Words to Give to the Young Man Knowledge and Discretion

1. Knowledge of Misery.

Sense of Misery is necessary, not to merit Mercy, but to qualify for it; not to fit the God of Mercy to give it, but the necessitous sinner to receive it.

Now, the misery of all by Nature is best known (as one contrary compared with another) by considering the happiness of Man in his state of Innocency.

When God had made the World, and richly furnished it with all things for Necessity and Delight, he then made Man, not in the Image of any inferior Creature, but in his own; which Image was both outward and inward, consisting partly in his Body, and partly in his Soul.

Partly in his Body, As it was an Instrument of Righteousness, and a frame of admirable composure, containing so many Miracles as Members, so many perfections as parts, and in some degree resembling the Majesty of God.

Partly and chiefly in his Soul, by an inward resemblance of it to God, not only in the Spiritual Nature of the Soul, but in the Natural Faculties, Properties, and Endowments of it, viz. Knowledge, Righteousness, and True Holiness.

Of all that was needful for his state of Perfection and Happiness, viz. A knowledge of God and his Excellencies, of himself as to the Nature of every Faculty of his Soul, and both the temper and use of every Member of his Body, and of all other Creatures, both as to Nature and Kind, and how to carry himself uprightly to God and them.

A Natural Inclination (with a power) perfectly disposed to the whole will of God, and to everything that was just, right, and good, without any reluctancy, and of himself to will nothing that was not so.

Being free from all Disorder, Sin, and Impurity, rejoicing in the love and bounty of God, loving him as the chiefest good in himself, and as the Author of all his.

As soon as Adam was made, God planted a Garden in Eden (in which was every Tree pleasant to the sight, and good for Food, the Tree of Life also in the midst of the Garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil) and put him into it to dress and keep it, and entered into a Covenant of Life with him (called a Covenant of Works) upon condition of perfect Obedience, forbidding him to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, upon pain of Death.

God might have dealt with him in a way of absolute Sovereignty, and required Obedience from him without any promise of Reward, but he did not, for he entered into a Covenant with him, containing a Precept, Threatning, and Promise.

A Precept, requiring perfect and perpetual Obedience.

A Threatning, denouncing death if he did not obey it.

A Promise, assuring Life if he did; and though the promise is not so clearly expressed as the threatening, yet as strongly and truly implied; for if Adam must die if he disobeyed, he should certainly live, if he did not.

The Death threatened was Temporal, Spiritual, and Eternal; the first, in the separation of the Soul from the Body; the second, in the separation of the Soul from God; the third, in the separation of the Soul and Body from God forever; one, from the presence of his Grace here, the other, from that of his Glory hereafter.

The Life promised implied a continuance of his present Life, and the assurance of one to come; a confirmation of his present happiness, and a translation (at last) to a greater and better.

The present Life enjoyed was twofold; one, as a Man and a Creature; the other, as a perfect and upright Man: The first consisting in the Union of Soul and Body, the second, in a Union betwixt God and the Soul.

The Life to come, was a perfect, immutable, and eternal happiness both of Soul and Body with God, through a perfect likeness to him, and an immediate vision and fruition of him in Heaven to all Eternity.

Adam being a glorious and excellent Creature by Creation, and endowed with a power and will to obey, stood bound to obey, both by the Law of Nature, and the positive Law and Command from God, which obliged him to it.

But being made with a freedom of will (viz. a liberty of its own accord) to choose, or refuse; to do, or not to do; to stand, or fall, at his own choice, without constraint or force from any; and being mutably good, his will, though naturally disposed to good only, yet being mutable and changeable, it might be altered, and become evil, as it did; for, through the Temptation of the Devil, the persuasion of Eve, and Pride (a desire to be as God) through Luxury and Sensuality, a disregard of the promise of Life, and a disbelief of Death threatened, he did eat of the forbidden Fruit, and by it fell from his state of Innocency and Happiness, into a state of Sin and Misery.

1. Of Sin. In the loss of his Original Righteousness, and the depravation of his Nature in all the faculties of his Soul, and the members of his Body.

2. Of Misery. In the loss of his Communion with God in Pararadise, and subjection (as justly obnoxious) to all the direful effects and consequents of his wrath in this World, and in that to come.

Adam was not a private, but public Person, the Representative of all Mankind; and the Covenant made with him, was not for himself only, but for his Posterity also, that should by ordinary Generation descend from him: He was the Head of the Covenant, and they Parties engaged with him by that stipulation, Legally Parties in that Covenant, and as naturally in him (the Head of it) as streams in the Fountain, and branches in the Root; in his standing, they stood, and in his fall, they fell; sinning in him, they fell with him, and partake with him both in his sin and misery.

1. In his Sin. By the imputation of that particular sin committed by him, and by a communication of that corruption derived from him, whereby they are indispos'd to all good, and inclined to all evil.

2. In his Misery. Being justly liable to all the punishments of sin in this World (both outward and inward) on their Souls and Bodies, and to those in the World to come, in the sharpness, universality, and eternity of them.

The Head of Nile is admired, because it cannot be found out; but the Spring-head from whence the misery of all by Nature arises, may; (viz. from sin) the Spring is known; but how many, and how bitter the streams are flowing from it, cannot easily be known; the River that watered the Garden of Eden, branched out into four streams only, but the streams flowing from the sin committed there, are innumerable; broad and deep, a complex misery, as to kind and degree, comprehending both sin and punishment; some are sins, and not miseries, and some are miseries, and not sins; of both which something may be seen in these eight following particulars, viz.

• 1. Filthiness.
• 2. Enmity.
• 3. Darkness.
• 4. Poverty.
• 5. Nakedness.
• 6. Bondage.
• 7. Death.
• 8. Wrath.

Adam at first (as he came out of God's hands) was pure, without spot or wrinkle, (within and without) but as he came out of the Devils hands, or when by sin that unclean Spirit entered into him, he (and in him all his Posterity) became as an unclean thing.

All that are brought out of this state, are sprinkled with the Blood of Christ, and cleansed from all their filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit; but they that are not, though Noble by Birth, are but (as Naaman) Noble Lepers; though Princes by Blood, attainted; yea though Angels for outward Beauty, yet but as Devils in the sight of God; in his Eyes they are unclean, though not in their own, and the more when they are not so.

Grace is the Ornament of the Soul, and all that are adorned with it, have Christ's Beauty upon them, a Beauty that God greatly desires, and delights in.

But Sin has defiled the whole man, from Head to Foot, not one part only, but everyone, inside and outside, Flesh and Spirit, Body and Soul (the Faculties of one, and Members of the other) Mind and Conscience, Thoughts and Imaginations, Affections and Desires, Words and Deeds: All of them in general and especial are become altogether filthy by it.

Some sins defile the Body, but all Sins defile the Soul, and that with a filthiness so great, that all the filth in the World (should it meet in one common sink) cannot equalize the pollution of it.

Habitual and actual, inward and outward, in Affection or Action, Reconciliation offered, implies it; for, there can be no Reconciliation where there is no Breach, nor any Peace made, before the Enmity is subdued.

Adam at first was in a state of Friendship with God, God and he were as nearly conjoin'd as a Creator and Creature could be, without sin; but sin made a breach, and separated these Friends.

All that are brought out of this state, have thrown down their Weapons of Hostility, are reconciled to God, and at Peace with him; but they that are not, are (like David and Absalom) in open Hostility against him; and as Absalom made all the means he could to stir up the People in Rebellion against David, so they employ their whole strength of Soul and Body against God: They are Enemies to him (both actively and passively) Haters of God, and hateful to him; Haters of him, and hated by him, as clearly appears by the terms of Difference on their part, and on God's.

1. On their part who gave the Offence. They are Strangers to God, and unacquainted with him, they are Foreigners, and alienated from the Life of God, without him, afar off, and at distance from him, they know not God, nor desire it, (for he is not in all their thoughts) they acknowledge no wrong (say not, What have we done) nor repent of their Wickedness; they seek not after God, nor for peace with him, nor are willing to come to him for it; they will not accept of Overtures, Parleys, and tenders of Peace, nor read the Articles of Agreement, or Covenant of Peace, but count it a strange thing; they will not hearken to God's Voice, nor regard it, will not be persuaded, nor gathered to him, but reject and contemn him, and take Counsel against him. They bid him stand off and depart (they de • ire not the knowledge of his ways) abuse his Ambassadors that are sent to treat of Peace, and List themselves under the Command of God's utter Enemy the Devil) and rise up in Arms • nd open Rebellion against him.

When God is for Peace, they • re for War.

2. On God's part.

Who as he is a just Enemy, so • ver an Enemy to all impenitent • inners: He is strange to them, • eeps at a distance, and with • raws from them, knows them afar off, and is Angry with them, Curses their Blessings, rejects their Services, and counts them an Abomination, hates them, and walks contrary to them, has a Controversy with them, Proclaims his Displeasure against them, and re • sts them in open Battle array, turns their way upside-down, and causes it to perish.

They are Outlaw'd Enemies.

God had no Friends (among Men) until he made Friends out of Enemies: He was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself.

Adam at first was made a Son of Light (the Candle of the Lord was put into him) but affecting the Tree of Knowledge above that of Life, he brought Darkness upon himself and all his Posterity.

All that are brought out of this state, are Light in the Lord (they were blind, but now they see) but they that are not, are Darkness in the Devil, the Prince of Darkness (whose Kingdom is full of Darkness) they are not only dim of sight, but stark blind; Children of Darkness, doing the works of Darkness, which lead to Eternal Darkness.

Adam at first was the Rich Heir of the World, and Lord possessor of all; but by sin he became a Bankrupt, and then Justice seized on him (as the Creditor on his Debtor) and turned him the unjust Possessor out of all; he was not the first-born, yet had a double Portion; but by losing all at one cast, he fell into decay, and became the first-born of the Poor: He was undone, and all his Posterity had been ruined with him, had not Christ, the Jewel of the Imperial Crown, been parted with to discharge the Debt.

All that are brought out of this state, are Rich, and have all things; but they that are not, are indigent Beggars (without substance or true Riches) having no Oblation to offer unto God, nor anything of their own to satisfy that double Debt which they owe, viz. of Obedience, as Creatures; and of Satisfaction, as Sinners.

Adam at first was arrayed with the resplendent Robe of Righteousness, he wanted neither external nor internal Ornaments; but sin (the Mother of shame) defiled them both, and the Devil (as a Conqueror with his Captive in War) stripped him of all those Ornaments, and left him naked.

All that are brought out of this state, are clothed with the Robes of Christ's Righteousness, (Solomon in all his Glory was not arrayed like one of these) but they that are not, are in the Raggs of Nature (filthy Raggs) which as filthy, defile, and as Raggs, cannot hide nor cover the shame of their Nakedness.

Sin left us, and Christ found us (as the Man in the Gospel) Naked, and out of our Wits.

Adam at first had perfect freedom, and was in bondage to none, but Sin brought him, and all his Posterity into it; a Yoak, that neither he their Father was, nor they his Children are, able to bear.

All that are brought out of this state, are made Free by Christ, (the Devil is cast out, and Rules not as a King, though sometimes he may as a Tyrant) but they that are not, are Slaves; not only near to Slavery, but actually in it; they may say (with the Jews) that they were never in Bondage to any, but they are, and that in Soul and Body too.

The Moralist says, if the great ones of the World were divested of their Robes, it would plainly appear what Slaves they were; but all, both great and small, high and low, with all their outward Ornaments are Slaves; they were so, before they came out of the Prison of the Womb, and greater when out of it than when there, to Sin, and the Devil.

Not only Pride, but every sin else as a Chain compasses them about; for they are in the Bond of Iniquity, sold under it, and Bond-servants to it.

So many Lusts, so many Masters, and everyone give contrary Commands.

He is the strong Man, and Prince of this World, that has Snares by which he takes them Captive, and a Power, by which he Rules over them, as a Tyrant over his Vassals (from whom he exacts Tribute) as a Master over his Servants (who are under his Command) as a Conqueror over his Captives (who are led by him at his will) and as a Father over his Children (from whom he expects Obedience) they are not only Children of the Devil, but Slaves to him.

They are his by possession, though God's by right.

Adam at first was alive, but when the Devil, the first-born of Death (as Prince of Death, and first Condemn'd to it) devoured his strength, the Gates of Death (viz. present and certain Death) Temporal on his Body, and Spiritual on his Soul, were opened to him; and but a step there was betwixt him and Eternal Death.

All that are brought out of this state, are alive in Christ, alive by him, and alive to him; but they that are not, are dead, not only sick, weak, or diseased, but dead: They may be indeed alive as to their own Opinion, (so Paul for a time was) and in the Opinion of others (so the Church of Sardis was) and may be alive as to sinful works (living in them, and to them) but this their Life is their Death; for it is not a Physical Death, which is a loss of the Faculties, but a Moral one, which is a loss of the goodness of them.

Sin cast Adam and all his Posterity, not into a swoon only, but a Death; and they are all ever since by Nature not (as Christ said of Lazarus) asleep, but dead in sin; not (as the Wounded Man in the way to Jericho) half dead, but altogether so, under the sentence of a Natural Death, under the power of a Spiritual Death, and under the guilt of an Eternal Death.

Sons of Death, for they are all Condemned.

God is Love, and Adam innocence found favor in his sight, and was greatly beloved by him; but by sin, his Anger was kindled, and his wrath waxed hot against him.

All that are brought out of this state, are delivered from wrath (wrath present and to come) but they that are not, are under wrath, wrath is their Fee-simple, and proper Inheritance, to them it is due, and to them it belongs, for as Children of wrath they are born to it.

The Scripture concludes all under sin, and sin concludes all under wrath; it is sins wages, and God will see Justice done.

2. Of Recovery out of Misery.

God left not miserable Man thus fallen (as the Priest and Levite the wounded man in his way to Jericho) but (with the good Samaritan) had Compassion upon him, and sent his Son to heal those wounds sin had made, and to recover him from that state of Misery, into which by sin he was fallen; by his wounds he healed him, and by dying, restored him to Life.

Adam was the first man, the Natural Head of all men; Christ, the second man, the Mystical Head of all Believers: He was the Earthly man, this the Lord from Heaven.

The Titles given to him, show (as Remedies do the Disease) the misery of all by sin on our part, and the happiness of all Believers on his.

He is a Mediator (and the only Mediator) an Advocate, a Deliverer, Healer, and Purger of Sins, a Reconciler, Savior, and Redeemer; he is all these in himself, and whatever the necessities of lost and undone sinners can need, or require; but none of them to any, unless by Faith they receive him; and therefore, if you expect any help from him, you must by Faith go unto him, and you need not fear going, if you see a present and absolute need of him (for, behold he calls you) and this need you will find, if you consider, that your condition by Nature is no less than a state of Filthiness, Enmity, Nakedness, Darkness, Poverty, Bondage, Death, and Wrath.

1. A Filthiness so deep, that it is not only extensive, but intensive, compared to marks and brands in the Flesh (which are not easily got out) to colors of the deepest die (double dipt in the wool and web) to the spots of a Leopard, (which are not by way of accidental, or external, but innate coherence) and to the blackness of an Ethiopian, which cannot be washed off; the Colliers blackness may be washed off, but not the Ethiopians; and the Lepers spots may be taken out, but not the Leopards.

A Filthiness so great, that neither the Tears of Repentance, nor the Flames of Hell-fire, nor anything but the Blood of Christ, can wash, or purge it away; the sacred Laver, cleansing Jordan, and healing Bethesda, set open for all that will, to wash in for sin, and uncleanness: The Priests under the Law, cleansed by the Blood of Beasts, but Christ by his own Blood; his will is, that you should be clean, and therefore you must by Faith apply his Blood, that you may be so.

Christ washed his Disciples Feet with Water, but their Hearts with his Blood, and unless he thus wash you, you can have no part in him; and unless by Faith you go unto him, you cannot be thus washed by him.

A degeneracy beneath the brute Beasts, for none of them are at enmity with God, with us they are, and we may blame ourselves for it, for they never Rebell'd, until we Rebell'd.

But yet God is willing to be at peace, for he commands it, prescribes a way to it, and assures it to all that like the terms of it, he offers it freely, and sues for it earnestly, and therefore it highly concerns you to make peace with him; it is not convenient only, and fit to be done, but necessary, and that which must be, and if ever, it must be in his way, and at his time.

1. In his way, viz. by Faith in Christ, for the blessing of peace is the blessing of Faith in him, who as Priest purchased it, as Prophet preached it, and as King works it, in all that believe in him.

2. At his time, and that is the present time, viz. of Life, and therefore let not the Sun of your Life go down upon your Enmity to God, for if you do, terms of peace shall neither be offered to you, nor accepted from you.

There is no Quarter given in Hell to Enemies.

A Darkness that implies a state of evil, both sinful and penal; not of the Body, but Mind, a Corruption of the most excellent Faculty, yet not incurable; for, Christ the Sun of Righteousness, the day-spring from on High, was sent into the World as a Light (not only to all the Types, Prophesies, and dark shadows, but) to them that sat in the darkness of sin and misery, that from him they might receive the light of Spiritual knowledge and comfort; and therefore, if you are brought out of this state of darkness, it concerns you (as the blind Man in the Gospel did when healed by Christ) to appear for him against all that oppose him, to cast off the works of darkness, and walk as a Child of light; but if you are not, it concerns you as much, to go unto him (as blind Bartimaeus did for the Eyes of his Body) that you may receive your sight. Christ is the great Oculist sent from Heaven, and none but he has the Eye-salve to cure you.

So great is the Poverty you are fallen under by sin, and so low are you brought by it, that all the Creatures on Earth are not able, no, nor all the Angels in Heaven, to raise you, or set you up again; nothing less than the Riches of Heaven, and Treasures of a Deity can, and Christ only has them, who became poor for our sakes, that we through his poverty might be rich, and therefore to him you must go, that you may be enriched by him: Of other Riches, the promise is conditional only, but of these, it is absolute, but then you must come and buy them, and you need not fear, for it is a buying without Money, all the price is a will to accept them.

Tamar, when deflowered, rent her Virgin Robe, and sin by defiling the Soul, rent off the beautiful Garment, that Virgin Robe of Innocency, with which it was clothed; but Christ is not only Armor for defense against weakness, an Ornament for Beauty against Deformity, but a Vesture for covering, against Nakedness; and therefore you must by Faith put him on, if you would be clothed with Salvation, not for an outside Garment of Profession only, or in show, but in reality; not as a covering for sin, but for Righteousness in Justification, and for Holiness in Sanctification, as a defense against the guilt and power of it, that your nakedness may not be uncovered, nor your shame seen.

Your own Righteousness (like the curtail'd Clothes of David 's Ambassadors sent to Comfort Hanun) is imperfect, scanty, and too short to do it, Christ's Righteousness only can, and without it you can never obtain the Blessing; for, as you came Spiritually naked into the World, so if you go out so, you will be covered with everlasting shame.

Only this you must remember, that though Christ's Righteousness is a Garment large enough to cover you, yet the Rags of Nature must be pulled off before that Robe will come on, for it will come upon none but a naked Soul.

A cruel Bondage, worse than that of the Israelites in Egypt; for it is to (Sin and the Devil) the worst of Tyrants, and without the least degree of Ease, or Liberty.

He (in the Gospel) that was possessed, could break all Chains asunder, but those of the Devil; and from other Bondage you may be able to redeem yourself, but from this you cannot, either by yourself or others, but by Christ only, the Angel of Redemption, and great Redeemer, that paid the price of your Ransom.

You are not free-born, but made so, and by none but by him; and therefore you must by Faith go unto him that you may be so; if he make you free, you shall be free indeed; but unless he do, you must be a Slave forever: Other Slaves, after their Service have Freedom, or by Death obtain it, but they that die in this, are so forever; their Chains are everlasting.

You must be either a King to God, or Slave to the Devil.

Sin's sickness was to Death, but Christ the Heavenly Physician, came down to raise the dead in sin to life again; you were killed in the first Adam, and may be made alive in the second, but not until by Faith you receive him; for, he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life: It is the life of Heaven in you, that will bring you to that Heavenly Life; and therefore, without this Life of Grace, you can have no sure hope of the Life of Glory, the Title to that, is by Christ, and the Title to Christ, is by this; so that unless here you are Spiritually alive by him, you cannot hereafter live with him.

All that die in sin, are buried in Hell.

Not the wrath of Men, (no, not of the greatest of them) nor of Devils, but of God; a wrath that cannot be withstood, for it is irresistible, nor endured, for it is intolerable (it cannot be comprehended, much less endured) nor either avoided, or appeased, but by Christ, who came to deliver from it, and to be as a shadow from the scorching heat of it.

There is no way to Mercy, but by deliverance from wrath, nor any way to that, but by laying hold on Mercy, nor any way to Mercy, but by Christ, for God is the Father of Mercy, as he is the Father of Christ; and therefore, if you would flee from this wrath, you must flee to Christ, who appeased it, and brank that bitter Cup off to the bottom, that you might never taste of it.

Nothing but his Blood could quench that flame of wrath.

3. Duty when recovered out of Misery.

All Privileges (whether Temporal or Spiritual, Civil, or Religious) oblige to Duty, in themselves they are engagements to it, and should be so to all that are Interested in them.

Spiritual Privileges are (of all) the highest, and most obliging, they are given to engage to Duty, they afford the best means and advantages to it; they aggravate sin, and become a Curse instead of a Blessing, where they are not effectual to it; for, as Mercy abounds, so sin against Mercy abounds also.

A change in state calls for a change in Life, and a new condition requires a new conversation.

If then you are cleansed by the Blood of Christ from all sin, keep yourself pure and unspotted from sin and the world.

If the Enmity betwixt God and you (upon the account of sin) is slain by Christ, be subject to his Laws, and live as one reconciled to him, that all your Services may be accepted by him.

He that will not accept a gift of one at enmity with his Brother, will much less accept it from any at enmity with himself.

If you are called out of darkness into his marvelous light, show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness, by walking as a Child of light.

If through his poverty you are made rich, be rich in good works, and have mercy on the poor.

If you are released from your spiritual Bondage, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled again with the Yoke of Bondage to sin, and the lusts of Men.

If by Faith you have received Christ, and put him on, walk in him, and serve him in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of your Life.

If he has delivered you from Death, live to him who died for you, and by death delivered you from Death.

Thus by living up to your privileges, or doing the Duty of them, you will at last receive the benefit of them.

It is sad to want privileges, but far worse to abuse, or not improve them.

Make it your great business to secure the salvation of your Soul.

In order unto it,

• 1. Believe you have a Soul.
• 2. Believe it is precious.
• 3. Live to it, as so believing.

Everyone has a soul, but the Lives of most show, that they do not believe it: Some live, as if their Bodies were immortal, and worthy of all their care; and some, as if they had no Souls, or as if they were Mortal, and when once dead, should never be alive again. The Soul of such Men is of little more use, than (as Tully says of the Soul of a Swine) to keep the Body from stinking. But be you established in the belief of this truth, that you have a Soul, and that it is Immortal. A truth that has been owned by Heathens, and is previous to Religion, for all Religion is grounded upon it. They did usually say, That to live, was to die; and to die, was to live again.

Druydes made the Gauls Valiant, by telling them, that their Souls were Immortal: Caesar put Gold into his Soldiers Pockets, that the fear of losing it, might make them so, and the belief of this Treasure within you (enclosed in an Earthen Vessel, as Manna in an Earthen pot) and the fear of losing it, should provoke you to a diligent care about it, that you may not.

A Sadducee in Opinion will soon be an Epicure in Life.

The same Offering was for the Soul of the Poor, that was for the Soul of the Rich (half a Shekel was the Soul-money for both) and the Soul of both (viz. of a Slave and an Emperor) are alike precious, and (next to that which is infinite and excellent) most excellent, as will appear,

• 1. By the Titles given to it.
• 2. By the care taken of it.

1. By the Titles given to it, viz. The breath of Life (Life is a desirable good, and the Soul a most precious Being, as it is the breath of Life) God's Spirit, (God is a Spirit, and so is the Soul too, not only in respect of its immediate procedure from him, but in respect of its resemblance to him, a remote Image of God, or an Image of the Trinity, in a Faculty) the Candle of the Lord (the Sun in the little World, as the Sun is the Soul of the great one) the hidden man (the whole man, or the Man of Man, as Athens was the Greece of Greece) Mans principal one, (Wisdom is the principal thing, and the Soul the seat of Wisdom, Mans principal one) Mans Darling (Christ is God's Darling, Man is Christ's, and the Soul is Mans) Mans Honor and Excellency; Glory is the manifestation of Excelcellency, and therefore, that which is his Glory, must needs excel.

Man was the perfection of the Creation, the Master-piece, and chiefest part of it, and the Soul the choicest part of Man, as appears by these Titles given to it by God, who rates everything according to its kind and worth; and therefore, set the Crown and Diadem by him put upon it, the Letters Testimonial sent from Heaven to commend it, make you highly to value and esteem of it.

2. By the care taken of it.

By God and Man, to save it, and by the Devil to destroy it.

By God, viz. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

By the Father, who in his infinite Wisdom contrived Redemption for it, instituted Sacraments and Ordinances to feed it in this World, provided Heaven a place of Eternal Rest for it in the World to come, and Angels to guard and conduct it safe to it.

By the Son, who in his unspeakable Love laid down his Life as a Ransom for it, and parted with his most precious Blood as a price to Redeem it.

By the Holy Ghosts powerful Operation in Sanctifying of it, whereby it becomes as Mount Zion, the Temple of the most High, the Throne of the great King of Heaven, his Mansion, Dwelling-place, and second Heaven.

2. By Men, viz. both good and bad: By good Men, while living, and by bad Men, when dying; who, though while living, they sold themselves to work Iniquity, and (as by Will) bequeathed their Souls to the Devil, when dying make void that Will, out of a desire (for their Souls sake) to die well, though they would not live so.

That which is every ones Money, or bears a price everywhere, and is by all (sooner or later) highly esteemed, and to all alike precious, has worth and excellency in it.

3. By the care taken by the Devil to destroy it. There are two Lions contend for the Soul; Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who seeks to save it; and the Devil, the roaring Lion, who seeks to destroy it: He is active and diligent, for he goes about seeking; bloody and cruel, for he seeks to devour: Other Lions prey on dead Bodies, but this on living Souls: He desired Job 's Body for his Souls sake.

If you do not prize your Soul, the Devil does.

3. Live to your Soul, as believing it is Precious.

God might (and that without any Injustice) have placed you in the lowest predicament of the vilest Creatures; but since he has stamped his own Image upon you, and given you a Soul, with which you may converse, not only with Men and Angels, but with himself; bless him for your Soul, with your Soul, and live to it as a Being most excellent and precious.

It is your Excellency and Honor, let it not then consult its own shame, nor (with Reuben) lose its Excellency by sin, but be Honourably employed; serve the living God with this breath of Life, (Life must be served with Life) worship God who is a Spirit (and the God of the Spirits of all flesh) with this his Spirit in you.

Do not lose your Soul in looking after its Servant the Body (as Shimei lost his Life in looking after his) but do your principal work, for this principal one.

All that a man has will he give for his life, but life, and all must be given and laid out for the good of the Soul.

And there is good reason for it, if you consider,

1. That your Soul was given to you that you should take care of it, and everything else for the good of your Soul.

Everyone has not a Child, nor an Estate to look after, but everyone has a Soul; the poorest Widow has these two Mites, (a Soul and a Body) and the most indigent Beggar this Treasure: Since then it is every ones (yours as well as their) possession, it should be yours, and every ones care, to secure the happiness of it, and therefore, give to the soul the things that are the souls.

2. Christ likes them best, that are most careful of their souls.

Christ, when on Earth, loved them most, who loved their souls more than his body (Mary's Breakfast was better to him than Martha's Dinner) and much more then will he love them that love their souls more than their own bodies.

He that would not have you Murder your Body, would much less have you Murder your Soul.

3. According to the care for your Soul here, so it is like to fare with your Soul and Body hereafter.

You are daily Travelling to the Land of Souls, (viz. the world of Spirits, both of the just and unjust) every day you take a step to it, and within a little while you will be all Soul; and as you live to it here, so it will be with that, and your Body forever hereafter; the welfar of your Body depends upon the welfare of your Soul, and the eternal welfare of that, upon your care in time about it; and therefore, as by a care for your Soul, you may do two works at once, (viz. secure the happiness of Soul and Body) so by a neglect of it, will undo both forever; at the first death your Soul shall go to Hell, and your Body at the second.

4. The loss of the Soul is the greatest loss; Christ, who best knows the worth of a Soul, by the price he paid for it, says, that the gain of a whole World (if it could be obtained) with the loss of a Soul, would be a gain without profit, a loss, rather than a gain, and that not the least, but greatest, as an irreparable, and irrecoverable loss, a loss that could neither be made up nor recovered.

All other losses (even of Life itself) may be made up, either in kind or virtue; but nothing can repair, or make up the loss of the Soul; for in this, God is lost; a lost Groat may be found, lost Time may be redeemed, and a lost Estate recovered by diligence; but a Soul when gone into Eternity, and lost, will be forever so; Heaven itself (salvâ justitiâ) cannot redeem a Soul from Hell when once there.

Your Soul is God's as well as your Body, that he has bought, and therefore Glorify him with it, and commit the keeping of it to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator, of Souls, as well as of Bodies, that at last it may be taken up to the innumerable Company of Spirits, viz. of Angels created perfect, and of just Men made so.

Begin the work of Religion early.

Make it the great business of your Life.

Be hearty and sincere in it.

Be true and faithful to it, to the end of your Life.

1. Begin the work early.

• 1. God commands and expects it.
• 2. It is the best time for it.

(1.) God commands and expects it.

Cain brought Fruit to God (an Offering of the Fruit of the Ground) Abel brought first fruits, (the firstlings of his Flock) and God had respect to Abel and his Offering, but not to Cain's, and this before the special Law of first-fruits, and first-born (which were God's in all) was made, to show (as is usually observed) that it was not Ceremonial, but Moral and perpetual.

God, or the Devil, will have the use and service of your Life, but God has the greatest Right to it; and his will is not only for work, but for Day, and Time, and the first of that (viz. your Youth) he calls for, which shows kindness on his part (in taking any into his Service before they can well work for him) and should promote Obedience on yours. God is the fashioner and former, the teacher and preserver, the guide and strength of your Youth, all the parts, Beauty, Strength, and all the other Excellencies of it, come from him, and ought to be employed for him; and therefore do not give the Devil your Youth, and God your Old Age; him your Spring, and God your Winter; him your Vintage, and God your Gleanings; him your Flower, and God your Bran; him the best, and God the worst; but the best, for he is best, and deserves the best.

Not an old or rotten Sacrifice, but the fattest, and fairest must be laid upon God's Altar.

(2.) It is the best time for it.

As to Ease, Honor, Service, Comforts, and Safety.

Old Age is the best for Advice and Counsel, but Youth the best for Action, both as to the Natural and Moral frame of the Body and Mind, viz. the parts of one, and the endowments of the other. Old Age is called the Sickness of Nature, but Youth is the Health and Strength of it; that is called the evil day (not only in respect of the evil then suffered, but of the indisposition from that evil, to anything that is good) but this a good day, as most fit and proper for work; the Body being most active and vigorous, the Fancy and Invention most quick, the Memory most strong, the Affections most smart and lively, the Conscience most pure, the Will most pliable, and the Heart (as not hardened by Custom in sin) most soft, and so most fit to receive the impressions of Virtue.

Trees are transplanted, Horses broken, and Cattle accustomed to the Yoke with ease, when young; and Youth more fit for Instruction, than Old Age, even then, when it is scarce fit for anything else.

Piety in Youth will give you Honor with God and Men.

You are Planted in a Vineyard, and God expects Fruit from you as soon as you are Planted; he looks for it (in the Spring) and when he finds it, takes notice of it (as he did of the kindness of Israel's Youth) and is greatly pleased with it (as Christ with the Rich Man in the Gospel, that from his Youth observed the Commandments) for he loves to magnify his praise out of the mouths of Babes and Sucklings.

The Almond-tree that blossomed soonest, was put into the Ark, and John, the youngest Disciple, was most beloved.

It was the Glory of Alexander, not so much that he Conquer'd the World, as that he did it in his Youth. A Crown (better than one of Gold) on Josiah 's Head, that he was Religious in his tender Years: The Honor of Moses and Samuel, (they lived and died in Honor) and of Daniel (therefore a Man of desires) because Religious in Youth; and so it will be of all the Children of Wisdom, when found walking early, as well as late, in the ways of Wisdom. Fruits early ripe, are by all greatly prized.

The most eminent in God's Service were (as is to be seen upon Record) most early at it.

Joseph, a Religious Child in his Fathers House, was afterwards a Religious Senator in Pharaoh 's Court.

Samuel, a Religious Child, was an eminent Prophet, Recorded by David, and by God himself, as one (that if any he) could prevail with God by Prayer.

Josiah, a Religious Child (at eight years old) and a Renowned King, for there was none like to him.

Timothy, a Religious Child, was afterwards eminent in the Service of the Gospel.

And Christ more eminent than all, went early about his Fathers business.

So that if you would be useful in Life, you must be Religious in Youth: The sooner Weeds are pulled up, the better the Corn will grow; and the sooner you are good, the more good you will do: Therefore, if you would have your Age be the Harvest, your Youth must be the Seed-time.

The good Figs were soonest ripe.

Timothy, that was Godly from his Youth, was bid to flee Youthful Lusts; and surely then it concerns you (and all that are young) to do so, that you may not lay a Foundation for sin or sorrow (or for both) in Old Age.

Youth, of all the Ages of Life, is most subject, as to Infection in Body, so to Corruption in Soul.

Solomon beheld a Young Man void of Understanding; and it was the younger Brother (not the elder) that was the Prodigal.

Youth is to this Life, as this Life is to that to come; as this Life is (well or ill) ordered, so it is like to be with you forever in that; and as your Youth is, so the sequel of your Life is like to be; and therefore it concerns you to be good then, that it may (like the first-fruits to the Harvest) Sanctify the remainder of your Life.

All Habits are by so much the more firmly radicated in their Subjects, by how much the Actions from whence they come, are the more frequently and timely used.

Impiety in Youth will increase sin in Age (for by Custom it will become Natural) and that will increase sorrow; for, as bruises in Youth, bring aches in Old Age; so sins in Youth will bring sorrow then; and therefore give God now the possession of your Youth, that you may not then (with Job, David, and Ephraim) possess the sins of it.

• 1. Your time is uncertain.
• 2. The work (by delay) will be more difficult.

1. Your time is uncertain.

It is true, Old Age will not come presently, nor may not, perhaps, to you at all; (you are not sure you shall live to be Old) but Death will come sooner or later; the longer your Glass has been running, the less there is to run, and it may be out before you are aware, for it is ever running, and there are no stops in it.

There are young Skulls as well as old ones in Golgotha; and there is a dying in Youth, as certainly as in Old Age.

2. The work (by delay) will be more difficult.

The longer you defer the work, like the deferring to buy the Sybil's Prophesies, the dearer (as one observes) every day it will cost you; the more Tears, the harder Repentance, the deeper sorrows, and the stronger cries, and thereby become Morally (though not absolutely) impossible; you will not have less work to do by delay, but more work, and less time.

The first Cripple only, that went into the Pool of Bethesda after the troubling of the Waters, was healed.

I have read of a Temple (in Spain) Dedicated to Old Age; I wish your Young Age may be Dedicated (as Joshua 's) to God's Temple, and the Service of it.

The glory of Young Men (as Solomon says) is their strength, and the glory of that glory, is to give that strength, the excellency of that Power (as Jacob said of his first-born Reuben) to God's Service. If you begin early, the Progress will be happy, and the end comfortable. You cannot begin too soon nor hold out too late.

2. Make Religion the great business of your Life.

Religion is the true riches, the good eminenter part, (Martha's work was good, but Mary's was better,) the whole Duty of Man, his Form, Being, and Essence, his Wisdom, and principal thing, his Happiness, his Calling, and Work, a Work most suitable to him, most useful and advantageous (his Interest as well as his Duty) his chief work (above all Natural, Political, Moral, and Ceremonial work) the one thing needful, never out of season, but (as Seneca says of Philosophy) at all times necessary; his Life, and principal end of his Life, other things are but means to this end; and therefore this must be preferred and set before it.

The end is more excellent than the means.

Since then it is so in itself, let it be so to you, mind it as your chief good (the supreme end, and chief good are one) refer all the general and particular actions of your Life to it ultimately, (the end makes the means lovely) make all other things subservient to it, and let this as Commander in Chief, give Laws to all, carry the remembrance of it always in your mind, place it next to your Heart, and uppermost in your thoughts; be diligent in it, and prosecute the Interest of it both fully, and earnestly, not as the last and least business of your Life, but as the first and greatest (viz. in order and dignity) not secondarily, but primarily, before all other things, and above them.

Two principal ends can never consist together.

Two things may encourage you to this work, and in it.

• 1. Strength is promised to it.
• 2. A Reward attends it.

1. Strength is promised to it.

Tripho the Jew, in his Dispute against Justin Martyr, tells him, that those Precepts Christ left about the Duties of Religion, were so harsh and burdensome, that he would have but few, if any Disciples; and many there are, that either through mistake think they find this stumbling-block in the way of Religion, and cannot get over it, or lay it there, and will not; it is true, to carnal minds by reason of the contrariety of their Nature to Religion, through the corruption that is in them, and by reason of custom in sin, which makes the contrariety stronger, the work's difficult and uneasy; but to them that are renewed, it is not, or if so at first, yet by use it becomes pleasant and delightful, for Christ's Yoke by constant wearing, grows easy.

But if it were not so, yet strength shall be given to it, that will make it so. In the Body, where there is a vein to convey Blood, there is an Artery to convey Spirits; and in the Scripture, where there is a Command to work, there is a promise of strength to it; what is a Command in one place, is a Promise in another.

Now, difficult work and easy, are both alike, if a suitable, and proportionable strength be given to the performance of it.

2. A Reward attends it, viz. Of Honor, Pleasure, Profit, and Peace.

There was no way to the Temple of Honor (among the Romans) but through the Temple of Virtue; nor is there any coming to Honor now in the broad way of sin, but in the narrow way of Religion; for as the future issue of sin is Death, so the present fruit is shame.

Indeed the Enemies of Religion (who fetch their Scutcheon out of the Devils Herald-Office) count sin their Honor, and glory in their shame; but God (who is the Fountain of all true Honor) places it in Righteousness and Holiness, he is Glorious in Holiness, and if it be his Honor, it may well be esteemed yours; this is the only true Honor, and it cometh from God only, and if by this you Honor him, you shall be everlastingly honored by him; a Spirit of Glory shall rest on you here, and a Crown of Glory be put upon you hereafter.

All seek Honor, and some to the loss of their Lives and Souls, but none but the Religious truly find it.

The Enemies of Religion think, if once they espouse the profession of it, that all Joy and Mirth must be cast out, (as the Minstrels were by Christ out of the Rulers House, when he came to raise his Daughter to Life) but they are much mistaken, for Christ (the increated wisdom of the Father) says, that the ways of wisdom have pleasure in them; not the end only, but the way, and not someone way only, but all the ways, and every step in them, are, not only pleasant, but pleasantness, yea, pleasantnesses; having all pleasures that are good, both as to kind and degree in it. The Sheep has delights as well as the Swine, though it wallows not (with the Swine) in the mire; and the Religious their pleasures, though none that are vain and sensual.

All look for pleasure in Life, and most think there is no Life without it; but the Religious only find it.

Religion brings gain, this the Devil could not deny, when he accused Job of Hypocrisy (now the praise of an Enemy is, as Aristotle says, a universal good Report) and this God has assured to all the sincere Professors and Friends of it, and that no ordinary gain neither, but an increase greater than the World can promise or secure, for it is a hundred fold, not ten in the hundred, but a hundred upon ten, a hundred to one (use upon use) viz. either in kind or virtue in this World, and in the World to come, Life eternal.

You may lose something for Religion, but you shall never lose anything by it; for, if God be yours, all things are yours; all things conditionally, if he absolutely.

The Offerings of Old increased their store.

The Enemies of Religion talk much of their Peace, but without any Reason, for there is no Peace to them in that, they are Enemies to the God of Peace, without the Spirit of Peace (and therefore without Peace the fruit of the Spirit) and Fighters against Christ the Prince of Peace, who speaks Peace, not to his Enemies that commit folly, but to his Subjects that return no more to it.

Joy (as the Philosopher says) is the shadow of all Virtue, (as inseparable perhaps from it, as the shadow from the Body) and the fruit of Righteousness (as the Apostle says) is Peace, there is no Peace without it, and all true Peace in it, and it is worth the having; for it abides, not only in Life, but at Death too. The end of the upright is Peace.

Peace in Life is a rare Blessing, but at Death a greater; and was there no other benefit in this World to be got by Religion, it is enough to make you in love with it.

3. Be hearty and sincere in the work of Religion.

When you enter upon the work of Religion, let that enter into you, and give up, not only your Name, but Heart to it; and what ever you do in it, do it heartily to the Lord.

• 1. Nothing will be accepted without the Heart.
• 2. Any thing will be accepted with it.
• 3. Your Heart is God's by right.
• 4. God calls for it.

1. Nothing will be accepted without the Heart.

The Heart is the Fountain and Principle of Spiritual as well as Natural Life, and that which gives Life to all. The Tree in the midst of the Garden (all of pith) the choice Sacrifice (the Male in the Flock) the fat of the Sacrifice that he reserves to himself; the Disciple beloved above any, and the Benjamin, without which nothing will be accepted; and therefore this must be the Treasure you open, when you bring your Gift unto him.

You know no more than you do in Religion, and do no more, than what you do with the Heart, for, when things are not true, they are not at all.

2. Any thing will be accepted with it.

Affections shall be interpreted Actions, and Purposes Endeavors; the will shall pass for the work, imperfect Duties for perfect (a little, or anything accepted,) so it be all you have, and the Heart be in them, for the heart is God's Sacrifice, yea, his Sacrifices, all, and everyone, the Virtue, Power, and Value of all, in one, and that which ingratiates all.

God sometimes accepts the will for the deed, but at all times the will more than the deed.

3. Your Heart is God's by right.

It is God's more than yours, and therefore be just, and give him that which is his own, for he bought it, and dearly paid for it.

Christ parted with his Heart blood, to have the love and service of yours.

4. God calls for your Heart.

He desires it, woos, and entreats, wishes and waits for it, yea, commands it, and not to give it, is to Rebel against him.

God has ever been a giver to you, and now desires to be receiver from you; he has often given you the desire of your Heart, let him then have from you the desire of his, and as he desires it, viz.

Absalom stole away the Hearts of some of the Men of Israel, but God accepts of none but such as (with the Men of Israel) of a willing Heart give themselves unto him.

One and the same Temple could not receive the Ark and Dagon; nor can God and the Devil have your Heart at one and the same time, one of them will have it, both at once cannot, nor God at any time truly, unless wholly; he is but one, and he will be owned as one; none must share with him in it (for he admits no Rival) nor must any part of it be kept from him, for he will have all (a whole Burnt-offering) or nothing.

Unless all be given, nothing is truly given.

You must not give your Heart one day to Religion, and another day to Sin; one day to God's Service, and on another to the Devils, but to God only, and to him forever.

By thus giving your Heart to God, you will gain his; for he that loveth him, shall be loved of him.

4. Be true and faithful to Religion, to the end of your Life.

You must not only begin, but proceed in the work of Religion, and not only proceed, but end in it; and there is good reason for it, in that,

• 1. The Honor of God and Religion is concerned in it.
• 2. Your Salvation depends upon it.

1. The Honor of God and Religion is concerned in it.

Stedfastness in Religion is a credit to Religion, and to God the Master of it, (he owns it so) but a departure from it, tacitly accuses Religion of unpleasantness, or the Master of it of injustice, (as if there was Iniquity in him) it says in effect, that either the work is not good, and not fit to be done, or the Master not good, and not fit to be served; which is a greater Reproach to him than if he had never been served. A dishonor that the Heathen offer not to their Idols (for they change not their gods) a sin that grieves him to the breaking of his Heart; yea, a sin so great, that he looks upon it as impardonable (how shall I Pardon thee for this?) for he hates an Apostate as bad, if not worse, than a Sodomite.

No comlier sight in God's Eyes, than young Disciples, and old ones, viz. such as are early and late at his work.

2. Your Salvation depends upon it.

If you are not so Religious as others, you shall not have so full a Reward as they; but if you be not steadfast in it, you shall have none at all It is true, the Reward is both sure and great, but it is promised to none but them that work, nor to any of them, unless they are immovable, and always abounding in it; the penny is for them, not that enter into the Vineyard, but for them that abide there until Night; and the Crown for them, not that start well, but that run so, viz. not to the middle only, but to the end of the Race. And therefore you must be steadfast, and always abounding in Labor, if you would not labor in vain; and not (with the Israelites) stand still, nor go back, but forward, if you would see the Salvation of God.

Every Grace adorns a Christian, Perseverance only crowns him.

Now, that you may

1. Consider what the work of Religion is, before you engage in it.

There is a Cross to be found in the way of Religion, as well as a Crown at the end of it; and therefore if you unadvisedly enter upon it, without considering what it is, or what it may cost you, you may meet with a difficulty that will make way for Apostasy. A thing well resolved is half done, but never well resolved, unless first considered; and therefore this is the first thing you must do, fail in this, and you will fail in all.

If an Arithmetician mistake in his first figure, the whole Account will be wrong.

2. Take not up a profession of Religion to serve your worldly Interest or Advantage.

Sin upon no man's account whatsoever, (Callisthenes would not pledge Alexander, to have need of Aesculapius) nor be not Religious upon that score only, (as Joash was, for Jehoiada 's sake, while he lived) for if that be all, your Religion is little worth, and you may as quickly lose it, as find it; they that follow Christ for Loaves, will leave him when they are spent and gone; and they that are for any Religion (because in fashion) either are of none, or will easily be so.

It is better to be of no Religion, than of everyone.

3. Beware of the least degree of remissness in Religion, either in Judgment or Affection.

A Gangreen goes on by degrees, (first, one part or Member is infected, and then another) and so does Apostasy; it begins in the Judgment, and if that disesteems Religion, the Affections will decline and forsake it, the Affections follow the Judgment, and what that lightly approves of, the other will as coldly and indifferently receive.

He that is careless of little slips, is in danger of a fall.

4. Be much in the use and exercise of the public and private Duties of Religion.

These are (as one says) the Sphere of Grace, and in these consists the life of Religion; and therefore, if nothing of them appear in your Life, or if you live in the neglect of them, or are negligent in them, your pretended Religion will soon vanish, and come to nothing.

If once you become formal in Devotion, you will quickly be anything in Conversation.

5. Be established in the Faith.

It is true, Fear is the Grace that keeps you in your standing, (and therefore, if you would never fall, you must ever fear,) but Faith is the Grace by which you stand, for it unites you to Christ, in whom you are preserved; and therefore, be well rooted and grounded in it.

If you be carried away with every wind of Doctrine, you will at last be true and stead fast to none; but if you are established in the Doctrine of Faith, and grow in the Grace of Faith; if you live the life of Faith, and keep the Doctrine of Faith, you will be safe; for if you keep the Faith, the Faith will keep you.

Of Original Sin.

It is an Ancient Tradition among the Jews, that when Noah sent forth his Sons to people the World, he gave to everyone of them some Relics of Adam; but it is a more certain and ancient truth, that all the Posterity of Adam have received, not only some, but all the Relics of his sinful Corruption, a leaven that has overspread the whole lump of Mankind, for all have corrupted their ways (viz. all except Christ) and all that is done by them, and all that is in them (viz. all the faculties of their Souls, all the Members of their Bodies, and the Actions of each) are defiled by it.

A Toads poison is but in one place, but this is in all, like a Disease that has corrupted the whole Mass of Blood.

By this you are indispos'd to all good, for there is nothing in the World, but it will either find as a hindrance to it, or make it so.

When Paul had a will to work, he wanted a power.

By this you are inclined to all evil.

There is not a sin in Hell, but has a Root in this; nor any sin so great or foul, but you would commit, if under the power of it, and left to yourself; for it is virtually all sin.

The new Man (the new Creation) is not so much one Grace, as all; and the Old Man (Original sin) is not so much one sin, as all.

So that here you may see,

1. What cause you have to be humbled under it.

Plato says, if Virtue could be seen with Bodily Eyes, it would Ravish the Beholders; and if the Corruption in all by Nature could be seen, it would (as the Schools say) transport them to Madness.

David and Paul were humbled under it, therefore and well may you.

2. Where to lay the blame, when you sin.

Some, when fallen under afflictive Evil, lay all on Providence, and nothing on Sin that caused it; and when fallen into sin, lay all on the Devil, and nothing on themselves; and thereby make the Devil (to whom due should be given) worse than he is, and themselves better than indeed they are; for were there no Devil to tempt to sin, there is that within them, that both can, and would do it.

Since then the Devil cannot prevail, unless you yield to him, (for his strength is within you) let the time of Complaint against him, be spent in resisting of him, that you may not.

It is the Bello • s and fire, that makes fire.

And since you are, when drawn aside, enticed by your own Lusts, (the Enemies within you) let all the actions of sin be laid at the door of your own Heart.

David, though a Man after God's Heart, sometimes walked after his own, yet then he laid the blame, not on the Devil, but on himself.

3. What little cause you have to censure any when fallen into sin.

Plato 's Advice to his Scholars was, that when they saw any irregular, and exorbitant in their Lives, they should not rashly censure them, but reflect on themselves, and consider, if they were not, or had not been such themselves: And it is the Advice of St. Paul (a greater than Plato) when any are overtaken in a fault, not to insult over them, but to restore them in a Spirit of Meekness, (to set them in Joynt) and there is good reason for it; for though all are not alike evil by practice, yet all being by Nature so, viz. seminally, and dispositively the same, they either have done, or may do so.

The worst men's actions show what the best men by Nature are inclined to.

Of your own sin, and of the sins of others.

Of sins of Omission.

Sins of Omission are the first inlets to sin; for the omission of good, is the ground of the commission of evil.

A sin of Omission is either not doing what is Commanded, or not doing it as it is Commanded.

1. Not doing what is Commanded.

Every Affirmative Command has something Negative in it; and every Negative Command has something Affirmative in it; that Command which enjoins Honor and Service to God, forbids whatever may tend to his Dishonor; and that which forbids the taking away the Life of any, does also Command an endeavor (so far as is possible) to preserve that Life, and a neglect, is a sin, because a breach of that Law.

They that live not Godly, as well as deny Ungodliness; that speak not truth, as well as put away lying; that walk not after the Spirit, as well as not after the Flesh; and do not good, as well as depart from evil, are guilty of a breach of the Law, for it Commands both.

It is a sin to do what is forbid, and so it is also, not to do what is commanded; and therefore, they sin, that do not what they should, as they, that do what they should not.

2. Not doing in a right manner what is Commanded.

God Commands both, and abhors all Obedience, that is not formally, as well as materially good, viz. so as to the manner, as well as to the matter of it.

They are Cursed, that do not the work of the Lord; and so are they too, that do it negligently.

Tacitus says of Galba, that he had rather no Vice, than any Virtue: And Salvian says, that many in his time, thought themselves therefore good, because not so bad as others: And too many there are, that think they are therefore good, because they do no evil; Saints, because not Sinners; but how much they, or you are mistaken by thinking so, will appear, by considering

That Sins of Omission, as well as of Commission, will

• 1. Denominate you to be evil.
• 2. Will bring evil upon you.

1. They denominate you to be evil.

A Garden is bad, if it has not good Flowers, as well as no Weeds; a Tree, if it does not bear good Fruit, as well as not bad; a Servant, if he does not preserve his Masters Goods, as well as not waste them; and so are all that profess Religion, that appear not for it, as well as not against it.

Unrighteousness left, is not Righteousness learnt; and therefore, unless you become Righteous, as well as forsake Unrighteousness; and do good, as well as cease to do evil, you are not good at all.

Unsavoury Salt (in this sense) is no better than Poison.

2. That Sins of Omission will bring evil upon you.

Moab and Ammon were Banish'd from the Congregation of the Lord to their tenth Generation, for a Sin of Omission, (viz. for not meeting the Israelites with Bread and Water in their way out of Egypt.)

Meroz was Cursed for this sin, (he, for not helping the Lord against the Mighty, as well as they that helped the Mighty against the Lord.)

Saul lost his Kingdom for this Sin, (viz. for not killing Agag) the Fig-tree in the Vineyard was doomed to be cut down for this sin, (viz. not for bearing Crabs, but for not bearing Figs;) the foolish Virgins were shut out of Heaven for this sin, (viz. not for wasting their Oil, but for not getting Oil in their Vessels.)

The Invited Guest to the Marriage-Supper, was cast into outer Darkness for this sin, (it was not for coming in Raggs, but for coming without a Wedding-Garment.)

The unprofitable Servant was cast into outer Darkness for this sin, (it was not for being Prodigal, but for being unprofitable; it was not for wasting his Talent, but for not using it; nor for not having five Talents, but for not improving that one he had.)

The Rich Man was Tormented in Hell for this sin, (it was not for being unjust, but for being uncharitable; it was not for hurting Lazarus, but for not relieving him:) The great Curse of the Gospel (Anathema Maranatha) greater than any of the Law, is entailed on this sin, (viz. for not loving of Christ.)

Present Condemnation is denounced against this sin, (he that believeth not, is condemned already) and the fatal Sentence (never to be repealed) will at last be past against it, viz. not for starving, stripping, or imprisoning Christ's Members (though those will be punished as great sins at that day) but for not Visiting, Clothing, and Feeding them.

There are no Neuters in Religion, and therefore, if you are not for Christ, you are against him.

Of little sins, and of Custom in sin.

Of Thoughts.

The great Misery come upon all by reason of sin, is, that every imagination of the thoughts of their Heart are evil, only evil, and continually so.

Evil thoughts are all thoughts of evil against God and Man, so called, either as arising from evil, or tending to it.

Thoughts are known to God.

The Ark that was made close on every side, had a Window on the top towards Heaven, as an Emblem of God's Omniscience, who sees you, not only when in secret, but the secret within you, for he knows your thoughts (yea your thought, every single thought) afar off, viz. either what they will be, before you think them, or what they were, when you have forgotten them.

They are reserved Cases known to him only, nor can he forget them, for he requires that which is past.

Thoughts shall be brought into Judgment.

Thoughts (as well as words and actions) are written in God's Book, and shall be made known, when the secrets of Men shall be judged, the counsel of the Heart made manifest, and the hidden things of Darkness brought into light.

And many whose understandings spoke them Men, and their words Christians, when on Earth, shall be found (at that day) by their thoughts, to have been worse than Beasts.

Evil thoughts are sins, and transgressions of God's Law.

The Laws of Men reach but to words and Actions, but God's Law reaches to thoughts, and forbids, not only evil words and deeds, but all evil thoughts tending to them. The thoughts of Foolishness is sin, and therefore, unless you be cleansed from them, you cannot be saved.

A dumb Man may be damned for the sins of his thoughts.

There may be sin in the thoughts, inward motions to it, though no outward acts of it; yea, sin may be reiterated there, when the acts of it cease; and as much sin may be in the thoughts in a day, as would take up the actions of a whole Life to complete and finish: There are many ways by which Men can restrain or punish the acts of sin, but none either to restrain or punish the thoughts of it; sinful actions are public and open Offences, sinful thoughts are more inward and secret, they as the uncleanness of Absalom with his Father's Concubines in the face of the Sun and the sight of all Israel; these, as the Idolatry of the Ancients of Israel, in the dark, in the Chambers of their Imagery; they, the Lusts of the flesh, these, Spiritual wickednesses; they defile the Body, these more immediately defile the Soul, the seat of the Spirit; they, may cast you out of the favor of good Men, but these will hinder your Communion with God; for,

Communion with God in a way of Duty, is had by thoughts more than by words.

Evil thoughts make way for evil actions.

The two first sins committed by the Angels and Adam, began in the thoughts, (an aversion of their will from God) and they are still the Seed of Sin, (first, evil Thoughts, and then Murders, Adulteries, &c.) and therefore, if you would prevent the acts of sin, you must put a restraint upon your thoughts.

The heaviest Chains are put upon the vilest Malefactors.

Here sins Leprosy at first appeared, and as the Leprosy, when it took but a thread of a woollen, or linen Garment, soon overspread the whole; so these, if not timely prevented, will influence the whole actions of your Life, and make them evil. Now, that they may not,

(1.) You must set a strict watch over your Heart.

Thoughts are the inward motions, and innumerable Operations of the Heart, proceeding as Naturally from it, as beams from the Sun, and streams from a Fountain; the Heart is desperately wicked, the sink of all Corruption, it gathers Iniquity to itself (as an old Sore in the Body draws all the ill humors to it,) and sends it abroad upon all occasions; and therefore you must keep it with all diligence, that it may not; you must keep the outward Senses (shut those Windows, that no unclean Birds may enter in) but above all, your Heart, for out of it proceed evil thoughts.

The Fountain must be kept pure and clean, or else the streams will not be so.

(2.) Let your thoughts be well employed: Think on the things that are true, and cast out all thoughts of a Lie, and Hypocrisy, think on the things that are Honest and Venerable, and abhor all Vanity and Frothiness of Spirit; think on the things that are just, and let not a thought of fraud, or deceit lodge within you; think on the things that are pure, and away with whatever is immodest; think on the things that are lovely, and hate all peevishness and frowardness of Spirit; think on things of good Report, and entertain not a thought of anything that may tend to your dishonor.

Idleness is Fuel to vicious thoughts, and therefore, as it is an axiom in State, to set active Spirits on work, that they may do no mischief; so here, you must employ your thoughts about Noble Arguments, and Blessed Objects, if you would have them (like the Heavenly Bodies) to move orderly, and become, not foundations of disturbance, but helps to Piety.

(3.) Beg God's assistance in all.

God has the greatest Government of your thoughts (they are too many, and too strong for you to rule) and therefore, commit your works to him, that your thoughts may be established, or when they become disorderly, and irregular, cry out unto him, as Austin did, against sinful thoughts, in the words of the Psalmist, Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my Soul.

And there is good reason for it, for, such as your thoughts are, such are you in God's esteem.

We judge of Men's thoughts by their words and actions, but God judges of the words and actions of all, by their thoughts.

Of Evil Company.

Man is a sociable Creature, and will not be without Company, good or bad; but they that are wise, will avoid as much as they can the society of them that are evil; and how much it concerns you so to do, will appear, if you consider, that,

• 1. Evil Company will show what you are.
• 2. Evil Company will make you what you should not be.

1. Evil Company will show what you are.

The Lacedaemonians judged of the disposition of their Children by their Company; and Augustus Caesar, of his two Daughters, (Livia and Julia) when he saw grave Senators conversing with one, and wanton Persons with the other; and so will the World of yours, for none can be so well known by themselves, as by their Company. The Fowls of Heaven flock together, and the Beasts on Earth herd together, according to their kind, and so do wicked men (the greater Beasts of the two) like Flora, whoever conversed with ill-favor'd Women like herself; and if you are frequently found among them that are evil, or are too intimate with them, you will be looked upon as one of them.

They are none of God's Friends, that converse familiarly with his Enemies.

2. Evil Company will make you what you should not be.

Dinah (the Daughter of Jacob) went gadding abroad to see the Maids of the Country, till she was none herself. Joseph, by being in Pharaoh 's Court, learned to swear by the Life of Pharaoh. The Israelites, though they hated the Egyptians, yet by living among them, they learned their Manners, their Lusts, not their Laws; (they that should have Converted them, were, as one says, perverted by them, and became twice their Slaves, their Bodies being Conquered by their Weapons, and their Souls by their Vices.) Solomon, by conversing with Idolatrous Women, became Idolatrous: Peter, whilst he warmed himself at the fire in the High Priests Hall, got cold, and abated in his Zeal; he warmed his Hands, but cooled his Heart. Evil Company (among other things, as St. Ambrose observes) helped on to make the Younger Brother a Prodigal:

• 1. His Portion.
• 2. His Fathers Indulgence.
• 3. His Youth.
• 4. Evil Company.

St. Austin (as he confesses) committed some sins, which he had not before, to gain Credit and Esteem with his Companions; and there is no good Man (as Epictetus says) but will either suffer evil, or learn it from them that are evil.

Pure Streams passing by a corrupt Soil, contract some of its filth; rusty Metals corrupt the pure, scabby Sheep, rotten Grapes, and sore Eyes, will infect the sound; and evil Men the good, by conversing with them: It is seldom found, that the bad are made better by it, but the good made worse, getting a bane (with Peter) where they could not get a blessing.

It is odds to be with the Lame, and not to learn to limp.

It is true, sometimes good examples put others upon the practice of that which is good; when Peter said he would not leave Christ, all the Disciples said so too; and Vespatian 's Frugality gave check to the Romans Luxury; but they oftener lead to that which is evil, (Nero 's Fiddle had too many Dancers after it) for all Naturally are prone to be led more by Example than Precept, and by bad Examples more than good ones; living, not as they should, but as they see the most do, and (as beasts) following the drove, or herd, though it be to their own destruction; and therefore, if you would neither be, nor do, as they, delight not to be where they are; or when Charity or Necessity may oblige you to it, be separated from their sins, when you are not from their persons; and at all times shun and avoid the works of Iniquity, though sometimes you cannot the workers of it.

Their Hatred is better than their Company.

Of the Spirit.

The Spirit is sometimes taken for the whole Divine Nature, and equally agrees with any Person of the Godhead, when abstractedly considered.

Sometimes for the Divine Nature of Christ; for as flesh is sometimes taken for his Human Nature, so Spirit is for his Divine Nature.

Sometimes for the Holy Ghost (as distinct from the Father and the Son) with all its Gifts and Graces, who Sanctifies, Teaches, Quickens, Guides, and Comforts all in whom he dwells; and therefore it concerns you,

• 1. To ask God for this Spirit.
• 2. To do nothing (when given) to grieve it.

Enquire of yourself, as Paul did of the Disciples at Ephesus, whether as yet you have received the Holy Spirit, (with its Gifts and Graces) and if upon enquiry you find you have not, then,

• 1. Ask God for it.
• 2. Do nothing, when given, to grieve it.

1. Ask God for the Spirit.

God promised at first, that he would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, viz. extensively, and intensively; not upon the Jews only (to whom it was then confined) but upon all; and more of that Spirit than formerly was poured out upon them, and since that, he has promised to give his Spirit to them that ask it; and as an encouragement to asking, has assured, that he will much more give it, than Earthly Parents either can or will give good Gifts to their Children.

They are Earthly, but God is Heavenly; they Fathers of the Flesh, he of the Spirit; they evil (viz. either simply, or comparatively) but he infinitely good; a more Rich, Bountiful, Faithful, and a more tender hearted Father, than any of them; and therefore, both can, and will much more willingly, freely, certainly, compassionately, abundantly, and constantly give (than they) the Spirit to all that ask him for it.

Since then God is so willing to give his Spirit, be you earnest and importunate for it; there is good reason you should, for it had been better you had never received the Spirit of a Man, unless you have this Spirit of God.

And that you may speed in asking, seek it in Christ's Name, who received the Spirit without measure for you, and meritoriously fulfills the promise of it.

2. Do nothing to grieve the Spirit, when given to you:

There is mention made (in Scripture) of resisting, quenching, and grieving the Spirit.

The first, (as usually said) is proper to Impenitents, the second to Apostates, and the third to Saints.

Properly, the Spirit cannot be grieved (it being contrary to the Nature of the Spirit, either to make any sad, or itself to be made so,) but Metaphorically it may; and then it is, when it appears as one grieved, and then you may be said to do it, when you do those things that would grieve the Spirit, if the Spirit was capable of it; and this two ways, viz. either by sins of Omission, or of Commission.

1. By sins of Omission, or by neglecting the good you should do, viz.

By idleness and slothfulness, by not answering to the calls, and not yielding to the motions of the Spirit, by not walking in the light and strength, in the fellowship and communion, in the exercise of the Graces, and in the comforts of the Spirit; for it is a sin to oppose the Comforting as well as the Sanctifying work of the Spirit.

2. By sins of Commission, or by doing that which you should not, viz.

By violating of Truth in any kind (whether Natural or Moral) by inordinate love to the World (prizing Carnal Comfort above Spiritual) by impurity of thoughts (which defile the Soul, the place of the Spirits Residence) by causeless doubts and fears, despondency under troubles (both inward and outward) in constancy, and in stability in Religion; or deadness, formality, and Spiritual Pride in the Duties of it.

They are all (one way or another) against the Spirit, either as a Governor, Guide, Witness, or Comforter, and as such, they grieve it; for by them its Witness is slighted, its Assistances are rejected, its Influences perverted, or its Comforts dis-esteemed, and counted small; and therefore it concerns you to beware of them, and the more, in that,

By thus grieving the good Spirit, you will please the Devil the evil Spirit; and by grieving the one, and pleasing the other, you will grieve and displease your own Spirit at last, for grieving makes way for quenching, and by quenching the Spirit, you may in time be left to commit that great transgression, the unpardonable sin against it.

All sins grieve the Spirit, but those that grieve the sinner.

Of Self-examination.

Examination is the Judicial proceeding of a sinner with himself, or the act of Conscience enlightened, comparing all his actions with the Rule, and accordingly passing sentence either of Absolution, or Condemnation; for, or against himself.

The Command makes it a Duty, and the neglect of it, a Sin.

A Duty at all times, but more especially at sometimes.

A difficult Duty.

Reflex acts are (by Philosophers) counted most difficult; and this, of all the Duties of Christianity, is none of the least that is so.

Yet must not be omitted; for they that will do nothing that is difficult in Religion, have no Religion.

The Persons concerned in it, are not a few only, or many, but all; all, either as Communicants, or Christians, both real and nominal; for none are too good, or too great for it.

It belongs but to few to examine others, but it concerns all to examine themselves.

The things to which it relates, are almost infinite, viz. everything, thought, spoken, and done, whether good or evil.

Examination is as a petty Sessions to prevent (or the better to prepare for) a General Assize; Mans Judgment to anticipate God's, and therefore must carry a proportion to it.

God will judge everything (Morally good and evil) then, and so must everyone now.

The Rule by which it is to be guided is the Word of God.

It is not he that others commend, that is approved (for, they may think better of him than he is) nor he that commendeth himself (for he may be better than others, and better than he himself has formerly been, and yet not good, or at least, not so good as he should be) but he whom God commendeth, that is approved; and therefore none must examine himself by another's good Opinion of him, nor by his own good Opinion of himself, (for both may be mistaken) but by the Word of God, by which only the regularity, or irregularity of his actions will appear, God will hereafter judge you by it; and therefore, the best course you can take, is to judge yourself by it now; and that you may, you must get a clear and right understanding of it.

By this light you will see light, but unless you have Eyes to see it, it will be of no more Advantage to you, than the light of the Sun to them that are blind, and cannot see. A just Judge desires a clear Evidence, a good Cause, a fair Trial, an upright Heart, a search; and the better any are, the more willing they will be to know the worst of themselves; not to do it, may add something to your security, but nothing to your safety: Therefore,

• 1. Be exact in the examination of yourself.
• 2. Beg God's Examination upon it.

1. Be exact in the examination of yourself.

It must not be superficial and slight, remiss and careless, but strict and exact, searching every corner of your Heart, and censuring every irregularity of your Life; seeking, that you may find what is amiss, and until you do; and with good reason, for, as they are the worst sort of Cheats, that deceive themselves, so they are the worst of that sort, that deceive themselves in the concerns of their Soul.

It is far more safe to condemn than to acquit yourself without cause. For by one, your Peace will be lost for a time only, but by the other, your Soul will be lost forever.

2. Beg God's examination upon yours.

Rachel was willing to have any place searched for the Idols (she had stole from Laban) but that on which she sat to cover them; and a Thief may be content, that a blind Man that cannot see, or his fellow Thief, that will not, should search his House; and Hypocrites rest satisfied with their own Examination, or of those like themselves; but they that are sincere, and upright, are desirous that any should examine them; yea (with David) willing that God should do it, and that truth should take place, though against themselves.

When David had examined himself, he appealed to God, not as to one that he would have satisfied with his own Opinion of himself, nor with the Opinion of others concerning him, but as to one that was the searcher of Hearts, and that he himself would be searched by; he did not desire that his Life only, but his Heart (the most suspected place) might be searched, and that not superficially, but thoroughly, and that the matter might be fully travers'd, and pass through all Courts of Trial, as appears by the multiplying of words, (search, know, try, and see) and by the extent of it, viz. that not one thought, or way only, but that all his ways and thoughts might be inquired into; and that if there was any sin that he did not see, or could not, it might be done away.

And therefore, when you have done all that you can in it, desire God to examine you and your examination too; and that if there be any sin in you, that either you do not see, or cannot, that he would show it to you; or if there be any sin that you would not see, that he would do away that sin, and the Hypocrisy that would indulge it.

It is only by the light of Heaven, that you can see the Hell that is within you.

Of Watchfulness.

Watchfulness is a Duty that concerns all (I say unto all, watch) it is your Duty, and ought to be matter of your great care, in that,

• 1. There are Eyes upon you.
• 2. There are Enemies against you.
• 3. Ruin attends you, if you do not.

1. There are Eyes upon you.

• (1.) Of Men, both good and bad.
• (2.) Of Angels, both good and bad.
• (3.) Of Conscience, which is God's Deputy, and a strict observer of all your ways.
• (4.) Of God, who is everywhere by his Power and Essence, and therefore Omniscient because Omnipresent, and (like the Optick Nerve) sees all, but is seen of none.

Good Men observe, and will either be pleased or displeased, rejoice, or grieve at your good and evil actions.

Evil Men observe, and will either reproach you for your sins, or be hardened in their sins by them.

Good Angels observe, who will minister to you, rejoice over you, protect, and defend you, if you do that which is good; or set against you, and become Enemies to you, if you do not.

Evil Angels observe, who will be as so many Witnesses against you, your Accusers and Tormentors too, if you yield to those sins that now they tempt you to.

Conscience observes, either to Acquit or Condemn you.

And God observes, to Judge you.

Live therefore as in open view, and act as one, that has the Eyes of all upon you.

If you do not watch, you are watched.

2. There are Enemies against you.

Of all which, the Devil and the Flesh are the principal; for all other Enemies hurt either by his Instigation, or your own corrupt inclination.

1. The Devil, who is strong, subtle, and active.

Strong. A weak Enemy is inconsiderable, and not much to be regarded; but this is strong, not only terrible to affright, but strong to hurt.

Active. A slothful sluggish Enemy is not much to be feared; but this is active and diligent; he walks his Rounds (he goes about) and is ever upon his Watch.

Subtile. He prevails more by Policy than by Strength; and therefore, it concerns you, neither to be ignorant of his Devices, nor careless of them.

2. The Flesh, a restless and unwearied Enemy, that acts with vehemency and constancy, not outward, but inward; an Enemy within you, that makes way for all the other, and the more dangerous because so.

Since then you can be nowhere safe, unless watchful; be nowhere, nor at any time secure, but watch these watchful Enemies.

3. Ruin attends you if you do not watch.

Saul lost his Spear, and Samson his Hair, when asleep; and your Security will be the Enemies Opportunity; and therefore it concerns you to have all your ways (inward and outward) Rail'd in on both sides with Watchfulness and Prayer, and to have your Eyes open, to watch against the Corruptions from within, and the Snares from without.

The weakest when watchful, are more safe, than the strongest when secure.

Of Humility.

Pride is self-exaltation from a vain conceit of Worth and Excellency.

Humility is self-debasement, from a real sense of vileness and unworthiness.

That is the Badge of Antichrist and his followers; this of Christ and his Disciples; one of the Principles of Practical Divinity (as Privation is of Philosophy) and both the Garment and Ornament of Christians; and therefore, be clothed with it, and walk daily in it, with God, with others, and with yourself.

1. With God.

(1.) By a lowly demeanor in all your approaches to him.

The distance betwixt God and you is great (as great as betwixt infinite and finite) great as you are a Creature, but greater as a sinner; and in all Duties there is matter for Humility (as well as in sins) for when they appear brightest, (as the Moon when it shines so) they have their dark spots and imperfections; and therefore the nearer and greater your Communion with God is, the greater your Humility should be, as Archimedes his Engine, the higher it ascended, the lower it descended.

All the King of Heavens Service must be on the Knee; so that if you are proud, or not humble in it, you serve not God, but the Devil.

(2.) By doing all to his Glory. Proud persons think they are beholden to none, and therefore Sacrifice to their own Net, and (with Ephraim) bring forth fruit to themselves; but do you in all your actions, both Civil and Religious, make him your End; and in all your ways, at home, and abroad; in your House as well as in his, and on your days as well as on his, do all to his Honor, that in his goodness and greatness he may be glorified by you.

An humble sinner is more to God's mind, and more for his Ends and Glory, than a proud Saint.

2. With others.

• 1. By not seeking Honor from them.
• 2. By not being lifted up when praised; nor enraged, when defam'd, or injured by them.

1. By not seeking Honor from them.

Pride was the Angels sin (it cast them out of Heaven) the first sin in Man, and the great sin that appears in all by Nature.

Commodus the Emperor would be called Hercules, and show himself to the People in a Lions skin, that he might be accounted King of Men, as the Lion was of Beasts.

Alexander would have the Title of Jupiter 's Son, and be reckoned one of the Race of the gods.

Domitian would have the Title of Lord God.

Anti-Christ, the Man of sin, exalteth himself above all that is called God.

And all Men (through the Pride that is in them) Naturally seek Honor in the World, (as Saul did before Israel) and desire to be great, or nothing; but do not you seek what is greatest, or highest in the esteem of the World, but what is fittest and best for you, that you may have Honor from God, if not from Men; or be humble, and you shall have Honor, for Humility treads the path to it; Pride seeks it, but Humility finds it.

He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Joseph was first in the Dungeon, and then in the Palace.

2. By not being lifted up, when praised; nor enraged, when defam'd, or injured by them.

Be not lift up in your spirit beyond measure, if praised, nor enraged, if reviled and reproached, but meekly receive both, as not much concerned for either; for you cannot be too vile in your own Eyes, nor too much humbled under it.

A Heathen, when reviled, told the Reviler, that all he said against him was true, and much more, and so he would say, if he knew that which he did of himself; and all that are truly humble, either do, or should think better of others, than of themselves.

3. With yourself.

• 1. By being content with your condition, whatever it is.
• 2. By having a low and mean opinion of yourself, under all that you possess and enjoy.

(1.) By being content with your condition.

Some cannot live unless they abound, and therefore murmur and complain when they do not: Proud Beggars will have the best or nothing; but be you content with what you have, looking upon every little thing received, as great, and every great thing, as too much.

You cannot have so little as you deserve, and therefore, how low soever your condition is, let your mind be lower.

(2.) By having a low and mean opinion of yourself, under all that you possess and enjoy.

Indeed there is nothing you can have, that can reasonably afford any matter for Pride.

Not Riches.

Not Silks and Furrs, the cast Clothes of Worms and dead Beasts; for, as they are badges of Spiritual Nakedness, and coverings of shame (the fruit of sin) they afford greater matter of Humility, than Pride.

Not Gold and Silver, the more refined Dirt and Garbage of the Earth; these are the food of Moths and Rust, and therefore no food for Pride.

Not Knowledge, for it is but imperfect in any; the greatest part of what you know, is the least part of what you know not; and therefore you should by not knowing, know; and by knowing, not know the gift that is in you.

It will be from Ignorance of your Ignorance, if you become proud of your Knowledge.

Not Grace, for it is given to teach Humility; God gives Grace to the humble, and Grace gives Humility; and the more any have of it, the more humble they will be.

Moses acknowledges that he was but dust and ashes, (the weakest and vilest part of the Earth;) Jacob, that he was unworthy of the least of all those Mercies received: Paul, that he was the greatest of sinners, the least of the Apostles, and less than the least of all Saints. Christ, the Lord of Glory, was meek and lowly; and the more real worth any have, the less they will see it, like Moses, who, when his face did shine, knew it not; or the higher they are in the esteem of others, the lower they will be in their own, as the Sun when highest, casts the least shadow, or a Taper, whilst it gives light to others, casts a shadow before its own station.

A Cypher in Arithmetic, though of no worth in itself, yet gives value to all that is added to it, and so will Humility.

1. As to Time.

If you would seriously consider how precious a thing Time is, how much it is (sooner or later) prized by all; how high they are in God's esteem, that improve their time (for they are highest in his esteem, that make most account of his Sovereignty) how happy some are while living, in the Comfort they receive by it? How many, when dying, would give all the World (if they had it to give, and it would be taken) as a price to redeem the time that in Life they vainly spent, and trifled away? How many are tormented in Hell (and will be eternally so) for the neglect and abuse of it? How infinitely short the whole time of Life well spent, will fall of the Reward that attends it? How much misspent time there is, and will be in your best spent time? How short and uncertain your time is, and how strict an account you must give of it, you would see great reason to take care that no part of it be spent either in sin, or idleness.

1. Not in sin.

Sin is an evil of the greatest Malignity, and all time spent in it, is lost; for,

If it is not bewailed, and repented of, it will ruin you; and if it is, yet the time so spent is lost, in that it might have been better employed, cannot be recalled (for though Repentance will bring sorrow for sin, yet it can never bring back the time lost by it) nor ever by you be answered for.

You can never give a good account of a bad matter.

2. Not in Idleness; for,

Idleness is both a sin, and an inlet to any, or all sin.

1. It is a sin.

Idleness was not allowed in Innocency, (for Adam was put into the Garden of Eden to work) much less then is it allowed in a state of Degeneracy, but forbid; there are no feriae, no idle days nor hours, as one says, in the Kalendar of Heaven, but as to every purpose there is a time, so to every time a purpose; God having appointed every day and hour to be filled up with something that is either work, or tends to it.

And yet how many are there, who call themselves Christians, and cannot but say they have work to do, that trifle away their time as much as Domitian did in catching Flies, Sardanapalus in Spinning, Caligula in gathering Cockles, Nero (with his Soldiers) in picking up Pebbles; and are scarce ever so well employed as Protogenes, who was seven Years Painting a Man and his Dog.

2. It is an in-let to sin.

Empty Stomacks gather Wind, standing Waters putrefy, Weeds grow most in a fallow, and out of Idleness comes not only no good, but all evil; for, by doing nothing, you will easily be led to do that which is worse than nothing.

Christ called his Disciples (James and John, Simon and Andrew) when busy at their Calling; but the Devil will call you (as he did David) when idle, and not employed; and therefore be never so, that you may not be at leisure to hearken to him; if you do not set yourself on work, the Devil will; and therefore at all times do it, that he at any time may not.

The rolling stone gathers no Moss.

Idleness will render you displeasing to God, unprofitable to 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 the World, scandalous to them that are good, and burdensome to yourself; be wise therefore (as the Wise men in Esther) knowing your time, and get understanding (with the Children of Issachar) to know what you ought to do, and do it; be ever doing something for your own good, or the good of others, that you may with comfort look over into Eternity, and not fear, when the Angel shall stand on the Earth and lift up his Hand, and swear by him that lives forever and ever, that time shall be no more.

God has his Book of Remembrance, and whatever you do in time, is there Registred for Eternity.

2. As to Death and Judgment.

How much it concerns you to be in a daily expectation of, and preparation for them, will appear, if you consider,