A Treasury of Divine Raptures
The source for this document is https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A28161.0001.001
Project Note
This is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND. This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
The source of this document is the Early English Books Online (EEBO-TCP) website. Those books were transcribed in a character for character manner and can be very cumbersome to read since there was no standard spelling during that time. Many spelling variations such as "unlesse", "vnlesse", and "vnles" regularly appear.
This project was conceived to clean up those books as much as possible and make them more accessible to the interested reader, leading to the creation of a massive list of variant spellings and their corrections. This was used to clean up the text, but is of course only as complete as the list itself. Because of the nature of the original transcription, some words have missing characters or places where the original language (e.g., Greek) was not transcribed. This effort does not change that. Be aware that the original transcription can also be faulty and in some cases entire sentences may be missing.
Although this is no substitute for a properly compared, proofed, and scholarly edition, I believe that the result is a document which is far more accessible, particularly for searching for terms using standard spelling. The document has been cleaned and presented in what I hope is a pleasing and useful format for the vast majority of Christian brothers and sisters who just want access to read these spiritually nourishing works.
However, a word of warning: The Puritans were a very diverse group of people and their age was characterized with godliness, but also much upheaval, disputation and strife. They disagreed on many doctrines and some of these works contain less orthodox or Scriptural views than others. The reader is strongly advised to read with discernment, particularly if it is unknown whether author is trustworthy.
This project took a huge amount of time and skill to bring to fruition. I would particularly like to thank David Jonescue for the initial list of Puritans he found on EEBO and the concept behind this project as well as the continuous, unceasing efforts toward seeing this complete. Without his labor, this would not be available. Alex Sarrouf was invaluable in providing the initial list of over 7,000 spelling variations he had identified and corrected, as well as continuing to review more than 16,000 additions to that list for any typos.
Logan West
(with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf)
www.puritansearch.org
A TREASURY OF DIVINE RAPTURES. Consisting of Serious Observations, Pious Ejaculations, Select Epigrams. Alphabetically ranked and filed by a Private Chaplain to the Illustrious and Renowned Lady URANIA The Divine and Heavenly MUSE. THE FIRST PART.
LONDON, Printed by T. J. for Thomas Parkhurst at the golden Bible upon London Bridge. 1667.
Θεσαυρο-Φυλακιον: OR, A TREASURY OF DIVINE RAPTURES. Consisting of Serious Observations, Pious Ejaculations, Select Epigrams. Alphabetically ranked and filed by a Private Chaplain to the Illustrious and Renowned Lady URANIA The Divine and Heavenly MUSE. THE FIRST PART.
LONDON, Printed for the Author, in the Year, 1667.
TO THE
E
Nter not in; go where is better cheer:
A
Nd if thou art ingenious and free,
D
Raw nigh, I bid thee kindly welcome here
E
At freely, and bless God, if thou dost find
R
Efreshing pleasure, with true profit join'd
Here thou hast choice variety of Dishes,
That they were better cook'd, the Author wishes.
TO THE Truly Honorable and Religious, The Lady MARY VAUGHAN, Virtuous Consort to the Right Worshipful Sir HENRY VAUGHAN, &c. And my very good Lady; All health and happiness.
MAdam, these sacred Poems which ensue,
Intended were to follow that which I
Once tendered to your honorable view,
Excuse me that I cannot gratify
Your full desires; the Stationer thought best
To print these first, next (if these take) the rest;
Madam, till then accept of what is pressed.
Nov. 5. 1666.
Your Ladyships most humble and obliged Servant, to command, Nich. Billingsley.
TO THE
Integrity, GIves to my geN'rous Muse
Great hopes, youR Worship will Incline to own
Her DivinE Issue, brougGht forth for your use
Take, read and juDge, if some deliHt you take
Herein, I Wish them beTter for your sake.
Overlook all their fAults; recall tO mind.
Nothing on EaRth, can truly perFect be,
Our joys run Dregs; Honor is like The wind,
Unconstant; RicHes (having wings) tHey flee.
Resign your All to God; lEt things above
(Always DeseRving) have your noBlest love.
Be ever zealous, Let your conversAtion,
Light others in thE way that leads To rest.
Expect some trYals; such shall Have salvation
Who stick close to the truth they have professed.
Go on (good Sir) Heaven raise up more like you
To give to
Caesar,
and to God their due:
And at that grace which heretofore did rest
In old Sir
Robert,
beameth in your breast;
So may the World, when you from it are gone,
See your bright virtues shining in your son.
So humbly prays Your Honors devoted Servant, N. B.
TO THE
Is famed abroad buT since beyoNd my merit
Great love your WoRship showed to me I do
Here send a mEan acknowledGement to you,
This poor
MinerVs
w
ch
my brain broughT forth,
Wishing that It were equAl to your worth
Oh! how raRe is it for a maN to find
Renown, and Worldly wealth w
th
gooDness join'd.
So as they are In you! who wouldBe crowned
He must be hoLy, in good works Abound;
Justice deLights to have you cleaR her Laws,
Poor men reIoyce to have you heaR their cause
For you hAve helped (vengeance tO God belongs)
Unto their right, theM that sustaiNed wrongs;
Live long bEloved, much happinEss attended
Long life, ChriSt Jesus crown you in The end.
Sir,
I am Your very humble Servant, N. B.
The Invocation.
I.
O Lord,
Who only art
The Greatest and the Best,
An ever over-flowing Fount
Whence Grace & Glory, & all Goodness springs:
Afford
Thy Spirit; Impart
Thy gracious aid; devest
My soul of sin, that she may mount
To thee, and live above terrestrial things.
II.
O Thou,
Who didst inspire
The Prophets, that did use
In sacred Canto's heretofore
To celebrate thy great and glorious Name;
Fill now
With sprightly fire
My Heaven-descended Muse,
And grant that she may evermore
Thy deathless praises to the World proclaim.
To his much honored Friend JOHN BIRCH, Esq; One of His Majesty's Justices of Peace for the County of Hereford, &c.
1.
GOod Sir,
Your noble favors to me shown
When poor, and wronged by the malevolent:
And since that I my Ministry lay down,
Ungrateful were I, should I not resent.
And oh, that I were able to express,
Your living virtues, in a lively dress!
2.
A poor man in the hollow of his hand
Brought water to the
Mycenean
King;
So I, who have but little at command,
To you this slender Thank-oblation bring,
In hope it may the like acceptance find
From you, since given with a Noble mind.
3.
Poesie is divine, 'tis not of man,
It's God that taught me Poems to compose;
And he may write in Verse, who seldom can
Have opportunities to preach in Prose.
Sir, take his mite, the height of whose endeavor,
Is to be humbly yours, and that forever.
From my study at Abergaveny Jan. 1. 1666.
N. B.
To the Right Worshipful, The Company of HABERDASHERS in LONDON, &c.
Worshipful,
1.
WOnder you may, that I who am unknown
To any of you, should presume to send
So small a present (as I scarce dare own)
To all of you, whose Deeds your Worth commend.
But having found you generously free,
This (I confess) humbly emboldened me.
2.
True; I was one of
Levi's
turned-out Tribe,
Who never durst against my conscience sin,
Nor claw Church-livings with an unjust bribe,
And stoutly swear I honestly came in;
Your Presentations are not bought nor sold
With eye-bewitching heart-corrupting gold.
3.
If in the place whereto I have a call
From God and you, I any good may do,
As a weak Instrument, I trust I shall,
Ascribe it wholly unto God and you.
Heaven crown you all, with all (excepting none)
The blessings of the Foot-stool and the Throne.
Which is the unfeigned desire of
(Most Noble Patrons)
Your most humble servant Nich. Billingsley.
Awre, March 25. 1667.
Faults of greatest moment corrected, the rest are left to the Readers ingenuity to amend and pardon.
PAge 2. verse 15. for with read of, p. 10. v. 2. for n ••• r. ever, p. 13. v. 10. insert and, p. 28. v. 4. for do. r. g • ▪ p. 39. v. 12. for Alchmis r. Alch'my, p. 55. v. 1 • ▪ for means r. b • ams, p. 58. v. 18. for statute r. statue, p. 59 l. 9. for men • um c. mentem, p. 60. v. 1. for Chr • st r. Christ's, v. 9▪ for and r. of, p. 61. v. 2. blour out to, p 66. v. 15. for s • o •• r. sprouts, p. 71. v. 18. for Abraham is r. Ab • aham 's, p▪ 72. v. 1. for good r. God p. 75. v. 8. for no r. or, p. 85. v. 6 fo • I' • e r. I will, p 86. v. 10. for smoke r. soak, p. 102. v. 8. fo • high r. his, p 105. v. 26. for wills r. evils, p. 106. v 15. insert never, p. 11 • v. 19 inse • t and▪ p. 114 v. 17 for since • sia 's p. 126. v. 15. for aspi • e r. all • ine, p. 141. for but r. th • p. 157. v. 15. for safe r. self, p 161. v. 10. insert very, v. 11▪ insert or, v. 15. 10 • as r. is, p 103. v 13. for like r. loo • , p▪ 171. v. 15 insert •• , p 178 v. 16. for left r. f • lt, p. 182 v. 29. insert speak, p. 194. v 17. insert the, p 203 v. 27. •• witch r. wretch p. 205 v. 1. omit vain, p. 227. v. 10. for sinners r. Saints, p. 229 v. 8. for short r. shortest, p. 230. v. 14▪ for and r. A • e, p. 232. v. 10. for God r. God's word.
A TREASURY OF DIVINE RAPTURES.
A
1. On Abba.
OH! I have sin'd before the Judges face,
And justice storms; so vile am I, so base,
I dare not plead, and yet I cannot fly
From God's all-viewing, bright-refulgent eye.
I have offended Heaven, infring'd his Laws;
And now methinks incensed Justice draws
His keen
Steletto,
at one fatal blow,
T'effect mine everlasting overthrow.
And must thou then forever be undone,
Poor trembling Soul? make in to th' Judges Son,
Remembrest not how his dear blood was spilled
Upon the Cross, to answer for thy guilt?
How he was dead, entomb'd, rose, intercedes
For thee, and how afresh for sin he bleeds.
Get Christ thy friend, and thou wilt quickly see
The breach made up, betwixt thy God and thee.
Go in thy Saviors name, go make thy moan,
And pour thy pray'rs before God's gracious throne
Beg his assisting Spirit so much the rather
Because thou mayest through it call
Abba Father.
God out of Christ is a consuming fire,
In him our Father, granting our desire,
In things that are consonant to his Will,
And for our real good, how doth he fill
Our lives with blessings, he hath Love for all
Who can in truth him
Abba Father
call.
He owns as sons, those that his Son do own,
Believing on his Name; to them alone
The golden Scepter of his pleased grace,
He reacheth forth, them his sweet arms embrace▪
He bears with them, accepts with what they do▪
And gives them his Paternal Blessing too.
Sinners made Sons! free Grace to this must move
O here is the Meridian of Love!
Mirror of Mercies! Rebels to be crowned,
And swine made sons, O this is Love profound
2. On an Abetter.
SAtans commands (opposed to God's) are ten
Which are observed by the most of men,
This lying Prince heartens us on to ill,
Tells us his Laws are easy to fulfil.
But God's are hard, besides his pay is greater,
And thus the Dev'l becomes the Souls Abetter.
3. On Ability.
MAn can do nothing of himself, unless
God give him leave, 'tis wisdom to express
If God so please, tomorrow we'll pursue
Such and such things. Once a presumptuous Jew
Said thus tohis friends, tomorrow I will be blest
And crowned with mirth, the Bridal-chamber dressed
Resolv'd I am, to frolic out the day
With my fair Bride, and who dare say me nay?
And when 'tis night, I do intend to meet,
My Souls delight, within the Genial Sheet;
I will, I will, whether God will or no:
Blasphemous wretch! tomorrow gone, both go
To bed, but lo! before the Game was vy'd,
Death struck the jovial Bridegroom and his Bride.
4. On Abjuration.
IN Baptism, we to Christ our souls betroth,
The World, Flesh, Satan, do renounce by oath.
But ah! our words prove wind, our minds do vary
And we toour Abjuration walk contrary.
5. On an Abcedary.
THe Worlds a School, and we to School are set
To learn Love, in Afflictions Alphabet,
That Christ-cross row, but ah! how dull! how slow
Are we to learn? till God do make us know.
O Heaven, I crave that thou wilt be my Tutor,
And make thy Spirit of Grace my co-adjutor.
6. On Abridgment.
THe World's a Book in Folio, fairly writ
With God's own hand, the creatures found in it
Are Letters, spelling out the Authors Glory,
And man's th' Abridgment of that ample story.
7. On Absence.
ALas! alas! we know not how to prize
A real good, while 'tis before our eyes:
No sooner gone, oh then we can set forth
Its praise, and prize it for it's real worth;
But yet we soon forget our absent friends,
And laud the present out of base self ends.
8. On Absolution.
GOd's Absolution is a full discharge
Of sins, past, present and to come, at large:
This to God's People only doth belong,
And serve to make their Faith when weak, more strong.
Popish
Indulgences, for future fins,
Are mere Decoys, and Soul-beguiling Gins:
Make men licentious impudent in evil,
To go (if possible) beyond the Devil.
Teach simple Souls to say, God gives us pardon
Even while they sin, was the like ever hard on?
Good Lord forgive us, we have broke thy Law,
The
Pope▪s
forgiveness, is not worth a Straw.
Absolve potentially God only can,
And therefore not the
Pope,
the
Pope's
a Man.
9 On Abstinence.
TH' abstemious person's diet, is not large,
He's one that feeds at frugal Natures charge,
Forbears unlawful, yea and lawful things,
Sometimes for the great benefit it brings;
This fits for duty, is the bodies friend▪
How sweet when other graces it attend!
Such as abstain from meat, but practice evils
Are like meat-wanting, but sin-having Devils.
10. On Absurdity.
TO make a Garment for the Moon,
To drein the Ocean with a Spoon,
To build up Castles in the Air;
Before foul Swine to cast Pearls fair,
To paint the Dolphin in the Woods;
Or Savage Boar in liquid Floods;
To light a Candle at noon day;
To seek for Water in the Sea:
To set the Fox to keep the Geese;
To wrest the Club from
Hercules.
To put the Cart before the Horse,
To seek a Blessing in a Curse,
Is held absurd, to think to win,
A glorious Crown, yet live in Sin;
Prepost'rous is, none can Heaven gain,
Without the price of labors pain.
11. On Abundance.
THe radiant Splendor of those things on earth,
Dazles our Eyes to things of Nobler birth;
Care-cumbered
Martha,
cannot act like
Mary,
Forgets to seek that one thing necessary;
How many are impov'rishd by their Riches,
Made Spirit'aly poor, the World bewitches.
But ah! how rare to see a man inherit
A wealthy Purse, with an impov'rish
•
d Spirit.
Let
Abraham
much respect to
Hagar
show,
She will ere long over her Mistress crow;
Plenty of places maketh oftentimes,
Men foully guilty of
nefandous
crimes.
Rich
Sodom,
was a Nurserie of sins,
And
Jeshurun
when fat, to kick begins;
Nay, full-fed
Israel
committeth now
Abomination, and hath broke her vow.
Laodicea
flowed in wealthy store,
And yet (alas!) was miserable poor.
Paul
in the midst of want knew how toabound,
And counted all things loss till Christ was found
Had nothing, yet with all things was possessed,
None but the gracious Soul is truly blest.
How full soever this my Cistern be,
God's the grand-Fountain, nay, the Ocean-sea
Of all enjoyments: All my Springs and Streams
Are in, and from him; at his Golden beams
My Candle's tin'd; thus faith on God doth pitch,
It is his blessing only can make rich:
Fish the Disciples may, tug and take pain,
But till Christ come, their labor is in vain;
The gaping chinks and chasmes of my Soul,
He can fill up, who is my All, my Whole.
Esau
had much, he, that God his can call
With
Jacob,
more enjoys, for he hath all;
These are rich Cab nets, but God's countenance,
His Light, O that's the Jewel we enhance!
A single God is infinitely sweeter,
Then all derived good things, and always better.
O may I with my Substance honor thee,
Great God!
Marias
ointment could not be
Brought to a better
Mart,
then when 'twas shed
Abroad, so frankly on her Savior's head;
Dote not (my Soul) in God is all thy springs,
On these poor earthly, drossy, dirty things.
12. On Abuse.
GIve, give, the Horse-leech cries, we more do crave,
And yet do still abuse the things we have:
This man abuses Honor, that his Riches,
Him drink besots, this dainty fare bewitches;
And isit not just with God to take from us
His Blessings, seeing we abuse them thus?
Nullum bonum est quo quis non male utatur
impii Divina beneficia corrumpunt.
13. On an Academy.
SOme graceless ones that haunt those public Schools,
(Ho
•
s-
like) evade mere
Atheists,
Scripture-fools,
Such as for holy ends improve their parts,
May bless God for such Nurseries of Arts.
14. On Acceptation.
CHrist bears the names of Saints upon his Brest,
Presents them to his Father, in request
So brings he them, God through Christ will treat,
And parley with us from his Mercy-seat:
He accepts what we do, therein delights,
And makes us to become his Favorites.
We to God's eye in Christ's blood by reflection,
Seem of a sanguine, beautiful Complexion.
So have I seen each object to the view,
Through the red Glass seem of a ruddy hiew.
15. On Acceptation of persons.
NOr God, nor nature, death, nor devil do
Respect men's persons, only Man doth so;
Persons should be regarded for their faith,
Not faith for persons (as a wise man saith.)
Accept of me in Christ, O God, my King,
So wilt thou be well-pleased with what I bring.
16. On Accounts.
GReat God! when I would cast up the accounts
Of all my sins, their number far surmounts,
Th'hairs on my head, the Heavens Starry bands,
Earths blades of grass, the Sea beleag'ring sands.
Lord, only thou the great Arithmetitian,
Canstsum them up; let Christ be my Physician,
His mer'ts are infinite, with which he stops
The mouth of Justice, those sanguineous drops
That trickled down his wounds is balm to heal
My soul; for pardon I through him appeal
To thee, dear Lord, 'tis Mercy that I crave,
Thy saving Mercy let thy servant have.
17. On an Accuser.
THe Devil, that grand accuser of our Souls,
Hath not his name for naught, what bloody scrouls
Hath he against man's self, and now and than
Accuseth man to God, vea God to man:
Angels accuse us, and the Law likewise,
The Judge himself accuses, Conscience flies
In our guilt-blushing faces, smners be
Against us; none but Christ can set us free,
From all our accusations, run my soul
To Christ by faith, and Christ will make thee whole.
18. On Acquaintance.
WOrldly acquaintance mischief oft attends,
'It is said, many acquaintance, but few friends
My soul, acquaint thyself with God, and rest
In peace, of all acquaintance his is best;
This true friend neither can, nor will deceive thee
Nor in an Orphan-state will never leave thee,
But give thee visits; promises they are
His Bonds; go put those Bonds in suit by pray'r.
19. On an Acquittance.
O God, our sins are debts, and more and more,
We in thy Justice Books, still run on score,
Can never pay, and we must therefore lie
In Hells black prison to Eternity.
But O we have a Surety (Christ) whose death
Alone, can make offended Justice sheath
His keen-edge'd sword; Love that transcends degree,
Our King he dies to set us Rebels free:
He suffered for our sins; we by his stripes
Are healed, and from our eyes all tears he wipes.
The Debt's discharged, to Justice nothing's due,
As our acquittance, writ in blood, doth show.
20. On Actions.
DO not the Silver-breasted Rivers go
Back to the wealthy Seas from whence they flow?
So to God's glory must our Actions tend,
As in him they begin, so must they end.
As from the Sacred Fountain of his Grace
They first took rise, so to their proper place
They must retire, the Ocean of his Glory
Must swallow up our Actions transitory;
May I, what ever I assay to do,
Make God my
Alpha,
and
Omega
too.
21. On an Adamant.
OUr hearts are like this unrelenting stone,
Nothing can melt them, save the blood alone
Of the
Messias:
O sweet Jesus grant
Thy blood may mollify my Adamant:
Lord at thine hands a tender heart I crave,
A heart of flesh, let me thy servant have;
So shall I love thee, and adore thee still,
And yield obedience to thy Heavenly will.
22. On Addition.
GOd multiplies his Mercies more and more,
Ungrateful we, who to our sins vast score
Add new offenses daily; but beit known,
God hath large showers of vengeance to pour down
Upon our guilty souls, unless we rent
Our rocky hearts, and speedily repent.
23. On an Adjective.
THe World's an
Adjective,
it cannot stand,
Without a
Substantive,
th'Almighty's Hand:
And I can nothing signify at all
Without God's Grace, unpropt by it I fall.
24. On an Adieu.
THe Old man bids the World adieu,
When he can stay no longer in it,
He whom God's Spirit did once renew,
Had rather lose the World that win it.
That he in Heaven with Christ may dwell,
He longs to bid the World farewell.
25. On an Adjourn.
DEar Lord! how apt are we toadjourn
The day and hour of our Return
From sin to thee! from morn to noon
We put it off, say 'tis too soon;
And when life's Sun is almost set,
O then we dying thee forget.
26 On Admonition.
WOrds seasonably spoke, are like unto
Apples of Gold, in Silver Pictures set;
And if well taken, O what good they do,
They stir us up to duties we forget.
We should not Admonition detest,
The wise man saith 'tis needful for the best.
27. On Adoption.
WE were not born God's children, but so made;
The Dev'le, we for our natural father had;
Through Grace snatched from the old Family of Hell,
In Heavens noble Family Saints dwell;
Are disoblig'd from sin, new names receive,
And an Estate which they shall never leave,
Pleasant and safe; to an inheritance
In light, kept for them; them doth he advance,
The heirs shall never die, for be it known
Eternity's a Jewel of their Crown.
Man, he Adopts a defect to supply;
God, out of pity, not nece
•
sity.
He had an only Son, nor loved he any
Like him, Man but one heir adopts, he many;
Hath Land for all; Man soon adopts a Son,
A Deed is sealed, and the thing is don,
But when God was about to constitute
Us Sons and Heirs, his wisdom could find out
No easy way, he could not seal a Deed
But by his own Sons blood, his Son must bleed.
Men on adopted persons entail do
Their Land, but God his Land himself too.
O what great Portions to God's Heirs do fall,
Heaven's theirs, Glory is theirs, yea, God and All!
How precious are their Names, their Prayrs Tears, blood
•
n God's esteem, and O that Satan's brood,
Nay Traitors should be made Heirs to the Crown,
Such Love was never to the Angels shown.
And O what Sweets from out the Gospel flower
May a Believer suck! when in our gore
We tumbling lay, and were with sin bemir'd,
And neither deserved love, nor love desired;
He loved us then, when we had soild, defaced
His Image, broke his Law, us he embrac▪d,
When we by Sin our Pedigree had lost,
He did restore it to us to his cost.
28. On Adoration.
ANgels and Saints, my fellow-creatures be,
And therefore shall not be adored by me;
God who hath made me, and did me restore,
Him only, and none else I must adore.
29. On Advancement.
1.
OUr Blest Redeemer fanci'd,
Humility even so,
Our way to be Advanced,
Must be by being low.
2.
He had all in Fruition,
Yet for our sakes did pitch,
Upon a mean condition,
That us he might enrich.
3.
This
Prince
inestimable
By whom the World is swaid,
Was in a homely
Stable,
Born of a
Mother-Maid.
4.
The Heavens could not contain him,
Yet him a cratch did hold;
Fools did indeed disdain him,
But wise men brought him Gold.
5.
He fasted, and was tempted,
To feast us with his Grace,
That we might be exempted,
Opprest with griefs he was.
6.
W'are by his shame renowned,
And eased by his pain;
We by his
Cross
are Crowned,
And by his loss we gain.
7.
On Earth, he was a stranger,
That we might be God's Sons;
He past through Death and danger,
To m
••
e us sit on Thrones.
All Glory be to him therefore,
Ascrib'd, both now and evermore.
30. On Advantage.
THe World in one Scale, blessed
Jesus
lays,
The Soul in toother, and the Soul out-weighs
To gain the World, and lose the precious Soul,
Is such a vantage, as the damned condole.
31. On an Adventure.
O How sad were my Adventures!
Thus to forfeit mine Indentures,
But to pay my just Debentures,
Into Bond my Savior enters.
O my Soul, sin no more,
Lest worse fall then did before.
Magnum est memorabile facinus non sit absque periculo.
Tertul.
Tertul.
32. On an Adverb.
LIve, thats and Act, but much Divinity
Lies couched in this one Adverb
holily.
33. On Adversity.
THe Sts. like Glo-worms, in the darkest night
Of sad afflictions, do reflect most bright,
Rue is the Herb of Grace, oft times our woe
Becomes our weal, our Savior found it so;
For first he Vinegar and Gall drank down
O'th' Cross, e're he receive▪d his glorious Crown:
Mourning lasts but till morning, nightly sorrow
Is Herald to a joyful shining morrow.
Now Storms arise, anon a prosperous Gale,
Fans courteous blasts, upon the swelling Sail.
34. On Adultery.
ALL other sins may be subdued by might,
Adult'rate mixtures only are by flight;
Flee Fornication, holy
Paul
doth say,
Yet O how many like fed Horses
neigh
After their
neighbors
Mates: the Brownist strives
For all things to be common,
Ergo
Wives.
35. On an Advocate.
O Happy
Mary
for whom
Jesus
pleads,
Judas
condemns, but he commends thy deed
•
Judas
accuse, and slander while thou wilt,
Jusus
acquits, and clears us of our guilt.
Earth judges evil, what Heaven pronounceth good
The moving
Rhet'rick
of our Advocates blood,
Pleads strongly for us, and we need not fear,
Though all the Devil's in Hell against us were.
Our Sav'ours blood which on the
Cross
was spilled,
Quenches God's wrath, and satisfies for guilt.
Such as for help unto the Mother run,
Shall have but little succor from the Son.
36. On Affection.
KInd
Mary
pours an Alabster Box,
Of precious Spikenard on her Savior's feet,
And with her chiefest Ornament, her Locks,
She wipes them, humbleness and zeal her meet.
O how doth love in
Mary's
heart abound,
She serves God, not by th'ounce, but by the pound!
37. On Afflictions.
HOw light afflictions are! how transitory,
Compared to the weight of endless glory!
Or if compar▪d to sin, or if to Hell,
And yet when our proud hearts do rise and swell,
We think them heavy, for they press us down,
Many dislike the Cross, but not the Crown:
It is true affliction hath a vexing sting,
But know withal, it hath a flying wing;
The shadows of the night shall flee away,
And we shall see an everlasting day;
Afflict'ons water like a Land-flood shall
Be soon dry'd up, the Saints rise by their fall,
Their night-clothes flung a
•
ide, they shall be dressed
In rich array, and be forever blest.
38. On Agents.
SAtannick Agents, are rubbish to scour
The Vessels of God's house,
Ashur
had power
To vex God's
Israel,
this being done
The smarting rod into the fire is thrown.
'It is said, the rod of wicked ones shall not
Alway remain upon the righteous lot.
39. On Air.
THe Throne of night and day, the airy main,
The mint of winds, the treasures house of rain,
Becomes the common dish, (so Heaven decreed)
Whereon all creatures every moment feed.
40. On an Alarm.
SOund an Alarm, thy Messengers fulfil,
Thy pleasure Lord,
•
et men are drowsy still.
O when thy second Trumpet shall be sounded,
The unbelieving World shall be confounded.
41. On an Albe.
THis vestment in itself is pure from sin,
But yet not holy, nor are all within
That wearit, Lord make me inwardly sincere,
No matter then what outwardly I wear.
42. On an Alehouse.
THose common Quagmires of all naughtiness,
And rendezvouz for such a love excess:
All sober men decline, the lowzie Alehouse
Fits men first for the Gaol, and next the Gallows.
43. On an Alembi • k.
MAns heart's a Chymick, Limbeck that distils▪
The tears of grief
•
armed with the sense of ills;
O when for sin, m
•
Spirit'all Stillatory,
Drop
•
holy tears, thine be, O Lord the Glory.
44. On Alms.
WE to receive God's Blessings in, have stor
•
Of hands (like
Bri'
••
us,)
to r
•
lieve the poo
•
We have but one to use, and that alas!
Is withered too, as
Jeroboams
was.
Its not enough to say, God help, and give
Good words, unless the hungry we relieve;
The Poor like the
Chameleon
cannot feed
Upon light Air: Give unto such as need;
Let
Artaxerxes
like our open Palms,
Be liberal in distributing Alms.
45. On Allowance.
OUr daily Bread, is from God's daily care,
Who feeds the wing'd Citizens of the Air:
Doth he not also clothe us day by day,
Who decks the Lilies in such rich array?
Thus having food, the commons God hath sent,
And raiment too, let's be therewith content.
46. On an Altar.
GReat God! upon the Altar of my heart,
I offer up the Sacrifice of praise
To thee; be pleased to take it in good part,
And make me glorify thy Name always:
Let who will prize Altars of Wood or Stone,
There's no such Altar as a Fleshly one.
47. On Ambition.
DEsires that but the Poles no limits know,
How they transport that man in whom they grow
Such as aspire at Honors highest pitch,
Like gazing
Thales
tumble down the Ditch.
Great God! when my ambitious thoughts would climb
To get a name by works composed of slime,
Check thou my sinful pride, let me not reach
At such a union as may cause a breach;
Nor close with sin, but still to mind recall
Great
Babels
building, was great
Babels
fall.
Sen. Trag. 6.
Quo fortunatius crexit ac levatit humanas opes, hoc se supprimere magis felicem decet.
Sequitur superbos ultor a vergo Deus.
〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
magna moles magna ruina.
48. On Almost.
ALas! how many have salvation lost,
For want of thorough Reformation?
The almost Christ'an shall be saved almost,
But quite to all eternity undone.
The Crown belongs to such as persevere,
As good never a whit, as never the near.
49. On Alpha and Omega.
OF all thy labors, and intentions, see
That God thy
Alpha
and
Omega
be.
He that's the
Alpha
of all Mercies, shall
Be the
Omega
of my service all.
50. On Amen.
IT gives assent to what before was spoken,
It is an assuring, assevering Token.
Let's pray in faith, that when conclude we do
With our
Amen,
Heaven may say
Amen
too.
51. On Amendment.
AUgustus
said of
Galba's
crooked back,
Warn thee I can, better I cannot make:
God in his goodness Ministers doth send us,
To warn us, but it is his grace must mend us.
If we remend our lives, and by God's grace
Reform what is a miss, he will embrace
Us in his loving arms, lay by his Rod,
And be to us a reconciled God.
52. On Anarchy.
THe members have their head; the Stars the Sun,
Nature abhors kingless confusion.
53. On Anathema.
OH to b'Anathematiz'd
And delivered up to Satan,
Is, if rightly exercised,
Worse than what befell to
Dathan.
Serious censures were but sports,
Heretofore in some men's Courts.
54. On Anotamy.
•
Ubstract Christ and his Members, holy ones,
The world is nothing but a Trunk of bones.
55. On an Anchor.
WHo upwards on his God hopes Anchor casts,
Can triumph in the midst of stormy blasts.
56. On Angels.
ANgels heavens nobles; those bright flaming pour's,
Untainted Spirits, are the Saints Servitors,
While here they live, and when of life bereaven,
Those blessed Convoys carry them to heaven.
Thus they attended
Abram, Daniel, Mary,
And
Laz'
•
us
when dead, did to glory carry.
Saints by creation are than Angels lower,
But Saints above them by adoption soar.
57. On Anger.
MOrosus
is like Flax, or Gun-powder,
No sooner touched but he is all on fire;
And raging, not unlike the furious wi
•
d.
Vents out the wild distempers of his mind.
Anger is a short madness, it suspends
The use of Reason, it estrangeth Friends.
Be angry, there's the reins; angry at sin,
But sin not, there's the bridle curbs us in.
Hearken to
Socrates,
if thou wouldst fly
Rash Anger, think on God's all-viewing eye.
As the Divine Philosopher doth say,
The best way to lay Anger, is delay. *
58. On an Angler.
GOd is an Angler, so is Satan too,
He takes to save, but Satan to undo.
59. On Antichrist.
PEter
lays by his sword, and takes the Keys,
The
Pope
lays by his Keys, and nowadays
Falls to his sword; yet many to him flock,
As if he had the Key t▪undo Heav▪ns lock.
60. On an Antidote.
GOds sacred Word is, and hath ever been
A sov'reign Antidote against all sin.
Lord, if thy med'c
•
nable Woe
•
d dispel
Sins venom from m
•
heart, I shall be well.
61. On Antipathy.
THe strong-rib▪d Oak bears an antipathy
Gainst the pale Olive; and the thrifty Be
Against the pilfring Wasp; discord doth breed
Betwixt the Serpents, and the Woman's seed;
But most of all in man, man's flesh and blood
Is enmity against God, and what is good.
62. On Antiquity.
WHat is most ancient, is the truest Text,
We read first God says, and the devil says next.
What God affirms, the Tempter he denies;
God's truths are elder than the Devils lies.
63. On Ants.
SEest thou these little Patterns of great pain,
Lugg in their mouths their mighty loads of grain
And fill the
•
r hollow-vaulted Cells, that so
(While others pine) they may with plenty flow.
Who in the winter would not suffer want,
Must labor in the summer with the Ant.
64. On an Ape.
SAtan God's Ape, that Prince of darkness can
Shine like an Angel, to delude poor man.
65. On an Apparitor.
SUmmond by death, th'Apparitor of Heaven,
Appear we must, and an account be given.
66. On Apparel.
ADam
he sins, as soon as he preceives his shame, he makes him breeches of fig-leaves
And afterwards he clothes with coats of skins
His nakedness, but could not hide his sins.
Thus man at first for need did clothes invent,
Which since are used for pomp and ornament;
Gorgious attire, and silken bravery,
Is but the badge of our desert to die;
What thief was ever of his Halter proud,
Although a silken one were him allowed?
If so, methinks our proud fantastic Jacks,
Should blush to carry all upon their backs,
As of his learning
Bias
said, I bear
All mine with me, so they of what they wear,
Yet oft they stand, for all their lofty looks
Deeply recorded in their Mercers books:
Fair feathers now adavs do make fair Fowls,
Bodies are better clothed alas! then Souls,
O if Christ's righteous Robes my soul adorn,
No matter though my clothes were thread-bare worn.
Stultissimus est, qui hominem ex vestibus estimat.
Externa non commendant hominem.
Cic.
Quanto ornatior tanto nequitior.
Heu nunc splendidus vestitus discolor animus.
Marcel.
67. On the Appetite.
HOw dull to good is our souls appetite?
But ah! what's bad we relish with delight.
68. On an Apple.
ONe Apple did undo our Grandam
Eve,
And the whole world, yet daily we receive
Forbidden fruits; alas! unwholesome food
We love, and loath what is entirely good.
69. On the Apple of the eye.
GOds people are the Apple of his eye,
O do not make this tender Apple cry;
God his eye's Apple charily doth keep,
O how it grieves him when 'tis made to weep!
70. On Application.
THe skillful Preacher having cleard his Text,
Derives fit Doctrines thence, applies it next,
The bow the explication only bends,
Fits for the mark, but application sends
The arrows home: how
David's
heart began
To sink, when
Nathan
said, Thou art the man.
71. On Apostasy.
WE are the Lord of hosts his armed bands,
And the Church is the field; us Christ commands
The Word & Sacraments our colors be;
The Colony of Saints our Company;
Who fly this Field, revolt from this Command
•
Forsake this Colour, from this comp'nv wande
•
By damnd Apostasy, to serve the Devil,
Hells Prince, and first o
••
ginal of evil,
Christ'an'ties, foes, Religions grand disgrace,
These are, besides, O how do the
•
debase,
And of a glorious Crown bereave themselves,
Incur God's heavy wrath, nefandous Elves?
Such as from Christ to hells black Monarch r
••
Shall find him cruel, and themselves undo
•
e.
72. On the Apostles.
CHrists Vicars, the Apostles equal were
For Rule, Power, Honor,
Peter
did not bear
Supremacy; all did in gifts excel,
Yet one (and he the richest) went to Hell.
73. On an Arbitrator.
CHrist Jesus is the only Arbiter,
By whom to God we reconciled are.
74. On an Arch-Bishop.
CHrist is the true Arch-Bishop of our souls,
He oversees, and our Estate condoles.
75. On an Archer.
THe devils an Archer, & man's heart the whi
•
On whi
•
h his fi'ry Darts of Trials light.
76. On an Argument.
TO seek and save lost sinners Christ is come,
The argument that moved him was draw
•
from
The Topics of his Love, there was alas!
No merit in us to bring such things to pass.
77. On Arithmetic.
OUr sins to such a reck'ning are amounted,
As cannotby the numb'ring Art be counted.
78. On an Ark.
When the rebellious world for sin was drownd
Just
Noah
was preserved safe and sound.
O wonderful! the wave-supported
Ark,
•
im, hi
•
, and some of all kinds did imbark.
•
Christ is the
Ark,
and such as are in him,
They shall (when others sink) be sure to swim:
The
Ark
is God's Church, who out of it are found
•
hall not be saved, but ingulfd and drowned
•
his wraths deluge; the Pitch represents
•
ove, which the Members of the Church cements
•
nd knits together; as without, within
•
he
Ark
was pitched; so open and unseen
•
every Christians love, to let us know
•
heir love is true, as well as love in show.
•
lest Pitch! which not defileth, but the more
•
is touched, it makes more Holy than before:
•
he
Ark
had divers rooms, the Churches borders
•
ath men of divers gifts, degrees, and orders.
•
he
Ark
held Beasts unclean, as well as clean,
•
ome that are in the true Church live in sin:
•
he Gospel is the window in the
Ark,
•
reaching the light, enlightening the dark
And shady understanding, that imparts
So bright a luster as revives men's hearts.
Christ is the door that appertains thereto,
See thou do not in at a wrong door go.
The Church (as was the
Ark)
is very large,
Whereof Christ (as the head) takes special charge
•
The Flood doth the Baptismal water show,
Which kills the old man, and preserves the new:
In fine, the
Ark
was tossed to and fro,
By the cariering Flouds, now sinks as low
As Hells profunditude, but by and by
It seems to kiss the Star-embroidered sky;
Even so th'militant Church which Christ doth ow
•
With justling waves is tumbled up & down
Yea every Saint is this, and that way hurld,
Toss'd like a foot-ball by the mad-cap World
Toss'd by the pampered flesh, tossed by the De
•
That grand
Tartarian
Counselor to evil,
Toss'd by enchanting sin which soon would re
•
In pieces, if our God did not defend us;
But guided and preserved through God's go
•
gra
•
We spit defiance in our enemies face.
Ark-like the Church, rising by falls, out-braves
The churlish threats of the insulting Waves.
The more the Flouds of persecution rise,
They drive the
Ark
the nearer to the Skies,
And when the raging Tide shall cease to roar,
And waters ebb, this
Ark
shall land on shore:
This
Ark
which storms could never ruinate,
Shall rest on the Caelestial
Ararat.
This
Ark
by the Almighty's guidance driven,
Shall land even in that peaceful haven, Heaven.
The
Ark
tossed Saints shall one day be possessed
Of lasting glory, and eternal rest,
Eternal rest; a rest that doth remain
For them, by them expe
•
ted not in vain.
O blessed rest! by which we shall be freed
From woes and foes, O there's a rest indeed!
To which Heaven bring us, who by Faith partake
Of Christ his merits, for his own names sake.
79. On Armor.
GOds Armor is of proof, against all evil
Shot at us from the world, the Flesh, the Devil,
His Helmet, Brest-plate, Shield, Sword, Girdle, Shoes,
Will both defend us, and offend our foes.
80. On an Arrest.
O Eath is a Serjeant, and he Warrants brings
For our Arrest, from the great King of Kings.
The greatest and the least, the worst the best,
Have sinned, and must submit to deaths Arrest.
81. On an Arrow.
O When God sends his Arrows from his Bow,
It must needs work a speedy overthrow;
When from his twanging Bow the Dev'l lets fly
Tentation's Arrow, God can put it by.
82. On Arts.
Life's short, but Art is long; * Natural parts
Are by the study of the Liberal Arts
Very much heightened: but Arts golden Ring
Set with Grace Di'mond is a glorious thing.
83. On Articles.
CHrist by his death hath cancel▪d Justice scroul
•
Of Articles, drawn up against our souls.
84. On Ar •• llery.
MY soul groan thunder, let thy pray'rs & tea
••
Be thine Artillery, to storm God's ears.
85. On Ascensi • n.
CHrist by Angels was attended,
When he into Heaven ascended;
At the Resurrections morn,
Thither shall the Saints be born.
86. On Ashes.
AShes hides fire, what God for us hath done▪
We hide in th'ashes of Oblivion.
87. On Asking.
WHo asks shall have, if Lord, it be thy task
To grant, well may I make it mine to ask▪
88. On an Ass.
MEn blame the Ass for creeping on the Road▪
Yet go more sluggish in the ways of God.
89. On an Assault.
FAiths shield is good against the dev'ls assault,
Yet oft we want it through our own default.
90. On an Assize.
THe grand Assize draws on, the Judge is just,
And by his Verdict stand or fall we must.
91. On Assistance.
O God, if thou withdraw thy gracious hand
From us, we fall; if thou assist, we stand.
92. On Assurance.
A Ssurance that Christ is ours may be gained,
The Saints have it desired, to it attained;
•
ome more, some less, there are degrees we know
•
ometimes it ebbs, always it doth not flow.
•
ssurance (which few have) is a rare Gem.
God from his people, for to humble them,
•
ometimes withdraws it, through our carelessness
•
ometimes we want it, and our Christian peace.
•
how the dev'l disturbs! when once we meet
•
ith this Assurance, oh tis very sweet!
•
'oft hang our harps upon the limber willows,
•
nd weep (as
Israel)
by the water-billows
•
or want of this; this Wine of Paradise,
•
evives the heart, how comfortable is
God's smile! Assurance makes the low sublime,
•
nd puts a man in heaven before his time.
•
ssurance is exceeding profitable;
•
makes a Christian strenuous and able
•
or service, free to do what must be done.
•
aith makes a Christian walk, Assurance run.
Assurance is a Flow'r that only grows
In a pure heart, a spring whence comfort flows:
A Whetstone to the Graces, Hope, Love, Zeal;
A weight that of obedienre moves each Wheel,
Be much in duty; keep thy consc'ence pure,
Act faith, and thou hast made thy calling sure.
93.
-
On Astrology.
-
On Astronomy.
AStrol'gy shows the Stars effects and force,
Astronomy, their Measure, Motions, Course,
And though this hath its being from the other,
I like the Daughter, love who will the Mother.
94. On Atheists.
AUdacious
Atheists
to the world proclaim,
They love such deeds, as might the De
•
sha
•
Atheists
are worse then Devils; Devils do
Believe there is a God, and tremble too;
Those say, there is no God, who doth take care
Of things below, have neither faith nor fear.
The Devil quakes at the Day of Judgment;
they
Deride it, which will shortly them dismay.
Strange! even the Sons their sire in sins excel;
What!
Atheists
here on Earth, when none in Hel
•
95. On Atonement.
WE had offended Heaven; deserved Hell,
Christ an atonement makes, & all is well.
96. On Augmentation.
Who worketh out with fear his own salvation,
This spirit'all living, gets an augmentation.
97. On Attributes.
GOd single is, as being uncompounded,
He's infinite, and therefore is unbounded;
Immutable, th'Eternal, Three in one,
Who by his back-parts only can be known;
Most wise, most strong, most true, most good, most just,
Most merciful, believe in him we must;
Perfect, and blessed, and glorious is he,
O if this God be ours, how blest are we!
98 On Auricular confession.
THe Scripture bids, and what it bids is best,
Confess to God, not to the Popish Priest;
Auricular confession taught in schools,
How it ensnares the consciences of fools!
What is it but a superstitious Gin
To nourish, yea, and harden men in sin.
My soul confess thy sins to God alone,
And he will pardon what thou hast misdone.
99. On Authority.
THe Law's Authority, depends
On God, the mighty King of Kings,
And this exceedingly commends,
Its worth above all human things:
How precious is the Law of God?
My soul upon it always plod.
100. Of the Authors of things, according to Scripture.
GOd by his power (which may not be withstood)
Created all things admirably good:
He framed the first of men out of the ground,
Gave him a reas'ning soul, by which he found
Out many Arts and Sciences; none doubt
But
Moses
found the use of Letters out,
First Poesie composed, pen'd Histories:
Tubal
the crooked Harp did first devise.
Musical Instruments
David
invented,
Philosophy in
Jewry
first was minted.
Egypt
found Astrology, Arithmetic,
As also Medicine to heal the sick.
First were the
Pers'ans
famed for Magic Skill,
Moses
first Law-giver divulged God's will?
Egypt
first owned the Government by Kings;
The
Hebrew
Commonwealths; Servitude spring
•
From
Canaan;
the
Jews
the Year out found,
And its 12 months, before the world was drown
•
Meek
Moses
found out Instruments of War,
As
Cain
of Husbandry; first Vine-dresser
Old
Noah
was;
Adam
first names devised
For living things;
Abel
first sacrificed.
Adam
first clothed himself with Skins of beasts▪
Cain
the first City built; of Ships and Chests
Noah
was Author. God's Church was at first
In
Adams
family, both bred and nursed.
The faithfuls Father first did circumcise;
Christ's Herald
John,
did first of all baptize
With Baptism of repentance; Christ went higher,
Baptizing with the Holy Ghost and Fire.
By
Moses, Aaron
(so God appointed)
Was to the High-priests Office first anointed.
Noah
first built an Altar to the Lord,
And thereon offered of his own accord,
An Holo-caust. The Prince of Hell the Devil,
He is the principle, and root of evil.
Of the first Authors of things, according to profane Authors.
THe
Aeginetans
first of all stamped Money;
First
Aristeus
taught the use of Honey.
The first Tooth-drawer
Aesculapius
was;
Anaximander
found the Hour-glass.
Angaeas
(though a King) first dungd the ground;
The use of Bellows
Anacharsis
found.
Anchus
of Ovens to bake Bread withal:
First
Anagallis
played with Tennis-ball.
Architas,
Rattles;
Belgians
Wains first made,
Boetius
taught the Cobblers subtle Trade.
Corses
first shav'd his Beard;
Daedalus
Shops
Invented;
Danaus
Wells;
Grecians
Tops:
Icarus
Sails;
Perillus
Bulls of Brass;
Thon
Drugs,
Pan
Pipes,
Sinon
the Looking-glass.
Phoenicians
Slings,
Scythians
Arrows, Bows;
Cyneras
Pinsers, Hammers, Anvils, Crowes
Devised first; no more I will make known,
Who would know more, may search * as I have done.
101. On Autumn.
TH
•
S
•
lvan
quire cease their harmonious notes,
And sullen forests d'on their yellow coats;
Ceres
bright locks are shorn; the mellow fruits
Are torn from laden boughs; their summer suits
The sapless branches d'off, the gaudy ground
Is now disrob'd, the year with plenty crowned.
Great God! thou sowst th
•
words immortal seed
On the ground of our hearts, but ah! they breed
The weeds of sin, in us these weeds destroy,
That we a joyful Harvest may enjoy.
102. On Awe.
SHould God from
Sinai
thunder forth his Law,
(As once) 'twould strike us with a dreadful awe,
Since he in Gospel-mildness doth appear,
O let us serve him with an holy fear.
103. On an Axe.
THe Axe is heav
•
sharp, to cut and hew
In pieces for the fire; or else to square,
The Axe without the ha
•
d can nothing do;
God's Judgments, and his Comminations are
His Axe in
•
hose respects, and ev'y Tree
That brings not forth good fruit, hew down and burned shall be.
104. On an Axel-tree.
THe Nations Axel-tree doth even begin
To sink under the pressing weight of sin,
O Christ the Savior of the World be pleased
To bear our burden, and we shall be ea
•
'd.
B
1. On Babel.
WHile the presumpt'ous world, swoln big with pride
Strove to enhance their names, and fondly tried
To build a Tower, whose ambitious spire
Might
kiss
the
Skies; Jehovah
in his ire
Dismounts his awful Throne, doth quickly quell
Their rash attempts to teach them to rebel
Against his Sovereign power, confounds their tongues;
(Before but one) and they are assembled throngs
He clearly routs; enforcing them to run
Abroad the world, so leave their work undon:
Thus did the means they use, as safe and sure
T'avoid dispersion, the same procure:
Thus God will bring to naught their counsels still,
Who act contrary to his mind and will:
Great God! when my unlimited desires
Prompt me to ill, quench quench those raging fires,
O let the ill success of
Babels
Tower,
Tame my proud heart, & bring it one peg lower,
And if I must needs lofty Structures raise,
Grant I may seek thy glory, not men's praise.
2. On a Baby.
NAtures Epitome, life's dawn; a thrumb
Of man, forsakes the chamber of the womb,
To hang upon the breast, and loves to be
Sung to, and dandled on the mothers knee:
Nothing will sooner still its tear-throat cries
Then crackling rattles, and fond lullabies.
Man at the best is easily beguile'd
With flattering pleasures like the whimpering child,
Alas! how flux! how fading are the joys
Which are engendered, by vain trifling toys.
The world presents us with; Soul to thy rest
Return, * King
David's
lullaby is best.
3. On Back-biting.
A Good name upon earth is no small bliss,
No chain of Pearl doth so adorn as this;
To whom and what you speak of men be wary;
Sland'rers are Devils * ; O be exceeding chary
And very tender of a man's good name,
He acts the Devils part, that doth defame:
The wounds inflicted by a sland'rous tongue
Can no Physician heal; yet will the wrong
That's done toanother, many times rebound
Upon the shooters soul, he that doth wound
The reputation of his neighbor shall
Find in the end himself, hurt worst of all:
Such bury men alive (oh cruelty!)
It is an irrepariable injury;
Let us from calumny, as from the Devil flee.
4. On Back-sliding.
IOash
was good, while his good Unckle reigned,
But when he died, O how was
Joash
staind
With foul Idolatry; he did interr
Religion in his Unckle's Sepulcher.
We live in the Leass fall; how many taste
Of Heav'nly gifts, yet slink away at last,
A double Lamp, the word and spirit may
Enlighten men, who after fall away
Wholy and finally; Lord! work in me
A thorough-work of grace, let me not be
An Alch'mis Christ'an, make me sound in heart,
And let not me from thy Statutes depart:
That which doth in
Hypocrisy
begin,
Ends in
Apostasy,
that hellish sin:
Lord! make me persevere, the race to run,
And perfect in me what thou hast begun;
That so, I may not, when I am almost
At hav'n be Ship-wrack'd, and forever lost.
Domine quod cepisti perfice, ne in portum nanfragum accidat.
Beza.
5. On a Bag of Money.
IUdas
hath got the bag, the bag hath got
Judas
* ; 'tis hard to bear the bag and not
Be covetous, the heart's not filled with pelf;
Judas
is Burser, and he shuts himself
Into his Pouch; * the more he hath, the more
He covets: the Apostles that were poor,
Are not so having;
Judas
has the Coyn,
Yet if he have not more, he will purloyn,
And filch it: ah! what satisfaction can
These outward things afford the heart of man?
The Bag is given to the worst of men
Most commonly;
Judas
had better been
Without the Bag, than have the Bag, and have
The Dev'l with it; Christ our Redeemer gave
The Bag to
Judas,
and he gave the rest
Of his Apostles Grace, now which sped best?
Judas
he bore the Bag, and yet behold
He is accurst, Heaven with a key of gold
Cannot be opend, sooner Hell gate may;
Despairing
Judas
makes himself away.
And now farewell his Bag with Bulloin cramd,
The wretch must go to hell, and there be damnd.
Better God's blessing with an empty purse,
Than one well-lined, attended with a curse.
6. On a Ball.
THe worlds a Ball, made up of quarters four, *
And with the spangled Heavn bequilted ore;
Pleasure, Honor, and Riches are its all,
Which though the earth stands still, still rise and fall;
Square dealings can scarce anywhere be found,
The reason is, because the world is round.
7. On a Ballance.
THeudas
would to himself some-body seem,
So we do of ourselves too well esteem;
Laid in the balance of the Sanctuary,
Alas! we are too light, no weight we carry.
8. On Balm.
BAlm is an Emblem of our Saviors blood,
As that cures wounds, so this our sov'reign good
To heal sins ulcer, Justice doth it calm.
How sweet! how precious is
Gileads
balm!
This cures the Serpents biting; this doth save,
By this, we into heaven an entrance have.
O sinner, thou hast got a gangren▪d soul,
This Balm apply▪d by faith, will make thee whole.
But few there are to whom Christ is revealed,
And that's the reason why so few are healed
Of their soul-wounds; but in our Hemisphere
The Sun of Right'ousness is risen here
For sin-distemp'red souls, with him he brings
A healing Virtue, in his balmy wings.
Sweet Jesu, to my smarting wounds apply
The Balsom of thy Blood, or else I die.
Sanguis Christi salus Christiani.
Ber.
Ber.
9. On Bands.
TRy, sinners try to burst in twain Christ's bands,
And cast his cords from your co-arcted hands;
But know his bands will not be snapped in sunder,
He can, I and he will, still keep you under:
This mighty Prince, beyond the reach of man
In
Zion
reigns, dethrone him if you can:
Such as against the Lord their forces bend,
Shall meet with dire confusion in the end.
10. On Banishment.
MAn for his fin from Paradise was sent
Into the world, his life's a banishment;
When the just soul is from the body freed,
O that's a blessed banishment indeed!
11. On a Banner.
CHrist brings tohis Wine-cellar his Spouse, his Dove,
The Banner he spreads over her, is Love.
12. On a Banckrupt.
A Sparing father, and a spending son,
How they agree! what's by the father don,
The Heir undoes; lightly come, lightly go,
He must have horses, dogs, attendants too:
No mar'le, for thrift and he are at a fray,
And who can hold the thing that will away?
He's in the field, when thrift is in the town,
At last this gallant's whole estate's up blown:
Better for having much tohave hate befall,
Then to be pitied for spending all.
Mali parta male dilabuntur,
ill got ill spent:
Quae subito veniunt subito quandoque, recedunt,
Quot cervos tot fures habemus.
Plaut.
Actaeon-praeda fuit canibus.
Ovid,
13. On a Banquet.
THe King of Heaven, his son, and spirit too,
Invite toa banquet, but how few do go:
•
et
Nabal
or
Belshazzar
turn feast-maker,
•
ord! what a multitude will be partaker,
•
ut let such know, whose souls do feast on evils,
•
hey are in the mean while a feast for Devils.
14. On Baptism.
WE to the heavenly
Can'an
cannot pass,
Unless we first wade through the sea of glass;
Regeneration's Lavour, is that sea,
Wherein we all must wash, and cleansed be:
•
man God's Kingdom never can inherit,
•
hat is not born of Water and the Spirit:
•
here's no approaching to God's gracious throne
Unwash'd; the glassie sea must be sailed on.
God's word's our compass, but the spirit driven
•
he Pinnace of our souls, arrives at Heaven:
•
n Baptism, we ourselves engaged have
To Christ, took our press-money; there, we gave
Our names up to the Captain General
Of our Salvation, to obey his call:
There did we vow, and solemnly protest,
Still to be true to his sweet interest;
To fight it out under his Royal banner,
Till death, and that in a courageous manner.
Now if when called to suffer for his name,
We should flinch back, O were it not a shame?
Nay, Christ against us may our Baptism bring
As an Indictment for this very thing:
How shall we look on Christ another day,
Who from our colors falsely fall away?
O where alights, the curses flying roll,
But in the dwelling of the perjured soul,
Zac.
5. 4.
15. On a Barber.
THe Barber shaves the hair, and clips the face;
Nature deforms us, we are trimmed by grace.
16. On Barrenness.
AH me! how naked are we! O how bare?
Till with Christ's right'ous robes we clothed are.
17. On a Bargain.
WHo contracts with the Devil, & sells himsel
•
To him for worldly pleasures, honors, pelf,
That
bargain
yields
bare gain,
nay him undoes,
For light chaff, he his precious soul forgoes.
18. On a Barge, or Bark.
THe world's a sea, we Barks by spirit-gale
•
drive
•
We sail, O whither are we bound? to Heaven▪
19. On Barking.
BA'ls
Priests are blind, they wander in the dark▪
Dumb dogs they are, & cannot therefore bark▪
But if they should; Saints live above their spite,
Dogs bark against the Moon, they cannot bite.
20. On Barley.
CHrist above four thousand fed,
(Not with various dishes)
With seven loaves of barley-bread,
And a few small fishes:
Strange! seven baskets were repleat,
With the Offall, broken meat.
21. On a Barn.
THe S
ts
. are wheat, the best, the noblest grain,
Heaven is the barn wherein this wheat is lain.
22 On a Bar.
CHrist is a Judge, before him at the Bar,
The trembling sinner one day must appear.
23. On a Barrel.
THe woman of
Sarepta
could not fare ill,
Whose meals was still increased in her Barrel:
Lord! when my stock of grace is well nigh spent,
Give more, and I therewith will be content.
24. On Barrenness.
TO bear no fruit, was ever held a shame,
Nay a curse too, O how are we to blame?
On whom the largest showers of God's word fall,
That yet are barren, bear no fruit at all.
25. On a Barretter.
THe Barretter, who studies brawling Laws,
Will set his tongue to sale in any Cause;
Raw wounds he loves, and references hates,
In tricks and querks, and quarrelsome debates
He only trades; his answers are evasions,
His arguments are snarling cavillations:
The work he brews in the Vacation long,
He in the Term-time broacheth with his tongue;
This greedy Horse-leech loves to suck and draw
The putrid blood of the corrupted Law;
But of this wrangler soft, I must be mute,
For fear against me he commence a suit.
No more but this, such as delight in jars
Should God destroy, woe be to Barreters.
26. On a Basis.
THe King's the Basis, people to sustain,
The Kings prop is the Lord, by whom Kings reign;
Nay, if the Lord, who ruleth over all,
Did not uphold the world, the world would fall.
27. On Bashfulness.
BLushing is virtues tincture, comely grace
Is oft portrayed by the bashful face:
T'have cheeks distain'd with a vermiliion dy
For sin, oh this is pious modesty.
28. On a Basilisk.
SIn is a Basilisk, its poisnous breath,
Is mortal, 'tis the Harbinger of death:
Let's first discover it, and make it fly.
Left it should us pursue, and so we die.
29. On a Basket.
BLessed shall be thy Basket and thy store,
If God's Law thou obey, and him adore;
But cursed thy basket, and thy store shall be,
Who wilt not do as God commandeth thee.
30. On a Bason.
WHen his disciples feet our Savior scour'd,
Water into a
Bason
first he poured:
We are by nature
Base ones,
Lord pour in
Thy grace, & from our souls feet * wash off sin.
31. On a Bastard.
THis luckless issue, Heavens image coin'd
With a forbidden stamp, but few do mind;
And yet who is there, that delights not in
That ugly monster, Satan's bastard sin?
Considred in his natural estate,
Ev'ry man is an illegitimate:
The unbelieving wretch, is one base-born,
God looks upon him with contempt and scorn:
He is a person vile, one of earths breed,
A Brat engendered of the Serpents seed:
Be sure, God will not father him therefore,
But lay such Bastards at the Devils door.
By faith it is, that God takes cognizance
Of us for sons: 'tis faith doth us advance.
By faith we are God's children through Christ's merit,
Faith gives us right and title to inherit.
Til faith be wrought, we have no right to heaven,
Only to lawful heirs that Land is given.
It is faith that doth legitimate, until
Thou do believe, thou art a Bastard still.
Boast not thy Pedigree, the devil can show
As full as good a Coat of Arms as thou.
32. On a Bath.
TEars are a Bath, My sou
•
bathe thee therein,
When
Peter
had defiled himself with sin,
He washd his soul with penetential tears,
The water of Con
••
tion heals and clears:
The tears which impure
Mary
did impart,
Not only washd Christ's feet, but cleansed he
•
heart.
O sinners, make vour eyes a flowing fount
Of tears, we
•
for those sins you cannot count.
Christ's blood's a Bath, a fount set ope for sin
And for uncleanness: Go, my soul, step in
And bathe thee there, his Blood will scour so,
That crimson sins shall seem as white as snow.
O tis this Blood of Christ that lays the soul
A whitening, these two bathes do make soul
•
whole.
33. On a Battle.
AWay, fond fool, wilt thou prepare toembat
••
With the great God, whose thundering judgments rattle
About thine ears, when all the world records
With one consent, the Battle is the Lord's.
Alas! alas! it is in vain to strive
Against that God, whose wisdom can contrive,
And power effect, thy certain overthrow,
And hurl thee head-long into hellish woe.
34. On a Bay-tree.
THe wicked, spreading like a Bay-tree green,
Dies in a trice, and can no more be seen:
But mark the upright man, for that man's end
Is peace, flourishing blessings him attend.
35. On a Beacon.
WE fire our Beacons when an en'mie's near,
When sin invades us, how secure we are!
The Beacon of mine heart, O Lord! enflame
With grace, and Satan shall retreat with shame.
36. On a Beagle.
THe quick-nos'd Beagle, follows hard the chase,
How slow are we in the pursuit of grace!
37. On a Beam.
A Beam is in our eye, we mind it not,
But in our brother's can discern a mote;
To find out others failings, we are prone,
But O'twere well, did we amend our own.
38. On Beans.
TO him that brings his mind unto his means,
O how delicious is a mess of Beans!
He that hath in the bread of life a share,
Can be contented with the meanest fare.
39. On a Beard.
MEthinks that hairy argument of Age,
To sober actions should men engage;
Its man prerogative: O what a grace
Where virtue ruleth, is a well-thatch▪d face!
40. On a Bear.
I See an ill-shap'd Bear, and I begin
To think, am I not more deformed by sin?
Lord, I by nature am austere and rough,
But ah! thy grace can make me smooth enough.
41. On Be • sts.
THe Forest Burgesses by nature wild,
Rav'nous & fierce, God's power makes mo
•
mil
•
Gentle, and merciful to man, than men;
Dan'el
was safe when in the L
•
ons Den.
In
Dioclesians
Reign, the Christians thrown
To Leopards, Wolves, and Bears, were let alon
•
42. On Beauty.
BEauty! what is it but a Vernal Flow'r,
Now fresh, alas! and withered in an hour.
Grace is the best complexion of the Soul,
Compar'd to that, all other beauty's foul;
It is even at the first Plantation,
Like
Rachel,
very fair to look upon.
But still the more it lives, the more it sends
Its ra
•
s of beauty forth; that which commends
Christ's lovely Spouse, is Soul-adorning grace,
Not the external features of the Face.
All glorious the Kings Daughter is within,
She is fair, though she have a Black-Moors skin.
Christ's sparkling Robes of Right'ousness adorn
The soul, these never can be thread-bare worn.
Grace is the Holy Ghosts Embroidery;
This roseate Beauty only in God's eye
Sets off a Soul; such as in heart are pure
He loves, but spirit'ual Lepers cannot endure.
Unto his lesser Heaven God doth repair,
The Dove delighteth in the purest air.
The Spirit, who in the likeness of a Dove
Descended, fair-complexion'd souls do
•
h love.
This is God's rest, here he forever dwells,
This beauty never fades, O this excels!
It is the fairest heart, not fairest face
Christ loves; the glory of a man is grace.
Christ
•
Bride she wears no Necklace on her neck
The Graces are a Chain of Pearl that deck
Her Lily Soul; Grace is a precious thing
To th' Soul, as is the Di
•
mond to the Ring,
The Sun to th' world; an heaven enamel'd mind
Is such a Beauty as is hard to find.
Grace is a Flower of Delight, which Christ
Loves to smell to; Grace makes us like the Highst:
O what is there that may with Grace compare!
There's nothing here below so rich, so rare.
But O the Jewels which on Christ were hung,
Cannot be blazon'd by a mortal tongue.
Deformities immediately flow
From sin, but blessed he, no sin did know.
By th' Spirit conceived, that is the reason then
Why he was fairer than the sons of men.
Mirror of Beauty in his looks divine,
O what a graceful Majesty doth shine!
Christ is described with an head of Gold,
Ey-dazzling
gold,
& his Doves eyes behold
Cant.
•
1
•
His Spouse; his cheecks are as a bed of spices,
His loveliness the Virgin-heart entices.
What may be said, falls infinitely short
Of his resplendent worth; who can report
His rare unparagon'd perfections? man
Can never do it, for no Angel can.
In's person, disposition, s
•
ff'rings, graces,
And conversation all men he surpasses.
To God, to Saints, and to the Angel-quire,
He's very lovely; what should we admire
But his perfections? there is not a spot
In him, his Beauty's seamless as his Coat.
Beauty draws love; his beauty Christ imparts,
O wear this
Rose of Sharon
in your hearts.
Sinners, get Christ, in gaining him you get
The richest Jewel in Heavens Cabinet.
〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
Theodoret.
Theodoret.
〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
Chrysost.
Chrysost.
43. On a Bed.
MY body's earthly clothes which now I have,
I shortly shall put off, and in the grave,
My last bed, rest; but raised I shall be,
And with these very eyes my Savior see.
44. On Bees.
•
He Honey-merchants in the prime of
May,
By sun shine thro' the fragrant meadows stray
With
Cypras
wings, and by their Chymick skill,
•
xtract the quintessence of Flow'rs, to fill
Their hollow-vaulted cells: what heavy loads
Their laden thighs transport to their aboads?
When others pine with want, in winters cold,
They live upon their self-made liquid Gold.
So in prosper'ties summer, should we lay
Up store of grace, against a winters day.
45. On a Beggar.
OH! in my bones such a disease doth lurk,
A knavish beggar cried, I cannot work:
And afterwards confessed it was the Lazies;
We work not for our souls, such our disease is.
Lord, we deserve thy whip, need no curb bridles,
Who are by nature troubled with the idles.
Beggars we are, whose hourly wants implore
Each Meals relief; we beg at Heavens door,
Give us this day our daily bread;
we crave,
God gives it us, we can but ask and have.
Who live upon God's alms, must not refuse▪
His reffuse; beggars must not pick and choose.
That news of Beadles, and their tort'ring whips
Is not the language of God's angry lips,
Is a rich mercy: Beggars should be humble,
Thou art a Beggar, ah! why dost thou grumble
And murmur at thy God! wilt thou repine
That art sustained by Providence Divine?
If the Alms-basket of God's Providence
We slight, how justly may he say, go hence;
Go hence, proud beggars, with your cursed stat
•
And come no more for Alms at Heaven-gate.
I am a Beggar, Lord, let me partake
Of grace and glor
•
, for Christ Jesus sake.
46. On Beginnings.
SIn its first rise, as ev'l must be withstood,
Grace its first rise, embraced as being good.
Where is no grace to crush sin in the shell,
Sin grows, and it will hurry men to hell.
Perpetuated woes are Vices dregs,
Lets crush betimes these Cockatrices Eggs.
47. On Being with Christ.
TO be with Christ in Glory, doth include
A Privilege of the first Magnitude;
Saint
Paul
longed to depart, that he might res
•
On that soft pillow, his dear Saviors breast,
As the beloved Disciple
John,
once did.
While in the flesh, our life of grace is hid
Under Corruptions veil, until we be
•
ith Christ, our grace is in its infancy.
O when we sit with Christ, and wear our crown,
Our graces shall be fully ripe, and blown,
Which here are in the buds; here we inherit
The first-fruits, there the full crop of the Spirit.
Death is sweet to the Saints, to heaven they come
By crossing of this
Marc-Martuum:
Here we behold Christ darkly, through a glass;
There shall his veil be taken off his face,
And he in his Embroidery appear;
Heaven were nor Heaven, if Christ were not there.
Christ with his graces, here his Spouse doth honor
•
n heaven, his glory he will put upon her.
She shall shine by his means, sit next his throne,
By virtue of her Marri'ge Union.
Here she's in sable for her absent Love;
But Christ in heaven her mourning will remove,
And clothe her in white robes; Christ he prepares
An Handkerchief to dry up all her Tears.
O there the heart, and all the senses shall
Be filled with joy at once, none thence can fall.
In heaven we ever with the Lord shall rest,
The Saint, when there, hath his
Quietus est.
48. On Believing in Christ.
ANd shall the Saints forever be possessed
Of heavenly thrones? with Christ in glory rest!
Oh then, lets try ourselves whether or no
We are such persons, as to Christ shall go
At deaths arrest? from hence we must be gone
But shall we go to Christ? this may be known
As thus; if here the life of grace we live
In Christ, Christ us will when we die, receive:
How blest is union! union is the ground
Of privilege; in Christ we must be found
Clad in his robes of Holiness, before we
Can be with Christ dressed in his robes of glory
O labor to get faith; faith is the grace
Unites to Christ; faith moves Christ to embrac
•
Us in his loving arms; by faith alone
Christ as an husband, as a Lord we own.
Faith gives the interest, tis faith doth bring
Christ home unto the soul; Christ is the ring,
Faith's finger puts it on; faith opens wide
The orifice, in her sweet Saviors side,
And drinks his blood; faith justifies, make clean
O get faith, of all graces Faith is Queen:
Faith paves a Cawsie to a heavenly throne,
Believers die Heirs to the glorious crown:
O Lord enrich me with that saving grace,
That I amongst thy Saints may have a place.
49. On a Bell.
THe Gospel is a Silver-warning Bell,
To ring men in to Christ, and yet to Hell
How many go? its sound we cannot hear,
Unless God's Spirit ring it in our ear.
50. On Bellows.
MY zeal is but a spark; Lord! I desire
Thy Spirits Bellows to blow up my fire,
That I may to the glory of thy Name
Ascend still to thee, in an holy flame.
51. On the Belly.
THe Belly's Natures Kirchin, isit not odd
A House of Office, should become a God?
Many do serve their Bellies, oh how few
Yield God that honor which to him is due!
52. On Beloved.
GOd hath made us, whom sin had once undon,
Beloved, in his Well-beloved Son.
53. On a Belt.
FAlshood surcingles most; how few are there
About their loins, Truths golden girdle wear!
That man must needs be strenuous and stout,
That with the Belt of Truth is girt about.
54. On a Bench.
THe worlds a Bench, whereon a while we stay,
Till we to Heav'nly thrones are called away.
55. On a Bene • ice.
MEn nowadays fat Benefices get,
And straightway lay aside the Preachers net.
So I win souls to God, I do not care
How small my Profits, and my In-comes are.
56. On Benefits.
AS benefit's bestowed, bind the receiver;
So hearty thanks returned, oblige the giver,
Christ cleansed the Leper, and we read but one
Often, that gave God thanks for what was done.
57. On the Best.
GOd, that on us dost the best things bestow,
To thee the best of what we have, we owe;
Thou shower'st on us the riches of thy grace,
We fling sins filthy ordure in thy face,
For Gold give dirt, and is not this a shame?
How blind our sacrifice are, how lame!
He that delights in God, bestows on him
The strength of his affections; the cream
Of his performances; to God he brings
The very best he hath, for offerings;
The firstlings of the flock, and of the sat
Thereof, nor grumbles in the least thereat.
God who is best, will with the best be served;
Domitian
would have his Statute carv'd
In burnish'd Gold, and not in Brass, or Wood,
God who is good himself, craves what is good;
The best of our best things, he best approves,
Our golden servicies he dearly loves.
Hypocrites duties do procure God's loathing,
They offer to him that which cost them nothing:
They care not what before the Lord they bring,
A lazy pray'r, or such like sorry thing:
A cheap Religion always likes them best;
A costly one they very much detest:
A broken heart is my best sacrifice,
O Lord, I trust thou wilt not it despise:
O grant that I may labor to do first
My best, and then let Satan do his worst.
58. On a Beetle.
HOw beetle-blind are we! how void of sight,
Even in the midst of glorious-Gospel light.
Omentum Cimmeriis tenebris atrociorem.
Lactan.
59. On Beiraying.
JUdas
his Master with a Kiss betrays,
How many Judasses are nowadays!
60. On Betrothing.
O Let's admire Christ's love in us betrothing,
Even while we were the objects of his loathing.
61. On a Bever-beast.
MEn for the skin pursue the Beaver-beast,
Satan from hunting souls, doth never rest.
62. On Bewitching.
THe world's a witch, with honor, pleasures, riches,
The spells she casts, she multitudes bewitches.
63. On the Bible.
THe sacred Testament both new and old,
Are the two Lips, by which God doth unfold
For our souls health, the counsels of his breast;
And therefore of all books, the Bible's best.
64. On Bigamy.
CHrist constant to his Spouse, the Church our Mother,
Nor will he ever marry any other.
65. On a Bile.
SIn is an angery bile, which few do feel,
And nothing but the blood of Christ can heal.
66. On a Bill.
THe bill chops wood, cuts off excresences,
So must repentance our iniquities.
67. On a Bill.
SAtan against the Saints, prefers his bill,
But Christ the right'ous Judge acquit them will.
68. On Birds.
THe feather'd people and the air agree
To carol forth God's praise, and shall not we?
69. On the New-Birth.
TWice born! how can this be? by flesh & blood
This mystery cannot be understood:
By faith it may, without Regeneration,
Of water and the Spirit, there's no Salvation.
70. On a Bishop.
THe Scripture says, a Bishop must be blamless,
Chaste, sober, holy, (not profane, & shameless)
Not close, but free; to godly men propitious,
Apt for to teach, (not piteful and malicious.
Such men were
Titus, Timothy,
and
Paul,
And our late Jewels,
Davenant, Usher, Hall.
Such are, (and O may they be long enjoyed)
Laborious
Reynolds,
chari
•
able
Floyd:
To mild
Nicholson,
some wish the turned-out tribe
That can (they say) to God's command subscribe:
Might be unchain'd, have freedom to dispense
The Gospel, though they missed preeminence▪
Love best persuades, the learned have expressed,
And wise men find, the Golden mean is best.
71. On a Bit, or Morsel.
TIs by free grace, we are sustained and fed,
Alas! we never deserve▪d one bit of bread.
72. On Bitterness.
SIn makes fair promises, but nothing less
Performs, it always ends in bitterness.
73. On a Bit, or Sn • ffle.
LOrd! when my tongue would gallop into sin,
Thy Presence is the
bit
must keep it in.
74. On a Blab, or Long-tengue.
'TWas
David's
pray'r; Lord, set a watch before
My mouth, & of my lips keep thou the door,
He that gives too much freedom to his tongue,
Offends his God, and doth his neighbor wrong▪
75. On Blackness.
THere's none, but is originally soil'd
With inbre'd filth, and actually spoiled,
We are born Moors, and by continual fin,
This swarthiness hath much increased been:
We have no virtual nitre of our own
To whiten us, the blood of God's dear son
Can only cleanse, and purify the soul
And make us fair, who are by nature soul.
76. On a Bladder.
PRide puffeth up the heart, but death's designed
To prick this bladder, and let out the wind.
77. On Blame.
FOr crucifying Christ their Lord, we blame
The
Jews,
yet daily do the very same;
Our sins are ranckling thorns, the nails, the spea
•
That
tear
our Lord, and we shed not a tear.
78. On Blasphemy.
BLasphemy is a bullet, that rebounds
From God at whom 'ti
•
shot, & the blaspheme
•
wound
•
.
79. On Blessedness.
THat in reversion, there's a blessedness
The Saints believe; and Scripture doth express▪
Blessedness is the souls perfection,
Of Christ'an industry tis the whet-stone,
The Saints highest ambition, tis the flower
Of his delight, the end which evermore
All men desire; this is the white all aim
To hit, this is the center; this is the flame
That nourisheth our zeal; this precious Gem,
Hangs not upon an earthly Diadem:
It lies not in the acquisition,
Of things beneath the circle of the Sun:
It cannot be by any chymick skill
Extracted here, emptiness cannot fill:
For birth, for wealth, for worldly joys, for wit,
None might compare with
Solomon,
and yet
He tells us in the hight of contemplation,
That all is vanity and soul-vexation.
Alas! the sacred Tree of blessedness,
Doth not grow in an earthly Paradise:
For sin hath not, God cursed the loathed ground,
How then therein, can blessedness be found?
And yet there▪s many digging for it here,
As if a curse could any blessing bear.
Fire may as easily from water-springs
Be drawn, as blessedness from earthly things:
The world's below the soul, it's footstool tis,
And therefore
•
annot crown it with true bliss.
Worldly accommodations cannot still
The troubled heart, nor with true comfort fill:
Riches can never satisfy the soul,
Because not real, and away they roll,
Like a swift stream; therefore they never can,
With endless happiness, enrich a man;
Riches are thorns, they vex the head with care
Of getting, so they wound the heart with fear
Of loosing them, a man may be possessed
Of golden Mountains, and be never blest:
The sole enoyment of these things below,
Will bring a curse; cannot therefore bestow
Happiness on us, Gold (tis sad to tell)
Hath sunk the souls of many men to Hell:
Judas
for money his salvation sold,
The Pharisees bought with refined mould
Their own damnation: creatures comforts can
Derive no true felicity to man:
'It is in an higher Region, they that do
Seek for it here, do to the wrong box go:
Blessedness is too delicate a Plant
To dwell in natures soil, he knows no want
That hath it; O how blest is his condition,
That hath a full and sensible fruition
Of God the supreme good; there's nothing ca
•
But God enjoyed, beatify a man.
God is the chiefest good, he makes them ble
•
Who in him only, acquiesce and rest:
Blessedness is the alone Diamond,
In God the Rock of ages to be found.
He is the top of all felicity,
The center in whom all the lines agree:
The soul is not completely happy, till
It meet in God, who only can it fill
In blessedness, or else it is not right,
Are these Ingred'ents, spirits of delight;
So meliority, and sweet variety,
Compleat perfection, and a full satiety:
Eternities the highest link of bliss,
Its sun-shine never sets, nor clouded is▪
God only can true blessedness afford,
Blest are the people whose God is the Lord.
Sinner lament thy sins, false ways decline,
And sweat hard till thou find this golden mine;
▪It is feizable, the flaming Sword of fin,
Can only keep thee back from entering in
Th'heavenly Paradise: Get an interest
In Christ, walk uprightly, and thou art blest:
That thou art bound for heaven, do thou not say
Who steer'st thy course the quite contrary way,
But thou that art a Saint free grace adore
That, that must set thee on the blissful shore;
I must pass through the gate of grace, before I
Can enter into the
White-Hall
of Glory.
80. On Blessings.
ALL blessings are from God, his golden bowls
Of mercies still refresh our bodies, souls;
His blessings ever over-flow the banks
Of our desires, and shall we ebb in thanks?
God will, if we be thankful for the store
Of blessings he allows, allow us more.
81. On Blindness.
TIs day, and yet we grope the way to find,
Strange▪ that the Gospels light should make us blind.
•
he world's God blinds men's eyes, they neither can
•
ee their Disease, nor their Physician.
Laodicea
in her own conceit
Was rich, and yet how poor was her estate!
The blind man in the Gospel till Christ came,
Recov'red not his sight, and in Christ's name
Implore we must, the spirit to inlight
Our spirit'all eyes, for we have lost our sight.
82. On Blockishness.
BEfore the fall our understandings light
Was clear, but since how darkened is our sight
How blockish are we! how unapt to learn
The things; that do immediately concern
Our everlasting peace! O Lord restore
To us thine Image, by us lost before:
Be pleased to open our sin-sealed eyes
That we may know thee, and thy goodness priz
•
83. On a Blossom.
GRace is the bud that sports on Par'dise tree,
The blossom is glorious Eternity:
Unless we bud in grace, we shall not bloom
In glory, none but Saints in Heaven find room.
84. On Blood.
THe blood that guish'd from murd'red
Ab
•
Empierc'd the heavens, with its revenge
•
soun
•
But ah! the blood of my dear, Lord was spilled,
To cleanse my blood-debabled soul from guil
•
It cries for pardon, scours out all my stains,
Procures my freedom from eternal pains.
How precious is the Balm of
Gilead!
By it salvation can be only had.
Christ, he will have the honor of the cure,
Or he will never heal us to be sure:
The oil in
Reims
(tis stori'd) never wastes,
Though always used, Christ's blood forever lasts,
Bubbling from his pierced side: O make recourse
My soul still to this Fountain; O divorce
Thy self from sin, (sin is the thing confounds,)
Take Sanctuary in his sanguine wounds:
This is the sacred Bath opened for sin,
And for uncleanness, go my soul step in
And bathe thee there, this is that spir'tal spring
That makes clean hearts; Christ's blood's a precious thing;
If to the heart applied, it makes it flourish
In holiness, nothing like this doth nourish
The fainting soul, no desperate condition
There is with Christ, who is the best Physician:
His blood hath sov'reign virtue to restore,
All wounds, he hath a Salve for every sore.
Sanguis Christi salus Christiani.
Bern.
Bern.
Oceultes viribus egregius sons.
Juven.
Juven.
85. On Blowes.
WE did commit the fault, but justice dealt
The blows to Christ; the dol'rous stripes he felt,
That so we might be healed, to him was carv'd
The punishment, that sinful we deserved.
86. On Boasting.
TEll me fond man, whereof hast thou to boast,
Whose days are ev'l at best, but few at most;
〈◊〉
•
est
•
e
•
ig
••
s▪ are check
••
w
•
rk'
•
wi
•
h sorrow,
And dost thou brag of what shall be tomorrow!
But if th
•
u must be proud, make this thy Pride,
To know Christ Jesus, and him Crucifi'd.
87. On the B • dy.
HOw brittle is this fleshy Cabbinet,
Wherein the richest Diamond is set!
But time will come, when this vile mortal case,
Shall glorious Immortality embrace.
The body is, while here infirm and weak
Our earthen ware, a little thing will break
Trajan's
ashes after his death, to
Rome
Were brought, and honored: at the day of do
•
So shall the precious ashes of the Just,
Be much esteemed, and shine as Silver dust.
Christ risen is, and he's the bodies head,
Therefore the body shall not still lie dead:
Saints bodies raised from out their slumbri
•
grave▪
Neither diseases, nor defects shall have;
The body here's a clog, a lumpish thing,
In heaven it shall have a nimble wing.
Here muddy, vile, passive, and transitory,
In heaven transparent, beautifi'd with glory,
Impassible, grown to a perfect stature,
Free from the wants, and woes, & wrongs of n
•
tur
•
•
mmortal Heaven is an healthful Air,
There is no sadness, nor no dying there.
When the Saints soul shall with the body meet,
How blest will be their greeting! O how sweet!
88. On a Body of Death.
SIn is a body, for it weighs us down,
In prayer it hinders our Ascension;
We with corruption over-power'd shall be,
Till deathpull off these weights and set us free.
•
in is deaths body, it is Carrion s
•
ell
Annoys the gracious soul, which loathes todwell
•
n
Meseck,
and to sojourn in the Tents
Of
Kedar,
whence arise unsav'ry seents.
O woe is me, that I am forced to stay
With sin! how long the pious soul doth say,
•
hall I be vexed with inmates, O my God,
With thee I long to settle mine abode.
89. On Boldness.
GOd holds his scepter forth, & everyone
May come with boldness to his gracious throne
The child with confidence makes known his wants
To his dear father, and his father grants
What he desires, and shall not God much rather,
Who has the disposition of a father
As well as the relation, supply
His Children's wants, when they unto him cry.
How should we to this tender father run
•
n all conditions, when by sin undone;
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O say to God, Father, my heart, my heart,
O quicken, soften it; does Satan dart
Temptations at us? God relieves his Saints,
Who in his bosom pour forth their complaints.
90. On a Bolt.
A Fools bolt is soon shot, the Proverb says.
Scripture Fools, wicked men: ah nowadays
Do make a Bolt of their licentious tongue,
To blaspheme God, & do their neighbor wrong.
91. On a Bond.
CHrist died, the Saints may well be over-joy'd,
For now Wraths bond and obligation's void.
92. On Bondage.
EMbondaged forever we had been,
But that our blessed Savior stood between
God and our souls, redeemed us with his blood,
Which streamed from him like a crimson flood.
Sin, death, & hell, Christ by his death trod under,
And snapped those bonds (that held us fast) in sunder
93. On a B • nfire.
THe flick'ring flames of sprightly fire,
Unto the highest Arch aspire.
Mount up my soul, to God above,
On winged flames of holy love.
94. On Books.
EXperience tells, vain Books, and idle Plays,
And such as
Ovid's Amatorious
Lays,
How well they sell! whilst better Tractates lie
Untouch'd, Religious Books but few will buy.
Sad times! for one that in God's Bible looks,
There's ten that pore on Cards, the devils books.
All want on books, could some have their desire,
Would be condemned to an Ephesian sire;
And though it would the Devil much displease,
Yet might one say, as
Alcibiades,
Of the Athenian heaps of burning scrowls,
I never saw clearer fire, nor purer coals. *
95. On Borrowing.
OUr lives, and what we have, of God we borrow,
Who may recall them in before tomorrow:
Let me not grumble, Lord, but be content
To pay what thou demand'st what thou hast lent
96. On Bosoms.
MEek
Moses
bosom is the Law Divine;
The golden gospel wherein grace doth shine
Christ's bosom is, and as in sacred Story
It is recorded,
Abraham
is his glory.
97. On a Bottle.
WHen all the liquor in our bottle's spent,
So long as there's a Well, lets be content.
98. On a Bowl.
WEalth, honor, pleasures, to and fro do roll;
Nor isit a wonder, for the Worlds a Bowl.
99. On Bounds.
GOod who is boundless in himself surrounds,
The raging waters with appointed bounds,
Also the days of man, that then he can
Not pass, alas! our life is but a span.
100. On B • untie.
ALL's lost that is laid out, but what is given
to Christ & his poor members (heirs of heaven
Though pilgrims here) is lost like scattered grain,
And at joys harvest, shall be found again:
The end of life is service; to extend
Good things to such, as want is the great end
Of our creation; let us not be found
Unprofitable burdens to the ground.
Alms is a sacrifice gratulatory,
Pleasing to God, and its reward is Glory.
Estates are Talents lent to trade withal,
We are but stewards; God may quickly call
For our accounts, of what we have disburst,
The tree that bare no fruit our Savior cursed.
101. On a Bow.
GOd like our enemy hath bent his Bow.,
And threats a universal overthrow:
To the ungodly world, withal our hearts,
Lets turn to him before he thrills his darts.
101. On a Bower.
THe whole world is an heavenly earthly bow'r,
Hev'n is its sieling, and the Earth its floor,
But ah! our Bower, this heaven, this earth, must pass
Away, as well as we, who are as grass.
103. On a B • x.
MAns body is a box till death it split
The Soul, that precious Gem is kept in it.
104. On Boys.
THe world is in our eye like sportive boys,
We trade for trifles, and are all for toys.
105. On Bracelets.
ABrahams
servant put loves Golden Bands,
A brace of Bracelets on
Rehekah▪s
hands;
But O how gloriousl
•
will Christ adorn
His spouse▪ what bracelets shall by her be worn!
106. On a Brand.
GOd plucked us as brands from out hell fire,
Who neither could deserve, nor yet desire
This at his hands My soul, free grace admire!
107. On Bran.
HOw sieve-like is the Memory of man,
'It is too retentive of the grosser bran;
All sinful trash, and rubbish, but alas!
It lets God's word, the purer flour, through pass.
108. On Brass.
A Man for Eloquent may pass,
But wanting Charity, alas!
He is as tinkling sounding Brass.
109. On Brawling.
FOr Bawling Curs and salvage Bears,
To fall together by the ears
Is common; 'tis a horrid shame,
For such to brawl that bear Christ's Name.
If we have wrangled heretofore,
Now let's be Friends, and sin no more.
110. On Bread.
BRead is life's staff, and yet we cannot stand
By it, unless God hold it with his hand.
God's blessing is the only stay and prop
Of that staff Bread, without it down we drop.
Our feeder is our food, not on his grounds,
This Shepherd feeds his sheep, but with his wounds
Christ is the living, & life-giving bread,
That soul that feeds on him, shall never need.
111. On the Breast.
WIth the humble Publican
May I smite upon my breast,
And sigh out this fair request,
Pardon Lord me sinful man.
112. On Breath.
THe breath that in our Nostrils is,
Is the Anointed of the Lord;
And what he freely doth afford,
He may recall when ere he please.
Lord when I breath my last, grant I
May reign with thee Eternally.
113. On Breeches.
BReeches which in the room of fig-leaves came
Are but the badges of our guilt and shame,
And this (methinks) should serve to humble all
That wear them, since they mind us of our fall.
114. On Brethren.
ALL they that Christianity embrace,
Are Brethren by Creation or Race;
Are Brethren by Profession or Place,
And by Regeneration no Grace.
Behold how good, how pleasing 'tis to see,
Brethren by Race, Place, Grace, in one t' agree
115. On Brevity.
I Came, I saw, and then I overcame
Victorious
Caesar,
said King
Philp
wrote
Threats to th'
Laconian
Lord's, but to the same
They only answer dif—(as stories Note)
Lord come and see, and conquer us: Let man,
If thou be for us, hurt us if—(he can)
116. On Briars.
SIns are entangling briars, which are found
Within man's heart, that barren piece of ground.
These wound the soul the gracious soul desires
Nothing more, then to get out of these Briars.
117. On Bribes.
BRibes are attractive, 'tis a bribe that draws
On Friendship sooner then a right'ous cause;
Witness
Gehazi, Judas, Samuel's
sons,
But ah! the bribed into ruin runs:
Though the bag be drawn with a double cord
Of silk and silver, favor and reward.
He that receives against the innocent,
Injurious bribes, unless he do repent
Of that foul crime, shall find another day,
That vengeance is the Lord's, and he will repay.
118. On a Bridegroom.
CHrist is the Bridegroom, and the Church his Bride,
Whose hearts with loves eternal bands are ti'd,
He found her foul, but he hath washed her so,
That now she's whiter than the driven snow.
119. On a Bridge.
DEath draws the bridge of life, sends in a trice
Sinners to Hell, but Saints to Paradise.
120. On Bride-well.
TO work in Bride-well is an easy toil
To their's who must in broad hell always broil.
121. On a Bridle.
THink often on the all-discerning eye
Of the great God, who always doth descry
Thy secret thoughts from perpetraing sin,
No better bridle for to keep thee in.
122. On Brightness.
THe blessed Saints though here obscure they be
To the World's eye, yet shall hereafter see
God face to face, and gloriously bright;
Out-shine the sparkling Jewls of the night.
123. On Brimstone.
HEre blue flam'd brimstone much offends the smell,
Oh how doth it torment the damned in Hell.
124. On B • ine.
PRay'rs that are pickel'd with the brine of tears,
God barrels up in his attentive ears.
125. On a Brink.
ALas! we dance upon destructions brink,
And each sin is a weight to make us sink.
126. On a Broad-way.
NO wonder many love so well the road
That leads to ruin, tis because its broad.
127. On a Brood.
THe brood is safe house'd underneath the wings
Of the indulgent damm, our safety springs
From God whose wings shall ever over-spread
His Saints, and never any feathers shed.
128. On a Brook.
THe bubbling brook that wantons up and down
The flowery enameld Meads, and trips upon
The murmering pebbels, slips into the main,
And still pays tribute to the watery Plain:
Even so to God who first to us conveys,
His love, should we return the streams of praise.
129. On a Broom.
HOw necessary is the Houswifes broom,
To sweep out dust that genders in the room!
But oh! the besom of
Jehovah's
ire
Sweeps dusty souls, into infernal fire.
130. On Broth.
ESau
for a mess of broth
Sold his Birth-right; we are loath
To exchange things transitory,
For immortal boundless glory.
131. On the Brow.
LOrd! I have sin'd, that is the reason thou
Lookest on me with so severe a brow;
Behold me in the face of thy dear Son,
O then I know thou wilt no longer frown.
132. On a Brush.
WE brush our dusty clothes, sin soils the soul,
Yet how content are we to keep that foul▪
133. On a Brute.
THe Ox will know his owner, and the Ass
Her master's crib, but
Israel
(alas!)
Will not know me, says God, they have destroyed
Themselves, and made their understanding vo
•
d.
Till God open our lips, our mouths are dumb,
And we more brutish then a Brute become.
134. On a Bubble.
HOw vain a thing is man; his life's a bubble,
Replenish'd with winds of care & trouble.
135. On a Buck.
WE run from God, and are by nature wild
A Bucks, grace cicurates, & makes us mild,
O God, to me be pleased to impart
Thy grace, O that can tame my wanton heart.
136. On a Bucket.
WE have a well, let's let our bucket down,
To fetch up waters of Salvation.
137. On a Buckler.
GOd is a guarding buckler to the just,
Who in his sure defense repose their trust.
138. On a Bud.
LOrd nip the bud, before the bloom begins,
For ah! I would not flourish in my sins.
139. On a Bug, or Hob-gobling.
OUr wayward children, we with bugbears fear,
T'were well if terrifi'd from sin we were.
140. On a Building.
THe Royal Palace where the Saints shall dwell,
A building is, not made with mortal hands,
How doth it in Maginificence excel!
Above the starry Firmament it stands;
'It is spacious, precious, specious, and pure,
And shall to all eternity endure.
141. On a Bullet.
GOds thund'ring judgments like the bullet run,
Shot from the bowels of the murd'ring Gun.
142. On a Bul-rush.
HAng down our head? we like a bul-rush may,
Yet not be truly humbled when we pray.
143. On a Bul-wark.
GOd to his people is a bulwark strong,
So that Hell-gates shall never do them wrong.
144. On Bundles.
THe Tares that growing with the Wheat is found,
Shall for hell fire be in b
•
ndles bound.
145. On a Burgess.
EAch Saint (chosen by God himself) is sent
To set as Burgess, in Heavens Parli'meant:
And with those noble Peers the Angels sing
Immortal praise, to their triumphant King.
146. On Burials.
NAture, kind to her own, did first devise
T' entomb a Corps with solemn obsequies;
And surely grace allows a Burial,
To th' Holy Ghost his Temples, when they fall.
147. On Burning.
COme see my zeal for God,
Jehu
pretends;
An holy zeal, but he had base-by-ends:
Lord kindle in my heart, a burning flame
Of real zeal to glorify thy name.
148. On Burrs.
SInners to one another stick like burrs;
O why should Saints fall out, like wrangling currs!
149. On Burthens.
COme unto me, I hear my Savior say
To every sin-pressed soul, O come away
All ye that groan under sins massy weight,
And I will ease you, and refresh you straight:
My yoke is easy, and may well be worn,
My burden's not too heavy to be borne:
Yield, yield my soul, his are no Tyrant Laws,
His spirit will help thee; If the Loadstone draws
The Ir'n, the Iron easily may move,
So thou—Out of a principle of love
Obey thy Savior, serve him with delight;
Love makes sin heavy, and Christ's burden light.
God never burdens us, but that he may
Un-burden us of sin, there's in the way
Of duty, joy, and Heaven at the end,
O think of the reward, that doth attend
Your service, and bless God you are not under
The curses of the Law, the Law roars thunder.
150. On a Bush.
THe burning bush was unconsum'd with fire,
For God was init, O let's his power admire;
The fire of persecution, cannot tame
Christ's Church, for he is with her in the flame.
151. On a Bushel.
THose graces which the Saints as lights conceal,
Under a bushel, trials oft reveal.
152. On a Busie-body.
ARdelio,
so much abroad doth roam,
Its hard for him to find himself at home.
153. On Business.
THe business that we are set about
While we are in this world, is to work out
Our own salvation with trembling fear.
But O how few make this their chiefest care!
O Lord, enable me to work, that I,
May have grace wages glory when I dy.
154. On a Butter-fly.
WE smile to see our little Children try
Their skill, to eatch the painted butterfly.
And yet alas, we do the very same,
Nay worse ourselves, O is not this a shame!
155. On But.
BAd is the But mars all, some but for some
Pleasures or Profit, unto Christ would come;
But for his wife, with whom he must go dwell,
But for the bidding of his friends farewell;
But for th' interring of his father dear,
But for his viewing of his field bought there.
But for the trial of his Oxford, he
Would follow Christ, ah Lord! such Buts have we,
'It is blessed when our Buts are for the best,
Ye were as bad as any of the rest;
But ye are washed, but ve are cleansed now,
How sweet's the wine, from such good butts does flow!
156. On a But.
GOds glory is the but, but Christians hark,
Grace is the only Arrow hits that mark.
157. On a Butcher.
THe Butcher lives by killing, we by dying
To sin, and our corruptions mortifying.
158. On a Butler.
THe Butler keeps provision, O hoard
Up in thy heart the food of life, God's word▪
159. On Buttery.
THe Butt'ry is a necessary place,
O blessed heart that is well stored with grace.
160. On Buying.
HE buys, and sels, and liveth by the loss,
The Proverb says, when worldly things go crofs
With any; but if they that buy and sell go well.
Would speak the truth, doubtless things would
161. On a B • -way.
SIn is a by-way, easy to be found,
By all that are for hells dark Kingdom bound;
For want of light, and a good guide to lead
Them right, so many in sins by-path tread.
The words a light, Lord let thy spirit be
My guide, that I thy glorious face may see.
I must walk in the narrow way, before that I
Can find true rest, grace leads us into glory.
C
1. On a Cabinet.
THe heart is God's peculiar Cabinet,
And Satan knows not what is in it set,
Heavens a rich Cabinet, where God reconds
Glorifi'd Sts. those sparkling Diamonds.
2. On a Cable.
GReat God! to come to thee we are unable,
O draw us with thy love; thy love's a Cable.
3. On a Cage.
THe gracious soul desires to be dismissed
From out the bodies cage, to be with Christ.
4. On a Caitiffe.
O Lord, I have contrair'd thy just command,
Lo! I as a convicted Caitiffe stand,
Trembling before thee; guilty Lord I cry,
Yet plead for mercy, since thy Son did die.
5. On a Cake.
GReat God! well may a cake upon the coals,
Suffice our bodies, so thou feast our souls.
6. On Calamity.
MEn grieve when they calamity are in,
But oh who is there lays to heart his sin!
7. On a Calender.
VErtue alas! is looked upon of late,
But as a Calender grown out of date.
8. On Calends.
O May I yield at the
Greek
Calends (never)
To Satan's laws, but serve the Lord forever.
9. On Calls.
THe Dev'l says come to me, but I will undo thee;
The world says follow me, but I will slight thee;
The flesh says follow me, but I will forgo thee,
But Christ says follow me, and I will delight thee:
Run, run my soul, thy Savi'ors call is best,
He * is the
Way, Truth, Life,
shun, shun the rest.
10. On the Calves of the lips.
IF of our lips, we offer up the calves,
And not our hearts, we serve the Lord the halves.
11. On a Calme.
GOd that allays high winds, & stills rough seas,
Can calm the consc'ence, gi
•
e the troubled ease their stay,
12. On a Caltraps.
CHristians march towards heaven, to cause
The spiteful world hurls caltraps in their way
13. On a Camel.
THe crowching camel, shall as soon go through
An Eagles eye, as Misers to Heaven go.
14. On a Camp.
MOst darkness love, &
•
ate the Gospel's Lamp
No mar'le, for they belong to Satan's camp.
15. On a Candle.
MEn place a candle having tin'd the wick,
Not und'r a bed, but in a candle-stick,
For common benefit, so God prefers
His Ministers, to be his Household Stars.
16. On a Cane, or Reed.
MAn like a Reed, still shaken with the wind,
Till fixed on his God, no rest can find.
17. On a Canker.
SIn is a canker, it infests the soul,
Christ kills it by his death, and makes us whole.
18. On a Cann.
IN
Bacchus
Courts, he is the only man
That smokes Tobacco, & can smoke the Cann.
19. On a Cannon.
OHow uneven are our lives, O Lord;
Reduced to the Canon of thy word!
20. On a Cannon.
THe thunder-mocking Cannon vomits fire,
But ah! how dreadful is th'Eternal ire.
21. On a Cap.
THe cap relieves the head, and keeps it warm;
The heart preserved by grace; can catch no harm.
22. On a Captain.
CHrist is our Captain, if we stand our ground
He will all our souls-enemies confound,
His death's, our life; his power alone can quell
Sin and the world, nay all the Devils in hell.
23. On Captivity.
BY Satan, we for evermore had been
Led captive, and embondaged to sin;
Had not our Savior cancelled the scrouls▪
Of angry Justice, and redeemed our souls.
24. On a Ca • bonado.
THe Reprobates their bodies, and their souls,
Must broil in hell, on everlasting coals.
25. On a Carbuncle.
SIn is a carbuncle, it evermore
Shines bright, yet is a dangerous Plague-sore.
26. On a Carkass.
THe soul-less carcass, none take pleasure in,
And can God think we love souls dead in sin?
27. On Cards.
THe pleasures of the world, are Satan's cards,
Who in them most delights, he most regards.
28. On a Cardinal.
THe chiefest
Card in all
the
Roman
pack,
Cannot preserve a
Cardinal
from wrack.
29. On Care.
APrudent and religious care is good,
A soul-dividing care must be withstood:
We are charged to commit our way unto
The Lord, not undertake his work to do,
Which is to take care, as it▪s ours to cast;
Care is a spirit'all canker that doth waste
The spir'ts, when 'tis excentrick; we in brief
May sooner add a furlong to our grief
By our distrustful care, than to our joy
A cubit. Care excessive will destroy,
As it dishonors much the King of Kings,
So it takes off the heart from better things:
And while we thinking are how we shall do
To live; to die we not remember how.
Lord! what tumult'ous swarms of buzzing Cares
Hive in man's Head! how silver'd are his Hairs
Before the time! how Care distracts the Mind!
It breaks the sleep, by it the Body's pin'd,
The Soul is wrack'd. 'Twas
Adams
want of care
Made us become so careful as we are.
The Curse bred Care, Lord may I always cast
My care on thee, who cared for me hast,
And wilt do still; 'tis wisdom to unload
And cast the burden of our care on God.
To a Believers care Death puts an end;
Death comes to a Believer as a friend,
And says, do not distract, nor thus disquiet
Thy Mind about thy clothing and thy diet.
In gath ring wealth, let not thy Head and Heart
Be pricked with care, I will but thrill my Dart
Once at thee, and thou shalt be dispossessed
Of all those cares that thus torment thy Brest.
My Soul care to please God, but oh! beware
Of Heart-dividing, God-distrusting care.
30. On Carelessness.
WHen
Adam
grew careless of God's command
And left off Innocencies robes, he caught
The Falling-sickness, could no longer stand
Upright, his carelessness
•
(alas!) hath brought
The Universe which wa
•
(before his fall)
A Paradise, into an Ho
••
ital.
31. On Carnal Security.
OF all Diseases in a Common-weal,
Carnal Security is worst to heal;
None are so dangerously sick as they
Who feel not their Disease (Physicians say)
Laodicea
's sick, but thinks she's well;
Thousands that hope for Heav▪n, drop down to Hell
When blinded with security men cry,
Peace, peace, sudden destruction is nigh.
Quid miserius misero non miserante seipsum.
Aug.
Aug.
32. On Carriage.
AS children of the High'st, we should behave
Our selves, and be obedient, humble, grave,
Industrious, heroical, and holy,
Cheerful, not given to pensive Melancholy;
Longing to be at home: the Saints do still
Readily out of love obey God's Will:
Lowly they are, it never was allowed
To any of God's children to be proud.
Left for a while, fall into Sin they do,
That learn they may on lower ground to go,
And that their Plumes may fall. Saints sober are
In their Opinions, Speeches, and Attire.
Diligence in their Calling they express,
God never seals Warrants to Idleness.
The Sts. are high-born of the true blood Royal,
And scorn to act the th
•
ng that is disloyal,
To stain their noble Birth, they are upright,
And in God's holv ways take great delight;
For though in a strange country now they be,
Yet they the New
Jerusalem
shall see;
Death will convey them thither, that shall come
Safe to their fathers house, their longed for home.
33. On Carking.
WE may not cark, and care excessively;
For worldly things, these perish, we must die.
34. On Carrying.
IN this life a Believer, by the Saints
Is carri'd, him their prayers wings advance,
And when he is of this frail life bereaven,
The blessed Angels carry him to Heaven.
35. On Carols.
THe carols which the Heralds of the spring
Chant forth, are dull to what the Saints shall sing
Eternally to their mellist'uous King.
36. On a Carpenter.
AFflictions as a Carpenter oft squares,
And for God's spirit'all building us prepares.
37. On a Carper.
MOmus
doth always carp at other crimes,
He might do well to view his own sometimes.
38. On a Cart.
CHrist as a Cart with sheavs of full-ear'd corn,
Was pressed, by him were our offenses born.
39. On a Carver.
THe curious Carver may in brass, or stone,
Carve Images, so he let God alone.
40. On Cassia.
HOw fragrantly the Cassia smells,
But Grace the sweetest sweets excels.
41. On a Cask.
MY soul is empty, Lord, make it thy task,
To pour thy wine of grace into my cask.
42. On a Casket.
WHo ever wanteth wisdom, let him ask it
Of God, to hold it in the heart's a Casket.
43. On a Cassock.
CAssocks are in request with
Levi's
Race,
No garment so becomes the soul, as Grace.
44. On a Cast- • way.
TIs hard to know, until the Judgment-day,
Who is a Reprobrate, or Cast-away.
45. On Casting down.
GOd humbles those whom he intends to crown
His way of raising, is by casting down.
46. On Casting off.
WE must cast off the Works of Darkness e're
We can put on, and Light's bright armor wear.
47. On a Castle.
SIn, and the World, and our Corruptions wrestle
Against us, but the Lord is our strong Castle.
48. On a Catch-pole.
SAran that Catch-pole lurks in secret holes,
To take advantage to undo our souls.
49. On a Cater.
THe Raven was a Cater to refresh
Elijah
twice a day, with Bread and Flesh.
50. On Catechising.
WEre more time spent in Catechising Youth,
More would be constant lovers of the truth.
51. On Cates.
GOds Ordinances those delicious Cates
Are free for all men, He keeps open Gates.
52. On Caterpillars.
HOw soon can God those Caterpillars kill,
That to the Sons of
Zion
bear ill will.
53. On a Catarrbe.
WHen we can mourn for sin, O then we are
Bound to bless God, this is a good Catarrhe.
54. On a Cathedral.
A Den of Thieves is that Cathedral Church
Become, whose Prelates live upon the lurch.
55. On a Cathalick.
HE a true Catholic is not become,
Who yields obedience to the Church of
Rome.
56. On a Cat.
THe melancholy Cat for Mice doth watch,
Satan to slay our souls lies at a Catch.
57. On Cattle.
SInce God hath given the Cattle for our use,
To his dishonor let's not them abuse.
58 On a Caudle.
A Pleasing Caudle many love to sup,
What sweetness is there in Salvations cup!
59. On a Cave.
CHrist is a Rock, and every wound a Cave,
And whoso hides therein shall safety have.
60. On a Caveat.
WE may be angry, very zealous in
A good cause, but beware we do not sin.
61. On a Cavalier of the worser sort.
CAnary, Sherry, Cider, Ale, or Beer,
Will make him merry, that's a Cavalier:
His King he honors, God he ought to fear,
Since both by
Solomon
join'd, enjoined are.
62. On a Caviller.
ZOilus
the Caviller finds fault with many,
When 'tis well known he is as bad as any.
63. On a Cauldron.
John
in a Cauldron of hot burning oil
Was forced to stand, and him alive they boil.
64. On a Cause.
GOd is the causer of all good things still,
As Satan is, and ever was, of ill.
65. On a Causey.
HEav'ns Causey is strewd with rough flinty stones,
But hells low-way is pavd with smoother ones
66. On Ceasing.
THere must be a ceasing from ill, before
We can do well.
Repent, and sin
•
o more.
67. On a Cell.
HOw sad is it for evermore to dwell
With dev'ls, tormented in hells dismal Cell!
68. On Cement.
LOve is a Cement, joining holy ones
Together, it uniteth living stones.
69. On a Censer.
MY heart's a Censer, Lord, let the incense
Of Prayr and Praises, weakly rising thence,
Be to thy sacred Nostrils acceptable,
Since I would offer better, were I able.
70. On Censuring.
MEn are by nature miserably prone
To censure others, let themselves alone.
Other men's motes we can with ease descry,
But in the mean while our own beams pass by.
71. On a Center.
THe soul of man is not completely blest,
Till it in God (its proper Center) rest.
Still towards God a pious heart will roll,
Because he is the Center of the soul,
Immutable, and whose Peri, herie,
Drawn round about him, is Eternity.
72. On a Centurion.
HE commands men, but he that can command
Himself, is stronger than an armed band.
73 On Ceremonies.
SInce Christ became a real Sacrifice,
The Law of Jewish Ceremonies is
Abolish'd; there's a
Consummatum est
Giv'n to them all: all legal rites are ceased.
Ere since the Temples veil was rent in sunder,
No ritual Obligation keeps us under.
Rome
readmits them, the Saints are far from it,
They loath to lick up the
Galatians
vomit.
74 On Certainty.
HE must be much in duty, must keep pure
His heart, and still act faith, that would procure
The Jewel of Assurance, which hath been
By Saints obtained, and may be so agen.
75. On a Certificate.
GRant that Certificate, Lord, to my soul,
The Leper had,
Thy saith hath made thee whole.
76. On Ceruse.
NOne but a
Jezebel
devoid of grace,
With painting
Ceruse
will besmeat her face.
77. On Cessing.
WHat cessing of estates is here below?
The Saints above no such taxations know,
Praise is the tribute which to God they owe.
78. On a Chaffer.
MY heart's a chaffer, Lord let thy spirit blow
Zeals dying coals in me, & make them glow.
79. On Chaff.
LIght, dry, and empty chaff, God in his ire
Will burn, with inextinguishable fire.
80. On a Chaine.
CHrist as a token of his love bestows
A chain of virtue, to adorn his Spouse.
81. On a Chair.
A Chair affords us ease, when tired we are;
It is dangerous sitting in the Scorners chair.
82. On a Challenge.
AN angry word, calls on a challenge oft,
But strife's diverted by an answer soft.
83. On a Chalice.
CAst up we must the old leaven of malice;
Ere we drink off the Sacramental Chalice.
84. On Chalk.
THe Spirit of God hath as it were with chalk,
Mark'd out the way, wherein the Sts. do walk
85. On a Chamber.
THe Sts. by faith (that
Jacob's
Ladder) clamber
Up to Heaven's glorious glistering Star-Chamber.
86. On a Champion.
OUr Champion Christ for us hath won the field,
And made the pow'rs of hells dark Kingdom yield.
87. On Chance.
All things to pass, God's providence doth bring,
Not the blind goddess
chance,
there's no such thing
88. On a Chancellor.
THis honor to each St. God's Spirit doth deal,
To be the keeper of the Kings Broad-Seal.
89. On Chanel.
LOrd let the channel of free grace run in
My soul, and that will purge out all my sin.
90. On Change.
THe whole world is a shop of change, for wealth
We exchange poverty; for sickness health;
Pleasure for sorrow; and honor for scorn;
Of
•
-times before, the evening and the morn.
The day changes to night, the night today,
Summer to winter, youth to age gives way.
91. On a Chapel.
GOd hath his Church, and tis observed where
God's Church is, Satan hath his chapel near
92. On a Chaplain.
HE is a chaplain for the Prince of Hell,
That in debauchry bears away the Bell.
93. On a Chap-man.
SAtan's a chap-man, and his shop is fraught
With wares, but all the ware he sells is naught.
94. On Charges.
CHrist will not put the Soul to any charges,
Love only he desires for his free Largess.
95 On a Charge.
GOd hath a Book to Register men's sins,
And when the day of Judgment once begins,
It shall be op'd, O then what a black charge
Against a Sinner shall be read at large.
I will reprove thee, and in order place
Thine open-secret-sins before thy face;
This done the Judge shall sentence in his ire
The cursed into everlasting fire.
96. On a Charger.
MY heart's a Charger, Lord scour off all sin,
And put the sweet-meats of thy grace therein
97. On a Chariot.
PRay'r is a Charret, it to heaven brings,
And draws down blessings from the King of Kings.
98. On Charity.
CHar'ty increaseth Faith, begetteth Hope,
Makes us at one with God, it is the scope
Of the whole Dec'logue; it do all things can,
It is man's way to God, God's way to man.
It's now grown old and cold, there's many do
Talk on it, 'tis understood but of a few.
The Heart must be the Spring, the Hand the Pipe,
The Poor the Cistern, what we cannot keep,
Let's freely give, that we may in the close
Receive those things which we can never lose.
Si desit charitas frustra habentur caetera.
Da quod non potes retinere, ut recipias quod non potes amittere.
Aug.
99. On Charms.
THe World's a Circe, O what various harms,
Trip on the heels of her enchanting charms!
100. On a Charter.
ALL things are a Believers future glory
And present blessings, a large Inventory.
Because God unto him his Heir doth grant
The Covenant of Grace; the Covenant
Is our great Charter, free Grace doth restore
To us what Sin had robbed us of before.
I am God, even thy God, surely all things
Are ours, if God (who is the King of Kings)
B'ours, and we have in God an interest,
By virtue of our being linked to Christ.
By faith in Christ we have a title to
All things in Heaven above, and Earth below.
101. On Chastity.
CHastity is the mark denotes the Just,
It curbs with Reason's reins the rage of Lust.
'It is beauty to our souls, (whom it attires)
Grace to our body, peace to our desires.
It is the glory of our lives, and there
It doth grow cheap, where gold is not though dear.
Chastity, without
••
arity to feed
And nourishit, is a Lamp that oil doth need:
Chastity wronged, abides, it but once ends,
It with the beauty very much contends.
—nulla roparabilis art.
Laesa pudicitia est deperitilla semel,
Lis est cum forma magna pudicitiae.
102. On Chastisements.
WHo knows not that he hath offended,
Will not be scourged nor soon amended;
But I have sin'd, and here I stand
To bear the blows, thy chasting hand,
Shall lay upon me; O my God
Reform me, by thy tut'ring Rod.
Qui peccare se nescit corrigi non vult; deprehendas te oportet, antequam emendes.
Sen.
Sen.
103. On Chattering.
GOod
Hezekiah,
chattering like a Crane
Was heard by Heaven, and healed of his pain.
104. On the Chancery.
THere is no Chancery court in Heaven above,
Where all the Sts. are linck'd in endless love
105. On Cheapness.
THe Prince of darkness, is content that thou
Shouldst have pleasures & riches cheap enow;
Only give him thy soul; indulge to vice,
Ad he is satisfied, the greatest price
That can be given, he asks; and yet he tells
His customers cheap are
•
he wares he sells,
Nor are his wares, if rightly understood,
But the mere forms, and counterfeits of good:
God gives abundantly to all that lack
Real good things, and taketh nothing back.
Come you that have no money; come and buy
Blessings and graces, without price; deny
He will not any, since the best things are
Best cheap, to spare to ask them, folly 'twere.
106. On Cheer.
BLessed are they, which called are unto
The marri'ge Supper of the Lamb, who go
To feast with Christ in Heaven; unto the house
Of Banqueting, Christ will conduct his Spouse
To eat of his rare Wands there, is there
No dish we do not love; delightful cheer.
Christ will prepare for his beloved ghost,
Such sav'ry meat as she (he's sure) likes best;
The various fullness in Christ will prevent
A scarcity, this cheer is never spent:
At this feast there's no want, both rich and poor,
Who eat thereof, shall never hunger more.
107. On Chearfulness.
HOw are the Angels ravished with delight,
While they are praising God! a graeious sprite
Serves God with cheerfulness, he only can
Be truly cheerful; that's an upright man.
108. On a Cheat.
SAtan's a Sophister, he hath Decoys
To draw us in, and cheat us of our Joys.
109. On a Check.
THe Flesh let's loose the Reins,
We gallop into Sin,
The Spirits Check restreins
And pulls us back agin.
110. On Cheeks.
CHrist's cheeks are as a Bed of fragrant Spices
High Aromatick virtues love entices.
112. On the chief Good.
IT is not every good that makes us blest,
But it must be the sov'reign good, the best:
Blessedness lies in the fruition
Of the chief good, and that is God alone.
God as the first beginning, and the last
End of all good, must be by us embraced.
God only is of all felicity
The cause, and frees us from all misery.
God only can in life and death appease
The troubled conscience, give the afflicted ease.
In God alone when evils us surround
Perfect and solid comfort can be found.
No rest is here below, (my Soul) adventure
To Heaven, and fix on God thine only center.
113. On a Cherry.
HOw pleasing is a Cherry to the sight
And taste; Grace to the Soul yields more delight.
114. On a Chest.
THe Miser locks up treasure in his chest,
And we should store up Graces in our breast.
115. On a Chick.
THe Chick is safe house'd under the Hens wings,
So we protected by the King of Kings.
116. On a Chider.
SOft answers lessen wrath, he that's a Chider
Launces the Bile, and makes the breach the wider.
117. On Children.
PEace-makers are the children of the High'st,
Not by eternal generation, Christ
Alone is so; nor only by creation
But chiefly by real sanctification.
Adoption and infusion of Grace,
Our childship consists in, we are (alas!)
Not born, but made God's children, since we are
Not sons till we o' the Divine Nature share.
Th' impulsive cause is God's free Grace, the cause
Organical is Faith, 'tis Faith which draws
Whole Christ into the heart, him there applies;
This filiating Grace to Christ us ties.
By faith we are made one with Christ, and so
Become a kin to God; b'ing linked to
The nat'ral son, our brother Christ we gather,
We are God's children, he our loving father:
God's children have his spirit, for sin are sorry,
Are zealous for his Day, his Truth, his Glory:
Love to enjoy each others company,
And in God's presence, delight much to be,
Are like their Heavenly father, and his will
They always are ambitious to fulfil,
Yea make it their ambition to draw in
Others to be of the same Royal-kin.
Sinners made sons! O love to be admired,
We neither it deserved, nor it desired:
God's children are the royal Diadem,
He makes a precious account of them,
Creates them noble persons; them doth crown
With honor, they have titles of renown.
They are called Kings, th' excellent of the earth,
And their rich Scutchions show their Heav'nly
•
irth
The Scripture hath set forth their Heraldry,
Sometimes they give the Eagle flying high,
To heaven upon the wings of faith and love;
Sometimes they give the meek & harmless Dove;
Sometimes they give as we in Scripture find,
The Lyon, showing their courageous mind.
Adam
was in his innocent estate,
The world's sole Monarch, the Regenerate
Have higher Honor, more renowned are,
Adam
was (though a bright) yet falling Star.
Adam's
estate was glorious, yet unstable,
And soon was lost, theirs is unalterable.
God's children are equal in glory to
The Angels, this themselves acknowledge do,
I am thy fellow-servant, in some sense
They are above them, in preeminence.
The Angels are their servants to attend,
And wait upon them to their Journeys end.
Besides, Christ honored their nature more,
By taking it; though by creation lower
They are then Angels, by adoption higher
Advanced are they, then the blessed Choir.
They have a fairer Coat of Arms to show
Then Angels, let's their Privileges view;
God loves them well, though for a while he may
Withdraw from them, yet long he cannot stay:
He will bear with many infirmities,
And will accept of their weak services:
Provide for them he will, he gives them their
Allowance daily, and he doth prepare
A portion for them, which can never be
Summ'd up to them, he granteth liberty.
He skreens off dangers from them, temporal
And spirit'all wills hurt them not at all.
God will reveal his Law to them, th
•
y may
Go to their Father, and with boldness pray;
They're heirs to all the promises, they shall
Their Fathers blessing have for their good all.
Good things, means, mercies, evil things also.
Poverty, sickness, shame, suff'rings, death too,
Shall work together: Christ for them did die,
And they shall never perish finally.
These are the glorious privileges that
Attend God's children: Try we our estate,
If we are sanctified by God's good spirit,
We are adopted, and shall Heaven inherit.
O let's walk as God's children, yielding still
Loving Obedience to our Fathers Will.
Are we the children of the High'st?
And is our elder brother Christ?
O never let's begin
To fall in league and match with sin:
Better forever single tarry,
Then with the Devils daughter marry.
'It is dangerous to dote upon her,
It will degrade us of our Honor.
Her Dowry is the horrid chains
Of darkness, and eternal pains,
The gnawing Worm, sharp whips of Wire,
And streams of sulph'ry-flaming fire.
118. On the Chimes.
Sweet is the Music of a chime of Bells,
But Heavens diviner harmony excels.
119. On a Chimney.
IT is in Winter warm, in Summer chill,
We all the year are burning hot to ill.
120. On a Chinke.
FIll up each chink of our desires none can
But God alone; the World is empty, vain.
121. On a Chin.
A Man may have a well thatch'd chin,
Yet freez for want of zeal within.
122. On a Chip.
A Ciens graffed in a righteous stock,
Was once a chip of the old
(Adams)
block.
123. On a Chirurgeon.
HE is the chief and best Chirurgeon who
Can heal Soul-wounds, this Christ alone can do.
124. On Chivalry.
TO overcome ourselves and die
To Sin, is the best Chivalry.
125. On Choler.
A Man exceeding teasty grows
When yellow choler overflows.
But Grace the Passions subdues.
126. On Choosing.
MArtha
minds the World, while
Mary
Chose the one thing necessary;
So will every gracious heart,
Always choose the
better part.
127. On Crystal.
THe Law's a Crystal Glass, wherein
We see the ugly face of Sin.
128. On Christ.
1.
Stanza.
CHrist is a Panoplie, a Magazine
Of all good things, a Jewel of great worth,
A thousand Treasuries of Joy are in
His name, 'tis sweet as Ointment poured forth.
'It is th'only Music to a Christians ear,
And oh that in our hearts it graven were!
2.
He that hath Christ, can have no more, for Christ
Is all that is, imaginable all
That is desirable, he is the High'st,
All Heavenly blessings from this Fountain fall.
We are made right'ous by his only Merit,
And holy by his sanctifying Spirit.
3.
His Spirit burns up our dross, & makes our graces
Sparkle like furnace gold, Christ the mind fills
With light in us, a tender heart he places;
And files off the Rebellion of our Wills.
Upon the Soul he rises, and he brings
An healing virtue in his balmie wings.
4.
God is through Christ propitious to us,
And also in good part takes all we do;
Christ bears Saints names upon his breast, and thus
His Father he presenteth them unto;
So bringing them into request and favor,
How sweet to God, Christ off'red prayers savor
5.
Christ keeps the Royal Fort of Grace, that it
Be not blown up, Christ is a Christians strength;
The Crown of the Saints vict'ries must be set
Upon Christ's head, he gives to us at length
Our Garland, when we overcome by fight,
Which we can never do, but through his might
6.
Kings can proclaim War in a time of Peace,
But Christ proclaims Peace in a time of War.
He gives the agonized Conscience ease;
By him to God we reconciled are.
What a sweet calm and Sabbath in the Soul
He causes! O this Balm can make us whole!
7.
Christ died, that us to life he might advance,
He's gone before to take possession
Of Heaven in the name of all the Saints,
And he prepares for everyone a throne.
He crowns us after all our sufferings
And actings for him, we shall reign as Kings.
8.
Vast is the disproportion between
Christ and the Creature; Christ is all in all,
The Creature nothing, emptiness is in
All earthly comforts, what a bubble Ball
Is this vain World? (the object of Saints loathing)
And yet how many damn their souls for nothing!
9.
Christ is the great Lord Treasurer, in him
Are hid all Treasures both of Grace and Glory;
O how should we this pearl of price esteem,
He that hath Christ hath a rich Inventory:
How should a Christian sit down satisfied
With Christ, though other things are him denied.
10.
A man may flow in wealth and yet be poor,
Not having Christ, but he that Christ possesses
With all his royalties, needs nothing more,
A Christless state is sad beyond expresses.
He that wants Christ, is a vile filthy slave,
And can no comfort, no salvation have.
11.
Sinners make sure of Christ, O never cease
Trading in Ord'nances, till you have got
This blessed pearl of price; Christ Jesus is
With all accumulated good things fraught.
Two words there are which only yield satiety
Unto the Soul, Diety and Propriety.
12.
Christ's an enriching blessing that excels
A supreme good, a good sufficient
And suitable in him all fullness dwells;
In him alone we can find true content.
He's Grace, Gold, Balm, Bread, Wine, Salvation,
To deck, enrich, heal, strengthen, comfort, crown.
13.
He is a shield, if we in danger are;
Are we disconsolate, he is a Sun;
He hath enough to furnish souls and spare;
My empty soul to his abundance run.
Christ is all that the heart can wish; a man
No Cistern needs, who hath the Ocean.
14.
Christ is a sanctifying good, he all
Conditions to us facilitates;
His blessings on our health, wealth, kindred fall,
Yea, all our comforts he condulcorates,
Sanctifies all the crosses on us roll,
They shall be medicinal to the soul.
15.
Christ is a blessing rare, but him few have,
Those to whom God hath both the
Indies
given
He hath not given Christ their souls to save,
They have Earths fat, but not the dew of Heaven.
And of those many Protestants who hear
Of Christ, but few him in their hearts do bear.
16.
Christ is a crowning blessing, a choice good;
God gives thee all he hath in giving him,
A greater favor cannot be bestowed
By the great God, oh highly it esteem:
God gives to thee the blessings of his Throne,
In giving thee his well-beloved Son.
17.
Christ is a lasting good, all other things
Are like the Lamp, which while it shines it spends:
He's a diffusive good, free merry Springs
From this full Fountain; common good commends
The Donors bounty. Lord, let Christ be mine;
All to me bo
•
h for food and medicine.
18.
Christ is our King, he governs and protects us;
Christ is our Priest, he ransoms & redeems us;
Christ is our Prophet, he teaches and directs us.
What tongue can tell how highly he esteems us?
Christ is our
Way, Truth, Life,
to guide, teach, cherish,
How can we go amiss, or er, or perish!
19.
My Soul! part with thy Lusts for Christ thy King,
Know him in the first place; O let the streams
Of Love run toward him; do everything
In his strength, make Christ all in all thy aims:
Who aims not at God's Glory never can
Hit the mark of his own salvation.
20.
Trust for Salvation to a Jesus single,
The Papists make Christ something, but not all,
Their merits & Angels pray'rs, with christ's they
Rejoice in Christ, upon him often call mingle,
For Christ be thankful, and in praises flow,
A greater gift than Christ God cannot bestow.
129. On Christianity.
CHrist'anity is no disgraceful thing,
Sin brings to shame; but godliness doth bring
To honor, to a throne; it always ends
In glory, no disgrace to be Christ's friends:
To be an heir of Heaven, is high renown;
Sin draws hell after it, but grace a crown.
130. On a Christian.
1.
CHrist is affixed to a Christian's heart
By thought, desire, love, faith; in conversation
He is linked fast to Christ, never to part,
And hath those prelibations of salvation,
Of joys long-lasting, and soul-satisfying:
Grace makes the St. rejoice to think of dying.
2.
A Christian engraffed in the Vine,
Produceth kindly, seasonable fruit;
Grace within, good works without him shine,
And good discourses from his lips flow out;
He mourns for sin, rejoiceth in the Lord,
He reads, and feeds upon the sacred word.
3.
A Christian is a runner in a race;
Enfir'd with zeal, the marks he always eyes,
Is often in the exercise of grace,
And in the strength of Christ obtains the prize:
My soul throw off two weights, the World and Sin,
Begin the race betimes, hold on and win.
130. On a Christle • s person.
1.
A Christless man is poor, he's nothing worth,
He stands condemned for the guilt of sin,
He hath no holiness to let him forth,
He's filthy; like an Infant tumbling in
It's blood; in the' law what was the Leper foul,
But the sad emblem of a Christless soul?
2.
A Christless wretch in Scripture is compared
To things most vile, as to a Swine, a Dog,
A Viper, nay a Devil; he's all besmeard
With filthy lusts, his hearts a rotten bog:
Since Plague-sores run upon him, blind he is;
And the more blind, because he thinks he sees.
3.
He's dead, and yields a most unsav'ry smell,
So that God loathes him, he hath no part sound;
He is th' exact Epitome of Hell,
From him nothing but dregs is running found;
He is base born, caught in the Devils gins,
An ear-board slave when he most freely sins.
4.
Can he find comfort when he comes to die?
His wounds do bleed, & he hath no Physician;
He is in debt, and hath no surety,
A Christless, is a comfortless condition:
He no salvation hath; at the great day,
The very looks of Christ shall him dismay.
131 On the Church.
TO see God's Church a bleeding vine, to see
Christ's spouse with garments rolled in blood should be
Matter of lamentation to all
That God their father, her their mother call:
It is time to hang upon the limber willows,
Our mournful harps, when on the ruffling billows
Of sad afflictions, the Church God's
Ark
Is tossed like a weather-beaten Bark:
But let's not fret, for the Almighty's hand
That guides the Stream, can bring it safe to land,
I and he will; sinking it need not fear,
It is always under his indulgent care:
The Churches ship may reel because of sin,
But cannot perish, for Christ is therein:
The Churches Anchor is in Heaven cast,
Saints are his portion, and shall that be lost?
His glory, and shall that eclipsed be,
Wholy, and finally! no certainly.
From, and by opposition, God can
•
is Church deliver; oft the wrath of man,
Works or his praise; the Lord steps forth & saves
His Ship, when almost swallo
•
'd by the waves!
The Churches pangs God's glory doth advance,
And shall help forward her deliverance.
God hath by sufferings alwa
•
es propagated
Religion, it hath risen when conculcated,
Blood is the Churches seed, in blood tis founded
By sanguine showers, it evermore abounded,
Abel
by bloody
Cain
was murdered,
And ever since the Churches veins have bled;
But she is like the Vine which grows by bleeding,
And like the Palm-tree under pressures spreading
132. On a Churl.
A Clownish churl, or churlish clown
By's words, Saints by their works, are known.
133. On Cider.
A Glass of sparkling Demock wine is good;
But O how cheering is my Saviors blood?
Pomona's
Orchards never could produce
A liquor of such admirable use.
134. On a Cymbal.
CYmbals were used in former days,
To sound forth God's diviner praise.
135. On Cinders.
WE are a sinful people, O what hinders
Us
Sodom
like from being burnt to cinders▪
136. On Cinnamon.
ARabia
sends us Spicy Cinnamon,
Our fragrant graces flow from Christ alone;
Sweet-wood yields not so red
•
lent a smell
As do those virtues, which in Christ Spouse dwell.
Legitur Exod. 30. 23. and Cant. 4. 14. Ducamus a canna vel a can lignum & nama dulce.
137. On the Cinque-Ports.
OUr senses are the Cinque-ports of the soul,
Satan and sin at every little hole
Strive to creep in, unless we stand upon
Our guard, we shall forever be undone.
138. On a Cipher.
WHo doth no good when he hath sin forsook,
Stands for a cipher in God's counting book
139. On Cipras.
FIne Cipras-veils fair Ladies wear
Over their curious shaded hair,
O yet your hearts with graces decked;
So Christ himself shall you affect.
140. On a Circle.
THe world's a circle, therefore never can
Fill the triangulated heart of man.
141. On a Circuit.
GOds Justice rides in circuit, he is bent
To punish sinners, yet how few repent!
142. On Circumcision.
THe Badge whereby God's people once were known
From foreigners, was circumcision;
Since circumcision of the outward part
Is ceased, Lord! circumcise thy servants heart.
143. On Circumference.
WE by a pair of compasses, God's law
Should th'whole circumf'rence of our live; draw,
Let's fix on God our center, and go still
By practice round the compass of his will:
Lord! let the lines of my peripherie,
In thee my center evermore agree.
144 On Circumspection.
WHo hath with
Mary
chose the better part;
Is careful to preserve grace in his heart;
He plies the Ordinances breast; he hath
Fear while he sojourns here, yet lives by Faith.
145. On a City.
JErusalem
which is above, is free,
The mother of us all; what liberty,
And safe protection is there in that City,
Whose King, and Governor is God Almighty?
Angels (the great Kings courtiers) who are here
Our Guardians, are our companions there.
Socrates
being asked, what country man
He was, replied, I am the worlds Citizen:
This answer by a Christ'an may be given,
I am a free-born Citizen of Heaven.
146. On a Cistern.
MY heart's a cistern, may the stream of grace
From God the Fountain, run therein apace.
147. On a Citron.
MUch used in Physic is the citron juice,
But o what rare effects doth grace produce!
148. On Civet.
SWeet Civet is but sweat, arising from
Civet-cats cods, grace is the best perfume.
149. On Civility.
WHo is unto civility inclined,
That ceremonial grace, commends his mind;
Yet men may in morality excel,
As Prudence, Temperance, and go to hell:
Mortality may as well damn as sin,
And therefore is not to be rested in.
Cleans'd must the sacrifices inward be,
God he respects, and crowns hearts-purity;
Civil'ty washes but the outward part,
Grace th'inward:
Blessed are the pure in heart.
150. On Clay.
SHould God but breath on us; or take away
The breath he gave us, what were we but clay
151. On a Clame.
THe Saints lay clame to heaven; & reason good
Twas purchased for them, by their Savior
•
blood.
152. On Clamour.
SIn in the ears of justice, sounds as loud
As thunder breaking from a rumbling cloud.
153. On a Clapper.
THe mouth's a Bell, God's praise cannot be rung
Unless we use the clapper of the tongue.
154. On a Clark.
A Clark may by his Bell, call others in
To worship God, while he himself serve sin.
155. On a Clasp.
THe Cov'nant is a golden clasp, whereby
God us tohimself, himself to us doth tie.
156. On a Clause.
SOme-what injurious to God's greatness tis,
Timprison him, in a Parenthesis.
157. On Claws.
GReat
Judah's
Lyon, hath adunced claws,
To tear the willful breakers of his Laws.
158. On a Claw-back.
ALL is not Gospel that the claw-back says,
Yet to be dispraised by him is a praise.
159. On Cleansing.
BY nature we are all defiled with sin,
And with the Leper must cry out, Unclean.
Sin i
•
an i
•
pu
•
e Issue, none can bring
Purity thence, tis a polluting thing;
A sinners heart's so black, that only hell
Can pattern it, and be it's parallel;
But Grace is a spirit'all Lavor, stilled
Regenerations washing; Souls defiled,
Faith & Repentance cleanse; Grace lays the soul
A whitening, searches wounds, and makes them whole.
Grace is of a Celestial nature, though it
Wholly remove not sin, it doth subdue it;
Mary's
tears as they washed Christ's feet, so
Her heart; Grace engraves holiness unto
The Lord upon the heart, in characters
Indelible; to Glory Grace prefers.
160. On Clearness.
THe bodies of the Saints made more divine,
More clearly than the Sun at Noon shall shine
161. On Cleaving.
GOd is the sov'reign good, he that would cleave
To him by Faith, must the ungodly leave.
162. On Clemency.
CLemency is the Ornament of Kings,
Surer is the security it brings,
Because frequent revenge allays the hate
Of few, but it doth all men irrita
•
e.
That Prince will be beloved, & long shall stand,
Who rules his Subjects with a gentle hand.
Salvum regem in aperto clementia praestabit.
Sen.
Sen.
163. On a Clerk.
THe greatest Clerk, the Proverb says,
Is not the wisest man always.
164. On a Clew.
THe clew-thread of Christ's merits leads us thro
The winding Labyrinths of Sin and Woe.
165. On a Client.
I Am a Client unskill'd in the Laws,
And Satan Articles against me draws,
But Christ my Advocate doth plead my cause.
166. On a Cliff.
THe Cliff repells the Oceans pride,
Saints built on Christ can Storms deride.
167. On a Climate.
SOme that through many Climates run,
Are yet unto themselves unknown.
168. On Climbing.
HIgh winds shake most the Cedars tall,
Haman
by climbing got a fall.
169. On a Clyster.
THe Clyster frees the Head from pains,
Grace from the Heart corruption dreins.
170. On a Clock.
THe Clock tells us each hour in the day
How by degrees our time doth steal away,
Therefore we still had need to
Watch
and
Pray.
171. On a Clog.
THe World's a Clog, which doth control
The motion of the mounting Soul.
172. On a Cloister.
A Man, a Cloister may be shut up in,
And yet his Soul take liberty to sin.
174. On a Closet.
GOd Closet-prayers doth regard,
And them will openly reward.
175. On Clothing.
SWeet Jesu deck me with thy right'ous clothing,
So shall mine be the object of my loathing.
176. On Cloves.
AS Cloves send forth a very fragrant smell,
So do the Graces that the Saints in dwell.
177. On a Cloud.
THe Clouds of our Offences intervene,
So that God's Sun-bright eye cannot be seen.
Clouds are the Magazines of Snow and Rain,
Our Sins do in them vert'ally coutain
Treasures of vengeance, sin makes Heaven frown,
And then thick showers of wrath come tumbling down.
178. On a Clout.
SElf-right'ousness enwrapping us about,
Is as a rotten ragg, or menstrous Clout.
179. On a Clown.
AS civilized Citizens disown
The rude behavior of the hob-nailed Clown,
So Saints from Sinners by their lives are known.
180. On a Club.
THe Club of vengeance knocks down those,
Who out of malice God oppose.
181. On a Cluster.
CHrist is the
Vine,
and Clusters full of juice
Hang upon him, for the Believers use.
182. On a Coach.
PRay'r is a Coach which by the Spirit driven,
Hurries our Souls into the Courts of Heaven.
183. On a Coal.
LOrd touch my tongue with a coal taken fro
Thine Altar, so shall I thy praises show.
184. On a Coast.
HEaven is a securer Coast,
The Saints are thither riding Post.
185. On a Coat.
Who cuts his Coat according to
His cloth, shall not a begging go.
186. On a Coat of Mail.
THe Coat of Mail preserves the body whole:
Nothing but Faith in Christ can save the soul.
187. On a Cobbler.
THe Cobbler draws through Aul-made holes
His ends, and lives by mending soles:
But ah, Soul-ruins, who condoles!
188. On a Cobweb.
THe Spider spreads her Fly-entangling Nets,
Snares to trepan the Saints, the Sinner sets.
189. On a Cockatrice.
THey who indulgence give to filthy vices,
Do hatch the poisonous eggs of Cockat
•
ices;
Mischiefs are like the Cockatrices eye,
If they see first, they kill; foreseen, they die.
190. On a Cock.
THe Bird that warned
Peter of his fall,
Doth us betimes to our devotion call.
191. On a Cockney.
THe Cockney that is up so nicely brought,
Soon shows that he was better fed then taught
192. On a Cockle.
THe Cockle from her shell abhors to come,
So a good House-wife loves to stay at home.
193.
-
On Co-Essential.
-
On Co-Equal.
-
On Co-Eternal.
GOD, Christ, the Spirit, are but one supernal,
Co-equal, Co-essential, Co-eternal:
Thrice blessed, Three in One, and One in Three,
May I adore, admire, love none but Thee,
My Maker, Savior, Consolation:
O please to make my heart thy lesser Throne.
194. On a Coffer.
A Dunghil wretch for Gold of Ophir,
Will damn his Soul, to cram his Coffer.
195. On a Coffin.
THe greatest King that ever Scepter swayed,
At last is in a narrow Coffin laid.
196. On a Cognizance.
WAnt is the Badge of Poverty, the Saints
Have Crowns and Scepters for their cognizance
197. On a Co-heir.
ARt thou a Saint? thou art Co-heir with Christ;
And highly art in favor with the High'st.
198. On Coin.
THe golden Saints for current Coin will pass,
In Heavens Kingdom; Hell is all for Brass.
199. On a Coit.
TO cast the Coit is pretty childish play.
It's sad for Coin to fling the Soul away.
200. On a Cullender.
OUr mem'ries like the Cullender that streins
Pure liquor out, but drossy dregs reteins.
201. On Cold.
ARe we as cold as Aspine Snow,
Or as the frozen Zone;
The Fire we know, will make us glow,
Grace warms a heart of stone.
202. On Coldness in Religion.
SOme
Jehu-
like drive furiously for Heaven,
But of their Chariot wheels are soon bereaven.
Their Spring is turned to Autumn, & their gold
To clay; their zeal for God is grown key-cold.
Sad Times! Men cast Religion out of place,
Rather then bear for it the least disgrace.
So little zeal is for God's glory shown,
That sure we live under the frozen Zone.
203. On a Collar.
THe Collar checks the Stallion in,
Restraining Grace keeps men from sin.
204. On Collection.
THe World is a Collection of all
The Creatures; 'tis a very goodly Ball.
205. On a College.
HEav'n is a College, Saints Christ's Scholars here.
Are Angels Fellows when once entered there?
206. On a Colleague.
ANgels are our Colleagues and we must still
Praise God, and readily obey his Will.
207. On a Collier.
THe Devil and Collier are alike for hew,
Both black; and so are we till born anew.
208. On the Collick.
PAin damps our mirth, small mind hath he to frolic,
That's pained with the Belly-wringing Collick.
209. On Colours.
THe Star-embellish'd Bird which
Juno
so
Admires, th'embroidred sky-adorning Bow
Presaging showers, eve-pleasing colors show,
Which men born blind cannot distinctl
•
know.
We cannot know the things that do concern
Our peace, till God be pleased to make us learn.
210. On a Column.
THe Fabric of the Heavens do lean upon
No other Column, but God's Word alone.
211. On a Combat.
TWo sons of Valour dealt so thick their blows,
As that one Sword unto the other owes
No wound, they slic▪d each other while their blood
Commix'd together, made one crimson Flood.
At last these Combatants of
Mars
both fell
And made their clashing armouring their Knell.
We must all our Soul-Enemies knock down
Before we can obtain a Victors Crown.
212. On a Comb.
THe Comb is used to plain the hair
Grace only makes the Soul look fair.
213. On Commination.
GOds dreadful threatenings give man warning do,
Before his Murd'ring-pieces give the blow.
O when God menaceth, let us begin
To quake and greatly tremble, lest by sin
We should occasion his severer frown,
And on our heads denounced Plagues draw down
God warned us hath, some judgments he hath sent
And more will come, if
England
not repent.
214. On Cumbrance.
MUch business
Martha
distracts,
Whilst
Mary
the best things affects.
215. On Combustion.
THe Waters of Repentance can
Allay the flame of sin in man.
216. On a Comedy.
A Comedy is turbulent at first,
But calm at last. Good Times succeed the worst,
Though now we mourn, our God will comfort send,
A sad beginning hath a joyful end.
217. On Comliness.
THe Church is Beauties Magazine,
Her comeliness is all within,
Without she hath a tawny skin.
Her misery hath tann'd her so,
But Mercy which from Christ doth flow,
Can make her fairer than the Snow.
218. On a Comet.
WHen God hangs out the dismal blazing Star,
Portending Famine, Pestilence and War,
Foretelling change of Governments and Times,
He means to punish our offending Crimes.
Now if we would such dire effects prevent,
Return we must, and speedily repent.
Three Comets lately shined, and thousands are
Dead with the Plague, & hundreds fallen by War.
And oh that Prince, and Priest, and People too,
Would keep a Fast indeed, and not in show.
Return we must, and suddenly repent,
Or else our Plagues will more and more augment.
219. On Comfort.
MOurning precedes, and comfo
•
t doth ensue,
The wound is launc'd, then cured, that is the true
Sun-shine of joy, which comes after a shower
Of tears, God his best Wine doth last forth pour.
First he prescribes sorrow for sin, anon
Broaches the Wine of Consolation.
The Devil contrarily shows the best first,
And keeps till last (for a reserve) the worst:
He first presents the sug'red meats of Sin,
And after the sad reck'ning is brought in;
When he had showed
Judas
the silver bait,
He struck him with the Hook, and caught him strait.
God pours the golden oil of Joy into
The broken vessel, his choice comforts flow
In, while tears are poured our, sad nights of sorrow
Are Ushers to a glorious shining morrow.
The comforts of God's Spirit, are real, pure,
Holy, soul-filling, sweet, lasting, secure,
Glorious, transporting, cordial comforts, none
But Saints shall fit with Christ upon the Throne;
And sit down with him at the Table, where
Celestial delicates provided are.
Although the Seeds-time of the Saints be wet,
Yet they shall with a joyful Harvest meet.
God's Sun-bright face, all sorrow shall destroy,
And turn their Tears into the Wine of Joy.
220. On Commands
-
Legal
-
Evangelical.
CHrist is the King of Kings
(by
him
Kings reign)
And shall not he royal Edicts Ordain
To rule his Subjects by? 'tis well for Saints
That they are checked by awful Laws restraints.
Th' heart would be ready to run wild in sin,
Did not Christ's Law coerce and hold it in.
How many now are in the Devils Pound,
That from Christ's Precepts have been straggling found!
A godly man to God and Christ his laws
Consents, obeys in love; God's Spirit draws
I'th' yoke with us, as a divine Loadstone
It moves the heart, which cannot move alone.
It blows upon the soul, and with its gales
Quickens in duty, the affections sails.
All Christ's commands are very profitable;
Centring in blessedness, are honorable;
Are nectariz'd with joy, are transitory,
Saints now under the Yoke, shall rest in Glory.
Needs must the Laws and Statutes Christ enacts,
Be Eligible then for these respects.
The Gospels golden mandates easy are,
Compa
•
ed to the Moral Law severe;
This, bids us
Do and Live,
That our desires
Accepts; Pers'nal Obedience This requires;
A surety That admits; This bids and threats,
But strengthens not to do; That power lets
Into the soul; its Precepts sweetened be
With promises, where is sincerity
God in the Gospel winks at our defects;
The Law perfect Obedience exacts.
Christ's Laws are sweet and easy, if compared
To sins commands; Sin presses down as hard
As Lead, how easy are the Laws of Grace
Oppos'd to Hell! Hell is a restless place.
If Christ's Commands we in the Ballance poise
With Heavens Glory, and eternal Joys,
How light they are! what disproportion
Is there between our Service and the Crown
Of recompense, our travels and our pains
Are grains, compared with future massy gains.
O love the ways of God, and always bow
To Christ's commands, Believers are not now
Under the thundering curses of the Law,
No, nor its Ceremonies; Stand in awe,
Yet serve God out of choice; his Law is right,
His yoke is easy, and his burden light;
Think of the joy, the glory, the reward
Of godliness, Duty will not seem hard.
221. On a Commander.
DEath over-came men-conq'u'ring
Alexander,
But was subdued by Christ, the worlds Commander,
Christ by his death far greater conquests gained
Then
Alexander
all his life obtained,
Death yields to him, death that doth all devour,
And Satan too, is vanquished by his power.
222. On Commendation.
THe Saint's an Angel dressed in flesh and blood;
His inclinations do aim at good;
His virtues are too great to be revealed,
And yet (me thinks) too great to be concealed:
Grace doth advance him far beyond the Pen,
Or the weak knowledge of admiring men,
No flowing language, nor words richest dress
And loft'st sense, can his full worth express,
Then since thou canst not paint him life & limb,
Admire God's goodness in admiring him.
223. On a Comment.
BAd is that comment which corrupts the text,
Such is the Rhemist to God's word annexit.
224. On Commerce.
SAints have commerce with God by ordinances,
Before to heavenly Thrones he them advances.
225. On the coming of Christ.
GOd sent to us his Son, who to us brought
Salvation, who nor deserved nor sought
It of him; he came of his own accord,
He was not fetched nor forced; th'essential Word
Came to men, as when he was incarnate,
Comes in men by his Spirit of Grace of late;
And he with great Authority shall come
Against men at the dreadful day of Doom:
Then shall he as an Advocate appear
To plead for Saints; and as a Judge to clear
And crown them too, when Soul and Body shall
Be reunited and enriched with all
The wealth of Heaven; O thrice blessed day!
Wherein Christ shall in his most rich array
Appear triumphantly, and shine more bright
Then Midday-Phoebus. O reviving sight!
O what transcendent beauty will adorn
Christ's person at the Resurrections morn!
How glorious will his Throne be! he shall sit
Upon a Throne of Glory for him fit.
How glorious shall his Attendants be!
Heavens Courtiers shall bear him company.
To his bright Throne; his Majesty hath been
Despis'd, now must his mighty Power be seen.
At first he in Humility appeared,
In Glory now, of all the Saints admired.
Then with poor Shepherds, now with Angels bright,
Then the contempt of Nations, now t' affright
And startle the ungodly World, then crowned
With thorns, but now with Majesty renowned;
Then judged by one man, judging now alone
All men; then in a Cratch, now in a Throne.
Where Christ is come, he sin doth chase,
Reigns as a King, infers his Grace,
The Son of man came from Heavens coast,
To seek and
save that which was lost.
Then in our hearts he does appear,
When we into's own Image are
Transform
•
d by his working Grace,
And do his holiness embrace.
When he to serve him makes us able,
This is a coming comfortable.
When to us he his S
•
ir
•
t imparts,
O then he enters in our hearts;
A Christ without's not worth a pin,
Unless we have a Christ within.
Christ comes to us, and shall not we
Come to him? Gross stupidity!
Christ in us, us with Graces stores,
O let's not thrust him out of doors▪
But entertain him as our King,
And his immortal praises sing.
226. On coming to Christ.
WHen Jesus Christ is by his spirit about
T'invade the sinners soul, he shuts him out.
A gracious soul although he bar out sin,
Opens his heart, to let the spirit in;
What ere are the diseases of the soul,
O sinner! come to Christ to make thee whole;
By faith come to him, and on him be clearing,
There's no way for a cure but by believing,
Faith is the applying of Christ's merit & blood,
Receits, i
•
unappli'd, will do no good:
The son of God comes to the sons of men,
And shall alas! the sons of men disdain
To come to th'son of God; proud dust wilt thou
Not meet thy Maker; thy Redeemer too?
Sinners draw near if you desire a pardon,
Come to him, you shall have him in his Garden,
Th▪assemblies of the saints, Lo!
Manna
lies
At your door, gather it if you be wise:
O come a little way to him that came
So far for you, come out of sin for shame;
Christ hath sent many preachers to invite
Us to salvation, but them we slight,
Demanding where? they answer, come and see,
(As
Philip
told
Nathaniel)
but we
Will not come near, but at a distance stand,
Christ cannot see us on the coming hand:
The world, care, and the flesh, three mischievous
Remora's do from coming hinder us;
Christ himself calls, yet ah! you will not come
To me for life, sure men are deaf and dumb.
Christ comes amongst us Christians, to his own,
But he is not received, O heart of stone!
Our coming near to Christ is not in place,
(So wicked men are near him) but in grace
And quality, being as he is holy,
He must first draw us from our sinful folly,
By grace, ere we can come, which being done
By true repentance after him, we run.
Man come to Christ when he come out of sin,
And no man can come out, till Christ come in.
227. On a Commissary.
THe ravenous Raven was God's commissary,
Provision to
Elisha
for to carry.
228. On a Commission.
THe Father to his Son commission gave,
To come lost sinners for to seek and save,
A bleeding Christ will broken hearts recover,
He comes to heal, read his Commission * over,
Me hath he sent to heal the broken hearted,
Lost sinners are by him called, and converted.
229. On Commodities.
THe best of our commodities do come
By water, weeping brings us comfort home.
230. On Common things.
THat which is common, proper is to no man,
For how can it be proper since tis common?
Nor can it still be said toexcel the rest,
For what is common is not always best.
231. On a Common-Wealth.
A Common-wealth consists of two things still,
Reward for good, and punishment for ill.
That common-weal becomes a common woe,
Where virtue finds no friend, and vice no foe.
232. On Commotion.
HE who allays the furious raging Ocean,
Can pacify the people's mad commotion.
233. On Communicativeness.
THe best things most communicative are,
Of what they have, what benefits is there
Of Diamonds in rocks; the end alone
Of life is usefulness; the cloud pour down
Their silver showers; the sun doth sparss abroad
Its golden beams, the sea doth Rivers load
With pearly streams; Christ is deffusive still,
And freely to us give himself he will:
Despair we might, should he slight our condition,
And tell us we are not in his commission:
To such sinners as we, he is not sent;
But he is willing that we should repent
And have him? thus his mind he doth declare,
Come unto me, all ye that weary are,
He fain would have the match made up between
Us and him, was such freeness ever seen?
The upright Christian hath a liberal heart
To Christ's poor, he loves always to impart
To heal another's wounds, the golden Balms
Of mercy, he is ever giving alms:
Mercy, and liberality always
Is th'Ensign that integrity displays:
A good man is a common good, where e're
He lives, to show mercy he doth not spare:
God-like he makes Charities springs to run
Among poverties valleys, bad men shun
Occasions to do good; he that alone
Is good unto himself, is good to none.
234. On Communing.
MEn do commune with others at fit seasons,
But ah! who is there with his own heart reasons.
235. On Communion.
THe Saints communion is with Christ their head
In grace or glory,
And with his Members either live or dead,
Now glad, now sorry:
A gracious heart with God communion hath
By contemplation;
By true desire, pure Love, adhering Faith;
In conversation,
Up towards God from whom all comforts roll;
Grace bears the soul:
In prayer we speak to God, in whom our bliss is,
And God he kisses
Us with the kisses of his lips, in the
Sacrament, he
Gives us a privy seal of his free grace,
Doth us embrace.
The spirits Load-stone draws the heart by love
To God above.
God is the center of the Soul, and where
He is, tis there:
A Christian as the Bird in the Nest,
In God doth rest;
God is our Father, Husband, Friend, Rock, Treasure,
Good beyond measure:
In him all fullness and all sweetness dwells,
O he excels!
My Soul to have with God sweet intercourse
Thy self divource
From sin, and from the love of worldly things,
Whence no true comfort, nor contentment springs.
236. On Commutation.
THe Sts. traffick with God by pray'rs & tears,
For grace and glory, rich celestial wares.
237. On Company.
CHildren love to associate and be
Together, precious is the company
Of Saints, the Saints of Christ with flock together
By companies; Birds of the self-same feather
And so will sinners too, sinners will be,
Brethren together in iniquity.
The way to Hell hath still the greatest store
Of passengers, both now and evermore?
But better go the straight way single, then
The broad with multitudes of wicked men.
Number makes not the thing good, but the weight
Of truth, the pebbles of the world we slight
As common; but the pearls of graces are
Much prized by us, as exceeding rare:
The vulgar streams will bring no vessel to
The land of Peace, but few to Heaven go:
The sinner with sad company shall dwell,
The Devil and his Angels black as hell:
Vain company's the bate by which the Devil
Is angling for our souls, shun such as evil:
Keep company with them that fear the Lord;
The Saints carry the Lanthorn of the word
Along with them, sinners will cause our stay,
O walk with them, but light us in our way;
Let our delight be in them that excel
In virtue, then with us it will be well.
Four sweet Associates go with us in
Our journey, Christ'ans undefiled with sin,
Good works, good Angels, our good Savior too,
Who is the way, along with us doth go,
So that none can of loneliness complain,
Who guarded are with such a glorious train,
To Heav'nly Crowns & Thrones; O blest convoy
That safely brings us to the Courts of Joy.
238. On a Condition.
COmpare we our condition, and our
Desert together, w'have deserved more
Afflictions, and have deserved less
Mercies from God, we cannot but confess.
Compare we our estate with others such,
As may cause wonder that we have so much:
Compare we our estate with Christ upon
The earth; compare we our condition
With what it was, and shall hereafter be,
So shall we not complain of poverty.
We once lay in our blood, hell's heirs assigned,
We shall die shortly, and leave all behind,
If we have not what we desire, we have
More then we brought, or carry to the grave.
239. On the Comparative Degree.
BAd men are apt to say, some men are worse
Then they, and therefore may expect a curse:
Good men are apt to think, that such and such
Are better then themselves, and praise them much.
The worst of Christ is better then the best:
Of the World, his afflictions end in rest
All sinful pleasures fade, better be in,
Hell with Christ Jesus, then in Heaven with sin.
240. On Compassing.
ER'e we get into Christ, we must come out
Of sin, the next way home is round about.
241. On Compassion.
COmpassion doth as naturally flow
From God our heavenly Father us unto,
As light does from the sun, his bowels yearn
Towards his children, we must also learn
To be as he is, merciful and mild
To those that of their comforts are beguile'd.
Christ's Passion, nor his compassion
Is ended; oh his Bowels! every groan
Of the sick patient goes to the heart
Of this Physician; he doth impart
His cord'all-promises to stay the soul
From fainting, and does their estate condole
In his relenting spirit, his love-streams in
Poor souls, that find themselves heart-sick of sin:
Though he will sinners wound and make them bleed,
Yet will he never break the bruised Reed:
Bonner,
as one observed, was full of gutts,
But ah! empty of bowels, God he shuts
Not his compassion up, but does relieve
Our pining wants, and grieve with them that grieve,
242. On Compensation.
WE shall be justified according to
Our works, but not for any good we do:
God in Christ Jesus our good works regards,
And through Christ Jesus we expect rewards:
Faith in Christ Jesus help us to a Crown,
All
Popish
Merits therefore we disown.
243. On Compitency.
TO have a competency, and to want
Contentment, is an heavy punishment:
Covetousness is a dry drunkenness,
Perchance if one had more, he would have less
Content; the more men have the more they still
Desire, man's heart the world can never fill:
He hath enough that is with his Estate
Contented; learn we then to moderate,
And lessen our desires; a little blest
Is much, a competent estate is best:
Did
Esau
say I have enough of store;
And oh shall not a Saint say so much more!
244. On a Competitor.
SAints are competitors for Heaven, that place
Of bliss; Glory is for the heirs of grace.
245. On Complaining.
A Child of God complains of what he wants,
He grieves he is so bad; from ordinance
To ordinance, he goes for a supply
Of his great wants, though he dares not deny
The work of grace, yet he laments he hath
No more grace, that he hath so little faith,
So little love, so little zeal that's true,
And that he can for God so little do.
While some complain of poverty alas!
My soul, do thou complain thou wantest grace.
246. On a Complement.
WE complement with God, if we profess
We love him, yet delight in wickedness.
247. On Complexion.
CHrist he is white and ruddy in complexion,
In him there is an excellent connection
Of purest colors, he is full of grace,
Therefore the Virgin-heart doth him embrace.
248. On Complices.
SWorn foes to virtue, and fast friends to vices,
Sprung from th'infernal Den, are fit complices
To further Satan's wicked enterprises.
249. On a Composition.
CHrist is a composition of all sweets,
O blessed they whom he divinely greets!
250. On Comprising.
GOd is immense beyond all bounds extended,
And therefore can he not be comprehended.
251. On Compunction.
ALL they that have received the Spirits Unction,
First felt conviction; after that, compunction.
252. On Computation.
MY sins to such a reck'ning do amount,
That they surpass Arithmetic's account.
253. On Compulsion.
SAtan can but persuade, could he compel,
Scarce one should go to Heaven, but all to hell.
254. On a Comrade.
HE that in wickedness delights to trade,
May fitly styled be the Devils comrade.
255. On Concatenation.
THe grace of the spirit are like a Row
Of orient Pearls, which hang together do
Upon Religion's string, and serve to deck
Christ's Bride, this is the Chain adorns her neck:
Who hath one grace hath all, God's spirit places
An habit in the heart of all the graces,
There is such a concatenation
In them, that he who hath not all, hath none.
256. On Concealing.
WHo so conceals by sin, and wickedness
Shall not be crowned with prosperous success,
But he that doth confess, and sin forsake,
Shall obtain mercy for Christ Jesus sake.
257. On Conceaving.
BEhold! in sin our mothers did conceive us,
What is bred in the bone will hardly leave us.
258. On Conceiving.
THe Joys which God shall to his Saints impart,
Out-vie the large conceptions of man's heart.
259. On Conceit.
MAny conceit they shall in Heaven dwell,
Whose lives declare they are designed for hell.
260. On a Concent.
ANgels and Saints are singing in one tune,
Eternal praise to heavens great Trin-Une.
261. On Conclusion.
GRace terminates in glory, the conclusion
Of sin, is misery and sad confusion.
262. On the Concomitants of Faith.
COnsent is faith's concomitant, Christ whole
Is inthron'd in a true believers Soul;
The Soul consents tohave Christ, and him to have
On his own terms, as well to rule, as save;
The Saint consents tohave Christ for better or
For worse, purely for love, never to part more,
Resigning up all his self-interest,
The best and purest of his love to Christ.
Desire, is a concomitant of faith,
Pants after Christ, the thirsty sinner saith,
O who will give me to drink of that flood
Of living water running in Christ's blood!
A contrite spirit is a concomitant
Of faith, which the believers do not want;
The spirit of grace, as dew makes the heart soft
And tender, falling down upon it oft:
The soul is even melted into tears,
It weeps for love, no legal terror fears
It as before, oh that against so sweet
A Savior I sin should once commit;
He with a broken heart reflects upon
A broken Christ, which suffered and hath done
So much for him, thus woeful
Mary
stood
At Jesus feet, and wept a briny flood.
263. On Concord.
THe fairest flower of a Princes Crown,
Is peace; to Church & State peace brings renown.
Peace is a girdle, that together tyes;
Family-Members; O let's Concord prize.
264. On a Concourse.
FEw come to Sermons, how the means of grace
Is lightly set by! but a multitude,
As well the honorable as the base
Convene, to see an idle Interlude.
That which is practice'd by the most, is worst;
And for the greater number is accurst.
265. On a Concubine.
SHe is the Devils hackney, dearly hir'd
To carry men to hell, with lust infir'd,
Still used, and yet the Jade is never tired.
266. On Concupisence.
MY Soul avoid concupiscence,
It is the Fountain head, from whence
All our enormities do flow,
And consequently endless woe.
267. On Condemnation.
NO condemnation is the share
Of them, who in Christ Jesus are,
Who never walk according to
The flesh, but as the Spirit bids, do.
268. On Conditions.
IF we were our own carvers, we should cut
The worst piece oftentimes:
Lot
being put
To' his choice,
Sodom
was his choice desire
Which was within a while consumed with fire:
The wise God sees the same condition
Not fit for all, that which is good for one
May be for others bad; one sort of weather
Serves not all men's occasions altogether:
This, needs Sun-shine; he, rain; by God's wise power
W'are placed in diff'rent Spheres, higher or lower;
Prosperity is not so fit for all,
Nor yet adversity, Honey nor Gall.
Liberty is desired by the Saint,
God will work his liberty by restraint;
Many, through high-flown pride, are not content
With what is given, or rather to them lent
By the great God; but very few alas,
Have learned
Paul's
lesson! he contented was
In all estates, men are to that pass grown,
They like any condition, but their own:
One man commends this kind of life; a second
Commendeth that, a country life is reckon▪d
By him the best; and he a City-life
Highly applauds, this likes another's wife
Far better then his own, if men be poor,
They learn to envy others that have store;
If men are rich, their hand must then be greas'd,
Much covets more, nor poor, nor rich are pleased
Contentment as an Honey-comb, drops down
Sweetness into every condition:
There's no condition comes amiss to him
That is content, let riches sink or swim,
In the same posture he is always found,
Knows as well how to want, as how toabound:
His Cross he doth not go to pick and choose,
But always loves, to be at God's dispose.
Who hath a silver Crutch to lean upon
Is pleased, but troubled when his Crutch is gone.
God Checker-works his Providences white
And black; the cloudy Pillar had its light,
And dark-side too; mercies and miseries
Are interwoven by a God most wise.
Think what thou hast deserved at God's hand,
And discontent will easily disband:
Thou hast deserved less mercies then are carv'd
To thee, and more afflictions hast deserved:
Some are in a for worse condition, who
Perhaps deserved, far better then you do?
Nay Christ himself, the Son and Heir of bliss,
Was pleased to come in
Forma pauperis:
Nothing thou hast, but what thou soon mayest lose,
O be content to be at God's dispose.
269. On a Conduct.
OUr foes are strong to tear in sunder,
We of ourselves, weak to resist,
Yet shall we conquer, fighting under
The conduct of our Captain Christ:
Sweet Jesus help me to subdue
The World, and Sin, and Satan too.
270. On a Conduit.
CHrist is a conduit, Saints to him go
For living waters, which do from him flow.
271. On Confection.
SInners and Saints are here together mingled,
But at the Judgment day, they shall be singled.
272. On Confederacy.
THe World, the Flesh, the Devil conspire our ill,
And we must pray to God against them still.
273. On Conference.
SOme Plants will better bear near other Trees,
Then when they grow alone in godliness,
The Saints thrives best, when they associate,
And one another's Faith corroborate:
When the Trees planted in God's Orchard grow
At too great distance, they less fruit do show.
274. On Confession.
SInfulness is asleep, confession
A sign we are awaked, or there is none;
If our sins to our God we open lay,
He will conceal them at the latest day:
God will not
cancel
what man doth
conceal,
Confession heals; he that will not reveal
His grief to his Physician, hath no care
Of his own cure, too many such there are.
275. On Confidence.
FRiends Venice-glasses are, use them we may,
But if we lean to hard upon them, they
Will break, but God forever doth abide,
My Soul! therefore in him alone confide.
276. On Confines.
GOd who at once surveys the world's wide borders,
All things for his own glory wisely orders;
Lord sanctify my heart, that I may not
From the bounds of thy Law depart one jot.
277. On Confits.
THe sugared confits that the Devil
Presents us with, are truly evil.
278. On a Conflict.
WE must contest against the Devils trial,
By Faith; & with ourselves, by self-denial.
279. On Conformity.
ROme
roughly drives men to observe her Laws,
But to conform to his, God mildly draws.
280. On Confusion.
COnfusion of sin must next ensue
Confession, or Repentance is not true.
281. On Confutation.
THe Atheist that denies a deity,
Shall when he comes to Hell confuted be.
282. On Congealing.
THe Sun of Right'ousness dissolveth in▪
To tears, hearts bound up with the frosts of sin▪
283. On Congestion.
LEt sons of Earth heap up their unsumm'd gold
My God! O may my heart thy graces hold.
284. On a Congey.
AT Jesus Name each knee shall bow,
Him service Men and Angels owe.
But good
Romanio
tell me who,
Commanded thee to congey so
At Jesus Name, true Saints de
•
ie
Syllabical Idolatry.
285. On Congratulation.
THe blessed Angels do congratulate
The sinners f
•
eedom from his natural state.
286. On Congregation.
THat Congregation i
•
not well taught,
Whose Priest is either ignorant or naught.
287. On congruity.
SInners at league against the godly be,
And shall not Saints among themselves agree!
288. On a Connie.
THe feeble Connie burroughs in the rock,
A Saint in Christ can at all dangers mock.
289. On Conjecture.
A Man may guess and be deceived,
But what Truth says, must be believed.
290. On Conjoyning.
FRom Christ the Saints receive their Unction,
And they are One, O blest conjunction!
Great and good, rich and holy are
Happy, but yet conjunctions rare.
291. On a Conjurer.
HE that to do the Devils work engages,
Shall certainly receive damnable wages;
And such as to the Devils workman run
For help, shall by so doing be undone.
292. On Connection.
GOd, Duty and Reward together ties,
By sweetening his Commands with Promises.
293. On a Conqueror.
MEekness is the best way to conquer Foes,
And melt their hearts; by roughness, Peace we lose.
It is the greatest conquest to o'rethrow
An Enemy, and never strike a blow.
Mildness prevaileth more than fierceness still.
Where the wedge cannot go, the Fire will,
The patient Soul even from his adversary
Shall Letters testimonial have to carry.
When bloody
Saul
at
David's
mercy lay
And he cut off his skirt, and went away,
How was
Saul's
heart affected! he doth cry
To
David,
thou more holier art than I.
Thou hast not (when thou mightest) bath'd in my blood
Thy Sword, therefore the Lord reward thee good.
Self conquerors are greater conquerors
Than such as conquer mighty Forts and Towers.
294. On Conscience.
THe Conscience was ever, and is still
The fountain of all actions, good or ill;
And all the actings, whether foul or fair,
Of men, are as their Consciences are.
Conscience goes with us' where
•
're we go,
To bear record of whatsoever we do.
Conscience is God's Vice-Roy in the Soul,
And all are liable to its control.
Conscience is Christ's Vicar in man's heart,
It keeps Court there, and acts the Judges part.
Its verdict can be by no power repealed,
Its strokes are wounds that never can be healed:
It's the Souls Anchor, boldness it maintains
In judgment, and is of unwearied pains.
Conscience is most like God, it is supreme,
But under God this Jewel, O esteem
For its great worth, as rarest next to Christ;
It is our Patron, our Apologist;
It is impartial; active, and sincere,
God's Register in'us; his Harbinger
For to prepare his way; this is beside
Mans faithful Surety, Treasurer and Guide.
The evidence of a good Conscience will
Find with the judge of hearts acceptance still;
Good Conscience is the only Ark that can
Ding down the
Dagons
of all deeds profane.
A Conscience unstained with blushing crimes,
Holds out in all changes of States and Times.
Mount
Zion
and good Conscience abide
For ever, and temptations can deride.
A Conscience that is kept free from blame,
Laughs at the false reports of long-tongu'd fame.
Good Conscience will speak within, when all
The doors are shut to every vocal call.
When riches, husband, wife, parents, friends, breath,
Life, patience, firm hope, assured faith
Have left us; a good Conscience is so fast
A friend, that it sticks to us till the last.
A right good Conscience term this we may,
To live therein until our dying day.
Good Conscience still keeps Holy-day, is bent
To feasting every day; there is no Lent,
No Fasting-days that interrupt this Feast,
But still the cheer is more and more increased.
Who keeps his Conscience from offenses clear,
That man keeps
Hill'ry
Term throughout the year
But he that ship wracks a good Conscience shall
Let in great riches, but the Devil withal.
Good Conscience, as
David's
Instrument,
Drives away th'evil Spirit of discontent.
Good Conscience can suck content divine,
From bit'rest drugs, turn
Marah
into Wine.
Can sweetly smile, even in afflictions sharp,
This made
Paul's
Prisons-songs, tuned
David's
harp.
It is a Paradise with pleasures fraught,
All our best duties are without it naught.
It's to the Castle of the Heart a Wall
Of Brass: it is a Christians coat of Mail,
How many do for want of it miscarry!
It is a cordial Electuary:
And very many good ingredients go
Therein, Meat, Drink, Sleep, Ease, Refreshment too.
Good Conscience on God it safe can roll;
'It is
Aquavitae
to the swouning soul.
A Conscience that from wickedness is pure,
Can in the Cannons mouth repose secure.
No such provision 'gainst an evil day,
As a good Conscience; this is they say
A constant Feast; who hath a Conscience good,
Fares well although he have no other Food.
A sincere heart will not do anything
'Gainst Conscience, is bold in suffering;
But ah! fearful of sin, such as upright
would walk, must have God always in their sight.
A Conscience that is pure and free from crimes
Procures a peaceful calm in stormy Times.
O if the ship of a good Conscience crack,
How soon the Merchandize of Faith will wrack.
There Conscience bears very little sway,
If any, where coin bringeth in his plea.
Learning that is good, Conscience without
Is but a ring of Gold in a Swines snout.
Conscience, as the Be, doth honey bring
To good men, and to ill puts forth a sting.
To Consciences dictates hearken to,
And whatsoever thou doubtest, never do.
To keep thy Conscience pure, O spare no cost,
All is lost, if the Conscience be lost;
'It is true, I must confess the best reward
That the World can good Conscience afford,
Are stones and strokes; if
Paul
will not resist
His Conscience, then
Ananias
fist
Shall be about his ears, but neither force
Nor fraud, can from the Truth a Saint divorce.
A wicked conscience loves a dark Cell;
A desp'rate Conscience is a lesser hell:
The wounded Conscience can find no rest
But in Christ only, by true faith possessed.
Many woes by man's spirit sustained are;
But oh, who can a wounded spirit bear!
Though God will not damn those whom he loves well
Yet he may in this life send them to Hell;
A Conscience that is erroneous, is
A Jack-a-Lantern leading men amiss.
The Conscience of a sinner is defiled,
And hence no wonder if it be beguild:
Sometimes the Conscience of a man is dumb,
And as a silenced Preacher doth become;
'Twill not tell men of sin, a Conscience dead,
Feels no sin; being so accustomed
To sinning; he that hath an heart impure,
May oft be safe, but never can be secure.
Conscience hardened in some great sin, makes
No stop in sin till ruin overtakes.
Conscience as a Lyon slumber may,
When it awakes, it roars and tears the prey,
As Satan did the man which was possessed;
'It is like a Vulture gnawing at the Brest.
It is God's Blood-hound that pursues a man,
And will be at his heels, do what he can.
'It is sad when it is either dumb or dead,
Or by erroneous principles misled.
The calm of Conscience will prove a storm
One day; the guilty conscience is a worm,
An ever-living worm, unapt to tire
With biting, in the never-dying fire.
Oh the weight! oh the load of the least sin,
When Conscience doth to be awake begin!
Consc'ence God's Echo is so shrill sometimes,
And clamorous against enormous crimes,
That sinners do not love to hear its noise,
But silence it; the Mandrakes fatal voice
Is not so dreadful to the captiv'd ear,
As that to sinners. Guilt engenders fear:
If maintain comfort in thy soul thou wilt,
Preserve it from the obstructions of guilt,
Which naturally breeds disquiet still;
First Conscience is pure, then peaceable.
Thou canst so long as thou hast peace with sin,
Have no true peace of conscience within.
295. On Consecration.
JEsus Christ was consecrated,
To be our King, Priest, and Prophet;
We are by him reinstated,
Ransomed from Sin and Tophet.
Come let us fall down before him,
And with reverence adore him.
296. On Consent.
COnsent in will to what the judgment likes
Facilitates an action:
Paul
thus speaks
Rom.
7. 16.
I consent to the Law that it is good,
And therefore by him it was not withstood;
A Saint consents to God's commands, therefore
They are not grievous; Sinners evermore
Are under force, terror of Conscience
Hales them to duty, not its excellence;
Such are like Slaves unto the Gally chained,
That are (whether they will or no) constrained.
To work, but godly men like Subjects free,
Yield to their Princes Laws; they love to be
Forward in loyalty, and will confess
Their equity and reasonableness.
Saints find in God's commands so much content,
As draweth forth consent, and this consent
Both easy and familiar made them hath,
Consent is a concomitant of Faith;
The Saint consents to have Christ, and to have
Him upon his own terms to rule, to save.
He makes it not his talk to pick and choose,
But with whole Christ doth freely close,
For better for worse; he sees there lies
Beauty and glory in Christ's opprobries.
Purely for love, he loveth Christ for Christ;
Without whom Heaven given by the High'st
As no sufficient dowry for a Saint,
A Saint consents without the least constraint.
Christ's beauty and sweet disposition draws
The Will to yield obedience to his Laws.
The Will (which as the Master-wheel) doth carry
The whole soul with it, as Sts. consents to marry
With Christ (replenished with Graces store)
On this condition, never to part more.
He will part freely with his life, but not
With Christ; indeed Death when it slips the knot
Between the soul and body, it conjoyns
The Soul and Christ more sure; a Saint resigns
By way of Deed of Gift the interest
That he hath in himself, wholly to Christ.
His own name, his own will he yields to lose,
And will be wholly at Christ's wise dispose.
Christ hath the best and purest of his love,
Which nothing shall be able to remove.
That easy is which with consent is done,
The Match between Christ and the Soul goes on,
With cheerfulness she giving her consent,
Nor shall she e're have cause for to repent.
Lord I asent, and give my consent to
Thy sacred Laws: but ah! I cannot do
What they command; yet wholly I resign
My self to thee, O be thou wholly mine.
297. On Consequents.
1.
FAith animates our duties and our graces;
It is the vital Art'rie of the soul;
Faith purifies the heart, and from it chases
Nat'ral corruption, which makes it foul.
Faith works out Pride, hypocrisy, self-love,
And consecrates the heart to God above.
2.
Faith is a grace that pacifies the heart,
A gentle Dove that in its mouth doth bear
The Olive-branch of Peace. Faith doth impart
Strength to the Soul; by Faith we Victors are.
Faith is a fruitful grace, good Works are seen
As hand-maids still attending on this Queen.
3.
Faith believes, as if it did Works resist,
And worketh as if it did not believe.
Faith is that Spouse-like grace which marries Christ,
And good Works are the children w
ch
receive
Their birth from Faith; 'tis therefore no disgrace
To good Works, to give Faith the highest place.
298. On Consideration.
1.
COnsideration is the root of all
Noble designs, by her we attain to
The end of all our hopes, when others fall;
To hasty rash attempts, she is a foe.
On thy ways much consideration spend,
First what they are, and whether next they tend.
2.
The Pilot on his compass still doth like,
And by that means doth many dangers shun.
The Merchant his affairs with his Count-book
Adviseth, else he might be soon undone.
Consideration is so necessary,
That all estates without it will miscarry.
3.
God's Word & Works doth furnish us with choice
Of matter for to spend our thoughts upon;
Yea every action (for they have a voice)
Summons us to consideration.
Be well acquainted with thyself and state,
What thou art in thyself, O ruminate.
4.
Th'art dust and ashes, within thee doth dwell
Much wickedness; above thee thou mayst see
A just offended God, below thee Hell;
Against thee Sin and Satan; before thee
Vain fancy-tickling pleasure, and behind
Thee certain death; recall these things to mind.
5.
Consider three things past; omitted good,
Committed evil, and amitted time.
Consider three things present; Lifes swift flood,
Salvation work is hard, to Heaven few climb.
Consider three things; Future Death, Doom, Hell,
And walk with God, so shalt thou with him dwell
209. On a Oonsistory.
COonscience is God's Consistory,
And his lesser Throne of Glory.
300. On Consolation.
1.
CHrist is called the consolation
Of his people
Israel,
He that hath him hath Salvation,
And shall ever with him dwell;
By his Beams the Saints shall shine,
And be as he is, Divine.
2.
Christless souls are comfortless,
Woful is their misery,
How can such as these possess
Comfort, when they come to die,
They're in debt, no surety have,
Sick, no Physician to save.
3.
All our comforts here below
Are but weak, but such are strong
Which do from the Spirit flow,
And to Saints alone belong.
Those are feculent, these pure;
Those decay, but these endure.
301. On Consonants.
ASk without Vowels, Consonants are dumb;
So, without Graces, Men as Bruits become.
302. On a Consort.
WHat consort's there when Consorts live in strife?
O what a Jewel is a loving wife!
O what a blessed harmony is there,
When man and wife do serve the Lord with fear!
303. On Conspiracy.
SAmpsons
Foxes were agreed
To consume the Corn with fire;
Satan and his cursed seed,
Do against the Church conspire
And her overthrow endeavor,
But she shall abide forever.
304. On a Constable.
COnstable mind your charge, the Drunkard reels
About the streets, go lay him by the heels.
Who sin corrects, he mercifully deals.
305. On Constancy.
THe Motto of a Christian should be that
Of Queen
Elizabeth,
in every state
Always the same, not lift up, by renown
When lifted up; nor cast down, when cast down.
A constant minded man is free from care,
And sorrow-ending death he doth not fear,
Aristides
amidst the various fates
And changes that befell th'
Athenian
States
In his time, did always the same abide,
For honor never puff▪d him up with pride;
Nor adverse things could ever make him vent
The least of passion or discontent.
He used to say, Good Citizens alone
Rejoice in what they have well said and done.
Demosthenes,
rather than he would prove
A changeling, lost his life—We may not move
Nor shrink one jot from our profession.
Dan'el
leaves not his God, though he be shewn
The Lion; the three children still stood fast,
When into the oft-heated Furnace cast.
However like the lower Orb there's none,
But have a nat'ral motion of our own,
From good to ill; let's let the power above us,
The all-wise God, from ev'l to good to move us,
Who ever is the same; we must endeavor
To be like him, so shall we live forever.
Better it were never to have begun,
Than not continue till the race be run.
Vain is alas, the running of that soul,
Who faints before he cometh to the Goal.
Not to go forward in God's way, is to
Go backward; many begin well, but few
End so; it tendeth to perfection▪
To consummate what we have well begun;
Lifes crown is given to such as persevere,
As good never a whit, as never the near.
306. On Constellation.
'It is not the influx of a Constellation,
But sin that bringeth ruin to a Nation.
307. On Constitution.
SOme men of such a constitution are,
That for their sins they cannot shed a tear:
But let no Saint be thereat discontent
The Vessel may be full, though it wants vent.
308. On Constraint.
SInners compel'd do yield, the gracious Saint
Obeys God out of love, not by constraint.
309. On Construction.
WIthout addition or deduction,
Things may admit a good Construction.
310. On a Consul.
ROmes
Consuls honorable things did do,
God grant our Counselors may do so too.
311. On Consultation.
WHen we would get what really is good,
We must not take advice from flesh and blood.
312. On a Consumption.
A Man may have his body plump and whole,
Yet a Consumptive, a diseased soul.
313. On Consummation.
AS Glory is the consummation
Of Grace, so Grace is Glory here begun.
314. On Contact.
THe Loadstone by a virtual contact
Draws Ir'n to it. God's Spirit doth attract
Us by a supernat'ral instinct
T'himself, to Christ by faith our hearts are linkit
315. On Contagion.
SIn infects all the powers of the soul,
And members of the body; puts the whole
Man out of order: if Christ bathe us in
His blood, that frees us from the plague of sin.
316. On Containing.
GOd is immense in every place remaining,
Contain'd of nothing, yet all things containing
317. On Contemplation.
FElicity, the Stagarite assigned
To the high contemplation of the mind;
By contemplation the Souls pow'rs are pressed
To act upon (this most perfect object) Rest.
The Nursery of Piety it is,
St.
Herom
styled it his Paradise;
It's a friend to the Graces, contemplation
Helps very much to water the Plantation:
A Treasury it is, where all the Graces
Are locked up, this a Prospective-Glass is,
By which the Saints see things not to be seen
By mortal eyes; this Portal lets us in
To glory, and puts us in heaven before
Our times, King
David's
thought were evermore,
Travelling towards the
Jerusalem
Above, which made him things below contemn:
A devout Soul in contemplation,
Is never less alone; then when alone
By good desires, in the best company,
Even with his God and Saints it loves to be.
318. On Contempt.
THe world with all it's pleasures, profits, glory,
Is transitory:
And it gives no content to them that prize it,
Let's then despise it;
And use it so, as though we used it not;
Envy doth blot
Fair honors credit, swelling Titles are
Dreams in career:
Riches have wings, but for a while they stay,
Then flee away,
Pleasures alas! how quickly do they fade
When grief invade!
My Soul, there's nothing that deserves thy love
But God above:
O run to him, and strive to be possessed
Of him, so shalt thou be forever blest.
319. On Contending for Heaven.
ANd does there then remain a glorious Rest
For Saints? O let us zealously contest
For it against all oppositions,
We must pass thorough
Thorns
to sit on
Thrones,
We ere we reign, three Regiments must rout,
The flesh, and Devil within, the world without.
By giving battle to them in the way,
Heaven is for triumph, but it's now a day
Of battle, let's fight the good fight of Faith,
There's no cessation of Arms till death.
320. On Contention.
COntention springs from pride, & it makes way
For trouble; Wild-fire like it will not stay,
But runs and leaps so furiously about,
That nothing else, but blood can quench it out.
It is woeful dwelling with debateful men,
Whose Soul hate peace, nurs'd in
Erynays
Den;
Our Petty foggers Satan's fire-brands,
Do more hurt to the Commons of the Land,
Then
Samson's
Foxes with fire-brands tied to
Their tail, to the Philistines corn could do.
Contention hinders much the growth of grace,
He who is in the Gall of bitterness,
Cannot parturiat, no nor inherit
The pleasing fruits of the peace-loving spirit,
A froward heart is like to
Patmos
Isle,
No Herb of grace will grow upon that soil,
Can good seed sprout and flourish in a ground,
Where Thorns and Briars do so much abound?
Till strife be by some Antidote expel'd,
The choicest food no nutriment can yield.
321. On Contentment.
THe fire Flies the sphere, the Rivers roll
To th'Sea, the Load-stone turneth to his Pole:
The stone hasts to its center; even so
The heart should long to be united to
Its God in love; nothing there is that can
Yield satisfaction to the wit of man;
But the first Truth; goodness alone can fill
The hearts desire, and content the will,
And this is God, what are all other things,
But like the Butter-flies fine painted wings,
Which yet pollute our fingers? can there be
Fulness in emptiness and vanity:
Riches have wings, and Honor is but vain,
And worldly pleasure often ends in pain:
Content without the world, is better then
The world without content to sober men,
To have a handsome competent estate,
And no contentment, is a judgment great;
Competency with contentment is far
More eligible, then great Lordships are,
Content becalm's the mind, and banishes
Repining thoughts out of its Diocese:
Comfort flows from content, he's always poor
That hath abundance, and yet wanteth more.
He is the wealthiest man that is content
With what he hath, for riches are but lent:
Contentment is a flow'r not to be found
In every Garden, how we may abound
In midst of want, by this we tutor'd are;
'It is griefs Pan-pharmacon, the cure of care:
This in a deluge makes us even to sing;
O 'tis an heavenly and intrinsic thing!
Content, for service fits, and tunes the heart,
To the wheels of the Soul doth oil impart,
It carries Heaven about it, where it goes,
For what is Heaven, but the sweet repose
Souls have in God? contented spirits are
Like Heaven, for God is there, and rest is there:
Whatever in the Creature wanting is,
Is made up in contentment: O the bliss
Of a contented mind! God that doth feed
The Ravens, will not suffer his to need.
Godless men have enough, yet more do crave,
Godly men are content with what they have,
And that is their enough; where is no grace,
There can be no content in any case:
How many men in this terrestrial ro
•
nd
Loose by desire, but by content are crowned!
Contentment is a golden Shield that saves
The Soul; 'tis like a rock that breaks the waves,
It is an Antidote that doth expel
Sin, and temptations rising out of Hell,
Contentment is the true Philos'phers-stone,
Which turns all into Gold; content alone
Doth sweeten all estates, this little is
A pledge of more; blessed be God for this!
It makes a fair interpretation
Of all God's dealings, 'tis in goodness done:
A Christian has that which may make him
Content, unless his spirit'all eyes be dim:
Hath not God given thee Christ? Treasure divine
Are in him, is not he a golden Mine
Of grace and wisdom? hast thou not the spirit?
And dost not thou the promises inherit?
Hast thou not a reversion of Heaven,
And canst thou be of full content bereaven?
We pray thy will be done; now then we do
Confute our pray'rs, if discontent we show:
It is the will of God and his decree,
That we should in such a condition be;
God sees it best for us; content subdues
Our selves, and holy valor doth infuse.
It doth God▪s glory mightily advance,
And dash the Devil out of countenance.
All cross or bloody providences shall
Do a Believer good, we know that all
Things (good or evil) work together do
For their good, that love God; if so, O who
Will murmur or re
•
ine! let's be content,
God hath the ord'
•
ing of each grand event:
Our life's a day, if God our charges bear,
Till death's night come, for more we need not care.
Prosperity hath still in it more trouble,
More danger, and it's reckoning is double:
The sorrow here we meet with, shall not last,
Our hell, when we have shot Deaths gulf, is past:
O what a dreadful judgment is assigned,
To them that have not a contented mind!
This lesson of content (as I may say)
Is the best lesson that a Saint can play,
God likes this Music well: All are concerned
To learn this lesson, which St.
Paul
once learned:
Which way soever providence did blow,
Paul
how to steer his course had skill to know:
With what God sends, let us contented rest,
A little is enough, if truly blest.
Heaven is our home, who hath enough to bear
His charges thither, for more need not care;
Yet content in a nat'ral state (alas!)
We may not be; nor with a little grace;
God but to some doth true content impart;
Few Commence Masters of this sacred Art.
He that hath learnt
Paul's
lesson of content;
Is silent, cheerful, thankful, hath no bent
To run on sin to free himself from woe;
Nor will he venture out till God bids go:
God will give grace and glory to his own;
Here is enough for faith to live upon:
He that knows God is his, and all that is
In God is for his good, takes naught amiss:
They only possess all things, that possess
The possessor of all things; nothing less
Then God can fill us, here is nothing can
Yield true contentment to the soul of man:
Contentment will the Super-structure be,
Where the Foundation is Humility,
Good Consc'ence, Self-denial, Medita
•
ion
On Heaven, and Prayer
foment contentation:
Grace is (when all things fail) sufficient,
Lord grant me that, and I will be content.
322. On Continence.
VEnus
will freeze, if
Ceres
(belly-cheer)
And
Bacchus
(wine) make not a fire for her;
Prayer and Fasting is the
Agnus castus,
And Lettuce to cool lust, which else may wast us!
Sine Cerere & Baccho friget Venus.
323. On Continuance.
THe end crowns all, as we have well begun,
We must go forward to perfection,
At this mark aim, and shoot, though it we miss;
Constancy wins the Garland; nothing is
Said to be done, while any part remain
To do, none can for Heaven take too much pain.
Thou hast done well, yet go on still, hold fast,
See thou be always good, but best at last.
The tired Horse when he comes near home will mend
His pace, so thou when near thy journeys end:
Alas! how many are there set about
The work, but work not their salvation out?
Some
Jehu
like have in Religion
Furiously drived, but their wheels anon
Have been took off; we live in the Leafs fall,
Some that seemed best, have proved worst of all:
Glorious professors in their march to Heaven,
Have tired, to such the Crown shall not be given:
Prayer, hearing, holy conference (alas!)
Is left by such as once made show of grace:
He doth unravel all he did before,
Who in the middle of the work, gives over,
Postates are the richest spoils of all,
That Satan gives away with tohis black Hall.
O you that never yet took one stitch in
The work of your salvation, now begin;
Reirgion is (if it be followed well)
A thriving trade, O strive therein toexcel;
Such only as do labor very hard
In their Soul-Vinyards, meet with a reward.
He that unto the death is faithful found,
Shall with a lasting Diadem be crowned:
It is better not to have the race begun,
Then to give over e're the prize be won.
Some have I seen who for their sins have mourned
But ah their Spring is into Autumn turned;
They have left off working for Heaven at last,
And like fair mornings, been soon over-cast,
Have fallen to sin; O I would have such read
That thundering Scripture, for it had indeed
Been better for them never to have known
The way of Right ousness, than to disown
It afterwards; he that runs half the race
And then faints, looseth the reward of Grace.
324. On a Contract.
THere is a contract past between
Christ and the Soul that hateth sin,
The Soul that takes delight in evil,
Hath chosen for her mate the Devil.
325. On Contradiction.
HE contradicts his Pray'rs that says thy will
Be done, and always doth his own fulfill;
If thou repent, and not reformest, this
Repentance with a contradiction is,
God will forgive, but thou to Hell shalt go,
Forgiveness with a contradiction too!
Heaven is with joys & hell with torments stocked,
Be not deceived, God will not be mocked.
326. On Contraries.
COntraries are as Commentaries to
Destroy each other, if oppose we do
Contrary natures diametrally,
We learn what to embrace, what to pass by,
If the departing sun should not leave night
To follow it, the day would seem less bright.
The foil adds grace to th' Jewel, ignorance
Barking at learning, doth its worth advance,
He knows the worth of heat (I dare be bold)
Who left the sharpness of a freezing cold,
Even health itself, did but no sickness vex,
Would be thought sickness, and as much perplex;
Nay, foul sin by a sober Meditation,
Affordeth an unwilling Illustration
To grace (which doth our souls so beautify)
'Gainst which it vaunts a contrariety.
327. On Contribution
I Read the Ancients made oil to be
The sacred emblem of true Charity;
The golden oil of contribution,
•
ike
A'rons
oil, must trickle down upon
The poor, which are the garments lower skirts,
The Saints to pious uses wealth converts:
Not only Christ (in whom all fullness dwells)
Commands to do good works, but grace compels.
328. On Contrition.
COntrition, in all true Converts found,
Is the up-breaking of the fallow ground;
The renting, or the pricking of the heart
For sin, a sensibility of smart:
It's the way to conversion from sins;
Conversion with contrition begins,
Contrition imports an inward sorrow,
Sincerity, which hath no need to borrow
A feigned Art; true faith, with strong desire
Of mercy, though we have deserved hell-fire.
Let's mourn for sin, mourning will now do well,
Who mourns not here on earth, shall mourn in hell,
Obdurate Souls shall have eternal shame,
God will renounce whom he could not reclaim;
But he will not a contrite heart despise,
O 'tis his acceptable Sacrifice.
Mirth more than mourning pleaseth Kings on earth,
God more delights in mourning than in mirth:
The Spir
•
t of grace dropping as dew upon
The heart, makes it a soft and tender one:
God poureth forth his spirit on his Saints;
Which makes them mourn, and pour forth sad complaints,
Says the poor sinner, Oh that I should spurn
Against such bowels, and for this doth mourn:
He washeth with his tears Christ's wounds, before
He wept for fear, now he for love weeps more.
What folly is it not to mourn? how shall
God bottle up our tears, which never fall?
Or how shall he wipe those tears from our eyes,
Which never trickled thence, with fresh supplies
On our moist cheeks? Or shall he comforts give
To us, that do not mourn, that will not grieve?
God makes us wise that we may choose the best,
To mourn now with God's servants, and be blest
With them; blessed are they that tears do shed,
For they shall be hereafter comforted.
329. On a Controller.
GOd is the great controller of our Souls,
Whose Byas naturally hell-ward rouls.
330. On Controversy.
IN fundamental Truths be resolute
And stable, he that falsehoods would confute,
Makes these his fixed Poles, whilst Skeptics tost
On controversial seas, are giddi'd, lost.
332. On Contumacy.
SElf-willed we are by nature, if God please
He can pul down our stubborn hearts with ease
And make the Mountain of our pride decrease.
332. On a Conventicle.
WHere men do meet to serve the Lord w
•••
fear
For holy ends, no Conventicle's there.
When men (like
Venners
party) meet and stickle
T'effect some ill, O that's a Conventicle.
333. On Conversation.
WHere there is a good conscience, there will
Be a good conversation, pure hearts still
Go with pure lives, when with its golden beams
Grace shines abroad, how beautiful it seems!
If the stream be corrupt, we may suspect
The Spring to be impure, a Saint will act
For God, of God he very often talks,
And with God,
Noah-
like, he always walks,
Is exercised in Angels work, always
Serving his God, and singing to his praise:
A Christian is full of spirit'all mirth,
His life's a very Heaven upon Earth;
The conversation of Saints is where
God is, in Heaven e're themselves come there,
Shall we account them pure, whose conversation
Is not in Heaven, God's Holy habitation;
But in hell rather, Satan's dwelling place?
How justly may such as are void of grace,
Reproach and scorn Religion when they seeit
Thus kicked down, with our unholy feet.
The Clock hath not its motion within
Alone, without there moves the Dial-pin:
Sincerity of heart is seen upon
••
e Dial of the conversation.
A pure heart hath a golden Frontispiece,
It loves fair virtue, and abhors foul vice,
Grace like new wine, will have vent, cannot be
Concealed, the fruits do manifest the Tree,
Although within Religions main work lies,
Yet must our light shine forth to others eyes,
The Saints are called Jewels in the sight
Of others, they reflect a luster bright,
When we have Gospel-conversations,
We in God's Church, are sparkling Diamonds.
Saints lives come near to Christ their all in all,
As the Transcript to the Original.
Christ in his conversation, lovely seems,
His life was purer than the sunny beams;
'Twas a fair copy never any one,
Wrote without blotting, saving Christ alone,
Who knew no sin; his lips never did
A word amiss, his feet did never tread
A step awry, and he who was a way
For others to walk in, did never stray
Out of the way himself, his life's throughout,
A pattern of good works, he went about
Still doing good even from the cratch unto
The Cross, he never any ill did do.
As
Moses
face did shine when he had been
With God, so we in holiness must shine.
Our carri'ge and deportment should declare,
That of Heavens City, Burgesses we are.
And that we to
Jerusalem
above
Are going, thorough the high-way of Love.
Sincer'ty in the heart as holy leaven,
Makes the heart to swell, & rise as high as Heaven.
The upright man orders his conversation
Aright, and God will show him his salvation.
Some brag they have good hearts, but their lives are
Crooked, they hope to go to heaven, but their
Foot-steps take hold of Hell, while Saints set on
Religions head an honorable Crown,
Adorn the Gospel; such shall reign no doubt,
Who copy in their lives the Bible out.
334. On Converse.
1.
WE cannot here converse with this unclean
And dirty World, but some uncleanness will,
Fasten upon us, godly men have been
Desirous to converse with better still
Than themselves are, this doth characterize
A gracious heart, he good converse doth prize.
2.
Lovers desire before the marriage day
To chat together oft, Christ by his Spirit
Converseth with the Soul, and the Soul may
Converse with him by prayer, and through his merit,
Obtain good things, Ordinances divine
Are to a Christian, the house of Wine.
3.
O these the Chariots of salvation are,
Christ rides herein, into believers hearts,
The Ordinances are the Lattice where
Christ looketh forth, and to his Saints imparts
His smiling Face, Word, Prayer, Sacraments,
Furnish the Soul with holy conference.
335. On Conversion.
GOnversion is a change of mind, heart, will,
And life, to what is good from what is ill:
Conversion of a sinner by degrees;
And painfully is wrought, as God doth please,
It is not the word that man speaks, nor the man
That speaks to us the word of truth, which can
Convert a soul; conversion is wrought
By knowing things, the spirit hath us taught
Otherwise than before, truth is alone
The truest Touch-stone of conversation,
A moral, formal, mental, temporary,
Conversion many have, and yet miscarry:
Rich men's conversion is hard and rare,
A sound conversion is whole, sincere,
Growing in grace, constant in holiness,
Its worth no tongue is able to express.
If one return that unto God belongs,
The blessed Angels welcome him with Songs,
The Devils follow him with furious cry,
His old Colleagues, with scorn and obloquy,
Aversion from sin, conversion
To God, makes way for an eternal Crown.
'It is not enough not to commit foul crimes,
But we must practice good, and this betimes.
(Timothy-like)
if fruit we forth will bring
In Autumn, we must blossom in the Spring.
336. On Conviction.
COnviction of sin is the first act
Of Christ's, wrought in Believers God's elect.
There can be no Faith without sense of sin,
And of the misery that we are in:
And there can be no sense of sin indeed,
Unless a real sight of sin precede;
Which the Law shows, the main end of the Law
Is to drive us to Christ, (Free-grace must draw)
Men may know sin, not be convinced at all,
There's a conviction merely rational,
There is in that conviction which is right,
A clear, a real, and a constant light:
When by this light, let by the Spirit into
The soul, we see sin, death, there's now a through
Conviction: O the evils that await
Upon an Unregenerate estate!
So much conviction as may bring in,
And work in us compunction for sin:
So much is necessary and no more,
A sound conviction always goes before
Sincere conversion; there are no doubt
Many convictions for sin without
Conversion, but no conversion
Without convictions; 'tis the Spirit alone
That must convince (as Christ did once express)
The world of sin, and also right'ousness.
Conviction is God's preparatory
To Faith, and so to everlasting Glory.
The seed that wanted depth of earth decayed,
Faith that is not in deep conviction laid,
Will wither soon, and be for nothing meet,
Till sin is bitter, Christ is never sweet.
Christ calls 'tis true, but he gives ease to none,
But them that do under sins burden groan.
A man must see himself lost and undone,
Before to Christ he can for comfort run.
When once the soul convinced i
•
of Sin,
And the Hell at his heels, it doth begin
To prize a Savior, when convictions dart,
Is by the Spirit whirled in the heart,
It panteth after Christ, begs hard for grace;
And O how willing is it to embrace
Christ upon his own terms! it's free to have
Christ for to rule, as well as Christ to save.
Let God propound what Articles he please,
The humble soul subscribes to them with ease.
When one is brought to Christ's terms, to believe
And obey, then is he fit to receive
The streams of mercy, when God's Spirit hath been
A Spirit of Conviction, it then
Becomes a Spirit of consolation:
When the Plough of the Law hath gone upon
The heart, and broken up the fallow ground,
Now God (whose love doth evermore abound)
Doth sow the seed of comfort; such as boast
Of comfort, ah! but by the holy Ghost
Were never yet convinced, find in conclusion
Their comfort a Satannical delusion.
337. On Convocation.
THere shall be a Convocati
•
n
Of all Saints at the great day,
To be crowned with Salvation,
And to reign with Christ for ay.
In the
New Jerusalem
O may I be one of them.
338. On Convulsions.
WHat strange convulsions Reprobates in hell
Endure forever, O what tongue can tell!
339. On a Convoy.
MY soul is under sail, Lord, if thou be
My convoy, I the Port of peace shall see.
340. On a Cook.
THe Saints are guests, and Glory is their dish,
A better Cook than Grace I would not wish.
341. On a Coop.
HEll is the Devils Coop Sinners run in,
But never can find the way out agin.
342. On a Co-partner.
IF of Christ's grace participate we do,
We shall share with him in his glory too.
343. On a Cope.
THe Cope and Vestments of as much renown,
Will b' out of season, when the Pope goes down.
344. On a Copy.
CHrists love was holy, hearty, kind, and stable,
And we should follow him as we are able.
345. On a Copy-hold.
HEav'n is a Christians Copy-hold more sure
Than any, for it ever shall endure.
346. On a Copiss.
SInners shall Copiss-like be hewn down.
With God's just Ax, and into Hell fire thrown▪
347. On Copper.
SUch are but Copper Christ'ans, who profess
That they know Christ, yet live in wickedness.
348. On Copperas.
SIn is as poys'nous as the Copperas;
No Antidote can drive it out, but Grace.
349. On Copulation.
GOd first of one made two, and now ties two
In one, which knot Death only can undo.
350. On Coral.
WE rub therewith Teeth-breeding Infants gums,
Great ben'fit often from hard usage comes.
351. On a Cord.
LOve is a cord binds us to Christ, and draws
Our hearts to yield obedience to his Laws.
352. On a Cordial.
GOds Word is a strong cordial to the Saint,
This comforts him, when he is like to faint;
In wants and woes it yields support divine;
Turns
Marah
waters into pleasant wine.
Let sickness come, the comforts of the Word
Can allay it, and saving health afford;
The fiery trial, this is that opposes,
And turns the flame into a bed of Roses.
The sense of pardon takes away the sense
Of pain. Suppose Death come to fetch us hence,
A Christian can out-brave it,
O Death where
Is thy sting!
by the Word the spirits are
Reviv'd and cheered; thus every child of God
Tastes honey at the end of the tart rod.
It's good t' have such a Julip lying by,
As can expel Deaths venom, when we die.
353. On a Core.
WE must take out the core of malice from
Our hearts, before we to God's Table come
354. On Cork.
HOpe is the Cork that makes a Saint to swim
Above the floods, which else would ruin him
355. On a Cormorant.
HEll is a Cormorant, devouring all
The souls, that into Satan's clutche; fall.
356. On Corn.
GOod Works are crowned, the husband man takes pain
Before he reaps the pride of
Ceres
Plain.
357. On a Corner.
EAch dusty corner of the heart must be
Swept clean, to entertain the Trinity.
358. On a Corner-stone.
CHrist is resembled to a Corner stone;
The whole weight of the Fabric lies upon
The Corner-stone, the weight of our salvation
Lies upon Christ, Christ is our sustentation.
Christ is the real
Atlas,
his firm shoulders
Are of the Churches weight, the main upholders.
He is that golden Pillar bears up all
Th'Elect, and while he stands, they cannot fall.
The Corner-stone even as a
Medium
doth
Firmly unite, and link together both
Parts of the building; so when God and man
At variance were, this Corner-stone again
United them, yea did cement them too,
With his own blood, and more what could he do?
The Corner-stone is that which gives always
Direction to the Builders, how to lay
And place all other stones; he in his sight
Must have the Corner-stone, who would build right▪
Christ Jesus is a Saints direction,
And rule, in all things by him to be done.
And have an eye, continually we must
Upon his word, and his example just.
The fairest stones because of beauty, are
Plac'd in the Corner, Christ is very fair,
The beauty of the spir'tual Mansion:
How rarely lovely is the precious Stone!
Christ who sustains, unites, adorns, directs,
Excells all Corner-stones in five respects.
He is a living Stone, and for his praise,
He unto the whole Building, Life conveys.
Hence Saints for spiritual buildings fit,
Are styled
Living Stones
in sacred Writ.
He is a Stone of God's immediate laying;
He is a Corner-stone without decaying.
As fast now, as he did at first, he cleaves;
He from the other stones no strength receives.
Christ is a Corner-stone that reaches from
The bottom to the top; all good things come
From him alone: One Christ the need supplies,
Of the whole Church, which on his grace relies.
Note hence, the Church is firm, fair, with Christ one,
The Pope is not the Churches Cornerstone.
The truth of Christ's two Nature; Christ is strong▪
And very near to those to him belong.
Lean not on sandy
•
illars, Christ is able
To prop thee, cast thy care on him; be stable,
Be comforted, Christ is the Corner-stone
Of Grace, as well as of Salvation.
He's strong though you be weak; recall to mind
The Corner-stone when you Church-tott▪ring
•
find▪
Christ is a Stone elect, he is likewise
A precious Stone in God's, Saints, Angels eyes:
And in himself, his person, a
•
d his graces,
Are glorious, so the Church for such a Basis.
Christ by the most of men despised is,
Because of ignorance, pride, prejudice.
In largeness and duration Christ excels
All other precious Stones, all fullness dwells
In him, no noble qualities he wants,
O the great riches of Believing Saints!
O bless God for this precious Corner-stone,
Encourag'd be to build on him alone:
Prize what refers to Christ, esteem him more
Than all the Jewels on the Indian shore:
So will you stick faster to him, and do,
And suffer gladly what he calls you to.
359. On a Cornet.
THe Cornet was esteemed in elder days,
David
would have it used to sound God's praise
•
Now let us with our hearts our voices raise.
360. On a Colonel.
THe Colonel commandeth armed Bands,
How blest is he, who his own self commands:
361. On Coronation.
AT Death a Christian shall completely be
Install'd into his honor, he shall see
God face to face, on him shall oil be spread,
And the Crown-Royal set upon his head.
Saints of the Kingdom now are heirs renowned,
Doth not the heir desire to be crowned?
And, oh, shall not the Saints, while here they stay,
Be longing for the Coronation-day!
362. On a Corporation.
CHrist is the head-officer, th'heirs of salvation
Are members of a blessed Corporation.
363. On a Corps.
TIll God infuse grace into us, we can
Nor feel, nor act, no more than a dead man.
364. On Correction.
IT's no small mercy in a Father to
Correct his child when he amiss doth do.
We have as much need of corrections
As Ordinances; God corrects his sons
Whom he affects, he doth in love reprove,
Correction is an argument of love.
This shows our son-ship, for our heinous crimes,
We must be under the Black Rod sometimes.
Correction is a School, the Saints therein
Learn best, God hath but one son without sin,
But no son without stripes; if stripes we have,
Know we God smites in love, that he may save.
Corrections are God's corrosives to eat
The proud flesh out, the Stockfish being beat
Boils soonest, gold is not the worse for trying,
Nor corn for being fanned; when sin is dying
Grace lives, some plants grow better in the shade
Than in the Sun; so we when griefs invade.
The snuffing of the candle makes it burn
The brighter, when our edge begins to turn,
God whets it; when the Thorn is at the breast,
The Saint, God's spirit'all Nightingale, sings best.
God is fain to rub hard, we are so stained,
For to fetch out the dirt in us ingrain'd.
Some Birds will hatch but in time of Thunder,
Saints are best when correction keeps them under.
Before affliction
David
went astray,
But by affliction
David
learnt toobey.
365. On a Corrival.
THe Souls a Virgin, Christ and Satan woe her,
Christ to enrich her, Satan to undo her.
366. On a Corrasive.
THe Law must first corrode, and search the wound,
Before the Gospels balm can make it sound.
367. On Corruption.
HYblaean Honey is commixt with Wax:
The finest linen hath both stains and bracks.
Gold hath its dross, and on the self-same ground,
Bright wheat, and also cumbrous weeds is found.
Even so corruption in the Church of Christ,
May stand, and yet with it true Grace consist:
In Heaven there's none but good, there's none in hell
But bad; both bad & good on earth do dwell.
The Church is Heaven's Kingdom called, because
Heavens King rules it by his Celestial Laws.
Yet still it is but Heaven upon Earth,
Whilst militant, some failings will sprout forth;
Nor may we therefore separate, for sure
The Gospel's fair, though men's lives are impure.
God's floor hath chaff with corn, his drag-net hath
Rubbish with fish, his house vessels of wrath
With those of honor; the Moon sometimes wains,
And when 'tis at the Full, it hath some stains.
To the prepared it is not expressed,
My friend, how came you in with such a ghost.
Corruption, succedaneous to the fall
Of the first man, is that Original
•
niquity which
Adam
by the act
Of his so foul transgression, did contract,
And transmit to posterity, this is
Th' effect of that which
Adam
did amiss.
Corruption reigns not, though it may abide
•
n Saints, God looks it should be mortifi'd;
And he, if in the main we be upright,
Will pass them by, and very much delight
In all our duties, though remain they do,
Yea them reward here, and hereafter too.
And now my soul be careful to discover
Thy special vile affections; O watch over
Sins of thy calling, nature, constitution,
Time, place, and with a constant resolution
Strive to subdue them, by thy prayers wrestle,
And give not over till thou hast won the Castle
370. On Cosmographie.
TIs said the World is spherical and round,
And that's the reason whythere can be foun
•
Little square dealing, roundness. signifies
Perfection, yet below but little lies.
371. On Cost.
OUr Savior's precious blood was spilled,
To satisfy for all our guilt,
He did bleed out at every vein
Our pardon, by his loss we gain.
372. On a Costardmonger.
THe Costardmonger sels Pears, Apples, Plum
•
Satan puts off his wares to all that comes.
273. On a Costrel.
THis Vessel's full of Liquor, but alas!
My heart is empty of the wine of Grace.
374. On a Cottage.
THe body is a Cottage, and it must
Resign it's Tenant, then return to dust.
375. On Cotton.
OUr spungie ears are apt to drink
Foul language, as the Cotton Ink.
376. On a Couch.
KIng
David's
Couch was watered
With tears, which for his sins he shed.
And O that I for sin could weep,
And my poor heart in sorrow steep!
377. On the Covenant.
Do this and
thou shalt
live,
the covenant old
Urg'd this, but this afforded comfort cold.
But the new says,
•
elieve and live forever,
Accepting for the deed, our best endeavor.
The Law commandment gives, but not converts;
The Gospel brings salvation to our hearts,
And our hearts to salvation; each Saint
Because he is with God in covenant
Is blest already; I their God will be,
And they shall be a People unto me.
Happy that people, whose God is the Lord!
This is the crowning blessing, O sweet word!
To have God to be ours, to be possessed
Of God, cannot but make us fully blest.
No tongue can tell thy blessedness, who art
In Christ, and in his Covenant hast part.
Mans fall did prove within a little space,
An in-let to the covenant of grace.
The Covenants
Tie
is
Sure,
for all do grant,
Christ is the
Surety
of the covenant.
They are the Favorites of Heaven, who are
Link'd to, and under God's indulgent care.
Such only as are undefiled with sin,
And pure in heart, are interested in
The covenant of Grace, we have no right
To the new covenant till washed white.
God he hath made his Will, and will not sail
To settle Heaven, upon us by entail.
With this
Proviso
in the Will, that we
Be purifi'd, and holy persons be.
The covenant is our great charter, this
Entitles us to everything that is
In Earth and Heaven, the Saint in wealth excels,
By having Christ, in whom all fullness dwells.
Christ is the hinge and pillar, upon which
The covenant of Grace (which makes us rich
In all things) turns; 'tis founded upon Christ,
And sealed in his blood, an interest
We have in Christ, by faith, this golden chain,
Present and future things by faith we gain.
The covenant is a golden Zone or clasp,
That God to us, and us to God doth hasp.
In elder times the girdle was a token
Of chastity; the covenant once broken,
The Church doth lose her pure virginity,
Israel
God's Spouse fell to Idolatry:
A sin that did directly cut in sunder
Th'afed'ral knot, that she's divorc'd what wonder?
Our solemn Obligations are of late,
As an old Almanac gone out of date:
But covenant violation is an high
Affronting sin, which God will not pass by
Without revenge, a bold affront will make
God draw his sword, and vengeance on us take.
O if God's covenant so sacred still,
Will not restrain us, God hath chains that will;
Eternal chains: Have we not cause to mourn,
When Christians do
Carthaginians
turn,
And make no reck'ning of their Oaths at all?
Unless we do repent, perish we shall.
Mourn
England,
mourn for covenant violation.
Which is a flying roll against thy Nation.
The Sacramental covenants, thy vow
In Baptism, and at the Lord's Supper, thou
Hast started from, and hast done nothing less
Than what thou promisedst in thy distress.
How shamefully hast thou thy God forgot?
And made his covenants like a Gypsies knot,
Fast or loose at thy pleasure; or reform
Thy ways and labor to prevent a Storm
Of falling vengeance; O repent betimes,
And God will pardon thy Heaven-daring crimes.
378. On Covering.
THe wings of mercy hover over
A Saint, his sins free grace doth cover,
Who of Christ Jesus is a lover.
379. On Covetousness.
COvetise of all evils is the root,
Hence discontent and other mischiefs sprout;
Theft, Treason, Murder, willful Perjury,
Fraud, Brib'ry, Whoredom, foul Idolatry.
Horrid oppression, quarrelsome debates,
And the subversion of mighty States.
O what a cursed sin base avarice is,
In that it is the parent of all vices.
Lord, what a monster 'tis! who would not fly it?
Mans body it deprives of restful quiet,
Of peace his conscience, his soul of grace,
And leaves him in a miserable case.
Since then th'effects of coveting is such,
Better it were to want, than have too much.
How sad is it to have a Sea of sin,
And not a drop of mercy enter in
The heart! the reason why the word avails
No more, is avarice, the seed oft falls
Among rough thorns; the sprouting thorns (we read)
Choaked the good disseminated seed
Thousands of Sermons buried lie (alas!)
In earthly hearts, hearts that this world embrace.
Covetize always is sparing in giving,
But how excessive is it in receiving!
Gold guides the Globe of earth, and covetize
Runs round about the world; they riches prize,
Who careful are to get, desirous to
Keep riches, and are loath to let them go:
Gain is indifferent in itself still,
The use is good, but the abuse is ill,
The care is worse, the conquest vile and base,
The gain of Gold make many men (alas!)
To lose their Souls, by being over-savings,
Thousands are lost, yet there's no end of having.
What men get, like the
Polypus
they hold,
Some study the black Art for yellow Gold;
Desire of gain scarce ever yet did good,
This hath made some swim to the crown in blood,
What numbers hath it caused Physicians to
Destroy? what numbers Lawyers to undo:
It hath not only multitudes undone,
But it is beneficial to none.
Covetous men while they themselves enrich,
Debase themselves, making themselves a pitch
Low'r than their Angels, as God made them lower
Then his bright Angels, both in will & power,
He is so miserably sordid, that
So his Coffers be filled, and his estate
May thrive, he is content to let his name
Lye dead and buried, he regards not fame.
The gripling Miser for a fool may go,
He thinks God's treasury too empty to
Content him, he God's glory never sees,
And will not trust him on bare promises,
As God (which never will leave his) he leaves
So to the world (which cannot help) he cleaves,
Better then his own soul, the rich fool loves
His Gold, and within his own circle moves,
He wrinkles and contracts (by saving charges)
His body, by this means his purse enlarges:
He to himself will scarce a meal afford,
But is a constant ghost at Satan's board.
No marvel he hear not men's craving wants,
When he himself is deaf to the complaints
Of his own belly, to which he is ever
Endebted, and is like to pay it never:
He never paid his belly nor his back,
A quarter of their dues, he loves no Sack,
Nor Cates, the smallest beer, the coarsest meat,
Is good enough for him to drink or eat:
Pride's vanity he doth so much detest,
Which doth esteem the dearest things the best,
That he thinks nothing sweet but what is cheap;
Gold is the thing he dreams on in his sleep,
Which is but little, Gold and Silver are
His Idol, which the heathens Idols were:
He hath the Silver Dropsy, he implores
More still, Gold is the goddess he adores,
He thinks all flesh that comes within his Nets,
Nor cares he how he gets; but what he gets:
He is no niggard of his labor, or
A time-neglector, sloth he doth abhor,
It's ever term with him, his business
Admits of no vacation, nothing less
Than Holy-days he loves, the greater gain,
Is still attended with the greater pain,
He often says, but yet he is not pleased,
As he is never filled, so never eased.
He findeth no Soul-satisfaction;
And is when all is done, a man undone:
Riches have many wretches drowned in this
World, Sea, and kept them from the shore of bliss:
Riches are thievish, stealing unawares
The heart, and Satan's soul entrapping sna
•
es.
The Miser digs to hell for wealth, so that
The Devil is his next neighbor: O hard fate!
On earth himself he heavens, and himself
Of bliss he couzens, for a little pelf,
Rest from his own bones, he himself hath stole,
Peace from his conscience, grace from his soul,
And is not he a Thief? nothing can fill
Th'unfathom'd gulf of his insatiat will.
This Horse-leech cries, give, give, this Cormoran
•
The more he doth desire, the more doth want,
The dunghill Witch, troubled with
Midas
Itch,
Becomes a beggar by becoming rich;
Nay, worldly men more miserable are
Than Beggars, these want little, have less care,
They much, and till they die no good do do,
Who is rich? he that covets nothing? who
Is poor? the covetous; he is not poor
Which enjoys little, but desireth more.
There's many have too much, scarce one but wishes
For more, the sea sufficeth all the fishes;
The Earth sufficeth all the beasts likewise,
But the whole world cannot one man suffice.
Wild Beasts are filled, and do spare the prey,
But Misers are insatiable, they
Like hell, say never 'tis enough, but having
Too much already, still for more are craving:
The miserable man himself unblesses,
By not enjoying that which he possesses;
What benefit is there of Gold while 'tis
Embowell'd in the Mine? wealth worthless is
If it so hoarded up, and cloystred be
In Coffers, as the light it never see.
How well may the rich churl be likened to
A
Christmas-box,
chink he receives, but lo
He parts with none, till death this box uncase,
Then Gold and Silver tumbles out a pace:
Camels
bear but one burden, rich men two,
Wealth, sin, and that in death he must forgo
This in and after death, sticks fast tohis back,
And will be to him an eternal Rack.
Desire, distrust, fear, vain hope, and dispair are
His tort'ring furies, just, as if he were
In
Phal'ris
burning Bull, he that's a slave
To his own servant, shall bad usage have:
He that is once Christ's servant, will not be
A slave to
Mammon,
the worlds deity.
It is observable, two things perplex
The whole world,
Mine,
and
Thine,
riches do vex,
For they are Thorns; riches do flee away,
For they have wings, nor can we with them stay:
To fly from avarice is to obtain
A Kingdom; godliness is the best gain:
He must be master of his wealth that is
God's servant, O if Heaven that place of bliss,
Becomes our object, the earth will become
Our abject, and the issues of her womb.
The Miser fears not God, nor honors man,
He thinketh that Religion, which can
Make best for his advantage, is the best;
What brings him in no gain he doth detest,
He will
Gehazi
like, bare bribes away,
And will with
Judas
for a gift betray
His Lord and Master, and say with him too,
Why is this waste, when some good any do:
His chiefest good he judgeth riches still,
And poverty fears as the greatest ill;
Money is his creator, when wealths had
In great abundance, then he thinks he's made:
It's his Redeemer, when woes on him thrust,
He flies tohis money, that redeem him must:
It is his comforter, when he is sad,
He tells his money, and that makes him glad.
He with his golden harps expels away
The evil spirit, you may truly say,
When you see one who doth his Gold prefer
Before God, there goes an Idolater,
Care is the Vultur gnaws upon his heart,
And he damns his own self t'
Ixions
smart
On conscience tort'ring wheel; he's evermore
Like
Tantalus,
starved in the midst of store,
He'l go on errands to the Devil, so gains
Send him, and well reward him for his pains:
His wretched mind bends to no point but this,
He who hath most of wealth, hath most of bliss.
As he is good to none, so is he worst
T'himself, he lives abhor'd, and dies accurst.
Philosophers affirm that Mines of Gold,
Are always fruitless, and the Devils Freehold:
So are those minds that Gold admire do,
Barren, and haunted by the Devil too.
380. On a Cough.
A Cough cannot be hid no more (they say)
Can love, external signs do them bewray.
381. On a Coulter.
DId not the coulter cut the earth, the share
Were useless, and the ground no Corn would bare
So till manured by grace, we barren are.
382. On Counsel.
1.
CHrist is a Counselor, directing still
His Clients, how to manage and transact
All their designs according to the Will
And Law of God; his wisdom can effect
Great things, in Heavens decrees he is well read,
He knows our state and case, and how to plead.
2.
Christ faithful is, to tell the naked truth,
And if the cause be bad, he will not plead it.
Bribes cannot blind his eyes, nor stop his mouth;
Men slight his people's cause, but he doth heed it.
Though he be offered by the Prince of Hell,
All the Worlds glory, souls he will not sell.
3.
Christ he is the best spoken Counselor,
Never man spake in Earths rotundity
So sweetly; and with such convincing power,
And so authoritatively as he.
Christ Jesus doth all Counselors surpass,
If he plead for us, happy is our case.
4.
He that acts nothing but with good advise,
Need not repent him when the deed is past;
Who rashly sets upon an enterprise,
Repents by leisure what was done in haste.
Fond
Epimetheus
locks the Stable door,
When the Steed's stole,
Prometheus
before.
5.
Figulus
having lost the Consulship,
Thus to his friends then comforting him, spake,
All (now you see my honor from me slip)
Can give me counsel, but ye cannot make
Me Consul: if we could events foresee,
Great evils timely might prevented be.
383. On the Countenance.
'TIs the Index of the mind,
Showing how we are inclined,
Grace more pleases, if it glance
From a comely countenance▪
But a heart that shines with grace,
Doth surpass the fairest face.
Gratior est pulchro veniens e corpore virtus.
384. On a Counter.
A Counter is of small account, so we
Are little worth, till sanctified we be.
385. On a Counterfeit.
A Kiss preceded glozing
Judas
Treason,
Counterfeit shows, are never out of season,
And oftentimes transcend the bounds of reason
A counterfeit Religion shall find
A real Hell, for Hypocrites assigned,
How blest are they whose hearts with grace are lined!
386. On a Countermine.
SAtan will countermine us, if we do
Dig for salvations Mine, malicious so!
387. On a Counterpane.
GLory is for the Saints, writings are drawn
And sealed, holiness is the Counterpane.
388. On a Counter-poison.
WHat though I have a sin-envenom'd soul,
Christ's blood by faith applied, can make me whole.
389. On Countervail.
SHort-lived affliction, cannot countervail
Triumphant glory, which shall never fail.
390. On County.
GOds gifts abound in every County,
But O, how few admire his bounty.
391. On Country.
WHat thou here on us many sorrows come,
We are but strangers, Heaven is our home,
Ours by the Fathers Ordination;
Ours freely purchased for us by the Son;
Ours sealed to us by the Holy-Ghost,
To our own country, we apace do post:
Though now we be but wards, and not possessed
Of it, yet are we Heirs to it at least:
When we to perfect growth in grace attain,
We shall a plenary possession gain.
God give us grace, to find repentance way,
That come to our own home, at last we may.
392. On a Couple.
A Pair of Pigeons, or two Turtle-doves,
God will accept, who free-will offerings loves,
393. On Courage.
FOrtitude is the fairest blossom that
Springs from a noble mind, its heat and hate
Conquers the enemy before the field
Be fought in; Valiant Saints makes Satan yield,
It is a noble Conquest to o'rethrow
A po
•
ent Foe, and never strike a blow.
394. On a Course.
THe whole course of our living must
Be loving, let us never thrust
Love out of doors; many will talk
Of love; few love in Love to walk.
395. On a Courser.
WHat speed the courser makes, we have a race
To run, O why do we not mend our pace?
The prize is glory, which is won by grace.
396. On a Courtier.
PErfumed Silk-worms, shining bubbles,
That Pedlars shops about them bear,
Frequent the place of glorious troubles,
Sad coming were such anticks are!
Better be in God's Court a Porter,
Than dwell where glistering sinners quarter.
397. On a Cousener.
A Man may cozen man unseen,
But God will not be mocked,
He hath a Key to let him in,
Although the heart be locked,
Lord! I confess my sins to thee,
O be thou pleased to pardon me.
398. On a Cowl.
AN ag'd Matron near her end,
Did request her Belgic friend,
A bald Friar's crown toextend
Over her, (as says the story:)
E're she was of life bereaven,
That her sins might be forgiven,
And her Soul might pass to Heaven,
Without entering Purgatory:
O how sad are their condition,
Who are kept in superstition!
399. On a Cow.
GOd's word toour souls doth sincere Milk allow
For nourishment, not so the vb'rous Cow.
400. On a Coward.
SAtan is like a French-man, bold at first,
Resist him, and you will put him to the worst.
401.
-
On a Crabfish.
-
On a Crabtree.
HOw many in Religions trade,
Do like the Crab-fish retrograde,
And like the Crab-free can produce,
No fruits but sow'r, sarce fit for use.
402. On a Cradle.
SEcuritie's a Cradle, we must keep
Strict watch, lest Satan lull us fast asleep.
403. On Craft.
SAtan, who hath so long a Tempter been,
Hath gained experience, now he Tempts to sin,
Under a show of piety, anon
He work's upon our constitution;
Having commenc'd Master of his black Art,
His knowledge to his sons he doth impart.
The crafti'st head that mischiefs can produce,
The Dev'l doth choose, as fittest for his use,
But such as Pol'ticks learn in
Plutoe's
Schools,
At last prove doters, and lean-witted fools.
404. On Cramming.
OUr bodies are well-crammed, and pampered,
Whilst our souls pine for want of living bread.
405. On the Cramp.
THe Cramp contracts and pulls the sinnews in,
So grace checks sinners, who run mad in sin.
406. On a Crane.
I Must be wratchful as the
Thracian
fowl,
Or else the Devil will surprise my Soul.
407. On a Crany.
A Fault in others through the smallest crany,
Is seen, and talked of, but alas! scarce any,
See & confess their own, though they have many.
408. On a Crasiness.
GOd sets us work to do, our souls are lazy,
And want of stirring, makes them sick and crazy.
409. On a Cratch.
O Strange! he that did in his wisdom stretch
Th'heavens out, lay cradled in a simple cratch
410. On Craving.
OUr wants are great, the only way of having
Them still suppli'd, is to be always craving.
411. On a Creaking noise.
MAn not regards the creaking of a Cart,
Nor God the pray'rs of an ungracious heart.
412. On a Greak.
HOw many souls are there that spring a leak,
And suffer Ship-wrack ere they touch the creak!
413. On Cream.
GOd's word is Milk, the Hearer is the Boul
To keep it in, every gracious soul,
It turns to Cream, which he in praises, pray'rs,
Doth offer up to God's attentive ears.
414. On Creation.
ONe asked why man was made; made this reply,
To view the Heavens, and to magnify
God in his creatures; him Philosophers
Call'd
Uranoscopus,
viewing the Stars.
God opes his Cabinet, and gives us eyes
To view his Treas'ry, also hearts to prize,
And tongues to praise his goodness, for bestowing
All things on us to whom our souls are owing.
The worlds a Book, wherein a general story,
God reads to us dumb lectures of his glory,
All creatures teach, and somewhat us inform,
From th'highest Angel to the lowest worm;
The world's a Glass, wherein we may discern
Our Makers majesty, and viewing learn
T'admire and praise him, which if we forbear
To do, like Stones, and Beasts, and Devils we are.
The creatures are the stairs by which we may
Climb up, and so the glorious power survey
Of the Creator: Bees from every flower
Suck Honey, pious Christians evermore,
From every action, or event deduce
What they convert to admirable use.
All objects to a contemplative man,
Are like wings to his thoughts, which raise him can
Upward to Heaven, as the old
Romans
when
They saw blue stones, thought of
Olympus,
then
Intentively observe the works of Nature,
Then serve attentively the worlds Creator:
Let us by each presented object thrive
In grace, some profit to ourselves derive,
In this be selfish: O shall we still plod
On the great Volume of the works of God,
And never thoroughly learn to spell one word
Which benefit, and comfort may afford?
Shall we still pore on Natures book (alas!)
And never translate it to the Book of grace,
As some have done? O what rare melody
Is there in Heaven, if earthly Musi
•
k be
So sweet! if pomp attend a Court below,
Surely God's Court will make a glorious show:
O blessed object, and observed well,
That makes the musing Soul, in grace toexcel!
415. On Credence.
ASsent and giving credence to
All that the Scripture saith,
Concerning Christ, who suffered so,
Precedent is to Faith.
416. On Credit.
AS of our conscience we must have a care,
So likewise of our credit, never dare
Unseemly things, Saints have a lasting name,
When sinners reputation turns to shame:
It's a good thing to have praise to us carv'd,
But it's a better to have praise deserved:
This credit wealth cannot procure, but grace,
Not goods but goodness; happy is his case,
Whose own heart not condemns him, such as do
Honor the Lord, he them will honor too.
417. On a Creditor.
GOd is a Creditor, he lends
Us time and talents to improve,
Which who so misimploys mispends,
Provokes to wrath the God of Love.
Sin is a debt, our Creditor is just,
And if our surety pay it not, we must.
418. On Credulity.
TIs a vice to believe nothing, or none;
All things, or all, that is said to be done:
A creed'lous man is to a fool a kin,
Believing all he hears, this brings strife in,
A wiseman will not at the first rebound,
Take a report, Truth is by sifting found.
419. On the Creed.
YOu that have heard so much of Christ, can pray,
Yet cannot with humble adherence say,
My Jesus, and my Lord, I tell you true,
The Devil can say his Creed as well as you:
Lord, I believe not only that thou art,
And what thou sayst, but in thee, may I part
With all for thee, and from thee never start.
420. On Creeping.
IN sin (alas!) our motion is not slow,
In duty, oh! how creepingly we go.
421. On a Cresset-light.
LOrd! set the Beacon of my heart on fire
With Holy zeal, and let the flame aspire
To thee, the highest Orb of my desire.
422. On a Crest.
SUch as do go with an elated Crest,
Shall be cast down, but such as are deprest
With sense of sin, shall be advanced and blest.
423. On a Crib.
OH! if the Ass her Masters crib doth know,
Man should know God, who all the world doth ow:
His Maker, his Redeemer, who supplies,
His wants, and pities his infirmities.
424. On a Cricket.
AS merry as a Cricket one may be,
Whose heart is filled with dire perplexity.
425. On a Crier.
GOds Ministers are Criers, and they dare not
But cry aloud, & show to men and spare not
Their horrid sins, dumb Preachers that betray
Their trust, shall be condemned another day.
426. On a Crime.
THe blood of Christ can expiate a fault,
Not to be purged with Brimstone, Fire, & Salt
427. On a Cripple.
ADam
became a Cripple by his fall,
Hence lame in holy duties are we all;
But some belong to Jesus Hospital.
428. On a Critick.
IT's easier to find fault then
To imitate; the transverse pen
Of snarling
Mome
dashes this out,
And
Aristarch
at that doth pout.
My Soul condemn thyself; and know
That God to thee will favor show.
429. On the Crocodile.
NIle
's poys'ny Pirate kills (Historians say)
The man, then bathes him in his tears straightway.
So some whose tear-commanding eyes let fall
Dissembling showers, have hearts brim filled with gal.
430. On a Croft.
GReat God plough up my heart, that fallowfield,
And sow thy grace therein; O make it yield
A fruitful crop, that thou mayest have the praise,
And I enjoy the benefits always.
431. On Croises or Pilgrims.
THe Cross-signed Pilgrim travels far to some
Devotious place, to him Christ bids us come,
And he will to our Country bring us home.
432. On a Crook.
CHrist is our Shepherd, & his Spirit the Crook
That guides us in the way we have forsook.
433. On a Cross.
ONe may be signed with the Cross,
And yet for Heaven be at a loss.
434. On a Cross way.
CRoss is the way that leadeth to a Crown,
No man can go to Heaven on beds of down.
435. On a Cross-bow.
AFfliction is a Cross-bow, endless bliss
The white, by that a Saint is sent to this.
436. On a Cross-row.
THe child learns by degrees the
Christ-crossrow,
So we (alas!) come all by ease to know
The things of God, and what to God we owe.
437. On Crosses.
FNngland
alas! for many years hath seen
Enough of crosses; here hath always been
Cross doing, and Cross dealing with each other,
How many heretofore have kept a pother,
To pull material crosses down? there are
But few pull sin down from them, and prepare
To bear Crists Cross, which he on them doth lay
Crosses to Heaven are a surer way
Than pleasures; crosses are the turning key
Of Paradise, Saints by them have no loss.
Wicked men crosses have, but not Christ's cross.
Suppose I meet with crosses, crosses are
A Cath'lick mis'ry; therein all men share,
And should I grieve? this reason may-suggest
This is constraint, godly content is best.
Saints by the Christ-cross (though no letter) know
More than by all the Letters in the row.
God sends his sons to th' Free-School of the Cross,
Where they learn best, the fire consumes their dross
And purifies them; Golden Christians have
Been tried, God smites in love, that he may save
What ever crosses do the Saint molest,
His last end, shall assuredly be blest.
Crosses not only mind us of our crimes,
But also serve to better us sometimes.
We climb up by the Cross to Heavens story.
The cross-way is the only way to glory.
Ferre quam sortem patiuntur omnes
Nemo recusat.—
438. On Crotchets.
SOme crotchets in his head a man may have
Sometimes, and yet be neither Fool nor Knave
439. On a Crowd.
MUltitudes crowd to Hell apace,
The way of sin is broad,
Few travel towards Heaven (alas!)
Grace is a narrow road.
440 On Crowing.
THe crowing of a Cock amazes sore
The Emperor of Beasts, and makes him roar;
It foreshews change of weather:
Peters
eye
When the Cock crew, shed tears abundantly.
441. On a Crown.
ON Earth Saints all their life are gold preparing,
To make a Crown in heaven worth the wearing,
Saints their Crown-royal have: Crowns only are
For Kings and Princes of renown to wear:
Their Crown is free from care, 'tis not envi'd,
For all are crowned, theirs always doth abide.
Pardon's a mercy, but rich mercy 'tis
To crown us; O what kind of love is this!
How will the Saints advanced to Heaven above,
Read over Lectures of Free-grace and Love.
And O how will they forth his praises sound,
Who with his loving kindnesses are crowned!
Alas! that men should be so stupid grown,
As for a rattle to forego a Crown.
442. On a Crowner.
THe Crowner by his Quest finds murder out,
Soul-search for sin we seldom go about.
443. On a Crucifix.
MAny do superstitiously adore
The Crucifix, who cannot yet abide,
The Cross of Christ, and trample on the floor
With scornful feet, the blood of God beside:
Like that
French
King, who when he swore would kiss
The Cross, as if nothing were then amiss.
444. On Cruelty.
THe Devils cruelty transcends the rage
Of greatest Tyrants, that in any age
Quaff'd human blood,
Charybdis
chaf'd with wind,
Or the fell Tiger of th'
Armenian
kind,
Is not so rough, so fierce, as he is when
He hath seized on his prey, the souls of men.
His name's
Apollyon,
he rent and tore
The man in whom he was, and made him roar.
O! if when chained he was so fierce, so hot,
What will he do when he full power hath got!
445. On a Crum.
LOrd, we do not deserve in greatest need
A crumb of bread;
For we have broken all the sacred bands
Of thy commands.
Yet in Christ Jesus all things we possess,
O give us hearts thy praises to express.
446. On a Crupper.
THe crupper keeps the Saddle steady, so
But for restraint, great evils men would do.
447. On a Cruse.
LOrd may I to thy glory use
The little that is in my cruse,
Whilst most their plenty do abuse.
448. On a Crust.
LOrd I will not complain of want,
Whilst thou a crust to me dost grant:
Nor will I say thou art unjust,
If that should fail, but in thee trust.
449. On a Crutch.
WHen the poor man is falling, such
To whom the Lord hath given much
Of worldly means, should never grutch
To stay him with a silver Crutch.
450. On crying Sins.
SIns crying are, when come to their full height,
When God more special notice of them takes,
They call for present help even in a straight,
God hears their cry, and the stout sinner shakes,
How wicked are our times! O Heaven forgive
Our crying sins, and let poor
England
live.
451. On a Cub.
ALthough the fool at small beginnings mocks,
A Cub may prove in time a ravenous Fox.
452. On a Cubit.
OUr Savior said, what man can add
One cubit to its stature,
By taking care, and yet all are
Thereto inclined by nature.
453. On a Cube.
A Cube Hieroglyphically shows
An honest man, whose actions are square,
With such converse; his company refuse
Whose dealings like a sphere, are circular.
454. On a Cuckold.
THe horned He-moon never thanks returns
To him that made him, & gave him his horns.
But yet men gratify the Devil when in
Their hearts they nourish his foul bastard sin.
455. On a Cuckow.
THe Cuckow in one tune delighteth still,
So do the most of men in acting ill.
456. On a Cuckquean,
A Cuckquean is a Jade that for base pelf.
Becomes a Hackney, & lets out herself;
Though men who love their wives cannot abide her,
Wife-haters, though she brings to hell, will ride her.
457. On a Cucumber.
IT is by nature cold, and so are we,
To what is good, till warmed by grace we be
458. On the Cud.
WHen we do read or hear that which is good,
We should by meditation chew the cud.
459. On a Cudgel.
WHen Love unreasonably is abused,
Then is a Cudgel seasonably used.
460. On a Cuff.
SInners do love to play at blind man's buff,
And Satan unawares gives them a cuff.
461. On Cuffs.
GRace makes men gallant, & doth more adorn,
Than ruffling cuffs which on men's wrists are worn.
462. On Cunning.
TO avoid Satan's snares we must be cunning,
The prize before our eyes is won by running.
463. On a Cup.
AS to us here for Jesus Christ his sake,
The bitter cup of persecution's given;
So we from Jesus Christ his hands shall take,
The sweet cup of salvation in Heaven.
464. On a Cupboard.
THe Cup-board serves to keep provision in,
Mans heart holds in it, either grace or sin.
465. On a Cupping-Glass.
PHysitians use the Cupping-glass to draw
Out blood, with scarrify'ng of the skin,
And so a Christian must use the Law,
To suck out the corrupted blood of sin.
466. On a Curate.
THe thin-faced Curate taketh all the pains,
Yet he can scarce pick out a livelihood,
The bouncing Parson raketh all the gains;
Though he (God knows) does very little good,
I fear at the great day of Christ's appearing,
This will appear to be a crime past clearing.
467. On Curd.
TO be without as white as Curd,
And black within is most absurd,
From such, deliver us good Lord!
468. On a Curfew.
THis night the Bell calls to bed, but oh!
Before the next, my passing Bell may go.
469. On Curiosity.
IT's the most common vice of almost all
Wise men, some it hath made heretical:
O what a let to holiness and bliss,
Is curiosity, it makes men miss
The sum of their desires; we ought to know
God's secrets may not be inquired into:
Who would compr'end a majesty unbounded,
He with its glory, must be needs confounded:
An over-curious pervestigation,
Into the
Ark
of God's predestination,
With Pride, and danger too, attended is,
T'en
•
ire the cause of God's decree, why this
And not that man is chose, seems not to me,
An act of Judgment, but of Lunacy
The question is as guilty of reproof,
As he that the bold Author is thereof.
Adam
was driven out of Paradise,
For his affecting to be overwise:
Israel
had died the death, if they had past
Their bounds, to climb up (as they would in hast)
Unto the Mount, and so to gaze upon
The glorious Lord:—no center to rest on,
This vice can find, but it leads men into
The endless Labyrinths of smarting woe:
Let's not be over-wise, it is not fit,
That we presume above that which is writ:
The
Bethshemites
prying into the
Ark
Were smitten blind, safe being in the dark,
Where is no warrant, nor command to know,
Nice curiousness is the high-way to woe:
Lord what I may not narrowly inquire
Into; O teach me fully to admire.
Scrutator majestatis opprimetur a gloria.
470. On a Cure.
SIn is a Soul-disease, which no Physician,
Save Christ can heal, who knows best the condition
Of each distemp'red patient; he is sure
To speed, who seeks in faith to him for cure:
Till cured we are, we are unfit to do
God any service, that he puts us to.
Lord! I believe that my poor sin-sick soul
Shall be, if thou but say the word, made whole.
471. On Currant money.
THe Saints of God, for currant money pass
In heavens Kingdom, being stamped with grace
472. On a Curr.
SInners are snarling currs, and they delight
To bark at sinners? but them they cannot bite.
473. On the Current.
SAlvation-work (which we should make our strife)
Is hard, because the currant of the life
Is to be altered; that the Tide of sin,
Which ran so strong before, should now agin
Be turned; that men sailing to Hell with speed,
Should now sail Heaven-ward? here's a work indeed!
O Lord be pleased to sanctify me so,
That what is good, I make think, speak and do.
474. On Curr • nts.
BAse lusts are sweet, to Satan's Apes;
As to the taste Corinthian Grapes.
475. On a Currier.
THis Leather-dresser labors har'd
Spurr'd on by recompensing gains;
O did we think of our reward
In heaven, we should for heaven take pains.
For such as labor shall have rest,
And they that persevere are blest.
476. On Cursedness.
HE is accurs'd, that being born in sin,
(Recovery unsought) lives, dies therein.
He that from Christ hath not a pardon first,
Must hear from Christ, this sentence,
Go ye cursed:
O suffer not thy slumbering eyes to rest,
Till Christ hath sealed thee a
Quietus est,
Give no peace to thyself, till thou with God
Have peace, thou art still under the black Rod,
Till thou repent, he that in known sins goes
On willfully, is damned in the close:
O let not us retain, nor entertain,
Sin, lest on us the curse thereof remain.
Quamdiu impaenitentia manet, maledictio imminet.
477. On Curses.
THe curses mentioned in sacred Story,
Are sinners portions, yea their Inventory,
And at the day of death their portion shall
Be truly paid them, pleasure ends in Gall,
And though perchauce (enjoying good success)
They in their wickedness, themselves do bless:
Yet are they heir-apparents to God's curse,
And what (pray tell me) can befall them worse:
O if we could avoid the curses due
For sin, repent we must; and sin eschew.
478. On Crusing.
SOme have (as well as
Job)
cursed the day
Of their first birth, but of their second birth,
None ever cursed the day, O blessed they
That are New-born! that day occasions mirth.
Cursing is made the common weapon now
Of anger, and the ill he cannot do,
Wrath wishes, sad it is it should be so.
479. On Curstness.
CUrst Cows have short horns, & he that can
Talk most, is not always the wisest man.
480. On a Curtain.
SIn is a Curtain drawn between
The Soul, and God's bright shining face,
His glory, ah! cannot be seen,
Till sin be vanquished by his conqu'ring grace.
481. On a Courtesie.
WE must not strain at courtesy to see
Who shall go first, but each one strive to be
Foremost in duty, in this strife agree.
482. On a Curtezan, or a two-leg'd Jade.
ROom, pray Sirs room, I can no longer hold,
My fury in, since vice is so extold.—
Impudent quean! who never had so much grace,
As is portended by the blushing face,
To swarm like Bees! here's master to infuse
An angry zeal into a frozen Muse;
And now my just incensed Muse proclaims
An open War against salacious Dames
And their rank Riders; she intends to throw
Her whirling Arrows, from her twanging Bow,
At such as do belong to
Venus
Court,
And are delighted with that beastly sport:
Who Tinder-boxes love, and will adventure
On Quivers ope, for every shaft to enter,
O shameful! Silken gallants have their queans,
And filthy drabs, which soak away their means,
They waste their strength on such, as are no less
Than the Elixars of all naughtiness,
Half-eaten with the Pox, alluring Dames,
And fuel which do feed their lustful flames:
But more of this—and such as love the trade,
Expect kind Reader, when I come to Jade.
483. On a Cushion.
IDleness is the Devils Cushion,
By sitting on it, thousands are undone.
484. On Custody.
A Christian must set a constant guard
About his heart, and keep with watch & ward
His heart; his heart must still be in his eye,
The heart requires the strictest custody:
For 'tis the spring, which maketh all our deeds
Run pure, or muddy, life from thence proceeds.
Lock up thy heart with God, (how safe are they
That daily do so?) and give him the Key.
485. On Custom, or Tole.
LEvi
no sooner called from the Receit
Of Custom, does upon his Savior wait,
And at his home, makes him a costly feast;
He could not entertain a better guest.
Lord! if it be thy custom to take tole,
Satan may take my sins, take thou my Soul.
486. On Custom, or Use.
SIn, which is weight enough to sink down quite
The world, is made (alas) by custom, light;
Custom in sin obstupifies sense so,
That men scarce know, whether they sin or no,
Sin gathers strength by custom, by degrees
It creeps, like some contagious disease:
Milo
first bear a Calf, and still his strength
Encreasing with his burden, he at length
Became so able and so powerful,
That he could bear with ease a goring Bull:
Custom that second nature, is sometimes
A friend to virtue, but more oft to crimes.
487. On a Cutler.
HE is a Blade that lives by making blades,
But he that in the Ordinances trades,
Shall live, though death his mortal life invades.
488.
-
On a Cut-purse.
-
On a Cut-throat.
HE is an arrant Thief that cuts the purse,
And he a murderer, that cuts the throat;
Though that indeed be bad, yet this is worse,
But both deserve to wear a Pendant knot
An Inch below the ears, 'its good to do
To others as we would be done unto.
489. On a Cynic.
THe Cynic in his Tub, found more content,
Than
Alexander
in his glistering Throne;
In Contemplation his time he spent;
This wept, because no more Worlds were his own.
290. On the Cynosure.
THe Pilot well observes the Cynosure,
And so should we God, that Northern Star;
Until we touch the Port, and land secure
In Heaven, that Haven where no dangers are,
Where neither sin our happiness destroys,
Nor sorrow interrupts our endless joys.
The Post-script to the Reader.
1.
THus
(Reader)
have I finished as thou seest,
The first three Letters of the Criss-cross R
••
More Grapes I have, which shall not now be pressed,
How well thou wilt l
••
e these, I do not know.
If this Taste please, thou mayst command my store,
The Vineya
•
d of my Muse can yield thee more.
2.
I pray thee let my absence from the Press;
Obtain that of thee, which thy presence shall
Obtain of me, (a favor I confess)
T'amend the Errors
Typographical,
So shall the Printer, and the Author too,
Be bound to serve thee in what we can do.
FINIS.