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about Iwliness, and therefore if we should resolve to follow after holiness, ive must resolve to spend our days in sorrow and sadness, in sighing and mourning, and this we Imd as lief die as do, (i;c., . . , 249

Eight answers, ...... 249-261

Objection 4. We see that no persons on earth are exposed to such troubles, dangers, afflictions, and persecutions, as those are exposed 'o who mind holiness, who follow after holiness. These are days wherein men labour to frown holiness out of the world, and to scorn and kick holiness out of the world; and do you think that we are mad now to pursue after holiness 1. . . . 261

Twelve answers, ...... 261-300

Objection 5. We would labour after this holiness, without which there is no happiness, d:c. But if we should, then we must resolve to be poor, and mean, and beggarly in the ivorld, we must resolve then to fare Jutrd, and lie hard, and labour liard, and live low in the world, for toe shall nevei' raise an estate to ourselves by holiness and strictness, we shall never grow rich and great in the world by godliness; nay, by driving this trade of holiness, we shall lose our trades, our customers, and those estates we have, and quickly bring a noble to ninepence, dec, . 300

Six answers, . . . . . . 300-307

Objection 6. Should we pursue after holiness, it would be a disgrace, a disparagement, and dishonour to us who are high, and great, and rich, and honourable in the earth. We are gentlemen, we are well-bred and higlh-born, and holiness seem'i to be too poor and too low a thing for such as we are to look after, <i:c., .... 307

Five answers, ...... 307-317

Objection 7. Should we pursue after holiness, we shall be sure to be reviled, slandered, and reproached on all hands; every one will hoot and hiss at vs, we shall become a scorn and a byword to all that live in the family with us, and to all our neighbours round about us, every one will scorn us, and hate us, and we shall be their table-talk, and their song, and the butt at which they will shoot in all their meetings and discourses, dec, . . . 317

Five answers, . . .... 317-323

(4.) To shew forth the reality and power of holiness:

Eight proofs of little holiness, . 323-340

Seventeen 'provocations' to increased

holiness, .... 340-374

[3.] Five arguments for degrees of glory, . 374-379 Two objections, . . . 379-384

[4.] Eight means, helps, and directions, . 384-392 Holiness of God: eight characteristics, 392-398 Signs or evidences of increasing holiness : twelve signs, . . 398-412 Comfort and consolation to all who have real holiness : twelve considerations, . . . 412-428 Positions concerning holiness, . 428-446

u

THE

CEOWN AND GLORY

CHRISTIANITY.

VOL. IV.

NOTE.

Issued in the j'ear of the Ejection [1662], the 'Crown and Glory of Christianity' appears to have been limited to a single edition ; which however must have been a very large one, as scarcely any of the writings of Brooks is more frequently met with. This is the most inaccurately printed of Brooks's books. I have carefully corrected his own list of errata: but besides these, mistakes of words, texts, references, divisions abound. It may be permitted us to refer to the author's own appeal on this matter toward the close of his Epistle Dedicatory. The original title-page is given below.""—G.

* The Ceovvn ofc Glokt

OF

CHRISTIANITY:

OK

HOLINESS, The only way to

HAPPINESS.

Discovered in LVIII. Sermons, from Heh. 12. 14. Where you have the Necessity, Excellency, Rarity, Beauty and Glory of Holiness set forth; with the resolution of many weighty Questipns and Cases. Also Motives and Means to perfect Holiness : With many other things of very high and great importance to all the Sons and Daughters of men, that had rather be blessed then cursed, saved then damned.

By Thomas Brooks, late Preacher of the Gospel at

Margarets New Fish-street, and still Preacher of the Word in London,

and Pastor of a Congregation there.

To him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I sheio the salvation of God,

Psalm 50. ult. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God, Matth. 5. 8. God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of

the Spirit, and belief of the truth, 2 Thes. 2. 13.

LONDON,

Printed for H. Crips, J. Sims, and H. Mortloch, and are to be sold at their

shops, at the entrance into Popes-head Alley out of Lumbard street,

and at the sign of the Cross-keyes, and at the Phoenix in S'-

Pauls Church-yard, near the little North door, 1662.

THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

To all the Lords, Knights, Ladies, Gentry, Ministers, and Commons of England—and the dominions thereunto belonging—that have but the least desire, the least mind, or the least will, to escape hell, and to go to heaven, or to be happy in both worlds, &c.

My Lords, Ladies, and G-entlemen, &c.,—The philosophers, speaking of happiness, were divided into two hundred [and] eighty-eight opinions, every one intending something, yet resolving upon nothing; and therefore the man in Plutarch hearing them wrangle about summum honum, the chiefest good—one placing of it in this, and another in that—went to the market and bought up all that was good, hoping that among all he should not miss of happiness; and yet he missed it; ^ true happiness being too great and too glorious a thing to be found in anything below real holiness.

All men in the general, desire to be happy, but all men do not desire in this or that particular, or in this or that way, to be happy. Here there is an infinite difference, quot homines, tot sententice, so many men so many minds.

A desire of happiness is planted in all men by the constitution of nature. This is so intrinsical and so innate in nature, it is so engraven in it, that even the fall of Adam, as great as it was, hath not blotted it out.

This desire of happiness is left in man for a stock to graft holiness on. God grafts the plant of grace upon the stock of nature. Indeed happiness, like Kachel, Gen. xxix. 17, is so fair and so beautiful a thing, that every one is apt to fall in love with it, and earnestly to desire it, yea, many there be that would serve twice seven years to enjoy it. 'But by the standing law of that heavenly country above, the younger sister must never be bestowed before the elder ; you can never enjoy fair Rachel—heaven and happiness—except you are first married to tender-eyed Leah—real holiness. Gen. xxix. 17-28. He that will have heaven, must have union and communion with Christ: and he that will have union and communion with Christ must be holy. ' For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ?

1 'Moralia.'—G.

and what communion hatli light with darkness ? And what concord hath Christ with Behal?' 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. Of all the many thousands that have travelled to happiness, there is not one to be found but hath travelled thither in a way of holiness. Now the drift, the scope of this following Treatise, is to make men holy, that they may be happy: it is to make men gracious on earth, that they may be glorious in heaven. Now to prevent all mistakes, rash censures, and misconstructions, I judge it very convenient and necessary, before I go any further, to acquaint the reader plainly and honestly with those arguments that have prevailed with me to dedicate this Book to all sorts, ranks, and degrees of persons, rather than to any single person^ or to any one sort or rank of men whatsoever. And they are these six.

I. First, Because all sorts and ranks of men are fallen from that 'primitive holiness that once they had, Ps. xiv. 3 ; Eom. iii. 12. There are five things that we have all lost by our fall in Adam. First, we have all lost that holy image that God had stamped upon us; and so we are become vile.i Secondly, we have all lost our sonship; and so we are become slaves. Thirdly, we have all lost our friendship with God; and so we are become enemies. Fourthly, we have aU lost our communion with God; and so we are become strangers. And fifthly, we have all lost our glory; and so we are become miserable. Some say that the naked body of man was s'o glorious in his estate of inno-cency, that all the beasts of the field admired it, and thereupon did homage to him. Oh, how glorious was his soul then ! Certainly if the cabinet was so glorious, the jewel within it was much more glorious. But how glorious soever man was in his primitive estate, it is most certain that he is now so sadly fallen from the highest pinnacle of glory to so low a step of misery, that God sometimes sends him to the pismire to learn instruction, Prov. vi. 6, 7; and sometimes he sends him to the stork and the swallow to make a right improvement of precious time, Jer. viii. 7 ; and sometimes he sends him to the ox and to the ass to learn knowledge, Isa. i. 3; and sometimes he sends him to the fowls of the air to learn confidence, Mat. vi. 25 seq. ; yea, and sometimes he sends him to the very lilies and grass of the field to learn how to live without carking and distracting cares. It is true, man's first estate was a state of perfect holiness, he being made in the image of God, and after the likeness of God, Gen. i. 27. It was an estate of perfect light, knowledge, prudence, wisdom, and understanding. It was an estate of very great honour and dignity, and therefore the psalmist, speaking of man in this estate, brings him in with a crown of glory and honour upon his head, Ps. viii. 5, ' Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour.' Man's first estate was so stately an estate that he was not so much below the glorious angels, as he was above all other creatures. God made him the sovereign lord of the whole creation, God gave him an absolute dominion and authority both of sea and land, and all creatures in both were subjected to him, Gen. i. 26 ; Ps. viii. 6-8. Such was the exquisite beauty and perfection of his body, that from the crown of his head to the soles of his

^ Qui te nou liabet, Domine Deus, totum perdidit.—.Ber»a?-c?. [Serm. on Song of Songs.—G.]

feet there was not the least blain or blemish. His outward man was clothed with all such requisite beauties and abilities that might render him lovely and comely to every eye. In a word, man's first estate was a state of perfect happiness. All within him, and aU without him, and all about him, spoke him out to be completely blessed. There was nothing within him, but what was very sweet and desirable; there was nothing without him, but what was very delightful and amiable; neither was there anything about him, but what was serviceable and comfortable. Oh, but now by his fall, his crown is fallen from his head, and from the heads of all his posterity. Lam. v. 16 ; for Adam was a public person. He was the prince of all mankind ; and though all mankind was not actually in his loins when he fell, yet they were all potentially in his loins when he fell. If two kings make a league, and the one break it, he makes not only himseK but all his subjects liable and obnoxious to all the calamities and miseries that shall follow thereupon. Adam was our common father, and we are all his sons and daughters. Now we know by the law of inheritance, that if the father forfeit his lease, he disinherits his posterity. Now Adam forfeited his lease, as I may say, and divine justice took the advantage^ of the forfeiture, and so hath turned all his posterity out of doors. So that there is now no way under heaven to be happy, but by being holy. All sorts and ranks of men are fallen in Adam, and there is no way to rise but by Christ and holiness, &c.

II. A second reason why I dedicate this Treatise to all sorts and ranks of persons, is, because the matter contained in this book is of the greatest and highest concernment imaginable, to all ranks and degrees of men, from the greatest emperor that ever sat 2 upon a throne, to the meanest and the poorest wretch that ever lay upon a dunghill. And doubtless that which is of such a marvellous importance to all, may very justly and reasonably be dedicated to all.

III. A third reason why I dedicate this Treatise to all sorts and ranks of perons, is, because God^i7itends to save some of all sorts, ranks, and degrees. Though greatness and goodness do not always meet, yet greatness and goodness do sometimes meet; and though riches and religion do not always meet, yet riches and religion do sometimes meet; though not many wise, yet some wise, 1 Cor. i. 26; though not many mighty, yet some mighty; though not many noble, yet some noble shall be called, sanctified, and saved. Look, as the sun in the firmament doth cast his light and warmth upon all sorts, ranks, and degrees of men, Mat. v. 45; so doth the Sun of righteousness shine upon the understandings and consciences of all sorts, ranks, and degrees of men, and by his secret and spiritual influences, he warms and cheers the hearts of high and low, rich and poor, noble and ignoble. Abraham was very great and very gracious: Joseph was very high and very holy: Job was very rich and very righteous. Though most of those kings and princes that we read of in Scripture were bad, very bad, yet some of them were good, yea, very good.^

1 = Acted on the culpable ' forfeiture.'—G. '' Spelled ' set.'—G.

2 It is a strange saying in Lipsius. * The names of all good princes,' saith he, 'may easily be engraven or written in a small ring.'—Lipsius dc constantia, lib. IL cap. 25.

b THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

Some of tliem were as famous for grace, righteousness, and holiness: witness David, Asa, Josiah, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, &c., as Saul, Jehoram, Jehu, Ahab, and others of them were infamous for all unrighteousness and wickedness. God, for the glory of his own grace, and the honour of his Son's blood, will have some of all sorts, ranks, and degrees sanctified and saved: and upon this very ground he engages his servants to pray for all sorts, ranks, and degrees of men, in 1 Tim. ii. 1-4. Now where God is resolved to save, there he is resolved to sanctify: where he is resolved to make happy, there he is resolved to make holy. And therefore I look upon myself as many ways obliged to have so large a heart for God, as to do all I can to help on the salvation of all sorts, ranks, and degrees of men in the world. My heart's desire and prayer for England is, that her princes and nobles may be sanctified and saved, and that her gentry may be sanctified and saved, and that all the people of the nation may be sanctified and saved. 1 I look upon myself as engaged to do all I can, by my pen and prayers, to help make England holy, that so England may be truly happy. For of this I am most certain, that if God will but make England a holy nation, it is not all the powers on earth, nor all the powers of hell, that shall ever make England a miserable nation.

IV. A fourth reason why I thus dedicate this Treatise as you see, is, because m?/former poor labours and endeavours have been acceptohle to some of all ranks and degrees, and they have been blest to some of all ranks and degrees; and I have been encouraged, whetted, and stirred up by some on all hands, once more to cast in my net. And now I have done it, oh that it may issue in the drawing of many souls to Christ! and in the making of the graceless gracious, the profane holy ! and in the making of those that are holy, to be yet more holy! kc.

V. A fiftli reason why I thus dedicate this Treatise as you see, is, because tlwugh all men are bound to be lioly, yet the great, the rich, the noble, and the honourable of the earth are hound above all other men in the world to be holy. God hath laid upon them greater obH-gations and ties to holiness, than he hath upon any other jmen under heaven; and this you may see so clearly and so fully proved in this book—from page 433 to page 447^—that neither the world nor the devil, as cunning and as learned a devil as he is, will ever be able to disprove. This reason alone is sufficient to justify my present practice. 3

VI. My sixth and last reason why I thus dedicate this Treatise as you see, is, that it may be a blessed iestiinony and a standitig witness for Christ in this day of blasphemy, profaneness, looseness, and wickedness, against all sorts and ranks of persons into whose hands it may fall, who, notwithstanding all that is here said, shall continue obstinate and impenitent in their ungodly courses and practices, as men resolved rather to go to hell than to heaven, and to be for ever unhappy

^ Rom. X. 1.—Paul's copy is not to be despised, but imitated.

^ That is, of the original edition. See General Index, under ' rich' and ' noble.'—G.' ^ Reader, if thou art one that standest upon thy birth, nobility, and greatness, do thyself that favour, and thy soul that right, as to read from page 433 to page 447, before thou goest any further. [As before.—G.J

rather than they will be holy, Isa. xliii. 10,12, and xliv. 8. Woe, woe to them for ever, that had rather be Satan's bond-slaves than Christ's free-men, that had rather be * vessels of wrath' than vessels of honour and that had rather be firebrands of hell than glorious saints in heaven Eph. ii. 12; Rom. ix. 22.

And so I have done with those reasons that may satisfy the reader concerning my dedication of this Treatise to all sorts, ranks, and degrees of persons.

Having premised these things in the general, give me leave to say, that if this Treatise should fall into the hands of any of the learned judges of this land, or into the hands of any of the justices of this nation, I would then take the humble boldness to offer this to their most serious consideration—viz., that if they would discharge the duties of their places, so as to give up their accounts at last with joy and cheerfulness to the King of kings and Lord of lords, it highly concerns them to study this doctrine of holiness, yea, to fall in love with holiness, and highly to prize it, and earnestly to press after it, and to be restless in their own spirits, till they have experienced the powerful operations of holiness in their own souls; for till then, they will never be able so to administer justice and judgment as becomes those that have the name of God, and the name of profession upon them, and that judge themselves to be in a higher form than those heathens^ were, who were famous for justice and righteousness— and yet never heard of a Christ nor salvation by him—and as becomes those that would not stand trembling and quaking in the great and terrible day, when Christ the Lord-Chief-Justice of heaven and earth shall pass a righteous and impartial judgment upon all the judges and justices that ever were on earth, Joel ii. 11, 31; Acts xvii. 31; 2 Tim. iv. 1,2.

My Lords and Gentlemen,—You know that the wisest prince that ever sat upon a throne hath told us that ' righteousness exalts a nation,' Prov. xiv. 34.2 It is not valour in war, but righteousness; it is not policy in government, but righteousness; it is not wittiness of invention, but righteousness; it is not civility in behaviour, but righteousness; it is not antiquity of forms, but righteousness; it is not largeness of dominion, but righteousness; nor it is not greatness of command, but righteousness, that is the honour and the safety, that is the renown and the security of a nation. That nation that exalts righteousness, that nation shall be certainly exalted by righteousness, Amos V. 24. It is not Ahithophel's policy, it is not Jeroboam's calves in Dan and Bethel, it is not Jehu's pompous zeal, it is not Goliath's sword, it is not rich mines of gold and silver, nor magazines, nor armies, nor councils, nor fleets, nor forts, but justice and righteousness that exalts a nation, and that will make a mean people to become a great, a glorious, and a famous people in the world. The world is a ring, and righteousness is the diamond in that ring: the world is a body, and righteousness and justice is the soul of that

^ Cato, Fabricius, Scipio, Cambyses, &c.

" Where justice is, God is ; and where God is, there is no want of men or fortitude, said Herod at the head of his army, the better to encourage his soldiers. Justice is con-servatrix humane^ covjunclionis, quw ad beatitudinem via est, &c.

body. Ah! England, England! so long as judgment runs downl as waters in the midst of thee, and righteousness as a mighty stream, thou shalt not die, but live and bear up bravely against all gainsayers and opposers; but if injustice shall grow rampant, and thou shalt brandish the sword of justice in the behalf of the friends of Baal, Balaam, and Bacchus, and turn the wheel upon the righteous; if the sword of justice shall be a sword of protection to the desperate swearer, and to the cruel oppressor, and to the roaring drunkard, and to the cursing monster, and to the gospel despiser, and to the Christ contemner, &c., and shall be a devouring sword to the upright and peaceable in the land, divine vengeance will dig thy grave, and divine justice will tumble thee into it, though all the nations of the earth should labour to prevent it. It is a base and ignoble spirit, to pity Cataline more than to pity Kome; to pity any particular sort of men, more than to pity the whole. It is cruelty to the good, to justify the bad: it is Avrong to the sheep, to animate the wolves: it is danger if not death to the lambs, not to restrain or chain up the lions. But from all these vanities the Lord deliver all your souls! And oh that you would for ever remember this, that as the constitution of a man's body is best known by his pulse: if it stir not at all, then we know he is dead; if it stir violently, then we know him to be in a fever ; if it keep an equal stroke, then we know he is sound, well, and whole : so the estate and constitution of a kingdom or commonweal is best known by the manner of executing justice therein; for justice is the pulse of a kingdom. If justice be violent, then the kingdom is in a fever, in a very bad estate; if it stir not at all, then the kingdom is dead; but if it have an equal stroke, if it be justly and duly administered, then the kingdom is in a good, a safe, and sound condition. When Vespasian asked Apollonius what was the cause of Nero's ruin, he answered, that Nero could tune the harps well, but in government he did always wind up the strings too high, or let them down too low.' The application is easy.

Now having premised thus much in the general, give me leave to tell you that there are eight special rules that you are carefully and faithfully to observe in the administration of justice and righteousness. And how you will be able to act suitable to those rules without a spirit of holiness, without principles of hoKness, and without an experience of the powerful influences and operations of holiness in your own souls, I cannot for the present understand.

1. Now, my Lords and Grentlemen, the first rule that you are to observe in your administering of judgment and justice, is this, you must do justice impay^tially. You are called gods,^ and in this you must be like to God, who is no accepter of persons. He accepts not the rich man because of his robes, neither doth he reject the poor man because of his rags.3 Dent. i. 17, ' Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be

^ The Hebrew word Ve.iiggalcliat as here rendered ' run down,' is from 77J Galal, that signifies to roll down freely, plentifully, plainly, vigorously, constantly: Where justice thus rolls down, all the world shall never make that nation miserable.

^ Ps. Ixxxii. 1, 6 ; Luke xx. 21; Mat. xxii. 16.

' 'Audi alteram partem,' said Lotharius, the second Duke of Saxony.

afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.' And so in Lev, xix. 15, 'Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.' The great man is not to be spared for his might, nor the poor man for his misery. 1 It is neither the great man's power, nor the poor man's meanness, that a judge is to mind in judgment. A judge, a justice, must never out of carnal pity cry out, Oh, he is a poor man ! nor yet out of base fear cry out. Oh, he is a great man 1 Their eyes are always to be upon causes, and not upon persons. The statues of the Theban judges were made without hands and without eyes, to intimate to us, that as judges and justices should have no hands to receive bribes, so they should have no eyes to see a friend from a foe, a brother from a stranger.2 And it was the oath of the heathen judges, as the orator relates, ^Audiam accusatorem ei reum sine affectibits etperson-arum respectione,' I will hear the plaintiff and defendant, with an equal mind, without affection and respect of persons.^ In the twelfth novel* of Justinian, you may read of an oath imposed upon judges and justices, against inclining or addicting themselves to either party; yea, they put themselves under a deep and bitter execration and curse in case of partiality, imploring God in such language as this, ' Let me have my part with Judas, and let the leprosy of Gehazi cleave to me, and the trembling of Cain 'come upon me, and whatsoever else may astonish and dismay a man, if I am partial in the administration of justice.' That was a famous act of justice that was performed by Canutus, king of Denmark, who, when one of the twelve thieves that he had condemned pleaded that he was of the royal blood, saith the king. It is reason some favour should be shewed to this person; whereupon he commanded that he should be hanged on the highest gibbet: which was done accordingly. It was Cato's complaint of old, that those that robbed private men were clapped up and laid by the heels in cold irons: but, saith he, public thieves that wrong and rob the commonwealth, they sit in scarlet, with gold chains about their necks.5 And the Scythian philosopher hath long since complained, that laws were like spiders' webs, that would take flies but not wasps or hornets. His meaning was, that if poor mean men offended, they should be sure to be punished ; but great men that were the makers of laws, they might be breakers of the laws, and yet never smart for it. In all ages some or others have poured out sad complaints against partial justice. Pilate, that unjustly condemned Christ, was afterwards kicked off the bench by Caius^ the emperor, for partial justice, and

^ ' Bona est misericordia, sed non quum est contra judicium '—Mercy is good, but not ■when it is contrary to judgment.— Augustine.

* The judges in Egypt were portrayed without hands and without eyes, to signify that they were not to take bribes, nor to accept men's persons. '* Cicero.—G.

* ' Novel,' from the title ' Novelltz Constitutiones,' or * Novells,'—viz., supplements to the original Code.—G.

* Cato, ap. Gell., lib. xi. cap. 18. The Eoman orator observed, that the force of justice is such, and so great, that even thieves and robbers, both by sea and land, who live upon injustice and rapine, yet cannot live upon their trade without some practice of it among themselves. ® ' Caius,' Caesar or Caligula.—G.

for grief and shame he became his own executioner. 0 sirs, God will one day kick such judges and justices, not only off the bench, but into hell, who make a trade of partial justice, except there be sound repentance on their sides, and pardoning grace on his, Ps. ix. 17, and xi. 5. Oh that all the judges and justices of the land would for ever remember, what the wisest prince that ever swayed a sceptre saith in Prov. xviii. 5, ' It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment.' It is not good, that is, it is bad, it is very bad, yea, it is so exceeding bad, as that it can hardly be expressed or uttered, i It is so great a wickedness, it is so horrid and so hideous a wickedness, yea, it is so hellish a wickedness, as can hardly be imagined, as can rarely be declared. The poet in the Greek epigram taught the silver axe of justice that was carried before the Eoman magistrate to proclaim, ' If thou be an offender, let not the silver flatter thee; if an innocent, let not the axe affright thee.' The Athenian judges judged in the night, when the faces of men could not be seen, that so they might be impartial in judgment. I have read of Zaleucus, that impartial law-giver and judge among the Locrians, how that he made a very severe law against adulterers—viz., that whosoever should be found guilty thereof should have both their eyes put out. Now it so fell out that his son proved the first offender. Forthwith sentence was pronounced, and execution ready to be done: whereupon the people earnestly entreated the judge, his father, that he would pardon the fact, who upon serious deliberation, put out one of his own eyes and one of his son's, and so shewed himself to be both a tender father and an upright and impartial judge at once.^ 0 sirs! it is your wisdom and work, yea, it is as much your glory as it is your duty, to be impartial in all your administrations of justice, and not to favour friends or relations, nor to fear the frowns of enemies, but to proceed impartially, according to the merits of the cause that is before you. But,

2. Secondly, As you must do justice impartially, so you must do justice speedily. Jer. xxi. 12, ' 0 house of David, thus saith the Lord; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.* After examination, execution is to be done with expedition, Ezra vii. 16. When men cry out for justice, justice, you must not cry out eras, eras, tomorrow, to-morrow; you must do justice in the morning. Noon-justice and evening-justice is not so acceptable to God, nor so honourable to yourselves, nor so advantageous to others, as morning-justice is. You are called gods: and as in other things, so in this, you should be like to God, who is speedy and swift in the exercise of justice, as you may see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together. ^ To

^ By the figure Liptote, much is to be understood, when there is but little said. [Rather 'Litotes,' by which more is to be understood than is expressed.—G.]

= Aelian V. H. xiii. 24; Val. Max. V. 5, § 3.—G.

8 Joel iii. 4; Gen. xix ; Num. xvi.; Psalm ci. 8. The Persian king had one about him, whose office it was to mind him every morning of his charge, saying, ' Arise, O king, and have an eye to those affairs for which the great God hath made you king, and despatch them.'

THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. H

delay justice, is worse sometimes than to deny justice. It is an evil thing and a dangerous tiling, when magistrates, judges, and justices are as long a-bringing forth their verdicts as the elephant her young. Delays of justice makes many more irreconcileable. It makes the client often go with a heavy heart, an empty purse, and a threadbare coat. It fetcheth heavy sighs and groans from the hearts, and a sea" of tears from the eyes of the delayed and oppressed. Magistrates, judges, and justices should be always ready to do justice: they should he always at leisure to do justice. I have read of one of the kings of Persia, how that he would many times alight off from his horse to do justice only to a poor body. It were well if all judges and justices would WTite after this copy, to be ready to do justice and judgment at all times, and upon all occasions. 0 sirs ! you may have time to live, even when you have outlived your seasons and opportunities of doing justice and judgment; and what a hell will then your lives be to you! To prevent this hell, it is good to do justice in the morning. I have read of a very poor woman, who was very earnest with king Philip of Macedon to do her justice, but he deferred her, and told her that he had no leisure to hear her: she replied then. Why have you leisure to be king ? ^ The poor woman thought that they were very unmeet to be kings and judges, who could not be at leisure to do justice when the necessities and miseries of poor creatures cried aloud for justice, justice. I have read of a famous passage of Theodoric, king of the Komans, who, when a widow came to him with a sad complaint, that she had a suit depending in the court three years, which might have been ended in a few days: the king demands of her the judges' names: she tells him: he sends a special command to them to give all the speedy despatch that was possible to the widow's cause, which they did, and in two days determined it to the widow's liking. This being done, the king calls for the judges, and they supposing that they should have both applause and reward for their expedition, hastened to liim full of joy: but after the king had propounded several things to them about their former delays, he commanded both their heads to be struck off, because they had spun out that cause to a three years' length, wliich two days would have ended.^ Here was royal justice indeed! ^ Oh that all the magistrates, judges, and justices of the nation would every morning lay Prov. xiii. 12 warm upon their hearts! ' Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.' The Hebrew word, HDli^OD, that is here rendered deferred, is from Dli'D, that signifies to draw out at length. Men are short-breathed and short-spirited, and hope's hours are full of eternity: and when their hopes are drawn out at length, this makes their hearts sick; and ah, what a world of such sick souls lies languishing at hope's hospital all the nation over, yea, all the world over ! Hope in tliis text is put for the good things men hope for. Now, when the good things men hope for—be it justice or a quick despatch, &c. —are

^ Plutarch, Apothegm, in vita Demetrii. ^ Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, tome vi.—G.

=• The poets feign Justice to be the daughter of Jupiter, whom he hath set over the world to revenge those injuries that one man doth to another, &c.

deferred and delayed, this makes the poor client sick at heart. A lingering hope always breeds in the heart a lingering consumption. The harder travail hope hath, and the more strongly it labours to bring forth, and yet is deferred and delayed, the more deadly sick the client grows. But when the desire cometh, that is, when the thing desired, wished, and looked for, be it justice, be it righteousness, be it success, &c., is gained, it is a tree of life; or rather as the Hebrew hath it, is a tree, D^TT, of lives. All sorts of lives, and all the comforts and contents of life, are wrapt up in the enjoyment of the thing desired. He that hath those things granted to him that are earnestly desired by him, is once more put into a paradise. Wilful delays in justice makes the judge umighteous, Luke xviii. 6. But,

3. Thirdly, As you must do justice speedily, so you must do justice sincerely. You must do justice out of love to justice, Isa. Ixi. 8. When the golden angelsi appear to draAv you to pervert justice, you must say as Peter did to Simon Magus, ' Thy money perish with thee,' Acts viii. 20. Dent. xvi. 20, ' That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.' Or rather as the Hebrew hath it, pis, pliJ, tsedeJc, tsedeJc, justice, justice shalt thou follow, that is, pure justice shalt thou follow. The streams of justice should be always pure and clear, ' Justice, justice shalt thou follow,' that is, all manner of justice shalt thou follow, and nothing but justice shalt thou follow; and thou shalt follow justice sincerely, exactly, carefully, and constantly: thou shalt be not seemingly just, but really just; not hypocritically just, but entirely just; not partially just, but universally just; not just to some, but just to all; not transiently just, but perpetually just; not sometimes just, but always just; and so much the geminating of the word 'justice, justice,' imports. Prov. xxi. 15, ' It is joy to the just to do judgment.' This argues much sincerity and integrity in a man's spirit, when he doth not only do judgment, but joys to do judgment. It is a vanity to do justice slightly, lightly, wantonly; but it is an honour to do justice from a principle of divine joy. He that joys to do judgment, he will do justice sincerely, he will do justice out of love to justice; and indeed there are no judges, there are no justices to those that do justice out of love to justice. Mazarinus complaineth of foreign judges, that they too much resembled the blood-stone, which hath a special property to stanch blood, but as jewellers observe, it puts not forth this virtue, unless it be let in or covered over with silver, and so ap-lied to the vein: but certainly these men were far from doing justice sincerely, from doing justice out of love to justice. Some judges and justices there have been, who, for the cleanliness of the conveyance, would, like mendicant friars, touch no money themselves, but have a boy or a clerk with a bag to receive it for them. Certainly these were as far from doing justice out of love to justice, as heaven is from hell, or as the Pope, the Turk, and the devil are from being real saints. Doubtless many magistrates, judges, and justices have found that * a gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous,* * = Monej'-bribes in coin so-called.—G.

Exod. xxiii. 8. Golden dust liath put out more eyes than it hath done good to hearts. Oh, this golden wedge, this silver squinsie^ hath made many men silent and speechless in good causes! Titus Vespasian was so delighted in doing of justice, that if a day had passed over his head wherein he had done no act of justice, he would cry out, ^ Amici, diem perdidi:' 0 my friends, I have lost a day. And so Epaminondas, a heathen, though he was very poor, and often tempted with great bribes and presents to be unjust, yet he refused and scorned all, and would commonly say, that if the cause were good, he would do it without a bribe, because it was good; but if the cause was bad, he would not meddle with it for a world.^ These heathens will one day rise in judgment against all such corrupt judges and justices that will not do justice without a bribe. If this Treatise should fall into the hands of any such, I would then let them know that God will one day make good that dreadful word against them that you have in Job XV. 34, ' For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery;' or as the Septuagint reads it. Of men that take gifts fire shall consume: or rather as the Hebrew hath it. Fire shall eat the tabernacles; it shall feed on their tabernacles as greedily as a hungry man doth feed on his meat. Oh, the sumptuous buildings and brave structures that have been built by the hands of bribery shall be set on fire by a hand of justice! Prov. x. 2, 3, and iii. 33. If bribery brings in a thousand one year, divine justice will cast away two for it the next year. God will one day burn up on both hands all the comforts, and all the contentments, and all the enjoyments of corrupt magistrates, judges, and justices. I have read of a Polonian judge, that stood up very stoutly and resolutely a long time for a poor plaintiff against a rich defendant; but at last he received from the defendant a great sum of money, stamped with the usual stamp of that country, which is a man in complete armour; and at the next session in open court he adjudged the cause in the favour of the defendant: and being sharply blamed by his friends for it, he shewed them his large bribe, and demanded of them. Who could stand out against so many men in complete armour ? Ah, England, England ! it would be better with thee if this spirit did not still survive; but alas, what good will all these men's men in armour do them in the great day of our Lord, when the thoughts of all such corrupt magistrates, judges, and justices shall be exceedingly troubled, their countenances changed, their hearts terrified, their consciences awakened, their souls amazed, and their knees dashed one against another ! Oh that all judges and justices would for ever make Isa. v. 23 their daily companion, ' Woe to them which justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him.' I have read of Sysamnes, a covetous, tenacious judge, who for filthy lucre pronounced a false sentence; whereupon Cambyses, king of Persia, commanded him to be killed and flayed, and his skin to be nailed over the tribunal: and then he commanded his son to sit as judge there, that so this sight might arm him against all injustice, and be a terror to all that succeeded him. If princes did but exercise such royal just-

^ Same as' quinsy' = a tumid inflammatioa in the throat, here used metaphorically.—G. * Plutarch, sub nomine, —G.

tice upon all corrupt covetous judges and justices, justice would be had at a cheaper rate, and poor men would not be so often put to pawn their coats, nor rich men would not so often empty their purses nor mortgage their inheritances. But,

4. Fourthly, As you must do justice sincerely, so you must do justice deliberatehj. You must have one ear for the defendant, and another for the plaintiff, or else you will tell the world at once that you are both weak and wicked, Dent. xvii. 4; vide Deut. xix. 17-19. It argues much weakness and emptiness of spirit, to judge a matter before all is heard that can be said. Job's piety and prudence shined forth eminently in this, that the cause that he knew not, he searched it out, Job xxix. 16. Before God would pronounce judgment upon Adam, he first examines him, and propounds several interrogatories to him. Gen. iii. And in those two great and famous acts of justice, when God confounded Babel's builders, and rained hell out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, he tells you that he will go down and see. Gen. xi. and xviii. You are called gods; in this it is as much your glory as it is your duty to imitate the great God. Though Solomon was in all his glory, yet he had patience to hear both what the mother and the harlot had to say. The Holy Ghost puts the fool upon him that answers a matter before he hears it, Prov. xviii. 13. It was the usual custom of Philip, king of Macedon, to stop one of his ears whilst the accuser was speaking, that so he might reserve it for the defendant. I have read of some who have deeply suffered both in their civil liberties and in their consciences, for their rash and hasty passing of judgment upon others. Why hath God given the judges of the earth two ears and but one tongue, but tliat they should be swift to hear and slow to speak ? I have read of Louis, king of France, that when he had through inadvertency granted an unjust suit, as soon as ever he had read those words of the psalmist, ' Blessed is he that doth righteousness at all times,' Psalm cvi. 3, he presently recollected himself, and upon better thoughts gave his judgment quite contrary. Certainly all acts of justice ought to flow from mature deliberation. All magistrates, judges, and justices, in their administrations of justice and judgment, should wisely observe by what principles they act, and by what rules they act, and by what authority they act, and in what manner they act, and to what ends they act: and how all these important things can be done without serious deliberation, I cannot for the present understand. Justice in the emblem is represented with a balance in the one hand, and a sword in the other, to note that matters must be first deliberately weighed in the balance before judgment can be passed.i He that only useth the sword and not the balance, may smite an innocent Naboth, and acquit a guilty Ahab. The civil law concludes it very unreasonable for any man to give advice or judgment before he hath considered and weighed the whole cause.2 And therefore by your own laws you are bound to deliberate before you give judgment, unless you will tell the world that you, even you, are unreasonable men, who above all others should be the masters of the greatest reason, as well as men of the greatest measures of grace and holiness. But,

^ Quarles and Brooks's favourite ' Emblemata Sacra.' —G. ' Civile dig. 4. de legis senatusque consul. . .

5. Fifthly, As you must do justice deliberately, so you must do justice resolutely, courageously, valiantly. As soon as Joshua came into the office of magistracy, God charges him no less than three times, in a breath as it were, to be very courageous, in Joshua i. 6-9. A judge that is timorous will quickly be treacherous. A judge that is fearful can never be faithful. Solomon's throne was supported with lions, to shew that magistrates should be men of courage and mettle. The Athenian judges sat in Mars Street, to show that they had martial hearts, and that they were men of courage and mettle, Acts x^di. 22; Job xxxi. 31, 34. Job was a judge of rare courage and magnanimity; nothing could fear him, nothing could daunt him, nothing could terrify him, nothing could discourage him from doing justice and judgment. The Grrecians placed Justice betwixt Leo and Libra, to signify that as there must be indifFerency in determining, so there ought to be courage in executing. Where there is courage without knowledge, there the eye of justice is blind; and where there is knowledge without courage, there the sword of justice is blunt. Judges and justices should be men of courage for God and godliness. Why should not the standard be of steel, and the chief posts in the house be heart of oak ? I have read of Agesilaus, how that he was by all concluded fit to be made their king, but that he halted. ^ Men of the best and choicest accomplishments, if they are not courageous and magnanimous, but lame and halting, they are no ways fit for magistrates. Judges and justices should have martial spirits, high spirits for justice and righteousness. Every judge, every justice, should have a lion's heart, an eagle's eye, and a giant's arm. Such men whose dull hearts are faint, whose heads are dull, whose ears are heavy, whose eyes are dim, whose hands are weak, and whose feet are lame, are more fit to sit in a chimney corner than to sit judges and justices upon the bench. It hath been long since said of Cato, Fabricius, and Aristides, that it was as easy to remove the sun out of the firmament as to remove them from justice and equity, they were men of such courageous and magnanimous spirits for justice and righteousness. No scarlet robe doth so well become a judge as holy courage and stoutness doth. I have read of Louis the Eleventh, king of France, who going about to establish some unjust edicts, which, when some of his chief courtiers perceived, they went altogether to him in red gowns ; the king asked them what they would have: the president La Vacqueri answered, We are come with a full purpose to lose our lives every one of us, rather than by our connivancy any unjust ordinance should take place. The king being amazed at this answer, and at the courage, constancy, and resolution of those peers, gave them gracious entertainment, and commanded that all the former edicts should be forthwith cancelled in his presence. Courage and resolution may prevent many a public mischief and misery. But,

6. Sixthly, As you are to do justice resolutely, courageously, so you are to do justice and judgment exactly. 2 Chron. xix. 5-7, ' And he

1 Agesilaus II. The allusion is to the curiously fulfilled Oracle that warned Sparta of evils awaiting her under a ' lame sovereignty.' Cf. Xen. Hell. iii. 3 : Agesilaus, Diod. xiv. XV.: Paus. iii. 9, 10, &c.—Q.

set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city. And said to the judges, Take heed what you do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you ; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of person, nor taking of gifts/ God is exact in all his ways, and he is exact in all his works ; he is exact in all his promises, and he is exact in all his threatenings ; he is exact in all his rewards, and he is exact in all his punishments ; he is exact in the exercise of his mercy, and he is exact in the exercise of his justice.! And therefore you that are called gods, should in this be like God. 0 sirs, some by force, others by flattery, some by large presents to your relations, and others by promising great rewards to yourselves, may endeavour to corrupt you, and blind you, and induce you to judge rashly, inconsiderately, irregularly, &c. ; and therefore you have the more cause to be exact in transacting all your judicial affairs. Oh, remember that the most sharp and piercing eye of God is still upon you ! Oh, remember that the severe eye of Jesus Christ, who is the judge of judges, is never off of you; and the angels, those princes of glory, are very strict observers of you. When the Ethiopian judges were set in their seats of judicature, certain empty chairs were placed about them, into which they conjectured the holy angels came and were spectators of all their transactions, and this they thought would work such an awe, such a dread, such a care, such a fear, and such a resolution in them, that they could not but manage all their judicial proceedings with much exactness and heedfulness.2 And as the angels have their eyes upon you, so Satan hath always his eyes upon you ; he hath always a watchful eye, an envious eye, a malicious eye, a crafty eye, and a revengeful eye upon you. Witness his dissuading you sometimes from your duty, and witness his distracting and disturbing of you whilst you are in your duty, and witness his accusing of you for the neglect of your duty, and witness his endeavours to pride you and jDuff you up upon the discharge of your duty. And as the eye of Satan is upon you, so the eyes of good men are always upon you, and the eyes of bad men are upon you. And if all this doth not bespeak you to be very exact and accurate in all your judicial transactions, I know nothing. My Lords and Gentlemen, if all this will not do, then remember that the lives, liberties, consciences, rights, privileges, estates, and interests of persons, next to God and Christ and grace, are the most choice and precious, the most desirable and delectable jewels that men have in all the world, and therefore you had need be very exact and accurate in all your judicial transactions. Yea, once more, remember that God will one day bring you to an exact account concerning all your judicial proceedings. That same mouth that tells you that you are gods, tells you also that you must die like men; and after death comes judgment, Ps. Ixxxii. 6, 7; Heb. ix. 27. You that

^ Exod. xxiii. 6, 7,13, The Egyptians had a notable practice : when their judges were set, they caused the image of a divine Numen, by them called truth, to be hung about his neck who sat next unto the judges, to make them the more exact and heedful in judgment,

2 Cave, spectat Cato, was a watchword among the Eomans. Oh, how much more should Cave, special Dominus, be a watchword amongst you!

now call others to judgment, shall shortly be called to judgment yourselves : you that now sit in judgment upon others, shall ere long be judged by him that will judge the world in righteousness. Acts xvii. 31. My Lords and Gentlemen, give me leave to tell you that that judge to whom you must be responsible is no ignorant judge, nor no covetous judge, nor no partial judge, nor no fearful judge, nor no doting judge, nor no trifling judge, though such there may be in the world; but he is an omniscient judge, an omnipotent judge, an impartial judge, a holy judge, a courageous judge, a serious judge, a severe judge, an unbiassed judge, a righteous judge, and a resolute judge. 1 Alas, sirs, it is not your scarlet gowns, nor your titles of honour, nor your great estates, nor your interest in princes, nor your noble relations, nor your applause among men, that will stand you in stead, when you shall stand before that judge that is a consuming fire, Heb. xii. 29. Well, Gentlemen, remember this, there is never a professing judge nor justice in the world that will be able at last to give up their accounts with joy, and to stand in judgment when the Lamb Bhall sit upon his throne, but such as have made it their great business to take the Spirit of the Lord for their guide, and to set up the glory of the Lord as their great end, and to make the word of the Lord their principal rule, and to eye the example of the Lord as their choicest and chiefest pattern ; and therefore it is much to be feared that the number of such judges and justices, that will be able to stand before the judge of all the world, will be but few. But,

7. Seventhly, As you must do justice and judgment exactly, so you must do justice to others as you would have others do justice to you. For judges and justices to do as they would be done by, is the royal law, the golden rule, and the standard of equity. Judges and justices should think of others, as they would have others think of them ; and speak of others, as they would have others speak of them ; and do to others, as they would have others do to them.2 Whatever by the light of nature, or by the light of conscience, or by the light of scripture, a judge, a justice, would have another do to him, the same must he do to another. In all just things—for so this law of Christ is only to be understood—we must do to others, as we would have others do to us. As we would have others carry it equally, justly, and righteously towards us, so we must carry it equally, justly, and righteously towards others : and as we would not have others to wrong us in our names, estates, rights, liberties, lives, so we must not wrong others in their names, estates, rights, liberties, lives, &c. This law of Christ is the sum of all righteousness. It is the foundation of all justice and equity. Self-love doth so commonly blind the sons of men, that to judge righteously, they must change the person, they must put themselves in others' room. All princes, judges, justices, parents,

' Tennes, the son of Cyrnus, who was worshipped as a god, was so strict and exact in judgment, that he caused an axe to be held over the witnesses' heads, to execute them out of hand, if they were taken with falsehood ; and from thence was the proverb, Tenedia bipennis. [Rather Tennes (T-Zivvris) of Tenedos, a son of Cycnus, not Cyrnus. Cicero, Q. Fr. ii. 11, 2 : M. Aurel. ap Front. Ep. : ad M. Caesar, i. 9.—G.]

^ Mat. vii. 12. Severus, the emperor, had this scripture often in his mouth ; and whensoever he punished any of his soldiers for offering of injuries to others, he still commanded this scripture to be proclaimed by the crier.

VOL. IV. /• B

masters, subjects, servants, and children, should so act in their relations, as they would have others act in the co-relation. All injustice will be repaid one time or another; and therefore men had need be just, and do to others as they would have others do to them. I have read of a citizen of Comun, in the dukedom of Farrara,! who being cast into prison upon suspicion'of murder, his wife could get no promise of his deliverance, unless she would give the captain, whose prisoner he was, two hundred ducats, and yield her body to his pleasure ; which, with the consent of her husband, she did ; but after the captain had his desire, he notwithstanding put him to death. The Duke Gonzala hearing of it, commanded the captain to restore the two hundred ducats to the widow, with an addition of seven hundred crowns; then he enjoined him to marry her presently, and lastly, before he could enjoy his new wife, the duke caused him to be hanged for his treachery and injustice. Sometimes in this life, injustice is repaid upon the heads of unjust judges. My Lords and Gentlemen, before I close up this head, give me leave heartily to recommend to your justice those wrongs and injuries which more immediately strike at the honour and glory of the great God. God hath put his name upon you; Psalm Ixxxii. 6, ' I said that ye are gods:' yet it must be granted that you are gods in a smaller letter—mortal gods, gods that must die like men ; all the sons of Ish are sons of Adam. And as God hath put his name upon you, so he hath made you his viceroys, 2 Chron, xix. 6, ' Ye judge not for yourselves, but for the Lord.' And therefore God takes all affronts that are done to you, as done to himself, as you may see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together.^ And God hath provided for your honour among men; Exod. xxii. 28, ' Thou shalt not revile the gods,' i.e., the magistrates, ' nor curse the ruler of thy people.' I have read of Fabius Maximus, who highly reverenced and honoured his own son, being consul. This heathen will one day rise up in judgment against all such that scorn to give to magistrates that honour that, by the fifth commandment, is due unto them. And God is very severe in revenging the wrongs that are done to you, 2 Pet. ii. 9, 10 ; 1 Sam. viii. 7. He interprets all the injuries that are done to you, as done to himself. And why then will you not revenge the wrongs and injuries that are done to the great GodP Give me leave. Gentlemen, in the behalf of the great Gt)d, a little to expostulate with you. Shall the least dishonourable word that is spoken against an earthly prince be severely punished ? and shall all those horrid and hellish blasphemies, by which the Prince of the kings of the earth is dishonoured and reproached all the nation over, pass unobserved ? Shall all affronts that are offered to ambassadors be deeply resented and justly censured, as high indignities done to the prince that employed them ? and shall the ambassadors of the great God—I mean such as are called, commissionated, spirited, gifted, and graced for that high office by God himself—be scorned, defamed, injured, reviled, and on all hands evilly entreated, and yet no man say. Why do you thus wickedly, to provoke the great God to your own destruction ? 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, seq. Shall it be looked upon as

^ Query * Como' and * Ferarra ?'—G.

2 Rom. xiii. 2 ; Exod. xvi. 7, 8; 1 Sam. viii. 7 ; Rom. xiii. 7 ; Josh. iv. 14.

noble and necessary justice, that all insurrections in the state be punished as rebellion ? and shall those who are daily up in open arms against the great God, and that daily bid defiance to him, to his Son, to his ordinances, to his people, to his word, and to his ways, escape without the least lash, the least censure ? Shall those that rob their neighbours, though it be but to the value of five shillings, yea less, be indicted, examined, condemned, and executed ? and shall others that rob God of his glory, of his Sabbaths, and of his service, &c., escape without the least shaking of the rod, or without the least danger of the whip ? Shall all profaneness, looseness, and wickedness, be winked at, yea, countenanced and encouraged, notwithstanding his Majesty's most zealous, pious, and renowned declaration against it ? and shall real holiness and the power of godliness be on all hands scorned, discountenanced, opposed, and reviled, and yet no man say. What means these things ? Well, my Lords and Gentlemen, for ever remember this: all those sins that are in this land committed, which by your just power and gracious examples might have been prevented, all those sins in the great day shall be charged upon your accounts; and therefore it highly concerns you with all your might to browbeat wickedness, to discountenance ungodliness, and to improve your power to the uttermost, for the suppressing of all profaneness, and for the countenancing, encouraging, and promoting of real holiness, that so you may give up your accounts at last with joy. I have read of king Ethelbert, how that by his godly example, and by his countenancing and encouraging such as were godly, and by his discountenancing of profaneness and wickedness, he drew this whole kingdom once to look after godliness. 0 my Lords and Gentlemen, if you would be but shining examples and patterns of holiness to the nation; if you would but in good earnest put forth your utmost power for the encouraging of godliness, and for the suppressing of profaneness: oh, what a holy nation, yea, what a happy nation should we have! King Cyrus commanded the chief officers of his army to keep a strict hand upon themselves; for, saith he, that is the best way in the world to keep the whole army in good order. The application is easy. But,

8. Eighthly, In the exercise of justice, you must look that Justice and mercy, that justice and clemency go hand in hand. Prov. xx. 28, ' Mercy 'and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy,' Prov. xxix. 14 ; Ps. ci. 1. Some read the words thus, ' Mercy and justice preserve the king ; and his throne is upholden by mercy.' l All justice wUl not preserve the king, nor all mercy will not preserve the king ; there must be a mixture both of justice and mercy to preserve the king, and to uphold his throne; and to shew that mercy is more requisite than justice, the word mercy is doubled in the text. Justice without mercy turns into rigour, and so becomes hateful; mercy without justice turns into fond pity, and so becomes contemptible. Look, as the rod of Aaron and the pot of manna were by God's command laid up in the same ark, so must mercy and justice be preserved entire in the bosom of the same magistrate, judge, and justice.^ Mercy and justice, mildness and righteousness, lenity and fidelity, are

^ It is usual in Scripture, by truth, to understand justice.

^King John thought to strengthen himself by gathering a great deal of money to-

a safer and a stronger guard to princes and people, than rich mines, munitions of rocks, mighty armies, powerful navies, or any warlike preparations. It is very observable that Christ is called but once the Lion of the tribe of Judah, in the Book of the Kevelation, and that is in chap. v. 5 ; but he is called a Lamb no less than nine-and-twenty times in that book. And what is this but to shew the transcendent mercy, clemency, lenity, mildness, and sweetness, thatjs in Jesus Christ, and to shew that he is infinitely more inclined to the exercise of mercy, than he is to the exercise of justice. It is true, magistrates, judges, and justices should be lions in the execution of justice ; -and it is as true that they should be lambs in the exercise of mercy and clemency, mildness and sweetness: and the more ready and inclinable they are to the exercise of mercy, where mercy is to be shewed, the more like to the lamb they are, Seneca hath long since observed that the custom of anointing kings, was to shew that kings should be above all other men ,of the greatest sweetness and mildness, their anointing being a sign of that kingly sweetness and mildness that should be in them.i Nero's speech hath great praise, who, when he was to subscribe to the death of any condemned man, would say, Utinam nescirem literas, I wish I did not know how to write. 2 But,

9. Ninthly and lastly. You must do justice proportionable to the nature of the offence. Your penalties and punishments must be always suitable to the offence. To punish any fact more severely tlian it deserves, is always injustice to the offender ; for so far innocency itself suffers, as any man is punished beyond the demerit of his offence ; and to punish less than the fact deserves, may be of dangerous consequence to the public.^ The ^oman fasces were a bundle of rods with an axe in the midst, to signify the equity of magistrates in punishing some only with rods, and others with the axe. The Eomans had their rods for lesser faults, and their axe for capital crimes. Justice is then remiss, when it spares where it ought to punish; and justice is then too severe, when it punisheth where it ought to spare. Extreme right often proves extreme wrong. He that will always go to the utmost of what the law allows, will too too often do more than the law requires. It is rare, very rare, to see a man dance upon the brink of the pit, and not to tumble in. A rigid severity often mars all; equity is still to be preferred before extremity. To inflict great penalties and heavy censm'es for light offences, this is to kill a fly upon a man's forehead with a beetle.4 In the French history, there is mention made of an old courtier that would needs depart the court, and retire himself to a private life ; the king desired him before he went to leave his advice in some general rules, what was best to be done in the government of

gether; but neglecting the exercise of mercy, clemency, and lenity, he lost his people's affections, and so, after many endless turmoils, he came to an unhappy end. [But cf. Chad wick's recent able * King John of England: a History and Vindication based on the Original Authorities.' 1 vol., 8vo., (J. E. Smith,) 1865.—G.]

^Z>e dementia: cf. xiii. and xviii., et alibi. —G.

^ Ibid., the Treatise being dedicated to Nero ; cf. lib. ii., cap. i.—G.

* I have read of the river Nilus, that if it either exceed or be defective in its due overflowings of the land of Egypt, it causeth famine : the application is easy. Cleobulus, one of the seven Sages, was wont to say that Mediocrity was without compare.

*Cf. Sibbes's Works in former Series : vol. i. 101.—G.

I

THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 21

the kingdom. Upon which motion he took a fair paper, and wrote upon the top of the leaf, Moderation ; and in the middle of the leaf, Moderation; and at the bottom of the leaf, Moderation; signifying thereby thus much to the king, that the best way in the world to have his crown set fast, and to keep his kingdom safe, was to manage throughout all his affairs with moderation. And there is nothing more evident in scriptin-e and history than this, that many by screwing the pegs of government too high, have broke all in pieces about their ears.

Now, my Lords and Gentlemen, there are five things or rules that will be of singular use to help you in this case, to steer such a course as may be safe and honourable to you, and as may render you a mercy and a blessing to the nation.

1. And the first is this. Never make those things to he sins, ivhick God never made to he sins. To make those things to be sins wliich God hath made to be no sins, is to make gods of yourselves; yea, it is to lift up yourselves above God himself, as if you were more holy, more wise, more just, and more righteous than the Holy One of Israel is. Indeed the Papists, that are will-worshippers, and commonly highly conceited of their own wisdom and worth, they frequently transgress this rule with their ' Touch not, taste not, handle not,' Col. ii. 21,23 ; which things have indeed a show of wisdom in wUl-worship, &c. But why should you, why should you, who have a higher profession upon you, and a more clear gospel-light shining every day more strongly upon you ? But,

2. Secondly, Never make those things to he absolute and necessary duties, tJmt God hath noiohere declared to he such, Isa. xxxiii. 22 ; James iv. 12. Such things that do neither fall under a general nor a particular command of God, may not be imposed upon the consciences of men as absolute and necessary duties to be performed by them. A faithful observing of these two rules would prevent a multitude of sins, a sea of sorrows, and a world'of troubles. But,

3. Thirdly, In all your administrations of justice, take the authority of the ivoi'd icith you. This will yield you most comfort,' most peace, most security, and most boldness, in the great day of your account. But,

4. Fourthly, Never put off your own souls with. any such pleas or arguments now, that are not pleadable in the court of conscience, when you shall lie upon your dying-beds ; nor that are not pleadable before the court of heaven, when you shall stand before Christ's judgment-seat. But,

5. Fifthly and lastly. In all your administrations of justice and judgment, be sure that you act nothing upon the account of any command, commission, or authority under heaven, that you dare not oion, plead, and stand hy hefore the great. authority of heaven, when the King of kings shall make a narrow inspection into all your judicial proceedings, and accordingly pass judgment upon you. What though this command, and that commission, and the other authority, may bear you out in this world ? yet if they are too weak to bear you out in the other world, you will curse the day that ever you were born, and

wish that you had rather been a-turning of spits, or lying under a hedge, or a-begging at the rich man's door, than that you had ever sat in seats of judicature, to act upon such grounds as are no ways pleadable before the Lord Jesus Christ, when he shall come in the glory of his Father, with all his holy angels, to judge all the kings, princes, nobles, judges, and justices of the earth. My Lords and Gentlemen, if these five things or rules were but sincerely, seriously, resolutely, and constantly followed, no heart can conceive, nor no tongue can express, the heinous sins, the sore troubles, and the dreadful calamities and woeful miseries that thereby would be prevented. And thus, my Lords and Gentlemen, I have done with those special rules that you are carefully, diligently, faithfully, and constantly to observe in all your judicial administrations ; but how you will be able to act suitable and answerable to these rules without a spirit of holiness, without a principle of holiness, and without an experiment i of the powerful operations of holiness in your own souls, I am not able to see ; and, therefore, how much it siknds you upon that want, that holiness, that this Treatise holds forth, to study holiness, to love holiness, to prize holiness, to countenance holiness, to encourage holiness, to promote holiness, and to be restless till you have experienced the power, and life, and sweet of holiness in your own hearts and lives, I must leave you to judge.2 And oh that after all this pains that I have taken upon the account of your immortal souls, I may not have cause to complain, as once Marcus Antonius did: Alas, saith he, those graces which the deity sent down as so many pillars to stay up human societies, viz., Faith and Modesty, Justice and Verity, they found such cold entertainment in the world, that they are fled back to heaven. I shall follow these weak endeavours with my best prayers, that you may all put on holiness as a royal robe, and that all your judicial administrations may savour of a spirit of holiness, and of the power and prevalency of holiness, that so you may be as high in happiness above others, as you are now in power and place exalted above others.

If this Treatise should fall into any of their hands who call and account themMves the only ministers of Jesus Christ; I mean such who preach rather to please than to profit; to tickle the ear than to awaken the conscience; that are better at fleecing of their flocks than they are at feeding of their flocks; that seek more men's goods than their good ; ^ that set up men's traditions above God's own institutions; that prefer human commands before divine commands ; that are very zealous and warm for mint, anise, and cummin, but are very cold, careless, and negligent in the great and weighty matters of the law, viz., judgment, mercy, and faith; that can bless God in the church, and blaspheme him in the tavern ; that prefer music in the church before singing of hallelujahs in heaven ; that prefer a fat benefice before an interest in a heavenly inheritance ; that can kneel devoutly behind a pillar, and in their drunken fits rail as stoutly against a post; that pretend a great deal of reverence to the name of Jesus, and yet in their lives do daily

^' Experience.'—G.

^ If you please to read from page 433 to page 447, you will find many more weighty arguments to more you to labour after holiness. [As before.—G.] ^Ezek. xiii., read it throughout; Mat. xxiii. 23 ; Mat. xxv. 1-10.

crucify the Lord Jesus; that with Judas can kiss Christ and betray Christ in a breath ; that pretend much kindness to the head, and yet shew nothing but unkindness to the body; that preach as if they had no mind to go to heaven, and live as if they were resolved to go to hell; that feast their own bodies, but starve their people's souls ; that are very devout upon a saint's day, but very loose and profane upon the Lord's-day; that think it a greater sin to eat flesh in Lent, than it is to lie with their neighbour's wife ; that speak ten words for themselves, and hardly two for Christ; and that instead of preaching up holiness, and promoting of holiness, and countenancing and encouraging of holiness, do all they can to discountenance holiness, to browbeat holiness, to keep down holiness, to bespatter holiness, to work men out of love with holiness, and to hinder the growth and increase of holiness: oh that these men would seriously consider how unlike to the ministers of Jesus Christ they are ! i Do but look,into a scripture-glass, and you may easily see that hell is not more unlike to heaven, nor sin more unlike to grace, nor Satan more unlike to God, than you are unlike to the holy, conscientious, painful, &c., ministers of Jesus Christ. Several authors in print have proved this to my hand at large, and therefore I shall not enlarge upon it; only give me leave to say, that God's holy things ought to be handled with fear and reverence, rather than with wit and dalliance. Spiritual niceness is the next degree to unfaithfulness. Ministers must not be like the drug that the physicians say is hot in the mouth and cold in the operation: hot in the pulpit, but cold, carnal, and careless in their conversations.2 Those that stand before princes must be exact in their carriages. God appointed both the weights and measures of the sanctuary to be twice as large as those of the commonwealth; to shew that he expects much more of those that serve him there, than he doth of others. The souls of priests, I may say of ministers, must be purer than the sunbeams, saith golden-mouthed Chrysostom. Gay things in a sermon are only for men to gaze upon and admire. What are high strains and flashes of wit, new minted words and phrases, but like gay weeds and bluebottles 3 to the good corn ? Doctrine is but the drawing of the bow; application is the hitting of the mark. How many are wise in generals, but vain, eV BiaXoyiafjLoi'i, in their practical inferences. A general doctrine not applied, is as a sword without an edge, not in itself, but to others; or as a whole loaf set before children, that will do them no good. A garment fitted for all bodies, is fit for no body ; and so that which is spoken to all, is taken as spoken to none. Aaron's bells were golden bells, Dulce sonantes, sounding pleasantly, and not as sounding brass or tinkling cymbals, as many of the carnal clergy of this nation are this day. Many there be that account themselves the only ministers of Jesus Christ, that are but like empty orators, that have a flood of words, and but a drop of matter ; of whom we may

1 Gentlemen, if you please to turn to pages 296-299 of this book, you will find more matter that concerns you. [As before, in the original edition: see General Index, under ' Ministers.'—G.]

* See my ' Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices,' from page 349 to page 357 ; and see my ' Unsearchable Riches of Christ,' irom page 291 to page 314. [For the former, in this edition, vol. i., p. 152 seq., for the latter, vol. iii., p. 207 seq.—O.] _

3 A field flower found among wheat: another Shakesperian word, curiously used in 2 Henry IV,, v. 4.—G.

truly say, Multa loquuntur et nihil dicunt, They speak much, and yet say nothing, because they say nothing to the purpose. When the Lacedemonian in Plutarch heard how sweetly the nightingale sang, Oh, said he, that I had this bird, surely it is a rare dish ! but when he had taken it, and ate it, and found nothing but a little picking meat, he concluded with that proverbial saying, Vox es et prceterea nihil: Now I see that thou art a mere voice and nothing else. How applicable this is to many preachers in these days, who have good lungs, but bad brains, and worse hearts and lives, the prudent reader may easily see. John the Baptist was a burning and a shining light, as well as a voice. His sermons were stuffed with divine and weighty matter, &c., and not filled up with big words or strains of wit. Many there be that have John's voice in the ministry, that have not that heat and life that John had in his ministry. That great orator—Demosthenes—himself could say, that the riches of Greece did not consist in words. The oracle would have King Philip of Macedon to use silver lances in winning an impregnable fort, &c. But it is not for ministers to use golden sentences, strong lines, frothy wit, in winning of souls to Christ; for it is iron, and not gold, that killeth in the encounter ; it is the steel sword, and not the golden sword, that winneth the field. Woe to such preachers that darken counsel by words without knowledge. Job xxxviii. 2, that affect sublime notions, obscure expressions, uncouth phrases, making plain truths difficult, and easy truths hard; that seek abstrusities, and love to soar aloft in dark expressions, and take pleasure to shoot their arrows over their hearers' heads. The heathenish priests had their mythologies and strange canting expressions of their imaginary unaccessible deities to amaze and amuse their blind superstitious followers, and thereby to hold up their Popish and apish idolatries in greater veneration. And is not this spirit now revived among many ? Certainly men of abstracted conceits, and sublime speculations, are but wise fools; and commonly they are as erroneous as they are curious. Such as mind more the humouring of their hearers' fancies, than the saving of their souls, do little consider that of Seneca, jEger non qucerit medicum eloquentem, sed sanantem: Sick men are not bettered by physicians' sugared words, but by their skilful hands. The sword of the Spirit never wounds deep, till it be plucked out of the gaudy scabbards of human eloquence. Mr Glreen-ham, speaking of non-residents, wisheth that this motto might be written on their study-doors without, and walls within, on all their books they look on, on all the beds they lie on, and on all the tables they sit at, &c.: ' The price of blood, the price of blood, the price of blood.' 1 A preacher's life should be a commentary upon his doctrine; his practice should be the counterpane 2 of his sermons. Heavenly doctrines should always be adorned with a heavenly life.

' Preachers are the glass, the school, the book. Where people's eyes do learn, do read, do look.'

Gentlemen, by these short hints you may see, as in a glass, if you wUl not put a cheat upon your own souls, how unlike to the true, holy, and

1 Fuller, Church History, B. ix. s. n.—G. " ' Counterpart.'—G.

faithful ministers of Jesus Christ you are. 0 sirs, do not you know that the Holy Scriptures, that never spoke treason nor sedition, do clearly evidence that an ignorant, profane, scandalous, superstitious, insufficient, and soul-flattering clergy are the greatest pest, plague, affliction, judgment, &c., that can befall a people, as you may easily see by comparing these scriptures together—Micah ii. 11 ; Isa. xxx. 10, 11; Jer.- V. 31; Lam. ii. 14; Isa. ix. 16; Ezek. iii. 18; Jer. xxiii. 9, 18; Ezek. xiii. 22; Jer. vi. 14, and xxvii. 14, 16; 1 Thes. v. 3; Jer. xiv. 13-16; Isa. xxviii. 7, 8; Ezek. xxxiv. throughout; Kom. ii. 21-24. Other judgments, as sword, famine, pestilence, burning fevers, agues, &€., cannot separate between God and men's souls; for men may have very sweet and high communion with Grod under the sorest of those judgments. Other afflictions and judgments may spring from the fatherly love of God, and from a gracious design of good to his people: Kev. iii. 19 ; Prov. iii. 11; Heb. xii. 5-8; Ps. Ixxxix. 30, 35; Job vii. 17, 18; but this is a sad fruit of God's judicial anger and severe indignation against a people. Other judgments often issue in men's seeking of the Lord, and in men's returning to the Lord. Isa. xxvi. 16, 17; Hosea v. 14, 15, compared with chap. vi. 1-3, and chap. ii. 6, 7 ; but this judgment frequently issues in men's forsaking of the Lord, and in their running from God, and in their walking contrary to God, and in the hardening of them against God, and in an everlasting shutting of them out from the presence of the Lord: as you may see by comparing of these scriptures together—Mat. xv. 14; Luke vi. 39 ; 1 Thes. v. 3; 2 Thes. i. 7-10; Mat. xxiii. 13. Do not you know that where there is no vision, the people perish ? Prov. xxix. 18: i^")H)\ that is here rendered pertsA, is from 3^13, that signifies to be made naked, to be made bare and uncovered. They are made naked as soldiers are among the shot and weapons of their enemies, when their armour is not on their backs; or they are naked as people that are stripped of their garments, and exposed to perish by cold in the winter, or to be scorched or roasted by heat in the summer; or they are naked, i.e., they are made the objects of shame and contempt to all that look upon them: or they are made naked, that is, of the grace, blessing, and protection of God: or they are naked, that is, say others, they are forsaken and cast off; for every one forsakes and casts off naked persons, they will have nothing to do with them, Exod. xxxii. 25. Others render the words thus, ' The people will keep holy-day, they will have nothing to do but to weep and wail, or they will do nothing that is good.' Others thus, ' The people shall be stripped naked, they shall be left as a city without walls, exposed to the fury of the enemy, as a body without clothes, open to wind and weather.' Others carry it thus, ' The people shall be discovered; it will then appear what is within, whether grace or sin; it will then be discovered what pantings, breathings, hungerings, and longings there be in souls after God, and Christ, and holiness, and ordinances,' &c. Pagnine thus, ' The people will grow barbarous, rebellious, &c., as experience in all ages hath fully demonstrated.' Others thus, ' The people shall be of no esteem, of no repute; nobody will prize them, nobody will value them, nobody will regard them; men set no price, no value upon

naked persons.' Others thus, ' The people shall be dispersed, scattered, shivered and shattered ;' and this in all ages hath been too apparent. Others thus, ' They shall be drawn away with errors: they shall either be starved, or else poisoned with God-dishonouring, Christ-denying, scripture-debasing, conscience-wasting, life-polluting, and soul-damning opinions.' It is concluded on all hands, that it shall go ill, very ill, with that people that want vision, that want serious, sincere, faithful, and powerful preaching; for where there is no vision, no serious, sincere, faithful, and powerful preaching, there the people perish certainly, undoubtedly, there they go tumbling to hell thick and threefold; and this is evident in the text, ' Where there is no vision, the people perish.' He doth not say they may perish, but they do perish; or they are in danger of perishing, but they do certainly perish. Where there is no serious, conscientious, faithful, powerful preaching, there the people grow abominably wicked, as woeful experience tells us: and what the issue of that will be, you may see in Ps. ix. 17, ' The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God ;' or as the Hebrew hath it, the wicked shall be turned into into hell, that is, they shall certainly be turned into hell; yea, they shall be turned into the nethermost hell, into the lowest dungeon in hell. See Ps. xi. 6.

Where vision fails, there men perish iem/porally ; when vision, when preaching ceased among the Jews, oh the dreadful calamities and miseries that came upon that people! how soon did God burn up all their outward comforts, contentments, and enjoyments on every hand, 2 Chron. xv. 3, 5, 6, compared with chap. xiii. 9-11, and chap, xxxvi. 15 seq. ; Mat. xxiii. 37, 38. They shut their eyes against all that light that Christ and his apostles brought amongst them: and what was the issue of this ? Why, about forty years after Christ's ascension, the Komans came and took away their city, and sold thirty of them a-penny, as Josephus writes, &c.; and ever since that time, which is above sixteen hundred years ago,i they have been scattered as dung over the face of the whole earth.

Where vision fails, there men perish totally: both the bodies and the souls of men perish, where serious, conscientious preaching fails; Hosea iv. 6, ' My people are destroyed for want of knowledge." The Chaldee rendereth it, they are besotted, and so fitted for destruction. The Papists say that ignorance is the mother of devotion; but this text tells us that it is the mother of destruction. The heathens were wont to say that if their god Jupiter would destroy one, he would first besot him. So these people were first besotted, and then destroyed, Kom. vi. 16-19.

Where vision fails, there the people perish insensibly and unexpectedly. They flatter themselves that God is made up all of mercy, and will not believe but they shall go to heaven, till they awake with everlasting flames about their ears, as you may see in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Where vision fails, there men perish suddenly: in a moment they go down to hell. Job xxi. 13-15. As the travail of a woman comes suddenly upon her when she least expects it, so everlasting pains and torments come suddenly upon poor sinners when they least expect them,

1 Brooks's date being 1662.—G.

Prov. xxiv. 22; Deut. vii. 4; 1 Thes. v. 3. As God rained hell out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah on a sudden, Gen. xviii.; and as he swept away the old world on a sudden, Mat. xxiv. 37-39; and as Samuel cut off Agag on a sudden, when he concluded that the bitterness of death was past, 1 Sam. xv. 32: so God casts sinners to hell on a sudden, he sweeps them away on a sudden, he cuts them off on a sudden; and when they say^ Surely the bitterness of death is past, and everlasting wrath is past, and hell is past, and eternal ruin is past, then on a sudden God cuts them off, and gives them their portion with devils and damned spirits, &c.

Where vision fails, there men perish inevitably, irrecoverably: 1 Thes. v.. And they shall not escape; Prov. vi. 15, 'Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.' Here is their dismal doom: They shall not be only bruised, but broken; yea, they shall be suddenly broken when they least look for it, when they do not at all dream of it, or dread it, and this without remedy. They shall be so broken, as that there shall not be so much as a possibility of making them up again. If a man lose his estate, his friend, his child, this loss may be made up again; but if a man once lose his soul, there is no repairing nor making up of that loss.

Where there is no vision, there men perish everlastingly, there they perish eternally, 2 Thes. i. 7-9 ; Jude 7.

Do not you know that God will require the blood of all their souls at your hands, that perish either by your insufficiency, or neglect, or bad examples ? Ezek. iii. 18-20,' Thou shalt surely die,' Moth Tamuth, in dying thou shalt die; that is, thou shalt certainly die, thou shalt eternally die. The ancients commonly interpret it of the death of the soul.

Do not you know that a man were better have the blood of all the men in the world upon him, than the blood of one soul upon him ? For there is no blood that cries so loud, that will lie so heavy, and that will sink a man so deep in hell, as the blood of souls—I say, as the blood of souls.

Do not you know that there are ng men upon the face of the earth that are by office so strictly, so strongly, so universally, so indispensably, and so signally engaged to prize holiness, to countenance holiness, to encourage holiness, to promote holiness, and to practise holiness, as the ministers of Jesus Christ are ? Do not you know that ministers are called angels, in respect of their offices ? Rev. ii. Now angels are spiritual creatures ; their communion is spiritual, their food is spiritual, their delights are spiritual, their minds are spiritual, their affections are spiritual, and their exercises are spiritual, Ps. civ. 4; and in all these respects ministers should be Uke to the angels. I3ut are not many of them spiritual madmen in these days ?—being nothing less than what they profess to be i—spiritual men in a mockery: such as many light slight souls call a spiritual pig, that is, the poorest, the leanest, and the worst of aU the ten; such a one as hath no substance in it. So these have no substantial goodness, no substantial holiness at all in them; whereas in holiness they should as far exceed all other men, as the angels in hoUness do exceed them.

That is, they are everything rather than what they profess to be.—G.

Do not you know that there is no rank nor order of men on earth tliat have so enriched hell, that have been such benefactors to hell, as the ignorant, insufficient, profane, scandalous, and superstitious clergy? In times of Popery letters were framed and published as sent from hell, wherein the devil gave the carnal, ignorant, insufficient, scandalous, and superstitious clergy of those times no small thanks for so many millions of souls as by their means were daily sent to hell.

Do not you know that aU the true faithful prophets, apostles, and ministers of Jesus Christ, that are mentioned in the Old and New Testament, were men of the greatest holiness; i and men that made it their greatest business and work in this world to keep down a spirit of profaneness and wickedness, and to countenance, encourage, and promote holiness? Oh, how diligent! oh, how frequent! oh, how abundant! oh, how constant were they in the work of the Lord, that profane persons might be made holy, and that those that were holy might be made more and more holy, yea, that they might perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord! &c. Bishop Latimer, speaking of the clergy of his time —in a sermon before King Edward the Sixth—tells us that many can away with prcesunt, but not with bene; if that bene were out of the text, all were well; if a man might eat the sweet and never sweat, it were an easy matter to be a preacher; if there were not opus but bonum, all were well too. But every clergyman is, or ought to be, ETrlaKovo^, that is, saith Augustine, Nomen operis, to be a steward and overseer in God's house; and that is an office of great labour, trust, and employment. Stewards and overseers commonly eat their bread in the sweat of their brows, and after much beating of their brains; but how unlike to such stewards and overseers the clergy are that I am now expostulating with, I must leave the Christian reader to judge. Ernestus, Duke of Lunebury,2 caused a burning lamp to be stamped on his coin, with these four letters, A. S. M. C, by which was meant, ^Aliis serviens meipsum contero:' By giving light to others, I consume myself. And such were the Lord's faithful prophets, apostles, and ministers of old: and such are all his faithful, laborious, and conscientious ministers now. But how unlike to the one or the other they are, that now I am reasoning with, you may easily perceive, by comparing them together. I have read of the nobles of Polonia, that when the gospel is read, they clap their hands upon their swords, and begin to draw them out, intimating by that ceremony their resolution to defend the faith, and their willingness to hazard their lives for the gospel's safety. The faithful prophets, apostles, and ministers of old, were willing to sacrifice themselves for the gospel's sake: but how many are there in these days that are more ready and willing to make a sacrifice of the gospel for profit sake, and preferment sake, and honour sake, and lust's sake, &c., than they are to make themselves a sacrifice for the gospel's sake! and how unlike these are to the faithful, conscientious ministers of Jesus Christ that have been in all ages, I must leave you to judge.

Do not you know that Pharaoh had that tender regard of his cattle,

^ 2 Chron, xxxvi. 15; Jer. vii. 25; xxv. 4; xxxv. 15; xi. 7, &c.; 2 Cor. xL, &c. " Qu. Luneburgh ?—G.

as that he thought none fit to be their ruler, their overseer, but sucli as were known men of activity? Gen. xlvii. 6, 7. Pharaoh would have none to be his cowherds but men of activity, men of skill, men that were prudent and diligent, ingenuous and industrious. Shall Pharaoh be so careful for his cows, and shall not others be as careful for souls ? What man is there under heaven that hath the use of his reason, his wits, &c., that when he is to travel, would take a fool, an ignoramus, for his guide; and that when he is sick, would send for a mountebank to be his physician; or that when he is to ride a dangerous way, would make choice of a coward to defend him; or that when he hath a lawsuit, would make use of a dunce to plead it; or that when he hath a suit of clothes to make, would send for a bungling tailor to make it ? Surely none. And why then should not men be as wise for their souls ?

Do not you know that that sort of persons that now I am a speaking of, have been the greatest instruments of bringing the greatest calamities and miseries, and the sorest desolations and destructions that ever have been brought upon cities, nations, kingdoms, and countries ? Compare the scriptures in the margin together, and then let conscience speak. 1 And who is so ignorant as not to know that it was the high-priests, scribes, and Pharisees that brought the innocent blood of our Lord Jesus Christ upon that once great and glorious nation of the Jews, to their utter destruction and desolation, about forty years after Christ's ascension, when the Komans came and took their city, and practised the greatest severity and cruelty imaginable upon them, as Josephus and other historians shew ? In the Marian days, and in the massacre of the Protestants in France, how great a hand this sort of men had that I am now a-reasoning with, all the world knows. And so the pagan priests stiiTcd up the pagan emperors to be desperate persecutors of the people of Grod that were within their empires; which occasioned Tertullian to give that good counsel to Scapula, a pagan persecutor; ' Grod,' saith he, ' will surely make inquisition for our blood, and therefore if thou wilt not spare us, yet spare thyself: if not thyself, yet spare thy country, wliich must be responsible when God comes to visit for blood.

Do not you know that his Majesty hath very Christianly, zealously, argumentatively, and smartly declared against drunkenness, lewdness, profaneness, &c., and that he hath declared that his resolution is and shall be to promote the power of godliness, to encourage the exercises of religion, both public and private, to take care that the Lord's-day be applied to holy exercises, without unnecessary divertisements; and that insufficient, negligent, and scandalous ministers be not permitted in the church ?

Do not you know that when the great Shepherd our Lord Jesus Christ shall appear, that he will call you to a pai'ticular and exact account for every soul that hath miscarried under your charge, either by reason of your ignorance, insufficiency, profaneness, looseness, or superstition, &c. ? and how will you then be able to stand in that day? &c., 1 Pet. V. 2-4; Ezek. iii. 17-19.

1 Jer. xxvi. 8,9,11,14, 15j Lam. iv. 11-13; Amos vii. 10,11; 1 Kings xxii.; 2 Chron.

Gentlemen, if you say you know not these things, and that they are riddles and mysteries to you, how dare you say that you are the ministers of Jesus Christ ? But if you shall say that you know very well that these things are certainly true, yea, that they are such clear and undeniable truths that no devil can deny, and yet shall continue in your ignorance, insufficiency, profaneness, looseness, superstition, &c., what man on earth is there that hath but read the scriptures, and that can but write liis own name, and that would not be begged i for a fool in folio, will believe you to be the true faithful ministers of Jesus Christ?

Well, Gentlemen, I have read of Alexander the Great, how that he had a soldier of his name that was a coward, which when he understood, he commanded him either to fight like Alexander, or else to lay down the name of Alexander.^ So say I to you. Gentlemen, either preach as the ministers of Jesus Christ ought to preach—viz., plainly, spiritually, powerfully, feelingly, fervently, frequently, &c., and live as the ministers of Jesus Christ ought to live—viz., heavenly, graciously, holily, humbly, righteously, harmlessly, and exemplarily, &c., or else lay down your very names of being the ministers of Jesus Christ, and put no longer a cheat upon yourselves, nor upon the people, by making them believe that you are the only ministers of Jesus Christ, when you have nothing of the spirit of Christ, nor of the anointings of Christ, nor of the grace of Christ, nor of the life of Christ in you. Gentlemen, if this counsel be seriously minded and faithfully followed, it will turn more to your accounts in the great day of our Lord Jesus, and do you more good then, than all the profits, preferments, and honours of this world can do you good now. But if you shall slight and despise this counsel now, I shall be found a true prophet, to your woe and misery in that great day, &c.

If this Treatise should fall into the hands of any ladies and gentlewomen, as I suppose it may, that have not yet experienced the sweet and powerful operations of holiness in their own souls, I would then say.

Ladies and Gentlewomen, your souls are as precious, and as immortal, and as capable of union and communion with Christ here, and of an eternal fruition of Christ hereafter, as the souls of any men in the world are. I have read a sad story of one Bochna, a woman which had but two sons in all the world ; and whilst she was walking with the one towards the river, she heard the other crying out, and hastening back, she found a knife sticking in his side, which killed him immediately: then she made haste to the other child, but he in her absence was fallen into the river and drowned, and so she lost both her sons at once. Now, ladies, this is your very case; every one of you have two children, as I may say, a soul and a body, a life eternal and a life temporal; and oh, what a dreadful and unspeakable loss would it be to lose both these at once! and yet, as certain as there is a God in heaven, you will lose them both without holiness.

All know, that know anything of scripture or history, that there

have been many great ladies and gentlewomen, that have been great

lovers of holiness, and great delighters in holiness, and great prizers

of holiness, and great admirers of .holiness, and great countenancers of

^ Qu. ' bagged'=: taken for.—G. ^ Plutarch, s. n.—G.

holiness, and great encouragers of holiness, and great promoters of holiness, and great followers after holiness, and great experiencers of the sweet and powerful operations of holiness in their own souls. And oh that this might be all your honour and happiness, to be in all respects as famous for holiness, as any of your sex hath been before you.

Christ hath prayed as much for your souls, as he hath for the souls of others; and he hath paid as much for your souls, as he hath for the souls of others; and he hath sweat, and wept, and bled as much for your souls, as he hath for the souls of others; and he hath suffered, and satisfied as much for your souls, as he hath for the souls of others; and he hath purchased and prepared as great and as glorious things for your souls, as he hath for the souls of others, if you will be but a holy people to him: and what doth all this speak out, but an unspeakable readiness and willingness in Jesus Christ to sanctify you, and save you, as well as others ?

All knowing men can tell you, that many ladies and gentlewomen in all ages have been very famous for all natural, moral, spiritual, and acquired excellencies ; yea, more famous than many men that yet have done worthily in their generation; and by their attainments you may easily see what is possible for you to attain unto, both in respect of gifts and grace, i Of all things, gracious examples are most awakening, convincing, and encouraging; for in them you may see that both the attainment of holiness, and the exercise of holiness, is possible, though difficult; in eyeing of examples, it is always best to eye the highest, the holiest, and the worthiest examples; for, as he that shoot-eth at the sun, though he falls short of his mark, yet will shoot liigher than he that aimeth only at a shrub ; so those that set up the highest examples of holiness for their mark, for their imitation, will certainly attain to greater degrees of holiness, than those that propose to themselves the meanest and the lowest examples of holiness for their .pattern and imitation.

Well, Ladies and Gentlewomen, do you think that it is good going to hell, that it is good dwelling with the devouring fire, that it is good dwelling with everlasting burnings, that it is good for ever to be separated from the presence of Grod, Christ, angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect ? Isa. xxxiii. 14; 2 Thes. i. 7-10; that it is good for ever to lie a-sweltering under the wrath of an infinite just God, and to abide for ever and ever under those pains and torments that are endless, easeless, hopeless, and remediless ? and that it is good to be associated, and fettered with devils and damned spirits to all eternity ? Oh no, this cannot be good ; for the very serious thoughts of these things are enough even to raise a hell a-this-side hell in our hearts. Oh then. Ladies and Gentlewomen, pray that you may be holy; hear that you may be holy; read that you may be holy; and with all your might press after holiness, and pursue hard after holiness as after the one thing necessary; for without holiness you will as certainly go to hell, as holy persons shall certainly go to heaven ; and this you will find as clearly and fully proved in this following Treatise, as heart can wish.

^ A man might write volumes on this subject: there is so much said in scripture and history upon this account; but in an epistle a touch must suffice, &c.

Oh that you would for ever remember this, that without all perad-venture you shall never be saved, unless you are sanctified; you shall never be truly happy, unless you are really holy: except God should do five things that are not possible for him to do—viz., 1. Change his purpose ; 2. Make null and void his decree; 3. Make a new gospel; 4. Find out a new way to heaven; and 5. Ungod himself. God must undo himself and ungod himself, if ever he make you happy before he hath made you holy; and therefore, oh, what infinite cause have you to read this following Treatise, and to study this Treatise, and to meditate on this Treatise, and to pray over this Treatise, and to look up to heaven for counsel and strength to make such an improvement of the means, helps, and directions that are here prescribed for the attaining of holiness, as that you may be made really holy, that so you may be everlastingly happy I And to quicken and encourage your hearts in this work, I could heartily wish, that as soon as you have read over the epistle, you would read from page 433 to page 447, for there you will find many arguments that are of a particular concernment to yourselves, and that ought to be no small obligations upon you to work you to pursue after holiness with all your might, &c.i

If this Treatise should fall into the hands of any faithful, serious, gracious, conscientious, laborious ministers' hands, as I suppose it may, I would then say. Reverend sirs, let my weak endeavours be a spur, a provocation to you to lay out your choicest and your chiefest gifts, parts, strength, time, and opportunities to promote holiness of life, and holiness in doctrine, worship, discipline, and in all your sacred communions. Certainly, had we all eyed hohness more, and preached holiness more, and practised holiness more, and cried up holiness more, and encouraged holiness more, and countenanced holiness more, the countenance both of God and man might have been set more pleasingly towards us than they are this day. When once maintenance comes to be more in ministers' eyes than holiness, and when their studies and endeavours are more to make men proselytes to this or that way, this or that form, this or that party, than to make men holy, it is no wonder if God writes out ' bitter things' against them. I doubt not but providential dispensations have had such a teaching virtue in them, as to lead you to lay your fingers upon several such-like sores, and to mourn over them, and to justify the Holy One of Israel, who is holy in all his ways, and righteous in all his works.2

Truly, brethren, I have always looked upon the great work of the ministry to lie in two things: first, in making unholy men holy ; and, secondly, in making them that are already holy to be more and more holy. First to beget holiness, and then to nurse up holiness; first to bring souls to Christ, and then to build up souls in Christ, is without all peradventure the work of works that should be most in every minister's eye, and that should always lie nearest and warmest upon every minister's heart, &c. And, through grace, I have made this my grand design in the course of my ministry, and throughout all my writings; and now it yields me that joy, that comfort, that content,

' As before.—G.

* Be it remembered this was written at the time of the ' Ejection' of the Two Thousand, of whom Brooks was one.—G.

and that satisfaction, that I would not be without for all the world. Besides, I know it will turn most to my account at the great day. Oh that all of you that yet have any opportunities and advantages in your hands to preach the everlasting gospel would make this your great business, to prompte holiness, and to exalt and lift up holiness in the world ! For as this great principle of holiness shall gain ground upon the hearts, consciences, and lives of men; so all the things of Antichrist, and all the trade of Antichrist, and all those grand mischiefs and miseries that threaten the sons of men, will fail before it, as Dagon fell before the ark.

If tliis Treatise should fall into the hands of any of God's sanctified ones, of what degree or rank soever they are of, as I suppose it may fall into the hands of many such, I would then say. Dear friends, in this Treatise you will find many strong motives to provoke you to ' pe^ect hoKness in the fear of the Lord,' and many special means to enable you to ' perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord,' and many evidences whereby you may certainly and infallibly know whether you have attained to any considerable height of holiness or no; and in the opening of these things, you will find that great doctrine about degrees of glory in heaven to be asserted and proved, and the objections against it to be fairly dismissed, &c.

Reader, if thou art one that to this very day art in an unsanctified estate, and an enemy to holiness, or a scoffer at holiness, or a secret despiser of holiness, or a desperate opposer of holiness, or a bitter persecutor of holiness, then I would commend this following Treatise, before any I know extant in the world, to the service of thy soul; for I know none that is so calculated and fitted up for that purpose as this is. Read and judge. This I will assure thee, 0 thou unsanctified soul, that the grand design of this book is thy salvation ; it is to make thee really holy, that thou mayest be eternally happy; and of this thou mayest be confident—viz., that I shall follow these poor labours with my earnest prayers, that they may be blessed to the internal and eternal welfare of thy soul, and that they may issue in the conviction, conversion, and salvation of thy soul. I shall send this Treatise forth into the world with Jacob's blessing and prayer for his sons, ' God Almighty send thee mercy in the sight of the man,' Gen. xliii. 14, &c., in the sight of the proud man that he may be humbled, and in the sight of the hardened man that he may be softened, and in the sight of the carnal man that he may be spiritualised, and in the sight of the polluted man that he may be washed, and in the sight of the unsanctified man that he may be sanctified, and in the sight of the ignorant man that he may be enlightened, and in the sight of the stubborn man that he may be bowed,_and in the sight of the unconverted man that he may be changed, and in the sight of the lost man that he may be saved.

Christian reader, I suppose by this time that I have almost tired thee in reading, as I have myself in writing, and therefore I shall presently draw to a close ; only, before I take my leave of thee, give me leave to say, that I am much of Carthagena his mind, who to those three things which the ancients held impossible, saith, that to find a book printed without erratas, should undoubtedly have been added as

VOL. IV. c

a fourth impossible, if the art of printing had been then invented, though the author had Briareus his hands, and the printer Argus his eyes. Notwithstanding all the care that hath been taken, thou wilt find figures misplaced, and some mispointings, with some other mistakes of the printer. I hope the ingenuous reader will cast a mantle of love over the mistakes of the press, and do me that right, and himself that courtesy, as to correct such eiTors of the press that the second impression may prevent. Seneca, 1 remember, is railed upon by slanderous tongues for the faults of Nero his scholar. And the scapes ^ of Quintilian's scholars are imputed to Quintilian himself; but I know the Christian reader, that is daily sensible of the erratas of his life, hath not so learned Christ.

Jeader, I do not ofier thee that which cost me nothing. This itise that now I put into thy hand is the fruit of much prayer and serious study. If thou findest any profit and benefit by it, give Christ all the glory, the crown of praise becomes no head but his; only when thou art in the mount, let me lie near thy heart. Oh, pray earnestly, pray fervently, pray frequently, and pray unweariedly, that I may have much of the fresh anointings of the Holy Spirit, that my communion with a holy God may every day rise higher and higher, and that all my transactions, both before God and man, may savour of some heights of hoHness: so thou wilt the more strongly oblige me to be thy soul's servant in all gospel engagements,

Thomas Brooks.

* = ' escapes,' or faults, or misdemeanours.— G.

THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS.

Follolo peace luith all men, and holiness, without ivhich no man shall see the Lord. — Heb. XII. 14.

I REMEMBER a Saying of golden-mouthed Chrysostpm, ' If I were,' said he, ' the fittest man in the world to preach a sermon to the whole world, gathered together in one congregation, and had some high mountain for my pulpit, from whence I might have a prospect of all the world in my view, and were furnished with a voice of brass, a voice as loud as the trumpet of the archangel, that all the world might hear me, I would choose to preach on no other text than that in Ps. iv. 2, " 0 mortal men, how long will ye love vanity, and follow after leasing?"' i So I say, had I Clu-ysostom's tongue, head, and heart, and were I every way advantaged to preach a sermon to the whole world, I would choose to preach on this text before any other in the Bible, ' Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'

Beloved! the salvation of souls is that which should be first and most in a minister's eye, and that which should always lie closest and warmest upon a minister's heart. 0 sirs! our dear Lord Jesus was infinitely tender of the souls of men. He left his Father's bosom for souls; he trode the wine-press of his Father's wrath for souls; he prayed for souls; he paid for souls; he sweated for souls; he bled out his heart's blood for souls; and he made himself an offering for souls:2 and oh, what an encouragement should this be to all his faithful messengers to woo 3 for ^ouls, to mourn for souls, to pray for souls, to study for souls, and in preaching to spend and to be spent for the salvation of souls! Ah, friends, there is no work nor wisdom on earth to that of winning souls, Prov. xi. 30, and ' he that winneth souls is wise.' There is no art, no industry to that of winning souls, of ' taking' souls, as fowlers take birds, as the Hebrew word np7l

1 On Ps. iv. 2. HomiL—G.

2 Isa. Ixiii. 3; John xvii. 22; Luke iv. 24; 1 Cor. vi. 20; 1 Pet. i. 18-20; Heb. ix. 12-15. " Misspelled ' woe.'—G.

imports. Now, though there is a great deal of art required to take birds, yet there is ten thousand times more art required to take souls. In a word, to convert a soul is a greater work than to sway a sceptre, or than it is to pour out ten thousand talents into the baskets of the poor.i

My desigu in choosing this text is the winning of souls, it is the salvation of souls, it is the bringing in and building up of souls. I have read of Louis the Ninth, king of France, that he was found instructing his poor kitchen-boy in the way to heaven; and being asked the reason of it, he answered, ' The meanest hath a soul as precious as my own, and bought by the same blood of Christ.' He who only went to the price of souls, hath long since told us that a soul is more worth than a world. Mat. xvi. 26. That I may catch some poor soul or other by a holy craft, 2 Cor. xii. 16, and establish and strengthen others in the love and liking of holiness, and in the power and practice of holiness, I have cast my thoughts upon this scripture.

But to draw nearer to my text.

As no means hath more enriched hell than beautiful faces, so no means hath more enriched heaven than the beauty of holiness. Now that I may discover the necessity, beauty, rarity, and excellency of holiness, I have chosen this text, ' Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.' I shall give a little light into the words, and then come to that main point I intend to stand upon.

' Follow peace with all men.' The Greek word AccoKere, translated follow, signifies to pursue and press after peace, as the persecutor pursues and presses after him he persecutes. It notes an earnest, an eager, an affectionate, and an incessant pressing and following after peace with all men; Ps. xxxiv. 14, 'Seek peace, and pursue it.'^ Here the Hebrew word, ^p2, translated seek, signifies to ' seek earnestly,' vehemently, studiously, industriously. Thus peace with God, and peace with conscience, and peace with men must be sought. ' Seek peace and pursue it.' The word translated pursue, IHS)!'!'), from ^1"), signifies an ' earnest pursuit.' It is a metaphor taken from the earnestness of wild beasts, or ravenous fowl, which will run or fly fast and far, eagerly and unweariedly, rather than be disappointed of their prey. Though Christians meet with many rubs and remoras, yet peace must be resolutely pursued. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of peace, and God delights to be styled Deus pacts, the God of peace, and Christ affects3 to be Princeps pads, the Prince of peace, and King of Salem, i.e.. King of peace.^ JJbi pax, ibi Christus, quia Christus pax: Where peace is, tJiere is Christ, because Christ is peace. Therefore let all that are interested in Christ pursue after peace. But this is not the point that I have in my eye at this time. I shall hasten to it ' With all men;' that is, with all orders, ranks, and sorts of men.

* And holiness,' &c.5 We must so pursue after peace as that we do

^ Chrysostom. ^ Dtdce nomen pads —The very name of peace is sweet.

» ' Chooses.'—G. * Gal. v. 22; 2 Cor. xiii. 11; Isa. ix. 6, 7; Heb. i. 2.

\ A man may be miserable under peace, but never under holiness.

not neglect holiness for peace sake. Better is holiness without peace, than peace without holiness. Holiness dilFers nothing from happiness but in name. Holiness is happiness in the bud, and happiness is holiness at the full. Happiness is nothing but the quintessence of holiness. A man were better be holy in hell, than unholy in heaven. Holiness would make hell to be no hell, as the fire was no fire to those holy worthies, Dan. iii. 27. Look, as unholiness would make heaven to be no heaven, yea, turn a heaven into a very hell, so holiness would turn a hell into a very heaven. What holiness this is in the text, I shall discover to you in the opening of that point I intend to stand-upon.

' Without which no man.' This expression is exclusive, ' no man,* be he rich or poor, high or low, honourable or base, young or old, Jew or Gentile, bond or free, under one form or another, &c.

' Shall see the Lord.' To ' see,' in the Hebrew phrase, is ordinarily used to ' enjoy:' Ps. iv. 6, '^ Who will shew us any good ?' The word in the Hebrew is from HkSi, to ' see,' ' Who will make us to see any good?' that is, to enjoy any good. 'Without holiness no man shall see the Lord;' that is, without holiness no man shall ever come to a blessed, to a glorious fruition and enjoyment of the Lord. There was once a holy man [Chrysostom] who professed that the want of the enjoyment of Grod would be a far greater hell to him than the feeling of any punishment; and yet this great hell, every one shall be sure to feel that lives and dies without holiness. The Jews say of holy Moses, that he died ad osculum oris Dei, at the kisses of God's mouth, and in divine embraces, Ps. xxxvii. 37. When a man of holiness dies, he shall be sure to die in divine embraces, and live for ever in divine embraces. When Socrates was to die, he comforted himself with this, that he should go to a place where he should enjoy Homer and Musaeus, and other worthies who lived before him.i But ah, what an unspeakable comfort is this to a holy man when he comes to die, to consider that he is going to a place where he shall see the Lord, not as now, through a glass darkly, but in all his heavenly bravery, and in all his divine embroidery and bespangled glory! 1 Cor. xiii. 12. And let this suffice for the opening of the words.

In my text you have two things: First, An exhortation to ' follow peace and holiness.' Secondly, The reason or argument to enforce the duty pressed, viz., ' without which no man shall see the Lord.' The words will afford us many weighty observations. , I shall onl> name one, which I intend to insist upon, and that is this—viz.:

Doct. That real holiness is the only way to happiness. All men must he holy on earth, or they shall never see the beatifical vision, they shall never reach to a glorious fruition of God in heaven.

For the clearing up, and making good of this great and glorious truth, I shall endeavour these three things :—

First, to shew you what this holiness is, ' without which no man shall see the Lord.'

Secondly, I shall, by an induction of particulars, make good the proposition.

^ Plato, Phaedo; Xenophon, Mem. iv. 8, § 4, &c.—G.

Tliirdly, Give you the reasons of tlie point.

I. First, What is this holiness ' without which no man shall see the Lord'? I answer, there is a sixfold holiness.

1. First, There is a legal holiness. Now a legal holiness consists in an exact, perfect, and complete conformity in heart and life to the whole revealed will of God, and this was the hoHness that Adam had in his innocency; and this holiness was immediately derived from God, and was perfect. Adam knew the will of God perfectly, so far as it was revealed to him, and had a divine principle in him of perfect conformity to that blessed will. Adam's holiness was as co-natural to him, as unholiness is now to us; and had he stood fast in that glorious condition, we had all been as naturally holy from the womb, as now we are sinful. Adam's holiness was as natural, and as pleasing, and as delightful to him, as any way of unholiness can be natural, pleasing, and delightful unto us. But this holiness, which was Adam's choicest sparkling gem of beauty, and his weightiest crown of glory, is by Satan's policy long since fallen off from Adam's head, Ps. li. 5. Now if this legal holiness were the holiness meant in the text, then woe to man that ever he was born; for then no man should ever see the Lord, Kom. iii. 10. For by Adam's fall all men are gone out of the way, and there is none legally righteous, no not one. Now if we look upon man as fallen from that holiness which was his greatest honour, dignity, and excellency, he is become a pile of dust, a puff of wind, saith one; a dream of a shadow, saith another; a shadow of smoke, saith a third ; a poor silly flea, a worm, a little soul, a curious nothing; i yea, man fallen from his primitive glory is become a very vanity, saith the prophet: Ps. xxxix. 5, ' Verily, every man at his best state is altogether vanity.' ' Verily;' this asseveration is only used in matters of greatest weight and moment, and notes the reality and certainty of the things delivered. Every man, [din-'?^, ' all Adam,'] or every son of Adam; not some man, but every man at his best state, [ y£l, from Jatsab ;] that is, in his most settled and composed condition, when he is best constituted and underlaid, when he stands a-tip-toe, and is in the height and perfection of all creature comforts and contentments, is altogether, not in some measure, but altogether, vanity, [chol hebel,] all vanity. Since the fall of Adam every natural man in his best estate is vanity; nay, every man is every vanity. Imagine what vanity you will, fallen man is that. He is a comprehensive vanity—he is an epitome of all vanity. Man in honour, before his fall, was the best of creatures; but since his fall, he is become the worst of creatures. By his fall he is fallen below the very beasts that perish, Isa. i. 3, 4; Prov. vi. 6 ; Jer. viii. 7; Mat. vi. 26. He that was once the image of God, the glory of paradise, the world's lord, and the Lord's darling, is now become a burthen to heaven, a burthen to liimself, and a slave to others, &c., which made one cry out—

* Oh, what is man ? A scuttleful of dust, a measured span, Man's breath a bubble, and his days a span; 'Tis glorious misery to be born a man.' =*

By all wliich you may easily perceive how far we are off from that

^ Greg. Nazianz.; Pindarus; .^Eschylus; Marcus I migrator, " Quarles.

legal holiness that Adam had in innocency. Kabbi Solomon i makes Adam so high, that he touched heaven with his head. I shall not dispute the certainty of that; but certainly the higher he was in holiness, the greater was his fall, and ours in him. This legal holiness was so lost in Adam, that no son of Adam could ever find it since Adam fell; and if this were the holiness without which no man should ever see the Lord, then farewell for ever to all the sons of Adam. But this legal holiness is not the holiness in the text.

2. Secondly, There is an imciginary holiness, a conceited holiness, an opinionative holiness: Pro v. xxx. 12, ' There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.' They were very bad, and yet they had a great opinion of their own goodness. They were very filthy, and yet they stood very much upon their own purity. Their hands were black, their hearts were black, their works were black, and their ways were as black as hell, and yet they durst say that none could say black was their eye. They were filthy within, and filthy without; filthy in body, and filthy in soul, and filthy in spirit. Filthiness had quite overspread them, and yet they thought to cover their filthiness with a vizard of holiness. The worst men are commonly best conceited of themselves.2 Ah, friends, there hath been no generation wherein there hath not been such a generation of men who have wallowed in sin like swine in the mire, and yet have kept up in themselves a strong opinion of their own goodness and holiness. This generation had neither their souls nor consciences washed in the blood of Christ, nor sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, and yet they gloried in their conceited purity and hoUness, as if they had been purified by Christ. There are many that are shining Christians, that are pure golden Christians in their own eyes, that are viler than dross, yea, than smoke in God's eyes: Isa. Ixv. 5, * Stand by thyself, come not near to me ; for I am holier than thou : these are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.'^ They were very licentious, very ungracious, very rebellious, very superstitious, very idolatrous, (ver. [2-4,) and yet counted themselves very religious. They were worse than others, and yet thought themselves better than others; they were very bad, and yet judged themselves very good; they were more impure, more profane, and more polluted than others, and yet they reckon themselves more pure and holier than others; they stand upon their comparative goodnesses, and yet at the same time are charged by God of the greatest wickedness. And thus their kinsmen the Pharisees stand upon their images, forgeries,^ and outward dresses of holiness, when at the same time they practised the worst of wickedness. Mat. xxiii. 5; Luke xviii. 11, 12; so those in Hosea xii. 8,' And Ephraim said. Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance : in all my labours they shall find no iniquity in me/ that were sin, or is sin. Ephraim's iniquities were grown over his head, as may be seen throughout this whole prophecy, and yet Ephraim

^ R. Solomon on Deuteronomy, c. 3.—G.

* Caelum gratis non accipiam. I will not have heaven but at a rate, said a proud, impure person.

* Begis animum qulsque intra se habet. Every man hath in him the mind of a king : is Calvin's note on that, 1 Pet. v. 5.

* ' Fraudulent appearances.'—G.

cannot bear the being charged with iniquity. It was little less than sin to charge Ephraim with sin ; though he was notoriously guilty of the highest crmies, yet he would have you to know that he was as shy of sin, and as clear of sin, as he that was shyest and clearest. Ephraim could give good words, when his works were abominable ; he could pretend much to innocency, when he was guilty of the greatest impiety. But though Ephraim had his cloak at hand, yet it was too short to cover his sin; for Grod saw it, and condemned him for it. Chrysostom doth elegantly set forth the blindness and brutishness of such persons. When they lie in the mire, saith he, they think they are besmeared with some sweet ointments; when they are full of vermin, they vaunt themselves, as if they were adorned with precious stones. And so the Laodiceans were of the same temper of spirit: Kev. iii. 17, 'Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.' They had a great opinion of their own goodness, worth, and excellent state, having need of nothing, when they had nothing of a Christian in them.i Thou sayest thou art' rich;' ay, but thou dost but say so. Thou boastest and braggest of thy riches, as many proud beggars do of that wealth they have not. For all thou deemest thyself rich, thou art but poor and beggarly. It is man's sin and judgment, that ever since he ceased to be what he should be, he striveth to seem to be what he is not. Thou sayest thou art ' increased with goods, and needest nothing;' ay, but thou dost but say so, thou dost but dream it is so: for thou art ignorant of thine own wretched and lamentable estate. 'Thou sayest thou art rich, but I know thou art poor and beggarly. If a drachm of grace would save thy life, thy soul, thy family, nay, the whole world,^thou hast it not. Thou sayest thou 'seest'; but thou art blind, thou art destitute of spiritual eyesight; thou seest not thine own wants, nor Christ's worth; thine own emptiness, nor Christ's fulness ; thine own sinfulness, nor Christ's holiness; thine own poverty, nor Christ's riches and plenty ; thine own misery, nor Christ's mercy; thine own insufficiency, nor Christ's all-sufficiency; thine own vanity, nor Christ's glory, &c. Multi multa sciunt, se autem nemo: Many know much, but few know themselves, or their own danger, infelicity, or misery; and indeed no misery to this. The Chinese used to say of themselves, that all other nations of the world did see but with one eye, they only with two; and of this spuit and temper were those blind Laodiceans. They thought they knew all things, when they knew nothing that they should, nor as they should. I3y all which you may see that there is an imaginary holiness, a conceited holiness, where there is no real holiness; but an imaginary holiness will bring a man but to an imaginary blessedness; a conceited holiness will bring a man but to a conceited happiness; he that doth but dream that he is holy, he doth but dream that he shall be happy.

Bastards of old were not to inherit, but to be thrust out from among the true heirs: Gen. xxi. 10; Judges xi. 1, 2, 'Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot:

1 There is a truth in that old saying, Avaro deest tam quod habet, quam quod non habet: A covetous man wanteth as well that which he hath, as that which he hath not.

and Gilead begat Jephthah. And Gilead's wife bear him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.' Ah, sirs, you that are but bastard Christians, bastard professors, bastard believers, bastard saints, you shall never inherit among the heirs of glory, but shall be thrust out for ever from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power, and thrust into utter darkness, because you have pleased yourselves, and satisfied your spirits, and blessed your souls in a bastard holiness, in a conceited holiness, 2 Thes. i. 8, 9 ; Mat. viii. 12, and xxii. 13; Deut. xxiii. 2, 'A bastard shall not enter i into the congregation of the Lord.' He shall have no fellowship nor communion with the people of God; the door of admission shall be shut upon him. The foolish virgins had but a bastard holiness, a conceited holiness, an outward dress of holiness; and therefore the door of life, the door of hope, the door of help, the door of grace, the door of mercy, the door of glory was shut upon them, Mat. XXV. 10-12, vii. 21-23. William the Conqueror was much slighted and scorned because he was a bastard. God and his people will slight such, and scorn such, and turn their backs at last upon such that have no more than a bastardly holiness; and therefore this cannot be the holiness here meant. But,

3. Thirdly, There is an outward, external, visible holiness, which includes men's freedom from scandalous vices, and their ordinary performance of religious duties. Now, in this sense, Zacharias and Elizabeth were both holy persons: for they ' walked in all the commandments and ordinances of God blameless.' ^ And so the apostles, 1 Thes. ii. 10, ' For ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe.' Answerable to this, is that of the apostle in 2 Cor. i. 12, ' For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-wards.' These precious souls behaved themselves holily towards God, justly towards the world, and unblameably towards believers. They were holy in religious work, they were just in their civil affiiirs and commerce, and unblameable in their private carriage and behaviour amongst their familiar and most bosom friends. And this is that the apostle presses upon Christians in Phil. ii. 15, 'That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke,' (or unblemished,) * in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine' (or shine ye) ' as lights in the world.' Christians must be the spotless sons of God: they must have no spots upon them that are inconsistent with sonship or saintship, Deut. xxxii. 5. Now it is certain, without this outward visible holiness there is no happiness, there is no fruition of God in everlasting blessedness. They that pretend their hearts are as good as the best, when their lives are as bad as the worst, shall experience this truth at last to their shame and cost,

1 Misprinted ' inherit.'—G.

" Luke i. 5, 6, 'A/ie/xTTTot, they were both, saith the Vulgate, sine querela, without complaint; their conversation was such as none could justly complain of it. It waa irreprehensible; it could not be reprehended.

that without visible holiness here, there can be no fruition of God hereafter.

Yet this must be granted, that a man may be visibly holy, that is not inwardly holy, 2 Tim. ii. 5. A man may be outwardly holy, that is not throughout holy: a man may have an outward dress of holiness upon him, that hath not the spirit and vitals of holiness in him.i As Judas had, and Simon Magus had, and Demas had, and the Scribes and Pharisees had: Mat. xxiii, 25, 27, 28, 'Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Woe unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.' They were outwardly religious, but inwardly vicious; they had the semblance of sanctity, but inwardly very full of impurity; they were fair professors,but foul sinners; they were gracious vsdthout, but impious within. Look, as they are the worst of vices that are covered over with the show of virtue; so they are the worst of sinners that cover over their inward filthiness under the vizards of outward holiness. The Egyptian temples were fair without, but foul and filthy within. Such were the Scribes and Pharisees in Christ's days, and such are many professors in our days. It is said of Dionysius the tyrant, that though he loved not the philosophers, yet he would wrap himself up in their cloaks, that men might have the better opinion of him: so there be many that put on an outward dress of holiness, that wrap themselves up in the cloak of holiness, that so others may take them for holy persons, and yet they love not hohness, they have nothing of real holiness in them; but ' as he is not a Jew which is one outwardly,' but not inwardly, Rom. ii. 28,29, and iv. 12 ; so he is not a holy person who is only so outwardly, but not inwardly; that hath the name of holiness upon him, but hath no principles of holiness in him. Though without outward visible holiness no man shall see the Lord; yet a man may have an outward visible holiness, that shall never see the Lord in happiness. ' I hate him even to hell,' saith the heathen in Homer, ' that saith one thing with his mouth, and thinketh another thing in his heart.'^ So God will at last hate that man to hell, yea, cast him into the hottest place in hell, that hath a form of godliness upon him, but nothing of the reality and power of holiness in him. Outward hohness is good, but it must be throughout holiness that will do a man good to all eternity.3 It is not the shows but the substance of holiness that will bring a man to everlasting happiness. Mere outward holiness will certainly leave a man short of heaven and happiness; but throughout holiness will certainly lodge the soul in the bosom of God for ever. It is true, all men reach not to an outward holiness, which made Athanasius wish, Utinam omnes essent hypo-

^ They say of Halifax nuts, that they are all shells, no kernels. There are many that make a glorious show before men, that are abominable in the sight of God, Luke xvi. 15, that are aurum hominibus, lutum Deo : Gold in man's eyes, dirt in God's sight. Gregor. Mor. c. 34. 1. 13. * Iliad, ix. 312.—G.

3 Mat. xxiii. 14; 2 Tim. iii. 5 ; 1 Cor. vii. 19 ; Phil. iii. 3 ; Gal. v. 6, and vi. 15.

crike! Would to God that all were hypocrites ! Without all perad-venture it is a very desirable thing that all were outwardly holy ; yet all that reach to this, must go farther, or else they will sit down on this side happiness: Mat. v. 20, ' For I say unto you. That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Now they were much in works of piety, in works of charity, in works of equity, and in works of courtesy, by which means they gained so much upon the hearts of the people, that it was commonly conceited and voted among them, that if there were but two of all the world that should go to heaven, the one should be a Scribe, and the other a Pharisee. Yet your righteousness must exceed theirs, or the gates of glory wUl be shut upon you. Their righteousness and holiness was only external, not internal; it was partial, not universal; it was rather circumstantial than substantial; and therefore heaven's doors were double-bolted against them. Heaven is for that man, and that man is for heaven, that is not-only outwardly holy, but throughout holy.

4. Fourthly, There is a relative holiness. Now relative holiness is a special relation which persons or things have unto God. Eelative holiness includes two things—

(1.) First, A separation of persons or tilings from common use: and thus, in the law those things were called holy which were separated from common use and set apart for the worship and service of God—as the oil, shew-bread, first-fruits, incense, altars, vestments; and in this sense the priests and Le^dtes were called holy, because they were separated from others to serve in the tabernacle ; i and in this sense the people of Israel are frequently called a sanctified people, a holy people, &c. The Greek word Ayco^f, answers to the Hebrew word ti/lp, which commonly signifies that which is appropriated to a holy use; and this is the proper notion of holiness in the Old and New Testament, as I might shew you out of some hundred places of scripture. Now certainly without this holiness of special separation from the common conversation of the world, there is no seeing of God, nor no fruition of God hereafter: 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18, ' Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father imto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.' God will have no communion with any in this world that are not separated from the sinful practices of the world. God will look upon none, he will own none, he will delight in none, he will acknowledge none, he will receive none for his sons and daughters, but such as are separated from all evil vices and unholy courses. Suitable to this is Isa. lii. 11, ' Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean things ; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.' Estrange yourselves from them that are estranged from God; have nothing to do with them that have nothing to do with God; separate yourselves from them who have separated themselves from God; have no delightful converse with them who have no delightful converse with God; have no bosom com-

^ Deut. xix. 2 ; 1 Kings viii, 35 ; Ezra viii. 28, and x. 11; Isa. JxiU 18.

munion with them that have no bosom communion with God.i Q sirs, you are to keep yourselves as pure and clean from others' defilements, as you would keep yourselves free from others' punishments. He that will imitate others in their sins, shall certainly participate with others in their sorrows. It is true we may live with wicked men in their cities, but it is as true we must not lie ^ with wicked men in their enormities. There are many professors that are, like the planet Mercury, good in conjunction with those that are good, and bad with those that are bad; but these wound many at once, God, Christ, the gospel, and their own credits and consciences. These do virtutis stragulam pudefacere, put virtue to an open shame; and these are deservedly to be shamed by your separating from them, and by your renouncing all intimate communion or fellowship with them. But,

(2.) Secondly, As relative holiness takes in a separation of persons or things from common use, so it takes in a dedication and devoting of them to a holy use. And thus the Nazarites, Temple, Mount Zion, the Sabbath-day, and other festival days are said to be holy under the law.3 In short, the whole Jewish religion did lie in holy times, holy places, holy persons, and holy things; and certainly without this holiness, without this dedicating of ourselves to God, we shall never come to a glorious fruition of God. He that doth not dedicate himself really to God, wholly to God, only to God, and always to God on earth, shall never come to a sight and vision of God in heaven. If we do not give up ourselves to God, God will never give up himself to us: Hosea iii. 3, ' And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days: thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man; so will I also be for thee.' God will be only theirs that are reaUy his, and he will be altogether theirs that are wholly his; he will only be a husband to them that dedicate themselves to him, as a wife doth to her husband. He will devote himself theirs who devote themselves his; he will avouch himself to be theirs who avouch themselves to be his: Deut. xxvi. 17-19, * Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: and the Lord hath avouched thoe this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldst keep all his commandments ; and to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.' God will resign himself up to them who resign themselves up to him ; he will give up himself to them that have given up their names and their hearts to him; he will bestow himself as the greatest pearl of price upon them that shall make a surrender of themselves to him.* There is no way to be higher than others, happier than others, more noble and honourable than others, than by making a dedi-gift^ of ourselves to

^ Cicero, though heathen, had rather to have no companion than a bad one. »Qu. 'live'?—G.

3 So Christ is said to sanctify himself, when he dedicated himself to be a sacrifice for the sins of his people, &c.

* That is an apt saying of Tertullian, Negotiatio est aliquid amitterc ut majora lucreris: That is right merchandise when something is parted with to gain more.

* Qu.' dedication-gift' ?—G.

God. He that dedicates himself to God, dedicates all; he that doth not dedicate himself, dedicates nothing at all. What ^Eschines once said to Socrates—Others, said he, give thee gold, silver, jewels, but I give thee myself; that must a Christian say to his God, Ah, Lord! there are some that give thee their lips, but I give thee my heart; others give thee good words, good expressions, but I give thee the best of my affections; others give thee a few cold prayers, but I give thee my whole soul; and had I as many hearts in my body as I have hairs on my head, I would give them all to thee: for thou art worthy, thou only art Worthy. What the king of Israel once said to the king of Syria, ' I am thine, and all that I have,' 1 Kings xx. 4; that must a Christian say to his Christ,' I am thine, 0 Lord, and all that I have.' A Christian must cry out with him who cried. Lord, I have two mites, a soul and a body, and I give them both to thee.—[Bernard.] And this was the honour and commendations of the Macedonians, that they gave up themselves to the Lord, 2 Cor. viii. 5. Having no better present at hand, they present themselves to God; and certainly there is no present more honourable, delectable, and acceptable to God than this of giving up ourselves to God, Rom. xii. 1. Well, remember this: that man was never really holy that is not relatively holy; nor that man will never be really happy that is not relatively holy. Without relative holiness there will be ho vision of God in everlasting happiness. We must be separated from the corruptions and pollutions of the •world, and we must dedicate ourselves to God, or we shall never come to a future fruition of God. But,

5. Fifthly, There is an imputative holiness, and that is the holiness of Christ imputed to us.i For to prevent mistakes, you may please to take notice that there is a twofold holiness in Christ: first, there is his essential and personal holiness as he is God. Now this essential holiness of Christ cannot be imparted nor imputed to any mortal man; it is essential to him; but secondly, there is his mediatory holiness, or that holiness which he wrought for us as Mediator. Now the holiness of dhrist as Mediator did consist both in the habitual holiness of his person, in the absence of all sin, and in the rich and plentiful presence of all holy and supernatural qualities, as also in the actual holiness of his life and death. By his active obedience, by his subjecting of his heart and life to divine precepts, he perfectly fulfilled the commands of the law; and by his passive obedience. Ins voluntary sufier-ings, he fully satisfied the comminations, penalties, and curses of the law. Now this mediatory holiness of Christ's is ours by imputation, and by virtue of which we stand recti in curia, justified in the sight of God: 1 Cor. i. 30, ' But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.' This mediatory hoUness of Christ, reckoned unto a believing sinner, is that whereby he is constituted holy in foro Dei; and upon this account they are said to be 'all fair,' Cant. iv. 7; to be ' without spot or wrinkle,' Eph. v. 25-27; to be ' complete in him,' Col. ii. 10; and to be 'without fault before the throne of God,' Rev.

» Consult these scriptures, Luke i. 35; Mark i. 24; Heb. vii. 26 ; Rom. v. 19 ; Col. i. 22 ; Rom. ii. 3, 4 ; 2 Cor. v. 21, 22 ; Gal. iii. 13 ; Jer. xxiii. 6.

xiv. 4, 5.1 And certainly, without this mediatory hohness of Christ there is no appearing before God, there is no glorious vision nor fruition of God. God is a God of that infinite purity and holiness, that no holiness below the imputative holiness of Christ can make a man stand before him, or bring a man to the fruition of him, Hab. i. 13. It was a very sweet and excellent saying of Bernard, when in his own opinion he was at the point of death: I confess, said he, I am not worthy, I have no merits of mine own to obtain heaven by: but my Lord had a double right thereunto; a hereditary right as a Son, and a meritorious right as a sacrifice. He was contented with the one right himself; the other right he hath given unto me, by the virtue of which gift I do rightly lay claim unto it, and am not confounded. 2 Though we cannot lay claim to heaven, nor to a blessed fruition of God by any inherent holiness in us, it being weak and imperfect, yet we may lay claim to both by the mediatory holiness of Christ imputed to us. As Christ's essential holiness gives him a hereditary right to everlasting happiness, so his mediatory holiness gives us a right to everlasting blessedness. The costly cloak of Alcisthenes, which Dionysius sold to the Carthaginians for a hundred talents, was but a mean and beggarly rag to that embroidered royal robe of Christ's mediatory holiness that is imputed or reckoned to us. 3 And therefore, as ever you would come to a vision of God in happiness, you must labour to be interested by faith in Christ's mediatory holiness. But,

6. Sixthly and lastly, There is an inherent, interTial qualitative holiness^ Now this inherent holiness Kes in two things.

(1.) First, In the infusing of holy principles, divine qualities, or supernatural graces into the soul, such as the apostle mentions in Gal. V. 22, 23, ' But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law.' These habits of grace, which are severally distinguished by the names of faith, love, hope, meekness, &c., are nothing else but the new nature, or ' new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness,' Eph. iv. 24. These seeds of holiness, these habits of grace, are those sweet ointments with which all must be anointed that shall ever come to a blessed sight or \dsion of God, 1 John iii. 9; 2 Cor. i. 21; 1 John ii. 27. You may know much of God, you may hear much of God, you may talk much of God, and you may boast much of your hopes and interest in God, and yet without these habits of holiness you shall never come to a blessed fruition of God in happiness; without these seeds of holiness you shall never reap a crop of blessedness. But,

(2.) Secondly, This inherent, this qualitative holiness, lies in a holy use and exercise of those supernatural graces in a luay of holy loalking.^ All holy habits must be brought forth into holy acts; gracious habits must be attended with gracious motions, gracious operations, and a gracious conversation. Outward works must be

^ Nemo bonus, qui non ex male bonus.— Augustine.

^ Guliel. Abbas in vita Bern. lib. i. cap. 12. 'As before.—G.'

* Holiness is not any single grace alone, but a conjunction, a constellation of all graces together.

» Acts X. 35; 1 Jolin i. 3, 7; Titus ii. 12 ; Luke i. 73; 2 Pet. i. 8; 1 Pet. i. 15, 16; Isa. XXXV. 8.

suitable to inward habits. It is with spiritual habits as it is with natural habits; the more they are acted an'd exercised, the more they are increased and strengthened. Holy habits are golden talents that must be employed and improved. Gracious habits are the candles of the Lord set up in us; and God hath set up those candles of heaven not to idle by, not to sleep by, but to work by, and to walk by. Where there is holiness of disposition, there must be, nay there will be, holiness of conversation. A holy heart is always attended with a holy life. You may separate a man from his friend, but you can never separate, though you may distinguish, acts of holiness from the habits of holiness. Now it is certain, without this holiness, you shall never come to a sight or fruition of God in happiness.! And thus I have shewed you what that holiness is, without which there is no hope, no possibility of ever seeing the Lord.

II. I come now to the second thing, and that is to prove the truth of the proposition —viz., that without men are holy, they can never be happy. Without holiness on earth, none of the sons of men shall ever come to a blessed vision and fruition of God in heaven. Now this great and weighty truth I shall make good by an induction of particulars, thus:

1. First, God hath by very plain and clear scriptures bolted and barred the door of heaven and happiness against all unholy ones.2 Witness 1 Cor. vi. 9,10, ' Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived : neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.' Heaven is an undefiled inheritance, and none that are defiled can enter into the possession of it, 1 Pet. i. 4. When the angels fell from their righteousness, heaven rejected them; it would no longer hold them; and will it now accept of the unrighteous ? will it now entertain and welcome them ? Surely no. Such sinners make the very earth to mourn and groan now; and shall they make heaven to mourn and groan hereafter ? Surely no. What though the serpent did wind himself into an earthy paradise, yet none T)f the seed of the serpent, so remaining, shall ever be able to wind themselves into a heavenly paradise. Witness Gal. v. 19-21, ' Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I also have told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.' Before they go to hell, he tells them again and again that they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. By the kingdom of God we are to understand the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of glory. Now the kingdom of heaven, of glory, is called the kingdom of God ; 1. Because he hath prepared it. 2. Because it is a royal gift that he confers and bestows upon his little, little flock. Mat. xx. 23; Luke xii. 32. Augustus, in his solemn feasts, gave trifles to some, and gold to others.^ The trifles of tliis world God

^ Where there are the seeds of holiness, there will be the flowers of holiness.

=" See also Mat. vii. 21-23, and xxv. 10-12. ' Suetonius, Octavius, c. 75.—G.

often gives to the worst and basest of men ; but the kingdom of heaven he only gives to his bosom-friends, Eev, iv. 10, 11, and xx. 6; Dan. iv. 16, 17. 3. Because that of and under him, the saints hold it and possess it. 4. Because with him they shall for ever reign in the fruition of it. And so that in John iii. 3, ' Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' To give a little light into the words:

' Verily, verily:' the Greek is ' amen, amen.' i The word amen is Hebrew, and in the Old Testament is most commonly used by way of wishing or imprecation; but here, and in other places of the New Testament, the sense of it is altered from precatory to assertory, or from the way of wishing to the way of affirming. This phrase,' Amen, amen,' or ' Verily, verily,' imports,

[1.] First, The truth and certainty of the things delivered; for the word ' amen' doth properly signify truth.

[2.] Secondly, This double asseveration is never used but in matters of greatest weight and importance: the matters here spoken of are of a very celestial and sublime nature.

[3.] Thirdly, This gemination, * Verily, verily,'is a vehement confirmation of what Christ speaks.

[4.] Fourthly, This gemination calls aloud for the greatest observation and most serious attention of the soul to what Christ is a-saying.

* I say unto thee:' 'I,' that thou hast confessed to be a teacher sent from God; ' I,' that lie in the bosom of the Father, John i. 18 ; * I,' that am of the cabinet-council of heaven; * I,' that know his heart and all his secrets. Rev. iii. 14; ' I,' that am the faithful and true witness, and cannot lie ; ' I,' that am called the * Amen,' the truth itself; 'I,' that have the keys of heaven and hell at my own girdle. Rev. i. 18; * I,' that open and no man shuts, and ' I,' that shut and no man opens; 'I,' that shall be your Judge in the great day, ' I say unto thee,' &c.

' Except a man be born again:' A man, be he old or young, learned or unlearned, high or low, rich or poor, knowing or ignorant, circum-^ cised or uncircumcised, under this form or that, a member of this church or that, let his disposition be never so ingenuous, and his parts never so high, and his conversation as to men never so blameless and harmless; yet, except this man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, Rom. ii. 28, 29.

' Be born again:' Except a man be first unmade, and new-made up again; except he be of an old creature made a new creature, yea, a new creation of God, 2 Cor. v. 17, there is no seeing of the kingdom of God. The whole frame of the old man must be dissolved, and a new frame erected, else there is no heaven to be enjoyed. The kingdom of God is a divine kingdom, and there is no possession of it without a divine nature. A new head without a new heart, a new lip without a new life, will never bring a man to this kingdom of light. That man is for the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is for that man, that hath got the kingdom of God within him. 2 If the kingdom of grace do not enter into thee here, thou shalt never enter into the

^ dfiriv, ifiifv, Truth, truth, or truly, truly » 2 Pet. i. 4; 1 Cor. vu. 19; Gal. t. 6 j L

Luke svii. 21; Kom. xiv. 17.

kingdom of glory hereafter. A new heart is for a new heaven, and a new heaven is for a new heart. ' Except a man be born again/ except a man be born from above; and so Cyrill interprets that word dvcodev.^ Generation in some sense is from below, but regeneration is only from above, and without tliis there is no fruition of God above.

* He cannot see the kingdom of God.' The Scripture speaks of several cannots.

[1.] Firxst, There is a natural cannot. Now, every son and daughter of Adam is by nature born under a cannot. They are all born under a cannot believe, a cannot repent, a cannot love God, a cannot walk vdth God, a cannot see God, a cannot enjoy God: 1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.' A blind man cannot see colours, nor a natural man cannot discern spiritual things. They are too high, they are too sublime for him ; they are mysteries that he cannot understand, that he cannot unriddle. The natural man can ascend no higher than nature, as the water can rise no higher than the spring from whence it comes— Quantum descendit, tantum ascendit. The Scripture sets such sad souls below the ox and the ass, Isa. i. 3. Take nature civilised and moralised, refined and raised, sublimated, strengthened, and improved to the utmost, and it cannot enable a man to do a supernatural action; nature cannot act ultra spJiceram, above itself. But,

[2.] Secondly, There is a contracted and an habituated cannot; and of this cannot the prophet speaks in Jer. vi. 10, ' To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear ? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach : they have no delight in it.' They had by their carnality, impiety, sensuality, security, and obstinacy, contracted upon their poor souls such deafness, wretchedness, unteachable-ness, and untractableness, that they could neither love the word nor like it; they could neither take pleasure nor delight in it; nay, they could neither hear it nor bear it, though it never so nearly concerned the internal and eternal welfare of their souls. And of this cannot the apostle speaks in 2 Pet. ii. 14, ' Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children.' 2 By their riot and excess, by their lasciviousness and wantonness, by their looseness and uncleanness which they had habituated and accustomed themselves unto, they brought upon themselves a cursed necessity of sinning, so that they could not cease from sin. They mourn over sin, and yet they cannot cease from sin ; they resolve against sin, yet they cannot cease to sin; they pray against sin, yet they cannot cease to sin; they make many promises, vows, and covenants against sin, yet they cannot cease from sin, their souls being habituated and accustomated thereunto: Jer ii. 20, ' For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst I will not transgress '—I will never

^ On John iii. 3.—G.

* MotxctXis properly, distinctly signifies an adulteress ; and this phrase of having eyes full of the adulteress answers to that of the rhetorician, who, describing an unchaste, lascivious person, rhetorically said of him that he had whores in his eyes. VOL. IV. D

play the harlot more ; but were they as good as their word? no)—' for upon every high hill and junder every green tree they wandered, playing the harlot.' I have read of a man who, in the time of his sickness, was so terrified in his conscience for his sins, that he made the very bed to shake upon which he lay, and cried out all night long, I am damned, I am damned, and made many great promises and protestations of amendment oi life, if God would be pleased to recover him. In a little while he did recover, and being recovered, he was as base and vile, as wretched and wicked, as ever he was before. Custom in sin takes away all conscience of sin: Jer. xiii. 23, ' Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may he also do good that is accustomed to do evil.' The Ethiopian cannot make his black skin white; he cannot change the hue or the colour of it by washing; to attempt this is but labour in vain. Nor the leopard cannot change his spots: no more can a poor sinner that hath habituated and accustomed himself to sin, that is desperately enthralled to sin, turn from his sin. The spots of the leopard are not in him by accident, but by nature; and they are such which no art can cure, nor water wash off; because they are not only in the skin, but in the flesh and bones, in the sinews and most inward parts. By custom sin hath bespotted not only the skin, the life, the outside of a poor sinner, but also the very heart and soul of a poor sinner, so as that he is never able to wash off these spots. Ambrose reports of one Theotimus, that, having a disease upon his body, his physician told him, that except he did abstain from intemperance, drunkenness, uncleanness, &c., he was like to lose his eyes. His heart being habituated to sin, and set upon vsickedness, he answered. Vale lumen amicum —Farewell sweet light then.^ But,

[3.] Thirdly, As there is a contracted cannot, an habituated cannot, so there is 2i judicial cannot. The Lord inflicts a judicial cannot upon many persons in judgment: they cannot return from their sins, they cannot withstand a temptation, they cannot lay hold on eternal life, they cannot make sure work for their souls, they cannot leave their bosom-lusts, they cannot prefer Christ above all the world, they cannot make provision for eternity, they cannot see the things that belong to their peace, &c.; and this cannot the Lord in wrath hath brought upon them: Isa. vi. 9, 10, ' And he said, Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes' (or anoint, besmear, lime their eyes); ' lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed.'2 They would not see, they shall not see; they would not hear, they shall not hear; they would not understand, they shall not understand; they would not convert, they shall not convert; they would not be healed, they shall not be healed. When men are stiffly and desperately resolved upon their sinful courses, when men grow stubborn, rebellious, licentious, and will wilfully wink and shut their eyes against the light, and stop their ears against the truth, God in his just judgment gives them up

^ As before.—G.

* Many men, «aith Bernard, do seek for straws to put out their own eyes.

I

to dulness, stupidness, blindness, darkness: Isa. xliv. 18, ' They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes that they cannot see' (or he hath daubed up their eyes from seeing); ' and their hearts that they cannot understand.^ God in his righteous judgment casts a judicial cannot upon them; he hath daubed up their eyes that they cannot see, and he hath shut up their hearts that they cannot understand the great concernments of their souls. Now whilst men lie under these sad cannots, they can never see the kingdom of God. These three cannots, like a threefold cord, bind poor sinners, so as that they can never come to a sight or fruition of God in grace or glory, till they are delivered from these cannots by a new birth, by being born again.

' See the kingdom of God;' that is, they cannot enter into it, they cannot enjoy it, they can have no child's part or portion in it, except they are new born, except they pass the pangs of the second birth. Let their education be never so sweet, their illumination never so great, their profession never so amiable, and their conversation never so unblameable, yet except they are new born, it had been good for them that they had never been born. And thus you see by plain scriptures, that the Lord hath bolted the gates of glory against all unholy persons.

2. A second argument to prove that without holiness there is no happiness, &c., is this: Without holiness men are strangers to God; and therefore, without holiness they cannot be admitted to a cohabitation with God. God loves not to dwell with strangers, nor to associate himself with strangers. Now such are all unholy persons: Eph. ii.l2, ' That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel' (or, being far removed from the citizenship of Israel), ' and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.' Here are five ' withouts ' in the words, 1. They were without God, the author of hope. 2. They were without Christ, the foundation of hope. 3. They were without the church, which was contained in the commonwealth of Israel, the place of hope. 4. They were without the covenants of promise—that is, they were without the precious promises which God in his covenant had made and oftentimes renewed with the Israelites, and therefore called covenants in the plural number—the ground and reason of hope. And, lastly, They were without the grace of hope : they had no hope of communion with Christ, no hope of fellowship with the saints, no hope of any interest in the promise, no hope of reconciliation to God here, nor no hope of a fruition of God hereafter. And thus you see what strangers they were to the Lord, and to the great concernments of their own souls. God of old would not have strangers come into his sanctuary ; and do you think, then, that he will ever admit such into heaven ? Surely no. Ezek. xliv. 6, 7, 9, ' And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; 0 ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, in that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they ^ nZD; daubed or plaifitered.

have broken my covenant, because of all your abominations. Thus saith the Lord God, No stranger uncircumcised in heart, nor uncir-cumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.' ^ Such as had no holiness within, nor no holiness without; such as had no holiness in their hearts, nor no holiness in their lives, God would not have them to enter into his sanctuary; and, therefore, certainly such he will never suffer to enter into heaven.^ If God shuts the doors of an earthly tabernacle against such as were strangers to him, to his covenant, to his church, and to themselves, will he not much more shut the door of his heavenly tabernacle against such that are strangers to him, and to his Christ, and to his word, yea, that are strangers to their own souls, and to all the concernments of another world ? and such are all those that are uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh. Princes' palaces are not for strangers, but for sons, friends, familiars, favourites; no more is the palace of heaven. We will not admit strangers to cohabit with us; and will God admit such to cohabit with him, that never had any acquaintance or familiarity with him ? Surely no. In history we read of such towns and cities as would not admit strangers to inhabit among them; and such a city is that above, Exod. xxxiii. 12, 17. It hath been long since concluded, that In coelo nullus erit alienus —In heaven there shall be no strangers: none shall be admitted into that state but such as God knows by name. Charon in Lucian, requesting Mercurius to shew him Jupiter's palace above, How says Mercurius, that such a caitiff as thou, whose conversation hath been altogether with black shades and impure ghosts, shouldst set thy foot in that pure place of light ? What a dishonour and derogation were that to the place! The application is easy.

3. Uriholy persons have felloioship and familiarity loiih Satan, and therefore, doubtless, God will have no familiarity nor fellowship with them, 2 Cor. vi. 14-16. As righteousness can have no fellowship with unrighteousness, nor light with darkness, nor Christ with Belial, nor heaven with hell; no more can a holy God have any communion or fellowship with unholy souls, for they are Satan's house, Luke xi. 21; Kev. xviii. 2. He keeps possession of them as a man doth of his house, and hath familiarity with them as a man hath with those of his house: he is their father, and they are his children, John viii. 44; and look, what familiarity a father hath with his children, that hath an unholy devil with unholy souls. A workman cannot be more familiar with his tools than Satan is with unholy souls; and therefore he is said to work in the children of disobedience, as a smith worketh in his forge, or as an artificer worketh in his shop, Eph. ii. 2. Unholy persons have bosom-fellowship with Satan: 1 John v. 19, ' And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness;' or in that wicked one the devil, as the Greek will bear ; they lie, as it were, in the bosom of Satan, as the child lies in the bosom of the mother, or as the wife lies in the bosom of the husband, or as a friend lies in the bosom of his friend. Unholy persons partake with him at his table;

^ Heaven would be no heaven were there any strangers there. See my ' String of Pearls.' [Works, vol. i. pp. 399-468.—G.] 2 Mat. vu. 21-23, xxv. 11,1^, and xxii. 11-13.

i

they eat with him, and drink with him, and converse with him: 1 Cor. X. 21, ' Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.' Ambrose brings in the devil boasting against Christ, and challenging Judas as his own, thus: He is not thine, Lord Jesus, he is mine ; his thoughts beat for me; he eats with thee, but is fed by me; he takes bread from thee, but money from me ; he drinks with thee, and sells thy blood to me. ^ By all which you may see what fellowship and familiarity there is between Satan and a sinner. Now what is this less than blasphemy, to assert that a holy Grod will have fellowship with them that have fellowship with the devil ? Grod hath not cast Satan out of heaven that he may make room for his familiars in heaven. If heaven was too holy to hold unholy devils, it will be found at last to be too ht)ly to hold unholy souls. Certainly they shaU not lie in the bosom of God who have the devil for their bedfellow.

4, Fourthly, Unholy persons are full of contrariety to God ; their natures, principles, practices, aims, minds, wills, affections, judgments, intentions, and resolutions, are contrary to God, his name, nature, being, truth, and glory.2 You may as soon bring east and west, north and south, light and darkness, heaven and hell together, as you shall bring a holy God and unholy souls together. Antipathies will never incorporate; as soon may midnight be married to the noonday, as a holy God embrace an unholy sinner. That unholy persons are made up of contrarieties to God, is most evident, as you may see in Isa. xxii. 12, 13, ' And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we shall die.' These sad souls practise quite contrary to what the Lord calls for at their hands. He calls them to weeping and mourning, and behold joy and gladness : he calls them to fasting, and behold here is nothing but feasting, carousing, and making merry and jovial, and that in contempt of God and his dreadful judgments, Kom. viii. 7; James iv. 4.3 Unholy persons are like the rainbow: now the rainbow is never on that side of the world that the sun is on; but whensoever it appears, it is still in opposition against the sun. If the sun be in the east, the rainbow is in the west, &c. So unholy souls, in all their actings and walkings, will still be opposite to God; they will still be cross and contrary to him: John viii. 38, ' I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.' Unholy hearts are full of the highest strains of contrariety and opposition against the Lord. I have read of a king that reigned in no very remote part of the world, who, having received a blow from' the hand of God, took a solemn oath to be revenged on him; and ordained that for ten years' space no man should pray to him, speak of him, nor, so long as he was in authority, to believe in him. Oh

^ If Judas was at the sacrament, the greater was his woe. [See General Index under 'Judas.'—G.]

2 Lev. xxvi. 21-24, 27, 28, 40, 41; Isa. Iviii. 4-6; Jer. xliv. 16-18; ii. 25, and rviii. 11, 12.

3 Pope Julius the Third would have his pork, though it was forbidden him by bia physicians, in despite of God himself.

the vanity, the contrariety, and blasphemy of this prince ! Now we will not admit such to be about us, who are made up of contrarieties to us : and will God, will God ? Heaven and earth, fire and water, the wolf and the laml), the winds and the sea will sooner accord, than a holy God and an unholy heart. There can be no amity where there is a spiritual antipathy.

5. Fifthly, Without holiness no man can have any sph'itvAil communion luith God in this world; he may hear, but he can have no communion with God in hearing without holiness; he may pray, but he can have no communion with God in prayer without holiness; he may come to the sacrament, but he can have no communion with God in the sacrament without holiness; he may come into the communion of saints, but he can have no communion with God in the communion of saints without holiness; he may read and meditate, but he can have no communion with God in reading and meditation without holiness : Deut. xxiii. 14, * For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee ; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.' Keep up holiness among you, and you shall keep me among you, saith God; but if you turn away from holiness, I wiU undoubtedly turn away from you: a holy God will keep company with none but those that are holy. Holiness is the bond that ties God and souls together. God will cleave close to them who in holiness cleave fast to him ; but if he see uncleanness and wickedness among you, he will certainly turn away from you. The Holy Spirit gives the lie to those that say they have fellowship with God, and yet maintain familiarity and fellowship with sin: 1 John i. 6, ' If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie.' The apostle dares give the lie to any man, without fearing the stab, who pretends to communion with God, and yet walks in darkness. Men may be much in ordinances, and yet, for want of holiness, may have no communion at all with God in ordinances, Isa. i. 11-18; and though communion with God in ordinances is the very life and soul of ordinances, yet multitudes who enjoy ordinances can content and satisfy themselves without that which is the very life, soul, and quintessence of ordinances. There are many that cry out, ' The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,' who have no communion with the Lord of the temple at all, Jer. vii. 4-12, Though unholy persons may trade much in ordinances, yet they will never make any earnings, any advantage by all their trading and stir, because they cannot reach to communion with God in them, which is the only means of being enriched by them, Isa. xxix. 13; Ezek. xxiv. 21, 22, and xxxiii. 30-32. As many men rise early and go to bed late, and make a great deal of stir and doi to be rich in the world, and yet, for want of a stock, nothing comes on it; they are poor still, and beggarly still, and low and mean in the world still: so many rise early, and go late to ordinances, they exercise themselves much in religious duties, and yet nothing comes on it; their souls are poor and beggarly and threadbare still. And no wonder, for they want a stock of holiness to trade with. Kemigius, a judge of Lorraine,

1 To-do.-G.

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HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 55

saith that the devil in those parts did use to give money to witches which at first did appear to be good and current coin, but after a while it turned to dry leaves. Ah, sirs, all duties and ordinances to a man that wants holiness, will be found at last to be but as dry leaves, to be sapless and lifeless, and heartless and comfortless to him. Now if without holiness no man can have any spiritual communion or fellowship with God here, then certainly without holiness no man can have a glorious communion with God hereafter: if without holiness God will not take us into his arms on earth, then undoubtedly without holiness God will never put us into his bosom in heaven. But to proceed.

6. Unholy persons are fools; and what should such do in the presence of God, who is wisdom itself? The fool and the ungodly man are synonymous words, signifying the same thing, in Scripture: Ps. xiv. 1, ' The fool' {i.e., the wicked, the unholy person) ' hath said in his heart. There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good ;' Jer. iv. 22, ' For my people are foolish, they have not known me ; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding : they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge;' Prov. i. 7, ' Fools despise wisdom and instruction;' that is, wicked and ungodly men despise wisdom and instruction. And to shew that the world is full of such fools, he uses the word in the plural no less than sixteen times in this book of the Proverbs. I shall open this truth a little more to you, by proving that they have all the characteristical notes and properties of fools ; so that one face is not more like another than a fool is like a wicked man, or than a wicked man is like a fool; for,

(1.) First, A fool prefers toys and trifles before things of greatest worth, Prov. i. 29. He prefers a brass counter before a piece of gold, a fine baby^ before a rich inheritance, an apple that pleaseth the eye before a pearl of greatest price ; so wicked and ungodly men, they prefer their lusts before the Lord: Isa. Ixv. 12, ' Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.' Upon choice, they preferred the honours, the riches, the bravery, and glory of the world, above their own souls and the great concernments of another world.2 Such fools were Laban and Nabal, in the Old Testament, (whose names by inversion of letters are the same, and the latter signifies a fool,) and such were the two rich fools in the New Testament, Luke xii. 16-22, and xvi. 19-31. I have read of the foolish people of the East Indies, in the isle Ceylon, who preferred a consecrated ape's tooth above an incredible mass of treasure. Such fools are all unholy persons, who prefer the toys, the trifles of this world before the pleasures and treasures that be at God's right hand, Ps. xvi. 11, and Mat. vi. 19, 20. The world is full of such fools. Si ad mores hominum respicias, mundum universum stidtorum domum judicabis, saith one: If thou beholdest the manners of men, thou wilt judge the whole world to be a house of fools. Ah, friends! what

1 ' Doll.'—G.

^ Such a one was Cardinal Borbonius, who professed he would not leave hii part in Paris for a portion in paradise. [As before.—G.]

folly to that of men's spending their time, their strength, their lives, their souls in getting the great things of this world, and neglecting that one thing necessary, the salvation of their souls! Mat. xvi. 26. Oh, what vanity is it to prefer a smoke of honour, a blast of fame, a dream of pleasure, a wedge of gold, a Babylonish garment, and such like transitory trifles and trash, before a blessed eternity !

(2.) Secondly, Fools make no improvement of advantages and opportunities that are put into their hands: Prov, xvii. 16, ' Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it ?' ^ It is to no purpose to put a price into the hand, if folly be bound up in the heart. If a man had as much wealth as would buy all the grace, all the peace, all the comforts, and all the wisdom in the world; yet if he hath neither wit nor will to make an improvement of his wealth, what good would his wealth do him ? To what purpose is the market open, and good pennyworths put into the buyer's hands, if the buyer hath neither wisdom nor heart to buy ? Unholy persons are such spiritual fools: though they have a price, an opportunity put into their hands, which if improved might make them for ever; yet they have no heart to make an improvement of the means and advantages that might do them good to all eternity. 2 Ah, what opportunities have unsanctified persons to get changed hearts, renewed natures, purged consciences, reformed lives, to get an interest in Christ, to obtain the favour of God, to procure pardon of sin, to make provision for their immortal souls! But they have no hearts to improve these opportunities, and so by neglecting of them they cut the throat of their own souls. And this will be the worm that will lie gnawing of them to all eternity, that they have let slip the opportunities of grace, that they have trifled away the seasons of mercy. Ah, sirs, there is no fool to that fool that hath an opportunity put into his hand to make himself for ever, and yet hath no heart to improve it. The hottest place in hell will be the portion of such fools. Mat. xi. 21, 22. The little bee, so soon as flowers appear, goes abroad, views the gay diapery,3 and the diversity of the flowery fields, sucks the sweetest of them, freights her thighs, makes a curious comb, and so betimes hoards up honey in summer against winter. And so the little busy ant in summer provides food for winter, Prov. vi. 6-8; the stork, the crane, and the swallow know their seasons and opportunities, Jer. viii. 7. All these poor little creatures are not so much below man in nature, as they are above sinful man in worth, wisdom, and work. These improve their summer seasons, their harvest hours; and'yet such spiritual fools are wicked men, that they let slip such seasons of gi-ace and mercy, that cannot be redeemed with ten thousand worlds. Ah, how is man fallen from his primitive nobility and glory, that these little busy creatures are propounded as a pattern of diligence and wisdom unto him! The ancients painted Opportunity with a hairy fore-

1 Like grasshoppers, they sing and sport away their precious time and opportunities of mercy, &c.

2 Prov, i. 20, seq.; Isa. liii. 1; Iv. 1, 2 i Mat. xxv. 3, 6, 10 ; xxiii. 37 ; Luke xix. 41, 42, &c. That great conqueror vainly feared that his father Philip's victories would deprive the son of an opportunity to improve his magnanimity.

=* ' Various colours,' as of a rich-figured robe. Cf. Shakespere, ' Taming of Shrew, L, induction.—G.

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HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 57

head, but bald behind, to signify that while a man hath it before him, he may lay hold on it, but if he lets it slip away, he cannot pull it back again. There is a great truth in what the Rabbi hath long since said, Memo est cui non sit hora sua: Every man hath his hour, and he who oversUps his season may never meet with the like again. There are many thousand spiritual fools in hell, that find this true by experience, and therefore now they bewail their folly, but all too late, all too late. (3.) Thirdly, Natural fools are very inconstant; they are never long in one mind: now they are for this, and anon for that; now in this mind, and anon in that, Ecclesiasticus xxii. 11-15. Their minds are more changeable than the moon; they turn oftener than the weathercock, they are only constant in inconstancy: and such spiritual fools are all unholy persons. For now they are for a righteous cause, and anon they are against it: now they are for Grod, and anon they are against him: now they are for Christ, and by and by they are against liim: now they cry out' Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest,' Mat. xxi. 9, 15 ; but did they hold in this mind long? No, their mind is presently changed, and they cry out, ' Crucify him, crucify Mm,' Luke xxiii. 21. Now they are for the saints, and anon they are against them: they cry up the gospel, and presently they make opposition against the gospel; like the kingdom of Congo, who at first kindly embraced the gospel, but as soon as they found it restrain their lusts and carnal liberties, they made fierce opposition against the gospel. This week they are for ordinances, and the next they are against ordinances: this hour they will forsake their sins, and the next hour they will return to their sins as the ' dog to his vomit, and as the sow to her wallovsdng in the mire,' 2 Peter ii. 20-22. Now they are for this way, and anon for that: now they are for this opinion, and anon for that: now they are for this religion, and to-morrow they are for another rehgion, 2 Kings xvii. 33; like Baldwin a French lawyer, of whom it is said [by Beza] that he had religionem ephemeram, every day a new religion, but constant to none. This moment you shall hear them bless, and the next moment you shall hear them curse: James iii. 9, 10, 'Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing.' Louis the Second would swear, and then kiss his crucifix, and then swear again more confidently, and kiss his crucifix again more devoutly. Now because this age is full of such swearing fools, and happily this Treatise may fall into some of their hands, give me leave to say, that it is observable that the word in the Hebrew which the Scripture useth for swearing, is always used in the passive voice, i^iu;j, nashabange, to note, say some, that a man should not swear but when an oath is laid upon him, and he driven to it. The word also hath a signification of seven, y21D, as having reference, say some, to the seven spirits of God before the throne, before whom we swear, and therefore should never swear but in ' truth, righteousness, and judgment,' Jer. iv. 2; Rev. i. 4, and v. 6. One day you shall have these spiritual fools, these profane fools, crying out, Oh heaven, heaven, heaven ! Oh that we may go to heaven! and the next day you shall see them live as if there were neither heaven nor hell: one day with Balaam you shall have them wish. Oh that we might die the death of the righteous ! and the next day with Saul you shall have

them a-persecuting of the righteous to death: one day you shall have them cry out, ' What shall we do to be saved ?' and the next day you shall see them live as if they were resolved to be damned. Thus these spiritual fools, like natural fools, are always fickle and inconstant.

(4.) Fourthly, Fools delight to sport and play loith such things as are most hurtful, pernicious, and dangerous to them, as you all know that have observed anything of natural fools: Pro v. x. 23, ' It is a sport to a fool to do mischief.'! Fools take as great delight and pleasure in doing mischief, as wise men do in their lawful sports or pastimes. Wisdom is not more a joy and delight to a man of understanding, than mischief and wickedness is a sport or recreation to a fool. It is a great contentment and merriment to a fool to do wickedly: Prov, xiv. 9, 'Fools make a mock of sin;' they make a jeer of that which they should fear more than hell itself; they make that matter of sport which may prove matter of damnation to them; they make a May-game, a pastime of that which may make them miserable to all eternity; they make a mock and flout of that on earth for which the devil will mock and flout them for ever in hell. Justice will at last turn over such fools to Satan, who will be sure to return mock for mock, jeer for jeer, and flout for flout. They that love such kind of pastime shall have enough of it in hell. Now all unholy persons are such spiritual fools, as that they delight and take pleasure in sin, which is the most pernicious and dangerous thing in the world: Ps. Ixii. 4, ' They delight in lies,' Prov. i. 22. Though every lie deserves a stab from God, yet spiritual fools make but a sport of them. Such a one was Thespis the poet, who being reproved by Solon for lying, answered him that it was not material, seeing it was but in sport: upon which Solon, beating the ground with his staff, replied, If we commend lying in sport, we shall find it afterwards in good earnest in all our bargains and dealings.^ It is said of Epaminondas, a heathen, that he abhorred mendacium jocosum, a jesting lie; ^ this heathen in the great day will put such liars to the blush who delight in lies: Isa. Ixvi. 3, ' Their soul dehghteth in their abomination;' 2 Thes. ii. 12, ' They take pleasure in unrighteousness ;' 2 Pet. ii. 13, ' They count it pleasure to riot in the daytime, sporting themselves with their own de-ceivings.'^ Not that there is any real delight in intemperance; for if there were, then Heliogabalus, an exceeding intemperate person, should have been more happy than Adam in paradise. Apicius was the greatest glutton that ever was ; at length he hanged himself: ^ such shall hang in hell at last, who delight to abuse many at once; the creatures, their Creator, and their own souls and bodies. Well, sirs, sin is the poison of the soul, the nakedness of the soul, the disease of the soul, the burden of the soul, and if mercy do not prevent, will prove the bane of the soul. Oh, then, how great is their folly that delight in it, and that make a sport of it!

^ Mischief is the fool's bauble, the fool's fiddle. Fools can rejoice in other men's harms, and laugh to see others lament.

* Plutarch in the life of Solon. * Ibid. s.n. Epaminondas.—Q.

* There was no flesh so sweet as that which the eagle robbed the altar of.

' He writ a book to provoke the appetite. [Rather Apion the grammarian wrote a book upon the luxurious labours of M. Gabius Apicius. Cf. among many references Suidas, 8. n. AvLkos. —G.]

[5.] Fifthly, Natural fools are taken more with the outward shine, lustre, beauty, and glory of things, than they are taken loith the intrin-secal virtue, value, and luorth of them; they are more taken with the shine and histre of gold, jewels, and precious stones, than they are with the worth and value of them. So unholy hearts are taken more with the form of godliness than they are with the power, 2 Tim. iii. 5; they are taken more with a name to live, with a name of being holy, than they are taken with holiness itself. Rev. iii. 1, 2. Multi Chris-tianum nomen ad judicium hahent, non ad remedium [Augustine]: Many have the name of Christians to their condemnation, not to their salvation, Isa. Iviii. 2-6; Mat. i. 21; Zechariah vii. 4-7; Mat. xxiii. They are taken more with the outward shine and pomp of duties, than they are taken with the spiritualness and holiness of duties ; they are taken more with what of man is in duty, than they are taken with that of God which is in a duty; they are taken more with raised notions, than they are taken with raised affections ; they are taken more with some witty, rhetorical expressions in duty, than they are taken with the holy movings and breathings of the spirit in duty, Ezek. xxxiii. 30-32. All which speaks them out to be spiritual fools; and indeed no fools to those who are taken more with the shadow of religion than they are with the substance of religion; who are taken more with the outside of godliness than they are with the inside of godliness: for what is this but to be taken more with the outside of the cabinet, than with the treasure that is within ? or to be taken more with the purse that holds the gold, than with the gold that is in the purse ? and with Democritus the philosopher, to esteem a room covered over with green branches of trees above the royal palace ?

(6.) Sixthly, Natural fools are all for the present; they cry out, Spend and Grod will lend; they only mind and care for the things of this life: as what they shall eat, and what they shall drink, and what they shall put on. They are all for their bodies, their bellies, their backs: they take no care, they make no provision for their immortal souls. 1 A spruce Roman riding on a lean jade, was asked by the censor his reason: he answered, I look to myself, but my man to my horse. So fools look only to their bodies; let who list look to their souls. Such fools are all unsanctified persons; they look only after their bodies, and their outward concernments ; they look not at the necessities, miseries, and wants of their souls. Such were those in John vi. 26, 27, who crossed the seas and followed after Christ for loaves, but never looked after the meat which endureth to everlasting life. And such fools were those in Hosea vii. 14, ' who howled upon their beds for corn and wine:' let them have but provender, provant^ for their bodies, and they care not what becomes of their souls; and such were they in Phil. iii. 19, 'whose god was their gut.' And such were the Laodiceans in Rev. iii. 14-19, who had well-fed bodies, but starved souls; whose houses were full of goods, but their hearts empty and void of Christ and grace; who had threadbare souls under all their purple robes; who were rich in temporals, but very poor and beggarly in spirituals. And such a one was that rich fool in Luke

1 They cry as the epicure cried, Utere temporibus, prcesentibus utere rebus.

*' Make proTision for,' another Shakesperian word, as 'provand,' Coriolanus II. 1.—G.

xii., who only laid up for his body for this life, but never took care for another life, for a better life ; he makes many years' provision for his body, and not a day's provision for his soul; he talks of living many years, when he had not a day nor a night to live in this world. And being thus foolish in his reckoning, Christ brands him for a fool to all generations : ver. 20, 21, ' Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee: then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided ?' So is he that heapeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God. Every man in the world is a fool that heaps up treasure to himself, that adds land to land, and house to house, and heap to heap, and bags to bags, and hundreds to hundreds, and thousands to thousands, and is not rich towards Grod.i fpjiig ^ge is full of such golden fools, who pamper their bodies, but starve their souls: who trick and trim up their bodies with gold, silver, and silks, whilst their souls are naked, and ragged, and destitute of all grace and goodness. The Jews have a story of a foolish woman that took two children to nurse, the one very mean, deformed, crooked, blind, and not likely to live long; the other a goodly, lively, lovely, beautiful child, and likely to live long: now this foolish woman spent all her pains, care, diligence, and attendance upon the worst child, never so much as minding or regarding the best child. This age is full of such foolish men and women, who, having two to nurse, their bodies and their souls, spend their time, their care, labour, and pains in making provision for the flesh, in laying up for their bodies, and in the meanwhile never regard their souls, never look after their souls, though they have the beauty of a deity upon them, and though they are immortal, and capable of union and communion with God in grace, and of a blessed fruition of God in glory. Surely no fools to these fools.

[7.] Seventhly, The sharpest and severest course you can take, cannot separate between a fool and Ms folly. Notwithstanding all your frowns, threats, checks, knocks, &c., a fool will not leave his folly; nay, you shall sooner beat a fool to death than you shall beat him off from his folly: Prov. xxvii. 22, 'Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.'2 The husk doth not stick so close to the grain of corn, as folly doth to the heart of a fool. There is a possibility of severing the husk from the flour by beating, but there is no possibility of severing a fool from his folly. You see it in Pharaoh, who, though he was often in God's mortar, yet he could not be severed from his folly; nay, he did choose rather to be beaten to death,'and to see his friends, relations, favourites, followers, subjects, and soldiers, with their first-born, beaten to death before his eyes, rather than he would leave his folly. And such a fool was king Ahaz, who, when God had him in the mortar, and threatened to beat him and his people to death, yet then in his distress he sinned more against the Lord, 2 Chron. xxviii. 22, and therefore for his obstinacy, obdurateness, and irreclaimableness, he is branded and marked with a black coal by the Lord to all posterity,

^ Plato seeing one over-indulgent to his body, asked him what he meant, to make his prison so strong.

^ Solomon in this place alludeth to one kind of grinding, which in old time the people were accustomed to, which was to put their parched corn into a mortar, and to beat it unto powder.

'This is that king Ahaz.'i And such spiritual fools are all ungodly-persons ; let God frown, chide, strike, reprove, correct, yet they will not turn from the evil of their doings: they will rather be consumed and destroyed, than they will be amended or reformed: Jer. v. 3, ' O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.' No smart nor grief, no calamities nor miseries, can turn obstinate fools from their impieties: Jer, vi. 29, ' The bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed of the fire ; the founder melteth in vain' (or in vain melting melteth he, trying trieth he): * for the wicked are not plucked away.' ^ All the cost and charge that God hath been at, all the pains and labour that he hath taken to sever these wicked ones from their wickedness was lost; they would not be refined nor reformed. After God's greatest severity, a spiritual fool will return to his iniquity: Pro v. xxvi. 11, ' As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly,' or iterateth his folly. It is true, the comparison is homely, but good enough for those fools to whom it is applied. Spiritual fools sometimes vomit up their sins when they are under terrors of conscience, or under the affiicting hand of God, or upon a dying bed; but still retain a disposition and purpose to return to them again: as some say, the serpent vomits up his poison when he goes to drink, and then takes it in again. Foolish souls say to their lusts, as Abraham to his servants. Gen. xxii. 5, ' Abide you here, and I will go yonder and come again to you.' Whatever becomes of their souls, they are resolved to keep close to their sins, Isa. i. 5. And as ^sop's foolish fishes leaped out of the warm water into the burning fire for ease; 3 so these poor fools will rather adventure a burning in hell, than they will attempt a turning from their folly.

[8.] Eighthly, Natural fools make the simplest and unJiappiest exchanges: they will exchange a pearl for a pippin, things of greatest worth and value for a feather, a ribbon, a toy, a trifle; a house to live in, for a house of clay or a house of cards; and, like Glaucus, a foolish captain, who changed with Diomedes his armour of gold for Diomedes his armour of brass. ^ All unholy persons are spiritual fools; they will exchange spirituals for carnals, and eternals for temporals; they wiU exchange God, Christ, the gospel, heaven, and their souls for a lust, for the world, nay, for a little of the world's smiles, pleasures, or profits, Mat. xvi. 26 ; and well may he lay claim to a boatswain's place in Barclay's ' Ship of Fools,' 5 that will exchange his soul and his soul-concernments for the toys and trifles of this world.

Now do you think that God, who hath within himself all the wisdom of angels, of men, and universal nature—that he who hath all glory, all dignity, all riches, all treasures, all pleasures, all comforts,

^ They were like those bears in Pliny, that could not be stirred with the sharpest prickles. [As before.—G.]

^ See Ezra xxii. 18; Jer. ii. 30, 31, and xix. 15; Amos iv. 4, 13; Isa. xxvi. 10, 11; 2 Pet. ii. 22.

' The well-known fable of Babrius: I take this opportunitj' of correcting a misprint of this name in Vol. ii., page 59, footnote 1, where read, not Balarius, but Babrius.—6.

* The foolish Indians prefer every toy and trifle above their mines of gold.

= Spelled ' Barkley's': the well-known ' Shyp of Folys of the Worlde,' (1509,) by Alexander Barclay or Barklay, based on the original of Brandt.—G.

all delights, all joys, all beatitudes in himself—that that God who is a super-substantial substance, and understanding not to be understood, a word never to be spoken, that he will have everlasting fellowship and communion with fools ? i—that a God whose wisdom is infinite and unsearchable, will ever debase himself so as to have his royal palace filled with fools, as to make those his companions in heaven, that he can take no pleasure in on earth? Eccles. v. 4, ' He hath no pleasure in fools.' The wise God would not have his children keep company with fools: Prov. xiv. 7, ' Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge;' and will he keep company with them himself ? Surely no. God hath given it under his own hand, that such shall not tarry in his sight: Ps. v. 5, ' The foolish shall not stand in thy sight' [or, as the Hebrew hath it, before thine eyes]: ' thou hatest aU workers of iniquity.' God will never admit fools to be his favourites: he will at last shut the door of glory against them. Mat. xxv. 4-13.

7. A seventh argument to prove that without real holiness there is no happiness; that without holiness on earth no man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in heaven, is this. Unholy persons are to he excluded and shut out from sacred, from special communion and felloivship with the saints in this loorld; and therefore, without all peradventure, they shall never be admitted to everlasting communion and fellowship with God, Christ, angels, and saints in that other world. That they are to be shut out from having any special communion with the saints here, is most plain and evident from several scriptures. Take these for a taste: Lev. x. 10,' And that ye may put difi'erence between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean ;' Ezek. xliv. 23, ' And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.' And because the priests did not improve their power and interest to preserve the things of God from profaning and polluting, the Lord was very much offended and provoked: Ezek. xxii. 26, ' Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.' And in chap. xliv. 7, 8, God sadly complains that they ' brought into his sanctuary strangers uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh;' and prohibits such from entering into his sanctuary, ver. 9, ' Thus saith the Lord God, No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.' God expects that faithful teachers should put a difference between person and person, between the holy and profane, between the clean and the unclean, in all holy administrations: Jer. xv. 19, ' Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou take forth the precious from the vile, then thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.' Now certainly if under the ceremonial law natural uncleanness did exclude and shut out the Israelites from a participation in holy things, then certainly moral imcleanness may justly exclude and shut out Chris-^ Dionys. Areop. de divin. novi. cap. 1.

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tians from a participation in holy things under the gospel: Mat. vii. 6, ' Give not that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.' Holy things are too precious to be spent and spilt upon swinish sinners. Gospel administrations are precious pearls, that must not be given to s"wane. 2 Cor. vi. 17, ' Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saitli the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.' ^ Profane, scandalous, blind, and ignorant persons are very unclean things, and from them we must come out. As we would be in with God, we must be out with them: we must reject them as we would have God to receive us: 2 Tim. iii. 5, ' Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.' Our Saviour Christ hied him to the wilderness amongst the beasts, and carried his disciples with him, holding their fellowship to be less hurtful and dangerous. It is better to live among beasts, than to live among men of beastly principles and beastly practices. Now there are ten sorts of persons that Christians must turn from, that they must have no intimate, no special communion with in this world.

(1.) First, Unbelievers, 2 Cor. vi. 14-16. We should not close with them that have not closed with Christ; nor give ourselves up to them who have not given up themselves to Christ. Every unbeliever is a condemned person: the law hath cast him, the gospel hath cast him, and his own conscience hath cast him; and what sacred communion, what delightful fellowship can believers have with condemned persons ? John iii. 18, 36. Every unbeliever is under the wrath of the great God; he is under that wrath that he can neither avoid nor abide; and what communion can such have who ai*e under love, with those that are under wrath ? Every unbeliever makes God a liar, 1 John V. 10 ; and what children will have communion with such who every day give their father the lie to his very face ? Every unbeliever doth practically say. Tush! there is no such loveliness or comeliness, there is no such beauty or glory, there is no such fulness or sweetness, there is no such goodness or graciousness in Jesus as men would make us believe; and what is this, but to give God the lie ? Tush ! there is no such favour, there is no such peace, there is no such pardon, there is no such righteousness, there is no such grace, there is no such glory to be reaped by Christ as God and men would persuade us ; and what is this, but to tell God he lies to his very teeth ? And what ingenuous child can take pleasure in such who are still a-spitting in his father's face ? Every unbeliever is a disobedient person, and therefore unbelievers and disobedient are in the Greek expressed by one word; and what communion can obedient children have with those that are disobedient and rebellious ? 2 Every unbeliever is a pagan, a heathen, in the Scripture dialect; and what communion can those who

^ Lev. xiii. 46; Num. v. 1-4; Exod. xii. 48; Lev. xxii. 3-7. As oft, said one, as I have been among wicked men, I return home less a man than I was before. The Doc-tonean [?] well will quench a burning torch; so will bad company the most burning and most shining Christians, as you see in Joseph and Peter, Ps. cvi. 35; when they were mingled among the heathen, they quickly learned their works, Ps. cxix. 115.

» Num. xiv. 11; Heb. xi. 31, i.Trei.e-fi<T<x<n; 1 Tim. v. 8; 2 Cor. yi. 14, 15; 1 Cor. xlv. 23, seq.; 2 Tim. iii. 1, 6.

are of the household of faith have with pagans and heathens ? Every unbeliever is a traitor; he commits treason daily against the crown and dignity of heaven: and what loyal subjects will hold communion with traitors ? Unbelievers are the greatest robbers; they rob God of his declarative glory, though they cannot rob him of his essential glory; they rob him of the glory of his truth and faithfulness; as if he would falsify the word that is gone out of his mouth: as if he were yea and nay; and as if his credit was so low and contemptible, that he must needs run a hazard that shall trust to him, or roll himself upon him. They rob him of the glory of his goodness and mercy, as if there were any sins too great for him to pardon, or any mercy too great for him to give, or any wrath too great for him to divert, or any debt too great for him to satisfy. They rob him of the glory of his omnipotency and all-sufficiency, as if there were something too hard for a God. Now what communion can the people of God have with robbers, with the greatest robbers, with the worst of robbers? and yet such are all unbelievers. And therefore let no unbelievers mutter or murmur when the door of admission is shut against them. But,

(2.) Secondly, Such as have a form, a picture, a mask, a vizard of godliness, hut deny the power, 2 Tim. iii. 5.

(3.) Thirdly, Such as walk disorderly, that live either without a calling, or idly and negligently in their calling;^ these make religion odious, by making religion a mask for their idleness and laziness: 2 Thes. iii. 6, ' Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly.' Now, who they are that walk disorderly you may see in ver. 11, 'For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.' Such vagrant professors that live idly, that will have an oar in every man's boat, a sickle in every man's harvest, a curious eye upon every man's way and work, are to be shut out of the communion of Christians, and to be shunned as a man would shun a serpent, an ill air, a contagious disease, or as the seaman shuns rocks, and sands, and shelves. It was a great vanity in Dionysius, that would needs be the best poet; and in Caligula, that would needs be the best orator; and in Nero, that would needs be the best fiddler; and so became the three worst princes, minding more other men's business than their own callings; so it is a very great vanity in many professors to mind more other men's business than their own; from the society of such saints must withdraw. No man is too noble to have a calling. If iron had reason, it would choose rather to be used in labour than to grow rusty in a corner. By Mahomet's law the Grand Turk himself was to be of some trade. The hour of idleness is the hour of temptation; an idle person is the devil's tennis-baU, tossed by him at his pleasure. God ordained the neck of the consecrated ass should be broken—Exod. xiii. 13—instead of sacrificing him; peradventure because that creature hath ever been the hieroglyphic of sloth and laziness. Among the Egyptians idleness

^ Solon made a law, that the son should not be bound to relieve his father when he was old, unless he had set him in his youth to some^calling.—Plutarch in the Life of Solon.

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was a capital crime. Among the Lucans, he that lent money to an idle person was to lose it, saith Diphilus.i Among the Corinthians idle persons were delivered to the carnifex. By Solon's law idle persons were to sniFer death. The ancients call idleness the burial of a living man. And Seneca had rather be sick than idle. Now shall nature do more than gi-ace ? Shall poor blind heathens be so severe against idle persons, and shall Christians embrace them ? Shall they not rather turn their backs upon them, and have no communion with them who think themselves too great or too good to hold the plough?

(4.) Fourthly, Such lohose judgments are corrupt and unsound in foundation-truths: Titus iii. 10, ' A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject.' ' A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump:' and what leaven is more infectious than that of heresy and error ? 2 John 9, 10, ' Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed.' You must have nothing to do with them who have nothing to do with God, 1 John ii, 22-25; Col, ii. 18, 19: your house must be too hot to hold him who holds not fast to foundation-truths, who holds not close to Christ the head. Eusebius reports of John the Evangelist, that he would not suffer Cerinthus the heretic in the same bath with him, lest some judgment should abide them both. 2 He that had the leprosy in his head was to be pronounced utterly unclean. Lev. xiii. 44. The breath of the erroneous is more dangerous and infectious than the breath of lepers: for one infects but the body, but the other infects the soul, and therefore ought more carefully to be avoided. An erroneous mind is as odious to God as a vicious life; and why should it not be so to us also ? Certainly we should shun the society of erroneous persons as we should shun a serpent in the way, or poison in our meat: 1 Tim. vi. 5, ' Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself:' or, as the Greek word d(f>Laraao signifies, stand ofi*, keep at a distance, as you would from one that hath an infectious disease, or as seamen stand off from rocks or from a leeshore. It is recorded by Theodoret, that when Lucius, an Arian bishop, came and preached amongst the Antiochians his erroneous doctrines, the people went out of the congregation, and would not so much as lend an ear to him. 3 In these days there are many old errors new vampt, and old Jezebels, old harlots, new painted. The best way is not to lend an ear to them, but to serve them as they served Jezebel: they gave her no quarter, but cast her down and trode her under foot, 2 Kings ix. 10, 30-37. Errors about the foundation are like the Jerusalem artichokes, which overrun all the ground where they are planted, and choke the very heart of it; and therefore to be abhorred, avoided, and shunned, as a man would shun hell itself Who but a fool or madman would exchange one old piece of gold for a hundred new counters ? and what

^ As before, the Lucanians.—G. * Eusebius, 1. iii. c. 25.—G.

^ Eccles. Hist., lib. iv. cap. 20. VOL. IV. E

then shall we think of those who willingly and readily exchange old tried truths for new-minted errors? The society of such must be shunned.

(5.) Fifthly, Such as cause divisions and discord among the people of God: Rom. xvi. 17, 'Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.' ' Mark them;' the Greek word a-Koireiv signifies such a marking as a watchman useth, that stands on a watch-tower to descry an approaching enemy. Ah ! with what a wary, with what a watchful, with what a curious, with what a jealous, with what a serious, with what a diligent eye doth the watchman watch all the motions, turnings, and windings of the approaching enemy! With such an eye we should mark them that cause divisions. ' And avoid them;' the Greek word eKKkivare signifies a studious, careful declining of them. A man must decline and shun them as he would decline and shun such persons or things that are most pernicious, dangerous, or infectious to him. Divisions are a dishonour to Christ, a reproach to Christians, a blot upon profession, a block in the way of the weak, and a sword in the hand of the wicked; they are Satan's engines, and an inlet to all destruction and confusion. And therefore the authors of them are to be shunned and avoided.!

(6.) Sixthly, Such Christiajis as are scandalous and profane in their lives and conversations: 1 Cor. v. 11, ' But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such a one no not to eat:' 2 with such a brother who belies his profession, with such a brother whose course and conversation contradicts his profession, we must not hold Christian communion. Certainly I may not have fellowship with him at the Lord's table, whom I may not have fellowship with at my own table: Eph, v. 11, ' Have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them;' Acts ii. 40, 'Save yourselves from this untoward generation.' Wicked company is very dangerous and infectious: 1 Cor. XV. 33, ' Evil communication corrupts good manners.' As he that walketh in the sun will be tanned, and he that toucheth pitch will be defiled; so he that associateth himself wdth the wicked will be tainted and polluted. Guilt or grief is all you shall gain by bad company, 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8—witness Lot, David, Joseph, and Peter.s By bad company Christians come to lose much of the sweetness, seriousness, goodness, and graciousness of their spirits. Gold, though the noblest metal, loseth of its lustre by being continually worn in the same purse with silver. Familiarity with vain persons hath much worn off the spiritual lustre, beauty, and glory that hath been upon many Christians. Bad company will prove a very great hindrance to you in your Christian course: Ps. cxix. 115, 'Away from me, ye wicked, for I will keep the commandments of my God.' I cannot

^ The Turks pray daily that the divisions among Christians may be heightened, that BO they may be the sooner ruined and undone.

* (Tvvai'aiJLlyvvffdai, not to be joined, mixed, or mingled with them, &c. Prov. ix. 6 ; Ps. XV. 4 ; Eph. v. 7 ; Ps. cxix. 115 ; Prov. iv. 14, 15.

3 Ps. cxx. 7, 8; Gen. xlii. 15,16 ; Mark xiv. 66-72: 1 Kings xxii. 8 ; 2 Chron. xxiv. 17,18.

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keep my God's commands whilst I keep your company; I shall never do my duty till I abandon your society. Divine commands will never lie close and warm upon my heart, so long as I give you my hand. How hard is it to keep the commandment of labour among the slothful, or the commandment of diligence among the negligent, or that of liberality among the covetous, or that of humility among the ambitious, or that of love among the malicious, or that of union among the contentious, or that of chastity among the lascivious, or that of righteousness among the unrighteous, or that of faithfulness among the unfaithful, or that of fruitfuLness amongst the unfruitful, or that of thankfulness among the unthankful, or that of faith among the doubtful, &c. But,

(7.) Seventhly, A seventh sort of persons that Christians must have no intimate, no special communion with, is false prophets, false teachers.^ They are not to give such any house-room, 2 John 10, 11, nor heart-room. Mat. xxiv. 23, 24, 26. They are to shun them and avoid them, Rom. xvi. 17. It is not safe for a Christian to hear them, or to have any communion or fellowship with them. Aristotle writeth of a certain bird called Capri-mulgits, a goat-sucker, which useth to come flying on the goats, and suck them, and upon that their milk drietli up, and they grow blind.^ Ah, how many a seeing man hath been made blind, and how many hopeful thriving Christians have had all theu' springs of love, of life, of sweetness and goodness dried up in them, by the sleights, deceits, and insinuations of false teachers! False prophets have their peithanology—their good words, and fair speeches, and subtle devices, whereby they blind many souls, and dry up all the spiritual milk and moisture that is in them, and therefore they are to be shunned and avoided. But,

(8.) Eighthly, You must have no intimate, no special communion with such as are obstinate and refractory, and that will not submit to Christ's rules and laws: 2 Thes. iii. 14, ' And if any man obey not pur word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with tim, that he may be ashamed,' or, that he may turn into himself, as it is in the original.^ Such as are refractory must be noted with a brand of infamy; such must be infamous in your eye, who look with an eye of contumacy upcm any command or institution of Christ. The Greek word, arjfMeLovade, signifies to note him so as to make a sign, as it were, of him; or to mark him so as to put him to the blush, to put him to shame. The obstinate, the refractory person should be a marked person, you must set a cross upon him, that all may know him and shun him; the assemblies of the saints are honourable, and refractory Christians are to be shut out of them: Mat. xviii. 15-17, ' Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, [if he be refractory,] then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of

1 Mat. xvi. 6, 11,12; Gal. i. 8; Mat. vii. 15, 13 ; Deut. xiii. 1-3; Titus i. 10, 11.

* Lib. de Animal. [Cf. Catullus, xxii. 10, and Pliny, x. 40, 56, Sec. 115.—G.]

* The Greek word, Xva ivrpair^, is very significant, for it denotes such a perturbation of the mind, that he who is affected therewith, seeks up and down where he may hide himself for shame.

two or three witnesses every word may be established; and if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.' He that shall be refractory under private and public admonition, is to be shut out from church communion; he that to small faults shall add contumacy, is to be cut off from the saints' society. We must turn our backs upon him that turns his back upon the church. As we would keep ourselves untainted, as we would preserve the church from being infected, as we would not have the name of God blasphemed, and as we would have the refractory Christian ashamed and humbled, we must neither have sacred nor civil society with him.

(9.) A ninth sort of persons that Christians must have no intimate, no sacred, no special communion with, are fools: Prov. ix. 6, 'Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding;' chap, xiv. 7, ' Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge;' chap, xxiil 9, ' Speak not in the ears of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.'i There is no profit, no pleasure, no delight to be had in the society of fools. Fools are neither capable of doing good nor of receiving good; and therefore what should good souls do among such? A fool hath neither an ear to hear, nor an eye to see^ nor a heart to understand, nor a memory to retain, nor a will to choose, nor affections to embrace, any thing that is good. And therefore their company is to be shunned and avoided. The society of fools is as dangerous as it is vexatious: Prov. xiii. 20, ' He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.' The Hebrew word, ^n"*, that is here used, signifies to be broken; yea, to be broken as sometimes an army is broken by some fierce and sudden surprisal; a companion of fools shall be broken in his credit, in his estate, in his name, in his reputation; yea, in his very wits, for nothing contributes so much to make a man a fool as the company of fools.

(10.) The tenth and last sort of persons that Christians must have no familiarity nor society with, are scortiers. Such as scorn the saints, and scorn religion, and scorn profession ; such who scorn every way of Christ, and every institution of Christ: Prov. ix. S, ' Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee.' Wise and gracious reproofs are pearls, that are not to be cast before scorners.2 Now certainly, if I may not reprove scomers, then I may not keep company with scorners: Prov. xxii. 10, ' Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.' The scorner must be cast out of your family and out of your company. Strife and contention, shame and reproach, are the scorner's attendants; and therefore he that would be rid of them must cast out him. The Hebrew word, ti^lJ, here translated * cast out,' signifies not simply to eject or east out; but to cast out or drive out, as God did drive Adam out of paradise. Gen. iii. 24,

^ Who would hang a jewel in a swine's ear, or sow precious seed among craggy rocks, or put sweet liquor into a musty vessel ? &c.

^ Quintinus the libertine was a great scoffer and scorner of the saints; he called the apostle Paul a broken vessel; John a foolish youth; Peter a denier of God; and Matthew a usurer, &c.— Calvin.

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for the word is the same; and this God did, as the Rabbins observe, with violence and displeasure. So must the scorner be cast out, or drove out. Look, as God did drive out the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite before his people, Exod. xxxiv. 11; so must the scorner be driven out of the society of the saints; for the Hebrew word is the same in both places. Look, as Sarah would have Abraham to cast out the bond-woman and her son, Gen. xxi. 10; so must the scorner be cast out of the company of the saints; the word is still the same. Look, as the sea casteth up mire and dirt, Isa.. Ivii. 20; so should Christians cast out scorners from among them; the word being still the same. The scorner con8.trues everything to the worst; he envies those that excel him; he disdains those that are below him; he is never contented, never satisfied, he is still a-quarrelling, still a-fretting, and still a-perplexing of himself and others; and therefore you must cast him out with scoffing Ishmael,. or the house will be too hot to hold you. Cast out the firebrand, and the fire goes out; cast out Jonah, and the storm shall cease; cast out the bond-woman and her scornful son, and all will be quiet. David's blessed man is described by this, Pfi. i. 1^ that he ' sits not in the seat of the scornful.' Scorners are no companions for blessed men. Of all men the blessed man will never choose the scorner for his pew-fellow. God himself scorns the scorner: Prov. iii. 34,. ' Surely he scorneth the scorner,' &c. Of all men in the world God casts the greatest contempt and scorn upon scorners, and therefore why should we make such our bosom-associates ? And thus you see the several sorts of persons that God hath shut out from the communion of his people. Well, Christians, remember this, dead stones must not be laid in a living temple. No stones but hewn stones were ta be brought and laid in the building of Solomon's temple, which was a type of the church of Christ in gospel-days.^ Certainly such stones, such souls, as are not hewn by the word and Spirit, are not fit to be laid in Christ's building. In Josiah's days, when the pass-over was kept, there were porters at every gate of Jerusalem, that no unclean or uncircumcised ones might enter, 2 Chron. xxxv. And the

* English Annotations' on Rev. xxi. 27, do say, that in the last church on earth, discipline in likelihood shall be so strictly executed that no profane person shall be found there, only elect persons, so far as men can judge.2 That vain persons are to be shut out from sacred communion with the people of God, is further evident by the judgment of many approved authors. As,

Chrysostom saith that '- the table of the Lord is that whereon the carcase is laid, and that we must not sufier chattering jays to come thereunto; for only high-flying eagles are to feed thereupon.' Thereupon the same author protested ' that he had rather give his life to a murderer, than Christ's body to an unworthy receiver, and rather sufier his own blood to be poured out like water, than to tender Christ's blessed blood to a base liver.' And again, ' Church-officers,' saith he,

* are to keep the sacrament pure, as a man would keep a pleasant spring clean whereat he useth to drink, not letting the feet of filthy beasts

1 1 Kings V. 15-18 ; 2 Chron. ii., and ii. 2, 18; 1 Pet. ii. 5.

* 2 vols, folio, 1657 J better known as the ' Assembly's Annotations.'—O.

and swine to puddle it.' The same author further saith l that in the primitive times, whenever the sacrament was administered, a deacon stood up, and cried in the open assembly, ' Holy things to holy men, holy things to holy men,' thereby debarring all others that were unholy, and raising the hearts of the holy.

Justin Martyr, who was about the year after Christ 150—he lived not above thirty years after St John—he, in his Apology to Antoninus the Emperor for Christians, writes thus: ' In our assemblies we admit none to the Lord's supper but such as being baptized continue in professing the true faith, and in leading such lives as Christ hath taught.' There were three things^ saith this author, that were required of them that were to be received to the sacrament: ' 1. A new birth; 2. Soundness in faith ; 3. A promise to live well.' 2

Augustine well observes, ' That as many think the eating of an apple was but a small sin, so many think that the eating of the sacrament is but a small sin. But as many horrid sins were vtrapt up in that, so are there many wrapt up in this: 1. Here is pride; else no man in his wickedness would presume to come to the Lord's table. 2. Here is rebellion and treason against the crown and dignity of Christ; their hands and lips adore him, as Judas his did, but their hearts and lives abhor him, Eom. ii. 22. 3. Here is theft and sacrilege ; now if to take away the communion-cup be such a high offence, such horrid sacrilege^ what is it then to take the bread and wine, set apart and sanctified for a holy use by the Lord himself ? 1 Cor. xi. 27, 29. 4. Here is murder, the worst murder, the greatest murder, the cruellest murder; thou kOlest thyself, thy soul, and as much as in thee lies, God's dearest Son. Now certainly, in some respects, this sin is a greater sin than Adam's was: For, 1. Adam's eating was against a Creator, but thine is against a Kedeemer: now it is more to redeem a soul than to create a world. 2. His was against the word of the Lord ; thine against the blood of the Lord. 3. His struck at the covenant of works; thine at the covenant of grace. 4. He ate but once; but thou eatest often.'

' Yea,' Aquinas saith,^ ' the majesty of church discipline should never suffer this, to let open and known offenders presume to come to the table of the Lord.'

It was a worthy saying of Bilson, an approved author,^ ' Suppose any man,' saith he, ' be he a prince, if he will not submit himself to the precepts of Christ, but wilfully maintain either heresy or open impurity, the ministers are to admonish him what danger from God is at the door ; and if he impenitently persist, they must not suffer him to communicate either in divine prayer, or any holy mysteries among the people of God; but wholly to be excluded the congregation.' Again,

* Not only the lack of the word and sacraments,' saith the same author,

* but the abuse of either, greatly hazards the weal of the whole church ; yea, casting* holy things to dogs, &c., procures a dreadful doom as well

^ Chrysostom in Mat. horn. 6. Chrysostom in Mat. horn. 83. ChrvsoBtom in Epist. ad Heb. horn. 17.

2 ' Apology,' IxxxT. Ixixviii.—G. » S. T., sub verbo ' diflciplina.'—G.

* Bilson'a ' Christian Subject,' par. 3, pp. 63, 64, 74, and c. 52.

to consenters as presumers, it being the way to turn the house of God into a den of thieves, if profane ones be allowed to defile the mysteries and assemblies of the faithful.'

* 1/ said Calvin, ' will sooner die than this hand of mine shall give the things of God to the contemners of God.' i

Mr Rutherford, that champion for presbyter)', in his ' Divine Right of Church Government,' page 520, saith ' that they are copartners with the wicked who dispense the bread to them who are knowingly dead in sins.' 2 I might multiply many others ; but let these suffice. For a close, let me only say. How the father can be guiltless of the death of his child, that giveth him poison to drink, with this caution, that he telleth him it is poison, I cannot see. Josephus reports of some that profanely searched the sepulchres of the saints, supposing to find some treasures there, but God made fire to rise out of the earth, that devoured them on a sudden.^ Now if God's wrath like fire breaks forth to consume such as wrong but the sepulchres of his saints, &c., oh then with what flames of fury will God burn up such as abuse not only the sacrament of his Son, but his Son himself! It was a very great wickedness in Julian to throw his blood in the face of Christ; but for a wicked communicant to take Christ's own blood as it were running from his heart, and to throw it into the face of Christ, is most abominable and damnable. By all that hath been spoken, you clearly see that unholy persons are to be shut out of the special communion of saints here on earth ; and therefore certainly the Lord will never suffer such to have communion with him in heaven. It will not stand with the holiness and purity of God to have fellowship with such in the kingdom of glory, whom he would not have his people have fellowship with in the kingdom of grace.

8. The eighth argument to prove that without real holiness there is no happiness; that without holiness on earth no man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in heaven, is this, The Scripture, that speaks no treason, styles unholy persons beasts, yea, the worst of beasts ; and what should such do in heaven ? ^ Unholy persons are the most dangerous, and the most unruly pieces in the world, and therefore are emblemized by lions, Ps. xxii. 21, and they are cruel; by bears, and they are savage, Isa. xi. 7 ; by dragons, and they are hideous, Ezek. xxix. 3 ; by wolves, and they are ravenous, Ezek. xxii. 27; by dogs, and they are snarling. Rev. xxii. 15; by vipers and scorpions, and they are stinging, Mat. xii. 34, Ezek. ii. 6 ; by spiders and cockatrices, and they are poisoning, Isa. lix. 5; by swine, and they are [still grunting, Mat. vii. 6. No man in this world is more like another than the epicure is like a swine; the fraudulent person a fox ; the lustful person a goat; the backbiter a barking cur; the slanderer an asp ; the oppressor a wolf ; the persecutor a tiger; the seducer a serpent. Certainly the Irish air will sooner brook toads and snakes and serpents to live therein, than heaven will brook such

^ As before.—G. ,

* Samuel Rutherford, the saintly writer of the imperishable ' Letters. —Q.

' Joseph. Antiq., lib. xii. 13, and lib. xvi. cap. 11. , • x *

* Unholy persons are, throughout the Scriptures, branded, to their overlaatmg contempt, with the worst appellations.

beasts as unholy souls are to live there.i Surely God, and Christ, and the Spirit, and angels, and ' the spirits of just men made perfect,' are not so in love with dogs and swine, &c., as to put them into their bosoms, or make them their companions. Heaven is a place of too great state to admit such vermin to inhabit there. When Cyneas,2 the ambassador of Pyrrhus, after his return from Kome, was asked by his master what he thought of the city and state, he answered and said, that it seemed to him to be republica regum, a state of none but great statesmen, and a commonwealth of kings. Such is heaven ; it is no other state than a parhament of emperors, a commonwealth of kings. There is not a soul in heaven under the degree of a king, Kev. i. 6, and every king there hath a robe of honour upon his back, a golden sceptre in his hand, and a glorious crown upon his head. And do you think that it will stand with the state of heaven, or with the state of this commonwealth of kings, to admit such vermin as unholy persons are, to be of that noble society ? Surely no. God hath long since resolved upon it, that no unclean beasts shall enter into heaven, that no dirty dogs shall ever trample upon that golden pavement. All in heaven are holy: the angels holy, the saints holy, the patriarchs holy, the prophets holy, the apostles holy, the martyrs holy, but the Lord himself above all is most glorious in holiness, and therefore all those holy ones do, as it were in a divine anthem, sing and say, ' Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory,' Rev. iv. 8 ; Isa. vi. 3. Now certainly it would be a hell to these holy ones to have unholy wretches to be their companions.^ When the holy angels fell from their holiness, heaven w^as so holy that it spewed them out, as once Canaan did its unholy inhabitants, Lev. xviii. 28 ; and therefore certainly there wUl be no room in heaven for such filthy beasts as unholy persons are. Well, remember this, that all those stinging expressions and appellations which disgrace and vilify unholy persons, they were inspired by a holy Spirit, and penned by holy secretaries, and enrolled in his holy word, and pubHshed by his holy messengers, and all by his holy appointment, who, as he is greater than the greatest, and wiser than the wisest, and better than the best, so he is too pure and too holy to eat the words that are gone out of his mouth, or to deny or unsay what he hath spoken, or not to maintain the truth thereof against all gain-sayers. It is prophesied that when the church shall be restored to her purity and glory, such beasts shall not be there, Isa. xxxv. 9 ; Ezek. xxviii. 24. The majesty of church discipline shall be such as shall keep out all such beasts. ' Jerusalem above' is too glorious a habitation for beasts, or for men of beastly spirits, or beastly principles, or beastly practices. The city of the great God was never built for beasts. A wilderness and not a paradise is fittest for beasts.

9. The ninth argument to prove the truth of the proposition is this, God would not have his holy ones in this world to be yoked in

^ It was wont to be a trial whether land belonged to England or Ireland, by putting in toads or snakes, &c., into it; if they lived there, it was concluded that the land belonged to England ; if they died, to Ireland.

* Rather Cineas (Ki^'^aj): the embassage to Rome took place after the battle of Hep. aclea, b.c. 280. Plutarch, Pyrrh. xviii.; Diod. Exc. Vatic, xxii.; Livy, xxxiv. 4. Q.

" There are no owla in Crete, nor no wild beasts in Lebanon.

marriage with unholy ones; and therefore certainly he will never suffer such to be yoked to himself to all eternity,i That God would not have his righteous people to be yoked in marriage with the unrighteous, is most evident by these scriptures : Deut. vii. 3, 6, ' Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give to his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son: for thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth:' Ezra ix. 12, ' Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons.' But did they keep this commandment of the Lord ? No, as you may see in the second verse of that chapter, ' For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers have been chief in this trespass.' But how did this operate upon good Ezra? That you may see in the third verse, ^ And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head, and of my beard, and sat down astonied.' Oh the sorrow, the grief, the perplexity, the holy passion, the indignation, the amazement, the astonishment that this abomination begot in the heart of good Ezra ! The like effect this sin had upon the heart of good Nehemiah, as you may see in that remarkable text, Neh. xiii. 23-25, compared with chap. X. 29, 30. So in 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15, ' Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? and what communion hath light with darkness ? and what concord hath Christ with Belial ? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel ?' It is an evil thing, a dangerous thing, to be yoked to any who have neither skill nor will to bear the yoke of Christ. Under the law an ox and an ass might not be yoked or coupled together, Deut. xxii. 10—and to this the apostle alludes as some judge—God would not have righteous souls to be yoked in marriage with those that are unrighteous ; a gracious soul were better be married to a quartan ague than to an ungracious wife. ' A virtuous wife is a crown to her husband,' Pro v. xii. 4; she is the life of life. If thou art a man of holiness, thou must look more for a portion of grace in a wife, than for a portion of gold with a wife; thou must look more after righteousness than riches; more after piety, than money; more after what inheritance she hath in heaven, than what possessions she hath on earth; more at what interest she hath in Christ, than at what interest she hath in creatm'es; more at her being new-born, than at her being high-born; more at her being good, than at all her worldly goods, 1 Cor. vii. 39. If money makes the match, and she be good enough that hath but goods enough, thou shalt be sure to have hell enough with such a wife. In thy choice to err but once is to be undone for ever, at least as to the comforts and contentments of thy life; once blest or curst must be for ever so: men have not leave to choose

^ Exod. xxiii. 32 ; xxxiv. 12. If you would see the greatness and dangerousness of this sin, then read Ezra x. and 1 Kings xi., with Exod. xxxiv. 14-16 ; Judges iii. 6-8. When Dionysius the elder, tyrant of Syracuse, asked Aristides, a Locrian, his goodwill to marry his daughter, I had rather see my daughter dead, said he, than married unto a tyrant.—Plutarch in the life of Timoleon. The application is easy.

or change often. By what hath been said, it is most evident that God would not have the holy seed to mingle or marry with the unholy. And do you think that a holy God will mingle and marry with such in heaven, that he would not have his people to mingle or marry with on earth ? Surely no. Or do you think that that God, that would not in the law have an ox and an ass plough together, that he will be yoked to such wretches, may I say to such asses, whose ungodliness hath debased them below the very ox and ass ? Isa. i. 3. Surely no.

10. The tenth and last argument to prove that without real holiness there is no happiness, &c., is this; tinholy persons are adjudged, doomed and sentenced to another place, viz., to hell: Ps. ix. 17, ' The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.' In the Hebrew there are two ' intos;' * into,' ' into' hell, that is, the wicked shall be turned into the nethermost hell, into the lowest and darkest dungeon of hell: ' They shall be turned into hell,' that is, they shall be certainly turned into hell; they shall be vehemently, forcibly turned into hell: God will, as it were with both hands, thrust them into hell.i The wicked shall from hell to judgment, and from judgment they shall be turned with a witness into hell. The Photinians 2 hold that there is no heU, and many now-a-days say there is no hell but what a man finds in his own conscience; and multitudes with Caesar 3 do think that all that is spoken of hell is false and fabulous. They will not believe that there is a hell, till they come to feel themselves in hell, till they find everlasting flames about their ears. They are sentenced to the fire, to everlasting fire, they are doomed to fire and brimstone: Mat. xxv. 41, ' Then shall he say unto them on the left hand. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.' This terrible sentence breathes out nothing but fire and brimstone, terror and horror, dread and woa The last words that ever Christ will speak in this world, will be the most tormenting, and amazing, the most killing and damning, the most stinging and wounding. ' Depart from me ;' there is rejection: pack, begone ! get you out of my sight! let me never see your faces more! It was a heavy doom that was passed upon Nebuchadnezzar, that he should be driven from the society of men, and in an extremity of a sottish melancholy spend his time amongst the beasts of the field, Dan. iv. 25; but that was nothing to this soul-killing word, ' Depart from me;' it was nothing to men's being cast out of the presence of Christ for ever; the remembrance of which made one to pray thus, ' 0 Lord, deliver me at the great day from that soul-kiUing word, depart.'^ And what saith another,

' This word " depart," the goats with horror hears. But this word " come," the sheep to joy appears.'*

* Ye cursed :' there is malediction. But, Lord, if we must depart,

^ Matt. xi. 23, and xxiii. 15, 33. The Hebrew word Sheol hath several significations ; sometimes it signifies the grave, sometimes it signifies extraordinary great anguishes and distresses ; and sometimes it signifies hell or the place of the damned, as here, and as in Job xi. 8, and Prov. xv. 11.

* A sect that arose in the fourth century, founded by Photinus, bishop of Sirmium. Q.

3 Sic: perhaps Caesar is named as along with Cicero discrediting the vulgar mythology of the after-state.—Q.

* Bernard in Psalm xcL » In margin the' Sphinx': Quarles ?—G.

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oh let us depart blessed! No, * depart ye cursed !' You have cursed others, and now you shall be cursed yourselves; you have delighted yourselves in cursing, and now you shall be cursed for ever.i You shall be cursed in your bodies and cursed in your souls; you shall be cursed of God, and cursed of angels, and cursed of saints, and cursed of devils, and cursed of your companions, yea, you shall curse your very selves, your very souls. You loved not blessing, and therefore you shall have cursing enough: ' Depart from me, ye cursed:' all your curses, all your maledictions shall at last recoil upon your own souls. Now thou cursest every man and thing that stands in the way of thy lusts, and that crosses thy designs: but at last all the curses of heaven and hell shall meet in their full power and force upon thee.

But, Lord, if we must depart, and depart cursed, oh let us go into some good place! No, ' depart ye into everlasting fire.' There is the vengeance and continuance of it. 2 You shall go into fire, into everlasting fire, that will neither consume itself, nor consume you. Eternity of extremity is the hell of hell. The fire in hell is like that stone in Arcadia, wluch being once kindled could never be quenched. If all the fires that ever were in the world were contracted into one fire, how terrible would it be ! yet such a fire would be but as a painted fire upon the wall, to the fire of hell. The greatest and the hottest fires that ever were on earth are but ice in comparison of the fire of hell. If it be so sad a spectacle to behold a malefactor's flesh consumed by piece-meals in a lingering fire ; ah ! how sad, how dreadful would it be to experience what it is to lie in unquenchable fire, not for a day, a month, or a year, or a hundred, or a thousand years, but for ever and ever ! ' If it were,' saith one^' but for a thousand years, I could bear it, but seeing it is for eternity, this amazeth and afirighteth me.* ' I am afraid of hell,' saith another, [Cyril,] ' because the worm there never dies, and the fire never goeth out:' it is called ' unquenchable fire,' Mat. xviiL 8, and ' eternal fire' in the Epistle of Jude, ver. 7. The torments of the damned are very grievous for the bitterness of them, but more grievous for the diversity of them, but most of all grievous for the eternity of them. To lie in everlasting torments, Mat. XXV. 46, goes beyond all the bounds of desperation. To roar for ever for disquietness of heart, to rage for ever for madness of soul, to weep, and grieve, and gnash the teeth for ever for vexation of spirit, is a misery beyond all expression. ^ Suetonius reports of Tiberius Caesar, that, being petitioned by a certain offender to hasten his punishment, and to grant him a speedy despatch, he made him this answer, Nondum tecum in gratiam redii: Stay sir, you and I are not friends yet.^ So if after a damned soul hath been in hell a thousand years, he should petition the Lord for a speedy death, the Lord would answer after the same manner. Stay soul, you and I are not yet friends: if after thousands and millions of thousands of years, the request should be renewed, the answer would still be the same. Stay, you and I are not yet friends. Wronged justice can never be satisfied, and

^ Cursings now are their hymns, but in hell they shall be their woes. Rev. xvi. 9,11, 21. ' Therefore they do but dream, who think and say that the devil and damned shall be delivered at last, Ps. xi. 6, Al8ted[iu8.] 3 Dionys. in Apocalypa. xviii. fol. 301. * Lib. iii. cap. 6.

therefore the sinner must be for ever tormented: the sinner in hell will sin for ever, and therefore he must be punished for ever. It will not stand with the unspotted justice and righteousness of Grod to cease punishing, where the sinner ceases not sinning. One tells us of some devout personages, who caused those words of the prophet, Isa. xxxiii, 14, ' Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire ? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings ?' ^ to be written in letters of gold upon their chimney-pieces. The fear of Nebuchadnezzar's fiery-furnace made men do anything to avoid it, Dan. iii. 8 ; and shall not the fear of eternal flames, of everlasting burnings, work men to bewail their sins, to hate all their bitter-sweets, and to lay hold on everlasting strength, that it may go well with them for ever ? I have read of a chaste virgin, who being strongly tempted and solicited by a lewd ruffian to uncleanness, after some discourse, she called for a pan of burning coals, requesting him for her sake to hold his finger in them but one hour; he answered, it is an unkind and unreasonable request: it is truth, saith she, it is so; but you ask me a more unkind and unreasonable request, viz., to satisfy you in a thing for which I shall not only burn an hour, but burn both body and soul in hell-fire for ever and ever; and so overcame the temptation.

But, Lord, if I must go into fire, into everlasting fire, oh let me have some good company in my misery! No! the devil and his angels shall be your companions. Ah ! who can conceive or express the misery of cohabitation with devils and damned spirits ! Many unholy souls would not live in a house haunted with evil spirits one night for all the world; and yet they live as if it were nothing to b^ biUeted with helHsh fiends and furies for ever. If the sight of a seeming ghost for a moment be such a terror and torment to thee; what wiU the horrible sight of devils, and the ghastly sight of the damned be ? If it was so great an affliction to Job to be a companion to owls, Job XXX. 29; what will it be to thee to be a companion to devils ? If it was so great a grief and woe to David to sojourn in Mesech, and to dwell in the tents of Kedar for a time, Ps. cxx. 5 ; what a woe will it be to unholy souls to dwell with devils and reprobates for ever ? Ah! how will Satan's deformity, antipathy, and cruelty amaze thee and torment thee! How will the damneds' wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth abash thee and confound thee ! How will thine old companions' cursing of thee, the sight of thy near relations in misery with thee, and devils scornfully insulting over thee, and the never-dying worm feeding perpetually upon thee, be many hells of horror to thee! Had an unholy soul as many worlds in his hand to give as there be stars in heaven, he would give them all for a licence always to sleep under those pains and torments that will admit of no intermission or mitigation.2 In Kev. xxi. 8 you have a catalogue of that damned crew, of that rout of reprobates which shall be your companions for ever: * But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth

* Jo. Pet. Camois, B[iBhop] of Betty, in France, in his ' Draught of Eternity.' [Camus, Bp. of Belly, not Betty : his ' Draught,' was a Puritan favourite in English.—G.]

* As the ancients feign of Endyiiiion, that he got leave of Jupiter always to sleep.

with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.' These companions are the devil's lime-twigs ; they are his scorpions with which he will torment and whip poor souls for ever. Such companions will make many hells to meet in one; they will be the top of the soul's torments. Thus I have done with those arguments that prove the point; viz., that without holiness there is no happiness, &c.

III. I come now to the reasons of the point, Why is it that without holiness there is no happiness ; that without holiness on earth no man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in heaven ? Among other reasons that might be rendered, you may please to take these :—

Reason 1. First, Because God hath said it, who is truth and faithfulness itself, and cannot lie. That he hath said it, witness the very text, and the proofs that are produced to make good the doctrine: and hath he said it, and shall it not come to pass ? Hath he spoken it, and will he not accomplish the word that is gone out of his mouth ? i ' God is not a man that he should lie,' Num. xxiii. 19. ' Also the Strength of Israel will not lie,' 1 Sam. xv. 29. God will make good every word that is gone out of his mouth. Men sometimes eat their words as soon as they have spoken them; they often say and unsay, but so will not the Holy One of Israel; that first and supreme being, that gives being to all others, will certainly give being to all his promises and threatenings. God himself shall sooner cease to be, than the word that is gone out of his mouth shall be frustrated. He that is the faithful witness hath said it, that ' without holiness no man shall see the Lord.' ' And verily, heaven and earth shall pass away before one jot or one tittle' (that is, before the least letter or particle of a letter) ' of God's blessed word shall pass unfulfilled,' Mat. v. 18. God's 'faithfulness is great,' Lam. iii. 23; 'It reaches unto the clouds,' Ps. xxxvi. 5; ' He will not suffer his faithfulness to fail,' Ps. Ixxxix. 33 ; ' His faithfulness endures through all generations,' Ps. cxix. 90. God will never suffer his faithfulness to be stained or blotted, and therefore he will undoubtedly make good the word that is gone out of his mouth. I had rather, said Plutarch, that men should say there was never any such person in the world as Plutarch, than that they should say Plutarch is unfaithful. A man were better say there is no God, than say that God is unfaithful. A noble spirit can better bear any charge, than that of being unfaitliful; and so can a faithful God.

Reason 2. Secondly, Because real holiness is that great principle that fits and capa^dtates soicls for communion tvith God, and for a blessed sight and fruition of God: Mat. v. 8, ' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'2 Without a principle of purity, of sanctity, there is no vision of God in glory. If a man be never so poor, yet if his heart be pure, God will make a house of his heart, wherein his honour will delight to dwell; let a man's outside be never so homely, yet if his inside be but cleanly, God will make it his own habitation.

1 Isa. xlvi. n, and xlviii. 15 ; Jer. xxxii. 24 ; Isa. Iv. 11 ; Zech. i. 6 ; Dan. ix. 12 ; Ps. cxix. 138.

2 The glory of glory consists in seeing of God, 1 Cor. xiii. 12; 1 John iii. 2, as the hell of hell lies in the soul's everlasting separation from God.

God is for that man, and that man is for God, that carries about with him a pure heart. Heart-purity makes a man a darling of heaven. Many aflfect pure language, pure houses, pure habits, pure hands, pure air, pure meat, pure drink, pure gestures, &c., who yet for want of heart-purity shall never see the face of God in glory. Heart-purity speaks a man eternally happy. Holiness is that noble principle that fits a man for the happiest sight of God: it makes a man a meet companion for God both here and hereafter. Without this principle no man can have communion with God in this world, much less can he have communion with God in heaven, if this precious principle of holiness be not seated in his heart. It will not stand with the holiness of God, to have anything to do with those that have no principles of holiness in them. It is a principle of holiness that fits a man for the service of God, that fits a man for fellowship with God, that fits a man for walking with God, that fits a man for correspondency with God, and that fits a man for the delight of God, and that fits a man for an everlasting fruition of God. And therefore certainly without holiness there is no happiness; without a principle of purity there can be no seeing of the face of God in glory.

Keason 3. A third reason why without real holiness there is no happiness, &c., is this. Because heaven is a holy place, and therefore no unholy souls can enter there. It is called the ' high and holy place,' Isa. Ivii. 1.5 ; the inheritance of the saints in heaven is an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, 1 Pet. i. 4. Holiness dwells in heaven, 2 Pet. iii. 13, as a man dwells in his house. Heaven is the house of God's holiness, and therefore certainly without holiness there is no entering into that house, Kev. xxi. 27. The Holy of Holies in the temple was a type of heaven.i And as none might enter into the Holy of Holies that were unholy, so none can enter into heaven, which is the true holy of holies, but those that are holy. Heaven was so holy, that it cast out the angels when they fell from their holiness. Paradise was a type of heaven, and no sooner did Adam lose his holiness, but he was shut out of paradise. Heaven is a city of holiness: and none can enter into that city but such as are holy. Rev. xxii. 14. Heaven is so holy that it would groan to bear one unholy soul. Well, heaven is a holy place, and the inhabitants are all holy, and the work of heaven is holy; and what then should unholy souls do there ?

Eeason 4. A fourth reason why without real holiness there is no happiness, &c., is this. Because unholy persons have no hearts to go to heaven. Though now and then they may talk of heaven, and now and then lift up their eyes and hands to heaven, and now and then express a few cold wishes and lazy desires after heaven, it is no difficult thing to demonstrate that in good earnest they have no heart to go to heaven.^ For first, How often hath God set life and death, heaven and hell before them, and they have chosen death rather than life, and hell rather than heaven! 2. Do you think that that man hath any heart to heaven, that will not so much as part with a lust for heaven ? 3.

^ Exod. xxvi. 34 ; Ps. Ixxviii. 69; Heb. ix. 8, and xii. 24.

' Coelum est altera gehenna damnatorum, Heaven is aDOther hell to the damned said one, Isa. IxvL 3, 4. '

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HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 79

Will you say that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, that hath not so much as a hand to lay hold on the opportunities of grace that might bring him to heaven ? Luke xiii. 33, 34. 4. Will you say that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, that daily hardens his heart against him who is the way to heaven ? John xiv. 6 ; Isa. Ixiii. 10. 5. WiU you say that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, who is still a-grieving, vexing, and quenching that Spirit of holiness, that can only fit,i frame, and form him for heaven ? 6. Will you say that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, that rarely spends a serious thought of heaven, and that lives in this world as if there were no heaven ? 7. Will you say that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, whose sinful courses speak him out to be one of those who have made a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell ? Isa. xxviii. 15, 18. 8. Do you think that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, that detests those most that are the best wooers for heaven ? 9. Do you think that that man hath any heart to go to heaven, who can take no pleasure nor delight in those that are travelling towards heaven ? Kom. iii. 8; 1 Cor. iv. 9, 10. 10. Will you say that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, that will do nothing affectionately for heaven; that will not hear for heaven, nor pray for heaven, nor trade for heaven, nor look for heaven, nor long for heaven, nor strive for heaven, nor wait for heaven ? 2 The heart commands aU, it carries all; if the heart were bent for heaven, the head would contrive for heaven, the eye would look out for heaven, and the ear would hear for heaven, and the tongue would speak for heaven, and the foot would walk towards heaven, and the hand would do for heaven. By all which it is most evident that unholy persons are not cordially willing to go to heaven. It is most certain that unholy persons have no such great mind to go to heaven as some imagine. When Dives was in hell, his desire was not to be with Abraham in heaven, but that Lazarus might come and give him a little ease in hell: he preferred a little ease in hell before his being with Abraham in heaven, Luke xvi. 24, 27-29. Neither did he desire that his five brethren might go to heaven, but that they might be kept out of heU; and that not out oi love to them, but out of love to himself, he knowing that their company would be no small increase of his own torments. Heaven would be a very hell to an unholy heart. If now the presence of God in his servants, and the presence of God in his ordinances, be such a hell to unholy souls, ah, what a hell would the presence of God in heaven be to unholy hearts ! It is true an unholy heart may desire heaven, as it is a place of freedom from troubles, afflictions, oppressions, vexations, &c., and as it is a place of peace, rest, ease, safety, &c., but this is the least and lowest part of heaven; but to desire it as it is, a place of purity, of grace, of holiness, of enjoying of God, &c., is above the reach of an unholy heart. The company of heaven are all holy, the employments of heaven are all holy, and the enjoyments of heaven are all holy; and therefore heaven cannot but be an undesirable thing to unholy hearts. An unholy heart is no ways desirous nor ambitious of such a heaven as will rid him of his darling sins, as will make him conformable to a holy God, as will everlastingly divorce him from his old companions, and ^ = That only can fit.—G. * No man ever went to heaven sleeping.

link him for ever to those gracious souls that he hath scorned, despised, and persecuted in this world. Ergo, &c.

Reason 5. Fifthly and lastly, Because loithout real holmess men are good for nothing, they are fit for nothing. Without holiness men are neither good for church nor state, they are neither fit to rule nor to be ruled; to command, nor to be commanded; to guide, nor to be guided, &c. Men void of holiness are in the Scripture resembled to chaff, to dust, to dirt, to briars and thorns, which are things that are good for nothing, that are fit for nothing.l And what should such men do in heaven, who are good for nothing on earth ? The horse is good to carry, the ox is good to draw, the sheep is good for cloth, the cow is good to give milk, the ass is good to bear, and the dog is good to keep the house; but what is a man void of holiness good for ? An unholy person is good for nothing but to be destroyed, and to make some room for a better person to stand up in that place which he takes up in the world. As the hog in the Arabic fable tells us that a butcher, carrying three creatures upon his horse, a sheep, a goat, and a hog, the two former lay very quiet and still, but the hog kicked, and cried, and would never be quiet. Thereupon the butcher said, Why art thou so impatient when the other two are so quiet? The hog answered. Every one knows himself; the sheep knows that he is brought into the city for his wool's sake, and the goat knows that he is brought into the city for his milk's sake, and so they need not fear nor care; but, alas, I know very well that I have neither wool nor milk, but that as soon as I am come into the city I must be kiUed, for that is all I am good for. An unholy soul is like a hog, good for nothing but to be killed. Mat. vii. 6. Certainly heaven-happiness is too great and too glorious a thing to be possessed by them that are good for nothing. We look upon such as are fit for nothing, to be worthy of banishment from the society of men. But oh, how much more worthy are they to be banished from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power, and to be shut out for ever from the society of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, who are fit for nothing but to dishonour the Lord, undo their own souls, and to treasure up wrath against the day of wrath !^ 2 Thes. i. 8, 9; Heb. xii. 22, 23; Rom. ii. 5. And thus I have given you an account of the reasons of the point.

IV. Use 1. We shall now come to make some improvement of this great truth to our own souls. Is it so, that real holiness is the only way to happiness, and that without holiness here, no man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God hereafter ? Then the first use shall be a use of conviction. This, then, may serve to convince the world of several things: As,

1. First, That the number of those that shaU be eternally happy, the number of those that shall attain to a blessed vision and glorious fruition of God in heaven, are very few ; for there are but a few that reach to this holiness without which there is no happiness: Rev, iii. 4, * Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white : for they are worthy.' Among the many in Sardis there were but a few that had holy insides

' ^ Ps. i. 4 ; Isa. xli. 2; Zeph. i. 17 ; Ezek. ii. 6 ; Isa. ii. 18, x. 6, 17, and Ivii. 27.

and pure outsides.i Among the multitude that made a holy profession, there were but few that walked answerable to their holy calling; and therefore but a few that should walk with Christ in white. White in ancient times was the habit of nobles: to walk with Christ in white, is to partake with Christ in his glory. They, and only they, at last shall be clothed nobly, royally, gloriously, who maintain inward and outward purity. The holy seed is a ' little, little flock,' Luke xii. 32. Here are two diminutives in the G-reek, MiKpov ttoi/xviov, ' little, little flock ;' to shew the exceeding littleness of it. They were little in their own eyes, and little in their enemies' eyes, and little in regard of that world of wolves among whom they were preserved, as a spark of fire in the midst of the wide ocean. When the Syrians came up against Israel in the time of Ahab, it is said that' the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids, but the Sjnrians filled the country,' 1 Kings xx. 27. Holy souls are but like two little flocks of kids; but the unholy fill the world. Grracious souls are like the three hundred men of Gideon; but graceless souls are as the Midianites, that were like grasshoppers for multitude, Judges vii. 7, 12. ' Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it,' Mat. vii. 14. The way of holiness that leads to happiness, is a narrow way; there is but just room enough for a holy God and a holy soul to walk together. ' And few there be that find it.' And no wonder; for there are but few that minds it, that loves it, that likes it, or that inquires after it. ' The whole world lies in wickedness,' 1 John v. 19, and will die in their wickedness, John viii. 21.2 Geographers say, that if all the known parts of the world were divided into one-and-thirty parts, there will be found but five parts that do so much as profess the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ: for at this day, nineteen parts of the world are possessed by unholy Turks and Jews, which do not, nor will not so much as acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the King and Head of his church; and seven parts of the world is possessed this day merely by heathens, who worship stocks and stones. And of those five parts that are possessed by Christians, how many are Papists, atheists, hypocrites, drunkards, swearers, liars, adulterers, idolaters, oppressors ! How many are proud, covetous, carnal, formal, lukewarm, indifferent, &c. ! Now, should all these sorts of sinners be separated, as they shall in the great day, from those that are gracious and holy, would it not quickly appear that the flock of Christ is a little, little flock ? Ah, how few among the great ones are found to be gracious ! How few among the rich are found to be rich in Christ, rich in grace, rich in good works 1 How few among those that are high-born, can you find that are new-born 1 1 Cor. i. 16; 1 Tim. vi. 16,17. It was the saying of one,3 that all the names of good emperors might be engraven in a little ring. And so saith Lipsius,

^ A few names, that is, a few persons: Acts i. 15, who are all known to Christ byname ; as he said to Moses, 'I know thee by name,' Exod. xxxiii. 12, 17. By these scriptures it is evident that few shall be saved, Jer. v. 1 ; Ezek. xxii. 30, and ix. 4, 6, 7; Micah i. 13-15; Luke xxiii. 28, seq.; Rom. ix. 21; Mat. xxii. 14; 1 Cor. i. 20.

* Amongst the millions in Rome, there were but a few senators, and they too none of the best.

^ In margin Flavus [rather Flavins] Vopiscus, one of the six 'Scriptores Historiaj Augustte.'—G.

VOL. IV. F

that the names of all good princes may easily be written in a small ring."I I have read of godly Mr Buchanan, that was King James his tutor, who lying upon his dying bed, desired a nobleman then with him to teU the king that his old master, Buchanan, was going to a place where few kings come.^ Kings are as rare meat in heaven as venison is in poor men's kitchens, saith the Dutch proverb. And how few among the wise can you find that are wise for heaven, that are wise for their souls, that are wise for eternity! And how few among the learned; can you find that have learned Christ, and learned their own hearts, and learned to deny themselves, and learned to save their own souls and others'! By all which it is most evident that few are holy, and that few shall be happy. But,

2. Secondly, and more particularly, Is it so that real holiness is the only way to happiness: and that without holiness here, no man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God hereafter ? Then this may serve to convince several sorts of persons of their woeful and miserable conditions. As,

(1.) First, All profane persons, who give up themselves to wickedness, who wallow in all ungodliness, and delight themselves in all manner of filthiness, who commit wickedness with greediness; who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope; who weary themselves to commit iniquity; who are so desperately set upon wickedness, that neither the rod of Grod, the lashes and checks of their own consciences, nor the flashes of hell upon their souls, can reduce them; who are resolved that they will gratify their lusts, though they damn their souls; and who will live wickedly, though they perish eternally: who by custom in sin have destroyed all conscience of sin, and contracted such desperate hardness upon their own hearts, as neither smiles nor frowns, promises nor threatenings, life nor death, heaven nor hell, ministry nor misery, miracle nor mercy, can possibly mollify them; these are gi'own from naught, to be very naught; from very naught, to be stark naught; these souls are sadly left of God, and woefully blinded by Satan, and fully ripened for ruin.^ Now if without holiness no man shall see the Lord, what will become of all profane wretches, who are so far from being holy, that they fall short of common honesty ? Certainly God will shut the gates of glory upon such workers of iniquity. Such profane Esaus shall never be blessed with a sight of God in glory, Mat. vii. 22. A wicked man is a sin-lover; he is a sin-maker, he lives in sin upon choice; the Hebrew word that is commonly used for a wicked man, ;^Kr"), properly signifies a laborious sinner, a practitioner in sin, Ps. xi. 5 ; 1 John iii. 8. Now such as these are, God will have nothing to do with: Job viii. 20, ' Behold God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evildoers;' or rather as the Hebrew carries it, he will not take the ungodly by the hand: that is, he will not have any fellowship, any society, any familiarity with the ungodly. The holy God will not so much as take an unholy soul by the hand; he will not in the least countenance him nor respect him; he will not welcome him nor entertain him, nor

^ Lips, de Constantia, lib. ii. cap. 25.

> George Buchanan, the Scholar and Historian.—G.

' Job xxi. 14 ; 2 Pet. ii. 20-22; Isa. Ixvi. 3 ; Eph. iv. 19 Isa. v. 19 ; Jer. ix. 5.

shew the least favour to him. Now certainly if God will not take the wicked by the hand, he will never take them into heaven, he will never take them into his bosom. God will have no commerce nor communion with those to whom he will not so much as lend a hand. God will wash his hands of them for ever, to whom he will not give a hand. Which made Augustine say, that he would not be a wicked man one half-hour for all the world, because he might die in that half-hour. God will wash his hands of every man that lives and dies a wicked man. Mat. xxv. 11, 12. The hearts and ways of wicked men are full of hells; and therefore to fill heaven with such, would be to fill heaven with hells.

(2.) Secondly, This truth may serve to convince those that are scoffers and mockers at holiness, of their woeful and miserable estate^ 2 Pet. iii. 3; Jude 18. Holiness is so high and so noble a thing, that men should rather honour it than deride it—reverence it than reproach it; they should rather set a crown of glory than a crown of thorns upon the head of it. Holiness is the glorious image of God fairly stamped upon the soul; and to deride holiness is to deride God himself. God takes all the afi'ronts that are done to his image as done to himself; and this scoffers shall know at last to their eternal woe. If it was such a heinous crime in Tiberius his days, as Suetonius reports it was, to carry the image of Augustus upon a ring or coin into any sordid place, ah, how heinous a crime is it then to cast dirt and filth, scom and reproach upon holiness, which is the image of the invisible God! The despite and contempt that is done to the image or coin of a prince is done to the prince himself, and accordingly he will revenge it. In old Rome there were near as many statues as there were living people, and some were made of gold, some of silver, some of brass, some of ivory, and some of polished marble; and there was an earli appointed whose office it was continually to walk up and down in the night, attended with many soldiers, to see that none did wrong the statues of those that were set up in the city, and if any such were found that had done wrong to any of the statues, they were put to death.^ Holiness is the statue of God, and such as shall dare to deface it and wrong it, God will destroy. The old world scofied and scorned at righteousness, and God sweeps them away with a flood. Ham mocked and scoffed at righteous Noah, and what did he get by it but a curse ? Ishmael scoffed at holy Isaac, and what did he get by his scoffing and mocking but ejection out of Abraham's family ? And what became of those two-and-forty young scoffers that scoffed and mocked at holy Elisha ? were they not cursed in the name of the Lord, and torn in pieces by two she-bears which were more fierce and cruel than others ? The Jews were given up to scoffing and mocking of the messengers of the Lord, till there was no remedy: till old and young were destroyed by the sword of the Chaldees; till their temple and city were fired and sacked, and thirty of them sold for a penny, &c., and those that escaped the sword were captivated and enslaved. Sennacherib scoffed and mocked at the virgin daughter of Sion, but his scoffs issued in the destruction of his army by the hand of an angel, and in

1 = ' Noble man,' or ' noble officer,' a frequent Shakesperian use.—G. * Lipsius de Mag. Rom. Imperii.

his own by the hands of his two sons.^ Julian, the emperor, was a great mocker and scoffer at the Christians, but G-od struck him with an arrow from heaven, which made him cry out Vicisti, Galiloee, thou GaUlean, [meaning our Lord Jesus,] hast overcome me.^ Felix, for one malicious scoff, did nothing day and night but vomit blood, till his unhappy soul was separated from his wretched body. Lucian, for barking against religion as a dog, was by the just judgments of God devoured of dogs. History tells us of some scoffers that God hath stricken with madness, others with blindness, others with loathsome diseases, and some God hath stricken dead, and others he hath left to be their own executioners. Scoffing at holiness is a metropolitan sin,^ and therefore no wonder if God executes upon scoffers metropolitan judgments. Mockers and scoffers are the worst of sinners. Among the three sorts of sinners that David mentions, scorners have the chair, the chair of pestilence, as the Septuagint translateth it.* Scorners are the pests of mankind. The eye of the scorner is blinded; the heart of the scorner is hardened; the judgment of the scorner is perverted; the will of the scorner is enthralled, and the conscience of the scorner is seared, and this makes the scorner fall mad upon scoffing at holy men and holy things. Look, as they are the worst of servants that will scoff and mock a child in the family, because he is his father's picture—though they take wages of his father, and live by his father —so they are the worst of sinners who scoff at holiness, which is the very picture of God, though they live by him and cannot live without him. Yet this world is full of such monsters, who count it a grace to disgrace holiness, and to lade holy ones with all the names of scorn and contempt that they can invent, or that Satan can help them to. These are your holy brethren, these are fanatics, these are your holy sect, these are your pure souls, these are your strict precisians, these are the saints forsooth, these are the brotherhood! Erasmus saith that that proverb, ' A young saint, and an old devil,' was devised by the devil himself to scoff and mock men out of their holiness. It hath been the common portion of men most eminent in grace and holiness to be most scoffed and scorned in all ages. Job xvii. 2; Neh. iv. 1; Isa. xxviii. 22; Luke xviii. 32. Witness Noah, Isaac, and Elisha but now cited, and witness Job, chap. xxi. 3, ' Suffer me that I may speak, and after that I have spoken mock on;' chap. xii. 4, ' I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.' So David, Ps. xxxv. 16, ' With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth ;'^ Ps. xliv. 14, ' Thou makest us a byword among the heathen;' Ps. Ixxix. 4, 'We are become a reproach and derision to them who are round about us ;' Ps. cix. 25, ' I am become a reproach to them; when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.' So Isaiah, chap. viii. 18, * Behold, I and the children that the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel.' So Jeremiah, chap. xx. 7, ' I am in derision

^ Gen. ix. 22, 25, and xxi. 9, 15. The apostle interprets Ishmael's mocking to be persecution. Gal. iv. 27; 2 Kings ii. 23, 24; 2 Chron. xxx. 10, and xxxvi. 15, 21; 2 Kings xix. 20, seq.

* Theod. iii. 25, and cf. Amm. Marcellinus, xxv. 3.—G. » = * Capital'.—G.

* Pb. 1.1. In cathedra pestilentice, [The Greek is ivl KaOiSpq. Xoinw.— Q.']

I

daily, every one mocketh me.' So Paul, Acts xvii. 18, * What wiU this babbler say ?' So the apostles, Acts ii. 13, ' Others mocking, said, These men are full of new wine.' So those worthies of whom this Avorld was not worthy, Heb. xi, 36, 'Others had trial of cruel mockings.' But, above all, how sadly, how frequently, yea, how fearfully was our Lord Jesus Christ scoffed and scorned by Herod and Pilate, and flouted by the rascally soldiers ! but the vengeance of his Father overtook them all.i And in the primitive times, as Tertullian observes, the saints were called herds of asses, vile fellows, the disciples of a man crucified: Galileans, Nazarites, eaters of men's flesh, and drinkers of men's blood.2 The heathens, as the same author observes, painted the God of the Christians with an ass's head, and a book in his hand; to signify that though the Christians pretended to knowledge, yet they were a company of silly ignorant asses. The libertines of old have cast much scorn and contempt upon all the apostles: they call Matthew a usurer, Peter an apostate, Luke a pelting^ physician, Paul a broken vessel, and John a foolish young man, &c., by way of scorn and contempt; Athanasius was called Sathanasius, and Cyprian w^as called Coprian, one that gathers up dung; and so Luther, Calvin, and almost every one that hath attained to any eminency in holiness, they have been commonly accounted as the offscouring and refuse among the people, 1 Cor. iv. 13, 14; Lam. ii. 15, 16, and iv. 2. Now certainly if holiness be the only way to happiness, &c., then such as are scorners and scoffers at holiness are out of the very way to happiness ; and how such are like to come to heaven, that scorn the very path that leads to heaven, I shall leave you to judge. If the ravens of the valley shall pick out his eyes that mocketh his father, and the young eagles eat out his eyes that despiseth the instruction of his mother, as Solomon speaks, then of how much sorer punishment are they guilty of, who mock and scoff at holiness, which is the very image, picture, and glory of God himself ! * Holiness is so near akin to God, that no man can deride holiness but he derides God himself. As he that ' mocks the poor, derides him that made him,' Prov. xvii. 5, so he that mocks holy ones derides that God that made them holy. And will God take this at the scorner's hands ? No, he will retaliate; he loves to retaliate scorn upon the scorner: Prov. iii. 34, ' Surely he scorneth the scorners: God will pay home scorners in their own coin; scorners shall be sure to have scorning enough. God so scorns the persons and prayers of scorners, that he will have nothing to do with them, Prov. i. 24-33; Ps. ii. 4; Isa. xxxvii. 36. The angels so scorn scorners, that instead of being a life-guard to them, they stand ready prest^ to execute the vengeance of heaven upon them. And saints are so far to scorn them, by a divine precept, as not to reprove

1 Mat. xxvi. 68, and xxvii. 29, 31; Luke xxii. 63, and xxiii, 11; Mark xv. 31. Yea, the philosophers called Christ a magician, and affirmed that he did all by necromancy.— Calv. Just. Ad vers. Libert., c. 9.

* ' Apology,' c. xvi., et alibi. —G.

3 'Peddling,' = a pedlar; paltry, petty: another Shakesperian word: 'Measure for Measure,' ii. 2.—G.

* Prov. XXX. 17. The first thing that eagles do when they have found a carcase, is to pick out its eyes,

' ' Engaged.'—G.

them: Prov, ix. 8, * Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee/ Yea, God in his just judgments will make scorners to be an abomination to all sorts of men: Prov. xxiv. 9, ' The scorner is an abomination to men;' that is, to all sorts of men. The scorner is an abomination not only to holy men, but also to all ingenious^ men, and to all civil and moral honest men. As the scorners tongue and hand is against every man, so every man's tongue and hand shall be against him. Now if the scorners of men be abominable to men, then much more are the scorners of holiness abominable to God, and therefore certainly such shall be shut out from a glorious fruition of God.

3. Thirdly, If real holiness be the only way to happiness, and that if men be not holy on earth, they shall never come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in heaven ; then, by way of conviction, this looks sourly and sadly upon all formalists who Jmve only a form, a show, a profession of holiness, hut have nothing of the reality, spirit, life, or power of holiness in them: 2 Tim. iii. 5, ' Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.' They have, M6p(f)(i)aiv €ucrey3eta<f, a face, a vizard, a mask, a show of godliness, but they have nothing of the pith, sap, life, or marrow of godliness. Their devotion, their godliness, lies in good words, and in fair shows, and in religious gestures, Isa. Iviii. 1-3, and Zech. vii. 4-6. If you hearken to their voice, if you look upon their eyes, if you observe the motion of their hands, and the bowing of their knees, and the shaking of their heads, &c., you would think that they were men of much religion, of much godliness; but if you look into their hearts and lives, you will find them to be the greatest renouncers and deniers of religion and godliness in the world. They have the semblance of godliness, but not the substance ; they have the lineaments of godliness, but not the life; they have the face of godliness, but not the heart; they have the form, the shadow of godliness, but not the power. They are like a well-drawn picture, which hath all the lineaments of a man, but wants life, wants a principle of motion and operation.^ Mark, 1. The form of godliness is common, but the power of godliness is rare. 2. The form of godliness is cheap, but the power of godliness is dear. 3. The form of godliness is easy, but the power of godliness is difficult. 4. The form of godliness is a credit, but the power of godliness is a reproach. 5. The form of godliness is pleasurable and delightful, but the power of godliness is displeasing and undelightful to the ignoble part of a Christian. 6. The form of godliness will stand with secret and with open wickedness—as you see in Saul, Jehu, Judas, Simon Magus, Demas, and the Scribes and Pharisees—but the power of godliness will not. The power of godliness lays the axe to the very root of all sin, both secret and open. Rachel was very fair and beautiful to the eye, but she was barren, and that marred all; so the formalist, he is a very fair and beautiful Christian to the eye, but he is barren Godwards, and Christwards, and heavenwards ; he is fruitless, sapless, and lifeless, and that mars aU. The formalist takes up a form of godhness, 1. To quiet his conscience; 2. To get himself a name; 3. To cloak over his sins; 4. To advance his worldly interest;

^ * IngenuouV.—G.

' A form of godliness is England's epidemical disease.

and, 5, To avoid opposition and persecution from the world, the flesh, and the devil; 6. And to conform to old customs. And what should such formalists do in heaven ? A formal Christian is but a figure, a flauntji a flourish, a flash, and all he doth is but the shadow of what he should do. A formalist is more light than life, more notion than motion, more head than heart, more outside than inside, more leaves than fruit, more shadow than substance. A formalist is a blazing comet, a painted tomb, a stage-player, a white devil, or a devil in an angel's habit; and what should such devils do in heaven ? Certainly if without real holiness no man shall see the Lord, then the formalist, that hath only the shape, the show, the form of godliness, but nothing of the reality and power of it, shall never be blessed with such a sight. A formalist is neither hot nor cold. Of all sorts of sinners he is the worst; and God so loathes him, that he is resolved he will rid his stomach of him: Rev. iii. 16, 'I will spue thee out of my mouth;* and certainly heaven is too holy a place to lick up that gorge Grod hath cast up. Lukewarm water cannot be so loathsome to our stomachs as a formalist is to God's. God is never at such ease as when he hath cast up and cast out the formal Christian. I have read of Anastasius the emperor, how God shot him to death with a thunderbolt because of his lukewarmness and formality. 2 God hath a thunderbolt for every formalist, by which he will at last certainly strike them down to the lowest hell. A formalist is too loathsome a thing, too heavy a burden, for heaven to bear.

4. Fourthly, If real holiness be the only way to happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or else they shall never see the face of God in heaven; then this truth, by way of conviction, looks sourly and sadly upon all those who please and satisfy themselves with civility and common honesty ; who are good negative Christians, who bless themselves that they are no swearers, nor drunkards, nor extortioners, nor adulterers, &c.; they pay every man his own, they are just and righteous in their dealings; no man can say black is their eye; their carriage is civil, comely, harmless, and blameless.3 ' They make a fair show in the flesh,' Gal. vi. 12, or as the Greek hath it, they set a good face on it. But as good a face as they do set on it, I must crave leave to tell them that civility is not sanctity; civility rested in is but a beautiful abomination, a smooth way to hell and destruction. I may truly say of all civil men— who are destitute of that real holiness that leads to happiness—what Erasmus said of Seneca: If you look upon him as a heathen, then he seemeth to write as if he were a Christian; but if you look upon him as a Christian, then he seemeth to write as a heathen. So if you look upon many civil, moral men's lives, you will find them so full of ingenuity,* equity, righteousness, sweetness, and justice, that you will be ready to say. Sure these are holy men. But then do but observe how unacquainted they are with God, with Christ, with the Scripture, with the way and working of the Spirit, with the filthiness of sin, with the depths and devices of Satan, with their own hearts, with the new

1 ' Finery' = display, another Shakesperian word : Winter'B Tale, iv. 3.— Q.

' Magdeburg Cent. 5.

3 Luke xviii. 10-14; Mat. v. 21, and xix. 20-22.

* ' Ingenuousness.'—G.

birth, and with the great concernments of eternity, and you will judge them to be mere heathens, to be men void of all principles of grace and holiness, and to be mere strangers to union and communion with Christ, and to the more secret and inward operations and workings of the Spirit of Christ, and to the most spiritual duties and services that are commanded by Christ. Civility is very often the nurse of impiety, the mother of flattery, and an enemy to real sanctity. A high conceit of civility keeps many a man from looking after inward and outward purity. Moral honesty proves to many men a bond of iniquity, i There are those who are so blinded with the fair shows of civility, that they can neither see the necessity nor beauty of sanctity; there are those that now bless themselves in their common honesty, whom at last God will scorn and cast off for want of real holiness and purity, Mat. XXV. 3, 11,12. Many of the heathens were so famous for justice and righteousness, for equity, fidelity, and sobriety, for civility and moral honesty, that it would put many professors to the blush to read what is written of them; and yet there was such a tincture of popular applause, of pride and vainglory, of hypocrisy and self-flattery, upon their civility and moral honesty, that, for anything we can find in Scripture to the contrary, there is cause to fear that they shall be miserable to all eternity: for all their civility and moral honesty, they were left in a damnable, I will not say in a damned, condition: he that rises to no higher pitch than civility and moral honesty shall never have communion with God in glory.2 Naaman was a great man, but a leper, 2 Kings V. 1; Naaman was an honourable man, but a leper; Naaman was a mighty man, but a leper; Naaman was a victorious man, but a leper; Naaman was in high favour and esteem with his prince, but a leper. This hut he was a leper stained all his honour, and was a blot upon aU his greatness and glory, both at court and in the field, both in the city and in the country. So it is a stain, a blot upon the most moral honest man in the world, to say, he is a very civil honest man, but Christless; he is a very just man, but graceless; he is a man of much moral righteousness, but he hath not a drachm of real holiness, &c. This hut is a fly in the box of ointment, that spoils all. Well, sirs, remember this, though the moral honest man be good for many things, yet he is not good enough to go to heaven, he is not good enough to be made glorious. Mat. v. 20. Certainly there is nothing in all the world, below real sanctity, that will ever bring a man to the possession of glory. And though it may grieve us—to speak after the manner of men—to see sweet natures, to see many moral honest men, take many a weary step towards heaven, and to come near to heaven, and to bid fair for heaven, and yet after all to fall short of heaven; yet it will be no way grievous to a holy God to turn such sweet natures into hell, Ps. ix. 17. Moral honesty is not sufficient to keep a man out of eternal misery; all it can do is to help a man to one of the best rooms and easiest beds that hell afibrds. For, look, as the moral man's sins are not so great as others', so his punishments shall not be so great as others'. This is all the comfort that can be afforded to a moral

^ Mat. V. 19, 20; Acts vii. 54, xiii. 50, and xvii. 17, 18; Eom. viii. 7. ' As Aristides, so Socrates, Plato, Titus Vespasian, Tully, with multitudes of others, amongst the Lacedemonians, Grecians, Eomans, &c.

man, that he shall have a cooler hell than others have: but this is but cold comfort. Moral honesty without piety is as a body without a soul; and will ever God accept of such a stinking sacrifice ? Surely no.

5. Fifthly, If real holiness be the only way to happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or else they shall never come to a fruition of God in heaven; then this truth, by way of conviction, looks sourly and sadly upon all neuters, who divide their hearts hetiveen God and mammon, Mat. vi, 19 ; who halt between God and Baal, 1 Kings xviii. 21; who divide their souls between heaven and earth, between religion and their lusts, Zeph. i. 5, like the Samaritans, who both worshipped the Lord, and the Assyrians' idols too, 2 Kings xvii. 32, 33, and xviii. 11. A neuter is a monster; he hath two tongues, two minds, and two souls: he hath a tongue for God, and a tongue for the world too; he looks up to God, and saith. Certainly thou art mine; he looks down upon the world, and saith. Surely I am thine; he hath a mind to be religious, and a mind to save his own stake in the world too.i He hath a soul reaching after the happiness of another world: ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his,' saith Balaam, Num. xxiii. 10 ; and he hath a soul strongly reaching after this evil world too, as if heaven and happiness were wrapt up in it. As you may see in the same person, ' he loved the wages of unrighteousness:' he loved it as his portion, he loved it as his life, he loved it as his happiness, he loved it as his all; he loved it as his soul, yea, he loved it above his own soul, for he damned his soul to gain it. 2 It is true, when he was under a divine restraint, he professed that he would not curse the people of God for a house full of gold ; but when he was from under that restraint, his heart was so set upon the unrighteous reward, that he would have cursed them for a handful of gold. The neuter, as the Komans paint Erasmus, hangs between heaven and earth; he is neither fit to go to heaven, nor yet worthy to live on earth. If Meroz was to be certainly cursed, to be bitterly cursed, to be universally cursed—as the Hebrew phrase, ' cursing curse ye Meroz,' imports, in Judges v. 23—for standing neuter when they should have come forth to the help of the Lord; do you think that neuters in religion shall be blessed ? Do you think that ever such shall go to heaven, who are indifferent whether they go to heaven or no ? or that ever such shall be happy, who are indifferent whether they be holy or no ? or that ever such shall see the face of Christ with joy, who are indifferent whether they have an interest in Christ or no? or that ever such shall be admitted into the kingdom of glory, who are indifferent wherever 3 they have any entrance into the kingdom of grace or no? Certainly heaven is too holy to hold any such indifferent, irresolute, neutral souls. In the university, not long since, there were three doctors, heads of houses; one of them was accounted an innovator ; the second a Puritan; the third a neuter. A witty scholar presented them thus to the world: the first in a coach driving to Eome ;

^ James i. 8. A double-souled man, Mat. xix. 16, 26.

' Callenuceus tells us of a nobleman of Naples, that was wont profanely to say that he had two souls in his body, one for God, and another for whosoever would buy it. ' Qu.' whether ever' ?—G.

the second driving to Geneva; the third running on foot, begging sometimes the one, sometimes the other to receive him, but both refused him. Neuters shall be refused on all hands at last.i God will refuse them, because he loathes halting; angels will refuse them, because they loathe halving ; good men will refuse them, because they loathe lukewarmness; and bad men will refuse them, because they pretend to goodness, though they live in wickedness. Ambo-dexters in religion are ignominious disgracers both of the name and profession of Christians; they are prodigious traitors to the crown of heaven; they are the greatest enemies to the power of godliness ; they are the very offspring of Judas; and in the day of account it will be found that it had been good for them that they had never been born. Neutrality is the spiritual adultery of the heart. 2 Neuters are spiritual harlots; they have their hearts divided between God and mammon, betwixt Christ and other lovers. Now harlots in ancient time were to be burnt. Gen. xxxviii. 24. Certainly heU is for the neuter, and the neuter for hell. God will be as severe, yea, more severe, in punishing, spiritual whoredom, than ever men have been in punishing corporal whoredom. God looks upon every neuter as a man in arms against him: Mat. xii. 30, 'He that is not with me, is against me;' and, therefore, martial law shall be executed upon them. God will blot out their names, and hang them up as monuments of his justice and vengeance. Sirs, do not deceive your own souls; no man was ever yet carried to glory in the chariot of neutrality or mediocrity : he that is not throughout holy, is not really holy, and he that is not really holy, can never be truly happy: it is only throughout holiness that entitles a man to everlasting happiness, 1 Pet. i. 15; 2 Pet. iii. 11. The true mother would not have the child divided; she would have all or none; you must be for all holiness, or for none. Neuters now divide and cut those things asunder that God hath closely joined together; but at last God will suit their punishment to their sin, and cut them asunder. Mat. xxiv. 51, and Luke xii. 46. Now the neuter chooses here a piece, and there a piece; and at last God will cut him in pieces, as Samuel did Agag, 1 Sam. xv. 33. Well, neuters, now you divide one command from another, one duty from another, one promise from another, one threatening from another, one ordinance from another, and one way of God from another. But the day is a-coming wherein God will divide your souls from your bodies, and both from himself, his Son, his saints, and his glory for ever.

6. Sixthly, If real holiness be the only way to happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or they shall never come to a fruition of God in heaven; then this truth, by way of conviction, looks sourly and sadly upon all hypocrites, who have only a seeming holiness, a feigned holiness, a counterfeit holiness. The apostle speaks of a true holiness, Eph. iv. 24—or holiness of truth, as the Greek reads it, 'Ev oalorijTL rri<i d\7]6eui<i —in opposition to that feigned and counterfeit holiness that is in the world. Pretended holiness is most opposite to the holi-

^ Neuters are traitors; they betray Christ for the world's sake, and the world for Christ's sake; and themselves for sin and Satan's sake. And who will not refuse and scorn traitors ?

* Aut totum mecum tene, aut totum omitte.— Greg. Nazien.

ness of God. Hypocritical holiness is the greatest unholiness; and as God hath, so certainly God will still suit the punishment to the sin. If it was death in Moses his law, to counterfeit that ceremonial and figurative ointment, Exod. xxx. 32, 33 ; what shall it then be to counterfeit the spirit of life and holiness ?i Dissembled sanctity is double iniquity. He that professeth religion without being religious, and godliness without being godly; he that makes counterfeit holiness a cloak to impiety, and a midwife to iniquity; he that is a Cato without and a Nero within, a Jacob without and an Esau within, a David without and a Saul within, a Peter without and a Judas within, a saint without and a Satan within, an angel without and a devil within, is ripened for the worst of torments: Mat. xxiv. 51, ' And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,' Hypocrites are the freeholders of hell; all other sinners do but hold under them. None have so large a portion in hell as hypocrites have. No man at last will be found so miserable as he that hath the name of a saint upon him, but not the divine nature in him; that hath a profession of holiness upon him, but no principles of holiness in him; that hath a form of godliness, but not the power; that can cry up godliness, and court godliness, but in practice denies it; that is a Jew outwardly, but an atheist, a pagan, a devil inwardly. Who had a greater name for holiness, and who made a greater show of holiness, and who did more despise and insult over men for the want of holiness, than the Scribes and Pharisees? And who so miserable now as they? Mat. xxiii. 14, ' Woe unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.' Pretended holiness will double-damn souls at last. 2 Sirs, do not deceive your own souls. A painted sword shall as soon defend a man, and a painted mint shall as soon enrich a man, and a painted fire shall as soon warm a man, and a painted friend shall as soon counsel a man, and a painted horse shall as soon carry a man, and a painted feast shall as soon satisfy a man, and «, painted house shall as soon shelter a man, as a painted holiness shall save a man. He that now thinks to put off God with a painted holiness, shall not fare so well at last as to be put off with a painted happiness. The lowest, the hottest, and the darkest habitation in hell will be his portion whose religion lies all in shows and shadows. Well, spiritual counterfeits, remember this, it will not be long before Christ will unmask you, before he will uncase you, before he will disrobe you, before he will take off your vizards, your hoods, and turn your rotten insides outward, to your eternal shame and reproach before all the world. Counterfeit diamonds may sparkle and glister, and make a great show for a time, but their lustre will soon wear off. Nil fictum est dmturnum —Nothing counterfeit wiU last long. Maud, mother to King Henry the Second, being besieged in Winchester Castle, [anno 1141,] counterfeited herself to be dead, and so was

' Who can with patience see apes in the habit of nobles ? saith Lucian.

' Hypocritis nihil est crudelius, impatientius, et vindictoB cupidius. — LiUJier. There is not a more cruel creature, more impatient and yindictive, than a hypocrite, said he that had the experience of it in his own person.

carried out in a coffin, whereby she escaped; at another time, being besieged at Oxford in a cold winter, by wearing white apparel she got away in the snow undiscovered; but at last vengeance did overtake her. So, though hypocrites may for a time seem to be dead to sin, and dead to the world, though they may clothe themselves with a snow-like purity, and with the white satin of seeming sanctity, yet God at last will unmask and unmuffle them, and vengeance will with a witness overtake them. Job xvii, 8, and xxxvi, 13; Isa. xxxiii. 14. Hypocrites are like blazing stars, which, so long as they are fed with vapours, shine as if they were fixed stars; but let the vapours dry up, and presently they vanish and disappear. As the joy of the hypocrite, so the goodness of the hypocrite is but for a moment; it is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew. A hypocrite is a mere comet, a flaunt, a flash. Principles of holiness are lasting, but hypocrisy makes a man only constant in inconstancy, Job xx. 5 ; Hosea vi. 4.

7. Seventhly, If real holiness be the only way to happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or they shall never come to a fruition of God in heaven ; then this truth, by way of conviction, looks sourly and sadly upon such who please and bless themselves with common gifts and common grace, loith a gift of'knowledge, a gift of faith, a gift of prayer, a gift of utterance, a gift of memory, dec, lohen they have Tvothing of real holiness in them. Like those in Mat. vii. 22,23, who had great gifts, but were so far from real sanctity that they were workers of iniquity; they had a flood of gifts, but not a drop of grace; they had many gifts, but not one saving grace; they could work miracles, but that miracle of holiness being not wrought in them, Christ takes an everlasting farewell of them, ' Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.' So they in Heb. vi. had enlightened heads; but where was their humbleness and holiness of heart ? They had silver tongues; but where was their sanctified souls ? They had some smack, some tastes and relishes of heaven's glory; but where was their inward and outward purity ? Notwithstanding all their extraordinary gifts of speaking with tongues, casting out of devils, and opening of prophecies, yet were they not renewed, regenerated, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost. ^ Their gifts might be of singular use to the enlightening, quickening, edifying, comforting, and encouraging of others, and yet never have any influence upon their own hearts, to the changing, renewing, and sanctifying of tbem. Men of greatest gifts are not always men of greatest holiness. The Scribes and Pharisees, Judas, Demas, Tertullus, and Simon Magus, were men of great gifts, and yet they had no real holiness. They had the ninety-nine of gifts which Christ looks not after, but wanted the one, viz., real holiness, which vdth Christ is all in all. The devil hath greater gifts than any man on earth, and yet he is a devil still. Gifts without holiness wiU but make a man twice told the child of hell. Mat. xxiii. 15.^ The more of gifts here, the more, without holiness, of hell hereafter. The greatest scholars have often proved the greatest sinners, the stoutest opposers,

1 As nurses' milk is of use to others, but of none to themselves.

' Augustine trembled when he considered the extraordinary gifts and parts that were in his base child, to think what God meant in infusing so precious a soul, and in giving Buch rare gifts to such an impure creature.

and the worst of persecutors. There are none so wicked as he that is wittily 1 wicked. The highest gifts many times prove but the fairest paths to the chambers of death. As the richer the ship is laden with bars of silver and gold the deeper it sinks, so the richer the soul is laden with silver parts and golden gifts, and yet not balanced with real holiness, the deeper it sinks under wrath and misery. And no wonder, for, 1. Gifts do but tickle the ear, they do not cleanse the heart. 2. They do but stir the affections, they do not kill corruptions.

3. They are but ornaments to a man's profession, they have no saving influence upon a man's conversation. They tempt a man to take up with the world, but they never help a man to overcome the world.

4. They make a man wise to deceive, and wise to delude both himself and others. Kare accomplishments are many times turned into beautiful ornaments to adorn the devil and error withal, 5. The gifted man cares not who is most holy, so he may be most honoured; who is highest in favour with God, so he may be highest in favour with men; who is most serviceable, so he may be most acceptable; who gets most of another world, so he may have most of this world: and what should such a one do in heaven ? Gifts differ as much from real holiness, as an angel in heaven differs from a devil in hell. 6. Gifts makes a man work for life, but holiness makes a man work from life, Zech, vii. 5, 6. 7. Gifts work a man to set up for himself, and to deal and trade for himself, but holiness works a man to deal for God, and to trade for God and his glory, Kom. xiv. 6-8. 8. Gifts takes up in ingenuous civilities and outward formalities, but holiness takes up only in that Holy One, Hab. i. 12. 9. Gifts only restrains the soul, but grace renews and changes the soul. 10. Gifts puffs the soul, but holiness humbles the soul. 11. Gifts makes a man beautiful, like Kachel, but holiness makes a man fruitful, like Leah. 12. Gifts makes a man most studious and laborious about mending and reforming other men's hearts and lives, but holiness makes a man most studious and industrious in mending and reforming his own heart and life. ] 3. Gifts makes all glorious without, but holiness makes all glorious within. 14. Gifts makes a good head, but holiness makes a good heart. 15. Gifts envies, lessens, darkens, obscures, and disparages with ' buts,' and ' ifs,' and ' ands,' the excellencies of others; but holiness makes a man rejoice in every sun that outshines its own, John iv. 14. 16. Gifts are fading and withering, but holiness is an everlasting spring that can never be drawn dry, 1 John iii. 9. 17. Gifts draws from God, but holiness draws to God, 1 Cor. xiii. 1, 6. Though men of gifts may bid fair for heaven, yea, come so near as to hear the music of heaven, yet without holiness they shall never enter into heaven. When night comes, the father will only take in his own chUd into his house, and though another child which may be much like his own should attempt to come in, yet the father will keep him out, and wish him to repair to his own home; so when the night of death comes, the Father of spirits will only take into the family of heaven his own child, viz., the chUd of holiness; but now if the child of gifts, which is so like the child of holiness, should press hard upon God to come in, as that child of gifts, Baalam, did, ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my

1 =' Wise,' and yet wicked.—Q.

last end be like his,' Num. xxiii. 10, God wiU answer him, No I He will say to him, as he did to that child of gifts, Judas, Go to your own place, Acts i, 25 ; Mat. viii. 12. In the night of death and judgment, the children of the kingdom shall be cast out—the children of the kingdom, that is, of the church. Now the children of the kingdom are children of gifts, and yet there will come a day when these children shall be cast out. As Abraham put off the sons of the concubines with gifts, but entailed the inheritance upon Isaac, Gen. XXV. 6, &c. ; so God puts off many men now with gifts, but he entails the heavenly inheritance upon hohness: Ps. xxiv. 3, 4, ' Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? and who shall stand in his holy place ? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.' Heaven is for that man, and that man is for heaven, who hath clean hands and a pure heart, whose holy conversation is attended with heart purification. A pure heart is better than a golden head; a heart full of holy affections is infinitely beyond a head full of curious notions. There is no jewel, there is no anointing to that of holiness. He that hath that hath an, and he that wants that hath nothing at all. But,

8. Eighthly and lastly, If real holiness be the only way to happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or they shall never come to a blessed fruition of God in heaven; then, by way of conviction, let me say that this truth looks very sourly and angrily upon those who are so far from heing holy themselves, that they cannot endure holiness in those that are about them, or any ways related to them. Ah, how many unholy people be there that cannot endure holiness in their ministers! and how many imholy husbands are there that cannot endure holiness in their yokefellows! and how many unholy parents are there that cannot endure holiness in their children ! and how many unholy masters are there that cannot endure holiness in their servants! The panther, say some, when she cannot come at the man, she rendeth and teareth his picture in pieces; so many unholy husbands, unholy fathers, and unholy masters, when they cannot rend and tear the persons of their relations in pieces, ah, how do they do their best to rend and tear the image of God upon them, viz., holiness, in pieces ! These forlorn souls will not be holy themselves, nor suffer others to be holy neither; they wiU neither go to heaven themselves, nor suffer others to go thither who are strongly biassed that way. Mat. xxiii. 14, 15 ; 2 Sam. vi. 16, 20. Some despise their gracious relations, even eo nomine, for that very reason, because they are holy. Sometimes you shall hear them speak at such a rate as this: Well, our relations are wise and witty, but so holy; they are very knowing and thriving, but so precise; they have good parts and sweet natures, but they are so strict; they are so round^ that they will not endure an oath, a lie, &c., and therefore I cannot abide them, I cannot endure them. These are like he in Seneca, which was so fearfully idle that his sides would ache to see another work. So these are so fearfully wicked, that it makes their sides, their heads, their very hearts ache, to see others holy. How far these are in their actings below heathens, you may see in Kom. xvi. 10,11. Aristobulus and Narcissus, that are spoken of in ^ = 'Complete/ 'perfect'—G.

this scripture, were both heathens, and yet they had in their famihes those that were in the Lord, those that were gracious, &c. Heathens were so ingenuous, that they would not despise that holiness in others that they wanted in themselves; they were so noble, that they would give holiness house-room, though they knew not how to give it heart-room. So Potiphar, though he was a heathen, yet he gave holy Joseph both house-room and heart-room. Gen. xxxix. 1-4. These, and several other heathens of the like spirit with them, will one day rise in judgment against many in these days that are so far fallen out with holiness, as that they will not endure it under the roof of their houses, yea, as that they make it the greatest matter of scorn and derision. Like those in Lam. ii. 15, 16, ' All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth ? All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee; they hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed her up,' &c. Ah, how many such monsters are there in these days, who express their derision, disdain, and contempt of holiness and holy persons, by all the scornful gestures, postures, and expressions imaginable; that clap their hands, that hiss, that wag their head, that gnash their teeth, and that say, Lo, these are your saints, these are your holy ones, your perfect ones, your beautiful ones ! It is very sad to want holiness, but it is saddest of all to deride holiness, to disdain holiness. Of this evil spirit Salvian complained in his time. What madness is this, saith he, amongst Christians, that if a man be good he is despised as if he were evil! if he be evil, he is honoured as if he were good! i And as great cause have we to complain of the prevalency of the same evil spirit in our times. If the wife be holy, how is she despised by her unholy husband as if she were wicked! 1 Cor. vii. 16 ; if she be wicked, how is she honoured as if she were holy ! So if the child be gracious, how is he disdained as if he were graceless ! if he be graceless, how is he admired as if he were gracious ! So if a servant be godly, how is he scorned as if he were godless! if he be godless, how is he applauded as if he were godly! Certainly God will never endure such to stand in his sight, who cannot endure the sight of holiness, Ps. i. 5. Doubtless God will never give them any room in heaven, who will not so much as give holiness a little house-room, I say not heart-room, here. He that now despises and disdains holiness in others, shall at last be eternally despised and disdained for want of holiness himself

Use 2.—The second use is a use of trial and examination. Is it so, that real holiness is the only way to happiness ? must men be holy on earth, or else they shall never come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in heaven ? Oh then, what cause hath every one to try and examine whether he hath this real holiness, without which there is no happiness, or no ! Now because this is a point of great importance, and a mistake here may undo a man for ever; and considering the great averseness and backwardness of men's hearts to this noble and necessary work, I shall therefore in the first place propose some considerations to provoke all your hearts to fall in good earnest upon

^ Salvian de Quber., lib. iy.

this great point of trial and examination. Now to this purpose consider,

1. First, It is 'possible for you to know whether you have this real holiness or not; it is possible for you by the light of the Spirit, by the light of the word, and by the light of your own consciences, to see whether holiness, which is the image of God, be stamped upon your souls or no.i Though it be impossible for thee to climb up to heaven to search the records of glory, to see whether thy name be written in the book of life, yet it is possible for thee to go down into the chambers of thine own soul, to enter into the withdrawing-rooms of thine own heart, and there to read what impressions of holiness are upon thee. Though this work be hard and difficult, yet it is noble and possible; though the heart be deceitful and full of shifts, yet it is possible for a man to make such a curious, such a narrow, such a diligent, such a faithful, and such an impartial search into his own soul, as that he may certainly know whether he hath that real holiness that is the pledge of immortal happiness or no ; it is possible for him that hath this jewel, this holiness, to know it, to find it, and in the beautiful face of holiness to read his own everlasting happiness. I might call in the experiences of many precious saints—as Abraham, Noah, Jacob, David, Job, Paul, and others—to bear witness to this truth; but I suppose it is needless. What great and weighty, what high and hard, what hazardous and dangerous things do many soldiers, saUors, sick patients, and others, attempt and undertake, upon the mere account of a possibility! It is possible that the soldier may win the field; it is possible that the mariner may make a happy voyage ; it is possible that the sick patient may recover; it is possible that he that strives for mastery may overcome, &c. Now upon this very account, that it is possible, what will they stick at ? what will they not attempt and endeavour to effect ? And why then should not Christians, upon the account of a possibility, make a diligent search after that holiness that will at last throne the soul in everlasting happiness? Well, Christians, as a possibility of obtaining grace and mercy should bear up your hearts against despair; as a possibility of obtaining a pardon should keep up your hearts in a seeking and a waiting way; and as a possibility of salvation by Christ should be argument sufficient to work a soul to venture itself upon Christ; so a possibility of knowing whether you have this pearl of price, holiness, should work you to make a diligent search and inquiry after it. 2 Let no man do more upon the account of a possibility for this world, than you will do upon the account of a possibility for another world: let no man do more upon the account of a possibility for his body, than you will do upon the account of a possibility for your souls: let no man do more upon the account of a possibility for temporals, than you will do upon the account of a possibility for eternals. It is possible for you to know whether this babe of giace, holiness, be formed in your souls or no; and therefore search and inquire after it. 2. Secondly, Consider this, that it is a point of very great concem-

^ See my Treatise of ' Assurance,' page 1 to 26, where you have this truth made fully evident. [In this edition, vol. ii. pp. 318, seq. —G.] » Mark x. 27, xiv. 36, and ix. 23; Luke xviii. 27.

ment to you to knoio ivhetJier you liave this real holiness or no. Your souls lies upon it, eternity lies upon it, your all lies upon it, and an error here may make a man miserable for ever. It is good for thee to know the state of thy body, the state of thy family, the state of thy flock, but it is of infinite more consequence for thee to know the state of thine o^vn soul. Multi midta sciunt, se autem nemo —No man lives so miserable, nor no man dies so sadly, as he that lives and dies a stranger to his own soul. It is good for thee to set all reckonings even between thyseK and others, but it is far better to set all reckonings even between God and thine own soul. Ah, how many are there who are better known to others than they are to themselves I and who are able to give a better account of their lands and lordships, of their treasures and manors, yea, of their horses, hawks, and hounds, than they are of the state of their souls ! i Ah, how many are there that are very inquisitive to know things to come, to know what will be hereafter, to know whether they shall be great and rich in the world, Eccles. vii. 10, to know whether they shall be prosperous and successful in their undertakings, to know whether they shall be crowned with length of days, or whether they shall be cut off in the flower of their age; to know the secret counsels of princes, and what will be the issue of such and such mutations and revolutions that have happened amongst us; and yet are not at all inquisitive after the state of their souls, nor whether they have this real holiness, without which there is no happiness! ^ They never inquire what will become of them hereafter ; they never inquire what state they shall enter upon after death, whether upon a state of eternal woe or a state of everlasting bliss. Of all acquaintances in this world, there is none to that of a mans being acquainted with the state of his own soul. A mistake about my outward condition may trouble me, but a mistake about my spiritual condition may damn me. There are many ways to make up my mistakes about temporals, but there is no way to make up my mistakes about eternals. If at last I shall be found to be mistaken in the great concernments of my soul, I am undone for ever. Well, sirs, you are in a state of nature or in a state of grace ; you are in a state of darkness or in a state of light; you are in a state of life or in a state of death; you are in a state of love or in a state of wrath; you are either goats or sheep, sons or slaves; you are either in the broad way to destruction or in the narrow way of salvation; and therefore what can be of greater concernment in this world to you than to know in which of these two spiritual estates you are in ? How can you order aright your prayers, or your praises, or any religious services, till you come to know in which of these two spiritual estates you stand?—whether you be in a state of nature or in a state of grace, in a state of sin or in a state of holiness: for all religious duties must be ordered according to men's spnitual estates. If a man be in a state of nature, his work lies one way; if he be in a state of holiness, his work lies another way; by all which it is most evident that it very nearly concerns you to search and try whether you have this bird of paradise, holiness, in your

^ Luke xii. 16-21, and xvi. 19, 26. , . ,

^ Job xxi. 23, 24; Isa. xli. 22, 23, and xliii.9,10. The heathens did admire that saying as an oracle, Nosce te ipsum —Know thy own self. , . VOL. IV. Q

bosoms or no. And for a close, let me say, that a mistake about your spiritual estate will at last be found not only insufferable and inexcusable, but very terrible and damnable.

3. Thirdly, Consider that a cordial willingness to enter upon this loorh of trial, is a hopeful evidence of your real integrity and sanctity. Unsanctified souls hate the light; they had rather go to hell in the dark, than come to be weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, John iii. 20. As pure gold fears neither fire nor furnace, neither test nor touchstone, neither one balance nor another, so a pure heart, a sanctified soul, dares venture itself upon trial, yea, upon the very trial of God. For he knows that God never brings a pair of scales to weigh his graces, but only a touchstone to try the truth of his graces; he knows if his gold be true, though it be never so little, it will pass for current with God.^ As bankrupts care not for casting up their accounts, because they know aU is naught, very naught, stark naught with them; so unsanctified souls they care not to come to the trial, to the test, because they know that all is naught, yea, worse than naught with them. They have no mind to cast up their spiritual estates, because at the foot of the account they must be put to read their neck-verse, * Undone, undone, for ever undone.' 2 And, therefore, as old deformed women cannot endure to look into the looking-glass, lest their wrinkles and deformity should be discovered; so unsanctified souls cannot endure to look into the glass of the gospel, lest their deformities, impieties, and wickednesses should be discovered and detected. I have read of the elephant, how unwilling he is to go into the water, but when he is forced into it, he puddles it, lest by the clearness of the stream he should discern his own deformity; so unholy persons are very unwilling to look into their own hearts, or into the clear streams of Scripture, lest their souls' deformity and ugliness should appear, to their own terror and amazement. And therefore, as you would have a hopeful evidence of your integrity and sanctity, fall upon this work of trial. For as it is a hopeful evidence that the client's cause is good, when he is ready and willing to enter upon a trial, and as it is a hopeful sign that a man's gold is true gold, when he is willing to bring it to the touchstone, and that a man thrives, when he is willing to cast up his books; so it is a hopeful evidence that a Christian hath real holiness, when he is ready and willmg to bring his holiness to the test, to try whether it be true or no—when he is willing to cast up his books, that he may see what he is worth for another world, Gal. vi. 4, 5.

4. Fourthly, Consider that there are very many that deceive themselves about their spiritual estates. It is the easiest thing in the world for a man to deceive himself, Job xv. 34, and Pro v. xxx. 12. There are those that do but think that they stand, (1 Cor. x. 12,) and these at last come to fall from their seeming standing into a real hell—yea, from their highest standing into the lowest hell. There are many that think themselves to be something, when they are nothing, Gal. vi. 3. There are many that have a form of godliness, but none of the power, 2 Tim. iii. 8. There are many that have a name to live, but are dead, Rev. iii. 1. There are many that are very confident of their integrity, and yet are full of horrible hypocrisy. There are many that

* Job xxxi. 6, 6} Pa. xxvi. 2; cxxxiz. 23, 24 j Mat. xii. 20. « Aa before.—G.

carry the lamps of profession, that have no oil of grace in their hearts. There are many that take a good nature for grace, civility for sanctity, and a garb of godliness for real holiness—^yea, there are those who dare say that they excel others in holiness, when, in truth, they exceed most men in wickedness i—yea, there are many now in hell who have had a great confidence of going to heaven. There are many that cry out with Agag, ' Surely the bitterness of death is past,' wrath is past, and hell is past, and damnation is past, whenas vengeance is ready to fall on them, and hell stands gaping to devour them. The heart of man is full of self-love, full of self-flattery, and full of hypocrisy, and therefore many a man who is only a Jew outwardly, thinks himself to be a Jew inwardly, Eom. ii. 28, 29. Many a man thinks himself to be as good a Christian as the best, and to be as happy as the best, and to be as fair for heaven as the best, till he comes to hear that tormenting word, ' Depart, I know ye not.' As many are kept off from Christ by a conceit that they have him already, so many are kept off from holiness by a conceit that they have it already. And therefore it doth very much concern you to make a diligent inquiry whether you have that holiness without which there is no happiness, or no. I have read of Plato, that when he did walk in the streets, if he saw any disordered in speech, disguised in drink, or otherwise out of frame, he would say to himself, Num ego talis? —Am I such a one as this is ? Am I such a swearer as this is ? Am I such a drunkard as this is ? Am I such a wanton as this is ? Am I such a riotous person as this ? &c. So should every Christian say when he hears of any that doth but think that they stand, Num ego talis? —Am I such a one as this is ? When he sees one that thinks himseK something when he is nothing, he should say, Am I such a one as this is ? When he sees a man to have a form of godliness, but no power, he should say, Am I such a one as this is ? When he hears of a man that hath a name to live, but is spiritually dead, he should say, Am I such a one as this is ? &c. And when he hears or reads of one that is really holy, he should say, Am I such a one as this is ? As you would not put a cheat upon your own souls, it highly concerns you to try whether you have real holiness or no. Look, as many young children catch many a fall out of a strong conceit of their abilities to go, so many a man, out of a strong conceit that he hath holiness when he hath none, catches many a fall in an eternal fall at last. The best way to prevent an everlasting miscarriage, is to make a privy search after holiness in thine own heart.

5. Fifthly, Consider that there is a great deal of counterfeit grace and holiness in the world. There is not more counterfeit coin this day in the world than there is counterfeit holiness in the world. Look, as many Bristows2 stones, and counterfeit gems, do so shine and sparkle like true jewels, that if a man be not very careful he may be easily cheated; so counterfeit grace, counterfeit holiness, doth so shine and sparkle, they do so nearly resemble real holiness, and the sanctifying and saving graces of the Spirit, that a man may be easily mistaken, if he do not make a narrow search. Doth the gracious soul

1 Isa. ix. 17, xxix. 13; Jer. vii. 4, 8-11; Kev. iii 16-18; Iaa.lxy. 2-5; Mat xxv. 'Query ' Bristol"?—G.

abstain from gross sins ? so doth the formahst too. Do saints fast and pray ? so do Pharisees too. Doth Peter shed tears ? so doth Esau too. Doth Peter repent ? so doth Judas too. Doth CorneHus give ahns ? so do the Pharisees too. Doth Zaccheus believe ? so doth Simon Magus too. Doth David confess his sin ? so doth Saul too. Doth David delight in approaching to God ? so doth Isaiah's hypocrites too. Doth Hezekiah humble himself? so doth Ahab and the king of Nineveh too. Doth a gracious soul hear the word with joy ? so did Herod too. Doth a gracious soul receive the word with joy ? so did the stony ground too. Doth a gracious soul delight in his teacher ? so did Ezekiel's worldlings too. Is a gracious soul in closet duties ? so is the Pharisee too, &c.i When counterfeit coin is abroad, you will not take a piece but you will try it; you will bring every piece to the touchstone. Ah that you would deal so by your holiness ! There is a great deal of counterfeit holiness abroad, and therefore you had need bring yours to the trial. As all is not gold that glisters, so all is not holiness that men take for holiness, that men count for holiness. The child is not more like the father, nor one brother like another. Wine in the bottle is not more like to wine in the butt, nor water in the cistern more like to water in the river, nor fire in the forge more like to fire in the chimney, nor milk in the saucer to milk in the breasts, than counterfeit grace and hohness is like to that which is real. Counterfeit faith doth so nearly resemble true faith, and counterfeit love true love, and counterfeit repentance true repentance, and counterfeit obedience true obedience, and counterfeit knowledge true knowledge, and counterfeit holiness true holiness, that it is not an easy matter to discover the one from the other. The Cyprian diamond, saith Pliny, looks so like the true Indian diamond, that if a man do not look warily to it he may easily be deceived and cheated. 0 sirs, true grace and counterfeit, true holiness and counterfeit, look so like one another, that, without a divine light to guide you, you may be easily cheated and deceived for ever. In these days of profession there is abundance of false ware put off. Satan is a subtle merchant; and where profaneness will not pass for current coin, there he labours to furnish his customers with the shows and resemblances of grace and holiness, that so he may hold them the faster in golden fetters, and put them off from looking after that real holiness, without which no man can be blessed here, or happy hereafter. And therefore it nearly concerns every man to search and try whether he hath real holiness or no.

6. Sixthly, Consider, if upon trial you slmll find in you iliis real holiness that paves the ivay to happiness, it luill turn exceedingly to your accounts. Thy happiness depends upon the real being of holi^ ness in thee, but thy comfort depends upon thy seeing of hohness. Keal holiness will yield thee a heaven hereafter ; but the seeing of holiness will yield thee a heaven here. He that hath holiness and

' Mat. XXV. 1-4; Ezra viii.; Esther iv. ; Daniel ix.; Mat. vi. 16; Luke xviii. 11; Mat. xxvii.; Heb. xii. ; Mat. vi. ; Acts x. 1-4; Luke xix. 11; Acts xxi. 8 ; 1 Sam. xv. 24; Isa. Iviii.; 2 Chron. xxxii. 26 ; 1 Kings xxii. 15; Jonah iii.; Mark vi.; Ezek. xxxiii. 30-33 ; Luke xviii. 11. The diflference between these true and counterfeit graces 18 largely discovered in my Treatise on ' Assurance.' [In Works, vol. ii., pp. 319, seq.— G.]

knows it, shall have two heavens—a heaven of joy, comfort, peace, content, and assurance here, and a heaven of happiness and blessedness hereafter ; but he that hath holiness and doth not know it, shall certainly be saved, yet so as by fire; he shall have a heaven at last, but he must pass to it by the flaming sword, 1 Cor. iii. 11,16. When Ti person is heir to a great estate, and knows it, when a person is son to a king, and knows it, when a person is highly in favour, and knows it, when a person is out of all hazard and danger, and knows it, when a person's pardon is sealed, and he knows it, then the spring of joy and comfort rises in him ; so when a man is holy, and knows it, then the spring of divine joy and comfort rises in his soul, as the waters rise in Ezekiel's sanctuary, Ezek. xlvii. 2-5. The knowledge of the goodness and holiness of thy estate will make heavy afflictions light, long afflictions short, and bitter afflictions sweet, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18; 1 Cor. xv. 58. The knowledge of the goodness and holiness of thy estate will make thee frequent, fervent, constant, and abundant in the work of the Lord. The knowledge of the goodness and holiness of thy estate will strengthen thy faith, raise thy hope, inflame thy love, increase thy patience, and brighten thy zeaL The knowledge of the goodness and holiness of thy estate will make every mercy sweet, every duty sweet, every ordinance sweet, and every providence sweet. The knowledge of the goodness and holiness of thy estate will rid thee of all thy sinful fears and cares; it will give thee ease under every burden, and it will make death more desirable than life, Phil. i. 22, 23 ; 2 Cor. v. 1, 10. The knowledge of the goodness and holiness of thy estate will make thee more strong to resist temptation, more victorious over opposition, and more silent in every condition. The knowledge of the goodness and holiness of thy estate will turn every winter night into a summer's day, every cross into a crown, and every wilderness into a paradise. The knowledge of the goodness and holiness of thy estate will be a sword to defend thee, a staff" to support thee, a cordial to strengthen thee, a plaster to heal thee, and a star to lead thee. And oh, who then will not take some pains with his own heart to know the goodness and holiness of his own estate ? Well, remember this, next to a man's being holy, it is the greatest mercy in this world to know that he is holy. But if upon trial a man shall find that his estate is bad, and that his holiness is not of the right stamp, yet this will be many ways a mercy and an advantage to him. For the way to be found, is to see yourselves lost: the way to infinite merpy ;§ to see your own misery ; the way to Canaan is througvVthe wilc|erii6ss ; the way to heaven is by the gates of hell. Upon the kno\^ledge of the badness and sadness of thy estate, thou wilt be awakened out of thy security and thou wait be alarmed to loathe thyself, to judge thyself, to condi^n^n thyself, to be sick of sin, to break with Satan, and to cloMa with Christ. Now the daily language of thy soul will be, ' Men and brethren, what shall I do to be saved ? ' Acts il 37,42, and xvi. 22, 35. Oh, what shall I do to get my sinful nature changed, my hard heart softened, my blind mind enlightened, my polluted conscience purged, and my poor naked soul with grace and holiness adorned ? Now the daily language of thy soul will be that of the martyr, ' Oh, none but Christ, none but Christ!' Oh, none but Christ to pardon me ; none but Christ

to justify me ; none but Christ to command me ; none but Christ to save me; and none but Christ to reign over me. Now the language of thy soul will be this, Oh, though I have formerly thought myself to be wise, yet now I see myself to be a fool! Oh that Christ would be wisdom to me ! 1 Cor. i. 30, 31. Oh, now I see myself to be red with guilt, and black with filth ! Oh that Christ would be righteousness to me 1 Oh, now I see myself to be unclean, unclean ! Oh that Christ would be sanctification to me 1 Oh, now I see myself to be in a damnable condition! Oh that Christ would be redemption to me ! Eev. iii. 16-18. Oh, now I see myself naked ! Oh that Christ would clothe me ! Now I see myself poor and miserable! Oh that Christ would enrich me ! Now I feel myself to be hungry ! Oh that Christ would be bread of life to feed me ! Now I perceive myself to be lost! Oh that Christ would seek me! Now I fear that I am perishing! Oh that Christ would save me 1 Now the language of your souls wiU be that of the lepers, ' If we stay here, we die,' 2 Kings vii. 3-6 ; if we stay in our unsanctified and unrenewed estate, we die ; if we stay in our sins, we die ; if we stay on our duties, we die; if we stay on a conceited or counterfeit holiness, we die ; if we stay on a form of godliness, we die ; if we stay on a name to live, we die ; if we stay where the world stays, we die ; if we stay in anything a-this side Christ and real holiness, we die, we eternally die ; and therefore, let us arise and make a venture of our souls upon Christ, and pursue after that holiness without which there is no happiness. But,

7. Seventhly and lastly. Consider that there are many that are truly holy, that have real holiness in them, and yet for want of a narrow search, a diligent inquiry into their spiritual estates, they come to he sorely and sadly afflicted with fears and doubts about their wants of holiness. As the treasures of this world often lie obscure and hid in the bowels of the earth, so the treasures of holiness often lie obscure and hid in many a gracious soul, for want of a privy search. As it is one mercy for me to believe, and another mercy for me to know that I do believe, 1 John v. 13; as it is one mercy for me to be beloved, and another mercy for me to know that I am beloved, Ps. iv. 6, and li. 1-3; as it is one mercy for me to be pardoned in the court of glory, and another mercy for me to know that I am pardoned in the court of conscience; as it is one mercy for me to have my name written in the book of life, and another mercy for me to be told that my name is written in that book, Luke 'x. 20; so it is one mercy for me to have real holiness in me, and another mercy for me to see it and to know it. As we many times complain of the want of those things that we have in om* hands, so many dear Christians complain of the want of that holiness that they htive in their hearts. As the well, the spring of water, was near to Hagaj: though, she saw it not. Gen. xxi. 16-19 ; so the sprmg of holiness is near to many a Christian, yea, it is in many a Christian, and yet he sees it not, he knows it not. As Jacob once said, ' The Lord was in this place, and I knew it not,' Gen. xxviii. 16; so many a precious soul may say, I had real holiness in my heart, and I knew it not. As the face of Moses did shine, but he saw it not, he knew it not, though others did see it and take notice of it, Exod. xxxiv. 29-35; so holiness shines in many a Christian's heart and life, yet corruptions

raise such a dust in his soul that he sees it not, he knows it not, though others can see it, tal^e notice of it, and bless and admire the Lord for it. As there be some that think they are rich, when they are not; and that say they are rich, when they are not, Kev. iii. 16, 17; Prov. xiii. 7; so there be others that are rich, and yet they will not say it, nor beheve it; so there be some that think they have holiness, when they have not, yea, that say they have holiness when they have not, Isa. Ixv. 3-6; Mark viii. 18; so there be others that have real holiness, and yet they dare not think so, they dare not say so; yea, they are apt, in times of temptation, desertion, sore afflictions, and when they are under the sensible stirrings of strong corruptions, to conclude that they have no holiness, no grace, when indeed they have. Witness Job, chap. xiii. 24, and xix. 9; witness David, Ps. xxii. 1, 2; witness Asaph, Ps. Ixxvii. 2, 11; witness Heman, Ps. Ixxxviii. 1, 17; witness Jeremiah, Lam. iii. 18; witness the whole church, Isa. xlix. 15, 16; Ezek. xxxvii. 11, 12; and witness the disciples, John xiv. 4, 5, 7-9, 20, compared. To know ourselves to be holy, is very desirable; but woe were to many precious Christians if they might not be holy and yet not know it, if they might not have holiness in their hearts, when the appearance of holiness is hid from their eyes. Look, as sparks and coals of fire are often hid under the ashes, and we see them not; and as in winter the sap and life is hid in the root of the tree, and we perceive it not; and as precious flowers are hid in their seeds, and we discern them not; so when it is winter with a Christian, his holiness may be so hid and covered under fears, doubts, sins, &c., that he may not be able to see it, to discern it, or conclude that he hath it. As the air is sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy, and the sea sometimes ebbing and sometimes flowing; so the holiness of the saints is sometimes so clouded, and at so low an ebbj that a Christian can hardly discern it, he can hardly say, Lo, here is my holiness ! The being of holiness in the soul is one thing, the seeing of holiness in the soul is another thing; the being of holiness is one thing, the feeling of holiness is another thing. A Cliristian may as safely conclude that there are no stars in the sky in a dark night, because he cannot see tliem; and that there is no treasure in the mine, because he cannot discern it, nor come to the feeling of it, as he may conclude that he hath no holiness in his heart, because he cannot see it, he cannot feel it. As the treasures of this world, so the treasures of holiness oftentimes lie low: a man must dig deep before he can come at them, Prov. ii. 3-6. As the babe lives in the womb, but doth not know it; and as the sun often shines into the house, and a man doth not see it: so the babe of grace may be formed in the soul, and yet a Christian not know it; and the sun of holiness may shine in his soul, and yet he not see it. ^ Oh, therefore, how greatly doth it concern Christians to make a diligent, a narrow, and a serious search into their own hearts, whether they have this jewel of glory—holiness—in their souls or no! And if these arguments will not provoke you to faU upon this work of trial, I know not what will.

But methinks I hear some of you saying, 0 sir, how shall we do to know whether we have this real holiness or no ? we see it is our very

great concernment to know whether God hath sown this heavenly seed in our souls or no : but how shall we come to know this ? Now to this I answer, there are several ways whereby this may be discovered. As,

1. First, A person of real holiness is much affected and taken tip in the admiration of the holhiess of God. Unholy persons may be somewhat aiFected and taken with other of the excellencies of God; but it is only holy souls that are affected and taken with the holiness of God: Exod. XV. 11, * Who is like unto thee, 0 Lord, amongst the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?' In this stately description of God, holy Moses is most taken up in magnifying and admiring the holiness of God. Holiness is that glory of the Creator that holy ones most delight to glory in. So holy David : Ps. Ixxi. 22, ' Unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel:' so Isa. xii. 6, ' Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee:' so Ps. Ixxviii. 41, and Lxxxix. 19, &c,; Isa. xliii. 3, and xlix. 7. The inhabitants of Zion must shout and hoUow out, (as the Hebrew word carries it,) in token of joy, because he that is great and in the midst of them is the Holy One of Israel. So Hab. i. 12, ' Art not thou from everlasting, 0 Lord my God, my Holy One?' Among holy ones, none to the Holy One: yea, the more holy any are, the more deeply are they affected and taken with the holiness of God: as you may see in Isa. vi. 3, ' And one cried unto another'—or this cried to this—and said, ' Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.' The holy seraphims, by trebling the acclamation of his holiness, ' Holy, holy, holy,' do denote not only the superlative eminency, glory, and excellency of God's holiness, but also they do discover how greatly, how abundantly they are affected and taken with the holiness of God. To the holy angels, the holiness of God is the sparkling diamond in the ring of glory. But now unholy persons are rather affected and taken with anything than with the holiness of God. The carnal-secure sinner is affected and taken with the patience, forbearance, and long-suffering of God: Oh, saith he, what a God of patience is this, that hath waited so many years for my repentance! that he that might long since have damned me, waits still to save me ! that he who might long since have cast me into hell, is still willing that I should go to heaven ! The presumptuous sinner is much affected and taken with the mercy and goodness of God. Well, saith the presumptuous sinner, though I have sinned thus and thus, yet God hath been merciful to me; and though I do sin daily thus and thus, yet God is still merciful to me; and though I should still go on to sin sevenfold more, yet he would be merciful to me, Deut. xxix. 18-21; Eccles. viii. 11. He doth not delight in the death of a sinner, nor in the damnation of souls; oh, what a merciful God is God ! The prosperous sinner, he is taken with the bounty and liberality of God. Oh, saith he, what a bountiful God, what a liberal God is this, who fills my barns, who fills my bags, who prospers me at home and abroad, who hath blest me with a healthful body, a fair estate, a saving wife, a full trade, laborious servants, and thriving

children! &c. But where is there a sinner in all the world that is affected and taken with the holiness of God ? Certainly there is nothing that renders God so formidable and terrible to unholy persons as liis holiness doth: Isa. xxx. 11, ' Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease fi-om before us.' Oh that you would not preach so much, nor talk so much to us of the Holy One of Israel! Oh that you would once cease from molestr ing and vexing us with message upon message from the Holy One 1 Why cannot you as well talk and preach to us of the merciful one, the compassionate One, the affectionate One, the pitiful One, &c., as be still a-talking to us of the Holy One, the Holy One 1 Ok, we love not to hear it! Oh, we cannot tell how to bear it! Nothing strikes the sinner into such a damp as a discourse on the holiness of God; it is as the handwriting upon the wall, Dan. v, 4-6; nothing makes the head and heart of a sinner to ache like a sermon upon the Holy One; nothing galls and gripes, nothing stings and terrifies unsanctified ones, like a lively setting forth of the holiness of God, Hab. i. 13. But now to holy souls, there are no discourses that do more suit them and satisfy them, that doth more delight and content them, that doth more please and profit them, than those that do most fully and powerfully discover God to be glorious in holiness. Well, this is an everlasting truth; he that truly affects the holiness of God, and affects God for his holiness, is certainly made partaker of his holiness. If you are really holy, you are much affected and taken with the holiness of God. Souls, what say you to this ? But, 2. Secondly, True holiness is diffusive. Bonum est sui communica-tivum ; it doth extend, diffuse, and spread itself all over the soul; it spreads itself over head and heart, lip and life, inside and outside: Ps. xlv. 13, ' The king's daughter is all glorious within, her clothing is of wrought gold.' Inward holiness is the inward glory of the king's daughter. The king's daughter is ' all glorious within ;' her understanding is hanged with holiness, her mind is adorned with holiness, her will is bowed to holiness, and all her affections are sprinkled, yea, clothed with holiness. Her love is holy love, her grief is holy grief, her joy is holy joy, her sorrow is holy sorrow, her fear is holy fear, her care is holy care, her zeal is holy zeal; and her clothing is of' wrought gold'—that is, her life and conversation, which is as visible to others as the clothes she wears, is very sparkling and shining in grace and holiness. True sancti-fication is throughout, it reaches to soul, body, and spirit, 1 Thes. v. 23. True holiness is a divine leaven, which leavens the whole man. Mat. xiii. 33. Look, as leaven diffuses itself through the whole dough, so true holiness diffuses itself through the whole man. Look, as Absalom's beauty was spread all over him, even from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, 2 Sam. xiv. 25, so the beauty of holiness spreads itself over every member of the body, and every faculty of the soul. Look, as Solomon's temple was glorious both within and without, so holiness makes all glorious both within and without. Look, as Adam's sin spread itself over the whole man, so that holiness that we have by the ' second Adam' spreads itself over the whole man; so that that man that is not all over holy, that is not throughout holy, that man was never truly holy, 1 John i. 16. Look, as that holmess which was

in Christ did diffuse and spread itself over all Christ; so that his person was holy, his natures were holy, his heart was holy, his language was holy, and his life was holy; so real holiness spreads itself over head, hand, heart, lip, and life, 1 Pet. i. 15. The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, Eph. v. 9; he that is truly good, is all over good; he hath goodness engraven upon his understanding, and goodness engraven upon his judgment, and goodness engraven upon his will, and goodness engraven upon his affections, and goodness engraven upon his inclination, and goodness engraven upon his disposition, and goodness engraven upon his conversation. He that is not all over good is not really good. There are those that have new heads but old hearts, new words but old wills, new expressions but old affections, new memories but old minds, new notions but old conversations; and these are as far off from true holiness, as the Pope, the Turk, and the devil are from real happiness. In every holy person there are many divine miracles: there is a dead man restored to life, a dumb man restored to speech, a blind man restored to sight, a deaf man restored to hearing, a lame man restored to walking, a man possessed with devils possessed with grace, a heart of stone turned into a heart of flesh, and a life of wickedness turned into a life of holiness. If it be thus with thee, I dare write thee, and caU thee both holy and happy. But,

3. Thirdly, Persons of real hoHness do set the highest price and the greatest value and esteem upon those that are holy; they do not, as the blind world do, value persons by their great places, names, professions, arts, parts, gifts, gay clothes, gold chains, honours, and riches, but by their holiness.^ As a holy God, so holy souls look not how rational men are, but how religious; not how notional, but how experimental; not how great, but how gracious; not how high, but how holy; and, acccordingly they value them : Ps. xvi. 3, ' But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my dehght.' Prov. xii, 26, ' The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour.' It is holiness that differences one man from another, and that exalts one man above another. A holy man is a better man than his neighbour, in the eye, account, and esteem of God, angels, and saints. There is no man to the holy man. The sun doth not more excel and outshine the stars, than a righteous man doth excel and outshine his unrighteous neighbour: Prov. xxviii. 6, ' Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.' A man of holiness prefers a holy Job, though upon the dunghill, before a wicked Ahab upon the throne; he sets a higher price upon a holy Lazarus, though clothed with rags, and full of sores, than upon a rich and wretched Dives, who is clothed gloriously, and fares sumptuously every day; as King Ingo valued poor, ragged Christians above his pagan nobles, saying, that when his pagan nobles, in all their pomp and glory, should be cast down to hell, those poor Christians should be his consorts and fellow-princes in heaven. This blind, mad world rates and values men according to their worldly interest, greatness, glory, and grandeur; but men of holiness rate and value men by their holiness, by their inward excellencies, and by what they are worth for another

^ Chrysostom called some holy men in his time iy^tKoi, earthy angels; and so Dr Taylor looked upon holy Bradford aa an angel.

world. The world judgeth him the best man in the parish that is most rich; but a holy man judgeth him the best man in the parish that is most righteous. The world counts him the best man in the town that is clothed most gorgeously; but a holy man counts him the best man in the town whose inside and outside, whose heart and life, whose body and soul is clothed with sanctity and purity. The world reckons him the best man in the city whose bags are fullest, and whose estate is largest; but a holy man reckons him the best man in the city whose heart is fullest of holiness, and who hath most to shew for a fair estate in the other world. Certainly, to a holy man, there is no wife to a holy wife, no child to a holy child, no friend to a holy friend, no magistrate to a holy magistrate, no mim'ster to a holy minister, nor no servant to a holy servant. Internal excellencies carries it with a holy man, before all external glories. The Jews say that those seventy souls that went with Jacob into Egypt were as much worth as all the seventy nations in the world. Doubtless seventy holy persons, in the esteem and judgment of those that are holy, are more worth than a whole world, yea, than seventy worlds, of unrighteous souls.^ A soul, truly holy, sets the highest price upon those that are holy. Holy Paul prized holy Onesimus as his son, Philem. 10, as himself, ver. 17, yea, as his own bowels, ver. 12; 2 Sam. xxii. 27, 'With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure,' or (as the Hebrew will bear it) ' with the choice thou wilt shew thyself choice.' Pure souls are the choicest souls in all the world: they are choice in every eye but their own. All worldly excellencies, in the judgment of a holy man, are but as copper, brass, tin, and lead; but holiness is the tried silver, the gold of Ophir, the pearl of price, in his eye that hath purity in his heart. They only rate and value men aright, who rate and value them according to their holiness; and if men were thus rated and valued, most men in the world would be found not worth the money that Judas sold his Master for. If thou prizest others for their holiness, thou art a holy person. No man can truly prize and highly value holiness in another, but he that hath holiness in his own heart. Some prize Christians for their wit, others prize them for their wealth ; some prize them for their birth and breeding, others prize them for their beauty and worldly glory; some prize them for the great things that have been done by them, others prize them for the good things that they have received from them ; some prize them for their eagles' eyes, others prize them for their silver tongues; but he that is truly holy prizes them for their holiness, he values them for their purity and sanctity. But,

4. Fourthly, He that is truly holy will be still a-reaching and stretching himself out after higher degrees of holiness; yea, a man that is truly holy can never be holy enough; he sets no bounds nor limits to his holiness; the perfection of holiness is the mark that he hath in his eye; he hears, and prays, and mourns, and studies, and strives that he may come up to the highest pitch of holiness.2 Phil. iii. 12-14, * Not as though I had already attained, or were abeady per-

1 Plato could say, that no gold or precious stones doth glister bo gloriously as the prudent spirit of a good man.

=> Pb. Ixxxiv. 7, and cxix. 106; Col. i. 10; 2 Cor. vii. 1, seq.

feet: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' i Received measures of holiness will not satisfy a holy soul; so much holiness as will keep hell and his soul asunder will not satisfy him; nor so much holiness as will bring him to happiness will not satisfy him; he will be still reaching and stretching out after the highest measures of holiness; his desires are for more holiness, Ps. xxvii. 4. The beauties of holiness do so aifect him and inflame him, that he cannot but desire to be more and more holy. Lord, saith the soul, I desire to be more holy, that I may glorify thy name more, that I may honour my profession more, and that I may serve my generation more. Lord, I desire to be more holy, that I may sin less against thee, and that I may enjoy more of thee; I would be more holy, that I may be more prevalent with thee, and that 1 may be more victorious over all things below thee. And as a man of holiness desires more holiness, so a man of holiness earnestly prays for more holiness, Ps. li. 2, 7. He prayeth that he may be filled with the fruits of righteousness, and that he may go on from faith to faith, and from strength to strength, Job xvii. 9, and Prov. iv. 18; he prayeth that his spark of holiness may be turned into a flame, his drop of holiness into a sea, and his mite of holiness into a rich treasury; he prayeth that he may, like the eagle, fly higher and higher, and that his soul may be like the rising sun, that shines brighter and brighter till it be perfect day; he prayeth that he may, like the giant refreshed, rejoice to run his course, and that holiness in his soul, like the waters in Ezekiel's sanctuary, may still be rising higher and higher. It was Beza's prayer, ' Lord, perfect what thou hast begun in me, that I may not suffer shipwreck when I am almost at heaven.' And as a man of holiness prayeth for more holiness, so a man of holiness believes for more holiness. Ps. li. 7: in your translations you read the words prayerwise, but in the Hebrew the words run in the future thus : ' Thou wOt purge me from sin with hyssop, and I shall be clean: thou wilt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.' In the sense of all his sinfulness and vileness, he believes that God will give out greater measures of purity and sanctity to him: ' Thou wilt purge me, and I shall be clean: thou wilt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.' So in Ps. Ixv. 3, ' Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.' Though for the present iniquity did prevail, yet he had faith enough to believe that God would purge him from his transgressions, and that he would mortify prevailing corruptions. And as a man of holiness believes for more holiness, so a man of holiness hopes for more holiness, 1 John iii. 2-4. In every ordinance he hopes for more holiness, and under every providence he hopes for more holiness, and under every mutation and change of his condition he hopes for more holiness, 2 Pet. iii. 14. When he is in prosperity, he hopes that God will make him

^ A metaphor from runners in a race, who strain and stretch out themselves to the utmost, that they may take hold on the mark or prize that is set before them.

more zealous, thankful, cheerful, fruitful, and useful; and when he is in adversity, he hopes that God will inflame his love, and raise his faith, and increase his patience, and strengthen his submission, and quiet his heart in a gracious resignation of himself to God. I dare boldly say that that man was never truly holy, who endeavours not to get up to the highest pitches of holiness. Ille non est bonus, qui non vult esse melior. True holiness knows no restrictions nor limitation. But now counterfeit holiness is either like Hezekiah's sun, which went backward; or like Joshua's sun, which stood still; or hke Ephraim's morning cloud, which soon passed away. No round but the highest round in Jacob's ladder will satisfy a holy soul. True holiness makes a man divinely covetous. Look, as the victorious man can never make conquests enough, nor the ambitious man can never have honour enough, nor the voluptuous man pleasure enough, nor the worldUng mammon enough, nor the wanton vain embraces enough, no more can a man of holiness have ever holiness enough in this world. As the grave and the barren womb are never satisfied, they never say it is enough. Pro v. xxx. i5, 16; so a holy man, whilst he is a-this side eternity, he is never satisfied, he can never say that he hath holiness enough.

5. Fifthly, Where there is real holiness, there is a holy hatred, detestation, and indignation against all ungodliness and wickedness, and that upon holy accounts : ^ Ps. cxix. 101, ' I have refrained my feet from every evil way.' But why ? ' That I may keep thy word ;' ver. 104, ' Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.' The good that he got by divine precepts stirred up his hatred against every false way: ver. 128, ' Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.' His high esteem of every precept raised up in him a holy indignation against every evil way. A holy man knows that all sin strikes at the hoKness of God, the glory of God, the nature of God, the being of God, and the law of God; and therefore his heart rises against all; he looks upon every sin, as the Scribes and Pharisees that accused Christ; and as that Judas that betrayed Christ; and that Pilate that condemned Christ; and those soldiers that scourged Christ; and as those spears that pierced Christ; and therefore his heart cries out for justice upon all. He looks upon every sin as having a hand in the death of his Saviour, and therefore he cries out, Crucify them all, crucify them aU; he looks upon every sin as a grieving of the Spirit, as a vexing of the Spirit, and as a quenching of the Spirit; and so nothing will satisfy him but the ruin of them all. 2 He looks upon every sin as a dishonour to God, as an enemy to Christ, as a wound to the Spirit, as a reproach to the gospel, and as a moth to his holiness ; and therefore his heart and his hand is against every sin. But now, if you will but look into the Scriptures, you shall find that all those that have been but pretenders to holiness, their hearts have been always engaged to some one way of wickedness or another, Isa. Iviii. 1, 9 ; Zech. vii. 4-7. Jehu was very zealous against idolaters; but yet his heart was engaged to his golden calves. Herod hears John Baptist

^ True hatred is irpJs to. yevri, against the whole kind. [As before.—0.] = Eph. iv. 30 ; Isa. Ixiii. 10 ; 1 Thes. v. 19.

gladly, and reforms -many things, Mark vi. &c.; but yet his Herodias must still lie in his bosom. Judas was as forward in religious services as any others, but yet money did bear the mastery with him, John xii. 6. The Pharisees made long prayers, that they might the better make a prey upon widows' houses. Mat. xxiii. 19, and xxvi. 23. The young man offered fair for heaven, but yet his possessions had so possessed and locked up his heart, that Christ could get no entrance. Though Simon Magus believed, and was baptized, and wondered at the miracles and signs which were done by Philip ; yet for all these shows of godliness, he was a prisoner to his lusts; his condition was dangerous, poisonous, and odious; he was in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity, Acts viii. 13-23. So those in Mat. vii. 21-23, though they complimented with Christ, saying, ' Lord, Lord;' though they prophesied in Christ's name, and cast out devils in Christ's name; yea, though they did not a few, jjut many wonderM works in Clirist's name ; yet all this while they were workers of iniquity, they were artists in sin; they were so addicted to sin, that they made a trade of sin.i Look, as every lion hath his den, every dog his kennel, every sow her sty, and every crow her nest; so every unholy person hath one sin or another, to which his heart is engaged and married; and that sin will undo him for ever. As Lysimachus lost his earthly kingdom by drinking one draught of water, 2 so many lose a heavenly kingdom by indulging some one sin or other. One flaw spoils the diamond, one treason makes a traitor, one turn brings a man quite out of the way, one leak sinks the ship, one wound strikes Goliath dead, one Delilah betrays Samson, one broken wheel spoils the whole clock, and one fly spoils the whole box of ointment. And as one bastard destroyed Gideon's seventy sons. Judges viii., so one predominant sin is enough to destroy the soul for ever. As by taking one nap Samson lost his strength, and by eating one apple Adam lost paradise ; so many men, by favouring one sin, lose God, heaven, and their souls for ever. He that favours any sin, though he frowns upon many, doth but as Benhadad, recover of one disease and die of another; yea, he takes pains to go to hell. Sin favoured ever ends tragically. And as no unholy heart rises against all sin, so no unholy heart disdains sin or rises against sin upon noble accounts, upon holy and heavenly accounts. Sometimes you shall have an unholy person angry with sin, and falling out with sin, because it hath cracked his credit, or clouded his honour, or hindered his profit, or embittered his pleasure, or enraged his conscience, or exposed him to shame here and hell hereafter: but never because a righteous law is transgressed, a holy God is dishonoured, a loving Saviour is afresh crucified, or the blessed Spirit grieved. It is between a holy and an unholy soul, as it is between two children ; one will not touch the coal because it will smut him, and the other will not touch it because it will burn him. A holy heart rises against sin because of its defiling nature; but an unholy heart rises against sin because of its burning and damning nature. A holy man is most affected and afflicted with the evil that is in sin;

^ Qui hahet unicum Tntium, habet omnia: He that hath any one vice, hath all other with it, saith Seneca truly. * Plutarch: de ser : num. vindict: as before.—G.

but an unholy heart is most affected and afflicted with the punishment that is due to sin. A holy person hates sin because it pollutes his soul; but an unholy person hates it because it destroys his soul. A holy person loathes sin because it makes against God's holiness; but an unholy person loathes it because it provokes God's justice. A holy person detests sin because of the hell that is in sin ; but an unholy person detests sin because of the hell that follows sin. A holy heart abhors all sin; but an unholy heart is still in league with some sin, Kom. xii. 9, and vii. 15, 19 ; Isa. xxviii. 15, 18. Now because this is a point of great concernment, I shall a little more open and evidence the truth of it, in these three particulars :—

(1.) First, The heart of a holy man rises against secret sins, against such as lie furthest off from the eye of man: Ps. cxix. 113, 'I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love.' What more secret than vain thoughts ? and yet against these the heart of a holy man rises. When Joseph was tempted to be secretly wicked with his mistress, his heart rises against it: Gen. xxxix. 9, 'How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against the Lord ?' Hezekiah humbled himself for ' the pride of his heart,' 2 Chron. xxxii. 24-26. Heart-sins lie most close and secret; and yet for these a holy man humbles himself. Job would not suffer his heart, in an idolatrous way, secretly to kiss his hand. Job xxxi. 26, 27. The heart of a holy man rises against wickedness in the dark, against folly in a corner, against sin [in] a closet. So Paul was much affected and afflicted with the operations of sin within him, * with the law in his members rebelling against the law of his mind,' Kom. vii. 23, 24. Paul, after his conversion, never fell into any scandalous sin. Those sins that did most trouble him and distress him were of his own house, yea, were in his own heart. A holy man knows that secret sins are sins, as well as those that are open, Ps. xix. 12. He knows that secret sins must be repented of as well as others; he knows that God takes notice of secret sins as well as of open: 2 Sam. xii. 12, 'Thou didst it secretly;' He knows that secret sins do often interpose between God and his soul: ' Thou hast set our iniquities before thee: our secret sins in the light of thy countenance,' Ps. xc. 8. He knows that secret sins will quickly become public, except they are presently loathed and speedily mortified. Gen. xxxviii. 24-27. He knows that secret sins, like secret diseases and secret wounds, do oftentimes prove most dangerous and pernicious; he knows that secret sins are the price of blood, as well as open sin-nings. He knows that secret sins are a grief to the Spirit, as well as those that are manifest. He Imows that sometimes God punishes secret sins with manifest judgments, as you may see in that great instance of David, 2 Sam. xii. 10,18. Upon all which accounts, a holy heart rises in a detestation of secret sins. But,

(2.) Secondly, The heart of a holy man rises against tJie least sins, as well as against secret sins, in a strict sense. I know there is no sin little, because there is no little hell, no little damnation, no little law, nor no little God to sin against; but yet some sins may comparatively be said to be little, if you compare them with those that are more great and gross, that are more heinous and odious, Mat. xxiii. 24. Now the hatred of a holy man rises against the least: Ps. cxix. 163,

* I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love/ I hate, I abhor with horror, I loathe, I detest, I abominate lying as I do hell itself: so much the original word imports. David's heart smote him for the cutting off the lap of Saul's garment; and his heart smote him again for numbering of the people; and yet neither of these sins were heinous or scandalous, 1 Sam. xxiv. 5, and 2 Sam. xxiv. 10. Some write, that there is such a native dread and terror of the hawk implanted in the dove, that it detests and abhors the very sight of the least feather that hath grown upon the hawk. Certainly, there is such a holy dread of sin implanted in the heart of a saint, that he cannot but detest and abhor the least sin, yea, the very appearance of sin: his soul rises against the least motions or inclinations to evil, though they are silvered over with the most specious shows, and most glorious pretences : for he knows that the least sins are contrary to a righteous law, a holy God, and to his blessed Saviour, and the Spirit his only Comforter.!

[1.] First, A holy man knows that little sins, if Twt prevented, will bring on greater. David gives way to his wandering eye, and that led him to those scandalous sins for which God broke his bones, hid his face, and withdrew his Spirit, 2 Sam. xii. 26, seq. So Peter first denies his Master, and then forswears him, and then falls a-cursing and damning of himself. Mat. xxvi. 70-75; as the Greek word KUTavadefiaTi^eLv imports, he imprecated the wrath of God to fj^U upon him, and that he might be separated from the presence and glory of God if he knew the man; and then concludes with a most incredible lie, ' I know not the man;' whenas there was hardly a Jew which knew not Christ by face, he being very famous for the many miracles that he daily wrought before their eyes. Ah ! to what a height will sin suddenly rise! So Jacob, first he tells three lies in a breath. Gen. xxvii. 19, 20: 1.1 am Esau; 2. Thy firstborn ; 3. I have done according as thou badest me: and then he dissembled, in calling his meat ' venison;' and then he takes the name of God in vain, by entitling God to that he did: ' The Lord thy God brought it to me.' Ah, of what an encroaching nature is sin ! how insensibly and suddenly doth it get ground upon the soul! ^ I have read of a young man that was tempted to three great sins, viz., to kill his father, to lie vnth. his mother, and to be drunk; judging the last to be the least, he yielded to it, and being drunk, he killed his father,, and ravished his own mother.3 Lesser sins usually are inlets to greater: as the little thief let in at the window opens the door, and makes way for the greater; and the little wedge makes way for the greater. When Pompey could not take a city that he assaulted by force, he pretended that he would withdraw his army: only he desired that they would entertain a few of his weak and wounded soldiers, which accordingly they did. These soldiers soon recovered their strength, and opened the gates of the city, by which means Pompey's army entered and subdued the citizens. So little sins yielded to soon gather strength, and open the

^ 1 Cor. viii. 13 ; Gal. ii. 3, 4 ; Jude 23.

* So Austin confesseth that his mother Monica, by sipping and supping when she filled the cup to others, came at last to take a cup of [wine] nimis sometimes.— PltUarch, ' As before: see Wanley, xviii., § 1.—G.

door to greater; and so a conquest is made upon the soul. This a holy heart well understands, and therefore it hates and abhors the least sin.i But,

[2.] Secondly, A holy heart knows that Httle sins have exposed both sinners and saints to very great punishments. A gracious soul remembers the man that was stoned to death for gathering of sticks on the Sabbath-day. He remembers how Saul lost two kingdoms at once, his own kingdom and the kingdom of heaven, for sparing of Agag and the fat of the cattle. He remembers how the unprofitable servant, for the non-improvement of his talent, was cast into outer darkness. He remembers how Ananias and Sapphira were stricken suddenly dead for telling a lie. He remembers how Lot's wife, for a look of curiosity, was turned into a pillar of salt. He remembers how Adam was cast out of paradise for eating an apple; and the angels cast out of heaven for not keeping their standings. He remembers that Jacob smarted for his lying to his dying day. He remembers how God followed him with sorrow upon sorrow, and breach upon breach, filling up his days with grief and trouble. He remembers how Moses was shut out of the Holy Land, because he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.2 He remembers the young prophet who was slain by a lion for eating a little bread and drinking a little water, contrary to the command of God, though he was drawn thereunto by an old prophet, under a pretence of a revelation from heaven, 1 Kings xiii. He remembers how Zacharias was stricken both dumb and deaf, because he believed not the report of the angel Gabriel, Luke i. 19-62. He remembers how Uzzah was stricken dead for staying up the ark when it was in danger to have fallen. Yea, he can never forget the fifty thousand men of Beth-shemesh who were slain for looking into the ark, 2 Sam. vi. 7,8 ; 1 Sam. vi. 19-21. Now, ah, how doth the remembrance of these things stir up the hatred and indignation of a gracious soul against the least sins! A drachm of poison diffuseth itself to all parts, tUl it strangle the vital spirits, and separates the soul from the body ; a little coal of fire hath turned many a stately fabric into ashes; a little prick with a thorn may as well lall a man as a cut with a drawn sword; a little fly may spoil all the alabaster box of ointment. General Norris having received a slight wound in his arm in the wars of Ireland, made light of it, but his arm gangrened, and so he lost both arm and life together. Fabius, a senator of Kome, and lord chief-justice besides, was strangled by swallowing a small hair in a draught of milk. Three fits of an ague carried away Tamerlane, who was the terror of his time. Anacreon, the poet, was choked with the kernel of a grape. An emperor died hj the scratch of a comb. One of the kings of France died miserably by the chock^ of a hog; and his brother, with a blow of a ball at tennis, was struck into his grave. And thus you see little things have brought upon many great miseries. And so little sins may expose and make persons very liable

^ The preceding and succeeding paragraphs on * little sins' combine recollections of Spencer's * Things New and Old '—the famous folio—and of Herbert Palmer's ' Chris-

« Num. XV. 30, 37, 38 ; 1 Sam. xv. 23 ; Mat. xxv. 25, 31; Acts v. 3, 4; Gen. xix. 26 and iii. and xxvii, *' Part of the neck,' usually applied to ' veal.'—0. VOL. IV. H

to great punishments: and therefore no wonder if the heart of a holy man rises against them. Those sins which are seemingly but small, are very provoking to the great God, and very hurtful to the immortal Boul: and therefore they cannot but be the object of a Christian's hatred.

[3.] Thirdly, A holy heart knows that a holy God looks and expects that the least sins should he shunned and avoided. He looks that the cockatrice should be crushed in the egg. God looks that Babylon's little ones should be dashed against the stones, Ps. cxxxvii. 9. Not only great sins, but little ones, must be killed, or they will kill the soul. The viper is killed by the little ones that she nourishes in her own bowels; so many a man is eternally slain by the little sins that he nourishes in his own bosom. As a little stab at the heart kills a man, so a little sin, without a great deal of mercy, will damn a man. God expects that his children should ' abstain from all appearance of evil,' 1 Thes. v. 22.1 ^g thou wouldst neither wound thy conscience nor thy credit, God nor the gospel, thou must keep off from the very appearances of evil A Christian is to hate not only the flesh, but the garment; and not only the garment which is besmeared, but the very garment that is but bespotted with the flesh, Jude 23. Our first parents were not only forbidden to eat of the forbidden fruit, but they were forbidden to touch it, Gen. iii, 3. And certainly he that would not gape after forbidden fruit, must not gaze upon forbidden fruit; he that would not long after it, must not look upon it; he that would not taste it, must not touch it. The pious Nazarite was not only commanded to abstain from wine and strong drink, but also from eating grapes, whether moist or dry; yea, he was prohibited from eating anjrthing that was made of the vine-tree, from the kernels even to the husk. Num. vi. 3, 4, lest by the sweet and contentment of any of these, he should be tempted or enticed to drink wine, and so forget the law, and break his vow, and make work for hell or repentance, or the Physician of souls, Prov. xxxi. 5. Siu is so hateful a thing, that both the remote occasion, and the least occasion that might draw the soul to it, is to be avoided and shunned, as a man would avoid and shun hell itself.2 He that truly hates the nature of sin, cannot but hate the least sin, yea, all appearances of sin. A holy heart knows that the very thought of sin, if not^ thought on, will break forth into action, action into custom, custom into habit, and then body and soul are undone for ever. Look, as nothing speaks out more sincerity and real sanctity, than shunning the very appearances of vanity; so nothing speaks out more indignation against sin, than the avoiding the occasions of sin. But,

[4.] Fourthly, A holy heart knows that the indulging of the least sin is ground sufficient for any man to question his integrity and ingenuity towards God. He hath much reason to suspect himself, and to be suspected by others, who dares break with God, and with his own conscience, for a trifle. He that will transgress for a morsel of bread, will be ready enough to sell his soul for a groat, Prov. xxviii. 21. He that will pervert justice for a few pieces of silver, what will he not

^ Bernard glosseth Quicquid est male coloratum : Whatsoever is of an ill show, or ill report.

* Difficile ijuis venenum bibet et vivet: A man can hardly drink poison and live.— Cyprian. 3 Qu. < but' ?—Ed

do for a hatful of gold ? he that will sell the poor for a pair of shoes, will destroy the poor for a brace of angels,^ Amos ii. 6. He that will sell souls dog-cheap, that will slay the souls that should not die, and save the souls alive that should not live, for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, will make no bones of making merchandise of souls for silver and gold, Ezek. iii. 19. He that will sell his Saviour once for thirty pieces of silver, will sell him as often as you please for a greater sum, Zech. xi. 12. He that makes no conscience of betraying Christ into the hands of sinners for thirty shillings, will make no conscience of betraying his own soul into the hands of the devil at the price of a halter. He that dares lie to save a little of his estate, what will not he do to save his life ? These things a holy heart well understands, and the serious remembrance of them stirs up in him a holy indignation against the least transgression. But,

[5.] Fifthly and lastly. Take many things in one: a holy heart knows that the least sin cost Christ his dearest blood: Heb. ix. 22, ' Without shedding of blood there was no remission;' no remission of great sins, nor no remission of httle sins. He knows that the blood of Christ is as requisite to cleanse the soul from the least sin, as it is to cleanse it from the greatest: 1 John i. 7, ' And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all our sins.' It is not the casting of a little holy water upon us; it is not the Papists' purgatories, nor their whippings, nor St Francis his kissing or licking of our sores, nor a bishop's blessing, nor a few knocks on the breast, nor a few tears dropping from our eyes, that can cleanse us from the least sin. No, it is only the blood of Christ that cleanseth us from all our sins.^ There is not the least spot in a Christian's heart that call be washed out but in the blood of the Lamb. When Satan appeared and presented to a djdng man in a long parchment roll lus idle words, his false words, his angry words, his wanton words, and his more wicked words and deeds; the dying man answered. All this is true, Satan, but yet there is one thing more for thee to set down under all my sins, and that is this, ' The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all our sins.' Whereupon the devil vanished, as being vanquished.^ Certainly, there is not a vain thought, nor an idle word, nor an angry word, nor a wanton word that can be pardoned or cleansed but by the blood of Jesus Christ; the remembrance of which cannot but stir up a holy indignation in a gracious soul against the least corruption. When Julius Caesar the emperor was murdered, Antonius brought forth his bloody coat, and shewed it to the people, which stirred up in them such an indignation against the murderers, that they cried out, Slay the murderers: and went and burnt their houses, and aU that was in them.* So when a holy heart looks upon his sins, yea, his little sins, as those that have murdered the Prince of glory, ah, what an indignation doth it raise in the soul against them! A holy heart knOws that there is not the least sin, but doth in a measure estrange the soul from God. As little clouds do somewhat interpose between the

1'Coin'so-called.—G.

2 About little sins you may see more in my ' Precious Remedies afrainst Satan's Devices,' pp. 22, 34. [Vol. i. pp. 19-23.—G.] ^ Told of Luther.—G. * Cf. Shakespere's Julius Ceesar, iiL 2.—G.

sun and us; so little sins do somewhat interpose between God and our souls: and as sometimes a little matter, a mistake, or lending an ear, or a word out of joint, or an act of forgetfulness, doth occasion some distance between dearest friends, Acts xv. 36-41; so sometimes little sins do occasion some distance between our dearest God and our souls, Prov. xvi, 28, and xvii. 9. A holy heart knows that Christ looks upon those sins as great, which the blind world accounts but little. Christ accounts hatred murder, 1 John iii. 15 ; a wanton eye adultery, Mat. v. 28 ; and he reckons the officious lie and the merry lie amongst the most monstrous sins, and condemns it to the lowest hell, Kev. xxi. 8. The consideration of all which raises no small indignation in a holy heart against the least, the smallest sin. But now unholy hearts make nothing of little sins: with Achan they will be bond-slaves for a wedge of gold; with Gehazi they will be servants of unrighteousness for a talent of silver and two changes of garments; with Adam they wiU transgress for an apple; and with Esau they will seU their birthright of grace here, and of glory hereafter, for a mess of pottage. The hearts of unholy persons may rise against gross sins, such as are not only against the law of God, but against the light and laws of nature and nations. Their souls may rise in arms against those sins that makes them liable to the laws of men, or that lays them open to shame, fear, grief, or loss; but as for vain thoughts, idle words, petty oaths, sinful motions, and frequent omissions, they look upon these as trifles, motes and gnats that are not to be regarded or bewailed. But,

(3.) Thirdly, As a holy heart rises against the least sins; so a holy heart rises against hosom-sins, against constitution-sins, against those that either his calling, former citstom, or his present inclination or condition, do most dispose him to. It is true, a prodigal person may abhor covetousness, and a covetous person may condemn prodigality: a furious person may hate fearfulness, and a fearful person may detest furiousness. But now the hearts of those that are holy rise against complexion sins, against darling sins, against those that make for present pleasure and profit, against those that were once as right hands and right eyes; that were that to their souls, that Delilah was to Samson, Herodias to Herod, Isaac to Abraham, and Joseph to Jacob: Ps. xviii. 23, ' I was also upright before him; and I kept myself from mine iniquity;' that is, from my darling sin, whereunto I was most inclined and addicted. What this bosom-sin was that he kept himself from, is hard to say. Some suppose his darling sin was lying, dissembling ; for it is certain, he often fell into this sin: others suppose it to be some secret iniquity, which was only known to God and his own conscience: others say it was uncleanness, and that therefore he prayed that' God would turn away his eyes from beholding vanity,' Ps. cxix. 37: others judge it to be that sin of disloyalty, which Saul and his courtiers falsely charged upon him. It is enough for our purpose that his heart did rise against that very sin, that either by custom or some strong inclination he was most naturally apt, ready, and prone to fall into. Idolatry was the darling sin of the people of Israel;! they ' Jer. xliv. 15, 20; Isa. i. 29, and Ivii. 5 ; Jer. xvii. 1, 2; Hosea ii. 8; Isa. xxxi. 6, 7.

called their idols delectable, or desirable things, Isa. xliv. 9; they did dearly affect and delight in their idols; but when God should come to put a spirit of holiness upon them, then their hearts should rise in hatred and detestation of their idols, as you may see in Isa. xxx. 18, 25; mark ver. 22, ' Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.' They were so delighted and enamoured with their idols, that they would deck them up in the greatest glory and bravery; they would attire them with the most rich, costly, pompous, and glorious raiment. Oh, but when a spirit of holiness should rise upon them, then they should defile, deface, and disgrace their idols, then they should so hate and abhor them, they should so detest and loathe them, that in a holy indignation they should cast them away as a menstruous cloth, and say unto them, Get ye hence, pack, begone, I will never have any more to do with you.i God hath now made an everlasting divorce between you and me. And so in Isa. ii. 20, ' In that day'— that is, in the day of the Lord's exaltation in the hearts, lives, and consciences of his people, ver. 17—' a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats.' In the day of God's exaltation they shall express such disdain and indignation against their idols, that they shall take not only those made of trees and stones, but even their most precious and costly idols, those that were made of silver and gold, and cast them to the moles and to the bats; that is, they shall cast them into such blind holes, and into such dark, filthy, nasty, and dusty corners, as moles make underground, and as bats roost in : so when holiness comes to be exalted in the soul, then all a man's darling and bosom sins, which are his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, these are with a holy indignation cast to the moles and to the bats; they are so loathed, abandoned, and cashiered, that he desires they may be for ever buried in oblivion, and never see the light more. Idols were Ephraim's bosom-sin: Hosea iv. 17,' Ephraim is joined,' or glued, 'to idols, let him alone;' but when the dew of grace and holiness fell upon Ephraim, as it did in chap. xiv. 5-7, ' Then saith Ephraim, What have I any more to do with idols ?' ver. 8. Now Ephraim loathes his idols as much or more than before he loved them ; he now abandons and abominates them, though before he was as closely glued to them, as the wanton is glued to his Delilah, or as the enchanter is glued to the devil, from whom by no means he is able to stir. Ephraim becoming holy, cries out, ' What have I any more to do with idols ?' Oh, I have had to do with them too long and too much already! Oh, how doth my soul now rise against them 1 how do I detest and abhor them ! surely I will never have more to do with them. But now unholy hearts are very favourable to bosom-sins; they say of them, as Lot of Zoar, ' Is it not a little one ? and my soul shall live !' Gen. xix. 20. And as David spake of Absalom, 2 Sam.

^ After the return of the Jews out of Babylon, they bo hated and abhorred idols, that in the time of the Romans they chose rather to die than to suffer the eagle, which was the imperial arms, to be set up in their temple. [As before.—G.]

J18 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.

xviii. 5, ' Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.' ' Beware that none touch the young man Absalom,' ver. 12. ' And the king said. Is the young man Absalom safe ?' ver. 29. An unholy heart is as fond of his bosom-sins as Herod was of his Hero-dias; or as Demetrius was of his Diana; or as Naaman was of the idol Rimmon, which was the idol of the Syrians; or as Judas was of bearing the bag; or as the Pharisees were of having the uppermost seats, and of being saluted in the market-place with those glorious titles, ' Rabbi, rabbi.' Bosom-sins have at least a seeming sweetness in them; and therefore an unholy heart will not easily let them go. Let God frown or smile, stroke or strike, lift up or cast down, promise or threaten, yet he will hide and hold fast his darUng sins; let God wound his conscience, blow upon his estate, leave a blot upon his name, crack his credit, afflict his body, write death upon his relations, and be a terror to his soul, yet will he not let go his bosom-lusts. He will rather let God go, and Christ go, and grace go, and heaven go, all go, than he will let some pleasurable or profitable lusts go. An unholy heart may sigh over those sins, and make war upon those sins, that war against his honours, profits, or pleasures, and yet at the same time make truce with those that are as right hands and right eyes; an unholy person may set his sword at the breasts of some sins, and yet at the same time his heart may be secretly courting of his bosom-sins. But now a holy heart rises most against the DeHlah in his bosom, against the Benjamin, the son, the sin, of his right hand. And thus you see how a holy heart hates and disdains all sins; he abhors small sins as weU as great, secret sins as well as open, and bosom-sins as well as others that have not that acquaintance and acceptance with the soul. Real hoUness will never mix nor mingle itself with any sin, it will never incorporate with any corruption. Wine and water will easily mix, so the wine of gifts and the water of sin, the wine of civility and the water of vanity, the wine of morality and the water of impiety, will easily mix; but oil and water will not mix, they wiU not incorporate ; so the oil of grace, the oil of holiness, will not mix; it will not incorporate with sin, the oil of holiness will be uppermost, Mark, natural and acquired habits and excellencies, as a pregnant wit, an eloquent tongue, a strong brain, an iron memory, a learned head, all these, with some high speculations of holiness, and some profession of holiness, and some commendations of hoHness, and some visible actings of holiness, are consistent with the love of lusts, with the dominion of sin: witness the Scribes and Pharisees, Judas, Demas, and Simon Magus; but the real infused habits of true grace and holiness, will never admit of the dominion of any sin, whether great or little, whether secret or open. But,

6. Sixthly, Persons of real holiness are cordially affected avid affiieted, grieved and troubled, about their oivn vileness and unholi-ness, Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26, 31. You may see this in holy Job, chap, xl. 3-5, ' Then Job answered the Lord and said. Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.' So holy Agur: * Prov. xxx. 2, 3, ' Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a

man.l I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.' Though all men are brutish, yet holy men are most sensible of their brutishness, and most affected and afflicted with it; wicked men are more brutish than the beasts, yet they see it not, they bewail it not; but holy Agur both sees his brutishness, and bewails it. Holy Agur, looking upon that rare knowledge, that depth of wisdom, and those admirable excellencies that Adam was endued with in his integrity and innocency, confesses himself to be but brutish, to be as much below what Adam once was as a brute is below a man. So holy David cries not Ferii, I am undone, I shall perish, but peccavi, * I have sinned, I have done foolishly,' Ps. li. 3. And so for his being envious at the prosperity of the foolish, Ps. Ixxiii. 2, 3, how doth he befool and be-beast himself! Ps. Ixxiii. 22, 'So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.' The Hebrew word Behemoth, l£at is here rendered beast generally, comprehends all beasts of the greater sort. 2 As an aggravation of his folly, he confesseth that he was as a beast, as a great beast, yea, as an epitome of all great beasts. So the holy prophet Isaiah complains that he was undone, that he was cut off, not upon any worldly account, but because he was a man of unclean lips, and dwelt in the midst of a people of unclean lips, Isa. vi. 5. So holy Daniel, chap, ix., complained not that they were reproached and oppressed, but that they had rebelled. So Peter, Luke V. 8, ' Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord:' or as the Greek hath it, I am a man, a sinner. 0 Lord depart from me, for I am a mixture and compound of aU vileness and sinfulness. So holy Paul cries not out of his opposers or persecutors, but of the law in his members rebelling against the law of his mind, Kom. vii. 23, 24. Paul's body of death \\'ithin him put him to more grief and sorrow than all the troubles and trials that ever befell him. A holy heart laments over those sins that he cannot conquer ; a holy person labours to wash out all the stains and spots that be in his soul, in the streams of godly sorrow; that his sins may never drown his soul, he will do what he can to drown his sins in penitential tears. A holy person looks upon his sins as the crucifiers of his Saviour, and so they affect him; he looks upon his sins as the great incendiaries, make-baits, and separatist between God and his soul, and so they afflict him, Isa. lix. 1,2. He looks upon his sins as so many reproaches to his God, blemishes to his profession, and wounds to his credit and conscience, and so they grieve and trouble him ; he looks upon his sins as those that make many a righteous soul besides his own sad, whom God would not have saddened ; and that opens many a sinful mouth that God would have stopped, and that strengthens many a wicked heart that God would not have strengthened ; and so they fetch many a sigh from his heart, and many a tear from his eyes, Ezek. xiii. 22. When a holy man sins he looks upwards, and there he sees God frowning; he looks downwards, and there he sees Satan insulting; he looks within himself, and there he finds his conscience either a-bleeding, raging, or accusing; he looks without himself, and there he finds gracious men lamenting and mourning, and graceless men deriding and

^ Ulik ny2, the understanding of Adam.

" Therefore the elephant is called Behemoth in Job xl. 15.

mocking; the sense of which doth sorely and sadly afflict a gracious soul. Some say that St Peter's eyes, after his great falls, were always full of tears, insomuch that his face was furrowed with continual weeping for his horrid thoughts, his desperate words, his shameful shifts, and his damnable deeds, which made him look more like a child of hell than like a saint whose name was written in heaven. Some say of Adam, that when he turned his face towards the garden of Eden, he sadly lamented his great fall. Some say of Mary Magdalene, that she spent thirty years in Galba in weeping for her sins. David's sins were ever before him, and therefore no wonder if tears instead of gems were so constantly the ornaments of his bed. Wicked Pharaoh cries out, Oh take away these filthy frogs, take away these dreadful judgments; but holy David cries out' 0 Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant.' Pharaoh cries out because of his punishments, but David cries out because of his sin. Anselm saith that with grief he considered the whole course of his life: ' I found,' saith he, ' the infancy of sin in the sins of my infancy; the youth and growth of sin in the sins of my youth and growth; and the ripeness of all sin in the sins of my ripe and perfect age;' and then he breaks forth into this pathetical expression, 'What remaineth for thee, wretched man, but that thou spend thy whole life in bewailing thy whole life !' By all which it is most evident, that holy hearts are very much affected and afflicted with their own unholiness and vileness. Now certainly those persons are as far off from real holiness, as hell is from heaven, who take pleasure ia unrighteousness, who make a scoff and mock of sin, who commit wickedness with greediness, who talk wickedly, who live wantonly, who trade deceitfully, who swear horribly, who drink stiffly, who lie hideously, and who die impenitently. But,

7. Seventhly, Keal holiness naturalises holy duties to the soul; it makes religious services to be easy and pleasant to the soul. Hence prayer is called the prayer of faith, because holy faith naturaliseth a man's heart to prayer, 1 Pet i. 2, and James v. 15. It is as natural for a holy man to pray, as it is for him to breathe, or as it is for a bird to fly, or fire to ascend, or a stone to descend: and hence it is that obedience is called the oliedience of faith, because holy faith naturalises a man's heart to obedience, Kom. xvi. 26, and Ps, cxix. 166. As soon as ever this plant of renown was set in the heart of Paul, he cries out, ' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?' Acts ix. 6. And hence it is that hearing is called ' the hearing of faith,' because this holy principle naturalises a man's heart to hearing. Ps. cxxii. 1, ' I was glad when they said unto me. Let us go into the house of the Lord.' And so in Isa. ii. 3, ' And many people shall go and say. Come ye, and let us go up to the mountam of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he wUl teach us of his ways, and we wiU walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' And hence patience is called ' patience of hope,' because this holy principle of hope naturalises a man's heart to a patient waiting upon God, 1 Thes. i. 3. Kom. viii. 25, * But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.' So holy love naturalises the soul to holy service ; in 1 Thes. i. 3, you read of ' the labour of love.' Holy love is very laborious. Nothing makes a Christian more

industrious, painful,! and diligent in the service and ways of God, than holy love. Holy love will make us to pray and to praise, it will make us wait and work, it will provoke souls to study Christ, to admire Christ, to live to Christ, to lift up Christ, to spend and be spent for Christ, and to break through all difficulties that it may come nearer to Christ, and cleave closer to Christ, Kom xiv. 7,8, and 2 Cor. xii. 14-16. As Jerome once bravely said, ' If my father,' said he, ' should stand before me, my mother should hang upon me, and my brethren should press about me, I would break through my brethren, throw down my mother, tread under feet my father, that I might the faster cleave unto Christ my Saviour.' Oh the laboriousness of holy love ! So far as a Christian is holy, so far holy services will be delightful and easy to him: Eom. vii. 22, ' I delight in the law of God after the inward man;' ver. 25,

* So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God;' Ps. cxix. 16,

* I wiU delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word; * ver. 35, * Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight; ver. 47, ' And I will delight myself in thy commandments which I have loved;' ver. 92, ' Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affl.iction;' ver. 143, ' Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.' Sirs, honour is not more suitable, delightful, and pleasing to an ambitious man, nor pleasure to a voluptuous man, nor flattery to a proud man, nor gold to a covetous man, nor excess to an intemperate man, nor revenge to an envious man, nor pardon to a condemned man, than religious duties and services are suitable, pleasing, and delightful to a holy man, Ps. xxvii. 8, and Ixxxi. 8-16. But now unholy hearts are very averse to holy duties and services: they are averse to hearing, averse to praying, averse to reading, averse to meditating, averse to self-judging, averse to self-examining, averse to holy worship, averse to holy Sabbaths: Amos viii. 5, ' When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn ? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?' Isa. xxvi. 10, 11, and Jer. v. 1, 6. You may sooner draw a coward to fight, or a malefactor to the bar, or a bear to the stake, than you shall draw unholy hearts to holy services.^ But if at any time, by the strong motions of the Spirit, the close debates of conscience, the powerful persuasions of the word, the education of godly parents, the pious example of bosom friends, the rich treasures in precious promises, the dreadful evils in terrible threatenings, or if at any time by the displeasure of God, the smarting rod, the bowels of mercy, the wooings of love, or if at any time by some flashes of hell, or glimpses of heaven, or by the heavy sighs, the deep groans, and the bleeding wounds of a dying Saviour, their hearts are wrought over to religious services—Isa. Iviii. 1-5—ah, how soon are they weary of them! What little delight or pleasure do they take in them I Isa. xliii. 22, ' But thou hast not called upon me, 0 Jacob'—^that is, thou hast not worshipped nor served me sincerely, faithfully, feelingly, heartily, affectionately, humbly, holily, as thou shouldest and as thou oughtest—' but thou hast been weary of me, 0 Israel;' that is, thou hast been weary of my worship and service, and thou hast counted

^ 'Painstaking.'—Q.

• Wicked hearts are habitually averse to all that is good, &c.

it rather a burden than a benefit, a damage than an advantage, a reproach than an honour, a disgrace than a favour, a vexation than a blessing; and for all thy formal courtings and complimentings of me, thou hast been secretly weary of me. So in Mai. i. 12, 13, ' Ye say. The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts/ &c. They did God but little service, and that they did was after the worst manner too, and yet they snuff, and puff, and blow, and sweat, and swell, and fall into a fustian fume, as if they had been over-tired and wearied with the burden and weight of those sacrifices which they offered up to the great God. A holy heart thinks all too little that he doth for God; but an unholy heart thinks every little too much that he doth for God. A holy heart, like the holy angels, loves to do much and make no noise; but an unholy heart makes most noise when he doth least service; an unsanctified soul hath a trumpet in his right hand, when he hath but a penny to give in his left hand, as here. But,

8. Eighthly, Where there is real holiness, there will be the exercise of righteousness towards men from righteous principles, arid upon religious accounts, viz., the honour of God, the command of God, the will of God, the credit of the gospel, &c. Keal holiness towards God is always attended with righteousness towards men: Eph. iv. 24, ' And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness,' or, hoKness of truth ; Tit. ii. 11, 12, ' For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godlily in this present world.' These words'contain the sum of a Christian's duty; to live soberly towards ourselves, righteously towards our neighbours, and godlily towards God, is true godliness indeed, and the whole duty of man. So holy Abraham in Gen. xxiii. 16, ' And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.' i It is recorded to holy Abraham's everlasting honour and fame, that he paid for the field that he bought of Ephron current money, not counterfeit, pure, not adulterate shekels of silver, not shekels of brass silvered over; he paid the price that was pitched, and he paid it in such coin as would go current in one country as well as another. So holy Jacob, in Gen. xliii., supposing that the money that was returned in the sacks of corn that his sons brought out of Egypt was through some mistake or oversight, he very honestly and conscientiously ordered them to carry the money back again. Ver. 12, ' And take double money in your hand: and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hands; peradventure it was an oversight.' A holy heart will not, a holy heart dares not, take an advantage from another's error to do him wrong; it is but justice to return and

^ The common shekel is about twentypence, so then four hundred shekels amount to thirty-three pounds six shillings and eightpence, after five shillings sterling the ounce. And in this purchase is prophetically shewed that Abraham's posterity should have the inheritance of that land: as Jeremiah's buying of his uncle's field was a sign of the Jews' return, and of their policy there again to buy and sell.

restore to every man his due. So holy Moses, in Num. xvi. 15, * And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their oflFering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.' He sought their good, not their goods; he preferred their safety before his own life; he did right to every man, he did wrong to no man; he did every man some good, he did no man the least hurt. So holy ,Samuel, in, 1 Sam. xii. 3-5, 'Behold, here am I: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed : whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed ? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith ? and I will restore it you. And they ^id, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.' He makes a solemn protestation before the Lord, before his anointed, and before the people, that he had so lived in the exercise of justice and righteousness amongst them, that they could not accuse him of the least unrighteousness, they could not say black was his eye, they could not say that he had lessened them to greaten himself, or that he had impoverished them to enrich himself, or that he had ruined them to raise himself; upon his appeal they unanimously declare his inno-cency and integrity. So holy Daniel, in Dan. vi. 4, 5, ' Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion nor fault: forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men. We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God/ Though envy be the father of cruelty and malice, the mother of murder and ambition, the plotter of others' destruction, yet holy Daniel was so just and righteous, so innocent and prudent, so careful and faithful in the administration of his high office, that none of his envious, malicious, and ambitious enemies could, after their unity in a hellish and cniel conspiracy, charge him with the least spot of injustice or show of righteousness; i they narrowly scanned all his administrations, and diligently weighed all his actions, and yet themselves being judges, Daniel is found innocent. They could not so much as charge him with a colourable fault. So Zacharias and Elizabeth, they walked in aU the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, Luke i. 5, 6; they walked not only in the ordinances, but also in the commandments of the Lord, and they walked not only in some commandments, but in all the commandments of the Lord; they walked in the commandments of the second table, as well as in the commandments of the first table; they were as well for righteousness towards man, as they were for holiness towards God. So the apostles, in 2 Cor. vii. 2, ' Receive us; we wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.' The apostle would have the Corinthians to make room for them in their hearts and houses, as the Greek word ^w/jT^craTe imports, for that they had wronged no man in his name or reputation, as the false apostles had; ^ Qu.' unrighteousness'?— Ed.

neither had they corrupted any man in his judgment by false doctrines or evil examples, as the false apostles had; neither had they defrauded any man in his estate, as the false apostles had, who made a prize of their followers and hearers. Of the same import is that of the apostle in 1 Thes. ii. 10, 'Ye are witness, and God also, how holily, justly, and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe.' He takes God and them to witness, that they had lived holily in respect of God, and righteously in respect of the world, and unblameably in respect of them that believe. By all which it is most evident, that where there is real holiness towards God, there will be the exercise of righteousness towards men.

But now, where there is but the shows and appearances of holiness, there persons make no conscience of exercising righteousness towards men. Witness the Scribes and Pharisees, who, under a pretence ot praying, made a prey of widows' houses; who, under a pretence of piety, exercised the greatest covetousness, unrighteousness, and cruelty, and that upon widows, who are usually the greatest objects of pity and charity; they made no bones of robbing the widow, under pretence of honouring of God, Mat. xxiii. 14. So Judas, who was a Cato without, but a Nero within, who, under a pretence of laying up for the poor, robbed the poor, John xii. 6 ; he made use of counterfeit holiness, as a cloak to cover all his thievish villanies; he pretended to lay up for the poor, but he intended only to lay up for himself, and to provide against a rainy day. It is like he had no great mind to stay long with his Lord, and therefore he was resolved to make the best market he could for himself; that so when he should lay down his stewardship, he might have something to live upon. Judas acted the part of a saint in his profession and discourses, that so he might be the less suspected to act the part of a thief in his more secret practices. Judas had not been long in office, before he put conscience out of office, and conscience being put out of office, Judas sets up for himself, and, under a cloak of holiness, he practises the greatest unfaithfulness. Though the eagle soars high, yet still her eye is upon her prey; so though Judas did soar high in profession, yet his eye was still upon his prey, upon his bags, and so he might have it, he cared not who went without it; so he might be rich, he did not care though his Lord and his retinue grew never so poor. Judas had Jacob's voice, but Gehazi's heart and hands, and therefore he screws up his conscience tUl he makes all crack again. Under all his shows of sanctity, he had not so much as common honesty in him. Counterfeit holiness is often made a stalking-horse to the exercise of much unrighteousness. Certainly that man is as far from real holiness, as the devil himself is from true happiness, who lives not in the exercise of righteousness towards men, as well as in a profession of holiness towards God. Well, Christians, remember this, it were better with the philosopher to have honesty without religion, than to have religion without honesty. But,

9. Ninthly, He that is truly holy will labour and endeavour to make others holy. A holy heart loves not to go to heaven alone, it loves not to be happy and blessed alone. A man that hath experienced the power, excellency, and sweetness of holiness, will strive and study how

to make others holy. When Samson had tasted honey, he gave his father and mother some with him, Judges xiv. 8, 9. Holiness is so sweet a morsel, that a soul cannot taste of it but he will be a-commend-ing of it to others.i As you may see in holy Moses, in Num. xi. 29, ' And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake ? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them.' A holy soul will never make a monopoly of holiness. The prophets, you know, were men of greatest grace and holiness; now holy Moses is very importunate and earnest with God that he would not only make the two that prophesied, but all the Lord's people eminent and excellent in grace and holiness. Such was Moses his holiness and humbleness, that he desires that all others might either equal him or excel him in gifts and grace. A heart eminently holy is so far from envying of the gracious excellencies of others, that it can rejoice in every sun that outshines his own; and every light that burns more dim than his, he desires that it may be snuffed, not put out, that so it may give a clearer and a greater light to others. So holy Paul in Acts xxvi. 29, ' And Paul said, I would to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds,' True holiness is no churl; nothing makes a man more noble in his spiritual desires, wishes, and actings for others, than hoHness. Keal hohness, like oil, is of a diffusive nature ; like light, it will spread itself over aU; like Mary's box of ointment, it fills all the house with the sweet scent thereof. Art thou a holy father ? then thou wilt, with holy Abraham, labour to make thy children holy, Gen. xviii. 17-19. A holy heart knows that both by his first birth, but especially by his new birth, he stands obHged to promote holiness in all, but especially in those that are parts and pieces of himself. Art thou a holy master ? then thou wilt, with holy Joshua, labour to make all under thy charge holy: Josh. xxiv. 15, ' But as for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord.' True holiness cannot be concealed; it will be a-stirring and a-provoking of others to be holy: as a holy man doth not love to be happy alone, so a holy man doth not love to be holy alone. A holy master loves to see a crown of holiness set upon every head in his family. Holiness is a very beautiful thing, and it makes those beautiful in whom it is. In a holy master's eye, there is no servant so lovely and beautiful as he that hath the beauty of hoHness upon him. A holy magistrate will labour to make both his servants and his subjects holy: as holy David, holy Asa, holy Isaiah, and holy Hezekiah did; he knows that the souls of his servants and subjects are the choicest treasure that God hath committed to his care; he knows that every soul is more worth than his crown and kingdom ; he knows that he must one day give up an account for more souls than his own, and therefore he improves his power and interest every way for the making of all holy under him; 2 as Louis the Ninth, king of France, took pains to instruct his poor kitchen-boy in the way to heaven, and being asked the reason of it, he answered. The meanest

1 Lilmod le lammed, We therefore learn that we may teach, is a proverb among the Eabbins. The heathen could say, I do therefore lay in and lay up, that I may draw forth again for the good of many.

* George, prince of Anhalt, his family is said to have been ecclesia, academia, curia : A church, a university, and a court.

have a soul to save as precious as mine own, and bought by the same blood of Christ. It is said of Constantino that in this he was truly-great, that he would have his whole court gathered together, and cause the Scriptures to be read and opened to them, that they might be made holy courtiers, and so fitted for the court of heaven, into which no unclean person or thing can enter, Kev. xxi. 27. It grieved an emperor that a neighbour of his should die before he had done him any good. Ah, it is the grief of a holy magistrate to see others die before they are made holy. The great request of a holy magistrate, living and dying, is this, Lord, make this people a holy people ! Oh, make this people a holy people ! Art thou a holy kinsman, a holy friend, then thou wilt labour to make thy kindred holy, and thy friends holy: as holy Cornelius did, as you may see in Acts x. 24, 27, ' And the morrow after they entered into Cesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends. And as Peter talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.' And in ver. 33, saith Cornelius to Peter, ' Thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore we are all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.' i Devout Cornelius gets his kinsmen and near friends together, that they also might be partakers of the grace and mercy of God with him. He had experienced a work of grace and holiness upon his own heart, and he uses, his best endeavours that they might experience the same on theirs. A holy Christian is like a loadstone, that draws to itself first one iron ring, and that another, and that a third. As there is a natural instinct in all creatures to propagate their own kind, as in beasts, birds, and fishes, so there is a holy, a spiritual instinct in all gracious hearts to propagate grace and holiness in whatever hearts they can. Look, as fire will assimilate and turn everything that comes near it into its own nature, so will a holy heart labour to make all that comes near him like himself. Look, as one drunkard labours to make another, and one swearer another, and one wanton another, and one thief another, and one idle person another, and one fearful person another, and one doubtful person another, and one erroneous person another, &c., so one holy heart labours to make another, one gracious heart labours to make another.2 He that is humble will labour to make others humble, he that is sincere wiU labour to make others sincere, he that is faithful will labour to make others to be faithful, he that is fruitful will labour to make others fruitful, and he that is watchful will labour to make others watchful. A heart that is truly holy wiU labour, by prayers, reproofs, tears, example, counsel, and commands, to make others like himself. He knows that there is no love, no wisdom, no care, no pains, next to that which he takes with his own heart, to that which is laid out to make unholy hearts holy. And therefore he prays and weeps, and weeps and prays, that holiness may be written upon all that his name is written upon; he learns and teaches, and he teaches and learns, and all that he may teach and learn others to be holy; he counts it not

1 So in John i. 39, 49, and iv. 28-30.

' It is a true saying in natural philosophy, that it is Naturalissimum opus viventia generate sibi simile: The most natural act or work of every living thing to produce another like unto itself.

worth while to live in this world, were it not for the glory of God, and the good of his own and others' souls. But now, what shall we say of those persons who are so far from being holy, who are so far from drawing others to be holy, that they do what they can to make those that are holy to become unholy, and who strongly tempt those that are unholy to be more unholy ? These are factors i for hell, and certainly such solicitors shall at last be most dreadfully handled by hellish tormentors. But,

10. Tenthly, He that is really holy, will be holy in the use of earthly and common things, as well as in the use of spiritual arid heavenly things, Titus i. 15. He will be spiritual in the use of carnal things, and heavenly in the use of earthly things. There is a silver vein of sanctity that runs through all his worldly concernments. If you look upon him in his eating and drinking, you shall find him holy, 1 Cor. X. 31. If you look upon him in his buying and selling, in has paying and receiving, you shall find him holy: Isa. xxiii. 18, ' And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord.' Before Tyre's conversion, she laboured to enrich herself by hook and by crook: all was fish that came to Tyre's net. Tyre could say anything, or do anything, or be anything, for gain. Oh, but when Tyi-e is converted and sanctified, then all her merchandise and hire, then all her gettings and earnings, shall be holiness to the Lord. Tyre now shall write holiness upon all her wares and commodities. Tyre shall buy nothing, nor sell nothing, nor exchange nothing, but there shall be holiness written upon it. And Tyre shall be as well holy in using and improving of her merchandise and hire, as she hath been holy in the getting of them; for so it follows in the same verse, * It shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.' Tyre, before her conversion, hoarded up riches, and laid up her merchandise to spend upon her lusts, to spend upon her pride, and wantonness, and luxuriousness, &c. But now, being converted, she uses and improves what she hath in the service of the Lord, and for the comfort, support, and relief of the poor and needy. When Tyre is once made holy, then Tyre will be holy in the use of all her earthly enjoyments. If you look upon a holy man going to war, then you shall find holiness written upon the bridles of his horses: Zech. xiv. 20, 21, 'In that day shall there be upon the bridles, or bells, of the horses. Holiness unto the Lord. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts.' 2 Here is holiness written upon the bridles of the horses they ride on, and holiness written upon the cups and pots they drink in. A holy heart will be holy in the use of the meanest things that are for common use. Every piece of his civility ^ shall savour of sanctity, and in aU the parts of his common conversation you shall be able to discern something of the power of religion: Job v. 24, ' And thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.' Thou shalt be holy in thy commerce, and holy in thy converse. Holiness shall be written upon

^' Agents,' ' instruments.*—G.

" Calvin renders it stables of horses, which are the most stinking and contemptible places; and yet these should be holily used. '^ = Morality.—G.

thy dealings with thy servants, and holiness shall be written upon thy carriages towards thy children, and holiness shall be written upon all thy behaviours towards thy friends. Whatever thou puttest thy hand to in thy habitation, shall have holiness written upon it: thou shalt make a Jacob's ladder of all thy earthly enjoyments; all the comforts that be in thy habitation, shall be as so many bright morning stars to lead thee on in a way of holiness, and to lead thee up to a holy Grod. Look upon a holy man in his calling, and you shall find him holy: look upon him in the use of the creatures, and you shall find him holy: look upon him in his recreations, and you shall find him holy. The habitual frame and bent of his heart is to be holy in every earthly thing that he puts his hand unto. A spirit of holiness runs and shines in all the common actions of his Hfe. But now look upon those who have only the shows and appearances of holiness, and you shall find that they have but a common spirit in common things. Take them out of their duties, and you shall find them in a course to be earthly in the use of earthly things, and carnal in the use of carnal things, and worldly in the use of worldly things. All their religion, all their holiness, lies in a few duties; take them out of these, and you shall find them as carnal, as vain, as foolish, as filthy and as frothy, as light and as slight, as those that have not so much as a cloak of hohness upon them. But he that is really holy, will be holy as well out of duties as in duties. If you look narrowly upon him in all his worldly concernments, you shall find some footsteps of the awe, fear, dread, authority, and glory of God upon his spirit. Look, as an unholy heart is carnal in spiritual things, and earthly in heavenly things, and unholy in holy things ; so a man that is truly holy, he is as well holy in the ordinary affairs and actions of this life, as he is holy in any of the exercises of religion. But,

11. Eleventhly, True holiness is conformable to the holiness of Christ. The holiness of Christ is that first and noble pattern that real holiness makes us conformable to: 1 John iv. 17, * Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.' There is no grace in Christ which is not in some degree formed in a holy heart, 1 John ii. 6 : and therefore the work of grace and holiness is caUed a forming of Christ in the soul, Gal. iv. ] 9. Holy hearts have the very prints, stamps, and impressions of the graces of Jesus Christ upon them: John i. 16, * Of his fulness we have all received grace for grace.' ^ Look, as face answers to face, so the graces that are in real Christians answer to the graces thaft are in Jesus; there is such love as answers to the love of Christ, and such lowliness as answers to the lowliness of Christ, and such heavenly-mindedness as answers to the heavenly-mindedness of Christ, and such meekness as answers to the meekness of Christ, and such patience as answers to the patience of Christ, and such faith as answers to the faith of Christ, and such zeal as answers to the zeal of Christ, and such fear as answers to the fear of Christ, in truth and reality, though not in degree and quantity. Look, as in generation the child receives

^ Gratiam super gratiam, say some ; Gratiam gratia accumalatam, say others. Certainly Christ is a seminar}' of graces. He is clara epitome virtutum, an exact epitome of graces.

member for member ; or as the paper from the press, letter for letter; or the glass from the face, image for image; or as the wax from the seal, stamp for stamp ; so holy hearts receive from Christ grace for grace. Look, as wine in the bottle is conformable to that in the butt, and as water in the cistern is conformable to that in the river, and as light in the air is conformable to that in the sun, and as milk in the saucer is conformable to milk in the breasts, and as money in the pocket is conformable to money in the bag, so the graces that are in a holy Christian are conformable to the graces that are in Christ, 2 Cor. iii. 17, 18. To be a philosopher, saith Plato, is to know God, to be in love with God, and to imitate God. So say I, to be a holy person is to know a holy Christ, to be in love with a holy Christ, and to imitate the virtues of a holy Christ. It was the height of Caesar's glory to walk in the steps of Alexander; and of Selymus,! a Turkish emperor, to walk in the steps of Caesar ; and of Themistocles to walk in the steps of Miltiades; so it is the height of a Christian's glory to tread in the virtuous steps of his dearest Lord. And as Scipio accounted it no small disparagement for him to walk one foot awry from that course of life which Cyrus in Xenophon had gone before him in, so a holy heart counts it no small disparagement to him in the least to step awry from that holy pattern that Christ hath set him. Look, as the holy prophet did lay his mouth to the Shunammite's child's mouth, and his eyes to his eyes, and his hands to his hands, 2 Kings iv. 34; so a holy Christian lays his mouth to the mouth of Christ, and his eyes to the eyes of Christ, and his hands to the hands of Christ, and his breasts to the breasts of Christ, and his heart to the heart of Christ: that is, he doth in all things labour to resemble Christ, to be like to Christ; especially in those holy virtues which were most shining in the heart and life of Christ, 1 Pet. ii. 9. Now certainly they are far from being holy who count it a crime to be virtuous ; and so are they who walk directly contrary to Jesus Christ. He was holy, but they are profane ; he was humble, but they are proud; he was heavenly, but they are earthly; he was spiritual, but they are carnal; he was zealous, but they are lukewarm ; he was meek, but they are contentious,; he was charitable, but they are covetous; he was courteous, but they are malicious. Will you caH these men holy ? Surely no. But,

12. Twelfthly, He that is truly holy is much affected and afflicted loith the unholiness of others :^ Ps. cxix. 53, ' Horror hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that forsake thy law;' ver. 158, 'I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved, because they kept not thy word ;' ver. 136, ' Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.' By this hyperbolical phrase he sets forth the greatness of his sorrows, and that not because his enemies had wronged him, but because they had dishonoured his God. It was a great grief to him to see others a-grieving his God. So Jer, ix. 1-3, ' Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night! oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them.' But why

1 Solyman (?)—G.

2 Josh. vii. 9 ; Ps. Ixix. 9 ; Ezra ix. 3 ; Nch. ix; Dan. ix; Micah i. 8 ; Jer. xiii. 17. VOL. IV. * I

doth the holy prophet thus take on ? why doth he thus lament ? why doth he wish himself turned into waters, and into a fountain of tears ? why doth he prefer a habitation amongst the wild beasts, before his habitation among his own people ? Why, the cause you have m the following words, ' For they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men, and they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth ; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.' So Ezek. ix. 4, 'And the Lord said unto him, Gro through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.' There were holy hearts in Jerusalem that did sigh and cry, and cry and sigh for the wickedness of the times ; the abominations of the times did lie in such full weight upon them, that they did fetch many a sigh from their hearts, and many a tear from their eyes. Holy hearts are able to tell you many sad stories of the groans, griefs, and gripes that other men's sins hath cost them. When most were a-sinning, God's marked ones were a-mourn-ing ; when others were with a high hand a-cursing, blaspheming, and a-rebelling, God's marked ones were deeply sorrowing ; they mourned cordially, they sighed greatly, they grieved wonderfully, they groaned lamentably, and that not for some, but for all, for all court sins, and church sins, and city sins, and family sins. And so holy Faul could not with dry eyes make mention of those belly-gods and earthworms that were in his time, Phil. iii. 18. So holy Lot was much affected and afflicted with seeing and hearing of the wickedness of those among whom he lived, 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8. The Greek word for vexed, in ver. 7, KaTanrovov/jLevov, signifies to be oppressed under the wanton and wicked conversation of the ungodly Sodomites, as^a man that is oppressed under a heavy burden which he labours under, and would fain be delivered from; or to be oppressed, as the Israelites were under their cruel Egyptian taskmasters. Ah, the sins, the wickedness of others sets hard upon the hearts of the saints! The Israelites did not more labour and sigh and groan under all their loads and oppressions, than many holy hearts do labour and sigh and groan under the load of wicked men's sins. And the Greek word for vexed, in ver. 8, i^aard-vit,ev, signifies to be tortured, tormented, and racked.^ Oh, their wickedness did torment and rack his righteous soul; he could not see nor hear of their wickedness, but his soul was as upon a rack. Pambus, in ecclesiastical history, wept when he saw a harlot take so much pains to deck and dress herself in curious and costly apparel, and all to entertain a wanton lover, and so to make work for hell. Oh, it cannot but grieve a gracious soul to see what pains poor sinners take to go to hell! A holy heart looks upon other men's sins as great dishonours done to his father, his king; and therefore he cannot but cry out with Croesus his son, who though he was born dumb, yet seeing some going about to kill his father, his tongue-strings unloosed, and he cried out, ' Oh kill not king Croesus, kill not my father.' ^ Oh kill not my God, and my King! Oh kUl not, oh dishonour not my dear Father and Saviour,

^ It is a metaphor taken from engines that they did torment people withal. ' As before.—G.

saith a holy heart. Such is the love and high respects that holy-hearts bear to their heavenly Father, that they cannot but grieve, and mourn, and cry out when they see others to act treason against the crown and dignity of heaven. Elijah had rather die than to see Ahab and Jezebel to cast contempt and dishonour upon his God.

[1.] A holy heart mourns for sin as sin, he weeps over the very nature of sin; he grieves for sin as it is the breach of a holy law, and as it is a dishonour to a holy God, &c., and therefore he cannot but mourn for other men's sins as well as his own.i He that hates a toad as a toad, will hate a toad in other men's bosoms as well as his own ; he that hates poison as poison, wiU hate poison in another man's hand as well as his own: so he that hates sin as sin, will hate it wherever he sees it; and he that mourns over sin as sin, cannot but mourn over sin wherever he observes it.

[2.] By other men's sins a holy man is put in mind of the badness of his own heart. Bernard makes mention in one of his Homilies of an old man, who, when he saw any man sin, wept and lamented for him, and being asked why he grieved so for other men s sins, answered, Ille hodie, et ego eras; He fell to-day, and I may fall to-morrow. The faUs of others puts a holy man in mind of the roots of bitterness that be in himself Other men's actual sins are as so many glasses, through which a holy man comes to see the manifold seeds of sin that be in his own nature, and such a sight as this cannot but melt him and break him.

[3.] A holy heart knows that the best way to keep himself pure from other men's sins, is to mourn for other men's sins.^ He that makes conscience of weeping over other men's sins will rarely be defiled with other men's sins. He that mourns not over other men's sins is accessary to other men's sins : and first or last may find them charged upon his account. He that mourns not for other men's sins is in danger of being ensnared by other men's sins. And how then can a holy man look upon other men's sins with dry eyes ?

[4.] A holy man looks upon other men's sins as the crucifiers of his Saviour. He looks upon the proud man's pride as that which set a crown of thorns upon the sacred head of Christ, and this makes him sigh; he looks upon the swearer's oaths as the nails that nailed his blessed hands and feet to the cross, and this makes him grieve; he looks upon scomers as spitting upon Christ, and worldlings as preferring Barabbas before Christ, and this makes him groan; he looks upon hypocrites as kissing and betraying of Christ, and he looks upon drunkards and wantons as giving gall and vinegar to Christ, and this makes him mourn ; he looks upon other men's sins as having a hand in all Christ's torments, and this puts him upon the rack, and makes his very soul heavy, even to the death.

[5.] A holy heart knows that by mourning for other men's sins, he may be instrumental to keep off wrath, Ezek. ix. 4, 6. How oft did holy Moses by his tears quench the wrath of an angry God I However, if wrath should break forth upon a nation, yet_ they that mourn for the abominations of the times, they shall be hid in the day

^ He that hates a thief as a thief, will hate a thief in another man's house as well as in his own. * 1 Tim. v. 22 j 1 Cor. v. 1-3 ; Eph. v. 11.

of God's public visitation, Isa. xxvi. 20. When the house is on fire, the father hath a special care to provide for the safety and security of his children; when the lumber is on fire, a man will be sure first to secure his box of jewels. In times of common calamity, God will be sure to look after his jewels, his mourning ones. Though the lumber, the wicked, be burnt up on every hand in the day of God's wrath, yet he will be sure to preserve his jewels in the midst of the flames.^ Augustine, coming to visit a sick man, found the room full of mourners; he found the wife sobbing, the children sighing, and the kindred lamenting; whereupon he suddenly breathed forth this short, but sweet ejaculatory prayer, ' Lord,' saith he,' what prayers dost thou hear, if not these?' So in times of common calamity, holy hearts may look up and say. Ah, Lord, whose sighs, whose groans, whose tears wilt thou hear, if not ours ? Who are mourners in Sion, and who wilt thou save and secure, in this day of thy fierce indignation, if not we, who have laboured to drown both our own and other men's sins in penitential tears ?

[6.] A holy heart looks upon sinners' sins to contribute very much towards the bringing in of sore and sad changes upon a land and nation, Ps. cvii. 33, 34. He knows that sinners' sins may turn rivers into a wilderness, a^d water-springs into dry ground, and a fruitful land into a barren wilderness; he knows that sinners' sins may have a deep hand in provoking God to rain hell out of heaven upon a sinful nation, as he did of old upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and this sets him a-mourning. If one sinner destroys much good, as Solomon speaks, Eccles. ix. 18, Ah, saith he, what a world of good will a world of sinners destroy then ! The serious thoughts of this makes him sigh. 2

[7.] A holy heart looks upon other men's sins as their bonds and chains. Acts viii. 23, and this makes him mourn. When Marcellus, the Koman general, saw the multitude of captives that were taken in the city of Syracuse, the tears trickled down his cheeks. Ah, how can tears but trickle down a Christian's cheeks when he sees multitudes, fast bound with the cords of their iniquity, trooping to hell ? Who can look upon a sinner as a close prisoner to the prince oi darkness, and not bemoan him ? Now if holy persons thus mourn for the wickedness of others, then certainly they are far from being holy who take pleasure in the wickedness of others, who laugh and joy, who can make a sport, a pastime of other men's sins. These are rather monsters than men. There are none so nearly allied to Satan as these, nor none resemble Satan to the life so much as these. The devil always joys most when sinners sin most.^ Neither doubtless are they holy who tempt and entice others to be unholy; nor are they holy who only cry out of other men's sins, but never sigh for other men's sins ; nor are they holy who insult over the iniquities of others, but never mourn for the iniquities of others; nor are they holy who can rail, reproach, and revile others for their sins, but have neither skill nor will to lament over others' sins: and yet this age is full of such wretches. Certainly that man's

^ Isa. xliii. 2, 3; Dan. iii. 17-28.

^ Witness Achan, Manasseh, Jeroboam, Saul, Herod, Ahab, &c.

^ To applaud to them, and take pleasure in them wlio take pleasure in sin, is the highest degree of ungodliness.

holiness will be found to be of the right stamp at last, who can evangelically mourn for other men's sins as well as his own. But,

13. Thirteenthly, He that is truly holy, he loves the loord, and is affected and taken with the loord for its holiness and purity: Ps. cxix. 140, ' Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it.' A pure heart embraces the word for its purity, 1 Pet. ii. 2; Ps. xii. 6, 7, and xviii. 30.^ So holy Paul in Kom. vii. 12, ' Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.' Well, and what then ? Why, saith he, ver. 22, * I delight in the law of God after the inward man.' But is this all ? No, saith he, ver. 25, ' With the mind I myself serve the law of God.' Holy Paul delights in the law as holy, and serves the law as holy, just, and good. A holy heart is taken with the word for its spirituality, divinity, and purity. So in Ps. xix. 8-10, ' The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure^ enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean,' (that is, the doctrine that teacheth the true fear of God,) ' enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether; more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb:' or, as the Hebrew hath it, sweeter than the dropping of honeycombs.^ The whole word of God, as it is a pure word, a clean word, so it rejoices a holy heart; and so it is sweeter than the very droppings of honeycombs. It is more sweet than those drops which drop immediately and naturally, without any force or art, which is counted the purest and the sweetest honey. There is no profit nor pleasure to that which the purity of the word yields to a holy heart. But now unholy hearts they are affected with the word as it is dressed up with fine high notions, which are but mysterious nothings: they are taken with the word, as it is clothed with arts, parts, and elegancy of phrase ; they are pleased with the word, as it is appareUed with a spruce wit, or with silken expressions, or with some delicate elocution. Augustine confesseth that the delight which he took before his conversion in St Ambrose's sermons, was more for the eloquence of the words than the substance of the matter •,^ so many are taken more with the wit, elocution, action, high notions, and far-fetched expressions that be in a sermon, than they are taken with the spirituality, divinity, weight, and holy worth that is in a sermon; these are like those children who are more taken with the fine flowers that are strewed about the dish, than they are with the meat that is in the dish; and that are more taken with the red weeds and blue-bottles that grow in the field, than they are with the good corn that grows there.* But now, as the prudent farmer is taken more with a few handfuls of sound corn, than he is with all the gay weeds that be in the field; so a holy heart is more taken with a few sound truths in a sermon, than he is taken with all

' Sacrse ScriptursD tuse sunt sanctse deliciae mese.— Augiistine.

" These several titles—law, statutes, testimonj', commandments, judgments—are used promiscuously for the whole word of God, commonly distinguished into law and gospel.

'' Cf. Sibbes, s. n.: and Confessions.—G.

* In great fairs and markets, the pedlar and the ballad-singer who sell toys and trifles, have most children and fools hanging upon them ; but they that are wise and prudent attend those shops where there is best and richest commodities. You know how to apply it.

the strong lines, and high strains, and flourishes of wit with which a sermon may be decked up. Some are taken with the word, as the profession of it brings in customers into their shops, and keeps up their credits in the world. Others are taken with the word, as it seems to tickle their ears and please their fancies. Some are affected with sermons because of the elegancy of the style, delicacy of the words, smoothness of the language, and gracefulness of the delivery. And these deal by sermons as many men do by their nosegays, that are made up of many picked sweet flowers, who, after they have smelt to them a while, cast them into a corner. So these, after they have commended a sermon, after they have applauded a sermon, they cast away the sermon: they smell to the sermon, and say it is sweet, it is sweet, and presently they throw it by, as a nosegay that is withered, and of no further use. When a man that is sick, crazy, and unsound, is at a table that is furnished with variety of dishes, you know he easily and readily passes over all the most wliolesome and nourishing dishes, and falls a-piddlingi and picking here and there upon kickshaws 2 and puff-paste, that have little or no substance in them. So unsound, unholy hearts, when God hath prepared his table, and made a feast of fat things for their souls in the ministry of his word, they can easily and readily pass over those sound, solid, and savoury truths that are prepared for their strength and nourishment, and fall a-piddling and picking upon some new-coined phrases, or some quaint expressions, or some seraphical notions: and no wonder, for they are not sound within, they are under a great distemper: as the Israelites would not be satisfied with wholesome diet, but they must needs have quails as picking meat; well, they had them, and whilst they were at their picking meat, the wrath of God came upon them. The application is as easy as it is dreadful. But now a holy heart savours the word, and relishes the word, and is affected and taken with the word, as it is a holy word, a substantial word, a pure word, a clean word, and as it begets holiness, and cherishes holiness, and increases holiness, and as it works towards the completing and perfecting of holiness.

Quest. But how may a person know whether he loves the word, and is affected and taken with the word, as it is a holy word, or no ?

Ans. [1.] First, By what hath been already said. But because the question is weighty, I further answer

[2.] In the second place, He that loves the word, and that is affected and taken with the word as it is a holy word, he loves the whole word of God, and he is affected and taken with one part of the word as well as another. Every law of God is a holy law, and every statute is a holy statute, and every command is a holy command, and every promise is a holy promise, and every threatening is a holy threatening, and every exhortation is a holy exhortation; and, therefore, he that loves any part of the word as a holy word, he cannot but love every part of the word, because every part of the word is holy.3 And indeed he loves no part

» ' To eat daintily.'—G.

' 'A made dish in cookery:' another Shakesperian word, 2 Henry IV., v. 1, and Twelfth Night, i. 3.—G. > j , >

* As the wise philosopher delights in all Aristotle, and the prudent physician in all Galen, and the grave orator in all Tully, and the understanding lawyer in all Justinian ;

of the word as holy who loves not every part of the word as such. Every chapter in the book of God is a holy chapter, and every verse is a holy verse, and every line in that book is a holy line, and every word in every line is a holy word. He that loves a chapter as it is a holy chapter, he loves every verse in that chapter as a holy verse; and he that loves every verse as a holy verse, he loves every Hne as a holy line ; and he that loves every line as a holy line, he loves every word in every line as a holy word. Upon easy commands he reads holiness, and upon difficult commands he reads hohness ; upon comfortable commands he reads holiness, and upon costly commands he reads holiness, and upon dangerous commands he reads holiness, and therefore he loves all, and closes with all, and endeavours a conformity to all. A holy heart dares neither to dispute with that word, nor make light of that word, where he reads holiness engraven upon it. To a holy heart there is no command of God unjust or unreasonable. But now an unholy heart, though it may for some worldly advantages court and cry up some parts of the word, yet it is ready, with Judas, to betray and crucify other parts of the word. The whole Scripture is but one entire love-letter, despatched from the Lord Clirist to his beloved spouse on earth; and this letter is written all in golden letters, and therefore a holy heart cannot but be taken and affected with every line in this letter. In this love-letter there is so much to be read of the love of Christ, the heart of Christ, the kindness of Christ, the grace of Christ, and the glory of Christ, that a holy heart cannot but be affected and taken with it. The whole word of God is a field, and Christ is the treasure that is hid in that field; it is a ring of gold, and Christ is the pearl in that ring, and therefore a holy heart cannot but be taken with the whole word of God. Luther was wont to say that he would not take all the world for one leaf of the Bible. And Kabbi Chija, in the Jerusalem Talmud, says that in his account all the world is not of equal value with one word out of the law.

[3.] Thirdly, A man that is affected and taken with the word as it is a holy word, he is always affected and taken with it; he loves it and takes pleasure in it, as well in adversity as in prosperity: Ps. cxix. 59, ' Thy statutes have been my songs'—ay, but where?—'in the house of my pilgrimage,' or ' pilgrimages,' as the Hebrew hath it.i When David was in his banishments, by reason of Saul, Absalom, and others, now the word of God was music to him, now it was matter of joy and rejoicing to him ; his whole life was the life of a pilgrim and stranger ; now as a pilgrim he sojourns here, and anon as a stranger he sojourns there. No man could take more pleasure, joy, and contentment in the rarest and choicest music than David did in the word of God, and that not only when he was in his royal palace, but also when he was in the house of his pilgrimage. He that loves the word, and that delights in the word for its holiness and purity, he will love it and delight in it in health and sickness, in strength and weakness, in honour and disgrace, in wealth and want, in life and in death. The

so a holy man delights in all the Bible. The Jewish Eabbins were wont to say that upon every letter of the law there hangs mountains of profitable matter.

^ The saints have commonly looked upon themselves as pilgrima and strangers in this world, Gen. xlvii. 9, 39 ; Ps. lii. 19 ; Heb. li. 9, 10, &c

holiness of the word is a lasting holiness, and so will every man's affections be towards it who affects it, and is taken with it for its holiness and pureness. Some there be that cry up the word, and that seem to be much affected, delighted, and ravished with the word,—as Herod, Ezekiel's hearers, and the stony ground was,Ezek. xxxiii. 30-33, and Mark iv. and vi.,&c,,—whilst the word is either a cheap word to them, or a profitable and pleasing word to them, or whilst it is courted and countenanced in the world, or whilst it is the path to preferment, or a key to enlargement, &c. But when the word gets within them, and discovers their own sinfulness and wretchedness to them, when it shews them how Christ-less, and graceless, and lifeless,, and helpless, and hopeless they are; when it discovers how far they are from heaven, and how near they are to hell, Jer, xliv. 15, 29 ; oh, then their hearts begin to rise against it, and to cry out. Away with it; it was never good days since we have had so much preaching and hearing: or when the word comes to be scorned, slighted, disgraced, opposed, or persecuted, oh, then they turn their backs upon it, and quickly grow weary of it. As the lassians i in Strabo delighted themselves with the music of an excellent harper till they heard the market-bell ring, and then they run all away save a deaf old man, that could take but little delight in the harper s ditties ; so let these men but hear the bell of lust, or the bell of profit, or the bell of pleasure,, or the bell of applause, or the bell of honour, or the bell of error, or the bell of superstition sound in their ears, and presently they will run from the sweet music of the word, to follow after any of these bells. But now a man that loves the word, and that is affected and taken with the word as it is a holy word, no bell can ring him from the word, no disgrace, no affliction, no opposition, no persecution, can take him off from affecting the word, and from taking pleasure in the word. The cause of his love is abiding and lasting, and therefore his love cannot but be lasting and continuing. Not but that a holy heart may sometimes be more affected and taken with the word than at other times : as first, when a man enjoys much communion with God in the word; or second, when God speaks much peace and comfort to the soul by the word; or third, when God assures a man more clearly and fully of the goodness and happiness of his condition by the word ; or fourth, when God lets in very much quietness, or quickness, or sweetness, or seriousness, or spiritualness into a man's spirit by the word. Oh, then a man may more than ordinarily be affected and taken with the word. But now, though a holy Christian is not at all times in the same degree and measure taken with the word, yet take such a Christian when he is at worst, and you shall find two things in him: (1.) you shaU find in him a holy love to the word; and (2.) you shall find in him a real love to holy Christians.

[4.] Fourthly, He that loves the word, and that is affected and taken with the word as it is a holy word, he is most affected and taken with those parts of the word that do most incite to holiness, that do most promote hoHness, and that do most provoke to holiness. As 1 Pet. i. 15, 16, * But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye

^ Strabo, lib. xiv.^

k

HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. " 137

holy, for I am holy.' [I shall give you light into these words when I come to open the holiness of God to you.] So Mat. v. 48, ' Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.' i Our summum bonum in this world consists in our conformity to the heavenly pattern. In all imitations it is best to choose the most perfect pattern. There is nothing more laudable and commendable than for a Christian to endeavour more and more to resemble his God in the highest perfections of righteousness and holiness. So Eph. v. 15, 16, ' See then that ye walk circumspectly, [a/cpt/Seo?,] not as fools, but as wise ; redeeming the time, because the days are evil.' Christians must walk precisely, curiously, exactly, accurately. As the carpenter works by line and rule, so a Christian must walk by line and rule ; he must labour to get up to the very top of godliness ; he must go to the utmost of every command, as the original word importeth. So Phil. ii. 15, ' That ye may be blameless and harmless,' or sincere, ' the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine,' or shine ye, ' as lights in the world.' God's sons should be spotless sons,^ as the Greek imports, that is, they should be without aU such spots as are inconsistent with sonship or saintship. And so in Col. ii. 6, ' As ye have therefore received Jesus Christ the Lord, so walk ye in him.' They had received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Law-girer, they had received Christ as a ruling Christ, as a reigning Christ, and as a commanding Christ; and now the great duty incumbent upon them is to walk at such a rate of holiness as may evidence that they have thus received Christ. And so in 1 John ii. 6, ' He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk even as he walked.' Christians are to set all Christ's moral actions before them as a pattern for their imitation, John xiii. 15. In His life a Christian may behold the lively picture or lineaments of all virtues, and accordingly he ought to order his conversation in this world. To walk as Christ walked is to walk humbly, holily, justly, righteously, meekly, lowly, lovingly, fruitfully, faithfully, uprightly, with an 'as' of quality or similitude, but not with an ' as' of equality ; for that is impossible for any saint on earth—to walk so purely, so holily, so blamelessly, so unspottedly, so spiritually, so heavenly as Christ walked ; that is, with an ' as' of equality. To walk as Christ walked is to slight the world, and contemn the world, and make a footstool of the world, and to live above the world, and to triumph over the world as Christ did ; that is, with an ' as' of quality, but not with an 'as' of equality. To walk as Christ walked is to love them that hate us, to pray for them that persecute us, to bless them that curse us, and to do good to them that do evil to us ; but still with an ' as' of similitude, but not with an * as' of equality, Mat, v. 44-47. To walk as Christ walked is to be patient, and silent, and submissive, and thankful, under the vilest reproaches, the heaviest affictions, and the greatest sufferings, 1 Pet, ii. 20-23 ; with an ' as' of quality, but not with an ' as' of equality. Now a holy heart that is taken with the holiness of the word, he is certainly taken most with those parts of the word that do most call for holi-

^ Ad similitudinem, non sequalitatem.— Calvin. ' AfienvToi, i.e., Sine querela, Bine reprehensione.

ness, and that do most strongly press the soul to make a progress in holiness. I have given you a taste of some of the most principal scriptures that do incite most to holiness, and I shall leave it to your own consciences to give in witness for you or against you, according to what you find in your own spirits. Certainly to a holy man there are no prayers, no sermons, no discourses, no conferences, no books, nor no parts of scripture, to those that do most encourage and provoke to holiness. But,

[5.] Fiftlily and lastly, He that loves the word, and that is affected and taken with the word as it is a holy word, he highly prizes and values the holy dispensers of the word for their work's sake. Acts x. 24-26; Gal. iv. 14. Isa. Hi. 7, ' How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!' If the very feet of those that brought good tidings, though they were afar off, and sweaty, dusty, and dirty with traveUing upon the mountains, were so desirable and amiable, honourable and comfortable, oh then what was their faces, what was their messages ! Surely they were much more amiable and desirable. So in 1 Thes. v. 12, 13, ' And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly' (or, more than abundantly, as the Greek hath it^) ' in love for their work's sake; and be at peace among yourselves.' Their work is to bring Christ and your souls together, and to keep Christ and your souls together. Their work is to turn you from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to Jesus Christ. 2 Their work is gradual: first, they are to bring you to a saving acquaintance with Christ; and then they are to bring you to a holy acceptance of Christ; and then they are to bring you to a willing resignation of yourselves to Christ; and then they are to bring you to a sweet and blessed assurance of your interest in Christ, and so to fit you and prepare you for a glorious fruition of Christ; and therefore certainly their work is high and honourable, excellent and eminent, laborious and glorious; and why, then, should you not have a high and honourable esteem of them, even for their work's sake ? I have read of Ambrose, that being once to leave the church of Milan, the people of the place flocked about him, laid hold of him, protesting that they had rather lose their lives than lose their pastor, beseeching him to remain, and to promote among them the gospel and government of Christ, professing and promising, for his encouragement, their ready submission to Christ. Chrysostom's hearers were wont to say, that they had as good be without the sun in the fij-mament, as to be without Chrysostom in the pulpit. Some of the ancients have long since concluded that Herod might have kept his oath, Mark vi. 23, and yet have spared John Baptist's head, because John's head, John's life, was more worth than all Herod's kingdom. O sirs, shall Titus Sabinus his dog bring meat to the mouth of his

^ virepeKirepiffcrou.

' ActB xxvi. 16-18. If a minister had as many eyes as Argus to watch, as many heads as Typheus to dispose, and as many hands as Briareus to labour, he might find employment enough for thpm all in the faithful diacharge of his ministerial function. [Of. vol. i., p. 3, footnote 1.—G.]

dead master, and hold up his head in Tiber from sinking, because sometimes he gave him a crust of bread; and will not you highly love, honour, and esteem of those pastors who feed your souls with the bread of life, yea, with that bread that came down from heaven ? Certainly the more any man is affected and taken with the holiness of the word, the more highly they will honour and prize the holy and faithful dispensers of the word. Holy men know that their place is honourable, their calling honourable, and their work honourable ; and therefore they cannot but honour them. Holy men know that if they do not honour them, they dishonour him whose ambassadors they are. Holy men know that Christ takes all the affronts that are put upon them as put upon himself, and will accordingly revenge them, as you may see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together.^ Ambassadors are inviolable by the law of nations. David never played any such harsh part as he did to the Ammonites, that despitefuUy used his ambassadors that he sent unto them, when they shaved off one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, &c.

1 have read that Rome was destroyed to the ground for some abuses that were offered to an ambassador that was sent unto it. And the Romans sacked the famous city of Corinth, and razed it to the ground, for a little discourtesy that they offered to their ambassadors.^ No wonder then if God deal so severely with those that slight his ambassadors, who come with messages of grace and favour from the King of kings and Lord of lords, and whose great work is to make a firm, an everlasting peace between Grod and sinners' souls, and that all differences between God and them may be for ever decided, and a free trade to heaven fully opened and maintained. As for such as slight, scorn, and despise the holy and faithful dispensers of the word, I think they are as far from real holiness as hell is from true happiness. And so, doubtless, are they that grumble at the expense of a penny for the maintenance of that divine candle that wasteth itself to give light to them, that will rather die to save charges than spend a little money to save their lives, yea, their souls, 2 Cor. xii. 14-16.

14. In ihe fourteenth place, A man that is really holy will be holy among the unholy. He will retain and keep his holiness, let the times be never so unholy. Principles of grace and holiness are lasting; they are not like the morning cloud nor the early dew, Ps. cxix. 112, and cvi. 3 ; 1 John iii. 9, 10. Holy Abraham was righteous in Chaldea; holy Lot was just in Sodom ; holy Job was upright in the land of Uz, which was a place of much profaneness and superstition; holy Nehe-miah was courageous and zealous in Damascus; and so was holy Daniel in Babylon. The several generations wherein these holy men lived were wholly devoted to wickedness and superstition, and yet these precious souls had wholly devoted themselves to godliness. ^ And of the same spirit, mind, and metal was holy David: Ps. cxix. 20, ' My soul breaketh for the longing it hath to thy judgments at all times.' Let the times be never so dangerous, licentious, superstitious, or erroneous,'yet David's heart was strongly carried forth to God's judg-

^ Luke X. 16 ; Mat. ixii. 4, 8, xxi. 33, 44, and xxiii. 37-39; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 14, 22 ;

2 Sam. X. 1, 7, compared vith xii. 31. * Aa before. —G.

ments—that is, to his word; for under this title, 'judgments,' you are to understand the whole word of God. And so there were some in Sar-dis that were of the same spirit with the worthies above mentioned : Eev. iii. 4, ' Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.' In polluting times pure hearts will keep themselves pure. A holy heart will keep himself undeiiled, even in defiling times ; when others are besmeared all over, he will keep his garments white and clean. Let the times never so often turn, you shall find that he that is really holy will be holy under every turn. No turns shall turn him out of a way of holiness: Job xvii. 9, ' The righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.' Finis coronal opus. A man that is really holy will be holy among the holy, and he will be holy among the unholy. If you look upon him among unholy friends, unholy children, and unholy servants, you shall find him holy; if you look upon him among unholy neighliours, you shall find him holy; and if you look upon him among unholy buyers and sellers, you shall find him holy; if you take him at his table, you shall find him holy; if you take him in his shop, in his commerce, you shall find him holy; if you take him in his family, you shall find him holy; if you take him in his closet, you shall find him holy; if you take him in his jour-neyings, you shah, find him holy; or if you take him in his recreations, you shall find him holy. True holiness is like that famous Queen Elizabeth, Semper eadem, always the same. The philosopher's good man is (jerpajovos) four square. Cast him where you will, like a die, he falls always sure and square. So cast a holy man where you will, and into what company you will, yet still he falls sure and square for holiness. True holiness is a part of the divine nature ; it is of such a heavenly complexion, that it will never alter. If the times should be so sad and bad that holy persons should not be able to hold fast their estates, their liberties, their trades, their lives, their religion, yet they will stiU hold fast their holiness. A holy Christian is like gold. Now cast gold into the fire, or into the water; cast it upon the dunghill, or into the pleasant garden; cast it among the poor or among the rich, among the religious or among the licentious; yet still it is gold, still it retains its purity and excellency: so cast a holy Christian, a golden Christian, into what condition you will, and into what company you will, yet still he will retain his purity, his sanctity; yea, the worse the times are, the more a holy man studies holiness, and prefers holiness, and prizes holiness, and practises holiness, that he may keep up the credit of holiness, and the credit of a holy God, and the credit of his holy profession in the world. But now such as have only a show of holiness, an appearance of holiness, these will be religious among the religious, and vicious among the vicious, Isa. ix. 17. They will be righteous among the righteous, and licentious among the licentious ; they will be as the company is amongst which they are cast. With the good they will be good, and with the bad they will be bad; with the zealous they will be zealous, and with the superstitious they will be superstitious; and with the lukewarm they will be lukewarm, &c. They are for all times and tides; they are for any turn that will

serve their turn; for any mode that will bring pleasure or profit to them; they are like Alcibiades, of whom it was said that he was omnium horanim homo, a man for all times; for he could swagger it at Athens, and take any pains at Thebes; he could live most sparingly at Laci-dsemon, and bibi among the Thracians, and hunt among the Persians. So these men can accommodate themselves to the times, and comply with them, whatever they be. With Proteus they will transform themselves into all shapes ; as the times change, so will they; what the times favour, that they will favour; what the times commend, that they will commend; and what the times cry up and admire, that they will cry up and admire; and what the times frown upon and condemn, that they will frown upon and condemn. Look, as curious and well-drawn pictures seem to turn their eyes every way, and to smile upon every one that looks upon them: so these can turn with the times; they can look as the times look, and smile as the times smile ; they can say with the times, and sail with the times. Sometimes they can act one part, and sometimes another part, as the times require. If the times require a large profession, they can make it; if the times require a rigid spirit against such as cannot comply with the times, they can act it; if the times bespeak them to leave their religion at the church door, they can leave it, &c. If the times caU upon them to worship God according to the prescriptions of men, they can do it. Oh, but give me a man that is really holy, and he will be holy though the times should be never so unholy; yea, the more licentious the times are, the more gracious he will labour to be.

15. In the fifteenth place, He that is really holy propounds ordinarily to himself holy aims and ends in his actings and undertakings. The glory of God is the mark, the white that holy men have in their eyes: Kom. xiv. 7, 8, They live not to themselves, but they live to him who lives for ever; they live not to their own wills, lusts, greatness, and glory in this world, but they live to his glory, whose glory is dearer to them than their very lives. ^ They make divine gloiy their ultimate end: 2 Cor. iv. 5, ' We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord;' that is, in our preaching we woo not for ourselves but for Christ.3 We are no kin to those who speak two words for themselves, and hardly one for Christ. In all our preaching we eye the glory of Christ, we design the honour and exaltation of Christ. Keal holiness is commonly attended with a single eye, as counterfeit holiness is commonly attended with a squint eye; squint-eyed aims, and squint-eyed ends, do usually wait upon double hearts. Take a holy man in the exercise of his gifts and graces for the good of men's souls, or take him in the exercise of charity for the good of men's bodies, and in both you shall find his eye fixed upon the glory of God: suitable to that, 1 Pet. iv. 11, 'If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ; to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever.

' ' Live riotously.'—G.

2 John vii. 18 ; Gen. xli. 16; Dan. ii. 23; Titus ii. 10, 38; 1 Cor. x ; Kev. xii. 11.

3 Quod non actibus sed Jinibus pensantur officia: That duties are esteemed not by their acts but by their ends, is most certain.

Amen.' Look, as bright shining golden vessels do not retain the beams of the sun which they receive, but reflect them back again upon the sun; so those that are really holy, they do return and reflect back again upon the Sun of righteousness the praise and glory of all the gifts, graces, and virtues that they have received from him, Kom. xiii. 7. The daily language of their souls is, Non nobis Domine, non nobis Domine, ' Not unto us, Lord, not unto us. Lord, but to thy name be all the glory.' Holy men make conscience of giving men their dues; how much more then do they make conscience of giving God his due ? 1 Chron. xxix. 10, 18. Now glory is God's due, and God stands upon nothing more than that we give him the glory due unto his name, as you may see in Ps. xxix. 1,2; so in Ps. xcvi. 7, 8. There are three ' gives' in those two verses, ' Give unto the Lord,' ' give unto the Lord,' ' give unto the Lord the glory that is due unto his name;' glory is God's right, and he stands upon his right; and this holy men know, and therefore they give him his right; they give him the honour and the glory that is due unto his name. Holy hearts do habitually eye the glory of Christ in all things. When they eat, they eat to his glory ; and when they drink, they drink to his glory, 1 Cor. x. 31; and when they sleep, they sleep to his glory; when they buy, they buy for his glory; and when they sell, they sell for his glory; and when they give, they give for his glory; and when they recreate themselves, they recreate themselves for his glory: so when they hear, they hear for his glory; and when they pray, they pray for his glory; and when they fast, they fast for his glory; and when they read, they read for his glory; and when they come to the Lord's table, they come to his glory. In all natural, moral, and religious actions, holy hearts have an habitual eye to divine glory.i Do not mistake me; I do not say that such as are really holy do actually eye the glory of Christ in all their actions: oh no, this is a happiness desirable on earth, but shall never be attained till we come to heaven. By and base ends and aims will too often creep into the holiest hearts, but holy hearts sigh and groan under them; they complain to God of them, and they cry for justice, justice upon them: and it is the strong and earnest desires of their souls to be rid of them. But take a holy Christian in his ordinary, usual, and habitual course, and so he hath holy aims and ends in all his actions and undertakings. But now such whose holiness is counterfeit, they never look at divine glory in what they do; sometimes their eye is upon their credit, and sometimes their eyes are upon applause ; sometimes they have pleasure in their eyes, and sometimes they have profit in their eyes, and sometimes they have preferments in their eyes, &c., Mat. vi. 5 ; John vi. 26; Zech. vii. 5-7. They will be very godly when they can make a gain of godliness; they will be very holy when holiness is the way to outward happiness; but this religious wickedness will double damn them at last. This is most certain, that some carnal or worldly consideration or other, always acts him who hath not real principles of holiness in him; but he that is really holy makes the glory of God his centre. Propter te Domine, propter te, was once, and is still a holy man's motto.

Quest. But how may a person know when he makes the glory ^ Quicquid agas, propter Deum agon, waa an Eastern apophthegm, saith Drusius.

of God his aim, Ms end, in this or that service which he performs ? I shall answer this question briefly thus :—

Am. [1.] First, Such a man as makes the glory of God his aim, his end, he luill do duty when all outward encouragements to duty fail. When the eye of men, the favour of men, the respects of men, and all other encouragements from men fails, yet then a holy man will hold up, and hold on in his work and way; yea, when all outward encouragements from God shall fail, yet such a person will keep close to his duty: Hab. iii. 17, 18, ' Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olives shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herds in t^e stalls: yet 1 will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of mpsalvation.' When all necessary and delightful mercies fail, yet he will not fail in his duty. Though God withholds his blessings, yet he will not withhold his service: in the want of a livelihood he will be lively in his duty; when he hath nothing to subsist by, yet then he will live upon his God.i Though war and want come, yet he will not be wanting in his duty. There are three things in a holy heart that strongly incline it to duty when all outward encouragements fail. The first is a forcible principle, divine love, 2 Cor. v. 14; the second is a mighty aid, the Spirit of God, Phil, iv. 12, 13 ; the third is a high aim, the glory of God. But now it is otherwise with those that have only a show of godliness. Let but their outward encouragements fail them; let but the eye, the ear, the applause of the creature fail them; if they cannot make some gain of their godliness, some profit of their profession, some advantage of their religion, they are ready, with Demas, to throw up and throw off all. Profit and applause are usually the baits that these men bite at ;2 and if they miss these baits, then farewell profession, farewell religion, farewell all. But now look, as Ruth kept close to her mother in the want of all outward encouragements, Ruth i.; so souls that eye the glory of God in duties, they will keep close to duties when all outward encouragements fail. Though outward encouragements be sometimes as a side-wind, or as oil, or as chariot wheels, means to move a Christian to go on more sweetly, easily, and comfortably in the ways of God, yet when this wind shall fail, and these chariot wheels shall be knocked off, a real Christian wiU hold on his way, Job. xvii. 9.

[2.] Secondly, When a man aims at the glory of God in what he doth, then he labours to hide and conceal all his human excellencies, that may any ways tend to obscure, eclipse, or darken the glory of God: 1 Cor. ii. 3-5, ' And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.' Holy Paul handled holy things in such a manner, as much of God, and little or nothing of man could be

1 Antimachus the famous poet held on in his exercise, when all his hearers had left him but Plato ; saying, Plato est viihi pro omnibus, Plato is to me instead of all. So a holy minister, when he is deserted by some, and cast off by others, yet he will hold on in his work. [Told also of Antagoras the Rhodian : see Welcker, Der Epische Cyclus, p. 105.—G.]

* H(Bc omnia tibi dabo, was the devil's great argument to prevail with Christ.

perceived. In religions exercises, Panl seems to say to human eloquence and fleshly wisdom, to affected rhetoric and flattering oratory, Stand afar off, come not near; I have now to do with God, and to do with souls, and to do with eternity, and therefore what have I to do with you ? Paul had an eye to divine glory in what he did, and therefore he durst not tip liis tongue and store his head with airy notions, or with ' the enticing words of man's wisdom.' Of all the apostles, Paul was most eminent and excellent in all human arts, parts, and gifts, and yet in religious exercises he lays them all by: 1 Cor. xiv. 18,19, 'I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all. Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also , than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.' The church o^H^th excelled all other churches in gifts, I do not say in grace, an^H^y among them prided themselves up in the exercise of their gifts and tongues in their church assemblies, that so they might win the more credit and repute to themselves, of being men of great learning, reading, and parts; but the holy apostle by his own example labours to win them to decline all vain ostentation, and to work them to express themselves so as might be most for the information, conviction, edification, and salvation of their hearers' souls. Holy Paul had much learning, and yet in religious exercises he used little. The Corinthians had less, and yet made such shows and flourishes of it, even in their religious duties, as if in their breasts all the libraries in the world had been locked up. This puts me in mind of what once I have read concerning a Rabbi, that had but little learning, and less modesty and ingenuity; for he usurping all the discourse at table where many were, one much admiring of him asked one of his friends in private. Whether he did not take such a man for a great scholar ? to whom he answered, For aught I know he may be learned; but I never heard learning make such a noise. The more learning, the less noise; the less learning, the more noise men will make. The sun shews least when it is at the highest; and those waters are most deep that run most silent: they usually are men of the greatest parts that use them least in religious works, i Famous Mr Dod was wont to say that so much Latin was so much flesh in a sermon. The gilt upon the pill may please the eye, but it profits not the patient; the paint upon the glass may feed the fancy, but the room is rather the darker than the lighter for it. Painted glass in chm-ches is more glorious, but plain glass is most perspicuous. When men come to church-work, to pulpit-work, all plainness must be used. Starched oratory may tickle the brain, but it is plain doctrine that informs the judgment, that convinces the conscience, that bows the will, and that wins the heart. That sermon hath most learning in it, that hath most plainness in it. And therefore a great scholar was wont to say, ' Lord, give me learning enough that I may preach

^ At a festival time, when Bernard had preached very eloquently, and the people much admired and applauded him, he was much sadded ; the next day he preached a plain and powerful sermon without any rhetorical dresses, at which many curious, itching eara were unsatisfied, but himself and his meaner-capacitated auditors were much pleased and delighted ; and being asked the reason of it, he returned this answer, Heri Bernar-dum, hodie Jesum Chriatum: Yesterday I preached Bernard, but to-day, Jesus Christ.

plain enough.'1 Silly, ignorant people are very apt to dote upon that most, and admire that most, which they understand least; but prudent Christians judge of ministers not by their lungs, but by their brains ; not by their throats, but by their hearts and lives; not by their voices and tones, but by the plainness, spiritualness, suitableness, and usefulness of their matter : like Demosthenes, who when he heard an orator bellowing with a loud and roaring voice, said, Non quod magnum est bene est, sed quod bene est magnum est, I mark rather the goodness than loudness of an oration. 2 It is observable throughout the Scriptures, that the profoundest prophets, and the greatest apostles, yea, and Christ himself, did commonly accommodate themselves to their hearers' capacities. 3 The^^pt in and kept under all those human excellencies, the discodflP of which might anywise cloud divine glory. Men that hav^J|pir eyes upon divine glory, do know that the more any acquired parts, gifts, and excellencies do appear in holy exercises, the more the name, honour, and glory of God is clouded, and the more those that have most of the indwellings of God are dissatisfied and disadvantaged; and therefore those that have real respect to divine glory, they draw as it were a curtain between all their human excellencies and religious exercises, 1 Cor. ix. 3. That none may think this is my private opinion, let me add a few sayings of theirs that have been eminent in acquired excellencies. Gregory Nazianzen, a holy and a weighty writer, compares curiosity and novelty of speech in the things of God unto lascivious dancing, and the arts of jugglers, whereby they deceive the senses of those that look on ;* and further saith that simple, proper, genuine language was in holy things wont to be esteemed godliness. And it was a remarkable saying of golden-mouthed Chrysostom, as some caU him, ' When I first began to preach,' said he, ' I was a child, and delighted in rattles, in the applause of the people; but when I was a man, I began to despise them.' New phrases and expressions do many times make way for the introducing of new doctrines, as learned Parseus in his comment on 1 Cor. i. 1 observes: ' For the most part,' saith he, ' those who in points of divinity devise new terms and unusual expressions, do hide under them some new and strange doctrines; they wrap up their error in some intricate words and distinctions.^ When our words in preaching differ from the style of the Holy Ghost, the people be in danger of turning aside to vain jangling, saith Danaeus-^ Loquamur verba scripturce, &c., said that incomparable man, Peter Kamus: Let us speak the words of scripture, let us make use of the language of the Holy Ghost, and for ever abominate those that profanely disdain at the stately plainness of God's blessed book, and that think to correct the divine wisdom and eloquence with their own infancy 7 and sophistry. 8 Non quanta eloquentia, sed qu/xnta evidentia, saith Augustine. Melius

^ Dr John Kainolds (?)—G. ^ Erasmus.

" Holy Moses covered his glistering face with a veil when he spake to the people.

* Eusebius tells us of some in his days, who to win upon the minds of men, did amaze them with new words.—Euseb. Hist. 1. iv. c. 7.

* Geneva : mdccxlvi folio, with his other ' Commentarii.'—G.

* Lambertus Danseus.—G. ' ' Childishness.'—G.

8 The orators of Athens were then suspected, when they began to make excursions with florid expressions.

VOL. IV, K

est ut nos reprehendant grammatici, quam ut non intelligant populi: the same author on Ps, cxxxviii. Such as mind more, saith another, the humouring of their hearers' fancies than the saving of their souls, do little consider that of Seneca, ^ger non qucerit medicum eloquen-iem, sed sanantem: Sick men are not bettered by physicians' sugared words, but by their skilful hands. Dr Sibbes was wont to say, that great affection and good affection seldom go together. Truth is like Solomon's spouse, all glorious within; she is most beautiful when most naked, as Adam was in innocency. The king of Persia^ having sent to Antalcidas, the Lacedemonian captain, a garland of roses wonderfully perfumed with spices and other sophistications, he accepted of his love, but misliked the present, and sent him word: Rosarum odorem artis adulteraiioneperdidisti: Thou hast marred the sweetness of the roses with the sweetness of thy perfumes. So many mar the sweetness of the word, by perfuming it with their human eloquence and oratory. For a close, remember that God himself, the great master of speech, when he spake from heaven, he made use of three several texts in a breath: Mat. xvii. 5, ' This is my beloved Son,' Ps. ii. 7; 'In whom I am well pleased,' Isa. xlii. 1; 'Hear ye him,' Deut. xviii. 15 ; which you may note against the curious queasiness^ of such nice ones as disdain at the stately plainness of the Scriptures. But,

[3.] Thirdly, If thou dost really and actually aim at the glory of God in what thou dost, then the glory of God will swallow up all by-aims and ends that may thrust themselves in upon the soul whilst it is at its work.^ Look, as Aaron's rod, Exod. vii. 10-12, swallowed up the magicians' rods, so the glory of God will swallow up all carnal aims and ends. Look, as the sun puts out the light of the fire, 80 the glory of God will put out and consume all other ends. This is most certain, that which is a man's great end, that will work out all other ends. If thou settest up the glory of God as thy chief end, that will by degrees eat out all low and base ends. Look, as Pharaoh's lean Mne, Gen. xli. 4, ate up the fat, so the glory of God will eat up all those fat and worldly ends that crowd in upon the soul in religious work. The keeping up of the glory of God as thy great end, will be the keeping down and the casting out of all other ends.

[4.] Fourthly, He that really and actually aims at the glory of God in what he doth, he will he doing what God commands, though nothing for the present comes of it. If his eye be truly fixed upon divine glory, a command of God shall be enough to carry him on in his work.* Ps. xxvii. 8, * When thou saidst. Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face. Lord, will I seek.' When the glory of God is a man's mark, his heart will sweetly echo and graciously comply with divine commands: Jer. iii. 22, ' Keturn, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.' God's commands fall with great power and force upon that man's heart, that hath divine glory in his eye. One word from God will command such a soul to a gracious compliance with

^ Tirabazus.—G. » < Niceness,'' squeamisliness.'—G.

' Christus opera nostra non tain actibus quam finibus pensat.— Zanchius. * Rom. xvi. 19, Obedientia non discutit Dei mandata, sed facit.— Prosper.

what God requires: Ps. cxix. 4,5,' Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes !' As soon as God lays a command upon a Christian, he looks up to heaven for power to turn that precept into practice.! Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Oh that I were as holy as God would have me to be ! Oh that I were as humble and lowly as God would have me to be! Oh that I were as heavenly and spiritual as God would have me to be ! Oh that I were as pure and perfect as God would have me to be ! So ver. 48, * My hands will I lift up to thy commandments, which I have loved.' Many there be which thrust away with all their might thy commandments, but I lift up my hands to thy commandments. Many there be that will strain themselves to take a comfort, but I strain myself to lift up thy commandments. 2 Many there are who will stretch out their hands to take a reward, but I stretch out my hands to take hold on thy commandments. To give a little more light into these words: Sometimes the lifting up of hands betokens admiration; when men are astonished and ravished they lift up their hands: ' I will lift up my hands to thy commandments,' that is, I will admire the goodness, the holiness, the righteousness, the purity and excellency of thy commandments. Again, we lift up our hands when we betake ourselves to refuge: why! God's commands are the saint's refuge. When they house and shelter themselves under the wings of God's commands they are safe. Again, men lift up their hands when they take hold on a thing. Now gracious souls do take hold on God's commandments to do them, to practise them, and to express the life and power of them. Again, men hft up their hands to those things that are high and above them. Now the commands of God are high, they are sublime, they are above us. They are sublime and high in regard of their original, they come down from God; they are sublime and high in regard of the matter of them, they are heavenly oracles, they are dictates of divine wisdom; they are sublime and high in regard of the difficulty of keeping of them, they exceeding all human strength; and they are sublime and high in regard of their situation, they are situated in heaven: * Thy word,' says David, * endures for ever in heaven.' But yet as sublime and as high as they are, a man that hath his eye upon divine glory will lift up his hands unto them; he will do all he can to express the pleasure that he takes in them, and the readiness of his soul to a holy compliance with them. A man that hath his eye upon divine glory, he will keep close to his work, to his hearing work, to his praying work, to his mourning work, to his repenting work, to his believing work, to his waiting work ; though nothing comes on it, though he make no earnings of it, though comfort doth not come, though joy and peace doth not come, though assurance doth not come, though enlargements do not come, though answers and returns from heaven do not come, though good days do not come, though deliverance doth not come, yet such will keep close to their work that have their

' Tola vita honi Chriatiani sanctum desiderium eat: The whole life of a good Christian is a holy wish.— Augustine. mi. u- e

^ Prior est autoritas imperantis quam utilitas servientis: The chief reason of obedience is the authority of the lord, not the utility of the servant.—Ttr^ttZKon.

eye upon divine glory. But now such who eye not the glory of God in what they do, they quickly grow weary of their work; if they can make no earnings of their seekings and fastings and prayings they are presently ready to throw up all, and to quarrel with God himselt, as if God had done them an injury, Isa. Iviii. 1-4.1

[5.] Fifthly and lastly, A man that really aims at the glory of God in this or that duty, he cannot he satisfied nor contented with Hie performance of duties, without some enjoyments of God in duties. Without some converse and communion with God in duties, his soul cannot be satisfied; his soul thirsts and longs to see the beauty and the glory of the Lord in his sanctuary, Ps. Ixiii. 1-3; and without this sight he cannot be quieted. Here is the ordinance, but where is the God of the ordinance? Here is prayer, but where is the God of prayer? Here is the duty, but where is the God of duty ? Here is enlargements, but where is the God of enlargements ? Here are meltings and breakings of spirit, but where is the God of these meltings and breakings ? Ps. Ixxxiv. 2, ' My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.' The courts of the Lord, without spiritual converses with the living God, could not satisfy his soul: Oh, saith he, here be the courts of the Lord, the courts of the Lord, but where is the living God ? where is the living God ? where is that God that makes men to live, and that makes ordinances to be living and lively ordinances to his children's souls ? Oh, the courts of the Lord are very desirable, but the living God is much more desirable ! The courts of the Lord are precious and glorious, but the living God is infinitely more precious and glorious! Here is the mantle of Ehjah, but where is the God of Elijah? 2 Kings ii. 12-14. Here are the courts of the Lord, but where is the Lord of these courts ? It was the speech of holy Mr Bradford,2 ' that he could not leave a duty till he had found communion with Christ in the duty; he could not give off a duty till his heart was brought into a duty frame; he could not leave confession till he had found his heart humbled and melted under the sense of his sin; he could not give over petitioning till he had found his heart taken with the beauties of the things desired, and strongly carried out after the enjoyment of them. Neither could he leave thanksgiving till he had found his spirit enlarged, and his soul quickened in the return of praises.' And so it was with holy Bernard, who was wont to say, ' O Lord, I never come to thee but by thee; I never go from thee without thee.' 3 A man that hath his eye upon the glory of Christ, he cannot put off his soul with anything below communion with Christ, in those religious services and duties that he offers up to Christ. Though the breasts of duty are sweet, yet those breasts will not satisfy the soul, except Christ lies betwixt them. Cant. i. 13. But now men that have base, poor, low, and by-ends in what they do, they can come off easily from their duties; though they find no spirit, no life, no warmth in duty, yet they can come off with content from duty. Though they

^ Compare these scriptures together: Ps. xliv. 12, 20; Cant. iii. 1-3; Isa. xxvi. 8, 9, and lix. 8-11 ; Hab. ii. 1-3 ; Micah vii. 7-9; Lam. iii. 8, 44, compared with ver. 24-26, 31, 32, 40, 41, 55.

* Mr Foxe, Acts and Mon. [5«6 nomine. —G.]

^ Nunquam abs te absque te recede.— Bern. Meditat.

have no communion, no converse at all with God in duty, though they have no pledges of grace, no pawns of mercy, no tastes of love, no relishes of heaven in a duty, yet they can come off from the duty with content and satisfaction of spirit; let but others applaud him, and his own heart hug him, and he hath enough.

16. In the sixteenth and last place, A man that is really holy speaks a holif language.^ A holy heart and a holy tongue are inseparable companions; if there be grace in the heart, there will be grace in the lips; if the heart be pure, the language will be pure. Christ says his spouse's lips are like a thread of scarlet; they are red with talking of nothing but a crucified Christ; and they are thin like a thread, not swelled with other vain discourses. And ver. 11, he tells you that ' the lips of his spouse drop as the honeycombs,' or drop honeycombs; and that ' honey and milk are under her tongue.' You know that Canaan was a land that flowed with milk and honey. Why ? the language of the spouse was the language of Canaan; her lips were still dropping such holy, spiritual, and heavenly matter, as was as sweet, pleasant, profitable, desirable, and delectable to men's souls, as ever honey and milk was to men's palates or appetites; and as many were fed and nourished by milk and honey, so many were fed and nourished by the holy droppings of her lips: Ps. xxxvii. 30, * The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.' If the heart be holy, the tongue will be a-talking wisely, fruitfully, feelingly, affectionately of that which may profit both a man's self and others: Prov. x. 20, ' The tongue of the just is as choice silver; the heart of the wicked is little worth.' Good men's words are of more worth than wicked men's hearts: and look, as choice silver is known by its tinkUng, so holy men are known by their talking. And as choice silver giveth a clear and sweet sound, so the tongue of the just soundeth sweetly and pleasantly in the ears of others. Look, as choice silver is highly prized and valued among men, so is the tongue of the righteous among those that are righteous: and look, as choice silver allures and draws the hearts of men to a love and liking of it; so the tongues of the righteous do allure and draw the hearts of men to a love and liking of virtue and goodness.^ Ver. 21, 'The lips of the righteous feed many.' They feed many by their exhortations, instructions, admonitions, and counsels. The mouths of the righteous are like the gates of some hospitable persons, where many are fed. The lips of the righteous are a free and well-furnished table, at which many are fed and nourished with the dainties of heaven to eternal life. Kighteous men keep open house, they keep free hospitality for all comers and goers; and if they have not always bread in their hands, yet they have always grace in their lips, to feed many. Though they may be outwardly poor, yet they haJ^e a treasure within to enrich many. The tongue is the instrument of a Christian's glory, and is so interested in the quality it expresseth, that in the original it is taken for it, cavod signifying both glory and the tongue—by the authority

' Ps. xlv. 1, 2; Zeph. iii. 9; Cant. iv. 3. Compare these scriptures together—Prov. xi. 30, xii. 18, and xxv. 11 ; Mat. vii. 6, and xii. 35; Col. iv. 6; Eph. iv. 29; Acts xxvi. 25; John vi. 25; 1 Pet. iv. 11.

' Quod hominis dignitas et excellentia nulla alia re magis cognoscitur quam oratione. . . . Qui in Christum credunt, loquuntur novis.— Peter Martyr, ii. 4.

of no less Kabbins than Jacob and David—as thereby intimating that the chiefest glory of man is his tongue. The primitive Christians talked so much and so often of high and heavenly things, that the Ethnicksi began to surmise that they affected the Koman empire, when indeed their ambition was of another, a nobler and a higher nature. But now men that have only a show of godliness, they do practically say, Our tongues are our own, and who shall' control us ? Their speech is so far from administering of grace to their hearers, that it administers usually either matter of carnal mirth, or of contempt, or of scorn, or of sorrow and mourning. Certainly they have no holiness in their hearts who have so much of hell, and the devil, and lusts in their mouths. 2 I may say to most. You are unholy persons, your speech bewrays you, your worldliness, your profaneness, your cursing, your swearing, your lying, your slandering, your reviling, your railing, your deriding, &c., doth plainly evidence that you have no holiness in you. Well! remember this, a tongue that is set on fire from hell, is in danger to be set on fire in hell. Hell is for that man, and that man is for heU, that hath so much of hell in his mouth ; the devil is for that man, and that man is for the devil, that hath so much of the devil in his mouth; damnation is for that man, and that man is for damnation, that hath so much of damnation in his mouth; the world is for that man, and that man is for the world, that hath so much of the world in his mouth. Whatever is in the heart will break out in the lips; if wickedness be in the heart, it will break out in the lips. Physicians say that the nature of diseases is as well known by the tongue as by the pulse or urine. The spiritual diseases that be in the heart will quickly discover themselves by the tongue. Wherever holiness is in the heart, it wiU break forth in the lips. A holy heart and a holy tongue are married together, and it is not in man to put them asunder. You shall sooner separate the soul from the body, than you shall separate a holy tongue from a holy heart. And thus I have done with this use of examination. The Lord make you wise to lay these things to heart, that so you may know how it is like to go with you in another world.

Use 3.—The third use shaU be a use of exhortation, and that both to unsanctified and sanctified ones. First, let me speak to unsanctified ones. Is it so, that real holiness is the only way to happiness, and that without men are holy on earth, they shall never come to the beatifical vision or blessed fruition of God in heaven ? Oh then, how should this provoke and stir up all unholy persons to strive and labour, as for life, after this real holiness, without which they shall never come to have anything to do with God in everlasting happiness! &c.

Now that I may the better prevail with unsanctified souls, I shall,

First, propound some motives to stir and provoke their hearts to look and labour after real holiness, &c.

Secondly, I shall propose some means for the obtaining of holiness.

Thirdly, I shall endeavour to answer those objections, and remove those impediments, that hinder and keep men ofi" from labouring after real holiness.

1' Heathen.'—Q. «James i. 26, 27, and iii. 8,12; Mat. xxvi. 73. . . .

I. For the first, I shall propound these following considerations to provoke all unsanctified persons to look after holiness.

1. First, Consider the necessity of holiness. It is impossible that ever you should be happy, except you are holy. No holiness here, no happiness hereafter. The Scripture speaks of three bodily inhabitants of heaven—Enoch, before the law; Elijah, under the law; and Jesus Christ, under the gospel; aU three eminent in hoKness, to teach us, that even in an ordinary course there is no going to heaven without holiness. There are many thousand thousands now in heaven, but not one unholy one among them all: there is not one sinner among all those saints; not one goat among aU those sheep; not one weed among all those flowers; not one thorn or prickle among all those roses; not one pebble among all those glistering diamonds. There is not one Cain among all those Abels; nor one Ishmael among all those Isaacs ; nor one Esau among all those Jacobs in heaven. There is not one Sethi among all the patriarchs; not one Saul among all the prophets; nor one Judas among all the apostles; nor one Demas among all the preachers; nor one Simon Magus among all the professors. ^ Heaven is only for the holy man, and the holy man is only for heaven: heaven is a garment of glory, that is only suited to him that is holy.3 God, who is truth itself, and cannot lie, hath said it, that' without holiness no man shall see the Lord.' ^ Mark that word ' no man:' without holiness the rich man shall not see the Lord ; nor without holiness the poor man shall not see the Lord; without holiness the noble man shall not see the Lord; nor without holiness the mean man shall not see the Lord; without holiness the prince shall not see the Lord; nor without holiness the peasant shall not see the Lord; without hoHness the ruler shall not see the Lord; nor without holiness the ruled shall not see the Lord; without holiness the learned man shall not see the Lord; nor without holiness the ignorant man shall not see the Lord; without holiness the husband shall not see the Lord; nor without holiness the wife shaU not see the Lord; without holiness the father shaU not see the Lord; nor without holiness the child shall not see the Lord; without holiness the master shall not see the Lord; nor without holiness the servant shall not see the Lord. ' For faithful and strong is the Lord of hosts that hath spoken it,' Josh, xxiii. 14. In this day some cry up one form, some another; some cry up one church state, some another; some cry up one way, some another; but certainly the way of holiness is the good old way, Jer. vi. 16 ; it is the King of kings' highway to heaven and happiness: Isa. XXXV. 8, ' And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.' Some men say, Lo, here is the way ; other men say, Lo, there is the way; but certainly the way of holiness is the surest, the safest, the easiest, the noblest, and the shortest way to happiness. Among the heathens, no man could enter into the temple of honour, but must

iQu. 'Ham'?— Ed.

^ Recollection, almost translation of the often-recurring illustrations of the mediajval preachers.—G. » Rev. v. 11, and vii. 9 ; Heb. xii. 22, 23.

* Those that would be immortally happy, they must live holily and justly, saith Antisthenes, the heathen.

first enter into the temple of virtue. There is no entering into the temple of happiness, except you enter into the temple of holiness. Holiness must first enter into you, before you can enter into God's holy hill. As Samson cried out, 'Give me water, or I die:' or as Kachel cried out, 'Give me children, or I die;' so all unsanctified souls may well cry out. Lord, give me holiness, or I die: give me holiness, or I eternally die.i If the angels, those princes of glory, fall once from their holiness, they shall be for ever excluded from everlasting happiness and blessedness. If Adam in paradise fall from his purity, he shall quickly be driven out from the presence of divine glory. Augustine would not be a wicked man, an unholy man, one hour for all the world, because he did not know but that he might die that hour: and should he die in an unholy estate, he knew he should be for ever separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. 0 sirs, do not deceive your own souls; holiness is of absolute necessity; without it you shall never see the Lord, 2 Thes. i. 8-10. It is not aljsolutely necessary that you should be great or rich in the world; but it is absolutely necessary that you should be holy: it is not absolutely necessary that you should enjoy health, strength, friends, liberty, life; but it is absolutely necessary that you should be holy. A man may see the Lord without worldly prosperity, but he can never see the Lord except he be holy. A man may to heaven, to happiness, without honour or worldly glory, but he can never to heaven, to happiness, without holiness. Without holiness here, no heaven hereafter: Kev. xxi. 27, ' And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth.' God will at last shut the gates of glory against every person that is without heart-purity. Ah, sirs ! holiness is a flower that grows not in nature's garden. Men are not born with holiness in their hearts, as they are born with tongues in their mouths: holiness is of a divine offspring: it is a pearl of price, that is to be found in no nature but a renewed nature, in no bosom but a sanctified bosom. There is not the least beam or spark of holiness in any natural man in the world: Gen. vi. 5, ' Every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart is only evil continually;' Job xxv. 4, ' How can man be clean that is born of a woman?'2 The interrogation carries in it a strong negation,' How can man be clean ?' that is, man cannot be clean that is born of a woman: man that is born of a woman, is born in sin, and born both under wrath and under the curse. ' And who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?' Job xiv. 4; Isa. Ixiv. 6, ' But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;' Rom. iii. 10, 11, ' There is none righteous, no not one; there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.' Every man by nature is a stranger, yea, an enemy to holmess, Rom. viii. 7. Every man that comes into this world, comes with his face towards sin and hell, and with his back upon God and holiness. Such is the corruption of our nature, that, propound any divine good to it, it is entertained as fire by water or wet wood, with hissing. Propound any evil, then it is like a fire to

' Ps. XV. throughout.

* I have read that the Isle of Arren in Ireland hath such a pure air that it was never yet infected with the plague, but such is not the nature of man.

straw; it is like the foolish satyr that made haste to kiss the fire; it is like that unctuous matter which, the naturalists say, sucks and snatches the fire to it, with which it is consumed. All men are born sinners, and there is nothing but an infinite power that can make them saints. All men would be happy, and yet they naturally loathe to be holy. By all which you may clearly see that food is not more necessary for the preservation of natural life, than holiness is necessary for the preservation and salvation of the soul. If a man had the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Samson, the courage of Joshua, the policy of Ahithophel, the dignities of Haman, the power of Ahasuerus, and the eloquence of Apollos, yet aR these without holiness would never save him.

2. Secondly, Consider there is a possibility of obtaining holiness. Holiness is a golden mine that may be come at if you will but dig, and sweat, and take pains for it, Prov. ii. 2-7. It is a flower of paradise that may be gathered; it is a crown that may be put on; it is a pearl of price that may be obtained, if you will but part with the wicked man's trinity—the world, the flesh, and the devil—to enjoy it, Rom. xiii. 12-14. Though some of the attributes of God be incommunicable, yet holiness is a communicable attribute; and this should mightily encourage you to look after holiness. Well! sinners, remember this, it is possible that those proud hearts of yours may be humbled; it is possible that those hard hearts of yours may be softened; it is possible that those unclean hearts of yours may be sanctified; it is possible that those blind minds of yours may be enlightened; it is possible that those stubborn wills of yours may be tamed; it is possible that those disordered affections of yours may be regulated; it is possible that those drowsy and defiled consciences of yours may be awakened and purged; it is possible that those vile and polluted natures of yours may be changed and purified. There are several things that do witness that holiness is attainable ; as,

[1.] Witness God's promise to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask it.' Luke xi. 13, * If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?' The Holy Spirit is a gift more worth than a world, yea, than heaven itself, and yet, to make men holy, God is willing to give his Holy Spirit upon very easy terms—they shaU have it for asking. The Spirit is a spirit of holiness ; he is holy in himself, and the author of all that holiness that is in man.l It is he that most powerfully moves and persuades men to holiness; it is he that presents holiness in its beauty and glory to the soul; it is he that sows seeds of holiness in the soul; and it is he that causes those seeds to grow up to maturity and ripeness. Nil nisi sanctum a sancto Spiritu prodire potest, Nothing can come from the Holy Spirit but that which is holy. The Holy Spirit is the great principle of aU the holiness that is in the world; and this Holy Spirit God hath engaged himself to give to those that are unholy: Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27, ' I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean ; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse ^ John Hi. 6 ; Titus iii. 5 ; 1 Cor. vi. 11.

you. A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my Spu'it within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.' The Holy Spirit is a gift, a free gift, a noble gift, a precious gift, a glorious gift, that God will bestow upon the miclean, upon the unsanctified, that they may be cleansed and sanctified, and so fitted for the Lord's service and use. It is possible that you may be holy, 2 Tim. ii. 21; witness,

[2.] His holy word, tlmt lie liath given on purpose to make men holy, and to keep men holy. His commandments are holy, just, and good; his threatenings are holy, just, and good; and all his promises are holy, just, and good.^ The Holy Scriptures were written with a finger of holiness, so as to move to holiness, and to work holiness; the whole word of Grod is an entire love-letter to provoke to holiness, and to promote holiness. Holy commands should sweetly persuade us to holiness, and holy threatenings should divinely force us to holiness, and holy promises should effectually allure us to the love of holiness, to the embracing of holiness, and to the practice of holiness. The great design of God, in sending this sacred volume in golden letters from heaven, was to enamour men with the love and beauty of holiness. Again, it is possible that you may attain to true holiness; witness,

[3.] Those holy ambassadors that he hath sent on purpose to turn men from ' darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to Jesus Christ;' their great business and work is to treat with you about holiness; it is to woo you to match with holiness, and to follow after holiness; it is to remove all lets and impediments that may anywise hinder your embracing of holiness; and it is to propose all manner of encouragements that may win you over to make holiness your great all, Acts xxvi. 18, and 2 Cor. v. 18-20. Again, it is possible that you may be holy; witness,

[4.] The holy examples of all the patriarclis, prophets, apostles, aTid saints that are left on record, on purpose to provoke you to an imitation of them in holiness. Their holy examples, as so many shining stars, are left upon record to influence us to holiness.^ In the holy examples of those that are now triumphant in heaven, you may run and read that holiness is attainable. In their holy examples, as in so many looking-glasses, you may see that holiness is a jewel that may be procured. By that holiness that others have reached to, sinners may see that it is possible that they may be made saints. Again, it is possible that you may be holy; witness,

[5.] All those notorious sinners that the Scripture declares have been sanctified and made holy. To instance only in a few: Adam, you know, was created in an estate of innocency, integrity, and perfect holiness, Gen. i. 26 ; he being made in the image of God, and after the likeness and similitude of God. It was agreed upon in the parliament of heaven that man should be made glorious in holiness; and so he was, for he was made after God's own image. And this the apostle clearly and fuUy evidences in that famous scripture, Eph. iv.

1 Deut. iv. 6-9 ; Eom. vii. 12 ; Luke i. 70-76.

* Prsecepta decent, exempla movent. [As before.— G.]

22-24.^ That Adam was invested and endowed with righteousness and holiness in his first glorious estate; with righteousness, that he might carry it fairly, justly, evenly, and righteously towards man ; and with holiness, that he might carry it wisely, lovingly, reverentially, and holily towards God; and that he might take up in God as his chiefest good, as his great All, might be sufficiently made good out of this scripture last cited; but I shall not now stand upon the discovery of Adam's beauty, authority, dominion, dignity, honour, and glory, with which he was adorned, invested, and crowned in innocency. Let this satisfy, that Adam's first estate was a state of perfect knowledge, wisdom, and understanding; it was a perfect state of holiness, righteousness, and happiness. There was nothing within him but what was desirable and delectable ; there was nothing without him but what was amiable and commendable; nor nothing about him but what was serviceable and comfortable; and yet, in the height of all his glory he falls to apostasy and open rebellion against God ; he takes part with Satan against God himself; he transgresses his righteous law, he affronts his justice, he provokes his anger, he stirs up his wrath against himself and his posterity. The sin of Adam was a voluminous sin; all kinds of notorious sins were bound up in it, as backsliding, rebellion, treason, pride, unbelief, blasphemy, contempt of God, unthankfulness, theft, murder, and idolatry, &c. The philosopher being asked which was the best member of the body, answered, The tongue ; for if it be good, it is the best trumpet of God's glory. And being asked again which was the worst, answered, The tongue ; for if ifc be bad, it is the worst firebrand of hell. So if any should ask me, Which was the best creature of God ? I would answer, Man in honour before his fall. If you should ask me, Which is the worst ? I must answer, Man in his fall, Adam was once the wonder of all understanding, the mirror of wisdom and knowledge, the image of God, the delight of heaven, the glory of the creation, the world's great lord, and the Lord's great darling; but being fallen, ah how low, how poor, how miserable, how sottish, how senseless, how brutish, yea how much below the beast that perisheth was he! and yet God pardoned, changed, and sanctified him, and stamped his image of holiness afresh upon him, when he made a covenant with him in Christ, Gen. iii.

So Manasseh, he was a notorious sinner, he was a sinner of the greatest magnitude; his sins reached up to heaven, his soul was ripe for hell, he had sold himself to work aU manner of wickedness, as you may see in 2 Chron. xxxiii. In ver. 3, ' He reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them;' ver. 4, ' he built altars in the house of God;' ver. 5, ' yea, for all the host of heaven did he build altars in the courts of the house of God.' This was a horrid piece of impudence, to provoke God to his very face, by equalizing his altars to God's altar. Ver. 6, * And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom.' Here was inhuman superstition, and inhuman

^ In this scripture he speaks plainly of the renovation of that knowledge, holiness, and righteousness that Adam sometimes had, but lost it by his fall, Ps. viii. 4-6 ; Gen. ii. 20.

cruelty, to offer his own children in sacrifice to the devil. * Also he observed times, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger;' ver. 9, ' he made Judah and Jerusalem to err, by his example, and to do worse than the heathens.' The actions of rulers are most commonly rules for the people's actions, and their example passeth as current as their coin. The common people dare practise the very worst of wickedness that they see acted in a scarlet robe; they are like tempered wax, easily receiving impressions from the seals of great men's vices; they make no bones on it to sin by prescription, and to damn themselves with authority.i^ The heathen brings in a young man, who hearing of the adulteries and wickednesses of the gods, said. What, do they so, and shall I stick at it ? 2 So say most, when great ones are greatly wicked. Why, they do thus and thus, and why should we stick at it ? The Egyptians esteemed it graceful, and their duty, to halt on that leg on which their king limped; most men think it a grace to imitate the greatest authority in their most graceless actings, which made the poet say,

* Subjects and kingdoms commonly do choose The manners that their princes daily use.'

Ver. 10, ' And the Lord spake unto Manasseh, but he would not hearken.' He was settled in idolatrj'^, and stopped his ears against all the counsel and admonitions of the prophets that were sent to reclaim him. Now who would ever have thought that one so abominably wicked and wretched should ever have obtained such favour with God, as to be pardoned, renewed, and sanctified? and yet, ver. 12, 13, 'he besought the Lord, and humbled himself greatly before the Lord, and prayed unto him, and God was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.' He now acknowledges Jehovah to be the true God, and renounces all other gods, that he may cleave to God alone. There is no heart so wicked but grace can make it holy.

So Paul was once so great a sinner, that had he stepped but one step further, he had fallen into the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost.

In 1 Tim. i. 13 you have a brief survey of his great transgressions. He was a blasphemer: he blasphemed God and Christ, and his ways and truth; he made a mock and scoff at holiness ; he made nothing of blaspheming that God that he should have feared, and of blaspheming that Christ that he should have sweetly embraced, and of blaspheming those truths that he should have readily entertained. Paul was a great proficient in the school of blasphemy, he made nothing of belching out blasphemy in the very face of heaven. And he was a persecutor too : he persecuted holiness to the death. Acts ix. and xxvi. 11; yea, he was mad in persecuting the poor saints and servants of Christ; he did all he could to make their lives a hell, and

* The complaint is ancient in Seneca, that commonly men live not ad rationem, but ad similitudinem, —Seneca de vita beata, cap. i. ' Aristophanes an"d Lucian.—G.

to rid them out of this world; he thought them not worthy to live, though they were such worthies of whom this world was not worthy, Acts viii. 3 ; he was a ravening and an untired wolf that was never weary in worrying Christ's little flock, and in sucking out the blood of his lambs. Yea, and he was an injurious person too: he made no conscience of wronging others, or of squaring his carriage by that golden rule, * Do to others as you would have others do to you,' Mat. vii. 12. This royal law, this standard of equity, he regarded not; he made nothing of haling men and women to prison, and of compelling them to blaspheme by his cruelty and wicked example ; he spared no sex, but practised the highest cruelty upon all that had anything of sanctity in them ; he would adventure the torments of hell rather than not be a tormentor of the saints here ; and the more active any were in holiness, the more injurious was he to them. And yet behold this blasphemer, this persecutor, this injurious person, became a sanctified Christian, an eminent saint, a pattern of holiness to all Christians in all ages.

Once more, witness that sad bed-rool l of unsanctified persons that are mentioned in 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, ' Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.' These monstrous sinners and prodigious sins were enough to have brought another flood upon the world, or to have provoked the Lord to rain hell out of heaven upon them, as once he did upon Sodom and Gomorrah, or to have caused the ground to open and swallow them up, as once it did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and yet behold some of these are changed and sanctified! ver. 11, ' And such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' Oh, the infinite goodness ! oh, the infinite grace ! oh, the infinite wisdom and power of God, that hath pardoned, washed, sanctified, and cleansed such guilty, filthy, and polluted souls ! The worst of sinners should never despair of being made saints, considering what unholy ones have been made holy. 2 It is possible that you may be made holy; witness,

[6.] All those sanctified ones among whom you live, who once were as unholy, or more unholy, it mn/y be, than ever you were. The sanctified husband is a clear witness to the unsanctified wife that she may be sanctified, 1 Cor. vii. 14, 16 ; 1 Pet. iii. 1,6: the sanctified father is a witness to the unsanctified child that he may be sanctified ; the sanctified master is a witness to the unsanctified servant that he may be sanctified ; the sanctified prince is a witness to his unsanctified people that they may be sanctified; and the sanctified minister is a witness to his unsanctified hearers that they may be sanctified ; the same Spirit, the same grace, the same power, the same presence that hath sanctified any of these, may sanctify all of these ; there is no heart so unholy but a holy God can make it holy; there is no spirit

^' Bead-rule or bed-rule,' = catalogue or roll.—G.

* Matthew, Zaccheus, Mary Magdalene, the jailer, and the murderers of Christ, Acts ii are clear instances of this truth.

SO unclean but a Holy Spirit can make it clean. Well, sinners ! there are many living and standing witnesses of divine grace among you, and about you, that do sufficiently declare that it is possible that you may be sanctified and saved. Again, it is possible that you may be sanctified and made holy; witness,

[7.] The oath of a holy God: Ezek. xviii. 31, 32, and xxxiii. 11, * Say unto them. As I live, saith the Lord Grod, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live : turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, O house of Israel ?' ' As I live' is the form of an oath, and is much used in the Scripture by God himself. Wicked men are very hardly persuaded to believe that God is willing that they should be sanctified and saved ; and therefore God takes his oath on it, that he is infinitely more willing that wicked men should turn from their evil ways and be sanctified and saved, than that they should perish in their sins and be damned for ever. ' As I live' is a weighty oath, and imports the certainty of that which follows: it is absolute, without evasion or revocation ; as sure as I live and am God, I have no pleasure in destroying and damning of souls, but desire that they would turn from their evil ways, and that they would be sanctified and saved; let me not live, let me be no longer a God, if I would not have the wicked to live and be happy for ever. The possibility of your being holy, God hath confirmed by an oath, and therefore you may no longer question it. The Egyptians, though heathens, so hated perjury, that if any man did but swear by the life of the king, and did not perform his oath, that man was to die, and no gold was to redeem his life.i And do you think that a holy God doth not stand more upon liis oath than heathens, yea, than the worst of heathens ? Certainly he doth. Lastly, it is possible that you may be holy ; witness,

[8.] The great designs and undertakings of Jesus Christ to make lost man holy. His great design in leaving his Father's bosom and coming into this world, was the destroying, the dissolving of the works of the devil: 1 John iii. 8, ' For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.' 2 Sin is Satan's work, and Christ comes to destroy it, and break it all in pieces. Men's sins are Satan's chains, by which he links them fast to himself; but Christ was therefore manifested that he might loose and knock off these chains. Satan had knit many sinful knots in our souls, but Christ comes to untie those knots; he had laid many snares, but Christ comes to discover and to break those snares. It was the great design of Christ in the divesting of himself, as it were, of his divine honour, glory, and dignity, and in his taking on him the nature of man, to destroy Satan, and to sanctify the souls of men, Phil. ii. 6-8,15 ; Heb. ii. 11,14,15. It was the great design of Jesus Christ in giving of himself for us—in giving his soul, his body, his life, to justice, to death, to wrath for us, ' that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works,' Titus ii. 14. The crown of holiness was fallen from our heads, and Christ freely and willingly uncrowns himself, that once more

^ As Paulus Fagius observeth in his comment on Genesis. ^ Mfft), dissolve, unravel the works of the devil.

we might be crowned with holiness, immortality, and glory. Christ was resolved that he would lose all that was near and dear unto him, but he would recover our lost holiness for us. Christ knew that heaven had been but a poor purchase, had he not purchased holiness for us. As heaven is but a low thing without God, so heaven is but a low thing without holiness. It is holiness that is the sparkling diamond in the ring of happiness; a man were better be holy in hell than unholy in heaven; and therefore Christ ventures his all for hohness. The great design of Christ in redeeming of souls with the choicest, the purest, the costliest, the noblest blood that ever run in veins, was that they should ' serve him in righteousness and holiness all the days of their lives,' Luke i. 74, 75. In a word, Christ had never taken so great a journey from heaven to earth, but to make men holy; he had never taken upon him the form of a servant, but to make us the servants of the most high God. He had never lain in a manger, he had never trod the wine-press of his Father's wrath, but to make you holy. He prayed, he sweat, he bled, and he hung on the cross, and all to make you holy. He was holy in his birth, and holy in his life, and holy in his death, and holy in all his sufferings; and all to make you holy. The great design of Christ in aU he did, and in all he suffered, was to make man holy. And thus you see by all these arguments that holiness is attainable.

3. Thirdly, Consider this, that real holiness is the honour and the glory of the creature; and therefore the apostle links hohness and honour together: 2 Cor. iii. 18, and Eph. v. 27; 1 Thess. iv. 3, 4, ' For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication; that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.' The vessel is man's body—^which is the great utensil or instrument of the soul, and contains it as in a vessel. Now the sanctity and chastity of this vessel is the honour of a Christian. Even bodily purity is a Christian's glory. He that keeps his vessel in holiness, keeps it in honour. Holiness is the greatest dignity that mortal man is capable of; it is man's highest promotion, it is his highest exaltation. Holiness is the true gentility and the true nobility of the soul: i Deut. xxvi. 19, ' And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour, and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God.' There is nothing that lifts a people so high, and that makes them so truly famous and glorious, as holiness doth. Holiness is the praise, the renown, the crown, and glory of a people. Holiness is the diadem, the beauty, and the excellency of a people. Holiness is the strength, the honour, and the riches of a people. Holiness is the image of God, the character of Christ. It is a beam of the divine nature, a spark of glory, it is the life of your lives, and the soul of your souls; it is only holiness that makes men to excel in honour all other people in the world. Look, as God's holiness is his glory, and the angels' holiness is their glory, and the church's holiness is their glory, Exod. XV. 11; Isa. vi. 2, 3; Ps. xciii. 5 ; Eph. v. 27; so the hohness of any particular person is the glory of that person. Why was Jabez reputed

^ A heathen could say, Ndbilitas sola eat atque unica virtus: Virtue is the only true nobility.

more honourable than his brethren, but because he was more holy than his brethren? 1 Chron. iv. 9, 10, ' And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying. Because I bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying. Oh that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me ! And God granted him that which he requested.' Holiness is the truest and the greatest nobility and honour in the world. It is very observable that among • Turks, Jews, Indians, Persians, and Papists, the strictest and holiest among them are most highly esteemed and honoured, Komanus, the martyr, who was born of noble parentage, entreated his persecutors that they would not favour him for his nobility; for it is not, said he, the blood of my ancestors, but my Christian faith that makes me noble. 1 David thought it not so happy nor so honourable a thing to be a king in his own house, as to be a door-keeper in God's house. Solomon did prefer the title of Ecclesmstes, that is, a soul reconciled to the church, before the title of the king of Jerusalem. Holy Theodosius, the emperor, preferred the title of memhrum ecclesice, a member of the church, before that of caput imperii, the head of the empire, professing that he had rather be a saint and no king, than a king and no saint. And holy Constantine rejoiced more in being the servant of Christ, than in being the emperor of the world. And Luther had rather be Christianus rusticus, than ethniciis Alexander^ a Christian clown than a pagan emperor. These holy men well knew that holiness was the top of all their honour and glory. Well, sinners, remember this, that holiness is the high and ready way to the highest honour; and therefore, as ever you would be traly honourable, labour to be truly holy. Great swelling titles are but as so many rattles, or as so many feathers in men's caps, without holiness. He that can be content to live without holiness, must be contented to see his honour entombed whilst he lives. Honour without holiness is but a wind that will blow a man the sooner to hell. Honour without holiness is but magnum nihil, a great nothing, a glorious fancy. 2 Many a man hath been the worse, but where lives that man that hath been ever the better, for his worldly honour? A man swelled with honour, without holiness, is like a man in a dropsy, whose bigness is his disease. Well, let ambitionists, and all others who hunt after the breath of popular applause, know that that honour which attends holinesfi is the truest honour, the highest honour, the greatest honour, the happiest honour, the surest honour, the purest honour, and the most lasting and abiding honour. Mollerus,3 upon Psakn Ixxiii. 20, concludes that wicked men's earthly honours and dignities are but as idle dreams, and their splendid braveries but lucid phantasies. Adonibezek, a mighty prince, is quickly made a fellow-commoner with the dogs. Judges i. 7. And Nebuchadnezzar, a mighty conqueror, turned a-grazing among the oxen, Dan. iv. 28. And Herod reduced

^ Clarke, as before.—G.

^ Acts XXV. 23. MerA ttoXX^j (pavrafflas, with great phantasy or vain show; all the honour, pomp, and state of this world is but a phantasy. ^ MDCLXi. folio.—G.

from a conceited god to be the most loathsome of men, a living carrion arrested by the \'ilest of creatures, upon the suit of his affronted Creator, Acts xii. 23. And great Haman feasted with the king one day, and made a feast for crows the next, Esth. vii. 10. But that honour that waits on holiness is honour that will abide with a man, that will to the grave with a man, yea, that will to heaven with a man. Some heathens have been weary of their honours—Maximus, &c., but the honour that attends holiness is no burden to a Christian; and others have rejected honours when they have been offered them, because of the cumber and danger that attends them. High seats are never but uneasy, and crowns are usually stuffed with thorns. But the honour that attends holiness is a rose without prickles, it is a crown without thorns. That honour that springs from a root of holiness shall be both sanctified and sweetened by God, so as that it shall not hurt nor harm a gracious soul. Ah, sinners! sinners! if you will be ambitious, be ambitious of that honour that comes in upon the foot of holiness, for there is no honour to that honour. The Eomans were insatiable in their desires after worldly honour, which is but as a blast, a shadow, a dream. Oh, how much more insatiable should you be in your desires and endeavours after that honour that is linked to holiness, and that is substantial and lasting!

To stir you up to look after real holiness, consider, 4. Fourthly, That holiness is very attractive, drawing, and loinning. It draws love, it draws desire, it draws delight. Holiness is like a precious perfume, whose savour spreads itself, and is pleasing and delightful to all that come near it: 2 Kings iv. 9, 10, ' And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick; and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.'^ The holiness of the prophet's spirit, the holiness of his principles, the holiness of his behaviour, and the holiness of his conversation, did so allure and win upon this great lady, that she becomes an importunate suitor to her husband that he might be lovingly, freely, courteously, and commodiously entertained and accommodated as often as he came that way. So Acts ii. 46, 47, ' And they continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart; praising God, and having favour with all the people.' That which did grace and ingratiate these holy converts into the favour of the people, was the exercise of their grace and holiness. It was their sweet unity, their noble charity, their holy familiarity, their blessed harmony, their singular sincerity, and their Christian constancy, that brought them into favour with all the people. Visible holiness is a loadstone that will draw eyes and hearts after it: 1 Pet. iii. 1, 'Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wife.' A holy conversation is a winning conversation, Phil. ii. 15, and 1 Cor. vii. 16.

1 History tells us of many infidels that have been won to the Christian faith by the holy lives of the saints, &c

VOL. IV. ^

The holy conversation of the wife may be the conversion of the husband ; the holy, the wise, the watchful, the circumspect conversation of the wife may issue in the salvation of the husband. Many a husband hath been won to Christ by the holy conversation of the wife; and many a wife hath been won by the holy conversation of the husband. Many a servant hath been won by the holy conversation of the master; and many a master hath been won by the holy conversation of the servant. Sozomen reports, that the holy life of a poor captive Christian maid, made a king and all his family to embrace the Christian faith. I have read of Cecilia, a poor virgin, who, by her holy and gracious behaviour in her martyrdom, was the means of converting four hundred to Christ.i Many a soul hath been won by the dumb oratory of a holy life.^ Justin Martyr confesseth that the constancy of Christians in their piety and sufferings was the chiefest motive that converted him to Christianity. ' For I myself,' saith he, ' was once a Platonist, and did gladly hear the Christians reviled: but when I saw they feared not death, nor any of those miseries which did most frighten all other men, I began to consider with myself that it was impossible for such men to be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of piety; and that made me first think of turning Christian.'3 There is nothing that hath that influence upon the judgments of men to persuade them, upon the consciences of men to awe them, upon the mouths of men to stop them, upon the hearts of men to convince them, and upon the lives of men to reform them, as holiness, 1 Pet. ii. 12. What Plato once said of his moral virtue—viz., that if it could be seen with bodily eyes it would be beloved of all, and draw all hearts to itself—that is most true of this theological grace, holiness. Holiness is so beautiful and so lovely a thing, that it renders men amiable and lovely in the very eyes of their enemies. Tilligny, for his rare virtues, was rescued from death by his greatest enemies at the massacre of Paris.4 Holiness makes a man's face to shine, as it did Moses his, and Stephen's. Nothing pleases the eye nor wins the heart like holiness. What is gold to godliness, gifts to grace, parts to piety ? A spai'k, a ray, a beam of holiness, will certainly have an influence upon the spirits of men, either to restrain them or change them, or allay them or sweeten them, or win them, or one way or another to better them. Look, as the unholy lives and conversations of many professors do occasion some to blaspheme God, others to belie God, others to withstand God, and others to forsake God; look, as the looseness of many Christians doth work some to reproach Christ, others to deny Christ, others to refuse Christ, others to revile the good ways of Christ, and others to oppose and despise the faithful followers of Christ: as Lactantius reports, that the loose lives of many Christians was made by the heathens the reproach of Christ himself, Quomodo bonus magister, cujus tarn pravos viderrms discipulos f How can we think the master to be good, whose disciples we see to be so bad ?

^ Clarke, aa before.—G.

' Monica won her husband Patricia from being an impure Manichee, not by force of argument, but by purity and chastity of life, saith Augustine. ^ As before.—G. * Vide the French History in the life of Charles the Ninth. [As before.—G.]

And Salvian also complains that the loose walking of many Christians was made by the heathen the reproach of Christ himself, saying, If Christ had taught holy doctrine, surely his followers had led better lives. And further, the same author relates how the heathens did reproach some Christians, who by their lewd lives made the gospel of Christ to be a reproach: Where, said they, is that good law which they do believe ? Where are those rules of godliness which they do learn ? They read the holy Gospel, and yet are unclean; they hear the apostles' writings, and yet are drunk; they follow Christ, and yet disobey Christ; they profess a holy law, and yet do lead impure lives. 1 Now I say, look, as the hoHness of many professors 2 is a dishonour to God, a reproach to Christ, a scandal to religion, a blot to profession, and a grief to many whom God would not have grieved, Ezek. xiii. 22; so the power of holiness, the practice of holiness, is very influential upon the worst of men, to win and work them to the Lord, and to a love and liking of his ways. The holy lives of the saints made the very heathens to say. Surely this is a good God, whose servants are so good. Ambrose his holiness did very much draw out the heart of Theodosius, the emperor, to him; and the holiness of Paphnutius did very much draw out the heart of Constantino the Great to him. There is nothing that gives a man that heart-room and that hearty room in the souls of others, as holiness. It is the holy man that is a man of a thousand. 3 But,

5. Fifthly, Consider that real holiness is the excellency of all a mans excellencies. As holiness is the glory of God, a part of the divine nature, a spark of heaven, a ray of glory, so it is the excellency of all a man's excellencies : it is the excellency of all our natural excellencies, it is the excellency of all our moral excellencies, and it is the excellency of aU our intellectual excellencies. Look, as ^ God's holiness is the excellency of all his excellencies, as the angels, who best know what is the top of his excellency, do evidence by that threefold repetition, * Holy, holy, holy,' Isa. vi. 3; these multiplied acclamations of holiness denote the superlative eminency, excellency, and perfection of God's holiness.^ Both among the Hebrews and among the Grecians the holiness of God is the excellency of his omnisciency, omnipotency, and omnipresence. It is the excellency of his eternity, immutability, and fidelity; it is the excellency of his wisdom, love, care, and goodness : Ps. cxi. 9, ' Holy and reverend is his name.' God's name comes to be reverend by holiness. If his name were not holy, it would never be reverend; and why is God called so often ' the holy one,' but to shew us that holiness is the very top of all his glory and excellency.^ God could not be glorious in anything if he were not glorious in holiness. That which speaks his power to be glorious power, is his holiness ; and that which speaks his wisdom to be glorious wisdom, is his holiness ; and that which speaks his mercy to be glorious mercy, is his holiness, &c. Were not the power of God a holy power, it could never

1 Salvianus de G. D., 1. 4. ^ Because of the low kind of ' holinesB' manifested.—O, 3 2 Thes. i. 3-6, read it.

* The ' as' here is to be connected with the * so' on next page, line 3d from top.—G. ^ Rev. iv. 8. Some Greek copies have the word, "A710S, holy, nine times over, &c. 6 Exod. XV. 11. That which God accounts his highest honour is his holiaess.

be a glorious power ; were not the wisdom of God a holy wisdom, it could never be glorious wisdom ; and were not the mercy of God holy mercy, it could never be glorious mercy, &c. So the holiness of a man is the glory and excellency of all a man's excellencies ; it is the perfection of all a man s perfections. In paradise, man's perfect holiness was his perfect blessedness ; and in heaven, man's perfect hohness will be his perfect happiness, Heb. xii. 23. Holiness adds an excellency to all a man's excellencies. That which adds an excellency to a man's wisdom is holiness. When a man's wisdom is a holy wisdom, then it is excellent wisdom. So holy courage is excellent courage, and holy zeal is excellent zeal, and holy'knowledge is excellent knowledge, and holy faith is excellent faith, and holy love is excellent love, and holy fear is excellent fear. It is the adding of holiness to all these that renders these virtues truly excellent; it is holiness that is the top of all these royalties. Look, as all ciphers signify nothing except you add a figure to them ; so all the excellencies that be in men, whether they are natural, moral, or acquired, they signify nothing except you add holiness to them. Birth and breeding, wit and wealth, honour and learning, are but the shadows and shapes of nobleness and true excellency ; it is holiness that is the soul and substance of all; and without holiness all other things are of no worth, all other excellencies have no excellency at all in them.i Naaman was general of the king's army ; he was a man in great favour with his prince, a man much honoured among the people for being a saviour and deliverer to them. He was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper, 2 Kings V. 1. This ' hut he was a leper' was a cloud upon all his glory ; it was a veil upon all his honour, greatness, and nobleness. So to say, there is a wise man, but unholy; and there is a great man, but unholy; and there is an ingenuous man, but unholy ; and there is a noble man, but unholy ; and there is a valiant man, but unholy; and there is a good-natured man, but unholy; and there is a learned man, but unholy, &c.,—^what is this * hut unholy,' but a cloud of darkness upon all the excellencies that are in these persons ? But let now holiness be but added to each of these, and then they will shine as so many suns. Holiness is a garment that sets off arts, and parts, and all other excellencies that be in man ; let but this garment be wanting, and the nakedness of all things will quickly appear. And this made Jerome to say that he had rather have St Paul's coat with his heavenly graces, than the purple of kings with their kingdoms. Look, as a precious jewel set in gold makes that much more conspicuous and glorious which was glorious before; so holiness adds beauty, splendour, and glory to a man's parts, birth, honour, and estate, &c. But,

6. Sixthly, Consider that holiness is not only an honour and an ornament to the person that hath it, hut it is also an honour and an ornament hath to the persons and places to loJwm he stands related.^ The holiness of the father is an honour and ornament to the child ; 80 was Abraham's to Isaac: and the holiness of the child is an honour

^ 0000000—these signify nothing; but if you do but add a figure to them, 10000000, then they signify much. ' So holy Eliakim was a throne of glory to his father's house, lea. xxii 23.

and an ornament to the father ; so was Isaac's to Abraham: the holiness of the husband is an honour and ornament to the wife; so was Abraham's to Sarah : and the holiness of the wife is an honour and an ornament to the husband ; so was Sarah's to Abraham. So, in Prov. xii. 4, ' A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.' i A crown is the top of honour, it is the top of royalty and glory; why ! a virtuous wife is such a thing ! A sweet, a good-natured wife is as a gold ring upon her husband's finger ; a gifted wife is as a gold chain about her husband's neck; but a holy virtuous wife is as a crown upon her husband's head. The holiness of the prince is an honour and an ornament to the people; and the holiness of the people is an honour and an ornament to the prince. The holiness of the master is an honour and an ornament to the servant; and the holiness of the servant is an honour and an ornament to the master. And the holiness of one brother is an honour to another brother. Jude glories- in this, that he was the brother of James, ver. 1. James was famous for his sanctity; for his holiness he was called the Just, as Eusebius writes. 2 His holiness did so sparkle and shine, that the Jews were generally convinced that in holiness he was more eminent and excellent than others. Now Jude took it for a very high honour to be related to one so eminent in holiness. Holy persons reflect a credit and an honour upon their relations. It was the speech of a heathen notably qualified, though but meanly bred and born, to a dissolute person well born, upbraiding him with his birth, ' I am a grace to my stock, but thou art a blot to thy lineage/ Yea, holy persons are an honour to the places where they have been born and bred: Ps. Ixxxvii. 5,6, ' And of Zion it shall be said. This and that man was born in her: and the Highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that tliis man was born there. Selah.' God seems to be very much affected and taken with the very places where holy men are born ; he loves the very ground that holy men tread on, and he delights in the very air that holy men breathe in. Holy persons reflect honour upon the very places where they were born. The holy patriarchs, prophets, and apostles were the honour and the glory of the ages and places where they lived. ^ They were as so many bright morning stars, they were as so many rising suns in the places where they were bred and born. Melanchthon was called the phoenix of Grermany, and Luther was the glory of the age wherein he lived. And so were many of the ancients before them, and many since, who have been burning and shining lights in the places of their abode. Look, as an unholy person is a plague and a curse to the very place he lives in, and hastenetb down wrath and vengeance upon it, as Bias the philosopher hath lon« since observed ; for he being at sea in a great tempest among many profane debauched fellows, and perceiving them to call upon their gods, as the worst of men usually do in such cases, he comes to them,

^ The Hebrew is, a woman of strength, or a valiant woman ; that is, a woman that is made strong and valiant by grace, by holiness, to withstand sin, to conquer temptation, and to triumph in affliction, &c.

^ Euseb., lib. ii. c. 23, where you have many memorable things concerning the holiness of his life, and the manner of his death.

=* Some antiquaries say that the primitive church had her public tables, wherein the names of the persons that were most noted for piety and holiness were recorded.

and desires them to hold their peace, lest the gods should take notice that they were in the ship, and so not only themselves, but others also, should suffer for their sakes.i It was the wickedness of the wicked that brought the sweeping flood upon the old world; and it was the wickedness and filthiness of the Sodomites that caused God to rain heU out of heaven upon the cities where they lived. Let men be never so honourable, or never so potent, or never so witty, or never so wealthy, &c., yet if they are profane, if they are wicked, they will hasten down the wrath and vengeance of God upon the places of their abode. So a holy person is an honom- and a blessing to the very place he lives in, as you may see in Jacob and Joseph, who were choice and noble blessings to the very families where they lived. 0 sirs, as ever you would be an honour to your relations, to your country, and to the places of your abode, labour for holiness ! Some venture life and limb, and many a better thing, to reflect honour upon their relations, and upon their country—as many of the Komans did; and why then shoiUd not you venture far, and venture high for holiness, which will be not only an honour to yourselves, but also an honour and a glory to all persons and places that you have relation to ?

7. Seventhly, Consider that hohness is the very ear-marh, the very livery and badge of Ghrisis servants and subjects: Isa. Ixiii. 8, ' For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour;' and ver. 18, they are called ' the people of his holiness.' God's people are too holy to lie ; they will not lie for his glory, nor for their own worldly good.2 They wUl rather die than lie, with that brave woman that Jerome writes of, who being upon the rack, bade her persecutors do their worst, for she was resolved rather to die than lie. Neither the merry lie, nor the jesting lie, nor the officious lie, nor the pernicious lie, will down with those that are the people of God's holiness, or that are his holy people. Saith God, I have been at so much cost and charge about them, I have carried it so kindly, so bountifully, so sweetly, so favourably, so nobly to them ; I have been such an all-sufficient Saviour, such a mighty preserver, and such a glorious deliverer of them, that certainly they will not lie, they will not deceive my expectation, they will not deny me, they will not deal disloyally nor unworthily by me.^ They are of Augustine's opinion, who hath long since told us, that we must not tell so much as an officious lie, though it were to save all the world. So Jer. ii. 3, * Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall ofiend; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord.' Holiness to the Lord is the mark that God sets upon all his precious ones : Ps. iv. 3, ' Know that God hath set apart him that is godly for himself.' God hath wonderfully, gloriously, marvellously, yea, miraculously set apart the pious, the holy, the merciful, the godly man, the gracious saint, by some mark of distinction for himself, that is, for his own honour, and glory, and service, and delight.* Look, as Rahab's house was known by a red thread, Josh. ii.; and the Ephraim-

^ Afl before.—G. ' Job xiii. 7; Eom. iii. 7, 8 ; Rev. xiv. 5.

^ It is said of golden-mouthed Chrysostom that he never lied ; answerable to this, laa. Ixiii 8. * The Hebrew word, chasid, imports as much.

ites by their lisping, Judges xi.; and Jehu by his driving, 2 Kings ix.; and Peter by his speaking. Mat. xxvi.; so real Christians are known by their holiness. Holiness is King Jesus his livery, by which all his subjects and servants are known and differenced from all other persons in the world. And in the primitive times, a Christian was known from another man only by the holiness of his conversation, as Ter-tuUian witnesses. Look, as our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Spirit of holiness raising him up from the dead, was declared to be the Son of God, Rom. i. 4; so it is the spirit of holiness, it is principles of holiness, it is the life and practice of holiness, that declares us to be the sons of God, 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. Holiness is that golden character by which God differences and distinguisheth his people from all others in the world. Look, as the worshippers of the beast are known by the mark of the beast that is upon them; so the worshippers of Christ, the people of Christ, are known by that mark of holiness that Christ hath set upon them. This title, this compellation, ' saints,' is given fourscore times to the people of God in Scripture, as if God took a greater delight to have his children known by this badge and livery than by any other. As for such that have the name of saints upon them, but nothing of the nature of a saint in them; that have a name to be holy, and yet are unholy; that have a name to be gracious, and yet are graceless; that have a name to live, and yet are dead; these God will in that day unmask, when he shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.i An unholy saint is a white devil, he is a monster among men. Christ sweat, and prayed, and died, and was raised to make sinners saints, to make the rebellious religious, and the licentious conscientious. All he did and suffered was to stamp the seal and impress of holiness upon them. And therefore, as ever you would be owned and honoured by Christ another day, look that the Holy Spirit sets the seal of holiness upon you. If the impress of holiness be upon you in the day that the Lord makes up his jewels, he will declare you to be his before all the world. He will say. These are my sheep, these are my sons, I know them by that mark of holiness that I find upon them. But,

8. Eighthly, Consider this, that a man of holiness, or a holy man, is a common good, a common blessing. All fare the better for a holy man. All in the family, all in the court, all in the city, all in the country, fare the better for the holy man's sake. All in Laban's family did fare the better for Jacob's sake; and all in the city of Zoar did fare the better for Lot's sake; and all Pharaoh's court, and the whole country of Egypt, did fare the better for Joseph's sake. Sodom was safe whilst holy Lot was in it: holy Elijah was the chariots and horsemen of Israel. Whilst holy Moses stood in the gap, destroying judgments were diverted: when holy Phinehas took up his censer, and stood between the living and the dead, the plague was stayed.2 Holy persons are public mercies, public blessings : Job

1 Rev. xiii. 16 ; xiv. 9, 10, and xix. 2C. A man were better be a beast, than to have the mark of the beast upon him. The title of a saint is but an empty thing without holiness.

* Gen. XXX. 27; xix. 21-24, and xli., &c.; 2 Kings ii. 12; Ts. cvi. 23; Num. iivi.

46, 49.

xxii. 30, ' He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands:' or, as some read the words, ' the innocent shall deliver the island ;' that is, the inhabitants of the island.^ The innocent shall deliver those that are not innocent; had there been but ten innocent, but ten righteous persons in Sodom, Sodom might have been a glorious city to this day; had there been but ten righteous souls among them, God would never have rained hell out of heaven upon them ; Gen. xviii. 32 to the end. The guiltless shall deliver the guilty in an island; the guiltless, by Kfting up pure hands to God in prayer, shall stay the hand of God, that it destroys not the guilty. It is the holy seed that upholdeth the civil state: Isa. vi. 13, ' But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.' ^ The holy seed were the stay and prop of their land, and this the Lord evidences by a very familiar instance or similitude. It is as if he should say. You see the way or causey, leading from the king's house to the temple—spoken of in 1 Kings x. 5; 2 Kings xii. 21; 1 Chron. xxvi. 16, 17, and 2 Chron. ix. 11—how by reason of the oaks and trees on either side thereof the earth between is stayed and held up firm, which otherwise would fall to decay and moulder away: so saith God, it is the holy seed that bears up the whole state, and were it not for them, desolation and destruction would come in as a flood upon you: Prov. x. 25, ' The righteous is an everlasting foundation.' The Hebrew doctors sense it thus, The righteous are the foundation of the world, which would soon shatter and fall to ruin but for their sakes. The whole world fares the better every day for the righteous' sake. If it were not for this holy seed, the chaff of this world would soon be set on fire. If the number of the holy seed were but called and converted, God would quickly turn the whole world into flames and ashes. It is they that bear up the pillars of the earth: Ps. Ixxv. 3, ' I bear up the pillars of the earth.' Holy persons are the true Atlases both of church and state; they are the pillars on whom all do rest, the props on whom all do lean; do but overturn these pillars, and all will fall about your ears, as the house did about the Philistines when Samson shook it. Let but kingdoms and commonwealths wreck these, and they shall quickly be shipwrecked themselves. There is not a sinner in the world but fenjoys his estate, his relations, his outward accommodations, yea, his very life, upon the account of the saints; and therefore they must needs be bewitched, or fools, or madmen, that are still a-lifting and a-thrusting at these very pillars that bear them up. Look, as Samson's strength did lie in his locks, so the strength and safety of the nation lies in the holy seed: they are the bulwarks and ammunition of the nation; the safety and felicity of the whole is bound up in them. It is not armies, nor navies, nor walled cities, nor fortified castles, nor golden mines, nor grave counsels that will secure a nation, if once the people of God's holiness be cast by as broken pitchers. It is their

^ God will Bometimes deliver a whole country for the sake of the innocent, &c. ^ I will seek thy good, was holy David's royal and religious resolution, Ps. cxxii. 9. Kings are for kingdoms, not kingdoms for kings.

piety and prayers that keeps off sweeping judgments from a nation, and that brings down variety of mercies upon a nation. ^ Holy persons are the clouds that water the earth as a common blessing; and they are the rising sun that scatters all clouds and darkness. A holy man is Kolvov arfadov, a public diffusive blessing in the place where he lives. Look, as one sinner destroys much good, Eccles. ix. 18, so one saint may save a land, a country: Jer. v. 1, ' Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.' Though Jerusalem was far larger and more populous, I say not only than Sodom, but than all the other cities that sinned and perished with it, yet God makes so large and noble an offer, that if there could be found in it but one man divinely qualified, but a man of justice, a man of faithfulness, a man of uprightness, a man of holiness, the Lord would pardon it; that is, he would spare it, he would not destroy it, nor ruin it. God once made an offer to Abraham, that if there were but ten righteous souls in Sodom, he would save it; but here he falls so low as to make an offer, that if there could be but one righteous soul found in Jerusalem, he would not destroy it.2 One saint may save a city, yea, a world of sinners, from confusion and destruction. Luther, whilst he lived, by faith and prayer, kept off troubles from Germany, but soon after he was gone to his grave in peace, oh, the wars, the miseries and mischiefs, the distractions and confusions that came in like a flood upon them! Possidonius, in the life of Augustine, tells us that the famous city of Hippo could never be spoiled whilst Augustine lived. The flood could not drown the old world till holy Methuselah was laid up in peace. 0 sirs! as ever you would be a public blessing, labour to be holy. But,

9. Ninthly, Consider the antiquity of holiness. Holiness is of the greatest, highest, and ancientest antiquity. The first suit that ever was put upon the back of man's nature was holiness. Sin is of a later edition than holiness; holiness was when sin was not, Deut. xxxii. 7, &c. ' Let us make man,' saith God, ' in our own image.' Sin is against nature, it is a defect in nature, it came in by a lie, and, by-the-bye, through the subtlety of the father of lies. Gen. i. 26. God stamped his image of holiness upon man before ever Satan assayed to tempt him. HoKness is of the ancientest house, of the greatest antiquity, John viii. 44. Sin is but an upstart, holiness is the firstborn ; the way of holiness is the oldest way: Jer. vi. 16, ' Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.' The way of holiness was that old way in which Adam at first, and in which all the holy patriarchs and prophets walked. 3 In this sense it is most certain that the oldest way is the best way; the way of sanctity is of greatest

1 Lam. iv. 1, 2, and Esther iv., and chap, the last, compared.

' If among the rabble, if among the noble, if among the rich, if among the learned, a man could have been found that loved holiness, that was stout for righteousness, and that practised uprightness, God would have spared Jerusalem.

* Linshiboth gnolam —paths of eternity, the paths of piety; the paths of purity are paths of eternity, &c.

antiquity. Let Papists and carnal superstitious Protestants cry up their superstitious ways as ways of greatest antiquity, yet when they have said all they can, there is no antiquity to that of holiness. The way of will-worship was not the first way of worshipping God in the world. Many carnal men cry out that they are for the good old way, they care not for this new way, they care not for this new religion, as they call it; they say that we have never had good days since there hath been so much praying, and so much preaching, and so much fasting, and so much printing, and so much ado about close walking with Grod. 'Tis most certain that a carnal religion is best pleasing to a carnal heart; and this you may see evidently among the Turks, whose religion gives much carnal liberty to the professors of it; and whose religion promises them a paradise of sensual pleasures in another world. And the same is very observable among the Papists, and all the carnal Protestants in the world, who cry up that for the best religion, and for the true rehgion, and for the good old religion, that is most suitable to their carnal reason, and most pleasing and indulging to their lusts. Socrates is sufficiently condemned for his prescribing of men to worship Grod according to the manner of the country where they lived; and what was this but to gratify the lust of men, by subjecting the rule of God's worship to the laws and customs of men ? But from the beginning it was not so. Holy Noah, holy Enoch, and the rest of the holy patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, walked only in ways of piety and purity. Holy Abraham, holy Isaac, and holy Jacob, never walked in those ways that are now by loose, formal, carnal, and superstitious persons cried up for the good old way, but in ways of holiuiess and righteousness, I have read of the Cretians, that when they cursed their enemies, they did not wish their houses on fire, nor a sword at their hearts, but that they might be delighted and given up to an ill custom. It is one of the greatest and bitterest curses and woes to be delighted and given up to ill customs; and the older the custom is of evil, the worse it is; and ah, how many are fallen under these curses in these days, wherein multitudes are addicted and given up to carnal and superstitious customs, and choose rather to follow an ill custom, though it be never so absurd, irregular, vain, and superstitious, than to walk in a way of peace and holiness! Well, sirs, shall the antiquity of holiness provoke you to be holy ? Many will do much for antiquity sake; and why, then, should not you do much for holiness sake ? Holiness is God's firstborn; it is as ancient as the ancient of days. The way of holiness is gray-headed, and of ancientest institution; all other ways are but of yesterday; they are but new ways to the way of holinesk And oh that this might alarm you to look after holiness! The Gibeonites cheated Joshua with their old clouted shoes, and with their old sacks, and old boots, and old garments. Josh. ix. 4, 5; and so doth Kome this day cheat and delude multitudes of poor, blind, ignorant souls, with their old customs, and with their old ceremonies, and old traditions, and old inventions, under a pretence of the good old way, and the good old religion ; but certainly the way of holiness, the way of purity, is of the greatest antiquity, and therefore, oh embrace it 1 oh, walk in it! Look, as the stamp of antiquity upon some things is a disparagement and a dis-

honour to them—as an old garment that is past wearing, and an old house that is past mending, and an old ship that is past rigging; so the stamp of antiquity upon other things is a praise and an honour to them—as old gold, old friends, old manuscripts, old monuments, old scars, and old holiness. The stamp of antiquity upon hohness is the praise and honour of holiness. Look, as it is an honour to a man to be descended of an ancient house; so it is an honour to a man to be allied to holiness; because sanctity is of greatest antiquity; and therefore, above all gettings, get holiness. But,

10. Tenthly, Consider, that of all things, holiness will render you most beautiful and amiable. As holiness is the beauty of God,i and the beauty of angels, so it is the beauty and glory of a Christian too. Holiness is a Christian's greatest honour and ornament: Ps, xciii. 5, * Holiness becometh thine house'—that is, thy church—' 0 Lord, for ever.' There is no garment that suits the church, that becomes the church, like the garment of holiness. It is sanctity that is the church's excellency and glory; it is purity that is the church's ornament and beauty. Holiness is a beauty that beautifies the church; it is the gracefulness and comeliness of the church. Holiness is so beautiful a thing that it puts a beauty on all things else. As holiness is the greatest ornament of the church triumphant, so it is the greatest ornament of the church militant, Eph. v. 26, 27. The redness of the rose, the whiteness of the lily, and all the beauties of sun, moon, and stars, are but deformities to that beauty that holiness puts upon us. If all natural and artificial beauty were contracted into one beauty, yet it would be but an obscure and an unlovely beauty to that beauty that holiness puts upon us: Ps. xxix. 2, ' Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of hoHness:' Ps, xcvi. 9, '0 worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:' Ps. ex. 3, ' Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauty of holiness.' You see beauty and holiness is by God himself still linked together; and those whom God hath so closely joined together, no man may put asunder. The scripture last cited doth not only speak out holiness to be a beautiful thing, but it speaks out many beauties to be in holiness. Those Christians that are volunteers in the beauties of holiness, they shall be very beautiful and shining through holiness. Holiness casts such a beauty upon man as makes him very amiable and desirable. The holiness of parents renders them very amiable and desirable in the eyes of their children; and the holiness of children renders them very amiable and desirable in the eyes of their parents, Isa. xxii. 21. When that incomparable lady, Cornelia, presented her sons to the commonwealth, she said, Hcec sunt mea ornamenta —These are my jewels; these are my ornaments. Holy children are their parents' crown, their parents' ornaments; no glistering gold, no sparkling diamonds, no shining or glittering apparel, renders children so amiable and lovely in the eyes of their parents as holiness doth. 2 The holiness of the husband renders him very amiable in the eyes of the wife, and

^ Exod. XV. 11. Plato called God the horn of plenty, and the ocean of beauty, without the least spot of injustice. God is ipsa essentialis pulchritudo, beauty itself, the very essential idea and pure sampler of all beauties.

* Xenophon in Plutarch never prayed that his son Qryllus might be long lived, but that he might be a good man.

the holiness of the wife renders her very desirable in the eyes of her husband. The holiness of the master renders him very lovely in the eyes of his servants, and the holiness of the servants renders them very comely in the eyes of their masters, &c. Jewel's holiness, Bradford's holiness, and Bucer's holiness, rendered them very amiable and lovely, not only in the eyes of their friends, but also in the eyes of their enemies. There is nothing in this world that will render all sorts and ranks of people so glorious and famous in the eyes of one another, as holiness wiE do. Were all ranks and orders of men more holy, they would certainly be more lovely in the eyes of one another. Oh that all men would cease from being injurious one to another, and labour to be more holy ! and then, I am sure, they would be more comely in one another's eyes. Holiness is lovely, yea, loveliness itself. Purity is a Christian's splendour and glory. There is no beauty to that of sanctity; nothing beautifies and bespangles a man like holiness. Holiness is so lovely and so comely a thing, that it draws all eyes and hearts to an admiration of it. Holiness is so great a beauty, that it puts a beauty upon all other excellencies in a man. That holiness is a very beautiful thing, and that it makes all those beautiful that have it, is a truth that no devil can deny; and, therefore, 0 sirs, as ever you would be beautiful and lovely, labour to be holy. The natural beauty of Sarah, Kebekah, Rachel, Joseph, and Absalom, was no beauty to that beauty, lustre, and glory that holiness puts upon a man. Demetrius, saith Plutarch, was so passing fair of face and countenance, that no painter was able to draw him.i Holiness puts so rare a beauty upon man, that no painter under heaven is able to draw him. Scipio Africanus was so comely a person, that the barbarians in Spain stood amazed at his comeliness. Mark vi. 20, Holiness puts such a comeliness, and such an amiableness upon a person, that many admire it, and stand amazed at it. 0 sirs, as ever you would be amiable and desirable, be holy; as ever you would be lovely and comely, be holy ; as ever you would be famous and glorious, be holy; as ever you would outshine the sun in splendour and glory, labour to be holy. Many have ventured their names, their estates, their liberties, their lives, yea, their very souls, to enjoy a lovely Bathsheba, a fair Helena, a beautiful Diana, a comely Cleopatra, &c., whose beauties have been but clay well coloured.^ Oh, how much more, then, should you be provoked to labour and venture your all for holiness, that will imprint upon you that most excellent and most exquisite beauty, that will to the grave and to glory with you, yea, that will render you not only amiable and excellent in the eyes of men, but also lovely and comely in the eyes of God ! I remember Bernard, writing to a noble virgin that was holy, tells her that others were clothed with purple and silk, but their consciences were poor and beggarly; they glistered with their jewels, but were loose in their manners; but you, saith he, are without meanly clad, but within shine exceeding beautiful, not to human, but to divine eyes, Ps. xlv. 13,14. Both in the eyes of God, angels, and men, none shine and glister so gloriously as those that are holy, Ezek. xvi. 1,12. Unholy souls are foul souls, ugly souls, de-

' Plutarch, in the life of Demetrius.

* David, Theseus, Prince Paris, Mark Antony, &c.

formed souls, withered souls, wrinkled souls; they are altogether unlovely and uncomely souls. I have read of Acco, an old woman, who seeing her deformity in a glass, run mad. Should God but shew unholy men their deformity in the glass of the law, it would either make them spiritually mad, or else it would make them fall in love with holiness, that so they might be made comely and lovely by being made pure and holy. But,

11. Eleventhly, Consider this to provoke you to be holy; that holiness is the most gainfullest and the most thriving trade in the world. Now that every one cries out that all trading is gone, oh that every one would settle to the trade of holiness ! Oh, there is no gain, there is no advantage, to the gain that comes in upon the account of godliness! 1 Tim. vi, 6, ' But godliness with contentment is great gain.' Though godliness itself be great gain, yet godliness brings in a great deal of gain besides itself.^ The godly man is still of the gaining side, his piety brings him in the greatest plenty: chap. iv. 8, ' Godliness is profitable to all things.' A man is as well able to tell the stars of heaven, and to number the hairs of his head, as he is able to tell the several commodities, or to number up the variety of blessings, or multitude of mercies, that comes flying in upon the wings of godliness. Godliness hath the promise of both lives, that is, both of earthly favours and of eternal blessings also. It is profitable, not for some things, but for everything; both temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings do grow upon this tree of life—holiness. There is no trade to the trade of godliness: Prov. xxii. 4, * By humility and the fear of the Lord, are riches, and honour, and life.' Godliness hath the promise of gold as well as of grace, of honour as well as of heaven; of life and happiness here, as well as of glory and blessedness hereafter. The good things of this life, as well as the great things of a better life, follows holiness hard at heels. Holiness is not a barren but a fruitful womb; it is like that tree in Rev. xxii. 2, which did bear twelve manner of fruits, and that yielded fruit every month. What is of greater value among men than riches ? and what is more glorious among men than honour ? and what is more sweet among men than life ? Why, all these fruits, and ten thousand more, grow upon the tree of holiness. The bag of riches, the robe of honour and life, that is, the comfort and sweet of both, hangs all upon the back of holiness. But that I may the more effectually win upon you, and provoke you to look after holiness, let me by an induction of particulars further confirm the truth of this last consideration, especially considering that there is no argument under heaven that is so taking with all men as this of gain. Profit is a bait that all bite at; it is the great god of the world.2 And therefore thus,

(1.) First, Consider that holiness brings mpresent gain; and what gain to present gain ? There are many that lay out much, and venture far, and run the hazard of all, and yet it is long before they see returns. Oh, but holiness, that brings in present profit: Rom. vi. 22, • But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye

1 Godliness is the greatest riches, the best treasure, the highest honour, and the most lasting fame.

^ There is no argument to that which is drawn ab utili. ' Haec omnia tibi dabo,' said Satan to Christ.

have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.' The apostle doth not say, ye may have your fruit unto holiness, but ye have your fruit unto holiness; he doth not say, ye shall have your fruit unto holiness, but ye have your fruit unto holiness; he doth not say, oh that ye had your fruit unto holiness, but ye have your fruit unto holiness. So Ps. xix. 11: Not only for keeping but also in keeping of his commands there is great reward. Holiness is its own reward. Whilst a Christian is in the very exercise of holiness, oh what blessed sights, what sweet tastes, what glorious incomes,^ from heaven hath he ! Oh the secret visits, the secret whispers, the secret joggings, the secret love-tokens that Christians meet with in the very practice of holiness ! Holiness brings in present comfort and joy: 2 Cor. i. 12, 'For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our consciences, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.'2 There is no mirth, no joy, to that that holiness brings in. Let a man's load be never so heavy, yet holiness will bring in that joy that will make him bear up bravely and cheerfully under it. Holiness brings in present peace; hence it is that you read of' the peaceable fruits of righteousness,' Heb. xii. 10,11. And holiness will bring in present communion with God: 1 John i. 7, ' But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another:' that is, God and we have fellowship together, as it is ver. 3. Now to walk in the light as he is in the light, what is it but to walk in holiness, to walk in paths of sanctity ? for only in such paths the Lord walks. And therefore as you love present gain, labour after holiness. But,

(2.) Secondly, As holiness brings in present gain, so holiness brings in the best and greatest gain; and this I shall evidence thus:

[1.] First, Holiness will make a man rich in the midst of poverty, James ii. 5: Kev. ii. 9, 'I know thy poverty, but thou art rich;' though the church of Smyrna was poor in goods, yet she was rich in grace, she was rich in faith, and rich in hope, and rich in patience, and rich in contentment, &c.; she was rich in Christ her head, and rich in promises, and rich in experiences ; she had spiritual riches in possession, and glorious riches in reversion. So in 2 Cor. vi. 10, ' As poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.' A holy man cannot be a poor man. A holy man is still the richest man. But this is a riddle the world understands not. The riches of a Christian have no bottom; all a saint's bags are bottomless bags. Experience tells us that unholy men's bags, purses, coffers, and mints, may be drawn dry; but the treasury, the riches of a saint, can never be exhausted, for he still possesses all things in Christ and with Christ, 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23; though he hath nothing in hand, yet he hath all things in hope; though he hath nothing in the cistern, yet he hath all things in the fountain.3 Gen. xxxiii. 9, Esau could say, {Li Rah,) 'I have much;' and

^ ' In-coinings.'—G.

" Seneca, a heathen, hath confessed, that the best receipt to drive away sadness, was to live well.

' Recollections of Sibbes are very apparent throughout this paragraph. Cf. under ' Treasure.'—G.

I

HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 175

it was much that an Esau should say he had much ; but says holy Jacob, ver. 11, {Li col,) 'I have all.' Esau had much, but Jacob had all, because he had the God of all: he had him that was all in all. It hath been said of the great Duke of Guise, that though he was poor as to his present possessions, yet he was the richest man in France in bills, bonds, and obligations, because he had engaged all the noblemen in France to himself, by preferring of them. A holy man is the richest man in the world in promises and obligations, for he hath the great and glorious God engaged by many thousand promises to own him, to bless him, to stand by him, to give grace and glory to him, and to withhold nothing from him that may be good for him, Ps. Ixxxiv. 10, 11. When wicked men brag of their lordships and manors, and boast of their great possessions, and glory in their thousands a year, a holy man may make his boast of God, and say, God is mine, God is mine ; he is my great all; he is my all in all; and therefore I am richer and a greater possessor than any wicked man in the world, yea, than all wicked men in the world put together. But, [2.] Secondly, By holiness you will gain a good report, a good name: Heb. xi. 39, ' And these all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.' Nothing raises a man's name and fame in the world like holiness. The seven deacons that the church chose were holy men, Acts vi. 5 ; and they were men of good report, ver. 3; they were men well witnessed unto, well testified of, as the Greek word imports. 1 Cornelius was a holy man. Acts x. 1-4; and he was a man of good report among all the nation of the Jews, ver. 22. Ananias was a holy man. Acts ix. 10, 20; and he was a man of a good report. Acts xxii. 12, Gains and Demetrius were both holy men, and they were men of good report; witness that third epistle of John. The patriarchs and prophets were holy men, and they were men of a good report: Heb, xi. 1, 2, ' For by it the elders obtained a good report;' their hoHness did eternalize them. The apostles were holy men, 1 Thes. ii. 10; and they were men of a good report, 2 Cor. vi. 8. Now certainly it is none of the least of mercies to be well reputed and reported of. Next to a good conscience, a good report is the noblest blessing. Good fare doth not more rejoice and strengthen the outward man, the ignoble part of man, than a good report doth rejoice and strengthen the inward man, the noble part of man: Prov. xv. 30, ' A good report makes the bones fat.' Yea, and I may add, it makes the heart fat too. It is no small pleasure to a man to know that others are pleased with him. Beautiful objects do not more delight the eyes than a good report delights the ears. 0 sirs, as ever you would obtain a good report, you must labour after holiness. You may obtain a great report without holiness, but you can never obtain a good report without holiness. There is no such way to perpetuate your names as to labour after holiness. Holiness will embalm ^ your names, it will make them immortal: Ps. cxii. 6, * The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance;' Prov. x. 7, ' The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot.' Wicked

^ A good renown is better than a golden girdle, saith the French proverb. ' Spelled •inbalm.'—G.

men many times outlive their names, but the names of just men outlive them. When a holy man dies, he leaves his name as a sweet and as a lasting scent behind him; his fame shall live when he is dead.i According to the Hebrew, the words may be read thus, ' The memory of the just shall be for a blessing.' The very remembering of the just shall bring a blessing upon them that remember them. Whilst the just, the holy man lived, he was a blessing to those amongst whom he lived, and when he is dead, his memory is a blessing to posterity. But the name of the wicked shall rot. Whilst a wicked man lives, he lays his name under disdain and disgrace, and when he dies, he leaves it under an odious stink. Wickedness corrupts not only the heart, but the name. And look, as wickedness makes a man's soul stink in thQ nostrils of God, so wickedness makes a man's name stink in the nostrils of men. Look, as a wicked man's body, when he is dead, stinks under ground, so his name stinks above ground. His' very name casts forth so stinking a savour, that all the perfumes in the world, and all the spicery of hell, can never sweeten it. Well, once more remember that these words, ' the name of the wicked shall rot,' are a metaphorical speech taken from a tree, which, though for a time it grows green and flourishes, yet at length it grows rotten; so though wicked men may flourish and be green and glorious for a time, yet at last they shall rot, their names shall rot on earth, their bodies shall rot in the grave, and their souls shall rot in hell; but the memory of the just shall be blessed. Next to a holy man'^ soul, there is nothing so near and dear to him as his name; and this God will so perfume as that the fragrancy of it shall last for ever. The name of a holy man shall be always as an ointment poured forth; but the name of a wicked man shall be always as a stinking jakes. 0 sirs, what a deal of stir do many men make to get a name, to get a name to be wise, a name to be knowing, a name to be learned, a name to be skilful, a name to be rich, a name to be great, a name to be mighty, and a name to be valiant, &c., as Nimrod, Cain, Absalom, Alexander, Pompey, Adrian, &c. And why then should you not labour after holiness, that so you may get a good name, which is rather to be chosen than riches, Prov. xxii. 1, and which is better than precious ointment ? Eccles. vii. 1. 0 sirs, shall many Romans and others run the hazard of damning their souls to immortalise then-names, and will not you labour after holiness to eternalize yours ? There is no way to a good name, to a good report, but by getting of holiness.

[3] Thirdly, By holiness you will gain a hiding-place, a shelter, a refuge in stormy and tempestuous times: Prov. xi. 6, ' The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.' Let a holy man's enemies, dangers, snares, hazards, be never so many, yet his righteousness shall shelter him against all, Isa. iii. 10, and xxvi. 20, 21. In the midst of trouble, holiness will keep a man from trouble ; and in the midst of dangers, holiness will keep a man from dangers, Isa. xliii. 2-4; John xiv. 1. Holiness is the most sovereign antidote in the world

Holy Abel hath been dead above this five thousand years, and yet his name is as fresh and fragrant as a rose to this very day, Heb. xi. 4.

against all the troubles of tliis life. Noah's sanctity was Noah's safety in the midst of a deluge: and Lot's piety was Lot's security in the day of Sodom's ruin and misery: and the three children's innocency was a waU of fire about them in the midst of the fiery furnace : i and David's integrity was a shield and buckler against Saul's rage and cruelty. So in Pro v. xiii. 6, ' Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.' There is no guard, no protection against troubles and dangers, to that of righteousness. Righteousness and holiness is the most puissant army, and the strongest tower of defence against all hazards and enemies. The Hebrew word that is here rendered keepeth, is from natsar, that signifieth to keep with the greatest care, diligence, and vigilancy that can be ; it signifies to preserve and keep, as a man would preserve and keep the apple of his eye, which is the chiefest and the tender est piece of the tenderest part, Deut. xxxii, 14; and it signifies to keep, as a man would keep ammunition and provision from fire, or from treacherous hands, when a powerful and enraged enemy is drawing near, Nah. ii. 1. Why, says he, look how careful and diligent, &c., men are to keep and preserve those things that are most near and dear unto them, and that are most highly prized and valued by them; so will righteousness and holiness preserve and keep the righteous man in times of trouble and danger. So in Ezek. xiv. 14, 20, ' Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord. Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter ; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.' ^ These three, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were very holy men, they had great interest in God, and were very prevalent with God. But the decree being gone forth, they could not prevail with God for others ; yet their righteousness should be their own perservation, safety, and security, in days of calamity and misery. So in Isa. xxxiii. 15, 16, ' He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the" gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing of evil, he shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munition of rocks, bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure.' Let us dive a little into this admirable promise: 'He shall dwell on high;' but rather as the Hebrew hath it, ' He shall dwell on heights.' If the holy man were among his enemies, he might be in danger, but he shall dwell on heights, on many heights, and many ascents, he shall be out of harm's way, out of gun-shot, he shall be above the reach of danger. Oh! but his enemies may raise up mounts, and so get as high as he is. Well, grant that, but yet they shall not hurt him; for he is in a place of defence. Oh! but though he be in a place of defence, yet his defence is not so strong but it may be broken down and destroyed. No, not so, for his place of defence shall be the munitions

^ They walked up and down in the fiery furnace, as a man walks up and down in a pleasant garden.

^ Saints may prevail with God for themselves, when they cannot prevail with him for others.

VOL. IV. M

of rocks; many rocks, and many munitions of rocks, shall be the place of his defence; and therefore his defence is impregnable and invincible. Oh! but though his defence be munitions of rocks, yet he may be famished, he may be starved out, for rocks are barren places, and there is no ploughing and sowing upon rocks. No, he shall not be starved nor famished out of his strong place of defence ; for bread shall be given him, God will spread a table for him. Oh! but though he hath bread, yet he may perish for want of water; for he hath no faith, skill, nor power to fetch water out of a rock: Moses had not, and he hath not, and therefore he may be forced to deliver up his place of defence for water to quench his thirst, as king Lysimachus and others have done.^- No, not so, for he shall have water too. Ohl but his water may be spent, his water will not always last, his well, as well as Hagar's bottle, may be dry, his pipes may be cut off, or the water that now supplies him may be turned another way. No, not so, for his water shall be sure. Oh ! the safety and security of holy men ! Plutarch, in the life of Alexander, tells us, that when he came to besiege the Sogdians, a people who dwelt upon a rock, or such as had the munition of rocks for their defence, they jeered him, and asked him whether his soldiers had wings or not; for, said they, except your soldiers can fly in the air, we fear you not. Such is the safety of God's holy ones, that they need not to fear. There are no ladders long enough to scale their place of defence, nor no artillery or engine strong enough to batter down their munitions of rocks. There is an apologue how the dove made moan to her fellow-birds of the tyranny of the hawk; one counsels her to keep below ; but saith another, the hawk can stoop for his prey; another advised her to soar aloft; but saith another, the hawk can mount as high as she; another wished her to shroud herself in the woods, for there she should be secure; but saith another, alas! there is the hawk's manor, the place where he keeps court; another bids her keep the town; but saith another, that is to become a prey to man ; but at last one bids her rest herself in the holes of the rock, and there she should certainly be safe, for violence itself could not surprise her there, and there she was safe. Dove-hke saints, they have their munitions of rocks to fly to, and there they shall be safe. 0 sirs 1 there is no breastplate to that of righteousness, there is no armour of proof, no munitions of rocks, to that of holiness. Noah's holiness was an ark to save him, when Nimrod's Tower of Babel, which was raised five thousand one hundred forty-six paces high, could not secure him. 2 And therefore as you tender your own safety and security in times of trouble and calamity, oh, labour to be holy.

[4.] Fourthly, By holiness you will gain deliverance from death in death: Prov. xi. 4, ' Kiches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death;' and chap. x. 2, 'Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivereth from death.' Many treasuries of the most precious jewels that be in the world cannot ward off a blow, a disease, a sickness in the day of God's wrath. It is not the crown of gold that can cure the headache; nor the golden sceptre that can cure the palsied hand; nor the necklace of pearl that

* As before.—G. » Hejlin. Cosm., lib. iii.

can cure the aching teeth; nor the honourable garter that can ease the gout; nor the purple robe that can chase away the burning fever; nor the velvet slipper that can heal the kibe-heel: 1 no more can treasures of gold or silver deliver from wrath, or help in a day of death. Oh, but righteousness, that delivers from death. Look, what the sword, the shield, the helmet, the breastplate, the coat of mail, is to the soldier in the heat of battle, that, all that, and more than that, is righteousness to the righteous in the day of death. 2 Eight-eousness or holiness of affection, of action, of life and conversation, delivers from spiritual death, and from eternal death, yea, it dehvers from the evil, the hurt, the horror, the terror, the dread, and the sting of temporal death. Piety delivers not only from the second death, but also from all the evils and miseries of the first death too. As the righteousness of the righteous wiU be a royal protection to him, both against the day of wrath, and the wrath of the day; so the righteousness of the righteous will be a royal protection to him, both against death, and against all the evils of death. Kighteousness unstings death, it takes away the venom, the poison and bitterness of death; it turns that curse into a blessing, that punishment into a benefit, that night of darkness into a day of light, that wilderness into a paradise, that hell into a heaven : Prov. xii. 28, ' In the way of righteousness is life, and in the path thereof there is no death.' In the way of righteousness is (chaum) lives; so the Hebrew hath it, in the way of righteousness there are many lives: in that way there is spiritual life, and eternal life, and natural life, and all the comforts, and sweets, and blessings, and happiness of that life, without which man s life would be but a lingering, a languishing death; yea, a hell rather than a heaven unto him. ' And in the path thereof there is no death.' There is no spiritual death, there is no eternal death, yea, there is no corporal, no temporal death to hurt or harm them, to sting or terrify them, to damage or disadvantage them : for death is an outlet and an inlet to a holy man: it is an outlet to sin, to sorrow, to shame, to suffering, to afflictions, to temptations, to desertions, to oppressions, to confusions, and to vexations; and it is an inlet to a more clear, full, and constant fruition of God and Christ, and an inlet to the sweetest pleasures, the purest joys, the highest delights, the strongest comforts, and the most satisfying contentments. Death is the funeral of all a holy man's sins and miseries, and it is the resurrection of all his joys, and the perfection of all his graces and spiritual excellencies.3 Death to a holy man is nothing but the changing of his grace into glory, his faith into vision, his hope into fruition, and his love into perfect comprehension. The Persians had a certain day in the year in which they used to kill all serpents and venomous creatures: such a day as that will the day of death be to a holy man. Feccatum erat obstetrix mortis, et mors sepulchrum peccati: '

^ 'Bruised' heel.—G.

* Nugas the Scythian king despised the rich presents and ornaments that were sent unto him by the Emperor of Constantinople, because they could not ward off sorrow, sickness, diseases, death.

2 Death is not mors hominis, but mors peccati, not the death of the man, but the death of his sin: Phil. i. 23; 2 Cor. v. 12, and iv. 7, 8. Death is a Christian's quietus est, it is his discharge from all trouble and misery.

Sin was the midwife that brought death into the world, and death shall be the bearers that shall carry sin out of the world. When Samson died, the Philistines died together with him : so when a holy man dies, his sins die with him. Death came in by sin, and sin goeth out by death. As the worm kills the worm that bred it; so death kills sin that bred it. Death cures all diseases, the aching head and the unbelieving heart: the diseased body and the defiled soul.i At Stratford Bow were burned in Queen Mary's days a lame man and a blind man; after the lame man was chained, casting away his crutch, he bade the blind man be of good comfort; for, saith he, death will cure us both; it will cure thee of thy blindness and me of my lameness. Death will cure the holy man of all natural and spiritual distempers. Death is the holy man's jubilee, it is his greatest advantage, it puts him into a better estate than ever he had before. It is God's gentleman-usher to conduct us to heaven; it will blow the bud of grace into the flower of glory. Oh, who would not go through hell to heaven! who would not go through a temporary death to an eternal life ! who would not willingly march through mortality to immortality and glory! 2 0 sirs! holiness will make you look upon death as a welcome guest, a happy friend, a joyful messenger. It will make you kiss it and embrace it, as Favinus the Italian martyr kissed and embraced his executioner: it will make you desire it, and long after it with tears, as holy Bradford did. By all this you see that holiness will deliver you from death in death; and therefore I shall close up this head, as that wise and witty man, Sir Francis Bacon,^ closed up a paper of verses:—

' What then remains, but that we still should cry. Not to be born, or being born, to die ?'

[5.] Fifthly and lastly, By holiness you shall gain the greatest boldness in the day of judgment, Job xix. 25. Nothing will embolden a man in that great day like holiness ; holiness will then make the face to shine indeed: 1 John iv. 17, ' Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world.'* That which will make Christ's last appearance delightful to Christians, will be their likeness to Christ in holiness : in nature and grace likeness begets the greatest boldness. As there is no child so bold with the father, as he that is most like the father, so there is no Christian so bold with Christ, as he that is most like to Christ. A holy Christ is most familiar with a holy Christian; and a holy Christian is most bold with a holy Christ. The more a Christian is like to Christ in holiness of heart and life, in holiness of affection and conversation, the more divinely bold and famiHar will that man be with Christ, both in this world and in the great day of

^ Ultimus morborum medicus mors. [Foxe] Acts and Mon., fol. 1733.

2 Death is but an entrance into life. Miseri infideles mortem appellant, fideles vera quid nisi pascham ? Miserable unbelievers call it death, but to faithful believers, what is it but a passover, but a jubilee?— Bernard.

" Spelled, as frequently by contemporaries,'/ Bakon.' See Works of Bacon by Spedding, vol. vii. p. 272.—G.

* Ilafif>7]<rla signifies boldness of face, a lifting up of the face and countenance, in the sight or face of many beholders. It signifies a freedom and liberty of speech.

account; when he that was a brat of Satan's is made a saint, when he that was like hell is made like heaven, when he that was most ugly and uncomely is made like him that is the holy of hohes; this is that which gives boldness both here and hereafter. 0 sirs, it is not wit nor wealth, but holiness; it is not race nor place, but holiness; it is not power nor policy, but holiness; it is not honour nor riches, but holiness; it is not natural excellencies nor acquired abilities, but holiness, that will give boldness in the day of Christ's appearing: 1 Pet. i. 5-7, ' A well-tried faith,' which is but a branch of holiness, * shall be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.' At the coming of Christ, holiness shall be a man's praise and honour and glory. In that great day when shame and everlasting contempt shall be poured forth upon the great monarchs of the world, who have made the earth to tremble, ' when the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, &c., shall cry out to the mountains and rocks to fall upon them, and to hide them from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,' Kev. vi. 15-17—then, I say,' then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the firmament,' Dan. xii. 1-3. In life and death, and in the day of account, a righteous man will be as bold as a lion, Prov. xxviii. 1. Beal holiness will make a man death-proof, and hell-proof, and judgment-proof. The day of judgment will be to a holy man a marriage-day, a day of redemption, a day of coronation, a day of exultation, and therefore hq may well lift up his head and rejoice. Look, as the Israelites who had the blood of the pa ssover on their door-posts, though the destroyer was abroad, and a dreadful cry was all over Egypt, yet they were not slain, not stricken, Exod. xii. 7, 11; they did not fear nor tremble, but had their loins ready girt, and staves in their hands, boldly and cheerfully expecting when the happy and joyful hour of their redemption would come, Heb. ix. 14: so those that have the door-posts of their hearts and consciences sprinkled with holiness, in this terrible day of the Lord, they shall with boldness and cheerfulness lift up their faces, because the day of their redemption is come. And this made Luther say that he had rather never have been born, than not to be in hope of this day.i This day to God's holy ones will be melodia in aure, juhilum in corde, Like music in the ear, and a jubilee in the heart. It is true, the ungodly shall not stand in judgment, Ps. 1. 5 ; 2 Thes. ii. 7-10. Stand they must to be arraigned, sentenced, and condemned. Stand they shall, but not with any boldness or cheerfulness, comfort or content. Stand they shall, but not to be approved, acquitted, or absolved. Chaff and stubble cannot stand before that God that is a consiuning fire, Heb. xii. 29. When Belshazzar saw the handwriting upon the wall, oh, how was he affrighted, how was his countenance changed, his joints loosed, and his knees dashed one against another! Dan v. 5, 6. Oh, how do many ungodly men now tremble at a thunder-crack in the clouds, and at a flash of lightning in the air! but how will they tremble and quake when the whole frame of heaven and earth shall break in pieces, and be set in a flame about their ears! Oh, what trouble of mind, what horror and terror of conscience, what weeping ^ Sermon de Signis prse. extr. Jud.

and wailing, what crying and roaring, what wringing of hands, what tearing of hair, and what gnashing of teeth will there be among the ungodly in this day, when they shall see their sins charged on them on the one side, and divine justice terrifying them on the other side! when they shall look upward, and there see an angry God frowning upon them, and look downward, and there see hell gaping ready to receive them, and look inward, and there find conscience accusing and gnawing of them! when they shall look on their right hands, and there behold the good angels standing with so many flaming swords to keep them out of heaven, and look on their left hands, and there behold the devil and his angels ready pressed to drag them down to the lowest hell! oh, now how will they wish for the rocks to fall upon them, and the mountains to cover them! how will they wish that they had never been born, or that they might now be unborn! how will they now wish that their immortal souls were mortal, or that their souls might be turned into the nature of beasts, birds, stones, trees, or air, or anything rather than what they are! I have read ^ a story of two soldiers, who being in the valley of Jehoshaphat, in Judea, the one said to the other. Here in this place shall be the general judgment, and therefore I will now take up my place where I wiU then sit; and so, lifting up a stone, he sat down upon it, as taking possession beforehand; but being sat, and looking up to heaven, such a quaking and trembhng fell upon him, that, falling to the earth, he remembered the day of judgment with horror and amazement for ever after. But alas ! what heart is able to conceive, or what toiigue is able to express, the fear and dread, the horror and terror, the astonishment and amazement that will fall upon all ungodly persons in this day! And yet even now Grod's holy ones shall lift up their heads and hearts: they shall be bold and steadfast, they shall be far from fear, shame, or trembling. And thus you see that godliness, that holiness is the most gainful trade. And therefore, sirs, as you love gain, as you tender your own profit and advantage, labom- to be holy. But,

12. Twelfthly, Consider this, that holiness will put the greatest splendour and majesty upon persons that can possibly be put upon them, Job xxix. 8-11 ; Pro v. xii. 26. There is nothing that imprints such a reverence and majesty upon man as holiness doth. There is nothing that is such a grace to man as grace. It is holiness that puts the greatest excellency and majesty upon man: Ps. xvi. 3, ' But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.' Saints are the most excellent ones. The Hebrew word (veadire from adar) that is here rendered excellent, signifies (magni-Jicis) the magnificent ones, or the noble, glorious, or wonderful ones.2 Saints or holy persons are the most excellent, magnificent, noble, and~ glorious ones; and in Dan. viii. 24 the holy people are called mighty, because there are no people upon the earth that have might and majesty stamped upon them as they have: Cant. vi. 10,' Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners ?' 3 The light, grace, glory, and

1 Holcot. [Qu. 'Murcot'?—G.] ^ Arias Montanus, Junius, &c.

2 Some by the moon understand inherent righteousness, and by the sun they understand imputed righteousness.

holiness of the church rises by degrees: and this makes her terrible to all her enemies. Every degree of holiness is terrible to the unholy; but the higher the church rises in holiness, the more terrible and majestical it grows. Holiness puts such a splendour and graceful majesty upon all persons that have it, as even dazzles the eyes sometimes of wicked men, and begets in them an awe and reverence; as it is evident in Saul: 1 Sam. xxiv. 17, ' And Saul said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.' So Herod: in Mark vi. 20, it is said that he ' feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy, and observed him.' Holiness is very majestical. The greatest monarchs fall down before it. Herod reverences John, not for his birth or breeding, but for his holiness: not for his arts or parts, but for his holiness: not for his scholarship or greatness, but for his holiness. So that great monarch king Joash fell down before the holiness of Jehoiada whilst he lived, 2 Kings xi. 1, 2, &c. And so did the holiness of the three children command respect and honour from that great monarch Nebuchadnezzar. And so did the holiness of Daniel cause king Darius to reverence him, and to cast a favourable aspect upon him, Dan. iii. And so did the holiness that was written upon Judas the high priest cause Alexander the emperor to reverence him, and to fall down before him.i In hoUness there is such a sparkling lustre, that none can behold it but must admire it, and bow before the graceful majesty of it. It is not greatness but grace, it is not riches but righteousness, it is not outward pomp or splendour, but hoHness, that can overawe the vain spirits of men. A holy life is the upbraiding of that which is corrupt: Wisdom ii. 15, 12,' He is grievous unto us, even to behold him; for his life is not like other men's, his ways are of another fashion, he upbraideth us with our offending the law.' Grace wiU make a man majestical among those that have no grace. Bradford was had in so great reverence and admiration for his holiness, that a multitude that never knew him but by fame, greatly lamented his death, yea, and a number of Papists also wished heartily his life.2 Holy men have a daunting presence and majesty with them, as Athanasius had, and Basil had; for when Valens the emperor came to surprise him, he being in holy exercises, such a splendour and majesty was upon him, that it struck such a terror into the emperor that he reeled, and had fallen backward, had he not been upheld by those that were with him.s Henry the Second, king of France, being present at the martyrdom of a certain tailor, who was burnt by him for his religion, and so terrified by the boldness of his countenance, and by his holy and gracious behaviour in his sufferings, that he swore at his going away that he would never be present at such a sight more.* It is very observable, that the moral virtues of the heathen did put a great deal of splendour and majesty upon them: to instance only in Cato ; Cato was a man of much justice and integrity ; he was a man of an unspotted conversation and of high reputation among the Komans.^ Now his morahty put such a splendour

1 Quintus Curtiua evi nomine.—Q. * [Foie] Acts and Mon., page 1458.

» Greg. Orat. de laude Basilii. * Epiet. Hiflt. Gall., 82.

* Valer. Max., lib. ii. cap. 5.

and majesty upon him, that when he was present the very worst of the worst durst not in speech or gesture discover any impiety or immodesty, any wantonness or wickedness. Now certainly if morality puts such a splendour and majesty upon men, true sanctity will put much more upon them. And therefore, sirs, as ever you would have a splendour and majesty upon you, labour to be holy. Maximilian the emperor had such a presence and majesty with Mm, that a stranger that never saw him before, pointed him out among thirty great persons. 0 sirs, it is not the gray beard, nor the purple robe, nor the grim look, that makes a man so much a man of presence and majesty, as holiness doth; and therefore as you would indeed be men of presence, men of majesty, labour to be holy. But,

13. Thirteenthly, Consider that the times and seasons ivherein ive live call aloud for holiness. Many say the times are bad, very bad, extreme bad: ay, and let me teU you that your hearts and lives are bad, very bad, extreme bad; and it is these that have made the times so bad, so very bad, so extreme bad. It is in vain to talk of better times, or wish for better times, till you mend your manners, and get better hearts. The times would quickly mend, if every man would but in good earnest labour to mend one. If your hearts and lives were but more holy, the times would quickly be more happy. You say you shall never have peace and prosperity till all be brought to uniformity in religion; but I say you shall never have any lasting peace, felicity, or prosperity till you come to be holy: 2 Kings ix. 22, ' And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu ? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?' The interrogation carries with it a strong negation, ' What peace ?' that is, there is no peace to such a wicked wretch as thou art: thou mayest wish for peace, and dream of peace, and long for peace, and look for peace, and pursue after peace, and yet thou shall be far off from peace. What Jehu said to Joram, I may say to all unholy persons. What peace and what prosperity can you expect whilst your drunkenness, and uncleanness, and worldliness, and lukewarmness, and dead-heart-edness, and wantonness, and wickedness remains? what good days, what happy year can you look for, whilst your formality, and indiffer-ency, and hypocrisy, and infidelity, do bear witness against you ? So when Israel was very superstitious and vain in her worship, then ' there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed' (or beaten in pieces) ' of nation, and city of city; for God did vex them with all adversity,' 2 Chron. xv. 5, 6.1 When men are unholy, God will vex them; he will vex them with adversity, he will vex them with all adversity. When nations are ungodly, God will destroy them; he will beat them in pieces, he will beat them in pieces one against another. When there is no holiness in him that comes in, nor in him that goes out, then there shall be no peace to

^ Ver. 3 doubtless relates to Jeroboam's and the ten tribes' first revolt from the house of David, and from the house of God, and from all his ordinances ; and this was a very wicked and unholy time, as is evident in several scriptures.

him that goes in, or to him that goes out. When all is said that can be said, and when all is done that can be done, wicked men will still be as unquiet as the raging and foaming sea, Isa. Ivii. 20, 21. God will one day or another be still at war with that man that is at peace with his sin. It is said of the locusts that came out of the bottomless pit, in Rev. ix. 7-9, that ' they were like unto horses, and on their heads were as it were crowns of gold, and their faces as it were faces of men, and their hairs as the hair of a woman, and their teeth were as it were the teeth of lions,' &c. Here are quasi horses, qtiasi crowns of gold, quasi faces of men, quasi hairs of a woman, and quasi teeth of lions, &c. Now just such things are all the comforts and contentments of unholy persons: their gold and silver, is but as it loere gold and silver; and their prosperity and plenty, is but as it were prosperity and plenty ; their peace and tranquillity, is but as it were peace and tranquillity; and their victories and triumphs, are but as it were victories and triumphs; and their joys and rejoicings, are but as it were joys and rejoicings. But mark, when the holy evangelist comes to set down a description of the locusts' tails, he doth not say that there were as it were stings in their tails, but in plain, positive, downright terms he tells you that there were stings in their tails ; ver. 10, he tells you that their stings were true stings, real stings, certain stings. And so while men remain unholy, there are sure and certain stings in the tails of all their comforts, contentments, and enjoyments. The best way on earth to have a sure, a sound, a solid, a lasting peace with God, with ourselves, and with others, is to put on holiness as a robe upon us, Job xxix. 14, and to put all iniquity far from us, Job xi. 13, 20.

O sirs, the worser the times are, the better should every man labour to be. Many complain of burdens, taxes, oppressions, and vexations; and they say with those, that ' judgment is turned backward, and that justice standeth afar off, and that truth is fallen in the street, and that equity cannot enter, and that he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey; that judgment is far from us, and that justice doth not overtake us; that we wait for light, but behold obscurity ; for brightness, but behold darkness; that we grope for the wall like the blind, that we grope as if we had no eyes, that we stumble at noonday, that we roar all like bears, and mom-n sore like doves; that we look for judgment, but there is none; and for salvation, but it is far off from us,' Isa. lix. 9-11, 14, 15. These and a thousand more such complaints may be found amongst us. This scripture last cited, puts me in mind of a strange, but yet of a very true saying, viz., that there is more justice and equity in hell, than there is in France: for in hell the oppressor is oppressed; in hell he that would not give a crumb of bread, shall not have a drop of water. In hell such as shed innocent blood, have blood to drink ; in hell there are no bribes; in hell there is none to plead an unrighteous cause ; in hell there is no respect of persons; in hell every man hath according to his deserts: but in France it is otherwise, &c. And do not the strong cries, tears, sighs, groans, and complaints of the poor and needy, of hirelings, orphans, and widows, &c., in most nations strongly demonstrate that there is more justice and equity in hell, than

there is in most of the nations of the earth ? But now what is the choicest salve for all these sores ? Certainly holiness. What is the most sovereign remedy against all these maladies ? Nothing but holiness. 0 sirs, the more holiness rises in a nation, the more will righteousness run down as mighty streams, and the more the hearts of the poor and needy will leap and sing for joy. There is no way to make a nation happy, but by making of it holy. 0 sirs! as you are men, as you are Englishmen, as you love your country, as you honour your king and country, and as you desire the peace, prosperity, and felicity of your country, labour to be holy. 0 England, England, it is holiness that will be a wall of fire about thee, and a glory in the midst of thee: it is holiness that will make thee happy at home, and prosperous abroad. Among all Englishmen, there is no man to the holy man. Certainly that man that is most busy about mending his own heart and life, contributes most to the mending of the times. There are many sturdy blades i that will talk stiffly for their country, and that say that they will stand stoutly for their country, and yet by their daily ungodliness they do undo their country. These men destroy by their lives what they seem to build with their hands. And therefore, as ever you would have all things that are out of order in order, labour for a weU-ordered heart, and a well-ordered life. Holiness of conversation is the best means under heaven to prevent confusion and desolation.

Again, if you wUl look upon the present times as times wherein the judgments of God are abroad in the world—I say, if you will thus look upon them, then, I say, the times call aloud upon you for holiness: Isa. xxvi. 9, ' When thy judgments are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.' 0 sirs! when garments are rolled in blood, when the sword devours the flesh of the slain, when justice lays heap upon heap, when pestilence and famine destroys all on the right hand and on the left, oh! then every one will say. Come, let us break off our sins, let us turn to the Lord, let us mend our ways, and reform our lives, and get holiness into our hearts. We behold many sorer, heavier, and worse judgments than these are upon us this day, if we had but eyes to behold them. Oh, that hardness of heart, that barrenness of soul, that blindness of mind, that searedness of conscience, that perverseness of spirit, that superstitious will-worship, and that looseness of life that multitudes are given up to this day! Oh, those God-dishonouring, those Christ-denying, those ordinance-despising, those conscience-wasting, those life-corrupting, and those soul-damning opinions, principles, blasphemies, and practices that multitudes are given up to this day! Oh, the spiritual decays, the spiritual witherings, the spiritual slumberings, the spiritual faintings, the spiritual languishings that are to be found among a professing people this day! ^ Now certainly there are no judgments to spiritual judgments ; none reach the soul like these, none separate between God and

^' Active young men.'—G.

" Ps. Ixxviii. and Ixxxi. 12. That which was wont to be said of Africa, that it was ever a-producing some new monster or other, may be said of the age, yea, of the land wherein we live, 2 Thes. i. 8, 9; Amos viii. 11, 12.

the soul like these, none lay men open to temporal and eternal judgments like these. Spiritual judgments are the most insensible judgments, they are the most dreadful judgments, they are the most incurable judgments, they are the most damningjudgmentsof all judgments. Spiritual judgments have most of wrath, and most of horror, and most of heU in them. Oh that now these terrible judgments are abroad in the earth, you would learn righteousness, that you would learn to be holy! For as there is no such sense against temporal judgments as holiness, so there is no such sense against spiritual judgments as holiness. Oh, the spiritual strokes, the spiritual arrows, the spiritual diseases, the spiritual sicknesses, the spiritual plagues that are abroad in the world! and oh that the dread and sense of these might provoke you and prevail with you to labour after real holiness, to labour after the power of godliness, which will be your greatest security against these most deadly and soul-killing maladies!

Again, the days and times wherein we live call aloud for holiness. If you look upon them as days and times of grace, what greater and higher engagements to holiness were ever put upon a people, than those that God hath put upon us, who enjoy so many ways, means, and helps to make us holy ? Oh, the pains, the care, the cost, the charge, that God hath been at, and that God is daily at, to make us holy! ^ Hath he not sent, and doth he not still send his messengers, rising up early, and going to bed late, and all to provoke you to be holy ? Have not many of them spent their time, and spent their strength, and spent their spirits, and spit up their lungs, and spent their very lives to make you holy ? 0 sirs f what do holy ordinances call for, but holy hearts and holy lives ? What do days of light call for, but walking in the light, and casting off the deeds of darkness ? What is the voice.of aU the means of grace, but this. Oh, labour to be gracious ? And what is the voice of the Holy Spirit, but this. Oh, labour to be holy ? And . what is the voice of all the miracles of mercy that God hath wrought in the midst of you, but this, ' Be ye holy, be ye holy' ? 0 sirs, what could the Lord have done that he hath not done to make you holy ? Hath he not lifted you up to heaven in respect of holy helps ? Hath he not to this very day followed you close with holy offers, and holy entreaties, and holy counsels, and holy encouragements, and all to make you holy ? And will you be loose still, and proud still, and worldly still, and malicious still, and envious still, and contentious still, and unholy still ? Oh, what is this, but to provoke the Lord to put out all the lights of heaven, to drive your teachers into corners, to remove your candlesticks, and to send his everlasting gospel, that hath stood long a-tip-toe, among a people that may more highly prize it, and dearly love it, and stoutly defend it, and conscientiously practise it, than you have done to this very day ? Eev. ii. 4,5; Isa._ xxxii. 25. By what hath been said, I suppose there is nothing more evident than that the times and seasons wherein we live calls aloud upon every one to look after holiness and to labour for holiness; never complain of the times, but cease to do evil, and labour to do well, and all will be well; get but

1 Jer. vii. 13, 25; ixv. 3, 4; and xxiv. U, 15; Isa. xlix. 4, 5; 2 Cor. xu. 14,15; Kom. xiii. 11-14.

better hearts and better lives, and vou will quickly see better times, Isa. i. 16-19.

14. Fourteenthly, Consider that holiness will render you most like to a holy God, a holy Christ, and to holy angels. God is frequently called the Holy One in Scripture; he is called the Holy One above thirty times in the Old Testament. Angels are holy, and saints are holy, but it is God alone that is the Holy One.i His person is holy, Isa. vi. 3; his name is holy, Luke i. 49; his works are holy, Ps. xlv. 17; his judgments are holy, Ps, xxii. 1-3; his habitation is holy, Isa. Ivii. 15; his temple is holy, 1 Cor. iii. 17; his kingdom is holy. Rev. xxi. 27; his word is holy, Ps. xix. 7; and his Sabbaths are holy, Exod. xvi. 23. Now this is God's own argument, ' Be ye holy, for I am holy,' Lev. xix, 2; 1 Pet. i. 15, 16. Concerning the holiness of God, I shall speak at large, by divine assistance, when I come to press you upon perfecting of holiness; and therefore let this touch suffice for the present. Sirs, you cannot be h'ke to God in many other things, but you may be like to God in this one thing, in this noble thing, in this most necessary thing—holiness; and therefore labour after it.

Again, as holiness will render you most like to a holy God, so holiness will render you most like to a holy Christ, The apostle calls him *the Holy One,' 1 John ii, 20. Christ is essentially holy, he is infinitely holy, he is originally holy, he is singularly holy, he is eminently holy, he is perfectly holy, he is transcendently holy, and he is immutably holy. And so much the devil himself confesseth, in Mark i. 24, * I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God,' or rather as the Greek hath it, 0 a7to9, that Holy One, by way of excellency and eminency— alluding, as some think, to Exod, xxviii. 36. Yea, Christ takes delight to characterise himself by this title: in Rev. iii. 7, ' These things saith he that is holy;' and in Dan. ix. 25, he is called ' the most holy;' or as the Hebrew hath it, * the holiness of holinesses.' These abstracts speak out the vigour and strength, the eminency and excellency of. Christ's holiness. Christ is holiness itself, yea, holinesses; and what do these abstracts speak out, but that perfect and complete holiness that is in Christ ? The angels, in Isa. vi. 3, do three times iterate or repeat, ' holy, holy, holy.' Now though some do conceive that this threefold repetition hath reference to all the three persons, holy Father, holy Son, and holy Spirit, yet they that will but compare the text with John xii. 37-41, shall plainly see that it relates only to our Lord Jesus Christ; and so the threefold repetition denotes only the superlative eminency of Christ's holiness. Christ is holy in his natures, in his offices, in his purposes, in his counsels, in his word, and in his works. His conception was holy, his conversation was holy, his converse was holy, &c,. Acts iv. 23; Luke i, 35; Eph, iv.; Gal. ii. 20. Holiness is the image of Christ, it is the picture of Christ, the perfection of Christ, it makes a man conformable to the life of Clnrist. Christ's holiness is that noble copy after which we should all endeavour to write. Subjects may without treason or offence attempt to be like their prince, in wisdom, goodness, righteousness, holiness, peace, piety,

1 Gold being the most precious metal, you lay it over those things that arc most precious to you; so doth God lay holiness over all those things that are most precious to him.

clemency, and sanctity; though they cannot without rebelHon and disobedience endeavour to be like him in power, greatness, might, majesty, splendour, and glory: so we may safely and honourably attempt to be like to Jesus Christ in wisdom, righteousness, and holiness, &c.; though we may not, attempt to be like him in his miracles, signs, and wonders. 1 0 sirs! some have counted it their greatest honour and glory in this world, that they have been like such and such, who have been high and glorious in the world; and why, then, should not you reckon it your greatest glory and happiness to be like to Christ in holiness, though not in measure or quantity, yet in truth and reality ? As you would resemble Christ to the life, labour to be holy; in other things you cannot be like to Christ, but in holiness you may. You cannot be like to Christ in his greatness, majesty, or glory, nor yet in his omnipotency, omnisciency, nor omnipresence, nor yet in his general or special providence, nor in a thousand other things, but you may be like to Christ in his holiness. Look, as face answers to face, as Solomon speaks, so you may reach to that holiness that in reality may answer to the very holiness of Christ; and this is your only way to be like to Christ.

Again, as holiness will render you most like to a holy Christ, so holiness will render you most like to the blessed angels. The blessed angels are holy in their nature, and holy in their offices, and holy in their actings.^ They are called holy angels: Mat. xxv. 31, ' When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him;' and so in Rev. xiv. 9,10, ' Aid he that worshippeth the beast, or that receives his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, he shall be tormented \7ith fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.' The angels' holiness is their conformity to the original pattern of purity and excellency. The crown of holiness was set upon the heads of angels at their creation. Those princes of glory were crowned with holiness, as it were, in the cradle. The angels are holy in their praises, and holy in their waitings, and holy in their operations, and holy in all their ministrations. Bodin tells a story of one who desired of God the guidance and assistance of a holy angel, and accordingly he had sensible manifestations of a holy spirit that assisted him, and followed him to his death. If in company he spake any unwary words, he was sure to be advertised and reproved for it by a dream in the night; or if he read any book that was not good, the angel would strike upon the book, to cause him to leave reading in it. When that sorcerer Balaam went to curse the people of God, a holy angel stood in the way, drew his sword upon him, and jostled his bones against the wall, and all to prevent the execution of his wicked and cursed intentions. Num. xxii. 22. Oh, how much more, then, do they stand in the way of the saints, to prevent those weaknesses and miscarriages which Satan and their own corruptions would otherwise carry them to! And doubtless as they have

^ It ia Christ's particular honour to be imitated in all morals absolutely.

' All angels, in respect of their nature, are alike; but what the particular differences are between angels, archangels, principalities, and powers, and what their distinct offices are, I confess, with Austin, I understand not, neither is it my duty to know, nor my danger to be ignorant of these things, &c.

a hand to restrain the saints from evil, so they have an eye and an influence upon them for good: 1 Tim. v. 21, 'I charge you before God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels,' &c. The holy angels have their eyes and their influences upon us; they are our observers and overseers ; they are called watchers in Dan. iv. 17, for they watch our words, and they watch our works, and they watch our ways; they watch us before duties, and they watch us in duties, and they watch us after duties. They watch us before duties, to see how we prepare and fit ourselves to meet with God; and they watch us in duties, to see how our graces are acted upon God, and how our hearts and afi'ections are running out after God; and they watch us after duties, to see whether we walk worthy of God, and worthy of our duties, and worthy of our profession, and worthy of our high calling, i In times of health, strength, peace, prosperity, &c., they watch to see how wisely, holily, humbly, fruitfully, cheerfully, and thankfully we will walk with God; and in times of adversity, they watch to see how believingly, how contentedly, how self-denyingly, and how patiently we wiU submit to God, &c.; all which speaks out the holiness of the angels. 0 sirs, you cannot in this world be like to the angels in power, strength, might, nor in agility, activity, splendour, beauty, or glory; but yet you may be like to them in purity and sanctity. Sirs, do not deceive yourselves. You shall never be like to the angels in glory, if you will not be like to them now in grace. If you will not with them now put on the robe of holiness, you shall not with them hereafter put on the crown of happiness. We are to foUow the examples of the best men not an inch further than they were followers of Christ, 1 Cor. xi. 1. Christians, saith father Latimer, are not bound to be the saints' apes, they are not to imitate them in everything. Where their examples were good, it is good to imitate them, and where they were bad, it is duty to decline them. The fairest copies that ever were written by saints have their blots, their blurs, and their erratas; and therefore it is best, it is safest, it is noblest, to set the most exact, the most perfect, and the most excellent copy of the angels before us, who, as they excel in strength, so they excel in holiness also: Ps. ciii. 20, ' Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.' The angels obey divine commands readily, cheerfully, faithfully, universally, reverentially, humbly, afi'ectionately, and unweariedly. 0 sirs, such obedience, such holiness will be your honour here, and your happiness hereafter. To gather up all, as ever you would be like to a holy God, a holy Christ, and the holy angels, labour to be holy. In hoHness you may be like them, in other things you cannot resemble them. But,

15. In the fifteenth and last place, To provoke you to labour after holiness, consider the stinging argument in the text, viz., that without it no man shall see the Lord. The expression is exclusive. Now to * see' is a Hebraism, and implies both vision and fruition. Now without holiness, no man, be he high or low, noble or ignoble, rich or poor, &c., shall ever come to a blessed acquaintance with God here, or to a glorious fruition of God hereafter. 0 friends, if it were so

^ 1 Cor. xi. 10 ; Heb. i. 14 ; Rev. xiii. 9. The angels watch you in all places, cases, and conditionB, &c.

great a misery to Adam to be cast out of paradise, and so great a punishment to Cain to be cast out of his father's family—which was the only visible church of God on earth—and such a sore affliction for the lepers in the law to be shut out from all converse with men, and so great a trouble and torment to Absalom to be banished his father's court, and so great a hell to Jonah to be seemingly cast out of God's sight, and so great a tribulation to John to be confined to the isle of Patmos ;i oh, how great a misery, how great a punishment, how great an affliction, how great a trouble and torment, how great a tribulation, how great a hell, will it be for aU unholy persons for ever and ever to be banished the court of heaven, and to be shut out from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ! 2 Thes. i. 7, 11. If it were such an unspeakable grief and misery to the primitive Christians, as indeed it was, to be debarred of one another's society and company, by being confined to isles, and mines, and strongholds; oh, then, what an unspeakable grief and misery will it be to all unholy persons to be for ever debarred of the blessed society of God, Christ, angels, and saints, and to be everlastingly confined to the strongholds of hell, and to the society and company of that damned crew who will be still a-cursing and a-blaspheming of God, and adding to one another's torments! 0 sirs, it is the sight of God in heaven wherein man's happiness and blessedness doth consist; it is the fruition of God in heaven that is the life, the honour, the crown, and glory of angels and saints. Heaven itself would be but a low thing, yea, it would be but magnum nihil, a great nothing, without the sight and fruition of God there. Now without holiness there is no seeing of God, there is no possessing or enjoying of God, there is no possibility of ever obtaining a part or portion in God. Ah, friends! without holiness all is lost. Thy soul is lost, thy Christ is lost, thy God is lost, thy crown is lost, thy heaven is lost, thy glory is lost; and what are all other losses to these losses? Demorrathus of Corinth2 saith, they lost the chiefest part of their lives' happiness that did not see Alexander sit on the throne of Darius; but what was their loss to that unconceivable and unexpressible loss that all imholy persons must sustain, who shall never see the King of kings in his beauty, who shall never behold the Lord on the throne of his glory ? Well, sirs, if none of these arguments can prevail with you to labour after holiness, I must conclude that divine justice hath hardened you, and that Satan hath blinded you, and that your lusts have besotted you, and that this world hath bewitched you, and that it had been ten thousand thousand times better for you that you had never been born, than to live without holiness, and to die without holiness, and to be everlastingly damned for want of holiness. And thus much for the motives.

I come now to lay down some means and helps to holiness. Supposing that the language of some of your souls may be this: Oh, what shall we do to be holy! Oh, what course, what way, what means must we use that we may obtain this holiness, without which we now clearly see that we shall never come to a fruition of happiness! Methinks I hear some of you crying out, Oh, none but holiness, none

» Gen. iii. and iv. 13; Lev. xiv.; 2 Sam. xiv. 13, 14; Jonah ii.; Rev. i. 9. * More accurately Demaratus: Plutarch, Alexander IX. —G.

but holiness! as that martyi* once cried out, ' Oh, none but Christ, none but Christ!' Methinks I hear you crying out, Oh, give me holiness, or I die: as Samson once cried out, ' Give me water, or I die \ or as Kachel once cried out, ' Give me children, or I die/ So you cry out. Oh, give us holiness, or we die; give us holiness, or we eternally die. Oh, what shall we do to be holy! we see we are undone without holiness, we shall be damned without holiness. Oh that we were but made holy, that hereafter we may be assuredly happy!

Well, then, if you are in good earnest resolved to be holy, I would thus advise and counsel you: First, take heed of some things: Secondly, Labour to put in practice other things. The things that you are to avoid and shun, even as you would shun poison in your meat, or a serpent in your way, yea, as you would shun the devil himself, or hell itself, are these—

I. 1. First, Take heed of mistaking some particular scriptures, as that of Ezek. xiv. 6 ; xviii, 30-32, and xxxiii, 11, 14, 16, 19. From these and such like scriptures, many unholy hearts are apt to conclude that they can repent when they please, and that though they do defer their repentance, yet it is no such difficult thing to confess their sins at last cast, and to be sorry for their sins at last cast, and to forsake their sins at last cast, and to beg the pardon of their sins at last cast; and that if they do so, God hath given his word for it, he hath given it under his own hand, that he will pardon their sins, and save their souls. Now to prevent these soul-undoing mistakes, thou must know, 0 sinner,

[1.] First, That thou canst as well wash a blackamoor white at pleasure, as thou canst repent at pleasure ; thou canst as well raise the dead at pleasure, as thou canst repent at pleasure; thou canst as well make a world at pleasure, as thou canst repent at pleasure; thou canst as well stop the course of the sun at pleasure, as thou canst repent at pleasure; thou canst as well put the sea in a cockle-shell at pleasure, and measure the earth with a span at pleasure, as thou canst repent at pleasure: witness the proofs in the margin.! \ confess that if to repent were to hang down the head like a bulrush for a day, or to whine with Saul for an hour, or to put on sackcloth and walk, softly with Ahab for a short space, or to confess with Judas, ' I have sinned,' or to say with Simon Magus, ' Pray to the Lord for me,' or to tremble with Felix for a moment—I say, if this were to repent, doubtless you might repent at pleasure; but alas! friends, to repent is another thing, to repent is the hardest and difficultest work in the world; and that will appear in the next particular. And therefore,

[2.] Secondly, To repent is to turn a flint into fl^sh, it is to turn darkness into light, hell into heaven ; and is this easy ? To repent is to make all clean: inside clean, and outside clean; it is to make a clean head and a clean heart; a clean lip and a clean life: and is this easy?2 True repentance includes a true sense of sin, a deep sorrow for sin, a hearty loathing of sin, and a holy shame and blushing for sin; and is this easy ? To repent is for a man to loathe himself as well as his sin ; and is this easy for man, that is so great a self-lover, and so

1 Jer. xiii. 23, and xxxi. 18; Lam. v. 21; Acts v. 31; Eph. i. 17-19; 2 Tim. ii. 25 ; Acts xi. 18.

a Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26; Actfl xxvi. 18; Ezek. xvi. ^1-63, and xxix. 43; 2 Cor. vii. 10,11.

great a self-exalter, and so great a self-admirer, to become a self-loather.? To repent is to cross sinful self, it is to walk contrary tor sinful self, yea, it is to revenge a man's self upon himself; and is this easy ? To repent is to pluck out right eyes, and to cut off right hands, and offer up only Isaacs; and is this easy ? True repentance is a daily turning of the soul further and further from sin, and a daily turning of the soul nearer and nearer to God. It is a repentance not to be repented of; it is a repentance from sin, as well as a repentance for sin. Sin hath cast the soul at such a distance from God, that though the soul be every day a-turning nearer and nearer to God, yet it can never, in this life, get so near him as once it was, and as in heaven it shall be. And now tell me, 0 soul, is this such an easy thing, to be every day a-turning thy back upon sin, and a-turning thy face nearer and nearer to God ? Surely no. True repentance lies in a daily dying to sin, and in a daily living to him who lives for ever. The very life of repentance is f he repentance of the life: and is this easy ? But,

[3.] Thirdly, True repentance is a turning, not from some sin, hut from every sin: Ezek. xviii. 30,' Kepent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.' Every sin strikes at the law of God, the honour of God, the being of God, and the glory of God; and therefore the penitent must strike at all. Every sin fetcheth blood from the heart of Christ, and every sin is a grief and vexation to the Spirit of Christ; and therefore the penitent must set upon crucifying of all.l Every sin is an enemy to a man's peace, and to a man's comfort, and to a man's confidence, and to a man's assurance, and to a man's communion with God; and therefore he must set upon forsaking of all. If ever thou art saved, 0 man, thou must repent as well of thy Achans as thy Absaloms, of thy Kimmons as of thy Mammons, of thy Davids as of thy Goliaths, of thy secret as well as thy open sins, of thy loved as well as of thy loathed lusts, of thy babe-transgressions as well as of thy giant-like provocations. If thy repentance be not universal, it wUl never be effectual. If a ship spring three leaks, and only two be stopped, the third will certainly sink the shij); or if a man hath two dangerous wounds in his body, and takes only order for the cure of one, the other will undoubtedly kill him ; or if a man hath two grievous diseases upon him, and will only deal with the physician for remedies against the one, he will without all peradventure perish by the prevalency of the other. Herod turned from many sins, but not from his Delilah, his Herodias, which was his ruin. Judas, you know, was a devil in an angel's habit; he seemed to be turned from every sin, but he was not; he was a secret thief, he loved the bag; and that golden devil, covetousness, choked him, and hanged him at last. Saul for a time turned from several evils, but his sparing one, Agag, cost him his soul and ,his kingdom at a clap. I have read a story of a devout man, who amongst other gifts had the gift of healing, and many persons resorted

^ Ezek. xviii. 21, 31, and xx. 43. He that had the spot of leprosy in anj' one part of his body was accounted a leper, although all the rest of his body were sound and whole. Lev. xiii.; so he that hath but one spot, one sin which he doth not endeavour to wash out in the blood of Christ, and in the tears of true repentance, he is a leper in the account of God. It was an excellent saying of Luther, Optima et aptissima poeni-tentia est nova vita.

VOL. IV. N

to him for cure. Among the rest, one Chromatins, who being sick, «ent for him, and told him of his sickness, and desired that he might have the benefit of cure, as others had before him. The devout man replied, I cannot do it till thou hast beaten all the images in thy house to pieces. Oh, that shall be done, said Chromatius. Here, take my keys, and where you find any images, break them in pieces; which accordingly was done. Upon this the devout man went to prayer, but no cure was wrought; whereupon the sick man cried out. Oh, I am as sick as ever! oh, I am very weak and sick still! It cannot be otherwise, replied the devout person, neither can I help it, for there is doubtless one idol yet in your house undiscovered, and that must be defaced too. True, saith Chromatius, it is so indeed, it is all of beaten gold, it cost £200. I would fain have saved it, but here take my keys again, you shall find it fast locked up in my chest, break it also in pieces; which being done, the devout man prayed,^ and Chromatius was healed. The moral of it is good; the sin-sick soul must break, not some, but all its idols in pieces, before a cure will follow. It must deface its golden idols, its most costly idols, its most darling idols; the returning sinner must make head against all his sins, and trample upon all his lusts, or else he will die and be undone for ever; and though this be as difficult as it is noble, yet it is no more than what God hath engaged to do, and to see done, as you may see by comparing Ezek, xxxvi. 25-27 with Isa. xxx. 21, 22. Now is this an easy thing, to turn from every sin, to loathe every sin, and to abandon every sin, with a ' Get you hence,' for what have I more to do with you ? Hosea xiv. 8. Surely no. As Nehemiah cast out Tobiah and all his household stuff, in Neh, xiii. 6-8; so true repentance, it casts out Satan and all his retinue. As Moses would not leave so much as a hoof behind him, Exod. x. 26 ; so true repentance will not leave so much as a lust behind. A dispensatory conscience is always an evil conscience; he that can dispense with one sin, will, when opportunity presents, commit any sin. And as the flood made clean work, it swept away all Noah's friends, and drowned all his servants; so the flood of penitent tears makes clean work, it sweeps away every lust, it drowns every corruption in respect of love and dominion. And as some conquerors would not give so much as one of their enemies quarter, so true repentance will not give one lust quarter; it falls heavily upon the bones of every sin, and nothing but the blood and death of sin will satisfy the penitent soul. The true penitent is for the mortifying of every lust that hath had a hand in crucifying of his dearest Saviour. It was worthily and wittily said by one, that true repentance strips us stark naked of all the garments of the old Adam, and leaves not so much as the shirt behind. Well, sirs, remember this, to repent of sin, and yet to live in sin, is a contradiction; and if thou repentest with a contradiction, saith TertuUian, God will pardon thee with a contradiction. Thou repentest and yet continuest in thy sin, God will pardon thee, and yet send thee to heU; there is a pardon with a contradiction. Again,

[4.] Fourthly, If repentance be such an easy work as you suppose, I beseech you tell me, why do many men lie under such horrors and terrors of conscience as they do, for not repenting, whenas repentance

would quickly give them ease, and turn their hell into a heaven ? I was last winter with a young man, who upon his dying bed for several hours together, being in a dreadful agony, lay crying out, I am damned, I am damned, I am damned, I am damned! Ah, how soon would this poor wretch have got out of this hell, if it had been so easy a thing to have repented, as you imagine it is ! and how many, when they have been pressed to repent, have professed, that if they might have a thousand worlds to repent, they could not repent 1 And will you say that repentance is easy ? How many have sought repentance with tears, and would have bought repentance with the price of their dearest blood, but could not obtain it! and will you say that repentance is easy ? 0 sirs, is it good to be damned ? is it good to go to hell ? is it good to dwell with a devouring fire, and to live in everlasting burnings ? Is it good to have your habitations amongst devils and damned spirits ? Is it good to be banished the court of heaven, and to be separated for ever from the glorious presence of God, and the sweet enjoyments of Christ, and the blessed society of angels and saints, and the fruition of aU the happiness that heaven affords ? Oh no ! oh no! Oh, why then do not men prevent all this by repentance, if it be such an easy thing to repent! But,

[5.] Lastly, If repentance be such an easy work, ivhy then do your hearts so rise both against the doctrine of repentance, and against those that preach it and press it? Of all words, is not the word of repentance the hardest word to read ? John vi. 60. And of all sayings and sermons, is not that of repentance the hardest to hear and bear? Luther confesses that before his conversion he met not with a more displeasing word in all the Scripture, nor in all his study of divinity, than that word repent. 0 man! if repentance be so easy, why doth thy spirit rage, and why doth thy heart so swell and rise against those that preach repentance unto life ? Of all preachers, there are none that do so displease and move thee, that do so cut and gall thee, as those that are still a-crying out,' Kepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,' Mat. iii. 2. Repentance is the vomit of the soul; and ah, how do sinners' hearts rise against that physic, and those that bring it! Repentance is the bleeding of the soul; and ah, how do wicked men storm and take on at that hand that lets them blood ! You love those that preach pleasing things, that tickle your ears, though they never touch your hearts; that please your fancies, though they never meddle with your consciences; and one sermon of mercy you prefer before a thousand sermons of repentance.^ Now certainly if repentance were so easy to you, the doctrine of repentance would be more pleasing to you. For a close, know that that white devil who now presents repentance to thee as the easiest thing in the world, he will at last cast, to work thee to despair, and to cut the throat of thy soul, present it not only as a hard and difiicult work, but as an impossible work. Oh that these things may be so blessed unto you, as to preserve you from being deceived and deluded with a conceit that repentance is easy, and so by this means keep you from labouring to be holy!

Now as to that part of the plea, from the scriptures formerly cited— viz., that hereafter will be time enough to repent—I shall thus reply: 1 Isa. XXX. 10; Jer. v. 30, 31; xiv. 14, and xxiii. 11 to the end.

1. First, Certainly the present call of God, the uncertainty of the Spirit's motion, and the danger of delay, calls upon thee for present repentance. It is a dangerous thing to deal with God, as ill debtors do by their creditors; first they put them off one week, and then another week, and then a third week, &c., till at last they provoke their creditors to cast them into prison, and to practise all severity upon them. They that thus deal with God shall be as severely dealt with by God, as you may see in Prov, i. 24-32. The ancient warriors would not receive an old man into their army; and dost thou think, 0 vain man ! that when thou hast spent thy time, and wasted thy strength, and exhausted thy spirits in the work of Satan, and in the service of thy lusts, that God will receive thee to his grace and favour ? If thou dost thus flatter thyself, it is ten thousand to one but that thou wilt deceive thyself; that God, that hath made a promise to late repentance, hath made no promise of late repentance; and though true repentance is never too late, yet late repentance is seldom true. Ah, how many millions are now in hell, who have thought, and resolved, and said that they would repent hereafter, but that hereafter never came ! Thou sayest to-morrow, to-morrow thou wilt repent, when thou knowest not what a to-morrow will bring forth. Alas ! how many thousand ways may death surprise thee before to-morrow comes! Though there be but one way to come into the world, yet there is a thousand thousand ways to be sent out of the world."^ Oh, the diseases, the hazards, the dangers, the accidents, the deaths, that daily, that hourly attend the life of man ! A Jewish Rabbin, pressing the practice of repentance upon his disciples, exhorted them to be sure to repent the day before they died; to which one of them replied, that the day of a man's death was very uncertain; to which the Rabbin made answer. Repent, therefore, every day, and then you shall be sure to repent the day before you die. O sirs, except you do repent to-day, you cannot tell that you shall repent the day before you die; for who knows to-day but that he may die to-morrow ? It was once demanded of one, [Augustine,] what he would say of a wicked man who had lived loosely but died penitently, &c.; to whom he replied, What would you have me to say ? That he is damned ? I will not, for I have nothing to do to judge him. Shall I say that he is saved ? I dare not, for I would not deceive thee. What then ? Why, this. Repent thou out of hand, and thou art safe, whatever is become of him. Ah, friends, you are never safe till you repent; it is repentance that puts you out of all danger of miscarrying for ever. Shall the husbandman take his present seasons for sowing and reaping ? shall the good tenant repair his house while the weather is fair ? shall the careful pilot take his advantage of wind and tide, and so put out to sea ? shall the traveller mend his pace when he sees the night comes on ? and shall the smith strike when the iron is hot ?—and shall not we take the present opportunity of repenting and turning to the Lord, rememberiag that there will be a time when time shall be no more; and when there shall be no place found for repentance, though it should be sought carefully with tears, Heb.

^ It is reported that God should say to a man who desired to repent in his old age, Ubi conaumpsisti farinam, ibi consume/ur/urem : Where you have spent your flour, there go spend your bran, &c.

xii. 17; and remembering that there will be a time when thy glass will be out, and when the door will be shut, and when there will be no entrance at all, Luke xiii. 24, 27; and remembering that it is a safer course, with prudent Prometheus, to foresee a danger and shun it, than, with foolish Epimetheus, to go on unadvisedly and be punished ? i

Ah friends! it is a dangerous thing to make repentance, which should be the practice of all your days, to be the task of old age. Doth not common experience tell us that the longer the ship leaketh, the harder it is to be emptied; and that the longer the house goes to decay, the worse it is to repair; and that the further the nail is driven, the harder it will be to get out ? and so certainly the longer any man defers his repentance, the more difficult it will be for him to repent; his heart will every day grow more and more hard, and his will more and more perverse, and his judgment more and more corrupted, and his affections more and more disordered, and his conscience more and more benumbed or enraged, and his whole life more and more defiled and debauched. Friends, do not deceive yourselves, old age is but a sad, a sandy, a tottering and sinking foundation for you to build your hopes and happiness upon—for you to build your everlasting condition, your eternal making or marring upon. Are the dog-days of old age, are the trembling hands, the wrinkled face, the dazzled eyes, the stinking lungs, the fainting heart, the feeble knees, and the failing legs—are these a sacrifice worthy of God ? is a body full of sores, aches, and diseases, and a soul full of sin, an offering becoming a God ? Surely no. Oh, what madness, what wickedness is this, to serve Satan, your lusts, and this world with full dishes, and to put off God with scraps! to serve these in the flower, in the prime and primrose of your days, and to put off God with the dregs of old age! Certainly repentance is rather a work for youth than old age, it is a work rather for strength than weakness, and for health than sickness.^ Oh, do not let Satan deceive you, do not let your own hearts delude you, but fall upon the work of repentance presently, knowing that as you have one day more to repent of, so you have one day less to repent in. What a piece of vanity is it, that while the ship is sound, the tackling sure, the pilot well, the sailors strong, provisions laid in, and the wind favourable, that the mariners and passengers should lie in the road,^ carding, drinking, dicing, dancing, and idling; and when the ship is leak[y], the pilot sick, the mariners faint, provisions spent, and the winds boisterous, then to weigh anchors, and hoist up sail, to make a voyage into a far country 1 And yet such is the vanity of most men, who in the days of their youth, health, and strength, who when their memories are strong, and their fancies quick, and their reason ripe, &c., do sin away, and fool away, and trifle away the day of grace, the offers of mercy, the motions of the Spirit, and the entreaties of Christ; and when old age comes, when their wits are cracked, their souls distracted,

^ What madness and folly is it for a man that hath many young, strong, stout horses, and a long journey to go, to let these pass by, and to lay up his carriage, and get himself upon an old feeble jade that can hardly bear himself ! The application is easy, Mai. i. 13, 14.

* Spelled ' rode/ meaning ' a harbour for ships.'—G.

their senses stupified, their hearts astonied, their minds darkened, and their bodies diseased and distempered, oh, then they think to leap into heaven, with a ' Lord have mercy upon me' in their mouths: and though they have Hved like devils, yet they hope they shall die like saints; and though they never took no care of God's honour, yet they hope that God will take care of their souls; but when the thread of their lives is cut, the next news that ever you shall hear of these is, that they are gone to hell.

I have read of a young man, who being admonished of the evil of his way and course, and being pressed to leave his wickedness, and to break off his sins by repentance, upon the consideration of judgment, eternity, and death a-coming: he answered, What do you tell me of these things ? I warrant you I will do well enough, for when death comes I wiU speak but three words, and that will help aU, and so he went on in his wickedness: but in the end coming to a bridge on horseback to go over a deep water, the horse stumbling, and he labouring to recover his horse, could not, but at last he let go the bridle, and gave up himself and his horse to the waters, and was heard to say these three words, ' Devil take all.' Here were three words with a witness ! And oh that aU that think to repent at last, with a ' Lord have mercy upon me,' would lay this instance to heart! The light of thy Hfe may be put out before thou canst once say, Miserere mei Deus, Lord be merciful to me a sinner ! Though the chariot wheels run all the day long very near one another, yet they never overtake one another. Oh, take heed of delaying thy repentance, for the more thou delayest it, the more will thy account be increased, thy debt augmented, Satan strengthened, thy body enfeebled, thy lusts emboldened, thy soul endangered, and all the difficulties of conversion more and more multiplied. By delaying of thy repentance thou goest the way to gratify Satan, to cozen thyself, to lose the opportunities of grace, and to damn thy soul for ever and ever. Well, remember this, if thou wilt not repent to-day, God may swear in his wrath to-morrow, that thou shalt not enter into his rest; and then woe to thee that ever thou wert born ! And thus much for the preventing of these sad mistakes about repentance, which mistakes keep oiff many a man from looking and labouring after that holiness without which there is no happiness.

2. Secondly, If ever you would be holy, oh, then kike heed of a ivitch. Take heed of the world. The world often swells the heart with pride; it makes men forget God, neglect Christ, slight ordinances, and despise holiness, Deut. xxxii. 15, 22. Ah, the time, the thoughts, the strength, the spirits that this enticing world hath made many to spend and consume, whilst their souls have lain a-bleeding, and eternity hath been posting upon them! Oh, the deadness, the barrenness, the listlessness, the heartlessness to anything that is good, that doth attend a worldly temper! Many men are so bewitched with the profits, pleasures, and honours of the world, that they mind not holiness, they regard not holiness, they care not for holiness, nor the means that lead to holiness: Phil. iii. 18,19, ' For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and how I tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose

glory is their shame, who mind earthly things.'i Who were those that walked disorderly? why, those that minded earthly things. Who were those that fetched tears from the apostle's eyes ? why, those that minded earthly things. Who were those that were enemies to the cross of Christ ? why, those that minded earthly things. Who were those whose end is destruction? why, those that minded earthly things. Who were those whose god was their belly ? why, those that minded earthly things. Who were those whose glory was their shame? why, those that minded earthly things. SicUy is so full of sweet flowers, that dogs cannot hunt there, [Diodorus Siculus]; and what do all the sweet contents and delights of this world, but make men lose the scent of heaven and holiness? The world proves silken halters to some, and golden fetters to others: to some it is like the swallows' dung that put out Tobias's eyes; to others it is like the waters of Nilus, that makes the inhabitants deaf. All the flowers of this world are surrounded with many briers. The world is all shadow and vanity; it is like Jonah's gourd—man may sit under its shadow for a while, but it soon decays and dies. He that shall but weigh man's pains with his pay, his miseries with his pleasures, his sorrows with his joys, his crosses with his comforts, his wants with his enjoyments, &c., may well cry out, 'Vanity of vanity, and all is vanity.' The whole world is circular, the heart of man is triangular, and we know a circle cannot fill a triangle. 2 0 sirs, if your hearts be not filled with holiness, they will be filled with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Either holiness or Satan must possess you. Some there be that have much holiness, and much of the world too; as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, David, Hezekiah, Daniel, &c.; and others there be that have no holiness, nor nothing of the world neither: these men are fair for two hells—a hell of misery here, and a hell of torment hereafter. Some have much of the world, but not a spark of holiness; as Saul, Haman, Dives, Herod, &c., who had a world of wealth, but not a drachm of grace; and others have a great deal of holiness that have but little or nothing of the world; as the apostles and Lazarus, &c., James ii. 5 ; Mat. xi. 5. Now is it not infinitely better to have holiness without the world, and so be happy for ever, than to have much of the world without holiness, and so be damned for ever ?

A man bewitched with the world will lose many precious opportunities of grace, which are more worth than a world: witness rich Felix, who had no leisure to hear poor Paul, though the hearing of a sermon might have saved his soul. Acts xxiv. 24, seq. A man bewitched with the world has his sinning times, and his eating times, and his sleeping times, and his trading times, and his feasting times, and his sporting times, &c.; but he has not his hearing times, nor his praying times, nor his reading times, nor his mourning times, nor his repenting times, nor his reforming times, &c. He can have time, yea, and he will have time, for everything, but to honour his God, and to make himself happy for ever.

A man bewitched with the world will, when it is put to his choice,

^ That cardinal was wretched as well as rich, that would not leave his part in Paris for a part in paradise. [As before.—G.] * If the whole earth were changed into a globe of gold, it could not fill thy heart..

rather part with Christ to enjoy the world, than part with the world to enjoy,Christ: witness the young man in the Gospel, who preferred a drop before a sea, a crumb before a crown, and his treasure on earth before treasure in heaven, Mat. xix. 16, 23. He would not leave that on earth which he could not long keep, for the enjoyment of that in heaven which he should never lose ; rather than he would let his possessions go, he would let God and Christ go, and heaven go, and all go, &c. If heaven can be had at no cheaper a rate than parting with his possessions, Christ may keep his heaven to himself, and make the best on't he can if he wiU, for he 11 have none on't upon those terms.

Again, a man bewitched with the world will prefer the most base and contemptible things before the Lord Jesus Christ; he will, with the Gergesenes, prefer his very swine before a Saviour, Mat. viii. 28, seq.; when they saw what a sad market their hogs were brought to, they desired Christ to depart out of their country; these Gergesites had rather lose Christ than lose their porkers; they had rather that the devil should possess their souls than that he should drown their pigs; they prefer their- swine before their salvation, and present a wretched petition for their own damnation; they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts; though there be no misery, no plague, no cm*se, no wrath, no hell to Clirist's departure from a people, yet men bewitched with the world will desire this. Men bewitched with the world will prefer a Barabbas before a Jesus; they will with Judas betray Christ, and with Pilate condemn Christ, and with the Scribes and Pharisees they will cry out, ' Crucify him! crucify him !' away with this Jesus, away with this Jesus; let Barabbas live, but let Jesus die; let Barabbas be saved, but let Christ be hanged. Ah, what incarnate devils will such men prove, who are bewitched with this world!

A man bewitched with the world will gain no good by the ministry of the word: witness Ezekiel's hearers, Ezek. xxxiii. 31-33; and witness the stony ground. Mat. xiii. 22; and witness Christ's followers, John vi. Some writers say that notliing will grow where gold grows; certainly where the love of this world grows, there nothing will grow that is good. A heart filled either with the love of the world, or the profits of the world, or the pleasures of the world, or the honours of the world, or the cares of the world, or the businesses of the world, is a heart incapacitated to receive any divine counsel or comfort. It is a heart shut up against God and holiness, it is a heart possessed with many devils; and therefore no wonder if such a heart loathes the honeycomb of holiness; yea, it is no wonder to see such a heart to deride and scorn holiness as the greatest foolishness, Luke xvi. 14. The poets tell of Lycaon being turned into a wolf; but when a worldling is made holy, there is a wolf turned into a man, yea, a devil turned into a saint; therefore the Holy Ghost, speaking of Zaccheus, who had long been bewitched by the world, brings him in with an Ecce! —' Behold!'—as if it were a wonder of wonders that ever such a worldling should be made holy.

A man bewitched with the world will venture the loss of his soul to enjoy the world. Mat. xvi. 26; as that pope that sold his soul to the devil for the enjoyment of the j^opedom six years. We hate the Turks

for selling of Christians for slaves; but ah, how many be there among us that call themselves Christians, who yet sell themselves and their souls to the devil for slaves for half-a-crown, yea, for a halfpenny 1 Look, as Shimei, by seeking his servant, lost his life; so many, by seeking of the world, have lost their souls. Now though of all losses the loss of the soul is the greatest, the saddest, the "sorest, the heaviest, and the most intolerable, inconceivable, and irrecoverable loss, yet a man bewitched with the world will run the hazard of losing it, of damning it, to enjoy the world. You know the Keuben-ites in Joshua xxii. preferred the country that was commodious for the feeding of their cattle,—though it were far from the temple, where they might have fed their souls, and have got heaven and holiness for their souls,—before their interest in the land of promise. Well, so men that are bewitched with this world in these days, oh, how do they prefer their sensual delights, their brutish contentments, and their carnal enjoyments, before the heavenly Canaan, and before the beauties of hohness, and before the temple of God's holiness, where holiness sparkles and shines in all its bravery and glory, and where their souls might be abundantly satisfied and delighted with the most ravishing joys, the most surpassing delights, and the most transcendent pleasures which are at God's right hand! To draw to a close, the Arabic proverb saith that Mutidus cadaver est, et petentes eum sunt canes —The world is a carcase, and they that hunt after it are dogs. If this proverb be true, what a multitude of professors will be found to be dogs, who hunt more after earth than heaven, who hunt more after terrestrial than celestial things, who hunt more after nothingnesses and emptinesses, than they do after those fulnesses and sweetnesses that be in God, Christ, heaven, and holiness! Well, friends, as ever you would obtain that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, take heed of a witch, take heed of this world; and to that purpose, oh that you would always look upon the things of this world, as you will look upon them when you come to die ! Oh that you would now look upon all the pomp, state, bravery, and glory of the world as you will look upon it when your souls shall sit upon your trembling lips! Oh, with what a disdainful eye, with what a weaned heart, do men look upon those things then! Do so now, and I dare assure you, that though the world may trouble you, yet it shall never bewitch you. I have read of a man that, lying in a burning fever, professed that if he had all the world at his dispose, he would give it all for one draught of beer ; at so low a rate do men value the world at such a time as that is. If men were so wise to value the world at no higher a rate in health than they do in sickness, in life than they do at the time of their death, it would never bewitch them, it would never be as a wall of separation between holiness and them. As ever jou would be holy here, and happy hereafter, take heed of this witch, and believe it to be a witch before it hath bewitched you, or else you may believe it too late.

3. Thirdly, If ever you would be holy, then tahe heed of comparing yourselves ivitJi those that are, at least supposedly, loorse than your-selves. Many there be who by comparing themselves with those that are bad, very bad, think themselves to be good, very good, yea, to be

too good to go to hell, and yet they are not good enough to go to heaven; and many there be who are worse than others, and yet by comparing themselves with those they suppose very bad, they conclude themselves to be very good. Such a one was that proud Pharisee in Luke xviii., who thought himself a far better man than the poor publican, and yet he was not half so honest, nor half so just, nor haK so righteous, nor half so good as he was. The poor publican was ashamed of himself; he loathed himself, he abased himself, he judged himself, and he condemned himself. The poor publican acknowledged God, he adored God, he dreaded God, he admired God, and he justified God; in all which he exceeded the proud Pharisee; and yet, oh how scornfully does this proud Pharisee look upon him! and how disdainfully and disgracefully does he speak of him! And this was the general frame and temper of the Scribes and Pharisees, who thought no man's penny so good silver as their own, who thought themselves better than the best, when they were the very worst of the worst; for publicans and harlots believed and repented, and entered into the kingdom of God before them. Mat. xxi. 31, 32. And so they in that of Isa. Ixv. were naught, very naught, yea, stark naught; they were the basest among the base, they were the vilest among the vile, they were the most rebellious among the rebeUious, and the most superstitious among the superstitious: witness ver. 2-4. And yet, oh how do they stroke themselves, and bless themselves, and commend themselves, and cry up themselves, and exalt themselves as the only holy ones, ver. 5; they could deify themselves, and yet damn and devilify others, though they were such monsters as God abhorred, ver. 6. Ah ! how many be there who, by comparing themselves with those that are worse than themselves, do judge themselves to be good enough, and holy enough ! They are good negative Christians, and they think that is enough to bring them to heaven; they bless themselves that they are no Nabals for drunkenness, nor no Sodomites for filthiness, nor no Hamans for haughtiness, nor no Amnons for lustfulness, nor none of the old world for idleness, nor no Zaccheuses for covetousness, nor no Laodiceans for lukewarmness, &c. They bless themselves that they are no Gehazis for lying, nor no Shimeis for cursing, nor no Joabs for swearing, nor no Rabshakehs for railing, nor no Doegs for cruelty, nor no Judases for treachery, nor no Demases for apostasy, &c. And thus they cheat themselves, and find out fine ways to delude and damn their own souls ; they think it grace enough, and holiness enough, that they have attained to this—viz., not to be so bad as the worst, though they fall infinitely short of coming near unto the best. Well, sirs, remember this, if you are not so great sinners as others, your horrors, your terrors, your torments, your hell shall not be so great, nor so hot as others', but without holiness you shall be as certainly damned as others ; and what a cold comfort is this, to have a cooler and a lighter hell than others; and yet this is all the comfort that can be handed to unholy hearts. But,

4. Fourthly, Take heed of flatterers. Ah ! how good might many men have been, who are yet exceeding bad, had they not sold their ears to flatterers. Flatterers are soul-murderers, they are soul-undoers,

they are like vain chirurgeons, that skin over the wound, but kill the patient. Flattery is the very mother of folly, and the very nursery of all impiety. Flatterers will cry up those for religious who are only superstitious, and those for wise men who are foolish, and those for knowing men, who are ignorant, and those for virtuous men who are vicious, and those for holy men who at best are but civil, and those for happy men who are certainly miserable. Flatterers dare call the proud happy, and bless them whom God has cursed; they dare call evil good, and good evil; they dare call darkness light, and light darkness; they dare say that that man has grace that has none; yea, they dare swear that such and such shall be saved, though for the present they live as if they were resolved to be damned; they dare take upon them to tell you that such and such men's names are written in heaven, and that such and such belong to the election of grace, though their lives speak them out to be void of all grace. Ah! how many a man has been kept off from the thoughts of holiness, and from the ways of holiness, and from the love and liking of holiness, by flatterers who have flattered them, that doubtless they are in the favour of God, and that certainly God did not make men to damn them, and that without all peradventure they have an interest in Christ, and that there is no question but that their hearts are as good as the best, and that their conditions are good, and their souls happy; yea, they are so confident of their happiness, that they dare venture a-going to hell, if ever such should go to hell whom they fondly flatter; they dare pawn their souls and their salvation on it, that such shall never miscarry; and by these flatteries they harden men in sin, and arm them against holiness. Flattery is that sweet poison that has destroyed many a soul. Witness Eehoboam, Ahab, Herod, Nero, Alexander, &c. So true is that of the wise man: Prov. xxvi. 28, ' A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.'i A flattering mouth ruins name, fame, estate, life, body and soul; it ruins a man both temporally and eternally; it often undoes a man in both worlds; it makes a man miserable both here and hereafter. Flatterers are devouring caterpillars: flatterers' tongues do more mischief than persecutors' swords, for their swords can but destroy the bodies of men, but flatterers' tongues destroy the souls of men. Flatterers are the greatest soul-cheaters and soul-undoers in the world. Flatterers dare call vice virtue, they dare call pride neatness, covetousness good husbandry, drunkenness good-fellowship, prodigality liberality, wantonness a trick of youth, passion zeal, revenge courage, &c. They dare call enormities infirmities, and wickednesses weaknesses; they dare call great sins little sins, little sins no sins; they gild over all their poisonous pills with gold, they draw the fairest glove upon the foulest hand, they lay their neatest colours upon the filthiest sores, they put their best paint upon the worst faces, and the richest robes upon the most diseased bodies; and by these devices they entangle many to their utter ruin: Prov. xxix. 5,. *A man that flattereth his neighbour

1 The Hebrew word Dachah signifies to throw down, to drive on forwards till a man falls into destruction; none drive so furiously to the ruin and destruction of souls as flatterers do.

spreadeth a net for his feet.' The Hebrew word— Machalik from Chalak —that is here rendered flatterer, signifies a smooth-boots, a soft, butter-spoken man; because flatterers, the better to deceive, do use to oil their tongues and to butter their lips, that so by their smooth, soft speeches they may the more insinuate themselves into men's affections, and so make way for their destruction. Flatterers have their silken nets to ensnare and entangle poor souls to their eternal ruin. Look, as fowlers strew corn and lay baits to draw birds into their nets; or look, as hunters spread their nets, that they may take beasts and prey upon them, or make a prey of them; so flatterers, they spread their nets that they may catch poor souls, and either prey upon them, or else make a prey of them. Flattery is the devil's invisible net; and happy is that soul that escapes it. The flatterer's net is worse than his sword, for his sword may be the more easily seen, feared, and avoided, than his net. Of aU arms the flatterer's net is the most perilous and dangerous, both to the lives, estates, and souls of men.> It were ten thousand times better to trample a flatterer under a man's feet, than for a man to sufier his feet to be taken in the flatterer's net. A flatterer is a sore enemy in the habit of a friend, he is a wolf in sheep's clothing, he is a devil transformed into an angel of light; and ■what punishment can be too great for such ? The severity of many ieathen princes and emperors has been very great against flatterers. Take one instance for all: Alexander Severus commanded one Turinus, a great flatterer, to be tied to a stake and stifled with smoke, with a herald standing by, and proclaiming to aU the people, that it was but just that he that lived by the smoke of flattery should die by smoke.i Now what a shameful thing is it that such as are called Christians should afiect to be flattered, when heathens have so severely punished flatterers. WeU, sirs, as ever you would be holy, take heed of flatterers, and take heed of flattery; let Solomon's counsel be always in your eye, and let it always lie warm upon your hearts : Pro v. xx. 19, ' He that goeth about as a tale-bearer, revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.' A man that loves his soul, and would be happy in another world, should shun flatterers as he should shun a thief, a serpent, a wolf, a lion, a devil. Till thou stoppest thine ears against a spirit of flattery, there is little hopes that ever thou wilt be holy.

5. Fifthly, If ever you would be holy, oh! then toike heed of putting the day of death far from you. Man is a creature naturally prone to look upon death at a distance, to look upon death afar off", and to say with those in Ezekiel, ' Behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are afar off,' Ezek. xii. 27. So the rich man in the Gospel reckoned upon many years, when he had not many months, no not many weeks, no not many days, no not many hours, to live in tills world. Unholy persons are very apt to say to death as Pharaoh said to Moses, ' Get thee from me, and let me see thy face no more,' Exod. X. 28. When death knocks at the poor man's door he sends it to the rich man's gate, and the rich man translates it to the scholar,

^ Augustus Caesar, and Tiberius Csesar, and Sigismund, tlie emperors, all were great enemies to flatterers.

and the scholar posts it away to the citizen, and the citizen to the coiirtier, and the courtier to his lady, and his lady to her maid, and so death is posted away, as it were, from one to another, every one crying out to death. Oh, let me not see thy face! oh, let me not see thy face 1 It was even a death to Queen Elizabeth, Sigismund the emperor, Louis the Eleventh of France, Cardinal Beaufort, and others, to think of death, or to hear of death ; and therefore they strictly charged all their servants about them, that when they saw them sick, they should never dare to name that bitter word death in their ears. And Pashur cannot cast his eye upon death, but he is presently a Magor-missahih, a terror to himself, Jer. xx. 3. And Saul, though he was a valiant king, yet at the news of death he falls on his face, 1 Sam. xxviii. 20. And so Belshazzar, though he was a mighty emperor—Dan. v. 1-7— yet a letter to him, from him whom Bildad calleth the king of terrors. Job xviii.l4, ah, how does it amaze, astonish, affright, and terrify him I and how many are there who, with Meecenas in Seneca, had rather live in many diseases than die; and, with the most famous heathens, prefer the meanest life on earth above all the hopes they have of another world; like Achilles, who had rather be a servant to a poor country clown here, than to be a king to all the souls departed ; i or like Withi-poll, a rich and wretched man, who, when he was in danger of death, earnestly desired that he might live five hundred years, though it were but in the shape of a toad.^ Near Lewes in Sussex, a woman being ill, one of her neighbours coming to visit her, told her that if she died she should go to heaven and be with God and Jesus Christ, and with angels and saints; the sick woman answered, that she had no acquaintance there, she knew nobody there, and therefore she had rather live with her and her other neighbours here, than to go thither to live amongst strangers. And thus you see how apt persons are to shrug at death, which is a common lot, and to say to it, as Ephraim did to his idols, ' Get you hence, what have we more to do with you ?' But this is and must be for a lamentation, that men put off the thoughts of their latter end to the latter end of their thoughts. Man naturally is a great life-lover, and therefore he will bleed, sweat, vomit, purge, part with an estate, yea, with a limb, ay, limbs, to preserve his life; like him that cried out, ' Oh, give me any deformity, any torment, any misery, so you spare my life.' And upon this account it is that he desires that such a guest as death may not knock at his door; but ah ! that all such vain men would consider, that by putting the day of their death far from them, they do but gratify Satan, strengthen their sins, provoke the Lord, and make the work of faith and holiness more hard and difficult, and so lay a deep foundation for their own eternal destruction.

Well, sirs, remember this, the serious thoughts and meditations of death, if anything, will work you to break off your sins, to mend your lives, and to look to the salvation of your souls. There is nothing that will sooner work a man to a holy fear of offending God in anything, and to a holy care of pleasing God in everything, than the serious meditation of death. Though that text, ' Remember thy latter

^ Homer: Odyssey, li. 488.—G.

* Vitellius, looking for the messenger of death, made himself drunk to drown the thoughts of it.

end, and thou shalt never do amiss,' be apocryphal, yet the truth asserted is canonical, i I have read a story of one that gave a young prodigal a ring with a death's-head, on this condition, that he should one hour in a day, for seven days together, think and meditate upon death, which accordingly he did, and it bred a great change and alteration in his life and conversation. 0 man ! thou dost not know but that the serious thoughts of death may work that desirable thing in thee, viz., holiness, which yet has not been wrought in thee by all the holy counsels, the gracious examples, the fervent prayers, and the sorrowful tears of thy dearest friends. Thou dost not know but that the serious meditation of death may do thee more good than all the sermons that ever thou hast heard, or than all the books that ever thou hast read, or than all the prayers that ever thou hast made, or than all the sighs or groans that ever thou hast poured out; and why then shouldst thou put the thoughts of death far from thee ? Certainly as he is a sinner in grain that dares look death in the face and yet sin, that dares cut a purse when the judge looks on; so he is a monster rather than a man, that dares look death in the face, and yet satisfy himself to live without hoKness; that dares look death in the face, and yet say I '11 drink and be drunk, I '11 swear and swagger, I '11 roar and whore, I '11 cheat and cozen, I '11 hate and oppose, I '11 quarrel and kill, and my hands shall be as bloody as my heart, and let death do her 2 worst; if such a person be not in the ready way of being miserable for ever, I know nothing.

1. Firstly, Well, sirs, remember these three things: [1.] First, That there is nothing more certain than death. That statute law of heaven, ' Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,' Gen. iii. 19, will take hold of all the sons of men. ' There is no man that lives and shall not see death,' Ps. Ixxxix. 48. Though Jacob wrestled with an angel and prevailed, yet death was too hard for him, Gren. xxxii.; though Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe, yet he could not outrun death, and Absalom could not outride it, nor Pharaoh outdrive it; though Saul and Jonathan were as swift as eagles, and as strong as lions, yet were they slain among the mighty: it was not Solomon's wisdom that could deliver him, nor Samson's strength that could rescue him, nor Haman's honour that could secure him, nor Goliath's sword that could defend him, nor Dives's riches that could ransom him from the grave ; and therefore why should men put this day so far from them ? But,

[2.] Secondly, As there is nothing more certain than death, so there is nothing more sudden than death. When the old world, when Sodom, when Pharaoh, when Hagar, when Amalek, when Haman, when Nebuchadnezzar, when Belshazzar, when Dives, when the rich fool, and when Herod, were aU in their prime and pride, when they were in their most flourishing estate, when they were at the very top of their glory, ah, how suddenly, how sadly, how strangely, how unexpectedly, and how wonderfully were they brought down to the grave, yea, to hell! Oh, the thousand thousands of crosses, losses, diseases, sicknesses, calamities, dangers, and deaths which attends the life of

^ Ecclesiasticus vii. 36.—G.

* First occurrence that I have found of ' death' as feminine.—G.

man, and by the least of which, he may be suddenly surprised and carried into another world! and therefore why should man cry out eras, eras, to-morrow, to-morrow, when he does not know whether he shall have a to-morrow, when he does not know but that he may die before he has begun to live ? Waldus, a rich merchant of Lyons, in France, seeing one suddenly drop down dead in the streets, went home, repented, changed his life, studied the Scriptures, and became a worthy teacher, father, and founder of the Christians called the Waldenses, or poor men of Lyons. And oh that the serious thoughts of the suddenness of death might have that happy effect upon your souls, as to work you to break your league with sin, and to fright you, as it were, into a love of holiness, and into a life of holiness ! 0 swearer, what dost thou know but that death may seize on thee whilst the oath is in thy mouth ? And what dost thou know, O drunkard, but that death may step in between the cup and the lip, as it did to Belshazzar ? And what dost thou know, 0 adulterer, but that a poisoned dart may strike through thy liver whilst thou art in the very flagrancy of thy lust, as it did through Zimri's and Cozbi's ? And what dost thou know, 0 proud Haman, but that thou who art thus nobly feasted one day, mayest be a feast for the crows the next day ? And what dost thou know who art so crafty, 0 Ahithophel, but that if thy subtle counsel be rejected one hour, thou mayest hang thyself the next hour ? And what dost thou know, 0 thou opposing and murmuring Korah, but that the earth may suddenly open and swallow thee up ? and therefore why should you put that day so far from you, that may so suddenly overtake you ?

Berline, in Germany, charged St Paul with a lie in the pulpit, and was suddenly smitten with an apoplexy, and fell down dead in the place. 1 And what dost thou know, who art so apt to charge the people of God with lying, but that God may strike thee both dumb and dead whilst the lie is in thy mouth ? Bibulus, a Roman general, riding in triumph in all his glory, a tile fell off from a house in the street and knocked out his brains. And what dost thou know, 0 vainglorious man, but that whilst thou art triumphing in thy world-glory, by some unexpected blow thou mayest be sent into another world ?

Lepidus and Aufidius stumbled at the very threshold of the senate and died; the blow came in a cloud from heaven. God by an irjvisible blow may send thee out of this visible world.

Sophocles died suddenly by excessive joy, and Homer by immoderate grief; excessive joy or excessive grief may suddenly bring thee to thy long home. Olympus the Arian heretic, speaking against the Holy Trinity as he was a-bathing himself, was struck dead by a threefold thunderbolt. 2 We may run and read some men's sins in the very face of their punishments. Mr Perkins speaks of one who, when it thundered, scoffingly said, it was nothing but Tom Tumbrel a-hooping his tubs, &c., and presently he was struck dead with a thunderbolt from heaven. There would be no end of recounting the several judgments that have suddenly surprised all sorts of sinners.

^ Scultet Annal.

" Theatre of God's Judgments, lib, i. cap. 9, p. Qi.

Let these few instances suffice to stir up every unholy heart to take heed of putting far off the day of death. But,

[3.] Thirdly, As there is nothing more sudden than death, so there is nothing more short than life; and why then should you put the day of your death so far from you ? i If you consider the life of man absolutely, it is but short, it is but as a span, a shadow, a dream, a bubble, a blast, a puff of wind, a pile of dust, a fading leaf, or a tale that is told, &c. The life of man is as a dream that vanisheth when one awaketh, it is a wind that goeth away and cometh not again, it is as a cloud that is soon dispersed with the wind, it is as a vapour that appeareth for a time, and then vanisheth away, it is as the grass that soon withereth, it is as the flower that soon fadeth, it is as the candle that every light puff of wind bloweth out. The life of man is rather made up of days than years: Ps. xc. 12, 'So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.' Moses does not say, Lord, teach us to number our years, but ' Lord, teach us to number our days.' Fallen man is apt to misreckon, and to compute days for years; and therefore this holy prophet desires that God would teach them this divine arithmetic, of numbering their days, it being a lesson that none but a God can teach. So Job xiv. 1,2,' Man that is born of a woman is of few days,' or short of days,' and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.' He speaks not of an age, nor of years, nor of many days, but of a few days. Man's days are short in themselves, and shorter in respect of the troubles that attends this present life. Man's life is so short, Austin doubteth whether to call it a dying life, or a living death.^ Now these few days of man's life are upon the Aving, hastening and flying from us as the eagle hasteneth to his prey; and therefore man had need set a greater price upon every moment and minute of time, than he does upon all the world, and accordingly improve it.

2. Secondly, If you consider the life of man comparatively, it is but short, and that will appear briefly thus :

[1.] First, If you compare the life of man to what man might have reached to had he continued in his primitive glory. Had man stood fast in innocency, he had never known what death and misery had meant. Death is a fall that came in by a fall. Had man kept sin out of the world, he had kept death out of the world. Had maA kept fast his holiness and purity, he had remained a piece of immortality to this day; death could never have carried man out of the world, had not man first let sin into the world, Eom. v. 12, seq.

[2.] Secondly, If you compare the life of man to the long lives of the patriarchs before the flood, then the life of man is but short: threescore years and ten is man's age, Ps. xc. 10. And where one man lives to this age, how many thousands die before they come to it! But what is this age to the age that men lived to in former times ? Enoch lived as many years as there be days in the year, and Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years, and Methuselah lived nine hundred sixty and nine years. Gen. v. JS'ow what were Plato's eighty

1 Job viii. 9 ; Ps. cii. 11, Ixxiii. 20, and xc. 5; Job xx. 8, and vii. 7. * Aug., 1. i. Confess.

years, or Thomas Paris's one hundred and sixty years, or Johannes de Temporibus, John of the Times's, tliree hundred threescore and one years, to the long Hves of the patriarchs? And though in David's time old age and seventy often shook hands, yet it is otherwise in our times; for as men's wickedness do more and more increase, so their days do more and more decrease. The more wicked any generation is, the shorter hved that generation shall be. God will quickly despatch them out of the world who make quick despatches in ways of wickedness.

[3.] Thirdly, The life of man is but short, if you compare it to what it shall be after the morning of the resurrection. Oh, then man's days shall reach to eternity! Eternity is that unum perpetuum hodie, one perpetual day that shall never have end. When men after the resurrection begin to live, they shall never die after that day; every man shall live in everlasting bliss or in everlasting woe; when the last trumpet has sounded, man shall live for ever and ever.

[4.] Fourthly, The life of man is but short, if you compare it with the days of God: Ps. xxxix. 5, ' Mine age is nothing before him;' all time is nothing to eternity ; man's life is but a minute, it is but a point of time to the days of eternity. What head, what heart can conceive or reckon up the duration of God, who ever was, who still is, and who ever will be ! Every child and every fool can tell you their age, but what man on earth or what angel in heaven can tell you the years of the Most High ? Surely none.

[5.] Fifthly and lastly. The life of man is but short, if you compare it with the lives of other creatures. Some say that it is neither age nor sickness that killeth the eagle; she casteth her feathers yearly, and so gets new, whereby her youth and strength is renewed, by which means she will live till she be a hundred years old; she dies not till her upper bill be so grown over her under that she cannot take in her meat, and so at last she is starved, i And some elephants live three hundred years; witness ^lian, Solinus, and Strabo, &c.: by all which you see the brevity of man's life. And why then should man be so weak, so vain, as to put the day of his death so far from him ? I have read of the birds of Norway, that they fly faster than the fowls of any other country; they knowing, by an instinct that God has put into them, that the days in that climate are very short—not above three hours long, say some—do therefore make the more haste to their nests. And oh that all that hear me this day would learn by these birds of Norway, to make haste to believe, and to make haste to repent, and to make haste to love God, and to make haste to be holy, &c., seeing their day of life is so short, and their night of death is posting towards them.

And as the life of man is very short, so it is very considerable that a very small matter, a very little thing, may quickly put an end to man's life. When the emperor threatened the philosopher with death, he replied, What is that more than a Spanish fly may do ? 2 An ordinary fly flying casually into the mouth of the proud Pope Adrian, stifled him that made the highest state then in the Christian world

^ Pliny, Augustine, Calvin, Ps. ciii. 5.

' Conrad., Vesperg., Naucler., and Jo. Boel. in Adrian. Paulus Jovius, Elog.. lib. ii. VOL, IV. O

stoop, even to the holding of his stirrup. Tamerlane, a Scythian captain, the terror of his time, died with three fits of an ague. Anacreon the poet was choked with the kernel of a grape, ^schylus was killed by the shell of a tortoise which fell from an eagle's talons, who, as some conceive, took his bald head for a white rock. The Lord Montaigne tells us of a duke of Brittany that was stifled to death in such a throng of people as is m some great congregations on the Lord's-day. An emperor died by the scratch of a comb; and one of the kings of France died by the chock i of a hog ; and one that was brother to a great lord, playing at tennis, received a blow with a ball a little above the right ear, which struck him into his grave. There is nothing so small but may be a man's bane. The paring of a toe, the cutting of a corn, the scratch of a nail, the prick of a pin, a fishbone, a hair, a drop of water, a crumb of bread, a bad air, or an evil smell, may bring a man to his long home, yea, a little smoke may soon stifle him, or his own spittle, let down unwarily, may suddenly choke him.

And oh that all I have spoken upon this account might be so blessed as to work you to take heed of putting the day of your death so far from you! The evil servant, when he thought his master was gone afar off, then he lays about him, distempers himself, and beats his fellow-servants, Luke xii. 45. And so the lewd woman in the Proverbs, chap. vii. 19, 20, when the goodman was gone a long journey, when he was far from home, then she grew wanton, vain, and secure; so when men put afar off the day of their death, then they grow more loose, profane, and unholy; "whereas a serious and frequent eyeing and minding of death as at hand, as at a man's elbow, would alarm a man to break off his sins by repentance, and to labour for holiness, as a man would labour for life itself I have read of the women in the Isle of Man, that the first web they make is their winding-sheet, wherewith they usually gird themselves when they go abroad, to shew that they are still mindful of their mortality. Ah, friends, a constant minding of your mortality would contribute very much towards the making of you holy. He that daily looks upon death will be daily a-looking after holiness. The oftener any man looks into the grave, the oftener that man will be looking up to heaven, and a-begging that God would make him holy even as he is holy. But,

6. Sixthly and lastly, Take heed of settling yourselves under a lewd and scandalous ministry, or ofJiaving any inwardness with such whose lives give the lie to their doctrine. An ill-lived preacher is the greatest destroyer of the souls of men. He that preacheth well, but lives ill, does what he can to murder all his hearers at once. There is no greater bar to holiness than ministers' lewdness: an unholy life mars the soundest and the sweetest doctrine: Isa. ix. 16, 'The leaders of this people have caused them to err.' The sins of teachers are the teachers of sins; as the corrupt glosses, so the lewd practices of many preachers makes many to stumble at that word, and to shuff,2 and chat, and contest, and kick against that word whereby they should be made holy and happy for ever. A scandalous minister is the greatest ^ Ab before, ' neck.'—G. ' * Push;' sometimes ' sliuft.'—G. .

pest, the worst plague, and the sorest mischief that can be to a people; for his enormities, his wickednesses, will have the strongest influences upon the souls and lives of men, to make them miserable in both worlds. His falls will be the fall and ruin of many; for people are more prone to live by examples than by precepts, and to mind more what the minister does than what he says, and to eye more how he walks than how he talks. It was said of one, long since, that was an excellent preacher, but a very bad liver, that when he was in the pulpit it was pity he should ever come out of it, he preached so well; and when he was out of it, it was pity that ever he should go into it, he lived so ill. Certainly it is pity that ever such should go into a pulpit who preach well but live ill, who have much of God in their mouths, and much of the devil in their lives; who have the earth as much at their fingers' end as they have heaven at their tongue's end, who puts a loud lie upon the truth, and whose lives puts their words to a blush; who have much of heaven in their expressions, and nothing of heaven in their conversations; who have much holiness in their books, but none in their bosoms, and much holiness in their lips, but none in their lives. The lewd lives of such persons causes people to slight and abhor the holy things of God, 1 Sam. ii. 17; yea, their bad lives often raise doubts in their hearers' hearts whether those things be true that they preach or no. Hearers will be ready to object and say. If these things be true that the minister says, why does he not practise what he preaches ? why does he not do as well as say ? and with what face or • coufidence can he appear against that in the pulpit, which he coun-tenanceth and patroniseth in his life ? Who will credi^ that man's doctrine, who has Jacob's voice, 'but Esau's hands; who is a saint, yea, .an angel, in the pulpit, but a debauched sinner, yea, an incarnate devil, out of it ? I have read of a woman who, living in professed doubt of the Godhead, after better illumination and repentance, did often protest that the vicious life of a great scholar, under whose ministry she did live, did conjure up those damnable doubts in her soul.i There is nothing that brings holy truths so much into question as the unholy conversations of such preachers; neither is there anything that exposes a minister's person and office to so much scorn and contempt as an unholy life. Let a minister be never so learned, solid, quaint, elegant, zealous, judicious, sententious, &c., yet if he be carnal, covetous, worldly, vain, and loose in his life and conversation, his hearers will rather deride his doctrine than reform by his doctrine, they will rather contemn it than study how to profit by it; therefore he said right that said—

' Turpe est doctori, cum culpa redarguit ipsum.'

' Unto a teacher it's no small disgrace When his own faults reprove him to his face.'

There is nothing in all the world that is more powerful and prevalent to corrupt and mislead unholy men, and to harden, strengthen, and encourage them in ways of wickedness, than the looseness of their lives whose office binds them to look to the salvation of their souls, Ezek. xiii. 22, and Jer. xxxiii. 15: Mai. ii. 8, ' Ye are departed out

^ Mr [Samuel] Ward's Sermons.

of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law.' When the preacher departs out of the way of holiness, the people will quickly stumble at the law of holiness; when ministers are as wandering stars, no wonder if their hearers wander from all that is good. He whose life is not a standing reproof to sin, will, by his life, encourage sinners more and more in a way of sin. There is nothing that keeps men so off from a good opinion of holiness, and from the love of holiness, and the liking of holiness, and from the pursuing after holiness, than the unholy lives of their teachers; and therefore, as ever you would be holy, fly their tents, and abandon their company and society. Ministers whose lives are lewd, though their parts may be high, are like a stone gutter, that conveyeth water into a garden, but receiveth no benefit itself thereby; or like a harp that maketli others melody, but heareth nothing itself; they are like those carpenters that built the ark to save others, and were drowned themselves; or like porters at great men's gates, that let in others, but lodge without themselves; or like sea-marks, that rot themselves, and yet give others warning to avoid shipwreck; or like Caesar's soldier, that digged a fountain for Caesar, and perished himself for want of water.^ Oh, the folly and madness of such ministers that give light to others, and yet walk in darkness themselves; that feast others' souls, but starve their own; that rescue others from a devouring enemy, and yet suffer themselves to be devoured; that forewarn others of the horrible pit, and yet fall into it themselves; that give good counsel to others, and yet can't take good counsel themselves; that study and strive to bring others to heaven, a^d yet have no mind to go thither themselves! Certainly society and company with such upoif choice can't but be a mighty hindrance to holiness: he that is in good earnest resolved to be holy,. must resolutely be resolved to have nothing to do with such unholy persons. And thus you see the several things that you must decline, if ever you would be holy. But,

II. Secondly, As there are several things that you must decline if ever you would obtain that real holiness without which there is no happiness; so there are several things that you are to do, that you are to put in practice, without which you will never be holy here, nor happy hereafter. Quest But what are they? Ans. They are these:—

(1.) First, Greatly lament and mourn over thine own unholiness, over thine own wickedness. The first step to holiness is melting and mourning over a man's own unholiness. Go to thy closet, and fall down before the most high and holy God, and mourn bitterly over the unhohness of thy nature, the unholiness of thy heart, the unholiness of thy affections, the unholiness of thy intentions, the unholiness of thy resolutions, the unholiness of thy expressions, and the unholiness of thy conversation: Joel ii. 12, ' Turn ye to the Lord with weeping and with mourning.' The foundation of a thorough reformation must be laid in a deep humiliation. The best way to be holy is to accuse, indict, arraign, and condemn thyself for thy unholiness.2 You shall as soon espouse light and darkness, and marry midnight to the noonday, as you shall espouse or marry a holy God to an unhumbled sinner. Oh, who can look upon sin as an offence against a holy God, as the

* Augustine.—G. ^ Ezra ri. 2 ; Jer. 1. 4 ; Ps. li. 5.

breach of a holy law, as the wounding and crucifying of a holy Saviour, as the grieving and sadding of a holy Sanctifier, and as an eternal loss and undoing of his own soul, and not mourn over it ? Oh, who can cast a serious eye upon the nature of sin, or upon the exceeding sinfulness of sin, or upon the aggravations of sin, and not have his heart humbled, his soul grieved, and his spirit melted for sin? Oh, who can look upon sin as it strikes at the honour of God, the name of God, the being of God, the glory of God, and the design of God, and not have his mouth full of penitential confessions, his eyes full of penitential tears, and his heart full of penitential sorrow ? Some, as they say of witches, cannot weep for sin; but they that weep not for sin here, where there are handkerchiefs in the hands of Christ to wipe off their tears, shall weep out their eyes in heU hereafter. It is better to weep bitterly for thy sins on earth, than to weep eternally for thy folly in hell. Ah, how hard is that heart that can sadly lament and bewail the loss of a groat, a chick, a child, a sheep, a ship, a friend, &c., and yet can't let fall a tear to save a lost soul! Jacob weeps and prevails with God, Hosea xii. 4; his tears made a happy conquest upon God. Jacob weeps and prevails with God for his life; and what dost thou know but that by thy penitential tears thou mayest prevail with God for thy soul ? He weeps and prevails with God for temporals ; and why mayest not thou by weeping prevail with God for eternals ? He weeps and prevails with God for some outward happiness; and why mayest not thou by weeping prevail with God for inward holiness ? It is an old observation, that the tears of repenting sinners are the wine of angels. Certainly God himself can smile to see a sinner grieve for his sins, and to see him grieve that he can grieve no more, for that he has sinned against a God so great, so gracious, so bountiful, so merciful, &c., Ps. li. 17. Though God be displeased with a sinner's sins, yet he is very well pleased with a sinner's tears, and therefore as he has a bag for the one, so he has a bottle for the other. It cannot but be a pleasure to God to see a sinner drown his sins in a deluge of penitential tears. Though tears of indignation, as was Esau's, and tears of dissimulation, as was Ishmael's, and tears of desperation, as was Judas's, be abominable to God, yet tears of godly compunction and contrition are acceptable and delightful unto God. A sinner never looks so sweetly, as when he weeps most penitentially: witness Mary Magdalene, Manasseh, and those murderers of Christ, Acts ii. A sinner 8 face never shines so beautiful, as when it is bedewed with penitential tears. Tears have a voice as well as blood, Ps. vi. 8. And God has an eye as well upon a man's tears as upon his prayers. Penitent tears are divine ambassadors, that never return from the throne of grace without answers of grace, Isa, xxxviii. 5. Peter said nothing, but went out and wept bitterly, and obtained mercy. Mat. xxvi. 75. Tears are a kind of silent prayers, that will at last prevail for mercy. Naaman the Syrian was cleansed of his leprosy by the waters of Jordan; penitential tears may do much towards the cleansing of thy leprous soul from sin. He that really grieves that he cannot grieve for sin, is grieved for sin ; he that is truly sorry that he cannot be sorry for sin, is in a measure sorry for sin ; he that truly desires to drown his Mns in his tears, he has in divine account drowned his. sins in his

tears. The maid in Scaliger swooned at the sight of a lily. Oh, how much more should you at the sight of your unholiness ! Basil wept when he saw the rose, because it brought to his mind the first sin from whence it had the prickles. Oh, how should a sinner fall a-weep-ing when he looks upon the greatness of his wickedness and his want of holiness ! As ever you would be holy, mourn over your own unholiness. But,

(2.) Secondly, If ever thou wouldst be holy, thou must seek iJie Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the efficient cause of all that holiness that is in the world. The Spirit of God is a spirit of holiness, Rom. i. 4; he is frequently called the Holy Spirit: ' Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me,' Ps. li. 11; 'But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit,' Isa. bdii. 10; ' And grieve not the Holy Spirit of Grod, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption,' Eph. iv. 30; 'He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit,' 1 Thes. iv. 8; ' In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise,' Eph. i. 13. To make a man holy is more than to create a world; it is a work too high and too hard for angels or men; it becomes none, and it can be done by none but by the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is made the Spirit's personal operation, in that 2 Thes. ii. 13, and in that 1 Pet. i. 2. It is the great work of the Spirit to shape, form, and fashion the new creature holiness, in all the vessels of glory. The Spirit is the root of all holiness; and therefore the several parte of holiness are called the fruits of the Spirit, Gal. v, 22. It is true, Grod purposes holiness to his people, and Christ has purchased hohness for lus people; but it is only the Spirit that is the efficient cause or worker of holiness in his people. Though the Father, Son, and Spirit hath designed to re-imprint holiness upon man's heart, yet the Spirit has the greatest hand in that work. When man was in his primitive glory, holiness was his loveliness and his Likeness to God; but being now fallen, that image is so broken and marred, that no hand can repair it or restore it but the hand of the Spirit. The great principle of holiness which was in Christ, as to his human nature, was the Holy Spirit, which he had above measure; for he was anointed with the unction of the Spirit above his fellows. So that, look which way you will, the Spirit still appears to be the great principle of holiness. Holiness is the very picture of God, and certainly no hand can carve that excellent picture but the Spirit of God. Holiness is the divine nature, and none can impart that to man but the Spirit. A man never comes to see his sins, nor to be sick of his sins, nor to loathe his sins, nor to arraign his sins, nor to condemn his sins, nor to judge himself for his sins, evangeKcally, till he comes to be possessed of the Holy Spirit. A man never comes to spit out the sweet morsels of sin, he never comes to make a sacrifice of his only Isaac, and to cut liis delicate Agag in pieces, and to strangle his Delilah, and in good earnest to set upon an utter extirpation of those sins that his constitution, inclination, custom, calling, and interest does most incline him to, till a Spirit of holiness comes upon him. Till this Holy Spirit, which is a spirit of judgment and burning, falls upon the hearts of sinners, they will never be fired out of their pride, formality, carnality.

sensuality, and security. When this Holy Spirit comes as a spirit of glory and power to change thy heart, to destroy thy sins, to reform thy ways, and to save thy soul, &c., oh, then cry out, let him still go on conquering and to conquer, till all his enemies are made his footstool. Oh, let him cut off every right hand, and pluck out every right eye, &c., that does offend! Oh, let him do justice upon every sin, upon every open sin, upon every secret sin, upon every bosom sin, upon every pleasing sin, and upon every gainful sin ! Oh, sot yourselves under the celestial influences and sweet distillings of the Holy Spirit! Oh, prize his motions ! oh, welcome his motions ! oh, comply with his motions! oh, follow his motions, that so you may be holy and happy for ever. When David asked counsel of Grod, whether he should go up against the Philistines or no, he received this answer: ' When thou hearest the noise of one going in the top of the mulberry-trees, then remove, for then shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the Philistines,' 2 Sam. v. 24. So should every one wisely observe, when the Spirit sweetly and strongly moves them to mind holiness, to fall in love with holiness, to press after holiness; when the Spirit moves them to leave off their sins, to turn to God, to open to Christ, to tremble at threatenings, and to embrace promises ; oh, make much of these holy motions! oh, cherish these divine breathings 1 oh, don't quench these heavenly sparks, lest the Spirit never move thee more, nor never strive with thee more, Gen. vi. 3. Oh, when thou hearest a voice within thee, or a voice behind thee, saying, ' Come with me from Lebanon, my sister, my spouse,' &c., Isa. xxx. 21, and Cant. iv. 8, come away from thy cups, thou drunken wretch! come away from thy wanton Delilahs, thou unclean wretch ! come away from thy sinful pleasures, thou voluptuous wretch ! come away from thy bags, thou worldly wretch ! come away from thy honours, thou ambitious wretch ! and come away from thy fraud, thou cheating wretch ! oh hearken to this voice! oh obey this voice, that it may go well with thy soul for ever ! If now thou strikest whilst the iron is hot, if now thou hoistest up sail whilst the wind is fair, thou mayest be made for ever. In that John V. 4, there were certain times when the angel came down and troubled the waters, and whosoever did then step in, was healed of whatsoever disease he had: so there are certain times and seasons wherein the Spirit of holiness stirs the heart and affections, and moves and breathes upon the soul. Now if men were wise to observe these times and seasons, they might be happy for ever. The time of the Spirit's moving is the acceptable time ; if you observe it you are made, if you neglect it you are marred. All the movings and motions of the Spuit are in order to an eternity of felicity and glory, Spiritus sanctus est res delicata. Oh, therefore don't grieve the Spirit, don't cross the Spirit, don't vex the Spirit, don't tempt the Spirit, don't quench the Spirit, don't oppose the Spirit, don't resist the Spirit, don't deal harshly or unkindly with the Spirit, by sinning against illumination, conviction, resolutions and promises of reformation. Oh, be more tender of the gracious motions of the Spirit, than thou art of thy name, thy estate, thy liberty, thy life; for he designs thy internal good in this world, and thy eternal good in the other world; and therefore don't affront him, nor carry it unworthily towards him. If thou

shouldst, it may be as mucli as thy life and tliy soul is worth; if a man slip the opportunity of a favourable gale, he may lie wind-bound tiU all be spent. When the Spirit moves salvation, and all the glory of heaven stands waiting at thy door, if now thou will but open, the King of glory will enter in, and bless thee for ever. Saul, by neglecting his opportunity, lost an earthly kingdom. Take heed lest thou, by slighting the motions of the Spirit, comest to lose a heavenly kingdom. The letting slip one season when the Spirit moves may undo a man in both worlds; and some think Felix found it so. Well, sirs, as ever you would be holy, you must labour for a spirit of holiness; and for your encouragement remember this, that though the Holy Spirit be the great jewel of glory, yet God is more ready to give it than you are to ask it: witness that 11th of Luke, from the 9th to the 14th verse. But,

(3.) Thirdly, If ever you would be holy, then you must wait upon the word. The word of God faithfully preached, is the ordinary means by which holiness is wrought in sinners' hearts. The word is that triumphant chariot of the Spirit, wherein he rides conquering and to conquer the souls of men. The holy word is designed by God to beget holiness in sinners' hearts, and to countenance, cherish, nourish, and strengthen holiness where it is begotten: John xvii. 17, ' Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.' And for their sakes, &c., ' I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth,' ver. 19. So chap. xv. 3, ' Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken to you.' The ordinary way of making unclean souls clean, unholy souls holy, is the ministry of the word, Phil. v. 26. As there is a cleansing virtue in the blood of Christ, 1 John i. 7, so there is a cleansing virtue in the word of Christ: Ps. cxix. 9, ' Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way ? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.' Of all men, the young man is usually most Avild and wicked, most licentious and rebellious; and yet the word of God is the power of God to his conviction and conversion, to his sanc-tification and salvation. Though the cleansing of a young man's heart be one of the hardest works in the world, yet this may be done by the word. There are no lusts so strong but the word can cast them down, nor no stains so deep but the word can wash them out. Three thousand sinners were made saints by one sermon, Acts ii. 41; and five thousand more were converted and sanctified by another sermon, chap. iv. 4, Here were eight thousand men cleansed, sanctified, and saved by two sermons, and doubtless most of them were young. O sirs, as ever you would have holy principles laid in your souls, and holy afi'ections raised in your souls, and holy ends aimed at by your souls, hear the word in season and out of season. Oh attend it! oh wait on it I It wUl be soap to cleanse you, and fire to purge you, and ■water to wash you, and a wind to turn you from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to Jesus Christ, Acts xxvi. 16-24. The gospel preached hath been the power of God to the salvation of multitudes of souls, Rom. i. 16. The word is that immortal seed by which holiness, which is not only a grace but the conjunction of all graces, is formed in the soul, 1 Pet. i. 23. It is the word that gives a spiritual birth and being to men, Gal. iv. 19. The v/ord enlightens the eye,

Ps. cxix. 105 ; it softens the heart, Deut. xxxii. 2; it purges the conscience, and it converts the soul, Ps. xix. 7; it dethrones Satan, it casts down strongholds, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5>; it quickens the dull, Ps. cxix. 50; and it raises the dead, John v. 24, 25. Oh, therefore, hear it, and wait on it, and come to it, that you may be made holy by it. Many come to hear the word to censure it, others to mock at it, others to enrich their curious notions by it, and others come to catch the minister at it; but do thou come to it that thou mayest be made holy by it, and doubtless first or last thou shalt obtain thy end. Yea, it is good for a man to come to the word, though his design in coming be bad; it is good for a man to sit under that great ordinance of the word, though he sits upon thorns, as it were, all the while he is there. They that come to see who hath got the newest fashions, may have their hearts fashioned into a conformity with the word. They came to catch, but were caught in that, John vii. 46. Austin coming to Ambrose to have his ears tickled, had his heart touched and turned. ' Come,' saith old Father Latimer [1550,] in a sermon before king Edward the Sixth, ' to the public meeting, though thou comest to sleep, it may be God may take thee napping.' When thou comest, though it be but to taste the minister's spirit, yet then God may take hold on thy spirit, and make it the day of his power upon thy soul. Though thou comest with a heart full of prejudices against Christ, yet by the word thou mayest be brought to a love of Christ, to a liking of Christ, and to a choice of Christ, and to a blessed close and resignation of thyself to Christ. They that came to surprise Christ, were so taken with Christ, that being filled with admiration they could not but proclaim his divine excellencies; ' Never man spake like this man.' The word is the word of the Lord, let the hand be what it will that brings it. When gold is ofiered, men care not how noble or ignoble, how great or how base he is that offers it; so men should not look so much at the hand that brings the word, as at the word itself. The word of the Lord was as much the word of the Lord in the hand and mouth of Amos, who was raised a prophet from amongst the herdsmen of Tekoa, as it was the word of the Lord in the hand and mouth of Isaiah, who, as some think, was a prophet of the blood-royal. Ambrose observes of the woman of Samaria, John iv. 7, that she came peccatrix to Jacob's well, but she went away prcedicatrix ; she came a sinner, but she went away a prophetess. 0 sirs, let nothing hinder you from coming to the word! oh come to the word! though you come sinners, yet come, for though you do come sinners, yet you may go away saints; though the dew of heaven hath richly and sweetly fallen upon your hearts, and yet, like Gideon's fleece, you are still dry, yet come to the word still, for who can tell but that by the very next sermon God may make thy soul like a watered garden, and Hke a spring of water ' whose waters fail not,' Isa. Iviii. 11. It is reported of young king Edward the Sixth, that being about to lay hold on something that was above the reach of his short arm, one that stood by espying a great bossed Bible lying on the table, offered to lay that under his feet to heighten him, but the good young king disliked the motion, and instead of treading it under his feet he laid it to his heart, i Oh

^ Sir John Hayward in vita.

come to the word, but come not to trample upon it, come not to scoff or mock at it, come not to despise it or to revile it, but come and lay it to your hearts, and it may do you good for ever. There is no better way to make thee holy than to attend on the holy word. But,

(4.) Fourthly, If ever you would be holy, then associate yourselves with those that are holy. Look, as he that walks with the wise shall be wise, so he that walks with the holy shall certainly be pressed and provoked to be holy, Prov. xiii. 20. As Socrates made it his business to better others by his company, so a holy man will make it his business to make others holy by his counsel, prayers, and example. He knows that it is one of the most noble and divine employments in the world to make others holy, and therefore he sets upon that work with aU his might. Look, as there is no greater a hindrance to holiness than the society of the wicked, so there is no greater a help to holiness than the society of those that are godly, Ps. cxix. 115, and i. 1. Look, as the beginning of ungodliness is to keep company with those that are ungodly, so the beginning of holiness is to keep company with those that are holy. Look, as one drunkard makes another, and one swearer makes another, and one proud person makes another, and one worldling makes another, and one formalist makes another, so one holy man makes another; or look, as one sober man makes another, and one prudent man makes another, and one resolute man makes another, and one zealous man makes another, and one heavenly-minded man makes another, so one holy man makes another. Ah, sinners ! sinners ! there are no companions in the world that will pity you as these, that will weep and mourn over you as these, that will strive and wrestle with God for you as these, Kom. x, 1; there are none that will be so tender of your salvation as these, nor none that will labour so much for your conversion as these, nor none that wiU so spend themselves to prevent your damnation as these, 2 Cor. xii. 15. 0 sirs, upon trial you will find that there are none so able to counsel you, nor none so faithful to reprove you, nor none so ready to help you, nor none so compassionate to sympathise with you, nor none so strong to support you, nor none so advantaged to convert you, as those that are holy; and why then will you not labour to be one of this society ? O sirs, of all fellowships the fellowship of saints is the most noble, the most honourable, the most pleasant, the most amiable, the most desirable, the most profitable, and the most commendable fellowship; and why then will you still live strangers, yea, enemies, to this fellowship ? Ah sirs, holy men will still be awakening and alarmiag of your drowsy spirits, they will be still a-knocking at the door of your hearts, and asking of you whether it be good going to hell; they will still be inquiring of you what provision you have made for another world, and how all things stand within; they will still be jogging at your elbows, that you may not die in your sins; and they wUl still be whispering in your ear, that your souls may live for ever. The Jews have a proverb, that ' two dry sticks put to a green one will kindle it.' Oh, there is nothing in all the world that contributes so much to the kindling, to the firing, and to the inflaming of men's hearts after holiness, as the society of those that are holy. Algerius, an Italian martyr, ' had rather be in prison with Cato, than to live with Ceesar in

the senate-house.' Oh, it is ten thousand times better to live with those that are holy, though in a dark prison, than to live amongst those that are unlioly, though in a royal palace. Urbanus Eegius, having one day's converse with Luther, tells us, ' that it was one of the sweetest days that ever he had in all his life.'i 0 sinners, did you but experience for one day the sweet and happiness of the communion of saints, you would then cry out, ' Oh, there is no society to the society of Grod's holy ones.' And therefore, as ever you would be holy, let holy men have more heart-room and house-room with you. But,

(5.) Fifthly, If ever you would be holy, then dioell mitch upon those solemn vows and covenants tliat you have formerly made in the days of your distress. Ah, how often have you, in the days of your calamity and misery, and in the days when sicknesses and weaknesses did hang upon you, and when the terrors of death were upon you, how frequently in those days did you solemnly vow and promise that, by the strength and assistance of the Lord, you would break oflf your sins by repentance, and that you would make it your greatest care, and your greatest business and work in this world, to mind holiness, and to press after holiness, and to give your souls no rest till you had experienced the power, excellency, and sweetness of holiness ! As David by an oath bound himself to keep God's righteous judgments: Ps. cxix. 106, ' I have sworn, and I wdl perform it, that I wiU keep thy righteous judgments/—a religious vow is nothing else but a solemn promise or oath, whereby a man engages himself to the great God, that he will decline such ways, means, and methods as lead to wickedness, and that he will set in good earnest upon the practice of all the ways and means of holiness, by the strength and assistance of divine grace—so you have by many vows and promises engaged yourselves ' to cast oft' the works of darkness, and to put on the armour of light,' —suitable to the apostle's exhortation, Kom. xiii. 12. And as the people in Nehemiah's time did enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law, and to observe and do all his commandments, Neh. x. 29 ; so you have in the times of your outward and inward distresses" vowed to the Lord, that you would observe all his statutes, and walk in all his holy ways, and do all his righteous commandments. Job once made a covenant with his eyes, that he would not lustfully look upon a maid. Job xxxi. 1,2; but how often have you made a covenant with your thoughts, that you would not think of vanity, and with your eyes, that you would not behold vanity, and with your ears, that you would not hear vanity, and with your tongues, that you would not speak vanity, and with your hearts, that you would not contrive vanity, and with your hands, that you would not act vanity; now your vows and your covenants are upon you, oh that you would not, with the strange woman in the Proverbs, chap. ii. 17, forget the covenant of your God! Oh, it is better ten thousand times not to vow, than to vow and not to pay, Eccles. v. 5. God can take no pleasure in such as are off and on with him, nor in such who are forward to vow, but make no conscience to pay their vows. These are fools in folio, and therefore God cannot but detest them, and turn his back upon them. If good Jacob, who is called ' the father of vows,' was so backward to pay

^ Adam in vita Regii, p. 78.

his VOWS, that God was forced, not only to round him in the ear again and again with a * go up to Bethel, and there build me a chapel,' but also severely to punish his delays, both in the rape of his daughter, and in the cruelty of his sons, &c.. Gen. xxxv., ah, how severely then may God deal with such who do not only delay the paying of their vows, but who live also in the daily breach of their vows! Most men have need of that counsel which the bishop of Colen i gave Sigismund the emperor, that asked him what he should do to be happy; ' Live/ said he, ' as you promised and vowed to do when you were last sick of the stone and gout.' Ah, that all men would make more conscience of living out, and of living up to the covenants, vows, and promises that they have made to God in the days when the hand of the Lord has gone out many ways against them, and when terrors of conscience have been strong upon them ! Oh, what repentance! oh, what reformation ! oh, what amendment have they promised in those days! and yet no sooner have these outward and inward storms been over, but they have been as vain and loose and base as ever. In the time of the great sweat in king Edward's days, as long as the heat of the plague lasted, oh how did every one cry out, peccavi, pBccavi, I have sinned, I have sinned; mercy, Lord! oh mercy! mercy, good Lord ! Then lords and ladies, and people of all sorts, cried out to the ministers, for the Lord's sake, sirs, tell us what shall we do to avoid the wrath of the Lord ? what shall we do to be safe in this evil day ? Oh take these bags, and pay so much to such a one whom I have deceived! and restore so much to such a one whom I have in bargaining overreached ! Oh give so much to the poor, and so much to other pious uses, &c. But after the sickness was over, they * returned with the dog to the vomit, and with the sow to the wallowing in the mire again; and so their latter end was worse than their former.' There was a very great sinner, who in the time of his sickness was so sorely terrified in his conscience for his many heinous sins, that he made the very bed to shake upon which he lay, and cried out all night long, ' I am damned ! I am damned! I am damned!' &c.; and in this his sickness he made many great protestations of amendment of life, if God would but be pleased to recover him, and prevent his going down to the grave at this time. Well, in a short time after he did recover, and being recovered he was as base, wretched, and wicked as ever he was before. This man, with those that were cited before him, were like that cunning devil, of whom the epigrammatist thus writeth;—

'jEgrota dmmon, tnonachus tunc esse volebat, Convaluit dcumon, monachus tunc esse nolebat:'

Which is thus Englished:—

The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be ; The devil was well, the devil a monk was he.'

But those who are now like to Satan in sin, may hereafter be like to him in torment. Such who now outUve their vows, shall, when they

^ Query, Cologne ?—G. ' Otherwise:—

'jEgrotat daemon, monachus tunc esse volebat; Daemon convaluit, dcemon ut antefuit' — Lines composed in the Middle Ages.—G.

die, have hell enough. You count it a very shameful thing to break promise or covenant with men; but is it not far more shameful to break with God ? The Egyptians, though heathens, so hated perjury, that if any man did but swear by the life of the king, and did not perform his oath, that man was to die, and no gold was to redeem his life. When the Romans made covenants, they took stones in their hands, and said, ' If I make this covenant seriously and faithfully, then let the great Jupiter bless me; if not, so let me be cast away from the face of the gods as I cast away this stone, i Covenant-breaking was a sin greatly detested and abhorred among the very heathens; and shall Christians make nothing of breaking their vows, promises, and covenants with the great G-od ? Well, sirs, remember this, those sins that you have vowed against must be deserted, and that holiness which you have vowed to follow must be pursued, or a worse thing than the curse of Meroz must be expected; Judges v. 23 compared with that John v. 14. But,

(6.) Sixthly, If ever you would be holy, then dwell much upon the worth and preciousness of your souls. Christ, that only^ went to the price of souls, hath told us that one soul is more worth than all the world. Mat. xvi. 26. Christ left his Father's bosom, and all the glory of heaven, for the good of souls; he assumed the nature of man for the happiness of the soul of man; he trode the wine-press of his Father's wrath for souls; he wept for souls, he sweat for souls, he prayed for souls, he paid for souls, and he bled out his heart-blood for souls. The soul is the breath of God, the beauty of man, the wonder of angels, and the envy of devils; it is of an angelical nature, it is a heavenly spark, a celestial plant, and of a divine offspring, it is a spiritual substance, capable of the knowledge of God, and of union with God, and of communion with God, and of an eternal fruition of God. There is nothing that can suit the soul below God, nor nothing that can satisfy the soul without God; the soul is so high and so noble a piece, that it scorns all the world in point of acceptation, justification, satisfaction, and salvation. What are all the riches of the East or West Indies ? what are rocks of diamonds, or mountains of gold, or the price of Cleopatra's draught, to the price that Christ laid down for souls ? 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. Christ made himself an offering for sin, that souls might not be undone by sin; the Lord died that slaves may live, the Son dies that servants may live; the natural Son dies that adopted sons may live, the only-begotten Son dies that bastards may live; yea, the Judge dies that malefactors may live. Ah, friends, as there was never sorrow like Christ's sorrow, so there was never love like Christ's love, and of all his love none to that of soul-love. In a word, the spiritual enemies which daily war against the soul, the glorious angels which hourly guard the soul, and the precious ordinances which God hath appointed as means both to convert and to feed the soul, do all speak out the preciousness and excellency of the soul. There was once a great contest among some nations about Homer, an excellent poet—^they severally pleaded their interest in him; and truly so it is this day about the soul of man: many lay claim

1 As Paulus Fagius observes in his Comment ou Genesis, &c. [As before.—G.] » ' Alone.'—G.

to it,—sin lays claim to it, and the world lays claim to it, and Satan lays claim to it, and Christ and holiness lays claim to it, and oh that Christ and holiness might have it before all others ! 0 sirs, there is no wisdom nor policy to that of securing our precious souls, for they are jewels of more worth than all the world ! All the honours, riches, greatness, and glory of tliis world are but chips and pebbles to these glorious pearls ; therefore, before all and above all other things, make sure work for your souls; if they are safe all is safe, but if they are lost all is lost. Other things cannot be made sure; riches cannot, for as they are lying, so they are flying vanities, they make themselves wings, and they fly away; honours cannot: Haman is feasted with the king one day, and made a feast for crows the next; Herod is one hour cried up for a god, and the next hour he is eaten of worms. Princes' courts are very slippery: a man may quickly get a fall there, that may easily break both back and neck, as many in all ages have experienced; the applause and favour of creatures cannot, for many men's favours are got with an apple, and lost with a nut. Judas his heart was hardly warmed with the high-priest's favour, before they shut their doors upon him, with a * what is that to us ? look thou to that,' Mat. xxvii. 4, 5. Most men's favours are as light as a feather, and so tossed up and down with every breath of windy vanity. The moon does not so often vary and change, as the respects of most men do vary and change. How many men have had their names written in golden characters one year, and in letters of blood the next! What is the favour of man but a blast, a sunshine-hour, a puff of wind, a magnum nihil, a great nothing? and who then would spend an hour's time to secure it? Near and dear relations cannot, for the delight of Ezekiel's eyes is taken away with a stroke, Ezek. xxiv. 16; and all Job's children are snatched away in a day, Job i. 10. All our nearest and dearest relations are like a nosegay, which the oftener we smell to it, the sooner it withers. But now holiness may be made sure: witness the spirits of just men made perfect in heaven, Heb. xii. 23; and witness the many thousands of Christians this day in the world, who do experience the principles of holiness in their hearts, and who do evidence the power of holiness in their lives. 0 sirs, if the serious consideration of the preciousness and worth of your souls will not draw you out to study holiness, to love holiness, to prize holiness, and to press after holiness, what will ? 0 sirs, it is only holiness that is the happiness of the soul, the safety and security of the soul, the prosperity and felicity of the soul, and the lustre and glory of the soul; and therefore why should you not labour, as for life, after this inestimable jewel, holiness ? Oh, let the remembrance of the preciousness of your souls be an effectual means to draw you to hear that you may be holy, and to pray that you may be holy, and to read that you may be holy, and to mourn that you may be holy, and to sigh and groan after holiness, as after that which is the soul's only happiness. 0 sirs, there is nothing below heaven so precious and noble as your souls; and therefore do not play the courtier with your souls. Now the courtier does all things late—he rises late, and dines late, and sups late, and repents late. Oh, do not poison your precious souls by gross enormities! oh, do not starve your souls by the omission of religious duties! Oh, do not murder and

damn your souls by turning your backs upon holy ordinances! I have read of a woman, who, when her house was on fire, so minded the saving of her goods, that she forgot her only child, and lefb it burning in the fire; at last, being minded of it, she cries out, ' Oh, my child! oh, my poor child !' but all too late, all too late. So there are many men now so mad upon the world, and so bewitched with the world, that they never mind, they never regard their poor souls, till they come to fall under everlasting burnings, and then they cry out. Oh, our souls ! oh, our poor souls ! Oh that we had been wise for our souls ! Oh that we had got holiness for our souls! Oh that we had made sure work for our souls! but aU too late, all too late. The Lord make you wise to prevent soul-burnings at last. If he be rather a monster than a man that feasts his slave but starves his wife, what shall we say of those that pamper their bodies but starve their souls, and that have threadbare souls under silk and satin clothes, and that please themselves with deformed souls under beautiful faces? Surely it had been good for these that they had never been born. I have read of a Scythian captain, who, having for a draught of water yielded up the city, cried out, Quidperdidi! quidprodidi! What have I lost! what have I betrayed! So all unholy persons wiU at last cry out, We have betrayed our immortal souls, we have lost a precious Father, we have lost a dear Redeemer, we have lost the company of glorious angels, we have lost the society of ' the spirits of just men made perfect,' and we have lost all the pleasures and joys and delights that be at the right hand of the Most High! We have lost these, we have lost all these, and we have lost them for ever and ever: surely there is no hell to this hell! For a close of this direction, remember this, that as the soul is the life and excellency of the body, so holiness is the life and excellency of the soul, and as the body without the soul is dead, so the soul without holiness is dead. * This my son was dead, and is alive.' If you get holiness into your souls, your souls shall live for ever, but if you die without holiness, your souls shall die for ever and ever. I have read that there was a time when the Romans did wear jewels on their shoes. Oh that in these days most men did not do worse! oh that they did not trample under feet that matchless jewel, their precious souls! But,

(7.) Seventhly, If ever you would be holy, then set in good earnest upon reading of the Holy Scripture. Many a man has been made holy by reading of the holy word. The Bible is the book of books, it is the only book; all other books in the world are but waste paper to it.^ Augustine cries out, Away with our writings, that room may be made for the book of Grod. Notwithstanding the greatness and multiplicity of the affairs of princes, yet they were diligently to read the word: Deut xvii. 19, 'ibid it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them.' God looks that the greatest princes on earth should make use of this library. Though David was a great prince, and had a multitude of weighty businesses upon his hand, yet he was so much in reading and meditating on the word that he made it his counsellors: the word was 1 Luther Comment: in Qen. xiz.

David's learned counsel, Ps. cxix. 24, to which he resorted for connsel, advice, and comfort, in all his necessities and miseries. Alphonsus, king of Arragon, hath been highly extoUed for reading the Scriptures fourteen times over, with glosses and expositions, notwithstanding his great public employments. And Alphonsus, king of Naples, read over the Bible forty times, notwithstanding many great affairs were upon his hand. Theodosius the emperor, and Constantine the Great, were much taken up in reading of the Scriptures. So Queen Elizabeth, when she passed in triumph through the streets of London after her coronation, and had the Bible presented to her at the little conduit in Cheapside, she received the same with both her hands, and, kissing it, laid it to her breasts, saying, ' that the same had ever been her chiefest delight, and should be the rule whereby she meant to frame her government.' ^ And it is very observable, that the eunuch was reading the Scripture when Philip was commanded, by commission from the Holy Ghost, to join himself to his chariot, and to instruct him in the knowledge of Christ, which proved his conversion and salvation. Acts viii. 26, 40. And Junius was converted by the reading of that first of John, ' In the beginning was the Word,' &c., being amazed with the strange majesty of the style, and the profound mysteries therein contained. And Augustine 2 was strangely converted by hearing a voice from heaven, saying, Tolle lege, tolle lege —Take and read, take and read; and taking up the Bible, the first passage of Scripture that he cast his eyes upon was that Kom. xiii. 13,14, ' Let us walk honestly as in the day; not in gluttony and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof;' and no sooner had he read the verses but the work of conversion was finished, and pious resolutions for a thorough reformation of life was settled in him. The gospel read is sometimes the power of God to salvation, as well as the gospel heard, Kom. i. 16. Cyprian confesseth that he was converted from idolatry and necromancy 3 by hearing the history of the prophet Jonah read and expounded by CecUius, whom therefore he calleth the father of his new life. And « Luther confesseth that he was converted by reading. I have read of a scandalous minister that was struck at the heart and converted in reading that Kom. ii. 21, 22, ' Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself ? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ?' There is a scholar now alive, who being persuaded by an honest poor man to leave reading of poetry, and to fall upon reading of the Bible, did so, and before he had read out Genesis his heart was changed, and he was converted. 0 sirs, as you tender your conversion, your salvation, make more conscience of reading the Scripture than ever you have done; be often in whetting of these scriptures upon your hearts, Deut. vi. 6-9, and xxxi. 11, 12; Jer. xxxvi. 6, 7; John v. 39. In these scriptures God requires all sorts of people, both men, women, children, and strangers, both learned and unlearned,

* Speed's Hist. • Lib. viii. Confessions, chap. xii.

3 Spelled ' negromancy.'

to read the Scriptures, and to search after the heavenly treasures that are laid up in them, as men search for gold and silver in the ore. And Paul charges Timothy that he give attendance to reading, 1 Tim. iv. 13. ' And blessed is he,' saith John, ' that heareth and readeth the words of this book,' Kev. i. 3. Yea, Christ himself hath highly honoured reading with his own example; for coming to Nazareth, as his custom was, he stood up to read the Scriptures, Luke iv. 16, 21; and the Bereans, for reading and searching of the Scriptures, are styled ' more noble than the Jews of Thessalonica,' or as the Greek has it, they were better born and bred, they were better gentlemen, they were of a more noble and ingenuous disposition, though they did belong to the country town of Berea, than the Thessalonians were who dwelt in the rich and stately city of Thessalonica, Acts xvii. 11, ivryevia-Tepoi. Sometimes there is more true nobility and ingenuity i under a russet coat than there is under a satin suit. The Holy Ghost gives a very large encomium and high commendation of the Scriptures in that 2 Tim. iii. 15, 'And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.' It is observable that in these words you have not simply lepa ypdfifiaTa, holy Scriptures, but ra lepa ypdjjLfMara, the holy Scriptures. The article rd there is very emphat-ical, and it is used by the Holy Ghost to distinguish these sacred writings from all profane writings, and to note the eminency and excellency of the holy Scriptures above all other men's writings whatsoever. Now the Scriptures have this adjunct, this epithet 'holy' given them in five respects.

1.] In respect of their author and original, viz., a holy God. 2. J They are holy in respect of the penmen, who were holy men of God, 2 Pet. i. 21.

[3.] They are holy in respect of their matter; they treat of the holy things of God; a vein of holiness runs through every line of Scripture. The Scripture calls for holy hearts and holy lives; it calls for holy principles and holy practices, holy words and holy works, holy aJBFec-tions and holy conversations, 1 Pet. i. 15.

[4.] They are holy in respect of their effects and operations; they are a means to effect and work holiness, and they are a means to complete and perfect holiness. Job xvii. 17. The word is not only a pure word, but also a purifying word; it is not only a clean word, but also a cleansing word, Ps. xix. 8, 9.

[5.] They are called holy by way of distinction, and in opposition not only to all human and profane wiitings, but also to the writings of the best and choicest men that ever wrote ; for they have had their failings, weaknesses, and infirmities, and therefore must have their many grains of allowance; but the holy Scripture is most perfect and complete. Now, sirs, if ever you would be holy, it stands upon you to make more conscience of reading the holy Scriptures than ever yet you have done. Many a man has been made holy by reading the holy Scriptures; and why mayest not thou also be made holy by reading of the same holy word ? Certainly aU the angels in heaven, and all the men on earth, can't tell to the contrary, but that thou mayest be made

^ 'Ingenuousness.'—G. VOL. IV. »

holy even by reading of the holy word. The Holy Ghost is a free agent, and he can as well work holiness in thy heart by reading as by hearing, and therefore set thyself about this noble and necessary work. Ah, friends, the Scriptures are God's epistle; they are God's love-letter to the sons of men; and why then will you not read them ? Count Anhalt, that princely preacher, was wont to say that the Scriptures were Christ's swaddUng-bands, the child Jesus being to be found almost in every page, in every verse, and in every line. Oh, who would not therefore be often in looking upon and in handling of these swaddling-bands! 0 sirs, there are no histories that are comparable to the histories of the Scripture.

[1.] First, For antiquity. Moses is found more ancient than all those whom the Grecians make most ancient, as Homer, Hesiod, and Jupiter himself, whom the Greeks have seated in the top of their divinity.

[2.] Secondly, For rarity.

[3.] Thirdly, For brevity. Here you have much wrapped up in a little room: here you have Homer's * lUads' comprised in a nutshell.i

[4.] Fourthly, For perspicuity. The foundations of religion and happiness are so plain and clear, that every one may run and read them. It was a true saying of Augustine, Inclinavit Deus Scripturas, ad infantium et lactentium capacitatem —That God hath bowed down the Scriptures to the capacities even of babes and sucklings.

[5.] Fiftlily, For harmony. Though there may seem to be a contrariety between scripture and scripture, yet there is a blessed harmony between all the parts of Scripture; the contrariety is seeming, notjreal. As when a man is drawing water out of a well with two vessels of a different metal, the water at the first seemeth to be of a different colour, but when he draweth up the vessels nearer to him, the diversity of colours vanish, and the water appeareth to be of one and the same colour, and when he tasteth them, they have one and the same relish; so though at first sight there may seem to be some contradictions in the Scriptures, yet when we look more nearly and narrowly into them, and compare one place with another, we shaU find no contrariety, no repugnancy in them at all, but a perfect harmony, and a full and sweet consent and agreement between one place and another, between text and text, scripture and scripture.

[6.] Sixthly, For verity. The Scriptures are most sure and certain; heaven and earth shall pass away before one jot or tittle of the Scripture shall pass unfulfilled.

[7.] Seventhly, For variety. There are no varieties to those that are to be found in Scripture; as in Noah's ark all sorts of creatures were to be found, so in this heavenly ark, the Scriptures, aU varieties are to be found. Here you may find physic for every disease, and balm for every wound, and a plaster for every sore. Here the lamb may wade, and here the elephant may swim; here is milk for babes, and here is meat for strong men; here is comfort for the afflicted, and succour for the tempted, and support for the distressed, and ease for the wearied; here is a stafi" to support the feeble, and a sword to defend the mighty. That which a Papist reports lyingly of theii- sacra-

. ^ As before.—G.

ment of the mass—viz., that there are as many mysteries in it as there are drops in the sea, dust on the earth, angels in heaven, stars in the sky, atoms in the sunbeams, or sands on the sea-shore, &c.—may be truly asserted of the holy Scriptures; there are many thousand thousand varieties in this garden of paradise, the Scripture.

[8.] Eighthly, For fulness. The Scriptures are full of light, and full of life, and full of love; they are full of righteousness, and full of holiness, and full of all goodness. It was a weighty saying of Tertullian, Adoro plenitvdinemScripturarum —I adore the fulness of the Scripture. Many men talk much of the philosopher's stone, that it turns copper into gold, and of cornucopia, that it had all things necessary for food in it, and of the herb panaces, that it was good for all diseases, and of the drug cathoUcon, that it is instead of all purges, and of Vulcan's armour, that it was full proof against all thrusts and blows; but that which they vainly attribute to these things for bodily good, may safely and honourably be attributed to the blessed Scriptures in a spiritual manner. The Scriptures turns hearts of copper into hearts of gold; it is a paradise that is full of the trees of life, and these trees of life are both for food and physic ; here is all manner of fruit to feed you and fill you, to delight you and satisfy you, and the very leaves of these trees are singular medicines to heal you and cure you, Kev. xxii. 2. The Scripture prescribes the choicest drugs to purge you, viz., repentance and the blood of Christ; and it is the Scripture that furnishes you with the best armour of proof against all principalities and powers, and against all spiritual wickednesses in high places, Eph. vi. 11, 18. Oh, how should the consideration of all these things work you to be much in reading of the holy Scriptures! If you will but make trial, you should be sure to find in them stories more true, more various, more pleasant, more profitable, and more comfortable than any you will find in all ancient or modern writers. Ah, friends, if you would but in good earnest set upon reading of the holy Scriptures, you may find in them so many happinesses as cannot be numbered, and so great happinesses as cannot be measured, and so copious happinesses as cannot be defined, and such precious happinesses as cannot be valued; and if all this won't draw you to read the holy Scriptures conscientiously and frequently, I know not what will.

It is said of Mary, that she spent the third part of her time in reading of the word; and Cfecilia, a Roman maiden of noble parentage, carried always about her the New Testament, and spent much time in reading it. Alfred, once king of England, compiled psalms and prayers into one book, and called it a Manual, which he always carried about him, and spent much time in the perusal of it. Augustine caused David's penitential psalms to be drawn upon the walls of his chamber, that he might read them as he lay in his bed; he read and wept, and wept and read.i Well, if all this wUl not prevail with you to be much in reading of the Scriptures, consider that Agesilaus, an. excellent king of Sparta, would never go to bed, nor rise up, before he had looked into Homer, whom he called amasium suum, his sweetheart ; but what was Homer's books to God's book, which is the book of books, as Charles the Great did signify when he crowned it with

^ Vide Pos. in vita Aug.

his own crown. And Scipio Africanus was much commended for that he usually had in his hands the books of Xenophon.^ But oh, how much more commendable will it be for you to have always in your hands the book of God 1 Alphonsus had always in his bosom the Commentaries of Csesar, and he was so much delighted with the history of Titus Livius, that he once commanded certain musicians, that were very skilful in that art, to depart his presence, saying, he could read a more pleasant story out of Livius. Alas! what are Livius his stories to the blessed stories that be in the Bible! 0 sirs, if Lipsius, when he did but read Seneca, thought that he was even on the top of Olympus, above mortality and human things; and if Julius Scaliger thought twelve verses in Lucan better than the German empire, oh, then, of what infinite worth and value is the blessed Scripture ! Shall heathens take such pleasure in reading of the works of heathens, and shall not Christians take as much pleasure in reading of the holy Scriptures, wherein there is so much of the Spirit, hand, and heart of God ? Shall they set so high a price upon the books of heathens, and shall we so slight and undervalue the book of God as not to think it worth a-opening once a day ? Verily, I am afraid, I am afraid, that there are some among us that hardly open their Bibles once a week, and others that hardly open their Bibles once a month, and not a few that hardly open their Bibles once a quarter, &c. Certainly as the rustiness of some men's gold will be a witness against them in the great day of the Lord, so the mustiness of some men's Bibles will be a witness against them in that great day, James v. 1-3.

Quest. But is it not lawful for a, man to read other men's books, to read other men's holy works ? &c.

Ans. Doubtless it is lawful; and that,

[1.] First, Because other men's holy works, so far as they are holy, are but the fruits, products, and operations of the Holy Spirit, &c.

[2.] Secondly, Because their holy labours are of singular use for the clearing up of many hard, difficult, and mysterious scriptures, &c.

[3.] Thirdly, Because they have been the means of many men's conversion. John Huss confesseth that the reading of Luther's works was the main cause of his conversion. 2 And whilst Vergerius read Luther's books with an intent to confute them, himself was converted by them. I doubt not but that there are many now in heaven, and multitudes now on earth, that have been converted by the books and writings of holy men; and therefore it cannot but be lawful to read such books, &c.

[4.] Fourthly, Though it be lawful to read other men's holy works, yet the holy Scriptures must still have the pre-eminence, they must be firstly, chiefly, and mostly read. All other books in comparison of the book of God must be cast by; it is God's book that is indeed the book of books. Josephus, in his book of Antiquities,^ makes mention of one Cumanus, a governor of Judea, that, though he were but a heathen, and a wicked man, yet he caused a soldier to be beheaded for tearing a copy of the book of Moses's law, which he found at the

^ Plutarch, Moralia.

' An oversight: Huss long preceded Luther. Reverse the names. —G-.

3 Lib. XX. cap. 4.

racking of a town. And venerable in all ages and among all nations have been the books wherein the laws either of their belief or polity have been contained; as the Talmud among the Jews, and the laws of the twelve tables among the Eomans, and the Alcoran among the Turks, yea, all pagans have highly valued the laws of their legislators; and shall not Christians much more set a high esteem upon the holy Scriptures, which are the map of God's mercy, and man's misery, the touchstone of truth, the shop of remedies against all maladies, the hammer of vices, and the treasury of virtues, the displayer of all sensual and worldly vanities, the balance of equity, and the most perfect rule of all justice and honesty? What Chrysostom said of old to his hearers—viz., ' Get you Bibles, for they are your souls'physic'—that I say to you all. Oh, get you Bibles, for they are your souls' physic, your souls' food, your souls' happiness. Ah, friends, no book becomes your hands like the Bible, It was this book that made David wiser than his teachers; this is the book that makes the best preachers, and this is the book that is the best preacher. This book, this preacher will preach to you in your shops, in your chambers, in your closets, yea, in your own bosoms. This book will preach to you at home and abroad, it will preach to you in all companies, whether they are good or bad, and it will preach to you in all conditions, whether they are prosperous or afflictive. By this book you shall be saved, or by this book you shall be damned; by this book you must live, by this book you must die, and by this book you shall be judged in the great day, John xii. 48. Oh, therefore, love this book above all other books, and prize this book above all other books, and buy this book before all other books. In King Henry the Eighth's time, and in Queen Mary's days. Christians would have given cartloads of hay and corn for a few chapters in the New Testament; and will not you part with three or four shillings to buy a Bible, that may save your souls, that may make you holy here and happy hereafter ? And read this book before all other books, and study this book more than all other books ; for he that reads much and understands nothing, is like him that hunts much and catcheth nothing. And let this suffice for this seventh direction. (8.) Eighthly, If ever you would be holy, then be much in prayer. Prayer is the most prevalent orator at the throne of grace. Many that have gone to that throne with tears in their eyes, have come away with "praises in their hearts ; and many that have gone to that throne with hearts full of sin, have returned with hearts full of grace. Jacob wept and prayed, and prayed and wept; and in the close as a prince he prevailed with God, Hosea xiv. 4; so many a sinner has wept and prayed, and prayed and wept, and in the close as a prince he has prevailed with God. Ah, sirs, it may be that there are but a few weeks, nay, a few days, peradventure but a few hours, between your souls and eternity, between your souls and everlasting burnings, between your souls and a devouring fire, between your souls and damnation; and will you not then pray and mourn, and mourn and pray, for that holiness, without which there is no happiness, yea, without which hell and destruction will be for ever your portion? Oh, take that blessed promise, Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27, and urge God with it; oh, tell him that he has said that' he will sprinkle clean water upon

you, and that ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and that from all your idols he will cleanse you', &c. Oh, tell him,

First, That he stands engaged by promise to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask it, Luke xi. 13.

Secondly, Oh, tell him that none can make an unholy heart holy, but a holy God.

Thirdly, Tell him that surely it is no sin to beg holiness of a holy God.

Fourilily, Tell him that ha has made such who were once notorious in wickedness to become eminent in holiness: witness Manasseh, Mary Magdalene, Paul, the murderers of Christ, and those vile Corinthians, 1 Cor. V. 6, 9-11.

Fifthly, Tell him that he has given holiness to them that have not sought it, and how then can it stand with his honour to deny it to them that seek it ? Surely if he has been * found of them that sought him not,' he will not hide himself ' from them that seek him,' Isa. Ixv. 1, 2.

' Sixthly, Tell him that thou hadst rather that he should deny thee anything, than that he should deny thee holiness; say to him, Lord, health is the prince of outward mercies, and wealth is the spring of many mercies, and wife, children, and friends are the set-oflfs of mercies, the cream of mercies, and that liberty is the sweetener of all thy mercies, and yet tell him that thou hadst rather that he should strip thee of any of these, nay, that he should deny thee all of these, than that he should deny thee holiness.

Seventhly, Tell him that thou didst never read of any man that did ever make a hearty request for holiness, but his request was granted. The leper would fain be clean, and Christ's answer is, * I will; be thou clean,' Mat. viii. 2, 3. Christ does neither delay him nor deny him. The poor leper could no sooner desire to be clean, but Christ commands him to be clean—' I will; be thou clean.' His prayer was short and sweet, and his answer was sudden and gracious.

Eighthly, Tell him that thou art unwilling to be miserable for ever, tell him that thou canst not bear the thoughts of an eternal separation from him, and yet this must be thy portion, except he will glorify the riches of his grace in bestowing of that pearl of price, holiness, upon thee. Oh, tell him that thy want of holiness is now thy greatest hell! tell him that thou art now fully resolved to give him no rest till he has changed thy heart, and made thee in some measure to be what he would have thee to be, &c.

It is observable amongst the worst of men, the Turks, yea, amongst the worst of Turks, the Moors, that by their law it is a just exception against any witness, that he hath not prayed six times every natural day, it being a usual custom with them to pray for day before the day brake, and when it is day they give thanks for daylight, and at noon they give thanks to God that half the day is past, and then at last they pray that they may have a good night after their day. Ah, sinners, sinners, shall not these Turks rise up one day in judgment against you that think not holiness worth a-praying for ?

Object. But the prayers of the ivicked are an abomination to the Loi'd, Prov. XV. 8, and xxviii. 9; and he casts their sacrifices as dung in

their faces, Isa. i. 11-16, and Iviii. 1-7; their very prayers are sinful, and therefore they were better neglect prayer till God shall work graciously and savingly upon them, than to pray, and so to sin as often as they pray, &g. To this I answer,

(1.) First, The prayers of the wicked may be materially good, when they are not formally good, yea, when they are theologically evil, 2 Chron. xxv. 2. Amaziah did that which was perfect in the sight of the Lord, as to the matter, but not with a perfect or sincere heart. He failed not in the matter, but in the manner. He did not do that good he did from principles of faith, love, &c., nor to a right end, divine glory. Many unsanctified persons may have the gift of prayer, that have not the spirit of prayer, nor the grace of prayer, Mat. vii. 21, and xxiii. 14.1 Now certainly where God gives such a gift, he requires the use of it. The gift of prayer is from the Spirit, as well as the grace of prayer; and who can tell but that upon the use of the gift of prayer, the Spirit may give the grace of prayer ? However, it is dangerous to neglect a gift. The slothful servant was not cast into utter darkness for rioting out his talent, but for not improving of his talent, Mat. xxv. 30. That the prayers of a wicked man are not formally good, must be granted, yea, that they are abominable and ineffectual, cannot be denied; they are like the precious stone Diac-letes, which though it hath many excellent sovereignties in it, yet it loseth them all if it be put in a dead man's mouth; so prayer, though it hath many virtues and excellencies in it, yet it loseth them all when it is performed by a man that is spiritually dead—that is, dead God-wards, and Christ-wards, and heaven-wards, and holiness-wards; but if you consider the matter of a wicked man's prayers, so they may be good, yea, so good as that they may prevail with a good God for much temporal good, as I shall shew you before I close up all my answers to this objection. But,

(2.) Secondly, It is a less sin for an unholy person to do a religious duty, than it is to omit it. Now of two sins, whereupon, not God, but a man's self hath inevitably put him to commit one of them, he must choose the least, he must choose rather to sin in the manner, in not doing of it so well as he should, than to fail in the matter, and so quite neglect the duty itself. For this is most certain, when God commands a duty absolutely to be done, it is a greater sin not to do it at all, than to do it amiss, and the reason is evident, because our disobedience is total in not doing at all, and but only partial in doing it otherwise than we ought. As for a man wilfully and peremptorily to refuse to hear the word, is a greater and fouler fault than to hear it with a forgetful or disobedient heart, there being more hope of the latter than of the former; for some that have come to catch, have been caught by the word, John vii. 46. And therefore ' come,' saith Latimer, ' to the word; though thou comest to sleep, it may be God may take thee napping.' When Mr Henry Sulphen was preacher at Bremen,^ several Roman Catholics sent their chaplains to trap him in his words; but the power of God was so wonderfully seen in his preaching, that the greatest part of them that came to ensnare him were converted by

1 Ps. Ixxviii. 36, 37 ; Prov. i. 27, 28; Isa. Iviii. 1-4. ^ Joh. Sleidani. Comment.

him. It is good to come to the word, though a man comes with an ill intent; to come, though he should come with a purpose to catch, for in so coming he may be catched, as Augustine was by Ambrose. Without doubt there is no disobedience to that which is total. Partial disobedience is no disobedience to that which is total. That wife that totally disobeys her husband, and that child that totally disobeys the father, and that servant that totally disobeys his master, is much more to blame, and do much more provoke, than those that are only partial in their disobedience; and so it is between God and sinners, &c.

(3.) Thirdly, If there were any strength in this objection, it would lie as strong against a ivicked man's civil actions, as it does against his religious actions: Prov. xxi. 4, ' The ploughings of the wicked is sin;' not only the prayers of the wicked, but also the ploughings of the wicked are sin, not only the spiritual but also the natural and civil actions of a wicked man are sin; and therefore, according to their arguing, a wicked man must not exercise himself in his caUing, in his ploughing and sowing, &c., because that his civil actions are sinful as well as his religious; and it is as impossible for him to please God in the one, as it is to please him in the other; but surely all men that are in their wits, will either sigh or laugh at such kind of reasonings. But,

(4.) Fourthly, This objection lies as strong against wicked men's natural actions-^xiz., their eating, drinking, and sleeping, &c.—as it does against their praying. When a wicked man eats, he is to eat to divine glory, and when he drinks, he is to drink to divine glory, 1 Cor. X. 31; and when he recreates himself, he is to recreate himself to divine glory; and when he sleeps, he is to sleep to divine glory; in all these natural and common actions, he is to make the glory of God his supreme scope. Now there is not a wicked man on earth that does or can eat or drink, &c., to divine glory; he does not nor cannot set up the glory of God as the chief and ultimate end of his natural and common actions. Now who but fools in folio will reason thus: wicked men are to eat and drink, &c., to divine glory, but this they cannot do, Titus i. 15; and therefore wicked men must neither eat nor drink, &c. But,

(5.) Fifthly, The force and spirit of this objection, if there were any in it, lies as flat and full against all other religious duties, as it does against prayer. It lies as strong against hearing, reading, and meditating on the word, &c., as it does against prayer; and who but such who are sadly left of God, and woefully blinded by Satan, will be so wretched as to say, wicked men must neither hear the word, nor read the word, nor meditate on the word, because they cannot do these actions in faith, * and whatsoever is not of faith is sin,' Kom. xiv. 23. But,

(6.) Sixthly, There are those that can say by experience, that the first special work of God tliat ever they perceived 07i their own hearts, was ivhile they were pleading with God at the throne of grace. There are those that have brought proud hearts to the throne of grace, but have returned with hearts humbled, and that have brought hard hearts, but have gone away with hearts graciously broken and melted, and that have brought carnal hearts, but returned with spiritual

hearts, and that have brought worldly hearts, but returned with heavenly hearts. God sometimes hears prayers for his own sake, and for his Son's sake, and for his glory's sake, and for his promise sake, when he will not hear prayers for the sinner's sake. But,

(7.) Seventhly, Sinful omissions lead to sinful commissions, yea, sometimes they lead to ruin; as you may see in the angels that fell from the highest heaven to the lowest hell, and in Adam, who fell in paradise from the highest pinnacle of glory to the lowest step of sin and misery. Those reprobates in that 25th of Matthew did not rob the saints, but only omitted the relieving of them, and this proved a damning to them; rich Dives did not rob the poor, but his not relieving of them was his ruin, Luke xvi. Moab and Ammon were banished the sanctuary to the tenth generation for a mere omission, because they met not God's Israel in the wilderness with bread and water, Deut. xxiii. 3, 4, 6. Look, as the omission of good diet breeds natural diseases in the body, so doth the omission of good duties breed spiritual diseases in the soul. All sinful omissions make work for hell, or for the physician of souls. 0 man! thou dost not know what deadly sin, what deadly temptation may follow upon a mere single omission. Origen, going to comfort and encourage a martyr that was to suffer, was apprehended by the officers, and constrained either to offer to the idols or to have his body abused by a blackamoor that was ready pressed for that service. Being thus hard put to it, to save his life, he bowed to the idols ; but afterwards, when he came to himself, he sadly bewails his sin, and con-fesseth that he went forth that morning without making his prayers unto God, which sinful omission God did so severely punish, by leaving of him to fall into so great a sin, which pierced his soul through with many sorrows. I am apt to think that many a sin, many a snare, and many a faU might have been prevented, if such and such religious duties had not been omitted. Sinful omissions prepare the way to sinful commissions, and both prepare the way to a fatal destruction. I believe many men had never been so abominable vicious, if they had not first cast off religious duties. He that lives in the neglect of ♦ prayer, tempts more devils than one to beset his soul, yea, to destroy his soul, &c. But,

(8.) Eighthly and lastly, There are several iveiglity arguments tJiat may be produced to prove that it is the duty of wicked and unconverted men to perform religious duties, as to pray and seek the Lord, &c. Among the many that may be brought forth, I shall only give you these six:

[1.] First, This is evident from divine commands, as you may clearly see by comparing of these scriptures together, Isa. Iv. 6, 7; Acts viii. 21-23 ; Ps. Ixv. 21. 1 Thes. v. 17, ' Pray without ceasing,' is an indefinite injunction; and who art thou, 0 man, that darest to prohibit what God commands ? Are not his commands obliging ? and may not disobedience to the least of them cost thee thy life, thy soul, thy all ? God's commands are neither to be slighted, censured, nor neglected. Woe to him that looks upon great commands as little commands, and little commands as no commands, Mat. xxiii. 0 sirs, it is a very dangerous thing to act or run counter-cross to God's ex-

press command; it may cost a man dear, as you may see in that sad story, 1 Kings xiii. 24. The heathens, indeed, would frequently run cross to their gods' commands, for when their gods commanded them to oflfer up a man, they would offer up a candle; and so Hercules, when he was to offer up a living man, he offered up a painted man; but does it become Christians to deal thus with the great Grod, with the living God, with the God of gods, as the heathens did by their gods ? Surely no. God's commands are not like imto the commands of the heathens, that might be contradicted and changed, but they are like to the commands of the Medes, that cannot be reversed nor changed; they must be evangelically obeyed, or you will be eternally destroyed. The Rechabites were very rigid observers of their father's commands ; and will you make slight of God's commands ? Jer. xxxv. 2, 5-7. And ' the angels that excel in strength do his commandments,' Ps. ciii. 20; and will you despise them ? Why should the peasant scorn that work in which the prince himself is engaged ? But,

[2.] Secondly, Prayer is a viatural worship, and is incumbent upon all men, as they are created by God, Prayer is a duty which the very law of nature, as well as the law of the word, lays upon men. And this you may see in those pagans, Jonah i. 5, ' The mariners cried every man to his god.' That there is a God, and that this God is to be called upon, are lessons that are taught in nature's school: Isa. xlv. 20, ' They pray to a god that cannot save,' For any man to say a wicked man ought not to pray, is to say a wicked man ought not to worship God, nor acknowledge him to be his maker; and who but such who are either blind or mad dare speak such language ? Certainly they that live in the neglect of prayer under the gospel sin against a double light, the light of nature and the light of the gospel, and therefore they shall be double-damned. There is no heU to these men's hell who sin against a double light, &c. But,

[3.] Thirdly, The neglect of prayer is charged upon wicked persons as their sin ; as you may see by comparing of these scriptures together, Ps. xiv. 2, 4, and x. 4; Jer. x. 21; Hosea vii. 7; Zeph. i. 6. Now doubtless if it were not a duty for unregenerate persons to pray, it could never stand with the holiness, justice, and righteousness of God, to charge the omission of prayer upon them as a sin, and therefore, without peradventure, it is their duty to pray. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Wicked and unregenerate persons are again and again imprecated against for not calling upon the Lord: Ps. Ixxix. 6, ' Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name;' so Jer. X. 25, ' Pour out thy^fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not upon thy name.' Now certainly if prayer were not a duty incumbent upon wicked men, they would never be thus imprecated against for the omission of it. To imprecate that vials, that full vials, that full vials of wrath and fury should be poured forth, as water is poured forth, suddenly and plentifully, upon those kingdoms and families that do not call upon the name of the Lord, is so dreadful a thing, that it had never been mentioned in the Scripture, had it not been to alarm the worst of men to the work of prayer. But,

[5.] Fifthly, If absolute py^omises, or precious promises of special grace and mercy^ he made to sinners, as sinners, then sinners may in prayer plead out those promises, and urge God upon making good his promises; but absolute promises, or promises of special grace and favour, are made over to simiers, as sinners, ergo, that such promises are made over to poor sinners, as sinners, is evident by comparing these scriptures together, Isa. Ivii. 17-19. These words drop nothing but myrrh and mercy. If Ennius could pick gold out of a dunghill, oh, what gold, what comfort, may be picked out of these golden promises! In these words, let us consider two things: first, the precious promises that are here made; secondly, the persons to whom they are made. In the words you have four precious promises of special grace and favour; they are as so many streams of grace flowing from the covenant of grace.

I. The precious promises that are here made.

First, You have here a promise of healing: ver. 18, * I have seen his ways, and will heal him,' or, as you may read the words, though I have seen his ways and courses, and well observed how unworthily, how untowardly, and how obstinately he has carried it, ' yet I will heal him,'—' I will heal his backsliding nature.' Though his disease be dangerous, though it be very dangerous, yet to an almighty physician no disease is incurable. I will heal his inside by pardoning his sin and purging his conscience, and I will heal his outside by removing of judgments and calamities from him; and all this I will do upon the account of my promise and covenant: Hosea xiv. 4; Jer. xxxii. 38, and xl. 2, compared; Ps. ciii. 3; Jer. iii. 22; Mai. iv. 2.

Secondly, You have in the words a promise of leadiTig ; ' 1 will lead him also,' or, as the Hebrew hath it, ' and I will lead him, I will conduct him in safety to his own country.' So some sense it, but you may understand it, doubtless, of a spiritual, as well as of a providential leading. I will lead him by my word, and I will lead him by my Spirit, and I will lead him by my counsel, suitable unto many precious promises of grace that are scattered up and down in the Scripture.

Thirdly, In the words you have a promise of comfort; * I will restore comforts to him,' not comfort, but comforts; that is, in the room of all those discomforts, sorrows, calamities, and miseries that he has been exercised with, I will, says God, lay in abundance of comfort, yea, I will store him with all sorts of comforts, both temporal, spiritual, and eternal, suitable to that word of grace that you have in Isa. xl. 1, 2.

Fourthly, In the words you have a promise of peace: ver. 19, ' I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near,' saith the Lord. The gemination of the word Shalom, shalom, peace, peace, imports a large extent of peace ; it notes true peace, firm peace, sure peace, great peace, abundance of peace, yea, constant and lasting peace. Under the name of peace in the Hebrew is denoted all manner of prosperity, and the geminating of the word always notes a large measure of tranquillity, plenty, prosperity, and felicity. 0 sirs, peace with God, and peace with conscience, and peace with the creatures, are all the products of God's creating power and grace, Eph. ii. 16-18, and so must be referred to the covenant of grace.

Let us consider,

II. The persons to whom these precious promises are made ; and here let us observe these three things.

First, Their sin ; and this you have in ver. 17, ' For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth.' The sin that is charged upon him is a very great and grievous, it is a very vile and heinous sin; it is called not only covetousness, but the iniquity of his covetousness, to shew the height and transcendency of this their wickedness; for covetousness is a mother-sin, it is a breeding sin, it is a sin that has all sin in the womb of it; it is a sin not only against the light and law of grace, but also against the light and law of nature, for it makes the soul terrene which should be celestial; and therefore the Persians, though heathens, have a law that no man ought to covet what belongs to any other man; and they have another law, that they ought not to be worldly-minded. No sin lays men under greater woes, 1 Tim. vi. 10. Woe to him that joineth house to house ; and woe to you Scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites. Mat. xxiii. It is an evil that subjects men to the basest and vilest evils; it is the root of all evil—it makes a man a fool: Luke xii. 20, ' Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be taken from thee.' It robs a man of all true peace, comfort, content, and quiet; it brings men into snares which drowns their souls in perdition ; it renders men unsatisfied under aU their outward enjoyments. Though a covetous wretch may have enough to sink him, yet he can never have enough to satisfy him ; first he wishes for a bag-fuU, and then a chest-full, and then a chamber-full, and then a church-full, &c. The plague of unsatisfiedness is none of the least of plagues that covetous men are under. Certainly you shall as soon fill a triangle with a circle, and a chest with grace, and the body with air, as you shall be able to fill and satisfy a covetous mind with money. In a word, covetousness is a sin that renders a man unserviceable in his generation. A covetous man is like a swine, that is good for nothing whilst he lives. The horse is good to bear and carry, the ox is good to draw, the sheep is good for cloth, the cow is good to give milk, and the dog is good to keep the house, but the hog is good for nothing whilst he lives ; so a covetous man is neither good for church nor state—he is nowise serviceable in his generation, only when he is dead. That scripture often proves true, viz., that 'the riches of a sinner are laid up for the just,' Job xxvii. 17. By all which you may see the greatness of this sin of covetousness that is so closely charged upon them. But,

Secondly, They grew worse under the afflicting hand of God; ' I was wroth, and smote him, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.' They were like peevish, fro ward, stubborn children, that grow more cross, crooked, and perverse under all the chastenings of their father; and this was no small aggravation of their sin, that they grew worse under the rod. Plutarch writes i that it is the quality of tigers, that if the drums or tabors sound about them, they will grow mad, and rend and tear their own flesh in pieces ; and so it was with these sinners in the text. Oh, how did they fret and fume, and tear, and take on, when they were under the rebukes of God ! But,

Thirdly, They persevered and went on against all gainsayings; ' I ^ Lib. de super*titione.

have Been his ways,' that is, I have seen his obstinacy and incorrigibility in sin. Ah, poor creature! says God, he sees not his present misery and slavery, he takes no notice of his own folly and vanity, of his own frowardness and peevishness ; he scorns to bend or bow under my mighty hand, he is resolved to stand it out to the death, he will persist on in his own ways, though he eternally perishes—though hell stands at the end of his ways, yet on he will. Well! what is the issue of all this ? God saith, ' I have seen his ways, and will heal him.' It is not, I have seen his ways, and will curse him, no, but ' I have seen his ways, and will heal him.' It is not, I have seen his ways, and will never have any more to do with him ; no, but ' I have seen his ways, and will heal him.' It is not, I have seen his ways, and will damn him ; no, but ' I have seen his ways, and will heal him.' Oh the freeness, oh the unsearchableness, oh the riches of Grod's grace ! And thus you see that the precious promises last cited are promises that are made over to sinners as sinners. And this is further evident in that Isa. xliii. 22-25. For sins of omission and sins of commission, what can be more charged upon a sinful people than here is charged upon them ? They were not only negligent of his worship and service, but they were also weary of his worship and service, and counted it rather a burden than a benefit, a toil than a pleasure. In all their outward observances they did but court the Lord, they did but compliment with God; for whilst they were in his service, their hearts were secretly weary of his service; and by their sinful commissions, oh, how did they grieve, vex, oppress, and burden the Holy One of Israel! And yet, in ver. 25, God does passionately and emphatically proclaim their free pardon, ' I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.' The metaphor is taken from men's blotting out of debts out of their debt-book. Now when a debt is blotted out of the debt-book, it is never charged upon the debtor more, it is never regarded nor remembered more; so when God proclaims the sinner's pardon, when he forgives him his transgressions, he blots, he rases, he crosses his books, and cancels all bonds, so as that he will never object his sins against him, and never charge his sins upon him; but being once forgiven, they shall be for ever forgotten, they shall never come into his remembrance more. And all this he will do for his name sake, and for the praise and glory of his own free grace. So in Ezek. xxxvi. 26-28, 37, compared. Now by all these scriptures it is most plain and evident that the precious promises of special grace and mercy are made over to sinners as sinners; and if so, then doubtless sinners may lawfully put these promises into suit. 0 sirs, don't you know that desire is the soul of prayer ? and who, but such as are witless and graceless, will say that a wicked man may not desire the accomplishment of God's gracious promises, that wiU say an unregenerate man may not desire to be pardoned, sanctified, and renewed; and that the Lord would bestow his Spirit upon him, and that, by the finger of the same Spirit, the law of the Lord may be written in his heart, that he may observe his statutes, and do them ? These are things that God has engaged himself to do for poor sinners, and therefore certainly sinners may put God in mind of his engagements. But,

[6.] Sixthly and lastly, God would never have encouraged and rewarded with temporal favours wicked and unregenerate mens religious duties and services as he has done, if he would not have had them exercise themselves in religious duties. Now that he has thus encouraged and rewarded wicked and unregenerate men, is evident in these instances, 1 Kings xxi. 19 ; Jonah iii. 4, seq. ; 2 Chron. xxvi. 5. Uzziah sought God in the days of Zechariah ; and when he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. Had he been really godly, had he had the root of the matter in him, had he been a sincere, a throughout Christian, he would have sought the Lord all his days, he would have held on and held out in well-doing ; but being carnal, hypocritical, and unregenerate, his religion dies with Zechariah. Another instance you have of this among the sailors, that usually are the worst of sinners, Ps. cvii. 23-30; and another you have in that known case of Jehu. From all which we may well conclude, that God expects and looks that wicked men, that unregenerate men, should be found in the exercise of religious duties. It is an excellent observation of Calvin upon God's rewarding the Kechabites' obedience: Jer. xxxv. 19, * God,' saith he,' oft recompenseth the shadows and seeming appearances of virtue, to shew that complacency he takes in the ample rewards he hath reserved for true and sincere piety.' To conclude, it was as easy for Boaz to have given Ruth as much corn at once as would have yielded her an ephah of barley, and so have sent her home without any more ado, but he would not, being resolved that she should use her endeavour to gather and glean it, and beat it out too when she had gleaned it; so it is as easy a thing for God to give his Christ, to give his Spirit, and to give his grace immediately to poor sinners without their using of the means, but he won't, being resolved that they shall use the means of hearing, reading, praying, and conference, &c., and when they have done, leave the issue of all their labours and endeavours to his good-will and pleasure. I have taken the more pains fully and clearly to answer this objection, that it may never more have a resurrection in any of your souls.

(9.) Ninthly, If ever you would be holy, then, when you have done all, wait. Oh, hear and wait, and wait and hear; pray and wait, and wait and pray; read and wait, and wait and read; confer, and wait, and wait and confer ; watch and wait, and wait and watch. 0 sirs, shall the husbandman wait for a good harvest ? and the merchant for good returns ? James v. 7, 8; and the watchman for the dawning of the day ? and the patient for a happy cure ? and the poor client for a day of hearing ? &c.; and will not you wait for Christ, and wait for the Spirit, and wait for pardon, and wait for grace, and wait for glory? &c. 0 sinners, sinners, remember you are at the right door, and therefore wait. Oh, remember that whilst you are waiting for mercy, God is preparing of mercy. Oh, remember that it is mercy that you may wait for mercy. Devils and damned spirits can't wait for mercy. Wait they must; but, oh, it is for more wrath, anger, and fiery indignation. Oh, remember your condition bespeaks waiting, for you are poor, halt, lame, blind, and miserable creatures. Oh, remember that mercy is sweetest when it comes after a patient waiting: Deut. xxxii. 13, 'He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and

oil out of the flinty rock;' that is, he made him to suck water that was as sweet as honey out of the rock, out of the flinty rock. Oh, remember that a patient waiting for mercy is the only way to greaten your mercy. The longer, said the emperor's son, the cooks are a-preparing the meat, the better the cheer will be. His meaning was, the longer he stayed for the empire, the greater it would be. So the longer a soul waits for mercy, the greater and the better it will be when it comes; as you may see in that famous instance of the poor man that lay eight and thirty years at the pool of Bethesda, John v. 2, 16. Famous was the patience of Elijah's servant, who, in obedience to his master's command, went seven several times up and down steep Carmel, 1 Kings xviii. 8, which could not be without danger and difficulty, and all to bring news of nothing, till his last journey, which made a recompense for all the rest, with the tidings of a cloud arising. Oh, so do but patiently wait upon the Lord, and that grace, that favour, that mercy, will come at last, which will fully recompense you for all your waitings. Kemember that the mercies of God are not styled the sioift^ but the sure mercies of David, Isa. Iv. 3, Mercy may be sure, though it be not presently upon the wing flying towards us. And the same prophet saith, ' The glory of the Lord shall be thy rere-ward,' Isa. Iviii. 8. Now this, we know, comes up last, to secure and make good all the rest, for where grace leads the front, glory at last wiU be in the rear. Oh, do but patiently wait, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry, Heb. x. 37 ; not a year, not a quarter, not a month, not a week, not a day, no, not an hour beyond the prefixed time that he hath set of shewing mercy to poor sinners. Oh, how sad was it that Saul should lose his kingdom for want of two or three hours' patience ! but oh, how much more sad will it be if thou shouldst lose all the prayers that thou hast made, and all the sermons that thou hast heard, and all the tears that thou hast shed, and all other pains that thou hast taken, and all for want of a little more patience! yea, how woeful-sad would it be if thou shouldst lose thy God, and lose thy Christ, and lose thy soul, and lose an eternity of glory, and all for want of a little patience to wait the Lord's leisure! Oh, therefore resolve to hold on waiting to the death, and if thou must perish, to perish in a waiting way, which if thou shouldst, thou wouldst be the first that ever so perished. Oh, remember that if God should come, and mercy come, and pardon come, and grace come, when thy sun is near setting, when thy glass is almost out, and when there is but a short step between thee and eternity, it will infinitely recompense thee for all thy waiting ; and therefore wait still. And to keep up thy spirits, and to uphold thy soul in a waiting way, oh that thou wouldst make these following promises thy daily food, thy daily friends, thy daily companions: Ps. xxvii. 14, ' Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord;' Prov. xx. 22, ' Wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee ;' Isa. xxx. 18, ' And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait for him ;' chap. xl. 31, ' But they that wait upon the Lord shaU renew their strength: they shall mount up

with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint;' chap. xlix. 23, ' They shall not be ashamed that wait for me ;' and chap. Ixiv. 4, * For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear ; neither hath the eye seen, 0 God, besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him ;' Prov. viii. 34, ' Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.' Oh, how should these precious promises encourage your hearts to wait on the Lord! Oh, how should they lengthen and draw out your patience to the utmost! But,

(10.) Tenthly and lastly, Divell much upon the memorable judgments of God, that even in this life has fallen upon unholy persons. ' Remember Lot's wife,' Luke xvii. 32. Oh, remember her sin and punishment, that so fearing the one, you may learn to take heed of the other: Isa. xxvi. 9, ' When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness ;' that is, they should learn righteousness—for so the words may be read—they should learn to fear thee, and learn to turn unto thee, and learn to forsake their sins and amend their lives: when thy judgments, thy memorable judgments, are abroad in the world, it highly concerns all the sons of men to look after holy dispositions, holy affections, and holy conversations, that so it may go well with them in the day of the Lord's wrath. Others sense the words thus : When thy judgments are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world, that is, sinners as well as saints, shall learn righteousness, that is, they shall learn to fear thee upon the account of thy righteous judgment; suitable to that. Job xxxvii. 23, 24, ' Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice. Men do therefore fear him ; he respecteth not any that are wise of heart;' and to that, Eev. XV. 4, ' Who shall not fear thee, 0 Lord, and glorify thy name ? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest.' The judgments of God upon Antichrist shall so awaken, alarm, and affect the nations, that they shall cast off all false ways of worship, and worship the Lord in a more pure, spiritual, high, and noble way than ever yet they have done. God is a free agent, and he can make sinners saints, as well by judgments as by mercies. Waldus, from whom the Waldenses had their name, when many were met together to be merry, seeing one among them suddenly fall down dead, it struck so to his heart, that he went home a penitent, and proved a very precious holy man. Pharaoh was not a pin the better for all the plagues that came upon him ; i but Jethro, taking notice of God's heavy judgments upon Pharaoh, and likewise upon the Amalekites, was thereby converted, and became a proselyte, as some observe. 0 sirs, who can tell but that a fixed eye upon the remarkable judgments of God that has been inflicted upon notorious sinners, may be a means to change you and turn you to the Lord ? Forget not the plagues that came upon bloody Pharaoh. Remember how crafty Ahithophel, and proud Haman, and covetous Judas, came all to the halter. Forget not how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up Korah and his companions. Forget not the ^ Kabbi Solomoa on Prov. ix. 15.

angel that drew upon Balaam, nor Samuel's sword that cut Agag in pieces, nor the royal oak on which Absalom was hanged, nor the javelin by which Phinehas, in his zeal for God, thrust through Zimri and Cozbi. Kemember how Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead with a lie in their mouths. Kemember how God rained hell out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Kemember how suddenly, how unexpectedly, and how inevitably the flood came upon the old world ; and remember how the angels that kept not their first station of holiness are now in chains under everlasting darkness. Oh, who can seriously dwell upon the severe judgments of God upon these persons, and not resolve upon breaking off his sins, and pursuing after that holiness, without which there is no happiness 11 Oh, remember that God is as holy a God as ever, and as just a God as ever, and as jealous of his glory as ever; and therefore turn from the evil of your doings, that your souls may live. Oh that the dreadful judgments of God that has been executed upon others might so alarm all unholy hearts, that they may with all their might cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light, that so they may be children of the light, and their souls may live for ever! And thus much for the means whereby men may reach to that holiness, without which there is no happiness.

I come now, in the third place, to answer those objections which usually are made against men's pursuing after holiness. As,

Object. 1. First, We have no power to make ourselves holy; we are as well able to make a world, to command the winds, and to raise the dead, as ive are able to cleanse our own hearts, or change our own natures, or sanctify our own souls ; and therefore, to what purpose should ive be so strongly pressed to do that which we have no poiver to do ? Now to this objection I shall give these following answers:

1. First, That thou hast no power to perform any supernatural act, as to believe or love God, or repent, or to change thine own heart, or to sanctify or make thyself holy, must be granted; that by nature thou art dead in trespasses and sins, and hast lost all thy spiritual senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, and feeling, can't be denied, Eph. ii. 1. It is certain that thy nature is so corrupted that thou canst not think a good thought, nor speak a good word, nor do a good work; thou art not sick, but dead, God-wards, and Christ-wards, and heaven-wards, and holiness-wards, &c.2 I have read of the lioness, how that she brings forth her whelps dead, and so they remain, till, after some time, by her roaring aloud over them, they come to live. Certainly all unholy hearts are spiritually dead, and till Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, comes to roar over them, by uttering his voice in the gospel, they cannot live, John v. 25. It is Christ only that can quicken the dead. It was never known since the creation of the world that ever a dead man could make himself alive. Sin in dominion is the plague of the heart, 1 Kings viii. 38. Now as there is no disease so deadly as the plague, so there is no plague so deadly as the plague of the heart. Oh, this is a disease that none can cure

1 See the ' Theatre of God's Judgments,' by Dr Beard and Dr Taylor: and see Mr Clarke's ' Looking-glass both for Saints and Sinners.' ' 2 Cor. iii. 5 ; Mat. xii. 34 ; John vi. 44 ; 1 Cor. IL 14. VOL. IV. Q

but he who is the physician of souls. An unsanctified person is not half-dead, as the Pelagians, Arminians, and Papists say; but as to spirituals he is stark dead, Col. ii. 13. An unsanctified soul is dead.

[1.] Bespectu operis, In respect of working, and therefore his works are called dead works, Heb. ix. 14. There is death written upon all he does.

[2.] Bespectu Iwnoris, He is dead in respect of honour ; he is dead to all privileges, he is not fit to inherit mercy. Who will set the crown of life upon a dead man's head ? The crown of life is for the holy Christian, and the holy Christian is for the crown of hfe, Kev. ii. 10; 2 Tim. iv. 8. When he in Plutarch had tried all manner of ways to raise a dead man, and to make him stand upon his feet, and saw he could not do it, then he cried out, There must be something within, there must be something within; so when men have said and done all they can, there must be something within, there must be something of the power and spirit of Christ within, that must raise up spiritual life in those that are spiritually dead. But,

2. Secondly, I answer, That God gave thee ability and power in Adam to obey him in all his commands, and thoiigh by Adam's fall thou hast lost thy poioer to obey, yet God has not lost his right and power to command thee to obey A Suppose a father should furnish a child with moneys and all other necessaries to go a journey, and he should be drawn in by some strong temptation to spend his money, his time, and his strength, so as that now he is not able to go his journey; whose fault is this ? Will you now say that the father hath lost his power to command, because his son hath lost his power to obey ? Surely no. It is no iniquity in God to require that of us, which once he gave unto us. It is no injustice in the creditor to caU for his debt, when the debtor is fallen into extreme poverty through his own default. But,

3. Thirdly, I answer. Though an unsanctified person be not able to perform any theological or spiritual action, as to believe or repent, &c., yet he is able to perform all natural actions, as to eat, drink, work, walk, dtc, and he is able to perform all political actions also, as to trade, bargain, buy, sell, plant, and build, &c. The soul even in an unsanctified person is not dead, but a living principle; and therefore it is able to understand, wHl, desire, discourse, reason, and to attend the means of grace. Though he be not able to work grace in his own heart, yet he is able to attend on the means of grace. An unsanctified person may as well go to a sermon as to a tavern, he may as well read the Scriptures as read play-books and pamphlets, he may as well associate himself with those that fear an oath, as he does with those that delight to blaspheme that name that all should tremble at, &c. Man's impotency lies in his obstinacy. Man pretends he cannot believe, nor he cannot come to Christ, nor he cannot repent, &c., when he is resolved that he will not believe, nor he will not come to Christ, nor he will not repent, &c.2 Christ in the gospel comes and offers pardon and peace and reconciliation, and thou turnest thy back upon him; he woos and entreats and beseeches thee

1 Gen. i. 26 ; Eccles. vii. 29; Ps. viii. 4, seq.

^ Mat. xxiii. 37; Luke xiii. 34 j John v. 40 ; Acts vii. 5.

by his ambassadors, but thou wilt not hear, &c. He sets life and death, heaven and hell, mercy and misery before thee, but thou slightest all, 2 Cor, v. 18-20. Christ brings a cordial in one hand to strengthen thee, and a remedy in the other hand to cure thee, but thou despisest both. Christ offers tried gold to enrich thee, and white raiment to clothe thee, and precious eye-salve to enlighten thee, Eev. iii. 18, and thou shuttest up thy heart against all his offers. Well, sirs! remember this, in the great day all unsanctified persons will be damned, not for cannots but for loill-nots; it is neither men nor devils— it is neither the greatness of thy sins, nor the numberless number of thy sins that can damn thee, were it not for thy wifulness in sin, Hosea xiii. 9. 0 sinners, sinners, if you are but heartily willing to forsake your sins, and to accept of Christ as your Lord and King, and to resign up yourselves to him to be really his, to be wholly his, to be only his, and to be eternally his, he will certainly change you, and sanctify you, and save you; but if you will not be holy, if you will not be happy, if you will not be sanctified, if you wiU not be saved, if you will not go to heaven, but are resolved upon going to hell, what can be more just with God than that you should be Satan's bond-slaves, and firebrands of hell, and vessels of wrath to all eternity ? i But,

4. Fourthly, I answer. If thou dost hut stir up thyself to obey the command as loell as thou canst, thou dost not know but that a power may go forth with the command, that may enable thee to act suitable to the command. In that Mat. ix. 1-9, Christ bid the palsy man ' rise and walk, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.' The palsy man might have objected, Alas 1 I am carried by four, I am not able to stir a limb, much less to rise, but least of all to take up my bed and walk, &c. Oh 1 but he puts forth himself as well as he could, and a power went forth with the command, that enabled him to do what was commanded. So in that Mat. xii. 10-14, there was a poor man that had a withered hand, and Christ commands him to stretch forth his hand. He might have objected. My hand is withered, and if I might have a thousand worlds to stretch it forth I could not stretch it forth, yea, if my life, if my salvation did lie upon stretching forth my withered, arm, I could not stretch it forth. Oh! but he throws by all objections, and complies as well as he could, and a power went forth and healed his hand. God commanded Moses to go and deliver his people out of Egypt. Moses might have objected his old age, the power of Pharaoh, and his want of an army to force their way, &c. But he turns his back upon these objections, and addresses himself to the work, and such a mighty power went along with him as did effect it. He commanded the Israelites to take rams' horns, and with them to go and blow down the walls of Jericho, Joshua vi. They might have said. Lord, these are weak and contemptible means, yea. Lord, if we may speak after the manner of men, they are such ridiculous means as will expose us to scorn and laughter; but they pass over these things, and apply themselves to those weak and despicable means that God had appointed, and such a divine and glorious power went along with the means as made the walls of ' Prov. xxviii. 13; 1 John i. 9: Luke xix. 41, 42.

Jericho not only to tremble, but to tumble down before them. Christ commanded Lazarus to come out of the grave, and there went a divine power and virtue with that call of Christ, which made him to rise. The means are the Spirit's triumphing chariot, in which he pleases to ride conquering and to conquer the souls of men, 2 Cor. ii. 14. ' While Peter yet spake, the Holy Ghost fell on aU them that heard the word,' Acts x. 44. 0 man, thou canst not tell but that whilst thou art in the use of divine helps, a secret power of the Spirit may break in upon thee, and make the means effectual to thy conversion and salvation. Many thousands have found it so, and therefore address thyself to the use of the means, and wait at the pool; thou canst not tell how soon the Spirit may come and move upon thy soul; it may be this day, this hour, yea, this very moment wherein I am thus speaking to thee. But,

5. Fifthly, I answer. That the sense of thine own inability, insufficiency, and impotency, should provoke thee to run to Christ, and to lay hold on his everlasting strength, and to pAy the throne of grace, and to give God no rest, till he has renewed and sanctified thy soul, till he has effectually turned thee ''from, darkness to light,' Acts xxvi. 18, till he has bespangled thy soul with grace, and filled thee with his Spirit, and made thee partakers of his holiness, Heb. xii. 10. It was a good saying of one, I)a quodjuhes, etjube quod vis. Give what thou commandest, and command what thou wilt.i Oh, go to God, and tell him that what he has commanded in some scriptures, he has promised to give in other scriptures, and therefore press him to make good his promises, that so you may obey his precepts. Oh, tell him that if he will but ' sprinkle clean water upon thee, and put his Spirit within thee, and give a new heart unto thee,' according to his promise, that then ' thou wilt walk in his statutes, and keep his judgments, and do them,' Ezek. xxxvi, 25-28. Oh, tell him that if he will but ' put his fear into thy heart,' according to his promise, that then ' thou wilt never depart from him,' Jer. xxxii. 40. Oh, tell him that he has commanded thee to beheve, and that he has also promised to give thee faith, and therefore if he will but make good his promise, thou shalt be sure to obey his precepts, Phil. i. 29 ; James v. 17. Oh, tell him that he has frequently commanded thee to ' repent,' Acts v. 31, and that he has also graciously promised to give * repentance,' 2 Tim. ii. 25, and therefore if he will but perform his promise, thou shalt not fail to obey his precepts, &c. Oh, tell him that thou hast no mind to be damned, tell him that thou tremblest at the thoughts of hell, tell him that thou canst not without much horror think of ' dwelling with a devouring fire, of dwelling with everlasting burnings,' Isa. xxxiii. 14; 2 Thes. i 7-10. Oh, teU him that thou dreadest an eternal separation from him, and therefore earnestly beseech him, for his Son's sake, and for his glory sake, and his promise sake, and thy soul's sake, that he would renew thy nature, and sanctify thy soul, that so thou mayest not perish to all eternity. But,

6. Sixthly and lastly. What disingenuity, yea, what injustice and unrighteousness is this, that thou shouldst lie complaining of the loant of power^ when thou dost not use and improve the power thou hast.,

* Augustine.

I

Without the power and assistance of special grace, thou hast power to attend religious duties and services; thou hast power to turn thy back upon the infectious and dangerous society of wicked and ungodly men; thou hast power to keep at a distance from the * harlot's door/ thou hast power to keep thy mouth of blasphemy shut, thou hast power to keep thy hands from stealing, and thy feet ' from being swift to shed innocent blood;' thou hast power to bring thy body to an ordinance, though thou hast not power to bring thy soul to the ordinance. 1 The noble Bereans brought their bodies to the ordinance, and they took the heads of the apostle's sermon, and compared them with the Scripture, and yet they were in an unrenewed and unsanctified estate, Acts xvii. 11, 12. 0 sirs, you have power to come to public ordinances, and to set yourselves under the droppings of a gospel powerful ministry ; you have power to lie at the pool of Bethesda, and there to wait till the cure be wrought; but where is the unsanctified soul that improves the power he has ? Tell me, 0 vain man, why should God trust thee with a greater power, when thou makest no conscience of improving that power thou hast ? Why should God trust thee with ten talents, when thou hast no heart to improve the two that he has already trusted thee withal ? What wise father or master will trust that child or servant with hundreds or thousands, who makes no conscience of improving far lesser sums to the honour and advantage of the father or the master ? How dost thou know, 0 man, but that upon the faithful improvement of that power thou hast, God may add a greater power to thee ? If thou wilt but go that two miles thou canst, God may strike in with thee, and enable thee to go ten. It is a dangerous thing to neglect the doing of that which thou canst do, because that thou canst not do everything that thou shouldst do. Suppose a father or a master should say to his son or servant. Take such and such wares and commodities, and carry them to such and such places, for such and such chapmen; and the son or servant should say. Well, though there be some small light burdens that I can well enough carry, yet there are many heavy burdens that I cannot carry, and therefore I will carry none at all: may not the father of such a son, or the master of such a servant, in much justice and righteousness severely punish such a son or servant ? Doubtless yes. Why, this is the very case of all unsanctified souls. God commands them to believe and repent, and to love him with all their hearts, and to set him up as the object of their fear, and to give him the pre-eminence in all things, &c. But these are supernatural acts, beyond their power; and he commands them to attend on the means of grace, and to wait at wisdom's door. He commands them to apply themselves to public ordinances, and to keep close to family duties, and to turn their backs upon such and such vicious societies, &c., and these are things they can do; and yet because they cannot do the former, they wilfully and wickedly refuse to do the latter; because they cannot bear the heaviest burden, they are resolved they will bear none at all; and because they cannot do everything they should, they will do nothing at all, except it be to complain that God is a hard master, and expects to reap where he does not sow. Now how just and righteous a thing it

' James iii. 10; Eph. iv. 28 ; Kom. iii. 15.

is with God to deal severely witli such, I will leave you to judge. And let this suffice for answer to the first objection.

Object. 2. But hereafter may he time enough to look after holiness ; I may yet pursue after the pleasures and profits of the world, I may yet spend some years in gratifying mine own lusts, and in walking after the course of the world; I have time enough before Tine, and therefore some years hence may be time enough to look after holiness, Now to this objection I shall give these answers :

1. First, Tliou ivilt not say that thou canst be saved too soon, nor happy too soon, nor blessed too soon, nor pardoned too soon, nor in the favour of God too soon, nor out of the danger of lorath, hell, and ever-

lasting burnings too soon; and if so, then certainly thou canst not be holy too soon; for thou canst never be truly liappy till thou art truly holy. No man wiU be so foolish and mad as to say he may be rich too soon, and great too soon, and high and honourable in the world too soon, and in favour and esteem with men, especially with great men, too soon; and why then shouldst thou be so mad and foohsh, as practically to say that thou canst be holy too soon ? and yet thus much thou dost proclaim upon the house-top, when thou criest out. Hereafter, hereafter will be time enough to seek after holiness. But,

2. Secondly, I answer. That it is thy wisdom and thy work to set one may-be against another; thou say est now, that hereafter may be time enough to look after holiness, Eccles. vii. 14. Oh, set another may-be against this may-be, and say, If I now neglect this season of grace, may-be I shall never have another, Isa, Iv. 6 ; if I now slight the offers of mercy, it may be I shall never have such offers more; if I now despise this day of salvation, it may be I shall never have such another day; if I now withstand the tenders of Christ, it may be Christ will never make a tender to me more; if I now resist the strivings of the Spirit, it may be the Spirit will never strive with my soul more, and then woe, woe to me that ever I was born! ^ Oh, don't put off God, don't put off thy soul, don't put off the thoughts of holiness, don't put off eternity with may-bes, lest ' the Lord should swear in his wrath, that 'thou shalt never enter into his rest,' Heb, iii. 18 ; and seeing that thou wilt not suffer holiness to enter into thee, thou shalt never enter into thy master's joy. Oh, why shouldst thou put off thy poor soul, so as thou wouldst not have God to put it off? Thou wouldst not have God to put off thy soul with may-bes ; as with a may-be I will pardon thee, it may be I will lift up the light of my countenance upon thee, it may be I will change thy nature and save thy soul, it may be I will fiU thee with my Spirit and adorn thee with my grace, it may be I will bring thee to my kingdom and glory. Oh, thou wouldst not have God to put thee off with such may-bes ! and why then shouldst thou deal more hardly and cruelly with thine own soul than thou wouldst have God to deal with thee ? But,

3. Tliirdly, I answer, It is a clear argument that thou art not truly nor throughly sensible of thy present condition and danger, who thus objectest. Wert thou but truly sensible of thy lost and undone estate out of Christ; didst thou but indeed know what it is to live one hour in a Christless and graceless condition ; didst thou but see that wrath

^ Prov. i. 20-33 ; Heb. ii. 1-3 ; Luke xix. 41-45; Gen. vi. 3.

that hangs over thy head; didst thou but read the curses that are pronounced in the book of God against thee; didst thou but behold how hell gapes to devour thee; didst thou but see how far off thou art from God, Christ, the covenant, and all the glory and happiness of another world; ah, how wouldst thou every day cry out, Give me holiness or I die, give me holiness or I eternally die! Acts ii. 39 ; Eph. ii. 12. The patient that is truly sensible of his disease will not say, hereafter will be time enough to send for the physician; nor the wounded man will not say, hereafter will be time enough to fetch the surgeon; nor the condemned man will not say, hereafter will be time enough to sue for a pardon; nor the needy man will not say, hereafter will be time enough to look for relief; nor the fallen man will not say, hereafter will be time enough to lift me up ; nor the drowning man will not say, hereafter wiU be time enough to bring a boat to save my life. Now this is the very case of all unsanctified persons in the world; and why then should they cry out, hereafter, hereafter will be time enough to be holy ? The boar in the fable, being questioned why he stood whetting his teeth so when nobody was near to hurt him, wisely answered, that it would then be too late to whet them when he was to use them, and therefore he whetted them so before danger that he might have them ready in danger. Ah, sirs, there is nothing more dangerous than for you to have your holiness to seek, when temporal, spiritual, and eternal dangers are at your heels. There is no wisdom to that which leads men forth to a present pursuit after holiness, nor no hell to that for a man to have his holiness to seek when he should use it.

4. Fourthly, I answer, Tliat the brevity, shortness, and preciousness of time, calls alovd upon thee to pursue after holiness without delay} Time past is irrecoverable, time to come is uncertain, the present time is the only time, and on this moment of time depends eternity. This very day is a day of grace; oh that thou hadst but grace to take notice of it. This very time is an acceptable time; oh that thou hadst but a heart to accept of it, and to improve it. He that hath a great way to go, and a great deal of work to do in a Kttle time, had not need to trifle away his time; and this is the case of every unsanctified soul. Oh, the sins that such a soul hae to repent of ! oh, the graces that such a soul has to seek ! oh, the evidences for heaven that such a soul has to secure! oh, the miseries that such a soul has to escape! oh, the mercies that such a soul has to press after, &c.; and therefore of all men in the world, it stands upon unsanctified persons well to husband and improve their present time. Oh, it is a dangerous thing to put off that work to another day which must be done to-day, or else thou mayest be eternally undone to-morrow. The old saying was, Nunc aut nunquam: Now or never; if not now done, it may be never done, and if so, then thou art undone for ever. Many sinners are now in hell, who when they were on earth were wont to put off the motions of the Spirit by crying out, eras, cra^, to-morrow, to-morrow. Time is so precious a thing that mountains of gold and rocks of pearl cannot redeem one lost moment; which that great lady [Queen Elizabeth] well understood, when on her death-bed she cried out, ' Call time ^ Sumptus pretiosiasimus trempus.— Theoj>hrastu$,

again, call time again ; a world of wealth for an inch of time/ Ah, what a precious and gainful commodity would time be in hell, where for one day to repent, yea, for one hour to seek after holiness, a man would give ten thousand worlds, were they in his hands to dispose of. Time is so costly a jewel that few know how to value it and prize it at a due rate. Witness that sad and frequent complaint among many, Oh, what shall we do to drive away the time ? come, let's go to cards to drive away the time! or let's go to tables to drive away the time ! or let's go to the tavern, and take a pint and a pipe to drive away the time! or let's go and take a walk in the fields to drive away the time! &c. Thus most are lavishly and profusely prodigal of that precious time which is their greatest interest to redeem. Time is a precious talent, and the non-improvement of it God will charge upon men at last, as he did upon Jezebel, Eev. ii. 20, 21, especially upon such who trifle away, who play away, who idle away, yea, who grossly sin away their precious time. How many are there like children, who play till their candle be out, and then they go to bed in the dark! So these play and fool away their precious time, till the candle of life be out, and then they go to their beds, they go to their graves in sorrow, yea, they go to hell in the dark. I have read of a young man who, living vainly and loosely, was very fearful of being in the dark, who after falling sick and could not sleep, cried out, ' Oh, if this darkness be so terrible, what is eternal darkness!' i He that makes no conscience of trifling away his precious time, shall one day experience the terribleness of eternal darkness. The poets paint time with wings, to shew the volubility2 and swiftness of it.^ 0 sirs, if the one sense of the brevity, shortness, and preciousness of time did but lie in its full weight upon your spirits, it would certainly put you upon a speedy and earnest pursuit after holiness! Oh, then you would never say, hereafter, hereafter will be time enough to seek after holiness; but you would address yourselves to a fervent and a constant pressing after holiness as the one thing necessary, and be restless in your own spirits, till you had experienced the power and sweetness that is in holiness! But,

5. Fifthly and lastly, I answer. That it is the greatest folly and madness in the luorld for thee to put of^ the great God and the great concernments of thy soul, so as thou darest not put off thy superiors. Where is the subject that dares put off a lawful duty urged upon him by his prince with a may-be, or with a hereafter it may be I will do it, or hereafter I wiU do it ? or where is that servant that dares put off his lord's present commands with a may-be, or with a hereafter it may be I will do it, or hereafter I will do it ? or where is the ingenuous child that dares put off a present duty pressed upon him by his parents with a may-be, or with a hereafter it may be I will do it, or hereafter I will do it ? or where is the affectionate wife that dares put off the just desires and requests of her husband with a may-be, or with a hereafter it may be I will answer your desires, or hereafter I will answer your requests ? 0 sirs, you dare not put off your superiors

^ Drexellius. ['Considerations on Eternity,'a favourite of the Puritans, as translated by Winterton.—G.] " ' Kapidity.'—G.

* Sophocles, Phocilides, &c. [Aa before.—G.]

with may-bes, or with hereafters, and how then do you dare to put off the King of kings and the Lord of lords, with may-bes and with hereafters ? it may be I will look after holiness, it may be I will study holiness, it may be I will prize holiness, or hereafter I will press after holiness, I will pursue after holiness, hereafter I will follow hard after holiness. Oh, remember that as there is nothing that does more incense, enrage, and provoke a prince against his subjects, a lord against his servants, a father against his child, and a husband against his wife, than the putting off of their services and commands with may-bes or with hereafters; so there is nothing that does more incense, inflame, and provoke the great God, than to put him off with may-bes, or with hereafters; as you may see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together, i And oh that for time to come you would tremble at the very thoughts of a may-be, and at the very mentioning of a hereafter, that so you may never put off the commands of God, to pursue after holiness with a may-be, or with a hereafter any more. And let this suffice for answer to this second objection.

Object. 3. Thirdly, But if we should thus press and pursue after holiness, then we must take our farewell of all Joy and comfort, of all delight and pleasure, and never expect to enjoy one merry day more, for we observe that there are no persons under heaven that live such a melancholy, sad, sorrowful, pensive life, as those ivho press most after holiness, and wlio make most stir and noise about Jioliness, and therefore if we should resolve to follow after holiness, we mu^t resolve to spend our days in sorrow and sadness, in sighing and mourning, and this we had as lief die as do, &c.

Now to this grand objection, I shall give these eight answers:

1. First, It may he thou loohest only on the dark side of the cloud, and not on the bright; thou lookest only on thy left hand, where the mourners in Zion stand, but didst thou but cast an eye on thy right hand, there thou wouldst see many of the precious sons and daughters of Zion rejoicing and triumphing.2 Now thus to look, what is it but to look for a straw to thrust out thine own eyes with. 0 sirs, it is neither wisdom nor righteousness to look only upon those who mourn, and not upon those that rejoice, upon those that sigh, but not upon those that sing, Isa. Hi. 8, 9; Jer. xxxi, 7, 12. Before you pass a judgment upon the people of God, or the good ways of God, look on both hands, I say again, look on both hands, and then you will be sure to see some saints in their wedding attire, as well as others in their mourning weeds; no man in his wits will argue thus, because such and such men of such a calling or trade are in their mourning weeds,' therefore all men of that calling or trade are in their mourning weeds; and yet so witless are many men as thus to argue against the people of God, and the ways of God. But,

2. Secondly, I answer, As there are tears of sorroiv, so there are tears of joy? Jacob weeps over Joseph, but it was with tears of exceeding joy. The sweetest joy is from the sourest tears. Tears are

^ Pa. xcv. 6, to the end. Heb. iii. 7, to the end. 2 Isa. Ixi. 1-3,10, 11, and xixv. 10.

' Compare these scriptores together; Gen. xliii. 30, xlv. 2, and xlvi. 29, 30; 1 Sam. i. 13-20.

the breeders of spiritual joy. A holy man's heart is usually fullest of joy when his eyes are fullest of tears. When Hannah had wept, she went away and was no more sad. The bee gathers the best honey of the bitterest herbs. Christ made the best wine of water: the best, the purest, the strongest, and the sweetest joys are made of the distilled waters of evangelical repentance. Gospel mourning is no way inconsistent with holy joy. Though it must be granted that the love of sin and true joy are inconsistent, and that the reign and dominion of sin and true joy are inconsistent, yet it must be confessed that mourning for sin and holy joy are consistent in one and the same heart; and though legal terror and evangelical joy are inconsistent, yet evangelical sorrow and evangehcal joy are consistent in one and the same soul. The same eye of faith that drops tears of sorrow, drops also tears of joy, Zech. xii. 10 ; 1 Pet. i. 8. A clear sight of free grace, of pardoning mercy, and of a bleeding dying Saviour, will at the same time fill the soul both with sorrow and joy, as the experiences of a thousand Christians can testify. A Christian always joys most, and mourns most, when he is most under the sense of divine love, the influences and incomes of heaven, the hopes of glory, the reports of mercy, and the precious sealings of the blessed Spirit. Look, as physic is the way to health, so godly sorrow is the way to holy joy; and look, as a wicked man's joy ends in sorrow, Prov. xiv. 13, so a godly man's sorrow ends in joy: Isa. Ixi. 3, ' To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of gladness for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.' Godly sorrow is the parent of holy joy; a godly man's mourning time is his most joyful time. I have read of a godly man who, lying upon his dying bed, and being asked which was the joyfullest time that ever he had in all his life, cried out, ' Oh, give me my mourning days again, oh, give me my mourning days again, for they were the joyfullest days that ever I had.' The more a Christian ' sows in tears,' the greater, even in this world, shall be his 'harvest of joy;' his merry days shall be always answerable to his mourning days, Ps. cxxvi. 6. But,

3. Thirdly, I answer. That this is a false charge, a mere slander, an unjtist calumny that Satan and his bond-slaves have cast upon holiness, and the ways of holiness, on purpose to hinder men from pursuing and following after holiness. The language of the objection is quite contrary to the language of the holy Scripture; witness that Ps. cxxxviii. 5, ' Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord; for great is the glory of the Lord.' When the kings of the earth shaU be generally converted and sanctified, as it is in verse the 4th, ' then they shall sing in the ways of the Lord.' When they shall come to experience and taste the power, excellency, and sweetness of holiness, ' then they shall sing in the ways of the Lord.' Conversion and sanctification administer the highest grounds of joy and rejoicing: 2 Cor. i. 12, ' For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-wards.' A holy conversation affords the greatest ground of

rejoicing. There is no joy to that which springs from the testimony of a sanctified conscience. God has given it under his own hand, that * the ways of wisdom' (which are always ways of holiness) ' are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace,' Prov. iii. 17. There is no pleasure nor felicity to that which flows from the ways of sanctity. The sweetest roses, the strongest comforts, and the greatest pleasantness, is to be found in the ways of holiness. Oh the joy, the peace, the tranquillity, the serenity that attends the ways of purity. I might call in many millions of saints, who from their own experiences are able to give the He to this objection, and further to tell you, that they have met with more comforts, sweetness, and pleasantness in one hour's communion with God, in one hour's walking with God, than ever they have found in aU the ways of ungodliness and wickedness, wherein they have wandered. Oh, they are able to tell you, that when they walked in ways of impiety, they found by experience that God had made a separation between sin and peace, between sin and joy, between sin and assurance, between sin and the light of his countenance, &c., Isa. Ivii. 20, 21; and they are able to tell you from what they have found, that there is no fear, no terror, no horror, no gripes, no grief, no stings, no hells to those that attend the ways of ungodliness; and this were enough to blow off this objection, Kom. vi. 21. But,

4. Fourthly, I answer, Tlud the joy of the saints is chiefly and mainly an inward joy, a spiritual joy, a joy that lies remote from a carnal eye. The joy of a Christian lies deep, it cannot be expressed, it cannot be painted. Look, as no man can paint the sweetness of the honeycomb, nor the sweetness of a cluster of grapes, nor the fragrancy of the rose of Sharon; so no man can paint out the sweetness and spiritual-ness of a Christian's joy, it lies so deep and low in a gracious heart. And look, as the life of a Christian is ' hid with Christ in God,' Col. iii. 3; so the joy of a Christian is ' hid with Christ in God.' As their life is a hidden life, so their joy is a hidden joy. The joy of a Christian is ' hidden manna,' it is the ' new name and white stone, that none knoweth but he that has it,' Rev. ii. 20; Prov. xiv. 10, ' The heart knoweth his own bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.' The joy of a saint is a jewel that falls not under a stranger's eye. Look, as the greatest terrors and torments of the wicked are inward, so the greatest joys and comforts of the saints are inward; and look, as the heart of man is deep, so holy joy is a treasure that lies deep, and it is not every man that has a golden key to search into this treasury, Jer. xvii. 9, 10. As a man standing on the sea-shore sees a great heap of waters, one wave riding upon the back of another, and making a dreadful noise, but all this while, though he sees the water rolling, and hears it raging and roaring, yet he sees not the wealth, the gold, the silver, the jewels, and incredible treasures that lie buried there ; so wicked men they see the wants of the saints, but not their wealth, they see their poverty, but not their riches, their miseries, but not their mercies, their conflicts, but not their comforts, their sorrows, but not their joys, 1 Cor. ii. 14. Oh, the blind world cannot see the joys and rejoicings, the comforts and consolations of the saints, that lie at the bottom of their souls. Their joys are inward and spiiitual^

and so must the eye be that discerns them. The joy of the saints is like ' a garden enclosed, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed,' Cant. iv. 12; and as the glory of the church is inward, Ps. xlv. 13, so the joy of the church is inward. The waters of consolation lie deep in the wells of salvation, Isa. xii, 3. The richest veins of ore lie deepest under ground; and so does the strongest and the choicest joys of the saints lie deep. The moon is often dark to the world, when yet that part which faceth the sun is very lightsome, beautiful, and glorious; so many times, if you look upon the outside of a Christian, which is his dark side, you may see his countenance clouded, and his carriage and behaviour as to the world either damped or obscured; but if you could but now look upon his inside, which is his best side, and which faces the Sun of righteousness, oh, then you should see the light of joy and comfort sweetly and gloriously shining forth. 0 sirs, look, as there are many rich men in the world, who make no show of it by their garb, or table, or attendance, &c., so there are many Christians that are rich in divine consolations, who yet don't shew it in such or such an outward carnal way as the men of the world do usually express their joy in: and look, as many a wicked man has heaviness in his heart when he has laughter in his face, as the wisest of princes has long since observed, in Pro v. xiv. 13, ' Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness.' The heart often weeps when the mouth laughs. Every laughter is not hearty, for laughter being but a sign of joy, the sign may be where the substance is not. Many wicked men are inwardly sad when they are outwardly glad, 2 Cor. v. 12. The false apostles did glory in the face,i and not in the heart; they set a good face on it, and seemed to be upon a merry pin, and yet all their smiles were but counterfeit smiles, all their joys were but skin deep ; the joy that was in their faces was nothing to the terrors, horrors, and torments that were in their hearts; so the godly many times rejoice in heart, when sadness and blackness seems to cover their faces: 2 Cor. vi. 10, ' As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,' &c. It is very observable that the apostle brings in the sorrow of the godly with a quasi, as it were sorrow, not that it is sorrow indeed, but ' as sorrowful,' as if their sorrow had been rather a painted sorrow than a real sorrow; but when he speaks of their joy, there is no quasi, but true joy; he does not say ' as rejoicing,' but ' always rejoicing.' Their joy was a real joy, but their sorrow was but a seeming sorrow, to the weak and childish opinions of vain men. When a Christian is at worst, as to the eye of the world, he may say of his joy, as Christ speaks of his meat, &c., when he said, ' I have meat to eat that you know not of,' John iv. 33; so he may say, I have joy, I have great joy, that the world knows not of. Look, as there is life and sap and juice in the root of the tree, even in the winter season, when there is no leaves, nor blossoms, nor fruit hanging on the tree; so there is joy and comfort and peace in the heart of a saint, when there are no outward visible discoveries of it to others; and you may as rationally conclude that there is no life, sap, and juice in the root of the tree, because the tree has no leaves, blossoms, or fruit on it, as you may conclude that the saints have no joy in their hearts, because they do

^ iy Trpoffwvu, in the face.

not express it in such outward visible acts as may convince the world thaiii they have it, &c. But,

5. Fifthly, I answer, That it is horrid injustice and disingenuity in thee, and in such as thou art, to make the hearts of the righteous sad, ivJiom God would not Imve sadded, hy your pride, profaneness, looseness, wickedness, worldliness, lukeivarmness, pithiness, camalness, dec, and then to cry out against them, that they are the saddest and uncomfortahlest people in the ivorld, Ezek. xiii. 22,23. What is this but, with Nero, to set the city of Kome on fire, and then to lay it upon the Christians, and punish them for it ? What is this but to deal by the saints as the devil deals by them ? He loads them and follows them with most sad, grievous, blasphemous, horrid, and hellish temptations, on purpose to make them walk heavily, mournfully, and uncomfortably, and when he has accomplished his design, then he accuses them sometimes to God, sometimes to themselves, and sometimes to others, for their heavy and uncomfortable walking, Kev. xii. 10. Oh, what inhumanity, cruelty, and vanity was it in the Egyptians to double the Israelites' tale of bricks, and to take away their straw, and then to cry out ' that they were idle, they were idle,' Exod. v. 8,17; so, oh what inhumanity and cruelty is this in unsanctified persons, to sad, grieve, and afflict the people of God with their drunkenness, wantonness, and lewdness, and with their cursing, swearing, and lying, and with their scorning and scoffing at godliness, and with their slandering of the Lord, his people and ways, and with their resisting and quenching of the blessed motions of the Spirit, and with their shifting off the glorious offers of grace and mercy, and with their treasuring up of wrath against the day of wrath, &c.,^ and then to cry out. Oh, how sadly, oh, how mournfully, do these men walk ! oh, what uncomfortable lives do these men live ! oh, what sorrow and pensiveness does still attend them! But is this just ? is this fair ? Suppose a husband should do a,ll he could to afflict and grieve his wife, and a father his child, and a master his servant, and a friend his friend, &c., and when they had done, then fall a-complaining that there were none so melancholy, nor none so sad and sorrowful as they; oh, what folly, what madness, and what injustice were this ! and yet this is the common dealing of unsanctified persons with the people of God, Dan. iv. 27. Ah, sinners, sinners, if you would but break off your sins by repentance, and cease from doing evil, and turn to the Lord with all your hearts, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and fall in with the ways of God, and trample upon this wicked world, and seek after the things of a better life, oh, how soon would the saints' sighing be turned into singing, and their mourning into rejoicing 1 Oh, the music, the mirth, the melody, that your conversion would make, both in their hearts and in their ears! It is very observable that Abraham made a feast at the weaning of his son Isaac, Gen. xxi. 8. He did not make a feast on the day of his nativity, nor on the day of his circumcision, but on that day when he was taken from his mother's breast. 0 sirs, if you were but once weaned from your lusts, and from the vanities of this world, if you were but once weaned from old corrupt customs, and from following after your sinful lovers, oh, how would all God's faithful ' Ps. cxix. 136, 158; Jer. ix. 1, 2 j 2 Pet. ii. 7,8; Rom. ii. 4, 5.

Abrahams rejoice! 1 Pet. i. 18, 19 ; Hosea vi. 7. Oh, what a feast of fat things ! oh, what a heavenly banquet would this make in aU their hearts ! About three hundred years after the apostles' time, Caius Marius Victorius, an old pagan, was converted from his paganism, infidelity, and impiety, and brought over to the Christian faith; which, when the people of God saw, there was wonderful rejoicing, and shouting, and dancing for gladness, and psalms were sung in every church, ' Caius Marius Victorius is become a Christian, Caius Marius Victorius is become a Christian!' This was written as a wonder, and sung as a wonder, that this old pagan, this gray-headed pagan, should become a gracious Christian, that he should in his old age be renewed and sanctified. Ah, friends, if you were but once converted and changed, if you were but once turned from darkness to light, if you were but once brought to Christ, if the people of God could but once see that you had passed the pangs of the new birth, and that Christ and holiness was but formed in your souls, ah, how would their hearts be filled with joy, and their mouths with laughter! Oh, what songs of salvation would they sing! Oh, how would the high praises of God be in their mouths ! Thou sayest. Oh there are none so sad and sorrowful, &c., as such and such Christians; but what is the cause of their sorrow and sadness ? is it not thy wickedness and ungodliness ? is it not thy unconverted and unsanctified estate ? Surely yes. Oh that thou wouldst therefore cease from complaining against them, and fall amending of thine own heart and ways ! and then all tears wUl be quickly wiped away from their eyes. But,

6. Sixthly, I answer. That all the joys, delights, and pleasures that holiness debars men of, are sinful joys, delights, and pleasures.^ Unsanctified souls take pleasure in unrighteousness; they rejoice to do evil, they make a sport of sin, and delight to dishonour their God, and damn their own immortal souls: Prov. ii. 14, ' They rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked/ And this is brought in as an aggravation of Jerusalem's sin: Jer. xi. 15, ' When thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.' Ah, how madly-merry are they that can take delight and content in that which is their shame and misery! ah, how is man fallen from his primitive glory, that he can now rejoice in that which is a dishonour to God, a reproach to Christ, a grief to the Spirit, a provocation to divine wrath, a blot upon his name, a curse upon his estate, a wound upon his conscience, and a plague upon his soul! Now what a mercy must it be to be taken off from that carnal mirth that ends in mourning, and from those vain delights that ends in unspeakable torments, and from that foolish jollity that leads to everlasting misery! Rev. xviii, 17. I have read of king Lysimachus, that when he and his army were besieged in one of his cities, and in great danger of perishing by thirst, for a cup of cold water he delivered up the keys of the city to his enemy, which cold comfort he had no sooner tasted but his tongue bewrayed the grief of his heart, saying, ' Oh that, in lieu of so momentary a pleasure, I should be made of a sovereign a servant, of a king a captive!' 2 Ah, what folly and madness is it for men to run the hazard of losing the

1 Rom. i. 32 ; 2 Thes. ii. 12 ; Amos vi. 13; Zeph. iii. 11 ; 2 Pet. ii. 13. ^ Plutarch, as before.—G.

kingdom of heaven, and the pleasures that be at God's right hand, Ps. xvi. 11, for those short-lived pleasures that are but like a blaze, or like the lightning, or like a morning cloud, or the early dew which soon passeth away ! i Ah, who would endure an ocean of torture for a drop of sensual pleasure, or for a few bitter sweets ? And therefore doubtless God can't do the soul a greater pleasure than to take it off from such vanishing pleasures. All sensual pleasures defile the soul, they debase the soul, yea, they debauch the soul; they take off the heart from God, and they deaden the heart towards God. The widow whilst she lived in pleasure is reckoned dead, 1 Tim. v. 6. She is dead God-wards, and dead Christ-wards, and dead duty-wards, and dead heaven-wards, and dead hoHness-wards, &c. Aristotle writes of a parcel of ground in Sicily that sends forth such a strong, such a sweet smell of fragrant flowers, that no hounds can hunt there; 2 so the carnal pleasures of this world do send forth so strong a scent, that unsanctified persons cannot hunt after God, nor Christ, nor holiness, nor the great concernments of another world; and therefore it is rather man's felicity than his misery to be taken off from such vain pleasures. Sensual pleasures and delights cannot satisfy the soul of man; they are but frothy and flashy, they only wet the mouth, they never warm the heart. A man may sooner break his neck than satisfy his heart with sensual pleasures. They are Junes in the pursuit, and but clouds in the enjoyment. Xerxes being weary of his sensual pleasures, promised great rewards to them that should invent new pleasures; and when they had invented new pleasures and delights, yet then he could not be satisfied nor contented; he would fain have had one pleasure to have taken off the weariness of another, but it could not be. There is nothing in carnal delights but imagination and expectation; for they can neither fill the heart nor satisfy the heart.

O sirs, there is no real pleasure in sin. All the pleasures of sin are counterfeit pleasures; they are but the shapes and shadows of pleasure; they are the seeds of future grief; they are but an earnest laid down for sorrow or ruin. It is observed by the mythologists that pleasure went on occasion to bathe herself, and having stripped off her clothes by the water-side, sorrow having hid herself at hand, steals the clothes away, puts them on, and so departs; so that carnal pleasures are nothing but sorrow in pleasure's clothes. Certainly if there were the least real delight in sin, hell could never be hell, yea, then it would follow that hell should be the greatest place of pleasure, for doubtless hell is the greatest place of sin. Oh, don't deceive your own souls! there can be no real joy in sensual pleasures. What real delight or pleasure can there be in tippling and fuddling in an ale-house or tavern, in swaggering and swearing, in dicing and carding, in dancing, masking, and whoring, in slighting of Sabbaths, in scoffing at saints, in despising of ordinances, and in pursuing after lying vanities ? Surely none. And as for those seeming pleasures that attend the ways of sin, ah, how soon do they vanish and leave a sting behind them ! Now all the pleasures that holiness deprives you of are only such that you may better ten thousand times want than enjoy. Look, as all the pleasures

^ Momentancum est quod delectat, aeternum quod cruciat.— Bernard. • Aa before.—G.

that manhood takes a man off from are babyish and toyish pleasm-es ; as from delighting in a rattle, a pipe, a feather, a hobby-horse, a wooden sword, &c. ; so all the pleasures and delights that holiness takes a man off from, they are babyish and foolish, yea, they are base, dangerous, and devilish ; and therefore it must needs be rather a high felicity than a misery for God to take thee off from such sinful pleasures and delights, by laying principles of holiness into thy heart. Oh ! remember that holiness will be no loss unto thee; it will be only an exchange of sinful delights for those that are holy, and of carnal for those that are spiritual, and of earthly for those that are heavenly. Isaac was not to be sacrificed, but the ram. All the delights that hoKness will put thee upon to sacrifice are but the rammish and rank delights of sin and the world, which may better be sacrificed than aspared. Holiness will secure thy Isaac—that is, thy spiritual laughter, thy spiritual joy, and thy heavenly delights and pleasure. Well, for a close, remember this, that sensual pleasures are below a man. Witness TuUy, who saith that he is not worthy of the name of a man, qui unum diem velit esse in voluptate, that would entirely spend one whole day in pleasures ; and witness Julian the apostate, who professed that the pleasures of the body were far below a great spirit. He that delights in sensual pleasures shall find at last his greatest pleasures to become iis bitterest pains. All that holiness will do is but to ease thee of thy pains, and therefore thou hast more cause to pursue after it than to turn thy back upon it. But,

7. Seventhly, I answer. That it may be their present case and condition, bespeaks rather the exercise and evidence of sorrow and of grief, than of gladness, Joy, and triumph.

[1.] For first. It may be some wound or guilt at present may lie hard upon their consciences, as once it did on David's, Ps. li.i And who then is able to rejoice under a wounded conscience, a guilty conscience ? As long as Adam did fast in paradise, he stood fast; but having once wounded his conscience by eating the forbidden fruit, though he tarried a while in paradise, yet he could take no dehght nor content in paradise. It is true the sun did shine as bright as ever, and the rivers ran as clear as ever, and the birds sang as sweetly as ever, and the beasts played as pleasantly as ever, and the flowers smelled as fragrantly as ever, and all the trees and fruits of the garden did flourish as bravely as ever, &c. Ah, but now Adam had contracted guilt upon his conscience, and this mars his joy, and spoils his delight, and unparadises paradise to him; his fall had made so deep a wound in his conscience, that he could take no delight in any of the dehghts of paradise. Guilt as an arrow did stick so fast in his conscience, that instead of sucking sweetness from the fairest fruits, he runs to hide himself under the broadest leaves, Gen. iii. 10. Guilt makes a man a Magor-missabib, Jer. xx. 3, a terror to himself. Put never such stately robes upon a wounded man, he minds them not; set never such dainty fare before a wounded man, he relisheth it not; lay him on never so soft a bed, yet it pleaseth him not; and let him hear never such sweet music, yet it delights him not; the smart

^ Multi conscientiam habent, non ad remidium, aed ad judicium, saith one. And Tolle conscientiam, tolle omnia, saith another.

and sense of his wound takes off the sweet of all: and so does a wound in the conscience take off the sweet of all a man's enjoyments and contentments. A guilty conscience, like Prometheus's vulture, lies ever gnawing. 1 What the probationer-disciple said to our Saviour—viz., ' Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest,' Mat. viii. 19—that a guilty conscience says to a fallen sinner: if thou fast I will follow thee, and fill thy mind with black and dismal apprehensions of God, of justice, of hell; if thou feast I will follow thee, and shew thee the handwriting on the wall that shall make thy countenance to change, thy thoughts to be troubled, and thy joints to be loosed, and thy knees to be dashed one agaiust another, Dan. v. 5 ; when thou goest forth I will follow thee with terrors, and when thou returnest home I will follow thee with horrors ; when thou goest to board I will follow thee with stinging accusations, and when thou goest to bed I will follow thee with terrifying and affrighting dreams. Job vii. 14. Now what joy can be in such a man's heart ? what gladness can be in such a man's face ? Surely none. I remember a saying of Luther, Una gutiula rmilce conscientice totum mare mundani gaudii absorbet, One drop of an evil conscience swallows up the whole sea of worldly joy.^ Oh, it is better with Evagrius to lie secure on a bed of straw, than to lie with a guilty conscience on a bed of down, having the curtains embroidered with gold, and the fringes bespangled with pearls. Sin brings such a stain and such a sting with it, as spoils all a man's joys and delights. And if this be the present case of a Christian, as it may, then never wonder to see him hang down his head, and to walk mournfully before his God. Or,

[2.] Secondly, This may arise from some great and heavy affliction, which for the present may sadly distress and oppress a saint's spirit; as Job's did his, or as Hezekiah's did his, or as Jacob's did his, &C.3 The disease may be so violent, the physic may be so strong, the wound may be so deep, the plaster may be so corroding, the melting pot may be so hot, the iron chains may be so heavy, the gall and wormwood may be so bitter, that a Christian may be so far from joy and rejoicing, as that he may for the present be so shut up under trouble and amazement, and under sorrow and grief, as that he may not be able, if you would give him all the world, to open his case unto you ; his eyes may in some sort tell what his tongue can in no sort utter, Ps. Ixxvii, 4. Usually they are the smallest miseries, when he that hath them can presently teU all the world of them. The greatest sorrow hath for the most part the deepest silence attending on it. What Christian ever had joy in his heart or gladness in his face, when God was carrying of it harshly and roughly towards him ? Or,

[3.] Thirdly, It may be they are deserted, happily ^ God is with-draion from them, and he that should comfort them stands afar qff.^ Ah, what Christian can rejoice when the countenance of God is not towards him as of old ? who can be pleasant when God is dis-

^ Desperare est in infernum descendere.— Isidore.

' It was guilt that made that despairing Pope say that the cross could do him no good, he had so often sold it. " Job iii. 38 ; Isa. ix. 16 ; Gen. xxxvii. 30, to the end.

* ' Perhaps.'—G.

' Lam. i. 16; Gen. xxxi. 2, 5 ; Ps. xxx. 7 ; read the 77th and the 88th Psalms; Iga. viii. 17 ; Micah vii. 7-9,17; Ps. iv. 6, and xlii. 5,11, &c.

VOL. IV. B

pleased ? who can smile when God frowns ? who can sing when God sighs ? who can be merry when God is sorry ? Surely none that have ever experienced what the shinings of his face means! 0 sirs, the proper work of a deserted soul lies not in joy and rejoicing, but in mourning and waiting, and in seeking and suing at the throne of grace, that God would lift up the light of his countenance, and cause his face to shine, and his favour to break forth, that the bones that he has broken may rejoice: as Hudson the martyr, when he was deserted at the stake, he slipped from under his chain, and praying earnestly, he was comforted immediately, and suffered valiantly.^ Look, as when Samson's locks were cut off, his strength was gone ; so when God is gone, a Christian's locks are cut off, his strength is gone, his strength to joy and rejoice in God is gone, his strength to delight and to take pleasure in God is gone ; and as Samson, when his locks were cut off, and his strength was gone, fell to prayer, Judges xvi. 28, ' And Samson caUed unto the Lord, and said, 0 Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, only this once, 0 God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes ;' so when God is gone, the work of a Christian lies more in praying than it does in rejoicing. Though Joseph's heart was as full of love to his brethren as it could hold. Gen. xlii. 7-25, yet when he looked sourly upon them, and spake roughly to them, they were much afflicted and distressed; so though the heart of Jesus be as full of love to his people as it can hold, yet when he looks sourly, and speaks roughly to them, they can't but be grieved and sadded.2 But,

[4.] Fourthly, It may be they are sadly tempted and strangely huf~ feted hy Satan, as Paul luas, and from thence their present sadness may arise, 2 Cor. xii. 8-10. Tempted souls can tell you that it is one of the hardest works in the world to rejoice in the school of temptation, and to be merry when Satan's fiery darts stick fast in the soul. Adam's tempting-time was not his rejoicing-time, but his sinning-time; and David's tempting-time was not his rejoicing-time, but his miscarrying-time, 1 Chron. xxi.; and Job's tempting-time was not his rejoicing-time, but his complaining-time, Job iii.; and Peter's tempting-time was not his rejoicing-time, but his cursing and blaspheming-time. Mat. xxvi.; and Paul's tempting-time was not his rejoicing-time, but his humbling-time, 2 Cor. xii. 7, 8.3 The best men are most tempted, and oftentimes they are followed with the saddest, darkest, vilest, basest, and most amazing, affrighting, tormenting, and astonishing temptations ; and how is it possible that they should be able to rejoice and be glad, when such dreadful storms beat upon them ! Certainly the work of a Christian in the day of temptation lies in his putting on the whole armour of God, Eph. vi. 10, 11, 16-18, and in a prudent handhng the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith, and in earnest praying and vigilant watching, and a stout resisting of all Satan's fiery darts; for he who thinks, by disputing and reasoning, to put Satan off, does but shoot with him in his own bow, and wUl find to his cost that Satan will be too hard for him. It is open defiance, it is downright blows that makes Satan fly, and that secures the victory,

^ Clarke, as before.—G. ' See the 3d and 5th chapters of Solomon's Song.

^ Our whole life, says Austin, is nothing but a continued tentation.

James iv. 7; 1 Pet. v. 9. Now joy and rejoicing attends not the combat, but the conquest. The Romans never used to ride in triumph, but after conquests obtained. A Christian's triumphing time is his conquering time. Joy is most seasonable and suitable when a Christian has beaten Satan out of the field. The cock in the Arabic fable began to crow and clap his wings, as if he had obtained a perfect conquest, but, behold, on a sudden a vulture comes, and snatches this great conqueror away. They that triumph and rejoice over Satan before they have overcome him, are in no small danger of being worsted by him. But, [5.] Fifthly and lastly, To gather up many things together. I say that their present sorrow and sadness may arise from their going astray into some by-path of vanity and folly, wherein they have got a fall, or broke a bone, or put their souls out of Joint. As children sometimes get a fall, and then they come home by weeping cross; so Christians too often go astray and get a fall, and then they are fain to weep it out.i When men keep not the king's highway, they are often robbed of their money, and stripped of their clothes, and wounded too, as he was in the Gospel who fell among thieves; so when Christians keep not in the King of kings' highways, which are ways of righteousness and hohness, then they are often robbed of their comfort, and joy, and peace, and assurance, and communion with God, &c., and sorely wounded and bruised, and then it is no wonder if they are brought home with tears in their eyes. Or it may be their evidences for heaven are so blotted and blurred that they cannot read their title to heaven, and then it is no wonder if they are perplexed and grieved; or it may be they call in question former grants of favour and grace; or it may be a deeper sense of misspent time Kes harder than ever upon them; or else the littleness and smallness of their graces under such soul-enriching opportunities and advantages do sorely oppress them; or else the lateness of their conversion may sadly afflict them, &C.2 Now how absurd and unreasonable a thing is it for any men to argue thus, that surely godly men have no joy, no delight, no pleasure, &c., because there are some particular cases and conditions wherein they may be cast which rather bespeaks sorrow than joy, grief than gladness, mourning than mirth! Certainly you may as rationally and as righteously expect mirth, joy, and gladness from carnal, worldly, and ungodly wretches when they are under burning fevers, loathsome diseases, or violent pains of the stone or gout, &c., as you may expect upon a rational or religious account, joy and gladness, &c., in the saints in the forementioned cases that are incident to them. It was a very unreasonable request that they made to the people of God in that Ps. cxxxvii. 3, 4, ' For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying. Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?' And it is as unreasonable to expect or look that the people of God should sing and be merry, rejoice and be glad, when they are under soul distresses, and under the sore rebukes of God, and poured from vessel to vessel, &c. Music in

^ Gal. vi. 1, KaTaprl^ere. Set him in joint again; it is a metaphor from chirurgeons and bone-Betters, who handle their patients gently and tenderly. » Luke X. 30; Isa. xut, 8; Ps. cxix. 176.

times of mourning is as unreasonable as it is unseasonable and unsavoury, Jer. xlviii. 11: Prov. xxv. 20, ' As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.' Music and mourning, singing and sorrow, agree like harp and harrow. There is such a contrariety between singing and sorrow, that he that sings does but add weight to his sorrow that cannot sing. 0 sirs, as there is a time for rejoicing, so there is a time for mourning, Eccles. iii. 4; as there is a time to laugh, so there is a time to weep; and as we must rejoice with them that rejoice, so we must mourn with them that mourn, and weep with them that weep, Eom. xii. 15. The condition of God's people in this life is a mixed condition. In this life they have their rejoicing times and their mourning times, their laughing times and their weeping times, their singing times and their sorrowing times, &c. It is true, in heaven there is all joy and no sorrow, all gladness and no sadness; and in hell there is all sorrow and no joy, all grief and no gladness, all howling and no singing, all madness and no mirth ; but in this life it is otherwise, for if there should be nothing but joy, many would look for no other heaven; and if there should be nothing but sorrow, most would look for no other hell. If men should have nothing but joy, how sadly would they be puffed up ! And if they should have nothing but sorrow, how easily would they be cast down ! But now, by a divine hand, our sorrows being mixed with our joys, our hearts come to be the more effectually weaned from the vanities of this life, and to long more earnestly after the pure and unmixed joys of a better life, &c. But,

8. Eighthly, I answer. That it is possible that the sadness, sorrow, and grief of those particular saints that thou hast thine eye upon may arise from the natural temper and constitution of their bodies.'^ Many saints are often cast into a melancholy mould; for though grace changes the disposition of the soul, yet it alters not the constitution of the body. Now there is no greater enemy to holy joy and gladness than melancholy, for this pestilent humour will raise such strange passions and imaginations, it will raise such groundless griefs, and fears, and frights, and such senseless surmises and jealousies, as will pasily damp a Christian's joy, and mightily vex, perplex, trouble, and turmoil, daunt, and discourage a Christian's spirit. A melancholy constitution is Satan's anvil, upon which he forms many black, dark, and dismal temptations, which do exceedingly tend to the keeping down of divine consolation from rising high in the soul.2 This black, dark, dusky humour disturbs both soul and body; it tempts Satan to tempt the soul, and it unables the soul to resist the temptation ; yea, it prepares the soul to hearken to the temptation, and to close and fall in with the temptation, as the experiences of aU melancholy Christians can testify. Look, as coloured glass makes the very beams of the sun seem to be all of the same colour with itself—if the glass be blue, the beams of the sun seems to be blue; if the glass be red, the beams of the sun seems to be red; or if the glass be green, the

^ The cure of melancholy belongs rather to the physician than to the divine, to Galea than to Paul.

^ It is an old saying that melancholia eat vehiculum dcemonum.

beams of the sun seems to be green—so tliis black melancholy humour represents all things to the eye of the soul as duskish and dark, and as full of horror and terror, yea, many times it represents the bright beams of divine love, and the shinings of the Sun of righteousness, and the gracious whispers of the blessed Spirit, as delusions, and as sleights of Satan, to cozen the soul. I have read of a foolish melancholy bird that stands always but upon one leg, for fear her own weight, though she be very small, should sink her into the centre of the earth, and holding her other leg over her head, lest the heavens should fall upon her and crush her. I shall not dispute the credibleness of the relation; but certainly there is nothing that fills a Christian so full of fears and frights as a melancholy humour does; and all know that know anything, that there are no greater adversaries to joy and gladness than such fears and frights. Now how absurd and unreasonable is it to father that upon holiness, or upon all holy persons, that proceeds from the special constitution of some particular saints! and yet this is the trade that unsanctified souls drive. And let thus much suffice for answer to this grand objection; and oh that this objection may never have a resurrection in any of your hearts more! But,

Object 4. Fourthly, Some may further object, and say, We see tJiat no persons on earth are exposed to such troubles, dangers, afflictions, and persecutions, as those are exposed to who mind holiness, who follow after holiness. These are days tvherein men labour to frown holiness out of the world, and to scorn and kick holiness out of the tvorld ; and do you think that we are mad noiv to pursue after holiness? Now to this great and sore objection, I shall give these following answers:

1. First, It must be granted that afflictions and persecutions has been the common lot and portion of the people of God in this tvorld A Abel was persecuted by Cain, 1 John iii. 12, and Isaac by Ishmael, Gal. ix. 29. That seems to be a standing law, ' All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution,' 2 Tim, iii. 12. A man may have many faint wishes and cold desires after godliness, and yet escape persecution; yea, he may make some essays 2 and attempts as if he would be godly, and yet escape persecution; but when a man is thoroughly resolved to be godly, and sets himself in good earnest upon pursuing after holiness and living a life of godliness, then he must expect to meet with afilictions and persecutions. It is neither a Christian's gifts nor his graces, it is neither his duties nor his services that can secure him. Whoever escapes, the godly man shall not escape persecution in one kind or another, in one degree or another. He that will live up to holy rules, and live out holy principles, must j)repare for sufferings. All the roses of holiness are surrounded with pricking briers. The history of the ten persecutions, and that little book of martyrs, the 11th of the Hebrews, and Mr Foxe his Acts and Monuments, with many other treatises that are extant, do abundantly evidence that from age to age, and from one generation to another, they that have been born after the flesh have persecuted them that

^ Witness the sufferings of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and saints in all ages : Acts vii. 52 ; Rev. xii. 13 ; Acts ix. 10 ; Lam. v. 5. The common cry of persecutors have been, Christiani ad Leones.

* Spelled ' assays.'—G.

have been born after the Spirit, Gal. iv. 20, and that the seed of the serpent have been still a-multiplying of troubles upon the seed of the woman. 1 Would any man take the church's picture, saith Luther, then let him paint a poor silly maid sitting in a wilderness, compassed about with hungry lions, wolves, boars, and bears, and with all manner of other cruel, hurtful beasts, and in the midst of a great many furious men assaulting her every moment and minute, for this is her condition in the world. As certain as the night follows the day, so certain will that black angel, persecution, follow holiness wherever it goes. In the last of the ten persecutions, seventeen thousand holy martyrs were slain in the space of one month. And in Queen Mary's days, or, if you will, in the Marian days, not of blessed, but of most abhorred memory, the Popish prelates in less than four years sacrificed the lives of eight hundred innocents to their idols! and oh that that precious innocent blood did not still cry to heaven for vengeance against this nation! But,

2. Secondly, Christ and Ms apostles hath long since foretold us that ajffiictions and persecutions will attend us in this world. The Lord hath long since forewarned us, that we may be forearmed, and not surprised on a sudden when they come. Christ hath shot off many a warning piece in his word, and sent many a harbinger, that so we may stand upon our guard, and not be surprised nor astonished when afflictions and persecutions overtake us: Mat. x. 22, ' And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.' Chap. xvi. 24, ' Then said Jesus unto his disciples. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.' Luke xxi. 12, ' But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.* John xv. 20, ' Kemember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than the lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you ; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.' Ah Christians, since they have crowned your head with thorns, there is no reason why you should expect to be crowned with rosebuds.2 Godfrey of Bouillon, first king of Jerusalem, refused to be crowned with a crown of gold, saying, that it became not a Christian there to wear a crown of gold, where Christ for our salvation had sometime worn a crown of thorns. John xvi. 33, ' These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.' Acts xiv. 21,22, 'And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.' As there was no way to paradise but by the flaming sword, nor no way to Canaan but thi'ough a wilderness; so there is no

^ Within the first three hundred years after Christ, all that made a profession of the apostles' doctrine were cruelly murdered.

" Non potest qui pati timet, ejus esse qui passiis est —He that is afraid to suffer, cannot be his disciple who suffered so much.— TerluUian.

way to heaven but by the gates of hell, there is no way to a glorious exaltation but through a sea of tribulation.i They do but dream and deceive their own souls who think to go to heaven upon beds of down, or in a soft and delicate way, or that think to be attended to glory with mirth and music, or with singing or dancing. The way to happiness is not strewed with roses, but full of thorns and briers, as those of whom this world was not worthy have experienced. Ecclesiastical histories tells us that all the apostles died violent deaths. Peter was crucified with his heels upward—Christ was crucified with his head upwards, but Peter thought this was too great an honour for him to be crucified as his Lord, and therefore he chose to be crucified with his heels upward; and Andrew was crucified by Egeus king of Edessa; and James the son of Zebedee was slain by Herod with the sword. Acts xii. 2; and Philip was crucified at Hierapolis in Asia; and while Bartholomew was preaching the glad tidings of salvation, multitudes fell upon him and beat him down with staves, and then crucified him, and after all this, his skin was flayed off, and he beheaded; Thomas was slain with a dart at Calumina in India; 2 and Matthew was slain with a spear, say some, others say he was run through with a sword; and James the son of Alpheus, who was called the Just, was thrown down from off a pinnacle of the temple, and yet having some life left in him, he was brained with a fuller's club; Lebbeus was slain by Agbarus king of Edessa; and Paul was beheaded at Kome under Nero; and Simon the Canaanite was crucified in Egypt, say some, others say that he and Jude was slain in a tumult of the people; and Matthias was stoned to death; and John was banished into Patmos, Kev. i. 9, and afterwards, as some histories tells us, he was by that cruel tyrant Domitian cast into a tun of scalding lead, and yet delivered by a miracle. Thus all these precious servants of God, except John, died violent deaths, and so through sufferings entered into glory; they found in their own experience the truth of what Christ had foretold concerning their sufferings and persecutions. About the year 1626, a book formerly printed, and intituled, A Preparation to the Cross of Christ, composed by John Frith, martyr, was brought in the belly of a fish to the market in Cambridge, and that a little before the commencement-time ; when there was a confluence of much people from all places of the land, which was construed by them that feared the Lord to be no less than a heavenly warning to all the people of England to prepare for the cross. 3 But, ah, since that year, who can recount the heavy crosses that has generally attended the people of this nation ? Most have walked cross to God, and cross to one another, and God has walked as cross to them. You have crossed the commands of God, and the truths of God, and the ways of God, and the works of God, and the designs of God, and God has crossed you in your hopes, desires, prayers, and endeavours, and God gave you warning of this beforehand by a fish, by a miracle, to provide for the cross, but you would not, and therefore it is that the cross lies so heavy upon you this day. When Mr

^ Loddela Corda computeth forty-four several kinds of torments wherewith the primitive Christians were tried.— Adv. Sacr. cap. 128. [Query—Maurice de la Corde, the Huguenot scholar and physician ?—G.]

" Sic ; cf. Butler's ' Lives of the Saints.' Dec. 21.—G.

> Mr Jer. Dyke, in a Fast Sermon at Westminster.

Bradford was told that his chain was a-buying, and that he must be burnt, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, I thank God for it; I have looked for this a long time ; it comes not to me suddenly, but as a thing waited for every day, yea, every hour in the day; the Lord make me worthy thereof. If upon God's warning you will but prepare for sufferings, you will never fear nor faint under sufferings, yea, then you will be able under the greatest persecutions to bear up bravely, and with holy Bradford bless the Lord that has called you to so high an honour as to count you worthy to suffer for his name. But, 3. Thirdly, I answer. That all the troubles, ajfflictions, and persecutions that do befall you for holiness sake, shall never hurt you nor harm you, they shall never prejudice you, nor wrong you in your main and great concernments: Exod. iii. 2, ' And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.' 1 Here you have a bush, a dry bush, a bramble-bush all on a-light fire, and yet not consumed. This burning bush was an excellent emblem of the church in the fire of tribulation and persecution. Though the church may seem to be all on fire by reason of afflictions and persecutions, yet it shall be preserved, it shall not be destroyed. Though God be a consuming fire, yet he will never consume the bramble-bush. The bush was on fire, and yet the fire did not in the least hurt or harm the bush, it did not one whit prejudice or wrong the bush, Deut. iv. 24; Heb. xii. 29: so though the church of God be on fire by the means of fiery trials, yet these fiery trials shall never hurt nor harm the church, they shall never prejudice it nor wrong it: Ps. cv. 12-15, * When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; he suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; saying. Touch not mine anointed, nor do my prophets no harm.' ^ God would not suficr his anointed ones, his sanctified ones, so much as to be touched, hm-t, or harmed by those who had malice enough in their hearts, and power enough in their hands, not only to hurt them, but even to destroy them.3 Sanctified persons are sacred persons, and they that touch them touch the apple of God's eye, and whosoever shall be so bold to touch the apple of God's eye shall dearly smart for it. It was no small affliction to have no settled habitation. To fly from place to place, from kingdom to kingdom, and from nation to nation, was without all peradventure an afflicted condition. Doubtless many fears and frights, many hazards and dangers did attend them, when they considered that they were as lilies among the thorns, and as a few sheep among a multitude of wolves. In the land of Canaan there were seven mighty nations, Deut. vii. 1. Now for the people of God, who were so few in number that they might easily and quickly be told, to sojourn and wander among these, could not but be very dangerous and perilous; and yet such was the love of God to them, and the care of God over them,

^ The Hebrew word, H^Dj signifies a dry bush, a bramble-bush, and therefore it was the more strange and miraculous that it was not consumed. ' That is, the king of Egypt and the king of Gerar. * Gen. xii. 17, xx. 3, and xxxv. 5j Zech. iL 8.

that he suffered no man, whether he was high or low, honourable or base, rich or poor, civil or profane, to hurt or harm them: Dan. iii. 25, 27, ' And the king answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like unto the Son of God. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.' i Though these holy men were cast into a furnace, into a fiery furnace, into the midst of a hot fiery furnace, yet God will work a miracle, yea, a glorious miracle, rather than the fire shall in the least hurt or harm them. God gives a commission to the fire to burn those mighty men that made the fire, and that cast his children into the fire, and whom the king would have to be spared and saved; and he lays a law of restraint upon the fire, that it should not hurt nor harm them whom the king would have destroyed. Those whom the King of kings will not have hurt, shall not be hurt, let kings and princes do their worst; that fire that burnt their bonds had no power to burn, no nor to touch, their bodies. God would not suffer the fire to singe a hair of their heads, nor to change the colour of their coats, nor to leave so much as an ill smell upon his people, that those heathen princes might see how tender he was of them, and how willing he was to put forth his almighty power rather than he would see them wronged or harmed. So chap. vi. 21-23, * Then said Daniel unto the king, 0 king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angels, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me ; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.' Holiness, innocency, and integrity will preserve a man even among lions. Daniel preferred the worship of his God before his life. He made no great reckoning of his life when it stood in competition with divine glory, and therefore, rather than Daniel shall be hurt, God will by a miracle preserve him, he will stop the mouths of the hungry lions, and he will tame their rage, and overmaster their cruelty, rather than a hair of Daniel's head shall perish. When Daniel was taken out of the den, there was no hurt, no wound, no sore, no bruise found upon him. Daniel was a harmless man, and God keeps him from harms in the midst of harms: Acts xviii. 9,10, ' Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision. Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city.' Paul met with many trials and troubles, bonds and prisons, oppositions and persecutions, and yet none of all these hurt him, but God miraculously preserved him even to old age. Acts xx. 23. All the troubles, afflictions, and persecutions that attends holiness, can never

^ As David laid a charge upon his soldiers, (2 Sam. xviii. 5,) that by no means they should hurt his son Absalom; so God laid a prohibition upon the enemies and persecutors of his people, that they should not touch them, that they should not in the least hurt or harm them.

reach a Christian's soul, they can never diminish a Christian's treasure ; they reach the shell, not the kernel, the case, not the jewel, the lumber, not the goods, the outhouse, not the palace, the ribbon in the hat, not the gold in the purse. The most fiery trials and persecutions can never deprive a Christian of the special presence of God, nor of the light of his countenance, nor of the testimony of a good conscience, nor of the joys of the Spirit, nor of the pardon of sin, nor of fellowship with Christ, nor of the exercise of grace, nor of the hopes of glory, Ps. xxiii. 4; 2 Cor. i. 8, 9, 12; and therefore certainly they can't hurt a Christian, they can't wrong a Christian in his greatest and chief est concernments. 0 Christian, let persecutors do their worst, they can't reach thy soul, thy God, thy comfort, thy crown, thy paradise, &c.; and therefore let no man be kept off from pursuing after holiness because of afflictions or persecutions, seeing none of these can reach a Christian's great concernments. When the emperor Valens threatened to confiscate Basil's goods, and to torment him, and to banish him or kill him, Basil makes this noble reply: He needs not fear confiscation of goods that hath nothing to lose, nor banishment, to whom heaven only is a country, nor torments, when his body may be dashed with one blow, nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty. The emperor, hearing of him thus undauntedly to speak, told him that he was mad, to whom he replied, Opto me, in cetemum sic delirare —I wish that I may be for ever thus mad. Basil knew that no torments nor sufferings could hurt him or harm him, and therefore he bravely triumphs over them. They may kill me, said Socrates of his enemies, but they cannot hurt me. So may a saint say, They may kill my body, but they cannot hurt my soul; they may take away my natural life, but they cannot take away my spiritual life, for that is hid with Christ in God, Col. iii. 3; they may take away this and that outward comfort, but they cannot take away my Christ; they may take away my costly ornaments, but they cannot take away that robe of righteousness that Christ has put upon me; they may take away my earthly crown, but they cannot take away that crown of righteousness which Christ the righteous judge has laid up for all that love his appearing, 2 Tim. iv. 8. Methinks, said one of the martyrs, [Vincentius,] I tread upon pearls, when he trod upon hot burning coals; and I feel, said he, no more pain than if I lay in a bed of down, and yet he lay in flames of fire. I have read of Nero, that he had a shirt made of a salamander's skin, so that if he walked through the fire in it, it would keep him from burning, it would keep him from being hurt or harmed by the fire. Our Lord Jesus Christ is this salamander's skin, that will keep the saints from burning, yea, from being hurt or harmed by the most fiery afflictions and persecutions that can befall them in this world. But,

4. Fourthly, I answer. That the condition of persecutors, of all conditions under heaven, is the most sad and deplorable condition ; and this will appear by the consideration of these five things :

[1.] First, By the prayers and indictments that the saints have jfyreferred against them in the highest court of Justice, I mean in the parliament of heaven: Ps. xxxv. 3-9,i ' Draw out the spear, and stop

1 Ps. Ixix. 22, 29 ; Neh. iv. 3-5, turn to it.

the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them be as chaff before the wind; and let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery,' or darkness and slipperiness; ' and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. Let destruction come upon him at unawares ; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall'i So in that 83d Psalm David sighs out his sad complaints against his persecutors, from verse 2d to verse the 9th; and from verse the 9th to verse the 18th he prays against them. Turn to it; it is a text that is worthy of your most serious meditation : Ps. cxix. 84, ' How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me ?' Jer. xv. 15, ' 0 Lord, thou knowest, remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy long-suffering : know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke:' chap. xvii. 18, ' Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded ; let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction,* or break them with a double breach: Lam. iii. 61, seq., ' Thou hast heard their reproach, 0 Lord, and all their imaginations against me. The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their music,' or I am their song. ' Kender unto them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. Persecute and destroy them in anger, from under the heavens of the Lord: ' 2 Tim. iv. 14, ' Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil; the Lord reward him according to his works.' Thus you see how the hearts of the saints have been drawn out against their persecutors. Prayers are the arms that in times of persecution the saints have still had recourse to. The Romans being in great distress were put so hard to it, that they were fain to take the weapons out of the temples of their gods to fight with their enemies, and so they overcame them; so when the people of God have been hard put to it, by reason of afflictions and persecutions, the weapons that they have fled to has been prayers and tears, and with these they have overcome their persecutors, as is evident in the three children in Daniel, and many others, &c. I3ut,

[2.] Secondly, Persecutions do but raise, ivhet, and stir up a more earnest and vehement spirit of prayer among the persecuted saints: 2 Rev. vi. 9, 10, ' And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying. How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and. avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?' The blood of

^ Both good and evil angels are at God's beck, ready to execute rengeance upon hla and his people's enemies and persecutors; and therefore the text may be understood of both.

^ See Acts It. 17, 21, 29, 31, compared; and Luke ztUL 7; Lam. v. 59-61, &c.

the persecuted cries aloud for vengeance upon the persecutors.! By the ' souls under the altar,' you are to understand the persons of the saints which were martyred and lay slain upon the ground, like sacrifices at the foot of the altar, under the Roman persecuting emperors. There is no blood that cries so loud, and that makes so great a noise in heaven, as the blood of the martyrs, as the blood of butchered persecuted saints. Persecutors, like these Roman emperors, in all ages have causelessly and cruelly destroyed the people of Grod; they delight in the blood of saints, they love to wallow in the blood of saints, they take pleasure in glutting themselves with the blood of saints, they make no conscience of watering the earth, nor of colouring the sea, nor of quenching the flames with the blood of the saints, yea, if it were possible, they would willingly swim to heaven through their hearts' blood, whom Christ has purchased with his own most precious blood—^as all historians know, and as you may all know if you would but search a little into ecclesiastical histories — and therefore it is no wonder if the blood of the martyrs cry aloud for vengeance upon such desperate persecutors. The blood and prayers of persecuted saints will first or last bring down wrath and ruin upon their persecutors. Persecution puts an edge, yea, a sharp edge, upon the prayers of the saints : Acts xii. 5, ' Peter therefore was kept in prison ; but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.' 2 The Greek word e/crei^? signifies earnest and stretched-out prayer. When Peter was in prison, sleeping between two soldiers, and bound with two chains, and the keepers standing before the prison door, oh, how earnest! oh, how instant! oh, how fervent! oh, how vehement! oh, how constant were the saints in their prayers for his deliverance! oh, their hearts, their souls, their spirits were in their prayers ! oh, their prayers were no cold prayers, no formal prayers, no lukewarm prayers, nor no dull or drowsy prayers, but their prayers were full of life, and full of warmth, and full of heat. They knew Herod's bloody intention to destroy this holy apostle by his imprisoning of him, and by the chains that were put on him, and by the strong guards that were set upon him, and by his bathing of his sword in the innocent blood of James, that his hand might be the more apt and ready for further acts of murder and cruelty; and oh, how did the consideration of these things whet and provoke their spirits to prayer ! ^ Oh, now they wUl have no nay, now they will give God no rest till he has overturned the tyrant's counsel and designs, and sent his angel to open the prison doors, and to knock ofi" Peter's chains, and to deliver him from the wrath and fury of Herod ; and their prayers were successful, as is evident in the 12th verse, ' And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying,' or rather, as the original has it, ' where many thronged together

^ Blood hath as many tongues as drops to cry for vengeance, which made king James say, that if God did leave him to kill a man, he would think God did not love him, 1 Cor. vi. 20 ; 1 Peter i. 18, 19.

2 All these circumstances do wonderfully declare the power of God in his deliverance. Some say he had sixteen, others say he had twenty soldiers for his guard; the greater was his deliverance.

3 James was the first of the apostles that died a violent death.

to pray.' l The violence and rage of their persecutors did so raise, whet, and encourage them to prayer, that they throng together, they crowded together to pray, yea, when others were a-sleeping they were a-praying, and their prayers were no sleepy prayers, they were no lazy dronish prayers, nor they were no book-prayers, but they were powerful and prevalent prayers; for as so many Jacobs, or as so many princes, they prevaOed with God ; they prayed and wept, and wept and prayed ; they called and cried, and cried and called ; they begged and bounced, and they bounced and begged; and they never left knocking at heaven's gates till Peter's chains were knocked off, and Peter given into their arms, yea, their bosoms, as an answer of prayer. Oh the power and force of joint prayer, when Christians do not only beseech God, but besiege him, and beset him too, and when they will not let him go till he has blessed them, and answered their prayers and the desires of their souls! I have read that Mary Queen of Scots, that was mother to king James, was wont to say, ' that she was more afraid of Mr Knox's prayers, and the prayers of those Christians that walked with him, than she was of a knocking army of ten thousand men.' And that is a remarkable passage of the psalmist, Ps. cix. 3, 4, ' They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer;' or as the Hebrew has it, ' but I am prayer, or a man of prayer.' 2 Persecuted saints are men of prayer, yea, they are as it were made up all of prayer. David prayed before, but, oh, when his enemies fell a-persecuting of him, then he gave up himself whoUy to prayer. Oh, then he was more earnest, more fervent, more frequent, more diligent, more constant, and more abundant in the work of prayer! When Numa, king of the Komans, was told that his enemies were in arms against him, he did but laugh at it, and answered, ' And I do sacrifice;' 3 so when persecutors arm themselves against the people of God, they do but divinely smile and laugh at it, and give themselves the more up to prayer. When men arm against them, then they arm themselves with all their might to the work of prayer; and woe, woe to them that have armies of prayers marching against them. But,

[3.] Thirdly, It will appear that the condition of persecutors is the most sad and deplorable condition of all conditions under heaven, if you loill but seriously consider and lay to heart the sore Judgments that are threatened, and that have been executed upon them: Deut. xxx. 7, ' And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them which hate thee, which persecuted thee;' Neh. ix. 9-11, ' And didst see the afflictions of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Bed Sea: and shewed signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on the people of his land; for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day. And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their

^ This house is thought by many to be the house where the apostles commonly had their meetings. - The like speech you have in that Pa. cxx. 7. Vaani uzephillah, But I prayer. =* Plutarch in the life of Numa.

persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.'1 Pharaoh and his princes and people were very great oppressors and persecutors of God's Israel, and therefore God visited them with ten dreadful plagues, one after another; but when, after all these plagues, God saw that their enmity against his people was as great, or rather greater than ever, and that they were still set upon persecuting of his people, then God takes up Pharaoh and his mighty host, and throws them as a stone into the mighty waters, Exod. xv. 10; Ps. vii. 11-13, ' God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.' God whets before he strikes, he bends his bow before he shoots, he prepares instruments of death before he brings men down to the grave, his hand takes hold on judgment before his judgments take hold of men; but if all these warnings will not serve their turns, God will overturn them with a witness. ' He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors,' or as the Hebrew has it, ' against the hot burning persecutors.' 2 God hath his hot burning arrows for hot burning persecutors. Let persecutors be never so hot against the saints, God will be as hot against them; and let them be never so much inflamed against the people of God, God will be as much inflamed against them: Jer. XX. 10, 11, ' For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Keport, said they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail, they shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper; their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.'^ When malicious and mischievous persecutors have done all they can to vex and fret, to daunt and affright, to dismay and discourage the people of God, then God will terrify the most terrible among them, and ' they shall not prevail nor prosper, yea, they shall stumble and fall, they shall be ashamed and confounded.' Isa. xxxiii. 1, ' Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee: when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.' When the time is expired that God has prefixed for his people's sufferings, then God will retaliate upon their persecutors, then they that spoiled his people shaU be spoiled, and they that dealt perfidiously and treacherously with them, shall be dealt perfidiously and treacherously withal: 2 Thes. i. 6, ' Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.' It is but justice that God should trouble those that are the troublers of his people; it is but justice that persecutors should be punished, and that

^ As you may see in the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth chapters of Exodus.

' Q^p7^7, from p7l, and from dalah is daleketh, that signifies a burning ague.

* After the reign of Decius, under whom the seventh persecution began, God sent a plague ten years together, which made divers places of the world desolate, especially where the persecution most raged, &c.

the persecuted should be righted; it is but justice that God should trouble them in both worlds, who would be troublers of his people in both worlds; it is but justice that God should trouble them to all eternity, who would be a-troubling of his people to all eternity, if their power were but answerable to their malice. And God has even in this life been a swift witness against the persecutors of his people. Cain was a persecutor, and his brother s blood pursued him to hell; Pharaoh was a great oppressor and persecutor of his people, and God followed him with plague upon plague, and judgment upon judgment, till he had overthrown him in the Ked Sea; Saul was a persecutor, and falls by his own sword; Haman was a great persecutor of the saints, and he was feasted with the king one day, and made a feast for crows the next; Pashur was a great persecutor, he smote the prophet Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks, and God threatened to make him a Magor-missdbih, a terror to himself and to all his friends, Jer. XX. 1-3; Zedekiah was a persecutor, he smote the prophet Micaiah-on the cheek for dealing plainly and faithfully with the kings, and in the day of trouble and distress he goes from chamber to chamber to hide himself, 1 Kings xxii.; Jezebel was a great persecutor, she slew the prophets of God, and she was thrown out of a window, and eaten up of dogs, 1 Kings xviii. 4-13; 2 Kings ix. 30; Herod the Great, who caused the babes of Bethlehem to be slain, hoping thereby to destroy Christ, shortly after was plagued by God with an incurable disease, having a slow and slack fire continually tormenting his inward parts; he had a vehement and greedy desire to eat, and yet nothing would satisfy him; his inward bowels rotted, his breath was short and stinking, some of his members rotted, and in all his members he had so violent a cramp that nature was not able to bear it; and so growing mad with pain, he died miserably.i

Herod Antipas, who beheaded John Baptist, not long after falling into disgrace with the Koman emperor, with his incestuous Herodias, the suggester of that murder, they were banished, and fell into such misery and penury, that they ended their wretched lives with much shame and misery.^

Herod Agrippa was a great persecutor of the saints, and he was eaten up of worms. Acts xii. In the third year of his reign, as Josephus observes, he went to Caesarea to keep certain plays in the honour of Caesar.s The gown he was in, as the same author relates, was a gown of silver wonderfully wrought, and the beams of the sun reflecting upon it, made it so glister that it dazzled the eyes of the beholders; when he had made an end of his starched oration in this his bravery, his flatterers extolled him as a god, crying out, * It is the voice of a god, and not of a man,' Acts xii. 21-23; whereupon he was presently smitten by the angel of the Lord, and so died vrith worms that ate up his very entrails. The blow the angel gave him was an inward blow, and so not visible to others, and his torments more and more increasing upon him, the people put on sackcloth and made supplication for him, but all in vain, for his pains and torments growing stronger and stronger ever}' day upon him, they separated his wretched soul from his loathsome body within the compass of five days; and it is very pro-

^ Eusebius. ' Ibid. > Josephus : Antiq., lib. xiic cap. 7.

bable that the prayers of the persecuted church did help to speed this persecutor out of the world. Caiaphas, the high priest who gathered the council and suborned false witnesses against the Lord Christ, was shortly after put out of his office, and one Jonathan substituted in his room, whereupon he killed himself.^

Not long after Pontius Pilate had condemned our Lord Christ, he lost his deputyship and Caesar's favour, and being fallen into disgrace with the Roman emperor, and banished by him, he fell into such misery that he hanged himself.^

Nero, that monster of men, who raised the first bloody persecution, to pick a quarrel with the Christians, set the city of Rome on fire, and then charged it upon them; under which pretence he exposes them to the fury of the people, who cruelly tormented them, as if they had been common burners and destroyers of cities, and the deadly enemies of mankind; yea, Nero himself caused them to be apprehended and clad in wild beasts' skins, and torn in pieces with dogs; others were crucified; some he made bonfires of, to light him in his night-sports; to be short, such horrid cruelty he used towards them, as caused many of their enemies to pity them; but God found out this wretched persecutor at last, for, being adjudged by the senate an enemy to mankind, he was condemned to be whipped to death; for the prevention whereof he cut his own throat.

Domitian, the author of the second persecution against the Christians, was, by the consent of his wife, slain by his own household servants with daggers in his privy chamber, his body was buried without honour, his memory cursed to posterity, and his arms and ensigns were thrown down and defaced.

Trajan raised the third persecution against the church, and the vengeance of God followed him ; for first he fell into a palsy, then lost the use of his senses, afterwards he fell into a dropsy, and died in great anguish.

There was not one of those persecuting emperors that carried on the ten bloody persecutions against the saints, but came to miserable ends; yea, histories tell us of three and forty persecuting emperors, who fell under the revenging hand of God, and came to untimely ends. Among the many thousand thousands of instances that might be given of the judgments of God that have fallen upon the persecutors of the people of God in these latter days, I shall only give you a few. Faelix Earl of Wartenburge^ was a great persecutor of the saints, and swore that ' ere he died he would ride up to the spurs in the blood of the Lutherans;' but the very same night wherein he had thus sworn and vowed, he was choked with his own blood: nothing would serve him but the blood of God's people, and God makes him drunk with his own blood. Sir Thomas More, once Lord Chancellor of England, was a sworn enemy to the gospel, and persecuted the saints with fire and faggot; and amongst all his praises, he reckons this the chiefestj that he had been a persecutor of the Lutherans, i.e.,

^ Josephus : Antiq., lib. xviii. cap. 7. Thales Milesius, the prime wise man of Greece, being demanded what he had observed to be of most difficulty in the world, answered, Tyranmim senem, To see a tyrant live to be an old man.

* Euseb. Hist., lib, ii. cap. 7. ' Qu.' Wurtemburg' ?—G.

the saints; but what became of him ? He was first accused of treason, and then condemned, and at last beheaded. Judge Morgan was a great persecutor of the people of God; but shortly after he had passed the sentence of condemnation upon that virtuous lady, the Lady Jane Grey, he fell mad, and in his mad raving fits he would continually cry out, ' Take away the Lady Jane, take away the Lady Jane from me;' and in that horror he ended his wretched life. Drahomira, after the death of her husband, usurped the government of Bohemia, and was a cruel persecutor of the people of God; but by a righteous hand of God it so fell out, that on that very place where the minister's bones lay unburied, the earth opened of itself, and swallowed her up alive, with her chariot and those that were in it, which place is now to be seen before the castle of Prague. The Archbishop of Tours was an earnest suitor for the erection of a court called Chamber-Ardent, for the condemning of the French Protestants to the fire, but before he died he had fire enough, for he was stricken with a disease called ' the fire of God,' which began at his feet, and so ascended upward, which occasioned one member to be cut off after another, and so he ended his miserable days.i Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, was a grievous persecutor of the people of God, and a great suspender and silencer of good ministers; he made use of his tongue, brains, and power to stop the mouths and tie up the tongues of God's faithful ministers; but God in his righteous judgment so struck him in his tongue, that it swelled so big that he could neither swallow nor speak for some days before his death, and so he was starved, choked, and killed by tliis strange

tumour of his tongue. I have read of one Mr W , who was veiy

busy in prosecuting an indictment against his minister at a quarter sessions, for omitting the cross in baptism ; and being a man in high favour with the justices, he made no question of prevailing. At night, according to his usual manner, he falls to drinking, till he was so extreme drunk that he was fain to be carried home; in the morning his wife began mildly to blame him for his acting against the minister the day before, at which he with fearful oaths swore that ' he would soon rid the town of that Puritan ;' but behold the hand of God, for as this wretched man was about to rise, and having put one arm in his doublet, even as the oaths were uttering, he was taken speechless, yea, and senseless, and so died.2 To conclude, the judgments of God upon the persecutors of the saints in Bohemia was such, that it was used as a proverb among the adversaries themselves, ' that if any man were weary of his life, let him but attempt against the Piccardines' 3— for so they called the saints—' and he should not live a year to an end.' And thus you see by these instances, that most severe judgments have still followed the persecutors of the people of God. Let me close up this argument thus: look, as in princes' courts they are judged but silly, shallow-brained men that profess open and mortal hatred to the greatest favourites of the king, because in so doing they take the right and ready way to ruin themselves and families ; so they are doubtless the most silly, shallow-brained men in the world, how

1 [Foxe] Acts and Mon., 1911. 2 jjj. Grove's Glcaniugs, pp. Il.5, 156.

^ From ' Picardy,'—G.

VOL. IV. S

wise soever they may be in their own eyes, or in others' eyes who are like unto themselves, who persecute the favourites of the King of kings, that being the ready way to their own ruin and destruction. But, [4.] Fourthly, It ivill appear that persecutors are in the most sad and deplorable condition, if you do but consider that there is a day a-coming luherein God ivill fully reckon ivith all persecutors for their persecuting of his saints: Ps. ix. 12, ' When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them; he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.' There is a time when God will make inquisition for innocent blood. The Hebrew word doresh, from darash, that is here rendered inquisition, signifies not barely to seek, to search, but to seek, search, and inquire with all diligence and care imaginable.i Oh, there is a time a-coming, when the Lord will make a very diligent and careful search and inquiry after all the innocent blood of his afilicted and persecuted people, wliich persecutors and tyrants have spilt as water upon the ground; and woe to persecutors when God shall make a more strict, critical, and careful inquiry after the blood of his people than ever was made in the Inquisition of Spain, where all things are carried with the greatest diligence, subtlety, secrecy, and severity. 0 persecutors, there is a time a-coming, when God will make a strict inquiry after the blood of Hooper, Bradford, Latimer, Taylor, Kidley, &c. There is a time a-coming, wherein God will inquire who silenced and suspended such and such ministers, and who stopped the mouths of such and such, and who imprisoned, confined, and banished such and such, who were once burning and shining lights, and who were willing to spend and be spent, that sinners might be saved, and that Christ might be glorified. There is a time when the Lord will make a very narrow inquiry into all the actions and practices of ecclesiastical courts, high commissions, committees, assizes, sessions, &c., and deal with persecutors as they have dealt with his people: Ps. xii. 5, ' For the opprcvssion of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise,' saith the Lord; ' I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.' When oppressors and persecutors do snuff and puff at the people of God, when they defy them, and scorn them, and think that they can with a blast of their breath blow them away, then God will arise to judgment, as the Chaldee has it; at that very nick of time when all seems to be lost, and when the poor oppressed and afflicted people of God can do nothing but sigh and weep, and weep and sigh, then the Lord will arise and ease them of their oppressions, and make their day of extremity a glorious opportunity to work for his own glory, and his people's good: Mat. xxii. 6, 7, ' And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them: but when the king heard thereof, he was wroth ; and he sent for his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burnt up their city.' Christ sent his apostles and disciples to invite the Jews to a marriage-feast, to a stately feast, to a feast made by a king, upon the account of his son, of his only son, of his beloved son, of his Son that is King of kings and Lord of lords, but they entreated them spitefully, calling them

' D^O"T> Damim, bloods, in the plural; it notes the killings and murderings of God's afflicted ones, Gen. iv. 10 ; 1 Kings ix. 26 j 2 Chron. xxiv. and xxii.

pestilent fellows, and movers of sedition, and some they imprisoned and scourged, and others they put to death, as Stephen and James, &c.; and oh, what spitefulness and ingratitude was this, to return evil for good, to requite them with reproaches, prisons, scourges, and death, for their endeavouring to save their souls, and to make them happy for ever! i But will this great King put up these injuries, indignities, and abuses that are done to his servants ? No, he will not: for as soon as he heard of it, he was wroth, and sent forth his armies to be revenged on them. The murderers in the text were the Jews, and the armies were the Romans. Now they are called ' God's armies,' Dan. ix. 26, because God employed them as the executioners of his wrath upon Jerusalem. Now these Roman armies did burn up their city, which was once the paradise of the world, and brought to ruin and destruction eleven millions of men, women, and children, besides multitudes that were sold for slaves, and others that were scattered among all nations; and thus God took vengeance on these persecutors, and turned their temple and city into ashes.^ Plutarch, writing of the quality of tigers, saith, that if drums or tabors sound about them, they will grow mad, and rend and tear their own flesh in pieces."* Oh, there is a day a-coming when the last trumpet shall sound, and then all the persecutors of the saints will grow mad! oh, then they will fret and fume, and tear and torment themselves, and wish for the mountains and rocks to fall upon them, and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, who in that day wiU with a witness avenge all his aflSicted and persecuted ones ! Rev. vi. 15-17. Alas, all the sorrows, troubles, afiiictions, vexations, torments, and punishments that befall the persecutors of the saints in this life, they are but qvMsi tales, as it were such, they are but the beginnings of sorrows, they are but types and figures of those easeless, endless, and remediless torments and pimishments that will at last inevitably fall upon all the persecutors of the saints. But,

[5.] Fifthly and lastly. Persecutors at present are under an evident token of perdition and destruction; they have the marks and signs of divine displeasure upon them: Phil. i. 28, ' And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.'^ Persecuted Christians ought not to be disheartened or discouraged, but rather to take heart and courage, by all the persecutions that are raised against them, because they are most certain witnesses and evidences from God himself, both of their own salvation, and of their persecutors' perdition and destruction. A state of unbelief, hardness of heart, blindness of mind, searedness of conscience, perverseness of spirit, slighting and despising of that which is good, hating of the light,^ and a mans being given up to the ways and lusts of his own heart, are dreadful tokens of perdition, and fearful witnesses and evidences of destruction: and these tokens and evidences all persecutors are under, though it may be they

' Rev. i. 5; compare these Bcripturea, Acta v. 40, vii. 58, xii. 2, and xxi. 32 ; 2 Cor. xi. 24; Heb. xi. 37, 38. » Josephus, Antiq., lib. xx. c. 8.

*. Plutarch, lib. de superditione.

* Mr Bradford looked upon his sufferings as an evidence to him that he was in his right way.

" John iii. 18-36; lea. vi. 9, 10; 1 Tim. iv. 2; John iii. 19, 20; Ps. Ixxxi. 12.

want eyes to see them, and hearts to be affected with them. Plain and evident tokens of wrath and ruin are stamped in Roman characters upon all persecutors, and did they but see those tokens, they would be as so many handwritings upon the wall against them. And thus you see by these five things, that there is no condition under heaven that is so sad and deplorable a condition, as the condition of persecutors is. But,

5. Fifthly, I answer, Thxit God loill hear his people company in all their afflictions and persecutions. If the bush, the church, be all on a-light fire, the angel of the covenant will be in the midst of it: Isa. xliii. 2, ' When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; neither shall the flames kindle upon thee.'^ Both in the waters of affliction, and in the fire of persecution, God Avill bear his people company. So in that Dan. iii. 24, 25, ' Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors. Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, 0 king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like unto the Son of God.' Christ is never so near to his people as when they are in their fiery trials; and the hotter the furnace is, the more eminently present will Christ be with his people. Saints never enjoy so much of the supporting, emboldening, comforting, and encouraging presence of the Lord, as they do when the sun of persecution shines hottest upon them. Though Mr Glover wanted the presence of God for a time, yet when he came near to the stake where he was burnt, he clapped his hands for joy, and cried out, ' He is come, he is come.' 2 Cor. iv. 8, 9, ' We are troubled on every side, yet not destroyed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.' Divine help is nearest when a saint's danger is greatest. It is the deriding question which persecutors put to the saints in the time of their trials and troubles, Uhi Deus f Where is now your God ? Ps. xlii. 10; but they may return a bold and confident answer. Hie Deus: ' Our God is here,' our God is nigh unto us, our God is round about us, our God is in the midst of us, our God has given us his promise ' that he will never, never leave us, nor forsake us,' Heb. xiii. 5; in every trouble, in every danger, in every death, the Lord will be sure to keep us company. God will bear his children company, not only whilst they are in a delightful paradise, but also when they are in a howling wilderness, Hosea ii. 14, When a company of poor Christians were going into banishment, one standing by to see them pass along, said that it was a very sad condition that those poor people were in, to be thus hurried from the society of men, and to be made companions with the beasts of the field. True, said another,^ it were a sad condition indeed, if they were carried to a place where they should not find their God; but let them be of good cheer, for God goes along with them, and will exhibit the comforts of his presence whitherso-

1 Exod. iii. 2, 6; Mat. x. 17-20; Acts vt. 9, 10; Kom. viii. 33-35. ^ Augustine de Civit. Dei., lib. ii. cap. 39.

ever they go; his presence is infinite, and filleth all places. The Eabbins put Makom, which signifies place, among the names of God; Bythner brings them in expounding that text, Esth. iv. 14, thus, ' Deliverance shall arise from another place,' that is, from God. Now they called God place, because he is in every place, filling heaven and earth with his presence. Wherever God scatters his people, he will be a little sanctuary to them: Ezek. xi. 16, 'Therefore say. Thus saith the Lord God, Although I have cast them far ofi" among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.'l The heathens were wont to say of a valiant man, Omne solum forti patria: Every soil is his country ; so I may say of a Christian. Every country is his home who enjoys the presence of God with him, who finds God to be a little sanctuary to him. Persecuted saints shall be scattered nowhere but God will be a little sanctuary to them; in the want of a visible sanctuary, God will be an invisible sanctuary to them; in the want of outward ordinances, they shall have the presence of his grace and favour. God will be a protection to them, and a spring of joy and comfort in them. His power shall be as a wall of fire about them, and his Spirit shall be the guide and leader of them. Though the Jews at Jerusalem, who enjoyed their glorious temple, and their pompous worship, and solemn assemblies, and precious ordinances, looked upon their brethren in Babylon as a poor, miserable, despicable, forlorn, and forsaken people, yea, as a people without God, and without his worship and ordinances, and as those that had nothing to do with " their magnificent temple, -they having no outward splendour or glory at all upon them; yet says God by Ezekiel, I will have them to know that I have other thoughts, and better thoughts, concerning their captived brethren; for I have thoughts of grace, and thoughts of mercy, and thoughts of love, &c.; for I will dwell among them, and be a little sanctuary to them, and make up the want of all outward ordinances and privileges to them. I have read of the Tyrians, that they bound their gods with chains, that they might not leave them in their greatest need; but our God has bound himself with many golden chains, [I] mean promises, that he will never leave nor forsake his people in their greatest necessity and extremity.2 Theodoret had a precious presence of God with him in his sufferings; ior he found so much sweetness when he was on the rack, in the midst of his tortures, that he professed he did not find any anguish in his torments, but a great deal of pleasure; and when they took him down from the rack, he complained that they did him wrong in taking of him down, and in ceasing to torment him; ' For,' said he, ' all the while I was on the rack, and you were venting your malice against me, I thought there was a young man in white, an angel that stood by me, which wiped off the sweat, and I found a great deal of sweetness in my sufierings, which now I have lost.' 0 Christians, in all your sufferings the angel of God's presence will bear you company, and he will sweeten the most cruel torments, and wipe off all the sweat, and take away all the pain, yea, he wiU turn your pains into pleasure, Isa. Ixiii. 9. If Joseph be

^ A little sanctuary is opposed to that fair and glorious one that was at Jerusalem. " Josh. i. 5; Ps. Ixxxix. 33, 34; Jer. xxxii. 38-41.

cast into prison, the Lord will be with him there, Gen. xxxix. 20, 21. If Jeremiah he thrown into the dungeon, the Lord will be with him there, Jer. xxxvi. G-14. If David walk through the valley of death, God's rod and his staff shall comfort him, Ps. xxiii. 4, 5. If the three children be cast into a fiery furnace, the presence of the Son of God shall preserve them; if Daniel must to the lions' den, God will keep him company there, and chain up the lions' nature, and sew up the lions' mouths, and lay a law of restraint upon the lions' paws, that they shall not have so much as a disposition to touch him, or in the least to hurt him or harm him; if Paul be brought before Nero's judgment-seat, God will stand by him, though all men forsake him, and bring him off with credit and triumph, 2 Tim. iv. 16-18. Thus you see that in all the afflictions and persecutions that do befall the people of God, God will not fail to keep them company; and therefore let not troubles trouble you, let not afflictions afflict you, nor let not persecutions discourage you. But,

6. Sixthly, I answer. That he shall he sure to suffer from Christ that re/uses to suffer, or that is afraid to suffer, for Christ's sake, or holiness' sake, or the gospel's sake. No man can suffer so much for Christ as he shall be sure to suffer from Christ, if he disdain and refuse to suffer for Christ: Mark viii. 35, ' For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, and the gospel's, the same shall save it.' He that shall attempt to save his life by crossing his light, by shifting off of truth, or by forsaking of Christ, shall lose it.l He that thinks to shun suffering by sinning, shall be sure to suffer with a witness. It is a gainful loss to suffer for the truth, it is a lossful gain, by time-serving and base complying with the lusts and humours of men, to provide for our present safety, security, plenty, peace, and ease, &c., either by denying the truth, or by betraying the truth, or by exchanging the truth, or by forsaking the truth. When Henry the Fourth of France had conquered his enemies, he turned Papist, and gave this reason of it, ' That he might settle himself in peace and safety.' Ravilliak,^ who slew him as he was riding abroad in his coach to refresh himself, confessed that the reason why he stabbed him was, because he was of two religions; and thus, by endeavouring to save his life, he lost it. One Philbert Hamlin, in France, having converted a priest to the profession of the truth, was, together with the priest, apprehended and cast into prison at Bourdeaux ; but after a while, the priest, being terrified with the prison and fear of death, renounced Christ, and was set at liberty; whereupon Philbert said to him, ' 0 unhappy and more than miseraljle man, is it possible that, to save your life for a few days, you should so deny the truth ? Know, therefore, that though you have avoided the corporal fire, yet your life shall not be prolonged, for you shall die before me, and you shall not have the honour to die for the cause of Christ, but you shall be an example to apostates;' and accordingly, as he went out of the prison, two gentlemen that had a former quarrel with him met him, and slew him ; and thus he also lost his life by endeavouring sinfully to save it. Though life be sweet, and every creature

^ That husbandman that keeps his wheat loses his wheat, but he that bows his wheat renews his wheat. si Ravillac, as before.—Q.

makes much of it, from the highest angel to the lowest worm, yet woe to him that is set upon saving of it, when Christ calls upon him to be divinely prodigal of it. No fool to him who thinks to avoid a less danger by running himself into a greater danger, who thinks to save his body by losing his soul, and to save his temporal life by losing eternal life. There is no loser to him who, by sinful attempts to save liis life, shall lose a better life than ever he can save. So ver. 38, ' Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels.' Ah, friends, what are prisons and dungeons, and racks and flames, to Christ's being ashamed of a man in the great day, when he shall be attended with troops of saints and millions of angels ? wlien, in the face of the court of heaven, when all the princes of glory shall sit upon their thrones, Christ shall disdain a man, and scorn so much as to look upon him, or take any notice of him, or shew the least respect or favour towards him. Oh, what a sea of sorrow and a hell of horror will this raise in him ! I have readi that when Sapor, king of Persia, raised a violent persecution against the Christians, Ustha-zares, an old nobleman, and one of king Sapor's eunuchs and courtiers, being a Christian, was so terrified that he lefb off his profession, and sitting at the court gate when Simeon, an aged holy bishop, was led to prison, and rising up to salute him, the good bishop frowned upon him, and turned his face with indignation from him, as disdaining to look upon a man that had denied the faith; upon this Ustha-zares fell a-weeping, and went into his chamber, and put off his courtly garments, and then brake out into these like words. Ah, how shall I appear before that Grod that I have denied ? with what face shall I behold that God of whom I have been ashamed, when Simeon, my old familiar acquaintance, will not endure to look upon me, but disdains to bestow a civil salute upon me ? If he frown now, oh, how will Grod behold me when I shall stand before his tribunal seat! And this physic so wrought with him, that he recovered his spiritual strength, and went boldly and professed himself a Christian, and died a glorious martyr. The application is easy. Well, sirs, remember this, it is infinitely better to suffer for God, than to suffer from God: 1 Pet. iii. 17, ' For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.' 2 It is better to suffer for well doing from men, than to suffer for ill doing from God. Cyprian, in his sermon de lapsis, makes mention of divers, who, forsaking the profession of their faith, were given over by God to be possessed by evil spirits, and so died fearfully and miserably. The Angrognians that yielded and complied with the Papists that came against them, were more sadly and cruelly handled by them than their neighbours that continued constant in the truth. Under the fourth persecution there were some Christians who, for fear of torments and death, denied their faith and sacrificed to idols, yet did not their bloody persecutors spare

^ Sozom. Hist., lib. ii. c. 8. You may see the same story in Mr Foxe his Book of Martyrs, fol. 97, 98.

* Non poena, ged causa facit martyrem, It is not the punishment, but the cause, that makes the martyr.— Acts and Monu., fol. 835.

them; and it was observed that, being full of guilt, they went to their deaths with dejected and ill-favoured countenances, so that the very Gentiles took notice of it, and reproached them as degenerous persons, and worthy to suffer as evil doers. West, that was chaplain to Bishop Ridley, refusing to die in Christ's cause with his master, said mass against his conscience, and soon after pined away with sorrow.l A smith in King Edward the Sixth's days, called Richard Denson, was a forward professor of religion,^ and by his Christian instructions the happy instrument of the conversion of a young man to the faith; afterwards, in the reign of Queen Mary, this young man was cast into prison for his religion, who, remembering his old friend and spiritual father, the smith, to whom he always carried a reverent respect for the good that he had received by him, sent to know whether he was not imprisoned also, and finding that he was not, desired to speak with him ; and when he came he asked his advice, whether he thought it best for him to remain in prison ? and whether he would encourage him to burn at a stake for his religion ? To whom the smith answered, that his cause was good, and that he might with comfort suffer for it. But for my part, said the smith, I cannot burn. But shortly after, he that could not burn for religion, by God's just judgment was burned for his apostasy, for his shop and house being set on fire, and he over-busy to save his goods, was burnt in the flames. They that will not burn for Christ when he calls them to it, shall burn whether they will or no. Oh, how much better had it been for this smith to have burnt for Christ, than that Christ should set his house on fire, and burn him in the midst of it! He that will not suffer for Christ shall be sure to suffer worse things from Christ than ever he could have suffered, for Christ; and therefore Doctor Taylor, the martyr, hit it: If I shrink from God's truth, said he, I am sure of another manner of death than Judge Hales had, who, being drawn for fear of death to do things against his conscience, did afterwards drown himself. 3

In the Bohemian persecution, John Campan, the famous poet, having forsaken his religion, said to his wife, this day is salvation come to our house; whereunto she answered, this day a curse is brought into our house; and so it proved, for he ended his life in despair.

Those apostates that left Galeacius to enjoy their sinful pleasures and delights, &c., were taken by the bloody Inquisition, and forced pubHcly to recant and abjure their religion, and when they had done it, they became the subjects of misery and infamy, and were equally odious to both parties,

Christ seems to say to all that refuse to suffer for him, as king Re-hoboam said to the ten tribes, the order of the words being only inverted, ' My little finger shall be thicker than your persecutors' loins, and I will add to your yoke, and whereas they would have chastised you but with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions,' 1 Kings xii. 10-15. 0 my friends, it is ten thousand times worse to be given up to a proud heart, a hard heart, a worldly heart, a formal heart, a hypocritical heart, a persecuting heart, an impenitent heart, or a despairing heart, &c.—for this is to be whipped with scorpions—than it is ^ Foxe's Acts and Mon., fol. 1570. " Ihid., fol. 873. » lUd., fol. 1382.

to be given up to prisons, or racks, or lions, or flames, or banishment, &c., for this is only to be chastised with whips, yea, with such whips that can only reach our bodies, but can never touch our immortal souls. And therefore, as you would not suffer such hard things from Christ, oh take heed of being unwilling to suffer anything for Christ's sake, or the gospel's sake ! But,

7. Seventhly, I answer, That great are the advantages that will redound'^ to you hy all the troubles, affiictions, and persecutions that shall befall you for righteousness' sake, for holiness sake, Luke xxi. 13. Persecutions are the workmen that will fit you and square you for God's buildings; they are the rods that will beat off the dust, and the scullions that will scour off the rust from your souls; they are the fire that will purge you from your dross, and the water that will cleanse you from your filthiness. Physicians, you know, apply horse-leeches to their distempered patients. Now the horse-leech intends nothing but to satiate and fill himself with the blood of the sick patient, but the physician has a more noble aim, even the drawing away of that putrified and corrupt blood that endangers the life of his patient; so though persecutors aim at nothing more than to draw out the heart-blood of God's people, that they may satiate and fill themselves with it, yet God has other thoughts and other aims, even the drawing away of that corrupt blood, that pride, that self-love, that worldli-ness, that carnalness, and that lifl^ewarmness, that otherwise would endanger the life, the health, and welfare of their souls. But this great truth I shall make more evident by an induction of particulars. Thus:

[1.] First, Hereby you will give an evident proof of the soundness and uprightness of yotir oicn hearts, Phil. i. 27-29. Afflictions and persecutions will discover what metal men are made of. All is not gold that glisters : many there be that glister, and look like golden Christians, but when they come to the fire, they prove but dross: he ia a golden Christian indeed, who remains gold when under fiery trials. The stony ground did glister and shine very gloriously, for it received the word with joy for a time, but when the sun of persecution rose upon it, it fell away. Mat. xiii. 20, 21. Men that now embrace the word, will, in times of persecution, distaste the word, if it be not rooted in their understandings, judgments, wills, affections, and consciences. Men may court the word, and compliment the word, and applaud the word, and seemingly rejoice in the word, but they will never suffer persecution for the word, if it be only received into their heads, and not rooted in their hearts. The house built upon the sand was as lovely, as comely, as goodly, and as glorious a house to look upon as that which was built upon the rock; but when the rain of affliction descended, and the floods of tribulation came, and the winds of persecution blew and beat upon that house, it fell, and great was the fall of it, Mat. vii. 26, 27. No professors will be able to stand it out in all winds and weathers, but such as are built upon a rock. All others will sink, shatter, and fall when the wind of persecution blows upon them, Mai. iii. 2; as sure as the rain will fall, the floods flow, and the winds blow, so sure will an unsound heart give out when trials come.

^ Spelled ' redown.'—G.

No heart but a sound heart will hold out bravely when hardships attends holiness on both hands; no heart but a holy heart will bear the brunt of persecution for holiness' sake. The three children, Shadrach, Meshech, and Abed-nego, would rather burn than bow, they would rather suffer than sin, Dan. iii. 17, 18, which was an evident proof of their sincerity and ingenuity. They would be nonconformists, though court, city, and country cried up conformity, which was a sure argument of their integrity; but now unsound hearts will exceedingly shuffle and shift to shift off persecution. Witness those false teachers in Gal. vi. 12, 'As many as desire to make a fair show,' or as the Greek has it, evTrpoacoTrf/aac, ' to set a good face on it,' ' in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.' At this time the Jews, out of zeal to their law, did sorely persecute those that did either preach or practise anything contrary to their law. Now these false teachers set a good face on it, and made a fair show, as if they were all for carnal rites and ceremonies, and they urged circumcision upon the Galatians, but not out of any affection or zeal that they did bear to the law, but only to procure favour on the one hand, and to avoid and escape the malice and persecution of the Jews on the other hand. They that were no Jews, to avoid persecution, would comply with them that were; they would seem to be very earnest for Judaism, but not for Christianism, that so they might escape the fury of the Jews. Unsound hearts will say anything, and do anything, and be anything, to avoid persecution, and to ingratiate themselves with persecutors. The Samaritans, as long as the Jewish religion flourished and was in honour, caused a temple to be built on Mount Gerizim, that therein they might not be inferior to the Jews; and they boasted themselves to be of the progeny of Joseph, and worshippers of God with them ; but when they perceived that the Jews were cruelly afflicted and persecuted by Antiochus Epiphanes for worshipping of the true God, and fearing lest they should be handled in the like manner, they changed both their coat and their note, affirming that they were not Israelites, but Sidonians, and that they had built their temple not unto God, but to Jupiter. 1 Thus times of affliction and persecution will distinguish the precious from the vile, it will difference the counterfeit professor from the true. Persecution is a Christian s touchstone, it is a Lapis Lydius that will try what metal men are made of, whether they be silver or tin, gold or dross, wheat or chaff, shadow or substance, carnal or spiritual, sincere or hypocritical. Nothing speaks out more soundness and uprightness than a pursuing after holiness, even then when holiness is most afflicted, pursued, and persecuted in the world: to stand fast in fiery trials argues much integrity within. But,

[2.] Secondly, All the troubles and persecutions which Satan or his instruments raise against the saints of the Most High shall not diminish their number, hut rather increase them. The more the Israelites in Egypt were oppressed, afflicted, and persecuted, the more they increased and multiplied, Exod. i. 10-13. Come, say they, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply; let us increase their task,

^ Joseph. Hist., lib. xiii. [See Sibbes, iii. 475, where will be found more exact references.—Q.] .

let US lay lieavy burdens upon them, &c.; and accordingly they did, thinking by this means to cow out tlieir spirits, and to have brought them low, and to have lessened their number; but did this stratagem prevail ? Oh no, as you may see in ver. 12; but the more they afflicted them, the more they multipHed and grew.i There were but seventy souls that went down to Egypt, but they multiplied to six hundred thousand, besides children, as is evident by comparing Exod. i. 5, 7 with xii. 37, 38. So the Jews that were carried captive to Babylon were but twelve thousand six hundred, but they returned forty-two thousand three hundred and threescore, besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven, Neh. vii. G6, 67, &c.; Ezra ii. 64, 65. The kingdom of Christ is set forth by a little stone cut out of a mountain without hands, Dan. ii. 34, 35; and though in all ages there has been many hammers at work to break this little stone in pieces, yet they have not been able to do it, but this little stone has proved a growing stone, and, in spite of the devil and a persecuting world, will grow more and more, till it comes to be a great mountain, and filleth the whole earth. In the 8th chapter of the Acts you read of a great persecution, and the storm beat so hard upon the churches, that it dispersed and scattered them up and down; and this was so far from lessening of the number of believers, that it did mightily increase their number; witness vers. 4-6, 8, ' Tlierefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. And there was great joy in that city.' Samaria was a very wicked, corrupt place, and bewitched by the sorceries of Simon Magus, yet God had his people there, and by the ministry of Philip—not Philip the apostle, but Philip the deacon— who was a persecuted brother, he called them home to be partakers of his Spirit and grace, vers. 14-17. And thus the scattering of the church was the great advantage and increase of the church. The persecution of one church may be the gathering, edifying, multiplying, and erecting of many churches. 2 Such ministers who have been by persecution driven from their own churches have been eminently instrumental in the planting of many other churches. Though the gospel, and the faithful preachers and professors of it, was by the Scribes, Pharisees, high priests, elders, and great Council exploded, blasphemed, and persecuted at Jerusalem, which was once the holy city, yet it was with joy received in the polluted, bewitched, scorned, and despised city of Samaria. Oh, the freeness, oh, the riches of grace ! Persecution is the multiplication of the people of God; in all ages the more the saints have been afflicted, oppressed, and persecuted, the more they have increased. The removing of the seven churches in Asia brought the gospel to Europe and Africa. During the ten cruel persecutions of the heathen emperors, the Christian faith was spread

1 Cyprian, speaking of the Christians and martyrs in his time, saith, Occidi poterant, sed vinci non poterant —They may kill them, but they cannot overcome them.

" Witness Faber, Farellus, Ruff [injus, and many others in France; and witness our brethren who were forced to fly to New England.

through all places of the empire ; because the oftener they were mown down, the more they grew, as TertuUian witnesseth; and the more we are cut down by the sword of persecution, saith the same author, the more still we increase. Persecuted saints are like camomile, which grows and spreads by being trod upon; the more persecutors tread upon the people of God, the more they will spread and grow. Austin has long since observed, that though there were many thousand Christians put to death for professing Christ, yet they were never the fewer for being slain. Julian the apostate devised all manner of torments to terrify the people of God, and to suppress them, and yet they increased and multiplied so fast, that at last he thought it his best course to give over persecuting of them, and this he did, not out of love to them, but because the more they were persecuted, the more they increased.

In Dioclesian's time, under whom the last and worst of the ten persecutions fell—for then Christian religion was more desperately opposed and persecuted than ever—and yet then religion prospered and prevailed more than ever; so that Dioclesian himself, observing that the more he sought to blot out the name of Christ, the more legible it was, and the more he laboured to block up the way of Christ, the more passable it was, and that whatever of Christ he thought to root out, it rooted the deeper, and rose the higher: thereupon he resolved to engage no further, but retired to a private life.i

And it is very observable, that the Eeformation in Germany was much furthered by the very opposition that the Papists made against it; yea, and it is not to be forgotten, that when two kings wrote against Luther—viz., Henry the Eighth of England, and Ludovicus of Hungary, this kingly title being entered into the controversy, made men more diligently and curiously to examine the matter, by which means there was stirred up in men a general inclination to Luther's opinion.

I have read of one who, observing the Christian religion to be so furiously persecuted by bloody Nero, concluded that surely that must needs be good, yea, very good, which was so cruelly persecuted by Nero, who was so bad, so very bad. If men would sit down and study which way to make most proselytes to such and such opinions and practices that are diflPerent from their own, certainly they cannot pitch upon a better way than to persecute those that differ from them. It is the sword of the Spirit, and not the sword of persecution, that will reduce the erroneous. When the disease lies in the head, the remedy must be answerable to the disease. Certainly a man shall as soon conquer a castle by spiritual arguments, as he shall conquer a conscience by club-law. When our Lord Jesus Christ sent forth his disciples to make a conquest upon an ignorant, erroneous, and deluded world, he did not send them forth with swords, pistols, or any such military weapons. Oh no ! but he sent them forth under the choice anointings of his Spirit, and with his everlasting gospel, and by these means he turned the world upside down,—these were the means by which he turned sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to Jesus Christ, Acts xxvi. 18. The weapons that the

^ Ruffiuus.

apostles used were not carnal, but spiritual: 2 Cor. x. 4, 5, ' For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual, and mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.'i Satan had many strongholds, and sin had many strongholds, and carnal reason had many strongholds, and the world had many strongholds in sinners' hearts; and yet all these strongholds, forts, towers, castles, &c., were not able to stand before the apostles' spiritual weapons ; they all come tumbling down before the Spirit and the word of the Lord in the mouths of his faithful ministers ; by the spiritual weapons Satan was disarmed, and rebellious transgressors were conquered, captivated, and subdued to the obedience of the Lord Jesus. But,

[3.] Thirdly, The troubles, afflictions, and persecutions that be/all you in the pursuit after holiness, may issue in the conversion and salvation of others; as is evident in Acts viii., which chapter I recommend to your most serious perusal. So in that 2 Tim. ii. 9, 10, ' Wherein I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound,' (though Paul was fettered, yet the word was free,) ' therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.'2 Paul, for preaching of the gospel clearly and faithfully, was imprisoned at Kome, and handled as if he had been a malefactor, all which he was contented to suffer upon these very grounds, that the elect might be called, converted, saved, and glorified. It is very observable, that though Paul was a prisoner, yet he preached; though he was in bonds, yet he preached; and though he was accounted as an evil-doer, yet he preached, that the elect might be sanctified and saved. Though his persecutors did lay irons upon his legs, yet they did not lay a law of silence upon his lips; and though they shut him up from going to others, yet they did not shut out others from coming to hear him; for even in bonds he exercised his ministerial office. As cruel as his persecutors were, they would not shut the prison doors upon them that waited on his ministry.3 So Philemon^ was converted by Paul when he was in bonds: Philem. 10, ' I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds.' Paul had a blessing going along with his ministry, when he was in bonds, as well as when he was at liberty. Onesimus was converted when Paul was a prisoner. God made Paul's prison to be a paradise to Onesimus; Paul by his preaching, patience, and cheerfulness in suffering, converts Onesimus to the faith. Prisons in these times were turned into churches; and so they were in Queen Mary's days,5 for as bloody as her reign was, most of the prisons in England were turned into Christian schools and churches, saith Mr Foxe: so that there was no greater comfort than for Christians to resort to prisons, and to hear the martyi's to pray and preach, and to behold their holy, humble, heavenly, gracious conversation. 6 So the afilic-

^ Vide Calvin, Beza, and Estins. ' StA touto, For this cause.

3 Several of Paul's epistles were written when he was in bonds.

<Qu.'Onesimus'?— Ed. « [Foxe] Acts and Mon., fol. 1457. ^ Ibid., 1381.

tions and persecutions of the saints in the primitive times issued in the conversion and salvation of many souls. We read that Cecilia, a poor virgin, by her gracious behaviour in her martyrdom, was the means of converting four hundred to Christ. Adrianus, by seeing the martyrs suffer so patiently and cheerfully, was converted to the faith, and afterwards sealed to the truth with his blood. Justin Martyr was also converted in the same way. In the third persecution, Faustus and Jobita, citizens of Brixia, suffered martyrdom with such invincible patience, courage, and cheerfulness, that Calocerius cried out, Vere magnus Deus Christianorum, Verily, great is the God of the Christians. Upon which words he was presently apprehended, and so suffered martyrdom with them.i And that was a remarkable saying of Luther, Ecclesia totum mundum convertit sanguine et oratione, The church converteth the whole world by blood and prayer. Now if by your troubles, afflictions, and persecutions, and the exercise of grace under them, you shall be instrumental to convert and save a soul or souls from wrath to come, it will turn wonderfully to your advantage, and you shall' shine as the stars for ever and ever,' Dan. xii. 3. That same power, presence, wisdom, and grace, that converted others by the sufferings of former saints, is able to accomplish the same glorious effects by the sufferings of the saints of this generation; and therefore bear up bravely, and neither fear nor faint under your present sufferings. But,

[4.] Fourthly, The troubles, afflictions, and persecutions that Christianas meet with in their pursuit after holiness, will furtlter the increase and growth of their grace. Grace never rises to so great a height as it does in times of persecution. Suffering times are a Christian's harvest times, Ps. Ixix. 7-9, 12. Let me instance in that grace of zeal: 1 remember Moulin speaking of the French Protestants, saith, ' When Papists hurt us for reading the Scriptures, we burn with zeal to be reading of them; but now persecution is over, our Bibles are like old almanacs,' &c. All the reproaches, frowns, threatenings, oppositions, and persecutions that a Christian meets with in a way of holiness, doth but raise his zeal and courage to a greater height. Michal's scoffing at David did but inflame and raise his zeal: ' If this be to be vile, I will be more vile)' 2 Sam. vi. 20-22. Look, as fire in the winter burns the hotter, by an avTL7repiaTaai<i, because of the coldness of the air; so in the winter of affliction and persecution, that divine fire, the zeal of a Christian, burns so much the hotter, and flames forth so much the more vehemently and strongly. In times of greatest affliction and persecution for holiness' sake, a Christian hath, first, a good captain to lead and encourage him; secondly, a righteous cause to prompt and embolden him; thirdly, a gracious God to relieve and succour him; fourthly, a glorious heaven to receive and reward him; and certainly these things cannot but mightily raise him and inflame him, under the greatest opposition and persecution. These things will keep him from fearing, fawning, fainting, sinking, or flying in a stormy day; yea, these things will make his face like the face of an adamant, as God promised to make Ezekiel's, Ezek. iii. 7-9, and Job xU. 24. Now an adamant is the hardest of stones, it is harder ^ Clarke, as before, p. 28.—G.

than a flint, yea, it is harder than the nether-millstone. The naturalists [Pliny] observe, that the hardness of this stone is unspeakable: the tire cannot burn it, nor so much as heat it through, nor the hammer cannot break it, nor the water cannot dissolve it, and therefore the Greeks call it an adamant from its untameableness; and in all storms the adamant shrinks not, it fears not, it changeth not its hue; let the times be what they will, the adamant is still the same. In times of persecution, a good cause, a good God, and a good conscience will make a Christian like an adamant, it will make him invincible and unchangeable. When one desired to know what kind of man Basil was, there was presented to him in a dream, saith the history, a pillar of fire with this motto. Talis est Basilius, Basil is such a one, he is all on a-light fire for God. Persecutions will but set a Christian all on a-light fire for God. Look, as well-water is warmest in the winter time, so real Christians are warmest for God, his glory, truth, and ways, in the winter of afiliction and persecution. True grace rises by opposition and persecution. Many a man had not been so good if the times had not been so bad. Many a man had not been so gracious, if the times had not been so dangerous. Many a man had not been so holy, if the times had not been so profane. Many a man had not been so zealous, if the times had not been so lukewarm. Many a man had not been so stout and resolute against bowing the knee to Baal, if multitudes had not been worsliippers of Baal. All the afflictions and persecutions that befall the people of God do but add to their spiritual life, light, and lustre. Rev. xiv. 1-6. As stars shine brightest in the darkest nights, and as spices smell sweetest when pounded, and as vines are the better for bleeding, and gold the brighter for scouring, and palm-trees the better for pressing; so the graces of the saints shine brightest, and smell sweetest, and rise highest in times of affliction and persecution. The naturalists have long since observed, that though the south wind be more pleasant, yet the north wind is more healthful; for the south wind with his warmth raiseth vapours, which breed putrefaction and cause diseases; but the north wind with his cold drieth up those vapours, purging the blood, and quickening the spirits: so the north wind of affliction and persecution contributes most to the drying up of sinful vapours, and to the quickening up of a Christian's graces. Though the wind may blow, and the rain in stormy weather may beat upon a painted post or sign, whose colour is laid in oil, yet the wind and rain is so far from blowing or washing off the colour or beauty that is upon the post or sign, that it rather adds to their beauty, and makes them shine more beautiful than before; so the rain of affliction and the wind of persecution do rather add to the beauty and lustre of a Christian's graces, than any way cloud them, or take off the spiritual beauty and glory of them. But,

[5.] Fifthly, Persecuting times are uniting times. Oh I the discord, the division, the wrangling, biting and quarrelling that is to be found among professors in times of peace and prosperity! but when affliction and persecution comes upon them, this unites them together.^

' In persecuting times the saints have been but as one man ; which made their very persecutors to say, Ecce ut invicem fie diligunt! Sec how these Christians love one another, see how they knit and, close together!— Eusebius in Hist.

Though the sheep in sunshiae days feed at a distance, and wander one from another; yet when a storm comes, or the wolf comes, then they run all together; and so it is with Christians. Some religious bishops, that could by no means agree when they had their freedom and liberty, yet could well enough agree when they were in prison together. Though children in a family may fall out among themselves, yet they quickly unite when a common enemy assaults them. Persecuting times unite Christians closer together in their affections, resolutions, and prayers. They who formerly could hardly be brought to eat together, or trade together, or live together, or walk together, in persecuting times will be brought to hear together, and pray together, and fast together, and communicate experiences together, and stand together, and fall together, and rise together, &c., Ps. Ixxxiii. 3-9. When Gebal and Ammon and Amalek did combine, the people of God kept close together; for they very well knew that broken forces were soon dissipated, 2 Chron. xx. 1, 4, 12. I have read of Ptolomeus Philadelphus king of Egypt, that he caused the Bible to be translated by seventy interpreters, which seventy were severally disposed of in seventy several cells, and though they knew not the names of one another, nor never saw the faces of one another, yet they did so well agree in their several translations, that there was no considerable difference betwixt them in rendering the text: so when the people of God shall be put into cells and prisons and jails, then they will so agree together, that there will be little or no difference betwixt them. As all the stones that came about Stephen s ears did but knock him closer to Christ the corner-stone, Acts vii.; so all the stones that come about the saints' ears will but knock them the nearer to Christ, and the closer one to another. But,

[6.] Sixthly, As persecuting times are uniting times, so persecuting times are truth-advancing times. Veritas vincit, Truth thrives most when it is most opposed and persecuted : Phil, i. 12-14, ' But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; so that my bonds.in Christ are manifested in all the palace, and in all other places ; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident dy my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.' Both court, city, and country did ring of Paul's bonds, and the cause thereof. Paul's iron chain made more noise, and was more glorious, and wrought more blessed effects, than all the golden chains in Nero's court; for by his bonds and chains many of the brethren were mightily emboldened and encouraged to preach the word without fear. The brethren, when they saw that Paul preached, and kept up the exercise of his ministry, though a prisoner, and though he was in bonds and chains, could not but reason thus with themselves: if Paul a prisoner holds up and holds on in preaching the word, though he be in bonds and chains; ah, how much more ought we who are at liberty to hold up and hold on in preaching the truth, and advancing the truth, and in spreading of the truth.i There were many that took an occasion from ^Paul's imprisonment, bonds, and sufferings, to disgrace his

^ Si Veritas est causa discordiw, inori possum, tacere non possum: If truth be the cause of our discord, I may die, but I may not be silent, said Jerome to Helvidius.

apostleship. The apostle meets with these, and tells them, that though they designed and intended the disgrace and hindrance of the gospel by his imprisonment and bonds, ydt God had by his wonderful providence and goodness so ordered the matter, that his bonds and imprisonment turned to his great honour and fame, and an occasion of further spreading and advancing the gospel. Though Satan and his instruments may disturb the truth, yet they cannot suppress it; for. Magna est Veritas et prcevalebit, Great is truth, and shall prevail. So upon the persecution of Stephen many of the brethren preached the word far and near, and the hand of the Lord was with them to the conversion of many: Acts xi. 19-23, 'Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem; and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith: and much people were added unto the Lord.' The brethren that were dispersed and scattered by reason of persecution, fall upon preaching of the Lord Jesus; and though they were laymen, yet the hand of the Lord was mightily with them, so that a great number believed and turned to the Lord. God is a free agent, and can work the hearts of men over to himself by what hand he pleases, and many times he doth the greatest works by the most despised hands, as it is evident in this instance. The apostles did not fret, and fume, and storm, and take on because these brethren preached the Lord Jesus without ordination to the work of the ministry. Oh no; but they were glad, and rejoiced in their bringing in of souls to Christ, and they made it their work to exhort, encourage, and build up those that were brought in; neither did they prohibit these brethren from preaching, because they had not apostolical hands laid on them, 1 Cor. i. 21, 25, 27. By these laymen's preaching Christ is revealed, and multitudes are converted, and truth is advanced, and the apostles are gladded. Now, by what hath been said, it is most evident that persecuting times are truth-advancing times. But,

[7.] Seventhly and lastly, As persecuting times are truth-advancing times: so persecuting times are a Christians rejoicing times. A Christian's heart is never so full of joy, as it is when he is under sufferings : Acts v. 41, ' And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.' They counted it an honour to be dishonoured for Christ; they took it as a grace to be disgraced for Jesus. Stephen found the joys of heaven in his heart as the stones came clattering about his ears. Acts vii. 55, 5Q. So Paul and Silas, when they were in prison, their hearts were so full of joy that they could not hold, but at mid-

VOL. IV. T

night when others were a-sleeping, they must fall a-singing out the praises of the Most High, Acts xvi. 25.1 They found more pleasure than pain, more joy than sorrow, more comfort than torment in their bonds. The rods with which they were whipped were as rods made up all of rosemary branches. Divine consolations rise so high in their souls, that their prison was turned into a palace, yea, into a paradise. Paul was a man that took a great deal of pleasure in his sufferings for Christ: 2 Cor. xiL 10, ' Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake.' He did not only bear his sufferings patiently, but cheerfully also. He often sings it out, * I Paul a prisoner/ as you may see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together,2 ' of Jesus Christ;' not, I Paul an apostle, nor I Paul rapt up in the third heaven, nor I Paul that have more gifts, parts, and learning than others; but ' I Paul a prisoner^ to shew how much he rejoiced in his bonds and sufferings for Christ. Chrysostom did not hold Paul so happy for his rapture into paradise, as he did for his imprisonment for Christ. So Rom. V. 3, 4, ' And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and experience hope.' Old soldiers could not glory and joy more in their marks and scars of honour, than these saints did in their tribulations and persecutions for Christ's sake. Eabbi Simeon Ben Jochai lived twelve years in a dark dungeon for fear of the Eoman persecution in the reign of Trajan the emperor; and he called his dark dungeon Zohar, that is, splendour, because God had turned his darkness into light, and made up the want of the light of the sun by the light of his countenance, and by the shinings of the Sun of righteousness upon his soul. Eusebius tells us of Algerius the Italian martyr, how that, writing to his friend from a stinking dungeon, he dates his letter 'from my delicate orchard;' such were his divine consolations, that they turned his dungeon into a pleasant orchard. ' I with my fellows,' saith Mr Philpot, ' were carried to the coal-house, where we do rouze^ together in the straw, as cheerfully, we thank God, as others do in their beds of down.'^ Mr Bradford put off his cap, and thanked the Lord, when his keeper's wife brought him word that he was to be burned the next day: and Mr Taylor fetched a frisk when he was come near to the place where he was to suffer. Henry and John, two Augustine monks, being the first that were burned in Germany, and Mr Rogers, the first that was burned in Queen Mary's days, did all sing in the flames. If men did but know by experience the sweet that is in suffering for Christ, they would desire with Chrysostom, if it were put to their choice, rather to be Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ, than Paul rapt up in the third heaven. One of the holy women that

* Oh, how my heart leapeth for joy, said Mr Philpot, that I am so near the apprehension of eternal life!

2 Eph. iii. 1, and iv. 1; 2 Tim. i. 8; Phil. i. 9, 23; Col. iv. 10; Eom. xvi. 7. Paul rattles his chain which he bears for the gospel's sake, and was as proud of it as a woman of her ornaments, saith Chrysostom.

»'Lie in filth.'—G.

* Acts and Mon., fol. 857. And Master Glover, the martyr, wept for joy of his imprisonment. William Hunter's mother, that suffered under Bonner, told him that she was glad that ever she was so happy as to bear such a child as could find in his heart to die for Christ's sake.

suffered martyrdom in this nation, rejoiced that she might have her foot in the same hole of the stocks in which Mr Philpot's had been before. And Luther reports of that famous martyr St Agatha, that as she went to prisons and tortures, she said she went to banquets and nuptials. Vincentius, laughing at his tormentors, said that death and tortures were to Christians jocularia et ludicra, matters of sport and pastime, and he joyed and gloried when he went upon hot burning coals, as if he had trod upon roses, i Philip Landsgrave of Hesse, being a long time prisoner under Charles the Fifth, it was demanded, what upheld him all that time, and he answered, that he felt the divine consolations of the martyrs. Basil, in his oration for Barlaam, that famous martyr, saith, that he delighted in the close prison as in a pleasant green meadow, and he took pleasure in the several inventions of tortures, as in several sweet flowers. William Tims, martyr, in a letter to a friend of his a little before his death, writeth thus, ' Now I take my leave of you till we meet in heaven, and hie you after; I have tarried a great while for you, and seeing you are so long in making ready, I will tarry no longer for you: you shall find me merrily singing. Holy, holy, holy Lord Grod of Sabaoth, at my journey's end,' &c. And when they kindled the fire at the feet of James Bainham, ' Methinks,' said he, ' you strew roses before me;' and Hawkes the martyr lifted up his hands above his head, and clapped them together when he was in the fire, as if he had been riding in state and triumph; and holy Mr Saunders, speaking of his consolations in his sufferings, saith, that he found a wonderful sweet refreshment flow from his heart unto all the members of his body, and from all the parts of his body to his heart again.^ By all these instances it is most evident that persecuting-times are the saints' rejoicing-times. God reserves the best and strongest wine of consolation to a day of persecution; suitable to that 2 Cor. i. 3-5, ' Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercy, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.' Oh, the sweet looks, the sweet words, the sweet hints, the sweet in-comes, the sweet joggings, the sweet embraces, the sweet influences, the sweet discoveries, the sweet love-letters, the sweet love-tokens, and the sweet comforts that Christians experience in their sufferings for Christ! In all their afflictions and persecutions, they may truly say, we have sweetmeats to eat, and waters of life to drink, and heavenly honeycombs to suck, that the world knows not of ; and indeed, when should the torch bo lighted, but in a dark night ? and when should the fire be made, but when the weather is cold ? and when should the cordial be given, but when the patient is weak ? and when should the God of comfort, the God of all kinds of comfort, and the God of all degrees of comfort, comfort his people, but under their afilictions and persecutions ? for

^ Fire, sword, death, prison, famine, are all pleasures, they are all delightful to me, saith Basil. Modestus, lieutenant to Julian the emperor, told him, that when the Christians suffered they did but deride them ; and the torments, said he, with which Christians are tormented, are more terrible to the tormentora, than they are to the tormented.

' Clarke, as before, sub nominibus. —G.

then comfort is most proper, necessary, seasonable, and suitable, and then God will be sure to pour in of the oil of joy into their hearts. And thus you see the great and glorious advantages that will redound 1 to the people of God by all their afflictions and persecutions. But,

, 8. Eighthly, I answer, That to suffer affliction and persecution for holiness sake, is the greatest and highest honour that you are capable of in this world. The crown of a martyrdom is a crown that the angels, those princes of glory, are not capable of winning or wearing; and oh, who art thou! what art thou, 0 man ! that God should set this crown upon thy head! 1 Pet. iv. 14, ' If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.'^ The very suffering condition of the people of God is at the present a glorious condition, for * the Spirit of glory rests upon them,' and they must needs be glorious, yea, very glorious, upon whom the Spirit of glory dwells. The sufferings of' the three children,' Dan. iii., tended very much to their honour and advancement, even in this world; and had those vessels of honour slipped their opportunity of suffering, they had lost their glory.3 The apostles all along counted their sufferings for Christ their highest honour. And that is a remarkable scripture that you have in that Heb. xi. 36-38, ' And others had trial of cruel mock-ings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented.' Oh! but these were surely the most sad, miserable, wretched, and forlorn creatures in all the world. Oh no! and that is most evident if the testimony and judgment of the Holy Ghost may be received; for, ver. 38, ' They were such of whom the world was not worthy.' The persecuting world was not worthy of their love, nor worthy of their prayers, nor worthy of their presence, nor worthy of their fellowship; and therefore God called them home, and set them down upon thrones by himself. And to me it is very observable, that when that great apostle Paul would glory in that which he accounted his honour, glory, and excellency, he does not glory in his high office, nor in his being rapt up in the third heaven, nor in the interest that he had in the hearts of the saints, nor in his arts or parts, &c.; but he glories in his sufferings, in that 2 Cor. xi. 23-27, 'In stripes above measure; in prisons more frequent; in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck: a night and a day have I been in the deep. In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. In

^ Spelled ' redowne.'—G.

* To die for Christ is the greatest promotion that God can bring any in this vale of misery unto, said Mr Philpot the martyr.

^ In the primitive times, when some good people came to comfort some of the martyrg that were in prison, and ready to suffer, they called them blessed martyrs ; Oh no, said they, we are not worthy of the name of martyrs. These boly, humble hearts thought martyrdom too high an honour for them.

weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.' Thus you see that this blessed apostle looks upon his sufferings as his greatest glory. To suffer for Christ is the greatest honour and promotion that God gives in this world, said old Father Latimer. John Noyes took up a faggot at the fire and kissed it, saying, ' Blessed be the time that ever I was born to come to this preferment.' When they had fastened Alice Driver with a chain to the stake to be burned, ' Never,' said she, ' did neckerchief become me so weU as this chain.' Balilus i the martyr, when he was to die, requested this favour of his persecutors—viz., that he might have his chains buried with him, as the ensigns of his honour. When Ignatius was to suffer, 'It is better for me,' saith he, 'to be a martyr, than to be a monarch.' What are we poor worms, full of vanities and lies, that we should be called to be maintainers of the truth ? for sufferings for Christ are the ensigns of heavenly nobility, said Calvin. It was a notable saying of a French martyr, when the rope was about his fellow, ' Give me,' said he, ' that golden chain, and dub me knight of that noble order.' ' I am the unmeetest man for this high office of suffering for Christ that ever was appointed to it,' said blessed Sanders. I shall conclude this head with that excellent saying of Prudentius; ' Their names,' saith he, ' that are written in red letters of blood in the church's calendar, are written in golden letters in Christ's register, the book of life.' And thus you see on all hands that suffering for Christ is the highest honour that you are capable of in this world: and, therefore, there is little reason why a Christian should shrink or shrug at sufferings. But,

9. Ninthly, I answer, That the affiicticms, persecutions, and sufferings that attend Christians in these days, are nothing to the fiery trials that the saints and martyrs of old have met with: for sevenfold harder measure has been measured forth to them than is this day measured forth to us. Our sufferings are hardly to be named in the day wherein those sore and heavy things are mentioned, that those precious and famous worthies of old have suffered. I may say to most Christians, as the apostle did to the Hebrews, Heb. xii. 4, ' Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.' Many have, but you have not; you have only met with hard words, when others have met with blows and wounds; you have been only a-contending with men, when others have been a-contending with beasts; you have been only whipped with rosemary branches, when others have been whipped with scorpions ; you have been only bound with silken bands, when others have been bound with iron chains. Will you be so favourable to yourselves as to compare your sufferings with the sufferings of former saints; and that you may, let me give you a little breviate of their sufferings ' of whom the world was not worthy.' History tells us, that in the ten primitive persecutions, they exercised all manner of cruelty and torments that could be devised against the Christians:—1. In the reign of Hadrian the emperor, there were ten thousand Christians crucified in the Mount Ararat, crowned with crowns of thorns, and thrust into the sides with sharp darts. 2. Others were so whipped, that their very inward arteries and veins appeared, and their entrails

1 BabUas.—G.

and bowels were seen, and afterwards they were set upon sharp shells, taken out of the sea edged and sharp, and certain nails and thorns were sharpened and pointed, called Ohelisci} for them to go upon, and after all this cruelty they were thrown to wild beasts to be devoured. 3. Multitudes were banished. 4. Others were drawn asunder with wild horses. 5. Some were racked with bars of iron. 6. Others were cast into loathsome dungeons. 7. Some were burnt in the fire. 8. Others were knocked down and had their brains beat out with staves and clubs. 9. Some were pricked in their faces and eyes with sharp reeds. 10. Others were stoned to death with stones, as Stephen was. 11. Some were dashed in pieces against millstones. 12. Others had their teeth dashed out of their jaws, and their joints broken. 13. Some were cast down from very high places. 14. Others were beheaded. 15. Some were tormented with razors. 16. Others were slain with the sword. 17. Some were run through with pikes. 18. Others were driven into the wilderness, where they wandered up and down, suffering hunger and cold, and where they were exposed to the fury both of wild beasts, and also to the rage of the barbarous Arabians. ] 9. Some fled into caves, which by their persecutors were rammed up with stones, and there they died. 20. Others were trodden to death by the people 21. Some were hanged on gibbets, with fire under their sides. 22. Others were cast into the sea and drowned. 23. Some were slain in metal mines. 24. Others were hanged by the feet, and choked with the smoke of a small fire, their legs being first broken. 25. Some were powdered with salt and vinegar, and then roasted with a soft fire.

26. Others were hung by one hand, that they might feel the weight of their whole bodies, scorching and broiling over burning coals.

27. Some were shot through with arrows, and afterwards thrown into stinking Jakes. 28. Others were stripped stark naked as ever they were born, and turned out of doors in cold, frosty nights, and burnt the next day. 29. In Syria, a company of Christian virgins were stripped stark naked to be scorned by the multitude, then shaved, then covered with swill and draff, and then torn in pieces and devoured by swine. 30. Lastly, many women had one joint of their bodies pulled from another, and their flesh and sides scratched with talons of wild beasts to the bones, and their breasts seared with torches till they died. And thus you have an account of thirty several ways by which the precious sons and daughters of Zion have formerly been afflicted, tormented, and destroyed; and what heart of stone can read over this bill of particulars with dry eyes?2 And now tell me, sirs, whether your sufferings are worth a naming in that day, wherein the sufferings of the precious servants of God in the primitive times are spoken of ? Oh, no 1 Well then, take heed of making molehills mountains, and of crying out. Is there any sorrow to our sorrow, or any sufferings to our sufferings ?^ But,

10. Tenthly, I answer. That unholy persons have suffered as great and grievous things for the satisfying of their lusts and humours, and

^ From the Greek d^eXlcrKos, = a small spit.—G.

' In making up his roll, Brooks seems to have had his eye on the quaint engrayings of his favourite folio, Clarke, as before.—G.

^ And another cruelty that they practised in the primitive times was this, they would make fathers to kindle Ihe faggots to burn their own children, &c.

for the compassing of some loorldly good, as you have suffered, or are like to sujfer,for your pursuing after holiness^ Oh the hazards, the dangers, the deaths that many have run through to gratify their lusts ! Petrus ]31esensis has long since observed, that the courtiers of his time suffered as many vexations, with weariness and painfulness, with hunger and thirst, and with all the catalogue of Paul's afflictions that is reckoned up in that 2 Cor. xi., as good Christians did for the truth. I have read of a Roman servant, who knowing his master was sought for by officers to be put to death, he, to save his master's life, put himself into his master's clothes that he might be taken for him, and accordingly he was taken and put to death for him, and all this out of a humour of vainglory. The Romans' desire of the praises of men, saith Augustine, made them bountiful of their purses, and prodigal of their lives. Servetus, at Geneva, gave all his goods to the poor, and his body to be burnt, and all for a name, for a little glory among men, saith Calvin.2 Ah what cutting, what lancing, what bleeding, what vomiting, and what searching will many men endure upon the advice of their physicians, and all for a little health, a little strength, or to preserve a wretched life for a few days, yea, for a few hours sometimes 1 Oh the tortures and torments that many Romans and others have undergone, sometimes out of love to their country, and sometimes to maintain their credit and reputation among men, and sometimes out of an affectation of future fame and renown, and to eternalize their names! and why then should Christians think so much of suffering afflictions and persecutions for holiness' sake, the least drachm of which being more worth than a thousand thousand of those ihings, for which they have suffered such exquisite pains and torments ? Ah! what great things, what hard things do many men daily suffer to gratify their own lusts, and to satisfy the lusts of others ! Ah! how frequently do many venture their lives, their estates, their names, their consciences, yea, their very souls, to court a Delilah! Oh the hell of horrors and terrors, which are worse than a thousand deaths, that many a sinner daily wades through to enjoy his sin ! and why then shouldst thou be startled in thy pursuit after holiness, because of afflictions and persecutions that may attend thee ? when they are nothing to what many suffer from within and without, to enjoy that which will undo them to all eternity, &c. But,

11, Eleventhly, I answer. Though persecutions may attend the pursuit of holiness, yet God has a thousand thousand ways to preserve his people from being ruined and destroyed by persecuting hands. Several afflictions and persecutions befell Paul at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, ' but out of them all the Lord delivered him.'^ As a righteous cause led him into sufferings, so a righteous Grod led him out of sufferings. Both Jews and Gentiles, barbarians and Grecians, princes and people, were as madly set upon persecuting of him, as he was once madly set upon persecuting of the saints, but God delivered him from every hand of violence. Divine power and wisdom wrought gloriously for him ; both in six troubles and in seven it brought him clearly off, and bravely

^ Witness Jehu, Ahab, Jezebel, Balaam, Judas, &c.

' This was in anno 1555, &c.

' 2 Tim. ill. 11, compared with that liii. and xiv. of the Acts.

out, not of some, but out of all his dangers and distresses, afflictions and persecutions, &c. Now,

[1.] First, God sometimes preserves his people from being ruined and destroyed, by laying a law of restraint upon the spirits of their persecutors, as he did upon Laban's and Esau's, that they could not hurt him; yea, instead of kicking and killing, behold kissing and embracing. 1 God tied up those cursed dogs, and laid such a restraint upon their wrath, rage, and malice, that they could not so much as touch a hair of Jacob's head. God stopped their mouths and bound their hands, that they were not able to act anything to the prejudice of Jacob. That God that laid a restraint upon the fierce wild creatures in Noah's ark, that they might not prey upon the tamer, and that chained up the lions from preying upon Daniel, that God chained up these two lions, that they could not make a prey of innocent Jacob. But,

[2.] Secondly, God does this sometimes by setting persecutors one against another. When the Moabites were confederated with the Ammonites and those of mount Seir against Judah, God made them turn their swords into one another's bowels, and so they mutually became their own executioners, and by this means poor Judah escaped. 2 God sometimes saves his lambs by setting the wolf and the dog together by the ears. When that wolf Saul was even ready to devour David the lamb, God lets loose those dogs the Philistines upon Saul, and so by this means David was preserved and secured, 1 Sam. xxiii. 27. And so Paul, by setting the persecuting Pharisees against the persecuting scribes, he escaped persecution. Acts xxiii. 6-8. And so the Lord, by stirring up the Persians against the Babylonians, he brought about the deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity; and afterwards by stirring up the Grecians against the Persians, and the Komans against the Grecians, and the Goths and Vandals and other barbarous nations against the Romans, he brought about the deliverance of his people. In all ages God, by engaging one furious lion against another, has preserved his sheep in quiet. When the emperor of Germany threatened utter ruin to all the Protestants within his empire, God let loose the Turk to fall with great fury upon his empire, and by that means diverted the emperor's rage, and preserved his poor people, which were as sheep appointed to the slaughter. Ah England, England ! if God had not set thine enemies together by the ears, year after year, how had they combined and conspired together to have swallowed thee up long before this day! But,

[3.] Thirdly, God does sometimes save his people from persecutions by passing a sentence of death upon their persecutors: and thus by his sudden and fearful judgment upon Herod he gave rest, liberty, and quiet to his people, Acts xii. 23, 24. And so by his vengeance on persecuting emperors he gave rest to his people. When Julian the apostate had vowed to make an oblation of all the lives of the-surviving Christians, as Gregory Nazianzen reports,^ God struck him with an arrow from heaven, so that he died reviling of Christ, and casting up his blood to heaven as if he would have cast it into the very face of

^ Gen. xli. 32, xi. 33, iv., and xxxi. 29,'compared.

' 2 Chron. xx. 22-24; Judges i. 22, and ix. 55-57, compared. ^ (jrat. iv,, in Jul.

I

HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 297

Christ. And when Eugenius the t}Tant endeavoured to destroy the armies of the Christians under the emperor Theodosius, God gave the very winds a command to wrest the weapons out of their enemies' hands, and so preserved his people. And in '88, how did God make the very winds to fight for his people, and so saved them from that bloody invasion, by causing his winds to blow, and their enemies to sink as lead in the mighty waters ! i And by giving Ahithophel rope enough, he preserved David from perishing. But,

[4.] Fourthly, God does this sometimes by altering and changing the very hearts and natures of their persecutors. And thus by changing Paul's nature, by turning that wolf into a lamb, that devil into a saint, he gave the churches rest throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, Acts ix. 31 ; and this is one of the most desirable things in the world, that God would save his people from outward ruin by ruining their persecutors' sins, and by changing their hearts and saving their souls. This way God has taken, and this way God may take, being a free agent to work when and where and how and on whom he pleases, but I cannot turn to a promise wherein he has engaged himself to make converts of persecutors. His common way of dealing with such is to give them up to blindness of mind, and hardness of heart, and searedness of conscience, and perverseness of spuit, that so their hell may be the hotter at last. But,

[5.] Fifthly, God does this sometimes by taking persecutors' feet in the same snares that they have laid for others: Ps. ix. 16, 'The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah;' Ps. Ivii. G. Higgaion selah signifies matter of great admiration, and of deep meditation; that the wicked should be snared in the work of his own hands is matter of perpetual admiration, and of most serious meditation. Who will not admire that Goliath should be slain with his own sword, and that proud Haman should hold Mordecai's stirrup, and be the herald of his honour: Ps. vii. 15,16, ' He made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he hath made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.' 2 The wicked shall be undone by their own doings ; all the arrows that they shoot at the righteous shall fall upon their own pates. Maxentius built a false bridge to drown Constantino, but was drowned himself. Henry the Third of France was stabbed in the very same chamber where he had helped to contrive the cruel massacre of the French Protestants. 3 And his brother Charles the Ninth, who delighted in the blood of the saints, had blood given him to di'ink, for he was worthy. Soon after Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, had condemned Sir John Oldcastle,^ a godly knight, it pleased the Lord to strike the archbishop so in his tongue that he could neither swallow down any food nor speak a word before his death, and so he was starved to death. The Duke of Somerset, in King Edward the Sixth's days, by consenting to his brother's death, made way for his own, by the same axe and hand that beheaded his brother.

^ 1588, ' The Armada.'—G.

' Histories would furnish us with many hundred instances of this nature.

^ Murdered by Jacques Clement, August 1, 1589.—G.

* Afterwards he was made Lord Cobham.

It is usual with God to take persecutors in the snares and pits that they have laid for liis people, as many thousands in this nation have experienced; and though Rome and her confederates are this day a-laying of snares and traps, and a-digging of pits for the righteous, who will rather burn than bow to their Baal, yet do but wait and weep, and weep and wait a little, and you shall see that the Lord will take them in the very snares and pits that they have laid and digged for his people. But,

[6.] Sixthly and lastly, God sometimes preserves his people from persecuting hands, by providing cities of refuge to shelter them, and by providing hiding-places to hide them in: Mat. x. 23, ' If they persecute you in one city, flee to another.' God has always found one city of refuge or another to shelter his persecuted people in. And so when bloody persecuting Jezebel had cut off many of the Lord's prophets, God provided an Obadiah to hide a hundred of them by fifty in a cave, 1 Kings xviii. 4, 13. . God never wants a chamber of presence, a chamber of providence, a chamber of protection, a chamber of salvation to hide his people in, Isa. xxvi. 20.i I have read of one that, in the time of the massacre at Paris, crept into a hole to hide himseK, and as soon as he was in there came a spider and weaved a web before the hole; the next morning the murderers came to search for him. Search in that hole, said one, and see if he be not there! 0 no, said another, he can't be there, for there is a cobweb at the hole's mouth; upon which they did not suspect his being there, by which means he was preserved from the rage and fury of those men of blood.2 Con-stantius the emperor promised a reward to those captains or soldiers that should bring Athanasius' head to him, but God hid him in a pit, and fed him there a long time by the hand of a friend; but being at last discovered by a maid-servant, the very night before his adversaries searched for him, the providence of God opened a way for his escape, and sent him into the west, by which means he was preserved from the rage and fury of his adversaries. I think no men under heaven have had larger experience of this truth than Englishmen. Ah, what cities of refuge, what hiding-places has God provided for them to hide them from the wrath and rage of their persecutors for many years ! And thus I have given you a brief account of some of those ways which God takes to deliver his people out of persecuting hands. But,

12. Twelfthly and lastly, I answer, That all the persecutions that you meet with on earth shall advance your glory in heaven.^ The more saints are persecuted on earth, the greater shall be their reward in heaven; as persecutions do increase a Christian's grace, so they do advance a Christian's glory: Mat. v. 10-12, ' Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of

^ The learned judge that there were several others in Israel that kept other prophets of the Lord from Jezehel's fury besides those that Obadiah hid. Three years before Titus Vespasian besieged Jerusalem, there was a voice frequently heard, ' Go up to Pella, go up to Pella,' which very many of the Jews did, and were saved.—[Josephus, as before «. «.—G.I

* See Sibbes, vol. iv. 487,488, note, for curious legends of the 'spider and cobweb.'—G.

'* Quisquia volens detrahU/amce mece nolens addit mercedi mece, saith Augustine.

heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Eejoice, and be exceeding glad ; for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.' Luke vi. 22, 23, ' Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man s sake. Kejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is in heaven, for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.' ^ They that are now opposed and persecuted by men, shall at last be owned and crowned by God; yea, and the more afHictions and persecutions are multiplied upon them in this Avorld, the greater shall be their recompense in another world. The original words, ar/aXkLaade in Matthew, and a-KipTijaare in Luke, signifies exceeding great joy, such as men usually express by skipping and dancing; let your hearts leap, and let your bodies leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven. Look, as wanton young cattle in the spring, when everji^hing is in its prime and pride, do use to leap and skip for joy; so says Christ, do you leap and skip under all the afflictions and persecutions that befalls you for righteousness' sake, for great is your reward in heaven. Bernard, speaking of persecutors, saith, that they are but his Father's goldsmiths, who are working to add pearls to the saints' crowns. It is to my loss, said Gordius the martyr, if you abate me anything of my present sufferings; sufferings for Christ are the saints' greatest glory; they are those things wherein they have divinely glorified.^ Crudelitas vestra gloria nostra: Your cruelty is our glory, say they in Tertullian ; and the harder we are put to it, the greater shall be our reward in heaven. Chrysostom liit the nail when he said, If one man should suffer all the sorrows of all the saints in the world, yet they are not worth one hour's glory in heaven. By the consent of the schoolmen, all the martyrs shall appear in the church triumphant, bearing the signs of their Christian wounds about them, as so many speaking testimonies of their godly courage, that what here they endured in the behalf of their Saviour, may be there an addition to their glory. 0 Christians, all your sufferings will certainly increase your future glory; every affliction, every persecution will be a grain put into the scale of your heavenly glory, to make it more weighty in that day, wherein he will richly reward you for every tear, for every sigh, for every groan, for every hazard, and for every hardship that you have met with in the pursuit of holiness, &c. For light afflictions you shall have a weight of glory; and for a few afflictions you shall have as many joys, pleasures, delights, and contents as there be stars in heaven or sands on the sea-shore; and for momentary afflictions you shall have an eternal crown of glory, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. If you have suffering for suffering with Christ on earth, you shall have glory for glory with Christ in heaven. Ah Christians, your present sufferings are but the seeds of your future glory, and the more plentifully you sow in tears, the more abundant wiU be your harvest of glory. Cyrus, in a great

^ Excommunicate and anathematise 3'ou as notorious, shameful, and abominable offenders. ' That is, ' gloried.'—G.

expedition against his enemies, the better to encourage his soldiers to fight, in an oration that he made at the head of his army, promised, upon the victory, to make every foot-soldier a horseman, and every horseman a commander, and that every officer that did valiantly should be highly rewarded; but Christ our General promises more, for he promises a crown, Kev. ii. 10, and a throne, iii. 21, to all his afflicted and persecuted ones, which are the greatest rewards that a God can give or that man can crave. It troubled one of the martyrs when he was at the stake, that he was going to a place where he should be for ever a-receiving of wages for a little work. Aristippus being demanded in a storm why he was not as fearful as others were, answered that there was great reason for it; for, saith he, they fear the torments due to a bad life, but I expect the reward due to a good life. Ah Christians! shall not the hopes of that great reward that attends suffering saints bear you up bravely, and carry you out sweetly under all the storms that may beat upon you whilst you are sailing heavenwards and holiness-wards ? Surely yes. I have read that Lycurgus could draw the Lacedemonians to anything by temporal rewards; and oh then how much more should I draw all your hearts to a readiness and willingness to do anything, to be anything, and to suffer anything for Christ's sake, and holiness' sake, upon the account of that great reward, that sure reward, and that eternal reward, that attends suffering saints ! And let thus much suffice for answer to this fourth objection. I hope none of you will think that I have been too long in answering this objection, considering the present times. But,

Object 5. Fifthly, Others may object and say, We would labour after this holiness, without luhich there is no happiness, dtc. But if we should, then we must resolve to be poor, and mean, and beggarly in the tvorld, we must resolve then to fare hard, and lie hard, and labour hard, and live low in the ivorld, for we shall never raise an estate to ourselves by holiness and strictness, we shall never grow rich and great in the world by godliness ; nay, by driving this trade of holiness, we shall lose our trades, our customers, and those estates we have, and quickly bring a noble to ninepence, &c. Now to fence and arm you against this objection, give me leave to propose these six following considerations:

[1.] First, - Consider that it is not absolutely necessary that you should be rich, or high, or great in this world ; but it is absolutely necessary that you should be holy. The want of riches can only trouble you, but the want of holiness will certainly damn you. You may be happy in another world, though you are not high in this world. Many a man has gone to heaven without a penny in his purse, or good clothes on his back; and doubtless it is infinitely better with ragged, naked Lazarus to go to heaven, than it is with Dives to go rich and bravely clad to hell, Luke xvi. 19-31. It is better to go to heaven poor, and halt, and maimed, than to go to hell sound and rich. Poverty and outward misery with salvation, is far better than worldly prosperity and felicity with everlasting perdition. Holiness, and not riches, is the one thing necessary. If thou hast holiness, nothing can make thee miserable; but if thou wantest holiness, nothing can make thee happy. Outward blessings are no infallible

evidences of a blessed estate. Was Abraham rich ? so was Abimelech too. Was Jacob rich ? so was Laban too. Was David a king ? so was Saul too. Was Constantino an emperor? so was Julian too. It is only holiness that sets the crown of happiness upon a Christian's head. But,

[2.] Secondly, Consider that it is not sanctity, but impiety, it is not

holiness, but wickedness, that exposes men to the greatest poverty and

misery: Prov. vi. 26, ' For by the means of a whorish woman a man

is brought to a piece of bread.' Whoredom is a very costly sin, Prov.

xxiv. 33, 34, and xxviii. 19, 22 ; the prodigal had quickly spent his

portion among his harlots, Luke xv. Whoredom cannot be a greater

paradise to the flesh, than it is a purgatory to the purse, and many

great ones have found it so. Herod, that old fornicator, was so

inflamed and bewitched with the immodest wanton dancing of his

damosel, that he swore he would give her to the half of his kingdom,

Mark vi. 23, 24. And it is very observable, that whilst Solomon, in

his younger days, kept holy, chaste, and pure, silver and gold was as

plenteous at Jerusalem and at court as the stones of the street; but

when Solomon had given himself up to his concubines, they quickly

exhausted his treasuries, and brought him to so low an ebb, that he

was forced to oppress his subjects with such heavy taxes, burdens,

and tributes, which occasioned the revolt of the ten tribes.i Josephus,

in his Antiquities, tells us of one Decius Mundus, that offered to give

so many hundred thousand drachms, that came to six thousand pounds

English money, to satisfy his lusts one night with a whore, and yet

could not obtain his desire. There is no sin that has brought more

men, and greater men, to beggary and misery than this has. It is a

great misery to be brought to a piece of bread, to a scrap, a little bit

of bread; but to be brought into so low a condition by harlots,

doubles the misery; for he that is by a whorish woman brought to a

piece of bread on earth, shall be brought to a drop of water in hell,

except there be found repentance on his side, and pardoning mercy

on God's. Take another instance in that Prov. xxiii. 20, 21, 'Be not

among wine-bibbers; amongst riotous eaters of flesh: for the drunkard

and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a

man with rags.'2 Many dukes, earls, lords, and gentlemen of great

estates, have sadly experienced the truth of this scripture. Society

and luxurious company hath brought many a man to extreme poverty.

The full cup makes an empty purse, and the fat dish makes a lean

bag; he that fills thee wine with one hand, and sets before thee

dainty dishes with the other hand, will be sure to pick thy pockets

with both hands; and this Caligula, the Koman emperor, found by

experience; for his gluttony brought him to incredible poverty.

Diogenes, hearing that the house of a certain prodigal was offered to

sale, said, I knew that house was so accustomed to surfeiting and

drunkenness, that ere long it would spew out the master. Excessive

drinking is now so great in England, that the Germans may fear

1 1 Kings X. 27, 28 ; 2 Chron. i. 15-17; 1 Kings xii. 1-20.

* The glutton and the drunkard were to be stoned to death, Deut. xxi. 20, 21. Basil calls drunkenness a self-chosen devil. When jEschines commended Philip king of Macedon for a jovial man that would drink freely, Demosthenes, being by, told him that was a good quality in a sponge, but not in a prince.

the loss of their charter. There was a street in Kome called viciis sobrius, the sober street, because there was never an ale-house in it; but this, I think, is hard to ,say of any street in London, yea, of any street in England. It is an observation amongst the mariners, that as the sea grows daily shallower and shallower on the shores of Holland and Zealand, so the channel of late waxeth deeper and deeper on the coasts of Kent and Essex. Ah, sirs ! what is more evident than this, that as drunkenness ebbs in Holland, so it flows in England! Oh, what a deal of ground has this sin got within this few months upon English hearts ! There was a time when drunkards were as rare in England as wolves, but now they are as common as swine. Ah, what staggering, reeling, and shameful spewing is to be found, both among the great ones, the priests, and people of this nation! The prophet Hosea complained in his time, that the princes, upon their king's day, made him sick with bottles of wine, Hosea vii. 5. This day of their king was either his birthday, and so Pagninus rendereth it here, Die natalis ejus; or his coronation day, and so the Chaldee Paraphrast carrieth it; or the day wherein their king Jeroboam set up his golden calves at Dan and Bethel, as some others conceive. Now in this day of their king there was such carnal triumphing, and such pampering of the flesh, and such roaring, carousing, and drinking of bottles of wine, that the princes drank themselves sick, drowning their bodies and souls in bottles and butts of wine. Memorable is the king's late proclamation against all such debauched persons, who, pretending to drink his health, destroy their own by a shameful abusing of the precious creatures of God.i But if the prophet Hosea were now alive in this nation, ah, what cause would he have to complain that both high and low, men and women, young and old have given themselves to this beastly sin, that unmans a man, and that besots the soul, and that destroys the body, and that proves a canker-worm to men's estates ! What are most ale-houses but hell-houses, but the devil's houses, in which the name of God is notoriously blasphemed, religion scorned, the saints derided, the Sabbaths profaned, young ones impoisoned, and old ones hardened, and many thousand families impoverished ? And why, then, should it be almost as easy a task to conquer the West Indies, to overcome the Turk, and to bring down the Pope, as it is to bring down such wretched ale-houses, as are the very nurseries of aU sin, and the synagogues of incarnate devils, and the very sinks of all misery, poverty, and beggary. By these instances it is most clear that it is not holiness, but wickedness that exposes men to the greatest poverty and misery. But,

[3.] Thirdly, Consider that God can make a little with holiness go a great way} A little with holiness shall serve the turn, and then enough is as good as a feast. God can make a handful of meal in the barrel, and a little oil in the cruse, hold out a long while, 1 Kings xvii. 10-17. So Deut. viii. 4, ' Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee,

^ Richard the Third drowned his brother in a butt of sack. If one may credit relations, many have drunk themselves dead within this few months.—[1661, 1662.—G.]

* Mr Foxe in his Acts and Mon., p. 1874, edit. wZ<., speaks of a poor woman, who being threatened that she should have but a little bread one day, and a little water on the next, replied, If you take away my meat, I hope God will take away my hunger, and then it will be all one as if I had meat.

neither did thy foot swell these forty years.' Chap. xxix. 5, ' And I have led you forty years in the wilderness : your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.' Their raiment in forty years time was not the worse for wearing, their garments were not worn out with wearing, in all that time they were not gro'wn old and so unfit to wear. Oh no; but they were as fresh and strong, and fit for use at the last, as they were when they first came into the wilderness, and this was by a divine power that preserved them from decay. God supplied all the backs and bellies of the Israelites in such state, as if every Israelite had been a prince. When God brings his people into a wilderness condition, he will make their mercies last and hold out as long as their wilderness condition continues. Some of the learned are of opinion, that the garments and shoes of children and young men grew up with their persons; so that as their stature increased, so their apparel and shoes waxed larger and longer. But I suppose that it is not safe for us to imagine or multiply miracles without necessity "and clear warrant from Scripture; and, therefore, I shall rather fall in with those worthy men who thus judge —viz., that when any began to outgrow their apparel and shoes, they laid them aside, and took others that were fit for their present stature, and that those which they laid aside were as sound and fresh, and fit for service, as when they first began to use them, and so those they put off were fit for others to put on that were of a less stature ; and thus God lengthened out their mercies in their wilderness condition. So in that Prov. xv. 16, 17, ' Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.' 1 Chap. xvi. 8, * Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right.' Chap. xvii. 1, 'Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith, than a house full of sacrifices with strife.' Ps. xxxvii. 16, ' A little that a righteous man hath, is better than the riches of many wicked.' Where there is a holy God, and a holy heart, a little of the world will go far. A little will be a sufficiency to him, who with it enjoys that Holy One that is all-sufficiency itself, Phil. iv. 11-20. Though a whole world will never fill nor satisfy an unsanc-tified heart; yet a little, a very little of the world will satisfy and content a holy heart. There are two things that an unholy heart can never find, it can never find any sweetness in spirituals, nor it can never find any satisfaction in temporals; but a holy heart always finds the greatest sweetness in spirituals, and is as easily satisfied with the least and meanest of temporals, Esth. v. 9-14. Gen. xxviii. 20, 21, ' And Jacob vowed a vow, saying. If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.' Holy Jacob does not indent with God for costly apparel, or delicate fare; he does not make a bargain with God to be housed bravely, and fed daintily, and clothed gorgeously, and lodged easily, and waited on nobly.^ Oh no; bread to eat

^ Sheep can live upon bare commons, where fat oxen would be quickly starved, &c. * Bread and water with the gospel is good cheer, said holy Greenham. He is rich enough that lacketh not bread, and high enough that is not forced to serve.— Jerome.

and clothes to wear is as much as holy Jacob looks after. Ah friends, a little will serve nature, and less will serve grace, though nothing will serve or satisfy an unsanctified man's lusts. 0 sirs, the very pulse and locusts which a holy man eats, relishes better than all the glutton's delicious fare ; and the very sheep-skins and goat-skins which he wears, wear softer and finer than all the purple and soft raiment that is in princes' houses ; and the very holes, and caves, and dens wherein holy men live, are more pleasant and delightful than the stately palaces of the great ones of the world, i Godliness and contentment does so sweeten and so lengthen out all a Christian's mercies, that he cannot but reckon himself a happy man, though he may be the poorest among many men. Let me conclude this third answer thus—

This world's wealth that men so much desire, May well be likened to a burning fire ; Whereof a little can do little harm, But profit much our bodies well to warm : But take too much, and surely thou shalt burn; So too much wealth to too much woe does turn.

But,

[4.] Fourthly, Consider that worldly riches and holiness do ojien meet together. A man may be a very holy man, and yet a rich man too. Abraham and Lot were as wealthy men as most in their time, and yet behind none for faith and holiness. Gen. xiii.; David, and Solomon, and Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah had crowns on their heads and sceptres in their hands, and very great revenues at their commands, and in all these grace and greatness sweetly meet.^ Job was a very holy man, and yet a very rich man. Job i. 3, 8. If you cast your eye upon the first of Job, and survey his estate, you shall find that he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and a very great family; but if you will look into the last of Job, and survey his estate, there you shall find it doubled. Joseph, Nehemiah, Mordecai, Daniel, and the three children, were very gracious, and yet very high and great in the world. As every wicked man is not a rich man, so every holy man is not a poor man. If you wiU but set the gracious against the graceless, the holy against the profane, I doubt not but for one holy man whose estate is low and mean, you will find thousands of wicked men whose conditions are beggarly and low in this world. God many times delights to confute the devil's proverb—viz., that plain dealing is a jewel, but he that useth it shall die a beggar. Now God by heaping up riches and honour and greatness upon the righteous, gives the devil the lie, and lets the world see that holiness many times is the ready way to worldly greatness.

It is observable, that when all the sons of Jacob returned with corn and money in their sacks from Egypt, Benjamin had not only corn and money in his sack, but he had over and above the silver cup put into the mouth of his sack, as a singular pledge of his brother Joseph's favour. Gen. xliv.; so God many times gives to his Benjamins, the sons of his right hand, not only as much of the world as he does to

^ It is great riches not to desire riches, and he hath most that covets least.— Socratea. ' Isa. xli. 2. Abraham is called the righteous man.

others, but more of the world than he does to others ; he does not only give them corn and money in common with others, but he also gives them the silver cup, the grace cup; he puts in some singular temporal blessings into their sacks more than into other men's; for he is the great Lord of all, and therefore may dispose of his own as he pleases. But, [5.] Fifthly, Consider that most men are best in a low condition. David was never better than when he was in a wilderness condition, for degrees of grace, and for the exercise of grace, and for communion with the God of grace. It was best with David when his condition was low in the world, Ps. Ixiii. 1-4. It was never better with Jacob than when he passed over Jordan with a staff in his hand, Gen. xxxii. 10. Job's graces never shined so gloriously as when he sat upon a dunghill, and could bless a taking God as well as a giving God, Job i. Though John was poor in the world, yet the Holy Ghost tells us that he was the greatest that was born of women. Mat. xi. 11. Paul was but a poor tent-maker, and yet his conversation was in heaven, Phil, iii. 20. The church of Smyrna was the poorest church, but yet the best of all the seven churches in Asia, Kev. ii. 8, 9. Christ knew very well that his disciples would be best in a low condition, and therefore he fed them but from hand to mouth. He that could have turned stones into bread, could as easily have turned stones into gold, and so have made his disciples rich and great in the world, but he would not. Christ could easily have changed their rags into robes, and their cottages into stately palaces, and their barley loaves into costly banquets, but he knew that their hearts would be best when their condition was lowest; and therefore he makes them live upon short commons.! As there was none so holy as Christ, so there was none so poor as Christ, Mat. viii. 20, 21. Christ lived poor and died poor, for as he was born in another man's house, so he was buried in another man's tomb. Austin has long since observed, that when Christ died he made no will; he had no crown lands ; all he had was a coat, and that the soldiers parted amongst them. Had there been any true happiness or blessedness in gold and silver, gay clothes, stately mansions, brave attendants, or in well-furnished tables, &c.,2 Christ, who was, and still is, the Lord of all, would certainly have been so favourable to himself, and so kind to his disciples, as not to have deprived himself or his family of that happiness and blessedness which they might have enjoyed, by enjoying the brave things of this world ; but he very well knew that true happiness and blessedness was too great and too glorious a thing to be found in any such worldly enjoyments, and upon that foot was willing to be without them himself ; and in his wise providence he so ordered the affairs of his own house, that those whom he loved best should have least of those things wherein there was no true happiness. Lazarus was very poor, but very holy ; he was houseless, but not Lordless; his body was clothed with rags, but his soul was adorned with grace ; he had no bread to eat, and yet he had bread to eat that the world knew not of : whilst he lived, the dogs, being more kind than then- master, licked his sores, but when he

^ Learned Ainsworth had but ninepence a week to live on whilst he wrote his excellent Commentary on the Pentateuch. ' If there were any happiness in riches, the gods would not want them, said Seneca. VOL. IV. U

died, the angels carried him into Abraham's bosom. In all ages this has been an experienced truth, that most men are best in a low condition. Pope Martin reports of himself, that whilst he was a monk, and lived in the cloister, he had some evidences for heaven, but when he was a cardinal, then he began to fear and doubt whether ever he should go to heaven; but afterwards, when he came to be pope, he utterly despaired of ever going thither. Ah, how holy, how humble, how heavenly, how gracious, how serious, how zealous, how prudent, how vigilant, and how diligent have many men been in these late years, whilst their condition was low, and poor, and mean in the world ! but when under various changes they changed their brass into silver, their copper into gold, their cottages into palaces, their shops into lordships, and their sheep-skins into scarlet, &c., ah, how proud, how stately, how earthly, how carnal, how careless, how cold, how formal, how lukewarm, how indifferent, how light, how slight, how vain, how loose, did they generally grow! I think since Christ was on earth there has not been a more evident proof of men's being best when their condition was lowest than what has been given within these late years. Mandrobulus, in Lucian, offered to his god the first year gold, the second year silver, and the third year nothing at all; so many in our times, who were forward in the days of their poverty and adversity to offer gold and silver, I mean prayers and praises, to God, yet in the days of their prosperity and worldly glory, they offered either nothing to God, or else that which was next to nothing. I have read of the pdne-tree, that if you pull off the bark it will last a long time ; but if the bark continue on, it will rot the tree. Ah, how has the bark of honour, the bark of riches, the bark of pleasure, the bark of success, the bark of applause, and the bark of preferment, &c., rotted, and corrupted, and worsened many glorious professors in these days! And oh that, now their bark is taken off, they may with the pine-tree grow better and better ! Oh that now they may grow more holy than ever, and more humble than ever, and more heavenly than ever, and more spiritual than ever, and more watchful than ever, and more faithful than ever, and more friendly than ever, and more united than ever ! &c. Now if most men are best in a low condition, then there is no reason why any man should turn his back upon holiness because of poverty, that often treads upon holiness' heels. The cypress-tree is high, but barren; and the olive-tree is low, but fruitful. Ah, Christians, it is infinitely better to be an olive-tree, low and fruitful, to be low in the world, and full of the fruits of righteousness and hoUness, than to be a cypress-tree, high in honours, riches, and worldly greatness, &c., and to be barren of all grace and goodness. But,

[6.] Sixthly and lastly, Consider that spiritual riches, ivhich are the test of riches, do commonly wait on the poorest saints. Usually there are none so rich in spirituals, as those that are poorest in temporals ; there are none that have so much to shew for another world as those that have least to shew of this world: James ii. 5, ' Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him ?' i Though they have never a penny in their purses, nor * Solus sapiens dives^ saith the philosopher.

never a rag to hang on their backs, nor never a bit to put in their bellies, yet they are rich heirs, and their heads are destinated to the diadem. Usually the poorest saints are the richest Christians in comforts, in graces, in promises, in experiences, and in spiritual enjoyments, &c., 2 Cor. viii. 1-5; Rom. v. 3. The holy soul drives the freest and the greatest trade heavenwards; the holy soul may sail to any port that lies in God's dominions, and trade freely,—and what enriches men like a free and a full trade ? There are infinite treasures laid up in precious promises, and all these treasuries lie open to the holy soul. A Christian may lade his soul as deep as he pleases with the precious commodities of heaven. I have read of Tiberius the emperor, in the year of our Lord 577, who, seeing a cross set in a marble stone lying in the ground, commanded it to be digged up ; and when it was digged up, he found a rich treasure under the cross. 0 sirs, under the cross of poverty there are treasures, spiritual treasures, lasting treasures, and satisfying treasures to be found. Though holiness may be attended with cross upon cross, loss upon loss, and misery upon misery, and calamity upon calamity, and sorrow upon sorrow, and vexation upon vexation, &c., yet under every cross and every loss, &c., a Christian shall be sure to find such spiritual and heavenly treasure, that for weight, worth, use, delight, and duration, all the treasures of the world are not to be compared to it.

0 sirs, what is a cup of pleasant wine to a condemned man ? or a ship's lading of gold to a drowning man ? or a sumptuous feast to a sick man ? or royal robes to a diseased man ? &c.; no more are all the riches or treasures of this world to those spiritual riches and heavenly treasures that attends the poorest saints. Austin hath long since told us that divitice corporales paupertatis plence sunt: Earthly riches are full of poverty. They cannot enrich the soul, for oftentimes where the purse is full of gold, the heart is empty of grace, and under many silken coats there are threadbare souls to be found. Now what are all the riches of this world to those riches of consolation, and riches of sanctification, and riches of justification, and riches of salvation, and riches of glorification, that attends the poorest saints ? Suppose that poverty should break in upon you like an armed man whilst you are in the pursuit of holiness, yet if the best of riches, if spiritual riches, shall attend your poverty, as certainly they shall, what cause have you to be discouraged? Surely none. And let thus much suffice for answer to this fifth objection.

Object. 6. But sixthly. Some may further object, and say, SJiould ive pursue after holiness, it would he a disgrace, a disparagement, and dishonour to us ivho are high, and great, and rich, and honourable in the earth. We are gentlemen, ive are well-bred and high-born, and holiness seems to be too poor and too low a thing for such as we are to look after, &c.

Now to fence and arm you against this objection, give me leave to propose to your most serious thoughts these following considerations, &c.:

[1.] First, That holiness is man's greatest honour and excellency — and this I have made evident at large in the third motive to holiness ; yea, holiness is the crown, excellency, and glory of all a man's excel-

lencies and glories, as has been fully proved in the fifth motive to holiness ; yea, and that which is yet more, holiness reflects honour, not only upon a man's own person, but it reflects honour also upon a man's near and dear relations, yea, upon the very country, city, or town where he was born, as is made good at large in the sixth motive to holiness, to which I refer you for more full and complete satisfaction to this objection. 1 But,

[2.] Secondly, Ah,how is man fallen from his primitive glory, that looks noiv upon holiness as his disgrace, as his discredit and dishonour, which in innocency ivas the top and crown of all his glory and felicity ! 2 Ah, how has sin blinded, bebeasted, and besotted the sons of men, that they should look upon that to be their, reproach which is their highest honour in this world, and to look upon that to be their disgrace which alone puts a grace upon them, and to look upon that to be their discredit which can only bring them into credit with God, angels, and good men! Augustine confesseth that it was just thus sometimes with him, for he was stricken with such blindness, that he thought it a shame unto him to be less vile and wicked than his companions, whom he heard boast of their lewdness, and glory so much the more, by how much they were the more filthy; ^ therefore, saith he, lest I should be of no account, I was the more vicious, and when I could not otherwise match others, I would feign that I had done those things which I never did, lest I should seem so much the more abject by how much I was the more innocent, and so much the more vile by how much I was the more chaste. Ah, what will not a soul blinded by sin say and do, when the work of holiness is not formed in him! Sin has certainly cast that sinner into a woeful lethargy, who is the father of this objection. Now, it is observed of those that are fallen into a lethargy, that their bodies are subject to a continual drowsiness, and their memories are so weak that they cannot remember anything that they speak or do; nay, it does so far debase them that they forget the very necessary actions of life: and just so has sin dealt with these objectors' souls, it has cast them under such a spiritual drowsiness, yea, it has cast them into such a deadly and fearful sleep, that it makes them forget the unum necessarium, the one thing necessary—viz., holiness. Souls under a spiritual lethargy forget their lost and lamentable condition, they forget how far ofi" they are from God, Christ, heaven, and salvation, and they forget how near they are to hell, to ruin, to everlasting burnings, and to utter perdition and destruction. It is observable of the smith's dog, that neither the noise of hammers by him, nor the sparks of fire flying about him, nor those that light upon him, do any whit awaken him, but he snorts and sleeps on securely in the midst of all; so sin has cast the sinner into so deep a sleep, that though the sparks of hell-fire in the threatenings fly about him, and the hammers of God's judgments make a noise on all sides of him, yet he is so stupefied and benumbed that nothing will awaken

^ In the other motives you will find holiness to be the honour of God, Christ, and angels, &c.

* Mercury' could not kill Argus till he had cast him into a sleep, and with an enchanted rod closed his eyes; bo the devil can never hurt the soul, nor kill the soul, till he has cast the sinner into a deep sleep of carnal security.

' August. Confess., lib. ii. cap. 3.

him to behold his spiritual and eternal hazard, but he sleeps on securely, and so is like to do, if infinite grace and mercy does not prevent, till he awakes with everlasting flames about his ears. When a man is in a deep lethargy, if you pinch him with pincers, or prick him with needles, he feels it not; if you scourge him he cries not, if you threaten him he fears not, or if you speak him fair he regards it not, &c. Now this is the condition of such that are in a spiritual lethargy; let the judgments of God be denounced, and let the terrors of the law be preached, they tremble not; let the flames of hell-fire flash upon their souls, they regard it not, for they are sermon-proof, and judgment-proof, and hell-proof. Now this is thy very case, 0 sinner ! who criest out that the pursuit of holiness will turn to thy disgrace and discredit in the world ; for were thy eyes but open to see the necessity, beauty, and excellency of holiness, oh, then thou wouldst call for holiness, and cry for holiness, and search for holiness, and press for holiness, as that which is the chiefest ornament, and the only honour and glory of the creature. But,

[3.] Thirdly, I answer, Thxit it is not holiness, hut ivickedness, it is not sancity, hut impiety, that is tJie reproach, the dishonour, the disgrace, and disparagement of man: Prov. xiv. 34, ' Kighteousness exalts a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people,' or as the Hebrew has it, ' to nations.' ^ The world usually accounts either beggarliness of estate, or badness of situation, or rudeness of behaviour, or changes in government, or dulness of invention, or a disuse of arms, or some suchlike imperfections, to be the reproach of nations; but the Holy Ghost tells us that it is sin, it is sin that is the reproach of nations, that is the shame of nations, that is the contempt and scorn of nations, and that blots and blurs all the excellencies and glories of nations. Impious persons makes the nations infamous; and the more impious any nation, city, or person is, the more infamous that nation, city, or person is: Prov. vi. 32, 33, ' But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.' 2 There is nothing that is such a blemish and such a wound to a man's honour as sin. Sin leaves such a blot, such a blur, and such a reproach upon a man's name, fame, and reputation, that no art, no pains shall ever be able to wipe it out. All the water in the sea cannot wash away, nor all the rubbing in the world cannot wipe away the disgrace, disdain, and contempt, that enormities, that wickednesses lays a people under: Jer. xxiv. 9, * And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdopis of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.' It was not for their holiness, their godliness, but for their wickedness and ungodliness, that God was resolved to make them a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places: Prov. x. 7, ' The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot.' The wickedness of the wicked heaps so much disgrace, disparagement, and dishonour upon them,

1 D''QM7, nations or peoples.

5 What an indelible blot was this still upon David—viz., that his heart was upright in all things save in the matter of Uriah.

that it makes their very names to rot and stink above-ground; their carcases do not more rot and stink under-ground, than their very names do rot and stink above-ground. The wickedness of the wicked will make their very names such a detestation and such an abhorring, that they shall either not be remembered at all, or if they be, they shall be only remembered as a rotten, stinking, putrified thing. As the curse of God follows the soul of a wicked man to hell, so the curse of God follows the name of a wicked man on earth, so that it becomes most noisome and loathsome among the sons of men. Sin does so debase and bebeast the great ones of the world, that the prophets, as Grotius hath rightly observed, use to set forth wicked kings by the names of beasts—as the goat, the ram, the leopard, the bear—to note the beastliness of their conditions, and because they commonly maintain and exercise their government by brutish violence and tyranny, Dan. vii. 3-7; Prov. xxviii. 15, 16. And Christ himself, who never spoke treason nor sedition, terms king Herod a fox in that Luke xiii. 32, * And he said unto them. Go ye and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.' Herod was as crafty and as subtle as a fox, he was as cruel and as fradulent as a fox, and therefore he is very fitly termed by Christ a fox. And so Paul describes Nero by the name of a lion: 2 Tim. iv. 17, ' And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion'— that is, out of the mouth of Nero, who for his power and cruelty was like a lion, for he was a most cruel and desperate persecutor of the Christians, and made a bloody decree, that ' whosoever confessed himself a Christian, should without any more ado be put to death as a convicted enemy of mankind.' Now, by what has been said, you see that it is not holiness but wickedness that is the greatest disgrace, dishonour, and disparagement imaginable to the sons of men; and therefore there is no reason why the great ones of the world should disdain to pursue after holiness upon the account of this objection. But,

[4.] Fourthly, I answer. That this objection savours strongly of cursed pride, and of hellish loftiness and stateliness of spirit; for who art thou, 0 great mountain ! who are thou, 0 great man! or what art thou, 0 mighty man! Zech. iv. 2; but that thou mayest be dishonoured and disparaged for holiness' sake ? What are thy great swelling titles, but as so many rattles ? what are thy honours, but as so many meteors ?^ and what is all thy worldly greatness, but a wind that may blow thee the sooner to hell ? All thy glory is but a glorious fancy, a magnum nihil, a great nothing ; and this Haman and Herod found by experience, and so did Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, who gave a charge to the prgetors of Rome, that they should not suffer his name to be worn threadbare. Bajazet, who was one of the greatest commanders in the world, was carried about in an iron grate to be a footstool to an insulting conqueror. And Belisarius, the most famous general that the latter age of the Roman empire knew, and in greatest favour with Justinian his prince, was reduced to that great want that he was fain to beg his bread. And thus in all ages men have quickly

^ Calvin hath this note on that 1 Pet. v. 5, viz., Regis animum quisque intra ae habet. Every man hath in him the mind of a king.

fallen from the highest pinnacle of honour,.to sit with Job upon the dunghill. The true honour of a soldier lies not in boasting of the nobleness of his lineage, nor in the blaz[on]ing of his arms, nor in telling of large stories of his pedigrees and genealogies, nor in his brave clothes, nor in his rich plunder, &c., but his honour lies in a torn buckler, a cracked helmet, a blunt sword,i and in the scars and wounds that he has received in the defence of his country; so thy true honour, 0 thou great piece of vanity! that makest this objection, does not lie in thy coat of arms, nor in thy great titles, nor in thy great lordships and manors, nor in thy high birth, &c., but in thy interest in Christ, in thy new birth, in thy being an heir of the promises, in thy title to heaven, and in thy pursuit after holiness; and verily, if you should live and die without these things, it had been ten thousand times better that you had been brought up in a cave, than that you had been brought up at court; and that you had all your days lain under a hedge, than that you have sit so long upon seats of honour; and that you had begged your bread from door to door, than that you have had your full cups and full tables ; and that you had been clothed with rags, than that you have put on costly robes ; and that you had rather been a-turning of spits, than a-tossing of pots or pipes, for the great things of this world does but lay men the more open to great temptations, and to great provocations, even to commit the greatest abominations. 0 sirs, suppose a criminous 2 person, who is led to execution, should engrave his coat of arms upon the prison gate, would he not be accounted vain and mad ? and yet such is the madness and vanity of the great ones of this world, that they endeavour with the greatest industry to leave monuments of their dignity in the prison of this world, but take no care to make provision for another world, Ps. xlix. 10-15; and all this is out of the horrid pride and loftiness of their spirits: Ps. x. 4, ' The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.' There is nothing that hinders a man from seeking after a holy God, and from pursuing after holiness, like pride. A proud heart is too stout to think of holiness, or to mind holiness, or to prize holiness, or to press after holiness. ' Who is the Lord,' says proud Pharaoh, ' that I should serve him?' Exod. v. 2. So says the proud heart. Who is holiness, and what is holiness, that I should seek it, and press so hard after it ? As there is no sin that fortifies the heart against holiness like pride, so there is no sin that weakens and disenables the heart to pursue after holiness like pride. 0 you proud and lofty ones of the world, who look upon holiness as a poor, low, contemptible thing, tell me, what are all your noble births, and great estates, &c., but trifles that God bestows upon the worst and basest of men ? ' The whole Turkish empire,' says Luther, ' is but a crust that God casts to a dog.' Tell me whether the fly and the worm, yea, the most contemptible creature, if there be any such, was not man's elder brother at his first creation; and if so, why then should vain man be proud ? Oh, tell me whether thou hast ever laid to heart that soul-abasing and soul-humbling text, Ps. xxxix. 5, ' Verily every man at his best estate is altogether vanity.

' Of these Biron the French marshal boasted at his death. And so did many of the Romans. * ' Criminal.'—G.

Selah.' ' Verily' lets that in, and ' Selah' shuts that up; ' verily every man'—not some man, but 'every man;' Col Adam, Col Hebel, All Adam is all vanity, or every man is every vanity.i Every man is a comprehensive vanity, every rich man is every vanity, and every great man is every vanity, and every mighty man is every vanity, and every noble man is every vanity; yea, and that which is yet more, ' every man at his best estate,' not in his childhood or decrepit age, but in his best estate, when he is best constituted and underlaid, when he is most firmly fixed and settled on his best bottom, yet even then he is vanity. The original runs [^^J] thus, ' every man standing,' that is, as some carry it, standing a-tiptoe in all his gallantry and bravery, in all liis beauty and glory, and in all his pomp and majesty, is vanity, yea, every vanity. Well sirs, remember this, that as rotten wood and glow-worms make a glorious show in the night, but when the day appears they appear to be poor, despicable, base creatures; so though now the high, the great, and mighty ones of the earth shine and gloriously sparkle in the darkness of this world, yet in that day when the Sun of righteousness shall arise, and manifest the secrets of all hearts to the world, and strip the great ones of aU their titles of honour, and their noble parentage, and their rich and royal robes, and their troops and trains, and their crowns and chains, then they will appear to be but base and despicable creatures; then their poverty and misery, their nakedness^and vileness will appear to all the world; then the world shall see that riches without righteousness, power without piety, and greatness without holiness, will do the gods of this world no good. Oh that thou hadst now a heart to weep over that pride of heart that keeps thee from pursuing after holiness, that so thou mayest not weep to all eternity in utter darkness ! But,

[5.] Fifthly and lastly, I answer. That there are no persons under heaven that stand so much obliged to look after holiness, and to press with all their might to obtain holiness, as the rich, the great, the mighty, and the honourable of the earth. For, first, why has God made them greater than others, but that they should labour to be better than others ? They are therefore higher than others, that they may be holier than others. The greatness of their outward glory calls aloud upon them to excel in sanctity; and woe to them that are resolved to be worse than others, because Grod has done more for them than he has for others. Secondly, They of all men have more time, leism'e, and advantages to hear much that they may be holy, and to read much that they may be holy, and to pray much that they may be holy, and to confer much with aU sorts and ranks of men, that they may be holy; and therefore it concerns them above all other men in the world to be holy. Other men have neither the time nor the advantages to gain holiness as these men have. The poor people in Sweden say that it is only for gentlemen to keep the Sabbath. But thirdly. Their examples are most powerful and prevalent with the people, either for much good, or for much evil, Prov. xxix. 12. If the mountains overflow with waters, the valleys are the better; and if the head be full of ill humours, the whole body fares the worse. The actions of rulers are most commonly rules for the people's actions, and their examples

1 The original runs elegantly, Q-jj^ ^3 ^^H ^3-

passeth as current as their coin.l If their examples are evil, there are none so dangerous as theirs. Jeroboam the son of Nebat is never mentioned in the Scripture, nor never read of in the chronicles of Israel, but he draws a tail after him, like a blazing star, * who made Israel to sin.' A sick head disordereth all the other parts, and a dark eye benights the whole body. The evil examples of great men corrupts the air round about. The common people are like tempered wax, easily receiving impressions from the seals of great men's vices. If a peasant meet with luxury in a scarlet robe, he dares be such, having so fair a cloak for it. If the vulgar people meet with drunkenness under a black cassock, they dare be such; they make no bones on it to sin by prescription, and to damn themselves with authority. Austin brings in some excusing their compliances with the sinful customs of those times in drinking healths, thus. Great personages urged it, and it was at the king's banquet, where they judged of loyalty by luxury, and put us upon this election, drink or die. They thought it a sufficient excuse to plead the examples of great men.

And if their examples are virtuous, there are none so winning and drawing as theirs. 2 It is observable in the very course of nature, that the highest spheres are always the swiftest in their motion, and carry about with them the inferior orbs by their celerity; so men that are high and eminent in authority, power, and dignity, and eminent also in grace and holiness, they carry the inferior people by their examples to a liking of holiness, and to a love of holiness, and to a pursuit after holiness. As the biggest stars in the firmament are always the brightest, and gives the greatest lustre to those of a lesser magnitude; so those that, in respect both of greatness and grace, are so many shining stars, they give the greatest light and lustre to others by their shining conversations. Oh, what a world of good will the gracious example of a good prince provoke unto ! It was the saying of Tra-janus, a Spaniard, Qualis rex, talis grex, Subjects prove good by a good king's example. Stories tells us of some that could not sleep when they thought of the trophies of other worthies that went before them. The gracious examples of great men are very awakening, quickening, and provoking to that which is good, as is most evident in all those kingdoms, countries, cities, and villages where such men live. And therefore great men are the more obliged to be good men, and honourable men to be holy men. But, fourthly, of all men under heaven you will have the greatest accounts to make up with God; and therefore you have the more cause to seek after holiness. Where God gives much there he looks for much, Luke xii. 48.3 O sirs, God will bring you to an account for that talent of honour, and that talent of wealth, and that talent of birth, and that talent of power, and that talent of authority, and that talent of interest, and that talent of time, &c., that he has entrusted you with ; and how will

^ Vide Esth i. 10, 11, 15-18. It is noted in King Alphonsus's sayings, that a great man cannot commit a small sin.

' Carus the Roman emperor used to say, Bonus dux bonus cornea, A good leader makes a good follower.—[Carus M. Aurelius. Vopiscus, Carus. —G.j

'^ It was excellent counsel that the heathen orator gave his hearers— Ita vivamus ut rationeni nobis reddendam arbitremur, Let us so live as those that must give an account of all at last.

you be able to stand in the day of account without holiness in your hearts ? King Philip the Third of Spain, whose life was free from gross evils, professing that he would rather lose all his kingdoms than offend God willingly; yet, being in the agony of death, and considering more thoroughly of his account that he was to give to God, fear struck into him, and these words brake from him: ' Oh, would to God I had never reigned! Oh that those years I have spent in my kingdom I had lived a private life in the wilderness ! Oh that I had lived a solitary life with God! How much more securely should I have now died! How much more confidently should I have gone to the throne of God ! What does all my glory profit me, but that I have so much the more torment in my death! Well, gentlemen, there is a day a-coming wherein the Lord will call you to a strict account, both for the principal, and also for the interest of all those talents of honour, riches, and greatness, &c., that he has put into your hands, and how will you be ever able to hold up your heads in this day of account, without you experience principles of holiness in your hearts, and hold forth the power of godliness in your lives ? If Baul was astonished when he heard Jesus of Nazareth but calling upon him, Acts xxii. 7, 8; if Herod was affrighted when he thought that John Baptist was risen from the dead, Mark vi. 16 ; if the Philistines were afraid when they saw David's sword, 1 Sam. xxi. 9 ; if the Israelites were appaUed when they saw Aaron's rod. Num. vii. 10; if Judah was ashamed when he saw Thamar s signet and staff. Gen. xxxviii. 2; and if Belshazzar was amazed when he saw the handwriting on the wall, Dan. v. 9, oh, how astonished, how affrighted, how ashamed, and how amazed will the great ones of the world be, who live and die without holiness, when God shall bring them to the bar, and command them to give an account of all the talents that he has put into their hands! If the Carthaginians were troubled when they saw Scipio's sepulchre; if the Saxons were terrified when they saw Cad-wallon's image; and if the Komans were dashed when they saw Caesar's bloody robe; ah! how will all the great unholy ones of the earth be troubled, terrified, and dashed in the great day of their accounts! There are none that will have such large accounts to give up as the great ones of the world, and therefore there are none that stand so strongly engaged to look aiter holiness as they do. But, fifthly, the greater any men are on earth, if they live and die without holiness, the greater will be their torments in hell; all their greatness, glory, and gallantry will but sink them the lower in hell. The Scribes and Pharisees were the rich, the high, and the great ones of the times, and these Christ lays under the greater damnation. Mat. xxiii. 14. The Germans have this proverb, ' The pavement of hell,' say they, ' is made of the bare skulls of the priests, and the glorious crests of gallants.' Their meaning is, that the more eminent any are in church or state, and do not employ their eminency, power, and authority in ways of piety and sanctity, the lower they shall lie in hell, yea, these men, of all others, shall lie lowest in hell, Rev. xviii. 7. ' How much,' or inasmuch as, ' she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow,'

Isa. xlvii. 8. Babylon's torment and sorrow must be suitable to her sin. Babylon excelled all others in pride, haughtiness, luxury, and blasphemy, &c., and her punishments must be answerable; so the great, the rich, the high, and the mighty men of the world, they usually exceed all others in pride, drunkenness, uncleanness, filthi-ness, oppression, vainglory, gluttony, and tyranny, &c,, and answerable to their sins will be their torments and their punishments in hell: Isa xxx. 33, ' For Tophet is ordained of old,' ay, it may be for the poor, mean, and beggarly of the world ; ' yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.' i Alas ! the brick-kilns of Egypt and the furnace of Babylon were but as a blaze of straw to this tormenting Tophet, that has been prepared of old for the great and mighty ones of the earth 1 Oh, how dreadful must that fire be that is prepared by God himself, and that is kindled by the breath of the Lord, and that shall never be quenched! and yet such is the fire that is prepared for the great and mighty ones of the world 1 Oh, the easeless, the endless, the remediless, the unsufierable, and yet the inevitable torments that are prepared for those that are great and graceless! In hell their wanton eyes shall be tormented with ugly and fearful sights of ghastly spirits; and their ears, that used to be delighted with all delightful music, shall now be filled with the hideous cries, bowlings, and yellings of devils and damned spirits; and their tongues of blasphemy shall now be tormented with drought and thirst; and though with the glutton they cry out for a drop to cool their tongues, yet justice will deny them drops who have denied others crumbs; and their hands of bribery, cruelty, and tyranny shall now be bound with everlasting chains, and so shall their feet, which were once swift to shed innocent blood. In a word, their torments shall be universal, they shall extend to every member of the body, and to every faculty of the soul. Ah, sirs! fire, sword, famine, prisons, racks, and all other torments that men can invent, are but as flea-bitings to those scorpions, but as drops to those vials of wrath, and but as sparks to those eternal flames that all unsanctified persons shall lie under. Look, as the least joy in heaven infinitely surpasseth the greatest comforts on earth, so the least torments in hell do infinitely exceed the greatest that can be devised here on earth. For a close remember this, as there are degrees of glory in heaven, so there are degrees of torment in hell; and as those that are most eminent in grace and holiness shall have the greatest degrees of glory in heaven, so those that are most vile and wicked on earth shall have the greatest degrees of torments and punishments in hell.2 Now common experience tells us that the rich, the great, the high, the honourable, and the mighty ones of the world are usually the most excelling in all wickedness and ungodliness; and

^ Tophet is the name of a place in the valley lying on the south side of Jerusalem, Joshua xviii. 16. Now in this vale stood Tophet, wherein the idolatrous Jews used to burn their children in sacrifice to the idol Moloch, and it had that name from the drums or tabrets that their idolatrous priests used to beat upon at the time of their detestable services, to drown the hideous shrieks and lamentable cries of the poor sacrificed children.

* Mat. X. 15, and xi. 22; Luke xii. 47, 48.

therefore their condemnation will be the greater, they shall have a hotter and a darker hell than others, except they labour after this holiness, which will be their only fence against hell, and their sure path to heaven. But, sixthly and lastly, of all men on earth the rich, the great, and the honourable will be found most inexcusable. The poor and the mean ones of the earth will plead their want of time, and want of means, and want of opportunities ; they will be ready to say. Lord, we have risen early, and gone to bed late, Ps. cxxvii. 1, 2, we have laboured, and sweat, and droyled,^ and all little enough to get bread to eat, and clothes to wear, and to keep the sergeant from the door, and to pay every man his own. Had we had but the time, the means, the advantages that such and such gentlemen have had, and that such and such nobles have had, and that such and such princes have had, &c.,2 oh, how we would have minded holiness, and studied holiness, and pressed after holiness ! But seeing it has been otherwise with us, we hope, Lord, we may be excused. But what excuse will you be able to make, 0 ye great ones of the earth, who have had time, and opportunities, and all advantages imaginable, to make yourselves holy and happy for ever, and yet you have trifled away your golden seasons, and forgotten the one thing necessary, and given yourselves up to the lusts and vanities of this world, as if you were resolved to be damned ? Let me a little allude to that John xv. 22: ' If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak or excuse for their sin.' So will God one day say to the great ones of the world: Had I not given you riches, and greatness, and honour, &c., to have encouraged you to look after holiness, and that you might have time, and leisure, and opportunity to seek holiness and pursue it, you might have had some cloak, some excuse for your neglecting so great, so glorious, so noble, and so necessary a work. Oh! but now you have no cloak, no excuse at all for your sin. Now you can shew no reason under heaven why an eternal doom should not be passed upon you; and ah how silent, how mute, how speechless, and how self-condemned, will all the great ones of the world be, when God shall thus expostulate with them! ^ Oh that such would seriously lay to heart that Mat. xxii. 11, 12: 'And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment : and he saith unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither, not • having a wedding garment ? And he was speechless.' By the wedding garment the learned understand holiness of heart and life. Now when the king questions him about the want of this wedding garment, he is speechless, or as the Greek word i^tfidoOr) imports, ' he was muzzled or haltered up,' that is, he held his peace, as though he had a bridle or a halter in his mouth; he was not able to speak a word for himself, his own conscience had passed a secret sentence of condemnation upon him, and he sat silent under that sentence, as having nothing under heaven to say why he should not be cast into utter darkness. And

1 'Drudged.'—G.

' As the poor people on the northern borders,when, to suppress their thieveries, some pressed upon them the eighth commandment, they, to excuse themselves, replied that that commandment was none of God's making, but thrust into the Decalogue by King Henry the Eighth.

^ Titus iii. 11. Ai/roKartiKpiTOi, self-condemned, or self-damned.

this will be the very case of all the rich, the gi'eat, and the mighty ones of the world, who shall be found without the garment of holiness, when the Lord shall enter into judgment with them. And thus you see by these six arguments, that there are no persons under heaven that are so eminently engaged to look after holiness, as the rich, the great, and the mighty ones of the earth. But,

Object. 7. Seventhly and lastly. Others may object and say, Should we pursue after holiness, we shall he sure to he reviled, slandered, and reproached on all hands; every one loill hoot and hiss at us, we shall hecome a scorn and a hyword to all that live in the family luith us, and to all our neighbours round about us, every one will scorn us, and hate us, and ive shall he their tahle-talk, and their song, and the butt at lohich they will shoot in all their meetings and discourses, &c.

Now that you may be sufficiently armed against this objection, I desire you seriously to consider of these five following answers:

[1.] First, That those that revile and reproach holiness, are such that have never knoiun the necessity nor the excellency of holiness; they have never experienced the power nor the sweetness of holiness; they speak evil of things they know not, of things they understand not, Jude 10; 1 Tim. i. 7. Not to know is man's misery, but to speak evil of that which a man understands not is the height of folly; and this these revilers do. ' Had they known,' saith the apostle, * they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,' 1 Cor. ii. 8; so I say, had these revilers known the splendour, the beauty, and the glory of holiness, they would never have reviled it and scorned it.^ Had the Jews known the Godhead of Christ, the divinity of Christ, the glory of Christ, they would never have cried up Barabbas, and have railed on Jesus as they did: so, had these railers but known the worth and the weight of holiness, they would never have cried up wickedness, and decried holiness as they do. Now, oh what shame, what folly, what vanity is it for a man to turn his back upon holiness because such revile it and scorn it, who never knew feelingly, nor experimentally, what holiness was ! Would not a man either sigh or laugh at him that should turn his back upon riches, honours, and preferments, &c., because the blind, poor, and beggarly sort of people, who never experienced what these things mean, casts dirt, dung, scorn, and reproach upon them ? and is not this the present case ? Surely yes. The fox in the fable, when H| he could not come at the grapes, cried out, that ' they were sour, they ™ were sour;' so men that cannot reach to the riches, the honours, and the great things of the world, oh, how do they cry out against these things! oh, what disgrace, scorn, and contempt do they cast upon these things ! and all because they cannot reach them, because they cannot grasp them. The application is easy. It is men's ignorance of holiness that makes them cry out so much of holiness. That heathen, Aristotle, hit the mark when he cried out, Ignorat sane improhvs omnis, Ignorance is the source of all sin; the very well-spring from whence all wickedness flows; for ignorance enslaves the soul to Satan, it lets in sins by troops, and then locks them up in the heart, and it shuts out all the means of recovery, &c. And who then will wonder to see ignorant persons let fly at holiness ? Suppose a geometrician ^ Scicntia non habet inimicum prseter ignorantem.

should be drawing of lines and figures, and there should come in some silly, ignorant fellow, who seeing him, should laugh at him, would the artist, think you, leave off his employment because of his derision ? Surely no ; for he knows that his laughter is but the fruit of his ignorance, as not knowing his art, and the grounds upon which he goes; and therefore he holds on drawing, though the silly fellow should hold on in his laughing. 0 sirs, though ignorant persons deride holiness, and laugh at holiness, yet be not you ashamed of holiness, but hold on, and hold out in your pursuit after holiness, for they understand not the rules and principles by which you are acted; and therefore it is that they throw dirt in the face of holiness ; but it will be your wisdom to wipe that off, and so much the more to pursue after holiness, by how much the more the silly ones of the world slight holiness, and laugh at holiness. But,

[2.] Secondly, There is no fence against an evil tongue. A man may fence himself against an evil eye, and against an evil hand, and against an evil head, &c., but there is no fence against an evil tongue. An evil tongue is such an unruly, such a mischievous, such a dangerous, such a killing, and such a destroying member, that there is no fence against it. A man may fence off the stroke of a sword, the thrust of a rapier, and the shot of an arrow, but he can never fence off the reproach and the reviling of an evil tongue. If the heart be sanctified the tongue is the best member in the body; if the heart be unsanctified it is the worst, ^sop being by his master sent to buy up all the best meat he could get in the market, bought up all the tongues ; and being sent again to buy up all the worst meat he could get in the market, he bought up all the tongues again; and when he was asked why he did so, he answered, that there was no flesh better than a good tongue, nor no flesh worser than a bad tongue; which the apostle confirms fully in that James iii. 2-12.1 An evil tongue is wilder than the wildest beast. The horse, the ass, the camel, the elephant, yea, the lion, the leopard, the bear, and aU other beasts, have been tamed by man; but the tongue, no man, no monarch, on earth have ever been able to tame. Aja evil tongue, in some respect, is worse than the devil; for the devil may be shunned and avoided, but an evil tongue no man can shun ; and if you resist the devil he will fly from you, but the more you resist an evil tongue the more it will fly upon you: Prov. xvi. 27, ' An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is a burning fire.' An ungodly man, or a man of Belial, as the original has it, ' digs up evil.' Such old evils that have been long since buried in the grave of oblivion and forgetfuhiess, he digs up to cast in the saints' dishes, and to reproach them with. The teeth of malice will be still a-digging to find out something against the people of God, and if they can pick up anything out of the dunghill of false reports to object against them, their hps presently are as so many burning beacons to discover it to all the world. Now their tongues will be set on fire of hell, and now they will labour to fire the hearts and tongues of others against the people of God. A wicked tongue, as

Bias, one of the 8eV<:.*^ wise men, told Amasis king of Egypt, that the tongue was the best or worst member of the body. Tota vita hominis UngucB delictia est referta ; The whole life of man is made up of the sins of the tongue.— Basil,

Bernard observes, kills three at once : first, it kills his name and fame by ill report who is slandered ; secondly, it kills his belief with a lie to whom the report is made ; thirdly, it kills the slanderer himself with the sin of detraction. David, who fell oftener under the sad lashes of evil tongues, compares reviling tongues to three fatal weapons: a razor, a sword, and an arrow. 1. To a razor in that Ps. lii. 2. Now you know a razor meets with every little hair, and many times instead of shaving the hair it slashes the flesh ; and sometimes by missing the beard it endangers the throat. And so the reviling tongue will take the least advantage imaginable to slash and cut the names and reputations of those that fear the Lord in a thousand pieces. 2. To a sword, Ps. Ivii. 4, that cuts and wounds deep; and so does the reviler's tongue cut deeply into the names, fames, and credits of the people of God; and, 3. To an arrow, Ps. Ixiv. 3. The sword only cuts when we are near, but the arrow hits at a distance ; the sword cannot cut except we be at hand, but the arrow may hit us when we are afar off. The re viler can easily shoot his arrows of reproach a great way off; he can shoot them from one town to another, from one city to another, from one kingdom to another, yea, from one end of the earth to the other, Ps. Ixxiii. 9. When the hands are manacled, and the feet fettered and stocked, the tongue travels freely all the world over, and loads the names of men with what reproaches it pleaseth. The tongue is the great interpreter of the heart; the tongue is the key that unlocks those treasures of wickedness that be in the heart; the corruptions of men's hearts commonly breaks forth at their lips, Mat. xii. 34. Look, as a pimpled face discovers a distempered liver, and as a stinking breath discovers corrupted lungs, so a reviling tongue discovers a base rotten heart.i When the pump goes you may quickly know whether the water that is in the fountain or well be clear or muddy, sweet or stinking; and when the clapper strikes you may soon guess of what metal the bell is made of; and so by men's tongues you may easily guess what is in their hearts. If the tongue be vird,^ the heart is so; if the tongue be bloody, the heart is so ; if the tongue be adulterous, the heart is so; if the tongue be malicious, the heart is so; if the tongue be covetous, the heart is so ; and if the tongue be cruel, the heart is so, &c. Men's minds are known by their mouths. If the mouth be bad, the mind is not good. He that is rotten in his talk, is commonly rotten in the heart. Of all the members of the body there is none so serviceable to Satan as an evil tongue ; and therefore when all the body is full of sores he will keep the tongue from blisters, that so a man may the more freely and fully curse God and die.^ And this was the reason why Satan spared Job's tongue, when he sadly paid * all other members of his body, that so his grand design, which was to provoke Job both to curse God and to charge him foolishly, might take place; but Job's tongue be-oiled with grace, proved his glory in his trying hour; and instead of cursing, he blesses a taking God, an angry God. 0 sirs, the world is as full of evil tongues as Nilus of crocodiles, or as Sodom of sulphur, or as Egypt of lice ; and there

^ That man has commonly most of the devil in his heart that has most of the devil in his mouth. The strokes in music answer to the notes that are pricked in the rules. *' Vile.'—G. ■^ Cbrysostom, Drexelius, and others. * Query,' pained ?'—G.

is no fence, no guard against these evil tongues; and therefore why should any man be discouraged from pursuing after holiness, because of the revilings of evil tongues ? Munster writes of men in India which speak not like men, but bark like dogs ; and who regards such men ? no more should we regard such foul-mouthed persons who are still barking against holiness, as the dogs bark against the moon; but as the moon runs her race and holds her course, though all the dogs in the town bark never so much at it; so should you pursue after holiness, though all the tongues in the town should be barking and scoffing at you. But,

[3.] Thirdly, Consider that those that now reproach holiness will ere long he of another mind, they that now revile and reproach holiness will in a short time change their minds and their notes. When these very men who revile holiness shall come to fall under terrors and horrors of conscience, and when they shall come to lie upon their dying beds, and to have their immortal souls sit trembling and quaking upon their pale lips, and when they shall appear before the great God, and awake with everlasting flames about their ears, oh, how will they then wish that they had never reviled holiness ! How will they then wish that they had prized holiness, and that they had spent their all in pm'suing after holiness ! Num. xxiii. 10. Oh, how will they then charge themselves, and censure themselves, and arraign and condemn themselves, for their scorning and condemning of holiness ! Oh, how will they then wish that they had never heard of holiness, nor read of holiness, nor thought of holiness ! Oh, how will they then wish that their mothers' wombs had proved their tombs, and that they had rather lived and died in a land of darkness, than thus to live and die without holiness ! Now, oh, what folly and madness is it for thee to neglect the pursuit of holiness, because such and such revile it, who perhaps before the next year, the next month, yea it may be the next Sabbath comes about, will wish ten thousand times over and over that they had pursued after it, and that they had made it their greatest work in this world to obtain it! But,

[4.] Fourthly, Such persons who are revilers, deriders, and haters of holiness, should rather he divinely contemned, scorned, and slighted, than anyivays gratified, encouraged, pleased, and strengthened in their evil ways hy thy neglect of holiness, and hy thy non-pursuance after holiness. Oh, how may thy neglect of holiness upon the account of revilings and scornings strengthen the hands and the hearts of revilers and scorners! &c., Ezek. xiii. 19, seq.; and therefore it is much better divinely to slight and disdain them, than by sinful omissions to gratify and please them. See how slighting Elisha carries it to wicked Jehoram, though he was a king: 2 Kings iii. 13, 14, ' And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee ? get thee to the prophets of thy father and prophets of thy mother, i And the king of Israel said unto him. Nay: for the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. And Elisha said. As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.' It was not the great distress and

^ The prophets here spoken of were the remaining prophets of Baal, of the idolatrous groves, and of the calves of Jeroboam.

danger that they were in, being like to perish for want of water, nor the dignity of kings, nor the number of three, but the goodness, the graciousness, and holiness of Jehoshaphat, that wrought upon Elisha to work a miracle to preserve them and their people alive. The holy prophet carries it very high towards this unholy prince, for had it not been for Jehoshaphat, he would not have honoured him with a look, no, not with a cast of his eye. These words, ' I would not look toward thee, nor see thee,' are words of a very high strain, and speak out a great deal of holy loftiness, state! iness, and contempt towards king Jehoram. And the same spirit was working in Mordecai towards wicked Haman, as you may see in that Esth. iii. 2, ' And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him; but Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.'^ The Persian kings, as many other heathenish kings, were reverenced by their subjects with a kind of divine honour or service ; and such reverence and honour the king commanded should be showed to his great favourite Haman; but this renow^ied Mordecai refused to do. He was so divinely noble and stout, that he would not reverence such a wicked wretch in his heart, nor yet yield to him that outward worship that was required by the king, it being more than was due to a man. Some of the Kabbins say, as Aben Ezra, &c., that Haman had the image of some false god about him, and that therefore Mordecai would not bow before him, lest he might seem to bow to the idol that Haman carried about him: others of the Rabbins say, as R Solomon, &c., that Haman did make himself a god, and required such worship as was due only to the true God, and that therefore Mordecai would not reverence him, nor bow before him. And so Junius and other expositors say that it was more honour than did belong to a man that they gave to Haman; and that therefore Mordecai refused to bow to him. And it is very remarkable that some of the wisest and best of heathens have forborne to come into their king's presence, because there was expected greater honour and worship to be done to their kings than was meet to be done to a mortal man. But that which is most considerable, and most probable, is this, that therefore Mordecai refused to reverence Haman, and to bow unto him, because he was a wicked Amalekite, and a bitter enemy to the people of God, and of that nation and of that stock whose remembrance God would have blotted out under heaven, Exod. xvii. 14; Deut. xxv. 19 ; and with whom the Lord had sworn that he would have war from generation to generation, until they were utterly wasted and destroyed, Exod. xvii. 16, compared with that 1 Sam. XV. 3.

It has been usual with the saints to slight such who have been slighters of Christ and holiness.2 When Amphilochius the bishop came into the presence of the emperor Arcadius and his son, who was then partner with his father in the empire, he saluted the emperor

' The Persians' manner was to kneel down and reverence their kings, and such as ho appointed in chief authority, which Mordecai would not do to this proud, ambitious, wicked Haman, though all the courtiers, and the king's lifeguard, and all that had occasions to attend the court did.

^ I shall look upon Auxentius no otherwise than as upon a devil, so long as he is an Arian, said holy Hilary.

VOL. IV. X

with all reverence, but slighted his son, whereupon the emperor was very much displeased, and demanding the reason why he so slighted his son ? the bishop answered, because he had slighted and neglected the eternal Son of God, he being at that time a professed Arian ; whereupon the emperor received the bishop again into favour, and banished all Arians out of his dominions. I have read of one Maris, a godly bishop of Chalcedon, who, being blind, and Julian, that apostate emperor, giving him some opprobrious words, calling him blind fool, because he had rebuked him for his apostasy, the good man answered thus,' I bless God that I have not my sight, to see such an ungracious face as thine is/ Do your worst, do your worst, said Justin Martyr slightingly to his persecutors, but this I tell you, you may put all that you are like to gain by the bargain into your eye, and weep it out again. When a great lord of this land, who was as graceless as he was great, met Mr Fox in London streets, and asked him how he did, Mr Fox said little or nothing to him; whereupon says this great lord. Sir, do you not know me ? No, not I, said Mr Fox ; says the lord, I am such a one ; Sir, said Mr Fox, I desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Polycarpus meeting at a certain time with Marcion the heretic: says Marcion, Don't you know me ? Yea, said Polycarpus, I know thee to be primo-genitum diaholi, The first-begotten child of the devil, i And indeed, why should we prefer him before a piece of copper, that prefers a piece of gold before his God, yea, that prefers his lusts and every toy and trifle before Jesus Christ, his immortal soul, and the great concernments of another world? God commanded in the old law that whatsoever did go with its breasts upon the ground, should be an abomination to us. Oh, how much more should we abominate that man whose heart and soul is glued unto a piece of earth, or to this or that defiling and destroying lust: Prov. xxix. 27, ' An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.' The quarrel between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent is almost six thousand years old. Gen. iii. 15. Light and darkness, heaven and hell, are not more opposite and contrary one to another, than these are contrary one to another. That seed of enmity that was at first between them is now grown up on both sides to an abomination, and an abhorring of each other.2 The just man saith, What have I to do with thee, thou son of Belial ? and the unjust man saith. What have I to do with thee, thou son of David ? The original in the text last cited is observable, the just abhorreth, b^V ^^"i^, viriniquitatis, the man_ of iniquity, i.e., the man that is made up of iniquity, that is, nothing but iniquity. Now, this shews that it is iniquity in the man that makes the man to be an abomination to the just; but now wicked men they abhor the upright for their very uprightness, they abhor him that is upright in the way, and could wish him quite out of the way, and will do what they can to make him away. The uprightness of the upright is such a terror to the wicked that they cannot but abominate and abhor the upright; and therefore, no wonder if the

* Eusebiua.

' The antipathies that are ia nature between the elephant and the boar, the lion and the cock, &c., is nothing to that which ia between the just and the unjust.

upright abominate them; and indeed, who can look upon wicked men, as enemies to God, as adversaries to Christ, as murderers of their own souls, as fighters against the church, as champions for Satan, and as pests and plague of a nation, and not abhor them, and not abominate them ? 0 sirs, not to contemn the wicked is an argument that you yourselves are wicked ; and not to contemn the wicked is a means to make them more wicked; not to contemn the wicked is to encourage and tempt the wicked to be sevenfold more wicked ; yea, not to contemn the wicked, who contemn God, Christ, heaven, and holiness, &c., is to contemn God himself. As for such that advance the wicked, that magnify the wicked, that flatter the wicked, that strengthen the hands of the wicked, that are most in with the wicked, that joy and glory in the prosperity of the wicked, and that sigh and mourn, that stamp and take on at the downfall of the wicked; these are certainly wicked, yea, they are eminently wicked, and therefore the more to be slighted and scorned by men of integrity and sanctity. But,

[5.] Fifthly and lastly, To neglect the pursuit of holiness upon the account of this objection, is to debase the great God, and to overvalue vain man, as if there were more power, ability,policy, and malice, dtc, in worthless man to hurt and harm thee, than there is power, all-sufficiency, wisdom, goodness, and graciousness in God to defend thee, and secure thee, and arm thee against all the reproaches and revilings of slandei\)u^ tongues. Now who art thou, and what art thou, 0 vain man ! that thou shouldst dare to lessen God and greaten man, to debase God and exalt man, yea, to set up man above God himself, and to ungod him as much as in thee lies ? And yet all this thou doest when thou turnest thy back upon holiness, because of the revilings and reproaches of wicked men.

But I shall say no more to this objection, because I have spoken very largely to this objection in my former books. If you desire further satisfaction to this objection, turn to that treatise called 'Apples of Gold,' &c., and from page 311 to page 327, you will find seven more distinct answers to it. And see also my ' Mute Christian under the Smarting Kod,' and from page 304 to page 326 you will find eight answers more to this objection, i I confess several other objections might be made against your pursuing after holiness, but because I have spoken to them at large in my former writings, therefore I shall not trouble you with them here; and therefore let thus much suffice for answer to those objections that usually men make when they are pressed home to follow after holmess.

And so I shall come now to the second part of the exhortation, and that relates to God's holy ones, to his sanctified ones, to those that have obtained holiness, that have experienced the principles, the power, the life, and the sweetness of holiness. And here let me exhort such,

1. First, To express, declare, evidence, and hold forth both the reality and power of holiness; and that,

[1.] ^'iv&t. By keeping yourselves free from gross enormities, from scandalous wickednesses, Rom. ii. 23-25. Oh, remember that one scandal-1 Vol. i. pp. 264-269, and pp. 379-385.—G.

ous sin will obscure and cloud all your graces and spiritual excellencies.! Look, as one spot in the face spoils all the beauty, and one blot upon the copy obliterates the whole copy, and as one drop of ink coloureth a whole glass of clear water; so one scandalous sin wiU blot and blur all former acts of piety and holiness, it will stain all a man's duties and services, it will deface all a man's contentments and enjoyments, it will dash and rase out all those golden characters of righteousness and goodness that have been stamped upon the soul. The Babylonians beholding the enormities of the Jews, cried out, ' These are the people of the Lord, these are come out of the Lord's land,' Ezek. xxxvi. 20. David's one act of folly with Bathsheba made the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. When one commended Alexander for his many noble acts, another objected thus against him, Ay, but he killed Calisthenes: he was valiant and successful in the wars; ay, but he killed Calisthenes: he overcame the great Darius; ay, but he killed Calisthenes: his meaning was, that this one unjust and unrighteous action clouded and darkened all his most noble deeds. 2 A Christian cannot after his conversion fall into a scandalous sin, but it will be objected against him by every one, to the defacing and darkening of all his spiritual glory. When Naaman the Syrian was cured, and as some think converted, by the prophet Elisha, he offers gold and rich garments, but he bows in the house of Rimmon ; he seems to be very devout and religious, but he bows in the house of Rimmon; he promises to offer to none but the Lord, but yet he bows in the house of Rimmon. This Rimmon, like the fly in the alabaster box, spoiled all his best intentions and highest resolutions; and thus one scandalous vice disgraceth all the noble virtues that be in a Christian, 2 Kings V. 1.3 Oh, such a man is a very holy man, but—and such a one is a very gracious, experienced disciple, but—and such a one is a very wise and understanding man, but—and such a one is a very active, stirring saint, but^&c, and this ' hut' mars all. If there be but one crack in the honey-glass, there the wasp will be buzzing; and if there be but one scandalous sin that a Christian falls into in all his life, how will the wicked be still a-buzzing of that about, both in city and country! O sirs, there are no sins that opens so many mouths, and that sads 80 many hearts, and that swells so many eyes, and that endangers so many souls, as scandalous sins do; and therefore above all keeping keep off from them. 0 sirs, as you would not harden sinners, as you would not encourage sinners, as you would not tempt sinners, as you would not stumble sinners, yea, as you would not have a hand in the damnation of sinners, take heed of scandalous sins, Rom. xiv. 13. 0 sirs, as you would not provoke the great God, 1 Kings xi. 9, as you would not crucify afresh the Lord of glory, and put him to an open shame, as you would not set the Comforter a-mourning, that alone can comfort you, as you would not raise a hell in your own consciences, and as you would not darken the church's glory, fly from scandalous sins as you would fly from hell itself. I have read of holy Polycarp,

^ The Bchoolmen say that if a sow do but wallow in one miry or dirty hole, she ia filthy, &c. » Plutarch in vila.

* One flaw in a diamond takes away the lustre and the price of it; and if we fall but once into a puddle, it will defile us, and make every one point at lu.

that religious martyr and bishop of Smyrna, how that in the time of the fourth persecution, under Marcus Antonius Verres, when he was commanded to swear but one oath, made this answer, ' Fourscore and six years have I endeavoured to do God service, and all this while he never hurt me, and how then shall I speak evil of so good a lord and master, who hath thus long preserved me ?' And being further urged to swear by the pro-consul, he answered, ' I am a Christian and cannot do it; let heathens and infidels swear if they will, I cannot do it were it to the saving of my life/1 This holy man would rather sacrifice his life than fall into a scandalous sin. 0 Christians, pray and watch, and watch and pray, that you may never be left to stain your own honour, or the honour of your profession, by falling into scandalous sins! Well, friends! remember this, it is not infirmities, but enormities, it is not weaknesses, but wickednesses, that will cast the crown from ofi" your heads, and that will strip you of all your glory; and therefore, as you would hold fast your crown, keep at an everlasting distance from scandalous sins, &c. But,

[2.] Secondly, Declare and evidence the reality and poiver of holiness hy your cordial thankfulness for so rare ajeioel, and for so great a mercy.^ 0 sirs, one drop, one spark of holiness is more worth tban heaven and earth, and how then can you but be thankful for it? Wilt thou be thankful to that God that made thee a man ? and wilt thou not be thankful to the same God that made thee a saint ? Wilt thou bless him that made thee a creature ? and wilt thou not bless the same God that has made thee a new creature ? Wilt thou praise him for the heavens that are but the workmanship of his hands ? and wilt thou not praise him for holiness, which is the workmanship of his heart ? Ps. viii. Tell me, 0 Christian, is not holiness a soul-mercy ? and what mercies wilt thou be thankful for, if not for soul-mercies ?^ Tell me, 0 Christian, is not holiness of all mercies the most necessary mercy ? The want of other mercies might have troubled thee, ay, but the want of holiness would have damned thee ; and wilt thou not be thankful for holiness, which is the one thing necessary ? Tell me, 0 Christian, is not holiness an incomparable mercy ? What is thy health, thy wealth, thy wit, to holiness ? Darest thou mention thy birth, thy breeding, thy arts, thy parts, thy honour, thy greatness, or thy advancement in the world, in that day wherein holiness is spoken of P Surely no. And wilt thou not then be thankful for such an incomparable mercy as holiness is ? Tell me, 0 Christian, is not holiness a peculiar mercy, a peculiar treasure that God entrusts but few men with ? Does not the world lie in wickedness ? 1 John v. 19. Are not the multitude in all places strangers, yea, enemies to holiness ? And how then canst thou but be thankful for holiness ? Yea, once more tell me, 0 Christian, is not holiness a mercy-sweetening mercy ? Is it not the beauty of holiness that puts a beauty upon all thy mercies ? Is it not holiness that bespangles all thy comforts and contentments ? Oh, how sour would all thy mercies taste, and how pale and wan would

^ Euseb. Hist., lib. ii. cap. 15, [Rather iv, 15 : and see the ' Circular Epistle' on the * Martyrdom.'—G.]

* Ps. ciii. 1-5, or, as the original \rill bear, ' bow the knee, 0 my soul.'

* Augustine writ his 49th ep. to one called Deo gratiat.

all thy mercies look, were it not for holiness ! It is the want of holiness that makes all a man's mercies look as ill-favoured as Pharaoh's lean kine, and it is the fruition of holiness that makes all a man's mercies look as well-favoured as Pharaoh's fat kine, Gen. xli. 2-4; it is holiness that both puts a colour upon all our mercies, and that gives a taste and a relish to them. All our mercies, without holiness, will be but as the waters of Marah, bitter, Exod. xv. 23-25; it is only holiness that is the tree that will make every bitter sweet, and every sweet more sweet; and how then canst thou but be thankful for holiness ? Oh, remember how far oif thou wert from God, and Christ, and the promise, and heaven, and happiness, when thou wast without holiness in this world, Eph. ii. 12. Oh, remember what a child of wrath, what a bond-slave to Satan, what an enemy to God, and what an apparent heir to hell thou wert, when thou wert an opposer of holiness, and a secret despiser of holiness, and then be unthankful for holiness if thou canst! Oh, remember that now by holiness, of a slave thou art made a son, and of an heir of wrath thou art made an heir of heaven, and instead of being Satan's bondman, thou art now made Christ's freeman; thy iron chains are now knocked oflf, as sometimes Joseph's were, and the golden chain of holiness is now put upon thee, John viii. 36. And what does all this call aloud for but thankfulness ? Thales, a heathen, gave thanks to God for three things: 1. That he had made him a man, and not a beast; 2. That he had made him a man, and not a woman; 3. That he was born a Greek, and not a barbarian. 1 And, oh then, what cause of thankfulness hast thou for thy supernatural being, and for all those noble principles of holiness that the Lord has stamped upon thy soul! &c. Shall the husbandman be thankful for a plentiful harvest, and the merchant for quick returns, and the shopkeeper for a full trade, and the mariner for a good voyage, and wilt not thou be much more thankful for holiness ? Shall the beggar be thankful for a crust to feed him, and shall the blind be thankful for a dog to lead him, and shall the naked be thankful for rags to cover him, and shall the aged be thankful for a staff to support him, and shall the diseased be thankful for a cordial to raise him, and wilt not thou be thankful for holiness, yea, for that holiness that is bread to strengthen thee, and a guide to lead thee, and raiment to clothe thee, and a staff to support thee, and a cordial to comfort thee ? Ingratum dixeris, omnia dixeris. Oh, remember that ingratitude is a monster in nature, a solecism in manners, and a paradox in grace, damming up the course of all donations, both divine and human. Lycurgus, as Musculus observes, among all his laws, made none against the ungrateful, because ingratitude was thought a thing so prodigious as not to be committed by man. And the Persians and Athenians condemned the ungrateful to death. Ah, unthankful Christians, how can you think of these heathens, and not blush! Shall they bless God for crumbs, and will not you bless God for crowns ? Shall they bless God for the gifts of nature, and will not you bless God for the gifts of grace ? &c. Next to a holy Christ, holiness is the greatest gift that God can give, and therefore be thankful for it, &c. But, [3.] Thirdly, Evidence and declare your holiness, hy the reality of ^ This saying is also fathered on Socrates, &c.

your constant pursuit after holiness, hy your holding up and holding on in a way of holiness, by your perseverance in holiness. This exhortation, ' Follow peace with all men, and holiness,' Heb. xii. 14, was given forth to such as had a spirit of holiness, and principles of holiness in them; and these are the men that the holy apostle presses to press after holiness.^ That holiness will do us no good that is not made good by perseverance. O sirs, shall the ambitious person j)ur-sue after his honours, and the voluptuous person after his pleasures, and the worldling pursue after his gain, and the wanton pursue aft^r his harlots, and the drunkard pursue after his full cups, &c.; and shall not Christians much more pursue after holiness ? Not to go forward is to go backward, non progredi est regredi, and not to grow better is to grow worse, and not to gi'ow more holy is to grow less holy. The crown, the new name, and the white stone, is for him that holds out, and that holds on in his pursuit after hoLiness.2 A progress in holiness is fitly compared to a building, to a race, to the morning light, and to the increasing moon. Now, you know, houses are raised from the foundations to the walls, and from the walls to the first storey, and then to the second storey, and then to the third, and so higher and higher, till you come up to the roof; and in a race, you know, men run on till they come to the goal; and the morning light shines brighter and brighter till it be perfect day; and the moon increaseth more and more till it come to the full; and so must Christians persevere and hold on in adding grace to grace. 0 Christians! you must not be like to a morning cloud, nor to the early dew; you must not stand still in the ways of holiness, as the sun stood still in Gibeon, Josh. X. 13 ; much less are you to go back, like the sun on Ahaz's dial, 1 Kings X. 11 ; but as a bridegroom which cometh out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run his race, Ps. xix. 5 ; so must you delight to run the ways of God's commands, Ps. cxix. 32; you must maintain your progress in piety, whatever comes on't. 0 sirs, the way of holiness is the safest way, the noblest way, the sweetest way, the cleanest way, the pleasantest way, and the happiest way, Prov. iii. 17; and therefore hold on, and hold up in that way, though the world, the flesh, and the devil should cry out, ' There is a lion in the way, there is a lion in the way,' Prov. xxvi. 13. It is said of Hannibal, that notwithstanding the rough rocks, and the craggy clifts of the Alps, yet he proceeded onward in his design for Italy, with this resolution, that he would either find a way or make a way; and so must Christians hold on in a way of holiness, notwithstanding all the rocks and lets^ and difficulties that they meet with in that way. It is an observation of some of the learned, that those that were marked to be preserved in Jerusalem, were marked with the letter n, tau, which is the last of all the Hebrew letters, to signify that they must run the race of holiness even to the last, Ps. xliv. 17-22; Ezek. ix. 4. 0 sirs, in the face of all your sins and unworthiness, God holds on in ways of mercy towards you; and why then should not you hold on in ways of sanctity towards him ? Shall Satan persevere in his enmity against

1 Hosea vi. 3; 1 Thes. iii. 12, 13 ; 2 Pet. i. 5-10; Phil. iii. 14-16; 2 Pet. iii. 17, 18; 1 Thes. iv. 1. » Rev. ii. 10,17 ; Jude 20 ; 1 Cor. ix. 24 ; Heb. xii. 1, 4. « ' Obstacles.'—G.

holiness ? and shall wicked men persevere in their opposition to holiness ? and shall formalists persevere in their neglect of holiness ? and will not you persevere in your pursuit of holiness ? A good husbandman will not give over sowing till he has sowed all his land; nor a good physician will not give over his patient till he has cured him; nor a good workman vidll not give over his work till he hath finished it; no more should a good Christian give over his pursuit of holiness, till he is come up to the highest perfection of holiness. Look, as God carried on the work of creation from day to day till he had finished it, Gen. i., and as Christ carried on the work of our redemption from day to day till he had completed it, John xvii,; so Christians should look to a daily carrying on of the work of holiness in their hearts and lives, till that work be perfected and completed. The philosopher being asked in his old age, why he did not give over his practice, and take his ease ? answered, Wlien a man is to run a race of forty furlongs, would you have him sit down at the nine-and-thirtieth, and so lose all his pains, and the prize for which he runs ? Surely no. 0 Christians, you are racers, and you must run to the end of your race, Heb. xii. 1; i it is not enough to begin well, and to run well for a time, but you must hold out in running till you come to the goal, or else you will lose all the pains and labour that ever you have taken in religion, you will lose all the prayers that ever you have made, and you will lose all the sermons that ever you have heard, and you will lose all the fasts that ever you have observed, and you will lose all the tears that ever you have shed, and you will lose all the alms that ever you have given, if you do not hold out to the end. If you do not persevere in well-doing, you will lose your crown, and be undone for ever after all your doings. A progress in holiness is requisite not only to your consolation, but also to your salvation, Mat. xxiv. 13. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Evidence and declare the truth and reality of your holiness, by a resolute standing up for purity of religion, and for purity of loorship and ordinances, in opposition to all mixtures and corruptions iohatsoever. 0 sirs, the great God stands upon nothing more in all the world than upon purity in his worship, James i. 27. There is nothing that does so provoke and exasperate God against a people as mixtures in his worship and service, Mat. xxi. 12,13 ; John ii. 15-17. Pollutions in worship do sadly reflect upon the name of God, the honour of God, the truth of God, and the wisdom of God; and therefore his heart rises against them. The very spirit, life, and soul of the second commandment lies in these words, ' Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image,' &c. In matters of divine worship God abhors that men should mix their water with his wine, their dross with his gold, their chaff with his wheat, &c. When once men come to be so bold as to defile his worship with their mixtures, then God is resolved to be a swift and a terrible witness against them, as you may clearly see by comparing those notable places of Scripture together in the margin, 2 There is no sin that does so incense and

^ What had it availed Peter to have escaped the first and second watch, if he had stuck at the iron gate, and liad not passed through that also ? Finis coronat opm.

» Lev. X. 1, 2; Ezek. v. 11, 12, and xxiii. 38, 39; Jer, vii. 29, 30; Ezek. viii. 17, 18; Kev, ii. 22, 23; Deut. iv. 2, and xii. 32.

provoke God to jealousy and wrath against a people, as mixtures in worship. God can bear with defilements anywhere rather than in his worship and service: and that,

First, Because mixtures in worship are cross to God's express commands; and who art thou, 0 man! that darest run cross to his commands, who can command thee into the dust, yea, into hell, at pleasure? &c.

Secondly, Because this is to accuse the blessed Scripture of insufficiency ; for if the Scripture be a sufficient rule to order, guide, and direct us in all matters of worship, then how dost thou, 0 man ! detract from the sufficiency of the Scripture, who minglest thine own or other men's inventions with divine institutions, and settest up thy posts by God's posts ? 0 sirs, the Scriptures are sufficient to direct us fully in everything that belongs to the worship and service of God; so as that we need not depend upon the wisdom, prudence, care, or authority of any men under heaven to direct us in matters of worship: 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17, ' All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.' The Scriptures are sufficient to inform the ignorant, to confute the erroneous, to reform the vicious, and to guide and direct, support and comfort those that are gracious. Here a lamb may wade, and an elephant may swim; here is milk for babes, and meat for strong men; here is comfort for the afflicted, and succour for the tempted, and ease for the troubled, and light for the clouded, and enlargement for the straitened, &c. Oh, how full of light, how full of life, how full of love, how full of sweetness, how full of goodness, how full of righteousness and holiness, &c., is every chapter, and every verse in every chapter, yea, and every line in every verse! ^ The Rabbins say that a mountain of matter hangs upon every word of Scripture, yea, upon every tittle of Scripture. God never sends his people to the shop of men's traditions and inventions, but he still sends them to the Scripture: Isa. viii. 20, ' To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light, or no morning, in them.' Chap, xxxiv. 16, 'Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read; no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate; for my mouth it hath commanded, and his Spirit it hath gathered them.' And in the New Testament Christ sends his hearers to the Scriptures: John v. 39, ' Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.' The Greek word epewdre, that is here rendered search, signifies a strict, narrow, curious, diligent search. We must search the Scripture as we would search for gold, or for some precious stones which we would fain find; we must search the Scriptures as hunters seek and search out their game. And so the apostle sends his hearers to the Scriptures, 2 Pet. i. 19-22, as to a surer word than that of revelation. All which speaks out the sufficiency of the Scripture to direct

^ The Scriptures are sufficient to direct us as to all the parts of worship. As, 1. That of public prayer. 2. And that of reading and expounding. 3. And that of preaching. 4. And that of singing. 5. And that of the seals both of baptism and the supper of the Lord,

US in all matters that concern our internal or eternal welfare. Oh that you would for ever remember these two things:

(1.) First, That that which bred the Popish religion, superstition, idolatry, and pompous worship, was men's departing from the word, and not cleaving to the word as a sufficient rule to direct them in all matters of worship. And,

(2.) Secondly, That that which hath occasioned all those discords, divisions, heats, heart-burnings, animosities, and contentions, &c., about ceremonies, liturgy, forms, gestures, &c., has been men's not keeping close to the blessed word of God. When men forsake this perfect rule, whither won't they run ? and what won't they do ? Ah, who art thou, 0 vain man ! that accuseth the holy Scriptures of insufficiency ? and how wilt thou blush, and be ashamed and confounded, when in the great day the Lord shall plead the excellency, and vindicate the sufficiency and authority of his blessed book, in opposition to all the mixtures of men's traditions with divine institutions ?

Thirdly, God won't nor can't bear with mixtures in his worship and service, because to bring them in is to accuse and charge God luith weakness and folly, as if God ivere not careful enough, nor faithful enough, Heb. iii. 4-6, nor mindfid enough, nor wise enough, nor prudent nor understanding enough, to order, direct, and guide his people in the matters of his worship, hut must he beholding to the ivisdom, prudence, and care of man, John iv. 23, 24, of vain man, of sinful man, of vile and unworthy man, of weak and foolish man, to complete, perfect, and make up something that was wanting in his worship and service, Ps. xxxix. 5, &c.

Fourthly, God won't bear with mixtures in his worship and service, because all mixtures debases the worship and service of God, and makes the worship a vain worship, Isa. xxix. 13, 14; Mat. xv. 3, 6, 8, 9. As the mixing of water with wine is the debasing of the wine, and the mixing of tin with silver, or brass with gold, is the debasing of the silver and gold ; so for men to mix and mingle their traditions and inventions with God's institutions, is to debase the worship and service of God, and to detract from the excellency and glory of it. The kings and princes of this world have most severely punished such, who, by their base mixtures, have imbased their coin ; and there is a day a-coming wherein the King of kings will most severely punish all such who have imbased his worship and service by mixing their Eomish traditions with his holy institutions: Kev. xxii. 18, ' For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.' And no wonder! For what horrible pride, presumption, stoutness, and baseness of spirit is it in foolish man to be so bold with the great God, as to dare to mix anything of his own with his worship and service, which, according to divine institution, is so perfect and complete! God will never bear it, to see men lay their dirt upon his gold, and to put their rags upon his royal robes. Ah, Christians, Christians, evidence your holiness by standing up for holy ordinances and pure worship, in opposition to all mixtures whatsoever. Oh, don't you touch a polluted worship, don't you plead and contend for a polluted wor-

ship, but let Baal plead for Baal; and though all the world should wander after the beast, yet don't you wander; and though every forehead should have the mark of the beast upon it, yet do you abhor his mark, and whatever else it be that does but smell and savoiu- of the beast. It is observable that in kings' and princes' courts, children, fools, and the rude rabble, are much taken with fine pictures, and rich. shows, and glistering gaudy cloths, &c.; but such as «,re wise, serious, grave statesmen, they mind not, they regard not such poor things, they look upon those things as things that are much below the nobleness and the greatness of their spirits, who have honourable objects, and the great and weighty affairs of the state to busy themselves about: so, my brethren, though the children, the fools, and the rabble of the world are much affected and taken with such pollutions and mixtures as makes up a glorious pompous worship, yet you that have a spirit of holiness, and principles of holiness in you, oh, how should you slight such things, and pass by such things as things below you, as things not worthy of you, who have a holy God, a holy Christ, a holy gospel, and a holy worship to busy your thoughts, your minds, your heads, and your hearts about. But,

[5.] Fifthly, Evidence the truth and reality of your holiness, by he-wailing and lamenting the loss of holiness. Ah, how is this crown of holiness fallen from our heads! Lam. v. 16. Oh the leanness of souls! Oh the spiritual witherings and decays in grace and holiness that is to be found among many Christians this day ! Some complain of the loss of trade, and others complain of the loss of estate ; some complain of the loss of credit, and others complain of the loss of friends; but what are all these losses to the loss of holiness ? And yet how few be there that complain of the loss of holiness.l Holiness is fallen in our hearts, in our families, in our streets, and in our churches; and yet how few are there to be found that laments the fall of holiness.

0 sirs, will you lament such as are fallen from riches to poverty, from honour into disgrace, and from the highest pitch of prosperity to the lowest step of beggary and misery; and will you not lament such who are fallen from the highest round to the lowest round in Jacob's ladder ? 0 sirs, will you mourn over a decayed estate ? will you weep over decayed friends ? and will you sigh and sob over a decayed body? and will you not much more lament and mourn over decayed souls ? &c. Ah, how many have lost that love, that life, that heat, that zeal, that readiness, that forwardness, and that resoluteness that once they had for God and godliness ! Rev. ii. 4, 5. Some are fallen from their holiness by giving themselves elbow-room to sin against the checks and lashes of conscience, Ps. li. ; others are decayed in holiness by their secret resisting and smothering the gracious motions of the Spirit, Acts vii. 51; some are fallen from holiness, either by their neglect of precious means, or else by their heartless using of the means,

1 Thes. V. 20; others are fallen from their holiness, either by the allurements and enticements of a tempting world, or else by the frowns and threatenings of a persecuting world, 2 Tim. iv. 10; some are fallen from holiness by their non-exercise of grace; and others are

^ It is verj' uncomfortable to see the days grow slorter, and to sec friends grow behindhand in the world.

fallen from holiness by not discerning their first decays in grace. So that, upon one account or another, multitudes in these days are fallen from that holiness which was once their glory. If you look into families, there you shall find masters complaining that their servants are so careless, foolish, frothy, light, slight, slothful, unfaithful, proud, and lofty, that they are not to be spoken to nor trusted; and if you look again into the same families, there you shall find servants complaining that their masters and mistresses are so exceeding froward, peevish, passionate, worldly, neglective of duties, and careless of their souls, that it is even a hell to servants to live with them. Now, what speaks all these sad complaints, but either a total want of holiness, or else a very great decay of holiness ? And if you look among all other relations, as husbands and wives, parents and children, magistrates and people, ministers and Christians, oh, what sad divisions, what fiery contentions, and what fearful jars are there to be found! oh, what slightings, what revilings, what under-valuings, what heart-risings, what heart-swellings, and what heart-burnings are to be found amongst them! And what do all these things declare, but that the glory of God is departed from Israel, and that holiness is fallen to a very low ebb ? Ah friends, were there but more holiness among you, there would be more union among you, and more love among you, and more sweetness and tenderness among you, and more forbearance and patience among you. Oh, then you would never be snarling one at another, nor biting one of another, nor plotting one against another, nor devouring one of another any more. Again, if you look among men whose parts are great, whose gifts are high, whose profession is glorious, and whose expressions and notions are very seraphical, ah, what a little holiness will you find ! 0 sirs, shall the men of this world vex and fret, shall they weep and wail, and shall their lamentation and mourning be like that of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo, 2 Chron. xxxv, 24,25, and that for the loss of a little wealth, or for a punctilio of honour, or a day of pleasure, or the smiles of a prince, &c. ? and will not you lament and mourn for the loss of holiness, which is the choicest jewel in a Christian's crown ? Tears, instead of gems, were the ornaments of David's bed when he was fallen from his holiness, Ps. li. And though the Persian kings would have no mourning nor mourning apparel worn in their presence, yet the King of kings loves to see his people a-mourning for the falls of holiness, as well as for the heights of wickedness. When news was brought to Xenophon of his son's death, he put off his crown from his head, and wept."i 0 my brethren, who can hear of the death of holiness, and behold the death of holiness in men's hearts, lives, and families, and not put off his crown, and weep, and not put ofi" his ornaments, and weep till he can weep no more ? &c. But,

[6.] Sixthly, Evidence the truth and reality of your holiness, by pursuing, pressing, and following after the highest degrees of holiness. Oh, sit not down satisfied with some drops or sips of holiness, but labour after the perfection of hohness.2 Oh, don't content yourselves with

^ Val. Max., lib. v. c. 10.

' Bernard, in Canticles, cries out, I would not upon the sudden attain to my highest pitch, but grow towards it by little and little.

SO mucli holiness as will bring you to happiness, or with so much holiness as will keep wrath and your souls asunder, or hell and your souls asunder, or eternal ruin and your souls asunder. The exhortation in the text, ' Follow peace with all men, and holiness,' Heb. xii. 14, is an exhortation that was given out to saints that were holy before, and the life and force of it lies in this, that those that were holy should labour to be more and more holy, they should still be adding of grace to grace, holiness to holiness, they should still be a-going on from faith to faith, and from strength to strength.! As holiness hath its conception, birth, and infancy, so it hath its full growth, and after that all Christians must strive. Holiness is not like to Jonah's gourd, that shot up in a night, but it is like plants and trees that grows up by degrees,'^ (Ps. xcii. 14,) and after the highest degrees we must endeavour. After the prophet Elias had travelled a day's journey in the wilderness, he sat down and slept under a juniper-tree, and there God calls upon him, ' Up and eat,' 1 Kings xix. 4, 5; and when he found him the second time he calls again upon him, ' Up and eat, because thou hast a gi-eat journey to go,' ver. 7. 0 Christians, you have a howling wilderness to travel through, you have a great journey to go, you have many a mountain to walk over, and many an enemy to vanquish, even the world, the flesh, and the devil, and many a cross to bear, and many a mercy to improve, &c., and therefore you have very great cause to up and eat, I say, to up and eat, that is, to grow stronger and stronger in holiness, and to walk from grace to grace, and from virtue to virtue, and to come off from your milk, and to feed upon strong meat, Heb. v. 12-14, that you may hold out to the end of your journey, and not faint nor fall short of that great salvation which attends perfection of holiness. And this progress in holiness is that main thing that the apostle presses upon the believing Corinthians in that 2 Cor. vii. 1, ' Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.' The apostle having in the former chapter armed the believing Corinthians with many strong arguments against all communion and fellowship with idolaters, he comes at last to touch upon those great and glorious promises which, upon the account of their high and holy calling, they were interested in, ver. 16-18 ; and he presents them as singular motives, and as choice and precious encouragements, to move them to perfect holiness in the fear of God. There is no work on earth that so well becomes the heirs of such precious promises as that of cleansing themselves from all filthiness on the one hand, and that of perfecting holiness in the fear of God on the other hand. Now this being a point of the highest concernment, and of the greatest importance imaginable to the saints, I shall therefore endeavour these three things:

I. First, To lay down some motives to provoke you to perfect holiness in the fear of God, &c.

II. Secondly, I shall propound some means, some directions, that may help you to make a progress in holiness, &c.

III. Thirdly, I shall shew you how you may know whether you

1 2 Pet. i. 6-13 ; Rom. i. 17 ; Ps. Ixxxiv. 7.

* Muabrooms grow up to perfection in one night.

have attained to such a perfection of holiness as we are all to strive after, &c.

I shall first begin with the motives that may whet and stir up your spirits to labour after greater degrees and higher measures of holiness than yet you have attained to; and to that purpose, I beseech you seriously to consider of these following particulars:

(1.) First, Consider that notwithstanding all the means, and all the advantages, and all the opportunities that you have enjoyed to work you to perfect holiness in the fear of God, yet you have obtained but to very small measures of holiness. You are rather babes than men in holiness, you are rather shrubs than cedars in grace, you are rather dwarfs than giants in godliness to this very day ; and this sad charge I shall briefly make good against you by an induction of eight particulars, thus:

[1.] First, The strength, the power, the activity, and the prevalency of sin in you to this day does witness to your faces that you have yet obtained but small measures of holiness, Rom. vii. 22-24; Isa. lix. 12. 0 my brethren, are not many of your corruptions as powerful and as strong as they were five, ten, yea, twenty years ago ; notwithstanding all the prayers that you have made, and all the sermons that you have heard, and all the tears that you have shed, and all the resolutions that you have taken, and all the promises that you have made, and all the conflicts that you have had ? And what does this speak out but that holiness is at a low ebb in your souls ? 0 sirs, were but holiness risen to a greater height in your souls, how readily would you trample upon your lusts! Rom. viii. 10; and how easily would you lead captivity captive ! As the house of David grew stronger and stronger, so the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker, 2 Sam. iii. 1. As holiness rises in the soul by degrees, so sin dies in the soul by degrees; and the more any man abounds in holiness, the more he abounds in his spiritual conquests over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Gal. viii. 14. 0 sirs, your pride testifies to your faces, and your self-love testifies to your faces, and your worldHness testifies to your faces, and your passion testifies to your faces, and your diffidence testifies to your faces, and your hypocrisy testifies to your faces, and your carnality testifies to your faces, &c., that yet you are not got up many rounds in Jacob's ladder, that your degrees in holiness may be easily cast up, Hosea v. 5, and vii. 10. But,

[2.] Secondly, You have not attained to much holiness; witness that high price that you set upon the toys, the trifles, and the vanities of this world, as Jonah did upon his gourd, Gen. xxiv. 30, 31. Ah, at what a rate do men value the empty honours, the fading riches, and the declining greatness of this world ! Democritus, the philosopher, esteemed his room covered over with green branches above the royal palace. And did not Peter prefer a tabernacle on earth before a royal palace, not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens ? But what do I talk of Peter, when this disease had again and again and again overspread the hearts of all the disciples, as you may evidently see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together.i

1 Mat. xvii. 4 ; 2 Cor. v. 1, 2 ; Mat xviii. 1, 2 ; Mark ix. 33-36; Luke ix, 46, 47, and xxii. to xxriii.

They had dispute upon dispute, which of them should be accounted greatest; they had often sharp contests among themselves, which of them should have the greatest honour, the best office, and the highest perferment in Christ's earthly kingdom; and indeed their thoughts, heads, and hearts were so taken up about an outward kingdom, a worldly kingdom, that they little minded either the spiritual kingdom of God within them, or the glorious kingdom of God above them. As the foolish Indians prefer every toy and trifle before their mines of gold, so many Christians, who are low in holiness, prefer the trifling vanities of this world before the glorious treasures and endless pleasures that be at God's right hand, Ps. xvi. 11. Oh, but where holiness is risen to any considerable height, there men will make a very footstool of their crowns, for Christ to get up and ride in triumph. There all the glory and bravery of this world will be but as dross and dung, Phil, iii, 7, 8 ; there men would, like the woman, the church, in the Revelation, ' trample the moon^' that is, all the things of this world, which are as changeable as the moon, ' under their feet,' Rev. xii. 1. Were there but more holiness in your hearts, all the gay and gallant things of this world would be more contemptible in your eyes. 0 sirs, if Midas was condemned to wear ass's ears, because he preferred Pan's pipe before Apollo's lute, that is, human policy before divine providence, how severely are they to be censured who prefer the poor, low, empty nothings of this world before all the glory and happiness of another world ! &c. But,

[3.] Thirdly, You have attained to but little holiness ; witness your fears and fainting s in a day of adversity. Though there be as many fear nots, as there be fears in Scripture, yet in a day of calamity, how easily and frequently does your fears get above your faith! Isa. li. 12, 13, and xli. 10, 14 ; and what fainting-fits does then attend you ! Prov. xxiv. 10, ' If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small,' or as the Hebrew has it, ' thy strength is narrow or straitened.'i Look, as bodily faintness discovers bodily weakness, so soul faintness discovers soul w^eakness. It is troubles that are the trials of a Christian's strength. Afflictions will try what sap and life we have within us. As the man is for holiness, so is his strength under trials. He that has no holiness, has no strength, and he that has but a little holiness, has but a little strength: but he that has much holiness, has much strength, and accordingly will bear up bravely in a day of trial; his bow, with Joseph's, will then abide in strength, Gen. xlix. 23, 24. Though Noah in the building of his ark met with many a sore trial, and many a sad affront, and many a broad jest, and many a bitter Bcofi"; and though the people generally laughed at the good old man, thinking that he did not only dote, but dream, not of a dry summer, but of a wet winter, as we say ; yet Noah, being eminent in holiness, his bow abode in strength, and he held on building of the ark, till he had finished the work that God had commanded. But oh the sadness, the weakness, the faintness that attends most persons in the day of their adversity 1 Jer. viii. 18, 21, ' When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me. For the hurt of the daughter

^ Tiar, *il{. It signifies to be etraitened, aa men are straitened that are closely besieged in time of war, &c.

of my people am I hurt; am I black; astonishment hath taken hold on me/ Chap. xlv. 3, ' Thou didst say, Woe is me now ! for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighings, and I find no rest.' Lam. i. 22, ' For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.' Chap. v. 17, ' For this our heart is faint, for these things our eyes are dim.' Now this faintness in the day of adversity speaks out much spiritual weakness; for where holiness is risen to a noble height, there men will bear up courageously, even in a day of calamity. The eagle is the king of birds, and therefore the Komans, who were the greatest potentates on earth, still bore the eagle in their standards. Now the naturalist observes concerning this royal bird, that whereas all other birds make a noise when they are hungry, this princely bird makes no noise at all, though he be never so hungry, for such is the greatness and the nobleness of his spirit, that whatever befalls him, he won't cry, and whine, and repine, as other birds will do when they want their food; his princely spirit carries him above all hunger, thirst, or danger, i So men that are eminent in holiness, are men of such noble, princely spirits, that they won't faint, nor vex, nor fret, nor complain, nor whine, whatever their wants, trials, or straits may be. Such afflictions as would break other men's hearts, cannot so much as break their sleep; they still hold on their way, and whatever they meet with, they will be still a-mounting nearer and nearer to heaven. But now where there is but a little holiness, there men will be like the common fowls of the air, still a-making a noise, they will still be a-crying, whining, and repining under every trial and trouble they meet with. But,

[4.] Fourthly, You have but a little holiness; witness your easy, your ready, arid your fi-equent fallings before temptations and motions to sin. 0 sirs, when the temptation does but touch and take, when you are no sooner tempted but you are conquered, no sooner assaulted but you are vanquished, certainly holiness is at a very low ebb in your souls. That garrison, without all peradventure, is very weak, that is taken at the first assault, and that ship is but meanly manned, that is carried at first boarding, and that soldier is but slightly armed, that is run through at the first thrust; and so that Christian has but little spiritual strength in him, who is worsted and vanquished upon the first appearance of a temptation. When men's understandings are easily corrupted with error, or their judgments with levity, or their wills with frowardness, or their affections with disorderedness, or their consciences with unrighteousness, it is a very great argument that there is but little holiness within. 0 sirs, men eminent in holiness, in their ordinary course, have been always eminent in the resisting and withstanding of temptations, as is evident in Joseph, Job, Daniel, the three children, &c.2 Austin thanks the Lord that his heart and the temptation did not meet together. The devil tempting Bonaventure, told him that he was a reprobate, and therefore persuaded him to drink in the present pleasures of this life, for, saith Satan, thou art excluded from the future joys with God in heaven; to whom he answered. No, not so, Satan, for if I must not enjoy God after this life, I will labour

^ Aristotle, lib. ix. de Historia Animalium, &c. ' Gen. zxzix : Job i.; Dan. iii. and vi.

I

to enjoy him as much as I can whilst I live. When one of the martyrs was offered riches and honours if he would recant, he gave this excellent answer, Do but offer me somewhat that is better than my Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall see what I will say to you.i When Valens the emperor offered large preferments to Basil, and told him what a great man he would make him, he answered. Offer these things to children, and not to Christians. When Bernard was tempted, Tell me not, Satan, said he, what I have been, but what I am and will be through grace. And so when Beza was tempted in the like case, he answered, Whatsoever I was, I am now in Christ a new creature, and that is it which troubles thee, Satan; I might have continued in my sins long enough ere thou wouldst have vexed at it, but now I see thou dost envy me the grace of my Saviour. And when Augustine was sadly reviled by the Donatists for the wickedness of his youth, he answered. The more desperate my disease was, so much the more I admire the physician. Thus men eminently holy have stood their ground in the face of all temptations and motions to sin; but, alas ! in these times how easily, how readily, and how frequently do multitudes fall before every temptation ! As soon as Achan had but cast his eye upon the Babylonish garment and shekels of silver and wedge of gold, his fingers itched to be handling of them. Josh. vii. 21; so many in these days, as soon as they do but see the way to honour or preferment, or a great place, or a high office, &c., oh, how do their fingers itch, how do their souls long after these things ! and though they savour and smell never so strong of Babylon or of Rome, yet have them they must. Such persons may do well to remember, that Achan's Babylonish garment was but a shroud to shroud him, and his golden wedge was but a wedge to cleave him, and his shekels of silver were but shekels to hold him the faster, both under the wrath of God and man. Such as can turn with every wind, and close with every worship, and bow to every idol that man sets up, have either no holiness, or else but very little holiness, in their hearts. Such as easily and readily fall before temptations from within or without, have never attained to any great measures of holiness. But,

[5.] Fifthly, You have but a little holiness; witness the strange behaviour and carriage of your souls, when the Lord smites you in some near and dear enjoyment. If the Lord does but frown upon your Joseph, or touch your Isaac, or call for your Benjamin, or wither your gourd, oh, now with Rachel you will not be comforted, or with Jacob you will go mourning into the grave, or with David you will cry out, ' 0 Absalom, my son, my son ! would God I had died for thee !' or with Jonah you will tell God to his face that you do well to be angry.2 Oh, now you can't look up and trust in God, you can't look up and delight in God, you can't look up and hope in God, you can't look up and solace yourselves in God, you can't look up and lie down in the good pleasure of God, you can't look up and justify God, you can't look up and say God is your God, &c. Oh, now God has touched you in your fii'st-born, you can neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep; now you can

^ And the young convert when he was tempted, answered, Ego non sum ego, I am not the man that I was, &c.

' Jer. xxxi. 15 ; Gen. xxxvii. 35; 2 Sam. xviii. 33; Jonah iv. 9. VOL. IV. Y

taste no sweet, nor take no comfort, nor find no content in any of all your enjoyments; now God has touched the apple of your eye, you can neither think well of God, nor speak well of God, nor carry it well towards God. Oh, now nobody can please you, nor nothing can satisfy you ; now you think that there is no sorrow to your sorrow, no cross to your cross, nor no loss to your loss, &c.; now every sweet is bitter, and every comfort is a cross; and accordingly you carry it both towards God and towards man. Lam. i. 12, 18; all which speaks out holiness to be at a very low ebb in your souls. 0 sirs, were holiness but risen to some considerable height in your souls, you would with Job, who was eminent in holiness, bless a taking God, as well as a giving God, Job i. 21; and you would carry it sweetly and ingenuously towards God, as well when he writes bitter things against you as when he is a-multiplying of favours and kindnesses upon you; but if when the rod smarts you kick, and fling, and fret, and fume, and vex, and tear your comforts in pieces, and your souls in pieces, and yom* God in pieces, as much as in you lies, certainly the streams of holiness runs low in your souls. But,

[6.] Sixthly, You have but little holiness; witness the ebhings and the flowings of your spirits according to the ivorldng of secondary causes. As secondary causes work, so you are up and down, high and low; now you are full of hopes, and anon you are full of fears; now you believe, and anon despair; now you are steadfast, and anon you are wavering; now you say, surely God will once more own us, and anon you say, verily God has forsaken us; now you say you see the clouds begin to scatter, and anon you say you see the clouds grow darker and thicker; now you say the winter is past, and the singing of birds is come, and anon you say your winter is like to be longer than ever; ^ now you say there is balm in Gilead, and anon you say your wound is incurable ; now you say all is your own, and anon you are ready to give up all as lost, &c. ; and thus your hearts rise and fall according to the working of second causes. When you have full purses, and powerful armies, and subtle counsellors, and great allies, then you are ready to say, surely our mountain is strong, and we shall never be removed, Ps. xxx. 6-8 ; but when your bags are empty, and your forces broken, and your counsels dissipated, and your allies fallen off, then you are ready to cry out. Oh, now there is no hope, there is no help ! Oh, but now were you eminent in holiness, then, under the saddest and Grossest workings of second causes, you would say with Asa, ' 0 Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power,' 2 Chron. xiv. 11; and with Elisha,' They that be with us are more than they that be with them,' 2 Kings vi. 16, 17 ; and with Moses, ' Stand still and see the salvation of God,' Exod. xiv. 13; and with David, ' The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what man can do unto me,' Ps. cxviii. 6. Holiness in any considerable height will set the power of God in opposition to all the power of the world, and then divinely triumph over them, Ps. Ixv. 6-11. Pompey once gloried in this, that with one stamp of his foot he could raise all Italy up in arms; 2 but the great God with one stamp of his foot, or with one word of his mouth, can raise not only Italy, but also

^ Cant. ii. 11, 12; Jer, viii. 22, xlvi. 11, and H. 8. * Plutarch in vita Pomp.

all the angels in heaven, and all the men on earth, in arms at his pleasure ; and in the power of this God, raised holiness will enable a m an to glory all the day long. Where holiness is weak, there men stand and fall as second causes work, but where holiness is eminent, there men will live upon the first cause; and, however second causes may wheel about, yet such a man will live upon him, and look up to him that hath a wheel within every wheel, Ezek. i. 15-22. But,

[7.] Seventhly, You have but little holiness; witness that soul-leanness, barrenness, and unfruitfulness that is among you at this very day, Ps. cvi. 15. Ah, how may most cry out with the prophet Isaiah, ' Oh my leanness, my leanness!' Isa, xxiv. 16, and x. 16. Oh our leanness, our leanness, our barrenness, &c. ! though God has waited many three years for fruit, yet behold nothing but leaves. I have read of the Indian fig-tree, how that its leaves are as broad as a target, but its fruit is no bigger than a bean.i Ah, how many Christians be there in these days whose leaves of profession are very broad, but their fruits of righteousness and holiness are very small; and as the Indian fig-tree, though it be of fair and goodly dimensions, yet it riots out all its sap and juice into leaves and blossoms. So many in these days, who, though they carry it fair, and make a goodly show, yet they riot out all that spiritual sap and life that is in them into the mere leaves and blossoms of an empty profession. Ah, how are many of our hearts like to the isle of Patmos, which is so barren that nothing that is good will grow on it; all the good things that grow there is from the earth that is brought from other places. Look, as a company of ants are very busy about a molehill, running to and fro, and wearying themselves in their several movings and turnings, this way and that, and yet never grow great; for after all their motions and stirring, they are still the same as to the slender proportion of their bodies: so many Christians in these days run to and fro, they run from one duty to another, and from one ordinance to another, and from one opinion to another, and from one principle to another, and from one minister to another, and from one church to another, and from one way to another, and from one notion to another, and yet they make little progress in holiness, they grow but little in the love, the life, the likeness, and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. iii. 18 ; they are like those silly women that Timothy speaks of, who were ever learning, and yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, 2 Tim. iii. 6, 7; and they are like Nazianzen's country of Ozizala, [?] which abounded with gay flowers, but was barren of corn; so these abound in gay notions, and flourishing parts, but are barren of grace and holiness. Seneca hath long since observed that as the philosophers in his time grew more and more learned, so they grew less and less moral; and is there anything more evident in these days than this, viz., that as men grow more and more in empty airy notions, and in a pompous religion and profession, so they grow less and less zealous and religious. The reason, say some, why Christ cursed the fig-tree, though the time of bearing fruit was not come, was because it made a glorious show with leaves, and promised much, but brought forth nothing. What is a barren tree, a barren ground, or a barren womb,

^ Athenseus; Deipnosophistce, lib. iii.

to a barren heart ? Many in our days are like the cypress-tree, which, the more it is watered, the more it is withered ; so the more many are watered with the means of grace, the more they wither; the more the dews of heaven falls upon them, and the more heavenly manna is daily rained round about them, the more lean, fruitless, and barren they grow. Such souls may do well to remember that those trees that are not for fruit are for the fire, John xv. 6 ; Heb. vi, 8. For a close, let me tell you that I fear, with that Father, [Augustine,] that many grieve more for the barrenness of their lands, than they do for the barrenness of their lives, and for the barrenness of their trees, than they do for the barrenness of their souls, and for the loss of their cattle, than they do for the loss of God's countenance. But,

[8,] Eighthly and lastly. You have but little holiness; witness that great indifferency and inco7istancy that is to he found among you.^ Ah, how many Christians are there in these days of gospel light who are indifferent who they hear, or what they hear, who are indifferent whether they pray or not, or walk in gospel order or not, or keep Sabbaths or not, or maintain closet communion with God or not, or enjoy the Lord's supper or not, &c., and oh, what inconstancy is to be found among many in these days! Many persons are only constant in inconstancy. Now they are for ordinances, and anon they are against them; now ordinances are precious and glorious things, and anon they are poor low things ; now they cry up this and that for glorious truths, and anon they cry down the same things as dangerous and pernicious errors ; now they cry up Paul and cry down Apollos, and anon they cry up Apollos and cry down Paul; now they are for this form, and anon they are for that; now they are very zealous, and anon they are very lukewarm; now they are for worshipping of God according to rule, and anon they are for worshipping of God according to the prescriptions of men ; now they have their gales of devotion, and anon they are quite becalmed ; now they are full of life, and anon they are very lumpish; now they stand fast, and anon they are wavering; now they are confident all will be well, and anon they give up all as lost; now they will lay down their lives for Christ, and anon they are afraid to own Christ, &c. Now what does this indifferency and inconstancy speak out, but either a total want of holiness, or else that holiness is at a very low ebb in these men's souls ? Now these eight arguments do clearly evidence that many, oh that I could not say that most. Christians have attained but to small measures and degrees of holiness. But,

(2.) Secondly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider^/iai it is possible for you to attain to greater measures of holiness tJian any yet you have reached unto. Though the work be hard, yet it is possible; and what great things won't men attempt upon the account of a possibility. Now that it is possible that

wL may attain to a greater perfection of holiness, I shall evidence

ablie five ways:

the 1 First, By many precious promises that are scattered up and

Pompey o.

raise all Italy''t kept both great favour and places under Henry the Eighth, a Papist, foot or with On^"^*^ *^® Sixth, a Protestant, and under Queen Mary, a Papist, and ' a Protestant, and being asked how he could do so, he answered

Cant. 11. 11, 12; Jer. -, billow and not the oak.

down in the blessed Scriptures; as that Job xvii. 9, 'The righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger;' or as the Hebrew has it, [VQ>i ^ D"!,] 'he shall add strength,' that is, he shall go on from one degree of spiritual strength to another, he shall go on from a lesser degree to a greater degree, and from a lower degree to a higher degree, of spiritual strength. A holy-man shall not only have his spiritual strength maintained, but increased ; he shall not only retain that spiritual strength he has, but he shall be still a-adding of strength to strength, Ps. Ixxxiv, 7. They go from strength to strength, or from power to power, or as tlie word may be read, from company to company, or from troop to troop, in allusion to the custom of the Jews, when all the males went up thrice a year to Jerusalem; now when they went up to Jerusalem, they went up with their flocks, and in troops. Now those that were lively, active, and strong, they overtook this company and that, and this troop and that, and so they went on, their power and strength increasing daily more and more, till they appeared before God in Zion ; i or look, as the bee goes from flower to flower to gather honey, so those that had a principle of grace and holiness in them, they went from one good company to another, from one troop of Christians to another, still gathering up heavenly honey as they went. 0 sirs, there is no such way to perfect holiness, as to be still a-going on from duty to duty, and from ordinance to ordinance; from praying to hearing, and from hearing to praying; from reading to meditating, and from meditating to reading; from public duties to closet duties, and from closet duties to public duties, &c.: Ps. xcii. 12-14, ' The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age, they shall be fat and flourishing.' Ille non est homes, qui Twn vult esse melior. The promise of flourishing is three times repeated in these verses—they shall flourish, they shall flourish, they shall flourish—to note the more than ordinary flourishing estate of the saints, even in their old age. I have read of an old Christian, who being asked whether he grew in goodness or no, answered, I believe I do, because the Lord has promised that his people shall bring forth fruit in old age. Pliny, writing of the crocodile,''tells us that she grows to her dying day; so Christians that are rooted in Christ, and planted in the house of the Lord, they will be still growing up in grace and holiness even to their dying day. It is with real Christians as it is with wine, the older the better, or as it is with the sun, which shines most gloriously and amiably when it is near setting. Gracious souls are like the laurel, or the bay-tree, whose leaves are always green, not only in the summer of youth, but also in the winter of old age. The palm-tree is always green, it never loseth his leaves or fruit, and the more it is loaded the deeper it is rooted ; and so it shall be with throughout Christians. So in that Isa. xlvi. 3, 4, God has promised to carry us on to old age, ' Hearken unto me, 0 house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the liouse of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And

^ '^^H-VK 'P^riQ, properly signifies vigour, courage, alacrity, power, success, and au army, wherein usually most power is required and manifested.

even to your old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you.' That God that begins a work of grace and holiness in his people's hearts, that God will perfect and carry on that work. Mothers and nurses express their tender care, love, and delight, by carrying 'their babes in their arms till they can go alone; but God surpasses them in his love, care, tenderness, and divine fondness, for he will carry them even to hoary hairs. This word ' I,' that is six times repeated in verse the fourth, is doubtless of very great importance, and signifies not only God's eternal essence, and that he will be ever like himself, but also his unchangeableness in regard of us; for whatever our thoughts may be concerning God, yet we shall always find him one and the same; he will be as good to his people at last as he was at first, even to old age he will carry them. So in that Prov. iv. 18, ' But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.' A holy man proceeds from grace to grace, from virtue to virtue; he goes from faith to faith, and from strength to strength, till at length he shines as the sun in his strength. So in that Hosea xiv. 5-7, ' I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his root as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return, they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.' The growth, the fruitfulness, and the flourishing estate of the saints in grace and holiness, is set forth by a sevenfold metaphor in these words. The similes are all plain and easy, and you may easily dilate upon them in your own thoughts; and therefore I shall pass them. I shall conclude with that precious promise, John iv. 14, ' But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.' The Spirit in its gracious operations shall be a constant spring in believers' hearts, and it shall every day rise higher and higher, like the water in Ezekiel, till grace be swallowed up in glory, Ezek. xlvii. 1-7. And thus you see by these choice promises, that it is possible for you to attain to a greater measure of holiness. But,

[2.] Secondly, The prayers that have been put up upon this very account, do clearly evidence the same. Certainly the people of God would never have prayed for higher degrees of grace and holiness, if they had not been attainable. Now it is very observable that the spirits of the saints have run out much this way, as is evident in these instances, Phil. i. 9-11, ' And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more, in knowledge, and in all judgment. That ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ: being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.' l Col. i. 9, * For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.' Chap, iv. 12, * Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, * Oratio brevis penetrat coelum.

always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God/ The Greek word TreTrX?;-pcofievo^;, is a metaphor from a ship, whose sails are filled with wind. Epaphras was a humble petitioner that the souls of the Colossians might be filled with the highest degrees of grace and holiness, as the sails of a ship are filled with wind: 1 Thes. iii. 12, ' And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one towards another, and towards all men, even as we do towards you.' The apostle, by doubling his word, increase and abound, discovers himself to be an importunate suitor, that a double portion of grace and holiness might be given out to the Thessalonians. So in that Heb. xiii. 20, 21, ' Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.' The apostle cannot beg anything for these believing Hebrews below perfection. And the apostle Peter puts up the same requests for those blessed converts that were scattered throughout ' Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.' In that 1 Pet. v. 10, ' But the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have sufiered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.' God is called ' the God of all grace,' because he is the giver of all kinds of grace, and of all degrees of grace. Now nothing will satisfy this great apostle, when he comes to plead for these saints, below perfection. Though they had as much grace as would bring them to heaven, yet he begs such a perfection of grace as might raise them high in heaven. And thus it appeareth by the prayers of these holy men, that saints may still be rising in grace and holiness. But,

[3.] Thirdly, The experience of other saints does clearly evidence this, that you may attain unto higher degrees of grace and holiness than those that yet you have attained unto: Gen. vi. 9, ' Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God.' Noah was not only perfect with perfection of parts ; nor only perfect in respect of desires, endeavours, and aims; nor only perfect in respect of his justification before God by imputed righteousness ; nor only perfect in respect of God's approbation, acceptation, and delight; nor only perfect in respect of God's design and intentions to make him so in another world; nor only perfect in respect of those gifts and graces with which he was adorned and furnished for the discharge of his place, office, and work to which the Lord had called him ; nor only comparatively perfect, in regard of that profane, ungodly, and debauched generation among whom he lived; but also he is said to be perfect in respect of an eminent progress that he had made in grace and holiness. He had attained to considerable degrees and measures of grace and holiness ; and though his proficiency in the exercise of grace and practice of piety fell short of complete perfection, yet it rose to such a height that God could not but crown him and chronicle him for a perfect man.i In all ages of the world there has been four several ages of

1 Ps. xxxvii. 37 ; Phil. iii. 11-16; Cant. iv. 7; Eph. v. 26, 27 ; Rev, xiv. i, 5 ; Prov. ii 21, and xi. 5; 2 Tim. iii, 16,17.

Christians—viz., babes, children, young men, and old men."'- Noah was not a babe, nor a child, nor a young man, but an old man in grace and holiness; and therefore he is said to be perfect. There are several forms in Christ's school, some higher, some lower. Now he that is in the highest form may be said to be perfect, in regard of those that are in a lower or in the lowest form. Now Noah was in the highest form of grace and godliness, therefore he is said to be perfect; and in this sense, I suppose. Job is said to be a perfect man: Job i. 1, 8, ' There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil ?' Job was a very considerable person; he was a man of a choice spirit, he was taller in goodness, and higher by the head and shoulders in grace and godliness, than any of the saints in that age and corner of the world where he lived. Job was a man of the greatest weight and worth for holiness that was in all the world. Job was a nonsuch; no Christians could come near him; as he was the greatest, so he was the best of the best of all the saints that were in the East for heights of grace and holiness ; he was a giant, and all the Christians round about him were but as so many dwarfs ; he was the paragon of his time; for piety and sanctity none could parallel him, none could match him; and in this sense we are to understand the apostle, both in that 1 Cor. ii. 6, ' We speak wisdom among them that are perfect,' and in that Phil, iii, 15, ' Let as many as be perfect be thus minded.' He speaks here not of an absolute perfection, for such a perfection himself disclaimeth in ver. 12, ' Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.' By the force of the original word, that is here rendered follow,^ the apostle declares that he had perfection in chase, as it were, and that his spirit was with much heat and eagerness carried out in pursuing after it, and resolved not to rest till he had attained to it. An absolute perfection is very desirable on earth, but shall never be obtained till we come to heaven. Absolute perfection is not the privilege of saints militant, but of saints triumphant ; and therefore the perfection that the believing Corinthians and holy Philippians had attained to, was not an absolute but a comparative perfection; they were perfect in comparison of those that were but babes and shrubs and dwarfs in Christ. And it is a very high and honourable report that the apostle gives of the Corinthians in that 2 Cor. viii. 7, ' Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, in utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us; see that ye abound in this grace also/ And it is a very large testimony that the same apostle gives of the Romans in that Rom. xv. 14, ' And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye are also full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.' Now the fulness the apostle speaks of is not a ful-

11 Pet. ii. 2; 1 John ii. 12-14 ; Heb. v. 12-14.

' biwKos, I persecute, I follow with as hot and as eager a spirit after perfection as per-Bccutors do follow after those they persecute.

ness of parts, for the weakest believer as well as the strongest is at first conversion renewed and sanctified in every part, though it be but in part and imperfect; and this is a fulness of parts. But of this fulness the apostle does not speak. But then there is a fulness of degrees. Now this fulness is either an absolute fulness, or a comparative fulness. The apostle is to be understood of a comparative fulness. The Romans were full of all goodness and knowledge, in comparison of those in whom Christ was but newly formed, and in whom the work of grace was but newly erected ; and they were full of all goodness and knowledge now, in comparison of what they were at their first acquaintance with Christ, and first acceptance of Christ, and first resignation of themselves to Christ, and at their first marriage union and communion with Christ. And thus you see, by the experiences of other saints, that it is possible for you to attain to higher degrees of grace and holiness than any those are that yet you have attained to. But,

[4.] Fourthly, It is possible for you to attain to higher degrees and pitches in holiness than any yet you have reached unto ; witness the praises and thanksgivings that has been offered up to God upon their oxicounts tvho have attained to a very great heigld of holiness. Take a few Scripture instances for the clearing up of this particular: as that in 1 Cor. i. 4, 5, 7, ' I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance and in all knowledge; so that ye come behind in no good gift;' and that in Eph. i. 3, 7, 8, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; who according to the riches of his grace, hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence.' i Here the apostle trumpets out the high praises of God, for that he had blessed them and enriched them, though not with corn, or oil, or wine, or with gold or silver, which is but red and white clay, that yet he had blessed them with all spiritual blessings, which are the choicest, the chief est, and the sweetest of blessings ; for spiritual blessings are right-handed blessings, they are peculiar Ijlessings, they are blessings-sweetening blessings, for they sweeten all the blessings man enjoys; and they are blessings-begetting blessings, for they beget and bring forth many other blessings, to the enriching and adorning of a Christian's soul; and they are blessings-sanctifying blessings, they are blessings that sanctify all other blessings ; and they are blessings-preserving blessings, they are blessings that will preserve all our other blessings. Spiritual blessings are peculiar blessings, they are costly blessings, they are blessings that reach to the very spirit and soul of a Christian, they are blessings that raises the spirit of a Christian, and that ennobles the spirit of a Christian, and that cheers up the spirit of a Christian, and that a thousand ways betters the spirit of a Christian; and therefore it is no wonder that the apostle's heart was so afiected with spiritual blessings, and that his mouth was so filled with spiritual praises, as indeed it was. And so in that 1 Tim. i. 12,14, ' And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, because the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, with faith and love

^ Though injuries should be writ in the dust, yet spiritual mercies should be writ on marble, that oui' hearts may be the better provoked to thankfulness for them.

which is in Christ Jesus/ ^ And thus you see by others' thanksgivings, that it is possible for you to attain to far higher degrees of holiness than what for the present you are raised to. The stork is said to leave one of her young ones where she hatcheth them; and the elephant to turn up the first sprig towards heaven when he comes to feed, and both out of some instinct of gratitude ; and shall not a divine instinct enable Christians to do much more in a way of gratitude, both upon the account of their own graces, and upon the account of those eminent measures of grace that other saints are blessed and crowned withal ? Though Seiarus^ did dare to sacrifice to himself, yet a Christian must not dare to sacrifice to himself, nor to his duties, nor to his graces, &c. ; the sacrifice of praise in regard of grace received, is a crown of glory that is due to none but the God of grace. All the rivers return to the sea from whence they had their beginning. God will give you his covenant, and he will give you his ordinances, and he will give his heaven, and he will give you his Son, yea, he will give you himself; but his glory, his glory he will not give unto another, Isa. xlii. 8. Whatever he parts with, he is resolved that neither angels nor men shall share with him in the glory of his grace. I have read of a stork that cast a pearl into the bosom of a maid which had healed her of a wound. 0 sirs ! when God comes to heal you of your spiritual wounds and diseases, and not only so, but shall also richly bespangle and adorn your souls and others' with his precious graces, what can you do less than cast that pearl of praise into the bosom of God ? as David did in that Ps. ciii. 1-fi. The best means to get more grace, is to be thankful for that grace you have, for God loves to sow much where he reaps much. If your returns are answerable to your receipts, you will still be on the receiving hand. Thankfulness is God's impost for all his blessings, and they that truly and duly pays this impost, shall be sure to abound in the best of blessings. Thankfulness for one blessing always draws on another blessing, as saints by experience daily find. And thus you see, by these arguments, that it is possible for you to attain higher degrees of holiness than any yet you have reached unto. But,

[5.] Fifthly and lastly, It is possible for you to attain to higher degrees of holiness, &c.; witness those choice, those rare and singular gifts that Christ has bestowed upon many of his servants for this very purpose —viz., that they may help on a growth and an increase of holiness in your hearts: Eph. iv. 8, 11-13, ' Wherefore he saith. When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.' One main end of Christ's giving such eminent gifts to his church officers is, that his people may be made eminent in holiness. It is not only to bring them in, but also

^ vwepeir\e6vaffe, was over-full, redundant, or hath abounded to flowing over, as the sea doth overflow the banks many times, and drown the lower grounds that are nearest to it. » Qu. Sejanus ?—G.

to build them up; it is not only to convert them, but also to edify them; it is not only to begin a work of holiness, but also to perfect and carry on a work of holiness; and therefore the word is not only compared to seed, that begets holiness in men's hearts, but also to wine and milk and strong meat, that helps forward the growth and increase of holiness in men's hearts.^ And so the great end of the Lord's supper is not to work spiritual life where it is not, but to increase it where it is; it is not to change the heart, but more and more to sanctify the heart; it is not to work holiness, but to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord; it is not to sow the seed of grace in the soul, but it is to cause that seed to grow and flourish in the soul. The martyrs in the primitive church, when they were to appear before the cruel tyrants, they were wont, as Cyprian shews, to receive the Lord's supper, and thereby they were fired with zeal and fervour, and filled with faith and fortitude, &c. Chrysostom saith, that by the sacrament of the Lord's supper we are so armed against Satan's temptations that he fleeth from us, as if we were so many lions that spit fire. The Lord's supper is a cabinet of spiritual jewels; and oh, then, how unmanly and unseemly a thing it is to hang this cabinet of jewels, which is more worth than the gold of Ophir, in a swine's snout! And how that mother can be guiltless of the death of her child, that giveth him poison in a golden cup, with this caution, that she tells him it is poison, I know not; no more do I know how that minister can be guiltless of the body and blood of our Lord, who dispenses the bread of life to those who are known to be without spiritual life—yea, that are known to be dead in sins and trespasses. And thus you see, by these five arguments, that it is possible for you to attain to greater measures of holiness than any yet you have reached unto; and so much for the second motive. 2

(3.) Thirdly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider ilmt the more holy you are, the more you ivill be the delight of God, and the more dear you will he to God, and the more beloved you ivill be of God, Ps. xvi. 3, 4. For the right understanding of this argument you must carefully distinguish between Grod's love of goodwill, and his love of complacency. Now God's love of goodwill is equal to all his saints, whether they are rich or poor, high or low, bond or free, or whether they have a sea of grace or but a drop of grace. God's love of goodwill runs as much out to the weakest Christian as it does to the strongest, to a babe in grace as to a giant in grace. All saints are equally elected. God never chose one man a vessel of glory more than another; the weakest saint is as much elected as the strongest, Rom. xi. 17. And as all saints are equally elected, so all saints are equally redeemed by Jesus Christ. Christ bled as much for one saint as another, and he sweat as much for one saint as another, and he sighed and groaned as much for one saint as another, and he trode the wine-press of his Father's wrath as much for one saint as another, Isa. liii. 3-12. Christ paid as great a price for his lambs as for his sheep, 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20, for Lazarus in his rags as for David in his royal robes. And as all saints are equally re-

^ It is only the holy soul that can truly say Credo vitain ceternam, et edo vitam (eternnm. — Cyprian, lib. iv. ep. 6. ' In the margin here,' The end of the 43d Sermon.'—G.

deemed, so all saints are equally called; one saint is as much called out of the kingdom of darkness as another, and one saint is as much called to Jesus Christ as another, 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; in vocation God looks with as favourable an eye upon one as he does upon another. And as all saints are equally called, so all saints are equally justified, 2 Cor, V. 19, 20 ; though one saint may be more sanctified than another, yet no saint is more justified than another; the weakest believer is as much justified and pardoned before the throne of God as the strongest is; that pure, perfect, matchless, and spotless righteousness of Christ is as much imputed to one saint as it is to another, 1 Cor. i. 30. And as all saints are equally justified, so all saints are equally adopted. Gal. iv. 4-6; the weakest l)eliever is as much an adopted son as the strongest believer in the world is. God is no more a father to one than he is to another ; the babe in the arms is as much a son as he that is of riper years. Thus you see that God's love of goodwill is equal in all his saints, and therefore you are to understand this argument of God's love of complacency. Now this love runs out more to some saints than it does to others; for they that have much holiness are much beloved, but they that have most holiness are most beloved, John xiv. 21-23. The greater thou art in holiness, the greater wilt thou be beloved of God, ' 0 Daniel, thou art greatly beloved,' Dan. ix. 23. And why does God love more and delight more in Christ, than he does in all the angels and saints in heaven, and in all the upright ones that are on earth ? but because Christ is more eminent and glorious in holiness than all created beings are ; he is more the express image of his Father's person, and the brightness of his Father's glory than others, and therefore he is more beloved than others. It was an excellent observation of one of the fathers, viz., that God loved the humanity of Christ more than any man, because he was fuller of grace and truth than any man.i Now for the further clearing up of this great argument,—Consider, first, that the more holy any person is, the more excellent that person is. All corruptions are diminutions of excellency. The more mixed anything is, the more abased it is. The more you mix your wine with water, the more you abase your wine, and the more you mix your tin with gold,^ the more you abase your gold; but the purer your wine is, the richer and the better your wine is, and the purer your gold is, the more glorious and excellent it is, so the purer and holier any person is, the more excellent and glorious that person is. Now the more divinely excellent and glorious any person is, the more he is beloved of God, and the more he is the delight of God. But, secondly, the more holy any person is, the more that person pleases the Lord, Heb. xi. 5. Fruitfulness in holiness fills heaven with joy. The husbandman is not so much pleased with the fruitfulness of his fields, nor the wife with the fruitfulness of her womb, nor the father with the thriving of his child, as God is pleased with the fruitfulness and thriving of his children in grace and holiness. Now certainly the more God is pleased with any person, the more he loves that person, and the more pleasure and delight he takes in such a person. If God be most pleased with holiness, he cannot but be most delighted in those that are most holy. But, thirdly, the more holy any person is, the more like to God he is, and the more like to * August. Tract, in John. i. 14. ^ Qu. ' Your gold with tin' ?— Ed.

God he is, doubtless, the more he is beloved of God. It is likeness both in nature and grace that always draws the strongest love. Though every child is the father multiplied, the father of a second edition, yet the father loves him best, and delights in him most, who is most like him, and who in feature, spirit, and action, does most resemble him to the life; and so does the Father of spirits also, he always loves them best who in holiness resemble him most. There are four remarkable things in the beloved disciple above all the rest:i 1. That he lay nearest to Christ's bosom at the table; 2. That he followed Christ closest to the high priest's palace; 3. That he stood close to Christ when he was on the cross, though others had basely deserted him, and turned their backs upon him; 4. That Christ commended the care of his virgin mother to him. Now why did Christ's desire, love, and delight, run out with a stronger and a fuller tide towards John than to the rest of the disciples ? Doubtless it was because John did more resemble Christ than the rest, it was because John was a more exact picture and lively representation of Christ than the others were. But fourthly, the more holy any man is, the more communion and familiarity that man shall have with God; as you may see in Moses. Moses was a nonsuch for meekness and holiness: Num. xii. 3, ' Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.' There was no man so slighted, wronged, provoked, teased, perplexed, and troubled by that wicked, unthankful, unbelieving, and murmuring generation, as Moses was, and yet he did neither rail at them nor revile them; he did neither storm nor rage, he did neither fret nor fling; and though he had a sword of justice in his hand, and might easily have avenged himself on them, yet he would not, but exercised all patience, tenderness, goodness, and sweetness towards them. Oh the lowliness, the meekness, the holiness of this man Moses ! And oh the freeness, the friendliness, the openness, and the familiarness of God with Moses! Deut. xxxiv. 10, ' And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.' To give you a little light into these words: some of the Kabbis observe that Moses surpassed all the other prophets, not only in sublimity of prophecies, but also in excellency and number of miracles; for Moses within one age wrought seventy-six miracles, when all the rest of the prophets from the beginning of the world quite down to the ruin of the first temple, wrought only seventy-four: and as for those words, ' whom the Lord knew face to face,' you are not to understand them thus, that God hath a face as man hath, nor that Moses had a view of the essence of God, which is invisible; for in this sense no man hath seen God at any time, John i. 18; and indeed the least beam of God's essential glory and majesty would have swallowed up Moses alive, 1 Tim. vi. 16. But these words, ' whom the Lord knew face to face,' are to be understood of God's speaking to Moses in a free, friendly, familiar, and plain manner. God did speak to Moses by a clear articulate voice, even as one man speaks to another when they speak face to face. And so when Aaron and Miriam were swelled with pride and envy, and began to bespatter Moses, and to pick a hole in his coat, and to cloud, eclipse, and diminish his glory, see at what a high and noble rate

^ John xiii, 23, xviii. 16, and xix. 26, 27.

God speaks of Moses; see how God magnifies and exalts and lifts up Moses in that Num. xii. 6-8, ' And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all my house; with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses ?' Now here you see how God owns Moses, and stands up for Moses, and pleads for Moses, and tells Aaron and Miriam to their faces that Moses was the greatest favourite, and that he had far greater respects for Moses than he had for them, and that there was not a man in all the world that was so inward with him as Moses, and that had so much of his ear and heart as Moses had, God did appear to other prophets in dreams and visions, which were transient, but with Moses God will speak mouth to mouth, God will speak to him without an interpreter, he will speak to Moses more famiharly and frequently than he did to others by visions, and more clearly, plainly, and assuredly than he did to others by dreams. God here engages himself to hold a more close, familiar, friendly, and constant conference and correspondence with Moses, than with any others in the world. Moses was blessed with as clear, and with as full, and with as apparent sight of God, and communion with God, as he was able to bear and comprehend. Some of the learned are of opinion, that Christ did converse with Moses in a human shape, as he had done with Abraham before; they conjecture that the Lord Jesus did very friendly and familiarly shew himself to Moses with that very same face and form of human nature, which he afterwards assumed,! i3ut this I dare not press upon you as an article of your faith. And whether Moses had one hundred and seventy-three familiar conferences with God, which none of the prophets had, lies upon those Kabbis to prove that do assert it; but this is granted on all hands, that he was a special favourite, and a man in high communion with God, and one that had very clear and eminent discoveries and manifestations of God, And so Abraham was a man of great holiness, and a man eminent in his communion with God, God owned him as a friend, as an honourable friend, as an eminent friend, as a bosom friend, as a peculiar friend, and as a faithful friend, Isa, xli, 8 ; and therefore he made him one of his privy council, and opened his heart and his secrets to him: ' And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do?' Gen, xviii. 17. Abraham is styled the friend of God by a specialty. Though God had many friends, yet it was Abraham that was his singular friend, his darling friend, his rare friend, &c., and accordingly God was most free, and full, and rich in the communications of his favours and secrets to Abraham. It was not enough for Abraham to be of God's court, but he must be also of his cabinet council. It was always a principle in morality, that sweet and intimate friendship cannot be extended to many. Friends usually go by pairs. And thus you see that the more holy any man is, the more communion that man shall have with God, and the more communion any man has with God, the

^ Gen. xviii. and xxxii. 30, &c.

more beloved shall that man be of God. The highest communion is always attended with the highest love. But, fiftlily and lastly, the more holy any man is, the more actually ripe and fit for heaven that man is. A Christian at first conversion is but rough cast, but as holiness is increased, so he comes more and more every day to be prepared, polished, squared, and fitted for a full and glorious fruition of God in heaven. Job v. 26. Though the least degree of grace and holiness puts a man into a habitual preparedness and fittedness for heaven, yet it is only an eminency in grace and holiness that puts a man into an actual preparedness and fittedness for heaven. The richer in grace the riper for glory, the higher you are in holiness the fitter you are to enter into the joy of your Lord. Though the least drop or drachm of holiness is enough to keep a man from dropping into hell, yet it is only grown holiness that actually prepares and fits a man to go to heaven. Mat. xxv. 19-24. Now, doubtless, the more actually ripe and ready any man is for heaven, the more pleasure and delight God takes in him. The more the vessels of grace are fitted for glory, the more complacency God takes in them. When God set himself upon the creation of the world, in the close of every day's work, except the second, for which the opinions of the learned are various, God set to his seal, ' that it was good;' but w^hen he had perfected and completed the whole creation, and cast an eye upon all together, then he concludes, ' that it was very good;' 'and God saw all that he had made, and behold it was very good,' or ' extreme good,' so some, or ' very pleasant and delightful,' so others. Gen. i. The work of creation was KO curiously and gloriously framed, and so full of admirable rarities and varieties, that it raised delight and complacency in God himself: whereupon Augustine observes that even to every grace, yea, of the least degree of grace, he saith 'it is good;' but when he beholds the graces of his saints fresh and flourishing, your faith acted and strengthened, your repentance daily renewed, your humility increased, &c., then he concludes that ' all is very good.' i 0 sirs, if the Lord Jesus Christ be so ravished with one of his spouse's eyes, and with one chain of her neck. Cant. iv. 9 : with the least drops or sips of grace, or with the least grains and drachms of grace and holiness, oh, how much more will great measures of grace and holiness take him and ravish him ! Well! for a close of this argument, remember this, that as the sun shines hotter on some climates than it doth upon others, and as the dew falls more upon one place than another, and as the water overflows some pastures more than others, so God's love of complacency and delight shines hotter and brighter upon some Christians than it does upon others; and these I have shewed you to be such who are most eminent and excellent in grace and holiness. And thus much for this third motive. (4.) Fourthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more your holiness is increased, the more the great God ivill he honoured and glorified, Mat. v. 16. Fruitfulness in holiness sets the weightiest crown of glory upon the head of God: John XV. 8, ' Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.' The more eminent any person is in holiness, the more clearly and convincingly he proclaims God before all the world to be a rich God, a

* Aug. in Gen. i. 31.

full God, a bountiful God, an overflowing good.i There is nothing that works men to admire God so much, and to exalt God so high, as a Christian's fruitfulness in holiness. Oh, how good must that God be, whose servants are so good, said the heathen ! Oh, how glorious in holiness must that God be, whose people are so holy! Look, as the thriving child is a credit to the nurse, and the rich servant an honour to his master, and a plentiful crop the praise of the husbandman, so that Christian that thrives in grace, that grows rich in holiness, is the greatest credit, and the highest honour, and the sweetest praise to God in the world. The tree in Alcinous's garden had always blossoms, buds, and ripe fruits, one under another. 0 sirs, those trees of righteousness that have not only the blossoms and buds of holiness upon them, but also the ripe fruits of holiness one under another, they are the greatest honour and glory to God in the world, Isa. Ixi. 3. What will men say when they shall behold your eminency in sanctity ? will they not say, certainly God is no hard master ; he never looks to reap where he does not sow, nor to gather where he does not straw, Mat. XXV. 24. Certainly he keeps a noble house; his tables are richly spread, his cups overflow, he feeds, yea, he feasts his servants with the choicest rarities and varieties that heaven affords: witness their thriving and flourishing estate in grace and holiness. And thus you see that the more your holiness is increased, the more highly the God of heaven will be exalted and magnified. But,

(5.) Fifthly, To provoke you to endeavour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holiness thou hast, the more he ivill give thee. At first God gives holiness where there is none, and where this holiness is improved, there God will be still augmenting and increasing of it. Do thou but make it thy business to ' perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord,' Heb. vi. 7, and the Lord will not fail to make new and fresh additions of more grace and holiness to that thou hast: Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, ' The Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.' Mark those words, viz., that ' the Lord will give grace and glory,' that is, grace imto glory, he will still be adding more grace to that thou hast, till the bud of grace be turned into the flower of glory, till thy grace on earth commenceth glory in heaven; the more holiness any man has, the more still God will give him: Mat. xiii. 12, ' For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance.' He that hath principles of grace and holiness laid into his soul, he shall find a plentiful increase of those sanctifying and saving principles; he shall have more abundance; his spark of holiness shall grow into a flame, his drops of holiness shall be turned into a sea, and his mite of holiness shall be multiplied into millions. The greater harvest of holiness a Christian brings forth, the greater increase of holiness shall he experience; every exercise of grace and holiness is always attended with new increase of grace and holiness. Mat. xxv. 29. Look, as that arm is greatest and strongest that is most used and exercised, so that particular grace that is most exercised and used is most strengthened and greatened. Look, as earthly parents, when they see their children to husband and improve a little stock to great advantage, then they add to their stock, they increase their stock, they double their stock ; so, when the Father

^ Qu. 'God'?— Ed.

I

of spirits sees his children to husband and improve a little stock of grace and holiness to the great advantage of their souls, then he will increase their spiritual stock, he will be still a-adding to their stock, yea, he will double their stock: John xv. 2, ' Every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.' Such as are fruitful shall be made more fruitful. Christ will take most pains to make them better who are already very good. Of all Christians in the world, there are none that have so much grace as humble Christians have, and yet God delights to pour in grace into their souls, as men pour liquor into empty vessels, James iv. 6. Humility is both a grace, and a vessel to receive more grace. And thus much for this fifth argument. But,

(6.) Sixthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holiness you attain to, the greater loill be your heaven of joy and comfort in this world. Though the least spark of true holiness will bring a man to heaven certainly, yet it is only an eminency in holiness that will make a man walk to heaven comfortably. The more holiness any man has, the more he shall enjoy him, in whose presence is fulness of joy, Ps. xvi. 11; and the more any man enjoys the presence of God with his spirit, the greater will be his heaven of joy in this world. Look, as a little star yields but a little light, so a little holiness yields but a little comfort; and look, as the greatest stars yields the greatest light, so the greatest measures of holiness always yields the greatest comforts. Divine joy ebbs and flows as holiness ebbs and flows. Soul comforts rises and falls as holiness rises and falls. Great measures of holiness carries with them the greatest evidence of the reality of holiness. Now the more clearly and evidently the reality and sincerity of a man's holiness appears, the higher will the springs of joy and comfort arise in his soul. Great measures of holiness carry with them the greatest evidence of a man's union and communion with God; and the more evident a man's union and communion is with God, the more will that man's soul be flUed with that joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, 1 Pet, i, 8. In great measures of holiness a man may see and read most of the love of God, the face of God, the favour of God, and the heart of God, Acts ix. 31 ; and the more a man is blessed with such a sight as this is, the more will that babe of grace, divine joy, spring in his soul. The greater measures of holiness and sanctification any man attains to, the clearer and brighter will the evidences of his justification be. Now the clearer evidences any man has of his justification, the stronger wiU be his consolation, Eom. v. 1-3, and viii. 30, 33-35 ; and indeed the strongest waters of consolation do always flow from a clear sight and a true sense of a man's justification. No man lives so comfortably, no man bears the cross so sweetly, no man resists the devil and the world so stoutly, nor no man will die so cheerfully, as he that lives and dies in a clear sight of his justification. The more holiness any man attains to, the more his fears will be scattered, his doubts resolved, and all those impediments removed that commonly bar out joy and comfort: and what will be the happy issue of these things, but the bringing in of a sea of joy and comifort into the soul! It is not riches, nor honours, nor applause, nor learning, nor friends, nor a great name in the world, but an eminency

VOL. IV. z

in holiness, that can highly raise the springs of divine joy in a Christian's soul. Though the windows of the temple were broad without hut narrow within, yet the joy and comfort of a Christian that is eminent in holiness is broad and full within, though it be narrow and contracted without. 0 sirs, as ever you would have your joy full, labour for a heart filled with holiness. Your comforts will be always few and low, if your holiness be low. Why have the angels always harps in their hands, and hallelujahs in their mouths, but because they have attained to a fulness of holiness ? But,

(7.) Seventhly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holy any person is, the more the Lord will reveal and manifest himself, and his mind and will, unto him, John xiv. 21, 23; Hosea vi. 3. Ezekiel was a man of eminent holiness, and a man that had glorious visions, and deep mysteries, and rare discoveries of God, and of the great things that should be brought about in the latter days, discovered to him. And Daniel was a man of very great holiness: and oh, what secrets and mysteries did God reveal to him! 1 Many of those gi-eat and glorious things which concerns the destruction of the four last monarchies, and the growth, increase, exaltation, flourishing, durable, invincible, and unconquerable estate of his own kingdom, was discovered to him. Among all the apostles, Paul was a man of the greatest holiness, and of all the apostles Paul had the most glorious revelations and discoveries of God manifested to him, 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4. Witness those glorious revelations that he had when he was caught up into the third heaven, into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, or wordless words— prjfxara apprjra —such as words were too weak to utter, such as was not possible for man to utter, and that, either because they transcended man's capacity in this life, or else because the apostle was forbidden to utter them; they being revealed to him, not for the public use of the church, but only for his particular encouragement, that so he might be the better able to encounter ■with all the hardships, difficulties, dangers, and deaths that should attend him in the conscientious discharge of his ministerial work. Some of the ancients are of opinion that he saw God's essence ; for, say they, other things in heaven might have been uttered, but the essence of God is so great and so glorious a thing, that no man or angel can utter it or declare it. _ But here I must crave leave to enter my dissent, for the Scripture is express in this, that no man hath thus ever seen the Lord at any time, John i. 18; 1 Tim. vi. 16 ; 1 John iv, 12; and that no man can thus see the Lord and live. And as great a favourite of heaven as Moses was, yet he could only see the back parts of God, he could only behold some lower representations of God. Others say, that he heard the heavenly singing of angels and blessed spirits, which was so sweet, so excellent and glorious, that no mortal man was able to utter it, and this of the two is most probable; but no man is bound to make this opinion an article of his faith. This, I think, we may safely conclude, that in this rapture, besides the contemplation of celestial mysteries, he felt such unspeakable delight and pleasure, that was either like to that, or exceeding that, which Adam took in the terrestrial paradise. Doubtless, the apostle did see and hear * See ii., It., vii., viii,, ix, x., xi., xii. chapterg of Daniel.

such excellent and glorious things, as was impossible for the tongue of any mortal man to express or utter. And so John was a man of most rare holiness, and Christ reveals to him the general estate of his church, and all that should befall his people, and that from John's time unto his second coming. Christ gives John a true representation of aR the troubles, trials, changes, mercies, and glories that in all times, and in all ages and places, should attend his church, until he come in all his glory. About sixty years after Christ's ascension,! Christ comes to John and opens his heart, and unbosoms his soul, and makes known to him all that care, that love, that tenderness, that kindness, and that sweetness that he would exercise towards his church, from that very time to the end of the world. Christ tells John, that though he had been absent and seemingly silent for about threescore years, that yet he was not so taken up with the delights, contents, and glory of heaven, as that he did not care what became of his church on earth. Oh, no! And therefore he opens his choicest secrets, and makes known the most hidden and glorious mysteries to John, that ever was made known to any man. As there was none that had so much of the heart of Christ as John, so there was none that had so much of the ear of Christ as John. Christ singles out his servant John from all the men in the world, and makes known to him all the happy providences, and all the sad occurrences that were to come upon the followers of the Lamb, that so they might know what to pray for, and what to sit for, and what to wait for; also he declares to John all that wrath and vengeance, all that desolation and destruction that should come upon the false prophet, and the beast, and upon all that wondered after them, and that were worshippers of them, and that had received their marks, either in their foreheads or in their hands. We read of holy Polycarpus, that as he lay in his bed he saw in a vision the bed set on fire under his head; and thus God did forewarn him, and manifest to him, what manner of death he should die, and accordingly it fell out, for he was burnt for the cause of Christ, and rejoicingly sealed to the truth with his blood. Mr John Huss was a man eminent in holiness,—he was born in Prague, in Bohemia, and was pastor of the church of Bethlehem—his name, Huss, in the Bohemian language, signifies a goose; at his martyrdom, he told them, that if they roasted him in the fire, out of the ashes of the goose, a hundred years after, God would raise up a swan in Germany that should carry the cause on for which he suffered, and whose singings would affright all those vultures, which was exactly fulfilled in Luther—whose name in the Bohemian language signifies a swan—for God raised him up as a famous instrument in his hand, who carried on that glorious cause with mighty success; and upon his death the Bohemians under Ziska rose in arms, and had most admirable success against the emperor and the Papists. Luther was a man of great holiness, and being one time more than ordinarily earnest with God in prayer, he came down to his friends, and told them with a very great confidence, that it should go well with

^ It is the general opinion of the learned, that this book of the Kevelation was penned about the latter end of the reign of Domitian the emperor, which was about sixty years after Christ's ascension.

Germany all his days ; he knew what was done in heaven by that which God had done in his own heart, and accordingly it fell out. The martyr that was burnt last in Smithfield, told the people that they should be of good comfort, for he was fully persuaded that he was the last that should suffer under Queen Mary, and so he was. Thus you see that men of greatest holiness have had the clearest and choicest manifestations and discoveries of God, and of his mind, made known to them. Suitable to that choice promise that you have in that Jer. xxxiii. 3, ' Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty'—or hidden—' things,^ which thou knowest not.' God will make known to his holy ones the most hidden and abstruse things; and the more holy they are, the more they shall know of the most secret and mysterious things of God: John vii. 17, * If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.' Christ will be most open to them that are most obedient to him; they shall know most of the doctrine of Christ who are most complying with the will of Christ. David was a man of great holiness, as is evident by that glorious testimony that God has given of him in that Acts xiii. 22, ' And when he had removed him,' that is, Saul, ver. 21, 'he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will'— OeXrjfiara —* all my wills ;' to note the eminency, transcendency, universality, and sincerity of his obedience. Now if you will but look into that 2 Sam. vii. 27, there you shall see how the Lord declares and makes known himself and his intentions towards him; ' For thou, 0 Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house.' But the Hebrew is more full and excellent; in the original 2 it runs thus, ' Lord, thou hast revealed this to the ear of thy servant." Now the emphasis lies in those words, ' to the ear of thy servant.' When God makes known himself and his intentions to such as are eminent in holiness, he does it in their ear. God tells David in his ear, that ' he will build him an house,' that is, that he would continue his kingdom to him, and to his posterity after him. This was blessed news, and this God tells in his ear. Such as are special friends and favourites, we often whisper them in the ear. When we would acquaint them with our most secret and weighty purposes, intentions, and resolutions, we give them a whisper in the ear. Such persons that are eminent in holiness, are the great favourites of heaven, and God tells them in the ear of many a rare secret, which all others are kept ignorant of. Well, sirs, for a close, remember this, that there are no persons on earth that are so prepared and fitted for the clearest, fuUest, and highest manifestations of God, as those that are eminent in holiness; nor none that set so high a price upon the discoveries of God, as men that are eminent in holiness; nor none that are so able to bear the revelations of his will, as men that are eminent in holiness; nor none that will make such a humble, faithful, constant, and through improvement of all that God shall make known to them, * JmiS^V Hidden, as bunches of grapes are hidden under the leaves of the vines.

as men that are famous for holiness; and therefore, as ever you would have God in an eminent way to manifest and discover himself and his mind unto you, oh, labour after a greater measure of holiness 1 But,

(8.) Eighthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holy a man is, the more singular delight and pleasure God will take in all his religious duties and services.^ Holiness puts a divine savour upon all a man's services. There are no duties so sweet as those that have most holiness in them: Mai. iii. 3,4,' And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the ofiering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.' After the Lord Jesus Christ hath been to his people as a refiner's fire, and as fuller's soap, that is, after he hath refined, scoured, and purged his people from their drossi-ness, filthine^s, earthliness, selfishness, and sensualness, &c., then ' their offerings shall be pleasant to the Lord.' Look, as light makes all things pleasant and delightful to man, so holiness makes all a man's duties and services pleasant and delightful to the Lord: Zech. xiii. 9, * And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say. It is my people; and they shall say. The Lord is my God.' When God has refined his people as silver is refined, then he will bow his ear, and open his hand, and grant them the desires of their hearts. Oh the pleasure and delight that God takes in the prayers, tears, hearings, readings, meltings, mournings, and repentings of such who are eminently purged and sanctified ! The more holiness any man has, the less of the flesh, pollution, and corruption there is in all his duties and services ; and the less there is of the old man in all our holy ofierings, the more they are the delight of God. The more holiness any man has, the less there will be of man, and the more there will be of Christ and the Spirit in all his duties and services; and doubtless, the less there is of man, and the more there is of Christ in duties, the more pleasant and delightful they will be unto the Lord. The more holy any man is, the more there will be of his heart in his duties, and the more a man's heart is in his duties, the more pleasant and delightful they will be to God. God is a Spirit, John iv. 23, 24, and he is only taken with those duties wherein the spirit of a man is. The heart is camera omnipotentis Regis, the presence-chamber of the King of heaven, it is his bed of spices, it is his royal throne, on which he delights to sit and rule. A sanctified heart in duties shall carry it with God for crowns, when a silver tongue shall not carry it with God for crumbs. The more holy any man is, the more delight and pleasure he will take in religious duties and services. The more a man's natural strength is, the more easily he walks, and the more delightfully he works. The fuller the wings are of feathers, with the more ease and pleasure the bird flies; so the fuller the soul is of holiness, the more

* Generally it was the custom of the Eastern countries to wash before worship. The very heathen gods would be served in white, the verj- emblem of purity.

easily, the more pleasantly, and the more delightfully will it walk, yea, run, yea, fly in all the ways of God's commands. Every yoke of Christ is easy, and every command of Christ is joyous to a man that is eminent in holiness.^ Now the more any man delights and takes pleasure in religious duties and services, the more God delights and takes pleasure in his rehgious duties and services. The more a Christian's heart is affected and taken with the duties of religion, the more the heart of God will be affected and taken with those duties. Look, as there is no duty that affects the heart of God, that does not first affect our own, or that takes the heart of God, that does not first take our own; so all those duties and services that are divinely pleasing and delightful to our noble part, they are also pleasing and delightful to God himself. The very heathen, as several authors report, had their store-pots of water set at the doors of their temples, where they used to wash before they went to sacrifice, having this notion and opinion amongst them, that their gods did best accept and most delight in those sacrifices that were offered by those who had washed themselves pure and clean. Sure I am that the great God, who is the God of gods, is most pleased and delighted with those sacrifices of prayers and praises that are offered up with the purest hands, and with the cleanest heart; and therefore, as ever you would have God to take singular pleasure and delight in all your duties and services, labour after an eminency in holiness. But,

(9.) Ninthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that many who have been won over to Christ later than you, do yet in holiness much excel you. Are there not many children who have been in Christ but yesterday, as it were, and yet how do they outstrip their parents, not only in parts, but in piety, who have been in Christ many years before them ? And are there not many servants to be found who have not been in Christ seven years, who yet are more holy, more humble, more heavenly, more spiritual, more serious, and every way more gracious than their masters, who have been in Christ long before them ? And are there not many poor, mean, neglected, despised, and scorned Christians, who have been converted and sanctified but a few years, who yet are more fearful of sinning against God, and more careful of pleasing God, and more studious of glorifying of God, and more wise, and watchful, and circumspect in their walking with God, and more laborious and diligent in the use of all holy means whereby God may be exalted and lifted up in the world, than many great and rich Christians in the world, who yet have been in Christ very many years before them ? Paul had some kinsmen that were in Christ before him, as you may see in that Kom. xvi. 5, 7, ' Likewise greet the church that is in their house; salute my well-beloved Ep^netus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ; salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were m Christ before me,' and yet in grace and holiness he excelled them all.2 You know many men in riding a journey do often set out after their neighbours, and yet they do not only overtake them, but also get

^ Ps. xl. 8, and cxix. 32; Mat. xi. 29; 1 John v. 3 * 2 Cor. L 12, and xi. 22-30; 1 Thes. ii 2-13.

into their inns many hours before them; and among seamen, is there anything more common than for those who set sail some days after others, yet to get into their ports before them ? so there are many Christians who have set out heavenwards and liolinesswards after others, and yet they have not only overtaken them, but also in grace and holiness gone far before them. As Christ, in his nonage, put all the doctors in the temple down, Luke ii. 4b'-48, so many Christians, even in their nonage, as I may say, do put down other Christians, who, in respect of their years and opportunities, might have been doctors in Christianity.! In this great city you have very many who have set up many years after others, and yet they are grown far greater and richer than those of their callings who have set up many years before them; and doubtless there are very many in this city who have set upon the trade of Christianity, the trade of godliness, long after others, who yet are grown greater and richer in grace and hohness than those who have for very many years driven that trade. And oh, how should this alarm all such to double their diligence, and to strive and labour as for life to be eminent in holiness, yea, to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord I But,

(10.) Tenthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that there are no persons under heaven that are so strongly obliged and engaged to 'perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord as you are, for you are the only persons on earth that are made partakers of the divine nature, and that have a more excellent spirit in you than the men of this world have, and that have more excellent principles in you,as knowledge, wisdom, faith, love, self-denial, humility, &c., to help on the advance and increase of holiness, than others have, whose souls are strangers, yea, enemies, to those noble and divine principles. 2 And you are the only persons on earth upon whom all exhortations and commands to grow in holiness, to increase in holiness, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, does most immediately; most directly, most eminently, most roundly, and most fully fall, as you may easily see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together. 3 0 sirs, how gloriously should that house be adorned with holiness that is of God's own building ! and how fruitful should those vineyards and gardens be that are of God's own planting ! and how full should those wells be that are of God's own digging 1 and how sweet should those flowers be that are of God's own setting ! and how ripe should those fruits be that are of God's own grafting 1 0 sirs, shall the eagle fly higher and higher; shall the sun shine brighter and brighter ; and shall the giant refreshed with wine run swifter and swifter; and shall the woman that is with child grow fuller and fuller, and greater and greater ; and shall not you who are the people of God's holiness fly higher and higher in holiness, and shine brighter and brighter in holiness, and run swifter and swifter in the ways of holiness, and grow fuller and fuller, and greater and greater in the births of holiness ? * 0 sirs, holiness in a Christian is not like a star

^ Jerome writes of Paulinus, that in the first part of hia life he excelled others, and in his latter part he excelled himself.

" 2 Pet. i. 4 ; Dan. vi. 3; 1 Cor. ii. 12.

' 2 Pet. iii. 18 ; 2 Cor. vii. 1, and xiii. 11 ; Col. ii. 7; Heb. vi. 1; 1 Cor. xv. 6ff; Judo 10. * Charles the Fifth had this for his motto, Ulterius, Go on further.

in the sky, nor a stone in the centre, nor a bullet in a gun, which is always equal; but holiness is like to the seed, which, being sown in the furrows of the earth, first springs up into a blade, and then into an ear, and then into ripe corn, Mat. xiii. 23 ; Mark iv. 28. Holiness is like to the waters in Ezekiel's sanctuary, that rise by degrees, Ezek. xlvii. 3 4. First, it rose to the ankles, then to the knees, then to the loins, and then to a mighty river that could not be passed over. Holiness is like to the house of David, that grew stronger and stronger, 2 Sam. iii. 1; and Uke to the cedars of Lebanon, that grew greater and greater, Hosea xiv. 6, 7. 0 Christians, there are none that are so strongly obliged to go on from faith to faith, and from strength to strength, and from holiness to holiness, as you are, Rom. i. 17. Oh! you must labour to be filled up to the brim with holiness. Col. i. 13, and ii. 7. Oh! you must strive to equalise the first three of David's worthies, 1 Chron. xi. 21. Oh! you must endeavour to be like the brethren of Gideon, every one resembling the children of a king, Judges viii. 18. Oh that you could all say as Elihu once did, ' I am full of matter, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles,' Job xxxii. 18, 19. 0 my brethren, to be as full of holiness as new bottles are full of wine, or as the moon is full of light, or as the black clouds are full of rain, or as nurses' breasts are full of milk, is the greatest happiness in this world. 0 sirs ! there are no persons on earth that are engaged to love the Lord with such a vehement love as you, nor to trust in the Lord with such an inflamed faith as you, nor to hope in the Lord with such a raised hope as you, nor to delight in the Lord with such ravishing delights as you, nor to long after the Lord with such earnest longings as you, nor to fear before the Lord with so great a trembling as you, nor to be so zealous for God with such a burning zeal as you, nor to mourn before the Lord with so great a mourning as you, nor to hate all things that are contrary to the nature of God, the being of God, the command of God, and the glory of God, with such a deadly hatred as you. Well, remember this, viz., it is no little sin for any Christian to sit down satisfied under a little measure of holiness, considering the many and the great obligations that lies upon him to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. But,

(11.) Eleventhly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holiness any man attains to, the more hold, courageous, resolute, masculine, and heroic that man will he for God and godlin£ss, 2 Cor. i. 8-12. Holiness ennobles the heart, it raises the heart; and the higher the springs of holiness riseth in the heart, the higher it raiseth the heart, and the more it steels the heart for God and godliness. The more holiness any man has, the more resolutely he will set himself against sin, and the more divinely he will scorn the world, and the more courageously he will trample upon temptations, and the more heroic he will be under all his aflaiictions. Men of greatest holiness have been men of greatest boldness ; witness Nehemiah. the three children, Daniel, and all the holy prophets and apostles : Prov. xxviii. 1, ' The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion,' yea, as a young lion, as the Hebrew has it, "1^323, that is in his hot blood and fears no colours, and that is

I

Heb. XII. 14] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 361

more bold than any other's holiness—made Daniel not only as bold as a lion, but also to daunt the lions with his boldness. Luther was a man of great holiness, and a man of great boldness: witness his standing out against all the world; and when the emperor sent for him to Worms, and his friends dissuaded him from going, as sometimes Paul's did him, ' Go,' said he, ' I will surely go, since I am sent for, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; yea, though I knew that there were as many devils in Worms to resist me, as there be tiles to cover the houses, yet I would go.'i And when the same author and his associates were threatened with many dangers from opposers on all hands, he lets fall this heroic and magnanimous speech, ' Come let us sing the 46th Psalm, and then let them do their worst.' Latimer 2 was a man of much holiness, counting the darkness and profaneness of those times wherein he lived, and a man of much courage and boldness ; witness his presenting to King Henry the Eighth, for a New Year's gift, a New Testament wrapt up in a napkin, with this posie or motto about it, ' Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.' Dr Taylor, the martyr, was a very holy man, and being persuaded by some of his friends not to appear before Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, but to fly ; * Fly you,' said he, ' and do according to your consciences, but as for myself I am fully determined, by God's grace, to go to the bishop, and to tell him to his beard that he doth naught'3 Colonus, the Dutch martyr, called to the judge that had sentenced him to death, and desired him to lay his hand upon his heart, and then asked him whose heart did most beat, his or the judge's; here was a man of a heroic spirit indeed. Basil was a man of great holiness, and a man of a most masculine arid courageous spirit. When the emperor sent to him to subscribe to the Arian heresy, and to engage him, promised him great preferment, to which he replied, ' Alas, these speeches are fit to catch little children withal, that look after such things, but we that are nourished and taught by the holy Scriptures are readier to suffer a thousand deaths than to suffer one syllable or tittle of the Scripture to be altered:' and when the emperor threatened him with imprisonment, banishment, death, he answered, * Let him threaten boys with such fray-bugs, as for my part I am resolved that neither menaces nor flatteries shall silence me, or draw me to betray a good cause, or a good conscience.'^ Charles the Ninth, king of France, who had a deep hand in that barbarous and bloody massacre of many thousands of the saints in France ; soon after that horrid tragical and perfidious slaughter was over he called the Prince of Conde, and proposed to him these three things, ' Either to go to mass, or to die presently, or to suffer perpetual imprisonment;' to which he returned this noble, bold, and heroic answer, viz., ' That by God's help he would never choose the first, and for either of the other two he left to the king's pleasure and God's providence.' ^ John, Duke of Saxony, was eminent in Christianity, and he did heroically assert and maintain the cause of God against all opposition in three imperial assemblies ; and when it was told him that he should lose the favour

1 [Foxe] Acts and Mon. 776. = Ihid., 1594. =• Ibid., 1380.

* Hist. Tripart., lib. vii. cap. 36. " The history of France in the year 1572.

of the Pope, and the emperor, and all the world besides, if he stuck so fast to the Lutheran cause, to which he gave this noble answer, 'Here are two ways,' said he, ' I must serve God or the world, and which of these do you think is the better ?' and so put them off with this pleasant indignation; and when the States of the empire forbid all Lutheran sermons, he presently prepared to be gone, and professed boldly, ' that he would not stay there where he might not have liberty to serve Grod.* And thus you see by all these famous instances that the more eminent any persons are in holiness, the more bold, resolute, courageous, and heroical they will be for God, and for the things of God; and therefore, as ever you would be men of high courage and resolution for God, labour to be high in holiness. Such men who in all ages have been eminent in holiness have been like Shammah, one of David's worthies, who stood and defended the field when all the rest fled. But,

(12.) Twelfthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holiness any man attains to, the more serviceable and useful lie will he in his generation. David was a man eminent in holiness, and as eminently serviceable in his generation: Acts xiii. 36, ' For David after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption.' Men that have but a little stock of holiness, will be but a little serviceable in their generation, but men that have a great stock of holiness, will be greatly serviceable in their generation. Men that have but little farms, and little stocks, are but a little serviceable to their country, but men that have great farms, and large stocks, and rich revenues, are greatly serviceable to their country. What a world of good sometimes does one rich man do in a town, a city, a country ! So one saint that is rich in grace and holiness, oh, what a world of good does he do to all that are round about him ! Merchants that have great stocks, trade to the East and West Indies, and so enrich their country, whenas those that have but weak estates can only barter with their neighbours at home, and so are instruments but of little public good. A candle enlightens the room, but the sun enlightens the whole world. The more holiness any man has, the more meet for public use that man will be, 2 Tim. ii. 21. As there was none so holy as Christ, so there was none of so public a spirit as Christ; he went up and down doing good. Acts x. 38; he laid out himself, and he laid down himself for public good; he healed others, but was hurt himself; he filled others, but was hungry himself A man that is eminent in holiness, will be of his mind, who was rather willing to beautify Italy than his own house. Moses was a man of great holiness, and of famous use in his generation. Num. xiv. 11-14, 19, 20. Ah, how often did he turn away the fierce anger and indignation of God from sinful Israel! Deut. ix. 14; and oh the famous deliverances and glorious salvations that God brought about by his hand! Ps. cvi. 23. Nehemiah was a very holy man, and he laid out himself and his great estate for public service, Neh. v. 14, seq. Mordecai was a very pious man, and a man famously serviceable in his generation, Esth. iv. Esth. X. 3, ' For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, eeeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.'

King Jehoshaphat and Joshua, were men of eminent holiness, and of singular use and service in their generation. Men that have no holiness, and others that have but a little holiness, will be still a-carrying on a private interest of honour, or profit, or friends, or relations, and this we have seen evident amongst us in these latter days; and therefore, as ever you would be eminently serviceable in your generation, labour after an eminency in holiness. But,

(13.) Thirteenthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the greatest degrees of holiness are usually attended with the highest degrees of honour. Grace is called glory, and the greatest measures of grace are commonly crowned with the greatest degrees of glory, 2 Cor. iii. 18. Abraham was a man eminent in grace and holiness, and he was highly in honour among the people: Gen. xxiii. 6, ' Hear us, my lord : thou art a mighty prince amongst us;' or as the Hebrew has it, thou art a prince of God amongst us, that is, thou art a notable prince, thou art an excellent prince, for so the Hebrews speak of all things that are notable and excellent, Eph. v. 27. Job was a man that had attained to a very high degree of holiness, Job i. 1, 2; and he was highly honoured among the people: Job xxix. 25, ' I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army.' In all weighty matters Job was the only man, he was chosen by all, and advanced by all above all, in all assemblies and places of judicature, &c. Whoever was of the committee, yet Job was still chairman; whoever was of the council, yet Job was still president; and whoever was of the court, yet Job was still king, yea, he dwelt as a king in the army. Job was guarded as a king in the army, and honoured as a king in the army, and beloved and admired as a king in the army, and obeyed and served as a king in the army, and feared and reverenced as a king in the army. I might give you further instances of this in Joseph, Moses, Nehemiah, Mordecai, the three children, and Daniel, but I shall forbear. Faith is but a piece, a part, a branch of holiness; and yet, oh, what an honourable mention doth Paul make of the Komans' faith, in that Kom. i. 8, ' First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the world.' i The Romans had attained to an eminency in faith, and the report thereof sounded throughout the Roman empire, yea, throughout the world, for there being a great resort to Rome from all parts of the world, and by every one's discoursing and admiring of the Romans' faith, their faith came to be spread abroad among all the churches all the world over. Look, as Christ's fulness of grace was his highest glory in this world; so a Christian's fulness of holiness is his highest honour in this world, Ps. xlv. 1, 2. 0 sirs, there is no such way to be high in honour and renown, both in the consciences of sinners and saints, as to be high in holiness. Jewel was a man eminent in holiness, and his holiness set him high in the very judgments and consciences of the Papists. The dean of the college, though a Papist, yet speaks thus of him: In thy faith I hold thee a heretic, but surely in thy life thou art an angel; thou art very good and honest, but a Lutheran. Among the very heathens, those were most highly honoured that were most excellent and eminent in moral virtues. Aristides was

^ This is a figurative eipreesion, according to the style and manner of speaking then.

SO famous among the Athenians for his justice, that he was called Aristides the Just, &c., [Plutarch.] 0 Christians, it is your highest honour and glory in this world, to be so eminent and famous for holiness, that men may point at you, and say, there goes such a one the wise, and there goes such a one the humble, and there goes such a one the heavenly, and there goes such a one the meek, and there goes such a one the patient, and there goes such a one the contented, and there goes such a one the just, and there goes such a one the merciful, and there goes such a one the zealous, and there goes such a one the courageous, and there goes such a one the sincere, and there goes such a one the faithful, &c. Well, for a close, remember this, that though great places, great offices, great revenues, and great honours, &c., may exalt you and set you high in the uppermost seats and rooms among men, yet it is only an eminency in holiness that will exalt you and set you high in the consciences of sinners and saints. But,

(14.) Fourteenthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the times wherein you live calls for this at your hands, Jer. li. 5. Ah, how is this land filled with sin, yea, with the worst of sins, against the Holy One of Israel! Hell seems to be broken loose, and men strive to exceed and excel one another in all kinds of wickedness. Oh the scarlet sins that are now to be found under many scarlet robes ! Oh the black transgressions that are now to be found under many black cassocks! Oh the new-found oaths, the hellish blasphemies, the horrid filthiness, and the abominable debaucheries that are committed daily in the face of the sun 1 Ah how shameless, how senseless are sinners grown in these days ! Jer. iii. 3. Sin everywhere now appears with a whore's forehead. Ah what open opposition does Christ meet with in his gospel offices, members, ways, worship, and works! Mat. xxiv. 12; ah how does all iniquity abound, and how bold and resolute are multitudes now in dishonouring of Grod, in profaning his Sabbaths, in polluting his ordinances, in destroying their own souls, and in treasuring up of wrath against the day of wrath! &c., Rom. ii. 5. Now the worser the times are, the better every Christian must labour to be; the more profane the age is wherein we live, the more holy we must endeavour to be. 0 sirs, how else will you recompense the great God, if I may so speak, for all the dishonours that are cast upon him by the matchless looseness and wickedness of the present times ? how else will you shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation ? Phil. ii. 15 ; how else will you convince the consciences, and stop or button up the mouths of wicked and unreasonable men? 1 Pet. ii. 15; how else will you be the Lord's witnesses against this sinful and adulterous generation? Isa. xliii. 10,12,and xliv. 8; how else will you manifest your great love to Christ, and your exceeding tenderness of the honour and glory of Christ ? how else will you give an undeniable testunony of the glorious operations of the Spirit in you ? Ps. xviii. 20-25; how else will you satisfy your own consciences that your hearts are upright with God ? and how else will you with Noah condemn a wicked world ? Heb. xi. 7. Well, Christians, remember this, it is more than time for you to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, when so many thousands labour day and night to perfect wickedness in despite of the Lord; it is time for you to be angels in holiness,

when multitudes strive to exceed the very devil in wickedness. Since Christ was on earth, there has been no times that have called louder for the perfecting of holiness than the present times wherein we live. But,

(15.) Fifteenthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider how the men of the toorld do study and strive to abound and increase in worldly blessings. Oh, what ado is there among worldlings to lay house to house, and field to field, to make a hundred a thousand, and a thousand ten, &c., Isa. v. 8. Many men rise early and go to bed late, yea, they cross their light, and wound their consciences, and decline their principles, and endanger their immortal souls, and all to add to their worldly stores, Ps. cxxvii. 1, 2. This age is full of such Ahabs, that are even sick for their neighbours' vineyards, yea, that rather than they will go without them, will wade through Naboth's blood to them, 1 Kings xxi. And how many rich fools be there amongst us, who instead of minding their souls, and providing for eternity, mind nothing, nor talk of nothing, but pulling down their barns, and building of greater ! Luke xii. 16-21. What struggling is there for places of honour; what desperate ventures for rich commodities; and what high attempts there are for large possessions ! Oh the time, the strength, the spirits, that many spend in an eager pursuit after earthly things! Ps. iv. 6. Oh, how sad it is to consider that Satan shall have more service of a worldling for an ounce of gold, than God shall have for the kingdom of heaven ! though the world in all its bravery is no better than the cities which Solomon gave to Hiram, which he called Cabul, that is, displeasing or dirty, 1 Kings ix. 13 ; yet, oh, how mad are men upon it! Though all the great, the gay, and the glorious things of the world may fitly be resembled to the fruit that undid us all, which was fair to the sight, smooth in handling, sweet in taste, but deadly in operation ; yet, oh, how fond are men of these things ! and how do most long to be touching and tasting of them, though a touch, a taste, may exclude them out of paradise for ever ! i 0 sirs, what fools in folio are they who dare hazard the loss of a paradise for a wilderness, of a crown for a crumb, of a kingdom for a cottage, and of pearls for trifles! and yet such fools are all those who spend themselves in multiplying and increasing of their earthly enjoyments. In that Gren. xiii. 2 it is said, that ' Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold;' but according to the Hebrew it runs thus, ' Abraham was very heavy, 12D, in cattle, in silver, and in gold,' to shew that riches, that gold and silver, which is the great god of the world, are but heavy burdens, and rather a hindrance than a help to heaven and happiness. Gold and silver, which are but the white and yellow guts and garbage of the earth, is fitly called by the prophet, ' thick clay,' Hab. ii. 6, which will sooner break a man's back than satisfy his heart; and oh, what folly and madness is it for a man to be still a-loading of himself with the clay of this world! Though the sumpter-horse be loaden with rich treasure all the day long, yet when night comes he is turned into the dark stinking stable, with an empty belly, and with his back full of galls, sores, and bruises; so though vain men may be loaded with the treasures of this

(^ Multi amando res noxias sunt miseri, babendo miaerioreB.—Augustine in Ps. xtL

world during the day of their life, yet when the night of death comes, then they shall be turned into a dark stinking hell, with consciences full of guilt and galls, and with souls full of sores and bruises ; and then what good will all their treasures do them ? Though the rich man in the Gospel lived like a gentleman, a gallant, yet when he died he went to hell, Luke xvi. Though mammon, as Aretius and many others observe, is a Syriac word, and signifies wealth, riches; yet Ireneeus derives mximmon of mum, that signifies a spot, and hon, that signifies riches, to shew that riches have their spots; and yet, oh, how unwearied are men in their adding of spots to spots! Men, in their pursuit after things of this world, seem to act by an untired power, they are never weary of heaping up bags upon bags, nor of enlarging their tents, nor of increasing their revenues, &c. Now, oh, how should this provoke every gracious soul to be adding of grace to grace, and holiness to holiness ! Oh, let not the men of the world outdo you, let them not out-act you! Oh, let not nature excel grace 1 Oh, let the muckworms of this world know that divine principles are too high and noble to be matched, or to be out-acted by anything that they can do I 0 sirs, shall children grow in your families, and oxen grow in your stalls, and fish grow in your ponds, and grass grow in your fields, and flowers grow in your gardens, &c., and shall not holiness grow in your hearts ? Well, friends, remember this, it is infinitely better to be poor men and rich Christians, than to be rich men and poor Christians. But,

(16.) Sixteenthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holiness you attain to in this world, the more weighty and heavy, the more bright and glorious ivill be your faithful ministers' crovm. 0 sirs, as you rise higher and higher in holiness, so the springs of joy rises higher and higher in your ministers' souls, 2 John 4. 0 Christians, it is neither your seraphical notions, nor your pompous profession, it is neither your good words, nor your sweet looks, it is neither your civilities, nor your courtesies, that raises joy in your ministers' hearts, or that wiU add to your ministers' crown, iDut an increase of holiness will do both, Kom. xv. 14. The Thessalonians were rare Christians, they were very eminent and high in holiness, as you may see in that 1 Thes. i. 5-8, and they were the apostle's ' joy and crown of rejoicing,' as you may see in chap. ii. 19, 20,' For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming ? For ye are our glory and joy.' The apostle tells these raised, these renowned Thessalonians, that as they were now his hope, his glory, and joy, so at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ they should be his joy, and crown of rejoicing. Look, as Christ has his thousand shekels of silver, BO his faithful laborious ministers have their two hundred shekels of silver, and that indeed is a great reward: Cant. viii. 12, ' My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, 0 Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof, two hundred.' i Oh, what an honour is it for faithful ministers to have a fifth part of that reward that Christ has himself 1 In this 12th ver. Christ opposeth his vineyard,

' Shekels of silver were their common money, and a name both for weight and coin, being in value answerable to our English half-crowns.

his church, to that of Solomon's, which is mentioned in ver. 11, and though doubtless Solomon's vineyard was one of the rarest, choicest, and fruitfullest vineyards in all Judaea, yet it was wonderful inferior to Christ's vineyard; and that partly because Christ's vineyard cost liim a dearer and a greater price, even the price of his blood, 1 Pet. i. 18,19, than ever Solomon's cost him, and partly because his vineyard serves to more spiritual, high, honourable, and noble ends, than ever Solomon's did, 1 Tim. iii. 15, viz., the glory and exaltation of God, the propagating of truth, the bringing forth of the fruits of the Spirit, viz., love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, the bringing in of sinners, and the building up of saints. Gal. v. 22, 23; and partly because his eye is still upon it, and his protection is still over it, and his presence is still with it, Ps. cxxi. 3-8. Isa. xxvii. 2, 3, ' In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.' But Solomon's eye was not always upon his vineyard, neither was his hand of protection always over it, neither was his kingly presence always with it; and partly because all his treasure is laid up in his vineyard, his church. His treasures of grace, his treasures of mercy, his treasures of comfort, his treasures of goodness, &c., Eph. iii. 10, 17-20, is all laid up in his church; but Solomon, as rich and as glorious a king as he was, yet he had no such treasures laid up in his vineyard. Solomon never made his vineyard his treasury; and partly because His vineyard was given to him for ever, as an everlasting inheritance; but Solomon's was but temporary and mutable, Ps. ii. 7; John vi. 39, and xvii. 6, 8, 12. Now all those that are painful l and faithful labourers in Christ's vineyard, shall receive a noble, a liberal compensation and recompense for their labours. No man shall shut a door nor open a door in Christ's vineyard for nought; no man shall labour an hour there without a reward. All faithful ministers are fellow-labourers with Christ in the spiritual husbandry; they dig with Christ, and they plant with Christ, and they prune with Christ, and they water with Christ, and they watch with Christ, 1 Cor. iii. 8, 9; and therefore Christ will allow them a fifth part of the glory and reward with himself As he has his thousand pieces of sUver, so he will look to it that they shall have their two hundred pieces of silver. A thousand is the number of perfection, and here it may note that fulness of glory that Christ should have, and the two hundred may note that very great proportion of heavenly glory that all the faithful labourers in Christ's vineyard shall have, who have helped forward the flourishing estate of that vineyard. Mat. xix. 27-29. Look, as the thriving of the child adds to the comfort and the credit of the nurse, and the fruitfulness of the field adds to the pleasure and delight of the husbandman, and the health and increase of the flock adds to the joy and reward of the shepherd; so the increase of holiness, the thriving, the fruitfulness of souls in holiness, adds to the credit and comfort, to the pleasure and delight, to the joy and reward of faithful painful ministers, who are nurses, husbandmen, and shepherds, in the language of the Holy Scriptures. Though it be true that faithful ministers are a sweet savour to God, *' Painstaking/ ' pcrsevering.'—G.

both in them that are saved, and in them that perish, 2 Cor. ii. 15, though their labour, whether it hit or miss, is accepted, and shall be rewarded of the Lord, as the physician has his fee, though the patient dies, and the nurse has her wages, though the child don't thrive, and the vine-dresser has his hire, though the vines don't bear fruit, yet the more they win men to heaven, and the more by their means the work of holiness is carried on in the hearts and lives of men, the weightier will be their crown of glory, and the greater will be their joy and rejoicing in the great day of our Lord, Isa. xlix. 15. 0 sirs, did you but see your faithful ministers' tears, did you but hear their heavy sighs and groans, were you but acquainted with their fervent and frequent prayers on your behalfs, did you but believe how they beat their brains, and how willing they are not only to spend themselves, but even to spit out their very lungs in the service of your souls, how would you call upon your own souls to add holiness to holiness—yea, charge your own souls to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord! Well, friends, as ever you would add to your faithful ministers' comfort here, and to then' joy and crown at the coming of our Lord, labour after higher degrees of holiness. But,

(17.) Lastly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holiness you have here, the more happiness you shall have hereafter. The more grace you have on earth, the more glory you shall have in heaven. Now before I come to make good this argument—viz., that some saints shall partake of more glory in heaven than others shall—^give me leave to premise these few things to prevent mistakes.

First, That the object of their happiness, which is God blessed for ever, will be one and the same to all saints. All glorified saints shall have but one God among them all. God shall be no more one saint's God than he shall be every saint's God in heaven, &c.

Secondly, That the beatifical vision shall be seen by all the saints, and communicated to all the saints; they shall all have a happy and blessed fruition and possession of God. All the vessels of glory shall be filled to the brim with a clear sight of God, and with a full enjoyment of God; and yet doubtless, for all this, some saints shall apprehend more of God than others, and comprehend more of God than others, and enjoy more of God than others. Though all shall be filled with those everlasting springs of pleasure and delight that be at God's right hand, Ps. xvi. 11, yet some shall be able to take in more of those pleasures of paradise than others shall. Though all the widow's vessels were filled to the brim with oil, yet, doubtless, some being greater and larger than others, they accordingly contained more oil than others, 2 Kings iv. 3-8 ; and so it will be with the saints when they come to heaven. There shall be no lack of glory to any of the saints in glory. All the saints shall be filled with glory according to their capacity. If you bring a thousand vessels of different sizes to the sea, the sea fills them all. Though their sizes differ, and some are bigger, and others lesser, yet all are filled, every little vessel hath its fill as well as the greater; so every saint shall have his fill of glory when he comes to glory; the felicity of every saint shall be perfect God will be all in all to all saints, Ps. xvii. 15.

1

Thirdly, All saints shall be freed from all evils alike; they shall all be freed from the aching head, and from the unbelieving heart; they shall all alike be free from the evil of sin, and from the evil of sufferings; there shall not be a saint in glory that shall ever feel a pricking brier or a grieving thorn, Ezek. xxviii. 24; there all sorrow-shall be removed from all their hearts, and all tears shall be wiped from all their eyes. Rev. vii. 17.

Fourthly and lastly. The degrees of glory that saints shall have in heaven shall not be given out to them upon the account of their merits, or the dignity of their persons, or the worthiness of their works, but upon the account of Grod's mere mercy and grace, who in the day of retribution will delight to crown his own gifts, not our merits; and where he shall find the greatest measures of grace and holiness, there he will, of his own free mercy, bestow the greatest measure of glory.l Well, friends, remember this, you must always carefully distinguish between the essence and substance of glory, and between degrees and measures of glory. Now the essence and substance of glory, which consists in the saints' full communion with God, and in their perfect conformity to God, and in their universal subjection to God, and in their everlasting fruition of God, be common to all the saints, so that no one saint shall have more of the essence and substance of glory than another has, yet the degrees and measures of glory shall be distributed to some more, to some less. Now that there shall be different degrees of glory in heaven, answerable to the different degrees of grace and holiness that the saints reach to here on earth, and that God will at last proportion his rewards according to the different degrees of labour, service, and sufferings of his people in this world, may be made evident, 1. By clear scriptures; 2. By arguments. ISTow there are several scriptures that speaks out this truth. Take these for a taste:

[1.] First, that 1 Cor. iii. 8, * Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour/ The apostle having compared his own and Apollos' work together, adds, ' That both should receive their reward according to their work'—that is, as their work differed, so should their reward differ. Though they both preached one and the same doctrine, and had both one and the same design and purpose, viz., to bring in souls to Christ, and to build up souls to Christ, yet according to their different degrees of labour, so should be their different degrees of reward. Though no man should work in God's vineyard for nought, yet he that was most faithful, diligent, and laborious in planting or in watering God's husbandry, should have the greatest reward. Paul and Apollos shall at last receive their different reward according to their different labom-; or nearer the original, they shall each of them receive, top iScov fiiadov \i]\(r€Tat Kara rov lSlov kottov, their proper reward according to their proper work.

[2.] A second scripture is that 1 Cor. xv. 41, 42, 'There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another in glory; so also is the

* Deus nihil coronal nisi dona tua, When God crowneth U3, he doth but crown his own gifts in us, &c,— Augustine.

VOL. IV. 2 A

resurrection of the dead.' Mark here is the full stop, and these words are not to be referred to those following words, viz., ' That the body is sown in corruption, and riseth again in incorruption.' For the apostle speaks not here of the difference between glorious and inglorious, corruptible and incorruptible things; but he speaks here of the difference that is between heavenly and glorious things ; ' for,' saith he, * one star differs from another in glory.' It is very observable that the comparison runs between the glorified condition of some saints that shall rise, and other some that shall rise in the great day. So that look, as one star differs from another star in glory, so one saint shall differ from another saint in glory at the resurrection of the dead. Though every star is bright, shining, and glorious, yet some stars are more bright, shining, and glorious than others are; so, though every saint will shine gloriously in heaven, yet some saints shall have a greater lustre, glory and shine upon them than others shall. Look, as some heavenly bodies are more glorious than others, so in the morning of the resurrection some saints shall be more glorious than others, &c.

[3.] A third scripture is that 2 Cor. ix. 6, ' But this I say. He which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully.' A sparing liberality shall be attended with a sparing reward, and a bounteous liberality shall be attended with a bounteous reward. Look, as the harvest answers the measure of seed that is sown, so that he that sows but little reaps but little, and he that sows much reaps much, so saints' reaping at last will be answerable to their sowing here. All men's charities shall at last be rewarded proportionable to the several degrees of it. He that gives a pound shall have a gi*eater reward than he that gives a penny. He that sows thousands shall reap more than he that sows hundreds. He shall have the most plentiful crop in heaven, who has sowed most seed here on earth, &c. They shall have interest upon interest in heaven, who sow much on this side heaven.

[4.] A fourth scripture is that Luke xix. 12-20. Now in this parable you have a great lord going into a far country ; but before he goes he gives ten pounds ^ to ten of his servants to trade with till his return. Now upon his return, he that had increased his pound to ten pounds was made ruler over ten cities, ver. 17; and he that made five of one was made ruler over five cities, ver. 19. Here he that- gained most received the greatest reward. The nobleman in this parable is our Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly and highly noble, he being co-eternal and co-equal with his Father, in respect of his deity; he was born a king, and is now King of kings, and Lord of lords, and Prince of the kings of the earth. The far country that he is gone to is heaven, for thither he went at his ascension. Now when he shall return from heaven to judge the quick and the dead, he will then bring men to an account, to a reckoning about their improvement of all the gifts and graces that he has intrusted them with, and, according to the different improvement that men shall make of their talents, so shall be their reward. He that makes the greatest improvement of his pound, he shall

^ Mina, here translated a pound, is twelve ounces and a half, which pound, according to five shillings an ounce, is three pound two shillings and sixpence sterling money. Mat. ii. 2; Kev. xvii. 14, and i. 5.

have the greatest reward, he shall be ruler over ten cities, that is, he shall be very highly honoured and exalted ; and he that makes a lesser improvement, he shall have a lesser reward, he shall be ruler over five cities. He that makes a great improvement of a little, he shall, if I may so speak, sit at Christ's right hand ; but he that makes a lesser improvement, he must be contented to sit at Christ's left hand. God will proportion out men's reward at last answerable to their improvement of that treasure that he has put into their hands ; and yet this doth not infer merit of works, but a gracious disposition in God to encourage his servants in a way of well-doing, &c.

[5.] A fifth scripture is that Dan. xii. 3, ' And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.' l The glory of heaven is here laid out in shining terms, for look how gloriously the shining of stars doth excel the shining of the firmament; so some saints shall as far outshine others in glory, as the stars do now outshine the firmament. Look, as the stars are a more beautiful and glorious part of the orb than the firmament is, so some saints shall have a great deal more beauty and glory upon them than others shall. And look, as there are different degrees of glory between the glory of the firmament and the glory of the stars now, so there shall be different degrees of glory between one glorious saint and another at last. All the saints shall at last shine as the firmament, but those that by their doctrine, instruction, and conversation, turn many to righteousness, these shall shine as the stars, for ever and ever. Some of the highest seats in glory shall be for such ' who turn sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to Jesus Christ,' Acts xxvi. 18. It is very observable, that as the apostles were very eminent in this work, so Christ has given it under his own hand, that they shall sit upon twelve thrones, as so many kings, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, Mat. xix. 28; Luke xxii. 28, 29. They had done and suffered more for Christ than others, and therefore Christ will put a greater glory upon them than upon others. Though many learned men differ about the interpretation of those words, ' ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel'—and therefore I dare not peremptorily conclude this or that to be the sense of them—yet this is most plain and evident in the text, that the apostles are under a promise of some peculiar and more eminent degree of honour, glory, and dignity, than others are under. Look, as their service to Christ was a peculiar and eminent service, so Christ promises them a peculiar and eminent reward. Every man of them shall have his particular throne, and every one of them shall have the honour and dignity of judging—that is, of governing and ruling the twelve tribes of Israel. Look, as ambassadors and chief councillors and presidents have the highest and chiefest seats in the kingly assembly, so the apostles shall have the highest and the chiefest seats in the general assembly and church of the first-born in heaven, Heb. xii. 22, 23; they shall sit, as it were, on the throne, or on the bench, with Christ, so highly and greatly shall they be exalted. If we cannot hit upon the meanings of the reward

^ From this very text, your 'English annotators' conclude that there are degrees of glory in heaven, &c. [As before.—G.]

here promised, yet we may safely and easily gather from the description of it that there shall be different degrees of glory in Christ's kingdom of glory. The apostles followed Christ through great tribulations and afflictions, and they continued with him in all his temptations ; they forsook all to wait on him; and after they had faithfully, laboriously, successfully, and very eminently served him, they made themselves an offering for him, as I have formerly shewed you, and therefore Christ will at last in a more eminent way exalt them, and glorify them, than he will others that have never seen that of Christ, nor received that from Christ, nor done that for Christ, nor suffered that for Christ, as they have done. Degrees of glory shall at last be proportioned out answerable to those degrees of service which in this life men have been drawn out to. Such a thing as this the apostle Paul does more than hint, if I mistake not, in that 1 Thes. ii. 19, 20, ' For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming ? For ye are our glory and joy.' The crown that Paul speaks of here is not that common crown of righteousness, nor that common crown of life and immortality, nor that common crown of glory that all the saints shall be crowned with at last; ^ but he speaks here of an apostolical crown, of a special, peculiar crown, that should accrue to him upon the account of his serviceableness to their souls; and of this crown he speaks again in that Phil. iv. 1, ' Therefore, my brethren, my dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.' He calls the Philippians his crown, and that partly because their spiritual growth, constancy, and perseverance was now his glory among other churches, but mainly because they should be his particular crown of rejoicing in the great day of our Lord Jesus. He knew that the Philippians' profit would be his crown and his advantage another day. The apostle alludes here to the custom of the Komans, who, as they had their common crowns of bays, ivy, and laurel, &c.—and these were such that their horses which won the race were often crowned with, which occasioned Theocritus to say. See what poor things the world glories in; for, as their conquerors are crowned, so are their horses—so they had their peculiai-, their special crowns, that were the rewards of their conquerors that had done special service for their country: so there are common crowns that belong to all the saints, as saints, as the crown of righteousness, the crown of life, and the crown of glory; and as there are these common crowns, so there are special and peculiar crowns, that they shall be crowned with that are exercised in more high and excellent services than others have been employed in; and this is the crown that here the apostle speaks of. He knew very well that his reward should be answerable to his work, for though God never did, nor never will, reward men for their works, as if they were the meritorious cause of the reward, yet he will for degrees reward them according to their works. There are peculiar crowns, special crowns, for those that have done peculiar and special services for Christ on earth.

[6.] A sixth scripture is that Mat. v. 11,12, * Blessed are ye, when

^ 2 Tim. iv. 8; James i. 12 j Rev. ii. 10; 1 Pet. v. 4.

men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake: rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven.' Suffering saints, persecuted saints, shall be sure of great rewards. Grod will reward upon his people, not only their innocence, integrity, patience, and courage under their sufferings, but the more their sufferings, revilings, and persecutions are multiplied in this world, the more shall their recompense and reward be multiplied in another world. It is true, Christ hath many lovers of his crown, but few bearers of his cross. All would rejoice with him, but few care to suffer for him ; but yet it is as true on the one hand— viz., that they who bear most of his cross shall be greatest sharers in his crown ; they that suffer most for him on earth shall be most blessed and rewarded by him when they come to heaven. Look, as the consolation of the saints rises higher and higher in this world, even as their sufferings rise higher and higher, 2 Cor. i. 4, 5 ; so the glory of the saints shall rise higher and higher in the other world, as their sufferings rise higher and higher in this world. The persecuted Christians in TertuUian cries out, Crudelitas vestra gloria nostra, Your cruelty is our glory, and the harder we are put to it, the greater shall be our reward in heaven. One speaking of the martyrs said, look how many sufferings they have, so many crowns they shall have ; for every suffering God shall set a crown on their heads. By how much men's sufferings have been greater, saith Chrysostom, by so much the more their crown shall be bright and splendent. The greater conflicts and buffetings any saint hath endured, the greater shall be his reward, and the more ample shall be his glory, saith Austin. As Christ hath many crowns upon his head, suitable to the multitude of his sufferings and victories, so Christians at last shall have crowns suitable to the multitude of their sufferings, and suitable to those famous victories they have gained over a tempting devil and a persecuting world, Kev. xix, 7. Certainly it will be but justice, that they should receive the weightiest crown who have bore the heaviest cross, 1 John v. 4, and ii. 13, 14.

[7.] The seventh and last scripture that I shall produce is that Mat. X. 41, ' He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward;' that is, say some, they shall be partakers of the same reward that is laid up for the prophets. Without all dispute these two things lies fair in the text:

First, That there is some special and eminent degrees of reward ^ue unto a prophet above other men. And,

SecondlT/, That he that shall entertain a prophet, and perform any offices of love and favour to him under that name and notion, he shall be partaker of that reward. He that receives a prophet, as he is God's messenger, and employed in his service, and sent about his errand, and not upon any carnal or worldly respects, he shall receive a prophet's reward, that is, he shall receive either such a reward as the prophet himself shall receive at last, or he shall receive such a large, ample, and noble recompense as is meet for one to receive that received a prophet as coming from the Lord, and as acted by the Lord. Look, as such who give an honourable reception to the ambassadors of kings or princes, do highly raise themselves in the favour and esteem of those kings or princes that had sent them; so those that receive the

faithful prophets of the Lord, as the ambassadors of God, they shall be highly interested in the favour of God, and as nobly be rewarded by God. I might produce several other scriptures that sound to the same purpose as these seven do, but enough is as good as a feast; as that Mark vi. 20 ; John xiv. 2; Mat. xx. 20-24.

I shall, therefore, in the second place come to the reasons that may further evidence and confirm this great truth—viz., that there shall be different degrees of glory in heaven. Among many other reasons that might be given, I shall only give you these five.

[1.] First, There are diversities of degrees of angels in heaven. There are cherubims and seraphims, and there are angels and archangels. Now the cherubims and seraphims are a lower rank and order of angels, and the archangels are a higher rank and order of angels. And the apostle speaks clearly of several ranks and orders of invisible creatures in that Col. i. 16. Here you have an enumeration of thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers; and so in that Eph. i. 21, 'Far above all principalities, and powers, and might, and dominion.' These principalities and powers are the blessed angels that minister before the Lord, and that are subordinate unto one another; and here they are reckoned up by ascending, power is above principality, and might above power, and dominion above might. To define those orders and degrees of angels with which God is environed, is a work too high and hard for me, and though the Papists and several schoolmen are so bold as to define their particular offices and orders, yet I dare not be wise above what is written. Where the Scripture is silent, I love to be silent, and where the Scripture hath no tongue, there I desire to have no ears.^ There is an order in hell, an order among the devils, and therefore you read in three scriptures of the prince of devils,^ and so much also that expression imports that you have in that Mat. xxv. 41, ' The devil and his angels,' which intimates a prince among those unclean and damned spirits. Now shall there be order in hell and confusion in heaven ? Shall there be order among the evil angels, and shall there not much more be order among the good angels ? Certainly that God that is the God of order, and that hath made all things in order, and that to this day keeps all things in order here below, will never suffer the least disorder and confusion to be among those princes of glory that stand continually before him. He that denies order in heaven, denies heaven to be heaven, and he that grants order in heaven, grants degrees of glory in heaven. Though there is no difference between the angels in natura angelica, the angelical nature being alike in all, yet in officio, in office, there is a great deal of difference in the glory of the angels, for God employs some of the heavenly host in more high, noble, and excellent services than others, and answerable thereunto shall their reward be. Though all angels shall share alike in the essential and substantial glory of heaven, yet there is an additional glory, an accidentals glory, an overplus of glory, that shall be conferred upon the angels, answerable to the several and various services

^ Dionysius Areopagita, Thomas Aquinas, Anselm, &c.

* Mat. ix. 34, and xii. 34 ; Mark iii. 22. The very supposition of order Bupposeth inequality and disproportion. "' In its accidents,' = accompaniments.—G.

tbat they have managed and engaged in. Now the Scripture tells us plainly that' in heaven we shall be like to the angels/ Mat. xxii. 30; and therefore if there be degrees of angels, and if the angels in heaven shall have a different glory and reward, according to the work in which they have been employed, then the glory of the saints in respect of degrees shall be different also. But,

[2.] Secondly, There are degrees of torments in hell, and therefore, hy the rule of contraries, there shall he degrees of glory in heaven. Now that there are degrees of torments in hell is most evident from several plain scriptures, as from that Mat. x. 14, 15, ' And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you. It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.' Sodom and Gomorrah shall have an easier and cooler hell than such cities shall have that have contemned the tenders of grace, and the offers of mercy. 1 It is very observable, that the punishments that God in tliis life hath inflicted upon the Jews for their contempt of Christ, and his everlasting gospel, have been more terrible than his raining hell out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah: for on a sudden, and in a moment, God consumed them, and burnt them up ; but God hath for above this sixteen hundred years been a-raining hell out of heaven upon the Jews; he hath for a long time vexed them with all manner of adversity, and to this very day he hath made them, all the world over, a spectacle of his dreadful severity; but all those plagues and punishments that the Jews have been and still are under, are but flea-bitings and scratches on the hand, to those dreadful and amazing judgments that God, in the great day of account, wUl inflict upon all Christ's refusers and gospel-despisers. And so chap, xi, 20-23, ' Then began he to ujjbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you. It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted up to heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.' The more mercy hath been upon the bare knee entreating sinners to repent, the more earnest the Lord Jesus hath been in wooing sinners to believe on him, and to resign up themselves wholly and only to him, the more clearly and sweetly the everlasting gospel hath soimded in sinners' ears, and the more near, and the more often heaven hath been brought to sinners' doors, and yet they have bid defiance to all, and hardened themselves in their sins, with the greater violence and with the more dreadful vengeance shall such be plunged into the lowest hell. And so in that Mat. xxiii. 14, ' Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.' Hypocrites shall be double damned ; the hottest and the darkest place in hell is

1 Contempt of Christ and his gospel is worse than sodomy.

reserved for them. ' Give him his portion with hypocrites;' for number and weight there are no torments in hell to the torments of hypocrites. Counterfeit sanctity is double iniquity, and therefore it is but justice that the hj^ocrite should have double torment. And so in that Luke xii. 47, 48, ' That servant that knows his Master's will, and doth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. And he that knew it not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.* Sins against light and knowledge are sins against the noblest remedy. They waste and wound the conscience most, they most open sinners' mouths to blaspheme against God, and they most harden sinners' hearts in sinning against God; and every way they dare God most, and provoke God most to strike with an iron rod, and to whip the knowing transgressor, not with rods but with scorpions. It is very observable, that the more light and knowledge men sin against in this world, the greater judgments God gives them up to, even in this life, Eom. i. 21-23. Take a remarkable instance in the most refined and civil heathens, who are presumed to have most light and knowledge, who were given up to the most beastly errors about the nature of God, as the Romans and Grecians, who worshipped fevers and human passions, yea, every paltry thing, &c. ; whereas the Scythians and more barbarous nations worshipped the sun, and the thunder, &c., things terrible in themselves. Oh, how much more, then, will God in the great day give them up to the greatest judgments, who have given themselves up to the greatest sins! Certainly the professors of this age, yea, of this city, whether they go to heaven or hell, will be the greatest debtors that shall be in either place—the one to the free grace of God, and the other to his justice. That they that have most of hell in their mouths, and most of hell in their hearts, and most of hell in their lives, should have most of hell in their souls at last, is but justice. I shall conclude this second argument with a saying of one of the ancients [Augustine]; Look, saith he, as in heaven one is more glorious than another, so in hell one shall be more miserable than another. Now if there be degrees of torments in hell, which I suppose the scriptures but now cited doth undeniably prove, then, doubtless, there will be degrees of glory in heaven.

[3.] Thirdly, God in this life dispenses the gifts and graces of his Spirit unequally among his saints ; to some he gives two talents, to others five, and to others ten. Hence it is you read both of a weak faith, and of a strong faith. ' Why are ye afraid, 0 ye of Uttle faith ?' and, ' 0 woman, great is thy faith ;' and, ' Verily, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel' i And hence it is that you read both of weak Christians, and of strong Christians. * He that is weak in the faith receive ;' ' another who is weak eateth herbs ;' ' and to the weak, I became as weak, that I might win the weak;' ' we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves;' 'when I am weak, then am I strong.'2 And hence it is that you read of babes, and of children, and of young men, and of old men, in the Scripture. Saints are of difierent growths. Some are but babes in gifts and grace, others are children, others

^ Mat. XXV., viii. 10,23, and xv. 28.

• Eom. liv. 1, 2 ; 1 Cor. ix 22 ; 2 Cor. xii. 10 ; Heb. v. 13, 14; 1 Pet. ii. 2, and v. 1.

young men, and others old men. That God that distributes the good things of this world unequally among the sons of men, as to some more, to others less; to some great things, to others little things; to some high things, to others low things ; that God unequally distributes spiritual blessings among his dearest children ; to some he gives more light, to others less; to some a greater measure of love, to others a less; to some a greater degree of joy, to others a less, &c. Some saints shine in grace and holiness as the firmament, and others shine in grace and holiness as the stars; some shine in grace and holiness as the moon, and others shine in grace and holiness as the sun; and all this springs from those different measures of grace and holiness that God bestows upon his people. Now doubtless men may as well plead for equal degrees of grace, as they may for equal degrees of glory; they may as well plead for an equal share in the good things of this world, as they may plead for an equal share in the happiness and blessedness of that other world. Doubtless as God dispenses his gifts and graces unequally in this life, so he will dispense his rewards unequally in the other life. As men's gifts and graces are different here on earth, so their glory shall be different when they come to heaven. Without all peradventure they shall have the whitest and the largest robes of honour, and the heaviest and the brightest crowns of glory, whose souls are most richly adorned with grace, and whose lives are most eminently bespangled with holiness. The more grace and holiness any saint hath here, the more he is prepared and fitted for glory; and the more any saint is fitted for glory, the more that saint shall at last be filled with glory. The greatest measures of grace and holiness do most enlarge the soul, and widen the soul, and capacitate the soul, to take in the greatest measures of glory; and therefore the more grace, the more glory, the more holiness, the more happiness, a saint shall have at last. Certainly God will crown his own gracious works in his children proportionable to what they are, but they are difierent and unequally in all his children in respect of measures and degrees ; and therefore God will set different crowns of glory upon the heads of his children at last. But,

[4.] Fourthly, They that have more grace and holiness than others, they are more like to God than others. They bear his glorious image in a greater print, they have a brighter character of God upon them, and they are the most lively picture of God in all the world.

Now we know, though parents love their children well, and wish all their children well, and do for all their children well, yet commonly they love them most, and provide for them best, that resemble them most. Parents cannot but love those children most, and lay up for them most, who have most of themselves in them ; and I cannot see how God can do otherwise than love them most, and provide for ihem best, who most resemble him to the life. The nature of God is a holy nature, and so there lies a holy necessity on his nature to love them most who have most grace and holiness in them, Ps. xlv. 7. Look, as it is natural to God to hate wickedness, so it is natural to God to love holiness ; and as the higher men rise in wickedness, the more a holy God hates them ; so the higher men rise in holiness, the more a holy God loves them. Now the more any are like to God^ and

the more they are beloved of God, the higher doubtless in glory shall they be advanced by God. The best and the largest portion is laid up for that child that is most like his father. The more any man in holiness resembles God on earth, the greater and the larger portion of glory that man shall have when he comes to heaven. But,

[5,] Fifthly and lastly, To deny degrees of glory in heaven, and to say that God will not suit mens wages to their ivorks, nor their rewards to their services, nor crown the highest improvements of graxie with the highest degrees of glory, is to render useless mxiny glorious exhortations tlmt are scattered up and doiun in the Scripture ; as that in the 1 Cor. xv. 58, ' Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' If this were not a truth that I have been all this while asserting, why then, when men meet with this exhortation, they may say. Why, it is no great matter whether we are ' steadfast, unmoveable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord' or no; for if we are, we shall never advance our reward in heaven, we shall never add pearls to our glorious crown, we shall never add one mite to our happiness and blessedness; and if we are not, we shall be as high in heaven, and our reward as great, and our crown as weighty, as theirs shall be who are ' steadfast, unmoveable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord.' i And so the denial of degrees of glory in heaven will take off also the edge of all those other exhortations of perfecting holiness, of sowing liberally, of growing in grace, of bringing forth much fruit, and of adding virtue to virtue, &c.; yea, this will cut the throat of all divine endeavours; for who will labour to be rich in grace, and to be much in service, and to abound in all the fruits of righteousness and holiness, when none of all this will turn to a man's advantage in another world ? If he that sows little shall have as great a harvest as he that sows much ; if he that is dull and negligent in the work of the Lord shall have as great a reward as he that is active and abundant in the work of the Lord; if those trees of righteousness which bring forth much fruit shall have no greater a recompense than those trees of righteousness which bring forth many leaves of profession but little fruit, &c., who would sow much, and who would be active and abundant in the work of the Lord, and who would bring forth much fruit? verily but few, if any. But now the opinion, or rather the truth, that I have been labouring to make good, viz., that there shall be different degrees of glory in heaven, and that God will proportion men's reward to their work, and that he will measure out happiness and blessedness to them at last according to the different measures of grace bestowed upon his people, and according to the work, service, and faithfulness of his people in this world;—this truth, I say, held forth in its lustre and glory, is a marvellous encouragement, and a mighty provocation to all sincere Christians, to labour after the highest pitches in Christianity, and to be very eminent in grace and holiness; for what man is there that will not reason thus, the more grace the more glory, the more holiness the more happiness, the more work the more wages, and the greater my service shall be here, the

^ 2 Cor. vii. 1, and ix. 6; 2 Pet. iii. 18; John xv. 8; 2 Pet. i. 5-7.

HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. ,379

greater shall be my reward hereafter; and therefore, 0 my soul! grow in grace, perfect holiness, and abound in the work and service of the Lord, knowing that ' thy labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.' And thus I have given you the reasons that prove that there shall be degrees of glory in heaven.

Now I have nothing further to do upon this point, but to give a few brief answers to such objections as are commonly raised against this truth, that I have asserted and proved.

Object 1. First, Some object and say. That one Christ bought ibsall, and that all our portions are bought by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that therefore all believers shall share alike in the inheritance of the saints in light. Now to this objection I shall answer,

[1.] First, Tlmt all saints shall be equal sharers in the substantial and essential glory of heaven, &c. But of this I have spoken before; and, therefore,

[2.] Secondly, Though a father buys a rich inheritance far all his children, yet this lays no necessity nor obligation at all upon him to allot to every one of his children an equal portion; so though our Lord Jesus Christ hath by his blood purchased a rich inheritance for his children, yet this lays no necessity nor obligation at all upon Jesus Christ to divide this rich inheritance by equal portions among his children. It is true that Christ hath purchased all with his blood, and it is as true that he may divide his purchase among his people as he pleases. If every man may do with his own as he pleaseth, why may not Christ? Must he needs be bound when others are free ?

[3.] Thirdly and lastly, I answer. That as it is true that the merits and satisfaction of Christ is the ground and foundation of our reward, and that alone ivhich makes our works capable of a reward, so it is as true that our ivorks are the subject of reward, and this is most agreeable to the compact that ivas made between Christ and his Father — that everlasting happiness and blessedness, that eternal glory and felicity, should be measured out to the saints according to their different measures of grace, and different degrees of service that they have been engaged in in this world, and all this upon the credit of Christ's blood. Certainly there is nothing under heaven, below the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, that can make differing works capable of a different reward. The Papists are most sadly out, for they are so blind and bold as to aflfirm that the more grace any man hath, the more glory he merits by his grace. These men make degrees of grace, and not the blood of Jesus Christ, to be the meritorious cause of degrees of glory; and therefore of all men I think they are furthest from glory. Certainly this is the believer's glory, and his crown of rejoicing, that all recompenses and rewards shall flow in upon him, not upon the account of his merits, but upon the account of Christ's blood; and thus much shall suffice to have spoken by way of answer to this objection.

Object. 2. But now, in the second place, I shall come to answer their grand and main objection; and that is taken from that parable in the 20th of Matthew, where the kingdom of heaven is compared to a vine-

yard. Now in this parable there is mention made of a husbandman that called several labourers into his vineyard, at several hours in the day; some he called at the first hour, and some he called at the third, and some at the ninth, and some at the eleventh. Now when they came all to receive their wages, the story tells us that he gave every man a penny, he gave every man an equal reward. They that laboured from the first hour, and they that laboured from the third hour, and they that laboured from the sixth hour of the day, had no greater a recompense than he that came in at the eleventh hour, and so had laboured but one hour in the vineyard, and bore but little if any of the heat of the day. From whence the objectors conclude that there are no degrees of glory in heaven, but that all shall have glory alike, happiness and blessedness alike; every man shall have his penny, every man shall have an equal reward, and no man's penny in heaven shall be brighter or bigger than another's.

Now, by way of answer to this objection, give me leave to premise these three things:

First, That this parable of the householder, in giving to every man a penny, hath no reference at all to heaven, nor to the reward, nor to the glory that shall be conferred upon the elect, and this I shall clearly and fully prove by these four following arguments:

[1.] First, This illative particle, ' for,' in ver. 1, sheweth that this parable is inserted to expound the former conclusion, viz., ' that the first shall be last, and the last shall be first,' and therefore the end of the parable is concluded with the repetition of the same sentence, ver. 16, * the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.' Christ by this parable would teach his hearers, that there is no reason under heaven why they which are first called in respect of time should boast or triumph over others, because he can easily call the uncalled at pleasure, and either make them equal with them, or else prefer them before them which are first. The scope of Christ in this parable is not to set forth the equality of celestial glory, it is not to prove that the happiness and blessedness of the saints shall be equal in heaven, but the very drift of the parable is to show, that they which are first called and converted have no cause at all to despise the uncalled and unconverted, or to trample upon them with the foot of pride, considering that they who are yet in their sins, and in their blood, and in an unconverted and un-sanctified estate, may yet be called, and either made equal to them, or preferred before them. But,

[2.] Secondly, Interpreters do generally agree in this, that by the husbandman we are to understand God himseK, and by the labourers men upon earth, and by the vineyard the church of God; and several of them say, that by the five hours in the parable we are to understand the five ages of man.i

First, By those who were called in the morning and sent into the vineyard, we are to understand those who in their childhood are called and converted; they are such who begin to seek the Lord, and to serve the Lord, even as soon as they are capable of the use of reason; as Samuel did, and as Josiah did, and as Timothy did.

Secondly, By those who are called at the third hour, we are to Chrysostom, Origen, Jerome, Gregory, Austin. See my 'Apples of Gold,' [Vol. I.—G.]

understand those who are converted and turned to the Lord in~their youth, in the prime, the spring and morning of their days.

Thirdly, By those who were called at the sixth hour, we are to understand those who are turned to the Lord in their strength, and in their full and perfect age.

Fourthly, By those who were called at the ninth hour, we are to understand those who are converted and turned to the Lord in their declining age.

And Ji/thlT/, By those who were called at the eleventh hour, we are to understand those who are converted and turned to the Lord in their decrepit old age, when they have one foot in the grave, and there is but a short step between them and eternity, when, with the thief upon the cross, they are even ready to be turned off of the ladder of life. Now the vineyard being the church, all that this parable proveth is no more but this, that whether men are called into the vineyard of the church either sooner or later—either at the first hour, or at the ninth, or eleventh hour: yet this shall neither greaten nor lessen their reward; for if they are called at the first hour, their recompense shall be never the greater upon that account, or if they are called at the eleventh hour, their reward shall be never the lesser upon that account; the reward shall not be different according to the different times of men's being called and converted, and that this parable proves; but the reward shall be different according to the diversity of our works, and that my former arguments prove.

[3,] Thirdly, If the penny that every one had in the parable be meant of glory, then it will roundly follow, that murmurers shall be saved and glorified as well as others, for the murmurers had their penny as well as the rest: ver. 10-12, ' But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more, and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.'i The Greek word, €767-71*^01/, that is here rendered murmured, signifies to grunt as swine grunt. They grumbled and grunted, and they grunted and grumbled; and pray tell me what should such swine as murmurers are do grunting and grumbling in heaven ? doubtless the crown of glory is too bright, too noble, too glorious, and too weighty a crown to be set upon murmurers' heads. Heaven would be no heaven if there were but one gruntler or murmurer there. In heaven all the vessels of glory shall be full, and there shall not be the least shadow of envy or repining there. In the streets of that new Jerusalem above, none shall ever complain that others have too much, or that themselves have too little. Every glorified saint shall sit down fully satisfied and contented with his portion there. Now should we by the penny understand a glorified estate and condition, then this would unavoidably follow, that many shall be brought to a state of glory which are not elected, nor sanctified, nor prepared for glory; but this can never, nor must never be granted; and therefore without all peradventure this parable doth no way hold

^ The Roman penny is the eighth part of an ounce, which after five shillings the ounce, is seven pence halfpenny.

out that state of glory and felicity which all the called and chosen of God shall have at Christ's coming to judge the quick and the dead. But,

[4.] Fourthly, The penny that is here mentioned in this parable cannot, nor may not, be interpreted so as to signify an equality of glory, or an equality of happiness and blessedness, that the saints shall have in heaven, because such an interpretation, such an exposition, is cross and contrary to the common and received rules of interpreting and expounding of Scripture. Now, among other rules that are to be observed in the interpreting and expounding of Scripture, there are these two:

First, You must so interpret and expound one text of Scripture, that you do not set it at strfie and variance with another text of Scripture ; for though there is a seeming contradiction between scripture and scripture, yet there is a blessed harmony and a glorious correspondency between all the parts of Scripture. It is a very dangerous thing so to interpret Scripture as to raise contests and opposition between scriptures and scriptures; it is an evil thing to raise up scripture against scripture, and so to interpret one as to make it affront another. Woe to him that by his interpretations of Scripture proclaims the scriptures to be at open war amongst themselves. Now to interpret the penny in the parable so as to make it signify an equaUty of glory and happiness among the saints in heaven, is to set this scripture at variance and strife with all those scriptures that I have produced to prove an inequality in the glory and happiness of the saints in heaven, and therefore such an interpretation is rather to be abhorred than to be received. But,

Secondly, Another rule that is to be observed in the interpreting of Scripture is this, we must always interpret those scriptures that are more dark and mysterious by those scriptures that are more plain and cleai', and not interpret those scriptures that are plain and clear by those that are dark and mysterious, for this were to darken counsel by words without knowledge, Job xxxviii. 2. Now they that interpret the penny in the parable to signify an equality of glory among the saints in heaven, they transgress this second rule ; for they must then interpret all those clear and plain scriptures that I have brought to prove degrees of glory in heaven by this dark and mysterious parable, whereas they should interpret this dark and mysterious parable, if I may so say, by those plain and clear scriptures that I have already cited; and therefore their interpretation must be rejected. It is true, of some parables we may say as Gregory doth, viz., that they rather require a practiser than an interpreter, Ps, xlix. 4, and xcvii. 2; John xvi. 29. And it is as true that other parables are so dark, obscure, and mysterious, that we shall never understand them without the sweat of our brows and the beating of our brains, and such a parable this seems to be, and therefore we must interpret the parts of it rather by other clear scriptures, than to make clear and plain scriptures bow to this that seems to have a veil upon it. And thus you see by these arguments that the penny in the parable hath no reference at all to heaven, nor to any equality of glory that shall be among the saints there.

Secondly, Chrysostom's counsel on the text should be eyed and followed. Saith he, ' We should not strain every particular of a parable, but only consider the scope of Christ in the propounding of it, and accordingly apply it.' We look not on every particular colour in a well-drawn picture, but on the whole piece ; so when we come to view a parable, it is enough that we cast our eye principally upon the general intention and scope of it. He that is very exact and curious to view and observe every particular circumstance about parables, may easily draw blood instead of milk out of the breasts of parables. Parables are like to the roll which Ezekiel saw in a vision spread before him, which was written within and without; without the history was written, and within the mystery was written, Ezek. ii. 10.1 Now though the outside, the history, of a parable be like the golden pot, yet the inside, the mystery, of a parable is like the manna that was hid therein, and it is the manna, the manna, that we must seek after. Look, as it is their wisdom who deal in curious rich stuffs that are wrought on both sides to cast a special eye upon the flowers that are on the inside of those stuffs, so it is our wisdom to cast a special eye upon the inside of parables, upon the mystical reference that parables have, than to lie poring upon the outside of parables. Now the scope of this parable is not to prove that there is an equality of glory in heaven, but to reprove the Jews, who, being called into the Lord's vineyard betimes in the morning, repined and murmured that the Gentiles, who were called in at the latter end of the day, who were called in some thousand years after them, that they should through the riches of grace have an equal share with them in the reward, and stand upon as good and as noble terms with God as themselves, who had so long bore the heat of the day. God, to shew that his gifts, his grace, and his rewards are free, will give his pennies as well to those who have laboured but a little as to those who have laboured much; and this is no prejudice at all to his truth and justice, that his grace is free. But,

Thirdly and lastly, That by the penny we cannot, nor we may not, understand everlasting happiness and blessedness, but some other reward that hypocrites may attain to as weU as sincere-hearted Christians ; and the reason is obvious: for he that was sent away for his envious grumbling and grunting, was sent away also with his penny, 'take thy penny and be packing.'2 By the penny some pious interpreters do understand some competent gift or other, whatever it were, which might be well managed and improved to advantage. The vineyard is the church, and every one that is called to labour in the vineyard is called to labour in the use and improvement of ordinances. Now every one that is laborious in the use of ordinances shall be sure to get something ; no man shall kindle a fire on God's altar for nought. And yet it many times comes to pass that those who have been called and converted long before others, do yet make no greater, nor no better earnings 3 on it than those do that have been called and converted long after them. He that is called at the first hour sometimes gets

* Jerome in cap. ii. Ezek.

' Some by the penny do understand worldly honour, and the estimation and approbation of men. ^ Spelled here and a little onward ' yearnings.'— G.

no more than he that is called at the eleventh hour. It is in the trade of Christianity as it is in other trades. Now )'ou know that many men who have been set up in this or that trade ten, nay twenty, years before others, yet they many times make no more earnings, no more advantage of their trade, than they that have set up but the other day, as we say. Why so many that have been called long to the trade of Christianity before others, yet they make no more earnings, no more advantage of that trade, than those that have been called to it but yesterday, as I may speak. His gifts, his gain, his earnings that is called in at the eleventh hour of the day, is many times equal to his that was called in at the first hour of the day. Yea, I have formerly proved that sometimes many that are called later than others, do yet in gifts and grace excel those that were called long before them. Now these objections being answered, that truth stands firm, like mount Zion, viz., that the more holiness you have here, the more happiness you shall have hereafter ; the more grace you have here on earth, the more glory you shall have when you come to heaven.

And so I come to the second thing proposed, namely, to acquaint you with some means, helps, and directions that may enable you to make a progress in holiness, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. And,

[1.] First, If ever you would perfect holiness, if ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness than any yet you have attained to, then labour to he more and more sensible of your spiritual wants and deficiencies of grace and holiness. Ah Christians ! you must be often in casting up your accounts, and in looking over the defects of your holiness. He that hath most holiness, yet wants much more than what he hath attained to. Witness the prevalency of his corruptions, witness his easy falling before temptation, witness his aptness to faint in the day of affliction, witness his staggering in the day of opposition, witness his shifts in the day of persecution, and witness his actual un-preparedness and unfitness for the day of his dissolution. The more any Christian sees himself defective in holiness, the more he will labour after holiness: Ps. cxix. 59, 60, ' I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies: I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.' The Hebrew word, ZVn, that is here used for thinking, signifies to think on a man's ways accurately, advisedly, seriously, studiously, curiously. This holy man of God thought exactly and curiously on all his purposes and practices, on all his doings and sayings, on all his words and works, and finding too many of them to be short of the rule, yea, to be against the rule, he turns his feet to God's testimonies; .having found out his errors, upon a diligent search, a strict scrutiny, he turns over a new leaf, and frames his course more exactly by rule. 0 Christians ! you must look as well to your spiritual wants as to your spiritual enjoyments; you must look as well to your layings out as to your layings up ; you must look as well forward to what you should be as backward to what you are. Certainly that Christian will never be eminent in holiness that hath many eyes to behold a little holiness, and never an eye to see his further want of holiness. He that is more affected with that holiness he hath than he is afflicted about those great measures of holiness that he needs, will

never be but a puny, a dwarf in holiness. The more sensible we are of our own weakness and emptiness, the more pleasure God will take to fill us with his own fulness, and to perfect in us the work of holiness. But,

[2.] Secondly, If ever you would perfect holiness, if ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness, then set the Lord always he/ore your eyes, set yourselves always as in Ms presence, Ps. xli. 12 ; 1 Sam. ii. 1, 3. David was a man that was very high and eminent in holiness; but how came he to so great a height ? why he tells you how, in that Ps. xvi. 8, ' I have set the Lord always before me : because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.' i David did not by fits and starts set the Lord before him; ' but he always set the Lord before him in his course; ' he had his eye upon the Lord, and so much the Hebrew word imports : I have equally set the Lord before me, that is the force of the original word, that is, I have set the Lord before me, at one time as well as another, without any irregular afiections or passions, &c. In every place, in every condition, in every company, in every employment, and in every enjoyment, I have set the Lord equally before me ; and this raised him, and this will raise any Christian, by degrees, to a very great height of holiness: Ps. cxix. 168, ' I have kept thy precepts, and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.' The Hebrew word 'lIDIi', shamar, that is here rendered Jcept, signifies to keep carefully, diligently, studiously, exactly. It signifies to keep as men keep prisoners, and to keep as a watchman keeps the city or the garrison, yea, to keep as a man would keep his very life. But now mark what was the reason that David kept the precepts and the testimonies of the Lord so carefully, so sincerely, so diligently, so studiously, and so exactly, Why, the reason you hare in the latter part of the verse, ' for all my ways are before thee.' 0 sirs ! it is as necessary for him that would be eminent in holiness, to set the Lord always before him, as it is necessary for him to breathe. In that 31st of Job you have a very large narrative of that height and perfection of holiness that Job had attained to, and the great reason that he gives you for this is in the 4th verse, ' doth not he see my ways and count all my steps ?' The eye of God had so strong an influence upon his heart and life, that it wrought him up to a very high pitch of holiness. The scholar writes most exactly whilst his master's eye is upon him, and the child walks most exactly whilst his father's eye is upon him, and the servant works most exactly whilst his master's eye is upon him; and so certainly all the sons and servants of the most high God do hear most exactly, and pray most exactly, and walk most exactly, when they set themselves most as in the presence of the great God, who is all sight, who is totus oculus, all eye. Ah friends ! as ever you would be high in holiness, possess your hearts with a serious apprehension of God's presence, set yourselves daily as in his sight, as under his eye ; and remember, though a man may easily bafiie his conscience, and put out his light, and deceive the world, like that counterfeit Alexander in Josephus his story, yet he shall never be able to baffle or deceive the

* Athenodorus, a heathen, could say that all men ought to be careful in the actions of their lives, because God was everywhere, and beheld all that was done. 1 Kings xx. 39 ; Ps. xxxix. 1; Jer. xx. 10 ; Job x. 12.

VOL. IV. 2 B

eye of God's omnisciency. You shall as soon get out of the reach of his hand, as you shall get from under the view of his eye. God hath his windows in all our breasts, and curiously and narrowly observes all that is done within us, and all that is done by us ; and if the serious consideration of his all-seeing eye will not influence us to labour after the highest degrees of holiness, I know not what will. It was Seneca's advice to his friend Jucilius i that whatsoever he was doing he should imagine that Cato did behold him; and Plutarch advised his friends to demean themselves so circumspectly, as if their enemies did always behold them. But my advice to you shall be this, upon every occasion, in every condition, and in every action, * set the Lord always before you.' If the sharp and severe eye of a holy man, or of a holy friend, or of a holy relation will so overawe you, and so exceedingly influence you to the best of actions ; then certainly the sharp, piercing, and all-seeing eye of God will do much more; and therefore let the Lord be always in your sight. But,

[3.] Thirdly, If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness, then^ic and settle yourselves under a holy ministry, resign and give up yourselves to his ministry who makes it his great business and work to preach holiiiess, to promote holiness, to countenance holiness, to encourage holiness, to exalt holiness, and to remove all obstructions that may any ivays hinder the -progress of holiness. Some there be that spend their time rather to please than to profit, and to tickle their hearers' ears than to touch their hearts, Isa. xxx. 11: from these turn aside; and some there be who make it their work rather to destroy churches than to build them up in faith and holiness, and from these turn aside. Gal. i. 23; some there are who make it their business to delude and deceive the simple, by venting and setting to sale the devices of their own heads, and the deceits and visions of their own hearts, Phil. iv. 14; Jer. xiv. 14. How many are there in these days whose glorious visions are but golden delusions, and whose seraphical phrases are but brain-sick phantasies, and whose new notions are but new nothings; from these turn aside.

And others there be that build the things that they have destroyed, and are returned, after they had been seemingly washed, with the dog to his vomit, and with the sow to her wallowing in the mire, Gal. ii. 18; 2 Pet. ii. 20-22. They say that if tame foxes break loose and turn wild, they do more mischief than any. Julian was once a professor, but turning back to heathenism, he drew more from the faith by his fraud than his predecessors did by force; therefore from these turn aside.

Some there be that cry up the commandments of men above the commandments of God, and that set up the ordinances of men above the_ ordinances of God, and that prefer human institutions before divine institutions; from these turn aside. Mat. xv. 1-7; Mark vii. 1-14.

And others there be that have a vein of scorning and reproaching, of -disdaining and triumphing over the persons, names, and credits of those faithful ministers of Christ who upon all accounts excel them, and whom upon a dying bed, and before a judgment-seat, they will wish

' Suilius ? Tacitus, Ann., xiil 43.

that they had imitated and not envied, 2 Cor. x. 10. These labour to darken and obscure others, that their own sun may shine the brighter. These labour to lessen others' reputation, hoping thereby to greaten their own; these admire themselves and contemn others; these look upon themselves as the greatest doctors, and upon all others as the worst of dunces; from these turn aside.

Some there be that spend their time and their strength in studying and preaching of dry and sapless controversies, which are so far from bettering of men's hearts, and from reforming of men's lives, that they leave men as much, and many times more, under the power of sin and dominion of Satan than they were before; from these turn aside.

And others there be that stand most upon easy things, and little things, upon things of least worth and weight, and in these they will be very nice and curious, and yet readily pass over the great and the weighty things both of the law and of the gospel, 1 Tim. i. 5-7; Mat. xxiii. 23, and vi. 3-5. They stand more upon circumstantials than upon substantial, upon a saint's day than upon a Sabbath-day, upon an Easter offering than upon offering up of themselves to the Lord, upon a pipe, a vesture, a gesture, than upon saving of immortal souls; from these turn aside.

Some there be that speak two words for Christ and ten for themselves, that are very zealous to fleece their flocks, but are neither headed nor hearted to feed their flocks, 2 Pet. ii. 1-4; Rev. xviii. 11-13 ; that mind men's goods more than their good, and the serving of themselves than the saving of souls. So they may be clad sprucely, and fare deliciously, and live lazily, they care not though millions of souls go to hell yearly; to pick your purses they will indulge your consciences ; and so it may go well with them in this world, they care not what becomes of you in the other world; from these turn aside, Ezek. xxxiv.

And others there be that take more pains to make proselytes than to make men holy, Mat. xxiii. 15; they make it their great business to win over men to their opinions, when they should be a-winning of men over to Jesus Christ; they make it more their work to convert men to their way, than they make it their work to better men's hearts, or mend their lives, or save their souls. They will compass sea and land to make men one with themselves, and yet think all that time and pains lost that is spent in endeavouring to make men one with Christ. These are factors for hell, and resemble the prince of darkness to the life, for as he, so they, will spare no pains to gain proselytes; from these turn aside, and give up yourselves to their labours who make it the top of their glory to preach holiness, to advance holiness, to magnify holiness, and to practise holiness ; and this will be an excellent means to raise you up to higher degrees of holiness. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Be most in with them that are most eminent and excellent in holiness. Let the delight and joy of your hearts run most out to them who are still adding to their stock of holiness. Thus it was with that princely prophet, in that Ps. xvi. 2, 3, * My goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.' The disciples, by discoursing with Christ, had a holy flame raised up in them: Luke xxiv. 32, ' And they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us while he

talked with us by the way, and opened to us the Scriptures ? ' And when Paul met Silas and Timotheus, he burned in spirit, Acts xviii. 5. These two men were eminent in holiness, and by their company and communion, the zeal and courage of the apostle Paul was very much heated and raised. Look, as one flaming bavin i may kindle a thousand, so one precious saint, in whom grace is strong, and holiness is high, may, by a divine and secret operation, convey heat and life, power and vigour, into all that touch him, or come near unto him; even as the loadstone by a secret operation conveyeth power and vigour into iron. The prayers, the conferences, the counsels, and all the carriages of a man eminent in holiness, will mightily help on the work of holiness in their hearts, where the streams of holiness runs but low. Look, as rich and costly banquets do refresh, and raise, and strengthen their spirits that are weak and faint, so men that are rich in grace and holiness will raise and strengthen their spirits who are weak in grace, and who, for want of greater measures of holiness, are apt to faint. Look, as young plants will not thrive under dropping trees, so such as are weak in holiness will never thrive so long as they only associate themselves with those that are weak. Look, as many times one rich man makes many poor men rich, so many times one man rich in holiness makes many rich in holiness ; and therefore, as ever you would abound in holiness, look not so much at gifts as at grace ; look not so much at saints' outsides as at their insides ; look not so much at their external garb as at their internal worth ; and always make them your choicest and your chiefest companions, who do most excel in grace and holiness. Their tongues, their lips, their lives, will still be a-dropping divine marrow and fatness, and therefore be sure to keep most in with them. But,

[.5.] Fiftlily, If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness, then be much in the exercise and actings of that holiness you have. All the honour and glory that God hath from us in this world is from the exercise of holiness. Look, as the frequent actings of sin is the strengthening of sin, so the frequent actings of holiness is the strengthening of holiness. Look, as the non-exercise of holiness brings upon the soul a decay of holiness, so the exercise of holiness breeds in the soul an increase of holiness. Holiness is always made more and more perfect by acting. Look, as wells are the sweeter for drawing, and fountains the better for overflowing, so holiness is sweetest and best when it is drawn into action. Look, as the running water is the best and sweetest water, so the active Christian is the best and sweetest Christian. That musical instrument always makes the sweetest melody that is most frequently used, and so doth that Christian that is most frequent in the exercise of grace and holiness. We get nothing by dead and useless habits ; talents hid in a napkin gather rust, and the noblest faculties are imbased when not improved in exercise ; and therefore the apostle exhorts Timothy to stir up the gift of God that was in him, in that 2 Tim. i. 6. The words are an allusion to the fire in the temple, which was always to be kept burning. Paul would have Timothy to be always a-blowing his spark into

1' Faggot,' a Shakespearean word, ' rash bavin wits, soon kindled and soon burned,' 1 Henry IV., iii. 2.—G.

a flame. 1 Look, as fire is preserved and maintained by blowing and stirring of it up, so holiness is preserved and maintained in the soul by being stirred and blown up in the soul. The habits of grace and holiness are like dull coal-fires, which, if they are not now and then blown and stirred up, will certainly die and go out.

0 Sirs ! it is not the having but the husbanding of holiness that brings glory to God ; for a man to have the habit of holiness, and not to put it in practice, is all one as for a man to have a talent, and to wrap it up in a napkin. It was a notable observation of Pliny upon Phidias the famous painter, that had the habit of that art above all of his time ; saith he, ' That great art and skill that Phidias had, had been to no purpose, had he not exercised and practised it upon some table :' so it is with the habits of grace and holiness in the saints ; if they are not brought forth into exercise, into action, it is all one as if they had no such habits at all. Holiness out of action is like a candle under a bushel, that yields no comfort to a man's self, nor no light to others. Though gold be gold in the mine, and though it be the most precious and desirable metal in the world, yet so long as it is only in the mine what profit or advantage have we by it? but now, when it is digged out of the mine, and becomes a treasure in men s hands, and is fitted for use and service, then it brings profit and advantage to men, and then the lustre and glory of it appears: so though grace and holiness in the habit, in the mine, be grace and holiness, yet what profit or advantage is there in those habits, till they are brought forth into action, into exercise ? and till then all the lustre and glory of grace and holiness lies hid and obscure. The more the habits of holiness are brought into action, the more holiness will be augmented and increased ; and therefore, above all, look to the frequent exercises and actings of that holiness you have; and this will be a ready way to turn your drop of holiness into a sea, and your spark of holiness into a flame, and your two mites of holiness into a vast treasure. But,

[6.] Sixthly, If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness ; if ever you would perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, then he much in secret prayer, he much in closet duties, Mat. vi. 5, 9. Christ takes a great deal of pleasure to hear and to see his people pour out their souls before him in a corner : Cant. ii. 14, '0 my dove 1 that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice ; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.' Look, as secret meals are very fattening, so secret duties are very soul-enriching. Secret prayers are the pillars of smoke, whereby the soul ascends to God out of the wilderness of this world; secret prayers are the wings of the soul whereby it flies to God in a more still and silent way for the increase and augmentation of holiness. The tender dew that falls in the silent night, will abundantly more cause sweet herbs to flourish and grow than great showers of rain that falls in the stirring day; so secret prayer will abundantly more cause the sweet herbs of grace and holiness to grow and flourish, than all those more open and visible duties of religion, which too too often

^ 'kva^uirvpeiv, it signifies to rekindle, or revive. When the world, the flesh, and the devil go about to put out that divine fire that should be always flaming in our hearts, we must do all we can to foster it and keep it burning.

axe mingled and mixed with the sun and wind of pride and hypocrisy. O sirs 1 secret prayer is Jacob's ladder, where you have God in his fulness and holiness descending down into the soul, and it is that ladder whereby the soul ascends to the highest pitch of communion with God. Witness Ambrose, who was wont to say, I am never less alone than when I am all alone, for then I can enjoy the presence of my God most freely, fully, and sweetly, without interruption. And witness that heaven-born lady who spent most of her time in secret duties, in closet communion with God ; and when persons of great quality came to visit her, she would so entertain them as she would be sure not to omit her set times for secret prayer. She would rather rudely take her leave of them, as some called it, than omit her closet communion with God. She had found such rare advantages by closet duties, that she would not upon any terms neglect them, or in the least turn her back upon them.i And it was a most sweet and divine saying of Bernard ; ' 0 saint! knowest thou not,' saith he, ' that thy husband, Christ, is bashful, and will not be familiar in company ; retire thyself, therefore, by meditation into thy closet, or the fields, and there thou shalt have Christ's embraces.'2 0 sirs 1 it is an experienced truth, that there is no such way under heaven to be rich in grace, and to be high in holiness, as by driving and maintaining a secret trade with God, Cant. i. 11, 12. When had Peter that glorious vision and manifestation of grace, but when he was alone, and on the housetop a-praying ? Acts X. 11,12. And when was that soul-ravishing, that soul-cheering, and that soul-strengthening message despatched by the angel to Daniel, viz., that he was greatly beloved of God, but when he was alone a-praying ? Dan. ix. 20-23 ; and doubtless many thousand saints have had their hearts melted, their corruptions weakened, their fears scattered, their doubts resolved, their holiness raised, and their assurance sealed, whilst they have been in closet duties. Look, as men many times gives their best, their choicest, and their richest gifts in secret, so doth God many times give the choicest discoveries of his love, and the sweetest dainties and delicacies of glory, and the richest measm-es of grace and holiness to his people in secret.^ Look, as there was none so holy as Christ, so there was none so much in secret prayer as Christ. Look, as many men in this famous city, by driving a secret trade, a private trade, gain very great estates, beyond what many do who drive more pubUc trades; so many Christians that drive a secret trade, a private trade with God in their closets, they grow abundantly more rich in grace, in holiness, in communion with God, and in all gracious experiences, than many other Christians who make a great deal of bustle in the world, and who are much in the public trade of Christianity, viz., hearing the word, conferences, family duties, &c., but very rarely shall you find them in their closets. As ever you would be eminent and excellent in holiness, keep up your private

' Lady Brooke, the great friend of Sibbes, and of the Puritans generally.—G.

' And Constantine, that great emperor, made it his constant practice, aa Eusebiua reports, to shut up himself daily in a secret place in his palace, where he went to private prayer.

2 Compare these scriptures together, Mat. xiv. 23 ; Mark vi. 46 ; Luke v. 16, and vi. 12; Mat. xxvi. 26, 36, 39, 42, 44; Luke xxii. 32, 44, 45; John xvii. 17.

trade with God, maintain your closet communion with the Holy One of Israel. But,

[7.] Seventhly, If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness, then fall with all your might upon subduing and crucifying your most raging corruptions, a7id your most daring lusts. Oh do not defer 1 Oh do not delay the work of spiritual mortification 1 Oh do not think that you can both fight and overcome, fight and triumph in one day ! Oh do not think that your golden and your silver idols will lay down their arms, and yield the field, and lie at your feet, and let you trample them to death without striking a blow! Isa. ii. 20. Oh remember that bosom-sins will do all they can to keep their ground, and therefore you must arise with all your strength against them, and bray them in a mortar, and stamp them to powder, and burn them to ashes 1 Oh deal with them as they dealt with the Levite's concubine, force them to death, and cut them to pieces! Judges xix. Oh leave not the palm, the skull of this cursed Jezebel undevoured, undestroyed ! 2 Kings ix. Oh deal by your most enraged lusts as the Philistines did deal by Samson, pluck out their eyes, and make them to grind in the mill of mortification, till their strength be utterly consumed and wasted. Whilst Saul lived and kept the throne, and was in his strength, little David was kept exceeding weak and low; but when Saul was dethroned and slain, little David quickly grew stronger and stronger, 2 Sam. iii. 1: so all the while a darling sin lives and keeps the throne in the heart, grace and holiness will be kept exceeding weak and low ; but when your darling sin is dethroned and slain by the power and the sword of the Spirit, grace and holiness will quickly grow stronger and stronger, and rise higher and higher, Kom. viii. 10, 13. When men would have a rough field fitted for the plough, and fitted to bring forth fruit, will they not first fall with all their strength, and with all their might, upon grubbing up by the roots the strongest trees, and the sturdiest oaks, knowing that when these are grubbed up, weaker trees will easily fall ? So, as ever you would have your hearts and lives full of the fruits of righteousness and holiness, fall with all your strength, and with all your might, upon grubbing up by the very roots your beloved sins, your strongest lusts, and then the rest of your corruptions will easily fall. When Goliath was slain, the Philistines fled, and were easily brought under. When a general in an army is cut off, the common soldiers are quickly routed. Down but with yom* darling sins, and then the conquest of other sins will be easy.

When a man hath eat poison, nothing will make him thrive, till he hath vomited up the poison that he hath eaten. It is not the most wholesome food, the choicest dainties, nor the richest cordials under heaven that will increase blood, and spirits, and strength, in such a person; he will throw up all, and nothing will stay with him to do him good, till his poison be cast up and cast out. Beloved sins, they are the poison of the soul, and till these are vomited up, and cast out by sound repentance, and the exercise of faith in the blood of Christ, the soul will never thrive in grace and holiness; all the wholesome food of the gospel, and all the dainties and cordials of heaven, will never beget good blood, nor noble spirits, nor divine strength in their souls, that upon no terms will part with their darling sins; and therefore, as ever you would be

Btrong in the grace of the Lord, draw up all the strength that ever you are able to make, and fall on with the greatest courage upon your bosoms-sins, and never cease till in the strength of Christ you have got a complete victory and conquest over them. In the law it was the blood of the sacrifice, and the oil, that cleansed the leper, and that by them was meant the blood of Christ and the Spirit of grace is agreed by all. Ah friends! as ever you would be cleansed from your darling sins, which do so exceedingly hinder the increase of holiness, be often in looking upon a crucified Christ, and in the application of his blood to your own souls.

I have read of five men, that being asked what was the best means to mortify sin, gave these answers. Saith the first. The best means to mortify sin is to meditate of death. Saith the second. The best means is to meditate of the judgment-day. Saith the third, The best means is to meditate on the joys of heaven. Saith the fourth. The best means is to meditate on the torments of hell. But saith the fifth, The best means is to meditate on the blood and sufferings of Christ; and doubtless the last hit it to a hair. If anything under heaven wUl subdue and bring under darling sins, it will be the daily sight of a bleeding, groaning, dying Saviour. Philosophy, saith Lactantius, may cover vices, but it never cuts off vices; it may hide a lust, but it can never ' quench a lust, as black patches, instead of plasters, may cover some deformities in nature, but they can never cure them. Ah sirs ! if you \ do not kiU your darling sins, they will kill your precious souls. When Sennacherib's army was destroyed by an angel, Isa. xxxvii., and he j returned home with a hook in his nose and a bridle in his lips, he in-1 quired of one about him, what he thought the reason might he why God so favoured the Jews; to which he replied. That there was one Abraham their father, that was willing to sacrifice his beloved son to j death at the command of God, and that ever since that time God ! favoured that people. WeU, said Sennacherib, if that be it, I have two ' beloved sons, and I will sacrifice them both to death, if that will procure their God to favour me; which when his two sons heard, they, as the story goes, slew their father, being more willing to kill than be killed, Isa. xxxvii. 38. 0 friends! you must kill or be killed; if ■you are not the death of your beloved sins, your beloved sins will prove the death and ruin of your immortal souls; and therefore never leave looking up to a crucified Christ, till virtue flow from him to the crucifying of those special sins that do most obstruct and hinder the growth and increase of holiness. But,

[8.] Eighthly and lastly. If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness, then dwell much upon the holiness of God. Oh, be still a-musing, be still a-pondering upon the holiness of God. Certainly, if there be any means under heaven to raise you up to higher degrees of holiness, it is this; and therefore keep always a fixed eye upon the infinite and most glorious holiness of God. Now that this direction may the better work, premise with me these eight things concerning the holiness of God:

First, Premise this with me, that God is essentially holy, and in this sense, none is holy but himself, i Now essential holiness is all

^ Mat. xix. 17, There is none good but God, that is, there is none essentially good but God, &c.

one with God himself. God's essential holiness is God's conformity to himself. Holiness in God is not a quality, but his essence. Quicquid est in Deo, est ipse Deus, Whatsoever is in God, is God. Holiness in angels and saints is but a quality, but in God it is his essence. The fallen angels keep their natures, though they have lost their holiness ; for that holiness in them was a quality, and not their essence. Look, as created holiness is the conformity of the reasonable creature to the rule, so the uncreated holiness of God is God's conformity unto himself. God's holiness and his nature are not two things, they are but one. God's holiness is his nature, and God's nature is his holiness. Gt)d is a pure act, and therefore, whatsoever is in God is God. It is God's prerogative royal to be essentially holy. The most glorious creatures in heaven, and the choicest souls on earth, are only holy by participation: 1 Sam. ii. 2, ' There is none holy as the Lord.' God's holiness is so essential and co-natural to him, that he can as soon cease to be, as cease to be holy. Holiness in God is a substance, but in angels and men it is only an accident, or a quality. The essence of the creature may remain when the holiness of the creature is lost, as you may see in Adam, and the fallen angels; but God's essence and his holiness are always the same. His very nature is holy, and therefore it is that he is called ' Jehovah,' and ' I am,' because what he is really, that he is essentially, Exod. iii. 14. Though men, for our information, do distinguish between the attributes of God and the nature of God, yet in him they are the same. Look, as the wisdom of God is the wise God, and the truth of God the true God, and the power of God the powerful God, and the justice of God the just God, and the mercy of God the merciful God, and the mightiness of God the mighty God, and the righteousness of God the righteous God, and the graciousness of God the gracious God, so the holiness of God is the holy God. God's nature and his name are one and the same. God is essentially holy, and that is the top of all his glory. But,

Secondly, As God is essentially holy, so God is unmixedly holy. The holiness of God is a pure holiness, it is an unmixed holiness: 1 John i. 5, ' God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.' There are no mixtures in God. God is a most clear, bright-shining light, yea, he is all light, and in him is no darkness at all. The moon, indeed, when it shines brightest, hath her dark spots and specks, but God is a light that shines gloriously without the least spot or speck.^ Now, look, as that darkness which hath not the least light attending it is the grossest, the thickest Egyptian darkness that can be, so that light that hath not the least cloud of darkness attending it must be the most clear, splendid light that possible can be; and such a light is the Holy One of Israel It is very observable, the apostle, to illustrate the perfect purity and sanctity of God, adds a negative to his affirmative, ' In him is no darkness at all,' that is, God is so pure, that not the least spot, the smallest speck, can cleave to him ; he is so holy, that no iniquity can be found in him; there is no defect nor default in the nature of God. He is a God of truth, and without iniquity ; just and right is he. As Moses spake in that Deut. xxxii. 4, God is a pure, a most pure act, without the least potentiality, defectability, or muta-

' Plato calls God the horn of plenty, and the ocean of beauty, without the least spot of injustice, &c.

bility, and therefore in the highest sense he is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Surely there is no unrighteousness in God ; no evil can dwell with him, or come near unto him. God stands at such a distance from iniquity, yea, he so abhors it, that he never did, nor never will, bestow a good look upon it: Hab. i. 13, ' Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.' There are four things that God cannot do: 1. He cannot he ; 2. He cannot die ; 3. He cannot deny himself; nor, 4. He cannot look with a favourable eye upon iniquity. God doth indeed look upon iniquity with a hateful eye, with an angry eye, with a revengeful eye, and with a vindictive eye, but he never did nor will look upon iniquity with an eye of delectation, or with an eye of approbation. Witness his hurling the fallen angels out of heaven, and his banishing of sinning Adam out of paradise. By all this you see that the holiness of God is a pure holiness, it is a holiness without mixture. But now all the holiness that is in the best and choicest saints in the world is but a dreggy holiness, a mixed holiness, a weak and imperfect holiness ; their un-holiness is always more than their holiness. Ah, what a deal of pride is mixed with a little humihty, and what a deal of unbelief is mixed with a little faith, and what a deal of passion is mixed with a little meekness, and what a deal of earthliness is mixed with a little heavenliness, and what a deal of carnalness is mixed with a little spiritualness, and what a deal of hardness is mixed with a little tenderness ! Oh, but now the hoUness of God is a pure holiness, it is a holiness without mixture, there is not the least drop nor the least dreg of unholiness in God. It is true the gods of the heathen were such as had been impure, beastly, filthy men, and therefore several writers have taken a great deal of pains to convince heathens of their impiety and folly in worshipping such for gods, upon whom they fastened many horrid, ridiculous, lascivious, and impious actions,^ and therefore they conclude against them, that they are no gods. It is most certain that the true God, that he that is the High and the Holy One, cannot be charged with any iniquity, no, nor with the least show or shadow of vanity.

In God there is wisdom without folly, truth without falsehood, light without darkness, and holiness without sinfulness. But,

Thirdly, As God is unmixedly holy, so God is universally holy. He is holy in all his ways, and holy in all his works ; his precepts are holy precepts, and his promises are holy promises, and his threatenings are holy threatenings, his love is a holy love, and his anger is a holy anger, and his hatred is a holy hatred, &c. His nature is holy, his attributes are holy, and all his actions are holy; he is holy in punishing, and holy in sparing, he is holy in justifying of some, and he is holy in condemning of others, he is holy in bringing some to heaven, and holy in throwing others to hell; God is holy in all his sayings, and God is holy in all his doings, God is holy in whatever he puts his hand to, and he is holy in whatever he sets his heart to ; his frowns are holy, and his smiles are holy, his liftings up are holy, and his castings down are holy; when he gives, his givings are holy givings, and when he takes away, his takings are holy takings, &c. But, ^ Araobius, Augustine, Tertullian, &c.

Fourthly, As God is universally holy, so God is eminenthj holy. He is transcendently holy, he is superlatively holy, and therefore he is said to be glorious in holiness, Exod. xv. 11. There is no fathoming, there is no measuring, there is no comprehending, there is no searching, of that infinite sea of holiness that is in God. As neither men nor angels can set banks or bounds to God's holiness, so neither men nor angels can sound to the bottom of God's holiness. All that holiness that is in angels and men is but a spark to God's flame; it is but a drop to his sea; it is but a beam to his sun ; it is but a mite to his millions, &c. 0 sirs! you shall as soon stop the sun in his course, and change the day into night, and raise the dead, and make a world, and tell the stars of heaven, and empty the sea with a cockle-shell, as you shall be able either to conceive or express that transcendent holiness that is in God. This glorious name or title, the ' Holy One of Israel,' is ascribed to God about thirty times in the Old Testament, and all to shew that he is most excellent and transcendent in hoHness; and the seraphims which stood before the throne cried out three times a-row, * Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts,' Isa. vi. 3, to shew that God is most eminently and superlatively holy; for so thrice holy in some languages is most holy. For holiness God is a nonesuch ; there are none to be compared with him, neither are there any among angels or among men, yea, or among the gods, that are like unto him. * Who is like to thee among the gods, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders.' God's holiness is infinite, it is so super-eminent and so super-excellent that it can neither be limited, nor lessened, nor augmented. If men should blaspheme or reproach the Lord, he would be never the worse, he would be never the less holier than he is; and if men should bless him and worship him, he would be never the better, never the holier. Unto perfection there can be no addition. A drop taken out of the sea can no ways add unto the sea, Neh. ix. 5. He is exalted above all blessing and praise ! All the angels in heaven and all the men on earth cannot add one ray, one beam of glory to the essence of God, to the holiness of God. As God is goodness in the very abstract, and justice in the very abstract, and mercy in the very abstract, and righteousness in the very abstract, and loving-kindness in the very abstract, so he is holiness in the very abstract, so that no man can flatter him or add unto him ; and hence it is that God glories in the attribute of his holiness more than in any other attribute, ' For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy,' Isa. Ivii. 15. When God would lift up himself in all his glory, he doth it by declaring that his name is holy; and so when God would swear by himself, he swears by his holiness: Ps. Ixxxix. 35, ' Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David :' and so in that Amos iv. 2, * The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks.' Look, as the great men of the world are wont to swear upon their honour when they would give us the greatest assurance of what they will do, because such oaths are looked upon as most sacred and inviolable, so the great God swears by his holiness, because his hoHness is his greatest honour, and because he hath no greater, nor no better, nor no choicer, nor no sweeter, nor no

preciouser things to swear by. Let me, saith God, be never owned as a God, nor honoured as a God, nor trusted as a God, nor feared as a God, nor valued as a God, if I do not inviolably keep my promises, and make good my threatenings, having sworn thereunto by my holiness. Now you know the scripture saith, ' When God could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,' Heb. vi. 13 ; so I may say, when God could swear by no greater attribute, by no greater excellency, he swears by bis holiness, that being the top and the glory of all. Look, as all the wisdom of the creatures, compared with the wisdom of God, is but folly; and as all the goodness of the creatures, compared with the goodness of God, is but naughtiness ; and as all the fulness of the creature, compared with the fulness of God, is but emptiness ; and as all the power of the creature, compared with the power of God, is but weakness ; and as all the righteousness of the creature, compared with the righteousness of God, is but unrighteousness; so all the holiness of the creature, compared with the holiness of God, is but unholiness, Man's highest purity is but impurity, when it is compared to the purity of God, yea, the very holiness of angels, compared with the holiness of God, is chargeable with folly. Job iv. 18. That fulness of holiness that is in angels or saints is only the fulness of the vessel, but that fulness of holiness that is in God is the fulness of the fountain; that fulness of holiness that is in angels or saints is but the fulness of the branches, but that fulness of holiness that is in God is the fulness of the root; that fulness of holiness that is in angels or saints is but the fulness of sufficiency, but that fulness of holiness that is in God is the fulness of redundancy. But,

Fifthly, As God is infinitely holy, transcendently holy, superlatively holy, so God is originally, radically, and fundamentally holy. The divine nature is the root, original, and spring of all holiness and purity. All that hoUness that is in angels and men flows from God, as the streams from the fountain, as the beams from the sun, as the branches from the root, and as the effect from the cause. There is no holiness to be had but from the Holy One, he is the author and original of all the holiness that ever was, or that is this day in the world. All the seeds of holiness, and all the roots of holiness that are to be found in angels or men, are of the Lord's sowing and planting, Phil. i. 11. All that holiness that the angels had in heaven, and all that holiness that Adam had in paradise, and all that holiness that Christ had in his human nature, and all that holiness that ever any saints have had, was from God, and all that holiness that any saints now have is from God. The divine nature is the first root and original fountain of all sanctity and purity, James i. 17. Ministers may pray that their people may be holy, and parents may pray that their children may be holy, and masters may pray that their servants may be holy, and husbands may pray that their wives may be holy, and wives may pray that their husbands may be holy; but none of these can give holiness, none of these can communicate holiness to their nearest and dearest relations. It is only God that is the giver and the author of all holiness. If holy persons could convey holiness into others' souls, they would never suffer them to go to hell for want of holiness. To hand out holiness to others is a work too high for angels, and too hard for all mortals;

it is only the Holy One that can cause holiness to flow into sinners' hearts; it is only he that can form, and frame, and infuse holiness into the souls of men.

A man shall sooner make a man, yea, make a world, and unmake himself, than he shall make another holy. It is only a holy God that can enlighten the mind, and bow the will, and melt the heart, and raise the affections, and purge the conscience, and reform the life, and put the whole man into a holy gracious frame and temper. But,

Sixthly, As God is originally, radically, and fundamentally holy, so God is independently holy, Isa. xliv. 24; Kev. i. 18. The holiness of God depends upon nothing below God. God is the Alpha, the fountain from whence all holiness springs, and he is the Omega, the sea to which all glory runs. As all our holiness is from God, so all our holiness must terminate in the honour and glory of God. It is God alone that is independently holy. All that holiness that is in angels and men is a dependent holiness ; it depends upon the holiness of God, as the streams depend upon the fountain, the beams upon the sun, the branches upon the root, and the members upon the head. God is unum pr-iticipiurn ex quo cuncia dependent, One beginning, upon whom all things depend. God hath his being only of himself, and it is he alone that gives being unto all other things. God is the first cause, and without all causes himself. The very beings that angels and men have they have by participation from God. And it is the first cause that giveth unto all causes their proper operations: Isa. xliv. 6, ' I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.' God never had a cause of his being, as all other creatures have. He is a glorious being, a holy being, without all causes, either efficient, or formal, or material, or final; and therefore he must needs be independently holy. Look, as the power of God is an independent power, and the wisdom of God an independent wisdom, and the goodness of God an independent goodness, and the righteousness of God an independent righteousness; so the holiness of God is an independent holiness. And as it is the glory of his power that his power is an independent power, and the glory of his goodness that his goodness is an independent goodness; so it is the glory of his holiness that his holiness is an independent holiness. And look, as all that power that angels and men have depends upon the power of God, and as all that wisdom that angels and men have depends upon the wisdom of God, and as all that goodness that angels and men have depends upon the goodness of God; so all that holiness that angels and men have depends upon the holiness of God, &c. Philo could say that God is such a fountain that he breaks forth with the streams of his goodness upon all things, but receives nothing back again from any to better himself therewith. There are none in heaven, nor none on earth, that are absolutely independent, but God alone.

Seventhly, As God is independently holy, so God is constantly holy, he is unchangeably holy. He was holy yesterday, and he is holy today, and he will be holy for ever. What is natural is constant and lasting. Now God's holiness is natural to him; it is as natural for God to be holy, as it is for us to breathe, yea, as it is for us to be unholy. God can as well and as soon cease to be, as he can cease to

be holy. Holiness is his nature as well as his name; and therefore his holiness cannot decay, though ours may. Whatever we may lose of our holiness, yet it is certain that God can never lose one grain of that holiness that is in him. Here our holiness ebbs and flows, but the holiness of God never ebbs, but is always a-flowing and overflowing, there is still a full tide of holiness in God. Though the saints cannot fall from that seed of holiness that is sown in their hearts, 1 John iii. 9, yet they may fall from some degrees of holiness that they have formerly attained to. They that have been old men in holiness may fall from being old men to be but young men in holiness, and they that have been young men in holiness may fall from being young men to be but children in holiness, and they that have been children in holiness may fall from being children to be but babes in holiness, 1 John ii. 12-14; 2 Pet. ii. 1-3 ; but now that hoKness that is in God is never subject to any decayings, abatings, or languishing. That spring, that sea of holiness that is in God, is noways capable of diminution nor of augmentation.

Plato could say that God is one and the same, and always like himself. And it was a custom among the Turks to cry out every morning from a high tower, God always was, and always will be; and so salute their Mahomet, i 0 sirs, God hath been always holy, and God will be always holy. Whatever men may lose, yet God is resolved that he will never lose his honour nor his holiness. But,

Eighthly and lastly, As God is continually holy, so God is exemp-larily holy? He is the rule, pattern, and example of holiness: 1 Pet. i. 15, ' Be ye holy, as I am holy.' God's holiness is the great example and pattern of all that holiness which is in the creatures. God's holiness is the copy that we must always have in our eye, and endeavour most exactly to write after. Carnal friends, and this blind world, and Antichrist, and such as love to lord it over the conscience, will be still a-presenting to you other examples and patterns, but it is your wisdom and your work to cast them all behind your backs, and to trample them under your feet, and to follow that form and pattern that the Lord hath set before you; and that is, to be holy as he is holy. All our holiness is to be brought to the holiness of God, as the standard and measure of it; and therefore, oh what cause have we to be still a-perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord! And thus I have done with the second thing, viz., means to increase holiness, and to raise you up to the highest pitches and degrees of holiness.

And so I come to the third thing proposed, and that was, to lay down some signs or evidences whereby persons may know whether they have attained to any high pitch or eminent degrees of holiness or no. Now, sirs, if you desire in good earnest to know whether you have attained to any perfection of holiness or no, then seriously weigh these following particulars, and try yourselves by them.

[1.] First, The more a man can warm his heart at the promises, and cleave to the promises, and rest upon the promises, and suck marrow and fatness and sweetness out of the breasts of the promises, when

' Pierius.

' Lev. XX. 26. Remember this, you and I must answer for examples as well as precepts.

divine providences seem to run cross to divine promises, the greater measure of holiness that man hath attained to. Where there are but little measures of holiness, there every seeming contrariety to the promise troubles a man, and every little cloud that hangs over the promise will mightily perplex a man, &c. But where holiness is raised to any considerable height, there that man will suck honey out of the flint, he will suck sweetness out of the promise, even then when providence looks sourly upon the promise ; yea, when providence seems to bid defiance to the promise. Witness Jacob, in that Gen. xxxii. 6-8, compared with ver. 9, 11,12, ' And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying. We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; and said. If Esau come to the one company and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape. And Jacob said, 0 God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me. Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.' Now here you see holy Jacob, in the midst of all his fears and frights, in the midst of all his perils and dangers, in the midst of all his damps and dreads, and in the midst of all cross, amazing and amusingi providences, be turns himself to the breasts of the promise, and sucks marrow and sweetness out of those breasts. Jacob puts the promise into suit, he sues God upon his own bond, and so bears up sweetly under dark and dismal providences. And so did Moses in that Num. x. 29, * And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in-law, We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good : for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.' Moses had been almost now forty years in the wilderness, and many thousands were fallen on his right hand, and on his left; yet saith he to Hobab, in the face of all those dismal providences, come go along with us, and be as eyes unto us, and we will certainly do thee good, ver. 31. But Hobab might have objected, Alas! what good can I expect in a wilderness condition, where so many are weak, and so many are sick, and so many thousands are fallen asleep; and where all the people are every day surrounded with a thousand dangers, difficulties, and deaths. Well, saith he, though all this be true, yet go along with us, and be serviceable and useful to us, and we will do thee good; * for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.' Here this holy man Moses turns himself to the promise, and in the face of all sad providences, he draws comfort and encouragement from the promise. And so did Jehoshaphat, in that 2 Chron. xx. When the children of Ammon, and Moab, and mount Seir came against him to battle, vers. 1, 10, he turns himself to the promise, ver. 7-9, and gathers life and spirit from thence. And so did David, in that Psalm Ix. In the 1 = Leading to ' musing' or meditation.—G.

Ist, 2d, and 3d verses, you have a narrative of many cross and dreadful providences, and yet in the face of them all holy David sucks strong consolation out of the breasts of the promise, ver. 6, ' God hath spoken in his holiness, I will rejoice: I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.' God hath promised in his holiness, that David should be king over all Israel, and therefore, notwithstanding all strange providences, David triumphs in the promise, and looks upon himself as master of all those strongholds that are mentioned in ver. 7-9. And so Abraham, he wanted a son, and God promised him an Isaac. Now in the face of all his own deadness, and natural inabilities as to generation, and Sarah's deadness and barrenness, Rom. iv. 17-21, he turns about to the promise; and his faith and holiness being high, he draws sweetness and satisfaction from thence. Notwithstanding present providences, the naked promise was a well of life and salvation to him.

0 sirs! it is an argument of a very great measure of holiness, when troubles and difficulties vanish upon the sight of a promise, when all things work quite cross and contrary to sense and feeling. Now for a man to embrace a promise, to hug a promise, to kiss a promise, and to draw content and satisfaction from a promise, argues a great degree of holiness. It is a very hard and difficult thing for a man exactly to take the picture of divine providence at any time ; for many are the voices and the faces of providence, and there are as great deeps in providences as there are in prophecies; and many texts of providence are as hard, as dark, and as difficult to be understood, as many texts of Scripture are. It is as hard to reconcile the works of God, as it is to reconcile the word of God, Ps. xxxvi. 6; Rom. xi. 33; for as in the word of God there are many seeming contradictions, so in the works of God there are many seeming contradictions; for here one providence smiles, and there another frowns; here providence lifts up, and there providence casts down ; here providence strokes, and there providence strikes; here providence leads towards Canaan, there providence leads towards a wilderness; here providence leads towards Zion, and there providence leads towards Babylon; here providence speaks us very fair, and there providence doth severely threaten; here providence is bright and lovely, and there providence is dark and dreadful.i Now under all such providences, for a man to run to a promise, and to draw out life, and strength, and sweetness from a promise, is a clear evidence of a very high pitch of holiness that such a person hath attained to. I have read of an emperor that put on a new suit every day. 0, sirs ! when the great God shall every day apparel himself in strange changeable providences, now for a man to hang upon the breasts of a promise, and to suck milk out of a promise, argues a very great increase of holiness. But,

[2.] Secondly, The more a man can overcome evil with good upon holy and gracious accounts, as upon the account of God's command, God's honour, the credit of the gospel, and the conviction, conversion, and salvation of souls, the greater measure of holiness such a person hath attained to. To return reproach for reproach, reviling for revil-

* I have read that Marica, a Roman princess, being great with child, had the babe in hep killed with lightning, when she herself escaped.

ing, and cursing for cursing, and scorning for scorning, and defaming for defaming, is exceeding natural to us ; but to love them that hate us, to bless them that curse us, to do good to them that abhor us, and to pray for them that persecute us, and that despitefully use us, according to Christ's express command in that Mat. v. 44, are things exceeding contrary to nature, and exceedingly above nature.! The power of grace and holiness appears in nothing more than in bringing the heart to a sweet and ready subjection to such commands as are most cross, and contrary to flesh and blood. As those are in that Kom. xii. 17,19,20,21, ' Recompense no man evil for evil. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine, and I will repay it, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him: if he thirst, give him drink: be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.' And so that in 1 Thes. v. 15, ' See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.' To return good for evil, and kindnesses for injuries, to behave ourselves courteously, humbly, meekly, tenderly, and sweetly towards those who behave themselves discourteously, proudly, passionately, harshly, and sourly towards us, argues a very great degree of holiness. David was a man eminent in holiness, and he was good at this good work, as you may see in that 2 Sam. i. 24, ' Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.' He doth not envy against Saul, nor insult or rejoice over Saul, as many carnal and unsanctified hearts would have done, nor he doth not provoke or stir up the daughters of Israel to rejoice in the death and destruction of such a tyrant, that had hunted him up and down as a partridge, and that had often designed his ruin, and that had always returned him evil for good, and that had bathed his sword in the blood of Abimelech the high-priest, and in the blood of fourscore more of the priests of the Lord, and that had forsaken the Lord, and gone to a witch, yea, to the devil, for help in his need. Oh no ! he conceals what was bad, and remembers what was good; he passes over those things that were condemnable, and he instances only in those things that might make his memory most acceptable, commendable, and delightful among the weaker sex, viz., his making of bravery and gallantry fashionable amongst them. And so Joseph was a man eminent in holiness, and he was good at this hard work; as you may see in that Gen. 1. 16-23. And Moses was a man of great holiness, and he was good at this difficult work ; as you may see in that Ps. cvi. 16, 23, 33, compared together. And Stephen was a man full of the Holy Ghost, and he was good at praying for them that made a prey of him, Acts vii. 60. And Paul was a man of the same mind and mettle, as you may see by comparing the 2 Cor. xi. 24, with the Rom. ix. 1-3. And Eusebius affirms that when Paul was beheaded, under Diocletian the emperor, he prayed both for Jews and Gentiles, for the multitude assembled, and also for the judge and executioner, that his death might not one day be laid unlo their charge. Calvin was a man of great holiness, and therefore though Luther (who was

^ Austin saith that Christ made a pulpit of the cross, and the great lesson he taught Christians was to love their enemies.

VOL .IV. 2 C

a man of a most violent, bitter, passionate spirit) had woefully wronged him, and reviled him, yet, saith he, let Luther hate me, and in his wrath call me a thousand times devil, yet I will love him, and honour him, and acknowledge him a choice and precious servant of God. Mr Foxe, that writ the ' Book of Martyrs,' was so famous in the practice of this hard piece of Christianity, that it became a proverb: If any man would have Mr Foxe do him a good turn, let him do him an injury, and he will be sure to do him a good turn for it. Send me to my toads again, in the dungeon, where I may pray for your lordship's conversion, said Mr Sanders the martyr, to the bishop of Winchester. Thus you see that the more eminent any persons are in holiness, the more they overcome evil with good, the more good they will do them that do evil to them; and thus to do, is but to conform to Christ your head, for he shed tears for them that were to shed his blood, and he gave them his blood to drink, who gave him gall to drink and vinegar to drink. That man is almost got up to the very top of holiness, whose soul is habituated to overcome evil with good, upon holy and precious accounts. Julius Csesar, and Augustus Ceesar, in whose time Christ was born, and Titus Vespasian, Camillus, Darius, Lycurgus, Plato, Pericles, and Herod that is mentioned in Acts xii. 23, with many other heathens, have done something this way, but what they did, they did by fits and starts, and from poor, low principles, and to vainglorious ends; and therefore all that they did this way is not worth a reciting. Well, Christians, the more you can overcome evil with good, the more certainly your hearts are filled with good. That man's heart is full of the fruits of righteousness and holiness, that, upon divine considerations is accustomed, not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good. But,

[3.] Thirdly, When men in the mam — I say,in the main — are as holy out of religious duties, as they are in religious duties; when in the main of their lives they are as spiritual, as heavenly, as humble, as gracious, as serious, as watchful, as circumspect, &c., as they are in their most religious performances and duties; this argues not only the truth of holiness, hut a very high degree of holiness. Moses's face did shine as gloriously when he came off from the mount, as ever it did shine when he was upon the mount, Exod. xxxiv. 29, 30, 33, 35. 0 sirs I if when you come off from the mount of duties, there remains some rays and shinings of God upon you, it is an argument that the waters of sanctity are risen to a considerable height in your souls, Ezek. xlvii, 2-6. Ah, how lively, how warm, how enlarged, how holy, how humble, how heavenly, how spiritual, how serious, how zealous, how religious, how gracious are many in duties, in ordinances ; but ah! how dead, how cold, how straitened, how unholy, how proud, how worldly, how carnal, how shght, and how irreligious are they out of duties, out of ordinances. Now, oertainly, these have either no holiness at all, or else they have attained to but a very little measure of holiness. But now, when a man in the main, when a man in his course is the same out of duties, out of ordinances, that he is in duties, in ordinances, it is a very great and glorious argument that such a person hath in a very great measure perfected holiness in the fear of the Lord. But.

[4.] Fourthly, The more a man can divinely joy and rejoice under tribulations and ajfflictions, the greater measure of holiness he hath attained to. It is a mercy not to grumble, not to mutter, not to murmur, not to fret, not to faint, not to despond, nor not to despair. It is much to be silent under afflictions, and to be quiet and patient under tribulations ; oh, but divinely to joy and rejoice under afflictions, under tribulations, argues a very great height of holiness, Rom. v. 3,4, * And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope.' That glorying and rejoicing are both one in the New Testament, is sufficiently known; they differ only in degrees, glorying being a step above rejoicing. It is much to rejoice in tribulations, but it is more to glory in tribulations ; yea, to glory in them as an old soldier glories in all those marks and scars of honour that he hath met with in the service of his king and country ; and yet to this height the believing Romans were raised,' which argues a very great measure of holiness in them. And so in that 2 Cor. vii. 4, ' Great is my boldness of speech towards you, great is my glorying of you: I' am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation,' or as the Greek runs, I do over-abound exceedingly with joy, I have a superabundance of joy in all our tribulation, vTrepTrepiaaevofiat; and so in chap xii. 9, 10, 'Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ might rest upon me: therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake : for when I am weak, then am I strong.' Paul rejoices and glories more in his heavy afflictions, and in his various tribulations, than he did in his glorious and mysterious revelations. The more he was afflicted and distressed, the more he had of the visible presence of Christ, and the more he had of the glorious assistance of Christ, and the more he had of sweet communion and fellowship with Christ, and the more he had of the choice supports and singular comforts of Christ, and therefore he takes pleasure in all the pressures that were upon him; and so in that James i. 2, ' My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations,' that is, into divers afflictions. 0 sirs ! to be divinely merry in misery, to rejoice in the cross as men rejoice in a crown, to rejoice in adversity as others rejoice in prosperity, to rejoice in a stinking prison as others rejoice in their stately palaces, to rejoice in restraint as others rejoice in liberty, to rejoice in wants as others rejoice in abundance, to rejoice in reproaches as others rejoice in their honours, &c., is very much; but to be joyful in such cases, not with a little joy, but with exceeding great joy, is more. 'AH joy' is a Hebraism, and it signifies gi'eat joy, full joy, exceeding joy, perfect joy. Oh ! thus to rejoice, and that not only when you fall into some afflictions, but when you fall into divers afflictions, argues a very great measure'of holiness ; but ah ! how rare is it to find such souls in these days, that can not only bear the cross, but also rejoice in the cross, that can not only bear reproaches, but also wear reproaches as their crown and glory. But,

[5.] Fifthly, The more extensive a man's obedience is to divine commands, the greater measure of holiness that man hath attained to. Caleb had a very great measure of the spirit of holiness upon him;

and he is said to have followed the Lord fully, or as the Hebrew hath it, he fulfilled after me, that is, his obedience was full, universal, resolute, and constant to the end.i The contrary is affirmed of Solomon in that 1 Kings xi. 6, ' And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father,' or as the Hebrew hath it, he fulfilled not after the Lord, that is, his obedience was not so full, so universal, so sincere, so resolute, and so constant as David his father's was. Zacharias and Elizabeth were persons of great holiness, and their obedience was very extensive; for they walked not only in some, but in all the commandments, and not only in all the commandments, but also in all the ordinances of the Lord blameless, Luke i. 5, 6. Their obedience was of such a universal extent and latitude, that it comprehended and took in all the duties both of their general and particular callings; they had an eye to the duties of the second table, as well as they had an eye to the duties of the first; and they subjected themselves to the duties of their particular calling, as well as to the duties of their general calling. As they had an eye to mint, anise, and cumin, Mat. xxiii. 23, that is, to the lesser and lower duties of religion, so they had an eye to the greater and weightier duties of religion, viz., judgment, mercy, and faith, &c. But now Christians at their first conversion, and whilst they remain weak in grace and holiness, their obedience is more strait and narrow; for commonly they spend much, if not most, of their time in praying, fasting, hearing, reading. Christian conference, &c., and neglect a hundred other duties that are incumbent upon them ; they are very forward and warm in the duties of their general calling, but very cold and remiss in the duties of their particular calling; they are very frequent and fervent in some duties, and very rare in other duties; but now the more they grow in grace and holiness, the more extensive will their obedience be, and the more their hearts will be dilated and extended to all the duties both of the first and second table. But,

[6.] Sixthly, The more a man conflicts loith heart sins, with spiritual sins, ivith invisible sins, ivith sins that lie most hid and obscure from the eyes of the world, and the more spiritual victories and conquests a man obtains over them, the greater measure of holiness that person hath certainly attained to. When the heart rises with all its strength and might against secret pride, secret self-love, secret bubblings of lusts, secret carnal confidence, secret murmuring, secret hypocrisy, secret envy, secret self-applause, secret malice, secret hatred, secret snares, secret temptations, &c., it is an argument that holiness is grown up to some considerable height there. 2 A little grace, a little holiness, will work a man to conflict with gross sins, with outward sins, with bodily sins, with such sins that every one may set their eyes on, and lay their hands on; yea, where there is no grace, no holiness at all, the light of nature, the common convictions of the Spirit, the laws of m'en, the eyes of men, the threats of men, the examples of men, a

^ Num. xiv. 24; K^Q"*!, vajemalle, the Hebrew word, is a metaphor taken from a ship under sail, which is strongly carried with the wind, as if it feared neither rocks nor sanda.

» 2 Chron. ixxii. 26; Ps. ciix. 80 ; 2 Cor. xii. 7-9 ; Ps. xxx. 6, 7; Eom. vii. 23, 24; 2 Cor. vii. 1.

smarting rod, and good education, may work men to conflict with such sins. Oh, but when all the strength and might of the soul is engaged against those very sins that lie not within the sight or reach of the most sharp and piercing men in the world, but in the heart, and about the heart, and are only obvious to an omniscient eye, this argues a great degree of holiness. And therefore Augustine hit the mark when he said that it is a harder thing for a man to fight with his lusts—understand it especially of heart lusts, of spiritual wickedness—than it is to fight with the cross. And Austin hath long since complained that we do not tame the beasts in our own bosoms.i Oh, it is an easier thing to tame all the beasts in the world than it is to tame one beast in the bosom. All the beasts in the world may be tamed and brought under by a human power, James iii. 7, but no power below that power that raised Christ from the grave can tame the beasts that be in our bosoms. ^ Now look, as conflicts with heart sins, with spiritual sins, &c., argues some eminency in holiness, so victory over heart sins, over spiritual sins, over those sins that lie most remote from the eyes of others, argues a very great degree of holiness. When a Christian doth not only resist heart sins, but vanquishes heart sins; when he doth not only combat with heart sins, but conquers heart sins; when he doth not only fight with heart sins, but also overcomes heart sins; when he doth not only wrestle with heart sins, but also overthrows heart sins, this speaks out holiness in its growth. It was a good saying of Cyprian: There is no such pleasure, saith he, as to have overcome an offered pleasure, neither is there any greater conquest than that that is gotten over a man's corruptions. And it was an excellent saying of Eusebius Emesenus: ^ ' Our fathers overcame the torments of the flames, let us overcome the fiery darts of vices.' And indeed it is an easier thing to overcome the flames, than it is to overcome those flaming lusts and corruptions that be in our own hearts. Philosophy may teach us to endure hardships, as it did Calanus in Curtius, who willingly offered his body to the fire, to the flames; but it is only grace, it is only holiness, that can enable us to overcome our lusts, our heart lusts. We read of many that, out of greatness of spirit, could offer violence to nature, but were at a loss when they came to deal with their corruptions.

I remember a notable sajdng of Ambrose, speaking of Samson, Vin-cula solvit Jiostium, &c.* Saith he, he brake the bonds of his enemies, but he could not break the bonds of his own lusts; he choked the lion, but he could not choke his own wanton love; he set on fire the harvest of strangers, and himself being set on fire with the spark of one strange woman, lost the harvest of his virtue. And this saying of Ambrose puts me in mind of a great Roman captain, who, as he was riding in his triumphant chariot through Rome, had his eyes never off a courtezan that walked along the street, which made one say, Behold how this goodly captain, that conquered such potent armies, is himself conquered by one silly woman. Oh, it is not pliilosophy, nor

^ Aug. Serm. iv., de verbis Domini.

* Heraclius's motto was, A Deo victoria —It is God that giveth victory. ' Eusebius of Emisa, to distinguish him from E. of Csesareia.—G.

* Ambrose Apol: David. Post., c. 3.

morality, nor civility, &c., but holiness, but sanctity, that will make the soul victorious over iniquity; and the more victories and conquests a man makes upon heart sins, upon spiritual sins, upon secret sins, the greater measures of holiness that person hath certainly attained to.

But,

[7.] Seventhly, The more a man is exercised and busied in the most internal and spiritual duties of religion, the greater measures of holiness tlmt man hath attained to. You know there are external duties of religion, and there are internal duties of religion. There are external duties of religion, as public preaching, hearing the word, reading the word, fasting, singing of psalms. Christian conference, communion of saints, and receiving the Lord's supper. Mat. vi. and xxiii. Now such Christians as have but small measures of grace and holiness, and hypocrites and formalists that have not the least measure of true grace and holiness, these are most commonly exercised and busied about the external duties and services of religion; but very seldom, very rare, shall you find them in the more inward and spiritual duties of religion, Isa. i. 11-19, and Iviii. 1-5 ; Zech. vii. 4-7. But then, as there are external duties, so there are internal and spiritual duties, as self-examination, self-resignation to Grod, self-loathing, self-judging, divine meditation, praying in the Spirit, watchfulness over the heart, and making application of the blood of Christ, the death of Christ, the grace of Christ, the love of Christ, and the word of Christ to a man s own soul. Now the more any Christian is exercised and employed in these internal, spiritual, and evangelical duties and services, the greater heights and degrees of holiness that Christian is grown to: Phil. iii. 3, ' For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.' These Philippians were eminent in grace and holiness, as you may see in chap. i. And they place no confidence in circumcision, nor in any such outward performances or services, but they were much in the exercise of grace, and in worshipping of God in the spirit, and in rejoicing in the person of Christ, the natures of Christ, the offices of Christ, the discoveries of Christ, the communications of Christ, the glorious operations of Christ, the precious promises of Christ, and in the heart-warming and heart-cheering blood of Christ.

Now to be much exercised in the most internal, spiritual, and evangelical duties of religion, argues a very great height of holiness. But,

[8.] Eighthly, The more spiritual,internal,and intrinsecalprinciples, wjotives, and considerations, carries a person on in religious duties and services, the more holy that person is. When a man is carried on in the duties of religion, from a sense of divine love, or from a sense of the special presence of Christ with his Spirit, or from a sense of the excellency and sweetness of coromunion and fellowship with God, or from a sense of the graciousness and goodness of God towards him, or from a sense of singular influences and incomes from God, or from a sense of the choice and precious discoveries of God, or from a sense of the beauty and glory of God, &c., this argues a very great measure of holiness, that such a person hath attained to.i The more the sweet ^ Ps. cxix. 1-3; 1 John i. 1-4; Isa. xxxviii. 16,17,19, 20; Pa. Ixiii. 1-3.

looks of Christ, the secret visits of Christ, the private whispers of Christ, the divine joggings of Christ, the blessed love-tokens of Christ, and the holy kisses and glorious embraces of Christ doth incite and provoke a person to religious duties, the greater degrees of holiness that person hath reached to; but now it is an argument that the streams of holiness runs but low, when external motives and considerations have the greatest hand in carrying a person on in religious duties. The more bare custom, the eye of the creature, the favour of the creature, the example of the creature, the applause of the creature, the rewards of the creature, or the keeping up of a man's parts, or the keeping up of a man's name, esteem, and repute in the world doth influence a Christian's heart to religious duties, the less holiness that Christian hath. Yea, it is considerable, that outward motives and natural principles have carried many heathens to do many great and glorious things in the world. Did not Sisera do as great things as Gideon ? the difference did only lie here, that the great things that Gideon did, he did from more spiritual principles and raised considerations than any Sisera was acted by. And did not Diogenes trample under his feet the great and glorious things of this world as well as Moses ? the difference did only lie in this, that Moses trampled under his feet the gay and gallant things of this world from inward, holy principles, and from high and glorious considerations and motives, whereas Diogenes did only trample upon them from poor, low principles, and from carnal and external considerations.

I have read of one Cosmus Medici, a rich citizen of Florence, that he confessed to a near friend of his that he built so many magnificent structures, and spent so much on scholars and libraries, not for any love to learning, but to raise up to himself the trophies of fame and renown. And many of the Romans have done very great and glorious things for their country, but all from natural principles, and from carnal and external motives and considerations, as for a great name, a puff of honour, a little applause, &c., and therefore their most glorious actions have been but shining sins, Jer. xxxii. 23. God always writes a nothing upon all those services wherein men's principles and their ends are naught and low. It was a notable saying of Luther, ' One work of a Christian,' saith he, * is more precious than heaven and earth, and if I might have my desire, I would rather choose the meanest work of a country Christian, or poor maid, than all the victories and triumphs of Alexander the Great and of Julius Ceesar, because whatsoever a saint doth, though it be never so small and mean, yet it is great and glorious, because he doth all in faith and by the word.' And saith the same author further, ' Let our works be never so small, servile, womanish, yet let but this title be added, the word of the Lord, and then they will be all glorious, yea, such as shall remain to all eternity.' 0 sirs, all our works and services must be wrought from God, for God, in God, and according to God, or else they will be but splendida peccata, glistering sins. Well, the more spiritual and internal the principles, motives, and considerations are that carries a Christian on in religious duties, the greater measure of holiness hath that Christian arrived to. But,

[9.] Ninthly, The more solid, precise, exact, and accurate a Chris-

tian is in religious duties and services, the greater measure of holiness that Christian hath attained to ; and the more any Christian groios in holiness, the more spiritual, the more savoury, the more exact and accurate he ivill groio in all his religious services and performances. The more a Christian's heart is endeared to religious duties, and the more his heart is affected with the heavenly nature of religious duties, and the more easily, the more holily, the more freely, and the more spiritually he performs religious duties, the more he is thriven and grown in holiness. A young carpenter gives more blows, and makes more noise and chips than an old experienced workman doth, but the old experienced workman doth his work more solidly, more exactly, and more accurately than the young carpenter doth; so many young Christians, that are but newly entered into the trade of Christianity, and that are raised up but to a very small degree of sanctity, these may multiply duties upon duties, these may abound in religious performances, these may be much in adding of service to service; but yet the aged and experienced Christian in grace and holiness doth duties more solidly, more spiritually, more exactly, and more accurately than the young Christian doth. We must never judge of an eminency in holiness by the number or multitude of our duties, but by the seriousness, the graciousness, the solidness, the spiritualness, the holiness, the heavenliness, and the accurateness of our hearts in duties. A young musician may play longer and more quick and nimble upon an instrument than an old musician can, but yet the old musician plays with more art, accurateness, skill, judgment, and understanding than a young musician doth. So young Christians in grace and holiness may hold out longer, and be quicker and nimbler in religious duties, than others that are more aged in grace and holiness ; but yet they that are aged in grace and holiness do perform religious duties with more spiritual art and accurateness, and with more divine skill, judgment, and understanding than they do in whom the spring of holiness runs low, A young scholar may run over more paper, and write more paper, and make more letters than his master doth, but yet his master writes more understandingly, exactly, and accurately than he doth. So many young converts may run over more duties than others, and yet others may perform duties more understandingly, and more exactly, and more accurately than they do. Let the duty be never so short, yet if there be much spiritualness, hoh-ness, brokenness, seriousness, and accurateness in it, it will carry all before it, it will win the blessing and obtain the crown, when the longest duties, wherein there is no such frame nor temper of spirit, shall not prevail with God at all, Zech. vii. 4-6; Isa, Iviii. 1-6. It argues a very great measure of holiness when the soul is habitually carried on in religious duties with much solidness, seriousness, spiritualness, exactness, and accurateness. But,

[10.] Tenthly, The mo7-e any man makes it his great business and tuork, in all his duties, ways, and loalkings, to approve himself to God, and to he accepted of God, the greater height of holiness that man hath attained to, Jer. xii. 3; Ps. xvii. 2. David was a man of great holiness ; and how studious and industrious he was to approve his heart to the Lord you may see in that Ps. cxxxix, 23,24,' Search me, 0 God, and know my

heart: try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' '^ The psalmist knew that God had an eye upon him, both at home and abroad, both at bed and at board, both in public and in private, both in his family and in his closet; he knew that God had an eye in every corner of his house, and in every corner of his heart, and therefore he appeals to God, and he approves his heart to God, and nobly ventures upon the trial of God, ' Search me, 0 God, and know my heart,' &c. This frequent repetition and doubling of words, ' Search me, 0 God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts,' &c., doth not only note the earnestness and seriousness of David's spirit in prayer, but also the soundness, the uprightness, the plainness, and the unfeignedness of David's heart, in that he was very willing and ready to submit himself to the search, trial, examination, and approbation of God. And so Peter, that great apostle of the Gentiles,^ makes it his great business to approve himself to Christ thrice together, ' Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Lord, thou that knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee,' John xxi. 15-17. Christ best knew the reality and sincerity of Peter s love, and therefore Peter appeals to him, as to a judge that would be sure to judge righteous judgment, ' Thou knowest that I love thee.' And so the apostle Paul, speaking in the name of his fellow-apostles, saith, ' Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him,' 2 Cor. v. 9. The Greek word that is here rendered labour, is a very emphatical word, [(f)cXoTtfji>ov/jLe6a.'\ It signifies to labour and endeavour with all earnestness and might, to endeavour with a high and holy ambition, to be approved of by God, and to be accepted of God, judging it to be the greatest honour and the most desirable happiness in all the world to be graciously owned, approved, and accepted of the Lord. As ambitious, industrious, and laborious as Haman was to be highly accepted with king Ahasuerus, yet he was not more ambitious to be accepted with the king, than the apostles were ambitious to be accepted of the King of kings. 0 sirs, when in every sermon you hear, and in every prayer you make, and in every fast you keep, and in every action you do, and in every way that you walk, and in every mercy that you enjoy, and in every cross that you bear, &c., you make it your great business and work to approve yourselves to the Lord, and that though the world should discountenance you, and friends hate you, and near and dear relations reject you, that yet you may find blessed acceptance with God, this argues holiness to be upon the throne. When in all your dealings and tradings with God you make it your heaven to approve yourselves to God, and when in all your transactions with men you make it your happiness to approve yourselves to God, it is an argument that the springs of holiness are risen high in your souls. But,

[11.] Eleventhly, TAe more a man lives by the rule of expediency, as ivell as by the rule of laiofulness, the greater measure of holiness that person hath attained to, John xvi. 7; 2 Cor. viii. 10. Weak holiness hath only an eye upon the rule of lawfulness, but raised

^ The Hebrew word, ''^"IprT, chakreni, signifies a very strict, careful, diligent search and inquisition, &c. * Qu. ' Of the Jews' ?—G.

holiness hatli one eye upon the rule of lawfulness, and the other upon the rule of expediency. Weak holiness saith, Oh, this is lawful, and that is lawful! Oh, but faith-raised holiness, is it expedient ? is it expedient as well as lawful ? That angelical apostle, Paul, had still his eye upon the law of expediency: 1 Cor. vi. 12, ' All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.' And so chap. X, 23, ' All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but aU things edify not.' And so in that 2 Cor. xii. 1, ' It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory.' Many things may be lawful, that yet may be very inexpedient for our place, state, calling, and condition in the world. It was lawful for the apostle to eat meat, but it was not expedient for him to eat meat; when his eating of meat would make his weak brother to offend, or grieve, or stumble, or fall, Rom. xiv. 21. And therefore he resolves that, rather than he will eat meat to offend, he will never eat meat whilst the world stands, 1 Cor. viii. 13, The more unchangeably resolved any person is to eye the rule of expediency, and to live by the rule of expediency, the greater measure of holiness that person hath certainly attained to. The streams of holiness runs low in that Christian's heart, that hath two eyes to behold the rule of lawfulness, but never an eye to see the rule of expediency. It argues a very great height of holiness for a man to make as much conscience of living by the rule of expediency, as he doth of living by the rule of lawfulness. For a man to be often a-looking over his natural actions, his moral actions, and his religious actions, and to be still a-putting this question to himself, 0 my soul! dost thou eye what is expedient ? dost thou eye as well what is expedient as what is lawful ? such a frame and temper of spirit speaks out much of Christ and holiness within. Oh the sins! oh the sorrows! oh the shame! oh the reproach! oh the troubles! oh the travails ! oh the trials, &c., that might have been prevented, had the law, had the rule of expediency been more minded and followed by Christians in these days, &c. But,

[12.] Twelfthly and lastly. The more a man can deny himself, when he hath an opportunity, 'power, and authority to raise himself, to greaten himself to seek himself, and to lift up himself, the greater measure of holiness that man hath attained to. Providence often puts many a rare and fair opportunity into Moses his hand, whereby he might have raised himself, and have greatened himself in the world, and yet then, even then, he denies himself; and Nehemiah was a man of the same mind and mettle. He stood upon the advantage ground, to have greatened himself, and to have lifted up himself as others had done before him; but instead of this he lessens himself, he denies himself, he degrades himself, and being of a very noble, generous, public spirit, he turns his back upon his own worldly interest, and keeps a very free and bountiful table, upon the account of his own particular revenue, and not upon the account of a public purse, l And so Daniel was one in spirit with the former: Dan. i. 8-11, ' When God had brought him into high favour with the prince of ' Exod. sxxii. 9-15; Deut. ix. 13,14,18-20; Heb. xii. 24, 25; Neh. v. 14, ««g'.

the eunuchs, and given him a great deal of heart-room there, yet upon no terms would he defile himself with the king's meat, or comply with the requests of the prince of the eunuchs. It argues a great deal of holiness for a man to deny his temporal self, to dethrone his temporal self, when he stands upon the advantage ground to advance his temporal self, and to throne his temporal self in the world, Eev. iv. 10, 11.

I have read of Trajan the emperor, how he sent Eustochius, one of his chiefest captains, against the barbarians, who having vanquished them, returned home. The emperor being very joyful at this good news goes to meet him, and brings him gloriously into the city. Now Eustochius being high in the emperor's favour, it was but ask and have, speak and speed; but on this very day of pomp, triumph, and glory, he chose rather to suffer the martyrdom of himself, his wife, and children, than with the emperor to offer sacrifice to Apollo; and so denies himself, and all his present pomp and glory, when he might greatly have enriched himself and advanced himself, i Nothing speaks out greater measures of holiness, than for a man to deny himself when he may seek himself, and exalt himself if he pleases.

I have read of a godly man, who being sorely tempted by Satan, was much in duty; to whom Satan said. Why takest thou this pains ? thou dost watch, and fast, and pray, and abstainest from the sins of the times. But, 0 man! what dost thou more than I do ? art thou no drunkard ? no more am I; art thou no adulterer ? no more am I; dost thou watch ? why, let me tell thee, I never slept; dost thou fast ? why, I never ate nor drank; what dost thou more than I do ? Why, I will tell thee, Satan, said the holy man, I pray, I serve the Lord, nay, more than all this, I deny myself: Nay, then, saith Satan, thou goest beyond me, for I am proud, and I exalt myself, and so vanished. Oh the excellency of self-denial! and oh the holiness and the happiness of that man that can deny himself, that can debase himself, that can even trample upon himself, when he hath power and authority in his own hand to greaten himself and to exalt himself! Power and authority will try what mettle men are made of. All, how many have there been among us of late years, who, when they have had no power nor authority in their hands to help themselves, have seemed to be great deniers of themselves ; but no sooner had they power and authority in their hands, but ah, what self-love, what self-interest, what self-seeking, and what self-exalting was to be found amongst them! Oh, how have many among them, instead of loving God to the contempt of themselves, loved themselves to the contempt of God ! and who, instead of debasing themselves that they might exalt God, have debased God that they might exalt themselves, and who, instead of losing themselves that they might find God, have lost God that they might find themselves.

These put me in mind of the abbot in Melanchthon, who lived strictly, and looked demurely, and walked humbly, so long as he was but a monk, but when, by his seeming sanctity and humility, he had got to be abbot, he grew most intolerable proud and insolent, &c., and being asked the reason of it, he confessed that his former lowly looks was ^ Rather Eustachius: Clarke, as before, p. 27.—G.

but to see if he could find the keys of the abbey. How many such abbots we have had amongst us, you all know. Ah, how rare is it to find a man to deny himself, when he is advantaged to seek himself. Such a man is worth gold, but this iron age affords few such golden men. Where this frame of spirit is, there the streams of holiness runs deep. And thus nmch for this use of trial and examination.

And so I come now to the last use of this doctrine, and that is for comfort and consolation to all those that have this real holiness, loith-out lohich there is no happiness. 0 sirs! open wide the everlasting doors of your souls, that not a river, but a sea of joy and comfort may flow in upon you. For,

[1.] First, Know for your comfort, that real holiness is the seal of your eternal election. Some are elected to glorious offices in this world, others are elected to eternal glory in the other world. Judas was chosen to be an apostle on earth, but not to be a saint in heaven, John vi. 70; but the Thessalonians were elected to eternal glory in heaven, though they were not chosen to any glorious offices here on earth, 1 Thes. i. 4. It may be thou art a poor creature, that never wast, nor never art like to be, elected to any noble or honourable employments, either in church or state. Oh, but if thou art a holy person, then know for thy everlasting comfort, that thy real holiness is a real seal of thine eternal election. It is the counterpane,^ as it were, of all that gracious love, good-will, and eternal favour that God bears unto thee: Eph. i. 4, ' He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy.' God did not choose us either because we were holy, or because he did foresee that in time we would be holy, but he chose us to that very end that we should be holy. Look, as Esther was first chosen out among the virgins, Esth. i., and then purified and decked with rich and royal ornaments and garments, before she was brought into the presence of the king: so God first chooses poor sinners, and then he purifies them, and adorns them with the rich and glorious garments of grace and holiness, Ps. xlv. 13, that so they may be meet and fit to enter into his royal presence: 1 Thes. i. 4, ' Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.' Ver. 5, ' For our gospel came not unto you in word only; but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost' Ver. 9, 'And how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.' When the gospel comes in power and in the Holy Ghost, and turns persons from idols to serve the living God, it is a clear and evident sign of their election. Keal sanctification is a sure evidence, a fair copy of a man's election. Look, as the pattern is known by the picture, and the cause by the effect; so election is known by real sanctification.

A Christian need never put himself to the charge of making a ladder to climb up to heaven, to search the records of glory, to see whether his name is written in the book of life, in the book of election or no, but rather make a strict and diligent inquiry whether he be really and thoroughly sanctified or no; for where there is real sanctification, there the glorious image of God's election is in the golden characters stamped upon the soul. A man may have his name set down in the chronicles, yet lost; wrought in durable marble, yet perish; set upon a monu-

^ ' Counterpart'—G.

ment equal to a Colossus, yet be ignominious; inscribed on tlie hospital gates, yet go to hell; written in the front of his own house, yet another come to possess it. All these are but writings in the dust, or upon the waters, where the characters perish so soon as they are made ; they no more prove a man happy than the fool could prove Pontius Pilate happy because his name was written in the creed; but in real sancti-fication a man may see his name so written in the book of God's election, as that it shall remain legible to all eternity. ^ But,

[2.] Secondly, If thou art a holy person, if thou hast that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, that the Lord takes singular plea^sure, delight^ and complacency, both in thy holiness and in thy person: Ps. cxlix. 4,5, ' For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people ; he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds.' The Hebrew word rotseh, that is here rendered pleasure, is from ratsah, that signifies pleasure, delight, complacency, content, &c. Oh! God takes singular pleasure, singular delight, singular complacency, and singular content in all his saints, in all his sanctified ones. Holiness is the express image of God, and therefore he cannot but take pleasure in it, and in all those that bear it: Zeph. iii. 13, ' The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth.' Well! here are glorious characters of their holiness; but what pleasure, what delight, &c., doth God take in these holy ones ? Why, certainly very much, as you may see in ver. 17, ' The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy ; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.' Look, as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, Isa. Ixii. 4, 5, so will the Lord rejoice over his holy ones; and look, what delight, complacency, and content the bridegroom takes in his bride, the same, yea, greater, God takes in all his sanctified ones. Yea, look, as a fond father joys over his dear child that he carries in his arms, or dandles upon his knee with singing: so God will joy over all his holy ones, which are his fondlings, with singing; such is the singular delight, satisfaction, and content that he takes in them. Look, as the husbandman delights much in that ground that was once barren, but is now fruitful; and as the captain takes a great deal of pleasure in that soldier that once run from his colours, but is now returned, and fights valiantly and resolutely against all opposers and adversaries; and as the father takes a great deal of joy, content, and satisfaction in the return, reformation, and amendment of his prodigal son, Luke xv., even so a holy God is wonderfully delighted, pleased, enamoured, and even overjoyed, when such as brought forth nothing but the thorns and briers of wickedness, Heb. vi, 7, 8, do now bring forth the pleasant fruits of righteousness and holiness, Heb. ii. 10 ; and when such as have run from Christ the captain of their salvation, and run from their profession, and run from their principles, and run almost from everything that is good, shall now return to the captain of their salvation, and fight it out most valiantly and resolutely

^ The preceding paragraph is inadvertently unaccredited by Brooks to Thomas Adams ; from his ' Happiness of the Church' it is almost verbally taken. Works, vol. ii. 493, teq. —G.

against the world, the flesh, and the devil; and when such as have proved prodigals, and spent all that portion, all that stock, and all that treasure that they have been intrusted with, shall now break off their sins, and humble themselves, and reform their lives, and mend their ways; God is so infinitely pleased and delighted in these, that he records their names in heaven: Luke x. 20, ' Bejoice not in this, that the spirits are subjects unto you ; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.' It is matter of the greatest joy in the world, for a man to have his name enrolled in heaven. Look, as it is the sinner's hell that his name is engrossed in the book of perdition, so it is the believer's heaven that his name is engrossed in the book of election.

I have read of a senator i who, relating to his son the great honours that were assigned to some soldiers whose names were written in a certain book, whereupon the son was very importunate to see that book. His father shews him the outside, and it seemed so glorious that he earnestly desired him to open it. No, saith the father, by no means, for it is sealed by the council. Then saith the son, pray tell me if my name be written there : his father replies no; because all the names of those soldiers were kept secret in the breasts of the senators. The son, studying how he might get some satisfaction, desired his father to acquaint him with the merits of those soldiers whose names were written in that book. The father relates to him their noble achievements, and worthy acts of valour, wherewith they had eternized their names. Such are written, said he, and none but such must be written in this book. Whereupon the son, consulting with his own heart that he had no such trophies to shew, but had spent his time in courting of ladies, rather than in encountering of knights, and that he was better for a dance than for a march, and that he knew no drum but the tabret, nor no courage but to be drunk and rant; hereupon he presently retired himself, repented, entered into a combat with his own lusts and affections, and subdued them, and became temperate, continent, valiant, and virtuous. Now, when the soldiers came to receive their wreaths, their crowns, their honours, &c., he steps in and challenges a wreath, a crown for himself. But being asked upon what title his challenge was grounded, he answered, If honours be given to conquerors, then they must be given to me too, for I have gotten the noblest conquest of all. And it being demanded wherein, he answered, These have subdued strange foes, and conquered their outward enemies, but I have subdued myself, I have conquered the enemies that were in my own bosom. 0 sirs, there are no men's names written in the book of life but theirs who by grace and holiness have subdued and brought under their sinful selves, and who have conquered the corruptions that be in their own bosoms, that is, in respect of love and dominion. Many there be who are exceeding inquisitive to know whether their names are written in heaven or no. I would say to such, there is no such way to know this as by your holiness. Hast thou broke off thy sins by sound repentance ? Hath the gospel changed thy inside and thy outside ? Hath it made thee a new creature, and turned thee from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to

^ Tacitus.

Jesus Christ? &c. Then, without all peradventure, thy name is written in heaven, and thou art the person that hast the greatest cause in the world to joy and rejoice.^

Again, the holy Christian is the best Christian in the world, nay, he is such a one ' of whom this world is not worthy,' and therefore God cannot but take singular pleasure and delight in him. Many there are which are accounted deep scholars, great linguists, profound philosophers, good grammarians, excellent mathematicians, sharp logicians, cunning politicians, fine rhetoricians, sweet musicians, &c., but the truth is, he is the best grammarian that hath learned to speak the truth from his heart, and he is the best astronomer that hath his conversation in heaven, and he is the best musician that hath learnt practically to sing out the praises of God, and he is the best arithmetician that knows how to number his days, and he is the best read in ethics that every day grows holier and holier, and he is the best skilled in economics that trains up his family in the fear of the Lord, and he is the best politician that is as good at taking good counsel as he is at giving good counsel, and he is the best linguist that speaks the language of Canaan; and therefore God cannot but take the greatest content and satisfaction in such.

Again, the holy Christian is the only man for whom God hath wrought the greatest miracles. He can tell you that he was blind, but now God hath given him eyes to see sin to be the greatest evil, and Christ to be the choicest good. He can tell you that once he was 60 deaf, that though God called very often and very loud upon him, by his word and by his works, by his rods at home and by his judgments abroad, and by his Spirit and conscience that were still a-preaching in his bosom, sometimes life, sometimes death, sometimes heaven, and sometimes hell, yet he could not hear ; but now God hath given him a hearing ear, so that now he can with delight hear the sweet music of the promises on the one hand; and with a holy trembling listen to the voice of divine threatenings on the other hand. He can tell you that once he was so dumb, that if he might have had the whole world he could not have spoke a good word for God, nor for his ways, nor for his people, nor for his ordinances, nor for any of his concernments in the world. 2 Oh! but now his tongue is as the pen of a ready writer, Ps. xlv. 1, and he is never better than when he is a-speaking either of God, or for God and his concernments. Now he can contend for the faith, and speak for saints, and plead for ordinances, and though in some cases he may want power to act for God, yet he never wants a tongue to speak for God. The spouse's lips drop honeycombs, in that Cant. iv. 11; 'And the tongue of the just is as choice silver,' in that Prov. x. 20; yea, his tongue is a tree of life, whose leaves are medicinable, in that Prov. xii. 18. He can tell you that once he was so lame, that he was not able to move one foot heavenwards or Christ-wards, or holiness-wards, &c.; but now his feet delights, not only to go, but to run in all the ways of God's commands, Ps. cxix. 32. Yea,

^ Phil. iv. 3 ; Heb. xi. 38. Seneca, though a heathen, saw bo much excellency that morality put upon a man, that he cries out. Ipse aspectus boni viri delectat, The very looks of a good man delights one. Sapiens Dei comes est, saith Philo.

* The very heathen could say, Qtiando sapiens loquitur, aulea animi aperit, When a vise man speaketh, he openeth the rich treasure and wardrobe of his mind.

he can tell you that once he was dead, as to all his Boul-concernments, but now he is alive, and the life that he leads in the flesh is by the faith of the Son of God, that hath loved him and given himself for him, Gal. ii. 20. It was by a miracle that the river Jordan was driven back, and it is no less a miracle to see a sinner that was accustomed to do evil, habituated now to do good. That the tide of sin, which before did run so strong, should be so easily turned, that the sinner which a little before was sailing hellward, and wanted neither wind nor tide to carry him thither, should now on a sudden alter his course, and tack about for heaven—what a miracle is this! To see the earthly man become heavenly, a carnal man become spiritual, a loose man become precise, a proud man become humble, a covetous man become liberal, and a fro ward man become meek, &c., is to behold no less than miracles. To see a sinner move cross and contrary to himself in the ways of Christ and holiness, should be as wonderful in our eyes, as to see the sun go backward, or the earth to fly upward, or the dead to raise themselves, or the bowl to run contrary to its own bias. Now how can God but take infinite delight and pleasure in his holy ones, considering the many miracles that he hath wrought both in them and for them ?

Again, there are no persons under heaven that take any real pleasure, delight, content, and satisfaction in God, but those that are holy, Ps. iv, 6, 7. The worldling takes pleasure and delight in his bags, and the ambitious man in his honours, and the voluptuous man in his pleasures, and the malicious man in his revenge, and the envious man in the harms that befalls others, and the drunkard in his cups, and the adulterer in his harlots, and the gamester in his shifts and tricks, and the player in his fopperies, fooleries, and mockeries. It is only the holy man that takes pleasure and delight in God, as you may see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together.! To delight and take pleasure in God, is a work too high, too hard, too spiritual, and too noble for any but holy persons. There are none headed, nor hearted, nor spirited, nor anointed, nor principled, for taking pleasure in God, but holy ones. Abraham did not take more pleasure in his Isaac, nor Jacob did not take more delight in his Joseph, nor David did not take more satisfaction in his Absalom, nor Jonah did not take more content in his gourd, than a holy man, when he is himself, tiikes pleasure, delight, satisfaction, and content in God; and therefore how can God but take pleasure and delight in him? Shall the child take delight in the father, and shall not the father delight again in the child ? and shall the wife take pleasure and satisfaction in the husband, and shall not the husband take pleasure and satisfaction again in her? Look, as God hates them that hate him, so he takes pleasure in them that take pleasure in him. Now what a singular cordial and comfort is this to all God's holy ones, that God takes singular pleasure, delight, satisfaction, and content in them. What though the world hate you, and scorn you, and despise you, and prefer every Barabbas and Judas before you, yet cheer up your spirits with this cordial, and warm your hearts at this fire, that God takes singular pleasure and delight in you.

^ Job xxii 25, 26 ; Cant. ii. 3, and vii. 6; Ps. xxiiii. 2, and xlviii. 11; Isa. xli. 16 ; Joel ii. 23 ; Hab. iii. 18; Zech. x. 7.

What cares the child though others slight him, so long as his father at home delights in him; and what cares the wife though others despise her, as long as her husband at home honours her, and takes pleasure in her ; and what cares the innocent person though the malefactor at the bar rails upon him, as long as the judge upon the bench acquits him ; and what should a Christian care though all the world should abhor him, as long as the Lord takes singular pleasure and delight in him ? But,

[3.] Tliirdly, if thou art a holy person, if thou hast that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, tlmt thy 7'eal holiness is a substantial evidence of thy real union tvith Christ. All true holiness is the immediate fruit of our real union with Christ. 1 Upon our union with Christ, Christ is made not only wisdom, righteousness, and redemption, but he is also made sanctifica-tion to us, 1 Cor. i. 30. Christ and a holy person are one, as father and son are one, and they are one, as the vine and the branches are one, and they are one, as head and members are one; and they are one, as the foundation and the building are one; and they are one as husband and wife are one, and that which speaks out their oneness, their union, is their holiness. He that is in Christ is a new creature, 2 Cor. V. 17. He that is ingrafted into Christ, he that is initiated into Christ, he that is united unto Christ, he is a new creature; he hath a new head, a new heart, a new lip, a new life, a new spirit, new principles, and new ends; he can truly say with that convert. Ego non sum ego: I am not the man that I was; of a lion, holiness hath made me a lamb; of a wolf, holiness hath made me a sheep; of a raven, holiness hath made me a dove, &c. And what doth all this speak out but a man's being in Christ, but a man s union with Christ ? Renovation speaks out union, and union speaks out renovation. Eenewing by Christ speaks out the soul's in-being in Christ, and the soul's in-being in Christ speaks out the soul's renewing by Christ. Look, as there could be no depravation but from our union with the first Adam, so there can be no renovation but through our union with the second Adam, Col. iii. 10. But,

[4.] Fourthly, If thou art a holy person, if thou hast that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, that God ivill certainly bless all thy blessings to thee, and he will bless every estate and condition to thee, Ps. xxxiv. 12-14. Most men have many blessings, but it is only the holy man that hath his blessings blest unto him: Gen. xxii. 17, ' In blessing I will bless thee,' saith God to holy Abraham, i.e., I will bless thy blessings to- thee. The holy person is in covenant with a holy God, and therefore all the blessings of the covenant are his. All they that partake of the holiness of the covenant, they shall certainly partake of the blessings of the covenant.'^ Now this is one of the blessings of the covenant, that all our blessings shall be blessed unto us. 0 Christian ! all thy right hand blessings shall be blessed unto thee, and all thy left hand blessings shall be blessed unto thee ; all the blessings of the upper springs shall be blessed unto

^ John xvii. 20, 21, and xv. 5; Eph. iv. "16 ; 1 Pet. ii. 4-6 ; Epb. v. 25, to the end.

* Ps. 1. 5, and cv. 42; Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26; Zcch. iii. 3, 4 ; Ps. Ixxxiv. 11; Prov. lii. 21, &c.

VOL. IV. 2 D

tliee, and all the blessings of the lower springs shall be blessed unto thee; and all the blessings of the throne shall be blessed unto thee, and all the blessings of the footstool shall be blessed unto thee.i And as all thy blessings shall be blessed unto thee, so every estate and every condition shall be blessed unto thee ; thou shalt be blessed in health, and blessed in sickness; blessed in strength, and blessed in weakness; blessed in wealth, and blessed in want; blessed in honour, and blessed in dishonour ; blessed in life, and blessed in death; thou shalt be blessed at home, and blessed abroad; blessed at board, and blessed at bed; blessed lying down, and blessed rising up; blessed in liberty, and blessed in bonds. Look, as all the blessings of a wicked man are cursed unto him; and as all the relations of a wicked man are cursed unto him, and as all estates and conditions that are incident to a wicked man are cursed unto him; so all the blessings of a holy man are blessed unto him, and all the relations of a holy man are blessed unto him, and all estates and conditions that are incident to a holy man are blessed unto him.2 Isaac tills the ground, and sows his seed, and God blesses him with a hundredfold. Gen, xxvi. 12; and Cain tills the ground, and sows his seed, but the earth is cursed to him, and commanded not to yield to him her strength. Gen. iv. 12. But,

[5.] Fifthly, If thou art a holy person, if thou art one that hast that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, that thy holiness is a glorious witness and evidence of thy effectual vocation: 1 Pet. i. 15, 'As he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.' Many are externally called that are not internally called, and many are ineffectually called that are not effectually called, 1 Pet. ii. 9. But now, real holiness, that speaks out an internal call, an effectual call, a call out of darkness into marvellous light, it speaks out such a call as makes sinners saints, slaves sons, enemies friends, and strangers favourites. As Joseph, a stranger, was called out of a prison, a dungeon, and made a very great favourite in Pharaoh's court, Gen. xli.; so real holiness is a glorious witness and evidence that you are effectually called out of the prison of sin, and the dungeon of wrath, and made a favourite to the King of glory, 2 Tim. i. 9 ; 1 Pet. v. 10; Gal. iv. 6. The author of this call is a holy God. Our holy calling depends upon the purpose of God, the power of God, and the grace and good pleasure of God. The means of our holy calling are the Spirit of God and the word of God; and the ends of our calling are holiness and the glory of God. 0 sirs, you are not called upon the account of your parents' faith or nobility, nor upon the account of any intrinsecal virtues in you, nor upon the account of any extrinsecal services done by you, but upon the account of God's peculiar election and particular vocation; and therefore by holiness make good the honour of your high calling. And if any should object against you the meanness of your birth and outward calling, put them in mind of your high and holy calling, and ask them what they think of Lazarus, that is now asleep in Abraham's

* A little blest is better than a world enjoyed. If thou art a holy man, the God of all mercies, and all the mercies of God, the God of all comforts, and all the comforts of God, are thine, and what wouldst thou have more ?

* Prov. iii. 33 ; Mai. ii. 1-3j Lev. xxvi.; Deut. xxviii.

bosom. And if others should object against you your former wickedness, and cast your sins as dirt.and dung in your faces, let them know-that St Paul can tell them from heaven, that though once he was a wretched blasphemer, and a bloody persecutor, that yet now he is a glorious saint in heaven. But,

[6.] Sixthly, If thou art a holy person, if thou art one that hast this real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, that thy holiness is a blessed evidence of thy adoption and sonship, John i. 12; Kom. viii. 17. If thou art a holy person, then of a child of wrath thou art become a child of God, a child of love; and of an heir of hell thou art become an heir of heaven ; and of a slave thou art become a son: Gal. iv. 4, 5, 7, ' But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son:' Kom. viii. 14, ' For as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.' The leadings of the Spirit are all holy leadings, and there are none that are the sons of God but such as are under the holy leadings of the Spirit of God: Phil. ii. 15, ' That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.' There are none worthy of this title of honour— viz., the sons of God—but such who in the main of their lives and conversations are blameless and harmless, without rebuke, and that are as shining lights in the world.

There are two ways whereby we may know fire to be real fire, and that differences real fire from painted fire, or from imaginary fire ; the first is by the heat of it, and the other is by the flame of it. Now, though sometimes it so falls out that the fire do not flame, yet at that very time you may know it to be real fire by the heat it gives. So there are two ways of knowing our adoption; the first is by the spirit of adoption, crying 'Abba! Father! in our hearts,' Gal. iv. 6 ; and the other is by our sanctification and holiness, Kom. viii. 16. Now, though sometimes it may so fall out that the flame, the witness of the spirit of adoption, may be wanting, yet the heat of sanctification and holiness remains, and we may have recourse to this fire, and warm our hearts at it, and sit down satisfied and assured of our adoption ; for as fire may be known to be fire by its heat, though it want a flame ; so though the spirit of adoption do not witness our adoption to us, yet we may know our adoption by our real sanctification and holiness. Every holy person is a high-born person, for as his divine birth, so his divine adoption is high, very high, exceeding high, yea even as high as heaven itself, John iii. 5, 8, and i. 12,13. It is a very high honour to be the son of a king, yea to be the son-in-law of a king, for so David reckoned it: 1 Sam. xviii. 23, 24, ' Seemeth it' (saithheto Saul's servant) 'alight thing to you to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am vile and lightly esteemed ?' Oh then what an honour it is to be the son of God, to be the son of the King of kings, and Lord of lords ! Kev. i, 6. It is a very high honour to be God's servant, and so David accounted it, as you may see in that 2 Sam. vii. 5, 8. And so did Theodosius the emperor, and Constantino the Great, and many others account it. Oh

then what an honour must it be to be God's son ! The blessed apostle cannot speak of this hio^h privilege but with great admiration ; as you may see in that 1 John iii. 1, ' Behold what manner of loA^e the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God/ It is an infinite condescension in God, to honour us with the title of sons, and therefore we should never think of it, nor never speak of it, but with much admiration. 0 sirs! what matter of admiration is this, that the great and glorious God, who hath many millions of glorious angels waiting on him, that he should look upon all holy persons as his sons, and that he should love them as sons, and delight in them as sons, and clothe them as sons, and feed them as sons, and protect them as sons, and stand by them as sons, and lay up for them as sons, and lay out himself for them as sons, that they that have not deserved a smile from God, a good word from God, a bit of bread from God, or a good look from God, should be made the sons of God ? What manner of love is this, that they that have so highly provoked God, that they that have walked so cross and contrary to God, that they that were so exceeding unlike to God, that they that have preferred every lust, and every toy and vanity before God, that they that have fought many years under Satan's banner against God, that they that have refused all the offers of mercy that hath been made by God, that they that have deserved to be reprobated by God, to be damned by God, and to be thrown to hell by God, that these should be made the sons of God ? Oh stand and wonder ! oh stand and admire at the freeness of grace, and at the riches of grace ! But,

[7.] Seventhly, If thou art a holy person, if thou art one that hast that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, tliat thou art an undoubted lieir of everlasting glory: i Kom. viii. 29, 30, * For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son' (that is, in holiness,) ' that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.' Holiness is a most sure earnest and pawn of glory: 2 Thes. ii. 13, ' God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit;' Mat. v. 8, * Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;' 1 John iii. 2, 3, ' When he shall appear, we shall be like him ' (that is, in glory) ' for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure.' He that hath a real hope, a lively hope, of being like to Christ in glory, and of reigning with Clirist in heaven, will set roundly upon the work of self-purifying. There is no hope to that hope that runs out into holiness, and that leads the soul on to the highest degrees of purification, and that enables a man to set up Christ's purity as the most perfect pattern and exact copy for his imitation: Titus iii. 4-7, ' But after that the kindness and lOve of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to ^ Horn. viii. 16-18 ; James ii. 5 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.

the hope of eternal life.' Holiness is an infallible forerunner of glory; it is the firstfruits of that eternal happiness and blessedness that God hath laid up for his children in the highest heavens. And oh, what cause of joy and gladness should this be to every holy heart 1 What though thou shouldst never have a good day more on earth; what though all the springs of comfort should be dried up on thy right hand and on thy left hand ; what though God should never smile on thee more in this world ; what though the remaining part of thy life should be filled up with crosses, losses, troubles, and trials; what though God should let Satan loose to tempt thee, and wicked men grow strong to oppress thee, and friends turn enemies to grieve thee; yea, what if thou shouldst go to thy grave with tears in thy eyes, and with sorrow in thy heart; yet as long as thou art sure that thou art an heir of glory, and that all the happiness of heaven is thine, and that thy crown is safe, and that thou shalt be for ever filled and satisfied with those everlasting pleasures and delights that be at God's right hand, Ps. xvi. 11; thou hast cause to joy and rejoice in the midst of all thy sorrows and sufferings, yea, to glory and triumph in the hopes and expectations of a kingdom that shakes not, of a crown that withers not, of riches that corrupt not, and of an inheritance that fadeth not away.i 0 sirs ! it is not all the silks of Persia, nor all the spices of Egypt, nor all the gold of Ophir, nor all the treasures of both Indies, nor all the crowns and sceptres in the world, no, nor yet the worth of ten thousand worlds, that are to be compared with that glory that is treasured up for all God's holy ones. They have an inheritance reserved in heaven for them that cannot be moth-eaten, nor spoiled by hostile invasion, nor wrung from them by power, nor won from them by law, nor mortgaged for debt, nor impaired by public calamity, nor plundered by thieves and robbers, nor changed by kings or parliaments, no, nor violated by death itself; and therefore, what infinite cause of joy and rejoicing have all such that are interested in such an inheritance, and in such a perfect happiness and complete blessedness that is reserved in heaven for all God's holy ones ? Oh, what a singular comfort must this be to a Christian, in the midst of all his miseries and distresses, when he is able to look upon God, and say. This ' God is my God for ever and ever, and he shall be my guide to glory,' Ps. Ixxiii. 24 ; and when he is able to look up to heaven and say. This is my inheritance ; yea, when he is able to look upon all the glory and happiness of another world, and to say. All this glory and happiness is mine, for I have that holiness that is the earnest of it, the pawn of it, and the firstfruits of it in my own soul. It was an observable saying of Macarius; ' They that are anointed with the spiritual oil of gladness,' 2 saith he, ' have received a sign of that incorruptible kingdom, to wit, God's Spirit, for an earnest, they are the secretaries of the heavenly king, and relying confidently upon the Almighty, they enter into his palace, where the angels and the spirits of holy men are, although they be yet in this world ; for although they be not yet come to the entire inheritance, which is prepared for them in that world, yet they

1 Heb. xii. 28 ; 1 Pet. i, 3, 4. See my * String of Pearls' on that very text [Vol. i. pp. 399, seq.—G.]

* Qui spirituali exultationis oleo uncti sunt, &c.— Macarius, hom. lyii.

are most sure of it by that pledge which they have newly received, as sure as if they were already crowned, and had the key of the kingdom in their own possession.

It was a very sweet and comfortable speech which the emperor used to Galba in his childhood and minority, when he took him by the chin and said, Tu Galba, &c.. Thou Galba shalt one day sit upon a throne; so it is very sweet and comfortable for the saints to consider, that how mean and contemptible soever they may be in the eyes of the world, that yet there is a day a-coming when they shall sit upon a throne, and be crowned with glory, and reign with Christ to all eternity. But,

[8.] Eighthly, If thou art a holy person, if thou hast that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, that all things shall be sanctified unto thee : Tit. i. 15, ' Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.' When a man's heart is once sanctified, then all things are sanctified to him ; when a man's spirit and way is clean and pure, then all things are clean and pure to him. 0 sirs! this is so great and so glorious a privilege, to have all things sanctified to us, that it is more worth than a world, yea, than many worlds. Next to a man's interest in Christ, he cannot beg a greater mercy than this, that all things may be sanctified to him—that is, that all things may so work as to make him more and more holy, that every cross may make him more holy, and that every comfort may make him more holy ; that every mercy may make him more holy, and that every misery may make him more holy; that every ordinance may make him more holy, and that every providence may make him more holy; that every affliction at home may make him more holy, and that every judgment abroad may make him more holy. Every condition is sweet when it is sanctified to us ; sickness is as sweet as health when it is sanctified to us, and weakness is as sweet as strength when it is sanctified to us, and poverty is as sweet as riches when it is sanctified to us, and disgrace is as sweet as honour when it is sanctified to us, and bonds are as sweet as liberty when they are sanctified to us, and death is as sweet as life when it is sanctified to us. Look, as no condition can be a happy condition that is not a sanctified condition, so no condition can be a miserable condition that is a sanctified condition. Now this is only the holy man s privilege, the holy man's mercy, to have every estate and every condition sanctified unto him ; and this indeed is the cream and crown of all our mercies to have them sanctified unto us, ay, and every bitter will be sweet, yea very sweet, when it is sanctified unto us. What though thy mercies, 0 Christian, are fewer than others', and lesser than others', and leaner than others', and shorter than others', yet thou hast no reason to complain, as long as thy mercies are sanctified mercies; and what though thy trials are greater than others', and thy burden is heavier than others', and thy sorrows are deeper than others', and thy crosses comes thicker than others', yet thou hast no cause to complain, as long as they are sanctified. Art thou a holy person ? Oh then remember for thy comfort that every bit of bread thou eatest is sanctified, and every draught of beer thou drinkest is sanctified, and every

suit of clothes thou wearest is sanctified ; the beds thou liest on are sanctified, and the stools thou sittest on are sanctified ; the very air thou breathest in is sanctified, and the very ground thou treadest on is sanctified; every penny in thy purse is sanctified, and every pound in thy shop is sanctified; whatsoever thou hast at home is sanctified, and whatever thou hast abroad is sanctified. And oh! how should the sense of these things sweeten all thy bitters, and turn thy hell into heaven, and wipe all tears from thy eyes, and turn thy sighing into singing, and thy mourning into rejoicing, &c. But,

[9.] Ninthly, If thou art a holy person, if thou hast that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, that thou art a person very high in favour with God, thou art one of his peculiar ones: Deut. xiv. 1, ' Ye are the children of the Lord your God, ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead,' (as those heathens that have no hope, 1 Thes. iv, 13.) ' For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people to himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.' All God's holy ones are his peculiar ones, God hath a peculiar respect for their persons : Dan. ix. 23, ' O Daniel! thou art greatly beloved,' or as the Hebrew word, chamudoth, signifies, thou art a man of desires. Now Daniel is called a man of desires, because the desires of God run out strongly after him, as one that was singularly beloved of him, and as one that was highly in favour with him. And as God hath a peculiar respect for their persons, so he hath a peculiar respect for their duties and services: Prov. XV. 8, ' The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight,' God takes more delight to hear the prayers of the upright, and to grant the prayers of the upright, than the upright takes delight to pray. How burdensome and troublesome soever their prayers may be to others, yet they are still delightful to God; but more of this in the next particular. And as God hath a peculiar respect for their services, so he hath a peculiar respect for their tears, for he puts them into his bottle, Ps. Ivi. 8 ; and as he hath a peculiar respect for their tears, so he hath a peculiar respect for their names, for he writes them in his book, Luke x. 20; and as he hath a peculiar respect for their names, so he hath a peculiar respect for their blood, Ps. cxvi. 15 ; and this Cain found by woeful experience, from the cry of his brother's blood. 0 sirs! God by making of you holy, hath made you like himself, like his Son, like his Spirit, and like his most glorious angels, which excel in strength; and what doth this speak out but God's peculiar favour ? God makes many rich, and many great, and many honourable, and many mighty, and many wise, and many noble, and many beautiful, and many successful, whom he will never make holy; in making of you holy, God hath made you spiritually great, rich, honourable, wise, and beautiful, &c.,Eph. i. 3, and this speaks you out to be highly in the favour of God. Holiness is a singular fruit of God's special favour and love. God hath a common favour and love for aU men, yea, for the worst of men ; witness that common preservation, and common protection, and common provision, that he vouchsafeth to them; and God hath a special love and favour, and this runs out only to his holy ones,

Eph. ii, 4-5. Holiness is a divine beam, a heavenly drop, a choice pledge of God's special favour and love. 0 sirs! though the world may slight you, and enemies revile you, and friends disfavour you, yet let this support you, let this rejoice you, that you are high in the favour of God. But,

[10.] Tenthly, If thou art a holy person, if thou art one that hast that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, that all thy duties and services are very pleasing, delightful, and acceptable to the Lord, Acts x. 4 ; Mai. iii. 3 ; 2 Tim. ii. 21; and this roundly follows upon the former, for whenever a man's person comes to be accepted of God, and to be in favour with God, then all his services and sacrifices comes to be acceptable to God ; Gen. iv. .5, ' And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering.' God had first a respect to his person in Christ, and then to his offering; and so his sacrifice was accepted for the man, and not the man for the sacrifice : Heb. xi. 4, ' By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts ; and by it, he being dead, yet speaketh.' God will always welcome the holy man into his presence, and he shall always have his ear at command, Isa. xlv. 11; God will still be a-warming his heart, and a-cheering up his spirit, and a-satisfying of his soul, in meeting of him in all holy means, and in giving gracious answers to all his requests: Isa. Ixvi. .5, ' Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness; those that remember thee in thy ways:' Prov. xxi. 8, ' The way of man,' that is, of unholy man, ' is fro ward and strange ; but as for the pure, his work is right.' When God hath cleansed a man's heart, and sanctified his nature, then his work, his religious work, is right; it is then right in the eye of God, and in the account of God, and in estimation of God ; and therefore his petitions are as soon granted as they are offered, Isa. Ixv. 24, and his requests performed as soon as they are mentioned: Ps. xxxii. 5, ' I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin, Selah.' i Holy David had an inward purpose and resolution to confess his sin, but before he could do it God throws him his pardon ; ' thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.' God loves to be beforehand with his people in acts of grace and favour. God's eye and his oar was in David's heart, before David's confession could be in his tongue. Oh the delight of God ! Oh the pleasedness of God, with the duties and services of his holy ones! Ps. iv. 3, ' But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear, when I call upon him,' that is, the Lord will approve of my prayer, he will accept of my prayer, he will delight in my prayer, and he will answer my prayer when I call unto him; and what can the godly man desire more? Ps. Ixi. 1, ' Hear my cry, 0 God, attend unto my prayer.' Aquinas saith that some read the words thus, Intende ad cantica mea, Attend unto my songs—and so the words may be safely read, from the Hebrew word HJ"), ranali, which signifies

^ Selah here is a special note of observation, to work us to a serious marking of the things that are mentioned, as things that are of special weight, and of highest concernment to us.

to shout or shrill out for joy—to note that the prayers of the saints are like pleasant songs and delightful ditties in the ears of God. No mirth, no music can be so pleasing to us as the prayers of the saints are pleasing to God, Cant. ii. 14: Ps. cxli. 2, ' Let my prayer come before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.' What is more sweet, what is more pleasing, and what is more perfuming than incense ? why, the prayers of the saints, as they are in the hands of a mediator, are as sweet and pleasing to God, as incense that is made up of the choicest and sweetest spices are sweet and pleasing unto us, Rev. v. 8, and viii. 3, 4: 1 Pet. iii. 12, ' For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers;' or rather, as the Greek hath it, his ears are— eh Ber,aiv avTOiv —to their prayers, that is, when their prayers are so faint and weak that they cannot reach to God, that they cannot travel as far as heaven, then God will come down to them, and lay his ears, as it were, unto their prayers ! Oh, what mattei: of joy and comfort is this to all the holy seed, that God will graciously bow his ears to their prayers, when he turns his back with the greatest disdain and indignation upon the most costly sacrifices of the wicked. 0 you precious sons of Zion! that are daily lamenting and mourning over the weaknesses that cleaves to your best services, know for your comfort and joy, that though with Moses you can but stammer out a prayer, or with Hannah weep out a prayer, or with Hezekiah chatter out a prayer, or with Paul sigh and groan out a prayer, yet the Lord will own your prayers, and accept your prayers, and delight in your prayers. 1 Oh, what a rare comfort is this for a Christian, to consider, that when he is under outward wants and inward distresses, that when he hath sickness upon his body, and reproach upon his name, and death knocking at his door, that in all these cases, and in all other cases, he may run to God as to a father, and tell God how it is with liim, and when he hath done that, he may sit down satisfied and assured of audience and acceptance in heaven! 0 sirs ! this is a privilege more worth than a thousand worlds, and had unsanctified persons as many kingdoms to give as they have hairs on their heads, they would give them all for an interest in this privilege, when guilt and wrath is upon their consciences, and when the arrows of the Almighty stick fast in them, and when the terrors of death are round about them, and when the dreadful day of their account is every moment remembered by them. Oh! if it be so great a favour to have the ears of an earthly king at pleasure, what a transcendent favour must it be to have his ear at pleasure who is King of kings and Lord of lords! and yet this favour hath all his saints. But,

[11.] Eleventhly, If thou art a holy person, if thou art one that hast' that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort that Jesus Christ will certainly preserve thy holiness. Next to Christ, holiness is a Christian's choicest jewel, and this Christ will be sure to preserve. Self-preservation is natural to all creatures. Holiness is Christ's creature, Christ's image; and therefore he will

^ God once accepted of a handful of meal for a sacrifice, and of a gripe of goat's hair for an oblation. Artaxerxes, the Persian monarch, accepted with a cheerful countenance a little water, as a present from tiie hand of a poor labourer, &c.

certainly preserve it and maintain it,—Christ cannot neglect himself, he cannot be wanting to himself. Now holiness is himself'; and therefore if there be but a spark of holiness in a dunghill of corruption, Christ will certainly own it, cherish it, and preserve it. He that is once really holy shall be for ever holy. Let the world, the flesh, and the devil, do what they can, the holy seed shall still remain in all God's sanctified ones.^ Though a holy man may fall strangely, sadly, frequently, foully, yet he shall never fall totally, he shall never fall finally, because that that holiness that is in him is a lasting, yea, an everlasting and abiding principle, that can never be destroyed or extirpated. A wicked person may be turned into a holy man, but a holy man can never be turned into a profane person again. A holy change is an unchangeable change ; the state of holiness is an unchangeable state. It is true the fallen angels quickly lost that stock of holiness that God had put into their hands; and Adam lost all his holiness upon the turn of a hand. He broke and proved a banki-upt almost as soon as God had set him up in paradise; but the state and condition of all the saints is a better and a safer state and condition than either the angels' or than Adam's was ; and that partly because their state was mutable though perfect, but the state of the saints is an unchangeable state, though it be for the present an imperfect state ; and partly because God put that stock of holiness that they had into their own hands, but now the saints' holiness is not a stock in their own hands but in Christ's hands ; for not only their persons but their holiness is ' kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,' 1 Pet. i. 5. As Christ is to manage our salvation for us, so he is to manage our grace and holiness for us; and therefore, as he will most certainly make sure the one, so he will as certainly preserve the other. Once a son, and for ever a son. Though the servant may be turned out of doors, yet the son abides in the house for ever, as Christ speaks, John viii. 35. He that is once sanctified shall be for ever blessed.

Holiness is an abiding seed, an immortal seed. It is a royal gift, which being once given, shall never be taken away from him that hath it. I readily grant that the strength of holiness, and the lustre and shine of holiness, and the sense and feeling of holiness, and the comfort and sweet of holiness, and the lively stirrings and operations of hohness, may be somewhat abated and lessened in the soul; but the seed of holiness, the substance of holiness, always remains in a changed soul, Rom. xi. 29. There is always a divine fire, though sometimes it may be raked up under the ashes ; there is always life and sap in the root, though there be neither leaves nor blossoms on the tree. It is true, the best of saints may have their spiritual autumn ; and it is as true, that after their autumn there will certainly follow a spring of holiness. It is most certain that the truth and state of holiness remains under all a Christian's infirmities, darknesses, weaknesses, eclipses, clouds, failings, waverings, and wanderings ; and the reasons are clear, because that great and glorious principle of holiness flows from God's unchangeable love, and is a fruit of the everlasting covenant, and the price of Christ's blood, and depends and hangs upon a perpetual union and communion with Christ, and is a sure pledge

^ Phil. i. 6 ; Heb. xii. 2; 1 Thes. v. 23, and iii. 12, 13; Eph. t. 25-27; 1 John iii. 9.

and earnest of a man's eternal enjoyment of Christ, and is always maintained and upheld by the everlasting arms of Christ, Deut. xxxiii. 26, 27 ; Gen. xlix. 22-24. To say that the saints may fall totally and finally from all that grace and holiness they have, is to say, (1.) That the surety of the new covenant is grown very poor and weak, which is very little less than blasphemy, and quite contrary to that Heb. vii. 21, 22, (2.) It is to say that the promises are yea and nay, quite contrary to what the apostle affirms in that 2 Cor. i. 20. (3.) It is to say that the power of God is grown exceeding weak and contemptible, yea, it is to make sin and Satan stronger than God, which is quite contrary to the current of Scripture, 1 Pet. i. 5 ; John x. 27-31. (4.) It is to say that the decree of God is mutable, which is cross and contrary to the apostle in that 2 Tim. ii. 19. (5.) It is to say that God's free, eternal, and everlasting love is become changeable and unconstant, which is expressly cross to that Jer. xxxi. 3 ; Mai. iii. 6 ; John xiii. 1, with many other scriptures ; and therefore that Arminian principle is to be for ever detested and abhorred. But,

[12.] Twelfthly and lastly, If thou art a holy person, if thou art one that hast that real holiness without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort that all things shall ivork together for thy good: Rom. viii. 28,' And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.' All the afHictions, and all the temptations, and all the desertions, and all the oppressions, and all the oppositions, and all the persecutions that befalls a godly man shall work for his good. Rev. ii. 10. Every cross, every loss, and every disease that befalls the holy man shall work for his good; every device, every snare, every method, every depth, every stratagem, and every enterprise of Satan against the holy man shall work for his good; they shall all help to make him more humble, more holy, more heavenly, more spiritual, more faithful, more fruitful, and more watchful, 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10; every day of prosperity, and every night of adversity shall work for the holy man's good; every storm and every calm, every bitter and every sweet, every cross and every comfort, shall work for his good that is holy, Hosea ii. 5-7. When God gives a mercy, that shall work for his good; and when God takes away a mercy, that shall w^ork for his good; when God gives him large commons, that shall work for his good; and when God cuts his commons short, that shall work for his good; yea, and all the falls and all the sins of the saints shall work for their good. As I get hurt by my graces, so I get good by my sins, said famous Mr Foxe. Oh the care, the fear, the watchfulness, the tenderness, the zeal, the revenge, that God raises in the souls of his saints by their very falls! 2 Cor. vii. 8-13. Oh the hatred, the indignation, and the detestation that God raises in the hearts of his children against sin, by their very falling into sin! Oh what love to Christ, what thankfulness for Christ, what admiration of Christ, what cleaving to Christ, what exalting of Christ, and what drawing from Christ, are saints led to by their very falls! Oh what exercise of grace, what increase of grace, what magnifying of grace, what liftings up of divine power, and what a high price are holy men led to set upon the precious blood of Christ, and all by their falls! It is the glory of God's

holiness that he can turn spiritual diseases into holy remedies, and soul poisons into heavenly cordials; that he can prevent sin by sin, and cure falling by falling. One calls that 8th of the Romans and the 28th verse the blind man's promise; and I may call it the lame man's promise that is holy, and the deaf man's promise that is holy, and the dumb man's promise that is holy, and the needy man's promise that is holy, and the sick man's promise that is holy, and the languishing man's promise that is holy, and the dying man's promise that is holy. Oh the comfort, oh the sweet, oh the content, oh the satisfaction that this promise hath afforded to many a precious saint, when other promises have not been at hand! 0 Christian, what though friends and relations frown upon thee, what though enemies are plotting and conspiring against thee, what though wants, like an armed man, are ready to break in upon thee, what though men rage and devils roar, what though sickness be in thy family, and death stands every day at thy elbow, yet there is no reason for thee to fear or faint, because all these things shall work for thy good. Yea, there is wonderful cause of joy and rejoicing in all the afflictions and tribulations that comes upon thee, considering that they shall all work for thy good. 0 Christians! I am afraid, I am afraid, that you do not run so often as you should to the breasts of this promise, nor draw that sweetness and comfort from it that it would yield, and that your several cases may require. And thus I have done with this use of comfort and consolation to all God's holy ones. You see what comfort, what consolation, yea, what strong consolation, waits upon all God's sanctified ones. I have been the longer upon this use, because the times require it, and the condition of God's people calls for the strongest cordials, and the choicest and the sweetest comforts.

And now I have nothing to do but to lay doion some positions concerning holiness,which may be of singular use for the preventing of some objections and mistakes, and for the giving of satisfaction, especially to such in whom the streams of holiness runs low, and who are still a-lamenting and mourning under the imperfections of their holiness, &c.

1. And the first position is tliis. Wherever real holiness is, it luill appear, it will discover itself, it luill shew itself, Eph. iv. 15, 16. It is the very nature of grace and holiness to manifest itself, and therefore it is set forth in Scripture by the names of light, which shines abroad, Mat. v. 16, and of ointment and perfume, which cannot be hid, Prov. xxvii. 9 ; Cant. iii. 6 ; of leaven and salt, which deriveth its own nature and relish upon a whole lump. And it is very observable, that when the Holy Ghost was given, he was given in tongues, fiery tongues, and with a rushing of a mighty wind, all of which have a quality of self-manifestation, and notifying of themselves to others, Acts ii. 1-5.

Take a river that is dammed and stopped up, yet if the course of it be natural, and if it commonly runs downward, it will at length bear down all, and ride and run triumphantly over all that is in its way. So, though real holiness in a day of temptation, desertion, and affliction, &c., may seem to be dammed and stopped up, yet at length it will make its way through all, and over all, and shew itself in its native colours. Though fire for a time may lie hid under the ashes,

yet at last it will flame forth, and shew itself to be fire. Holiness is a divine fire, and though in some cases it may for a time seem to be hid, it will at length break forth, and shew itself to be holiness. I have not faith enough to believe that that man was ever really holy, whose holiness is still under a bushel, or in a dark lantern. Look, as natural life cannot be so hid but that it will discover itself a hundred hundred ways, so hoHness, which is a Christian's spiritual life, cannot be so hid but it will discover it a hundred hundred ways.

2. The second position is this. That holiness rises by degrees; it rises gradually in the sotds of the saints. Though the first Adam was made a man, a holy man, yea, a man perfectly holy, and all at once, yet the holiness of all that is interested in the second Adam rises by degrees, i It is true, in the creation of the world all the creatures were made in their full and perfect growth and strength at once ; but in the new creation, holiness, which is God's own creature, is carried on by degrees, Luke ii. 52. Look, as Christ increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man by degrees, so that babe of grace, holiness, increases in the soul by degi'ees. Look, as the seed which is sown in the furrows of the earth first springs into a blade, and then into an ear, and then into ripe corn. Mat. xiii, 23 ; Mark iv. 28 ; so that immortal seed, holiness, which is sown in the furrows of a Christians soul, springs and grows by degrees. Look, as the waters in the sanctuary rise first to the ankles, then to the knees, then to the loins, then to the chin, and then to a river that was not passable, Ezek. xlvii. 3-5; so holiness rises higher and higher in the soul by degrees. Look, as the morning light shines more and more unto the perfect day, Prov. iv. 18 ; so the light of holiness sliines more and more clear, and more and more bright, until all darkness and imperfection be swallowed up in perfection. Look, as the body of a man grows and increases by degrees in stature and strength, till it comes to its full growth and perfection, Eph. iv. 16 ; so grace and holiness will grow and increase by degrees, till grace be turned into glory, till holiness be turned into happiness. Though the ocean be full, yet the bottle cannot be filled but by degrees. We are poor narrow-mouthed bottles, and therefore what we take in of holiness must be by degrees. Our incapacity is so great, that at present we are noways able to take in a fulness of holiness ; and therefore God drops in now a drop and then a drop, now a little and then a little, as we are able to take it in. And, indeed, to dilBference the state of grace from the state of glory, the state of holiness from the state of happiness, it is necessary that holiness should be communicated to us by degrees. An absolute fulness of holiness will make an absolute fulness of happiness. When our holiness is perfect, our happiness shall be perfect; and if this were attainable on earth, there would be but little reason for men to long to be in heaven.

3. The third position is this, That there is a great deal of precious-ness in the least degree of holiness. For,

[1.] It is the special work of the Holy Spirit; and this I have shewed you already at large ; and therefore it must needs be precious.

[2.] It is a part of the divine nature ; it is a beam of God, a spark of glory, and therefore it must needs be precious.

^ Job xvii. 9 ; Ps. xcii. 12; Mai. iv. 2 ; Hosea xiv. 5-7.

[3.] There are many choice and special promises that are made over to the least degrees of holiness, as you may see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together ; i and therefore the least degree of holiness is very precious.

[4.] It gives a man a right to precious privileges, and to all the precious ordinances of Christ's house. Ergo, &c.

[5.] It is a fruit of the special love and favour of God. A man may read more of the heart of God, and of the special love of God towards him in the least spark of holiness, than he can in his highest worldly enjoyments. A man may read that special grace in the least degree of holiness, which he can never read in the honours, profits, pleasures, delights, and contents of this world. Ergo, &c.

[6.] The least degrees of holiness gives a man as great a right, and as good a title to everlasting happiness and blessedness, as the greatest degrees of holiness doth ; 2 and the reason is clear, because the promise of happiness and blessedness is not made over to degrees of holiness, but to the truth of holiness ; and therefore he that hath but the least spark of true holiness may plead the promise, and apply the promise, and suck marrow and sweetness out of the promise, as well as he that hath the greatest measures of holiness in the world. The promises of salvation are not made over to the strength of faith, but to the truth of faith, John vi. 35. It is nowhere said that only he that believes with the faith of an Abraham shall be saved, but it is often said, * He that believes shall be saved ;' that is, he that believes truly, though he doth not believe strongly, shall be saved. Ergo, &c.

[7.] When unholy persons are under terrors of conscience, and upon their dying beds, and when they shall stand before a judgment-seat, had they as many worlds to give as there be stars in heaven, and as there are men on earth, they would give them all for the least spark of true holiness ; 3 and therefore, without all peradventure, the least degree of holiness must be very precious, considering what a price the worst of men would give for it, were it in their power to purchase.

[8.] The least degree of holiness shall at last be blessed with a happy triumph over the strongest corruptions. The least degree of holiness will lead the soul to Christ; it will bring the soul into communion with Christ; it will work the soul to lean upon Christ, and by degrees to draw that life, that virtue, and that vigour from Christ, that will enable a Christian not only to combat but to conquer even Goliath himself; and therefore the least degree of holiness is doubtless very precious.

[9.] The least degree of holiness will render a Christian in some measure serviceable and useful to the turnings away of the wrath and judgments of God from a people or nation, and for the bringing down of favours and blessing upon a land,^ when all the power, authority, greatness, grandeur, and glory that wicked men have in

1 2 Pet. i. 4 ; Mat. xii. 20; Isa. xl. 10, 11, and Ix. 22; Isa. xxxv. 3, 4; Joel iii. 10 ; Mat. V. 3-6; Rom. xiv. 1, and xv. 7.

* The little hand of a child may hold a pearl, as well as the hand of the greatest giant in the world.

* A little holiness is like a diamond, very little in bulk, but of a very high price and value, &c.

* Gen. xviii. The least finger is of use to the whole body.

their hands, can do just nothing either to the diverting of wrath, or the obtaining of mercy; and therefore the least degree of holiness is precious. But,

[10.] Tenthly and lastly. The least degree of holiness is a sure pledge and pawn of greater degrees of holiness that in time thou shalt attain to. The tallest oak was once an acorn ; the deepest doctor was once in his horn-book ; and the greatest giant was once a child. Thy spark in time shall be blowed up into a flame ; thy drop in time shall be turned into a sea; and thy penny in time shall be multiplied into pounds, and thy pounds into hundreds, and thy hundreds into thousands, and thy thousands into millions. And now tell me. Christians, whether these ten things do not sufficiently prove that there is a great deal of preciousness in the least degrees of holiness ; and oh that you that have but a little holiness would be often a-warming of your hearts at this heavenly fire ! and oh that you that have a great deal of holiness would not despise those that have but a little holiness ! Oh that you that bring forth a hundredfold would not despise those that bring forth but thirtyfold! and oh that you that have ten talents would not despise those that have but two talents, considering that there is a great deal of preciousness in the least degree of holiness.

4. The fourth position is this. All saints are not alike holy. Some are more holy, and others are less holy; in some saints the springs of holiness runs low, in others the springs of holiness rise very high. Holiness thrives not alike in all saints. In the parable some brought forth thirty, some sixty, and others a hundredfold, and yet all was good ground too, Mat. xiii. 8, 23: and in that other parable, every one had not ten talents—some had but five, others two, others but one, Mat. XXV. 14, 15; Luke xix. 12-21. God never doth distribute holiness alike to all. To some he gives more, to others less, according to the good pleasure of his grace. God never intended that all should thrive alike in holiness. Though there were divers that feared God in Nehe-miah's time, yet he tells you that his brother Hanani feared God above many, Neh. vii. 2. And though Job's three friends that came to visit him in the days of his sorrows, viz., Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad, were doubtless all holy men, Job i. 8, yet they fell very much short of Job in grace and holiness, as is evident not only by that high testimony that God himself gives concerning Job, ' That there was none like him upon the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feared God, and eschewed evil;' but also throughout that whole book of Job. It is true, all saints are equally justified, and equally pardoned, and equally reconciled, and equally accepted, but all saints are not equally sanctified. All saints are not of equal standing in the house of God. All saints have not been partakers of equal means, all saints have not had equal gales of the Spirit, all saints have not alike acted that holiness they have; and, therefore, no wonder if all saints are not alike holy. David's worthies were not all of equal strength, nor all the stones in the building are not of equal proportion, nor all the members in the natural body are not of equal magnitude; and so it is also in the mystical body of Christ. In God's house there are vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, 1 Cor. xii.; 2 Tim. ii. 20, that is, there are some

that are more eminently sanctified and purified than others are. You read in Scripture of babes, as well as of strong men; of lambs, as well as of sheep; of plants, as well as of trees. Besides, you read of a little faith, and of smoking flax, and of a bruised reed, and of a grain of mustard-seed, and what doth all this evidence, but that God gives different measures and degrees of grace and holiness to his people ? Christ hath not work alike for all saints to do, nor burdens alike for all saints to bear, nor mercies alike for all saints to improve, nor temptations alike for all saints to resist, nor difficulties alike for all saints to grapple withal, nor dangers alike for all saints to encounter withal, &c., and therefore he gives not a like measure of holiness to all, but to some more, to others less, according as their condition requires ; some saints stand in need of a great deal more grace and holiness than others do. Their place, calling, condition, and employments in the world, calls for a greater stock than others need. One man may better keep house with a hundred a year, than another who hath a great family and great resort to his house, can do with a thousand a year; and so it is here. A little may serve a little farm, but it must be a great stock that must serve a great farm. A little stock of holiness will serve some Christians, but it must be a great stock of holiness that must serve to supply the necessities and the wants of other Christians; and therefore God gives different measures and degrees of holiness among his people as their needs require. Look, as one sinner excels another in wickedness, so one saint excels another in holiness; and therefore let not those that have much holiness despise those that have but little ; nor let not those that have but a little holiness censure or judge those that have more holiness than themselves. All that holiness that any man hath, whether it be little, or whether it be much, is all of grace, it is all of free-grace; and therefore let every man improve it, be thankful for it, and walk humbly under it.i

5. The fifth position is this, A Christian may be more eminently holy at one time than at another ; he may thrive and increase more in holiness at one season than at another. Two men do not more differ one from another, than the self-same Christian at several times differs from himself. Now the spring-tide of holiness is risen high, very high, at another time the streams of holiness runs exceeding low ; now he is full fraughted^ with high thoughts of God, with honourable thoughts of Christ, with precious thoughts of the saints, with pious thoughts of the Scripture, with delightful thoughts of ordinances, with serious thoughts of providences, and with ravishing thoughts of eternity; and at another time you shall have him filled with such hard thoughts of God, with such dishonourable thoughts of Christ, with such low thoughts of the saints, with such slight thoughts of the Scripture, with such undelightful thoughts of ordinances, and with such confused thoughts of providences, and with such muddy, dark, and unpleasing thoughts of eternity, as if he were really another man.3 Now he is very lively and quick, very cheerful and thankful, very fruitful and

' Read the 77th and the 88th Psalms. And indeed most of the psalms of David are a full proof of this posit:on, as all may see that will but read them with a spiritual eye, and with an understanding heart. * ' Freighted.'—G.

•^ Besides the examples of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Job, and Peter, with the experiences of all other saints in all ages, speaks out this truth.

faithful. Now he is very fearful of offending God, and very careful of pleasing God, and very circumspect and watchful in his walking with God, as if he were a man fully resolved instantly to start from holiness to happiness; but now, if you please to look on this man at another time, when he is either deserted of God, or tempted by Satan, or worsted by the world, or enthralled by his lusts, and ah, how unlike himself will you find him! for now he is flat, and dull, and dry, though not quite dead; now he is much straitened and shut up; now he can neither joy in God, nor delight in Christ, nor find sweetness in ordinances, nor any taste or relish in any of his mercies. Now his apprehensions are dark, his thoughts are dismal, his meditations are confused, his words are unadvised, and his ways are crooked. Now he saith, ' The Lord is my portion,' and anon he saith, * Will the Lord cast off for ever, and will he be favourable no more ?' Now he believes, anon he doubts; this hour he hopes, the next he fears; to-day he is upon the mount, joying and triumphing, to-morrow you shall have him in the valleys, mourning and sighing; many clouds, many eclipses, many varieties, and many changes, passes upon God's holy ones in this life. A child, a tree, a plant, shoots up sometimes more in a month than they do in many months; and so doth many a child of God: many a tree of righteousness, and many a plant of renown, shoot up more in holiness in a month sometimes than they do in many months at another time ; they thrive and flourish in holiness more in a year sometimes than they ^do in many years at another time. Look, as many a man gets more money in one year than he doth afterwards get in seven; so many a Christian gets more grace and holiness sometimes in one year than he gets afterwards in seven. No saints have at all times alike the same blessed gales of the Spirit. It is just with a holy soul as it is with a ship ; sometimes the ship hath a very fair and fresh gale of wind, and then she cuts her way through the proud waves of the sea, and the passengers sail very speedily and merrily towards their desired port; but anon the wind is slack, and veers about to another point of the compass, and then the passengers are all amote,i and they sail but slowly and heavily towards their desired harbour. And so it is with a holy heart: sometimes the gales of the Spirit blow very fair and sweet, very strong and powerful, upon a gracious soul, and then a Christian sails most sweetly, most speedily, and most successfully on in a way of holiness, and towards ms port of happiness; but anon the Spirit is either resisted, or grieved, or neglected, or quenched, or vexed, or disobeyed; and then his gales, his influences, his breathings, are slacked, and then a poor Christian sails but very slow on in a way of holiness, then he doth but even creep towards the harbour of everlasting blessedness.

Again, no saints have at all times alike the same external helps, advantages, and opportunities of being holy, and of thriving in holiness. It may be they have not the word so clearly, so powerfully, so sweetly, so faithfully, nor so frequently preached to them as formerly they have had; or it may be they have not other ordinances so lively, so purely, so spiritually, so evangelically dispensed to them as formerly they have had. It may be they have had stones instead of ^ Rather ' amort,' = dejected, frightened to death.—G.

VDL- IV. 2 E

bread, and bones instead of flesh, and chaff instead of wheat, and muddy water instead of choice wine, and then no wonder if they do not thrive in holiness as they did when God rained manna every day about their tents, and when they were fed with the best of the best that their heavenly Father's table, wine-cellar, and house did afford. When children have not as good food, and as good physic, and as good lodging, and as good looking to as they have formerly had, no wonder if they thrive not as at other times. And so it is here: look, as no men have always the same helps, the same advantages, the same opportunities to grow great, and rich, and high, and honourable in the world, that sometimes they have had; so no Christian hath always the same helps, advantages, and opportunities to grow rich and high in holiness, as sometimes he hath had. It may be he hath not that communion and fellowship with the people of God that once he had, or if he hath, yet it may be their communion is not so pure, so holy, so lively, so heart-warming, so soul-enriching, as once it hath been; or it may be he hath not as good counsel as formerly, nor as good examples as formerly, nor as good encouragement as he hath formerly had to be holy; or it may be their calling, employment, and outward condition is so altered and changed from what once it was, that they have not that time for closet duties, and to wait on pubhc ordinances, that once they had; or it may be bodily infirmities, weaknesses, diseases, aches, and ailments are so increased and multiplied upon them, that they cannot make that improvement that once they did of those very advantages and opportunities, that yet, by a hand of grace, is continued among them. Now these cases being incident to the people of God, there is no reason to wonder, if at some times saints are more holy than they are at others ; and if at some seasons they shoot up more in holiness than they do at others. The serious weighing of this position may serve to prevent many fears and scruples, many debates and disputes, that often rise in the hearts of Christians upon the often ebbings and flowings of holiness in their souls.

6. The sixth position is this, There will come a time wlien in this world holiness shall he more general, and more eminent, than ever it hath been since Adam fell in paradise. The Scripture speaks clearly, roundly, and fully to this: Deut. xxx. 5, 6, 8, ' The Lord thy God will bring thee into thine own land, and the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments.' Tliis gracious promise was made to the Jews above two thousand years ago, and yet to this very day it hath not been fulfilled; and therefore there will certainly come a time wherein God will make it good: Isa. xi. 6, ' The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, &c., and they shall not hurt, &c., for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.' This glorious promise hath not been made good to this day, but there is a time a-coming wherein it shall be accomplished: Isa. xxxv. 8, ' There shall be a highway, and it shall be called a way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over IT.' Isa. lix. 21, ' This is my covenant, my word and my Spirit shall never depart from thee for ever.' Isa. Ix, 21, ' Thy people shall be

ALL RIGHTEOUS.' Jei. xxxii. 40, 41, '1 will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good; but I will put my fear into their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and whole SOUL.' So Ezek. xxxvi. 23-30; Mai. iv. 1, 2; 2 Pet. iii. 13.

Now it is very observable that this great promise must be fulfilled when the Jgws shall return and be settled in their own land. And so the prophet Ezekiel, speaking of the glorious state of the church in the last days, Ezek. xliv. 7, 9, adds, ' Thus saith the Lord, no stranger uncircumcised in heart shall enter into my sanctuary.' Zeph. iii. 13, ' The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies ; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths.' Now the context clearly shews that these words relate to the glorious state of the church on earth, and they have never yet received their accomplishment, but shall in the last days, for he is faithful that hath spoken it: Zech. xiv. 20, 21, * Upon all shall be holiness to the Lord.' I have opened this text pretty fully to you already in my former discourses on holiness, and therefore shall pass it by now, Kev. xxi.^ verse the first and verse the last, ' And I saw a new heaven, and a new earth, and I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of HEAVEN. Bchold the tabernacle of God is with men, &c., and there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, &c., but they that are wi-itten in the Lamb's book.' I have formerly proved by several arguments, as divers of you knows, that this chapter cannot be understood of heaven, but must necessarily, and beyond all dispute, be understood of the glorious state of the saints on earth, which they shall certainly enjoy in the last days. By all these scriptures it is most evident that there will come a time when holiness shall be more general, and at a fuller height than ever yet it hath been since man fell from his original holiness; and therefore pray and wait, and wait and pray, look and long, and long and look, for the breaking forth of this day of glory upon the world.

[7.] The seventh and last proposition is this. That though the peoph of God ought to he holy at all times, yet there are some special times and seasons wherein God calls aloud for holiness, more than he doth at other times, and wherein he looks, and expects that his people should he eminently holy, as well as really holy.

Quest. But what are those special times and seasons wherein God calls loudest for holiness and most for holiness ?

I answer, they are these:

[1.] First, After great and sore falls. Oh, now God calls aloud for holiness. David after his great falls greatly humbles himself before the Lord, Ps. li.; and Job after his bitter cursing and heavy complaining abhors himself in dust and ashes. Job iii. and xlii. 4, 5; and Hezekiah, after his great miscarriage, did chatter like a crane and mourn as a dove, Isa. xxxviii. 14; and Peter after his hellish cursing, his desperate swearing, and his hideous lying, goes forth and weeps bitterly. Mat. xxvi. So Origen, after he had denied the truth, and sacrificed to an idol, he came to Jerusalem, and being desired to preach, ^ See the 'Eoglish Anaotations' on these words. [As before.—G.]

and having opened his Bible, the first scripture that his eye was fixed upon was that Ps. 1. 16. 17, ' What hast thou to do to take my word into thy mouth, seeing thou hatest to be reformed?' whereupon he shut his book, sat down, and fell into a passion of weeping, and so came out of the pulpit, as not being able to speak to the people. After great falls God expects and looks that his people should be more fearful of sin than ever, and more careful of pleasing and honouring of him than ever, and more resolute in resisting of temptations than ever, and more constant and abundant in a way of duty than ever, and more thankful and fruitful under mercies than ever, and more quiet and silent under afflictions than ever, and more stout and courageous in the face of all opposition than ever, and more wise and circumspect in their walkings than ever, and more vigilant and diligent to prevent and avoid future falls than ever. How else will the honour of God be repaired, and the glory of religion be vindicated, and the credit of the gospel be raised, and the grieved saints be rejoiced, and young beginners in religion be afresh encouraged, and secure sinners be awakened, convinced, and converted ? But,

[2.] Secondly, When God sheivs singular mercy to his people, and when he doth great things for his people, then he expects and looks that his people should be a holy people, and then he calls loudest for holiness ; Exod. xix. 3-5, ' And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you upon eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people ; for all the earth is mine.' Here Moses makes use of a very elegant expression, to shew the singular love, care, kindness, and goodness of God towards his people, 'He bare you upon eagles' wings.' The eagle is a very princely, noble bird,^ she fears no birds from above to hurt her young ones, and because she fears the arrow from beneath, therefore she carries her young ones upon her wings; so that there is no hurting, nor harming, nor no killing of them, but by shooting through the body of the old one. Other birds carry their young ones in their talons, and so expose them to danger, but the eagle carries hers upon her -wings, that they may be safe and secure. Moses, to shew how choice and chary God was of Israel, and how much he stood upon their safety and security, tells them that he carried them upon eagles' wings; that so none of their enemies might ruin or destroy them, yea, that they might not so much as in the least hurt or harm them. He carried them out of Egypt, and he carried them through the Red Sea sweetly, swiftly, strongly, and tenderly, as the eagle carries her young ones when danger is at hand. Now God having expressed such love, such care, such bowels, such tenderness, such sweetness, and such kindness to his people, he looks and expects that they should be a holy people, and therefore he strongly urges them to obey God's voice indeed, and to keep his covenant. Now what is it for a man to obey God's voice indeed, and to keep his covenant, but to be really holy, yea, to be eminently holy? So in that ^ Vide Aristotle 1. ix. De Historia Animalium.

loth of Deuteronomy, where Moses had made a large narrative of the singular favours and mercies of God to Israel in the eleven first verses of that chapter, he falls in the 12th and 13th verses upon pressing of them to be a holy people. ' And now Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul ? To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day.' The word in the 12th verse rendered require, is ^^'V, shoel, from shaal, which signifies to ask, to request, or petition a person. Now here Moses brings in God, asking, requesting, and petitioning of Israel that they would fear him and walk in his ways,&c., and what is that but that they would be a holy people to him, that had done such great and glorious things for them ? The word in the 13th verse rendered keep, is IQIi^, shamar, which signifies to keep carefully, diligently, faithfully to keep, Job xii. 12; 1 Kings XX. 39, as watchmen keep the city, or as soldiers keep their garrisons, or as jailers keep their prisoners. Now God would have his people thus to keep his commandments and his statutes, and this God would have them to do upon the account of those high acts of favour and grace that he had shewed unto them; and thus to keep his commandments and, his statutes, what is it but to be a holy people, yea, to be a very holy people unto the Lord ? And so in that Ezra ix. 13, 14, ' Seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this, should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations ? wouldst thou not be angry with us, till thou hast consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor escaping ?' Free and rich mercy calls hardest and loudest for duty. The more merciful God hath been to his people, the more fearful they should be of offending of him, and the more careful they should be in pleasing of him. Divine blessings should be the greatest obligations in the world upon a Christian to keep at a distance from sin, and to keep close to a holy God. The greater the mercy is, and the more miraculous the deliverance and the salvation is, that God crowns his people with, the greater are the engagements that God hath put iipon them to be a holy people to him. So in that 116th Psalm David gives in a bill of particulars in the eight first verses; he gives you a choice narrative of the singular favours and blessings of God, both in respect of his inward and his outward man. God had been good to his soul, and he had been kind to his body; he tells you of God's sparing mercy, and of his preventing mercy, and of his preserving mercy, and of his delivering mercy, and of his supporting mercy, and of his multiplying mercy, and of his pardoning mercy; he tells you that God hath heard his prayers, and wiped off" his tears, and preserved his feet from falling, and his soul from death. And then in the following words he tells you what his resolution is upon the whole: ' I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living,' verse 9th, or rather, as the Hebrew hath it, Ethlial-lech Uphne Jehovah, I will walk before the face of the Lord. The Hebrew word that is here rendered walk, signifies a continued action, or the reiteration of an action, David resolves that he will not only take a turn or two with God, or walk a pretty way with God, as

Orpah did with Kuth, and then take his leave of God, as Orpah did of her mother, Kuth i. 10-15 ; but he resolves, whatever comes on it, that he will walk constantly, resolutely, and perpetually before God, or before the face of the Lord. Now walking before the face of the Lord doth imply a very exact, circumspect, accurate, and precise walking before God ; and indeed no other walking is either suitable or pleasing to the eye of God. But is this all that he will do upon the receipt of such signal mercies ? oh no ! for he resolves to take the cup of salvation, and to call upon the name of the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, vers. 13, 17. But is this all that he will do ? oh no ! for he resolves that he will presently pay his vows unto the Lord in the presence of all his people, vers. 14, 18. But is this all that he will do ? oh no ! for he resolves that he will love the Lord better than ever and more than ever, vers. 1,2. He loved God before with a real love, but having now received such rare mercies from God, he is resolved to love God with a more raised love, and with a more inflamed love, and with a more active and stirring love, and with a more growing and increasing love than ever. And so the apostle in that Kom, xii. 1, 2, ' I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world ; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.' When this great apostle would work up the Komans to a full resignation of themselves to God and to his service, and would fence and arm them against the sinful fashions, customs, examples, dispositions, and practices of a corrupt and wicked world, he sets the mercies of God before them. The apostle very well knew that there was no such spur to holiness, nor no such preservative against wickedness, as this was. The apostle could have set threatenings before them, and the curse before them, and wrath before them, and former and latter judgments before them, and hell before them; and yet he passes over all these things, and presents the mercies of God before them, as the most effectual means under heaven to engage them to holiness, and to fortify them against all sinful conformity and worldly vanity. 0 sirs ! you are all under several signal mercies this day. You are out of hell, and is not that a signal mercy ? you have many mercies that others want, and is not that a signal mercy ? yea, God rains manna every day about your tents when others wander several miles, and are too often put off with stones instead of bread, and is not that a signal mercy ? That wicked men's hearts should be so full of wrath, rage, revenge, envy, and malice, and you cast at their feet and yet not trod to death, is a signal mercy; that you should stand when others fall, that you should be faithful when others are false, that you should persevere when others backslide, that you should be for God when so many are for Baal, and that you should be followers of the Lamb when so many thousands are dancing after Antichrist's pipes, are all very rare and signal mercies ; and calls aloud upon you to be holy, yea, to be eminently holy, &c. But,

[3 ] Thirdly, Times of personal afflictions are times wherein God calls aloud for holiness. When the rod of God is upon our backs, it

highly concerns us to look that our words are full of grace, and that all our ways and works are full of holiness, i Now God looks that his people should be divinely fearful of offending him, and divinely careful in pleasing of him, and divinely willing to resign up themselves to liim, and divinely patient in waiting on him, and divinely humble in submitting to him, and divinely wise in justifying of him, and divinely resolute in serving of him: Heb. xii. 10, ' But he afflicts us for our profit, that we might be made partakers of his holiness.' Why, they were before partakers of his holiness, that is true ; and these words declare that the great reach and design of God, in all the afflictions that he brings upon his people, is to make them more and more holy; and therefore for Christians to be proud under the rod, and carnal under the rod, and worldly under the rod, and fro ward under the rod, and stupid under the rod, and wanton under the rod, and wicked under the rod, is to cross and frustrate the great design of God in afflicting of them. In afflictions God looks that his people should shine brighter and brighter, and grow better and better, and holier and holier. Oh, there is nothing that pleases God more, that delights God more, that affects God more, or that wins upon God more, than to see his people a holy people in the days of their afflictions : Jer. ii. 2, 3, ' Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying. Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou weutest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend ; evU shall come upon them, saith the Lord.' God was wonderfully affected and taken with the love of his people, and with the kindness of his people, and with the holiness of his people, when they were in their wilderness condition. Look, as stars shine brightest in the darkest nights, and as torches are the better for beating, and spices the sweeter for pounding, and young trees the fasterHFOOted for shaking, and vines the more fruitful for bleeding, and gold the more glittering for scouring: so God looks that his children's graces should shine brightest in the darkest nights of afflictions, he looks that his children should be the better for his fatherly beating, and the sweeter for being pounded in the mortar of affliction, and the faster rooted in grace and holiness, by all divine shakings," &c.

In times of affliction God looks that his children should be true salamanders, that live best in the fire. Where afflictions hang heaviest, he looks that there corruptions should hang loosest; he looks that that grace and holiness which lies hid in nature, as sweet water doth in rose leaves, should then be most fragrant, when the fire of affliction is put under to distil it out, &c. But,

[4.] Fourthly, When persons that are under a great profession, or in church communion, shall fall presumpt^iously and scandalously, lohen they shall not only do weakly, but loickedly, when not only infirmities, hut enormities may he justly and righteously charged upon them ; when such persons walk so loosely, and vainly, as that they occasion the name of God to he hlasphemed, religion to be scorned, the

^ See my ' Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod,' &c. [Vol. i., pp. 285, seq.—G.} ' Well-waters are hottest in the winter.

gospel to he despised, profession to be abhorred, the saints to be reviled, and young comers-on to be discouraaed, and the ungodly in their wickedness to be hardened and confirmed; oh, this is a time tvherein God calls aloud upon his people to be holy I Oh, now God expects an extraordinary measure of holiness in his people 1 Oh, now he looks that his people should rather walk like angels, than live like saints, that BO they may in some measure repair and make up the sad breaches that have been made upon his honour, and the credit of religion, and that they may live profession into honour and esteem ones more in the world. Such blessed effects as these, the horrid sin of the incestuous person did occasionally! work in the hearts and lives of the Corinthians, as you may see by comparing the scriptures in the margin together. ^ O sirs 1 in these days are there not many that have made a very high profession, that have shined as the stars in the firmament, who are now fallen from their profession, from their principles, and from all things that are good! How many now do build the things that they have destroyed ? What betraying of Christ, what betraying of truth, and what betraying of saints is there this day among many that have pretended very high to religion! How many now approve of those things that before they would never own, and that justify those things now that they have formerly condemned, and that comply with those things now that formerly they have abhorred, yea, that contend for those things now for which they have formerly suffered ; and, therefore, certainly these are the very times wherein God calls aloud upon his people to be holy, yea, to be eminently holy, &c. But, [5.] Fifthly, In all our approaches, addresses, and drawings near to God, God calls aloud for holiness: Lev. x. 3, ' Then Moses said to Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh unto me, and before all the people I will be glorified; and Aaron held his peace.' There is nothing more evident than this throughout the Old Testament, that the people of God were always to sanctify themselves when they were to draw nigh to God, John iv. 23, 24. God is a holy God, and there is no drawing nigh to him without holiness; the worship that God stands most upon, and that is most pleasing and delightful to him, is spiritual worship, and none can offer this but a holy people. Such as draw nigh to God without holiness may, if they were not deaf, hear God saying to them, ' What have you to do to take my name into your mouths, seeing you hate to be reformed ? and who required these things at your hands ? Ps. 1. 16, 17; Isa. i. 12. The Persians every morning worship the rising sun, and the Turks their Mahomet, and the Papists their images, and some of the Indians worship the first thing that they meet with in the morning, and others of them worship a red rag, and others of them worship the devil.3 The Romans used to worship Jupiter, a hurtful god amongst them, not because they loved him, but because they would not be hurt or harmed by him. And Praxiteles the painter made the.silly people worship the image of his strumpet, under the title and pretence of Venus. And verily all the

1 = As an occasion.—G. ' 1 Cor. v. 1-3 ; 2 Cor. ii. 4-8, and vii. 11.

» The Renians [sic, but qu. Eomans.—G.J taught that a man might be saved in any religion. Isa. xxix. 13^14; Mat. zv. 8, 9.

worship that thou offerest to God is little better, if thou drawest nigh to him with thy body, without holiness in thy soul. 0 sirs, remember that in all your public duties God calls aloud for holiness, and in all your family duties God calls aloud for holiness, and in all your closet duties God calls aloud for holiness. Times of drawing near to God should be always times of much holiness. You may come to a duty, but you will never come to God in a duty, without holiness. You may come to an ordinance, but you will never come to God in an ordinance, without holiness; and therefore, in all your drawings nigh to God, remember that God calls for holiness in a special manner then. But, [6.] Sixthly, When God eminently appears in the execution of his judgments upon ivicked and ungodly men, oh, that is a time that God calls aloud for holiness. When he is a-raining hell out of heaven upon unholy persons, God now looks that his people should be holy, yea, eminently holy. So in that Exod. xix. 4, 5, 'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians,' you have been eyewitnesses of my dealings with them in Egypt, you have seen how I have followed them with plague upon plague, because they did so sorely oppress you, and would not let you go to worship me and serve me according to my own prescriptions, Exod. xxiv. And when they were judgment-proof, you saw me drown them in the Red Sea before your eyes; and upon this very ground he urges them to obey his voice, and to keep his covenant, ver. 5. And so in that Rev. xv. 1-4, ' And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; from them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with tire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God and the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, 0 Lord, and glorify thy name ? for thou only art holy ; for all nations shall come and worship before thee ; for thy judgments are made manifest.' In this and the following chapters the utter overthrow of Antichrist is described. In this chapter you have a new vision of the gospel's restoring, and of Antichrist's ruin. By the sea of glass mingled with fire, we are to understand the fiery trials, and dreadful persecutions by fire and faggot, that Antichrist will inflict upon sincere and faithful Christians. The allusion is to the Red Sea, and Pharaoh's persecuting of Israel; but the addition of fire is plainly to distinguish the Pope's persecution from Pharaoh's; for though Pharaoh did sorely oppress the people of God both in their liberties and consciences, and though he had plotted and contrived a way to destroy their male children, yet he was never 60 cruel, he was never so bloody, as to burn the people of God with fire and faggot, as Antichrist hath done in all ages. But now mark, when the vials of the wrath of God comes to be poured out upon Antichrist, yea, upon whatever smells of Antichrist, or looks Hke Antichrist, why then the people of God will in a very eminent way lift up God as the great object of their fear, and then the generality of the nations shall be so deeply afiected with the dreadful,

amazing, and astonishing judgments of God upon Antichrist, that they shall repent, worship him, and give glory to him. _ 0 sirs ! when God strikes slaves, sons should tremble. Great judgments upon sinners speaks out a great deal of the justice and holiness of God ; and the more the justice and holiness of God appears, the more holy his people should grow. Ah, Christians ! had you grown more holy by those severe judgments of God that hath been inflicted upon others before your eyes, you had not been under those smart rebukes of God that now you are under this day! But,

[7.] Seventhly, When men are called forth to war by God. Oh I that is a special time and season wherein God calls aloud for holiness. The man of war must have holiness written upon the bridles of the horses, Zech. xiv. 20. When men carry their lives in their hands, they had need of holiness in their hearts; when in every encounter a man must expect to enter upon a state of eternity, he had need be very holy, that so if he should fall in the encounter, he may be sure to be happy: i Deut. xxiii. 9, 14, ' When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing. For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee: therefore shall thy camp be holy, that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.' When the sword devoureth on both hands, when it eats the flesh of nobles, and drinks the blood of nobles; when it feeds upon the flesh of the poor, and drinks the blood of the needy, then every soldier had need be a saint. When an eternity of glory and misery is every moment before every soldier, every soldier had need walk very accurately, he had need live very holily. Mark, though the people of God were to keep themselves from every wicked thing at all other times, yet when they went out against their enemies, then in a special manner it highly concerned them to keep themselves not from some, but from every evil thing, or rather, as the Hebrew hath it, from every evil word, -]21 dabar. He that is in danger of death every step he takes, and that carries his very soul in his hand, had need precisely to abstain not only from every evil work, but also from every evil word, as here God expressly charges Israel to do. When God finds holiness in Israel's camp, then God will quickly give up Israel's enemies into Israel's hands; but when the camp becomes a den of iniquity, then God will depart from the camp; and when God, who is the bulwark of a camp, is departed, all the world cannot preserve that camp from being destroyed. The Lamb looks that all those brave hearts that engage with him against Antichrist, should be called, and chosen, and faithful, Kev. xvii. 14. There is no armour of proof to that of holiness. Let a man be never so well mounted, clothed, armed, weaponed, yet if he be unholy, he lies naked and open to all disasters, calamities, and miseries. 0 sirs! it is one of the dreadfullest things in the world to hear such a-cursing, swearing, lying, and damning of themselves, and to see such a-giving up themselves to work all manner of wickedness with greediness, who carry their lives in their hands every hour in the day; yea, at whose elbows damnation stands every moment. 0

^ The Komans lived more orderly in time of war than in the times of their greatest peace.

sirs! when God gives the sword a commission to eat flesh, and drink blood, to slay both old and yonng, to spare none that come before it, and to pity none that come nigh unto it, it highly concerns all men to be holy. This is a special season wherein God calls aloud for holiness.

I confess I am for peace and truth, for peace and righteousness, for peace and holiness, against all war in the world ; but whenever the Lord shall call forth his people to fight his battles against Antichrist, and to smite Daniel's image in pieces, it stands them very much upon to be a holy people, yea, to be eminently holy, as they would have the presence of God with them, and the power of God engaged for them, and the mercy, goodness, and blessing of God succeeding and prospering of them, 1 Sam. xxv. 28 ; Dan. ii. 31, et seq. Though he that goes to war had need carry his purse with him, yet he must be sure to leave his sins behind him, or else his sins will do him more mischief than all his enemies, for they will set God against him; and how can straw and stubble possibly stand before a consuming fire ?

I have read of Xerxes, that viewing almost an innumerable army of men, he fell a-weeping, saying, Where will all these men be within a hundred years ? He wept to think that all that mighty army would be in their graves within a himdred years. Ah, what cause of weeping is there when we behold most armies in the world, considering that within a few years, yea, months, for anything we know, they may be most in hell, except there be found repentance on their sides, and pardoning mercy on God's, they are so abominable, debauched, and wicked. But,

[8.] Eighthly, Wlien God hath separated and severed his people from the corrupt and sinful customs and manners of the world, and brought them into fellowship ivith himself and into gospel-communion with one another, oh, then, in a special manner he calls aloud upon them to be holy: Lev. xx. 23, 24, 26, ' And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you; for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. But I have said unto you, ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. And ye shall be holy unto me ; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that you should be mine.' Distinguisliing mercies should breed and nourish distinguishing qualities, 0 sirs, it is not for you who are separated and severed from the world by God to be proud, and carnal, and formal, and distrustful, and hypocritical, and earthly, and fro ward, &c., as the world is ! it is not for you to deny your principles, to debauch your consciences, to change your notes, to turn your coats, to defile your souls, to blot your names, and to scandalise your profession ! 0 sirs, if God hath separated you, and severed you from the world by a call from heaven, it highly concerns you not to think as the world thinks, nor to speak as the world speaks, nor to judge as the world judges, nor to walk as the world walks, nor to worship as the world worships, but so to think, speak, judge, walk, and worship as may make most for the honour of God, the glory of the gospel, and as best becomes those that have had the honour and the

happiness of being separated and severed by God from the world. But,

[9.] Ninthly, When the day of the Lm-d draws near, and when we look for the accomplishment of great things, oh, then, God calls aloud upon his people to be holy: 2 Pet. iii. 10-14, ' But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. Looking for, and hasting unto, the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.' The nearer the day of Christ is to us, and the more great and glorious things we expect from God, the more holy, the more spotless, and the more blameless we must labour to be, Isa. Ixv. 17-20. I know there are many that look for new heavens and a new earth, that is, for a glorious church-state here on earth, wherein shall dwell righteousness. It is certain that the highest heavens, where God keeps his royal court, was never without righteousness. Kighteousness hath been always the habitation of his throne; righteousness hath always dwelt in the highest heavens; and, indeed, heaven would be no heaven, yea, it would rather be a hell than a heaven if righteousness did not always dwell there; neither can the highest heaven ever wax old, neither were they ever made of earth, or brittle mouldering matter. The palace of the great King will be always new, fresh, shining, and gloriousness; but, indeed, the earth in all ages, have^ been full of injustice, unrighteousness, wickedness, tyranny, cruelty, and oppressions; so that righteousness seems to have been banished out of the world, ever since Adam fell from his primitive righteousness and holiness. Oh, but there is a glorious day a-coming, wherein the earth shall be full of righteousness and holiness, as I have formerly proved at large from other Scriptures. Now, Christians, the more great and glorious things you expect from God, as the downfall of antichrist, the conversion of the Jews, the conquest of the nations to Christ, the breaking off of all yokes, the new Jerusalem's coming down from above, the extraordinary pouring out of the Spirit, and a more general union among all saints, the more holy, yea, the more eminently holy in all your ways and actings it becomes you to be. Many there be that will talk high, and speak big words, and tell you stories of great things that they expect and look for in these days, which are the last of the last times; and yet if you look into their lives, you shall find them loose, and vain, and what not ? Oh that these would for ever remember, that the more great and glorious things we expect and look for from God, the more holiness God expects and looks for from us ; and therefore as we

^ A construction found in Brooks in common with his contemporaries, by which the last noun, being plural, mrkes the verb plural also.—G.

would not have God fail our expectation, let us not frustrate his, and the higher your expectation rises, the higher always let your holiness rise, for there is nothing that will hasten that desirable day of glory upon the world like this. But,

[10,] Tenthly and lastly, TVhen you draio near your end, ivJien there are but a few steps hetioeen you and the grave, hetiueen you and eternity; when you have but a little time to live, lohen death stands at your back, and treads on your heels, and knocks at your door ; when the eyes begin to grow dark, when the grinders begin to cease, when the keepers of the house—the hands and the arms—begin to tremble, and when the strong men—the legs and thighs—begin to bow and stagger, and totter, as being too weak to bear the body's burden, Eccl. xii. 2, 3. Oh then! what a holy people should you be ! This very consideration had a very great influence upon that great apostle's spirit in that 2 Pet. i. 12-15, ' Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle,^ to stir you up, by putting you in remembrance ; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ shewed me. Moreover, I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.' The apostle having the sentence of death in himself, oh, how doth he bestir himself, and how doth he stir up all that grace and holiness that was in his heart, yea, in all his ministerial and apostolical gifts, and all to better himself, and to make those that were really holy, to be eminently holy ! Peter being very sensible of the near approaches of death, did very earnestly desire, and greatly endeavour so to act his part before he went off the stage of life, that when his head was in the dust, and his soul in heaven, those saints that should survive him might be very famous in grace and holiness. That of Eleazer is very remarkable, who would not do anything which might seem to be evil, because he would not spot his white head. 0 sirs 1 when once the gray hairs of holiness and righteousness are upon you, it highly concerns you to shun the very shows and appearances of evil, that so you may not spot nor stain the honour of your white head. I have read of Joshua, that valiant soldier, that when he was a young man, and in the prime and flower of his days, when his ' bones were full of marrow, and his breasts full of milk,' as Job speaks, that then he was least in vigour and valour for God, and how that sometimes in cases of imminent danger he would conceal himself ; but when he grew older, and found the strength of nature declining and decaying, then he bestirred himself exceedingly for God. 0 sirs ! when you have one foot in the grave, God calls aloud upon you to bestir yourselves exceedingly for His honour and glory, and for your own internal and eternal welfare. Solon was not ashamed to say that he learned much in his old age. And Julianius, the lawyer,2 was wont to say that when he had one foot in the grave, he would have the other in the school.

^ Auyeipeiv, 'to rouse you up.' The Greek word signifies, to awaken, rouse, and raise Buch as are asleep. There is a sinful sluggishness and drowsiness that often hangs upon the best of men, and therefore they stand in much need of being awakened and roused up, to look after their spiritual and eternal concernments.

• The Greco-Roman Jurist.—G.

0 sirs! shall nature do more than grace ? shall morality excel real piety ? It was the glorious commendation of the church of Thyatira that her last works were more than her first, Rev, ii. 19, ' I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy work, and the last to be more than the first.' Oh, the happiness of that man that is best at last, that brings forth most of the fruits of righteousness and hoHness in old age. Oh, the blessedness of that man whose faith is more strong at last than at first, and whose love is more inflamed at last than at first, and whose hopes are more raised and elevated at last than at first, and whose knowledge is more clear at last than at first, and whose zeal is warmer at last than at first, and whose thoughts are more heavenly at last than at first, and whose heart is more spiritual at last than at first, and whose communion with God is more high at last than at first, and whose life is more holy at last than at first!

If there be any man in the world that is ripe for heaven, and that enjoys a heaven in his own soul on this side heaven, this is the man whose graces, and whose gracious works, are more at last than at first. Well, Christians, for ever remember this, the nearer death makes her approaches to you, the louder God calls upon you to be holy.

And thus, by a hand of grace that hath been in me, upon me, and with me, I have shewed you what those special times and seasons are wherein God calls loudest for holiness, and so, according to my weak measure, I have given out all that the Lord hath graciously given in concerning that most necessary, that most noble, that most glorious, and that most useful point of points, viz., holiness; and therefore I have nothing more to do but earnestly to pray that what hath been spoken and written niay be so blessed from on high, that it may work mightily to the internal and eternal welfare both of writer, reader, and hearer, that so, when their race is run, and their work done here on earth, they may be everlastingly blessed with a happy sight of the beatifical vision of God in heaven. Amen.

THE END,

7

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