greater Obligation to make me look upon thee by the Eye of Faith, as the Object of my Soul, and God of my Salvation.   

22. The Devil and the Spider.  
In beholding the Spider, methinks I see some resemblance of the Devil, both Venomous Creatures, and begin their Work alike, one in the centre of her Web, the other in the centre of the Heart; both aiming at one end, which is to kill and destroy, both forming their inviting works out of their Poisonous Bowels: The Spider's Web so curious, that prying Flies are entangled in it. The Devils Work so glorious, that beautified with Objects of Pleasure and Profit, every one more or less is snared in it. Sweep away (O Lord) these Cobwebs of sin from my Captivated Soul; set it at Liberty from the thraldom of Satan, so shall it be delivered as thy Ransomed one, as a Bird from the Fowler.   

23. Of Vanity.  
Great is Diana, was the cry of the Ephesians, to which not only Ephesus, but all Asia gave their Worship: How much greater is the Worlds Diana, vanity, that not only Asia, but the World itself prostitutes its Devotions? She is Attended with three Golden Idols as vain as herself, Pride, Concupiscence, and Lust, the World's Trinity, which entertains all Suitors with variety of Honours, Pleasures, and Profits. To this Lady of Honour the Ambitious spirit makes his acquist, esteeming himself as nothing without a bended Knee, a popular Applause, and a turgent Title, which his Fancy feeds upon as the Chameleon upon Air, but if crossed in his designs by any opposite to his ascension, he grows as lean as Envy can make him, like the Birds that fed upon Zeuxis Grapes with pecking at shadows. Hither also resorts to this glaring shrine the Idolatrous Miser, whose Hydropic thirst after Gold, like the Horseleech after Blood, cries, Give, Give; his Heart is always digging with the Mould in this Earthy Mine, never satisfied till Death Robs his soul from his silver Mountain, and his Mouth is bunged with courser Earth: Finally, the Luxurious Gallant makes Court to this Goddess of Beauty, who prodigallizeth upon her Wanton all her sinful Favours, which may indulge the Flesh, and please desire with her deeds of Darkness. Enter not, my Soul, into these their secrets, which lead down to the Chambers of Death, but skip like a Hart over these Mountains of Vanity. Soar with the Wing of Contemplation into a higher glory; let thy aspiring thoughts transcend this Airy Arrogance as far as Light surpasseth Darkness, Heaven surmounteth Hell, where thou mayst Tribute thy Devotions to a more Beautiful shrine, the Blessed Trinity, from whence thou mayst derive everlasting Comforts, eternal Honours, which fly not away upon the Wings of Time, durable Riches, where neither Rust doth canker, or Thiefs break through and steal, torrents of Divine pleasure, which shall continually cheer and refresh thy spirits, where thou mayst behold with perpetual contentment, the loveliness of Beauty, the splendour of Saints, and the glory of Kingly Majesty.   

24. Of Infidelity.  
The Fool hath said in his Heart, there is no God, so consequently neither Heaven nor Hell, which Atheistical Opinion is too rife in the Hearts of many, who live as without God in the World, without hope of Heaven, or fear of Hell, so willingly incredulous are they of their own safety or Ruin, that though they have the two Testaments, Nature and Grace, the Light of Reason and the Word of God to inform them, the one convincing their Consciences, the other to enlighten their Understandings, yet are they such Passionate Zealots over their Lusts, that they violently court the embraces of Hell, like Pliny, the re-search of his scorning Vesuvius, they will doubtfully experiment their own destruction. As in Mercy, O Lord, thou hast given me a Rational being capable of Divine Light, as a true born Christian, let not, I pray thee, the Powers of Darkness, or my indulgency over sin, muffle my Soul in unbelief, to make me an Atheist, but impress upon my Heart with the Seal of thy Spirit, the true cognizance of thyself, that I may know thee, who Created me, to be my Almighty Father, thy Son, who Redeemed me, my Blessed Saviour; the Holy Ghost, who Sanctifies me, my gracious Preserver: That I may know Heaven a place of Honour, a Kingdom of incomparable Love; Hell a place of Horror, a Lake of intolerable dolour; let the beauty of the one invite my Affections, the danger of the other fright me from sin, and both be objects of my Souls safety.   

25. Of Pride.  
Pride is a gaudy Brat of a Monstrous Nature, begot by the Father of Lies upon a Presumptuous Heart, whose Towering thoughts, and Devil-like Disposition could not soar higher, or centre lower than God himself. It was the Serpent's suggestion to the Woman, Ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil: A Temptation no sooner offered then embraced, which brought a Curse upon herself, her Husband, and Posterity, In sorrow shalt thou bring forth; by the sweat of thy brows shalt thou eat Bread: The Serpent not exempted, Dust shalt thou eat, upon thy belly shalt thou creep. So that the Serpent was punished for Lying, Adam and Eve for aspiring and eating. Strangle, O Lord, in Love to our Souls, such spurious Conceptions of the Serpent's Pride in our Lustful hearts, that they may not come to the perfection of Birth, which will bring forth death. But if we will not keep within the bounds of thy Commands, but will through too much Curiosity peep into thy secret Decrees, and entrench upon thy Negative Precepts, thou wilt make us acknowledge thee Righteous in thy ways, and Just in thy Judgements.   

26. Of Hypocrisy.  
Hypocrisy is (similata sanctitas) Virtue in appearance, when Vested in her Saintlike Habit, under which sin and Satan doth shroud themselves to deceive the Innocent, not unlike the Earth in the midst of Winter, when Clothed in her white Raiment, spurious Brood's of Toads, Nettles, and Adders lie mantled under her snowy Breasts; but when the Sun ariseth in its vigour, her Nakedness is uncovered, and her Deformity appears. So is it with our Earthy Hearts, which Naturally brings forth mishapen Brats of Lusts, veiled through the Devil's Policy under the Garment of Hypocrisy, transforming them, as himself, into Angels of Light. Discover, O my God, to the Eye of my Soul, such dangerous Impostors as sin and Satan, that I may behold them in their Monstrous shape with detestation, as the great Enemies of my Salvation, and arise, thou Sun of Glory; with thy beams of Love upon my Soul, and thaw away this rimy Robe from my frozen Heart, that I may appear what in truth I am, the greater Object of thy Compassions.   

27. Of Envy.  
This Torturing Passion is like Prometheus his Vulture, which continually Tyrannizes' upon the Heart; where it takes possession, it soveraignizeth over the rest of the Passions, not enduring any Competitor in the Commonwealth of Prosperity, subjecting all the Lusts to be subservient to it; if Covetousness come in competition with it for greatness of Reward, Envy will be thankful to the Angel for one Eye to make the Miser stark blind. If graceful Virtue sit in the seat of Dignity, Envy will endeavour by Ambition to pull her down. If Love cannot win Lady Beauty by fair Treatment, Envy stirs up Raging Lust to deflower her. If Thrift grow up in the Garden of Prosperity, Envy presently sendeth forth Extortion to crop it. If true Valour bear away the Prize of Honour, Cowardice and Vainglory are employed to asperse it by detraction. This Envy is Attended with two sullen Passions, Hatred, and Malice; the one is a sad sedement of continued Anger, which settles upon the spleen, causing it to swell upon every occasion in opposition to its object of discontent: The other is ever hatching Mischievous designs for Envy's Practice. Envious detractor, Malicious sinner, Hateful maligner, who not only Robs thyself of quiet, but also Thiefs away from thy Neighbour his Goods, and good Name. If thy Passions be so great, that thou must place them somewhere, let me Advise thee to consult thy own heart, study thy own imperfections, where thou shalt find matter enough to work upon, for thy better advantage: Arraign thy Passions before Heaven as Traitors to God and Man: Humbly solicit the Lord to Metamorphize thy hatred, in love to himself, thy Envy in Charity to thy Neighbour, and thy Malice against the suggestions of Satan, that so overcoming thyself through his grace, thou mayst be made a Pious Zealot of his Glory.   

28. Of Anger.  
Anger is an Inflammation of the spirits raised from the hot Furnace of Choler; the symptoms are a frowning Brow, a sparkling Eye, and a virulent Tongue, which picks the Lock of discreet silence, and sets at Liberty a multitude of Faults, which was covered with Love, speaking what it should forget, to the dis-repute of Friends and Familiars; it banisheth Patience, breaks the bands of Affection, and distempereth the whole course of Nature; so that it may well be called a short Madness, till brought into a better temper by the Manacles of Moderation, Corrected by discretion. Impatient Man, if thy fiery Temperature be so predominant, that thou canst not master this blind Passion, think on that Divine Vengeance due unto thee for thy Transgression, let it fright thee out of thy Choleric Nature, as Piander was affrighted with a clap of Thunder, which made him think that the gods were angry with him: Let the same consideration imprison thy thoughts, but with better Illumination, that God's Judgements are ready to seize upon thee for this thy Frenzy, and pray thou unto him, to change the complexion of thy heart into a holy Zeal against thy Passions, so mayst thou be angry and sin not.   

29. Of. Backbiting.  
The Backbiter is a secret Coward, which Wounds at a distance, the poison of Asps is under his Lips, which he vents by the Engine of a false Tongue, not daring to look his Enemy Truth in the face. The Tale-bearer and Prater are of the same Lineage, Children of Mischief, who delight to Fish in troubled Waters, Trumpeters of Folly, sounding a false Alarm in seditious Ears, which are as foul Channels, only fit for the reception of stinking Waters; a smooth brow gives them Entertainment, but an Angry Countenance drives them away (saith Solomon) as the North Wind drives away Rain; for where Wood faileth, the fire goeth out, where there is no Tale-bearer, strife ceaseth. Give me, O Lord, what wilt thou give me, that harmless spirit, the spirit of Meekness, that I dip not my Tongue in this Gall of bitterness, and that my Ears be not sponges of foul detraction to nourish prejudice against my Neighbour; prevent me also, I pray, from the mirery aspersions of evil Men, who whet their Tongues like Swords, and shoot out their Arrows, bitter words; they encourage themselves in Mischief, and the way of Peace they will not know.   

30. Of Lying.  
A Liar is much conversant in the Black Art, in that he is continually hammering out Lies upon the Anvil of his dark Heart. He is like an irregular Clock, which retails falsehood by Minutes, telling them out in gross by a lying Alarm. Amongst all the Societies of Men, a Liar is a most odious Creature, in that he outfaces Truth by a downright Lie, as Gehazi his Master, Thy Servant went not whither. Or else by Mental Reservation and fallacious Equivocation, as the Devil at Delphos, Aio te Aeacidae Romanos vincere posse; or else he will palliate his Design with a gloss of Scripture, as Satan to our Saviour, He will give his Angels charge over thee; so cunning a Factor is the Liar to beget Proselytes to the Father of Lies, winning belief from unsettled Judgements not able to distinguish Light from Darkness, Truth from Error. Great God, who art the searcher of Hearts, discover, I beseech thee, unto me by the light of Truth, the dark inventions of my deceitful Heart; set a Watch before my Mouth, that my Tongue run not counter to the Balance of Truth, but order thou my Conversation by the square of uprightness, that I deceive not myself by lying Vanities, or my Neighbours by ambiguous Truths.   

31. Of Swearing.  
The common Swearer is a blackmouthed Cannon, fired by his own Passions, thundering out Dams as so many Bullets against the Battlements of Heaven, as if he would Quarrel with his Maker for his preservation. It is matter of amazement, were not God infinitely Merciful, that he break not in pieces like an overcharged Gun, and that he opens not a way to let down speedy Vengeance upon himself. Of all the sins that Man commits, there is the least Profit or Pleasure in Oaths, unless it be for the confirmation of a Lie, for the compassing of a wicked Design, masked under the guise of Truth; or to set a gloss of unsanctified Rhetoric upon a Ranting Speech, framed by that grand Artist the Devil. Tremble thou then, O Profane sinner, at this thy Character, consider the Mercy and Longsufferance of God, who will not that thou shouldest perish; prevent in time by thy unfeigned Repentance the Judgements of God, which thy Oaths, as Messengers to Heaven, invokes to thy destruction. Since Satan and thy own evil Nature hath conspired together to make thee Blaspheme the Name of God; earnestly entreat him to set a watch before thy Lips, that thou offend not with thy Tongue, and to mould thy Heart into a better temper, that thou be not obnoxious to thy sober Brother, or such an Enemy to thyself, as to hasten Ruin to thy own soul.   

32. Of Drunkenness.  
Drunkenness is a sleepy Potion, which seizeth the faculties of the Soul, locking them up in a Lethargy of sin, depriving them of their Natural Function to the support both of the outward and inward Man, whereby they come to lose their Active Virtues; it stifles the Understanding with fumes of Wine, banishing from it the power of Reason, which distinguisheth a Man from a Beast; it prompts the Will to all kind of Wickedness, and drowneth that Noble Register the Memory in the sink of Brutality, forgetting what it should remember, and remembering what it should forget. Consider then (O Man) with detestation this staggering sin of Ebriety, what a Protean Disguise it puts upon thee, that couldst thou see thy Monstrous hue in the Glass of discretion, how thou art reeling headlong in the way to Hell, was enough to fright thee into a sober temper: But while thou art snorting in this deathful sin, in this Swinish security (without infinite Mercy) thou mayst awake in Hell.   

33. Of Covetousness.  
Covetousness is not unfitly called the Root of all Evil, a sour Root indeed, slipped from the Crab-tree-stock of our fore-Parent Eve, it generally grows in the ground of all men's hearts, but Rich soils are the most natural for it, in that it receives the greatest Nourishment from them, as a thirsty Humour from a Dropsical Body: It bears all sorts of evil Fruits which are desirable for Profit and Delight. It is that Golden Hesperides that the red Dragon Guarded for his Minions (till slain by Hercules) which all passionately inquire after; the greedy Miser for Wealth, the Ambitious for Honour, the Luxurious for Pleasure; all being Avaricious of Beautiful Apples, no Labour, no Danger seems difficult to obtain their desires, whereas the poor Soul lies Hunger-starved for want of the sincere Milk of the Word, that it may grow thereby. Convert we then our thoughts from these perishing things to a holy Covetousness after a more durable substance than this eyely Fruit, which like the Apples of Sodom will fade into dust; hunger we after that Tree of Life which beareth twelve manner of Fruits, the Doctrine of the Apostles, which are for the healing of the Nations, through the virtue of the Lord of life, our great Hercules; pray we him to cut down both root and branch of this Hesperides, and slay the Dragon which keepeth Possession; and that he will please to replant us with better fruit (to wit) the graces of his spirit, that we may grow up as fruitful Trees by the water-brooks of Repentance, bringing forth our fruit in due season.   

34. Of Prodigality.  
It is no Paradox to say, That the Prodigal is very covetous, in that all his Lavishments are to gratify his greedy Passions, that could he enjoy perpetual health and strength, with the unlimited Addition of large Revenues, as fuel to feed his sinful humours, his luxurious Appetite would never be satisfied; yet is he not so unprofitable a member in a Commonwealth, as the covetous miser, who defrauds his Genius to indulge his lustful eye, being a Thief to the Commonwealth, robbing it of Treasure, which should relieve his Brother. Whereas the Prodigal is his own greatest enemy, others partaking of his wild Disbursements, though not of his sin; his whole life being as a Dream, his profuse fancy feeding upon all kind of Delights, which may cherish the flesh and pamper Nature, till awakened by the storms and pinches of Poverty, which haply makes him return by weeping, cross to his Father's house for better shelter, and more wholesome Diet. O thou Almighty Giver, who dispensest of thy goodness to every one, as in thy wisdom thou knowest convenient for them; if thou please to intrust me with two or three Talents, suffer me not to be so prodigally vicious as to wanton them away upon my sinful Lusts; or so wretchedly avaricious, as to hoard them up unprofitably in the ground of my sensual heart; but that I may improve them as thy faithful steward, to the best advantage of thee my Lord and Master, that when thou callest me to an account, I may cheerfully appear before thee, not fearing thy Curse, but expecting thy Blessing.   

35. Of Vain-glory.  
The Vainglorious man is a bundle of Folly, swaddled up in ambitious Bravery, whose airy thoughts, words and gestures, doth metamorphize his Soul by a kind of Pythagorean metempsuchosis into a puff of Vanity; his wild fancy draws the circuit of his conceit beyond the Moon; his words like wind bladders him up into a fond opinion of his frothy humour; his gestures so affectionately mimical, that they make him more than ridiculous. Come not, O my Soul, into this airy Element; let not vainglory swell thee like a Bladder in an overprizing conceit of thine own weakness; but let Sobriety moderate thy Passions, Temperance regulate thy Affections, Humility bridle thy desires, that thou mayest be a friend to thyself, and not a foe to others.   

36. Of Presumption and Desperation.  
The Serpent having bitten our first Parents with this infectious sin of Presumption, afterwards sets upon Cain with that stinging sin of Desperation: Both which are the great Masterpieces he useth to batter the Rampire of our Righteousness, that so he may the more easily let in death into the heart, the Souls Citadel: one commonly follows the other, as that little ravenous beast follows the Lion for the reversion of his Prey. 〈◊〉 the great design of Satan, to hush a man 〈…〉 a carnal security, that he may spend 〈…〉 and flower of his years in a presumptive way of sinning, in hope of an after Repentance; but if he chance to look back in the Evening of his age, the Devil rouzes the Conscience as a sleepy Lion to to fly in his face, which returns him into his former way of Presumption, or else exposes him to the devouring teeth of Desperation. Shield me, O my God, with thy preventing Grace from such miscarriage, that passing through the Red Sea of this World, I may steer my course by the gale of thy favour, between Silla and Carybdis, the rocks of Presumption, and the Gulf of Desperation, till I safely arrive upon the coast of Canaan, the promised harbour of eternal Rest.   

37. Of Virtue and Vice.  
Narrow is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it: but broad is the way that leads unto death, and many there are that go in thereat. At the entrance of the one stands Virtue in her sable dress, like Rachel mourning for the loss of her Children, and will not be comforted, crying with Wisdom in the open places of concourse; How long will ye simple ones love Simplicity, ye Scorners delight in scorning, and Fools hate knowledge? Turn ye at my Reproof, behold, I will show you the way of life, though it may seem cragged, rough and hard, yet by it you shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But at the other way stands gaudy Vice in her rich habiliments like Solomon's Harlot, curiously bedecked with all sensual Invitements, with which she commits a rape upon the Eyes of her Beholders; her lips drop as the Honeycomb, and her words are smother than Oil, her feet go down to death, and her steps take hold on Hell: she opens unto them the gate of Vanity, which leads into a spacious place, where are Gamesters of all sorts, sporting themselves with the Rackets of Pleasures and Profits in the Tennis-Court of this World, till unwisely, unwarily, and unhappily they court their own Destruction. Prevent me, O my God, in the day of Grace with thy blessing of wisdom, that I may listen to the call of Virtue, and not to the Courtship of Vice, that I may creep with the fewest on the knees of humility in the narrow way to eternal life, and not run with the most on the feet of Folly in the broad way to eternal death.   

38. Of the World.  
As the Wilderness of sin was a place of trial, and trouble to the murmuring Israelites in their way to Canaan; sufferin hunger and thirst with the sting of Serpents, for Rebellion and Disobedience: so is the World in general to us all, full of variety of Vexation of Spirit for Sin and Transgression. Some are hungry, and thirsty, and cold, and naked, pinched with poverty; others surfeiting with prosperity, throughfulness of flesh sticking in their teeth, their fiery Lusts, as so many Serpents, gendered by Satan, upon their Sin-bearing hearts, sting them to death without the mercy of a Saviour. Blessed Redeemer, who hast healing under thy wings for every disease, cure, I beseech thee my wounded heart, being sorely bitten with the venomous Teeth of my Viperous Passions, direct the eye of my soul (as the Israelites to their Brazen Serpent) to look up unto thee for my speedy Remedy, that so passing through the briers of this wilderness of sin, or sinful wilderness, I may safely enter by the Conduct of thee my great Joshua, into the promised land of Eternal Rest.   

39 Of the Earth.  
When I look upon the Earth invellopt in her misty weeds; methinks I see her sit, as a disconsolate widow, mourning the Sun's absence, to exhale those Vapours from her clouded brow by the virtue of his glorious beams: So if my foggy Soul sit benighted under the dark Canopy of sin and Error. Lord, let the shining of thy Wisdom enlighten the eyes of my understanding that I may see thee in thy beauty, to the great comfort of my Soul in the fruition of thy Spirit.   

40. Of Light.  
Light is a comfortable emanation breathed from the mouth of God; Let there be light, and there was light; without which the Fabric of Heaven and Earth was an abortive swaddled up in the mantle of obscurity; it distinguisheth Colours, discriminates objects of various forms, properties, and qualities, with their several dimensions; it shows the great perfections of the Creator in the visibility of the Creatures, especially in that choice piece called, Man the model of the greater World, whose intellective Soul is made capable of a twofold light (like the Sun and Moon) Grace and Nature, the one giving shine to the Science of Divinity, the other of Morality, whereby we come to know God in us, and us in him. Lighten, O Lord, I entreat thee, my dark heart, which indeed is no better than a confused Chaos invellopt with the clouds of sin and ignorance shine upon it with the light of thy countenance which may discover unto me my deformity, making me seek for better perfection in the knowledge of thy will, and practice of thy word which is a Lantern to my feet, and a light unto my paths.   

41. Of the Sun.  
That glorious Lamp the Sun hath several Properties according to the Subject-matter it meets with; it hardens Clay, and melteth Wax, its beams lighting on a stinking Dunghill, causeth a noisome savour, but darting on a fragrant Garden, produceth a pleasant smell. Cleanse my heart, thou Son of Righteousness, of the filth of sin, by the virtue of thy precious blood, that it may not be exposed to the influence of thy rays as a putrid substance, but as a Nursery of graceful herbs; not as stubborn Clay, but as soft Wax, capable of the Impresses of thy Image; so shalt thou be unto it the savour of life unto salvation, and not the savour of death unto Damnation.   

42. Of man's Heart.  
The Heart of man came a rich soil out of the hand of God, capable of bringing forth rare fruits of Righteousness, but the wild Boar breaking in upon it, so rooted and digged it, that it became a Wilderness of sinful▪ Weeds. O may that gracious hand so husband my wild and barren heart, pulling up those brambles of iniquity, and sowing in it such seeds of Grace and plants of Virtue, watering it with the dew of his spirit, and fencing it with his blessing, it may become a Garden enclosed, fit for the Lords delight.   

43. Of Riches.  
Riches are but golden balls, which the world trundels before her Minions in the race of this life, which they, with Atlanta, greedily snatch up to their utter undoing, losing the benefit of a better prize, the Graces of Heaven: For earthly Riches do but clog the wheels of the Soul, which drives Heavily on like the Chariots of Pharaoh to destruction; not but that Riches are the Gifts of God, and Instruments of much good, if rightly stewarded; but man being over apt to bless his soul in them, he honours the Creature more than the Creator. Admit, O Worldling, that thou couldst, with Alexander, compass the whole World, and that thy Lordships were richly stored with all kind of , feeding with more sober security than thyself, thy Egyptian Granaries stuffed with Corn, thy Coffers filled with Gold and Silver, sumptuous houses promising perpetuity to thy Name and Posterity, with all which thou mightest indulge thy soul for many years; yet consider the casualties, thy Goods may be driven away with Sabeans, thy Barns eaten with Rats and Mice, Thiefs break in and steal thy Treasure, the Elements enemies to thy Houses and Children, and lastly death, with the Fool in the Gospel, robs thee of thy soul, who then art of all men most miserable, if thou hast not with Job laid up inward Riches in the Treasury of a good Conscience, which will strongly fortify thee against all Assaults, and cheerfully bear thy Charges to Heaven: whereas other Riches, as heavy Plummets, will sink thee to Hell. What got Midas in the Fable, by his Grant from Apollo, to make his fingers, as Philosopher's stones, to convert by touch all things into Gold, that when he would have taken pleasure in his glittering Joys, his stomach craving more suitable meat, was choked to death with Golden Morsels. Convert we then this Fable into a real truth, which will afford us better profit. Be thou avaricious in the pursuit of a better Treasure, by thy Orisons summon Heaven to instruct thee in this Art of Conversion, this holy Chemistry, that thou mayest change all things into the Gold of Grace. Art thou in love with rich Pastures? Christ the Shepherd of thy Soul will feed thee in fair Meadows with running Rivers. Doth full Barns delight thee? make Heaven thy Storehouse for Bread of Life. Doth glittering Wealth steal away thy heart? cast it upon the waters of Poverty, and it will bring thee an income of everlasting Riches. Doth costly Buildings take up thy heart? lay thy Foundation on that Cornerstone, where thou shalt have a building made without hands, not to be devoured by the teeth of time. Wouldst thou establish thy Name to all Posterity? get that white stone, in which is a new Name written to perpetuity. And which, beside all these external Accommodations, superads that Joy which is unspeakable, and full of Glory, which will be lengthened out to Eternity.   

44. Of Honour.  
Honour is as light as a Feather, puffed up and down by a popular breath, according to the ebbing and flowing Tides of inconstant Affections; witness proud Haman, who in his conceited thoughts did herauldize to himself his own Dignity, in riding upon the King's horse with Royal Habiliments. How gloriously did the Sun of his Honour arise upon the sphere of Ahasuerus' favour? and how suddenly was it blown amongst the clouds of his Displeasure by the breath of a Woman? With what Admiration did Marcillus ride in his Chariot of Triumph after his great Victories, and presently by the turning wheel of Providence, his Reputation overthrown and Laid in the dirt. So inconstant are the Felicities of this Life, like beautiful Flowers in the Garden of the World, making a Rape up▪ the beholders Eye, courting all the senses to gather them, which fades away in the space of a day. Let not then (O Lord) the Magic of these outward Prosperities, so charm my Senses as to idolise such fleeting objects, which glide away as a water-brook; but arrest thou my Thoughts upon a more permanent beauty, the enjoyment of thyself; that when Death shall gloom me the light of this life, thou mayst beam my Soul with eternal Glory.   

45. Of uncertain Friends.  
Solomon tells us, That Riches take wings and fly away, so doth uncertain Friends follow after, leaving their quondam Cor-rival, a pitiful object of Misery and Poverty, whose Affections doth ebb and flow, according to the turning Tides of Prosperity and Adversity, as if Nature created a new Metamorphosis in their souls. But happily, O forsaken man, mayst thou find some sure Friend, some faithful Achilles, who will cleave unto thee in thy necessity, whose love is grounded upon some better Principles, than upon such afleeting Foundation of inconsistancy. Sanctify (O Lord) every Condition with Contentment unto me. If in thy righteous Judgement thou take from me all outward support 〈◊〉 is that I may lean more surely upon thyself: though the Gusts of Adversity storm the out-work of my Body, let my Soul, through thy Grace, retreat unto thee as a stronger Fort. And be thou, O Lord, a faithful Jonathan to cheer my Spirit in my extremity, with thy oil of Charity.   

46. Of Poverty.  
There is no greater Trial to a Child of God, than to bring him to the Touchstone of Poverty, which will discover him Christian proof or not, whether his Graces be true or false, Gold or Brass: so was the Patience of Job proved by that grand Artist, Satan; whose Arguments to God, was, Doth Job fear God for naught? wherefore God suffered him to touch Job in his Estate, in his Children, in his Body, and all to try this Saint's Patience, and to defeat the Policy of the Liar. If in wisdom, O Lord, for my Souls good, thou take from me what I have, it is but what thou freely gavest me at first. If thou strippest my body of outward raiment, cloth my Soul (I pray thee) with thy righteous garment. If thou nippest my outward man with Winter Poverty, Summer my inward man with the grace of integrity, that so I may appear in thy gracious Eye a right-begotten Child, and not a Bastard.   

47. Of Prosperity and Adversity.  
Prosperity and Adversity are two great Engines with which the Devil useth to batter the heart of man, to make it malleable to his designs. If the scorching rays of Prosperity will not make man forsake his garment of Integrity, he will endeavour by the boisterous blasts of Adversity, to drive it from him: both was experimented upon Job, but in a different manner. God gave Job Riches for his Uprightness, but the Devil made him Poor by taking them away (but not his righteousness to his sorrow) leaving him an Addition of Boils and Botches, which made his body as sore as his soul, which was grieved with uncomfortable Friends. So able art thou, O Lord, to preserve man in every Condition; manger all the malice of Satan: but since there is such danger in these extremes, fix, I beseech thee, my unstable Soul in a middle Sphere, that Prosperity may not make me forget thee, nor Adversity forsake thee, but feed me with Food convenient for me.   

48. Of Afflictions.  
Some men are so licentiously wicked, that having rioted away their Father's blessing, they make themselves miserable by demerit, even to feed upon sharp and short Commons, till by the scourge of Affliction they are made to retreat to their Father's house for better Provision. So God oftimes deals with his rebellious Children, as a loving Father with his extravagant Son, who will not give him according to his lavish Appetite to make him worse, but with the Prodigals Father, sends him abroad to feed upon the Husks of Misery, till he return better qualified, happily appointing him a Garden to relieve him from starving. O merciful Father, since my Exorbitances, hath made me uncapable of a more immediate blessing from thy own hand; yet bless me, O my Father, in that providential way thou appointest for me, so I may have Food and Raiment, I will thankfully be content, not repining at the Prosperity of others, whose better Ingenuity hath made them capable of a greater Portion, but shall account it a happiness, that thy offended Clemency doth place me in the lowest form above my deservings; and if thou shalt think it needful for me to feed upon the Wormwood of Adversity to quell my luxurious Appetite, Oh! may it be as wholesome diet to prepare my stomach for the bread of Life.  
As the waters of Marah could not be drunk by the thirsty Israelites, they were so bitter, till sweetened with a bough cut from a Tree; so are the Waters of Affliction when seasoned with the Branch of Christ Jesus, to comfort the Vitals of a sinsick soul, and is as a Julip to cool the feverish distemper of our Concupiscence. If thou, Lord, still please to hold forth a bitter Portion to me, let me receive it by the hand of Faith, and drink it as the Cup of my Salvation.  
Some things in appearance seem Instruments of much Cruelty; as the Caustick, Saw, and knife, which being put into the hands of a wise Chirurgeon, are of excellent use for the preservation of life, in the cutting off a putrid member: so are Afflictions in the hand of God to pair away the proud flesh from our sin-swoln hearts, and to dismember us of our sinew-corruptions. Wise God, which knowest a Remedy for every Disease, where my soul is festered with the Gangreen of sin, let the Caustick of thy word be my Cure, that so I may come to thee, though halting, with the loss of a right eye, or right hand.  
Experience teacheth, That the nature of Thunder and Lightning is to purge the Air of hurtful Vapours which infests our Bodies. Such are the Judgements of God to clear away the foggy Meteors from our clouded souls, raised by the fiery suggestions of Satan Since thou, the great Commander of Heaven and Earth, directest the Intelligences for the health of our bodies, how much more good art thou unto our souls the images of thee our Creator. If the Lightning of thy Grace will not tender our obdurate hearts, it is requisite that the Thunder of thy displeasure should fright us into obedience, rather than that our souls should perish, so shall it be good for us that we have been afflicted.  
He that goeth out of the path of God's Commandments, forsaketh his own safety; runs out of life, into the shadow of death; out of the Protection of the Almighty, into the Liberties of Satan, where his life is in hazard every hour through the wounds of sin without the mercy of a gracious Samaritan. Lord, if my unwary soul chance to stray out of the narrow tract of life, into the broad way of death, O may the rod of thy love drive it in, that I may walk with more caution, having my feet shod with the preparation of thy Gospel.   

49. Of Life.  
Natural Objects of instability instructs us of our frailty, a bubble, a vapour, a shadow, a flower, are all Emblems of our Mortality, which make their appearance, like Philip's Page, to mind us, that we are but men, every day liable to the stroke of Death. Yea, man himself may read his nullity in his own Mirror; for how many comes upon the Stage of this World, and suddenly returns off, as if they would only show they had a being; as if Nature gave them breath presently to bequeath it to death. Some, with Heraclitus, acts a Lacrimae from the Womb to the Tomb; others, with Democritus, a longer Comedy of much Vanity, whose Exit oftentimes produceth a sad Catastrophe, making more haste out of the World by the pangs of a sudden Death, than they came into it by the Throes of their Birth; so fragil and uncertain is our condition. Muse we then our souls on these animate and inanimate Ideas of our short-lived Being. What a curious Fabric is that Chrystaline Hemesphere the Bubble, as if nature composed it on purpose to remonstrate unto us by its sudden nonentity, our Fragility. A Vapour which is the exstract of all the Elements, how soon is it reduced to its first Principles, to show us our speedy return to our original dust. The Vmbra of the Gnomon, how insensibly doth it steal away our time, instantly hiding itself among the Clouds, till it receive a second Being from the Sun, which shadows forth unto us our vanishing condition to our earthly Bed, till the Son of Righteousness reanimates us to eternal Happiness or Misery. That Golden Flower of Affection, the Marigold, enough to dazzle the eye of the Beholder, doth emblemise unto us in the space of a day, our Infancy, Youth and Old Age. But admit we some of our Temperaments be so good, that the storms of sickness doth not violate us in the Bud, or sudden death deflower us in our full blown Glory, yet considering the Sun of our life is in its verticle point of its Declination, the whole being but a span shortened by every days succession, and that upon a moment dependeth Eternity. Let us not be such Enemies to ourselves, to neglect so great an opportunity of a more permanent life; but learn we to busy our thoughts upon that heavenly Decree of our Mortality, and daily to live the life of Grace, as every day expecting the Dissolution of the life of Nature, that so when the ship of our life shall run upon the ground of our Grave, we may purchase to ourselves a new life, which shall triumph over time in a Kingdom of Glory.   

50. Of Death.  
Alexander Questioning Diogenes why he pored upon a pile of dead men's Bones? Answered, to find out his Father Philip's Skull, if possible he could difference if from others: A Reply as suitable as his research, both enough to flag the Plumes, and darken the splendour of the Young Gallants Glory, for Objects of Mortality seriously contemplated, are but dusty Characters, wherein we may read our own nothingness, & rebate the swelling Humours of Honour, Beauty, and Valour, seeing Death makes no difference between Persons and Qualities, between Royal and Plebeian Dust; the Worms no difference between Nereus and Thersites, Beauty and Deformity; the Earth no difference between Noble and Ignoble, Rich and Poor, being all retaken into the Womb that bore them, unless it be the Addition of a Golden Epitaph upon a Marble Cover-lid to Emblemise their past Greatness, if not their Goodness; whereas poor Irus goes more silently to his Bed of Earth than rich Croesus, not burdened with such thick Clay. Gaze we not then on these gilded Vanities, which like Basilisks Wounds us to death; let not our Passions Soveraignize over our Affections, to make us neglect the fruition of our future felicity, and consequently incur everlasting Misery; but muse we our Souls upon our Death-day, as our second Birthday; upon our Corruption as a new Generation to a new Life, that so we may not forget our return home, laden with the Rich Treasure of Heaven, the Works of Faith, Repentance, and Obedience, with which we must encounter, yea, Conquer both Death and ourselves.   

51. Of Hell.  
To omit the vain Disputes where Hell is, and to pretermit the fabulous Fancies of the Poets concerning Hell, that the burning Mountains of Vesuvius and Aetna are the Entrances to it, and Pliny pressing too near to search the secrets of Vesuvius, was stifled to Death. Sure I am, where Heaven is not, there is Hell, the certainty of it, prepared for the Damned Devils and Reprobate Sinners, the Word of God declares unto us; Tophet is prepared of old, the burning thereof is fire and much wood, the breath of the Lord, like a river of Brimstone, doth kindle it. It is that Gehenna wherein is continual weeping and knashing of Teeth, that fiery Gulf which never goes out, where there is no Society, but what will augment our Misery, the Devil, his Angels, and Reprobate men, where the Worm of Conscience is ever gnawing, the fire of God's wrath ever burning, where all the Senses, according to their several Properties, are gulfed in misery. Those wanton Eyes which were ravished with every Beauty, are afflicted with hideous Objects of ghastly Ghosts. Those Ears which once were nothing but sponges of Folly, are now affrighted with the noise of howling Devils. That dainty Nose wholly delighted with sweet Odours, and rich Perfumes, is stuffed with the noisome stench of burning Sulphur. That curious Palate which could relish nothing but what was far fetched, and dear bought, the richest of meats and drinks, is miserably bitten with hunger, and scorched with thirst. The Understanding which would not know God and his Will, is wracked with the knowledge of Eternal Torment. The Will which ran like a Torrent into the Sea of Delights, is there overwhelmed in the Ocean of Misery. The Memory made to be the Key of Knowledge, is grievously tortured with the remembrance of lost Felicity. Thus every Sense, Faculty and Member is everlastingly wracked, tormented, afflicted. Known unto thee, O God, are all thy works, which Praise thy Name, yea, Hell itself, which thou madest for thy righteous Judgement, doth show forth the same. As thou art God Almighty, so thou art infinite in every place: thou art in Hell by thy Judgements, in Earth by thy Grace, and in Heaven by thy Glory. Hell speaks thy Justice, Earth thy Mercy, Heaven thy Goodness. Thou art as well just in thy Goodness, as good in thy Justice: O than I pray thee, that I may prevent thy Justice by my Goodness, and that thy Justice may crown my Goodness, which to obtain while I am in this middle Sphere between Hell and Heaven, let the one, I beseech thee, in a holy fear fright me from sin, which leads to Destruction; the other in a filial Affection invite me to grace, which leads to Salvation.   

52. Of Heaven.  
Heaven is such a glorious structure, that it flags the Plumes of Contemplation to soar up unto it; and that only by the way of God's Footsteps in the frame of the inferior Orbs, and the speech of his word. The heavens declare the Glory of God, and the Earth showeth his handy work, which, indeed, surpasseth Admiration, that two such heavy Elements being conglomerated into one spherecal body in meditullioa eris in haerentem, should, as it were, hang by Geometry, only supported by the Pillars of the Air in its triple Regions of several tempers; over which is the Fire qualifying and correcting the Airs coldness, so that by the Temperatures of all the Elements, living Creatures are composed, and the Universe preserved. Ascend we now unto the Spheres of the Sun and Moon, the great Luminaries of day and night, with the rest of the fixed Stars, whose influences gives a quickening vigour of life, and motion to all Vegetable Being's. From thence view we that glittering Vault, that Azure Canopy inamel'd with so many sparkling Diamonds, that Galaxia, as is feigned, the White Road to Heaven. Climb we from thence to the primum mobile, that great Wheel of the World whirled about by the hand of Heaven, which gives motion to the lower Spheres. Now the Eye of Contemplation gins to dazzle, laying aside the Optics of Sense and Reason, take we the prospective of God's word, which commits to the Eye of Faith, and discovers unto us in part, the superexcelling Beauty of the Heaven of Heavens, that great City the new Jerusalem, whose walls are of Jasper, the Foundation of several precious stones, which the holy Ghost illustrates according to our Capacities; the twelve gates twelve Pearls, and the street of the City of pure Gold; as it were transparent Glass. In the middle of it the River of life, as clear as Crystal, and on each side a Tree of Life, which bore twelve manner of Fruits every month; and the leaves of the Trees were for the healing of the Nations. This City needs no light of the Sun or Moon, for the Glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Such glorious things are spoken of thee, thou City of God, whose Citizens are Saints and Angels, God the Father the, Temple; God the Son, the Beauty; God the Holy Ghost, the Love. In this City we shall receive high Dignity, conceive mutual amity, flourish in Eternity, shine in Charity, rejoice in Piety; by knowing God we shall see him, by seeing God we shall love him, and by enjoying God we shall praise him; we shall see God with Affection, possess him with Consolation, enjoy him with delectation. Here the mind is filled with the Torrent of Divine Pleasure, the heart satiate with Divine Love: here are living Fountains, pleasant Valleys, delicious Gardens, the height of Felicity is superexcelling Glory; this Bride-chamber of festivity, superabounding jollity. From this Mountain of Spices, from this Watchtower of heavenly things we shall see the Comeliness of Honour, the splendour of Saints, and the grace of Kingly Majesty. In this bosom of security, there is Rest from Labour, Peace from Enemies, Pleasantness of novelty, security of Eternity, and sweetness of the Vision of God. How sweet then is it to meditate on this City, but much sweeter will it be to be refreshed in it, to be possessed of it, to behold him, who is the Bridegroom of the Soul, the Prince of Glory. O most Glorious Creator, who art the perfection of Glory, and thy habitation is in Glory, who art clothed with Majesty and Honour, and deckest thyself with light, as with a Garment, and stretchest out the Heavens like a Curtain; how insearchable art thou in thy wisdom, and thy ways past finding out? how shall dust and ashes praise thee? how can I magnify thy Name in thy wonderful works, which are unutterable, unconceivable, unexpressable? what I cannot comprehend, I will admire, and what I cannot sufficiently admire, I will rest content with thy favour here, in hope of enjoyment of thy Honour hereafter. To thee, O Lord, be Glory, Eternity, Immortality, Praise and  for ever and ever. Amen.    

A Looking-glass for our English LADIES. OR, Daily Directions for their Dress and APPAREL.  
Virtuous Ladies,  
I Shall here give Directions to you for your Dress and Apparel, that so you may walk in this degenerate Age, as Women professing Godliness; and not as those that by their naked Breasts and Fantastic Garbs are (and alas there is too many such amongst us) an Abomination to the Lord.  
First then for the Time: Your Clothes may not be used every day alike; Times and Seasons are to be observed. There is a time of Fasting and Mourning when they must be laid aside, according to the Practice of God's Servants, who have clothed themselves with Sackcloth upon such Occasions, to signify, that they were unworthy of the worst Attire. And this did God give in charge to his people Israel, that they should put off their ornaments from them, that he might know what to do unto them. In times of Mourning, than they are not fitting, courser Attire is then best beseeming; neither may be for every ordinary days wearing. In the days of Rejoicing and Public Solemnity, these are fittest to be worn: For this was the Rich man in the Gospel taxed, he was clothed in purple and fine linen every day. He is not simply condemned for wearing these, but for a daily using of those costly Ornaments, making them, as it were, his Working-days Attire.  
Secondly, for the Manner, we have the Apostles Rule, Adorn yourselves in Modest Apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, etc. which becometh Women professing Godliness. So then in Ornament, as in every thing else, our Godliness, Modesty, and Sobriety must appear. It may not then be strange or garish (which argues neither Modesty nor Honesty, but Levity and Inconstancy) but according to the sober Custom of our Country, from which we should not vary; for how monstrous and ugly is that part which agreeth not with the whole Body?  
Neither may it be differing from our Sex, but according thereunto; The Woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to the Man, neither shall a Man put on a Woman's Garment; for all that do so, are abomination to the Lord. The Law of Nature and common Honesty condemns to have Women Mannish, and Men Womanish in their Attire. Oh than our sin!  
Nor may it be above our Places, Callings, and Degrees. As God hath placed some Men above others, so ought Men to fit their Attire and Habit, according to the quality of the places wherein they are. So Joseph's Ornaments were to put a difference between him and the Inferior Princes of Pharaoh's Court.  
Neither may it be beyond our Means or Maintenance, but according to our Ability, in our places wherein we are: For to go as fine and costly as the foremost in our Rank, is not sobriety: Our change and estates must be respected, and accordingly must we cut our Coat, and have our Ornament.  
Nor may they be the Ornaments of Light Housewives, or of known dissolute Persons; it is not Modesty for Women, professing the Gospel, to go like Whores, or to imitate them in their Strumper-like behaviour. Christian's ought not to seem to be such as indeed they would be loath to be: Neither may it any way tend to provoke inordinate desires in ourselves or others, but such as may express the Virtues of our Minds, being correspondent to Decency and Holiness. Thus we see the Manner.  
Thirdly, for the Measure. Excess of Ornament is to be avoided, we may not have too many on our backs, nor in our Wardrobes. Go to now, you Rich Men, weep and howl for your Miseries that shall come upon you: Your Riches are corrupted, and your Garments are Motheaten, and shall not these Witness against you?  
In Ancient times such were counted infamous as did exceed this way; so Graccus noted Naevius for a Licentious Fellow for having on his Hands more Rings than one. Beware then of excess in this kind, seeing both Heathen and Heaven doth condemn it. It is a sin that goeth not alone, but draws many after it: For, first, excess in Ornament doth cause thee to abuse thy Wealth, and makes thee spend it on needless and superfluous Uses, when thou oughtest to spend it better, as in Relieving of the Poor, and such as are in want.  
Secondly, It is commonly maintained with Covetousness and Injustice: When was more Pride and Bravery? And when more Oppression and Cruelty? What greater cause of Bribing, and Extortion, of Fraud and Cozenage, of increasing Fines, and inhauncing Rents, than this excessive Bravery? Pride must be maintained, though it be with sale of Faith, Conscience, Religion, and all.  
Thirdly, It is a Thief of Time. Many a golden hour is spent in casting how to be most brave, and what Fashion doth best become them: And many an hour is spent in pranking and trimming of the Body, in the too accurate and curious culture of it. Had Plautus lived in these our times, he would never have wondered why dainty Dames are so long in trimming of themselves, if he did but see what a shop of Vanities and Fooleries they bear about them. See here a cause, why such as are most brave, are usually most ignorant and impenitent: Alas, they have no time to adorn their Souls with Gods saving Graces; they dress themselves by the Hour, and therefore can Pray but by the Minute; they want leisure for the one, so much is taken up about the other.  
And in a word, what more impoverisheth the Commonwealth than our excessive Bravery? Our moneys and our chief Commodities are daily Transported into other Countries, and what comes in lieu thereof but Apes and Peacocks? Costly stuffs, silks, and velvets, gold and silver Laces, Feathers, and such like Toys, for giddy pated Fools, which within a few days wearing, must be cast off, and given to some Serving Man or Maid, and soon after become good for nothing but to adorn a Dunghill. See then what a fruitful Mother of much Wickedness Excessive Bravery is. Let it therefore be avoided of all such as bear any Love to themselves or to their own Country.  
The last Rule to be Observed, doth respect the End, and that must be, not the priding up thyself, or to cause the Eyes of others to be set upon thee, but God's Glory, while thou dost adorn his Temple: See then, that that be thy chiefest aim. And moreover look thou make a spiritual use of the Ornaments thou wearest. Remember the Body is more worth than Raiment, and the Soul more worth than thy Body: Affect not therefore the Adorning of thy Body more than the Adorning of thy Mind; the Jewel is far more worth than the Cabinet wherein it's kept; and the thing covered is more to be respected than the Case that covers it. Again, let the Adorning of thy Body put thee in mind of thy shame and Nakedness, in respect of sin. There is a Wound, else what needs a plaster? And these plasters, though they be of Silk or Velvet, argue, that under them are some loathsome sores, which being seen, would shame us. Before Man sinned, these Ornaments would have Adorned him no more than a silken case a sweet Rose; but when his Beauty became blemished by sin, than was he driven to seek for Ornaments, and on his uncomely parts to put on more comeliness, supplying Natural defects with the helps of Art. Were this well considered, the best Ornaments would bring rather cause of blushing than of boasting. Hath a Cripple, who hath lost his Leg, any cause to brag of his wooden stump? Or a Thief any cause to boast of his Bolts, or glory in his brand and mark of Felony? What more cause have we to brag of Ornament? This is that which indeed should humble us, as being a continual Testimony of our sin and shame. Let us then use them as a daily Monitor, to put us in mind of our deformity by sin, for our further humbling. And thus have we seen some special Rules to be observed in this particular of Ornament, which being kept, we may safely and comfortably use our Liberty in this kind also.  
Object. But it may seem, that Ornament is Unlawful, and may at no hand be used: For the Apostles, both Paul and Peter, condemn all broidered Hair, Gold, Pearls, and other such like costly Ornaments, as unbeseeming Christians.  
I Answer; neither Paul nor Peter do simply condemn the things themselves, but the abuse of them; they being used by Persons of low Estate, and very mean Condition, for of such in those days did the Church of God especially consist: And therefore howsoever it were Lawful in itself, yet it was altogether unbeseeming their Estate, being in them little better than Riot and Excess.  
And Secondly, the Church was then under grievous Persecution: Now, at such times our Ornament must be laid aside (as formerly we have heard) that being a time of Humiliation and Mourning.  
And thirdly, I Answer: The words are rather an Admonition than a Prohibition; he forbiddeth not the using of them, but admonisheth them that they would rather adorn the inside than the outside, and be more careful of the Mind than of the Body; And this evidently appeareth by the Antithesis that is used in both places. Not with broidered hair (saith Paul) [But] with good works. Not that outward adorning (saith Peter) [But] let it be the hidden man of the heart: According to that saying of our Saviour Christ; Labour not for the meat that perisheth, [But] for that which endureth to eternal life: The meaning is, not so much for one, as for the other, desire more the Adorning of the Mind than of the Body.  
Again, some may demand, Whether it be Lawful to cover a deformity in the Body, or to mend the Complexion, it being less beautiful than others is? For, seeing the Body may be adorned with Ornament, it may seem that this also is tolerable.  
But thus is this Question answered; A deformity may be covered, but a new form may not be set upon the Face; neither a new Habit on the Body. The outward form and favour that man hath, is the work of God himself, fitted and proportioned unto man in his Conception, by his special Providence: Now, to take in hand to amend this favour, or proportion, that God hath given: What is it; but first, highly to dishonour God, by presuming to adulterate his work, taking upon them to amend that which as they suppose he hath made amiss? Yea, secretly they tax him for want of Wisdom, when they thus go about to correct, had make that better, which God before had made: And can the Eternal God endure his?  
Secondly, this is to lie to others, for they make themselves to be other than God hath made them: They speak in a real Language falsehood and deceit: A man may read a lie in their very foreheads. Their Favour is a lie, their Beauty is a lie, etc. Is it like there is truth in the inward parts, when they show dissimulation in their Faces?  
Thirdly, what is this but to be ashamed of themselves, and therefore being displeased with their own colour and countenance, they come like Players, Masked, and disguised? But art thou ashamed of that Face that God hath made thee? Then be thou assured, God will be ashamed of that Face thou hast made thyself: Thy shameless disguising will bring it so to pass, that the Lord when he comes to Judgement, will not acknowledge thee to be his Creature.  
As for the defence that some do make for this their sin, viz. it is to please their Husbands. It is fond and foolish.  
For first, thou oughtest not to please man by displeasing God.  
Secondly, it is but a delusion of the Devil, in making thee believe, thy Husband will love thee the better for thy painted Vizard; for indeed it is otherwise. These Artificial supplies put thy Husband in mind of thy Natural defects; and this at length doth breed a greater loathing. I would such as use these sinful courses would be more wise, and now at length renounce them: For assuredly it will turn to bitterness in the end. And let these remember, who was the first that used this Plaistring, or Fainting; was it not Jezebel? And was not she an arrant Whore? Let such as would be so accounted, use it, but no other. And so I conclude this Subject.   

The manner how the Duke de Guise Persecuted the Ministers, spoiled and defaced their Meetings (by breaking down their Pulpits, rending the Seats, and battering the Windows thereof) in Queen Elizabeth's time.  
ANno 1562. The Duke de Guise passing towards Paris, and coming near to Vassy, understanding that the Bell rang to a Sermon, which was to be Preached in a Barn (converted into a convenient Meeting-place) in which place there were Assembled about Twelve Hundred, Men, Women, and Children, he presently went with all his Troops to the Barn, 
Christians Murdered at a Sermon.  and entering it, they cried out, Death of God, Kill, Kill these Hugonots; then did some of them shoot at those which were in the Galleries, others cut in pieces such as they met with. Some had their Heads cleft in twain, others had their Arms and Hands cut off, so that the Walls and Galleries of the Barn were died with the Blood of the Slain: The Duke with his Sword drawn, stood amongst them, charging his Men to Kill without sparing, especially the Young Men: Some of these Godly Persons getting upon the Roof, hid themselves there; but at length some of this Bloody Crew spying them, shot at them with long Pieces, whereby many of them were slain, falling down from the Roof like Piegeons. Then they fell to Murdering of them all, without making any distinction between Presbyterians and Churchmen; the poor Saints of God made no Resistance, only Praying unto God; and every one running to save himself, as it pleased God to direct him; many Men and Woman were slain, others being sore Wounded, escaped, which died shortly after: The Poor Man's Box was taken and emptied. The Minister in the beginning of the Massacre ceased not to Preach still, till one dischary I▪ his Piece against the Pulpit: Then falling upon his Knees, he entreated the Lord to have Mercy upon him, and upon his poor Persecuted Flock; and so coming down from the Pulpit, attempted to escape, but by the way he received divers Wounds, whereupon finding himself, as he thought, Mortally hurt, he cried, Lord, into thy hands I commend my Spirit, for thou hast Redeemed me, O Lord God of Truth; yet before he was slain, some took him and carried him before the Duke, who said to him, Who made thee so bold, thus to Seduce the people? 
Slanders.  Sir, said the Minister, I am no Seducer, but have faithfully preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Then did the Duke Curse and Swear, saying, Death of God, doth the Gospel Teach Sedition? And calling the Provost, he said, Take this Varlet and hang him upon a Gibbet: Then was the Minister delivered to two Pages, who basely abused him: The Popish Women also threw dirt at him, and could searce be restrained from tearing him to pieces. He was kept close Prisoner, none being suffered to bring him Necessaries; and he was oft threatened to be sown up in a Sack and drowned; yet at last, through God's Mercy, he was released, at the earnest request of the Prince of Portion. The Pulpit was broken down, 
The Pulpit broken down. Barbarous Cruelty.  the slain stripped stark Naked, and so the Duke departed with his Bloody Troops, sounding his Trumpets as if he had obtained a great Victory.  

The Meetings defaced.  When he came to Paris, he with the Constable and Marshal of St. Andrews, seized upon the King, defaced, overthrew, and broke down all the Meeting-places where they of the true Religion used to Assemble, which so encouraged the Popish party, that in every place they so abused those of the true Religion, as the most Cruel Barbarians would have been ashamed to do the like.  
Not long after, he went to Orleans, boasting, that within twenty four hours he would win the Town; and neither spare Man, Woman, nor Child in it, and that he would so destroy the Town, that the very Memory of it, together with all Protestants, should be extinct for ever: But Man purposes, and God disposes; for the same Night there was a young Gentleman, 
God's Judgement on Persecutors.  named John Poltrot, who watching his Opportunity, shot him with his Pistol laden with three Bullets, whereof he shortly after died: And Poltrot declared at his Death, that he did it to deliver France, and especially the City of Orleans, from the Violence of the Duke of Guise. And thus we see, That bloody and deceitful Men shall not live out half their days, Psal. 55.23. After his Death the Protestants lived a peaceable quiet Life.  
But before this Peace took place, those of the Religion suffered much in sundry parts of the Realm.  

At Senlis.  At Senlis he caused many of the true Godly Christians to suffer much, some were Beheaded, some Murdered in a popular Tumult, some were Whipped, some Imprisoned, some Fined, and others sent to the Galleys, not sparing the simple Women. Yet through God's Mercy, some escaped, amongst whom was one John Gardens and his Wife, who lived with his Wife and Child in the Fields, at length determined to go back into the City, casting themselves upon God's Providence; but when they came into the Suburbs, they met some who bade the Soldiers to put them to the Sword. The Woman kneeling down, begged of the Soldiers, that if they must needs die, they would kill her Child first, 
A special Providence.  saying, That so she should die with the more Comfort; which speech of hers so wrought upon the Soldiers, that they spared all their Lives.   

I thank thee for they seasonable Counsel Dear Brother 
join hand in hand.  
A Presbiterian minister.  Let there be no strif between thee and me for we are brothers, 
A Romish Prelate  
an English jesuite  Alas we are utterly undone, our 〈◊〉 is spoilt for they are both agreed. A Friendly DIALOGUE between a moderate Conformist, and one of his Parishioners, concerning several Points of great Moment.  

DIALOGUE. I.  
Concerning God.  Conformist. 
FOrtunately met Neighbour; I am glad to see you look so well again after your long fit of Sickness.  Parishioner. 
Sir, I most humbly thank you, but I must likewise tell you, that though I am again arrived to a competent measure of Health, yet I have those Doubts now upon my Spirit, which if not timely resolved, will, I fear, in a little time be very prejudicial to my Peace and Quiet. And I do therefore Sir, now humbly beg that you would give me a Resolution to every Query that I shall now propose unto you for the easement of my mind.  Conform. 
If I may be instrumental any ways in advancing the Glory of God by instructing of you, I shall reckon my time well spent.  Parish. 
Well then Sir, pray give me an Answer to this Query, viz. If God be unchangeable, how can he be said to repent?  Conf. 
It is spoken according to our Capacity, for though God do never repent, (that is, change his Counsel) yet he doth as if he did repent, when he undoeth what he had before done. Nor may God be charged with changeableness, though the course of his Providence be turned, but the change is in us. You know the Sun by the same quality, and in the same season, will soften Wax, and harden Clay, yea, will soften the earth when it is frozen, and harden it at other times, and yet the Sun never altereth his quality, but is still the same: So though God be gracious to some, and severe to others, yea, severe and gracious to the same person at divers times, and in different respects; yet he is one and the same for ever.  Parish. 
If God be a Spirit, how is he said to have hands, eyes, wings, & c?  Conf. 
This is only spoken, as the former, according to our Capacity, that by the hand of God we may note his power, by his eye, wisdom, by his wings, protection.  Parish. 
If God be indivisible and simple, how can the sacred Essence be distinguished into three Persons?  Conf. 
I see your skill in Logic is small, or else it were easy to know how to distinguish betwixt things that cannot be divided: I can distinguish between the Essence and existence of the same thing, betwixt inseparable accidents and their subjects, or (to speak common-rode language) between a body and its substance, form, figure, etc. and yet not divide them. So it is no repugnancy in reason itself, that the Godhead be one entire entity, and yet considered in a personal respect, may be distinguished into the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Par. 
I find in the 45. of Isaiah, verse 21. that Christ saith, There is no God but himself, notwithstanding we hear him saying as much by his Father, John 17.3. how can both be the only true God?  Conf. 
God and Christ differ not essentially, but only personally; the Father is God, so is the Son; yet they are not two Gods, but one: There is no other God, but that God which the Father is, nor any God, but that which Christ is; and this word (only) is not exclusive of any person of the Trinity (for every Person is the only God) but of all others, whether reputed Gods, or Creatures.   

DIALOGUE. II.  
Concerning Gods Decrees, and Creation.  Parish. 
TO what purpose should I seek the good of my Soul? If I be elected I shall be saved, if not I cannot.  Conf. 
It is not for you to search the Cabinet of God's Counsel, but to believe, and repent; which, if you do, you are not to question your salvation. Saving Faith (tho' it be not a cause) is a fruit of Election, for God hath respect to the means, as well as the end, and conjoineth them in his Decree. And therefore we may conclude, that believing we are justified, which is an assured Argument we were predestinated, and shall be saved. But on the other hand, they that are hardened by sin, are rejected of God, and shall be damned.  Par. 
If God predestinate the means as well as the end, seeing sin is the means tending to damnation, whom he predestinates to damnation, doth not he predestinate them to sin? And if so, how can he be freed from it?  Conf. 
In Predestination two things are to be considered: 

1. God's Preterition, passing by, or non-electing of a person.  
2. Predamnation, or fore-condemning a person to Perdition.    
The former is of the mere pleasure of God; for there can be no other Reason given, why this man is chosen, and that refused. Now those whom God thus passeth by, through want of that assistance which he is not bound to give, fall finally from God, and so considered, are pre-damned, or fore-ordained to Destruction. God doth not force, or cause men to sin, but leave them to it: For sin being no positive thing, but a privation of what should be; viz. of obedience, ariseth from the insufficiency of the Creature, left to itself. If a King by his Wisdom could foresee, that divers of his subjects would prove Traitors, and be hanged, unless he prefer them, and doth forbear to gratify them so far, only because it is not his pleasure so to do, can he be justly accused of the Treason which after they commit? I believe no Politition will affirm it: Must we then be so bold, as to charge him who is of purer Eyes than to behold iniquity, to be in any sort the cause thereof, because he doth not uphold us against it?  Par. 
If God do not only pass by men, but predamn them to Hell also by this Decree (as you shown in the Resolution of the last Doubt) how can his Justice be cleared, seeing man had then not actually sinned?  Conf. 
Men sin in time, not from Eternity: yet are their sins from Eternity, and to Eternity with God. For with him things are not past, present, and come, as with us, but always present in one infinite moment. And therefore the Lord who seethe all the sins of a Reprobate by one pure, individual act, from, and to all Eternity, may as well pass an act of Damnation against them, as if they were actually committed.  Par. 
Might not God as well damn men in a Capacity of holiness, as thus to leave them to sin, and then condemn them for it?  Conf. 
It is a curious and unprofitable question, to dispute whether he might not without wrong to the Creature, have done so: Perhaps Rom. 9.20, 21, 22. will prove he might, but such a case never did, nor never will fall out: However, to our Capacity, the justness of God should not shine so perspicuously, if he should damn a Creature that never sinned; for than should he inflict undeserved Punishment, whereas in the course he now takes, he only denyeth undeserved Favours, and layeth on them deserved Penalties.  Par. 
But if God's Decrees binds not man to a necessity of sinning, how came sin into the World, seeing Men and Angels were made holy, and the whole Creation is by God himself pronounced good?  Conf. 
God's Decree doth not otherwise bind man to a necessity of sinning, than the withdrawing of the upholding hand from a staff reared up, binds it to a necessity of falling, viz. in a privative way. I shown before that sin is only privative; that is, a defect of some thing required, as darkness is nothing else but a defect of light; and these privations do not necessarily require causes, or Creation; light was indeed created, but darkness was before on the face of the deep. Now though God made Angels and Men holy, he made them not Gods, that they should stand of themselves without his help, which when he withheld from man, and some of the Angels, they faltered in their obedience, and so became sinful.   

DIALOGUE. III.  
Concerning the Providence of God.  Par. 
HOW can God by his Providence dispose of second causes that things can come to pass contingently, freely, or miraculously, when he hath fore-ordained how they shall be in his immutable will?  Conf. 
There is a twofold necessity: 1. In God's Decree, so all things that are, fall out necessarily and cannot be otherwise: 2. In Natural Causes; so fire necessarily burns, water necessarily wets, &c, Now to us things are said to fall out necessarily, when we apprehend a sufficient next cause. But this sometimes is not, sometimes appears not before the effect, from whence the Notions [contingent, free, miraculous] have their rise.  
As for Example,  
When an Infant is form in the Womb, though in respect of God's Decree, it is necessarily a Male, or necessarily a Female, and so in time will prove; yet to us from whom the next cause of this distinction in the womb is hid, it is contingent whether it be Male or Female.  Par. 
How can God strengthen and govern all Creatures in their actings, and be free from sin, seeing many actions are sinful?  Conf. 
You must distinguish betwixt the action, and the evil in it; some sins are actual, but none actions. Therefore as a skilful Minstrel playing on a jarring Instrument causeth it to sound, but it's own badness causeth it to sound jarringly: So God causeth us to act, but that we act sinfully, the cause is in ourselves. To kill a man is not simply evil, sometimes it is not only lawful, but a duty; but killing a man upon such terms, without a just cause or call, Sin lieth in the moral circumstances, not in the physical substance of the Action.  Par. 
If God be perfectly glorious, how can he glorify himself in the works of his Providence, seeing nothing can be added to that which is perfect?  Conf. 
We may consider the glory of God these two ways: 

1. As it is essential to him, and so it is ineffably perfect.  
2. As it is revealed to us, and this because of our weakness, is only in part, and by degrees. A Moses can but view the back parts, a Paul but see in part, and darkly as in a glass: And God is said to glorify himself, when by the great works of his Providence, he lets us see further into his glorious Attributes.    Par. 
If the Providence of God offer to men occasions to sin, how is God free from the iniquity committed by reason thereof?  Conf. 
As a King that executeth Justice, though he know some wicked fellows will thereat take occasion to be Traitors to him, is not to be blamed: So Gods works being holy, though wicked men abuse them through their own perverseness, and make them occasions to sin, he is not unrighteous, out punisheth them in just Judgement, suffering them to fall by their own folly.  Par. 
When God by his Providence makes wicked men scourges to his people, how can they be blamed for doing what God would have done?  Conf. 
Though wicked men can do nothing to the people God, but what he gives way to; yet forasmuch as they endeavour to exceed their Commission, and aim not at God's Glory, but their own ends, showing hostility and not pity to God's people, they shall answer for their ambitious malice; though God by his wisdom will cause the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain.   

DIALOGUE iv Concerning the Fall of Man.  Par. 
HOW could tasting the forbidden Fruit be so great an offence, as to deserve Damnation?  Conf. 
Some give this reason, that this act of our Parents, was a breach of each of God's Commandments in particular, and endeavour to make it appear by an induction, though for mine own part, I think it holds in some, not in all, but this I desire to speak with modesty and submission: However it cannot be denied, but the breach of the least of God's Commandments maketh us guilty of all: And the violation of his Law, who is infinite, deserveth infinite punishment, which because it cannot be in extent (we being finite) must be in duration. Nor doth the small value of the fruit abate any thing, but rather aggravate it, for (as Master Byfield saith well) their sin was greater, that upon so small an Advantage would adventure Eternal happiness.  Par. 
But how comes it to pass, that Adam's fault and punishment is derived to his whole Posterity?  Conf. 
Adam stood in Covenant with God as Man, not as a Man; that is, as a public, not a private person: And therefore as he received the Covenant of Works, and for a time stood by it for himself and all mankind so for himself & all mankind he fell from it.  Par. 
Would it not have made more for God's glory to have kept men from sin, to serve him in holiness?  Conf. 
No: for by this means man is a fit object for the rich mercy or just Judgement of God, which by occasion hereof God manifesteth to his own glory.  Par. 
Some affirm, that sin dishonoureth God, others say, he cannot be dishonoured; whether of these is true Doctrine?  Conf. 
They may both be true in a different sense; for the word (dishonour) may be taken two ways: 

1. To degrade or make one unhonourable, that before was honourable; but in this sense it is rarely (if at all) found in Scripture.  
2. To disrespect or slight one that is honourable, and still remains worthy to be honoured. In the former sense God cannot be dishonoured, but in the latter he may; even as Children by their disobedience do not render their Parents dishonourable, but dishonoured.    Par. 
How can men in Justice become liable to eternal punishment for sin committed in time, and it may be in a short time?  Conf. 
They are committed against an Eternal God, and therefore are always (as it were) in committing before, and against him.  
2. If men might live eternally, they would sin eternally; and God punisheth according to the rebellion of their wills.  
3. Though punished in Hell, they still retain their enmity against God, and therefore justly is their penalty continued.   

DIALOGUE V.  
Concerning Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience. Also, Of the Civil Magistrate, and Church Censures.  Par. 
IF Christians must not be the Servants of men, how come Rulers to have any power over us?  Conf. 
The meaning is not, that we must not serve men at all (for that would contradict the Verses immediately fore going, and almost infinite other places) but do not so serve men, that it hinder you in the service of God.  Par. 
If every one must bear his own burden, and be judged according to his works, why should any man (Magistrate, or other) trouble or interrupt him, though he be Heretical or Blasphemous, but leave him to God and his own Conscience?  Conf. 
The vilest sinner on earth may plead thus: But the truth is, that though the Principal and ultimate Judgement of every man's cause be left to Christ to be determined by him at the day of Judgement: yet God out of his singular wisdom hath appointed, that open wickedness (whether it be matter of opinions or practice) be judged and punished also by Authority Ecclesiastical and Civil, and if either sort neglect their duty herein, themselves become culpable.  Par. 
But what good is this restraint like to work, but to make men either more violent when they see their Tenet opposed, or else Hypocrites (if they be restrained) for God only can change the heart?  Conf. 
This also any notorious wretch may say for himself; but trust reposed in men by God must be discharged, and the issue left to him.  Par. 
But if my Conscience be erroneous, what course can I take? If I go against the truth, I sin; and if I go against my Conscience, I sin also?  Conf. 
It is true, and therefore the way is to pray, and seek for satisfaction, that your Conscience may comply and close with the truth.   

DIALOGUE VI.  
Treating of the State of man after death, and likewise of the Resurrection, and last Judgement  Par. 
HOW can a man comfort himself in the death of his profane Kindred?  Conf. 
He may quiet his heart with these Considerations following.  
1. God is ready to forgive those which repent at the last moment, and for aught we know, may work Repentance when the party is too far spent to express it.  
2. God's Decree is unchangeable, and therefore they either were elected and are saved, or Reprobates and could never have been saved, had they lived a thousand years.  
3. Had such as are rejected of God, lived longer, their impenitent hearts would have caused them still to have treasured more wrath to themselves, by proceeding further in wickedness.  
4. Our Relation to them (the main cause why we are grieved for them) ceaseth after this life.  
5. However it is with them, God will dispose of all things for his own Glory, which should be more dear to us than our Friends, yea, our own Souls.  Par. 
If the whole man (soul and body) sinned, how can it otherwise be, but the Soul must die as well as the Body?  Conf. 
Man in his actings is to be considered collectively, not distributively; and as sin is not acted by the Soul and Body in a divided sense, but jointly by the whole man, consisting of Soul and Body, as its constitutive parts: So man dies not in a distributive sense, as if the Body died by itself, and the Soul by itself, but as a Creature compact of both, he dyeth (or ceaseth to be what he was) when the Soul (which is the essential form of a man) is taken away. A Parliament when dissolved, loseth its essence (as such) though all the members be alive; so doth an house dimolished, though all the materials remain whole: So when the Soul and Body are disunited, the man is dead, howbeit the Soul lives either in Happiness or Woe.  Par. 
If there be no satisfaction of the Justice of God after this life, which men having given, shall be forgiven and saved, how is it said, Till thou hast paid the last mite, or uttermost farthing.  Conf. 
This word [till] is often found in Scripture, signifying (or at least not excluding) perpetuity, and taken in that sense, the force of it is thus much; if thou be not reconciled to God in Christ before thy death, thou shalt be cast into the Prison of Hell, there to abide the exact justice of God for ever, because thou never canst never so satisfy his wrath, as to be acquitted from it.  Par. 
If every Soul when it leaveth the Body, goeth either to Heaven or Hell immediately, to what purpose is the Resurrection, or day of Judgement.  Conf. 
There is very great reason for them: as, 

First, That the whole Creation may be purged, and delivered from the bondage of Corruption.  
Secondly, That the Soul and Body which suffered or sinned together, may in the righteous day of the Lord be crowned, or punished.  
Thirdly, That all hidden things, yea, the secrets of hearts, may be discovered, that thereby Gods righteous Judgement may be also revealed.  
Fourthly, That he may publicly right his people upon their enemies.    Par. 
Godly men, are men still, and Christ avoucheth, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof at the day of Judgement: How then can they be said to be discharged from all sin?  Conf. 
The meaning is not, as if the godly shall be called to account for their idle words or any other sins, but only thus much; that the Judgement of God shall be so exact and severe, that even so much as an idle word shall not pass him without full satisfaction to his justice on the Transgressor, or his surety; and that he which hath not his Pardon already procured by Christ, shall be found culpable at that day, and the sentence of Condemnation pronounced against him, though he had only one idle word to answer for.  Par. 
Sir, I thank you for your pains you have taken with me this day in resolving my several Queries, but now at present I will trouble you no further.  Conf. 
The Lord give you then a heart to consider what hath been said, and so for the present I bid you Farewell.    


〈…〉 am innocent of the blood of this just person so you to it  Math. 27. v. 24. Math 27. v. 11. 
And Jesus stood before the Governor.  v. 13. 
And Pilate said unto him Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee  
〈…〉 ●…aignment Trial and Execution of Christ 〈…〉 for G. Dunton at the Black Raven in the 〈…〉 1687.  THE Arraignment, Trial and Condemnation of our ever blessed Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST.  
To which is added His Execution at Golgotha, his last Words upon the Cross when he gave up the Ghost, with the Manner and Place of his Burial.  
The Judas which betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, said, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood: and he went and hanged himself.  Mat. XXVII. part of the 3, 4, 5. Verses. 

CHAP. 1. Of Judas' Treason: Christ's Apprehension, Binding and Leading unto Annas.  
1. Jvdas' Treason: And while he yet spoke, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas one of the Twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. This Traitor is not a Disciple only, but an Apostle; not one of the Seventy, but one of the Twelve. Augustine speaks of many Offices of Love that Christ had done to Judas in especial manner; he had called him to be an Apostle, made him his Friends; his Familiar, caused him to eat of his Bread, sit at his Table, and to dip his hand in the Dish with him; yea, if his Tradition be true, Jesus had delivered Judas often from death, and for his sake healed his Father of a Palsy, and cured his Mother of a Leprosy: and next to Peter, honoured him above all other his Apostles. Of this we are sure, that he kissed him, and washed his feet, and made him his Treasurer, and his Almoner; and that now Judas should betray Christ: O how doth this add to the sufferings of Christ, and to the sin of Judas? Behold, a multitude, and Judas in the front: he went before them, tam pedibus, quam moribus; in his presence, and in his malice. The Evangelist gives the reason of this, that he might have the better opportunity to kiss him, this was the Sign he gave the Rout; whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he, lay hold on him; he gins war with a Kiss, and breaks the peace of his Lord by a Symbol of Kindness: Jesus takes this ill; What, Judas! betrayest thou the Son of man with a Kiss? q. d. What, dost thou make the Seal of Love the Sign of Treachery? What, must a Kiss of thy mouth be the Key of Treason? O what a friendly Reproof is here!  
2. For Christ's Apprehension; then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. They apprehended him whom the World cannot comprehend; and yet before they took him, he himself gins the inquiry, and leads them into their Errand; he tells them that he was Jesus of Nazareth whom they sought: And now they have his leave, Oh with what fierce and cruel Countenances, with what menacing and threatening Looks, with what malicious and spiteful minds do they invade and assault our Saviour? they encompass him round; then they lay their wicked and violent hands upon him: in the Original, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a violent taking. One speaks the manner of his Apprehension in these words; Some of them lay hold on his Garments, others on the hair of his head; some pluck him by the beard, others struck him with their impious fists, and being enraged, that with a word he had thrown them backwards on the ground, they therefore throw him on his back, and basely tread him under their dirty feet. Another Author gives it thus; As a roaring, ramping Lion draws along the Earth his Prey, and tears it, and pulls it; so they haled Christ all along the Earth, spitting, buffetting, pulling him by the hair. Another in like manner thus; they all rush violently upon him, they fling him to the ground, they kick him, tear him, spurn him, pull of the Hair, both off his Head and Beard. Of every of these passages we find Scriptures full; Many Bulls have compassed me, strong Bulls of Bashan have beset me round, they gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and roaring Lion.  
3. For Christ's binding, the Evangelist tells us, that the Band, and the Captain, and the Officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they bond his hands with cords; a Type of this was Samson, whom Dalilah bound with Ropes; so they bond him with Ropes or Cords, foreshowing hereby that he must die, they never using to bind any with Ropes or Cords, but those whom undoubtedly they purposed to Crucify: Some add the Circumstances of this binding, that they bond him with three Cords, and that with such violence, that they caused blood to start out of his tender Hands; certainly they wanted no Malice, and now they wanted no Power, for the Lord had given himself into their hands.  
But besides these Cords, the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a binding with Chains, Mark 5.3, 4. And some are of Opinion, that they shackled both his Hands and Feet, pedicis & catenis vinctus, Mark 5.4. And others say, that they put about his Neck a Chain of Iron; and it is not altogether improbable, but they might be as cruel to the Master, as they were to his Servants.  
And thus Christ underwent this Restraint, that all sorts of persecution might be Sanctified to us by his susception.  
4. For his leading to Annas, John records it, that they led him to Anna's first, for he was Father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was the High Priest that same Year. 1. They led him away; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, it refers to the place whence they led him; the Garden was the terminus a quo; there they Apprehended him, and bound him, and thence they led him away; but the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is something more than merely abduco; sometimes it signifies abigo, to drive away, whether by force or fraud; sometimes rapio ad suplicium, ad judicandum; to snatch away either to punishment, or to judgement: It is said, they drew him away by the hairs of the Head, and that they led him in uncouth ways, and through the Brook Cedron, in which the ruder Soldiers plunged him, and passed upon him all the affronts and rudeness which an insolent and cruel multitude could think of.  
Oh, when I think of Jesus thus led away to Anna's first; when I think of him partly going, and partly haled forwards, and forced to hasten his Grave-pace; when I think of him thrown into, or prunged in the Waters of the Brook, and so forced to drink of the Brook Cedron in the way: When I think of him presented by a deal of Soldiers, and rude Catchpoles, to this mercenary Annas; and withal, think that I had an hand as deep as any other in these acts; my heart must either break, or I must proclaim it an heart of Flint, and not of Flesh!   

CHAP. II. Of Christ's Examination, and Condemnation.  
NOW it was that they led him from Annas to Caiaphas; and presently a Council is called of the High Priests, Scribes, and Elders; these were the greatest, gravest, learned'st, wisest Men amongst them, and they all conspire to Judge him, who is the great Judge both of quick and dead.— In their proceed, we may observe, 1. The captious Examination of the High Priest. 2. The Sacrilegious smiting of one of the Servants. 3. The Impious. Accusations of the Witnesses. 4. The Sentence of the Judges. 5. The perfidious denial of perjured Peter. 6. The shameful Delusion, and Abuses of the base Attendants.  
1. For the captious Examination of the High Priest: The High Priest than asked Jesus of his Disciples, and of his Doctrine. 1. Of his Disciples; what the Questions were, it is not expressed; but propably they might be such as these; How many Disciples he had? and where they were? and what was become of them? why he should take upon him to be better guarded than others of greater place and calling? whether it did not savour of Sedition and disturbance of the State, to lead about such a Crew of Disciples and followers after him? and what was the reason of their flight? whether it were not a token of their guiltiness of some disorder, or of Riotous practices? It is not for me to speak how many Queries the High Priest might make to tempt Jesus; but certainly he was sifted to the bran, Examined to the full of all such circumstances as either might trap Christ, or in the least degree advance and help forward his Condemnation; to this Question concerting his Disciples, our Saviour answered nothing; alas he knew the frailty of his followers, he might have said, For my Disciples, you see one hath betrayed me, and another will anon forswear me, he stays but for the crowing of the Cock, and then you shall hear him curse and swear, that he never knew me; and for all the rest, a panic fear hath seized upon their hearts, and they are fled, and have left me alone to tread the Wine-press.  
2. He asked him of his Doctrine; what his Questions were of that, are not set down neither; but probably they might be such as these: Who was his Master, or Instructor in that new Doctrine he had lately broached? why he did seek to innovate, and alter their long practised and accustomed Rites? and what ground had he to bring in his own Devices in their steads? And to this Question our Saviour Answers; but Oh how wisely! I spoke openly in the World (saith he) I ever taught in the Synagogue, and in the Temple, whither the Jews always resorted; and in secret have I said nothing; why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I said unto them, behold they know what I said: q. d. I appeal to the Testimony of the very Enemies themselves; thou suspectest me to be a Seditious person, and one that plots Mischief against the State in secret; I tell thee truth, I speak nothing in secret.  
2. For the stroke given Christ by that base Servant; one of the Officers which stood by, smote Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, answerest thou the High Priest so? That Holy Face which was designed to be the object of Heaven, in the beholding of which, much of the Celestial Glory doth consist; that Face which the Angels stare upon with wonder, like Infants at a bright Sunbeam, was now smitten by a base Varlet in the presence of a Judge; and howsoever the Assembly was full, yet not one amongst them all reproved the Fact, or spoke a word for Christ: Nay, in this the Injury was heightened, because the blow was said to be given by Malchus an Idumean Slave; it was he, whose Ear was cut off by Peter, and cured by Christ, and thus he requites him for his Miracle.  
3. For the Accusation of the Witnesses; he is falsely accused, and charged with the things that he never knew: In his Accusation I observe these things. 1. That they sought false Witnesses; for true. Witnesses they could have none: Now the Chief Priests and Elders, and all the Council sought false Witnesses against Jesus to put him to death. They were resolved in a former Council that he should not live, but die; and now palliating their design with a Scheme of a Tribunal, they seek out for Witnesses. O wonder! who ever heard that Judges went about to inquire for false Witnesses, and suborned them to come in against the Prisoner at the Bar? 2. Though many false Witnesses came in to testify against him, yet they found none; because their Witness did not agree together. O the injustice of Men in bringing about the Decrees of God the Judges seek out for Witnesses, the Witnesses are to seek for proof, those proofs were to seek for unity and consent, and nothing was ready for their purpose. 3. At last, after many attempts, came two false Witnesses, and said, this fellow said, I am able to destroy the Temple of God, and to build it in three days. They accuse him for a figurative speech, a trope which they could not understand; which if he had effected according to the Letter, it had been so far from a fault, that it would have been an Argument of his Power. These were the Accusations of the false Witnesses, to all which Jesus answered nothing; he despised their Accusations, as not worthy an answer; and this vexed more.— But, 4. Another Accusation is brought in; Caiaphas had a reserve, which he knew should do the business in that Assembly; he adjured him by God, to tell him if he were the Christ: I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God: The Holy Jesus being adjured by so Sacred a Name, would not refulse an Answer; but he confessed himself to be the Christ, the Son of the living God: And this the High Priest was pleased (as the design was laid) to call Blasphemy; and in token thereof, he rends his , prophetically signifying that the Priesthood should be rend from himself.  
Use. We are taught in all this quietly to suffer wrong: If my Adversary should write a Book against me, surely I would take it upon my shoulder (saith Job) and bind it as a Crown to me; it is impossible, if we are Christ's Servants, to live in this World without false Accusations: Come, let us take heart, and in some cases, say not a word; since he that was most Innocent, was most silent, why should we be too forward in our Excuses? I know there is a time to speak, as a time for silence; if it may tend to God's Honour, and to the spreading of God's Truth, and that right Circumstances do concur, it is then time to open our mouths, though we let in death. So did our Blessed Saviour: O let us learn of him, and follow his steps!  
4. For the Doom or Sentence of these Judges; Caiaphas' prejudging all the Sanhedrim, in declaring Jesus to have spoken Blasphemy, and the Fact to be notorious, he then asked their Votes; What think ye? And they answered, and said, he is guilty of Death. They durst not deny what Caiaphas had said; they knew his Faction was very Potent, and his Malice great, and his Heart was set upon the business, and therefore they all conspire, and say as he would have them, He is guilty of Death. Oh, here is Jesus' Sentence, which should have been mine, He is guilty of Death. But this Sentence was but like strong dispositions to an enraged Fever; they had no power at that time to inflict Death, or such a Death as that of the Cross, they only declared him apt, and worthy, and guilty of Death.  
5. For Peter's denial and abjuration: While these things were thus acting concerning Christ, a sad Accident happened to his Servant Peter; at first a Damosel comes to him, and tells him, Thou wast with Jesus of Galilee; and then another Maid tells the bystanders, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth: And after a while, they that stood by, spoke themselves, surely thou art one of them, for thy speech bewrayeth thee, q. d. thy very Idiom declares thee to be a Galilean; thou art as Christ is, of the same Country and Sect, and therefore thou art one of his Disciples: Peter thus surprised, without any time to deliberate, he shamefully denies his Lord: And, 1. He doth it with a kind of subterfuge, I know not what thou sayest: He seems to elude the Accusation with this. Evasion, I know not thy meaning, I understand not thy words, I skill not what thou sayest. 2. At the next turn, he goes on to a licentious boldness, denying Christ with an Oath, I know not the man; and lastly, he aggravates his sin so far, that he grows to impudence, and so denies his Lord with cursing and swearing, I know not the man: Here's a Lie, an Oath, and a Curse; the sin is begun at the voice of a Woman, silly Damosel; not any of the greatest Ladies, she was only a poor Serving-maid that kept the Doors; but it grew to ripeness, when the Men-Servants fell upon him; now he swears, and vows, and curses himself if he knew he Man. O Peter, is the man so vile, that thou wilt not own him! Hadst thou not before confessed him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God? and dost thou not know him to be Man, as well as God? Say, is not this the Man-God, God-Man that called thee, and thy Brother Andrew, at the Sea of Galilee, saying, follow me, and I will make you Fishers of men? Is not this he whom thou sawest on Mount Tabor, shining more gloriously than the Sun? Is this not he whom thou sawest walking on the water, and to whom thou saidst, Lord, if it be thou, bid me to come unto thee on the water? How is it then that thou sayest, I know not the man? Surely here's a sad example of human infirmity; if Peter fell so foully, how much more may lesser Stars? And yet withal, here's a blessed example of serious, through Repentance; no sooner the Cock crew, and Christ gave a look of Peter, but he goes out, and weeps bitterly. The Cock was the Preacher, and the look of Jesus was the Grace that made the Sermon effectual. O the Mercy of Christ! he looked back on him that had forgot himself; he revives his servant's memory, to think on his Master's words; he sends him out to weep bitterly, that so he might restore him mereifully to his favour again.  
6. For the abuses and delusions of the base Attendants offered to Christ; the Evangelist tells us, than did they spit in his face, and buffeted him, and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee? And as Luke adds, many other things blasphemously speak they against him; what those many other things were, it is not discovered; only some ancient Writers say, That Christ in that night suffered so many, and such hideous things, that the whole knowledge of them is reserved only for the last day of Judgement. Mallonius writes thus, after Caiaphas and the Priests had sentenced Christ worthy of death, they committed him to their Ministers, warily to be kept till day; and they immediately threw him into the Dungeon in Caiaphas 's House, there they bond him to a stony Pillar, with his hands bound on his back, and then they fell upon him with their palms and sifts, Others add, that the Soldiers not yet content, they threw him into a silthy dirty puddle, where he abode for the remainder of that night. But we need not borrow light from Candles, or lesser Stars, the Scripture itself is plain: Observe we these Particulars:  
1. They spit in his face; this was accounted among the Jews a matter of great Infamy and Reproach: And the Lord said unto Moses, if her Father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? We ourselves account this a great affront, and so did Job; I am their Song and their By word, they abhor me, they fly far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.  
2. They buffet him: We heard before, that one of the Officers struck Jesus with the palm of his hand; but now they buffet him: some observe this difference betwixt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; the one is given with the open hand, but the other with the fist shut up: and thus they used him at this time, they struck him with their fists, and so the stroke was greater and more offensive: By this means they made his face to swell and to become full of Bunches all over. One gives it in thus; By these blows of their sists, his whole head was swollen, his face became black and blue, and his teeth ready to fall out of his Jaws.  
3. They covered his face, Mark 14.65. Several Reasons are rendered for it. As, 1. That they might smite him more boldly, and without shame. 2. That they might not have that object of Pity in their view; it is supposed that the very sight of his admirable form, so lamentably abused, would have mollified the hardest heart under Heaven, and therefore they veiled and hoodwinked that alluring, drawing Countenance.  
4. They smote him with the palms of their Hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee? To pass away that doleful, tedious night, they interchangeably sport at him; first one, and then another gives him a stroke (we usually call it a Box on the Ear) and being hoodwinked, they bid him a-read who it is that smote him.  
And now the dismal Night is done, what remains, but that we follow Christ, and observe him in his Sufferings the next day! The Psalmist tells us, Sorrow may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the Morning: only Christ can find none of this joy neither Morning nor Evening; for after a dismal Night, he meets with as dark a day: what the passages of the day were, we shall observe in their several hours.   

CHAP. II. Of Christ's Indictment, and Judas' fearful End.  
ABOUT six in the Morning Jesus was brought unto Pilat's house; then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the Judgment-Hall, and it was early.— When the Morning was come, all the chief Priests and Elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death; and when they had bound him, and led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the Governor. Then Judas which had betrayed him, hanged himself. O the readiness of our nature to evil! When the Israelites would sacrifice to the Golden-calf, they risen up early in the Morning. If God leave us to ourselves, we are as ready to practise mischief, as the fire is to burn, without delay. But on this Circumstance I shall not long stay; the Transactions of this hour I shall consider in these two Passages, Christ's Indictment, and Judas' fearful End.  
In Christ's Indictment, we may observe, 1. His Accusation. 2. His Examination.  
In his Accusation we may observe, 1. Who are his Accusers. 2. Where he was accused. 3. What was the matter of which they do accuse him.  
1. His Accusers were the chief Priests and Elders of the people; the very same that before ha' judged him guilty of Death, are now his Accusers before the Temporal Judge.  
2. The place of the Accusation was at the door of the House; they would not go into the Judgment-hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. See what a piece of Superstition and gross Hypocrisy is here! they are curious of a Ceremony, but make no strain to shed innocent Blood; they are precise about small matters, but for the weightier matters of the Law, as Mercy, Judgement, Fidelity, and the Love of God, they let them pass; they honour the figurative Passover, but the true Passover they seize upon with bloody and sacrilegious Hands.  
3. The matter of which they accuse him. 1. That he seduced the people. 2. That he forbade to pay Tribute to Cesar. 3. That he said he was a King. How great, but withal, how false were these their Accusations?  
2. For his Examination. Pilate was nothing moved with any of the Accusations, save only the third: and therefore letting all the rest pass, he asked him only, Art thou the King of the Jews? To whom Jesus answered, My Kingdom is not of this World, etc. He saith not, my Kingdom is not in this World, but my Kingdom is not of this World; by which Pilate knew well that Christ was no Enemy unto Cesar: Christ's Kingdom is spiritual, his Government is in the very Hearts and Consciences of men, and what is this to Cesar?— Hence Pilate useth a Policy to save Jesus Christ; they tell him that Christ was of Galilee, and therefore he takes occasion to send him to Herod who was Governor of Galilee.  
2. Pilate having dismissed Jesus, this hour is concluded with a sad Disaster of wicked Judas: Then Judas which betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repent himself, etc. Now his Conscience thaws, and grows somewhat tender; but it is like the tenderness of a Boyl, which is nothing else but a new Disease. There is a Repentance that comes too late; Esau wept bitterly, and repent him, when the Blessing was gone. The five foolish Virgins lift up their Voices aloud, when the Gates were shut; and in Hell men shall repent to all Eternity: and such a Repentance was this of Judas; about midnight he had received his money in the house of Annas, and now betimes in the Morning he reputes his Bargain, and throws his Money back again. The end of this Tragedy was, That Judas died a miserable Death; he perished by the most infamous hands in the world (i.e.) by his own hands: he went and hanged himself. And as Luke, he fell headlong, and burst asunder in the midst, and all his Bowels gushed out. In every passage of his Death, we may take notice of God's Justice, and be afraid of sins; it was just that he should hang in the Air, who, for his sin, was hated both of Heaven and Earth; and that he should fall down headlong, who was fallen from such an height of honour; and that the Halter should strangle that Throat, through which the voice of Treason had sonnded; and that his Bowels should be lost, who had lost the bowels of all Pity, Piety, and Compassion; and that his Ghost should have its passage out of his midst (he burst asunder in the midst) and not out of his lips, because with a Kiss of his lips he had betrayed his Lord, our blessed Jesus.  
Here's a warning-piece to all the world; Who would die such a death for the pleasure of a little sin? or who would now suffer for millions of Gold, that which Judas suffered, and yet suffers in Hell for thirty pieces of Silver? Now the Lord keep our Souls from betraying Christ, or any of his Children, and from despairing in God's mercy through Christ. Amen, Amen.  
I see one sand is run, I must turn the Glass; now was the seventh hour, and what were the Passages of that hour, I shall next relate.   

CHAP. IU. Of Christ stripped, whipped, clothed in Purple, and Crowned with Thorns.  
ABout Nine (which the Jews call the third hour of the day) was Christ stripped, whipped, clothed with Purple, and crowned with Thorns; in this hour his sufferings came thick. I must divide them into two parts, and speak of them severally by themselves.  
1. When Pilate saw how the Jews were set upon his death, he consented, and delivered him first to be stripped. Then the Soldiers of the Governor took Jesus into the common Hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of Soldiers, and they stripped him. They pulled off his Clothes, and made him stand naked before them all. He that adorns the Heaven with Stars, and the Earth with Flowers, and made coats of skins to cloth our first, Parents in, is now himself stripped stark naked.  
2. Pilate gave him to be scourged; this some think he did upon no other account, but that the Jews being satiated and glutted with these Tortures, they might rest satisfied, and think themselves sufficiently avenged.  
In this scourging of Christ, I shall insist on these two things: 1. The shame. 2. The pain.  
1. For the shame: It was of such Infamy that the Romans exempted all their Citizens from it. Is it lawful for you (said Paul) to scourge a man that is a Roman?— And when the Centurion heard that, he went, and told the chief Captain, saying, Take heed what thou dost, for this man is a Roman. The Romans looked upon it as a most infamous punishment, fit only for Thiefs and Slaves.  
2. For the pain: This kind of Punishment was not only infamous, but terrible; no sooner the Soldiers had their Commission, but they charged, and discharged upon him such bloody blows, as if he had been the greatest offender, and basest slave in all the World. Nicephorus calls these Whippers bloody Hangmen, by the fierceness of whose Whipping many had died under their Hands. The manner of their Whipping is described thus: After they had stripped him, they bond him to a Pillar, whither came six young and strong Executioners, Scourgers, Varlets, Hangmen (saith Jerome) to scourge him, and whip him while they could; whereof two whipped him with Rods of Thorns; and when they had wearied themselves, other two whipped him with Ropes or Whip-cords, tied and knotted like a Carters Whip; and when they were tired, the other two scourged off his very skin with Wires, or little chains of Iron; and thus they continued, till by alternate and successive turns they had added stripe upon stripe, and wound upon wound latter upon former, and new upon old, that he was all over in a gore Blood.  
I shall not contend about the number of his stripes, but this is certain, that the Soldiers, with violence and unrelenting hands, executed their commission, they tore his tender flesh, till the Pillar and Pavement were purpled with a shower of blood; and if we may believe Bernard, They ploughed with their Whips upon his back, and made long furrows; and after that, they turned his back upon the Pillar, and whipped his Belly and his Breast, till there was no part free from his face unto his foot.  
3. They put upon him a Purple Robe, or a Scarlet Robe. John calls it Purple, and Matthew, Scarlet; howsoever some difference may be, yet because of their likeness, they are put sometimes one for another; They put upon him a Scarlet Robe.  
4. They plaited a Crown of Thorns, and put it upon his head; a goodly Crown for the King of Kings, we read of many sorts of Crowns, as of the Triumphal, Laurel, Naval, Mural, etc. but never till this did we read of a Crown of Thorns; a Crown it was to delude him, and a Crown of Thorns to torment him; in this we may read both his pain and shame: 1. This Crown of Thorns boared his Head, saith Osorius, with seventy and two Wounds; Bernard speaks of many more, mille puncturis, etc. I know not what ground they have to number them; but certainly many Wounds they made, and the rather may we say so; because that after they had put it upon his Head; they took a Reed and smote him on the head: (i.e.) they smote him on the head to fasten the Crown of Thorns upon him surer, and to imprint it deeper, till as some think it pierced his very Skull.  
Now the hour sounds again, and calls us to go forth, and to behold King Jesus with the Crown wherewith he was Crowned in the Day of his Espousals. And this we shall do the next hour.   

CHAP. V Of Christ brought forth, and Sentenced.  
ABout Ten Christ was brought forth and Sentenced. 1. For his bringing forth, I shall herein observe these particulars. As—  
1. We find Pilate bringing forth Jesus out of the Common Hall, and showing this sad spectacle to all the People; Then came Jesus forth, wearing the Crown of Thorns, and the purple Robe, and Pilate saith unto them, behold the Man: He thought the very sight of Christ would have moved them to compassion; they had lashed him almost unto Death, they had most cruelly divided those Azure Channels of his guiltless Blood, they had clothed him with Purple, Crowned him with Thorns; and now they bring him out by the hair of the Head (say some) and expose him to the Public view of the scornful Company.  
2. We find the Jews more enraged against Jesus, When the Chief Priests and Officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, Crucify him. The more Pilate endeavours to appease them, the more were the people enraged against him; and therefore they cry, away with him, away with him; Crucify him, Crucify him.  
3. We find Pilate and the Jews yet debating the business; Pilate is loath to pronounce the Sentence, and the chiefest of the Jews provoke him to it with a threefold Argument. As—  
1. They had a Law, and by that Law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.  
2. The Jews come with another Argument, they threaton Pilate, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cesar's Friend; a forcible Reason, as the case then stood; it was no small matter to be accused by so many audacious impudent men of High Treason against Cesar, and therefore under this Obligation Pilate seems to bend and bow; whom the fear of Christ's Divinity had restrained, him the fear of Cesar's frown provoked to go on to Sentence and Condemnation. Oh, he was more afraid of Man, whose breath is in his Nostrils, than of God himself, who made the Heavens, and framed the World. And yet before he gives Sentence, he takes Water, and washeth his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the Blood of this Just person, see ye to it.  
3. In reference to this they engage themselves for him, which was their last Argument, His Blood be upon us, and our Children, q. d. act thou as Judge, let him be Condemned to die, and if thou fearest anything, we will undergo for thee, let the vengeance of his Blood be on us, and on our Children for ever.  
2. For the Sentence itself, When Pilate heard that,— he sat down in the Judgment-seat, in a place that is called the pavement, because erected of stones; but in the Hebrew Gabbatha;— This word signifies an high place, and raised above; it was so on purpose, that the Judges might be seen of Men when they pronounced Sentence. And here Pilate sitting down, he gave the Doom. What was the form, or manner of the Sentence is a great Question amongst Divines. Chrysostom is of the mind, that he pronounced no form at all, butonly delivered Jesus unto them to be Crucified, Mark 15.15. John 19.16. Others cannot yield to this, for to what end (say they) should he then sit down upon the Judgment-seat? And yet amongst themselves they cannot agree on a form; Anselme gives it thus, I adjudge Jesus of Nazareth to that Ignominious and shameful Death of the Cross. Vincentius thus, I condemn Jesus, seducing the people, blaspheming God, and saying, he was Christ the King of the Jews, to be fastened to the Cross, and there to hang till he die. Many other forms are brought in by others, but that of Luke is, I am sure, most Authentic. And Pilate gave Sentence, that it should be as they required: And then he delivered Jesus to their will. Here's a Sentence indeed, a delivery of Jesus not to his own, but to his Enemy's Liberty; to the boundless bonds, and all the possible Tortures of their own wills, and wishes. O unjust Sentence Give me not over to the will of my Adversaries, cries David; the will of Malice is an endless wheel, it cares not how long it spins out pain, and therefore they cried, Crucify him, Crucify him, let him be Crucified. Amen, (says Pilate) do what you please, Crucify him, and Crucify him as often as you will, it shall be as you require; Lo now I deliver him to your own will.  
Much more might be said, but the hour strikes again; Pilate is now risen, the Court dissolved, and Jesus is delivered into the hands of the Jews for Execution. How that went on, the next hour will speak; only God prepare your hearts to hear devoutly, and to consider seriously, what Jesus the great Saviour of the World hath suffered for you.   

CHAP. VI Of Christ's Crucifying, with its Appendices.  
ABout Eleven, they prepare with all speed for the Execution: in the revolution of this hour we may observe these several Passages. As, 1. Their taking off the Robe, and clothing him again with his own Raiment. 2. Their leading him away from Gabbatha to Golgotha. 3. His bearing the Cross with Simon's help to bear it after him. 4. His comforting the Women, who followed weeping after him as he went. 5. Their giving him Vinegar to drink mingled with Gall. 6. Their Crucifying, or fastening him on the Cross, whereon he died.  
1. The Evangelist tells us, They took the Robe off from him, and put his own Raiment on him; Origen observes, They took off his Robes, but they took not off his Crown of Thorns; what served their Interest, they pursued still, but nothing of mitigation or mercy to the afflicted Son of Man.  
2. They led him away. Some say they cast a Rope or Chain about his Neck, by which they led him out of the City to Mount Calvary, and that all along the way, multitudes attended him, and a Crier went before him, proclaiming to all hearers the cause of his Death; namely, that Jesus Christ was a Seducer, Blasphemer, Necromancer, a Teacher of false Doctrines, saying of himself that he was the Messiah, King of Israel, and the Son of God.  
3. He bore his Cross. So John relates; before it bears him, he must bear it; and thus they make good their double cry, Crucify him, Crucify him; first, Crucify him with it as a burden, and then Crucify him with it as a Cross.  
4. He comforted the Women who followed weeping after him as he went along. And there followed him a great company of people and of Women, which also bewailed and lamented him; but Jesus turning to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your Children. In the midst of his Misery he forgets not Mercy; in the midst of all their Tortures and loudest out-cries of contumely, of Blasphemy, of scorn, he can hear his following Friends weeping behind him, and neglect all his own sufferings to comfort them, Weep not for me. He hath more compassion on the Women that follow him weeping, than of his own mangled self, that reels along, fainting and bleeding unto death: He feels more the Tears that drop from their Eyes, than all the Blood that flows from his own Veins: We heard before that sometimes he would not vouchsafe a word to Pilate that threatened him, nor to Herod that entreated him, and yet unasked how graciously doth he turn about his blessed bleeding Face to these weeping Women, affording them looks, and words too, both of compassion and of consolation, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but for yourselves.—  
5. No sooner he was come to the place of Execution, but they gave him Vinegar to drink mingled with Gall: In that they gave him drink it was an Argument of their Humanity; this was a custom amongst Jews and Romans, that to the Condemned they ever gave Wine to drink: Give strong Wine unto him that is ready to perish, and Wine unto those that be of heavy heart. But in that they gave him Vinegar mingled with Gall, it was an Argument of their Cruelty and Envy.  
6. They Crucified him, (i. e.) they fastened him on the Cross, and then lift him up. A great Question there is among the Learned, whether Christ was fastened on the Cross after it was erected, or whiles it was lying on the ground? I would not rake too much into these niceties, only more probable it is, that he was fastened to it whiles it lay flat on the ground, and then as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness, so was the Son of Man lifted up. We may express the manner of their acting, and his sufferings now, as a Learned Brother hath done before us; Now came the Barbarous inhuman Hangmen, and begin to unloose his hands, but how? alas, 'tis not to any Liberty, but to worse bonds of Nails: Then they stripped off his gore-glewed , and with them questionless not a little of his mangled skin and flesh, as if it were not enough to crucify him as a Thief, unless they flay him too as a Beast; then stretch they him out as another Isaac on his own burden, the Cross; that so they might take measure of the holes, and though the print of his blood on it gave them his true length, yet how strictly do they take it longer, than the truth? thereby at once both to crucify and rack him?  
And by this time we may imagine Christ nailed to the Cross, and his Cross fixed in the ground, which with its fall into the place of its station, gave infinite torture by so violent a concussion of the Body of our Lord. That which I mean to observe of this crucifying of Christ, I shall reduce to these two heads, viz. the shame and pain.  
1. For the shame: It was a cursed death, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. When it was in use, it was chief inflicted upon slaves that either falsely accused, or treacherously conspired their Master's death: but on whomsoever it was inflicted, this death, in all Ages among the Jews, hath been branded with a special kind of Ignominy.  
2. For the pain: It was a painful death, that appears several ways; As— 1. His Legs and Hands were violently racked, and pulled out to the places fitted for his fastening, and then pierced through with Nails. 2. By this means he wanted the use both of his Hands and Feet, and so he was forced to hang immovable upon the Cross, as being unable to turn any way for his ease. 3. The longer he lived, the more he endured, for by the weight of his body, his Wounds were opened and enlarged, his nerves and veins were rend and torn asunder, and his blood gushed out more and more abundantly still. 4. He died by inchmeal (as I may say) and not at once, the Cross was a death long in dying, it kept him a great while upon the Wrack, it was full three hours betwixt Christ's affixion and expiration, and it would have been longer, if he had not freely and willingly given up the Ghost. It is reported, that Andrew the Apostle was two whole days on the Cross before he died, and so long might Christ have been, if God had not heightened it to greater degrees of Torment supernaturally.   

CHAP. VII. Of the Consequents after Christ's crucifying.  
THE Particulars following I shall quickly dispatch. As thus—  
1. About twelve, when the Sun is usually brightest, it began now to darken. This darkness was so great, that it spread over all the Land of Jewry; some think, over all the World; so we translate it in Luke, And there was a darkness over all the earth.  
2. About three (which the Jews call the ninth hour) the Sun now beginning to receive his light, Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, Lamasabachthani, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?— And then, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, he said, I thirst,— And when he had received the Vinegar, he said, It is finished.— And at last crying with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands, I commend my Spirit, and having said thus, he gave up the Ghost. I cannot stay on these seven words of Christ which he uttered on the Cross; his words were ever gracious, but never more gracious than at this time; we cannot find in all the Books and Writings of men, in all the Annals and Records of time, either such Sufferings, or such Say, as were these last Words and Wounds, Say and Sufferings of Jesus Christ.— And having said thus, he gave up the Ghost. Or, as John relates it, He bowed his head, and gave up the Ghost. And now we may suppose him at the Gates of Paradise, calling with his last Words to have them opened, that the King of Glory might come in.  
3. About four in the Afternoon he was pierced with a Spear, and there issued out of his side both blood and water. And one of the Soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. How truly may we say of the Soldiers, that after all his Sufferings, they have added wounds; they find him dead, and yet they will scarce believe it, until with a Spear they have searched for life at the wellhead itself.   

CHAP. VIII. Giving an account of the manner and place of Christ's Burial.  
ABout five (which the Jews call the eleventh and last hour of the day) Christ was taken down: And Mary caused certain Ministers with whom she joined to take her dead Son from the Cross, whose body, when she once got free from the nails, she kissed and embraced with entertainments of the nearest vicinity that could be expressed by a person that was holy and sad, and a Mother weeping for her dead Son. She now baths his cold Body with her warm Tears, and makes clean the surface of the Wounds; and delivering a winding Napkin to Joseph of Arimathea, gave to him in charge to enwrap the Body and embalm it, to compose it to the Grave, and do it all the Rites of Funeral. He obeys her Counsel, and ventures upon the displeasure of the Jewish Rulers, and went confidently to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave it to him.  
Joseph therefore takes the body, binds his face with a Napkin, washes the body, anoints it with Ointment, enwraps it in a composition of Myrrh and Aloes, and puts it into a new Tomb which he for himself had hewn out of a Rock (it not being lawful among the Jews to inter a condemned person in the common Coemeteries) for all these circumstances were in the Jews manner of Burying. But when the Sun was set the chief Priests and Pharisees went to Pilate, telling him, that Jesus, whilst he was living foretell his own Resurrection upon the third day, and lest his Disciples should come and steal the body, and say he was risen from the dead, desired, that the Sepulchre might be secured against the danger of any such Imposture. Pilate gave them leave to do their pleasure, even to the satisfaction of their smallest Scruples. They therefore sealed the Grave, rolled a great stone at the mouth of it, and as an ancient Tradition says, bound it about with Labels of Iron, and set a Watch of Soldiers, as if they had intended to have made it surer than the Decrees of Fate, or the never-failing Laws of Nature.    

A Funeral Sermon FOR THAT FAITHFUL AND LABORIOUS Servant of CHRIST, Mr. JOHN DUNTON.  
Who Deceased November the 4th. 1676. in the 48th. Year of his Age.  
By N. H. Minister of the GOSPEL.  
O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?  1 Cor. 15.55. 
LONDON: Printed for John Dunton at the Black Raven in the Poultry; over against the Stock-market. 1684.   


Introduction.  
DEarly Beloved, should a Stranger behold the face of this vast Assembly, and see all the honourable Persons here present with the great number of Ministers that are come this day to attend this mournful occasion, and such a great confluence of all ranks and qualities in this dejected posture, they would say as the Inhabitants of Canaan did, when they saw the Mourning for old Jacob in the floor of Arad, This is a grievous Mourning to England; and would certainly inquire what eminent Person, what great Man is this day fallen in our Israel? But you who knew the worth of this Excellent Person, whose shadow lies there before you, do rather wonder, that all faces are not covered with blackness, and all bodies with Sackcloth, and come hither so fully prepared to Mourn, that you even long till something be spoken of him, that you may ease your hearts a little, though it be with weeping. I must needs confess, I have been so surprised with sorrow myself, that I thought it hardly possible for me to undertake this service, but that I must have covered over my Affections and his Eulogies, as the Painters did Agamemnon's grief for Iphigenia, with a veil of silence. But stay a while (I beseech you, and weep not so abundantly as I see many of you now do) till I deliver an Errand from God, the ground whereof you shall find in   
1 Sam. 25.1. 
And Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah.  
DEarly Beloved, the work in hand is a Funeral; the Party deceased, worthy Samuel; the Mourners, all Israel; the place of Burial, his own house at Ramah. The whole passage penned, either by Gad, or Nathan (as it should seem by the Chronicles) at God's appointment, whose Eye follows every Mourner here, and therefore it behoves us to follow his voice with our best attentions. For my own part, I am very sensible of the Difficulties I now sustain for the subject of our Discourse; samuel's Funeral is enough to astonish any Israelite: for matter, it is not easy to say, what will be most expediently said; and for manner, we have things almost incompatible to reconcile plainness and briefness in the same speech. The Text gives some advantage by its plainness and fullness, yielding matter of large use from two sorts of men of highest quality, viz. from Samuel dying, and from Israel mourning.  
And first, of Samuel, he dies: And in his death let's read our own, and grow to this conclusion; Death is unavoidable, Life and Death take turns each of other; the man lives not, that shall not see Death, be he a King with Saul, a Prophet with Jeremy, a wise Solomon, a foolish Nabal, a holy Isaac, a profane Esau, of what sort soever, he must be Death's Prisoner: Nay, let there be a concurrence of all in one, let Samuel be both a good Man, and a good Minister, etc. and have as many Privileges as are incident to a man, yet can he not procure a Protection against this Officer; his Mother may beg his Life, but none can compound for his Death. Speak we this according to men? saith not the Scripture as much? Wise men die (saith David) and Fools die; Rich men die, and poor too; and therefore he calls both upon the Sons of Nobles, and of the Earth, to mind the Lesson: indeed the Heathens could compare the Sons of Adam to Counters, Chess, Stage-plays: in reckoning, Counters have their several Place and use for a time, but in the end they are all jumbled on a heap; in a Game at Chess, some are Kings, some Bishops, etc. but after a while, they go all into the same Bag: on the Stage, one is in his rags, another in his Robes; one is the Master, another the Man; and very busy they be; but in the end the Play ends, the bravery ends, and each returns to his place: such (and no other) is the state of man. We wear death in our faces, and bear it in our bones, we put it upon our backs, and into our mouths, and cannot be ignorant of it. Yea, the dead proclaim this Lesson, go to the Earth; and they that make their Beds in darkness, and sleep in the dust, will tell you, that it's neither wisdom, nor power, nor strength, nor friends, nor place, nor grace, nor any thing else that can exempt from this Tribute of Nature. Our deceased Brother here before us, speaks this to all this vast Assembly: If greatness of Spirit, feature of Body, gifts of mind, chasteness of life, soberness in diet, diligence in a calling, Prayers of the Church, would have given any advantage against death, darkness and blackness had not at this time covered us. That there is no Prescription against Death appears by these Reasons. The first of which is taken from the Decree of God, it's a Statute enacted in that highest Court, the voice of Heaven, that man should once die. No man as yet hath breathed, but he hath had his death or translation; no man is yet to come, but he must either see death, or an alteration; so hath Heaven concluded it, and who can possibly reverse it.  
The second is taken from the matter whereof all men are made; the Scripture compares man to a house, whose foundation is laid in the dust, whose walls are made of Clay, the whole is but a Tabernacle, and that of Earth, and that of man's building, as Paul (after Job) tells us: this is the estate of man, of all men; some are more painted than some, but all earthen Vessels; some more clear than some, but all Glasses, all built of earth, all born of Women, and therefore all short of continuance, as Job infers.  
The third is taken from the proper cause of Death, Sin: Sin is Poison to the Spirits, Rottenness to the Bones, where it comes; and where doth it not come? And therefore now what's to be done?  
Use 1. Surely as men that must travel, stand not to dispute, but Arm themselves for all Wether: So must we; die we must, that's already concluded; young and old, good and bad, etc. Whatsoever we be now, we must be dead anon: You will think strange (perhaps) of my pains in this kind, whilst I persuade a Mortality: For howsoever we can all say in the general, we are Mortal, nothing so sure as Death; yet when it comes to our own particular, we dream of an Immortality in Nature, we never set any bounds to Life, we do not resolutely conclude, I must die shortly, I may instantly, this day may be the last that I shall see, this hour the last that I shall spend, this word the last that I shall speak, this deed the last that I shall perform, this place the last that I shall breathe in; and so live by the day, by the hour. But it is our duty daily to consider what it is to die, what goes before it, what comes with it, what follows upon it: For first, before we come to the very Gate of Death, we are to pass through a very strait, long, heavy Lane: Sickness first tameth us, which many times is worse than Death itself, that renders us unfit for all Religious Services, Prayer, Repentance, etc. as being a time not of getting, but of spending; that cleaves the Head, and pains the Heart, and wounds the Spirits, and leaves us so distressed, that Meat is no Meat, the Bed no Bed, Light no Light to us; that makes us catch at Death for help: But alas, what help in Death, if not forethought of?  
Oh the Misery of a poor Creature, that is so pained, that he cannot live; so unprepared, that he dares not die! he goes to Bed, but cannot sleep; he tastes his Meat, but it will not down; he shifts his Room, but not his pain; Death (saith the Conscience) would end and amend all, wert thou prepared for Death; but to die before, were to lose those Comforts one hath, and to fall under those Curses that are unsufferable. Ah, beloved, we may intimate somewhat of his Misery; but it falls not within our thoughts to conceive what his fears be, who hangs between Life and Death, Earth and Hell, thus forthwith ready to drop into flames at every stroke of Death, and to sink down, down, down, till he be gone for ever. And yet this is not all: When I am dead (saith the Carnal wretch,) all the World have done with me: He saith truth, all the World, and all the comforts of the World have done with him indeed, he shall-never laugh more, he shall never have a moment's ease more: But though the World hath done with him, yet God hath not done with him; he sends for his Soul (having first taken order that the Body be forth coming) convents that, and dooms that, and casts that from him with greatest indignation, into such a place, such a company, such a condition, as would make the Heaven's sweat, and the Earth shrink to hear it.  
Ah, beloved, therefore without all delays, as a man that is now dying (as well as he for whom the Bell tolls, though not haply so near to Death) set upon two things: First, set your House in order, next your Souls. For the first, you have your persons and things to look unto: To begin with Persons; so live with your Wives, being Husbands, with your Servants, being Masters, with your Children, being Fathers; as becomes dying Men, exercise such wisdom, kindness, faithfulness, mercy, every day, as thou wouldst do, if thou knowest it to be the last day. And for things (mark me well) harken not to Satan, who dissuades all seasonable wills, because he would administer the Goods; by being timely in this Errand, thou shalt not shorten thy days, but having taken thy leave of the World, shalt better attend on Death. Things therefore unlawful, restore, (I say again) restore. Things Lawful dispose of, and as in a Journey (hasty and uncertain) wait the Call. Up then (my Brethren) and lose no time: Now the Wind serves, hoist up Sail; now is the Market, make your Provision; now is the Seedtime, sow apace; as yet you have all Advantages from Grace and Nature, Word, Sacrament, Wit, Memory, Sense, Strength, etc. Now apprehend the Opportunity, Repent and be Pardoned; believe, and be saved; obey, and be for ever blessed: If any hath persuaded himself otherwise, my Soul shall weep in secret for his destruction, which I know will be as certainly effected, as now it is plainly threatened. Be entreated then, let God entreat you, and once overrule you: You must die, you must die but once; being once dead, you return not to make a new Preparation; do that once well, which being once well done, will make you Men nay, more than Men, than Angels for ever. And this is the Use for yourselves. A second respects our Friends.  
Use 2. Must all die, is there no Remedy? Then must we have patience in our Friend's departure: a common Lot no man should shrug at, even in the Poet's judgement: who quarrels Summer for some heat, or Winter for some cold? a Thorn for pricking, or a Brier for scratching? who is angry that he is framed like other men, subject to like hunger, like thirst, like sleep? and why (I pray) should not our Friends resemble others in their death, as well as in their birth? We would not have them have more Eyes or Hands than others, and why more days? What do we make of Life, what of Death? Surely to the godly, Life is but a Prison, Death is an Advantage. Say our Friends were tied in Prison, would we begrudge them liberty? say tossed on the Seas, would you envy them the Haven? say doubtful in the Skirmish, would you be sorry for their Victory? nay, say but beaten with a Tempest, would you not wish them at home? Believe it, Brethren, this World is but a Sea, a Prison; this Life a Journey, a Warfare: if God hath prevented our Wishes, shall he be returned frowardness? Shall we trouble the Air with needless Cries, my Husband; my Father, my Father; as if we were the first Widows and Orphans in the World? No, let them mourn without hope, whose life and death is without hope: as for Christians, who die living, and live dying, they lose nothing by death.  
For first, if we descend to particulars, the body that is stripped of all sinful and natural defects (the abortions of sin) and filled with all heavenly contemplations: of mortal, it becomes immortal; of corruptible, incorruptible: there is no use of Meat, Apparel, Sleep, Beds, etc. of dishonourable, glorious; like (in its measure) to the body of Christ, which is the standard. In short, whatsoever might make to the annoying, blemishing, dishonouring, disquieting of the body, is removed: whatsoever might make it amiable, active, honourable, glorious, comfortable, is added: the glory of the Sun will be but darkness to it. For the Soul, that is first eased of all the rags and relicques of sin, delivered of Ignorance, Pride, Self-love, etc. delivered next, of all the consequences of sin, griefs, guilts, fears, accusations, yea, delivered of all things, which may any way import an imperfect state through an upright heart, as Faith, Repentance, hungering after Righteousness, etc. And then in a second place, it is filled with the Image of Jesus Christ. First, all the powers and faculties thereof are perfected and advanced above the ordinary strain of Nature: Next all those Vessels are stuffed with knowledge, love, and all things else that are there requisite; and not only so, but the Soul is furnished with all the attendances of Christ's Image, everlasting joy, perpetual peace, a constant correspondency and communion with God; and in brief, whatsoever might offend, stain, blemish the Soul, is removed; and whatsoever might enrich it, ennoble it, and make it blissful, is (according to each man's measure) added: And thus of the person. The rest we dispatch with all speed: For the Estate thus: there shall be nothing that shall be wanting, that shall trouble, distract, or discontent; there shall be nothing that the Soul shall then desire, but there it is. For the place thus: There shall be nothing less, than what shall be desired, nothing more that can be desired; what it is, the Word no where (for aught I know) tells us. The Church on Earth is more rich than Gold, more precious than Pearl, more bright than the Sun, more glorious than the Moon: but what is there to be seen, Paul could not utter, we cannot conceive; only this we know, that none shall be ever weary of it, or willing to alter it. Lastly, for the Company, there be of three sorts. First, Angels, who shall not then terrify, but attend; the worst and lowest Servant there shall be an Angel. Secondly, all the famous and godly men that ever lived; there shall we meet with Adam, Abraham, etc. there shall we be acquainted with David, Paul, 
Cypr. de morte ad Fratres.  etc. Thirdly, the blessed Trinity; there shall we see him who hath done and suffered so much for us; him whom the Fathers before and since his Incarnation, so much longed to see, Jesus Christ the blessed: all which considered and believed, what can we less do, than abandon all fruitless and fleshly tears for our Friends departed? what way are they gone, but the way of all flesh? with whom do they live, but with Samuel, with God? Where are they, but in better place and case? with better Friends than ever before. In stead of carking, therefore, do two other things: First, whilst Friends be present, do the part of a Friend, in praying for them, in calling upon them, and in fitting of them to death; that so thou mayst have peace in thyself, and hope of them in their departure: else, when thy Conscience shall say unto thee; Wretched man, thy Wife, thy Child, thy Charge is now dead, and (for aught thou knowest) in Hell, if not, no thanks to thee, for thou wast never the man that would call upon them, pray with them, or mind them of their Departures: when (I say) thy Conscience shall thus great thee, thou shalt not tell how to take it. Secondly, when they are gone to bed, and fast asleep, awake them not with thy cries, but make ready to follow after; so the time shall be best redeemed, the loss and cross best improved, and Satan (who loves to fish in such troubled waters) most prevented. And so far this Use.  
We will touch upon a third as we pass, and that is this: Must we all die? then here is a cooler for the wicked, and a comfort for the godly. The wicked holds all his comforts only for term of life; death ends his wealth, his glory, his peace, his joy, his comforts, his contentments; all his portions is only in this life, saith the Prophet; all the sweet he hath fore-goeth death: after, he hath a Portion indeed, but it is a Portion of Fire and Brimstone, of Storms and Tempests, of Anguish and Tribulation, of Shame and Confusion, of Horror and Amazement in a fiery Lake from the presence of God, in the midst of cursed Spirits. Thus death must needs be terrible to him, but as comfortable to the Godly; for it makes his Crosses as short, as the others Comforts: The Wicked cannot promise to himself Comforts of an hours length, nor may the Godly threaten himself with Crosses of an hours continuance. Death in an instant turns the sinner's Glory into Shame, Pleasure into Pain, Comfort into Confusion: Death in an instant eases the Godly's body of all pain, his Soul of all sin, his Conscience of all fears, and leaves him in an estate of perfect happiness. And happy are they whose Misery is no longer than life; but woe be to the wicked, whose jollity ends when death enters, and whose Torments survive death itself: and so we leave Samuel to his rest.  
Well, Samuel is well himself, but in what case doth he leave his poor Neighbours at Ramah? that the Text now speaks, and it is my trouble (yet better one than all troubled) that I must speak it so briefly: Israel, saith the Text, jacob's issue, God's people; all Israel distributively taken, that is, of all sorts some, were gathered in great Troops, either by public command, or of their own voluntary accord, or both ways: First, to lament, according to the then custom in most solemn manner, samuel's end, and their own loss; and next (to honour him at his Burial in Ramah.) The Points, which in a passage or two must be touched from this part, are two; the first is this; Samuel a public and a profitable man dieth, Israel publicly mourneth: you see what followeth, Great and public losses must be entertained with great and public sorrows: Sorrow must be suited to the loss, as a Garment to the body, a Shoe to the foot; when the cause of Grief is great, the measure of Grief must be answerable. This is one Principle, when a good man and Neighbour dies, there is cause of great sorrow: this is another, the inference will soon follow, and result hence, and that is our Conclusion; Good men of public use and place, should never pass to the Grave unlamented, their death should be considered and bewailed. And indeed, reason calls for it; for we must mourn, in respect of the cause of such men's deaths; not private, but public sins too; God never beheads a State, a Country, but for some Treason.  
Reason 1. If Samuel die, it is because God is angry with the people: the sheep be not thankful nor fruitful; therefore the shepherd is smitten.  
Now should it be thus when useful persons die? what then shall we say to these times, wherein men have not put off Piety only, but Nature also? No marvel if the Prophet complain, The righteous perish, and no man considereth it in his heart. The wife perisheth, and the Husband doth not consider it; the Parents perish, and the Children do not consider it; the Children perish, and the Parents do not consider it; few such Brethren as David to Jonathan; such Husbands as Abraham, such Children as Isaac, such Fathers as Jacob. These long and long felt the loss of their dearest Friends: but now one month is enough to wear out all thoughts of a Brother, nay, of a Child, nay, of a Mother, nay, of a Wife; nay in the nearest ties, one in that space may be buried, a second wooed, a third married. Hitherto, in hardest pressures, and worst measures, David could go to Samuel in Ramah, and there meet with good Counsel and Comfort: but now both Samuel himself dies, and poor David must fly. Shall (I beloved) speak as the thing is? In the fall of one Cedar of Ramah we have lost much shade and shelter; in the splitting of one Vessel of price (wherein we had all our interesses and adventures) we are all losers: what we have lost we shall better see seven years hence, than now; but losers we are, all losers; Wife, Children, Neighbours, Friends, Ministers, People, all losers; so that here that is verified, which was anciently uttered of another, In one we have lost many; a chaste Husband, a tender Father, a religious Minister, a kind Neighbour, in few, a Samuel. Speak I this after the flesh, to please? No, I speak it for use to profit: I report myself to your hearts. You tell me that you have a public loss, your mouths have uttered it, your faces speak it, my Ears and Eyes have received it from you; and if so, then see what follows; if we have Israel's loss, we must make Israel's Lamentation. Let us take up David's words with David's Affection; I am distressed for thee, Brother Jonathan, very pleasant hast thou been to me, thy love to me was wonderful, passing the Love of Women. Are we as David to Saul, Isaac to Rebekah, sons? Are we as Jeremiah to Josiah, Prophets? As David to Abner, Kindsmen? Are we by any name entitled to this loss? Mourn then, mourn, not as the Infidel desperately, nor bitterly, as doth the froward; but soberly, as did David, when Abners Death put him to a Fast. Let his dearest Yokefellow say, Ah, mine unthankfulness and unfruitfulness! let Children say, Ah, our Disobedience and Stubbornness! and Servants, Ah, our Idleness and Untrustiness! and all, Ah, our Folly and Frowardness! who could not see Vertves through Frailties, and Corn through chaff, till we had lost all. These sins of ours have stripped us of a Samuel, and covered us with darkness. He is gone; the Arm and Shoulder is fallen from this our little body, the sooner for our sins; let us see it, or else what abides us? In the Body, what Medicines cannot do, cutting must; what that cannot, burning must, or else nothing (saith the Master of Physic) It is so in the Soul too; Oh that we could see it! In our Friends Sicknesses we have been Medicined, in private distresses lanced, but in the loss of Public Persons the Lord proceeds to burning. If these wounds upon the very Head of us strike us not down, what shall next be smitten, but our Heart itself? Well, Israel laments, and it hath cause. What do they next? That next we must hear.  
They bury him; and the place and manner be observed. For the place, they bury him at his House in Ramah, (the Ancient and the Manor House) his Father dwelled there before him, 1 Sam. 1. where also you may be informed touching the Town. Whereas there were of Ramahs' four or sive, this was Ramah Zophim in Mount Ephraim, which borrows his Name from the Situation of it; it stood high, and the name importeth no less. In this Ramah Samuel sometime lived, and here he is Interred. For the Selemnity of the Funeral, it is such as argues Israel's love, and samuel's worth; they do him all the Honour that is possible. First, (Israel) the firstborn of Men, the glory of the World, comes to the Funeral, (all Israel) all at once in the same 〈◊〉 they come from far▪ they 〈…〉 wings of the 〈…〉 all Mourn 〈…〉 to bury him in his own Town, (at his own House.) What can be done more in Samuel's Honour? To be Buried is an Honour; buried in ones own Country, much; in his own place, more; but to be so buried as Samuel was, in such a place, by such a People, with so many Tears, so great a Solemnity, this is Samuel's Happiness, and the Saints Honour. You see then our third Doctrine.  
An Holy and Profitable Life ends in a Happy and Honourable Death: Life is Death's Seedtime, Death Life's Harvest: As here we sow, so there we reap; as here we set, so there we gather, of Holiness, Happiness, and of a blessed Life, a Death as blissful. He that spends himself upon God and Man, shall at the last have all the Honour that Heaven and Earth can cast upon him. So Samuel found it, so Jacob, few men comparable to him in Holiness, as few so Honourably Buried. So Asa, Hezekiah, Josiah, David, etc. but especially for Josiah and Hezekiah, those great Reformers, those Profitable Members, the Text takes special notice of their Obsequies. Josiah having received his Deaths-wound abroad, is brought home in his Chariot, and much Honour attends him to his 〈◊〉 he is Buried amongst his Fathers and 〈…〉 nay, all Judah, and the Neighbouring Towns are Mourners.  
Use. And is this so? Then here we see what course must be taken, if we will arrive at Honour: Men may dream to meet with Honour in many paths; they may think to make their Name famous by other means: But when they have tired themselves in seeking this in by-paths, as the young Students Elijah's Body, they must with them seek in Heaven, if ever they will find. A Godly fruitful Life hath a fairer prospect towards Honour, than all the Advantages in the World besides. Be one as poor as Onesimus, yet if Onesimus, that is, Profitable, his Name outlives him: Be one as great as King Jehoram, or Jehoiachim, if he idle out his Life, he lives undesired, he dies unlamented. What we hear spoken, we see executed in all Ages. Consult with your own Experience, and tell me, whether the Names of Idolaters, Drunkards, Adulterers, Swaggerers, be not rotten and accursed, in despite of all Monuments, Titles, Offices, Policies, Favours whatsoever: When in the mean time the Righteous (notwithstanding all slanders, clamours, imputations, and aspersions) is of blessed Name and Memory. And if so, feed upon the Wind no longer, build Babel's no more, lay no more Foundations in Hell, whilst you think to erect a Building by flattery, baseness, dependency, lying, swaggering, etc. but go to the Lord of Honour, for lasting Honour; Pray much, Read much, Hear much; Honour him in all the passages of his Worship, and you have his word for your Preferment: And as for men, be to them as Jehoiada was, profitable, and they shall be to you as Israel to him, Merciful. Ah, the fruitful liver finds Mercy in his death, his Conscience favours him, and heartens him upon death itself: The Angels of God (those Officers of Heaven) comfort him, and fetch him in all state to his Crown; the Lord of Glory receives him with all Honour, and puts upon him the Glory of Heaven; the Saints departed regard him as a part of themselves, of Christ; the Saints living honour his Name, and follow him to Heaven, with their Loves and Affections: The wicked have a world of Commendations for him, and the blind Balaam can say, O that my end may be like his! Thus Honour and Happiness (and nothing else) abide us hereafter, if now we can lay forth ourselves to God and Man's Advantage. But for the wicked, who bestow themselves in the World, like Drones in the Hive, who either have no Calling, or do no Service, and towards God so demean themselves, as if they were his betters; scorning his Children, scoffing at his Word, trampling upon his Name, his Sabbaths, his Worship; let them never deceive themselves, their Names shall rot, they shall find no favour in Death, their Consciences shall brawl them out of all quiet: Men shall rifle into their lives; their whoredoms, treacheries, villainies shall fly thorough the world; every Drunkard shall sit upon them, every rakehell judge them, censure them, and deride them. In the mean time whilst that the Name is thus torn below, the Soul is brought before the Judge, Convicted, Committed to Hell, covered with shame, delivered up to everlasting contempt. O then, be not cursed, but blessed; be Happy, be Honoured, be well thought of in Life, well spoken of after Death; be Righteous, be Humble, be Serviceable; this is the way as Heaven tells us; a samuel's Life will draw on a samuel's Death, nothing else.  
In a second place, let this afford comfort to fruitful Members, and faithful Christians: Let them know that the World will change erelong; the wicked, who have now the applause, must down; the godly, who are as yet under shame, shall one day shine as so many glorious Suns in the highest Heavens. Yield then (beloved) to the World's Sons; let them have the place, give them leave to speak; the time will come when Honour shall know its home, and Innocency have its Crown: All the wiles in the World shall not keep the wicked from contempt; nor all the wits in Hell the Godly from Honour. samuel's Name may be overcast and clouded for a time, but in the end his light will show itself. Whilst he is present, he is not valued; but this is samuel's Honour, when gone, he is missed; when dead, he is lamented; all Israel strives to do him all Honour: Blessed be that Life, that ends in so glorious a death; thrice happy that Man, whom Angels, God, and all Men do strive to Honour. A true Christian may travel in life under Troubles and Contempts; but mark his end, and you shall find (as Peace, so) Honour. When he is Buried, a true and honourable Funeral is Solemnised; men mourn, not in the Face, but in the Heart; respect him not in show, but in truth; their Consciences Reverence him, their Souls find a miss of him, the Angels of Heaven man him in a goodly Train to Heaven, the Saints on Earth follow him with greatest Affections to his Grave: Seven, nay, thrice seven Years after the Funeral he is not forgotten. Thus are the men whom the great King loves, Honoured. And now, shall Men and Women bear with patience the absence of dearest Friends, when it is for their outward preferment? And when Christ would Marry a Child, prefer a Friend, advance our Acquaintance, should we stand off? No: If this be the worst that Death can do to the Godly, to strip him of his Rags, and  him with Robes; to free him from all contempts, and possess him of greatest Honours; to redeem him from all shame, and to Crown him with Glory in the Hearts, Mouths, Consciences of Men, in the face of Heaven and Earth: Let's never frown upon Friend's departure, but rather see (if possible) the Messenger of this good tidings, and bless the Lord for our advancement in theirs. Indeed (beloved) we weep too fast, when tears deny sight of Mercies: In the death of Samuel there is gain to him, as well as loss to us; both should be remembered. I know many present to be sensible of the one; I shall be wrongful to conceal the other. Truth it is, there is fallen a great Man in Israel: But how fallen? Like Abner, upon a violent Hand? Or died he like a Fool? Was he unsensible of his Estate? Were his Hands, his Mouth, his Heart tied? Was his end without Honour? No, Brethren, he died in a ripe Age, when the Lord had made the most of his Life; he died in Peace, he died with hopes of Life in his heart, with words of Grace in his lips, and his Sun did set in the highest point, in greatest brightness; time, place, manner, company, Men Angels, God, and all conspired together, to do him all Honour in his death. Bless the God of all spirits for this, all ye that are Interessed in the same Profession and Religion. Bless the Lord for this, that he so died, in such a place, in such a time, in such a sort, as the Devil hath received a foil, and Religion grace and honour by it. And thus Israel hath done his part in Mourning, in Burying Samuel at his House at Ramah.  
And now the more particular Application of all this brings me directly to the sad occasion of this present Meeting, even to lament the fall of that Choice and Excellent Person, Mr. John Dunton, in whose Death the Almighty testifies against us, and even fills us with Gall and Wormwood; I know you come hither to mourn, so fully prepared for it, that although I am but a dull Orator to move Passion, I may serve well enough to draw out those Tears wherewith your Hearts and Eyes are so big and full: There is no need to call for the Mourning Women, that they may come; and for Cunning Women, that they may take up a wailing to help your Eyes to run down with Tears, and your Eyelids to gush out with Waters. The very looking down upon this Bier, and the naming of the Man, whose Corpse is here placed, and a very little speech of his Worth and our miserable Loss, is enough to make this Assembly (like Rachel) not only to lift up a voice of Mourning, but even to refuse to be Comforted.  
Dear Beloved, I must needs confess I am this day called to speak of a Man so eminent and excellent, so wise and gracious, so good and useful, whose Works so praise him in every Gate, that if I should now altogether hold my Tongue, the Children and Babes (I had almost said the stones) would speak; upon whose Hearse could I scatter the sweetest Flowers, the highest Expressions of Rhetoric and Eloquence, you would think I fell short of his worth; you would say, his very Name expresseth more than all my words could do. Should I say of him, as they of Titus, that he was Amor & Deliciae generis Humani: Should I say of his Death, as once the Sicilians upon the Grecians departure, Totum ver periit ex anno Siciliano; should I say he was not only as one of David's Thirty Worthies, but one of the three, one of the first three, even the first and Chief of them; the only Man in these Parts, who Preached as he lived; should I say our whole Land groaneth at his Death, as the Earth at the fall of a great Mountain, I might do it without Envy in this great Assembly: Yea, should I write a whole Book in his Commendation, and Publish it, many of you would say, as a Philosopher once did, who falling on a Book, Entitled, Encomium Herculis, said with Indignation, Et quis Lacedaemoniorum eum vituperat? He thought it time ill spent to praise him whom none could blame. And I believe yourselves are resolved to make some such Monument of your high Esteem of him, that after-ages as well as the present shall know you valued him above my words. I know large Encomiastical praises of the Dead, unless their Lives were Eminent in Goodness, and free from any notable blot, are much condemned by the most Judicious and godly Divines, as a thing of very evil consequence, because they often prove Confections of Poison to the Living; for many, whose Lives speak nothing for them, will draw the Example into consequence, and be thereby led into hope that they may Press a Hackney Funeral Sermon to carry them to Heaven when they die. On the other hand, it may be said, that though common Graves deserve no Inscription, yet Marble Tombs are not without some Epitaph; Heroical and Virtuous Examples should not go with a common Pass, but with a Trumpet—  
Since than it must be so, jacta est alea, I shall impose upon myself this Law, not to Build his Monument of common stones, nor trouble myself and you to gather such Flowers to cast upon his Grave as grow in common Fields, nor descend or stoop to any thing which is not worthy of your highest Imitation.  
First then, For his Personal Endowments; he was certainly,  
1. A Person of a very sweet Nature and Temper, so affable and Courteous, and cheerful, that he gained upon all that conversed with him; and if any taxed him with any Pride or Moroseness, or distantialness in his carriage, it must be only such as did not know him; he had so winning a way with him, he might bid himself welcome into whatsoever House he entered. Pride and Moroseness are bad qualities for a Man of his Employ, and make men afraid of the ways of God, for fear they should never enjoy a good day after.  
2. A Person of a very great Gravity, and could carry a Majesty in his Face when there was occasion, and make the least Gild tremble in his presence with his very Countenance. I never knew a Man better loved, nor more dreaded. God had given him such a spirit with power, that his very frowns were darts, and his reproofs sharper than swords; he would not contemn familiarity, but hated that familiarity that bred contempt.  
3. A Person of a very large Charity. He had large Bowels, and a large Heart; a great dexterity in the opening of the bowels of others, as well as his own, to works of Mercy, that I think I may say, there is not a Church in England that hath more often and more liberal Contributions for poor Ministers, and other poor Christians, than this hath, according to the proportion of their abilities.  
4. A Person of a wonderful Patience. Notwithstanding the many Weaknesses and Infirmities which for a long time have been continually without ceasing, as it were, trying their skill to pull down his frail Body to the dust, and at last effected it, yet I never heard an impatient word drop from him. When I came to visit him, and asked him, How do you, Sir? He answered, Pretty well; I bless God I am well, I am contented with the Will of my Father, my Father's Will and Mine are but one Will. It made me often think of that, Isa. 33.24. The Inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the People that dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquity. Sense of Pardon took away sense of Sickness.  
5. A Person of a very strong Faith in the promises of both Worlds, and he could not be otherwise, being such a continual Student in the Covenant; he feared nothing of himself, or others, knowing the Promise and Oath of God would stand firm, and the Head of the Church would see to the safety of all his Members here and hereafter.  
Secondly, For his Ministerial Endowments, he was,  
1. An Experienced Minister. From the Heart to the Heart, from the Conscience to the Conscience; he had a Body of Divinity in his Head, and the power of it upon his Heart.  
2. He was a Minister delighted in his work. It was his Meat and Drink to Labour in that great work, insomuch that under his Weakness he would be often Preaching of little Sermons (as he called them) to those that came to visit him, even when by reason of his Distemper they were very hardly able to understand him.  
3. He was a successful Minister. The Instrument in the hand of God for the conversion of many Souls in this place and elsewhere.  
As to his Faithfulness in the Ministry: It was like Touch or Marble without any streaming flaw; no Ecclesiastical Honours, Offices, or whatsoever bears the name of Greatness could bribe it. The two Indieses would have been as Dirt; he knew the Pole he must Sail by, and steered not by a Mercenary Compass.  
His Ends, so far as one may learn the mark by the Archers Eye, were not private Interests, Respects, or Parties.  
In a word, He was a Man of fixed Principles, of a Masculine Resolution, and of an inviting Familiarity, too generous to be cruel; too great a Christian, to be courted into any sinful compliance whatsoever: His Compass without Trepidation or Variation had constantly stood right to that Pole, the good of his Country, and his Parishioners welfare. He lived a great Example of Piety and Virtue. And now he is at Rest, but though he is gone, he is not lost, he is yet Useful to the Church of God, and being dead, he yet speaks by his Example and Writings, which are very Profitable and Spiritual. But now I'll leave him in his Bed of Rest, and draw the Curtains, and put out the Lights; only a word at parting.  
And now Beloved Hearers, we may know how great the Tree that's fallen was, by the vacuity or void place it leaves behind it. I look upon you as them that will endeavour to prevent the vacuum by acting from that Noble Principle which moves to the universal and common good: The Loss we have sustained is great; and they say, that when a Limb or part of a Man is cut off, Anima retrahitur, the Soul is retracted; I wish the Philosophy may be verified in the Retraction of his Reality and Faithfulness unto you, that so he may remain among you in Quintessence and Virtue, being, as it were, divided among you, as they say of Romulus, that he was discerpt by the Senate when he died, and every Senator got a piece of him. Let nothing that was Exemplary in him be put in his Grave, that neither we, nor our Posterity may have cause to write upon his Tomb, as they did upon that of Brutus, Utinam Viveres.