Full text of "Complete works of Thomas Brooks"

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NICHOL'S SERIES OF STANDARD DIVINES. 



PURITAN PERIOD. 



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BY JOHN C. MILLER, D.D., 

LINCOLN OOLLEOB ; HONORARY CANON OF WORCESTER ; RECTOR OF ST MARTIN'S, BIRMINGHAM. 



THE 



WORKS OF THOMAS BEOOKS. 

VOL. I. 



COUNCIL OF PUBLICATION. 



W. LINDSAY ALEXANDER, D.D., Professor of Theology. Congregational 
Union, Edinburgh. 

JAMES BEGG, D.D., Minister of Newington Free Church, Edinburgh. 

THOMAS J. CRAWFORD, D.D., S.T.P., Professor of Divinity, University, 
Edinburgh. 

D. T. K. DRUMMOND, M.A., Minister of St Thomas's Episcopal Church, 
Edinburgh. 

WILLIAM H. GOOLD, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Church 
History, Reformed Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh. 

ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., Minister of Broughton Place United Presby- 
terian Church, Edinburgh. 

<5mrral ©Oitor. 
REV. THOMAS SMITH. M.A.. Edinburgh. 



THE COMPLETE WORKS 



THOMAS BROOKS. 



(Sftitefc, fcuitlj gUirarir, 

BY THE REV. ALEXANDER BALLOCH GROSART, 

LIVERPOOL. 



VOL. I. 

CONTAINING : 

PRECIOUS REMEDIES AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES APPLES OF GOLD FOR 

YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN THE MUTE CHRISTIAN UNDER THE 

SMARTING ROD A STRING OF PEARLS. 



EDINBURGH : JAMES NICHOL. 

LONDON : JAMES NISBET AND CO. DUBLIN : G. HERBERT. 



M.DCCJ.LXVI. 



FDINKVHGM : 

I'RINTEP BT JOHN ORRIS ANI1 80V, 

OLP PRT8TC GARPKNS. 




CONTENTS. 



I. The Preface, 

II. Memoir of Brooks, 
Appendix to Memoir, 



PAKfi 

xv— six 



. XX-XXXY11 

xxxviii-lxxxii 



III. Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices, . . 1 

Epistle Dedicatory, ...... 8-7 

A Word to the Reader, . . . . . 8, 9 

A Table shewing the principal things in this Treatise : — 

The words opened, and the point proved, from . . 1U-12 

I. In the next place is shewed, The several devices that Satan 
hath to draw souls to sin : — 

Satan's first device to draw the soul to sin is, To present the 
bait, and hide the hook. Four remedies against this 
device, from ...... 12-16 

His second device to draw the soul to sin is, By painting 
sin with virtue's colours. Four remedies against this 
device, from . . ... . . 16-18 

The third device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
By extenuating and lessening of sin. Seven remedies 
against this device of Satan, from . . 19-28 

The fourth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin 
is, By presenting to the soul the best men's sins, and bi/ 
hiding from the soul their virtues. Four remedies against 
this device of Satan, from .... 2-1-27 

The fifth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
By presenting God to the soul as one made up all of mercy. 
Five remedies against this device, from . . 27-81 

The sixth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
By persuading the soul that the work of repentance is an 
easy work. Six remedies against this device, from . 81-88 



CONTENTS. 



The seventh device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin 
is, By making the soul bold to venture upon the occasions 
of sin. Four remedies against this device, from . 38-41 

The eighth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
By present ing to the soul the outward mercies thai vain men 
enjoy, and the outward miseries that they are freed from, 
wliilst they have walked in the ways of sin. Eight remedies 
against this device, from .... 41-47 

The ninth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
By presenting to the soul the crosses, the losses, reproaches, 
sorrows, and sufferings that daily attend those that walk in 
the icays of holiness. Seven remedies against this device, 
from ... ... 47-54 

The tenth device that Satan hath to draw the souls of men 
to sin is, By working them to be frequently in comparing 
themselves and their ways with those that are reputed to be 
worse than themselves. Three remedies against this de- 
vice, from ...... 54-56 

The eleventh device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin 
is, By polluting and defiling the souls and judgments of men 
with such dangerous errors, that do in their proper tendency 
tend to carry the souls of men to all looseness and wicked- 
ness. Seven remedies against this device, from . 56-61 

The twelfth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin 
is, To work it to affect wicked company. Four remedies 
against this device, from .... 61-62 

II. Secondly, As Satan hath his several devices to draw souls 
to sin, so he hath his several devices to keep souls from holy 
duties, to keep them off from religious services, and they 
are these that follow : — 

The first device that Satan hath to draw souls from holy 
duties, and to keep them off from religious services, is, By 
presenting the world in such a dress, and in such a garb to 
the soul, as to ensnare the soul, and to win upon the affec- 
tions of the soul. He presents the world to them in its 
beauty and bravery, which proves a bewitching sight to a 
world of men. Eight remedies against his device, from 68-70 

The second device that Satan hath to draw souls from the 
ordinances or holy duties is, By presenting to them the 
dangers, the losses, and the sufferings that do attend the per- 
formances of such and such religious services. Five remedies 
against this device, from .... 70-74 

The third device that Satan hath to draw souls from holy 
duties, and to keep them off from religious services, is, 
By presenting to the soul the difficulty of performing them. 
Five remedies against this device, from . . 74-77 

The fourth device that Satan hath to draw the soul off from 
holy exercises, from religious exercise, is, By working them 
to make false inferences from those blessed and. glorious 
things that Christ hath done. Five remedies against this 
device, from ...... 77-81 

The fifth device that Satan hath to draw souls off from 
religious services, and to keep souls off from holy and 



CONTENTS. 



heavenly performances, is, By presenting to them the paucity 
and poverty of those that walk in the ways of God. Six 
remedies against this device, from . . . 81-84 

The sixth device that Satan hath to keep souls off from 
religious services is, By presenting before them the examples 
of the greatest part of the world, that walk in the ways of 
their own hearts, and that make light and slight of the ways 
of God. Three remedies against this device, from . 84-86 

The seventh device that Satan hath to keep souls from holy 
and heavenly services is, By casting in a multitude of 
vain thoughts, whilst the soul is in waiting on God. Seven 
remedies against this device, from . . 86— 8i) 

The eighth device of Satan to keep souls from holy and 
heavenly services is, Bg working them to rest in their holy 
performances. Four remedies against this device, from . 89-91 

III. In the third place is shewed the several devices Satan hath 
to keep souls in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition ; 
and they are these that follow : — 

The first device that Satan hath to keep . souls in a sad, 
doubting, and questioning condition is, By causing them 
to pore more, and mind more their sins than their Saviour. 
Six remedies against this device, from . . . 91-94 

The second device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, 
doubting, and questioning condition is, By working them 
to make false definitions of their graces. Four remedies 
against this device, from .... 95-97 

The third device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, 
doubting, and questioning condition is, By working the 
sold to make inferences from, the cross actings of providence. 
Four remedies against this device, from . . 97-99 

The fourth device that Satan hath to keep poor souls in a 
sad, doubting, and questioning condition is, By suggesting 
that their graces are not true, but counterfeit. Two remedies 
against this, and in the handling of these two remedies, 
ten differences are shewed between renewing grace and 
restraining grace, betwixt sanctifying grace and tem- 
porary grace, from ..... 99-104 

The fifth device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, 
doubting, and questioning condition is, By suggesting to 
them that that conflict that is in them, is not a conflict that 
is only in saints, but such a conflict that is to be found in 
the hearts of hypocrites and profane souls. Six remedies 
against this device, from .... 104-107 

The sixth device that Satan hath to keep poor souls in a 
sad, doubting, and questioning condition is, By suggesting 
to the soul, that certainly the soul is not good, because the 
soul cannot joy and rejoice in Christ, as once it could. 
Five remedies against this device, from . . . 107-110 

The seventh device that Satan hath to keep poor souls in a 
sad, doubting, and questioning condition is, By suggesting 
to the soul its often relapses into the same sin, which for- 
merly he hath pursued with particular sorrow, grief, shame, 



CONTENTS. 



and tears, and prayed and resolved against. Six remedies 
against this device, from .... 110-113 

The eighth device that Satan hath to keep poor souls in a 
sad, doubting, and questioning condition is, By persuad- 
ing them that their estates is not [food, their hearts are not 
upright, their //races are not sound, because they are so 
followed, vexed, and tormented with temptations. Several 
remedies against this device, from . . . 113-117 

IV. In the fourth place is shewed the several ways and devices 
that Satan hath to destroy all sorts and ranks of men in the 
world : — 
First, He hath his devices to destroy the great and honourable 
of the earth ; and that, 

First, By working them to make it their business to seek how 
to greaten themselves, to enrich themselves, to secure them- 
selves. Six remedies against this device, from . . 117-122 

The second grand device that Satan hath to destroy the 
great and honourable of the earth is, By engaging them 
against the people of the Most High. Four remedies against 
this device, from ..... 122-125 

Secondly, Satan hath his devices to destroy the learned and 
the wise, and that sometimes, By working them to pride 
themselves in their parts and abilities, and to rest upon, and 
make light and slight of those that want their parts and 
abilities, though they excel them in grace and holiness. 
Four remedies against this device, from . . 125-128 

Thirdly, Satan hath his devices to ensnare and destroy the 
saints, and that, By working them first to be strange, and 
then to be bitter and jealous, and then to divide. Twelve 
remedies against this device, from . . . 128-136 

Fourthly, Satan hath his devices to destroy poor ignorant 
souls, and that sometimes, By drawing them to affect 
ignorance, and to neglect, slight, and despise the means of 
knowledge. Four remedies against this device, from . 136-138 

An appendix touching five more several devices that Satan 
hath to keep poor souls from believing in Christ, from re- 
ceiving, from embracing, from resting, leaning, or relying 
upon Christ for everlasting happiness and blessedness accord- 
ing to the gospel. And remedies against those devices, 
from ....... 139-14!) 

Seven characters of false teachers by whom Satan labours to 

delude poor souls, from .... 149-152 

To prevent some objections, six propositions or conclusions 

concerning Satan and his devices are laid down, from . 153-154 
Five reasons of the point are laid down, from . . 156, 157 

Lastly, several sweet and profitable uses of the point, from 157-164 
The Stationer to the Reader, .... 165 

True Copy of a Letter, ..... 165, 166 



CONTENTS. IX 

PAGE 

IV. Apples of Gold, ...... 167 

Epistle Dedicatory, ...... 169-174 

The explication of the words, from . . . . 175-178 

Chaptee I. 

Doct. That is a very desirable and commendable thing for young men to 

be really good betimes ; this truth proved, .... 178 

Twelve reasons of this point : 

1. Because he commands it, whose commands are not to be dis- 

puted, but obeyed, from ..... 178-179 

2. Because they have means and opportunities of being good 

betimes, from ...... 179-180 

3. Because then they will have fewer sins to answer for, and 

repent of, from ...... 180-181 

4. Because time is a precious talent that young men must be 

accountable for, from ..... 181—182 

5. Because then they will have the greater comfort and joy when 

they come to be old, from ..... 182-188 

6. Because an eternity of felicity and glory hangs upon those 

few moments that are allotted to them, from . . 183-184 

7. Because they do not begin to live till they begin to be really 

good, from ...... 184-185 

8. Because the promise of finding G-od, of enjoying God, is made 

over to an early seeking of God, &c, from . . 185-187 

9. Because the time of youth is the choicest and fittest time for 

service, from ...... 187-188 

10. Because death may suddenly and unexpectedly seize on youth, 

youth being as fickle as old age, from . . . 188-190 

11. Because it is ten to one, nay, a hundred to ten, if ever they 

are converted, if they are not converted when they are 

young, from ...... 190-191 

12. Because else they will never attain to the honour of being an 

old disciple, from ..... 190-191 

Chapter II. 

The honour of an old. disciple, shewed in seven particulars : 

1. All men will honour an old disciple, from . . . 191-192 

2. God usually reveals himself most to old disciples, to old 

saints, from ...... 192-193 

3. An old Christian, an old disciple, hath got the art of serving 

God, ....... 193 

4. An old disciple, an old Christian, is rich in spiritual experi- 

ences, from ...... 193-194 

5. An old disciple is firm and fixed in his resolutions, from . 194-195 

6. An old disciple is prepared for death, from . . . 195-196 

7. An old disciple shall have a great reward in heaven, from . 196-198 
Use of reproof, from ...... 198-199 

Chapter III. 

The several evils that most properly attend youth, as, 

1. Pride, from ...... 199-200 

2. Sensual pleasures and delights, from . . . 200-202 



X CONTENTS. 

TAGE 

8. Rashness, from ...... 202-203 

4. Mocking and scoffing at religions men, and religious things, 

from ....... 208 

5. Wantonness, ...... 203-204 

Chapter IV. 

Use of Exhortation to exhort young persons to be good betimes, and mo- 
tive* moving thereunto, as, 

1. It is a high honour to be good betimes, from . . 204-206 

2. Christ gave himself for sinners when he was in the primrose 

of his age, from ...... 206-207 

3. It is the best way in the world to be rich in spiritual expe- 

riences, from . . . . . . 207-208 

4. The present time is the only time that you are sure of, from . 208-211 

5. It is just with God to reserve the dregs of his wrath for them, 

who reserve the dregs of their days for him, from . 211 

6. The sooner you are good on earth, the greater will be your 

reward in heaven, from ..... 211-214 

7. The Lord is very much affected and taken with your seeking 

of him, and following after him in the spring and morning 

of your youth, from ... . . 214-215 

8. It will prevent many sad and black temptations, from . 215-216 

9. Consider the worth and excellency of souls, from . . 216-217 
10. God will at last bring young men to a reckoning, from . 217-220 

Chapter V. 

Quest. Whether in the great dag of account, the sins of saints shall be 
brought into the judgment of discussion and discovery, or no ? The 
negative proved bg divers arguments, from .... 220-224 

Chapter VI. 

Directions to such as ivould be good betimes, as would know and love, 
seek and serve the Lord in the primrose of their days ; as, 

1. Take heed of putting the day of death afar off, from . 224-226 

2. If you would be good betimes, take heed of leaning to your 

own understanding, from ..... 226-227 

3. If you would be good betimes, take heed of flatterers and 

fkttery, from ...... 227-230 

4. If you would seek the Lord in the spring and morning of your 

days, then take heed of engaged affections to the things of 

the world, from ...... 230-231 

5. If you would be good betimes, then you must take heed be- 

times of carnal reason, &c, from .... 232 

6. Take heed of comparing yourselves with those that are worse 

than yourselves, from ..... 233-284 

Chapter VII. 

Secondly, As those six things must be declined, so several other things 
must be practised, if you would be good betimes ; as, 

1. If you would be good betimes, then you must labour to be 
acquainted with four things betimes, as, 



CONTENTS. 



[1.] You must labour to acquaint yourselves with the Scripture 

betimes, from ...... 235-238 

You must acquaint yourselves with yourselves betimes, from 238-240 

If you would be good betimes, then you must acquaint your- 
selves with Jesus Christ betimes, from . . . 240 
Now tbere are six things which you should be thoroughly 

acquainted with concerning Jesus Christ. As, 

If you would be good betimes, then you must know that 
there is every thing in Christ, that may encourage you 
to seek him, and serve him, from . . . 240-241 

If you would be good betimes, then you must know be- 
times, that Jesus Christ is mighty to save, from . 241-242 

Then you must know betimes, that there is a marvellous 
readiness and willingness in Christ to embrace and enter- 
tain returning sinners, &c, from . . . 242-243 

If you would be good betimes, then you must know betimes 
that Jesus Christ is designed, sealed, and appointed by 
the Father to the office of a mediator, from . . 243-244 

If you would be good betimes, then you must know betimes 
that there is no way to salvation but by Jesus Christ, 
from ....... 244-245 

If you would be good betimes, then you must know betimes 
that the heart of Jesus Christ is as much set upon sin- 
ners, now he is in heaven, as ever it was when he was on 
earth, from ...... 245-246 

If you would be good betimes, then, 

You must acquaint yourselves with those that are good be- 
times, from ..... . 246-248 

If you would be good betimes, then you must shun the oc- 
casion of sin betimes, from .... 248-250 

If you would be good betimes, then you must remember the 

eye of God betimes, from .... 250-251 

If you would be good betimes, then you must hearken to 

the voice of conscience betimes, from . . . 251-252 

If you would be good betimes, then you must know wherein 

true happiness lies betimes, from . . . 252-253 

Lastly, If you would be good betimes, then you must break 
your covenant with sin betimes. Now to work you to that, 
you must always look upon sin under these six notions : 

You must look upon sin under the notion of an enemy, from 253-254 

Under the notion of bonds, &c, from . . . 254-255 

Under the notion of fire ; six resemblances between sin and 

fire, from ...... 255-258 

Under the notion of a thief, &c, from . . . 258-259 

Under the notion of a burden, &c, from . . . 259-260 

Under the notion of a tyrant, &c, from . . . 260-261 



Chapter VIII. 

1 Obj. It may be time enough hereafter to seek and serve the 

Lord, dc. 
This objection answered four ways, from . . . 261-262 

2 Obj. If 1 should seek and serve the Lord in the spring and 



xl1 CONTENTS. 

PAGX 

morning of my days, I should lose the love and favour of such 
and such friends and relations. 
Four answers to this objection, &c, from . . . 262 264 

3 Ob j. I shall meet with many reproaches. 

Eight answers to this objection, from . . . 264-269 

4 Obj. Most men give liberty to themselves, and walk in ways more 

'pleasing to t lie flesh. 
This objection answered five ways, from . . . 269 273 

5 Obj. The last I shall mention is, That God is a God of mercy ; 

in hi in are bowels of mercy, yea, a sea, an ocean of mercy; he 
delights in mercy, dc. 
Five answers to this objection, from . . . 273-275 

Chapter IX. 
Lastly, The Old Man's Doubts resolved, in eight several Answers, from 275-278 

Appendix. 
Title-page of 1st Edition, . 279 

Epistle Dedicatory of ditto, ..... 280-284 



The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod, . .• 285 

Epistle Dedicatory, ...... 287-293 

A Table shewing the Principal Things in this Treatise : — 

The words opened and the doctrine raised, viz., That it is the 
great duty and concernment of gracious souls to be mute and 
silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, 
and sharpest trials they meet with in this world, from . 294-295 

For the opening of this point, first, there is a sevenfold 

silence, ...... 295-298 

2. What doth a prudent, a gracious, a holy silence include, 

shewed in eight things, .... 298-306 

3. What a prudent, a holy silence under affliction doth not 

exclude, shewed in eight things, . . . 306-312 

4. Eight reasons why Christians must be mute and silent 

under their greatest afllictions, &c, . . . 312-319 

/ .sc. This truth looks sourly upon five sorts of persons, . 320-323 

Six considerations to prevent men from using sinful shifts and 

courses to deliver themselves out of their afliictions, &c, 323-326 

Twelve considerations to prevail with Christians to be mute 
and silent under the sharpest afflictions that they meet 
with in this world, &c, .... 326-334 

The heinous and dangerous nature of murmuring, discovered 

in twelve particulars, ..... 334-341 

Obj. 1. Did I but know that my afflictions were in love, I 
would be quiet, I would hold my peace, &c, answered 
eight ways, ...... 341-346 

Obj. 2. The Lord hath smitten me in my nearest and dearest 
comforts and contentments, and how then can I hold my 
peace ? Answered twelve ways, . . . 346-o-Vl 

Obj. 3. Oh ! but my afflictions, my troubles, have been long 



CONTENTS. 



upon me, and how can I hold my peace ? Answered ten 

ways, ....... 354-359 

Obj. 4. I would be mute and silent under my afflictions, but 
they daily multiply and increase upon me, &c, how then 
can I be silent ? Answered eight ways, . . 359-361 

Obj. 5. My afflictions are very great, how then can I hold my 

peace ? &c. Answered six ways, . . . 361-364 

Obj. 6. Oh ! but my afflictions are greater than other men's, 

&c, how then can I be silent ? Answered six ways, . 364-366 

Obj. 7. I would hold my peace, but my outward afflictions are 
attended with sore temptations, &c, how then can I be 
silent ? Answered five ways ; wherein eigbt advantages 
are discovered that saints gain by their temptations, . 366-371 

Obj. 8. Oh ! but God hath deserted me, he hath forsaken me, 
and hid his face from me, &c, how can I then be silent ? 
Answered six ways ; also eight advantages the saints gain 
by their being clouded, .... 372-379 

Obj. 9. Oh ! but I am falsely accused and sadly charged, and 
reproached in my good name, &c, how then can I be 
silent ? Answered ten ways, .... 379-385 

Obj. 10. I have sought the Lord in this my affliction for this 
and that mercy, and still the Lord delays me, and puts 
me off, &c, how can I then hold my peace ? How can I 
be silent ? &c. Answered six ways, . . . 385-387 

Quest. But what are the reasons that God doth so delay and 

put off his people ? Answered seven ways, . . 387-390 

Quest. What are the means that may help persons to be silent 
and quiet under their greatest afflictions, their sharpest 
trials ? &c. Answered from .... 390-398 



A String of Pearls, ...... 399 

The Epistle Dedicatory, ..... 401-403 

Character of Mrs Blake, ..... 404-406 

An Elegy, ....... 406-408 

The Table of the chief Heads :— 

The explication of the words from .... 409-410 
Doct. That God reserves the best and greatest favours and blessings 
for believers till they come to heaven. 
This point is made good by an induction of particulars : thus, 
First, The best inheritance is reserved for believers till they come 
to heaven ; this is made good by six particulars, as, 

[1.] Tbe inheritance reserved for believers till they come to 

heaven, is a pure, undefiled, and incorruptible inheritance, 410-411 
[2.] It is a sure, a secure inheritance, . . . 41 1 

[3.j It is a permanent, a lasting inheritance, . . 411-412 

[4.] It is the freest inheritance, an inheritance free from all 

vexaiion and molestation, .... 412 

[5.] It is an inheritance that is universal, to Jews, to Gen- 
tiles, to bond, to free, &c, .... 412-413 
[6.] It is a soul-satisfying inheritance, . . . 413-414 



CONTENTS. 



Secondly, The best rest is reserved for believers till they come to 

heaven, proved thus, ..... 414-415 

[1.] The rest reserved in heaven for believers is a superla- 
tive rest, ...... 416 

[2.] It is an universal rest, .... 416 

[8.] It is an uninterrupted rest, .... 416 

[4.] It is a peculiar rest, ..... 417 

| 5.] It is a rest that is universally communicable to all the 

sons and daughters of God, .... 417 

[6.] It is a permanent, a constant rest, . . . 418 

Thirdly, The best knowledge of God is reserved for believers till 
they come to heaven. Proved thus, . . . 418 

[1.] Saints shall have the clearest knowledge and revelation 

of God in heaven, ..... 418-419 

[2.] They shall have the fullest knowledge of God in heaven, 420 

[3.] They shall have an immediate knowledge of God in 

heaven, ...... 421 

[4.] They shall have a permanent and constant sight of God 

in heaven, ..... 421-422 

Fourthly, They shall have the best and choicest presence of 

God and Christ in heaven : this is proved thus, . . 422 

[1.] In heaven they shall have the greatest and the fullest 
presence of God, ..... 422 

[2.] They shall have a soul- satisfying presence of God in 
heaven, ...... 422-424 

[3.] They shall enjoy a constant, a permanent presence of 
God in heaven, ..... 

Fifthly, They shall enjoy perfection of grace in heaven, and that 

is proved thus, ...... 424 

[1.] The joy of saints in heaven shall be pure joy, . 425 

[2.j Their joy in heaven shall be full, . . . 425 

[3.] Their joy shall be lasting, it shall be uninterrupted, . 425-426 
Sixthly, The best society, the best company, is reserved for 

them till they come to heaven, .... 427-428 

Quest. Whether the saints shall have a real, a personal, and 

particular knowledge of one another in heaven, . . 428 

It is answered affirmatively, they shall, and this is proved by 

seven arguments, from ..... 428-432 

Seventhly, and lastly, The glorifying of the saints' bodies is re- 
served till last ; the glory of glorified bodies is set forth, from 432-435 
Eight reasons why God has reserved the best and greatest things 

for his people till they come to heaven, . . . 435-439 

Twelve inferences, from ..... 439-451 

Twenty motives or considerations, to work Christians to be 

willing to die, ...... 451-403 

Ohj. I would be willing to die if I had but assurance, &c, . 463 

Answered in four particulars, ..... 463-464 

An inference by way of use, ..... 465-467 

An Elegy on Mrs Blake, ..... 467-468 



PREFACE. 



IT may surely be regarded as a favourable sign of the times, that 
so many reprints of the works of the thinkers of former days — laic 
and cleric — have been called for during the last ten years. It argues 
that while there may be many whose tastes incline them to ' milk for 
babes,' there are those who have appetites to relish, and stomachs to 
digest, ' stronger meat.' We have reference more immediately to the 
numerous and widely circulated republications of the elder Theologians 
of all shades of opinion on lesser matters : as well the acknowledged 
and famous, as the less known and hitherto uncollected and inedited. 
Of the former, suffice it to name Eden's ' Jeremy Taylor,' Napier's 
' Isaac Barrow,' Wynter's 'Joseph Hall,' 'Thomas Goodwin' of this 
series ; of the latter, our own ' Richard Sibbes,' and now ' Thomas 
Brooks,' with others in hand, together with the fine series of Commen- 
taries being issued by our Publisher, and including such ripe and rare 
books as Airay on ' Philippians,' King on ' Jonah,' Stock and Torshell 
on, ■ Malachi,' Rainolds on ' Obadiah and Haggai,' Bernard and Fuller 
on ' Ruth,' Marbury on ' Obadiah and Habakkuk,' Hardy on ' ] st 
Epistle of St John,' Bayne on ' Ephesians,' and that magnum opus, Dr 
William Gouge on ' Hebrews.' It seems impossible that such intel- 
lectual and spiritual seed-corn as is treasured up in these early worthies 
can be sown thus broadcast, and yield an unbounteous harvest- 
Granted that, as with the sown grain, there is not a little of what is 
chaff, or, — speaking unmetaphorically, — that is tedious and attenuated, 
over-worded, effete, musty : yet the ' ingenuous' and thinking reader, 
like the kindly earth under supernal influences, assimilates the good and 
fruitful : and toward all the venerable writers, has a tender patience 
and charity and forgivingness, such as one feels for the garrulous 'white- 
head' that in other days wearied us in the chimney-corner, but, being 
gone, is remembered sacredly, pathetically, and with wet eyes. 
vol. I. b 



XVI TREFACE. 

We add Thomas Brooks to the ' Divines ' of the ' Puritan Period ' 
with no fear of contradiction when we claim for him a foremost place 
among the greatest of the later Puritans ; meaning thereby those who 
were m-cluded, and, as Thomas Fuller would have said, excluded also, 
by the 'Ejectment' of 1662. With the exception of John Bunyan, 
and perhaps, in separate minor works, of Richard Baxter, no writer of 
the 17th century has been so permanently and widely and variously 
represented in the living Literature of the 18th and 19th as the author 
of ' Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices/ ' The Mute Christian 
under the Smarting Rod/ 'Apples of Gold,' and 'Heaven on Earth:' 
but, unfortunately, he has been mainly represented and known by these 
four treatises, whereas his other and numerous writings have the same 
merits — if the word be not chill and poor — with these ; all passed 
through frequent editions in the outset, and have popularly gone out 
of sight, not as less weighty and vital, but capriciously and arbitrarily 
and mistakenly. 

One immense advantage of Brooks over Sibbes is, that the whole of 
his many volumes, lesser and larger, were published by himself. He 
left nothing behind him to be thrust on the world as 'Remains' or 
postlmmous — a healthy self-restraint and wisdom which it had been 
well if others, even of our most illustrious Divines, ancient and modern, 
had exercised. 

Tn submitting this first collective edition of the ' Complete Works' 
of Brooks to the public, I beg attention to these six things : — 

(a.) Our text, in every separate treatise and tractate, is based upon 
the last ' revised and corrected' impression thereof that joassed under 
the eye of the author : an explanatory ' Note ' being prefixed to each, 
giving all needful information on the different editions. It may be 
mentioned that his collection of the original and early editions has cost 
the Editor fully £35, whereas the reprint will be furnished to the public 
for 25s. 

(/3.) The whole is incorrupt, unmutilated, unchanged. Of this, 
John Foster the ' Essayist' may be allowed to speak. Writing to a 
friend for the works of Howe, and preferring the old edition, he charac- 
teristically observes : ' In the new one, I recollect the Editor engaged, 
as a favour to the readers, to make — and I suppose he did make — some 
little tinkerings of the long, involved, and grotesquely constructed sen- 
tences : a thing sufficiently wanted, I allow, for it is quite wonderful 
that such a man as Howe should have bungled so sadly in the manner 
of sentence-making. But, nevertheless, I should prefer having his 
paragraphs just as he had made them, to any Editor's rectification of 
them : a preference, however, which cannot be supposed to be felt by 
any gentleman of the literary form of Burder and Hughes, the Editors 



PREFACE. XVll 

and Correctors of Henry's Exposition.' 1 We offer no ' tinkerings/ no 
'rectifications/ no 'corrections,' no 'improvements.' Even in bringing 
the old arbitrary orthography into accord with modern usage, we have 
duly noted all peculiar or transitive forms of words. So that Thomas 
Brooks is here given genuinely, as he himself published his writings. 
His style as a whole, however, is accurate, and compact, and modern- 
like, save in occasional quaintnesses and outspokenness. 

(y.) The whole of the Bible-texts and references have been carefully 
verified. Only those who have consulted the original editions are able 
to appreciate the toil involved in this: eighty percent, at least being in- 
accurate. The important classical and patristic citations and allusions 
have similarly been verified and supplemented. This does not apply 
to the well-nigh innumerable anonymous ' anecdotes/ ' sayings,' ' read- 
ings ;' though, even of those, a large proportion will be found to be 
traced and confirmed in our footnotes. Trite classical and other facts 
and names we have left as they occur. 

(d.) In response to the appeal of the lamented Herbert Coleridge and 
the ' Philological Society,' we have marked all Shakespearian and other 
noticeable words and phrases. As in Sibbes, a Glossary will furnish a 
Reference-Index thereto. 

(«.) For all foot-notes bearing my own initial, G., I am responsible : 
the rest belong to Brooks himself ; and I take this opportunity of calling 
special attention to them. They consist, for the larger part, of the 
margin-notes of the original and early editions, and will always repay 
perusal. Very often it will be found that, by his multifarious reading, 
he gives point to some argument or appeal, or illustration, by a racy 
saying of Luther, or a felicitous bit from a Father, or some apt anecdote, 
or quaint, however unreal, opinion of old science, or a flash of wit or 
play upon a word. So that he will be a loser who passes by these 
notes, which are as the dust-of-gold of a rich and brilliant mind. Brooks 
himself attached no little importance to them. Thus, in his ' Word to 
the Reader,' prefixed to ' Precious Remedies,' he observes : ' If in thy 
reading thou wilt cast a serious eye upon the margin, thou wilt find 
many sweet and precious notes that will oftentimes give light to the 
things thou readest, and pay thee for thy pains with much comfort and 
profit/ (Our reprint, page 9.) 

It only remains that I notice the one representative of an ' edition ' 
of the Works of Brooks, and shew, by a recent reprint of a single book, 
how unworthily he has hitherto been edited. 

(1.) The Rev. Charles Bradley, M.A., of Glasbury, Brecon, in 1824, 
issued two volumes (cr. 8vo.) containing, (1.) 'The Unsearchable Riches 
of Christ ;' (2.) ' Remedies against Satan's Devices ' [the golden Bible- 

1 Letter to the Rev. Joseph Hughes, in Foster's 'Life and Correspondence,' Vol. i. 
pp. 420, 421. (Ed. 1852.) 



XV111 PREFACE. 

word ' precious ' left out !] ; (3.) ' A Treatise on Assurance ' [i. e. 
Heaven on Earth] ; (4.) • The Mute Christian under the Smarting 
Rod;' (5.) 'Apples of Gold/ 

This has long been out of print, so that we do no prejudice to exist- 
ing interests when we characterise it as worthless, by its modernizations, 
and errors of omission and commission, beyond reckoning. A com- 
parison of any single page with our text will reveal such tampering 
with what Brooks wrote as is most discreditable and vitiatory. It is 
sadly-amusive to observe the thin things that are deemed ' improve- 
ments ' on our robust, outspoken Puritan. 

(2.) The ' Cabinet of Jewels' was reprinted in a fair-looking volume, 
which bears the imprint, ' Huntly : published by Duncan Matheson. 
1SG0.' If we err not, this is the earnest Revivalist and Missionary of 
Crimean celebrity. All honour to him as such, and all honour to his 
motives in re-issuing the precious book. But it swarms, as does Brad- 
ley, with blunders and ' corrections ' (!) e. g., the very Errata carefully 
prefixed by the author — not to specify others — are left unchanged ; and 
so (to give a few specimens) we read 'fleshly joys' for Brooks's 'flashy 
joys' (page 22, line 4) ; saintly John Murcot of Dublin is transmogrified 
into 'John Marcol' (page 35, line 22) ; 'Assur's oppression' is spoken 
of instead of 'Asa's' (page 53, line 37) ; Rachel is made to cry out, 
'Give me water' for 'Give me children' (page 75, line 2); and so 
throughout. 

The same remarks, with but slight modification, are applicable to the 
many reprints of the 'Religious Tract Society' and other Publishers, 
who 'improve' and 'polish' into conformity with ideas of 'elegance' 
such as would have roused the rebuke of the fearless old preachers, who 
said what they meant, and meant to the letter, what they said. 

I have, as in the case of Sibbes, very gratefully to record the kind 
help and sympathetic interest in our work shewn by many correspond- 
ents, sought and voluntary. I must specially name my excellent friend 
Joshua Wilson, Esq. of Nevil Park, Tunbridge Wells ; John Bruce, 
Esq., London, the accomplished editor and biographer of the new Aldine 
' Cowper,' and many other historico-biographic works ; the Rev. R. Brook 
Aspland, M.A., London ; the Rectors of St Thomas Apostles, and other 
of the London city churches ; the Rectors aud Curates of Newbury and 
other Churches in different Counties ; the Rev. T. W. Davids, Colches- 
ter ; the authorities of the British Museum ; Williams' Library ; Guild- 
hall Library ; the Bodleian, Oxford ; the University Library, and 
various College Libraries, Cambridge ; the Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, M.A., 
Cambridge, and the late Charles H. Cooper, Esq., Town Clerk, Cam- 
bridge, — together with very many to whom I am indebted for letters 
in answer to (I fear) troublesomely minute inquiries. I owe thanks 
also to ' Notes and Queries,' and other Literary Journals. 



PREFACE. XIX 

1 For a conclusion of all by way of prefix ' — here in part appropriat- 
ing the words of Cawdrey and Palmer iu the Epistle to their Sabbatum 
Redivivum (1645. Pt. I.) — I 'have but one word or two more to 
say, and that by way of earnest entreaty.' These ' Works,' reader ! are 
full as the honey-comb of ' exceeding great and precious' Truth : no 
mere stately scholarliness, curious questioning, nice casuistry, windy 
phrases. Therefore, I pray ' That thou wilt do the Truth that right as 
to yield to and practise what thou art convinced of/ ' Consider ' what 
I say, ' and the Lord give thee and me understanding and grace in all 
things through Jesus Christ. So prays, 

Thine in Him,' 

Alexander B. Grosart. 

308 Upper Parliament Street, 
Liverpool, May 1866. 



MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. 



IT is long since one said in his own quaintly-pensive way, ' Who 
knows whether the best men be known, or whether there be not 
more remarkable persons forgot, than any that stand remembered in 
the known account of Time V Our endeavours towards elucidating the 
Lives of the Worthies embraced in these series of reprints, as well as 
the like experience of all who have sought to trace the footprints of 
shy, sequestered goodness, as distinguished from noisy and noised 
' greatness/ so-called — satisfy us, that Sir Thomas Browne never wrote 
truer words. 1 Light — that shoots its silver arrows unbrokenly across 
the abysses between the sun and our earth, and yet ruffles not tiniest 
feather of bird's wing, or drop of dew in flower-cup — is a more potent 
thing than lightning ; but, lacking the thunder-roar after it, in vulgar 
account is the weaker, albeit the thunder comes from no higher than 
the clouds. Similarly, the ' hidden ones ' — who are really the ' best 
men ' — have been in by far too many cases outblazoned by your 
creature of circumstance. It needs a wider and intenser sky than ours 
to show some stars ; and not until the ' new heavens ' dome the ' new 
earth ' will the truly ' great ' names shine excellingly. Richard 
Sibbes, with rare fineness of thought and felicitousness of wording, has 
' weighed ' the two fames — and his ' counsel ' may fittingly come in 
here. ' Let us commit the fame and credit/ says he, ' of what we are 
or do to God. He will take care of that : let us take care to be and to 
do as we should, and then for noise and report, let it be good or ill as 
God will send it. . . . If we seek to be in the mouths of men, to dwell 
in the talk and speech of men, God will abhor us. . . . Therefore let 
us labour to lie good in secret. Christians should be as minerals, rich 
in the depth of the earth. That which is least seen is his (the Chris- 

1 Works by Wilkin, iii. page 492 (4 vols. 8vo, 1836). 



xxu MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. 

tian a) riches. We should have our treasure deep ; for the discovery of 
it, we should be ready when we are called to it ; and for all other acci- 
dental things, let it fall out as God in his wisdom sees good. . . . God 
will be ca/reful enough to get us applause. . . . As much reputation as 
is fit for a man will follow him, in being and doing what he should. 
God will look to that. Therefore we should not set up sails to our own 
meditations, that unless we be carried with the wind of applause, to be 
becalmed, and not go a whit forward ; but we should be carried with 
the Spirit of God, and with a holy desire to serve God and our brethren, 
and to do all the good we can, and never care for the speeches of the 
world. . . . We shall have glory enough, and be known enough to 
devils, to angels, and men, ere long. Therefore, as Christ lived a 
hidden life — that is, He was not known what He was, that so He might 
work our salvation, so let us be content to be hidden ones. . . . There 
will be A resurrection OF credits, as well as of bodies. We'll have 
glory enough BY-AND-BY.' 1 

In the cases of Sibbes himself, and Airay, and King, and Stock, and 
Torshell, and Bernard, and Marbury, and indeed nearly all, I have had 
to deplore the paucity of materials for anything like adequate Memoirs. 
But more than ever have I to do so in relation to Thomas Brooks. If 
a pun, that he himself would have relished, may be allowed, his memory 
has passed away like the ' summer brooks.' This is all the more regret- 
table, in that his books are vital and influential as at first — his name still 
a venerable and loved one to myriads. Only the other day we chanced 
upon a mission- volume that tells of strength and comfort gained from 
his words, away on the other side of that India which in his days was as 
dream-land, as wonder-land. I may as well give the pathetic little bit. 
Mrs Mason among the Karens writes : ' Two days passed when they 
came again, saying the money was all gone. At first I felt disposed to 
rebuke them, but turned to my closet for an hour, giving the time to 
prayer, and to my dear little help-book " Precious Remedies against 
Satan's Devices." In that time God taught me what to do, and 
strength was given for the day.' 2 Verily 'he, being dead, yet 
speaketh.' 

Various explanations suggest themselves as to the absence of me- 
morial of Brooks's outward-life. 

(I.) It so happens that the ' Registers ' of his University are singu- 
larly defective at the period of his attendance ; so much so that even the 
sweet-naturcd Historian was moved to these severe censures : ' Hither- 
to we have given in the list of the yearly Commencers, but now must 
break off. Let Thomas Smith, University-Register, bear the blame, 

1 Works, Vol. I. ; Memoir, pp. xxiii, xxiv. 

* Civilizing Mountain Men, or Sketches of Mission Work among the Karens. By Mrs 
Mason, of Burmah. 18C2. (Nisbet.) 



MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. XXlll 

who, about this year, entering into his office, was so negligent that, as 
one saith, Cum fuit Academics a memorid, omnia tradidit oblivioni. 
I can hardly in-hold from inveighing on his memory, carelessness 
being dishonesty in 'public persons so entrusted.' l 

(2.) He was excluded from the ' Worthies ' of Fuller by his rule, that 
' the living ' were ' omitted/ 2 How often the reader sighs over like 
dismissal of other names as still ' surviving.' 3 

(3.) The ' Fire ' of London destroyed the MSS. of Ashe, and various 
fellow-labourers who had collected for the Lives of the elder and later 
Puritans, including 'The Ejected' of 1662. 4 Beyond all question 
Thomas Brooks held an honoured place therein. Then again the same 
'Fire/ destroying the different Churches in which Brooks officiated, 
destroyed with them all their Registers and Records. So that New- 
court and other authorities are blank in respect of dates, and almost 
everything else. Add to all this, his own singularly reticent and 
modest 'hiding' of self — his absolute indifference to fame, other than 
the love of those who might ' profit ' by his writings : and he yearned 
for that, as the close of his ' Epistles Dedicatory ' shew. 

As it is, after having expended fully the maximum of labour and 
'painfulness ' — as the old Divines say, — in seeking to illumine the 
memory of this ' dead Saint,' I can only offer a minimum of result : 
and yet our little is relatively large to what has hitherto been 
known. 

It is not ascertained in what city, town, or village Thomas Brooks 
was born : not even in what county. The very nativeness of his name 
has multiplied the difficulties of determining it. In ' this fair England ' 
' brooks ' flash by meadow and woodland everywhere ; and as familiar 
and frequent is his name. 5 Certain turns of expression, certain ap- 
parently local words, occurring in his volumes, have made us feel assured 
that in this County or in that we should discover his family : but lo ! 
the phrase and word proved to be common to many : and our toil went 
for nothing, save morsels of fact about others, unexpectedly turning up. 
From his ' Will ' — which we have discovered, and print for the first 
time — we fondly hoped to trace him to Berkshire : but again were dis- 
appointed, spite of complete and carefully preserved ' Registers,' and 
all courtesy and helpfulness from their custodiers. From a ' Memorial 
again, of Lancashire ' Worthies,' by the saintly Oliver Heywood — un- 

1 Fuller's ' History of the University of Cambridge,' page 208. 

2 Ibid., page 207. 3 Ibid., page 206. 
4 Brook, ' Lives of the Puritans,' vol. iii., sub nominibus. 

8 Mr Spurgeon plays on the name in his little volume of sentences from Brooks's 
writings, entitling it, ' Smooth Stones taken from Ancient Brooks. By the Rev. C. H. 
Spurgeon, of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Being a Collection of Sentences, Illustra- 
tions, and Quaint Sayings, from the Works of that Renowned Puritan, Thomas Brooks. ' 
(32rno, pp. xv. 296.) 



XXIV MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. 

published — which notices his death, in a little record that is useful, we 
half anticipated to be able to claim him for it ; but all inquiries leave 
us in uncertainty. ' Besides, the orthography of the name confuses : 
for just as there were among Divines a John Howes as well as a John 
Howe, a John Owens as well as a John Owen, a Thomas Adam as well 
as a Thomas Adams, even a John Milton as well as the John Milton, 
so our Thomas Brooks is sometimes met with — even early — as now 
Thomas Brooke, and now Thomas Brookes and Brook — the penulti- 
mate being his own spelling on the title-page of ' Precious Remedies ' 
[2d ed. 1G53] and ■ Unsearchable Riches' [1657, 1st ed.], though in the 
' Epistles ' he adheres to Brooks. Little do your arm-chair-easy critics 
know of the honest work spent in furnishing such ' Memoirs ' — slight 
and unsatisfying though they be — as they magisterially discuss and 
dismiss with penurious thanks ! Personally we have no plaint, much 
less complaint, to make : for our labours have been more than duly ap- 
preciated : but we feel constrained to remind those who may be tempted 
to regard a given ' Life ' as insufficient, that in ninety-nine cases of a 
hundred what appears is as the one to the ninety-nine of anxious though 
fruitless inquiries. 

The Manuscript 'entry' of Oliver Hey wood referred to a short way back 
— and which will appear in its own place — gives his age at death as ' 72/ 
but by a clerical blunder probably, writes 1678 for 1680, the actual 
year of his decease. If 1680 was intended, then his birth-year must 
have been 1608 — John Milton's also ; if calculated from 1678, two years 
sooner, 1606. It seems likely that the former is the accurate date. 

We are shut out from all insight into ancestry, parentage, and child- 
hood, and ' boy ' surroundings of our Worthy — whether he were of' blue 
blood' descent, or of a 'godly' or worldly fatherhood and motherhood, 
whether ' in populous city pent,' or blown upon by the freshening influ- 
ences of rural life. We do not know his ' School,' ' Schoolmasters/ or 
' Schoolmates.' The whole ' make ' of the man — as it is expressed in his 
Writings — warrants us in assuming that his ' home' was a ' church in 
the house,' and his training the grave, serious, yet not morose but 
blithesome one, of the Puritans. By his ' 17th ' year — at latest — the one 
University ' date ' that survives through the heedlessness of that scion 
of the immortal Smiths rebuked by Fuller — he was at College, at 
' Emmanuel,' Cambridge. This was the Puritan College par excel- 
lence: the illustrious Founder of it — Sir Walter Mildmay — having 
been flouted by Elizabeth for his ' Puritan foundation/ 2 So that we 

1 For this we are indebted to the ever open stores of our good friend Joshua Wilson, 
Esq., of Nevil Park, Tunbridge Wells. 

a Fuller tells the story pungently : ' Coming to Court after he had founded his College, 
the Queen told him, " Sir Walter, I hear you have erected a Puritan foundation." " No, 
Madam," saith ho; "far be from me to countenance anything contrary to your estab- 
lished laws ; but 1 have set an acorn which, when it becomes an oak, God alone knows 



MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. XXV 

can scarcely err in finding in this choice confirmation of Puritan- 
parentage. The entry is as follows : ' 

' Thomas Brooks : matriculated as pensioner of Emanuel, July 7th 
1625/ 

' Pensioner' must not be misunderstood as indicating narrow circum- 
stances, much less poverty. John Milton was entered as ' pensioner/ 
only a few months previously, at a sister-college. There were four grades, 
the 'greater pensioner/ the 'lesser pensioner,' ' sizars/ and ' scholars.' 
These distinctions designate differing rank. All the first three lived as 
now we are accustomed to say on the Continent, en pension, id est, 
paid for their board and education, and in this respect were distinct 
from the scholars properly so called, who belonged to the foundation. 
The ' greater pensioners' or ' fellow commoners ' paid most. They were 
(as they still are) the sons of noble or ' gentle ' families, and had the 
privilege of dining at the upper table in the common hall along with 
the fellows. The ' sizars,' on the other hand, were poorer students ; 
they paid least ; and, though receiving the same education with the 
others, held a lower rank and had inferior accommodation. Intermediate 
between the 'greater pensioners' and the ' sizars ' were the ' lower pen- 
sioners ;' and it was (as it is still) to this class that the bulk of the 
students in all the colleges at Cambridge belonged. 2 By ' pensioner ' 
after Brooks's name we are no doubt to understand ' lesser pensioner ;' 
so that, as with the scrivener-father of the bard of ' Paradise Lost,' 
his parents were in good circumstances. When we know that 
Jeremy Taylor entered &s pauper scholaris, and Sibbes as a 'sizar/ it 
had needed no vindication had Master Thomas Brooks taken his posi- 
tion* in either class ; but the matter-of-fact is as stated, and it is 
but right to state it. He must have been well born, and born as a 
' gentleman/ 

Brooks, in 'entering' Emanuel College on July 7th 1625, as above, 

what will be the fruit thereof." ' And the historian adds, ' Sure I am, at this day, it 
hath overshadowed all the University — more than a moiety of the present Masters of 
Colleges being bred therein.' As before, pp. 205, 206. For Full details on Sir Walter 
Mildmay, see Cooper's Athence Cantabrigienses, Vol. ii. pp. 51-55, 544. I cannot give 
this reference without paying a tribute of heartfelt regard to the just deceased senior 
author of this inestimable work, who, within a few days of his lamented death, dictated 
and even signed a letter bearing on my researches. Erudite, laborious, finely enthu- 
siastic, ungrudging in communicating from his ample resources, all our Memoirs have 
been indebted to him. See finely touched estimate of him by Mr Mayor, reprinted from 
'The Cambridge Papers of March 24.1866,' in ' Notes and Queries,' March 31. 1866, 
pp. 253-54. 

1 Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, M.A., Librarian to the University of Cambridge, and the late 
Charles H. Cooper, Esq., to myself. Moreover, this one entry is all that the industry of 
Cole provides : Cole MSS. in British Museum, under * Emanuel.' 

2 On all this cf. Masson's ' Life of Milton in Connection with the History of His Time,' 
particularly vol. i. pp. 88, 89. No one who seeks information on the period covered by 
the ' Life' of Milton, will fail to consult this treasure-house of materials. 



XXVI MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. 

had for Master that one of all the heads of Colleges, ' whose presence,' 
to quote the words of an unchallengeable authority — Professor David 
Masson — ' was the most impressive.' 1 ' He was,' says Fuller — whose 
Chiuvhism never for a moment hindered his generous recognition of 
worth and wit in whomsoever found — 'the greatest pupil-monger in 
England in man's memory, having sixteen fellow-commoners, most heirs 
to fair estates, admitted in one year at Queen's College. As William 
the Popular of Nassau was said to have won a subject from the King 
of Spain to his own party every time he put off his hat, so was it 
commonly said in the College, that every time when Master Preston 
plucked off his hat to Dr Davenant, the College master, he gained a 
chamber or study for one of his pupils.' 2 He was pre-eminently a 
Puritan in its grandest and — at the time — reproached sense. Chosen 
1 Master' of Emanuel in 1622, he carried most of his pupils with him 
from Queen's thither ; and as its Head, kept up the reputation of that 
House as the most Puritanical in the University. His ' Life ' belongs 
to History : it jet remains unwritten, as, shame to Cambridge, his price- 
L< ss Works remain to this day uncollected and inedited. 3 It was no com- 
mon advantage to our student to have been placed under such a 'Master'; 
and his margin-references to ' Dr Preston,' and the same to ' Dr Sibbes,' 
together with occasional ' sayings' of the latter not met with elsewhere, 
assure us that he sat reverently at their feet. 4 His fellow-students at 
' Emanuel' — assuming that he 'proceeded' through the ordinary curri- 
culum of study — included Thomas Shepard, and John Cotton, and 
Thomas Hooker — afterwards the famous trio of New England ' Divines,' 
and spiritually the founders and fathers of Massachusetts. To the same 
College, earlier and later, belonged the holy Bedell, the many-sided 
Joseph Hall, the large -though ted Ralph Cudworth, and these still 
lustrous Puritan ' Worthies' — Samuel Crooke, John Yates, John Stough- 
ton, Ezekiel Culvervvell, Stephen Marshall, Samuel Hudson, Nathanael 
Ward. 5 Elsewhere we have sketched his contemporaries in the Uni- 
versity. Beginning with that name which overshadows all the rest — 
John Milton — the roll ends with Waller and Randolph. 6 

From the reasons assigned, it is our hap and mishap not to be able to 

1 Masson as before, p. 93. 

* Fuller's Worthies: Northamptonshire; and Church History, sub anno, 1628 ; and 
also (from Masson as supra) : Wood's Fasti, i. 333 : Neal's History of the Puritans, ii. 
l$3,etseq. Fuller was himself a student of Queen's before Preston had left it for Emanuel. 
On the whole position and subject of the Puritans, see that invaluable trans- Atlantic 
contribution to history, ' The Puritans : or the Church, Court, and Parliament of Eng- 
land, during the reigns of Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth. By Samuel Hopkins. 
3 vols. 8vo. (Boston, 1859-61). 3 See our Memoir of Sibbes, vol. ii. pp. 51, 52, et alibi. 

* See our Index, sub-nominibus, for these references. 

6 Cf. Brook's ' Lives of the Puritans,' sub nominibus; also Dr Sprague's ' Auuals' of 
the American Pulpit, ditto. 

See our Memoir of Sibbes as before, pp. 52, 53, et alibi. 



MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. XXvii 

trace the ' progress' of Brooks. In all likelihood, he ' proceeded ' from 
degree to degree, although in common with other of the Puritans, he 
places none on his title-pages, preferring the nobler designation, 'Preacher 
of the Gospel,' or ' Preacher of the Word.' Of his entire University 
course we have an incidental notice in one of those rare snatches of 
autobiography which occur in his writings. It occurs in a tractate, of 
which more anon, and runs thus : ' For a close of this branch. . . . 
I shall only say this : being compelled thereunto by some — that I do 
believe that I have spent more money at the University, and in helps 
to learning, than several of these petitioners are worth, though haply I 
have not been such a proficient as those that have spent less.' He adds : 
' I am a lover of the tongues, and do by daily experience find, that 
knowledge in the original tongues is no small help for the understanding 
of Scripture,' &C. 1 

When Brooks left the University we cannot tell. The periods of 
residence and attendance varied ; some being shorter and others longer. 
If he remained, as Sibbes and Gouge his contemporaries did, from nine 
to twelve years, adding the former to 1625, we are advanced to 1634 ; 
by the latter to 1637. He must have been ' licensed' or ' ordained' as 
a ' Preacher of the Gospel' by 1640 at latest. For in the tractate 
already quoted [' Cases Considered and Resolved'], which is dated 1653, 
he says, ' I am compelled to tell you that I have, by the gracious assist- 
ance of God, preached publicly, the Gospel, above these thirteen years ; 
and the greatest part of those years I have spent in preaching the word 
in London, where God hath given me many precious seals of my 
ministry, which are now my comfort, and in the day of Christ will be 
my crown.' 2 At this time, too, he must have been involved in many 
labours ; for in his ' Epistle' to ' the conscientious reader,' he thus 
appeals in regard to ' errata/ 'I desire that thou wouldst cast a mantle 
of love over the mistakes of the Printer, I having no opportunity to 
wait on the press, by reason of my many engagements other ways, 's 
How one wishes that the good man had had a little more communica- 
tive egotism, and confided to us when and where, before coming to 
London, and in London, he had 'preached the Word!' By 1648 he 
was Preacher of the Gospel at Thomas Apostles, London : such being 
his designation in the title-page of his first publication, viz., his SermoD, 
entitled ' The Glorious Day of the Saints' Appearance, calling for a 
glorious conversation from all Believers,' which was ' delivered .... 
at the interment of the corpse of that renowned Commander, Colonel 
Thomas Painsborough, who was treacherously murdered at Doncaster, 
October 29. 1648, and honourably interred the 14th of November 
following, in the Chapel at Wapping, near London.' This ' Sermon' is 

1 ' Cases Considered and Resolved,' given in extenso in Appendix A to this Introduction. 

2 As before, page 8, ' a short Preamble.' 3 Ibid., page 6. 



XXV111 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. 

on various accounts important and interesting Liographically. It fur- 
nishes certain facts which must be brought together. First of all, he 
must by this time have won a commanding positron, to have been 
appointed the ' Preacher' on so public and sorrowful an occasion. The 
honour came most unexpectedly, as was the giving of the Sermon to 
the public unintended by himself. On these two points in his 'Epistle' 
he thus speaks : • When I preached upon the subject of the saints' 
glorious appearance at the last, He that knows all hearts and thoughts, 
knows that I had not the least thought to put it to press. And that, 
partly, because the meditations following were not the meditations of 
a week, no, nor of two days, but of some few hours : I having but short 
warning to provide ; and other things falling in within the compass of 
that short time that did divert my thoughts some other ways. But 
mainly because of that little, little worth that is in it.' Then he con- 
tinues : ' And yet, Right Honourable, the intentions of some to "put it 
to the press in case I would not consent to have it printed — by which 
means truth and myself might have been co-partners in suffering — and 
the strong importunity of many precious souls, hath borne me down 
and subdued me to them.' 1 Again: It is dedicated to the 'Right 
Honourable Thomas, Lord Fairfax, Lord General of all the Parliament's 
Forces in England,' as to a friend and familiar, to whom it is his pride 
to ' testify,' not only to himself, ' but to all the world/ his ' thankful 
remembrance and due acknowledgment' of his Lordship's 'undeserved 
respect' towards him.' 2 In an age of venal flattery, the ' Epistles Dedica- 
tory' of Brooks are throughout simple, plain-spoken, searching, direct 
as an old Hebrew prophet's ' burden :' hence this language certainly 
meant what it said. But specially one allusion is at once a key to 
other personal references scattered up and down his writings, and an 
explanation of how the years preceding 1 640, as above, were occupied. 
Near the close of the Sermon, — and it is characteristic of the man, that 
only about a single page is devoted to Rainsborough himself, — he reveals 
'service' with the lamented Commander. ' As for this thrice-honoured 
champion now in the dust: for his enjoyment of God, from my own 
experience, being with him both at sea and land, 1 have abundance of 
sweetness and satisfaction in my own spirit, which to me exceedingly 
sweetens so great a loss.' 3 I have said that this ' testimony' furnishes 
a key to other references. I allude to incidental intimations of his 
having been abroad. Thus, in the 'Epistle Dedicatory' to his ' Precious 
Remedies,' as one of the reasons for its publication he gives this : ' I 
have many precious friends in several countries, who are not a little 
desirous that my pen may reach them, now my voice cannot. I have 
foiinerly been, by the help of the mighty God of Jacob, a weal- instru- 
ment of good to them, and cannot but hope and believe that the Lord 
1 Page 12. 3 Page 1. 8 Page 22. 



MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. xxix 

will also bless those labours to them : they being in part the fruit of 
their desires and prayers, &C. 1 Again : In his ' Unsearchable Riches,' 
he thus barbs one of his many fearless rebukes : ' If you do not give 
them [ministers of the Gospel] honourable countenance, Jews and 
Turks, Papists and Pagans, will in the great day of account rise up 
against you and condemn you. I could say "much of what I have 
observed in other nations and countries concerning this thing ; but I 
forbear. Should I speak what I have seen, many professors [professing 
Christians] might well blush.' 2 Once more : ' In the ' Epistle Dedica- 
tory' to his 'Heaven on Earth/ there occur these personal reminiscences, 
tantalizing by their very suggestiveness : ' / have observed in some 
terrible storms I have been in, that the mariners' and the passengers' 
want of assurance, and of those other pearls of price that in this Treatise 
are presented to public view, hath caused their countenance to change/ 
&c. Then the ' Epistle' itself is addressed to ' The Right Honourable 
the Generals of the Fleets of the Commonwealth of England, and to 
those gallant Worthies (my much honoured friends), who, with the 
noble generals, have deeply jeoparded their lives unto many deaths, out 
of love to their country's good, and out of respect to the interest of 
Christ and the faithful people of this Commonwealth ;' and of these, — 
besides the parenthesis italicized in the foregoing, — he assigns as one 
reason for so ' tendering' his volume to them. ' Because you are my 
friends, and that cordial love and friendship which I have found from 
you hath stamped in my affections a very high valuation of you.' Once 
more : a little further on, he says, ' I have been some years at Sea, and 
through grace I can say that I would not exchange my Sea experiences 
for England's riches. I am not altogether ignorant of the troubles, trials, 
temptations, dangers, and deaths, that do attend you.' In a margin- 
note at the close he adds, ' Had I a purse suitable to my heart, not a 
poor, godly soldier or sailor in England, who carries his life in one 
hand, but should have one of these books in the other.' 3 Further : 
In his ' London's Lamentations,' speaking of the wind, he observes : 
' In some places of the world — where I have been — the motions of 
the wind are steady and constant, which mariners call their trade- 
wind.'' 1 Besides these notices in his writings, by his ' Will/ which 
will be found in its own place, he leaves a ' legacy' to ' Vice- Admiral 
Goodson's eldest daughter's son, that she had by her husband Captain 
Magger.' 

Combining these various personal allusions, — which have hitherto been 
utterly overlooked, — it is plain that Brooks for 'some years' was 'at sea.' 
The question is, in what capacity ? A consideration of the facts in the 

i 

1 Our reprint, page 5. 3 2d edition, 1657, pp. 1, 4, 6, 27. 

2 1657, 1st edition, page 320. 4 Part II. page 21. 



XXX MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. 

career of the two 'Commanders' named, viz., Colonel Rainsborough 
and Vice-admiral Goodson, with, by implication, a Captain Magger, 
lead me to the conclusion that he must have acted as 'chaplain/ both 
'at Sea,' and 'on Land,' that is, in the Fleet and with the Army — alter- 
nating as the Commanders were then wont to do with the one and the 
other. My reasons are these, in brief : Colonel Rainsborough, with 
whom Brooks informs us he was 'at Sea and on Land,' is traceable on 
both by help of the 'State Papers.' He was the son of that William 
Rainsborough of the Navy, who was ' Captain ' of the ' Marhonour ' in 
1635 : of the ' Triumph ' in the Fleet of the Earl of Nortumberland in 
163G : 'admiral' of the Parliamentary Fleet which revolted in 1648, 
when the sailors seized their admiral and quietly put him ashore : and 
who survived the Restoration, and was imprisoned by Charles II. In 
all probability his son the ' Colonel' served under his father in the Navy ; 
and the years 1635, and 1636 on to 1639-40, thus correspond with the 
unaccounted for period of Brooks's life. Then with reference to 
Brooks having also been 'with him on the Land,' our 'Colonel' is 
found on shore at the siege of Bristol, the surrender of Woodstock, the 
capture of Berkeley Castle, and elsewhere throughout the Civil War, 
until his 'death,' of which below. 1 Of Vice-admiral Goodson, very little 
remains ; but as Captain William Goodson, he was commander and 
vice-admiral at Jamaica from 1655 to 1657, and received on 9th January 
1658 an order for <£ J 500 from the Council of State, as a gratuity for 
his extraordinary services and expenses. 2 During these years, 1655- 
1 658, Brooks could not be with Goodson ; but he may have been 
in earlier years. It is a pity we have not fuller memoirs of those 
gallant sailor-soldiers and soldier-sailors, who emulated the brave deeds 
of Blake, and whose services on Sea and Land bear equally the impress 
of genius and devotion. I am not without hope that in the progress of 
the ' Calendars ' of the Papers in our National Archives, light may yet 

1 I must here acknowledge the very great trouble taken by John Bruce, Esq., of Lon- 
don toward aiding ray researches into this matter. It is to this not less willing than 
able gentleman I stand indebted for nearly all above data. Of Colonel Rainsborough's 
' death ' — celebrated by Brooks — it may be said that it was one of the saddest incidents 
of our Civil War. It occurred on the 29th October 1648. He had been sent by Crom- 
well to lay siege to Poiitefract, and was lying at Doncaster on his way thither. A party 
of the Garrison, disguised as Parliament soldiers, entered Doncaster, deceived Rains- 
borough's men into the belief that they belonged to the Cromwellian army, penetrated into 
an inn where Rainsborough was lying, captured him in his bed, and on his making some 
resistance to being carried off, ran him through with their swords, and left him dead 
on the streets. The dastardly and bloody story is told as if it had been a gallant 
achievement, by Clarendon (Hist. Rebell., Book xi.), and as ' a murder or very question- 
able kind of homicide,' by Caflyle (Cromwell, iii. 420.) Brooks's Sermon will be given 
in Vol. VI. ; and there further details may be looked for, including singular inedited 
broadsides issued on the day of the Funeral. 

2 ' Colonial Calendar,' 1 574-1 GGO, p. 462, and Mr Bruce to myself. 



MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. XXxi 

be shed on this altogether unrecognised portion of our Worthy's story. 
The dates and facts alike of the Rainsborough heroes accord with his 
allusions to what he had seen. 

By 1 648, Brooks — as we have found — was ' Preacher of the Gospel ' 
at ' Thomas Apostles,' London. In the same year, ' 26th December/ and 
on the title-page of his second publication, viz., his first Sermon before 
the House of Commons, entitled, ' God's Delight in the Progress of the 
Upright, especially in Magistrates' Uprightness and constancy in ways 
of justice and righteousness in these Apostatizing Times, notwith- 
standing all discouragements, oppositions/ &c, he is still designated 
' Preacher of the Gospel at Thomas Apostles ;' so also, but in wording 
that reminds us of Richard Baxter's and other old title-pages, in his 
second sermon, of '8th October 1650/ viz., his 'Hypocrites Discovered,' in 
celebration of Cromwell's ' crowning victory ' at Dunbar. He is therein 
described as ' Thomas Brooks, a weak and unworthy Teacher of the 
Gospel at Thomas Apostles, London/ 

Of this first known ' benefice ' or Church of Brooks, much curious 
antiquarian lore will be found in Newcourt's ' Repertorium Ecclesias- 
ticum Parochiale Londinense ' (2 vols, folio, 1708) ; and thither our 
readers are referred. 1 But ' the Fire ' of 1666 destroyed the whole 
Registers, and no trace of our Puritan Rector remains, save that by the 
courtesy of the present Incumbent of the united Parish, within whose 
bounds it stood, I learn a ' Mr Brooks ' resided in one of the ' houses 
which belonged to the Church/ 2 As there was a ' parsonage-house ' 
before the Fire, this was probably our Brooks. 3 

We cannot be far amiss in concluding that it was most probably to 
the impression made by his sermon for Rainsborough that Brooks 
owed his appointment to ' preach ' before Parliament. The former ser- 
mon was delivered on ' November 14. 1648/ the latter in the succeed- 
ing month, ' December 26th.' 

By 1 652-53 Brooks had been transferred from ' Thomas Apostles ' to 
' Margaret's, Fish-street hill.' In his ' Precious Remedies ' and in his 
'Cases Considered and Resolved,' the title-pages (of 1652-53) desig- 
nate him ' a willing Servant unto God, and the faith of his people, in 
the glorious Gospel of Christ at Margaret's, Fish-street hill,' and so 
through all his Writings up to 1662. It was not without opposition 
that our Worthy passed into this higher and wider sphere. The whole 
trying story is given by Brooks himself in the pamphlet already more 
than once quoted. It is printed in extenso in our Appendix to this 
our Memoir. 4 To it, therefore, all are referred. It is an invaluable 

1 See Vol. i. pp. 549-551. 2 Rev. L. B. White, M.A., penes me. May 27. 1861. 

3 Newcourt as before, page 551. 

4 See A ; this tractate is exceedingly rare, and seems to have been unknown to pre- 
vious writers, even to Calamy and Palmer. Hence the blunders corrected below. 

VOL. I. c 



XXXU MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. 

contribution to his Biography and has many characteristic touches. It 
lies on the surface that the gist of the entire opposition lay in the 
Puritan-Rector's refusal — stern and fearless as that of Ambrose and 
John Calvin — to administer ' Baptism ' and the ' Lord's Supper ' to 
those palpably ' unworthy/ — a controversy which has a singular litera- 
ture of its own from Brooks's treatise to the folio of William Morice, 
Esq., of Devon (16G0), and the Avell-nigh innumerable polemics of Col- 
linges, and Blake, and Drake, and Humphrey, and Saunders, and 
'Tilenus before the Triers;' until in the next century it culminated in 
the ' dismissal ' of Jonathan Edwards of America. Brooks's 'Cases Con- 
sidered ' did its work, and he kept his position. The 'Parish' of 'St 
Margaret's, Fish-street-hill,' was a populous and a ' burdensome ' one. 
Full details will be found in Newcourt, but no memorial of Brooks. 1 
The Church is memorable, as having been the spot 'where that fatal 
Fire first began that turned London into a ruinous heap.' 2 

What kind of 'preaching' the Parishioners got from their Pastor, his 
books attest. From 1 652 onward these followed each other in rapid suc- 
cession and with unflagging success. There was his ' Precious Remedies ' 
in 1652; his 'Epistles' or 'Approbations' to Everard's 'Gospel-Treasury 
Opened/ and to the ' Works ' of Dr Thomas Taylor, 1 653 ; ' Heaven 
on Earth' in 1654; his 'Unsearchable Riches,' 'Apples of Gold/ and 
'String of Pearls,' in 1657; his 'Epistle' to John Durant's 'Altum 
Silentium,' in 1659; his 'Mute Christian' and 'Believer's Last Day 
his best Day,' 1660. In the last year — 1660 — his name stands beside 
that of Thomas Goodwin in the ' Renunciation and Declaration of the 
Ministers of Congregational Churches, and Public Preachers, of the 
same judgment, living in and about the city of London : against the late 
horrid insurrection and rebellion acted in the said City' (1661, 4to). 
In the same year also — 1660 — he preached the 'Sermons' that com- 
pose his ' Ark for all God's Noahs/ in the Church of St Olave's, Bread- 
street — Milton's street — where, as from the Epistle we learn, ' God 
blessed them then to those Christians that attended on his ministry.' 
Newcourt makes no mention of a St Olave's in ' Bread-street/ but pro- 
bably it is intended by ' St Olave's, Haii-street.' Daniel Mills was the 
1 Rector,' who would cordially welcome Brooks as a ' Lecturer ' to his 

1 Newcourt R. E. as before vol. i. pp. 405-407. Here under date '28th Septr. 1640' 
is entered 'Rob. Pory S. T. B.' as 'Rector,' 'mort. ult. Rectoris;' then under date 18th 
August 1660, 'perresig. Pory, George Smalwood, A.M. ;' and under 17th October 1662, 'per 
cess. Smalwood, Dav. Barton,' who, Newcourt add*, ' I suppose continued Rector here till 
his Ohurch was burnt down in 1666.' Pory was no doubt the fellow-student and com- 
panion of Milton, and Newcourt may be accurate in regard to him ; but Smalwood must 
have held some subordinate post, as it was on Brooks's 'Ejectment' or Resignation, not 
Smalwood'B, this Barton succeeded. Newcourt in his High-Churchliness does not recog- 
nise Brooks at all ; and here, as elsewhere, supplies from unnamed sources those whom 
he chooses to regard as the ' rightful ' occupants. See our note 4 p. xxxiii. ■ Bee B. 



MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. xxxiii 

Church. 1 When, in 1 662, he published his ' Ark for all God's Noahs in a 
gloomy stormy day,' he had to describe himself on its title-page as ' late 
Preacher of the Gospel at Margaret's near Fish-street, and still Preacher 
of the Word in London, and Pastor of a Congregation there.' The little 
word 'late,' and the other 'still, 1 mark two events: the former, the 
'Ejectment' of 1662; the latter, that while, with the illustrious ' two 
thousand' he had resigned 'St Margaret's' for 'conscience' sake,' he 
nevertheless did not and could not lay down his commission as a 
'minister of the Gospel' and Servant of Christ. It needeth not that 
I tell the pathetic and heroic story of 'Black' St Bartholomew's 
Day. It is as imperishable as is the fame of ' this England.' I simply 
say, that of the many noble and true men who all over the land stood 
faithful to their convictions, none was nobler, none worthier than the 
' ejected ' Rector of ' St Margaret's.' The closing portion of his ' Fare- 
well Sermon,' and it has not a single bitter or controversial word, 
appears in all the 'Collections' of the 'Ejected' 'Farewell Sermons.' 
We give it in the Appendix to this our Memoir. 2 The ' Epistles ' or 
'Approbations' also, which appeared previous to 1662, follow the 'Fare- 
well Sermon' there. 3 They may be compared with those of Sibbes. 
They pay worthy tribute to the worthy. 

He had not himself alone to consider when he went out from ' St 
Margaret's.' He had married, probably many years before — though the 
date is not known — a daughter of the excellent John Burgess. 4 It 

1 [Cf. Newcourt R. E. as before, vol. i. pp. 510-512.] 2 See B. 8 See C. 

4 Calamy's 'Account,' p. 27; Continuation, pp. 28, 283. Calamy's 'Account' of Brooks 
lacks his usual carefulness. He describes ' St Margaret's, Fish-street hill 'as 'St Mary- 
Magdalen, Fish-street,' thus misreading 'St Mary' for 'St Magnus,' and also, if intending 
it, employing a name it did not bear until after the Fire in 1666, when being united 
thereto, the one name, 'St Magnus,' embraced both (Newcourt, as supra, p. 406). He 
has hereby misled Palmer (None. Memorial, vol. i. p. 150), who enters Brooks as 'ejected 
from ' St Mary, Fish-street. ' Further, Calamy had never seen ' Cases Considered and 
Resolved,' else he would not have made the following statements: 'About 1651 [1652-3] 
he was chosen by the majority of the Parishioners of St Mary Magdalen, Fish Street 
[i.e. St Margaret's] to be their minister; and he gathering a Church there in the con- 
gregational way, the rest of the Parish preferred a Petition against him to the Committee 
of ministers, and he published a Defence against their charges.' The 'Defence' in 
question is his 'Cases Considered and Resolved' (printed in our Appendix, A), and 
thereby it will be seen that it was not at all for the reason alleged he was opposed ; and 
we have also shewn above that he prevailed and entered on possession of the Parish. His 
Church in the ' congregational way' was not 'commenced' for fully ten years subsequent, 
viz. on the ' Ejectment ' of 1662, as told onward by us. The title-pages of Brooks's books 
issued from 1652 to 1662 attest that he was the 'clergyman' of St Margaret's up to 1662, 
and his subsequent title-pages similarly assert him to have been ' late ' or ' formerly 
thereof. Thus are Newcourt and Calamy alike, corrected and disproved. It is possible 
that while ' minister ' of ' Margarets,' Brooks, in common with other of his brethren, had 
also a more select auditory elsewhere, to whom he held the office of ' pastor :' but we 
have no lights on the subject. Be this as it may, the ' Defence ' had nothing to do with 
a church in the ' congregational way,' as Calamy affirms. 



XXXIV MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. 

does not appear whether he had any family ; but his wife — whose name 
was Martha — was indeed a 'help-meet,' — a woman of high-toned yet 
meekly tender principle, and all but the idol of her husband. She 
died in 1676, and her Funeral Sermon was preached by (probably) Dr 
John Collinges, of Norwich. Some extracts are added in our Appendix, 
from 'notes' which were no doubt furnished by Brooks himself. 1 

Thus self-placed, because conscience-placed, among the ' Ejected ' of 
16G2, Brooks nevertheless remaining a Christ-anointed 'Preacher of the 
Gospel/ quietly continued his ministry within his Parish. Evidently, 
multitudes clave to their beloved and honoured Pastor, for to the praise 
of the laity be it said, the very life-blood of the different ' Churches ' 
vacated by the 'two thousand' flowed into the humbler 'chapels' and 
' conventicles ' of the enforced Nonconformists. Brooks's ' chapel ' 
occupied a site near his old Church in Fish-street, called the ' Pave- 
ment,' Moorfields. The only memorial that remains of it is preserved 
in certain MSS. in the custody of the Williams Library, London — 
drawn up by a Rev. Josiah Thompson — but it consists of a mere blun- 
dering transcript of Calamy's blunders. 2 He gives Brooks as the 
founder of the congregation, but dates it from 1GG0 or the Restoration, 
which is disproved by his preaching his ' Farewell Sermon ' in St Mar- 
garet's in 1662. 3 Here our 'Confessor/ now growing old, continued 
his pristine unmistakeable, intense, powerful, and ' savoury ' exhibition 
of Christ and ' The Gospel ;' and as in brighter days, he issued volume 
upon volume, which bore the same characteristics and met with the 
same welcome as ' of old.' . For proof, in his address to the ' Reader ' 
prefixed to his 'Privy Key of Heaven' (1665), he was able to say grate- 
fully, as one of the reasons for again publishing, ' That favour, that 
good acceptance and fair quarter, that my other poor labours have 
found, not only in this Nation but in other countries also, hath put me 
upon putting pen to paper once more/ 4 Even in the year of sore trial 
— 1662 — he could say, 'My former poor labours and endeavours 
have been acceptable to some of all ranks and degrees, and they have 
been blest to some of all ranks and degrees ; and I have been encour- 
aged, whetted, and stirred up by some on all hands, once more to cast 

1 See D. z See foot-note supra 4 p. xxxiii. 

8 The Thompson MSS. give details of the after-history of Brooks's congregation. Reeve 
continued only a few years : the ' rage ' against Nonconformists flung him into Newgate 
with many others of the -godly:' he died in 1686, never having recovered from the effects 
of his unrighteous imprisonment. He was succeeded in 1686 by Richard Taylor, who 
died in 1717 ; Mr Hall followed in 1718, and dmd in 1762 ; and he again was succeeded 
by Dr John Conder, grandfather, I believe, of the amiable poet Josiah Cornier. Other 
particulars may be gleaned, but these must suffice : except perhaps this small bit of 
fact, viz., that the Rev. James Spong of London, whose congregation claims to represent 
Brooks' — has in his possession the Communion ' flagons ' or cups, bearing an inscription 
to the effect that they were a gift to the church of Mr Thomas Brooks.' 

4 See ante. 



MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. XXXV 

in ray net, and now I have done it/ 1 Thus was it unto the end: for in 
1 675, in the ' Epistle Dedicatory ' to the ' Golden Key,' he uses much 
the same language: 'I must confess that that general acceptance that 
my former labours have found, both in the Nation and in foreign parts ; 
and that singular blessing that has attended them from on high, hath 
been none of the least encouragements to me once more to cast in my 
mite into the common treasury/ 2 His ' Crown and Glory of Chris- 
tianity,' a large massive quarto, appeared also in 1662; his 'Privy Key 
of Heaven,' and 'A Heavenly Cordial for the Plague/ in 1665 ; his 
'Cabinet of Jewels/ in 1669; his 'London's Lamentations,' in 1670; 
and his 'Golden Key' and his 'Paradise Opened,' in 1676. He was 
ever 'about his Father's business \ his life a consecrated and burning, 
almost flaming one. Little casual references in ' Epistles Dedicatory ' 
and otherwise, intimate engagements elsewhere, and ' absences ' from 
' the press ' so as to be unable to correct errata. And so the Christ- 
like man went 'in and out/ a 'workman' needing not 'to be ashamed.' 
Through all the terrible 'Plague' year, which Defoe has made immortal 
he was at his post, winning thereby a golden word in the Reliquia} 
Baxterianoe. After the equally appalling ' Fire/ he stood forth like 
anotlier Ezekiel in his terrors, and yet soft as Jeremiah in his expostu- 
lations with the still careless, rejecting, neglecting. As he grew old he 
mellowed tenderly and winningly. He had 'troops of friends.' The 
' Epistles Dedicatory ' and incidental notices inform us of intimate fel- 
lowship with the foremost names of the period for worth and benevo- 
lence. Many made him their Almoner of ' monies,' especially during 
the dread '1662' and '1666/ His own circumstances placed him in 
comfort and ease. 

Our Story of this venerable Puritan is well-nigh told. Behind the 
activities of his more public life there was a second marriage, as it would 
appear, about 1677-78. In his ' Will ' he lovingly speaks of her as his 
' dear and honoured wife whom God hath made all relations to meet in 
one/ Her name was Cartwright. Theirs was a brief union ; she spring- 
young, he winter-old. He drew up his ' Last Testament ' on March 
20., 1680. It is a very characteristic document, repeating before-pub- 
lished quaint words. 3 It will be found in our Appendix. He died a 
little afterwards, viz. on September 27., aged 72/ John Reeve, his 
particular acquaintance and companion in sufferings, for conscience' 
sake, preached his 'Funeral Sermon.' It was published ; and thus he 
sums up the character of the fine old man and ' faithful minister ' of 
Jesus Christ : — 

' Now, to close up, in commemoration of our dear friend deceased, 
who lived so desired, and died so lamented, I shall modestly and truly 

1 Ep. Dedy. to ' Crown of Glory,' pages 6, 7. 

2 Page 2. 3 See this Volume, page 455, et alibi. * See E. 



XXXVI MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. 

offer some remarks about his personal and ministerial endowments to 
your view. 

' First, For his personal endowments, he was certainly, 

' 1. A person of a very sweet nature and temper : so affable, and 
courteous, and cheerful, that he gained upon all that conversed with 
him ; and if any taxed him with any pride or moroseness, or distantial- 
ness in his carriage, it must be only such as did not know him. He 
had so winning a way with him, he might bid himself welcome into 
whatsoever house he entered. Pride and moroseness are bad qualities 
for a man of his employ, and make men afraid of the ways of God, for 
fear they should never enjoy a good day after. 

' 2. A person of a very great gravity : and could carry a majesty in 
his face when there was occasion, and make the least guilt tremble in 
his presence with his very countenance. I never knew a man better 
loved, nor more dreaded. God had given him such a spirit with power, 
that his very frowns were darts, and his reproofs sharper than swords. 
He would not contemn familiarity, but hated that familiarity that bred 
contempt. 

' 3. A person of a very large charity. He had large bowels, and a 
large heart ; a great dexterity in the opening of the bowels of others, 
as well as his own, to works of mercy, that I think I may say there is 
not a Church in England that hath more often and more liberal con- 
tributions for poor ministers and other poor Christians than this is, 
according to the proportion of their abilities. 

' 4. A person of a wonderful patience. Notwithstanding the many 
Aveaknesses and infirmities, which for a long time have been continually, 
without ceasing as it were, trying their skill to pull down his frail body 
to the dust, and at last effected it, yet I never heard an impatient word 
drop from him. When I came to visit him, and asked him, ' How do 
you, Sir ?' he answered, ' Pretty well : I bless God I am well, I am 
contented with the will of my Father : my Father's will and mine is 
but one will.' It made me often think of that Isaiah xxxiii. 24, ' The 
inhabitant shall not say, I am sick : the people that dwell therein shall 
be forgiven their iniquity/ Sense of pardon took away sense of sick- 
ness. 

' 5. A person of a very strong faith in the promises of both worlds : 
and he could not be otherwise, being such a continual student in the 
Covenant. He feared nothing of himself or others, knowing the pro- 
mise and oath of God would stand firm, and the Head of the Church 
would see to the safety of all his members, here and hereafter. 
Secondly, For his ministerial endowments, he was 

1 1. An experienced minister. From the heart to the heart ; from 
the conscience to the conscience. He had a body of Divinity in his 
head, and the power of it upon his heart. 



MEMOIR OF THOMAS BROOKS. XXXvii 

' 2. A laborious minister : as his works in press and pulpit are un- 
deniable witness of. To preach so often, and print so much, and yet 
not satisfied till he could imprint also his works upon the hearts of his 
people ; which is the best way of printing that I know, and the greatest 
task of a minister of Christ. 

' 3. He was a minister who delighted in his tvork. It was his meat 
and drink to labour in that great work, insomuch that under his weak- 
ness he would be often preaching of little sermons — as he called them— 
to those that came to visit him, even when by reason of his distemper 
they were very hardly able to understand them. 

' 4. He was a successful minister : the instrument in the hand of 
God for the conversion of many souls about this City and elsewhere. 

' 5. And now he is at rest. And though he is gone, he is not lost ; 
he is yet useful to the Church of God, and being dead he yet speaks 
by his example and writings, which were very profitable and spiritual.' 

This modest, unexaggerated, heart-full portraiture is worthy of the 
man as the man was, with emphasis, worthy of it. It were to blur the 
sharp, nice lines to add of our own fainter and distant words. We 
deem them fitting close to our Memoir. 

A single other sentence. There is no accredited portrait of Brooks. 
Granger mentions one as being on the title-page of his ' Unsearchable 
Riches,' but we have the whole of the editions, and there is no portrait 
whatever. Doubtless the Historian mis-remembered and was thinking 
of the small unsatisfactory miniature prefixed, along with numerous 
others, to some of the collections of the ' Farewell Sermons.' And so 
we introduce our Worthy and his Books : one who, while living, as ' ever 
under the great Task-masters eye/ wore in all simpleness and truth, 

1 The grand old name of gentleman, 
Defamed by every charlatan, 
And soiled with all ignoble use.' — [7ra Memoriam, c. x.] 

Alexander B. Grosart. 

Liverpool. 



XXX Vlll APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 



A. — Controversy on appointment to St Margaret's, Fish Street : See 
ante, pages xxxi, xxxiv, et alibi. 

CASES 
CONSIDERED and RESOLVED. 

WHEREIN 

All the tender godly conscientious Ministers in Eng- 
land (Whether for a Congregationall, or a 
Presbyteriall way) are concerned. 

OB 

Pills to Purge Malignants. 

And all prophane, ignorant, and scandalous persons. 

(But more particularly Calculated for the Meridian 

of Margarets Fishstreet-hill) from those gross conceits 

tbat they have of their Children's right to Baptisme ; and of 

their owne right to the Supper of the Lord, $c. 

ALSO 

Good Conncell to bad men. Or friendly advise (in 
severall particulars) to unfriendly Neighbours. 

By Thomas Brooks, a willing Servant unto God, 
and the Faith of his People, in the glorious Gospel of 
Christ, at Margarets Fishstreet-hill. 

Mallem mere cum Christo, quam regnare cum Cozsare. Luther. 
Si Veritas est causa discordicc mori possum tacere non possum. 
Jerome. 

LONDON : 
Printed by M. Simmons, for John Hancock and are to be sold at 
the first Shop in Popes-Head- Alley, next to Corn- 
hill 1653. 



To the Conscientious Reader. 

The world is full of books ; and of how many may it be said, that 
they do but proclaim the vanity of the writer, and procure weariness, 
if not vexation, to the reader, in this knowing and censorious age ! 
What I have written is out of faithfulness to Christ, and love to souls. 
If my pains shall prove advantageous for the internal and eternal 
good of any poor souls, I shall count it reward enough. I doubt not 
but those that are spiritual will find something of the Spirit in what 
follows, and for that cause will relish and love it, though others may 
therefore stand at the greater distance from it. Surely, where truth 
comes, the children of truth will entertain it, and ask nobody leave. 
In these days, they that have least right to ordinances do make the 
greatest noise in crying out for ordinances. God's ordinances are choice 
pearls, and yet too often cast before swine, which, doubtless, hath pro- 
voked the Lord to shed the blood of many among us who have un- 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. XXXI X 

worthily drunk the blood of his Son, and trampled it under their feet 
/ as an unholy thing, Heb. x. 29. Though my candle be but little, yet 
I must not hide it under a bushel. Though I have but one talent, yet 
I must not hide it in a napkin. I hope thou hast that anointing of 
the Spirit that will teach thee not to reject the fruit for the tree's sake ; 
nor so much to mind the man as the matter. But, lest I should hold 
thee too long in the porch, I will briefly acquaint thee with the reasons 
that have induced me to present to the world what follows ; and so draw 
to a close. 

The reasons are these : 

First, That the honour, truth, and ways of Christ, which I hope are 
dearer to me than my life, and which are struck at through my sides, 
may be vindicated, 1 Sam. ii. SO. 

Secondly, That the mouth of iniquity, or, which is all one, that the 
foul mouths of profane, ignorant, malignant, and scandalous persons, 
may be effectually stopped, Ps. cvii. 42 ; Titus i. 1 1 ; Ps. lxiii. 11. 

Thirdly, That the honest, just, and righteous proceedings of the 
Honourable Committee may be manifested, and not smothered by the 
false reports of any profane, malignant spirits that were present, who 
are apt and ready enough to call good evil, and evil good, light dark- 
ness, and darkness light, &c, Isa. v. 20. 

Fourthly, That the importunate desires of several ministers and 
Christians may be satisfied, especially those to whom I preach, &c. 

Fifthly, That my ministry and good name, which should be dearer 
to me than my life, may be vindicated, 2 Cor. x. 33.*- ' A good name 
is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than 
silver and gold/ Prov. xxii. 1. 'A good, name is better than precious 
ointment/ saith Solomon, Eccles. vii. 1. The initial letter (e) of the 
Hebrew word (nitD, tob) that in this text is rendered good, is bigger 
than ordinary, to shew the more than ordinary excellency of a good 
name amongst men. The moralists say of fame, or of a man's good 
name, Omnia si yerdas, famam servare memento ; qua semel amissa 
postea nullus eris, i. e. Whatsoever commodity you lose, be sure yet 
to preserve that jewel of a good name. 1 But if any shall delight to 
blot and blur my name, that their own may shine the brighter, I shall 
desire them frequently to remember a sweet saying of Austin : Quis- 
quis volens detrahit famce mece, nolens addit mercedi meos, He that 
willingly takes from my good name, unwillingly adds to my reward, 
Mat. v. 11, 12. The remembrance of this, and the bird in the bosom 
• — conscience — singing, makes a heaven of joy in my heart, in the midst 
of all the trials that do attend me, 2 Cor. i. 12. 

Sixthly, That others may be undeceived, who are apt enough to 
judge that there are other things, and worse things, charged upon me 
than indeed there is. And indeed, some say already that there were 
eighteen things, others that there were six-and-twenty things, charged 
against me ; and all this to render my person and my doctrine con- 
temptible in the world, &c, Jer. xx. 10, 11 ; Ps. xxxv. 11. 

Seventhly, That the malignant and profane petitioners, and others 
of their stamp, may be either satisfied, convinced, and reformed, or 

1 The French have this proverh among them, That a good renown is hetter than a 
golden girdle. [For Omnia si perdas, &c, see Claudian, De Cons. Mall. Theod., v. 3. — G.] 



xl APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

that they may be found speechless, and Avithout excuse in the day of 
Christ. 

Eighthly, Because my case is a general case, and reaches all the 
godly, conscientious ministers in England, be they of one judgment or 
another. And clearly if, upon the following charge against me, the 
profane, ignorant, and malignant party should out and rout the godly 
ministers in the nations, I wonder where there would be found a con- 
scientious minister that should not upon these grounds be outed and 
routed ! 

Reader, I desire that thou wouldst cast a mantle of love over the 
mistakes of the printer, I having no opportunity to wait upon the 
press, by reason of my many engagements other ways. I will not by 
any jirolepsis detain thee at the door, but desire that the God of all 
consolations would bless thee with all external, internal, and eternal 
blessings, that thy actions may be prosperous, thy troubles few, thy 
comforts many, thy life holy, thy death happy, and thy soul lodged for 
ever in the bosom of Christ. So I remain 

Thine, so far as thou art Christ's, 

Thomas Brooks. 

A Short Preamble 

That I intended to make before the Honourable Committee for 

Plundered Ministers, that Truth and myself might be the 

better vindicated and cleared. 

Gentlemen, — It was a divine saying of Seneca, Qui boni viri 
famam perdidit ne conscientiam perderet, no man sets a better rate 
upon virtue than he that loseth a good name to keep a good con- 
science. He that hath a good conscience sits, Noah-like, quiet and 
still in the greatest combustions and distractions. Conscientia pura 
semper secura, a good conscience hath sure confidence ; it makes a 
man as bold as a lion, Pro v. xxviii. 1. 

I remember Calvin, writing to the French king, saith that opposition 
is evangelii genius, the black angel that dogs the gospel at the heels. 
And certainly, where Christ is like to gain most, and Satan like to 
lose most, there Satan in his instruments will stir and rage most ; yet, 
if every opposer of the gospel and the saints were turned into a devil, 
that old saying would be found true, Veritas stat in aperto campo, 
truth stands in the open fields, yea, and it will make those stand in 
whom it lives ; yea, it will make them stand cheerfully, resolutely, and 
unmoveably, in the face of the greatest, highest, and hottest oppo- 
sitions. 

Concerning these profane, ignorant, malignant, and scandalous 
petitioners, I shall say, as Lactantius saith of Lucian, Nee dlis nee 
liominibus pepercit, he spared neither God nor man. Such are these 
petitioners. It is said of Catiline, that he was monstrum ex variis 
diversisque, inter se pugnantibus naturis conflcdwm, a compound 
and bundle of warring lusts and vices. Such are these petitioners. 
Historians say that tigers rage and are mad when they smell the fra- 
grancy of spices. Such are these petitioners, when they smell the fra- 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. xll 

grancy of the graces of God's Spirit in the principles and practices, in 
the lives and religious exercises, of the people of God. 

Gentlemen, I am compelled to tell you that I have, by the gracious 
assistance of God, preached publicly the gospel above these thirteen 
years ; and the greatest part of those years I have spent in preaching 
the word in London, where God hath given me many precious seals of 
my ministry, which are now my comfort, and in the day of Christ will 
be my crown. They are my 'living epistles/ they are my walking 
certificates, they are my letters testimonial, as Paul speaks, 2 Cor. iii. 
1, 2. And yet, in all this time, none have shewed themselves so 
malicious, impudent, and ignorant, as to petition against me, as these 
that stand now before you ; yet am I confident that this act of theirs 
shall work for my external, internal, and eternal good, Rom. viii. 28 : 
and out of this eater, God will bring forth meat and sweetness to others 
also, Judges xiv. 14. 

Gentlemen, I shall now trouble your patience no further, but come 
now to answer to the things that these profane, malignant petitioners 
have charged against me in their petition to this Honourable Com- 
mittee. 



To the Honourable Committee for Plundered Ministers, 

The Humble Petition of the Parishioners of Margaret, New Fishstreet, 
London, whose Names are hereunto Subscribed ; 

Shewing, — That one Mr Thomas Brooks was, by order of your 
honours, dated the twenty-third of March 1651, appointed to preach 
for a month, next ensuing, as probationer, to the end that, upon the 
parishioners' and the said Mr Brooks's mutual trial of each other, the 
said Mr Brooks might continue, or your petitioners have some other 
to officiate amongst them. 

Your petitioners are humbly bold to offer to your honours' consider- 
ation that they have had trial of the said Mr Brooks ever since your 
honours' order, but cannot find that comfort to their souls they hoped ; 
nor indeed is the said Mr Brooks so qualified to your petitioners' un- 
derstandings as to remain any longer with them. And further, your 
petitioners say that the said Mr Brooks refuseth to afford your peti- 
tioners the use of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper, 
nor will he bury their dead. 

The petitioners therefore humbly pray that your honours will be 
pleased to revoke your order, and give liberty to your peti- 
tioners for six months, to present a fit person to your honours 
to be their minister ; and, in the mean time, that sequestra- 
tors may be appointed to provide for the service of the cure 
out of such money as shall arise for tithes out of the said 
parish. And, &c. 

Queries upon the Malignants' Petition. 

Gentlemen, — In their petition they say, that I was to ' preach a 
month as probationer, and after a mutual trial of each other, I might 



xlii ' APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

continue, or the petitioners have some other to officiate amongst them.' 
To this I say, 

(1.) That I never had any such thing by one or other propounded 
to me, to preach amongst them as probationer. It was only thus pro- 
pounded to me : That at a full meeting, I was chosen by the honest 
and well-affected of the parish to come and preach amongst them. 
And I did more than twice or thrice declare to them before I came, 
that if they did expect anything else of me, I would not come ; only 
1 did declare my willingness to receive any among them into fellow- 
ship with us that the Lord had taken into fellowship with himself, 
and that were willing to walk in gospel order. 

('2.) I say, that had they propounded the business to me as it is 
presented in their petition, I would never have come upon such terms, 
and that upon several reasons, which here I shall omit. 

(3.) I say, that they had a trial of me all the winter ; I preached 
above twenty sermons on the lecture nights before this order was 
granted or desired. Therefore I know not to what purpose I should 
preach among them upon trial, when they had beforehand so large a 
trial of me. 

(4.) I say, that these profane, malignant petitioners had neither a 
hand in choosing of me, nor yet hearts to make any trial of my ministry, 
so far as I can understand. And therefore they may well have a black 
brand put upon them, as men void of common honesty and ingenuity, 1 
in abusing the honourable committee, and petitioning against me ; 
whenas they were neither the major part* of the parish by far, nor 
yet was the order of the committee granted to them ; nor did the 
order of the committee give any power or liberty to these profane, 
malignant petitioners to choose some other to officiate, as they pre- 
tend. What greater dishonour and contempt can they cast upon the 
committee, than to declare to the world that they have given to them, 
that are so notoriously known for their profaneness and malignancy, 
an order to choose one to officiate amongst them ! 

In their petition they further say, ' That they have had trial of me 
ever since your honours' order/ This is as far from truth as the peti- 
tioners are from being real friends to the present authority of the 
nation ; for it is notoriously known, that they use not to hear me but 
others, whose malignant principles and practices are most suitable to 
their oAvn. 

Further, they say, ' They cannot find that comfort to their souls 
they hoped/ Here give me leave to query : [1.] How they could have 
any comfort from my ministry that did not attend it ? [2.] But grant 
they did, I query, Whether their want of comfort did not spring rather 
from their want of faith to close with the word, and to feed upon the 
word, and to apply the word to their own souls, than from any defect 
in my preaching ? ' The word preached did not profit them, not being 
mixed with faith in them that heard it/ Heb. iv. 2. * Faith and the 
word meeting make a happy mixture, a precious confection. When 
faith and the word is mingled together, then the word will be a word 
of power and life ; then it will be a healing word, a quickening word, 
a comforting word, a saving word. Faith makes the soul fruitful ; 

1 Ingenuousness. — G. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. xliii 

faith hath Rachel's eye and Leah's womb. Where faith is wanting, 
men's souls will be like the cypress ; the more it is watered, the more 
it is withered. However, that tree that is not for fruit, is for the 
fire, Heb. vi. 8. Some say of king Midas — not true, but fabulous — 
that he had obtained of the gods, that whatsoever he touched should 
be turned into gold. I may truly say, in a spiritual sense, whatever 
faith touches it turns it into gold, into our good. A bee can suck 
honey out of a flower ; so cannot a fly do. Faith will extract abun- 
dance of comfort out of the word, and gather one contrary out of 
another; honey out of the rock, Deut. xxxii. SG. 1 *-^.] I query 
whether their not finding comfort by my ministry did not rather 
spring from a judicial act of God rather than from anything in my 
ministry. God many times punishes men's neglect of the means, and 
their despising the means, and their barrenness under the means, 
&c, by giving them up to a spirit of slumber, by shutting their eyes, 
and closing up their hearts, as you may see in that Isa. vi. 9, 10, 
1 And he said, Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand 
not ; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this 
people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they 
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with 
their heart, and convert, and be healed.' A fat heart is a fearful 
plague. A fat heart is a most brutish and blockish heart, a heart fitted 
and prepared for wrath, Ps. cxix. 70. These four keys, say the Rabbins, 
God keeps under his own girdle : (1 .) the key of the womb, (2.) the key* 
of the grave, (3.) the key of the rain, (4.) the key of the heart. ' He 
openeth, and no man shutteth; and he shutteth, and no man openeth.' 2 
[4.] I query whether their not finding of comfort did not spring from 
the wickedness and baseness of their own hearts, Isa. xxix. 13, 14 • 
Ezek. xxxiii. 80-33 ; Mat. xv. 4-10. When men bring pride, and pre- 
judice, and resolvedness to walk after the ways of their own hearts, let 
the minister say what he will (as they in Jer. xliv. 15, et seq., which I 
desire you will turn to and read), it is no wonder that they can find no 
comfort in the word. 3 This is just as if the patient should cry out of 
the physician, Oh, he can find no comfort in anything he prescribes 
him, when he is resolved beforehand that he will rather die than follow 
his prescriptions. May not every one of these men's hearts say to him, 
as the heart of Apollodorus in the kettle, syw soi rovruv dma ) it is I have 
been the cause of this ? I judge they may ; and if they will not now 
acknowledge it to their humiliation, they will at last be forced to 
acknowledge it to their confusion and destruction in that day wherein 
the great Searcher of hearts shall judge the souls of men. [5.] I query 
whether all the godly conscientious ministers of one judgment or 
another in all England would not be outed and routed if this plea of 

1 As Luther saith of prayer, so I may say of faith : it hath a kind of omnipotency in 
it; it is able to do all things. Est qucedam omnipotentia precum. T avium possumut 
quantum credimus. 

2 When she in Seneca was stricken with sudden blindness, she cried out of the light. 
So when God strikes profane men with spiritual blindness, then they cry out of°the 
minister. 

3 The patient in Plutarch complained to his physician of his finger, when his liver was 
rotten. iSo mauy complain of the minister when their hearts are rotten. They complain 
they can find no comfurt, when the fault lies in the baseness of their hearts. 

■* Jf e/- l»*t 9g4i/. JJ./J. ? 



xliv APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

profane, ignorant, malignant, and scandalous persons, that they cannot 
find no profit nor no comfort by their ministry, be admitted as a thing 
that has worth or weight in it, 1 Kings xxii. 8-29. Without doubt, 
if this would carry the day against a godly ministry, we should hear a 
cry from all parts of the nation where such men are, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 
16, Oh! what shall we do with such preachers as these be? We can 
find no comfort, nor no profit by their ministry. We shall have none 
of these, but we will have such as will preach pleasing things, Lam. 
ii. 14. We will have common-prayer-book men, and such that will 
administer sacraments to us, as in former good days, wherein there was 
no such difference put between men and men, but all that would 
bring their twopences might come and be as welcome to the parson, if 
not more, as any Puritan or Roundhead of them all, Isa. xxx. 8-11. 
[6.] I query whether your not finding of comfort and profit by the 
word did not spring from Satan's blinding your eyes, and from his 
catching away the good seed out of your hearts. ' If our gospel be hid,' 
saith the apostle, ' it is hid to them that are lost ; in whom the god of 
this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the 
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should 
shine unto them/ 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. Is it any wonder that profane, igno- 
rant, scandalous persons can find no comfort by the word, whenas the 
devil hath shut their eyes with his black hand ? l when he hath put 
a covering upon their eyes that they can't see any beauty, excellency, 
► or glory in it? Gospel droppings have richly fallen among many, and 
yet, like Gideon's fleece, they are dry, because Satan hath blinded them, 
and catched away the good seed that was sown upon them : ' When any 
one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then 
cometh the wicked one, and catches away 2 that which was sowa in his 
heart' (or rather upon his heart) ; 'this is he which received seed by 
the wayside,' Mat. xiii. 19. [7.] I query whether your want of profit 
and comfort by the word did not spring from your want of interest in 
gospel consolations. Oh ! it is not the hearing of gospel consolations 
that comforts, but the knowledge of a man's interest in them that 
cheers up the heart. 3 Ah ! where is that word to be found in all the 
book of God that does evidence comfort, — which is children's bread, — 
to be of right belonging to profane, ignorant, malignant, and scandalous 
persons, as you can't but know yourselves to be, if conscience be in 
the least measure awakened. God hath all along in the Scripture made 
a separation between sin and comfort ; and how then, can you expect 
comfort, who hold on in sinful ways, though love and wrath, life and 
death, heaven and hell, be often set before you ? God is not prodigal 
of gospel consolations. They are the best and strongest wines in God's 
cellar, and reserved only for his best and dearest friends : Isa. xl. 1, 2, 
' Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God : speak ye com- 

1 Satan is like the picture of the goddess that was so contrived that she frowned on men 
as they went into tin: temple, and smiled us they came out. 

- u£>ra'(,ii a u£Tu%a>, — L'ti/>i<>, lie took it or snatched it by force or violence. 

8 It is interest in a pardon, a crown, an inheritance that comforts, and not the talking 
of them. So here. The very heathen could not have comfort nor quiet when they were 
under the rage of sinful lusts ; therefore, when they knew not how to bridle them, they 
offered violence to nature, pulling out their own eyes, because they could not look upon a 
woman without lusting after her. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. xlv 

fortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accom- 
plished, that her iniquity is pardoned/ &c. * The Hebrew word that is 
here rendered comfort signifies first to repent, and then to comfort. 1 * / 
And certainly the sweetest joy is from the sourest tears. Tears are the <fy /***"' 
breeders of spiritual joy. When Hannah had wept, she went away, and £***■ 
was no more sad. The bee gathers the best honey off the bitterest herbs. 
Christ made the best wine of water. The purest, the strongest, and 
most excellent joy is made of the waters of repentance. * Ah ! lay your 
hands upon your hearts, and tell me whether you can look God in the 
face and say, Lord ! we are thine ; first, by purchase ; secondly, we are -v-a**^ 
thine by choice ; thirdly, we are thine by conquest ; fourthly, we are 4-u- /tCc 
thine by covenant ; fifthly, we are thine by marriage."" Ah! if you are £rz*6 U. 
not the Lord's in these respects, what minister on earth hath commission 
to comfort you ? Their commission is to read other lectures to profane, 
ignorant, scandalous persons, &c, than those of comfort and joy, as you 
may see in these scriptures, if you will but take the pains to read 
them : Ps. vii. 11, ix. 17, xi. 5, 6, xxxvii. 10-20, compared with Ps. lxxv. 
8, cxlv. 20 ; Job xxi. 30 ? Prov. xi. 5, 21, 31, compared ; Prov. xii. 2, 
xiv. 9, xv. 29, xxi. 18, 27 ; Eccles. viii. 13 ; Isa. xi. 4, xiii. 11 ; Jer. 
xxv. 31 ; Ezek. iii. 18, 19 ; Nah. i. 3 ; Mai. iv. 3 ; Deut. xxviii. 15, 
et seq.; Lev. xxvi. 14, et seq. Ah ! did you but wisely consider the ex- 
cellency of gospel-comforts above all other comforts in the world, you 
would not wonder at ministers giving them forth so sparingly to pro- y 
fane, ignorant, malignant, and scandalous persons f for, first, gospel yttf/^e/. 
comforts are unutterable comforts, 1 Peter i. 8, Philip, iv.4.*" Secondly, /j^v*^*^ 
they are real, John xiv. 27 ; all others are but seeming comforts, but 
painted comforts. Thirdly, they are holy comforts, Isa. lxiv. 5, Ps. 
cxxxviii. 5 ; they flow from a Holy Spirit, and nothing can come from 
the Holy Spirit but that which is holy. Fourthly, they are the greatest 
and strongest comforts, Eph. vi. 17. Few heads and hearts are able to 
bear them, as few heads are able to bear strong wines. Fifthly, they 
reach to the inward man, to the soul, 2 Thes. ii. 17, the noble part of 
man. ' My soul rejoiceth in God my Saviour/ Our other comforts 
only reach the face ; they sink not so deep as the heart. Sixthly, they 
are the most soul-filling and soul-satisfying comforts, Ps. xvi. 11, Cant. 
ii. 3. Other comforts cannot reach the soul ; and therefore they cannot 
fill nor satisfy the soul. Seventhly, they comfort in saddest distresses, 
in the darkest night, and in the most stormy day, Ps. xciv. 19, Hab. 
iii. 17, 18. Eighthly, they are everlasting, 2 Thes. ii. 16. The joy of 
the wicked is but as a glass, bright and brittle, and evermore in 
danger of breaking ; but the joy of the saints is lasting. 2 JEterna erit 
exultatio, quae bono Icetatur ceterno, their joy lasts for ever, whose object 
remains for ever. [8.] I query whether you, and men of your stamp, 
remaining under the power of your lusts, will ever say that you can 

1 1DPI3 IDTO, nahhamu, nuhkamu, from DI12 nahham, which signifies first to repent 
(1 Sa.ni. xv. 35), and then to comfort, because true comfort belongs only to the penitent. 
Divine comfort is a delicate thing, and it is not given to him that admits any other, saith 
Bernard. Nulla verior miseria quam falsa l&titia : There is no truer misery than false 
joy. — Bernard. Nil nisi sanctum a sancto Spiritu prodire potest, Neh. viii. 10. There have 
been those that have died under the strength and power of their joy. 

2 Valde protestatus sum, me nolle sic satiari ab eo, 1 said flatly that God should not put me 
off with these low things. — Luther. 



xlvi APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

find any comfort at all in any man's ministry, that is not a common- 
prayer-book man, or one that will give you and yours the sacraments, 
and lash at the power of godliness, and at the State in preaching and 
praying, &c. Doubtless under such a man's ministry, were he never 
BO ignorant, scandalous, or profane, you would plead that you found 
much comfort to your souls, and that he was a man indeed for your 
money, &c. Well ! if you have found no comfort under my ministry, 
yet my comfort is, that my reward is with the Lord, and my work with 
my God. My comfort is, that there are many hundreds in this city 
that have, and that do find comfort by the blessing and breathings of 
God upon my weak endeavours. 1 

Further, In their petition they say that ' I am not so qualified to 
their understandings as to remain any longer with them/ 

To this I say, First, It is my joy and crown, that I am not so quali- 
fied as to please and content ignorant, profane, malignant, scandalous 
persons in their formality and impiety ; remembering that he is the 
best preacher, non qui aures tetigerit, sed qui cor pupugerit, not that 
tickles the ear, but that breaks the heart. It is a comfort to me that 
I am no nearer that woe, Luke vi. 2b', ' Woe be to you when all men 
speak well of you.' When one told Aristides that he had every man's 
good word, saith he, What evil have I done, that I should have every 
man's good word ? Male de me loquuntur, sed mail, saith Seneca. It 
is sometimes more a shame than an honour to have the good word of 
profane, ignorant, scandalous persons. Latimer, in his last sermon be- 
fore king Edward, saith, ' That he was glad when any objected indis- 
cretion against him in his sermons ; for by that he knew the matter 
was good, else they would soon have condemned that.' It was a not- 
able saying of Salvian, Mirum essetsi huminibus loquentia de Deo 
verba non placeant, 2 quibus ipse forsitan Deus non placet : it were 
very strange, saith he, if I should please a world of men, when God 
himself doth not give every man content. Luther, writing to his friend, 
hath this passage, ' My greatest fear is the praises of men, but my joy 
is in their reproaches and evil speeches.' It is certain that the praises 
of men, to many, are the basilisks that kill, the poison that destroys 
their immortal souls. 

2. I say, if the understandings of ignorant, malignant, profane, and 
scandalous persons, should be the rule or standard by which the abili- 
ties or qualifications of such ministers, that are ministers, ' not of the 
letter, but of the spirit/ as the apostle speaks, 2 Cor. iii. 6, should be 
measured and tried ; doubtless he that is no witch may easily conclude 
that there are no ministers in England qualified to their understand- 
ings, but such as are malignant, ignorant, profane, and scandalous as 
themselves ; and such, without doubt, would be the only qualified men, 
to their understandings; as might be confirmed by a cloud of witnesses, 
Jer. v. 30, 31. 

3. Though I am not qualified, as to their understandings, yet, through 
grace, I am qualified as to the understandings of those that are eminent 
both for piety and parts, and who have made trial of what is in me, 

1 I have read of one who cried out with a loud voice to Flavius Vespnsianus, Vulpem 
pilum mutate, non mores, that the wolf might change his hair, hut not his qualities. You 
know how to apply it, Isa. xlix. 4, 5. ' 2 Qu. ' verba placeant' t — Ed. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. xlvii 

and what the Lord hath done for me. 1 And though I am not so quali- 
fied as to gratify your lusts, yet it is joy and honour enough to me that 
the Lord hath so qualified me with gifts and graces as to make me in- 
strumental to bring in souls to Christ, and to build up souls in Christ. 
In the day of account it will be made manifest that they have been 
the best, the wisest, and ablest preachers, who have brought most souls 
to Christ, and provoked most souls to walk with Christ, and cleave to 
Christ, and lift up Christ in this world, Pro v. xi. 30. Through grace, 
I can say, with blessed Cooper, ' My witness is in heaven, that I have 
no such joy and pleasure as in doing the work of Christ, and in being 
serviceable to the honour of Christ, the interest of Christ, and the 
people of Christ.' 2 

4. If this plea of profane, ignorant, malignant, and scandalous per- 
sons should be admitted as authentic, doubtless all the godly, tender, 
conscientious ministers in the nation, that can't do as they would have 
them, would quickly be ejected. All the profane, ignorant, malignant, 
scandalous persons in the nation would soon cry out, as one man, Our 
ministers are not so qualified, to our understandings, as to remain 
any longer with us, ergo 3 — 

5. It is to be remembered that, when the petitioners were several 
times pressed by the Committee to shew wherein I was not qualified 
for the Avork of the ministry, they all seemed to be dumb, and at very 
great loss, as not knowing what to answer; 4 but at last their malig- 
nant champion, after much pumping, gave this answer to the commit- 
tee, That I was not so qualified, to their understandings, as to remain 
any longer among them, because I would not give them the sacraments, 
nor bury their dead ; which put some rather upon smiling than upon 
answering. But at last a worthy member of that Committee made this 
answer, ' That they had both heard me and seen me in print, and so 
were best able to make a judgment of my abilities and fitness for the 
work of the ministry/ &c. 5 For a close of this branch of the petition, 
I shall only say this, being compelled thereunto by some, that I do be- 
lieve that I have spent more money at the University, and in helps to 
learning, than several of these petitioners are worth, though, haply, I 
have not been so good a proficient as those that have spent less. I am 
a lover of the tongues, and do, by daily experience, find that knowledge 
in the original tongues is no small help for the understanding of Scrip- 
ture, &c. Yet am I not kin to them that advance and lift up acquired 
gifts above the sweet sanctifying gifts and graces of the Spirit of Christ 
in the souls of his saints, as many have and do to this day. But cer- 

1 Chrysostom studied not aures titillare, but corda pungere, to tickle the ears of his 
hearers, but to prick and ravish their hearts. 

2 np^>1> velokeakh, which signifies, by art and industry, to catch souls, as fowlers do 
to take birds. 

3 They that are wise cannot but observe much of this spirit upon all the profane, igno- 
rant, and malignant persons in the nation. 

4 The petitioners seemed to be like those in Mat. xxii. 4G, that were nonplussed by 
the question Christ put to them, &c. 

4 My first sermon, preached before the Parliament, was on the 26th December 1648. 
My second was preached on the 8th of October 16-50, for that great victory the Lord of 
hosts gave our army over the Scots army in battle at Dunbar, Sept. 3. 1650, and both are 
printed by their order ; besides my book called ' Precious Remedies against Satan's De- 
vices,' which came forth this year, which some of them have seen. 

VOL. I. d 



xlviii APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

tainly Christ will more and more cloud those that labour to cloud the 
shillings forth of his Spirit in the souls of his servants. Nor yet am 
I kin to Licinius, who held learning to be the commonwealth's rat's- 
bane. Neither am I kin to those that labour might and main the 
overthrow of learning, in order to their lifting up Jack Straw. It is 
sad when men are not so ingenuous as to favour that in others Avhich 
they can't find in themselves. 

Further, The petitioners say that I refuse to baptize their chil- 
dren, &c. 

A us. 1. This gives me leave to premise by the way that it is my 
judgment, upon many grounds moving me to it, that baptism is to be 
administered to the children of believing parents, who walk in the 
order of the gospel ; and my practice herein doth answer to my judg- 
ment, as is well known to many. 1 

2. But, in the second place, I confess I have refused, and shall re- 
fuse, to baptize the children of profane, ignorant, malignant, and 
scandalous persons ; and that upon these following grounds : 2 

[I.] Because I cannot find any warrant in my commission from 
Christ so to do.* I do seriously profess that I have made a diligent 
search and strict inquiry into that commission that I have received 
from the Lord for the dispensing of holy things, and I cannot find any- 
thing in my commission that will bear me out in the baptizing the 
children of those parents that are profane, ignorant, malignant, scan- 
dalous, &c, and therefore I cannot do it, lest I should hear Christ and 
conscience sounding that sad word in my ears, ' Who hath required 
this at your hand?' Isa. i. 12. 

[2.] Because such persons that are profane, ignorant, malignant, 
scandalous, &c, if they were now to be baptized themselves, ought not 
to be baptized, they having no right to baptism, as these scriptures in 
the margin do evidence ; 3 therefore, such parents cannot justly, upon 
any Scripture account, challenge baptism for their children, who have 
no right to it themselves. All that knoAV anything are not ignorant 
of this, that it is the parents' interest in the covenant that gives the 
child right to baptism. Now, how profane, ignorant, scandalous 
parents can give their children right to baptism, when they have no 
right to it themselves, is a thing that I am no ways able to reach, and 
a thing, I judge, too hard for any to prove, Hosea ii. 2, 3. 

[3.] Because the children of parents, whereof neither can be judged 
to be a believer, ought not to be baptized till the child grow up to 
manifest his own faith, as these scriptures, among many others that 
might be produced, prove, Gen. xvii. 7-9 ; Acts ii. 39-41 ; 1 Cor. vii. 
14, &c. 

[4.j Because profane, ignorant, scandalous persons, &c, are visibly 
in covenant with Satan ; and therefore to administer baptism, the 
seal of the covenant, to their children, upon their accounts who 
are visibly in covenant with Satan, cannot but be a notorious profan- 

1 Gen. xvii. ; Acts ii. 38, 39 ; 1 Cor. vii. 14, &c. 

2 Non parentum aid majorum author itas, sed Dei docentis imperium, the command of God 
must outweigh all authority and example of men. — Jerome. 

3 Mat. iii. 6-12; Mark i. 4, 5 ; Acts ii. 38, 41 ; Luke iii. 3 ; Acts xiii. 24 ; viii. 12, 
31-40 ; x. 45-48 ; xviii. 8 ; xxii. Hi, 17, &c. ; so Ps. 1. 1U, 17. / / 

* //f^ rr/,i/,,t/srr;^ . -c/ /.-, A A 'tar ■ • / <-- •«''■' ■" *" - 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. xlix 

ing of the ordinances ; therefore I dare not do it. 1 Now, that such 
persons are visibly in covenant with Satan is clear: Isa. xxviii. 15, 
' Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with 
hell are we at agreement ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass 
through, it shall not come unto us : for we have made lies our refuge, 
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.' Ver. 18, ' And your 
covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with 
hell shall not stand ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, 
then ye shall be trodden down by it/ Not that they had formally 
made a covenant with Satan, but their ways and courses were such as 
did proclaim to the world that they had, as it were, formally made a 
covenant with hell and death. Therefore, to apply this blessed ordi- 
nance to their children, who are thus invisibly in covenant with Satan, 
and who are not capable thereof through want of divine warrant, can- 
not, doubtless, but be esteemed a high profaning of it. 

[5.] Because I may not yield blind obedience, nor do anything 
doubtingly ; both which I should do should I baptize their children, 
who are profane, ignorant, scandalous, mockers and scoffers at God 
and godliness, &c. 

[6.] Because, by administering that holy ordinance to the children 
of profane, ignorant, scandalous persons, I shall make myself guilty of 
nourishing and cherishing in such wicked persons such vain opinions 
and conceits that cannot but be very prej udicial to their souls ; as that 
they have a right to that precious ordinance, when they have none ; 
that God hath taken their children into covenant, as well as the chil- 
dren of the best believers in the world, when he hath not ; that God 
is more favourable and loving to them than indeed he is ; and that 
their case is not so bad as some would make it, &c. All which opi- 
nions and conceits, with many more of the same stamp that might be 
named, cannot but prove many ways prejudicial to mens' immortal 
souls. 

P shall forbear the laying down any more reasons why I have not, 
nor shall not, baptize their children who are profane, ignorant, malig- 
nant, scandalous, mockers and scoffers at God and godliness ; judging 
that these may be sufficient to satisfy all intelligent men. 2 

Further, these petitioners say, that 'I will not give them the Lord's 
supper.' 

Ans. Though I do give the Lord's supper to those to whom of right 
it belongs, yet I cannot, I dare not, give it to profane, ignorant, malig- 
nant, scandalous persons. I had, with Calvin, rather die, than that 
this hand of mine should give the things of God to the condemners of 
God. And with Chrysostom, I had rather give my life to a murderer, 
than Christ's body to an unworthy receiver ; and had rather to suffer 
my own blood to be poured out like water, than to tender Christ's 

1 Isa. xxviii. 15, 18, JVQ WD, they cut a covenant with hell and death. In old 
time, men were wont to kill and cut asunder sacrificed beasts, and to pass between the 
parts divided, Gen. xv. 17 ; Jer. xxxiv. 18. The ceremony intended an imprecation 
that he might be cut in pieces, as that beast was, who should violate the covenant so 
made. The same rite was used among the heathenish Gentiles also, Rom. xiv. 23. 

2 If I partake in other men's sins, I must partake in their punishments, Rev. xviii. 4. 
Christians were wont to be of that courage that they feared nothing but sin. Nil nisi 
peccatum timeo, said Chrysostom. 



1 APPENDIX TO MKMOIR. 

blessed blood to any base liver; and that upon these following 
grounds : 

[1.] Because such persons are excluded by the word of God from 
communion Avith believers in that glorious ordinance, as the Scriptures 
in the margin do evidence. 1 

[2.] Not only the Scriptures, but the very episcopal Rubric, for the 
administration of the communion, do exclude and shut out such per- 
sons from the supper of the Lord, in these words : ' They that intended 
to partake of the holy communion should signify their names afore to 
the curate ; and if any of those be an open and notorious evil liver, so 
that the congregation is offended, or have done any wrong to his 
neighbour by word or deed, the curate having knowledge, shall call 
him and advertise him in any wise not to presume to the Lord's table 
until he hath openly declared himself to have truly repented, and 
amended his former naughty life, that the congregation may thereby 
be satisfied/ &c. As for the presbyterial way, you all know, that by 
their Directory and laws annexed, they must not receive any to the 
communion that are ignorant, scandalous, or profane in their conver- 
sation. So that the sum of what hath been said is this, that by the 
laws of God, and by the laws of episcopacy, and by the laws of pres- 
bytery, profane, ignorant, and scandalous persons are to be excluded 
from the supper of the Lord. Ergo — 

[3.] Because the admitting of such as are profane, ignorant, scan- 
dalous, or that are scoffers and mockers of all goodness, &c, to the 
supper of the Lord, is the ready way to turn the house of God into a 
den of thieves, and to bring a dreadful doom both upon consenters 
and presumers, as the Scriptures in the margin will make good. 2 Not 
only the lack of the word and sacraments, saith Bilson, but the abuse 
of either, greatly hazards the weal of the whole church, Mat. vii. 6. 
If profane ones be allowed to defile the mysteries and assemblies of 
the faithful, and holy things be cast to dogs, it will procure a dreadful 
doom, as well to consentaries as presumers. Ergo — 

[4.] Because there are many horrid sins in their coming to the 
supper of the Lord. 

(i.) There is horrid pride, else no man in his wickedness would 
presume to taste of the tree of life. Yet pride cannot climb so high, 
but justice will sit above her. 

(2.) There is rebellion and treason against the crown and dignity of 
Christ. Their hands and lips adore him, as Judas his did; but their 
hearts and lives abhor him. 

(3.) There is theft and sacrilege. If the taking away of the com- 
munion cup or cloth, &c, be such horrible theft and sacrilege, surely 
it is far greater theft and sacrilege to take that bread and wine that 
is set apart, and sanctified by the Lord himself, for a holy use. 3 

1 2 Cor. vi. 14, el seq. ; Philip, iii. 2 ; Mat xv. 26 ; 1 Cor. v. 12, 13 ; BeT. xxii. 15, 21, 
27.^ It is worse to admit a man openly polluted with sins, than a man bodily pus 
with devils. — Chrysos(om. The Tlnirians had a law, that whosoever wviit about to abolish 
in old law, Bhould present himself with a rope about his neck before the people, that if 
his invention was not approved, he might presently be strangled. You know how to 
apply it. 

- 1 Cor. xi. 27-30 ; Rev. ii. 12-16 ; 1 Cor. x. 3-9, 21, 22, compared ; Neh. xiii. 18, 19. 

3 Possidonius reports, that all that took the gold of Tholosso [Colosse ?] perished in 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. li 

(4.) There is murder in the cruellest manner that can be ; for they 
kill two at once — Christ, and their own souls, 1 Cor. xi. 27, 29, com- 
pared. 

It was wickedness in Julian to throw his blood in the face of Christ ; 
but for a wicked communicant to take Christ's own blood, as it were 
from his heart, and throw it into the face of Christ, is most abominable 
and damnable. 

[5.] They want those qualifications that should fit them for this 
glorious ordinance. As, 

(1.) Experimental knowledge. 1 

(2.) Faith, without which they cannot see Christ, nor receive Christ, 
nor feed upon Christ, nor apply Christ, nor seal to Christ. 

(3.) Repentance from dead works. 

(4.) New obedience. 

(5.) Love to Christ and his children. 

(6.) Holy thankfulness. 

(7.) A spiritual appetite. All which are absolutely necessary to fit 
souls for the Lord's supper. Ergo — ■ 

[b\] Because such as are profane, scandalous, scoffers and mockers, 
&c, are not fit for civil society, how much less fit are they then for 
religious societies ? 2 Men that love but their names and credits in 
the world, will shun the society of such vain persons ; how much more, 
then, should men that love their Christ, and that love their precious 
souls, shun such society ? ''Look, as shelves and sands do endanger the /3ad fa 
seaman, and as weeds endanger the corn, and bad humours the blood,^ ;/z /^, 
and an infected house the neighbourhood, so does the society of evil 
men endanger good men. One said, ' As oft as I have been among 
wicked men, I returned home less a man than I was before/ Men 
that keep ill company are like those that walk in the sun, tanned in- 
sensibly. Eusebius reports of John the evangelist, that he would not 
suffer Cerinthus the heretic in the same bath with him, lest some 
judgment should abide them both. You may easily apply it to the 
point in hand. [Euseb., lib. iii. c. 25.] * 

[7.] Because such persons as are profane, scandalous, and wicked, 
&c, if they were in the church, they are by the word of God to be 
excommunicated, and cut off from visible union and communion with 
Christ and his church ; therefore they are not to be admitted to the 
privileges of the church. That wickedness that is a sufficient ground 
for the casting them out if they were in, is a sufficient ground to keep 
them out from polluting the glorious ordinance of the Lord, 1 Cor. v. ; 
1 Tim. i. 19, 20 ; Mat. xviii. 15-18 : 2 Thes. iii. 6 ; 1 Tim. vi. 3-5. 

[8.] Because the supper of the Lord is a feast instituted by Christ 
only for his friends and children, for those that have received spiritual 
life from him, and that have union and communion with him, Mat. 
xxvi. 27-29 ; 1 Cor. x. 16, 17, &c. ; Mat. iii. 12. But profane, igno- 

the possession of it. Apply it. They may say with Henry the Seventh, The cup of life 
is made my death. 

1 A gracious soul may say, not only Credo vitam ceternam el edo vitam ceternam, I believe 
life eternal, but 1 receive life eternal. 

2 Read these scriptures : Prov. iv. 14—16 ; Eph. v. 14^1 Cor. v. 9-11 ; 2 Tim. iii. 1-5. 
The heathen could say, Qui ceqtio anirno malis immiscetur, rnalus est, he that is well con- 
tented to keep company with those that are naught, is himself made naught. 

+J p4 1*-/- Z/M. v//- ? 



Ill APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

rant, malignant, scandalous persons, are chaff which the fan flings out 
./ of the floor. * They be as dirt and dust which the besom sweeps out of 
z://?^„',the house, Luke xv. 8. They be as leaven, which, if let alone, sours 
the whole lump ; and therefore must be purged out, 1 Cor. v. 6, 7. 
They be as thorns and briers, which must not stand in the midst of 
the corn, II eb. vi. 8, but must be stubbed up and burned. Thev 
be as open sepulchres, out of which proceeds nothing bat noisome 
savours, Rom. iii. ] 3 ; Mat. iii. 7. They be as vipers, which must be 
shook off, as Paul shook off the viper that fastened upon his hand, 
Acts xxviii. 3-5. They be as ravenous wolves, which every careful, 
watchful shepherd must keep out of his fold, John x. 1 2. They be as 
swine, that will trample the choicest pearls under their feet, if they 
should be cast before them. Mat. vii. 6 ; therefore ministers must not 
hang gospel pearls in such swine's snouts, nor cast them under such 
swine's feet. '''The fouler the chest is, the more unfit it is to have a 
fair and precious garment put therein ; and the filthier the soul is, 
the unfitter it is to receive in this holy sacrament. I have read of a 
jewel, that being put into a dead man's mouth, loseth all its virtue. 
Such a jewel is the supper of the Lord ; it loseth its virtue when it is 
put in profane, ignorant, scandalous persons' mouths ; who are dead 
t rod-wards, and dead heaven- wards, and dead holiness- wards, and dead 
Christwards. 1 

Lastly, these petitioners say, ' That I will not bury their dead.' 
To this I shall give this short ansAver, that if they mean that I 
would bury their dead after the old fashion, I confess it ; and shall 
only say, that it is most proper for the dead to bury the dead, as 
Christ speaks, Mat. viii. 22 ; my proper work being to preach the 
gospel. But if by burying their dead they mean that I will not ac- 
company their corpse to the grave, being the last office of love that can 
be performed to the deceased person, it is notoriously false. All that 
know anything of the Scripture can't but know that there is nothing 
in all the book of God that will bear a minister out to bury the dead, 
as profane, ignorant, scandalous persons would have them buried ; and 
therefore I don't, and I hope I shall never be so far left of God, as to 
conform to the superstitious desires and customs of vain men. 3 

Reader, for a close, thou mayest take notice, that though I was 
ready to give in the fore-named arguments, in answer to the objec- 
tions made by the profane malignants in their petition against me, 
yet the Committee, in their wisdoms it seems, did not judge it meet so 
much as to ask me a reason why I did not baptize their children, give 
them the Lord's supper, and bury their dead ; 3 they well knowing that 
there is nothing more ordinary than for those to be bawling and cry- 

1 The table of the Lord, saith Chrysostoro, is that whereon the blessed carcase is laid ; 
we must not suffer chattering jays to come thereunto, for only high-flying eagles are to 
feed thereupon. 

* Nay, it is known to hundreds, that it is my practice, after the dead is buried, to 
preach to the people that are met upon that occasion, if so desired ; many grounds moving 
me thereunto. 

:1 Greater respect the honourable committee could not cast upon me, nor greater con- 
tempt upon the profane, malignant petitioners, than not to put me to answer to the things 
objected against me. One of these profane, malignant petitioners objected to me Judas 
his receiving the supper of the Lord, which I disproved ; and yet this vain person, as I 
have been informed, boasted of victory. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 



liii 



ing out for ordinances that have no right to them ; and that, if upon 
the non-giving of the ordinances to such profane persons, they should 
eject ministers out of their places, they should quickly eject all those 
in the nation that are most tender of the honour of Christ, and that 
have been some of their best friends in the worst times. 

Before I give the counsel intended to the petitioners, I judge it use- 
ful, in several respects, to batter down that which most profane, igno- 
rant, malignant, scandalous persons do count their stronghold, or their 
greatest argument to prove it lawful for them to receive the supper of 
the Lord, notwithstanding their profaneness and wickedness, and that 
is, ' That Judas was admitted to the Lord's supper, and that they are 
not worse than Judas, no, nor yet so bad.' Ergo — 

Now for the casting down of this their imagined stronghold, for the 
despatching this their first-born, this their Goliath, consider with me 
these following things : 

[1.] The Holy Ghost, by the evangelist John, doth punctually and 
expressly tell us, that Judas went out immediately after the sop. That 
this sop was no part of the sacramental supper, both fathers and 
schoolmen do agree ; and many others in our own time, who are men 
of great piety and parts. Ergo 1 — 

Did I know anything of weight that could be objected against this 
argument, I would be so faithful as to give an answer to it, as the 
Lord should enable me to do, but I know nothing that has that strength 
in it as to weaken the truth asserted. 

[2.] Those to whom Christ gave the sacrament, he saith, without 
exception, ' This is my body which is given for you : this is the cup of 
the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you ; and I will not 
drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine until that day I drink it new 
with you in my Father's kingdom.' Now I would willingly know 
how this can in the least measure stand with the wisdom, holiness, 
justice, righteousness, innocency, and integrity of Christ, to say this 
and promise this to Judas, whom he knew to be an hypocrite, repro- 
bate, a devil, as himself calls him, John vi. 70, 71, xiii. 10, 11. If this 
be not to make Christ a false witness, a liar, a deceiver, &c, I know 
not anything. 2 

[3.] It is as clear as the sun, from that 22d of Luke, 28, 29, 30, 
that those to whom Christ gave the sacrament, were such as did con- 
tinue with him in his temptations, and such as Christ did appoint to 
them a kingdom, and such as should sit upon thrones, &c, Mat. xxvi. 
24, Mark xiv. 2i, John vi. 70, Acts i. 25, 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3. Now, are 
there any so vain and foolish as to say that Judas did continue with 
him in his temptations ? or that Christ did appoint to him any other 
kingdom than a kingdom of darkness % or that he shall sit on a throne 
to judge others, who shall at last be judged as a devil ? 

[4.] Judas was no ways capable of any of those noble ends and 
glorioususesfor which the Lord Jesus appointed this sacrament, behaving 

1 John xiii. 30. Hilary, Durand, Piscator, Beza, &c. Compare Mat. xxvi. and Mark 
xiv. together, and you shall find that neither of them do affirm that Judas was at the 
Lord's supper ; therefore we have no ground to believe that Judas was at that blessed 
supper, Luke xxii. 19, 20 ; Mat. xxvi. 26-29. 

a Were hypocrites and reprobates known to us, we ought to shut the door against them, 
and will Christ open it ? Surely no. 



liv APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

no real love to Christ, no experimental knowledge of Christ, no faith to 
discern Christ, to apply Christ, to feed upon Christ, to seal to Christ, &c.' 
How could this ordinance strengthen grace in his heart, who was wholly 
void of grace? How could this ordinance confirm him in the love of God, 
who was at that very time under the greatest wrath of God? How could 
thisordinance seal upto him the pardonof hissins, who, notwithstanding 
all the hell-fire that Christ cast in his face, yet would hold on in his 
sins, and rather betray Christ into the hands of his enemies, and his 
own soul into the hand of Satan, than cease from doing wickedly, &c. 2 
That little wisdom that is in man will Avork him to forbear his work 
and suspend his act where he sees his end will fail ; and will not those 
treasures of wisdom that be in the Lord Jesus, Col. ii. 3, much more 
work him to suspend his work, where he sees plainly and clearly that 
his end will fail him, as in the case of Judas ? Surely it will. 

[5.] Consider seriously whether it be in any degree probable that 
Jesus Christ would give his blood to Judas, and yet not so much as 
lift up a prayer for Judas, John xvii. 9 ; that Christ would do the 
greater thing for Judas, and yet not do the lesser ; that he should give 
his blood to Judas, and yet not spend a little of his breath to save 
Judas from wallowing in his blood for ever. Among men it would 
argue the greatest weakness that could be, to deny the least favour 
where they have shewed the greatest favour, &c. 3 

Well ! but if, for argument's sake, we should grant that Judas did 
receive the Lord's supper, it will not from thence follow that it is 
lawful for those that are openly profane, wicked, scandalous, and 
malignant to receive it, and that upon these following grounds : 

Reason ]. For that Judas was a close hypocrite, and carried his sin 
so secretly that nothing appeared openly against him for Christ yet to 
refuse him. Hypocrisy is spun of a fine thread, and not easily dis- 
cerned: Mat. xxvi. 21, 22, And as they did eat, he said, 'Verily I say 
unto you, that one ofjou shall betray me. And they were exceeding 
sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?' 
Sincere hearts are more jealous of themselves than of others, and will 
rather judge a thousand hypocrites to be saints, than one saint to be an 
hypocrite. 4 

Reason 2. Because Judas was a member of the church, and had done 
nothing openly that could cast him out ; and by virtue of his member- 
ship he might justly claim it as his due, he being called into fellow- 
ship by Christ himself. Now, what advantage is this to such open 
profane wicked persons as de jure ought and de facto are excluded from 
the Lord's supper ; as I have before clearly and fully proved ? 

Reason 3. Because in respect of wickedness and all profaneness they 
go beyond Judas. Judas was no drunkard, swearer, mocker, scoffer ; 
he did not sin openly, and glory in his sin. 5 He did not by any open 

1 Quodnon actibus sed finibut pensantur officio., duties are esteemed not by their acts, but 
by their ends. '-' Maximilian's motto was, Tene mensuram, et respice finem. 

8 Sanguis Christi, elavis cceli, Christ's blood is heaven's key ; and so Judas would have 
found had Christ given it to him. 

* Secreta mea mecum, my secret is with myself, is an Hebrew proverb. We are not to 
look to men's hearts, but to their lives and conversations, and, according as they are good 
or had, so (o proceed- 

5 Judas, as Tcrtullian thinks, was pretty honest till he carried the bag (it is hard to 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lv 

way of wickedness sad and quench Christ's, his Spirit or disciples ; he 
was so far from giving any scandal or offence to his fellow-disciples, 
that when Christ told them, ' One of you shall betray me,' they were all 
jealous of themselves, none of them were jealous of Judas : ' And they 
began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I ?' Judas be- 
trayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver, but open, profane, wicked 
persons they betray Christ, his word, his people, and their own souls, 
for a thing of nought. They will transgress for a morsel of bread, as 
Solomon speaks, for a trifle, Isa. 1. 1, 2, Prov. xxviii. 24. They will sell 
the greatest and the choicest things dog-cheap, even at the poorest and 
the lowest rate that the world, or the god of this world, shall bid. 1 
Judas betrayed Christ once ; and open, profane, wicked persons, by 
their open treasons and transgressions, do oftentimes in a day betray 
the crown, sceptre, and dignity of King Jesus. Judas plotted treason 
against Christ when he was in a low, afflicted, and despised condition ; 
but such as are openly profane and wicked, they plot and act treason 
against Christ now he is exalted, crowned, and set down at the right 
hand of God in that glory and majesty that can neither be conceived 
nor expressed by any mortal creature. Judas betrays Christ, and is 
struck with dreadful horror and terror ; but such as are openly wicked, 
they betray Christ, and yet joy in their transgressions, which are so 
many treasons against Christ. Judas betrays Christ, and yet justifies 
the innocency of Christ ; he repents, and confesseth his sin ; but such 
as are openly wicked, proceed from evil to evil, and yet, with the harlot, 
they wipe their mouths, and say, What evil have we done f 

Reason 4. Because Christ gave the blessed sacrament ministerially 
as he was man, leaving them a pattern to walk by that should come 
after him; and such was the carriage of Christ toward Judas all along. 3 
Christ did not act toward Judas as he was an all-seeing God, nor as 
he was the heart-maker, the heart-searcher, the heart-observer, the 
heart-discoverer, but he acted towards him ministerially. Neither do 
I see how it could stand with the holiness, justice, faithfulness, and 
wisdom of Christ to give that holy ordinance to Judas, whom he knew 
as he was God, to be such a dog, a devil ; considering how he had bound 
all his servants from casting pearls before swine. To affirm that Christ 
gave the sacrament to Judas, as he was God; what is this but to make 
Christ's practice fight against his own precepts, which for any to do is 
doubtless blasphemy in the highest degree. 

And now I appeal to the consciences of all profane, wicked, malig- 
nant persons, whether they were not better a thousand times to be shut 
out from this glorious ordinance of the Lord's supper, till the Lord 
shall in mercy, if it be his good pleasure, fit them for it, than to think 
to get in at this door by making Judas the porter. 

be in office, and not to put conscience out of office). Several other writers were of Ter- 
tullian's opinion concerning Judas. 

1 Cato hits M. Ccelis in the teeth with his baseness, that for a morsel of bread he would 
sell either his tongue or his silence. 

2 lsa. liii. 2, 3 ; Acts v. 30, 31 ; Rom. viii. 34 ; Eph. i. 20-23 ; Prov. xv. 21 ; Mat. xxvii 
3-5 : Prov. xxx. 20. 

3 Had Christ, as a God and searcher of the heart, kept out Judas from the passover, 
because he knew his heart was naught, he had left us a pattern to eject such as the church 
should be jealous of, that their hearts are not right before the Lord, when there is nothing 
detected. 



lvi APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

I shall now address myself to give some good counsel to the peti- 
tioners; and so conclude. 

Good Counsel to Bad Men ; or, Frtendly Advice to Unfriendly 
Neighbours and their Abettors. 

Your petitioning against me to all understanding men was a com- 
pounded evil ; an evil made up of pride, envy, malice, discontent, 
ignorance, &c. My counsel to you is to break off your sins by repent- 
ance, that it may go well with you for ever. If you will not, justice 
will be above you, and in the close you must lie down in sorrow. Tell 
me, can you dwell with the devouring fire ? can you dwell with ever- 
lasting burnings? Dan. iv. 27, Isa. 1. 11, xxxiii. 14. It was a good 
saying of Chrysostom, speaking of hell, Ne quccramus ubi sit, sed 
quomodo Mam fvgiamus, let us not seek where it is, but how we shall 
escape it. 1 Grievous is the torment of the damned for the bitterness 
of the punishments, but it is more grievous for the diversity of the 
punishments, but most grievous for the eternity of the punishments. 
Ah ! consider before it be too late, what a sad thing it is for souls at 
last to have the gate of mercy, the gate of indulgence, the gate of hope, 
the gate of glory, shut upon them, Mat. xxv. 10. When a sinner is in 
hell, shall another Christ be found to die for him ? or will the same 
Christ be crucified again ? Oh, no! Oh that you were so wise and 
merciful to your own souls as to dwell upon these scriptures : John iii. 
S, ' Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, 
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' 
Except men be first unmade, and then made up again by the Spirit 
and word, except the whole frame of their old conversation be dissolved 
and a better erected, there is no heaven to be had. Heaven is too 
holy and too hot to hold drunkards, revilers, mockers, and such like, 
as you mav plainly see by comparing these scriptures together, 1 Cor. 
yi. 9, 10, Gal. v. 19-21, Jude 14, 15, Rev. xxi. 8, and xxii. 15. He that 
is truth itself, and cannot lie, hath said, ' Without holiness no man 
shall see God/ Heb. xii. 14. 2 This I am sure of, that all man's happi- 
ness here is his holiness, and his holiness shall hereafter be his happi- 
ness. You must in this life be holy, or in the life to come you shall 
never be happy. Seneca, a heathen man, saw so much excellency that 
morality put upon a man that he saith that ipse aspectus boni viri 
delectat, the very looks of a good man delights one. Oh ! then, what 
a beauty and glory doth real sanctity put upon a man ; ' it makes him 
more excellent than his neighbour/ as Solomon speaks, Prov. xii. 26. 
When Agesilaus heard the king of Persia styled the great king, saith 
he, ' I acknowledge none more excellent than myself, unless more 
righteous; none greater, unless better.' Ps. xvi. 3. 

But to hasten towards a close, you may be very confident of these 
few things, which I desire, as you tender your own good, you would 
seriously consider. 

1 Utinam ubique de gehenna dissereretur. I could wish that men would discourse much 
and oft of hell. — Chrysostom. 

- They were wont to say in former times, Cams Seius bonus vir, sed Christianus, Caius 
Seins was a good man, but he was a Christian. You may easily apply it, &c. Chrysostom 
calls some holy men of his time ayyiXm, earthly angels. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lvii 

[1.] That those ways of the flesh wherein now you walk will be 
bitterness in the latter end: Prov. xiv. 12, 'There is a way which 
seemeth right unto a man ; but the end thereof are the ways of death. 1 
Though sin doth come sometimes clothed with a show of reason and 
religion, yet the end of it will be death. Sin at last will betray your 
souls into the hands of Satan, as Delilah did Samson into the hands of 
the Philistines. 2 Sin makes the soul black with filth and red with 
guilt ; and then vengeance follows. The Rabbins were wont to tell 
scholars, to scare them from sin, that every sin made God's head ache ; 
but without sound repentance you will at last find that every sin will 
make your hearts ache. Oh ! then, when you are tempted to sin, you 
would say, as Demosthenes, the orator, did of the beautiful Lais, when 
he was asked an excessive sum of money to hehpld her : I will not, 
said he, buy repentance so dear. I am not so ill a merchant as to sell 
the eternal for the temporal. 

[2.] You may be confident that all your oppositions one way or other 
against the ways of God, and against the people of God, is a fighting 
against God, who will be too hard for you when you have done your 
worst ; and what you get you may put in your eyes, and weep it out 
again, 3 Acts v. 38, 39, ix. 4, 5. Those that strive for mastery with 
God, God will over-master with a witness : Isa. xxvii. 4, ' Who would 
set the briars and thorns against me in battle ? I would go through 
them, I will burn them together.' God can nod a soul to hell ; he can 
speak a soul miserable in a moment. Who ever stood out against him, 
and prospered ? There is such a near union between God and his 
people, between God and his ways, that you cannot possibly oppose 
them but you oppose God himself, who can presently cause the 
greatest arm of human power to shrink up, as you may see in his deal- 
ing with Pharaoh, Haman, Belshazzar, and others, &c. Is a dry reed 
able to stand against a consuming fire ? Is a worm able to overcome 
a lion ? Is weakness able to overcome strength : ' Behold, the nations 
are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the 
balance ;' ' Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing,' as the 
prophet Isaiah speaks, Isa. xl. 15. And what, then, is the poor creature, 
that he should fight against an almighty Creator ? Cassar told Metellus 
he could as easily destroy him as bid it be done. So can God. Who 
dares then engage against him ? 4 

[3.] You may be confident, that though I hate your sins, yet I don't 
hate your persons. I am willing to live in love and peace with all 
men, so far as I may without sin ; but I abhor compliancy with any 
man, to the dishonour of Christ, to the wounding of my conscience, to 
the profaning of holy things, or to the prejudice and disadvantage of 
the truth. It is below humanity to hate a man, whose nature and 
similitude he may behold in the humanity of Christ. JDeum odit qui 

1 It was the saying of an ancient philosopher, Whosoever sinneth, doth in that decline 
from his purposed end, and is certainly deceived. 

2 Hark, scholar, eaid the harlot to Apuleius, it is but a bitter-sweet that you are so fond 
of. Ah ! your scoffing and mocking will prove but a bitter-sweet at last. 

3 Constantino the Great's symbol [Qu. 'saying'? — G.] was immedicabile vulnus ense 
rescindendam est, when there is no hope of curing, men must fall a-cutting ; and so will 
God deal with sinners' souls. Therefore, look about you, sinners. 

4 Said Caligula, speaking to the consuls, to think that I can kill you with a nod of my 
head ; and can't God do it with as much ease ? 



lviil APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

hominem odit, he hateth God that hateth man. I must love men, but 
hate their vice. It is said of Ephesus, that they hated the deeds of 
the Nicolaitans ; their errors, not their persons. So Jacob cursed the 
wrath of his sons, but blessed their persons. So Paul, 1 Cor. iv. 15, 
and so do I, through free mercy. 1 

| 4. | You may be confident that I don't refuse the baptizing of your 
children, and the giving you the sacrament, &c., out of pride or envy, 
or upon any carnal account in the world, but only upon the grounds 
that I have before laid down. I take the Searcher of all hearts to 
witness, that I should much rejoice and bless the Lord if he would be 
pleased to work such a thorough work of grace upon all your hearts 
as that I might without sin dispense all the precious things of Christ 
to you. Ah ! it is not a joy, but a real grief to my soul, that others 
have not that right, and can't come to those ordinances which God 
hath made so sweet and advantageous to me, and many others of the 
sons of Zion. 

Oh ! how willing should I be, and those that walk with me, to give 
you the right hand of fellowship, if we could but see that the Lord 
has taken you into fellowship with his blessed self, that so the ordi- 
nance might be a cordial, and not poison to you. 2 

I do profess before the Lord, that I do from my soul forgive you the 
wrong and injuries that you have done me, or attempted to do. God 
has been good to me, notwithstanding my failing towards him and my 
sins against him ; and the sense of his love and rich goodness makes 
my bowels to yearn towards you. 

Oh ! it is a mercy more worth than a world to me that God hath 
given me such a frame of spirit as that I can pray for your souls, and 
weep over your sins, and that I am ready to serve you in all those 
ways wherein I may further the eternal welfare of your souls, &c. 
Make use of me in anything wherein I may serve you without sin ; and 
see whether I shall not be willing to act for your good, notwithstand- 
ing all provocations to the contrary. 3 

[5.] For a close, — because I would not be over-tedious, I shall draw 
many things within a narrow compass, — you may be confident that 
my end in writing is your due conviction and satisfaction, that you 
may weigh my arguments, and clearly see that it is not will, nor 
humour, &c, but conscience, reason, and religion that acts me. If, 
notwithstanding what I have said, you shall continue in your malice, 
envy, hatred, &c, I shall have comfort in this, that I have in all faith- 
fulness freed myself from being guilty of the blood of your souls ; and 

1 Rom. xiv. 19 ; Heb. xii. 14. Luther said, that in the cause of God he was content, 
totius mundi odium et impetum sustinere, to undergo the hatred and violence of the whole 
world. The heathen orator could say, A recta conscientia ne latum quidem unguem disceden- 
dum, a man may not depart an hair's-breadth all his life long from the dictates of a good 
conscience. 

' Cant. viii. 1 ; Ps. lxiii. 1-3; Rom. xiv. 1, and xv. 1 ; 1 John i. 3, 4; Luke xxiii. 24 ; 
Acts vii. 39, GO ; Mat. vi. 12-15. Tully said of Caesar, Nihil oblivisci soles, nisi injuria*, 
that lie forgat nothing but injuries. 

3 Lilmod lelammed, we therefore learn, tbat we may teach, is a proverb among the 
Rabbins. I could havo dealt with you in another way, bad 1 not intended the good of 
your souls. Jer. xliv. 16, et seq ; Acts xx. 26, 27 Ezek. iii. 17-19 ; 1 Cor. ix. 20-22 ; 
John xii. 48; 2 Cor. v. 10; Rom. viii. 28; Micah vii. 8-10; Jer. xx. 9-12; Mai. iii. 
17, 18; Isa. xlix. 4, 5. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. li x 

in that I have declared to all the world my willingness to serve the 
interest of your souls in all things wherein I may without sin. And 
most confident I am. that if what I have written do not better you, it 
will be a witness against you when you and I shall meet before Christ's 
judgment-seat. And confident I am, that God will bring much good 
to me out of all the plots, designs, and actings that have been, or that 
shall be, by vain men against me. And confident I am, that the more 
you stir in any way of baseness or wickedness, the more the Lord wiil 
make you to stink, and the more contempt he will pour upon you, and 
the more bright he will cause my innocency to shine, and the more 
weighty shall be my crown in the day of Christ. 

My desires for you before the Lord are these, that you may have 
such a sight of your sins as may work you to ' kiss the Son, lest he be 
angry, and you perish when his wrath is kindled but a little ;' and 
that you may not trifle away the day of grace, and ' the things that 
belong to your eternal peace/ ' lest God should swear in his wrath 
that you shall never enter into his rest/ 1 Oh ! that in the lio-ht of the 
Spirit you may see Christ to be the greatest good, the most desirable 
good, the most necessary good, the most suitable good, to be a total 
good, an only good, and an eternal good ; that so your souls may in 
good earnest fall in love with Christ, and may cry out with that 
martyr, ' None but Christ, none but Christ/ Oh ! none but Christ to 
save us, and none but Christ to rule us ! none but Christ to justify us, 
and none but Christ to command us I Oh ! that you may cease from 
doing evil, and learn to do well ; that so you may be happy in life, 
blessed in death, and glorious in the morning of the resurrection, 
Isa. i. 16, 17. 



B. — Close of Farewell Sermon ; see page ante xxxi. From the 
Collection of 1662 (4to). The text is not given, nor the body of 
the Sermon, but only what follows : — 

All that I shall do shall be to answer two or three queries, and then 
I shall leave a few legacies with you, that may speak when I am not 
advantaged to speak to you. 

The first query is this, What should be the reason that men make 
such opposition against the gospel, against the plain, powerful, con- 
scientious preaching of it \ This is not the principal thing that I in- 
tend, and therefore I shall only touch upon the reason of it. 

1. Men's hatred and opposition ariseth against the gospel because it 
doth discover their hidden works of darkness : John iii., ' They hate the 
light, lest their deeds should be reproved.' The gospel brings their 
deeds of darkness to light, and this stirs up a spirit of hatred and op- 
position against the gospel. 

2. Ground is this : because sinners under the gospel, cannot sin at so 

1 Prayer is porta cceli, clavis paradisi. the gate of heaven, a key to let us in to para- 
dise, Heb. iii. 7-12. Nee Christus nee coelum patitur hypeibolem, a man cannot hyperbolize 
in speaking of Christ and heaven. Omne bonum, in surnmo bono, all good is in the chiefest 
good. 



lx APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

cheap a rate as otherwise they might do ; the drunkard cannot be drunk 
at so cheap a rate ; nor can the opposer and persecutor oppose and 
persecute at so cheap a rate as they might do where the gospel doth 
not shine in power and glory. 

3. Because the gospel puts persons upon very hard service, upon very 
difficult work, pulling out a right eye, cutting oft* a right hand, offering 
up an Isaac, throwing overboard a Jonas, parting with bosom lusts and 
darling sins. Herod heard John Baptist gladly, till he came to touch 
his Herodias, and then off goes his head. As they say. John vi., ' This 
is a hard saying, and who can abide it ?' and from that time they walked 
no more with him. This is a hard gospel indeed, and at this their 
blood riseth. 

4. Because of the differing and distinguishing work that the gospel 
makes among the sons of men ; it softens one, and hardens another 
that sits next to him ; enlightens one, and strikes the other blind ; it 
wins one and enrages the other. The same sun hath different effects 
on the objects on which it shineth. The gospel puts a difference be- 
tween the precious and the vile ; and this the vile cannot bear. It was 
never good days, say they, since such and such must be saints, and none 
else ; we have as good hearts as any, and this enrageth them. 

Lastly, It is from Satan, Satan knows that the very tendency of the 
gospel is to shake his kingdom about his ears. Satan and antichrist 
know that their kingdom must down by the power and light of the 
o-ospel; and therefore Satan and men of an antichristian spirit do all 
they can to oppose and shew their hatred against the everlasting gos- 
pel; and this makes them to be in such a rage against the gospel. 

Query 2. When the gospel goes from a people, what goes ? I shall 
give but a touch here. 

1. When the gospel goes, peace, plenty, and trading go, 2 Chron. xv. 
3, 5, 6, compared. Now for a long season Israel had been without the 
true God, and without a teaching priest. Why ? They had priests ; 
but they were Jeroboam's priests, as you may see, chap. xiii. 9, ' Have 
you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the 
Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of 
other lands % so that whosoever comes to consecrate himself with a 
young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that 
are no gods. A little business will buy a priesthood ; and so they are 
said to be without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without 
law. Mark what follows: 'And in those times, there was no peace 
to him that went out, nor to him that came in ; but great vexations 
were upon all the inhabitants of the country, and nation was destroyed 
of nation, and city of city, for God did vex them with all adversity.' 

2. Safety and security goes when the gospel goes ; so in the text but 
now cited. The ark was taken away, and when that was taken away, 
their strength and safety was gone. When the Jews rejected the gos- 
pel, the Romans came and took away both their place and nation : John 
xi. 48, ' If we let him thus alone, the Romans will come and take 
away both our place and nation/ About forty years after, Titus and 
Vespasian took away their city ; they cried, ' If we let this man alone, 
the Romans will take away our nations.' And this was the ready way 
to bring the Romans upon them. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lxi 

3. When the gospel goes, civil liberty goes. When the Jews slighted 
the gospel, and turned their backs upon it, they quickly became bond- 
slaves to the Romans. 

4. When the gospel goes, the honour and glory, splendour and beauty 
of a nation goes. It is the gospel that is the honour and glory of a 
nation, and when that goes, all the glory goes. As old Eli said, when 
the ark was taken away, ' The glory is departed from Israel,' 1 Sam. 
iv. 32. Jer. ii. 11-13, ' Hath a nation changed their gods, which are 
yet no gods ? but my people have changed their glory for that which 
doth net profit,' that is, the worship of God into the traditions of men. 
What is it that lifts up one nation above another but the gospel ? 
Above all nations of the earth, England hath been lifted up to heaven. 

5. When the gospel goes, all soul-happiness and blessedness goes. 
The gospel, you know, is the means appointed by God to bring souls to 
an acquaintance with Christ, to an acceptance of Christ, to an interest 
in Christ, to an assurance that he is theirs, and they are his. Now, 
when this goes, all soul-happiness and blessedness goes. 

Lastly, When the gospel goes, the special presence of God goes, for that 
still goes with the gospel. There is a general presence of God, as the 
psalmist speaks, Ps. cxxxix., 'Where shall I go from thy Spirit? whither 
shall I fly from thy presence V This presence of God reacheth from 
heaven to hell ; in that sense, God is included in no place, not excluded 
out of any place. But, alas ! what is this general presence ? When the 
gospel goes, the special presence of God goes. This leads me by the 
hand to the third query. 

Query 3. And that is this, Whether God will remove the gospel from 
England or no ? 

It is the fears of many; but I humbly suppose no. Whatsoever dark- 
ness may be upon it, yet that God will not remove it ; and, if you 
please, I will offer a few things that signify something, as to my own 
satisfaction, and it may be so to you. 

1. The rooting that it hath got in the hearts of sinners and saints, in 
the judgments, affections, and consciences, both of sinners and saints. 
Certainly it hath got so deep a root in the hearts of manv thousands 
of saints and sinners, that it shall not be in the power of hell to raze 
it out. 

2. The glorious anointings that are to be found upon many thousands 
of God's servants in this nation to preach the everlasting gospel, and 
who would be glad to preach upon the hardest terms, keeping God and 
a good conscience, to preach it freely, as the apostles of old did. And 
certainly God hath not laid in this treasure that it should be turned 
into a heap of confusion, but that it should serve to the end for which 
he laid it in. 

3. The ineffectualness of all former attempts and designs to destroy 
the gospel. You know what endeavours of old there hath been to 
darken this sun, to put out the light of heaven, in the Marian days, and 
in other days since then ; and yet it hath not been in prisons, racks, 
flames, pillories, nor anything else to extinguish the glory of it. And 
then, 

4. All designs and attempts to extinguish the everlasting gospel have 
turned to the advancement, flourishing, and spreading of the gospel. 



lxii APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

5. God never takes away the gospel from a people till the body of that 
people have thrust the everlasting gospel from them ; when, indeed, 
they have been so bold as to thrust away the everlasting gospel, God 
hath been severe unto them ; but till the body of a people have thrust 
away the everlasting gospel, God hath not taken it away from them. 
2 Chronicles the 3(ith chapter and the 15th verse to the end, God sent his 
messengers early and late; they abused, and slighted, and scorned them, 
till there was no remedy. So in the 35th of Jeremiah from the 1st to 
the 12th; it is a famous text for this. So in the 13th chapter of the 
Acts and the 45th, 4Gth, and 47th verses, ' Because you have thought 
yourselves unworthy of salvation ; lo, we turn to the Gentiles.' Till the 
Jews came to thrust away the everlasting gospel, the Lord continued 
it to them. 

6. The spreading of the everlasting gospel is the special means appointed 
by God for the destruction of antichrist. First, He is to be consumed by 
the spirit of his mouth, then destroyed by the brightness of his coming; 
the spirit of faith and prayer in them that would be Avilling to lay down 
anything rather than part with the gospel. God will not put his blessed 
church to the blush ; he will not make them ashamed of their con- 
fidence. 

7. Are there not multitudes of the children of believers that fall 
under many promises ? And will not God make good his engagements 
to them ? 'I will circumcise your hearts, and the hearts of your seed; 
and the seed of the upright shall be blessed, &c. 

8. The strange and wonderful affections and tenderness that God 
hath wrought in his children to the gospel ; what meltings and mourn- 
ings, and what a spirit of prayer hath God put upon his people ! 

9. There are many young tender plants and buds of grace, such in 
whom the Spirit of God hath stirred an hungering, thirsting, and long- 
ing after the great concerments of eternity. I would, upon these 
grounds, with others of the like import, hope and believe that the Lord 
will not remove his everlasting gospel, however he may correct his 
people for their trifling with and slighting the glorious gospel. I have 
several times thought what a day of darkness was upon the world, in 
respect of sin and superstition. When Christ brought the everlasting 
gospel, what a day of darkness and superstition was on the whole earth ! 
But you know what the apostle speaks, 2 Cor. i. 2J, ' For after that, in 
the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased 
God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe.' 

When it is nearest day, then it is darkest. There may be an hour of 
darkness that may be upon the gospel, as to its liberty, purity, and 
c-lory; and yet there may be a sunshining day ready to tread on the 
heels of it. And so much for the resolution of those queries. 

I shall proceed, as I said, and leave some legacies with you, which 
may, by the finger of the Spirit, be made advantageous to you, whom 
we are not advantaged to speak unto you. 

Legacy 1. The first legacy I would leave with you, shall be this: 
Secure your interest in Christ ; make it your great business, your work, 
your heaven, to secure your interest in Christ. This is not an age, an 
hour, for a man to be between fears and hopes, between doubting and 
believing. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. ixiii 

Take not up in a name to live, when you are dead God-ward and 
Christ-ward ; take not up in an outward form, and outward privilege. 
They cried out, ' The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,' that 
had no interest in, or love to, the Lord of the temple. Follow God, 
leave no means unattempted whereby your blessed interest may be 
cleared up. 

Leg. 2. Make Christ and Scripture the only foundation for your souls 
and faith to build on : as the apostle saith, 1 Cor. iii. 11, ' Other foun- 
dations can no man lay than that which is laid, even Jesus Christ.' 
Isa. xxviii. 6, ' Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried 
stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, a sure foundation,' Eph. ii. 10. 
Since it is a very dangerous thing, as much as your souls and eternity 
is worth, for you to build on anything beside Jesus Christ, many will 
say, Come, build on this authority and that, on this saying and that ; 
but take heed. 

Leg. 3. In all places and company, be sure to carry your soul pre- 
servative with you : go into no place or company, except you carry your 
soul preservations with you, that is, a holy care and wisdom. You 
know, in infectious times, men will carry outward preservatives with 
them ; you had need to carry your preservatives about you, else you 
will be in danger of being infected with the ill customs and vanities of 
the times wherein you live, and that is a third. 

Leg. 4. I would leave with you is this : Look that all within you 
rises higher and higher, by oppositions, threatenings and sufferings, 
that is, that your faith, your love, your courage, your zeal, your resolu- 
tions, and magnanimity rises higher by opposition and a spirit of prayer. 
Thus it did, Acts iv. 18-21, 29-31 compared ; all their sufferings did 
but raise up a more noble spirit in them, they did but raise up their 
faith and courage. So Acts v. 40-42, they looked on it as a grace to 
be disgraced for Christ, and as an honour to be dishonoured for him. 
They say, as David, ' If this be to be vile, I will be more vile.' If to 
be found in the way of my God, to act for my God, to be vile, I will be 
more vile. 

Leg. 5. Take more pains, and make more conscience of keeping your- 
selves from sin than suffering ; from the pollutions and defilements of 
the day, than from the sufferings of the day. This legacy I would beg 
that you would consider; take more pains, and make more conscience of 
keeping yourselves from the evil of sin than the evil of punishment, from 
the pollutions and corruptions of the times than the sufferings of the 
times : Acts ii. 40, ' Save yourselves from this untoward generation.' 
Philip, ii. 15, 'The children of God must be harmless and blameless, 
without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.' 
Heb. xi. speaks full to the point in hand. Rev. iii. 4, ' Thou hast a few 
names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments ; and they 
shall walk with me in white : for they are worthy.' White was the 
habit of nobles, which imports the honour that God will put on those 
that keep their garments pure in a defiling day. Rev. xviii. 4, ' And I 
heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, 
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her 
plagues/ If you will be tasting and sipping at Babylon's cup, you 
must resolve to receive more or less of Babylon's plagues. 

VOL. l e 



Ixiv APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

Leg. 6. I would Leave with you is this: Be always doing or receiving 
good. Our Lord and Master went up and down in this world doing 
good ; he was still doing good to body and soul ; he was acted by an 
untired power. Be still doing or receiving good. This will make your 
lives comfortable, your deaths happy, and your account glorious, in the 
great day of our Lord. Oh ! how useless are many men in their gene- 
ration ! Oli ! that our lips might be as so many honey-combs, that we 
might scatter knowledge! 

Leg. 7- I would leave with you is this : Set the highest examples and 
patterns before your face of grace and godliness for your imitation. In 
the business of faith, set an Abraham before your eyes ; in the business 
of courage, set a Joshua ; in the business of uprightness, set a Job ; of 
meekness, a Moses, &c. There is a disadvantage that redounds to 
Christians by looking more backwards than forwards. Men look on 
whom they excel, not on those they fall short of. Of all examples, set 
them before you that are most eminent for grace and holiness, for com- 
munion with God, and acting for God. Next to Christ, set the pattern 
of the choicest saints before you. 

Leg. 8. Hold fast your integrity, and rather let all go than let that 
go. A man had better let liberty, estate, relations, and life go, than let 
his integrity go. Yea, let ordinances themselves go, when they cannot 
be held with the hand of integrity : Job xxvii. 5, 6, ' God forbid that I 
should justify you till I die. I will not remove my integrity from me; 
my righteousness I will hold fast, and I will not let it go : my heart shall 
not reproach me so long as I live.' Look, as the drowning man holds 
fast that which is cast forth for to save him, as the soldier holds fast his 
sword and buckler on which his life depends, so, saith Job, ' I will hold 
fast my integrity; my heart shall not reproach me. I had rather all the 
world should reproach me, and my heart justify me, than that my heart 
should reproach me, and all the world justify me.' That man will make 
but a sad exchange that shall exchange his integrity for any worldly 
concernment. Integrity maintained in the soul will be a feast of fat 
things in the worst of days ; but let a man lose his integrity, and it is 
not in the power of all the world to make a feast of fat things in that 
soul. 

Leg. 0. That I would leave with you is this : Let not a day pass over 
your head without calling the whole man to an exact account. Well, 
where have you been acting to-day ? Hands, what have you done for 
God to-day ? Tongue, what have you spoke for God to-day. This will 
be an advantage many ways unto you, but I can only touch on these 
legacies. 

Leg. 10. Labour mightily for a healing spirit. This legacy I would 
leave with you as matter of great concernment. Labour mightily for 
a healing spirit. Away with all discriminating names whatever that 
may hinder the applying of balm to heal your wounds. Labour for a 
healing spirit. Discord and division become no Christian. For wolves 
to worry the lambs, is no wonder ; but for one lamb to worry another, 
this is unnatural and monstrous. God hath made his wrath to smoke 
against us for the divisions and heart-burnings that have been amongst 
us. Labour for a oneness in love and affection with every one that is 
one with Christ. Let their forms be what they will, that which wins 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. ]xv 

most upon Christ's heart, should win most upon ours, and that is his 
own grace and holiness. The question should be, What of the Father, 
what of the Son, what of the Spirit shines in this or that person ? and 
accordingly let your love and your affections run out. That is the tenth 
legacy. 

Leg. 11. Be most in the spiritual exercises of religion. Improve this 
legacy, for much of the life and comfort, joy and peace of your souls is 
wrapped up in it. I say, be most in the spiritual exercises of religion. 
There are external exercises, as hearing, preaching, praying, and con- 
ference ; and there are the more spiritual exercises of religion, exercise 
of grace, meditation, self-judging, self-trial, and examination. Bodily 
exercise will profit nothing if abstracted from those more spiritual. The 
glory that God hath, and the comfort and advantage that will redound to 
your souls is mostly from the spiritual exercises of religion. How rare 
is it to find men in the work of meditation, of trial and examination, 
and of bringing home of truths to their own souls ? 

Leg. 12. Take no truths upon trust, but all upon trial, 1 Thes. v. 21, 
so 1 John iv. 1, Acts xvii. 11. It was the glory of that church, that they 
would not trust Paul himself; Paul, that had the advantage above all 
for external qualifications ; no, not Paul himself. Take no truth upon 
trust ; bring them to the balance of the sanctuary. If they will, not 
hold weight there, reject them. 

Iieg. 13. The lesser and fewer opportunities and advantages you have 
in public to better and enrich your souls, the more abundantly address 
your souls to God in private : Mai. iii. 16, 17, 'Then they that feared 
the Lord, spake often one to another,' &c. 

Leg. 14. Walk in those ways that are directly cross and contrary to 
the vain, sinful, and superstitious ways that men of a formal, carnal, 
lukewarm spirit walk in ; this is the great concernment of Christians. 
But more of that by and by. 

Leg. 15. Look upon all the things of this world as you will look upon 
them when you come to die. At what a poor rate do men look on the 
things of this world when they come to die ! What a low value do men 
set upon the pomp and glory of it, when there is but a step between 
them and eternity ! Men may now put a mask upon them, but then 
they will appear in their own colours. Men would not venture the loss 
of such great things for them did they but look on them now, as they 
will do at the last day. 

Leg. 16. Never put off your conscience with any plea or with anv 
argument that you dare not stand by in the great day of your account. 
It is dreadful to consider how many in these days put off their con- 
sciences. We did this and that for our families, they would have else 
perished. I have complied thus, and wronged my conscience thus, for 
this and that concernment. Will a man stand by this argument when 
he comes before Jesus Christ at the last day ? Because of the souls of 
men, many plead this or that. Christ doth not stand in need of indirect 
ways to save souls ; he hath ways enough to bring in souls to himself. 

Leg. 17. Eye more, mind more, and lay to heart more, the spiritual 
and eternal workings of God in your souls, than the external providences 
of God in the world. Beloved, God looks that we should consider the 
operations of his hand ; and the despising the works of his hands is so 



lxvi APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

provoking to him that he threatens them to lead them into captivity 
for not considering of them. But above all look to the work that God 
is carrying on in your souls. Not a soul but he is carrying on soma 
work or other in it, either blinding or enlightening, bettering or 
worstening ; and therefore look to what God is doing in thy soul. All 
the motions of God within you are steps to eternity, and every soul shall 
be blessed or cursed, saved or lost to all eternity, not according to out- 
ward dispensations, but accoixling to the inward operations of God in 
your souls. Observe what humbling work, reforming work, sanctifying 
work, he is about in thy spirit ; what he is doing in that little world 
within thee. If God should carry on never so glorious a work in the 
world, as a conquest of the nations to Christ, what would it advantage 
thee if sin, Satan, and the world should triumph in thy soul, and carry 
the day there. 

Leg. 18. Look as well on the bright side as on the dark side of the 
cloud ; on the bright side of providence as well as on the dark side of. 
providence. Beloved, there is a great weakness amongst Christians ; 
they do so pore on the dark side of the providence as that they have no 
heart to consider of the bright side. If you look on the dark side of 
the providence of God to Joseph, how terrible and amazing was it ! but 
if you look on the bright side, his fourscore years' reign, how glorious 
was it ! If you look on the dark side of the providence of God to David, 
in his five years' banishment, much will arise to startle you ; but if you 
turn to the bright side, his forty years' reign in glory, how amiable was 
it ! Look on the dark side of the providence of God to Job, oh, how 
terrible was it in the first of Job I but compare this with the last of Job, 
where you have the bright side of the cloud, and there God doubles all his 
mercies to him. Consider the patience of Job, and the end that the Lord 
made with him. Do not remember the beginning only, for that was the 
dark side ; but turn to the end of him, and there was his bright side. 
Many sins, many temptations, and much affliction would be prevented by 
Christians looking on the bright side of providence as well as on the dark. 

Leg. 19. Keep up precious thoughts of God under the sourest, sharpest, 
and severest dispensations of God to you : Ps. xxii. 1-3, ' My God, my 
God, why hast thou forsaken me ? why art thou so far from helping me, 
and from the words of my roaring ? O my God, I cry in the daytime, 
but thou hearest not ; and in the night season, and am not silent.' 
There was the psalmist under smart dispensations, but what precious 
thoughts had he of God after all : ' But thou art holy, O thou that in- 
habitest the praises of Israel : though I am thus and thus afflicted, yet 
thou art holy ;' Ps. lxv. 5, ' By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou 
answer us, O God of our salvation. 

Leg. 20. Hold on and hold out in the ways of well-doing, in the want 
of all outward encouragements, and in the face of all outward dis- 
couragements. It is nothing to hold out when we meet with nothing 
but encouragements ; but to hold out in the face of all discouragements 
is a Christian duty : Ps. xliv., ' Though thou hast sore broken us in the 
place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death, yet have we 
not dealt falsely in thy covenant : our heart is not turned back, 
neither have we declined from thy ways.' It is perseverance that 
crowns all : ' Be thou faithful to the death, and I will give thee a crown 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lxvii 

of life,' Rev. ii. 10 ; 'And he that endureth to the end shall be saved,' 
Mat. xxiv. It is perseverance in well-doing that crowns all our actions. 
If you have begun in the Spirit, don't end in the flesh ; do not go away 
from the Captain of your salvation ; follow the Lamb, though others 
follow the beast and the false prophets. 

Leg. 21. In all your natural, civil, and religious actions, let divine 
glory still rest on your souls, Rom. xiv. 7, 8, 1 Cor. x. 31. In all your 
bearings, in all your prayings, let the glory of Christ carry it ; in all 
your closet duties, let the glory of Christ lie nearest your hearts. 

Leg. 22. Record all special favours, mercies, providences, and experi- 
ences. It is true, a man should do nothing else, should he record all the 
favours and experiences of God towards him ; and therefore my legacy 
is, record all special favours, peculiar experiences. Little do you know 
the advantage that will redound to your soul upon this account by 
recording all the experiences of the shinings of his face, of the leadings 
of his Spirit. Many a Christian loseth much by neglecting this duty. 

Leg. 23. Never enter upon the trial of your estate, but when your 
hearts are at the best, and in the fittest temper. It is a great design of 
Satan, when the soul is deserted and strangely afflicted, to put the soul 
on trying work. Come, see what thou art worth for another world, 
what thou hast to shew for a better state, for an interest in Christ, a 
title for heaven. This is not a time to be about this work. Thy work 
is now to get off from this temptation, and therefore to pray and believe, 
and wait upon God, and to be found in all those ways whereby you may 
get off the temptation. 

Leg. 24. Always make the Scripture, and not yourselves, nor your 
carnal reason, nor your bare opinion, the judges of your spiritual state 
and condition. I- cannot see my condition to be good. I cannot 
perceive it. What ! must your sense and your carnal reason be the 
judge of your spiritual state ? Isa, viii. 20, ' To the law and to the 
testimony, if they speak not according to this rule, it is because there 
is no light, no morning in them ;' John xii. 48, ' The word that I have 
spoken, the same shall judge you in the last day.' The Scripture is 
that which must determine the'case in the great day, whether you have 
grace or no, or whether it be true or no. 

Leg. 25. Make much conscience of making good the terms on which 
you closed with Christ. You know the terms, how that you would deny 
yourselves, take up his cross, and follow the Lamb wheresoever he should 
go. Now you are put to take up the cross, to deny yourselves, to follow 
the Lamb over hedge and ditch, through thick and thin. Do not turn 
your backs on Christ ; the worst of Christ is better than the best of the 
world. Make conscience of making good your terms, to deny yourself, 
your natural self, your sinful self, your religious self, to follow him ; 
and if you do so, oh ! what an honour will it be to Christ, and advan- 
tage to your souls, and a joy to the upright ! 

Leg. 26. Walk by no rule but such as you dare die by and stand by 
in the great day of Jesus Christ. You may have many ways prescribed 
to worship by ; but walk by none but such as you dare die by, and 
stand by, before Jesus Christ. Walk not by a multitude, for who dare 
stand by that rule when he comes to die % 

Make not the example of great men a rule to go by, for who dare die 



lxviii APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

by and stand by this in the great day of account. Do not make any 
authority that stands in opposition to the authority of Christ a rule to 
walk by, for who dare Btand by this before Jesus Christ? Ah ! sirs, walk 
by no rule but what you dare die by, and stand by at the great day. 

Leg. 27. And lastly, sit down and rejoice with fear: Ps. ii., 'Let the 
righteous njoicr, hut let them rejoice with fear.' Rejoice, that God hath 
done your souis good by the everlasting gospel ; that he did not leave 
you till he brought you to an acceptance of, to a closing with, and a 
resignation of, your souls to Christ, and the clearing up of your interest 
in him. Rejoice, that you have had the everlasting gospel in so much 
light, purity, power, and glory, as you have had for many years together. 
Rejoice in the riches of grace that hath carried it in such a way towards 
you. And weep, that you have provoked God to take away the gospel, 
that you have no more improved it; that you have so neglected the seasons 
and opportunities of enriching your souls. When you should have come 
to church-fellowship, anything would turn you out of the way. Oh ! 
sit down and tremble under your barrenness, under all your leanness. 
Notwithstanding all the cost and charge that God hath been at, that 
you have grown no more into communion with God, and conformity 
to God, and into the lively hope of the everlasting fruition of God. 
Here are your legacies, and the Lord make them to work in your souls, 
and then they will be of singular use to you, to preserve you so that 
you may give up your account before the great and glorious God with 
joy. Labour to make conscience of putting these legacies into practice, 
of sucking at these breasts, which will be of use to us, till we shall be 
gathered up into the fruition of God, where we shall need no more ordi- 
nances, no more preaching or praying. 



C. — Introductory ' Epistles.' See ante page xxxiii. 

I. ' The Gospel Treasury Opened, or the holiest of all unveiling ; discover- 
ing yet more the riches of grace and glory to the vessels of mercy. Unto whom 
only it is given to know the mysteries of that kingdom and the excellency of 
Spirit, Power, Truth, above Letters, Forms, Shadows. In several Sermons, 
preached at Kensington and elsewhere,' by John Everard, D.D., deceased. 
1679. (2d edition, ' very much enlarged'). 12mo. The following Epistle, en- 
titled ' An Approbation,' is by Brooks, though good Matthew Barker adds his 
name also. 

' The Publisher of this book is desirous that it might pass with some testi- 
monial into the world ; but it needs not testimony from man ; for I find it 
impressed with such a divine image, and bearing such clear lineaments of 
heaven-born truths as testify it to be of God ; and therefore strongly bespeaks 
us to receive it, as into our houses, so chiefly into our hearts. I dare assure 
thee, Reader, if thou hast received a spiritual relish, thou shalt taste much 
sweetness in it; and if thou canst rejoice to be "laid low," and made 
nothing, that God may be exalted and made " all in all," then shalt thou find 
here that which will help thy joy. And let me entreat thee, that as thou readest 
the book, to read also thine own heart ; and by this thou mayest come to find 
thine heart in the book, and the book in thine heart, and [this] will make thee 
fall upon thy face with that idiot, and worship God and report, " God 
is in this word of a truth," 1 Cor. xiv. 25. Some are casting off the letter of 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lxix 

the Scriptures, others resting in it ; some are despising ordinances, others 
are overvaluing them. I find the author walking warily betwixt both ; giving 
due honour to the letter and to the form, while he is exalting the power and 
the Spirit incomparably above both ; and thou shalt find him laying the axe of 
truth and the edge of the Spirit close to that cursed root of self-approbation in 
man, which is daily bringing forth such bitter fruits in his heart, in his life, and 
in the world ; and yet remains unseen and untouched in the hearts of many that 
would be thought to be arrived at the brink of perfection, while they scarce 
understand wherein the great imperfection of the natural man doth lie. 

Some expressions in thy reading may seem harsh or obscure to thee, as they 
did to me ; but read it over and over with prayer, strongly desirous to be taught 
of God; and in reading be not weary, but blow and take breath, and at it again : 
and thou, comparing one place with another, wilt clearly see what the author 
means, and shalt find his whole discourse to have a sacred tendency to lay man 
low, and so to put him into a rich capacity of coming in to the nearest fellowship 
with God. So that while some seek to build up themselves upon the deceitful 
foundation of corrupted nature, and struggle, though in vain, in the light and 
power of it, to advance towards perfection ; he is planting his spiritual artillery 
against it, to throw it into the dust, so that man may come to be surely rooted 
and bottomed upon the righteousness, power, and wisdom of Jesus Christ ; 
which is the only foundation that God hath laid, and the gospel revealed. 

And in some things thou must give him a latitude to his judgment, as thou 
desirest by thine own in others. If thou findest some truths delivered and 
enforced with re-iterated expressions; consider they were delivered for the most 
part in several congregations ; so that in some particulars the same things may 
be reinforced, but yet with more lustre, to make truth more clear. Thou hast 
them as they were preached and pressed in sermons to the capacity and con- 
science of his auditors, and taken from his mouth by a Notary ; yet afterwards 
owned and approved by himself, he desiring to peruse them, they lying with him 
three or four months, and compared with his own notes. Read, consider, and 
try « and hold fast that which is good.' Tho. Brooks. 

March 26, 1653. M. Barker. 

II. ' Altum Silentium, or Silence the Duty of Saints. By John Durant, 
12mo. 1659. 

To the Reader. — Christian Friend, — The book of Job (saith Augustine) is 
the afflicted man's Scripture ; and I may say this little book is the afflicted 
man's duty. A little pearl may be of great price ; and such is this little treatise 
that now is put into thy hand. 

The waves did but lift Noah's ark nearer to heaven ; and the higher the 
waters rose, the nearer the ark was lifted up to heaven : sometimes such an 
operation afflictions have upon Noahs, upon preachers of righteousness ; and if 
they have not had the same operation upon the author of the ensuing discourse, 
I am much mistaken. Afflictions to some are like the prick at the nightin- 
gale's breast, that awakes her, and puts her upon her sweet and delightful notes ; 
and whether they have not had such an operation upon the worthy author, I 
will leave the reader to judge. The more precious odours and the purest 
spices are beaten and bruised, the sweeter scent and savour they send abroad. 
Had not God bruised to death one of the choicest and sweetest flowers in the 
author's garden, he had not sent abroad this sweet and savoury sermon. 

We try metal by knocking it ; if it sound well, then we like it well. That is 
a tried Christian, a thorough Christian indeed, that gives a pleasant sound 
when under the knocking hand of God. If thou layest thine ear, thy heart, close 
to the following tract, thou wilt hear such a sound as will be sweeter to thee 
than the honey or the honey-comb. 



lxx APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

That Christian is worth a world who, under the sorest and sharpest afflictions, 
is like the stone in Thracia, that neither burnetii in the fire nor sinketh in the 
water ; whose silence and patience is invincible and impregnable. None are 
such an honour to God, such a glory to the gospel, such a shame to Satan, and 
such a wonder to the world as those ; who can lay their hands upon their 
mouths when God's rod lays heavy upon their backs. That this is every 
Christian's duty and glory is fully and sweetly evinced in the following dis- 
course. 

Happy are we when God's corrections are our instructions, his lashes our 
lessons, his scourges our schoolmasters, his chastisements our advertisements. 
And to note this, the Hebrews and Greeks both express chastening and teach- 
ing by one and the same word, (">D10, <zaihiia), [margin, Isa. xxxvi. 9 ; Ps. 
xciv. 12 ; Prov. iii. 12, 13 ; chap. vi. 23], because the latter is the true end 
of the former, according to that in the proverb, Smart makes wit, and vexa- 
tion gives understanding. That this happiness the reader may attain to, is the 
thing endeavoured by the author. 

Reader, thou hast much wrapped up in a little ; it is more to be admired than 
to have Homer's Iliads compressed in a nutshell ; it is a mourning sermon, and 
mourning should be plain. The reverend author knew right well, that it was 
better to present truth in her native plainness than to hang her ears with 
counterfeit pearls. He knew that the king of Nineveh was a king as well in his 
sackcloth, as in his royal robes. The author is known to be a master-workman, 
and one that could easily shoot his arrows over his hearers' heads [margin, See 
his precious works in print, and then judge], but he had rather shoot them into 
his hearers' hearts. He dares not affect sublime notions, obscure expressions, 
which are but mysterious nothings. He dares not do as many, who make 
plain truths difficult, and easy truths hard ; and so darken counsel by words 
without knowledge, Job xxxviii. 2. If thou will but taste and try, thou wilt 
find this little treatise to be a heavenly honey-hive to thy soul. 

If thou shalt say, Oh ! it is sweet, it is seasonable, it is suitable to my con- 
dition, and to God's dispensations abroad in the world ; but why have we no 
more of this sweet wine, no more of this water of life, no more of these clusters 
of Canaan ? I must tell thee, that the honoured author buried his dear and 
hopeful daughter on the Friday, and preached this sermon on the Sabbath day 
following ; and therefore there has been more cause to bless the Lord, and 
admire the Lord for his goodness, assistance, and presence with the author, 
that has enabled him to bring forth a truth of so great weight and concernment 
to us, even then, when he was under such sore and sharp rebukes of God. It 
is not every one's happiness to have such a presence of God with them, when 
the rod of God is heavy upon them. 

Reader, the point insisted on is a point of special use to Christians ; espe- 
cially to such as are under the afflicting hand of God, whether in spirituals or 
temporals ; and if storms should fall upon us from abroad or at home, it will 
be found (in the use of it) more worth than gold. I have read of the stone 
Garamantides, that had drops of gold in it : many a golden drop wilt thou find 
in the following lines. As Moses laid up the manna in the golden pot, and as 
Alexander kept Homer's Iliad in a cabinet embroidered with gold, so do thou 
lay up this sermon in the golden cabinet of thy heart. If troubles at present 
are not upon thee, yet thou must remember that thou art born to them, as 
the sparks fly upwards [margin, Job v. 7; John xvi. ult. 14; Acts xxi. 22]. 
God had but one Son without sin, he hath no son without sorrow; he had but 
one without corruption, he bath none without correction ; he scourges every 
son whom he receives ; he can quickly turn thy summer day into w r inter night, 
and then this sermon may be to thee a suitable and invaluable mercy. I shall 
only take leave to hint a few things to the author, my reverend brother, and 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lxxi 

to my dear sister, his virtuous yoke-fellow, who are above all others concerned 
in this sharp and sweet dispensation, and so conclude. 

First, That well-grounded hope, confidence, and assurance, that you and 
others had of the buddings and blossomings of grace in her, in her tender age, 
and of her being now at rest in the bosom of the Father, should not only quiet 
and silence you, but also joy and rejoice you [margin, Heb. xi. 4]. Why may 
you not think that you hear her, though dead, yet speaking thus unto you ? 

Where God has stamp'd his image upon a mite, 

'Tis meet that God should have his right : 

After a few years past, a wearied hreath 

I have exchanged for a happy death. 

Short was my life, the longer is my rest ; 

God takes them soonest whom he loveth best. 

She that is born to-day, and dies to-morrow, 

Loses some hours of joy, but years of sorrow ; 

Other diseases often come to grieve us, 

Death strikes but once, and that stroke relieves us : 

Therefore (my parents dear), take heed of weeping cross, 

And mind my happiness more than your own great loss. 

This is all I'll say to make the reckoning even, 

Your dearest mercy is not too good for heaven. 

Hasten to me, where now I am possess'd 

With joys eternal, in Christ my only rest. 

Secondly, The designs of God in all the sharp afflictions he exercises his 
children with, as (1.) the purging away of their sins, Isa. i. 25; (2.) the making 
of them more partakers of his holiness, Heb. xii. 10 ; (3.) the trial of their 
graces, Job xxiii. 10; (4.) the communication of more of himself and of his 
love to their souls, Hosea i. 14 ; (5.) the multiplying of their spiritual expe- 
riences, 2 Cor. i. 4, 5 ; (6.) the crucifying of their hearts to the world, and the 
world to their hearts, Gal. vi. 14 [margin, Nam finis dat amabilitatem et facili- 
tatem mediis] ; (7.) to draw them to look and fix their souls upon the great 
concernment of another world, John xiv. 1-3 ; (8.) that heaven may be the 
more sweet and precious to them at last, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18, Rom. viii. 17, 18; 
how sweet is a calm after a storm, and summer days after long winter nights ; 
(9.) to make them more and more conformable to Christ their head, Rom. viii. 
17 ; (10.) that sinners may at the last be found dumb and speechless, 1 Peter iv. 
17, 18. Now, is there not enough in these glorious ends and designs of God 
to make his people sit mute under the sharpest trials ? Surely there is. Why 
then don't they sit silent before the Lord ? 

Thirdly, All the mercies you enjoy, were first the Lord's before they were 
yours, and always the Lord's more than they were yours, 1 Chron. xxix. 14. 
' All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.' The sweet of 
mercy is yours, but the sovereign right to dispose of your mercies is the Lord's. 
Quicquid es debes creanti; quicquid potes, debes redimenti (Bern), whatsoever thou 
art, thou owest to him that made thee ; and whatsoever thou hast, thou owest 
to him that redeemed thee. Say, as Jerome adviseth a friend of his (in the 
like case), Thou hast taken away whom thou hast given me : I grieve not 
that thou hast taken them, but praise the Lord that was pleased to give them. 
You think it but just and reasonable that men should deal with their own as 
they please ; and is it not much more just and reasonable that God should do 
with his own as he pleases ? 

Fourthly, That God that has taken one, might have taken all ; there are 
several left, though one be taken. Job, you know, was a nonsuch in his 
generation, and yet the sentence of death was passed upon all his children at a 
clap ; and under this said clap Job does not blaspheme, but bless ; he does 
not murmur, but worships ; he accuses not God, but clears God of injustice 



IXXll APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

under saddest and severest strokes of justice, Job i. Geographers write that 
the city of Syracuse in Sicily is so curiously situated, that the sun is never out 
of sight : though one mercy be gone, yet you have several that remain, and 
this should make you mute. 

Themistoclcs invited many philosophers to supper ; the owner sends for one 
half of those necessaries that he was using. Can you endure this disgrace ? 
said the philosophers. Yes, said he, very well, for he might have sent justly 
tor thorn all. The application is easy. Oh ! let not nature do more than grace. 

Fifthly and butty, Under sharp afflictions, we ought carefully to look that 
natural afflictions don't hinder the exercise of gracious dispositions. Though we 
may weep, yet we may not weep out either the eye of faith, or the eye of hope 
[margin, 1 Thes. iv. 13j : though you may water your flowers, yet you may 
not drown your flowers. They that wept, yea, that wept much, yet said, The 
will of the Lord be done [margin, Acts xxi. 13, 14]. Jacob doated too much 
upon his Joseph, and his affections were too strong for his judgment, when, upon 
the sight of the bloody coat, he refused to be comforted, and said, I will go 
down into the grave unto my son, mourning [margin, Gen. xxxvii. 33-35]. 
And David was too fond of his son Absalom, when, like a puny baby, he wept 
and said, my son Absalom ! my son ! my son ! Absalom ! would God I had 
died for thee, Absalom, my son! my son! [margin, 2 Sam. xviii. 32, 33]. 
The Egyptians mourned for Jacob seventy days, but Joseph (though he had 
more cause) mourned but seven days ; because he had more grace, and better 
hopes of Jacob's eternal welfare, than the infidels had. In the midst of all 
your tears, keep up the exercise of grace, and then you shall not mourn that 
you have mourned. 

That your own is no sooner in your hand, is only from the remissness and 
dilatoriness of him into whose hands you had ordered the copy. 

To conclude : that you and I, and all others (into whose hands this sermon 
may fall) may live up, and live out, the following discourse, under all the 
changes that has or shall pass upon us, is the earnest desire and hearty prayer 
of him who is your entire friend and servant in our dearest Lord. 

Tho. Brooks. 

III. The < Epistle' prefixed to the ' Works' of Dr Thomas Taylor, of « Alder- 
manbury, London,' (folio, 1653), bears the name of Brooks, only in common with 
Gouge and Calamy, Jackson, Ashe, Caryl, Manton, Greenhill, Strong, Griffith, 
Venning, and Jemmat. The first signature is that of Dr William Gouge ; and 
probably the ' Epistle' was drawn up by him, and simply signed by the others. 
Yet does there seem touches from the hand of Brooks. 

IV. ' Gospel Fear ; or the Heart trembling at the Word of God evidenceth a 
blessed frame of spirit. Delivered in several Sermons from Isa. lxvi. 2, and 2 
Kings xxii. 14. By Jeremiah Burroughes. 1 " His mercy is on them that fear 
him from generation to generation," Luke i. 50. " Work out your own salva- 
tion with fear and trembling," Philip, ii. 12. London : Printed by J. D. for 
B. Aylmer at the three Pigeons in Cornhill. 1674.' 12mo. 

To The Reader. — Christian Reader, — These following sermons are the 
labours of that prince of preachers, Mr Jer. Burroughs, who is now a shining 
sun in that upper world. But they that ai-e taken out of this valley of Baca, and 
carried up by troops of glorious angels into the highest heaven, stand in no need 
of the praises of men, having the fruition of the eternal God. And therefore I shall 
wheel about to these choice sermons that are here presented to thine eyes. 2 In 

i Died Nov. 14. 1646.— G. 

2 Chrysostom, in his learned oration compiled upon the death [of] Philogonius. Melanch- 
ton saitli of Pomerauus, He was the grammarian ; of himself, that he was the logician ; of 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lxxiii 

the three first thou wilt find this great and glorious truth, viz., 'that a heart trem- 
bling at God's word is very precious in God's eyes, — Heb. vi. 10 ; Isa. lxii. 6 ; 
Ezek. xxxvi. 37, — clearly opened, fully proved, and sweetly and faithfully im- 
proved, so as that, by a blessing from on high, it may contribute greatly 
to the internal and eternal welfare of thy precious and immortal soul. 
Concerning the "Word, premise this with me, viz. that in these six following 
acceptations the word is taken in the blessed Scriptures, (1.) By the Word is 
sometimes meant the whole Scriptures, Old and New Testament. (2.) By the 
Word is meant our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the spirit, life, and soul of the 
word, John i. (3.) By the Word is sometimes meant the commands of the 
word, Heb. i. (4.) By the Word is sometimes meant the threatenings of God. 
(5.) By the Word is sometimes meant the precious promises : Ps. cxix. 49, 
' Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to 
hope.' God is not unrighteous to forget, yet we must, as his remembrancers, 
put his promises in suit. (6.) By the Word is sometimes meant those holy 
prophecies which are scattered up and down in the Scriptures, Jude 14. The 
word thus considered occasioned one Baldusgar, a famous minister in Germany, 
to say, Veniat, venial verbum Domini et submittemus illi sexcenta, si nobis essent, 
col la, let the word of the Lord come, let it come, saith he ; we will submit to 
it if we had many hundred necks to put under it. The design of the worthy 
author in this little piece is, to win and work the reader to submit to the Word, 
to be guided by the Word, to prize the Word, to lay up the Word, and to live 
out the Word in a conversation becoming the gospel. The Jewish Rabbins 
were wont to say, that upon every letter of the law there hangs mountains of 
profitable matter. I am sure in the following discourse thou wilt find even 
mountains of heavenly matter hanging upon all the main particulars that this 
blessed author offers to thy serious consideration in this small treatise. Here 
you have Homer's Iliads in a nutshell ; much choice matter in a little room. It 
is said of Cassar, Major fait cura Ccesari libelloram qnam parparce, he had greater 
care of his books than of his royal robes ; for, swimming through the waters to 
escape his enemies, he carried his books in his hand above the waters, but lost 
his robes. But what are Caesar's books to God's books ? or to this little book 
that is now put into thy hand ? Surely the word of the Lord is very sweet to 
all those gracious souls who make conscience of trembling at it, Ps. xix. 10 ; 
cxix. 103 ; Job xxiii. 12 ; Cant. ii. 3. Luther said he could not live in para- 
dise, if he might, without the Word, at cam verbo etiam in inferno facile est 
vivere, but with the Word he could live in hell itself. 1 The philosopher gave 
thanks that he was born in the time of true philosophy. Ah ! how happy are 
we that are born in such a time wherein the Lord doth effnndere Spiritum, pour 
forth his Spirit, not by drops, as in the time of the Law, but showers down of 
his gifts and graces, as was most evident in the author of this following piece. 
Not only the day-star, but the Sun of righteousness was risen upon that people 
that had once the happiness to sit under the author's ministry ; neither is it a 
small part of this world's happiness that they are blessed with his most excellent 
labours to this very day. One cannot say of any divine thing, that it is his own 
properly till in his heart. I can say of a bird, or of this or that, it is my own 
when in my hand ; but I cannot say God is mine till in my heart, or that Christ 
is mine till in my heart, or that the Spirit is mine till in my heart, or that grace 
is mine till in my heart, or that the word is mine till in my heart. ' I have 
kept thy word in my heart, that I may not sin against thee,' saith David, Ps. 
cxix. 11 ; and therefore, reader, it highly concerns thee to get that word into 

Justus Ionius, that he was the orator; hut of Luther he was omnia in omnibus, all in all. 
Adam in vit Luther, p. 170. The application is easty. 

1 Sacrce Scripturoe tucB sunt sanctce delicice mece. — Augustine. Dolphins, they say, love 
music ; so do gracious souls love the music of the word. 



lxxiv APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

thy heart that is here presented to thine eye. Ah ! Christians, your hearts are 
never in so good a frame, so safe a frame, so sweet a frame, so happy a frame, 
so gospel a frame, as when they are in a tremhling frame ; and therefore make 
this little piece your delightful companion till your hearts are brought into such 
a blessed frame, &c. 

Obj. But may not reprobates and devils tremble at the word ? did not Bel- 
shazzar tremble at the handwriting ? did not Felix tremble at the word preached 
by Paul ? and is it not said that the devils believe and tremble ? Dan. v. 5, 6 ; 
Acts xxiv. 24, 25 ; James ii. 19. 

Am. 1. Wicked men and devils may tremble at the judgments denounced in 
the word, but they tremble not at the offence committed against the holy com- 
mandments of God, as sincere Christians do : Ezra x. 3, Shechaniah said, ' We 
have trespassed against our God ; let us make a covenant with our God accord- 
ing to the counsel of my Lord, and of those that tremble at the commandments 
of God.' The commandments discovering their sin, they tremble who before 
were hardened in their practice of marrying with the Canaanites ; but we hear 
nothing, we find nothing of this in Belshazzar, or Felix, or the devils. But, 

Am. 2. Secondly, I answer, the wicked tremble, but never mend their ways. 
Pharaoh trembles, but never mends. Saul trembles, but never mends. Bel- 
shazzar trembles, but never mends. Felix trembles, but never mends ; and 
devils tremble, but never mend. But Paul trembles, and cries out, ' Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do ?' And the jailor trembles, and cries out, ' Sirs, 
what must I do to be saved ?' Acts ix. 4-6 ; xvi. 29, 30. But, 

Am. 3. Thirdly, The trembling of the wicked drives them further and further 
off from God, and off from duty ; as you see in Saul, who, under his tremblings, 
runs to a witch ; but gracious tremblings draw the soul nearer and nearer to 
God, as you see in Jehoshaphat, who feared and set himself to seek the Lord, 
and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah, 2 Chron. xxiii. 3. The saints, 
under all their holy tremblings, they follow after God as the people followed 
after Saul's tremblings, 1 Sam. xiii. 7. But, 

Ana. 4. Fourthly, The godly tremble, and mourn and tremble. Their 
trembling hearts are broken hearts, and their broken hearts are trembling 
hearts ; they look upon sin and tremble, and they look upon sin and mourn, 
Isa. lxvi. 2 ; Jer. ix. 1, 2; Ps. cxix. 136 : Jer. xxv. 13, 17, ' But if ye will 
not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride, and mine eyes 
shall weep sore and run down with tears,' &c. The wicked tremble, but, under 
all their tremblings, their hearts are as dry and hard as rocks, yea, harder than 
the very rocks : Jer. v. 3, ' They made their faces harder than a rock ; they 
have refused to return,' Ezek. iii. 7-9 ; Jer. vii. 26. Pharaoh trembled, but 
yet was hardened ; the devils tremble, but yet are hardened. If one penitent 
tear could purchase heaven, hell could not afford that one tear. Repenting 
tears are precious ; the}' are, saith Gregory, ' the fat of the sacrifice ;' and, as 
Basil saith, ' the medicine of the soul ;' and, as Bernard, ' the wine of angels.' 
But these are only to be found among those choice souls who make conscience 
of trembling at God's word, and who enjoy that choice tenderness of heart that 
is in this little treatise drawn to the life. Verily we cannot meet on this side 
hell with a worse temper of spirit than that which inclines a sinner to drop 
counterfeit tears, and to despise the forbearance of God, and to kick against the 
bowels of his goodness, Rom. ii. 4, as that profane Arian did who was executed 
at Harwich, concerning whom Mr Greenham acquainteth us with this strange 
and prodigious narration. This hellish heretic, saith he — for so were the deniers 
of Christ's divinity accounted of in those days, whatever thoughts men have of 
them now — a little before he was executed, afforded a few whorish tears, asking 
whether he might be saved by Christ or no ? when one told him that if he truly 
repented, he should surely not perish, he breaks out into this speech, Nay, if 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. l xxv 

your Christ be so easy to be entreated indeed as you say, then I defy him, and 
care not for him. Oh horrible blasphemy, and desperate wickedness ! for a man 
to draw himself back from repentance by that very cord of love whereby he 
should have been drawn to it. 1 But, 

Ans. 5. Fifthly and lastly, The hearts of wicked men and devils only tremble 
upon the account of punishment and the judgment to come, Acts xxiv. 25 * 
Mat. viii. 28, 29. As a malefactor trembleth before the judge, and under the 
sense of his doom ; but a child of God trembles under the sense of God's Good- 
ness and kindness to him : Hosea iii. 7, ' And shall fear the Lord and his good- 
ness ; ' or, as some sense it, ' they shall fear the Lord because of his goodness.' 
The Hebrew is, ■ they shall fear to the Lord pavebunt ad Dominum, that is, 
trembling they shall make haste to him as frighted doves do to their columbaries. 
See Hosea xi. 11. Look'J as holy tremblings and gladness are consistent to- 
gether, Ps. ii. 11 ; and as a holy fear and joy are consistent together, as you 
see in those good women who went from Christ's sepulchre with fear and great 
joy, Mat. xxviii. 8, a strange composition of two contrary passions, but fre- 
quently found in the best hearts ; so a holy love and trembling are consistent 
together. 2 A child whose heart is full of love to his father, when he looks upon 
him as offended or grieved, he trembles-, like that poor woman, Mark v. 33, 
who, fearing that she had offended Christ in her approaching to him, came 
trembling, but yet with a heart full of love to Christ. So here, when a child 
of God fixes one eye upon the holiness and justice of God, he trembles ; and 
when, at the same time, he fixes his other eye upon the patience, the goodness, 
the graciousness, and readiness of God to forgive as a father, he loves and joys; 
but now all the tremblings of the wicked are from apprehensions of wrath to 
come, and from a hansel 3 of hell in their consciences on this side hell. These 
five things I thought to hint at, that the reader may be the better able to grapple 
with the same objection when he meets with it in this little piece. 

The dew of heaven hath richly fallen among many, and yet, like Gideon's 
fleece, they are dry when all the regions about them are wet, Judges vi. 37-40* 
and is it not so with many in these days, who sit under gospel droppings, and 
who have the labours of many famous men put every day into their hands ? and 
yet how are their souls like the mountains of Gilboa, upon which there fell 
neither dew nor rain ! This is and this must be for a lamentation, 2 Sam. i. 21. 
If the books of the law chance to fall upon the ground, the Jews' custom is 
presently to proclaim a fast. Ah, friends ! what cause have we to fast and 
mourn, when we see the word preached, printed, offered, to fall upon the oround, 
and to be trampled upon, as it is this day by atheists, papists, Socinians, and 
other vain persons ! &c. The Jews have a law which enjoins them to take up 
any paper which they see lying on the ground ; and the reason is, lest haply 
the word of God be written in the paper and ignorantly trodden under foot. 
Though Christians ought to be free from such superstitious curiosities, yet they 
ought to be very careful that the least tittle of the word, the least truth revealed 
in the word, be not trodden under foot either by themselves or others ■ con- 
sidering its excellency and usefulness as a guide, a light, to lead us through the 
wilderness of this world to the heavenly Canaan : Prov. vi. 22, ■ When thou 
goest, it shall lead thee ; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee ; when thou 
awakest, it shall talk with thee.' That is, according to the gloss of the Kab- 
binical interpreters, when thou goest, it shall lead thee, viz. in thy passage 
through this world ; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee, viz. when thou 
liest down in the grave ; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee, viz. 
when thou art awakened at the glorious resurrection. But, that I may not 

1 Mr Greenham in his treatise, entitled A sweet Comfort for an afflicted Conscience, on 
Prov. xviii. 14. 2 God loves at once familiarity and fear. 3 Earnest, foretaste. G. 



lxxvi APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

make the porch too large, I shall hasten to a close. There are three sorts of 
persorjs, above all others, that I would seriously recommend this treatise to. 

(1.) First, Those that do tremble at the word, and those that have soft and 
tender hearts ; for these will find choice comforts, special encouragements, and 
singular supports to cheer and bear up their hearts in their greatest trials, in- 
ward or outward, or in the worst of times. 

(2.) Secondly, Those that are bold sinners, secure sinners, stupid sinners, 
insensible sinners ; for these will find variety of arguments to awaken them, to 
startle them, to soften them, and to work them into a trembling frame and a 
tender frame, with singular directions and counsel how to obtain those spiritual 
frames which are infinitely more worth than all those crowns and kingdoms that 
men are this day contending for in blood. 

(3.) Thirdly, Those that are under many fears, and doubts, and disputes in 
their own hearts, whether they do tremble at this word or no, and whether they 
have a tender heart or no ; for I dare venture to say that such persons will 
find in this treatise those blessed truths that will, by a blessing from on high, 
scatter their fears, resolve their doubts, and put a happy issue to all their 
disputes. 

Reader, When thou hast once seriously read over this little treatise, I cannot 
but judge that thou wilt readily conclude with me, viz. That the two special 
points here handled, viz. our trembling at God's word, and a tender heart, are, 
(1.) Two great and weighty points. (2.) Two very noble and necessary points, 
which all should labour to know and understand who would be blessed here and 
happy hereafter. (3.) Two seasonable and suitable points to the days and 
times wherein we live, which abound with all sorts of sins, and which are 
attended with the sorest of spiritual judgments, such as blindness, hardness, in- 
sensibleness. (4.) Two important points that have singular other points wrapped 
up in the womb of them, and that are dependent upon them. (5.) Two points 
that are not every day handled in the pulpit, nor sent unto the press. 

Reader, The importunity of a worthy friend hath prevailed with me to give 
thee the trouble of reading this epistle. And now I shall conclude with a few 
words of counsel : (1.) Let him that casts his eye on this book not borrow it, 
but buy it ; (2.) seriously read it ; (3.) highly prize it ; (4.) earnestly pray 
over it ; (5.) endeavour to have his heart and life made conformable to the 
matter contained in it ; (6.) to lay it up among his choicest treasures ; and 
(7.) when he is in the mount, to remember him who unfeignedly and earnestly 
desires that this little piece may be highly blessed to the writer, reader, and 
hearer : and so I shall take leave and rest, 

Thy real friend and soul's servant, 

Thomas Brooks. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lxxvii 

D. — Mrs Brooks. (See ante, p. xxxiv). 

The following is the title-page of the Funeral Sermon of the first Mrs 
Brooks : — 

STRENGTH 

IN 

Weakness. 

A 

SERMON 

Preached at the FUNERAL of 

Mrs. MARTHA BROOKS, 

Late WIFE to 

Mr. THO. BROOKS Minister of the Gospel in London ; 

Who Departed this Life June 20. 1676. 

To which are Added 

Some EXPERIENCES of the Grace and Dealings of 

GOD, Observed and Gathered by a near Relation of 

the said Mrs. Brooks. 

By J. C. a Friend of the Deceased, and her Surviving Husband. 
2 COR. 12. 10. 

HEB. II. 34. 

Ei/idvva&cui0-/i<ruv affo air^ivita,;, — 

LONDON, 

Printed for John Hancock at the Three Bibles in Popes-Head 

Alley, Cornhill. 1676. [4to.] 

We give the ' Notes' that were furnished by, no doubt, Brooks. 

A short account of some of the choice experiences, blessed discoveries, and 
gracious evidences, of Mrs Martha Brooks, who fell asleep in Jesus, 
June 20. 1676. Drawn up by a near relation, that best understood her 
spiritual estate and condition. 

It is long since that the Lord made it the day of his power — Ps. ex. 3 — upon 
her soul. Many years ago, the great and glorious God, by his Spirit and power, 
by his word and rod, brought her from under the power, use, and dominion of 
sin and Satan, 1 Thes. i. 5 ; Prov. xxix. 15, and brought her off from resting 
or stayings upon her own righteousness — which she daily looked upon to be but 
filthy rags, and as a menstruous cloth — and brought her into fellowship and com- 
munion with himself, his Son, and his blessed Spirit, &c, Rom. vi. 14 • Acts 
xxvi. 18 ; Isa. lxiv. 6 ; John i. 3, 4 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 

To make a full narration of these great things, would make this little piece to 
swell beyond its due proportion ; and though it might please some, yet it might 
dissatisfy others ; and therefore I shall do little more than hint at things, that 
so I may bring all I intend to say into a narrow compass. 

Should I say all I could, 

First, About her knowledge and acquaintance with Christ, when and where 
should I make an end ? Only this I may say : 1, her knowledge was inward ; 
2, it was affectionate ; 3, experimental ; 4, humbling ; 5, growing ; 6, com- 
municative ; 7, practical, Job xxii. 21 ; John xvii. 3, vii. 17, xiii. 1. 

Secondly, Should I say all I could about her high approbation of Christ, — 



lxxviii APPENDIX TO MKMOIR. 

Acts iv. 12; 1 Tim. i. 15; Col. i. 19, i. 2, 3; Acts v. 31; Col. ii. 6; Horn. vii. 12; 
Ps. cxix. 72; Rev. iii. 19; Dan. ix. 14 ; Neh. ix. 33 — when and where should I 
make an end? Only this I may hint: 1, that she highly approved of the person 
of Christ as the most suitable good in heaven or earth to her soul ; 2, she 
highly approved of the personal excellencies of Christ as the most transcendent 
excellencies ; 3, she highly approved of Christ in all his offices, both kingly, 
prophetical, and priestly ; 4, she highly approved of all the precious things of 
Christ, as his day, his laws, his worship, his ordinances, his ways, his saints ; 
5, she highly approved of the rebukes, of the severe rebukes, of Christ, knowing 
that they were the fruits of his love, and that he was holy and wise, just and 
righteous, in all his rebukes, &c. 

Thirdly, About her choice and election of Christ to be her Head and Husband, 
Cant. ii. 16 ; Deut. xxvi. 17, her Sovereign and Saviour; upon choice she would 
have none but Christ to save her, nor none but Christ to rule her. 

Fourthly, About her reception of Christ, Job i. 12 ; Ps. xxiv. 7-10 : 1, in 
all his offices ; 2, into every room of her soul ; 3, once for all ; 4, upon his own 
gospel terms, Mat. xvi. 24. 

Fifthly, About her high, her very high, estimation of Christ, 1 Peter ii. 7, she 
prized above all her duties, above all her privileges, above all her graces, above 
all her outward contentments, and above all her spiritual enjoyments ; he was 
to her the chiefest of ten thousand, Cant. v. 10 ; Ps. xlv. 2 ; Mat. xiii. 26 ; Prov. 
viii. 11; Philip, iii. 8 ; he was fairer than the children of men ; he was the pearl 
of price in her eye ; he was more precious than rubies to her soul. She looked 
upon all things as nothing in comparison of Christ ; she had rather have one 
Christ than a thousand worlds. 

Sixthly, About her marriage union and communion with Christ, of which 
freely and frequently she discoursed both with ministers and Christians through- 
out her sickness. Her marriage union with Christ was breasts of consolation and 
•wells of salvation to her, Cant. iii. 11 ; Hoseaii. 18-20 ; 2 Cor. xi. 2 ; Ps. lxvi. 
11, xii. 3. Throughout her nine months' sickness by these she did live, and 
in these things were the life of her spirit, Isa. xxxviii. 16. 

Seventhly, About her trustings and cleavings to Christ as the ivy cleaves to 
the oak, the child to the mother, or as the wife cleaves to the husband. In all 
her ups and downs, she would be still hanging upon Christ, and cleaving to 
Christ, John xiii. 15 ; Acts xi. 23 ; Ruth i. 14 ; Gen. ii. 24. 

Eighthly, About her thirstiugs, breathings, and longings, after higher, clearer, 
and fuller enjoyments of Christ, she could never have enough of Christ, Ps. xiii. 
1, 2, lxiii. ; Mai. i. 2, 3 ; Ps. lxxxiv., xxvii. 4, 8, nor enough of his presence, 
nor enough of his Spirit, nor enough of his grace, nor enough of his manifesta- 
tions, nor enough of his consolations ; the constant cry of her soul was, More of 
Christ ! more of Christ ! more of Christ ! 

Ninthly, About her sad lamenting and bewailing the withdrawings of Christ, 
Cant. v. 6 ; Isa. viii. 17, 7 ; Micah vii. 8, 9, 2. There were no days so sad, so 
dark, so gloomy, so grievous, so afflictive to her, as those days wherein he that 
should comfort her soul stood afar off, Lam. xvi. The shinings of Christ's face 
made a heaven in her heart ; and the hidings of his face was her only hell. Let 
whoso would frown, if Christ did but smile, all was well. 

Tenthly, About her sympathising with Christ in all the dishonours that were 
done to his name, his person, his day, bis offices, his ordinances, his ways, his 
saints ; and it was a grief to her to see others grieving of Christ, Ps. cxix. 53, 
cxxxvi. ; Jer. ix. 1, 2 ; Ezek. ix. 4, 6 ; 1 Peter ii. 4, 7, 8. Other men's sins were 
matter of her sorrow ; the sins of others hath cost her many a prayer, many a 
si"h, many a tear, and many a groan. Now, should I say all I could upon these 
ten particulars, when should I make an end ? and therefore I must satisfy 
myself and the reader with a-hinting at things. 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lxxix 

Her whole life (human frailties excepted) since God made it the day of his 
power upon her soul, was a daily walking with God ; and all the days that ever 
passed over her head, there was none for delight, pleasure, profit, comfort, 
content, boldness, and satisfaction, to those wherein she walked most evenly, 
most closely, and most exactly with God, Gen. v. 22, vi. 9, xvii. 1; Ps. cxix., 
cxii. 44, 45 ; Acts xxiv. 16 ; Heb. xiii. 18. 

Concerning Sin. 1. Sin of all burdens was her greatest, Ps. xxxviii. 4, xl. 12. 
2. Her hatred and indignation against sin was universal, Ps. cxix. 104, 128 ; 
Isa. ii. 20, xxx. 22 ; Hosea xiv. 8 ; Ps. cxix. 176. 3. Her whole life was a daily 
conflicting with sin, Rom. vii. 23, 24 ; Ps. xvii. 4. She had rather be rid of all 
her sins, than be rid of all her troubles, sorrows, trials, bodily ailments, Job vii. 
20, 21, xxxiv. 31, 32; Hosea xiv. 2. Others are all for the removing of the judg- 
ments and afflictions they are under, Exod. viii. 8; Num. xxi. 6, 7 ; Jer. xxx. 15. 
5. She durst not allow herself in any known sin, much less in a course or way 
of sin, Ps. cxix. 1,3; Rom. vii. 15 ; 1 John iii. 9; Prov. xvi. 17. 6. Her greatest 
conflict was with heart sins, secret sins, spiritual sins, invisible sins ; sins that 
lie most hid and remote from the eyes of the world, Ps. xix. 12, cxix., cxiii. 'I 
hate vain thoughts :' secret self-love, secret pride, secret unbelief, secret hypo- 
crisy, secret murmurings, secret carnal confidence, &c, 2 Chron. xxxii. 25 ; 
2 Cor. vii. 1, did sit saddest upon her spirit. 7. There was an irreconcilable 
opposition in her soul against sin ; she could not, she would not, she durst not 
upon anv terms in the world, admit of any truce or reconciliation with sin, 
1 Kings xiv. 30 ; Rom. vii. 23 ; Gal. v. 17 ; Rom. vi. 6 ; Ps. Ii. 2, 7, &c. 8. Her 
daily slips and falls did daily produce more soul- loathings, soul-humiliation, 
self-judging, self-abasement, self-abhorrency, Ezek. xvi. 61, 63 ; 2 Cor. vii. 11 ; 
Ps. xviii. 9. Her constant desires and earnest endeavours were to avoid and 
shun all known appearances of sin, Gen. xxxix. 12 ; 2 Cor. viii. 20, 21 ; 1 Cor. 
ix. 11-15 ; 1 Thes. v. 22 ; Jude 23 ; Exod. xxiii. 7 ; Deut. xii. 30 ; Prov. v. 8. 
10. And, lastly, she set herself, her soul, her greatest strength against her bosom 
sins, her constitution sins, her most powerful and most prevalent sins ; she set 
herself most against right-e} r e sins, and right-hand sins. 

Concerning closet-prayer. I never knew any woman spend more time in her 
closet, nor keep more private days to God than she did. The duties of her 
closet were her meat and drink, and she was always best when she was most 
with God in a corner. She has many a whole day been pouring out her soul 
before God in her closet, for the nation, for Sion, and the great concerns of her 
own soul, when them about her did judge it more expedient that she had been 
in her bed, by reason of some bodily infirmity that did hang upon her ; but the 
divine pleasures that she took in her closet did drown the sense of pain. Secret 
enjoyments of God makes heavy afflictions light, long afflictions short, and bitter 
afflictions sweet, Isa. xxxiii. 24, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. She found by frequent 
experience that closet-duties were mighty enriching, soul-fattening, soul-strength- 
ening, soul-nourishing ; and this endeared her to her closet. 

Concerning ordinances. All that did thoroughly know her did know, 1, that 
she greatly loved the ordinances in the power and purity ; 2, that she highly 
prized them ; 3, that she made improvements of them, &c, endeavouring, 
according to her measure received, so to live as that she might reflect honour 
and glory upon the ordinances ; 4, she made conscience of one ordinance as 
well as another, Luke i. 5, 6 ; she did not as some, cry up some ordinances 
and cry down others, nor keep close to some, and live in the neglect of others ; 
5, she ran all hazards in times of dangers to enjoy the ordinances, and chose 
rather with Moses to suffer afflictions with the people of God, than to enjoy the 
pleasures of sin, which were but for a season, Heb. xi. 24-27. 6. I never knew 
any Christian under such a load of weaknesses strive and labour to enjoy the 
ordinances as she did the three last years before her death. 

VOL. I. / 



IXXX APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. 

Concerning her lore to the saints. First, It was sincere for the image of God, 
of Christ, of grace, and holiness, 1 John Hi. 14, 18 ; 1 John v. 1. The image 
of God was the loadstone that drew out her love to the saints. 

2. It was universal, to one Christian as well as another, to all as well as any, 
to poor Lazarus as well as rich Abraham, to an afflicted and despised. Job as 
well as to an admired David, to an o "flic-ted Jacob as well as to a raised Joseph, 
Neb. i. 15 ; Col. i. 4 ; Philip, iv. 21 ; 1 Peter ii. 17. 

3. It was an extensive love ; it extended to those that were remote in respect 
of place, as well as to those that were near, to those saints wbose faces she 
never saw, a° well as to those whose faces she daily beheld ; and all upon the 
serious reports of the grace of God that has been sparkling and shining in them, 
Rom. v. 26. 

4. It was a fervent love, an active love, a love that put her upon doing, upon 
acting for them, and distributing to them according to her ability and their 
necessity, 1 Peter i. 22 ; Acts xi. 28-30 ; 1 Peter iv. 11. Her love was not a 
cold, idle, 1 izy love, like theirs in James ii. 14-17. 

5. It was a constant love, a permanent love, 1 Cor. xiii. 8, Heb. xiii. 1 : 
' Let brotherly love continue,' 1 John iv. 16, Prov. xvii. 17. It was a love like 
that of Christ, who loved his to the end, John xiii. 1, xv. 12. Look, as our 
love must be sincere without hypocrisy, so it must be constant without deficiency. 
That love was never true that is not constant. True love, like the pulse, will 
still be beating, it will still be working, and turning out to the person beloved. 

6. She loved, honoured, and prized them most and best in whom the spiritual 
and supernatural causes of love did most shine and sparkle, Ps. xv. 4, xvi. 3, 
xlv. 13, cxix. 119. Such saints as were magnificent in grace, noble in grace, 
idorious in grace, wonderful in grace, had most of her heart, and were most 
honoured and prized by her ; she loved them best that were best. 

Concerning the signal and blessed ])resence of God with her throughout her nine 
months' sickness. This divine presence with his sick and weak handmaid did 
manifest itself several ways ; at first by preserving her eminently from sinning 
under her sufferings, as she would often say, Though I groan, yet I bless God 
I do not grumble. I remember what Job, Jeremiah, and Jonah said and did 
in the days of their sore sufferings ; but God stood by his poor handmaid, and 
greatly armed her against those particular sins that an afflicted state lays the 
afflicted open to. Secondly, this glorious presence of God was manifested by 
keeping up in her daily exercise of those particular graces that was to be acted 
in an offiicted condition, as faith, hope, patience, self-denial, contentation and 
submission. Thirdly, this gracious presence of God did manifest itself by 
enabling his weak and sick handmaid in all her continued weakness to be still 
•i-justifying of God, and crying out, The Lord is righteous, the Lord is righteous ; 
he is holy and just, he can do me no wrong, he will do me no wrong. Though 
the cup be bitter to the flesh, yet it is a cup that my Father hath put into my 
band, and therefore I will drink it, and lay my hand upon my mouth, and be 
silent at my Father's foot, Lam. i. 18 ; Ps. cxix. 75 ; Gen. xviii. 25 ; John 
xviii. 11 ; Lam. iii. 26-28 ; Rev. xx. 2. 

Fourthly, This gracious presence of God was signally manifested in the 
:ning up of Satan ; for the greatest part of her sickness, her body being 
very low, her spirits low, and her strength low, and by reason of her great and 
many weaknesses, she was cast unavoidably under great indispositions, both as 
to civil and sacred things ; the greater was the mercy in God's chaining up of 
Satan ; and if now and then Satan began to be busy, the Lord quickly rebuked 
him, and laid a law of restraint upon him. Fifthly, this gracious presence of 
God was signally manifested in keeping down and in keeping off the fears and 
terrors of death. She could all along cast the gauntlet to death, and say with 
the apostle, « death, where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory?' &c, 



APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lxxxi 

1 Cor. xv. 55-57. Death is the king of terrors, as Job speaks, Job xviii. 14, 
Heb. ii. 14, 15, and the terror of kings, as the philosopher speaks ; and yet the 
great and blessed God took away the dread and terror of death rrom her. If 
vqu ask those that lie under the fears and terrors of death, they will tell you 
that deliverance from those fears and terrors would be a heaven on this side 
heaven unto them. I could greatly enlarge, but that both the press and the 
bookseller calls aloud upon me to conclude. 

The design of these few hints is to comfort and encourage relations and 
friends to write after this blessed copy and example of that dear servant of 
Christ who hath now exchanged earth for heaven, a wilderness for a paradise, 
a sick-bed for a royal throne, pains, strong and long pains, for everlasting 
pleasures, and the presence of poor, frail, sinful mortals for the presence of God, 
Christ, angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect, Ps. xvi. 11, Heb. xii. 
22, 23. 



E. — WILL. See ante page xxxv. 

Extbacted from the Principal Registry of Her Majesty's Court of 

Probate. 

(In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.) 

Death is a fall that came in by a Fall : that statute Law of Heaven ' Dust 
thou art and to dust thou shalt returne' will first or last take hold of all mortalls ; 
the core of that apple that Adam eat in Paradise will choke us all round one 
by one ; there is not one man living that shall not see death ; though all men 
shall not meete in Heaven, nor in Hell, yet all men shall meete in the grave 
whether wee and all a [re] going. To prevent ill consequences and the mis- 
chiefes that follow without making a Will and to sett my house in order I doo 
make this short following Will. First I bequeath unto my loveing Couson 
Mistress Elenor Crith, fifty pounds which 1 will that my Executrix pay within 
a twelve moneths after my death. I give to Vice Admirall Goodsons eldest 
daughters sonne that shee had by her husband, Captain Magger 1 twenty five 
pounds but in case of his Mortallity to what child shee pleaseth. I will and 
bequeath unto her sister Maryes eldest child twenty five pounds both of which 
summes my Executrix is to pay within a yeare after my death. Item I give 
my studdy of bookes to be sold by my Couson Ford and my couson Henry 
Goodman and Master Crouch ; and the money thence ariseing to be equally 
divided into foure proportions, one for my couson Martha Wright, another for 
Mary Wright, the other two for Roger Timborland's two children which he had 
by my couson Joan, as soon as the sale is made 2 my Will is that my Executrix 
pay it into my couson Martha and Mary Wright, and to Master Collins of New- 
bury I give for the use of the other two ; And should it soo happen that 
either of the Girls should dye before age or marriage, that then the surviving 
sister should have her sisters loss, and in case of both their Mortalities before 
age or Marriage that then Master Collins gives the money to Ministers and 
Ministers Widows that hee and Master Woodbridge the minister is acquainted 
with 3 Item that one hundred pounds that I have upon Master John Juxon and 

1 Query — the shipwright and purveyor of wood to the Navy frequently mentioned in 
the ' Calendar' of Charles II. [1660-1667], who was termed Robert Magore'?— G. 

2 Mr Mayor of the University Library, Cambridge, informs me that there was a ' printed 
catalogue' of Brooks's Library issued for the sale. I have not been so fortunate as to 
trace it. — G. 

3 Benjamin Woodbridge, M.A., was the venerable 'Ejected' of Newbury in 1662. 
See Palmer's • Nonconformist's Memorial,' vol. i. pp. 290, 291. — G. 



lxxxii APPENDIX TO MEMOIR 

that is now in the hand of Master Shepheard he delivered into the hands of my 
honoured Father ' Master Thomas Cartwright And that the money upon 
that Bond to pave in as he is able into the hands of my Father Master Thomas 
Cartwright And my Will is that this Money so paid in be by my Father Cart- 
wright and my Couson Ford and my Couson Henry Goodman distributed 
amongst such ministers and ministers Widows as they think meete Item I give 
to my deare and honoured Mother Mistress Patience Cartwright my Sedan : 
And all the rest my real and personal Estate I give unto my deare and honoured 
Wife | in] whom God hath made all relations to meet in one. 2 I doo ordaine my 
said Wife to be solo Executrix of this my last Will and Testament and my 
honoured Father Master Thomas Cartwright the only Overseer and Assistant 
to my Executrix In witnesses hereof I putt my hand and seale the day and year 
under written — Thomas Brooks — March the twenty seventh one thousand six 
hundred and Eighty — Witness Edward Wylde — Henry Chandler — Tho. Cart- 
wright. — 

Probatum apud London fuit hujusmodi Testamentum coram Venerabili 
viro Domino Thoma Lyton Milite, Legum Doctore, Surrogato Venerabilis et 
egregij viri Domini Leolini Jenkins Militis, Legum etiam Doctoris, Curirc 
Praerogativae Cantuariensis Magistri Custodis sive Commissary legitime con- 
stitute decimo quinto die mensis Octobris Anno Domini Millesimo sexcentesimo 
Octogesimo ; Juramento Patienciae Brooks Relictae dicti defuncti et Executricis 
in hujusmodi Testamento nominat; Cui commissa fuit Administratio omnium et 
singulorum bonorum, jurium et creditorum dicti defuncti, de bene et fideliter 
Administrando eadem ad sancta Dei Evangelia in debita Juris forma Jurat. 

1 Father-in-law. — G. 

2 Mrs Brooks. In accord with this loving mention of his second as before of his first 
wife, 1 .add here the second ' Dedication' of Brooks's funeral sermon by John Reeve, M.A. 
[See ante page xxxv.] It is as follows :— 

* To my honoured and worthy friend, Mrs Patience Brooks, the relict of that faithful 
pastor deceased, J. R. wisheth external, internal, and eternal happiness. The loss of a 
Christian friend is a great loss, much more of a Christian relation, and yet more of such a 
near relation, most of all of such a relation as was both a loving husband and a spiritual 
guide. These twisted sorrows, like a four-fold cord, are not easily broken loose from. 1 
cannot hut condole with you in your affliction, and pray for great supports for you under 
so great a trial. You have need of patience, and that patience itself should be more 
patient. It is a Father's rod in a Father's hand, and, though smarting, yet instructive 
and medicinal. Let not time but grace overcome your sorrow. Then will you approve 
yourself a Christian indeed, and do more than others. I need not use arguments to you 
that are so well skilled in your duty through grace. The indefatigable pains you have 
taken to write from your husband's mouth such large and frequent meditations and divine 
truths which were continually dropping from his lips under his weakness, they cannot 
but make an extraordinary deep impression of themselves upon your heart. You are much 
admired — I don't flatter you, but commend you — for your excessive love and tenderness 
to him under all those infirmities he so quietly submitted himself to, your cheerfulness 
under the hardest services, that none but yourself could have gone through with so much 
content to him ; and your perseverance in it to the last, speaks a rejoicing to your con- 
science, and may be an alleviation of your grief. And it is to be observed that God fore- 
said what must be provided him, a loving wife, and a skilful and careful nurse, to be his 
consort and comfort. And now he is at rest, be you at rest ; and let the love you bear 
him rejoice in his present discharge from sin and sorrow. We must not dispute Provi- 
dence, but submit. I have been bold, without your leave, to affix your name to your 
husband's memorials. Accept the service as from one that honours you, and shall upon 
all occasions approve himself your very entire friend and servant in the Lord, John Reeve.' 



PRECIOUS REMEDIES. 



VOL. I. 



NOTE. 

The editions of ' Precious Remedies,' from its original publication in 1G52, have 
been very numerous. The '2d ' was issued in 1653, 'corrected and enlarged.' For 
many years reprints followed in rapid succession, more numerous indeed than at 
first sight appears, e.g. those of 1661 and 1669, though distinct impressions, being 
without designation as new editions. The '7th' appeared in 1671, the ' 8th ' in 
1676, and the '9th' in 1682. Our text is that of the ' 8th,* collated with the l*t 
and 2d. The ' 8th ' was chosen, as having been the last during the author's own 
lifetime : but the collation was found necessary, inasmuch as Brooks, after a ' 2d ' 
and usually 'corrected' and 'enlarged' edition, seems to have allowed his books to 
be reprinted without further oversight. Thus in our text (page 11) for 'Dan's adder' 
it misprints ' Pan's adder,' and so on in a multitude of like cases in all the after- 
editions of all his writings. Hence the later editions prove much more incorrect 
than the earlier, especially in the textual and marginal references, &c, and a recur- 
rence to the original or early 'corrected' edition often enables us to see the source 
of the error. The title-page of the ' 8th ' edition is given below. G. 



PRECIOUS 

REMEDIES 

AGAINST 

Satan's Devices : 

OR, 

( Believers ") 

1 
(Unbelievers J 

Being a Companion for those that are in Christ, 
or out of Christ; that slight or neglect Ordinances, 
under a pretence of living above them ; that are 
growing (in Spirituals) or decaying ; that are 
Tempted, or Deserted ; Afflicted or opposed; that 
have Assurance, or that want Assurance, $c. 

By Thomas Brooks, formerly a willing Servant 
unto God, and the Faith of his People, in the glo- 
rious Gospel of Christ at St. Margarets Fishstreet-hill. 

The Eighth Edition. 

Ephes. 6. 11. 

Put on the whole Armour of God, that ye may be 

able to stand against the wiles of the Devil. 

LONDON 

Printed for John Ilancock, and are to be sold at the 

three Bibles, the first shop in Popes-head 

Alley, next to Cornhill. 1676. 



THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 



To his most dear and precious ones, the sons and daughters of the 
Most High God, over whom the Holy Ghost hath made him a Watch- 
man. 

Beloved in our dearest Lord, Christ, the Scripture, your own hearts, 
and Satan's devices, are the four prime things that should be first and 
most studied and searched. If any cast off the study of these, they 
cannot be safe here, nor happy hereafter. It is my work as a Chris- 
tian, but much more as I am a Watchman, to do my best to discover 
the fulness of Christ, the emptiness of the creature, and the snares of 
the great deceiver; 1 which I have endeavoured to do, in the following 
Discourse, according to that measure of grace which I have received 
from the Lord. God once accepted a handful of meal for a sacrifice 
[Lev. ii. 2, v. 12], and a gripe of goat's hair for an oblation ; 2 and I 
know that you have not so 'learned the Father,' as to despise 'the day 
of small things ' [Zech. iv. 1 ()]. 

Beloved, Satan being fallen from light to darkness, from felicity to 
misery, from heaven to hell, from an angel to a devil, is so full of 
malice and envy that he will leave no means unattempted, whereby 
he may make all others eternally miserable with himself; he being- 
shut out of heaven, and shut up ' under the chains of darkness till the 
judgment of the great day' [Jude 6], makes use of all his power and 
skill to bring all the sons of men into the same condition and con- 
demnation, with himself. Satan hath cast such sinful seed into our 
souls, that now he can no sooner tempt, but we are ready to assent ; 
he can no sooner have a plot upon us, but he makes a conquest of us. 
If he doth but shew men a little of the beauty and bravery 3 of the 
world, how ready are they to fall down and worship him ! 

Whatever sin the heart of man is most prone to, that the devil will 
help forward. If David be proud of his people, Satan will provoke 
him to number them, that he may be yet prouder, 2 Samuel xxiv. 

If Peter be slavishly fearful, Satan will put him upon rebuking and 

1 If a minister had as many eyes as Argus, to watch, and as many heads as Typheus, 
to dispose, and as many hands as Briareus, to labour, he might find employment 
enough for them all. [(1.) Argus, surnamed Panoptes, all-seeing. Cf. iEschylus, Prom. 
Apollod. Ov. II. cc. (X.) Tvpheus, i.e. Typhoeus. Cf. Pindar, Pyth. i. 31 ; viii. 21 ; 01. 
iv. 12. (3.) Briareus, i.e. iEgseon. Cf Apollod. i. 9, \ 1 ; Hesiod, Theog. 957.— G.] 

2 Gripe or ' handful.' Cf. Exod. xxv. 4 ; xxxv. 26. — G. s Finery. — G. 



4 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

denying of Christ, to save his own skin, Mat. xvi. 22, chap. xxvi. 69-75. 
If Ahab's prophets be given to flatter, the devil will straightway be- 
come a lying spirit in the mouths of four hundred of them, and they 
shall flatter Ahab to his ruin, 1 Kings xxii. If Judas will be a traitor, 
Satan will quickly enter into his heart, and make him sell his master 
for money, which some heathens would never have done, John xiii. 2. 
If Ananias will lie for advantage, Satan will fill his heart that he may 
lie, with a witness, to the Holy Ghost, Acts v. 3. Satan loves to sail 
with the wind, and to suit men's temptations to their conditions and 
inclinations. If they be in prosperity, he will tempt them to deny 
God, Prov. xxx. 9 ; if they be in adversity, he will tempt them to dis- 
trust God ; if their knowledge be weak, he will tempt them to have 
low thoughts of God ; if their conscience be tender, he will tempt to 
scrupulosity ; if large, to carnal security ; if bold-spirited, he will 
tempt to presumption ; if timorous, to desperation ; if flexible, to in- 
constancy ; if stiff, to impenitency, &c. 

From the power, malice, and skill of Satan, doth proceed all the 
soul-killing plots, devices, stratagems, and machinations, that be in 
the world. Several devices he hath to draw souls to sin, and several 
plots he hath to keep souls from all holy and heavenly services, and 
several stratagems he hath to keep souls in a mourning, staggering, 
doubting, and questioning condition. 

He hath several devices to destroy the great and honourable, the 
wise and learned, the blind and ignorant, the rich and the poor, the 
real and the nominal saints. 

One while he will restrain from tempting, that we may think our- 
selves secure, and neglect our watch ; another while he will seem to 
fly, that he may make us proud of the victory ; one while he will fix 
men's eyes more on others' sins than their own, that he may puff them 
up ; another while he may fix their eyes more on others' graces than 
their own, that he may overwhelm them, &c. 

A man may as well tell the stars, and number the sands of the sea, 
as reckon up all the Devices of Satan ; yet those which are most con- 
siderable, and by which he doth most mischief to the precious souls of 
men, are in the following Treatise discovered, and the Remedies against 
them prescribed. 

Beloved, I think it necessary to give you and the world a faithful 
account of the reasons moving me to appear in print, in these days, 
wherein we may say, there was never more writing and yet never less 
practising, and they are these that follow, &c. 

Reason 1. First, Because Satan hath a greater influence upon men, 
and higher advantages over them (having the wind and the hill, as it 
were), than they think he hath, and the knowledge of his high advan- 
tage, is the highway to disappoint him, and to render the soul strong 
in resisting, and happy in conquering, &c. 

Reason 2. Your importunity, and the importunity of many other 
' precious sons of Sion,' Lam. iv. 2, hath after much striving with God, 
my own heart, and others, made a conquest of me, and forced me to 
do that at last, which at first was not a little contrary to my inclina- 
tion and resolution, &c. 



THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 5 

Reason 3. The strange opposition that I met with from Satan, in 
the study of this following discourse, hath put an edge upon my spirit, 
knowing that Satan strives mightily to keep those things from seeing 
the light, that tend eminently to shake and break his kingdom of 
darkness, and to lift up the kingdom and glory of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, in the souls and lives of the children of men, &C. 1 

Reason 4. Its exceeding usefulness to all sorts, ranks, and conditions 
of men in the world. Here you have salve for every sore, and a plas- 
ter for every wound, and a remedy against every disease, especially 
against those that tend most to the undoing of souls, and the ruin of 
the State, &c. 

Reason 5. 1 know not of any one or other that have writ of this 
subject ; all that ever I have seen have only touched upon this string, 
which hath been no small provocation to me, to attempt to do some- 
thing this way, that others, that have better heads and hearts, may be 
the more stirred to improve their talents in a further discovery of 
Satan's Devices, and in making known of such choice Remedies, as 
may enable the souls of men to triumph over all his plots and strata- 
gems, 2 «Sic. 

Reason 6. I have many precious friends in several countries, who 
are not a little desirous that my pen may reach them, now my voice 
cannot. I have formerly been, by the help of the mighty God of 
Jacob, a weak instrument of good to them, and cannot but hope and 
believe that the Lord will also bless these labours to them ; they 
being, in part, the fruit of their desires and prayers, &c. 

Reason 7. Lastly, Not knowing how soon my glass may be out, 
and how soon I may be cut off by a hand of death, from all oppor- 
tunities of doing further service for Christ or your souls in this woiid, 
I was willing to sow a little handful of spiritual seed among you ; that 
so, when I put off this earthly tabernacle, my love to you, and that 
dear remembrance of you, which I have in my soul, may strongly 
engage your minds and spirits to make this book your companion, and 
under all external or internal changes, to make use of this heavenly 
salve, which I hope will, by the blessing of the Lord, be as effectual 
for the healing of all your wounds, as their looking up to the brazen 
serpent was effectual to heal theirs that were bit and stung with 
fiery serpents. I shall leave this book with you as a legacy of my 
dearest love, desiring the Lord to make it a far greater and sweeter 
legacy than all those carnal legacies are that are left by the high and 
mighty ones of the earth to their nearest and dearest relations, &c. 

Beloved, I would not have affection carry my pen too much beyond 
my intention. Therefore, only give me leave to signify my desires for 
you, and my desires to you, and I shall draw to a close. 

My desires for you are, ' That he would grant you, according to the 
riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the 

1 Pirates make the strongest and the hottest opposition against those vessels that are 
most richly laden. So doth Satan, that arch-pirate, against those truths that have 
most of God, Christ, and heaven in them. 

2 Brooks overlooked the remarkable ' Stratagema 1 of Acontius, which, previous to 
1 Precious Remedies,' had been translated by no less a man than John Goodwin into 
English, and by others into almost every European language G. 



6 TI1E KPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, 
being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with 
all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and 
to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge, that ye might be 
filled with all the fulness of God,' Eph. iii. 1G-19; and 'That ye might 
walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every 
good work, and increased in the knowledge of God, strengthened with 
all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long- 
suffering, with joyfulness,' Col. i. 10, 11 ; 'That ye do no evil,' 2 Cor. 
xiii. 7 ; ' That your love may abound yet more and more in know- 
ledge, and in all judgment ;' ' That ye may approve things that are 
excellent, that ye may be sincere, and without offence till the day of 
Christ/ Philip, i. 27, iv. 1 ; and that ' our God would count you 
worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, 
and the work of faith with power;' ' That the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace 
of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ,' 2 Thes. i. 11, 12. And that 
you may be eminent in sanctity, sanctity being Zion's glory, Ps. xciii. 5 ; 
that your hearts may be kept upright, your judgments sound, and 
your lives unblameable. That as ye are now ' my joy,' so in the day 
of Christ you may be ' my crown ;' that I may see my labours in 
your lives ; that your conversation may not be earthly, wheu the 
things you hear are heavenly ; but that it may be ' as becomes the 
gospel,' Philip, i. 9, 10. That as the fishes which live in the salt sea 
yet are fresh, so you, though you live in an uncharitable world, may 
yet be charitable and loving ; That ye may, like the bee, suck honey 
out of every flower ; that ye may shine in a sea of troubles, as the 
pearl shines in the sky, though it grows in the sea ; that in all your 
trials you may be like the stone in Thracia, that neither burnetii in 
the fire nor sinketh in the water ; That ye may be like the heavens, 
excellent in substance and beautiful in appearance ; that so you may 
meet me with joy in that day wherein Christ shall say to his Father, 
'Lo, here am I, and the children that thou hast given me,' Isa. viii. 18. 
My desires to you are, That you would make it your business to 
study Christ, his word, your own hearts, Satan's plots, and eternity, 
more than ever ; That ye would endeavour more to be inwardly sin- 
cere than outwardly glorious ; to live, than to have a name to live ; 
That ye would labour with all your might to be thankful under mer- 
cies, and faithful in your places, and humble under divine appear- 
ances, and fruitful under precious ordinances ; That as your means 
and mercies are greater than others', so your account before God may 
not prove a worse than others' ; That ye would pray for me, who am 
not worthy to be named among the saints, that 1 may be a precious 
instrument in the hand of Christ to bring in many souls unto him, 
and to build up those that are brought in in their most holy faith ; 
and '-that utterance may be given to me, that I may make known all 
the will of God,' Eph. vi. 19; That I may be sincere, faithful, frequent, 
fervent, and constant in the work of the Lord, and that my labour be 
not in vain in the Lord; that my labours may be accepted in the Lord 
and his saints, and I may daily see the travail of my soul, S:c. 



THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 7 

But, above all, pray for me, that I may more and more find the 
power and sweet of those things upon my own heart, that I give out 
to you and others ; that my soul be so visited with strength from on 
high, that I may live up fully and constantly to those truths that I 
hold forth to the world ; and that I may be both in life and doctrine 
' a burning and a shining light/ that so, when the Lord Jesus shall 
appear, ' I may receive a crown of glory which he shall give to me in 
that day, and not only to me, but to all that love his appearance/ &c, 
John v. 35 and 2 Tim. i. 8. 

For a close, remember this, that your life is short, your duties many, 
your assistance great, and your reward sure ; therefore faint not, hold 
on and hold up, in ways of well-doing, and heaven shall make amends 
for all. 

I shall now take leave of you, when my heart hath by my hand 
subscribed, that I am, 

Your loving pastor under Christ, according to all pastoral affections 
and engagements in our dearest Lord, 

Thomas Brooks. 



A WORD TO THE READER. 



Dear Friend ! — Solomon bids us buy the truth (Prov. xxiii. 23), but 
doth not tell us what it must cost, because we must get it though it 
be never so dear. We must love it both shining and scorching. 1 
Every parcel of truth is precious, as the filings of gold ; we must either 
live with it, or die for it. As Ruth said to Naomi, ' Whither thou 
goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge, and nothing but 
death shall part thee and me/ Ruth i. 16, 17; so must gracious spirits 
say, Where truth goes I will go, and where truth lodges I will lodge, 
and nothing but death shall part me and truth. 2 A man may lawfully 
sell his house, land, and jewels, but truth is a jewel that exceeds all 
price, and must not be sold ; it is our heritage : ' Thy testimonies 
have I taken as an heritage for ever,' Ps. cxix. 111. It is a legacy 
that our forefathers have bought with their bloods, which should make 
us willing to lay down anything, and to lay out anything, that we 
may, with the wise merchant in the Gospel (Mat. xiii. 45), purchase 
this precious pearl, which is more worth than heaven and earth, and 
which will make a man live happily, die comfortably, and reign 
eternally. 3 

And now, if thou pleasest, read the work, and receive this counsel 
from me. 

First, Thou must know that every man cannot be excellent, that 
yet may be useful. An iron key may unlock the door of a golden 
treasure, yea (ferrum potest quod aurwm -non potest), iron can do 
some things that gold cannot, &c. 

Secondly, Remember, it is not hasty reading, but serious meditating 
upon holy and heavenly truths, that makes them prove sweet and 
profitable to the soul. 4 It is not the bee's touching of the flower 
that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time upon the flower that 
draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that medi- 
tates most, that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest 
( !hristian, &c. 

Thirdly, Know that it is not the knowing, nor the talking, nor the 

1 Multi amant veritatem hicentem, oderunt redarguentem. 

a Si Veritas est causa discordio\ mori possum, lacere non possum. — St Jerome, 

3 Veritas vincit. Truth at last triumphs. 

4 It is a law among the Persees [Parsees] in India, to use premeditation in what 
they are to do, that if it he bad, to reject it, if good, to act it. 



A WORD TO THE READER. ^ 

reading man, but the doing man, that at last will be found the happiest 
man. 1 " If you know these things, blessed and happy are you if you 
do them." " Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into 
the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father that 
is in heaven/' John xvi. 14, Mat. vii. 21. Judas called Christ Lord, 
Lord, and yet betrayed him, and is gone to his place. Ah ! how many 
Judases have we in these days, that kiss Christ, and yet betray Christ ; 
that in their words profess him, but in their works deny him ; that 
bow their knee to him, and yet in their hearts despise him ; that call 
him Jesus, and yet will not obey him for their Lord. 

Reader, If it be not strong upon thy heart to practise what thou 
readest, to what end dost thou read ? To increase thy own condem- 
nation? 2 If thy light and knowledge be not turned into practice, the 
more knowing man thou art, the more miserable man thou wilt be in 
the day of recompense ; thy light and knowledge will more torment 
thee than all the devils in hell. Thy knowledge will be that rod 
that will eternally lash thee, and that scorpion that will for ever bite 
thee, and that worm that will everlastingly gnaw thee ; therefore read, 
and labour to know, that thou mayest do, or else thou art undone for 
ever. 3 When Demosthenes was asked, what was the first part of an 
orator, what the second, what the third ? he answered, Action ; the 
same may I say. If any should ask me, what is the first, the second, 
the third part of a Christian ? I must answer, Action ; as that man 
that reads that he may know, and that labours to know that he may 
do, will have two heavens — a heaven of joy, peace, and comfort on 
earth, and a heaven of glory and happiness after death. 

Fourthly and lastly, If in thy reading thou wilt cast a serious eye 
upon the margent, 4 thou wilt find many sweet and precious notes, that 
will oftentimes give light to the things thou readest, and pay thee for 
thy pains with much comfort and profit. So desiring that thou mayest 
find as much sweetness and advantage in reading this Treatise as I 
have found, by the over-shadowings of heaven, in the studying and 
writing of it, I recommend thee 'to God, and to the word of his grace, 
which is able to build thee up, and to give thee an inheritance among 
them which are sanctified,' Acts xx. 32. And rest, reader, 

Thy soul's servant in every office of the gospel, 

Thomas Brooks. 

1 It was a good saying of Justin Martyr, Non in verbis, sed in factis res nostrce reli- 
gionis consistent. — [Apolog. 22. — G.] 

2 The heathen philosopher, Seneca, liked not such as are semper victuri, always 
about to live, but never begin. — [De vita beata, et alibi. — G.] 

3 God loves, saith Luther, curistas, not qito?ristas, the runner, not the questioner. . . . 
Pacunius hath an elegant saying : I hate, saith he, the men that are idle in deed, and 
philosophical in word, &c. 

* Margin ; transferred here and throughout in our edition to the foot of page. — G. 











PRECIOUS REMEDIES AGAINST SATAN'S 
DEVICES. 



Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant 
of his devices. — 2 Cor. II. 11, 

In this fifth verse, the apostle shews, that the incestuous person had 
by his incest sadded those precious souls that God would not have 
sadded. 1 Souls that walk sinfully are Hazaels to the godly, 2 Kings 
viii. 12, et seq., and draw many sighs and tears from them. Jeremiah 
weeps in secret for Judah's sins, Jer. ix. 1 ; and Paul cannot speak of 
the belly-gods with dry eyes, Philip, iii. 18, 19. And Lot's righteous 
soul was burdened, vexed, and racked by the filthy Sodomites, 2 Peter 
ii. 7, S. 2 Every sinful Sodomite was a Hazael to his eyes, a Hadad- 
rimmon to his heart, Zech. xii. 11. Gracious souls use to mourn for 
other men's sins as well as their own, and for their souls and sins who 
make a mock of sin, and a jest of damning their own souls. Guilt or 
grief is all that gracious souls get by communion with vain souls, Ps. 
cxix. 136, 158. 

In the 6th verse, he shews that the punishment that was inflicted 
upon the incestuous person was sufficient, and therefore they should 
not refuse to receive him who had repented and sorrowed for his 
former faults and follies. It is not for the honour of Christ, the credit 
of the gospel, nor the good of souls, for professors to be like those 
bloody wretches, that burnt some that recanted at the stake, saying, 
' That they would send them into another world whiles they were in a 
good mind/ 3 

In the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th verses, the apostle stirs up the church 
to forgive him, to comfort him, and to confirm their love towards him, 
lest he should be 'swallowed up with over much sorrow,' Satan going 
about to mix the detestable darnel, Mat. xiii. 25, of desperation with 
the godly sorrow of a pure penitent heart. It was a sweet saying of 
one, ' Let a man grieve for his sin, and then joy for his grief.' 4 That 
sorrow for sin that keeps the soul from looking towards the mercy - 

1 ' Saddened.' — G. * xarafovovptvov, s/Sairax^v. 

3 [Foxe.] Acts and Mon. fol. 1392 [Cf. Under Cranmer and Recantation, ed. 1G31. 
Vol. iii. 007, 6G8. — I*.] 4 Doleat et de dolore gaudeat. — Jerome. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] precious remedies. 11 

seat, and that keeps Christ and the soul asunder, or that shall render 
the soul unfit for the communion of saints, is a sinful sorrow. 

In the 11th verse, he lays down another reason to work them to 
shew pity and mercy to the penitent sinner, that was mourning and 
groaning under his sin and misery ; i. e. lest Satan should get an 
advantage of us : for we are not ignorant of his devices. A little for 
the opening of the words 

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us ; lest Satan over-reach 
us. The Greek word irXionxr-ndai^v, signifieth to have more than be- 
longs to one. The comparison is taken from the greedy merchant, 
that seeketh and taketh all opportunities to beguile and deceive 
others. Satan is that wily merchant, that devoureth, not widows' 
houses, but most men's souls. 

' We are not ignorant of Satan's devices,' or plots, or machinations, 
or stratagems, Nojj^ara. He is but a titular Christian that hath not 
personal experience of Satan's stratagems, his set and composed 
machinations, his artificially moulded methods, his plots, darts, depths, 
whereby he outwitted our first parents, and fits us a pennyworth still, 
as he sees reason. 

The main observation that I shall draw from these words is this: 

Doct, That Satan hath his several devices to deceive, entangle, and 
undo the souls of men. 

I shall, 1. Prove the point. 

2. Shew you his several devices ; and, 

3. The remedies against his devices. 

4. How it comes to pass that he hath so many several devices to 
deceive, entangle, and undo the souls of men. 

5. I shall lay down some propositions concerning Satan's devices. 

I. For the proof of the point, take these few Scriptures: Eph. vi. 11, 
'Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against 
the wiles of the devil/ The Greek word that is here rendered 'wiles,' 
is a notable emphatical word. 

(1.) It signifies such snares as are laid behind one, such treacheries 
as come upon one's back at unawares. It notes the methods or way- 
layings of that old subtle serpent, who, like Dan's adder 'in the path,' 
biteth the heels of passengers, and thereby transfuseth his venom to 
the head and heart. 1 The word Mi6o8tia$ signifies an ambushment or 
stratagem of war, whereby the enemy sets upon a man ex insidiis, at 
unawares. 2 

(2.) It signifies such snares as are set to catch one in one's road. 
A man walks in his road, and thinks not of it ; on the sudden he is 
catched by thieves, or falls into a pit, &c. 

(3.) It signifies such as are purposely, artificially, and craftily set 
for the taking the prey at the greatest advantage that can be. The 
Greek /leSoBtiag, being derived from fitrd and odbg, signifies properly a 
waylaying, circumvention, or going about, as they do which seek after 

1 Cf. Genesis xlix. 17. Misprinted originally ' Pan's,' and so has been usually 
transmitted. — G. 

2 Spelled ' anawares,' which is to be noted alcng with the earlier form 'anonywar.' 
Cf. Richardson sub voce. — G. 



12 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

their prey. Julian, by his craft, drew more from the faith than all 
his persecuting predecessors could do by their cruelty. So doth Satan 
more hurt in his sheep's skin than by roaring like a lion. 

Take one scripture more for the proof of the point, and that is in 
2 Tim. ii. 26, ' And that they might recover themselves out of the 
snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.' The 
Greek word that is here rendered recover themselves, ' Avavr^uaiv, 
signifies to awaken themselves. The apostle alludeth to one that is 
asleep or drunk, who is to be awakened and restored to his senses; and 
the Greek word that is here rendered ' taken captive,' signifies to be 
taken alive, e^uy^fiivoi. The word is properly a warlike word, and 
signifies to be taken alive, as soldiers are taken alive in the wars, or 
as birds are taken alive and ensnared in the fowler's net. Satan hath 
snares for the wise and snares for the simple ; snares for hypocrites, 
and snares for the upright ; snares for generous souls, and snares for 
timorous souls ; snares for the rich, and snares for the poor ; snares 
for the aged, and snares for youth, &c. Happy are those souls that 
are not taken aud held in the snares that he hath laid l 1 

Take one proof more, and then I will proceed to the opening of the 
point, and that is in Rev. ii. 24, ' But unto you I say, and unto the 
rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have 
not known the depths of Satan, as they speak, I will put upon you no 
other burden but to hold fast till I come.' Those poor souls called 
their opinions the depths of God, when indeed they were the depths 
of Satan. You call your opinions depths, and so they are, but they 
are such depths as Satan hath brought out of hell. They are the 
whisperings and hissings of that serpent, not the inspirations of 
God. 

II. Now, the second thing that I am to shew you is, his several 
devices ; and herein I shall first shew you the several devices that he. 
hath to draw the soul to sin. I shall instance in these twelve, which 
may bespeak our most serious consideration. 

His first device to draw the soul to sin is, 

Device (1). To 'present the bait and hide the hook; to present the 
golden cup, and hide the poison ; to present the sweet, the pleasure, 
and the profit that may flow in upon the soul by yielding to sin, and 
by hiding from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow 
the committing of sin. By this device he took our first parents: Gen. 
iii. 4, 5, ' And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely 
die : for God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your 
eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.' 
Your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods ! Here is the 
bait, the sweet, the pleasure, the profit. Oh, but he hides the hook, 
— the shame, the wrath, and the loss that would certainly follow ! 2 

There is an opening of the eyes of the mind to contemplation and 
joy, and there is an opening of the eyes of the body to shame and 

1 Cf. [Daniel] Pareus in loc. 1 Tim. iv. 1. [Works, 3 vols, folio, 1647.— G.] 
* So to reduce Dr [Rowland] Taylor, martyr, they promised him not only his par- 
don, but, a bishopric. Acts & Mon. fol. i. 86. [Foxe. ed. 1631. Vol. iii. p. 176.— G.] 
.... lnest peccatum cum delectaris : regnat si consentis. [Augustine in Ps. 1. — G.] 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 13 

confusion. He promiseth them the former, but intends the latter, 
and so cheats them — giving them an apple in exchange for a paradise, 
as he deals by thousands now-a-days. Satan with ease puts fallacies 
upon us by his golden baits, and then he leads us and leaves us in a fool's 
paradise. He promises the soul honour, pleasure, profit, &c, but pays 
the soul with the greatest contempt, shame, and loss that can be. By 
a golden bait he laboured to catch Christ, Mat. iv. 8, 9. He shews 
him the beauty and the bravery of a bewitching world, which doubt- 
less would have taken many a carnal heart ; but here the devil's fire 
fell upon wet tinder, and therefore took not. These tempting objects 
did not at all win upon his affections, nor dazzle his eyes, though 
many have eternally died of the wound of the eye, and fallen for ever 
by this vile strumpet the world, who, by laying forth her two fair 
breasts of profit and pleasure, hath wounded their souls, and cast 
them down into utter perdition. She hath, by the glistering of her 
pomp and preferment, slain millions ; as the serpent Scytale, 1 which, 
when she cannot overtake the fleeing passengers, doth, with her 
beautiful colours, astonish and amaze them, so that they have no 
power to pass away till she have stung them to death. Adversity 
hath slain her thousand, but prosperity her ten thousand. 2 
Now, the remedies against this device of the devil are these : 
Remedy (1). First, Keep at the greatest distance from sin, and 
from playing with the golden bait that Satan holds forth to catch 
you ; for this you have Rom. xii. 9, ' Abhor that which is evil, cleave 
to that which is good.' When we meet with anything extremely evil 
and contrary to us, nature abhors it, and retires as far as it can from 
it. The Greek word that is there rendered ' abhor,' is very signifi- 
cant ; it signifies to hate it as hell itself, to hate it with horror. 3 

Anselm used to say, ' That if he should see the shame of sin on the 
one hand, and the pains of hell on the other, and must of necessity 
choose one, he would rather be thrust into hell without sin, than to go 
into heaven with sin,' so great was his hatred and detestation of sin. 
It is our wisest and our safest course to stand at the farthest distance 
from sin ; not to go near the house of the harlot, but to fly from all 
appearance of evil, Prov. v. 8, 1 Thes. v. 22. The best course to pre- 
vent falling into the pit, is to keep at the greatest distance ; he that 
will be so bold as to attempt to dance upon the brink of the pit, may 
find by woful experience that it is" a righteous thing with God that he 
should fall into the pit. Joseph keeps at a distance from sin, and 
from playing with Satan's golden baits, and stands. David draws 
near, and plays with the bait, and falls, and swallows bait and hook 
with a witness. David comes near the snare, and is taken in it, to 

1 Scytale : Solinus, c. xxvii. and xl G. 

This world at last shall be burnt for a witch, saith one. . . . Multi amando res 
noxias sunt miseri, habendo miseriores. — Aug\ustine\ in Ps xvi. Many are miserable 
by loving hurtful things, but they are more miserable by having them. . . . Men had 
need pray with Bernard, Da Domine ut sic possideamus temporalia, ut non perdamus 
seterna. Grant us, Lord, that we may so partake of temporal felicity, that we may not 
lose eternal. 

3 a^otrruyovi/ri;. The simple verb imports extreme detestation, which is aggravated 
by the composition. — Chrys\ostom~\. 



14 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

the breaking of his bones, the wounding of his conscience, and the 
loss of his God. 1 

Sin is a plague, yea, the greatest and most infectious plague in 
the world ; and yet, ah ! how few are there that tremble at it, that 
keep at a distance from it ! 1 Cor. v. 6, ' Know ye not that a little 
leaven leavencth the whole lump ?' As soon as one sin had seized 
upon Adam's heart, all sin entered into his soul and overspread it. 
How hath Adam's one sin spread over all mankind ! Horn. v. 12, 
' Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by 
sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' 
Ah, how doth the father's sin infect the child, the husband's infect 
the wife, the master's the servant ! The sin that is in one man's 
heart is able to infect a whole world, it is of such a spreading and 
infectious nature. 2 

The story of the Italian, who first made his enemy deny God, and 
then stabbed him, and so at once murdered both body and soul, 3 
declares the perfect malignity of sin ; and oh ! that what hath been 
spoken upon this head may prevail with you, to stand at a distance 
from sin ! 

The second remedy is, 

Remedy (2). To consider, That sin is but a bitter sweet. That 
seeming sweet that is in sin will quickly vanish, and lasting shame, 
sorrow, horror, and terror will come in the room thereof : Job xx. 
12-14, 'Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide 
it under his tongue, though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it 
still within his mouth, yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the 
gall of asps within him.' Forbidden profits and pleasures are most 
pleasing to vain men, who count madness mirth, &c. Many long to be 
meddling with the murdering morsels of sin, which nourish not, but 
rent and consume the belly, the soul, that receives them. Many eat 
that on earth that they digest in hell. Sin's murdering morsels will 
deceive those that devour them. Adam's apple was a bitter sweet ; 
Esau's mess was a bitter sweet ; the Israelites' quails a bitter sweet ; 
Jonathan's honey a bitter sweet ; and Adonijah's dainties a bitter 
sweet. After the meal is ended, then comes the reckoning. Men 
must not think to dance and dine with the devil, and then to sup 
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven ; to feed 
upon the poison of asps, and yet that the viper's tongue should not 
slay them. 4 

When the asp stings a man, it doth first tickle him so as it makes 
him laugh, till the poison, by little and little, gets to the heart, and 

1 It was a divine saying of a heathen, ' That if there were no God to punish him, no 
devil to torment him, no hell to burn him, no man to see him, yet would he not sin for 
the ugliness and filthiuess of sin, and the grief of his own conscience.' — Seneca. [De 
Beneficiis. 1. iv. 23, and often in his ' Letters.' Cf. sub Conscientia. — G.] 

2 Sin is like those diseases that are called by physicians, cormptio totius substantia. 

3 Told in Wanley's Wonders, with authorities, b. iv. c xii. — G. 

4 When the golden bait is set forth to catch us, we must 6ay as Demosthenes the 
orator did of the beautiful Lais, when he was asked an excessivo sum of money to 
behold her, ' I will not buy repentance so dear;' I am not so ill a merchant as to sill 
eternals fur temporals. If intemperance could afford more pleasure than temperance 
lleliogubalus should have been more happy than Adam in paradise. — 1'lutarch. 



2 Cor. II. 11] against satan's devices. 15 

then it pains him more than ever it delighted him. So doth sin ; 
it may please a little at first, but it will pain the soul with a witness 
at last ; yea, if there were the least real delight in sin, there could 
be no perfect hell, where men shall most perfectly be tormented with 
their sin. 

The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 

Remedy (3). Solemnly to consider, That sin will usher in the 
greatest and the saddest losses that can be upon our souls. It will 
usher in the loss of that divine favour that is better than life, and the 
loss of that joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, and the loss of 
that peace that passeth understanding, and the loss of those divine 
influences by which the soul hath been refreshed, quickened, raised, 
strengthened, and gladded, and the loss of many outward desirable 
mercies, which otherwise the soul might have enjoyed. 1 

It was a sound and savoury reply of an English captain at the loss 
of Calais, when a proud Frenchman scornfully demanded, When will 
you fetch Calais again, replied, When your sins shall weigh down 
ours. 2 Ah, England ! my constant prayer for thee is, that thou 
mayest not sin away thy mercies into their hands that cannot call 
mercy mercy, and that would joy in nothing more than to see thy 
sorrow and misery, and to see that hand to make thee naked, that 
hath clothed thee with much mercy and glory. 

The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 

Remedy (4). Seriously to consider, That sin is of a very deceitful 
and bewitching nature. 3 Sin is from the greatest deceiver, it is a 
child of his own begetting, it is the ground of all the deceit in the 
world, and it is in its own nature exceeding deceitful. Heb. iii. 13, 
' But exhort one another daily, while it is called To-day, lest any 
of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.' It will kiss 
the soul, and pretend fair to the soul, and yet betray the soul for 
ever. It will with Delilah smile upon us, that it may betray us into 
the hands of the devil, as she did Samson into the hauds of the 
Philistines. Sin gives Satan a power over us, and an advantage to 
accuse us and to lay claim to us, as those that wear his badge; it is 
of a very bewitching nature, it bewitches the soul, where it is upon 
the throne, that the soul cannot leave it, though it perish eternally 
by it.* Sin so bewitches the soul, that it makes the soul call evil good, 
and good evil ; bitter sweet and sweet bitter, light darkness and dark- 
ness light ; and a soul thus bewitched with sin will stand it out to the 
death, at the sword's point with God ; let God strike and wound, 
and cut to the very bone, yet the bewitched soul cares not, fears not, 
but will still hold on in a course of wickedness, as you may see in 
Pharaoh, Balaam, and Judas. Tell the bewitched soul that sin is a 
viper that will certainly kill when it is not killed, that sin often kills 

1 Isa. lix.2, Ps. H. 12, Isa, lix. 8, 2 Chron. xv. 3, 4, Jer. xvii. 18. Jer. v. 2. 

2 Quando peccata vestra erunt nostris graviora. 

3 In Sardis there grew an herb, called Appium Sardis, that would make a man lie 
laughing when lie was deadly sick ; such is the operation of sin. 

4 Which occasioned Chrysostom to say, when Eudoxia the empress threatened him, 
Go tell her, ' Nil nisi peccatum timeo,' 1 fear nothing but sin. 



1G PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

secretly, insensibly, eternally, yet the bewitched soul cannot, nor will 
not, cease from sin. 

When the physicians told Theotimus that except he did abstain 
from drunkenness and uncleauness, &c, he would lose his eyes, his 
heart was so bewitched to his sins, that he answers, ' Then farewell 
Bweet light -,' 1 he had rather lose his eyes than leave his sin. So a 
man bewitched with sin had rather lose God, Christ, heaven, and his 
own soul than part with his sin. Oh, therefore, for ever take heed 
of playing or nibbling at Satan's golden baits. 

The second device of Satan to draw the soul to sin is, 
Device (2). By 'painting sin ivith virtue's colours. Satan knows 
that if he should present sin in its own nature and dress, the soul 
would rather fly from it than yield to it ; and therefore he presents 
it unto us, not in its own proper colours, but painted and gilded 
over with the name and show of virtue, that we may the more easily 
be overcome by it, and take the more pleasure in committing of it. 
Pride, he presents to the soul under the name and notion of neatness 
and cleanliness, and covetousness (which the apostle condemns for 
idolatry) to be but good husbandry; 2 and drunkenness to be good 
fellowship, and riotousness under the name and notion of liberality, 
and wantonness as a trick of youth, &c. 

Now, the remedies against this device of Satan are these, 
Remedy (1). First, consider, That sin is never a whit the less 
filthy, vile, and abominable, by its being coloured and painted 
ivith virtue's colours. A poisonous pill is never a whit the less 
poisonous because it is gilded over with gold ; nor a wolf is never 
a whit the less a wolf because he hath put on a sheep's skin ; nor the 
devil is never a whit the less a devil because he appears sometimes like 
an angel of light. So neither is sin any whit the less filthy and 
abominable by its being painted over with virtue's colours. 
The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
Remedy (2). That the more sin is painted forth under the colour 
of virtue, the more dangerous it is to the soids of men. This we 
see evident in these days, by those very many souls that are turned 
out of the way that is holy — and in which their souls have had sweet 
and glorious communion with God — into ways of highest vanity and 
folly, by Satan's neat 3 colouring over of sin, and painting forth vice 
under the name and colour of virtue. This is so notoriously known 
that I need but name it. The most dangerous vermin is too often 
to be found under the fairest and sweetest flowers, and the fairest 
glove is often drawn upon the foulest hand, and the richest robes are 
often put upon the filthiest bodies. So are the fairest and sweetest 
names upon the greatest and the most horrible vices and errors that 
be in the world. Ah ! that we had not too many sad proofs of this 
amongst us. 4 

1 Vale lumen amicum. —Ambrose. ' ' Thrift,' ' economy.' — G. 

3 Careful, clever.— G. 

4 Turpiora sunt vitia quaj virtutum specie celantur. — Jer[ome.'] .... Thus the 
Illuminates (as they called themselves) a pestilent sect in Arragon, professing and 
affecting in themselves a kind of angelic purity, fell suddenly to the justifying of 
bestiality, as many have done in these days. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 17 

The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 

Remedy (3). To look on sin with that eye [with] which ivithin a 
few hours we shall see it. Ah, souls ! when you shall lie upon a dying 
bed, and stand before a judgment-seat, sin shall be unmasked, and 
its dress and robes shall then be taken off, and then it shall appear 
more vile, filthy, and terrible than hell itself ; then, that which for- 
merly appeared most sweet will appear most bitter, and that which 
appeared most beautiful will appear most ugly, and that which ap- 
peared most delightful will then appear most dreadful to the soul. 1 
Ah, the shame, the pain, the gall, the bitterness, the horror, the hell 
that the sight of sin, when its dress is taken off, will raise in poor 
souls ! Sin will surely prove evil and bitter to the soul when its robes 
are taken off. A man may have the stone who feels no fit of it. 
Conscience will work at last, though for the present one may feel no 
fit of accusation. Laban shewed himself at parting. Sin will be 
bitterness in the latter end, when it shall appear to the soul in its 
own filthy nature. The devil deals with men as the panther doth 
with beasts ; he hides his deformed head till his sweet scent hath drawn 
them into his danger. Till we have sinned, Satan is a parasite ; when 
we have sinned, he is a tyrant. 2 O souls ! the day is at hand when 
the devil will pull off the paint and garnish that he hath put upon 
sin, and present that monster, sin, in such a monstrous shape to your 
souls, that will cause your thoughts to be troubled, your countenance 
to be changed, the joints of your loins to be loosed, and your knees 
to be dashed one against another, and your hearts to be so terrified, 
that you will be ready, with Ahithophel and Judas, 3 to strangle and 
hang your bodies on earth, and your souls in hell, if the Lord hath 
not more mercy on you than he had on them. Oh ! therefore, look 
upon sin now as you must look upon it to all eternity, and as God, 
conscience, and Satan will present it to you another day ! 

The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 

Remedy (4.) Seriously to consider, That even those very sins that 
Satan paints, and puts new names and colours upon, cost the best 
blood, the noblest blood, the life-blood, the heart-blood of the Lord 
Jesus.* That Christ should come from the eternal bosom of his Father 
to a region of sorrow and death ; that God should be manifested in 
the flesh, the Creator made a creature ; that he that was clothed witli 
glory should be wrapped with rags of flesh ; he that filled heaven 
and earth with his glory should be cradled in a manger ; that the 
power of God should fly from weak man, the God of Israel into 
Egypt ; that the God of the law should be subject to the law, the 
God of the circumcision circumcised, the God that made the heavens 

1 Tacitus speaks of Tiberius, that when his sins did appear in their own colours, they 
did so terrify and torment him that he protested to the Senate that he suffered daily. 
[Ann. vi. 51.— G.] 

8 Satan, that now allures thee to sin, will ere long make thee to see that peccatum. est 
deicidium, sin is a murdering of God ; and this will make thee murder two at once, 
thy soul and thy body, unless the Lord in mercy holds thy hands. 

a 2 Sam. xvii. 23, and Mat. xxvii. 5.— G. 

4 Una guttula plus valet quam ccelum et terra. — Luther; i.e. one little drop (speak- 
ing of the blood of Christ) is more worth than heaven and earth. 

VOL. I. B 



18 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

■working at Joseph's homely trade ; that he that binds the devils in 
chains should be tempted ; that he, whose is the world, and the fulness 
thereof, should hunger and thirst; that the God of strength should 
be weary, the Judge of all flesh condemned, the God of life put to 
death ; that he that is one with his Father should cry out of misery, 
' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' Mat. xxvii. 46 ; that 
he that had the keys of hell and death at his girdle should lie im- 
prisoned in the sepulchre of another, having in his lifetime nowhere 
to lay his head, nor after death to lay his body ; that that head, 
before which the angels do cast down their crowns, should be crowned 
with thorns, and those eyes, purer than the sun, put out by the dark- 
ness of death ; those ears, which hear nothing but hallelujahs of saints 
and angels, to hear the blasphemies of the multitude ; that face, that 
was fairer than the sons of men, to be spit on by those beastly wretched 
Jews; that mouth and tongue, that spake as ueverman spake, accused 
for blasphemy ; those hands, that freely swayed the sceptre of heaven, 
nailed to the cross ; those feet, ' like unto fine brass,' nailed to the 
cross for man's sins ; each sense annoyed: his feeling or touching, with 
a spear and nails ; his smell, with stinking flavour, being crucified 
about Golgotha, the place of skulls ; his taste, with vinegar and gall ; 
his hearing, with reproaches, and sight of his mother and disciples 
bemoaning him ; his soul, comfortless and forsaken ; and all this for 
those very sins that Satan paints and puts fine colours upon ! Oh ! 
how should the consideration of this stir up the soul against it, and 
work the soul to fly from it, and to use all holy means whereby sin 
may be subdued and destroyed I 1 

After Julius Caesar was murdered, Antonius brought forth his 
coat, all bloody and cut, and laid it before the people, saying, ' Look, 
here you have the emperor's coat thus bloody and torn :' whereupon 
the people were presently in an uproar, and cried out to slay those 
murderers ; and they took their tables and stools that were in the 
place, and set them on fire, and run to the houses of them that had 
slain Cassar, and burnt them. So that when we consider that sin 
hath slain our Lord Jesus, ah, how should it provoke our hearts to be 
revenged on sin, that hath murdered the Lord of glory, and hath done 
that mischief that all the devils in hell could never have done ? 2 

It was good counsel one gave, 'Never let go out of your minds the 
thoughts of a crucified Christ.' 3 Let these be meat and drink unto 
you ; let them be your sweetness and consolation, your honey and 
your desire, your reading and your meditation, your life, death, and 
resurrection. 

The third device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 

1 One of the Rabbins, when be read what bitter torments the Messias should suffer 
when lie came into the world, cried out, Yeniat Messias et ego non videam, i.e. Let the 
Messias come, but let not me see him! Dionysius being in Egypt at the time of 
Christ's suffering, and seeing an eclipse of the sun, and knowing it to be contrary to 
nature, cried out, Aul Deus naturae palitur, ant mundi machina. dissolvilur, Either the 
Cod of nature suffers, or the frame of the world will be dissolved. 

■ It is an excellent saying of Bernard, Quanlo pro nobis vilior, tanto nobis charior. 
The more vile Christ made himself for us, the more dear he ought to be to us. 

3 Nolo vivere sine vulnere cum te video vulneratum. my Cod ! as long as I see thy 
wounds, 1 will never live without wounds, said L'onaventura. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 19 

Device (3). By extenuating and lessening of sin. Ah ! saith Satan, 
it is but a little pride, a little worldliness, a little uncleanness, a little 
drunkenness, &c. As Lot said of Zoar, ' It is but a little one, and my 
soul shall live,' Gen. xix. 20. Alas I 1 saith Satan, it is but a very little 
sin that you stick so at. You may commit it without any danger to 
your soul. It is but a little one ; you may commit it, and yet your 
soul shall live. 

Now the remedies against this device of Satan are these : 
Remedy (1). First, Solemnly consider, That those sins which we 
are apt to account small, have brought upon men the greatest wrath 
of God, as the eating of an apple, gathering a few sticks on the 
Sabbath day, and touching of the ark. Oh ! the dreadful wrath that 
these sins brought down upon the heads and hearts of men! 2 The 
least sin is contrary to the law of God, the nature of God, the being of 
God, and the glory of God ; and therefore it is often punished severely 
by God ; and do not we see daily the vengeance of the Almighty 
falling upon the bodies, names, states, families, and souls of men, 
for those sins that are but little ones in their eyes ? Surely if we 
are not utterly left of God, and blinded by Satan, we cannot but see it. 
Oh ! therefore, when Satan says it is but a little one, do thou say, Oh ! 
but those sins that thou callest little, are such as will cause God to 
rain hell out of heaven upon sinners as he did upon the Sodomites. 
The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
Remedy (2). Seriously to consider, That the giving way to a less 
sin makes way for the committing of a greater. He that, to avoid a 
greater sin, will yield to a lesser, ten thousand to one but God in jus- 
tice will leave that soul to fall into a greater. If we commit one sin to 
avoid another, it is just we should avoid neither, we having not law 
nor power in our own hands to keep off sin as we please ; and we, by 
yielding to the lesser, do tempt the tempter to tempt us to the greater. 
Sin is of an encroaching nature ; it creeps on the soul bj 7 degrees, 
step by step, till it hath the soul to the very height of sin. 3 David 
gives way to his wandering eye, and this led him to those foul sins that 
caused God to break his bones, and to turn his day into night, and to 
leave his soul in great darkness. Jacob and Peter, and other saints, 
have found this true by woful experience, that the yielding to a lesser 
sin hath been the ushering in of a greater. The little thief will open 
the door, and make way for the greater, and the little wedge knocked 
in will make way for the greater. Satan will first draw thee to sit 
with the drunkard, and then to sip with the drunkard, and then at last 
to be drunk with the drunkard. He will first draw thee to be unclean 
in thy thoughts, and then to be unclean in thy looks, and then to 

1 Brooks uses ' alas' much as Sibbes does. Cf. glossary to each, sub voce. — G. 

2 Draco, the rigid lawgiver, being asked why, when sins were not equal, he appointed 
death to all, answered, he knew that all sins were not equal, but he knew the least 
deserved death. So, though the sins of men be not all equal, yet the least of them 
deserves eternal death. 

3 Ps. cxxxvii. 9, 'Happy shall be be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against 
the stones.' Hugo's gloss is pious, &c, Sit nihil in te Babylonicum, Let there be nothing 
in thee of Babylon ; not only the grown men, but the little ones must be dashed 
against the stones ; not only great sins, but little sins must be killed, or they will kill 
the soul for ever. 



•20 precious remedies [2 Cor. II. 11. 

be andean iu thy words, and at last to be unclean in thy practices. 
He will first draw thee to look upon the golden wedge, and then to 
like the golden wedge, and then to handle the golden wedge, and 
then at last by wicked ways to gain the golden wedge, though thou 
runnest the hazard of losing God and thy soul for ever ; as you may 
see in Gehazi, Achan, and Judas, and many in these our days. Sin 
is never at a stand: Ps. i. 1, first ungodly, then sinners, then scorners. 
Here they go on from sin to sin, till they come to the top of sin, viz. 
to sit in the seat of scorners, or as it is in the Septuagint — r&v aoi/aZ>v 
— to affect the honour of the chair of pestilence. 

Austin, writing upon John, tells a story of a certain man, that was 
of an opinion that the devil did make the fly, and not God. Saitli 
one to him, If the devil made flies, then the devil made w r orms, and God 
did not make them, for they are living creatures as well as flies. True, 
said he, the devil did make worms. But, said the other, if the devil 
did make worms, then he made birds, beasts, and man. He granted 
all. Thus, saitli Austin, by denying God in the fly, became to deny 
God in man, and to deny the whole creation. 1 

By all this we see, that the yielding to lesser sins, draws the soul to 
the committing of greater. 2 Ah ! how many in these days have 
fallen, first to have low thoughts of Scripture and ordinances, and 
then to slight Scripture and ordinances, and then to make a nose of wax 
of Scripture and ordinances, and then to cast off Scripture and ordi- 
nances, and then at last to advance and lift up themselves, and their 
Christ-dishonouring and soul-damning opinions, above Scripture and 
ordinances. Sin gains upon man's soul by insensible degrees : Eccles. 
x. 13, ' The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the 
end of his talking is mischievous madness/ Corruption in the heart, 
when it breaks forth, is like a breach in the sea, which begins in a nar- 
row passage, till it eat through, and cast down all before it. The 
debates of the soul are quick, and soon ended, and that may be done in 
a moment that may undo a man for ever. When "a man hath begun to 
sin, he knows not where, or when, or how he shall make a stop of sin. 
Usually the soul goes on from evil to evil, from folly to folly, till it be 
ripe for eternal misery. Men usually grow from being naught to be 
very naught, and from very naught to be stark naught, and then God 
sets them at nought for ever. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this third device that Satan 
hath to draw the soul to sin, is solemnly to consider, That it is sad to 
stand with God j \>r a trifle. Dives would not give a crumb, therefore he 
.should not receive a drop, Luke xvi. 21. It is the greatest folly in the 

1 An Italian having found his enemy at advantage, promised him if he would deny 
his faith, he would save his life. He, to save his life, denied his faith, which having 
done, he stahhed him, rejoicing that by this he had at one time taken revenge both on 
body and soul. [See authorities, Note 3, page 14 G.] 

2 A young man being long tempted to kill his father, or lie with his mother, or be 
drunk, he thought to yield to the lessor, viz. to be drunk, that he might be rid of the 
greater; but when he was drunk, he did both kill his father, and lie with his mother. 
[Related, with authorities, in Wanley's Wonders, book iv. c xviii. : probably a refer- 
ence to an extraordinary legend of Judas Iscariot. See Mrs Jameson's Sacred and 
Legendary Art, vol. i. p. 235 ; but cf. the old Italian legend of St John Chrysostom, 
ibid., p. 317.— G.] 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 2 J 

world to adventure the going to hell for a small matter. ' I tasted 
but a little honey,' said Jonathan, ' and I must die,' 1 Sam. xiv. 29. 
It is a most unkind and unfaithful thing to break with God for a 
little. Little sins carry with them but little temptations to sin, and 
then a man shews most viciousness and unkindness, when he sins on 
a little temptation. It is devilish to sin without a temptation ; it is 
little less than devilish to sin on a little occasion. The less the temp- 
tation is to sin, the greater is that sin. 1 Saul's sin in not staying for 
Samuel, was not so much in the matter, but it was much in the malice 
of it ; for though Samuel had not come at all, yet Saul should not 
have offered sacrifice ; but this cost him dear, his soul and kingdom. 

Tt is the greatest unkindness that can be shewed to a friend, to 
adventure the complaining, bleeding, and grieving of his soul upon a 
light and a slight occasion. So it is the greatest unkindness that can 
be shewed to God, Christ, and the Spirit, for a soul to put God upon 
complaining, Christ upon bleediug, and the Spirit upon grieving, by 
yielding to little sins. Therefore, when Satan says it is but a little one, 
do thou answer, that often times there is the greatest unkindness 
shewed to God's glorious majesty, in the acting of the least folly, and 
therefore thou wilt not displease thy best and greatest friend, by yield- 
ing to his greatest enemy. 

Remedy (-i). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan, is seri- 
ously to consider, That there is great danger, yea, many times most 
danger, in the smallest sins. 'A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump,' 
1 Cor. v. 6. If the serpent wind in his head, he will draw in his whole 
body after. Greater sins do sooner startle the soul, and awaken and 
rouse up the soul to repentance, than lesser sins do. Little sins often 
slide into the soul, and breed, and work secretly and undiscernibly 
in the soul, till they come to be so strong, as to trample upon the soul, 
and to cut the throat of the soul. There is oftentimes greatest danger 
to our bodies in the least diseases that hang upon us, because we are 
apt to make light of them, and to neglect the timely use of means 
for removing of them, till they are grown so strong that they prove 
mortal to us. So there is most danger often in the least sins. We are 
apt to take no notice of them, and to neglect those heavenly helps 
whereby they should be weakened and destroyed, till they are grown 
to that strength, that we are ready to cry out, the medicine is too 
weak for the disease ; I would pray, and I would hear, but I am afraid 
that sin is grown up by degrees to such a head, that I shall never be 
able to prevail over it ; but as I have begun to fall, so I shall utterly 
fall before it, and at last perish in it, unless the power and free grace 
of Christ doth act gloriously, beyond my present apprehension and 
expectation. The viper is killed by the little young ones that are 
nourished and cherished in her belly : so are many men eternally killed 
and betrayed by the little sins, as they call them, that are nourished 
in their own bosoms. 2 

1 It was a vexation to king Lysimachus, that his staying to drink one small draught 
of water lost him his kingdom ; and so it will eternally vex some souls at last that for 
one little sin, compared with great transgressions, they have lost God, heaven, and 
their souls for ever. [Plutarch. Cf. Bp. Jeremy Taylor, vol. iv. p. 457 (Eden).— G.] 

2 Caesar was stabbed with bodkins. Pope Adrian was choked with a gnat. A 



22 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

I know not, saith one, whether the maintenance of the least sin be 
nol worse than the commission of the greatest: for this may be of 
frailty, that argues obstinacy. A little hole in the ship sinks it; a 
small breach in a sea-bank carries away all before it; a little stab at 
the heart kills a man; and a little sin, without a great deal of mercy, 
will damn a man. 1 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan, is solemnly 
to consider, That other saints have chosen to suffer the worst of tor- 
ments, rather than they would commit the least sin, i. e. such as the 
world accounts.* So as you may see in Daniel and his companions, 
that would rather choose to burn, and be cast to the lions, than they 
would bow to the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. When this 
pecchaddillo,* in the world's account, and a hot fiery furnace stood in 
competition, that they must either fall into sin, or be cast into the 
fiery furnace, such was their tenderness of the honour and glory of 
God, and their hatred and indignation against sin, that they would 
rather burn than sin ; they knew that it was far better to burn for 
their not sinning, than that God and conscience should raise a hell, 
a fire in their bosoms for sin. 4 

I have read of that noble servant of God, Marcus Arethusius, minis- 
ter of a church in the time of Constantine, who in Constantine's time 
had been the cause of overthrowing an idol's temple ; afterwards, when 
Julian came to be emperor, he would force the people of that place 
to build it up again. They were ready to do it, but he refused ; where- 
upon those that were his own people, to whom he preached, took him, 
and stripped him of all his clothes, and abused his naked body, and 
gave it up to the children, to lance it with their pen-knives, and then 
caused him to be put in a basket, and anointed his naked body with 
honey, and set him in the sun, to be stung with wasps. And all this 
cruelty they shewed, because he would not do anything towards the 
building up of this idol temple ; nay, they came to this, that if he would 
do but the least towards it, if he would give but a halfpenny to it, 
they would save him. But he refused all, though the giving of a half- 
penny might have saved his live ; and in doing this, he did but live 
up to that principle that most Christians talk of, and all profess, but 
few come up to, viz., that we must choose rather to suffer the worst of 
torments that men and devils can invent and inflict, than to commit 
the least sin, whereby God should be dishonoured, our consciences 
wounded, religion reproached, and our own souls endangered. 

Bcorpion is little, yet able to sting a lion to death. A mouse is but little, yet killeth an 
elephant, if he gets up into his trunk. The leopard being great, is poisoned with a 
head of garlic. The smallest errors prove many times most dangerous. It is as much 
treason to coin pence as bigger pieces. 

1 One little miscarriage doth, in the eyes of the world, overshadow all a Christian's 
graces, as one cloud doth sometimes overshadow the whole body of the sun. 

* Melius mori fame quam Idolothytis vesci. — Augustine. It is better to die with 
hunger, than to eat that which is offered to idols. 

3 The early form of this at the time scarcely accepted word ; but the context indi- 
cates a reminiscence of Boskierus (Codrus Evang.), who uses the term and preceding 
illustrations of little sins. — G. 

* Many heathens would rather die than cozen or cheat one another, so faithful were 
they one to another. Will not these rise in judgment against many professors in theso 
days, who mako nothing of over- reaching one another? 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 23 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, seri- 
ously to consider, That the soul is never able to stand under the 
guilt and weight of the least sin, when God shall set it home upon 
the soul. The least sin will press and sink the stoutest sinner as low 
as hell, when God shall open the eyes of a sinner, and make him see 
the horrid filthiness and abominable vileness that is in sin. What so 
little, base, and vile creatures as lice or gnats, and yet by these little 
poor creatures, God so plagued stout-hearted Pharaoh, and all Egypt, 
that, fainting under it, they were forced to cry out, ' This is the finger 
of God,' Exod. viii. 16, x. 19. When little creatures, yea, the least 
creatures, shall be armed with a power from God, they shall press and 
sink down the greatest, proudest, and stoutest tyrants that breathe. 1 
So when God shall cast a sword into the hand of a little sin, and arm it 
against the soul, the soul will faint and fall under it. Some, who have 
but projected adultery, without any actual acting it ; and others, hav- 
ing found a trifle, and made no conscience to restore it, knowing, by 
the light of natural conscience, that they did not do as they would 
be done by ; and others, that have had some unworthy thought of God, 
have been so frightened, amazed, and terrified for those sins, which are 
small in men's account, that they have wished they had never been ; 
that they could take no delight in any earthly comfort, that they have 
been put to their wits' end, ready to make away themselves, wishing 
themselves annihilated. 2 

Mr Perkins mentions a good man, but very poor, who, being ready 
to starve, stole a lamb, and being about to eat it with his poor chil- 
dren, and as his manner was afore meat, to crave a blessing, durst not 
do it, but fell into a great perplexity of conscience, and acknow- 
ledged his fault to the owner, promising payment if ever he should be 
able. 

Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against this device is, solemnly 
to consider, That there is more evil in the least sin than in the 
greatest affliction; and this appears as clear as the sun, by the severe 
dealing of God the Father with his beloved Son, who let all the 
vials of his fiercest wrath upon him, and that for the least sin as well 
as for the greatest. 

' The wages of sin is death,' Rom. vi. 23 ; of sin indefinitely, whether 
great or small. 3 Oh ! how should this make us tremble, as much at 
the least spark of lust as at hell itself; considering that God the 
Father would not spare his bosom Son, no, not for the least sin, but 
would make him drink the dregs of his wrath ! 

And so much for the remedies that may fence and preserve our 
souls from being drawn to sin by this third device of Satan. 

1 The tyrant Maximinus, who had set forth his proclamation engraven in brass for 
the utter abolishing of Christ and his religion, was eaten of lice. [Maximinus II., 
Euseb. H. E. viii. 14, ix. 2, &c— G.] 

2 Una guttula malce conscientice totum mare mundani gaudii absorbet ; i. e. one drop of 
an evil conscience swallows up the whole sea of worldly joy. How great a pain, not to 
be borne, comes from the prick of this small thorn, said one. 

3 Death is the heir of the least sin ; the best wages that the least sin gives his 
soldiers is, death of all sorts. In a strict sense, there is no sin little, because no little 
God to sin against. 



24 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 1 1. 

The fourth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
Device (4). By presenting to the soul the best men's sins, and by 
hiding from the soul their virtues; by shewing the sold their sins, 
mil/ by hiding from the soul their sorrcnus and repentance : as by 
setting hefore the soul the adultery of David, the pride of Hezekiah, 
the impatience of Job, the drunkenness of Noah, the blasphemy of 
Peter, &&, and by hiding from the soul the tears, the sighs, the 
groans, the meltings, the humblings, aud repentings of these precious 
souls. 

Now, the remedies against this device of the devil are these : 
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of (Satan is, seri- 
ously to consider, That the Spirit of the Lord hath been as careful to 
note the saints' rising by repentance out of sin, as he hath to note 
their falling into sins. David falls fearfully, but by repentance he 
rises sweetly : ' Blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly from 
my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin ; for I acknowledge my trans- 
gressions, and my sin is ever before me. Purge me with hyssop, 
and I shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow; 
deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation.' 
It is true, Hezekiah's heart was lifted up under the abundance of 
mercy that God had cast in upon him; and it is as true that Heze- 
kiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, so that the wrath 
of the Lord came not upon him, nor upon Jerusalem, in the days of 
Hezekiah. It is true, Job curses the day of his birth, and it is as true 
that he rises by repentance : ' Behold, I am vile,' saith he ; ' what shall 
I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I 
spoken, but I will not answer; yea twice, but I will proceed no further. 
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye 
seeth thee ; wherefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes,' 
Job xl. 4, 5"; xlii. 5, 6. 1 Peter falls dreadfully, but rises by repent- 
ance sweetly ; a look of love from Christ melts hirn into tears. He 
knew that repentance was the key to the kingdom of grace. As once 
his faith was so great that he leapt, as it were, into a sea of waters to 
come to Christ; so now his repentance was so great that he leapt, as 
it were, into a sea of tears, for that he had gone from Christ. Some 
say that, after his sad fall, he was ever and anon weeping, and that 
his face was even furrowed with continual tears. He had no sooner 
took in poison but he vomited it up again, ere it got to the vitals ; 
he had no sooner handled this serpent but he turned it into a rod to 
scourge his soul with remorse for sinning against such clear light, and 
strong love, and sweet discoveries of the heart of Christ to him. 2 

Clement notes that Peter so repented, that all his life after, every 
night when he heard the cock crow, he would fall upon his knees, 
and, weeping bitterly, would beg pardon of his sin. 3 Ah, souls, you 
can easily sin as the saints, but can } r ou repent with the saints ! 

1 Tertullian saith that he was (nulli rei natus nisi pixnitenticc) born for no other pur- 
pose but to repent. 

8 Luther confesses that, before his conversion, ho met not with a more displeasing 
word in all his study of divinity than repent, but afterward he took delight in the word. 
J'cenitens de peccato dolet el de dolore gaudet, to sorrow for his Bin, and then to rejoice in 
his sorrow. 3 In Hefele's l'atrum Apostolicarum Opera. 1847. 8vo. — U. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 25 

Many can sin with David and Peter, that cannot repent with David 
and Peter, and so must perish for ever. 

Theodosius the emperor, pressing that he might receive the Lord's 
supper, excuses his own foul fact by David's doing the like ; to which 
Ambrose replies, Thou hast followed David transgressing, follow David 
repenting, and then think thou of the table of the Lord. 1 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That these saints did not make a trade of sin. 
They fell once or twice, and rose by repentance, that they might keep 
the closer to Christ for ever. They fell accidentally, occasionally, and 
with much reluctancy ; 2 and thou sinnest presumptuously, obstinately, 
readily, delightfully, and customarily. Thou hast, by thy making a 
trade of sin, contracted upon thy soul a kind of cursed necessity of sin- 
ning, that thou canst as well cease to be, or cease to live, as thou 
canst cease to sin. Sin is, by custom, become as another nature to 
thee, which thou canst not, which thou wilt not lay aside, though thou 
knowest that if thou dost not lay sin aside, God will lay thy soul 
aside for ever ; though thou knowest that if sin and thy soul do not 
part, Christ and thy soul can never meet. If thou wilt make a trade 
of sin, and cry out, Did not David sin thus, and Noah sin thus, and 
Peter sin thus 1 &c. No ; their hearts turned aside to folly one day, 
but thy heart turns aside to folly every day, 2 Peter ii. 14, Prov. iv. 
16 ; and when they were fallen, they rise by repentance, and by the 
actings of faith upon a crucified Christ; 3 but thou fallest, and hast no 
strength nor will to rise, but wallowest in sin, and wilt eternally die in 
thy sins, unless the Lord be the more merciful to thy soul. Dost thou 
think, soul ! this is good reasoning? Such a one tasted poison but 
once, and yet narrowly escaped ; but I do daily drink poison, yet 

1 shall escape. Yet such is the mad reasoning of vain souls. David 
and Peter, &c, sinned once foully and fearfully ; they tasted poison 
but once, and were sick to death ; but I taste it daily, and yet shall 
not taste of eternal death. Remember, O souls ! that the day is at 
hand when self-flatterers will be found self-deceivers, yea, self-mur- 
derers. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, seri- 
ously to consider, That though God doth not, nor never will, dis- 
inherit his people for their sins, yet he hath severely punished his 
people for their sins. David sins, and God breaks his bones for his 
sin : ' Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou 
hast broken may rejoice,' Ps. Ii. 8. ' And because thou hast done this,, 
the sword shall never depart from thy house, to the day of thy death,' 

2 Sam. xii. 10. Though God will not utterly take from them his 
loving-kindness, nor suffer his faithfulness to fail, nor break his cove- 
nant, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his mouth, yet will he 
1 visit their transgression with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes/ 

1 Theodoret, Hist. 1. iv. c. xvii. 

2 The saints cannot sin (voluntate plena sed semi-plena) with a whole will, hut, as it 
were, with a half will, an unwilling willingness ; not with a full consent, but with a 
dissenting consent. 

3 Though sin do (habitare) dwell in the regenerate, as Austin notes, yet it doth not 
(regnare) reign over the regenerate ; they rise by repentance. 



26 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

Ps. lxxxix. 30, 35. The Scripture abounds with instances of this 
kind. This is so known a truth among all that know anything of 
truth, that to cite more scriptures to prove it would be to light a candle 
to see the sun at noon. 1 

The Jews have a proverb, ' That there is no punishment comes 
upon Israel in which there is not one ounce of the golden calf;' mean- 
ing that that was so great a sin, as that in every plague God remem- 
bered it ; that it had an influence into every trouble that befell them. 
Every man's heart may say to him in his sufferings, as the heart of 
Apollodorus in the kettle, ' I have been the cause of this.' 2 God is 
most angry when he shews no anger. God keep me from this mercy ; 
this kind of mercy is worse than all other kind of misery. 

One writing to a dead friend hath this expression : ' I account it 
a part of unhappiness not to know adversity ; I judge you to be 
miserable, because you have not been miserable/ 3 It is mercy that our 
affliction is not execution, but a correction. 4 He that hath deserved 
hanging, may be glad if he scape with a whipping. God's corrections 
are our instructions, his lashes our lessons, his scourges our school- 
masters, his chastisements our advertisements ; 5 and to note this, both 
the Hebrews and the Greeks express chastening and teaching by one 
and the same word (Musar, Paideia 6 ), because the latter is the true 
end of the former, according to that in the proverb, ' Smart makes 
wit, and vexation gives understanding.' Whence Luther fitly calls 
affliction ' The Christian man's divinity.' 7 So saith Job (chap, xxxiii. 
14-19), ' God speaketh once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon 
men, in slumberings upon the bed ; then he openeth the ears of men, 
and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his pur- 
pose, and hide pride from man. He keepeth back his soul from the 
pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.' When Satan shall tell 
thee of other men's sins to draw thee to sin, do thou then think of 
the same men's sufferings to keep thee from sin. Lay thy hand upon 
thy heart, and say, O my soul ! if thou sinnest with David, thou 
must suffer with David, &c. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That there are but two main ends of God's 
recording of the falls of his saints. 

And the one is, to keep those from fainting, sinking, and despair, 
under the burden of their sins, who fall through weakness and infirmity. 

And the other is, that their falls may be as landmarks to warn others 
that stand, to take heed lest they fall. It never entered into the 

1 Josephu8 reports that, not long after the Jews had crucified Christ on the cross, so 
many of them wore condemned to be crucified, that there were not places enough for 
crosses, nor crosses enough for the bodies that were to be hung thereon. [The Jewish 
War and Antiq. — G.] ■ The tyrant of Cassandreia. — Q. 

3 Qui non est eruciatus non est Chrislianus, saith Luther, There is not a Christian 
that carries not his cross. 

4 Ps. xciv. 12 ; Frov. iii. 12, 13, 16 ; Obad. 6, 13 ; Isa. ix. 1, el scq. 

6 Admonitions. — G. 

c That is, "ID-10, Prov. iii. 11 ; and * a ,lu*, Ileb. xii. 6, 7, 8, 11— G. 

7 Theologium Christinuorum Afrlictiones Benedictiones, Afflictions are bless- 
ings — Bernard- 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 27 

heart of God to record his children's sins, that others might be 
encouraged to sin, but that others might look to their standings, and 
to hang the faster upon the skirts of Christ, and avoid all occasions 
and temptations that may occasion the soul to fall, as others have 
fallen, when they have been left by Christ. The Lord hath made 
their sins as landmarks, to warn his people to take heed how they 
come near those sands and rocks, those snares and baits, that have 
been fatal to the choicest treasures, to wit, the joy, peace, comfort, 
and glorious enjoyments of the bravest spirits and noblest souls that 
ever sailed through the ocean of this sinful troublesome world ; as 
you may see in David, Job, Peter, &c. There is nothing in the world 
that can so notoriously cross the grand end of God's recording of the 
sins of his saints, than for any from thence to take encouragement to 
sin ; and wherever yon find such a soul, you may write him Christless, 
graceless, a soul cast off by God, a soul that Satan hath by the hand, 
and the eternal God knows whither he will lead him. 1 

The fifth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
Device (5). To present God to the soul as one made up all of 
mercy. Oh ! saith Satan, you need not make such a matter of sin, 
you need not be so fearful of sin, not so unwilling to sin ; for God is a 
God of mercy, a God full of mercy, a God that delights in mercy, a 
God that is ready to shew mercy, a God that is never weary of 
shewing mercy, a God more prone to pardon his people than to punish 
his people ; and therefore he will not take advantage against the soul ; 
and why then, saith Satan, should you make such a matter of sin ? 
Now the remedies against this device of Satan are these : 
Remedy (1). The first remedy is, seriously to consider, That it is 
the sorest judgment in the world to be left to sin upon any pretence 
whatsoever. O unhappy man ! when God leaveth thee to thyself, 
and doth not resist thee in thy sins. 2 Woe, woe to him at whose sins 
God doth wink. When God lets the way to hell be a smooth and 
pleasant way, that is hell on this side hell, and a dreadful sign of God's 
indignation against a man ; a token of his rejection, and that God 
doth not intend good unto him. That is a sad word, ' Ephraim is 
joined to idols : let him alone,' Hosea iv. 17 ; he will be uncounsel- 
lable and incorrigible ; he hath made a match with mischief, he shall 
have his bellyful of it ; he falls with open eyes, let him fall at his 
own peril. And that is a terrible saying. ' So I gave them up unto 
their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in their own counsels,' Ps. 
lxxxi. 12. A soul given up to sin, is a soul ripe for hell, a soul 
posting to destruction. Ah Lord ! this mercy I humbly beg, that 
whatever thou givest me up to, thou wilt not give me up to the ways 
of my own heart ; if thou wilt give me up to be afflicted, or tempted, 
or reproached, &c, I will patiently sit down, and say, It is the Lord ; 
let him do with me what seems good in his own eyes. Do anything 

1 I have known a good man, saith Bernard, who, when he heard of any that .had 
committed some notorious sin, he was wont to say with himself, ' IUe hodie et ego eras,' 
he fell to-day, so may I to-morrow. 

a Humanum est peccare, diabolicum perseverare, et angelieum resurgere. — Avg\i.istine\ ; 
i.e. It is a human thing to fall into sin, a devilish to persevere therein, and an angeli- 
cal or supernatural to rise from it. 



28 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

with mc, lay what burden thou wilt upon me, so thou dost not give 
me up to the ways of my own heart. 1 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That God is as just as he is merciful. As the 
Scriptures speak him out to be a very merciful God, so they speak 
him out to be a very just God. Witness his casting the angels out 
of heaven, 2 Peter ii. 4-6, and his binding them in chains of dark- 
ness 2 till the judgment of the great day ; and witness his turning 
Adam out of paradise, his drowning of the old world, and his raining 
hell out of heaven upon Sodom ; and witness all the crosses, losses, 
sicknesses, and diseases, that be in the world ; and witness Tophet, 
that was prepared of old ; wituess his 'treasuring up of wrath against 
the day of wrath, unto the revelation of the just judgments of God ; 
but above all, witness the pouring forth of all his wrath upon his 
bosom Son, when he did bear the sins of his people, and cried out, 
' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' Mat. xxvii. 46. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That si7is against mercy will bring the greatest 
and sorest judgments upon mien's heads and hearts. Mercy is 
Alpha, Justice is Omega. David, speaking of these attributes, placeth 
mercy in the foreward, and justice in the rearward, saying, ' My song 
shall be of mercy and judgment/ Ps. ci. 1. When mercy is despised, 
then justice takes the throne. 4 God is like a prince, that sends not 
his army against rebels before he hath sent his pardon, and proclaimed 
it by a herald of arms : he first hangs out the white flag of mercy ; 
if this wins men in, they are happy for ever ; but if they stand out, 
then God will put forth his red flag of justice and judgment ;- if the 
one is despised, the other shall be felt with a witness. 5 

See this in the Israelites. He loved them and chose them when 
they were in their blood, and most unlovely. He multiplied them, not 
by means, but by miracle ; from seventy souls they grew in few years 
to six hundred thousand ; the more they were oppressed, the more they 
prospered. Like camomile, the more you tread it, the more you 
.spread it ; or to a palm-tree, the more it is pressed, the further it 
spreadeth ; or to fire, the more it is raked, the more it burnetii. Their 
mercies came in upon them like Job's messengers, one upon the neck 
of the other : He put off their sackcloth, and girded them with glad- 
ness, and ' compassed them about with songs of deliverance ;' he 
' carried them on the wings of eagles ;' he kept them 'as the apple of 
his eye,' &c. 6 But they, abusing his mercy, became the greatest 
objects of his wrath. As I know not the man that can reckon up 

1 A me, me salva Domine ; Deliver me, Lord, from that evil man myself. — Aug- 
\\istine\ 

■ God hanged them up in gihbets, as it were, that others might hear and fear, and 
do no more so wickedly. 8 Cf. Rom. ii. 5 ; but it is the sinner, not God. — G. 

* QuanCo gradus altior, tanto casus gravior ; the higher we are in dignity, the more 
grievous is our fall and misery. 

6 Dens tardus est ad iram, sed larditatem gravitate pcenai compensat ; God is slow to 
anger, but he recompenseth his slowness with grievousuess of punishment. If we 
nbuse mercy to serve our lust, then, in Salvian'a phrase, God will rain hell out of 
Leaven, rather than not visit fur such sins. 

6 Ps. xxxii. 7 ; Exod. six, 4 ; Deut. zxzii. 10. — G. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 29 

their mercies, so I know not the man that can sum up the miseries 
that are come upon them for their sins. For as our Saviour prophesied 
concerning Jerusalem, ' that a stone should not be left upon a stone,' 
so it was fulfilled forty years after his ascension, by Vespasian the 
emperor and his son Titus, who, having besieged Jerusalem, the Jews 
were oppressed with a grievous famine, in which their food was old 
shoes, old leather, old hay, and the dung of beasts. There died, partly 
of^the sword and partly of the famine, eleven hundred thousand of the 
poorer sort ; two thousand in one night were embowelled ; six thou- 
sand were burned in a porch of the temple ; the whole city was sacked 
and burned, and laid level to the ground ; and ninety-seven thousand 
taken captives, and applied to base and miserable service, as Eusebius 
and Josephus saith. 1 And to this day, in all parts of the world, are 
they not the off-scouring of the world ? None less beloved, and none 
more abhorred, than they. 2 

And so Capernaum, that was lifted up to heaven, was threatened to 
be thrown down to hell. No souls fall so low into hell, if they fall, 
as those souls that by a hand of mercy are lifted up nearest to heaven. 
You slight souls that are so apt to abuse mercy, consider this, that in 
the gospel days, the plagues that God inflicts upon the despisers and 
abusers of mercy are usually spiritual plagues ; as blindness of mind, 
hardness of heart, benumbedness of conscience, which are ten thousand 
times worse than the worst of outward plagues that can befall you. 
And therefore, though you may escape temporal judgments, yet you 
shall not escape spiritual judgments : ' How shall we escape, if neglect 
so great salvation V Heb. ii. 3, 3 saith the apostle. Oh ! therefore, when- 
ever Satan shall present God to the soul as one made up all of mercy, 
that he may draw thee to do wickedly, say unto him, that sins against 
mercy will bring upon the soul the greatest misery ; and therefore 
whatever becomes of thee, thou wilt not sin against mercy, &c. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan, is seri- 
ously to consider, That though God's general mercy be over all his 
works, yet his special mercy is confined to those that are divinely 
qualified* So in Exodus xxxiv. 6, 7, ' And the Lord passed by 
before me, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and 
gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keep- 
ing mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and 
that will by no means clear the guilty.' Exodus xx. 6, ' And shewing 
mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my command- 

1 Vespasian brake into their city at Kedron, where they took Christ, on the same 
feast day that Christ was taken; he whipped them where they whipped Christ; he sold 
twenty Jews for a penny, as they sold Christ for thirty pence. — S. Andr. Cat. [Sic in 
all editions; but qu. St Augustine, De Civitate Dei? — G.] 

2 Men are therefore worse, because they ought to be belter ; and shall be deeper in 
hell, because heaven was offered unto them ; but they would not. Ingmtia beneficia, 
flagitia, supplicia. Good turns aggravate unkindnesses, and men's offences are increased 
by their obligations. [Eusebius, Eccl Hist, sub Jerusal. Josephus, Jewish War, Book 
vi. 5, et alibi. — G.] 3 upiXvo-avTi;. Shift off, disregard. 

4 Augustus, in his solemn feasts, gave trifles to some, but gold to others that his 
heart was most set upon. So God, by a hand of general mercy, gives these — poor trifles 
— outward blessings, to those that he least loves ; but his gold, his special mercy, is 
only towards those that his heart is most set upon. 



SO PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

merits.' Ps. xxv. 10, 'All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, 
unto such as keep his covenant, and his testimonies.' Ps. xxxii. 10, 
' Many sorrows shall be to the wicked ; but ho that trusteth in the 
Lord, mercy shall compass him about.' Ps. xxxiii. 18, 'Behold, the 
eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in 
his mercy.' Ps. ciii. 11, 'For as the heaven is high above the earth, 
so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.' Ver. 17, 'But the 
mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that 
fear him.' When Satan attempts to draw thee to sin by presenting 
God as a God all made up of mercy, oh then reply, that though God's 
general mercy extend to all the works of his hand, yet his special 
mercy is confined to them that are divinely qualified, to them that love 
him and keep his commandments, to them that trust in him, that by 
hope hang upon him, and that fear him ; and that thou must be such 
a one here, or else thou canst never be happy hereafter ; thou must 
partake of his special mercy, or else eternally perish in everlasting 
misery, notwithstanding God's general mercy. 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That those that were once glorious on earth, and 
((re now triumphing in heaven, did look upon the mercy of God as 
the most powerful argument to preserve them from sin, and to fence 
their souls against sin, and not as an encouragement to sin. Ps. 
xxvi. 3-6, ' For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes, and I have 
walked in thy truth ; I have not sat with vain persons, neither will 
I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil- 
doers, and will not sit with the wicked.' So Joseph strengthens him- 
self against sin from the remembrance of mercy : ' How then can I,' 
saith he, ' do this great wickedness, and sin against God V Gen. xxxix. 
9. He had fixed his eye upon mercy, and therefore sin could not enter, 
though the irons entered into his soul ; his soul being taken with 
mercy, was not moved with his mistress's impudence. Satan knocked 
oft at the door, but the sight of mercy would not suffer him to answer 
or open. Joseph, like a pearl in a puddle, keeps his virtue still. 1 So 
Paul, ' Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? Gud forbid. 
How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein V Rom. vi. 1,2. 
There is nothing in the world that renders a man more unlike to a saint, 
and more like to Satan, than to argue from mercy to sinful liberty ; 
from divine goodness to licentiousness. This is the devil's logic, and 
in whomsoever you find it, you may write, ' This soul is lost.' A man 
may as truly say, the sea burns, or fire cools, as that free grace and 
mercy should make a soul truly gracious to do wickedly. So the 
same apostle, ' I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of 
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable 
unto God, which is your reasonable service,' Rom. xii. 1. So John, 
' These things I write unto you, that ye sin not/ 1 John ii. 1, 2. What 
was it that he wrote? He wrote, 'That we might have fellowship with 
the Father and his Son ; and that the blood of Christ cleanseth us 

1 The stone called Ponlaurus, is of that virtue, that it preserves him that carries it 
from taking any hurt by poison. The mercy of God in Christ to our souls is the most 
precious stone or pearl in the world, to prevent us from being poisoned with sin. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 31 

from all sin, and that if we confess our sin, he is just and faithful to 
forgive us our sins ; and that if we do sin, we have an advocate with 
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' These choice favours and 
mercies the apostle holds forth as the choicest means to preserve the 
soul from sin, and to keep at the greatest distance from sin ; and if 
this won't do it, you may write the man void of Christ and grace, and 
undone for ever. 

The sixth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 

Device (6). 'By persuading the soul that the work of repentance is 
an easy ivork, and that therefore the soul need not make such a matter 
of sin. Why ! Suppose you do sin, saith Satan, it is no such diffi- 
cult thing to return, and confess, and be sorrowful, and beg pardon, and 
cry, 'Lord, have mercy upon me;' and if you do but this, God will 
cut the score, 1 and pardon your sins, and save your souls, &c. 

By this device Satan draws many a soul to sin, and makes many 
millions of souls servants or rather slaves to sin, &c. 

Now, the remedies against this device of Satan are these that 
follow : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy is, seriously to consider, That re- 
pentance is a mighty work, a difficult work, a work that is above our 
power. There is no power below that power that raised Christ from 
the dead, and that made the world, that can break the heart of a sin- 
ner or turn the heart of a sinner. Thou art as well able to melt ada- 
mant, as to melt thine own heart ; to turn a flint into flesh, as to turn 
thine own heart to the Lord ; to raise the dead and to make a world, 
as to repent. Repentance is a flower that grows not in nature's garden. 
' Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then 
may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil/ Jer. xiii. 23. 
Repentance is a gift that comes down from above. 2 Men are not born 
with repentance in their hearts, as they are born with tongues in 
their mouths : 3 Acts v. 31, ' Him hath God exalted with his right 
hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, 
and forgiveness of sins.' So in 2 Tim. ii. 25, ' In meekness instruct- 
ing them that oppose themselves ; if God peradventure will give them 
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth/ It is not in the power 
of any mortal to repent at pleasure. 4 Some ignorant deluded souls 
vainly conceit that these five words, 'Lord! have mercy upon me,' 
are efficacious to send them to heaven ; but as many are undone by 
buying a counterfeit jewel, so many are in hell by mistake of their 
repentance. Many rest in their repentance, though it be but the 
shadow of repentance, which caused one to say, ' Repentance damneth 
more than sin.' 

1 The reference is to the ' scored ' or notched sticks by which debt accounts were 
recorded anciently. — G. 

2 Fallen man hath lost (imperium suum and imperium sui) the command of himself, 
and the command of the creatures. And certainly he that cannot command himself 
cannot repent of himself. 

3 Da pcenitentiam et postea indulgentiam, said dying Fulgentius. 

4 it was a vain brag of king Cyrus, that caused it to be written upon his tombstone, 
Tiivra. vrotiTv 1vii.f4.ni, 1 could do all things ; so could Paul too, but it was ' through 
Christ, which strengthened him.' [Of. Arrian vi. 29 : Plutarch, Alexander, 69. — G.] 



32 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider of the nature of true repentance. Repentance 
is some other tiling than what vain men conceive. 1 

Repentance is sometimes taken, in a more strict and narrow sense, 
for godly sorrow ; sometimes repentance is taken, in a large sense, for 
amendment of life. Repentance hath in it three things, viz. : 

The act, subject, terms. 

(1.) The formal act of repentance is a changing and converting. 
It is often set forth in Scripture by turning. ' Turn thou me, and I 
shall be turned,' saith Ephraim ; 'after that 1 was turned, I repented,' 
saith he, Jer. xxxi. 18. It is a turning from darkness to light. 

(2.) The subject changed and converted, is the whole man ; it is 
both the sinner's heart and life : first his heart, then his life ; first 
his person, then his practice and conversation. ' Wash ye, make you 
clean,' there is the change of their persons ; ' Put away the evil of 
your doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil, learn to do well,' 
Isa. i. 16 ; there is the change of their practices. So ' Cast away,' 
saith Ezekiel, 'all your trausgresssions whereby you have transgressed ;' 
there is the change of the life ; ' and make you a new heart and a new 
spirit,' xviii. 30 ; there is the change of the heart, 

(3.) The terms of this change and conversion, from, which and to 
which both heart and life must be changed ; from sin to God. The 
heart must be changed from the state and power of sin, the life from 
the acts of sin, but both unto God ; the heart to be under his power 
in a state of grace, the life to be under his rule in all new obedience ; 
as the apostle speaks, ' To open their eyes, and to turn them from 
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,' Acts 
xxvi. 18. So the prophet Isaiah saith, ' Let the wicked forsake their 
ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto 
the Lord,' lv. 7. 

Thus much of the nature of evangelical repentance. Now, souls, 
tell me whether it be such an easy thing to repent, as Satan doth 
suggest. Besides what hath been spoken, I desire that you will take 
notice, that repentance doth include turning from the most darling 
sin. Ephraim shall say, ' What have I to do any more with idols V 
Hosea xiv. 8. Yea, it is a turning from all sin to God : Ezek. xviii. 30, 
' Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one of you ac- 
cording to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn your- 
selves from 3 7 our transgresssons ; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 

1 The Hebrew word for repentance is rOlEM"!, from 31C, which signifies to return, 
implying a going back from what a man had done. It notes a turning or converting 
from one thing to another, from sin to God. The Greeks have two words by which 
they express the nature of repentance, one is ptTttpikw, which signifies to be careful, 
anxious, solicitous, after a thing is done ; the other word, ftiravoiu, is resipiscentia, after- 
wit, or after-wisdom, the mind's recovering of wisdom, or growing wiser after our folly. 
Ab. uvoict dementia, et fara post, it being the correction of men's folly, and returning ad 
sanam mentem. True repentance is a thorough change both of the mind and manners ; 
optima et opt issinn I'tTnitentia est nova vita, saith Luther, which saying is an excellent 
saying. Repentance for sin is nothing worth without repentance from .sin. If thou 
repentest with a contradiction, saith Tertullian, God will pardon thee with a contra- 
diction ; if thou repentest and yet continuest in thy sin, God will pardon thee, and yet 
send thee to hell ; there is a pardon with a contradiction. Negative goodness serves no 
man's turn to save him from the axe. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 33 

Herod turned from many, but turned not from his Herodias, which 
was his ruin. Judas turned from all visible wickedness, yet he would 
not cast out that golden devil covetousness, and therefore was cast 
into the hottest place in hell. He that turns not from every sin, turns 
not aright from any one sin. Every sin strikes at the honour of God, 
the being of God, the glory of God, the heart of Christ, the joy of the 
Spirit, and the peace of a man's conscience; and therefore a soul truly 
penitent strikes at all, hates all, conflicts with all, and will labour to 
draw strength from a crucified Christ to crucify all. A true penitent 
knows neither father nor mother, neither right eye nor right hand, 
but will pluck out the one and cut off the other. Saul spared but 
one Agag, and that cost him his soul and his kingdom, 1 Sam. xv. 9. 
Besides, repentance is not only a turning from all sin, but also a turn- 
ing to all good ; to a love of all good, to a prizing of all good, and to a 
following after all good : Ezek. xviii. 21, ' But if the wicked will turn 
from all the sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, 
and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall 
not die ;' that is, only negative righteousness and holiness is no right- 
eousness nor holiness. 1 David fulfilled all the will of God, and had 
respect unto all his commandments, and so had Zacharias and Eliza- 
beth. It is not enough that the tree bears not ill fruit ; but it must 
bring forth good fruit, else it must be ' cut down and cast into the 
fire,' Luke xiii. 7. So it is not enough that you are not thus and thus 
wicked, but you must be thus and thus gracious and good, else divine 
justice will put the axe of divine vengeance to the root of your souls, 
and cut you off for ever. ' Every tree that bringeth not forth good 
fruit is hewed down and cast into the fire/ Mat. iii. 1 0. Besides, re- 
pentance doth include a sensibleness of sin's sinfulness, how opposite 
and contrary it is to the blessed God. God is light, sin is darkness ; 
God is life, sin is death ; God is heaven, sin is hell ; God is beauty, 
sin is deformity. 

Also true repentance includes a sensibleness of sin's mischievous- 
ness ; how it cast angels out of heaven, and Adam out of paradise ; 
how it laid the first corner stone in hell, and brought in all the 
curses, crosses, and miseries, that be in the world ; and how it makes 
men liable to all temporal, spiritual, and eternal wrath ; how it hath 
made men Godless, Christless, hopeless, and heavenless. 

Further, true repentance doth include sorrow for sin, contrition of 
heart. It breaks the heart with sighs, and sobs, and groans, for that 
a loving God and Father is by sin offended, a blessed Saviour afresh 
crucified, and the sweet comforter, the Spirit, grieved and vexed. 

Again, repentance doth include, not only a loathing of sin, but also 
a loathing of ourselves for sin. As a man doth not only loathe poison, 
but he loathes the very dish or vessel that hath the smell of the poison ; 
so a true penitent doth not only loathe his sin, but he loathes himself, 

1 It is said of Ithacus, that the hatred of the Priscilian heresy was all the virtue that 
he had. The evil servant did not riot out his talent, Mat. xxv. 18. Those reprobates, 
Mat. xxiii. 2, robbed not the saints, but relieved them not ; for this they must eternally 
perish. 

VOL. I. C 



34 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

the vessel that smells of it ; so Ezek. xx. 43, ' And there shall ye re- 
member your ways and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled ; 
and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that 
ye have committed.' True repentance will work your hearts, not only 
to loathe your sins, but also to loathe yourselves. 1 

Again, true repentance doth not only work a man to loathe himself 
for his sins, but it makes him ashamed of his sin also : ' What fruit 
have ye of those things whereof ye are now ashamed?' saith the 
apostle, Rom. vi. 21. So Ezekiel, 'And thou shalt be confounded, 
and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I 
am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord 
God,' xxxvi. 32. When a penitential soul sees his sins pardoned, the 
anger of God pacified, the divine justice satisfied, then he sits down 
and blushes, as the Hebrew hath it, as one ashamed. Yea, true re- 
pentance doth work a man to cross his sinful self, and to walk con- 
trary to sinful self, to take a holy revenge upon sin, as you may see 
in Paul, the jailor, Mary Magdalene, and Manasseh. This the apostle 
shews in 2 Cor. vii. 10, 11: 'For godly sorrow worketh repentance 
never to be repented of ; but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 
For behold the self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, 
what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, 
yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, 
what zeal, yea, what revenge.' 2 Now, souls, sum up all these things 
together, and tell me whether it be such an easy thing to repent as 
Satan would make the soul to believe, and I am confident your heart 
will answer that it is as hard a thing to repent as it is to make a 
world, or raise the dead. 

I shall conclude this second remedy with a worthy saying of a pre- 
cious holy man : ' Repentance,' saith he, ' strips us stark naked of all 
the garments of the old Adam, and leaves not so much as a shirt be- 
hind.' In this rotten building it leaves not a stone upon a stone. As 
the flood drowned Noah's own friends and servants, so must the flood 
of repenting tears drown our sweetest and most profitable sins. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is seri- 
ously to consider, That repentance is a continued act. The word 
repent implies the continuation of it. 3 True repentance inclines a 
man's heart to perform God's statutes always, even unto the end. A 
true penitent must go on from faith to faith, from strength to strength ; 
he must never stand still nor turn back. Repentance is a grace, and 
must have its daily operation as well as other graces. True repent- 
ance is a continued spring, where the waters of godly sorrow are 

1 True repentance is a sorrowing for sin, as it is offensivum Dei, aversivum a Deo. 
This both comes from God, and drives a man to God, as it did the church in the 
Canticles, and the prodigal : Ezek. xiii. 22, 23. 

2 Quantum displicet Deo immunditia peccati, in tantum placet Deo erubescentia 
pcenitentis. — Ber\nard~\: i. e. So much the more God hath been displeased with the 
blackness of sin, the more will he bo pleased with the blushing of the sinner. They 
that do not bum now in zeal against sin, must ere long burn in hell for sin. 

s Anselm in his Meditations confesseth, that all his life was either damnable for sin 
committed, or unprofitable for good omitted ; at last concludes, Quid restat, peccalor, 
nisi tit in tota vita tua dqdores totam vitam tuam, Oh, what then remains but in our whole 
life to lament the sins of our whole life. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 35 

always flowing : ' My sins are ever before me,' Ps. li. 3. A true peni- 
tent is often casting his eyes back to the days of his former vanity, 
and this makes him morning and evening to ' water his coach with 
his tears.' ' Remember not against me the sins of my youth,' saith 
one blessed penitent ; and ' I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, 
and injurious,' saith another penitent. 1 Repentance is a continued act 
of turning, a repentance never to be repented of, a turning never to 
turn again to folly. A true penitent hath ever something within him 
to turn from ; he can never get near enough to God ; no, not so near 
him as once he was ; and therefore he is still turning and turning that 
he may get nearer and nearer to him, that is his chiefest good and his 
only happiness, optimum maximum, the best and the greatest. 2 They 
are every day a-crying out, ' O wretched men that we are, who shall 
deliver us from this body of death !' Rom. vii. 24 They are still sen- 
sible of sin, and still conflicting with sin, and still sorrowing for sin, 
and still loathing of themselves for sin. Repentance is no transient 
act, but a continued act of the soul. And tell me, O tempted soul, 
whether it be such an easy thing as Satan would make thee believe, 
to be every day a-turning more and more from sin, and a-turning 
nearer and nearer to God, thj choicest blessedness. A true penitent 
can as easily content himself with one act of faith, or one act of love, 
as he can content himself with one act of repentance. 

A Jewish Rabbi, pressing the practice of repentance upon his dis- 
ciples, exhorting them to be sure to repent the day before they died, 
one of them replied, that the day of any man's death was very uncer- 
tain. ' Repent, therefore, every day,' said the Rabbi, ' and then you 
shall be sure to repent the day before you die/ You are wise, and 
know how to apply it to your own advantage. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is 
solemnly to consider, That if the work of repentance were such an 
easy work as Satan would make it to be, then certainly so many 
would not lie roaring and crying out of tvrath and eternal ruin 
under the horrors and terrors of conscience, for not repenting ; 
yea, doubtless, so many millions would not go to hell for not repent- 
ing, if it were such an easy thing to repent. 3 Ah, do not poor souls 
under horror of conscience cry out and say, Were all this world a lump 
of gold, and in our hand to dispose of, we would give it for the least 
drachm of true repentance ! and wilt thou say it is an easy thing to 
repent ? When a poor sinner, whose conscience is awakened, shall 
judge the exchange of all the world for the least drachm of repent- 
ance to be the happiest exchange that ever sinner made, tell me, O 
soul, is it good going to hell ? Is it good dwelling with the devouring 
fire, with everlasting burnings ? Is it good to be . for ever separated 

1 Ps. vi. 6, xxv. 7, 1 Tim. i. 13.— G. 

2 It is truly said of God, that he is Omnia super omnia. 

3 If thou be backward in the thoughts of repentance, be forward in the thoughts of 
hell, the flames whereof only the streams of the penintent eye can extinguish. — Tertul- 
[lian\. Oh, how shalt thou tear and rend thyself! how shalt thou lament fruitless 
repenting ! What wilt thou say? Woe is me, that I have not cast off the burden of 
sin ; woe is me, that I have not washed away my spots, but am now pierced with 
mine iniquities ; now have I lost the surpassing joy of angels ! — Basil. 



:; ; precious remedies [2 Cor. II. 11. 

from tin 1 blessed and glorious presence of God, angels, and saints, and. 
to be for ever shut out from those good things of eternal life, which 
are so many, that they exceed number; so great, that they exceed 
measure; so precious, that they exceed all estimation ? We know it 
Lb the greatest misery that can befall the sons of men; and would they 
not prevent this by repentance, if it were such an easy thing to repent 
as Satan would have it? Well, then, do not run the hazard of losing 
(iod, Christ, heaven, and thy soul for ever, by hearkening to this de- 
vice of Satan, viz., that it is an easy thing to repent, &c. If it be so 
easy, why, then, do wicked men's hearts so rise against them that 
press the doctrine of repentance in the sweetest way, and by the 
strongest and the choicest arguments that the Scripture doth afford ? 
And why do they kill two at once : the faithful labourer's name and 
their own souls, by their wicked words and actings, because they are 
put upon repenting, which Satan tells them is so easy a thing ? Surely, 
were repentance so easy, wicked, men would not be so much enraged 
when that doctrine is, by evangelical considerations, pressed upon 
them. 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is seri- 
ously to consider, That to repent of sin is as great a ivork of (/race 
as not to sin. 1 By our sinful falls the powers of the soul are weakened, 
the strength of grace is decayed, our evidences for heaven are blotted, 
fears and doubts in the soul are raised (will God once more pardon 
this scarlet sin, and shew mercy to this wretched soul ?), and corrup- 
tions in the heart are more advantaged and confirmed ; and the con- 
science of a man after falls is the more enraged or the more benumbed. 
Now for a soul, notwithstanding all this, to repent of his falls, this 
shews that it is as great a work of grace to repent of sin as it is not 
to sin. Repentance is the vomit of the soul ; and of all physic, none 
so difficult and hard as it is to vomit. The same means that tends to 
preserve the soul from sin, the same means works the soul to rise by 
repentance when it is fallen into sin. We know the mercy and loving- 
kindness of God is one special means to keep the soul from sin ; as 
David spake, ' Thy loving-kindness is always before mine eyes, and I 
have walked in thy truth, and I have not sat with vain persons, nei- 
ther will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of 
evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked/ Ps. xxvi. 3-5. So by the 
same means the soul is raised by repentance out of sin, as you may 
see in Mary Magdalene, who loved much, and wept much, because 
much was forgiven her, Luke vii. 37-39, &c. So those in Hosea, 
1 Come, let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn, and he will 
heal ; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days he 
will revive us, in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live 
in his sight, or before his face,' Hos. vi. 1, 2 ; as the Hebrew [v:a^] 
hath it, i.e. in his favour. Confidence in God's mercy and love, that 
he would heal them, and laud up their wounds, and revive their de- 
jected spirits, and cause them to live in his favour, was that which 
did work their hearts to repent and return unto him. 

1 Yet it is Letter to be kepi from sin than cured of sin by repentance, as it is Letter 
for a man to be preserved from a disease tb.au to be cured of the disease. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 37 

I might further shew you this truth iu many other particulars, but 
this may suffice : only remember this m the general, that there is 
as much of the power of God, and love of God, and faith in God, and 
fear of God, and care to please God, zeal for the glory of God, 2 Cor. 
vii. 11, requisite to work a man to repent of sin, as there is to keep a 
man from sin ; by which you may easily judge, that to repent of sin 
is as great a work as not to sin. And now tell me, O soul, is it an 
easy thing not to sin ? We know then certainly it is not an easy 
thing to repent of sin. 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, seri- 
ously to consider, Tltat he that now tempts thee to sin 'upon this ac- 
count, that repentance is easy, will, ere long, to ivork thee to despair, 
and for ever to break the neck of thy soul, present repentance as the 
diffcidtest and hardest work in the world ; and to this purpose he 
will set thy sins in order before thee, and make them to say, ' We are 
thine, and we must follow thee.' 1 Now, Satan will help to work the 
soul to look up, and see God angry ; and to look inward, and to see 
conscience accusing and condemning ; and to look downwards, and 
see hell's mouth open to receive the impenitent soul : and all this to 
render the work of repentance impossible to the soul. What, saith 
Satan, dost thou think that that is easy which the- whole power of 
grace cannot conquer while we are in this world ? Is it easy, saith 
Satan, to turn from some outward act of sin to which thou hast been 
addicted ? Dost thou not remember that thou hast often complained 
against such and such particular sins, and resolved to leave them ? 
and yet, to this hour, thou hast not, thou canst not ? What will it 
then be to turn from every sin ? Yea, to mortify and cut off those 
sins, those darling lusts, that are as joints and members, that be as 
right hands and right eyes ? Hast thou not loved thy sins above thy 
Saviour? Hast thou not preferred earth before heaven? Hast thou 
not all along neglected the means of grace ? and despised the offers 
of grace ? and vexed the Spirit of grace 1 There would be no end, it 
I should set before thee the infinite evils that thou hast committed, 
and the innumerable good services that thou hast omitted, and the 
frequent checks of thy own conscience that thou hast contemned ; and 
therefore thou mayest well conclude that thou canst never repent, 
that thou shalt never repent. Now, saith Satan, do but a little con- 
sider thy numberless sins, and the greatness of thy sins, the foulness ot 
thy sins, the heinousness of thy sins, the circumstances of thy sins, and 
thou shalt easily see that those sins that thou thoughtest to be but 
motes, are indeed mountains ; and is it not now in vain to repent of 
them ? Surely, saith Satan, if thou shouldest seek repentance ami 

1 Beda tells of a certain great man that was admonished in his sickness to repent, who 
answered that he would not repent yet ; for if he should recover, his companions would 
laugh at him ; hut, growing sicker and sicker, his friends pressed him again to repent, 
hut then he told them it was too late. Quia jam judicatus sum et condemnatus : For 
now, said he, I am judged and condemned. 

As one Lamachus, a commander, said to one of his soldiers that was brought before 
him for a misbehaviour, who pleaded he would do so no more, saith he, Non licet in 
hello bis peccare, no man must offend twice in war ; so God will not suffer men often to 
neglect the day of grace. 



38 PRECIOUS REMEDIKS [2 COR. II. 11. 

grace with tears, as Esau, thou shalt not find it ; thy glass is out, thy 
sun is set, the door of mercy is shut, the golden sceptre is taken in, 
and now thou that hast despised mercy, shalt be for ever destroyed 
by justice. For such a wretch as thou art to attempt repentance, is 
to attempt a thing impossible. It is impossible that thou, that in all 
thy life couldst never conquer one sin, shouldst master such a number- 
less number of sins ; which are so near, so dear, so necessary, and so 
profitable to thee, that have so long bedded and boarded with thee, 
that have been old acquaintance and companions with thee. Hast 
thou not often purposed, promised, vowed, and resolved to enter upon 
the practice of repentance, but to this day couldst never attain it ? 
Surely it is in vain to strive against the stream, where it is so impos- 
sible to overcome ; thou art lost and cast for ever ; to hell thou must, 
to hell thou shalt. Ah, souls ! he that now tempts you to sin, by 
suggesting to you the easiness of repentance, will at last work you to 
despair, and present repentance as the hardest work in all the world, 
and a work as far above man as heaven is above hell, as light is above 
darkness. Oh that you were wise, to break off your sins by timely 
repentance. ! 

Now the seventh device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
Device (7). By making the soul bold to venture upon the occasions 
of sin. Saith Satan, You may walk by the harlot's door, though you 
won't go into the harlot's bed ; you may sit and sup with the drunkard, 
though you won't be drunk with the drunkard ; you may look upon 
Jezebel's beauty, and you may play and toy with Delilah, though you 
do not commit wickedness with the one or the other ; you may with 
Achan handle the golden wedge, though you do not steal the golden 
wedge, &c. 

Now the remedies against this device of the devil are these : 
Remedy (1). The first remedy is, solemnly to dwell upon those 
scriptures that do expressly command us to avoid the occasions of 
sin, and the least appearance of evil : 1 Thes. v. 22, ' Abstain from 
all appearance of evil/ Whatsoever is heterodox, unsound, and un- 
savoury, shun it, as you would do a serpent in your way, or poison in 
your meat. 2 

Theodosius tare the Arian's arguments presented to him in writing, 
because he found them repugnant to the Scriptures ; and Austin 
retracted even ironies only, because they had the appearance of lying. 
When God had commanded the Jews to abstain from swine's flesh, 
they would not so much as name it, but in their common talk would 
call a sow another thing. To abstain from all appearance of evil, is to 
do nothing wherein sin appears, or which hath a shadow of sin. Bernard 
glosseth finely, ' Whatever is of evil show, 3 or of ill report, that he may 
neither wound conscience nor credit.' We must shun and be shy 
of the very show and shadow of sin, if either we tender our credit 
abroad, or our comfort at home. 

1 Repentance is a work that must be timely done, or utterly undone for ever. Aut 
pmnitendum aut pereundum. 

1 Epiphanius saith that in the old law, when any dead body was carried by any 
house, they were enjoined to shut their doors and windows. 

J Quicquid est male coloratum. 



2 COR. II. 11.] AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 39 

It was good counsel that Livia gave her husband Augustus : ' It 
behoveth thee not only not to do wrong, but not to seem to do so,' &c. : 
so Jude 23, ' And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, 
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.' It is a phrase taken 
from legal uncleanness, which was contracted by touching the houses, 
the vessels, the garments, of unclean persons. 1 Under the law, men 
might not touch a menstruous cloth, nor God would not accept of 
a spotted peace-offering. So we must not only hate and avoid gross 
sins, but everything that may carry a savour or suspicion of sin ; 
we must abhor the very signs and tokens of sin. So in Prov. v. 8, 
'Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her 
house.' He that would not be burnt, must dread the fire ; he that 
would not hear the bell, must not meddle with the rope. 2 To ven- 
ture upon the occasion of sin, and then to pray, * Lead us not into 
temptation,' is all one as to thrust thy finger into the fire, and then 
to pray that it might not be burnt So, in Prov. iv. 14, 15, you have 
another command : ' Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go 
not in the way of evil men : avoid it, and pass not by it, turn from it, 
and pass away.' This triple gradation of Solomon sheweth with a 
great emphasis, how necessary it is for men to flee from all appear- 
ance of sin, as the seaman shuns sands and shelves, and as men shun 
those that have the plague-sores running upon them. As weeds do 
endanger the corn, as bad humours do endanger the blood, or as an 
infected house doth endanger the neighbourhood ; so doth the company 
of the bad endanger those that are good. Entireness 3 with wicked 
cousorts is one of the strongest chains of hell, and binds us to a par- 
ticipation of both sin and punishment. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That ordinarily there is no conquest over sin, 
without the soul tvrns from the occasion of sin. It is impossible for 
that man to get the conquest of sin, that plays and sports with the 
occasions of sin. God will not remove the temptation, except you 
turn from the occasion. It is a just and righteous thing with God, 
that he should fall into the pit, that will adventure to dance upon 
the brink of the pit, and that he should be a slave to sin, that will not 
flee from the occasions of sin. As long as there is fuel in our hearts 
for a temptation, we cannot be secure. He that hath gunpowder 
about him had need keep far enough off from sparkles. To rush upon 
the occasions of sin, is both to tempt ourselves, and to tempt Satan to 
tempt our souls. It is very rare that any soul plays with the occasions 
of sin, but that soul is ensnared by sin. 4 It is seldom that God keeps 
that soul from the acts of sin, that will not keep off from the occasions 
of sin. He that adventures upon the occasions of sin is as he that 
would quench the fire with oil, which is a fuel to maintain it, and 

1 Socrates speaks of two young men that flung away their belts, when, being in an 
idol's temple, the lustrating water fell upon them, detesting, saith the historian, the 
garment spotted by the flesh. [The ecclesiastical historian, not the philosopher. — G.] 

2 One said, As oft as I have been among vain men, I returned home less a man than 
I was before. 3 Friendship. — G. 

4 The fable saith, that the butterfly asked the owl how she should deal with the fire 
which had singed her wings, who counsels her not to behold so much as its smoke. 



40 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

increase it. Ah, souls, often remember Low frequently you have been 
overcome by sin, when you have boldly gone upon the occasions of 
sin ; look back, souls, to the day of your vanity, wherein you have 
been as easily conquered as tempted, vanquished as assaulted, when 
you have played with the occasions of sin. As you would lor the 
future bo kept from the acting of sin, and be made victorious over sin, 
oh ! flee from the occasions of sin. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That other 'precious saints, that were once glorious 
on earth, and arc now triumphing in heaven, have turned from 
the occasion of sin, as hell itself; as you may see in Joseph, Gen. 
xxxix. 10, 'And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, 
that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.' 1 
Joseph was famous for all the four cardinal virtues, if ever any wore. 
In this one temptation you may see his fortitude, justice, temperance, 
and prudence, in that he shuns the occasion: for he would not so 
much as be with her. And that a man is indeed, that he is in a 
temptation, which is but a tap to give vent to corruption. The 
Nazarite might not only not drink wine, but not taste a grape, or 
the husk of a grape. The leper was to shave his hair, and pare his 
nails. The devil counts a fit occasion half a conquest, for he knows 
that corrupt nature hath a seed-plot for all sin, which being drawn 
forth and watered by some sinful occasion, is soon set a- work to the 
producing of death and destruction. God will not remove the tempta- 
tion, till we remove the occasion. A bird whiles aloft is safe, but 
she comes not near the snare without danger. The shunning the 
occasions of sin renders a man most like the best of men. A soul 
eminently gracious, dares not come near the train, though he be far 
off the blow. So Job xxxi. 1, ' I have made a covenant with mine eyes ; 
Avhy then should I think upon a maid ? ' 2 I set a watch at the entrance 
of my senses, that my soul might not by them be infected or en- 
dangered. The eye is the window of the soul, and if that should be 
always open, the soul might smart for it. A man may not look 
intently upon that, that lie may not love entirely. The disciples were 
set a-gog, by beholding the beauty of the temple. It is best and safest 
to have the eye always fixed upon the highest and noblest objects : as 
the mariner's eye is fixed upon the star, when their hand is on the 
stern. So David, when he was himself, he shuns the occasion of sin : 
Ps. xxvi. 4, 5, ' I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in 
with dissemblers ; I have hated the congregation of evil doers, and 
will not sit with the wicked.' 

Stories speak of some that could not sleep when they thought of 
the trophies of other worthies, that went before them. The highest 
and choicest examples are to some, and should be to all, very quicken- 
ing and provoking; and oh that the examples of those worthy saints, 
David, Joseph, and Job, might prevail with all your souls to shun and 

1 There are stories of heathens that would not look upon beauties, leal they should be 
ensnared. Democritus plucked out his own eyes to avoid the danger of uncleanness. 

2 T\~\2 JVQ. I cut a covenant. In making covenants, it was a custom among the 
Jews to cut some beast or other in pieces, and so walk between the pieces, to signify 
thai thej desired God to destroy them that should break the covenant. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 41 

avoid the occasions of sin ! Every one should strive to be like to them 
in grace, that they desire to be equal with in glory. He that shooteth 
at the sun, though he be far short, will shoot higher than he that aimeth 
at a shrub. It is best, and it speaks out much of Christ within, to eye 
the highest and the worthiest examples. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That the avoiding the occasions of sin, is an 
evidence of grace, and tltat tuhich lifts up a man above most other 
men in the world. 1 That a man is indeed, which he is in temptation ; 
and when sinful occasions do present themselves before the soul, this 
speaks out both the truth and the strength of grace ; when with Lot, a 
man can be chaste in Sodom, and with Timothy can live temperate in 
Asia, among the luxurious Ephesians ; and with Job can walk up- 
rightly in the land of Uz, where the people were profane in their 
lives, and superstitious in their worship ; and with Daniel be holy 
in Babylon; and with Abraham righteous in Chaldea; and with Ne- 
hemiah, zealous in Damasco, &c. Many a wicked man is big and full 
of corruption, but shews it not for want of occasion ; but that man is 
surely good, who in his course will not be bad, though tempted by occa- 
sions. A Christless soul is so far from refusing occasions when they 
come in his way, that he looks and longs after them, and rather than 
he will go without them he will buy them, not only with love or 
money, but also with the loss of his soul. Nothing but grace can 
fence a man against the occasions of sin, when he is strongly tempted 
thereunto. Therefore, as you would cherish a precious evidence in 
your own bosoms of the truth and strength of your graces, shun all sinful 
occasions. 

The eighth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin, is, 

Device (8). By representing to the soul the outivard mercies that 
vain men enjoy, and the outward miseries that they are freed from, 
whilst they have walked in the ways of sin. Saith Satan, Dost thou 
see, O soul, the many mercies that such and such enjoy, that walk 
in those very ways that thy soul startles to think of, and the many 
crosses that they are delivered from, even such as makes other men, 
that say they dare not walk in such ways, to spend their days in 
sighing, weeping, groaning, and mourning 1 and therefore, saith Satan, 
if ever thou wouldst be freed from the dark night of adversity, and 
enjoy the sunshine of prosperity, thou must walk in their ways. 2 

By this stratagem the devil took those in Jer. xliv. 16-18, ' As 
for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we 
will not hearken unto thee : but we will certainly do whatsoever thing 
goeth forth of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, 
and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and 
our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and 

1 Plutarch saith of Demosthenes, that he was excellent at praising the worthy acts 
of his ancestors, but not so at imitating them. Oh that this were not applicable to many 
professors in our times ! 

2 It was a weighty saying of Seneca, Nihil est infelicius eo, cui nil unquam contigit 
adversi, there is nothing more unhappy than he who never felt adversity. Some of the 
heathens would be wicked as their gods were, counting it a dishonour to their god to be 
unlike him.— Lactxntius. 



42 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

in the streets of Jerusalem : for then had we plenty of victuals, and 
were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to 
the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, Ave 
have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by 
the famine/ This is just the language of a world of ignorant, pro- 
fane, and superstitious souls in London, and England, that would have 
made them a captain to return to bondage, yea, to that bondage that 
was Averse than that the Israelites groaned under. Oh, say they, since 
such and such persons have been put down, and left off, we have had 
nothing but plundering and taxing, and butchering of men, &c. ; and 
therefore we Avill do as Ave, and our kings, and nobles, and fathers 
have formerly done, for then had we plenty at home, and peace abroad, 
&c, and there was none to make us afraid. 1 

Now the remedies against this device of Satan are these that 
follow : 

Remedy (]). The first remedy is, solemnly to consider, That no 
man knoivs how the heart of God stands by his hand. His band of 
mercy may be toAvards a man, when his heart may be against that 
man, as you may see in Saul and others ; and the hand of God may be 
set against a man, Avhen the heart of God is dearly set upon a man, as 
you may see in Job and Ephraim. 2 The hand of God was sorely 
set against them, and yet the heart and bowels of God were strongly 
working toAvards them. No man knoweth either love or hatred by out- 
Avard mercy or misery ; for all things come alike to all, to the right- 
eous and to the unrighteous, to the good and to the bad, to the clean 
aud to the unclean, &c. The sun of prosperity shines as well upon 
brambles of the Avilderness as fruit-trees of the orchard ; the snoAV and 
hail of adversity lights upon the best garden as well as the stinking 
dunghill or the wild Avaste. Abab's and Josiah's ends concur in the 
very circumstances. Saul and Jonathan, though different in their 
natures, deserts, and deportments, yet in their deaths they were not 
divided. Health, Avealth, honours, &c, crosses, sicknesses, losses, &c, 
are cast upon good men and bad men promiscuously. ' The Avhole 
Turkish empire is nothing else but a crust, cast by heaven's great 
housekeeper to his dogs/ 3 Moses dies in the Avilderness as well as 
those that murmured. Nabal is rich, as well as Abraham ; Ahithophel 
wise, as well as Solomon ; and Doeg honoured by Saul, as Avell as 
Joseph Avas by Pharaoh. Usually the worst of men have most of these 
outward things ; and the best of men have least of earth, though most 
of heaven. 

Jiemcdy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That there is nothing in the world that doth so 

1 It is said of one of the emperors, that Rome had no war in his days, hecause it was 
plague enough to have such an emperor. You are wise, and know how to apply it. [The 
allusion, no doubt, is to Charles I., and the agitation for the Restoration of Charles II 
Cromwell died Sept. 3. 1658.— G.] 

- Tnll y judged the Jews' religion to be naught, because they were so often overcome, 
and impoverished, and afflicted ; and the religion of Rome to be right, because the Romana 
prospered ami became lords of the world; and yet, though the Romans had his hand, 
yet the Jews had his heart, for they were dearly beloved though sorely afflicted. [Brooks's 
reference is found in Cicero, in Orat. Pro L. Flacco 28. — G.] 

3 Nihil est nisi mica panis. — Luther. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 43 

provoke God to be wroth and angry, as men's talcing encouragement 
from God's goodness and mercy to do wickedly. This you may see 
by that wrath that fell upon the old world, and by God's raining 
hell out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. This is clear in Jere- 
miah xliv., from ver. 20 to ver. 28. The words are worthy of your 
best meditation. Oh that they were engraven in all your hearts, and 
constant in all your thoughts ! Though they are too large for me to 
transcribe them, yet they are not too large for me to remember them. 
To argue from mercy to sinful liberty, is the devil's logic, and such 
logicians do ever walk as upon a mine of gunpowder ready to be blown 
up. No such soul can ever avert or avoid the wrath of God. This is 
wickedness at the height, for a man to be very bad, because God is 
very good. A worse spirit than this is not in hell. Ah, Lord, doth 
not wrath, yea, the greatest wrath, lie at this man's door ? Are not the 
strongest chains of darkness prepared for such a soul ? To sin against 
mercy is to sin against humanity. It is bestial; nay, it is worse. 
To render good for evil is divine, to render good for good is human, 
to render evil for evil is brutish ; but to render evil for good is devilish ; 
and from this evil deliver my soul, O God. 1 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, lhat there is no greater misery in this life, 
than not to be in misery; no greater affliction, than not to be 
afflicted. Woe, woe to that soul that God will not spend a rod upon ! 
This is the saddest stroke of all, when God refuses to strike at all : 
Hos. iv. 17, 'Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.' 'Why 
should you be smitten any more ? you will revolt more and more,' Isa. 
i. 5. When the physician gives over the patient, you say, ' Ring out 
his knell, the man is dead.' So when God gives over a soul to sin 
without control, you may truly say, ' This soul is lost/ you may ring 
out his knell, for he is twice dead, and plucked up by the roots. Free- 
dom from punishment is the mother of security, the step-mother of 
virtue, the poison of religion, the moth of holiness, and the introducer 
of wickedness. ' Nothing,' said one, ' seems more unhappy to me, than 
he to whom no adversity hath happened/ Outward mercies ofttimes 
prove a snare to our souls. ' I will lay a stumbling-block,' Ezek. iii. 
20. Vatablus his note there is, ' I will prosper him in all things, 
and not by affliction restrain him from sin.' 2 Prosperity hath been a 
stumbling-block, at which millions have stumbled and fallen, and 
broke the neck of their souls for ever. 3 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That the wants of wicked men, under all their 
outward mercy and freedom from adversity, is far greater than all 
their outward enjoyments. They have many mercies, yet they want 
more than they enjoy; the mercies which they enjoy are nothing to the 

1 Such souls make God a god of clouts, one that will not do as he saith ; hut they shall 
find God to he as severe in punishing as he is to others gracious in pardoning. Good 
turns aggravate unkindnesses, and our guilt is increased by our obligations. 

2 Faciam ut omnia habeat prospera; calamitatibus euru a peccato non revocabo. 
[Annot. in Lib. Vet. Test. Paris, 1557.— G-] 

3 Religio peperit divitias, et filia devoravit malrem ; religion brought forth riches, and 
the daughter soon devoured the mother, saith Augustine. 



44 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

mercies they want. It is true, they have honours and riches, and plea- 
sures and friends, and are mighty in power; their seed is established 
in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes : 'Their 
houses are sate from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them;' 
• They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children 
dance. They lake the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of 
the organ; 9 'They spend their days in wealth, their eyes stand out 
with fatness, they have more than heart can wish : and they have no 
bands in their death, but their strength is firm ; they are not in trouble 
as other men,' as David and Job speak. 1 Yet all this is nothing to 
what they want. 2 They want interest in God, Christ, the Spirit, the 
promises, the covenant of grace, and everlasting glory ; they want 
acceptation and reconciliation with God ; they want righteousness, 
justification, sanctification, adoption, and redemption ; they want the 
pardon of sin, and power against sin, and freedom from the dominion 
of sin ; they want that favour that is better than life, and that joy that 
is unspeakable and full of glory, and that peace that passes under- 
standing, and that grace, the least spark of which is more worth than 
heaven and earth ; they want a house that hath foundations, whose 
builder and maker is God ; they want those riches that perish not, the 
glory that fades not, that kingdom that shakes not. Wicked men 
are the most needy men in the world, yea, they want those two things 
that should render their mercies sweet, viz., the blessing of God, and 
content with their condition, and without which their heaven is but 
hell on this side hell. 3 When their hearts are lifted up and grown big 
upon the thoughts of their abundance, if conscience does but put in 
a word and say, It is true, here is this and that outward mercy. Oh, 
but where is an interest in Christ? Where is the favour of God? 
Where are the comforts of the Holy Ghost? Where are the evidences 
for heaven? &c. This word from conscience makes the man's counte- 
nance to change, his thoughts to be troubled, his heart to be amazed, 
and all his mercies on the right hand and left to be as dead and 
withered. Ah, were but the eyes of wicked men open to see their 
wants under their abundance, they would cry out and say, as Absalom 
did, ' What are all these tome so loner as I cannot see the king's face?' 
2 Sam. xiv. 24, 33. What is honour, and riches, and the favour of 
creatures, so long as I want the favour of God, the pardon of my sins, 
an interest in Christ, and the hopes of glory! O Lord, give me these, 
or I die; give me these, or else 1 shall eternally die. 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That outivard things are not as they seem, and 
are esteemed They have, indeed, a glorious outside, but if you view 

1 Cf. Psalm xlix. 11, lxxiii. 7 ; Job xxi. 12, &c, &c— G. 

'-' Men thai enjoy all worldly comforts may truly say, Omncs humancc consolationes 
SUfU dfsolationes. 

3 A T ec C/tristus nee caelum patitur hyperbolem, neither Christ nor heaven can he hyper- 
ed. A crown of gold cannot cure the headache, nor a velvet slipper cannot ease 
the goul ; DO more can honour or riches quiet and still the conscience. The heart of man 
is a three-square triangle, which the whole round circle of the world cannot till, as 
mathematicians say, but all the corners will complain of emptiness, and hunger for 
Bomethins else. 






2 Cor. II. 11 .J against satan's devices. 45 

their insides, you will easily find that they fill the head full of cares, 
and the heart full of fears. What if the fire should consume one 
part of my estate, and the sea should be a grave to swallow up 
another part of my estate ! what if my servants should be unfaithful 
abroad, and my children should be deceitful at home ! Ah, the secret 
fretting, vexing, and gnawing that doth daily, yea hourly, attend 
those men's souls whose hands are full of worldly goods ! 

It was a good speech of an emperor, ' You,' said he, ' gaze on my 
purple robe and golden crown, but did you know what cares are 
under it, you would not take it up from the ground to have it.' It 
was a true saying of Augustine on the 26th Psalm, ' Many are miser- 
able by loving hurtful things, but they are more miserable by having 
them.' 1 It is not what men enjoy, but the principle from whence it 
comes, that makes men happy. Much of these outward things do 
usually cause great distraction, great vexation, and great condemna- 
tion at last, to the possessors of them. If God gives them in his wrath, 
and do not sanctify them in his love, they will at last be witnesses 
against a man, and millstones for ever to sink a man in that day 
when God shall call men to an account, not for the use, but for the 
abuse of mercy. 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider the end and the design of God in heaping up 
mercy upon the heads of the wicked, and in giving them a quietus 
est, rest and quiet from those sorrows and sufferings that others sigh 
under. David, in Psalm lxxiii. 17-20, shews the end and design of 
God in this. Saith he, ' When I went into the sanctuary of God, 
then I understood their end : surely thou didst set them in slippery 
places, thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they 
brought into desolation as in a moment : they are utterly consumed 
with terrors. As a dream, when ooe awaketh, so, Lord, when thou 
awakest, thou shalt despise their image.' 2 So in Ps. xcii. 7, ' When 
the wicked spring as grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do 
flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed for ever.' God's setting 
them up, is but in order to his casting them down ; his raising them 
high, is but in order to his bringing them low: Exod. ix. 16, 'And 
in very deed, for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee 
my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the 
earth.' I have constituted and set thee up as a butt-mark, 3 that I 
may let fly at thee, and follow thee close with plague upon plague, till 
I have beaten the very breath out of thy body, and got myself a name, 
by setting my feet upon the neck of all thy pride, power, pomp, and 
glory. Ah, souls, what man in his wits would be lifted up that he 
might be cast down ; would be set higher than others, when it is but 

1 Multi amando res noxias sunt miseri, habendo miseriores. — Augustine on Psalm 
xx vi. — G. 

2 Valens, the Eoman emperor, fell from being an emperor to be a footstool to Sapor, 
king of Persia. Dionysius, king of Sicily, fell from his kingly glory to be a school- 
master. The brave Queen Zenobia was brought to Rome in golden chains. Valens 
an emperor, Belisarius, a famous general, Henry the Fourth, Bajazet, Pythias, «reat 
Pompey, and William the Conqueror, these, from being very high, were brought very 
low ; they all fell from great glory and majesty to great poverty and misery. 

3 Arrow-mark or target. — G. 



46 TRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

in order to his being brought down lower than others? There is not 
a wicked man in the world that is set up with Lucifer, as high as 
heaven, but shall with Lucifer be brought down as low as hell. 
Canst thou think seriously of this, O soul, and not say, O Lord, I 
humbly crave that thou wilt let me be little in this world, that I may 
be great in another world ; and low here, that I may be high for ever 
hereafter. 1 Let me be low, and feed low, and live low, so I may live 
with thee for ever; let me now be clothed with rags, so thou wilt 
clothe me at last with thy robes ; let me now be set upon a dunghill, 
so I may at last be advanced to sit with thee upon thy throne. Lord, 
make me rather gracious than great, inwardly holy than outwardly 
happy, and rather turn me into my first nothing, yea, make me worse 
than nothing, rather than set me up for a time, that thou mayest bring 
me low for ever. 

Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against this device of Satan is 
solemnly to consider, That God doth often most plague and punish 
those whom others think he doth most spare and love ; that is, God 
doth plague and punish them most with spiritual judgments — which 
are the greatest, the sorest, and the heaviest — whom he least punishes 
with temporal punishments. 2 There are no men on earth so internally 
plagued as those that meet with least external plagues. Oh the 
blindness of mind, the hardness of heart, the searedness of conscience, 
that those souls are given up to, who, in the eye of the world, are re- 
puted the most happy men, because they are not outwardly afflicted 
and plagued as other men. Ah, souls, it were better that all the 
temporal plagues that ever befell the children of men since the fall 
of Adam should at once meet upon your souls, than that you should 
be given up to the least spiritual plague, to the least measure of 
spiritual blindness or spiritual hardness of heart, &c. Nothing will 
better that man, nor move that man, that is given up to spiritual 
judgments. Let God smile or frown, stroke or strike, cut or kill, he 
minds it not, he regards it not ; let life or death, heaven or hell, be 
set before him, it stirs him not ; he is mad upon his sin, and God is 
fully set to do justice upon his soul. This man's preservation is but 
a reservation unto a greater condemnation ; this man can set no 
bounds to himself ; he is become a brat of fathomless perdition ; he 
hath guilt in his bosom and vengeance at his back wherever he goes. 
Neither ministry nor misery, neither miracle nor mercy, can mollify 
his heart, and if this soukbe not in hell, on this side hell, who is ? 3 

Remedy (8). The eighth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
To dwell more upon that strict account that vain men must make 
for all that good that they do enjoy. 4 Ah ! did men dwell more 

1 Da Domine, ut sic possideamus temporalia, ut non perdamus neterna. Grant us, 
Lord, that we may so partake of temporal felipity, that we may not lose eternal. — 
Bernard. 

s Psalm lxxxi. 12, lxxviii. 2C-31, cvi. 15. He gave thorn their requests, but sent 
leanness into their soul. It is a heavy plague to have a fat body and a lean soul ; a 
house full of gold, and a heart full of sin. 

* It is better to have a sore than a seared conscience. It is better to have no heart 
than a hard heart, no mind than a blind mind. 

* In this day men shall give an account (De bonis commissis, de bonis dimissis, de malis 
commissis, de malis permissis) of good things committed unto them, of good things 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 47 

upon that account that they must ere long give for all the mercies 
that they have enjoyed, and for all the favours that they have 
abused, and for all the sins they have committed, it would make 
their hearts to tremble and their lips to quiver, and rottenness to 
enter into their bones ; it would cause their souls to cry out, and say, 
Oh that our mercies had been fewer and lesser, that our account 
might have been easier, and our torment and misery, for our abuse of 
so great mercy, not greater than we are able to bear. Oh cursed be 
the day wherein the crown of honour was set upon our heads, and 
the treasures of this world were cast into our laps ; oh cursed be the 
day wherein the sun of prosperity shined so strong upon us, and this 
flattering world smiled so much upon us, as to occasion us to forget 
God, to slight Jesus Christ, to neglect our souls, and to put far from 
us the day of our account ! 

Philip the Third of Spain, whose life was free from gross evils, 
professed, ' That he would rather lose his kingdom than offend God 
willingly ;' yet being in the agony of death, and considering more 
thoroughly of his account he was to give to God, fear struck into him, 
and these words brake from him : ' Oh ! would to God I had never 
reigned. Oh that those years that I have spent in my kingdom, I 
had lived a solitary life in the wilderness ! Oh that I had lived a 
solitary life with God ! How much more securely should I now have 
died ! How much more confidently should I have gone to the throne 
of God ! What doth all my glory profit me, but that I have so much 
the more torment in my death ?' God keeps an exact account of 
every penny that is laid out upon him and his, and that is laid out 
against him and his ; and this in the day of account men shall know 
and feel, though now they wink and will not understand. The sleep- 
ing of vengeance causeth the overflowing of sin, and the overflowing 
of sin causeth the awakening of vengeance. Abused mercy will cer- 
tainly turn into fury. God's forbearance is no quittance. The day 
is at hand when he will pay wicked men for the abuse of old and 
new mercies. If he seem to be slow, yet he is sure. He hath leaden 
heels, but iron hands. The farther he stretcheth his bow, or draweth 
his arrow, the deeper he will wound in the day of vengeance. Men's 
actions are all in print in heaven, and God will, in the day of account, 
read them aloud in the ears of all the world, that they may all say 
Amen to that righteous sentence that he shall pass upon all despisers 
and abusers of mercy. 1 

The ninth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
Device (9). By presenting to the soul the crosses, losses, re- 
proaches, sorrows, and sufferings that do daily attend those tliat 
walk in the ways of holiness. Saith Satan, Do not you see that 
there are none in the world that are so vexed, afflicted, and tossed, as 
those that walk more circumspectly and holily than their neighbours ? 

neglected by them, of evil committed by them, and of evils suffered [allowed] by them. 
In die judicii plus valebit conscientia pura, quarn marsupia plena ; then shall a good 
conscience be more worth than all the world's good. — Bernard. 

1 Hierom [Jerome] still thought that voice was in his ears (Surgite mortui et venite 
ad judicium), Arise, you dead, and come to judgment. As oft as I think on that day, 
how doth my whole body quake, and my heart within me tremble. 



48 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 C'OR. II. 11. 

They are a byword at home, and a reproach abroad ; their miseries 
come in upon them like .bib's messengers, one upon the neck of 
another, and there is no end of their sorrows and troubles. Therefore, 
saith Satan, you were better walk in ways that are less troublesome, 
and Less afflicted, though they be more sinful; for who but a madman 
would spend his days in sorrow, vexation, and affliction, when it may 
be prevented by walking in the ways that I set before him? 

Now the remedies against this device of Satan are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, Tltat all the afflictions U hat do attend the people 
of God, are such as shall turn to the profit and glorious advantage 
of ' tlte people of God. They shall discover that filthiness and vilenesa 
in sin, that yet the soul hath never seen. 

It was a speech of a German divine 1 in his sickness, 'In this disease 
I have learned how great God is, and what the evil of sin is ; I never 
knew to purpose what God was before, nor what sin meant, till now.' 
Afflictions are a crystal glass, wherein the soul hath the clearest sight 
of the ugly face of sin. In this glass the soul comes to see sin to be 
but a bitter-sweet ; yea, in this glass the soul comes to see sin not only 
to be an evil, but to be the greatest evil in the world, to be an evil 
far worse than hell itself. 

Again, They shall contribute to the mortifying and purging away 
of their sins, Isa. i. 15, and xxvii. 8, 9. Afflictions are God's fur- 
nace, by which he cleanses his people from their dross. Affliction is 
a fire to purge out our dross, and to make virtue shine ; it is a potion 
to carry away ill humours, better than all the benedictum rnedica- 
mentum, as physicians call them. 2 Aloes kill worms ; colds and frosts do 
destroy vermin ; so do afflictions the corruptions that are in our hearts. 
The Jews, under all the prophet's thunderings, retained their idols ; 
but after their Babylonish captivity 7 , it is observed, there have been no 
idols found amongst them. 

Again, Afflictions are sweet preservatives to keep the saints from 
sin, which is a greater evil than hell itself. As Job spake, ' Surely it 
is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not 
offend any more : That which I see not, teach thou me ; if I have 
done iniquity, I will do no more. Once have I spoken foolishly, yea. 
twice, I will do so no more/ Job xxxiv. 31, 32. The burnt child 
dreads the fire. Ah I saith the soul under the rod, sin is but a bitter- 
sweet; and for the future I intend, by the strength of Christ, that I 
will not buy repentance at so dear a rate. 3 

The Rabbins, to scare their scholars from sin, were wont to tell 
them, 'That sin made God's head ache;' and saints under the red 
have found by woful experience, that sin makes not only their heads. 
but their hearts ache also. 

Augustine, by wandering out of his way, escaped one that lay in 

1 Gaspar Olcvianus (1586).— G. 

2 In time s of peace our armour is rusty, in time of war it is bright 

8 Salt brine preserves from putrefaction, and salt marshes keep the sheep rom the 
rot: so do afflictions the saints from sin. The ball in the Emblem saith, Pcrcussa 
surgo, the border you beat mo down in affliction, the higher I shall bound in affec- 
tion towards heaven and heavenly things. 



2 COK. II. 11.] AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 49 

wait to mischief him. 1 If afflictions did not put us out of our way, 
we should many times meet with some sin or other that would mis- 
chief our precious souls. 

Again, They will work the saints to be more fruitful in holiness : 
Heb. xii. 10, 11, ' But he afflicts us for our profit, that we might be par- 
takers of his holiness.' The flowers smell sweetest after a shower; vines 
bear the better for bleeding ; the walnut-tree is most fruitful when 
most beaten. Saints spring and thrive most internally when they are 
most externally afflicted. Afflictions are called by some ' the mother 
of virtue.' Manasseh his chain was more profitable to him than his 
crown. Luther could not understand some Scriptures till he was in 
affliction. The Christ-cross is no letter, and yet that taught him more 
than all the letters in the row. God's house of correction is his school 
of instruction. 2 All the stones that came about Stephen's ears did 
but knock him closer to Christ, the corner-stone. The waves did but 
lift Noah's ark nearer to heaven ; and the higher the waters grew, the 
more near the ark was lifted up to heaven. Afflictions do lift up the 
soul to more rich, clear, and full enjoyments of God : 3 Hosea ii. 14, ' Be- 
hold, I will allure her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to 
her' ; (or rather, as the Hebrew hath it) ; 'I will earnestly or vehe- 
mently speak to her heart.' 4 God makes afflictions to be but inlets 
to the soul's more sweet and full enjoyment of his blessed self. When 
was it that Stephen saw the heavens open, and Christ standing at the 
right hand of God, but when the stones were about his ears, and there 
was but a short step betwixt him and eternity ? And when did God 
appear in his glory to Jacob, but in the day of his troubles, when the 
stones were his pillows, and the ground his bed, and the hedges his 
curtains, and the heavens his canopy ? Then he saw the angels of 
God ascending and descending in their glistering robes. The plant in 
Nazianzen grows with cutting ; being cut, it flourisheth ; it contends 
with the axe, it lives by dying, and by cutting it grows. 5 So do saints 
by their afflictions that do befall them ; they gain more experience of 
the power of God supporting them, of the wisdom of God directing 
them, of the grace of God refreshing and cheering them, and of the 
goodness of God quieting and quickening of them, to a greater love to 
holiness, and to a greater delight in holiness, and to a more vehement 
pursuing after holiness. 

I have read of a fountain, that at noonday is cold, and at midnight 
it grows warm ; so many a precious soul is cold God-wards, and heaven- 
wards, and holiness-wards, in the day of prosperity ; that grow warm 
God -wards and heaven-wards, and holiness- wards, in the midnight of 
adversity. 

Again, Afflictions serve to keep the hearts of the saints humble and 

1 Confessions.— G. 2 Schola crucis, schola lucis. 

3 Cf. ' Epistle' prefixed to Durant's Altum Silentium, by Brooks. — G. 

4 n^ 1 ? ^y. • • • TrOII Vedibbartignal libbab. 

8 It is reported of Tiberius the emperor, that passing by a place where he saw a cross 
lying in the ground upon a marble stone, and causing the stone to be digged up, he 
found a great deal of treasure under the cross. So many a precious saint hath found 
much spiritual and heavenly treasure under the crosses they have met withal. 

VOL. I. D 



50 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

tender : Lam. iii. 19, 20, ' Kemcmbcring my affliction and my misery, 
i he wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, 
and is humbled in me,' or bowed down in me, as the original hath it. 1 
So David, when he was under the rod, could say, ' I was dumb, I opened 
not my mouth ; because thou didst it/ Ps. xxxix. 4. 

1 have read of one [Gregory Nazianzen], who, when anything fell out 
prosperously, would read over the Lamentation of Jeremiah, and that 
kept his heart tender, humbled, and low. Prosperity doth not contri- 
bute more to the puffing up the soul, than adversity doth to the bowing 
down of the soul. This the saints by experience find ; and therefore 
they can kiss and embrace the cross, as others do the world's crown. 2 

Again, They serve to bring the saints nearer to God, and to make 
them more importunate and earnest in prayer with God. ' Before I was 
afflicted, I went astray ; but now have I kept thy word.' ' It is good 
for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.' 
' I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of 
Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away : I will take away, and none 
shall rescue him/ ' I will go and return to my place, till they acknow- 
ledge their offence, and seek my face : in their affliction they will 
seek me early.' And so they did. ' Come,' say they, ' and let us return 
unto the Lord : for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smit- 
ten, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us : in 
the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.' 3 So 
when God had hedged up their way with thorns, then they say, ' I will 
go and return to my first husband ; for then was it with me better 
than now,' Hosea ii. 6, 7. Ah the joy, the peace, the comfort, the 
delight, and content that did attend us, when we kept close communion 
with God, doth bespeak our return to God. ' We will return to our 
first husband ; for then was it with us better than now.' 

When Tiribazus, a noble Persian, was arrested, he drew out his 
sword, and defended himself; but when they told him that they came 
to carry him to the king, he willingly yielded. 4 So, though a saint 
may at first stand a little out, yet when he remembers that afflictions 
are to carry nearer to God, he yields, and kisses the rod. Afflictions 
are like the prick at the nightingale's breast, that awakes her, and puts 
her upon her sweet and delightful singing. 

Again, Afflictions they serve to revive and recover decayed graces ; 
they inflame that love that is cold, and they quicken that faith that is 
decaying, and they put life into those hopes that are withering, and 
spirits into those joys and comforts that are languishing. 5 Musk, 
saith one, when it hath lost its sweetness, if it be put into the sink 
amongst filth it recovers it. So do afflictions recover and revive de- 

1 m^n" 1 from nra>. 

- The more precious odours and the purest spices, are beaten and bruised, the 
sweeter scent and savour they send abroad. So do saints when they are afllicted. 

3 Ps. cxix. 67, 71. Hosea v. 14, 15 ; vi. 1, 2. 

* C{. Diodorus xv. 8-11 : Plutarch, Artaxerxes, 24, 27, 29.— G. 

5 M >8t men are like a top, that will not go unless you whip it, and the more you whip 
it the better it goes. You know how to apply it. They that are in adversity, saith 
Luther, do better understand Scriptures ; but those that are in prosperity, read them as 
a verse in Ovid. Bees are killed with honey, but quickened with vinegar. The honey 
of prosperity kills our graces, but the vinegar of adversity quickens our graces. 



2 COR. II. 11.] AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 51 

cayed graces. The more saints are beaten with the hammer of afflic- 
tions, the more they are made the trumpets of God's praises, and the 
more are their graces revived and quickened. Adversity abases the 
loveliness of the world that might entice us ; it abates the lustiness 
of the flesh within, that might incite us to folly and vanity ; and it 
abets the spirit in his quarrel to the two former, which tends much 
to the reviving and recovering of decayed graces. Now, suppose 
afflictions and troubles attend the ways of holiness, yet seeing that 
they all work for the great profit and singular advantage of the saints, 
let no soul be so mad as to leave an afflicted way of holiness, to walk 
in a smooth path of wickedness. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, that all the afflictions that do befall the saints, 
do only reach their worser part ; they reach not, they hurt not, their 
noble part, their best part. All the arrows stick in the target, they 
reach not the conscience : 1 Peter iii. 13, ' And who shall harm you, 
if ye be followers of that which is good,' saith the apostle. That is, 
none shall harm you. They may thus and thus afflict you, but they 
shall never harm you. 1 

It was the speech of an heathen, whenas by the tyrant he was com- 
manded to be put into a mortar, and to be beaten to pieces with an 
iron pestle, he cries out to his persecutors, ' You do but beat the 
vessel, the case, the husk of Anaxarchus, you do not beat me/ His 
body was to him but as a case, a husk ; he counted his soul himself, 
which they could not reach. You are wise, and know how to apply it. 

Socrates said of his enemies, ' They may kill me, but they cannot 
hurt me.' So afflictions may kill us, but they cannot hurt us ; they 
may take away my life, but they cannot take away my God, my Christ, 
my crown. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That the afflictions that do attend the saints in 
the ways of holiness, are but short and momentary. ' Sorrow may 
abide for a night, but joy comes in the morning,' Ps. xxx. 5. This 
short storm will end in an everlasting calm, this short night will end 
in a glorious day, that shall never have end. 2 It is but a very short 
time between grace and glory, between our title to the crown and 
our wearing the crown, between our right to the heavenly inheritance 
and our possession of the heavenly inheritance. Fourteen thou- 
sand years to the Lord is but as one day. What is our life but a 
shadow, a bubble, a flo wer, a post, a span, a dream ? &c. Yea, so 
small a while doth the hand of the Lord rest upon us, that Luther can- 
not get diminutives enough to extenuate it, for he calls it a very little 
cross that we bear, to mx.gov fiix.gov. The prophet in Isaiah xxvi. 20, 
saith the indignation doth not (transire) pass, but (pertransire) over- 
pass. The sharpness, shortness, and suddenness of it is set forth b}^ 

1 The Christian soldier shall ever be master of the day. Mori fiosse, vinci non pos^c, 
said Cyprian to Cornelius ; he may suffer death, but never conquest. 

2 There are none of God's afflicted ones that have not their lucida intervalla, intermis- 
sions, respites, and breathing whiles, under their short and momentary afflictions. 
When God's hand is on thy back, let thy hand be on thy mouth, for though the afflic- 
tion be sharp, it shall be but short. 



52 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

the travail of a woman, John xvi. 21. And that is a sweet scripture, 
' For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, 
ye might receive the promise.' ' For yet a little while, he that shall 
come will come, and will not tarry,' Heb. x. 36, 37. Tantillum tan- 
t ilium adhuc inisillum. A little, little, little while. 1 

When Athanasius's friends came to bewail him, because of his 
misery and banishment, he said, ' It is but a little cloud, and will 
quickly be gone.' 2 It will be but as a day before God will give his 
attficted ones beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness for the spirit of 
heaviness ; before he will turn all your sighing into singing, all your 
lamentations into consolations, your sackcloth into silks, ashes into 
ointments, and your fasts into everlasting feasts, &c. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan, is 
seriously to consider, That the afflictions that do befall the saints are 
such as proceed from God's dearest love* ' As many as I love, 
I rebuke and chasten,' Rev. iii. 19. Saints, saith God, think not 
that I hate you, because I thus chide you. He that escapes re- 
prehension may suspect his adoption. God had one Son without 
corruption, but no son without correction. A gracious soul may look 
through the darkest cloud, and see a God smiling on him. We 
must look through the anger of his correction to the sweetness of his 
couutenance ; and as by the rainbow we see the beautiful image of 
the sun's light in the midst of a dark and waterish cloud. 

When Munster lay sick, and his friends asked him how he did and 
how he felt himself, he pointed to his sores and ulcers, whereof he was 
full, and said, ' These are God's gems and jewels, wherewith he decketh 
his best friends, and to me they are more precious than all the gold 
and silver in the world.' A soul at first conversion is but rough cast ; 
but God by afflictions doth square and fit, and fashion it for that 
glory above, which doth speak them out to flow from precious love ; 
therefore the afflictions that do attend the people of God should be no 
bar to holiness, nor no motive to draw the soul to ways of wickedness. 
Remedy (.5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That it is our duty and glory not to measure 
afflictions by the smart but by the end. When Israel was dismissed out 
of Egypt, it was with gold and ear-rings, Exod. xi. 3 ; so the Jews 
were dismissed out of Babylon with gifts, jewels, and all necessary 
utensils, Ezrai. 7-11. Look more at the latter end of a Christian than 
the beginning of his affliction. Consider the patience of Job, and what 
end the Lord made with him. Look not upon Lazarus lying at 
Dives's door, but lying in Abraham's bosom. Look not to the beginning 
of Joseph, who was so far from his dream, that the sun and moon 
should reverence him, that for two years he was cast Avhere he could 
see neither sun, moon, nor stars ; but behold him at last made ruler 
over Egypt. Look not upon David, as there was but a step between 
him and death, nor as he was envied by some, and slighted and 
1 'En yao fLiKpov oto» eVov. ' Nubecula est, cito transibit. — Athanasii/s. 

;i Austin asketli, Si amatur quo modo infirmatur, If lie were beloved, how came be to 
be sick? So are wicked men apt to say, because they know not that corrections aro 
pledges of our adoption, and badges of our Sonship. God had one Sou without sin, but 
none without sorrow. — [Augustine on Rev. iii. 19. — G ] 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 53 

despised by others ; but behold him seated in his royal throne, and 
dying in his bed of honour, and his son Solomon and all his glister- 
ing nobles about him. Afflictions, they are but as a dark entry into 
your Father's house ; they are but as a dirty lane to a royal palace. 
Now tell me, souls, whether it be not very great madness to shun the 
ways of holiness, and to walk in the ways of wickedness, because of 
those afflictions that do attend the ways of holiness. 1 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That the design of God in all the afflictions 
that do befall them, is only to try them ; it is not to wrong them, nor 
to ruin them, as ignorant souls are apt to think. ' He knoweth 
the way that I take : and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth 
as gold,' saith patient Job, xxiii. 10. So in Deut. viii. 2, ' And 
thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee 
these forty years in the wildernesss, to humble thee, and to prove 
thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldst keep his 
commandments or no/ God afflicted them thus, that he might make 
known to themselves and others what was in their hearts. When 
fire is put to green wood, there comes out abundance of watery 
stuff that before appeared not ; when the pond is empty, the mud, 
filth, and toads come to light. 2 The snow covers many a dunghill, so 
doth prosperity many a rotten heart. It is easy to wade in a warm bath, 
and every bird can sing in a sunshine day, &c. Hard weather tries what 
health we have ; afflictions try what sap we have, what grace we have. 
Withered leaves soon fall off in windy weather, rotten boughs quickly 
break with heavy weights, &c. You are wise, and know how to apply it. 

Afflictions are like pinching frosts, that will search us ; where we 
are most unsound, we shall soonest complain, and where most corrup- 
tions lie, we shall most shrink. We try metal by knocking ; if it sound 
well, then we like it. So God tries his by knocking, and if under knocks 
they yield a pleasant sound, God will turn their night into day, and their 
bitter into sweet, and their cross into a crown ; and they shall hear that 
voice, ' Arise, and shine \ for the glory of the Lord is risen upon 
thee, and the favours of the Lord are flowing in on thee/ Isa. lx. l. a 

Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against this device of Satan 
is, solemnly to consider, That the afflictions, wrath, and misery that 
do attend the ways of wickedness, are far greater and heavier than 
those are that do attend the ways of holiness. 4 ' Oh, the galling, 
girding, lashing, and gnawing of conscience, that do attend souls 

1 Afflictions, they are but our Father's goldsmiths, who are •working to add pearls to 
our crowns. Tiberius saw paradise when he walked upon hot burning coals. Hero- 
dotus said of the Assyrians, Let them drink nothing but wormwood all their life long ; 
when they die, they shall swim in honey. You are wise, and know how to apply it. 

2 The king of Aracam, in Scaliger, tries her whom he means to marry by sweating. 
If they be sweet, he marries them ; if not, then he rejects them. You may easily 
make the application. 

3 Dunghills raked send out a filthy steam, ointments a sweet perfume. This is 
applicable to sinners and saints under the rod. 

4 Sin oftentimes makes men insensible of the wrath of the Almighty. Sin transforms 
many a man, as it were, into those bears in Pliny, that could not be stirred with the 
sharpest prickles ; or those fishes in Aristotle, that though they have spears thrust into 
their sides, yet they awake not. [Bears : Pliny, lib. viii. c. 54. — G.] 



5-t PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

in a way of wickedness ! ' The wicked,' saith Isaiah, ' are like the 
troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and 
dirt/ ' There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God.' 1 There are 
snares in all their mercies, and curses and crosses do attend all their 
comforts, both at home and abroad. What is a fine suit of clothes 
with the plague in it I and what is a golden cup when there is poison 
at the bottom \ or what is a silken stocking with a broken leg in it ? 
The curse of God, the wrath of God, the hatred of God, and the tierce 
indignation of God, do always attend sinners walking in a way of 
wickedness. Turn to Deut. xxviii., and read from ver. 15 to the end 
of the chapter, and turn to Levit. xxvi., and read from ver. 14 to 
the end of that chapter, and then you shall see how the curse of God 
haunts the wicked, as it were a fury, in all his ways. In the city it 
attends him, in the country hovers over him ; coming in, it accom- 
panies him ; going forth, it follows him,, and in travel it is his comrade. 
It fills his store with strife, and mingles the wrath of God with his 
sweetest morsels. It is a moth in his wardrobe, murrain among his 
cattle, mildew in the field, rot among sheep, and ofttimes makes the 
fruit of his loins his greatest vexation and confusion. There is no 
solid joy, nor lasting peace, nor pure comfort, that attends sinners 
in their sinful ways. 2 There is a sword of vengeance that doth every 
moment hang over their heads by a small thread ; 3 and what joy 
and content can attend such souls, if the eye of conscience be but so 
far open as to see the sword ? Ah ! the horrors and terrors, the trem- 
blings and shakings, that attend their souls ! 

The tenth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
Device (10). By working them to be frequent in comparing them- 
selves and their ivays ivith those that are reputed or reported to b<" 
vjorse than, themselves. By this device the devil drew the proud 
pharisee to bless himself in a cursed coudition, ' God, I thank thee that 
I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as 
this publican, &c, Luke xviii. 11. Why, saith Satan, you swear but 
pretty oaths, as ' by your faith and troth,' &c, but such and such swear 
by wounds and blood ; you are now and then a little wanton, but such 
and such do daily defile and pollute themselves by actual uncleanness 
and filthiness ; you deceive and overreach your neighbours in things 
that are but as toys and trifles, but such and such deceive and over- 
reach others in things of greatest concernment, even to their ruin 
and undoings ; you do but sit, and chat, and sip with the drunkard, 
but such and such sit and drink and are drunk with the drunkard ; 
you are only a little proud in heart and habit, in looks and words, &c. 
Now the remedies against this device of the devil are these : 
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider this, Thai there is not a greater nor a clear- r 
argument to prove a man a hypocrite, than to be quick-sighted 
abroad and blind at home, than to see ' a mote in another man's eye, 

1 Isa. lvii. 20, and xlviii. 22. 

* Sin brings in sorrow and sickness, &c. The Rabbins say, that when Adam tasted 
the forbidden fruit, hi.s head ached. Sirens arc said to sing curiously while they live, 
but to roar horribly when they die. So do the wicked. 

3 Allusion is to Damocles. — G. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 55 

and not a beam in his own eye,' Mat. vii. 3, 4 ; than to use spec- 
tacles to behold other men's sins rather than looking-glasses to behold 
his own ; rather to be always holding his finger upon other men's sores, 
and to be amplifying and aggravating other men's sins than miti- 
gating of his own, &C. 1 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
To spend more time in comparing of your internal and, external 
actions with the Rule, with the Word,, by which you must be judged 
at last, than in comparing of yourselves with those that are worse 
than yourselves. 2 That man that, comparing his self with others 
that are worse than himself, may seem, to himself and others, to be an 
angel ; yet, comparing himself With the word, may see himself to be 
like the devil, yea, a very devil. ' Have not I chosen twelve, and one 
of you is a devil X John vi. 70. Such men are like him, as if they 
were spit out of his mouth. 

Satan is called ' the god of this world,' 2 Cor. iv. 4, because, as God 
at first did but speak the word, and it' was done, so, if the devil doth 
but hold up his finger, give the least hint, they will do his will, though 
they undo their souls for ever. Ah, what monsters would these men 
appear to be, did they but compare themselves with a righteous rule, 
and not with the most unrighteous men ; they would appear to be as 
black as hell itself. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That though thy sins be not as great as others, 
yet without sound repentance on thy side and pardoning mercy on 
God's, thou wilt be as certainly damned as others, though not equally 
tormented with others. 3 What though hell shall not be so hot to thee 
as others, yet thou must as certainly to hell as others, unless the 
glorious grace of God shines forth upon thee in the face of Christ. 
God will suit men's punishments to their sins ; the greatest sins shall 
be attended with the greatest punishments, and lesser sins with lesser 
punishments. Alas, what a poor comfort will this be to thee when 
thou comest to die, to consider that thou shaft not be equally tormented 
with others, yet must be for ever shut out from the glorious presence 
of God, Christ, angels, and saints, and from those good things of eternal 
life, that are so many that they exceed number, so great that they 
exceed measure, so precious that they exceed estimation ! Sure it is, 
that the tears of heaven 4 are not sufficient to bewail the loss of heaven ; 
the worm of grief gnaws as painful as the fire burns. If those souls, 
Acts xx. 37, wept because they should see Paul's face no more, how 
deplorable is the eternal deprivation of the beatifical vision ! 5 

1 History speaks of a kind of witches that, stirring ahroad, would put on their eyes, 
but returning home they boxed them up again. So do hypocrites. 

2 The nearer we draw to God and his word, the more rottenness we shall find in our 
bones. The more any man looks into the body of the sun, the less he seeth when 
he looks down again. It is said of the basilisk, that if he look into a glass he presently 
dieth ; so will sin, and a sinner (in a spiritual sense), when the soul looks into the word, 
which is God's glass, &c. 

3 As in heaven one is more glorious than another, so in hell one shall be more 
miserable than another. — August[ine~\. * Qu, ' hell ' ? — G. 

5 The gate of indulgence, the gate of hope, the gate of mercy, the gate of glory, the gate 
of consolation, and the gate of salvation, will be for ever shut against them, Mat. xxv. 10. 



56 PEECIOTTS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

But this is not all : thou shalt not be only shut out of heaven, but 
shut up in hell for ever ; not only shut out from the presence of God 
and angels, &c., but shut up with devils and damned spirits for ever; 
not only shut out from those sweet, surpassing, unexpressible, and 
everlasting pleasures that be at God's right hand, but shut up for ever 
under those torments that are ceaseless, remediless, and endless. 1 Ah, 
souls, were it not ten thousand times better for you to break off your 
sins by repentance, than to go on in your sins till you feel the truth 
of what now you hear ? 

The God of Israel is very merciful. Ah, that you would repent and 
return, that your souls might live for ever ! Remember this, grievous 
is the torment of the damned, for the bitterness of the punishments, 
but most grievous for the eternity of the punishments. For to be 
tormented without end, this is that which goes beyond the bounds of 
all desperation. Ah, how do the thoughts of this make the damned 
to roar and cry out for unquietness of heart, and tear their hair, and 
gnash their teeth, and rage for madness, that they must dwell in 
' everlasting burnings' for ever ! 2 

The eleventh device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
Device (11). By polluting and defiling the souls and judgments 
of men with such dangerous errors, that do in their proper tendency 
tend to carry the souls of men to all looseness and ivickedness, as 
woful experience doth abundantly evidence. Ah, how many are 
there filled with these and such like Christ-dishonouring and soul- 
undoing opinions, viz., that ordinances are poor, low, carnal things, 
and not only to be lived above, but without also ; that the Scriptures 
are full of fallacies and uncertainties, and no further to be heeded than 
they agree with that spirit that is in them ; that it is a poor, low 
thing, if not idolatry too, to worship God in a Mediator ; that the re- 
surrection is already past ; that there was never any such man or per- 
son as Jesus Christ, but that all is an allegory, and it signifies nothing 
but light and love, and such good frames born in men ; that there is 
no God nor devil, heaven nor hell, but what is within us ; that there 
is no sin in the saints, they are under do law but that of the Spirit, 
which is all freedom ; that sin and grace are equally good, and agree th 
to his will, — with a hundred other horrid opinions, which hath caused 
wickedness to break in as a flood among us, &c. 

Now the remedies against this device of Satan are those that follow : 
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That an erroneous, vain mind is as odious 
to God as a vicious life? He that had the leprosy in his head was 
to be pronounced utterly unclean, Levit. xiii. 44. Gross errors make 
the heart foolish, and render the life loose, and the soul light in the 
eye of God. Error spreads and frets like a gangrene, and renders the 
soul a leper in the sight of God. 4 

1 It was a good saying of Chrysostom, speaking of hell : Ne quceramus ubi sit, sed 
quomodo illamfugiamus, let us not seek where it is, but how we shall escape it. 

2 Surely one good means to escape hell is to take a turn or two in hell by our dail 
meditations. 8 A blind eye is worse than a lame foot. 

4 The breath of the erroneous is infectious, and, like the dogs of Congo, they bite 
thougli they bark not. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 57 

It was God's heavy and dreadful plague upon the Gentiles, to be 
given up to a mind void of judgment, or an injudicious mind, or a 
mind rejected, disallowed, abhorred of God, or a mind that none have 
cause to glory in, but rather to be ashamed of, Rom. i. 28. I think 
that in these days God punisheth many men's former wickednesses by 
giving them up to soul-ruining errors. Ah, Lord, this mercy I humbly 
beg, that thou wouldst rather take me into thine own hand, and do 
anything with me, than give me up to those sad errors to which thou- 
sands have married their souls, and are in a way of perishing for ever. 1 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
To receive the truth affectionately, and let it dwell in your souls 
'plenteously. 2 When men stand out against the truth, when truth 
would enter, and men bar the door of their souls against the truth, 
God in justice gives up such souls to be deluded and deceived by error, 
to their eternal undoing: 2 Thes. ii. 10-12, 'Because they received 
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, God shall send 
them strong delusions (or, as the Greek hath it, "the efficacy of error," 
evegytiav crXai-Jjs), that they should believe a lie ; that they all might be 
damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.'' 
Ah, sirs, as you love your souls, do not tempt God, do not provoke 
God, by your withstanding truth and out-facing truth, to give you up 
to believe a lie, that you may be damned. There are no men on earth 
so fenced against error as those are that receive the truth in the love 
of it. Such souls are not 'easily tossed to and fro, and carried about 
with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning crafti- 
ness, wherein they lie in wait to deceive,' Eph. iv. 14. 3 It is not he 
that receives most of the truth into his head, but he that receives most 
of the truth affectionately into his heart, that shall enjoy the happiness 
of having his judgment sound and clear, when others shall be deluded 
and deceived by them, who make it their business to infect the 
judgments and to undo the souls of men. 

Ah, souls, as you would not have your judgments polluted and de- 
filed with error, 'Let the word of the Lord,' that is more precious than 
gold, yea than fine gold, 'dwell plenteously in you,' Col. iii. 16. 4 It 
is not the hearing of truth, nor the knowing of truth, nor the com- 
mending of truth, nor the talking of truth, but the indwelling of truth 
in your souls, that will keep your judgments chaste and sound, in the 
midst of all those glittering errors -that betray many souls into his 
hands, that can easily 'transform himself into an angel of light,' 2 Cor. 
xi. 14, that he may draw others to, lie in chains of darkness with him 
for ever. 5 Oh, let not the word be a stranger, but make it your 
choicest familiar ! Then will you be able to stand in the day wherein 

1 Through animosity to persist in error is diabolical ; it were best that we never 
erred ; next to that, that we amended our error. 

2 The greatest sinners are sure to be the greatest sufferers. 

3 b T>i xvS'.'ia, Gr., signifies cogging with a die ; such sleights as cheaters and false 
gamesters use at dice. 

« ivoixiru, i. e. indwell in you as an ingrafted word incorporated into your souls, so 
concocted and digested by you, as that you turn it into a part of yourselves. 

5 They must needs err that know not God's ways, yet can they not wander so wide 
as to miss of hell. 



5S PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

many shall fall on your right hand, and on your left, by the subtlety 
of those that shall say, 'Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there is Christ.' 

There was more wit than grace in his speech that counselled his 
friends, ' Not to come too nigh unto truth, lust his teeth should be 
beaten out with its heels.' Ah, souls, if truth dwell plenteously in 
you, you are happy ; if not, you are unhappy under all your greatest 
felicity. 1 

'It is with truth,' saith Melancthon, 'as it is with holy water, every- 
one praised it, and thought it had some rare virtue in it ; but offer to 
sprinkle them with it, and they will shut their eyes, and turn away 
their faces from it,' 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
Bolemnly to consider, That error makes the owner to suffer loss. All 
the pains and labour that men take to defend and maintain their 
errors, to spread abroad and infect the world with their errors, shall 
bring no profit, nor no comfort to them in that day, wherein ' every 
man's work shall be made manifest, and the fire shall try it of what 
sort it is,' as the apostle shews in that remarkable scripture, 1 Cor. 
iii. 11-15. Ah, that all those that rise early and go to bed late, that 
spend their time, their strength, their spirits, their all, to advance and 
spread abroad God-dishonouring and soul-undoing opinions, would 
seriously consider of this, that they shall lose all the pains, cost, and 
charge that they have been, or shall be at, for the propagating of 
error ; and if they are ever saved, it shall be by fire, as the apostle 
there shews. Ah, sirs, Is it nothing to lay out your money for that 
which is not bread? and your strength for that which will not, which 
cannot, profit you in the day that you must make up your account, and 
all 3^our works must be tried by fire ? 2 Ah, that such souls would now 
at last 'buy the truth, and sell it not,' Pro v. xxiii. 23. Remember you 
can never over-buy it, whatsoever you give for it ; you can never suffi- 
ciently sell it, if you should have all the world in exchange for it. 

It is said of Cgesar, that ' he had greater care of his books than of 
his royal robes,' for, swimming through the waters to escape his 
enemies, he carried his books in his hand above the waters, but lost 
Ins robes. 3 Ah, what are Cassar's books to God's books? Well, re- 
member this, that one day, yea, one hour spent in the study of truth, 
or spreading abroad of truth, will yield the soul more comfort and pro- 
fit, than many thousand years spent in the study and spreading abroad 
of corrupt and vain opinions, that have their rise from hell, and not 
from heaven, from the god of this world and not from that God that 
shall at last judge this world, and all the corrupt opinions of men. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
//<ife, reject, and, abominate all those doctrines and opi/rdons that a/re 
contrary to godliness, and that open a door to profaneness,* and all 

1 Veritas vincit, Truth at last triumphs. Veritas stat in aperto campo, Truth stands 
in the open fields; ay, and it makes those souls stand in whom it dwells, when others 
fall as stars from heaven. 

* Error as a glass is bright, but brittle, and cannot endure the hammer, or fire, as 
gold can, which, though rubbed or melted, remains firm and orient. 

3 Major fait cura Crcsari libellorora quam purpuras. 

4 One old piece of gold is worth a thousand new counters, and one old truth of God 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 59 

such doctrines and opinions that require men to hold forth a strict- 
ness above what the Scripture requireth ; and all such doctrines and 
opinions that do advance anid lift up corrupted nature to the doing 
of supernatural things, ivhich none can do but by that supernatural 
power that raised Christ from the grave ; and such opinions that 
do lift our own righteousness in the room of Christ's righteousness, 
that place good works in the throne of Christ, and makes them co- 
partners with Christ, &c. And all those opinions and doctrines that 
do so set up and cry up Christ and his righteousness, as to cry down 
all duties of holiness and righteousness, and all those doctrines and 
opinions that do make the glorious and blessed privileges of believers 
in the days of the gospel to be lesser, fewer, and weaker, than they 
were in the time of the law. Ah, did your souls arise with a holy 
hatred, and a strong indignation against such doctrines and opinions, 
you would stand when others fall, and you would shine as the sun in 
his glory, when many that were once as shining stars may go forth as 
stinking snuffs. 1 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
hold fast the truth. As men take no hold on the arm of flesh till they 
let go the arm of God, Jer. xvii. 5, so men take no hold on error till 
they have let go their hold of truth ; therefore hold fast the truth, 
2 Tim. i. 13, and Titus i. 9. Truth is thy crown, hold fast thy crown, 
and let no man take thy crown from thee. Hath not God made truth 
sweet to thy soul, yea, sweeter than honey, or the honeycomb ? and 
wilt not thou go on to heaven, feeding upon truth, that heavenly 
honeycomb, as Samson did of his honeycomb. 2 Ah, souls, have you 
not found truth sweetening your spirits, and cheering your spirits, 
and warming your spirits, and raising your spirits, and corroborating 
your spirits ? Have not you found truth a guide to lead you, a staff 
to uphold you, a cordial to strengthen you, and a plaster to heal you? 
And will not you hold fast the truth ? Hath not truth been your best 
friend in your worst days ? Hath not truth stood by you when friends 
have forsaken you ? Hath not truth done more for you than all the 
world could do against you, and will you not hold fast the truth f Is 
not truth your right eye, without which you cannot see for Christ ? And 
your right hand, without which you cannot do for Christ ? And your 
right foot, without which you cannot walk with Christ? And will you 
not hold fast truth ? Oh ! hold fast the truth in your judgments and 
understandings, in your wills and affections, in your profession and 
conversation. 

Truth is more precious than gold or rubies, ' and all the things 
thou canst desire are not to be compared to her/ Prov. iii. 15. 4 
Truth is that heavenly glass wherein we may see the lustre and 

is more than a thousand new errors. True hatred is tU ro <ysvee, to the whole kind ; it 
is sad to frown upon one error and smile upon another. 

1 Gideon had seventy sons, and but one bastard, and yet that bastard destroyed all 
the rest (Judges viii. ] 3, et seq.). One turn may bring a man quite out of the way. 

2 The priests of Mercury, when they ate their figs and honey, cried out (yA.B*S n 
aX^ua), Sweet is truth. 

3 It is with truth as with some plants, which live and thrive but in warm climates. 

4 Said of ' wisdom.' — G. 



CO PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR II 11. 

glory of divine wisdom, power, greatness, love, and mercifulness. 
In this glass you may see the face of Christ, the favour of Christ, 
the riches of Christ, and the heart of Christ, beating and working 
sweetly towards your souls. Oh ! let your souls cleave to truth, as 
llutli did to Naomi, Ruth i. 15, 1G, and say, ' I will not leave truth, 
nor return from following after truth ; but where truth goes I will 
go, and where truth lodgeth I will lodge ; and nothing but death 
shall part truth and my soul.' 1 What John said to the church of 
Philadelphia I may say to you, 'Hold fast that which thou hast, 
that no man take thy crown,' Rev. iii. 11. The crown is the top of 
royalties : such a thing is truth : ' Let no man take thy crown.' ' Hold 
fast the faithful word,' as Titus speaks, chap. i. 9. 2 You were better 
let go anything than truth ; you were better let go your honours and 
riches, your friends and pleasures, and the world's favours ; yea, your 
nearest and dearest relations, ay, your very lives, than to let go truth. 
Oh, keep the truth, and truth will make you safe and happy for ever. 
Blessed are those souls that are kept by truth. 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
keep humble. Humility will keep the soul free from many darts of 
Satan's casting, and erroneous snares of his spreading. As low trees 
and shrubs are free from many violent gusts and blasts of wind which 
shake and rend the taller trees, so humble souls are free from those 
gusts and blasts of error that rend and tear proud, lofty souls. Satan 
and the world have least power to fasten errors upon humble souls. 
The God of light and truth delights to dwell with the humble ; and the 
more light and truth dwells in the soul, the further off darkness and 
error will stand from the soul. The God of grace pours in grace into 
humble souls, as men pour liquor into empty vessels ; and the more 
grace is poured into the soul, the less error shall be able to overpower 
the soul, or to infect the soul. 3 

That is a sweet word in Psalm xxv. 9t, 'The meek' (or the humble) 
' will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way.'* 
And certainly souls guided by God, and taught by God, are not easily 
drawn aside into ways of error. Oh, take heed of spiritual pride ! 
Pride fills our fancies, and weakens our graces, and makes room in our 
hearts for error. There are no men on earth so soon entangled, and so 
easily conquered by error, as proud souls. Oh, it is dangerous to love 
to be wise above what is written, to be curious and unsober in your 
desire of knowledge, and to trust to your own capacities and abilities 
to undertake to pry into all secrets, and to be puffed up with a carnal 
mind. Souls that are thus a-soaring up above the bounds and limits 

1 Though I cannot dispute for the truth, yet I can die for the truth, said that blessed 
martyr. 

3 'Avrt%iftivoi, Hold fast as with tooth and nail, against these that would snatch it 
from us. 

8 I have read of one who, seeing in a vision so many snares of the devil spread upon 
the earth, he sat down mourning, and said within himself, Quis pertransiet ista, who 
shall pass through these? whereunto he heard a voice answering, llumilitas pertransiet, 
humility shall pass through them. 

4 Ps. xxv. 9, D*13y, Gnanavim, from iliJJ, Gnanah, which signifies the humble or 
afflicted. The high tide quickly ebbs, and the highest sun is presently declining. You 
know how to apply it. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 61 

of humility, usually fall into the very worst of errors, as experience 
doth daily evidence. 1 

Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, The great evils that errors have produced. Error 
is a fruitful mother, and hath brought forth such monstrous children as 
hath set towns, cities, and nations on fire. 2 Error is that whorish woman 
that hath cast down many, wounded many, yea, slain many strong men, 
many great men, and many learned men, and many professing men 
in former times and in our time, as is too evident to all that are not 
much left of God, destitute of the truth, and bliuded by Satan. Oh, 
the graces that error hath weakened, and the sweet joys and comforts 
that error hath clouded, if not buried ! Oh, the hands that error hath 
weakened, the eyes that error hath blinded, the judgments of men 
that error hath perverted, the minds that error hath darkened, the 
hearts that error hath hardened, the affections that error hath cooled, 
the consciences that error hath seared, and the lives of men that error 
hath polluted ! Ah, souls'! can you solemnly consider of this, and not 
tremble more at error than at hell itself? &c. 

The twelfth device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin is, 
Device (12). To affect' 6 wicked company, to keep wicked society. And 
oh ! the horrid impieties and wickedness that Satan hath drawn men to 
sin, by working them to sit and associate themselves with vain persons. 
Now, the remedies against this device of the devil are these : 
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell, till your hearts be affected, upon those commands of God that 
do expressly require us to shun the society of the wicked : Eph. v. 11, 
' And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but 
rather reprove them ;' Prov. iv. 14-16, ' Enter not into the path of the 
wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, 
turn from it, and pass away.' 1 Cor. v. 9-11, 2 Thes. iii. 6, Prov. i. 
10-15. Turn to these Scriptures, and let your souls dwell upon them, 
till a holy indignation be raised in your souls against fellowship with 
vain men. ' God will not take the wicked by the hand/ as Job speaks, 
xxxiv. 20, xxx. 24. Why then should you ? God's commands are not 
like those that are easily reversed, but they are like those of the Medes, 
that cannot be changed. If these commands be not now observed by 
thee, they will at last be witnesses against thee, and millstones to sink 
thee, in that day that Christ shall judge thee. 4 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That their company is very infectious and dan- 
gerous, as is clear from the scripture above mentioned. Ah, how 
many have lost their names, and lost their estates, and strength, and 
God, and heaven, and souls, by society with wicked men ! As ye shun 
a stinking carcase, as the seaman shuns sands and rocks, and shelves, 5 
as ye shun those that have the plague-sores running upon them, so 

1 The proud soul is like him that gazed upon the moon, but fell into the pit. 
• Errors in conscience produce many great evils, not only ad intra, in men's own souls, 
but also ad extra, in human affairs. 3 ' Choose.' — G. 

4 Non parentum aut majorum authoritas, sed Dei docebit imperium. — Jerome. The 
commands of God must outweigh all authority and example of men. 

5 ' Shoals,'— G. 



<;2 TRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

should yini shun the society of wicked men. As weeds endanger the 
corn, ;is had humours endanger the blood, or as an infected house the 
neighbourhood, so doth wicked company the soul, 1 Prov. xiii. 20. 

Bias, a heathen man, being at sea in a great storm, and perceiving 
many wicked men in the ship, called upon the gods: 'Oh, saith he, 
toil tear prayer, hold your tongues ; I would not have the gods take 
notice that you are here ; they sure will drown us all if they should.' 
Ah, sirs, could a heathen see so much danger in the society of wicked 
mi id, and can you see none ? 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
look alt rays upon wicked men, under those names and notions that 
the Scripture doth set them out under. The Scripture calls them 
lions for their fierceness, and bears for their cruelty, and dragons for 
their hideousness, and dogs for their filthiness, and wolves for their 
subtleness. The Scripture styles them scorpions, vipers, thorns, briers, 
thistles, brambles, stubble, dirt, chaff, dust, dross, smoke, scum, as you 
may see in the margin. 2 It is not safe to look upon wicked men under 
those names and notions that they set out themselves by, or that flat- 
terers set them out by; this may delude the soul, but the looking upon 
them under those names and notions that the Scripture sets them out 
by, may preserve the soul from frequenting their company and delight- 
ing in their society. Do not tell me what this man calls them, or 
how such and such count them ; but tell me how doth the Scripture 
call them, how doth the Scripture count them ? As Nabal's name was, 
so was his nature, 1 Sam. xxv. 25, and as wicked men's names are, 
so are their natures. You may know well enough what is within them, 
by the apt names that the Holy Ghost hath given them. 3 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan, is, 
solemnly to consider, That the society and company of wicked men 
have been a great grief and burden to those precious souls that were 
once glorious on earth, and are noiv triumphing in heaven : Ps. cxx. 
5, 6, ' Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, that I sojourn in the tents 
of Kedar ! My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace/ So 
Jeremiah, ' Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of way- 
faring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them ! for they 
be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men,' Jer. ix. 2. So they 
' vexed Lot's righteous soul by their filthy conversation/ 2 Pet. ii. 7 ; 4 
they made his life a burden, they made death more desirable to him 
than life, yea, they made his life a lingering death. Guilt or grief is 
all the good gracious souls get by conversing with wicked men. 5 

1 Eusobius reports of John the Evangelist, that he would not suffer Cerinthus, the 
heretic, in the sanio bath with him, lest some judgment should abide them both. — 
Euseb. 1. iii. cap. 25. [Cf. Note in Sibbes, vol. vii. G03. — G.] A man that keepeth ill 
company is like him that walketh in the sun, tanned insensibly. 

2 2 Tim. iv. 17, Isa. xi. 7, Ezek. iii. 10, Mat. vii. 6, Rev. xxii. 15, Luke xiii. 32, Isa. 
x. 17, Ezek. ii. G, Judges ix. 14, Job xxi. 18, Ps. lxxxiii. 13, Ps. xviii. 42, Ezek. xxii. 
IS. 19, Isa. lxv. 5, Ezek. xxiv. 6. 

3 Lactantius says of Lucian [nee diis, nee hominibvs jiqiereil). he spared neither God 
nor man ; such monsters are wicked men. which should render their company to all 
that have tasted of the sweetness of divine love, a burden and not a delight. 

4 Vide Bezam, i. c. the Annott. of Beza, in loc. — G. 

B Lord, let me not go to hell, where the wicked are ; for Lord, thou knowest I never 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. G3 

The second thing to be shewed is, 

The several devices that Satan hath, as to draw souls to sin, so to 
keep souls from holy duties, to hinder souls in holy services, and to 
keep them off from religious performances. 

' And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the 
angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him,' 
Zech. iii. 1. 

The truth of this I shall shew you in the following particulars : 

The first device that Satan hath to draw souls from holy duties, and 
to keep them off from religious services, is, 

Device (1). By presenting the world in such a dress, and in such 
a garb to the soul, as to ensnare the soul, and to win upon the affec- 
tions of the soul. He represents the world to them in its beauty and 
bravery, 1 which proves a bewitching sight to a world of men. 2 (It is 
true, this took not Christ, because Satan could find no matter in him 
for his temptation to work upon.) So that he can no sooner cast out his 
golden bait, but we are ready to play with it, and to nibble at it ; he can 
no sooner throw out his golden ball, but men are apt to run after it, 
though they lose God and their souls in the pursuit. Ah! how many 
professors in these days have for a time followed hard after God, Christ, 
and ordinances, till the devil hath set before them the world in all its 
beauty and bravery, which hath so bewitched their souls that they 
have grown to have low thoughts of holy things, and then to be cold 
in their affections to holy things, and then to slight them, and at last, 
with the young man in the Gospel, to turn their backs upon them. 
Ah ! the time, the thoughts, the spirits, the hearts, the souls, the duties, 
the services, that the inordinate love of this wicked world doth eat up 
and destroy, and hath ate up and destroyed. Where one thousand 
are destroyed by the world's frowns, ten thousand are destroyed by the 
world's smiles. The world, siren-like, it sings us and sinks us ; it kisses 
us, and betrays us, like Judas ; it kisses us and smites us under the 
fifth rib, like Joab. The honours, splendour, and all the glory of this 
world, are but sweet poisons, that will much endanger us, if they do 
not eternally destroy us. 3 Ah ! the multitude of souls that have sur- 
feited of these sweet baits and died for ever. 

Now the remedies against this device of Satan are these, 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To dtvett 
upon the impotency and weakness of all these things here below. They 
are not able to secure you from the least evil, they are not able to pro- 
cure you the least desirable good. The crown of gold cannot cure the 
headache, nor the velvet slipper ease the gout, nor the jewel about the 

loved their company here, said a gracious gentlewoman, when she was to die, heing in 
much trouble of conscience. 1 ' Finery.' — G. 

2 The beauty of the world foils a Christian more than the strength ; the flattering 
sunshine more than the blustering storm. In storms we keep our garments close about 
us [as in the fable of the sun and wind. — G]. 

3 The inhabitants of Nilus are deaf by the noise of the waters ; so the world makes 
such a noise in men's ears, that they cannot hear the things of heaven. The world is 
like the swallows' dung, that put out Tobias his eyes. The champions could not wring 
an apple oat of Milo's hand by a strong hand, but a fair maid, by fair means, got it 
presently. 



G-t PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

neck cannot take away the pain of the teeth. The frogs of Egypt 
entered into the rich men's houses of Egypt, as well as the poor. Our 
daily experience doth evidence this, that all the honours, riches, &c, 
that men enjoy, cannot free them from the cholic, the fever, or lesser 
diseases. 1 Nay, that which may seem most strange is, that a great deal 
of wealth cannot keep men from falling into extreme poverty : Judges 
i. G, you shall find seventy kings, with their fingers and toes cut off, 
glad, like whelps, to lick up crumbs under another king's table ; and 
shortly after, the same king that brought them to this penury, is 
reduced to the same poverty and misery. Why then should that be a 
bar to keep thee out of heaven, that cannot give thee the least ease 
on earth ? 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
divell upon the vanity of them as well as upon the impotency of all 
worldly good. This is the sum of Solomon's sermon, 'Vanity of vanities, 
and all is vanity.' This our first parents found, and therefore named 
their second son Abel, or vanity. Solomon, that had tried these things, 
and could best tell the vanity of them, he preacheth this sermon over 
again and again, ' Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity/ It is sad to think 
how many thousands there be that can say with the preacher, ' Vanity 
of vanities, all is vanity/ nay, swear it, and yet follow after these things 
as if there were no other glory, nor felicity, but what is to be found in 
these things they call vanity. 2 Such men will sell Christ, heaven, and 
their souls for a trifle, that call these things vanity, but do not cor- 
dially believe them to be vanity, but set their hearts upon them as if 
they were their crown, the top of all their royalty and glory. Oh let 
your souls dwell upon the vanity of all things here below, till your 
hearts be so throughly convinced and persuaded of the vanity of them, 
as to trample upon them, and make them a footstool for Christ to get 
up, and ride in a holy triumph in your hearts 3 

Chrysostom said once, ' That if he were the fittest in the world to 
preach a sermon to the whole world, gathered together in one congre- 
gation, and had some high mountain for his pulpit, from whence he 
might have a prospect of all the world in his view, and were furnished 
with a voice of brass, a voice as loud as the trumpets of the arch- 
angel, that all the world might hear him, he would choose to preach 
upon no other text than that in the Psalms,' O mortal men, how long 
will ye love vanity, and follow after leasing ? Ps. iv. 2. 

1 The prior in Melancthon rolled his hand up and down in a basinful of angels, 
thinking thereby to have charmed his gout, but it would not do. Nugas the Scythian, 
despising the rich presents and ornaments that were sent unto him by the emperor of 
Constantinople, asked whether those things could drive away calamities, diseases, or 
death. 

- Gilemex, king of Vandals, led in triumph by Belisarius, cried out, ' Vanity of 
vanity, all is vanity.' The fancy of Lucian, who placeth Charon on the top of an high 
hill, viewing all the aft'airs of men living, and looking on their greatest cities as little 
birds' nests, is very pleasant. 

* Oh the imperfection, the ingratitude, the levity, the inconstancy, the perfidiousness 
of those creatures we most servilely affect. Ah, did we but weigh man's pain with his 
payment, his crosses with his mercies, his miseries with his pleasures, wo should (lien 
see that there is nothing got by the bargain, and conclude, ' Vanity of vanities, all is 
vanity.' 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 65 

Tell me, you that say all things under the sun are vanity, if you do 
really believe what you say, why do you spend more thoughts and 
time on the world, than you do on Christ, heaven, and your immortal 
souls ? Why do you then neglect your duty towards God, to get the 
world ? Why do you then so eagerly pursue after the world, and are 
so cold in your pursuing after God, Christ, and holiness ? Why then 
are your hearts so exceedingly raised, when the world comes in, and 
smiles upon you ; and so much dejected, and cast down, when the 
world frowns upon you, and with Jonah's gourd withers before you ? 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against the device of Satan is, To 
divell much upon the uncertainty, the mutability, and inconstancy 
of all things under the sun. Man himself is but the dream of a 
dream, but the generation of a fancy, but an empty vanity, but the 
curious picture of nothing, a poor, feeble, dying flash. All temporals 
are as transitory as a hasty headlong current, a shadow, a ship, a bird, 
an arrow, a post that passeth by. ' Why shouldst thou set thine eyes 
upon that which is not ?' saith Solomon, Prov. xxiii. 5. And saith the 
apostle, 'The fashion of this world passeth away,' 1 1 Cor. vii. 31. Heaven 
only hath a foundation, earth hath none, ' but is hanged upon nothing,' 
as Job speaks, xxvi. 7. The apostle willed Timothy to 'charge rich men 
that they be not high-minded, nor put their trust in uncertain riches,' 
1 Tim. vi. 17. 2 They are like bad servants, whose shoes are made of 
running leather, and will never tarry long with one master. 3 As a 
bird hoppeth from tree to tree, so do the honours and riches of this 
world from man to man, Let Job and Nebuchadnezzar testify this 
truth, who fell from great wealth to great want. No man can promise 
himself to be wealthy till night ; one storm at sea, one coal of fire, 
one false friend, one unadvised word, one false witness, may make thee 
a beggar and a prisoner all at once. All the riches and glory of this 
world is but as smoke and chaff that vanisheth ; 'Asa dream and 
vision in the night, that tarrieth not/ Job xx. 8. ' As if a hungry man 
dreameth, and thinketh that he eateth, and when he awaketh his soul 
is empty ; and like a thirsty man which thinketh he drinketh, and 
behold when he is awaked, his soul is faint,' as the prophet Isaiah saith, 
chap. xxix. 8. Where is the glory of Solomon ? the sumptuous build- 
ings of Nebuchadnezzar ? the nine hundred chariots of Sisera ? the 
power of Alexander ? the authority of Augustus, that commanded the 
whole world to be taxed ? Those that have been the most glorious, 
in what men generally account glorious and excellent, have had in- 
glorious ends ; as Samson for strength, Absalom for favour, Ahithophel 
for policy, Haman for favour, Asahel for swiftness, Alexander for great 
conquest, and yet after twelve years poisoned. The same you may 
see in the four mighty kingdoms, the Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and 

1 1 Cor. vii. 31 intimateth, that there is nothing of any firmness, or solid consistence, 
in the creature. 

2 Riches were never true to any that trusted to them ; they have deceived men, as 
Job's brook did the poor travellers in the summer season. 

3 A phrase meaning, he is given to rambling about. See Halliwell and Wright sub 
voce. — (jr. 

VOL. I. E 



GG PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

Roman : how soon were they gone and forgotten I 1 Now rich, now 
poor, now full, now empty, now in favour, anon out of favour, now 
honourable, now despised, now health, now sickness, now strength, 
now weakness. Oh, let not these uncertain things keep thee from 
those holy services and heavenly employments, that may make thee 
happy for ever, and render thy soul eternally blessed and at ease, 
when all these transitory things shall bid thy soul an everlasting fare- 
well. 2 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That the great things of this world are very 
hurtful and dangerous to the outward and inward man, through 
the corruptions that be in the hearts of men. Oh, the rest, the peace, 
the comfort, the content that the things of this world do strip many 
men of! Oh, the fears, the cares, the envy, the malice, the dangers, 
the mischiefs, that they subject men to ! 3 They oftentimes make men 
carnally confident. 4 The rich man's riches are a strong tower in his 
imagination. ' I said in my prosperity I should never be moved/ Ps. 
xxx. 6. They often swell the heart with pride, and make men forget 
God, and neglect God, and despise the rock of their salvation. When 
Jeshurun 'waxed fat, and was grown thick, and covered with fatness, 
then he forgot God, and forsook God that made him, and lightly 
esteemed the rock of his salvation/ as Moses spake, Deut. xxxii. 15. 
Ah, the time, the thoughts, the spirits, that the things of the world 
consume and spend ! Oh, how do they hinder the actings of faith 
upon God ! how do they interrupt our sweet communion with God ! 
how do they abate our love to the people of God ! and cool our love to 
the things of God ! and work us to act like those that are most unlike 
to God ! Oh, the deadness, the barrenness that doth attend men 
under great outward mercies ! 5 Oh, the riches of the world chokes the 
word ; that men live under the most soul-searching, and soul-enriching 
means with lean souls. Though they have full purses, though their 
chests are full of silver, yet their hearts are empty of grace. In 
Genesis xiii. 2, it is said, that ' Abraham was very rich in cattle, in 
silver, and in gold.' According to the Hebrew (Chabbedgh) it is 
' Abraham was very weary ;' to shew that riches are a heavy burden, 
and a hindrance many times to heaven, and happiness. 6 

1 The most renowned Frederick lost all, and sued to be made but sexton of the 
church that himself had built. I have read of a poor fisherman, who. while his nets 
were a-drying, slept upon the rock, and dreamed that he was made a king, on a sudden 
starts up, and leaping for joy, fell down from the rock, and in the place of his imaginary 
felicities loses his little portion of pleasures. 

2 The pomp of this world John com pare th to the moon, which crescit et decrescit, in- 
creaseth and decreaseth, Apoc. xii. 1. 

3 Henry the Second hearing Mentz his chief city to be taken, used this blasphemous 
speech : I shall never, saith he, love God any more, that suffered a city so dear to me 
to be taken from me. 

4 When one presented Antipater, king of Macedonia, with a book treating on happi- 
ness, his answer was («« <r^oXa^s/), I have no leisure. 

•' That four good mothers beget four bad daughters : great familiarity begets con- 
tempt, truth hatrod, virtue envy, riches ignorance ; a French proverb. 

6 Ponacrites bestowed five talents for a gift upon one Anacreon, who for two nights 
after was so troubled with care how to keep them, and how to bestow them, as he 
carried them back again to Ponacrites, saying, they were not worth the pains which he 
hud already taken for them. [_Q UC1 7 Folycrutes '? — G.] 



2 COE. II. 11.] AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 67 

King Henry the Fourth asked the Duke of Alva if he had observed 
the great eclipse of the sun, which had lately happened ; No, said the 
duke, I have so much to do on earth, that I have no leisure to look 
up to heaven. Ah, that this were not true of most professors in these 
days. It is very sad to think, how their hearts and time is so much 
taken up with earthly things, that they have scarce any leisure to look 
up to heaven, or to look after Christ, and the things that belong to 
their everlasting peace. 

Riches, though well got, yet are but like to manna ; those that 
gathered less had no want, and those that gathered more, it was but 
a trouble and annoyance to them. The world is troublesome, and yet 
it is loved ; what would it be if it were peaceable ? You embrace it, 
though it be filthy ; what would you do if it were beautiful ? You 
cannot keep your hands from the thorns ; how earnest would you be 
then in gathering the flowers i 1 The world, may be fitly likened to 
the serpent Scytale, whereof it is reported, that when she cannot over- 
take the flying passengers, she doth with her beautiful colours so 
astonish and amaze them, that they have no power to pass away, till 
she hath stung them. 2 Ah. how many thousands are there now on 
earth, that have found this true by experience, that have spun a fair 
thread to strangle themselves, both temporally and eternally, by being 
bewitched by the beaut}'' and bravery of this world. 3 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That all the felicity of this world is mixed. Our light is 
mixed with darkness, our joy with sorrow, our pleasures with pain, 
our honour with dishonour, our riches with wants. If our lights be 
spiritual, clear, and quick, we may see in the felicity of this world our 
wine mixed with water, our honey with gall, our sugar with worm- 
wood, and our roses with prickles. 4 Sorrow attends worldly joy, 
danger attends worldly safety, loss attends worldly labours, tears 
attend worldly purposes. As to these things, men's hopes are vain, 
their sorrow certain and joy feigned. The apostle calls this world 'a 
sea of glass/ a sea for the trouble of it, and glass for the brittleness 
and bitterness of it. 5 The honours, profits, pleasures, and delights of 
the world are true gardens of Adonis, where we can gather nothing 
but trivial flowers, surrounded with many briers. 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
get better acquaintance and better assurance of more blessed and 
glorious things. 6 That which raised up their spirits, Heb. x. and xi., 
to trample upon all the beauty, bravery, and glory of the world, was 
the acquaintance with, 'and assurance of better and more durable 

1 A recollection of Augustine. — G. 

* Sicily is so full of sweet flowers that dogs cannot hunt there. And what do all the 
sweet contents of this world, but make us lose the scent of heaven ! 

3 Scytale: Solinus cxxvii., xl. — G. 

4 Hark, scholar, said the harlot to Apuleius, it is but a bitter sweet you are so fond 
of. Surely all the things of this world are but bitter sweets. 

5 Qu. not this world? Of. Rev. iv. 6, xv. 2, xxi. 18. — G. 

6 Let heaven be a man's object, and earth will soon be his abject. Luther being at 
one time in some wants, it happened that a good sum of money was unexpectedly sent 
him by a nobleman of Germany, at which, being something amazed, he' said, I fear that 
God will give me my reward here, but I protest I will not be so satisfied. 



liS PBECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

things.' ' They took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing in 
themselves that they bad in heaven a better and a more durable sub- 
stance.' 'They looked for a house that had foundations, whoso builder 
and maker was God.' 'And they looked for another country, even an 
heavenly/ 'They saw him that was invisible, and had an eye to the 
recompence of reward.' And this made them count all the glory and 
bravery of this world to be too poor and contemptible for them to set 
their hearts upon. The main reason why men doat upon the world, 
and damn their souls to get the world, is, because they are not 
acquainted with a greater glory. Men ate acorns, till they were 
acquainted with the use of wheat. Ah, were men more acquainted 
with what union and communion with God means, what it is to have 
'a new name, and a new stone, that none knows but he that hath it,' 
Rev. ii. 17; did they but taste more of heaven, and live more in 
heaven, and had more glorious hopes of going to heaven, ah, how 
easily would they have the moon under their feet. 

It was an excellent saying of Lewis of Bavyer, emperor of Genrianv, 
Such goods are worth getting and owning, as will not sink or wash 
away if a shipwreck happen, but will wade and swim out with us.' 1 
It is recorded of Lazarus, that after his resurrection from the dead, he 
was never seen to laugh, his thoughts and affections were so fixed in 
heaven, though his body was on earth, and therefore he could not but 
slight temporal things, his heart being so bent and set upon eternals. 
There are goods for the throne of grace, as God, Christ, the Spirit, 
adoption, justification, remission of sin, peace with God, and peace 
with conscience ; and there are goods of the footstool, as honours, 
riches, the favour of creatures, and other comforts and accommoda- 
tions of this life. Now he that hath acquaintance with, and assurance 
of the goods of the throne, will easily trample upon the goods of the 
footstool Ah that you would make it your business, your work, to 
mind more, and make sure more to your own souls, the great things 
of eternity, that will yield you joy in life and peace in death, and a 
crown of righteousness in the day of Christ's appearing, and that will 
lift up your souls above all the beauty and bravery of this bewitching 
world, that will raise your feet above other men's heads. When a 
man comes to be assured of a crown, a sceptre, the royal robes, &c, 
he then begins to have low, mean, and contemptible thoughts of those 
things that before he highly prized. So will assurance of more great 
.oid glorious things breed in the soul a holy scorn and contempt of all 
these poor, mean things, which the soul before did value above God, 
Christ, ami heaven, &c. 

Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against tins device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That true ha pmness and satisfaction is not to 
be had in the enjoyment of worldly </ood. True happiness is too big 
and too glorious a thing to be found in anything below that God that 

1 fli'j'iisinodi comparandce sunt opes qnce cum naufrago simul enutent. There is, saith 
Augustine, bona throni, goods of the throne ; and there are bona scabclli, goods of the 
footstool. When Basil was tempted with money and preferment, saith ho, Give roe 
money that may last for ever, and glory that may eternally flourish ; for the fashion of 
this world paaaeth away, as the waters of a river that runs by a city. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. Of) 

is a Christian's summum bonurri; chiefest good. 1 The blessed angels, 
those glistering courtiers, have all felicities and blessedness, and yet 
have they neither gold, nor silver, nor jewels, nor none of the beauty 
and bravery of this world. Certainly if happiness was to be found in 
these things, the Lord Jesus, who is the right and royal heir of all 
things, would have exchanged his cradle for a crown ; his birth cham- 
ber, a stable, for a royal palace ; his poverty for plenty ; his despised 
followers for shining courtiers ; and his mean provisions for the choicest 
delicates, &c. Certainly happiness lies not in those things that a man 
may enjoy, and yet be miserable for ever. Now a man may be great 
and graceless with Pharaoh, honourable and damnable with Saul, rich 
and miserable with Dives, &c. : therefore happiness lies not in these 
things. Certainly happiness lies not in those things that cannot 
comfort a man upon a dying bed. Is it honours, riches, or friends, 
&c, that can comfort thee when thou comest to die ? Or is it not 
rather faith in the blood of Christ, the witness of the Spirit of 
Christ, the sense and feeling of the love and favour of Christ, and the 
hopes of eternally reigning with Christ ? Can happiness lie in those 
things that cannot give us health, or strength, or ease, or a good night's 
rest, or an hour's sleep, or a good stomach ? Why, all the honours, 
riches, and delights of this world cannot give these poor things to us, 
therefore certainly happiness lies not in the enjoyment of them, &c. 2 
And surely happiness is not to be found in those things that cannot 
satisfy the souls of men. Now none of these things can satisfy the 
soul of man. ' He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, 
nor he that loveth abundance with increase ; this is also vanity,' said 
the wise man, Eccles. v. 10. The barren womb, the horse leech's 
daughter, the grave and hell, will as soon be satisfied, as the soul of 
man will by the enjoyment of any worldly good. Some one thing or 
other will be for ever wanting to that soul that hath none but outward 
good to live upon. You may as soon fill a bag with wisdom, a chest 
with virtue, or a circle with a triangle, as the heart of man with any- 
thing here below. A man may have enough of the world to sink him, 
but he can never have enough to satisfy him, &c. 

Remedy (8). The eighth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, Of the dignity of the soul. Oh, the soul of man 
is more worth than a thousand worlds ! It is the greatest abasing of 
it that can be to let it doat upon a little shining earth, upon a little 
painted beauty and fading glory, when it is capable of union with 
Christ, of communion with God, and of enjoying the eternal vision of 
God. 

Seneca could say, ' I am too great, and born to greater things, than 
that I should be a slave to my body.' 3 Oh ! do you say my soul is 

1 True happiness lies only in our enjoyment of a suitable good, a pure good, a total 
good, and an eternal good ; and God is only such a good, and such a good can only 
satisfy the soul of man. Philosophers could say, that he was never a happy man that 
might afterwards become miserable. 

12 Gregory the Great used to say, He is poor whose soul is void of grace, not whose 
coffers are empty of money. Anima rationalis cceteris omnibus occupari potest , impleri non 
potest; the reasonable soul may be busied about other things, but it cannot be filled 
with them. 3 Epistle xiv. — G. 



70 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

too great, and born to greater things, than that I should confine it to 
a heap of white and yellow earth. 1 

I have been the longer upon the remedies that may help us against 
this dangerous device of Satan, because he doth usually more hurt to 
the souls of nun by this device than he doth by all other devices. 
For a close, I wish, as once Chrysostom did, that that sentence, Eccles. 
ii. 11, 'Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, 
and on the labour that I had laboured to do, and behold all was vanity 
and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun,' were 
engraven on the door-posts into which you enter, on the tables where 
you sit, on the dishes out of which you eat, on the cups out of which 
you drink, on the bed-steads where you lie, on the walls of the house 
where you dwell, on the garments which you wear, on the heads of 
the horses on which you ride, and on the foreheads of all them whom 
you meet, that your souls may not, by the beauty and bravery of the 
world, be kept off from those holy and heavenly services that may 
render you blessed while you live, and happy when you die ; that you 
may breathe out your last into his bosom who lives for ever, and who 
will make them happy for ever that prefer Christ's spirituals and 
eternals above all temporal transitory things. 

Device (2.) The second device that Satan hath to draw the soul 
from holy duties, and to keep them off from religious services, is, 
By presenting to them the danger, the losses, and the sufferings 
that do attend the 'performance of such and such, religious ser- 
vices. By this device Satan kept close those that believed on 
Christ from confessing of Christ: in John xii. 42, 'Nevertheless among 
the chief rulers also many believed on him ; but because of the Pha- 
risees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the 
synagogue.' I would walk in all the ways of God, I would give up 
myself to the strictest way of holiness, but I am afraid dangers will 
attend me on the one hand, and losses, and happily such and such 
sufferings on the other hand, saith many a man. Oh, how should we 
help ourselves against this temptation and device of Satan ! 

Now the remedies against this device of Satan are these that 
follow. 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is to con- 
sider, That all the troubles and afflictions that you meet with in a 
way of righteousness shall never hurt you, they shall never harm you. 
' And who is he that shall harm you, if you be followers of that which 
is good?' saith the apostle, i.e. none shall harm you, 1 Pet. iii. 13. 2 
Natural conscience cannot but do homage to the image of God stamped 
upon the natures, words, works, and life of the godly ; as we may see 
in the carriage of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius towards Daniel. All 

1 Plutarch tells of Themistoclcs, that he accounted it not to stand with his state to 
stoop clown to take up the spoils the enemies had scattered in flight; but saith to one 
of his followers, &6v«.<ra.i <rv, yao ovk u ti$fn<rroxkh;, You may, for you are not Themistocles. 
Oh what a sad thing it is that a heathen should set his feet upon those very things 
that most professors set their hearts, and for the gain of which, with Balaam, many ruu 
the hazard of losing their immortal souls for ever. 

8 Nemo pruprie laiditur nisi a seipso, Nobody is properly hurt but by himself, and 
his own fault. 



2 Cor. II 11.] against satan's devices. 71 

afflictions and troubles that do attend men in a way of righteousness 
can never rob them of their treasure, of their jewels. They may rob 
them of some light slight things, as the sword that is by their side, or 
the stick in their hand, or of the flowers or ribbons that be in their 
hats. 1 The treasures of a saint are the presence of God, the favour of 
God, union and communion with God, the pardon of sin, the joy of the 
Spirit, the peace of conscience, which are jewels that none can give 
but Christ, nor none can take away but Christ. Now why should a 
gracious soul keep off from a way of holiness because of afflictions, 
when no afflictions can strip a man of his heavenly jewels, which are 
his ornaments and his safety here, and will be his happiness and glory 
hereafter ? Why should that man be afraid, or troubled for storms at 
sea, whose treasures are sure in a friend's hand upon land ? Why, a 
believer's treasure is always safe in the hands of Christ ; his life is 
safe, his soul is safe, his grace is safe, his comfort is safe, and his crown 
is safe in the hand of Christ. 2 ' I know him in whom I have believed, 
and that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him 
until that day,' saith the apostle, 2 Tim. i. 12. The child's most pre- 
cious things are most secure in his father's hands ; so are our souls, 
our graces, and our comforts in the hand of Christ. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is to 
consider, That other precious saints that were shining lights on earth, 
and are noiv triumphing in heaven, have held on in religious ser- 
vices, notwithstanding all the troubles and dangers that have sur- 
rounded them? Nehemiah and Ezra were surrounded with dangers 
on the left hand and on the right, and yet, in the face of all, they hold 
on building the temple and the wall of Jerusalem. So Daniel, and 
those precious worthies, Ps. xliv. 19, 20, under the want of outward 
encouragements, and in the face of a world of very great discourage- 
ment?, their souls clave to God and his ways. ' Though they were sore 
broken in the place of dragons, and covered with the shadow of death, 
yea, though they were all the day long counted as sheep for the 
slaughter, yet their hearts were not turned back, neither did their 
steps decline from his ways.' Though bonds and imprisonments did 
attend Paul and the rest of the apostles in every place, yet they held 
on in the work and service of the Lord ; and why, then, should you 
degenerate from their worthy examples, which is your duty and your 
glory to follow ? 2 Cor. vi. 5, Heb. xi. 36. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 

1 Gordius, that blessed martyr, accounted it a loss to him not to suffer many kinds of 
tortures. He saith tortures are hut tradings with God for glory. The greater the 
combat is, the greater is the following reward. [For above of Gordius, cf. Clarke's 
' Martyrologie,' 1677 folio, pages 54, 55. — G.] 

2 That was a notable speech of Luther, Let him that died for my soul see to the 
salvation of it. 

3 Wil. Fowler (martyr) said that heaven should as soon fall as I will forsake my 
profession, or budge in the least degree from it. So Santus being under as great tor- 
ments as you have read of, cries out, Christianus sum, I am a Christian. No torments 
could work him to decline the service of God. I might produce a cloud of witnesses ; 
but if those do not work you to be noble and brave, 1 am afraid more will not [For 
Fowler see Clarke's ' Martyrologie,' as before, pp. 450, 451, and for Sanctus [not Santus] 
page 81. — G.] 



72 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

solemnly to consider, That all the troubles and dangers that do 
attend the performance of all hoi// duties and heavenly services are 
but temporal and momentary, but the neglect of them may lay thee 
open to all temporal, spiritual, and eternal dangers. ' How shall 
we escape, it' we neglect so great salvation?' J lei), ii. 3. He saith 
not, it we reject or renounce so great salvation. No ; but if we neglect, 
or shift off so great salvation, how shall we escape? 1 That is, we 
cannot by any way, or means, or device in the world, escape. Divine 
justice will be above us, in spite of our very souls. The doing of such 
and such heavenly services may lay you open to the frowns of nun, 
but the neglect of them will lay you open to the frowns of God ; the 
doing of them may render you contemptible in the eves of men, 
but the neglect of them may render you contemptible in the eyes of 
God ; the doing of them may be the loss of thy estate, but the neglect 
of them may be the loss of God, Christ, heaven, and thy soul tor ever; 
the doing of them may shut thee out from some outward temporal 
contents, the neglect of them may shut thee out from that excellent 
matchless glory Hhat eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath 
it entered into the heart of men,' Isa. lxiv. 4. Remember this, there 
is no man that breathes but shall suffer more by neglecting those holy 
and heavenly services that God commands, commends, and rewards, 
than possibly he can suffer by doing of them. 2 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That God, knows hoiv to deliver from troubles by troubles, 
from afflictions by afflict ions, from dangers by dangers. God, by 
lesser troubles and afflictions, doth oftentimes deliver his people from 
greater, so that they shall say, We had perished, if we had not 
perished ; 3 we had been undone, if we had not been undone ; we had 
been in danger, if we had not been in clanger. God will so order the 
afflictions that befall you in the way of righteousness, that your souls 
shall sa}', We would not for all the world but that we had met with 
such and such troubles and afflictions ; for surely, had not these be- 
fallen us, it would have been worse and worse with us. Oh the carnal 
security, pride, formalitjr, dead-heartedness, lukewarmness, censorious- 
ness, and earthliness that God hath cured us of, by the trouble and 
dangers that we have met with in the ways and services of the Lord ! 

I remember a story of a godly man, that as he was going to take 
shipping for France, he broke his leg ; and it pleased Providence so to 
order it, that the ship that he should have gone in, at that very instant 
was cast away, and not a man saved ; so by breaking a bone, his life 
was saved. 4 So the Lord many times breaks our bones, but it is in 
order to the saving of our lives and our souls for ever. He gives us 
a portion that makes us heart-sick, but it is in order to the making us 
perfectly well, and to the purging of us from those ill humours that 

1 Kpixbtravrts. Disregard, not care for it. 

- Francis Xavorias [Xavkr.— G.J counselled Jolm the. Third, king of Portugal, to 
meditate every day a quarter of an hour upon that text, ' What shall it profit a man to 
Lain the whole world, and lose his soul !' 8 Periissem nisi periissom. 

4 The 'breaking of his leg' on the way saved the life of the saintly Bernard Gilpin 
from being sacrificed by Bonner. See Memoir of Dr Airay, prefixed to his ' Philippians,' 
in the series of ' Commentaries ' issued by the Publisher of this. — G. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 73 

have made our heads ache, and God's heart ache, and our souls sick, 
and heavy to the death, &c. Oh therefore let no danger or misery 
hinder thee from thy duty. 1 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That you shall gain more in the service of God, 
and by walking in righteous and holy ways, though troubles and 
afflictions should attend you, than you can possibly suffer, or lose, 
by your being found in the service of God. ' Godliness is great gain/ 
1 Tim. vi. 6. Oh, the joy, the peace, the comfort, the rest, that saints 
meet with in the ways and service of God ! They find that religious 
services are not empty things, but things in which God is pleased to 
discover his beauty and glory to their souls. ' My soul thirsts for 
God,' saith David, ' that I might see thy beauty and thy glory, as I 
have seen thee in thy sanctuary,' Ps. lxiii. 2. Oh, the sweet looks, 
the sweet words, the sweet hints, the sweet joggings, the sweet in- 
fluences, the sweet love-letters, that gracious souls have from heaven, 
when they wait upon God in holy and heavenly services, the least of 
which will darken and outweigh all the bravery and glory of this 
world, and richly recompense the soul for all the troubles, afflictions, 
and dangers that have attended it in the service of God. 2 Oh, the saints 
can say under all their troubles and afflictions, that they have meat 
to eat, and drink to drink, that the world knows not of ; that they 
have such incomes, such refreshments., such warmings, &c, that they 
would not exchange for all the honours, riches, and dainties of this 
world. Ah, let but a Christian compare his external losses with his 
spiritual, internal, and external gain, and he shall find, that for every 
penny that he loses in the service of God, he gains a pound ; and for 
every pound that he loses, he gains a hundred ; for every hundred 
lost, he gains a thousand. We lose pins in his service, and find pearls; 
we lose the favour of the creature, and peace with the creature, and 
haply the comforts and contents of the creature, and we gain the 
favour of God, peace with conscience, and the comforts and contents 
of a better life. Ah, did the men of this world know the sweet that 
saints enjoy in afflictions, they would rather choose Manasseh's iron chain 
than his golden crown ; they would rather be Paul a prisoner, than 
Paul rapt up in the third heaven. For ' light afflictions/ they shall 
have ' a weight of glory / for a few afflictions, they shall have these 
joys, pleasures, and contents, that are as the stars of heaven, or as the 
sands of the sea that cannot be numbered ; for momentary afflictions, 
they shall have an eternal crown of glory. 3 'It is but winking, and 

1 Non essem ego salvus nisi ista periissent.— Anaxagoras- Had not these tilings 
perished, I could not have been safe, said this phliosopher, when he saw great posses- 
sions that he had lost. 

2 Tertul [Han], in his book to the martyrs, hath an apt saying {Negotiatio est aliquid 
amitlere ut major a lucrerls), i.e. that's right and good merchandise, when something is 
parted with to gain more. He applieth it to their sufferings, wherein, though the flesh 
lost something, yet the spirit got much more. 

3 When the noble General Zedislaus had lost his hand in the wars of the king of 
Poland, the king sent him a golden hand for it. What we lose in Christ's service he 
will make up, by giving us some golden mercies. Though the cross be bitter, yet it is 
but short ; a little storm, as one said of Julian's persecution, and an eternal calm follows. 



74 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 CoR. II. 11. 

thou slmlt be in heaven presently/ said the martyr. 1 Oh, therefore, 
let not afflictions or troubles work thee to shun the ways of God, or to 
quit thai service that should be dearer to thee than a world, yea, than 
thy very life, &c. 

The third device that Satan hath to hinder souls from holy and 
heavenly services, and from religious performances, is, 

Device (3). By presenti/ng to the soul the difficulty of jMrformi/ng 
them. Saith Satan, it is so hard and difficult a thing to pray as thou 
Bhouldst, and to wait on God as thou shouldst, and to walk with God 
as thou shouldst, and to be lively, warm, and active in the communion 
of saints, as thou shouldst, that you were better ten thousand times 
to neglect them, than to meddle with them ; and doubtless by this de- 
vice Satan hath and doth keep off thousands from waiting on God, and 
from giving to him that service that is due to his name. 

Now, the remedies against this device of Satan are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell more upon the necessity of the service and duty, titan on the 
difficulty that doth attend the duty. You should reason thus with 
your souls : O our souls, though such and such services be hard and 
difficult, yet are they not exceeding necessary for the honour of God, 
and the keeping up his name in the world, and the keeping under of 
sin, and the strengthening of weak graces, and so the reviving of lan- 
guishing comforts, and for the keeping clear and bright your blessed 
evidences, and for the scattering of your fears, and for the raising of 
your hopes, and for the gladding the hearts of the righteous, and 
stopping the mouths of unrighteous souls, who are ready to take all 
advantages to blaspheme the name of God, and throw dirt and con- 
tempt upon his people and ways. Oh, never leave thinking on the 
necessity of this and that duty, till your souls be lifted up far above 
all the difficulties that do attend religious duties. 2 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That the Lord Jesus will make his services easy 
to you, by the sweet discovery of himself to your souls, whilst you are 
in his service. ' Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh right- 
eousness, those that remember thee in thy ways,' as the prophet 
Isaiah saith, Isa. lxiv. 5. 3 If meeting with God, who is goodness it- 
self, beauty itself, strength itself, glory itself, will not sweeten his 
service to thy soul, nothing in heaven or earth will. 

Jacob's meeting with Rachel, and enjoying of Rachel, made his 
hard service to be easy and delightful to him ; and will not the soul's 
enjoying of God, and meeting with God, render his service to be much 
more easy and delightful? Doubtless it will. The Lord will give that 

1 Paulisper senex, oculos claude, nam statim lumen Dei videbis.— Sozomen, lib. ii. 
cap. ii. — G. 

- The necessity of doing your duty appears by tins, that you are his servants by a 
threefold right ; you are his servants (jure creationis, jure suslentationis, jure redemptiunu) 
by right of creation, ami by right of sustentation, aud by right of redemption. 

:l nyjD, Paganta, is diversely taken ; but most take the word here, to meet a soul with 
those bowels of love and tenderneSB as the fattier of the prodigal met the prodigal with. 
God is l J aler miserationum, ho i3 all bowels ; he is swift to shew mercy, as he is slow 
to anger. 






2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 75 

sweet assistance by his Spirit and grace, as shall make his service 
joyous and not grievous, a delight and not a burden, a heaven and 
not a hell, to believing souls. 1 The confidence of this divine assistance 
raised up Nehemiah's spirit far above all those difficulties and dis- 
couragements that did attend him in the work and service of the 
Lord, as you may see in Nehemiah ii. 19, 20, ' But when Sanballat 
the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem 
the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and 
said, What is this thing that ye do 1 will ye rebel against the king ? 
Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he 
will prosper us ; therefore we his servants will arise and build : but 
you have no right, nor portion, nor memorial, in Jerusalem/ Ah, souls, 
while you are in the very service of the Lord, you shall find by ex- 
perience, that the God of heaven will prosper you, and support you, 
and encourage and strengthen you, and carry you through the hardest 
service, with the greatest sweetness and cheerfulness that can be. 
Remember this, that God will suit your strength to your work, and 
in the hardest service you shall have the choicest assistance. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell upon the hard and difficult things that the Lord Jesus hath 
passed through for your temporal, spiritual, and eternal good. Ah, 
what a sea of blood, a sea of wrath, of sin, of sorrow and misery, did 
the Lord Jesus wade through for your internal and eternal good ! 2 
Christ did not plead, This cross is too heavy for me to bear; this wrath 
is too great for me to lie under ; this cup, which hath in it all the in- 
gredients of divine displeasure, is too bitter for me to sup off, 3 how much 
more to drink the very dregs of it ? No, Christ stands not upon this; 
he pleads not the difficulty of the service, but resolutely and bravely 
wades through all, as the prophet Isaiah shews: 'The Lord God hath 
opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away my back. 
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked 
off the hair ; I hid not my face from shame and spitting/ chap. 1. 6. 
Christ makes nothing of his Father's wrath, the burden of your sins, 
the malice of Satan, and the rage of the world, but sweetly and trium- 
phantly passes through all. Ah, souls ! if this consideration will not 
raise up your spirits above all the discouragements that you meet with, 
to own Christ and his service, and to stick and cleave to Christ and 
his service, I am afraid nothing will. A soul not stirred by this, not 
raised and lifted up by this, to be resolute and brave in the service of 
God, notwithstanding all dangers and difficulties, is a soul left of God 
to much blindness and hardness. 4 

1 Luther speaks excellently to Melancthon, who was apt to be discouraged with doubts 
and difficulties, and fear from foes, and to cease the service they had undertaken. ' If 
the work be not good, why did we ever own it ? If it be good, why should we ever de- 
cline it ? Why, saith he, should we fear the conquered world, that have Christ the 
conqueror on our side ' ? [From the Reformer's Letters during the diet of Augsburg, a.d. 
1530. Cf. D'Aubigne, Hist, of Ref. ; c. xiv. § 10, c. 6.— G.] 

2 It is not fit, since the Head was crowned with thorns, that the members should be 
crowned with rosebuds, saith Zanch[ius]. 3 Qu. 'sip of? — Ed. 

4 Godfrey of Bullen [Bouillon], first king of Jerusalem, refused to be crowned with 
a crown of gold, saying, it became not a Christian there to wear a crown of gold, where 
Christ for our salvation had sometime worn a crown of thorns. [Cf. Tasso. — G.] 



76 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR II. 11. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is to 
consider, That religious duties, holy and heavenly exercises, are only 
difficult to the worse, to the ignoble, part of a saint. They are not 
to the noble and better part of a saint, to the noble part, the soul, 
and the renewed affections of a saint. Holy exercises are a heavenly 
pleasure and recreation, as the apostle speaks: 'I delight in the law 
of God, alter the inward man : with my mind I serve the law of God, 
though with my flesh the law of sin,' Rom. vii. 22. To the noble part 
of a saint, ( Ihrist's 'yoke is easy, and his burden is light,' Mat. xi. :>().' 
All the commands and ways of Christ (even those that tend to the 
] lulling out of right eyes and cutting off of right hands) are joyous, 
and not grievous, to the noble part of a saint. 2 All the ways and ser- 
vices of Christ are pleasantness, in the abstract, to the better part of 
a saint. A saiut, so far as he is renewed, is always best when he sees 
must of God, when he tastes most of God, when he is highest in his 
enjoyments of God, and most warm and lively in the service of God. 
Oh, saith the noble part of a saint, that it might be always thus! Oh 
that my strength were the strength of stones, and my flesh as brass, 
that my worser part might be more serviceable to my noble part, that 
I might act by an untired power in that service, that is a pleasure, a 
paradise, to me. 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That great reward and glorious recommence 
that doth attend those that cleave to the service of the Lord in 
the face of all difficulties and discouragements. Though the work 
be hard, yet the wages is great. Heaven will make amends for all. 
Ay, one hour's being in heaven will abundantly recompense you for 
cleaving to the Lord and his ways in the face of all difficulties. This 
carried the apostle through the greatest difficulties. He had an eye 
' to the recompence of reward ;' he looked for ' a house that had founda- 
tions, whoso builder and maker was God,' and for 'a heavenly country.' 
Yea, this bore up the spirit of Christ in the face of all difficulties and 
discouragements : ' Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 
faith ; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, 
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne 
of God,'Heb. xii. 2. 3 

Christians that would hold on in the service of the Lord, must look 
more upon the crown than upon the cross, more upon their future 
glory than their present misery, more upon their encouragements than 
upon their discouragements. God's very service is wages ; his ways 
are strewed with roses, and paved 'with joy that is unspeakable and 
full of glory/ and with 'peace that passeth understanding.' Some 
degree of comfort follows every good action, as heat accompanies fire, 

1 xzwr'f, ie- my yoke is a benign, a gracious, a pleasant, a good, and a gainful yoke, 
< pposed to Tovroo:, painful, tedious. 

2 As every Bower hath its sweet savour, so every good duty carries meat in the mouth, 

i in the performance of it. 
8 Basil Bpeaka of some martyrs that were cast out all night naked in a cold, frosty time, 
ami were to I": burned the next day, how they comforted themselves in this manner: 
'I lie winter is sharp, bul paradise is sweet ; here we shiver for cold, but the bosom of 
A.1 raham will make amends for all. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 77 

as beams and influences issue from the sun : ' Moreover, by them is 
thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward,' 
Ps. xix. 11. Not only for keeping, but in keeping of them, there is 
great reward. 1 The joy, the rest, the refreshing, the comforts, the con- 
tents, the smiles, the incomes 2 that saints now enjoy in the ways of 
God, are so precious and glorious in their eyes, that they would not 
exchange them for ten thousand worlds. Ah ! if the vails 3 be thus 
sweet and glorious before pay-day comes, what will be that glory that 
Christ will crown his saints with for cleaving to his service in the face 
of all difficulties ; when he shall say to his Father, 'Lo, here am I, and 
the children which thou hast given me,' Isa. viii. 18. If there be so 
much to be had in a wilderness, what then shall be had in para- 
dise % &c. 

The fourth device that Satan hath to keep souls off from holy exer- 
cises, from religious services, is, 

Device, (4). By working them to make false inferences from those 
blessed and glorious things that Christ hath done. As that Jesus 
Christ hath done all for us, therefore there is nothing for us to do but 
to joy and rejoice. He hath perfectly justified us, and fulfilled the 
law, and satisfied divine justice, and pacified his Father's wrath, and 
is gone to heaven to prepare a place for us, and in the mean time to 
intercede for us ; and therefore away with praying, and mourning, 
and hearing, &c. Ah ! what a world of professors hath Satan drawn 
in these days from religious services, by working them to make such 
sad, wild, and strange inferences from the sweet and excellent things 
that the Lord Jesus hath done for his beloved ones. 

Now, the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell as muck on those scriptures that shew you, the duties and 
services that Christ requires of you, as upon those scriptures that 
declare to you the precious and glorious things that Christ hath clone 
for you.* It is a sad and dangerous thing to have two eyes to behold 
our dignity and privileges, and not one to see our duties and services. I 
should look with one eye upon the choice and excellent things that Christ 
hath done for me, to raise up my heart to love Christ with the purest 
love, and to joy in Christ with the strongest joy, and to lift up Christ 
above all, who hath made himself to be my all '; and I should look with 
the other eye upon those services and duties that the Scriptures require 
of those for whom Christ hath done such blessed things, as upon that 
of the apostle : ' What, know ye not that your body is the temple of 
the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God ? and ye are not 
your own : for ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God in 
your body, and in your spirit, which are God : s,' 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. 
And that : ' Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour 

1 This is prcemium ante prcemiitm, a sure reward of well doing ; in doing thereof, not 
only for doing thereof, there is great reward, Ps. xix. 11. 

2 ' In-comings.' — G. 3 ' Gratuities.' — G. 

4 Tertullian hath this expression of the Scriptures : Adoro pleniludinem Scripturarum, 
I adore the fulness of the Scripture. Gregory calls the Scripture, Cor et animam Dei, 
the heart and soul of God; and who will not then dwell in it ? 



78 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

is not in vain in the Lord/ 1 Cor. xv. 58. And that : 'And let us not 
be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not,' 
GaL vi. 9. And that of the apostle : 'Rejoice always,' 1 Thes. v. 16, 
and 'Pray without ceasing,' 1 Thes. v. 17. And that in the Philip- 
pians, ' \Vork out your own salvation with fear and trembling/ ii. 12 ; 
and that, 'This do till I come,' 1 Tim. iv. 13; and that, 'Let us 
consider one another, to provoke one another to love, and to good 
works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner 
of Borne is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you 
see the day approaching/ Heb. x. 24, 25. Now, a soul that would not 
be drawn away by this device of Satan, he must not look with asquint 
eye upon these blessed scriptures, and abundance more of like import, 
but he must dwell upon them ; he must make these scriptures to be 
his chiefest and his choicest companions, and this will be a happy 
means to keep him close to Christ and his service in these times, 
wherein many turn their backs upon Christ, under pretence of being 
interested in the great glorious things that have been acted by Christ, 
&c.' 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That the great and glorious things that Jesus Christ hath 
dona, and is a-doing for us, should be so far from taking us of 
from religious services and pious performances, that they should be 
the greatest motives and encouragements to the performance of them 
that may be, as the Scriptures do abundantly evidence. I will only 
instance in some, as that, ' That we, being delivered out of the hands 
of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and right- 
teousness before him all the days of our lives/ 1 Peter ii. 9, Luke 
i. 7-i, 75. Christ hath freed you from all your enemies, from the 
curse of the law, the predominant damnatory power of sin, the wrath 
of God, the sting of death, and the torments of hell ; but what is the 
end and design of Christ in doing these great and marvellous things 
for his people ? It is not that we should throw off duties of righteous- 
ness and holiness, but that their hearts may be the more free and 
sweet in all holy duties and heavenly services. 2 So the apostle, ' I will 
be their God, and they shall be my people :' ' And I will be a Father 
unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, smith the Lord 
Almighty.' Mark what follows: 'Having therefore these promises, 
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh 
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord/ 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18, 
chap. vii. 1 compared. And again : ' The grace of God that bringeth 
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying all 
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
yodly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the 
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who 
gave himself fur us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and 

1 The Jews were much in turning over the leaves of the Scripture, but they did not 
weigh the matter of them: John v. 39, 'You search the Scriptures.' ■ Greek there 

.im ih to be indicative rather than imperative. 

9 This I am sure of, that all man's happiness here is his holiness, and his holiness 
shall hereafter be his happiness. Christ hath therefore broke the devil's yoke from oif 
our necks, that his Father might have better service from our hearts. 



2 COR. II. 11.] AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 79 

purify us unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works/ Titus 
ii. 12-14. Ah, souls ! I know no such arguments to work you to a 
lively and constant performance of all heavenly services, like those that 
are drawn from the consideration of the great and glorious things that 
Christ hath done for you ; and if such arguments will not take you 
and win upon you, I do think the throwing of hell fire in your faces 
will never do it. 1 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That those precious souls which Jesus Christ 
hath done and suffered as much for as he hath for you, have been 
exceeding active and lively in all religious services and heavenly 
performances. 2 He did as much and suffered as much for David as for 
you, and yet who more in praying and praising God than David ? 
' Seven times a day will I praise the Lord,' Ps. cxix. 174. Who more 
in the studying and meditating on the word than David ? 'The law is 
my meditation day and night/ Ps. cxix. 97. The same truth you may 
run and read in Jacob, Moses, Job, Daniel, and in the rest of the holy 
prophets and apostles, for whom Christ hath done as much for as for 
you. Ah, how have all those worthies abounded in works of righteous- 
ness and holiness, to the praise of free grace ? Certainly Satan hath 
got the upper hand of those souls that do argue thus. Christ hath 
done such and such glorious things for us, therefore we need not make 
any care and conscience of doing such and such religious services as 
men say the word calls for. If this logic be not from hell, what is ? 
Ah, were the holy prophets and apostles alive to hear such logic come 
out of the mouths of such as profess themselves to be interested in the 
great and glorious things that Jesus Christ hatb done for his chosen 
ones, how would they blush to look upon such souls ! and how would 
their hearts grieve and break within them to hear the language and to 
observe the actings of such souls. 3 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider this, That those that do not walk in the ways 
of righteousness and holiness, that do not wait upon God in the 
several duties and services that are commanded by him, cannot have 
that evidence to their own souls of their righteousness before God, of 
their fellowship and communion with God, of their blessedness here, 
and their happiness hereafter, as those souls have, that love and de- 
light in the ways of the Lord, that are always best when they are 
most in the works and service of the Lord} ' Little children/ saith 

1 Tace, lingua ; loquere, vita, talk not of a good life, hut let thy life speak. Your actions 
in passing pass not away ; for every good work is a grain of seed for eternal life. 

2 The saints' motto in all ages hath been Laboremus, let us be doing. God love?. 
Curristas, not Quairistas, the runner, not the questioner or disputer, saith Luther. 

3 The day is at hand when God will require of men, Nonquidlegerint, sedquid egerint. 
nee quid dixcrint, sed quomodo vixeriat. He that talks of heaven, but doth not the will of 
God, is like him that gazed upon the moon, but fell into the pit. 

4 Certainly it, is one thing to judge by our graces, another thing to rest or put 
our trust in them. There is a great deal of difference betwixt declaring and de- 
serving. As David's daughters were known by their garments of divers colours, so 
are God's children by their piety and sanctity. A Christian's emblem should be an 
house walking towards heaven. High words surely make a man neither holy nor 
just ; but a virtuous life, a circumspect walking, makes him dear to God. A tree 
that is not fruitful is for the fire. Christianity is not a talking, but a walking with 



80 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

the apostle, 'lit do man deceive you: he that doth righteousness is 
righteous, even as be is righteous,' 1 John iii. 7. ' In this,' saith the 
same apostle, ' the children of God are manifest, and the children of 
the devil ; whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he 
that loveth qoI his brother,' ver. 10. ' If ye know that he is righteous/ 
Baith t he same apostle, ' ye know that every one that dotli righteousness, 
is born <>f him. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his com- 
mandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whosoever 
keepeth Ins word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby 
know wo that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him, ought 
himself also to walk, even as he walked/ ' If we say that we have 
fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the 
truth ; hut it' we walk in the light, as he is in the light, Ave have fel- 
lowship one with another ; and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us 
from all sin/ saith the same apostle, 1 John ii. 4-G, and i. G, 7. So 
James ii. 14, '20, ' What cloth it profit, my brethren, though a man 
say he hath faith, and have no works ; can faith save him V i. o. it 
cannot. 'For as the body without spirit is dead, so faith without 
works is dead also.' To look after holy and heavenly works, is the best 
way to preserve the soul from being deceived and deluded by Satan's 
delusions, and by sudden flashes of joy and comfort ; holy works being 
a more sensible 1 and constant pledge of the precious Spirit, begetting 
and maintaining in the soul more solid, pure, clear, strong, and lasting 
joy. Ah souls ! As you would have in yourselves a constant and a 
blessed evidence of your fellowship with the Father and the Son, and 
of the truth of grace, and of your future happiness, look that you 
cleave close to holy services ; and that you turn not your backs upon 
religious duties. 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That there are other choice and glorious ends 
for ll/>' saint's performance of relicjioiis duties, than for the justifying 
of their persons before God, erfortheir satisfying of the law or justice 
of God, or for the purchasing of the pardon of sin, &c. viz., totestify 
their justification. 2 ' A good tree cannot but bring forth good fruits/ 
Mat. vii. 17, to testify their love to God, and their sincere obedience to 
the commands of God ; to testify their deliverance from spiritual bond- 
age, to evidence the indwellings of the Spirit, to stop the mouths of the 
worst of men, and to glad those righteous souls that God would not have 
sadded. These, and abundance of other choice ends there be, why 
those that have an interest in the glorious doings of Christ, should, 
notwithstanding that, keep close to the holy duties and religiqus ser- 
vices that are commanded by Christ. And if these considerations 
will not prevail with you, to wait upon God in holy and heavenly 

God, who will not be put off with words ; if lie miss of fruit, lie will fake up his axe, 
and then tin' soul is cut off for ever. — [Query, ' horse' ? But prefixed to a volume of 
1656, called 'Sacred Principles, Services and Soliloquies, or a Manual of Devotions,' 
is a singular frontispiece, having this very emblem of a 'house' ascending upward, re- 
presentative, as explained in quaint accompanying verse, of the Church. So that the 
mixed metaphor belongs to the period. — G.] 1 ' Conscious.' — G. 

2 It is a precious truth, never to he forgotten. Quod non actilus, sed finibus pensanlur 
officio,, that duties are esteemed not by their acts, but by their cuds. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 81 

duties. I am afraid if one should rise from the dead, his arguments 
would not win upon you, but you would hold on in your sins, and ne- 
glect his service, though you lost your souls for ever, &C. 1 

The fifth device Satan hath to draw souls off from religious ser- 
vices, and to keep souls off from holy duties, is, 

Device (5). By 'presenting to them the 'paucity and poverty of those 
that walk in the ways of God, that hold on in religious practices. 
Saith Satan, Do not you see that those that walk in such and such 
religious ways are the poorest, the meanest, and the most despicable 
persons in the world ? This took with them in John vii. 47-49, ' Then 
answered the pharisees, Are ye also deceived ? Have any of the rulers, 
or of the pharisees, believed on him ? But this people who knoweth 
not the law are cursed/ 

Now the remedies against this device are these that follow : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That though they are outwardly poor, yet they are in- 
wardly rich. Though they are poor in temporals, yet they are rich 
in spirituals. 2 The worth and riches of the saints is inward. ' The 
King's daughter is all glorious within/ Ps. xlv. 13. ' Hearken, my 
beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in 
faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that 
love him ?' saith James ii. 5. ' I know thy poverty, but thou art rich,' 
saith John to the church of Smyrna,' Rev. ii. 4. What though they 
have little in possession, yet they have a glorious kingdom in rever- 
sion. ' Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's pleasure to give you a 
kingdom,' Luke xii. 32. Though saints have little in hand, yet they 
have much in hope. You count those happy, in a worldly sense, that 
have much in reversion, though they have little in possession; and will 
you count the saints miserable because they have little in hand, little 
in possession, though they have a glorious kingdom in reversion of 
this ? I am sure the poorest saint that breathes will not exchange, 
were it in his power, that which he hath in hope and in reversion, for 
the possession of as many worlds as there be stars in heaven, or sands 
in the sea, &c. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
to consider, That in all ages God hath had some that have been great, 
rich, wise, and honourable, that have chosen his ways, and cleaved 
to his service in the face of all difficulties. Though not many wise 
men, yet some wise men ; and though not many mighty, yet some 
mighty have ; and though not many noble, yet some noble have. 
Witness Abraham, and Jacob, and Job, and several kings, and others 
that the Scriptures speak of. And ah ! how many have we among 
ourselves, whose souls have cleaved to the Lord, and who have swum 
to his service through the blood of the slain, and who have not counted 

1 Finis movet ad agendum, the end moves to doing. Tene mensuram et respice finem, 
keep thyself within compass, and have an eye always to the end of thy life and actions, 
was Maximilian the emperor's motto. 

2 Do not you see, saith Chrysostom, the places where treasures are hid, are rough 
and overgrown with thorns ? Do not the naturalists tell you, that the mountains that 
are hig with gold within, are bare of grass without ? Saints have, as scholars, poor com- 
mons here, because they must 3tudy hard to go to heaven. 

VOL. I. F 



82 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

their lives dear unto them, that they and others might enjoy the holy 
things of Christ, according to the mind and heart of Christ, &C. 1 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That the spiritual riches of the poorest saints 
do infinitely transcend the temporal riches of all the wicked men in 
the world ; their spiritual riches do satisfy them ; they can sit 
down satisfied with the riches of grace that be in Christ, without 
honours, and without riches, &c. 2 ' He that drinks of that water that 
I shall give him, shall thirst no more,' John iv. 13. The riches of 
poor saints are durable ; they will bed and board with them ; they 
will go to the prison, to a sickbed, to a grave, yea, to heaven with 
them. The spiritual riches of poor saints are as wine to cheer them, 
and as bread to strengthen them, and as cloth to warm them, and as 
armour to protect them. Now, all you that know anything, do know 
that the riches of this world cannot satisfy the souls of men, and they 
are as fading as a flower, or as the owners of them are, &c. 5 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device is, seriously to 
consider, That though the saints, considered comparatively, are few; 
though they be 'a little, little flock,' 'a remnant,' 'a garden enclosed,' 
' a spring shut up, a fountain sealed;' though they are as ' the sum- 
mer gleanings;' thoughthey are ' one of a city, and two of a tribe ;'*■ 
though they be but a handful to a house fid, a spark to a flame, a drop 
to the ocean, yet consider them simply in themselves, and so they are 
an innumerable number that cannot be numbered. As John speaketh : 
' After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could 
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood 
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and 
palms in their hands,' Rev. vii. 9. So Matthew speaks : ' And I say 
unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit 
down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,' Mat. 
viii. 11. So Paul : ' But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the 
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable 
company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first- 
born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to 
the spirits of just men made perfect/ Heb. xii. 22. 8 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously 
to consider, That it will be but as a day before these poor despised saints 
shall shine brighter than the sun in his glory. It will not be long 
before you will wish, Oh ! that we were now among the poor, mean de- 
spised ones in the day that God comes to make up his jewels ! It will 
not be long before these poor few saints shall be lifted up upon their 
thrones to judge the multitude, the world, as the apostle speaks : ' Know 
ye not that the saints shall judge the world ?' 1 Cor. vi. 2. And in that 

1 Good nobles, saith one, are like black swans ; and [are] tbinly scattered in the fir- 
mament of a State, even like stars of the first magnitude ; yet some God hath had in 
all apes, as might be shewed out of histories. 

* Alexander's vast mind inquired if there were any moro worlds to conquer. 

* Crassus was so rich that he maintained an army with his own revenues ; yet he, 
his great army, with his son and heir, fell together, and left his great estate to others. 

* Luke xii. 32, Isaiah i. 9, Canticles iv. 12, Judges viii. 2, and Jeremiah iii. 14.— G. 
6 When Fulgentius saw the nobility of Rome sit mounted in their bravery, it mounted 

his meditations to the heavenly Jerusalom. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 83 

day, oh ! how will the great and the rich, the learned and the noble, 
wish that they had lived and spent their days with these few poor con- 
temptible creatures in the service of the Lord ! Oh ! how will this 
wicked world curse the day that ever they had such base thoughts of 
the poor mean saints, and that their poverty became a stumbling-block 
to keep them off from the ways of sanctity. 1 

I have read of Ingo, an ancient king of the Draves, who, making a 
stately feast, appointed his nobles, at that time pagans, to sit in the 
hall below, and commanded certain poor Christians to be brought up 
into his presence-chamber, to sit with him at his table, to eat and drink 
of his kingly cheer ; at which many wondering, he said, ' He accounted 
Christians, though never so poor, a greater ornament to his table, and 
more worthy of his company, than the greatest peers unconverted to 
the Christian faith ; for when these might be thrust down to hell, 
those might be his consorts and fellow-princes in heaven.' You know 
how to apply it. Although you see the stars sometimes by their re- 
flections in a puddle, or in the bottom of a well, ay, in a stinking- 
ditch, yet the stars have their situation in heaven. So, though you 
see a godly man in a poor, miserable, low, despised condition for the 
things of this world, yet he is fixed in heaven, in the region of heaven : 
' Who hath raised us up,' saith the apostle, • and made us sit together 
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' Oh ! therefore, say to your own 
souls, when they begin to decline the ways of Sion because of the 
poverty and paucity of those that walk in them, The day is at hand 
when those few, poor, despised saints shall shine in glory, when they 
shall judge this world, and when all the wicked of this world will wish 
that they were in their condition, and would give ten thousand worlds, 
were it in their power, that they might but have the honour and hap- 
piness to wait upon those whom for their poverty and paucity they 
have neglected and despised in this world. 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That there will come a time, even in this life, 
in this world, when the reproach and contempt that is now cast upon 
the ways of God, by reason of the poverty and paucity of those that 
walk in those ways, shall be quite taken away, by his making them 
the head that have days without number been the tail, and by his 
raising them up to much outward riches, prosperity, and glory, who 
have been as the outcast because of their poverty and paucity. 2 John, 

1 Mr Fox being once asked whether he knew a certain poor man who had received 
succour of him in time of trouble, he answered, I remember him well. 1 tell you I 
forget lords and ladies to remember such. So will God deal by his poor saints. He will 
forget the great and mighty ones of the world to remember his few poor despised ones. 
Though John the Baptist was poor in the world, yet the Holy Ghost calls him the greatest 
that was born of woman. Ah, poor saints, men that know not your worth, cannot have 
such low thoughts of you, but the Lord will have as high. 

* These following scriptures do abundantly confirm this truth: Jer. xxxi. 12; Isa. 
xxx. 23, lxii. 8, 9 ; Joel ii. 23, 24 ; Micah iv. 6 ; Amos ix. 13, 14 ; Zech. viii. 12 ; Isa. 
xli. 18, 19, lv. 13, lxvi. 6, 7, lxv. 21, 22, lxi. 4, lx. 10 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 10. Only take these 
two cautions: 1. That in these times the saints' chiefest comforts, delights, and con- 
tents will consist in their more clear, full, and constant enjoyment of God. 2. That 
they shall have such abundant measure of the Spirit poured out upon them, that their 
riches and outward glory shall not be snares unto them, but golden steps to a richer 
living in God. 



84 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

speaking of the glory of the church, the new Jerusalem that came 
down from heaven, Rev. xxi. 24, tells us, 'That the nations of- them 
which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the 
earth do bring their glory into it.' So the prophet Isaiah, ' They shall 
bring their sons from far, and their silver and their gold with them. 
For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for 
wood brass, and for stones iron,' chap. lx. 17. And so the prophet 
Zechariah speaks: chap. xiv. 14, 'And the wealth of all the heathen 
round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, 
in great abundance.' The Lord hath promised that ' the meek shall 
inherit the earth,' Mat. v. 5 ; and ' heaven and earth shall pass away, 
before one jot or one tittle of his word shall pass unfulfilled,' ver. 18. 
Ah, poor saints ! now some thrust sore at you, others look a-squint 
upon you, others shut the door against you, others turn their backs 
upon you, aud most of men (except it be a few that live much in God, 
and are filled with the riches of Christ) do either neglect you or 
despise you because of your poverty ; but the day is coming when you 
shall be lifted up above the dunghill, when you shall change poverty 
for riches, your rags for robes, your reproach for a crown of honour, 
your infamy for glory, even in this world. 

And this is not all, but God will also mightily increase the number 
of his chosen ones, multitudes shall be converted to him : ' Who hath 
heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? shall the earth be 
made to bring forth in one day ? or shall a nation be born at once ? 
for as soon as Sion travailed, she brought forth children. And they 
shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all 
nations, upon horses, and in chariots, in litters, and upon mules, and 
upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord ; 
as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the 
house of the Lord,' Isa. lxvi. 8, 19, 20. Doth not the Scripture say, 
that ' the kingdoms of this world must become the kingdoms of our 
Lord'? Rev. xi. 15. Hath not God given to Christ 'the heathen, and 
the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession'? Ps. ii. 8. Hath 
not the Lord said, that in ' the last days the mountain of the Lord's 
house shall be lifted up above the hills, and shall be established in the 
top of the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it,' Isa. ii. 2 and 
liv. 14 and lxi. 9. Pray, read, and meditate upon Isa. lx. and lxvi. and 
ii. 1-5, and there you shall find the multitudes that shall be converted 
to Christ. And oh ! that you would be mighty in believing ; and, in 
wrestling with God, that he would hasten the day of his glory, that 
the reproach that is now upon his people and wa} r s may cease ! 

The sixth device that Satan hath to keep souls off from religious 
services is, 

Device (6). By presenting before them the examples of the greatest 
part of the world, that walk in the ways of their own hearts, << u<l that 
make light and slight of the ways of the Lord. 1 Why, saith Satan, 
do not you see that the great and the rich, the noble and the honour- 
able, the learned and the wise, even the greatest number of men, never 
trouble themselves about such and such ways, and why then should 

1 John vii. 48, 49, 1 Cor. i. 20, 28, Micah vii. 2-4. 



2 COR. II. 11.] AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 85 

you be singular and nice ? You were far better do as the most 
do, &c. 

Now, the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider Of those scriptures that make directly against 
following the sinful examines of men. As that in Exodus, ' Thou 
shalt not follow a multitude to do evil, neither shalt thou speak in a 
cause to decline after many to wrest judgment/ chap, xxiii. 2. The 
multitude generally are ignorant, and know not the way of the Lord, 
therefore they speak evil of that they know not. They are envious 
and maliciously bent against the service and way of God, and there- 
fore they cannot speak well of the ways of God : ' This way is every- 
where spoken against,' saith they, Acts xxviii. 22. So in Num. xvi. 21, 
' Separate from them, and come out from among them.' So the apostle, 
' Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,' Eph. v. 1J. 
So Solomon, ' Enter not into the way of the wicked ; forsake the foolish, 
and live,' Pro v. iv. 14 and ix. 6. They that walk with the most shall 
perish with the most. 1 They that do as the most shall ere long suffer 
with the most. They that live as the most, must die with the most, 
and to hell with the most. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That if you will sin with the multitude, all the 
angels in heaven and men on earth cannot keep you from suffering 
with the multitude. If you will be wicked with them, you must un- 
avoidably be miserable with them. 2 Say to thy soul, my soul ! if 
thou wilt sin with the multitude, thou must be shut out of heaven with 
the multitude, thou must be cast down to hell with the multitude : 
'And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, 
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her 
plagues,' Rev. xviii. 4. Come out in affection, in action, and in habi- 
tation, for else the infection of sin will bring upon you the infliction 
of punishment. So saith the wise man, ' He that walketh with wise 
men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed,' or as 
the Hebrew hath it, ' shall be broken in pieces,' Prov. xiii. 20. 3 Mul- 
titudes may help thee into sin, yea, one may draw thee into sin, but it 
is not multitudes that can help thee to escape punishments ; as you 
may see in Moses and Aaron, that were provoked to sin by the multi- 
tude, but were shut out of the pleasant land, and fell by a hand of 
justice as well as others. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, The worth and excellency of thy immortal soul. 
Thy soul is a jewel more worth than heaven and earth. The loss of 
thy soul is incomparable, irreparable, and irrecoverable ; if that be 
lost, all is lost, and thou art undone for ever. Is it madness and folly 
in a man to kill himself for company, and is it not greater madness 
or folly to break the neck of thy soul, and to damn it for company ? 

1 The way to hell is broad and well beaten. The way to be undone for ever is to 
do as the most do. , Argumentum lurpissimum est turba. the multitude is the weakest and 
worst argument, saith Seneca. \De Vita Beata, ii. — G.] 

2 Sin and punishment are linked together with chains of adamant. Of sin we may 
say as Isidore doth of the serpent, Tot dolor es quot colores, so many colours, so mauy 
dolours. 3 yiT, Jeroange, from VD, Ruange, to be naught. 



86 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

Suspect that way wherein thou seest multitudes to walk ; the multi- 
tude being a stream that thou must row hard against, or thou wilt be 
carried into that gulf out of which angels cannot deliver thee. Is it 
not better to walk in a straight way alone, than to wander into crooked 
ways with company ? Sure it is better to go to heaven alone than to 
hell with company. 

I might add other things, but these may suffice for the present; and 
I am afraid, if these arguments do not stir you, other arguments will 
work but little upon you. 1 

The seventh device that Satan hath to keep souls off from holy ex- 
ercises, from religious services, is, 

Device (7). By casting in a multitude of vain thoughts, whilst 
the soul is in seeking of God, or in waiting on God ; and by this 
device he hath cooled some men's spirits in heavenly services, and 
taken off, at least for a time, many precious souls from religious per- 
formances. I have no heart to hear, nor no heart to pray, nor no 
delight in reading, nor in the society of the saints, &c. Satan doth so 
dog and follow my soul, and is still a-casting in such a multitude of 
vain thoughts concerning God, the world, and my own soul, &c, that 
I even tremble to think of waiting upon God in any religious service. 
Oh ! the vain thoughts that Satan casts in do so distaste my soul, and 
so grieve, vex, perplex, and distract my soul, that they even make me 
weary of holy duties, yea, of my very life. Oh ! I cannot be so raised 
and ravished, so heated and melted, so quickened aud enlarged, so 
comforted and refreshed, as I should be, as I might be, and as I would 
be in religious services, by reason of that multitude of vain thoughts, 
that Satan is injecting or casting into my soul, &c. 2 

Now, the remedies against this device of Satan are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
have your hearts strongly affected with the greatness, holinesss, 
majesty, and glory of that God before whom you stand, and with 
whom your souls do converse in religious services. Oh ! let your souls 
be greatly affected with the presence, purity, and majesty of that God 
before whom thou standest. A man would be afraid of playing with 
a feather, when he is speaking with a king. Ah ! when men have 
poor, low, light, slight, &c, thoughts of God, in their drawing near to 
God, they tempt the devil to bestir himself, and to cast in a multitude 
of vain thoughts to disturb and distract the soul in its waiting on God. 
There is nothing that will contribute so much to the keeping out of 
vain thoughts, as to look upon God as an omniscient God, an omni- 
present God, an omnipotent God, a God full of all glorious perfections, 
a God whose majesty, purity, and glory will not suffer him to behold 
the least iniquity. 3 The reason why the blessed saints and glorious 
angels in heaven have not so much as one vain thought is, because 

1 What wise man would fetch gold out of a fiery crucible, hazard his immortal soul, 
to gain the world, by following a multitude in those steps that lead to the chambers of 
death and darkness '? 

- Vellem servire Domino, sed cogitatioms non patiuntur ; Lord, now how fain would I 
serve thee, and vain thoughts will not suffer me ! 

3 When 1'ompey could not keep his soldiers in the camp by persuasion, he cast him- 
self all along in the narrow passage that led out of it, and bid them go if you will, but 
you must first trample upon your general ; and the thoughts of this overcame them. 
You are wise, and know how to apply it to the point in hand. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 87 

they are greatly affected with the greatness, holiness, majesty, purity, 
and glory of God. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
be peremptory in religious services, notwithstanding all those wan- 
dering thoughts the soul is troubled with. This will be a sweet help 
against them : for the soul to be resolute in waiting on God, whether 
it be troubled with vain thoughts or not ; x to say, Well I will pray 
still, and hear still, and meditate still, and keep fellowship with the 
saints still. Many precious souls can say from experience, that when 
their souls have been peremptory in their waiting on God, that Satan 
hath left them, and hath not been so busy in vexing their souls with 
vain thoughts. When Satan perceives that all those trifling vain 
thoughts that he casts into the soul do but vex the soul into greater 
diligence, carefulness, watchfulness, and peremptoriness in holy and 
heavenly services, and that the soul loses nothing of his zeal, piety, 
and devotion, but doubles his care, diligence, and earnestness, he often 
ceases to interpose his trifles and vain thoughts, as he ceased to tempt 
Christ, when Christ was peremptory in resisting his temptations. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider this, That those vain and trifling thoughts that are cast into 
our souls, when we are waiting upon God in this or that religious 
service, if they be not cherished and indulged, but abhorred, resisted, 
and disclaimed, they are not sins upon our souls, though they may 
be troubles to our minds ; they shall not be put upon our accounts, 
nor keep mercies and blessings from being enjoyed by ^ls. When a 
soul in uprightness can look God in the face, and say, Lord, when I 
approach near unto thee, there be a world of vain thoughts crowd 
in upon me, that do disturb my soul, and weaken my faith, and lessen 
my comfort and spiritual strength. Oh, these are my clog, my burden, 
my torment, my hell ! Oh, do justice upon these, free me from these, 
that I may serve thee with more freeness, singleness, spiritual ness, and 
sweetness of spirit. 2 These thoughts may vex that soul, but they shall 
not harm that soul, nor keep a blessing from that soul. If vain 
thoughts resisted and lamented could stop the current of mercy, and 
render a soul unhappy, there would be none on earth that should ever 
taste of mercy, or be everlastingly happy. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That watching against sinful thoughts, resist- 
ing of sinful thoughts, lamenting and weeping over sinful thoughts, 
carries with it the siveetest and strongest evidence of the truth and 
power of grace, and of (he sincerity of your hearts, and is the readiest 
and the surest way to be rid of them, Ps. cxxxix. 23. Many low and 
carnal considerations may work men to watch their words, their lives, 
their actions ; as hope of gain, or to please friends, or to get a name in 
the world, and many other such like considerations. Oh ! but to watch 

1 It is a rule in the civil law, Nee videtur actum, si quid supersit quod agatur, nothing 
seems to be done, if there remains aught to be done. Si dixisti, Sufficit, periisli, if once 
thou sayest it is enough, thou art undone, saith Augustine. 

* It is not Satan casting in of vain thoughts that can keep mercy from the soul, or 
undo the soul, but the lodging and cherishing of vain thoughts: ' Jerusalem, how long 
shall vain thoughts lodge within thee?' Jer. iv. 14; Heb. * in the midst of thee.' They 
pass through the best hearts, they are lodged and cherished only in the worst hearts. 



88 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

our thoughts, to weep and lament over them, &c., this must needs 
be from some noble, spiritual, and internal principle, as love to God, a 
holy fear of God, a holy care and delight to please the Lord, &C. 1 The 
schools do well observe, that outward sins are of greater infamy, majoris 
infamiai; but inward heart sins are of greater guilt, majoris reatus; 
as we see in the devil's. There is nothing that so speaks out a man to be 
thoroughly and kindly wrought upon, as his having his thoughts to be 
• brought into obedience,' as the apostle speaks, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. Grace is 
grown up to a very great height in that soul where it prevails, to the 
subduing of those vain thoughts that walk up and down in the soul. 2 
Well ! though you cannot be rid of them, yet make resistance and opposi- 
tion against the first risings of them. When sinful thoughts arise, then 
think thus, The Lord takes notice of these thoughts ; ' he knows them 
afar off,' as the Psalmist speaks, Ps. xxxviii. G. He knew Herod's 
bloody thoughts, and Judas his betraying thoughts, and the Pharisees' 
cruel and blasphemous thoughts afar off. 3 Oh ! think thus : All these 
sinful thoughts, they defile and pollute the soul, they deface and spoil 
much of the inward beauty and glory of the soul. If I commit this 
or that sin, to which my thoughts incline me, then either I must re- 
pent or not repent; if I repent, it will cost me more grief, sorrow, 
shame, heart-breaking, and soul-bleeding, before my conscience will 
be quieted, divine justice pacified, my comfort and joy restored, my 
evidences cleared, and my pardon in the court of conscience sealed, 
than the imagined profit or seeming sensual pleasure can be v\orth : 
' What fruit had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed,' 
Rom. vi. 21. * 

If I never repent, oh ! then my sinful thoughts will be scorpions that 
will eternally vex me, the rods that will eternally lash me, the thorns 
that will everlastingly prick me, the dagger that will be eternally 
a-stabbing me, the worm that will be for ever a-gnawing me ! Oh ! 
therefore, watch against them, be constant in resisting them, and in 
lamenting and weeping over them, and then they shall not hurt thee, 
though they may for a time trouble thee. And remember this, he 
that doth this doth more than the most glistering and blustering 
hypocrite in the world doth. 5 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
labour more and more to be filled with tlie fulness of God, and to be 
enriched with all spiritual and heavenly things. What is the reason 
that the angels in heaven have not so much as an idle thought ? It 
is because they are filled with the fulness of God, Eph. iii. 19. 6 Take 
it for an experienced truth, the more the soul is filled with the fulness 
of God and enriched with spiritual and heavenly things, the less room 

1 Thoughts are the first-born, the blossoms of the soul, the beginning of our strength, 
whether for good or evil, and they are the greatest evidences for or against a man that 
can be. 

2 Ps. exxxix. 23 ; Isa. lix. 7, lxvi. 18 ; Mat. ix. 4. xii. 25. 

8 Zeno, a wise heathen, affirmed God even beheld the thoughts. Mat xv. 15-18. 

4 Tears instead of gems were tho ornaments of David's bed when lie had 'sinned; 
and b I they must be thine, or else thou must lie down in the bed of sorrow forever. 

5 Inward bleeding kills man J a man ; so will sinful thoughts, if not repented of. 

6 The words are an Hebraism. The, Hebrews, when they would set out many ex- 
cellent things, they add the name of God to it: city of God, cedars of God, wrestlings of 
God. So here, ' That ye may be tilled with the fulness of God.' 



2 Cor 11.11] against sat an 's devices. 89 

there is in that soul for vain thoughts. The fuller the vessel is of wine, 
the less room there is for water. Oh, then, lay up much of God, of 
Christ, of precious promises, and choice experiences in your hearts, and 
then you will be less troubled with vain thoughts. ' A good man, out 
of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things,' Mat. 
xii. 35. 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
keep up holy and spiritual affections ; for such as your affections 
are, such will be your thoughts. ' Oh how I love thy law ! it is my 
meditation all the day,' Ps. cxix. 97. What we love most, we most 
muse upon. ' When I awake, I am still with thee/ Ps. cxxxix., &c. 
That which we much like, we shall much mind. They that are fre- 
quent in their love to God and his law, will be frequent in thinking of 
God and his law : a child will not forget his mother. 

Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against this device of Satan is, 
To avoid multiplicity of worldly business. Oh let not the world 
take up your hearts and thoughts at other times. Souls that are torn 
in pieces with the cares of the world will be always vexed and tor- 
mented with vain thoughts in all their approaches to God. 1 Vain 
thoughts will be still crowding in upon him that lives in a crowd of 
business. The stars which have least circuit are nearest the pole ; 
and men that are least perplexed with business are commonly nearest 
to God. 

The eighth device that Satan hath to hinder souls from religious 
services, from holy performances, is, 

Device (8). By working them to rest in their performances ; to 
rest in prayer, and to rest in hearing, reading, and the communion 
of saints, &c. And when Satan hath drawn the soul to rest upon the 
service done, then he will help the soul to reason thus : Why, thou 
Avert as good never pray, as to pray and rest in prayer ; as good never 
hear, as to hear and rest in hearing ; as good never be in the com- 
munion of saints, as to rest in the communion of saints. And by this 
device he stops many souls in their heavenly race, and takes off poor 
souls from those services that should be their joy and crown, Isa. 
lviii. 1-3, Zech. vii. 4-6, Mat, vi. 2, Rom. i. 7. 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell much upon the imperfections and weaknesses that do attend 
your choicest services. Oh the spots, the blots, the blemishes that are 
to be seen on the face of our fairest duties ! 2 When thou hast done 
all thou canst, thou hast need to close up all with this, ' Oh enter not 
into judgment with thy servant, O Lord,' Ps. cxliii. 2, for the weak- 
nesses that cleave to my best services. We may all say with the 
church, ' All our righteousnesses are as a menstruous cloth/ Isa. lxiv. 6. 
If God should be strict to mark what is done amiss in our best actions, 
we are undone. Oh the water that is mingled with our wine, the 
dross that cleaves unto our gold ! 

1 2 Tim. ii. 4, l^vxtxtrat, is entangled ; it is a comparison which St Paul borroweth 
from the custom of the Roman empire, wherein soldiers were forbidden to be proctors 
of other men's causes, to undertake husbandry or merchandise. 

2 Pride and high confidence is most apt to creep in upon duties well done, saith one. 



90 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider The impotence and inability of any of your best services, 
divinely to comfort, refresh, and bear your souls up from faint- 
ing, and sinking in the days of trouble, when darkness is round 
about you, when God shall say to you, as he did once to the Israelites, 
1 Go and cry unto the gods that you have chosen ; let them save you 
in the time of your tribulation,' Judges x. J 4. So, when God shall say 
in the day of your troubles, Go to your prayers, to your hearing, and 
to your fasting, &c, and see if they can help you, if they can support 
you, if they can deliver you. 1 If God in that day doth but withhold 
the influence of his grace, thy former services will be but poor cordials 
to comfort thee ; and then thou must and will cry out, Oh, 'none but 
Christ, none but Christ.' Oh my prayers are not Christ, my hearing 
is not Christ, my fasting is not Christ, &c. Oh ! one smile of Christ, 
one glimpse of Christ, one good word from Christ, one nod of love from 
Christ in the day of trouble and darkness, will more revive and refresh 
the soul than all your former services, in which your souls rested, as if 
they were the bosom of Christ, which should be the only centre of our 
souls. Christ is the crown of crowns, the glory of glories, and the 
heaven of heavens. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That good things rested upon will as certainly 
undo us, and everlastingly destroy us, as the greatest enormities that 
can be committed by us. Those souls that after they have done all, 
do not look up so high as Christ, and rest, and centre alone in Christ, 
laying down their services at the footstool of Christ, must lie down in 
sorrow ; their bread is prepared for them in hell. ' Behold, all ye that 
kindle a fire, compass yourselves with the sparks : and walk in the 
light of your fire, and in the sparks ye have kindled. This shall ye 
have at mine hands ; ye shall lie down in sorrow,' Isa. 1. 11. Is it good 
dwelling with everlasting burnings, with a devouring fire ? If it be, 
why then rest in your duties still ; if otherwise, then see that you 
centre only in the bosom of Christ. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell much upon the necessity and excellency of that resting-p)lace 
that God hath provided for you. Above all other resting-places him- 
self is your resting-place ; his free mercy and love is your resting-place ; 
the pure, glorious, matchless, and spotless righteousness of Christ is 
your resting-place. Ah ! it is sad to think, that most men have for- 
gotten their resting-place, as the Lord complains: 'My people have been 
as lost sheep, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and have 
turned them away to the mountains : they are gone from mountain 
to hill, and forgotten their resting-place/ J er. 1. 6. So poor souls that 
see not the excellency of that resting-place that God hath appointed 
for their souls to lie down in, they wander from mountain to hill, from 
one duty to another, and here they will rest and there they will rest ; 
but souls that see the excellency of that resting-place that God hath 
provided for them, they will say, Farewell prayer, farewell hearing, 
farewell fasting, &c, I will rest no more in you, but now I will rest 

1 Omne bonum in summo bono, all good ia in the cbiefcst good. Nee Christus, nee 
caelum patitur hyperbolem. 



2 Cor. II 11.] against satan's devices. 91 

only in the bosom of Christ, the love of Christ, the righteousness of 
Christ. 

III. The third thing to be shewed is, 

The several devices that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubt- 
ing, questioning, and uncomfortable condition. 

Though he can never rob a believer of his crown, yet such is his 
malice and envy, that he will leave no stone unturned, no means un- 
attempted, to rob them of their comfort and peace, to make their life 
a burden and a hell unto them, to cause them to spend their days in 
sorrow and mourning, in sighing and complaining, in doubting and 
questioning. Surely we have no interest in Christ ; our graces are not 
true, our hopes are the hopes of hypocrites ; our confidence is our 
presumption, our enjoyments are our delusions, &C 1 

I shall shew you this in some particulars, &c. 

Device 1. The first device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, 
doubting, and questioning condition, and so making their life a hell, 
is, By causing them to be still poring and musing upon sin, to 
mind their sins more than their Saviour; yea, so to mind their sins 
as to forget, yea, to neglect their Saviour; that, as the Psalmist speaks, 
■ The Lord is not in all their thoughts,' Ps. x. 4. Their eyes are so 
fixed upon their disease, that they cannot see the remedy, though it 
be near ; and they do so muse upon their debts, that they have neither 
mind nor heart to think of their Surety, &c. 2 

Now the remedies against this device are these. 

Remedy (1). The first remedy is for weak believers to consider, 
That though Jesus Christ hath not freed them from the presence of 
sin, yet he hath freed them from the damnatory power of sin. It is 
most true that sin and grace were never born together, neither shall 
sin and grace die together ; yet while a believer breathes in this 
world, they must live together, they must keep house together. 
Christ in this life will not free any believer from the presence of any 
one sin, though he doth free every believer from the damning power 
of every sin. ' There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ 
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,' Rom. viii. 1. 
The law cannot condemn a believer, for Christ hath fulfilled it for 
him ; divine justice cannot condemn him, for that Christ hath satis- 
fied ; his sins cannot condemn him, for they in the blood of Christ are 
pardoned ; and his own conscience, upon righteous grounds, cannot 
condemn him, because Christ, that is greater than his conscience, hath 
acquitted him. 3 
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to 

1 Blessed Bradford, in one of his epistles, saith thus, ' Lord, sometime methinks I 
feel it so with me, as if there were no difference between my heart and the wicked. I 
have a blind mind as they, a stout, stubborn, rebellious hard heart as they,' and so he 
goes on, &c [A frequent plaint by this holy man. See his ' Writings,' consisting 
mainly of ' Letters,' by Townsend (Parker Society), 1853. — G.] 

2 A Christian should wear Christ in his bosom as a flower of delight, for he is a wbole 
paradise of delight. He that mind3 not Christ more than his sin, can never be thankful 
aud fruitful as he should. 

8 Peccata enim non nocent, si non placent, my sins hurt me not, if they like me not. 
Sin is like that wild fig-tree, or ivy in the wall ; cut off stump, body, bouph, and 
branches, yet some strings or other will sprout out again, till the wall be plucked down. 



92 PRFX'IOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

consider, That /hovgh Jesus Christ hath not freed you from the mo- 
letit i-)i() a ml resin;/ /xnrer if sin, yet he hath freed you from the reign 
and tluiiii nioit if sin. Thou sayest that sin doth so molest and vex 
thee, that thou canst not think of God, nor go to God, nor speak with 
God. 1 Oh ! but remember it is one thing for sin to molest and vex 
thee, and another thing tor sin to reign and have dominion over thee. 
' For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the 
law, but under grace,' Rom. vi. 14-. Sin may rebel, but it shall never 
reign in a saint. It fareth with sin in the regenerate as with those 
beasts that Daniel speaks of, 'that had their dominion taken away, 
yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time,' Dan. vii. 12. 

Now sin reigns in the soul when the soul willingly and readily 
obeys it, and subjects to its commands, as subjects do actively obey 
and embrace the commands of their prince. The commands of a king 
are readily embraced and obeyed by his subjects, but the commands 
of a tyrant are embraced and obeyed unwillingly. All the service 
that is done to a tyrant is out of violence, and not out of obedience. 
A free and willing subjection to the commands of sin speaks out the 
soul to be under the reign and dominion of sin ; but from this plague, 
this hell, Christ frees all believers. 2 Sin cannot say of a believer as 
the centurion said of his servants, ' I bid one Go, and he goeth ; and to 
another, Come, and he cometh ; and to another, Do this, and he doth it,' 
Mat. viii. 9. No ! the heart of a saint riseth against the commands of 
sin ; and when sin would carry his soul to the devil, he hales his sin 
before the Lord, and cries out for justice. Lord ! saith the believing 
soul, sin plays the tyrant, the devil in me ; it would have me to do 
that which makes against thy holiness as well as against my happi- 
ness ; against thy honour and glory, as my comfort and peace ; there- 
fore do me justice, thou righteous Judge of heaven and earth, and let 
this tyrant sin die for it, &c. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
Constantly to keep one eye upon the promises of remission of sin, as 
well as the otlter eye upon the inward operations of sin. This is the 
most certain truth, that God would graciously pardon those sins to 
his people that he will not in this life fully subdue in his people. 
Paul prays thrice, i.e. often, to be delivered from the thorn in the 
flesh. All he can get is, ' My grace is sufficient for thee/ 2 Cor. xii. 9; 
I will graciously pardon that to thee that I will not conquer in thee, 
saith God. ' And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby 
they have sinned against me, and whereby they have transgressed 
against inc. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for 
mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins,'* Jer. xxxiii. 8, Isa. 

1 The primitive Christians chose rather to be thrown to lions without than left to 
within. Ad leones may is quam leonem, saith Tertullian. [Often in his famous 
' Apology.'— G.] 

" It is a sign that sin hath not gained your consent, but committed a rape upon your 
souls, when you cry out to God. If the ravished virgin under the law cried out, she was 
guiltless, Deut, xxii. 27; so when sin plays the tyrant over the soul, and the soul 
cries out, it is guiltless ; those sins shall not be charged upon the soul. 

3 Isa. xliv. 22, Micah vii. 18, 19, Col. ii. 13, 14. The promises of God are a precious 
hook, every leaf drops myrrh and mercy. Though the weak Christian cannot open, 
read, and apply them, Christ can and will apply them to their souls. nTV3, an Hebrew 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 93 

xliii. 25. Ah ! you lamenting souls, that spend your days in sighing 
and groaning under the sense and burden of your sins, why do you 
deal so unkindly with God, and so injuriously with your own souls, as 
not to cast an eye upon those precious promises of remission of sin 
which may bear up and refresh your spirits in the darkest night, and 
under the heaviest burden of sin ? 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
To look upon all your sins as charged upon the account of Christ, 
as debts which the Lord Jesus hath fully satisfied; and indeed, were 
there but one farthing of that debt unpaid that Christ was engaged to 
satisfy, it would not have stood with the unspotted justice of God to 
have let him come into heaven and sit down at his own right hand. 
But all our debts, by his death, being discharged, we are freed, and he 
is exalted to sit down at the right hand of his Father, which is the 
top of his glory, and the greatest pledge of our felicity : ' For he hath 
made him to be sin for us that knew no sin, that we might be made 
the righteousness of God in him/ saith the apostle, 2 Cor. v. 2 1. 1 All 
our sins were made to meet upon Christ, as that evangelical prophet 
hath it : ' He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for 
our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with 
his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we 
have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him 
the iniquity of us all \ or, as the Hebrew hath it, ' He hath made the 
iniquity of us all to meet in him,' Isa. liii. 5, 6. In law, we know that 
all the debts of the wife are charged upon the husband. Saith the 
wife to one and to another, If I owe you anything, go to my husband. 
So may a believer say to the law, and to the justice of God, If I owe 
you anything, go to my Christ, who hath undertaken for me. I must 
not sit down discouraged, under the apprehension of those debts, that 
Christ, to the utmost farthing, hath fully satisfied. Would it not 
argue much weakness, I had almost said much madness, for a debtor 
to sit down discouraged upon his looking over those debts that his 
surety hath readily, freely, and fully satisfied ? The sense of his great 
love should engage a man for ever to love and honour his surety, and 
to bless that hand that hath paid the debt, and crossed the books, &c. 
But to sit down discouraged when the debt is satisfied, is a sin that 
bespeaks repentance. 2 

Christ hath cleared all reckoning betwixt God and us. You re- 
member the scapegoat. Upon his head all the iniquities of the children 
of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, were confessed 
and put, and the goat did bear upon him all their iniquities, &c, Lev. 
xvi. 21. Why ! the Lord Jesus is that blessed scapegoat, upon whom 
all our sins were laid, and who alone hath carried ' our sins away into 
the land of forge tfulness, where they shall never be remembered more/ 3 

participle, and notes a constant, a continued act of God. I, I am he, blotting out thy 
transgressions to day and to-morrow, &c. 

1 Christ was peccatorum maximus, the greatest of sinners by imputation and reputation. 

2 Christ hath the greatest worth and wealth in him. As the worth and value of many 
pieces of silver is in one piece of gold, so all the excellencies scattered abroad in the 
creatures are united in Christ. All the whole volume of perfections which are spread 
through heaven and earth are epitomised in him. 

3 Christ is canalis gratia, the channel of grace from God. 



94 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

A believer, under the guilt of bis sin, may look the Lord in the face, 
and sweetly plead thus with him : It is true, Lord, I owed thee much, 
but thy Sou was my ransom, my redemption. His blood was the price ; 
he was my surety and undertook to answer for my sins ; 1 know thou 
must be satisfied, and Christ hath satisfied thee to the utmost farthing : 
not for himself, for what sins had he of his own ? but for me ; they were 
my debts that he satisfied for ; be pleased to look over the book, and 
thou shalt fiud that it is crossed by thy own hand upon this very account, 
that Christ hath suffered and satisfied for them. 1 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly 
to consider, Of the reasons why the Lord is pleased to have his people 
exercised, troubled, and vexed with the operations of sinful corrup- 
tions ; and they are these : partly to keep them humble and low in 
their own eyes ; 2 and partly to put them upon the use of all divine helps, 
whereby sin may be subdued and mortified ; and partly, that they may 
live upon Christ for the perfecting the work of sanctification ; and 
partly, to wean them from things below, and to make them heart-sick 
of their absence from Christ, and to maintain in them bowels of com- 
passion towards others that are subject to the same infirmities with 
them ; and that they may distinguish between a state of grace and a 
state of glory, and that heaven may be more sweet to them in the close. 
Now doth the Lord upon these weighty reasons suffer his people to be 
exercised and molested with the operations of sinful corruptions ? Oh 
then, let no believer speak, write, or conclude bitter things against his 
own soul and comforts, because that sin troubles and vexes his righteous 
soul, &c. ; but lay his hand upon his mouth and be silent, because the 
Lord will have it so, upon such weighty grounds as the soul is not able 
to withstand. 3 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly 
to consider, That believers must repent for their being discouraged by 
their sins. Their being discouraged by their sins will cost them many 
a prayer, many a tear, and many a groan ; and that because their dis- 
couragements under sin flow from ignorance and unbelief. It springs 
from their ignorance of the richness, freeness, fulness, and everlasting- 
ness of God's love ; and from their ignorance of the power, glory, suffi- 
ciency, and efficacy of the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ ; 
and from their ignorance of the worth, glory, fulness, largeness, and 
completeness of the righteousness of Jesus Christ ; and from their ignor- 
ance of that real, close, spiritual, glorious, and inseparable union that is 
between Christ and their precious souls. Ah ! did precious souls know 
and believe the truth of these things as they should, they would not sit 
down dejected and overwhelmed under the sense and operation of sin, &c. 4 

1 The bloods of Abel, for so the Hebrew hath it, as if the blood of one Abel had so 
many tongues as drops, cried for vengeance against sin ; but the blood of Christ cries 
louder for the pardon of sin. 

* Augustine saith, that the first, second, and third virtue of a Christian is humility. 
[Cf. under Humilitas in Conf., aud De C. D. Epist. 56 ad Diosc. — G.] 

3 Lilme Blelammed, we therefore learn, that we may teach, is a proverb among the 
Rabbins. After the Trojans had been wandering aud tossing up and down the Mediter- 
ranean sea, as soon as they espied Italy, they cried out with exulting joy, Italy, Italy ! 
Ho will saints when they come to heaven. 

* God never gave a believer a new heart that it should always lie a-bleeding, and that 
it should always be rent and torn in pieces with discouragements. 



2 COR. II. 11.] AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 95 

The second device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, 
and questioning condition is, 

Device (2). By working them to make false definitions of their 
graces. Satan knows, that as false definitions of sin wrong the soul one 
way, so false definitions of grace wrong the soul another way. 

I will instance only in faith : Oh how doth Satan labour might and 
main to work men to make false definitions of faith ! Some he works 
to define faith too high, as that it is a full assurance of the love of God to 
a man's soul in particular, or a full persuasion of the pardon and remis- 
sion of a man's own sins in particular. Saith Satan, What dost thou talk 
of faith ? Faith is an assurance of the love of God, and of the pardon 
of sin ; and this thou hast not ; thou knowest thou art far off from this ; 
therefore thou hast no faith. And by drawing men to make such a false 
definition of faith, he keeps them in a sad, doubting, and questioning 
condition, and makes them spend their days in sorrow and sighing, so 
that tears are their drink, and sorrow is their meat, and sighing is their 
work all the day long, &c. 

The philosophers say there are eight degrees of heat ; we discern 
three. Now, if a man should define heat only b} ? the highest degree, 
then all other degrees will be cast out from being heat. So if men shall 
define faith only by the highest degrees, by assurance of the love of 
God, and of the pardon of his sins in particular, what will become of 
lesser degrees of faith ? 

If a man should define a man. to be a living man, only by the highest 
and strongest demonstrations of life, as laughing, leaping, running, 
working, walking, &c, would not many thousands that groan under in- 
ternal and external weaknesses, and that cannot laugh, nor leap, nor 
run, nor work, nor walk, be found dead men by such a definition, that 
yet we know to be alive ? It is so here, and you know how to apply 
it, &c. 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly 
to consider, That there may be true faith, yea, great measures of faith, 
where there is no assurance. The Canaanite woman in the Gospel 
had strong faith, yet no assurance that we read of. ' These things have 
I written unto you,' saith John, ' that believe on the name of the Son 
of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may 
believe on the name of the Son of God,' 1 John v. ] 3. In these words 
you see that they^did believe, and had eternal life, in respect of the pur- 
pose and promise of God, and in respect of the seeds and beginnings of 
it in their souls, and in respect of Christ their head, who sits in heaven 
as a public person, representing all his chosen ones, ' Who hath raised 
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
Jesus,' Eph. ii. 6 ; and yet they did not know that they had eternal life. 
It is one thing to have a right to heaven, and another thing to know it; 
it is one thing to be beloved, and another thing for a man to know that 
he is beloved. It is one thing for God to write a man's name in the 
book of life, and another thing for God to tell a man that his name is 
written in the book of life ; and to say to him, Luke x. 20, ' Rejoice, be- 
cause thy name is written in heaven.' So Paul, ' In whom ye also 
trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation : 



96 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

in whom also, after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of 
promise,' Eph. i. 1 3. So Micah : ' Rejoice not against me, O my enemy : 
for when I shall fall, I shall rise ; when I shall sit in darkness, the Lord 
shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, be- 
cause I have sinned,' &c., or, 'the sad countenance of God,' as the 
Hebrew hath it, Micah vii. 8, 9. This soul had no assurance, for he sits 
in darkness, and was under the sad countenance of God; and yet had 
strong faith, as appears in those words, ' When I fall, I shall rise ; when 
I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.' He will bring me 
forth to the Light, and I shall behold his righteousness. And let this 
suffice for the first answer. 1 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That God in the Scripture doth define faith 
otherwise. God defines faith to be a receiving of Christ — 'As many as 
received him, to them he gave this privilege, to be the sons of God,* 
John i. 12. 'To as many as believed on his name,' Acts xi. 23 — to be 
a cleaving of the soul unto God, though no joy, but afflictions, attend 
the soul. Yea, the Lord defines faith to be a coming to God in Christ, 
and often to a resting and staying, rolling of the soul upon Christ. It 
is safest and sweetest to define as God defines, both vices and graces. 
This is the only way to settle the soul, and to secure it against the wiles 
of men and devils, who labour, by false definitions of grace, to keep pre- 
cious souls in a doubting, staggering, and languishing condition, and so 
make their lives a burden, a hell, unto, them. 2 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, seri- 
ously to consider this, That there may be true faith where there is much 
doublings. Witness those frequent sayings of Christ to his disciples, 
' Why are ye afraid, O ye of little faith ?' 3 Persons may be truly be- 
lieving who nevertheless are sometimes doubting. In the same persons 
that the fore-mentioned scriptures speak of, you may see their faith com- 
mended and their doubts condemned, which doth necessarily suppose a 
presence of both. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That assurance is an effect of faith; therefore 
it cannot be faith. The cause cannot be the effect, nor the root the 
fruit. As the effect flows from the cause, the fruit from the root, the 
stream from the fountain, so doth assurance flow from faith. This 
truth I shall make good thus : 

The assurance of our salvation and pardon of sin doth primarily arise 
from the witness of the Spirit of God that we are the children of God, 
Eph. i. 13 ; and the Spirit never witnesseth this till we are believers : 
' For we are sons by faith in Christ Jesus,' Gal. iv. 6. Therefore assur- 
ance is not faith, but follows it, as the effect follows the cause. 

Again, no man can be assured and persuaded of his salvation till he be 
united to Christ, till he be ingrafted into Christ ; and a man cannot be 
ingrafted into Christ till he hath faith. He must first be ingrafted into 
Christ by faith before he can have assurance of his salvation ; which 
doth clearly evidence, that assurance is not faith, but an effect and fruit 
of faith, &c. 

1 So those in Isa. 1. 10 had faith, though they had no assurance. 

4 Mat. xi. 23, John vi. 37, Heb. vii. 25, 26. 3 Mat. vi. 30, xiv. 31, xvi. 8 ; Luke xii. 28. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 97 

Again, faith cannot be lost, but assurance may ; therefore assurance 
is not faith. 1 Though assurance be a precious flower in the garden of 
a saint, and is more infinitely sweet and delightful to the soul than all 
outward comforts and contents ; yet it is but a flower that is subject to 
fade, and to lose its freshness and beauty, as saints by sad experience 
find, &c. 

Again, a man must first have faith before he can have assurance, 
therefore assurance is not faith. And that a man must first have faith 
before he can have assurance, is clear by this, a man must first be saved 
before he can be assured of his salvation ; for he cannot be assured of 
that which is not. And a man must first have a saving faith before he 
can be saved by faith, for he cannot be saved by that which he hath 
not ; therefore a man must first have faith before he can have assur- 
ance, and so it roundly follows that assurance is not faith, &c. 2 

The third device that Satan hath to keep the soul in a sad, doubting, 
and questioning condition is, 

Device (3). By vjorking the soul to make false inferences from the 
cross actings of Providence. Saith Satan, Dost thou not see how 
Providence crosses thy prayers, and crosses thy desires, thy tears, thy 
hopes, thy endeavours ? 3 Surely if his love were towards thee, if his 
soul did delight and take pleasure in thee, he would not deal thus with 
thee, &c. 

Now, the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That many things may be cross to our desires 
that are not cross to our good. Abraham, Jacob, David, Job, Moses, 
Jeremiah, Jonah, Paul, &c, met with many things that were contrary 
to their desires and endeavours, that were not contrary to their good ; 
as all know that have wisely compared their desires, and endeavours and 
God's 'actings together. Physic often works contrary to the patients' 
desires, when it doth not work contrary to their good. 

I remember a story of a godly man, who had a great desire to go to 
France, and as he was going to take shipping he broke his leg ; and it 
pleased Providence so to order it, that the ship that he should have 
gone in at that very same time was cast away, and not a man saved ; 
and so by breaking a bone his life was saved. Though Providence did 
work cross to his desire, yet it did not work cross to his good, &c. 4 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That the hand of God may be against a mam, 
when the love and heart of God is much set upon a man. No man 
can conclude how the heart of God stands by his hand. The hand of 
God was against Ephraim, and yet his love, his heart, was dearly set 
upon Ephraim : ' I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus : 
Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed 

1 Ps. li. 12, xxx. 6, 7 ; Cant. v. 6 ; Isa. viii. 17. 

2 There is many thousand precious souls, of whom this world is not worthy, that have 
the faith of reliance, and yet want assurance and the effects of it ; as high joy, glorious 
peace, and vehement longings after the coming of Christ. 

3 Ps. lxxvii. 7, et seq., xxxi. 1, ult., lxxiii. 2, 23. 

4 The Circumcellians heing not aide to withstand the preaching and writing of Augus- 
tine, sought his destruction, having beset the way he was to go to his visitation, but by 
God's providence he, missing his way, escaped the danger. [See ante, Conf. — G.] 

VOL. I. G 



98 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

to the yoke. Turn tliou me, and I shall be turned ; for thou art the 
Lord my God. Surely, after that I was returned, I repented; and after 
that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh ; I was ashamed, yea, 
even confounded, because I did hear the reproach of my youth. 
Ephraim is my dear Son, lie is a pleasant child; for since I spake 
against him, I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore my bowels 
are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the 
Lord,' Jer. xxxi. 18-20. 1 

God can look sourly, and chide bitterly, and strike heavily, even 
where and when he loves dearly. The hand of God was very much 
against Job, and yet his love, his heart, was very much set upon Job, 
as you may see by comparing chaps, i. and ii. with xli. and xlii. The 
hand of God was sore against David and Jonah, when his heart was 
much set upon them. He that shall conclude that the heart of God is 
against those that his hand is against, will condemn the generation of 
the just, whom God unjustly would not have condemned. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan, is, to 
consider, That all the cross providences tin it befall the saints arebut in 
order to some noble good that God doth intend to prefer 2 upon them. 
Providence wrought cross to David's desire, in taking away the child 
sinfully begotten, but yet not cross to more noble good ; for was it not 
far better for David to have such a legitimate heir as Solomon was, than 
that a bastard should wear the crown, and sway the sceptre ? 

Joseph, you know, was sold into a far country by the envy and malice 
of his brethren, and afterwards imprisoned because he would not be a 
prisoner to his mistress's lusts ; yet all these providences did wonder- 
fully conduce to his advancement, and the preservation of his father's 
family, which was then the visible church of Christ. It was so handled 
by a noble hand of providence, that what they sought to decline;' they 
did promote. Joseph was therefore sold by his brethren that he might 
not be worshipped, and yet he was therefore worshipped because he was 
sold. 4 

David was designed to a kingdom, but oh ! the straits, troubles, and 
deaths that he rims through before he feels the weight of the crown ; 
and all this was but in order to the sweetening of his crown, and to the 
settling of it more firmly and gloriously upon his head. God did so 
contrive it that Jonah's offence, and those cross actings of his that did 
attend it, should advantage that end which the} 7 - seemed most directly 
to oppose. Jonah he flies to Tarshish, then cast into the sea, then saved 
by a miracle. Then the mariners, as it is very probable, who cast 
donah into the sea, declared to the Ninevites what had happened ; there- 
fore he must be a man sent of God, and that his threatenings must be 
believed and hearkened to, and therefore they must repent and humble 
themselvts, that the wrath threatened might not be executed, &c. 5 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 

1 God's providential hand may be with persons when his heart is Bet againsl them. 
Clod's providential hand was for a time with Saul, Hainan, Asshnr, and Jehu, and ye1 his 
heart was set against him. ' No man knoweth love or hatred by all that is before him,' 
Eccles. ix. 1, 2. 2 = confer. — G. 3 ' Lower' = injure. — G. 

* Cf. Genesis xxxvii. 7, &c. — G. 

■ The motions of divine providence are so dark, so deep, so changeable, that the wisest 
and noblest souls cannot toll what conclusions to make. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 09 

seriously to consider, That all the strange, dark, deep, and changeable 
providences that believers meet with, shall further them in their way to 
heaven, in their journey to happiness. Divine wisdom and love will 
so order all things here below, that they shall work for the real, internal, 
and eternal good of them that love him. All the rugged providences 
that David met with, did contribute to the bringing of him to the 
throne ; and all the rugged providences that Daniel and the ' three 
children' met with, did contribute to their great advancement. So all 
the rugged providences that believers meet with, they shall all contribute 
to the lifting up of their souls above all things, below God. As the 
waters lifted up Noah's ark nearer heaven, and as all the stones that 
were about Stephen's ears did but knock him the closer to Christ, the 
corner-stone, so all the strange rugged providences that we meet with, 
they shall raise us nearer heaven, and knock us nearer to Christ, that 
precious corner-stone. 1 

The fourth device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, 
and questioning condition is, 

Device (4). By suggesting to them that their graces are not true, but 
counterfeit, Saith Satan, All is not gold that glitters, all is not free 
grace that you count grace, that you call grace. That which you call 
faith is but a fancy, and that which you call zeal, is but a natural heat 
and passion ; and that light you have, it is but common, it is short, to 
what many have attained to that are now in hell, &c. Satan doth not 
labour more mightily to persuade hypocrites that their graces are true 
when they are counterfeit, than he doth to persuade precious souls that 
their graces are counterfeit, when indeed they are true, and such as will 
abide the touchstone of Christ, &c. 2 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (IV The first remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously 
to consider, Thai grace is taken two ways. 

[1.] It is taken for the gracious good-ivill and favour of God, whereby 
he is pleased of his own free love to accept of some in Christ for his own. 
This, some call the first grace, because it is the fountain of all other- 
graces, and the spring from whence they flow, and it is therefore called 
grace, because it makes a man gracious with God, but this is only in 
God. 

[2.] Grace is taken for the gifts of grace, and they are of two sorts, 
common or special. 

Some are common to believers and hypocrites, as a gift of knowledge, 
a gift of prayer, &c. 

Some are special graces, and they are proper and peculiar to the 
saints, as faith, humility, meekness, love, patience, &c, Gal. v, 22, 23. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, wisely 
to consider, The differences betwixt renewing grace and, restrawivng 
grace, betwixt sanctifying grace and temporary grace ; and this I will 
shew you in these ten particulars. 

[1.] True grace makes all glorious within and without : 'The King's 

1 Orosius, speaking of Valentinian, saith : He that for Christ's name's sake had lost a 
tribuneship, within a while after succeeded his persecutor in the empire. 

2 Yet it must be granted that many a fair flower may grow out of a stinking root, and 
many sweet dispositions and fair actions may be where there is only the corrupt root of 
nature. 



100 PRECIOUS REMEDI IS [2 COR. II. 11. 

(laughter 18 all glorious within ; her raiment is of wrought gold,' Ps. 
xlv. 13. True grace makes the understanding glorious, the affections 
glorioua It casts a general glory upon all the noble parts of the soul : 
' The King's daughter is all glorious wilhin.' And as it makes the inside 
glorious, bo ii makes the outside glorious : 'Her clothing is of wrought 
gold.' It makes men look gloriously, and speak gloriously, and walk 
and act gloriously, so that vain souls shall be forced to say that these 
are they that have seen Jesus. 1 As grace is a fire to burn up and con- 
sume the dross and lilt h of t he soul, so it is an ornament to beautify and 
adorn the soul. True grace makes all new, the inside new and the out- 
aide new : 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,' 2 Cor. v. 17, 2 
but temporary grace doth not this. True grace changes the very nature 
of' a man. floral virtue doth only restrain or chain up the outward man, 
it doth not change the whole man. A lion in a grate is a lion still ; he 
is restrained, but not changed, for he retains his lion-like nature still. 
So temporary graces restrain many men from this and that wickedness, 
but it doth not change and turn their hearts from wickedness. But now 
t rue grace, that turns a lion into a lamb, as you may see in Paul, Acts ix., 
and a notorious strumpet into a blessed and glorious penitent, as you 
may see in Mary Magdalene, &c, &c, Luke vii. 3 

[2.] The objects of true grace are supernatural. True grace is con- 
versant about the choicest and the highest objects, about the most soul- 
ennobling and soul-greatening objects, as God, Christ, precious promises 
that are more worth than a world, and a kingdom that shakes not, a 
crown of glory that withers not, and heavenly treasures that rust not. 
The objects of temporary grace are low and poor, and always within the 
compass of reason's reach. 4 

[&] True grace enables a Christian, when he is hvmself, to do spi- 
ritual actions witli reel pleasure a ml ih-l'ajht, To souls truly gracious, 
Christ's yoke 'is easy, and his burden is light;' 'his commandments 
are not grievous, but joyous.' ' I delight in the law of God after the 
inward man,' saith Paul. 5 The blessed man is described by this, that 
he 'delights in the law of the Lord,' Ps. i. 2. ' It is joy to the just to 
do judgment,' saith Solomon, Prov. xxi. 15. To a gracious soul, 'All 
the ways of the Lord are pleasantness, and his paths are peace, Prov. 
iii. 17 ; but to souls that have but temporary grace, but moral virtues, 
religious services are a toil, not a pleasure ; a burden, and not a delight. 
' Wherefore have we fasted,' say they, 'and thou seest not ? Wherefore 
have we afflicted our souls, and thou takest no knowledge ?' Isa. lviii. 3, 
&c. ' Ye have said,' say those in Malachi, ' It is vain to serve God ; and 
what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have 
walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?' Mai. iii. 14% 'When 
will the new moon be gone,' say those in Amos, ' that we may sell corn, 
and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, 

1 God brings not a pair of scales to weigh our grnces, but a touchstone to try oar graces. 
Purity, preciousness, ami holiness is stamped upon all saving graces, Acts xv. 9, 'J P< ter 
iv. 1, Judo 20. 

- Kaivn ktiitis, a new creation : new Adam, new covenant, new paradise, new Lord, new 
Law, new hearts, and new creatures go together. 

•■ Ii Beems right to question this admittedly common mode of speaking of Mary of Mag- 
dala. It is not certain thai the two were identical. — G. 

1 2 Cor. iv. 18. Prov. xiv. A saint hath his feet where other rnenVheads are, Mat. vi. 

5 Mat. xi. 30 ; 1 John v. 3 ; Rom. vii. 22. 



2 Cor. II 11.] against satan's devices. 101 

and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit,' Amos 
viii. 5. 

[4.] True grace makes a man most careful, and most fearful of his 
awn heart} It makes him most studious about his own heart, inform- 
ing that, examining that, and watching over that ; but temporary 
grace, moral virtues, make men more mindful and careful of others, to 
instruct them and counsel them, and stir up them, and watch over 
them, &c. Which doth with open mouth demonstrate that their 
graces are not saving and peculiar to saints, but that they are tempo- 
rary, and no more than Judas, Demas, and the pharisees had, &c. 

[5. J Grace will ivovk a man's heart to love and cleave to the strictest and 
holiest ways and tilings of God, for their purity and sanctity, in the face 
of all dangers and hardships. ' Thy word is very pure, therefore thy 
servant loveth it/ Ps. cxix. 140. Others love it, and like it, and follow 
it, for the credit, the honour, the advantage that they get by it ; but I 
love it for the spiritual beauty and purity of it. So the psalmist, ' All 
this is come upon us ; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we 
dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither 
have our steps declined from thy way : though thou hast sore broken us 
in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadows of death,' 
Ps. xliv. 17-19. But temporary grace, that will not bear up the soul 
against all oppositions and discouragements in the ways of God, as is 
clear by their apostasy in John vi. 60, 66, and by the stony grounds 
falling away, &c, Mat. xiii. 20, 21. 2 

[6.] True grace will enable a man to step over the world's crown, to 
take up Christ's cross ; to prefer the cross of Christ above the glory of 
this world. It enabled Abraham, and Moses, and Daniel, with those 
other worthies in Heb. xi., to do so. 

Godfrey of Bullen [Bouillon], first king of Jerusalem, refused to be 
crowned with a crown of gold, saying, ' That it became not a Christian 
there to wear a crown of gold, where Christ had worn a crown of thorns.' 
Oh ! but temporary grace cannot work the soul to prefer Christ's cross 
above the world's crown ; but when these two meet, a temporary 
Christian steps over Christ's cross to take up, and keep up, the world's 
crown. ' Demas hath forsaken us to embrace this present world,' 2 Tim. 
iv. 10. So the young man in the Gospel had many good things in him ; 
he bid fair for heaven, and came near to heaven ; but when Christ set 
his cross before him, he steps over that to enjoy the world's crown, 
Mat. xix. 19-22. When Christ bid him, 'go and sell all that he had, 
and give to the poor,' &c, ' he went away sorrowful, for he had great 
possessions.' If heaven be to be had upon no other terms, Christ may 
keep his heaven to himself, he will have none, &c. 3 

[7.] Sanctifying grace, renewing grace, puts the soul upon spiritual 
duties, from spiritual and intrinsecal motives, as from the sense of 
divine love, that dotli constrain the soul to wait on God, and to act for 

1 Ps. li. 10, and cxix. 36, 80, and cxxxix. 23, and lxxxvi. 11. 

2 Grace is a panoply against all trouble, and a paradise of all pleasures. 

3 Few are of Jerome's mind, that had rather have St Paul's coat with his heavenly 
graces, than the purple of kings with their kingdoms. The king of Navarre told Beza, 
that in the cause of religion he would launch no further into their sea, than he might be 
sure to return safe to the haven. [Henry IV., afterwards the Apostate from Protestant- 
ism. — G.] 



102 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. it. 

God ; x and the sense of the excellency and sweetness of communion 
with God, and the choice and precious discoveries that the soul hath for- 
merly had of the beauty and glory to [sic] God, whilst it hath been in the 
Bervice of God. The good looks, the good words, the blessed love-let- 
ters, the glorious kisses, and the sweet embraces that gracious souls 
have had from ( Ihrist in his service, do provoke and move them to wait 
upon him in holy duties. Ah ! hut restraining grace, temporary grace, 
that puts men upon religious duties only from external motives, as the 
care of the creature, the eye of the creature, the rewards of the creature, 
and the keeping up of a name among the creatures, and a thousand 
such like considerations, as you may see in Saul, Jehu, Judas, Demas, 
and the scribes and pharisees, &c. 2 

The abbot in Melancthon lived strictly, and walked demurely, and 
looked humbly, so long as he was but a monk, but when, by his seeming 
extraordinary sanctity, he got to be abbot, he grew intolerable proud 
and insolent ; and being asked the reason of it, confessed, ' That his 
former lowly look was but to see if he could find the keys of the abbey.' 
Such poor, low, vain motives work temporary souls to all the service 
they do perform, &c. 

[8.] Saving grace, renewing grace, will cause a man to follow the 
Lord fully in the desertion of all sin, and in the observation of all 
God's precepts. Joshua and Caleb followed the Lord fully, 3 Num. 
xiv. 24 ; Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous before God, and 
walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blame- 
less, Luke i. 5, 6. The saints in the Revelation are described by this, 
that ' they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes/ Rev. xiv. 4 ; but 
restraining grace, temporary grace, cannot enable a man to follow the 
Lord fully. All that temporary grace can enable a man to do, is to 
follow the Lord partially, unevenly, and haltingly, as you may see in 
Jehu, Herod, Judas, and the scribes and pharisees, who paid tithe of 
' mint, and anise, and cummin, but omitted the weighty matters of the 
law, judgment, mercy, and faith,' &c, Mat. xxiii. 23. 

True grace works the heart to the hatred of all sin, and to the love 
of all truth ; it works a man to the hatred of those sins that for his 
blood he cannot conquer, and to loathe those sins that he would give all 
the world to overcome, Ps. cxix. 104, 128. 4 So that a soul truly 
gracious can say, Though there be no one sin mortified and subdued in 
me, as it should, and as I would, yet every sin is hated and loathed by 
me. So a soul truly gracious can say, Though I do not obey any one 
command as I should, and as I would, yet every word is sweet, every 
command of God is precious, Ps. cxix. 6, 119, 127, 167- I dearly prize 
and greatly love those commands that I cannot obey ; though there be 

1 As what I have, if offered to thee, pleaseth not thee. Lord, without myself, so the 
good things we have from thee, though they may refresh us, yet they satisy us not with- 
out thyself. — J3ern[<ird]. 

* It is an excellent speech of Bernard, Bonus es Domine animw qucerenti ; quid in- 
venienti ? Good art thou, O Lord, to the- soul that seeks thee, what art thou then to the 
soul that finds thee? 

3 n6du> bath fulfilled after me. A metaphor taken from a ship under sail, that is strongly 
carried with the wind, as fearing neither rocks nor sands. 

* I had rather go to hell pure from sin, than to heaven polluted with that filth, saith 
Anselm. Da quod juhes et juke quod vis, Give what thou commaudest, and command 
what thuu wilt. [Augustine — GJ. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 10.3 

many commands that I cannot in a strict sense fulfil, yet there is no 
command I would not fulfil, that I do not exceedingly love. ' I love 
thy commandments above gold, above fine gold :' ' My soul hath kept 
thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly,' Ps. cxix. 1 17, and xcix. 7. 

[9.] True grace leads the soul to rest in Christ, as in his summum 
bonum, chief est good. It works the soul to centre in Christ, as in his 
highest and ultimate end. ' Whither should we go ? thou hast the 
words of eternal life,' John vi. 68. ' My beloved is white and ruddy, 
the chiefest of ten thousand ; I found him whom my soul loved, I held 
him and would not let him go,' Cant. v. 10, iii. 4. That wisdom a believer 
hath from Christ, it leads him to centre in the wisdom of Christ, 1 Cor. 
i. 30 ; and that love the soul hath from Christ, it leads the soul to 
centre in the love of Christ ; and that righteousness the soul hath from 
Christ, it leads the soul to rest and centre in the righteousness of 
Christ, Philip, iii. 9. 1 True grace is a beam of Christ, and where it is, 
it will naturally lead the soul to rest in Christ. The stream doth not 
more naturally lead to the fountain, nor the effect to the cause, than 
true grace leads the soul to Christ. But restraining grace, temporary 
grace, works the soul to centre and rest in things below Christ. Some- 
times it works the soul to centre in the praises of the creature ; some- 
times to rest in the rewards of the creature : ' Verily they have their 
reward,' saith Christ, Mat. vi. 1, 2 : and so in an hundred other things. 
&c, Zech. vii. 5, 6. 

[10.] True grace will enable a soul to sit down satisfied and con- 
tented with the naked enjoyments of Christ. The enjoyment of Christ 
without honour will satisfy the soul ; the enjoyment of Christ without 
riches, the enjoyment of Christ without pleasures, and without the 
smiles of creatures, will content and satisfy the soul. ' It is enough ; 
Joseph is alive,' Gen. xlv. 28. So saith a gracious soul, though honour 
is not, and riches are not, and health is not, and friends are not, &c, it 
is enough that Christ is, that he reigns, conquers, and triumphs. 
Christ is the pot of manna, the cruse of oil, a bottomless ocean of all 
comfort, content, and satisfaction. He that hath him wants nothing ; 
he that wants him enjoys nothing. 2 ' Having nothing,' saith Paul, 
' and yet possessing all things,' 2 Cor. vi. 10. Oh ! but a man that hath 
but temporary grace, that hath but restraining grace, cannot sit down 
satisfied and contented, under the want of outward comforts. 3 Christ 
is good with honours, saith such a soul ; and Christ is good with riches, 
and Christ is good with pleasures, and he is good with such and such 
outward contents. I must have Christ and the world, or else with the 
young man in the Gospel, in spite of my soul, I shall forsake Christ 
to follow the world. Ah ! how many shining professors be there in the 
world, that cannot sit down satisfied and contented, under the want of 
this or that outward comfort and content, but are like bedlams, fretting 

1 Grace is that star that leads to Christ; it is that cloud and pillar of fire that leads the 
soul to the heavenly Canaan, where Christ sits chief. 

2 Cut cum paupertate bene convenit, pauper non est, saith Seneca, a contented man cannot 
be a poor man. [Epistle i. and De Constantia Sapientis, vi. — G]. , , 

8 Charles the Great his motto was, Christus regnat, vincit, triumphat. And so it is the 
saints.' St Austin upon Ps. xii. brings in God rebuking a discontented Christian thiis : 
What is thy faith ? have I promised thee these things ? What ! wert thou made a Christian 
that thou shouldst flourish here in this world ? 



104 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

and vexing, raging and madding, 1 as if there were no God, no heaven, 
no hell, nor no Christ to make up all such outward wants to souls. 
That a soul truly gracious can say, in having nothing I have all things, 
because ] have Christ; having therefore all things in him, I seek no 
Other reward, for he is the universal reward. Such a soul can say, 
Nothing is sweet to me without the enjoyment of Christ in it ; honours, 
nor riches, nor the smiles of creatures, are not sweet to me no farther 
than I see Christ, and taste Christ in them. 2 The confluence of all out- 
ward good cannot make a heaven of glory in my soul, if Christ, who is 
the top («!' my glory, be absent ; as Absalom said, ' What is all this to 
me so long as J cannot see the king's face T 2 Sam. xiv. 32. So saith the 
soul, why do you tell me of this and that outward comfort, when I cannot 
see his face whom my soul loves ? Why, my honour is not my Christ, 
nor riches is not Christ, nor the favour of the creature is not Christ ; 
let me have him, and let the men of this world take the world, and 
divide it amongst themselves ; I prize my Christ above all, I would 
enjoy my Christ above all other things in the world ; his presence will 
make up the absence of all other comforts, and his absence will darken 
and embitter all my comforts ; so that my comforts will neither taste 
like comforts, nor look like comforts, nor warm like comforts, when he 
that should comfort my soul stands afar off, &c, Lam. i. 16. Christ is 
all and in all to souls truly gracious, Col. iii. 11. We have all things 
in Christ, and Christ is all things to a Christian. If we be sick, he is 
a physician ; if we thirst, he is a fountain ; if our sins trouble us, he is 
righteousness ; if we stand in need of help, he is mighty to save ; if we 
fear death, he is life ; if we be in darkness, he is light ; if we be weak, 
he is strength ; if we be in poverty, he is plenty ; if we desire heaven, 
he is the way. The soul cannot say, this I would have, and that I 
would have ; but saith Christ, it is in me, it is in me eminently, per- 
fectly, eternally. 3 

The fifth device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, 
and questioning condition is, 

Device (5). By suggesting to them, TJait that conflict that is in th&m>\ 
is not a conflict that is only in saints, but such a conflict that is to be 
fun iid in hypocrites and profane souls; when the truth is, there is as 
much difference betwixt the conflict that is in them, and that which is 
in wicked men, as there is betwixt light and darkness, betwixt heaven 
and hell.' 4 And the truth of this I shall evidence to you in the follow- 
ing particulars : 

[1.] The whole frame of a believer's soul is aga/mst si/n,. Understand- 
ing, will, and affection, all the powers and faculties of the soul are m 

1 Goin<2; about as ' mad.' — G. 

8 Content is the deputy of outward felicity, and supplies the place whore it is absent. 
As the .lews throw the book of Esther to the ground before they read it, because the 
name of God is nut in it, us the Rabbins have observed; so do saints in Bome smse 
those mercies wherein they do nut read Christ's name, and see Christ's heart. [With 
reference to the throwing down of the book of Esther, sit Trapp's quaint remarks on it, 
under Esther i. 1. — < 1 1. 

3 Luther said, he had rather bo in lull with Christ, than in heaven without him. 
None hut Christ, none hut Christ, said Lambert, lifting up his hands and his fingers' 
end flaming. [Clarke's ' Martyrologie,' as before, sub nomine. — G]. 

« John viii. 44, the devil is a liar, and the father of it. The devil's breasts (saith 
Luther) are very fruitful with lies. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 105 

arms against sin. A covetous man may condemn covetousness, and yet the 
frame and bent of his heart may be to it ; a proud person may condemn 
pride, and yet the frame of his spirit may be to it ; and the drunkard may 
condemn drunkenness, and yet the frame of his spirit may be to it ; a 
man may condemn stealing and lying, and yet the frame of his heart 
may be to it. 1 ' Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou 
steal ? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou 
commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? 
Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dis- 
honourest thou God V Rom. ii. 21-23. But a saint's will is against it. 
' The evil that I would not do, that I do ;' and his affections are against 
it, ' What I hate, I do/ Rom. vii. 19, 20. 

[2.] A saint conflicts against sin universally, the least as ivell as 
the greatest ; the most profitable and the most pleasing sin, as well as 
against those that are less pleasing and profitable. He will combat 
with all, though he cannot conquer one as he should, and as he would. 
He knows that all sin strikes at God's holiness, as well as his own hap- 
piness ; at God's glory, as well as at his soul's comfort and peace. 2 

He knows that all sin is hateful to God, and that all sinners are 
traitors to the crown and dignity of the Lord Jesus. He looks upon 
one sin, and sees that that threw down Noah, the most righteous man 
in the world, and he looks upon another sin, and sees that that cast 
down Abraham, the greatest believer in the world, and he looks upon 
another sin, and sees that that threw down David, the best king in the 
world, and he looks upon another sin, and sees that that cast down 
Paul, the greatest apostle in the world. He sees that one sin threw 
down Samson, the strongest man in the world ; another cast down 
Solomon, the wisest man in the world ; and another Moses, the meekest 
man in the world ; and another sin cast down Job, the patientest man 
in the world ; and this raiseth a holy indignation against all, so that 
nothing can satisfy and content his soul but a destruction of all those 
lusts and vermin that vex and rack his righteous soul. It will not 
suffice a gracious soul to see justice done upon one sin, but he cries out 
for justice upon all. He would not have some crucified and others 
spared, but cries out, Lord, crucify them all, crucify them all. Oh ! but 
now the conflict that is in wicked men is partial; they frown upon one 
sin and smile upon another; they strike at some sins yet stroke others; 
they thrust some out of doors but keep others close in their bosoms ; as 
you may see in Jehu, Herod, Judas, Simon Magus, and Demas. Wicked 
men strike at gross sins, such as are not only against the law of God, 
but against the laws of nature and nations, but make nothing of less 
sins ; as vain thoughts, idle words, sinful motions, petty oaths, &c. 

1 It was a good saying of him [Augustine, Conf. — G-] that said, Domine libera me a 
malo homine, me ipso, Lord, deliver me from an ill man, myself. Austin complains, That 
men do not tame their beasts in their own bosoms. 

2 Ps. cxix. 104, 1 hate every false way ; sindhi, from JO^', which signifies to hate with 
a deadly and irreconcileable hatred. He knows that all the parts of the old man hath, 
and doth play the part of a treacherous friend and a friendly traitor ; therefore he strikes 
at all. The greater the combat is, the greater shall be the following rewards, saith Ter- 
tullian. True hatred is *•£«« ™ ylvn, against the whole kind. Plutarch reports of one who 
would not be resolved of his doubts, because he would not lose the pleasure in seeking 
for resolution. So wicked men will not be rid of some sins, because they would not lose 
the seeming pleasure of sinning. 



106 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

They fight against those sins that fight against their honour, profits, 
pleasures, Ac, but make truce with those that are as right hand and 
as right eyes to them, &c. 

[3.] The conflict l/i<(t is in a saint, against sin, is maintained by 
several arguments: by arguments drawn from the love of God, the 
honour of God, the sweetness and communion with God, and from the 
spiritual and heavenly blessings and privileges that are conferred upon 
them by God, and from arguments drawn from the blood of Christ, the 
glory of ( Jurist, the eye of Christ, the kisses of Christ, and the interces- 
sion ot Christ, and from arguments drawn from the earnest of the Spirit, 
the seal of the Spirit, the witness of the Spirit, the comforts of the 
Spirit. Oh ! but the conflict that is in wicked men is from low, carnal, 
and legal arguments, drawn from the eye, ear, or hand of the creature, 
or drawn from shame, hell, curses of the law, &c, 2 Cor. xii. 7-9. 1 

[4.] The conflict that is in saints is a constant conflict. Though sin 
and grace were not born in the heart of a saint together, and though 
they shall not die together, yet. whilst a believer lives, they must con- 
flict together. Paul had been fourteen years converted, when he cried 
out, ' 1 have a law in my members rebelling against the law of my mind, 
and leading me captive to the law of sin,' Rom. vii. 2, 3. 

Pietro Candiano, one of the dukes of Venice, died fighting against 
the Nauratines with the weapons in his hands. So a saint lives fight- 
ing and dies fighting, he stands fighting' and falls fighting, with his 
spiritual weapons in his hands. 2 But the conflict that is in wicked men 
is inconstant : now they fall out with sin, and anon they fall in with sin ; 
now it is bitter, anon it is sweet ; now the sinner turns from his sin, 
and anon he turns to the wallowing in sin, as the swine doth to the 
wallowing in the mire, 2 Pet. ii. 19, 20. One hour you shall have him 
praying against sin, as if he feared it more than hell, and the next hour 
you shall have him pursuing after sin, as if there were no God to punish 
him, no justice to damn him, no hell to torment him. 

[5.j The conflict that is in the saints, is in the same faculties ; there 
is the judgment against the judgment, the mind against the mind, the 
will against the will, the affections against the affections, that is, the 
regenerate part against the unregenerate part, in all the parts of the 
soul ; but now, in wicked men, the conflict is not in the same faculties, 
but between the conscience and the will. The will of a sinner is bent 
strongly to such and such sins, but conscience puts in and tells the 
sinner, God hath made me his deputy, he hath given me a power to 
hang and draw, to examine, scourge, judge and condemn, and if thou 
dost such and such wickedness, I shall be thy jailor and tormenter. I 
do not bear the rod nor the sword in vain, saith conscience; if thou 
sinnest, I shall do my office, and then thy life will be a hell: and this 
raises a tumult in the soul. 3 

1 Though to he kept from sin brings comfort to us, yet for us to oppose sin from spi- 
ritual ami heavenly arguments, ami God t<> pardon sin, that brings most glory to God. 

2 It was an excellent saying of Eusebius Emesenus, Our fathers overcame the torrents 
of the flames, let us uverenine tin; fiery darts of vices. Consider that the pleasure and 
sweetness that follows victory over sin, is a thousand times beyond that seeming sweet- 
ness that is in sin. 

:) A heathen could say, their soul is in a mutiny; a wicked man is not friends with 
himself, he and his conscience are at difference. — Arisl[otlc]. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against sat an 's devices. 107 

[6.] The conflict that is in the saints, is a more blessed, successful, 
and prevailing conflict. A saint, by his conflict with sin, gains ground 
upon his sin : ' They that are Christ's/ saith the apostle, ' have crucified 
the world with the affections and lusts/ Gal. v. 24<. Christ puts to his 
hand and helps them to lead captivity captive, and to set their feet upon 
the necks of those lusts that have formerly trampled upon their souls 
and their comforts. As the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker, 
and the house of David stronger and stronger, so the Lord, by the dis- 
coveries of his love, and by the influences of his Spirit, he causeth grace, 
the nobler part of a saint, to grow stronger and stronger, and corrup- 
tion, like the house of Saul, to grow weaker and weaker. But sin in a 
wicked heart gets ground, and grows stronger and stronger, notwith- 
standing all his conflicts. His heart is more encouraged, emboldened, 
and hardened in away of sin, as you may see in the Israelites, Pharaoh, 
Jehu, and Judas, who doubtless found many strange conflicts, tumults, 
and mutinies in their souls, when God spake such bitter things against 
them, and did such justice upon them, 2 Tim. iii. 13. 1 

But remember this by way of caution : Though Christ hath given 
sin its death -wound, by his power, Spirit, death, and resurrection, yet 
it will die but a lingering death. 2 As a man that is mortally wounded 
dies by little and little, so doth sin in the heart of a saint. The death 
of Christ on the cross was a lingering death, so the death of sin in the 
soul is a lingering death ; now it dies a little, and anon it dies a little, 
&c, as the psalmist speaks, ' Slay them not, lest my people forget : scatter 
them by thy power ; and bring them down, O Lord our shield,' Ps. 
lix. 11. He would not have them utterly destroyed, but some relics 
preserved as a memorial. So God dealeth in respect of sin ; it is wounded 
and brought down, but not wholly slain ; something is still left as a 
monument of divine grace, and to keep us humble, wakeful, and watch- 
ful, and that our armour may be still kept on, and our weapons always 
in our hands. 

The best men's souls in this life hang between the flesh and the 
spirit, as it were like Mahomet's tomb at Mecca, between two loadstones ; 
like Erasmus, as the papists paint him, betwixt heaven and hell ; like 
the tribe of Manasseh, half on this side of Jordan, in the land of the 
Amorites, and half on that side, in the Holy Land ; yet, in the issue, 
they shall overcome the flesh, and trample upon the necks of their spi- 
ritual enemies. 3 

The sixth device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, 
questioning condition is, 

Device (tj). By suggesting to the soul, that surely his estate is not 

1 These two, grace and sin, are like two buckets of a well, when one is up. the other is 
down. They are like the two laurels at Rome, when one flourishes the other withers. 
The more grace thrives in the soul, the more sin dies in the soul. From naught they 
grow to be very naught, and from very naught to be stark naught. Lactant[ius] said of 
Lucian, Nee Diis, nee hominibus pepercit, he spared neither God nor man. 

2 Mortification is a continued act, it is a daily dying to sin, ' I die daily.' A crucified 
man will strive and struggle, yet, in the eyes of the law, and in the account of all that 
see him, lie is dead. It is just so with sin. 

3 There is no such pleasure, saith Cyprian, as to have overcome an offered pleasure ; 
neither is there any greater conquest than that that is gotten over a man's corruptions. 
The Romans lost many a battle, and yet in the issue were conquerors in all their wars ; 
it is just so with the saints. 



108 PilECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

good, beca/use he cam/not joy cmd rejoice in Christ as once he could ; 
/> cause he hath lost that comfort cmd joy that once wax m his spirit 
Saith Satan, Thou knowest the time was when thy heart was much 
tallied out to joying and rejoicing in Christ ; thou dost not forget the 
time when thy heart used to be full of joy and comfort; but now, how 
ait thou fallen in thy joys and comforts ! Therefore, thy estate is not 
good ; thou dost but deceive thyself to think that ever it was good, for 
surely if it had, thy joy and comfort would have continued. And here- 
upon the soul is apt to take part with Satan, and say, It is even so ; I 
se dl is naught, and I have but deceived my own soul, &c. 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, to con- 
sider, Thai /he loss of comfort is a separable adjunct from grace. The 
soul may be full of holy affections when it is empty of divine consola- 
tions. 1 There may be, and often is, true grace, yea, much grace, where 
there is not a drop of comfort, nor dram of joy. Comfort is not of the 
being, but of the well-being, of a Christian. God hath not so linked 
these two choice lovers together, but that they may be put asunder. 
That wisdom that is from above will never work a man to reason thus : 
I have no comfort, therefore I have no grace ; I have lost that joy that 
once I had, therefore my condition is not good, was never good, &c. 
But it will enable a man to reason thus : Though my comfort is gone, 
yet the God of my comfort abides ; though my joy is lost, yet the seeds 
of grace remain. The best men's joys, are as glass, bright and brittle, 
and evermore in danger of breaking. 2 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That /he precious thi/ngs that thou still enjoyest 
arc for better than the joys and comforts that thou Joist lust. Thy 
union with Christ, thy communion with Christ, thy sonship, thy saint- 
ship, thy heirship, thou still enjoyest by Christ, are far better than the 
comforts thou hast lost by sin. What though thy comforts be gone, 
yet thy union and communion with Christ remains, Jer. xxxi. 18, 19, 
20. Though thy comforts be gone, yet thou art a son, though a com- 
fortless son ; an heir, though a comfortless heir ; a saint, though a 
comfortless saint. Though the bag of silver, thy comforts, be lost, yet 
the box of jewels, thy union with Christ, thy communion with Christ, 
thy sonship, thy saintship, thy heirship, which thou still enjoyest, is far 
better than the bag of silver thou hast lost ; yea, the least of those 
precious jewels is more worth than all the comforts in the world. Will ! 
let this be a cordial to comfort thee, a star to lead thee, and a staff to 
support thee, that thy box of jewels are safe, though thy bag of silver 
be lost. 3 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That thy coin/ it ion is no other titan what hath l>e<'n /he con* 
dition of those precious souls whose names were written upon thehea/ti 
of Christ, and who arc now at rest in the bosom of Chris/. One day 

1 Ps. lxiii. 1, 2, 8, Isa. 1. 10, Micah vii. 8, 9, Pa. xlii. 5. 

- Spiritual joy is a sun that is often clouded ; though it be as precious a flower as most 
paradise affords, yet it is subject to fade ami wither. 

•'■ When one objected to Faninus his cheerfulness to Christ's agony and sadness, he 
answered, Christ was sad, that 1 might be merry ; he had my sins, and 1 have his right- 
eousness. [Clarke's ' Martyrologie, 1 as before, sub nomine. — G.] 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 109 

you shall have them praising and rejoicing, the next day a-mourning 
and weeping. One day you shall have them a-singing, ' The Lord is 
our portion ;' the next day a-sighing and expostulating with themselves, 
' Why are ye cast down, our souls ?' ' Why is our harp turned to 
mourning ? and our organ into the voice of them that weep ?' &c. x 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That the causes of joy and comfort are not 
always the same. Happily, thy former joy and comfort did spring 
from the witness of the Spirit, he bearing witness to thy soul, that thy 
nature was changed, thy sins pardoned, thy soul reconciled, &c. 2 Now, 
the Spirit may, upon some special occasion, bear witness to the soul, 
that the heart of God is dearly set upon him, that he loves him with 
an everlasting love, &c, and yet the soul may never enjoy such a testi- 
mony all the days of his life again. Though the Spirit be a witnessing 
Spirit, it is not his office eveiy day to witness to believers their interest 
in God, Christ, heaven, &c. 

Or, happily, thy former joy and comfort did spring from the newness 
and suddenness of the change of thy condition. For a man in one hour 
to have his night turned into day, his darkness turned into light, his 
bitter into sweet, God's frowns into smiles, his hatred into love, his hell 
into a heaven, must greatly joy and comfort him. 3 It cannot but make 
his heart to leap and dance in him, who, in one hour, shall see Satan 
accusing him, his own heart condemning him, the eternal God frowning 
■upon him, the gates of heaven # barred against him, all the creation 
standing armed, at the least beck of God, to execute vengeance on him, 
and the mouth of the infernal pit open to receive him. Now, in this 
hour, for Christ to come to the amazed soul, and to say to it, I have 
trod the wine-press of my Father's wrath for thee ; I have laid down my 
life a ransom for thee ; by my blood I have satisfied my Father's jus- 
tice, and pacified his anger, and procured his love for thee ; by my 
blood I have purchased the pardon of thy sins, thy freedom from hell, 
and thy right to heaven ; oh ! how wonderfully will this cause the soul 
to leap for joy ! 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, to con- 
sider, That God ivill restore and moJce up the comforts of his people. 1 
Though thy candle be put out, yet God will light it again, and make it 
burn more light than ever. Though thy sun for the present be clouded, 
yet he that rides upon the clouds shall scatter those clouds, and cause 
the sun to shine and warm thy heart as in former days, as the psalmist 
speaks: 'Thou which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt 

1 Ps. li. 12, xxx. 6, 7 ; Job xxiii. 6, 8, 9, 30, 31 ; Lamen. i. 16, Mat. xxvii. 4G, Ps. 
xlii. 5, Lament, v. 15. 

2 The Spirit doth not every day make a feast in the soul ; he doth not make every day 
to he a day of weaving the wedding robes. 

3 A pardon given unexpectedly into the hand of a malefactor, when he is on the last 
step of the ladder, ready to be turned off, will cause much joy and rejoicing. The new- 
ness and suddenness of the>change of his condition will cause his heart to leap and 
rejoice ; yet, in process of time, much of his joy will be abated, though his life be as 
dear to him still as ever it was. 

4 Hudson the martyr, deserted at the stake, went from under his chain, and, having 
prayed earnestly, was comforted immediately, and suffered valiantly. So Mr Glover, 
when he was within sight of the stake, cried out to his friend, He is come, lie is come, 
meaning the Comforter that Christ promised to send. [On Thomas Hudson, see Clarke's 
' Martyrologie,' as before, pp. 498,499 ; on Glover, ibid. pp. 460-61. — G.] 



110 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

quicken mo again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the 
earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every 
side.' Ps. lxxi. 20, 21. God takes away a little comfort, that he may 
make room in tin' soul for a greater degree of comfort. This the pro- 
phel Isaiah sweetly shews : 'I have seen his ways, and will heal him ; 
I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him, and to his mourners,' 
Isa. lvii. 18. Bear up sweetly, precious soul ! thy storm shall end in 
a calm, and thy dark night in a sunshine day ; thy mourning shall be 
turned into rejoicing, and the waters of consolation shall be sweeter and 
higher in thy soul than ever -, 1 the mercy is surely thine, but the time 
of "ivin" - it is the Lord's. Wait but a little, and thou shalt find the 
Lord comforting thee on every side. 

The seventh device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, 
and questioning condition, is, 

Device (7). By suggesting to the soul his often relapses i/nto the 
same sin ivhich formerly he hath pursued with particula/r sorrow, 
grief, shame, and tears, and prayed, complai/ned, and resolved 
agamst. Saith Satan, Thy heart is not right with God ; surely thy 
estate is not good ; thou dost but flatter thyself to think that ever 
God will eternally own and embrace such a one as thou art, who com- 
plainest against sin, and yet relapsest into the same sin ; who with 
tears and groans confessest thy sin, and yet ever and anon art fallen 
into the same sin. 

I confess this is a very sad condition for a soul after he hath ob- 
tained mercy and pity from the Lord, after God hath spoken peace 
and pardon to him, and wiped the tears from his eyes, and set him 
upon his legs, to return to folly. 2 Ah ! how do relapses lay men 
open to the greatest afflictions and worst temptations ! How do they 
make the wound to bleed afresh ! How do they darken and cloud 
former assurances and evidences for heaven ! How do they put a 
sword into the hand of conscience to cut and slash the soul ! They 
raise such fears, terrors, horrors, and doubts in the soul, that the soul 
cannot be so frequent in duty as formerly, nor so fervent in duty as 
formerly, nor so confident in duty as formerly, nor so bold, familiar, 
and delightful with God in duty as formerly, nor so constant in duty 
as formerly. They give Satan an advantage to triumph over Christ ; 
they make the work of repentance more difficult ; they make a man's 
life a burden, and they render death to be very terrible unto the soul, 
&c. 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is. 
solemnly to consider, That there are many scriptures that do dearM 
evidence a possibility of the sai/nts fallvng i/nto the same sins wfa recm 
they here formerly repented. 'I will heal their backslidiugs, I will 
love them freely : for mine anger is turned away from them,' saith the 
Lord by the -prophet Hosea, chap. xiv. 4. So the prophet Jeremiah 
speaks: 'Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, 
Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause 
mine anger to fall upon you : for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I 

i See Ps. exxvi. 6, arid xlii. 7, 8. 

2 A backslider may say, Opera el impensa periit, all my pains and charge is lost. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. ni 

will not keep mine anger for ever. Turn, O backsliding Israel, saith 
the Lord ; for I am married unto you : and I will take you one of a 
city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion,' chap. iii. 12, 14. 
So the psalmist : ' They turned back, and dealt unfaithfully with their 
fathers ; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.' And no wonder, 
for though their repentance be never so sincere and sound, yet their 
graces are but weak, and their mortification imperfect in this life. 
Though by grace they are freed from the dominion of sin, and from 
the damnatory power of every sin, and from the love of all sin, yet 
grace doth not free them from the seed of any one sin ; and therefore 
it is possible for a soul to fall again and again into the same sin. If 
the fire be not wholly put out, who would think it impossible that it 
should catch and burn again and again I 1 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That God hath nowhere engaged himself by any 
'particular promise, that souls converted and united to Christ shall 
not fall again and again into the same sin after conversion. I can- 
not find in the whole book of God where he hath promised any such 
strength or power against this or that particular sin, as that the soul 
should be for ever, in this life, put out of a possibility of falling again 
and again into the same sins ; and where God hath not a mouth to 
speak, I must not have a heart to believe. God will graciously pardon 
those sins to his people that he will not in this life effectually subdue 
in his people. I would go far to speak with that soul that can shew 
me a promise, that when our sorrow and grief hath been so great, or so 
much, for this or that sin, that then God will preserve us from ever 
falling into the same sin. The sight of such a promise would be as life 
from the dead to many a precious soul, who desires nothing more than 
to keep close to Christ, and fears nothing more than backsliding from 
Christ. 2 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, seri- 
ously to consider, That the most renowned and now croivned saints 
have, in the days of their being on earth, relapsed into one and 
the same sin. 3 Lot was twice overcome with wine ; John twice wor- 
shipped the angel ; Abraham did often dissemble, and lay his wife 
open to adultery to save his own life, which some heathens would not 
have done : ' And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander 
from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which 
thou shalt shew unto me ; at every place whither we shall come, say of 
me, as he is my brother/ Gen. xx. 13. David in his wrath was re- 
solved, if ever man was, that he would be the death of Nabal, and all 
his innocent family ; and after this he fell into the foul murder of 
TJnah. Though Christ told his disciples that his ' kingdom was not 
of this world,' yet again, and again, and again, three several times they 

1 The sin of backsliding is a soul-wounding sin, ' I will heal their backsliding.' You 
read of no arms for the back, though you do for the breast. When a soldier bragged 
too much of a great scar in his forehead, Augustus Caesar (in whose time Christ was 
born) asked him if he did not get it as he looked back when he fled. 

2 In some cases the saints have found God better than his word. He promised the 
children of Israel only the land of Canaan, but besides that he gave them two other 
kingdoms which he never promised. And to Zacharias he promised to give him his 
speech at the birth of the child, but besides that he gave him the gift of prophecy. 

3 A sheep may often slip into a slough, as well as a swine. 



112 PRBCIOtJS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

would needs be on horseback ; they would fain be high, great, and 
glorious in this world. Their pride and ambitious humour put them, 
that were but as so many beggars, upon striving for pre-eminence and 
greatness in the world, when their Lord and Master told them three 
several times of liis sufferings in the world, and of his going out of the 
world. Jehoshapliat, though a godly man, yet joins affinity with Ahab, 
2 Chron. xviii. 1-3, 30, 31 ; and though he was saved by a miracle, yet 
soon after he falls into the same sin, and 'joins himself with Ahaziah 
king of [srael, who did very wickedly,' 2 Chron. xx. 35-37. Samson is 
by the Spirit of the Lord numbered among the faithful worthies, yet 
he fell often into one gross sin, as is evident, Heb. xi. 32. Peter, you 
know, relapsed often, and so did Jonah ; and this comes to pass that 
they may see their own inability to stand, to resist or overcome any 
temptation or corruptions, Jude 14, 15, 1G. 1 And that they may be 
taken off from all false confidences, and rest wholly upon God, and only 
upon God, and always upon God ; and for the praise and honour of 
the power, wisdom, skill, mercy, and goodness of the physician of our 
souls, that can heal, help, and cure when the disease is most dangerous, 
when the soul is relapsed, and grows worse and worse, and when others 
say, ' There is no help for him in his God,' and when his own heart 
and hopes are dying. 2 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That there are relapses into enormities, ami there a/re relapses 
into infirmities. Now it is not usual with God to leave his people 
frequently to relapse into enormities ; for by his Spirit and grace, by 
his smiles and frowns, by his word and rod, he doth usually preserve 
his people from a frequent relapsing into enormities ; yet he doth leave 
his choicest ones frequently to relapse into infirmities (and of his grace 
he pardons them in course), as idle words, passion, vain thoughts, &c. 3 
Though gracious souls strive against these, and complain of these, and 
weep over these, yet the Lord, to keep them humble, leaves them fre- 
quently to relapse into these ; and these frequent relapses into infirmi- 
ties shall never be their bane, because they be their burden. 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That there are vrwolwntary relapses, and there are volun- 
tary relapses. Involuntary relapses are, when the resolution and full 
bent of the heart is against sin, when the soul strives with all its might 
against sin, by sighs and groans, by prayers and tears, and yet out of 
weakness is forced to fall back into sin, because there is not spiritual 
strength enough to overcome. Now, though involuntary relapses must 
humble us, yet they must never discourage nor defect us ; for God will 
freely and readily pardon those, in course. Voluntary relapses are, 
when the soul longs and loves to ' return to the flesh-pots of Egypt,' 
Exod. xvi. 3 ; when it is a pleasure and a pastime to a man to return 

1 Perhaps the prodigal sets out unto us a Christian relapse, for he was a son before, 
and with his father, mil then went away from him, and spent all; and yet he was not 
quite undone, but returned again. 

- 'I'll.' prodigal saw (he compassion of his father the greater, in receiving him after he 
had run away from him. 

3 Relapses into enormities are peccata mtinerantia et divastantia, wounding and wast- 
ing sins ; therefore the Lord is graciously pleased to put under his everlasting arms, and 
stay his chosen ones from frequent falling into them. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 113 

to his old courses, such voluntary relapses speak out the man blinded, 
hardened, and ripened for ruin, &C. 1 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That there is no such povjer, or infinite virtue, in the greatest 
horror or sorrow the soul can be under for sin, nor in the sweetest or 
choicest discoveries of God's grace and love to the soul, as for ever to 
fence and secure the soul from relapsing into the same sin. Grace is 
but a created habit, that may be prevailed against by the secret, subtle, 
and strong workings of sin in our hearts ; and those discoveries that 
God makes of his love, beauty, and glory to the soul, do not always 
abide in their freshness and power upon the heart ; but by degrees they 
fade and wear off, and then the soul may return again to folly, as we 
see in Peter, who, after he had a glorious testimony from Christ's own 
mouth of his blessedness and happiness, labours to prevent Christ from 
going up to Jerusalem to suffer, out of bare slavish fears that he and 
his fellows could not be secure, if his Master should be brought to suf- 
fer, Mat. xvi. 15-19, and ver. 22-24. And again, after this r Christ had 
him up into the mount, and there shewed him his beauty and his glory, 
to strengthen him against the hour of temptation that was coming upon 
him ; and yet, soon after he had the honour and happiness of seeing 
the glory of the Lord (which most of his disciples had not), he basely and 
most shamefully denies the Lord of glory, thinking by that means to 
provide for his own safety ; 2 and yet again, after Christ had broke his 
heart with a look of love for his most unlovely dealings, and bade them 
that were first acquainted with his resurrection to ' go and tell Peter 
that he was risen/ Mark xvi. 7 ; I say, after all this, slavish fears pre- 
vail upon him, and he basely dissembles, and plays the Jew with the 
Jews, and the Gentile with the Gentiles, to the seducing of Barnabas, 
&c, Gal. ii. 11-13. 

Yet, by way of caution, know, it is very rare that God doth leave his 
beloved ones frequently to relapse into one and the same gross sin ; for 
the law of nature is in arms against gross sins, as well as the law of 
grace, so that a gracious soul cannot, dares not, will not, frequently 
return to gross folly. And God hath made even his dearest ones dearly 
smart for their relapses, as may be seen by his dealings with Samson, 
Jehoshaphat, and Peter. Ah, Lord ! what a hard heart hath that man, 
that can see thee stripping and whipping thy dearest ones for their 
relapses, and yet make nothing of returning to folly, &c. 

The eighth device that Satan hath to keep souls in a sad, doubting, 
and questionable condition, is, 

Device (8). By persuading them that their estate is not good, their 
hearts are not upright, their graces are not sound, because they are so 
followed, vexed, and tormented with temptations. It is his method, 
first to weary and vex thy soul with temptations, and then to tempt 
the soul, that surely it is not beloved, because it is so much tempted. 
And by this stratagem he keeps many precious souls in a sad, doubting, 

1 There is a great difference between a sheep that by weakness falls into the mire, and 
a swine that delights to wallow in the mire ; between a woman that is forced, though 
she strives and cries out, and an alluring adulteress. 

2 Christ upbraided his disciples for their unbelief and hardness of heart, who had seen 
his glory, ' as the glory of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth.' 

VOL. I. H 



114- PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

and mourning temper many years, as many of the precious sons of Sion 
have found by woful experience, &C. 1 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly 
to consider, That those tltat have been best and most beloved, have been 
most tempted by Satan. Though Satan can never rob a Christian of 
his crown, yet such is his malice, that he will therefore tempt, that 
he may spoil them of their comforts. Such is his enmity to the Father, 
that the nearer and dearer any child is to him, the more will Satan 
trouble him, and vex him with temptations. Christ himself was most 
near and most dear, most innocent and most excellent, and yet none so 
much tempted as Christ. David was dearly beloved, and yet by Satan 
tempted to number the people. 2 Job was highly praised by God him- 
self, and yet much tempted ; witness those sad things that fell from his 
mouth, when he was wet to the skin. Peter was much prized by Christ ; 
witness that choice testimony that Christ gave of his faith and happi- 
ness, and his shewing him his glory in the mount, and that eye of pity 
that he cast upon him after his fearful fall, &c, and yet tempted by 
Satan. ' And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired 
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for 
thee, that thy faith fail thee not,' &c, Luke xxii. 31, 32. 

Paul had the honour of being exalted as high as heaven, and of seeing 
that glory that could not be expressed ; and yet he was no sooner stepped 
out of heaven, but he is buffeted by Satan, ' lest he should be exalted 
above measure,' 2 Cor. xii. 2, 7. If these, that were so really, so glo- 
riously, so eminently beloved of God, if these, that have lived in heaven, 
and set their feet upon the stars, have been tempted, let no saints judge 
themselves not to be beloved, because they are tempted. It is as natu- 
ral for saints to be tempted, that are dearly beloved, as it is for the sun 
to shine, or a bird to sing. The eagle complains not of her wings, nor 
the peacock of his train, nor the nightingale of her voice, because these 
are natural to them ; no more should saints of their temptations, because 
they are natural to them. ' For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the dark- 
ness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,' Eph. 
vi. 12. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That all the temjrfations that befall the saints shall be sanc- 
tified to them by a hand of love. Ah ! the choice experiences that the 
saints get of the power of God supporting them, of the wisdom of God 
directing them (so to handle their spiritual weapons, their graces, as 
not only to resist, but to overcome), of the mercy and goodness of the 
Lord pardoning and succouring of them. And therefore, saith Paul, 
' I received the messenger of Satan for to buffet me, lest I should be 
exalted, lest I should be exalted above measure,' 2 Cor. xii. 7. 3 Twice 

1 He may so tempt as to make a saint weary of his life : Job x. 1, ' My soul is weary 
of my life.' 

2 Pirates do not ubg to set upon poor empty vessels — [See ' Ep. Dedicatory.' — G.] ; 
and beggars need not fear the thief. Those that have most of God, and are most rich 
in prace, shall be most set upon by Satan, who is the greatest and wisest pirate in the 
v>< rid. 

3 Vide Bezaro, Grotium, et Estium [on the passage. — G."]. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 115 

in that verse ; he begins with it, and ends with it. If he had not been 
buffeted, who knows how his heart would have swelled ; he might 
have been carried higher in conceit, than before he was in his ecstasy. 
Temptation is God's school, wherein he gives his people the clearest and 
sweetest discoveries of his love ;' a school wherein God teaches his 
people to be more frequent and fervent in duty. When Paul was buf- 
feted, then he prayed thrice, i. e. frequently and fervently ; a school 
wherein God teaches his people to be more tender, meek, and compas- 
sionate to other poor, tempted souls than ever ; a school wherein God 
teaches his people to see a greater evil in sin than ever, and a greater 
emptiness in the creature than ever, and a greater need of Christ and 
free grace than ever ; a school wherein God will teach his people that 
all temptations are but his goldsmiths, by which he will try and refine, 
and make his people more bright and glorious. The issue of all temp- 
tations shall be to the good of the saints, as you may see by the temp- 
tations that Adam and Eve, and Christ and David, and Job and Peter 
and Paul met with. Those hands of power and love, that bring light 
out of darkness, good out of evil, sweet out of bitter, life out of death, 
heaven out of hell, will bring much sweet and good to his .people, out of 
all the temptations that come upon them. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, wisely 
to consider, That no temptations do hurt or harm the saints, so long 
as they are resisted by them, and prove the greatest afflictions that can 
befall them. It is not Satan's tempting, but your assenting ; not his 
enticing, but your yielding, that makes temptations hurtful to your 
soul. If the soul when it is tempted resists temptation, and saith with 
Christ, ' Get thee behind me, Satan,' Mat. xvi. 23 ; and with that young 
convert, ' I am not the man I was/ — ego non sum ego — or as Luther 
counsels all men to answer all temptations with these words — Chris- 
tianus sum — I am a Christian. If a man's temptation be his greatest 
affliction, then is the temptation no sin upon his soul, though it be a 
trouble upon his mind. When a soul can look the Lord in the face, 
and say, Ah, Lord ! I have many outward troubles upon me, I have 
lost such and such a near mercy, and such and such desirable mercies ; 
and yet thou that knowest the heart, thou knowest that all my crosses 
and losses do not make so many wounds in my soul, nor fetch so many 
sighs from my heart, tears from my eyes, as those temptations do that 
Satan follows my soul with ! When it is thus with the soul, then 
temptations are only the soul's trouble, they are not the soul's sin. 

Satan is a malicious and envious enemy. As his names are, so is he ; 
his names are all names of enmity ; the accuser, the tempter, the de- 
stroyer, the devourer, the envious man ; and this malice and envy of his 
he shews sometimes by tempting men to such sins as are quite contrary 
to the temperature of their bodies, as he did Vespasian and Julian, men 
of sweet and excellent natures, to be most bloody murderers. 2 And 
sometimes he shews his malice by tempting men to such things as will 

1 Luther said, there were three things that made a preacher, meditation, prayer, and 
temptation. 

2 Sometimes he shews his malice hy letting those things ahide by the soul, as may 
most vex and plague the soul, as Gregory observes in his leaving of Job's wife, which was 
not out of his forgetfulness, carelessness, or any love or pity to Job, but to vex and tor- 
ment him, and to work him to blaspheme God, despair, and die, &c. 



116 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

bring them no honour nor profit, &c. ' Fall down and worship me,' 
Mat. iv. 9, to blasphemy, and atheism, &c., the thoughts and first motions 
whereof cause the heart and flesh to tremble. And sometimes he shews 
his malice by tempting them to those sins which they have not found 
their natures prone to, and which they abhor in others. Now, if the 
soul resists these, and complains of these, and groans and mourns under 
these, and looks up to the Lord Jesus to be delivered from these, then 
shall they not be put down to the soul's account, but to Satan's, who 
shall be so much the more tormented, by how much the more the saints 
have been by him maliciously tempted, &c. 

Make present and peremptory resistance against Satan's temptations, 
bid defiance to the temptation at first sight. It is safe to resist, it is 
dangerous to dispute. Eve lost herself and her posterity by falling 
into lists 1 of dispute, when she should have resisted, and stood upon 
terms of defiance with Satan. He that would stand in the hour of 
temptation must plead with Christ, 'It is written.' He that would 
triumph over temptations must plead still, 'It is written. 2 Satan 
is bold and impudent, and if you are not peremptory in your 
resistance, he will give you fresh onsets. It is your greatest honour, 
and your highest wisdom, peremptorily to withstand the beginnings of 
a temptation, for an after- remedy comes often too late. 

Mrs Catherine Bretterege once, after a great conflict with Satan, said, 
' Reason not with me, I am but a weak woman ; if thou hast anything 
to say, say it to my Christ ; he is my advocate, my strength, and my 
redeemer, and he shall plead for me.' 3 

Men must not seek to resist Satan's craft with craft, sed per aperturn 
Martemn, but by open defiance. He shoots with Satan in his own bow, 
who thinks by disputing and reasoning to put him off. As soon as a 
temptation shews its face, say to the temptation, as Ephraim to his idols, 
' Get you hence, what have I any more to do with you ?' Hosea xiv. 8. 
Oh ! say to the temptation, as David said to the sons of Zeruiah, ' What 
have I to do with you V 2 Sam. xvi. 10. You will be too hard for me. 
He that doth thus resist temptations, shall never be undone by tempta- 
tions, &c. 4 

Make strong and constant resistance against Satan's temptations. 
Make resistance against temptations by arguments drawn from the 
honour of God, the love of God, your union and communion with God; 
and from the blood of Christ, the death of Christ, the kindness of Christ, 
the intercession of Christ, and the glory of Christ ; and from the voice 
of the Spirit, the counsel of the Spirit, the comforts of the Spirit, the 
presence of the Spirit, the seal of the Spirit, the whisperings of the 
Spirit, the commands of the Spirit, the assistance of the Spirit, the wit- 
ness of the Spirit; and from the glory of heaven, the excellency of grace, 

1 ' Artifices.' Cf. Ilalliwcll, sub voce. — G. 

* Winn Constantino the emperor was told that there was no means to euro his lep- 
rosy but by bathing his body in the blood of infants, lie presently answered, Malo semper 
wgrolarc quam tali remedio convalescere, I had rather not be cured than use such a remedy. 

* See ' Two Funeral Sermons for Mrs Catherine Bretterege;' the one by W. Harrison, 
the other by W. Legh. lf>05.'— G. 

4 1 have road of one, who, being tempted with offers of money to desert Christ, gave 
this excellent answer : Let nut any man think that he will embrace other men's goods 
to forsake Christ, who hath forsaken his own proper goods to follow Christ. 






2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 117 

the beauty of holiness, the worth of the soul, and the vileness or bitter- 
ness and evil of sin — the least sin being a greater evil than the greatest 
temptation in the world. 

And look that you make constant resistance, as well as strong resist- 
ance ; be constant in arms. Satan will come on with new temptations 
when old ones are too weak. 1 In a calm prepare for a storm. The 
tempter is restless, impudent, and subtle ; he will suit his temptations 
to your constitutions and inclinations. Satan loves to sail with the 
wind. If your knowledge be weak, he will tempt you to error ; if your 
conscience be tender, he will tempt you to scrupulosity and too much 
preciseness, as to do nothing but hear, pray, read, &c. ; if your con- 
sciences be wide and large, he will tempt you to carnal security ; if 
you are bold-spirited, he will tempt you to presumption ; if timorous, 
to desperation ; if flexible, to inconstancy ; if proud and stiff, to gross 
folly ; therefore still fit for fresh assaults, make one victory a step to 
another. When you have overcome a temptation, take heed of unbend- 
ing your bow, and look well to it, that your bow be always bent, and 
that it remains in strength. When you have overcome one temptation, 
you must be ready to enter the list 2 with another. As distrust in some 
sense is the mother of safety, so security is the gate of danger. A man 
had need to fear this most of all, that he fears not at all. If Satan be 
always roaring, we should be always a-watching and resisting of him. 
And certainly he that makes strong and constant resistance of Satan's 
temptations, shall in the end get above his temptations, and for the 
present is secure enough from being ruined by his temptations, &c. 

For a close of this, remember, that it is dangerous to yield to the least 
sin to be rid of the greatest temptation. To take this course were as if 
a man should think to wash himself clean in ink, or as if a man should 
exchange a light cross, made of paper, for an iron cross, which is heavy, 
toilsome, and bloody. The least sin set home upon the conscience, will 
more wound, vex, and oppress the soul, than all the temptations in the 
world can ; therefore never yield to the least sin to be rid of the great- 
est temptation. 3 Sidonius Apollinarius relateth how a certain man 
named Maximus, arriving at the top of honour by indirect means, was 
the first day very much wearied, and fetching a deep sigh, said, ' Oh, 
Damocles ! how happy do I esteem of thee, for having been a king but 
the space of a dinner ! I have been one whole day, and can bear it no 
longer/ * I will leave you to make the application. 

IV. The fourth thing to be shewed is, 

The several ways and devices that tSatan hath to destroy and en- 
snare all sorts and ranks of men in the world. 

I shall begin with the honourable and the great, and shew you the 
devices that Satan hath to destroy them. I will only instance in those 
that are most considerable. 

Device (1). His first device to destroy the great and honourable of 

1 Luke iv. 13, ' And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from 
him for a season.' Christ had no rest until he was exactly tried with all kinds of temp- 
tations. [Calvin in loc.—G ] 2 ' Course.' — G. 

3 He that will yield to sin to be rid of temptation, will be so much the more tempted, 
and the less able to withstand temptations. 

4 Opera: Sidonius C. S. Apollinaris, sub nomine (Paris, 1652, by Sirmond).— G. 



118 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

the earth is, By worhmg them to make it /heir business to seek them- 
selves, to seek hotr in r/reat&n themselves, to raise themselves, to enrich 
themselves, to secure themselves, &c., as you may see in Pharaoh, Ahab, 
Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Absalom, Joab, Hainan, &C. 1 But were the 
Scripture silent, our own experiences do abundantly evidence this way 
and method of Satan to destroy the great and the honourable ; to 
bury their Dames in the dust, and their souls in hell, by drawing them 
wholly to mind themselves, and only to mind themselves, and in all 
things to mind themselves, and always to mind themselves. 'All,' 
saith the apostle, ' mind themselves/ Philip, ii. 21. All comparatively, 
in respect of the paucity of others, that let fall their private interests, 
and drown all self-respects in the glory of God and the public good, &c. 

Now the remedies against this device are these, 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly 
to consider, That self -.seel in <j is a sin thai will put men wpon a xvorbl 
of sins, upon sins not only against the law of God, the rules of the 
gospel, but that are against the very laivs of nature, that are so much 
darkened by the fall of man. 2 It puts the Pharisees upon opposing 
Christ, and Judas upon betraying Christ, and Pilate upon condemning 
Christ. It puts Gehazi upon lying, and Balaam upon cursing, and 
Saul and Absalom upon plotting David's ruin. It put Pharaoh and 
Hainan upon contriving ways to destroy those Jews that God did pur- 
pose to save by his mighty arm. It puts men upon using wicked 
balances, and the bag of deceitful weights. It puts men upon ways of 
oppression, and ' selling the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair 
of shoes,' &c, Amos ii. 6. I know not any sin in the world but this sin 
of self-seekmg will put men upon it, though it be their eternal loss. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That self-seeking doth exceedingly abase a man. 
It strips him of all his royalty and glory. Of a lord it makes a man 
become a servant to the creature, ay, often to the worst of creatures ; 
yea, a slave to slaves, as you may see in Judas, Demas, Balaam, and 
the Scribes and Pharisees. 3 Self-seekers bow down to the creatures, as 
Gideon's many thousands bowed down to the waters. Self-seeking 
will make a man say anything, do anything, and be anything, to please 
the lusts of others, and to get advantages upon others. Self-seeking 
transforms a man into all shapes aud forms ; now it makes a man ap- 
pear as an angel of light, anon as an angel of darkness. 4 Mow self- 
seekers are seemingly for God, anon they are openly against God ; now 
you shall have them crying, ' Hosanna in the highest,' and anon, 
' Crucify him, crucify him ;' now you shall have them build with the 
saints, and anon you shall have them plotting the overthrow of the 
saints, as those self-seekers did in Ezra and Nehemiah's time. Self- 
seekers are the basest of all persons. There is no service so base, so 

1 Self-seeking, like the deluge, overthrows the whole world. 

2 Self-love is the root of the hatred of others, 2 Tim. iii. 2. First, lovers of themselves, 
niul then fierce, &c. The naturalists observe, that those beasts which are most cruel to 
others are most loving to their own. 

3 A self-seeker is a Cato without, hut a Nero within. Domitian would seem to love 
them beet whom he willed least should live, and that is the very temper of self-seekers. 

4 It was death in Moses' rites to counterfeit that ceremonial and figurative ointment, 
Ex. xxx. What shall it then be to counterfeit the spirit of life and holiness ! 



2 Cor. II. 11. J against satan's devices. 119 

poor, so low, but they will bow to it. They cannot look neither above, 
nor beyond their own lusts, and the enjoyment of the creature, Rom. 
i. 25. These are the prime and ultimate objects of their intendments. 

It is said of Tiberius, ' that whilst Augustus ruled, he was no way 
tainted in his reputation, and that while Drusus and Germanicus were 
alive, he feigned those virtues which he had not, to maintain a good 
opinion of himself in the hearts of the people ; but after he had got 
himself out of the reach of contradiction and controlment, there was no 
fact in which he was not faulty, no crime to which he was not acces- 
sory.' My prayer shall be, that Tiberius his spirit may not be found 
in any of our rulers, lest it prove their ruin, as it did his ; and that 
wherever it is, it may be detected, loathed, and ejected, that so neither 
the state nor souls may be ruined by it, &c. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly To dwell upon those dreadful curses and woes that are from 
heaven denounced against self -seeker,' . ' Woe unto them that join 
house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they 
may be placed alone in the midst of the earth,' Isa. v. 8. So Ha- 
bakkuk, ii. 6, 9-12, s Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his, 
and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay !' ' Woe to him that 
coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on 
high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil ! Thou hast 
consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast 
sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and 
the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that buildeth 
a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity !' The materials 
of the house built up by oppression shall come as joint witnesses. The 
stones of the wall shall cry, ' Lord, we were built up by blood and 
violence ; and the beam shall answer, True, Lord, even so it is.' The 
stones shall cry, Vengeance, Lord ! upon these self-seekers ! and the 
beam shall answer, Woe to him, because he built his house with blood ! ' 
So Isaiah, ' Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that 
write grievousness which they have prescribed ; to turn aside the 
needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my 
people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the 
fatherless,' Isa. x. 1, 2. So Amos, 'Woe unto them that are at ease in 
Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of 
the nations, to whom the house of Israel came ; that put far away the 
evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near ; that lie upon 
beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the 
lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the middle of the stall ; 
that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oint- 
ments : but they are not grieved for the afflictions of Joseph,' Amos vi. 
1, 3-6. So Micah, ' Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil 
upon their beds ! when the morning is light, they practise it, because 

1 Crassus, a very rich Roman, and a great self-seeker, for greedy desire of gold, he 
managed war against the Parthians, by whom both he and thirty thousand Romans were 
slain. And bpcause the barbarians conjectured that he made this assault upon them for 
their gold, therefore they melted gold, and poured it into his dead body, saying, Satura 
te auro, Satisfy thyself with gold. [The above was done by Orodes, who said, ' Sate thy- 
self now with that metal of which in life thou wert so greedy. ' — Dion. Cass. xl. 27 ; 
Florus, iii. 11.— G.] 



120 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and take them 
by violence, and houses, and take them away. So they oppress a man 
and his house, even a man and his heritage,' Micah ii. 1, 2. 

By these scriptures, you see that self-seekers labour like a woman 
in travail, but their birth proves their death, their pleasure their pain, 
their comforts their torment, their glory their shame, their exaltation 
their desolation. Loss, disgrace, trouble and shame, vexation and con- 
fusion, will be the certain portion of self-seekers. 

When the Tartarians had taken in battle the Duke of Muscovia, they 
made a cup of his skull, with this inscription, 'All covet, all lose.' 1 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That self-seekers are self -losers and self -destroyers. 
Absalom and Judas seek themselves, and hang themselves. Saul seeks 
himself, and kills himself. Ahab seeks himself, and loses himself, his 
crown and kingdom. Pharaoh seeks himself, and overthrows him- 
self and his mighty army in the Red Sea. Cain sought himself, and 
slew two at once, his brother and his own soul. Gehazi sought change 
of raiment, but God changed his raiment into a leprous skin. Haman 
sought himself, and lost himself. The princes and presidents sought 
themselves, in the ruin of Daniel, but ruined themselves, their wives 
and children. That which self-seekers think should be a staff to sup- 
port them, becomes by the hand of justice an iron rod to break them ; 
tiiat which they would have as springs to refresh them, becomes a gulf 
utterly to consume them. The crosses of self seekers shall always 
exceed their mercies : their pain their pleasure ; their torments their 
comforts. Every self-seeker is a self-tormentor, a self-destroyer ; he 
carries a hell, an executioner, in his own bosom, &c. 2 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell much upon the famous examples of those worthy saints that 
have denied themselves and preferred the public good before their own 
particular advantage.' 6 As Moses, ' And the Lord said unto Moses, 
Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from 
under heaven : and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater 
than they,' Deut. ix. 14. Oh ! but this offer would not take with Moses, 
he being a man of a brave public spirit. It is hot in his desires and 
prayers that the people might be spared and pardoned ; saith he, ' Par- 
don, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, unto the greatness of 
thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt until now. 
And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word,' ix. 26, et 
seq. Ah ! should God make such an offer to many that write themselves 
Moses, and are called by many, Moses, I am afraid they would prefer 
their own advantage above the public good ; they would not care what 
become of the people, so they and theirs might be made great and 

1 Tacitus the Roman emperor's word was, Sibi bonus, aliis malus, He that is too much 
for himself, fails to be good to others. 

* Adam seeks himself, and loses himself, paradise, and that blessed image that God 
had stamped upon him. Lot seeks himself, Gen. xiii. 10, 11, and loses himself and his 
goods. Peter seeks to save himself, and miserably loses himself. Hezekiah, in the busi- 
ness of the ambassadors, seeks himself, and lost himself and his life too, had not God 
saved him by a miracle. 

3 It is good to be of his opinion and mind, who was rather willing to beautify Italy 
than his own house. The ancients were wont to place the statues of their princes by 
their fountains, intimating they were (or at least should be) fountains of the public good. 



2 COR. II. 11.] AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 121 

glorious in the world ; they would not care so they might have a Babel 
built for them, though it was upon the ashes and ruin of the people. 
Baser spirits than these are not in hell ; no, not in hell ; and I am sure 
there are no such spirits in heaven. Such men's hearts and principles 
must be changed, or they will be undone for ever. Nehemiah was a 
choice soul, a man of a brave public spirit, a man that spent his time, 
his strength, and his estate, for the good and ease of his people. 
'Moreover,' saith he, 'from the time that I was appointed to be their 
governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the 
two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I 
and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. Yea, also 
I continued in the work of this wall: and all my servants were gathered 
hither unto the work. Moreover, there were at my table an hundred 
and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came unto us from 
among the heathen that are about us. Now, that which was prepared 
for me daily was one ox, and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared 
for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine : yet for all this 
required I not the bread of the governor, because the bondage was 
heavy upon the people. Think upon me, O my God, for good, accord- 
ing to all that I have done for this people,' Neh. v. 14-19. So Daniel 
was a man of a brave public spirit: 'Then the presidents and princes 
sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom ; but 
they could find no occasion nor fault ; forasmuch as he was faithful, 
neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these 
men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we 
find it against him concerning the law of his God,' Daniel vi. 4, 5. 1 

Christ had a public spirit, he laid out himself, and laid down himself 
for a public good. Oh ! never leave looking and meditating upon these 
precious and sweet examples till your souls are quickened and raised 
up, to act for the public good, more than for your own particular 
advantage. Many heathens have been excellent at this. 2 

Macrobius writes of Augustus Csesar, in whose time Christ was born, 
that he carried such an entire and fatherly affection to the common- 
wealth, that he called it filiam suam, his own daughter ; and therefore 
refused to be called Dominus, the lord or master of his country, and 
would only be called Pater patriae, father of his country, because he 
governed it not by fear, per timorem, sed per amorem, but by love ; 
the senate and the people of Borne jointly saluting him by the name of 
Pater patriot, father of his country. The people very much lamented 
his death, using that speech, ' Would he had never been born, or never 
died.' 3 

So Marcus Begulus, to save his country from ruin, exposed himself 
to the greatest sufferings that the malice and rage of his enemies could 
inrlict. 

So Titus and Aristides, and many others, have been famous for their 
preferring the public good above their own advantage. My prayer is, 

1 A certain great emperor coming into Egypt, to shew the zeal he had for the public 
good, saith to tho Egyptians, Draw from me as from your river Nilus. The Counsellor 
saith, a statesman should be thus tripartited : his will to God, his love to his master, his 
heart to his country, his secret to his friend, his time to business. 

2 Solomon's tribunal was underpropped with lions, to shew what spirit and metal a 
magistrate should be made of. 8 Utinam aut non nasceretur, aut [nori] morerctur. 



122 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

and shall be, that all our rulers may be so spirited by God, that they 
may be willing to be anything, to be nothing, to deny themselves, and 
to tram])!.' their sinful selves under feet, in order to the honour of God, 
and a public good ; that so neither saints nor heathens may be wit- 
nesses against them in that day, wherein the hearts and practices of all 
the rulers in the world shall be open and bare before him that judges 
the world in righteousness and judgment. 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously 
to consider, That self is a great let to divine things,- therefore the pro- 
phets 'fm/ apostles were usually ca/rried out of themselves, when they 
had the clearest, choicest, highest, and most glorious visions. Self- 
seeking blinds the soul that it cannot see a beauty in Christ, nor an 
excellency in holiness ; it distempers the palate that a man cannot taste 
sweetness in the word of God, nor in the ways of God, nor in the society 
of the people of God. It shuts the hand against all the soul-enriching 
offers of Christ ; it hardens the heart against all the knocks and en- 
treaties of Christ ; it makes the soul as an empty vine, and as a barren 
wilderness : ' Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit to himself,' 
Hosea x. 1. There is nothing that speaks a man to be more empty and 
void of God, Christ, and grace, than self-seeking. The Pharisees were 
great self-seekers, and great undervalues of Christ, his word and Spirit. 
There is not a greater hindrance to all the duties of piety than self- 
seeking. Oh ! this is that that keeps many a soul from looking after 
God and the precious things of eternity. They cannot wait on God, nor 
act for God, nor abide in those ways wherein they might meet with God, 
by reason of self. Self-seeking is that which puts many a man upon 
neglecting and slighting the things of his peace. Self-seekers will 
neither go into heaven themselves, nor suffer others to enter, that are 
ready to take the kingdom by violence, as you may see in the Scribes 
aud Pharisees. Oh ! but a gracious spirit is acted quite other ways, as 
you may see in that sweet scripture, Cant. vii. 13, 'At our gates are 
all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, 
O beloved.' All the church hath and is, is only for him. Let others 
bear fruit to themselves, and lay up for themselves, gracious spirits will 
hide for Christ and lay up for Christ. 1 All the divine endeavours and 
productions of saints fall into God's bosom, and empty themselves into 
his lap. As Christ lays up his merits for them, his graces for them, his 
comforts for them, his crown for them, so they lay up all their fruits, 
and all their loves, all their graces, and all their experiences, and all 
their services, only for him who is the soul of their comforts, and the 
crown and top of all their royalty and glory, &c. 

The second device that Satan hath to ensnare and destroy the great 
and honourable of the earth is, 

Device (2). By engaging them against the people of the Most High, 
again t those that are lew jewels, his pleasant 'portion, the delight of h is 
eye and the joy of his heart Thus he drew Pharaoh to engage against 
the children of Israel, and that was his overthrow, Exod. xiv. So he 

1 Self-seekers, with Esau, prefer a mess of pottage above their birthright, aud with the 
men of Shecheru, esteem the bramble above the vine, the olive, and the lig-treo, yea, empty 
things above a full Christ, and base things above a glorious Christ. The saints' motto is, 
]' ropier te, Dominc, propter te. The saints' motto is, iYo/j nobis, Domine. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 123 

engaged Hainan against the Jews, and so brought him to hang upon 
that gallows that he had made for Mordecai, Esther vii. So he engaged 
those princes and presidents against Daniel, which was the utter ruin 
of them and their relations, Dan. vi. So in Rev. xx. 7-9, ' And when 
the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. 
And he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters 
of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose 
number is as the sand of the sea. And they went up upon the breadth 
of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the 
beloved city ; and fire came down from heaven and consumed them.' 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly 
to consider, That none have engaged against the saints, but have been 
ruined by the God of saints. Divine justice hath been too hard for all 
that have opposed and engaged against the saints, as is evident in Saul, 
Pharaoh, Hainan, &c : ' He reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch 
not mine anointed, nor do my prophets no harm,' Ps. cv. 15. When 
men of Balaam spirits and principles have been engaged against the 
saints, how hath the angel of the Lord met them in the way, and justled 
their bones against the wall ! how hath he broke their backs and necks, 
and by his drawn sword cut them off in the prime of their days, and in 
the height of their sins I 1 Ah ! what a harvest hath hell had in our days, of 
those who have engaged against the Lamb, and those that are called 
chosen and faithful! Ah! how hath divine justice poured out their 
blood as water upon the ground ! how hath he laid their honour and 
glory in the dust, who, in the pride and madness of their hearts, said, 
as Pharaoh, ' We will pursue, we will overtake, we will divide the spoil, 
our lusts shall be satisfied upon them. We will draw our sword, our 
hand shall destroy them/ Exod. xv. 9. In the things wherein they have 
spoken and done proudly, justice hath been above them. History 
abounds in nothing more than in instances of this kind, &c. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell some time every morning upon the following scriptures, wherein 
God hath engaged himself to stand by his people and for his people, 
and to make them victorious over the greatest and wisest of their 
enemies. 2 Associate yourselves, saith the Lord by the prophet, ' O ye 
people, and ye shall be broken in pieces ; and give ear, all ye of far 
countries : gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take 
counsel together, and it shall come to nought ; speak the word, and it 
shall not stand : for God is with us.' ' Fear not, thou worm Jacob, 
and ye men of Israel : I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Re- 
deemer, the holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp 
threshing instrument having teeth : thou shalt thresh the mountains, 
and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt 
fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall 
scatter them, and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the 
holy One of Israel/ ' No weapon that is formed against thee shall 

1 As they said once of the Grecians in the epigram, whom they thought invulnerable, 
"We shoot at them, but they fall not down ; wo wound them, and not kill them, &c. 
Tanto plus glorice referemus, quoniam eo plures superabimus. The number of opposers 
makes the Christian's conquest the more illustrious, said Pedarelus in Erasmus. 

8 Ucciai poterunl, sed vinci non poterant, said Cyprian of the Christians in his time. 



1 24? PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou 
shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their 
righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.' ' Now also many nations are 
gathered together against thee that say, Let us be defiled, and let our 
eye look upon Sion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, 
neither understand they his counsel ; for he shall gather them as sheaves 
into the floor. Arise and thresh, daughter of Sion : I will make thy 
horn iron, and I will make thy hoof brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces 
many people, and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their 
substance unto the Lord of the whole earth/ 'Behold, I will make 
Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when 
they shall be in the siege, both against Judab and against Jerusalem. 
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all 
people : all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though 
all the people of the earth be gathered together against it/ 1 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, to con- 
sider, That you cannot engage against the saints, but you must engage 
against God liimself by reason of ' that near and blessed union that is 
between God and them. You cannot be fighters against the saints, but 
you will be found in the casting up of the account to be fighters against 
God himself. 2 And what greater madness than for weakness itself to 
engage against an almighty strength ! The near union that is between 
the Lord and believers, is set forth by that near union that is betwixt 
a husband and his wife. ' They two shall be one flesh. This is a great 
mystery : but I speak concerning Christ and the church ; we are mem- 
bers of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones,' saith the apostle, Eph. 
v. 32. This near union is set forth by that union that is between the 
head and the members, which make up one body, and by that union 
that is betwixt the graff and the stock, which are made one by insition. 3 
The union between the Lord and a believer is so near, that you cannot 
strike a believer, but the Lord is sensible of it, and takes it as done to 
himself. ' Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me V Acts ix. 4 ; and ' in 
all their afflictions he was afflicted,' &c, Isa. lxiii. 9. Ah. souls ! who 
ever engaged against God and prospered ? who ever took up the sword 
against him but perished by it ? God can speak you to bell and nod 
you to hell at pleasure. It is your greatest concernment to lay down 
your weapons at his feet, and to ' Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and 
you perish in the midway/ Ps. ii. 12. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That you are much engaged to the saints, as 
vtistruments for the mercies that you do enjoy, and for the preventing 
and removing of many a judgment that othenvise might have been 
your rain before tJris day. Were it not for the saints' sake, God would 
quickly make the heavens to be as brass and the earth as iron ; God 
would quickly strip thee of thy robes and glory, and set thee upon the 
dunghill with Job. They are the props that bear the world from falling 
about thy cars, and that keep the iron rod from breaking of thy bones. 
1 Isa. viii 9, 10 ; xli. 14, 15, and liv. 17 ; Micah iv. 11-13 ; Zecli. xii. 2, 3.— G. 
* Acts-v. 39. It seems to bo drawn from the fable of the giants, which were said to 
make war with the gods. 

3 The soul's happiness consists not in anything, but in its union with God; nor iti 
misery lies uot so much in anything, as in its disuuiou from God. 



2 Cor. II 11.] against satan's devices. 125 

' Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen 
stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should 
destroy them/ Ps. cvi. 23. 

Ah ! had not the saints many a time cast themselves into the breach 
betwixt God's wrath and you, you had been cut off from the land of the 
living, and had had your portion with those whose names are written 
in the dust. 1 Many a nation, many a city, and many a family, is sur- 
rounded with blessings for the Josephs' sakes that live therein, and are 
preserved from many calamities and miseries for the Moseses', the 
Daniels', the Noahs', and the Jobs' sakes, that dwell amongst them. 
That is a sweet word, Prov. x. 25, ' As the whirlwind passeth, so is the 
wicked no more : but the righteous is an everlasting foundation, or is 
the foundation of the world.' 2 The righteous is the foundation of the 
world, which but for their sakes would soon shatter and fall to ruin. So 
the psalmist : Ps. lxxv. 3, ' The earth and all the inhabitants thereof 
are dissolved : I bear up the pillars of it. Selah/ 

The emperor Marcus Antoninus being in Almany 3 with his army, was 
enclosed in a dry country by his enemies, who so stopped all the pas- 
sages that he and his ariny were like to perish for want of water. The 
emperor's lieutenant seeing him so distressed, told him that he had 
heard that the Christians could obtain any thing of their God by their 
prayers, whereupon the emperor, having a legion of Christians in his 
army, desired them to pray to their God for his and the army's delivery 
out of that danger, which they presently did, and presently a great 
thunder fell amongst the enemies, and abundance of water upon the 
Romans, whereby their thirst was quenched, and the enemies overthrown 
without any fight. 4 5 I shall close up this last remedy with those sweet 
words of the psalmist : ' In Judah is God known ; his name is great in 
Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion. 
There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and 
the battle. Selah,' Ps. lxxvi. 1-3. 

Secondly, Satan hath his devices to ensnare and destroy the learned 
and the wise, and that sometimes by working them to pride themselves 
in their parts and abilities ; and sometimes by drawing them to rest 
upon their parts and abilities; and sometimes by causing them to 
make light and slight of those that want their parts and abilities, 
though they excel them in grace and holiness; and sometimes by 
drawing them to engage their parts and abilities in those ways and 
things that make against the honour of Christ, the joy of the Spirit, 
the advancement of the gospel, and the liberty of the saints, <&c. 6 7 

Now the remedies against this device are these. 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously 
to consider, That you have nothing but what you have received, Christ 

1 Hie homo pot u it apud Deum quod volnit, said one concerning Luther. He could have 
what he would of God. Prayer is Porta cozli, clavis paradisi, the gate of heaven, a key to 
let us into paradise. When the danger is over, the saint is forgotten, is a French pro- 
verb, and that which many saints in England have found by experience. 

B Q^y TiD" 1 J s °dh Gnolam from Jasedh. 3 Germany. — G. 

4 The famous mythical ' Thundering Legion.'— G. 

8 Mary, Queen of Scots, that was mother to King James, was wont to say, That she 
feared Mr Knox's prayers more than an army of ten thousand men. 

6 John v. 44 ; 1 Kings xxii. 22-25 : 1 Cor. i. 18-29. 

7 The truth of this you may see in the learned Scribes and Pharisees. 



12G PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

being as well lie fountain of common gifts as of saving grace. * What 
hast thou/ saith the apostle, ' that thou hast not received ? And if 
thou hast received it, why dost thou glory as though thou hadst not 
received it ?' 1 Cor. iv. 7. 1 There are those that would hammer out 
their own happiness, like the spider climbing up by the thread of her 
own weaving. Of all the parts and abilities that be in you, you may 
well say as the young man did of his hatchet, ' Alas, master ! it was but 
borrowed,' 2 Kings vi. 5. Alas, Lord ! all I have is but borrowed from 
that fountain that fills all the vessels in heaven and on earth, and it 
overflows. My gifts are not so much mine as thine : ' Of thine own 
have we offered unto thee/ said that princely prophet, &c, 1 Chron. 
xxix. 14. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That men's leaning and trusting to their own 
wits, parts, and abilities, have been their utter overthrow and ruin ; 
as you may see in Ahithophel, and those presidents and princes that 
engaged against Daniel, and in the Scribes and Pharisees. God loves 
to confute men in their confidences. 2 He that stands upon his parts 
and abilities, doth but stand upon a quicksand that will certainly fail 
him. There is nothing in the world that provokes God more to with- 
draw from the soul than this ; and how can the soul stand, when his 
strength is departed from him ? Everything that a man leans upon but 
God, will be a dart that will certainly pierce his heart through and 
through. Ah ! how many in these days have lost their estates, their 
friends, their lives, their souls, by leaning upon their admired parts 
and abilities ! The saints are described by their leaning upon their 
beloved, the Lord Jesus, Cant. viii. 5. He that leans only upon the 
bosom of Christ, lives the highest, choicest, safest, and sweetest life. 
Miseries always lie at that man's door that leans upon anything below 
the precious bosom of Christ ; such a man is most in danger, and this 
is none of his least plagues, that he thinks himself secure. It is the 
greatest wisdom in the world to take the wise man's counsel : ' Trust 
in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understand- 
ing,' Prov. iii. 5. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That you do not transcend others more in parts a ml abilities, 
than tliey do you in grace and holiness. There may be, and often is, 
great parts and abilities, where there is but little grace, yea, no grace ; 
and there may be, and often is, a great deal of grace, where there is but 
weak parts and abilities. 3 You may be higher than others in gifts of 
knowledge, utterance, learning, &c. and those very souls may be higher 
than you in their communion with God, in their delighting in God, in 
their dependence upon God, in their affections to God, and in their 
humble, holy, and unblameable walking before God. 4 Is it folly and 
madness in a man, to make light and slight of another, because he is 

1 Qm'cqttid es dehes creanli ; quicquid poles debes redimenti, said Bernard. Whatso- 
ever thou art, thou owest to him that made thee ; and whatsoever thou hast, thou owest 
to him that redeemed thee. 

- (Miieral councils were seldom successful, because men came with confidence, leaning 
to their own understanding, and seeking for victory rather than verity, saith one. 

3 Judas and the Scribes and Pharisees had great parts, but no prace. The disciples 
had grace, but weak parts. * Luke xi. ] ; xxiv. 19-28. 









2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 127 

not so rich in lead or iron as he, when he is a thousand thousand times 
richer in silver and gold, in jewels and in pearls, than he ? And is it 
not madness and folly with a witness, in those that have greater parts 
and abilities than others, to slight them upon that account, when that 
those very persons that they make light and slight of have a thousand 
times more grace than they ? And yet, ah ! how doth this evil spirit 
prevail in the world ! 

It was the sad complaint of Austin in his time : ' The unlearned,' 
saith he, ' rise up and take heaven by violence, and we with all our 
learning are thrust down to hell.' 1 It is sad to see how many of the 
rabbis of these times do make an idol of their parts and abilities, and 
with what an eye of pride, scorn, and contempt do they look upon those 
that want their parts, and that do not worship the idol that they have 
set up in their own hearts. Paul, who was the great doctor of the 
Gentiles, did wonderfully transcend in all parts and abilities the doctors 
and rabbis of our times, and yet, ah ! how humbly, how tenderly, how 
sweetly, doth he carry himself towards the meanest and the weakest ! 
' To the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak : I am 
made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some,' 1 Cor. 
ix 22. ' Who is weak, and I am not weak ? Who is offended, and I 
burn not ? Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat 
no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend,' 
1 Cor. viii. 13. But, ah ! how little of this sweet spirit is to be found 
in the doctors of our age, who look sourly and speak bitterly against 
those that do not see as they see, nor cannot speak as they speak. Sirs ! 
the Spirit of the Lord, even in despised saints, will be too hard for you, 
and his appearance in them, in these latter days, will be so full of spi- 
ritual beauty and glory, as that they will darken that, that you are too 
apt to count and call your glory. The Spirit of the Lord will not suffer 
his choicest jewel grace to be always buried under the straw and stubble 
of parts and gifts, Isa. Ix. 1 3-1 7. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That there is no such way for men to have their gifts and 
parts blasted and withered, as to pride themselves in them, as to rest 
upon them, as to make light and slight of those that want them, as to 
engage them against those persons, tvays, and things, that Jesus Christ 
hath set his heart upon. Ah ! how hath God blasted and withered the 
parts and abilities of many among us, that have once been famous shin- 
ing lights ! 2 How is their sun darkened, and their glory clouded ! 
' How is the sword of the Lord upon their arm, and upon their ri»ht 
eye ! how is their arm clean dried up, and their right eye utterly 
darkened 1' as the prophet speaks, Zech. xi. 17. This is matter of 
humiliation and lamentation. Many precious discerning saints do see 
this, and in secret mourn for it ; and oh ! that they were kindly sensible 
of God's withdrawing from them, that they may repent, keep humble, 
and carry it sweetly towards God's jewels, and lean only upon the Lord, 

1 Surguntindocti et rapiunt coelum, et nos cum doctrina nostra detrudimur in gehennam. 
[More accurately as follows : ' Surgunt indocti et coelum rapiunt, et nos cum doctrinia 
nostris sine corde, ecce ubi volutamur in came et sanguine.' Confess. 1. viii. c. 8. — G.l 

a Becanus saith, that the tree of knowledge bears many leaves, and little fruit. Ah ! 
that it were not so with many in these days, who once did outshine the stais, &c. 



128 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

and not upon their parts and understanding, that so the Lord may de- 
light to visit them with his grace at such a rate as that their faces may 
shine more gloriously than ever, and that they may be more serviceable 
to the honour of Christ, and the faith of the saints, than formerly they 
have been, &c. 

Thirdly, Satan hath his devices to destroy the saints ; and one great 
device that he hath to destroy the saints is, 

By working them first to be strange, and tJien to divide, and then 
to be bitter and jealous, and then ' to bite and devour one another,' 
Gal. v. 15. Our own woful experience is too great a proof of this. 
The Israelites in Egypt did not more vex one another than Christians 
in these days have done, which occasioned a deadly consumption to fall 
upon some. 1 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell more upon one another s graces than upon one another s wealc- 
nesses and infirmities. It is sad to consider that saints should have 
many eyes to behold one another's infirmities, and not one eye to see 
each other's graces, that they should use spectacles to behold one 
another's weaknesses, rather than looking-glasses to behold one another's 
graces. 2 

Erasmus tells of one who collected all the lame and defective verses 
in Homer's works, but passed over all that was excellent. Ah ! that this 
were not the practice of many t'hat shall at last meet in heaven, that 
they were not careful and skilful to collect all the weaknesses of others, 
and to pass over all those things that are excellent in them. The Co- 
rinthians did eye more the incestuous person's sin than his sorrow, which 
was like to have drowned him in sorrow. 

Tell me, saints, is it not a more sweet, comfortable, and delightful 
thing to look more upon one another's graces than upon one another's 
infirmities 1 Tell me what pleasure, what delight, what comfort is there 
in looking upon the enemies, the wounds, the sores, the sickness, the 
diseases, the nakedness of our friends? Now sin, you know, is the soul's 
enemy, the soul's wound, the soul's sores, the soul's sickness, the soul's 
disease, the soul's nakedness ; and ah ! what a heart hath that man that 
loves thus to look ! Grace is the choicest flower in all a Christian's 
garden ; it is the richest jewel in all his crown ; it is his princely robes; 
it is the top of royalty ; and therefore must needs be the most pleasing, 
sweet, and delightful object for a gracious eye to be fixed upon. Sin is 
darkness, grace is light ; sin is hell, grace is heaven ; and what madness 
is it to luok more at darkness than at light, more at hell than at 
heaven ! 3 

Tell me, saints, doth not God look more upon his people's graces than 
upon their weaknesses ? Surely he doth. He looks more at David's 
and Asaph's uprightness than upon their infirmities, though they were 
great and many. He eyes more Job's patience than his passion. ' Re- 

1 If we knock, we break. Dissolution is the daughter of dissension. 

2 Flavius Vespasian, the emperor, was more ready to conceal the vices of his friends 
than their virtues. Can you think seriously of this. Christians, that a heathen should 
excel you, and not blush ? 

3 Aon gens, sed mens, non genus sed genius, Not race or place, but grace truly sets forth 
a man. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 129 

member the patience of Job,' not a word of his impatience, James v. 
11. He that drew Alexander whilst he had a scar upon his face, drew 
him with his finger upon the scar. God puts his fingers upon his 
people's scars, that no blemish may appear. Ah ! saints, that you would 
make it the top of your glory in this, to be like your heavenly Father. 
By so doing, much sin would be prevented, the designs of wicked men 
frustrated, Satan outwitted, many wounds healed, many sad hearts 
cheered, and God more abundantly honoured, &C. 1 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That love and union makes most for your own 
safety and security. We shall be insuperabiles if we be insepara- 
bles, invincible if we be inseparable. The world may frown upon 
you, and plot against you, but they cannot hurt you. Unity is the best 
bond of safety in every church and commonwealth. 2 

And this did that Scythian king in Plutarch represent lively to his 
eighty sons, who, being ready to die, he commanded a bundle of arrows 
fast bound together to be given to his sons to break ; they all tried to 
break them, but, being bound fast together, they could not ; then he 
caused the band to be cut, and then they broke them with ease. He 
applied it thus : ' My sons, so long as you keep together, you will be 
invincible ; but if the band of union be broke betwixt you, you will 
easily be broken in pieces/ 3 

Pliny writes of a stone in the island of Scyros, that if it be whole, 
though a large and heavy one, it swims above water, but being broken, 
it sinks. 4 So long as saints keep whole, nothing shall sink them ; but 
if they break, they are in danger of sinking and drowning, &c. 

Hemedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell upon those commands of God that do require you to love one 
another. Oh ! when your hearts begin to rise against each other, 
charge the commands of God upon your hearts, and say to your souls, 
O our souls ! hath not the eternal God commanded you to love them 
that love the Lord ? And is it not life to obey, and death to rebel ? 5 
Therefore look that you fulfil the commands of the Lord, for his com- 
mands are not like those that are easily reversed ; but they are like 
those of the Medes, that cannot be changed. Oh ! be much in pon- 
dering upon these commands of God. ' A new commandment I give 
unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye 
also love one another,' John xiii. 34. It is called a new commandment, 
because it is renewed in the gospel, and set home by Christ's example, 
and because it is rare, choice, special, and remarkable above all others. 

1 Sin is Satan's work, grace is God's work ; and is it not most meet that the child 
should eye most and mind most his father's work '? 

2 There was a temple of Concord amongst the heathens; and shall it not be found among 
Christians, that are temples of the Holy Ghost? 

3 Pancirollus [Guy] saith, that the most precious pearl among the Romans was called 
unio, union. 

4 Lib. xxxvi. c. 26, and elsewhere : no doubt a volcanic, porous product. — G. 

5 To act, or run cross to God's express command, though under pretence of revelation 
from God, is as much as a man's life is worth, as you may see in that sad story, 1 Kings 
xiii. 24. 

6 Some conceive it to be an Hebraism, in which language new, rare, and excellent, are- 
synonimals. 

VOL. I. I 



130 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

' This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved 
you.' 'These things I command you, that ye love one another.' 'Owe 
hip man any thing, but love one another: for he that lovcth another, 
hath fulfilled the law.' ' Let brotherly love continue.' ' Love one an- 
other, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and 
knoweth God.' ' See that ye love one another with a pure heart fer- 
vently.' ' Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of 
another. Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.' 'For this is the 
age that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one an- 
other.' ' And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the 
name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us com- 
mandment.' 'Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one an- 
other.' 1 Oh ! dwell much upon these precious commands, that your 
love may be inflamed one to another. 

In the primitive times, it was much taken notice of b} r the heathens, 
that in the depth of misery, when fathers and mothers forsook their 
children, Christians, otherwise strangers, stuck one to another, whose 
love of religion proved firmer than that of nature. Ah ! that there 
were more of that spirit among the saints in these days. The world 
■was once destroyed with water for the heat of lusts, and it is thought 
it will be again destroyed with fire for the coldness of love. 2 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell more upon these choice and svjeet tilings wherein you agree, 
than upon those things wherein you differ. Ah ! did you but thus, 
how would sinful heats be abated, and your love raised, and your spi- 
rits sweetened one to another. You agree in most, you differ but 
in a few ; you agree in the greatest and weightiest, as concerning God, 
Christ, the Spirit, the Scripture, &c. You differ only in those points that 
have been long disputable amongst men of greatest piety and parts. 
You agree to own the Scripture, to hold to Christ the head, and to walk 
according to the law of the new creature. 3 Shall Herod and Pilate 
agree ? Shall Turks and pagans agree ? Shall bears and lions, tigers 
and wolves, yea, shall a legion of devils, agree in one body ? And shall 
not saints agree, who differ only in such things as have least of the 
heart of God in them, and that shall never hinder your meeting in 
heaven ? &c. 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly 
to consider, That God delights to be styled Dons pacis, the God of peace; 
and Christ to be styled Princeps pacis, the Prince of peace, and King 
of Salem, that is, King of peace; and the Spi/rU is </ Spirit of peace. 
' The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace/ Gal. v 22. Oh ! why then 
should not the saints be children of peace ? Certainly, men of froward, 
unqui.t, fiery spirits, cannot have that sweet evidence of their interest 
in the God of peace, and in the Prince of peace, and in the Spirit of 

1 John xv. 12, 17 ; Rom. xiii. 8 ; Heb. xiii. 1 ; 1 John iv. 7 ; 1 Teter i. 22, and iii. 8 ; 
1 John iii 11, 23; iv. 11.— G. 

2 The ancients us,: to say commonly, that Alexander and Ephestion [i. e. Hephaestion] 
had but one soul in two distinct bodies, because their joy and Borrow, glory ami disgrace, 

was mutual in tin m both. [Cf. .Note on above frequently recurring saving, 'in Sibbes, Vol. 
II.. page l!il : where the reference is misprinted to page 35 for page 37.— G.]. 

■ What a Bad thing was it thai a heathen should say, No beasts are so mischievous to 
men as Christians are one to another. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 131 

peace, as those precious souls have that follow after the things that 
make for love and peace. The very name of peace is sweet and com- 
fortable ; the fruit and effect thereof pleasant and profitable, more to 
be desired than innumerable triumphs ; it is a blessing that ushers in 
a multitude of other blessings, 1 2 Cor. xiii. 11 ; Isa. ix. 6. 

The ancients were wont to paint peace in the form of a woman, with 
a horn of plenty in her hand. 2 Ah ! peace and love among the saints, 
is that which will secure them and their mercies at home; yea, it will 
multiply their mercies ; it will engage the God of mercy to crown them 
with the choicest mercies ; and it is that that will render them must 
terrible, invincible, and successful abroad. Love and peace among the 
saints is that which puts the counsels of their enemies to a stand, and 
renders all their enterprises abortive ; it is that which doth most 
weaken their hands, wound their hopes, and kill their hearts, &c. 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
make more care and conscience of keeping up your peace with God. 
Ah ! Christians, I am afraid that your remissness herein is that which 
hath occasioned much of that sourness, bitterness, and divisions that be 
among you. 3 Ah ! you have not, as you should, kept up your peace with 
God, and therefore it is that you do so dreadfully break the peace 
among yourselves. The Lord hath promised, ' That when a man's ways 
please him, he will make his enemies to be at peace with him/ Prov. 
xvi. 7. Ah ! how much more then would God make the children of 
peace to keep the peace among themselves, if their ways do but please 
him ! All creatures are at his beck and check. Laban followed Jacob 
with one troop. Esau met him with another, both with hostile inten- 
tions ; but Jacob's ways pleasing the Lord, God by his mighty power 
so works that Laban leaves him with a kiss, and Esau met him with a 
kiss ; he hath an oath of one, tears of the other, peace with both. If 
we make it our business to keep up our league with God, God will 
make it his work and his glory to maintain our peace with men ; but 
if men make light of keeping up their peace with God, it is just with 
God to leave them to a spirit of pride, envy, passion, contention, divi- 
sion, and confusion, to leave them ' to bite and devour one another, till 
they be consumed one of another,' 4 &c. 

Iiemedy (7). The seventh remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell much upon that near relation and union that is between you. 
This consideration had a sweet influence upon Abraham's heart : ' And 
Abraham said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me 
and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen ; for we are 
brethren,' Gen. xiii. 8. 5 That is a sweet word in the psalmist, ' Behold, 
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to live together in unity,' 

1 Vbipax ibi Christus, quia Christus pax, where peace is, there is Christ, because Christ 
is peace. Dulce nomen 2iacis, said the orator. 

" The Grecians had the statue of Peace, with Pluto, the god of riches, in her arms. 

3 There is no fear of knowing too much, but there is much fear in practising too little. 

4 Pharnaces sent a crown to Caesar at the same time he rebelled against him ; but ho 
returned the crown and this message back, Faceret imperata prius, let him return to his 
obedience first. There is no sound peace to be had with God or man, but in a way of 
obedience. [Pharnaces II. Appian, Mithr. 120 ; Dion. Cass. xiii. 45-48 ; Plutarch, Ccesar, 
50 ; Suet. Jul. 35.— G.] 

5 rO^Di 0n ! let ttere be no bitterness between us, for we are brethren. 



132 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 CoR. II. 11. 

Ps. cxxxiii. 1. It is not good and not pleasairit, or pleasant and not good, 
but good and pleasant. There be some things that be bona Bed non 
jucunda, good and not pleasant, as patience and discipline; and there 
be some things that are pleasant but not good, as carnal pleasures, 
voluptuousness, &C. And there are some things that are neither good 
aor pleasant, as malice, envy, worldly sorrow, &c. ; and there are some 
things that are both good and pleasant, as piety, charity, peace, and 
union among brethren ; and oh ! that we could see more of this among 
those that shall one day meet in their Fathers kingdom and never 
part. And as they are brethren, so they are all fellow-members : ' Now 
ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular,' 1 Cor. xii. -~i. 
And again : ' We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones,' 
Eph. v. 30. Shall the members of the natural body be serviceable and 
useful to one another, and shall the members of this spiritual body cut 
and destroy one another ? Is it against the law of nature for the natural 
members to cut and slash one another? 1 And is it not much more 
against the law of nature and of grace for the members of Christ's glo- 
rious body to do so ? And as you are all fellow-members, so you are 
fellow-soldiers under the same Captain of salvation, the Lord Jesus, 
fighting against the world, the flesh, and the devil. And as you are 
all fellow-soldiers, so you are all fellow-sufferers under the same enemies, 
the devil and the world. And as you are all fellow-sufferers, so are 
yen fellow-travellers towards the land of Canaan, 'the new Jerusalem 
that is above.' ' Here we have no abiding city, but we look for one to 
come/ The heirs of heaven are strangers on earth. And as you are 
all fellow-travellers, so are you all fellow-heirs of the same crown and 
inheritance. 2 

Remedy (8). The eighth remedy against this device of Satan is, To 
dwell upon the miseries of discord. Dissolution is the daughter of 
dissension. Ah ! how doth the name of Christ, and the way of Christ, 
suffer by the discord of saints ! How are many that are entering upon 
the ways of God hindered and sadded, and the mouths of the wicked 
opened, and their hearts hardened against God and his ways, by the 
discord of his people ! Remember this, the disagreement of Christians 
is the devil's triumph ; and what a sad thing is this, that Christians 
should give Satan cause to triumph ! 3 

It was a notable saying of one, ' Take away strife, and call back peace, 
lest thou lose a man, thy friend ; and the devil, an enemy, joy over you 
both,' &c. 

Remedy (9). The ninth remedy against this device of Satan is, seri- 
ously to consider, That it is no disparagement to you to be jvrst in 
seeking pea.ee and reconcilement, but rati lev an honour to you, that 
you have beyn n to seek peace, Abraham was the elder, and more worthy 
than Lot, both in respect of grace and nature also, for he was uncle 
unto Lot, and yet he first seeks peace of his inferior, which God hath 

1 The parti-coloured coats were characters of the king's children : so is following after 
peace now. 

- Rev. xii. 7, 8; Ileh. ii. 10; Rev. ii. 10; John xv. 19,20; Heb. xii. 14, xiii. 4; 
Bom. viii. 15-17. 

1 Our dissensions are one of the Jews' greatest stumbling-blocks. Can you think of it, 
aud your hearts uot bleed ? 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 133 

recorded as his honour. 1 Ah ! how doth the God of peace, by his Spirit 
and messengers, pursue after peace with poor creatures. God first 
makes offer of peace to us :> ' Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, 
as though God did beseech you by us : we pray you in Christ's stead, 
be ye reconciled to God,' 2 Cor. v. 20. God's grace first kneels to us, 
and who can turn their backs upon such blessed and bleeding embrace- 
ments, but souls in whom Satan the god of this world kings it? God 
is the party wronged, and yet he sues for peace with us at first : ' I 
said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my 
name/ Isa. lxv. I. 2 Ah ! how doth the sweetness, the freeness, and the 
riches of his grace break forth and shine upon poor souls. When a man 
goes from the sun, yet the sunbeams follow him ; so when we go from 
the Sun of righteousness, yet then the beams of his love and mercy 
follow us. Christ first sent to Peter that had denied him, and the rest 
that had forsaken him : ' Go your ways, and tell his disciples and Peter, 
that he goeth before you into Galilee : there shall ye see him, as he 
said unto you/ Mark xvi. 7. Ah ! souls, it is not a base, low thing, but 
a God-like thing, though we are wronged by others, yet to be the first 
in seeking after peace. Such actings will speak out much of God with 
a man's spirit, &c. 

Christians, it is not matter of liberty whether you will or you will 
not pursue after peace, but it is matter of duty that lies upon you ; 
you are bound by express precept to follow after peace ; and though it 
may seem to fly from you, yet you must pursue after it : ' Follow peace 
with all men, and holiness, without which no man can see the Lord,' 
Heb. xii. 14. 3 Peace and holiness are to be pursued after with the 
greatest eagerness that can be imagined. So the psalmist : ' Depart 
from evil, and do good ; seek peace and pursue it,' Ps. xxxiv. 14. 
The Hebrew word that is here rendered seek, is in Piel, and it 
signifies to seek earnestly, vehemently, affectionately, studiously, 
industriously. ' And pursue it/ That Hebrew word signifies earnestly 
to pursue, being a metaphor taken from the eagerness of wild beasts or 
ravenous fowls, which will run or fly both fast and far rather than be 
disappointed of their prey. So the apostle presses the same duty upon 
the Romans : ' Let us follow after the things that make for peace, and 
things wherein one may edify another,' Eom. xiv. 19. Ah ! you froward, 
sour, dogged Christians, can you look upon these commands of God 
without tears and blushing ? 

Ihave read a remarkable story of Aristippus. though but a heathen, who 
went of his own accord to iEschines his enemy, and said, ' Shall we never 
be reconciled till we become a table-talk to all the country ?' and when 
iEschines answered he would most gladly be at peace with him, ' Remem- 
ber, then, said Aristippus, that though I were the elder and better man, yet 
I sought first unto thee.' Thou art indeed, said iEschines, a far better man 
than I, for I began the quarrel, but thou the reconcilement. 4 My prayer 

1 They shall both have the name and the note, the comfort and the credit, of being 
most like unto God, who first begin to pursue after peace- 

2 Behold me ! behold me ! It is geminated [doubled] to shew God's exceeding forward- 
ness to shew favour and mercy to them. 

3 a^kste, It signifies to follow after peace, as the persecutor doth him whom he per- 

4 Plutarch. [Cf. Diogenes Lao'rtius, ii. 65 ; also Horace, Ep. i. 1. 18, and i. 17, 23.— G.] 



134 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

shall be thai this licit hen may not rise in judgment against the flourish- 
in- professors of our times: ' Who whet their tongues like a sword, and 
bend their hows i<> shoot their arrows, even .bitter words/ Ps. lxiv. 3. 

/i' - dy LO). The tenth remedy against this device of Satan is, For 
savnts to joim together and walk together in the ways of grace, and 
holiness so far as they do agree, making the word their only touch- 
stone and judge of their actions. That is sweet advice that the apostle 
rives : ' I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of 
God in Christ Jesus,' Philip, iii. 14-16. ' Let us therefore, as many as be 
perfect, — comparatively or conceitedly 1 so, — be thus minded. And if 
in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto 
you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by 
the same rule, let us mind the same thing.' Ah ! Christians, God loses 
much, and you lose much, and Satan gains much by this, that you do 
not, that you will not, walk lovingly together so far as your ways lie 
together. It is your sin and shame that you do not, that you will not, 
pray together, and hear together, and confer together, and mourn 
together, &c, because that in some far lesser things you are not agreed 
together. What folly and madness is it in those whose way of a hundred 
miles lies fourscore and nineteen together, yet will not walk so far 
together, because that they cannot go the other mile together ; yet such 
is the folly and madness of many Christians in these days, who will not 
do many things they may do, because they cannot do everything they 
should do. 2 I fear God will whip them into a better temper before he 
hath done with them. He will break their bones, and pierce their hearts, 
but he will cure them of this malady, &c. 

And be sure you make the word the only touchstone and judge of all 
persons and actions : ' To the law and to the testimony, if they speak 
not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them/ Isa. 
viii. 20. It is best and safest to make that to be the judge of all men 
and things now that all shall be judged by in the latter day : ' The 
word, saith Christ, that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the 
last day/ John xii. 48. Make not your dim light, your notions, yonr 
fancies, your opinions, the judge of men's action, but still judge by rule, 
and plead, ' It is written.' 

When a vain importunate soul cried out in contest with a holy man, 
' Hear me, hear me/ the holy man answered, 'Neither hear me, nor I 
thee, but let us both hear the apostle.' 3 

Constantine, in all the disputes before him with the Arians, would 
still call for the word of God as the only way, if not to convert, yet to 
stop their mouths, &c. 

Remedy (1 1). The eleventh remedy against this device of Satan is, 
To he much in a If-judging : 'Judge yourselves, and you shall not be 
judged of the Lord/ 1 Cor. xi. 31. Ah! were Christians' hearts more 
taken up in judging themselves and condemning themselves, they would 
not be so apt to judge and censure others, and to carry it sourly and 

1 Those who have reason to conceive themselves ' perfect.'— G. 

- (in at is the power of joint prayer. Mary Queen of Scots, that was mother of king 
James, was wont to Bay that she feared Master Knox's prayer more than an army of 
ten thousand men. [Already used in this treatise: of. page 126.— G.] 

* Nee ejo (e, rue lu me, zed umbo audiamus Aj/oslvlum. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 135 

bitterly towards others that differ from them. 1 There are no souls in 
the world that are so fearful to judge others as those that do most judge 
themselves, nor so careful to make a righteous judgment of men or 
thing's as those that are most careful to judge. themselves. There are 
none in the world that tremble to think evil of others, to speak evil of 
others, or to do evil to others, as those that make it their business to 
judge themselves. There are none that make such sweet constructions 
and charitable interpretations of men and things, as those that are best 
and most in judging themselves. 2 One request I have to you that are 
much in judging others and little in judging yourselves, to you that 
are so apt and prone to judge rashly, falsely, and unrighteously, and 
that is, that you will every morning dwell a little upon these scriptures : 

' Judge not, that ye be not judged ; for with what judgment ye judge, 
ye shall be judged ; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be mea- 
sured to you again/ Mat. vii. 1, 2. ' Judge not according to appearance, 
but judge righteous judgment,' John vii. 24 ' Let not him that eateth 
not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. Why dost thou 
judge thy brother ? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother V Rom. 
xiv. 3, 10, 13. ' We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. 
Let us not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no 
man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.' 
' Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will 
bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will manifest the 
counsels of the heart, and then shall every man have praise of God,' 
1 Cor. iv. 5. ' Speak not evil one of another, brethren : he that speaketh 
evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, 
and judgeth the law ; but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer 
of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and 
to destroy/ James iv. 11, 12. ' Who art thou that judgest another 
man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth ; _ yea, he shall 
be holden up, for God is able to make him stand,' Rom. xiv. 4. 

One Delphidius accusing another before Julian about that which he 
could not prove, the party denying the fact, Delphidius answers, If it 
be sufficient to deny what is laid to one's charge, who shall be found 
guilty ? Julian answers, And if it be sufficient to be accused, who can 
be innocent '( You are wise, and know how to apply it. 

Remedy (12). The twelfth remedy against this device of Satan is 
this, above all, Labour to be clothed with humility. Humility makes 
a man peaceable among brethren, fruitful in well-doing, cheerful in 
suffering, and constant in holy walking, 1 Pet. v. 5. Humility fits lor 
the highest services we owe to Christ, and yet will not neglect the 
lowest service to the meanest saint, John xiii. 5. Humility can feed 
upon the -meanest dish, and yet it is maintained by the choicest deli- 
cates, as God, Christ, and glory. Humility will make a man bless him 
that curses him, and pray for those that persecute him. An humble 
heart is an habitation for God, a scholar for Christ, a companion of 
angels, a preserver of grace, and a fitter for glory. Humility is the 
nurse of our graces, the preserver of our mercies, and the great pro- 

1 It is storied of Nero, himself being unchaste, he did think there was no man chaste. 

2 In the Olympic games, the wrestlers did not put their crowns upon their own heads, 
but upon the heads of others. It is just so with souls that are good at self-judging. 



136 PBECZOXJS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

moter of holy duties. Humility cannot find three things on this side 
heaven: it cannot find fulness in the creature, nor sweetness in sin, 
nor life in an ordinance without Christ. An humble soul always finds 
three things on this side heaven : the soul to be empty, Christ to be 
full, and every mercy and duty to be sweet wherein God is enjoyed. 1 
Humility can weep over other men's weaknesses, and joy and rejoice 
over their graces. Humility will make a man quiet and contented in 
the meanest condition, and it will preserve a man from envying other 
nun's prosperous condition, 1 Thes. i. 2, 3. Humility honours those 
that are strong in grace, and puts two hands under those that arc weak 
in grace, Eph. iii. 8. Humility makes a man richer than other men, 
and it makes a man judge himself the poorest among men. Humility 
will see much good abroad, when it can see but little at home. Ah, 
Christian ! though faith be the champion of grace, and love the nurse 
of grace, yet humility is the beautifier of grace ; it casts a general glory 
upon all the graces in the soul. Ah ! did Christians more abound in 
humility, they would be less bitter, froward, and sour, and they would 
be more gentle, meek, and sweet in their spirits and practices. Humi- 
lity will make a man have high thoughts of others and low thoughts of 
a man's self; it will make a man see much glory and excellency in 
others, and much baseness and sinfulness in a man's self; it will make 
a man see others rich, and himself poor ; others strong, and himself 
weak ; -others wise, and himself foolish. 2 Humility will make a man 
excellent at covering others' infirmities, and at recording their gracious 
services, and at delighting in their graces; it makes a man joy in every 
light that outshines his own, and every wind that blows others good. 
Humility is better at believing than it is at questioning other men's 
happiness. I judge, saith an humble soul, it is well with these Chris- 
tians now, but it will be far better with them hereafter. They are now 
upon the borders of the New Jerusalem, and it will be but as a day 
before they slide into Jerusalem. An humble soul is willinger to say, 
Heaven is that man's, than mine ; and Christ is that Christian's, than 
mine ; and God is their God in covenant, than mine. Ah ! were Chris- 
tians more humble, there would be less fire and more love among them 
than now is, &c. 

Fourthly, As Satan hath his device to destroy gracious souls, so he 
hath his devices to destroy %>oor ignora/nt so tils, and that sometimes, 

By drawing them to affect ignorance, and to neglect, slight, and 
despise the means of knowledge. Ignorance is the mother of mistake, 
the cause of trouble, error, and of terror ; it is the highway to hell, and 
it makes a man both a prisoner and a slave to the devil at once. 3 Ig- 
Qorance unmans a man ; it makes a man a beast, yea, makes him more 
miserable than the beast that perisheth. 4 There are none so easily nor 
so frequently taken in Satan's snares as ignorant souls. They arc easily 
drawn to dance with the devil all day, and to dream of supping with 
Christ at night, &c. 

1 Humility is conservatrix virtutum, said Bernard, that which keeps all graces together. 

1 The humble soul is like the violet, which grows low, hangs the head downwards, 
and hides itself with its own leaves ; and were it not that tho fragrant smell of his many 
virtues discovered him to the world, he would choose to live and die in his self-content- 
ing seen rv. 8 Ilosea iv. (i, Mat. xxii. 29. 

4 Ignorants have this advantage, id mitius ardeant, they have a cooler hell. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 137 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously 
to consider, That an ignorant heart is an evil heart. * Without know- 
ledge the mind is not good/ Prov. xix. 2. As an ignorant heart is a 
naughty heart, it is a heart in the dark ; and no good can come into a 
dark heart, but it must pass through the understanding : ' And if the 
eye be dark, all the body is dark,' Mat. vi. 22. A leprous head and a 
leprous heart are inseparable companions. Ignorant hearts are so evil 
that they let fly on all hands, and spare not to spit their venom in the 
very face of God, as Pharaoh did when thick darkness was upon him. 1 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That ignorance is the deformity of the sold. As blindness is 
the deformity of the face, so is ignorance the deformity of the soul. As 
the want of fleshly eyes spoils the beauty of the face, so the want of 
spiritual eyes spoils the beauty of the soul. A man without knowledge 
is as a workman without his hands, as a painter without his eyes, as a 
traveller without his legs, or as a ship without sails, or a bird without 
wings, or like a body without a soul. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That ignorance makes men the objects of God's 
hatred and wroth. ' It is a people that do err in their hearts, and have 
not known my ways. Wherefore I sware in my wrath, they should 
never enter into my rest/ Heb. iii. 10, 11. ' My people are a people of 
no understanding, therefore he that made them will have no mercy on 
them,' Isa. xxvii. 11. Christ hath said, ' That he will come in flaming 
fire, to render vengeance on them that know not Go^/ 2 Thes. i. 8. 
Ignorance will end in vengeance. When you see a poor blind man 
here, you do not loathe him, nor hate him, but you pity him. Oh ! but 
soul-blindness makes you abominable in the sight of God. God hath 
sworn that ignorant persons shall never come into heaven. Heaven 
itself would be a hell to ignorant souls. 2 

' My people are destroyed for want of knowledge ; because thou hast 
rejected knowledge, I will reject thee,' Hosea, iv. 6 ; ["1NDXDX, cut off J. 

Chilo, one of the seven sages, being asked what God had done, 
answered, 'He exalted humble men, and suppressed proud ignorant 
fools. 3 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That ignorance is a sin that leads to all sins. All sins are 
seminal ly in ignorance. 'You do err, not knowing the Scriptures,' 
Mat. xxii. 29. It puts men upon hating and persecuting the saints. 
' They shall hate you, and put you out of the synagogues : yea, the 
time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God 
service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have 
not known the Father, nor me/ John xvi. 2, 3. Paul thanks his 
ignorance for all his cruelties to Christians. ' I was a blasphemer, and 
a persecutor, and injurious : but I obtained mercy, because I did it 

1 Ignorat sane improbus omnis, saith Aristotle. 

2 They must needs err that know not God's ways, yet cannot they wander so wide as 
to miss of hell. 

• 3 Rome saith, ignorance is the mother of devotion, hut the Scripture saith, it is the 
mother of destruction. 



138 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR II 11. 

ignorantly,' I Tim. i. 13. 1 It was ignorance that put the Jews upcn 
crucifying Chrisl : ' Father, forgive them,' saith Christ of his murderers, 

' for tiny know not what they do,' Luke xxiii. 34 : 'for if the princes 
of this world had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of 
glory,' 1 Cor. ii. <S. 2 Sin at first was the cause of ignorance, but now 
ignorance is the cause of all sin. ' Swearing, and lying, and killing, 
and stealing, and whoring abound,' saith the prophet, 'because there 
is no knowledge of God in the land.' There are none so frequent, and 
so impudent in the ways of sin, as ignorant souls ; they care not, nor 
mind not what they do, nor what they say against God, Christ, heaven, 
holiness, and their own souls. 'Our tongues are our own, who shall 
control us ? They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppres- 
sion : they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens ; 
and their tongue walketh through the earth. Have all the workers of 
iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and 
call not upon the Lord ?' 3 4 

1 It seems right to note that the apostle does not allege his ignorance, for which he was 
responsible, as the ground of the 'mercy' shewn him, but only as the source and explanation 
of his sin and violence The clause, ' but I obtained mercy,' is parenthetic, and it is of 
importance to note this. — G. 

2 Aristotle makes ignorance the mother of all the misrule in the world. 
8 Ps. xiv. 4; lxxiii. 8, 9. 

4 They did like CEdipus, who killed his father Laius, king of Thebes, and thought he 
killed his enemy. [Euripides, Phoen. '69. — G.] 



2 COK. II. 11. J AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 139 



AN APPENDIX 

TOUCHING FIVE MORE OF SATAN'S DEVICES, 

Whereby he keepeth poor souls from believing in Christ, from receiving 
of Christ, from embracing of Christ, from resting, leaning, or 
relying upon Christ, for everlasting happiness and blessedness, 
according to the gospel ; and remedies against these devices. 



His first device to keep the soul from believing in Christ is, 
Device (1). By suggesting to the soul the greatness and vileness of 
his sins. What! saith Satan, dost thou think that thou shalt ever 
obtain mercy by Christ, that hast sinned with so high a hand against 
Christ ? that hast slighted the tenders 1 of grace ? that hast grieved the 
Spirit of grace? that hast despised the word of grace? that hast trampled 
under feet the blood of the covenant, by which thou mightest have been 
pardoned, purged, justified, and saved ? that hast spoken and done all 
the evil that thou couldest ? No ! no ! saith Satan, he hath mercy for 
others, but not for thee; pardon for others, but not for thee; righteous- 
ness for others, but not for thee, &c, therefore it is in vain for thee to 
think of believing in Christ, or resting and leaning thy guilty soul upon 
Christ, Jer. iii. 5. 

Now the remedies against this device are these : — 
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That tlie greater your sins are, the more you stand in need 
of a Saviour. The greater your burden is, the more you stand in need 
of one to help to bear it. The deeper the wound is, the more need 
there is of the chirurgeon ; the more dangerous the disease is, the more 
need there is of the physician. Who but madmen will argue thus : My 
burden is great, therefore I will not call out for help ; my wound is 
deep, therefore I will not call out for balm ; my disease is dangerous, 
therefore I will not go to the physician. Ah ! it is spiritual madness, 
it is the devil's logic to argue thus : My sins are great, therefore I will 
not go to Christ, I dare not rest nor lean on Christ, &c. ; whereas the soul 
should reason thus: The greater my sins are, the more I stand in need of 
mercy, of pardon, and therefore I will go to Christ, who delights in mercy, 

1 ' Offers.'— G. 



14-0 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

who pardons sin for his own name's sake, who is as able and as willing 
to forgive pounds as pence, thousands as hundreds, Micah vii. 18, Isa. 
xliii. -"). 

R medy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, llmt thepromise o/'u race and mercy is to return- 
ing souls. And, therefore, though thou art never so wicked, yet if thou 
wilt return, God will be thine, and mercy shall be thine, and pardon 
shall he thine : 2 Chron. xxx. 9, 'For if you turn again unto the Lord, 
your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that 
Lad them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the 
Lord our God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face 
from you, if ye return unto him.' So Jer. iii. 12, 'Go and proclaim 
these words towards the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, 
saith the Lord, and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you : for I 
am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.' So 
Joel ii. 13, 'And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn 
unto the Lord your God : for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, 
and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.' So Isa. lv. 7, 
' Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy 
upon him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon/ or, as the 
Hebrew reads it, ' He will multiply pardon :' so Ezek. xviii. 

Ah ! sinner, it is not thy great transgressions that shall exclude thee 
from mercy, if thou wilt break off thy sins by repentance and return to 
the fountain of mercy. Christ's heart, Christ's arms, are wide open to 
embrace the returning prodigal. It is not simply the greatest 1 of thy 
sins, but thy peremptory persisting in sin, that will be thy eternal 
overthrow. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That the greatest sinners have obtai/ned mercy, 
and therefore all the angels im heaven, all the men on earth, and all 
tl i e devils in hell cannot tell to the contrary, but that thou mayest 
obtai/n mercy. Manasseh was a notorious sinner; he erected altars for 
Baal, he worshipped and served all the host of heaven ; he caused his 
sons to pass through the fire; he gave himself to witchcraft and sorcery; 
he made Judah to sin more wickedly than the heathen did, whom the 
Lord destroyed before the children of Israel ; he caused the streets of 
Jerusalem to run down with innocent blood, 2 Kings xxi. Ah ! what a 
devil incarnate was he in his actings ! Yet when he humbled himself, 
and sought the Lord, the Lord was entreated of him and heard his 
supplication, and brought him to Jerusalem, and made himself known 
unto him, and crowned him with mercy and loving-kindness, as you 
may sec in 2 Chron. xxxiii.'- So Paul was once a blasphemer, a perse- 
cutor and injurious, yet he obtained mercy, 1 Tim. i. 13. So Mary 
Magdalene was a notorious strumpet, a common whore, out of whom 
Christ cast seveu devils, yet she is pardoned by Christ, and dearly be- 
loved of Christ, Luke vii. 37, 38. So Mark xvi. J), 'Now, when Jesus 
was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary 
Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.' 3 

1 Qu. ' greatness ' ? — G. 

2 The Hebrew doctors writ thai lie slew Itsaiah the prophet, who was his father-in-law. 

3 See footnote on page 100. — G. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 1-il 

Jansenius on the place saith,it is very observable that our Saviour after 
his resurrection first appeared to Mary Magdalene and Peter, that had 
been grievous sinners ; that even the worst of sinners may be comforted 
and encouraged to come to Christ, to believe in Christ, to rest and stay 
their souls upon Christ, for mercy here and glory hereafter. That is a 
very precious word for the worst of sinners to hang upon, Ps. lxviii. 18. 
The psalmist speaking of Christ saith, ' Thou hast ascended on high, 
thou hast led captivity captive ; thou hast received gifts for men ; yea, 
for the rebellious also, that the Lord might dwell amongst them.' 

What though thou art a rebellious child, or a rebellious servant ! 
What though thou art a rebellious swearer, a rebellkms drunkard, a 
rebellious Sabbath breaker ! Yet Christ hath received gifts for thee, 
1 even for the rebellious also.' He hath received the gift of pardon, 
the gift of righteousness, yea, all the gifts of the Spirit for thee, that 
thy heart may be made a delightful house for God to dwell in. 

Bodin 1 hath a story concerning a great rebel that had made a strong 
party against a Roman emperor. The emperor makes proclamation, 
that whoever could bring the rebel dead or alive, he should have such 
a great sum of money. The rebel hearing of this, comes and presents 
himself before the emperor, and demands the sum of money. Now, 
saith the emperor, if I should put him to death, the world would say I 
did it to save my money. And so he pardons the rebel, and gives him 
the money. 

Ah, sinners ! Shall a heathen do this, that had but a drop of mercy 
and compassion in him : and will not Christ do much more, that hath 
all fulness of grace, mercy, and glory in himself ? Surely his bowels 
do yearn towards the worst of rebels. Ah ! if you still but come in, you 
will find him ready to pardon, yea, one made up of pardoning mercy. 
Oh ! the readiness and willingness of Jesus Christ to receive to favour 
the greatest rebels ! The father of mercies did meet, embrace, and 
kiss that prodigal mouth which came from feeding with swine and 
kissing of harlots, Col. i. 19, ii 3, 4. 2 

Ephraim had committed idolatry, and was backslidden from God ; 
he was guilty of lukewarmness and unbelief, &c, yet saith God, 
' Ephraim is my dear son, he is a pleasant child, my bowels are troubled 
for him, I will have mercy,' or rather as it is in the original, ' I will 
have mercy, mercy upon him, saith the Lord,' 3 

Well ! saith God, though Ephraim be guilty of crimson sins, yet he 
is a son, a dear son, a precious son, a pleasant child ; though he be 
black with filth, and red with guilt, yet my bowels are troubled for 
him ; I will have mercy, mercy upon him. Ah sinners, if these bowels 
of mercy do not melt, win, and draw you, justice will be a swift witness 
against you, and make you lie down in eternal misery for kicking 
against the bowels of mercy. 

Christ hangs out still, as once that warlike Scythian did, a white flag 
of grace and mercy to returning sinners that humble themselves at his 
feet for favour ; but if sinners stand out, Christ will put forth his red 

1 John Bodin died 1596 : for above see Universce Naturce Theatrum, &c, &c, 1579; and 
Les six Livres de la Republique, &c, 1593. — G. 

2 Neb., ix. 15, Hebrew, But thou a God of pardons. 

3 Hosea iv. 17 ; v. 3 ; vi. 8, 11 ; xii. 12, 14 ; xiii. 12. Vide Jer. xxxi. 20. 



142 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

flag, his bloody flag, and they shall die for ever by a hand of justice. 
Sinners ! there is no way to avoid perishing by Christ's iron rod, but by 
kissing his golden sceptre. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That Jesus Christ liallt novhere in all the tier! /tin re excepted 
against the worst of sinners that are willing to receive him, to believe 
in him, to rest upon hvm for happiness amd blessedness. Ah ! sinners, 
why should you be more cruel and unmerciful to your own souls than 
Christ is ? Christ bath not excluded you from mercy, why should you 
exclude your i >\\ n souls from mercy ? Oh that you would dwell often upon 
that choice Scripture, John vi. o7, ' All that the Father giveth me, shall 
come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,' or 
as the original hath it, ' I will not not cast out.' Well! saith Christ, if any 
man will come, or is coming to me, let him be more sinful or less; more 
unworthy or less; let him be never so guilty, never so filthy, never so 
rebellious, never so leprous, &c, yet if he will but come, I will not not 
cast him off. So much is held forth in 1 Cor. vi. 9-11, 'Know ye 
not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be 
not deceived : neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor 
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor 
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the 
kingdom of God. And such were some of you : but ye are washed, but 
ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
and by the Spirit of our God.' 

Ah ! sinners, do not think that he that hath received such notorious 
sinners to mercy will reject you. ' He is yesterday, and to-day, and the 
same for ever,' Heb. xiii. 8. Christ was born in an inn, to shew that he 
receives all comers ; his garments were divided into four parts, to shew 
that out of what part of the world soever we come, we shall be received. 
If we be naked, Christ hath robes to clothe us ; if we be harbourless, 
Christ hath room to lodge us. That is a choice scripture, Acts x. 34, 
35, ' Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that 
God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation, he that feareth 
him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.' 

The three tongues that were written upon the cross, Greek, Latin, 
and Hebrew, John xix. 19, 20, to witness Christ to be the king of the 
Jews, do each of them in their several idiom avouch this singular axiom, 
that Christ is an all-sufficient Saviour; and ' a threefold cord is not 
easily broken.' The apostle puts this out of doubt: Heb. vii. 25, 
' Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come 
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them/ 
Now, he were not an all-sufficient Saviour if he were not able to save 
the greatest, as [well as] the least of sinners. Ah ! sinners, tell Jesus 
Christ thai be hath not excluded you from mercy, and therefore you 
are resolved that yon will sit, wait, weep, and knock at the door of 
mercy, till he shall say, Souls, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven, 
your persons are justified, and your souls shall be saved. 

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, to con- 
sider, That the greater aim ner thou art, the dearer iJtou wilt be to Christ, 
when he shall behold thee <ts the travail of his soid : Isa. liii. 11, ' He 
shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied.' The dearer we pay 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 143 

for anything, the dearer that thing is to us. Christ hath paid most, and 
prayed most, and sighed most, and wept most, and bled most for the 
greatest sinners, and therefore they are dearer to Christ than others 
that are less sinful. Rachel was dearer to Jacob than Leah, because 
she cost him more ; he obeyed, endured, and suffered more by day and 
night for her than for Leah. Ah ! sinners, the greatness of your sins 
does but set off the freeness and riches of Christ's grace, and the fine- 
ness of his love. This maketh heaven and earth to ring of his praise, 
that he loves those that are most unlovely, that he shews most favour 
to them that have sinned most highly against him, as might be shev/ed 
by several instances in Scripture, as Paul, Mary Magdalene, and others. 
Who sinned more against Christ than these ? And who had sweeter 
and choicer manifestations of divine love and favour than these ? 

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That the longer you keep off from Christ, the 
greater and stronger your sins will grow. All divine power and 
strength against sin flows from the soul's union and communion with 
Christ, Rom. viii. 1 0, 1 John i. 6, 7. While you keep off from Christ, 
you keep off from that strength and power which is only able to make 
you trample down strength, lead captivity captive, and slay the Goliaths 
that bid defiance to Christ. It is only faith in Christ that makes a man 
triumph over sin, Satan, hell, and the world, 1 John v. 4. It is only 
faith in Christ that binds the -strong man's hand and foot, that stops 
the issue of blood, that makes a man strong in resisting, and happy in 
conquering, Mat. v. 15 to 35. Sin always dies most where faith lives 
most. The most believing soul is the most mortified soul. Ah ! sinner, 
remember this, there is no way on earth effectually to be rid of the 
guilt, filth, and power of sin, but by believing in a Saviour. It is not 
resolving, it is not complaining, it is not mourning, but believing, that 
will make thee divinely victorious over that body of sin that to this day 
is too strong for thee, and that will certainly be thy ruin, if it be not 
ruined by a hand of faith. 

Remedy (7). The seventh remedy against this device of Satan is, 
wisely to consider, That as there is nothing in Christ to discourage 
the greatest sinners from believing in him, so there is everything in 
Christ that may encourage the greatest sinners to believe on him, to 
rest and lean upon him for all happiness and blessedness, Cant. i. 3. 
If you look upon his nature, his disposition, his names, his titles, his 
offices as king, priest, and prophet, you will find nothing to discourage 
the greatest sinners from believing in him, but many things to encour- 
age the greatest sinners to receive him, to believe on him. 1 Christ is 
the greatest good, the choicest good, the chiefest good, the most suitable 
good, the most necessary good. He is a pure good, a real good, a total 
good, an eternal good, and a soul-satisfying good, Rev. iii. 17, 18. 
Sinners, are you poor? Christ hath gold to enrich you. Are you 
naked ? Christ hath royal robes, he hath white raiment to clothe you. 
Are you blind ? Christ hath eye-salve to enlighten you. Are you 
hungry ? Christ will be manna to feed you. Are you thirsty ? He will 
be a well of living water to refresh you. Are you wounded ? He hath 
a balm under his wings to heal you. Are you sick ? He is a physician 
1 Col. i. 19, ii. 3, Cant, v. 10. 



144 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

to cure you. Are you prisoners? He hath laid down a ransom for you. 
Ah, sinners ! tell me, tell me, is there anything in Christ to keep you 
off from believing ? No. Is there not everything in Christ that may 
encourage you to believe in him? Yes. Oh, then, believe in him, and 
then, ' Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, 
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,' Isa. i. 18. 
Nay, then, your iniquities shall bo forgotten as well as forgiven, they 
shall bo remembered no more. God will cast them behind his back, he 
will throw them into the bottom of the sea, Isa, xliii. 25, xxxviii. 17, 
Micah vii. 19. 

Remedy (8). The eighth remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, TJte absolute necessity of believing in Christ. 
Heaven is too holy and too hot to hold unbelievers ; their lodging is 
prepared in hell : Rev. xxi. 8, ' But the fearful and unbelieving. &a, 
shall have their part in the lake which burnetii with fire and brim- 
stone, which is the second death.' ' If ye believe not that I am he,' 
saith Christ, ' you shall die in your sins,' John viii. 2 1. And he that 
dies in his sins must to judgment and to hell in his sins. Every un- 
believer is a condemned man : ' He that believeth not,' saith John, ' i 
condemned alread}^ because he hath not believed in the name of th 
only begotten Son of God. And he that believeth not the Son, shall 
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him,' John iii. 18, 36. 
Ah, sinners ! the law, the gospel, and your own consciences, have passed 
the sentence of condemnation upon you, and there is no way to reverse 
the sentence but by believing in Christ. And therefore my counsel is 
this, Stir up yourselves to lay hold on the Lord Jesus, and look up to 
him, and wait on him, from whom every good and perfect gift comes, 
and give him no rest till he hath given thee that jewel faith, that is 
more worth than heaven and earth, and that will make thee happy in 
life, joyful in death, and glorious in the day of Christ, Isa. lxiv. 7, 
James i. 17, Isa. lxii. 7. 

And thus much for the remedies against this first device of Satan, 
whereby he keeps off thousands from believing in Christ. 

The second device that Satan hath to keep poor sinners from be- 
lieving, from closing with a Saviour, is, 

Device (2). By suggesting to them their unworthincss. Ah! saith 
Satan, as thou art worthy of the greatest misery, so thou art un- 
worthy of the least crumb of mercy. What! dost thou think, saith 
Satan, that ever Christ will own, receive, or embrace such an unworthy 
wretch as thou art? No, no; if there were any worthiness in thee, 
then, indeed, Christ might be willing to be entertained by thee. Thou 
art unworthy to entertain Christ into thy house, how much more un- 
worthy art thou to ontertain Christ into thy heart, &c. 

Now the remedies against this device are these. 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That God hath nowhere in the Scripture required 
any ivorthincss in lite creature before believing in Christ. If you 
make a diligent search through all the scripture, you shall not find, 
from the fust line in Genesis to the last line in the Revelations, one 
word that speaks out God's requiring any worthiness in the creature 
before the soul's believing in Christ, before the soul's leaning and rest- 






2 Cor. II. 11.} against satan's devices. 145 

ing upon Christ for happiness and blessedness ; and why, then, should 
that be a bar and hindrance to thy faith, which God doth nowhere 
require of thee before thou comest to Christ, that thou mayest have 
life ? Mat. xix. 8, John v. 29. Ah, sinners ! remember Satan objects 
your unworthiness against you only out of a design to keep Christ and 
your souls asunder for ever ; and therefore, in the face of all your un- 
worthiness, rest upon Christ, come to Christ, believe in Christ, and you 
are happy for ever, John vi. 40, 47. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
wisely to consider, That none ever received Christ, embraced Christ, 
and obtained mercy and pardon from Christ, but unworthy sotds. 
Pray, what worthiness was in Matthew, Zaccheus, Mary Magdalene, 
Manasseh, Paul, and Lydia, before their coming to Christ, before their 
faith in Christ ? Surely none. Ah, sinners ! you should reason thus : 
Christ hath bestowed the choicest mercies, the greatest favours, the 
highest dignities, the sweetest privileges, upon unworthy sinners, and 
therefore, O our souls, do not you faint, do not you despair, but patiently 
and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Who can tell but that 
free grace and mercy may shine forth upon us, though we are unworthy, 
and give us a portion among those worthies that are now triumphing 
in heaven. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, That 
if the soul will keep off from Christ till it be worthy, it will never 
close with Christ, it will never embrace Christ. It will never be one 
with Christ, it must lie down in everlasting sorrow, Isa. 1. 11. God 
hath laid up all worthiness in Christ, that the creature may know where 
to find it, and may make out after it. There is no way on earth to 
make unworthy souls worthy, but by believing in Christ, James ii. 23. 
Believing in Christ, of slaves, it will make you worthy sons; of enemies, 
it will make you worthy friends. God will count none worthy, nor 
call none worthy, nor carry it towards none as worthy, but believers, 
who are made worthy by the worthiness of Christ's person, righteous- 
ness, satisfaction, and intercession, &c, Rev. iii. 4. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is 
solemnly to consider, That if you make a diligent search into your 
own hearts, you shall find that it is the pride and folly of your oivn 
hearts that puts you upon bringing of a tvorthiness to Christ. Oh ! you 
would fain bring something to Christ that might render you acceptable 
to him ; you are loath to come empty-handed. The Lord cries out, ' Ho, 
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no 
money : come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without 
money, and without price. Wherefore do ye spend your money upon 
that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not f 
Isa. lv. 1, 2. Here the Lord calls upon moneyless, upon penniless 
souls, upon unworthy souls, to come and partake of his precious favours 
freely. But sinners are proud and foolish, and because they have no 
money, no worthiness to bring, they will not come, though he sweetly 
invites them. Ah, sinners! what is more just than that you should 
perish for ever, that prefer husks among swine before the milk and 
wine, the sweet and precious things of the gospel, that are freely and 

VOL. I. K 



146 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11.' 

sweetly offered to you, &c. Well, sinners ! remember this, it is not so 
much the sense of your unworthiness, as your pride, that keeps you off 
from a blessed closing with the Lord Jesus. 

The third device that Satan hath to keep poor sinners from believ- 
ing, from closing with a Saviour, is, 

Device (3). By suggesting to them the want of such and such 'pre- 
parations and qualifications. Saith Satan, Thou art not prepared to 
entertain Christ ; thou art not thus and thus humbled and justified ; 
thou art not heart-sick of sin ; thou hast not been under horrors and 
terrors as such and such ; thou must stay till thou art prepared and 
qualified to receive the Lord Jesus, &c. 

Now, the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, 
solemnly to consider, That such as have not been so and so prepared 
and qualified as Satan suggests, have received Christ, believed in 
Christ, and been saved by Christ. Matthew was called, sitting at the 
receipt of custom, and there was such power went along with Christ's 
call, that made him to follow him, Mat. ix. 9. We read not of any 
horrors or terrors, &c, that he was under before his being called by 
Christ. Pray, what preparations and qualifications were found in 
Zaccheus, Paul, the jailor, and Lydia, before their conversion, Luke 
xix. 9, Acts xvi. 14, seq. God brings in some by the sweet and still 
voice of the gospel, and usually such that are thus brought into Christ 
are the sweetest, humblest, choicest, and fruitfullest Christians. God is 
a free agent to work by law or gospel, by smiles or frowns, by present- 
ing hell or heaven to sinners' souls. God thunders from mount Sinai 
upon some souls, and conquers them by thundering. God speaks to 
others in a still voice, and by that conquers them. You that are 
brought to Christ by the law, do not you judge and condemn them 
that are brought to Christ by the gospel ; and you that are brought to 
Christ by the gospel, do not you despise those that are brought to 
Christ by the law. Some are brought to Christ by fire, storms, and 
tempests, others by more easy and gentle gales of the Spirit. The 
Spirit is free in the works of conversion, and, as the wind, it blows 
when, where, and how it pleases, John iii. 8. Thrice happy are those 
souls that are brought to Christ, whether it be in a winter's night or 
in a summer's day. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
Holemnly To dwell upon these following scriptures, which do clearly 
evidence that poor sinners which are not so and so prepared and 
qualified to meet with Christ, to receive and embrace the Lord Jesus 
Christ, may, notwithstanding that, believe in Christ; and rest and 
lean upon him for happiness and blessedness, according to the gospel. 
Read Prov. i. 20-33, and chap. viii. 1-11, and chap. ix. 1-6 ; Ezek. xvi. 
1-14; John iii. 14-18, 36 ; Rev. iii. 15-20. Here the Lord Jesus 
( 'hrist stands knocking at the Laodiceans' door ; he would fain have 
them to sup with him, and that he might sup with them ; that is, that 
they might have intimate communion and fellowship one with another. 
Now, pray tell me, what preparations or qualifications had these Lao- 
diceans to entertain Christ ? Surely none ; for they were lukewarm, 
they were 'neither hot nor cold,' they were ' wretched, and miserable, 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 147 

and poor, and blind, and naked;' and yet Christ, to shew his free grace 
and his condescending love, invites the very worst of sinners to open to 
him, though they were no ways so and so prepared or qualified to enter- 
tain him. 

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, 
seriously to consider, That the Lord does not in all the Scripture re- 
quire such and such preparations and qualifications before men come 
to Christ, before they believe in Christ, or entertain, or embrace the 
Lord Jesus. Believing in Christ is the great thing that God presses 
upon sinners throughout the Scripture, as all know that know anything 
of Scripture. 

Obj. But does not Christ say, ' Come unto me all ye that labour and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ' ? Mat. xi. 28. 

To this I shall give these three answers : 

(1.) That though the invitation be to such that 'labour and are- 
heavy laden,' yet the promise of giving rest, it is made over to ' coming,' 
to 'believing/ 

(2.) I answer, that all this scripture proves and shews is, that such 
as labour under sin as under a heavy burden, and that are laden with 
the guilt of sin and sense of God's displeasure, ought to come to Christ for 
rest ; but it doth not prove that only such must come to Christ, nor 
that all men must be thus burdened and laden with the sense of their 
sins and the wrath of God, before they come to Christ. 

Poor sinners, when they are under the sense of sin and wrath of 
God, they are prone to run from creature to creature, and from duty to 
duty, and from ordinance to ordinance, to find rest ; and if they could 
find it in any thing or creature, Christ should never hear of them ; but 
here the Lord sweetly invites them : and to encourage them, he engages 
himself to give them rest : ' Come/ saith Christ, ' and I will give you 
rest.' I will not shew you rest, nor barely tell you of rest, but ' I will 
give you rest.' I am faithfulness itself, and cannot lie, ' I will give 
you rest.' I that have the greatest power to give it, the greatest will 
to give it, the greatest right to give it, ' Come, laden sinners, and I 
will give you rest.' Rest is the most desirable good, the most suitable 
good, and to you the greatest good. ' Come,' saith Christ, that is, ' be- 
lieve in me, and I will give you rest ;' I will give you peace with God, 
and peace with conscience ; I will turn your storm into an everlasting 
calm ; T will give you such rest, that the world can neither give to you 
nor take from you. 

(3.) I answer, No one scripture speaks out the whole mind of God ; 
therefore do but compare this one scripture with those several scriptures 
that are laid down in the second remedy last mentioned, and it will 
clearly appear, that though men are thus and thus burdened and laden 
with their sins and filled with horror and terror, if they may come to 
Christ, they may receive and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, to 
consider, That all that trouble for sin, all that sorrow, shame, and 
mourning which is acceptable to God, and delightful to God, and 'pre- 
valent with God, floivs from faith in Christ, as the stream doth from 
the fountain, as the branch doth from the root, as the effect doth from 
the cause. Zech. xii. 10, ' They shall look on him whom they have 



148 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II 11. 

pierced, and they shall mourn for him.' All gospel mourning flows 
from believing ; they shall first look, and then mourn. All that know 
anything know this, that ' whatever is not of faith is sin/ Rom. 
xiv 33. Till men have faith in Christ, their best services are but 
glorious sins. 

The fourth device that Satan hath to keep poor sinners from believ- 
ing, from closing with a Saviour, is, 

Device (4). By suggesting to a sinner Christ 's unwillingness to save. 
It is true, saith Satan, Christ is able to save thee, but is he willing ? 
Surely, though he is able, yet he is not willing to save such a wretch as 
thou ait, that has trampled his blood under thy feet, and that has been 
in open rebellion against him all thy days, &c. 

The remedy against this device of Satan is, briefly to consider these 
few things. 

Remedy (1). First, The great journey that he hath taken, from 
heaven to earth, on purpose to save sinners, doth strongly demonstrate 
his willingness to save them. Mat. ix. 13, 'I came not to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance.' 1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a faithful 
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the 
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.' 

Secondly, His divesting himself of his glory in order to sinners' sal- 
vation, speaks out his willingness to save them. He leaves his Father's 
bosom, he puts off his glorious robes, and lays aside his glorious crown, 
and bids adieu to his glistering courtiers the angels ; and all this he 
doth, that he may accomplish sinners' salvation. 1 

Thirdly, That sea of sin, that sea of wrath, that sea of trouble, that 
sea of blood that Jesus Christ waded through, that sinners might be 
pardoned, justified, reconciled, and saved, doth strongly evidence his 
willingness to save sinners, 1 Cor. v. 19, 20. 

Fourthly, His sending his ambassadors, early and late, to woo and 
entreat sinners to be reconciled to him, doth with open mouth shew his 
readiness and willingness to save sinners. 

Fifthly, His complaints against such as refuse him, and that turn 
their backs upon him, and that will not be saved by him, doth strongly 
declare his willingness to save them : John i. 11, 'He came to his own, 
and his own received him not.' So in John v. 40, ' But ye will not come 
to me, that ye may have life/ 

Sixthly, The joy and delight that he takes at the conversion of sin- 
ners, doth demonstrate his willingness that they should be saved : Luke 
xv. 7, ' I say unto you, That likewise joy shall be in heaven over one 
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons that 
need no repentance.' God the Father rejoiceth at the return of his 
prodigal son ; Christ rejoices to see the travail of his soul ; the Spirit 
rejoices that he hath another temple to dwell in ; and the angels rejoice 
that they have another brother to delight in, &c, Isa. liii. 11. 

The fifth device that Satan hath to keep poor sinners from believing, 
from closing with a Saviour, is, 

Device (5). By working a sinner to mind more the secret decrees 
and counsels of God, than his own duty. What ncedest thou to busy 
thyself about receiving, embracing, and entertaining of Christ ? saith 
1 From the cradle to the cross, his whole life was a life of sufferings. 



2 Cor. II. ll.J against satan's devices. 149 

Satan ; if thou art elected, thou shalt be saved ; if not, all that thou 
canst do will do thee no good. Nay, he will work the soul not only to 
doubt of its election, but to conclude that he is not elected, and there- 
fore let him do what he can, he shall never be saved. 

Now the remedies against this device are these : 

Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously 
to consider, That all the angels in heaven, nor all the men on earth, 
nor all the devils in hell, cannot tell to the contrary, but that thou 
mayest be an elect person, a chosen vessel. Thou mayest be confident 
of this, that God never made Satan one of his privy council, God never 
acquainted him with the names or persons of such that he hath set his 
love upon to eternity, &c. 

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, 
To meddle with that which thou hast to do. ' Secret things belong to 
the Lord, but revealed things belong to thee/ Deut. xxix. 29. Thy 
work, sinner, is, to be peremptory in believing, and in returning to the 
Lord ; thy work is to cast thyself upon Christ, lie at his feet, to wait 
on him in his ways, and to give him no rest till he shall say, Sinner, I 
am thy portion, I am thy salvation, and nothing shall separate between 
thee and me. 

Here followeth seven characters of false teachers, which let me add 
for a close, viz. : — 

That Satan labours might and main, by false teachers, which are his 
messengers and ambassadors, to deceive, delude, and for ever undo the 
precious souls of men: 1 Jer. xxiii. 13, 'I have seen folly in the pro- 
phets of Samaria ; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people 
Israel to err ;' Micah iii. 5, ' The prophets make my people to err.' 
They seduce them, and carry them out of the right way into by-paths 
and blind thickets of error, blasphemy, and wickedness, where they are 
lost for ever. 'Beware of false prophets, for they come to you in sheep's 
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves,' Mat. vii. 15. These 
lick and suck the blood of souls : Philip, iii. 2, ' Beware of dogs, beware 
of evil workers, beware of the concision.' These kiss and kill ; these 
cry, Peace, peace, till souls fall into everlasting flames, &c, Pro v. vii. 

Now, the best way to deliver poor souls from being deluded and de- 
stroyed by these messengers of Satan is, to discover them in their 
colours, that so, being known, poor souls may shun them, and fly from 
them as from hell itself. 

Now you may know them by these characters following : 

[1.] The first character. False teachers are men-pleasers. 2 They 
preach more to please the ear than to profit the heart : Isa. xxx. 10, 
' Which say to the seers, See not ; and to the prophets, Prophesy not 
unto us right things : speak to us smooth things ; prophesy deceits.' 
Jer. v. 30, 31, ' A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the 
land : the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their 
means, and my people love to have it so. And what will you do in the 
end thereof?' They handle holy things rather with wit and dalliance 
than with fear and reverence. False teachers are soul-undoers. They 

1 Acts xx. 28-30, 2 Cor. xi. 13-15, Eph. iv. 14, 2 Tim. iii. 4-6, Titus i. II, 12,2 Peter 
ii. 18, 19. s But so are not true teachers, Gal. i. 10, 1 Thes. ii. 1-4. 



150 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

are like evil chirurgeons, that skin over the wound, but never heal it. 
Flattery undid Ahab and Herod, Nero and Alexander. False teachers 
are hell's greatest enrichers. Non acerba, sed blanda, Not bitter, but 
flattering words do all the mischief, said Valerian, the Roman emperor. 
Such smooth teachers are sweet soul-poisoners, &c, Jer. xxiii. 16, 17. 1 

[2.] The second character. False teachers are notable in casting 
dirt, scorn, and reproach upon the persons, names, and credits of 
Christ's most faithful ambassadors. Thus Korah, Dathan, and Abirain 
charged Moses and Aaron that they took too much upon them, seeing 
all the congregation was holy, Num. xvi. 3. You take too much state, 
too much power, too much honour, too much holiness upon you ; for 
what are you more than others, that you take so much upon you ? And 
so Ahab's false prophets fell foul on good Micaiah, paying of him with 
blows for want of better reasons, 1 Kings xxii. 10-26. Yea, Paul, that 
great apostle of the Gentiles, had his ministry undermined and his repu- 
tation blasted by false teachers : ' For his letters,' say they, ' are weighty 
and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and contemptible,' 2 Cor. 
x. 10. They rather contemn him than admire him ; they look upon 
him as a dunce rather than a doctor. And the same hard measure had 
our Lord Jesus from the Scribes and Pharisees, who laboured as for life 
to build their own credit upon the ruins of his reputation. 2 And never 
did the devil drive a more full trade this way than he does in these 
days, Mat. xxvii. 63. Oh ! the dirt, the filth, the scorn that is thrown 
upon those of whom the world is not worthy. I suppose false teachers 
mind not that saying of Austin, Quisquis volens detrahit famw, nolens 
addit mercedi mew, He that willingly takes from my good name, un- 
willingly adds to my reward. 

[3.] The third character. False teachers are venters of the devices 
and visions of their own heads and hearts. 3 Jer. xiv. 14, • Then the 
Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name : I sent 
them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them : 
they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of 
nought, and the deceit of their heart ;' chap, xxiii. 1 6, ' Thus saith the 
Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that pro- 
phesy unto you ; they make you vain : they speak a vision of their own 
heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.' Are there not multitudes 
in this nation whose visions are but golden delusions, lying vanities, 
brain-sick phantasies ? These are Satan's great benefactors, and such as 
divine justice will hang up in hell as the greatest malefactors, if the 
physician of souls do not prevent it, &c. 

[4.] The fourth character. False teachers easily pass over the great 
and weighty things both of laiv and gospel, and stand most upon those 
things that are of the least moment and concernment to the souls of 
men* 1 Tim. i. 5-7, ' Now the end of the commandment is charity 

1 Whilst an ass is stroked under the helly, you may lay on his back what burden you 
please. 

2 The proverb is, Oculus elfama non patiuntur jocos, a man's eye and his good name can 
bear no jests. Yea, and Lucian, that blasphemous atheist, termeth himthe crucified cozener. 

8 Mat. xxiv. 4, 5, xi. 14, Titus i. 10, Rom. xvi. 18. 

4 Luther complained of such in his time as would strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 
This age is full of such teachers, such monsters. The high priest's spirit, Mat. xxiii. 24, 
lives and thrives in these days. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 151 

out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned ; 
from which some having swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling, 
desiring to be teachers of the law, and understand neither what they 
say nor whereof they affirm.' Mat. xxiii. 2, 3, ' Woe unto you, scribes 
and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise and 
cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, 
mercy, and faith ; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the 
other undone.' False teachers are nice in the lesser things of the law, 
and as negligent in the greater. 1 Tim. vi. 3-5, ' If any man teach 
otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, 
he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strife of 
words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse 
disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing 
that gain is godliness : from such withdraw thyself.' If such teachers 
are not hypocrites in grain, I know nothing, Rom. ii. 22. The earth 
groans to bear them, and hell is fitted for them, Mat. xxiv. 32. 

[5.] The fifth character. False teachers cover and colour their dan- 
gerous principles and soul-impostures with very fair speeches and 
plausible pretences, with high notions and golden expressions. Many 
in these days are bewitched and deceived by the magnificent words, 
lofty strains, and stately terms of deceivers, viz. illumination, revelation, 
deification, fiery triplicity, &c. As strumpets paint their faces, and deck 
and perfume their beds, the better to allure and deceive simple souls, 1 so 
false teachers will put a great deal of paint and garnish upon their most 
dangerous principles and blasphemies, that they may the better deceive 
and delude poor ignorant souls. They know sugared poison goes down 
sweetly ; they wrap up their pernicious, soul-killing pills in gold. 
Weigh the scriptures in the margin. 2 

In the days of Hadrian the emperor, there was one Ben-Cosbi gathered 
a multitude of Jews together, and called himself Ben-cocuba, the son of a 
star, applying that promise to himself, Num. xxiv. 17; but he proved 
Bar-chosaba, the son of a lie. And so will all false teachers, for all their 
flourishes prove at the last the sons of lies. 

[6.] The sixth character. False teachers strive more to win over men 
to their opinions, than to better them in their conversations. Mat. 
xxiv. ] 7, ' Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye com- 
pass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make 
him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.' They busy them- 
selves most about men's heads. Their work is not to better men's 
hearts, and mend their lives ; and in this they are very much like their 
father the devil, who will spare no pains to gain proselytes. 3 

[7]. The seventh character. False teachers make merchandise of their 
followers : 2 Peter ii. 1-3, ' But there were false prophets also among 
the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily 
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought 
them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall 

1 Gal. vi. 12 ; 2 Cor. xi. 13-15 ; Rom. xvi. 17, 18 ; Mat. xvi. 6, 11, 12 ; vii. 16. 

2 See footnote supra. — G. 

8 For shame, says Epictetus to his Stoics ; either live as Stoics, or leave off the name 
of Stoics. The application is easy. 



132 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 CoR. II. 11. 

follow their pernicious ways ; by reason of whom the way of truth shall 
be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned 
words make merchandise of you : whose judgment now of a longtime 
lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.' They eye your 
goods more than your good ; and mind more the serving of themselves, 
than the saving of your souls. So they may have your substance, they 
care not though Satan has your souls, Rev. xviii. 11—13. That they 
may the better pick your purse, they will hold forth such principles 
as are very indulgent to the flesh. False teachers are the great wor- 
shippers of the golden calf, Jer. vi. 13. 1 

Now, by these characters you may know them, and so shun them, 
and deliver your souls out of their dangerous snares ; which that you 
may, my prayers shall meet yours at the throne of grace. 

And now, to prevent objections, I shall lay down some propositions 
or conclusions concerning Satan and his devices, and then give you the 
reasons of the point, and so come to make some use and application of 
the whole to ourselves. 

Propositions concerning Satan and his devices : 

Proposition (1). The first proposition is this, That though Satan hath 
his devices to draw souls to sin, yet we must be careful that we do not 
lay all our temptations upon Satan, that we do not wrong the devil, 
and father that upon him that is to be fathered upon our own base 
hearts. I think that oftentimes men charge that upon the devil that 
is to be charged upon their own hearts. ' And the Lord said unto the 
woman, What is this that thou hast done % And the woman said, The 
serpent beguiled me, and I did eat,' Gen. iii. 13. Sin and shifting 
came into the world together. 2 This is no small baseness of our hearts, 
that they will be naught, ay, very naught, and yet will father that 
naughtiness upon Satan. Man hath an evil root within him ; that 
were there no devil to tempt him, nor no wicked men in the world to 
entice him, yet that root of bitterness, that cursed sinful nature that is 
in him, would draw him to sin, though he knows beforehand that ' the 
wages of sin is eternal death,' Rom. vi. 23 ' For out of the heart pro- 
ceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false wit- 
nesses, blasphemies/ Mat. xv. 19. The whole frame of man is out of 
frame. The understanding is dark, the will cross, the memory slippery, 
the affections crooked, the conscience corrupted, the tongue poisoned, 
and the heart wholly evil, only evil, and continually evil. Should God 
chain up Satan, and give him no liberty to tempt or entice the sons of 
men to vanity or folly, yet they would not, yet they could not but sin 
against him, by reason of that cursed nature that is in them, that will 
still be a-provoking them to those sins that will provoke and stir up the 
anger of God against them, Jude 1 5, 16. Satan hath only a persuading 
sleight, not an enforcing might. He may tempt us, but without our- 
selves he cannot conquer us ; he may entice us, but without ourselves 

1 Crates threw his money into the sea, resolving to drown it, lest it should drown him. 
But false teachers care not who thoy diown, so they may have their money. [It may be 
well to distinguish above among the different persons of the name, as Crates of Thebes, 
son of Ascondus. Diog. Laertius, vi. 85, 93, 96-98.— G.] 

* Cum primtjm nascivivr in omni continito pravitale versamur, We are no sooner born, 
than buried in a bog of wickedness.— Tully. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 153 

he cannot hurt us. Our hearts carry the greatest stroke in every sin. 
Satan can never undo a man without himself; but a man may easily 
undo himself without Satan. Satan can only present the golden cup, 
but he hath no power to force us to drink the poison that is in the cup ; 
he can only present to us the glory of the world, he cannot force us to 
fall down and worship him, to enjoy the world ; he can only spread his 
snares, he hath no power to force us to walk in the midst of his snares. 
Therefore do the devil so much right, as not to excuse yourselves, by 
your accusing him, and laying the load upon him, that you should lay 
upon your own hearts. 1 

Prop. (2). The second proposition is, That Satan hath a great hand 
and stroke in most sins. It was Satan that tempted our first parents 
to rebellion ; it was Satan that provoked David to number the people ; 
it was Satan that put Peter upon rebuking Christ; therefore saith 
Christ, 'Get thee behind me, Satan ;' it was Satan that put Cain upon 
murdering of righteous Abel, therefore it is that he is called 'a murderer 
from the beginning ;' it was Satan that put treason into the heart of 
Judas against Christ, ' And supper being ended, the devil having put 
into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon s son, to betray him ;' it was 
Satan that put Ananias upon lying, Peter said, ' Ananias, why hath 
Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost P As the hand of Joab 
was in the tale of the woman of Tekoah, so Satan's hand is usually in 
all the sins that men commit. Such is Satan's malice against God, and 
his envy against man, that he will have a hand one way or other in all 
the sins, though he knows that all the sins he provokes others to shall 
be charged upon him to his greater woe, and eternal torment. 3 

Ambrose brings in the devil boasting against Christ and challenging 
Judas as his own : ' He is not thine, Lord Jesus, he is mine ; his thoughts 
beat for me ; he eats with thee, but is fed by me ; he takes bread from 
thee, but money from me ; he drinks wine with thee, and sells thy 
blood to me.' Such is his malice against Christ, and his wrath and rage 
against man, that he will take all advantages to draw men to that, that 
may give him advantage to triumph over Christ and men's souls for 
ever. 

Prop. (3). The third proposition is, That Satan must have, a double 
leave before he can do anything against us. He must have leave from 
God, and leave from ourselves, before he can act anything against our 
happiness. He must have his commission from God, as you may see 
in the example of Job, Job i. 11, 12, ii. 3-5. Though the devil had 
malice enough to destroy him. yet he had not so much as power to 
touch him, till God gave him a commission. 

They could not so much as enter into the swine without leave from 
Christ, Luke viii. 32. Satan would fain have combated with Peter, but 
this he could not do without leave. ' Satan hath desired to have you, 
to winnow you,' Luke xxii. 31. So Satan could never have overthrown 
Ahab and Saul, but by a commission from God, 1 Kings xxii. Ah ! 
what a cordial, what a comfort should this be to the saints, that their 

1 To * Ui *cto tipZi Ss <p\ol W/3aXat/ jro^asT*, the fire is our wood, though it be the devil's 
flame. — Nazianzen. n 

2 Gen. iii. 1-5 ; 1 Chron. xxi. 1 ; Mat. xvi. 22, 23 ; John viii. 44, xiii. 2 ; Acts v. d.— b. 
* Diabolus tentat, Deus probat. — Tertullian. 



154- PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. IL 11. 

greatest, subtlest, and watchfullest enemy cannot hurt nor harm them, 
without leave from him who is their sweetest Saviour, their dearest 
husband, and their choicest friend. 

And as Satan must have leave from God, so he must have leave of 
us. When he tempts, we must assent ; when he makes offers, we must 
hearken ; when he commands, we must obey, or else all his labour and 
temptations will be frustrate, and the evil that he tempts us to shall 
be put down only to his account. 1 That is a remarkable passage in 
Acts v. 3, ' Why hath Satan filled thy heart to He to the Holy Ghost ?' 
He doth not expostulate the matter with Satan ; he doth not say, Satan, 
' Why hast thou filled Ananias's heart to make him lie to the Holy 
Ghost?' but he expostulates the case with Ananias; Peter said, 
' Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost V 
Why hast thou given him an advantage to fill thy heart with infidelity, 
hypocrisy, and obstinate audacity, to lie to the Holy Ghost ? As if he 
had said, Satan could never have done this in thee, which will now for 
ever undo thee, unless thou hadst given him leave. If, when a tempta- 
tion comes, a man cries out, and saith, Ah, Lord ! here is a temptation 
that would force me, that would deflower my soul, and I have no 
strength to withstand it ; oh ! help ! help ! for thy honour's sake, for thy 
Son's sake, for thy promise' sake; it is a sign that Satan hath not gained 
your consent, but committed a rape upon your souls, which he shall 
dearly pay for. 2 

Prop. (4). The fourth proposition is, That no weapons but spiritual, 
weapons will be useful and serviceable to the soul in fighting and 
combating with the devil. This the apostle shews : ' Wherefore take 
unto you,' saith he, ' the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to 
stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand,' Eph. vi. 1 3. So 
the same apostle tells you, ' That the weapons of your warfare are not 
carnal, but mighty through God, to the casting down of strongholds,' 
2 Cor. x. 4. You have not to do with a weak, but with a mighty 
enemy, and therefore you had need to look to it, that your weapons 
are mighty, and that they cannot be, unless they are spiritual. Carnal 
weapons have no might nor spirit in them towards the making of a 
conquest upon Satan. 3 It was not David's sling nor stone that gave 
him the honour and advantage of setting his feet upon Goliah, but his 
faith in the name of the Lord of hosts. ' Thou comest to me with a 
sword, with a spear, and with a shield, but I am come to thee in the 
name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou 
hast defied,' 1 Sam. xvii. 45. He that fights against Satan, in the 
strength of his own resolutions, constitution or education, will certainly 
fly and fall before him. Satan will be too hard for such a soul, and 
lead him captive at his pleasure. The only way to stand, conquer, and ' 
triumph, is still to plead, 'It is written,' as Christ did, Mat. iv. 10. 
There is no sword but the two-edged sword of the Spirit, that will be 

1 Adversaria potestas non habet vim cogendi sed persuadendi — Isidore. 

* They are the worst and greatest liars who pretend religion, and the Spirit, and yet 
are acted only by carnal principles to carnal ends. 

5 We read of many that, out of greatness of spirit, could offer violence to nature, hut 
were at a loss when they came to deal with a corruption or a temptation. Heraclitus 
[Heraclius] his motto was, A Deo victoria, It is God that gives victory; and that should 
be every Christian's motto. 



2 COK. II. 11.] AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES. 155 

found to be metal of proof when a soul comes to engage against Satan ; 
therefore, when you are tempted to uncleanness, plead, ' It is written, 
be ye holy, as I am holy/ 1 Peter i. 16 ; and, 'Let us cleanse ourselves 
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the 
fear of the Lord,' 2 Cor. vii 1 . If he tempts you to distrust God's pro- 
vidence and fatherly care of you, plead, ' It is written,' ' They that fear 
the Lord shall want nothing that is good,' Ps. xxxiv. 9. 

It is written, ' The Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing 
will he withhold from them that purely live/ Ps. lxxxiv. 11. If he 
tempt you to fear, that you shall faint, and fall, and never be able to 
run to the end of the race that is set before you, plead, It is written, 
' The righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands 
shall be stronger and stronger,' Job xvii. 9. 

It is written, ' I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that 
I will not turn away from them, to do them good, but I will put my 
fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me,' Jer. xxxii. 40. 

It is written, ' They that wait upon the Lord, they shall renew their 
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, 
and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint,' Isa. xl. 31. If 
Satan tempt you to think that because your sun for the present is set 
in a cloud, that therefore it will rise no more, and that the face of God 
will shine no more upon you ; that your best days are now at an end, 
and that you must spend all your time in sorrow and sighing; plead, 
It is written, ' He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, 
and cast all our sins into the depth of the sea,' Micah vii. J 9. 

It is written, ' For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with 
great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from 
thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy 
on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer,' Isa. liv. 7, 8, J 0. 

It is written, ' The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, 
but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant 
of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.' 

It is written, ' Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she 
should not have compassion on the son of her womb l . Yea, they may 
forget, yet will not I forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon 
the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me/ Isa. xlix. 
15, 16. 

If ever you would be too hard for Satan, and after all your assaults, 
have your bow abide in strength, then take to you the word of God, 
which is ' the two-edged sword of the Spirit, and the shield of faith, 
whereby you shall be able to queuch the fiery darts of the devil/ Eph. 
vi. 17. It is not spitting at Satan's name, nor crossing yourselves, nor 
leaning to your own resolutions, that will get you the victory. 

Luther reports of Staupitius, a German minister, that he acknow- 
ledged himself, that before he came to understand aright the free and 
powerful grace of God, that he vowed and resolved an hundred times 
against some particular sin, and never could get power over it. At last 
he saw the reason to be his trusting to his own resolution. Therefore 
be skilful in the word of righteousness, and in the actings of faith upon 
Christ and his victory, and that crown of glory that is set before you, 
and Satan will certainly fly from you, &c, James iv. 7. 



^156 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

Prop. (o). The fifth proposition is, That we may read much of 
Satan's nature and disposition by the divers names and epithets that 
are given him in the Scripture. Sometimes he is called Behemoth, 
which is Briifn, whereby the greatness and brutishness of the devil is 
figured, Job xl. 15. Those evil spirits are sometimes called A/a/3oXo/, 
accusers, for their calumnies and slanders ; and Tonjgo/, evil ones, for 
their malice. Satan is Adversarius, an adversary, that troubleth and 
molesteth, 1 Pet. v. 8. Abaddon is a destroyer. They are tempters, 
for their suggestion ; lions, for their devouring ; dragons, for their 
cruolty ; and serpents, for their subtilty, &c. As his names are, so is 
he ; as face answers to face, so do Satan's names answer to his nature. 
He hath the worst names and the worst nature of all created crea- 
tures, &c. 

Prop. (6). The sixth proposition is, That God will shortly tread 
down Satan under the saints' feet. Christ, our champion, hath already 
won the field, and will shortly set our feet upon the necks of our 
spiritual enemies. Satan is a foiled adversary. Christ hath led him 
captive, and triumphed over him upon the cross. Christ hath already 
overcome him, and put weapons into your hands, that you may over- 
come him also, and set your feet upon his neck. Though Satan be a 
roaring lion, yet Christ, who is the lion of the tribe of Judah, will make 
Satan fly and fall before you. Let Satan do his worst, yet you shall 
have the honour and the happiness to triumph over him. 1 Cheer up, 
you precious sons of Sion, for the certainty and sweetness of victory 
will abundantly recompense you for all the pains you have taken in 
making resistance against Satan's temptations. The broken horns of 
Satan shall be trumpets of our triumph and the cornets of our joy, &c. 

Now I shall come to the reasons of the point, and so draw to a close, &c. 

Reason (1). The first reason is, That their hearts may be kept in an 
humble, praying, watching frame. Oh! hath Satan so many devices 
to ensnare and undo the souls of men ? How should this awaken dull, 
drowsy souls, and make them stand upon their watch ! A saint should 
be like a seraphim, beset all over with eyes and lights, that he may 
avoid Satan's snares, and stand fast in the hour of temptation. 

The Lord hath in the Scripture discovered the several snares, plots, 
and devices that the devil hath to undo the souls of men, that so, being 
forewarned, they may be forearmed ; that they may be always upon 
their watch-tower, and hold their weapons in their hands, as the Jews 
did in Nehemiah's time. 2 

Reason (2). The second reason is, From that malice, envy, and en- 
mity that is in Satan against the souls of men. Satan is full of envy 
and enmity, and that makes him very studious to suit his snares and 
plots to the tempers, constitutions, fancies, and callings of men, that so 
he may make them as miserable as himself. 3 

The Russians are so malicious, that you shall have a man hide some of 

1 Rom. xvi. '20, ri/vrj/x^u, from vvfrpifia. The Greek word signifies to break or crush 
a tiling to pieces. Being applied to the feet, it noteth that breaking or crushing which is 
by stamping upon a thing. 

s The philosopher had a ball of brass in his hand, which, if he chanced to sleep with, 
the fall into a basin awaked him to his studies. You are wise, and know how to apply it. 

8 Malice cares not what it saith or doth, so it may kill or gall. 

I 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 157 

his own goods in the house of him whom he hateth, and then accuse 
him for the stealth of them. 1 So doth Satan, out of malice to the souls 
of men, hide his goods, his wares, as I may say, in the souls of men, 
and then go and accuse them before the Lord ; and a thousand, thousand 
other ways Satan's malice, envy, and enmity puts him upon, eternally 
to undo the precious souls of men, &c. 

Reason (3). The third reason is drawn from that long experience 
that Satan hath had. He is a spirit of mighty abilities ; and his 
abilities to lay snares before us are mightily increased by that long 
standing of his. He is a spirit of above five thousand years' standing. 
He hath had time enough to study all those ways and methods which 
tend most to ensnare and undo the souls of men. And as he hath time 
enough, so he hath made it his whole study, his only study, his constant 
study, to find out snares, depths, and stratagems, to entangle and over- 
throw the souls of men. When he was but a young serpent, he did 
easily deceive and outwit our first parents, Gen. iii. ; but now he is 
grown that ' old serpent,' as John speaks, Kev. xii. 9, he is as old as the 
world, and is grown very cunning by experience. 

Reason (4). The fourth reason is, In judgment to the men of the 
world, that they may stumble and fall, and be ensnared for ever. 
Wicked men that withstand the offers of mercy, and despise the Spirit 
of grace, that will not open, though God knocks never so hard by his 
word and rod, by his Spirit and conscience, are given up by a hand of 
justice, to be hardened, deceived, and ensnared by Satan, to their ever- 
lasting ruin, 1 Kings xxii. 23. And what can be more just than that 
they should be taken and charmed with Satan's wiles, who have fre- 
quently refused to be charmed by the Spirit of grace, though he hath 
charmed never so wisely, and never so sweetly, &c. ? 

Reason (5). The fifth reason is, That the excellency and power of 
God's grace may be more illustrated and manifested, by making men 
able to grapple with this mighty adversary, and that notwithstanding 
all the plots, devices, and stratagems of Satan, yet he will make them 
victorious here, and crown them with glory hereafter. The greater 
and the subtler the enemies of the children of Israel were, the more 
did divine power, wisdom, and goodness, sparkle and shine ; and that, 
notwithstanding all their power, plots, and stratagems, &c, yet to 
Canaan he would bring them at last. When Paul had weighed this, 
he sits down and glories in his infirmities and distresses and Satan's 
buffetings, that the power of Christ might rest upon him, 2 Cor. 
xii. 7-9. 

The use of the point. 

If Satan hath such a world of devices and stratagems to ensnare and 
undo the souls of men, then, instead of wondering that so few are saved, 
sit down and wonder that any are saved, that any escape the snares of 
this cunning fowler, who spreads his nets and casts forth his baits in all 
places, in all cases and companies. 

But this is not the main thing that I intend to speak to ; my main 
business shall be, to set before you some special rules and helps against 
all his devices. 

1 An envious heart and plotting head are inseparable companions. 



158 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 CoR. II. 11. 

The first help. If you would not be taken by any of Satan's devices, 
then ovalk by rule. 1 He that walks by rule, walks most safely ; he that 
walks by rule, walks most honourably ; he that walks by rule, walks most 
sweetly. When men throw off the word, then God throws off them, 
and then Satan takes them by the hand, and leads them into snares at 
his pleasure. He that thinks himself too good to be ruled by the 
word, will be found too bad to be owned by God ; and if God do not, 
or will not own him, Satan will by his stratagems overthrow him. 
Them that keep to the rule, they shall be kept in the hour of tempta- 
tion. ' Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will 
keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the 
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth,' Rev. iii. 10. 

The second Itelp. As you would not be taken with any of Satan's 
devices, take heed of vexing and grieving the Holy Spirit of God. 2 It 
is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ that is best able to discover 
Satan's snares against us ; it is only he that can point out all his plots, 
and discover all his methods, and enable men to escape those pits that 
he hath digged for their precious souls. Ah ! if you set that sweet and 
blessed Spirit a-mourning, that alone can secure you from Satan's 
depths, by whom will you be secured ? Man is a weak creature, and 
no way able to discover Satan's snares, nor to avoid them, unless the 
Spirit of the Lord gives skill and power ; therefore, whoever be grieved, 
be sure the Spirit be not grieved by your enormities, nor by your refu- 
sing the cordials and comforts that he sets before you, nor by slighting 
and despising his gracious actings in others, nor by calling sincerity 
hypocrisy, faith fancy, &c, nor by fathering those things upon the Spirit, 
that are the brats and fruits of your own hearts. 3 The Spirit of 
the Lord is your counsellor, your comforter, your upholder, your 
strengthener. It is only the Spirit that makes a man too great for 
Satan to conquer. ' Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the 
world,' 1 John iv. 4. 

The third help. If you would not be taken with any of Satan's 
devices, then labour for more heavenly ivisdom* Ah, souls ! you are 
much in the dark, you have but a little to that others have, and to that 
you might have had, had you not been wanting to yourselves. There 
are many knowing souls, but there are but a few wise souls. There is 
oftentimes a great deal of knowledge, where there is but a little wis- 
dom to improve that knowledge. Knowledge without wisdom is like 
mettle in a blind horse, which often is an occasion of the rider's fall, 
and of his bones being jostled against the walls. 5 It is not the most 
knowing Christian, but the most wise Christian, that sees, avoids, and 
escapes Satan's snares. ' The way of life is above to the wise,' saith 
Solomon, ' that he may depart from hell beneath,' Prov. xv. 24«. Heavenly 
wisdom makes a man delight to fly high ; and the higher any man 
flies, the more ho is out of the reach of Satan's snares. 6 Ah, souls ! you 

1 Prov. xii. 24; Gal. vi. 16. 

2 Spiritus sanclus est res delicata, the Divine Spirit is a very tender thing : if you grieve 
him, he will certainly grieve and vex your precious souls, Lam. i. 16. 

3 Isa. lxiii. 10 ; Ps. lxxiii. 23 ; 1 Thes. v. 19 ; Acts ii. 13. 

4 If men could but see the fair face of wisdom with mortal eyes, they would be in love 
with her, saith Plato. 6 Sine prudentia simplicitas stultitiaest — Drusius. 

6 Malim prxidentice guttam qnam fozeundioris fortunes pelagus, said Nazianzen. A ser- 
pent's eye is a singular ornament in a dove's head. 






2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 159 

had need of a great deal of heavenly wisdom, to see where and how 
Satan lays his baits and snares ; and wisdom to find out proper reme- 
dies against his devices, and wisdom to apply those remedies season- 
ably, inwardly, and effectually to your own hearts, that so you may 
avoid the snares which that evil one hath laid for your precious souls. 

The fourth help. If you would not be taken with any of Satan's 
devices, then make present resistance against Satan's first motions. 
It is safe to resist, it is dangerous to dispute. Eve disputes, and falls 
in paradise, Gen. iii. ; Job resists, and conquers upon the dunghill. 
He that will play with Satan's bait, will quickly be taken with Satan's 
book. The promise of conquest is made over to resisting, not to dis- 
puting : ' Resist the devil, and he will fly from you,' James iv. 7. Ah, 
souls ! were you better at resisting than at disputing, though happily 
you were not very expert at either, your temptations would be fewer, 
and your strength to stand would be greater than now it is, &c. 

The fifth help. If you would not be taken with any of Satan's devices, 
then labour to be filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord is a 
Spirit of light and power ; and what can a soul do without light and 
power 'against spiritual wickedness in high places'? Eph. vi. 12. It 
is not enough that you have the Spirit, but you must be filled with the 
Spirit, or else Satan, that evil spirit, will be too hard for you, and his 
plots will prosper against you. That is a sweet word of the apostle, 
'Be filled with the Spirit, Eph. v. 18 ;* i.e. labour for abundance of the 
Spirit. He that thinks he hath enough of the Holy Spirit, will quickly 
find himself vanquished by the evil spirit. Satan hath his snares to 
take you in prosperity and adversity, in health and sickness, in strength 
and weakness, when you are alone and when you are in company, when 
you come on to spiritual duties and when you come off from spiritual 
duties, and if you are not filled with the Spirit, Satan will be too hard 
and too crafty for you, and will easily and frequently take you in his 
snares, and make a prey of you in spite of your souls. Therefore labour 
more to have your hearts filled with the Spirit than to have your heads 
filled with notions, your shops with wares, your chests with silver, or 
your bags with gold ; so shall you escape the snares of this fowler, and 
triumph over all his plots, &c. 2 

The sixth help. If you would not be taken in any of Satan's snares, 
then keep humble. An humble heart will rather lie in the dust than 
rise by wickedness, and sooner part with all than the peace of a good 
conscience. Humility keeps the soul free from many darts of Satan's 
casting, and snares of his spreading ; as the low shrubs are free from 
many violent gusts and blasts of wind, which shake and rend the taller 
trees. The devil hath least power to fasten a temptation on him that 
is most humble. He that hath a gracious measure of humility, is neither 
affected with Satan's proffers nor terrified with his threatenings. 3 I 

1 irXn^ovah. To be filled with the Spirit, as the sails of a ship is filled with wind. 

2 Luther saith, a holy gluttony is to lay on, to feed hard, and to fetch hearty draughts, 
till they be even drunk with loves, and with the abundance of the Spirit. Oh that there 
were more such holy gluttony in the world ! 

3 It is reported of Satan that he should say thus of a learned man, Tu me semper vincis, 
thou dost always overcome me ; when 1 would exalt and promote thee, thou keepest thy- 
self in humility ; and when I would throw thee down, thou liftest up thyself in assurance 
of faith. 



160 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

have read of one who, seeing in a vision many snares of the devil spread 
upon the earth, he sat down, and mourned, and said in himself, Quis 
peHransiet ista ? who shall pass through these ? whereunto he heard a 
voice answering, Humilitas peiiransiet, humility shall. God hath 
said, that ' he will teach the humble/ and that ' he will dwell with the 
humble,' and that 'he will fill and satisfy the humble.' 1 And if the 
teachings of God, the indwellings of God, if the pourings in of God, will 
not keep the soul from falling into Satan's snares, I do not know what 
will. And therefore as you would be happy in resisting Satan, and 
blessed in triumphing over Satan and all his snares, keep humble ; I 
say again, keep humble, &c. 

The seventh help. If you would not be taken in any of Satan's snares, 
then keep a strong, close, and constant watch, 1 Thes. v. 6.' 2 A secure 
soul is already an ensnared soul. That soul that will not watch against 
temptations, will certainly fall before the power of temptations. Satan 
works most strongly on the fancy when the soul is drowsy. The soul's 
security is Satan's opportunity to fall upon the soul and to spoil the 
soul, as Joshua did the men of Ai. The best way to be safe and secure 
from all Satan's assaults is, with Nehemiah and the Jews, to watch and 
pray, and pray and watch. By this means they became too hard for 
their enemies, and the work of the Lord did prosper sweetly in their 
hands. Remember how Christ chid his sluggish disciples, ' What ! could 
you not watch with me one hour V what, cannot you watch with me ? 
how will you then die with me ? if you cannot endure words, how will 
you endure wounds ? drc. Satan always keeps a crafty and malicious 
watch, ' seeking whom he may devour (xaram^ or whom he may drink 
or sip up, as the apostle speaks in that 1 Peter v. 8. Satan is very 
envious at our condition, that we should enjoy that paradise out of 
which he is cast, and out of which he shall be for ever kept. 

Shall Satan keep a crafty watch, and shall not Christians keep a holy 
spiritual watch ? 3 Our whole life is beset with temptations. Satan 
watches all opportunities to break our peace, to wound our consciences, 
to lessen our comforts, to impair our graces, to slur our evidences, and 
to damp our assurances, &c. Oh ! what need then have we to be 
always upon our watch-tower, lest we be surprised by this subtle ser- 
pent. Watchfulness includes a waking, a rousing up of the soul. It 
is a continual, careful observing of our hearts and ways, in all the turn- 
ings of our lives, that we still keep close to God and his word. 

Watchfulness is nothing else but the soul running up and down, to 
and fro, busy everywhere ; it is the heart busied and employed with 
diligent observation of quid inde, what comes from within us, and of 
quid inde, what comes from without us and into us. Ah, souls ! you 
are no longer safe and secure than when you are upon your watch. 
While Antipater kept the watch, Alexander was safe; and while we 

1 Ps. xxv. 9 ; Isa. lvii. 15 ; James iv. 6. 

2 We must not be like Agrippa's dormouse, that would not awake till cast into boil- 
ing lead, but effectually mind lliese following scriptures, wherein this duty of watchful- 
ness is so strictly enjoined : — Mat. xxvi. 40 ; Mark xiii. 33, 34, 35, 37 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 13 ; 
Col. iv. 2 ; 1 Peter iv. 7 ; Rev. ii. 3. 

8 Hannibal never rested, whether he did conquer or was conquered. It is so with 
Satan. Learn, for shame of the devil, said blessed Latimer, to watch, seeing the devil is 
so watchful. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 161 

keep a strict watch, we are safe. A watchful soul is a soul upon the 
wing, a soul out of gun-shot, a soul upon a rock, a soul in a castle, a 
soul above the clouds, a soul held fast in everlasting arms. 

I shall conclude this seventh head with this advice, Remember the 
dragon is subtle, and bites the elephant's ear, and then sucks his blood, 
because he knows that to be the only place which the elephant cannot 
reach with his trunk to defend ; so our enemies are so subtle, that they 
will bite us, and strike us where they may most mischief us, and there- 
fore it doth very much concern us to stand always upon our guard. 

The eighth help. If you would not be taken with any of Satan's 
snares and devices, then keep up your communion with God. 1 Your 
strength to stand and withstand Satan's fiery darts is from your com- 
munion with God. A soul high in communion with God may be 
tempted, but will not easily be conquered. Such a soul will fight it 
out to the death. Communion with God furnisheth the soul with the 
greatest and the choicest arguments to withstand Satan's temptations. 
Communion is the result of union. Communion is a reciprocal ex- 
change between Christ and a gracious soul. Communion is Jacob's 
ladder, where you have Christ sweetly coming down into the soul, and 
the soul, by divine influences, sweetly ascending up to Christ. Com- 
munion with Christ is very inflaming, raising and strengthening. While 
Samson kept up his communion with God, no enemy could stand 
before him, but he goes on conquering and to conquer ; but when he 
was fallen in his communion with God, he quickly falls before the plots 
of his enemies. It will be so with your souls. So long as your com- 
munion with God is kept up, you will be too hard for ' spiritual wicked- 
ness in high places ;' but if you fall from your communion with God, 
you will fall, as others, before the face of every temptation. 2 David, so 
long as he kept up his communion with God, he stands, and triumphs 
over all his enemies ; but when he was fallen in his communion with 
God, then he falls before the enemies that were in his own bosom, and 
flies before those that pursued after his life. It will be so with your 
souls, if you do not keep up your communion with God. Job keeps up 
his communion with God, and conquers Satan upon the dunghill ; 
Adam loses his communion with God, and is conquered by Satan in 
paradise. Communion with God is a shield upon land, as well as an 
anchor at sea ; it is a sword to defend you, as well as a staff to support 
you ; therefore keep up your communion. 

The ninth help. If you would not be taken in any of Satan's snares, 
then engage not against Satan in your own strength, but be every 
day drawing new virtue and strength from the Lord Jesus. 3 Cer- 
tainly that soul that engages against any old or new temptation without 

1 1 Cor. vi. 19. The words are very significant in the original. There are two ins, 
as though God could never have near enough communion with them. 

2 The sea ehhs and flows, the moon increases and decreases; so it is with saints in their 
communion with God. Plutarch tells of Eudoxus, that he would be willing to be burnt 
up presently by the sun, so he might be admitted to come so near it as to learn the 
nature of it. What! should not we be content to suffer for the keeping up communion 
with Christ? — [Eudoxus : Delambre, Hist. Astron. Anc, 1. 107. — G.] 

3 There is a remarkable saying of Moses, Exod. xv., God is fortitudo mea, et laxts mea, 
et salus mea, my strength, and my praise, and my salvation, all in the abstract. It is but 
look up and live ; look unto me, and be saved, from the ends of the earth, Isa. xlv. 22. 

VOL. I. L 



1(>2 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

new strength, new influences from on high, will fall before tbe power 
of the temptation. You may see this in Peter ; he rested upon some 
old received strength — ' Though all men should deny thee, yet will not 
I,' Mat. xx vi. 35 — and therefore he falls sadly before a new temptation. 
He curses and swears, and denies him thrice, that had thrice appeared 
gloriously to him. Ah, souls ! when the snare is spread, look up to 
Jesus Christ, who is lifted up in the gospel, as the brazen serpent was 
in the wilderness, and say to him, Dear Lord ! here is a new snare laid 
to catch my soul, and grace formerly received, without fresh supplies 
from thy blessed bosom, will not deliver me from this snare. Oh ! give 
me new strength, new power, new influences, new measures of grace, 
that so I may escape the snares. Ah, souls ! remember this, that your 
strength to stand and overcome must not be expected from graces 
received, but from the fresh and renewed influences of heaven. 1 You 
must lean more upon Christ than upon your duties ; you must lean 
more upon Christ than upon spiritual tastes and discoveries ; you must 
lean more upon Christ than upon your graces, or else Satan will lead 
you into captivity, &c. 

The tenth help. If you would not be taken in any of Satan's snares, 
then be much in prayer. Prayer is a shelter to the soul ; a sacrifice 
to God and a scourge to the devil. David's heart was oft more out of 
tune than his harp. He prays, and then, in spite of the devil, cries, 
' Return unto thy rest, O my soul.' Prayer is porta cosli, clavis para- 
disi, the gate of heaven, a key to let us into paradise. There is nothing 
that renders plots fruitless like prayer ; therefore saith Christ, ' Watch 
and pray that ye enter not into temptation/ Mat. xxvi. 41. You must 
watch and pray, and pray and watch, if you would not enter into temp- 
tation. 2 When Sennacherib and Hamanhad laid plots and snares to have 
destroyed the Jews, they prayed, and their souls w r ere delivered, and 
Sennacherib and Haman destroyed. David had many snares laid for 
him, and this puts him upon prayer. ' Keep me,' saith he, ' from the 
snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of ini- 
quity.' ' Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I escape,' 
Ps. cxli. 9, 10. 'The proud/ saith he, 'have hid a snare for me, and 
cords :. they have spread a net by the wayside ; they have set gins 
for me. Selah. I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God : hear the 
voice of my supplication, O Lord !' Ps. cxl. 5, 6. Saul and many others 
bad laid snares for David, and this puts him upon prayer, and so the 
snares are broken and he is delivered. 3 Ah, souls ! take words to 
yourselves, and tell God that Satan hath spread his snares in all places 
and in all companies ; tell God that he digs deep, and that he hath 
plot upon plot, and device upon device, and all to undo you ; tell God 
that you have neither skill nor power to escape his snares ; tell God that 
it is a work too high and too hard for any created creature to work your 

1 John xv. 5, x u i>f l P<>"< is seorsim a me, separate from me, or apart from me, ye can 
do nothing. 

* Of Carolus Magnus it was spoken, Carolus plus cum Deoquam cum hominibus loquitur, 
that he spake more with God than with men. Ah ! that I could say so of the Christians 
in our days. 

* Nunquam abs te, absque te recedo.— Bernard. O Lord ! saith he, I never go away from 
thoe, without thee. Let us, saith Basil, with a holy impudence, make God ashamed, that 
he cannot look us in the face, if he do deny our importunity : Jacob-like, ' I will not let 

hee go, unless thou bless me.' 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 163 

deliverance, unless lie put under his own everlasting arms ; tell God 
how his honour is engaged to stand by you, and to bring you off, that 
you be not ruined by his plots ; tell God how the wicked would triumph, 
if you should fall into Satan's snares ; tell God of the love of Christ, of 
the blood of Christ, and of the intercession of Christ for you, that a 
way may be found for your escape ; tell God if he will make it his 
honour to save you from falling into Satan's snares, you will make it 
your glory to speak of his goodness and to live out his kindness. Chris- 
tians must do as Daedalus, that when he could not escape by a way 
upon earth, went by a way of heaven, 1 and that is, the way of prayer, 
which is the only way left to escape Satan's snares, &c. 

Use. The next use is a use of thankfulness to those that escape Satan's 
snares, that are not taken by him at his will. Ah ! Christians, it stands 
upon you with that princely prophet David, to call upon your souls, 
and say, ' Bless the Lord, our souls ; and all that is within us, bless 
his holy name ! Bless the Lord, O our souls, and forget not all his 
benefits !' Ps. ciii. 1,2; who hath not given us to be a prey to Satan, 
and to be ensnared by those snares that he hath laid for our souls. The 
sense of this great favour did work up David's heart to praises : ' Blessed 
be the Lord,' saith he, ' who hath not given us a prey to their teeth. 
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snares of the fowlers : the snare 
is broken, and we are escaped,' Ps. cxxiv. 7. Ah ! Christians, remember 
that the greatest part of the world, yea, the greatest part of professors, 
are taken in Satan's snares. Can you think seriously of this, and not 
blush to be unthankful ? What are you better than others ? and what 
have ye deserved of God, or done for God more than others, that you 
should by the help of a divine hand escape the snares, when others are 
taken and held in the snares of the devil to their eternal overthrow ? &c. 

Willyou be thankful for the escaping the snares that men spread for your 
lives or estates, &c, and will you not be much more thankful for escaping 
those snares that Satan hath laid for your precious souls ? Ps. lxxi. 14. 2 

Remember this, that deliverance from Satan's snares doth carry with 
it the clearest and the greatest evidence of the soul and heart of God 
to be towards us. Many a man by a common hand of providence 
escapes many a snare that man hath laid for him, but yet escapes not 
the snares that Satan hath laid for him. Saul, and Judas, and Demas, 
doubtless escaped many snares that men had laid for them, but none of 
them escaped the snares that the devil had laid for them. Many men 
are lifted up above the snares of men by a common hand of providence, 
that are left to fall into the snares of the devil by a hand of justice ; 
your deliverance from Satan's snares is a fruit of special love. Can you 
thus look upon it and not be thankful, precious soul ? I judge not. 

Use. The last use of this point is, To bespeak Christians to long to 
be at home. 3 Oh ! long to be in the bosom of Christ ! long to be in the 

1 The well-known legend of the ' wax-fixed wings' of Dasdalus and Icarus. — G. 

8 The ancients use to say, Ingratum dixeris, omnia dixeris, say a man is unthankful, and 
say he is anything. Ps. lxxi. 14, « I will yet praise thee more and more.' In the original 
it is, 1 will add to thy praise. The stork is said to leave one of her young ones where 
Bhe hatcheth them ; and the elephant to turn up the first sprig toward heaven, when he 
cometh to feed, out of some instinct of gratitude. Ah ! souls, that these may not bear 
witness against you in the day of Christ. 

8 Austin wished that he might have seen three things : Rome flourishing, I aul preacu- 



1G4? PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11. 

land of Canaan ! for this world, this wilderness, is full of snares, and all 
employments are full of snares, and all enjoyments are full of snares. 
In civil things, Satan hath his snares to entrap us ; and in all spiritual 
things, Satan hath his snares to catch us. All places are full of snares, 
city and country, shop and closet, sea and land ; and all our mercies are 
surrounded with snares. There are snares about our tables and snares 
about our beds, &c. ; yea, Satan is so powerful and subtle that he will 
oftentimes make our greatest, nearest, and dearest mercies to become 
our greatest snares. Sometimes he will make the wife that lies in the 
bosom to be a snare to a man, as Samson's was, and as Job's was. 
Sometimes he will make the child to be a snare, as Absalom was and 
Eli's sons were ; and sometimes he will make the servant to be a snare, 
as Joseph was to his mistress. Ah ! souls, Satan is so cunning and 
artificial 1 that he can turn your cups into snares, and your clothes into 
snares, and your houses into snares, and your gardens into snares, and 
all your recreations into snares, &c. And oh ! how should the consider- 
ation of these things work all your souls to say with the church, ' Make 
haste, my beloved, and be like a roe, or a young hart upon the moun- 
tain of spices,' and to love, and look, and long for the coming of Christ, 
Cant. viii. 14. 2 Shall the espoused maid long for the marriage day ? 
the servant for his freedom ? the captive for his ransom ? the traveller 
for his inn ? and the mariner for his harbour ? and shall not the people 
of the Lord long much more to be in the bosom of Christ ? there being 
nothing below the bosom of Christ that is not surrounded with Satan's 
snares, Philip, i. 23, and 2 Cor. v. 2, 4. 

What Paul once spake of bonds and afflictions, that they attended 
him in every place, Acts xx. 23, that may all the saints say of Satan's 
snares, that they attend them in every place, which should cause thei 
to cry out, Migremus hinc, Tinigremus hinc, let us go hence, let us gc 
hence ; and to say with Monica, Austin's mother, What do we here ? 
why depart we not hence? why fly we no swifter? 3 Ah ! souls, till you 
are taken up into the bosom of Christ, your comforts will not be full, 
pure, and constant ; till then, Satan will still be thumping of you, and 
spreading snares to entangle you ; therefore you should always be crying 
out with the church, ' Come, Lord Jesus !' Rev. xxii. 20. Is not Christ 
the star of Jacob, that ' giveth light to them that are in darkness V 
that Prince of peace who brings the olive branch to souls that are per- 
plexed ? Is not the greatest Avorth and wealth in him ? Is not the 
petty excellencies and perfections of all created creatures epitomized in 
him ? Is not he the crown of crowns, the glory of glories, and the 
heaven of heavens ? Oh then, be still a-longing after a full, clear, and 
constant enjoyment of Christ in heaven ; for till then, Satan will still 
have plots and designs upon you. He acts by an united 4 power, and 
will never let you rest till you are taken up to an everlasting rest in the 
bosom of Christ. 5 

ing, and Christ conversing with men upon the earth. Bede comes after, and, correcting 
iliis hist wish, saith, Yea, hut let me see the King in his beauty, Christ in his heavenly 
kingdom. 

1 ' Artful.' — G. " mi ni2, berach dodi ; flee away speedily, my heloved. 

a Quid hie faciamus ? cur nou oeius migramus? cur non hinc avolamus *? 

4 Qu. 'untired'V— G. 

b It is as easy to compass the heavens with a span, and contain the sea in a nutshell, 
as to relate fully Christ's excellencies, or heaven's happiness. 



2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 165 



THE STATIONER TO THE READER. 

Christian Reader, — I thought good to present to thy view this 
letter following, which came to my hands, being sent from one in Devon- 
shire to his brother in London, returning him much thanks for this 
book, and declaring the great benefit he received by it, and the com- 
fortable effects it wrought upon him, — and I may say, not upon him 
only, for I have heard of several others that have reaped much profit 
and comfort from it and the other works of this author's lately pub- 
lished, — through the Lord's blessing, to whom be ascribed all the glory. 
I was induced to publish it, that so others may be encouraged to a more 
serious perusal of this and other solid practical divinity books, which 
may tend to their, eternal welfare. 

For as there are good and bad men in the world, so there are many 
good and bad books, and our time is a precious thing. Therefore we 
ought to 'redeem it,' Eph. v. 15, 16, and improve it to our best ad- 
vantage. 1 I deny not but there are many moral historical books extant 
of very good use, yet it is too apparent that there are divers vain, idle, 
amorous romances, lascivious and vicious poetry, and profane play- 
books, which chiefly tend to the corruption of youth, the mis-spending 
their precious time, and undoing their immortal souls. As I have 
known some foolish, ignorant people that have made earnest inquiry for 
merry books to pass away the time, Honest Reader, let me advise thee, 
next to the Bible, let it be thy chief care, as thou art curious and care- 
ful for wholesome food, for the health and preservation of thy body, so 
be no less careful to make sound and solid divinity books thy chiefest 
study and delight ; which will be most for thy profit and edification, 
especially if thou readest them not for notion-sake, only to know, but 
to practise ; then, as in this following young man's example, thou mayest 
have cause to bless God, and to be thankful to the author or instrument 
of thy good. Vale, J. H. a 



A TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER ABOVE MENTIONED. 

Brother ! — I thank you most kindly for that book of Mr Brooks's 
' Precious Remedies' — you sent me ; and I think I can never recompense 
you in a better manner than to acquaint you with what benefit I have 
received by it ; for it was a great awaking of me, to see in what a lost 
condition I was without Christ, and how many ways Satan hath de- 
ceived me, in making me delay my careful providing for eternity. 
Brother ! I was made within these few weeks so sensible of my condition, 
that for a week's space I was almost ready to despair of God's mercy ; 
I was sore troubled that I had sinned so much against the mercy of the 
Lord, who had afforded me so much means of grace, and followed me 

1 See Mr Brooks's ' Apples of Gold.' Eccles. i. 2, ' Remember now thy Creator in 
the days of thy youth,' &c. See Mr Philip Goodwin in his ' Mystery of Dreams,' p. 50. 
Satan sends out his books as baits, by which many are cunningly caught, with the venom 
of which so many are poisoned. 

2 John Hancock. See title-page in note prefixed to the book, ' Precious Remedies,' 
&c— G. 



1G6 PRECIOUS REMEDIES. [2 COR. II. 11. 

Avith convictions, wooing and entreating me by his messengers for many 
years, which made me think that my day of grace was past. But since, 
' praised be the Lord, who hath comforted me,' and now I see that there 
is yet a door of hope open for me, which hath brought me to such a 
great change in the very thoughts of my heart, that I would not ex- 
change for the whole world. Brother ! let your prayers and the prayers 
of God's people be, that the Lord would increase and strengthen his 
grace in me, for I am as a new-born babe, ' desiring the sincere milk of 
the word, that I may grow thereby/ 1 Peter ii. 2. And I would 
gladly have more acquaintance with the Lord's people. Brother ! my 
prayer shall be to the Lord for you, that you may grow more and more 
in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; 
and so I rest, yours in all brotherly love and affections till death, 

W. L. 
Tiverton, March 1655. 



APPLES OF GOLD. 



NOTE. 

' Apples of Gold' wag originally preached as a ' funeral sermon,' and published in 1657. 
See Appendix to our reprint, where will be found, (1.) Copy of the first title-page, as it 
states the circumstances ; (2.) The original ' Epistle Dedicatory,' afterwards withdrawn 
and another substituted ; but reprinted thus as being very characteristic and pungent. 

Our text is taken from the ' third edition, corrected.' Its title-page will be found 
below.* The ' 17th' edition appeared in 1693, and ' Apples of Gold' has always ranked 
with ' Precious Remedies' and the ' Mute Christian,' in acceptance. — G. 

* APPLES OF GOLD 

FOR 

Young Men and Women, 

AND, 






A CROWN of GLORY for 
Old Men and Women. 

OR, 

The Happiness of being Good betimes. 

And the Honour of being an Old Disciple. 

Clearly and fully discovered, and closely 

and faithfully applied. 

ALSO, 

The Young Mans Objections answered. 
And the Old Mans Doubts resolved. 

By THOMAS BROOKS Preacher of the Gospel 

at Margarets New Fishstreet-hill. 

The Third Edition corrected. 

But I thy Servant fear the Lord from my youth, 1 Kings 

18. 12. 
The hoary head is a Crovm of Glory, if it bee found in a 

way of Righteousness, Prov. 16. 31. 

London, Printed by R. T. for John Hancock, to be sold 
at the first Shop in Popes-head- Alley, next to Corn- 
hill, near the Exchange. 1660. 






THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY, 



TO ALL YOUNG PERSONS THROUGHOUT THE NATIONS, 

especially those, of both sexes, who begin to turn their faces 
towards Zion. 

Dear Hearts, — 'A word spoken in due season, how good is it I', 1 Pro v. 
xv. 23. ' It is' often ' like apples of gold in pictures of silver/ Prov, xxv. 
11. Many times such a word is sweet, precious, pleasing, delectable, and 
strong in its operation. A company of near friends dining together one 
Sabbath day, one that was at table, to prevent impertinent 2 discourse, 
said ' that it was a question whether they should all go to heaven or 
no,' which struck them all into a dump, and caused every one to enter 
into a serious consideration with themselves. One thought, if any of 
this company go to hell, it must be I ; and so thought another and 
another, and indeed so thought almost every one then present, as well 
servants that waited as those that sat at table, as it was afterwards 
acknowledged ; and through the mercy and blessing of God this speech 
so wrought upon the spirits of most of them, that it proved the first 
instrumental means of their conversion. 

I have my hopes, through grace, that this treatise, though it be sown 
in weakness, yet by the blessing of the Most High upon it, it may rise 
in power, and be an instrumental means of the winning of souls to 
Christ, which is my highest ambition in this world ; and therefore I 
have broke through all difficulties and carnal reasonings that might 
otherwise have stifled this babe in the womb, and kept it from ever 
seeing of the light. 

I have read of an emperor that delighted in no undertakings so much 
as those which in the esteem of his counsellors and captains were deemed 
most difficult and impossible. If they said such or such an enterprise 
would never be accomplished, it was argument enough to him to make 
the adventure ; and he usually prospered, he seldom miscarried. 

I have never found greater and choicer blessings to attend any of my 
poor weak labours than those that have been brought forth into the 
world through the greatest straits and difficulties. 

1 ' A word spoken [gnal ophnah) upon his wheels,' that is, with a due concurrence and 
observation of all circumstances of time, place, person, all which are as the wheels upon 
which our words and speeches should run, such a word is like apples of gold in pictures 
of silver. 2 ' Not pertinent,' = irrelevant or frivolous.— G. 



1 70 EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

Valerius Maximus reports, 1 that one telling a soldier going to war 
against the Persians, that they would hide the sun with their arrows, 
he answered, We shall fight best in the shade. Nothing should dis- 
courage nor dishearten a soldier of Christ, 2 Tim. ii. 3, 4. Christ saith to 
all his soldiers (as the Black Prince his father said to him, fighting as it 
were in blood to the knees, and in great distress), Either vanquish or die. 2 
Men of no resolution, or of weak resolution, will be but little serviceable 
to the good of souls. Such watchmen as will be free from the blood of 
souls, and be serviceable to the interest of Christ in turning sinners 
from darkness to light, must be men of spirit and resolution. 

I remember Austin beginneth one of his sermons thus : Ad vos mihi 
aervno, j avenes flos cetatis, periculum mentis, To you is my speech, 
O young men, the flower of age, the danger of the mind.' 3 

So say I, To you, O young men ! do I dedicate the ensuing treatise, 
and that, first, Because the matter contained therein doth primarily and 
eminently concern you. 

And secondly, Because of an earnest desire that I have of your internal 
and eternal welfare. 

And thirdly, Because of some late impulses that have been upon my 
spirit to leave this treatise in your hands as a legacy of my love, and as 
a testimony and witness of my great ambition to help forward your 
everlasting salvation. 

And fourthly, Because there is most hope of doing good amongst you, 
as I evidence more at large in the following treatise. 

And fifthly, To countermine the great undermmer of your souls, 
whose great design is to poison you, and to possess you, in the morning 
of your days. 

Sixthly, To provoke others that are more able and worthy to be more 
serviceable to you in declaring themselves fully on this very subject, 
which none yet have done that I know of, though it be a point of as 
great concernment to young persons especially, as any I know in all the 
Scriptures, Eph. iv. 14*. 

Seventhly, and lastly, Because there are very many that do lie in 
wait to deceive, corrupt, and poison your persons with God-dishonouring, 
Christ-denying, conscience-wasting, and soul-damning opinions, prin- 
ciples, and blasphemies. 4 

I have read of one who boasted and gloried in this, that he had spent 
thirty years in corrupting and poisoning of youth. Doubtless, many 
wretches, many monsters there be among us, who make it their business, 
their glory, their all, to delude and draw young persons to those dan- 
gerous errors and blasphemies that lead to destruction. Error and folly, 
saith one very well, be the knots of Satan wherewith he ties children to 
the stake to be burned in hell. 

There is a truth in what the tragedian [Terence?] said long since, 
' Venerium in auro bibitur,' poison is commonly drunk out of a cup of 
gold. So is an error or by-notion soonest taken into the judgment and 
conscience from persons of the fairest carriage and smoothest conversations. 

1 Valerius Maximus, lib. 3. c. de Fiducia. * Hist, of France, p. 196. 

* Augustine, de tempore, serm. 266. 

4 A blind eye is worse than a lame foot. lie that bad the leprosy in his head, was to 
be pronounced utterly unclean. 



EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 171 

Error is so foul an hag, that if it should come in its own shape, a man 
would loathe it, and fly from it as from hell. 1 

If Jezebel had not painted her face, she had not gotten so many 
young doating adulterers to have followed her to their own ruin. 

Ah ! young men, young men, the blessing of the Lord upon your 
serious and diligent perusal of this treatise may be a happy means to 
preserve you from being ensnared and deluded by those monsters ' who 
compass sea and land to make proselytes for hell/ Mat. xxiii. 1 5. 

And thus I have given you the reasons of my dedicating this treatise 
to the service of your souls. I would willingly presume that it will be 
as kindly taken as it is cordially tendered. I hope none of you into 
whose hands it may fall, will say as one Antipater, king of Macedonia, 
did ; when one presented him with a book treating of happiness, his 
answer was, On ff^oXa^w, 2 I have no leisure. 

Ah ! Young men and women, young men and virgins, as you tender 3 
the everlasting welfare of your souls ; as you would escape hell and come 
to heaven ; as you would have an interest in Christ, a pardon in your 
bosoms ; as you would be blessed here and glorious hereafter ; find time, 
find leisure, to read over and over the following treatise, which is pur- 
posely calculated for your eternal good. 

But before I go further, I think it needful, in some respects, to give 
the world some further account of other reasons or motives that hath 
prevailed with me to appear once more in print ; and they are these : 

First, Having preached a sermon occasionally 4 upon these words, 
on which this following discourse is built, I was earnestly importuned 
to print the sermon by some worthy friends. I did as long as in modesty 
I could, withstand their desires, judging it not worthy of them ; but 
being at last overcome, and setting about the work, the breathings and 
comings in of God were such as hath occasioned that one sermon to mul- 
tiply into many. Luther tells us, that when he first began to turn his 
back upon popery, he intended no more but to withstand popish par- 
dons and selling indulgences ; yet neither would God or his enemies 
let him alone till he resolved with Moses not to leave a hoof of popery 
unopposed, Exod. x. 26, &c. God many times in the things of the gospel 
carries forth his servants beyond their intentions, beyond their resolu- 
tions. But, 

Secondly, The kind acceptance and good quarter that my other 
pieces have found in the world, and those signal and multiplied blessings 
that have followed them, to the winning of many over to Christ, and 
to the building up of others in Christ, hath encouraged me to present 
this treatise to the world, hoping that the Lord hath a blessing in store 
for this also. Gracious experiences are beyond notions and impres- 
sions ; they are very quickening and encouraging. 

1 This anticipates by nearly a century Pope's famous couplet : — 
' Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, 
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen.' 
It may be well to add what follows : — 

• Yet seen too oft familiar with her face, 
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.' 

Epistle ii. lines 217-220.— G. 
8 Cf. Sibbes's Works, vol. ii. p. 440.— G. 8 ' Care for.'— G. 

4 ' On a particular occasion.' — G. 



172 EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

Thirdly, That I might in some measure make up other neglects, 
whose age, whose parts, whose experiences, whose graces hath long 
called upon them to do something considerable in this way, and that 
they may be provoked by my weak assay 1 to do better, and to make 
up what is wanting through my invincible infirmities and spiritual 
wants and weaknesses, which are so many as may well make a suffi- 
cient apology for all the defects and weaknesses that in this treatise 
shall appear to a serious judicious eye. But, 

Fov/rbhly, The love of Christ and souls hath constrained me to it. 
As there is an attractive, so there is a compulsive, virtue in divine love. 
Love to Christ and souls will make a man willing to spend and be 
spent. 2 He that prays himself to death, that preaches himself to death, 
that studies himself to death, that sweats himself to death, for the 
honour of Christ and good of souls, shall be no loser in the end. Divine 
love is like a rod of myrtle, which, as Pliny reports, makes the traveller 
that carries it in his hand that he shall never be faint or weary. 3 Divine 
love is very operative ; si non operatur, non est, if it do not work, it is 
an argument it is not at all. Divine love, like fire, is not idle, but 
active. He that loves cannot be barren. Love will make the soul 
constant and abundant in well-doing. God admits none to heaven, 
saith Justin Martyr, but such as can persuade him by their works that 
they love him. The very heathen Seneca hath observed, that God 
doth not love his children with a weak, womanish affection, but with a 
strong, masculine love ; and certainly, they that love the Lord strongly, 
that love him with a masculine love, they cannot but lay out their little 
all for him and his glory. But, 

Fifthly, I observe that Satan and his instruments are exceeding 
busy and unwearied in their designs, attempts, and endeavours in these 
days to corrupt and poison, to defile and destroy the young, the tender, 
the most hopeful, and most flourishing plants among us. 

Latimer told the clergy in his time, that if they would not learn dili- 
gence and vigilance of the prophets and apostles, they should learn it of 
the devil, 4 who goes up and down his dioceses, and acts by an untired 
power, seeking whom he may destroy. When the wolves are abroad, 
the shepherd should not sleep, but watch ; yea, double his watch, remem- 
bering that he were better have all the blood of all the men in the 
world upon him than the blood of one soul upon him by his negligence, 
or otherwise. 

Satan is a lion, not a lamb ; a roaring lion, not a sleepy lion ; not a 
lion standing still, but a lion going up and down. As not being con- 
tented with the prey, the many millions of souls he hath got, ' he seeks 
whom he may sip up at a draught,' as that word, xarwri/i, in the 1 Peter 
v. 8 imports ; his greatest design is to fill hell with souls ; which should 
awaken every one to be active, and to do all that may be done to pre- 
vent his design, and to help forward the salvation of souls. 

Chrysostom compares good pastors to fountains that ever send forth 

1 ' Essay, or attempt.' — G. 

* 2 Cor. v. 14, 2 Cor. xii. 15, Solus amor ncscit difficultates, love knows no difficulties. 

3 Myrtle : lib. xv. 35-38.— G. 

4 It is said of Marcollus tho Roman general, that he could not he quiet, Nee victor, nee 
viclus, neither conquered nor conqueror ; such a one is Satan. [Plutarch, Marcellus. — G.] 



EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 173 

waters, or conduits that are always running, though no pail be put 
under. 1 But, 

Sixthly and lastly, I know the whole life of man is but an hour to 
work in ; and the more work any man doth for Christ on earth, the 
better pay he shall have when he comes to heaven. Every man shall 
at last ' reap as he sows.' Opportunities of doing service for Christ, and 
souls, are more worth than a world ; therefore I was willing to take 
hold on this, not knowing how soon ' I may put off this earthly taber- 
nacle ;' and remembering, that as there is no believing nor repenting 
in the grave, so there is no praying, preaching, writing, nor printing in 
the grave; we had need to be up and doing, to put both hands to it, 
and to do all we do with all our might, knowing that ' the night draws 
on upon us, wherein no man can work.' 2 A Christian's dying day is 
the Lord's pay-day ; that is, a time to receive wages, not to do work. 

And thus I have given the world a true account of the reasons that 
moved me to print the following discourse. Before I close up, I desire 
to speak a word to young persons, and another to aged persons, and 
then I shall take leave of both. 

My request to you who are in the primrose 3 of your days is this, If 
ever the Lord shall be pleased so to own and crown, so to bless and 
follow this following discourse, as to make it an effectual means of turn- 
ing you to the Lord, of winning you to Christ, of changing your natures, 
and converting your souls — for such a thing as that I pray, hope, and 
believe — that then you would do two things for me. 

First, That you would never cease bearing of me upon your hearts 
when you are in the mount, that I may be very much under the pour- 
ings out of the Spirit, that I may be clear, high, and full in my com- 
munion with God, and that I may be always close, holy, humble, 
harmless, and blameless in my walkings with God, and that his work 
may more and more prosper in my hand. 

Secondly, That you would by word of mouth, letter, or some other- 
way, acquaint me with what the Lord hath done for your souls, if he 
shall make me a spiritual father to you. 4 Do not hide his grace from 
me, but acquaint me how he hath made the seed that was sown in 
weakness to rise in power upon you, and that 

(First) That I may do what I can to help on that work begun upon 
you ; that your penny may become a pound, your mite a million, your 
drop an ocean. 

(Secondly) That I may the better English some impressions that 
have been upon my own spirit since I began this work. 

(Thirdly), That my joy and thankfulness may be increased, and my 
soul more abundantly engaged to that God, who hath blessed the day of 
small things to you, 1 Thes. ii. 19, 20 ; 2 Cor. ix. 2. Ponder these 
scriptures — 2 Cor. vii. 3, 4, 13 ; Philip, ii. 2 ; iv. 1 ; Philem. 7 ; 2 John 
3, 4 — and then be ashamed to declare what the Lord hath done for 
you, if you can. 

(Fourthly) It is better to convert one, than to civilise a thousand ; 

1 Chrys. in Mat. Ho. 15. 

2 1 Cor. xv. 58 ; 2 Cor. ix 6 ; 2 Peter i. 13, 14 : Eccles. ix. 10 ; John ix. 4.— G. 

8 That is, ' in the early spring of life.' A frequent word in the Elizabethan writers. 
' The primrose path of dalliance,' Hamlet, i. 3. — G. 
* Ps. lxvi. 16, and 1 Peter iii. 15.— G. 



174« EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

and will turn more at last to a minister's account in that day, wherein 
he shall say, ' Lo, here am I, and the children that thou hast given me,' 
Isa. viii. 18. 1 Such a man, with his spiritual children about him, shall 
look on God with more comfort and boldness, than those that are only 
able to say, ' Lo, here am I, and the many benefices ;' ' Here am I, and 
the many ecclesiastical dignities and glories ;' ' Here am I, and the many 
hundreds a year that man had given, and I have gotten.' But, 

{Fifthly and lastly) The conversion of others is a secondary and 
more remote evidence of a man's own renovation and conversion. Paul 
was converted himself before God made him instrumental for others' 
conversion. God's usual method is, to convert by them who are con- 
verted. 2 

I do not remember any one instance in all the Scripture of God's 
converting any by such who have not been converted first themselves ; 
yet I know his grace is free, and the wind blows where it lists, when it 
lists, and as it lists. 

To aged persons I have a word, and then I have done. 

First, To grey-headed saints. Ah, friends ! ah, fathers ! would you 
see your honour, your happiness, your blessedness ? Then look into this 
treatise, and there you will find what an unspeakable honour it is to be 
an old disciple, what a glory it is to be good betimes, and to continue 
so to old age. 

Secondly, To white-headed sinners whose spring is past, whose 
summer is overpast, and who are arrived at the fall of the leaf, and 
yet have a hell to escape, a Christ to believe in, sins to pardon, hearts 
to change, souls to save, and heaven to make sure ; would such be 
encouraged from Scripture grounds to repent, believe, and hope, that 
yet there is mercy for such, let them seriously peruse this treatise, 
especially the latter part of it, and there they may find enough to keep 
them from despairing, and to encourage them to adventure their souls 
upon him that is mighty to save. 

There are many things in this treatise that are of use to all, and 
several things of moment, that are not every day preached nor read. I 
have made it as pleasurable as time would permit, that so it might be 
the more profitable to the reader, and that I might the better take the 
young man by a holy craft ; which is a high point of heavenly wisdom, 
there being no wisdom to that of winning of souls, 2 Cor. xii. 16 ; Pro v. 
xi. 13. I shall now follow this poor piece with my weak prayers, that 
it may be so blest from heaven, as that it may bring in some, and build 
up others, and do good to all. And so rest, 

Your friend and servant in the Gospel of Christ, 

Thomas Brooks. 

1 Mat. xxv. 23 ; Dan. xii. 3 ; Prov. xi. 30. 
8 Acts ix. 3 ; Isa. vi. 5 ; Mai. ii. 5-7, &c. 



THE YOUNG MAN'S DUTY AND EXCELLENCY. 



And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him ; for he only of 
Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found 
some good thing toivard the Lord Ood of Israel, in the house of 
Jeroboam.' — 1 Kings XIV. 13. 

9 

I shall only stand upon the latter part of this verse, because that 
affords me matter most suitable to my design. 

'Because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord 
God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.' 

These words are a commendation of Abijah's life, 'in him was found 
some good thing toward the Lord,' &c. When Abijah was a child, vers. 
3, 12, when he was in his young and tender years, he had the seeds of 
grace in him, he had the image of God upon him, he could discern be- 
tween good and evil, and he did that which pleased the Lord. 

The Hebrew word [N'agnar] translated child, ver. 3, is very often 
applied to such as we call youth, or young men ; Exod. xxiv. 5 ; Num. 
xi. 28 ; 1 Sam. ii. 17, &C. 1 

Of such age and prudence was Abijah, as that he could choose good 
and refuse evil. He was a Lot in Sodom, he was good among the 
bad. The bent and frame of his heart was towards that which was 
good, when the heart both of his father and mother was set upon evil. 
Abijah began to be good betimes. He crossed that pestilent proverb, 
' a young saint and an old devil.' It is the glory and goodness of God 
that he will take notice of the least good that is in any of his. There 
was but one good word in Sarah's speech to Abraham, and that was 
this, she called him Lord ; and this God mentions for her honour and 
commendation, 'She called him lord/ 1 Peter iii. 6. God looks more 
upon one grain of wheat, than upon a heap of chaff, upon one shining 
pearl than upon a heap of rubbish. God finds a pearl in Abijah, and 
he puts it into his crown, to his eternal commendation, ' There was 
found in him some good thing toward the Lord,' &c. For the words, 
' There was found in him,' the Hebrew word Matsa, sometimes signifies 

1 "80, is used for a young man, or stripling, Gen. xxii. 5, and often for a servant, though 
he be a man of ripe years, Esther ii. 2. Such as one evangelist calleth young men, Luke 
xii. 45, another calleth fellow-servants, Mat. xxiv. 49. 



176 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

finding without seeking : Isa. lxv. 1, ' I am found of them that sought 
me not ;' so Ps. cxvi. 3, ' The sorrows of death compassed me, and the 
pains of hell got hold upon me, I found trouble and sorrow.' I found 
trouble which I looked not for ; I was not searching after sorrow, but I 
found it. There is an elegancy in the original ; ' The pains of hell gat 
hold upon me,' so we read, but the Hebrew is, ' The pains of hell found 
me.' One word signifies both. They found me, I did not find them. 
' There was found in Abijah some good thing towards the Lord,' i. e. 
there was found in him, without searching or seeking, some good thing 
towards the Lord. It was plain and visible enough. Men might see 
and observe it without inquiring or seeking. They might run and read 
some good thing in him towards the Lord. 

Secondly, The word sometimes signifies finding by seeking or in- 
quiry : Isa. lv. 6, ' Seek ye the Lord while he may be found/ &c. So 
upon search and inquiry there was found in Abijah, though young, 
' some good thing toward the Lord.' 

Thirdly, Sometimes the word notes the obtaining of that which is 
sufficient : Joshua xvii. 1 6 ; Num. xi. 22 ; Judges xxi. 14. In Abijah 
there was that good in him towards the Lord that was sufficient to 
evidence the work of grace upon him, sufficient to satisfy himself and 
others of the goodness and happiness of his condition, though he died 
in the prime and flower of his days, &c. 

' And in him was found some good thing.' The Hebrew word Tob, 
that is here rendered good, signifies, 

First, That which is right and just : 2 Sam. xv. 3, ' See thy matters 
are good and right,' i. e. just and right. 

Secondly, That which is profitable: Deut. vi. 11, 'Houses full of all 
good things/ i. e. houses full of all profitable things. 

Thirdly, That which is pleasing : 2 Sam. xix. 27, ' Do what is good 
in thine eyes,' i. e. do what is pleasing in thine eyes. 

Fourthly, That which is full and complete : Gen. xv. 1 5, ' Thou shalt 
be buried in a good old age/ i. e. thou shalt be buried when thine age 
is full and complete. 

Fifthly, That which is joyful and delightful : 1 SanL xxv. 8, ' We 
come in a good day/ i. e. we come in a joyful and delightful day. 

Now put all together, and you may see that there was found in 
Abijah, when he was young, that which was right and just, that which 
was pleasing and profitable, and that which was matter of joy and 
delight. 

In the words you have two things that are most considerable. 

First, Thai I his young mans goodness was towards the Lord God 
of Israel. Many there are that are good, nay, very good towards men, 
who yet are bad, yea, very bad towards God. 1 Some there are who are 
very kind to the creature, and yet very unkind to their Creator. Many 
men's goodness towards the creature is like the rising sun, but their 
goodness towards the Lord is like a morning cloud, or as the early dew, 
which is soon dried up by the sunbeams, Hosea vi. 4 ; but Abijah 's 
o-oodness was towards the Lord, his goodness faced the Lord, it looked 
towards the glory of God. Two tilings makes a good Christian, good 
actions and good aims ; and though a good aim doth not make a bad 
1 This age affords many such hypocrites, such monsters, &c. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 177 

action good, as in Uzzah, yet a bad aim makes a good action bad, as in 
Jehu, whose justice was approved, but his policy punished, the first 
chapter of Hosea, and the fourth verse. Doubtless Abijah's actions were 
good, and his aims good, and this was indeed his glory, that his good- 
ness was ' towards the Lord/ 1 

It is recorded of the Catanenses, that the made a stately monument, 
of kingly magnificence, in remembrance of two sons, who took their 
aged parents upon their backs, and carried them through the fire, when 
their father's house was all in a flame. 2 These young men were good 
towards their parents ; but what is this to Abijah's goodness 'towards 
the Lord' ? &c. A man cannot be good towards the Lord but he will 
be good towards others ; but a man may be good towards others, that 
is not good towards the Lord. Oh that men's practices did not give too 
loud a testimony every day to this assertion ! &c. 3 

Secondly, He ivas good among the bad. He was good ' in the house 
of Jeroboam.' It is in fashion to seem at least to be good among the 
good ; but to be really good among those that are bad, that are eminently 
bad, argues not only a truth of goodness, but a great degree of good- 
ness. This young man was good ' in the house of Jeroboam, who made 
all Israel to sin ; who was naught, who was very naught, who was stark 
naught ; and yet Abijah, as the fishes which live in the salt sea are fresh, 
so though he lived in a sink, a sea, of wickedness, yet he retained his 
' goodness towards the Lord.' 

They say roses grow the sweeter when they are planted by garlic. 
They are sweet and rare Christians indeed who hold their goodness, 
and grow in goodness, where wickedness sits on the throne ; and such 
a one the young man in the text was. 

To be wheat among tares, corn among chaff, pearls among cockles, 
and roses among thorns, is excellent. 

To be a Jonathan in Saul's court, to be an Obadiah in Ahab's court, 
to be an Ebed-melech in Zedekiah's court, and to be an Abijah in Jero- 
boam's court, is a wonder, a miracle. 

To be a Lot in Sodom, to be an Abraham in Chaldea, to be a Daniel 
in Babylon, to be a Nehemiah in Damascus, and to be a Job in the land 
of Husse, 4 is to be a saint among devils ; and such a one the young 
man in the text was. 

The poets affirm that Venus never appeared so beauteous as when she 
sat by black Vulcan's side. Gracious souls shine most clear when they 
be set by black-conditioned persons. Stephen's face never shined so 
angelically, so gloriously, in the church where all were virtuous, as 
before the council where all were vicious and malicious. So Abijah was 
a bright star, a shining sun, in Jeroboam's court, which for profaneness 
and wickedness was a very hell. 

1 There may be malum opus in bona materia, as in Jehu's zeal. 

2 The allusion is to the imperishable legend of the ' Pii Fratres,' Amphinomus and 
Anapias, who, on an eruption of iEtna, acted as above. The place of their burial was 
known as ' Campus Piorum.' — G. 

3 Happy are those souls that, with the sturgeon or crab-fish, can swim against the 
stream of custom and example ; and with Atticus, can cleave to the right, though losing, 
side. [Atticus, bishop of Constantinople, who sided with Chrysostom.— G.] 

4 ' Uz.'— G. 

VOL. I. M 



178 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

The words that I have chosen to insist upon will afford us several 
observations, but I shall only name one, which I intend to prosecute at 
this time, and that is this, viz. : 



CHAPTER I. 

Doct. That it is a very desirable and commendable thing for young 
men to be really good betimes. 

Other scriptures speak out this to be a truth, besides what you have 
in the text to confirm it ; as that of the second of Chronicles, chap, 
xxxiv. 1-3, ' Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he 
reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. And he did that which 
was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his 
father, and declined neither to the right hand nor to the left ; for in the 
eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after 
the God of David his father ; and in the twelfth year he began to purge 
Judah and Jerusalem, from the high places, and the groves, and the 
carved images, and the molten images/ It was Obadiah's honour that 
he feared the Lord from his youth, 1 Kings xviii. 3 ; and Timothy's 
crown that he knew the Scripture from a child, 2 Tim. vi. 1, 5, 15; and 
John's joy that he found children walking in the truth, 2 John 4, 5 ; 
this revived his good old heart, and made it dance for joy in his bosom. 
To spend further time in the proving of this truth, would be but to light 
candles to see the sun at noon. 

The grounds and reasons of this point, viz. : 

That it is a very desirable and commendable thing for young men to 
be really good betimes, are these that follow : l 

Reason 1. First, Because the Lm y d commands it; and divine com- 
mands are not to be disputed, but obeyed. In the 12th chapter of 
Ecclesiastes, and the first verse, ' Remember now thy Creator in the 
days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw 
nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.' Remember now ; 
I say, now. Now is an atom ; it will puzzle the wisdom of a philo- 
sopher, the skill of an angel, to divide. Now is a monosyllable in all 
learned languages : ' Remember now thy Creator.' Remember him 
presently, instantly, for thou dost not know what a day, what an hour, 
may bring forth ; thou canst not tell what deadly sin, what deadly 
temptation, what deadly judgment, may overtake thee, if thou dost not 
now, even now, ' remember thy Creator.' 

1 Remember now thy Creator.' Remember to know him, remember 
to love him, remember to desire him, remember to delight in him, 
remember to depend upon him, remember to get an interest in him, 
remember to live to him, and remember to walk with him. ' Remember 
now thy Creator ;' the Hebrew is Creators, Father, Son, and Spirit. To 
the making of man, a council was called in heaven, in the first of Genesis, 
and 26th verse. * Remember thy Creators :' Remember the Father, so as 
to know him, so as to be inwardly acquainted with him. Remember the 

1 Deut. vi. 5, xi. 13. Augustine beginneth one of his sermons thus : ' Ad vos mihi 
sermo, juvenes, flos aetatis, periculum mentis.' — August, de Tempore, term. 246. To 
you is my speech, young men, the flower of age, the danger of the mind. 



] Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 179 

Son, so as to believe in him, so as to rest upon him, so as to embrace 
him, and so as to make a complete resignation of thyself to him. 
Remember the Spirit, so as to hear his voice, so as to obey his voice, so 
as to feel his presence, and so as to experience his influence, &c. 

'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' He doth 
not say in the time of thy youth, but ' in the days of thy youth,' to 
note, that our life is but as a few days. It is but as a vapour, a span, 
a flower, a shadow, a dream ; and therefore Seneca saith well, that 
' though death be before the old man's face, yet he may be as near the 
young man's back,' &c. 

Man's life is the shadow of smoke, the dream of a shadow. One 
doubteth whether to call it a dying life, or a living death. 1 

Ah ! young men, God commands you to be good betimes. Remem- 
ber, young men, that it is a dangerous thing to neglect any of his com- 
mands, who by another is able to command you into nothing, or into 
hell. To act or run cross to God's command, though under pretence of 
revelation from God, is as much as a man s life is worth, as you may 
see in that sad story, 1 Kings, xiii. 24, &c. 

Let 3 7 oung men put all their carnal reasons, though never so many 
and weighty, into one scale, and God's absolute command in the other, 
and then write Tekel upon all their reasons, they are ' weighed in the 
balance and found too light/ 

Ah, sirs ! what God commands must be put in speedy execution, 
without denying or delaying, or disputing the difficulties that attend it. 2 
Most young men in these days do as the heathens : when their gods 
called for a man, they offered a candle ; or, as Hercules, offered up a 
painted man instead of a living. When God calls upon young men to 
serve him with the primrose of their youth, they usually put him off 
till they are overtaken with trembling joints, dazzled eyes, fainting 
hearts, failing hands, and feeble knees ; but this will be bitterness in the 
end, &c. 

Reason (2). Because they have means and opportunities of being 
good betimes. 

Never had men better means and greater opportunities of being 
good, of doing good, and of receiving good, than now. Ah, Lord ! how 
knowing, how believing, how holy, how heavenly, how humble, might 
young men be, were they not wanting to their own souls. Young men 
might be good, very good, yea, eminently good, would they but im- 
prove the means of grace, the tenders of mercy, and the knockings of 
Christ, by his word, works, and Spirit. 

The ancients painted opportunity with a hairy forehead, but bald 
behind, to signify, that while a man hath opportunity before him, he 
may lay hold on it, but if he suffer it to slip away, he cannot pull it 
back again. 3 

How many young men are now in everlasting chains, who would give 
ten thousand worlds, had they so many in their hands to give, to enjoy 
but an opportunity to hear one sermon more, to make one prayer more, 
to keep one Sabbath more, but cannot ! This is their hell, their tor- 
ment ; this is the scorpion that is still biting, this is the worm that is 

1 Aug. Confess, lib. i. 2 Obedientia non discutit Dei mandata sedfacit. — Prosper. 

* Erasmus [and ' The Emblems']. — G. 



180 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

always gnawing. Woe! woe! to us, that we have neglected and trifled 
away those golden opportunities that once we had to get our sins par- 
doned, our natures changed, our hearts bettered, our consciences purged, 
and our souls saved, &e. I have read of a king, 1 who having no issue 
to succeed him, espying one day a well-favoured youth, took him to 
court, and committed him to tutors to instruct him, providing by his 
will, that if he proved fit for government, he should be crowned king ; 
it' not, he should be bound in chains and made a galley-slave. Now 
when he grew to years, the king's executors, perceiving that he had 
sadly neglected those means and opportunities, whereby he might have 
been tit tor state-government, called him before them, and declared the 
king's will and pleasure concerning him, which was accordingly per- 
formed, for they caused him to be fettered, and committed to the gal- 
leys. Now what tongue can express how much he was affected and 
afflicted, with his sad and miserable state, especially when he considered 
with himself, that now he is chained, who might have walked at liberty; 
now he is a slave, who might have been a king ; now he is overruled 
by Turks, who might once have ruled over Christians. The application 
is easy. 

Ah ! young men ! young men ! shall Satan take all opportunities to 
tempt you? shall the world take all opportunities to allure you? shall 
wicked men take all opportunities to ensnare you, and to undo you ? 
and shall Christian friends take all opportunities to better you ? and 
shall God's faithful messengers take all opportunities to save you? and 
will you, will you ' neglect so great salvation' ? Heb. ii. 3. Plutarch 
writes of Hannibal, that when he could have taken Rome he would not, 
and when he would have taken Rome he could not. 2 Mauy, in their 
youthful days, when they might have mercy, Christ, pardon, heaven, 
they will not ; and in old age, when they would have Christ, pardon, 
peace, heaven, they cannot, they may not. God seems to say, as 
Theseus said once, Go, says he, and tell Creon, Theseus offers thee a 
gracious offer. Yet I am pleased to be friends, if thou wilt submit ; 
this is my first message ; but if this offer prevail not, look for me to be 
up in arms. 

Reason (3). Because, when they have fewer and lesser sins to ansiver 
for and repent of, multitudes of sins and sorrows are prevented by 
being good betimes. 

The more we number our days, the fewer sins we shall have to num- 
ber. 3 As a copy is then safest from blotting when dust is put upon it, 
so are we from sinning when, in the time of our youth, we remember 
that we are but dust. The tears of young penitents do more scorch the 
devils than all the flames of hell ; for hereby all their hopes are blasted, 
and the great underminer countermined and blown up. Mane is the 
devil's verb ; he bids tarry, time enough to repent ; but mane is God's 
adverb ; he bids repent early, in the morning of thy youth, for then thy 

1 Bellarm[ine]. In conscione de cruciatibus Gehcnnce. 

4 It is storied of Charles, king of Sicily and Jerusalem, that he was called Carolus 
Cuvctator, Charles the lingerer. This age affords many such lingerers, &c. [The ag- 
nomen above is very much earlier, baying been applied to and accepted by the Dictator 
<>. FabhiB Maximus. Cf. Livy, 30, 2G; Quint., 8, 2, 11.— G.] 

8 Lord, saith Austin. I have loved thee late. The greater was his sins, and the more 
were his sorrows.— [Confessions, Book x. (xxvii.) 38. -G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 181 

sins will be fewer and lesser. Well! young men, remember this : he 
that will not at the first-hand buy good counsel cheap, shall at the 
second-hand buy repentance over dear. 

Ah ! young men ! young men ! if you do not begin to be good betimes, 
those sins that are now as jewels sparkling in your eyes, will at last be 
millstones about your necks, to sink you for ever. 1 Among many 
things that Beza, in his last will and testament, gave God thanks for, 
this was the first and chief, that he, at the age of sixteen years, had 
called him to the knowledge of the truth, and so prevented many sins 
and sorrows that otherwise would have overtaken him, and have made 
his life less happy and more miserable. Young saints often prove old 
angels, but old sinners seldom prove good saints, &c. 2 

Reason 4. Because time is a precious talent, that young men must 
be countable for. The sooner they begin to be good, the more easy 
will be their accounts, especially as to that great talent of time. Cato 
and other heathens held that account must be given, not only of our 
labour, but also of our leisure. At the great day, it will appear that 
they that have spent their time in mourning have done better than they 
that have spent their time in dancing ; and they that have spent many 
days in humiliation, than they that have spent many days in idle 
recreations. 

I have read of a devout man who, when he heard a clock strike, he 
would say, Here is one hour more past that I have to answer for. Ah ! 
young men, as time is very precious, so it is very short. Time is very 
swift ; it is suddenly gone. In the 9th of Job, and the 25th verse, 
* My days are swifter than a post, they flee away, they see no good.' 
The Hebrew word (Icalal) translated ' swifter than a post,' signifies any- 
thing that is light, because light things are quick in motion. 

The ancients emblemed time with wings, as it were, not running, but 
flying. 3 Time is like the sun, that never stands still, but is still a-run- 
ning his race. The sun did once stand still, yea, went back, but so did 
never time. Time is still running and flying. It is a bubble, a shadow, 
a dream. Can you seriously consider of this, young men, and not begin 
to be good betimes? Surely you cannot. Sirs! if the whole earth 
whereupon we tread were turned into a lump of gold, it were not able 
to purchase one minute of time. Oh ! the regrettings of the damned for 
misspending precious time ! 4 Oh ! what would they not give to be free, 
and to enjoy the means of grace one hour ! Ah! with what attention, 
with what intention, 5 with what trembling and melting of heart, with 
what hungering and thirsting, would they hear the word ! Time, saith 
Bernard, were a good commodity in hell, and the traffic of it most 
gainful, where for one day a man would give ten thousand worlds, if he 
had them. Young men, can you in good earnest believe this, and not 
begin to be good betimes ? 

Ah ! young men and women, as you love your precious immortal 

1 Ps. xxv. 7, Job xiii. 26. 

2 There is nothing puts a more serious frame into a man's spirit, than to know the 
worth of his time. 

8 Sophocles, Phocilides. [Query, ' Philoctetes' ? — G.] 

4 Who is there among us that knows how to value time, and prize a day at a due 
rate? [Senec., Epist. i. — G.] 

5 Intentness, earnestness.- G. 



182 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

■souls, as you would escape hell, and come to heaven, as you would be 
happy in life, and blessed in death, and glorious after death, don't 
spend any more of your precious time in drinking and drabbing, 1 in 
carding, dicing, and dancing ; don't trifle away your time, don't swear 
away your time, don't whore away your time, do not lie away your 
time, but begin to be good betimes, because time is a talent that God 
will reckon with you for. 2 Ah ! young men and women, you may 
reckon upon years, many years yet to come, when possibly you have 
not so many hours to make ready your accounts. It may be this night 
you may have a summons, and then, if your time be done, and your 
work to be begun, in what a sad case will you be. Will you not wish 
that you had never been born ? 

Seneca was wont to jeer the Jews for their ill husbandry, in that they 
lost one day in seven, meaning their Sabbath. 3 Oh that it were not too 
true of the most of professors, both young and old, that they lose not 
only one day in seven, but several days in seven. 

Sirs ! Time let slip cannot be recalled. The foolish virgins found it 
so, and Saul found it so, and Herod found it so, and Nero found it so. 
The Israelites found it so ; yea, and Jacob, and Josiah, and David, 
though good men, yet they found it so to their cost. 4 

The Egyptians draw the picture of time with three heads : the first 
of a greedy wolf, gaping, for time past, because it hath ravenously de- 
voured the memory of so many things past recalling ; the second of a 
crowned lion, roaring, for time present, because it hath the principality 
of all actions, for which it calls loud ; the third of a deceitful dog, 
fawning, for time to come, because it feeds some men with many flat- 
tering hopes to their eternal undoing. Ah ! young men and women, 
as you would give up your accounts at last with joy, concerning this 
talent of time, with which God hath trusted you, begin to be good be- 
times, &c. 

Reason (5). Because they ivill have the greater comfort and joy when 
they come to be old. 5 

The 7lst psalm, 5, 17, 18, compared, ' Thou art my hope, O Lord 
God : thou art my trust from my youth. O God, thou hast taught me 
from my youth : and hitherto I have declared thy wondrous works. 
Now also, when I am old and grey-headed, God, forsake me not, un- 
til I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power unto 
every one that is to come.' 

Polycarpus could say, when old, ' Thus many years have I served my 
Master Christ, and hitherto hath he dealt well with me.' 6 If early con- 
verts live to be old, no joy to their joy. Their joy will be the greatest 
joy, a joy like to the joy of harvest, a joy like to their joy that divide 
the spoil. Their joy will be soundest joy, the weightiest joy, the holiest 
joy, the purest joy, the strongest joy, and the most lasting joy,' Isa. 
ix. 3. The carnal joy of the wicked, the glistering golden joy of the 

1 ' Licentiousness.' See Halliwell, sub voce. — G. 

* A heathen said he lived no day without a line ; that is, ho did something remarkable 
every day. — [Zcuxis, tho Paintor. — G.] 

3 Query, ' Tacitus,' not Seneca? Cf. Annals, ii. 85 ; xii. 3 ; xv. 44 ; Hist. i. ]0 ; ii. 
4 ; ii. 79 ; v. 1, 2, et alibi.— Q . * Mat. xxv. 5; Heb. iii. 17-19. 

6 Seneca, though a heathen, could say, Believe me, true joy is no light thing. 
[Epist. xxiii. — G.] 6 Martyrium S. Polycarpi, Hefele, as before. — G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 183 

worldling, and the flashing joy of the hypocrite, is but as the crackling 
of thorns under a pot, to the joy and comfort of such, who, when old, 
can say with good Obadiah, that they ' feared the Lord from their 
youth.' If, when you are young, your eyes shall be full of tears for sin, 
when you are old, your heart shall be full of joys. Such shall have the 
best wine at last. 

Oh ! that young men would begin to be good betimes, that so they 
may have the greater harvest of joy when they come to be old, &c. 
It is sad to be sowing your seed when you should be reaping your har- 
vest ; it is best to gather in the summer of youth against the winter of 
old age. 

Reason 6. Because an eternity of felicity and glory hangs upon 
those few moments that are allotted to them. 

It was a good question the young man proposed, ' What shall I do 
to inherit eternal life V Luke x. 25. I know I shall be eternally 
happy or eternally miserable, eternally blessed or eternally cursed, eter- 
nally saved or eternally damned, &c. 

' Oh! what shall I do to inherit eternal life !' My cares, my fears, my 
troubles are all about eternity ! No time can reach eternity, no age 
can extend to eternity, no tongue can express eternity. Eternity is 
that unum perpetuum hodie, one perpetual day which shall never have 
end ; what shall I do, what shall I not do, that I may be happy to all 
eternity \ l 

I am now young, and in the flower of my days ; but who knows what 
a day may bring forth ? The greatest weight hangs upon the smallest 
wires, 2 an eternity depends upon those few hours I am to breathe in 
this world. Oh ! what cause have I therefore to be good betimes, 
to know God betimes, to believe betimes, to repent betimes, to get my 
peace made and my pardon sealed betimes, to get my nature changed, 
my conscience purged, and my interest in Christ cleared betimes, before 
eternity overtakes me, before my glass be out, my sun set, my race 
run, lest the dark night of eternity should overtake me, and I made 
miserable for ever. 

I have read of one Myrogenes, who, when great gifts were sent unto 
him, he sent them all back again, saying, I only desire this one thing 
at your master's hand : to pray for me that I may be saved for eternity. 
Oh ! that all young men and women, who make earth their heaven, plea- 
sures their paradise, that eat the fat and drink the sweet, that clothe 
themselves richly, and crown their heads with rose-buds, that they 
would seriously consider of eternity, so as to hear as for eternity, and 
pray as for eternity, and live as for eternity, and provide as for eternity ! 
Luke xv. 12-20. That they might say with that famous painter 
Zeuxis, JZternitati pingo, I paint for eternity. 3 We do all for eter- 
nity, we believe for eternity, we repent for eternity, we obey for eter- 
nity, &c. 

1 JEternitas est semper et immutabile esse. The old Komans were out, that thought eter- 
nity dwelt in statues and in marble monuments. 

2 This is a favourite ' Emblem' of the Puritans, and is prefixed to several of their books, 
e. g. John Goodwin's. — G. 

3 The proverb is more accurately Pingo in ceternitatem, from the great artist's reply to 
Agatharcus, preserved by Plutarch (De Amic. Mull. v. p. 94 f.), ' I confess that I take a 
long time to paint ; for 1 paint works to last a long time.' — G. 



184 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

Oh ! thai you would not make those things eternal for punishment that 
cannot be eternal for use. 1 

Ah ! vounjr men and women, God calls, and the blood of Jesus Christ 
calls, and the Spirit of Christ in the gospel calls, and the rage of Satan 
calls, and your sad state and condition calls, and the happiness and 
blessedness of glorified saints calls ; these all call aloud upon you to 
make sure a glorious eternity, before you fall out into that dreadful 
ocean. All your eternal good depends upon the short and uncertain 
moments of your lives ; and if the thread of your lives should be cut 
before a happy eternity is made sure, woe to you that ever you were 
born ! Do not say, O young man, that thou art young, and hereafter 
will be time enough to provide for eternity, for eternity may be at the 
door, ready to caiTy thee away for ever. Every day's experience speaks 
out eternity to be as near the young man's back as it is before the old 
man's face. 

Oh grasp to-day the diadem of a blessed eternity, lest thou art cut 
off before the morning comes ! Though there is but one way to come 
into this world, yet there is a thousand thousand ways to be sent out 
of this world. Well ! young men and women, remember this, as the 
motions of the soul are quick, so are the motions of divine justice quick 
also ; and if you will not hear the voice of God to-day, if you will not 
provide for eternity to-day, God may swear to-morrow that you shall 
never enter into his rest, Heb. iii. 7, 8, 15, 16, 18, 19. It is a very sad 
and dangerous thing to trifle and dally with God, his word, his offers, 
our own souls, and eternity. Therefore, let all young people labour to 
be good betimes, and not to let him that is goodness itself alone till he 
hath made them good, till he hath given them those hopes of eternity 
that will both make them good and keep them good ; that will make 
them happy, and keep them happy, and that for ever. If all this will 
not do, then know that ere long those fears of eternity, of misery, that 
beget that monster Despair, which, like Medusa's head, astonisheth 
with its very aspect, and strangles hope, which is the breath of the 
soul, will certainly overtake you ; as it is said, Duvi Sjnro, Spero, so it 
may be inverted Dum Spero, Spiro; other miseries may wound the 
spirit, but despair kills it dead. My prayer shall be, that none of you 
may ever experience this sad truth, but that you may all be good in 
good earnest, betimes, which will yield you two heavens, a heaven on 
earth, and a heaven after death. 

Reason 8. Because they do not begin to live till they begin to be 
really good. 

Till they begin to be good, they are dead God-wards, and Christ- 
wards, and heaven-wards, and holiness-wards. Till a man begins to be 
really good, he is really dead, and that first in respect of working ; his 
works are called dead works, Heb. ix. J 4. The most glistering services 
of unregenerate persons are but dead works, because they proceed not 
from a principle of life, and they lead to death, Rom. vi. 23, and leave 
a sentence of death upon the soul, till it be washed off by the blood of 
the Lamb. Secondly, he is dead in respect of honour ; he is dead to 
all privileges, he is not fit to inherit mercy. Who will set the crown of 

1 Cur ea quae, ad usum diuturna esse non possunt, ad supplicium diuturna deposcet ? — Am- 
brose in Luke iv. 5. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 185 

life upon a dead man ? The crown of life is only for living Christians, 
Rev. ii. 10. The young prodigal was dead till he begun to be good, till 
he begun to remember his father's house, and to resolve to return home: 
' My son was dead, but is alive,' Luke xv. 24 ; and the widow that 
' liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth,' 1 Tim. v. 6. 

When Joshaphat asked Barlaam how old he was, he answered, Five 
and forty years old ; to whom Joshaphat replied, Thou seemest to be 
seventy. True, saith he, if you reckon ever since I was born ; but I 
count not those years which were spent in vanity. 1 

Ah, sirs ! you never begin to live till you begin to be good, in good 
earnest. There is the life of vegetation, and that is the life of plants ; 
secondly, there is the life of sense, and that is the life of beasts ; thirdly, 
there is the life of reason, and that is the life of man ; fourthly, there 
is the life of grace, and that is the life of saints ; and this life you do 
not begin to live till you begin to be good. If ' a living dog is better 
than a dead lion,' as the wise man speaks, Eccles. ix. 4, and if a fly is 
more excellent than the heavens, because the fly hath life, which the 
heavens have not, as the philosopher saith, what a sad, dead, poor no- 
thing is that person that is a stranger to the life of grace and goodness, 
that is dead even whilst he is alive ! 

Most men will bleed, sweat, vomit, purge, part with an estate, yea, 
with a limb, ay, limbs, yea, and many a better thing, viz., the honour 
of God and a good conscience, to preserve their natural lives ; as he 
I cries out, Give me any deformity, any torment, any misery, so you spare 
my life ; and yet how few, how very few, are to be found who make it 
their work, their business, to attain to a life of goodness, or to begin to 
be good betimes, or to be dead to the world and alive to God, rather 
than to be dead to God and alive to the world. This is for a lamenta- 
tion, and shall be for a lamentation, that natural life is so highly prized, 
and spiritual life so little regarded, &c. 2 

Reason 9. Because the -promise of finding God, of enjoying God, 
is made over to an early seeking of God. 

Prov. viii. 17, ' I love them that love me, and they that seek me early 
shall find me ;' or, as the Hebrew hath it, they that ' seek me in the 
morning shall find me.' By the benefit of the morning light we come 
to find the things we seek. Shahhar [irw] signifies to seek inquisitively, 
to seek diligently, to seek timely in the morning. As the Israelites 
went early in the morning to seek for manna, Exod. xvi. 21, and as 
students rise early in the morning and sit close to it to get knowledge, 
so saith wisdom, they that ' seek me in the spring and morning of their 
youth, shall find me.' 3 

Now, to seek the Lord early is to seek the Lord firstly. God hath 
in himself all the good of angels, of men, and universal nature ; he hath 
all glories, all dignities, all riches, all treasures, all pleasures, all com- 
forts, all delights, all joys, all beatitudes. God is that one infinite 

1 As it is a reproach to an old man to be in coats, so it is a disgrace to be an old babe, 
i. e. to be but a babe in grace wben old in years, Heb. v. 12-14. _ 

2 Maecenas in Seneca had rather live in many diseases than die. [Epist. CI.— G.J 
And Homer reporteth of his Achilles, that he had rather be a servant to a poor country 
clown here than to be a king to all the souls departed. [Odyssey, xi. 488.— G.] 

3 Scipio went first to the capitol and then to the senate. Tully, an heathen, frequently 
called God Optimum maximum, the best and greatest. God is omnis super omnia. 



186 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

perfection in himself, which is eminently and virtually all perfections of 
the creatures, and therefore he is firstly to be sought. Abstracts do 
better express him than concretes and adjectives ; he is being, bonity, 
power, wisdom, justice, mercy, goodness, and love itself, and therefore 
worthy to be sought before all other things. Seek ye first the good 
things of the mind, saith philosophy, and doth not divinity say as much ? 

Again, To seek early is to seek opportunely, to seek while the oppor- 
tunity does present : Judges ix. 33, ' Thou shalt rise early, and set upon 
the city,' that is, thou shall opportunely set upon the city. 1 

Such there have been who, by having a glass of water opportunely, 
have obtained a kingdom, as you may see in the story of Thaumastus 
and king Agrippa. 

Ah ! young men and women, you do not know but that by an early, 
by an opportune, seeking of God, you may obtain a kingdom that shakes 
not, and glory that passeth not away, Heb. xil 28. 

There is a season wherein God may be found : ' Seek ye the Lord 
while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near/ Isa. lv. 6 ; 
and if you slip this season, you may seek him and miss him : ' Though 
they cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them ; ' When ye make many 
prayers, I will not hear ;' ' Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he 
will not hear ;' ' Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; 
they shall seek me early, but shall not find me.' 2 This was Saul's 
misery : ' The Philistines are upon me, and God will not answer me,' 
1 Sam. xxviii. 15. It is justice that they should seek and not find at 
at last, who might have found had they but sought seasonably and 
opportunely, &c. 

Again, To seek early is to seek earnestly, affectionately : ' With my 
soul have I desired thee in the night ; yea, with my spirit within me 
will I seek thee early/ Isa. xxvi. 9. The Hebrew word signifies both 
an earnest and an early seeking. In the morning the spirits are up, 
and men are earnest, lively, and affectionate. 

Ah! such a seeking shall certainly be crowned with finding: 'My 
voice shalt thou hear in the morning, Lord! in the morning will I 
direct [Heb. marshal] my prayer unto thee, and will look up' [Hebrew, 
look out like a watchman]. ' Let all those that put their trust in thee 
rejoice, let them ever shout for joy ; because thou defendest them ' 
[Hebrew, '. thou coverest over, or 'protectcst them']. 'Let them also that 
love thy name be joyful in thee : for thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; 
with favour wilt thou compass him [Hebrew, ; crown him] as with a 
shield. ' J None have ever thus sought the Lord, but they have, or cer- 
tainly shall find him : ' Seek and ye shall find,' Mat. vii. 7 ; ' your hearts 
shall live that seek God,' Ps. lxix. 32 ; ' The effectual fervent prayer of 
a righteous man availeth much/ Jas. v. 16, or, as the Greek hath it, 
' The working prayer of a righteous man availeth much.'* That prayer 
that sets the whole man a- work will work wonders in heaven, in the 
heart, and in the earth. Earnest prayer, like Saul's sword and Jona- 
than's bow, never returns empty. 

1 Days of grace have their dates ; therefore take heed of saying eras, eras, to-morrow, 
tomorrow. * Jer. xi. 11, Isa. i. 16, Micah iii. 4, Prov. i. 28. 

s Ps. v. 3, xi. 12. nfittfl r\"\))X. 
* in^yovfiitt), it signilies such a working as notes the liveliest activity that can be. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 187 

One speaking of Luther, who was a man very earnest in prayer, said, 
Hie homo potuit apud Deum quod voluit, this man could have what 
he would of God, &c. 

Again, to seek early is to seek chiefly, 'primarily, after this or that 
thing. What we first seek, we seek as chief. 1 Now, to seek the Lord 
early is to seek him primarily, chiefly ; in the 63d psalm, and the 1st 
verse, ' Thou art my God, early will I seek thee/ that is, I will seek thee 
as my choicest and my chiefest good. God is Alpha, the fountain from 
whence all grace springs, and Omega, the sea to which all glory runs, 
and therefore early and primarily to be sought. God is a perfect good, 
a solid good, Id bonum perfectum dicitur, cui nil accedere, solidum, 
cui nil decedere potest (Lactantius), That is a perfect good, to which 
nothing can be added ; that a solid, from which nothing can be spared. 
Such a good God is, and therefore early and chiefly to be sought. God 
is a pure and simple good ; he is a light in whom there is no darkness, 
a good in whom there is no evil, ] John i. 5. The goodness of the creature 
is mixed, yea, that little goodness that is in the creature is mixed with 
much evil ; but God is an unmixed good ; he is good, he is pure good, he 
is all over good, he is nothing but good. 2 God is an all-sufficient good : 
' Walk before me, and be upright : I am God all-sufficient,' in the 17th 
of Genesis and the first verse. Habet omnia, qui habet habentem omnia, 
(Augustine), He hath all that hath the haver of all. God hath in 
himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy 
to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, 
all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you. God is a 
satisfying good, a good that fills the heart and quiets the soul, Cant. 
ii. 3. In the 33d of Genesis, and the 11th verse, 'I have enough,' saith 
good Jacob ; ' I have all,' saith Jacob, for so the Hebrew hath it {Cholli), 
I have all, I have all comforts, all delights, all contents, &c. In having 
nothing, I have all things, because I have Christ; having therefore all 
things in him, ' I seek no other reward, for he is the universal reward/ 
saith one. As the worth and value of many pieces of silver is to be 
found in one piece of gold, so all the petty excellencies that are scattered 
abroad in the creatures are to be found in God, yea, all the whole 
volume of perfections, which is spread through heaven and earth, is 
epitomised in him. No good below him that is the greatest good, can 
satisfy the soul. A good wife, a good child, a good name, a good estate, 
a good friend, cannot satisfy the soul. These may please, but they 
cannot satisfy. ' All abundance, if it be not my God, is to me nothing 
but poverty and want,' said one. 

Ah! that young men and women would but in the morning of their 
youth seek, yea, seek early, seek eai*nestly, seek affectionately, seek 
diligently, seek primarily, and seek unweariedly this God, who is the 
greatest good, the best good, the most desirable good; who is a suitable 
good, a pure good, a satisfying good, a total good, and an eternal good. 3 

Reason ] 0. Because the time of youth is the choicest and fittest time 
for service. 

Now your parts are lively, senses fresh, memory strong, and nature 
vigorous. The days of your youth are the spring and morning of your 

1 Omne bonum in summo bono. u Quicquid est in Deo, est, ipse Deus. 

3 Omnis copia quce non est Deus meus, mihi egestas est — Aug [ustine] Soliloq. c. 13. 



183 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

time, they are the first-born of your strength; therefore God requires 
your non-age, as well as your dotage, the wine of your times as well 
as the lees, as you may see typified to you in the first-fruits, which 
were dedicated to the Lord, and the first-born, Exod. xxiii. 16, Num. 
iii. 13. The time of youth is the time of salvation, it is the acceptable 
time ; it is thy summer, thy harvest-time. 1 O young man ! therefore 
do not sleep, but up and be doing; awaken thy heart, rouse up thy soul, 
and improve all thou hast; put out thy reason, thy strength, thy all, to 
the treasuring up of heavenly graces, precious promises, divine experi- 
ences, and spiritual comforts, against the winter of old age ; and then 
old age will not be to thee an evil age, but as it was to Abraham, ' a 
good old age/ Gen. xv. 15 ; do not put off God with fair promises, and 
large pretences, till your last sands are running, and the days of dotage 
have overtaken you. That is a sad word of the prophet, ' Cursed be 
the deceiver, which hath in his Hock a male, and yet offereth to the 
Lord a corrupt thing,' Mai. i. 14. 

Ah ' young men and women, who are like the almond tree; 2 you have 
many males in the flock, your strength is a male in your flock, your 
time is a male in the flock, your reason is a male in the flock, your 
parts are a male in the flock, and your gifts are a male in the flock. 
Now, if he be cursed that hath but one male in his flock, and shall offer 
to God a corrupt thing, a thing of no worth, of no value, how will you be 
cursed, and cursed, cursed at home, and cursed abroad, cursed temporally, 
cursed spiritually, and cursed eternally, who have many males in your 
flock, and yet deal so unworthily, so fraudulently, and false-heartedly 
with God, as to put him off with the dregs of your time and strength, 
while you spend the primrose of your youth in the service of the world, 
the flesh, and the devil, Mat. xxi. 20. 

The fig-tree in the Gospel, that did not bring forth fruit timely and 
seasonably, was cursed to admiration. 3 The time of youth is the time 
and season for bringing forth the fruits of righteousness and holiness, 
and if these fruits be not brought forth in their season, you may justly 
fear, that the curses of heaven will secretly and insensibly soak and 
sink into your souls, and then woe ! woe ! to you that ever you were born. 
The best way to prevent this hell of hells, is to give God the cream and 
flower of your youth, your strength, your time, your talents. Vessels 
that are betimes seasoned with the savour of life never lose it, Pro v. 
xx ii. 6. 

Reason 11. Because death may suddenly and unexpectedly seize 
upon you ; you, have no lease of your lives. 

Youth is as fickle as old age. The young man may find graves 
enough of his length in burial places. As green wood and old logs 
meet in one fire, so young sinners and old sinners meet in one hell and 
burn together. When the young man is in his spring and prime, then 
he is cut off and dies ; ' One dying in his full strength (or in the strength 
of his perfection, as the Hebrew hath it) being wholly at ease and quiet, 
his breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow,' 

1 The days of youth are called oetas bona, in Cicero, and alas optima, in Seneca. 
[Epist. xlix.— G.] 

* Jer. i. 11, the almond tree blossoms in January, while it is yet winter, and the fruit 
is ripe in March. 3 ' Amazement.' — G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 139 

Job xxi. 23, 24. David's children die when young, so did Job's and 
Jeroboam's, &c. Every day's experience tells us, that the young man's 
life is as much a vapour as the old man's is. 1 

I have read of an Italian poet, who brings in a proper youno- man, 
rich and potent, discoursing with death in the habit of a mower, with 
his scythe in his hand, cutting down the life of man, ' For all flesh is 
grass/ Isa. xl. 6. And wilt thou not spare any man's person, saith the 
young man? I spare none, saith death ; man's life is but a day, a short 
day, a winter's day. Ofttimes the sun goes down upon a man before 
it be well up. Your day is short, your work is great, your journey 
long, and therefore you should rise early, and set forward towards 
heaven betimes, as that man doth that hath a long journey to go in a 
winter's day. 2 

The life of man is absolutely short : ' Behold, thou hast made my 
days as an hand's-breadth,' Ps. xxxix. 5. The life of man is compara- 
tively short, and that if you compare man's life now to what he might 
have reached had he continued in innocency. Sin brought in death ; 
death is a fall, that came in by a fall. Or if you compare man's life 
now to what they did reach to before the flood : then several lived six, 
seven, eight, nine hundred years, Gen. i. 9 ; or if you compare men's 
days with the days of God, ' Mine age is as nothing before thee/ Ps. 
xxxix. 5 ; or if you compare the days of man to the days of eternity. 3 

Ah ! young men, young men ! can you seriously consider of the 
brevity of man's life, and trifle away your time, the offers of grace, 
your precious souls, and eternity ? &c. Surely you cannot, surely you 
dare not, if you do but in good earnest ponder upon the shortness of 
man's life. It is recorded of Philip, king of Macedon, that he gave a 
pension to one to come to him every day at dinner, and to cry to him, 
Memento te esse mortalem, Remember thou art but mortal. 4 

Ah ! young men and old had need be often put in mind of their 
mortality; they are too apt to forget that day, yea, to put far from 
them the thoughts of that day. I have read of three that could not 
endure to hear that bitter word death mentioned in their ears ; and 
surely this age is full of such monsters. 

And as the life of man is very short, so it is very uncertain : now 
well, now sick ; alive this hour, and dead the next. Death doth not 
always give warning beforehand ; sometimes he gives the mortal blow 
suddenly ; he comes behind with his dart, and strikes a man at the 
heart, before he saith, 'Have I found thee, O mine enemy?' 1 Kings 
xxi. 30. Eutychus fell down dead suddenly, Acts xx. 9 ; 5 death sud- 
denly arrested David's sons and Job's sons ; Augustus died in a com- 
pliment, Galba with a sentence, Vespasian with a jest; 6 Zeuxis died 

1 Pares nascuntur, pares morivntur, in the womb and in the tomb they are all alike, 
Job xxi. 23, 24. It is an allegorical description of the highest prosperity. 

2 Death's motto is, Nulli cedo, I yield to none. 

3 The heathen could say that the whole life of man shonld be nothing else but medi- 
tatio mortis, a meditation of death. [That rare little Puritan book by the Earl of Man- 
chester, ' Almondo, or Contemplatio Mortis et Immortalitatis' (5th edition, 1642), illus- 
trates and unfolds above very suggestively — G ] 

4 Cf. Sibbes's Works, vol. ii. pp. 433, 435.— G. 

5 Petrarch telleth of one who, being invited to dinner the next day. answered, Ego a 
mnltis annis crastinvm non habiti, I have not had a morrow for this many years. 

6 See Bacon"s Essays. On Death. — G. 



190 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

laughing at the picture of an old woman which he drew with his own 
hand ; Sophocles was choked with the stone in a grape ; Diodorus the 
logician died for shame that he could not answer a joculary question 
propounded at the table by Stilpo ; Joannes Measius, preaching upon 
the raising of the woman of Nain's son from the dead, within three 
hours after died himself. 

Ah ! young men and women, have you not cause, great cause, to be 
good betimes ? for death is sudden in his approaches. Nothing more 
sure than death, and nothing more uncertain than life. Therefore 
know the Lord betimes, turn from your sins betimes ; lay hold on the 
Lord, and make peace with him betimes, that you may never say, as 
CaBsar Borgias said when he was sick to death, ' When I lived,' said he, 
' I provided for everything but death ; now I must die, and am unpro- 
vided to die/ &c. x 

Reason (12). Because it is ten to one, nay, a hundred to ten, if 
ever they are converted, if they are not converted when they are young. 

God usually begins with such betimes that he hath had thoughts of 
love and mercy towards them from everlasting. 2 The instances cited 
to prove the doctrine confirms this argument ; and if you look abroad 
in the world, you shall hardly find one saint among a thousand but 
dates his conversion from the time of his youth. It was the young ones 
that got through the wilderness into Canaan, Num. xxvi. 3 If the tree 
do not bud and blossom, and bring forth fruit in the spring, it is com- 
monly dead all the year after. If, in the spring and morning of your 
days, you do not bring forth fruit to God, it is an hundred to one that 
ever you bring forth fruit to him when the evil days of old age shall 
' overtake you, wherein you shall say you have no pleasure,' Eccles. 
xii. 1. For, as the son of Sirach observes, if thou hast gathered no- 
thing in thy youth, what canst thou find in thy age ? 4 It is rare, very 
rare, that God sows and reaps in old age. Usually God sows the seed 
of grace in youth, that yields the harvest of joy in age. 

Though true repentance be never too late, yet late repentance is seldom 
true. Millions are now in hell, who have pleased themselves with the 
thoughts of after-repentance. The Lord hath made a promise to late 
repentance, but where hath he made a promise of late repentance ? 
Yea, what can be more just and equal, that such should seek and not 
find, who might have found but would not seek ; and that he should 
shut his ears against their late prayers, who have stopped their ears 
against his early calls ? Prov. i. 24-32. The ancient warriors would 
not accept an old man into their army, as being unfit for service ; and 
dost thou think that God will accept of thy dry bones, when Satan hath 
sucked out all the marrow ? What lord, what master, will take such 
into their service, who have all their days served their enemies ? and 
will God ? will God ? The Circassians, a kind of mongrel Christians, 
are said to divide their life betwixt sin and devotion, dedicating their 

1 Much earlier than Borgia, being recorded of the dying emperor Septimus Severus as 
follows : ' Omnia fui. nihil expedit.' — G. 

» Hosea xi. 1, ' When Israel was a child, then I loved him,' &c. 

3 An Hebrew doctor observes, that of those six hundred thousand that went out of 
Efjypt, there were but two persons that entered Canaan. 

4 Ecclesiasticus xxv. 3 ; the first quotation by Brooks thus far from the Apocrypha.— G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 191 

youth to rapine, and their old age to repentance. 1 If this be thy case, 
I would not be in thy case for ten thousand worlds. 

I have read of a certain great man that was admonished in his sick- 
ness to repent, who answered, that he would not repent yet, for if he 
should recover, his companions would laugh at him ; but growing sicker 
and sicker, his friends pressed him again to repent, but then he told 
them that it was too late, Quia jam judicatus sum, et condemnatus 
for now, said he, I am judged and condemned. 2 



CHAPTER II. 

Reason 13. Because else they will never attain to the honour of 
being old disciples. 

It is a very great honour to be an old disciple. 

Now this honour none reach to, but such as are converted betimes 
but such as turn to the Lord in the spring and morning of their youth. 
It is no honour for an old man to be in coats, nor for an old man to be 
a babe in grace. An ABC old man is a sad and shameful sight. Oh ! 
but it is a mighty honour to be a man, when he is old, that he can date 
his conversion from the morning of his youth. Now that it is an 
honour to be an old disciple, I shall prove by an induction of parti- 
culars. 3 As, 

Particular 1. All men will honour an old disciple : Pro v. xvi. 31, 
' The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of right- 
eousness.' 4 God requires that the aged should be honoured : Lev. xix. 
32, 'Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of 
the old man' (the old man here is by some expounded the wise man), 
' and fear thy God. I am the Lord.' Hoariness is only honourable when 
found in a way of righteousness. A white head, accompanied with a 
holy heart, makes a man truly honourable. There are two glorious 
sights in the world : the one is, a young man walking in his upright- 
ness ; and the other is, an old man walking in ways of righteousness. 
It was Abraham's honour that he went to his grave in a good old age, 
or rather, as the Hebrew hath it, with a good grey head, Gen. xxv. 8. 
Many there be that go to their graves with a grey head, but this was 
Abraham's crown, that he went to his grave with a good grey head. 
Had Abraham's head been never so grey, if it had not been good, it 
would have been no honour to him. A hoary head, when coupled with 
an unsanctified heart, is rather a curse than a blessing. When the 
head is as white as snow, and the soul as black as hell, God usually 
gives up such to the greatest scorn and contempt. 'Princes are hanged 
up by their hands, the faces of elders were not honoured,' Lam. v. 12, 
and this God had threatened long before. 'The Lord shall bring 
against thee a nation from far, a nation of fierce countenance, which 
shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young,' 
Deut. xxviii. 49, 50. 

1 Breerw. Enqui. [This is Edward Brerewood's c Enquiries touching the diversity of 
languages,' &c. 1614. — G.] a Bede hath this story. 

8 What more ridiculous than piter centum annorum, a child of an hundred years old ? 
* A crown is a very glorious thing, but there are but few of them. 



192 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

I have read of Cleanthes, who was wont sometimes to chide himself. 
Ariston wondering thereat, asked him, Whom chidest thou? Cleanthes 
laughed, and answered, I chide an old fellow, Qui canos quidem habet, 
sad mentem non habet, who hath grey hairs indeed, but wants under- 
standing, and prudence worthy of them. 1 The application I will leave 
to the grey heads and grey beards of our time, who have little else to 
commend them to the world but their hoary heads and snowy beards. 

Particular 2. God usually reveals himself most to old disciples, to 
old saints : Job xii. 12, 'With the ancient is wisdom ; and in length 
of days understanding.' 3 God usually manifests most of himself to aged 
saints. They usually pray most and pay most, they labour most and 
long most after the choicest manifestations of himself and of his grace; 
and therefore he opens his bosom most to them, and makes them of his 
cabinet council. Gen. xviii. 17-19, ' And the Lord said, Shall I hide 
from Abraham that thing which I do ; for I know him, that he will 
command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep 
the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment ; that the Lord may 
bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him/ Abraham was 
an old friend, and therefore God makes him both of his court and 
council. We usually open our hearts most freely, fully, and familiarly, 
to old friends. So doth God to his ancient friends. Ah, what a blessed 
sight and enjoyment of Christ had old Simeon, that made his very heart 
to dance in him ! ' Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, 
according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,' &c, 
Luke ii. 25-28. I have seen him, who is my light, my life, my love, 
my joy, my crown, my heaven, my all ; therefore now ' Let thy servant 
depart in peace/ verses 36-38. So Anna, when she was fourscore and 
four years old, was so filled with the discoveries and enjoyments of 
Christ, that she could not but declare what she had tasted, felt, seen, 
heard, and received from the Lord. She was ripe and ready to discover 
the fulness, sweetness, goodness, excellency, and glory of that Christ 
whom she had long loved, feared, and served. So Paul lived in the light, 
sight, and sweet enjoyments of Christ, when he was aged in years and in 
grace, Philip, iv. 5, 7, 9. So, when had John that glorious vision of 
Christ among the golden candlesticks, and those discoveries and mani- 
festations of the ruin of Rome, the fall of antichrist, the casting the 
beast and false prophet into a lake of fire, the conquest of the kingdoms 
of the world by Christ's bow and sword, the binding up of Satan, and 
the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, Rev. i. 7, seq., 
but when he was old, when he was aged in years and in grace? The 
Lord speaks many a secret in the ears of saints, of old Christians, which 
young Christians are not acquainted with, as that phrase imports, 
2 Sam. vii. 27, ' Thou, Lord Gcd of hosts, hast revealed to thy ser- 
vant ;' so you read it in your books, but in the Hebrew it is, ' Lord, 
thou hast revealed this to the ear of thy servant.' 3 Some wonder how 
that word 'to the ear' comes to be left out in your books, in which 
indeed the emphasis lies. We will tell many things in an old friend's 

1 The 'quaint penitence' of above saying, as it has been described, belongs to the 
Stoic of the name. Cf. Bp. Cotton's Memoirs in Smith's ' Dictionary of Greek and Roman 
Biography and Mythology." — G. 

•-■ □ , >t>>i!£">3 In the ancient is wisdom. Valentianins the emperor's motto was, Amicus 
veterimus optmut, an old friend is best. 3 Jt^-nx FlWJ' ^ alillia ethozen. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 193 

ear, which we will not acquaint young ones with. So doth God many- 
times whisper an old disciple in the ear, and acquaints him with such 
things that he hides from those that are of younger years. And by this 
you may see what an honour it is to be an old disciple. 

Particular 3. An old disciple, an old Christian, he hath got the art 
of serving God, the art of religion ; got the art of hearing, the art of 
praying, the art of meditating, the art of repenting, the art of believ- 
ing, the art of denying his natural self, his sinful self, his religious 
self 1 

All trades have their mystery and difficulty, so hath the trade of 
Christianity. Young Christians usually bungle in religious works, but 
old Christians acquit themselves like workmen that ' need not be 
ashamed/ A young carpenter gives more blows and makes more chips, 
but an old artist doth the most and best work. A youno* Christian 
may make most noise in religious duties, but an old Christian makes 
the best work. A young musician may play more quick and nimble 
upon an instrument than an old, but an old musician hath more skill 
and judgment than a young. The application is easy, and by this you 
may also see what an honour it is to be an old Christian, &c. 

Particular 4. An old disciple, an old Christian, is rich in spiritual 
experiences. Oh ! the experiences that he hath of the ways of God, of 
the workings of God, of the word of God, of the love of God! 1 Johnii. 1. 
Oh ! the divine stories that old Christians can tell of the power of the word, 
of the sweetness of the word, of the usefulness of the word! Ps. cxix.49,50, 
as a light to lead the soul, as a staff to support the soul, as a spur to 
quicken the soul, as an anchor to stay the soul, and as a cordial to comfort 
and strengthen the soul ! 2 Oh ! the stories that he can tell you concerning 
the love of Christ, the blood of Christ, the offices of Christ, the merits 
of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, the graces of Christ, and the 
influence of Christ ! Oh ! the stories that an old disciple can tell you 
of the indwellings of the Spirit, of the operations of the Spirit, of the 
teachings of the Spirit, of the leadings of the Spirit, of the sealings of 
the Spirit, of the witnessings of the Spirit, and of the comforts and joys 
of the Spirit ! Oh ! the stories that an old Christian can tell you of the 
evil of sin, the bitterness of sin, the deceitfulness of sin, the pre valency 
of sin, and the happiness of conquest over sin ! Oh ! the stories that he 
can tell you of the snares of Satan, the devices of Satan, the temptations 
of Satan, the rage of Satan, the malice of Satan, the watchfulness of 
Satan, and the ways of triumphing over Satan ! As an old soldier can 
tell you of many battles, many scars, many wounds, many losses, and 
many victories, even to admiration ; 3 so an old saint is able to tell you 
many divine stories even to admiration. 

Pliny writes of the crocodile, that she grows to her last day, Hosea 
xiv. 5-7. 4 So aged saints, they grow rich in spiritual experiences to the 
last. An old Christian being once asked if he grew in goodness, 

1 Heb. v. 11-14. Yet as Solon was not ashamed to say that in his old age he was a 
learner, so those that are the greatest artists in Christianity will confess, that they are 
still but learners. [Plutarch's Solon. — Q-.] 

2 Old men love to speak of ancient things. 3 ' Wonder.' — G. 

4 The following are references in Pliny to the crocodile : lib. viii. c. 37, 38, 40, 72 ; 
xxviii. 29. Probably Brooks's is a vague recollection of the first. — G. 
VOL. I. N 



194- APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

answered, Yea, doubtless I do; for God hath said, 'The righteous shall 
flourish like the palm tree,' Ps. xcii. 12-14, (now the palm tree never 
loseth his leaf or fruit, saith Pliny) ; ' he shall grow like a cedar in Leba- 
non. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in 
the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they 
shall be Lit and flourishing.' A fellow to this promise Isaiah mentions, 
Isa. xlvi. 3, 4, ' Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the rem- 
nant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which 
are carried from the womb : and even to your old age I am he ; and 
even to hoary hairs will I carry you : I have made, and I will bear ; 
even I will carry, and will deliver you.' 

There is nothing more commendable in fulness of age than fulness 
of knowledge and experience, nor nothing more honourable than to see 
ancient Christians very much acquainted with the Ancient of days, Dan. 
vii. 9, 13-22. 

It is a brave sight to see ancient Christians like the almond tree. 
Now the almond tree doth flourish and is full of blossoms in the winter 
of old age ; for as Pliny tells us, the almond tree doth blossom in the 
month of January. Experiments 1 in religion are beyond notions and 
impressions. A sanctified heart is better than a silver tongue. No 
man so rich, so honourable, so happy as the old disciple, that is rich in 
spiritual experiences ; and yet there is no Christian so rich in his ex- 
periences but he would be richer. 

As Julianus said, that when he had one foot in the grave, he would 
have the other in the school ; so, though an old disciple hath one foot 
in the grave, yet he will have the other in Christ's school, that he may 
still be treasuring up more and more divine experiments. And by this 
also you see what an honour it is to be an old disciple, &c. 

Particular 5. An old disciple is very stout, cob vrageous, Ji) v m,, and 
fixed in his resolution. An old Christian is like a pillar, a rock ; no- 
thing can move him, nothing can shake him, Ps. xliv. 9, 26. What is 
sucked in in youth will abide in old age. Old soldiers are stout and 
courageous ; nothing can daunt nor discourage them. When Joshua 
was an hundred and ten years old, oh how courageous and resolute was 
he ! Joshua xxiv. 1 5, 29, ' And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, 
choose you this day whom you will serve : whether the gods that your 
fathers served, that were on the other side of the flood ; or the gods of 
the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell ; but as for me and my house, we 
will serve the Lord. And it came to pass, after these things, that Joshua 
the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten 
years old.' 

[Q.] Considius, a senator of Rome, told Caesar boldly that the sena- 
tors durst not come to council for fear of his soldiers. He replied, Why 
then dost thou go to the senate ? He answered, Because my age takes 
away my fear. 2 

Ah ! none so courageous, none so divinely fearless, none so careless in 
evil days, as ancient Christians. An old Christian knoAvs that that good 
will do him no good which is not made good by perseverance ; his 
resolution is like that of Gonsalvo, who protested to his soldiers, shew- 
ing them Naples, that he had rather die one foot forwards, than to have 
1 'Experiences.'— G. ' I'lutarch, Ccesar, 14 ; Cicero, ad A «., ii. 24.— G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 195 

his life secured for long by one foot of retreat. Shall such a man as I 
am flee? said undaunted Nehemiah, chap. vi. 11. He will courageously 
venture life and limb rather than by one foot of retreat discredit pro- 
fession with the reproach of fearfulness. It was a brave, magnanimous 
speech of Luther, when dangers from opposers did threaten him and his 
associates, Come, saith he, let us sing the forty-sixth psalm, and then 
let them do their worst. 

When Polycarpus was fourscore and six years old, he suffered martyr- 
dom courageously, resolutely, and undauntedly. 1 

When one of the ancient martyrs was very much threatened by his 
persecutors, he replied, There is nothing of things visible, nothing of 
things invisible, that I fear. I will stand to my profession of the name 
of Christ, and ' contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the 
saints/ Jude 3, come on it what will. 2 

Old disciples, old soldiers of Christ, that have the heart and courage 
of Shammah, one of David's worthies, who stood and defended the field 
when all the rest fled, 2 Sam. xxiii. 11, 12. The Hebrews call a young 
man Nagnar, which springs from a root that signifies to shake off, or to 
be tossed to and fro, to note how fickle and how constant in inconstancy 
young men are, Mat. xix. 20-22. They usually are persons either of 
no resolution for good, or of weak resolution ; they are too often won 
with a nut, and lost with an apple. But now, aged Christians in all 
earthquakes they stand fast, ' like mount Sion, that cannot be removed/ 
And by this also you may see what an honour it is to be an old disciple, 
an old Christian. 

Particular 6. An old disciple, an old Christian, is prepared for death ; 
he hath been long a-dying to sin, to the world, to friends, to self, to re- 
lations, to all, and no man so prepared to die as he that thus daily 
dies. s 

An old disciple hath lived sincerely to Christ, he hath lived eminently 
to Christ, he hath lived in all conditions, 4 and under all changes, to 
Christ ; he hath lived exemplarily to Christ, he hath lived long to Christ, 
and therefore the more prepared to die and be with Christ. An old 
disciple hath a crown in his eye, a pardon in his bosom, and a Christ in 
his arms, and therefore may sweetly sing it out with old Simeon, ' Lord, 
now let thy servant depart in peace,' Luke ii. 29. As Hilary said to his 
soul, Soul, thou hast served Christ this seventy years, and art thou afraid 
of death? Go out, soul, go out. 5 

' Many a day,' said old Cowper, ' have I sought death with tears, not 
out of impatience, distrust, or perturbation, but because I am weary of 
sin, and fearful to fall into it.' Nazianzen calls upon the king of terrors, 
Devour me, devour me. And Austin, when old, could say, Shall I die 
ever ? yes, or shall I die at all % yes. Why, then, Lord, if ever, why not 
now ? 6 So when Modestus, the emperor's lieutenant, threatened to kill 
Basil, he answered, If that be all, I fear not ; yea, your master cannot 

1 As before. — G. 

2 Aristotle, though heathen, could say that in some cases a man had better lose his life 
than be cowardly. — Arist., Ethic. 3, cap. 1. 

3 Rom. vi. 6, Gal. v. 24, vi. 14. 4 Rom. xiv. 7, 8 ; Philip, ii. 21-23. 

5 The correspondent of Augustine — G. 

6 Zeno, a wise heathen, said, I have no fear but of old age. Cyprian could receive the 
cruellest sentence of death with a Deo gratias, God, I thank thee. 



19G APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

more pleasure mc than in sending me nnto my heavenly Father, to 
whom I dow live, and to whom I desire to hasten. 

I cannot Bay as he, said old Mr Stephen Martial 1 a little before bis 
death. I have not so lived that I should now 2 he afraid to die ; but this 
1 can say, I have so learned Christ that I am not afraid to die. Old 
Christians have made no more to die than to dine. It is nothing to die 
when the Comforter stands by, Isa. lvii. 1, 2. Old disciples know that 
to die is but to lie down in their beds ; they know that their dying day 
is hotter than their birthday; and this made Solomon to prefer his 
coffin before his crown, the day of his dissolution before the day of his 
coronation, Eccles. vii. 1. 

The ancients were wont to call the days of their death Natalia, not 
dying days, hut birthdays. 

The Jews to this day stick not to call their Golgothas Bat/e Gaiim, 
the houses or places of the living. Old Christians know that death is 
but an entrance into life ; it is but a passover, a jubilee ; it is but the 
Lord's gentleman-usher to conduct them to heaven ; and this prepare! 
them to die, and makes death more desirable than life ; and by this you 
may see that it is an honour to be an old disciple. 

Particular 7. An old disciple, an old Christian, shall lci.ee a great 
reward in heaven. 

Old Christians have done much and suffered much for Christ ; and 
the more any man doth or suffers for Christ here, the more glory he 
shall have hereafter. 3 It was the saying of an old disciple upon his 
dying bed, ' He is come, he is come' — meaning the Lord — ' with a great 
reward for a little work/ Agrippa having suffered imprisonment for 
wishing Caius emperor, the first thing Caius did when he came to the 
empire, was to prefer Agrippa to a kingdom ; he gave him also a chain 
of gold, as heavy as the chain of iron that was upon him in prison. And 
will not Christ richly reward all his suffering saints ? Surely he will. 
Christ will at last pay a Christian for every prayer he hath made, for 
every sermon he hath heard, for every tear he hath shed, for every 
morsel he hath given, for every burden he hath borne, for every battle 
he hath fought, for every enemy he hath slain, and for every tempta- 
tation that he hath overcome. 

Cyrus, in a great expedition against his enemies, the better to en- 
courage his soldiers to fight, in an oration that he made at the head of 
his army, promised upon the victory, to make every foot-soldier an 
horseman, and every horseman a commander, and that no officer that 
did valiantly should be unrewarded ; but what are Cyrus his rewards to 
the rewards that Christ our general promises to his? 4 Rev. iii. 21, 'To 
him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as 
I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.' As 
there is no lord to Christ, so there is no rewards to Christ's. His re- 
wards are the greatest rewards. He gives kingdoms, crowns, thrones ; 
he gives grace and glory, Ps. xlviii. 11. 

1 Misprint undoubtedly for ' Mars] Kill,' not at all uncommon. Marshall was one 
holiest, as lie was ono of t ho most veneraMo and revered, of the Westminster Assembly "t 
Divines. His life was published in 1680, 4to.— G. 2 Qu. ' not ' ?— Ki>. 

3 1 Cor. xv. 58; 2 Cor. ix. G; Mat. v. 10-12. God will reward liis servants seevndum 
faborem, according to their labour, though not secundum proventum, according I" the suc- 
cess of their labour. 4 Mat. xix. 28 ; Luke zzii. 80 ; Mat. v. 12. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 197 

It is said of Araunah, that noble Jebusite, renowned for his bounty, 
that he had but a subject's purse, but a king's heart ; but Jesus Christ 
hath a king's purse as well as a king's heart, and accordingly he gives. 
' And as Christ's rewards are the greatest rewards, so his rewards 
are the surest rewards : ' He is faithful that hath promised/ 1 Thes. 
v. 24 1 

Antiochus promised often but seldom gave, upon which he was called, 
in way of derision, a great promiser ; but Jesus Christ never made any 
promise, but he hath or will perform it, 2 Cor. i. 20, nay, he is often 
better than his word, 1 Cor. ii. 9, he gives many times more than we 
ask. The sick man of the palsy asked but health, and Christ gave him 
health and a pardon to boot, Mat. ix. 2. Solomon desired but wisdom, 
and the Lord gave him wisdom, and honour, and riches, and the favour 
of creatures, as paper and pack-thread into the bargain, 2 Chron. i. 
10-15. Jacob asked him but clothes to wear, and bread to eat, and 
the Lord gave him these things, and riches, and other mercies into the 
bargain. 2 

Christ doth not measure his gifts by our petitions, but by his own 
riches and mercies. Gracious souls many times receive many gifts and 
favours from God that they never dreamt of, nor durst presume to beg, 
which others extremely strive after and go without. 

Archelaus being much importuned by a covetous courtier for a cup 
of gold wherein he drank, gave it unto Euripides that stood by, saying, 
Thou art worthy to ask, and be denied, but Euripides is worthy of gifts, 
although he ask not. 

The prodigal craves no more but the place of a hired servant, but he 
is entertained as a son, he is clad with the best robe, and fed with the 
fatted calf, he hath a ring for his hand, and shoes for his feet, rich sup- 
plies more than he deserved, Luke xv. 19-25. Jacob's sons, in a time 
of famine, desired only corn, and they return with corn and money in 
their sacks, and with good news too — Joseph is alive, and governor of 
all Egypt, Gen. xlii. 

And as his rewards are greater and surer than other rewards, so they 
are more durable and lasting than other rewards. The kingdom that 
he gives is a kingdom that shakes not ; the treasures that he gives are 
treasures that corrupt not ; and the glory that he gives is glory that 
fadeth not away ; but the rewards that men give are like themselves, 
fickle and unconstant, they are withering and fading. 3 

Xerxes crowned his steersman in the morning, and beheaded him in 
the evening of the same day. 

And Andronicus, the Greek emperor, crowned his admiral in the 
morning, and then took off his head in the afternoon. 

Rossensis 4 had a cardinal's hat sent him, but his head was cut off 
before it came to him. Most may say of their crowns as that king said 
of his, O crown ! more noble than happy. It was a just complaint 
which long ago was made against the heathen gods, faciles dare 
summa deos, eademque tuerl diffi,ciles, they could give their favourites 
great gifts, but they could not maintain them in the possession of them. 

1 As the King in Plutarch said of a groat, it is no kingly gift, and of a talent, it is no 
base bribe. 2 Gen. xxviii. 20 compared with Gen. xxxii. 10. 

3 Heh. xii. 28 ; Mat. vi. 19, 20 ; 1 Peter i. 4. 4 Qu. ' Roffensis ' ?— Ed. 



198 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlXGS XIV. 13. 

The world may give you great things, but the world cannot maintain 
you in the possession of them ; but the great things, the great rewards 
that Christ gives his, he will for ever maintain them in the possession 
of them, otherwise heaven would not be heaven, glory would not bo 
glory. Now by all these things you see that it is a very great honour 
to be an old disciple, an old Christian ; and this honour you will never 
attain to, except you begin to be really good betimes, except in the 
morning of your youth you return to the Lord, and get an interest in 
him. 

1 shall now come to make some use and application of this weighty 
truth to ourselves. 

You see, beloved, that it is the great duty and concernment of young 
men to be really good betimes. If this be so, then, 

Use 1. First, This truth looks sourly and sadly upon such young 
'imii thai arc only seemingly good, Had make some shows of goodness, 
li/if are not right toivards God at the root. 

As Joash, when he was young, he seemed to have good things in him 
towards the Lord, whilst good Jehoiada lived; but when Jehoiada was 
dead, Joash his goodness was buried with him, 2 Chron. xxiv. 1-6, 
13-16. 

Ah ! how many in these days, that have been seemingly good, have 
turned to be naught, very naught, yea, stark naught ! 

It is said of Tiberius, that whilst Augustus ruled, he was no ways 
tainted in his reputation ; and that, whilst Drusus and Germauicus 
were alive, he feigned those virtues which he had not, to maintain a 
good opinion of himself in the hearts of the people ; but after he had 
got himself out of the reach of contradiction and controlment, there 
was no fact in which he was not faulty, no crime to which he was not 
accessory. 1 

Oh ! that this were not applicable to many young persons in these 
days, who have made great shows and taken upon them a great name, 
who have begun to outshine the stars, but are now gone out like so 
many snuffs, to the dishonour of God, the reproach of the gospel, the 
grief of others, and the hazard of their own souls. 

It was a custom of old, when any was baptized, the minister delivered 
a white garment to be put on, saying, Take thou this white vestment, 
and see thou bring it forth without spot at the judgment-seat of Jesus 
Christ ; whereupon one Maritta baptizing one Elpidophorus, who, 
when he was grown up, proved a profane wretch, he brings forth the 
white garment, and holding it up, shakes it against him, saying, This 
linen garment, Elpidophorus, shall accuse thee at the coming of Christ, 
which I have kept by me as a witness of thy apostasy. 2 

Ah ! young men and women, your former professions will be a sad 
witness against you in the great day of our Lord Jesus, except you 
repent and return in good earnest to the Lord, Pro v. xiv. 14. 

Oh ! it had been better that you had never made profession, that you 

1 Nero's first live yi-urs are famous, but afterwards who more cruel? There are some 
that write that, after Demas had forsaken Paul, he became a priest in an idol-temple. 
[The one authority for such apostasy is an over-pressing of the following in Epiphaaioa : 

.... Ka/ Ay/tat, xeti 'Eofioyivnv, ml; ayxirriravras to\ \vrav6a alava, xai xaraXs/^avra; rut 
iii* tvs aXritiiaf. — llaeres. xli. ti. — G.] 

2 Crabs that go backwards are reckoned among the unclean creatures, Lev. xi. 10. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 199 

had never set your faces towards heaven, that you had never pretended 
to God and Christ, that you had never known the way of righteousness, 
than, after you have known it, to turn from the holy commandment. 

Cyprian, in his sermon de lapsis, reporteth of divers who, forsaking 
the faith, were given over to evil spirits and died fearfully. 

Oh ! the delusions and the Christ-dethroning, conscience-wasting, and 
soul-undoing opinions and principles that many young ones, who once 
were hopeful ones, are given up to ! That dreadful scripture seems to 
be made good in power upon them : ' All you that forsake the Lord 
shall come to be ashamed, and they that depart from him shall be 
written upon the dust/ Jer. xvii. 13. To begin well and not to proceed, 
is but to aspire to a higher pitch, that the fall may be the more despe- 
rate. Backsliding is a wounding sin, Hos. iv. 14. You read of no arms 
for the back, though you do for the breast, Eph. vi. 11-18. He that is 
but seemingly good will prove at last exceeding bad : 2 Tim. iii. 13, 
' They wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.' 

The wolf, though he often dissembles and closely hides his nature, 
yet he will one time or other shew himself to be a wolf. 

In the days of Hadrian the emperor, there was one Ben-cosbi, who, 
gathering a multitude of Jews together, called himself Ben-cocuba, the 
son of a star, applying that prophecy to himself, Num. xxiii. 17; but his 
mask was taken off, his hypocrisy discovered, and he found to be Bar- 
chosaba, the son of a lie. 1 2 This age hath afforded many such monsters, 
but their folly is discovered, and their practices abhorred. This was 
the young man's commendation in the text, ' That there was found in 
him some real good towards the Lord.' 

Use 2. This truth looks sourly and sadly upon such young men who 
are so far from having good things in them towards the Lord, that they 
give themselves up to those youthful lusts and vanities that are dis- 
honouring, provoking, and displeasing to the Lord, who roar and 
revel, and gad* and game, and dice, and drink, and drab* and u'hat 
not. These make work with a witness for repentance, or hell, or the 
physician of souls. 

I shall but touch upon the evils of youth, and then come to that 
which is mostly intended. 



CHAPTER III. 

The first evil that most properly attends youth is pride. 

Evil 1. Pride of heart, pride of apparel, pride of parts, 1 Tim. iii. 6. 
Young men are apt to be proud of health, strength, friends, relations, 
wit, wealth, wisdom. Two things are very rare : the one is, to see a 
young man humble and watchful ; and the other is, to see an old man 
contented and cheerful. 

Bernard saith, that pride is the rich man's cozen, and experience 
every day speaks out pride to be the } r oung man's cozen. 5 God, said 

1 For vivid account of the different ' False Christs,' see Hepworth Dixon's ' Holy Land.' 
2 vols. 8vo. 1865. — G. 2 Comets make a greater blaze than fixed stars. 

3 ' To go about giddily.'— G. * Are ' licentious.'— G. 5 ' Cheat.' — G. 



200 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

one, had three sons, Lucifer, Adam, and Christ ; the first aspired to be 
like God in power, and was therefore thrown down from heaven ; the 
second to be like him in knowledge, and was therefore deservedly 
driven out of Eden when young ; the third did altogether imitate and 
follow Him in his goodness, mercy, and humility, and by so doing 
obtained everlasting inheritance. 1 

Remember this, young men, and as you would get a paradise, and 
keep a paradise, get humble, and keep humble. Pride is an evil that 
puts men upon all manner of evil. Accius the poet, though he were a 
dwarf, yet would be pictured tall of stature. 2 

Psaphon, a proud Lybian, would needs be a god, and having caught 
some birds, he taught them to speak and prattle : the great god 
Psaphon. 8 

Menecrates, a proud physician, wrote thus to king Philip: Menecrates 
a god, to Philip a king.' 

Proud Simon in Lucian, having got a little wealth, changed his 
name from Simon to Simonides, for that there were so many beggars 
of his kin ; and set the house on hre wherein he was born, because no- 
body should point at it. 5 

What sad evils Pharaoh's pride, and Haman's pride, and Herod's 
pride, and Belshazzar's pride, put them upon, I shall not now mention. 6 

Ah ! young men, young men, had others a window to look into your 
breasts, or did your hearts stand where your faces do, you would even 
be afraid of yourselves, you would loathe and abhor yourselves. 

Ah ! young men, young men, as you would have God to keep house 
with you, as you would have his mind and secrets made known to }*ou, 
as you would have Christ to delight in you, and the Spirit to dwell in 
you, as you would be honoured among saints, and attended and guarded 
by angels, get humble, and keep humble. 

Tertullian's counsel to the young gallants of those times was excel- 
lent : ' Clothe yourselves/ said he, 'with the silk of piety, with the satin 
of sanctity, and with the purple of modesty ; so shall you have God 
himself to be your suitor.' 7 

Evil 2. The second evil that youth is subject to is, sensual 'pleasures 
and delights. 8 'Rejoice, young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart 
cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, 
and in the sight of thine eyes,' Eccles. xi. 9. The wise man, by an 
ironical concession, bids him rejoice, &c, sin, &c. Thou art wilful, and 
resolved upon taking thy pleasure ; go on, take thy course. This la- 
speaks by way of mockage and bitter scoff, &c. ; but know thou, that 
for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. So Samson 
' made a feast ; for so used the young men to do,' Judges xiv. 10. The 
hearts of young men usually are much given up to pleasure. I have 
read of a young man, who was very much given up to pleasures ; he 

1 Pride cannot climb so high, but justice will sit above. 

2 Mentioned by Cicero. Brutus, 28— G. 8 Qu. ' Psaon'?— G. 

4 'Die letter to Philip beginning, Miiu^m,- Ztus "f/X/Vtrw, x a 'i l,v > received tins answer , 
•ki'AtrToi UiviK^aru iiyiaimv. Of. AthenSBUB, Yii. p. 289; Aelian, Piar. Hist., xii. 61, and 
Buidas, s v. Mivtxgccrns. — G. 6 Cf. Suidas, sub nomine. — G. 

Acco, an old woman, seeing ber deformity in a glass, went mad. fltc. [Qn. ' Acca 
Lanrentia'? — G.] " Tertnllian de Cnlt. feem, cap. 18. 

* 2 Sam- xiii. 23-29. Oloth Vi\ia.a K axZ\>. Pleasure is tbe bait of sin, saitb Plato. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 201 

standing by St Ambrose, and seeing his excellent death, turned to 
other young men by him, and said, ' Oh, that I might live with you, and 
die with him.' 

Sensual pleasures are like to those locusts, Rev. ix. 7, the crowns 
upon whose heads are said to be only as it were such, or such in ap- 
pearance, and like gold ; but verse 10, it is said there were — not as it 
were, but — stings in their tails. 

Sensual pleasures are but seeming and appearing pleasures, 1 but the 
pains that attend them are true and real. He that delights in sensual 
pleasures, shall find his greatest pleasures become his bitterest pains. 

The heathens looked upon the back parts of pleasure, and saw it 
going away from them, and leaving a sting behind. 

Pleasures pass away as soon as they have wearied out the body, and 
leave it as a bunch of grapes whose juice has been pressed out ; which 
made one to say, Nulla major volwptas, quam volwptatis fastidium, 
1 see no greater pleasure in this world than the contempt of pleasure. 

Julian, though an apostate, yet professed that the pleasures of the 
body were far below a great spirit ; and Tully saith, he is not worthy 
of the name of man, qui unum diem velit esse in voluptate, that would 
entirely spend one whole day in pleasures. It is better not to desire 
pleasures, than to enjoy them. ' I said of laughter, it is mad ; and of 
mirth, What dost thou ?' Eccles. ii. 2. The interrogation bids a challenge 
to all the masters of mirth, to produce any one satisfactory fruit which 
it affordeth, if they could. 

Xerxes, being weary of all pleasures, promised rewards to the inventors 
of new pleasures, which being invented, he nevertheless remained un- 
satisfied. As a bee flieth from flower to flower and is not satisfied, 
and as a sick man removes from one bed to another, from one seat to 
another, from one chamber to another for ease, and finds none ; so men 
given up to sensual pleasures go from one pleasure to another, but can 
find no content, no satisfaction in their pleasures : ' The eye is not 
satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing,' Eccles. i. 8. There 
is a curse of unsatisfiableness lies upon the creature. Honours cannot 
satisfy the ambitious man, nor riches the covetous man, nor pleasures 
the voluptuous man. Man cannot take off the weariness of one plea- 
sure by another, for after a few evaporated minutes are spent in plea- 
sures, the body presently fails the mind, and the mind the desire, and 
the desire the satisfaction, and all the man. 

Pleasures are Junos in the pursuit, and but clouds in the enjoyment. 
Pleasure is a beautiful harlot sitting in her chariot, whose four wheels 
are pride, gluttony, lust, and idleness. The two horses are prosperity 
and abundance, the two drivers are idleness and security, her attendants 
and followers are guilt, grief, late repentance, if any, and oft death 
and ruin. Many great men, and many strong men, and many rich men, 
and many hopeful men, and many young men, have come to their ends 
by her ; but never any enjoyed full satisfaction and content in her. 2 

Ah! young men, young men, avoid this harlot, and come not near 
the door of her house. And as for lawful pleasures, let me only say this, 

1 They were much out that held pleasure to be man's sitmmum Ionian. 

2 Becanus saith, that the fruit of the tree of knowledge is sweet, but in the end it 
breeds ckoler ; so do worldly pleasures. 



202 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

it is your wisdom only to touch them, to taste them, and to use them, as 
Mithridatea used poison, to fortify yourselves against casual extremities 
and maladies. When Mr Roger Ascham asked the Lady Jane Grey 
how she could lose such pastime, her father with the duchess being 
a-hunting in the park, smilingly answered, All the sport in the park 
is but a shadow of that pleasure I find in this book, — having a good book 
in her hand. 1 

Augustine, before his conversion, could not tell how to live without 
those pleasures which he delighted much in, but when his nature was 
changed, and his heart graciously turned to the Lord, Oh ! how sweet, 
saith he, is it to be without those sweet delights. 

Ah! young men, when once you come to experience the goodness and 
sweetness that is in the Lord, and in his word and ways, you will then 
sit down and grieve that you have spent more wine in the cup than oil 
in the lamp. 

There are no pleasures so delighting, so satisfying, so ravishing, so 
engaging, and so abiding as those that spring from union and com- 
munion with God, as those that flow from a sense of interest in God, 
and from an humble and holy walking with God. 

Evil 3. The third sin of youth is rashness. 

They many times know little and fear less, and so are apt rashly to 
run on, and run out often to their hurt, but more often to their hazard. 2 
' Exhort young men to be sober-minded or discreet,' Titus ii. 6. They 
are apt to be rash, to be Hotspurs. As you may see in Rehoboam's 
young counsellors, who counselled him to tell the people, 1 Kings xii. 
8-11, that groaned under their burdens, that 'his little finger should 
be thicker than his father's loins, and that he would add to their yoke ; 
and that whereas his father had chastised them with whips, he would 
chastise them with scorpions.' This rash counsel proved Rehoboam's 
ruin ; yea, David himself, though a good man, yet being in his warm 
blood and young, how sadly was he overtaken with rashness ! 'As the 
Lord God of Israel liveth,' saith he, 'except thou hadst hastened and come 
to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal, by to-morrow 
light, any that pisseth against the wall,' 1 Sam. xxv. 34, 35. And this 
he binds with an oath. Because the master was foolishly wilful, the 
innocent servants must all be woful ; and because Nabal had been nig- 
gardly of his bread, David would be prodigal of his blood. 3 

Ah ! how unlike a Christian, yea, how below a man doth David carry 
it when his blood is up, and he is a captive to rashness and passion ! 
Rashness will admit of nought for reason, but what unreasonable self 
shall dictate for reason. As sloth seldom bringeth actions to good 
birth, so rashness makes them always abortive ere well formed. A 
rash spirit is an ungodlike spirit ; a rash spirit is a weak spirit, it is 
an effeminate spirit. ' A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit,' 
or as the Hebrew will bear, is of a cool spirit, not rash and hot, ready 
at every turn to put out his soul in wrath, Prov. xvii. 27. Rashness 
unmans a man, it will put a man upon things below manhood. Ero- 

1 Tho memorable scene when Lady Jane was reading Plato, as quaintly told by the 
old ' Schoolmaster.'— G. 2 Arist. Polit. 

3 Diis proximns We est, quem ratio, non ira, movct, He is next to God, whom reason, 
not anger, moveth. — Seneca. [De Ira, very often. — G.] 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 20.3 

stratus, a hotspur, an obscure base fellow, did in one night by fire 
destroy the temple of Diana at Ephesus, which was two hundred and 
twenty years in building, of all Asia, at the cost of so many princes, 
and beautified with the labours and cunning of so many excellent work- 
men. The truth is, there would be no end were I to discover the many 
sad and great evils that are ushered into the world by that one evil, 
rashness, which usually attends youth, &c. ; and therefore, young men, 
decline it, and arm yourselves against it, &c. 

Evil 4. The fourth sin that ordinarily attends on youth is, Mocking 
and scoffing at religious men and religious things. 

They were young ones that scoffingly and scornfully said to the 
prophet, ' Go up, thou bald-head ; go up, thou bald-head,' 2 Kings 
ii. 23, 24. And the young men derided and mocked Job : ' But now 
they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I 
would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. Upon 
my right hand rise the youth ; they push away my feet, and they raise 
up against me the ways of their destruction,' &c, Job. xxx. 1, 12-15. 
And oh ! that this age did not afford many such monsters, who are 
notable, who are infamous in this black art of scoffing and deriding the 
people of God, and the ways of God ! 

The Athenians once scoffed at Sylla's [Sulla] wife, and it had well 
nigh cost the razing of their city, he was so provoked with the indig- 
nity ;' and will you think it safe to scoff at the people of God, who are 
the spouse of Christ, who are as the apple of his eye, who are the signet 
on his right hand, his portion, his pleasant portion, his inheritance, his 
jewels, his royal diadem ? 2 Ah ! young men, young men ! will you 
seriously consider how sadly and sorely he hath punished other scoffers 
and mockers, and by his judgments on them, be warned never to scoff 
at the people of God or his ways more ? Julian the emperor was a 
great scoffer of Christians ; but at last he was struck with an arrow 
from heaven, that made him cry out, Vicisti, Galilcee, thou Galilean — 
meaning our Saviour Christ — hast overcome me. 3 Felix, for one mali- 
cious scoff, did nothing day and night but vomit blood, till his unhappy 
soul was separated from his wretched body. Pherecydes was consumed 
by worms alive, for giving religion but a nickname. Lucian, for bark- 
ing against religion like a dog, was, by the just judgment of God, de- 
voured of dogs. 4 Remember these dreadful judgments of God on 
scoffers, and if you like them, then mock on, scoff on ; but know, that 
justice will at last be even with you, nay, above you. 

Evil 5. The fifth and last evil that I shall mention that attends and 
waits on youth is, lustfulness and wantonness. 

Which occasioned aged Paul to caution his young Timothy to ' flee 
youthful lusts/ 2 Tim. ii. 22. Timothy was a chaste and chastened 
piece ; he was much sanctified and mortified ; his graces were high, 
and corruptions low ; he walked up and down this world with dying 
thoughts, and with a weak, distempered, declining, dying body ; his 
heart was in heaven, and his foot in the grave ; and yet youth is such 

1 Plutarch, Sulla.— G. 

s Cant. v. 1 ; Zech. ii. 8 ; Deut. xxxii. 9 ; Isa. xix. 25 ; Joel ii. 17 ; Ps. xxxiii. 12; 
Isa. lxii. 3. 
3 A commonplace of quotation ascribed to Julian. — G. 4 Very doubtful. — G. 



204 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 Kings XIV. 13. 

;i slippery age, that Paul commands him to flee, to post from, youthful 
lusts. Though Timothy was a good man, a weak, sickly man, a mar- 
vellous temperate man, drinking water rather than wine, yet he was 
but a man, yea, a young man ; and therefore Paul's counsel and com- 
mand is, that he 'flee youthful lusts.' And Solomon, who had sadly 
experienced the slipperiness of youth, gives this counsel: ' Put away 
the evils of thy flesh : for childhood and youth are vanity/ Eccles. 
xi. 10. He was a young man that followed the harlot to her house ; 
he was young in years, and young in knowledge, Prov. vii. 7-11, &c. 
Salazer upon the words saith : That was a happy age that afforded but 
one simple young man among many, whereas late times afford greater 
store Ah ! too many of the youths of this age, instead of flying from 
youthful lusts, they post and pursue after youthful lusts. 

Chrysostom, speaking of youth, saith, it is difficilem, jactctMlem, 
f<tll!bll,m, vehementissinnsqne egentem frosnis, 1 hard to be ruled, 
easy to be drawn away, apt to be deceived, and standing in need of 
very violent reins. 

The ancients did picture youth like a young man naked, with a veil 
over his face ; his right hand bound behind him, his left hand loose, 
and Time behind him pulling- one thread out of his veil every day ; 
intimating that young men are void of knowledge, and blind, unfit to 
do good, ready to do evil ; till time, by little and little, make them 
wiser. 2 Well ! young man, remember this, that the least sparklings 
and kindlings of lusts will, first or last, cost thee groans and griefs, 
tears and terrors enough. 

These five are the sins that usually are waiting and attending on 
youth ; but from these the young man in the text was by grace pre- 
served and secured, which is more than I dare affirm of all into wboSfl 
hand this treatise shall fall. But though these five are the sins of 
youth, yet they are not all the sins of youth ; for youth is capable of 
and subject to all other sins whatsoever ; but these are the special sins 
that most usually wait and attend on young men when they are in the 
spring and morning of their youth. 



CHAPTER IV. 

I shall now hasten to the main use that I intend to stand upon, and 
that is an use of exhortation to all young 'persons. 

Ah, sirs ! as you tender 3 the glory of God, the good of your bodies, 
the joy of your Christian friends, and the salvation of your own souls, 
be exhorted and persuaded to be really good betimes. It was the praise 
and honour of Abijah, that 'there was found in him some good thing 
towards the Lord' in the primrose of his childhood. 4 

Oh ! that it might be your honour and happiness to be really good be- 
times, that it might be to you a praise and a name, that in the morn- 
ing of your youth you have begun to seek the Lord, and to know and 

1 Chrysost. Homil. i. Ad pojmlum. 2 A Lapide. :: ' Regard.' — G. 

4 Other sins attend youth, as (1.) Ignorance, l Cor. xiv. 20; (2.) Falsehood, Ps. lviii. 
8; (:'..) Excessive love of liberty; (4.) Impatience of counsels ami reproofs, Jer. xxxi. 
18, i'.i; (5.) Impudence [insolence], lea. iii. 6; (<;.) A trilling spirit, Eccles. xi. 10; (7.) Pro- 
digality. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 205 

love the Lord, and to get an interest and propriety 1 in the Lord. Now 
that this exhortation may stick and take, I beseech you seriously to 
weigh and ponder these following motives or considerations : 

Motive (1). First consider, It is an honour to be good betimes. A 
young saint is like the morning star ; he is like a pearl in a gold rino-. 
It is mentioned as a singular honour to the believing Jews, that they 
first trusted in Christ ; ' that we should be to the praise of his glory, 
who first trusted in Christ,' Eph. i. 12. This was their praise, their 
crown, that they were first converted and turned to Christ and Chris- 
tianity. So Paul, mentioning Andronicus and Junia, doth not omit 
this circumstance of praise and honour, that they were in Christ 'before 
him,' Rom. xvi. 7. ' Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and 
my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were 
in Christ before me.' 

And so it was the honour of the house of Stephanas, that they were 
the first-fruits of Achaia, I Cor. xvi. 15. It was their glory that they 
were the first that received and welcomed the gospel in Achaia. It is 
a greater honour for a young man to outwrestle sin, Satan, temptation, 
the world, and lust, than ever Alexander the Great could attain unto. 
It was Judah his praise and honour, that they were first in fetching 
home David their king, 2 Sam. xix. 15. 

Ah, young men and women ! it will be your eternal praise and hon- 
our if you shall be before others, if you shall be the first amono- many, 
who shall know the Lord and seek the Lord ; who shall receive the Lord, 
and embrace him ; who shall cleave to the Lord, and serve him • who 
shall honour the Lord, and obey him ; who shall delight in the Lord, 
and walk with him. The Romans built Virtue's and Honour's temple 
close together, to shew that the way to honour was by virtue ; and, in- 
deed, there is no crown to that which goodness sets upon a man's head : 
all other honour is fading and withering. Acloni-bezek, a mighty 
prince, is suddenly made fellow-commoner with the dogs, Judges i. 7 • 
and Nebuchadnezzar, a mighty conqueror, turned a-grazing amono- the 
oxen, Dan. iv. 28 ; and Herod, reduced from a conceited god to be 
the most loathsome of men, living carrion, arrested by the vilest of 
creatures, upon the suit of his affronted Creator, Acts xii. 23 ; and Ha- 
inan, feasted with the king one day, and made a feast for crows the 
next, Esth. vii. 10. I might tell you of Bajazet and Belisarius, two of 
the greatest commanders in the world, and many others, who have sud- 
denly fallen from the top of worldly honour and felicity, into the o- re at- 
est contempt and misery, but I shall not at this time. But that honour 
that arises from men's being gracious betimes, is such honour that the 
world can neither give nor take ; it is honour, it is a crown that will 
still be green and flourishing ; it is honour that will bed and board with 
a man, that will abide with a man under all trials and chano-es, that 
will to the grave, that will to heaven with a man. 

Ah, sirs ! it is no small honour to you, who are in the sprino- and 
morning of your days, that the Lord hath left upon record several in- 
stances of his love and delight in young men. He chose David, a 
younger brother, and passes by his elder brothers, 1 Sam. xvi. 11-13 ; 
he frowns upon Esau, and passes by his door, and sets his love and de- 

1 ' Property.'— G. 



206 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 Kings XIV. 13. 

light upon Jacob the younger brother, Rom. ix. 12, 13 ; he kindly and 
lovingly accepts of Abel's person and sacrifice, and rejects both Cain's 
person and sacrifice, though he was the elder brother, Gen. iv. 3-fi. 
Among all the disciples, John was the youngest and the most and best 
beloved, John xiii. 23. There was but one ' young man' that came to 
Christ, and lie came not aright, Mark x. 19-21 ; and all the good that 
was in liim was but some moral good, and yet Christ loved him with a 
love of pity and compassion. The Greek word (ayanuv) signifies, to 
speak friendly and deal gently with one ; and so did Christ with him, 
all which should exceedingly encourage young men to be good betimes, 
to be gracious in the morning of their youth. No way to true honour 
like this, but, 

Motive (2). Secondly, consider, Christ loved poor sinners and gave 
hi/m&elffor them, when he was in the prime of his age (being supposed 
to be about thirty and three), and will you put him off with the worst 
of your time ? 

Ah ! young men, young men, Christ gave himself up to death, he 
made himself an offering for your sins, for your sakes, when he was in 
the prime and flower of his age -, 1 and why then should you put off 
Christ to an old age ? Did he die for sin in the prime of his age ? and 
will not you die to sin in the prime of your age ? Did he offer himself 
for you in the spring and morning of his years ? and will not you offer 
up yourselves to him in the spring and morning of your years ? Rom. 
xii. 1, 2. Oh give. not Christ cause to say, I died for you betimes, but 
you have not lived to me betimes ; I was early in my suffering for you, 
but you have not been early in your returning to me ; I made haste to 
complete your redemption, but you have made no haste to make sure 
your vocation and election, 2 Pet. i. 1 ; I stayed not, I lingered not, 
but soon suffered what I was to suffer, and quickly did what was to be 
done for your eternal welfare ; but you have stayed .and lingered, like 
Lot in Sodom, Gen. xix. 1G, and have not done what you might have 
done in order to your everlasting good. In the primrose of my days, I 
sweat for you, I wept for you, I bled for you, I hung on the cross for 
you, I bore the wrath of my Father for you ; but you have not in the 
primrose of your days sweat under the sense of divine displeasure, nor 
wept over your sins, nor mourned over me, whom you have so often 
grieved and pierced, Zech. xii. 10. I could not be quiet nor satisfied 
till I had put you into a capacity, into a possibility of salvation, and yet 
you are well enough quieted and satisfied, though you do not know 
whether ever you shall be saved. 

Ah, sirs ! how sad would it be with you, if Jesus Christ should secretly 
thus expostulate with your consciences in this your day. 

Oh ! how terrible would it be with you, if Christ should thus visibly 
plead against you in his great day. Ah ! young men, young men and 
women, who but souls much left of God, blinded by Satan, and hardened 
in sin, 2 Cor. 3, 4, can hear Jesus Christ speaking thus to them : I 
suffered for sinners betimes, I laid down a ransom for souls betimes, I 
pacified my Father's wrath betimes, I satisfied my Father's justice 
hetimes, I merited grace and mercy for sinners betimes, I brought in 

1 The sacrifices in the law were young lamhs and young kids, to 6hew that Christ our 
sacrifice should die and suffer for our sins, iu the flower of his age. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 207 

an everlasting righteousness upon the world betimes, &c. ; I say, who 
can hear Jesus Christ speaking thus, and his heart not fall in love 
and league with Christ, and his soul not unite to Christ and resign to 
Christ, and cleave to Christ, and for ever be one with Christ, except it 
be such that are for ever left by Christ ? Well, remember this, Quanto 
pro nobis vilior, tanto nobis charior, the more vile Christ made him- 
self for us, the more dear he ought to be unto us. 

Ah ! young men, remember this, when Christ was young, he was 
tempted and tried ; when he was in the morning of his days, his wounds 
were deep, his burden weighty, his cup bitter, his sweat painful, his 
agony and torment above conception, beyond expression ; when he was 
young, that blessed head of his was crowned with thorns ; and those eyes 
of his, that were purer than the sun, were put out by the darkness of 
death ; x and those ears of his which now hear nothing but hallelujahs of 
saints and angels, were filled with the blasphemies of the multitude ; 
and that blessed beautiful face of his, which was fairer than the sons of 
men, was spit on by beastly filthy wretches ; and that gracious mouth 
and tongue, that spake as never man spake, was slandered and accused 
of blasphemy ; and those hands of his, which healed the sick, which 
gave out pardons, which swayed a sceptre in heaven and another on 
earth, were nailed to the cross ; and those feet, that were beautiful upon 
the mountains, that brought the glad tidings of peace and salvation into 
the world, and that were like unto fine brass, were also nailed to the 
cross : all these great and sad things did Jesus Christ suffer for you 
in the prime and flower of his clays, and oh ! what an unspeakable pro- 
vocation 2 should this be to all young ones, to give up themselves betimes 
to Christ, to serve, love, honour, and obey him betimes, even in the 
spring and morning of their youth. 

Let the thoughts of a crucified Christ, saith one, be never out of your 
mind, let them be meat and drink unto you, let them be your sweet- 
ness and consolation, your honey and your desire, your reading and 
your meditation, your life, death, and resurrection. 

Motive (3). The third motive or consideration to provoke you to 
begin to be good betimes, is this, viz., That it is the best and choicest 
way in the world, to be rich in gracious experiences betimes? which 
are the best riches in all the world. As he that sets up for himself 
betimes is in the most hopeful way to be rich betimes, so he that is 
good in good earnest betimes, he is in the ready way, the highway of 
being rich in grace and rich in goodness. They usually prove men of 
great observation and great experience. God loves to shew these his 
' beauty and his glory in his sanctuary/ 4 He delights to cause ' his 
glory and his goodness to pass before' such. These shall find all his 
' paths drop marrow and fatness/ For these ' the Lord of hosts will 
make a feast of fat things, a feast of wiues on the lees, of fat things full 
of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.' These shall have all man- 

1 Nolo vivere sine vulnere, cum te video vulneratum. — Bonaventura. my God, as long 
as I see thy wounds, I will never live without wounds. Aut Deus natures patitur, aut 
mundi machina dissolvitur, said Dionysius Alexandrinus ; either the God of nature suf- 
fered, or the frame of the world will be dissolved. [Epist. ad Poly car p.: ascribed also to 
the astronomer Ptolemy. — G.] 2 ' Stirring up.' — G. 

3 The philosopher once said, solus sapiens dives, only the wise man is the rich man. 

4 Ps. lxiii. 1, 2 ; Exod. iii. 3, xix. 22, &c. ; Ps. lxv. 11, 12 ; Isa. xxv. 6 ; Cant. vii. 13. 



208 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

ner of ' pleasant fruits' laid up ' at their gates for their well-beloved.' 
None have bo many choice pledges of Christ's love, nor bo many sweet 
kisses of Christ's mouth, nor so many embraces in Christ's arms, as 
those souls thai are good betimes. Oh the grace, the goodness, the 
sweetness, the fatness thai Christ is still a-dropping into their hearts! 
Chrisl will make their hearts his largest treasury, he will lay up most 
of bis heavenly treasure in their souls. There he will stoic up mercies 
now and old ; there he will treasure up all plenty, rarity, and variety; 
there he will lay up all that heart can wish or need require. Oh the 
many drops of myrrh that falls from Christ's fingers upon their hearts ! 
Oh the many secrets that Christ reveals in their ears! Oh the many 
love-lot tors that Christ sends to these! Oh the many visits that he 
o-ives to those ! Oh the turns, the walks, that he hath in paradise with 
these ! There are none in the world for experience and intelligence to 
thi Be. Ah ! young men, young men, as you would be rich in the host 
riches, beoin to be good betimes ;' as there is no riches to spiritual riches, 
so there is no way to be rich in these riches, but by beginning to be 
good, in good earnest, betimes. 

As for worldly riches, philosophers have contemned them, and pre- 
ferred a contemplative life above them, and shall not Christians much 
more? 2 The prophet calls them 'thick clay,' which will sooner break 
the back than lighten the heart ; they cannot better the soul, they can- 
not enrich the soul, Hah. ii. 6. Ah! how many threadbare souls are Id 
be found under silken cloaks and gowns ! How often are worldly riches 
like hangmen, they hide men's faces with a covering, that they may not 
see their own end, and then they hang them. And if they do not hang 
you, they will shortly leave you, they 'make themselves wings and fly 
away,' Prov. xxiii. 5. When one was a-commending the riches and 
wealth of merchants, I do not love that wealth, said a heathen, that 
hangs upon ropes; if they break, the ship miscarrieth, and all is lost, 
He is rich enough, saith Jerome, that lacketh not bread, and high 
enough in dignity that is not forced to serve. 

1 This world's wealth, that men so much desire, 
Way well be likened to a burning fire, 
Whereof a little can do little harm, 
But profit much our bodies well to warm : 
But take ton much, and surely thou shalt 1mm ; 
So too much wealth to too much woe does turn.' 

It was an excellent saying of Lewis of Bauyer, 3 emperor of Germany, 
Hujusmodi (rnnpcurcmdcB sunt opes quae cum naufragiosimult ,■■ 
such goods are worth getting and owning as will not sink or wash away 
if a shipwreck happen, but will wade and swim out with us. \Y 
such are the spiritual riches that will attend those who, in the spring 
and morning of their youth, shall know the Lord and serve the Lord, 
and gel an interest in the Lord ; and thus much for the third motive 

Motvoe (4). The fourth motive to provoke young ones to he really 
good betimes is, to consider that The present tvme, the prm nt day, U 
the only season that you are sure of. 

1 Earthly riches are full of poverty. DiviticB corporate pavpertatir plena sunt. 

2 [f there m re any ha] piness in riches, the gods would nut, want them, saith Seneca. 
[A frequent sentiment in his Letters.— G.] * Bavaria ?— G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 209 

Time past cannot be recalled, and time to come cannot be ascertained : 
'To-day, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts,' Heb. iii. 15 ; 
'Behold, now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation,' 2 Cor. 
vi. 2. Some there be that trifle away their time, and fool away their 
souls and their salvation. 1 To prevent this, the apostle beats upon the 
to vvv } the present opportunity, because if that be once past, there is no 
recovering of it. Therefore, as the mariner takes the first fair wind to 
sail, and as the merchant takes his first opportunity of buying and 
selling, and as the husbandman takes the first opportunity of sowing 
and reaping, so should young men take the present season, the present 
day, which is their day, to be good towards the Lord, to seek him and 
serve him, and not to post off the present season, for they know not 
what another day, another hour, another moment, may bring forth. 
That door of grace that is open to-day may be shut to-morrow ; that 
golden sceptre of mercy that is held forth in the gospel this day may be 
taken iu the next day : hat love that this hour is upon the bare knee 
entreating and beseeching young men to break off their sins, by repent- 
ance, ' to return to the Lord, to lay hold on his strength, and be at peace 
with him,' may the next hour be turned into wrath, Isa. xxvii. 4, 5. 

Ah! the noble motions that have been lost, the good purposes that 
have withered, the immortal souls that have miscarried, by putting off 
the present season, the present day. Paul discoursing before Felix of 
righteousness and temperance and judgment to come, Acts xxiv. 25, and 
in this discourse striking at two special vices that Felix was particularly 
guilty of, he falls a-trembling, and being upon the rack to hear such 
doctrine, he bids Paul ' depart for that time, and he would call for him 
at a convenient season.' Here Felix neglects his present season, and we 
never read that ever after this he found a convenient time or season to 
hear Paul make an end of the subject he had begun. So Christ made 
a very fair offer to the young man in the Gospel, ' Go and sell that thou 
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven,' Mat. 
xix. 21-24. Here Christ offers heavenly treasures for earthly treasures, 
unmixed treasures for mixed treasures, perfect treasures for imperfect 
treasures, satisfying treasures for unsatisfying treasures, lasting treasures 
for fading treasures ; but the young man slips his opportunity, his season, 
and goes away sorrowful, and we never read more of him. 

Ah ! young men, young men, do not put off the present season, do 
not neglect the present day. There is no time yours but the present 
time, no day yours but the present day ; and therefore do not please 
yourselves and feed yourselves with hopes of time to come, and that you 
will repent, but not yet, and lay hold on mercy, but not yet, and give up 
yourselves to the Lord next week, next month, or next year, for that God 
that hath promised you mercy and favour upon the day of your return, he 
hath not promised to prolong your lives till that day comes. 2 When a 
soldier was brought before Lamacus, 3 a commander, for a misbehaviour, 
and pleaded he would do so no more, Lamacus answered, Non licet in 

1 The whole earth hangs on a point ; so doth heaven and eternity on an inch of oppor- 
tunity. 

* Often consider what the damned would give, were it in their hands, for one sen son of 
grace, for one opportunity of mercy. 3 Lamachus. Plutarch. Pericles. — G. 

VOL. I. O 



210 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13 

belk) bis peccare, no man must offend twice in war ; so God, especially in 
ilit B6 gospel days, wherein the motions of divine justice are more smart 
and quick than in former days, happily will not suffer men twice to 
neglect the day of grace, and let slip the season of mercy, Heb. iii. 2. 

Ah ! young men, young men, you say you will be good towards the 
Lord before you die, but if you are not good towards the Lord to-day, 
you may die to-morrow, nay, justice may leave him to be his own 
executioner to-morrow, who will not repent, nor seek the Lord to-day. 
I have read of a certain young man, who, being admonished of the evil 
of his way and course, and pressed to leave his wickedness by the con- 
sideration of death, judgment, and eternity that was a-coming, he 
answered, What do you tell mo of these things? I will do well enough; 
for when death comes, I will speak but three words, and will help all ; 
and so still he went on in his sinful ways, but in the end, coming to a 
bridge on horseback, to go over a deep water, the horse stumbling, and 
he labouring to recover his horse, but could not ; at last, he let go the 
bridle, and gave up himself and horse to the waters, and was heard to 
say these three words, Devil take all, Diabolus capiat omnia I Here 
was three dreadful words indeed, and an example, with a witness, for 
all young men to beware who think to repent with a three-word repent- 
ance at last. 

Otho, the emperor, slew himself with his own hands, but slept so 
soundly the night before, that the grooms of his chamber heard him 
snort 1 2 

Young men, I will suppose you to be good accountants ; now if you 
please to count the number and mark the age of the sacrifices in the 
Old Testament, you shall find more kids and lambs offered than goats 
and old sheep. You have no lease of your lives, you are not sure that 
you shall live to Isaac's age, to live till your eyes wax dim, Gen. xxvii. 1 ; 
you are not sure that you shall live to Jacob's years, and die leaning 
upon the top of a staff, Heb. xi. 21. You read of them who 'die in 
their youth, and whose lives are among the unclean,' Job xxxvi. 14. 
Slip not the present season, neglect not this day of grace, let not Satan 
keep your souls and Christ any longer asunder, by telling of you that 
you are too young, that hereafter will be time enough. 3 Austin tells 
us, that by this very temptation the devil kept him off from receiving 
of Christ, from closing with Christ seven years together ; he could no 
sooner think of inquiring after Christ, of getting an interest in Christ, 
of leaving off his sinful courses, &c, but Satan would be still a-suggest- 
ing, Thou art too young to leave thy drunkenness, thou art too young 
to leave thy Delilahs, to leave thy harlots ; till at last he cried out, 
How long shall I say it is too soon ? why may I not repent to-day ? and 
lay hold on Jesus Christ to-day? &c. Ah! young men, this is your day, 
this is your season ; if you will not now hearken and obey, you may perish 
for ever. Csesar had a letter given him by Artemidorus that morning 
he went to the senate, wherein notice was given him of all the con- 
spiracy of his murderers, so that with ease he might have prevented 

1 Suetonius and Plutarch, Otho; Dion Cassius, lxiv. — G- 

* Plutarch reporteth the like of Cato. [Sub nomine, i. e. Cato the younger. — G.] 
s As out of the houghs of a tree aro taken wedges to cleave it in pieces, so out of our 
>\\n lusts Satan works engines to destroy us. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 211 

• 

his death, but neglecting the reading of it, was slain ; he slipped his 
season, and dies for it. 1 Ah ! how many for slipping gracious seasons 
and opportunities, have died for ever ! Soul-opportunities are more 
worth than a thousand worlds ; mercy is in them, grace and glory is in 
them, heaven and eternity is in them. 

Motive (5). Fifthly, To provoke you to be good betimes, consider, 
How just it is vnth God to reserve the dregs of his wrath for them 
who reserve the dregs of their days for him. 

How can a husband embrace that wife in her old age, who hath 
spent all the time of her youth in following after strangers ? Will any 
man receive such into his service, who hath all their days served his 
enemies, and received such wounds, blows, and bruises, that renders 
them unfit for his service ? 

Ah ! young men, young men, do not thus ' foolishly and unwisely re- 
quite the Lord/ Deut. xxxii. 6, for all his patient waiting, his gracious 
wooing, and his merciful dealing with you. Ah ! do not put off God to 
old age; for old, lame, and sick sacrifices rarely reach as high as heaven. 
Is not old age very unteachable ? in old age are not men very unapt to 
take in, and as unapt to give out ? In old age, oftentimes, men are 
men, and no men ; they have eyes, but see not, ears, but hear not, 
tongues, but speak not, feet, but walk not. 2 An aged man is but a 
moving anatomy, or a living mortuary. Now how unlovely, how un- 
comely, how unworthy, nay, how incensing, how provoking a thing must 
this needs, be, when men will dally with God, and put him off till their 
doating days have overtaken them, till their spring is past, their summer 
overpast, and they arrived at the fall of the leaf, yea, till winter colours 
have stained their heads with gray and hoary hairs ! How provoking 
this is, you may see in those sad words of Jeremiah : Jer. xxii. 21, 22, 
'I spake unto thee in thy prosperity ; but thou saidst, I will not hear : this 
hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyest not my voice.' 
But will God put up this at their hands ? No. Therefore it follows in the 
next verse, ' Surely thou shalt be ashamed and confounded for all thy 
wickedness.' 

Oh ! that young men would let this scripture lie warm every morning 
upon their hearts, that so they may not dare to put off God and pro- 
voke him to their own commission. 3 Though you are young and in 
your strength, yet are you stronger than God, can you make your party 
good with him ? If you will needs be a-provoking, provoke them that 
are your matches, and do not contend with him that is mightier than 
you, that can command you into nothing, or into hell at pleasure. 

Motive (6). Sixthly, consider, That the sooner you are good on 
earth, the greater will he your reward in heaven. 

The sooner you are gracious, the more at last you will be glorious. 
You read in the Scripture of a reward, of a great reward, and of a full 

1 Plutarch, Cces. 65 ; Zonaras, vol. i. p. 491, ed. Paris. — G. 

* Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda, Horatius, ' Many are the inconveniences that 
do encompass an old man.' \_Ars Poetica, 169. — G.] The reproach of the evil of wicked- 
ness is not to be added to old age ; Solet enim senectus esse deformis, infirma, obliviosa, eden- 
tula, lucrosa, indocilis et molesta, saith Plutarch, in Apothegm Rom. For old age useth to 
be deformed, weak, forgetful, toothless, covetous, unteachable, unquiet. [Brooks seems, 
in the description of ' old age,' to remember Shakespeare's ' sans teeth, sans eyes, sans 
taste,' &c — As you like it, ii. 7. The careful reader will trace numerous tacit references 
of this kind in Brooks.— G.] * Qu. ' confusion' ? — Ed. 



212 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

reward. Now those that are good betimes, that know, seek, serve, and 
love the Lord in the spring and morning of their youth, they are in 
the fairest way of gaining the greatest and the fullest reward. 1 
And this I shall make clear by that which follows. 
(1.) First, Tin sooner any man begins to be really good, the more 
good he will do vn this world. Now, the more good any man doth on 
earth, the more glory he shall have in heaven. Therefore, my beloved 
brethren, ' Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work 
of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in 
the Lord,' 1 Cor. xv. 58. 

Man's wages, man's reward, shall be according to his works. He that 
doth most work here shall have most reward hereafter. God will at 
last proportion the one to the other, the reward to the work : ' He 
which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly ; and he which soweth 
bountifully shall reap bountifully/ 2 Cor. ix. 6. Though no man shall 
be rewarded for his works, yet God will at last measure out happiness 
and blessedness to his people according to their service, faithfulness, 
diligence, and work in this world, Rom. ii. 5-7. Grace is glory in the 
bud, and glory is grace at the full ; glory is nothing else but a bright 
constellation of graces ; happiness nothing but the quintessence of 
holiness. Grace and glory differ non specie, seel gradu, in degree, not 
kind, as the learned speak. Grace and glory differ very little ; the one 
is the seed, the other is the flower ; grace is glory militant, and glory 
is grace triumphant ; and a man may as well plead for equal degrees 
of grace in this world, as he may plead for equal degrees of glory in 
the other world. Surely the more grace here, the more glory here- 
after ; and the more work Christians do on earth, the more glory they 
shall have in heaven ; and the sooner men begin to be good, the more 
good they will do in this world ; and the more they do here, the more 
they shall have hereafter. Philosophers seem to weigh our virtues 
with our vices, and according to the preponderation of either, denomi- 
nate us good or bad, and so deliver us up to reward or punishment. 

No man can commend good works magnificently enough, saith 
Luther, for one work of a Christian is more precious than heaven and 
earth ; and therefore all the world cannot sufficiently reward one good 
work. And in another place, saith the same author, ' If I might have 
my desire, I would rather choose the meanest work of a country Chris- 
tian or poor maid, than all the victories and triumphs of Alexander the 
Great, and of Julius Caesar.' 

And, again, whatsoever the saints do, though never so small and 
mean, it is great and glorious ; because they do all in faith and by the 
word, saith the same author. To prevent mistakes, you must remem- 
ber, that the works that Jesus Christ will reward at last arc super- 
natural works : they are, 1, works of God ; 2, wrought from God . & 
for God ; 4, in God ; 5, according to God. They are Avorks that flow 
from supernatural principles, and they are directed to supernatural 
ends, and performed in a supernatural way. Now the sooner a man 
begins to be good, the more he will abound in these good works ; and 
the more doubtless any man abounds in such good works on earth, the 
greater reward he shall have in heaven. Yet it must not be forgotten 
1 Vs. lviii. 11 ; Gen. xv. 1 ; Ps. xix. 11 ; Mat. v. 12; Heb. x. 35 ; John ii. 8. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 213 

that the best actions, the best works of hypocrites, and all men out of 
Christ, are but splendida peccata, fair and shining sins, beautiful 
abominations. And as the phoenix in Arabia gathers sweet odoriferous 
sticks together, and then blows them with her wings, and burns herself 
with them, so many a carnal professor burns himself with his own good 
works, that is, by his expecting and trusting to receive that by his 
works that is only to be received and expected from Jesus Christ. 1 
Though all that man can do towards the meriting of heaven is no more 
than the lifting up of a festraw 2 towards the meriting of a kingdom, 
yet such a proud piece man is, that he is ready enough to say with proud 
Vega, Caelum gratis non accipiam, I will not have heaven of free cost. 3 
A proud heart would fain have that of debt which is merely of grace, 
and desires that to be of purchase which God hath intended to be of 
free mercy ; which made one to say, that he would swim through a sea 
of brimstone, that he might come to heaven at last ; but he that swims 
not thither through the sea of Christ's blood, shall never come there. 
Man must swim thither, not through brimstone, but through blood, or 
he miscarries for ever. 

(2.) Again, the sooner a man begins to be good, the more serviceable 
he will be to others, and the more he will provoke others to good. Now, 
all the good that you provoke others to by counsel or carriage, 4 shall be 
put down to your account, as all the sins that men provoke others to is 
put down to their accounts. David did but send a letter concerning the 
death of Uriah, and the charge cometh, ' Thou hast slain Uriah with the 
sword,' 2 Sam. xii. 8, 9. The more I stir up others to sow, the more at 
last I shall reap, Isa. xxxviii. 3, Neh. xiii. 14. The sooner a man begins 
to be good, the more good he will do, the more serviceable he will be in 
the town or city where he dwells, in the family where he lives, among 
his relations, wife, children, kindred, servants, &c, with whom he con- 
verses. 5 

The sooner a man begins to be gracious, the sooner and the more 
useful will his arts, his parts, his gifts, his graces, his mercies, his ex- 
periences, his life, his labours, his prayers, his counsels, his examples, 
be to all that are with him, to all that are about him. 

Lilmod lelammed, we therefore learn that we may teach, is a proverb 
among the Rabbins. And I do therefore lay in and lay up, saith the 
heathen, that I may draw forth again, and lay out for the good of many. 

Ah ! young men, young men ! as you would be useful and serviceable 
to many, begin to be good betimes, and to lay in and lay up and lay out 
betimes, for the profit and advantage of others. Augustine accounted 
nothing his own that he did not communicate to others. The bee doth 
store her hive out of all sorts of flowers for the common benefit. It is 
a base and unworthy spirit for a man to make himself the centre of all 
his actions. The very heathen man could say that a man's country, 
and his friends, and others, challenge a great part of him. And indeed 

1 David made use of his bow. but did not trust to his bow. The dove made use of her 
wings, but did not trust in her wings, but in the ark. 

2 That is, 'fescue.' Latin, festuca, a wire or straw used to teach the letters = a 
trifle. Cf. Wright, sub voce.—G. 

3 Merces non est debita, sed gratuita. 4 ' Life or example.' — G. 

5 Synesius speaks of some who, having a treasure of rare abilities in tbem, would as 
soon part with their hearts as their conceptions ; but such are rather monsters than men. 



214 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

the best way to do ourselves good is to be a-doing good to others ; the 
best way to gather is to scatter. Memorable is that story of Pyrrhias, 
a merchant of Ithaca, who at sea espying an aged man, a captive in a 
pirate's ship, took compassion of him, and redeemed him, and bought 
his commodities which the pirate had taken from him, which were 
certain barrels of pitch. The old man perceiving that not for any good 
service he could do him, nor for the gain of that commodity, but merely 
out of charity and pity he had done this, discovered a great mass of 
treasure hidden in the pitch, whereby the merchant in a very short 
time became very rich ; at which very time God made that word good, 
' He that soweth liberally shall reap liberally/ 2 Cor. ix. 6 ; and that 
word, ' The liberal soul shall be made fat,' Prov. xi. 25 ; and that Avord, 
' The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand,' 
Isa. xxxii. 8. It is fabled of Midas, that whatever he touched he turned 
it into gold. It is certain that a liberal hand, a liberal heart, turns all 
into gold, into gain, as Scripture and experience do abundantly evidence. 
Now, if you put all these things together, nothing is more evident than 
that those that begin to be good betimes are in the ready way, the high 
way, to be high in heaven when they shall cease from breathing on 
earth. And therefore, young men, as you would be high in heaven, as 
you would have a great reward, a full reward, a massy, weighty crown, 
oh labour to be good betimes ; labour to get acquainted with the Lord, 
and an interest in the Lord, in the spring and morning of your days ! 

Motive (7). The seventh motive or consideration to provoke and incite 
you to be good betimes, is to consider, That the Lord is very much 
affected and taken with your seeking of him, and folloiving after him, 
in the spring and morning of your youth. 

Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ' I remember thee, the 
kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest 
after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown,' Jer. ii. 2. 

Ah ! how kindly, how sweetly did the Lord take this at their hands, 
that they followed him in their youth, while their ' bones were full of 
marrow,' while they were strong and fit for service, while nature was 
fresh, lively, and vigorous. In the law, God called for the first of all 
things ; he required not only the first-fruits, but the very first of the 
first : ' The first of the first fruits of thy land, thou shalt bring into the 
house of the Lord thy God,' Exod. xxiii. 19. God is the first being, the 
first good, and therefore deserves the first of the first, and the best of 
the best ; the first and the best is not too good for him, who is goodness 
itself. 1 God, in that of Leviticus ii. 14, is so passionately set upon hav- 
ing the first of the first, that he will not stay till the green ears of corn 
be ripe, but will have the green ears of corn dried in the fire, lest he 
should lose his lonjnnrr. 

As many young women and sickly children cannot stay till the fruit 
be ripe, but must have it while it is green ; even so, saith God, my heart, 
my desires, are so vehemently set upon the first-fruits, the first things, 
that I cannot stay, I cannot satisfy myself without them ; and what 
would God teach us by all this, but to serve him with the first-fruits ->f 
our age, the primrose of our childhood, the morning of your youth. God 
hath given you of the best, do not put him off with the worst, with the 

1 It is truly said of God, that ho is Omnia super omnia- 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 215 

worst of jour time, the worst of your days, the worst of your strength, 
lest he swear in his wrath that ' you shall never enter into his rest,' 
Heb. iii. 18. 

Motive (8). The eighth motive or consideration to provoke you to be 
good betimes, to seek and serve the Lord in the morning of your youth, 
is to consider, that This may be a special means to prevent many 
black temptations, and an encouragement to withstand all tempta- 
tions that you may meet with from a tempting devil and a tempting 
world. 

An early turning to the Lord will prevent many temptations to 
despair, many temptations to neglect the means openly, to despise the 
means secretly ; many temptations about the being of God, the good- 
ness, faithfulness, truth and justice of God ; temptations to despair, 
temptations to lay violent hands on a man's self. Temptations to 
question all that God hath said, and that Christ hath suffered, arises 
many times from men's delaying and putting off of God to the last ; 
all which, with many others, are prevented by a man's seeking and 
serving of the Lord in the spring and morning of his youth. 1 It is 
reported of the harts of Scythia, that they teach their young ones to 
leap from bank to bank, from rock to rock, from one turf to another, 
by leaping before them, by which means, when they are hunted, no 
beast of prey can ever take them ; so when persons exercise themselves 
in godliness when they are young, when they leap from one measure of 
holiness to another, when they are in the morning of their days, Satan, 
that mighty hunter after souls, may pursue them with his temptations, 
but he shall not overtake them, he shall not prevail over them. As 
you see in Moses, Joseph, Daniel, and the three children, these knew 
the Lord, and gave up themselves to the Lord in the prime and prim- 
rose of their youth, and these were all temptation-proof, Heb. xi., Gen. 
xxxix., Dan. iii. Satan and the world pursued them, but could not 
overtake them. When the devil and the world had done their worst, 
the young men's bows abode in strength, and their hands to resist were 
made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, Gen. xlix. 23, 24. 
Ego non sum ego, said that young convert when tempted, I am not the 
man that I was. 

Luther tells of a young virgin that used to resist all temptations 
with this, Christianus sum, I am a Christian. Early converts may 
say, when tempted, as he, Tell me not, Satan, what I have been, but 
what I am and will be ; or as he in the like case, Whatsoever I was, I 
am now in Christ a new creature, and that is it which troubleth thee ; 
or as he, The more desperate my disease was, the more I admire the 
physician. 2 Yea, thou mayest yet strain it a peg higher, and say, The 
greater my sins were, the greater is my honour, as the devils which once 
Mary Magdalene had, are mentioned for her glory. When Pyrrhus 
tempted Fabricius the first day with an elephant, so huge and mon- 
strous a beast, as before he had not seen, the next day with money and 

1 Early converts will never have cause to say, as that despairing pope said, the cross 
could do him no good, because he had so often sold it away. 

2 Bernard, Beza, Augustine. Such as thou art now, I was once, but such as I am now, 
thou wilt never be, said Diogenes to a base fellow that told him he had once been a forger 
of money. 



216 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

promises of honour, he answered, I fear not thy force, I am too wise for 
thy fraud. 

Ah ! young men, young men, as you would be free from the saddest 
and darkest temptations, aod as you would be armed against all tempta- 
t ions, oh labour as for life to be good betimes ! seek and serve the Lord 
in the morning of your youth. No way like this for the preventing 
earthquakes, heartquakes, stormy days, and winter nights, &c. 

Motive (9). The ninth motive or consideration to stir up young 
men to be good betimes, to seek and serve the Lord in the spring and 
morning of their youth, is, To consider the worth and excellency of 
souls. 

A soul is a spiritual, immortal substance, it is capable of the know- 
ledge of God, it is capable of union with God, of communion with God, 
and of a blessed and happy fruition of God, Mat. xix. 28 ; Acts vii. 59, 
60 ; Philip, i. 23. 

Christ left his Father's bosom for the good of souls ; he assumed 
man's nature for the salvation of man's soul. Christ prayed for souls, 
he sweat for souls, he wept for souls, he bled for souls, he hung on the 
cross for souls, he trode the wine-press of his Father's wrath for souls, 
he died for souls, he rose again from death for souls, he ascended for 
souls, he intercedes for souls, and all the glorious preparations that he 
hath been a-making in heaven these sixteen hundred years is for souls, 
Heb. ii. 13-16 ; Isa. lxiii. 3 ; John xiv. 1-3. 

Ah ! young men, young men, do not play the courtier with your 
precious souls. The courtier doth all things late ; he rises late, dines 
late, sups late, goes to bed late, repents late. 

Ah 1 sirs, the good of your souls is before all, and above all other 
things in the world ; to be first regarded and provided for, and that 
partly because it is the best and more noble part of man, and partly 
because therein mostly and properly is the image of God stamped, and 
partly because it is the first converted, and partly because it shall be 
the first and most glorified. 1 

Ah ! young men, young men, if they be worse than infidels, that 
make no provision for their families, 1 Tim. v. 8 ; what monsters are 
they that make not provision for their own souls ! This will be bitter- 
ness in the end. 

Csesar Borgias being sick to death, lamentably said, ' When I lived, I 
provided for everything but death ; now I must die, and am unprovided 
to die.' This was a dart at his heart, and it will at last be a dagger at 
yours, who feast your bodies, but starve your souls ; who make liberal 
provision for your ignoble part, but no provision for your more noble 
part. 

If they deserve a hanging, who feast their slaves, and starve their 
wives ; that make provision for their enemies, but none for their 
friend ; how will you escape hanging in hell, who make provision for 
everything, yea, for your very lusts, but make no provision for your 
immortal souls? James iv. 2, 3 ; Hos. vii. 13, 14. We hate the Turks 
for selling Christians for slaves, and what shall we think then of those 
who sell themselves, their precious souls, for toys and trifles that can- 
not profit? who practically say, what once a profane nobleman of 

1 anima 'Dei insignita imagine, desponsata fide, donata spiritu.-Benia.id- 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 217 

Naples verbally said, viz., that he had two souls in his body, one for 
God, and another for whosoever would buy it. 1 

Ah ! young men, young men, do not pawn your souls, do not sell 
your souls, do not exchange away your souls, do not trifle and fool away 
your precious souls ; they are jewels, more worth than a thousand 
worlds, yea, than heaven and earth. If they are safe, all is safe ; but 
if they are lost, all is lost : God lost, and Christ lost, and the society of 
glorious angels and blessed saints lost, and heaven lost, and that for 
ever. Granetensis tells of a woman that was so affected with souls' 
miscarryings, that she besought God to stop up the passage into hell 
with her soul and body, that none might have entrance. 

Ah ! that all young persons were so affected with the worth and 
excellency of their souls, and so alarmed with the hazard and danger of 
losing their souls, as that they may in the spring and morning of their 
days inquire after the Lord, and seek him, and serve him with all their 
might, that so their precious and immortal souls may be safe and happy 
for ever. But if all this will not do, then in the last place, 

Motive (10). Tenthly, Consider, young men, That God will at last 
bring you to a reckoning. He will at last bring you to judgment. 
' Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in 
the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the 
sight of thine eyes ; but know thou, that for all these things, God will 
bring thee unto judgment/ Eccles. xi. 9. In these words you have 
two things: (1.) An ironical concession; he bids him rejoice, &c. ; he 
yields him what he would have, by an irony, by way of mock age and 
bitter scoff. Now thou art young and strong, lively and lusty, and thy 
bones are full of marrow ; thou art resolved to be proud and scornful, 
to indulge the flesh, and to follow thy delights and pleasures. Well ! take 
thy course if thou darest, or if thou hast a mind to it, if thy heart be so 
set upon it. ' Rejoice in thy youth,' &c. (2.) The second is a com- 
mination, or a sad and severe premonition : 2 ' But know thou, that 
for all these things, God will bring thee into judgment. ' Will bring 
thee ;' these words import two things : first, the unwillingness of youth 
to come to judgment ; secondly, the unavoidableness that youth must 
come to judgment ; but how soon you shall be brought to judgment, 
is only known to God, 

Augustine confesses in one of his books, that as long as his conscience 
was gnawed with the guilt of some youthful lust he was once ensnared 
with, the very hearing of a day of judgment, was even a hell to him. 

Histories tell us of a young man, who being for some capital offence 
condemned to die, grew grey in one night's space, and was therefore 
pitied and spared. 

Ah ! young men, young men, that the serious thoughts of this great 
day, may put you upon breaking off the sins of your youth ; and the 
dedicating of yourselves to the knowledge, love, and service of the Lord, 
in the spring and flower of your days. Ah ! young men, consider the 
errors of your lives, the wickedness of your hearts, the sinfulness of 

1 Callenuceus relates this story. 

a Jerome still thought that that noise was in his ears, Surgite mortui, et venile ad 
judicium, Arise, you dead, and come to judgment. 



218 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

your ways, and that strict account that ere long you must be brought 
to before the judge of all the world. 

The Latin us themselves had some kind of dread and expectation of 
guch a day ; and therefore, when Paul spake of judgment to come, 
Felix trembled, though a heathen, Acts xxiv. 25. 

The bringing into judgment is a thing which is known by reason, and 
is clear by the light of nature;' wherefore, in Austria, one of the nobles 
d\ in-,, who had lived fourscore and thirteen years, and had spent all his 
lite in pleasures ami delights, never being troubled with any infirmity, 
and this being told to Frederick the emperor, From hence, saith he, we 
may conclude the soul's immortality ; for if there be a God that ruleth 
this world, as divines and philosophers do teach, and that he is just no 
one denieth, surely there are other places to which souls after death do go, 
and do receive for their deeds either reward or punishment, for here we see 
that neither rewards are given to the good, nor punishments to the evil. 2 

Ah, young men ! ' knowing therefore the terror of the Lord/ 2 Cor. 
v. 9—11, and the terror of this day, oh ! that you would be persuaded 
to flee from the wrath to come, to cast away the idols of your souls, to 
repent and be converted in the primrose of your youth, that your sins 
may be blotted out when ' the times of refreshing shall come from the 
presence of the Lord, 'Acts iii. 19, or else woe! woe! to you that ever you 
uei, born ! I have read a story of one who, being risen from the dead, 
and being asked in what condition he was, he made answer, No man 
doth believe, no man doth believe, no man doth believe. And being 
further asked what he meant by that repetition, he answered, Mo man 
doth believe how exactly God examineth, how strictly God judgeth, how 
severely he punisheth. Oh that the ways of most young persons did 
not declare to all the world that they do not, and that they will not be- 
lieve the dread and terror of that day that will admit of no plea, nor 
place for apology or appeal ! The highest and last tribunal can never 
be appealed from, or repealed. 3 

Now if, for all that hath been said, you are resolved to spend the 
flower of your days, and the prime of your strength, in the service of 
sin and the world, then know that no tongue can express, no heart can 
conceive that trouble of mind, that terror of soul, that horror of con- 
science, that fear and amazement, that weeping and wailing, that cry- 
ing and roaring, that sighing and groaning, that cursing and banning, 
that stamping and tearing, that wringing q{" hands and gnashing of 
teeth, that shall certainly attend you, when God shall bring you into 
judgment for all your looseness and lightness, for all your wickedness 
and wantonness, for all your profaneness and baseness, for all your 
neglect of God, your grieving the Comforter, your trampling under foot 
the blood of a Saviour, for your despising of the means, for your priz- 
ing earth above heaven, and the pleasures of this world above the plea- 
sures that be at God's right hand. 4 

1 The philosophers had Rome dreams of a severe day of accounts, as appeareth by 
Plato - * Qeorgi [Gorgies], and many pas-sups in Tully. &c. 8 ^Eneas Sylvius. 

8 The Turks have a tradition and frantic opinion, that wicked men shall at the great 
day carry their Bins in latoheta [Qu. ' satchels '?— G.] after their captain, Cain; but well 
would it be tor them if this should be all their punishment in that great day. 

4 OhryBoetom, speaking of this day, saith, For Christ at this day to say, Depart from 
me, is a thing more terrible than a thousand hells. — Chrys. Horn, ad Fop. Anlioch. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 219 

Oh ! how will you wish in that day when your sins shall be charged 
on you, when justice shall be armed against you, when conscience shall 
be gnawing within you, when the world shall be a flaming fire about 
you, when the gates of heaven shall be shut against you, and the flame 
of hell ready to take hold of you, when angels and saints shall sit in 
judgment upon you, and for ever turn their faces from you, when evil 
spirits shall be terrifying of you, and Jesus Christ for ever disowning of 
you ; how will you, I say, wish in that day that you had never been born, 
or that you might now be unborn, or that your mothers' wombs had 
proved your tombs ! Oh, how will you then wish to be turned into a 
bird, a beast, a stock, a stone, a toad, a tree ! Oh that our immortal 
souls were mortal ! Oh that we were nothing ! Oh that we were any- 
thing but what we are ! 

I have read a remarkable story of a king 1 that was heavy and sad, 
and wept, which, when his brother saw, he asked him why he was so 
pensive ? Because, saith he, I have judged others, and now I must be 
judged myself. And why, saith his brother, do you so take on for this? 
it will, happily, be a long time ere that day come, and besides that, 
it is but a slight matter. The king said little to it for the present. 
Now, it was a custom in that country, when any had committed 
treason, there was a trumpet sounded at his door in the night time, and 
he was next day brought out to be executed. Now, the king com- 
manded a trumpet to be sounded at his brother s door in the night- 
time, who, awakening out of his sleep, when he heard it, arose, and 
came quaking and trembling to the king. How now i saith the king; 
what's the matter you are so affrighted ? I am, saith he, attached of 
treason, and next morning I shall be executed. Why, saith the king to 
him again, are you so troubled at that, knowing that you shall be 
judged by your brother, and for a matter that your conscience tells you 
you are clear of ? How much more, therefore, may I be afraid, seeing 
that God shall judge me, and not in a matter that my conscience frees 
me of, but of that whereof I am guilty ? And beside this, if the worst 
come, it is but a temporary 2 death you shall die, but I am liable to 
death eternal, both of body and soul. I will leave the application to 
those young persons that put this day afar off, and whom no arguments 
will move to be good betimes, and to acquaint themselves with the Lord 
in the morning of their youth. 

But now to those young men and women who begin to seek, serve, 
and love the Lord in the primrose of their days, the day of judgment 
will be to them melodia in aure, jubilum in corde, like music in the 
ear, and a jubilee in the heart. This day will be to them ' a day of 
refreshing,' a ' day of redemption,' a day of vindication, a day of coro- 
nation, a day of consolation, a day of salvation ; it will be to them a 
marriage-day, a harvest-day, a pay-day. a Now the Lord will pay them 
for all the prayers they have made, for all the sermons they have heard, 
for all the tears they have shed. In this great day Christ will remem- 
ber all the individual offices of love and friendship shewed to any of 
his. Now he will mention many things for their honour and comfort 

1 Joan. Damasc. et Author. Anonym. De quat. Noviss. Impress. Daven. Ann. 1494. 

* ' Temporal.'— G. 

8 Acts iii. 19-22, Micah vii. 7-11, Rev. xix. 6-10, Mat. xxv. 34-41. 



220 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNOS XIV. 13. 

that they never minded, now the least and lowest acts of love and pity 
towards his shall be interpreted as a special kindness shewed to him- 
self. Now the crown shall be set upon their heads, and the royal robes 
put upon their backs; now all the world shall see that they have not 
served the Lord for nought. 1 Now Christ will pass over all their weak- 
nesses, and make honourable mention of all the services they have per- 
formed, of all the mercies they have improved, and of all the great 
things that for his name and glory they have suffered. 



CHAPTER V. 

Qurxt. But here an apt question may be moved, viz., Whether at this 
great day, the si ns of the saints shall be brought into the judgment of 
discussion and discovery, or no? Whether the Lord ivill in this day 
publicly manifest, proclaim, and make mention of the sins of his 
people, or no ? 

1 humbly judge, according to my present light, that he will not ; and 
my reasons for it are these, viz. : 

1. The first is drawn from Christ's judicial proceedings in the last 
day, set down largely and clearly in the 25th of Matthew, where he 
enumerateth only the good works they had done, but takes no notice 
of the spots and blots, of the stains and blemishes, of the infirmities 
and enormities, of the weaknesses and wickednesses of his people, Deut. 
xxxii. 4-6. My, 

2. Second reason is taken from Christ's vehement protestations that 
they shall not come into judgment : John v. 24, ' Verily, verily, I say 
unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, 
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is 
passed from death unto life.' Those words, ' shall not come into con- 
demnation,' are not rightly translated ; the original is, hg xgkn, shall 
not come into judgment, not into damnation, as you read it in all your 
English books. I will not say what should put men upon this exposi- 
tion rather than a true translation of the original word. 2 Further, it is 
very observable, that no evangelist useth this double asseveration but 
John, and he never useth it but in matters of the greatest weight and 
importance, and to shew the earnestness of his spirit, and to stir us up 
to better attention, and to put the thing asserted out of all question, and 
beyond all contradiction ; 3 as when we would put a thing for ever out of 
all question, we do it by a double asseveration, Verily, verily, it is so, &c. 

3. Thirdly, Because his not bringing their sins into judgment doth 
most and best agree with many precious expressions that we find scat- 
tered, as so many shining, sparkling pearls, up and down in Scripture, 
as, First, (I.) With those of God's blotting out the sins of his people : 
'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, 
and will not remember thy sins.' 'I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy 
transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins,' Isa. xliii. 25, xliv. 22. Who is 
this that blots out transgressions? He that hath the keys of heaven 

1 2 Tim. iv8, Mai. iii, 17, 18. 

a Vide A quiii 87, Suj.pl. Estius. in I. iv. Sen. dist. 47. 

3 John i. 51 ; iii. 3, 11 ; vi- 20, 32, 47, 63, &c 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 221 

and hell at his girdle, that opens and no man shuts, that shuts and no 
man opens ; he that hath the power of life and death, of condemning 
and absolving, of killing and making alive, he it is that blots out trans- 
gressions. If an under-officer should blot out an indictment, that per- 
haps might do a man no good, a man might for all that be at last cast 
by the judge ; but when the judge or king shall blot out the indictment 
with their own hand, then the indictment cannot return. Now this is 
every believer's case and happiness. (2.) Secondly, To those o-lorious 
expressions of God's not remembering of their sins any more : Isa. 
xliii. 25, ' And I will not remember thy sins.' ' And they shall teach 
no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying 
Know the Lord : for they shall all know me, from the least of them to 
the greatest of them, saith the Lord : for I will forgive their iniquity, 
and I will remember their sin no more,' Jer. xxxi. 34. So the apostle, 
1 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their 
iniquities will I remember no more/ Heb. viii. 1 2. 

And again the same apostle saith, ' This is the covenant that I will 
make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws 
into £heir hearts, and in their minds will I write them ; and their sins 
and iniquities will I remember no more,' Heb. x. 17. 

The meaning is, their iniquities shall quite be forgiven, I will never 
mention them more, I will never take notice of them more, they shall 
never hear more of them from me. Though God hath an iron memory 
to remember the sins of the wicked, yet he hath no memory to remember 
the sins of the righteous. 1 (3.) Thirdly, His not bringing their sins into 
judgment doth most and best agree with those blessed expressions of 
his casting their sins into the depth of the sea, and of his castino- them 
behind his back : ' He will turn again, he will have compassion upon 
us, he will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their sins into 
the depths of the sea/ Micah vii. 19. Where sin is once pardoned, the 
remission stands never to be repealed. Pardoned sins shall never come 
in account against the pardoned man before God any more, for so much 
doth this borrowed speech import. If a thing were cast into a river it 
might be brought up again ; or if it were cast upon the sea, it might be 
discerned and taken up again ; but when it is cast into the depths, the 
bottom of the sea, it can never be buoyed up again. 

By the metaphor in the text, the Lord would have us to know the 
sins pardoned shall rise no more, they shall never be seen more, they 
shall never come on the account more ; he will so drown their sins, that 
they shall never come up before him the second time. 

And so much that other scripture imports : ' Behold, for peace I had 
great bitterness, but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the 
pit of corruption ; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back/ Isa. 
xxxviii. 17. These last words are a borrowed speech, taken from the 
manner of men, who are wont to cast behind their backs such things 
as they have no mind to see, regard, or remember. A gracious sou] hath 
always his sins before his face : ' I acknowledge my transgressions, and 
my sin is ever before me;' and therefore no wonder if the Lord cast them 
behind his back. The father soon forgets and casts behind his back 

' That which Cicero said flatteringly of Csesar is truly affirmed of God, Nihil oblivisci 
solet prceler injurias, he forgetteth nothing hut the wrongs that daily are done him by his. 



222 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNOS XIV. IS 

those faults that the child remembers and hath always in his eyes ; so 
doth the Fatherof spirits. (4.) Fourthly, His not bringing their sins 
into judgment doth best agree with that sweet and choice expression of 
God's pardoning the sins of, his people : ' And I will cleanse them from all 
their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all 
th.-ir iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have trans- 
gressed against me,' Jer. xxxiii. 8. So Micah : ' Who is a God like unto 
thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passes by the transgressions of the 
remnant of his heritage (as though he would not see it, but wink at it), 
he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy,' Micah 
vii. 18. The Hebrew word nose, from nasa, that is here rendered par- 
doneth, signifies a taking away. When God pardons sin, he takes it 
sheer away : that it should be sought for, yet it could not be found, as 
the prophet speaks : ' In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, 
the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; and 
the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found ; for I will pardon them 
whom I reserve,' Jer. 1. 20 ; and those words, 'and passeth by,' in the 
afore-cited 7th of Micah, and the 18th, according to the Hebrew Veg- 
nober Gnat, is, and ' passeth over ; n God passeth over the transgression 
of his heritage, that is, he takes no notice of it As a man in a deep 
muse, or as one that hath haste of business, seeth not things before him, 
his mind being busied about other matters, he neglects all to mind his 
business ; as David, when he saw in Mephibosheth the feature of his 
friend Jonathan, took no notice of his lameness, or any other defect or 
deformity ; so God, beholding in his people the glorious image of his Son, 
winks at all their faults and deformities, which made Luther say, ' Do 
with me what thou wilt, since thou hast pardoned my sin ;' and what is 
it to pardon sin but not to mention sin? Isa. xl. 1, 2. (5.) Fifthly, In his 
not bringing their sins into the judgment of discussion and discovery, 
doth best agree to those expressions of forgiving and covering : ' Blessed 
is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,' Ps. xxxii. 1. 
In the original it is in the plural, blessednesses. So here is a plurality 
of blessings, a chain of pearls. 

The like expression you have in the 85th psalm, and the 2d verse : 
' Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all 
their sin. Selah.' For the understanding of these scriptures aright, take 
notice that to ' cover ' is a metaphorical expression. Covering is such 
an action which is opposed to disclosure. 2 To be covered is to be so hid 
and closed as not to appear. Some make the metaphor from filthy, 
loathsome objects, which are covered from our eyes, as dead carcases 
are buried under the ground; some from garments, that are put upon 
us to cover our nakedness ; others from the Egyptians, that were drowned 
in the Red Sea, and so covered with water ; others from a great gulf in 
the earth, that is filled up aud covered with earth injected into it ; and 
others make it in the last place an allusive expression to the mercy-seat, 
over which wasaoovering. Now,all these metaphors in the general tend to 
shew this, that the Lord will not look, he will not see, he will not take notice 
of the sins he hath pardoned, to call them any more to a judicial account. 

As when a prince reads over many treasons and rebellions, and meets 
with such and such which he hath pardoned, he reads on, he passeth 

1 "\2V> Guubur, he passed over. Sic velantur, ut injudicio non revelenlur. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 223 

by, he takes no notice of them : the pardoned person shall never hear 
more of them, he will never call him to account for those sins more ; so 
here, &c. When Caesar was painted, he put his finger upon his scar, his 
Wart. God puts his fingers upon all his people's scars and warts, upon 
all their weaknesses and infirmities, that nothing can be seen but what 
is fair and lovely : ' Thou art all fair, my love ; and there is no spot in 
thee/ Cant. iv. 7. (6.) Sixthly, It best agrees to that expression of not 
imputing of sin : ' Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not 
iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile/ Ps. xxxii. 2. So the 
apostle in that Rom. iv. 6-8. Now, not to impute iniquity is not to 
charge iniquity, not to set iniquity upon his score, who is blessed and 
pardoned, &c. (7.) Seventhly and lastly, It best agrees with that ex- 
pression that you have in the 103d Psalm, and the 11th and ] 2th verses : 
' For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy towards 
them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he 
removed our transgressions from us.' What a vast distance is there 
betwixt the east and the west ! Of all visible latitudes, this is the greatest ; 
and thus much for the third argument. The 

4. Fourth argument that prevails with me, to judge that Jesus Christ 
will not bring the sins of the saints into the judgment of discussion aud 
discovery in the great day, is because it seems unsuitable to three con- 
siderable things, for Jesus Christ to proclaim the infirmities and mis- 
carriages of his people to all the world. 

(1.) First, It seems to be unsuitable to the glory and solemnity of 
that day, which to the saints will be a day of refreshing, a day of resti- 
tution, a day of redemption, a day of coronation, as hath been already 
proved. Now how suitable to this great day of solemnity the proclama- 
tion of the saints' sins will be, I leave the reader to judge. 

(2.) Secondly, It seems unsuitable to all those near and dear relations 
that Jesus Christ stands in towards his. He stands in the relation of 
a father, a brother, a head, a husband, a friend, an advocate. Now are 
not all these, by the law of relations, bound rather to hide and keep 
secret, at least from the world, the weaknesses and infirmities of their 
near and dear relations? and is not Christ ? Is not Christ much more ? 
By how much he is more a father, a brother, a head, a husband, &c, 
in a spiritual way, than any others can be in a natural way, &C 1 

(3.) Thirdly, It seems very unsuitable to what the Lord Jesus requires 
of his in this world. The Lord requires that his people should cast a 
mantle of love, of wisdom, of silence, and secresy over one another's 
weaknesses and infirmities. 

Hatred stirreth up strifes, but love covereth all sins, Prov. x. 12, 
1 Pet. iv. 8. Love's mantle is very large ; love will find a hand, a plaster 
to clap upon every sore. Flavius Vespasianus, the emperor, was very 
ready to conceal his friends' vices, and as ready to reveal their virtues. 
So is divine love in the hearts of the saints : ' If thy brother offend thee, 
go and tell him his fault between him and thee alone : if he shall hear 
thee, thou hast gained thy brother,' Mat. xviii. 15. As the pills of 
reprehension are to be gilded and sugared over with much gentleness 
and softness, so they are to be given in secret; tell him between him 
and thee alone. Tale-bearers and tale-hearers are alike abominable, 
1 Isa. ix. 6 ; Heb. ii. 11, 12 ; Ephes. i. 21, 22 ; Rev. xix. 7 ; John xv. 1 ; Johu ii. 1, 2. 



224 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

heaven is too hot and too holy a place for them, Ps. xv. 3. Now will 
Jesus Christ have us carry it thus towards offending Christians, and will 
he himself act otherwise? Nay, is it an evil in us to lay open the 
weaknesses and infirmities of the saints to the world? and will it be an 
excellency, a glory, a virtue in Christ to do it in the great day ? &c. 

A fifth argument is this : It is the glory of a man to pass over a 
transgression : ' The discretion of a man deferreth his anger: and it is 
his glory to pass over a transgression,' Prov. xix. 11, or to pass by it, as 
we do bv persons or things we know not, or would take no notice of. 
Now 'is it the glory of a man to pass over a transgression,' and will it 
not much more be the glory of Christ, silently to pass over the trans- 
gressions of his people in that great day I 1 The greater the treasons 
and rebellions are that a prince passes over and takes no notice of, the 
more is it his honour and glory ; and so, doubtless, it will be Christ's in 
that great day, to pass over all the treasons and rebellions of his people, 
to take no notice of them, to forget them, as well as to forgive them. 

The heathens have long since observed, that in nothing man came 
nearer to the gloiy and perfection of God himself, than in goodness and 
clemency. Surely if it be such an honour to man, ' to pass over a trans- 
gression,' it cannot be a dishonour to Christ to pass over the transgres- 
sions of his people, he having already buried them in the sea of his 
blood. Again, saith Solomon, ' It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,' 
Prov. xxv. 2. And why it should not make for the glory of divine love 
to conceal the sins of the saints in that great day, I know not ; and 
whether the concealing the sins of the saints in that great day will not 
make most for their joy, and wicked men's sorrow, for their comfort and 
wicked men's terror and torment, I will leave you to judge, and time 
and experience to decide. And thus much for the resolution of that 
great question. Having done with the motives that may encourage 
and provoke young men to be good betimes, to know, love, seek, and 
serve the Lord, in the spring and morning of their days. 



CHAPTER VI. 

I shall now come to those directions and helps that must, by assist- 
ance from heaven, be put in practice, if ever you would be good be- 
times, and serve the Lord in the primrose of your days. Now all that 
I shall say will fall under these two heads. 

First, Some things you must carefully and warily decline, and arm 
yourselves against ; and 

Secondly. There are other things that you must prosecute and fol- 
low, let, There are some tilings that you must warily decline, and 
they are these. 

Direction (1). First, If ever you would be good betimes, if you would 
be gracious in the spring and morning of your youth, oh! then, take 
heed of putting the day of death far from you, Amos vi. 3. 

Young men are very prone to look upon death afar off, to put it at a 
greal distance from them. They are apt to say to death as Pharaoh 
Baid to Moses, ' Get thee from me, and let me see thy face no more,' 

1 A'on amo quemquam nisi offendam, said a heathen. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 225 

Exod. x. 28. If old men discourse to them of death, they are ready to 
answer, as the high priest did Judas in a different case, Mat. xxvii. 4, 
' What is that to us 1 look you unto it.' We know sickness will come, 
and death is a debt that we must all pay, but surely these guests are a 
great way from us ; for dotb not David say, ' The days of a man are 
threescore years and ten"? Ps. xc. 10. We have calculated our nativi- 
ties, and we cannot abate a day, a minute, a moment, of ' threescore 
and ten;' and therefore it is even a death to think of death; there 
being so great a distance between our birth-day and our dying day, as 
we have cast up the account. 

Ah ! young men, it is sad, it is very sad, when you are so wittily 
wicked as to say with those in Ezekiel, ' Behold they of the house of 
Israel say, the vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he 
prophesieth of the times that are afar off/ Ezek. xii. 27. 

Ah ! young men, young men, by putting far away this day you 
gratify Satan, you strengthen sin, you provoke the Lord, you make the 
work of faith and repentance more hard and difficult, you lay a sad 
foundation for the greatest fears and doubts. 

Ah ! how soon may that sad word be fulfilled upon you, ' The Lord 
of that servant (that saith his Lord delayeth his coming) shall come in 
a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware 
of, and shall cut him asunder (or cut him off), and appoint him his 
portion with hypocrites ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,' 
Mat. xxiv. 48-51. When Sodom, when Pharaoh, when Agag, when 
Amalek, when Haman, when Herod, when Nebuchadnezzar, when Bel- 
shazzar, when Dives, when the fool in the Gospel, were all in their 
prime, their pride, when they were all in a flourishing state, and upon 
the very top of their glory, how strangely, how suddenly, how sadly, 
how fearfully, how wonderfully, were they brought down to the grave, 
to hell ! 

Ah ! young man, who art thou ? and what is thy name or fame? what 
is thy power or place? what is thy dignity or glory? that thou darest 
promise thyself an exemption from sharing in as sad a portion as ever 
justice gave to those who were once very high, who were seated among 
the stars, but are now brought down to the sides of the pit, Isa. xiii. 
10-17. I have read a story of one that gave a young prodigal a ring 
with a death's head, on this condition, that he should one hour daily, 
for seven days together, look and think upon it ; which bred a great 
change in his life. 

Ah ! young men, the serious thoughts of death may do that for you 
that neither friends, counsel, examples, prayers, sermons, tears, have 
not done to this very day. Well ! remember this ; to labour not to die 
is labour in vain, and to put this day far from you, and to live without 
fear of death, is to die living. Death seizeth on old men, and lays wait 
for the youngest. Death is oftentimes as near to the young man's back 
as it is to the old man's face. 1 

It is storied of Charles the Fourth, king of France, that being one 
time affected with the sense of his many and great sins, he fetched a 
deep sigh, and said to his wife, By the help of God I will now so carry 

1 Senibus mors injanuis ; adolescentilus in insidiis. — Bernard. De convers. ad Cler., c. 14. 

VOL. I. P 



226 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

myself all my life long, that T will never offend him more; which words 
he had no sooner uttered, but he fell down dead and died. 1 

Do Dot, young men, put this day far from you, lest you are suddenly 
surprised, and then you cry out, when too late, 'A kingdom for a Christ, 
;i kingdom for a Christ ; as once crooked-backed Richard the Third in 
1 1 is distiess, ' A kingdom for a horse, a kingdom for a horse.' 2 

Ah ! young men, did you never hear of a young man that cried out, 
' Oh ! I am so sick, that I cannot live, and yet, woful wretch that I 
am! so sinful, that I dare not die. Oh that I might live! oh that I 
might die : oli that I might do neither!' Well! young men, remember 
this, the frequent, the serious thoughts of death will prevent many a 
sin, it will arm you against many temptations, it will secure you from 
many afflictions, it will keep you from doating on the world, it will 
make you do much in a little time, it will make death easy when it 
comes, and it will make you look out betimes for a kingdom that shakes 
not, for riches that corrupt not, and for glory that fadeth not away. 
Therefore do not, Oh do not put the day of death far from you. Take 
heed of crying Cras, eras, to-morrow, to-morrow, saith Luther; for a 
man lives forty years before he knows himself to be a fool, and by that 
time he sees his folly his life is finished. So men die before they 
begin to live. 

Direction (2). Secondly, If you would be good betimes, then take 
heed of leaning to your own understand* mg. 

This counsel wise Solomon gives to his son (or the young men in his 
time) : ' My son, forget not my law ; but let thy heart keep my com- 
mandments. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart ; and lean not to 
thy own understanding/ Prov. iii. 1, 5. 

Youth is the age of folly, of vain hopes, and overgrown confidence. 
Ah ! how wise might many have been, had they not been too early wise 
in their own opinion. 

Rehoboam's young counsellors proved the overthrow of his kingdom. 
It is brave for youth at all times to be discreet and sober-minded. 
Three virtues, they say, are prime ornaments of youth, modesty, silence, 
and obedience. 

Ah ! young men, keep close in every action to this one principle, viz., 
in every action resolve to be discreet and wise, rather than affectionate' 
and singular. 

I remember that a young gentleman of Athens, being to answer for 
his life, hired an orator to make his defence, and it pleased him well at 
his first reading; but when the young man by often reading it, that he 
might recite it publicly by heart, begun to grow weary and displeased 
with it, the orator bid him consider that the judges and the people 
were to hear it but once : and then it was likely that they at the first 
instant might be as well pleased as he. 

Ah ! young men, your leaning upon yourselves, or upon others, will 
in the end he bitterness and vexation of spirit. Young men are very 
ap1 to lean on their own wit, wisdom, arts, parts, as old men are to lean 

1 Doubtful.— G. 

'-' Another tacit Shakesporian reminiscence probably. Cf. Richard III. v. 4. 'A horse! 
b horse! my kingdom for a horse !' — G. 
:1 ' Affected.'— G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13] apples of gold. 227 

on a staff to support them (as the Hebrew word [jyp, shagnan] signifies, 
that is rendered lean, in that of Prov. iii. 5). This hath been the bane 
of many a choice wit, the loss of many a brave head, the ruin of many 
a subtle pate. 

Ajax thought it was only for cowards and weaklings to lean upou the 
Lord for succour, not for him when he was foiled ; lean not to great 
parts, lean not to natural or acquired accomplishments, lest you lose 
them and yourselves too. Leaning to natural or moral excellencies, is 
the ready way to be stripped of all. Babylon, that bore herself bold 
upon her high towers, thick walls, and twenty years' provision laid in 
for a siege, was surprised by Cyrus. 1 

It was said of Caesar, that he received not his wounds from the 
swords of enemies, but from the hands of friends ; that is, from trusting 
in them. 

Ah ! how many young men have been wounded, yea slain, by trust- 
ing to their own understandings, their own abilities ! 

It was an excellent saying of Austin, In te stas, et non stas, he that 
stands upon his own strength shall never stand. A creature is like a 
single drop left to itself, it spends and wastes itself presently, but if 
like a drop in the fountain and ocean of being, it hath abundance of 
security. 

Ah ! young men, young men, if you will needs be leaning, then lean 
upon precious promises, 2 Peter L 4, Ps. xxvii. 1 ; lean upon the rock 
that is higher than yourselves, lean upon the Lord Jesus Christ, as John 
did, who was the youngest of all the disciples, and the most beloved of all 
the disciples, John xxi. 20, chap. xiii. 23. John leaned much, and Christ 
loved him much. Oh lean upon Christ's wisdom for direction, lean upon 
his power for protection, lean upon his purse, his fulness, for provision, 
Cant. viii. 5 ; lean upon his eye for approbation, lean upon his righteous- 
ness for justification, lean upon his blood for remission, lean upon his 
merits for salvation. As the young vine, without her wall to support her, 
will fall and sink, so will you, young men, without Christ puts under his 
everlasting arms to support you, and uphold you ; therefore, above all 
leanings, lean upon him. By leaning on him, you will engage him ; 
by leaning on him, you will gain more honour than you can give ; by 
leaning on him, you may even command him, and make him eternally 
yours, &c. 

Direction (3). Thirdly, If you would be good betimes, if you would 
seek and serve the Lord in the spring and morning of your days, then 
take heed of flatterers and flattery. Ah ! how many young men might 
have been very good, who are now exceeding bad, by hearkening to flat- 
terers, and affecting 2 flattery ! Flattery undid young Rehoboam, 
Ahab, Herod, Nero, Alexander, &c. Flatterers are soul-murderers ; they 
are soul-undoers ; they are like evil chirurgeons, that skin over the wound, 
but never heal it. 

Anastasius the emperor's motto was, mellitum venenum blanda 
oratio, smooth talk proves often sweet poison. Flattery is the very 
spring and mother of all impiety ; it blows the trumpet, and draws 
poor souls into rebellion against God, as Sheba drew Israel to rebel 
against David. It put our first parents upon tasting the forbidden 

1 Cf. Sibbes's Works, Vol. IT. pp. 217, 248.— G. 2 ' Courting.*— G. 



228 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

fruit ; it put Absalom upon dethroning of his father ; it put Haman 
upon plotting the ruin of the Jews ; it put Korah, Dathan, and Abiram 
upon rebelling against Moses; it makes men call evil good and good 
evil, darkness light and light darkness, &c. ; it puts persons upon 
neglecting the means of grace, upon undervaluing the means of grace, 
and upon contemning the means of grace ; it puts men upon abasing 
God, slighting Christ, and vexing the Spirit; it unmans a man; it makes 
him call black white and white black ; it makes a man change pearls 
for pebbles, and gold for counters; it makes a man judge himself wise 
when he is foolish; knowing, when he is ignorant ; holy, when he is pro- 
fane ; free, when he is a prisoner ; rich, when he is poor : high, when 
he is low ; full, when he is empty ; happy, when he is miserable, 1 Rev. 
iii. 17, 18. Ah! young men, young men, take heed of flatterers; they 
are the very worst of sinners ; they are left of God, blinded by Satan, 
hardened in sin, and ripened for hell. God declares sadly against 
them, and that in his word and in his works : in his word, as you may 
see by comparing these scriptures together, Deut. xxix. 18-20; Ps. 
lxxviii. 36, xxxvi. 1, 3 ; Job xvii. 5 ; Ezek. xii. 24 ; Dan. xi. 21, 32, 34*. 
Ps. xii. 2, 3 ; ' They speak vanity every one with his neighbour : with 
flattering lips, and with a double heart, do they speak. The Lord shall 
cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things.' 2 
And as God declares sadly against them in his word, so he hath 
declared terribly against them in his works, as you may run and read 
in his judgments executed upon Ahab's flattering prophets, and upon 
Haman, and upon Daniel's princely false accusers, &c. And why, then, 
will not you stop your ears against those wretches, that the hand and 
heart of God is so much against ? 

Again, as God declares against them, so good men detest them and 
declare against them, as you may see by comparing these scriptures 
together, Ps. v. 8-10 ; Prov. ii. 16, vii. 21, xxviii. 23 ; Job xxxii. 21, 22; 
1 Thes. ii. 5, 10. Prov. xx. 19, 'Meddle not with him that flattereth 
with his lips/ Why so ? Why ! Because a man that flattereth his 
neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet, Prov. xxix. 5. The Hebrew 
word Mahhalik, from hhalak, that is here rendered flatterer, signifies 
a smooth-boots, a soft butter-spoken man, because flatterers use smooth-, 
soft speeches. Also the word signifies ' to divide/ because a flatterer's 
tongue is divided from his heart. Flatterers have their nets, and those 
that give ear to them will be taken to their ruin. 3 A lying tongue 
hateth those that are afflicted by it, ' and a flattering mouth worketh 
ruin,' Prov. xxvi. 28. A flattering mouth ruins name, fame, estate, 
body, sold, life/ 

Valerian, the Roman emperor, used to say, Ron acerba, sed blanda, 
not bitter, but flattering words do all the mischief. 

When Alexander the Great was hit with an arrow in the siege of an 
Indian city, which would not heal, he said to his parasites, You say that 
I am Jupiter's son, but this wound cries that I am but a man. 

1 The flatterers told Dionysius that his spittle was as sweet as honey. 
3 Karah signifies any cutting off, either hy death or banishment, &c. 

3 A preacher in Constantino's time presumed to call the emperoi saint to his face, hut 
he went away with a check.— Eu.icb. de vit. Const. 1. 44. 

4 The Hebrew word iim. Dahhah, signifies such a violent forcing of one as he cannot 
stand it, signifies to thruw down, to drive on forwards till a man fall into destruction. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 229 

Now shall good men detest them and abhor them, as they are the 
pest of pests, the plague of plagues, and will you own them, will you 
take pleasure in them, to your ruin here and hereafter ? The Lord 
forbid ! Oh say to all flatterers, as he to his idols, ' Get you hence, for 
what have I more to do with you ?' Hosea xiv. 8. 

Nay, once more consider, that not only the good, but the bad, not 
only the best, but some of the worst of men, have manifested their 
detestation of flatterers and flattery. 

Leo the emperor used to say, Occulti inimici pessimi, a close enemy 
is far worse than an open. When a court parasite praised Sigismund 
the emperor above measure, the emperor gave him a sound box on the 
ear. 

When Aristobulus the historian presented to Alexander, the great 
book that he had written of his glorious acts, wherein he had flatter- 
ingly made him greater than he was, Alexander, after he had read the 
book, threw it into the river Hydaspes, and said to the author, It were 
a good deed to throw thee after it. 

When the flatterers flattered Antigonus, he cried out, Mentiris, 
mentiris in gutture, hce virtutes non latent in me, thou liest, thou 
liest in thy throat ; these virtues that thou speakest of I have not in 
me, but I am like a leopard, that have ten black spots to one white. 

Augustus Caesar and Tiberius Caesar were deadly enemies to flat- 
terers, insomuch that they would not be called lords by their own 
children. 

A good symbol is attributed to Trebonianus Gallus, 1 viz. Nemo ami- 
cus idem et adulator, no flatterer can be a true friend. 

Aristippus, the philosopher, seeing Diogenes washing of herbs for his 
dinner, said, If Diogenes knew how to make use of kings, he need not 
live upon raw herbs, as he doth ; to which Diogenes replied, that if 
Aristippus could content himself with herbs, he need not to turn 
spaniel, or to flatter king Dionysius for a meal's meat. 

Ah ! young men, young men, shall God, shall good men, shall bad 
men, detest and declare against flatterers and flattery, and will not you 
turn a deaf ear upon them, yea, fly from them as from a serpent, and 
shun them as you would shun hell itself? If you do not, the very 
heathens but now cited will rise in judgment against you. 

Flatterers are the very worst of sinners. The flatterers told Caesar, 
that his freckles in his face were like the stars in the firmament ; they 
bought and sold Aurelius the emperor at pleasure. And Augustus 
complained, when Varrus was dead, that he had none now left that 
would deal plainly and faithfully with him. 

So men may gain by flattery ; they will be like Harpalus, who said, 
Quod regi placet, mihi placet, that which pleaseth the king pleaseth 
me, when Astyages set his own son before him to feed upon him. 

Oh ! but let every young man say, into whose hands this treatise 
shall fall, Quod Deo placet, mihi placet, that which pleaseth God 
pleaseth me. 

I have been the longer upon this, out of love to young men's souls, 
who are so apt to be ensnared in the flatterer's net. If ever you would 
be good in good earnest, you must abhor flatterers as the first-born of 
1 Roman emperor, a-d. 251-254 — G. 



230 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

t!ic devil, and as such as are most pernicious to men's happiness both 
here and hereafter. 1 

It is reported of one Oramazes, that he had an enchanted egg, in 
which, as he boasted himself, he had enclosed all the happiness of the 
world ; bul being broken, nothing was found in it but wind. Flatterers 
are the greatest cheaters, the greatest deceivers in the world. 

The) say of the crocodile, that when he bath killed a man, he will 
weep over him, as if he were sorry, and did repent for what he had 
done ; the application is easy. 

Di/recticm (4). Fourthly, If you would be good betimes, if you would 
seek and serve the Lord in the spring and morning of your days, then 
take heed bf engaged affections to the things of the ivorld. 

The young man in the Gospel took many a step towards heaven : 
' All these things have I kept from my youth up : what lack I yet ?' 
Mat. xix. 16-24. Christ makes a very fair offer to him in the next 
words : 'Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that 
thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; 
and come and follow me.' Thou shalt have heaven for earth, a sea for 
a drop, a treasure for a mite, a crown for a crumb. Ay, but the young 
man's affections were strongly engaged to the things of the world ; and 
therefore he turns his back upon Christ, and goes away sorrowful, 
because he had great possessions. 2 Oh the madness, the folly of this 
young man, who, to enjoy a little temporal felicity, hath bid an ever- 
lasting farewell to Christ and glory ! In that Gen. xiii. 2, it is said, 
that Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold ; the He- 
brew word cabedh, that is here rendered rich, signifies heavy ; it signifies 
a burden, to shew us that riches are a heavy burden and an hindrance 
many times to heaven and happiness ; and this young man in the 
Gospel found it so to his eternal undoing. Though the loadstone can- 
not draw the iron when the diamond is in presence, yet earthly posses- 
sions did draw this young man's soul away when Christ the pearl of 
price was present. The world is a silken net, and this young man 
found it so ; the world is like golden fetters, and this young man found 
it so ; the world is like sweet poison, 3 and this young man found it so ; 
for he had drunk so large a draught of it, that there was no room in 
his soul for Christ or heaven, for grace or glory. Some say, that when 
the serpent Scytale cannot overtake the flying passenger, she doth with 
her beautiful colours so astonish and amaze them, that they have no 
power to pass away till she have stung them ; such a serpent the world 
proved to the young man in the Gospel ; it did so affect him and take 
bim, so amaze him and amuse him, that he could not stir till it stung 
him to death. 

\\ hoi the moon is fullest, it is furthest from the sun ; so the more 
men have of the world, the further commonly they are from God ; and 
this the young man in the Gospel made good. 

Many have ventured life and limb, and many a better thing, to gain 
the things of this world ; and yet, after all, they have got nothing at 

1 Whilst an ass is stroked under the belly, you may lay on his back what burden you 

- Mullx (tni'iiulo res noxias sunt miseri, h'il>nul<> viisrriores. — August, in Ps. xxvi. 
3 They arc dulce venerium, a sweet poison. — Bernard. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 231 

all. Achan's golden wedge proved a wedge to cleave him, and his 
garment a garment to shroud him. 1 

The whole world is circular, the heart of a man is triangular, and we 
know a circle cannot fill a triangle ; yea, if it be not rilled with the 
three persons in Trinity, it will be filled with the world, the flesh, and 
the devil. The world may be resembled to the fruit that undid us all, 
which was fair to the sight, smooth in handling, sweet in taste, but 
deadly in effect and operation. 

Ah ! young men, young men, have none of you found it so ? 

The world in all its bravery is no better than the cities which Solo- 
mon gave to Hiram, which he called Cab id, that is to say, displeasing 
or dirty, 1 Kings ix. 13 ; the world will afford nothing but trivial 
flowers, surrounded with many briers. Oh the vanity, the uncertainty, 
the imperfection of all things below ! If a man should weigh his pay 
and his pains together, his miseries and his pleasures together, his joys 
and his sorrows together, his mercies and his crosses together, his good 
days and his bad days together, will he not conclude, Vanity of vanities, 
and all is vanity ? 

It was a wise and Christian speech of Charles the Fifth to the Duke 
of Venice, who, when he had shewed him the glory of his princely 
palace and earthly paradise, instead of admiring it, or him for it, only 
returned him this grave and serious memento, Hcec sunt quae faciunt 
invitos mori, these are the things which make us unwilling to die. It 
was a good saying of one to a great lord, upon his shewing him his 
stately house and pleasant gardens, Sir, you had need make sure of 
heaven, or else when you die you will be a very great loser. 2 

Ah ! young men, young men, it is only heaven that is above all winds, 
storms, and tempests; nor hath God cast man out of paradise for him 
to think to find out another paradise in this world. The main reason 
why many young men doat upon the world is, because they are not 
acquainted with a greater glory. Men ate acorns till they were 
acquainted with the use of wheat. The woman had the moon under 
her feet when she was clothed with the sun, and had a crown of tw r elve 
stars upon her head, Rev. xii. 1. 

Ah ! young men, were you but clothed with the Sun of righteousness, 
and had you a crown set upon your heads by the hand of faith, you 
would have all the things of tins world which are as low, bespotted, and 
mutable as the moon, under your feet, He b. xi. 24-27, 35, x. 34. Well! 
young men, as ever you would be good betimes, sit loose from the 
things of this w r orld, be no longer worshippers of this golden calf, and 
never let the world, that shall be but j^our servant, become your Lord. 
Oh ! let not the devil and the world have more service for an ounce of 
gold, than Christ shall have for the kingdom of heaven ! 

Ah, young men ! the world and you must part, or Christ and you 
will never meet, ' you cannot serve God and mammon/ Mat. vi. 24. 
The two poles shall sooner meet, than the love of Christ and the love of 
the world. 

1 If money were thrown to the dogs, they would not so much as smell at it ; the greater 
is their folly and madness that will go to hell-gates for it. 

2 In my other treatises, you may read more of the vanity, insufficiency, impotency, 
immutability, uncertainty, and inconstancy of the world ; and to them I refer you. 



232 APPLES OF GOLD. [] KlNGS XIV. 13. 

Direction (5). Fifthly, If you would be good betimes, if you would 
know, seek, and serve the Lord in the spring and morning of your 
youth, then take heed betimes of camial reason, take heed of consult- 
ing with fleah and blood, Gal. i. 15, 16. 

Many a hopeful young man hath been undone temporally and undone 
eternally, by hearkening to those evil counsellors. 

Carnal reason is an enemy, yea, an utter enemy, nay, it is not only 
an utter enemy, but it is enmity, yea, enmities, Rom. viii. 7. 1 An 
enemy may be reconciled, but enmity can never be reconciled. Carnal 
reason is not only averse, but it is utterly averse to all goodness; it 
builds strongholds and syllogisms against the most glorious gospel 
truths, and accounts the precious things of Christ as a strange thing. 
Carnal reason will make God and gospel do homage to it. When 
carnal reason is in the throne, Christ and his truths must all bow or be 
judged before its bar. 

Ah ! young men, young men, as ever you would be good betimes, 
stop your ears against all carnal reasonings within you. Carnal reason 
judges the choicest things of the gospel to be mere foolishness, 1 Cor. 
i. 23. It is purblind, and cannot see how to make a right judgment 
of Christ, his word, his ways, and yet will control all. 

If you are resolved to be still scholars to this master, then you must 
resolve to be unhappy here and miserable hereafter. But it is safer 
and better for you to imitate those young men, who in the morning of 
their days have graciously, wisely, and resolutely withstood those evil 
counsellors, carnal reason, flesh and blood ; Joseph and Moses, Daniel, 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, all these in the primrose of their 
youth were good at turning the deaf ear to carnal counsel and carnal 
counsellors, Gen. xxxix. 7-11, &c ; Heb. xi. 24-26 ; Dan. i. 

Cassianus reports of a young man that had given himself up to a 
Christian life, and his parents misliking that way, they wrote letters 
to him to persuade him from it ; and when he knew there were letters 
come from them, he would not open them, but threw them into the fire. 
This example is worth a following. 

Another famous example you have in the story of King Edward the 
Sixth, when Cranmer and Ridley came to him, and were very earnest to 
have him give way to his sister the Lady Mary to have mass. He stood 
out and pleaded the case with them, that it was a sin against God, and 
provoking to the eyes of his glory, &c, but they still continued to use 
many carnal arguments to persuade the king, who was but a child about 
fifteen years of age, but he withstood them a great while ; but at length 
when he saw he could not prevail with all his pleading against those 
brave men, but that they still continued their suit, he burst out into 
bitter weeping and sobbing, desiring them to desist. The motioners 
seeing his zeal and constancy, went as fast as he, and being overcome, 
they went away and told one that the king had more divinity in his 
little finger, than they had in all their bodies. 

Ah ! young men, it will be your safety and your glory to write after 
this princely copy, when you are surrounded with carnal reason and 
carnal counsellors, &c. 

1 Cicero, a heathen, could say, that man would not be so wicked, and do so wickedly, 
were it not for his reason. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 233 

Direction (6). Sixthly and lastly, If you would be good betimes, 
then take heed of comparing yourselves with those that are worse than 
yourselves. 

Young men are very apt to compare themselves with those that are 
worse than themselves, and this proves a snare unto them, yea, often- 
times their bane, their ruin, John ix. 39, 40, as it did the young pha- 
risee in the Gospel, who pleaded his negative righteousness ; he was not 
as other men are, ' extortioners, unjust, adulterers,' and stood on his com- 
parative goodness, ' nor as this publican ;' he stands not only upon his 
comparisons, but upon his disparisons, being blind at home, and too 
quick-sighted abroad ; he contemneth and condemneth this poor pub- 
lican, who was better than himself, Luke xviii. 11-14, x making good that 
saying of Seneca, ' The nature of man,' saith he, ' is very apt, utimur 
perspicillis magis quam speculis, to use spectacles to behold other 
men's faults, rather than looking-glasses to behold our own.' Such pha- 
risees do justly incur the censure which that sour philosopher passed 
upon grammarians, that they were better acquainted with the evil of 
Ulysses than with their own. 2 

Ah ! young man, young man, you know, he that drinks poison, 
though he drinks not so much as another, and be that commits treason, 
though not so great, so high treason as another, shall yet as certainly 
be poisoned, and hanged, as he that hath drunk a greater quantity of 
poison, and committed higher acts of treason. 3 

Sirs ! do not delude and befool your own souls ; if you are not as 
wicked as others, you shall not be as much tormented as others, but 
yet you shall be as certainly damned as others ; you shall as certain to 
hell as others ; you shall as sure be shut out for ever from God, Christ, 
saints, angels, and all the treasures, pleasures, and glories of heaven, as 
others, except it be prevented by timely repentance on your side, and 
pardoning mercy on God's. Wilt thou count it madness, young man ! 
in him that is sick, to reason thus ? I am not so sick as such and such, 
and therefore I will not send to the physician ; and in the wounded 
man to say, I am not so desperately wounded as such and such, and 
therefore I will not send to the chirurgeon ; and in the traitor to say, 
I am not guilty of so many foul and heinous treasons as such and such, 
and therefore I will not look after a pardon ; and in the necessitous 
man to say, I am not so hard put to it as such and such, and therefore 
I will not welcome a hand of charity ? And wilt thou not count it the 
greatest madness in the world for thee to put off thy repentance, and 
thy returning to the Lord in the spring and morning of thy youth, be- 
cause that thou art not as sinful, as wicked as such and such. If to have 
a softer bed, a milder punishment in hell than others, will satisfy thee, 
then go on ; but if thou art afraid of the worm that never dies, and of 
the fire that never goes out, being like that stone in Arcadia, which 
being once kindled could not be quenched, oh, then, begin to be good 
betimes ! Oh seek and serve the Lord in the spring and morning of 
your days ! 

1 Thales, one of the seven sages, being asked what was the easiest thing in the world 
to do? answered, to know other men's faults, and none of our own. 

2 Diogenes apud Laertium. lib. vi. 

3 Mat. xi. 22-25. As in heaven, one is more glorious than another, so in hell, one shall 
be more miserable than another. — Aug\ustine\. 



23 1- APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

To think often of hell, is the way to be preserved from falling into 
hell. 1 Ah ! young men, young men, that you would often consider of 
the bitterness of the damned's torments, and of the pitilessness of their 
torments, and of the diversity of their torments, and of the easelessness of 
their torments, and of the remedilessness of their torments. Mom, uta- 
newm est quod ,1,1,1 l,i t y aitemum quod cruciat, The sinner's delight here 
is momentary, that which torments hereafter is perpetual. When a shi- 
ner is in hell, dost thou think, young man ! that another Christ shall 
be found to die for him, or that the same Christ will be crucified again 
for him, or that another gospel should be preached to him ? Surely no. 

Ah ! why then wilt thou not betimes return and seek out after the 
tilings that belong to thy everlasting peace ? I have read of Pope Cle- 
ment the Fifth, that when a young nephew of his died, he sent his 
chaplain to a necromancer, to know of him how it fared with him in 
the other world ; the conjuror shewed him to the chaplain, lying in a 
fiery bed in hell, which, when the pope understood, he never joyed 
more, &c. a 

Ah ! young man, that these occasional hints of hell may be a means 
to preserve thee from lying in those everlasting flames. 

Bellarmine tells us of a certain advocate of the court of Rome, that 
being at the point of death, was stirred up by them that stood by, to 
repent and call upon God for mercy ; he, with a constant countenance, 
and without sign of fear, turned his speech to God, and said, Lord! I 
have a desire to speak unto thee, not for myself, but for my wife and 
children, for I am hastening to hell, neither is there anything that thou 
shouldst do for me ; and this he spake, saith Bellarmine, who was pre- 
sent, and heard it, as if he had spoken of a journey to some village or 
town, and Avas no more affrighted. 3 

Sir Francis Bacon also, in his History of Henry the Seventh, relates 
how it was a common byword of the Lord Cordes, that he would be 
content to live seven years in hell, so he might win Calice [Calais] from 
the English ; 4 but if thou, young man, art given up to such despe- 
rate atheism, and carnal apprehensions of hell, I am afraid God will 
confute thee one day by fire and brimstone ; but I would willingly hope 
better things of all those young persons, into whose hands this treatise 
shall fall ; and thus you see what things must be declined and avoided, 
if ever you would be good betimes, if ever you would seek and serve 
the Lord in the spring and morning of your days. . 



CHAPTER VII. 

But in the second place, as those things must be declined, so other 

things huisf c,i ,;j',i/l a a ml ii 'ilige nfl ij be practised, if ever you wo ah I 
be ijonil betimes. 1 shall instance only in those that are most consider- 
able and weighty ; as, 

First, If ever you would be good betimes, &c, then you must labour 
to be acquainted with four tilings betimes. 

1 Chrysostom. Horn. 44. in Mat. 2 Jac. Rev. Hist Pont. Rom., 199. 

liar. De arte Moriemti, lib. ii. cap. 10. 
4 Works, by Speckling, Ellis, and lleath, vol. vi. p. 100. — G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 235 

Duty (1). First, You must labour to acquaint yourselves with the 
Scripture betimes. You must study the word betimes. David studied 
the word in the morning of his days, in the primrose of his youth ; and 
this made him wiser than his enemies, yea, than his teachers ; this 
made him as much excel the ancients, as the sun excels the moon, or 
as the moon excels the twinkling stars, Ps. cxix. 97—103. Timothy was 
good betimes ; and no wonder, for in the primrose of his days he was 
acquainted with the Scripture ; he was inured to the word from his 
childhood, yea, from his infancy, as the word properly signifies. 1 So in 
that 119th Psalm, the 9th verse, 'Wherewithal shall a young man 
cleanse his way ? By taking heed according to thy word.' There is no 
way to a holy heart and a clean life but by acquainting yourselves with 
the word betimes. One hath long since observed, that God hath bowed 
down the Scriptures to the capacity even of babes and sucklings, that 
all excuse may be taken away, and that young men may be encouraged 
to study the Scripture betimes. 2 Ah, young men ! no histories are com- 
parable to the histories of the Scriptures : 1, for antiquity ; 2, rarity ; 
3, variety; 4, brevity; 5, perspicuity; G, harmony; 7, verity. All other 
books cannot equal God's, either in age or authority, in dignity or excel- 
lency, in sufficiency or glory. 3 

Moses is found more ancient and more honourable than all those 
whom the Grecians make most ancient and honourable ; as Homer, 
Hesiod, and Jupiter himself, whom the Greeks have seated in the top 
of their divinity. 

The whole Scripture is but one entire love-letter, despatched from 
the Lord Christ to his beloved spouse ; and who then but would still 
be a reading in this love-letter 1 Like Cascilia, a Roman maiden of 
noble parentage, who carried always about her the New Testament, 
that she might still be a-reading in Christ's love-letter, and behold the 
sweet workings of his love and heart towards his dear and precious 
ones. 4 

Luther found so much sweetness in the word, in Christ's love-letter, 
that made him say he would not live in paradise, if he might, without 
the word ; at cum verbo etiam in inferno facile est vivere, but with 
the word he could live in hell itself. 

The word is like the stone garamantides, that hath drops of gold in 
itself, enriching of the believing soul. This the martyrs found, which 
made them willing- to give a load of hav for a few leaves of the Bible 
in English. 

Augustine professeth that the sacred Scriptures were his whole 
delight. 

And Jerome tells us of one Nepotianus, who, by long and assiduous 
meditation on the holy Scriptures, had made his breasts the library of 
Jesus Christ. 5 

And Rabbi Chiia, in the Jerusalem Talmud, saith that in his ac- 
count all the world is not of equal value with one word out of the law. 
That which a papist reports lyingly of their sacrament of the mass, viz. 

1 2 Tim. iii. 15, anl B^'apois, from a suckling. s Augustine. — G. 

3 Adoro pltnitudinem Scripturarum. — Tertullian. Gregory calls the Scripture cor et 
animam Dei, the heart and soul of God. 

4 Cf. Clarke's ' Martyrologie,' 3d edition, 1677, p. 35.— G. 

5 Hier. Epistola ad Heliod. in Epitaphium Nepotiani. 



236 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

that there are as ninny mysteries in it as there be drops in the sea, dust 
on the earth, angels in heaven, stars in the sky, atoms in the sunbeams, 
or sands on the sea-shore, &c., may be truly asserted of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. 

Oh ! the mysteries, the excellencies, the glories that are in the word ! 
Ah ! no book to this book ; none so useful, none so needful, none so de- 
lightful, none so necessary to make you happy and to keep you happy as 
this. It is .said of Caesar, major fuit cura Gcesari libellorum, quam 
pn rpu rOB, that lie had a greater care of his books than of his royal robes ; 
for, swimming through the waters to escape his enemies, he carried his 
books in his hand above the waters, but lost his robe. Now, what are 
Caesar's books to God's books? 

Ah! young men, young men ! the word of the Lord is a light to guide 
you, a counsellor to counsel you, a comforter to comfort you, a staff to 
support you, a sword to defend you, and a physician to cure you. The 
word is a mine to enrich you, a robe to clothe you, and a crown to crown 
you. It is bread to strengthen you, and wine to cheer you, and a honey- 
comb to feast you, and music to delight you, and a paradise to entertain 
you. 1 

Oh! therefore, before all and above all, search the Scripture, study the 
Scripture, dwell on the Scripture, delight in the Scripture, treasure up 
the Scripture ; no wisdom to Scripture wisdom, no knowledge to Scrip- 
ture knowledge, no experience to Scripture experience, no comforts to 
Scripture comforts, no delights to Scripture delights, no convictions to 
Scripture convictions, nor no conversion to Scripture conversion. 

Augustine hearing a voice from heaven, that bade him take and read, 
tolle et lege, whereupon, turning open the New Testament, he fell upon 
that place, 'Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and 
drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy- 
ing. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for 
the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof,' Rom. xiii. 13, 14. This scripture 
so sunk into his heart, as that it proved the means of his conversion, as 
himself reports. This Augustine, as he was once preaching, his memory 
failing of him, contrary to his purpose, he fell upon reproving the Mani- 
cheans, and by a scripture or two, not before thought of, to confute their 
heresies, he converted Firmus, a Manichean, as he after acknowledged 
to Augustine, blessing God for that sermon. 2 

It is reported of one Adrianus, who seeing the martyrs suffer such 
grievous things in the cause of God, he asked what was that which 
caused them to suffer such things ? and one of them named that text, 
' Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart 
of mau to conceive, the things which God hath prepared for them that 
love him,' 1 Cor. ii. 9. And this text was set home with such a power 
upon him, as that it converted him and made him to profess religion, 
and not only to profess it, but to die a martyr for it. 

Cyprian was converted by reading the prophecy of Jonah. Junius 
was converted by reading the first chapter of John the evangelist. 

I have read of a scandalous minister that was struck at the heart, 

1 The Jewish Rabbins were wont to say, that upon every letter of the law there hangs 
mountains of profitable matter. 
* Lib. viii. Uonfes. cap. xi. Possidon. de vita. — Augustine. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 237 

and converted, in reading that scripture : ' Thou which teachest another, 
teachest thou not thyself?' &c, Rom. ii. 21. 

We read that Paphnutius converted Thais and Ephron, two famous 
strumpets, from uncleanness, only with this scripture argument, ' That 
God seeth all things in the dark, when the doors are fast, the windows 
shut, the curtains drawn,' Heb. iv. 13. 

I have read of a poor man who persuaded a young scholar to leave 
reading of poetry, &c, and fall upon reading of the Scripture, which 
accordingly he did ; and it pleased the Lord, before he had read out 
Genesis, to change his heart and to turn him to the Lord in the prim- 
rose of his days, he being then but twenty years of age. 

I have read of a young lady, 1 called Potamia, of a very illustrious 
family, who endured very much in her martyrdom, by the extreme cruelty 
of Basilides her executioner, yet, after her death, he bethinking himself 
of the holy words and scripture-expressions that were uttered by her, 
during her cruel torments, became a Christian, and within few days 
after was himself likewise crowned with martyrdom. 

James Andreas, a godly minister, hearing of a Jew that for theft was 
hanged by the heels, with his head downward, having not seen that 
kind of punishment, he went to the place where he was hanging between 
two dogs that were always snatching at him to eat his flesh ; the poor 
wretch repeated in Hebrew some verses of the Psalms, wherein he cried 
to God for mercy, whereupon Andreas went near to him and instructed 
him in the principles of Christian religion, about Christ the Messiah, 
&c, exhorting him to believe in him, and it pleased God so to bless his 
Scripture exhortations to him, that the dogs gave over tearing of his 
flesh, and the poor Jew desired him to procure that he might be taken 
down and baptized, and hung by the neck for the quicker despatch, 
which was done accordingly. 

I might produce other instances, but let these suffice to provoke all 
young persons to a speedy, serious, diligent, and constant study of the 
Scripture. 2 Ah ! sirs, you do not know how soon your blind minds may 
be enlightened, your hard hearts softened, your proud spirits humbled, 
your sinful natures changed, your defiled consciences purged, your dis- 
tempered affections regulated, and your poor souls saved, by searching 
into the Scriptures, by reading the Scripture, and by pondering upon the 
Scripture. You should lay up the manna of God's word in your hearts, 
as Moses laid up the manna in the golden pot, Heb. ix. 4. And as 
Tamar did with the staff and signet that she received from Judah, she 
laid them up till she came to save her life, and did save her life by it, 
as you may see in holy story, Gen. xxxviii. ] 8-36. The laying up of 
the word now, may be the saving of your souls another day. 

I have read of little bees, that when they go out in stormy weather, 
they will carry a little of their comb or gravel with them, that they may 
be balanced and not carried away with the wind. 

Ah ! young men, young men, you had need to have your thoughts and 
hearts balanced with the precious Word, that you may not be carried 

1 Origen was her schoolmaster. [Potamiena, not Potamia. See Clarke's ' Martyrolo- 
gie,' as before, page 35, on Basilides. — G.] 

2 Much in the word is wrapped up in a little. It is more to be admired than to have 
Homer's Iliads comprised in a nutshell. 



238 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNcs XIV. 13. 

away with ' every wind of doctrine,' as many have been in those days, 
to their destruction .-11111 con fusion. 

Narcissus, a beautiful youth, though he would not love them that 
loved him, yei afterwards fell in love with his own shadow. 1 Ah, how 

many Noun- men in these 'lays, who were once lovely and hopeful, are 
now fallen in love with their own and others' shadows, with high, empty, 

airy notions, and with strange monstrous speculations to their own dam- 
nation: 2 Thess. ii. 10-12. 

llolv Melancthon, being newly converted, thought it impossible fox 

his hearers to withstand the evidence of the gospel, but soon after he 
complained that old Adam was too hard for young Melancthon. 2 

Ah ! young men, young men, if you do not in good earnest give up 
yourselves to the reading, to the studying, to the pondering, to the 
believing, to the affecting, to the applying, and to the living up to the 
Scripture, Satan will be too hard for you, the world will be too hard for 
you, } r our lusts will be too hard for you, temptations will be too hard 
for you, and deceivers will be too hard for you, and in the end you will 
be miserable ; and thus much for the first thing, &c. 

Duty (2). Secondly, If you would be good betimes, then you must 
acquaint yourselves wvbh yourselves betimes. 

If you would be gracious in the spring and morning of your days, then 
you must see betimes how bad you are, how vile, how sinful, how 
wretched you are. No man begins to be good till he sees himself to be 
bad. The young prodigal never began to mend, he never thought of 
returning to his father, till he came to himself, till he began to return 
into his own soul, and saw himself in an undone condition, Luke xv. 
12-22. 

Ah ! young men, young men, You must see yourselves to be chil- 
dren of wrath, to be enemies, to be strangers, to be afar off from God, 
from Christ, from the covenant, from heaven, to be sin's servants, and 
Satan's bond-slaves. 3 The ready way to be found, is to see yourselves 
lost ; the first step to mercy, is to see your misery ; the first step to- 
wards heaven is to see yourselves near to hell. You won't look after 
the physician of souls, you won't prize the physician of souls, you won't 
desire the physician of souls, you won't match with the physician of 
souls, you won't fall in love, in league with the physician of souls, you 
won't resign up yourselves to the physician of souls, till you come to see 
your wounds, till you come to feel your diseases, till you see the tokens, 
the plague-sores of divine wrath and displeasure upon you. As the 
whole do not need the physician, so they do not desire, they do not care 
for the physician.' 

Ah! young men, as you would be good betimes, begin to acquaint 
yourselves with your sinful solves betimes, begin to acquaint yourselves 
betimes with your natural and undone condition. 5 

There is a threefold self. 

(1.) There is a natural self; as a man's parts, wit, reason, will, affec- 
tions, and inclinations, &c. 

1 Ovid. Met Hi. 341, scq. — G. 2 Melch. Adam, sub nomine. — G. 

' Eph. ii. 1-8, 12, U ; Rom. vi. 10; John viii. 44; 2 Tim. ii. 26. 

* Austin aaith, lie would willingly y u through hell to Christ, so will all that see their 
need of Christ - " Zanchias writ a tractate, Quod nihil scicur. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 239 

(2.) A religious self; and so a man's duties, graces, obedience, right- 
eousness, holiness, are called one's self. 

(3.) There is a sinful self; and so a man's corruptions, lusts, sinful 
nature, and dispositions, are called one's self. Now, if ever you would 
be good betimes, you must acquaint yourselves with your sinful selves 
betimes. 1 

Demonicus being asked at what time he began to be a philosopher, 
answered, When I began to know myself. So a man never begins to be 
a Christian till he begins to know himself. And indeed, for a man to 
know himself, to acquaint himself with himself, is one of the hardest 
works in all the world. For as the eye can see all things but itself, so 
most can discern all faults but their own. Henry 'the Fourth, emperor 
of Germany, his usual speech was Multi multa sciunt, se autem nemo, 
many know much, but few know themselves. 

The very heathens did admire that saying as an oracle, nosceteipsum, 
know and be acquainted with thy own self The main exhortation of 
Chilo, one of the seven sages, was ' Know thyself And Plato recordeth 
that this saying of Chilo, ' Know thyself,' was written in letters of gold 
upon the portal of Apollo's temple. 

Juvenal saith that this saying, ' Know thyself,' came from heaven. 
Macrobius saith that the oracle of Apollo, being demanded what course 
should be taken for attaining to felicity, answered, only teach a man to 
'know himself.' 2 

Thus you see that both divinity and philosophy doth agree in this, 
that the best and surest way to true felicity is, to know ourselves, to 
acquaint ourselves with ourselves. 

This duty the apostle charges upon the Ephesians, ' Remember that 
you, being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, that at that time you 
were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and 
strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without 
God in the world,' Eph. ii. 11, 12. 

Here are five withouts : without Christ, without the church, without 
the promise, without hope, and without God in the world. 

Man in his natural state is afar off; he is without, three manner of 
ways : 

(1.) In point of opinion and apprehension. 

(2.) In point of fellowship and communion. 

(3.) In point of grace and conversion. ' 

As you would be good betimes, dwell much upon your corrupt nature 
betimes. 3 Ah ! such is the corruption of our nature, that propound any 
divine good to it, it is entertained as fire by water, or wet wood with 
hissing ; propound any evil, then it is like fire to straw ; it is like the 
foolish satyr, that made haste to kiss the fire ; it is like that unctuous 
matter which the naturalists say sucks and snatches the fire to it, with 

1 Luther said, that if a man could perfectly see his own faults, the sight thereof 
would be a very hell unto him. 

2 . The precept, Tvvtii triavrav, has gathered around it a little literature of its own. It has 
been assigned to Chilo, as above ; but also to Pythagoras, Thales, Cleobulus, Bias, and 
Socrates, and to Phoemonoe, a Greek poetess of the pre-Homeric period. The reference 
to Juvenal is found in Sat. xi. 27, Eccelo descendit y\uh tnaurov. — G. 

3 Of dull and. insensible men, one long since thus complained, Patientius ferre Christi 
jacturam quam suam, that they did more calmly pass by the injuries done to Christ than 
those that were done unto themselves Oh the plague of insensibleness! 



240 ArPLES OF GOLD. [1 Kings XIV. 13. 

which it is consumed. Till you come to be sensible of this, you will 
never begin to be good ; you will never look to have your hearts changed, 
and your souls saved. 

The Ethiopians paint angels black, and devils white, in favour of 
their own complexion ; and they say that if the brute creatures could 
draw a picture of the divine nature, they would make their shape the 
copy, and thus they flatter and delude themselves. Take heed, young 
men, take heed that you do not put the like cheats upon your own 
souls ; take heed that you be not like those limners who, so as they can 
make a man's picture gay and gaudy, care not to draw it so as to re- 
semble him. It is safest and best, O young man ! to know the worst 
of thyself, and to know thyself as thou art in thyself, and not as thy 
own flattering heart, or as other flatterers, may represent thee to 
thyself. 

Duty (3). Thirdly, If you would be good betimes, then you must 
acquaint yourselves with Jesus Christ betimes. 

You must know him betimes. A man never begins to be good till 
he begins to know him that is the fountain of all goodness : ' This is 
life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom 
thou hast sent,' John xvii. 3. 

The knowledge of Christ is the beginning of eternal life ; it is the 
way to eternal life, it is a taste of eternal life, it is a sure pledge and 
pawn to the soul of eternal life. 

The Spaniards say of Aquinas, that he that knows not him knows 
not anything, but he that knows him knows all things. He that knows 
Jesus Christ not notionally only, but practically, not apprehensively 
only, but affectively, he knows all things that may make him happy ; 
but he that knows not Jesus Christ knows nothing that will stand him 
in stead, when he shall He upon a dying bed, and stand before a judg- 
ment seat. 

Justin Martyr relates that when, in his discourse with Trypho, he 
mentioned the knowledge of Christ as conducing to our happiness and 
perfection, Trypho's friends laughed at it ; but I hope better things of 
all those into whose hands this treatise shall fall. 

Sirs ! the sun is not more necessary to the world, the eye to the body, 
the pilot to the ship, the general to the army, &c, than the knowledge 
of Christ betimes is necessary for all those that would be good betimes. 

Dear hearts, as ever you would be good betimes, you must labour, 
even as for life, to know and be thoroughly acquainted with these six 
things concerning Jesus Christ betimes. 

(1.) First, If you would be good betimes, then you must know be- 
times thai there is everything in Christ that may encourage you to 
seek him and serve him, to love him and obey him, to believe on him 
and to marry with him} 

If you look upon his names, his natures, his offices, his graces, his 
dignities, his excellencies, his royalties, his glories, his fulnesses, they 
all speak out as much. 

Are you poor? Why, Christ hath tried gold to enrich you, Rev. iii. 
18. Are you naked? Christ hath white raiment to clothe you. Are 
you spiritually blind? Christ hath eye-salve to enlighten you. Are 
1 Nee Christut, nee ccelum, patitur hyperbolem. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.]. apples of gold. 24-1 

you in straits ? He bath wisdom to counsel you. Are you unrighteous ? 
He will be righteousness to you ? Are you unholy ? He will be holiness 
and sanctification to you, 1 Cor. i. 30. Are you hungry? He is bread 
to feed you. Are you thirsty ? He is wine and milk to satisfy you. 
Are you weary ? He is a bed, a seat, to rest you. Are you sick ? Why, 
he is a physician to cure you, &c. Omne bonum in summo bono, All 
good is in the chiefest good. 1 

The creatures have their particular goodness, health hath its parti- 
cular goodness, and wealth hath its particular goodness, and learning 
hath its, and the favour of the creature hath its, &c, but now Jesus 
Christ he is an universal good. 2 All the petty excellencies that are 
scattered abroad in the creatures are united to Christ ; yea, all the whole 
volume of perfections which is spread through heaven and earth is 
epitomised in him. Ipse unus erit tibi omnia, quia in ipso uno bono, 
bona sunt omnia — [Augustine], One Christ will be to thee instead 
of all things else, because in him are all good things to be found. 
Abraham's servant brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold, to 
win Rebekah's heart to Isaac ; so should you, O young men ! be often 
in presenting to your own view all those amiable and excellent things 
that be in Christ, to win your hearts over to Christ betimes. 

Secondly, If you would be good betimes, then you must know be- 
times that Jesus Christ is mighty to save. 

' He is able to save to the uttermost all them that come unto him, 
that believe in him, and that cast themselves upon him/ 3 The Lord 
hath laid help upon one that is mighty. Christ saves perfectly, tho- 
roughly, perpetually, them that come unto him. 

The three tongues that were written upon the cross, in Greek, Latin, 
and Hebrew, to witness Christ to be the king of the Jews, do each of 
them, in their several idioms, avouch this axiom, that Christ is an all- 
sufficient Saviour ; and ' a threefold cord is not easily broken.' They 
say it is true of the oil at Rheims, that though it be continually spent 
in the [inauguration of their kings of France, yet it never wasteth. 
Christ is that pot of manna,, that cruse of oil,, that bottomless ocean, 
that never fails his people. There is in Christ an all-sufficiency for all 
creatures at all times, in all places. 4 

The great Cham is said to have a tree full of pearls hanging by 
clusters. ; but what is the great Cham's tree to Christ, our tree of life, 
who hath all variety and plenty of fruit upon him. 5 The happinesses 
that come to believers by Christ are so many, that they cannot be 
numbered ; so great, that they cannot be measured ; so copious, that 
they cannot be denned ; so precious, that they cannot be valued ; all 
which speaks out the fulness and all-sufficiency of Christ. 

There is in Christ plenitudo abundantice, and plenitudo redundan- 
tice, a fulness of abundance, and a fulness of redundancy, as well as a 
fulness of sufficiency. 

1 John vi. 48; Isa. Iv. 1; Matt. xi. 28, ix. 12. 2 Christ is the bonum in quo omnia bona. 

3 Heb. vii. 25, h; ro a-avrtxis, perpetually, constantly. Matt. ix. 28, Isa. lxiii. 1. 
Mighty to save. 

4 Christ is never vacuis minibus empty-handed. 

6 Rev. xxii. 2. Christ is like the trees of the sanctuary, which were both for meat and 
for medicine, Ezek. xlvii. 12. 

VOL. I. Q 



'1V1 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

There is in Christ, 

1. The fulness of the Spirit. 

2. The fulness of grace. 

3. The fulness of the image of God. 

4. The fulness of the Godhead. 

5. The fulness of glory. 

But T must not now open nor dilate on these things, lest I should 
tire both myself and the reader. 

Plutarch, in the life of Phocion, tells us of a certain gentlewoman of 
Ionia, who shewed the wife of Phocion all the rich jewels and precious 
stones she had. She answered her again, All my riches and jewels is 
my husband Phocion. So may a penitent sinner say of his blessed 
Saviour, Christ is all my jewels, my riches, my treasures, my pleasures, 
&C. ; his sufficiency is all these, and more than these, to me. 

The Spanish ambassador, coming to see the treasury of St Mark in 
Venice, which is cried up throughout the world, fell a-groping to find 
whether it had any bottom, and being asked why, answered, In this 
amongst other things, my great Master's treasure differs from yours, in 
that his hath no bottom, as I find yours to have, — alluding to the mines 
in Mexico and Potosi. But what are the Spaniard's treasures to Christ's 
treasures ? A man may, without much groping, find the bottom of all 
earthly treasures, but who can find the bottom of Christ's treasures ?' 
Should all created excellencies meet in one glorified breast, yet they 
could not enable that glorious God-like creature to sound the bottom 
of those riches and treasures which are in Christ, Ephes. iii. 8 ; all which 
speaks out Christ's all-sufficiency ; and thus much for the second thing. 

(3.) Thirdly, If you would be good betimes, then you must know 
betimes, That there is a marvellous ivillingness and readiness in 
Christ to embrace, to enteHain, to welcome returning sinners, and 
to shew mercy and favour to them. 

The young prodigal did but think of returning to his father, and he 
ran and met him, and instead of kicking or killing him, he kissed him 
and embraced him, his bowels rolled within him, and his compassions 
flowed out freely to him, Luke xv. 20-22. ' Ho everyone that thirsteth, 
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat, 
yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price,' Isa. 
lv. I. 2 Nazianzen improveth this place thus: ' Oh, this easy way of 
contract, he giveth more willingly than others sell ; if thou wilt but 
accept, that is all the price ; though you have no merits, though you 
have nothing in yourselves to encourage you, yet will you accept ? If 
you will, all is freely yours ; the waters shall be yours to cleanse you, 
and the milk yours to nourish you, and the bread yours to strengthen 
you, and the wine yours to comfort you. Here poor sinners are called 
three times to come : Come, saith Christ, come, come, to shew how mar- 
vellous ready and willing he is that poor sinners should taste of gospel 
delicates. 3 So in that John vii. 37, ' Jesus stood and cried, If any man 
thirst, let him come to me and drink ;' so in that Rev. xxii. 17, 'Let 

1 //m« Deus si/fficit ad pramium. — Bernard. 

'-' The meaning is, Bel) thyself, thine own wit, reason, self-worth ; and that is all Christ 
desires, saith Augustine upon the words. 

a Cant, ii 8. Christ comes leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon the hills, to 
shuw his readiness and willingness to do good to souls. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 243 

him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely' ; so in that Rev. iii. 20, ' Behold, I stand at the door and 
knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to 
him, and will sup with him, and he with me ;' and so in that Luke 
xiv. 21, 'The master of the house said to his servant, Go out quickly 
into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and 
the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.' Here is no man of quality, of 
dignity, of worldly pomp or glory, or of any self-sufficiency, that is invited 
to the feast, but a company of poor, ragged, deformed, slighted, neglected, 
impoverished, wounded sinners ; these are invited to feast with Christ. 

Concerning this willingness of Christ, I shall speak more when I come 
to deal with old sinners in the close of this discourse, and to that I refer 
you for further and fuller satisfaction concerning the great readiness and 
willingness of Jesus Christ to entertain returning sinners. 

(4.) Fourthly, If you would be good betimes, then you must know 
betimes, That Jesus Christ is designed, sealed, and appointed by the 
Father to the office of a Mediator} 

' Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which 
endureth to everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you ; 
for him hath God the Father sealed.' God the Father hath made 
Christ's commission authentical, as men do theirs by their seal. It is 
a metaphor, a simile taken from them who give commissions under hand 
and seal. God the Father hath given it under his hand and seal, that 
Jesus Christ is the only person that he hath appointed and sealed, 
allowed and confirmed, to the office of our redemption. If J esus Christ 
were never so able to save, and never so willing and ready to save poor 
sinners, yet if he were not appointed, designed, and sealed, for that 
work, the awakened sinner would never look out after him, nor desire 
union with him, nor interest in him ; and therefore it is of very great 
consequence to know that God the Father hath sent and sealed Christ 
to be a Saviour to his people : ' Him hath God the Father sealed.' 
Sealed by way of destination and sealed by way of qualification, sealed 
by his doctrine, sealed by his miracles, sealed by his baptism, sealed by 
his resurrection, but above all, sealed by his glorious unction. ' The 
Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; because the Lord hath anointed me to 
preach good tidings unto the meek : he hath sent me to bind up the 
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of 
the prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the acceptable year 
of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God ; to comfort all that 
mourn ; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them 
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for 
the spirit of heaviness : that they might be called trees of righteous- 
ness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified,' Isa. lxi. 1-3, 
Luke iv. 18. 2 Neither saints nor angels are sealed and anointed to the 
great work of redemption, but the Lord Jesus is. You should always 
look upon the Lord Jesus as sealed and anointed to the office of a Me- 
diator, and accordingly plead with him. 

1 John vi. 27, The Father sealed, even God ; so the Greek hath it. 

* Christ was anointed of God, 1, by way of designation ; 2, by way of qualification ; 
3. by way of inauguration. This anointing was ordinarily used in the installing men 
to offices of any eminence. 



244 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

Ah, Lord ! it is thy office, as thou art a sealed and an anointed Sa- 
viour and Redeemer, to subdue my sins, to change my nature, to sanctify 
my heart, to reform my life, ;u 'd to save my soul; and therefore do it 
for thy Dame's sake, oh doit for thy office' sake, do it for thy glory's sake ! 

'Thou art anointed with the oil of gladness above thy fellows/ Ps. 
xlv. 8, Acts iv. 27. Thou hast a larger effusion of the Spirit upon thee 
than others; thou art anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power 
after an extraordinary measure and manner; thou art endued with all 
beroical gifts and excellencies, plentifully, abundantly, transcendently ; 
thou art Bealed and predestinated; 1 thou art invested into this office of 
Mediatorship under the Father's hand and seal : and therefore whither 
should I go for salvation, for remission, for redemption, for grace, for 
glory, but to thee ? 

(5.) Fifthly, If you would be good betimes, then you must know be- 
times, that there is no way to salvation but by Jesus Christ. 

'Neither is there salvation in any other' 2 (speaking of Christ), 'for 
there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we 
must be saved,' Acts iv. 12. If ever you are saved, you must be saved 
by him, and him only; you must not look for another saviour, nor you 
must not look for a co-saviour; you must be saved wholly by Christ and 
only by Christ, or you shall never be saved ; you must cry out, as Lam- 
bert did when he was in the fire, and lifted up his hands, and fingers '- 
ends flaming, 'None but Christ, none but Christ'! 3 When Augustus 
Caesar desired the senate to join two consuls with him for the better 
government of the state, the senate answered, that they held it as a 
diminution of his dignity, and a disparagement of their own judgment, 
to join any with so incomparable a man as Augustus. 4 

Ah ! friends, it is a diminution of Christ's dignity, sufficiency, and 
glory, in the business of your salvation, to join anything with the Lord 
Jesus ; and it is the greatest disparagement in the world to your own 
judgments, knowledge, prudence, and wisdom, to yoke any with Christ 
in the work of redemption, in the business of salvation. 

Augustine saith, that Marcellina hung Christ's picture and the pic- 
ture of Pythagoras together ; many there are, not only in Rome, but 
in England (yea, I am afraid in London), who join Christ and their 
works together, Christ and their prayers together, Christ and their 
teachers together, Christ and their mournings together, Christ and 
their hearings together, Christ and their alms together. 

Ah, what a poor, what a weak, what an impotent, what an insuffi- 
cient Saviour doth these men make Jesus Christ to be ! Except these 
men come off from these things, and come up only to Jesus Christ, in 
the great business of salvation, they will as certainly and as eternally 
perish, notwithstanding their hearing, knowing, and talking much of 
Christ, as those that never heard of Jesus Christ. 

In the Old Testament, God commands them not to wear a garment 
of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together, ' neither shall a gar- 
ment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee,' Deut. xxii. 11. 

This law was figurative, and shews us that in the case of our justifi- 
cation, acceptation, and salvation, we are not to join our works, our 

1 John i 16, iii. 34. * U &xxu, that is, by or through the mediation of any other. 

* Act. and Mon. [Foxe, sub nomine — G.] 4 Suetonius. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 248 

services, with the righteousness of Christ. God abhors a linsey-woolsey 
righteousness. And as by the letter of this law, in the Hebrews' 
account, one thread of wool in a linen garment, or one linen thread in 
a woollen garment, made it unlawful, so the least manner of mixture in 
the business of justification makes all null and void. 1 'And if by grace, 
then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if 
it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more 
work.' 2 He that shall mix his righteousness with Christ's, he that shall 
mix his puddle with Christ's purple blood, his rags with Christ's royal 
robes, his copper with Christ's gold, his water with Christ's wine, &c, 
is in the ready way to perish for ever. 

On earth kings love no consorts ; power is impatient of participation. 
Christ will be Alexander or Nemo, nobody ; he will be all in all in the 
business of justification, or he will be nothing at all. We must say of 
Christ, as it was once said of Csesar, Socium habet neminem, He may 
have a companion, &c, but he must not have a competitor, 1 Cor. i. 30, 
Rom. v. 19, 20. 

Let us say of Christ, as the heathen once said of his petty gods, Con- 
temno minutulos istos deos, modo Jovem propitium habeam, so long 
as he had his Jupiter to friend, he regarded them not. So, so long as 
we have our Jesus to friend, and his righteousness and blood to friend, 
we shall contemn all other things, and abhor the bringing of any thing 
into .competition with him. A real Christian cares not for any thing 
that hath not aliquid Christi, something of Christ in it. He that 
holds not wholly with Christ, doth very shamefully neglect Christ, Aut 
totum mecum tene, aut totum omitte, saith Gregory Nazianzen. (Eph. 
iii. 9, 10, Ps. lxxi. 15, 16, 19, compared.) 

There is no other name, no other nature, no other blood, no other 
merits, no other person to be justified and saved by, but Jesus Christ. 
You may run from creature to creature, and from duty to duty, and 
from ordinance to ordinance, and when you have wearied and tired out 
yourselves in seeking ease and rest, satisfaction and remission, justifica- 
tion and salvation, in one way and another, you will be forced after all 
to come to Christ, and to cry out, Ah ! none but Christ, none but 
Christ ! Isa. lv. 2, Rom. x. 3. Ah ! none to Christ, none to Christ ; no 
works to Christ ; no duties, no services to Christ ; no prayers, no tears to 
Christ ; no righteousness, no holiness to Christ. Well ! friends, remember 
this, that all the tears in the world cannot wipe off meritoriously one 
sin, nor all the grace and holiness that is in angels and men buy out 
the pardon of the least transgression. All remission is only by the 
blood of Christ. 

(6.) Sixthly and lastly, If you would be good betimes, then you must 
know betimes, that the heart of Jesus Christ is as much set upon 
sinners noiv he is in heaven, as ever it was when he was upon earth. 

Christ is no less loving, less mindful, less desirous of sinners' eternal 
welfare now he is heaven in a far country, than he was when he lived 
on earth. Witness his continuing the ministry of reconciliation among 
poor sinners in all ages ; witness the constant treaties, that by his 
ambassadors and Spirit he still hath with poor sinners, about the things 

1 Philip, iii. 9, 10 ; Rev. xix. 8 ; Gal. iii. 28, ii. 16. 
8 Horn. x'i. 6 ; Eph. ii. 5 ; Rom. v. 15-18. 



246 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KINGS XIV. 13. 

of their peace, the things of eternity ; witness his continual knocking, 
his continual callings upon poor sinners by his word, rod, Spirit, to 
open, to repent, to lay hold on mercy, and to be at peace with him ; 
witness his continual wooing of poor sinners in the face of all neglects 
and put-offs, in the face of all delays and denials, in the face of all harsh 
entertainment and churlish answers, in the face of all gainsayings and 
carnal reasonings, in the face of all the scorn and contempt that wretched 
sinners put upon him, 1 and witness that plain word, ' Jesus Christ, the 
same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever,' Heb. xiii. 8. Christ is the 
same afore time, in time, and after time, he is unchangeable in his 
essence, in his promises, and in his affections : • I am Alpha and Omega, 
the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, 
and which is to come/ Rev. i. 8, 11, xxi. 6, xxii. 13. 2 

The phrase is taken from the Greek letters, whereof Alpha is the 
first and Omega is the last. The first and last letter of the Greek 
alphabet is a description of me, saith Christ, who am before all and 
after all, who am above all and in all, who am unchangeable in myself, 
and in my thoughts and good will to poor sinners. Therefore do not, 
poor souls, entertain any hard thoughts concerning Jesus Christ, as if 
he was less mindful, less pitiful, and less merciful to poor souls now 
he is in heaven, than he was when his abode was in this world. 

And thus I have gone over those six things that you must know con- 
cerning Christ betimes, if ever you be good betimes. When Pope Leo 
lay upon his death-bed, Cardinal Bembus citing a text of Scripture to 
comfort him, he replied, ' A "page has nugas de Christo, away with these 
baubles concerning Christ !' But I hope better things of you, and do 
desire that you will say of all things below this knowledge of Christ 
that I have opened to you, as that devout pilgrim, who, travelling to 
Jerusalem, and by the way visiting many brave cities, with their rare 
monuments, and meeting with many friendly entertainments, would 
often say, I must not stay here, this is not Jerusalem. Ah ! so do you, 
young men and women, in the midst of all your worldly delights and 
contents, cry out, Oh ! we must not stay here, this is not Jerusalem, 
this is not that knowledge of Christ that I must have, if ever I am 
happy here and blessed hereafter. 

Duty (4). Fourthly and lastly, If you would be good betimes, then 
you must acquaint yourselves with those that are good betimes. 

Direction (1). First, If you would be gracious in the spring and 
morning of your youth, then you must begin betimes to be much in 
with them who are much in with Christ, who lie near his heart and 
know much of his mind. ' He that walketh with wise men shall be 
wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed,' or, as the Hebrew 
hath it, shall be broken in pieces, as when an army is broken and routed 
by an enemy.* llolech from Halech, walking with the wise, he shall be 
wise, for so the original hath it. It is not talking with the wise, but 
walking with the wise, that will make you wise ; it is not your com- 
mending and praising of the wise, but your walking with the wise, that 

1 2 Cor. v. 20 ; Rev. iii. 20 ; Isa. xxvii. 6, lvi. 4 ; Cant. v. 2 ; Prov. vi. 9 ; Matt. xxii. 
4, 23, 27. 

s It was a custom among the Turks, to cry out every morning from an high tower, 
God always was. ami always will be, and so salute their Mahomet. 

8 l'rov. xiii. 20, yi"V, shall be broken, or shall be worse, from yi">, to be naught. 






1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 24-7 

will make you wise ; it is not your taking a few turns with the wise 
that will make you wise, but your walking with the wise that will make 
you wise. There is no getting much good by them that are good, but 
by making them your ordinary and constant companions. 1 

Ah, friends ! you should do as Joseph in Egypt, of whom the Scrip- 
ture saith, Ps. cv. 22 (according to the Hebrew phrase), that he tied the 
princes of Pharaoh's court about his heart. 

If ever you would gain by the saints, you must bind them upon your 
souls, you must labour to have very near, close, and intimate communion 
with them. 

The Jews have a proverb, that two dry sticks put to a green one will 
kindle it. The best way to be in a flame God-ward, Christ-ward, heaven- 
ward, and holiness-ward, is to be among the dry sticks, the kindle-coals, 2 
the saints ; for as live coals kindle those that are dead, so lively Chris- 
tians will heat and enliven those that are dead God-wards, Christ-wards, 
heaven-wards, and holiness-wards. 'As iron sharpeneth iron, so doth 
the face of a man his friend,' Prov. xxvii. 17. 

Men's wits, parts, and gifts, and industry, commonly grow more 
strong, vigorous, and quick, by friendly conference and communion. 

And as he that comes where sweet spices and ointments are stirring, 
carries away a sweet savour with him, so he that converseth with those 
that are good shall carry away that goodness and sweetness with him 
that shall render him sweet, desirable, and delectable to others. Pole- 
mon, that Augustine speaks of, who was all for wine and play, &c, be- 
came a brave man when he came acquainted with the philosopher's 
school. 3 So many young men, that have been all for wine and women, 
for playing and toying, for vanity and folly, have become brave men, 
precious men, by the company, counsel, and example of those who were 
gracious. Doctor Taylor, the martyr, rejoiced that ever he came into 
prison, because he came thither to have acquaintance with that angel 
of God John Bradford, as he calls him : so, doubtless, many young per- 
sons there be that have much cause to rejoice, and for ever to bless the 
Lord, that ever they came acquainted with such and such who fear the 
Lord, and who walk in his ways, for the good that they have received 
by them. 

Algerius, an Italian martyr, said he had rather be in prison with 
Cato, than with Caesar in the senate house.* 5 

Ah ! young men, young men, you were better be with the people of 
God, when they are in the lowest and most contemptible condition, 
than with the great wicked ones of the world, when they are in all their 
royalty and glory. In the day of account you will find that they have 
made the best market, who have rather chosen to keep company with 
Lazarus, though in his rags, than they would with others keep com- 
pany with Dives, though in his purple robes. 

Well ! young men, remember this, clothes and company do oftentimes 
tell tales, in a mute but significant language. 

1 It was the saying of one, As oft as I have been among wicked men, I return home 
less a man than I was before. [Bernard. — G.] 

s ' Kindling-coal,' or piece left over night in the fire-place. — G. 

3 Augustine, Ep. 130. 

* See interesting account of Algerius in Clarke's 'Martyrologie,' as before, p. 187. — G. 

5 Moses was of the same mind and metal, Heb. xi. 24-27. 



248 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

Tell me with whom thou £oest, and I will tell thee what thou art, 
saith the Spanish proverb. 1 Cicero, though a heathen, had rather to 
have no companion, than a bad one. The Lord grant that this heathen, 
and others among them, that were of the same mind with him, may 
never rise up in judgment against any of you, into whose hands this 
treatise may fall. 

And thus I have despatched those four things that you must be 
acquainted with betimes, viz., the Scripture, your own hearts and con- 
ditions, the Lord Jesus Christ, and those that fear him, if ever you 
would be good betimes. 

Direction (2). Secondly, If you would be good betimes, if you would 
seek and serve the Lord in the spring and morning of your days, Then 
you must shun the occasions of sin betimes. A man will never begin 
to be good, till he begin to decline those occasions that have made him 
bad : 1 Thes. v. 22, ' Abstain from all appearances of evil/ 2 

You must shun and be shy of the very appearance of sin, of the very 
shows and shadows of sin. The word sfdoc, which is ordinarily rendered 
appearance, signifies kind, or sort ; and so the meaning of the apostle 
seems to be this, ' Abstain from all sort, or the whole kind of evil ;' 
from all that is truly so, be it never so small. 

The least sin is dangerous. Csesar was stabbed with bodkins, and 
many have been eaten up of mice and lice. 

The least spark may consume the greatest house, the least leak may 
sink the greatest ship, the least sin is enough to undo thy soul ; and 
therefore shun all the occasions that lead unto it. 

Job made a covenant with his eyes, Job xxxi. 1 ; Joseph would not 
be in the room where his mistress was, Gen. xxxix. 10 ; and David, 
when himself, would not sit with vain persons, Ps. xxvi. 3—7. As long 
as there is fuel in our hearts for a temptation, we cannot be secure ; he 
that hath gunpowder about him, had need keep far enough off from 
sparkles ; he that is either tender of his credit abroad, or comfort at 
home, had need shun, and be shy of the very show and shadow of sin ; 
he that would neither wound conscience nor credit, God nor gospel, 
had need hate ' the garment spotted with the flesh,' Jude 23. 3 

In the law, God commanded his people, not only that they should 
worship no idol, but that they should demolish all the monuments of 
them, and that they should make no covenant nor affinity with those 
who worshipped them, and all lest they should be drawn by those occa- 
sions to commit idolatry with them. He that would not taste of the 
forbidden fruit, must not so much as gaze on it ; and he that would 
not be bit by the serpent, must not so much as parley with the ser- 
pent. 

It is very observable, that in the law, the Nazarite was not only com- 
manded to abstain from wine and strong drink, but also he might not 
eat grapes, whether moist or dry, or anything that is made of the vine 

1 Those that keep ill company, are like those that walk in the sun, who are tanned 
insensibly. 

5 We must shun, quicquid juerit male coloratum, whatsoever looks but ill-favouredly, 
as Bernard hath it. 

: ' The sin and the coat of the sin is to bo hafed, saith Ambrose. Latet anguis inherba. 
Snakes aro found among ro^es, Num. vi. 3, 4. Quid est vitare peccata, nisivitare occasione* 
peccatoruin/ — Mt,-lau[cthon]. What is it to uvoid sin, but to avoid the occasions of sin '.' 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 24.9 

tree, from the kernels even to the husk. But why not these small 
things, in which there could be no danger of drunkenness ? Surely, 
lest by the contentment of these, he might be drawn to desire the wine, 
and so be brought on to sin, to break his vow, and so make work for 
hell, or for the physician of souls. God hereby forbidding the most 
remote occasions, shews how wary and exactly careful men should be 
to shun and avoid all occasions, provocations, and appearances of evil ; 
and indeed we had need to keep off from slippery places who can hardly 
stand fast on dry ground ; he that ventures upon the occasion of sin 
and then prays, ' Lord, lead me not into temptation,' is like him that 
thrusts his finger into the fire, and then prays that it may not be burnt ; 
or like him that is resolved to quench the fire with oil, which, instead 
of quenching it, is as fuel to feed it and increase it. It was a notable 
saying of one, Majus est miraculum inter vehementes occasiones non 
cadere, quam mortuos suscitare. 1 It is a greater miracle not to fall, 
being among strong occasions, than it is to raise up the dead ; he that 
would not be defiled, must not touch pitch ; he that would not he burnt, 
must not carry fire in his bosom ; he that would not eat the meat, must 
not meddle with the broth ; he that would not fall into the pit, must 
not dance upon the brink ; he that would not feel the blow, must keep 
off from the train : 2 ' Keep thee far from a false matter/ Exod. xxiii. 7. 
He that will not fly from the occasions and allurements of sin, though 
they may seem never so pleasant to the eye, or sweet to the taste, 
shall find them in the end more sharp than vinegar, more bitter than 
wormwood, more deadly than poison. 

There is a great truth in that saying of the son of Sirach, ' He that 
loveth danger, shall perish therein ; he that will not decline danger, 
shall not be able to decline destruction,' Ecclus. iii. 26, 27. 3 

Socrates speaks of two young men that flung away their belts when, 
being in an idol temple, the lustrating water fell upon them, detesting, 
saith the historian, 'the garment spotted by the flesh ;' and will you, 
young men, play and toy with the occasions of sin ? The Lord 
forbid. 

There are stories of several heathens that have shunned and avoided 
the occasions of sin, and will you dare to venture upon the occasions of 
sin? 

Alexander would not see the woman after whom he might have 
lusted. 

Scipio Africanus, warring in Spain, took New Carthage by storm, at 
which time a beautiful and noble virgin fled to him for succour to pre- 
serve her chastity. He being but four and twenty years old, and so in 
the heat of youth, hearing of it, would not suffer her to come into his 
sight for fear of temptation, but caused her to be restored in safety to 
her father. 4 

Livia counselled her husband Augustus, not only not to do wrong, 
but not to seem to do so, &c. 

1 Bernard in Cant. serm. 65. 

2 Prov. vi. 27-29. Non diu tutus est, periculo proximus. — Cyprian, He is not long 
safe that is near to danger. 

3 Brooks's second quotation from the Apocrypha thus far — G>' 

4 Aure : Victor. Dio, Laert. in vita. 



250 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNOS XIV. 13. 

Caesar would not search Pompey's cabinet, lest he should find new 
matters of revenge. 

Plato mounted upon his horse, and judging himself a little moved 
with pride, did presently light from his horse, lest he should be over- 
taken with loftiness in riding. 

Theseus is said to cut off his golden locks, lest his enemies should 
take advantage by taking hold of them. 

Ah ! young men, young men, shall the very heathens thus shun and 
fly from the occasion of sin, and will not you ? will not you who sit 
under the sunshine of the gospel ? These will in the great day of ac- 
count be sad and sore witnesses against those that dally and play with 
the occasions of sin. 

To prevent carnal carefulness, Christ sends his disciples to school, to 
the irrational creatures (Matt. vi. 26-32). And to prevent your closing 
with the occasions of sin, let me send you to school to the like creatures, 
that you may learn by them to shun and avoid the occasions of sin. 

The Sepiai, a certain kind of fish, perceiving themselves in danger of 
taking, by an instinct which they have, they do darken the water, and 
so many times escape the net which is laid for them. 

Geese, they say, when they fly over Taurus they keep stones in their 
mouths, lest by gaggling ' they should discover themselves to the eagles, 
which are amongst the mountains waiting for them. 2 Now, if all these 
considerations put together will not work you to decline the occasions 
of sin, I know not what will. There is a truth in that old saying — 

He that will no evil do, 

Must do nothing belongs thereto. 

The Israelites must have no leaven in their houses till the Passover 
be done, lest they should be tempted to eat of it, Exod. xiii. 

Direction (3). Thirdly, If you would be good betimes, then you must 
remember the eye of God betimes. 

If you would seek and serve the Lord in the spring and morning of 
your days, then you must study God's omnipresence betimes. ' Doth 
not he see my ways, and count all my steps V ' For his eyes are upon 
the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, 
nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide them- 
selves,' Ps. cxxxix. 2-14 ; Job xxxi. 4, 21, 22. 

I have read that Paphnutius converted two famous young strumpets, 
Thais and Ephron, from uncleanness only with this argument, that God 
seeth all things in the dark, when the doors are fast, the windows shut, 
and the curtains drawn. 3 By this very argument Solomon labours to 
take off his young men from carnal and sinful courses : ' And why wilt 
thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the 
bosom of a stranger ! For the ways of man are before the eyes of the 
Lord, and he pondereth all his goings,' Prov. v. 20, 21. Thou mayest 
deceive all the world, like that counterfeit Alexander in Josephus his 

1 ' Gabbling.'— G. 

s Pliny has much curious lore on the ' goose ' which Brooks here and elsewhere re- 
cords. Bee sub voce. — G. 

8 Non se patent adulter i noctis tenebris vel parietum obtegi. — Bede. 






1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 251 

story, but Augustus will not be deceived ; he hath quicker and sharper 
eyes. 1 

Ah ! young men, young men, you may deceive this man and that, 
and as easily deceive yourselves, but you cannot deceive him, who is 
irav6$6a\[Log, totus oculus, all-eye. As the eyes of a well drawn picture 
are fastened upon thee which way soever thou turnest, so are the eyes 
of the Lord. I have read of one who, being tempted to adultery, said 
they could not be private enough, and being carried from room to 
room, answered, We are not yet private enough, God is here. 

Ah, friends ! His eyes, which are ten thousand times brighter than 
the sun, compasseth thy words, thy ways, thy works, thy thoughts, thy 
bed, thy board, thy bench. The Egyptian hieroglyphic for God was an 
eye on a sceptre, shewing that he sees and rules all things, Jer. xiii. 27, 
xxix. 23. 

Ah, friends ! All thoughts, words, hopes, and hearts, are naked, 
opened, dissected and quartered before that God with whom you have 
to do. God is very curious and exact in marking and observing what 
is done by men, that he may render to every man according to his 
works. 2 

Augustine speaks of an old comedian, when having no other specta- 
tors, went usually into the theatre, and acted before the statues of the 
gods. 3 

Ah ! young men and women, the eye of God should be more to you 
than all the world besides. Oh that the Scripture might be written 
with the pen of a diamond upon your hearts. ' Hear ye not me,' saith 
the Lord, ' and will you not tremble at my presence ?' Jer. v. 21, 22. 
There is a great truth in that saying of his, Magna nobis ex hoc indita 
est probitatis necessitas, quia omnia ante oculos judicis facimus 
cuncta cerne7itis. i A great necessity of goodness is from hence put 
into us, because we do all things before the eyes of a judge that sees all 
things. 

Direction (4). Fourthly, If you would be good betimes, then you 
must hearken to the voice of conscience betimes, 2 Tim. i. 3. 

A man will never begin to be good till he begins to hearken to what 
conscience speaks. So long as a man turns a deaf ear to conscience, 
he is a safe prisoner to Satan, and a sure enemy to good, Ps. lviii. 4, 
John iii. 20, 21. 

Ah ! how good might many have been had they but begun betimes 
to hearken to conscience ! 

Ah ! young men, do not dally with conscience, do not play, do not 
trifle with conscience, do not stop your ears against conscience. He that 
will not in his youth give conscience audience, shall at last be forced to 
hear such lectures from conscience, as shall make his life a very hell. 
A sleepy conscience is like a sleepy lion, when he awakes, he roars and 
tears ; so will conscience, Mark ix. 22. Conscience is mille testes, a 
thousand witnesses for or against a man. 5 He that hath long turned 
the deaf ear to conscience, shall at last find his conscience like Prome- 

1 Nolipeccare ; Deus videt, angeli astant, $c. Take heed what thou doest, God beholds 
thee, angels observe thee. 

2 Heb. IV. 13, Ter^a^nA/ir^/va. 

3 Aug. de civ. Dei. 1. vi. c. x. 4 Boetius de consol. 1. v. 
6 Such shall find conscience to be judex, index, vindex. 



252 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlXGS XIV. 13. 

theus's vulture, that lies ever a-gnawing. Judas found it so, and Spira 
found it so, and Blair, a great councillor of Scotland, found it so. 

1 have read of one John Hofmeister, that fell sick in his inn, as he 
was travelling towards Auspurge in Germany, and grew to that horror 
of conscience, that they were fain to bind him in his bed with chains, 
where he cried out, that he was for ever cast off by God, and that the 
promises that were set before him would do him no good, and all be- 
cause he had wounded his conscience, and turned a deaf ear to con- 
science. 1 

Well ! young men, if you will not betimes hearken to conscience, you 
shall at last hear conscience saying to you, as the probationer disciple 
said to Christ, ' Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest,' 
Mat. viii. 19 ; so saith conscience, Sinner, I have called upon thee many 
a thousand times, and told thee, that 1 must by commission be thy best 
friend, or thy worst enemy, but thou wouldst not hear ; and therefore 
now I will follow thee whither ever thou goest f fast, and I will follow 
thee, and fill thee with horrors and terrors ; feast, and I will follow 
thee, and shew thee such a handwriting upon the wall, as shall cause 
thy countenance to change, thy thoughts to be troubled, the joints of thy 
loins to be loosed, and thy knees dashed one against another, Dan. v. 
5, 6 ; stay at home, and I will follow thee from bed to board ; go abroad, 
and I will follow thee into all places and companies, and thou shalt 
know that it is an evil and a bitter thing, that thou hast so often and 
so long neglected my calls, and disobeyed my voice, and walked con- 
trary to me ; how thou shalt find a truth in that saying of Luther, 
una guttula malai conscientice totum mare, &c, one drop of an evil 
conscience swallows up the whole sea of worldly joy. 

Well ! young men, there is a day coming wherein a good conscience 
will be better than a good purse, for then the Judge will not be put off 
with a suit of compliments or fair words, nor drawn aside with hope of 
reward ; and therefore, as you would be able to hold up your heads in 
that day, make conscience of hearkening to the voice of conscience in 
this your day. 

Direction (5). Fifthly, If you would be good betimes, then you must 
know betimes wherein true happiness lies. 

For a man will never begin to be good till he begins to understand 
wherein his happiness consists. 

The philosophers, speaking of happiness, were divided into two hun- 
dred and eighty-eight opinions, everyone intending something, and yet 
resolving nothing. 3 Therefore the man in Plutarch, hearing them 
wrangle about man's summum bonum, chiefest good, one placing it in 
this, and another in that, he went to the market and bought up all that 
was good, hoping, among all, he should not miss of it, but he did. 
Many look for happiness in sin, others look for it in the creatures, but 
they must all say, It is not in us, Isa. lvi. 12, Job xxviii. 14 : Nil dat 
quod non Jutbet, nothing can give what it hath not. If the conduit 
pipe hath no water, it can give no water ; if a man hath no money, he 
can give no money ; if the creatures have no happiness, they can give 

1 Jo. Wolf, lect mem. To. II. ad. an. 1547. [Augsburg. — O.] 

4 Tolle conscientiam, tolle omnia, take away conscience, and take away all, said the 
heathen. 3 Quot homines, lot sentential : so many men, so many minds. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 253 

no happiness. Now this jewel, this pearl, happiness, is not to be found 
in the breast, in the bosom of creatures. In a word, because I must 
hasten to a close, man's happiness lies, 

First, In his communion with God, as experience and Scripture 
demonstrates. ' Happy is that people that is in such a case (but give 
me that word again), yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord,' 
Ps. cxliv. 15. A man whose soul is in communion with God shall find 
more pleasure in a desert, in a dungeon, in a den, yea, in death, than 
in the palace of a prince, than in all worldly delights and contents, 
&c. 

Secondly, In 'pardon of sin. ' Blessed is he whose transgression is 
forgiven, whose sin is covered : blessed is the man unto whom the Lord 
imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile/ Ps. xxxii. 
1, 2. It is not, blessed is the honourable man, but blessed is the par- 
doned man. It is not, blessed is the rich man, but blessed is the par- 
doned man. It is not, blessed is the learned man, but blessed is the 
pardoned man. It is not, blessed is the politic man, but blessed is the 
pardoned man. It is not, blessed is the victorious man, but blessed is 
the pardoned man. Do with me what thou wilt, since thou hast par- 
doned my sins, saith Luther. 

Thirdly, In a complete fruition and enjoyment of God,, when we 
shall be here no more. ' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall 
see God, Mat. v. 8 ; ' Now they see him but darkly, but in heaven they 
shall see him face to face ; they shall know as they are known/ 1 Cor. 
xiii. 12. But of these things I have spoken largely elsewhere, and 
therefore shall satisfy myself with these hints. 

Direction (6). Lastly, If you would be good betimes, then you must 
break your covenant with sin betimes. 

You must fall out with your lusts betimes ; you must arm and fence 
yourselves against sin betimes, Isa. xxviii. 15-18. A man never begins 
to fall in with Christ till he begins to fall out with his sins. Till sin 
and the soul be two, Christ and the soul cannot be one. Now, to work 
your hearts to this, you should always look upon sin under these 
notions : 

Notion (1). First, If you would have the league dissolved betwixt 
sin and your souls betimes, then look upon sin under the notion of an 
enemy betimes. 

'Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain 
from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul/ 1 Peter ii. 11. As the 
viper is killed by the young ones in her belly, so are poor sinners be- 
trayed and killed by their own lusts, that are nourished in their 
bosoms. 1 

Pittacus, a philosopher, challenged Phlyon 2 the Athenian captain, 
in their wars against them, to single combat, carried a net privily, and 
so caught him, and overcame him ; so doth sin with poor sinners, the 
dangerous, pernicious, malignant nature of sin. You may see in the 
story of the Italian, who first made his enemy deny God, and then 

1 Sms, especially against knowledge, are peccata imlneranlia et dcvastantia, wounding 
and wasting. 

2 Rather, Plirynon ; the ahove feat is recorded by Diog. Laertius, i. 75 : Herodotus, v. 
54, 95, &c, &c— G. 



254 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

stabbed him to the heart, and so at once murdered both body and soul. 
Sin betrays us into the hand of the devil, as Delilah did Samson into 
the hands of the Philistines. 

Sugared poisons go down pleasantly. Oh ! but when they are down, 
they gall and gnaw, and gripe the very heart-strings asunder ; it is so 
with sin. Ah ! souls, have not you often found it so ? 

When Phocas the murderer thought to secure himself by building 
high walls, he heard a voice from heaven telling him, that though he 
built his bulwarks never so high, yet sin within would soon undermine 
all. 1 

Ambrose reports of one Theotimus, that having a disease upon his 
body, the physician told him, that except he did abstain from intem- 
perance, drunkenness, uncleanness, he would lose his eyes ; his heart 
was so desperately set upon his sins, that he cries out, then, Vale lumen 
amicum, farewell, sweet light. Ah, how did his lusts war both against 
body and soul ! 

The 'old man' is like a treacherous friend, and a friendly traitor. 
Though it be a harder thing to fight with a man's lusts, than it is to 
fight with the cross, yet you must fight or die ; if you are not the 
death of your sins, they will prove the death of your souls. 

The oracle told the Cyrrheans, noctesque diesque belliyerandum, they 
could not be happy, unless they waged war night and day ; no more 
can we, except we live and die fighting against our lusts. 2 

Ah ! young men, can you look upon sin under the notion of an enemy, 
and not break with it, and not arm against it? 

Well! remember this, the pleasure and sweetness that follows victory 
over sin, is a thousand times beyond that seeming sweetness that is in 
sin ; and as victory over sin is the sweetest victory, so it is the greatest 
victory. There is no conquest to that which is gotten over a man's 
own corruptions. ' He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty : 
and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city/ Prov. xvi. 32. 

It is noble to overcome an enemy without, but it is more noble to 
overcome an enemy within ; it is honourable to overcome fiery flames, 
but it is far more honourable to overcome fiery lusts. 

When Valentinian the emperor was upon his dying-bed, among all 
his victories only one comforted him, and that was victory over his 
worst enemy, viz., his own naughty heart. 3 

Ah ! young men, young men, your worst enemies are within you, 
and all their plots, designs, and assaults are upon your souls, your most 
noble part. They know if that fort-royal be won, all is their own, and 
you are undone, and shall be their slaves for ever ; and therefore it 
stands upon you to arm yourselves against these inbred enemies ; and 
if you engage Christ in the quarrel, you will carry the day; and when 
you shall lie upon your dying-beds, you will then find that there is no 
comfort to that which ariseth from the conquests of your own hearts, 
your own lusts. 

Notion (2). Secondly, If you would break covenant with sin, if you 



1 The 'monster' emperor of Constantinople, a.d. G02-610.— G- 

■ As one of the dukes of Venice died righting against tho Nauratiues, with his weapons 
in bis hand. 
» Rom. vii. 22, 23 ; 2 Cor. x. 3-6 ; Gal. v. 17. 






1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 255 

would arm and fence yourselves against sin betimes, then look upon 
sin as the soul's bonds, Gal. iii. 10, John viii. 34. 

For as bonds tie things together, so doth sin tie the sinner and the 
curse together. It binds the sinner and wrath together, it links the 
sinner and hell together : ' I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitter- 
ness, and in the bond of iniquity,' Acts viii. 23. Iniquity is a chain, a 
bond. Now, bonds and chains gall the body, and so doth sin the soul ; 
and as poor captives are held fast in their chains, so are sinners in their 
sins ; they cannot redeem themselves by price, nor by power, 2 Tim 
ii. 26. 

Ah ! young men, young men ! no bondage to soul bondage, no slavery 
to soul slavery. The Israelites' bondage under Pharaoh, and the Chris- 
tians' bondage under the Turks, is but the bondage of the body, of the 
baser and ignoble part of man ; but yours is soul bondage, and soul 
slavery, which is the saddest and greatest of all. 1 

Ah, friends ! you should never look upon your sins but you should 
look upon them as your bonds ; yea, as the worst bonds that ever were. 
All other chains are golden chains, chains of pearl, compared to those 
chains of iron and brass, those chains of lust, with which you are bound. 
Ah ! who can thus look upon his chains, his sins, and not loathe them, 
and not labour for freedom from them ? Justinus the emperor's motto 
was Libertas res inestimabilis, liberty is invaluable. If civil liberty 
be, surely spiritual liberty is much more. If you ask souls that were 
once in a state of bondage, but are now Christ's free men, they will tell 
you so. 

It was a good observation of Chrysostom, that Joseph was the free 
man and his mistress was the servant, when she was at the beck of her 
own lusts, when she tempted and he refused. 2 Such as live most above 
sin and temptation, are the greatest freemen ; others, that live under 
the power of their lusts, are but slaves, and in bonds, though they dream 
and talk of freedom, Titus iii. 3. 

Notion (3). Thirdly, If you would break league with sin, and arm 
and fence yourselves against it, then look always upon sin under the 
notion of fire. 

' And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire,' Jude 23. 3 
Oh, snatch them out of their sins, as you would snatch a child, a friend, 
out of the fire, or as the angel snatched Lot out of Sodom, hastily, and 
with a holy violence. Natural fire may burn the house, the goods, the 
treasure, the servant, the child, the wife, the body ; but this fire burns 
the soul, it destroys and consumes that noble part which is more worth 
than all the treasures of a thousand worlds. Every man hath a band 
and a heart to quench the fire which burns his neighbour's house, but 
few men have either hands or hearts to quench the fire that burns their 
neighbour's souls ; this is, and this shall be, for a lamentation. 

I have read of one who, upon the violence of any temptation to sin, 
would lay his hand upon burning coals, and being not able to abide it, 
would say to himself, Oh, how unable shall I be to endure the pains of 

1 Augustine saith of Rome, that she was the great mistress of the world, and the great 
drudge of sin. 2 Chrysost. Horn. xix. in prior. Epist. ad Corinth. 

3 jjw^vns signifies a violent snatching, as the tender-hearted mother, to save the 
life of her child, pulls it hastily, and with violence, out of the fire. 



2.">f> APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlXGS XIV. 13. 

lit 11 ! and tins restrained him from evil. 1 But what is the fire of hell to 
the fire of sin ? Now, to provoke you to look upon sin under the notion 
of fire, consider with me the sundry resemblances between material and 
immaterial fire, between corporeal common fire and between this spiri- 
tual fire, sin. As, 

[1.] First, Fire is terrible and dreadful. A ship on fire, an house 
on fire, oh how dreadful is it ! So sin set home upon the conscience is 
exceeding terrible and dreadful. ' Mine iniquity/ so the Hebrew, ' is 
greater than I can bear/ Sin or iniquity is often put for the punish- 
ment of sin, by a metonymy of the efficient for the effect ; for sin is 
the natural parent of punishment. ' Mine iniquity,' saith Cain, ' is so 
great, and lies so heavy, so terrible and dreadful upon my conscience, 
that it cannot be forgiven,' Gen. iv. 13, and thus, by his diffidence, he 
stabs two at once, the mercy of God, and his own soul. 2 So Judas, ' I 
have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood ; and he went and 
hanged himself/ Mat. xxvii. 3-5. 

As there is no fighting with a mighty fire, so there is no bearing up 
when God sets home sin upon the conscience ; a man will then choose 
strangling or hanging, rather than living under such wounds and lashes 
of conscience. Histories abound with instances of this nature ; but I 
must hasten to a close. 

[2.] Secondly, Fire is most dangerous and pernicious when it 
breaks forth of the chimne}^, or of the house ; so it is with sin. Sin is 
bad in the eye, worse in the tongue, worser in the heart, but worst of 
all in the life. Fire, when out of its proper place, may do much hurt 
in the house, but when it flames abroad, then it doth most mischief to 
others, 2 Sam. xii. 9-15. 

Sin in the heart may undo a man, but sin in the life may undo 
others as well as a man's self. Set a guard upon the eye, a greater 
upon thy heart, but the greatest of all upon thy life, Job xxxi. 1, Prov. 
iv. 23, Eph. v. 15. 

Salvian relates how the heathen did reproach some Christians, who 
by their lewd lives made the gospel of Christ to be a reproach. ' Where/ 
said they, 'is that good law which they do believe? Where are those 
rules of godliness which they do learn? They read the holy Gospel, 
and yet are unclean ; they hear the apostles' writings, and yet are drunk ; 
they follow Christ, and yet disobey Christ ; they jirofess a holy law, 
and j^et do lead impure lives. 3 

But the lives of other Christians have been so holy, that the very 
heathens observing them, have said, Surely this is a good God, whose 
servants are so good. 

It is brave 4 when the life of a Christian is a commentary upon 
Christ's lii'e. 

One speaking of the Scripture, saith [Augustine], verba vivenda, 
uon legenda, they are words to be lived, and practised, not read only. 

A heathen [Plutarch] adviseth us to demean ourselves so circum- 
spectly, as if our enemies did always behold us. And said another 
[EpictetusJ, For shame, either live as Stoics, or leave off the name of 
Stoics ; sirs, live as Christians, or lay down the name of Christians. 

1 Dr Denison's 'Threefold Resolution, 1 par, ii. sect. 2. 8 Salvianus, de G. D. 1. 4. 

2 MenlirU, Cain, Thou lieat, Cain, saith one on Iho text. * Koble, good. — G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 257 

[3.] Thirdly, Fire hardens, it makes the weak and limber clay to 
become stiff and strong for the potter's use. So sin hardens : it hardens 
the heart against the commands of God, the calls of Christ, and the 
wrestlings of the Spirit. And as you see in Pharaoh, the Jews, and 
most that are under the sound of the gospel, Jer. v. 3, xix. 15 ; Isa. ix. 
13. 

Ah I how many hath this fire — sin — hardened in these days, by work- 
ing them to slight soul-softening means, and by drawing them to 
entertain hardening thoughts of God, and to fall in with soul-hardening 
company, and soul-hardening principles, and soul-hardening examples 
of hardened and unsensible sinners, Jer. ii. 25, xviii. 12. One long 
since thus complained, that they did, patientius ferre Ghristi jacturam, 
quam suam, more calmly pass by the injuries done to Christ, than 
those which are done unto themselves. This age is full of such hardened 
unsensible souls. 

[4.] Fourthly, Fire is a lively active element, so is sin. 

Ah ! how lively and active was this fire in Abraham, David, Job, 
Peter, Paul, and other saints ! Though Christ by his death hath given 
it its mortal wound, yet it lives, and is and will be active in the dearest 
saints. Though sin and grace were not born together, neither shall 
they die together ;. yet while believers live in this world, they must 
live together. There is a history that speaks of a fig-tree that grew in 
a stone-wall, and all means was used to kill it. They cut off the 
branches and it grew again, they cut down the body and it grew again, 
they cut it up by the root and still it lived and grew, until they pulled 
down the stone-wall ; till death shall pull down our stone-walls, sin will 
live, this fire will burn, 1 

We may say of sin as some say of cats, that they have many lives ; kill 
them and they will live again, kill them again and they will live again ; 
so kill sin once and it will live again, kill it again and it will live again, 
&c. Sin oftentimes is like that monster Hydra, cut off one head and 
many will rise up in its room. 2 

[5.] Fifthly, Fire is of a penetrating nature, it pierceth and wiDdeth 
itself into every corner and chink, and so doth sin wind itself into our 
thoughts, words, and works. It will wind itself into our understand- 
ings to darken them, and into our judgments to pervert them, and into 
our wills to poison them, and into our affections to disorder them r and 
into our consciences to corrupt them, and into our carriages 3 to debase 
them Sin will wind itself into every duty and every mercy, it will 
wind itself into every one of our enjoyments and concernments. 

Hannibal having overcome the Romans, put on their armour on his 
soldiers, and so by that policy, they being taken for Romans, won a city ; 
\mt what are Hannibal's wiles to sin's wiles or Satan's wiles ? If you 
have a mind to be acquainted with their wiles, look over my treatise, 
called, ' Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices.' 

[6.]. Sixth and lastly, Fire is a devouring, a consuming element, 

1 Isidore the monk was very much out, who vaunted that he had folt in himself no 
motion to sin forty years together.. 

2 Isa. i. 5, 6, Horn. vii. 13, 17. Sin is malum catholicum, a catholic evil. Quodcunqnc 
mpeccato, peccaium est, whatsoever is in sin is sin. 

3 ' W alk and conversation' = conduct or actions. — G. 

VOL. I. R 



258 . APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

Ps. xxi. 9. It turns all fuel into ashes. It is a wolf that eats up all 
So sin is a fire that devours and consumes all ; it turned Sodom and 
Gomorrah into ashes ; it hath destroyed the Chaldean, Persian, and 
Grecian kingdoms, and will at last destroy the Roman kingdom also. 
This wolf ate up Samson's strength, Absalom's beauty, Ahithophel's 
policy, and Herod's glory, &c. It hath drowned one world already, 
ami will at last burn another, even this. 1 Oh the hopes, the hearts, 
the happiness, the joys, the comforts, the souls that this fire, sin, hath 
"consumed and destroyed ! &c. 

Peter Camois, a bishop of Berry in France, in his Draught of Eternity, 
tells us, that some devout personages caused those words of the prophet 
Isaiah to be written in letters of gold upon their chimney-pieces : 
' Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire ? who among us 
shall dwell with everlasting burnings T Isa. xxxiii. 14. 

Ah ! young men, young men, I desire that you may always look 
upon sin under the notion of fire, yea, as such fire as lays the founda- 
tion for everlasting fire, for everlasting burnings ; and this may work 
when other things will riot. 

I have read of a grave and chaste matron, who being moved to com- 
mit folly with a lewd Russian, after some discourse, she called for a pan 
of burning coals, requesting him for her sake to hold his finger in them 
but one hour ; he answered, it is an unkind request ; to whom she 
replied, that seeing he would not do so much as to put one finger upon 
the coals for one hour, she could not yield to do that for which she 
should be tormented, both body and soul, in hell-fire for ever. The 
application is easy, &c. 

Notion (4). Fourthly, If you would break with sin betimes, if you 
would arm against sin in the spring and morning of your days, then 
you should look upon sin under the notion of a thief. 

And, indeed, sin is the greatest thief, the greatest robber in the world. 
It robbed the angels of all their glory, 2 Pet. ii. 4 ; it robbed Adam of 
his paradise and felicity, Gen. iii., and it hath robbed all the sons of 
Adam of five precious jewels, the least of which was more worth than 
heaven and earth. 

(1.) It hath robbed them of the holy and glorious image of God, 
which would have been fairly engraven upon them, had Adam stood, &c. 

(2.) It hath robbed them of their sonship ; and of sons hath made 
them slaves. 

(3.) It hath robbed them of their friendship, and made them enemies. 

(4.) It hath robbed them of their communion and feUowsldp with 
Father, Son, and Spirit, and made them strangers and aliens. 

(5.) It hath robbed them of their glory, and made them vile and 
miserable. It hath robbed many a nation of the gospel, and many a 
parish of many a happy guide, and many a Christian of the favour of 
God, the joys of the Spirit, and the peace of conscience. 2 

Oh ! the health, the wealth, the. honour, the friends, the relations 
that sin hath robbed thousands of. 

Nay, It hath robbed many of their gifts, their arts, their parts, their 

1 2 Tet, ii. 5, 6 ; Prov vi. 32 ; Eccl. ix. 18 ; Prov. xiii. 13, xi. 3, xv. 25, xxi. 7. 
8 Well did one of the fathers call pride and vain-glory, the sweet spoiler of spiritual 
excellencies, and a pleasant thief. 



1 Kings XIV. IS.] apples of gold. 259 

memory, their judgment, yea, their very reason, as you may see in Pha- 
raoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Ahithophel, Haman, Herod, and those 
Babylonish princes that accused Daniel. 

And so in Menippus of Phoenicia, who, having lost his goods, strangled 
himself. And so Dinarcus Phidon, at a certain loss, cut his own throat 
to save the charge of a cord. And so Augustus Caesar, in whose time 
Christ was born, was so troubled and astonished at the relation of an 
overthrow from Varus, that for certain months together, he let the hair 
of his head and beard grow still, and wore it long ; yea, and other whiles 
would run his head against the doors, crying out, Quintilius Varus, 
deliver up my legions again ; l by all which it is most apparent that sin 
is the greatest thief in all the world. 

Oh ! then, who would not break league and covenant with it, and be 
still in pressing of God to do justice upon it ! &c. 

Notion (5). Fifthly, If you would break with sin, and arm and fence 
yourselves against sin betimes, then you must look upon sin under the 
notion of a burden betimes. 2 

And indeed, sin of all burdens is the heaviest burden in all the world : 
' Innumerable evils have compassed me about ; mine iniquities have 
taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up : they are more 
than the hairs of my head ; therefore my heart faileth me,' Ps. xl. 12. 

And again, ' Mine iniquities are gone over my head,' saith the same 
person ; ' as an heavy burden, they are too heavy for me to bear/ Ps. 
xxxviii. 4. Sin is a ' weight that easily besets/ Heb. xii. 1, poor souls; 
it is a burden that so troubles them and puzzles them, that so curbs 
them and girds them, that so presses and oppresses them, as that it 
wrings many bitter tears from their eyes, and many sad and grievous 
sighs and groans from their hearts, Rom. vii. 13. 

Again, as sin is a burden to Christians, so it is a burden to heaven. 
It made heaven weary to bear the angels that fell ; no sooner had they 
sinned but heaven groans to be eased of them, and it never left groan- 
ing till justice had turned them a-groaning to hell, Jude 6. 

Again, as sin is a burden to heaven, so it is a burden to the earth. 
Witness her swallowing up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, their wives, 
children, goods, servants, &c, Num. xvi. 26-35. Ah, sinners ! your sins 
makes the very earth to groan, they make the earth weary of bearing 
you. Oh, how doth the earth groan and long to swallow up those 
earthly wretches, whose hopes, whose hearts, are buried in the earth ! 
These shall have little of heaven, but enough of earth when they come 
to die. 

Cornelius a Lapide tells a story, that he heard of a famous preacher, 
who, shewing the bondage of the creature, Rom. viii. 19-23, brings in 
the creature complaining thus : Oh, that we could serve such as are 
godly ; oh, that our substance and our flesh might be incorporated into 
godly people, that so we might rise into glory with them ; oh, that our 
flesh might not be incorporated into the flesh oC sinners, for if it be, we 
shall go to hell, and would any creatures go tjo hell?.qh, we are weary 
of bearing sinners ! we are weary of serving, of sinners ! Thus th« .crea- 
tures groan, thus the creatures complain, the sinner's sins forcing them 
to it, &c. ' 

1 Suetonius. 2 Nab. i. 1 ; Hab. i. 1 ; Mai. i. 1. 



2G0 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

Again, sin is a burden to God: ' Behold, I am pressed under you, as 
a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves,' Amos ii. 13. By this plain, 
pithy, country comparison, God shews how sadly he is pressed and 
oppressed, how sorely he is wearied and tired with those people's sins. 
Divine patience is even worn out. Justice hath lift up her hand, and 
will bear with them no longer. God seems to groan under the pressure 
of their sins, as a cart seems to do under a heavy load. Of this God 
complains by the prophet Isaiah : ' Thou hast made me to serve with 
thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities/ Isa. xliii. 24. I 
am as weary of your sins as a travailing woman is weary of her pains, 
saith God. Sin was such a burden to God, that he sweeps it off with 
a sweeping flood, Gen. vii., &c. 

Again, sin is a burden to Christ : It made him sweat as never man 
sweat ; it made him sweat great drops of clotted or congealed blood, 
Luke xxii. 44. 1 Sin put Christ's whole body into a bloody sweat ; it 
made him groan piteously, when he bare our sins in his body on the 
tree. Sin made his soul heavy even to the death, and had he not been 
one that was mighty, yea, that was Almighty, he had fainted and failed 
under his burden, 1 Pet. ii. 24, Isa. ix. 6. And thus you see what a 
bur-den sin is to man, to the creatures, to heaven, to earth, to God, to 
Christ ; and therefore, as you would break with sin betimes, look always 
upon it as a burden, yea, as the greatest and heaviest burden in all the 
world, &c. 

Notion (6). Sixthly and lastly, If you would break covenant with 
sin, and arm and fence yourselves against it betimes, then you must 
look upon it betimes under the notion of a tyrant. 

And indeed, sin is the worst and greatest tyrant in the world, Titus 
iii. 3. Other tyrants can but tyrannize over our bodies, but sin is a 
tyrant that tyrannizes over both body and soul, as you may see in the 
sixth and seventh of the Romans. Sin is a tyrant that hath a kind of 
jurisdiction in most men's hearts ; it sets up the law of pride, the law of 
passion, the law of oppression, the law of formality, the law of hypo- 
crisy, the law of carnality, the law of self-love, the law of carnal reason, 
the law of unbelief, and strictly commands subjection to them, and pro- 
claims fire and sword to all that stand out. This saints and sinners, 
good men and bad, do sufficiently experience. 

Sin is a tyrant of many thousand years' standing, and though it hath 
had many a wound, and many a foil, and received much opposition, 
yet still it plays the t} 7 rant all the world over ! Oh, the hearts that 
this tyrant makes to ache ! the souls that this tyrant makes to bleed ! 3 

Pharaoh's tyranny was nothing to sin's tyranny. This tyrant will 
not so much as suffer his slaves to sleep. They sleep not, except they 
have clone mischief, and their sleep is taken away unless they cause 
some to fall, Prov. iv. 16. ' The wicked are like the troubled sea, when 
it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace 
to the wicked, saith my God/ Isa. lvii. 20, 21. 

Other tyrants have been brought down and brought under by a 
human power, but this cannot but by a divine. The power of man 

1 A strange watering of a garden. — Bernard. 

% Thales, one of the Beven Bages, used to say, that few tyrants lived to be old ; but it is 
far otherwise with this tyrant sin. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 261 

hath brought down many of the tyrants of this world, but it is only the 
power of Christ that can bring down this tyrant, that can cast down his 
strongholds, 2 Cor. x. 3-6, &c. Therefore, engage Christ in the conflict, 
draw him into the battle, and in the end the conquest will be yours. 

Vitellius, who had been emperor of all the world, yet was driven 
through the streets of Rome stark naked, and thrown into the river 
Tiber, &C 1 

Andronicus the emperor, for his cruelty towards his people, was by 
them at last shamefully deposed, and, after many contumelies, hanged 
up by his heels. 2 

Ptolemy was put on a cross ; Bajazet in an iron cage ; Phocas 
broken on the wheel ; Lycaon cast to the dogs, as well as Jezebel ; 
Attalus thrust into a forge ; King Gath into a beer barrel, &c. But 
none of these that have tamed these tyrants, that have brought down 
these mighty Nimrods, have been able to tame, to bring under the 
tyrants, the sins, the lusts, that have been in their own bosoms. Many 
a man hath had a hand in bringing down of worldly tyrants, who, not- 
withstanding, have died for ever by the hand of a tyrant within, &c. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

And thus much for the directions that young men must follow, if 
they would be good betimes, if they would seek and serve the Lord in 
the spring and morning of their days. I shall now give some brief 
answers to the young man's objections and the old man's scruples, and 
so close up this discourse. 

Obj. I. But some young men may object, and say, You would have 
us to be good betimes, and to seek and serve the Lord in the primrose 
of our days. But it may be time enough hereafter to follow this 
counsel ; we are young, and it may be time enough for us to mind 
these things hereafter, when we have satisfied the flesh so and so, or 
when we have got enough of the world, and laid up something that 
will stand us in stead, and tlmt may oil our joints when we are old. 
Now, 

To this objection I answer, 

1. First, That it is the greatest folly and madness in the world to 
put off God and the great things of eternity with may-bes. What 
tradesman, what merchant, what mariner, so mad, so foolish, so blockish, 
as to put off a present season, a present opportunity of profit and ad- 
vantage, upon the account of a may-be ? It may be I have as good a 
season, it may be I shall have as golden an opportunity to get, and to 
enrich myself as this is ; and therefore farewell to this. No men that 
are in their right minds will argue thus ; and why then should you, 
especially in the things that are of an everlasting concernment to you ? 

I have read of one monarch, a frantic Italian, who thought that all 
the kings of the earth were his vassals ; and as frantic are they who 
wilfully neglect present seasons of grace, upon the account of a future 
may-be, &c. 

1 Previously dragged to the Gemonise Scalte, where the body of Sabinus had been ex- 
posed. Cf. Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, i.— G. * Doubtful.— G. 



2G2 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

2. Secondly, I answer, It may be if thou neglect est this present sea- 
son and opportunity of grace, thou mayest never have another. 1 It 
may be mercy may never knock more, if thou dost not open ; it may be 
Christ shall never be offered to thee more, if now thou dost not close 
with him, and accept of him ; it may be the Spirit will never strive 
more with thee, if now thou dost resist him and withstand him ; it may 
be a pardon shall never be offered to thee more, if now thou wilt not 
take it ; it may be the gospel shall never sound more in thy ears, if 
now thou wilt not hear it. Now set one may-be against another may- 
be, set God's may-be against thine own may-be ; but, 

3. Thirdly, Doubtless there are many thousand thousands now in 
hell, icho have pleased themselves and put off God and the seasons of 
grace with a may-be, hereafter may be time enough. It may be when 
I have gratified such a lust, and when I have treasured so much of the 
world, I will return, and seek, and serve the Lord ; but before ever this 
season or opportunity came, justice hath cut the thread of their lives, 
and they are now miserable for ever ; and now they are still a-cursing 
themselves, because they have slipped their golden opportunities upon 
the account of a may-be, 2 &c. But, 

4. Fourthly, and lastly, This putting off God and the present seasons 
of grace with a may-be, is very provoking to God, as you may see, if 
you will but read from the 20th verse to the 33d of the first of Pro- 
verbs. Nothing stirs and provokes a master more than his servants 
putting off his service or his commands with a may-be ; it may be I 
will, it may be I may do this and that ; nothing puts a master sooner 
into a heat, a flame, than this ; nor nothing puts God more into a flame 
than this, as you may see by comparing Ps. xcv. ver. 6 to the end, with 
that 3d of the Hebrews, and the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 15th, 16th, 
17th, 18th, 19th. Head the words, and tremble at the thoughts of a 
may-be, at the thoughts of putting off of God and the seasons of grace. 

I have read of two who cut off their right hand one for another, and 
then made it an excuse, a put off, they were lame, and so could not 
serve in the galleys of Francis the First, King of France ; but this 
practice of theirs did so provoke the king that he sent them both to the 
gallows. I suppose the reader is not so young but knows how to 
apply it. 

Object % If I should begin to be good betimes, and to seek and serve 
the Lord in the spring and morning of my days, I should lose my 
friends, I should lose their favours ; for they are carnal and worldly, 
and had rather I should seek after gold than God, the creature than 
Christ, earth than heaven. Sec. 

Now to this I answer, Surely you are out, for 

1. First, This is the highway, the ready way, to gain the best, the 
surest, and the soundest friends. ' When a man's ways please the 
Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him/ Prov. xvi. 7. 
When a man falls in with God, God will work the creatures to fall in 
with him, Job lii. 23-28. Joseph found it so, and Jacob found it so, 

• Young men, if you will but go into burial places, you shall find graves exactly of your 
length. 

3 It was an unspeakable vexation to King Lysimachus, that his staying to drink one 
draught of water lost him his kingdom. [As before. — G.] 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 263 

and Job found it so, the three children found it so, and Daniel found 
it so, as you all know that have but read the Scripture. And many in 
this age, as bad as it is, have found, that the best way to make friends 
is, first to make God our friend. Ah ! young men, young men, you 
shall not lose your friends by seeking and serving of the Lord in the 
spring and morning of your days, but only exchange bad ones for good 
ones, the worst for the best. He that gives up himself betimes to the 
Lord shall have God for his friend, and Christ for his friend, and the 
angels for his friends, and the saints for his friends. Christ will be to 
such, first, an omnipotent friend ; secondly, an omniscient friend ; 
thirdly, an omnipresent friend ; fourthly, an indeficient friend ; fifthly, an 
independent friend ; sixthly, an immutable friend ; seventhly, a watchful 
friend ; eighthly, a loving friend ; ninthly, a faithful friend ; tenthly, 
a compassionate friend ; eleventhly, a close friend, 'There is a friend 
that sticketh closer than a brother/ Prov. xviii. 24. Such a friend is 
Christ, and such a friend is as one's own soul, a rare happiness, hardly 
to be matched. Twelfthly, an universal friend ; a friend in all cases 
and a friend in all places. Christ is so a friend to every one of his, as if 
he were a friend to none besides. Hence it is that they say, not only 
our Lord, our God, but my Lord, and my God. Christ is such an 
universal friend, as that he supplies the place, and acts the part of 
every friend, Thirteenthly, ' He is our first friend,' Ps. xc. 1 ; before 
we had a friend in all the world he was our friend, Prov. viii. 21. Lastly, 
he is a constant friend : ' Whom he loves, he loves to the end,' John 
xhi. I. 1 2 

Augustus Csesar would not suddenly entertain a league of friendship 
with any, but was a constant friend to those he loved, Amare nee cito 
desisto, nee temere incipio, late ere I love, as long ere I leave. Where 
Christ begins to love, he always loves, Jer. xxxi. 3, ' I have loved thee 
with an everlasting love.' Now who would not venture the loss of all 
friends in the world to gain such a friend as this is ? 

Ah ! young men and women, let me say to you what Seneca said to 
his friend Polibius, Fas tibi non est de fortuna conqueri, salvo Gcesare, 
never complain of thy hard fortune as long as Csesar is thy friend. So 
say I ; never complain of your loss of friends so long as by losing of 
them you gain Christ to be your friend. 

2. Secondly, Thou wert better be without their friendship and 
favour than to enjoy it upon any sinful aud unworthy accounts. 
Thou wert better run the hazard of losing thy friends and their favour 
by seeking and serving the Lord in the primrose of thy days, than to 
run the hazard of losing God, Christ, heaven, eternity, and thy soul for 
ever by neglecting the things of thy peace, Matt. xvi. 26, Mark viii. 36. 
It was a gallant return which the noble Rutilius made his friend, re- 
questing of him an unlawful favour in such language as this : I had as 
good be without such a friend as with him who will not let me speed 
in what I ask ; to whom he replied, I can want such a friend as you, if 

1 Luke xv. 7 : Isa. vi. 7-9 ; Heb. iv. 13 ; Isa. lix. 16, 17, xliv. 24 ; Mai. iii. 6 ; Ps. 
exxi. 4-6 ; 1 John iv. 16 ; Titus i. 2 ; Isa. lxiii. 9 ; Luke i. 45 ; John xx. 28; Philip, 
iv. 19. 

2 Alexander the Great cannot cut that knot of friendship that is tied betwixt Christ 
and his. [The allusion is to the sword-cut Gordian knot. — G.] 



2(U APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

for your sake I must do that which is not honest. The application is 
easy. 

Well ! young men, remember this, the torments of a thousand hells, 
were there so many, comes far short of this one voice, to be turned out 
of God's presence with a Non novi vos, I know you not, Mat. vii. 23. 

Ah, young man, young man! thou wert better ten thousand thousand 
times to be cast out of the thoughts and hearts of thy carnal friends 
and relations, than to be cast out of God's presence with cursed Cain, 
Gen. iv., for ever, than to be excommunicated out of ' the general 
assembly of the saints, and congregation of the first-born which are 
written in heaven,' Heb. xii. 23; and therefore away with this objection. 
But, 

3. Thirdly, The favour and friendship of such carnal persons is 
very fickle and inconstant ; it is very fading and withering. Now 
they stroke, and anon they strike ; now they lift up, and anon they 
cast down ; now they smile, and anon -Ahey frown ; now they kiss, and 
anon they kill ; now they cry, 'Hosannah ! hosannah !' and anon they 
cry, 'Crucify him, crucify him !' Haman is one day feasted with the 
king, and the next day made a feast for crows, Esther vii. The princes 
of Babylon were highly in king Darius his favour one day, and cast into 
the lion's den the next, Dan. vi. The scribes and pharisees that cried 
up Judas one day, did in effect bid him go and hang himself the next 
day, Mat. xxvii. 3-5. 

Such men's favour and friendship are as Venice glasses, quickly 
broken, and therefore not much to be prized or minded. Histories 
abound with instances of this nature. 1 But I must hasten : only re- 
member this, that every day's experience tells us that wicked men can 
soon turn tables, and cross their books ; their favour and friendship is 
usually like to a morning cloud, or like to Jonah's gourd : one hour 
flourishing and the next hour withering ; and why then shouldest thou 
set thy heart upon that which is more changeable than the moon ? But, 

4. Fourthly and lastly, Who but a bad man woidd adventure the 
loss of the king's favour to gain the favour of his page ? Who but a 
stark Bedlam would run the hazard of losing the judge's favour upon 
the bench, to purchase the good will of the prisoner at the bar? 

Socrates preferred the king's countenance before his coin ; and so 
must you prefer the favour of God, the countenance of Christ, Ps. iv. 6, 7, 
and the things of eternity, above all the favour and friendship of all the 
men in the world. When your nearest friends and dearest relations 
stands in competition with Christ, or the things above, you must shake 
them off, you must turn your backs upon them, and welcome Christ 
and the things of your peace. He that forsakes all relations for Christ, 
shall certainly find all relations in Christ ; 2 he will be father, friend, 
husband, child ; he will be everything to thee, who takest him for thy 
great all. 

Object. 3. Aye, but I shall meet with many reproaches from one 
and other, if I should labour to be good betimes, if I should seek and 

1 Valerian, Valens, Belisaxius, Bajazot, Pythias, Dionysius, Pompey, William the 
Conqueror, and many others, have found it so. Glaucus, who changed his armour of 
fold with Diomedes, for his armour of brass, stands upon record for a fool. 
s Ps. xlv. 10 ; Mat. x. 37 ; Luko xiv. 26, 27. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 265 

serve the Lord in the spring and morning of my youth. Now, to 
this I answer, 

1. First, What are reproaches to the great things that others have 
suffered for Christ his gospel, and the maintaining of a good con- 
science ? What is a prick of a pin to a stab at the heart ? what is a 
chiding to a hanging, a whipping to a burning ? No more are all the 
reproaches thou canst meet with, to the great things that others have 
suffered for Christ's sake. 1 

Ah, young men ! you should be like the Scythian that went naked 
in the snow, and when Alexander wondered how he could endure it, 
answered, I am not ashamed, for I am all forehead. 

So should you in the cause and way of Christ ; you should not be 
ashamed, you should be all forehead, you should be stout and bold. 

Colon us, the Dutch martyr, under all his reproaches, called to the 
judge that had sentenced him to death, and desired him to lay his hand 
upon his heart, and then asked him, Whose heart did most beat, his or 
the judge's? All the reproaches in the world should not so much as 
make a Christian's heart beat ; they should not in the least trouble 
him nor disturb him. But, 

2. Secondly, I answer, That all the reproaches thou meetest with in 
the way of Christ, and for the sake of Christ, they do but add pearls 
to thy crown ; they are all additions to thy happiness and blessedness. 
If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit 
of glory, and of God, resteth upon you ; on their part he is evil spoken 
of, but on your part he is glorified, 1 Peter iv. 14. The more you are 
reproached for Christ's sake on earth, the greater shall be your reward 
in heaven ; they that are most loaded with reproaches here, shall be 
most laden with glory hereafter, Mat. v. 11, 12. Christ hath written 
their names in golden letters in his book of life, that are written in 
black letters of reproach for his sake on earth. It was a good saying of 
one [Chrysostom] : A reproacher, saith he, is beneath a man, but the 
reproached that bear it well, are equal to angels ; of all crowns, the 
reproached man's crown will weigh heaviest in heaven. 2 But, 

3. Thirdly, I answer, the best men have been mostly reproached. 
David was, Ps. lxix. 7, lxxxix. 50, cxix. 22, xxxi. 11, cix. 25 ; and Job 
was, Job xix. 31, xx. 3, 3 xvi, 10 ; and Jeremiah was, Jer. xx. 7, 10. 
Yea, this hath been the common portion of the people of God in all ages 
of the world, In Nehemiah's time it was so: Neh. i. 3, ' And they said 
unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity, are in great afflic- 
tion and reproach/ In David's time it was so, Ps. lxxix. 4, and Ps. xliv. 
13, 14; and in Jeremiah's time it was so: Lam. v. 1, 'Remember, O 
Lord, what is come upon us : consider, and behold our reproach.' And 
in Daniel's time it was so: Dan. ix. 16, ' Thy people are become a re- 
proach to all that are about us ;' and it was so in the apostle's time : 
Rom. iii. 8, ' And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, as some 
affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come ; whose damna- 

1 Hebrews xi. 33. Eead of the ten persecutions. [See Sibbes's Works, vol.i. p. 384. — G.] 

2 So was Joseph, Mephibosheth, Naboth, and in latter times Luther, whom they said 
died despairing, when he was alive to confute it ; and that Beza run away with another 
man's wife ; and that Calvin was branded on the shoulder for a rogue : but there would 
be no end to this stuff, should I say all that might be said. 

3 The speaker here is Zophar, not Job. — G. 



2°G APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

tion is just ;' 2 Cor. vi. 8, ' By honour and dishonour, by evil report and 
good report : as deceivers and yet true ;' so in that^l Tim. iv. 10, ' For 
therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the 
living God,' &c. And it was so in the primitive times, for when the 
Christians met together before sun[rise] to pray, the heathens reported 
of them that they worshipped the sun, and aspired after monarchy, and 
committed adulteries and unnatural uncleannesses. 1 Now, who is 
troubled, who complains of that which is a common lot, as cold, winter, 
sickness, death ? &c. No more should any complain of reproaches, it 
being the common lot of the people of God in all ages ; yea, Christ 
himself was sadly reproached, falsely accused, and strangely traduced, 
disgraced, and scandalized. He was called a glutton, a drunkard, a 
friend of publicans and sinners, and judged to use the black art, casting 
out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils, Mat. ix. 34, xii. 24. Christ 
hath suffered the greatest and the worst reproaches ; why then should 
you be afraid to wear that crown of thorns that Christ hath worn before 
you ? There is a great truth in what he said, Non potent qui pati timet, 
ejus esse qui passus est, 2 he that is afraid to suffer cannot be his disciple, 
who suffered so much. If the master hath been marked with a black 
coal, let not the servant think to go free. I am heartily angry, saith 
Luther, with those that speak of my sufferings, which, if compared with 
that which Christ suffered for me, are not once to be mentioned in the 
same day. But, 

4. Fourthly, I answer, That all reproachers shall at last be arraigned 
at the highest bar of justice, for all the reproaches that they have cast 
upon the people of Ood. 

They think it strange, for they think it a new world, that you 
' run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you, 
who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the 
dead,' 1 Pet. iv. 4. 3 

I am in ecstasy, saith Picus Mirandula, to think how profane men 
rail upon those now, whom one day they will wish they had imitated. 
It was excellent counsel that the heathen orator gave his hearers, ita vi- 
vamus, ut rationem nobis reddendam arbitremur, let us live as those 
that must give an account of all at last. 4 

Chrysostom brings in Christ comforting his disciples against re- 
proaches, speaking thus unto them, What ! is the wrong grievous to you 
that they now call you seducers and conjurors? It will not be long 
before they shall openly call you the saviours and blessings of the 
whole world ; that time that shall declare all things that are now hid, 
shall rebuke them for their lying words against you, and shall kindle 
the splendour of your virtue ; so they shall be found liars, evil speakers, 
false accusers of others ; but you shall be more clear and illustrious than 
the sun, and you shall have all men witnesses of your glory. Such 
as wisely and humbly bear reproaches now, shall judge reproachers at 
last. 6 But, 

5. Fifthly, I answer, TJiat God doth many times, even in this life, 
bear sad witness and testimony against the reproachers of his people. 

1 Tertullian. » Tertul. defuga in persecut. 

8 livi^ovrai .... (iXu<r<pi)f*t>vvris. * Cicero iv. in Verr. 

5 Mai. iii. 17 ; Micah 7-11 ; 1 Cor. vi. 3, 4. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 267 

' I will bless them that bless thee, and I will curse them that curse 
thee/ Gen. xii. 3, and 2 Sam. xvi. 11-13. God will even in this life 
curse them with a witness, who curse them that he blesseth. Pharaoh 
found it so, and Saul found it so, and Jezebel found it so, and Haman 
found it so, and the princes of Babylon found it so, and the Jews find 
it so to this very day. 1 

And oh the dreadful judgments and curses that God hath poured out 
upon the reproachers of his name, of his Son, of his Spirit, of his word, 
of his ordinances, and of his people, in these days wherein we live ! I 
might give you many sad instances of such in our days, whose feet jus- 
tice hath taken in the snare, men of abstracted conceits and sublime 
speculations ; and indeed such usually prove the great wise fools, who, 
like the lark, soareth higher and higher, peering and peering, till at 
length they fall into the net of the fowler ; and no wonder, for such 
persons usually are as censorious as they are curious. 

6. Sixthly, I answer, Paul rejoiceth more in his suffering reproaches 
for Christ's sake, than he did in his being rapt up in the third 
heaven : 2 Cor. xii. 10, ' Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in re- 
proaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake ; 
for when I am weak, then am I strong.' And therefore you have him 
often a-singing this song, ' I Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ ;' not I 
Paul, rapt up in the third heaven. He looked upon all his suffer- 
ings as God's love-tokens ; he looked upon all reproaches as pledges 
and badges of his sonship ; and therefore joys and glories under all. 
Christ shewed his glory 6 ,to him in rapping him up in the third heaven, 
and he shewed his love to Christ, in his joyful bearing of reproaches for 
his sake. Paul rattles his chain, which he bears for the gospel, and was 
proud of it, as a woman of her ornaments, saith Chrysostom. 2 

Now why should that be matter of trouble and discouragement to 
you, that was matter of joy and rejoicing to him ? Shall he look upon 
reproaches as a crown of honour, and will you look upon reproaches as 
a crown of thorns ? 

Oh ! look upon reproach as a royal diadem, look upon it as Christ's 
livery, and count it your highest ambition in this world to wear this 
livery for his sake, who once wore a crown of thorns for your sakes. 
When Babylas was to die, he required this favour, to have his chains 
buried with him as the ensigns of his honour. 3 But, 

7. Seventhly, I answer, That by a wise and gracious behaviour 
under the reproaches thou meetest with for Christ's sake, thou may est 
be instrumental to win others to Christ.* 

It was a noble saying of Luther, Ecclesia totum mundum convertit 
sanguine et oratione, the church converted the whole world by blood 
and prayer. 

1 Divine justice is like Vulcan's iron net that took the gods ; it apprehends and con- 
demns all that are reproachers and enemies to his people. [Vulcan, or rather Hephses- 
tus: Odyssey, VIII. 266-358.— G.] 

2 Crudelitas vestra gloria nostra, your cruelty is our glory, said they in Tertullian ; fire, 
sword, prison, famine, are all delightful to me, saith Basil. 

8 Sufferings are the ensigns of heavenly nobility, saith Calvin. [On Luke iv. 1-10.— G.] 
4 It was an observation of Mr John Lindsay, that the very smoke of Mr Hamilton 

converted as many as it blew upon. [That is, Patrick Hamilton, the proto-martyr of 

Scotland, 1527.— G.] 



268 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

Divers have been won to Christ by beholding the gracious carriages 
of Christians under their sufferings and reproaches for Christ. 

We read of Cecilia, a poor virgin, who, by her gracious behaviour 
under all her sufferings and reproaches for Christ, was the means of 
converting four hundred to Christ. 1 

Adrianus, beholding the gracious, cheerful carriages of the martyrs 
under all their sufferings and reproaches, was converted to Christ, and 
afterwards suffered martyrdom for Christ. 

Justin Martyr was also converted by observing the holy and cheerful 
behaviour of the saints under all their sufferings and reproaches for 
Christ. 2 During the cruel persecutions of the heathen emperors, the 
Christian faith was spread through all places of the empire, 3 because the 
oftener they were mown down, saith Tertullian, the more they grew. 

And Austin observed, that though there were many thousands put 
to death for professing Christ, yet they were never the fewer for being 
slain. 

Ah ! young men, you may, by a wise and gracious bearing of re- 
proaches for Christ, be instrumental to win others to Christ ; and 
therefore never plead there is a lion in the way. But I must hasten ; 
and therefore, 

8. In the eighth and last place, consider, How bravely several of the 
very heathens have bore reproaches ; and let that provoke you, in the 
face of all reproaches, to seek and serve the Lord in the morning of 
your youth, &c. 

When Demosthenes was reproached by one, I will not, saith he, 
strive with thee in this kind of fight, in which he that is overcome is 
the better man. 

When one came and reproached Xenophon, says he, You have learned 
how to reproach, and I have learned how to bear reproach. 

And Aristippus, the philosopher, 4 said, You are fit to cast reproaches, 
and I am fit to bear reproaches. 

Demochares. an Athenian orator, 5 was sent to king Philip as ambas- 
sador. Philip asked him how he might pleasure the Athenians ? 
Forsooth, said he, if you will hang yourself. The prince patiently sent 
him home again, and bid him ask, Whether were more noble, the 
patient hearer or venter of such unseemly language ? 

When one wondered at the patience of Socrates towards one who 
reviled and reproached him, If we should meet one, saith he, whose 
body were more unsound than ours, should we be angry with him, and 
not rather pity him ? Why, then, should we not do the like to him 
whose soul is more diseased than ours ? 

Augustus Caesar, in whose time Christ was born, bid Catullus the 
railing poet to supper, to shew that he had forgiven him. 

It is a notable example that we find of one Pericles, 6 who, as he was 

1 Clarke's ' Martyrologie,' as before, pp. 35, 36 — G. 

s His words are worth giving: ' I myself, when I took pleasure in the doctrines of 
Pluto, and heard the Christians slandered, seeing them to be fearless of death, and of 
everything else tliaf was thought dreadful, considered that it was impossible that they 
should live in wickedness,' &c, &c. (Apolog. ii. 12). — G. 

* See also the History of the Council of Trent, 418, 2d edit. 

4 Founder of the Cyrenaic Philosophy. — G. 

6 The pupil of DemoBthenes, and friend of Zeno. — Diog. Lae'rtius, iv 41, vii. 14. — G. 

6 Plutarch in vita Pericles. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 209 

sitting with others in a great meeting, a foul-mouthed fellow bitterly 
reproached him, and railed all the day long upon him; and at night, 
when it was dark, and the meeting up, the fellow followed him, and 
railed at him even to his door, and he took no notice of him ; but when 
he came at home, this is all he said, Friend, it is dark, I pray let my 
man light you home. 1 

Josephus reports of that Herod that is made mention of in Acts xii. 
23, that when one Simon, a lawyer, had grievously reproached and 
scandalised him before the people, he sent for him, and caused him to 
sit down next to him, and in a kind manner he spake thus to him : 
Tell me, I pray thee, what thing thou seest fault-worthy or contrary to 
the law in me. Simon not having anything to answer, besought him 
to pardon him, which the king did, and was friends with him, and dis- 
missed him, bestowing 1 gifts 'on him. 

Ah ! young men, young men, shall the very heathen make nothing 
of reproaches ? shall they bear up so prudently and bravely under the 
greatest loads of reproaches, and will not you ? Will not you, who in 
your light, in your mercies, and in all gospel engagements, are so highly 
advanced above them ? Oh ! that none of them may be called to the 
bar in the great day to witness against any of you into whose hands 
this treatise shall fall. And so much by way of answer to the third 
objection. But, 

Objection 4. Fourthly, The young man objects, and says, You press 
us to be good betimes, and to seek and serve the Lord in the spring 
and morning of our days ; but we observe that most men mind not 
these things, but rather give liberty to themselves to walk in ways that 
are most pleasing to the flesh; and why, then, should we be singular 
and nice ? We were better do as the 'most do, &c. Now to this I 
answer, 

1. That though bad examples are dangerous to all, yet usually they 
prove most dangerous and pernicious to young persons, who are more 
easily drawn to follow examples than precepts, especially those ex- 
amples that tend most to undo them : 2 Kings xv. 9, it is said of 
Zachariah, the king of Israel, that ' he did evil in the sight of the Lord, 
as his fathers had done ; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam ;' 
he would be as his father was, and do as his father did, whatever came 
OD it. 2 

So the Samaritans, of whom it is said, 2 Kings xvii. 41, ' These na- 
tions feared the Lord' (that is, they made some kind of profession of 
the true religion, as the ten tribes had done), ' and served their graven 
images (too) ; both their children and their children's children (did 
thus) ; as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.' By evil examples 
they were both drawn to idolatry, and rooted and confirmed in it So 
the main reason why the kingdom and church of Judah were so settled 
in their idolatry, that there was no hope of reclaiming them, was this, 
that their children remembered their altars and their groves by the 
green trees upon the high hills, Jer. xvii. 1, 2. Tinder is not apter to 

1 Themistocles professed that if two ways were shewed him, one to hell, and the other 
to the Bar, he would choose that which went to hell, and forsake the other. 

2 Prcecepla docent, exempla movent, Precepts may instruct, hut examples do persuade. 
[As before. — G.] 



270 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

take fire, nor wax the impression of the seal, nor paper the ink, than 
youth is to follow ill examples. 

You may see in Radbad, king of Phrisia, 1 who coming to the font to 
be bapt used, asked what was become of his ancestors ? answer was made, 
that they died in a fearful state unbaptized ; he replied that he would 
rather perish with the multitude than go to heaven with a few. 

I remember the heathen brings in a young man who, hearing of the 
adulteries and wickednesses of the gods, said, What ! do they so ? and 
shall T stick at it ? No, I will not. Sinful examples are very drawing 
and very encouraging ; many have found it so to their eternal undoing. 
Those that have no ears to hear what you say, have many eyes to see 
what you do. Bad princes make bad subjects ; bad masters make bad 
servants; bad parents make bad children; and bad husbands make 
bad wives. It is easier for the bad to corrupt the good, than for the 
good to convert the bad ; it is easier to run down the hill with com- 
pany, than to run up the hill alone. 2 

I would desire all young men often to remember that saying of Lac- 
tantius, Qui malum imitatur, bonus esse non potest, he who imitates- 
the bad cannot be good. Young men, in these professing times, stand 
between good and bad examples, as Hercules in his dream stood be- 
tween virtue and vice. Solicited by both, choose you must who to fol- 
low. Oh that you were all so wise as to follow the best ; as a woman 
that hath many suitors is very careful to take the best, so should you. 
Life, heaven, happiness, eternity, hangs upon it. 

But before I come to the second answer, let me leave this note or 
notion with those who make no conscience of undoing others by their 
examples, 3 viz., 

That a more grievous punishment is reserved for them who cause 
others to offend, than for them which sin by their occasion or ex- 
ample. 

Thus the serpent was punished more than Eve, and Eve more than 

Adam. 

So Jezebel felt a greater and sorer judgment than Ahab. To sin, 
saith one, hath not so much perdition in it as to cause others to sin. 
Friends, you have sins enough of your own to make you for ever miser- 
able ; why should you, by giving bad examples to others, make your- 
selves far more miserable ? The lowest, the darkest, the hottest place 
in hell, will be for them that have drawn others thither by their ex- 
ample, Mat. xxiii. 15. Dives knew that if his brethren were damned, 
he should be double damned, because he had largely contributed to the 
bringing of them to hell by his wicked example ; and therefore he de- 
sires that they might be kept out of hell, not out of any love or good 
will to them, but because their coming thither would have made his 
hell more hot, his torments more insufferable, Luke xvi. 28. But, 

2. Secondly, I answer, If you sin with others, you shall suffer with 
others ; if you will partake of other men's sins, you shall also partake 

1 Query — Frisia, i.e. the Frisii of North-western Germany ?— G. 

2 Ethiopians lame themselves if their king be lame, saith Diodorus. iElian reports 
that there was a whore that did boast that she could easily get scholars away from So- 
crates, but Socrates could get away no scholars from her. 

3 Sin is bad in the eye, worse in the tongue, worser in the heart, but worst of all in 
the life ; and that because it then endangers other men's souls, as well as a man's own. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 271 

of other men's plagues, Rev. xviii. 4. They that have been, like Simeon 
and Levi, brethren in iniquity, they shall be brethren in misery ; they 
that have sinned together impenitently shall be sent to hell jointly, 
they shall perish together eternally. If you will needs be companions 
with others in their sins, you shall be sure to be companions with them 
in their sorrows. 1 The old world sin together and are drowned to- 
gether, Gen. vi. ; the Sodomites, burning in lusts together, were burnt 
with fire and brimstone together, Gen. xix. Korah, Dathan, and Abi- 
ram, they sin together, they murmur and provoke the Lord together, 
and the earth opens her mouth and swallows them up together, Num. 
xvi. 26-34. Pharaoh and his hosts pursue Israel together, and they are 
drowned in the sea together, Exod. xiv. Zimri and Cosbi commit folly, 
uncleanness together, and Phinehas stabs them both together, Num. xxv. 
The Hebrew doctors have a very pretty parable to this purpose : — A 
man planted an orchard, and, going from home, was careful to leave 
such watchmen as might both keep it from strangers and not deceive 
him themselves ; therefore he appointed one blind, but strong of his 
limbs, and the other seeing, but a cripple. These two, in their master's 
absence, conspired together, and the blind took the lame on his shoul- 
ders, and so gathered the fruit ; their master returning and finding out 
their subtilty, punished them both together. 

So will justice deal with you at last, who sin with others ; therefore 
take heed, young men, of doing as others do. But, 

3. Thirdly, I answer, You must not live by examples, but by precepts. 2 
You are not to look so much at what others do, as at what God requires 
you to do : Exod. xxiii. 2, ' Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil, 
neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest 
judgment ;' Rom. xii. 2, 'Fashion not yourselves like unto this world ;' 
that is, do not fashion and conform yourselves to the corrupt customs 
and courses of wretched worldlings, who have made gold their god, and 
gain their glory. The running cross to a divine command cost the young- 
prophet his life, though he did it under pretence of revelation from God, 
as you may see in that sad story, ] Kings xiii., &c, Non parentum, aut 
majorum autkoritas, sed Dei docentis imperium, the command of 
God must outweigh all authority and example of men [Jerome]. » 

And we must be as careful in the keeping of a light commandment 
as an heavy commandment. Saith a Rabbi, Divine commands must 
be obeyed against all contrary reasonings, wranglings, and examples. 
Austin brings in some excusing their compliance with the sinful cus- 
toms and examples of those times in drinking healths thus : Great 
personages urged it, and it was at the king's banquet, where they judged 
of loyalty by luxury, and put us upon this election, drink or die. The 
not drinking of a health had been our death. He gives this answer, 
that God who sees that for love to him and his commands thou wouldst 
not conform to their drunken customs, will give thee favour in their 
eyes, who thus threatened thee to drink. 3 

Ah ! young men, you that doat so much upon examples now, will find 

1 Non minus ardebit, qui cum multis ar debit. — Augustine, He burns no less that burns 
with company. 

2 Obedientia non discutit Dei mandata, sed facit. — Prosper. 

8 Tbe complaint is ancient in Seneca, that commonly men live, not ad ralionem but ad 
similitudinem. — Seneca, de vita beata, c. i. 



272 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

that a stinging terrifying question, when put home by God or conscience, 
Who hath required those things at your hands ? Isa. i. 12. But, 

4. Fourthly, I answer, Company and allurements to sin will be 
found no sufficient excuse for sin. 

If Eve lay her fault on the serpent, and Adam lay his on Eve, Gen.iii., 
God will take it off, and lay the curse on both. Saul's provocation 
by his people, and by Samuel's long stay to offer sacrifice, would not 
bear him out ; but for his disobedience he must lose both his crown and 
life, 1 Sam. xv. 14, 15, 26, 27. The young man in the Proverbs, though 
tempted and solicited by the harlot, yet hath a dart struck through his 
heart, Prov. vii. 14, 15, 21. Though Jonah did plead God's gracious 
inclinations to shew mercy, and his fear of being disproved ; yea, and 
though lie might have pleaded his fear of cruel and savage usage from 
the Ninevites, whose hearts were desperately set upon wickedness, and 
his despair of ever doing good upon a people so blinded and hardened, 
and that they were Gentiles and he a Jew ; and why should he then 
be sent with so strange, so terrible a message to such a people, nothing 
being more hateful and distasteful to a Jewish palate ? But all these 
pleas and excuses will not bear off the blow. Jonah must into the sea 
for all this ; yea, he must to ' the bottom of hell,' as himself phrases it. 
It is in vain for the bird to complain, that it saw the corn but not the 
pitfall ; or for the fish to plead, it saw the bait but not the hook. So it 
will be in vain for sinners at last, when they are taken in an infernal 
pitfall, to plead company and allurements by which they have been 
enticed to undo their soul for ever. 1 

Dionysius, the Sicilian king, to excuse himself from the present 
delivery of the golden garment he took from his god Apollo, answered, 
that such a robe as that was could not be at any season of the year 
useful to his god, for it would not keep him warm in the winter, and it 
was too heavy for the summer, and so put off his idol god. But the 
God of spirits, the God of all flesh, will not be put off with any excuses 
or pretences, when he shall try and judge the children of men. But, 

5. Fifthly and lastly, I answer, That it is a very great judgment to 
be given up to follow evil examples, Mat. xviii. 7. A man given up to 
evil examples is a man sadly left of God, wofully blinded by Satan, and 
desperately hardened in sin. It speaks a man ripe for wrath, for ruin, 
for hell : Jer. vi. 21, ' Behold, 2 I will lay stumbling-blocks before this 
people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them ; the 
neighbour and his friend shall perish/ Oh ! it is a dreadful thing when 
God shall make the sinful examples of others to be stumbling-blocks to 
a people, at which they shall stumble, and fall, and perish for ever ; 
good had it been for such persons that they had never been born, as 
Christ once spake concerning Judas, Mat. xxvi. 24. 

The Rhodians and Lydians enacted several laws, that those sons 
which followed not their fathers in their virtues, but followed vicious 
examples, should be disinherited, and their lands given to the most 

1 Oculos quas peccatum. claudit, poena aperit. — Gregory, The eyes that sin shuts, afflic- 
tion opens ; and Jonah found it so. 

* This particle, Behold, is sometimes, (1.) a note of derision, Gen. iii. 22 ; (2.) a note 
of attention often, Isa. xxviii. 2; Mai. i- 13; Luke i. 20 ; (3 ) a note of admiration 
often ; (4.) a note of asseveration ; (5.) a note of castigation ; in all these senses \vu may 
take it here. — Varro. 






1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 273 

virtuous of that race, not admitting any impious heir whatsoever to in- 
herit ; and do you think that God will not disinherit all those of heaveu 
and happiness who follow vicious examples ? Doubtless he will, 1 Cor. 
x. 5-12. 

Objection (5). The fifth and last objection I shall mention is this, 
God is a God of mercy; in him are bowels of mercy, yea, a sea, an 
ocean of mercy; lie loves mercy, he delights in mercy, and he is ready 
to shew mercy to poor sinners, when they are even at the last cast, 
when there is but a short stride between them and the grave, between 
them and eternity; as we see in his extending mercy to the thief, and, 
in his giving a pardon into his hand, and the assurance of paradise 
into his bosom, when he was ready to be turned off the ladder of life ; 
and therefore I may spend the primrose of my days in following sin, 
and the delights, profits, vanities, and contents of this world, and at 
last cast I may have mercy as well as the thief. God is a God made up 
of mercy, and surely he will not deny some crumbs of mercy to a poor 
sinner in misery, &c. 

Now to this objection I shall give these following answers. 

1. First, God is as just as he is merciful y 1 witness his casting the 
angels out of heaven, and Adam out of paradise ; witness all the 
threatenings, the curses, the woes, that the Bible is filled with, from 
one end to the other ; witness the hell, the horror, the terror and 
amazement that he raises in the consciences of sinners ; witness the 
devastations that he hath made of the most stately and flourishing towns, 
cities, countries, and kingdoms, that have been in all the world; witness 
the variety of diseases, calamities, miseries, dangers, deaths, and hells, 
that always attend the inhabitants of the world ; but above all, witness 
Christ's treading the wine-press of his Father's wrath ; witness his 
hiding his face from him, and the pouring out of all his displeasure and 
vengeance upon him. 

Zeleucus, the Locrensian lawgiver, thrust out one of his own son's 
eyes, for his transgressing of a wholesome law which he had enacted/ 
but God the Father thrust out both Christ's eyes for our transgressing 
of his royal law. Oh ! the justice and severity of God. But, 

2. Secondly, I answer, That there is not a greater evidence of blind- 
ness, profaneness, hard-heartedness, spiritual madness, and hellish 
desperateness in all the world, than to make that an argument, an 
encouragement to sin, viz. the mercy of God, which should be the 
greatest argument under heaven to keep a man from sin : as all know 
that have but read the Scripture ; neither are there any sinners in the 
world that God delights to rain hell out of heaven upon, as upon such, 
who by their abuse of mercy, turn the God of mercy into a God of 
clouts/ 3 and go on out-daring justice itself: 4 Deut. xxix. 19, 20, 'And 
it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless 
himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace (God is a God of mercy), 
though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to 
thirst.' The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord^ 

1 God is as well all hand to puni sh, as he is all grace to pardon. 

2 Valerius [Max.] lib. v. cap. 5 [§ 3]. [Rather Zaleucus. Besides Val. Max., see 
Aelian, V. H. xiii. 24. — G.] 8 A mere scare-crow, to threaten without accomplishing. 

4 Read Isa. xxii. 12-15, and Ezek. xxiv. 11-14. 
VOL. I. S 



274? APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

and his jealousy, shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that 
are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out 
his name from under heaven/ In these words you may observe, that 
God is absolute in his threatening, to shew that he will be resolute in 
punishing: 1 Ps. xi. 5, 6, 'The wicked, and him that loveth iniquity, 
doth his soul hate. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and 
brimstone, and an horrible tempest : this shall be the portion of their 
cup.' 

Ah ! that all poor sinners would make these two scriptures their com- 
panions, their constant bed-fellows, till they are got above that sad 
temptation of turning the mercy of God into an encouragement to sin. 
Whilst Milo Crotoniates was tearing asunder the stock of an oak, 
his strength failing him, — the cleft suddenly closing, — was held so fast 
by the hands, that he became a prey to the beasts of the field. 2 All the 
abusers of mercy will certainly and suddenly become a prey to the 
justice of God, that will rend and tear them in pieces, as the Psalmist 
speaks : Ps. 1. 22, ' Woe, woe, to that soul that fights against God with 
his own mercies ;' that will be bad, because he is good ; that will be 
sinful, because he is merciful ; that will turn all the kindness of God, 
that should be as so many silver cords, to tie him to love and obedience, 
into arrows, and to shoot them back into the heart of God. Abused 
mercy will at'last turn into a lion, a fierce lion ; and then woe to the 
abusers and despisers of it ! But, 

3. Thirdly, In answer to that part of the objection concerning the 
thief on the cross, I offer these things briefly to your thoughts. 

(1.) First, That as one was saved to teach sinners not to despair, so 
another was damned to teach them not to presume. 3 

A pardon is sometimes given to one upon the gallows, but whoso 
trusts to that, the rope may be his hire. It is not good, saith one, to 
put it upon the psalm of miserere, and the neck-verse, 4 for sometimes 
he proves no clerk, and so hangs for it. 

(2.) Secondly, It is an example tvithout a promise. Here is an 
example of late repentance, but where is there a promise of late repent- 
ance ? 

Oh ! let not his late and sudden conversion be to thee a temptation, 
till thou hast found a promise for late and sudden conversion. It is 
not examples, but promises, that are foundations for faith to rest on, 
He that walks by an example of mercy without a precept to guide him, 
and a promise to support him, walks but by a dark lanthora, that will 
deceive him. Well ! young man, remember this, examples of mercy 
increase wrath, when the heart is not bettered by them. But, 

(3). Thirdly, This was a rare miracle of mercy, with the glory 
whereof Christ did honour the ignominy of his cross, and therefore 
we may as well look for another crucifying of Christ as look for a 
sinner's conversion, when he hath scarce time enough to reckon up all 
those particular duties which make up the integrity of its constitution. 
But, 

1 A lover of iniquity is a liver in iniquity upon choice. 

2 For above incident see Diod. xii. 9 ; Paus. vi. 14, § 5-8, &c, &c. — G. 
8 Exemplum latronis servati est admirandum, 7ion imitandum. 

* On the ' neck-verse ' see our Noto iu Sibbes's Works, vol. v. page 408. — G. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 275 

(4). Fourthly, T answer, This thief knew not Christ before; he had 
not refused, neglected, nor slighted Christ before. The sermon on the 
cross was the first sermon that ever he heard Christ preach, and Christ's 
prayer on the cross was the first prayer that ever he heard Christ make. 
He knew not Christ till he met him on the cross, which proved to him a 
happy meeting. His case was as if a Turk or a heathen should now be 
converted to the faith ; and therefore thou hast little reason, O young- 
man, to plead this example to keep Christ and thy soul asunder, who 
art every day under the call, the entreaties, and wooings of Christ. But, 

(5). Fifthly, and lastly, I answer, The circumstances of time and 
'place are rightly to be considered. Now when Christ was triumphing 
on the cross over sin, Satan, and the world ; when he had made the devils 
a public spectacle of scorn and derision ; when he was taking his leave 
of the world and entering into his glory ; now he puts a pardon into the 
thief's hand, and crowds other favours and kindnesses upon him. 

As in the Roman triumphs, the victor being ascended up to the 
capitol in a chariot of state, used to cast certain pieces of coin among 
the people for them to pick up, which he used not to do at other times ; 
so our Lord Jesus Christ, in the day of his triumph and solemn in- 
auguration into his heavenly kingdom, scatters some heavenly jewels 
that this thief might pick up, which he doth not, nor will not do every 
day. Or, as in these days it is usual with princes to save some notori- 
ous malefactors at their coronations when they enter upon their king- 
doms in triumph, which they do not use to do afterwards, so did Jesus 
Christ carry it toward this thief. But this is not his ordinary way of 
saving and bringing souls to glory ; and therefore do not, O young man ! 
let not the thief's late conversion prove a temptation or an occasion of 
thy delaying thy repentance, and trifling away the primrose of thy days 
in vanity and folly. And this much may suffice to have spoken by way 
of answer to the young man's objections. I shall now speak a few 
words to old men, and so close up. Now, 



CHAPTER IX. 

Is it so commendable, so desirable, and so necessary for young men 
to be good betimes, to seek and serve the Lord in ••the spring and 
morning of their youth, as has been sufficiently demonstrated in this 
treatise ? Oh, then, that I could so woo aged persons as to win them 
who yet have put off this great work to seek and serve the Lord before 
their glass be out, their sun set, and their souls lost for ever ! 

Oh, that that counsel of the prophet might take hold upon your 
hearts ! ' Give glory to the Lord your God before he cause darkness, 
and before your feet stumble,' Jer. xiii. 16, through age 'upon the 
dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow 
of death, and make it gross darkness.' 

Ay, but aged sinners may reply, Is there any hope, any help for us ? 
Is there any probability, is there any possibility, that ever such as we 
are should return and find mercy and favour with the Lord ? We who 
have lived so long without him ! we that have sinned so much against 
him ! we that to this day are strangers to him, yea, in arms against him ! 



276 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

Is there any hope that we white-headed sinners, who have withstood so 
many thousand offers of grace, and so many thousand motions of the 
the Spirit, and so many thousand checks of conscience, and so many 
thousand tenders 1 of Christ and heaven, that ever we should obtain 
mercy, that ever we should have our old hearts turned, our millions of 
sins pardoned, our vile natures changed, and poor souls saved, &c. 

1 answer, That there is hope even for such as you are. All the 
angels in heaven and all the men on earth cannot tell, but that you, 
even you, may obtain mercy and favour, that your souls die not. With 
the Lord nothing is impossible, and for the grace of the gospel nothing 
is too hard. Now this I shall make evident by an induction of parti- 
culars. Thus, 

(1.) Eirst, All were not called nor sent to work in the vineyard at 
the first hour ; some were called at the third hour, others at the sixth, 
others at the ninth, and some at the eleventh. God hath his several 
times of calling souls to himself. The eleventh hour was about five in 
the afternoon, an hour before sunset ; when it was even time to leave 
work ; and yet at this hour some were called, employed, and rewarded 
with the rest. 2 

Some of the fathers, by the several hours mentioned in this parable, 
do understand the several ages of man, viz., childhood, youth, middle 
age, and old age, wherein poor souls are called and converted to Christ. 
The scope of the parable is to signify the free grace of God in the call- 
ing of some in the spring and morning of their days, and in the calling 
of others in their old age, in the evening of their days. But, 

(2.) Secondly, Abraham in the Old Testament, and Nicodemus in 
the New, were called and converted in their old age, when there were 
but a few steps between them and the grave, between them and eternity. 3 

I have read of one Cains Marius Victorius, who was an old man, three 
hundred years after the apostles' time, and had been a pagan all his 
days, and in his old age he inquired and hearkened after Christ, and 
said he would be a Christian. Simplicianus hearing him say so, would 
not believe him, but when the church saw a work of grace indeed upon 
him, there was shouting and dancing for gladness, and psalms were 
sung in every church, Caius Marius Victorius is become a Christian. 
And this was written for a wonder, that he in his old age, and in his 
grey hairs, should become a gracious Christian. 

Aretius also speaks of a certain man in his time. It is no feigned 
story, saith he, for I saw the man with my own e3 T cs: he was one that 
had been a most vile and desperate sinner, a drunkard, a swearer, a wanton, 
a gamester, and so he continued to his grey hairs ; but at last it pleased 
God to set his sins in order before him, and the man was so troubled 
in conscience that he threw himself down upon the ground, calling unto 
Satan to take him away, provoking Satan to take him away: Devil, take 
thy own ; devil, take thy own ; I am thy own, take thy own : where- 
upon, saith Aretius, prayer was made for him ; Christians prayed, they 
fasted and prayed, they prayed night and day; and it pleased God at 
last that this poor aged sinner revived, converted to God, lived a godly 
life afterwards, and died comfortably. 

1 'Offers.' — G. 2 Matt. xx. 1-17. The Roman penny was sevenpence halfpenny. 
* Gen. xii. 4, John iii. 1-4, vii. 60. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 277 

Therefore, let not the grey-headed sinner despair, though his spring 
be past, his summer overpast, and he arrived at the fall of the leaf 
But, 

(3.) Thirdly, Divine promises shall be made good to returning souls, 
to repenting souls, to believing souls, be they young or old. 2 Chron. 
xxx. 9, ' The Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn 
away his face from you, if you return unto him.' Joel ii. 13, ' And re'nd 
your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God ; 
for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, 
and repenteth him of the evil.' Isa. lv. 7, ' Let the wicked forsake his 
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto 
the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he 
will abundantly pardon:' or he will multiply to pardon. More of this 
you may see by reading of the scriptures in the margin. 1 All sorts of 
sin shall be pardoned to all sorts of believing and repenting sinners. 

The New Jerusalem hath twelve gates, to shew that there is every 
way access for all sorts and ranks of sinners to come to Christ. He was 
born in an inn, to shew that he receives all comers, young and old, poor 
and rich, &c. But, 

(4.) Fourthly, The Lord hath declared by oath a greater delight in 
the conversion and salvation of poor sinners, whether they are young 
or old, than in the destruction and damnation of such. Ezek. 
xxxiii. 11, 'As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death 
of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn 
ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, O ye house of 
Israel ?' Two things make a thing more credible. 

[1.] The quality or dignity of the person speaking. 

[2.] The manner of the speech. Now here you have the great God, not 
only speaking, promising, but solemnly swearing that he had rather poor 
sinners should live than die, be happy than miserable ; therefore, despair 
not, O aged sinner! but return unto the Lord, and thou shalt be happy 
for ever. But, 

(5.) Fifthly, There is virtue enough in the precious blood of Jesus 
Christ, to wash and cleanse away all sin; 2 not only to cleanse away 
the young man's sins, but also to cleanse away the old man's sins ; not 
only to cleanse a sinner of twenty years, but to cleanse a sinner of fifty, 
sixty, yea, a hundred years old : 1 John i. 7, 'The blood of Jesus Christ 
his Son cleanseth us from all sin ;' not simply from sin, but from all sin. 
There is such a power and efficacy in the blood of Christ, as is suffi- 
cient to cleanse all sorts of sinners from all sorts of sins. There is a 
virtue in the blood of the Lamb to wash out all the spots that are in 
the oldest sinners' hearts ; and therefore let not old sinners despair, let 
them not say there is no hope, there is no help, as long as this fountain, 
the blood of Jesus Christ, is open for all sorts of sinnei's to wash in. But, 

(6.) Sixthly, The call and invitation of Christ in the gospel are 
general and indefinite, excluding no sort of sinners. Rev. iii. 20, 
' Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man' (mark the inde- 

1 Isa. i. 18; Jer. iii. 12; Isa. xliii. 22-25; lvii. 17, 18; Jer.li. 5; John iii. 16; Mark 
xvi. 16. 

* Una guttida phis valet, quam ccelum et terra. — Luther, One little drop is more worth 
than heaven and earth. 



278 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

finiteness of personal admittance) ' hear my voice, and open the door, I 
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' Let the 
sinner be old or young, a green head, or a grey head, if he will but open 
the door, Christ will come in and have communion and fellowship with 
him. So in that Mat. xi. 28. Turn to these scriptures, Isa. lv. 1, John 
vii. 37, Rev. xxii. 17, and dwell upon them ; they all clearly evidence 
the call and gracious invitations of Christ to be to all sinners, to every 
sinner ; he excepts not a man, no, though never so old. Nothing shall 
hinder the sinner, any sinner, the worst and most aged sinner, from ob- 
taining mercy, if he be willing to open to Christ, and to receive him as 
his Lord and king, John vi. 37. But, 

(7.) Seventhly, Christ's pathetical lamentation over all sorts and 
ranks of sinners, declares his willingness to shew mercy to them. 
' O Jerusalem, Jerusalem/ saith Christ, weeping over it, ' that thou 
hadst known in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace,' &c, 
Luke xix. 41, 42. 'Oh that my people had hearkened unto me !' Ps. 
lxxxi. 1 3. Christ weeps over Jerusalem ; so did Titus, and so did Mar- 
cellus over Syracuse, and so did Scipio over Carthage ; but they shed 
tears for them whose blood they were to shed ; but Christ weeps over 
the necks of those young and old sinners who were to shed his blood. 
As a tender-hearted father weeps over his rebellious children, when 
neither smiles nor frowns, neither counsels nor entreaties, will win them, 
or turn them from their evil ways, so doth Jesus Christ over these re- 
bellious Jews, upon whom nothing would work. But, 

(8.) Eighthly, and lastly, Though aged sinners have given Christ 
many thousand denials, yet he hath not taken them, but after all, and 
in the face of all denials, he still re-enforces his suit, and continues 
to beseech them by his Spirit, by his word, by his wounds, by his blood, 
by his messengers, and by his rebukes, to turn home to him, to embrace 
him, to believe in him, and to watch witJo him, that they may be saved 
eternally by him. AH which bespeaks grey-headed sinners not to 
despair, nor to dispute, but to repent, return, and believe, that it may 
go well with them for ever. Consider seriously what hath been spoken, 
and the Lord make you wise for eternity I 1 

1 Ps. lxv. 1, 2 ; Rom. x. 21, and 1 John v. 2, 3. 



1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 279 



APPENDIX. 



Agreeably to Note prefixed to ' Apples of Gold,' there is here added, 

1. The title-page of the original edition. 

2. The original 'Epistle Dedicatory.' — G. 

APPLES OF GOLD 

for Young Men, 

AND 

A Crown of Honour 
for Old Men : 

OB, 

The Young Mans Work, and 
the Old Mans Reward. 

DISCOVERED 

In a Sermon (with enlargements since) 
Preached at Clapham at the interment of 
the Corps of Mr. John Wood, Mercer ; and 
Citizen of London, the 13. oiNovemb. 1656. 

By THOMAS BROOKS, Preacher of the 
Gospel at Margarets Fishstreet-hitt. 

But I thy Servant fear the Lord from my 
Youth. 1 King. 18. 12. 

The hoary head is a crown of Glory, if it bee 
found in a way oj 'righteousness, Prov. 16. 31. 

LOND02T, 

Printed by R. I. for John Hancock, to be sold 

at the first Shop in Popeshead- Alley next 

to Corn-hill neer the Exchange. 1657. 



280 APPLES OF GOLD. [I KlNGS XIV. 13. 



EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

To his honoured and worthily esteemed friends, Mrs Susan Wood (dis- 
consolate widow to the late pious Mr John Wood, deceased), and 
Mr John Arthur (minister of the gospel at Clapham), and Mrs 
Dorothy, his wife ; and to Mr John Wood, Esq. and Mrs Mar- 
garet, his wife (parents to the late deceased gentleman) ; and to 
Mr John Humfreys, Esq., and Mrs Elizabeth, his wife : all grace 
and peace, all consolation and supportation from God the Father, 
and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Honoured and beloved in our dearest Lord, 

It was your earnest desires and serious importunity that midwifed 
this little treatise into the world. If it do not in all things answer ex- 
pectation, you know who to thank. I look upon the following discourse 
as a comment upon his life and death, who is now entered upon a 
blessed state of eternity. I confess your loss is very very great ; yet 
to prevent the breaking in of an irresistible torrent of sorrow and sad- 
ness upon your drooping spirits, be pleased to consider these four 
things : 

1. Though your loss be great, yet there are six greater losses than 
yours. 

(J.) First, The loss of the soul is a greater loss than the loss of a hus- 
band, a child, a kinsman, &c. The loss of the soul is an incomparable 
loss, it is an irreparable loss, it is an eternal loss. Francis Xaverius, 
counselled John the Third, King of Portugal, to meditate every day a 
quarter of an hour upon that text, What shall it profit a man to gain 
the world, and lose his soul ? Mat. xvi. 26. Of the sadness and great- 
ness of this loss, you may read more in the following discourse. 

(2.) Secondly, The loss of Christ is a loss infinitely beyond the loss 
of the nearest and dearest relations. This made Luther say, that he 
had rather live in hell with Christ, than in heaven without him. He 
is the greatest good, and therefore the loss of him must needs be the 
greatest evil, qui te now, habet Domive Deus, totum perdidit [Bernard]. 
He that hath not thee, and thy Christ, he hath lost all; for Christ is 
all in all, Col. iii. 11. John Ai'dley professed to Bonner, when he told 
him of burning, that if he had as many lives as he had hairs on his 
head, he would lose them all in the fire, before he would lose his 
Christ. 1 

(3.) Thirdly, The loss of the gospel is a greater loss than all worldly 
comforts. Eli bore up sweetly till the ark was taken, and that news 
broke both his heart and neck. 

Luther would not take all the world for one leaf of the Bible ; nay, a 
gracious heart that hath experienced the sweetness of the word, will not 
take all the world for one line of the Bible. 2 The tabernacle was 
covered over with red, — and the purple-feathers tell us, they take that 
habit for the same intent, — to note that we must defend the truth even 

1 Clarke's ' Martyrologie,' as before, pages 452, 453. — G. 

* Si Veritas est causa discordice, mori possum, tacere non possum, said Jerome to Hel- 
vetius. 



1 Kings XIV. 13,] apples of gold. 281 

to the effusion of blood, and rather lose our lives than lose the truth. 
We must say, as the Spartan mother said to her son, either live in reli- 
gion, or die for religion. When the gospel is lost, the glory of a nation 
is lost ; yea, the glory of souls is lost. 

(4.) Fourthly, The loss of God's favour is a greater loss than any 
worldly loss. If his loving-kindness be better than life, yea, than lives, 
as the Hebrew hath it, 1 then the loss of it is worse than death, yea, than 
deaths. Augustine, upon that answer of God to Moses, Thou canst not 
see my face and live, Exod. xxxiii. 20, makes this quick and sweet reply, 
1 Then, Lord ! let me die, that I may see thy face.' It is divine favour 
that makes heaven to be heaven, and it is the want of that which 
makes hell to be hell. A Christian that hath been under the shinings 
of God's face, had rather suffer death, yea, any death, yea, all deaths, 
than to have the face of God clouded and covered. 

(5.) Fifthly, The loss of peace of conscience is a greater loss than 
any worldly loss. If you ask souls that have experienced the sweetness 
of peace of conscience, but are now under terrors and horrors, what is 
the greatest loss? they will answer, loss of peace of conscience. If you 
ask them again what is the saddest loss? they will answer, loss of peace 
of conscience : no loss to this loss. Una guttula malm conscientice 
totum mare, mundum gaudii absorbet (Luther), One drop of an evil 
conscience swallows up the whole sea of worldly joy. 2 

(6.) Sixthly, and lastly, The loss of eternity is a greater loss than 
any, than all worldly losses. No worldly loss is to be mentioned in the 
day wherein the loss of eternity is named. The loss of eternity com- 
priseth all varieties of privative miseries, the loss of whatever we have 
enjoyed, and the loss of whatever we might have enjoyed ; as God, 
Christ, the Comforter, the society of saints, angels, the treasures and 
pleasures that be at his right hand. It was a notable saying of Am- 
brose, Cur ea quo3 ad usum diulurna esse non possunt, ad sujipli- 
cium diuturna deposces, Whj will you make that which cannot be 
eternal for use be eternal for punishment ? 3 The loss of eternity is a 
comprehensive loss, a loss that takes in all losses; and therefore no loss 
to the loss of a happy eternity. And thus you see, beloved, that though 
your loss be very great, yet there be far greater losses than yours ; and 
this should bear up your spirits from fainting and sinking under this 
sad dispensation. Though I have a will, yet I have not skill to express 
your loss and your sorrows to the life. Sorrows for near and dear rela- 
tions are oftentimes so great, that they cannot be expressed. 

Psammeticus, king of Egypt, being prisoner to Cambyses, king of 
Persia, seeing his own daughter passing before him in base array, being 
sent to draw water, at which sight his friends about him wept, but him- 
self wept not ; presently after his son was carried to execution before 
his face, neither did this move him to shew any passion ; but afterwards, 
when a friend of his was to suffer, then he wept, and tare his hair, and 
shewed great sorrow. Being demanded the reason of this his carriage, 
he answered that the loss of a friend might be expressed, but not the 
grief for the loss of a child. 

I have read of a certain painter, who being to express the sorrow of 

1 Ps. lxiii. 3, Mehhaiim. 

2 ToLle conscientiam, tolle omnia, said the heathen. 3 Ambrose in Luc. iv. 5. 



2S2 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13. 

a weeping father, and having spent his skill before in setting forth of 
the passions and affections of his children, he thought it best to present 
him upon his table to the beholders' view with his face covered, that so 
he might have that grief to be imagined by them which lie found him- 
self unable to set out to the full. 1 1 know I am not able to paint out 
your grief and sorrow for your sad loss, yet having proved that this your 
loss is no loss compared with the fore-mentioned sad losses, I cannot 
but hope that you will labour to bear up like those whose hopes, whose 
hearts, whose treasures are in heaven, &c. 

2. Consider all outward losses may be made up ; nay, God doth 
usually one way or another make up to his people all their outward 
losses. He did so to David, to Job, and many others ; nay, they were 
great gainers by their losses. And so were the disciples, who, for the 
loss of Christ's personal presence, had abundance of the Spirit's in- 
fluence. If he takes away a husband, and lies himself in his room, and 
fills up that relation, is not the loss made up ? Will not the light and 
heat of the sun make up the loss of the light and heat of a twinkling 
star ? If he take away a son, and give out more of himself, will you not 
say he is better than ten thousand sons ? 1 Sam. i. 8. If he take away 
your only son, and give out to you more of his only Son, will you not 
say, that though your loss be very great, yet the great God hath made 
it up, by giving out more of the light, life, love, and glory of his only 
Son unto you ? If, in the room of an only son, God shall give you a 
name that is better than sons and daughters, Isa. lvi. 5, will you not 
say, your loss is made up with advantage 1 Hujusmodi lucri dulcis 
odor, the smell of this gain is sweet to many. It was an apt saying of 
Tertullian, 2 Negotiatio est aliquid amittere ut majora lucreris, that is 
right and good merchandise, when something is parted with to gain 
more. He applies it to the martyrs' sufferings, wherein though the flesh 
lost something, yet the spirit got much more. Ah ! dear friends, if your 
fleshly losses shall be made up in spiritual advantages, have you any 
cause to say, No loss to our loss, no sorrow to our sorrow ? Surely no. 
When that noble Zedislaus had lost his hand in the wars of the King of 
Poland, the king sent him a golden hand for it. 

Ah, friends ! if God give you silver for brass, and gold for iron ; if he 
give you spirituals for temporals, have you not more cause of rejoicing 
than of mourning ? 

When Paulinus Nolanus his city, was taken by the barbarians, he 
prayed thus to God : Lord ! let me not be troubled at the loss of my gold, 
silver, honour, &c, for thou art all, and much more than all, these unto 
me. There is nothing beyond remedy but the tears of the damned. Those 
that are in the way to paradise should not place themselves in the con- 
dition of a little hell ; and they that may or can hope for that great all, 
ought not to be dejected for any thing. 

3. Thirdly, Consider that though your loss be great, yet his gain is 
greater: 'for him to live was Christ, and to die was gain,' Philip, i. 21. 
He hath exchanged mortality for immortality, the society of men for the 
society of angels, the sight of friends for the sight of God, a house made 



1 The allusion is to Agamemnon, on the sacrifice of Iphigenia.— G. 

2 Tertullian, in his hook to the martyrs. 

3 The sooner 1 die, the sooner I shall be happy, said one. 






1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 283 

with bands for one eternal in the heavens, the streams for the fountain, 
an earthly father for a heavenly Father; a careful, loving, sweet, suitable, 
tender-hearted, wise, yokefellow for to lie in the arms, the bosom, of a 
loving, gracious, tender-hearted Saviour. If you would but eye more 
his crown than your own cross, his gain than your own loss, you would 
divinely quench the burning flame of your passionate affections. It was 
a good saying of Francisco Soyit to his adversaries : You deprive me of 
this life, said he, and promote me to a better, which is as if you should 
rob me of counters, and furnish me with gold. Your deceased relation 
hath exchanged his counters for gold, his imperfection for perfection, and 
his earthly possession for a heavenly possession. 

4. Fourthly and lastly, Consider how sweetly, how wisely, how bravely 
others have carried it, when the Lord hath passed the sentence of death 
upon their nearest and dearest relations; read the proofs in the margin, 1 
and then never leave pressing those golden examples upon your own 
hearts, till they are brought over sweetly and quietly to lie down in the 
will of God, and to say amen to God's amen. When it was told Anax- 
agoras that both his sons, which was all he had, were dead, he being 
nothing terrified therewith, answered, Sciebam me genuisse mortales, I 
knew I begat mortal creatures. 

Ah, friends ! shall a heathen bear it out thus bravely, and shall not 
you much more ? Pulvillus, another heathen [Pet. Mart.], when he was 
about to consecrate a temple to Jupiter, and news was brought to him 
of the death of his son, desisted not from his enterprise ; but with a com- 
posed mind gave order for decent burial. Shall nature do this, and 
shall not grace do as much, nay, more ? What a shame is it, saith 
Jerome, that faith should not be able to do that which infidelity hath 
done ! What ! not better fruit in the vineyard, in the garden of the 
Lord, than in the wilderness ? What ! not better fruit grown upon the 
tree of life than upon the root of nature ? 

Dear friends ! since I yielded to your desires, and set about this work, 
I begun to consider that I had never heard nor read of any that had 
treated on this subject ; also I seriously considered of the usefulness of 
it, especially in these times, wherein so many young persons have their 
faces towards Sion; which considerations, with the breaking in of God 
upon me beyond my expectation, has occasioned that sermon you heard 
to swell into a little treatise, which in all love I present unto you. The 
very same things that sounded in your ears I here present to your eyes, 
with enlargements and additions to what I first intended. The pains 
hath been mine ; the profit that will redound to you and others, into 
whose hands it may fall, I hope will be such as will turn to all our 
accounts in the day of Christ. 

I have read of an emperor's son who used to say, The longer the cooks 
are preparing the meat, the better will be the cheer ; his meaning was, 
the longer he stayed for the empire, the greater it would be. The longer 
you have waited for this discourse, the better I desire it may prove. It 
had been in your hands long before this, if others that should have made 
more haste had not been more to blame than myself ; yet I know it is ' 
not a child so late born that I need question your fathering of it. And 

1 Lev. x. 1-3 ; 1 Sata, iii, 11-19 ; 2 Sam. xii. 18-25 ; Job i., the whole chapter. 



284- APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13 

now I commend you all to God, and to the word of his grace, which is 
able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them 
which are sanctified, Acts xx. 32. 

Your servant in the work of Christ, 

Thomas Brooks. 



THE MUTE CHKISTIAK 



NOTE. 

The 'Muto Christian' was originally published in 1659. A '2d ' edition — though not 
so designated — was immediately called for, and appeared in 1660. Thereafter few books 
were more in demand, being next to the • Precious Remedies.' The earlier portion of 
the title (as in above two editions) was ' The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes,' &c. 
Our text is taken from ' the eighth edition, corrected,' collated with the original and sub- 
sequent intervening editions. Its title-page is given below.* G. 



* THE 

MUTE CHRISTIAN 

UNDER THE 

SMARTING ROD : 

WITH 

SOVEREIGN ANTIDOTES 

Against the 

fWost {Miserable ©xtgents: 1 

OB, 

A Christian with an ®Hb e = leaf in 
his mouth, when he is under the greatest af- 
flictions, the sharpest and sorest tryals and 
troubles, the saddest and darkest Providen- 
ces and Changes, with Answers to divers 
Questions and Objections that are of great- 
est importance ; all tending to win and work 
Souls to be still, quiet, calm and silent un- 
der all changes that have, or may pass up- 
on them in this World, <J - c. 

The Eighth Edition, Corrected. 

By THOMAS BROOKS, late Preacher of the Word 
at St. Margaret New-Fish-Street, London. 

The Lord is in his Holy Temple: Let all the Earth 
keep silence before him, Hab. 2. 20. 

LONDON, Printed for John Hancock, and are 

to be sold at the Three Bibles, over against the 

Royal Exchange in Cornhill. 1684. 



1 This is one of the many Shakespearian words, referred to in our Preface, found in 
Brooks : ' Why do you cross me in this exigent V — Juliu3 Cassar, v. 1. ' When the 
exigent should come.' — Antony and Cleopatra, iv. 12. Cf. also Sibbes's Works, vol. i. 
page 412.— G. 



THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 



To all afflicted and distressed, dissatisfied, disquieted, and discomposed 
Christians throughout the world. 



'•n' 



Dear Hearts, — The choicest saints are ' born to troubles as the sparks 
fly upwards/ Job v. 7. 1 * Many are the troubles of the righteous ;' if 
they were many, and not troubles, then, as it is in the proverb, the 
more the merrier ; or if they were troubles and not many, then the 
fewer the better cheer. But God, who is infinite in wisdom and match- 
less in goodness, hath ordered troubles, yea, many troubles to come 
trooping in upon us on every side. As our mercies, so our crosses seldom 
come single ; they usually come treading one upon the heels of another ; 
they are like April showers, no sooner is one over but another comes. 
And yet, Christians, it is mercy, it is rich mercy, that every affliction is 
not an execution, that every correction is not a damnation. The higher 
the waters rise, the nearer Noah's ark was lifted up to heaven ; the 
more thy afflictions are increased, the more thy heart shall be raised 
heavenward. 

Because I would not hold you too long in the porch, I shall only en- 
deavour two things : first, to give you the reasons of my appearing once 
more in print ; and secondly, a little counsel and direction that the 
following tract may turn to your soul's advantage, which is the white 2 - 
that I have in my eye. The true reasons of my sending this piece into 
the world, such as it is, are these : 

I. First, The afflicting hand of God hath been hard upon myself, 
and upon my dearest relations in this world, and upon many of my 
precious Christian friends, whom I much love and honour in the Lord, 
which put me upon studying of the mind of God in that scripture that 
I have made the subject-matter of this following discourse. Luther 
could not understand some Psalms till he was afflicted ; the Christ-cross 
is no letter in the book, and yet, saith he, it hath taught me more than 
all the letters in the book. Afflictions are a golden key by which the 
Lord opens the rich treasure of his word to his people's souls ; and this 
in some measure, through grace, my soul hath experienced. When 
Samson had found honey, he gave some to his father and mother to 
eat, Judges xiv, 9, 10 ; some honey I have found in my following text ; 

1 Ps. xxxiv. 19 and lxxxviii. 3, 4. Qui nan est Crucianus non est Christianus. — Luther. 
* The ' mark. '— G. 



288 EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

aud therefore I may not, I cannot be such a churl as not to give them 
some of my honey to taste, who have drunk deep of my gall and worm- 
wood. 1 Austin observes on that, Ps. lxvi. 16, ' Come and hear, all ye 
that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.' ' He 
doth not call them,' saith he, ' to acquaint them with speculations, how 
wide the earth is, how far the heavens are stretched out, what the num- 
ber of the stars is, or what is the course of the sun ; but come and I 
will tell you the wonders of his grace, the faithfulness of his promises, 
the riches of his mercy to my soul.' Gracious experiences are to be 
communicated. Lilmod lelammed, we therefore learn that we may 
teach, is a proverb among the Rabbins. And I do therefore ' lay in and 
lay up,' saith the heathen, that I may draw forth again and layout for 
the good of many. When God hath dealt bountifully with us, others 
should reap some noble good by us. The family, the town, the city, 
the country, where a man lives, should fare the better for his faring 
well. Our mercies and experiences should be as a running spring at 
our doors, which is not only for our own use, but also for our neigh- 
bours', yea, and for strangers too. 

Secondly, What is written is permanent ; litera scvipta manet, and 
spreads itself further by far, for time, place, and persons, than the voice 
can reach. The pen is an artificial tongue ; it speaks as well to absent 
as to present friends ; it speaks to them afar off as well as those that 
are near ; it speaks to many thousands at once ; it speaks not only to 
the present age but also to succeeding ages. The pen is a kind of 
image of eternity ; it will make a man live when he is dead, Heb. xi. 4. 
Though ' the prophets do not live for ever,' yet their labours may, 
Zech. i. 6. A man's writings may preach when he cannot, when he 
may not, and when, by reason of bodily distempers, he dares not ; yea, 
and that which is more, wheu he is not. 2 

Thirdly, Few men, if any, have iron memories. How soon is a ser- 
mon preached forgotten, when a sermon written remains ! Augustine 
writing to Volusian, saith, ' That which is written is always at hand to 
be read, when the reader is at leisure.' 3 Men do not easily forget their 
own names, nor their father's house, nor the wives of their bosoms, nor 
the fruit of their loins, nor to eat their daily bread ; and yet, ah ! how 
easily do they forget that word of grace, that should be dearer to them 
than all ! Most men's memories, especially in the great concernmeuts 
of their souls, are like a sieve or boulter, 4 where the good corn and fine 
flour goes through, but the light chaff and coarse bran remain behind ; 
or like a strainer, where the sweet liquor is strained out, but the dregs 
left behind ; or like a grate 5 that lets the pure water run away, but if 
there be any straws, sticks, mud, or filth, that it holds, as it were, with 
iron hands. Most men's memories are very treacherous, especially in 
good things; few men's memories are a holy ark, a heavenly storehouse 
or magazine for their souls, and therefore they stand in the more need 
of a written word. But, 

Fourthly, Its marvellous suitableness and usefulness under these 



1 Some have accounted nothing their own that they have not communicated to others. 

' There are here, as elsewhere in Brooks, reminiscences of Thomas Adams, who was 

a prime favourito of our like-minded author. See Works, vol. i. page, xx — G. 

s Aug. Ep. i. ad. Volus. * ' Sifter.'— G. 6 ' Grating.'— G. 






EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 289 

great turns and changes that have passed upon us. As every wise hus- 
bandman observes the fittest seasons to sow his seed — some he sows in 
the autumn and fall of the leaf, some in the spring of the year, some in 
a dry season and some in a wet, some in a moist clay and some in a 
sandy dry ground, Isa. xxviii. 25, — so every spiritual husbandman must 
observe the fittest times to sow his spiritual seed in. He hath heavenly 
seed by him for all occasions and seasons, for spring and fall ; for all 
grounds, heads, and hearts. Now whether the seed sown in the follow- 
ing treatise be not suitable to the times and seasons wherein we are 
cast, is. left to the judgment of the prudent reader to determine ; if the 
author had thought otherwise, this babe had been stifled in the womb. 

Fifthly, The good acceptance that my other weak labours have 
found. God hath blessed them, not only to the conviction, the edifica- 
tion, confirmation, and consolation of many, but also to the conversion 
of many, Rom. xv. 2 1. 1 God is a free agent to work by what hand he 
pleases ; and sometimes he takes pleasure to do great things by weak 
means, that ' no flesh may glory in his presence.' God will not 'despise 
the day of small things ;' and who or what art thou, that darest despise 
that day ? The Spirit breathes upon whose preaching and writing he 
pleases, and all prospers according as that wind blows, John iii. 8. 

Sixthly, That all afflicted and distressed Christians may have a pro- 
per salve for every sore, a proper remedy against every disease, at hand. 
As every good man, so every good book is not fit to be the afflicted 
man's companion ; but this is. Here he may see his face, his head, his 
hand, his heart, his ways, his works ; here he may see all his diseases 
discovered, and proper remedies proposed and applied ; here he may 
find arguments to silence him, and means to quiet him, when it is at 
worst with him; in every storm here he may find a tree to shelter him; 
and in every danger, here he may find a city of refuge to secure him ; 
and in every difficulty, here he may have a light to guide him ; and in 
every peril, here he may find a buckler to defend him ; a,ud in every 
distress, here he may find a cordial to strengthen him ; and in every 
trouble, here he may find a staff to support him. 2 

Seventhly, To satisfy some bosom friends, some faithful friends. Man 
is made to be a friend, and apt for friendly offices. He that ib not 
friendly is not worthy to have a friend, and he that hath a friend, and 
doth not shew himself friendly, is not worthy to be accounted a man. 
Friendship is a kind of life, without which there is no comfort of a 
man's life. Christian friendship ties such a knot that great Alexander 
cannot cut. 3 Summer friends I value not, but winter friends are worth 
their weight in gold ; and who can deny such anything, especially in 
these days, wherein real, faithful, constant friends are so rare to be 
found ? 1 Sam. xxii. 1-3. The friendship of most men in these days is 
like Jonah's gourd, now very promising and flourishing, and anon fading 
and withering ; it is like some plants in the water, which have broad 
leaves on the surface of the water, but scarce any root at all; their 
friendship is like melons, cold within, hot without; their expressions are 

1 Philip, i. 15, xi. ; 1 Cor. i. 17, ii. 9. 

2 Prov. xxv. 11. That remedy is no remedy that is not proper to the disease. 

3 The ' Gordian Kuot' is alluded to. — (i. 

VOL. I. T 



290 EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

high, but their affections are low ; they speak much, but do little. 1 As 
drums, and trumpets, and ensigns in a battle make a great noise and a 
fine show, but act nothing, so these counterfeit friends will compliment 
highly, bow handsomely, speak plausibly, and promise lustily, and yet 
have neither a hand nor heart to act anything cordially or faithfully. 
From such friends it is a mercy to be delivered, and therefore king 
Antigonus was wont to pray to God that he would protect him from his 
friends; and when one of his council asked him why he prayed so, he 
returned this answer, Every man will shun and defend himself against 
his professed enemies, but from our professed or pretended friends, of 
whom few are faithful, none can safe-guard himself, but hath need of 
protection from heaven. But for all this, there are some that are real 
friends, faithful friends, active friends, winter friends, bosom friends, 
fast friends ; and for their sakes, especially those among them that have 
been long, very long, under the smarting rod, and in the fiery furnace, 
and that have been often poured from vessel to vessel, have I once 
more appeared in print to the world. 

Eighthly and lastly, There hath not any authors or author come to 
my hand, that hath handled this subject as I have done ; and therefore I 
do not know but it may be the more grateful and acceptable to the world ; 
and if by this essay others that are more able shall be provoked to do 
more worthily upon this subject, I shall therein rejoice, 1 Thes. i. 7, 8, 
1 Cor. ix. 1, 2. I shall only add, that though much of the following 
matter was preached upon the Lord's visitation of my dear yoke-fellow, 
myself, and some other friends, yet there are many things of special 
concernment in the following tract, that yet I have not upon any 
accounts communicated to the world. And thus I have given you a 
true and faithful account of the reasons that have prevailed with me to 
publish this treatise to the world, and to dedicate it to yourselves. 

II. Secondly, The second thing promised was, the giving of you a 
little good counsel, that you may so read the following discourse, as that 
it may turn much to your soul's advantage ; for, as many fish ami catch 
nothing, Luke v. 5, so many read good books and get nothing, because 
they read them over cursorily, slightly, superficially ; but he that would 
read to profit, must then, 

First, Read and look up for a blessing : ' Paul may plant, and 
A polios may water,' but all will be to no purpose, except ' the Lord 
give the increase,' 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7. God must do the deed, when all is 
done, or else all that is done will do you no good. If you would have 
this work successful and effectual, you must look off from man and look 
up to God, who alone can make it a blessing to you. As without a 
blessing from heaven, thy clothes cannot warm thee, nor thy food 
nourish thee, nor physic cure thee, nor friends comfort thee, Micah 
vi. 14 ; so without a blessing from heaven, without the precious breath- 
ings and influences of the Spirit, what here is done will do you no good, 
it will not turn to your account in the day of Christ ; and therefore cast 
an eye heavenwards, Haggai i. 6. It is Seneca's observation, that the 
husbandmen in Egypt never look up to heaven for rain in the time of 
drought, but look after the overflowing of the banks of Nilus, as the 

1 my friends. I have never a friend, said Socrates. A friend is a very mutable 
creature, suitli l'luto. 



EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 291 

only cause of their plenty. Ah, how many are there in these days, who, 
when they go to read a book, never look up, never look after the rain 
of God's blessing, but only look to the river Nilus ; they only look to 
the wit, the learning, the arts, the parts, the eloquence, &c, of the 
author, they never look so high as heaven ; and hence it comes to pass, 
that though these read much, yet they profit little. 

Secondly, He that would read to profit must read and meditate. 
Meditation is the food of your souls, it is the very stomach and natural 
heat whereby spiritual truths are digested. A man shall as soon live 
without his heart, as he shall be able to get good by what he reads, 
without meditation. Prayer, saith Bernard, without meditation, is dry 
and formal, and reading without meditation is useless and unprofitable. 1 
He that would be a wise, a prudent, and an able experienced statesman, 
must not hastily ramble and run over many cities, countries, customs, 
laws, and manners of people, without serious musing and pondering 
upon such things as may make him an expert statesman ; so he that 
would get good by reading, that would complete his knowledge, and 
perfect his experience in spiritual things, must not slightly and hastily 
ramble and run over this book or that, but ponder upon what he reads, 
as Mary pondered the saying of the angel in her heart. Lord ! saith 
Austin, the more I meditate on thee, the sweeter thou art to me ; so 
the more you shall meditate on the following matter, the sweeter it 
will be to you. They usually thrive best who meditate most. Medi- 
tation is a soul-fattening duty ; it is a grace-strengthening duty, it is a 
duty-crowning duty. Gerson calls meditation the nurse of prayer ; 
Jerome calls it his paradise ; Basil calls it the treasury where all the 
graces are locked up ; Theophylact calls it the very gate and portal by 
which we enter into glory ; and Aristotle, though a heathen, placeth 
felicity in the contemplation of the mind. You may read much and 
hear much, yet without meditation you will never be excellent, you will 
never be eminent Christians. 

Thirdly, Read, and try what thou readest ; take nothing upon trust, 
but all upon trial, as those 'noble Bereans' did, Acts xvii. 10, 11. 
You will try and tell 2 and weigh gold, though it be handed to you by 
your fathers ; and so should you all those heavenly truths that are 
handed to you by your spiritual fathers. I hope upon trial you will 
find nothing but what will hold weight in the balance of the sanctuary ; 
and though all be not gold that glisters, yet I judge that you will find 
nothing here to glister, that will not be found upon trial to be true 
gold. 

Fourthly, Read and do, read and practise what you read, or else all 
your reading will do you no good. He that hath a good book in his 
hand, but not a lesson of it in his heart or life, is like that ass that 
carrieth burdens, and feeds upon thistles. 3 In divine account, a man 
knows no more than he doth. Profession without practice will but 
make a man twice told a child of darkness ; to speak well is to sound 
like a cymbal, but to do well is to act like an angel [Isidore]. He 

1 Animse viaticum est meditatio. — Bernard. Lectio sine meditatione arida est, raedi- 
tatio sine lectione erronea est ; oratio sine meditatione livida est. — Augustine. 

2 'Count.'— G. 

3 Augustine, speaking of the Scripture, saith, Verba vivenda, non loquenda. 



202 EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

that practiseth what he reads and understands, God will help him to 
understand what he understands not. There is no fear of knowing too 
much, though there is much fear in practising too little ; the most 
doing man shall be the most knowing man ; the mightiest man in prac- 
tice will in the end prove the mightiest man in Scripture, John vii. 
16, 17, Ps. cxix. 98-100. Theory is the guide of practice, and practice 
is the life of theory. Salvian relates how the heathen did reproach 
some Christians, who by their lewd lives made the gospel of Christ to 
be a reproach. ' Where,' said they, ' is that good law which they do 
believe? Where are those rules of godliness which they do learn ? 
They read the holy gospel, and yet are unclean ; they read the apostles' 
writings, and yet live in drunkenness ; they follow Christ, and yet dis- 
obey Christ ; they profess a holy law, and yet do lead impure lives.' 1 
Ah ! how may many preachers take up sad complaints against many 
readers in these days ! They read our works, and yet in their lives 
they deny our works ; they praise our works, and yet in their conver- 
sations they reproach our works ; they cry up our labours in their dis- 
courses, and yet they cry them down in their practices : yet I hope 
better things of you into whose hands this treatise shall fall. 2 The 
Samaritan woman did not fill her pitcher with water, that she might 
talk of it, but that she might use it, John iv. 7 ; and Rachel did not 
desire the mandrakes to hold in her hand, but that she might thereby 
be the more apt to bring forth, Gen. xxx. 15. The application is easy. 
But, 

Fifthly, Read and apply. Reading is but the drawing of the bow, 
application is the hitting of the white. 3 The choicest truths will no 
further profit you than they are applied by you ; you were as good not to 
read, as not to apply what you read. 4 No man attains to health by 
reading of Galen, or knowing Hippocrates, his aphorisms, but by the 
practical application of them ; all the reading in the world will never 
make for the health of your souls except you apply what you read. 
The true reason why many read so much and profit so little is, because 
they do not apply and bring home what thev read to their own souls. 
But, 

Sixthly, and lastly, Read and pray. He that makes not conscience 
of praying over what he reads, will find little sweetness or profit in his 
reading. No man makes such earnings of his reading, as he that prays 
over what he reads. Luther professeth that he profited more in the 
knowledge of the Scriptures by prayer, in a short space, than by study 
in a longer. As John by weeping got the sealed book open, so cer- 
tainly men would gain much more than they do by reading good men's 
works, if they would but pray more over what they read. 5 Ah, Chris- 
tians ! pray before you read, and pray after you read, that all may be 
blessed and sanctified to you ; when you have done reading, usually 
close up thus ; — 

So let me live, so let me die, 
That 1 may live eternally. 

1 Salvianus de G. D. 1. iv. 

■ Seneca had rather he sick, than idle and do nothing. [Epist. lvi. — G] 

1 The ' centre-mark.' — G. 

4 The plaster will not heal if it he not applied. 

'■ J Prayer is porta cccli, clavis paradisi. 



EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 293 

And when you are in the mount for yourselves, bear him upon your 
hearts, who is willing to 'spend and be spent ' for your sakes, for your 
souls, 2 Cor. xii. 15. Oh ! pray for me, that I may more and more be 
under the rich influences and glorious pourings out of the Spirit ; that I 
may ' be an able minister of the New Testament, not of the letter, but 
of the Spirit,' 2 Cor. iii 6 ; that I may always find an everlasting spring 
and an overflowing fountain within me, which may alway make me 
faithful, constant, and abundant in the work of the Lord ; and that I 
may live daily under those inward teachings of the Spirit, that may 
enable me to speak from the heart to the heart, from the conscience to 
the conscience, and from experience to experience ; that I may be a 
'burning and a shining light,' that everlasting arms may be still under 
me ; that whilst I live, I may be serviceable to his glory and his people's 
good ; that no discouragements may discourage me in my work ; and 
that when my work is done, I may give up my account with joy and 
not with grief. I shall follow these poor labours with my weak prayers, 
that they may contribute much to your internal and eternal welfare, 
and so rest, 

Your soul's servant in our dearest Lord, 

Thomas Brooks. 



THE MUTE CHRISTIAN UNDER THE 
SMARTING ROD. 



/ vjcls dumb, I opened not my mouth ; because thou didst it. — 
Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

Not to trouble you with a tedious preface, wherein usually is a flood 
of words, and but a drop of matter, 

This psalm consists of two parts, the first exegetical or narrative, the 
second eutical 1 or precative. 2 1. Narration and prayer take up the 
whole. In the former, you have the prophet's disease discovered ; and in 
the latter, the remedy applied. My text falls in the latter part, where 
you have the way of David's cure, or the means by which his soul was 
reduced to a still and quiet temper. I shall give a little light into the 
words, and then come to the point that I intend to stand upon. 

'I was dumb.' The Hebrew word *fi»^>N3 from cha signifies to be mute, 
tongue-tied, or dumb. The Hebrew word signifies also to bind, as well 
as to be mute and dumb, because they that are dumb are as it were 
tongue-tied ; they have their lips stitched and bound up. Ah ! the sight 
of God's hand in the afflictions that was upon him, makes him lay a law 
of silence upon his heart and tongue. 3 

' I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.' He looks through 
all secondary causes to the first cause, and is silent : he sees a hand of 
God in all, and so sits mute and quiet. The sight of God in an affliction 
is of an irresistible efficacy to silence the heart, and to stop the mouth 
of a gracious man. In the words you may observe three things : 

1. The person speaking, and that is, David ; David a king, David a 
saint, David 'a man after God's own heart,' David a Christian ; ami 
here we are to look upon David, not as a king, but as a Christian, as a 
man whose heart was right with God. 

2. The action and carriage of David under the hand of God, in 
these words, ' I was dumb, and opened not my mouth.' 

3. The reason of this humble and sweet carriage of his, in these 
words, ' because thou didst it.' The proposition is this : 

1 Sic : and have collated all the editions. Qu. — from the old theological term ethos 
irifos), by which the writer reveals his own disposition ? — G. [Or, Qu. ' Euchical'? — Ed.] 

■ Supplicatory. — G. 

3 Some read it thus: ' I should have been dumb, and not have opened my mouth,' 
according to my first resolution, ver. 1, 2. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] THE MUTE CHRISTIAN. 295 

JDoct. That it is the great duty and concernment of gracious souls 
to be mute and silent under the greatest afflictions, the saddest provi- 
dences, and sharpest trials that they meet with in this world. 

For the opening and clearing up of this great and useful truth, 1 shall 
inquire, 

First, What this silence is that is here pointed at in the proposition. 

Secondly, What a gracious, a holy, silence doth include. 

Thirdly, What this holy silence doth not include. 

Fourthly, The reasons of the point ; and then bring home all by way 
of application to our own souls. 

I. For the first, What is the silence here meant ? I answer, There is 
a sevenfold silence. 

First, There is a stoical silence. The stoics of old thought it alto- 
gether below a man that hath reason or understanding either to rejoice 
in any good, or to mourn for any evil ; but this stoical silence is such a 
sinful insensibleness as is very provoking to a holy God, Isa. xxvi. 10, 11. 
God will make the most insensible sinner sensible either of his hand 
here, or of his wrath in hell. It is a heathenish and a horrid sin to be 
without natural affections, Rom. i. 31. And of this sin Quintus Fabius 
Maximus seems to be foully guilty, who, when he heard that his mother 
and wife, whom he dearly loved, were slain by the fall of an house, and 
that his younger son, a brave, hopeful young man, died at the same 
time in Umbria, he never changed his countenance, but went on with 
the affairs of the commonwealth as if no such calamity had befallen 
him. This carriage of his spoke out more stupidity than patience, 
Job xxx vi. 13. 

And so Harpalus was not at all appalled when he saw two of his sons 
laid ready dressed in a charger, when Astyages had bid him to supper. 
This was a sottish insensibleness. Certainly if the loss of a child in the 
house be no more to thee than the loss of a chick in jhe yard, thy heart 
is base and sordid, and thou mayest well expect some sore awakening 
judgment, 1 This age is full of such monsters, who think it below the 
greatness and magnanimity of their spirits to be moved, affected, or 
afflicted with any afflictions that befall them. I know none so ripe and 
ready for hell as these. 

Aristotle speaks of fishes, that though they have spears thrust into 
their sides, yet they awake not. God thrusts many a sharp spear through 
many a sinner's heart, and yet he feels nothing, he complains of nothing. 
These men's souls will bleed to death. Seneca, Epist. x., reports of 
Senecio Cornelius, who minded his body more than his soul, and his 
money more than heaven ; when he had all the day long waited on his 
dying friend, and his friend was dead, he returns to his house, sups 
merrily, comforts himself quickly, goes to bed cheerfully. His sorrows 
were ended, and the time of his mourning expired before his deceased 
friend was interred. Such stupidity is a curse that many a man lies 
under. But this stoical silence, which is but a sinful sullenness, is not 
the silence here meant. 

Secondly, There is a politic silence. Many are silent out of policy. 
Should they not be silent, they should lay themselves more open either 
1 Hosea vii- 9. Balaam's ass reproves this dumbness. 



296 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

to tho rage and fury of men, or else to the plots and designs of men ; 
to prevent which they are silent, and will lay their hands upon their 
mouths, that others might not lay their hands upon their estates, lives, 
or liberties : ' And Saul also went home to Gibea.li, and there went with 
him a hand of men, whose hearts God had touched. But the children 
of Belial said, How shall this man save us? and they despised him, and 
brought him no presents; but he held his peace,' or was as though he 
had been deaf, 1 Sam. x. 26, 27. This new king being but newly 
entered upon his kingly government, and observing his condition to be- 
but mean and low, his friends but few, and his enemies many and 
potent, sons of Belial, i.e. men without yoke, as the word signifies, men 
that were desperately wicked, that were marked out for hell, that were 
even incarnate devils, who would neither submit to reason nor religion, 
nor be governed by the laws of nature nor of nations, nor yet by the 
laws of God: now this young priuce, to prevent sedition and rebellion, 
blood and destruction, prudently and politicly chooses rather to lay his 
hand ujion his mouth than to take a wolf by the ear or a lion by the 
beard ; wanted neither wit nor will to be mute ; he turns a deaf ear to 
all they say, his unsettled condition requiring silence. 1 

Henry the Sixth, emperor of Germany, used to say, Qui nescit 
tacere, nescit loqui, He that knows not how to be silent, knows not how 
to speak. Saul knew this was a time for silence ; he knew his work 
was rather to be an auditor than an orator. But this is not the silence 
the proposition speaks of. 

Thirdly, There is a foolish silence. Some fools there be that can 
neither do well nor speak well, and because they cannot word it neither 
as they would nor as they should, they are so wise as to be mute : 
Prov. xvii. 28, ' Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise, 
and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding/ As 
he cannot be wise that speaks much, so he cannot be known for a fool 
that says nothing. There are many wise fools in the world ; there are 
many silly fools, who, by holding their tongues, gain the credit and 
honour of being discreet men. He that doth not discover his want of 
wisdom by foolish babbling, is accounted wise, though he may be other- 
wise. Silence is so rare a virtue, where wisdom doth regulate it, that 
it is accounted a virtue where folly doth impose it. Silence was so 
highly honoured among the old Romans, that they erected altars to it. 
That man shall pass for a man of understanding, who so far understands 
himself as to hold his tongue. For though it be a great misery to be 
a fool, yet it is a greater that a man cannot be a fool but he must needs 
shew it. But this foolish silence is not the silence here meant. 

Fourthly, There is a sullen silence. Many, to gratify an humour, a 
lust, are sullenly silent; these are troubled with a dumb devil, which 
was the worst devil of all the devils you read of in the Scripture, Mark 
ix. 17-28. Pliny, in his Natural History, maketh mention of a certain 
people in the Indies, upon the river Gauges, called Astomy, that have 
no mouth, but do only feed upon the smell of herbs and flowers. 2 Cer- 

1 Hear, see, and be 6ilent, if thou wilt live in ponce, is a French proverb. 

2 Lib. vii. c. 2. The ' Astomi ' are referred to, and the chief ' sni.il ' supposed to be 
their 'food ' is that of 'apples.' Cf. also Lib. \i. c. 20. Both references contain the 
oddest observations. — G. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 297 

tainly there is a generation amongst us, who, when they are under the 
afflicting hand of God, have no mouths to plead with God, no lips to 
praise God, nor no tongues to justify God. These are possessed with a 
dumb devil ; and this dumb devil had possessed Ahab for a time : 
1 Kings xxi. 4, 'And Ahab came into his house, heavy and displeased, 
and laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would 
eat no bread.' Ahab's ambitious humour, his covetous humour, being 
crossed, he is resolved to starve himself, and to die of the sullens. A 
sullen silence is both a sin and a punishment. No devil frets and vexes, 
wears and wastes the spirits of a man, like this dumb devil, like this 
sullen silence. 

Some write of a certain devil, whom they call Hudgin, who will not, 
they say, hurt anybody, except he be wronged. I cannot speak so 
favourably of a sullen silence, for that wrongs many at once, God and 
Christ, bodies and soul. But this is not the silence here meant. 

Fifthly, There is a forced silence. Many are silent per force. He 
that is under the power of his enemy, though he suffer many hard 
things, yet he is silent under his sufferings, because he knows he is 
liable to worse ; he that hath taken away his liberty, may take away 
his life ; he that hath taken away his money, may take off his head ; 
he that hath let him blood in the foot, may let him blood in the throat 
if he will not be still and quiet : and this works silence per force. So, 
when many are under the afflicting hand of God, conscience tells them 
that now they are under the hand of an enemy, and the power of that 
God whom they have dishonoured, whose Son they have crucified, whose 
Spirit they have grieved, whose righteous laws they have transgressed, 
whose ordinances they have despised, and whose people they have 
abused and opposed ; and that he that hath taken away one child, may 
take away every child ; and he that hath taken away the wife, might 
have taken away the husband ; and he that hath taken away some 
part of the estate, might have taken away all the estate ; and that he 
who hath inflicted some distempers upon the body, might have cast 
both body and soul into hell-fire for ever ; and he that hath shut him 
up in his chamber, may shut him out of heaven at pleasure. The 
thoughts and sense of these things makes many a sinner silent under 
the hand of God ; but this is but a forced silence. 1 And such was the 
silence of Philip the Second, king of Spain, who, when his invincible 
Armada, that had been three years a-fitting, was lost, he gave command 
that all over Spain they should give thanks to God and the saints that 
it was no more grievous. As the cudgel forces the dog to be quiet and 
still, and the rod forces the child to be silent and mute, so the appre- 
hensions of what God hath done, and of what God may do, forces many 
a soul to be silent, Jer. iii. 10, 1 Kings xiv. 5-18. But this is not the 
silence here meant : a forced silence is no silence in the eye of God. 

Sixthly, There is a despairing silence. A despairing soul is Magor- 
missabib, a terror to himself ; he hath a hell in his heart, and horror in 
his conscience. He looks upwards, and there he beholds God frowning, 
and Christ bleeding ; he looks inwards, and there he finds conscience 
accusing and condemning of him; 2 he looks on the one side of him, and 

1 Ocnlos quos peccatttm cluudit, poena aperit. — Gregory, The eye that sin shuts, afflic- 
tion opens. s Psalm xciv. 7 ; xxviii. 1. 



298 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

there he hears all his sins crying out, We are thine, and we will follow 
thee ; we will to the grave with thee, we will to judgment with thee, 
and from judgment we will to hell with thee ; he looks on the other 
side of him, and there he sees infernal fiends in fearful shapes, amazing 
and terrifying of him, and waiting to receive his despairing soul as 
soon as she shall take her leave of his wretched body ; he looks above 
him, and there he sees the gates of heaven shut against him ; he looks 
beneath him, and there he sees hell gaping for him ; and under these 
sad sights, he is full of secret conclusions against his own soul. There 
is mercy for others, saith the despairing soul, but none for me ; grace 
and favour for others, but none for me ; pardon and peace for others, 
but none for me ; blessedness and happiness for others, but none for me: 
there is no help, there is no help, no, Jer. ii. 25, xviii. 12. This seems 
to be his case who died with this desperate saying in his mouth, Spes et 
fortuna valete, farewell, life and hope together. 1 Now, under these 
dismal apprehensions and sad conclusions about its present and future 
condition, the despairing soul sits silent, being filled with amazement 
and astonishment : Ps. lxxvii. 4, ' I am so troubled that I cannot 
speak.' But this is not the silence here meant. But, 

Seventhly and lastly, There is a prudent silence, a holy, a gracious 
silence; a silence that springs from prudent principles, from holy prin- 
ciples, and from gracious causes and considerations ; and this is the 
silence here meant. And this I shall fully discover in my answers to 
the second question, which is this : 

II. Quest. 2. What doth a prudent, a gracious, a holy silence in- 
clude ? 

Ans. 2. It includes and takes in these eight things : 
First, It includes a sight of God, and an acknoivledgment of God 
as the author of all the afflictions that come upon us. And this you 
have plain in the text : ' 1 was dumb, I opened not my mouth ; because 
thou didst it.' The psalmist looks through secondary causes to the first 
cause, and so sits mute before the Lord. There is no sickness so little. 
but God hath a finger in it, though it be but the aching of the little 
finger. As the scribe is more eyed and properly said to write, than the 
pen; and he that maketh and keepeth the clock, is more properly said 
to make it go and strike, than the wheels and weights that hang upon 
it; and as every workman is more eyed and properly said to effect his 
works, rather than the tools which he useth as his instruments. So 
the Lord, who is the chief agent and mover in all actions, and who hath 
the greatest hand in all our afflictions, is more to be eyed and owned 
than any inferior or subordinate causes whatsover; 2 so Job, he beheld 
God in all: Job i. 21, ' The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.' 
Had he not seen God in the affliction, he would have cried out: Oh 
these wretched Chaldeans, they have plundered and spoiled me ; these 
wicked Sabeans, they have robbed and wronged me ! Job discerns 
God's commission in the Chaldeans' and the Sabeans' hands, and then 

1 As that despairing pope said, the cross could do him no good, because he had so 
often sold it. 

a In second causes, many times a Christian may see much envy, hatred, malice, pride, 
&e. But in the first cause he can see nothing but grace and mercy, sweetness and good- 
ness. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 299 

lays his own hand upon his mouth. So Aaron, beholding the hand of 
God in the untimely death of his two sons, holds his peace, Lev. x. 3. 
The sight of God in this sad stroke is a bridle both to his mind and 
mouth, he neither mutters nor murmurs. So Joseph saw the hand of 
God in his brethren's selling of him into Egypt, Gen. xlv. 8, and that 
silences him. 

Men that see not God in an affliction, are easily cast into a feverish 
fit, they will quickly be in a flame, and when their passions are up, and 
their hearts on fire, they will begin to be saucy, and make no bones of 
telling God to his teeth, that they do well to be angry, Jonah iv. 8, 9. 
Such as will not acknowledge God to be the author of all their afflic- 
tions, will be ready enough to fall in with that mad principle of the 
Manichees, who maintained the devil to be the author of all calamities ; 
as if there could be any evil of affliction in the city, and the Lord have 
no hand in it, Amos iii. 6. Such as can see the ordering hand of God 
in all their afflictions, will, with David, lay their hands upon their 
mouths, when the rod of God is upon their backs, 2 Sam. xvi. 11, 12. 
If God's hand be not seen in the affliction, the heart will do nothing 
but fret and rage under affliction. 

Secondly, It includes and takes in some holy, gracious apprehen-^ 
sions of the majesty, sovereignty, dignity, authority, and presence of 
that God under whose afflicting hand tve are: Hab. ii. 20, 'But the 
Lord is in his holy temple : let all the earth be silent/ or as the Hebrew 
reads it, ' Be silent, all the earth, before his face.' When God would 
have all the people of the earth to be hushed, quiet, and silent before 
him, he would have them to behold him in his temple, where he sits in 
state, in majesty, and glory : Zeph. i. ' Hold thy peace at the presence 
of the Lord God/ Chat not, murmur not, repine not, quarrel not ; 
whist, stand mute, be silent, lay thy hand on thy mouth, when his hand 
is upon thy back, who is totus oculus, all eye to see, as well as all hand 
to punish. As the eyes of a well-drawn picture are fastened on thee 
which way soever thou turnest, so are the eyes of the Lord ; and there- 
fore thou hast cause to stand mute before him. 

Thus Aaron had an eye to the sovereignty of God, and that silences 
him. And Job had an eye upon the majesty of God, and that stills 
him. And Eli had an eye upon the authority and presence of God, 
and that quiets him. 1 A man never comes to humble himself, nor to 
be silent under the hand of God, until he comes to see the hand of God 
to be a mighty hand : 1 Pet. v. 6, ' Humble yourselves therefore under 
the mighty hand of God.' When men look upon the hand of God as a 
weak hand, a feeble hand, a low hand, a mean hand, their hearts rise 
against his hand. ' Who is the Lord,' saith Pharaoh, ' that I should 
obey his voice?' Exod. v. 2. And until Pharaoh came to see the hand 
of God, as a mighty hand, and to feel it as a mighty hand, he would 
not let Israel go. When Tiribazus, a noble Persian, 1 ' was arrested, at 
first he drew out his sword and defended himself ; but when they charged 
him in the king's name, and informed him that they came from the 
king, and were commanded to bring him to the king, he yielded will- 
ingly. So when afflictions arrest us, we shall murmur and grumble, 

1 Lev. x. 3 ; Job xxxvii. 13, 14 ; 1 Sam. iii. 11, 19. 
* The favourite of Artaxerxes II. — G. 



300 TIIK MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

and struggle, and strive even to the death, before we shall yield to that 
God that strikes, until we come to see his majesty and authority, until 
we come to see him as the King of kings, and Lord of lords, Isa. xxvi. 
11, 12. It is such a sight of God as this, that makes the heart to 
stoop under his almighty hand, Rev. i. 5. The Tliracians being igno- 
rant of the dignity and majesty of God ; when it thundered and light- 
ened, used to express their madness and folly in shooting their arrows 
against heaven threatening-wise. 1 As a sight of his grace cheers the 
soul, so a sight of his greatness and glory silences the soul. 2 But, 

Thirdly, A gracious, a prudent silence, takes in a holy quietness and 
calmness of m/i/nd and spirit, under the afflicting hand of God. A 
gracious silence shuts out all inward heats, murmurings, fret tings, quar- 
relings, wranglings, and boilings of heart : Ps. lxii. 1, 'Truly my soul 
keepeth silence unto God, or is silent or still ;' that is, my soul is quiet 
and submissive to God ; all murmurings and repinings, passions and 
turbulent affections, being allayed, tamed, and subdued. This also is 
dear in the text ; and in the former instances of Aaron, Eli, and Job. 
They saw that it was a Father that put those bitter cups in their hands, 
and love that laid those heavy crosses upon their shoulders, and grace 
that put those yokes about their necks ; and this caused much quietness 
and calmness in their spirits. Marius bit in his pain when the chirur- 
geon cut off his leg. 3 Some men, when God cuts off this mercy and 
that mercy from them, they bite in their pain, they hide and conceal 
their grief and trouble ; but could you but look into their hearts, you 
will find all in an uproar, all out of order, all in a flame ; and however 
they may seem to be cold without, yet they are all in a hot burning fever 
within. Such a feverish fit David was once in, Ps. xxxix. 3. But cer- 
tainly a holy silence allays all tumults in the mind, and makes a man 
' in patience to possess his own soul,' which, next to his possession of 
God, is the choicest and sweetest possession in all the world, Luke 
xxi. 19. The law of silence is as well upon that man's heart and mind, 
as it is upon his tongue, who is truly and divinely silent under the 
rebuking hand of God. As tongue-service abstracted from heart-service 
is no service in the account of God ; so tongue-silence abstracted from 
heart-silence is no silence in the esteem of God. A man is then gra- 
ciously silent when all is quiet within and without, Isa. xxix. 13, Mat. 
xv. 8, 9. 

Terpander, 4 a harper and a poet, was one that, by the sweetness of 
his verse and music, could allay the tumultuous motions of men's minds, 
as David by his harp did Saul's. When God's people are under the 
rod, he makes by his Spirit and word such sweet music in their souls, 
as allays all tumultuous motions, passions, and perturbations, Ps. xciv. 
17-19, Ps. cxix. 49, 50, so that they sit, Noah-like, quiet and still; and 
in peace possess their own souls. 

Fourthly, A prudent, a holy silence, takes in an humble, justifying, 
clearing and acquitting of God of all blame, rigour and injustice, in 
oil the afflictions lie brings upon us ; Ps. li. 4, ' That thou mayest be 
justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest,' that is, 

1 Herodotus. 2 Animus cujusque est quisque, the raiud is the man. 

3 Query, M. Marius, the friend of Cicero? — G. 
* Of Lesbos, the father of Greek music. — G. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 301 

when thou correctest. 1 God's judging his people is God's correcting or 
chastening of his people : 1 Cor. xi. 32, ' When we are judged, we are 
chastened of the Lord/ David's great care, when he was under the 
afflicting hand of God, was to clear the Lord of injustice. Ah ! Lord, 
saith he, there is not the least show, spot, stain, blemish, or mixture of 
injustice, in all the afflictions thou hast brought upon me ; I desire to 
take shame to myself, and to set to my seal, that the Lord is righteous, 
and that there is no injustice, no cruelty, nor no extremity in all that 
the Lord hath brought upon me.' And so in that Psalm cxix. 75, 137, 
he sweetly and readily subscribes unto the righteousness of God in those 
sharp and smart afflictions that God exercised him with. ' I know, O 
Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast 
afflicted me. Righteous art thou, O Lord, and righteous are thy judg- 
ments.' God's judgments are always just ; he never afflicts but in faith- 
fulness. His will is the rule of justice ; and therefore a gracious soul 
dares not cavil nor question his proceedings. The afflicted soul knows 
that a righteous God can do nothing but that which is righteous ; it 
knows that God is incontrollable, and therefore the afflicted man puts 
his mouth in the dust, and keeps silence before him. Who dare say, 
' Wherefore hast thou done so?' 2 Sam. xvi. 10. 

The Turks, when they are cruelly lashed, are compelled to return to 
the judge that commanded it, to kiss his hand, give him thanks, and 
pay the officer that whipped them, and so clear the judge and officer of 
injustice. Silently to kiss the rod, and the hand that whips with it, is 
the noblest way of clearing the Lord of all injustice. 

The Babylonish captivity was the sorest, the heaviest affliction that 
ever God inflicted upon any people under heaven ; witness that 
1 Sam. xii., and Dan. ix. 12, &c. Yet under those smart afflictions, 
wisdom is justified of her children : Neh. ix. 33, ' Thou art just in all 
that is brought upon us, for thou hast done right, but we have done 
wickedly ;' Lam. i. 18, ' The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against 
him.' A holy silence shines in nothing more than in an humble justi- 
fying and clearing of God from all that which a corrupt heart is apt 
enough to charge God with in the day of affliction. God, in that he is 
good, can give nothing, nor do nothing, but that which is good ; others 
do frequently, he cannot possibly, saith Luther, on Ps. 120th. 

Fifthly, A holy silence takes in gracious, blessed, soul-quieting con- 
clusions about the issue and event of those afflictions that are upon 
us, Lam. iii. 27-34. In this choice scripture you may observe these 
five soul-stilling conclusions. 

(1.) First, and that more generally, That they shall tvork for their 
good : ver. 27, ' It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.' 
A gracious soul secretly concludes, as stars shine brightest in the night, 
so God will make my soul shine and glister like gold, whilst I am in 
this furnace, and when I come out of the furnace of affliction : Job 
xxiii. 1 0, ' He knoweth the way that I take ; and when he hath tried 
me, I shall come forth as gold.' 

Surely, as the tasting of honey did open Jonathan's eyes, so this 
cross, this affliction, shall open mine eyes ; by this stroke I shall come 

1 Plato calls God the liorn of plenty, the ocean of beauty, without the least spot of 
injustice. 



302 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

to have a clearer sight of my sins and of myself, and a fuller sight of my 
God, Job xxxiii. 27, 28 ; xl. 4, 5 ; xlii. 1-7. 

Surely this affliction shall issue in the purging away of my dross, 
Isa. i. 25. 

Surely as ploughing of the ground killeth the weeds, and harrowing 
breaketh hard clods, so these afflictions shall kill my sins, and soften 
my heart, Hosea v. 15, vi. 1-3. 

Surely as the plaster draws out the core, so the afflictions that are 
ii] i. m me shall draw out the core of pride, the core of self-love, the core 
of envy, the core of earthliness, the core of formality, the core of 
hypocrisy, Ps. cxix. 67, 71. 

Surely by these the Lord will crucify my heart more and more to 
the world, and the world to my heart, Gal. vi. 14 ; Ps. cxxxi. 1-3. 

Surely by these afflictions the Lord will hide pride from my soul, 
Job xxxiii, 14-21. 

Surely these afflictions are but the Lord's pruning-knives, by which 
he will bleed my sins, and prune my heart, and make it more fertile 
and fruitful; they are but the Lord's portion, by which he will clear 
me, and rid me of those spiritual diseases and maladies, which are most 
deadly and dangerous to my soul. 

Affliction is such a potion, as will carry away all ill humours, better 
than all the benedicta medicamenta, as physicians call them, Zech. 
xiii. 8, 9. 

Surely these shall increase my spiritual experiences, Rom. v. 3, 4. 

Surely by these I shall be made more partaker of God's holiness, 
Heb. xii. 10. As black soap makes white clothes, so doth sharp afflic- 
tions make holy hearts. 

Surely by these God will communicate more of himself unto me, 
Hosea ii. 14. 

Surely by these afflictions the Lord will draw out my heart more and 
more to seek him, Isa. xxvi. 16. Tatianus told the heathen Greeks, 
that when they were sick, then they would send for their gods to be 
with them , J as Agamemnon did at the siege of Troy, send for his ten 
councillors. Hosea v. 15, ' In their afflictions they will seek me early,' 
or as the Hebrew hath it, 'they will morning me ;' in times of affliction, 
Christians will industriously, speedily, early seek unto the Lord. 

Surely by these trials and troubles the Lord will fix my soul more 
than ever upon the great concernments of another world, John xiv. 1-3 ; 
Rom. viii. 17, 18 ; 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. 

Surely by these afflictions the Lord will work in me more tenderness 

and compassion towards those that are afflicted, Heb. x. 34, xiii. 3. 

As that Tyrian queen 2 said, 

Evils have taught me to hemoan, 
All that afflictions make to groan. 

The Romans punished one that was seen looking out at his window 
with a crown of roses on his head, in a time of public calamity. 
Bishop Bonner was full of guts, but empty of bowels ; I am afraid this 
age is full of such Bonners. 

Surely these are but God's love-tokens : Rev. iii. 19, 'As many as I 

1 In his u^lt "EAXrjva.-, Oratio adveraus Grozcos. — Q. 

1 Lido in Virgil, A T tc ignara mali, miseris luccurrere disco. — Ld. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 303 

love, I rebuke and chasten.' Seneca persuaded his friend Polybius to 
bear his affliction quietly, because he was the emperor's favourite, telling 
him, that it was not lawful for him to complain whilst Csesar was his 
friend. So saith the holy Christian, O my soul ! be quiet, be still ; all is 
in love, all is a fruit of divine favour. I see honey upon the top of 
every twig, I see the rod is but a rosemary branch, I have sugar with 
my gall, and wine with my wormwood ; therefore be silent, O my soul! 
and this general conclusion, that all should be for good, had this 
blessed effect upon the church : Lam. iii. 28, ' He sitteth alone, and 
keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.' 1 

Afflictions abase the loveliness of the world without, that might 
entice us ; it abates the lustiness of the flesh within, which might else 
ensnare us ! and it abates 2 the spirit in its quarrel against the flesh and 
the world ; by all which it proves a mighty advantage unto us. 

(2.) Secondly, TJtey shall keep them humble and low ; Lam. iii. 29, 
' He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.' Some 
say, that these words are an allusion to the manner of those that, having 
been conquered and subdued, lay their necks down at the conqueror's 
feet to be trampled upon, and so lick up the dust that is under the 
conqueror's feet. Others of the learned looked upon the words as an 
allusion to poor petitioners, who cast themselves down at princes' feet, 
that they may draw forth their pity and compassion towards them. As 
I have read of Aristippus, who fell on the ground before Dionysius, and 
kissed his feet, when he presented a petition to him ; and being asked 
the reason, answered, Aures habet in pedibus, he hath his ears in his 
feet. Take it which way you will, it holds forth this to us, That holy 
hearts will be humble under the afflicting hand of God. When God's 
rod is upon their backs, their mouths shall be in the dust. A good 
heart will lie lowest, when the hand of God is lifted highest, Job xlii. 
1-7 ; Acts ix. 1-8. 

(3.) Thirdly, The third soul-quieting conclusion you have in Lam. 
iii. 31, 'For the Lord will not cast off for ever ;' the rod shall not always 
lie upon the back of the righteous. ' At even-tide, lo there is trouble, 
but afore morning it is gone,' Isa. xvii. 13. As Athanasius said to his 
friends, when they came to bewail his misery and banishment, Nubecula 
est, citb transibit ; it is but a little cloud, said he, and it will quickly 
be gone. There are none of God's afflicted ones, that have not their 
lucida intervalla, their intermissions, respites, breathing-whiles ; yea, 
so small a while doth the hand of the Lord rest upon his people, that 
Luther cannot get diminutives enough to extenuate it ; for he calls it a 
very little little cross that we bear: Isa. xxvi. 20, 'Come, my people, enter 
thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee : hide thyself 
as it were for a little moment (or for a little space, a little while), until 
the indignation be overpast.' The indignation doth not transire, but 
pertransire, pass, but over-pass. The sharpness, shortness, and sudden- 
ness of the saints' afflictions, is set forth by the travail of a woman, 
John xvi. 21, which is sharp, short, and sudden. 3 

1 Some say, if a knife or needle be touched with a loadstone of an iron colour, it will 
cut or enter into a man's body, without any sense of pain at all ; so will afflictions when 
touched with the loadstone of divine love. 2 Qu. 'abets'? — Ed. 

8 A little storm, as he said of Julian's persecution, and an eternal calm follows. 



30+ Till: MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

(4) Fourthly, The fourth soul-silencing conclusion you have in 
Lamentations iii. 32. ' But though he cause grief, yet will he have com- 
passion, according to the multitude of his mercies/ ' In wrath God 
remembers mercy,' Hab. iii. 2. ' Weeping may endure for a night, but 
joy conn ill in the morning/ Ps. xxx. 5. Their mourning shall last but 
till morning. God will turn their winter's night into a Bummer's day, 
their sighing into singing, their grief into gladness, their mourning into 
music, their bitter into sweet, their wilderness into a paradise. The 
life of a Christian is filled up with interchanges of sickness and health, 
weakness and strength, want and wealth, disgrace and honour, crosses 
and comforts, miseries and mercies, joys and sorrows, mirth and mourn- 
ing ; all honey would harm us, all wormwood would undo us ; a com- 
position of both is the best way in the world to keep our souls in a 
healthy constitution. It is best and most for the health of the soul 
that the south wind of mercy, and the north wind of adversity, do both 
blow upon it ; and though every wind that blows shall blow good to 
the saints, yet certainly their sins die most, and their graces thrive best, 
when they are under the drying, nipping north wind of calamity, as well 
as under the warm, cherishing south wind of mercy and prosperity. 

(5.) Fifthly, The fifth soul-quieting conclusion you have in Lament, 
iii. 33, ' For he doth not afflict willingly (or as the Hebrew hath it, 
• from his heart'), ' nor grieve the children of men.' The church con- 
cludes, that God's heart was not in their afflictions, though his hand 
was. He takes no delight to afflict his children ; it goes against the 
hair and the heart; it is a grief to him to be grievous to them, a pain 
to him to be punishing of them, a death to him to be striking of them ; 
he hath no will, no motion, no inclination, no disposition, to that work 
of afflicting of his people ; and therefore he calls it his 'work, his strange 
work/ Isa. xxviii. 21. Mercy and punishment, they flow from God, as 
the honey and the sting from the bee. The bee yieldeth honey of her 
own nature, but she doth not sting but when she is provoked. He takes 
delight in shewing of mercy, Micah vii. 18 ; he takes no pleasure in 
living his people up to adversity, Hosea xi. 8. Mercy and kindness 
tloweth from him freely, naturally ; he is never severe, never harsh ; he 
never stings, he never terrifies us, but when he is sadly provoked by 
us. God's hand sometimes may lie very hard upon his people, when 
his heart, his bowels, at those very times may be yearning towards his 
people, Jer. xxxi. 18-20. No man can tell how the heart of God 
stands by his hand ; his hand of mercy may be open to those against 
whom his heart is set, as you see in the rich poor fool, and Dives, in the 
Gospel ; and his hand of severity may lie hard upon those on whom he 
hath set his heart, as you may see in Job and Lazarus. And thus you 
see those gracious, blessed, soul-quieting conclusions about the issue 
and event of afflictions, that a holy, a prudent silence doth include. 

Sixthly, A holy, a prudent silence includes and takes in a strict 
charge, a solemn command, that conscience lays upon the soul to be 
quiet and still. 1 Ps. xxxvii. 7, ' Rest in the Lord' (or as the Hebrew 
hath it, ' be silent to the Lord'), ' and wait patiently for him.' I charge 

1 The heathen could say, A recta c<mscientia ne latum quidem vnguem discedendum, Man 
may not depart an hair's-breadth all his life; long from the dictates of a good conscience. 
[Seneca in Kpist. and De Vita Beita. -G.] 



Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 305 

thee, O my soul, not to mutter, nor to murmur ; I command thee, O 
my soul, to be dumb and silent under the afflicting hand of God. As 
Christ laid a charge, a command, upon the boisterous winds and the 
roaring raging seas, — Mat. viii. 26, ' Be still ; and there was a great 
calm,' — so conscience lays a charge upon the soul to be quiet and still : 
Ps. xxvii. 14, ' Wait on the Lord ; be of good courage, and he shall 
strengthen thy heart : wait, I say, on the Lord.' Peace, O my soul ! 
be still, leave your muttering, leave your murmuring, leave your com- 
plaining, leave your chafing and vexing, and lay your hand upon your 
mouth, and be silent. Conscience allays and stills all the tumults and 
uproars that be in the soul, by such like reasonings as the clerk of 
Ephesus stilled that uproar : Acts xix. 40, ' For we are in danger to be 
called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby 
we may give an account of this concourse.' O my soul ! be quiet, be 
silent, else thou wilt one day be called in question for all those inward 
mutterings, uproars, and passions that are in thee, seeing no sufficient 
cause can be produced why you should murmur, quarrel, or wrangle, 
under the righteous hand of God. 

Seventhly, A holy, a prudent silence includes a surrendering, a 
resigning up of ourselves to God, whilst we are under his afflicting 
hand. The silent soul gives himself up to God. 1 The secret language 
of the soul is this : ( Lord, here am I ; do with me what thou pleasest, 
write upon me as thou pleasest : I give up myself to be at thy dispose.' 

There was a good woman, who, when she was sick, being asked 
whether she were willing to live or die, answered, 'Which God pleaseth.' 
But, said one that stood by, 'If God should refer it to you,. which should 
you choose ?' ' Truly,' said she, ' if God should refer it to me, I would 
even refer it to him again.' This was a soul worth gold. Well ! saith 
a gracious soul, the ambitious man giveth himself up to his honours, 
but I give up myself unto thee ; the voluptuous man gives himself up 
to his pleasures, but I give up myself to thee ; the covetous man gives 
himself up to his bags, but I give up myself to thee ; the wanton gives 
himself up to his minion, but I give up myself to thee ; the drunkard 
gives himself up to his cups, but I give up myself to thee ; the papist 
gives up himself to his idols, but I give myself to thee ; the Turk 
gives up himself to his Mahomet, but I give up myself to thee ; the 
heretic gives up himself to his heretical opinions, but I give up myself 
to thee. Lord \ lay what burden thou wilt upon me, only let thy ever- 
lasting arms be under me [Luther]. Strike, Lord, strike, and spare not, 
for I am lain down in thy will, I have learned to say amen to thy amen ; 
thou hast a greater interest in me than I have in myself, and therefore 
I give up myself unto thee, and am willing to be at thy dispose, and 
am ready to receive what impression thou shalt stamp upon me. O 
blessed Lord ! hast thou not again and again said unto me, as once the 
king of Israel said to the king of Syria, ' I am thine, and all that I 
have,' 1 Kings xx. 4. I am thine, O soul ! to save thee ; my mercy is 
thine to pardon thee ; my blood is thine to cleanse thee ; my merits are 
thine to justify thee; my righteousness is thine to clothe thee; my Spirit 
is thine to lead thee ; my grace is thine to enrich thee ; and my glory is 
thine to reward thee ; and therefore, saith a gracious soul, I cannot but 
1 Ps. xxvii. 8 ; James iv. 7 ; 1 Sam. iii. 18, xv. 25, 26 ; Acts xi. 1?., 14, &c. 

VOL. I. U 



306 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9- 

make a resignation of myself unto thee. 'Lord ! here I am, do with me as 
seem'eth good in thine own eyes.' I know the best way to have my own 

will, is to resign up myself to thy will, and to say amen to thy amen. 

I have read of a gentleman, who, meeting with a shepherd in a misty 
morning, asked him what weather it would be? It will be, saith the 
shepherd, what weather pleaseth me; and being courteously requested 
to express his meaning, Sir, saith he, it shall be what weather pleaseth 
< *<>i 1, and what weather pleaseth God pleaseth me. When a Christian's 
will is moulded into the will of God, he is sure to have his will. But, 

Eighthly and lastly, A holy, a prudent silence, takes in a patient 
waiting upon the Lord under our afflictions until deliverance comes : 
Ps. xl. 1-3 ; Ps. lxii. 5, ' My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my ex- 
pectation is from him;' Lam. iii. 26, 'It is good that a man should both 
hope, and quietly (or as the Hebrew hath it, silently) wait for the sal- 
vation of the Lord.' The husbandman patiently waiteth for the pre- 
cious fruits of the earth, the mariner patiently waiteth for wind and 
tide, and so doth the watchman for the dawning of the day ; and so doth 
the silent soul in the night of adversity, patiently wait for the dawning 
of the day of mercy, J araes v. 7, 8. The mercies of God are not styled 
the swift, but the sure mercies of David, and therefore a gracious soul 
waits patiently for them. And thus you see what a gracious, a prudent 
silence doth include. 

III. The third thing is, to discover what a holy, a prudent silence 
under affliction cloth not exclude. Now there are eight things that a 
holy patience doth not exclude. 

1. First, A holy, a prudent silence under affliction doth not exclude 
and shut out a sense and feeling of our afflictions. Ps. xxxix. 9, though 
he 'was dumb, and laid his hand upon his mouth,' yet he was very sen- 
sible of his affliction : verses 10, II, 'Remove thy stroke away from me, 
I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. When thou with rebukes 
dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away 
like a moth : surely every man is vanity/ He is sensible of his pain 
as well as of his sin ; and having prayed off his sin in the former verses, 
he labours here to pray off his pain. Diseases, aches, sicknesses, pains, 
they are all the daughters of sin, and he that is not sensible of them as 
the births and products of sin, doth but add to his sin and provoke the 
Lord to add to his sufferings, Isa. xxvi. 9-11. No man shall ever be 
charged by God for feeling his burden, if he neither fret nor faint under 
it. Grace doth not destroy nature, but rather perfect it. Grace is of 
a noble offspring ; it neither turneth men into stocks nor to stoics. The 
more grace, the more sensible of the tokens, frowns, blows, and lashes of 
a displeased Father. Though Calvin, under his greatest pains, was 
never heard to mutter nor murmur, yet he was heard often to say, 
' How long, Lord, how long ?' A religious commander being shot in 
battle, when the wound was searched, and the bullet cut out, some 
standing by, pitying his pain, he replied, Though I groan, yet I bless 
God I do not grumble. 1 God allows his people to groan, though not to 
grumble. It is a God-provoking sin to be stupid and senseless under 
the afflicting hand of God. God will heat that man's furnace of afBic- 
1 Sir Philip Sydney?— G. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 307 

tion sevenfold hotter, who is in the furnace but feels it not : l Isa. xlii- 
24, 25, ' Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers ? did not 
the Lord, he against whom we have sinned ? for they would not walk 
in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he 
hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle : 
and he hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not ; and it 
burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.' Stupidity lays a man open to 
the greatest fury and severity. 

The physician, when he hndeth that the potion which he hath given 
his patient will not work, he seconds it with one more violent ; and if 
that will not work, he gives another yet more violent. If a gentle 
plaster will not serve, then the chirurgeon applies that which is more 
corroding ; and if that will not do, then he makes use of his cauterizing 
knife. So when the Lord afflicts, and men feel it not ; when he strikes, 
and they grieve not ; when he wounds them, and they awake not : then 
the furnace is made hotter than ever ; then his fury burns, then he 
lays on irons upon irons, bolt upon bolt, and chain upon chain, until he 
hath made their lives a hell. Afflictions are the saints' diet-drink ; and 
where do you read in all the Scripture that ever any of the saints drunk 
of this diet-drink, and were not sensible of it. 

2. Secondly, A holy, a prudent, silence doth not shut out prayer for 
deliverance out of our afflictions. Though the psalmist lays his hand 
upon his mouth in the text, yet he prays for deliverance : ver. 10, 
' Remove thy stroke away from me ;' and ver. 11, 12, ' Hear my prayer, 
O Lord ! and give ear unto my cry ; hold not thy peace at my tears ; 
for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. 
Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence and be no 
more ;' James v. 13, ' Is any among you afflicted'? let him pray ;' Ps. 1. 15, 
.' Call upon me in the day of trouble : I will deliver thee, and thou shalt 
glorify me.' Times of affliction, by God's own injunction, are special 
times of supplication. 2 David's heart was more often out of tune than 
his harp ; but then he prays and presently cries, ' Return to thy rest, 
O my soul.' Jonah prays in the whale's belly, and Daniel prays when 
among the lions, and Job prays when on the dunghill, and Jeremiah 
prays when in the dungeon, &c. ; yea, the heathen mariners, as stout as 
they were, when in a storm, they cry every man to his god, Jonah i. 
5, 6. To call upon God, especially in times of distress and trouble, is 
a lesson that the very light and law of nature teaches. The Persian 
messenger, though an heathen, as iEschylus observeth, saith thus : 
' When the Grecian forces hotly pursued our host, and we must needs 
venture over the great water Strymon, frozen then, but beginning to 
thaw, when a hundred to one we had all died for it, with mine eyes I 
saw, saith he, many of those gallants whom I had heard before so boldly 
maintain there was no God, every one upon his knees, and devoutly 
praying that the ice might hold till they got over.' 3 And shall blind 
nature do more than grace ? If the time of affliction be not a time of 
supplication, I know not what is. 

As there are two kinds of antidotes against poison, viz. hot and cold, 

1 No judgment to a stupid spirit, a hardened heart, and a brazen brow. 
* It is an old saying, Qui nescit orare, discat navigare, he that would learn to pray, let 
him go to sea. 3 Cf. iEschylus, Svppl. 258 ; Agam. 192.— G. 



3()8 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

so there are two kinds of antidotes against all the troubles and afflictions 
of this life, viz. prayer and patience : the one hot, the other cold ; the one 
quenching, the other quickening. Chrysostom understood this well 
enough when he cried out : Oh ! saith he, it is more bitter than death to 
be spoiled of prayer; and thereupon observes that Daniel chose rather 
to run the hazard of his life than to lose his prayer. Well! this is the 
second thing. A holy silence doth not exclude prayer ; but, 

3. Thirdly, A holy, a prudent silence doth not exclude men's being 
kmdly affected and afflicted ivith their sins as the meritorious cause 
of all their sorrows and sufferings. 1 Lam. iii. 39, 40, ' Wherefore doth 
a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sin? Let us 
search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord ;' Job xl. 4, 5, 
' Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand upon 
my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer ; yea, twice, but 
1 proceed no further;' Micah vii. 9, 'I will bear the indignation of the 
Lord, because I have sinned.' In all our sorrows we should read our 
sins; and when God's hand is upon our backs, our hands should be upon 
our sins. 

It was a good saying of one, ' I hide not my sins, but I shew them ; 
I wipe them not aw r ay, but I sprinkle them ; I do not excuse them, but 
accuse them. The beginning of my salvation is the knowledge of my 
transgression.' 2 When some told Prince Henry, 3 that delicios generis 
humani, that darling of mankind, that the sins of the people brought 
that affliction on him, Oh no! said he, I have sins enough of my own to 
cause that. ' I have sinned, saith David, but what have these poor 
sheep done?' 2 Sam. xxiv. 17. When a Christian is under the afflict- 
ing hand of God, he may well say, I may thank this proud heart of 
mine, this worldly heart, this froward heart, this formal heart, this dull 
heart, this backsliding heart, this self-seeking heart of mine ; for that 
this cup is so bitter, this pain so grievous, this loss so great, this dis- 
ease so desperate, this wound so incurable ; it is mine own self, mine 
own sin, that hath caused these floods of sorrows to break in upon me. 
But, 

4. Fourthly, A holy, a prudent silence doth not exclude the teaching 
and instructing of others when we are afflicted. The words of the 
afflicted stick close ; they many times work strongly, powerfully, 
strangely, savingly, upon the souls and consciences of others. Many of 
Paul's epistles were written to the churches when he was in bonds, viz., 
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon ; he begot One- 
simus in his bonds, Philem. 10. And many of the brethren in the 
Lord waxed bold and confident by his bonds, and were confirmed, and 
made partakers of grace by his ministry, when he was in bonds, Philip, i. 
7, 13, 14. As the words of dying persons do many times stick and 
work gloriously, so many times do the words of afflicted persons work 
very nobly and efficaciously. I have read of one Adrianus, who, see- 
ing the martyrs surfer such grievous things for the cause of Christ, he 
asked what that was which enabled them to suffer such things ? and 
one of them named that 1 Cor. ii. 9, ' Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 

1 Road Ezra ix. ; Neb ix ; Dan. ix. 6, 15, with Job vii. * [Job. Lud.] Vivaldus. 

* Son of James I., whose death was ' married to immortal verso ' by George Chap- 
man. — G. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 309 

neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him.' This word was like apples of gold 
in pictures of silver, Prov. xxv. 11, for it made him not only a convert, 
but a martyr too. And this was the means of Justin Martyr's conver- 
sion, as himself confesseth. Doubtless, many have been made happy 
by the words of the afflicted. The tongue of the afflicted hath been to 
many as choice silver. The words of the afflicted many times are both 
pleasing and profitable ; they tickle the ear and they win upon the 
heart ; they slide insensibly into the hearers' souls, and work effica- 
ciously upon the hearers' hearts : Eccles. x. 12, ' The words of a wise 
man's mouth are gracious,' or grace, as the Hebrew hath it ; and so 
Jerome reads it, Verba oris sapientis gratia, the words of the mouth 
of a wise man are grace. They minister grace to others, and they win 
grace and favour from others. Gracious lips make gracious hearts ; 
gracious words are a grace, an ornament to the speaker, and they are a 
comfort, a delight, and an advantage to the hearer. 

Now, the words of a wise man's mouth are never more gracious tnan 
when he is most afflicted and distressed. Now, you shall find most 
worth arid weight in his words ; now his lips, like the spouse's, are like 
a thread of scarlet ;they are red with talking much of a crucified Christ, 
and they are thin like a thread, not swelled with vain and unprofitable 
discourses. Now his mouth speaketh of wisdom, and his tongue talketh 
judgment, for the law of the Lord is in his heart, Ps. xxxvii. 30 ; now 
his lips drop as honey-combs, Cant. iv. 11 ; now his tongue is a tree of 
life, whose leaves are medicinable, Prov. xii. 18. As the silver trumpets 
sounded most joy to the Jews in the day of their gladness, so the mouth 
of a wise man, like a silver trumpet, sounds most joy and advantage to 
others in the days of his sadness, Num. x. 10. 

The heathen man could say, Quando sapiens loquitur, aulea animi 
aperit, when a wise man speaketh, he openeth the rich treasure and 
wardrobe of his mind ; so may I say, when an afflicted saint speaks, 
Oh the pearl, the treasures that he scatters ! But, 

5. Fifthly, A holy, a prudent silence doth not exclude moderate 
mourning or tveeping under the afflicting hand of God. Isa. xxxviii. 3, 
' And Hezekiah wept sore,' or, as the Hebrew hath it, ' wept with great 
weeping. 1 But was not the Lord displeased with him for his great 
weeping ? No ; ver. 5, ' I have heard thy prayers, I have seen thy 
tears : behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.' God had as 
well a bottle for his tears, as a bag for his sins, Ps. lvi. 8. There is no 
water so sweet as the saints' tears, when they do not overflow the banks 
of moderation. Tears are not mutes ; they have a voice, and their 
oratory is of great prevalency with the almighty God. And therefore 
the weeping prophet calleth out for tears: Lam. ii. 18, ' Their heart 
crieth unto the Lord, wall of the daughter of Zion.let tears run down 
like a river day and night : give thyself no rest ; let not the apple of 
thine eye cease;' or, as the Hebrew hath it, 'let not the daughters of 
thine eye be silent.' 2 That which we call the ball or apple of the eye, 
the Hebrews call the daughter of the eye, because it is as dear and 

1 Ps. vi. 6 ; xxxix. 1 ; Jer. ix. 1,2; Lam. i. ; ii. 11, 18. 

1 And the Greeks call the apple of the eye, the damsel of the eye, the girl of the eye ; 
and the Latins call it the babe of the eye. 



310 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

tender to a man as an only daughter ; and because therein appears the 
likeness of a little daughter. Upon which words, saith Bellarmine, 
C lames asffidvZ ad Deum, non lingua, sed oculis, non verbis sed 
lichrymis, lata enim est oratio, qua; pacare solet : cry aloud, not with 
thy tongue, but with thine eyes ; not with thy words, but with thy tears ; 
for that is the prayer that maketh the most forcible entry into the ears 
of the great God of heaven. When God strikes, he looks that we 
should tremble ; when his hand is lifted high, he looks that our hearts 
should stoop low ; when he hath the rod in his hand, he looks that 
we should have tears in our eyes, as you may see by comparing of these 
scriptures together, Ps. lv. 2, xxxviii. 6, Job xxx. 2G-32. Good men 
weep easily, saith the Greek poet ; l and the better any are, are more 
inclining to weeping, especially under affliction : as yon may see in 
David, whose tears, instead of gems, were the common ornaments of 
his bed, Jonathan, Job, Ezra, Daniel, &c. How, saith one, shall God 
wipe away my tears in heaven, if I shed none on earth ? And how 
shall I reap in joy, if I sow not in tears ? I was born with tears, and 
I shall die with tears ; and why then should I live without them in this 
valley of tears ? 

There is as well a time to weep, as there is a time to laugh ; and a 
time to mourn, as well as a time to dance, Eccles. iii. 4. The mourning 
garment among the Jews was the black garment, and the black gar- 
ment was the mourning garment : Ps. xliii. 2, ' Why go ye mourning T 
The Hebrew word Kedar signifies black. Why go ye in black ? Some- 
times Christians must put off their gay ornaments, and put on their 
black, their mourning garments, Exod. xxxiii. 3-6. But, 

6. Sixthly, A gracious, a prudent silence cloth not exclude sighing, 
groaning, or roaring under afflictions. 2 A man may sigh, and groan, 
and roar under the hand of God, and yet be silent, It is not sighing, 
but muttering ; it is not groaning, but grumbling ; it is not roaring, 
but murmuring, that is opposite to a holy silence : Exod. ii. 23, 'And 
the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage.' Job iii. 24. 
' For my sighing cometh before I eat,' (or, as the Hebrew hath it) ' be- 
fore my meat;' his sighing, like bad weather, came unsent for and 
unsought : so Ps. xxxviii. 9, ' Lord, all my desire is before thee ; and 
my groaning is not hid from thee.' Ps. cii. 5, ' By reason of the voice 
of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.' Job iii. 24, 'And my 
roarings are poured out like the waters/ Ps. xxxviii. 8, ' I am feeble 
and sore broken ; I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my 
heart.' Ps. xxii. 1, 'My God ! my God ! why hast thou forsaken me? 
why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my roaring?' 
Ps. xxxii. 3, ' When I kept silence, my bones waxed old, through my 
roarings all the day long.' He roars, but doth not rage; he roars, but 
doth not repine. When a man is in extremit} 7 , nature prompts him to 
roar, and the law of grace is not against it ; and though sighing, roar- 
ing, groaning, cannot deliver a man out of his misery, yet they do give 
some ease to a man under his misery. When Solon wept for his son's 
death, one said to him, Weeping will not help. He answered, Alas '. 

1 Of. Seneca de Consolatione ad Polybium, iv. § 2, and Juvenal, xv. 133. — G. 
* You may see much of this by comparing the following scriptures: Lam. iv. 4, 11, 
2 1, 22; Ps. xxxi. 10 ; Jer. xlv. 3 ; Exod. ii. 24 ; Job xxiii. 3 ; l's. vi. 6. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 311 

therefore do I weep, because weeping will not help. So a Christian 
many times sighs, because sighing will not help ; and he groans, be- 
cause groaning will not help ; and he roars, because roaring will not 
help. Sometimes the sorrows of the saints are so great, that all tears 
are dried up, and they can get no ease by weeping ; and therefore for 
a little ease they fall a-sighing and groaning ; and this may be done, 
and yet the heart may be quiet and silent before the Lord. Peter 
wept and sobbed, and yet was silent. Sometimes the sighs and groans 
of a saint do in some sort tell that which his tongue can in no sort 
utter. But, 

7. Seventhly, A holy, a prudent silence, doth not exclude nor shut out 
the use of any just or lawful means, whereby persons may be delivered 
out of their afflictions. 1 God would not have his people so in love with 
their afflictions, as not to use such righteous means as may deliver them 
out of their afflictions : Mat. x. 23, ' But when they persecute you in this 
city, flee you into another ;' Acts xii. 5, When Peter was in prison, the 
saints thronged together to pray, as the original hath it, ver. 12 ; and 
they were so instant and earnest with God in prayer, they did so 
beseech and besiege the Lord, they did so beg and bounce at heaven- 
gate, ver. 5, that God could have no rest, till, by many miracles of power 
and mercy, he had returned Peter as a bosom-favour to them : Acts ix. 
23-25, ' And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel 
to kill him : but their laying await was known of Saul : and they 
watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took 
him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket' The blood 
of the saints is precious in God's eye, and it should not be vile in their 
own eyes. When providence opens a door of escape there is no reason 
why the saints should set themselves as marks and butts for their ene- 
mies to shoot at : 2 Thes. iii. 1, 2, the apostles desire the brethren ' to 
pray for them, that they may be delivered from unreasonable (dromi, 
absurd) and wicked (toi^sg/, villainous) men ; for all men have not faith.' 
It is a mercy worth a seeking, to be delivered out of the hands of ab- 
surd, villainous, and troublesome men. 

Afflictions are evil in themselves, and we may desire and endeavour 
to be delivered from them, James v. 14, 15, Isa. xxxviii. 18-21 ; both 
inward and outward means are to be used for our own preservation. Had 
not Noah built an ark, he had been swept away with the flood, though 
he had been with Nimrod and his crew on the tower of Babel, which 
was raised to the height of one thousand five hundred forty-six paces, 
as Heylin reports. 2 Though we may not trust in means, yet we may 
and ought to use the means ; in the use of them, eye that God that can 
only bless them, and you do your work. As the pilot that guides the 
ship hath his hand upon the rudder, and his eye en the star that directs 
him at the same time ; so when your hand is upon the means, let your 
eye be upon your God, and deliverance will come. We may neglect God 
as well by neglecting of means as by trustiug in means ; it is best to use 
them, and in the use of them, to live above them. Augustine tells of 
a man, that being fallen into a pit, one passing by falls a-questioning 
of him, what he made there, and how he came in ? Oh ! said the poor 

1 2 Kings v. 14, 15 ; Mat. iv. G, 7 ; xxii. 4, 5, 8 ; Luke xiv. 16-24 ; Acts xxvii. 24, 
25, 31. * Heylin Cosm. 1. iii. 



312 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [P.S. XXXIX. 9. 

man, ask me not how I came in, but help me and tell me how I may 
come out. The application is easy. But, 

8. Eighthly, and lastly, A holy, a prudent silence, doth not exclude 
a just and sober complaining against the authors, contrivers, abet- 
1 >rs, or i iisf rn mnitu of our afflictions : 2 Tim. iv. 14, 'Alexander the 
coppersmith did me much evil ; the Lord reward him according to his 
works.' This Alexander is conceived by some to be that Alexander that 
is mentioned, Acts xix. 33, who stood so close to Paul at Ephcsus, that 
he run the hazard of losing his life by appearing on his side ; l yet if 
glorious professors come to be furious persecutors, Christians may com- 
plain : 2 Cor. xi. 24, ' Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes, 
save one.' They inflict, saith Maimonides, no more than forty stripes, 
though he be as strong as Samson, but if he be weak, they abate of that 
number. They scourged Paul with the greatest severity, in making 
him suffer so oft the utmost extremity of the Jewish law, whenas they 
that were weak had their punishment mitigated : ver. 25, ' Thrice was 
I beaten with rods,' that is, by the Romans, whose custom it was to beat 
the guilty with rods. 

If Pharaoh make Israel groan, Israel may make his complaint against 
Pharaoh to the Keeper of Israel, Exod. ii. ; if the proud and blasphe- 
mous king of Assyria shall come with his mighty army to destroy the 
people of the Lord, Hezekiah may spread his letter of blasphemy before 
the Lord, Isa. xxxvii. 14-21. 

It was the saying of Socrates, that every man in this life had need 
of a faithful friend and a bitter enemy ; the one to advise him, and 
the other to make him look about him ; and this Hezekiah found by 
experience. 

Though Joseph's bow abode in strength, and the arm of his hands 
were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, yet Joseph 
may say, that the archers, or the arrow-masters, as the Hebrew hath it, 
have sorely grieved him, and ehotat him, and hated him : Gen.xlix. 23,24. 
And so David sadly complained of Doeg, Ps. cix. 1, 21 ; yea, Christ 
himself, who was the most perfect pattern for dumbness and silence 
under sorest trials, complains against Judas, Pilate, and the rest of his 
persecutors, Ps. lxix. 20, 30, &c. ; yea, though God will make his people's 
enemies to be the workmen that shall fit them and square them for his 
building, to be goldsmiths to add pearls to their crown, to be rods to 
beat off their dust, scullions to scour off their rust, fire to purge away 
their dross, and water to cleanse away their filthiness, fleshliness, and 
earthliness, yet may they point at them, and pour out their complaints 
to God against them, Ps. exxxii. 2-18. This truth I might make good 
by above a hundred texts of Scripture ; but it is time to come to the 
reasons of the point. 

IV. Why must Christians be mute and silent under the greatest 
afflictions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials that they meet 
"•/'/// in this world ? I answer, 

Reason 1. That they may the better hear and understand the voice 
of the rod. As the word hath a voice, the Spirit a voice, and conscience 

1 Calvin in loc. assumes this, designating him as one mnrtyris propinquus ; and Trapp 
adds, Brooks-like, 'A glorious professor may become a furious persecutor.' — G. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 313 

a voice, so the rod hath a voice. 1 Afflictions are the rod of God's anger, 
the rod of his displeasure, and his rod of revenge ; he gives a commis- 
sion to his rod, to awaken his people, to reform his people, or else to 
revenge the quarrel of his covenant upon them, if they will not bear 
the rod, and kiss the rod, and sit mute and silent under the rod : Micah 
vi. 9, ' The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom 
shall see thy name : hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.' God's 
rods are not mutes, they are all vocal, they are all speaking as well as 
smiting ; every twig hath a voice. Ah ! soul, saith one twig, thou sayest 
it smarts ; well! tell me, is it good provoking of a jealous God ? Jer. iv. 
18. Ah! soul, saith another twig, thou sayest it is bitter, it reacheth 
to thy heart, but hath not thine own doings procured these things ? 
Rom. vi. 20, 21. Ah! soul, saith another twig, where is the profit, the 
pleasure, the sweet that you have found in wandering from God ? Hosea 
ii. 7. Ah ! soul, saith another twig, was it not best with you, when you 
were high in your communion with God, and when you were humble 
and close in your walking with God ? Micah vi. 8. Ah ! Christian, 
saith another twig, wilt thou search thy heart, and try thy ways, and 
turn to the Lord thy God ? Lam. iii. 40. Ah ! soul, saith another twig, 
wilt thou die to sin more than ever, and to the world more than ever, 
and to relations more than ever, and to thyself more than ever ? Rom. 
xiv. 6-8; Gal. vi. 18. Ah! soul, saith another twig, wilt thou live 
more to Christ than ever, and cleave closer to Christ than ever, and 
prize Christ more than ever, and venture further for Christ than ever ? 
Ah ! soul, saith another twig, wilt thou love Christ with a more inflamed 
love, and hope in Christ with a more raised hope, and depend upon 
Christ with a greater confidence, and wait upon Christ with more 
invincible patience, &c. ? Now, if the soul be not mute and silent under 
the rod, how is it possible that it should ever hear the voice of the rod, 
or that it should ever hearken to the voice of every twig of the rod ? 
The rod hath a voice that is in the hands of earthly fathers, but children 
hear it not, they understand it not, till they are hushed and quiet, and 
brought to kiss it, and sit silently under it ; no more shall we hear or 
understand the voice of the rod that is in our heavenly Father's hand, 
till we come to kiss it, and sit silently under it. But, 

Reason 2. Gracious souls should be mute and silent under their 
greatest afflictions and sharpest trials, that they may difference and 
distinguish themselves from the men of the world, who usually fret 
and fling, mutter or murmur, curse and swagger, when they are 
under the afflicting hand of God: Isa. viii. 21, 22, 'And they shall 
pass through it hardly bestead and hungry : and it shall come to pass, 
that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse 
their king, and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto 
the earth ; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish ; and 
they shall be driven to darkness.' Ah ! how fretful and froward, how 
disturbed and distracted, how mad and forlorn, are these poor wretches 
under the rebukes of God ! They look upward and downward, this 
way and that way, on this side and on that, and finding no help, no 
succour, no support, no deliverance, like Bedlams, yea, like incarnate 
devils, they fall upon cursing of God, and their king : Isa. lix. 11, 'We 
1 Schola cruets est schola lucis. 



$14 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

roar all like hoars, and mourn sore like doves : we look for judgment, 
but there is none ; for salvation, but it is far from us/ 1 They express 
their inward vexation and indignation by roaring like bears. When 
bears are robbed of their whelps, or taken in a pit, oh how dreadfully 
will they roar, rage, tear, and tumble ! So when wicked persons are 
fallen into the pit of affliction, oh how will they roar, rage, tear, and cry 
out ! not of their sins, but of their punishments ; as Cain, ' My 
punishment is greater than I am able to bear,' Gen. iv. 13 ; Isa. li. 20. 
' Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild 
bull in a net : they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy 
God.' When the huntsman hath taken the wild bull in his toil, and so 
entangled him, that he is not able to wind himself out, oh, how fierce 
and furious will he be ! how will he spend himself in struggling to get 
out ! Such wild bulls are wicked men, when they are taken in the net 
of affliction. 

It is said of Marcellus the Roman general, that he could not be quiet, 
nee victor, nee victus, neither conquered nor conqueror ! It is so with 
wicked men ; they cannot be quiet, neither full nor fasting, neither sick 
nor well, neither in wealth nor want, neither in bonds nor at liberty, 
neither in prosperity nor in adversity : Jer. li. 37, 38, ' And Babylon 
shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment, and 
an hissing, without an^inhabitant. They shall roar together like lions : 
and they shall yell as lions' whelps.' When the lion roars, all the beasts 
of the field tremble, Amos iii. 8. When the lion roars, many creatures 
that could outrun him are so amazed and astonished at the terror of 
his roar, that they are not able to stir from the place. 2 Such roaring 
lions are wicked men, when they are under the smarting rod : Rev. xvi. 
9-12, ' They gnaw their tongues for pain, and they blaspheme the God 
of heaven, because of those sores, pains, and plagues that are poured 
upon them ; and they repented not of their deeds, to give him glory.' 
And therefore gracious souls have cause to be silent under their sorest 
trials, that they may difference and distinguish themselves from wicked 
men, who are ' like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters 
cast up mire and dirt/ Isa. lvii. 20. The verb yjjn, signifies to make a 
stir, to be exceeding busy, unquiet, or troublesome. Ah ! what a stir 
do wicked men make, when they are under the afflicting hand of God ! 
Ah ! the sea is restless and unquiet when there is no storm ; it cannot 
stand still, but hath his flux and reflux ; so it is much more restless, when 
by tempest upon tempest it is made to roar and rage, to foam and cast 
up mire and dirt. The raging sea is a fit emblem of a wicked man 
that is under God's afflicting hand. 

Reason 3. A third reason why gracious souls should be silent and 
mute under their sharpest trials is, that they may be conformable to 
Christ their head, who was dumb and silent under his sorest trials : 
Isa. liii. 7, ' He was oppressed, and he was afflicted ; yet he opened not 
his mouth : he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep 
before his shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.' Christ was 
tongue-tied under all his sorrows and sufferings : 1 Peter li. 21—23, 

1 The bear, as Aristotle observeth, licketb her whelps into form, aud lovoth them beyond 
measure, and is most lierce, roaring and raging when she is robbed of them. [Of. Pliny, 
sab voce. — ii."\ 2 Ambrose on Amos iii. 3. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 315 

' Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that } 7 e should follow 
his steps : who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth : 
who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he 
threatened not; but committed himself to him thatjudgeth righteously.' 1 
Christ upon the cross did not only read us a lecture of patience and 
6ilence, but he hath also set us v^oy^a^fAv, a copy or pattern of both, to 
be transcribed and imitated by us when we are under the smarting rod. 
It will be our sin and shame if we do not bear up with patience and 
silence under all our sufferings, considering what an admirable copy 
Christ hath set before us. It is said of Antiochus, that being to fight 
with Judas, captain of the host of the Jews, he shewed unto his 
elephants the blood of the grapes and mulberries, to provoke them the 
better to fight. 2 So the Holy Ghost hath set before us the injuries and 
contumelies, the sorrows and sufferings, the pains and torments, the 
sweat and blood of our dearest Lord, and his invincible patience, and 
admirable silence under all, to provoke us and encourage us to imitate 
the Captain of our salvation, in patience and silence under all our 
sufferings. 

Jerome having read the life and death of Hilarion, — one that lived 
graciously and died comfortably, — folded up the book, saying, Well ■ 
Hilarion shall be the champion that I will follow ; his good life shall be 
my example, and his good death my precedent. Oh ! how much more 
should we all say, We have read how Christ hath been afflicted, 
oppressed, distressed, despised, persecuted, &c. ; and we have read how 
dumb, how tongue-tied, how patient, and how silent he hath been under 
all ; oh ! he shall be the copy which we shall write after, the pattern 
which we will walk by, the champion which we will follow. But, alas ! 
alas ! how rare is it to find a man that may be applauded with the 
eulogy of Salvian, Singularis domini preclarus imitator, an excellent 
disciple of a singular master. The heathens had this notion amongst 
them, as Lactantius reports, that the way to honour their gods was to 
be like them ; 3 and therefore some would be wicked, counting it a dis- 
honour to their gods to be unlike to them. I am sure the way to 
honour our Christ, is in patience and silence to be like to Christ, espe- 
cially when a smarting rod is upon our backs, and a bitter cup put into 
our hands. 

Reason 4. The fourth reason why the people of God should be mute 
and silent under their afflictions, is this, because it is ten thousand 
times a greater judgment and affliction, to be given up to a fretful 
spirit, afroward spirit, a muttering or murmuring spirit under an 
affliction, than it is to be afflicted. This is both the devil's sin, and the 
devil's punishment. God is still afflicting, crossing and vexing of him, 
and he is still a-fretting, repining, vexing, and rising up against God. 
No sin to the devil's sin, no punishment to the devil's punishment. 
A man were better to have all the afflictions of all the afflicted 
throughout the world at once upon him, than to be given up to a fro- 
ward spirit, to a muttering, murmuring heart under the least affliction. 
1 Justin Martyr being asked which was the greatest miracle that our Saviour Christ 
wrought, answered, Patientia ejus tanta in laborious tantis, his so great patience in so 
great trouble. 

* 1 Mace. vi. 34. [Third quotation from Apocrypha thus far. — G.] 

3 The Arabians, if their king be sick or lame, they all feign themselves so. 



316 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

When thou seest a soul fretting, vexing, and stamping under the mighty 
hand of God, thou seest one of Satan's first-born, one that resembles 
him to the life. 1 No child can be so much like the father, as this fro- 
ward soul is like to the father of lies ; though he hath been in chains 
almost this six thousand years, yet he hath never lain still one day, 
nor one night, no nor one hour in all this time, but is still a-fretting, 
vexing, tossing and tumbling in his chains, like a princely bedlam. He 
is a lion, not a lamb ; a roaring lion, not a sleepy lion ; not a lion standing 
still, but a lion going up and down ; he is not satisfied with the prey 
he hath got, but is restless in his designs to fill hell with souls, 1 Pet. 
v. 8. He never wants an apple for an Eve, nor a grape for a Noah, 
nor a change of raiment for a Gehazi, nor a wedge of gold for an Achan, 
nor a crown for an Absalom, nor a bag for a Judas, nor a world for a 
Dumas. If you look into one company, there you shall find Satan 
a-dishing out his meat to every palate ; if you look into another com- 
pany, there you shall find him fitting a last to every shoe ; if you look 
into a third company, there you shall find him suiting a garment to 
every back. He is under wrath, and cannot but be restless. Here, 
with Jael, he allures poor souls in with milk, and murders them with 
a nail ; there, with Joab, he embraces with one hand, and stabs with 
another. Here with Judas, he kisses and betrays ; and there, with the 
whore of Babylon, he presents a golden cup with poison in it. He can- 
not be quiet, though his bolts be always on ; and the more unquiet any 
are under the rebukes of God, the more such resemble Satan to the life, 
whose whole life is filled up with vexing and fretting against the Lord. 
Let not any think, saith Luther, that the devil is now dead, nor yet 
asleep, for as he that keepeth Israel, so he that hateth Israel, neither 
slumbereth nor sleepeth. But in the next place, 

Reason 5. A fifth reason why gracious souls should be mute and 
silent under the greatest afflictions and sharpest trials that do befall 
them is this, because a holy, a prudent silence under afflictions, under 
miseries, doth best capacitate and Jit the afflicted for the receipt of 
miseries. 2 When the rolling bottle lies still, you may pour into it your 
sweetest or your strongest waters ; when the rolling, tumbling soul lies 
still, then God can best pour into it the sweet waters of mercy, and the 
strong waters of divine consolation. You read of the ' peaceable fruits 
of righteousness': Heb. xii. 11, 'Now no chastening for the present 
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous ; nevertheless, afterwards it yieldeth 
the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are exercised 
thereby;' James hi. 18, 'And the fruit of righteousness is sown in 
peace, of them that make peace.' The still and quiet soul is like a 
ship that lies still and quiet in the harbour; you may take in what 
goods, what commodities you please, whilst the ship lies quiet and still 
so when the soul is quiet and still under the hand of God, it is mos 
fitted and advantaged to take in much of God, of Christ, of heaven, of 
the promises, of ordinances, and of the love of God, the smiles of God, 
the communications of God, and the counsel of God ; but when souls are 
unquiet, they are like a ship in a storm, they can take in nothing. 3 

Luther, speaking of God, saith, God doth not dwell in Babylon, but 

> IroiicTus calleth such ora diaboli, the devil's mouth. 2 Qu. ' mercies'? — Ed. 

3 The angels are most quiet and stiil, and the; take in most of God, of Christ, of heayen. 



Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 317 

in Salem. Babylon signifies confusion, and Salem signifies peace. 
Now God dwells not in spirits that are unquiet and in confusion, but 
he dwells in peaceable and quiet spirits. Unquiet spirits can take in 
neither counsel nor comfort, grace nor peace, &c. : Ps. lxxvii. 2, ' My 
soul refused to be comforted.' The impatient patient will take down 
no cordials ; he hath no eye to see, nor hand to take, nor palate to 
relish, nor stomach to digest anything that makes for his health and 
welfare. When the man is sick and froward, nothing will down ; the 
sweetest music will make no melody in his ears: Exod. vi. 6-9, 'Where- 
fore, say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will brino- 
you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you 
out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm, 
and with great judgment. And I will take you to me for a people, and 
I will be to you a God, and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, 
which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 
And I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did sware 
to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you 
for a heritage ; I am the Lord.' The choicest cordials and comforts 
that heaven or earth could afford are here held forth to them, but they 
have no hand to receive them. Here Moses his lips drops honey- 
combs, but they can taste no sweetness in them. Here the best of 
earth and the best of heaven is set before them, but their souls are shut 
up, and nothing will down. Here is such ravishing music of paradise 
as might abundantly delight their hearts and please their ears, but they 
cannot hear. Here are soul-enlivening, soul-supporting, soul-strength- 
ening, soul-comforting, soul-raising, and soul-refreshing words, but they 
cannot hearken to them : ver. 9, ' And Moses spake so unto the chil- 
dren of Israel, but they hearkened not unto Moses, for anguish of spirit, 
and for cruel bondage.' They were under their anguish 1 feverish fits, and 
so could neither hear nor see, taste nor take in, anything that mi^ht be 
a mercy or a comfort to them. 2 They were sick of impatiency and dis- 
content : and these humours being grown strong, nothing would take 
with them, nothing would agree with them. When persons are under 
strong pangs of passion, they have no ears neither for reason nor 
religion. 

Reason 6. A sixth reason why gracious souls should be silent under 
the smarting rod, is this, viz., because it is fruitless, it is bootless to 
strive, to contest or contend with God. No man hath ever got any- 
thing by muttering or murmuring under the hand of God, except it 
hath been more frowns, blows, and wounds. Such as will not lie quiet 
and still, when mercy hath tied them with silken cords, justice will put 
them in iron chains ; if golden fetters will not hold you, iron shall. 3 
If Jonah will vex and fret and fling, justice will fling him overboard, to 
cool him, and quell him, and keep him prisoner in the whale's belly, 
till his stomach be brought down, and his spirit be made quiet before 
the Lord. What you get by struggling and grumbling, you may put in 
your eye, and weep it out when you have done : Jer. vii. 19, ' Do they 
provoke me to anger, saith the Lord ? Do they not provoke thern- 

1 Qu. ' aguish '? — Ed. _ 3 No air agrees well with weak, peevish, sickly bodies. 

8 If bedlams will not lie quiet, they are put into darker rooms, and heavier chains are 
put upon them. 



318 T1IK MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

selves to the confusion of their own faces ?' By provoking of me, they 
do but provoke themselves; by angering of me, they do but anger them- 
selves ; by vexing of me, they do but fret and vex themselves : 1 Cor. 
x. 22, ' Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy ? Are we stronger than he ? 
Zanchy 1 observes these two things from these words: 

1. That it is ill provoking God to wrath, because he is stronger than 

we. 

2. That though God be stronger than we, yet there are those who 
provoke him to wrath ; and certainly there are none that do more pro- 
voke him than those who fume and fret when his hand is upon them. 
Though the cup be bitter, yet it is put into your hand by your Father ; 
though the cross be heavy, yet he that hath laid it on your shoulders 
will bear the heaviest end of it himself ; and why, then, should you 
mutter 1 Shall bears and lions take blows and knocks from their 
keepers, and wilt thou not take a few blows and knocks from the keeper 
of Israel % Why should the clay contend with the potter, or the creature 
with his creator, or the servant with his lord, or weakness with 
strength, or a poor nothing creature with an omnipotent God ? Can 
stubble stand before the fire ? Can chaff abide before the whirlwind ? 
or can a worm ward off the blow of the Almighty ? A froward and 
impatient spirit under the hand of God will but add chain to chain, 
cross to cross, yoke to yoke, and burden to burden. The more men 
tumble and toss' in their feverish fits, the more they strengthen the dis- 
temper, and the longer it will be before the cure be effected. The 
easiest and the surest way of cure is to lie still and quiet till the poison 
of the distemper be sweat out. Where patience hath its perfect work, 
there the cure will be certain and easy. When a man hath his broken 
lea- set, he lies still and quiet, and so his cure is easily and speedily 
wrought ; but when a horse's leg is set, he frets and flings, he flounces 
and flies out, unjointing it again and again, and so his cure is the more 
difficult and tedious. Such Christians that under the hand of God are 
like the horse or mule, fretting and flinging, will but add to their own 
sorrows and sufferings, and put the day of their deliverance further off. 

Reason 7. A seventh reason why Christians should be mute and 
silent under their afflictions is, because hereby they shall cross and 
frustrate Satan's great design and expectation. In all the afflictions 
he brought upon Job, his design was not so much to make Job a beggar 
as it was to make him a blasphemer ; it was not so much to make Job 
outwardly miserable, as it was to make Job inwardly miserable, by 
occasioning him to mutter and murmur against the righteous hand of 
God, that so he might have had some matter of accusation against him 
to the Lord. He is the unwearied accuser of the brethren : Rev. xii. 
10. 'Tlir accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accuseth them 
before our God day and night/ Satan is the great make-bait between 
God and his children. He hath a mint constantly going in hell, where, 
as an untired mint-master, he is still a-coining and hammering out of 
accusations against the saints. First, he tempts and allures souls tosiu, 
and then accuses them of those very sins he hath tempted them to, 
that so he may disgrace them before God, and bring them, if it were 
possible, out of favour with God ; and though he knows beforehand 
1 Jerome Zauchiu- not to bo confounded with his contemporary Basil Zanchius. — 0. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 319 

that God and his people are, by the bond of the covenant, and by the 
blood of the Redeemer, so closely united that they can never be severed, 
yet such is his rage and wrath, envy and malice, that he will endeavour 
that which he knows he shall never effect. Could he but have made 
Job fro ward or fretful under the rod, he would have quickly carried 
the tidings to heaven, and have been so bold as to have asked God 
whether this was a carriage becoming such a person, of whom himself 
had given so glorious a character. 1 Satan knows that there is more 
evil in the least sin, than there is in all the afflictions that can be in- 
flicted upon a person ; and if he could but have made a breach upon 
Job's patience, ah, how would he have insulted over God himself! could 
he but have made Job a mutineer, he would quickly have pleaded for 
martial law to have been executed upon him ; but Job, by remaining 
mute and silent under all his trials, puts Satan to a blush, and spoils 
all his projects at once. The best way to outwit the devil, is to be 
silent under the hand of God ; he that mutters is foiled by him, but he 
that is mute overcomes him, and to conquer a devil is more than to 
conquer a world. 

Reason 8. The eighth and last reason why Christians should be 
silent and mute under their sorest trials, is this, that they may be con- 
formable to those noble patterns that are set before them by other saints, 
who have been patient and silent under the smarting rod. 2 As 
Aaron, Lev. x. 3 ; so Eli, I Sam. iii. 18 ; so David, 2 Sam. xvi. 7-13 ; 
so Job, chap. i. 21, 22 ; so Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joab, Isa. xxxvi. 1 1, 12. 
So those saints in that Acts xxi. 12-15 ; and that cloud of witnesses, 
pointed at in Heb. xii. 1. Gracious examples are more awakening, 
more convincing, more quickening, more provoking, and more en- 
couraging than precepts, because in them we see that the exercise of 
grace and godliness is possible, though it be difficult. When we see 
Christians, that are subject to like infirmities with ourselves, mute and' 
silent under the afflicting hand of God, we see that it is possible that 
we may attain to the same noble temper of being tongue-tied under a 
smarting rod. Certainly it is our greatest honour and glory, in this 
world, to be eyeing and imitating the highest and worthiest examples. 
What Plutarch said of Demosthenes, that he was excellent at praising 
the worthy acts of his ancestors, but not so at imitating them, may be 
said of many in these clays. Oh ! they are very forward and excellent 
at praising the patience of Job, but not at imitating it ; at praising the 
silence of Aaron, but not at imitating it ; at praising David's dumbness, 
but not at imitating it ; at praising Eli's muteness, but not at imitat- 
ing it. It was the height of Caesar's glory to walk in the steps of 
Alexander, and of Selymus, 3 a Turkish emperor, to walk in Csesar's 
steps, and of Themistocles to walk in Miltiades's steps. Oh ! how much 
more should we account it our highest glory to imitate the worthv 
examples of those worthies, of whom this world is not worthy ! ft 
speaks out much of God within, when men are striving to write after 
the fairest copies. And thus much for the reasons of the point. I come 
now to the application. 

1 That devil that accused God to man (Gen. iii.), and Christ to be an impostor, will 
make no hones to accuse the saints, when they miscarry under the rod. 

3 Prcecepta docent, exempla movent, Precepts may instruct, but examples do persuade, 
before. — G.] 8 Solyman? — G. 



320 TIIK MUTE christian [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

V. You see, beloved, by what hath been said, that it is the greatest 
duty and concernment of Christians to be mute and silent under the 
greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and the sharpest trials that 
they meet with in this world. If this be so, then this truth looks sourly 
and wistly 1 upon several sorts of persons. As, 

1. First, This looks sourly and sadly upon murmurers, upon such 
as do nothing but mutter and niurmur under the afflict i ag IkukI of 
God. This was Israel's sin of old, 2 and this is England's sin this day. 
Ah ! what murmuring is there against God, what murmuring against 
instruments, and what murmuring against providences, is to be found 
amongst us ! Some murmur at what they have lost, others murmur at 
what they fear they shall lose ; some murmur that they are no higher, 
others murmur because they are so low ; some murmur because such a 
party rules, and others mutter because themselves are not in the saddle; 
some murmur because their mercies are not so great as others' are; some 
murmur because their mercies are not so many as others' are ; some 
murmur because they are afflicted, and others murmur because such 
and such are not afflicted as well as they. Ah, England, England ! 
hadst thou no more sins upon thee, thy murmuring were enough to 
undo thee, did not God exercise much pity and compassion towards 
thee. But more of this hereafter, and therefore let this touch for the 
present suffice. 

2. Secondly, This truth looks sourly upon those that/ref, chafe, and 
vex, when they are under the afflicting hand of God. Many when 
they feel the rod to smart, ah, how they do fret and fume ! Isa. viii. 
21, 'When they were hardly bestead and hungry, they fret themselves, 
and curse their king and their God ;' Prov. xix. 3, ' The foolishness of 
man perverteth his way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord.' The 
heart may be fretful and froward when the tongue doth not blaspheme. 
Foil}' brings man into misery, and misery makes man to fret ; man in 
misery is more apt to fret and chafe against the Lord, than to fret and 
chafe against his sin that hath brought him into sufferings, 2 Kings 
vi. 33, Ps. xxxvii. 1, 7, 8. A fretful soul dares let fly at God himself. 
When Pharaoh is troubled with the frets, he dare spit in the very face 
of God himself: ' Who is the Lord, that I should obey him ?' Exod. v. 2. 
And when Jonah is in a fretting humour, he dares tell God to his face, 
' that he doth well to be angry,' Jonah iv. 8. Jonah had done well if 
he had been angry with his sin, but he did very ill to be angry with 
his God. God will vex every vein in that man's heart, before he hath 
done with him, who fumes and frets, because he cannot snap in sunder 
the cords with which he is bound, Ezek. xvi. 43. Sometimes good men 
are sick of the frets, but when they are, it costs them dear, as Job and 
Jonah found by experience. No man hath ever got anything by his 
fretting and flinging, except it hath been harder blows or heavier 
chains ; therefore fret not when God strikes. 

3. Thirdly, This truth looks sourly upon those who charge God 
foolishly in the day of their adversity. Lam. iii. 39, ' Why doth a 

living man complain V He that hath deserved a hanging hath DQ 
reason to charge the judge with cruelty if he escape with a whipping ; 

1 ' Wistfully,' earnestly. — G. 

* Exod. xvi. 7-9 ; Numb. xii. 14, xvii. 5, 10 ; Exod. xv. 24 ; Deut. i. 27 ; Ps. cvi. 25. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 321 

and we that have deserved a damning have no reason to charge God 
for being too severe, if we escape with a fatherly lashing. 1 Rather than 
a man will take the blame, and quietly bear the shame of his own folly, 
he will put it off upon God himself, Gen. iii. 12. It is a very evil 
thing, when we shall go to accuse God, that we may excuse ourselves, 
and unblame ourselves, that we may blame our God, and lay the fault 
anywhere rather than upon our own hearts and ways. Job was a man 
of a more noble spirit : Job i. 22, ' In all this Job sinned not, nor 
charged God foolishly/ When God charges many men home, then they 
presently charge God foolishly ; they put him to bear the brunt and 
blame of all ; but this will be bitterness in the end. When thou art 
under affliction, thou rnayest humbly tell God that thou feelest his 
hand heavy ; but thou must not blame him because his hand is heavy. 
No man hath ever yet been able to make good a charge against God ; 
and wilt thou be able ? Surely no. By charging God foolishly in the 
day of thy calamity, thou dost but provoke the Lord to charge thee 
through and through, more fiercely and furiously, with his most deadly 
darts of renewed misery. It is thy greatest wisdom to blame thy sins, 
and lay thy hand upon thy mouth ; for why should folly charge inno- 
cency ? That man is far enough off from being mute and silent under 
the hand of God, who dares charge God himself for laying his hand 
upon him. But, 

4 Fourthly, This truth looks sourly and sadly upon such as luill not 
be silent nor satisfied under the afflicting hand of God, 2 eoccept the 
Lord will give them the particular reasons why he lays his hand upon 
them,. Good men sometimes dash their feet against this stumbling- 
stone : Jer. xv. 18, 'Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound in- 
curable ?' &c. Though God hath always reason for what he doth, yet 
he is not bound to shew us the reasons of his doings. Jeremiah's pas- 
sion was up, his blood was hot ; and now nothing will silence nor satisfy 
him but the reasons why his pain was perpetual, and his wound in- 
curable. So Job, chap. vii. 20, ' Why hast thou set me as a mark 
against thee, so that I am a burden to myself ?' It is an evil and a 
dangerous thing to cavil at or to question his proceedings, who is the 
chief Lord of all, and who may do with his own what he pleaseth, Rom. 
ix. 20, Dan. iv. 3, 36. He is unaccountable and uncontrollable ; and 
therefore who shall say, What doest thou ? As no man may question 
his right to afflict him, nor his righteousness in afflicting of him, so no 
man may question the reasons why he afflicts him. As no man can 
compel him to give a reason of his doings, so no man may dare to ask 
him the particular reasons of his doings. Kings think themselves are 
not bound to give their subjects a reason of their doings ; and shall we 
bind God to give us a reason of his doings, who is the King of kings 
and Lord of lords, and whose will is the true reason and only rule of 
justice ? Eccles. viii. 4, Rev. i. 5. The general grounds and reasons that 
God hath laid down in his word why he afflicts his people, as, viz., for 
their profit, Heb. xii. 10 ; for the purging away of their sins, Isa. i. 25 ; 

1 Lam. i. 12 ; Ps. lxxvii. 7, i. 2 ; Ezek. xviii. 25 ; xix. 38 ; xvii. 20, 29. Some of the 
heathens, as Homer observes, would lay the evils that they did incur by their own folly 
upon their gods : so do many upon the true God. 

2 Exod. xxxii. 1 ; Ps. xxii. 1, 2 ; Job iii. 11, 12 ; xix. 11, 13, 14. 
VOL. I. « X 



322 THE Mi TK CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

for the reforming of their lives, Ps. cxix. 67, 71 ; and for the saving of 
their souls, 1 Cor. xi. 32, — should work them to be silent and satisfied 
under all their afflictions, though God should never satisfy their curiosity 
in giving them an account of some more hidden causes which may lie 
secret in the abysses of his eternal knowledge and infallible will. 
Curiosity is the spiritual drunkenness of the soul; and Look, as the 
drunkard will never be satisfied, be the cup never so deep, unless he 
see the bottom of it, so some curious Christians, whose souls are over- 
spread with the leprosy of curiosity, will never be satisfied till they 
come to see the bottom and the most secret reasons of all God's deal- 
ings towards them ; but they are fools in folio, who affect to know more 
than God would have them. Did not Adam's curiosity render him and 
his posterity fools in folio ? And what pleasure can we take to see our- 
selves every day fools in print ? As a man by gazing and prying into 
the body of the sun may grow dark and dim, and see less than other- 
wise he might, so many, by a curious prying into the secret reasons of 
Cod's dealings with them, come to grow so dark and dim, that they 
cannot see those plain reasons that God hath laid down in his word 
why he afflicts and tries the children of men. 

1 have read of one Sir William Champney, in the reign of King 
Henry the Third, once living in Tower Street, London, who was the 
first man that ever built a turret on the top of his house, that he might 
the better overlook all his neighbours, but so it fell out, that not long 
after he was struck blind ; so that he that could not be satisfied to see 
as others did see, but would needs see more than others, saw just 
nothing at all, through the just judgment of God upon him. 1 And so it is 
a just and righteous thing with God to strike such with spiritual blind- 
ness, who will not be satisfied with seeing the reasons laid down in the 
word why he afflicts them, but they must be curiously prying and 
searching into the hidden and more secret reasons of his severity towards 
them. Ah, Christian ! it is your wisdom and duty to sit silent and mute 
under the afflicting hand of God upon the account of revealed reasons, 
without making any curious inquiry into those more secret reasons that 
are locked up in the golden cabinet of God's own breast, Deut. xxix. 29. 

5. Fifthly, This truth looks sourly and sadly upon those who, in- 
stead of being silent and mute under their afflictions, use all sinful 
■shifts and ways to slti ft themselves out of their troubles ; ivho care 
not though they break with God, and break with men, and break ivith 
tin-it' own consciences, so they may but break off the chains that an 
upon them ; who care not by what means the prison door is opened, 
80 /hey may but escape ; nor by what hands their bolts are knocked 
off, so they may be at liberty. Job xxxvi. 21, 'Take heed, regard not 
iniquity, for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.' He makes but 
an ill choice, who chooses sin rather than suffering ; and yet such an ill 
choice good men have sometimes made, as you may see by the proofs in 
the margin, 2 when troubles have compassed them round about. Though 
no lion roars like that in a man's own bosom, — conscience, — yet some, to 
deliver themselves from troubles without, have set that lion a-roaring 

1 Jobn Stow's ' Survey of London.' [Sab nomint. — G.] 

- 1 Sam. xxi. 12-15 ; Gen. xii. 12, 15 ; xx. 13, 'JO ; xxvi. 7-9 ; Jonah i. 1. seq. ; 1 Sam. 
xwiii. throu'rliout. 



Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 323 

within. Some, to deliver themselves from outward tortures, have put 
themselves under inward torments. He purchases his freedom from 
affliction at too dear a rate, who buys it with the loss of a good name or 
a good conscience. 

Now, because there is even in good men sometimes too great an apt- 
ness and proneness to sin and shift themselves out of afflictions, when 
they should rather be mute and silent under them, give me leave to 
lay down these six considerations to prevent it. 

(1.) First Consider, that there is infinitely more evil in the least sin 
than there is in the greatest miseries and afflictions that can 'possibly 
come upon you; yea, there is more evil in the least sin than there is 
in all the troubles that ever come upon the world, yea, than there is 
in all the miseries and torments of hell. The least sin is an offence to 
the great God, it is a wrong to the immortal soul, it is a breach of a 
righteous law ; it cannot be washed away but by the blood of Jesus ; 
it can shut the soul out of heaven, and shut the soul up a close prisoner 
in hell for ever and ever. 1 The least sin is rather to be avoided and 
prevented than the greatest sufferings ; if this cockatrice be not crushed 
in the egg, it will soon become a serpent ; the very thought of sin, if but 
thought on, will break out into action, action into custom, custom into 
habit, and then both body and soul are lost irrecoverably to all eternity. 
The least sin is very dangerous. Cassar was stabbed with bodkins ; 
Herod was eaten up of lice ; Pope Adrian was choked with a gnat ; a 
mouse is but little, yet killeth an elephant if he gets up into his trunk ; 
a scorpion is little, yet able to sting a lion to death ; though the leopard 
be great, yet he is poisoned with a head of garlic ; the least spark may 
consume the greatest house, and the least leak sink the greatest ship ; 
a whole arm hath been impostumated with the prick of a little finger ; 
a little postern opened may betray the greatest city ; a dram of poison 
diffuseth itself to all parts, till it strangle the vital spirits, and turn out 
the soul from the body. If the serpent can but wriggle in his tail by 
an evil thought, he will soon make a surprisal of the soul, as you see in 
that great instance of Adam and Eve. The trees of the forest, saith one 
in a parable, held a solemn parliament, wherein they consulted of the 
innumerable wrongs which the axe had done them, therefore made an 
act, that no tree should hereafter lend the axe an helve, on pain of 
being cut down. The axe travels up and down the forest, begs wood 
of the cedar, oak, ash, elm, even of the poplar ; not one would lend him 
a chip. At last he desired so much as would serve him to cut down the 
briars and bushes, alleging, that such shrubs as they did but suck away 
the juice of the ground, and hinder the growth, and obscure the glory 
of the fair and goodly trees ; hereupon they were all content to afford 
him so much : he pretends a thorough reformation, but behold a sad 
deformation, for when he had got his helve, down went both cedar, oak, 
ash, elm, and all that stood in his way. 2 Such are the subtle reaches 
of sin ; it will promise to remove the briars, and business of afflictions 

1 James iii. 5, 11 ; Prov. viii. 35 ; 1 John iii. 4 ; i. 7 ; Rev. xxi. 8. If you consider 
sin strictly, there cannot be any little sin, no more than there can be a little God, a little 
hell, or a little damnation ; yet comparatively some sins may be said to be little. 

2 Thomas Adams. See Works, vol. ii. page 359, Sermon, ' The Bad Leaven.' Brooks 
amplifies the fable. — G. 



324 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

«iiid troubles, that hinder the soul of that juice, sweetness, comfort, de- 
light, and content that otherwise it might enjoy. Oh ! do but now yield a 
little to it, and instead of removing your troubles, it will cut down your 
peace, your hopes, your comforts, yea, it will cut down your precious 
soul. What is the breathing of a vein to the being let blood in the 
throat, or the scratch on the hand to a stab at the heart ? No 
more are the greatest afflictions to the least sins ; and therefore, Chris- 
tians, never use sinful shifts to shift yourselves out of troubles, but 
rather be mute and silent under them, till the Lord shall work out your 
deliverance from them. But, 

(2.) Secondly, Consider it is an impossible thing for any to sin them- 
selves out of their troubles. Abraham, Job, and Jonah attempted it, 
but could not effect it. The devils have experienced this near this six 
thousand years ; they had not been now in chains, could they but have 
sinned themselves out of their chains. Could the damned sin them- 
selves out of everlasting burning, there would have been none now 
a-roaring in that devouring unquenchable fire, Isa. xxxiii. 14. Hell 
would have no inhabitants, could they but sin themselves out of it. Ah ! 
Christians, devils and damned spirits shall as soon sin themselves out of 
hell, as you shall be able to sin yourselves out of your afflictions. 
Christians ! you shall as soon stop the sun from running her course, 
contract the sea in a nut-shell, compass the earth with a span, and raise 
the dead at your pleasure, as ever you shall be able to sin yourselves 
out of your sufferings ; and therefore it is better to be silent and quiet 
under them, than to attempt that which is impossible to accomplish. 
This second consideration will receive further confirmation by the next 
particular ; — 

(3.) Thirdly, As it is an impossible thing, so it is a very prejudicial, 
a very dangerous thing, to attempt to sin yourselves out of your 
troubles ; for by attempting to sin yourselves out of your trouble, you 
will sin yourselves into many troubles, as Jonah and Jacob did ; and by 
labouring to sin yourselves out of less troubles, you will sin yourselves 
into greater troubles, as Saul did ; and by endeavouring to sin your- 
selves from under outward troubles, you will sin yourselves under inward 
troubles and distresses, which are the sorest and saddest of all troubles ; 
thus did Spira, Jerome of Prague, Bilney, and others. Some there have 
been, who, by labouring to sin themselves out of their present sufferings, 
have sinned themselves under such horrors and terrors of conscience, 
that they could neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep, but have been ready 
to lay violent hands upon themselves. 

And Cyprian, in his sermon de lapsis, speaks of divers who, forsak- 
ing the faith to avoid sufferings, were given over to be possessed of evil 
spirits, and died fearfully. man ! thou doest not know what deadly 
sin, what deadly temptation, what deadly judgment, what deadly stroke, 
th >u ni.i vest fall under, who attempts to sin thyself out of troubles. 
What is it to take Venice, and to be hanged at the gates thereof? It 
is better to be silent aud mute under thy afflictions, than by using sin- 
ful shifts to sin thyself under greater afflictions. 

(4.) Fourthly, Consider it is a very ignoble and wnworthy thing to 
go to sin you/wlves out of your troubles and straits. It argues a poor, 
a low, a weak, a dastardly, and an effeminate spirit, to use base shifts 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 325 

to shuffle yourselves out of your troubles. Men of noble, courageous, 
and magnanimous spirits will disdain and scorn it, Dan. iii. 8, vi., Heb. 
xi. 24 As you niay see in the three children, David, and those 
worthies, in that 11th of the Hebrews, of whom ' this world was not 
worthy.' Jerome writes of a brave woman, who, being upon the rack, 
bade her persecutors do their worst, for she was resolved to die rather 
than lie. And the prince of Conde, being taken prisoner by Charles 
the Ninth, king of France, and put to his choice whether he would go 
to mass or be put to death, or suffer perpetual imprisonment, his noble 
answer was, that by God's he]p he would never choose the first, and 
for either of the latter, he left to the king's pleasure and God's provi- 
dence. 1 

A soul truly noble will sooner part with all than the peace of a good 
conscience. Thus blessed Hooper desired rather to be discharged of his 
bishopric than yield to certain ceremonies. 

I have read of Marcus Arethusus, an eminent servant of the Lord in 
gospel-work, who, in the time of Constantine, had been the cause of 
overthrowing an idol temple ; 2 but Julian, coming to be emperor, 
commanded the people of that place to build it up again. All were 
ready so to do, only he refused it ; whereupon his own people, to whom 
he had preached, fell upon hiin, stripped off all his clothes, then abused 
his naked body, and gave it up to children and school-boys to be lanched 3 
with their penknives ; but when all this would not do, they caused him 
to be set in the sun, having his naked body anointed all over with honey, 
that so he might be bitten and stung to death by flies and wasps ; and 
all this cruelty they exercised upon him, because he would not do any- 
thing towards the rebuilding of that idol temple ; nay, they came so far, 
that if he would but give one halfpenny towards the charge, they would 
release him, but he refused it with a noble Christian disdain, though 
the advancing of an. halfpenny might have saved his life. And in so 
doing, he did but live up to that noble principle that most commend, 
but few practise, viz., that Christians must choose rather to suffer the 
worst of torments, than commit the least of sins, whereby God should 
be dishonoured, his name blasphemed, religion reproached, profession 
scorned, weak saints discouraged, and men's consciences wounded and 
their souls endangered. Now tell me, Christians, is it not better to be 
silent and mute under your sorest trials and troubles, than to labour to 
sin, and shift yourselves out of them, and so proclaim to all the world, 
that you are persons of very low, poor, and ignoble spirits ? But, 

(5.) Fifthly, Consider, sinful shifts and means God hath ahuays cursed 
and blasted. 4 Achan's golden wedge was but a wedge to cleave him, 
and his garments a shroud to shroud him. Ahab purchases a vineyard 
with the blood of the owner, but presently it was watered with his own 
blood, according to the word of the Lord. Gehazi must needs have a 
talent of silver and two changes of raiment, and that with a lie, I say 
with a lie ; well ! he hath them, and he hath with them a leprosy that 
cleaved to him and his seed for ever, 2 Kings v. 22-27. With those 

1 Lactantius speaks of many such brave spirits. I might produce a cloud of witnesses 
from among the primitive Christians, who have been noble and gallant this way. 

- A favourite example of Brooks. See Index, sub nomine. — G. 3 ' Lanced.' — G. 

4 Jer. v. 5, 6, 11 ; Ezek. vii. 13 ; 1 Sam. xxviii.5-8, &c. ; 1 Kings xxi. 18, 19, compared 
with chap. xxii. 23. 



326 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. H. 

very hands that Judas took money to betray liis master, with those 
very hands he fitted a halter to hang himself. The rich and wretched 

glutton fared delicately, and went bravely every day, but the next news 
you hear of him, is of his being in hell, crying out for a drop, who, when 
he was on earth, would not give a crumb. The coal that the eagle 
carried from the altar to her nest, set all on fire. 

( rassus did not long enjoy the fruit of his covetousness, for the Par- 
tisans taking of him, poured melted gold down his throat. 1 

Dionysius 2 did not long enjoy the fruit of his sacrilege and tyrauny, 
for he was glad to change his sceptre into a ferule, and turn school- 
master for his maintenance. Ah! Christians, Christians, is it not far 
better to sit quiet and silent under your afflictions, than to use such 
sinful shifts and means which God will certainly blast and curse ? But 

(6.) Sixthly and lastly, Consider this, that your very attempting to sin 
and shift yourselves out of troubles and afflictions, will cost you dear. 
It will cost you many prayers and tears, many sighs, many groans, 
many gripes, many terrors, and many horrors. Peter, by attempting to 
sin himself out of trouble, sins himself into a sea of sorrows : Mat. xxvi. 
75, ' He went forth and wept bitterly.' 3 

Clement observes, That every night when he heard the cock crow, 
he would fall upon his knees and weep bitterly ; others say, that his 
face was furrowed with continual tears. Were Abraham, David, Jacob, 
and Jonah now alive, they would tell you, that they have found this to 
be a truth in their own experience. Ah ! Christians, it is far better to 
be quiet and silent under your sufferings, than to pay so dear for 
attempting to sin and shift yourselves out of your sufferings. A man 
will not buy gold too dear, and why then should he buy himself out of 
troubles at too dear a rate ? 

But now I shall come to that use that T intend to stand most upon, 
and that is, an use of exhortation. Seeing it is the great duty and con- 
cernment of Christians to be mute and silent under the greatest afflic- 
tions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials that they meet with 
in this world : oh that I could prevail with you, Christians, to mind 
this great duty, and to live up and live out this necessary truth; which 
that I may, give me leave to propound some considerations, to engage 
your souls to be mute and silent under your greatest troubles and your 
saddest trials. To that purpose, 

]. Consider first, the greatness, sovereignty, majesty, and dignify of 
God, and let that move thee to silence, Jer. x. 7 ; v. 22: Ps. xlvi. 8-10, 
1 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made 
in the enrth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth ; he 
breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder ; he burnetii the 
chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God : I will be 
exalted among the heathens, I will be exalted in the earth/ Who can 
cast his eye upon the greatness of God, the majesty of God, and not 
sit still before him ? Zeph. i. 7, 'Hold thy peace at the presence of the 
Lord God.' Oh, chat not, murmur not, fret not, but stand mute before 
him ! Shall the child be hushed before his father, the servant before 

1 Sec Iudex, sub nomine, for a former annotated mention of this in 'Precious Remedies.' 
— Q. * The ' Tyrant' of Sicily.— G. 

a A man may buy anything too dear but Christ, grace, his own soul, and the gospel. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 327 

the master, the subject before his prince, and the guilty person before 
the judge, when he majestically rises off his judgment seat, and com- 
poses his countenance into an aspect of terror and severity, that his 
sentence may fall upon the offender with the greater dread ? and shall 
not a Christian be quiet before that God that can bathe his sword in 
heaven, and burn the chariots on earth? Nay, shall the sheep be 
hushed before the wolf, birds before the hawk, and all the beasts of the 
field before the lion ? and shall not we be hushed and quiet before him, 
who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah ? Rev. v. 5. God is mighty in 
power, and mighty in counsel, and mighty in working, and mighty in 
punishing ; and therefore be silent before him. It appears that God is 
a mighty God, by the epithet that is added unto El, which is Gibbon, 
importing that he is a God of prevailing might ; in Daniel he is called 
El Elim. the mighty of mighties. Moses magnifying of his might, 
saith, ' Who is like unto thee among the gods V Now certainly this 
epithet should be a mighty motive to work souls to that which 
Habakkuk persuaded to : Hab. ii. 20, 'The Lord is in his holy temple: 
let all the earth keep silence before him.' Upon this very considera- 
tion Moses commands Israel to hold their peace, Exod. xiv. 13, 14 

It is reported of Augustus the emperor, and likewise of Tamerlane 
that warlike Scythian, that in their eyes sat such a rare majesty, that 
many in talking with them, and often beholding of them, have become 
dumb. 1 O my brethren, shall not the brightness and splendour of the 
majesty of the great God, whose sparkling glory and majesty dazzles the 
eyes of angels, and makes those princes of glory stand mute before him, 
move you much more to silence, to hold your peace, and lay your hands 
upon your mouths. Surely yes. But, 

2. Secondly, Consider, That all your afflictions, troubles, and trials 
shall work for your good: Rom. viii. 28, 'And we know that all things 
shall work together for good to them that love God/ Why then should 
you fret, fling, fume, seeing God designs you good in all ? The bee 
sucks sweet honey out of the bitterest herbs ; so God will by afflictions 
teach his children to suck sweet knowledge, sweet obedience, and sweet 
experiences, &a, out of all the bitter afflictions and trials he exercises 
them with. 2 That scouring and rubbing, which frets others, shall make 
them shine the brighter ; and that weight which crushes and keeps 
others under, shall but make them, like the palm tree, grow better and 
higher ; and that hammer which knocks others all in pieces, shall but 
knock them the nearer to Christ, the corner stone. Stars shine 
brightest in the darkest night ; torches give the best light when beaten ; 
grapes yield most wine when most pressed ; spices smell sweetest when 
pounded ; vines are the better for bleeding ; gold looks the brighter 
for scouring ; juniper smells sweetest in the fire ; chamomile, the more 
you tread it the more you spread it ; the salamander lives best in the 
fire ; the Jews were best, when most afflicted ; the Athenians would 
never mend, till they were in mourning ; the Christ's cross, saith Luther, 
is no letter in the book, and yet, saith he, it hath taught me more than 

1 Turk. Hist,, 236, 415. 

2 Afflictiones benedict tones, afflictions are blessings. — Bernard. Doubtless Manasseh 
would not exchange the good he got by his iron chaius, for all the gold chains that be in 
the world. 



328 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

all the letters in the book. Afflictions are the saints' best benefactors 
to heavenly affections ; where afflictions hang heaviest, corruptions 
hang loosest. And grace that is hid in nature, as sweet water in rose 
leaves, is then most fragrant when the fire of affliction is put under to 
distil it out. Grace shines the brighter for scouring, and is most 
glorious when it is most clouded. 

Pliny in his Natural History 1 writeth of certain trees growing in the 
Red Sea, which being beat upon by the waves, stand like a rock, 
immoveable, and that they are battered by the roughness of the waters. 
In the sea of afflictions, God will make his people stand like a rock ; 
they shall be immoveable and invincible, and the more the waves of 
afflictions beat upon them, the better they shall be, the more they shall 
thrive in grace and godliness. Now how should this engage Christians 
to be mute and silent under all their troubles and trials in this world, 
considering that they shall all work for their good ! God chastises our 
carcases to heal our consciences ; he afflicts our bodies to save our souls; 
he gives us gall and wormwood here, that the pleasures that be at his 
right hand may be more sweet hereafter ; here he lays us upon abed of 
thorns, that we may look and long more for that easy bed of down, — his 
bosom in heaven. 

As there is a curse wrapped up in the best things he gives the wicked, 
so there is a blessing wrapped up in the worst things he brings upon his 
own, Ps. xxv. 10, Deut. xxvi. 16. As there is a curse wrapped up in a 
wicked man's health, so there is a blessing wrapped up in a godly man's 
sickness ; as there is a curse wrapped up in a wicked man's strength, so 
there is a blessing wrapped up in a godly man's weakness ; as there is a 
curse wrapped up in a wicked man's wealth, so there is a blessing wrapped 
up in a godly man's wants ; as there is a curse wrapped up in a wicked 
man's honour, so there is a blessing wrapped up in a godly man's reproach ; 
as there is a curse wrapped up in all a wicked man's mercies, so there is 
a blessing wrapped up in all a godly man's crosses, losses, and changes : 
and why then should he not sit mute and silent before the Lord ? But, 

3. Thirdly, Consider, That a holy silence is that excellent precious 
grace, that lends a hand of support to every grace, Rom. xv. 4. Silence 
is citstos, the keeper, of all other virtues ; it lends a hand to faith, a 
hand to hope, a hand to love, a hand to humility, a hand to self-denial, 
&c. A holy silence hath its influences upon all other graces that be in 
the soul ; it causes the rosebuds of grace to blossom and bud forth. 
Silence is virtus versata circa adversa, a grace that keeps a man 
gracious in all conditions. In every condition silence is a Christian's 
right hand ; in prosperity, it bears the soul up under all the envy, ha- 
tred, malice, and censures of the world ; in adversity, it bears the soul 
up under all the neglect, scorn, and contempt that a Christian meets 
with in the world. It makes every bitter sweet, every burden light, 
and every yoke easy. And this the very heathen seemed to intimate 
in placing the image of Angeronia 2 with the mouth bound, upon the 
altar of Volupia, 6 to shew that silence under sufferings was the ready 
way to attain true comfort, and make every bitter sweet. No man ho- 
nours God, nor no man justifies God at so high a rate, as he who lays 

1 Lib. xii. 1, 9. s Volupia, goddess of pleasure. — G. 

* More accurately Angerona, goddess of silence. — G. 






PS XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 329 

his hand upon his mouth, when the rod of God is upon his back. 
But, 

4. Fourthly, To move you to silence under your sorest and your 
sharpest trials, consider, That you have, deserved greater and heavier 
afflictions than those you are under, Lam. iii. 39 ; Micah vii. 7-9. 
Hath God taken away one mercy? Thou hast deserved to be stripped of 
all. Hath he taken away the delight of thine eyes? He might have taken 
away the delight of thy soul. Art thou under outward wants ? Thou hast 
deserved to be under outward and inward together. Art thou cast upon 
a sick bed ? Thou hast deserved a bed in hell. Art thou under that ache 
and that pain ? Thou hast deserved to be under all aches and pains at 
once. Hath God chastised thee with whips ? Thou hast deserved to be 
chastised with scorpions, 1 Kings xii. 14. Art thou fallen from the 
highest pinnacle of honour to be the scorn and contempt of men ? Thou 
hast deserved to be scorned and contemned by God and angels. Art 
thou under a severe whipping ? Thou hast deserved an utter damning. 
Ah Christian ! let but your eyes be fixed upon your demerits, and your 
hands will be quickly upon your mouths ; whatever is less than a final 
separation from God, whatever is less than hell, is mercy ; and therefore you 
have cause to be silent under the smartest dealings of God with you. But, 

5. Fifthly, Consider, a quiet silent spirit is of great esteem ivith God. 
God sets the greatest value upon persons of a quiet spirit : 1 Peter iii. 4. 
' But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not 
corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in 
the sight of God of great price.' A quiet spirit is a spark of the divine 
nature, it is a ray, a beam of glory ; it is a heaven-born spirit. No man 
is born with a holy silence in his heart, as he is born with a tongue in 
his mouth. This is a flower of paradise ; it is a precious gem that God 
makes very great reckoning of. A quiet spirit speaks a man most like 
to God ; it capacitates a man for communion with God ; it renders a man 
most serviceable to God ; and it obliges a man to most accurate walking 
with God. A meek and quiet spirit is an incorruptible ornament, much 
more valuable than gold. 

(1.) First, There is a mutual 1 quietness, which proceeds from a good 
temper and constitution of body. 

(2.) Secondly, There is a moral quietness, which proceeds from good 
education and breeding, which flows from good injunctions, instructions, 
and examples. 

(3.) Thirdly, There is an artificial quietness ; some have an art to im- 
prison their passions, and to lay a law of restraint upon their anger and 
wrath, when they are all in a flame within : as you may see in Cain, 
Esau, Absalom, and Joab, who for a time cast a close cloak over their 
malice, when their hearts were set on fire of hell. So Domitian would 
seem to love them best, whom he willed least should live. 

(4.) Fourthly, There is a gracious quietness, which is of the Spirit's 
infusion, Gal. v. 22-25. Now this quietness of spirit, this spiritual frame 
of heart, is of great price in the sight of God. God values it above the 
world, and therefore who would not covet it more than the world, yea, 
more than life itself? Certainly the great God sets a great price upon 
nothing but that which is of an invaluable price ; what stretching, 

1 Qu. 'natural'?— Ed. 



• I THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 0. 

struggling, and striving is there for those things that the great ones of 
the earth do highly prize ! Ah ! what stretching of wits, interests, and 
consciences is there this day, to gain and hold up that which justice 
will cast down ! how much better would it be, if all persons would in 
good earnest struggle and strive, even as for life, after a quiet and silent 
spirit, which the great and glorious God sets so great a price upon ! 
This is a pearl of greatest price, and happy is he that purchases it, 
though it were with the loss of all. But, 

b\ Sixthly, Consider, That if you sit not silent and quiet under 
your greatest troubles and your sorest trials, you will be found lighters 
against your own prayers. How often have you prayed that the will 
of God may be done, yea, that it may be done on the earth, as the 
angels, those glistering courtiers, those princes of glory, do it now in 
heaven ! Mat. vi. 10. When troubles and afflictions come upon you, 
the will of God is done, his will is accomplished ; why then should you 
fret, fling, and fume, and not rather quietly lie down in his will, whose 
will is a perfect will, a just and righteous will, a wise will, an overruling 
will, an infinite will, a sovereign will, a holy will, an immutable will, 
an uncontrollable will, an omnipotent will, and an eternal will ? Cer- 
tainly you will but add affliction to affliction, by fighting against your 
own prayers, and by vexing and fretting yourselves when the will of 
God is done. It is sad to see a man to fight against his friends, it is 
sadder to see him fight against his relations, it is saddest of all to see 
him fight against his prayers ; and yet this every Christian doth, who 
murmurs and mutters when the rod of God is upon him. 1 Some there 
be that pray against their prayers, as Augustine, who prayed for con- 
tinency with a proviso, Lord ! give me continency, but not yet ; and some 
there be who fight against their prayers, as those who pray that the 
will of God may be done, and yet when his will is done upon them, they 
are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, they are still fretting 
against the Lord. Ah, Christians! have you not sins to fight against, 
and temptations to fight against, and a devil to fight against, yea, a 
whole world to fight against? Why then should you be found fighting 
against your owu prayers ? But, 

7. Seventhly, Consider, A holy silence under the heaviest burdens, the 
greatest afflicti<ms, the saddest providences and changes^will make all 
tolerable and easy to a Christian. The silent soul can bear a burden 
without a burden. Those burdens and troubles that will break a fro- 
wan I man's back, will not so much as break a silent man's sleep ; those 
afflictions that lie as heavy weights upon a murmurer, will lie as light 
as a feather upon a mute Christian, Micah vii. 7-10, Ps. xcii. 1,6; that 
bed of sorrow, which is as a bed of thorns to a fretful soul, will be as a 
bed of down to a silent soul. A holy silence unstiugs every afflic- 
tion, it takes off the weight of every burden, it adds sweet to every 
bitter, it changes dark nights into sunshiny days, and terrible storms 
into desirable calms. The smallest sufferings will easily vanquish an 
unquiet spirit, but a quiet spirit will as easily triumph over the greatest 
sufferings. As little mercies are great mercies, so great sufferings are 
but little sufferings, in the eye of a silent soul. The silent soul oev< r 

' Voluntas Dei necessilas rei. Every gracious soul should say Amen to God's Amen ; 
be should put \nsjiat, his placet to God's, go it never so much against the hair with him. 



Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 331 

complains that his affliction is too great, his burden too heavy, his cross 
too weighty, his sufferings too many ; silence makes him victorious over 
all. And therefore, as ever you would have heavy afflictions light, and 
be able to bear a burden without a burden, labour as for life after this 
holy silence. 

8. Eighthly, Consider that a holy silence under afflictions will be 
your best armour of proof against those temptations that afflictions 
may expose you to. Times of afflictions often prove times of great 
temptations, and therefore afflictions are called temptations •} James 
i. 12, 'Blessed is the man which endureth temptations, for when he is 
tried he shall receive the crown of life,' &c. The Greek word 'Kngaaiih, 
is to be understood of temptations of probation, of afflicting tempta- 
tions, and not of temptations of suggestion, of seduction ; for they are 
not to be endured, but resisted and abhorred, James iv. 7, 1 Peter v. 9. 
Now, affliction is called temptation, 

(1.) Because, as temptation tries what metal a Christian is made of, 
so do afflictions. 

(2.) Because, as Satan usually hath a great hand in all the tempta- 
tions that come upon us, so he hath a great hand in all the afflictions 
that befall us ; as you see in that great instance of Job. 

(3.) Because, as temptations drive men to God, 2 Cor. xii. 7, 8, so do 
afflictions, Isa. xxvi. 16, Hosea v. 15 ; but mainly because Satan chooses 
times of afflictions as the fittest seasons for his temptations. When Job 
was sorely afflicted in his estate, children, wife, life, then Satan lets fly, 
and makes his fiercest assaults upon him. Now, Satan tempts him to 
entertain hard thoughts of God ; to distrust, to impatiency, to mur- 
muring and muttering. As when Israel was feeble, faint, and weary, 
Amalek assaulted them, and smote the hindmost of them, Dent. xxv. 
J 7, 18; so when Christians are most afflicted, then usually they are 
most tempted. 2 

Luther found this by experience when he said, I am without set upon 
by all the world, and within by the devil and all his angels. Satan is 
a coward, and loves to strike us and trample upon us when afflictions 
have cast us down. When besieged towns, cities, and castles are in 
greatest straits and troubles, then the besiegers make their fiercest 
assaults ; so when Christians are under the greatest straits and trials, 
then Satan assaults them most, like a roaring lion. Now, silence un- 
der afflictions is the best antidote and preservative against all those 
temptations that afflictions lay us open to. Silence in afflictions is a 
Christian's armour of proof ; it is that shield that no spear or dart of 
temptation can pierce. Whilst a Christian lies under the rod, he is safe. 
Satan may tempt him, but he will not conquer him ; he may assault 
him, but he cannot vanquish him. Satan may entice him to use sinful 
shifts to shift himself out of trouble ; but he will choose rather to lie, 
yea, die, in trouble, than get out upon Satan's terms. But, 

9. Ninthly, Consider, That holy silence under afflictions and trials 
will give a man a quiet and peaceable possession of his own soul : 
' In patience possess your souls/ Luke xxi. 19. 3 Now, next to the pos- 

1 Luke xxii. 31-34, Mat. iv. 1, 13. 

2 Many saints have experienced this truth, when they have been upon their sick and 
dying beds. 3 Vide Greg, in Evang. Horn. 35. 



332 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

session of God, the possession of a man's own soul is the greatest mercy 
in this world. A man may possess honours, and riches, and dear rela- 
tions, and the favour and assistance of friends under his trials, but he 
will never come to a possession of his own soul under his troubles till 
he comes to be mute, and to lay his hand upon his mouth. Now what 
are all earthly possessions to the possession of a man's own soul ? He 
thai possesseth himself possesseth all; he that possesseth not himself 
possesses nothing at all. He possesses not the use, the sweet, the com- 
fort, the good, the blessing of anything he enjoys, who enjoys not him- 
self. That man that is not master of himself, he is a master of nothing. 
Holy silence gives a man the greatest mastery over his own spirit ; and 
mastery over a man's own spirit is the greatest mastery in the world, 
Prov. xvi. 32. The Egyptian goddess they paint upon a rock standing 
in the sea, where the waves come roaring and dashing upon her, with 
this motto, Semper eadem, Storms shall not move me. A holy silence 
will give a man such a quiet possession of his own soul, that all the 
storms of afflictions shall not move him ; it will make him stand like a 
rock in a sea of troubles. Let a man but quietly possess himself, and 
troubles will never trouble him. But, 

10. Tenthly, Consider the commands and instructions that God in 
his /ford hath laid upon you to be silent, to be mute and quiet, under 
all the troubles, trials, and changes that have or may pass upon you: 1 
Zech. ii. 13, 'Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord, for he is raised up 
out of his holy habitation ;' Isa. xli 1 , ' Keep silence before me, O 
islands ;' Hab. ii. 20, ' The Lord is in his holy temple ; let all the earth 
keep silence before him;' Amos v. 13, 'Therefore the prudent shall 
keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time ;' Ps. xlvi. 10, ' Be still, 
and know that I am God ;' Ps. iv. 4, ' Commune with your heart, and 
be still ;' Exod. xiv. 13, ' Stand still, and see the salvation of God ;' 
2 Chron. xx. 17, ' Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord, with 
you, Judah, and Jerusalem ;' Job xxxvii. 14, ' Hearken unto this, O 
Job ; stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.' It is a 
dangerous thing for us to neglect one of his commands, who by another 
is able to command us into nothing, or into hell at pleasure. To act or 
run cross to God's express command, though under pretence of revela- 
tion from God, is as much as a man's life is worth, as you may see in 
that sad story, 1 Kings xiii. 24, &c. Divine commands must be put in 
speedy execution, without denying or delaying, without debating or 
disputing the difficulties that may attend our subjection to them. 2 God's 
commands are spiritual, holy, just, and good ; and therefore to be obeyed 
without mutterino- or murmurings. Divine commands are backed with 
the strongest reason, and attended with the highest encouragements. 
Shall the servant readily obey the commands of his master, the subject 
the commands of his prince, the soldier the commands of his general, 
the child the commands of his father, the wife the commands of her 
husband, and shall not a Christian as readily obey the commands of his 
Christ? Nay, shall vain men readily and willingly obey the sinful ami 
senseless commands of men, and shall not we be willing to obey the 
commands of God ? 2 Sam. xiii. 28, 29, ' Now Absalom had commanded 

1 find's commands are like those of the Modes, that cannot he changed. 

2 Obedienlia non discutit Dei mandata, sedfacit. — Prosper. Horn. vii. 12-14. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 333 

his servant, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with 
wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon : then kill him, fear not: 
have not I commanded you ? be courageous, and be valiant. And the 
servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded.' 
They made no bones of obeying the bloody commands of Absalom, 
against all law, reason, and religion. 

I have read of one Johannes Abbas who willingly fetched water 
near two miles every day for a whole year together, to pour upon a dry 
stick, upon the bare command of his confessor. 1 

I have also read of the old kings of Peru, that they were wont to use 
a tassel or fringe made of red wool, which they wore upon their heads, 
and wheu they sent any governor to rule as viceroy in any part of their 
country, they delivered unto him one of the threads of the tassel, and 
for one of those simple threads he was as much obeyed as if he had been 
the king himself. Now, shall one single thread be more forcible to draw 
infidels to obedience, than all those golden commands, last cited, shall be 
of force to draw you to be quiet and silent under the troubles and 
changes you meet with in this world ? The Lord forbid ! 

Shall carnal and wicked persons be so ready and willing to complv 
with the bloody, and senseless, and superstitious commands of their 
superiors ? And shall not Christians be more ready and willino- to 
comply with the commands of the great God, whose commands are all 
just and equal, and whose will is the perfect rule of righteousness. 
Prior est authoritas imperantis, quam utilitas servientis [Tertullian]. 
The chief reason of obedience is the authority of the Lord, not the 
utility of the servant. 2 Ah, Christians ! when your hearts begin to fret 
and fume under the smarting rod, charge one of those commands last 
cited upon your hearts ; and if they shall mutter, charge another of those 
commands upon your hearts ; and if after this, they shall vex and mur- 
mur, charge another of those commands upon your hearts; and never 
leave charging and rubbing those commands one after another upon 
your hearts, till you are brought to lay your hands upon your mouths, 
and to sit silent before the Lord under your greatest straits and your 
sorest trials. 

11. Eleventhly, Consider, That mercy is nearest, deliverance and 
salvation is at hand, when a Christian stands still, when he sits quiet 
and silent under his greatest troubles and his sorest trials. 3 Exod. xiv. 
they were in very great straits. Pharaoh with a mighty army was be- 
hind them, the Red Sea before them, mountains on each hand of them 
and no visible means to deliver them. But now they stand still to see 
the salvation of the Lord, ver. 13, and within a few hours their enemies 
are destroyed, and they are gloriously delivered, ver. 24, et seq. Ps. 
xxxix. 9, David is dumb, he sits mute under his smart afflictions ; but 
if you look to the second and third verses of the fortieth Psalm, you 
shall find mercy draw near to him and work salvation for him. ' He 
brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the mire and clay, and 
set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put 

1 Cassian. de instit. renunciant. 1. iv. c. 14. 

2 Non parentum aut majorum authoritas, sed Dei docentis imperium, the commands of 
God must needs outweigh all authority and example of men. — Jerome. 

3 Acts xii. 7-11 ; Dan. ix 20, 24 ; Isa. xxxviii. i ; xxx. 19. 



334 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

a new song into my mouth, even praise unto our God ; many shall see 
it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.' And so when Absalom had 
made a great conspiracy against him, and his subjects fell off from him, 
and he was forced to flee for his life, his spirit was quiet and calm. 
2 Sam. xv. 25, 26, ' And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark 
oft rod into the city : if I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he 
will bring me again, and shew me both it and his habitation. But if 
he thus say, I have no delight in thee ; behold, here am 1, let him do 
to me as seemeth good unto him.' And the same calmness and quiet- 
ness of spirit was upon him when Shimei bitterly cursed him, and railed 
upon him, chap. xvi. 5-14 ; and within a few days, as you may see in 
the two following chapters, the conspirators are destroyed, and David's 
throne more firmly established. Mercy is always Dearest when a man 
can in quietness possess his own soul. Salvation is at hand when a 
Christian comes to lay his hand upon his mouth. Mercy will be upon 
the wing, loving-kindness will ride post to put a period to that man's 
troubles who sits silent in the day of his sorrows and sufferings. Ah, 
( 'hristians ! as you would have mercy near, as you would see to the 
end of your afflictions, as you would have deliverance come flying upon 
the wings of the wind, sit mute and silent under all your troubles. As 
wine was then nearest when the water-pots were filled with water, even 
to the brim ; so when the heart is fullest of quietness and calmness, then 
is the wine of mercy, the wine of deliverance, nearest. 

12. The twelfth and last motive to work you to silence under your 
greatest trials is this, seriously consider the heinous and da ngerous 
nature of murmuring. Now that you may, let me propose these fol- 
lowing particulars to your most sober consideration. 

(1.) First, Consider that murmuring speaks out many a root of bit- 
terness to be strong in thy soul, Heb. iii. 12. Murmuring speaks out 
sin in its power, corruption upon its throne, Heb. xii. 1. As holy 
silence argues true grace, much grace, yea, grace in its strength and in 
its lively vigour, so murmuring, muttering under the hand of God, 
argues much sin, yea, a heart full of sin ; it speaks out a heart full of 
self-love, Exod. xv. 24? ; xvi. 7, 8 ; and full of slavish fears, Numb. xiii. 
32, 33 ; xiv. 1-3 ; and full of ignorance, John vi. 41, 42 ; and full of 
pride and unbelief, Ps. cvi. 24, 25 ; ' yea, they despised the pleasant 
land,' or the land of desire, Ps. lxxvii. 19, 20 : there is their pride ; 'they 
believed not in his word': there is their unbelief; 1 what follows? They 
murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of God. 
They were sick of the sullens, and preferred Egypt before Canaan, a 
wilderness before a paradise. As in the first chaos there were the seeds 
of all creatures, so in the murmurer's heart there is not only the seeds 
of all sin, but a lively operation of all sin. Sin is become mighty in 
the hearts of murmurers, and none but an almighty God can root it out. 
Those roots of bitterness have so spread and strengthened themselves in 
the hearts of murmurers, that everlasting strength must put in, or they 
will be undone for ever, Isa. xxvi. 4. But, 

(2.) Secondly, consider, That the Holy Ghost hath set a brand of in- 
famy upon murmurers. He hath stigmatised them for up godly per- 
sons : Jude 15, 16, ' To execute judgment upon all, and to convince 

1 Unbelief is virtually all sin. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 335 

all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they 
have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly 
sinners have spoken against him.' But who are these ungodly sinners ? 
' They are murmurers, complaiuers, walking after their own lusts,' &c, 
ver. 16. When Christ comes to execute judgment upon ungodly ones, 
murmurers shall be set in the front, they shall experience the fierceness 
of his wrath and the greatness of his wrath. The front, you know, is 
first assaulted, and most strongly assaulted. Christ will bend all his 
power and strength against murmurers; his little finger shall be heavier 
upon them, than his loins shall be upon others, 1 Kings xii. 11, 14; 
other sinners shall be chastised with whips, but ungodly murmurers 
shall be chastised with scorpions. If you can joy in that black character 
of ungodly sinners, be murmurers still ; if not, cease from murmurings. 
Where murmuring is in its reign, in its dominion, there you may speak 
and write that person ungodly. Let murmurers make what profession 
they will of godliness, yet if murmuring keeps the throne in their hearts, 
Christ will deal with them at last as ungodly sinners. A man may be 
denominated ungodly, as well from his murmuring, if he lives under the 
dominion of it, as from his drunkenness, swearing, whoring, lying, steal- 
ing, &c. A murmurer is an ungodly man, he is an ungodlike man ; no 
man on earth more unlike to God than the murmurer ; and therefore 
no wonder if when Christ comes to execute judgment, he deals so 
severely and terribly with him. In the wars of Tamberlain, 1 one 
having found a great pot of gold, that was hid in the earth, he brought 
it to Tamberlain, who asked whether it had his father's stamp upon it ? 
But when he saw that it had not his father's stamp, but the Roman 
stamp upon it, he would not own it, but cast it away. The Lord Jesus, 
when he shall come with all his saints to execute judgment, Oh ! he will 
not own murmurers ; nay, he will cast them away for ever, because 
the}' have not his Father's stamp upon them. Ah, souls ! souls ! as you 
would not go up and down this world with a badge of ungodliness upon 
you, take heed of murmuring. 

(3). Thirdly, Consider tltat murmuring is the mother-sin ; it is the 
mother of harlots, the mother of all abominations ; a sin that breeds 
many other sins, viz., disobedience, contempt, ingratitude, impatience, 
distrust, rebellion, cursing, carnality ; yea, it charges God with folly, 
yea, with blasphemy, Num. xvi. 41, xvii. 10, Judges xvii. 2. The 
language of a murmuring, a muttering soul is this, Surely God might 
have done this sooner, and that wiser, and the other thing better, &c. 
As the river Nilus bringeth forth many crocodiles, and the scorpion many 
serpents at one birth, so murmuring is a sin that breeds and brings 
forth many sins at once. Murmuring is like the monster hydra ; cut off 
one head, and many will rise up in its room. Oh ! therefore, bend all 
thy strength against this mother-sin. As the king of Syria said to his 
captains, ' Fight neither with small nor great, but with the king of 
Israel/ 1 Kings xxii. 31, so say I, Fight not so much against this sin 
or that, but fight against your murmuring, which is .a mother-sin. 
Make use of all your Christian armour, make use of all the ammunition 
of heaven, to destroy the mother, and in destroying of her, you will de- 
stroy the daughters, Eph. vi. 10, 11. When Goliath was slain, the 

1 Tamerlane. — G. 



336 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

Philistines fled. When a general in an army is cut off, the common 
soldiers are easily and quickly routed and destroyed. So, destroy but 
murmuring, and you will quickly destroy disobedience, ingratitude, im- 
patience, distrust, &c. Oh ! kill this mother-sin, that this may never 
kill thy soul. I have read of Sennacherib, that after his army was de- 
stroyed by an angel, Isa. xxxvii., and he returned home to his own 
country, he inquired of one about him, what he thought the reason 
might be why God so favoured the Jews ? He answered that there 
was one Abraham, their father, that was willing to sacrifice his son to 
death at the command of God, and that ever since that time God 
favoured that people. Well ! said Sennacherib, if that be so, I have two 
sons, and I will sacrifice them both to death, if that will procure their 
God to favour me ; which, when his two sons heard, they, as the story 
goeth, slew their father, lsa. xxxvii. 38, choosing rather to kill than to 
be killed. So do thou choose rather to kill this mother-sin than to be 
killed by it, or by any of those vipers that are brought forth by it, Ps. 
exxxvii. 8, 9. 

(4.) Fourthly, Consider that murmuring is a God-provoking sin ; 
it is a sin that provokes God not only to afflict, but also to destroy a 
people : Num. xiv. 27-29, ' How long shall I bear with this evil con- 
gregation which murmur against me ? I have heard the murmuring of 
the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, 
As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so 
will I do to you. Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness, and all 
that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from 
twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me.' 
1 Cor. x. 10, ' Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, 
and were destroyed of the destroyer/ All our murmurings do but pro- 
voke the Lord to strike us and destroy us. 

I have read of Caesar, that, having prepared a great feast for his 
nobles and friends, it so fell out that the day appointed was extreme 
foul, that nothing could be done to the honour of their meeting ; where- 
upon he was so displeased and enraged, that he commanded all them 
that had bows to shoot up their arrows at Jupiter, their chief god, as in 
defiance of him for that rainy weather ; which, when they did, their 
arrows fell short of heaven, and fell upon their own heads, so that many 
of them were very sorely wounded. So all our mutterings and murmur- 
ings, which are as so many arrows shot at God himself, they will return 
upon our pates, hearts ; they reach not him, but they will hit us ; they 
hurt not him, but they will wound us : therefore it is better to be mute 
than to murmur ; it is dangerous to provoke a consuming fire, Heb. 
xii. 29. 

(5.) Fifthly, Consider, That murmuring is the devil's image, sin and 
punishment. 1 Satan is still a-murmuring ; he murmurs at every mercy 
that God bestows, at every dram of grace he gives, Job i. 8, 9 ; he mur- 
murs at every sin he pardons, and at every soul he saves. A soul cannot 
have a good look from heaven, nor hear a good word from beaven, nor 
receive a love-letter from heaven, but Satan murmurs at it; he mur- 
murs and mutters at every act of pitying grace, and at every art of 
preventing grace, and at every act of supporting grace, and at every act 
1 Iremuus calleth inurmurers ora diaboli, the devil's mouth. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 337 

of strengthening grace, and at every act of comforting grace that God 
exercises towards poor souls ; he murmurs at every sip, at every drop, 
at every crumb of mercy that God bestows. Cyprian, Aquinas, and 
others conceive that the cause of Satan's banishment from heaven was 
his grieving and murmuring at the dignity of man, whom he beheld 
made after God's own image, insomuch that he would relinquish his 
own glory, to divest so noble a creature of perfection, and rather be in 
hell himself, than see Adam placed in paradise. 1 But certainly, after 
his fall, murmuring and envy at man's innocency and felicity put him 
upon attempting to plunge man into the bottomless gulf of sin and 
misery ; he knowing himself to be damned, and lost for ever, would 
needs try all ways how to make happy man eternally unhappy, Mr 
Howell tells it as a strange thing, that a serpent was found in the heart 
of an Englishman when he was dead; 2 but, alas! this old serpent was 
by sad experience found to have too much power in the heart of Adam 
whilst alive, and whilst in the height of all his glory and excellency. 
Murmuring is the first-born of the devil ; and nothing renders a man 
more like to him than murmuring. Constantine's sons did not more 
resemble their father, nor Aristotle's scholars their master, nor Alex- 
ander's soldiers their general, than murmurers do resemble Satan. 
And as murmuring is Satan's sin, so it is his punishment. God hath 
given him up to a murmuring spirit ; nothing pleases him ; all things 
go against him ; he is perpetually a-muttering and murmuring at per- 
sons or things. Now, oh what a dreadful thing is it to bear Satan's 
image upon us, and to be given up to be the 3 devil's punishment ! It 
were better not to be, than thus to be given up ; and therefore cease 
from murmuring, and sit mute under your sorest trials. But, 

(6.) Sixthly, Consider, That murmuring is a mercy-embitter in;/ 
sin, a mercy-souring sin; as put the sweetest things into a sour vessel, 
it sours them, or put them into a bitter vessel, and it embitters them. 
Murmuring puts gall and wormwood into every cup of mercy that God 
gives into our hands. As holy silence gives a sweet taste, a delightful 
relish, to all a man's mercies, so murmuring embitters all. The mur- 
murer can taste no sweetness in his sweetest morsels ; every mercy, 
every morsel, tastes like the white of an egg to him, Job vi. 6. This 
mercy, saith the murmurer, is not toothsome, nor that mercy is not 
wholesome ; here is a mercy wants salt, and there is a mercy wants 
sauce. A murmurer can taste no sweet, can feel no comfort ; he can 
take no delight in any mercy he enjoys. The murmurer writes marah, 
that is, bitterness, upon all his mercies, and he reads and tastes bitter- 
ness in all his mercies. All the murmurer's grapes are grapes of gall, 
and all their clusters are bitter, Deut. xxxii. 23. As to ' the hungry 
soul every bitter thing is sweet/ Prov. xxvii. 7, so to the murmuring 
soul every sweet thing is bitter. The mute Christian can suck sweet- 
ness from every breast of mercy, but the murmurer cries out, Oh it is 
bitter ! Oh these breasts of mercy are dry ! 

(7.) Seventhly, Consider, That murmuring is a mercy-destroying 

1 Satan can never be quiet, nee victor, nee victus, neither conquered, nor conqueror. 
[Said of Marcellus, as before. — G.] 

* In his Upistolce Ho- Eliane ; or, Familiar Letters. 1650. 3 vols. — G. 
8 Qu. 'to the'?— Ed. 
VOL. I. Y 



338 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

sin, a mercy-murdering sin. Murmuring outs the throat of mercy; it 
stabs all our mercies at the heart ; it sets all a man's mercies a-bleeding 
about him at once : Num. xiv. 30, ' Doubtless ye shall not come into 
the land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save 
Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.' God pro- 
mises them that they should possess the holy land upon the condition 
• >t (heir obedience. This condition they brake ; and therefore God was 
not foresworn though he cut them off in the wilderness, and kept them 
out of Canaan, Deut. xxxi. 16, 17. But what is the sin that provokes 
the Lord to bar them out of the land of promise, and to cut them off 
from all those mercies that they enjoyed which entered into the holy 
land ? Why, it was their murmuring ; as you may see in Numbers xiv. 
1-3, 26-29. As you love your mercies, as you would have the sweet 
of your mercies, and as you would enjoy the life of your mercies, take 
need of murmuring. Murmuring will bring a consumption upon your 
mercies ; it is a worm that will make all your mercies to wither. As 
there be some that love their mercies into the grave, and others that 
plot their mercies into the grave, so there be some that murmur their 
mercies into the grave. As you would have your mercies always fresh 
and green, smiling and thriving, as you would have your mercies to bed 
and board with you, to rise up and lie down with you, and in all con- 
ditions to attend you, murmur not. murmur not. The mute Christian's 
mercies are most sweet and most long-lived ; the murmurer's mercies, 
like Jonah's gourd, will quickly wither. Murmuring hath cut the throat 
<»f national mercies, of domestical mercies, and of personal mercies ; and 
therefore, oh how should men fly from it as from a serpent ! as from 
the avenger of blood ! yea, as from hell itself! 

(8.) Eighthly, Consider, That murmuring unfits the soul for duty, 
Exod. vi. 7-10. A murmurer can neither hear to profit, nor pray to 
profit, nor read to profit, nor meditate to profit. The murmurer is 
neither fit to do good, nor receive good. Murmuring unfits the soul for 
doings of duties ; it unfits the soul for delighting in duties ; it unfits the 
soul for communion with God in duties. Murmuring fills the soul with 
cares, fears, distractions, vexations ; all which unfits a man for duty, 
1 Cor. vii. 33-35. As a holy quietness and calmness of spirit prompts 
a man to duty, as it makes every duty easy and pleasant to the soul, 
Prov. iii. 17 ; so it is murmuring that unhinges the soul, and indisposes 
the soul, so that it takes off the chariot wheels of the soul, that the soul 
cannot look up to God, nor do for God, nor receive from God, nor wait 
on God, nor walk with God, nor act faith upon God, &c, Ps. xl. 12. 
< )h ! therefore, as ever you would be in a blessed preparedness, and a 
blessed fittedness for duty, take heed of murmuring, and sit mute and 
silent under the afflicting hand of God, Isa. xxvi. 9-11. 

(9.) Ninthly, Consider, That murmuring unmans a man ; it strips 
him of his reason and understanding; it makes him call evil good, and 
good evil; it puts light for darkness and darkness for light, bitter for 
sweet and sweet for bitter ; it calls saviours destroyers, and deliverers 
murderers, Isa. v. 18-20; as you see in the murmuring Israelites, 
Exod. xiv.-xvi. Murmuring uncrowns a man. The murmurer may 
say, 'My crown is fallen from my head,' Lam. v. 16. Murmuring strips 
a man of all his glory ; it spoils all his excellency ; it destroys the 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 339 

nobility of man ; it speaks him out to be a base ignoble creature. 
Murmuring clouds a man's understanding ; it perverts the judgment, 
it puts out the eye of reason, stupefies his conscience ; it sours the heart, 
disorders the will, and distempers the affections ; it be-beasts a man, 
yea, it sets him below the beasts that perish ; for he were better be a 
beast, than be like a beast. The murmurer is the hieroglyphic of folly ; 
he is a comprehensive vauity ; he is a man and no man ; he is sottish and 
seoseless ; he neither understands God nor himself nor anything as he 
should ; he is the man that must be sent to school, to learn of the beasts 
of the field, and the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the 
earth, how to cease from murmuring, and how to be mute, Isa. iii. 8, 
Jer. vii. 6. Ah ! sirs, as you would have the name, the honour, the re- 
putation of being men, I say men, Take heed of murmuring, and sit 
silent before the Lord. 

(10.) Tenthly, Murmuring is a time-destroying sin. Ah ! the 
precious time that is buried in the grave of murmuring ? When the 
murmurer should be a-praying, he is a-murmuring against the Lord ; 
when he should be a-hearing, he is a-murmuring against the divine 
providences ; when he should be a-reading, he is a-murmuring against 
instruments. The murmurer spends much precious time in musing ; in 
musing how to get out of such a trouble, how to get off such a yoke, 
how to be rid of such a burden, how to revenge himself for such a 
wrong, how to supplant such a person, how to reproach those that are 
above him, and how to affront those that are below him ; and a thousand 
other ways murmurers have to expend that precious time that some 
would redeem with a world; as Queen Elizabeth on her deathbed cried 
out, 'Time, time, a world of wealth for an inch of time.' 1 The murmurer 
lavishly and profusely trifles away that precious time, that is his greatest 
interest in this world to redeem, Eph. v. 16. Every day, every hour in the 
day, is a talent of time, and God expects the improvement of it, and 
will charge the non-improvement of it upon you at last, Rev. ii. 21, 25 ; 
1 Peter iv. 2. Caesar 2 observing some ladies in Rome to spend much of 
their time in making much of little dogs and monkeys, asked them, 
Whether the women in that country had no children to make much of? 
Ah ! murmurers, murmurers, you who by your murmuring, trifle away 
so many godly hours and seasons of mercy, have you no God to honour? 
have you no Christ to believe in ? have you no hearts to change, no sins 
to be pardoned, no souls to save, no hell to escape, no heaven to seek 
after ? Oh ! if you have, why do you spend so much of your precious 
time in murmuring against God, against men, against this or that thing? 
Eternity rides upon the back of time. Hoc est momentum, this is the 
moment: if it be well improved, you are made for ever; if not, you are 
undone for ever. Aut male, aut nihil, aut aliud agendo. 

I have read of Archias a Lacedaemonian [Plutarch], that whilst he was 
rioting and quaffing in the midst of his cups, one delivers him a letter, 
purposely to signify that there were some that lay in wait to take away 
his life, and withal desires him to read it presently, because it was a 
serious business and matter of high concernment to him. Oh, said he, 
seria eras, I will think of serious things to-morrow ; but that night he 

1 Sumptus preciosissimus tempus : time is of precious cost, saith Theophrastus. 
1 Plutarch in the life of Pericles. 



340 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

was slain. Ah ! inurmurer, cease from murmuring to-day, or else thou 
may est be for ever undone by murmuring to-morrow. The old saying, 
y a in- mil n a iK/itam, now or never ; so say I, Now or never, now or 
never give over murmuring, and let it swallow up no more of your 
precious time. What would not many a murmurer give for one of 
those days, yea, for one of those hours which he hath trifled away in 
murmuring, when it is a day too late ! 

The Rabbins glory in this conceit, that a man hath so many bones as 
there be letters in the decalogue, and just so many joints and members 
as there be days in the year ; to shew that all our strength and time 
should be expended in God's service. Ah, murmurers ! you will gain 
more by one day's faithful serving of God, than ever you have gained 
by murmuring against God. But, 

(11.) Eleventhly, Consider this, Christians, that of all men in the 
world, you have least cause, yea, no cause, to be murmuring and 
muttering under any dispensation that you meet with in this world. 
Is not God thy portion ? Chrysostom propounds this question, Was 
Job miserable when he had lost all that God had given him ? and gives 
this answer, No, he had still that God that gave him all. 1 Is not Christ 
thy treasurer ? is not heaven thine inheritance ? and wilt thou murmur ? 
Hast thou not much in hand, and more in hope? Hast thou not much 
in possession, but much more in reversion ; and wilt thou murmur ? 
Hath not God given thee a changed heart, a renewed nature, and a 
sanctified soul ; and wilt thou murmur? Hath he not given thee him- 
self to satisfy thee, 2 his Son to save thee, his Spirit to lead thee, his 
grace to adorn thee, his covenant to assure thee, his mei'cy to pardon 
thee, his righteousness to clothe thee ; and wilt thou murmur? Hath 
he not made thee a friend, a son, a brother, a bride, an heir ; and wilt thou 
murmur ? Hath not God often turned thy water into wine, thy brass 
into silver, and thy silver into gold ; and wilt thou murmur ? When 
thou wast dead, did not he quicken thee ; and when thou wast lost, did 
not he seek thee ; and when thou wast wounded, did not he heal thee ; 
and when thou wert falling, did not he support thee; and when thou 
wert down, did not he raise thee ; and when thou wert staggering, did 
not he establish thee ; and when thou wert erring, did not he reduce 
thee ; and when thou wert tempted, did not he succour thee ; and when 
thou wert in dangers, did not he deliver thee ; and wilt thou murmur? 
What ! thou that art so highly advanced and exalted above many thou- 
sands in the world ? Murmuring is a black garment, and it becomes 
none so ill as saints. 

(12.) Twelfthly, and lastly, Consider that murmuring makes the life 
of man invisibly miserable. Every murmurer is his own executioner. 
Murmuring vexes the heart ; it wears and tears the heart, it enrages and 
inflames the heart, it wounds and stabs the heart. Every murmurer is 
his own martyr, every murmurer is a murderer ; he kills many at once, 
viz. his joy, his comfort, his peace, his rest, his soul. No man so in- 
wardly miserable as the murmurer ; no man hath such inward gripes 
and griefs as he, such inward bitterness and heaviness as he, such inward 
contentions and combustions as he. Every murmurer is his own tor- 

1 Lnm. iii. 24 ; Eph. iii. 8 ; 1 Peter iii. 4. Chrysostom, horn. 4, de Patientia Jobi. 
* Omne lonum in mvimo bono, God is all in all, and all without all. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 341 

mentor. Murmuring is a fire within that will burn up all, it is an 
earthquake within that will overturn all, it is a disease within that will 
infect all, it is a poison within that will prey upon all. 

And thus I have clone with those motives that may persuade us not 
to murmur nor mutter, but to be mute and silent under the greatest 
afflictions, the saddest providences and sharpest trials that we meet with 
in this world. 

I shall now address myself to answer those objections, and to remove 
those impediments which hinder poor souls from being silent and mute 
under the afflicting hand of God, &c. 

Obj. 1. Sir ! did I but know that I were afflicted in love, I would hold 
my peace under my affliction, I would sit mute before the Lord ; but 
oh ! how shall I come to understand that these strokes are the strokes of 
love, that these wounds are the wounds of a friend ? I answer : 

1 . First, If thy heart be drawn more out to the Lord by thy afflic- 
tions, then the afflictions are in love. If they are so sanctified as that 
they draw out thy soul to love the Lord more, and to fear the Lord 
more, and to please the Lord more, and to cleave to the Lord more, and 
to wait on the Lord more, and to walk with the Lord more, then they 
are in love. Oh, then they are the wounds of a friend indeed I 1 It is 
reported of the lioness, that she leaves her young whelps till they have 
almost killed themselves with roaring and yelling, and then at the last 
gasp, when they have almost spent themselves, she relieves them, and 
by this means they become more courageous ; and so if the afflictions 
that are upon us do increase our courage, strengthen our patience, raise 
our faith, inflame our love, and enliven our hopes, certainly they are in 
love, and all our wounds are the wounds of a friend. But, 

2. Secondly, // you are more careful and studious how to glorify 
God in the affliction, and how to be kept from sinning under the 
affliction, than how to get out of the affliction, then certainly your 
affliction is in love, Dan. iii. and v. 16, 17, Heb. xi. Where God smites 
in love, there the soul makes it his study how to glorify God, and how 
to lift up God, and how to be a name and an honour to God. The 
daily language of such a soul under the rod is this : Lord ! stand by me 
that I sin not, uphold me that I sin not, strengthen me that I sin not, 
John vii. 7-10. He that will not sin to repair and make up his losses, 
though he knew assuredly that the committing of such a sin would 
make up all again, he may conclude, that his affliction is in love. 

I have read of a nobleman whose son and heir was supposed to be 
bewitched, and being advised to go to some wizard or cunning man, as 
they are called, to have some help for his son, that he might be un- 
witched again, he answered, Oh, by no means, I had rather the witch 
should have my son than the devil. His son should suffer rather than 
he would sin him out of his sufferings. He that will not break the 
hedge of a fair command to avoid the foul way of some heavy affliction, 
may well conclude that his affliction is in love. Christians! what say 
you, when you are in the mount ; do you thus bespeak the Lord ? Lord ! 
take care of thy glory, and let me rather sink in my affliction than sin 
under my affliction. If this be the bent and frame of thy heart, it is 
1 Ps. xviii. 1-8, cxvi. 1-5, cxix. 67, 69 ; Isa. xxxviii. 1, seq. 



342 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

certain the affliction that is upon thee is in love. The primitive times 
afforded many such brave spirits, though this age affords but few. 

3. Thirdly, If you enjoy the special 'presence of God with, your spirits 
in your affliction, then your affliction is in love, Ps. xxiii. 4-6. Isa. 
xliii. 2, ' When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and 
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest 
through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flames kindle 
upon thee. n Hast thou a special presence of God with thy spirit, 
strengthening of that, quieting of that, stilling of that, satisfying of 
that, cheering and comforting of that ? Ps. xciv. 19, ' In the multitude 
of my thoughts,' — that is, of my troubled, intricate, ensnared, intertwined 
and perplexed thoughts, as the branches of a tree by some strong wind are 
twisted one within another, as the Hebrew word properly signifies, — 
' thy comforts delight my soul.' Here is a presence of God with his 
soul, here is comforts and delights that reach the soul, here is a cordial 
to strengthen the spirit. When all things went cross with Andronicus. 
the old emperor of Constantinople, 2 he took a psalter into his hand, and 
opening the same, he lighted upon Ps. lxviii. 14, 'When the Almighty 
scattered kings, they shall be white as snow in Salmon ;' which scripture 
was a mighty comfort and refreshment to his spirit. Now you are to 
remember that Salmon signifies shady and dark ; so was this mount, by 
the reason of many lofty fair-spread trees that were near it, but made 
lightsome by snow that covered it. So that to be white as snow in 
Salmon, is to have joy in affliction, light in darkness, mercy in miser)', 
&c. And thus God was to the psalmist as snow in Salmon in the midst 
of his greatest afflictions. When Paul would wish his dear son Timothy 
the best mercy in all the world, the greatest mercy in all the world, the 
most comprehensive mercy in all the world, a mercy that carries the 
virtue, value, and sweetness of all mercies in it, he wishes the presence 
of God with his spirit : 2 Tim. iv. 22, ' The Lord Jesus Christ be with 
thy spirit/ in point of honour, in point of profit and pleasure, in point 
of safety and security, and in point of comfort and joy; it is the greatest 
blessing and happiness in this world to have the presence of God with 
our spirits, especially in times of trials : 2 Cor. iv. 16, ' For which cause 
we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man 
is renewed day by day.' By the ' outward man,' you are to understand 
not merely our bodies, but our persons, estates, and outward condition 
in this world ; and by the ' inward mau/ you are to understand our 
souls, our persons considered according to our spiritual estate. Now, 
when the inward man gains new strength by every new trouble, whenas 
troubles, pressures, afflictions, and tribulations are increased, a Chris- 
tian's inward strength is increased also, then his afflictions are in love. 
When the presence of God is with our inward man, cheering, comfort- 
ing, encouraging, strengthening, and renewing of that, we may safely 
conclude that all these trials, though they are never so sharp and smart, 
yet they are in love. 

I have read of a company of poor Christians that were banished into 
some remote parts, and one standing by, seeing them pass along, said 

1 The bush, which was a typo of the church, consumed not all the while it burned witl 
fire, because God was in the midst of it. 

2 [Richard] Knowlles's Turk. Hist. p. 1C4. [1G10, folio ; and 1638.— G.] 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 343 

that it was a very sad condition those poor people were in, to be thus 
hurried from the society of men, and to be made companions with the 
beasts of the field. True, said another, it were a sad condition indeed 
if they were carried to a place where they should not find their God ; 
but let them be of good cheer, God goes along with them, and will ex- 
hibit the comforts of his presence whithersoever they go. The presence- 
of God with the spirits of his people, is a breast of comfort that can 
never be drawn dry ; it is an everlasting spring that will never fail, 
Heb. xiii. 5, 6. Well ! Christian, thou art under many great troubles, 
many sore trials: but tell me, doth God give unto thy soul such cordials, 
such supports, such comforts, and such refreshments, that the world 
knows not of 1 Oh ! then, certainly thy affliction is in love. . 

4. Fourthly, If by your affliction you are made more conformable 
to Christ in M& virtues, then certainly your afflictions are in love. 
Many are conformable to Christ in their sufferings, that are not made 
conformable to Christ in his virtues by their sufferings ; many are in 
poverty, neglect, shame, contempt, reproach, &c, like to Christ, who 
yet by these are not made more like to Christ in his meekness, humble- 
ness, heavenliness, holiness, righteousness, faithfulness, fruitfulness, 
goodness, contentedness, patience, submission, subjection. 1 Oh ! but if 
in these things you are made more like to Christ, without all perad- 
venture your afflictions are in love. If by afflictions the soul be led to 
shew forth, or to preach forth, the virtues of Christ, as that word im- 
ports in that 1 Peter ii. 9, 2 then certainly those afflictions are in love ; 
for they never have such an operation but where they are set on by a 
hand of love. When God strikes as an enemy, then all those strokes 
do but make a man more an enemy to God, as you see in Pharaoh and 
others ; but when the strokes of God are the strokes of love, oh ! then 
they do but bring the soul nearer Christ, and transform the soul more 
and more into the likeness of Christ, Isa. xxvi. 8-10, Jer. vi. 3, Amos 
vi. 1. If by thy afflictions thou art made more holy, humble, heavenly, 
&c, they are in love. Every afflicted Christian should strive to be 
honoured with that eulogy of Salvian, Singularis domini piwclarus 
imitator, an excellent disciple of a singular master. But, 

5. Fifthly, If by outward afflictions thy soid be brought more under 
the inward teachings of God, doubtless thy afflictions are in love, Job 
xxxiv. 31, 32 : Ps. xciv. 12, ' Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, 
O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law.' All the chastening in the 
world, without divine teaching, will never make a man blessed ; that 
man that finds correction attended with instruction, and lashing with 
lessoning, is a happy man. If God, by the affliction that is upon thee, 
shall teach thee how to loathe sin more, how to trample upon the world 
more, and how to walk with God more, thy afflictions are in love. If 
God shall teach thee by afflictions how to die to sin more, and how to 
die to thy relations more, and how to die to thy self-interest more, thy 
afflictions are in love. If God shall teach thee by afflictions how to live 
to Christ more, how to lift up Christ more, and how to long for Christ 
more, thy afflictions are in love. If God shall teach thee by afflictions 
to get assurance of a better life, and to be still in a gracious readiness 

1 Witness Judas, Demas, and those in the sixth of John, and many Quakers and other 
deluded people amongst us at this day. 2 \\a.yyu\nTi, publicly to set forth. 



344 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

and preparedness for the day of thy death, thy afflictions are in love. 
It" God shall teach thee by afflictions how to mind heaven more, how to 
live in heaven more, and how to fit for heaven more, thy afflict inns are 
in love. If God by afflictions shall teach thy proud heart how to lie 
more Low, and thy hard heart how to grow more humble, and thy cen- 
sorious heart how to grow more charitable, and thy carnal heart how to 
grow more spiritual, and thy froward heart how to grow more quiet, &c, 
thy afflictions are in love. When God teaches thy reins as well as thy 
brains, thy heart as well as thy head, these lessons, or any of these les- 
sons, thy afflictions are in love. Pambo, an illiterate dunce, as the 
historian terms him, was a-learning that one lesson, 'I said I will take 
heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue/ nineteen years, and 
yet had not learned it. 1 Ah ! it is to be feared that there are many who 
have been in the school of affliction above this nineteen years, and yet 
have not learned any saving lesson all this while. Surely their afflic- 
tions are not in love, but in wrath. Where God loves, he afflicts in 
love, and wherever God afflicts in love, there he will, first or last, teach 
such souls such lessons as shall do them good to all eternity. But, 

(6.) Sixthly, If God suit your burdens to your backs, your trials fa 
your strength, according to that golden promise, 1 Cor. x. 13, y<mr 
afflictions are in love. ' There hath no temptation taken you, but 
such as is common to man : but God is faithful, who will not suffer you 
to be tempted above what ye are able ; but will with the temptation 
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.' When 
God's strokes and a Christian's strength are suited one to another, all 
is in love, Isa. xxvii. 8, Jei\ xxx. 11, xlvi. 28. Let the load be never 
so heavy that God lays on, if he put under his eveidasting arms, all is 
in love, Gen. xlix. 23, 24. As Egypt had many venomous creatures, 
so it had many antidotes against them. When God shall lay antidotes 
into the soul against all the afflictions that befall a Christian, then they 
are all in love. It is no matter how heavy the burden is, if God gives 
a, shoulder to bear it : all is in love ; it is no matter how bitter the cup 
is, if God give courage to drink it off; it is no matter how hot the fur- 
nace is, if God gives power to walk in the midst of it : all is in love. 

(7.) Seventhly, If thou art willing to lie in the furnace fill thy dross 
be consumed ; if thou art willing that the plaster should lie on, though 
it smart, till the cure be wrought; if thou art willing that the physic 
should work, though it makes thee sick, till the humours be expelled ; 
all is in love, Job xxiii. 10, Micah vii. 9. Cain, and Saul, and Pharaoh, 
were all for the removing away of the stroke, the affliction ; they cry 
not out, ' Our sins are greater than we are able to bear/ but they cry 
out, ' Our punishment is greater than we are able to bear ;' they cry 
not out, ' Lord, take away our sins/ but ' Lord, remove the stroke of 
thy hand.' 2 Oh ! but when an affliction comes in love upon a soul, the 
language of that soul is this: Lord, remove the cause rather than the 
effect, the sin rather than the punishment, my corruption rather than 
my affliction. Lord ! what will it avail me to have the sore skinned 
over, if the corrupt matter still remain in? there is no evil, Lord, to the 
evil of sin ; and therefore deliver me rather from the evil of sin than the 
evil of suffering. I know, Lord, that affliction cannot be so displeasing 

1 Socrates, 1. ii. c. 18. * Gen. iv. 13; Isa. xxviii. 1, 6, lix. 9-17; Exod. vii.-x. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 345 

to me as sin is dishonourable and displeasing to thee ; and therefore, 
Lord, let me see an end of my sin, though in this world I should never 
see an end of my sorrows ; oh, let me see an end of my corruptions, 
though I should never see an end of my corrections ; Lord, I had rather 
have a cure for my heart than a cure for my head, I had rather be made 
whole and sound within than without, I had rather have a healthy soul 
than a healthy body, a pure inside than a beautiful outside. If this be 
the settled frame and temper of thy spirit, certainly thy afflictions are 
in love. 

There was one who, being under marvellous great pains and torments 
in his body, occasioned by many sore diseases that were upon him, 
cried out, Had I all the world I would give it for ease, and yet for all 
the world I would not have ease till the cure be wrought. Sure his 
afflictions were in love. The first request, the great request, and the 
last request of a soul afflicted in love, is, A cure, Lord ! a cure, Lord ! a 
cure, Lord ! of this wretched heart, and this sinful life, and all will be 
well, all will be well. 

(8.) Eighthly and lastly, If you live alife of faith in your afflictions, 
then your afflictions are in love. Now, what is it to live by faith in 
affliction, but to live in the exercising of faith upon those precious pro- 
mises that are made over to an afflicted condition? 1 God hath pro- 
mised to be with his people in their afflictions, Isa. xliii. 2, 3 ; he hath 
promised to support them under their affliction, Isa. xli. 10 ; he hath 
promised to deliver his people out of their afflictions, Ps. 1. 15 ; he hath 
promised to purge away his people's sins by affliction, Isa. i. 25 ; he 
hath promised to make his people more partakers of his holiness by 
affliction, Heb. xii. 10 ; he hath promised to make affliction an inlet 
to a more full and sweet enjoyment of himself, Hos. ii. 14 ; he hath 
promised that he will never leave nor forsake his people in their afflic- 
tions, Heb. xiii. 5, 6 ; he hath promised that all their afflictions shall 
work for their good, Zech. xiii. 9, Rom. viii. 28. Now if thy faith be 
drawn forth to feed upon these promises, if these be heavenly manna to 
thy faith, and thy soul lives upon them, and sucks strength and sweet- 
ness from them, under all the trials and troubles that are upon thee, 
thy afflictions are in love. 

A bee can suck honey out of a flower, which a fly cannot. If thy 
faith can extract comfort and sweetness in thy saddest distresses, out 
of the breasts of precious promises, and gather one contrary out of 
another, honey out of the rock, Deut. xxxii. 13, thy afflictions are in 
love. The promises are full breasts, and God delights that faith should 
draw them 2 ; they are pabulum fid ei, et anima fidei, the food of faith, 
and the very soul of faith ; they are an everlasting spring that can never 
be drawn dry ; they are an inexhaustible treasure that can never be 
exhausted ; they are the garden of paradise, and full of such choice 
flowers that will never fade, but be always fresh, sweet, green, and 
flourishing ; and if, in the day of affliction, they prove thus to thy soul, 
thy afflictions are in love. Sertorius 3 paid what he promised with fair 

1 These following promises have been choice cordials to many Christians under sore 
distresses. Isa. lvii. 15, xli. 10; 1 Tim. i. 15; John x. 27-29; Isa. xxvi. 3; Mat. xi. 28; 
1 John iii. 14. 

" As the mother delights that the child should draw hers. 3 Plutarch^ Sertorius. — G. 



346 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. J). 

words, but so doth not God. Men many times eat their words, but 
God will never eat his; all his promises in Christ are yea and in him 
amen, 1 Cor. i. 20. Hath he spoken it, and shall it not come to passl 
It' in all thy troubles thy heart be drawn forth to act faith upon the 
promises, thy troubles are from love. And thus much by way of answer 
to the first objection. 

Ohj. 2. Oh, but, sir ! the Lord hath smitten me in my nearest and 
dearest comforts and contentments, and how then can I hold my peace ? 
God hath taken away a husband, a wife, a child, an only child, a bosom- 
friend, and how then can I be silent ? &c. 

Ans. To this I answer, 

(I.) First, If God did not strike thee in that mercy which was near 
and dear unto thee, it would not amount to an affliction. That is not 
worthy the name of an affliction that does not strike at some bosom 
mercy ; that trouble is no trouble that doth not touch some choice con- 
tentment ; that storm is no storm that only blows off the leaves, but 
never hurts the fruit ; that thrust is no thrust that only touches t lie 
clothes, but never reaches the skin ; that cut is no cut that only cuts the 
hat, but never touches the head ; neither is that affliction any affliction 
that only reaches some remote enjoyment, but never reaches a Joseph* 
a Benjamin, &c. 

(2.) Secondly, The best mercy is not too good for the best God. The 
best of the best is not good enough for him who is goodness itself ; the 
best child, the best yoke-fellow, the best friend, the best jewel in all thy 
crown must be readily resigned to thy best God. There is no mercy, 
no enjoyment, no contentment worthy of God, but the best. The milk 
of mercy is for others, the cream of mercy is due to God. The choicest, 
the fairest, and the sweetest flowers, are fittest for the bosom of God ; 
if he will take the best flower in all the garden, and plant it in a better 
soil, hast thou any cause to murmur ? Wilt thou not hold thy peace ? 
Mai. i. 13, 1+. 

(3.) Thirdly, Your near and dear mercies were first the Lords 
before they were yours, and ahuays the Lord's more than they were 
yours. When God gives a mercy, he doth not relinquish his own right 
in that mercy : 1 Chron. xxix. 14-, ' All things come of thee, and of thine 
own have we given thee.' The sweet of mercy is yours, but the sove- 
reign right to dispose of your mercies is the Lord's. Quit-quid ea, debet 
creanti ; quicquid potes, debes redimenti [Bernard], whatsoever thou 
art, thou owest to him that made thee ; and whatsoever thou hast, 
thou owest to him that redeemed thee. You say it is but just and reason- 
able that men should do with their own as they please, and is it not just 
and reasonable that God, who is Lord paramount, should do with bifl 
own as he pleases ? Dost thou believe that the great God may do in 
heaven what he pleases ? and on the seas what he pleases ? ami in 
the nations and kingdoms of the world what he pleases? and in thy 
heart what he pleases ? And dost thou not believe that God may do 
in thy house what he pleases, and do with thy mercies what he pleases 1 
Job ix. 12, ' Behold, he taketh away,' or he snatcheth away, it may be 
a husband, a wife, a child, an estate, ' who can hinder him ? Who will 
say unto him, what doest thou f 1 Who dares cavil against God? Who 
1 Job plainly alludes to God's taking away his children, servants, and cattle. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 347 

dares question that God that is unquestionable, that chief Lord that is un- 
controllable, and who may do with his own what he pleaseth? Dan. iv. 35, 
'And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing : and he 
doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inha- 
bitants of the earth ; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What 
doest thou ?' Where is the prince, the peasant, the master, the servant, 
the husband, the wife, the father, the child, that dares say to God, What 
doest thou ? Isa. xlv. 9. In matters of arithmetical accounts, set one against 
ten, ten against a hundred, a hundred against a thousand, a thousand 
against ten thousand, although there be great odds, yet there is some com- 
parison ; but if a man could set down an infinite number, then there could 
be no comparison at all, because the one is infinite, the other finite ; so set 
all the princes and powers of the earth in opposition to God, they shall 
never be able to withstand him. It was once the saying of Pompey, 
that with one stamp of his foot he could raise all Italy in arms j 1 but 
let the great God but stamp with his foot, and he can raise all the 
world in arms, to own him, to contend for him, or to revenge any affronts 
that by any are put upon him, and therefore who shall say unto him, 
What doest thou ? Water is stronger than earth, fire stronger than 
water, angels stronger than men, and God stronger than them all ; and 
therefore who shall say unto God, What doest thou ; when he takes 
their nearest and their dearest mercies from them \ But, 

(4.) Fourthly, It may be thou hast not made a happy improvement 
of thy near and dear mercies whilst thou enjoy edst them. Thou hast 
been taken with thy mercies, but thy heart hath not been taken up in 
the improvement of them. There are many who are very much taken 
with their mercies, who make no conscience of improving their mercies. 
Have thy near and dear mercies been a star to lead thee to Christ ? 
Have they been a cloud by day, and a pillar of light by night, to lead 
thee towards the heavenly Canaan ? Have they been a Jacob's ladder 
to thy soul ? Hast thou by them been provoked to give up thyself to 
God as a living sacrifice ? Rom. xii. 1 . Hast thou improved thy near 
and dear mercies to the inflaming of thy love to God, to the strength- 
ening of thy confidence in God, to the raising of thy communion with 
God, and to the engaging of thy heart to a more close and circumspect 
walking before God ? &c. If thou hast not thus improved them, thuu 
hast more cause to be mute than to murmur, to be silent than to be 
impatient, to fall out with thyself than to fall out with thy God. Chil- 
dren and fools are taken with many things, but improve nothing. Such 
children and fools are most men ; they are much taken with their mer- 
cies, but they make no improvement of their mercies ; and therefore no 
wonder if God strip them of their mercies. The candle of mercy is set 
up not to play by, but to work by. 

Pliny speaks of one Cressinus, 2 who improved a little piece of ground 
to a»far greater advantage than his neighbours could a greater quantity 
of land. Thereupon he was accused of witchcraft ; but he, to defend 
himself, brought into the court his servants and their working tools, 
and said, Veneficia mea } Quirites, haec sunt, these are my witchcrafts, 

1 Plutarch in vita Pompeii. 

2 Lib. xviii. c. 6. [The name is C. Furius Chresimus, not Cressinus, and the reference 
c. 8, not ti. — ] 



348 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 0. 

( ) ye Romans ; these servants, and these working tools, are all the witch- 
craft that I know of. When the people heard this plea, with one con- 
sent they acquitted him, and declared him not guilty; and so his little 
piece of ground was secured to him. There is no way to secure your 
mercies but by improving of them ; there is nothing that provokes ( rod 
to strip you of your mercies like the non-improvement of them: Mat. 
xxv. 28-31, ' Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him 
which hath ten talents.' By some stroke or other God will take away 
the mercy that is not improved. If thy slothfulness hath put God upon 
passing a sentence of death upon the dearest mercy, thank thyself, and 
hold thy peace. 

(5.) Fifthly, If in this rose God hud mode, /lire a precedi id to 
others, thou 'must have held thy peace; how much, more, then, shouldst 
thou be mate vhcn God hath mode mairy others 'precedents to thee! 
Did not God smite Aaron in his dear and near enjoyments, Lev. x. 1, 2, 
and doth he not hold his peace? Did not God smite David in his Ab- 
salom, and Abraham in his Sarah, and Job in his sons, daughters, estate, 
and body, and Jonah in his gourd? Art thou more beloved than these? 
No. Hast thou more grace than these? No. Hast thou done more 
for divine glory than these ? No. Art thou richer in spiritual expe- 
riences than these? No. Hast thou attained to higher enjoyments 
than these? No. Hast thou been more serviceable in thy generation 
than these ? No. Hast thou been more exemplary in thy life and con- 
versation than these ? &c. No. Then why shouldst thou murmur and 
fret at that which hath been the common lot of the dearest saints ? 

Though God hath smitten thee in this or that near and dear enjoy- 
ment, it is thy wisdom to hold thy peace, for that God that hath taken 
away one, might have taken away all. Justice writes a sentence of 
death upon all Job's mercies at once, and yet he holds his peace, Job i. ; 
and wilt not thou hold thine, though God hath cropped the fairest 
flower in all thy garden ? 

Anjrtus, a young spark of Athens, 1 came revelling into Alcibiades's 
house; and as he sat at supper with some strangers, he arose on a sud- 
den, and took away one half of his place. 2 Thereupon the guests stormed, 
and took on at it. He bade them be quiet, and told them that he had 
dealt kindly with him, since that he had left the one half, whereas he 
might have taken all. So when our hearts begin to storm and take on 
when God smites us in this near mercy and in that dear enjoyment, oh 
let us lay the law of silence upon our hearts ! let us charge our souls to 
be quiet! for that God that hath taken away one child, might have 
took away every child ; and he that hath taken away one friend, might 
have taken away every friend ; and he that hath taken away a part of 
thy estate, might have taken away thy whole estate : therefore hold 
thy peace ; let who will murmur, yet be thou mute. 

(6.) Sixthly, It may be thy sins have been much about thy near and 
dear enjoyments. It may be thou hast over-loved them, and over-prized 
them, and over-much delighted thyself in them ; it may be they have 
often had thy heart, when they should have had but thy hand ; it may 
be that care, that fear, that confidence, that joy that should have been 

1 The foremost of the accusers of Socrates, and the infamous friend of Alcihia<les. Cf. 
Plato and Plutarch, sub nomiiw.—G. * Qu. ' plate '? — Ki>. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 34:9 

expended upon more noble objects, hath been expended upon them. 
Thy heart, O Christian ! is Christ's bed of spices, and it may be thou 
hast bedded thy mercies with thee, when Christ hath been put to lie in 
an outhouse, Luke ii. 7 ; thou hast had room for them, when thou hast 
had none for him ; they have had the best, when the worst have been 
counted good enough for Christ. It is said of .Reuben, that he went up 
to his father's bed, Gen. xlix. 4. Ah ! how often hath one creature 
comfort and sometimes another put in between Christ and your souls ! 
how often have your dear enjoyments gone up to Christ's bed ! It is 
said of the Babylonians, that they came in to Aholah and Aholibah's 
bed of love, Ezek. xxiii. 17 ; may it not be said of your near and dear 
mercies, that they have come into Christ's bed of love, your hearts ; they 
being that bed wherein Christ delights to rest and repose himself? 
Cant. iii. 7. Now, if a husband, a child, a friend shall take up that room 
in thy soul that is proper and peculiar to God, God will either embitter 
it, remove it, or be the death of it. If once the love of a wife runs out 
more to a servant than to her husband, the master will turn him out 
of doors, though otherwise he were a servant worth gold. The sweetest 
comforts of this life, they are but like treasures of snow ; now do but 
take a handful of snow, and crush it in your hands, and it will melt 
away presently ; but if you let it lie upon the ground, it will continue 
for some time. And so it is with the contentments of this world ; if you 
grasp them in your hands and lay them too near your hearts, they will 
quickly melt and vanish away ; but if you will not hold them too fast 
in your hands, nor lay them too close to your hearts, they will abide the 
longer with you. There are those that love their mercies into their 
graves, that hug their mercies to death, that kiss them till they kill 
them. Many a man hath slain his mercies, by setting too great a value 
upon them ; many a man hath sunk his ship of mercy, by taking up in it ; 
over-loved mercies are seldom long lived : Ezek. xxiv. 21, 'When I take 
from them the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that 
whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters.' The 
way to lose your mercies is to indulge them ; the way to destroy them 
is to fix your minds and hearts upon them. Thou mayest write bitter- 
ness and death upon that mercy first that hath first taken away thy 
heart from God. Now, if God hath stripped thee of that very mercy with 
which thou hast often committed spiritual adultery and idolatry, hast 
thou any cause to murmur ? Hast thou not rather cause to hold thy 
peace, and to be mute before the Lord ? Christians, your hearts are 
Christ's royal throne, and in this throne Christ will be chief, as Pharaoh 
said to Joseph, Gen. xli. 40 ; he will endure no competitor. If you 
shall attempt to throne the creature, be it never so near and dear unto 
you, Christ will dethrone it, he will destroy it ; he will quickly lay them 
in a bed of dust who shall aspire to his royal throne. But, 

(7.) Seventhly, Thou hast no cause to murmur because of the loss of 
such near and dear enjoyments, considering those more noble and 
spiritual mercies and favours that thou still enjoy est. Grant that 
Joseph is not, and Benjamin is not, Gen. xlii. 36, yet Jesus is ; he is 
yesterday, and to-day, and the same for ever, Heb. xiii. 8 ; thy union 
and communion with Christ remains still ; the immortal seed abides in 
thee still, 1 John iii. 9 ; the Sun of righteousness shines upon thee 



350 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

still ; thou art in favour with God still, and thou art under the anoint- 
ings of the Spirit still, and under the influences of heaven still, &c. ; and 
why then shouldst thou mutter, and not rather hold thy peace ? I have 
read of one Didymus, a godly preacher, who was blind; Alexander, a 
godly man, once asked him, whether he was not sore troubled and 
afflicted for want of his sight? Oh yes! said Didymus, it is a great 
affliction and grief unto me. Then Alexander chid him, saying, Hath 
God given you the excellency of an angel, of an apostle, and are you 
troubled for that which rats and mice and brute beasts have? 1 So say 
I. Ah, Christians ! hath God blessed you with all spiritual blessings in 
heavenly places? Eph. i. 3, 4. Hath the Lord given you himself for a 
portion ? Hath he given you his Son for your redemption, and his Spirit 
for your instruction ; and will you murmur ? Hath he given his grace 
to adorn you, his promises to comfort you, his ordinances to better you, 
and the hopes of heaven to encourage you ; and will you mutter ? 
Paulinus Nolanus, 2 when his city was taken from him, prayed thus : 
Lord ! said he, let me not be troubled at the loss of my gold, silver, 
honour, &c, for thou art all, and much more than all, these unto me. 
In the want of all your sweetest enjoyments, Christ will be all in all 
unto you, Col. iii. 11. My jewels are my husband, said Phocion's wife ; 3 
my ornaments are my two sons, said the mother of the Gracchi ; my 
treasures are my friends, said Constantius ; and so may a Christian under 
his o-reatest losses say, Christ is my richest jewels, my chiefest treasures, 
my best ornaments, my sweetest delights. Look what all these things 
are to a carnal heart, a worldly heart, that and more is Christ to me. 

(8.) Eighthly, // God, by smiting thee in thy nearest and dearest 
enjoyments, shall put thee upon a more thorough smiting and morti- 
fying of thy dearest sins, thou hast no cause to murmur. God cures 
David of adultery by killing his endeared child. There is some Delilah, 
some darling, some beloved sin or other, that a Christian's calling, con- 
dition, constitution, or temptations leads him to play withal, and to 
hug in his own bosom, rather than some other, Ps. xviii. 23, Heb. xii 1. 
As in a ground that lieth untilled, amongst the great variety of weeds 
there is usually some master-weed that is rifer and rauker than all 
the rest ; and as it is in the body of man, that although in some de- 
gree or other, more or less, there be a mixture of all the four elements, 
not any of them wholly wanting, yet there is some one of them pre- 
dominant that gives the denomination, in which regard some are said to 
be of a sanguine, some of a phlegmatic, some of a choleric, and some of 
a melancholic constitution ; so it is also in the souls of men : though 
there be a general mixture and medley of all evil and corrupt qualities, yet 
there is some one usually that is paramount, which, like the prince of 
devils, is most powerful and prevalent, that swayeth and sheweth forth 
itself more eminently and evidently than any other of them do. And 
as in every man's body there is a seed and principle of death, yet in 
some there is a proneness to one kind of disease more than other that 
may hasten death ; so, though the root of sin and bitterness hath spread 
itself over all, yet every man hath his inclination to one kind of sin rather 
than another, and this may be called a man's proper sin, his bosom sin, 
his darling sin. Now, it is one of the hardest works in this world 
1 Jerome. * Pauliuus of Nola. — G. 3 Plutarch in vita Phocion. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 351 

to subdue and bring under this bosom sin. Oh ! the prayers, the 
tears, the sighs, the sobs, the groans, the gripes that it will cost a 
Christian before he brings under this darling sin ! 

Look upon a rabbit's skin, how well it comes off till it comes to the 
head, but then what hauling and pulling is there before it stirs ! So 
it is in the mortifying, in the crucifying of sin ; a man may easily sub- 
due and mortify such and such sins, but when it comes to the head-sin, 
to the master-sin, to the bosom-sin, oh ! what tugging and pulling is 
there ! what striving and struggling is there to get off that sin, to get 
down that sin ! Now, if the Lord, by smiting thee in some near and 
dear enjoyment, shall draw out thy heart to fall upon smiting of thy 
master-sin, and shall so sanctify the affliction, as to make it issue in the 
mortification of thy bosom corruption, what eminent cause wilt thou 
have rather to bless him, than to sit down and murmur against him ! 
And doubtless if thou art dear to God, God will, by striking thy dearest 
mercy, put thee upon striking at thy darling sin ; and therefore hold thy 
peace, even then when God touches the apple of thine eye. 

(9.) Ninthly, consider That the Lord hath many ways to make ur> 
the loss of a near and dear mercy to thee ; he can make up thy loss in 
something else that may be better for thee, and he will certainly make 
up thy loss, either in kind or in worth, Mat. xix. 27-30. He took from 
David an Absalom, and he gave him a Solomon ; he took from him a 
Michal, and gave him a wise Abigail ; he took from Job seven sons and 
three daughters, and afterwards he gives him seven sons and three 
daughters ; he took from Job a fair estate, and at last doubled it to 
him ; he removed the bodily presence of Christ from his disciples, but 
gave them more abundantly of his spiritual presence, which was far the 
greater and the sweeter mercy. If Moses be taken away, Joshua shall 
be raised in his room ; if David be gathered to his fathers, a Solomon 
shall succeed him in his throne ; if John be cast into prison, rather than 
the pulpit shall stand empty, a greater than John, even Christ himself, 
will begin to preach. 1 He that lives upon God in the loss of creature 
comforts, shall find all made up in the God of comforts; he shall be able 
to say, Though my child is not, my friend is not, my yoke-fellow is not, 
yet my God liveth, and ' blessed be my rock,' Ps. lxxxix. 26. Though 
this mercy is not, and that mercy is not, yet covenant-mercies, yet 'the 
sure mercies of David' continue, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5 ; these bed and board 
with me, these will to the grave and to glory with me. I have read of 
a godly man, who, living near a philosopher, did often persuade him to 
become a Christian. Oh ! but, said the philosopher, I must, or may, 
lose all for Christ ; to which the good man replied, if you lose anything 
for Christ, he will be sure to repay it a hundredfold. Ay, but, said the 
philosopher, will you be bound for Christ, that if he doth not pay me, 
you will ? Yes, that I will, said the good man. So the philosopher 
became a Christian, and the good man entered into bond for perform- 
ance of covenants. Some time after it happened that the philosopher 
fell sick on his deathbed, and, holding the bond in his hand, sent for the 
party engaged, to whom he gave up the bond, and said, Christ hath 
paid all, there is nothing for you to pay, take your bond, and cancel it. 
Christ will suffer none of his children to go by the loss ; he hath all, 
1 The fir3t and last chapters of Job, compared. John xvi. 7, 8, &c. ; Acts ii. 



352 Tin: mute christian [Ps.XXXIX.lt. 

and ho will make up all to them. Iu the close, Christ will pay the 
reckoning. No man shall ever have cause to say that he hath been a 
loser by Christ. And, therefore, thou hast much cause to be mute, 
thou hast no cause to murmur, though God hath snatched the fairest 
and the sweetesl Ilower out of thy bosom. 

(10.) Tenthly, Howcanst tltov. tell but that which thou culled a near 
a ml dear mercy t if it had been continued longer to thee, might have 
proved the greatest cross, the (jrmtest calamity and vii.se ry that ever 
thou didst meet with in this world ? l Our mercies, like choice wines, 
many times turn into vinegar ; our fairest hopes are often blasted ; and 
that very mercy which we sometimes have said should be a staff to 
sup]) >rt us, hath proved a sword to pierce us. How often have our most 
flourishing mercies withered in our hands, and our bosom contentments 
been turned into gall and wormwood ! If God had continued the life 
of David's child to him, it would have been but a living monument of- 
his sin and shame ; and all that knew the child would have pointed at 
him, Yonder goes David's bastard ; and so have kept David's wound still 
a-bleeding, 2 Sam. xii. 16. Many parents who have sought the lives of 
their children with tears, have lived afterwards to see them take such 
courses and come to such dismal ends as have brought their grey head 
with sorrow to their graves. 2 It had been ten thousand times a greater 
mercy to many parents to have buried their children so soon as ever 
they had been born, than to see them come to such unhappy ends as 
they often do. Well ! Christian, it may be the Lord hath taken from 
thee such a hopeful son, or such a dear daughter, and thou sayest, How 
can I hold my peace ? but hark, Christian, hark, canst thou tell me how 
long thou must have travailed in birth with them again before they had 
been twice born? Would not every sin that they had committed against 
thy gracious God caused a new throe in thy soul ? Would not every 
temptation that they had fallen before been as a dagger at thy heart ? 
Would not every affliction that should have befallen them been as a 
knife at thy throat ? What are those pains, and pangs, and throes of 
child-birth to those after pains, pangs, and throes that might have been 
brought upon thee by the sins and sufferings of thy children ? Well ! 
Christians, hold your peace, for you do not know what thorns in your 
eyes, what goads in your sides, nor what spears in your hearts, such near 
and dear mercies might have proved had they been longer continued. 

(1 1.) Eleventhly, Thou canst not tell how bad thy heart might have 
proved under the enjoyment of those near and dear mercies that now 
thou hast losV Israel were very bad whilst they were in the wilderness, 
but they were much worse when they came to possess Canaan, that 
land of desires. Man's blood is apt to rise with the outward good. In, 
the winter, men gird their clothes close about them, but in the summer 
they let them hang loose. In the winter of adversity, many a Christian 
girds his heart close to God, to Christ, to gospel, to godliness, to ordi- 
nances, to duties, &c, who in the summer of mercy hangs loose from all. 

I have read of the pine tree, that, if the bark be pulled off, it will last 

■ The Lamentations of Jeremiah are a full proof of this. 

8 This age affords many sad instances of this nature. Who can think of Tyburn, and 
question it '.' and of killing and drowning, and say, How can this be? 

3 Deut. xxxii. 5, to the end. Jer. v. 7-9, ii. 31, and xxii. 1\ : Husea iv. 7. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 353 

a long time ; but if it continue long on, it rots the tree. Ah ! how bad, 
how rotten, how base, would many have proved, had God not pulled off 
their bark of health, wealth, friendship ! &c. Near and dear relations, 
they stick as close to us as the bark of a tree sticks to the tree, and 
if God should not pull off this bark, how apt should we be to rot and 
corrupt ourselves ; therefore God is fain to bark us, and peel us, and 
strip us naked and bare of our dearest enjoyments and sweetest content- 
ments, that so our souls, like the pine tree, may prosper and thrive the 
better. Who can seriously consider of this, and not hold his peace, even 
then when God takes a jewel out of his bosom ? Heap all the sweetest 
contentments and most desirable enjoyments of this world upon a man, 
they will not make him a Christian ; heap them upon a Christian, they 
will not make him a better Christian. Many a Christian hath been made 
worse by the good things of this world ; but where is the Christian that 
hath been bettered by them ? Therefore be quiet when God strips thee 
of them. 

(12.) Twelfthly, and lastly, Get thy heart more affected ivith spiritual 
losses, and then thy soul will be less afflicted with those temporal losses 
that thou mournest under. 1 Hast thou lost nothing of that presence 
of God that once thou hadst with thy spirit ? Hast thou lost none of 
those warnings, meltings, quickenings, and cheerings that once thou 
hadst ? Hast thou lost nothing of thy communion with God, nor of the 
joys of the Spirit, nor Of that peace of conscience that once thou en- 
joyedst ? Hast thou lost none of that ground that once thou hadst 
got upon sin, Satan, and the world ? Hast thou lost nothing of that 
holy vigour and heavenly heat that once thou hadst in thy heart ? If 
thou hast not, which would be a miracle, a wonder ; why dost thou com- 
plain of this or that temporal loss ? For what is this but to complain 
of the loss of thy purse, when thy God 2 is safe ? If thou art a loser in 
spirituals, why dost thou not rather complain that thou hast lost thy 
God than that thou hast lost thy gold ; and that thou hast lost thy 
Christ than that thou hast lost thy husband ; and that thou hast lost 
thy child, and that thou art damnified in spirituals than that thou art 
damnified in temporals? Dost thou mourn over the body the soul hath 
left \ mourn rather over the soul that God hath forsaken, as Samuel did 
for Saul, saith one. 1 Sam. xv. 14, seq. 

I have read of Honorius, a Roman emperor, who was simple and 
childish enough ; when one told him Rome was lost, he was exceedingly 
grieved, and cried out, Alas ! alas ! for he supposed that it was his hen 
that was called Rome, which hen he exceedingly loved ; but when it 
was told him it was his imperial city of Rome, that was besieged by 
Alaricus, and taken, and all the citizens rifled, and made a prey to the 
rude enraged soldiers, then his spirits were revived that his loss was not 
so great as he imagined. 3 Now, what is the loss of a husband, a wife, 

1 Qui te non habet, Dumine Dens, totum perdilit. — Bernard. 2 Qu. 'gold'? — Ed. 

3 Grotesque as this anecdote sounds, it is historical. "When Rome was plundered hy 
Alaric, a eunuch who had the care of the royal poultry, announced to Honorius that 
' Rome was destroyed' (p&^m awixuXt.) ' And yet,' was the reply, ' she just ate out of 
my hands,' referring to a favourite hen of great size which he called ' Rome.' ' I mean.' 
said the eunuch, ' that the city of Rome has heen destroyed by Alaric' ' But I,' said 
the emperor, ' thought that my hen " Rome " was dead.' So stupid, adds Frocopius, do 
they say this emperor was. — G. 

VOL. I. Z 



354 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

a child, a friend, to the loss of God, Christ, the Spirit, or the least mea- 
sure of grace or communion with God? &C. I say, What are all such losses, 
bul the loss of a hen to the loss of Rome? And yet so simple and childish 
are many Christians, that they are more affected and afflicted with the 
loss of this and that poor temporal enjoyment than they are with the 
loss of their most spiritual attaiments. Ah, Christians ! be but more 
affected with spiritual losses, and you will be more quiet and silent 
under temporal losses. Let the loss of Rome trouble you more, and 
then the loss of your hen will not trouble you at all. Let these things 
suffice for answer to the second objection. 

Oh). 3. Oh, but my afflictions, my troubles have been long upon me ! 
and iiow then can I hold my peace? Were they but of yesterday, I 
would be quiet; but they are of a long continuance ; and therefore how 
can I be silent, &c. ? 
To this I answer, 

(1.) First, Thou canst not date thy affliction from the first day of 
thy pollution. Thou hast been polluted from t ha womb, but thou 
hast not been afflicted from the womb, Ps. li. 5 ; many have been the 
days, the years, since thou wast born in sin ; few have been the days, 
the years, that thou hast experienced sorrow. Thou canst not easily 
number the days of thy sinning, thou canst easily number the days of 
thy sufferings ; thou canst not number thy days of mercy, thou 
canst easily number thy days of calamity ; thou canst not number thy 
davs of health, but thou canst easily tell over thy days of sickness. 

(2.) Secondly, Thy afflictions are not so long as the afflictions oj 
other saints. Compare thy winter nights and other saints' winter 
nights together; thy storms and troubles and other saints' storms and 
troubles together; thy losses and other saints' losses together; thy 
miseries and other saints' miseries together; witness the proofs in the 
margin. 1 Thy afflictions are but as a moment, they are but as yester- 
day compared with the afflictions of other saints, whose whole lives 
have been made up of sorrows and sufferings, as the life of Christ was. 
Many a man's life hath been nothing but a lingering death : Job xxi. 
25, 'And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth 
with pleasure.' There are those that have never a good day all their 
days, who have not a day of rest among all their days of trouble, 
nor a day of health among all their days of sickness, nor a day of glad- 
ness among all their days of sadness, nor a day of strength among all 
their days of weakness, nor a day of honour among all their days of 
reproach ; whose whole life is one continued winter's night, who every 
day drink gall and wormwood, who lie down sighing, who rise groaning, 
and who spend their days in complaining, ' No sorrow to our sorrows, 
no sufferings to our sufferings !' Some there be who have always tears 
in their eyes, sorrows in their hearts, rods on their backs, and crosses in 
their hands : but it is not so with thee ; therefore be silent 

(3.) Thirdly, The longer thy affliction hath been, the sweeter vriU 
heaven be to thee at last ; the longer the Israelites had been in the 
wilderness, the sweeter was Canaan to them at last ; the longer the 
storm, the sweeter the calm ; the longer the winter nights, the sweeter 

1 Ps. lxxvii. and lxxxviii.; Gen. xv. 12, 13; Exod. xii. 40-42; Jer. xxv. 11, 12. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 355 

the summer days. 1 Long afflictions will much set off the glory of 
heaven. The harbour is most sweet and desirable to them that have 
been long tossed upon the seas ; so will heaven be to those who have 
been lonp- in a sea of trouble. The new wine of Christ's kingdom is 
most sweet to those that have been long a-drinking of gall and vinegar, 
Luke xxii. 18 ; the crown of glory will be most delightful to them who 
have been long in combating with the world, the flesh, and the devil. 
The longer our journey is, the sweeter will be our end, and the longer 
our passage is, the sweeter will our haven be. The higher the mountain, 
the gladder we shall be when we are got to the top of it ; the longer 
the heir is kept from his inheritance, the more delight he will have 
when he comes to possess it. 

(4.) Fourthly, They are not long, but short, if compared to that 
eternity of glory that is reserved for the saints, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. 2 If 
you turn to the words, you shall find for affliction, glory; for light afflic- 
tions, a weight of glory ; and for short momentany afflictions, eternal 
glory. There will quickly be an end of thy sadness, but there will never 
be an end of thy happiness ; there will soon be an end of thy calamity 
aud misery, there will never be an end of thy felicity and glory. 3 The 
kingdoms of this world are not lasting, much less are they everlasting ; 
they have all their climacterical years, but the kingdom of heaven is an 
everlasting kingdom ; of that there is no end. There are seven sorts of 
crowns that were in use among the Roman victors, but they were all 
fading and perishing; but the crown of glory that at last God will set 
upon the heads of his saints, shall continue as long as God himself con- 
tinues. Who can look upon those eternal mansions that are above, and 
those everlasting pleasures that be at God's right hand, and say, that 
his affliction is long ? Well ! Christian, let thy affliction be never so 
long, yet one hour's being in the bosom of Christ will make thee forget 
both the length and strength of all thy afflictions. 

(5.) Fifthly, The longer you have been afflicted, the more in spiritual 
experiences you have been enriched : 2 Cor. i. 5, ' For as the sufferings 
of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.' 
The lower the ebb the higher the tide, the more pain the more gain, the 
more afflicted the more comforted, the lower we are cast the higher we 
shall be raised. Of all Christians, none so rich in spiritual experiences, 
as those that have been long in the school of affliction. 4 Oh ! the blessed 
stories that such can tell of the power of God supporting them, of the 
wisdom of God directing them, of the favour of God comforting them, 
of the presence of God assisting them. Oh ! the love-tokens, the love- 
letters, the bracelets, the jewels that they are able to produce since 
they have been in the furnace of affliction. Oh! the sin that long afflic- 
tions have discovered and mortified. Oh ! the temptations that long 
afflictions have prevented and vanquished. You shall as soon number 
the stars of heaven and the sands of the sea, as you shall number up 
the heavenly experiences of such Christians that have been long under 
afflictions. The afflicted Christian's heart is fullest of spiritual treasure. 

1 Ps. cxxvi. 1. 2, 5, 6, compared. 

2 See this largely opened in my ' String of Pearls.' [Included in the present volume. — 
G.] 8 Ps. xlv., lxxii., and lxxxix. : Isa ix. 7 ; 1 Peter i 4, ii. 11. 

* Heb. xii. 11:2 Cor. i. 8, 9 ; Job xxxiii. 17-22. 



356 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. !». 

Though ho may be poor in the world, yet he is rich in faith and holy 
experiences, James ii. 5 ; and what are all the riches of this world to 
spiritual experiences? One spiritual experience is more worth than a 
world, and upon a dying bed and before a judgment-seat, every man 
will be of this opinion. The men of this world will with much quiet- 
ness and calmness of spirit bear much, and Buffer much, and suffer long, 
when they find their sufferings to add to their revenues ; and shall nature 
do more than grace? It is the common voice of nature, 'Who will 
show us any good?' Ps. iv. 6; how shall we come to be great, and high, 
and rich in the world ? We care not what we suffer, nor how long we 
Buffer, so we may but add house to house, heap to heap, bag to bag, and 
land to land, Isa. v. 8. Oh how much more then should Christians be 
quiet and calm under all their afflictions, though they are never so long, 
considering that they do but add jewels to a Christian's crown ; they 
do but add to his spiritual experiences. The long afflicted Christian 
hath the fullest and the greatest trade ; and in the day of account, will 
be found the richest man. 

(6.) Sixthly, Long afflictions sometimes are but preparatives to long- 
lived mercies. Joseph's thirteen years' imprisonment was but a pre- 
parative to fourscore years' reigning like a king ; David's seven years' 
banishment was but a preparative to forty years' reigning in much 
honour and glory ; Job's long afflictions were but preparatives to more 
long-lived mercies, as you may see in that last of Job ; and those sad 
and sore trials that the Jews have been under for above these sixteen 
hundred years, are to prepare them for those matchless mercies, and 
those endless glories, in some sense, that God in the latter days will 
crown them with : J Isa, liv. 11—14, 'O thou afflicted, tossed with tem- 
pests, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, 
and lay thy foundation with sapphires. And I will make thy windows 
of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant 
stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great 
shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be 
established : thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear ; 
and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.' Though they have 
been long afflicted and tossed, yet they shall at last upon glorious foun- 
dations be established ; God will not only raise them out of their dis- 
tressed estate wherein now they are, but he will advance them to a 
most eminent and glorious condition in this world ; they shall be very 
glorious, and outshine all the world in spiritual excellencies and outward 
dignities : Isa. lx. 14, 15, ' The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall 
come bending unto thee, and all they that despised thee shall bow them- 
selves down at the soles of thy feet : and they shall call thee, the city 
of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast 
been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will 
make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.' Ah, 
< Ihristians ! do not mutter nor murmur under your long afflictions, for 
you do not know but that by these long afflictions God may prepare 
and fit you for such favours and blessings that may never have end. By 
long afflictions God many times prepares his people for temporal, spiri- 
tual, and eternal mercies. If God by long afflictions makes more room 
1 Isa. lxii., lxiii., and lxvi. 



Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 357 

in thy soul for himself, his Son, his Spirit, his word ; if by long afflic- 
tions he shall crucify thy heart more to the world and to thy relations, 
and frame and fashion thy soul more for celestial enjoyments ; hast thou 
any cause to murmur ? Surely no. But, 

(7.) Seventhly, Tlie longer a saint is afflicted on earth, the more 
glorious he shall shine in heaven; the more affliction here, the more 
glory hereafter. 1 This truth may be thus made out : 

[1.] First, The more gracious souls are afflicted,the more their graces 
are exercised and increased, Heb. xii. 10, Rom. v. 3-5. Now, the more 
grace here, the more glory hereafter ; the higher in grace, the higher in 
glory. Grace differs nothing from glory but in name : grace is glory in 
the bud, and glory is grace at the full. Glory is nothing but the per- 
fection of grace ; happiness is nothing but the perfection of holiness. 
Grace is glory in the seed, and glory is grace in the flower ; grace is 
glory militant, and glory is grace triumphant. Grace and glory differ 
non specie sed gradu, in degree, not kind, as the learned speak. Now, 
it is most certain that the more gracious souls are afflicted, the more 
their graces are exercised ; and the more grace is exercised, the more it 
is increased, as I have sufficiently demonstrated in this treatise already. 
But, 

[2.] Secondly, The longer a. gracious soul is afflicted, the more his 
religious duties will be multiplied. Ps. cix. 4, ' For my love they are 
my adversaries ; but I give myself unto prayer ;' or as the Hebrew reads 
it, ' But I am prayer/ or ' a mau of prayer.' In times of afflictions a 
Christian is all prayer ; he is never so much a man of prayer, a man 
given up to prayer, as in times of affliction. 2 A Christian is never so 
frequent, so fervent, so abundant in the work of the Lord, as when he 
is afflicted : Isa. xxvi. 16, ' Lord ! in trouble have they visited thee, they 
poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them/ Now, they 
do not only pray, but they pour out a prayer ; they were freely, largely, 
and abundantly in prayer when the rod was upon them. Look ! as 
men plentifully pour out water for the quenching of a fire, so did they 
plentifully pour out their prayers before the Lord ; and as affliction 
puts a man upon being much in prayer, so it puts him upon other duties 
of religion answerably. Now, this is most certain, that though God w 11 
reward no man /or his works, yet he will reward every man according 
to his works: 3 1 Cor. xv. 58, 'Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye 
stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ; for- 
asmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' 2 Cor. 
ix. 6, ' But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly ; 
aud he which soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully / or he which 
soweth in benedictions or blessings shall reap in benedictions, as it runs 
in the original. 

It is an excellent observation of Calvin upon God's rewarding the 
Rechabites' obedience, Jer. xxxv. 19 ; God, saith he, oft recompenseth 
the shadows and seeming-appearance of virtue, to shew what compla- 
cency he takes in the ample rewards he hath reserved for true and sin- 
cere piety. Now, if the longer a Christian is afflicted, the more his 

1 2 Cor. iv. 16-18; Mat. v. 10-12; 1 Cor. iii. 21-23. 

2 Ps. xlii. 1-5, lxiii. 1, 2, 3. 8 ; Jer. xxxi. 18, 19 ; Hosea vi. 11 with 1. 2 ; Ps cxvi. 3, 4 
and cxlv. 6, 7. 3 God will reward his people secundum laborem. — Bernard. 



858 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXI X 9 

religious services will be multiplied, and the more they are multiplied, 
the more his glory at last will be increased, then the longer a saint is 
afflicted on earth, the more glory he shall have when he comes to 
heaven. But, 

[3.] Thirdly, The longer any saint Is afflicted, the more into the 
image and likeness of Christ he wiU be transformed. 1 It is one of 
God's great designs and ends in afflicting of his people, to make them 
more conformable to his Son; and God will not lose his end. Men 
often lose theirs, but God never hath nor will lose his ; and experience 
tells ns that God doth every day, by afflictions, accomplish his end upon 
his people. The longer they are afflicted, the more they are made con- 
formable to Christ in meekness, lowliness, spirit nulness, heavenliness, 
m faith, love, self-denial, pity, compassion, &c. Now certainly, the more 
like to Christ, the more beloved of Christ." The more a Christian is 
like to Christ, the more he is the delight of Christ ; and the more like 
to Christ on earth, the nearer the soul shall sit to Christ in heaven. 
Nothing makes a man more conformable to Christ than afflictions. 
Justin Martyr, in his second Apology for the Christians, hath observed, 
that there is scarce any prediction or prophecy concerning our Saviour, 
Christ the Son of God, to be made man, but the heathen writers, who 
were all after Moses, did from thence invent some fable, and feign it to 
have been acted by some one or other of Jupiter's sons ; only the pro- 
phecies about the cross of Christ they have taken for the ground of no 
fable. They have not, among all their fictions, told us of any one of 
Jupiter's sons that was crucified, that acted his part upon the cross. - 
Many would wear the crown with Christ, that do not care for bearing 
the cross with Christ. But, 

(8.) Eighthly, The longer they have been, the greater cause thou hast 
to be silent and patient, for impatience will but lengthen out the day 
of thy sorrows. Every impatient act adds one link more to the chain ; 
every act of frowardness adds one lash more to those that have already 
been laid out; every act of muttering will but add stroke to stroke, and 
sting to sting; every act of murmuring will but add burden to burden, 
and storm to storm. The most compendious way to lengthen out thy 
long afflictions is to fret, and vex, and murmur under them. As thou 
wouldst see a speedy issue of thy long afflictions, sit mute and silent 
under them. 

(9.) Ninthly, God's time is the best time; mercy is never nearer 
Salvation is at hand, deliverance is at the door, when a man's heart is 
brought into such a frame as to be freely willing that God should time 
his mercy and time his deliverance for him, Acts xxvii. 13—44. The 
physician's time is the best time for the patient to have ease. The im- 
patient patient cries out to his physician, Oh ! sir, a little ease, a little 
refreshment ! Oh the pains, the tortures, that I am under ! Oh, sir, I 
think every hour two, and every two ten, till comfort comes, till refresh- 
ment comes ! But the prudent physician hath turned the hour-glass, 
and is resolved that this physic shall work so long, though his patient 
frets, flings, roars, tears. So, when we are under afflictions, we are apt 

1 Rom. viii. 28, &c. ; 2 Cor. i. 5-7; Philip, iii. 10; Heb. ii. 10; 2 Tim. ii. 12. 

2 Gale's 'Court of the Gentiles' is an elaborate demonstration of this remark of 
Brooks. For the non-imitation of the crucilixion, see Justin Martyr : Apol. §72. — G. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 359 

to cry out, How long, Lord, shall it be before ease comes, before deliver- 
ance comes ? Oh the tortures, oh the torments, that we are under ! 
Lord, a little refreshment ! Oh how long are these nights ! oh how 
tedious are these days ! But God hath turned our glass, and he will 
not hearken to our cry till our glass be out. After all our fretting and 
flinging, we must stay bis time, who knows best when to deliver us, 
and how to deliver us, out of all our troubles, and who will not stay a 
moment when the glass is out that he hath turned. 1 But, 

(10.) Tenthly, and lastly, They shall last no longer than there is 
need, and then they shall work for thy good. It is with souls as it is 
with bodies ; some bodies are more easily and more suddenly cured than 
others are, and so are some souls. God will not suffer the plaster to lie 
one day, no, not one hour, no, not a moment, longer than there is need. 
Some flesh heals quickly ; proud flesh is long a-healing. By affliction 
God quickly heals some, but others are long a-healing : 1 Pet. i. 6, ' If 
need be, ye are in heaviness, through manifold temptations,' or through 
various afflictions. The burden shall lie no longer upon thee than 
needs must ; thy pain shall endure no longer than needs must ; thy 
physic shall make thee no longer sick than needs must, &c. Thy 
heavenly Father is a physician as wise as he is loving. When thy 
heart begins to grow high, he sees there is need of some heavy affliction 
to bring it low ; when thy heart grows cold, he sees there is need of 
some fiery affliction to heat it and warm it ; when thy heart grows dull 
and dead, he sees there is need of some smart affliction to enliven and 
quicken it. And as thy afflictions shall continue no longer than there 
is need, so they shall last no longer than they shall work for thy good. 
If all along they shall work for thy good, thou hast no cause to com- 
plain that thy afflictions are long. That they shall thus work, I have 
fully proved in the former part of this book. And thus much for 
answer to the third objection. 

Obj. 4. I would be mute and silent under my afflictions, but my 
afflictions daily multiply and increase upon me ; like the waves of the sea, 
they come rolling over the neck of one another, &c. ; and how then can 
I hold my peace ? How can I lay my hand upon my mouth, when the 
sorrows of my heart are daily increased? 
To this I answer thus : 

(1.) First, Thy afflictions are not so many as thy sins, Ps. xl. 12. 
Thy sins are as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon the sea, that 
cannot be numbered. There are three things that no Christian can 
number: J, his sins ; 2, divine favours ; 3, the joys and pleasures that 
be at Christ's right hand ; but there is no Christian so poor an accountant, 
but that he may quickly sum up the number of his troubles and afflic- 
tions in this world. Thy sins, O Christian, are like the Syrians that 
filled the country, but thy afflictions are like the two little flocks of kids 
that pitched before them, 1 Kings xx. 27 ; therefore hold thy peace. 

(2.) Secondly, If such should not be mute and silent under their 
afflictions, whose afflictions are increased and multiplied upon them, 
then there are none in the world who will be found mute and silent 
under their afflictions : for certainly there are none who do not find the 
waters of affliction to grow daily upon them. If this be not so, what 
1 Ps. vi. 3; Ps- xiii- 1, 2 ; Ps. xciv. 9, 10 ; Rev. vi. 10. 



360 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

means the bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen? 1 Sam. 
xv. 14. What means the daily sighs, groans, and complaints of Chris- 
tians, if their troubles, like the waters in Ezekiel's sanctuary, be not 
still increasing upon them ? Ezek. xlvii. 1, 20. Every day brings us 
tidings of new straits, new troubles, new crosses, new losses, new 
trials, &c. 

(3.) Thirdly, They are not so many as God might haveexerc'i* <l t/icc 
with. God could as easily exercise thee with ten as with two, and with 
a hundred as with ten, and with a thousand as with a hundred. Let 
thy afflictions be never so many, yet they are not so many as they might 
have been, had God either consulted with thy sins, with thy deserts, or 
with his own justice. There is no comparison between those afflictions 
that God hath inflicted upon thee, and those that he might have in- 
flicted. Thou hast not one burden of a thousand that God could have 
laid on, but he would not ; therefore hold thy peace. 1 

(4.) Fourthly, Thy afflictions are not so many as thy mercies, nay, 
they are not to be named in the day wherein thy mercies are spoken 
of. What are thy crosses to thy comforts, thy miseries to thy mercies, 
thy days of sickness to thy days of health, thy days of weakness to thy 
days of strength, thy days of scarcity to thy days of plenty? And this 
is that the wise man would have us seriously to consider : Eccles. vii. 
14, ' In the day of adversity consider,' — but what must we consider? — 
' that God hath set the one over against the other.' As God hath set 
winter and summer, night and day, fair weather and foul, one over 
against another, so let us set our present mercies over against our pre- 
sent troubles, and we shall presently find that our mercies exceed our 
trouble, that they mightily over-balance our present afflictions ; there- 
fore let us be silent, let us lay our hands upon our mouths. 

(5.) Fifthly, If you cast up a just and righteous account, you will 
find that they are not so many as the afflictions that have befall* t , 
other saints. Have you reckoned up the affliction that befell Abraham, 
Jacob, Joseph, Job, Asaph, Haman, the prophets and apostles ? 2 If 
you have, you will say that your afflictions are no afflictions to those 
that have befallen them ; their lives were filled up with sorrows and 
sufferings, but so are not yours ; therefore kiss the rod and be silent. 
It may be, if thou look est upon thy relations, thy friends, thy neigh- 
bours, thou may est find many whose afflictions for number and weight 
do much outweigh thine ; therefore be silent, murmur not, hold thy 
peace. 

(G.) Sixthly, Not so many as attended our Lord Jesus ; whose whole 
life, from the cradle to the cross, was nothing but a life of sufferings. 3 
Osorius, writing of the sufferings of Christ, saith, That the crown of 
thorns bored his head with seventy-two wounds. Many seventy-two 
afflictions did Christ meet with whilst he was in this world. None can 
be ignorant of this who have but read the New Testament. He is 
called ' a man of sorrows ;' his whole life was filled up with sorrows. 
When he was but a little past thirty years of age, sorrows, pains, 

1 Lam. iii. 39, Luke xxiii. 41. What are the number of princes to the subjects that 
are under them ? or what are the number of generals to the number of soldiers that are 
commanded by them? No more are thy afflictions to thy mercies. 

2 Kead but [of] the ten persecutions, and thou wilt be full of this opinion. 
* Isa. 53d, read the whole chapter. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 361 

troubles, oppositions, persecutions, had so worn him, that the Jews 
judged him towards fifty, John viii. 57. A man were as good compare 
the number of his bosom friends with the stars of heaven, as compare 
his afflictions and the afflictions of Christ together. 

(7.) Seventhly, Muttering and murmuring will bid add to the num- 
ber. When the child is under the rod, his crying and fretting doth but 
add lash to lash, blow to blow ; but of this enough before. 

(S.) Eighthly, and lastly, Though they are many, yet they are not 
so many as the joys, the pleasures, the delights that be at Christ's right 
hand. As the pleasures of heaven are matchless and endless, so they 
are numberless. 1 Augustine, speaking concerning what we can say of 
heaven, saith, 2 that it is but a little drop of the sea, and a little spark 
of the great furnace ; those good things of eternal life are so many, 
that they exceed number ; so great, that they exceed measure ; so pre- 
cious, that they are above all estimation. Nee Christus, nee caelum 
patitur hyperbolem, neither Christ nor heaven can be hyperbolised ; for 
every affliction many thousand joys and delights will attend the saints 
in a glorified estate. What will that life be, or rather what will not 
that life be, saith one, speaking of heaven, since all good either is not 
at all, or is in such a life ; light which place cannot comprehend ; voices 
and music which time cannot ravish away ; odours which are never dis- 
sipated ; a feast which is never consumed ; a blessing which eternity 
bestoweth, but eternity shall never see at an end. And let this suffice 
for answer to this fourth objection. 

Obj. 5. My afflictions are very great, how then can 1 hold my peace ? 
Though they were many, yet if they were not great, I would be mute, 
but alas ! they are very great. Oh ! how can I be silent under them ? 
How can I now lay my hand upon my mouth ? 

Ans. (1.) To this I answer, Though they are great, yet they are not 
so great as thy sins, thyself being judge ; therefore hold thy peace : s 
Ezra ix. 13, 'And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and 
for our great trespasses, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less 
than our iniquities deserve/ They that were under the sense and guilt 
of great sins, have cause to be silent under their greatest sufferings. 
Never complain that thy afflictions are great, till thou canst say that 
thy sins are not great. It is but justice that great afflictions should 
attend great sins ; therefore be quiet. Thy sins are like great rocks and 
mighty mountains, but so are not thy afflictions ; therefore lay thy hand 
upon thy mouth. The remembrance of great sins should cool and calm 
a man's spirit under his greatest troubles ; and if the sense of thy great 
sins will not stop thy mouth and silence thy heart, I know not what 
will. 

(2.) Secondly, It may be they are not great, if you look upon them 
with Scripture spectacles, 1 Peter v. 10. Flesh and blood many times 
looks upon molehills as mountains, and scratches upon the hand as 
stabs at the heart ; we make elephants of flies, and of little pigmies 
we frame giants. Carnal reason often looks upon troubles through false 
glasses. As there are some glasses that will make great things seem 
little, so there are others that will make little things seem great, and 

1 Ps. xvi. 11 ; Tsa. lxiv. 4 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9. 2 Aug. de Triplici habitu, c. iv. 

3 Read Ps. cvi., Neh. ix. 



SC2 THE MUTE CHUISTI AN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

it may be thai thou lookest upon thy afflictions through one of them, 
ls.i liv. 7, 8. Look upon thy afflictions in the glass of the word ; Look 
upon them in a Scripture dress, and then they will be found to be but 
little. He that shall look into a gospel glass, shall be able to say, heavy 
afflictions are Light, long afflictions arc short, bitter afflictions arc sweet, 
and greal afflictions are little, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18. It is good to make a 
judgment of your afflictions by a gospel light and by a gospel rule. 

Artemon, an engineer, was afraid of his own shadow.' Men that look 
not upon their afflictions in a Scripture dress, will be afraid even of the 
shadow of trouble, they will cry out, No affliction to our affliction, no 
burden to our burden, no cross to our cross, no loss to our loss ; but out- 
look into a gospel glass would make them change their note. The lion 
is not always so great nor so terrible as he is painted ; neither are our 
troubles always so great as we fancy them to be. When Hagar's bottle 
of water was spent, she sat down and fell a-weeping, as if she had been 
utterly undone, Gen. xxi. 17-19 ; her provision and her patience, beat 
bottle and her hope were both out together ; but her affliction was not 
80 great as she imagined, for there was a well of water near, though for 
a time she saw it not. So many Christians, they eye the empty bottle, 
the cross, the burden that is at present upon them, and then they fall 
a-weeping, a-whiniug, a-complaining, a-repining, a-murmuring, as if 
they were utterly undone ; and yet a well of water, a well of comfort, 
a well of refreshment, a well of deliverance is near, and their case is no 
way so sad, nor so bad as they imagine it to be. 

(3.) Thirdly, Tlte greater thy afflictions are,the nearer is deliverance 
to (lice. When these waters rise high, then salvation comes upon the 
wings ; when thy troubles are very great, then mercy will ride post to 
deliver thee : 2 Deut. xxxii. 36, 'For the Lord shall judge his people, 
and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power (or 
hand) is gone, and there is none shut up, and left.' Israel of old, and 
England of late years, hath often experienced this truth. Wine was 
nearest, when the water-pots were filled with water up to the brim, 
John ii. 1-1 1 ; so oftentimes mercy is nearest, deliverance is nearest, 
when our afflictions are at the highest. When a Christian is brim -full of 
troubles, then the wine of consolation is at hand ; therefore hold thy 
peace, murmur not, but sit silent before the Lord. 

(4.) Fourthly, They are not great, if compared to the glory that shall 
be revealed, 2 Cor. iv. 10-18: Rom. viii. 18, 'For I reckon, that the 
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the 
glory that shall be revealed in us, or upon us.' The apostle, upon casting 
up of his accounts, concludes that all the pains, chains, troubles, trials, 
and torments that they meet with in this world, was not to be put in 
the balance with the glory of heaven. As the globe of the earth, which 
after the mathematicians' account is many thousands of miles in com- 
pass, yet being compared unto the greatness of the starry sky's circum- 
ference, is but a centre, or a little prick ; so the troubles, a mictions, and 
sorrows of this life, in respect of eternal happiness and blessedness, are 
to be reputed as nothing ; they are but as the prick of a pin to the starry 
heavens. They that have heard most of the glory of heaven, have not 

1 Plutarch, Pericles, 27 ; Diod. xii. 28.— G. 

8 IScripture and history speaks fully to this bead. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 363 

heard one quarter of that which the saints shall find there ; that glory 
is unconceivable and unex'pressible. Augustine in one of his epistles 
hath this relation : that the very same day wherein Jerome died, he 
was in his study, and had got pen, ink, and paper, to write something 
of the glory of heaven to Jerome, and suddenly he saw a light breaking 
into his study, and a sweet smell that came unto him, and this voice he 
thought he heard : O Augustine ! what doest thou ? Dost thou think 
to put the sea into a little vessel ? When the heavens shall cease from 
their continual motion, then shalt thou be able to understand what the 
glory of heaven is, and not before, except you come to feel it as now I 
do. 1 Nicephorus speaks of one Agbarus, a great man, that hearing so 
much of Christ's fame, by reason of the miracles he wrought, sent a 
painter to take his picture, and that the painter when he came was not 
able to do it, because of that radiancy and divine splendour which sat 
on Christ's face. 2 Such is the splendour, the brightness, the glory, the 
happiness, and blessedness that is reserved for the saints in heaven, 
that had I all the tongues of men on earth, and all the excellencies of 
the angels in heaven, yet 'should I not be able to conceive, nor to express 
that vision of glory to you. It is best hastening thither, that we may 
feel and enjoy that which we shall never be able to declare. 

(5.) Fifthly, They are not great, if compared with the afflictions and 
torments of such of the damned, who when they were in this world, 
never sinned at so high a rate as thou hast done. 3 Doubtless there 
are many now in hell, who never sinned against such clear light as thou 
hast done^ nor against such special love as thou hast done, nor against 
such choice means as thou hast done, nor against such precious mercies 
as thou hast done, nor against such singular remedies as thou hast 
done. 4 Certainly there are many now a-roaring in everlasting burnings, 
who never sinned against such deep convictions of conscience as thou 
hast done, nor against such close and strong reasonings of the Spirit as 
thou hast done, nor against such free offers of mercy and rich tenders 
of - grace as thou hast done, nor against such sweet wooings and multi- 
plied entreaties of a bleeding dying Saviour as thou hast done ; there- 
fore hold thy peace. What are thy afflictions, thy torments, to the 
torments of the damned, whose torments are numberless,-- easeless, 
remediless, and endless; whose pains are without intermission or 
mitigation ; who have weeping served in for the first course, and gnash- 
ing of teeth for the second, and the gnawing worm for the third, and 
intolerable pain for the fourth, — yet the pain of the body is but the 
body of pain, the very soul of sorrow and pain is the soul's sorrow and 
pain, — and an everlasting alienation and separation from God for the 
fifth? Ah, Christian! how canst thou seriously think on these things, 
and not lay thy hand upon thy mouth, when thou art under the greatest 
sufferings ? Thy sins have been far greater than many of theirs, and 
thy great afflictions are but a flea-bite to theirs ; therefore be silent 
before the Lord. 

1 One of the commonplaces in the biographies of Augustine and Jerome. See Ep. of 
the former, sub nomine. — G. 

2 Ecclcs. Hist. [A well-known myth. — G.] 

3 1 Peter iii. 18-20 ; Jude 6, 7 ; Mat. x. 15, xi. 23, 24. 

4 Isa. xxxiii. 14. The fire in hell is like that stone in Arcadia, which being once 
kindled, could not be quenched. [Asbestos. — G.] 



364 tiik mute christian [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

(G.) Sixthly and lastly, If thy afflictions are so great; then what 
madness cmdfoUy will it be for thee to make them greater by mv/t- 
muring ! Every act of murmuring will but add load unto load, and 
burden to burden. The Israelites under great afflictions fell a-murraur- 
ing, and their murmuring proved their utter ruin, as you may see in 
that Num. xiv. Murmuring will but put God upon heating the 
furnace seven times hotter; therefore hold thy peace, 1 Cor. x. 11. 
But of this I have spoken sufficiently already. 

Object. 6. Oh ! but my afflictions are greater than other men's afflic- 
tions are ; and how then can I be silent ? Oh ! there is no affliction to 
my affliction ; how can I hold my peace ? I answer, 

(1.) First, It may be thy sins are greater than other men's sins, 
Jer. iii. 6-12. If thou hast sinned against more light, more love, more 
mercies, more experiences, more promises than others, no wonder if thy 
afflictions are greater than others'. If this be thy case, thou hast more 
cause to be mute than to murmur ; and certainly, if thou dost but 
seriously look into the black book of thy conscience, thou wilt find 
greater sins there than any thou canst charge upon any person or 
persons on earth. If thou shouldst not, I think thou wouldst justly 
incur the censure which that sour philosopher passed upon gramma- 
rians, viz., that they were better acquainted with the evils of Ulysses 
than with their own. 1 Never complain that thy afflictions are greater 
than others', except thou canst evidence that thy sins are lesser than 
others'. 

(2.) Secondly, It may be thou art under some present distemper, 
that disenables thee to make a right judgment of the different dealings 
of God with thyself and others. 2 When the mind is distempered, and 
the brain troubled, many things seem to be that are not ; and then little 
things seem very great. Oh ! the strange passions, the strange imagi- 
nations, the strange conclusions, that attend a distempered judgment. 

I have read of a foolish emperor, who, to shew the greatness of his 
city, made show of many spiders. When the mind is disturbed, men 
many times say they know not what, and do they know not what. It 
may be, when these clouds are blown over, and thy mind cleared, and 
thy judgment settled, thou wilt be of another opinion. The supplicant 
woman appealed from drunken king Philip to sober king Philip. It is 
good to appeal from a distempered mind to a clear composed mind, for 
that is the way to make a righteous judgment of all the righteous dis- 
pensations of God, both towards ourselves and towards others. 

(3.) Thirdly, It may be that the Lord sees that it is very needful 
that thy afflictions should be greater than others'. 3 It may be thy 
heart is harder than other men's hearts, and prouder and stouter than 
other men's hearts ; it may be thy heart is more impure than others, 
and more carnal than others, or else more passionate and more worldly 
than others, or else more deceitful and more hypocritical than others, or 
else more cold and careless than others, or else more secure than others, 
or more formal and lukewarm than others. Now, if this be thy case, 
certainly God sees it very necessary, for the breaking of thy hard heart, 

1 Diogenes apud Laertium. 

'-' Deut. xxviii. 28. Good men are -sometimes strangely besotted and infatuated. 

3 Nothing but strong vomits, strong purges, strong clysters, will cure some. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 365 

and the humbling of thy proud heart, and the cleansing of thy foul 
heart, and the spiritualising of thy carnal heart, &c, that thy afflictions 
should be greater than others ; and therefore hold thy peace. Where 
the disease is strong, the physic must be strong, else the cure will never 
be wrought. God is a wise physician, and he would never give strong 
physic if weaker could effect the cure, Jer. xxx. 11, and xlvi. 28; Isa. 
xxvii. 8. The more rusty the iron is, the oftener we put it into the fire 
to purify it ; and the more crooked it is, the more blows and the harder 
blows we give to straighten it. Thou hast been long a -gathering rust ; 
and therefore, if God deal thus with thee, thou hast no cause to 
complain. 

(4.) Fourthly, Though thy afflictions are greater than this and that 
particular man's afflictions, yet doubtless there are many thousands 
in the world whose afflictions are greater than thine. Canst thou 
seriously consider the sore calamities and miseries that the devouring 
sword hath brought upon many thousand Christians in foreign parts, 
and say that thy afflictions are greater than theirs ? Surely no. Pliny, 
in his Natural History, writeth 1 that the nature of the basilisk is to 
kill all trees and shrubs it breathes upon, and to scorch and burn all 
herbs and grass it passeth over. Such are the dismal effects of war. 2 
The sword knows no difference between Catholics and Lutherans, as 
once the duke of Medina Sidonia said, betwixt the innocent and the 
guilty, betwixt young and old, betwixt bond and free, betwixt male and 
female, betwixt the precious and the vile, the godly and the profane, 
betwixt the prince and the subject, betwixt the nobleman and the 
beggar. The sword eats the flesh and drinks the blood of all sorts and 
sexes, without putting any difference betwixt one or the other. The 
poor protestants under the Duke of Savoy, and those in Poland, Den- 
mark, Germany, and several other parts, have found it so ; many of 
their wounds are not healed to this day. Who can retain in his fresh 
and bleeding memory the dreadful work that the sword of war hath 
made in this nation, and not say, Surely many thousands have been 
greater sufferers than myself ; they have resisted unto blood, but so have 
not I, Heb. xii. 4. But, 

(5.) Fifthly, As thy afflictions are greater than other men's, so it may 
be thy mercies are greater than other men's mercies ; and if so, thou 
hast no cause but to hold thy peace. As Job's afflictions were greater 
than other men's, so his mercies were greater than other men's, and Job 
wisely sets one against another, and then lays his hand upon his mouth, 
Job i. 21, 22. It may be thou hast had more health than others, and 
more strength than others, and more prosperity than others, and more 
smiling providences than others, and more good days than others, and 
more sweet and comfortable relations than others ; and if this be thy 
case, thou hast much cause to be mute, thou hast no cause to murmur. 
If now thy winter nights be longer than others, remember thy summer 
days have formerly been longer than others ; and therefore hold thy 
peace. But, 

(6.) Sixthly and lastly, By great afflictions the Lord may greaten 
thy graces, and greaten thy name and fame in the world, James v. 

1 Lib. viii. c. 21. 2 Read Josephus, and the History of the Bohemian Persecution. 



366 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN' [Ps. XXXIX !). 

10, 11. By Job's great afflictions, God did greaten his faith, and great* n 
his patience, and greaten his integrity, and greaten his wisdom and 
knowledge, and greaten his experience, and greaten his name and fame 
in the world, as you all know that have hut read his book. Bonds and 
afflictions waited on Paul in every city, Acts xx. 23, 2 Cor. xi. ; his 
afflict ions and sufferings were very great, but by them the Lord greatened 
his spirit, his zeal, his courage, his confidence, his resolution, and his 
name and fame, both among sinners and saints. Certainly, if thou art 
dear to Christ, he will greaten thee in spirituals, by all the great afflic- 
tions that are upon thee ; he will raise thy faith, and inflame thy love, 
and quicken thy hope, and brighten thy zeal, and perfect thy patience, 
and perfume thy name, and make it like a precious ointment, ' like a 
precious ointment poured forth/ Prov. xxii. 1, Eccles. vii. 1 ; so that 
good men shall say, and bad men shall say, Lo, here is a Christian in- 
deed, here is a man more worth than the gold of Ophir ; therefore, hold 
thy peace, though thy afflictions are greater than others. 

Object. 7. I would be silent, but my outward affliction is attended 
with sore temptations ; God hath not only outwardly afflicted me, but 
Satan is let loose to buffet me ; and therefore how can I be silent ? how 
can I hold my peace, now I am fallen under manifold temptations ? To 
this I answer : 

(1.) First, No man is the less beloved because he is tempted ; vay, 
those that God loves best are usually tempted most, Eph. vi. 12. Wit- 
ness David, Job, Joshua, Peter, Paul, yea, Christ himself, Mat, iv., who, 
as he was beloved above all others, so he was tempted above all others; 
he was tempted to question his Sonship ; he was tempted to the worst 
idolatry, even to worship the devil himself; to the greatest infidelity, 
to distrust his Father's providence, and to use unlawful means for neces- 
sary supplies ; and to self-murder, ' Cast thyself down,' &c. Those that 
were once glorious on earth, and are now triumphing in heaven, have 
been sorely tempted and assaulted. It is as natural and common for 
the choicest saints to be tempted, as it is for the sun to shine, the bird 
to fly, the fire to burn. The eagle complains not of her wings, nor the 
peacock of his train, nor the nightingale of her voice, because these are 
natural to them ; no more should saints of their temptations, because 
they are natural to them. Our whole life, saith Austin, is nothing but 
a tentation ; the best men have been worst tempted ; therefore, hold 
thy peace. 1 

(2.) Secondly, Temptation resisted and bewailed, will never hurt 
you, nor harm you. Distasted temptations seldom or never prevail. 
So long as the soul distastes them and the will remains firmly averse 
against them, they can do no hurt ; so long as the language of the soul 
is, ' Get thee behind me, Satan/ Mat. xvi. 23, the soul is safe. It is not 
Satan tempting but my assenting, it is not his enticing but my yielding, 
that mischiefs me. Temptations may be troubles to my mind, but 
they are not sins upon my soul whilst I am in arms against them. If 
tliv heart trembles and thy flesh quakes when Satan tempts, thy con- 
dition is good enough ; if Satan's temptations be thy greatest afflictions, 

1 I am without, set upon by all the world, and within, by the devil and all his aDgels, 
saith Luther. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 3G7 

his temptations shall never worst thee nor harm thee ; and therefore, if 
this be thy case, hold thy peace. 1 

(3.) Thirdly, Temptations are rather hopeful evidences that thy 
estate is good, that thou art dear to Ood, and that it shall go ivell with 
thee for ever, than otherwise. God had but one Son without corruption, 
but he had none without temptation, Heb. ii. 17, 18. Pirates make 
the fiercest assaults upon those vessels that are most richly laden ; so 
doth Satan upon those souls that are most richly laden with the trea- 
sures of grace, with the riches of glory. Pirates let empty vessels 
pass and repass, without assaulting them ; so doth Satan let souls that 
are empty of God, of Christ, of the Spirit, of grace, pass and repass 
without tempting or assaulting of them. When nothing will satisfy 
the soul, but a full departure out of Egypt, from the bondage and 
slavery of sin, and that the soul is firmly resolved upon a march for 
Canaan, then Satan, Pharaoh-like, will furiously pursue after the soul 
with horses and chariots, that is, with a whole army of temptations, 
Exod. xiv. 9. 2 Well ! a tempted soul, when it is worst with him, may 
safely argue thus : If God were not my friend, Satan would not be so 
much my enemy ; if there were not something of God within me, Satan 
would never make such attempts to storm me ; if the love of God were 
not set upon me, Satan would never shoot so many fiery darts to wound 
me ; if the heart of God were not towards me, the hand of Satan would 
not be so strong against me. When Beza was tempted, he made this 
answer, Whatsoever I was, Satan, I am now 'in Christ a new creature/ 
and that is it which troubles thee ; I might have so continued long 
enough ere thou wouldst have vexed at it, but now I see thou dost 
envy me the grace of my Saviour. Satan's malice to tempt is no 
sufficient ground for a Christian to dispute God's love upon ; if it were, 
there is no saint on earth that should quietly possess divine favour a 
week, a day, an hour. The jailor is quiet, when his prisoner is in bolts, 
but if he be escaped, then he pursues him with hue and cry ; you know 
how to apply it. Men hate not the picture of a toad, the wolf flies not 
upon a painted sheep ; no more doth Satan upon those he hath in chains ; 
therefore hold thy peace, though thou art inwardly tempted, as well 
as outwardly afflicted. 

(4.) Fourthly, Whilst Satan is tempting of thee, Christ in the court 
of glory is interceding for thee : 3 Luke xxii. 31, 32, ' And the Lord said, 
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift 
you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.' 
iSatan would fain have been shaking of him up and down, as wheat is 
shaken in a fan ; but Christ's intercession frustrates Satan's designed 
temptations. Whenever Satan stands at our elbow to tempt us, Christ 
stands at his Father's to intercede for us : Heb. vii. 25, ' He ever lives 
to make intercession.' Some of the learned think, that Christ intercedes 
only by virtue of his merits ; others think that it is done only with his 
mouth ; probably it may be done both ways, the rather because he hath 
a tongue, as also a whole glorified body in heaven ; and is it likely, that 

1 He that can say when he is tempted, as that young convert, Ego non sum ego, is happy 
enough under all his temptations. 

2 Israel going into Egypt had no opposition, but travelling into Canaan, they were 
never free. 

3 Rom. viii. 34 ; 1 John ii. 1 ; Zech. iii. 1-3. 



.368 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

that mouth which pleaded so much for us on earth, John xvii. should be 
altogether silent for us in heaven? Christ is a person of highest honour; he 
is the greatest favourite in the court of heaven ; he always stands between 
us and danger. If there be any evil plotted or designed against us by 
Satan, the great accuser of the brethren, he foresees it, and by his inter- 
cession prevents it. When Satan puts in his pleas and commences suit 
upon suit against us, Christ still undertakes our cause ; he answers all 
his pleas, and non-suits Satan at every turn, and in despite of hell he 
keeps us up in divine favour. When Satan pleads, Lord ! here are such 
and such sins that thy children have committed ! and here are such and 
such duties that they have omitted ! and here are such and such mercies 
that they have not improved ! and here are such and such ordinances 
that they have slighted ! and here are such and such motions of the Spirit 
which they have quenched ! divine justice answers, All this is true, but 
Christ hath appeared on their behalf; he hath pleaded their cause; he 
hath fully and fairly answered whatever hath been objected and given 
complete satisfaction to the utmost farthing ; so that here is no accusation 
nor condemnation that can stand in force against them ; upon which 
account the apostle triumphs in that Rom. viii. 34, ' Who is he that 
condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who 
is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for 
us.' Christ's intercession should be the soul's anchor-hold in time of 
temptation. In the day of thy temptation thou needest not be dis- 
turbed nor disquieted, but in peace and patience possess thine own soul, 
considering what a friend thou hast in the court of glory, and how he 
is most active for thee, when Satan is most busy in tempting of thee. 1 

(5.) Fifthly and lastly, All temptations that the saints meet with, 
shall work much for their good ; they shall be much for their gain. 
The profit and advantage that will redound to tempted souls by all 
their temptations is very great, Rom. viii. 28, Lam. i. 12. Now this 
will appear to be a most certain truth by an induction of particulars 
thus : 

[1.] First, By temptations God multiplies and increases his children's 
spiritual experiences, the increase of winch is better than the increase of 
gold. 2 In the school of temptation, God gives his children the greatest 
experience of his power supporting them, of his word comforting of them, 
of his mercy warming of them, of his wisdom counselling of them, of his 
faithfulness joying of them, and of his grace strengthening of them : 
2 Cor. xii. 9, ' My grace shall be sufficient for thee.' Paul never experi- 
enced so deeply what almighty power was, what the everlasting arms of 
mercy were, and what infinite grace and goodness was, as when he was 
under the buffetings of Satan. 

[2.] Secondly, All their temptations shall be physical; their tempta* 
1'm, is shall />< ha i ipy preventions of great abominations: 2 Cor. xii. 7, 
' Lest I should be exalted, lest I should be exalted.' It is twice in that 
one verse ; he begins with it, and he ends with it. If he had not been 
buffeted, he might have been more highly exalted in his own conceit 

1 Saith Christ, Lord ! here is wisdom for their folly, humility for their pride, heavenli- 
ness, holiness, for their earthliness, for their wickedness, &c. 

'-' Kinn. v. 3, 4, Frequent engagements add to the soldier's skill, and much increase his 
experiences. 



Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 3G9 

than he was before in his ecstasy. Ah, tempted souls ! you say you 
are naught, very naught, but had it not been for the school of tempta- 
tion, you might have been stark naught before this time. You say you 
are sick, you are even sick to death. Why, your sickness had before 
this time killed you, had not temptations been physical 1 to you. You 
are bad under temptations ; but doubtless you would have been much 
worse had not God made temptation a diet-drink to you. 2 

[3.] Thirdly, Temptation shall much promote the exercise of grace. 
As the spring in the watch sets all the wheels agoing, and as Solomon's 
virtuous woman set all her maidens to work, so temptation sets faith on 
work, and love on work, and repentance on work, and hope on work, and 
holy fear on work, and godly sorrow on work, 3 Prov. xxx. 10-33 ; 1 Peter i. 6. 
As the windsets the mill atwork,so the wind of temptations sets the graces 
of the saints agoing. Now faith runs to Christ, now it hugs a promise, now 
it pleads the blood of Christ, now it looks to the recompence of reward, 
now it takes the sword of the Spirit, &c. ; now love cleaves to Christ, 
now love hangs upon Christ, now love will fight it out to the death for 
Christ ; now hope flies to the horns of the sanctuary, now hope puts on 
her helmet, now hope casts her anchor upon that within the veil, 4 &c. 
Grace is never more acted than when a Christian is most tempted. 
Satan made a bow of Job's wife ; of his rib, as Chrysostom speaks, and 
shot a temptation by her at Job, thinking to have shot him to the heart: 
' Curse God, and die ;' but the activity of Job's graces was a breastplate 
that made him temptation-proof. The devil, tempting Bonaventure, 
told him he was a reprobate, and therefore persuaded him to drink in 
the present pleasures of this life ; for, said he, thou art excluded from 
the future joys with God in heaven. Bonaventure's graces being active, 
he answered, No ; not so, Satan : if I must not enjoy God after this 
life, let me enjoy him as much as I can in this life. 

[4.] Fourthly, By temptations the Lord will make you the mors 
serviceable and useful to others? None so fit and able to relieve tempted 
souls, to sympathise with tempted souls, to succour tempted souls, to counsel 
tempted souls, to pity tempted souls, to support tempted souls, to bear with 
tempted souls, and to comfort tempted souls, as those who have been in the 
school of temptations : 2 Cor. i. 3, 4, ' Blessed be God, even the Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort ; 
who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort 
them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves 
are comforted of God/ By temptations God trains up his servants, and. 
fits and capacitates them to succour and shelter their fellow-brethren. 
One tempted Christian, saith Luther, is more profitable and useful to 
other Christians than a hundred, I may add, than a thousand, that have 
not known the depths of Satan, that have not been in the school of 
temptation. 6 He that is master of arts in the school of temptation hath 
learned an art to comfort, to succour, and gently to handle tempted and 
distressed souls, infinitely beyond what all human arts can reach unto. 

1 = as 'physic,' medicine. — G. 

2 Those soldiers that are most in fighting, are least in sinning, and most free from 
diseases. 3 Tapers burn clearest in the dark. * Cant, ill - 6, 7 ; Heb. vi. 19. 

5 The skilfullest commanders and leaders are of the greatest service and use to the 
soldiers. 6 Luther in Gen. xxvii. ; Rev. ii. 24. 

VOL. I. A a 



■ 'I 



THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [P.S. XXXIX. ft 



No iloctor to him that hath been a doctor in the school of temptation ; 
all other doctors arc but illiterate dunces to him. 

[5.] Fifthly, It is an honour to the sal u Is to be tempted, and in the 
issue /<> have a n In mo arable conquest over the tempter. It was a great 
honour to David that he should be put to fight hand to hand with 
Goliath, and in the issue to overcome him, 1 Sam. xvii. ; but it was far 
greater honour to Job and Paul, that they should be put to combat in 
the open field with Satan' himself, and in the close to gain a famous 
conquest over him, as they did, Job i. ; 2 Cor. xii. 7-10. It was a very 
meat honour to David's three mighty men, that in jeopardy of their 
lives they brake through the host of the Philistines, to bring water to 
David out of the well of Bethlehem, and did effect it in spite of all the 
strength and power of their enemies, though it were to the extremest 
hazard of their blood and lives, 2 Sam. xxiii. 13-18; but it is a far 
greater honour to the saints to be furnished with a spirit of strength, 
courage, and valour, to break through an army of temptations, and in 
the close to triumph over them, Rom. viii. 15-28 ; and yet this honour 
have all the saints: 1 Cor. x. 13, 'But God is faithful, who will not 
suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able ; but will with the 
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it ;' 
Rom. xvi. 20, ' And the God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet 
shortly ;' 1 John ii. 13, 14, 'I write unto you, fathers, because ye have 
known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, 
because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, children, 
because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, 
because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written 
unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God 
abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.' 1 John v. 18, 
' We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not,' that is, 'that sin 
that is unto death,' ver. 1 6 ; nor he sinneth not as other men do, 
delightfully, 1 greedily, customarily, resolvedly, impenitently, &c. ' But 
he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one 
toucheth him not.' The glorious victory that the people of God had 
over Pharaoh and his great host, Exod. xiv., was a figure of the glorious 
victory that the saints shall obtain over Satan and his instruments, 
which is clear from that Rev. xv. 3, where we have the song of Mioses 
and of the Lamb. But why the song of Moses and of the Lamb, but 
to hint this to us, that the overthrow of Pharaoh was a figure of the 
overthrow of Satan? and the triumphal song of Moses was a figure of 
that song which the saints shall sing for their overthrow of Satan. As 
certainly as Israel overcame Pharaoh, so certainly shall every true 
Israelite overcome Satan. The Romans were worsted in many fights, 
but never were overcome in a set war; at the long run they overcame 
all their enemies. Though a Christian may be worsted by Satan in 
some particular skirmishes, yet at the long run he is sure of an honour- 
able conquest. God puts a great deal of honour upon a poor soul when 
he brings him into the open field to fight it out with Satan. By fight- 
ing he overcomes, he gains the victory, he triumphs over Satan, and 
Leads captivity captive. Augustine gives this reason why God per- 
mitted Adam at first to be tempted, viz. That he might have had the 

1 ' Delightedly. '-G. 






Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 371 

more glory in resisting and withstanding Satan's temptation. It is the 
glory of a Christian to be made strong to resist, and to have his resist- 
ance crowned with a happy conquest. 

[6.] Sixthly, By temptations the Lord will make his people more 
frequent and more abundant in the work of prayer. Every tempta- 
tion proves a strong alarm to prayer. When Paul was in the school of 
temptation, he prayed thrice, that is, often, 1 Cor. xii. 8, 9. Days of 
temptation are days of great supplication ; Christians usually pray most 
when they are tempted most. They are most busy with God when 
Satan is most busy with them. A Christian is most upon his knees 
when Satan stands most at his elbow. 

Augustine was a man much tempted, and a man much in prayer. 
Holy prayer, saith he, is a shelter to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a 
scourge to the devil. 

Luther was a man under manifold temptations, and a man much in 
prayer. He is said to have spent three hours every day in prayer. He 
used to say that prayer was the best book in his study. 

Chrysostom was much in the school of temptation, and delighted 
much in prayer. Oh ! saith he, it is more bitter than death to be 
spoiled of prayer, and hereupon, as he observes, Daniel chose rather to 
run the hazai'd of his life than to lose his prayer. 1 But, 

[7.] Seventhly, By temptations the Lord will make his people more 
and more conformable to the image of his Son. Christ was much 
tempted, he was often in the school of temptation ; and the more a 
Christian is tempted, the more into the likeness of Christ he will be 
transformed. Of all men in the world, tempted souls do most resemble 
Christ to the life, in meekness, lowliness, holiness, heavenliness, &c. 
The image of Christ is most fairly stamped upon tempted souls. 
Tempted souls are much in looking up to Jesus, and every gracious 
look upon Christ changes the soul more and more into the image of 
Christ. Tempted souls experience much of the succourings of Christ, 
and the more they experience the sweet of the succourings of Christ, 
the more they grow up into the likeness of Christ. Temptations are 
the tools by which the Father of spirits doth more and more carve, 
form, and fashion his precious saints into the similitude and likeness of 
his dearest Son, 2 

[8.] Eighthly and lastly, take many things in one ; God by tempta- 
tions makes sin more hateful, and the world less delightful, and rela- 
tions less hurtful. By temptations God discovers to us our own weakness 
and the creature's insufficiency in the hour of temptation to help us or 
succour us. By temptations, God will brighten our Christian armour, 
and make us stand more upon our Christian watch, and keep us closer 
to a succouring Christ. By temptations, the Lord will make his ordi- 
nances to be more highly prized, and heaven to be more earnestly 'desired. 
Now seeing that temptations shall work so eminently for the saints' 
good, why should not Christians be mute and silent ? why should they 
not hold their peace, and lay their hands upon their mouths, though 
their afflictions are attended with great temptations ? 3 

1 So Bernard, Basil, Gorgonia [Gorgonius?]. Trucilla; James, Jacob, Daniel. 
3 Heb. xii. 1, 2 ; 2 Cor. ii. 28 ; Heb. ii. 17, 18 
3 I Pet. v. 8 ; Epb. vi. 10, 18 ; 2 Cor. v. 1-3. 



372 Tin; MITE christian [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

Obj. 8. Oh ! but Cod hath deserted me ! he hath forsaken me ! and 'he 
that should comfort my soul stands afar off!' how can I be silent? The 
Lord hath hid his face from me ; clouds are gathered about me; God hath 
turned his back upon me ; how can I hold my peace? 

Supposing that the desertion is real, and not in appearance only, as 
sometimes it falls out : I answer, 

(1.) First, // hath been the common lot, portion, and condition of 
the choicest samts in this world, to be deserted and forsaken of God, 
Ps. xx x. 6, 7 ; Ps. lxxvii. 6, and Ixxxviii. 6 ; Job xxiii. 8, 9 ; Cant. iii. 1-4, 
v. 6, 7 ; Isa. viii. 17 ; Micah vii. 7-9. If God deals no worse with thee 
than he hath dealt with his most bosom friends, with his choicest jewels, 
thou hast no reason to complain. But, 

(2.) Secondly, God's forsaMmg of thee is only partial, it is not total, 
Psa. ix. 4 ; Gen. xlix. 23, 24. God may forsake his people in part, but 
he never wholly forsakes them ; he may forsake them in respect of his 
quickening presence, and in respect of his comforting presence, but lie 
never forsakes them in respect of his supporting presence ; 2 Cor. xii. 9, 
' My grace is sufficient for thee ; for my strength is made perfect in 
weakness;' Ps. xxxvii. 23, 24, ' The steps of a good man are ordered by 
the Lord ; and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not 
be utterly cast down : for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.' 1 God's 
supporting hand of grace is still under his people : Ps. lxiii. 8, ' My soul 
followeth hard after thee : thy right hand upholdeth me/ Christ hath 
always one hand to uphold his people, and another hand to embrace 
them, Cant. ii. 16. The everlasting arms of God are always underneath 
his people, Deut. xxxiii. 27. And this the saints have always found ; 
witness David, Pieman, Asaph, Job, &c. 

Geographers write that the city of Syracuse, in Sicily, is so curiously 
situated that the sun is never out of sight. Though the children of 
God sometimes are under some clouds of afflictions, yet the Sun of 
mercy, the Sun of righteousness, is never quite out of sight. But, 

(3.) Thirdly, Though God hath forsaken thee, yet his love abides and 
continues constant to thee; he loves thee with an everlasting love : Jer. 
xxxi. 3, ' Where he loves, he loves to the end ;' John xiii. 1 ; Isa. xlix. 
14-16, ' But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath 
forgotten me.' But was not Zion mistaken ? yes, ' Can a woman forget 
her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of 
her womb ? yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee. Behold, 
I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands ; thy walls are continu- 
ally before me.' 2 Look ! as persons engrave the mark, name, or picture 
of those whom they dearly love and entirely affect, upon some stone 
that they wear at their breasts, or upon some ring that they wear on 
their finger, so hath God engraven Zion upon the palms of his hands ; 
she was still in his eye, and always dear to his heart, though she thought 
not so. As Joseph's heart was full of love to his brethren, Gen xlii. and 
xliii., even then when he spake roughly to them, and withdrew himself 
from them, for he was fain to go aside and ease his heart by weeping ; 
so the heart of God is full of love to his people, even then when he 

J As the nurse upholds the little child, &c. 

* The very heathen hath observed that God doth not love his children with a weak 
affection, but with a strong masculine love. — Seneca. 



Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 373 

seems to be most displeased with them, and to turn his back upon 
them. • Though God's dispensations may be changeable towards his 
people, yet his gracious disposition is unchangeable towards them, Mai. 
iii. 6. When God puts the blackest veil of all upon his face, yet then 
his heart is full of love to his people, then his bowels are yearning 
towards them : Jer. xxxi. 18-20, ' Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he a 
pleasant child ? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember 
him still ; therefore my bowels are troubled for him : I will surely have 
mercy upon him, saith the Lord.' The mother's bowels cannot more 
yearn after the tender babe than God doth after his distressed ones. 
As Moses his mother, when she had put him into the ark of bulrushes, 
Exod. ii., wept to see the babe weep, and when she was turned from 
him, she could not but cast a weeping eye of love towards him ; so 
when God turns aside from his people, yet he cannot but cast an eye of 
love towards them : Hos. xi. 1, ' How shall I give thee up, O Ephraim !' 
&c. Here are four several 'hows' in the text, the like not to be found 
in the whole book of God. I am even at a stand, justice calls for ven- 
geance, but mercy interposeth ; my bowels yearn, my heart melts, oh, 
how shall I give thee up ! oh, I cannot give thee up ! I will not give 
thee up ! God's love is always like himself, unchangeable ; his love is 
everlasting ; it is a love that never decays nor waxes cold ; it is like the 
stone albestos, 1 of which Solinus 2 writes, that being once hot, it can 
never be cooled again. 

(4.) Fourthly, Though the Lord hath hid his face from thee, yet cer- 
tainly thou hast his secret presence with thee. God is present when he 
is seemingly absent : ' The Lord was in this place, and I knew it not,' 
saith Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 16. The sun many times shines when we do 
not see it, and the husband is many times in the house when the wife 
doth not know it. God [is] in thy house, he is in thy heart, though thou 
seest him not, thou feelest him not, though thou hearest him not : Heb. 
xiii. 5, ' I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee ;' or, as it may be ren- 
dered according to the Greek, ' I will not leave thee, neither will I not 
forsake thee.' Art thou not now drawn out to prize God and Christ, 
and his love above all the world ? Yes. Art thou not now drawn out 
to give the Lord many a secret visit, in a corner, behind the door, Cant. - 
ii. 14, in some dark hole where none can see thee nor hear thee but the 
Lord? Ps. xlii. 1-3, lxiii. 1-3. Yes. Are there not strong breathings, 
pantings, and longings after a clearer vision of God, and after a fuller 
fruition of God ? Yes. Art thou not more affected and afflicted with 
the withdrawings of Christ than thou art with the greatest afflictions 
that ever befell thee? Cant. v. 6. Yes. Austin, upon that answer of 
God to Moses, ' Thou canst not see my face and live,' Exod. xxxiii. 20, 
makes this quick and sweet reply, ' Then, Lord ! let me die, that I may 
see thy face.' Dost thou not often tell God that there is no punishment 
to the punishment of loss, and no hell to that of being forsaken of God? 
Ps. xxx. 6, 7. Yes. Dost thou not find a secret power in thy soul, 
drawing thee forth to struggle with God, to lay hold on God, and 
patiently to wait on God, till he shall return unto thee, and lift up the 

1 ' Asbestos.' — G. 

2 The ' ape' of Pliny, whose grotesque ' Worke,' quaintly rendered by Golding (1587), 
was a favourite with the Puritans. — G. 



374 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

light of his countenance upon thee? Yes. Well, then, thou mayest 
be confident that thou hast a secret and blessed presence of God with 
thee, though God, in regard of his comfortable presence, may be de- 
parted from thee. Nothing below a secret presence of God with a 
man's spirit will keep him waiting and working till the Sun of right- 
eousness shines upon him, Mai. iv. 2. If any vain persons should put 
that deriding question to thee, Where is thy God? thou mayest safely 
and boldly answer them, ' My God is here ; he is nigh me, he is round 
about me, yea, he is in the midst of me : Zeph. iii. 17, ' The Lord thy 
God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over 
thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with sing- 
ing.' The bush, which was a type of the church, consumed not all the 
while it burned with fire, because God was in the midst of it. It is no 
argument that Christ is not in the ship, because tempests and storms 
arise. 

(5.) Fifthly, Though God begone, yet he will return again. Though 
your sun be now set in a cloud, yet it will rise again ; though sorrow 
may abide for a night, yet joy comes in the morning. 1 A Christian's 
mourning shall last but till morning : Micah vii. 19, ' He will turn 
again, he will have compassion upon us ;' Cant. iii. 4, ' It was but a 
little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth ; 
I held him, and I would not let him go/ &c. ; Ps. xciv. 19, 'In the 
multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul ;' 
Isa. liv. 7, &, 10, ' For a moment have I forsaken thee, but with great 
mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee 
for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, 
saith the Lord thy Redeemer ; for the mountains shall depart, and the 
hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee ; neither 
shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath 
mercy on thee.' God will not suffer his whole displeasure to rise upon 
his people, neither will he forsake them totally or finally. The saints 
shall taste but some sips of the cup of God's wrath, sinners shall drink 
the dregs ; their storm shall end in a calm, and their winter night shall 
be turned into a summer day. There was a woman avIio was thirteen 
years under desertion, which was so vehement, that for the most part 
of her time she was fain to keep her bed through weakness. A godly 
minister, who was affected with her condition, went to comfort her, and 
to pray with her ; but when he came and offered to do it, she shrieked 
out, utterly refusing and forbidding him to pray with her, for, said she, 
I have too many abused mercies to answer for already. Yet he would 
not be put off, but prayed by her, and so prevailed with God on her 
behalf, that the next morning she was delivered from all her fears, and 
had such exceeding joy, that the like hath rarely been heard of. The 
Lord, that had been long withdrawn from her, returned at length in a 
way of singular mercy to her. 2 There was another precious woman who 
was several years deserted, and hearing a precious godly minister preach, 
she of a sudden fell down, overwhelmed with joy, crying out, Oh ! lie is 
come whom my soul loveth! and for divers days after she was rilled 

1 Isa. xvii. 14 ; Ps. xxx. 5 ; xl. 1-3 ; v. 1 1 ; xlii. 5, 8, 9, 11. 

2 So Mrs Honeywoofi, Mrs Kutherine Bretti.-r^h, and divers others. [See note ante on 
Mrs Biettergh, and our Index sub nomine. — O.] 



P,S. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 375 

with such exceeding joys, and had such gracious and singular ravishing 
expressions so fluently coming from her, that many came to hear the 
rare manifestations of God's grace in her. The lowest of her pious ex- 
pressions did exceed the highest that ever the minister had read in the 
book of martyrs. But, x 

(6.) Sixthly and lastly, God's deserting, God's forsaking of his people, 
shall many ivays work for their good. As, 

[I.] First, God by withdrawing from his people, will prepare and 
fit them for greater refreshings, manifestations, and consolations : 
Ps. lxxi. 1 1, 20, 21, ' Saying, God hath forsaken him : persecute and 
take him ; for there is none to deliver him/ But shall this forlorn con- 
dition work for his good ? Yes, 'Thou, which hast shewed me great and 
sore troubles, shall quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again 
from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and 
comfort me on every side.' When Joseph's brethren were in their 
greatest distress, then Joseph makes known himself most fully to them, 
Gen. xlv. 2-4 ; so doth Christ, our spiritual Joseph, to his people. 
Hudson the martyr, deserted at the stake, went from under his chain, 
aud having prayed earnestly, was comforted immediately, and suffered 
valiantly. 1 

[2.] By God's withdrawing from his people, he prevents his people's 
withdrawing from him ; and so by an affliction he prevents sin? 
For God to withdraw from me is but my affliction, but for me to with- 
draw from God, that is my sin, Heb. x. 38, 39 ; and therefore it were better 
for me that God should withdraw a thousand times from me, than that I 
should once withdraw from God. God therefore forsakes us, that we 
may not forsake our God. God sometimes hides himself that we may 
cleave the closer to him, and hang the faster upon him ; as the 
mother hides herself from the child for a time, that the child may 
cleave the closer and hang the faster upon her all the day long. God 
sometimes hid himself from David : Ps. xxx. 7, ' Thou didst hide thy 
face, and I was troubled,' I was all amort. 3 Well ! and is that all ? No ; 
ver. 8, ' I cried to thee, O Lord, and unto the Lord I made my supplica- 
tion.' Now he cries louder, and cleaves closer to God than ever ; so in 
that Ps. lxiii. 1, 2, ' O God, thou art my God ; early will I seek thee : 
my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and 
thirsty land, where no water is ; to see thy power and thy glory, so as 
I have seen thee in thy sanctuary.' Well ! and how do those withdraw - 
ings of God work ? Why ! this you may see in ver. 8, ' My soul followeth 
hard after thee/ or as the Hebrew reads it, ' My soul cleaveth after 
thee.' Look ! as the husband cleaves to his wife, so doth my soul 
cleave to the Lord. The psalmist now follows God even hard at heels, 
as we say. But, 

[3.] Thirdly, The Lord, by withdratving from his people, will enhance 
and raise the price, and commend the worth, excellency, sweetness, and 
usefulness of several precious promises, which otherwise would be but 
as dry breasts, and as useless weapons to the soul, 2 Peter i. 4. As 
that Micah vii. 18, 19, 'He will turn again, he will have compassion 

1 Clark's ' Martyrologie,' as before, page 499. — Q. 

2 Christ, the captain of our salvation, will execute martial law upon them that withdraw 
from their colours, &c. » ' Dejected.' — <i. 



:;7(5 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

upon us,' &c. ; and that lsa liv. 7, 8, but now opened; and that Heb. 
xiii. ">, (5; and that Heb. ii. 3; and that Ps. v. 12, 'For thou, Lord, 
wilt bless the righteous ; with favour thou wilt compass him,' or crown 
him, 'as with a shield.' The Lord will compass the righteous about 
with his favour, as the crown compasses about the head, as tin- Hebrew 
Imports; and that Ps. cxii. 4, 'Unto the upright there ariseth Light in 
darkness: lie is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.' And 
that Jer. xxxi. 37, ' Thus saith the Lord, If heaven above can be m< asured, 
and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast 
off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord.' 1 
As sure as heaven cannot be measured, nor the foundations of the earth 
searched by the skill or power of any mortal man, so sure and certain 
it is, that God will not utterly cast off' his people, no, not for all the evil 
that they have done. Now at what a rate doth a deserted soul value 
these precious promises ? Well ! saith he, these promises are sweeter 
than the honey or the honey-comb ; they are more precious than gold, 
than fine gold, than much gold, than all the gold in the world ; I prefer 
t hem before my food, before my delightful food, yea, before my necessary 
food, before my appointed portion. 2 As Alexander laid up Homer's 
J Had in a cabinet embroidered with gold and pearls ; so deserted souls 
will lay up these precious promises in the cabinet of their hearts, as the 
choicest treasure the world affords. Dolphins, they say, love music, so 
do deserted souls the music of the promises. That promise, 1 Tim. i. 
1"), was music to Bilney the martyr; and that promise, John x. 29, was 
music toUrsinus; and that promise, lsa lvii. 15, was music to another; 
and that promise, lsa. xxvi. 3, was music to another; and that to another, 
Mat. xi. 28, &c. Promises that are suited to a deserted man's condition, 
make the sweetest music in his ear, and are the most sovereign cordials 
to bear up the spirits that God can give, or heaven afford, or the soul 
desire: Deut. xxxii. 13, 'He made him to ride on the high places of 
the earth, that he might eat the fruits of the field ; and he made him 
to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.' Ah ! the 
honey, the oil that deserted souls suck of such promises that speak 
home and close to their conditions ! 

[4.] Fourthly, By God's hiding his face and withdrawing himself 
from thee, thou wilt be enabled more feelingly, and more experiment- 
ally to sympathise with others, and to have compassion on others that 
are or may be in the dark and forsaken of God, as now thou art, 
Heb. v. 2. Heb. xiii. 2, ' Remember them that are in bonds, as bound 
with them ; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also 
in the body.' It is observed of the bees, that when one is sick they all 
mourn ; 3 and of the sheep, that if one of them be faint, the rest of the 
flock will stand betwixt it and the sun until it be revived. In the 
natural body, if one member grieve and is in pain, all suffer with it. 
'When a thorn is <jot into the foot, how doth the back bow, and the 
eyes pry, and the hands go to pluck the thorn out ! None so compas- 
sionate towards deserted souls as those who have been deserted and for- 

1 And that John xiv. 21-23 ; and that Sam. xii. 20 ; lsa. Ix. 19-22. 
* Ps. cxix. 72, 10;{, xix. 10; Prov. viii. 11 ; Joh xxiii. 12. 

3 Pliny in Nat. Hist. 1. xi. c. 17. [The remark is inadu concerning the ' king ' (queen) 
bee — G.] 






PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 377 

saken of God themselves. Oh ! they know what an evil and a bitter 
thing it is to be left and forsaken of God, and therefore then- 
bowels, their compassions run out much to such, yea, most to such. 
They know that there is no affliction, no misery, no hell, to that of 
being forsaken of God. 

Anaxagoras, seeing himself old and forsaken of the world, laid him- 
self down, and covered his head close, determining to starve himself to 
death with hunger [Plutarch]. But, alas ! what is it to be forsaken of 
the world, to a man's being forsaken of God ? Were there as many 
worlds as there be men in the world, a man were better be forsaken by 
them all than to be forsaken of God. There is a great truth in that say- 
ing of Chrysostom, viz., That the torments of a thousand hells, if there 
were so many, come far short of this one, to wit, to be turned out of 
God's presence with a Non novi vos, 1 know you not, Mat. vii. 23. 1 
The schools have long since concluded, that poena sensus, the pain of 
sense, is far greater than poena damni, the pain of loss. What a grief 
was it to Absalom to see the king's face clouded ; and how sadly was Eli 
and his daughter affected with the loss of the ark, which was but a 
testimony of God's presence ! but oh ! how much more is a Christian 
affected and afflicted with the loss of the face and favour of God, the 
remembrance of which makes his heart to melt and his bowels to yearn 
towards those whose sun is set in a cloud? 

[5.] Fifthly, Hereby the Lord will teach his people to set a higher 
price upon his face and favour when they come to enjoy it. 2 Cant, 
iii. 4, ' It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him. whom 
my soul loveth ; I held him, and I would not let him go,' &c. iNo man 
sets so high a price upon Christ, as he that hath lost him and found 
him again. Jesus in the China tongue signifies the rising sun, and so 
he is, Mai. iv. 2, especially to souls that have been long clouded. The 
poor northern nations of Strabo, who want the light of the sun for 
some months together, when the term of his return approaches, they 
climb up into the highest mountains to spy it, and he that spies it first 
was accounted the best and most beloved of God, and usually they did 
choose him king; at such a rate did they prize the return of the sun. 
Ah! so it is with a poor soul, that for some months, years, hath been 
deserted ; oh, how highly doth he prize and value the Sun of right- 
eousness his returning to him, and shining upon him ! Ps. lxiii. 3, 
' Thy loving-kindness is better than life,' or, ' better than lives/ as the 
Hebrew hath it [Chaiim]. Divine favour is better than life ; it is 
better than life with all its revenues, with all its appurtenances, as 
honours, riches, pleasures, applause, &c, yea, it is better than many 
lives put together. Now you know at what a high rate men value 
their lives ; they will bleed, sweat, vomit, purge, part with an estate, 
yea, with a limb, yea, limbs, to preserve their lives. As he cried out, 
Give me any deformity, any torment, any misery, so you spare my life. 
Now, though life be so dear and precious to a man, yet a deserted soul 
prizes the returnings of divine favour upon him above life, yea, above 
many lives. Many men have been weary of their lives, as is evident in 

1 Chrysostom, ad Pop. Antioch. Horn. 47, and in Mat. Horn. 24. 

2 Austin saith, Lord, I am content to suffer any pains and torments in this world, if 
1 might see thy face one day ; at such a rate did he prize the face of God. 



378 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. & 

Scripture and history ; but no man was ever yet found that was weary 
of tlic love and favour of God. No man sets so high a price upon the 
sun as he that hath laid long in a dark dungeon, &c. But, 

6.] Sixthly, Hereby the Lord will train up his servants in that 
precious life of faith, which is the most honourable and the wvosi 
happy life vn all the world : 2 Cor. v. 7, 'For we walk by faith, and 
not by sight.' The life of sense, the life of reason, is a low life, a mean 
life ; the life of faith is a noble life, a blessed life. When Elisha de- 
manded of the Shunamite what he should do for her, whether he should 
speak for her to the king or the captain of the host, she answered, ' I 
dwell among my people,' 2 Kings iv. 13 ; that is, I dwell nobly and 
happily among my people ; I have no need to make any suit to king 
or captain ; and this she accounts her great happiness, and indeed it is 
the greatest happiness in this world to live much in the exercise of 
faith. No man lives so free a life, so holy a life, so heavenly a life, so 
happy a life, as he that lives a life of faith. By divine withdrawing* 
the soul is put upon hanging upon a naked God, a naked Christ, a 
naked promise, Isa. 1. 10 ; lxiii. 15, 16. Now the soul is put upon the 
highest and the purest acts of faith, viz., to cleave to God, to hang 
upon God, and to carry it sweetly and obediently towards God, though 
he frowns, though be chides, though he strikes, yea, though he kills, 
Job xiii. 15. 1 Those are the most excellent and heroic acts of faith that 
are most abstracted from sense and reason ; he that suffers his reason 
to usurp upon his faith, will never be an excellent Christian. He that 
goes to school to his own reason, hath a fool to his schoolmaster; and he 
that suffers his faith to be overruled by his reason, shall never want 
woe. Where reason is strongest, faith usually is weakest. But now 
the Lord, by forsaking of his people for a time, he makes them skilful 
in the life of faith, which is the choicest and the sweetest life in this 
world. But, 

[7.] Seventhly, By divine withdrawings, you are made more con- 
formable to Christ your head and husband, who was under spirit mil 
desertion as well as you : Mat. xxvii. 46, ' My God, my God, why hast 
thou forsaken me V Ps. xxii. 1 , 2. There is an hidden emphasis in the 
Hebrew word : El signifies a strong God ; Eli, Eli, My strong God, 
my strong God. The unity of Christ's person was never dissolved, nor 
his graces were never diminished. 2 In the midst of this terrible storm, 
his faith fortifieth and strengthened itself upon the strength of God, 
My God, my God ; yet in respect of divine protection and divine solace, 
he was for some time forsaken of his Father. And if this be thy case, 
thou art herein but made conformable to thy Lord and master ; nay, 
thou dost but sip of that bitter cup of which Christ drank deep ; thy 
cloud is no cloud to that which Christ was under. But, 

[8.] Eighthly and lastly, By these transient and partial forsaking*, 
the Lord will exceedingly sweeten the char, full, constant, and unin- 
terrupted enjoyments of himself in heaven to all his people, Ps. lxxi. 
10, 21. Ah ! how sweet and precious was the face and favour of the 
king to Absalom, after he had for a time been banished, and at length 
restored to his royal favour again ! Onesimus departed from Philemon 

1 Faitb acts in the most kingly way when it hangs upon a killing God. 

8 Christ was only forsaken in regard of his human nature, not in respect of his Godhead. 



Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. o79 

for a season, that he might receive him for ever. So the Lord departs 
from his people for a time, that they may receive him for ever ; he hides 
himself for a season, that his constant presence amongst his children in 
glory may be the more sweet and delightful to them, &c. 

Object. 9. Oh ! but I am falsely accused and sadly reproached, and 
my good name, which should be as dear or dearer to me than my life, 
is defamed and fly-blown, and things are laid to my charge that I never 
did, that I never knew, &c. ; and how then can I be silent ? how can I 
hold my peace ? I cannot forget the proverb, Oculus et fauna non 
patiuntur jocos, a man's eye and his good name can bear no jests; and 
how then can I be mute to see men make jests upon my good name ? 
and every day to see men lade it with all the scorn and contempt ima- 
ginable, that they may utterly blast it ? &c. To this I say, 

(1.) First, That it must be granted that a good name is one of the 
choicest jewels in a Christian's crown. Though a great name many 
times is little worth, yet a good name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches. It is better to have a good name abroad, than silver or gold 
laid up in a chest at home. ' A good name is better than precious 
ointment,' Eccles. vii. 1. Precious ointments were greatly in use and 
highly esteemed of amongst the Israelites in those eastern parts ; they 
were laid up amongst the most precious things even in the king's trea- 
sury, Isa. xxxix. 2. Sweet ointments can but affect the smell, and 
comfort the brain, and delight the outward man ; they reach not the 
best part, the noble part, viz., the soul, the conscience of a Christian ; 
but a good name doth both. What is the perfume of the nostrils to 
the perfume of the heart ? J 

I have read that in some countries they have a certain art of drawing 
of pigeons to their dove-houses in those countries, by anointing the 
wings of one of them with sweet ointment, and that pigeon being sent 
abroad, doth, by the fragrancy of that ointment, decoy, invite, and 
allure others to that house, where itself is a domestic. Such is the 
fragrancy of a good name, that it draws other men after the savour 
thereof. Among all sorts and ranks of men in the world, a good name 
hath an attractive faculty ; it is a precious ointment that draws hearers 
to attend good preachers, patients to attend physicians, clients to attend 
law3^ers, scholars to attend schoolmasters, and customers to attend shop- 
keepers, who, with Demetrius, hath a good report of all good men, 
3d epistle of John 12. Let a man's good name be but up, and he can- 
not easily want anything that men or money can help him to. A good 
name will bring a man into favour, and keep a man in favour with all 
that are good ; therefore, say the moralists : 

Omnia si perdas, famam servare memento, 
Qua semel amissa, postea nullus eris.s 

Whatsoever commodity you lose, be sure yet to preserve that jewel of 
a good name. A Christian should be most chary of his good name, for 
a good name answers to all things, as Solomon spake of money. Ergo si 
bonam famam servasso, sat dives ero, If I may but keep a good name, 
I have wealth enough, said the heathen [Plautus]. A Christian should 
rather forego gojd than let go a good name ; and he that robs a Chris- 

1 A good renown is better than a golden girdle, saith the French proverb, 
a Claudian, De Cons. Mall. Theod. v. 3.— G. 



380 THE M!Ti: CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 0. 

tian of his good name is a worse thief than he that robs him of his 
purse, and better deserves a hanging than he, &C. 1 But, 

(2.) Secondly, It Dtust he grn titcil, flint n good nuiae onre lost, isvery 
hardly recovered again. A man may more easily recover a lost friend, 
a lost estate, than a lost name. A good name is like a princely struc- 
ture, quickly ruined, but long a-rearing. The father of the prodigal could 
say of his lost son, 'This my son was lost, but is found ; he was dead, 
but is alive,' Luke xv. 32; but how few Christians can say, This my 
good name was lost, but is found ; it was (lead, but now it lives. As 
when ( >rpah once left Naomi, she returned no more to her, Ruth i. 14; 
so when once a good name leaves a man, it hardly returns to him again. 
A cracked credit will hardly be sodered 2 anew ; new wine is rarely put 
into old bottles. A man should stand upon nothing more than the credit 
of his conscience and the credit of his name. 

In Japan, the very children are so zealous of their reputation, that in 
ease you lose a trifle, and say to one of them, Sirrah, I believe you have 
stolen it, without any pause, the boy will immediately cut off a joint 
from one of his fingers, and say, Sir, if you say true, I wish my finger 
may never heal again. Three things a Christian should stiffly labour to 
maintain : 1, the honour of God ; 2, the honour of the gospel ; 3, the 
honour of his own name. If once a Christian's good name sets in a 
cloud, it will be lonsr before it rises afjain. 

(3.) Thirdly, Though all this be true, yet it hath been the poi-tion of 
(I oil's dearest saintsand servants to be slandered, reproached, vilified, 
and falsely accused : 3 Ps. xxxi. ] 8, ' Let the lying lips be put to silence, 
which speak grievous things, proudly, and contemptuously against the 
righteous.' How sadly and falsely was Joseph accused by his wanton 
mistress ; David by Doeg and Shimei ; Job of hypocrisy, impiety, inhu- 
manity, cruelty, partiality, pride, and irreligion ! Was not Naboth 
accused of speaking blasphemy against God and the king ? Did not 
Haman present the Jews to the king as refractories and rebels ? 
Esther iii. Was not Elias accused to be the troubler of Israel, and Jere- 
miah the trumpet of rebellion ; the Baptist a stirrer up of sedition, and 
Paul a pestilent incendiary ? 4 Were not the apostles generally accounted 
deceivers and deluders of the people, and the offscouring of the world ? 
&c. Athanasius and Eustathius were falsely accused of adultery. 5 He- 
resy and treason were charged upon Cranmer, parricide upon Philpot, 
sedition upon Latimer. As the primitive persecutors usually put Chris- 
ti.ms into bears' skins and dogs' skins, and then baited them ; 6 so they 
usually loaded their names and persons with all the reproach, scorn, 
contempt, and false reports imaginable, and then baited them, and then 
acted all their malice and cruelty upon them. I think there is no Chris- 
tian, but sooner or later, first or last, will have cause to say with David, 
Ps. xxxv. 11, 'False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge 

1 Another reminiscence by our Puritan of Shakespeare's, ' Who steals my purse steals 
trash,' &c— Othello III. 3.— G. * ' Soldered.— G. 

3 Mat. v. 10-12 ; 1 Peter iii. 14 ; Ps. Ixix. 7 ; Gen. xxxix. 13, 14 ; Ps. Iii. 1, 2 ; 2 Sam. 
iii. 11, 12; vi. 13-16; Jer. li. 51. 

4 Jer. xx. 7-9 ; Rom. iii. 8 ; 2 Cor. vi. 8 ; 1 Cor. iv. 12, 13. 

6 Act. and Mon. [Foxe. — G.] , 

6 As Tertullian, Minutius Felix, and others declare. [Cf. Clarke's ' Martyrologie,' as 
before, with quaiut illustrations to as quaint a text G. | 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 381 

things that I knew not ;' they charged me with such things whereof I 
was both innocent and ignorant. It was the saying of one [Hippias], 
that there was nothing so intolerable as accusation, because there was 
no punishment ordained by law for accusers, as there was for thieves, 
although they stole friendship from men, which is the goodliest riches 
men can have. Well ! Christians, seeing it hath been the lot of the 
dearest saints to be falsely accused, and to have their names and reputes 
in the world reproached and fly-blown, do you hold your peace, seeing 
it is no worse with you than it was with them, ' of whom this world was 
not worthy.' The Rabbins say [Kimchi], that the world cannot subsist 
without patient bearing of reproaches. But, 

(4.) Fourthly, Our Lord Jesus Christ was sadly reproached and 
falsely accused. His precious name, that deserves to be always writ 
in characters of gold, as the Persians usually writ their king's, was often 
eclipsed before the sun was eclipsed at his death. His sweet name, that 
was sweeter than all sweets, was often crucified before his body. Oh, 
the stones of reproach that were frequently rolled upon that name by 
which we must be saved, if ever we are saved ! Oh, the jeers, the scoffs, 
the scorns that were cast upon that name that can only bless us ! The 
name of Jesus, saith Chrysostom, hath a thousand treasures of joy and 
comfort in it. The name of a Saviour, saith Bernard, is honey in the 
mouth, and music in the ear, and a jubilee in the heart ; and yet where 
is the heart that can conceive, or the tongue that can express, how much 
dung and filth hath been cast upon Christ's name ; and how many sharp 
arrows of reproach and scorn hath been, and daily, yea, hourly, are, shot 
by the world at Christ's name and honour ? Such ignominious reproaches 
were cast upon Christ and his name in the time of his life and at his 
death, that the sun did blush, and masked himself with a cloud, that he 
might no longer behold them. 1 Mat. xi. 19, 'The Son of man came 
eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a 
winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.' But was he such an 
one ? No : ' Wisdom is justified of her children.' Wisdom's children 
will stand up and justify her before all the world. Mat. xxvii. 63, 'Sir, 
we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three 
days, I will rise again.' But was he a deceiver of the people ? 2 No, he 
was the faithful and true witness, Rev. i. 5, chap. iii. 14. John vii. 20, 
' The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil ; who goeth about to 
kill thee?' chap. viii. 48, ' Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, 
Say we not well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil V chap, 
x. 20, ' And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad ; why hear 
ye him V It was a wonder of wonders that the earth did not open and 
swallow up these monsters, and that God did not rain hell out of heaven 
upon these horrid blasphemers ; but their blasphemous assertions were 
denied and disproved by some of wisdom's children: ver. 21, 'Others 
said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil : can a devil 
open the eyes of the blind V The devil hath no such power, nor any 
such goodness, as to create eyes to him that was born blind. 

1 It is a foolish thing, saith Cato, to hope for life by another's death. The world prac- 
tically speaks as much every day. 

2 The Greek word signifies one who doth profess an art of cozening people to their 
faces. 



382 THE MUTE CHRISHAM [Ps. XXXIX 9. 

Will you yet see more scorn, dirt, and contempt cast upon the Lord 
of glory? Why, then, cast your eyes upon that: Luke xvi. 14, 'And 
the pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they 
derided him ;' or as the Greek reads it, ' They blew their noses at him 
in scorn and derision.' 1 The pharisees did not only laugh, fleer, and 
jeer at Christ, but they have also external signs of scorn and derision 
in their countenance and gestures ; they blew their noses at him, they 
contemned him as a thing of nought. And in chap. xxv. 35, both 
people and rulers blew their noses at him ; for the original word is the 
same with that in the fore-mentioned chapter. John xix. 12, he is 
accused for being an enemy to Caesar. Now, who can seriously consider 
of the scorn, reproach, and contempt that hath been cast upon the name 
and honour of our Lord Jesus, and not sit silent and mute under all 
the scorn and contempt that hath been cast upon his name or person 
in this world ? 

(5.) Fifthly, To be well spoken of by them that are ill spoken of by 
God, to be in favour with them who are out of favour with God, is 
rather a reproach than an honour to a man. Our Saviour himself 
testifieth that in the church and nation of the Jews, they that had the 
most general approbation and applause, they who were most admired 
and cried up, were the worst, not the best, men ; they were the false, 
not the true, prophets : Luke vi. 26, ' Woe unto you when all men shall 
speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.' 2 Austin 
feared the praises of good men, and detested the praises of evil men. 
I would not, saith Luther, have the glory and fame of Erasmus ; my 
greatest fear is the praises of men. Phocion had not suspected his 
speech had not the common people applauded it. Antisthenes mis- 
trusted some ill in himself for the vulgar commendations. Socrates 
ever suspected that which passed with the most general commendations. 
To be praised of evil men, said Bion, is to be praised for evil doing; for 
the better they speak of a man the worse, and the worse the better. 
The Lacedaemonians would not have a good saying sullied with a 
wicked mouth. A wicked tongue soils all the good that drops into it. 
It is a mercy to be delivered from the praises of wicked men ; wicked 
men's applauses oftentimes become the saints' reproaches. The heathen 
[Socrates] could say, Quid mali feci ? what evil have I done, that this 
bad man commends me. There is a truth in that saying of Seneca, 
Recti argumentum est, pessimis displicere, the worst men are com- 
monly most displeased with that which is best. Who can seriously 
dwell on these things, and not be mute and silent under all the re- 
proaches and scorn that is cast upon his name and credit in this world ? 
(6\) Sixthly, There will come a day when the Lord will wipe off all 
the dust andfdth that wicked men have cast upon the good names of 
// is people. 3 There shall be a resurrection of names as well as of bodies ; 
their names that are now buried in the open sepulchres of evil throats 

1 Read this, Mark xv. 19 ; Isa. lvii. 4 ; Mat. xxvii. 2, 29. [The word is jg^uxr.-^ov, 
sneered with outward marks of derision ; fivxrrio, nams, as in Horace, S. i. 6. 5, ' Naso sus- 
pended adunco,' which Brooks probably had in mind. — G.] 

* The tongues of wicked men are like the Uuke of Medina Sidonia's sword, that knew 
no difference hetwecn a catholic and an heretic. The lashes of lewd tongues is as impos- 
sible to avoid as necessary to contemn. 

3 Isa. lxv. 15, lxi. 7 ; Ps. lxviii. 13 ; Mai. iii. 17, 18. 



Ps. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 383 

shall surely rise again. 1 ' Their innocency shall shine forth as the light, 
and their righteousness as the noon-day/ Ps. xxxvii. 6. Though the 
clouds may for a time obscure the shining forth of the sun, yet the sun 
will shine forth again as bright and glorious as ever : ' The righteous 
shall be had in everlasting remembrance,' Ps. cxii. 6. Though the mali- 
cious slanders and false accusations of wicked men may for a time cloud 
the names of the saints, yet those clouds shall vanish, and their names 
shall appear transparent and glorious. God will take that care of his 
people's good name, that the infamy, calumnies, and contumelies that 
are cast upon it shall not long stick. The Jews rolled a stone upon 
Christ to keep him down, that he might not rise again, but an angel 
quickly rolls away the stone, and in despite of his keepers, he rises in 
a glorious triumphant manner, Mat. xxviii. 2. So though the world 
may roll this stone and that of reproach and contempt upon the saints' 
good names, yet God will roll away all those stones ; and their names 
shall have a glorious resurrection in despite of men and devils. That 
God that hath always one hand to wipe away his children's tears from 
their eyes, that God hath always another hand to wipe off the dust that 
lies upon his children's names. Wronged innocency shall not long lie 
under a cloud. Dirt will not stick long upon marble nor statues of 
gold. Well ! Christians, remember this, the slanders and reproaches 
that are cast upon you, they are but badges of your innocency and 
glory : Job xxxi. 35, 36, ' If mine adversary should write a book against 
me : surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown 
to me/ All reproaches are pearls added to a Christian's crown. Hence 
Austin, Quisquis volens detrahit famce mew, nolens addit mercedi 
niece, he that willingly takes from me my good name, unwillingly adds 
to my reward ; and this Moses knew well enough, which made him pre- 
fer Christ's reproach before Pharaoh's crown, Heb. xi. 25, 26. That 
God that knows all his children by name will not suffer their names to 
be long buried under the ashes of reproach and scorn ; and therefore 
hold thy peace. The more the foot of pride and scorn tramples upon 
thy name for the present, the more splendent and radiant it will be, as 
the more men trample upon a figure graven in gold, the more lustrous 
they make it. Therefore lay thy hand upon thy mouth. But, 

(7.) Seventhly, The Lord hath been a swift and a terrible witness 
against such that have falsely accused his children, and that have laded 
their names with scorn, reproach, and contempt, Isa. xli. 2 ; Jude 15. 
Ahab and Jezebel, that suborned false witness against Naboth, had their 
bloods licked up by dogs, 1 Kings xxii. 21, 22 ; 2 Kings ix. 30. Ama- 
ziah, who falsely accused the prophet Amos to the king, met with this 
message from the Lord : ' Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, thy , 
sons and daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided 
by line ; thou shalt die in a polluted land,' Amos vii. 17. Haman, who 
falsely accused the Jews, was one day feasted with the king, and the 
next day made a feast for crows, Esth. vii. 10, ix. 10. The envious 
courtiers, who falsely accused Daniel, were devoured of lions, Dan. vi. 
24. Let me give you a taste of the judgments of God upon such per- 
sons out of histories. 

Caiaphas the high-priest, who gathered the council and suborned false 
1 A reminiscence of Sibbes. Cf. Memoir, vol. i. pp. xxii, xxiii, and 30, 31. — G. 



38-t THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 0. 

witnesses against the Lord Jesus, was shortly after put out of office, 
and one Jonathan substituted in his room, whereupon he killed himself. 
John Cooper, a godly man, being falsely accused in Queen Mary's days, 
by one Grimwood, shortly after the said Grimwood, being in perfect 
health, his bowels suddenly fell out of his body,and so he died miserably. 1 

Narcissus, a godly bishop of Jerusalem, was falsely accused by three 
men of many foul matters, who sealed up with oaths and imprecations 
their false testimonies; but shortly after that, one of them, with his 
whole family and substance, was burnt with fire ; another of them was 
stricken with a grievous disease, such as in his imprecation he had 
wished to himself; the third, terrified with the sight of God's judgment 
upon the former, became very penitent, and poured out the grief of his 
heart in such ahundance of tears, that thereby he became blind. 2 

A wicked wretch [Nicephorus], under Commodus the emperor, ac- 
cused Apollonius, a godly Christian, to the judges for certain grievous 
crimes, which, when he could not prove, he was adjudged to have his 
legs broken, according to an ancient law of the Romans. 

Gregory Bradway falsely accused one Brook ; but shortly after, through 
terrors of conscience, he sought to cut his own throat, but being pre- 
vented, he fell mad. 

I have read of Socrates's two false accusers, how that the one was 
trodden to death by the multitude, and the other was forced to avoid 
the like by a voluntary banishment. I might produce a multitude of 
other instances, but let these suffice, to evidence how swift and terrible 
a witness God hath been against those that have been false accusers of 
his people, and that have laded their precious names with scorn and 
reproach, the serious consideration of which should make the accused 
and reproached Christian to sit dumb and silent before the Lord. 3 

(8.) Eighthly, and lastly, God himself is daily reproached. Men 
tremble not to cast scorn and contempt upon God himself. Sometimes 
they charge the Lord that his ways are not equal, that it is a wrong 
way he goeth in, Ezek. xviii. 25, Jer. ii. 5, 6 ; sometimes they charge 
God with cruelty, ' My punishment is greater than I am able to bear,' 
Gen. iv. 13 ; sometimes they charge God with partiality and respect of 
persons, because here he strokes, and there he strikes ; here he lifts up, 
and there he casts down ; here he smiles, and there he frowns ; here he 
gives much, and there he gives nothing ; here he loves, and there he 
hates; here he prospers one, and there he blasts another: Mai. ii. 17, 
' Where is the God of judgment?' i.e. nowhere ; either there is no God 
of judgment, or at least not a God of exact, precise, and impartial judg- 
ment, &c. 4 Sometimes they charge God with unbountifulness; that he 
is a God that will set his people too hard work, too much work, but 
will pay them no wages, nor give them no reward : Mai. iii. 14- 'Ye 
have said, it is in vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have 
kept his ordinances, and that we have walked mournfully before the 
Lord of hosts?' Sometimes they charge God that he is a hard master, 
and that he reaps where he hath not sown, aud gathers where he hath 

1 [Foxe] Acts and Monuments. 2 Eusebius. 

3 For these references see BearrVs Theatre of Judgment. 
* Ps. 1. 21. It were very strange that I should please a world of men, when God him- 
self doth not give every man content. — Salv[iaii\. 






PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 385 

not strewed, Mat. xxv. 24, &c. Oh ! the infinite reproach and scorn 
that is every day, that is every hour in the day, cast upon the Lord, 
his name, his truth, his ways, his ordinances, his glory ! Alas ! all the 
scorn and contempt that is cast upon all the saints all the world over, 
is nothing to that which is cast upon the great God every hour ; and yet 
he is patient. Ah ! how hardly do most men think of God, and how 
hardly do they speak of God, and how unhandsomely do they carry it 
towards God; and yet he bears. They that will not spare God himself, 
his name, his truth, his honour; shall we think it much that they spare 
not us or our names ? &c. Surely no. Why should we look that those 
should give us good words that cannot afford God a good word from one 
week's end to another? yea, from one year's end to another? Why 
should we look that they should cry out ' Hosanna, hosanna!' to us, 
whenas every day they cry out of Christ, ' Crucify him, crucify him !' 
Mat. x. 25, ' It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and 
the servant as his lord ; if they have called the master of the house 
Beelzebub ' (or a master-fly, or a dunghill god, or the chief devil), ' how 
much more shall they call them of his household!' It is preferment 
enough for the servant to be as his Lord ; and if they make no bones of 
staining and blaspheming the name of the Lord, never wonder if they 
fly-blow thy name. And let this suffice to quiet and silence your hearts, 
Christians, under all that scorn and contempt that is cast upon your 
names and reputations in this world. 

The tenth and last objection is this, 

Obj. 10. Sir, In this my affliction I have sought to the Lord for this 
and that mercy, and still God delays me, and puts me off ; I have 
several times thought that mercy had been near, that deliverance had 
been at the door, but now I see it is afar off; how can I then hold my 
peace ? How can I be silent under such delays and disappointments ? 
To this objection, I shall give you these answers. 

(1.) First, The Lord doth not always time his answers to the swift- 
ness of his people's expectations. 1 He that is the God of our mercies, 
is the Lord of our times. God hath delayed long his dearest saints, 
times belonging to him, as well as issue : Hab. i. 2, ' O Lord, how long 
shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear ! even cry out unto thee for violence, 
and thou wilt not help !' Job xix. 7, ' Behold, I cry out of violence, but 
I have no answer ; I cry, but there is no judgment.' Ps. lxix. 3, 'I am 
weary of crying, my throat is dry, mine eyes fail while I wait for my 
God.' Ps. xl. 1 7, ' Make no tarrying, O my God.' Though God had 
promised him a crown, a kingdom, yet he puts him off from day to day, 
and for all his haste he must stay for it till the set time is come. Paul 
was delayed so long, till he even despaired of life, and had the sentence 
of death in himself, 2 Cor. i. 8, 9. And Joseph was delayed so long, 
till the irons entered into his soul, Ps. cv. 17-19. So he delayed long 
the giving in of comfort to Mr Glover, though he had sought him fre- 
quently, earnestly, and denied himself to the death for Christ. 2 Augus- 
tine being under convictions, a shower of tears came from him, and 
casting himself on the ground under a fig tree, he cries out, ' O Lord, 

1 Ps. lxx. 5 ; xciv. 3. 4 ; xiii. 1, 2 ; Zech. i. 12. 

2 Clarke's ' Martyrologie,' as before, pp, 463, 464. — G. 
VOL. I. B b 



386 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

how long ?' How long shall I say, To-morrow, to-morrow ? why not to- 
day, Lord, why not to-day ? Though Abigail made haste to prevent 
David's fury, and Rahab made haste to hang out her scarlet thread; 
yet God doth not always make haste to hear and save his dearest chil- 
dren. And therefore hold thy peace. He deals no worse with thee 
than he hath done by his dearest jewels. 

(2.) Secondly, Though the Lord doth defer and delay you for a time, 
yet In will come, and mercy and deliverance shall certainly come} 
He will not always forget the cry of the poor : Heb. x. 37, ' For yet a 
little, little while, and be that shall come will come, and will not 
tarry.' Hah. ii. 3, ' The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the 
end it shall speak, and not lie : though it tarry, wait for it.' God 
will come, and mercy will come ; though for the present thy sun he 
Set, and thy God seems to neglect thee, yet thy sun will rise again, and 
thy God will answer all thy prayers, and supply all thy necessities : 
Ps. lxxi. 20, 21, 'Thou which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, 
shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths 
of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness and comfort me on 
every side.' Three martyrs being brought to the stake, aud all bound, 
one of them slips from under his chain, to admiration, and falls down 
upon the ground, and wrestled earnestly with God for the sense of his 
love, and God gave it in to him then, and so he came and embraced 
the stake, and died cheerfully a glorious martyr. God tit 'lays him till 
he was at the stake, and till he was bound, and then sweetly lets out 
himself to him. 

(3.) Thirdly, Though God do delay thee, yet he doth not forget thee. 
He remembers thee still ; thou art still in his eye, Isa. xlix. 14?— 16, and 
always upon his heart, Jer. xxxi. 20. He can as soon forget himself, as 
forget his people, Ps. lxxvii. 9, 10. The bride shall sooner forget her 
ornaments, and the mother shall sooner forget her sucking child, Isa. 
liv. 7-10, and the wife shall sooner forget her husband, Isa. lxii. 3-5, 
than the Lord shall forget his people. Though Sabinus in Seneca 
could never in all his life-time remember those three names of Homer, 
Ulysses, and Achilles, yet God always knows and remembers his people 
by name, Gen. viii. 1 ; xix. 29-31 ; 1 Sam. i. 9 ; Jonah iv. 9-11, &c. 
Therefore be silent, hold thy peace; thy God hath not forgotten thee, 
though for the present he hath delayed thee. 

(4.) Fourthly, God's time is always the bed time : God always takes 
the best a nd fdtest seasons to do us good. Isa. xlix. 8, ' Thus saith the 
Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salva- 
tion have I helped thee.' I could have heard thee before, and have 
helped thee before, but I have taken the most acceptable time to do 
both. To set God his time is to limit him, Ps. lxxviii. 41 ; it is to 
ourselves above him, as if we were wiser than God. Though we are 
not wise enough to improve the times and seasons which God hath set 
us, to Berve and honour him in, yet we are apt to think that we are wise 
enough to sel God his time, when to hear, and w hen to save, and when 
liver. To circumscribe God to our time, and to make ourselves 
lords of time ; what is this but to divest God of his royalty and sove- 

t. xxxii. 36 ; iron hit, Heb. x. 37 ; Exod. xii. 17, 41, 42, 51. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 387 

reignty of appointing times'? Acts i. 7, xvii. 26. It is but just and 
equal, that that God that hath made time, and that hath the sole power 
to appoint and dispose of time, that he should take his own time to do 
his people good. We are many times humorous, 1 preposterous, and 
hasty, and now we must have mercy or we die, deliverance or we are 
undone ; but our impatience will never help us to a mercy, one hour, 
one moment, before the time that God hath set. The best God will 
always take the best time to hand out mercies to his people. There is 
no mercy so fair, so ripe, so lovely, so beautiful, as that which God gives 
out in his own time. Therefore hold thy peace ; though God delays 
thee, yet be silent, for there is no possibility of wringing a mercy out of 
God's hand, till the mercy be ripe for us, and we ripe for the mercy, 
Eccles. iii. 11. 

[5.] Fifthly, The Lord in this life will certainly recompense, and 
make his children amends for all the delays and, put-offs that he exer- 
cises them with in this world, 2 as he did Abraham in giving him such 
a son as Isaac was, and Hannah in giving her a Samuel. He delayed 
Joseph long, but at length he changes his iron fetters into chains of 
gold, his rags into royal robes, his stocks into a chariot, his prison into 
a palace, his bed of thorns into a bed of down, his reproach into honour, 
and his thirty years of suffering into eighty years reigning in much 
grandeur and glory. So God delayed David long, but when his suffer- 
ing hours were out, he is anointed, and the crown of Israel is set upon 
his head, and he is made very victorious, very famous and glorious for 
forty years together, 2 Sam. i. Well ! Christians, God will certainly pay 
you interest upon interest for all the delays that you meet with ; and 
therefore hold your peace. But, 

[6.] Sixthly and lastly, The Lord never delays the giving in of this 
mercy, or that deliverance, or the other favour, but wpon great andj 
weighty reason ; and therefore hold thy peace. 

Quest. But what are the reasons that God doth so delay and put off 
his people from time to time, as we see he doth ? 

Ans. [1.] First, for the trial of his people, and for the differencing 
and distinguishing of them from others? As the furnace tries gold, 
so delays will try what metal a Christian is made of. Delays will try 
both the truth and the strength of a Christian's graces. Delays are a 
Christian touchstone, a lapis Lydius, that will try what metal men are 
made of, whether they be gold or dross, silver or tin, whether they be 
sincere or unsound, whether they be real or rotten Christians. As a 
father, by crossing and delaying his children, tries their dispositions, 
and makes a full discovery of them, so that he can say, that child is of 
a muttering and grumbling disposition, and that it is of an humorous 
and wayward disposition, but the rest are of a meek, sweet, humble, and 
gentle disposition : so the Lord, by the delaying and crossing of his 
children, discovers their different dispositions. The manner of the 
Psylli, which are a kind of people of that temper and constitution that 
no venom will hurt them, is, that if they suspect any child to be none 
of their own, they set an adder upon it to sting it, and if it cry, and the 

1 Given to ' humours,' or capricious. — G. 

2 Ps. xc. 15, and the first and last chapters of Job compared. 

3 Mat. xv. 21-29 ; I Peter i. 7 ; Job xxiii. 8-10; Deut. viii. 2 



388 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

flesh swell, they oust it away as a spurious issue, but if it do not cry, if 
it do not so much as quatch, 1 nor do not grow the worse for it, then 
they account it for their own, and make very much of it ; 2 so the Lord 
l'V delays, which are as the stinging of the adder, tries his children; 
it' they patiently, quietly, and sweetly can bear them, then the Lord 
will own them, and make much of them, as those that are near and 
dear unto him; but if under delays they fall a-crying, roaring, storm- 
ing, vexing, and fretting, the Lord will not own them, but reckon them 
as bastards, and no sons, Heb. xii. 8. 

[2.] Secondly, That they may have the greater experience of his 
poiver, grace, love, and mercy in the clove. Christ loved Martha, and 
her sister, and Lazarus, yet he defers his coming for several days, and 
Lazarus must die, be put in the grave, and lie there till he stinks. 
And why so, but that they might have the greater experience of his 
power, grace, and love towards them ? John xi. 3, 5, 6, 17. 

[3.] Thirdly, To sharpen his children's a ppet ite, and to put a greater 
edge upon their desires ; to make them cry out as a woman in travail, 
or as a man that is in danger of drowning, Cant. iii. 1-4 ; Isa. xxvi. 
8, 9, 16. God delays, that his people may set upon him with greater 
strength and importunity ; he puts them off, that they may put on with 
more life and vigour ; God seems to be cold, that he may make us the 
more hot; he seems to be slack, that he may make us the more earnest; 
he seems to be backward, that he may make us the more forward in 
pressing upon him. The father delays the child, that he may make 
him the more eager, and so doth God his, that he may make them the 
more divinely violent. When Balaam had once put off Balak, 'he sent 
again,' saith the text, 'certain princes more, and more honourable than 
they/ Num. xxii. 15. Balaam's put-offs did but make Balak the more 
importunate, it did but increase and whet his desires. This is that that 
God aims at by all his put-offs, to make his children more earnest, to 
whet up their spirits, and that they may send up more and yet more 
honourable prayers after him, that they may cry more earnestly, strive 
more mightily, and wrestle more importunately with God, and that 
they may take heaven with a more sacred violence. Anglers draw back 
the hook, that the fish may be the more forward to bite ; and God 
sometimes seems to draw back, but it is only that we may press the 
more on. And therefore, as anglers, when they have long waited, and 
perceive that the fish do not so much as nibble at the bait, yet do they 
not impatiently throw away the rod, or break the hook and line, but 
pull up, and look upon the bait and mend it, and so throw it in again, 
and then the fish bites : so when a Christian prays, and prays, and yet 
catches nothing, God seems to be silent, and heaven seems to be shut 
against him ; yet let him not east off prayer, but mend his prayer; pray 
more believingly, pray more affectionately, and pray more fervently, ami 
then the fish will bite, then mercy will come, and comfort will come, 
and deliverance will come. But, 

[4.] Fourthly, Ood delays am/ puts off his people many limes, that 
he may make a fuller discovery of themselves to themselves. Few 

- Betray,' viz the pain suffered. — G. 
- Pliny, lib. vii. 2. Cf. also Luoan, Pharaalia, lib. ix. 1. 890, et seq. ; and (Elian, Hist. 
Am m, lib. i. c. 57, and lib. xvi. c. 27, 28. — (i. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 389 

Christians see themselves and understand themselves. By delays 
God discovers much of a man's sinful self to his religious self ; much of 
his worser part to his better part, of his ignoble part to his most noble 
part. When the fire is put under the pot, then the scum appears ; so 
when God delays a poor soul, Oh ! how doth the scum of pride, the 
scum of murmuring, the scum of quarrelling, the scum of distrust, the 
scum of impatience, the scum of despair, discover itself in the heart of 
a poor creature ? Ezek. xxiv. 6. I have read of a fool, who being left 
in a chamber, and the door locked when he was asleep ; after he awakes, 
and finds the door fast and all the people gone, he cries out at the win- 
dow, myself, myself, O myself ! So when God shuts the door upon 
his people, when he delays them, and puts them off, Ah ! what cause 
have they to cry out of themselves, to cry out of proud self, and worldly 
self, and carnal self, and foolish self, and froward self, &c. ? We are very 
apt, saith Seneca, utimur perspicillis magis quam speculis, to use 
spectacles to behold other men's faults, rather than looking-glasses to 
behold our own ; but now God's delays are as a looking-glass, in which 
God gives his people to see their own faults, Ps. lxxiii. 11, 12. Oh ! 
that baseness, that vileness, that wretchedness, that sink of filthiness, 
that gulf of wickedness, that God by delays discovers to be m the hearts 
of men ! But, 

[5.] Fifthly, God delays and puts off his people to enhance, to 
raise the price of mercy, the price of deliverance. We usually set the 
highest price, the greatest esteem upon such things that we obtain with 
greatest difficulty. What we dearly buy, that we highly prize, Acts 
xxi. 8, Cant. iii. 4. The more sighs, tears, weepings, waitings, watch- 
ings, strivings, and earnest longings, this mercy and that deliverance, 
and the other favour costs us, the more highly we shall value them. 
When a delayed mercy comes, it tastes more like a mercy, it sticks 
more like a mercy, it warms more like a mercy, works more like a 
mercy, and it endears the heart to God more like a mercy than any 
other mercy that a man enjoys. 

This is the child, said Hannah, — after God had long delayed her, — for 
which I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked 
of him, 1 Sam. i. 27. Delayed mercy is the cream of mercy ; no mercy 
so sweet, so dear, so precious to a man, as that which a man hath gained 
after many put-offs. Mr Glover, the martyr, sought the Lord earnestly 
and frequently for some special mercies, and the Lord delayed him 
long ; but when he was even at the stake, then the Lord gave in the 
mercies to him ; and then, as a man overjoyed, he cries out to his friend, 
' He is come, he is come.' 1 But, 

[6 ] Sixthly, The Lord delays his people, that he may pay them home 
in his oivn coin. God sometimes loves to retaliate, Prov. i. 23, 33. 
The spouse puts off Christ : Cant. v. 3, 'I have put off my coat, how 
can I put it on ?' &c. ; and Christ puts her off, ver. 5-8. Thou hast put 
off God from day to day, from month to month, yea, from year to year; 
and therefore, if God put thee off from day to day, or from year to year, 
hast thou any cause to complain 1 Surely no. Thou hast often and 
long put off the motions of his Spirit, the directions of his word, the 
offers of his grace, the entreaties of his Son ; and therefore what can be 

1 See ante. — G. 



390 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

more just than that God should delay thee for a time, aDd put thee off 
for a season, who hast delayed him. and put off him days without num- 
ber ? Jf God serves thee as thou hast often served him, thou hast no 
reason to complain. But, 

[7.] Seventhly, and lastly, The Lord delays his people, that heaven 
may he the more sweet to them at last. Here they meet with many 
delays and with many put-offs ; but in heaven they shall never meet 
with "'lie put-off, with one delay ; here many times they call and cry, 
and can get no answer ; here they knock and bounce, 1 and yet the door 
of grace and mercy opens not to them ; but in heaven they shall have 
mercy at the first word, at the first knock. There, whatever heart can 
wish shall without delay be enjoined. 2 Here God seems to say some- 
times, Souls! you have mistaken the door, or I am not at leisure, or 
others must be served before you, or come some other time, &c. But in 
heaven God is always at leisure, and all the sweetness and blessedness 
and happiness of that state presents itself every hour to the soul there. 
God hath never, God will never, say to any of his saints in heaven, Come 
to-morrow. Such language the saints sometimes hear here, but such 
language is noway suitable to a glorified condition ; and therefore, 
seeing that the Lord never delays his people, but upon great and 
weighty accounts, let his people be silent before him, let them not 
mutter nor murmur, but be mute. And so I have done with the objec- 
tions. 

I shalljcome now in the last place to propound some helps and direc- 
tions that may contribute to the silencing and stilling of your souls 
under the greatest afflictions, the sharpest trials, and the saddest pro- 
vidences that you meet with in this world ; and so close up this dis- 
course. 

(1.) First, All the afflictions that come upon the saints, they are the 
fruits of divine love : 3 Rev. iii. 19, 'As many as I love, I rebuke and 
chasten : be zealous therefore, and repent ;' Heb. xii. 6, ' For whom the 
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth;' 
Job v. 17, 'Behold! happy is the man whom God correcteth ; therefore 
despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty;' chap. vii. 17, 18, 
' What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him ? and that thou 
shouldest set thine heart upon him ? And that thou shouldest visit 
him every morning, and try him every moment ?' Isa. xlviii. 10, 'Be- 
hold, I have refined thee, but not with silver ; I have chosen thee in 
the furnace of affliction.' When Munster lay sick, and his friends asked 
him how he did, and how he felt himself, he pointed to his sores and 
ulcers, whereof he was full and said, These are God's gems and jewels 
wherewith he decketh his best friends, and to me they are more precious 
than all the gold and silver in the world. A gentleman highly prizes 
his hawk, he feeds her with his own hand, he carries her upon his fist, 
lie takes a great deal of delight and pleasure in her ; and therefore he 
[nits vervels upon her legs, and a hood upon her head ; he hoodwinks 
her, and fetters her, because he loves her, and takes delight in her ; BO 
the Lord by afflictions hoodwinks and fetters his children, but all is 
because he loves them, and takes delight ami pleasure in them. There 
■ iiinnt be agreater evidence of God's hatred and wrath, than his refusing 
1 ' Swell,' boast.— G. 2 Qu. « enjoyed '?— Ed. 3 Prov. ii. 12, Jer. x. 7. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 391 

to correct men for their sinful courses and vanities. . ' Why should you 
be smitten any more ? you will revolt more and more,' Isa. i. 5. Where 
God refuses to correct, there God resolves to destroy ; there is no man 
so near the axe, so near the flames, so near hell, as he whom God will 
not so much as spend a rod upon. God is most angry where he shews 
no anger. Jerome, writing to a sick friend, hath this expression, I 
account it a part of unhappinesss not to know adversity; I judge you to 
be miserable, because you have not been miserable. Nothing, saith 
another [Demetrius], seems more unhappy to me, than he to whom no 
adversity hath happened. 1 God afflicts thee, O Christian, in love ; and 
therefore Luther cries out, Strike, Lord ; strike, Lord, and spare not. 
Who can seriously muse upon this, and not hold his peace, and not be 
silent under the most smarting rod ? 

(2.) Secondly, Consider, that the trials and troubles, the calamities 
and miseries, the crosses and losses that you meet with in this vjorld, 
is all the hell that ever you shall have. Here you have your hell ; here- 
after you shall have your heaven. This is the worst of your condition, 
the best is to come. Lazarus had his hell first, his heaven last ; but 
Dives had his heaven first, and his hell at last, Luke xvi. 24-31. Thou 
hast all thy pangs, and pains, and throes here that ever thou shaft 
have ; thy ease, and rest, and pleasure is to come. Here you have all 
your bitter, your sweet is to come ; here you have your sorrows, your 
joys are to come ; here you have all your winter nights, your summer 
days are to come ; here you have your passion-week, your ascension-day 
is to come ; here you have your evil things, your good things are to 
come. Death will put a period to all thy sins, and to all thy sufferings ; 
and it will be an inlet to those joys, delights, and contents that shall 
never have end ; and therefore hold thy peace, and be silent before the 
Lord. 2 

(3.) Thirdly, Get an assurance that Christ is yours, and pardon of 
■sin yours, and divine favour yours, and heaven yours ; and the sense 
of this will exceedingly quiet and silence the soul under the sorest and 
■sharpest trials a Christian can meet with in this world,. He that is 
assured that God is his portion, will never mutter nor murmur under 
his greatest burden ; he that can groundedly say, ' Nothing shall sepa- 
rate me from the love of God in Christ,' he will be able to triumph in 
the midst of the greatest tribulations, Rom. viii. 33-39 ; he that with 
the spouse can say, ' My beloved is mine, and I am his,' Cant. ii. 1G, 
will bear up quietly and sweetly under the heaviest afflictions. In the 
time of the Marian persecution there was a gracious woman, who being 
convened before bloody Bonner, then bishop of London, upon the trial 
of religion, he threatened her that he would take away her husband 
from her. Saith she, Christ is my husband. I will take away thy 
child. Christ, saith she, is better to me than ten sons. I will strip 
thee, saith he, of all thy outward comforts. Yea, but Christ is mine, 
saith she, and you cannot strip me of him. Oh ! the assurance that 
Christ was hers bore up her heart, and quieted her spirit under all. 3 

• 

1 Nihil est infeliciua co cui nil unquam contigit adversi. — Seneca. [De Providentia. — G.] 

2 See my treatise called ' Heaven on Earth.' [In Vol. II. of these "Works. — G.] 

8 [Foxe] Act. and Mon. So John Noyes, Alice Driver, Mr Bradford, Mr Taylor, and 
Justin Martyr, with many more, 



392 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. !•. 

You may take away my life, saith Basil, but you cannot take away my 
comfort ; my head, but not my crown. Yea, quoth he, had I a thousand 
lives, I would lay them all down for my Saviour's sake, who hath done 
abundantly more for me. John Ardley professed to Bonner, when he 
told him of burning, and how ill he could endure it, that if he had as 
many lives as he had hairs on his head, he would lose them all in the 
fire before he would lose his Christ. 1 Assurance will keep a man from 
muttering and murmuring under the sorest afflictions. Henry and 
John, two Augustine monks, being the first that were burnt in Ger- 
many, and Mr Rogers, the first that was burnt in Queen Mary's days, 
did all sing in the flame. A soul that lives in the assurance of divine 
favour, and in its title to glory, cannot but bear up patiently and quietly 
under the greatest sufferings that possibly can befall it in this world. 
That scripture is worth its weight in gold, ' The inhabitants of Sion 
shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven 
their iniquity,' Isa. xxxiii. 24. He doth not say they were not sick. 
No. But though they were sick, yet they should not say they were sick. 
But why shoiild they forget their sorrows, and not remember their pains, 
nor be sensible of their sickness ? Why ! the reason is, because the Lord 
had forgiven them their iniquities. The sense of pardon took away the 
sense of pain ; the sense of forgiveness took away the sense of sickness. 
Assurance of pardon will take away the pain, the sting, the trouble of 
every trouble and affliction that a Christian meets with. No affliction 
will daunt, startle, or stagger an assured Christian. An assured Chris- 
tian will be patient and silent under all, Ps. xxiii. 1, 4-7. Melancthon 
makes mention of a godly woman, who, having upon her deathbed 
been in much conflict, and afterward much comforted, brake out into 
these words : Now, and not till now, I understand the meaning of these 
words, ' Thy sins are forgiven ;' the sense of which did mightily cheer 
and quiet her. He that hath got this jewel of assurance in his bosom, 
will be far enough off from vexing or fretting under the saddest dispen- 
sations that he meets with in this world. 

(4.) Fourthly, If you would be quiet and silent under your present 
troubles and trials, then dwell much upon the benefit, the profit, the 
advantage that hath redounded to your souls by former troubles and 
afflictions that have been upon you. 2 Eccles. vii. 14, ' In the day of 
adversity consider.' Oh ! now consider, how by former afflictions the 
Lord hath discovered sin, prevented sin, and mortified sin : consider 
how the Lord by former afflictions hath discovered to thee the impo- 
tency, the mutability, the insufficiency, and the vanity of the world, 
and all worldly concernments : consider how the Lord by former afflic- 
tions hath melted thy heart, and broken thy heart, and humbled thy 
heart, and prepared thy heart for clearer, fuller, and sweeter enjoyments 
of himself : consider what pity, what compassion, what bowels, what 
tenderness, and what sweetness former afflictions have wrought in thee 
towards others in misery : consider what room former afflictions have 
made in thy soul for God, for his word, for good counsel, and for divine 

1 Clarke's ' Martyrologio,' as before, pp. 452, 453. — G. 

• There was a good man that had got so much good by his afflictions, that he counted 
it his greatest affliction to want an affliction ; and therefore he would sometimes cry 
out, my friends, I have lost an affliction, I have lost au affliction ! 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 393 

comfort : consider how by former afflictions the Lord hath made thee 
more partaker of his Christ, his Spirit, -his holiness, his goodness, &c. : 
consider how by former afflictions the Lord hath made thee to look towards 
heaven more, to mind heaven more, to prize heaven more, and to long 
for heaven more, &c. Now, who can seriously consider of all that good 
that he hath got by former afflictions, and not be silent under present 
afflictions ? Who can remember those choice, those great, and those 
precious earnings that his soul hath made of former afflictions, and not 
reason himself into a holy silence under present afflictions thus : O 
my soul ! hath not God done thee much .good, great good, special good, 
by former afflictions ? Yes. O my soul ! hath not God done that 
for thee by former afflictions, that thou wouldst not have to do for ten 
thousand worlds ? Yes. And is not God, O my soul ! as powerful as 
ever, as faithful as ever, as gracious as ever, and as ready and willing as 
ever to do thee good by present afflictions, as he hath been to do thee 
good by former afflictions ? Yes, yes. Why, why then dost thou not 
sit silent and mute before him under thy present troubles? my 
soul ! It was the saying of one, that an excellent memory was needful 
for three sorts of men : First, for tradesmen ; for they, having many busi- 
nesses to do, many reckonings to make up, many irons in the fire, had 
need of a good memory. Secondly, great talkers ; for they, being full 
of words, had need to have a good storehouse in their heads to feed 
their tongues. Thirdly, for liars ; for they telling many untruths, had 
need of a good memory, lest they should be taken in their lying con- 
tradictions : and I may add for a fourth, viz., those that are afflicted, 
that they may remember the great good that they have gained by 
former afflictions, that so they may be the more silent and quiet under 
present troubles. 

(5.) Fifthly, To quiet and silence your souls under the sorest afflic- 
tions and sharpest trials, consider, that your choicest, your chief est trea- 
sure is safe ; your God is safe, your Christ is safe, your portion is 
safe, your crown is safe, your inheritance is safe, your royal palace is 
safe, and your jewels, your graces are safe ; therefore hold your peace, 
2 Tim. i. 12 ; iv. 8. 

I have read a story of a man that had a suit, and when his cause 
was to be heard, he applied himself to three friends, to see what they 
could do for him : one answered, he would bring him as far on his 
journey as he could ; the second promised him that he would go with 
him to his journey's end ; the third engaged himself to go with him 
before the judge, and to speak for him, and not to leave him till his 
cause was heard and determined. These three are a man's riches, 
his friends, and his graces. His riches will help him to comfortable 
accommodations while they stay with him, but they often take leave of 
a man before his soul takes leave of his body. His friends will go with 
him to his grave, and then leave him ; but his graces will accompany 
him before God, they will not leave him nor forsake him ; they will go 
to the grave, to glory, with him, 1 Tim. vi. 18, 19. 

In that famous battle at Leuctrum, 1 where the Thebans got a signal 
victory, but their captain, Epaminondas, a little before his death, 
demanded whether his buckler were taken by the enemy, and when he 
1 Rather Leuctra, and to be distinguished from Leuctrum. — G. 



394 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

understood thai it was safe, and that they had not so much as laid their 
hands on it, he died most willingly, cheerfully, and quietly. Well ! 
( "nristians, your shield of faith is safe, your portion is aafe, your royal 
robe is safe, your kingdom is safe, your heaven is safe, your happiness 
and blessedness is safe; and therefore under all your afflictions and 
troubles, in patience possess your own souls. But, 

Sixthly, It'you would be silent and quiet under your sorest troubles 
and trials, then set yourselves in good earnest upon the rnortifioation 
of your last*. 1 It is unmortified lust which is the sting of every trouble, 
and which makes every sweet bitter, and every bitter more bitter. Sin 
unmortified adds weight to every burden, it puts gall to our wormwood, 
it adds chain to chain ; it makes the bed uneasy, the chamber a prison, 
relaxations troublesome, and everything vexatious to the soul. James 
iv. 1, 'From whenee come wars and fightings amongst you? come they 
not hence, even of your lusts, that war in your members?' So say 1, 
from whence comes all this muttering, murmuring, fretting, and vexing, 
&c., come they not hence, even from your unmortified lusts? Come they 
not from your unmortified pride, and unmortified self-love, and unmor- 
tified unbelief, and unmortified passion, &c. ? Surely they do. Oh, 
therefore, as ever you would be silent under the afflicting hand of God, 
labour for more and more of the grace of the Spirit, by which you may 
mortify the lusts of the flesh, Rom. viii. 13. It is not your strongest 
resolutions or purposes, without the grace of the Spirit, that can over- 
master a lust. A soul-sore, till it be indeed healed, will run, though 
we resolve and say it shall not be. It was the blood of the sacrifice, 
and the oil, that cleansed the leper in the law ; and that by them was 
meant the boood of Christ and the grace of his Spirit, is agreed on all 
hands, Lev. xiv. 14-16. It was a touch of Christ's garment that cured 
the woman of her bloody issue, Mark v. 25, et seq. Philosophy, saitfa 
Lactantius, may hide a sin, but it cannot quench it ; it may cover 
a sin, but it cannot cut off a sin. Like a black patch instead of 
a plaster, it may cover some deformities in nature, but it cures them 
not ; neither is it the papists' purgatories, watchings, whippings, ivc, 
nor St Francis his kissing or licking of lepers' sores, which will cleanse 
the fretting leprosy of sin. In the strength of Christ, and in the power 
of the Spirit, set roundly upon the mortifying of every lust. Oh, hug 
none, indulge none, but resolvedly set upon the ruin of all ! One leak 
in a ship will sink it; one wound strikes Goliah dead as well as three- 
and-twenty did Csesar ; one Delilah may do Samson as much spite and 
mischief as all the Philistines; one broken wheel spoils all the whole 
clock ; one vein bleeding will let out all the vitals as well as more ; one 
fly will spoil a whole box of ointment ; one bitter herb all the pottage. 
By eating one apple Adam lost paradise, one lick of honey endangered 
Jonathan's life, one Achan was a trouble to all Israel, one Jonah raises 
a storm and becomes lading too heavy for a whole ship ; so one unmor- 
tified lust will be able to raise very strange and strong storms and tem- 
pests in the soul in the days of affliction. And therefore, as you would 
have a blessed calm and quietness in your own spirits under your sharp- 
est trials* set thoroughly upon the work of mortification. Gideon had 

' Austin saith, If thou kill not sin till it die of itself, sin hath killed thee, and not thou 
tliy siu. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 395 

seventy sons, and but one bastard, and yet that bastard destroyed all his 
seventy sons, Judges viii. 30, 31, chap. ix. 1, 2. Ah, Christian ! dost 
thou not know what a world of mischief one unmortified lust may do ? 
and therefore let nothing satisfy thee but the blood of all thy lusts. 

(7.) Seventhly, If you would be silent under your greatest afflictions, 
your sharpest trials, then make this consideration your daily companion, 
viz., That all the afflictions that come upon you, come upon you by 
and through that covenant of grace that Goal hath made vnth you. In 
the covenant of grace, God hath engaged himself to keep you from the 
evils, snares, and temptations of the world ; in the covenant of grace, 
God hath engaged himself to purge away your sins, to brighten and 
increase your graces, to crucify your hearts to the world, and to prepare 
you and preserve you to his heavenly kingdom ; and by afflictions he 
effects all this, and that according to his covenant too : Ps. lxxxix. 30-34, 
' If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my commandments ; 
if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments.' In these 
words you have a supposition that the saints may both fall into sins of 
commission and sins of omission ; in the following words you have God's 
gracious promise : ' Then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, 
and their iniquities with stripes/ God engages himself by promise and 
covenant, not only to chide and check, but also to correct his people 
for their sins : ' Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take 
from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.' Afflictions are fruits of 
God's faithfulness, to which the covenant binds him. God would be 
unfaithful, if first or last, more or less, he did not afflict his people. 
Afflictions are part of that gracious covenant which God hath made 
with his people ; afflictions are mercies, yea, covenant mercies, Ps. cxix. 
75. Hence it is that God is called the terrible God, keeping covenant 
and mercy, Neh. i. 5 ; because, by his covenant of mercy, he is bound 
to afflict and chastise his people. God by covenant is bound to preserve 
his people, and not to surfer them to perish ; and happy are they that 
are preserved, whether in salt and vinegar, or in wine and sugar. All 
the afflictions that come upon a wicked man come upon him by virtue 
of a covenant of works, and so are cursed unto him ; but all the afflic- 
tions that come upon a gracious man, they come upon him by virtue of 
a covenant of grace, and so they are blessed unto him ; and therefore he 
hath eminent cause to hold his peace, to lay his hand upon his mouth. 

(8.) Eighthly, If you would be silent and quiet under afflictions, then 
dwell much upon this, viz., That all your afflictions do but reach the 
tvorser, the baser, and the ignobler part of a Christian, viz., his body, 
his outward man : ' Though our outward man decay, yet our inward 
man is renewed day by day,' 2 Cor. iv. 16. As Aristarchus the heathen 
said, when he was beaten by the tyrants : Beaton; it is not Aristarchus 
you beat, it is only his shell. Timothy had a very healthful soul in a 
crazy body, 1 Tim. v. 23 ; and Gaius had a very prosperous soul in a 
weak distempered body, 3 Ep. of John 2. Epictetus and many of the 
more refined heathens, have long since concluded that the body was the 
organ or vessel, the soul was the man and merchandise. Now, all the 
troubles and afflictions that a Christian meets with, they do not reach 
his soul, they touch not his conscience, they make no breach upon his 
noble part ; and therefore he hath cause to hold his peace, and to lay 



396 THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 9. 

tiis band upon his mouth. The soul is the breath of God, Heb. xii. 9, 
Zecli. xii. 1, the beauty of man, the wonder of angels, and the envy of 
devils ; it is a celestial plant, and of a divine offspring ; it is an immortal 
spirit. Souls are of an angelic nature ; a man is an angel clothed in 
clay ; the soul is a greater miracle in man than all the miracles wrought 
amongst men ; the soul is a demi-semi-God dwelling in a house of clay. 
Now it is not in the power of any outward troubles and afflictions that 
a Christian meets with to reach his soul ; and therefore he may well sit 
mute under the smarting rod. 

(9.) Ninthly, If thou wouldst be silent and quiet under the saddest 
providences and sorest trials, then keep up faith in continual exercise. 
Now faith, in the exercise of it, will quiet and silence the soul, thus, 

[1.] By bringing the soul to sit down satisfied in the naked enjoy- 
ments of God, John xiv. 8, Ps. xvii. 15. 

[2.] By drying up the springs of pride, self-love, impatience, mur- 
muring, unbelief, and the carnal delights of this world. 

[3.] By presenting to the soul greater, sweeter, and better things in 
Christ, than any this world doth afford, Heb. xi. 3, Philip, iii. 7, 8. 

[4.] By lessening the soul's esteem of all outward vanities. Do but 
keep up the exercise of faith, and thou wilt keep silent before the 
Lord. No man so mute, as he whose faith is still busy about invisible 
objects. 

(10.) Tenthly, If you would keep silent, then keep humble before the 
Lord. Oh ! labour every day to be more humble and more low and 
little in your own eyes. Who am I, saith the humble soul, but that 
God should cross me in this mercy, and take away that mercy, and pass 
a sentence of death upon every mercy ? I am not worthy of the least 
mercy, I deserve not a crumb of mercy, I have forfeited every mercy, 
I have improved never a mercy. Only by pride comes contention. It 
is only pride that puts men upon contending with God and men ; an 
humble soul will lie quiet at the foot of God, it will be contented with 
bare commons, Prov. xiii. 16. As you see sheep can live upon the bare 
commons, which a fat ox cannot. A dinner of green herbs relisheth 
well w r ith the humble man's palate, whereas a stalled ox is but a coarse 
dish to a proud man's stomach. An humble heart thinks none less 
than himself, nor none worse than himself; an humble heart looks upon 
small mercies as great mercies, and great afflictions as small afflictions, 
and small afflictions as no afflictions ; and therefore sits mute and quiet 
under all. Do but keep humble, and you will keep silent before the 
Lord. Pride kicks, and flings, and frets, but an humble man hath still 
his hand upon his mouth. Every thing on this side hell is mercy, 
much mercy, rich mercy to an humble soul; and therefore he holds his 
peace. 1 

(11.) Eleventhly, If you would keep silence under the afflicting 
hand of God, then keep close, hold fast these soul-silencing and soul- 
quieting maxims or principles. As, 

[1.] First, That the ivorst that God doth to his people in this world, 
is in order to tlie making of them a heaven on earth. He brings 
them into a wilderness, but it is, that he may speak comfortably to 

1 Austin being asked, What was the first grace? he answered, humility; what the 
second ? humility ; what the third ? humility. 



PS. XXXIX. 9.] UNDER THE SMARTING ROD. 397 

them, Hosea ii. 14 ; he casts them into the fiery furnace, but it is, that 
they may have more of his company ; do the stones come thick and 
threefold about Stephen's ears, it is but to knock him the nearer to 
Christ, the corner-stone, &c, Acts vii. 

[2.] Secondly, If you would be silent, then hold fast this principle, 
viz. That what God wills is best, Heb. xii. ] 0. When he wills sickness, 
sickness is better than health ; when he wills weakness, weakness is 
better than strength ; when he wills want, want is better than wealth ; 
when he wills reproach, reproach is better than honour ; when he wills 
death, death is better than life. As God is wisdom itself, and so knows 
that which is best, so he is goodness itself, and therefore cannot do any- 
thing but that which is best : therefore hold thy peace. 

[3.] Thirdly, If thou wouldst be silent under thy greatest afflictions, 
then hold fast to this principle, viz. That the Lord will bear thee com- 
pany in all thy afflictions, Isa. xli. 10 ; chap, xliii. 2 ; Ps. xxiii. 4 ; Ps. xc. 
15 ; Dan. iii. 25 ; Gen. xxxix. 20, 21 ; 2 Tim. iv. 16, 17. These scriptures 
are breasts full of divine consolation, these wells of salvation are full ; 
will you turn to them and draw out, that your souls may be satisfied 
and quieted ? 

[4.] Fourthly, If you would be silent under your afflictions, then 
hold fast this principle, That the Lord hath more high, more noble, and 
more blessed ends in the afflicting of you than he hath in the afflicting 
of the men of the world. The stalk and the ear of corn fall upon the 
threshing floor, under one and the same flail, but the one is shattered 
in pieces, the other is preserved ; from one and the same olive, and from 
under one and the same press is crushed out both oil and dregs ; but 
the one is turned up for use, the other thrown out as unserviceable ; 
and by one and the same breath the fields are perfumed with sweetness, 
and annoyed with unpleasant savours : so, though afflictions do befall 
good and bad alike, as the Scripture speaks, Eccles. ix. 2, yet the Lord 
will effect more glorious ends by those afflictions that befall his people, 
than he will effect by those that befall wicked men ; and therefore the 
Lord puts his people into the furnace for their trial, but the wicked for 
their ruin : the one is bettered by affliction, the other is made worse ; 
the one is made soft and tender by afflictions, the other is more hard 
aud obdurate ; the one is drawn nearer to God by afflictions, the other 
is driven further from God, &c. 

[5.] Fifthly, If you would be silent under your afflictions, then you 
must hold fast this principle, viz. That the best way in this world to 
have thine own will, is to lie down in the will of God, and quietly to 
resign up thyself to the good will and pleasure of God, Mat. xv. 21, 
29. Luther was a man that could have anything of God, and why ? 
Why ! because he submitted his will to the will of God; he lost his will 
in the will of God. soul ! it shall be even as thou wilt, if thy will 
be swallowed up in the will of God. 

[6.] Sixthly and lastly, If thou wouldst be silent under the afflicting 
hand of God, then thou must hold fast to this principle, viz. That God 
will make times of afflictions to be times of special manifestations of 
divine love and favour to thee. Tiburtius saw a paradise when he 
walked upon hot burning coals. I could affirm this by a cloud of 



398 



THE MUTE CHRISTIAN. 



[PS. XXXIX. 9. 



witnesses, but that I am upon a close. 1 Ah, Christians ! as ever you 
would be quiet and silent under the smarting rod, hold fast to these 
principles, and keep them as your lives. But, 

(12.) Twelfthly and lastly, To silence and quiet your soul under the 
afflicting hand of God, dwell much upon the brevity or shortness of 
mini's fife. Tins present life is not vita, sed via ad vitam, life, but a 
motion, a journey towards life. Man's life, saith one, is the shadow of 
smoke, yea, the dream of a shadow : saith another, man's life is so short, 
that Austin doubted whether to call it a dying life or a living death. 2 
Thou hast but a day to live, and perhaps thou mayest be now in the 
twelfth hour of that day ; therefore hold out faith and patience. Thy 
troubles and thy life shall shortly end together; therefore hold thy peace. 
Thy grave is going to be made ; thy sun is near setting ; death begins to 
cali thee off the stage of this world ; death stands at thy back ; thou 
must shortly sail forth upon the ocean of eternity ; though thou hast a 
great deal of work to do, a God to honour, a Christ to close with, a soul 
to save, a race to run, a crown to win, a hell to escape, a pardon to beg, 
a heaven to make sure, yet thou hast but a little time to do it in ; 
thou hast one foot in the grave, thou art even going ashore on eternity, 
and wilt thou now cry out of thy affliction ? Wilt thou now mutter and 
murmur when thou art entering upon an unchangeable condition? What, 
extreme folly and madness is it for a man to mutter and murmur when 
he is just a-going out of prison, and his bolts and chains are just 
a-knocking off ! Why, Christian, this is just thy case ; therefore hold thy 
peace. Thy life is but short, therefore thy troubles cannot be long ; 
hold up and hold out quietly and patiently a little longer, and heaven 
shall make amends for all, Rom. viii. 18. 

1 Ps. xciv. 19 : Dan. ix. 19, 24 ; Acts xvi. and xxvii. ; Hosea ii. 14. 

2 Augustine, Confessions. 



A STRING OF PEAELS. 



NOTE. 

The 'String of Pearls' was first published in 1657, in a particularly pretty volume. 
The title supplied by the bookseller for this edition, intended for the back, was, 'Mr 
Brooks His Chain of Pearls.' Our text is taken from the ' second edition, corrected.' Its 
title-page is given below.* Though originally a private ' funeral sermon,' it was im- 
mediately equally popular with its author's other writings, having rapidly passed through 
numerous editions. The '14th' bears the date of 1703. Cf. Sibbes's Works, vol. i. 
pages 341, 350. G. 



* A 
STRING OF PEARLS: 

OE, 

The best things reserved till last. 

Discovered in a SERMON 
Preached in London, June 8. 1657. 



The Funeral of (that Triumphant Saint) 
Mris. Mary Blake, late Wife to (his Wor- 
thy Friend) Mr. Nicholas Blake, Mer- 
chant, with an Elegy on her Death. 

By Thomas Brooks (her much endeared Friend, 
Spiritual Father, Pastor, and Brother, in the 
Fellowship of the Gospel, and) Preacher of the 
Word at Margarets New-Fish- street. 

The Second Edition corrected. 

The Righteous shall bee had in everlasting remembrance, Psal. 

112. 6. 
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the Death of his Saints, 

Psal. 116. 15. 

London, Printed by R. /• for John Hancock, at the first shop 
in Popes-head-Alley, neer the Exchange. 1660. 



THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 



To his honoured and worthily-esteemed friends, Mr Nicholas Blake, 
merchant, husband to the late virtuous Mrs Mary Blake, deceased ■ 
and Mr Thomas Matthewes, merchant, and Mrs Martha Mat- 
thewes his wife, parents to the late deceased gentlewoman ; and to 
the rest of his and her relations. 

All grace and peace, all consolation and supportation from God the 
Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Dear Friends, — This little piece had been sooner in your hands, but 
that my being in the country, and some other important business that 
hath lain hard upon my hands, hath prevented it till now. 

I have read of a certain painter, who, being to express the sorrow of 
a weeping father, and having spent his skill before in setting forth of 
the passions and affections of his children, he thought it best to present 
him upon his table to the beholders' view, with his face covered, that 
so he might have that grief to be imagined by them, which he found 
himself unable to set out to the full. I know I am not able to paint 
out your great grief and sorrow for the loss of such a wife, of such a 
child, of such a sister, &c, and I could wish that this piece, which is 
brought forth to satisfy your importunity, may not make the wound 
to bleed afresh. However, if it doth, thank yourselves, blame not me. 1 

I could heartily wish that you and all others concerned in this sad 
loss, were more taken up in minding the happy exchange that she hath 
made, than with your present loss. She hath exchanged earth for 
heaven, a wilderness for a paradise, a prison for a palace, a house made 
with hands for one eternal in the heavens, 2 Cor. v. 1, 2. She hath 
exchanged imperfection for perfection, sighing for singing, mourn in «• 
for rejoicing, prayers for praises, the society of sinful mortals for the 
company of God, Christ, angels, and the spirits of just men made per- 
fect, Heb. xii. 22-24 ; an imperfect transient enjoyment of God for a 
more clear, full, perfect, and permanent enjoyment of God. She hath 
exchanged pain for ease, sickness for health, a bed of weakness for a 
bed of spices, a complete blessedness. She hath exchanged her brass 
for silver, her counters for gold, and her earthly contentments for 
heavenly enjoyments. 

1 Mauy a man hath been drowned in his own tears, 2 Cor. vii. 10. 

VOL. I. C C 



K>2 EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 

And as I desire that one of your eyes may be fixed upon her happi- 
ness, bo I desire that the other of your eyes may be fixed upon Christ's 
fulness. Though your brook be dried up, yet Christ the fountain of 
light, life, love, grace, glory, comfort, joy, goodness, sweetness, and 
satisfaction is still at hand, and always full and flowing, yea, overflowing, 
John i. 16, Col. i. 19, ii. 3. 1 As the worth and value of many pieces of 
silver is contracted in one piece of gold, so all the sweetness, all the 
goodness, aD the excellencies that are in husbands, wives, children, 
friends, &c, are contracted in Christ; yea, all the whole volume of per- 
fections which is spread through heaven and earth, is epitomised in 
Christ ; Ipse unus erit tibi omnia, quia in ipso uno bono, bona sunt 
omnia, saith Augustine, one Christ will be to thee instead of all things 
else, because in him are all good things to be found. 

Dear friends ! what wisdom, what knowledge, what love, what ten- 
derness, what sweetness, what goodness did you observe and find in this 
deceased and now glorified saint, that is not eminently, that is not per- 
fectly, to be enjoyed in Christ ? and if so, why do not you bear up 
sweetly and cheerfully, and let the world know, and let friends see, 
that though you have lost her corporally, yet you enjoy her spiritually 
in Jesus ? The apostle Paul was so much taken with Christ, that he 
was ever in his thoughts, always near his heart, and ever upon his 
tongue ; he names him sixteen or seventeen times in one chapter, 2 
1 Cor. i. Now, oh that your hearts and thoughts were thus busied 
about Christ, and taken up with Christ, and with those treasures of 
wisdom, knowledge, grace, goodness, sweetness, &c, that is in him ; this 
would very much allay your grief and sorrow, and keep your hearts quiet 
and silent before the Lord ; this would be like that tree which made 
the bitter waters of Marah sweet, Exod. xv. 23-25. 

Plutarch, in the life of Phocion, tells us of a certain gentlewoman of 
Ionia, who shewed the wife of Phocion all the rich jewels and precious 
stones she had ; she answered her again, All my riches and jewels is 
my husband Phocion. So should Christians say, Christ is our riches, 
our jewels, our treasure, our heaven, our crown, our glory, our all. He 
is all comforts to us, and all contents to us, and all delights to us, and 
all relations to us. He is husband, wife, child, father, mother, brother, 
Bister. He is all these; yea, he is more than all these to us, 2 Cor. 
vi. 10, Eph. iii. 8, Cant. v. 10. 

I have read of one [St Martin], who, walking in the fields by himself, 
of a sudden fell into loud cries and weeping, and being asked by one 
that passed by and overheard him, the cause of that his lamentation, I 
weep, saith he, to think that the Lord Jesus should do so much for us 
men, and yet not one man of a thousand so much as minds him, or 
thinks of him. But I hope better things of you ; yea, I hope and desire 
that this present counsel will take hold of your hearts, and work as 
counsel works, when it is set home by a hand of heaven. 

Again, friends, it is your wisdom and your glory to mind more your 
present work, your present duty, than your loss, than your present cala- 
mity. David's passion was got above his wisdom, his discretion, when 
lie said, ' O my son Absalom ! my son, my son Absalom, would God I 
had died for thee, Absalom, my son, my son!' 2 Sam. xviii. 33. Your 

1 Omnc bonum in summo bono. * Clirysostoin. 



EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 403 

present work is not to cry, O my dear wife ! my precious child ! O 
my loving sister ! but, my soul, submit to God ! justify God, lie down 
in the will of God ; say amen to God's amen. O my soul ! think well 
of God, and speak well of God, and carry it well towards God, &c. This 
is your present work ; make it but your work, and then, though ' sor- 
row may abide for a night, yet joy will come in the morning,' Ps. 
xxx. 5. 

Again, Observe how other saints have carried it under such a dispen- 
sation as you are under, and do you likewise. 1 To that purpose read 
and compare these scriptures together : Gen. xxiii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 ; Ezek. 
xxiv. 16-18 ; 2 Sam. xii. 17-22 ; ] Sam. iii. 17-19 ; 2 Sam. xv. 25-27; 
Job i. 13-22. It is a more excellent, a more blessed thing to be good 
at imitating the pious examples of others, than to be good at praising 
of them. Stories speak of some that could not sleep when they thought 
of the trophies of other worthies that went before them. 2 The best 
and highest examples should be very quickening and provoking. Pious ( 
examples usually are more wakening than precepts ; and they are more 
convincing and more encouraging ; and the reason is, because we see in 
them, that the exercise of the most difficult points of godliness is yet 
possible. Other saints' pious examples should be looking-glasses for us 
to dress ourselves by ; and happy are those that make such an improve- 
ment of them. Oh, happy husband ! oh, happy parents ! oh, happy 
brethren and sisters ! if you write after that blessed copy, that this glo- 
rified saint, wife, child, sister, hath set before you ; which that you may, 
I desire you seriously to dwell upon the following narrative. 

One hint more, and then I have done. Augustine, in one of his epis- 
tles, hath this relation, that the very same day wherein Jerome died, 
he was in his study, and had got pen, ink, and paper, to write some- 
thing of the glory of heaven to Jerome. Suddenly he saw a light break- 
ing into his study, and a sweet smell that came unto him, and this voice 
he thought he heard, O Augustine ! what dost thou ? Dost think to 
put the sea into a little vessel ? When the heavens shall cease from their 
continual motion, then shalt thou be able to understand what the glory 
of heaven is, and not before, except thou come to feel it, as I now do. 

A little before this glorified saint's translation from earth to heaven, 
1 had thoughts and resolutions to write to her about this blessed state 
to which she was hastening, but was prevented ; however, in the follow- 
ing sermon you will find something of that glorious state glimpsed out 
unto you, which now she is in possession of. Now, dear friends, above 
all gettings, get an interest in that glory that she is filled with, and 
keep up the sense of that interest in your own souls and consciences ; 
and then you will be happy in life, and blessed in death, and assuredly 
meet her and know her, and for ever enjoy her in perfect happiness 
and blessedness ; which, that you may, is and shall be the constant 
desires and earnest prayers of 

Your soul's servant, 

Thomas Beooks. 

1 Bonus dux, bonus comes, a good leader makes a good follower, was Carus* the empe- 
ror's motto. Pnecepta docent, exempla movent, precepts may instruct, but examples do per- 
suade. — [* 'Carolus'? — G.] 

2 As Themistocles of Miltiades, and Caesar of Alexander. — G. 



404 A STRING OF PEARLS. 



A STRING OF PEARLS; 

OR, THE BEST THINGS RESERVED TILL LAST. 



Before I name my text, give me leave to speak a few words upon 
another text, viz., the glorified saint deceased, at whose funeral we are 
here met. 

She was one of those dear spiritual children that the Lord had given 
me, Isa. viii. 18 ; she was a precious seal of my ministry, she was my 
living epistle, 2 Cor. iii. 1, 2 ; my walking certificate, my letter testi- 
monial, Philip, iv. 1, 2. In life she was my joy, and in the day of 
Christ she will be my crown, as Paul speaks, 1 Thes. ii. 19, 20, 'For 
what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in 
the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming ? For ye are our 
glory and joy.' Her application of those words of the apostle to me 
hath been often a very great refreshing and comfort to my soul : ' For 
though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not 
many father's ; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the 
gospel/ 1 Cor. iv. 15. The work of grace upon her heart was clear, 
powerful, and thorough, as all know that knew her inwardly. I should 
tire both myself and you, and frustrate the end of your meeting, which 
is to hear a sermon, should I give you an exact and particular account 
thereof: I shall therefore mention only a few things among many foi 
your imitation, satisfaction, and supportation under this sad dispen- 
sation. 

She was a knowing woman in the things of Christ ; and her know- 
ledge was inward, experimental, growing, humbling, transforming, and 
practical, Prov. iii. 18 ; she knew Christ in the mystery as well as in 
the history; in the spirit as well as in the letter; feelingly, as well as 
notionally ; she did not only eat of the tree of knowledge, but also tasted 
of the tree of life. 

She was as sincere and plain a hearted Christian, I think, as any 
lives out of heaven j for plain-heartedness she was a Jacob; for up- 
rightness she was a Job. Sincerity is the shine, the lustre, the beauty, 
the glory of all a Christian's graces, and in this she did excel. 1 A sin- 
eere soul is like a crystal glass with a light in the midst of it, which 
gives light every way ; and such a one was she. A sincere soul is like 
1 Sinceritas sereiiitatis mater, sincerity is the mother of serenity. 



A STRING OF PEARLS. 405 

the violet, which grows low, and hides itself and its own sweetness, as 
much as may be, with its own leaves ; and such a one was she. She 
had as many choice, visible characters of sincerity and uprightness upon 
her, as ever I read upon any Christian that I have had the happiness 
to be acquainted with. But I must not dwell on these things ; I shall 
only say she was not like the actor in the comedy, who cried with his 
mouth, coelum, heaven ! but pointed with his finger to the earth. 
Such professors there be, but she was none of them. 

She was as rich in spiritual experiences as most that I have been 
acquainted with. Ah ! how often hath she warmed, gladded, and 
quickened my spirit, by acquainting me with what the Lord hath done 
for her precious soul. Experiments 1 in religion are beyond notions and 
impressions. A sanctified heart is better than a silver tongue ; and she 
found it so. Oh! the stories that she was able to tell of the love of God, 
the presence of Christ, the breathings of the Spirit, the exercise of grace, 
the sweetness of the word, the deceitfulness of sin, and the devices and 
methods of Satan, &c. And though she made use of her experiences, 
as crutches to lean on, yet she only made use of the promises as a 
foundation to build on. As the star led the wise men to Christ, so her 
experiences led her to a higher and sweeter living upon Christ ; her 
experiences were her sauce, but Christ was still her food. 

She did drive a very great private trade towards heaven. She was 
much in secret duties, in closet communion with God, and this did very 
much enrich her and advance her in spiritual experiences, when she 
had once found the sweetness of enjoying Christ behind the door, Cant, 
ii. 14, Mat. vi. 5, 6. Oh, how inflamedly, how abundantly was her soul 
carried forth in secret duties ! She knew that Peter went up upon 
the house-top to pray, and that Christ was oft alone, Acts x. 9. As 
secret meals make a fat body, so she found secret duties made a fat 
soul ; and this made her much in that work. It was a witty and 
divine speech of Bernard, That Christ, the soul's spouse, is bashful, 
neither willingly cometh to his bride in the presence of a multitude ; and 
is it not so with the bride in her actings towards her bridegroom, Christ ? 

She was many times in the school of temptation, which God made to 
her the school of instruction. 2 The Lord did usually so help her to 
handle the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, 
that she commonly triumphed over Satan's temptations, and led cap- 
tivity captive. Though that arrow-master, Satan, hath shot often at 
her, yet her ' bow still abode in strength, her hands and heart being 
made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.' Augustine 
gave thanks to God that the heart and the temptation did not meet 
together, and so hath she many a time. She was good at withstanding 
the beginnings of a temptation, knowing that after-remedies often come 
too late. She was a Christian all over. 3 She was a Christian in pro- 
fession, and a Christian in practice ; a Christian in lip, and a Christian 
in life ; a Christian in word, and a Christian in work ; a Christian in 
show, and a Christian in power and spirit. She was not only for the 
general duties of Christianity, as hearing, praying, &c, but also for the 

1 ' Experiences.' — G. 

* 2 Cor. xii. 7-10; Eph. vi. 16, 17; 2 Cor. ii. 14; Gen. xlix. 23, 24. 

3 1 Thes. v. 23 ; Acts xiii. 22, xxiv. 16 ; Luke i. 5, 6. 



406 A STRING OF PEARLS. 

relative duties of religion, as to be a good wife, a good mother, a good 
child, a good sister, a good mistress, &c. Most sincerity and holy in- 
genuity shines in the relative duties of religion ; and in those she was 
excellent. She was also very conscientious and constant, yea, abundant 
in the general duties of religion, as hearing, praying, &c. She did 
duties, but durst not for a world trust to her duties, but to her Jesus. 
as the dove made use of her wings to fly to the ark, but trusted not in 
her wings, but in the ark. In duty, she had learned the holy art of 
living above duty; in the business of acceptation with God, and justifi- 
cation before God, and reconciliation to God, and salvation by God, she 
knew no duty but Jesus. 1 She was as happy in denying religious self 
as she was resolute in denying of sinful self. 

She was, for patience and cheerfulness under her long lingering weak- 
ness, as exemplary as any that ever I was acquainted with, James i. 
2-4 ; v. 10, J 1. If at any time she groaned, yet she blessed God, as 
she used to say, that she did not grumble. Oh how quiet, how like a 
lamb was she under all her trials ! Oh how well would she speak of 
God ! Oh how sweetly did she carry it towards God ! Oh how much 
was she taken up in justifying of God throughout her pining, wasting 
sicknesses ! 

Time and strength would fail me should I but tell you what I could 
concerning her faith, her love to God, to Christ, to his ways, to his 
people, whether poor or rich, weak or strong ; and of her humility, low- 
liness, meekness, wherein she hath left few fellows behind her. She 
was very high in spiritual worth, and as low in heart ; she was clothed 
with humility as with a royal robe, and with ' the ornament of a meek 
and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price/ 1 Pet. v. .">. 
iii. 4. But I must hasten to rny text, for I see time slides away. 

If Ezekiel can commend Daniel, and match him with Noah and Job 
for his power in prayer, and Peter highly praise Paul, and if the ancient 
church had her diptychs or public tables, wherein the persons most 
noted for piety were recorded ; nay, if Plato called Aristotle the intel- 
ligent reader, and Aristotle set up an altar in honour of Plato, then 1 
hope you will not impute it to me as a transgression that I have pre- 
sented to you the shining virtues of this glorified saint for your imi- 
tation. 

What eyes thou read'st with, reader, know I wot, 
Mine were not dry when I this story wrote. 



AN ELEGY 

Upon the death of the virtuous, his dear and never-to-be-forgotten 
friend, Mrs Mary Blake. 

If that affection could but make a poet, 

Could grief and sorrow help, sure I should do it; 

Mary is dead, a woman whom truth and fame, 

With virtue, ever shall embalm her name; 

A Mary for love, a Mary for weeping, 

A Mary for choice, a Mary for seeking. 

1 Duties trusted to will undo you; when trusted to, they prove but a smooth, a silken 
way to hell. 



A STRING OF PEARLS. 407 

With Mary she had chosen the better part ; 
With Mary she did lay Christ near'st her heart. 
Such were her parts, her piety, 
Her youth it was a full maturity. 
Grave although young ; who in her heart did prize 
Grace, truth, and Christ her only sacrifice ; 
Gracious, religious, and sincere was she, 
Courteous, without all court-hypocrisy. 

Christ was her study, his glory was her aim ; 

It was her heaven for to advance the same. 

Within the holy treasury of her mind 

Were the choice virtues of all womankind ; 

A knowing woman, and an humble too, 

Which joyed all Christians who had with her to do. 

A praying woman and believing too, 

Which did the praises of other saints renew : 

A holy woman, and a harmless too. 

In saying this, I give her but her due. 

A lively Christian and thriving in grace ; 

Few towards heaven did ever hold her pace. 

The word and ways of God were her delight, 

And in the same she had a great insight. 

A fixed woman, when others staggering were, 

Which was the fruit of holy pains and care ; 

A tried Christian, whose trials were not small, 

Yet faith and patience overcame them all ; 

She lived the sermons which on earth she heard, 

And now receives the crown whieh was for her prepared ; 

A woman which had more than common worth ; 

I want a tongue, enough to set it forth. 

Her latest precious breathings had respect 

To nothing more than divine dialect ; 

Which she committed to her mourning friends, 

In exhortations to their better ends. 

Could prayers, tears, and sighs have kept her here, 

She had not died, you need it not to fear ; 

She lives, though dead, in th' memory of those, 

Who knew her life, and saw its holy close. 

No golden letters half so long as we, 

Shall keep her precious worth in memory ; 

No costly marble need on her be spent, 

Her deathless worth is her own monument 

Now, shall I let you know what you have lost ? 

She was a temple of the Holy Ghost. 

This we'll apply, that though we lose her here, 

Her soul doth shine in a celestial sphere. 

Mary is to the celestial Canaan gone, 

Where as a star she shines in perfection. 

Mary hath chosen sure the better part, 

Mary with angels sure doth now partake. 

But stay, needs she encomiums ? Reader, know, 

She joys above, while we here wail below. 

But now, dear friends, let's mourn in hope and weep, 

Believing this blest saint in Christ doth sleep. 

Hark, don't you hear her sweet delightful voice ? 

Saying, Friends, weep not, but see that ye rejoice 

For me, for now I am perfectly free, 

From sorrow, sin, death, and mortality ; 

Surely you cannot doubt my happiness, 

Who have beheld my faith and stedfastness ; 

Oh then from sorrow see that now ye cease, 

To interrupt my joy and your own peace ; 

Surely our loss to her was greatest gain, 

For crowned in heaven she ever shall remain ; 



408 A STRING OF PEARLS. 

No sighs, no groans, now from her do come, 
But everlasting joys are in their room. 
She now without control, no question, sings 
Eternal praises to the King of kings ; 
She now enjoys that ever blessed face, 
In hopes whereof she run a happy race : 
She now hath chang'd her crosses for a crown, 
Her bed of weakness for a royal throne. 

Farewell! blessed saint, farewell! to thee we'll haste, 
For till we meet in heaven we cannot rest. 



Thomas Brooks, 
Of Margaret's, New-Fish-street. 



A Word to the Reader. 

Now, Reader, if you please to cast a look, 
Or spend some spare-time on this little book, 
And in it anything that's good do view, 
Then challenge it, for it belongs to you ; 
What's weak or worthless in it, that decline 
And pass it by, I challenge that for mine. 



THE BEST THINGS RESERVED TILL LAST. 



To an inheritance incorruptible, and undejiled, and that fadeth not 
away, reserved in heaven for you. — 1 Peter I. 4. 

Beloved, — I have chosen this text upon a double ground. 

1. To make a diversion of immoderate sorrow and grief from my 
own spirit and yours, who are most nearly concerned in this sad loss. 
And, 

2. Because it will afford us matter most suitable to the blessed state 
and condition of this glorified saint, at whose funeral we are here met. 

In the inscription, verses 1, 2, you have first a holy salutation, shew- 
ing first by whom this epistle was written, viz. Peter, an apostle of 
Jesus Christ ; secondly, to whom it was written. Now they are de- 
scribed two ways : first, by their outward condition, ' strangers, scat- 
tered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.' 
There are divers opinions about these strangers, but the most common 
and received opinion among the learned is, that Peter wrote this epistle 
to the converted Jews, scattered through the provinces in Asia, who met 
with much opposition and affliction for the gospel's sake. 1 Secondly, 
they are described by their spiritual and inward condition, which is set 
forth, 

(1.) By the fundamental cause of it, to wit, election of God. 

(2.) By the final cause, to wit, sanctification of the Spirit unto 
obedience. 

(3.) By the subservient cause, to wit, reconciliation, conferred in 
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. 

In the third verse you have, (1.) A very stately proem, and such as 
can hardly be matched again, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ/ (2.) You have regeneration or effectual calling 
described, and that 

[1.] First, By the principal efficient cause thereof, which is, 'God the 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ/ 

[2.] By the impulsive cause thereof, the mercy of God, which is 
described by the quantity of it, ' abundant.' 

[3.] By the immediate effect thereof, a ' lively hope/ the singular 

1 Pareus. Compare the 2d of the Acts, the 8th of the Acts, and the 11th of the Acts, 
with the 1st and 2d verses of this chapter. 



410 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

cause whereof La shewed to be the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead, 1 John iii. 2, 3. 1 Now hope is called a lively hope, 

[1.] Because it makes a man lively and active for God and goodness. 

[2.] Because it cheers, comforts, and revives the soul. It brings, it 
breeds, it feeds, it preserves spiritual life in the soul. This lively hope 
is Like Myrtilus his shield, which after the use he had of it in the field, 
having it with him at sea, and suffering shipwreck, it served him for a 
boat to waff 8 him to shore, and so preserved his life. 3 This lively hope 
is a shield ashore, and an anchor at sea. 

[3.] It is called a lively hope, in opposition to the fading, withering, 
dying hopes of hypocrites, and profane persons, ' Whose hope is as a 
spider's web,' ' the crackling of thorns under a pot,' and ' the giving up 
of the ghost.' 4 

A Christian's hope is not like that of Pandora, which may fly out of 
the box, and bid the soul farewell ; no, it is like the morning light : the 
least beam of it shall commence into a complete sunshine ; it is aurora 
gaud ii, and it shall shine forth brighter and brighter till perfect day ; 
but the hypocrite's hope, the presumptuous sinner's hope is like a cloud, 
or the morning dew. 

Now, in my text you have the object about which this ' lively hope' 
is exercised; and that is, 'an inheritance incorruptible, and undefined, 
and that fadeth not away' [What these words import I shall shew you 
when I open that doctrine which I intend to stand upon at this time], 
'reserved in heaven for you.' 

There are three heavens : the first is caelum aerium, the airy heaven, 
where the fowls of heaven do fly; the second is caelum astriferum, 
where the stars of heaven are ; the third is caelum beatorum, the heaven 
of the blessed, where God appears in eminency, and where Christ shines 
in glory ; and this is the heaven the text speaks of. 

The text Avill afford several points, but I shall only name one, which 
I intend to stand on at this time, and that is this, 

Doct. That God reserves the best and greatest favours and blessings 
for believers till they come to heaven. 

Now, I shall prove this proposition by an induction of particulars ; 
and then give you the reasons of it. I will begin with the inheritance 
spoken of in the text. 

I. The best inheritance is reserved for believers till they come to 
heaven. This is clear and fair in the text, 5 yet I shall make this fur- 
ther out to you thus : 

(1.) First, The inheritance reserved for believers till they come to 
heaven, is a pure, undefiled, and incorruptible inheritance. It is an 
inheritance that cannot be defiled nor blemished with abuse one way or 
another. Other inheritances may, and often are, with oaths, cruelty, 
blood, deceit, &c. The Greek word d^lavrog signifies a precious stone, 
which, though it be never so much soiled, yet it cannot be blemished 
nor defiled ; yea, the oftener you cast it into the fire, and take it out, the 
more clear, bright, and shining it is. 6 All earthly inheritances are true 

1 Corpus spirando, anima sperando vivit, as the body lives by breathing, so the soul by 
hoping. « The early form of ' waft '?— G. 

3 The giver of its name to the Myrtoan sea. — G. 

4 Job viii. 13, 14, xi. 20, xxvii. 8 ; Prov. xi. 7. b Vide Zanchium. 
6 tyuam sordet mihi terra, cum calum mtueor. — Adrian. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 411 

gardens of Adonis, where we can gather nothing but trivial flowers, sur- 
rounded with many briers, thorns, and thistles, Gen. iii. 18, Isa. xxiii. 9. 
Oh the hands, the hearts, the thoughts, the lives that have been defiled, 
stained, and polluted with earthly inheritances! Oh the impure love, 
the carnal conscience, the vain boastings, the sensual joys, that earthly 
inheritances have filled and defiled poor souls with! All earthly in- 
heritances, they are no better than the cities which Solomon gave to 
Hiram, which he called Cabul, 1 Kings ix. 13, that is to say, displeasing 
or dirty. The world doth but dirt and dust us. But, 

(2.) Secondly, It is a sure, a secure, inheritance : ' To an inherit- 
ance reserved in heaven for you.' See the text. The Greek word that 
is here rendered 'reserved,' is from ryota, tereo, which signifies to keep 
solicitously, to keep as with watch and ward. This inheritance is kept 
and secured to us by promise, by power, by blood, by oath ; and there- 
fore must needs be sure. 1 It is neither sin, nor Satan, nor the world 
that can put a Christian by his inheritance. Christ hath already taken 
possession of it in their names and in their rooms ; and so it is secure 
to them. If weakness can overcome strength, impotency omnipotency. 
then may a Christian be kept out of his inheritance, but not till then. 
But earthly inheritances they are not sure, they are not secure. How 
often doth might overcome right, and the weakest go to the wall! 
How many are kept out, and how many are cast out, of their inherit- 
ances, by power, policy, craft, cruelty. It was a complaint of old, our 
inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens, James v. 2. 

(3.) Thirdly, It is a permanent, a lasting, inheritance : 2 ' To an 
inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.' The 
Greek word apagavTog is the proper name of a flower, which is still fresh 
and green after it hath a long time hung up in the house. It is an in- 
heritance that shall continue as long as God himself continues. Of this 
inheritance there shall be no end. Though other inheritances may 
be lasting, yet they are not everlasting ; though sometimes it be long- 
before they have an end, yet they have an end. Where is the glory of 
the Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and Roman kingdoms ? Sic transit 
gloria mundi ; but the glory of believers shall never fade nor wither ; 
it shall never grow old nor rusty : J Pet. v. 4, ' And when the chief 
Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory, which fadeth 
not away.' A believer's inheritance, his glory, his happiness, his bless- 
edness, shall be as fresh and flourishing after he hath been many thou- 
sand thousands of years in heaven as it was at his first entrance into it. 
Earthly inheritances are like tennis-balls, which are bandied up and 
down from one to another, and in time wore out, 1 Tim. vi. 17. The 
creature is all shadow and vanity ; it is filia noctis, like Jonah's gourd. 
Man can sit under its shadow but a little, little while ; it soon decays 
and dies ; it quickly fades and withers. There is a worm at the root 
of all earthly inheritances, that will consume them in time. All earthly 
comforts and contents are but like a fair picture that is drawn upon 
the ice, which continueth not ; or like the morning cloud, that soon 
passeth away ; but a believer's inheritance endureth for ever. When 

1 Heb. vi. 12-20 ; Rom. viii. 33, 39 ; Eph. ii. 6 ; John xiv. 1-3, x. 27-30. If this in- 
heritance were not kept for us, it might haply go the same way paradise did. 

2 Daniel ii. 44, vii. 27 ; Heb. xii. 27, 28 ; 2 Peter i. 11. 



412 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

this world shall be no more, when time shall be no more, the inherit- 
ance of the saints shall be fresh, flourishing, and continuing. Nescio 
quid erit, quod, ista vita non erit, ubi lucet, quod non capiat locus, 
ubi sonat, quod non rapit tempus, ubi olet, quod non spargit flatus, 
ubi sap>it, quod non minuit edacitas, ubi hceret, quod non divellit 
ceternitas, said Augustine ; what will that life be, or rather what will 
not that life be, since all good either is not at all, or is in such a life ? 
Light, which place cannot comprehend; voices and music, which time 
cannot ravish away; odours, which are never dissipated; a feast, which 
is never consumed; a blessing, which eternity bestoweth, but eternity 
si i all never see at an end. So this, all this, is the heritage of all God's 
Jacobs. 

(4.) Fourthly, It is the freest inheritance. It is an inheritance that 
is free from all vexation and molestation. There shall be no sin to 
molest the soul, nor no devil to vex the soul. ' There shall be no 
pricking brier nor grieving thorn unto the house of Israel/ Ezek. xxviii. 
24 ; there shall be no Jebusites to be ' as pricks in your eyes, and thorns 
in your sides,' Num. xxxiii. 55. There shall be no crying, Oh my 
bones ! oh my bowels ! oh the deceit of this man ! oh the oppression of 
that man ! &c. No ; they shall have a crown without thorns, a rose 
without prickles, and an inheritance without the least encumbrance. 
This inheritance flows from free love, and is freely offered, though the 
soul hath neither money nor money-worth. There is nothing, there is 
not the least thing about this inheritance that is purchased or paid for 
by us, Isa. lv. 1, 2. It is all frank, it is all free, it is all of grace. Here 
is such an inheritance that no eye ever saw, that no mortal ever pos- 
sessed ; and that for nothing. 1 It is freely offered, and it is freely given : 
Acts xx. 32, ' And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the 
word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an 
inheritance among all them which are sanctified.' All is mercy, all is 
of free mercy, that God alone may have the glory. Other inheritances 
they have their encumbrances. Oh the vexations, the molestations 
that do attend them ! Oh the debates, the disputes, the law-suits that 
are about earthly inheritances, such as have made many a man to go 
with a heavy heart, an empty purse, and a thread-bare coat ; which 
made Themistocles profess, that if two ways were shewed him, one to 
hell, and the other to the bar, he would decline that which did lead to 
the bar, and choose that which went to hell. 2 

(5.) Fifthly, It is an inheritance that is universally communicable ; 3 
to Jews, to Gentiles ; to bond, to free ; to rich, to poor ; to high, to low ; 
to male, to female : Gal. iii. 28, 29, ' There is neither Jew nor Greek, 
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye 
are all one in Christ Jesus ;' ' And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abra- 
ham's seed, and heirs according to the promise,' Rom. viii. 17. Among 
men, all sons and daughters be not heirs, yet all God's children, be they 
sons, be they daughters, be they bond or free, &c, they are all heirs, 
without exception. Jehoshaphat gave his younger sons ' great gifts of 

1 Rom. vii. 25; Isa. lxiv. 4 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9. * Plutarch, Themislocks.—G. 

3 Acts x. 36; 1 Cor. xii. 13. Oh that excellent inheritance, saith Bernard, Non anys- 
tior mvltitudine kceredum, whose portions are not scanted by reason of the number and 
multitude of co-heirs. 



\ 



I Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 413 

silver and gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities, but the king- 
doms gave he to Jehoram, because he was the first-born,' 2 Chron. xxi. 
3. And Abraham gave gifts to the rest of his sons, but Isaac only had 
the inheritance, Gen. xxv. 5, 6. In some countries all children be not 
heirs, but sons only; and in other countries not all sons, but the eldest 
son alone. Usually men divide their earthly inheritances. If all the 
sons be heirs, some inherit one place, others others; but here the whole 
inheritance is enjoyed by every child; here every child is an heir to all, 
and hath right to all. In earthly inheritances, the more you divide, 
the less is every one's part; but this inheritance is not diminished by 
the multitude of possessors, nor impaired by the number of co-heirs; it 
is as much to many as to a few, and as great to one as to all. Not a 
room, not a mansion, not a walk, not a flower, not a jewel, not a box of 
myrrh, but what is common to all; not a smile, not a good word, not a 
sweet look, not a robe, not a dish, not a delicate, not a pleasure, not a 
delight, but is universally communicable, and universally fit for all the 
thousands millions of thousands that are heirs of this inheritance. If 
there be a thousand together, every one sees as much of the sun, hears 
as much of the sound, smells as much of the sweet, as he should do if 
there were no more than himself alone ; so here. 

(b\) Sixthly, arid lastly, It is a soul-satisfying inheritance. He 
that hath it shall sit down and say, I have enough, I have all. 1 As one 
master satisfies the servant, and as one father satisfies the child, and as 
one husband satisfies the wife, so one God, one Christ, one inheritance, 
satisfies the believing soul : Ps. xvi. 5, 6, ' The Lord is the portion of 
mine inheritance, and of my cup : thou maintainest my lot. The lines 
are fallen unto me in a pleasant place ; yea, I have a goodly heritage.' 
Will an inheritance of glory satisfy them ? Why ! this they shall have, 
1 John iii. 3, Col. iii. 4. Will an inheritance of power and dominion 
satisfy them ? Why, this they shall have, 1 Cor. iii. 21, 'All things 
are yours,' &c. Mat. xix. 28, 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3, &c. Will Abraham's 
bosom satisfy you ? Why ! this you shall have, Luke xvi. 22. 2 
The bosom is the place where love lodges all her children ; the bosom 
is the place of delight and satisfaction, and this you shall have ; nay, 
you shall have a better, a choicer, a sweeter bosom to solace your souls 
in than Abraham's, to wit, the bosom of Jesus Christ, which will be 
a paradise of pleasure and delight to you. Will Christ's best robe, will 
his own signet put upon you, satisfy you ? Why! this you shall have. 
Will it satisfy you to be where Christ is, and to fare as Christ fares, and 
wear as Christ wears, and enjoy as Christ enjoys ? Why ! this you shall 
have : John xii. 26, ' Where I am, there shall also my servant be ; if 
any man serve me, him will my Father honour.' If all these things 
will satisfy souls, then surely the inheritance reserved in heaven for 
them will satisfy them ; for that inheritance takes in these things, and 
many more. The good things that this inheritance is made up of are 
so many, that they exceed number; so great, that they exceed measure; 
so precious, that they are above all estimation ; and therefore it must 

1 Habet omnia qui hahet halentem omnia. — Augustine. Gen. xxxiii. 11,1 have enough, 
saith Jacob, ^3 17, Li ckol, I have all. 

* Si aliud propter Deum habeo, nee aliud plene possideo nee Deum. Deus qui non deficit, solus 
mihi sufficit. — Eusebius, Nuremb. 



414 A STRING OF PEABLS. [1 PeTEB T. 4. 

needs be a soul-satisfying inheritance. 1 But now all other inheritances 
they cannot satisfy the heart of man : 2 Eccles. v. 10, ' He that loveth 
silver, shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance, 
with increase : this is also vanity.' If you please, you may read the 
words nearer the original thus: 'He that loveth silver, shall not be 
satisfied with silver; and be that loveth it, in the multitude of it, shall 
not have fruit.' It is the love of silver that is the mischief of it ; it is 
the love of silver that makes men unsatisfied with silver. Such a man 
will still be adding house to house, land to land, bag to bag, and heap 
to heap, and yet after all be still unsatisfied. Bernard 3 compareth such 
a man to one that, being very hungry, gapeth continually for wind, with 
which he may be puffed, but cannot be filled and satisfied ; and so the 
same author elsewhere saith well, Anima rationalis cceteris omnibus 
occupari potest, impleri non potest, the reasonable soul may be busied 
about other things, but it cannot be filled with them ; they can no 
more fill up the soul than a drop of water can fill up the huge ocean ; 
they can no more satisfy the desires of the soul than a few drops of 
water can the thirst of a man inflamed with a violent fever ; nay, as oil 
increases the flame of the fire, so the more a man hath of the world, the 
more his heart is inflamed after it. 4 When Alexander had conquered 
the known part of the world, say some, he sat down and wished for 
another world to conquer. Charles the Fifth, emperor of Germany, 
whom of all men the world judged most happy, cried out with detesta- 
tion to all his honours, pleasures, trophies, riches, Abite hinc, cthite longe; 
get you hence, let me hear no more of you. They could not satisfy 
him, they could not quiet him. Such things that a fancy, a conceit, an 
ungrounded fear will rob a man of the comfort of, can never satisfy him ; 
but such are all worldly enjoyments, 2 Kings vii. 6, 7. One man will 
not live because his Delilah will not love ; another with Ahab will be 
sick, and die because he cannot get his neighbour's inheritance, 1 Kings 
xxi. ; another wishes himself dead because his commodities lie dead on 
his hands ; another with Haman can find no sweetness in all his enjoy- 
ments, because Mordecai sits at the king's gate, Esther v. 9-14 ; as those 
things which delude a man can never satisfy him. But the world de- 
ludes a man, and puts cheats upon him; it promises a man pleasure, 
and pays him with pain ; it promises profit — ' all this will I give thee ' 
— and pays him with loss ; loss of God, of Christ, of peace of conscience, of 
comfort, of heaven, of happiness, of all; it promises contentment, and fills 
him with torment ; — and therefore can never satisfy the soul of man, &c. 

But the inheritance reserved in heaven, that will satisfy ; it will 
afford nothing that may offend the soul, it will yield everything that 
may delight the soul, that may quiet and satisfy the soul ; by all which 
it is most evident, that the best inheritance is reserved for the saints 
till they come to heaven. But, 

II. Secondly, As the best inheritance, so the best is reserved for be- 
lievers till they come to heaven. This life is full of trials, full of troubles, 
and full of changes. Sin within, and Satan and the world without, will 

1 August, de Triplici. hahitu. cap. iv. 

2 This the great caliph of Babylon, Charles the Fifth, and others, found by ex- 
perience. 

Bernard, Tract, de diligendo Devm, cap. iii. * Bernard, Horn. Mat. xix. 17. 



1 Peter I. 4.] A string of pearls. 4 1 5 

keep a Christian from rest, till he comes to rest in the bosom of Christ. 
The life of a Christian is a race ; and what rest have they that are still 
a-running their race ? The life of a Christian is a warfare ; and what 
rest have they that are still engaged in a constant warfare ? The life 
of a Christian is the life of a pilgrim ; and what rest hath a pilgrim, who 
is still a-travelling from place to place V- A pilgrim is like Noah's 
dove, that conld find no rest for the sole of her foot. The fears, the 
snares, the cares, the changes, &c, that attends believers in this world, 
are such that will keep them from taking up their rest here. A Chris- 
tian hears that word always sounding in his ears, 'Arise, for this is not 
thy resting-place/ Micah ii. 10. A man may as well expect to find 
heaven in hell, as expect to find rest in this world. It was the com- 
plaint of Ambrose, Quid in liac vita non experimur adversi ? Quas 
non procellas tempestatesque perpetirnur? Quibus non exagitamur 
incommodisf Cujus parcitur meritis P What misery do we not 
undergo in this life ? What storms and tempests do we not endure ? 
with what troubles are we not tossed ? whose worth is spared ? Man's 
sorrows begin when his days begin, and his sorrows are multiplied as 
his days are multiplied ; his whole life is but one continued grief ; 
labour wears him, care tears him, fears toss him, losses vex him, dangers 
trouble him, crosses disquiet him, nothing pleases him ; in the day he 
wishes, Would God it were night, and in the night, Would God it were 
day ; before he rises he sighs ; before he washes he weeps ; before he 
feeds he fears ; under all his abundance he is in wants, and ' in the 
midst of his sufficiency he is in straits,' Job xx. 22 ; his heart, as 
Gregory Nyssene speaks, 3 Non tantum gaudet in Us quce habet, quan- 
tum tristatur ob ea quce desunt, is not so much quieted in those things 
which it hath, as it is tormented for those things which it hath not. 
In a word, all the rest we have in this world, is but a very short nap, 
to that glorious rest that is reserved in heaven for us : Heb. iv. 9, 10, 
'There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that 
is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God 
did from his.' There remains a rest to the people of God, or as the 
Greek hath it, a sabbatism, a celestial rest, an eternal rest, a Sabbath 
that shall never have end. 4 When God had made man, we read that 
the next day he rested ; and why is this set down, saith Anselm, 
Nisi per hoc vellet innuere, quod ilium post cujus creationem requie- 
vit, ad requiem fecit ? but that the Spirit of God would shew unto us, 
that God made him for rest, after the making of whom God is said to 
have rested ? 5 Rest is a jewel very desirable on earth, but we shall not 
wear it in our bosoms till we come to heaven. Ambrose well observes, 6 
that sex diebus mundus est /actus, septimo requietum est die; ultra 
mundum ergo est quies, ultra mundum etiam fructus quietis, in six 
days the world was made, on the seventh day there was rest ; it is be- 
yond this world, therefore, that rest is, and it is beyond this world that 
the fruit of rest is to be had. 

1 Heb. xii. 1 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8 ; Isa. xl. 2; 2 Cor. x. 4 ; 1 Tim. i. 18 ; Ps. cxix. 54 ; 
Heb. xi. 13 ; 1 Peter ii. 11. 

2 Ambrose defide resurrectionis. s Gregor. Nyssen. in Eccles. Horn. 7. 

4 tra[i[iari<rf*h, a sabbatizing. 

5 Estius — and others — understands this text of a celestial rest, &c. 

6 Ambrose in Evangel. Lu. c. ix. 



41 G A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

I shall shew you, observing brevity, the excellency of that rest that 
is reserved for believers in heaven. As, 

(1.) First, It is a superlative rest ; a rest that infinitely exceeds all 
earthly rest. All other rest is not to be named in the day wherein 
this rest is spoken of. Some have purchased rest, for a time, with 
silver and gold, but this is a rest that all the gold and silver in the 
world can never purchase. Over this rest is written, not the price of 
gold, but the price of blood, yea, the price of the best and noblest blood 
that ever run in veins. That rest we have here must needs be a poor, 
low-priced rest, ubi multa cautela custoditur salus corporis, custodita 
etiam amittitur, amissa cum gravi labore reparatur, et tamen repa- 
rata in dubio semper est, 1 where the health of the body is preserved 
with much watchfulness, being preserved, is also lost ; being lost, is 
recovered with much labour ; and yet being recovered, is always in 
danger and doubtfulness, what will become of it. Our estate in this 
world is not a fixed estate ; what then is our rest ? Our very living is 
but a passing away ; our lives are full of troubles, and they fill our souls 
full of unquietness. After the Trojans had been tossing and wander- 
ing in the Mediterranean Sea, as soon as they espied Italy, they cried 
out with exulting joy, 'Italy! Italy!' and so when saints, after all their 
tossings and restlessness in this world, shall come to heaven, then, and 
not till then, they will cry out, Rest, rest, no rest to this rest. But, 

(2.) Secondly, The rest reserved in heaven for believers, it is an 
universal rest, Rev. xiv. 13, a rest from all sin and a rest from all sorrow ; 
a rest from all afflictions and a rest from all temptations ; a rest from all 
oppression and a rest from all vexations ; a rest from all labour and 
pains, from all trouble and travail, from all aches, weaknesses, and 
diseases. There is no crying out, O my bones ! O my back ! O my 
bowels ! O my sides ! O my head ! my heart ! Our rest here is only 
in part and imperfect ; here we have rest in one part and pain in 
another, quiet in one part and torment in another. Sometimes when 
the head is well, the heart is sick ; and sometimes when there is peace 
in the conscience, there is pain in the bones. Here many return us 
hatred for our love, aud this hinders our rest ; 2 here we are apt to create 
cares and fears to ourselves, rather than we will want them, and this 
hinders our rest ; here we are very apt to give offence, and as apt to 
take offence, though none be given, and this hinders our rest, 1 Cor. x. 
32. Sometimes we have rest abroad and none at home ; sometimes rest 
at home and none abroad, Job vii. 13-16. Our rest here is imperfect 
and incomplete, but our rest in heaven shall be most perfect and com- 
plete ; there the inward and the outward man shall be both at rest, &c. 
But, 

(3.) Thirdly, It is an uninterrupted rest ; it is a rest that none can 
interrupt. 3 Here sometimes sin interrupts our rest, sometimes tempta- 
tions interrupts our rest, sometimes divine withdrawings interrupts our 
rest, sometimes the sudden changes and alterations that God makes in 
our conditions interrupts our rest; sometimes the power, and sometimes 
the policy, and sometimes the cruelty of wicked men interrupts our rest. 
sometimes the crossness of friends, sometimes the deceitfulness of friends. 

1 Greg. Mor. 1. xi. c. 26. * Ps. xxxviii. 20, cix. 4, Mat. vi. 25-34. 

3 Ps. xl. 12 ; 2 Cor. xii. 7-9 ; Ps. xxx. 6, 7 ; Cunt. iii. 5 ; Job iii. 25, 26, &c. 



] Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 417 

sometimes the loss of friends, and sometimes the death of friends 
interrupts our rest ; one thing or another is still interrupting our rest. 1 
Oh ! but in heaven there shall be no sin, no devil, no sinner, no false 
Mends ; there shall be nothing, there shall not be the least thing that 
may interrupt a saint's rest ; indeed, heaven could not be heaven, did 
it admit of anything that might interrupt a saint's rest. . Heaven is 
above all winds and weather, storms and tempests, earthquakes and 
heartquakes. There is only that which is amiable and desirable ; there 
is nothing to cloud a Christian's joy, or to interrupt a Christian's rest. 
When once a soul is asleep in the bosom of Abraham, none can awake 
him, none can molest or disturb him. Here is joy without sorrow, 
blessedness without misery, health without sickness, light without dark- 
ness, abundance without want, beauty without deformity, honour with- 
out disgrace, ease without labour, and peace without interruption or 
perturbation. Here shall be eyes without tears, hearts without fears, 
and souls without sin. Here shall he no evil to molest the soul ; here 
shall be all good to cheer the soul, and all happiness to satisfy the soul ; 
and what then can possibly interrupt the rest of the soul ? But, 

(4.) Fourthly, As it is an uninterrupted rest, so it is a peculiar rest; 
it is a rest peculiar to sons, to saints, to heirs, to beloved ones : Ps. 
cxxvii. 2, ' So he gives his beloved rest/ or as the Hebrew hath it, 
dearling, or dear beloved, quiet rest, without care or sorrow. 2 The 
Hebrew word *UW, Shena, is written with N, a quiet dumb letter, which 
is not usual, to denote the more quietness and rest. This rest is a crown 
that God sets only upon the head of saints ; it is a gold chain that he 
only puts about his children's necks; it is a jewel that he only hangs 
between his beloveds' breasts ; it is a flower that he only sticks in his 
darlings' bosoms. This rest is a tree of life that is proper and peculiar 
to the inhabitants of that heavenly country ; it is children's bread, and 
shall never be given to dogs. Here wicked men have their good things ; 
their peace, their rest, their quiet, &c, their heaven, whilst the people 
of God are troubled and disquieted on every side f but the day is 
a-coming wherein the saints shall have rest, and sinners shall never 
have a good day more, never have an hour's rest more ; their torments 
shall be endless and ceaseless. The old world had their resting-time, 
but at last patience and justice, tired and abused, put a period to their 
rest, by washing and sweeping them to hell with a flood ; and then 
Noah, and those righteous souls that were with him, had their time of 
rest and peace ; and so shall it be with sinners and saints at last, &c 
But, 

(5.) Fifthly, The rest reserved for the saints in heaven, as it is a 
peculiar rest, so it is a rest that is universally communicable to all the 
sons and daughters of God. ' And to you who are troubled, rest with 
us/ saith the apostle Paul ; ' rest with us/ with us apostles, with us 
saints, and with all the family of heaven together, 2 Thess. i. 6, 7. 
Here some saints are at liberty, when others are in prison ; here some 

1 Quid est aliud hie nasci, nisi ingredi laboriosam vilam ? What is it else to be born 
here, than to enter into a troublesome life ? — Augustine. 

2 ITT?, it is an allusion to Solomon's name, Jedidiah, 2 Sam. xii. 25. 

3 Luke xvi. 25 ; Ps. lxxiii. 3-21 ; Job xxi. 7-14. 

VOL. I. D d 



418 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PCTER 1/4. 

sit under their own vines and drink the blood of the grape, whilst others 
have their blood poured out as water upon tin* ground, &c. ; but in heaven 
they shall all have rest together, the believing husband and the believ- 
ing wile shall rest together, and believing parents and believing chil- 
dren shall rest together. Here one relation hath rest, when the other 
hath not, but there they shall all rest together. There the painful 1 
preacher and the diligent hearer shall rest together ; there the gracious 
master and the pious servant shall rest together, &c. : Isa. lvii. 2, ' He 
shall enter into peace, they shall rest in their beds, each one walking 
in his uprightness ; they shall rest in their beds,' or as some read it, 
they shall rest in their bee-hives, expressing the a Hebrew by the Latin ; 
cub He signifies a bee-hive, as well as a couch or bed. Look, as the 
poor wearied bees do rest all together in their bee-hives, in their honey- 
houses, so all the saints shall rest together in heaven, which is their 
bee-hive, their honey-house ; and oh what a happy rest will that be, 
when all the saints shall rest together ! But, 

(6.) Sixthly and lastly, It is a permanent, a constant rest. Of this 
rest there shall be no end. It is a rest that shall last as long as heaven 
lasts ; yea, as long as God himself shall continue. Time shall be no 
more, and this world shall be no more, but this rest shall remain for 
ever, Rev. x. 6, 2 Pet. iii. 10, et seq. The rest of the people of God in this 
world is transient, it is inconstant. Now they have rest, and anon they 
have none ; now a calm, presently a storm ; now all is in quiet, anon 
all is in an uproar. Their rest in this world is like a morning cloud 
and the early dew, which is soon dried up by the beams of the sun, 
Hosea vi. 4. Since God hath cast man out of paradise, out of his first 
rest, he can find but little rest in this world ; sometimes the unfitness 
of the creature troubles him, sometimes the fickleness of the creature 
vexes him, sometimes the treachery of the creature enrages him, and 
sometimes the want of the creature distracts him. When in his heart 
he saith, Now I shall have rest, now I shall be quiet, then troubles and 
changes come, so that his whole life is rather a dreaming of rest than an 
enjoying of rest. Oh ! but in heaven the rest of the saints shall have no 
end ; there shall be nothing that can put a period to their rest, there 
shall be everything that may conduce to the perpetuating of their rest. 
Heaven would be but a poor low thing, did it not afford a perpetual rest. 

III. Thirdly, As the best rest, so the best sight and knowledge of God 
is reserved for believers till they come to heaven. I readily grant that 
even in this world the saints do know the Lord, inwardly, spiritually, 
powerfully, feelingly, experimentally, transformingly, practically ; but 
yet, notwithstanding all this, the best knowledge of God is reserved for 
heaven, which I shall evidence by an induction of particulars, thus : 

(1.) First, They shall have the clearest knowledge and revelation of 
God in, heaven. 2 Here our visions of God are not clear; and this makes 
many a child of light to sit and sigh in darkness. Lam. iii. 44. God 
veils himself, he covers himself with a cloud. Man, when he is silent 
concerning God, seemeth to be something, bul when he begins to speak 
of God, it plainly appears that he is nothing. 

Simonides being asked by Hiero, the tyrant, what God was, craved 

1 • Painstaking.' — G. ' Nihil notum in terra, nihil ignotum in ccclo. 



1 Peter I. 4] a string of pearls. 419 

a day for to deliberate about an answer ; but the more he sought into 
the nature of God, the more difficult he found it to express ; there- 
fore, the next day after being questioned, he asked two days, the third 
day he craved four, and so from that time forth doubled the number ; 
and being asked why he did so, he answered, that the more he studied, 
the less he was able to define what he was, so incomprehensible is his 
nature. 1 

Our visions of God here are dark and obscure. Augustine, asking 
the question, what God is ? gives in this answer, 2 Oerte hie est, de quo 
et quum dicitur, non potest dici; quum cestimatur, non potest cesti- 
mari; quum comparatur, non potest comparari; quum definitur, ipse 
sua dejinitione crescit : surely it is he, who when he is spoken of can- 
not be spoken of, who when he is considered of cannot be considered of, 
who when he is compared to any thing cannot be compared, and when 
he is defined, groweth greater by defining of him. It is observable, 
that it was not the Lord which the prophet Ezekiel saw, it was only a 
vision, Ezek. i. 28. In the vision it was- not the glory of the Lord which 
he saw, but the likeness of it ; nay, it was not the likeness of it, but 
the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, that made him 
to fall on his face, as not being able to behold it. Sin hath so weak- 
ened, dazzled, and darkened the eye of our souls, that we cannot bear 
the sight of the glory of the Lord, nor the likeness of it, no ! nor the 
appearance of the likeness of it. 

In the Psalms the Lord is said to ride upon a cherub, Ps. xviii. 10 ; 
upon which words one saith thus, Cherub quippe plenitudo scientice 
dicitur, proinde super plenitudinem scientice ascendisse perhibetur, 
quia majestatis ejus plenitudinem scientia nulla comprehendit, a 
cherub is so called, as being a fulness of knowledge ; and therefore is 
God said to ascend above the fulness of knowledge, because no know- 
ledge comprehendeth the fulness of his majesty. 4 

But when believers come to heaven, then they shall have a more clear 
vision and sight of God: J Cor. xiii. 12, 'For now we see through a 
glass, darkly ; but then face to face : now I know in part ; but then 
shall I know even as also I am known/ 4 Now we see him obscurely, 
as in a glass, but then we shall see him distinctly, clearly, immediately ; 
we shall then apprehend him clearly, though, even then,, we cannot 
comprehend him fully. 6 Some sense those words, I shall know even as 
I am known, thus : Look, as God knoweth me after a manner agreeable to 
his infinite excellency, so shall I know God according to my capacity, 
not obscurely, but perfectly, as it were, face to face ; and this is the 
greatest height of blessedness and happiness, Now all veils shall be 
taken off; and we shall have a clear prospect of God's excellency and 
glory, of his blessedness and fulness, of his loveliness and sweetness. 6 
Now all masks, clouds, and curtains, shall be drawn for ever, that saints 
may clearly see the breadth, length, depth, and height of divine love, 
and that they may clearly see into the mystery of the Trinity, the mys- 
tery of Christ's incarnation, the mystery of man's redemption, the mys- 

1 Cicero, de natura deor. 1. i. 2 Augustine defide cont. Arrian. c. vi. 

3 Gregory Mor. 1. vii. c. 15. 4 ev amy pan, in a riddle. 

5 In this life, saith Bernard, erit mira serenitas, plena securitas, ceterna fcelicitas, there 
will be wonderful serenity, full security, eternal felicity. 6 Visio clara no7i comprehensiva. 



120 A STRING OF PEARL* [1 PETER I. 4. 

tery of providences, the mystery of prophesies ; and all those mysteries 
that relate to the nature, substances, offices, orders, and excellencies of 
the angels, those princes of glory, who still keep their standings in the 
court of heaven ; and all those mysteries that concern the nature, ori- 
ginal, immortality, spirituality, excellency, and activity of our own souls, 
beside a world of other mysteries that respect the decrees and counsels 
of God, the creation of the world, the fall of Adam, and the fall of angels. 
Now the most knowing men in the world are much in the dark about 
these things ; but when we come to heaven, we shall have a close and 
a clear sight and knowledge of them. IS T ow we shall know, as we are 
known ; now we shall see God face to face. beata visio, videre Regent 
angelorwm, sanctum sanctorum, Deurn coeli, Rectorem terms, patrem, 
viventiv/m, ! Oh blessed sight! to behold the King of angels, the holy 
of holies, the God of heaven, the Ruler of the earth, the Father of the 
living !' beata visio, videre Dewm in seipso, videre i/n nobis, el no$ 
i a i'o. Oh blessed vision and contemplation, wherein we shall see God 
in himself, God in us, and ourselves in God \ 2 But, 

(±) Secondly, As in heaven they shall have the clearest knowledge 
of God, so in heaven they shall have the fullest knowledge of God. Here 
our knowledge of God is weak, as well as dark, but in heaven it shall 
be full and complete. ' Here we know but in part; but there we shall 
know as we are known,' 1 Cor. xiii. 12. As the apostle speaks, here we 
are able to take in but little of God, either sin or Satan, or else fears, 
doubts, and scruples, or else the pleasures or profits, the comforts or 
contents of this w r orld doth so defile the soul, and so fill the soul, that it 
is able to take in but very little of God. ' How little a portion/ saith 
Job, ' is heard of him !' Job xxvi. 14. It is but a portion, a little por- 
tion, that we can conceive of him. The Hebrew is ^°^, shemets, par- 
ti en lam, a little bit, nay, it is said, * 12 " 1 ¥»C? shemets dabar, particulam 
verbi, a little piece of a word, or particulam alicnjus, a little piece of 
something, that we do hear of him. 'I have many things to say unto you,' 
sai th Christ, ' but ye cannot bear them now,' John xvi. ] 2. 3 Man is a poor, 
Low, weak creature, and is not able to bear an}' great or full discoveries of 
God. As weak shoulders cannot bear heavy burdens, nor weak sto- 
machs digest strong meats; no more were they able to bear the revela- 
tion of many high, spiritual, precious, and glorious truths, that Christ 
was willing to discover to them. Those that have weak eyes, or that 
have a blemish in their eyes, cannot discern things aright. Now we 
have all weak eyes, we have all one blemish or another in our eye, 
which hinders us from a full sight and knowledge of God, and of his 
excellency and glory. Oh ! but now in heaven, we shall have a full and 
perfect knowledge of God; there shall be no sore eyes, no clouds, no 
mists to hinder us from a full sight of the Sun of righteousness. 4 Here 
our understandings shall be full of the knowledge of God, our minds 
full of the wisdom of God, our wills full of the righteousness and holi- 
ness of God, and our affections full of the love and delights of God. 

1 Augustine, W>. </<■ spir., .jr. c. lvii. 2 Bernard, Meditat. c. iv. 

1 I (or. iii. 1-:? ; Eeb. v. 12-14. 

4 Our knowledge of God now is rather negative than positive; we know not so well 
what God is, as what he is not ; as that he is not a man, as that lie is not changeable, & 
Now it is ohserved to our hand, ex puris negativis nihil coticluditur, that from pure ueg 
tivea there can be no certain conclusion made. 



1 Peter 1. 4.] a string of pearls. 421 

Here we have but weak and shallow apprehensions of God, but there, 
as Bernard speaks sweetly, Deus implebit animam rationcdem sapii n- 
tia, concupiscibilem justitia, irascibilem perfecta tranquillitate, God 
will fill the soul with light of wisdom, the concupiscible faculty with 
righteousness, the irascible with perfect tranquillity. 

If a man did dwell within the body of the sun, surely he would be 
full of light ; if a man did dwell in the midst of a fountain, surely he 
would be rilled with that fountain ; so when the saints come to heaven, 
they shall dwell as it were in the body of the Sun of righteousness; and 
therefore they cannot be but full of light; they shall dwell in the midst 
of the fountain of life ; and therefore they shall sure be full of the 
fountain. But, 

(3.) Thirdly, The sight and knowledge that we shall have of God in 
heaven, will be immediate, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Here our knowledge of God 
is mediate ; here we see him, but it is either through the glass of his 
word, or the glass of his works. 1 Sometimes through the glass of his 
word God shews himself; sometimes through the glass of prayer God 
gives some representation of himself to his people; sometimes through 
the glass of the Lord's supper he discovers some rays and beams of his 
glory. All the sight and knowledge that we have of God in this world 
is through some cdass or other. Now there is a vast difference between 
seeing an object directly, immediately, and in its own proper colours, 
and beholding it through a glass. The sight of an object through a 
glass is very weak and unsatisfying. One direct view of the Lord, one 
immediate sight of God, will infinitely transcend all those sights and 
views that we have had in this world, either through the glass of his 
word, or the glass of his works, either through the glass of ordinances, 
or the glass of the promises, or the glass of providences, Mat. v. 8. One 
real direct sight of a friend or relation, doth more cheer, quiet, and 
satisfy us, than a thousand representations of them in glasses, or by 
their pictures. In heaven we shall see God face to face, without the 
interposition of men or means ; and this direct and immediate sight of 
God, is that which makes heaven to be heaven to the saints. All the 
glory of heaven would be but a poor low thing in the eye of a saint, had 
he not a direct and immediate sight of God there. In heaven all 
mediums shall be removed, all glasses shall be broken, and the glorified 
saint shall behold God with open face ; all curtains being for ever with- 
drawn from between God and the soul. Good souls in heaven are like 
good angels, who are still beholding the face of God, Mat. xviii. 10. 
As God is still a-looking upon them as the jewels of his crown, so they 
are still crying and looking upon God as their heaven, yea, as their 
great all, and that by a direct and immediate act of their souls. But, 

(4.) Fourthly and lastly, The sight and knowledge that they shall 
have of God in heaven, shall be permanent and constant. Now saints 
have a happy sight of God, and anon they have lost it ; this hour they 
have a precious sight of God in the mount, and the next hour they have 
lost this sight. ' Behold, he that should comfort my soul stands afar 
off,' Lam. i. 16 ; and 'he hath covered himself with a cloud, that our 
prayers cannot pass through,' Lam. iii. 44. Our visions of God here are 

1 God is a supersubstantial substance, an understanding not to be understood, a word 
never to be spoken. — Dionys. Areop. de divin. Nom c. 1. 



422 



A STRING OF PEARLS. 



[1 Peter I. 4. 



transient and vanishing. The visions, the glimpses of majesty and 
glory which Moses and Peter saw in the mount, were not permanent 
but transient ; their sun was quickly clouded, and both of them soon 
after wire found walking in the dark; 1 and therefore well s;iith 
Augustine, Beatitude hie pa/ra/ri potest, possideri non potest, 2 happiness 
may be obtained here, but here we cannot have the plenary and take 
pi (ssessiou thereof Oh but in heaven, our sight of God, our knowledge of 
God shall be permanent, it shall be lasting; there shall be no sin, no 
cloud, no mist, no curtain, to hinder as from a constant sight and vision 
of God ; there we shall see God clearly, fully, eternally. The spouse's 
question, 'Did you see him whom my soul loves?' Cant. iii. 3, shall 
novel- be heard in heaven, because God shall be always in their eye, and 
still upon their hearts; nor Job's complaint, 'Behold, I go forward, but 
he is not there ; and backward, but I cannot perceive him : on the left 
hand, where he doth work, but I Gannot behold him : he hideth himself 
on the right hand, that I cannot see him,' Job xxiii. 8, 9. Heaven 
would not be heaven, were it not always day with the soul; did not the 
soul live in a constant sight and apprehension of God, all the glory of 
heaven could not make a heaven to a glorified soul. But, 

IV. Fourthly, As the best sight and knowledge of God is reserved 
till last, so the best and choicest 'presence of God and Christ is reserved 
till last; and this I shall thus make good. 

(1.) First, In heaven saints shall have the greatest and the fullest 
presence of God? No man in this world hath so complete and full a 
presence of God but he may have a fuller; but in heaven the presence 
of God shall be so full and complete, as that nothing can be added to it 
to make it more complete. Sometimes sin, sometimes Satan, sometimes 
the world, sometimes resting in duties, sometimes the weakness of our 
graces, hinder us from enjoying a full presence of God here ; but in 
heaven there shall be nothing to interpose between God and us ; there 
shall be nothing to hinder us from enjoying a full and complete presence 
of God. It is this full presence of God that is the heaven of heaven, 
the glory of all our glory. An imperfect and incomplete presence of 
God in heaven would darken all the glory of that state. It is the full 
and perfect presence of God in heaven that is the most sparkling diamond 
in the ring of glory; and this you shall have. But, 

(2.) Secondly, They shall have a soid-satixfi/hn/ presence of God in 
h aven. They shall be so satisfied with the presence of God in heaven, 
that they shall say, We have enough, we have all, because we enjoy 
that presence that is virtually all, that is eminently all, that is all light, 
all life, all love, all heaven, all happiness, all comforts, all contents, &c :* 
Pa xvii. 1."), 'As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall 
be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.' Though the spiritual 
and gracious presence of God with the saints in this world doth much 
iheej and comfort them, yet it doth not satisfy them. They are still 
crying out, More of this blessed presence ! oh more of this presence ! 
Lord, less money will serve, so we may but have more of thy presence ! 

1 Exod. xxxiii., Mat. xvii. 1-4. s Serm. xlvi. de Sanctis. 

s Ps. xvi. 11. Ipse units eril tibi omnia, quia in ipso uno bono, bona sunt omnia. — Augus- 
tiue. * Omne bunvm in sunmo bono, all goud id iu the chiefest good. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 423 

less of the creature will serve, so we may have but more of thy presence ! 
Ps. xlii. 1, 2, xxxvii. 1-3. As the king of Sodom said unto Abraham, 
' Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself,' Gen. xiv. 21, so 
say gracious souls, Give us more and more of the presence of God, and 
let the men of the world take the world and divide it amongst them- 
selves. Divine presence is very inflaming ; a soul that hath but tasted 
the sweetness of it cannot but long for more of it ; as those that had 
tasted of the grapes of Canaan longed to be in Canaan, and as the Gauls, 
who, when they had tasted of the sweet wine that was made of the 
grapes that grew in Italy, they were very eager after Italy, crying out, 
'O Italy! Italy!' 1 so precious souls that have experienced the sweet- 
ness of divine presence, they cannot be satisfied with a little of it, but 
in every prayer this is the language of their souls, Lord ! more of thy 
presence ! and in every sermon they hear, Lord ! let us have more of thy 
presence ! and in every sacrament they receive, Lord ! vouchsafe to us 
more of thy presence ! 

Nay, this gracious presence of God that they enjoy here makes them 
very earnest in their desires and longings after a celestial, a glorious 
presence of God and Christ in heaven, which presence alone can satisfy 
their souls. 2 Look, as the espoused maid longs for the marriage day, 
the apprentice for his freedom, the captive for his ransom, the traveller 
for his inn, and the mariner for his haven, so do souls that are under the 
power and sweet of God's gracious presence long for to enjoy his glorious 
presence in heaven, which alone can fill and satisfy their immortal souls. 
As Monica, Austin's mother, a precious godly woman, who enjoyed much 
of the gracious presence of Christ, with her spirit she cried out, Quid 
hie faciemus ? cur non ocyus migramus ? cur non hinc avolamus ? 
What do we here % why depart we not swifter ? why fly we not hence ? 

So saith another [Bernard], As what I have, if offered to thee, 
pleaseth not thee without myself, so, Lord ! the good things we have 
from thee, though they refresh us, yet they satisfy us not without thy- 
self. Lord ! I am willing to die, to have a further discovery of thyself. 

And so saith another [Augustine], Thou hast made us, Lord, for 
thyself, and our hearts are unquiet till they come unto thee. 

And so when Modestus, the emperor's lieutenant, 3 threatened to kill 
Basil, he answered, If that be all, I fear not; yea,. your master cannot 
more pleasure me than in sending me unto my heavenly Father, to 
whom I now live, and to whom I desire to hasten. 

And saith another [Augustine], Let all the devils in hell beset me 
round, let fasting macerate my body, let sorrows oppress my mind, let 
pains consume my flesh, let watchings dry me, or heat scorch me, or 
cold freeze me ; let all these, and what can come more, happen unto me, 
so I may enjoy my Saviour. 

Austin wishing that he might have seen three things, Rome flourish- 
ing, Paul preaching, and Christ conversing with men upon the earth, 
Bede comes after, and correcting this last wish, saith, Yea, but let me 
see the King in his beauty, Christ in his heavenly kingdom ; by all 
which you see that it is not a spiritual presence, but the glorious pre- 
sence of God and Christ in heaven, that can satisfy the souls of the 

1 Plutarch, in vita Oarnilli. 2 2 Cor. v. 1-8 ; Philip, i. 23 ; Cant. viii. 14. 

3 Cf. (fall. iii. 9. Macrob. Saturn i. 4, 10, 16.— G. 



*24 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

saints. It was a great mercy for Christ to be with Paul on earth, but 
it was a greater mercy, and a more satisfying mercy, for Paul to be 
with Christ in heaven, Philip, i. 23. They enjoy much who enjoy the 
presence of God on earth, but they enjoy more who enjoy the presence 
of God in heaven; and no presence helow t his presence cau satisfy a 
believing soul. But, 

(3.) Thirdly, As they shall enjoy a satisfying presence of God in heaven, 
so they shall enjoy a constant, a permanent presence of God in heaven. 
Here God comes and goes, he is often a removing court, but in heaven 
the King of glory will be always present: 1 Thes. iv. 17, 18, 'Then we 
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them 
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we be ever with 
the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words/ It is 
the constant presence of God in heaven, that makes a heaven of com- 
fort to blessed souls. Should this sun ever set, should this presence 
ever fail, heaven would be as dark as hell, yea, heaven would be another 
hell. Here Jonah complains that he was cast out of God's presence, 
and the church complains, that he that should comfort her soul, stands 
afar off. 1 No saint enjoys the gracious presence of God at all times 
alike. They that enjoy most of this presence may say of it, as Jacob 
spake of Laban's countenance, I see, said he, your Father's countenance 
is not towards me as before, Gen. xxxi. 5 ; so may they say, Oh we see, 
Oh we feel, that the presence of God is not with us as before ! Oh 
what a warming, what a cheering, what a quickening, what an enliven- 
ing, what a comforting, what a melting, what an encouraging, what an 
assisting presence of God had we once ! Oh but it is not so now with 
us ! we that used always to be upon Christ's knee, or in his arms, are 
now at a distance from him ; he that used to lie day and night as a 
bundle of myrrh betwixt our breasts, hath now covered himself with a 
cloud, Cant. i. 13. Oh we cannot see his face, we cannot hear his voice, as 
in the days of old ! &c. But now in heaven saints shall enjoy a constant 
presence of God ; there shall not be one moment to all eternity, wherein 
they shall not enjoy the glorious presence of God ; and, indeed, it is 
this constant presence of God in heaven, that puts a glory upon all the 
saints' glory. Heaven, without this constant presence of God, would be 
but as a court without a king, or as the firmament without the sun. 
And thus you see that the best and choicest presence of God and Christ 
is reserved for heaven. But, 

V. Fifthly, The perfection of grace is reserved for glory. 2 Though 
our graces be our best jewels, yet they are imperfect, and do not give 
out their full lustre ; they are like the moon, which Avhen it shineth 
brightest, hath a dark spot : 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10, ' For we know in part, 
and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then 
that which is in part shall be done away.' Here ' we are all as an 
unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,' Isa. 
lxiv. 6. Oh the stains, the spots, the blots, the blemishes that attend 
our choicest graces and services ! Our best personal righteousness is 
stained with much unrighteousness, perfection of grace and holiness is 

1 Jonah ii. 4 ; Lam. i. 16 ; Ps. xxx. 6, 7 ; Isa. viii. 17 ; Micali vii. 7-9. 

2 Per/ectum id est cui nihil deest. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 425 

reserved for heaven, Eph. v. 25-27 ; Jude 24 ; Eph. iv. 13. In the 
work of conversion, God lays the foundation of grace in the souls of his 
people, but the putting on the top-stone is reserved for heaven. Grace 
here is but a king in the cradle, but in heaven it will be a king upon 
its throne. 

For the making this truth more fully out, I will only instance in the 
joy of the saints, and that thus : 

[1.] First, The joy of the saints in heaven shall be pure joy. Here 
our joy is mixed with sorrow, our rejoicing with trembling, Ps. ii. 11 : 
Mat. xxviii. 8, ' The women departed from the sepulchre with fear and 
great joy.' This composition of two contrary passions is frequently 
found in the best hearts. Here the best have sorrow with their joy, 
water with their wine, vinegar with their oil, pain with their ease, 
winter with their summer, and autumn with their spring, &c. But in 
heaven, Rev. vii. 17, they shall have joy without sorrow, light without 
darkness, sweetness without bitterness, summer without winter, health 
without sickness, honour without disgrace, glory without shame, and 
life without death : Rev. xxi. 4, ' And God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor 
crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former things are 
passed away/ But, 

[2.] Secondly, As they shall have in heaven pure joy, so they shall 
have in heaven plenitudAnem gaudii, fulness of joy. Here all joy is 
at an ebb, but there is the flood of joy, there is fulness of joy : Ps. 
xvi. 11, 'In his presence is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are 
pleasures for evermore.' Here shall be gaudium super gaudium, joy 
above joy, joy surmounting all joy. Here shall be such great joys, as 
no geometrician can measure ; so many joys, as no arithmetician can 
number ; and so wonderful, as no rhetorician can utter, had he the 
tongue of men and angels. 1 Here shall be joy within thee, and joy 
without thee, and joy above thee, and joy beneath thee, and joy about 
thee. Joy shall spread itself over all the members of your bodies, and 
over all the faculties of your souls. In heaven, your knowledge shall 
be full, your love full, your visions of God full, your communion with 
God full, your fruition of God full, and your conformity to God full, 
and from thence will arise fulness of joy. If all the earth were paper, 
and all the plants of the earth were pens, and all the sea were ink, and 
if every man, woman, and child, had the pen of a ready writer, yet were 
they not. able to express the thousandth part of those joys that saints 
shall have in heaven. 2 All the joy we have here in this world, is but 
pensiveness to that we shall have in heaven ; all pleasure here to that 
but heaviness, all sweetness here to that but bitterness. But, 

[3.] Thirdly, The joy of the saints in heaven shall be a lasting joy, 
an uninterrupted joy. Here their joy is quickly turned into sorrow, 
their singing into sighing, their dancing into mourning. Our joy here 
is like the husbandman's joy in harvest, which is soon over, and then 
we must sow again in tears, before we can reap in joy. David's joy was 

1 If one drop of the joys of heaven should fall into hell, it would swallow up all the 
bitterness of hell. — Augustine. 

2 A reminiscence of the old poem commencing 'Could we with ink the ocean fill,' on 
which see various curious articles in ' Notes and Queries,' First Series. — G. 



426 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETEB I. 4. 

soon interrupted: 'In my prosperity I said, I should never be removed ; 
liut thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled,' Ps. xxx. G, 7- Now 
David had the oil of joy and gladness, and by and by the spirit of 
heaviness and sadness: 'Restore to me the joy of thy salvation,' Ps. 
li. 1 2. Jacob had much joy at the return of his sons with corn from Egypt; 
but this joy was soon interrupted by his parting with his dear Benjamin. 

I might shew you this truth in other instances, as in Abraham, Job, 
and other saints; but surely there is no believer but finds that some- 
times sin interrupts his joy, and sometimes Satan disturbs his joy, and 
sometimes afflictions and sometimes desertions eclipse his joy; some- 
times the cares of the world, and sometimes the snares of the world, and 
sometimes the fears of the world, mars our joy; sometimes great crosses, 
sometimes near losses, and sometimes unexpected changes, turns a 
Ghrisl ian's harping into mourning, and his organ into the voice of them 
that weep. 1 

Some say of Rhodes, that there is not one day in the year in which 
the sun shines not clearly on them. Surely there is hardly one day in 
the year, yea, I had almost said one hour in the day, wherein something 
or other doth not fall in to interrupt a Christian's joy. 

But now in heaven the joy of the saints shall be constant; there shall 
nothing fall in to disturb or to interrupt their joy : Ps. xvi. 11, 'In thy 
presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand is pleasures for ever 
more.' Mark, for quality, there are pleasures ; for quantity, fulness ; 
for dignity, at God's right hand ; for eternity, for evermore. And 
millions of years multiplied by millions, make not up one mmute to 
this eternity of joy that the saints shall have in heaven. In heaven 
there shall be no sin to take away your joy, nor no devil to take away 
your joy, nor no man to take away your joy: John xvi. 22, 'Your joy no 
man taketh from you.' The joy of the saints in heaven is never ebbing, 
but always flowing to all contentment. The joys of heaven never fade, 
never wither, never die, nor never are lessened nor interrupted. The joy 
of the saints in heaven is a constant joy, an everlasting joy, in the root 
and in the cause, and in the matter of it and in the objects of it. JEterna 
erit exultcdio, quce bono lodatur ceterno, their joy lasts for ever whose 
objects remains for ever. 2 Isa. xxxv. 10, 'And the redeemed of the Lord 
shall return, and come to Zion with songs.aud everlasting joys upon their 
heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
fly away.' In this world not only the joy of hypocrites and the joy of 
profane persons, but also the joy of the upright, is oftentimes 'as the 
crackling of thorns under a pot,' or as the blaze of a brush faggot, now all 
on a flame, and as suddenly out again; or as the beast ephemeron, that 
dieth on the day it is born; 3 but the joy of believers in heaven shall be 
like the fire on the altar, that never went out. When Caesar was sad, he 
used tosay to himself, Cogitate G cesarean esse, think thou art Caesar; so when 
your hearts are sad and sorrowful, oh ! then think of these everlasting joys 
that you shall have in heaven. But I must hasten ; and therefore in the 

1 Job xxx. 26-31. Some worm or other i3 still a-gnawing at the very root of our joy, 
like the worm that made Jonah his gourd to wither. 

' l In quibus operamur, in illis et gaudemus, saith Tertullian : in what things or persons we 
act, in those things we rejoice. 

3 iipjj'jttffo,-, = living but a day, rather than a particular ' boast ' as above ; applied to 
men, 'ofi/ju^oi, creatures of a day. — U. 



1 Peter I. 4.] A string of pearls. 427 

VI. Sixth place, As the best joys, so the best society, the best company, 
is reserved till last It is reserved till believers come to heaven : Heb. 
xii. 22-24, ' But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the 
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of 
angels, 1 to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which 
are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and the spirits of 
just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, 
and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of 
Abel.' Here erimus cives cceli, socii angelorum, cohceredes Christi, 
we shall be citizens of heaven, fellows of angels, co-heirs with Christ, 
citizens with saints, and of the household of God. beafa visio, videre 
Regem angelorum, sanctum sanctorum, Deum cceli, Rectorem terrce, 
Patrem viventium ! 2 Oh blessed sight, to behold the King of angels, 
the holy of holies, the God of heaven, the Ruler of the earth, the Father 
of the living ! Woe to me, saith one, which am not where the holy 
saints be; for their life is out of all gun-shot and danger of death, their 
knowledge without error, their love without offence, and their joy with- 
out any annoy. The. dignity and diversity of the inhabitants of heaven 
doth much set forth the glory of heaven. This earth, this world, is full 
of sinners, but heaven is full of saints; this world is full of men, but 
heaven is full of angels; this world is full of friends and enemies, but 
in heaven there shall be only friends and sons. Here the nobility and 
majesty of the guest casts a great deal of honour and splendour upon 
the royal palace where they meet. No company so noble, so sweet, so 
desirable, so delightsome, so comfortable, so suitable. as this. 

[l.J First, Here all shall be of one mind, of one judgment In 
heaven there shall be no discord, no wrangling, no quarrelling, no 
dividing. Here all shall think the same things, and speak the same 
things, and do the same -things. Now, Turks and pagans can agree, 
and bears and lions, wolves and tigers, can agree; nay, a legion of devils 
can better agree in one body, than a handful of saints can agree in one 
city, in one nation, &c. 3 There was a temple of Concord among the 
heathen ; and yet how rare is it to find a temple of concord among them 
that are the temple of the Holy Ghost ? Whilst there was a contest 
among the birds about a rose found in the way, a mischievous owl came 
in the night and carried the flower away ; you know how to apply it. 
But now in heaven there shall be no heats, no contests, no debates, no 
disputes, but as the curtains of the tabernacle were all looped together, 
so all the saints in heaven shall be all looped together in one mind, in 
one judgment, and in one way. 

[2.] Secondly, All the saints in heaven shall be of a sweet golden 
disposition. 4 " Here the different dispositions of saints doth much hin- 
der that sweetness of communion which otherwise would be amongst 
them. Here some are of a sour disposition, and of a cross and rugged 
temper, but in heaven all saints shall be of a sweet, a soft, a silken dis- 

1 ftvptitnv, to the myriads, or many ten thousands, of angels. 

* Aug. Lib. de Spir., &e„ cap, 57 

* Strigelius desired to die, to be freed from the implacable strife of divines. [Victo- 
rinus Strigelius, one of The Reformers. Died, 1569. His Ttv^v^ara, in omnes libros 
Nov. Text., 15G5, 2 vols., and other exegetical writings, were favourites with the Puritans. 
His ' Psalms' of Pavid were early translated by Rich. Robinson. 1582-96. — G.] 

4 Grace in a cross unhewn nature is like a diamond set in iron. 



1-28 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

position, which will exceedingly sweeten that royal communion. Here 

grace in a man of an untoward crooked disposition is like a brass ring 
UpOD a leprous linger ; and grace in a man of a sweet disposition is like 
a gold ring upon an alabaster hand. Now in heaven all (he saints shall 

be of a golden disposition, yea, of a God-bike disposition, which is the 
Sweetest, the noblest, the choicest. But, 

| .'! | Thirdly, In heaven the saints shall have a constant enjoyment 
of one another. As they shall ever be with the Lord, so they shall ever 
he one with another. Here they meet and part, but in heaven they 
shall meet and never part. Now it is their life to meet and their death 
to pari ; now it is their heaven to meet, and their hell to part ; but in 
heaven they shall be always in one another's eye, in one another's arms. 
or upon one another's knees, 1 Thes. iv. 17, 18. 

Themistocles, 1 having a piece of ground to sell, appointed the crier 
to proclaim, that whosoever would buy it, should have a good neigh- 
bour ; the saints in heaven shall be always sure of good neighbourhood, 
they shall never want good company. In this world Abraham and Lot 
must live asunder, but there they shall always live together. The cynic 
(Diogenes] of old was fain to look for an honest man with a candle, 
because of the scarcity of them ; but heaven shall be always full of 
such saints, as shall shine as so many stars, yea, as so many suns in 
glory. 

[4.] Fourthly and lastly, The saints shall have a real, a personal, a 
particular knowledge of one another in heaven. Here we know but 
a few saints, but in heaven we shall know all ; in ccelo nullus erit 
alienus, there shall be no stranger in heaven. Now this truth I shall 
make good by some arguments brought to hand, and by the addition 
of others. Take them thus : — 

(1.) First, Adam, when he was in his innocency, knew Eve to be 
bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, as soon as he saiv her, though 
fie had never seen her before, Gen. ii. 23. Now certainly our know- 
ledge in heaven shall be more ample, full, and perfect, than ever Adam's 
was in innocency. Therefore without all peradventure, the saints shall 
know one another in heaven. Luther, the night before he died, dis- 
coursing with his Christian friends, the question was put, Whether the 
saints should know one another in heaven ? Luther held the affirma- 
tive, and this was one of the reasons he gave to prove it, that Adam 
knew Eve as soon as ever he saw her, and that not by discourse, but 
by divine revelation, and so shall all the saints know one another in 
heaven. 2 But, 

(2.) Secondly, The disciples, Peter, James, and John, being in the 
mount at Christ's transfiguration, though they had but a taste, a 
glimpse of the glory of heaven, yet they knew Moses and Elias, though 
they were dead many hundred years before, Mat. xvii. 1-4. Now if the 
disciples,inan unglorified condition, knew Moses and Elias, then certainly 
when saints shall be in a full glorified condition, they shall know them 
and all the rest of that royal family. Here they knew Moses from 
Elias, and Elias from Moses, whom they never saw before, and both 

1 Plutarch in vita Themistoclis. 

* Melch. Adam. [The great authority on Reformation biography. His 'Lives' have 
paBsed through many editions. — G.j 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 429 

from Christ ; and therefore we need not doubt but in that state of 
blessedness, wherein God shall be all in all, and wherein we shall know 
as we are known, we shall have a particular and personal knowledge of 
one another. Chrysostom saith, that in heaven we shall point out the 
saints, and say, Lo, yonder is Peter, and that is Paul ; lo, yonder is 
Abraham, the great believer, and yonder is Jacob, who as a prince pre- 
vailed with God ; lo, yonder is Moses, who was the meekest man in all 
the world, and there is Job, that was the patientest man in all the 
world ; lo, there is Joshua and Caleb, that followed the Lord fully, and 
there is Jeremiah, that was once in the dungeon; lo, there is Jonah, 
that was once in the whale's belly, and there is Daniel, that was once 
in the lions' den ; lo, yonder is John the beloved disciple, that used to 
lie in the bosom of Christ ; and there is Mary that hath chosen the 
better part. But, 

(3.) Thirdly, The saints shall rise with the same bodies thai now 
they lay clown in the grave; and if so, then doubtless they shall knovj 
one another in heaven : the husband the wife, the wife the husband ; 
the father the child, and the child the father ; the pastor his people, 
and the people their pastor ; the master his servant, and the servant 
his master. Now that the saints shall rise with the very same indivi- 
dual body is clear : Job xix. 25, 26, ' For I know that my Redeemer 
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : and 
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I 
see God : whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and 
not another; though my reins be consumed within me.' In these words 
we see that Job useth the word my, ' and my eyes shall behold ;' as it 
were pointing to it with his. finger, adding not only positively, but 
exclusively, this and no other. Job did fully believe that the same 
numerical 2 body, at. which he pointed, should rise again ; and Paul 
saith, not a mortal, a corruptible body at large, but hoc, ' This corrup- 
tible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immor- 
tality,' 1 Cor. xv. 53. The apostle did, as it were, lay his hand upon 
his own body ; and then saith he, this corruptible body, and not another, 
this mortal, and not another, shall be raised when the trumpet sounds. 
It cannot stand with the unspotted justice and holiness of God, that 
one body should sow, and another body should reap that never sowed ; 
that one body should labour, toil, sweat, suffer, and another body that 
hath done none of this should carry the reward. Tertullian saith, that 
he will pray that the same body may rise again, for the resurrection is 
not of another body, but of the same that falleth.; not a new creation, 
but a raising up ; the self-same body shall certainly rise again, else 
were it a raising up of a new, rather than a raising again of the old. 
It cannot stand with equity and right, that one body should sin and 
another body should suffer. No righteous judge will suffer a victorious 
person to die, and another that never struck stroke to have the crown 
of his deservings. It is but justice that those very eyes that have 
dropped many a tear before God, should be wiped by God ; I say those 

1 1 Cor. xv. 42-45 ; Acts iv. 2, xvii. 18, xxiii. 6 ; Mat. xxii. 32 ; Ezek. xxxvii. 

2 Even down to South this term was in use; e.g., 'We may contemplate upon his 
supernatural, astonishing works ; particularly in the resurrection and reparation of the 
same numerical body, by a reunion of all the scattered parts.' Vol. I., Sermon 1st. — G. 



430 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

very eyes, and not another pair of new-made eyes ; it is but justice 
that that very tongue that hath blessed God, should be blessed by God ; 
it is but justice that those very hands that have been much in doing 
for Christ, and those very lips that have been much in praising of 
Christ, and those very backs that have been laded with many heavy 
burdens for Christ, and those very feet that have been in the stocks for 
( In ist, and that have run in the ways of Christ, should at last be raised 
and crowned by Christ. And this truth you may see clear in the glorious 
resurrection of Christ from the dead; that very same body that was 
wounded, crucified, and slain, that very same body did rise again. 
Christ could very easily, if he had pleased, in three days, nay, in three 
hours, ay, in three moments, have cured his wounds, but he would not; 
to confirm his disciples, and to shew that he had the very same body 
which was wounded and crucified for their sins, for their sakes; and 
therefore he bids Thomas to reach his finger, and behold his hands, and 
to reach his hand to thrust it into his side, John xx. 27 ; Luke xxiv. 
36-47 ; whereby Christ made it evident, that that very same body of 
his which was wounded, crucified, and buried, was raised, and not 
another ; and therefore as in the head the same body which died rose 
again, so shall it be with all his members in the great day of the resur- 
rection. Now seeing that we shall rise again with the very same indi- 
vidual or numerical bodies that we lay down in the grave, we need not 
question but that we shall know one another in heaven. But, 

(4.) Fourthly, That knowledge which may most increase the joy and 
comfort of the saints, shall certainly be in heaven, but that is a per- 
fect personal knowledge of each other; therefore there shall be a parti- 
cular personal knowledge of one another in heaven; the husband 
shall know the wife, the wife the husband, the father the child, and 
the child the father, &C: 

I have read a story of Austin, how that a widow grieving for the loss 
of her husband, to comfort her, he told her that it was but a short time 
that they were parted, and that of all persons she should enjoy her hus- 
band most in heaven; nay, saith he, thou shalt not only know thy 
husband, but all the elect shall know thee, and thou shalt know all 
them. The personal knowledge of the saints on earth, doth exceedingly 
increase our joy and comfort; it makes this wilderness to be a paradise. 
'They that fear thee will be glad when they see me,' saith the Psalmist, 
Ps. cxix. 74 ; yea Seneca, the heathen, saw so much excellency that 
morality put upon a man, that he saith, that ipse aspect us boni vi/ri 
delectat, the very looks of a good man delight one. Ah ! how often 
are the saints delighted, warmed, and gladded by hearing well of other 
saints, whose facts they have never seen ! and when God gives them 
the honour to see their faces, and to enjoy their persons, their presence, 
oh how doth this advance their joy, and increase their comfort. "What 
a heaven doth this make on this side heaven to their souls ! Oh, then, 
what tongue can express, what heart can conceive, what pen can 
describe, the unspeakable joy and comfort that will be raised in the 
hearts of the saints, upon that perfect, particular, personal knowledge 
that the saints shall have one of another in heaven ? Heaven would 
be but an uncomfortable place, if the saints there should be strangers 
one to another. The faces, the words, the ways, the works of strangers, 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 431 

are very little pleasing and delightful to us here; what would they then 
be in heaven ? But, 

(5.) Fifthly, The saints, in the great day of account, shall know the 
persons of wicked men, who shall be indicted, arraigned, condemned, 
and judged by Jesus Christ, and all his saints about him. 1 This 
great day will be a declaration of the just judgment of God. In this 
great day, every wicked work, and every wicked worker, shall be brought 
to light ; and indeed it would be but in vain to bring evil works to light, 
if the evil worker be not also brought to the light. In this great day 
the saints shall see and know Cain in his person, they shall be able to 
point at him, and say, Yonder stands that bloody Cain who slew his 
brother Abel, because he was more righteous than he. And there 
stands Pharaoh, the great oppressor of God's Israel, and he that stood 
it out against heaven itself; and look, there stands bloody Saul, who 
lost his crown, his kingdom, his soul, his all, by disobedience ; and there 
is Hainan, who was feasted with the king one day, and made a feast 
for crows the next ; lo, there stands Pilate, that condemned Christ, and 
there is Judas that betrayed Christ. In this great day that word shall 
be made good, every man shall appear to account for the works that he 
hath done in his body, 2 Cor. v. 10; so that both wicked works and 
wicked workers shall plainly appear before our Lord Jesus and all his 
saints, who with him shall judge the world. Now certainly, if the saints 
shall know the wicked in that great day, they shall then much more 
know one another ; when they shall all sit as fellow-justices round about 
Jesus Christ the righteous judge, to pass a righteous sentence upon all 
unrighteous souls. But, 

(6.) Sixthly, Christ tells the Jews that they shall see Abraham., 
Isaac, ami Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of Cod. 2 All 
the saints shall- have communion with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in 
the kingdom of God ; they shall have communion with them, not only 
as godly men, but as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The phrase of seeing 
Abraham, Tsaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, doth doubtless 
import thus much, that they shall be known personally and distinctly 
from all other persons in the kingdom of heaven. Saints in heaven 
shall be able to point at Abraham, and say, There is Abraham, that was 
the great pattern for believing; and there is Isaac, that was a sweet 
pattern for meditating ; and there is Jacob, who had the honour and 
happiness of prevailing with God. 3 The saints' happiness in heaven 
shall be greatly increased by mutual communion, and by their personal 
knowledge of one another in that blessed state. But, 

(7.) Seventhly, and lastly, In heaven the saints shall know as they are 
known, 1 Cor. xiii. 12, Exod. xxxiii. 12. Now God knows all the saints, 
personally, particularly, corporally, yea, he knows them all by name ; 
and so doubtless all the saints in heaven shall know one another per- 
sonally, and by name, else how shall they know as they are known ? 
Here in this world we know one another many times only by report, or 
by writing, or by face, but in heaven we shall know one another by 
name. So God knows us now, and so we shall know one another in 

1 1 Cor. vi. 1-4; Rom. ii. 5 ; Eccles. xii. 14 ; 1 John iii. 12. 

2 Luke xiii. 28 ; Mat. viii. 11 See Beza arid Piscator. 
a Rom. iv. 16-23 ; Gen. xxiv. G3 ; xxxii. 22-30. 



4o2 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER. I. 4. 

heaven ; and this is none of the least parts of glory, that we shall know 
one another in glor}' ; yea, that we shall know one another personally, 
and li\ oame ; the serious consideration of which may much support us, 
and comfort us under the sad losses of our friends and relations in the 
Lord. But in the, 



VII. Seventh and hist place, As the best society is reserved till last, 
so ////■ glorifying of our bodies is reserved I ill lost. I shall a little 
hint unto you the glory and blessedness of the bodies of the saints 
when they shall all meet in heaven. I shall not stand upon the privative 
blessedness of glorified bodies, which consists in their freedom from all 
defects, deformities, diseases, and distempers which here they are sub- 
ject to. Here our bodies stand in need of clothes to cover them, food 
to feed them, sleep to refresh them, physic to ease them, air to breath 
them, and houses to shelter them, from all which glorified bodies shall 
be free, Rev. vii. 1(5, 17. But I shall only speak of the positive prero- 
gatives and heavenly endowments that glorified bodies shall be invested 
with. As, 

(1.) First, They shall be like the glorious body of Christ. Philip, 
iii. 21, ' Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like 
unto his glorious body, according unto the working whereby he is able 
even to subdue all things unto himself.' Our bodies shall be as lovely 
and comely, as bright and glorious, as the body of Christ is. Chryso- 
stom saith, that the bodies of the saints shall be septies clan ioria sole, 
seven times brighter than the sun. Certainly saints shall be as hand- 
some-bodied and as comely-featured as Christ is. Though their bodies 
be sown in dishonour, yet they shall be raised in glory, 1 Cor xv. 43. 
If Stephen's face did shine as if it had been the face of an angel, that 
is, bright and glorious, Acts vi. 15 ; and if there were such a lustre and 
glory upon Moses his face, that the children of Israel were afraid to 
come near him, and he forced to put a veil upon it till he had done 
speaking with them, Exod. xxxiv. 29-3G ; I say, if there were such a 
glory upon the face of these two mortals, Oh then ! how will the faces 
and bodies of the saints glitter and shine when their bodies shall be 
made conformable to the glorious body of Jesus Christ, Mat. xiii. 43. 1 
Certainly, as the light and glory of the sun doth far exceed the light 
of the least twinkling star, so much and more shall the glory of the 
saint's bodies excel that glory and splendour that was upon the faces 
of Moses and Stephen. The bodies of the saints in heaven shall be 
surpassingly comely, well-favoured, beautiful, and amiable. Plutarch, 
in the life of Demetrius, saith, That he was so passing fair of face and 
countenance, as no painter was able to draw him. 1 am sure I am no 
ways able to paint out the beauty and glory that shall be upon the 
bodies of the saints in that day of glory, wherein the saints shall shine 
as so many suns. But, 

(2) Secondly, Tlteir bodies shall in a kind be spiritual .- 1 Cor. 
xv. 44, ' It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There 
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.' Their bodies shall be 
spiritual, non substantia?, sed qualitatum respectu, not in regard of 

1 What is a spark in the chimney, to the sun in the firmament ? 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 433 

(substance, but state and condition. 1 Spiritual in the text is not op- 
posed to visible, but to natural ; for their bodies, though in a sense 
they are spiritual, yet they shall be as visible as the glorious body of 
Christ. When I say their bodies shall be spiritual, you must not think 
that I mean that their bodies shall be turned into spirits. Oh no ! for 
they shall keep their bodily dimensions, and be true bodies still. Look, 
as in change of old and broken vessels, the matter is the same, only the 
colour is fresher and brighter, and the fashion newer and better, so in 
the day of glory, our bodies shall be the same for substance that now 
they are ; they shall retain the same flesh, blood, and bones, and the 
same figure and members, that now is, only they shall be overlaid or 
clothed with spiritual and heavenly qualities and prerogatives ; their 
bodies shall be glorious, of a due and comely proportion, of an exquisite 
feature and stature, of a lively colour, of cheerful aspect, and full of 
beauty and glory, splendour and favour. Now the bodies of the saints 
shall be spiritual, first, in respect of their full, perfect, and perpetual 
freedom from all heats, colds, hungerings, thirstings, sickness, weak- 
ness, ivants. Here one cries out, Oh my back, my back ! another. Oh 
my belly, my belly ! with the prophet, Hab. iii. 16 ; another, Oh my 
head, my head ! with the Shunamite's son, 2 Kings iv. 19 ; another, 
Oh my son, my son ! as David for Absalom, 2 Sam. xviii. 33 ; another, 
Oh my father, my father ! with Elisha, 2 Kings ii. 12. Every one here 
hath some ailment or other, some want or other, some grief or other, 
which fills his eyes with tears and his heart with sorrow ; but when 
these natural bodies, these animal or soully bodies, shall be made 
glorious, then they shall be fully and perpetually freed from all manner 
of miseries and calamities; they shall be as the angels, not subject to 
any sickness, weakness, or wants : Rev. vii. 16, 17, ' They shall hunger 
no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, 
nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall 
feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water ; and 
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.' Rev. xxi. 4, ' God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for 
the former things are passed away ;' and in this respect their bodies 
may be said to be spiritual. But, secondly, they may be said to be 
spiritual in respect of their spiritual agility and nimbleness. Now, 
our bodies are gross, dull, and heavy in their motion: and by this the 
soul is many times hindered in its lively operations ; for when the soul 
would mount up on high, and busy herself about eternal objects, the 
body, like a lump of lead, keeps it down ; but now, in this glorious 
state, the body shall put off all grossness, dulness, and heaviness, and 
be exceeding agile, light, and apt to motion, far beyond the swiftest 
bird that flies, Isa. xl. 31 ; 1 Thes. iv. ] 7. 

I know not by what to set forth the agility of glorified bodies ; a 
post, a bird, a torrent, are too short to set forth their agility. 

Luther saith, that a glorified body shall move up and down like a 
thought. 

1 auficc -^ixix-ov, an animal or soully body, that is, actuated and animated by the soul 
after a natural way and manner, by the intervention of natural helps, such as eating, 
drinking, sleeping, and the like. 

VOL. I. e e 



434- A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

And Austin saith, The body will presently be here and there, where 
the soul would have it. 1 Certainly the speed and motion of glorified 
bodies will be extraordinary and incredible. A glorified saint desiring 
to be in such or such a place a thousand miles off or more, he will be 
there in such an incredible short time, that one calls it imperceptible, 
hardly to be discerned : in which respect their bodies may be said to be 
spiritual. But, thirdly and lastly, they may be said to be spiritual, 
because of that perfect, full, absolute, and complete subjection that 
they shall delightfully and perpetually yield to the Spirit of God. 
Now they often vex and grieve, affront and fight against the Spirit of 
God. The members of our bodies, as well as the faculties of our souls, 
do often make war upon the Spirit of grace, as the apostle fully shews 
in that Rom. vi. ' The spirit often lusts against the flesh, and tin? 
flesh against the spirit,' Gal. v. 17. Now the body says to the soul, 
' Be not righteous over-much ; neither make thyself over-wise : why 
shouldest thou destroy thyself V Eccles. vii. 16. Cyprian readeth this 
verse thus, Noli esse mult um Justus, et noli argumentari plus qvam, 
oportet, be not just over-much, and do not argue and dispute more 
than is meet. The body is often apt to say to the soul, Thou art just 
over-much, O soul ; and thou dost argue and dispute against this sin 
and that way, and this comfort and that enjoyment, more than is meet ; 
and the soul seems to answer, ver. 17, 'Be not over-much wicked, 
neither be thou foolish : why shouldest thou die before thy time V 

But now in heaven the bodies of the saints shall be fully, perfectly, 
and delightfully, under the command, conduct, and guidance of the 
spirit ; and therefore may truly be said to be spiritual. As the spirit 
serving the flesh may not unfitly be called carnal, saith one, 2 so the 
body obedient to the soul may rightly be termed spiritual. Glorified 
bodies are spiritual, not in their esseuce, but in condition and quality, 
as being fully and perpetually under the government of the Spirit. 
Now the tongue grieves the Spirit, and now the deaf ear is turned to 
the voice of the Spirit, and now the eye is rolling, when it should be 
reading the things of the Spirit ; and now the feet are wandering when 
they should be walking in the ways of the Spirit ; and now the hand is 
idle that should be diligent in the work of the Spirit, Eph. iv. 29-31, 
Isa, lxiii. 10. Oh ! but now in heaven, the tongue, the eye, the ear, the 
hands, the feet, shall be all brought into an angelical, willing, and 
delightful obedience to the Spirit; upon which account glorified bodies 
may truly be termed spiritual. But, 

(3.) Thirdly, and lastly, As their bodies shall be spiritual, so they slmJI 
be immortal, tiny shall be incorruptible, 1 Cor. xv. 42, 54. Here these 
elementary bodies of ours, by reason of their earthly and dreggish com- 
position, are subject to mortality and corruption; and indeed man is so 
poor a piece, that he no sooner begins to live, but he begins to die ; his 
whole life is but a lingering death. Death every hour lies at the door ; 
tli is sergeant 3 constantly attends all men, in all places, companies, 
changes, and conditions. Petrarch telleth of one, who being invited to 

1 Aug. de Civ. D i. 1. xxii. c. 30. Wisdom, iii. 7, In the time of their visitation they 
shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stuhble. [Above is Brooks's fourth 
quotation from Apocrypha thus far. — G.] 2 Aug. de civ. Dei. 1. xiii. c. xx. 

■' Another Shakesperian reminiscence: 'This fell sergeant Death is strict.' — Ham- 
let, V. 2.— G. 



1 Peter I. 4.] A string of pearls. 435 

dinner the next day, answered, Ego a multis annis crastinum non 
habui, I have not had a morrow for this many years. Many dangers, 
many deaths, every hour surround these lives of ours. Here, saith one, 
accedimus, we enter into the world ; succedimus, we succeed one an- 
other in the world ; decedimus, we depart all out of the world. Oh ! 
but in heaven we shall have immortal bodies ! Luke xx. 36, ' Neither 
cati they die any more, and are equal to the angels/ By the power, 
presence, and goodness of God, their bodies shall be so perfumed and 
embalmed, that they shall never corrupt, nor be subject to mortality. 
Manna, by a divine power, was kept many hundred years in the golden 
pot without putrefying or corrupting, and so shall the glorified bodies 
of the saints be preserved and kept pure and immortal. The immor- 
tality of glorified bodies shall far excel that of Adam's in paradise, for 
they shall be free from all possibility of dying ; for they shall be per- 
fectly and perpetually freed from all corruptible and corrupting ele- 
ments. Glorified bodies shall have no seeds of corruption in them, nor 
any corruptive, harmful, malignant, or afflictive passion attending them. 1 
Adam in his noble estate was in a possibility of dying, but the saints 
in their glorified condition are above all possibility of dying. This is a 
happiness that Adam could not reach to in his state of integrity ; the 
greater obligation lies upon all that shall come to glory. 

It is reported of the Duke of Bullone [Bouillon] and his company, 
that when they went to Jerusalem, as soon as they saw the high tur- 
rets they gave a mighty shout, that even made the earth ring, crying 
out, 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! 2 so when the saints shall all meet in the 
heavenly Jerusalem, oh how will they make even heaven to ring again, 
crying out, Immortality! immortality! immortality! 

And thus, I suppose, I have clearly and fully made good that great 
truth, to wit, that the best and greatest things are reserved for believers 
till they come to heaven. I shall now give you a brief account of the 
reasons of this point ; and then come to the application and bringing 
home of this precious truth to our own souls. Now the reasons of the 
point are these. 

Reason 1 . First, Because it is his good will and pleasure to reserve 
the best things for his people till last: Luke xii. 32, 'Fear not, little 
flock' (there are two diminutives in the Greek 3 ), ' for it is your Father's 
good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' As it is God's good pleasure 
to give you a kingdom, so it is his good pleasure not to give you the 
kingdom till last, 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. Edward the Sixth could not give his 
kingdom away ; if he could, it had not come as it did to Queen Mary ; 
but our heavenly Father doth now give a kingdom of grace, and will at 
last also give a kingdom of glory, to them that walk uprightly, Ps. 
lxxxiv. 11. But, 

Reason 2. Secondly, TJiat he may keep the hearts of his people in a 
longing and in a waiting frame, for the enjoyment of those great and 
glorious things that he hath reserved for them till last : Heb. xiii. 1 4, 
' Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.' 4 The 
greater and better the things are that are laid up for us, the more we 

1 Aug. de civ. Dei. 1. xxii. c. xxx. s Immortalised by Tasso. — G. 

8 ftixgiv -ro'ifiviov, Little, little in their own esteem, and in the world's account. 
4 Heb.xi. 14-16; Col. iii. 1-5. 



436 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

should long and wait for the happy enjoyment of them. Abraham 
waited Long for a son, and Hannah waited long for a child, and Joseph 
waited long for his advancement, and David waited long for the crown, 
the kingdom; and they had all a most happy issue. The longer we 

wait, the better wo shall speed ;' as that emperor's son said, the longer 
the cooks are preparing the meat, the hitter will he the cheer; mean- 
ing, the longer he stayed for the empire, the greater it would lie. 
The longer we wait for happiness, the more at last we shall have of 
happiness. The great things of eternity are worth nothing, if they 
are not worth a longing and a waiting for. But, 

Reason 3. Thirdly, God hath reserved the best and greatest things 
for his people till last, and that because else they were above all men 
in (he world the most miserable: 1 Cor. xv. 19, 'If in this life only 
Ave have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.' No men 
usually out of hell are so much afflicted, tempted, oppressed, scorned, 
despised, and neglected as they are. Here they have their hell, they 
had need of a heaven to come; here they are clothed with shame, they 
had need hereafter to be crowned with honour, or else they would he 
the unhappiest men in all the world ; here the life of a believer is filled 
multis et multiplicibus miseriis, with many and multiplied miseries: 
with miseries of body, with miseries of mind. Multiplied miseries at- 
tend him, at bed and board, at home and abroad. Every condition is 
full, and every relation is full, of miseries and calamities; and therefore 
one saith well, Quomodo potest amari hose vita, tantas habens amari- 
tudines? Quomodo etiam dicitur vita, tot generans mortes ? 2 How 
can tins life be loved, which is so full of loathsome bitterness ? Yea, 
how can it be called a life, which bringeth forth so many deaths ? Yet 
be is a fool, saith one, 3 that looketh upon a godly man under trouble 
and sorrow, and thinketh him to be unhappy, because, as a fool, atten- 
dit quid natitur, et non attendit quid il/i servetur, he attendeth what 
he suffereth, and doth not attend what is reserved for him. If the best 
things were not reserved for believers till last, they should have the 
saddest portion of all men, viz., a hell here, and a hell hereafter ; and 
so sinners should have but one hell, and saints two, which would be 
blasphemy to affirm. But, 

Reason 4. Fourthly, God reserves the best things for his people till 
last, for the greater terror and horror, conviction and confusion of 
wicked and ungodhj ■/ktsovs, who now revile them, and judge them 
to be the unhappiest men in all the world. Oh ! but when the Lord 
shall in the sight of all the world gloriously own them, and put royal 
robes upon their backs, and golden crowns upon their heads, then, Oh ! 
what a shame, what covering of the face, what terror, what trembling, 
with Hainan, will possess the hearts of wicked men. 4 The great honour 
and glory that God will put upon his people at last, will be to wicked 
men what the handwriting upon the wall was to Belshazzar, Dan. 
v. 1-8. Oh ! it will make their countenance to change, their thoughts 
to be troubled, the joints of their loins to be loosed, and their knees 
dashed one against another. Now that word shall be eminently made 

1 Waiting is bonvm utile, a profitable good. 

1 A Keuipia, de Imitat. Christi, 1. 3, c. '2(>. * Augustine in Vs. xci. 

4 Ps. lviii. 11 ; Lam. iv. 2 ; Esther vi. G, et seq. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 437 

good : ' He setteth the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him 
families like a flock. The righteous shall see it and rejoice, and all 
iniquity shall stop her mouth,' Ps. cvii. 41, 42. Oh ! what trouble of 
mind, what horror of conscience, what distraction and vexation, what 
terror and torment, what weeping and wailing, what crying and roaring, 
what wringing of hands, what tearing of hair, what dashing of knees, what 
gnashing of teeth, will there be among the wicked, when they shall see the 
saints in all their splendour, dignity, and glory ! ' When they shall see 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, 
and themselves shut out for ever,' Luke xiii. 28. Now shall the wicked 
lamentingly say, Lo ! these are the men that we counted fools, mad- 
men, and miserable. Oh but now we see that we were deceived and 
deluded ! Oh that we had never despised them ! Oh that we had 
never reproached them ! Oh that we had never trampled upon them ! 
Oh that we had been one with them ! Oh that we had imitated them 1 
Oh that we had walked as they, and done as they, that so we might 
now have been as happy as they ! Oh but this cannot be ! Oh this 
may not be ! Oh this shall never be ! therefore Oh that we had never 
been born ! Oh that now we might be unborn ! Oh that we might 
be turned into a bird, a beast, a toad, a stone ! Oh that we were any- 
thing but what we are ! or, Oh that we were nothing ! Oh that now 
our immortal souls were mortal ! Oh that we might so die, that we 
may not eternally die ! but it is now too late. Oh we see that there 
is a reward for the righteous ! and we shall suddenly feel, that by all 
the contempt that we have cast upon these glorious shining saints, 
whose splendour and glory doth now darken the very glory of the sun, 
Dan. xii. 3 ; we have but treasured up wrath against the day of wrath, 
Rom. ii. 4-7 ; we have but added fuel to those burning coals, to those 
everlasting flames, in which we must now lie for ever, Ps. cxl. 10. But, 

Reason 5. Fifthly, The Lord hath reserved the best things for his 
people till they come to heaven, that so he may save his honour and 
secure his glory. Would it make for the honour and glory of God, to 
put his children, his servants, upon doing hard things, and upon suffer- 
ing great things, and at last to put them off with nothing ? Surely it 
would not ; and therefore the Lord, to save the honour of his great 
name, hath reserved the best wine till last, the best and choicest favours 
for his people till they come to heaven, John ii. 10. The sweetest 
honey lies at the bottom. I cannot see how God should save his glory, 
if he should put his children always upon sowing, and never suffer 
them to reap, 2 Cor. ix. 6, 7 ; that they should still be sowing in tears, 
if at last they should not reap in joy, Ps. cxxvi. 4-6. Men that love 
but their names and honour in the world, will not be served for nought, 
and will God ? Will God, who is infinitely more tender of his name 
and honour, than any created being can be of theirs ? Isa. xlii. 8, 
xlviii. 11. 

I have read of Alphonsus, a king of Spain, who when a knight falling 
into want and being arrested for debt, there was a petition to the king 
to succour him, Ay, said the King, if he had spent his estate in mine, 
or in the commonwealth's service, it were reason he should be provided 
for by me, or the commonwealth. Men of honour will provide for them 
that spend themselves in their service ; and will not God ? Will not God 



438 A STRING OF PEARLS. [] PETER I. 4. 

do as much, yea more, for them that spend themselves in his service ? 
Surely he will, Heb. xi. 16. 'But now. they desire a better country, 
that is, an heavenly : wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their 
God ; for he hath prepared for them a city.' As if he had said, Had not 
(iikI prepared for them a city, had he not made some blessed provision 
for them, who left so much for him, who did so much for him, and who 
Buffered such great and bitter things for him, they might well have 
complained that they had but a bad bargain of it, and that God was a 
hard master; and so God should have been ashamed. Had not God 
made such happy and blessed provision for them who had run through 
so many dangers and deaths for his sake, had he not provided and laid 
up for them, according to his promise, and suitable to his greatness and 
goodness, his dignity and glory, it would have put God to the blush, to 
speak after the manner of men. I have read concerning Dionysius of 
Sicily, that being extremely delighted with a minstrel that sung well, 
he promised to give him a great reward, and that raised the fancy of 
the man, and made him play better ; but when the music was done, and 
the man waited for his reward, the king dismissed him empty, telling 
him that he should carry away as much of the promised reward as him- 
self did of the music, and that he had paid him sufficiently with the 
pleasure of the promise for the pleasure of his song. But it will not 
stand with the honour of the King of kings to put off his servants so 
poorly, whose prayers, praises, and tears, have been most sweet and 
delightful music to him ; no, he will do like himself at last, and that 
his children know. It troubled a martyr at the stake, that he was 
going to a place where he should ever be a-receiving wages, and do no 
more work. But, 

Reason 6. Sixthly, That he may make his children temptation-proof, 
he hath reserved for them the best things till they come to heaven. 
The great things that God hath reserved for believers in heaven, was 
that which made those worthies, of whom this world was not worthy, 
temptation-proof; as you may see in that 10th of the Hebrews, 33d, 
34th, 35th, verses, and throughout the 11th chapter of that Epistle. The 
pleasures, the treasures, the dignities and glories that are reserved for 
believers in heaven, make them bravely and nobly to resist all those 
temptations that they meet with from a tempting world or a tempting 
devil. 

Austin blessed God, that his heart and the temptation did not meet 
together. By the precious things that are reserved for believers in hea- 
ven, God keeps their hearts and temptations asunder. When Basil was 
tempted with money and preferment, saith he, Pecuniam da qua 
'permaneat ac continuo duret, gloriam quoe semper Jioreat, give me 
money that may last for ever, and glory that may eternally flourish. 1 
Satan made a bow of Job's wife, of his rib, as Chrysostom speaks, and 
shot a tentation by her at Job, thinking to have shot him to the heart, 
'Curse God and die;' but Job's sincerity and integrity, and his hopes of 
immortality and glory, was a breastplate that made him temptation- 
proof. Ah Christians ! do not you daily find, that the glorious tilings 
reserved for you in heaven, do mightily arm you against all the tempta- 
tions that you meet with on earth ? I know you do. But, 

1 Basil iii xl. Mariyrs- 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 439 

Reason 7. Seventhly, God hath reserved the best things for his 
people, till they come to heaven, because they are not in this mortal 
and frail condition able to bear, they are not able to take in the glory 
that is reserved for them, 2 Cor. iv. 17. 1 Glory is such a great, such an 
exceeding, such an excessive, such an eternal weight, that no mortal is 
able to bear it. We must have better and larger hearts, and we must 
have stronger and broader backs, before we shall be capable of bearing 
that excellent, exceeding, and excelling weight of glory that is reserved 
in heaven for us. Nay, glory is such a weight, that when the saints 
shall enter into it, if then the Lord should not put under his everlasting 
arms and bear them up by his almighty power, it were impossible they 
should be able to bear it. In this our frail mortal state, we are not 
able to bear the appearance, the presence, the glory of one angel. 

Ah ! how much less then are we able to bear the weight of all that 
glory that is reserved for us, and of which 1 have given you some 
glimpses in what I have already said. But, 

Reason 8. Eighthly and lastly, The Lord hath reserved the best things 
for his people till they come to heaven, because while they are in this 
world they are under age. They are not come to fall age. 2 Here 
saints are in their non-age, but when they come to heaven, then they 
come to their full age, and then they shall have the inheritance by the 
Father of mercies freely and fully settled upon them. Children in their 
non-age are under tutors and governors, but when they come to age, 
then is the inheritance settled upon them : so here, it is not for us in 
our non-age, to mount into the clouds, to pierce this fulness of light, to 
break into this bottomless depth of glory, or to dwell in that unapproach- 
able brightness. 3 This is reserved till we come to full age. 

And thus I have given you the reasons why God hath reserved the 
best and greatest things for his people till they come to heaven. We 
shall now come to the use and application of this point to our own 
souls, remembering that close application is the very life and soul of 
teaching. And as a man doth not attain to health by reading of Galen, 
or knowing Hippocrates his aphorisms, but by the practical application 
of them to remove the disease ; so no man will attain to true happiness 
by hearing, reading, or commending what I have spoke or writ, but 
by a close application and bringing home of all to his own soul. The 
opening of a point is the drawing of the bow ; but the application of 
the point is the hitting of the mark, the white ; and therefore, 

(1.) First, If God hath reserved the best things for believers till last, 
then by the rule of contraries the worst things are reserved for un- 
believers till last. 4 " Here wicked men have their heaven, hereafter they 
shall have their hell. The time of this life is the day of their joy and 
triumph ; and when this short day is ended, everlasting lamentations, 
mournings, and woes follow. Luke xvi. 22-25, ' The rich man also 
died, and was buried ; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, 
and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, 
and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that 

1 The apostle allude th to the Hebrew and Chaldee words, Chabodh and Jahar, which 
signify both weight and glory. 

2 Gal. iv. 1-4 ; Ephes. iv. 10-14. 3 Bernard, Cant. Serm. 38. 
* Job xxi. 7-22; PjJ. lxxiii. 3-12 compared with the 17th, 18th, 12th, 20th verses ; 

Rev. xxi. 8. 



110 A STRING OF PBABLS. [1 PETEB I. k 

he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I 
am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that 
thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus 
evil things : I >iit now he is comforted, and thou aii tormented.' 

Ah sinners ! sinners! thai day is hastening upon you. wherein you 
shall have punishment without pity, misery without mercy, sorrow 
without Buccour, pain without pleasure, and torments without end : 
Ps. xi. 6, 'Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone^ 
and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.' Ps. 
exl. 10. • Let horning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the 
fire ; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.' 

Chrysologus, upon that passage in the Gospel, that the angels carried 
away poor Lazarus into Abraham's bosom, and hell swallowed up 
the rich glutton, saith : Ecce fratres, mors pauperis totam vitam 
divitis vicit, et elatio sola pauperis totam divitis pompam transcendit 
et fjloriam. 1 Behold ! brethren, the very death of the poor man excelleth 
the whole life of the wicked, and the carrying away only of the poor 
man transcendeth all the pomp and glory of the rich man. 

Charon, in Lncian, requesting Mercurius to shew him Jupiter's palace 
above, How! says Mercurius, that such a caitiff as thou, whose conver- 
sation hath been altogether with black shades and impure ghosts, shouldst 
set thy foot in that pure place of light ? What a dishonour and dero- 
gation were that to the place ! 

Ah, sinners ! sinners ! what a dishonour would it be to God, to Christ, 
to angels, to saints, to heaven, if such wretches as you are should be 
admitted iuto that royal palace, that heavenly paradise, above. 

Ah ! your portion is below, and you are already adjudged to those tor- 
ments that are endless, easeless, and remediless, where the worm never 
dies, and the fire never goes out, Rev. xiv. 11. The day is coming upon 
you, sinners, when all your sweet shall be turned into bitter; all your 
glory into shame ; all your plenty into scarcity ; all your joys into 
sot rows; all your recreations into vexations ; and all your momentany 
comforts into everlasting torments. 

Now you reign as kings, you look big, you speak proudly, you carry 
it highly, you walk contemptuously ; but there is an after-reckoning 
a-coming that will appal you, and torture you for ever. 

The time of this life is your summer; but there is a winter a-coming 
upon you that shall never have end. God could not be just if your w< >rst 
were not yet to come; neither could he be just if the saints' best were not 
vet tocome. The timeof this lifeis thesaints'liell.and the sinners' heaven ; 
but the next life will be the saints' heaven, and the sinners' hell. But, 

(2.) Secondly, Then patiently wait for the enjoyment of those great 
things that ore reserved for yon- in heaven. Men will wait, and wait 
long, for some outward good ; and will not vou for the best and greatest 
good ? Are there not many things that speak out the greatness of that 
glory that is reserved for you ? as the price that Christ hath paid for it, 
and the great and glorious things by which it is shadowed out to us ? as 
I a man, Jerusalem, paradise ; and the dignity of the inhabitants, there 
being none admitted underthedegreeof a king ;aud thegreatand glorious 
earnest of the Spirit; and the great care, cost, and charge that God hath 
1 Chrysologus, Serm. 121. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 441 

been at to prepare and fit souls for the enjoyment of it. 1 What do all 
these things speak out, but that the glory that is reserved for believers 
is great glory; and is it not then worth a waiting for ? Let not Satan's 
slaves wait more patiently for a few ounces of gold, than you do for the 
kingdom of heaven. 

Again, as the things reserved for you in heaven are great, and there- 
fore wait, so they are certain and sure ; and therefore wait, oh patiently 
wait for the enjoyment of them ! Heb. vi. 16-19. When the beggar 
at the door is sure of speeding, he will wait patiently, he will wait 
unweariedly. The glorious things reserved in heaven for you, they are 
made sure and certain to you by word, by covenant, by oath, by blood, 
by the earnest, by the first-fruits, and by Christ's taking possession of 
them in your rooms, in your steads, Eph. ii. 6, John xiv. 1-4 ; therefore 
patiently wait for the enjoyment of them. O Christians ! it is but a 
very short time that God hath proposed to be between grace and glory, 
between our title to the crown and our wearing the crown ; between our 
right to the heavenly inheritance, and our possession of the heavenly 
inheritance. Ah, Christians ! bear up bravely, bear up sweetly, bear up 
patiently, for it will be but a little, little, little while, before he that shall 
come will come, and will not tarry, Heb. x. 35-37, ^' 7«f iii%(ov oeov 6gov; 
and when he doth come, he will not come vacuis manibus, empty- 
handed ; no, when he comes, he brings his reward with him; Rev. xxii. 
1 2 ; when he comes, he will reward thee for every prayer that thou hast 
made, and for every sermon that thou hast heard, and for every tear 
that thou hast shed, and for every hour that thou hast patiently waited ; 
and therefore wait patiently till the promised crown be set upon thy 
head. But, 

(3.) Thirdly, If the best things are reserved for believers till they 
come to heaven, oh then, let no believer envy nor be troubled at the 
outward prosperity and felicity of the men of the world. What is 
darkness to light, chaff to wheat, dross to gold, gall to honey, pebbles 
to pearls, earth to heaven ? No more is all the glory and felicity that 
wicked men have in possession to those great and glorious things that 
saints have in reversion ; and therefore, O believer, let not wicked 
men's prosperity be thy calamity ! 2 

There is a truth in that saying of Chrysostom, 3 prwstat serpentem 
provolutum in visceribus habere, quam invidiam, a man were better 
have a serpent tumbling in his bowels than envy ; for if a serpent have 
food given it, it will not feed upon a man ; but the more food is given 
to envy, the more it gnaweth him in whose bowels it is. It is the jus- 
tice of envy to kill and torment the envious. Envy, it tortures the 
affections, it vexes the mind, it inflames the blood, it corrupts the heart, 
it wastes the spirits ; and so it becomes man's tormentor and man's 
executioner at once. Take heed, Christians, take heed of an envious 
eye, for that usually looks upon other men's enjoyments through a 
multiplying glass, and so makes them appear greater and bigger than 
they are; and this increases torment, this often makes a hell. 

It is reported of Panormitanus, that a question being asked before 

1 Rev. xxi. ; i. 5, 6 ; Eph. i. 13. 14 ; Col. i. 12. 

2 Ps. xxxvii. 1 ; lxxiii. 3-7 ; Job xxi. 7-13 ; Jer. xii. 1, 2. 
8 Chrys. in ii. ad Corin. Homil. xix. 



442 A STRING OF TEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

king Frederick, what was good for the eye-sight, and the physicians 
answering some one thing, some another, Sannizarius answered, that 
envy was very good ; at which the company smiling, he gave this reason 
for it, because that envy makes all things appear bigger than they are. 
Ah, Christians! envy is a serpent, a devil, that should be abhorred and 
shunned more than hell itself. O Christian! with what heart canst 
thou envy wicked men's prosperity and worldly felicity, if thou dost 
but look up to thine own glory, and seriously consider of their Bad 
reckoning and future calamity? Dives was one day rustling in his 
purple robes, riches, and worldly glory, and the next day he was rolling 
and roaring in the flames of hellish misery ; and how soon this may be 
the portion of those thou enviest, who can tell? and therefore rather 
pity them than envy them. None need more prayer and pity than 
those that want hearts, than those that have neither skill nor will to 
pity themselves, to pray for themselves ; and such are wicked men under 
their outward prosperity and worldly glory, Job xxi. 7-20. But, 

(4.) Fourthly, If the best things are reserved for believers till they 
come to heaven, oh then let all believers be contented, though they have 
but short commons in this world! He that is an heir to a great estate, 
though in his non-age he be kept short, yet this comforts and contents 
him, that though things are now short with him, it will be but a little 
while before the inheritance is settled upon him, and this makes him 
bear up sweetly and contentedly under all his wants and straits, 
Philip, iv. 12-14, 1 Tim. vi. G-8. Ah, Christians! Christians! though 
for the present your wants may be many, and God may cut you short 
in many desirable enjoyments, yet it will not be long before the crown, 
the inheritance, be fully settled upon you, and then you shall never 
know what want means more, what short commons means more ; there- 
fore be content with your present condition, with your present portion, 
though it be never so little, never so mean : Heb. xiii. 5, ' Let your con- 
versation be without covetousness ; and be content with such things as 
you have' (or as the Greek hath it, roTg xagouaiv, the things that are pre- 
sent 1 ). At this time the Hebrews had been plundered of all their 
goods, and goodly things, chap. x. 34, and so had nothing, or that which 
is as good as nothing, left, yet they must be content with present things. 
When they had changed their raiment for rags, their silver for brass, their 
plenty for scarcity, their houses for holes and caves, and dens, yet then 
they must be contented with present things. When men cannot bring 
their means to their minds, then they must bring their minds to their 
means, and, when this is done, then a little will serve the turn. 2 A 
very little will serve to carry a man through his pilgrimage, and to bear 
his charges till he comes to his home, till he comes to heaven ; a little 
will serve nature, less will serve grace, though nothiug will serve a man's 
lusts. I have read of one Didymus, a godly preacher, who was blind ; 
Alexander, a godly man, being with him, asked him whether he was 
not much troubled and afflicted for waut of his sight? Oh yes! said 
Didymus, the want of my sight is a very great grief and affliction to 
me ; whereupon Alexander chid him, saying, Hath God given thee the 

1 Contenli prxsentihus. So Beza. 

2 If thou live according to nature, thou wilt never be poor; if according to opiniuu, thou 
wilt never be rich, suid the heathen. — Jerome. 



1 Peter I. 4] a string of pearls. 44-3 

excellency of an angel, of an apostle, and art thou troubled for the want 
of that which rats, and mice, and brute beasts have? And so Augus- 
tine, upon the 12th Psalm, brings in God rebuking a discontented 
Christian thus : What is thy faith ? have I promised thee these things? 
what ! wert thou made a Christian that thou shouldst flourish here in 
this world? 1 So may I say to Christians that are discontented, dis- 
quieted, and disturbed about the want of this or that worldly comfort: 
Why are you troubled about the want of this or that worldly enjoyment? 
you that have an interest in God, an interest in the covenant, a right 
to Christ, a title to heaven; you that have so much in hand and more 
in hope; you that have so much in expectation and so much in rever- 
sion ; why do you sit sighing for the want of this outward comfort, and 
complaining for the want of that outward contentment, considering 
what great and glorious things are reserved in heaven for you ? It was 
said of the great Duke of Guise, that though he was poor, as to his 
present possessions, yet he was the richest man in France in bills, bonds, 
and obligations ; because he had engaged all the noblemen in France 
unto himself by advancing of them. A Christian, though a Lazarus at 
Dives's door ; yet, in respect of his propriety 2 in God and his interest in 
the covenant, he is the richest and the happiest man in all the world : and 
why then should he not be content. Well ! remember, Christian, that 
the shortest cut to riches and all worldly contentments is by their con- 
tempt. It is great riches, it is the best riches not to desire riches ; 
and God usually gives him most that covets least. When two monks 
came to king William Rufus to buy an abbot's place, and endeavoured 
to outbid each other, a third monk that came to wait on them was 
asked what he would give, he answered, Not a penny ; I came to wait 
on him that shall have the place ; upon which the king gave the waiter 
the place. Just so doth God often carry it towards his people in this 
world ; they that seek it least shall have most. Solomon begs a wise 
heart, and God gives him that, and abundance of gold and silver and 
honour, and what not, into the bargain. The best way to have much, 
is to be contented with a little. 

I have read of Dionysius [Plutarch], how he took away from one of 
his nobles almost his whole estate, and seeing him nevertheless con- 
tinue as cheerful and well contented as ever, he gave him that again, 
and as much more. This is a common thing with God, as Job and 
many thousands can witness ; 3 the best way to have a pound is to be 
contented with a penny, the best way to have hundreds is to be con- 
tented with pounds, and the best way to have thousands is to be con- 
tented with hundreds. Ah ! thou unquiet and discontented Christian, 
canst thou read over that saying of Cato, a heathen, and not blush ? 
Si quid est quo utar, utor : si non, scio quis sum ; raihi vitio ver- 
tunt, quia multis egeo ; et ego Mis, quia nequeunt egere.* I have 
neither house, nor plate, nor garments of price in my hands ; what I 
have, I can use ; if not, I can want it ; some blame me, because I want 
many things, and I blame them, .because they cannot want. How 
many thousand Christians in these knowing and professing days might 

1 If there were any happiness in riches, the gods would not want them, said Seneca. 
[See this quoted before in ' Mute Christian.' — G.] 2 ' Property.' — G. 

3 Job i. and the last of Job compared. 4 Aulus Gellius reports this of him. 



H !> A STRING OF PEABLS. [1 PeTEE I. 4. 

this heathen put to the blush! O Christians! Christians! let the 
remembrance of the crown, the kingdom, the treasures, pleasures, and 
glories thai are reserved in heaven for yen, make you bear up sweetly 
and contentedly under all your outward wants in this world. But, 

(5.) Fifthly, If the best and greatest things are reserved for believers 
till they come to heaven, then make not a judgment of the saints' con- 
dition by their present date. 1 If you do, you will 'condemn the g< ae- 
ration of the just.' What though they are now in rags, it will not be 
lone- before they are clothed in their royal robes; what though they are 
now abased, it will not be long before they shall in the Bight of all the 
world be highly advanced ; what though they are now under many 
wants, it will not be long before they shall be filled with all fulness; 
what though they are now under many trials and afflictions, yet it will 
not be long before all tears shall be wiped away from their eyes, and 
their sighing turned into singing, 'and everlasting joys shall be upon 
their heads;' and therefore do not judge of their condition by their 
present state. If you will needs be judging, then look that you judge 
righteous judgment, John vii. 24; then look more at the latter end of 
a Christian than the beginning. Remember the patience of Job, James 
v. 11, and consider what end the Lord made with him. Look not upon 
Lazarus lying at Dives's door, but lying in Abraham's bosom ; look not 
to the beginning of Joseph, who was so far from his dream, that the sun 
and moon should reverence him, that for two years he was cast where 
he could neither see sun nor moon ; but behold him at last made ruler 
over all Egypt, and reigning fourscore years like a king, Gen. xxxvii. 9, 
xli. 40-46. Look not upon David, as there was but a step between him 
and death, nor as he was envied by Saul, and hated by his courtiers-; 
but behold him seated in his royal throne, where he reigned forty years 
gloriously, and died in his bed of honour, ami his son Solomon, and his 
nobles about him. When Israel was dismissed out of Egypt, it was 
with gold and ear-rings, Exod. xi. ; and when the Jews were dismissed 
out of Babylon, it was with great gifts, jewels, and all necessary uten- 
sils, Ezra i. 'Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; the end 
of that man is peace,' Ps. xxxvii. 37. Whatever the wants, the straits, 
the troubles, the trials of the saints are in this world, yet their end shall 
be peace, their end shall be glorious ; the best things are reserved for 
them till last ; and therefore do not, oh do not judge of their condition 
by their present state, but rather judge of them by their future condi- 
tion, by that glory that is reserved for them in heaven. But, 

(6.) Sixthly, If the greatest and choicest things are reserved for 
believers till they come to heaven, why, then, let believers keep up in 
thei/r otvn souls a lively, hopeful expectation of enjoyi/ng these great 
and glorious tilings that are laid up for them. The keeping up of 
those hopes will be the keeping up of your hearts ; the keeping up of 
these hopes will be the bettering of your hearts; the keeping up of 
these hopes will make every bitter sweet, and every sweet more sweet ; 
the keeping up of these hopes will make you bear much for God, and 
do much for God. 2 

1 Ps. lxxiii. 12-15; Mat. vii. 1, 2; 1 Cor. iv. 5. 

- lJotn. viii. 24, 25, ii. 5 ; Titus i. 2 ; Acts xxvi. 7 ; Titus iii. 7 ; Col. i. 5 ; 1 Thes. 
v 8 ; 1 Peter i. 3 ; 1 John iii. 2, 3. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 445 

When Alexander went upon a hopeful expedition, he gave away his 
gold ; and when he was asked what he kept for himself, he answered, 
jSpem major urn et meliorum, the hope of greater and better things. 

Ah ! Christians, there is no work so high and noble, there is no work 
so hard and difficult, there is no work so low and contemptible, but the 
hopes of the great things reserved in heaven for you will put you 
upon it. 

Galen speaks of a fish called uranoscojms, 1 which hath but one eye, 
and that is so placed that it is always looking upwards towards heaven ; 
and so should a Christian's eye of hope be always fixed on God, on 
promises, on heaven, on the inheritance of the saints in light, and on 
all those precious and glorious things that are laid up for them in that 
royal palace where Christ is all in all. 

A devout pilgrim travelling to Jerusalem, and by the way visiting 
many brave cities, with their rare monuments, and meeting with many 
friendly entertainments, would often say, I must not stay here, this is 
not Jerusalem, this is not Jerusalem; so saith a Christian in the midst 
of all his worldly delights, comforts, and contents, oh these are not the 
delights, the comforts, the contents that my soul looks for, that my soul 
expects and hopes to enjoy. I look and hope for choicer delights, for 
sweeter comforts, for more satisfying contents, and for more durable 
riches. 

Ah, saints ! ah, souls ! Shall the great heirs of this world live upon 
their hopes, and keep up their hopes, that their inheritances shall in 
time be settled respectively upon them ? and will not you, will not you 
live upon your hopes, and keep up your hopes of enjoying all the trea- 
sures, pleasures, and glories that are reserved in heaven for you ? A 
Christian's motto always is, or always should be, Spero meliora, I hope 
for better things ; I hope for better things than any the world can give 
to me, or than any that Satan can take from me. A Christian is always 
rich in hope, though he hath not always a penny in hand. But, 

(7.) Seventhly, If there be such great and glorious things reserved 
for you in heaven, then do nothing unworthy of your dignity, nor of 
that glory that is laid up for you. 2 Your calling is high, your honour 
is great, your happiness is matchless ; you have so much in promises, 
so much in expectation, and so much in reversion, as cannot be con- 
ceived, as cannot be expressed ; therefore, do not you stoop to sin, nor 
bow down to Satan, nor comply with the world. 

When Alexander was moved to run with some persons of inferior 
rank, he refused, saying, It was not fit for Alexander to run in a race 
with any but princes and nobles. 

Ah, Christians ! are you not more nobly born ? are you not better 
bred ? have you not more royal hopes than to stoop to lust, or to do as 
the men of the world do i 

Antigonus, being invited to dinner where a notable harlot was to be 
present, asked counsel of Menedemus, his tutor, what he should do, and 
how he should carry himself ? His tutor bade him remember that he 
was a prince, that he was the son of a king, and this would preserve him. 3 

1 au^avo<rxoT»s, the heaven-gazer. Cf. Pliny, xxxii. 7, 24, sec. 69 ; xi. 52, sec. 146 G. 

* Heb. xi. 38 ; Philip, iii. 14 ; Isa. lxiii. 4 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9. 

* Diog. Laertius, ii. 125-144 ; Athen. 1. c. — G. 



446 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

Ah ! Christians ! nothing will preserve you from being base, like the 
remembrance of your present dignity, and of that future glory that is 
laid up for you. 

Ah, Christians ! you are kings elected, you are heirs-apparent of a 
crown, of a glorious crown, of a weighty crown, of an incorrupt iUr 
crown, of an everlasting crown of glory ! ' Oh why then should you be 
crowning yourselves with rosebuds ? why then should you take up in 
the low enjoyments and poor contentments of this world ? ] 

It was a generous speech of that heathen Themistocles, who, coming 
by a thing that seemed to be a pearl in the dark, scorned to stoop for 
it, but bade another stoop, saying, Stoop thou for this pearl, for thou 
art not Themistocles. Oh let the men of the world stoop and take up 
the world, oh let them whose practice speaks them out to be of the 
world, and to be worshippers of that golden calf, the world, let these 
dance about it, bow down to it, and take up in it ; but let the heirs of 
heaven divinely scorn to bow down to earth, or to take up in it, or to 
be much taken with it. It was a good saying of Seneca, Major sum et 
ad majora natus,quam ut mancipium sim corporis mei, I am too great, 
and born to greater things than that I should be as a slave to my body. 2 

Ah, Christians ! you are too great, and born to greater things, than 
that you should be slaves to your bodies, or slaves to your lusts, or 
slaves to the world ; can you seriously consider of the great things that 
are reserved in heaven for you, and not set your feet upon those things 
that the men of the world set their hearts upon ? Can you look up to 
your future glory, and not blush to be taken with the glory of this 
world % 

"What Alexander the Great said to one of his captains that was called 
Alexander, Recordare nominis Alexandri, remember the name of 
Alexander, and see, said he, that you do nothing unworthy of the name 
of Alexander. 3 So say I, Kemember, Christian thy name ; remem- 
ber thy dignity and glory, and see that thou dost nothing unworthy of 
the one or the other. But, 

(8.) Eighthly, If the best and greatest things are reserved for the 
saints till they come to heaven, then let them desire and long to be 
■possessed of those blessed things that are reserved in heaven for them.* 
Oh, how do the heirs of this world long to have their estates in their 
own hands ! how do they long to have their inheritances settled upon 
them ! some of them wishing their relations dead that stand between 
them and their inheritances ; and others, of a little better nature, wish- 
ing them in the bosom of Abraham, that they might come to inherit, 
and that they might suck the sweet, and take up their rest, in their 
worldly inheritances. And shall not the saints desire and long to be 
in a full and happy possession of that crown, of that inheritance, of 
those jewels that are reserved in heaven for them ? O Christians ! 
how is it, why is it, that your heavenly Jerusalem, your mansions above, 
your glorious treasures, suffer not an holy violence, in respect of your 
earnest wishes and burning desires after them ? 

1 Oh. say not of this world as Poter of his little heaven, Bonum est esse hie, it is good 
to he here. s Sen. Epist. lxvi. 3 Plutarch, Alexander. — G. 

4 Tota vita boni Christiani, sanctum desiderivm est, the whole life of a good Christian is 
an holy wish, saith one. [Bernard Serin. Canticles. — G.] 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 447 

The primitive Christians did so hunger and thirst, look and long, 
wish and desire after this heavenly kingdom, 1 this glorious inheritance, 
that the Roman State had a jealousy of them, as if they had affected 
their kingdom and their worldly glory. But where is that spirit now 
to be found ? Most men live now as if there were no heaven, or else 
as if heaven were not worth a seeking, worth a desiring ; as if heaven 
were a poor, low, contemptible thing. 

Bat ah, Christians ! you have learned better; and therefore be you 
much in desiring and longing to get into that glorious city, where streets, 
walls, and gates are all gold, yea, where pearl is but as mire and dirt, 
and where are all pleasures, all treasures, all delights, all comforts, all 
contents ; and that for ever. This word ' for ever' is a bottomless depth, 
a conception without end ; it is a word that sweetens all the glory 
above, and that indeed makes heaven to be heaven. I can hardly call 
him a Christian that doth not long more after spirituals, and after the 
great things that are reserved in heaven for the saints, than Ulysses 
did for the smoke of his house after ten years' absence. 2 But, 

(9.) Ninthly, If the best and greatest things are reserved for the 
saints till they come to heaven, then, Oh let not the men of the world 
envy the saints, whilst they are here in this wilderness. 

Ah ! sinners, sinners, the people of God have but little in hand ; 
though they have much in hope; they have but little in the bag what- 
ever they may have in the bank ; they have but little in the cistern 
whatever they may have in the fountain ; they have but little in posses- 
sion whatever they may have in reversion ; and therefore do not envy 
them, James ii. 5. Who but monsters will envy the child in his cradle, 
or in the arms, or in his non-age, though he be an heir to a great estate, 
inasmuch as it is out of his hand, and he is not in the possession of it ? 
and yet such monsters this world affords, who are filled with envy 
against Christ's precious ones, though their estates are out of their 
hands. Old Jacob speaking of his son Joseph, saith, that 'the archers 
have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him,' Gen. xlix. 23 ; 
and Jerome, expounding the words, noteth, Hie invidiam cum arcu et 
sagittis introduci ad sagittandum quod immaculatum est, that here 
envy is brought in with bow and arrows shooting at that which is 
immaculate, and where there is no spot to be a mark for it ! or else, as 
an archer doth set up some white thing to be the mark at which he 
shoots, so it is the whiteness of some good thing or other, against which 
envy shoots. 3 Such is the wrath, the rage, the hatred, the envy of 
wicked men against the saints, that they will still be envying of them 
upon one score or another. Such was Saul's envy to David, that David 
chooses rather to live under king Achish, an enemy, than to live under 
Saul's envy; nay, such was Saul's envy against David, that when David 
played on his harp, to cure him of the evil spirit that haunted him, that he 
threw his spear at him to destroy him, malens a malo spiritu torqueri, 
quam Davidem vivere, choosing rather to be tormented with an evil 
spirit, than that David should live. 4 And such was Cain's envy to Abel, 
that though he had but one brother, nay, though there was but one 

1 Justin Martyr, Apol. ii. * Jerome in qvcestionih. FTcbrce. 

* Odyssey, i. 57. — G. * Bern de inter domo. c 2. 



448 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

brother in all the world, yet enraged envy will wash her hands in that 
brothel's blood. 

Chiysologus noteth of the rich glutton, who would have Lazarus to 
be Bent to him, that being still cruel and envious towards Lazarus, he 
would have him to be sent Ad infer mini de f/remio, de solio subU/lM 
ad profundi «« 1 mum, chaos, ad formcidorirm .shidorem, de sancta quieU 
beatorum, to hell from the bosom of Abraham, to the bottomless gulf 
iron) the highest throne of glory, to the gnashing and grinding of tor- 
ments bom the holy rest of the blessed. The truth is, envy sticks so 
close to the heart of wicked men, that courtesies provoke it; 1 offices of 
lave and respect swell it, and an eminency in gifts and graces enrages 
it ; no man of worth hath ever escaped it. Neither mine accusers, nor 
my crimes, saith Socrates, can kill me, but envy only, which hath, and 
doth, and will destroy the worthiest that ever were ; and therefore, the 
same person wishes that envious men had more eyes and more ears 
than others, that so they might be tormented more than others, by be- 
holding others' happiness. Well ! sinners, if, notwithstanding all that 
hath been said, you will still be envious against those gracious souls 
that have but little in hand, though they have much in hope ; if you 
will be envious against those who stand between you and wrath, between 
you and hell; if you will be envious against those to whom, as instru- 
ments, you are beholding for all the mercies, comforts, and contents, 
that you enjoy in this world, then know, that your envy will torture 
you, 2 your envy will slay you, your envy will prepare the hottest, darkest, 
and lowest place in hell for you. But, 

(10.) Tenthly, If the best things are reserved for believers till they 
come to heaven, then let not any outward losses trouble you, nor 
deject you. What is thy loss of a house made with hands to one eternal 
in the heavens ? what is thy loss of rags to the royal robes above? what 
is thy loss of earth to the gain of heaven ? what is thy loss of husband, 
wife, child, friends, to the enjoyment of God, Christ, angels, and the 
spirits of just men made perfect? 2 Cor. v. 1 ; Rev. vi. 11, vii. 9, 13, 14. 

When Paulinus Nolanus his city was taken from him by the bar- 
barians, he prayed thus to God : Lord ! let ine not be troubled at the 
loss of my gold, silver, honour, &c; for thou art all, and much more 
than all, these unto me. 3 

When Demetrius asked Stilpo 4 what loss he had sustained when his 
wife, his children, and country were all burned, he answered, that he 
had lost nothing, counting that only his own which none could take 
from him, to wit, his virtues. What an unlovely, what an uncomely, 
thing would it be to see a rich heir, upon the loss of a ribbon out of his 
hat, or upon the loss of a glove from his hand, &c, to stand sighing and 
grieving, vexing and lamenting; or to see a prince, upon the burning 
up of his stables and outhouses, to stand wringing his hands and beat- 
in.; Ids breasts, and to cry out, Undone, undone ! when his royal palace 
is safe, his crown safe, his treasures safe ! As unlovely, yea, a more un- 
lovely and uncomely, thing it is to see a saint upon the account of losing 

1 Envy is like certain flies called cantharides, who light specially upon the fairest 
wheat, and most blown roses. 
> I'rov. xiv. 30; Job v. 2 ; Mat. xxiii. 13-15. 8 Cf. ante.— G. 

* A philosopher of Megara. 



1 Peter 1. 4.] a string of pearls. 449 

wife, child, friend, &c, to cry out, Undone, undone ! no sorrow to my 
sorrow ! no loss to ray loss ! when his great all is safe ; when his crown, 
his heaven, his happiness, his blessedness, is safe. Basil, bringing in Job 
comforting his wife under all their sad losses and calamities, makes him 
speak thus: 1 Semper prospere agere solius est Dei; bibisti liquidum 
vitce laticem et turbidum jam toleranter bibe, it belongeth to God only 
always to enjoy contentment. Thou hast drunk of the clear waters of 
this life ; now drink of them patiently when they are troubled. But, 

(11.) Eleventhly, If the best things are reserved for believers till they 
come to heaven, then let believers live cheerfully and walk comfortably 
up and down in this world. 2 Ah ! how cheerfully and merrily do many 
great heirs live ! Though for the present things goes hard with them, 
the hopes of a good inheritance makes them sing care and sorrow away. 
It is not for the honour of Christ, nor for the glory of the gospel, to see 
the heirs of heaven look so sadly and walk so mournfully and dejectedly, 
as if there were no heaven, or as if there was nothing laid up for them 
in heaven. It becomes not the sons of glory, with Rachel, to give so 
much way to weeping as to refuse to be comforted, Neh. viii. 10. Dost 
thou not remember, O Christian, that the joy of the Lord is thy strength, 
thy doing strength, thy bearing strength, thy prevailing strength. What! 
hast thou forgotten that ' the joy of the Lord is thy strength' to live, and 
thy strength to die ? If not, why with Cain dost thou walk up and down 
with a dejected countenance, with a cast-down countenance \ A beau- 
tiful face is at all times pleasing to the eye, but then especially when 
there is joy manifested in the countenance. Joy in the face puts a new 
beauty upon a person, and makes that which before was beautiful to 
be exceedingly beautiful ; it puts a new lustre upon beauty ; so doth 
joy put a lustre and a beauty upon a Christian; and upon all his 
words, his ways, his works. It was this that made the faces of several 
martyrs to shine as if they had been the faces of angels. One observes 3 
of Chispina, that she was cheerful when she was apprehended, and joy- 
ful when she was led to the judge, and merry when she was sent into 
prison; so when she was bound, when she was brought forth, when she 
was lifted up in a cage, when she was heard, when she was condemned. 
In all these things she rejoiced ; so that they who were miserable 
thought her to be miserable, who indeed was happy under a spirit of 
joy. When Ca?sar was sad, he used to say to himself, Gogita te 
Ccesarem esse, think thou art Caesar. Ah, Christians ! when you are sad 
and dejected, think of your dignity and glory ; think of all those pre- 
cious and glorious things that are reserved in heaven for you. 

It becomes not Christians, who have so much in reversion, to be like 
Angelastus, grandfather to Crassus, who never laughed in all his life 
save once, and that was when he saw a mare eating of thistles; nor 
like Anaxagoras [of] Clazomense, who was never seen to laugh or smile 
from the day of his birth to the day of his death. Christians, I desire to 
leave that serious and sad word upon your hearts : Deut. xxviii. 47, 48, 
' Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with 

1 Basil, Homil. xxiii. 

2 Ps. xxxiii. 1, lxxix. 12 ; Isa. xli. 16 ; Joel ii. 23 ; Zech. x. 7 ; Philip, iii. 1, iv. 4. 

3 Augustine in Ps. cxxxvii. 

VOL. I. F f 



450 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou 
serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, 
and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things : and he shall 
put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he hath destroyed thee.' Sad 
souls ! it will be your wisdom to make this scripture your daily com- 
panion, and to ponder it seriously in your hearts, as Mary did the say- 
ing of the angel. God takes it so unkindly at his people's hands that 
they should he sad, and sighing, lamenting, and mourning, when they 
should be a-rejoicing and delighting themselves in the Lord for the 
abundance of his mercies, that he threatens to pursue them with all 
sorts of miseries and calamities to the very death. A sad, dejected 
spirit opens many foul mouths that God would have stopped, and sads 
many precious souls that God would have gladded, and discourages 
many weak Christians and young beginners whom God would have 
encouraged and animated ; and therefore we need not wonder if God 
should deal so sadly and severely with such sad souls, who make little 
of sadding many at once, viz., God, Christ, the Spirit, and many precious 
ones, ' of whom this world is not worthy/ Surely there is infinitely more 
in the great and glorious things that are reserved for believers in 
heaven, to joy and rejoice them, than there can be in all the troubles 
and trials, afflictions and temptations, that they meet with in this 
world, to sad, grieve, and deject them. Ah, Christians ! the great and 
glorious things that are reserved in heaven for you, will afford you such 
an exuberancy of joy, as no good can match, as no evil can overmatch. 
Witness the joy of the martyrs, both ancient and modern. Oh how my 
heart lcapeth for joy, saith one, that I am so near the apprehension of 
eternal bliss I 1 But, 

(12.) Twelfthly, If the best and greatest things are reserved for be- 
lievers till they come to heaven, why then let not believers be unwill- 
ing to die ; yea, let them rather court it, and ivhen it comes, sweetly 
welcome it, 1 Cor. v. 1, 2, 7, Philip, i. 21, There is no way to paradise 
but by this flaming sword ; there is no way to those heavenly treasures, 
but through this dark entry ; there is no way to life, immortality, and 
glory, but by dying ; there is no coming to a clear, full, and constant 
fruition of God, but by dying. Augustine upon those words, Exod. 
xxxiii. 20, 21, 'Thou canst not see my face and live/ makes this short but 
sweet reply, ' Then, Lord, let me die, that I may see thy face.' ' Shall 
I die ever?' saith one. 2 'Yes ; or shall I die at all? yea, why then, 
Lord, if ever, why not now, why not now !' So St Andrew, saluting the 
cross on which he was crucified, cried out, ' Take me from men, and re- 
store me to my Master/ So Lawrence Sanders, when he was come to 
the stake at which he was to be burnt, kissed it, saying, ' Welcome the 
cross of Christ, welcome everlasting life.' 3 

Ah, Christians ! can you read over those instances, and not blush, 

1 Sec [Fox.] Act. and Mon. 106S-70. &c. 

,J Monica, mother of An^ustinc. — G. 

3 So Moses, Jacob, and old Simeon. So Cowper, Nnzianzon, Faninns, Cyprian, young 
Lord Harrington, and others, &c. Pracipit vt quisque vitam siiam futuri denderio laboret, 
prasentium tcedio. — Bernard. [The 'funeral' sermon of 'young' Lord Harrington was 
preached l>y Richard Stock, and contains some touching BayingB of above kind. Cf our 
Memoir, prefixed to Stock on Malachi, in the series of ' Commentaries ' issued by the 
present Publisher. '•■] 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 451 

and not be troubled that these worthies should be so ready and so will- 
ing to die, that they might come to a happy fruition of those glorious 
things that were reserved in heaven for them, whilst you are unwilling 
to die ; whilst your desires are rather, with Peter, to build tabernacles 
here, than to be in a full fruition of God, and in a happy possession of 
your heavenly mansions, Mat. xvii. 4, John xiv. 2, 3. Cyprian tells of 
a bishop, who, being near his death, and unwilling to die, and praying 
to God for a longer life, an angel appeared unto him, and, with an 
angry countenance in reproving him, said, Pati timetis, exire de vita 
non vultis, quid faciam vobis ? 1 Ye fear to suffer, ye will not go out of 
this life, what shall I do unto you? Ah, Christians, Christians! how 
justly may that father be angry with his child that is unwilling to come 
home, and that husband with his wife who is unwilling to ride to him 
in a rainy day, or to cross the seas to enjoy him? And is not this your 
case ? is not this your case ? I know it is. Well, Christians ! let 
me a little expostulate the case with you, that if it be possible I may 
work your hearts into a willingness to- die, yea, to desire death, to long 
for death, that so you may come to a full fruition of whatever is reserved 
in heaven for you : and that I may, I beseech you, Christians, tell me, 

[1.] First, Can death dissolve that glorious union that is between 
you and Christ ? No ; Rom. viii. 35-39. Why, why then are you 
unwilling to die, as long as in death your union with Christ holds 
good ? As in death Saul and Jonathan were not parted, 2 Sam. i. 23, 
so in death a believer and Christ is not parted, but more closely and 
firmly united. That is not death, but life, that joins the dying man to 
Christ ; and that is not a life, but death, that separates the living man 
from Christ. As it is impossible for the leaven that is in the dough to 
be separated from the dough after it is once mixed, for it turneth the 
nature of the dough into itself; so it is impossible, either in life or 
death, for the saints ever to be separated from Christ ; for Christ, in 
respect of union, is in the saints as nearly as the leaven in the very 
dough, so incorporated one into another as if Christ and they were one 
lump, John xvii. 20, 21 ; xv. 1-6. But, 

[2:] Secondly, For I shall but touch upon things, tell me, O Chris- 
tian, who art unwilling to die, Whether death can dissolve or untie 
that marriage-knot that by the Spirit on Christ's side, and by faith on 
thine, is knit between Christ and thy soul ? No. Death cannot untie 
that knot, Hosea ii. 19, 20. Why, why then, O Christian, art thou 
unwilling to die, as long as the marriage-knot holds fast between Christ 
and thy soul ? Mat. xxv. 1, 2 ; Rom. vii. 1-4. I readily grant that 
death dissolves that marriage-knot that is knit between man and wife ; 
but death nor devil can never dissolve the marriage-knot that is knit 
between Christ and the believing soul. Sin cannot dissolve that mar- 
riage-knot that is knit between Christ and a believer ; and if sin cannot, 
then certainly death, that came in by sin, cannot. Though sin can do 
more than death, yet sin cannot make null and void that glorious 
marriage that is between Christ and the soul ; therefore a Christian 
should not be unwilling to die : Jer. iii. 1-5, 12-14, compared. But, 

[3.] Thirdly, Can death, Christian, dissolve that glorious cove- 
nant that God hatJi taken thee into ? No ; Death can never dissolve 

1 Cyprian, de immortalitate. 



t52 A BTRING OF PEARLS. [1 PeTBB I. i, 

that covenanl : Jer. \x.\ii. 40, 'And I will make an everlasting cove- 
nant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good ; 
but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depaxi from 
me.' Though Abraham be dead, yet God i.- Abraham's God still, Mat. 
xxii 30—32. By covenant, and by virtue of this everlasting covenant, 
Abraham shall ho raised and glorified. Oh'! then, why shouldst thou be 
afraid of death ? why shouldst thou ho unwilling to die 1 

When David was upon his dying hod, he drew his strongest consola- 
tion out of this woll of salvation, — the covenant : - Sam. xxiii. 5, 'Al- 
though my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with mean 
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure ; for this is all my 
salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. 9 Dear 
! uarts ! the covenant remains firm and good between you and the Lord. 
both in life and in death ; and therefore there is no reason why you 
should be unwilling to die. There are throe things that are impossible 
for God to do, viz. to die, to lie, or deny himself, or that gracious cove- 
nant that he hath ma.de with his people ; and therefore death should 
be more desirable than terrible to gracious souls. But, 

[4.] Fourthly, Tell me, Christian, can dealh dissolve that love 
that ie between the Lord and thy soul ? Ps. cxvi. 15 ; Deut. vii. 7, 8. 
No, death cannot; for his love is not founded upon any worth or ex- 
cellency in me, nor upon any work or service done by me, but his love 
is free ; he loves because he will love. All motives to love are taken 
out of that bosom that is love and sweetness itself. His love is ever- 
lasting, it is like himself: Jer. xxxi. 3, 'I have loved thee with an 
everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee;' 
John xiii. 1, ' Whom he loved, he loved to the end ;' Isa. liv. 8-10, 'In 
a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment ; but with ever- 
lasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Re- 
deemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me : for as I have 
sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth ; so 
have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For 
the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but my kind- 
ness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace 
be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.' The love of 
Jesus Christ was to Lazarus when dead (John xi. 11), 'Our friend 
Lazarus sleepeth/ By all which it is most evident that death cannot 
dissolve that precious love that is between the Lord and his children. 
( )h ! why then are they afraid to die ? Why then do not they long to 
die, that they may be in the everlasting arms of divine love ? The 
Love of the Lord is everlasting ; it is a love that never dies, that never 
decays, nor waxes cold. It is like the stone albestos, 1 of which Solinus 
writes, that being once hot, it can never be cooled again. Death is 
nothing but a bringing of a loving Christ and loving souls together. 
Why, then, should not the saints rather desire it, than fear it or be 
I'ismayed at it ? But, 

[5.] Fifthly, Can death, thou believing soul, dissolve those gra- 
cious grants, or tliose grants of grace thai tin' Lord hath vouchsafed to 
' as the grant of reconciliation, the grant of acceptation, the -rant 
of justification, the grant of adoption, the grant of remission, &c, 2 Cor. 

1 ' Asbestos.' — G. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a strixg of pearls. 453 

iii. 21-23; No ; death cannot dissolve any of these gracious grants . 
Rom. xi. 29, ' for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance/ 
Why then, O Christian, art thou unwilling to die ? Indeed, were it in 
the power of death to make void any of those noble and gracious grants 
that God hath vouchsafed to thee, thou mightest be afraid and unwilling 
to die; but that being a work too great, and too hard for death to 
accomplish, why shoufdst thou not, in a holy triumphing way, say with 
the apostle, ' O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy vic- 
tory ? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ,' 1 Cor. xv. 55-57. A Christian, upon the account of what 
is laid up for him, may and ought divinely to out-brave death, as this 
precious saint did. A little before she breathed out her last into the 
bosom of Christ, she called for a candle ; Come, saith she, and see 
death ; and this she spake smilingly, out-braving death in a holy sense. 
Being free both from the pains of death, and from the fear of death, she 
knew him in whom she had believed, 2 Tim. i. 12. She knew right well 
that death could not dissolve those gracious grants that God had 
vouchsafed to her ; and therefore when she came to it, she made no 
more of it to die than we do to dine. But, 

[6.] Sixthly, Tell me, Chridians, did not Christ come to deliver yon, 
from the fear of death ? Yes ; he did come into the world, and did 
take our nature upon him, that he might deliver us from the fear of 
death, Heb. ii. 14, 15. Why, then, should you be unwilling to die ? 
Tell me, hath not Christ disarmed death of all its hurting power, and 
taken away its sting, that it cannot harm you \ Yes, he hath, 1 Cor 
xv. 55-57. Why then should you be unwilling to die ? Tell me, souls, 
will not Christ be with you in that hour ? will he not stand by you, 
though others should desert you ? Yes ; we have it under his own 
hand that he will be present with us, and that he will neither, living nor 
dying, leave us, nor forsake us, Ps. xxiii. 4, Heb. xiii. 5, 6. Why then 
should you be unwilling to die ? Tell me, O trembling Christians, 
shall death be any more to you than a change ? a change of place, a 
change of company, a change of employment, a change of enjoyment f 
No, certainly ! Death to us will be but a change ; yea, the happiest 
change that ever we met with, Job xiv. 14, John xi. 26, 1 Thes. iv. 14 ; 
why then should you be unwilling to die, seeing that to die is nothing 
but to change earth for heaven, rags for robes, crosses for crowns, and 
prisons for thrones, &c. ? But tell me once more, Christians, hath not 
Jesus Christ, by his lying in the grave, sanctified the grave, and per- 
fumed and sweetened the grave ? Hath he not, by his blood and death, 
purchased for you a soft and easy bed in the grave ? Yes ; we believe 
he hath done all this for us. Oh why then should you be unwilling to 
die ? Once more, tell me, Christians, will not Jesus Christ raise you 
out of the grave after you have taken a short nap ? Will he not cause 
you to hear his voice ? Will he not call you out of that withdrawing- 
room, the grave, and bring ycu to immortality and glory ? Yes ; we 
believe he will, John vi. 39, 40, 1 Cor. i. 5, 1 Thes. iv. 14-18. Oh why 
then should you be unwilling to die ? Oh why should you not, upon 

1 Ejus est timere mortem qui ad Christum no lit ire, Let him fear death that is loth to go 
to Christ — Cyprian. 



454 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

all these accounts, long for it, and whenever it comes, readily and will- 
ingly, cheerfully and sweetly, embrace it? O Christians, Christians: 
let but your hopes and your hearts be more fixed upon the things that 
are reserved in heaven lor you, and then you will neither fear death, 
nor feel it when it comes. But, 

1 7.] Seventhly, Death will 'perfectly cure you of all corporal and 
spiritual diseases at once: as the aching head and the unbelieving 
heart; the ulcerous body and the polluted soul. 1 Now your bodies are 
full of ails, full of aches, full of diseases, full of distempers, so that your 
wisest physicians know not what to say to you, nor what to do with you, 
Dor how to cure you. It is often with your bodies as it was with the 
civil and ecclesiastical body of the Jews, which from 'the sole of the 
feet, even to the crown of the head, was full of wounds, bruises, and 
putrefying sores,' Isa. i. 6. But now death will perfectly cure you of 
all ; death will do that for you that you could not do for yourselves; 
death will do that for you that all your friends could not do for you; 
death will do that for you that the ablest and wisest physicians could 
nor do for you. It will cure you of every ache, of every ail, &c. At 
Stratford Bow, in Queen Mary's days, 2 there was burnt a lame man and 
a blind man at one stake. The lame man, after he was chained, casting 
away his crutch, bade the blind man be of good comfort, for death, said 
he, will cure us both : thee of thy blindness, and I of my lameness. 

Ah, Christians ! death will cure you of all your infirmities, of all your 
distempers; and why, then, should you be unwilling to die? Maecenas 
in Seneca had rather live in many diseases than die ; but I hope better 
things of you, for whom Christ hath died. 

And as death will cure all your bodily diseases, so it will cure all your 
soul-distempers also. Death is not mors hominis, but mors pea <0'i 
not the death of the man, but the death of his sin ; peccatum erat 
nbstetrix mortis, et mors sepulclirum peccati, sin was the midwife that 
brought death into the world, and death shall be the grave to bury sin. 3 
Death shall do that for a Christian that all his duties could never do, 
that all his graces could never do, that all his experiences could never 
do, that all ordinances could never do. It shall at once free him fully, 
perfectly, and perpetually from all sin, yea, from all possibility of ever 
sinning more. 

The Persians had a certain day in the year in which they used to kill 
all serpents and venomous creatures ; such a day as that will the day 
of death be to their sins who are interested in a Saviour. When Sam- 
sod died, the Philistines also died together with him; so when a be- 
liever dies, his sins die with him. Death came in by sin, and singoeth 
out by death. As the worm kills the worm that bred it, so death kills 
sm that bred it, Heb. xii. 23, Rom. vi. 7, 1 Cor. xv. 26. 

And why, then, should Christians be afraid of death, or unwilling to 
die, seeing death gives them a writ of ease from infirmities and weak- 
nesses, from all aches and pains, griefs and gri pings, distemper and 
jes, both of body and soul? 

Homer reports of his Achilles, that he had rather be a servant to a 

1 Ulttmus morboruvi medicu s mors. 2 [Foxe] Act. ami .Mon. fol. 1773. 

s Quid est mors nisi sepultura vitiorum ? What is death but the burial ol vices? — Am- 
brose de bono mortis, c. 4. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 455 

poor country clown here in this world, than to be a king to all the souls 
departed; 1 and the truth is, the most famous heathens have preferred 
the meanest life on earth above all the hopes they had of a better life ; 
but I hope better things of you, Christians ; and that upon this very 
ground, that death will certainly and perfectly cure you of all bodily 
and soul distempers at once. But, 

[8.] Eighthly, 7s not your dying day an inevitable day ? Why, yes, 
yes. Why, then, should you be afraid to die ? Why should you be 
unwilling to die, seeing that your dying day is a day that cannot be 
put off? The daily spectacles of mortality which we see before our 
eyes clearly evince this truth, that all must die. 2 Itis a statute-law in 
heaven that all must die. All men and women are made up of dust, 
and by the law of heaven they must return to dust. All have sinned, 
and therefore all must die. The core of that apple which Adam ate 
sticks in the throats of all his children, and will at length choke them 
all one by one. 3 

Masius* out of Jacob Ediscenas Syrus, saith that when Noah went 
into the ark, he took the bones of Adam with him, and that when he 
came out of the ark, he divided them among his sons, giving the head, 
as the chiefest part, unto his first-born, and therein as it were saying 
unto them, Let not this delivery from the flood make you secure ; be- 
hold your first parent, and the beginning of mankind ; you must all, 
and all that come from you, go unto the dust to him. What day is 
there that passes over our heads wherein the Lord doth not, by others' 
mortality, preach many sermons of mortality to us ? and therefore why 
should we be unwilling to pay that debt that all owe, and that all must 
pay, and that so many daily pay before our eyes ? But, 

[9.] Ninthly, A believers dying day is his best day, 5 and why then 
should he be unwilling to die ? Eccles. vii. 1, 'A good name is better 
than precious ointment ; and the day of death than the day of one's 
birth.' In respect of profit, pleasure, peace, safety, company, glory, a 
believer's last day is his best day ; and when then should a believer be 
unwilling to die ? In a printed sermon on this very text, I have proved 
this truth at large, and to that I refer you, who desire further satisfac- 
tion about this truth. 6 But, 

[10.] Tenthly, A believer's dying day is his resting day ; it is his 
resting day from sin, from sorrow, from affliction, from temptation, from 
desertion, from dissension, from vexation, from persecution, and from 
all bodily labour. 7 And therefore why should a believer be unwilling 
to die, seeing that for him to die is no more but to rest ? But of this 
rest I have spoken largely before ; and therefore a touch may be enough 
in this place. But, 

[11.] Eleventhly, The saints' dying day is their reaping day. Now 
they shall reap the fruit of all the prayers that ever they have made, 
and of all the sermons that ever they have heard, and oi* all the tears 

1 Odyssey, xi. 488.— G. 

2 Eccles. ii. 16 ; Zech. i. 5 ; Heb. ix. 27 ; Gen. iii. 19 ; Rom. vi. 23. 

3 See Brooks's Will in Appendix to Memoir. — G. 

4 Masius in ult. cap. Josh., ver. 32. [Andrew Masius, a learned writer, died 1573. 
His ' Commentary' on Joshua (1574) was reprinted in the ' Critici Sacri.' — G.] 

5 Ambrose, de fide resurrectionis. speaks of some who lamented men's births and cele- 
brated their deaths, &c. 6 His 'Believer's Last Day is his Best Day,' 1U57. G. 

7 Rev. xiv. 13, xxi. 4 ; Job iii. 13-16 ; Isa. lvii. I, 2. 



456 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

that ever tliey have shed, and of all the sighs and groans that ever they 
have fetched, and of all the good words that ever they have spoke, and 
of all the good works that ever they have done, and of all the great 
things that ever they have Buffered ; yea, now they shall reap the fruit 
of many good services, which themselves had forgot, 2 Cor. ix. 6; Gal. 
vi. 7-9. ' Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee; or thirsty, and 
gave thee drink ; or naked, and clothed thee ; or sick, or in prison, and 
visited thee?' Mat. xxv. 34-4J. They had done many good works and 
forgot them, but Christ records them, remembers them, and rewards 
them. Sabinus in Seneca could never in all his lifetime remember 
those three names of Homer, Ulysses, and Achilles; and as had memo- 
ries have many Christians in spirituals. But our Lord Jesus, as he 
hath a soft and tender heart, so he hath an iron memory ; he remem- 
bers not only the best and greatest services, but also the least and 
lowest services that have been done by his people, and he remembers 
them to reward them. A bit of bread, a cup of cold water, shall not pass 
without a reward. Therefore it is good counsel one gives, 1 Nv/nqwam 
ijitiini venial Dominus, inveniat imparatos, sed semper wltw suspensoi 
expansosque sinus habentes, ad lairgam Dammi benedictionem, Let the 
Lord when he cometh never find us unready, but always with our faces 
looking up towards him, always having our bosoms open, our laps 
spread abroad, as looking to receive a large blessing from him. Chris- 
tians, however Christ may seem to forget your labour of love, and to 
take no notice, or but little, of many good services that you have done 
for him, his name, his gospel, his people, yet when you die, when you 
come to heaven, you shall then reap a plentiful, a glorious crop, as the 
fruit of that good seed, that for a time hath seemed to be buried and 
lost, Prov. xi. 25 ; Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6. When mortality shall put on im- 
mortality, you shall then find that bread which long before was cast 
upon the waters, Eccles. xi. 1-6. Therefore be not, O Christian, afraid 
to die ! be not, O Christian, unwilling to die ! for thy dying day will 
be thy reaping day. But, 

[12.] Twelfthly, Thy dying-clay, believer ! will be thy triumph- 
ing day, John xi. 26. Mow thou shalt gloriously triumph over sin, 
Satan, the world, thy own base heart, yea, and over death itself. I 
readily grant, that if you consider believers in Christ, as he was a public 
person, they have then already triumphed over principalities and 
powers ; what Christ did in his greatest transaction, he did as a public 
person, representing all his chosen ones ; he suffered as a public per- 
son, representing all his elect ; he died as a public person, repre- 
senting all his precious ones ; he rose, he ascended, and now he sits in 
heaven as a public person, representing all his children : Eph. ii. 6, 
' And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus/ Christ hath taken up his children's rooms in 
heaven aforehand ; Christ hath already taken possession of heaven in 
their names, in their steads, they do now sit together in heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus.' 2 And so when Jesus Christ spoiled ' princi- 
palities and powers, and triumphed openly over them on the cross,' he 

1 Bernard. Ser. xvii. in Cant. 

2 Eph. iv. 8 ; Col. ii. 14, 15 ; a plain allusion to the Roman triumphs ; 1 John ii. 13, 14 ; 
Rom. viii. 37 ; 1 John iv. 4, 5. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 457 

did this as a public person, representing all his children who triumphed 
in his triumph over all the powers of darkness ; and therefore, in this 
sense, believers have already triumphed ; yea, and I readily grant, that 
believers, even in this life, by virtue of their union and communion 
with Christ, and by virtue of his gracious presence, influence, and assist- 
ance, they do always triumph, as the apostle speaks : 2 Cor. ii. 14, 
' Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in 
Christ/ Believers now are more than conquerors, they are triumphers 
over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Christ so routed Satan upon 
the cross, saith Ignatius, that he never since either hears or sees the 
cross, but he falls a-shaking and trembling. Believers, by holding forth 
to Satan the cross of Christ in the arms of faith, and by their laying 
hold onhis cross and pleading his cross, they do easily, they do fre- 
quently overcome him and triumph over him. But notwithstanding all 
this, ah ! how often doth the best of saints find the world, the flesh, and 
the devil triumphing sadly over them ? Now a Christian triumphs 
over Satan, Rom. vii. 14-25 ; by and by Christ withdraws, and then 
Satan triumphs over him. Now the believer leads captivity captive ; 
anon the believer is led captive ; this day a saint gets the wind and 
the hill of Satan, and beats him quite out of the field ; the next day 
Satan draws forth and falls on with new forces, with new arguments, 
with fresh strength, and then puts a Christian to a retreat, ay, too 
often to a rout. In many a battle a Christian is worsted, and much 
ado he hath to come off with his life. Oh but now death, that brings a 
Christian to a full, perfect, complete, absolute, and perpetual triumph 
over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Now a Christian shall for 
ever have the necks of these enemies under his feet ; now these enemies 
shall be for ever disarmed, so that they shall never be able to make 
resistance more, they shall never strike stroke more, they shall never 
affront a believer more, they shall never lead a believer captive more, 
&c. Oh why then should believers be afraid to die, be unwilling to die, 
seeing that their dying day is their triumphing day V But, 

[13.] Thirteenthly, As a believer's dying-day is his triumphing-day, 
so a believer's dying-day is his marriage-day, Hosea ii. 19, 20. In 
this life we are only betrothed to Christ ; in the life to come we shall 
be married to Christ. Here Christ and the believer is near, but death 
will bring Christ and the believer nearer ; here Christ and the believer 
is asked, and all things are agreed on between them, only the marriage- 
knot must be tied in heaven, the marriage-supper must be kept in 
heaven, Rev. xix. 5-10. And, therefore, several of the martyrs on their 
suffering-days, on their dying-days, they have invited several to their 
marriage, as they have phrased it, knowing right well, that their dying- 
days would be their marriage-days to Christ ; the very thoughts of 
which hath so raised and cheered, so warmed and inflamed their hearts, 
that they have made nothing of death, that they have outbraved death, 
that they have, to the great joy of their friends, and to the amazement 
and astonishment of their enemies, more resolutely, friendly, and 
sweetly embraced death, than they have their nearest and dearest 
relations. But in the 

1 The Romans used in all their hattles to lose at first, to win at last ; it is so with 

Christians. 



458 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

(14.) Fourteenth place, A Christian's dying day is his transplanting- 
day. Death transplants a believer from earth to heaven, from misery 
to glory, Job xiv. 14. Death to a saint is nothing but the taking of 
a sweet flower out of this wilderness, and planting of it in the <>ardeu 
ot paradise ; it is nothing but a taking of a lily from among thorns, 
and planting of it among those sweet roses of heaven which God 
delights to wear always in his bosom. Death is nothing but the taking 
off of a believer fully from the stock of the first Adam, and the planting 
of him perfectly and perpetually into that glorious stock, the second 
Ada m, the Lord Jesus, who is blessed for ever. Death is nothing but 
the taking off the believer from a more barren soil, and planting of him 
in a more fruitful soil. Here some Christians bring forth thirty, others 
sixty, and others a hundred-fold, Mat. xiii. 8. 23; but heaven is.so fruit- 
ful a soil, that there are none there but such as abound in the fruits of 
ri-liteousness and holiness, but such as bring forth a thousand-fold, yea, 
many thousand-fold. Here our hearts are like the isle of Patmos, which 
brings forth but little fruit ; but when they shall by death be trans- 
planted to heaven, they shall be like the tree in Alcinous's garden, that 
had always blossoms, buds, and ripe fruits, one under another. 1 

In the island of St Thomas, on the back side of Africa, in the midst 
of it is a hill, and over that a continual cloud, wherewith the whole 
island is watered and made fruitful. Such a cloud will Jesus Christ be 
to all those precious souls that shall be transplanted from earth to 
heaven. 

Oli ! why, then, should believers be unwilling to die, seeing that their 
dying day is but a transplanting day of their souls from earth to heaven, 
from a wilderness to a paradise ? But in the 

[15.] Fifteenth place, As a believer's dying day is the day of his 
transplantation, so his dying day is the day of his coronation. Here 
believers are kings elected, but when they die, they are kings crowned ; 
now they have a crown in reversion, but then they have a crown in 
possession ; now they have a crown in hope, but then they shall have a 
crown in hand, James i. 12, Rev.ii. 10. Death will at last bring the soul 
to a crown without thorns, to a crown without mixture, to a righteous 
crown, to a glorious crown, to an everlasting crown. Though a crown 
be the top of royalty, 2 and though beyond it the thoughts and wishes of 
mortal men extend not, yet most may say of their earthly crowns as 
that king said of his : O crown ! more noble than happy ! But death 
will set such a crown upon a believer's head as shall always flourish, ami 
as Bhall make him happy to all eternity. Here the believer, as his 
Saviour before him, is crowned with thorns, but death will turn that 
crown of thorns into a crown of pure gold, Ps. exxxii. 18, xxi. 3. 

Upon a triumph, all the Emperor Severus his soldiers, for the greater 
pomp, were to put on crowns of bays on their heads, but there was one 
Christian among them that wore this crown on his arm ; and it being 
demanded why he did so, he answered, Non decet Christianum in hoc 
vita corona/rij it becomes not a Christian to wear his crown in this life. 
The truth is, a Christian's crown never sits so fast, nor never so well 

1 Bomer Od. vi. 12, &c, 62, &c. ; an<l of. Hyginus. Fab. 125, 126.— G. 

- Still another Shukosperiau word, ' The round and top of sovereignty :' Macbeth, iv. 
1, &■., &e.— G. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 459 

becomes him, as when it is put on by a hand of death. Here most 
princes' crowns are the fruits of unrighteousness, but death will at last 
put upon the believer a crown of righteousness, or a righteous crown, 

2 Tim. iv. 7, 8; and so it is called, not only because it is purchased by 
the righteousness of Christ, but also to difference it from those unright- 
eous crowns, or crowns of unrighteousness, that the princes of this 
world put upon their own heads. „ Earthly crowns are corruptible, but 
death will put on the heads of believers an incorruptible crown, 1 Cor. 
ix. 25. 

Worldly crowns are fading and withering. Though king William the 
Conqueror was crowned three times every year, during his reign, at 
three several places, viz., Gloucester, Winchester, and Westminster, 
yet how soon did his crown fade and wither? 

But death will put such a crown upon the believer's head as shall 
never fade nor wither, 1 Pet. v. 4. Worldly crowns are tottering and 
shaking ; most princes' crowns hang but on one side of their heads, and 
all their interest, power, and policy cannot make them sit fast on both 
sides. But death will put upon the heads of believers an immortal 
crown, an unmoveable crown, an everlasting crown, an eternal crown, 
a crown that none can shake, that none can take, that none can conquer 
or overcome, 2 Cor. iv. 14-18, Rev. ii. 10. 

Oh, why then should Christians be afraid to die, or unwilling to die, 
seeing that their dying day is but their coronation day? Who would 
be unwilling to ride to a crown through a dirty lane or a rainy day ? 
But in the 

[16.] Sixteenth place, A gracious soul shall never die till his work 
be finished, and he prepared to die: and why then should he be unwill- 
ing to die when his work is done, and he prepared to go home ? When 
God hath no more work for you to do in this world, why then should 
you be unwilling to die, to go home? Now, till your work be finished 
that God hath cut out for you in this world, no power nor policy shall 
ever be able to cut off the thread of your lives ; in despite of all the 
world, and all the powers of hell, you shall do that work, be it more or 
less, that God hath appointed you to do in this world. The life of 
Christ was very often in danger, both among pretended friends and pro- 
fessed foes, but yet he still escapes all the snares that they had laid for 
him, and all the pits that they have digged for him, and that upon this 
very ground, ' That his time was not yet come, his hour was not yet 
come :' John vii. 30, ' Then they sought to take him : but no man laid 
hands on him, because his hour was not yet come ;' viii. 19, 20, ' Then 
said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither 
know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known 
my Father also. These words spake Jesus in the treasiuy, as he taught 
in the temple: and no man laid hands on him ; for his hour was not 
yet come.' 1 God can and will secure his people from the rage and 
malice of their enemies by a secret and invisible hand of providence, 
till they have finished the work that he hath set them about in this 
world. David was surrounded with enemies on all hands, but yet, in 
spite of them all, he keeps up till his work was done : Acts xiii. 36, ' For 
David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell 
1 God often bridles wicked men's malice and fury invisibly. 



160 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

on sleep.' Though many thrust sore at him, yet he did not fall asleep, 
he ilid not die till he had served his generation. Bonds and afflictions 
waited od Paul in every city, Acts xx. 23 ; so in that 2 Cor. xi. 28-28, 
■ In Btripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. 
< >f the Jews, five times received I forty stripes save one' (the Lord com- 
manded that the number of strokes should not exceed forty, Deut. 
\xv. 8, and therefore the Jews, that they might not transgress that law, 
gave one less); 'thrice was I beaten with rods, once was 1 stoned, thrice 
1 suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep, in 
journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by 
mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, 
in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils amongst false 
brethren. In weariness and painfullness, in watchings often, in hunger 
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness/ Acts xvi. 23, xiv. 
17. And yet notwithstanding all these hazards, hardships, dangers, 
deaths, Paul lives, and bravely bears up till his work was done, his course 
finished: 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8, ' I have fought a good fight, I have finished 
my course, I have kept the faith ;' and so in that Rev. xi. 7, The beast 
that ascended out of the bottomless pit, and that made war against the 
two witnesses, could not overcome them, nor kill them, till they had 
finished their testimony. Christians shall live to finish their testimony, 
and to do all that work that God hath cut out for them to do, in spite 
of all the beasts in the world, in spite of hell or antichrist. 

It was so with Ambrose ; a certain witch sent her spirits to kill him, 
but they returned answer, that God had hedged him in, as he did Job, 
so that they could not touch him. Another came with a sword to his 
bedside to have killed him ; but he could not stir his hand, till repent- 
ing, he was by the prayer of Ambrose restored to the use of his hands 
again. No means, no attempts, could cut him off till his work was 
done. 

So for Luther, a poor friar, to stand so stoutly against the pope, this 
was a great miracle ; but that he should prevail against the pope as he 
did, this was a greater ; and that after all he should die in his bed, 
notwithstanding all the enemies he had, and the several designs they 
had to have destroyed him, this was the greatest of all; and yet for all 
that the pope or the devil his father could do, Luther, when he had 
finished his testimony, dies in his bed. Oh ! why then should any 
Christian be unwilling to die, seeing he shall not die till his work be 
done, till his testimony be finished ? 

And as a believer shall not die till his work be done, so he shall not 
die till he be prepared to die. A believer is always habitually prepared 
to die ; ay, even then when he is not actually prepared ; yet then he 
is habitually prepared to die, for he hath not his ark to build, nor his 
lamp to trim, nor his oil to buy, nor his pardon to seal, nor his peace 
to make, nor his graces to get, nor his interest in Christ to seek, nor 
divine favour to secure, nor a righteousness to look after, &c. That 
promise is full of honey and sweetness that you have in Job v. 26, 
' Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn 
cometh in in his season.' The husbandman brings not his corn into 
Ins barn till it be full ripe, no more will God take his children out of 
this world till they are fit for another world ; he will not transplant 



1 Peter I. 4. J A string of pearls. 461 

them from earth till they are fit, till they are prepared for heaven. It 
is with Christians as it is with the fruits of the earth ; some are ripe 
sooner, some later ; but as we, so God will gather none till they are 
ripe for glory. Some souls, like some fruits, are ripe betimes ; other 
Christians, like other fruit, are a longer time of ripening ; and so God 
gathers his fruit in as they ripen, some sooner, some later, but none till 
they are in a measure ripe for heaven. And why, then, should Chris- 
tians be unwilling to die, seeing they shall not die till they are prepared 
to die ? I do not say they shall not die till they think they are fit to 
die, or till they say they are prepared to die ; for they may be graciously 
prepared and sweetly fitted to die, and yet may judge otherwise, by 
reason of Satan's sleights, or some spiritual distemper that may hang 
upon them, or from a natural fear of death, and some great unwilling- 
ness to die ; but they shall not die till they are either actually or 
habitually prepared to die, till they are ripe for glory ; and therefore 
be not, oh be not, Christians, unwilling to die. But in the 

[17.] Seventeenth place, When a righteous man dies, he shall leave 
a sweet savour behind him, his name shall live tuhen he is dead, Heb. 
xi. Are not the names of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, 
and other saints, a sweet savour to this very day? We know there is 
no sweet savour to that they have left behind them : Ps. cxii. 6, ' The 
righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance/ Prov. x. 7, ' The 
memory of the just is blessed::' the Septuagint thus translates it, 'The 
memory of the just is with praises.' Many are the praises that wait on 
the name of the just when their bodies are in the dust ; no scent so 
sweet as that which the just man leaves behind him : Eccles. vii. 1, 
' A good name is better than precious ointment. ,] He doth not say a 
great name, a name arising from outward greatness, but a good name, 
a name arising from inward goodness, and manifested by outward holi- 
ness ; that is the name that is better than precious ointment. Oint- 
ment only reaches the nostrils, but a good name reaches to the cheering 
and the warming of the heart: The Chaldee reads this verse thus : 
Melius est nomen bonum quod comparabunt justi in hoc sceculo, quam 
unguentum unctionis, quod fuerit inunctum super capita regum et sacer- 
dotum : better is the good name which the just shall obtain in this 
world, than the ointment of anointing which was poured upon the 
heads of the kings and priests. Though a believer may not leave great 
sums of money behind him, nor yet thousands nor hundreds a-year be- 
hind him, yet he shall leave a good name behind him, which answers 
to all, nay, which outweighs all the riches, gallantry, and glory of this 
world. That heathen [Plautus] hit right -who said, Ego si bonam famam 
servasso, sat dives ero. If I may but keep a good name, I have wealth 
enough. It is a greater mercy to leave a good name behind us than 
to leave the riches of a kingdom, yea, of a world, behind us. But in 
the, 

[18.] Eighteenth place, Death is nothing but the believer's inlet into 
glory. Death is the gate of life, it is the gate of paradise ; it is the mid- 
wife to bring eternity to bed. When Jacob saw the chariots that were 
to bring him to Joseph, his spirit revived, Gen. xlv. 27. Ah, Christian! 

1 The initial letter t3 of the Hebrew word tob, that is, for good, is bigger than ordinary, 
to shew the exceeding excellence of a good name. 



402 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

death is that chariot that will bring thee not only to a sight of Jacob 
and Joseph, but also to a blessed sight of God, Christ, angels and 'the 
spirits of just men made perfect, Heb. xii. 23, 24. Here we meet with 
many inlets to sin, to sorrow, to affliction, to temptation ; but death, of 
all inlets, is the most happy inlet ; it lets the soul into a full fruition of 
God, to the perfection of grace, and to the heights of glory ; and why, 
then, should a gracious soul be unwilling to die? But I must hasten 
to a close ; therefore in the, 

[19.] Nineteenth place, Was Jesus Christ so willing to leave heaven, 
his Father's bosom, his crown, his dignity, his glory, his royal attend- 
ance, to come into this world to suffer the saddest and the heaviest 
t/rl tigs that ever was thought of, that ever was heard of, for thy sins, 
for thy sake ? and wilt thou be unwilling to die, and to go to him who 
hath suffered so much, who hath paid so much, who hath prepared so 
much for thee? 1 Ah, Christian, Christian! why dost thou not rather rea- 
son thus with thy own soul: Did Christ die for me, that I might live with 
him ? I will not therefore desire to live long from him. All men go 
willingly to see him whom they love, and shall I be unwilling to die, 
that I may see him whom my soul loves ? Oh, I will not ! oh, I dare 
not ! oh, 1 may not ! Others venture through many dangers and many 
deaths to see their friends and relations, and why then shouldst not 
thou, O Christian ! be willing to venture through death to the Lord of 
life, to him that is thy crown, thy comfort, thy head, thy husband, thy 
heaven, thy all ? &c. But, in the 

[20.] Twentieth and last place, Consider, O believer ! that thou 
always standest before God in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who is 
(■ailed the Lord our righteousness, and who, of God, is made unto thee 
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, Jer. xxiii. 6 ; J 
Cor. i. 30; Whilst thou livest thou standest before God, not in the 
righteousness of thy duties, nor in thy gracious dispositions, which are 
but weak and imperfect, but in the pure, perfect, matchless, and spot- 
less righteousness of Jesus Christ. And when thou diest thou appear- 
est before God in the same glorious righteousness, so that thou mayest 
appear before God's unspotted justice and holiness with the greatest 
boldness and comfort that is imaginable, upon the account of that 
righteousness with which thou art clothed: Ps. xlv. 13j 'The king's 
daughter is all glorious within' (there is her inward glory ; grace makes 
the soul glorious within) ; 'her clothing is of wrought gold' Some read 
it purled work, or closures of gold, enamelled with gold ; such as pre- 
cious stones were set in, which were exceeding splendid and glorious, 
and which shadowed forth the glorious righteousness of our Lord Jesus, 
Exod. xxviii. 11, 14 ; xxxix. 1-5, &c. This clothing of wrought gold is 
the glorious righteousness of our Lord Jesus. Now, in life and in 
death, the believer stands before God in the glorious golden robes of 
Christ's righteousness ; and hence it is that believers are said to be all 
fair and without spot, and to be without spot or wrinkle, and to be 
complete in Christ, and to be without fault before the throne of God ; 2 
and why then should a believer be unwilling to die and appear before 
God ? By reason of this clothing of wrought gold, you stand spotless, 

1 One of the fathers longer! to die, that he might see that head that was crowned with 
thorns. 2 Cant. iv. 7; Eph. v. 1!7 ; Col. ii. 10; Rev. xiv. 4, 5. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 463 

blameless, and faultless before God. This golden clothing', this glorious 
righteousness of Christ, is as truly and really the believer's, and as fully 
and completely the believer's, as if it were his very own. Ah ! no 
clothing to this. The costly cloak of Alcisthenes, which Dionysius sold 
to the Carthaginians for a hundred talents, was indeed a mean and 
beggarly rag to this embroidered mantle that Christ puts upon all 
believers. And therefore a Christian, both living and dying, should 
say with the psalmist, 'I will make mention of thy righteousness, of 
thy righteousness only,' Ps. lxxi. 15, 16, 19. Let them be afraid to die, 
let them be unwilling to die, who must appear before God in their sins, 
and in their own i-ighteousness, which at best is but as filthy rags, Isa. 
lxiv. 6. But as for thee, O Christian, who shalt always appear before 
God in clothing of wrought gold, be not thou afraid of death, be not 
thou unwilling to die, but rather desire it, rather long for it, 1 Cor. xv. 
55-57, because thou art clothed with such righteousness as will bear 
thee up sweetly in it, as will carry thee bravely through it, and as will 
make thee triumph over it. Christ's righteousness is a Christian's 
white raiment, in which he stands pure before God, Rev. iii. 18, and 
Rev. xix. 7, 8, 'Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory to him : for 
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself 
ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine 
linen, clean and white : for the linen is the righteousness of saints.' 
By the fine, clean, white linen which is here called the righteousness, 
or, as the Greek hath it, the righteousnesses of saints, most understand 
the glorious righteousness of Christ. 1 Righteousness is an Hebraism, 
noting that most perfect absolute righteousness which we have in 
Christ; white is a natural colour, it is a colour of purity, ornament, and 
honour. It was the habit in times past of nobles, saith Drusius, and 
others. Now in this pure, clean, white linen all the saints are clothed, 
and so presented to God by Jesus Christ; and why then should they be 
unwilling to die ? Here is not a speck, not a spot, to be found upon 
this white linen, which is the righteousness of saints, which should 
make saints rather to pursue after death, than to fly from it, or to be 
unwilling to welcome it when it comes. 

I am not ignorant that this unwillingness to die most usually springs 
from those low and dark apprehensions men have of God, and from 
weakness of faith, and from coldness of love, and from laying the 
creatures too near our hearts, and from our little communion with God, 
aud our rare taking of turns in paradise, and from our not treasuring 
up a stock of promises, and a stock of experiences, &c. I have also 
considered what a dishonour to God, a reproach to Christ, a grief to the 
Spirit, a scandal to religion, a blot to profession, a mischief to sinners, 
and a wrong to saints, it is, for Christians to be unwilling to die, or to 
be afraid of death, which hath occasioned me to muster up these twenty 
considerations to work you to be willing to die; and if these will not 
prevail with you, I profess I do not know what will. 

Obj. I would be willing to die, if I had but assurance: but that is the 
jewel I want ; and therefore I am unwilling to die. 

(1.) First, I answer, It may be thou hast assurance, though not such a 
measure of assurance, such a plerojjhory or full assurance, as thou 
1 iiKaiu/mru, i. e. say some, imputed and imparted righteousness. 



464 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PeTEB I. 4. 

desirest. A perfect, complete, absolute ami full assurance is very desir- 
able on earth, but I think few attain to it till they come to heaven. 
This sparkling diamond God hangs in few saints' bosoms till they come 
to glory. But, 

•j 8 sondly, 1 answer, The least grace, if true, 'is sufficient to sulfa- 
tion, Mat. v. 3, 10; and therefore the sense of the leasl grace, or of the 
measure of grace, should be sufficient to assurance of salvation. 

.". Thirdly, The time of death is one of the most usual seasons wherein 
Qod gives his child/ren tin- sweetest and fullest assurance of his love, of 
their interest in him, and of their right to <il<>r>/. When there was but 
a step, a si lido, between Stephen and death, then he saw heaven open, 
and Christ standing at the right hand of his Father, Acts vii. 55-60. 

Mr Glover, though he had been long under clouds and much darkness, 
yet when he came near the fire, he cried out to his friend, O Austin, 
Austin, he is come, he is come ! meaning the Lord, in the sweet and 
glorious discoveries of his love and favour to him; and so ho died, with 
a in-art full of joy and assurance. 1 

Mr Frogmorton, a precious godly minister, lived thirty-seven years 
without assurance, after the Lord had wrought savingly upon him, and 
then died at Master Dod's, having assurance but an hour before he died. 2 

I could here give you divers examples, of a later date, of many pre- 
cious Christians who have lived close with God many years, and have 
been much in seeking of assurance, and the Lord hath hold them niY 
till a few years before their death, and then he hath filled their souls so 
full of the sense of his love, and the assurance of their everlasting wel- 
fare, that they have died under the power of their joys. Assurance is 
a free gift of God, and God loves to give his gifts to his children when 
they may most eheer them, and be of greatest use and service to them ; 
and when is that, but at the day of death ? And therefore Christians 
should not be unwilling to die for want of assurance, because that is a 
special season wherein God usually gives assurance to his children. 

But, 

(4.) Fourthly and lastly, Thou mayest die and rjo to heaven without 
assurance. This truth, with several others of the like import, that may 
further satisfy such as are unwilling to die, I have made good in that 
treatise of mine called 'Heaven on Earth,' 3 and to that I refer the 
reader for further satisfaction, if what is said do not satisfy. 

The next inference, then, that I shall make, and so hasten to a close, 
is this : 

1 Clarke, as before. — G. 

2 The aliove incident is strikingly told in Brooks's favourite folio, and may here he 
given :— Mr Frogmorton was a man of high reputation, and a pious and zeaioiu preacher 
of the word; but labouring, in the decline of life, under a consumption, and being 
oppressed with melancholy apprehensions about the safety of his state, be removed to 

\'shl>v, near Faosley, in Northamptonshire, to enjoy the counsel and advii f the vener- 
able Mr John Dod. " A little before he died, he asked Mr Dod, Baying ' What will you 
say of him who is going out of the world, and can find no comfort? ' Whet will you say 
of oni Saviour Cbrisl V replied Mr Dod, ' who, when fa was going out of the world, found 
no comfort, hut cried, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'" This adminis- 
tered consolation to Mr Throgmorton's troubled mind, and he departed soon after, re- 
joicing in the Lord.'— Clarke's ' Martyrologie, as before, p. 172.— G. 
J See this treatise in Vol. II. — G. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 465 

If the best things are reserved for believers, then let not Christians 
mourn immoderately, 1 Thes. iv. 13, 14. Oh ! be not over-much 
afflicted and grieved for the death of husband, wife, child, sister, friend, 
who dies in the Lord ; for they are but gone to take possession of those 
great and glorious things that are reserved in heaven for them. This 
deceased saint is now gone to her home, to her heaven, to her God that 
hath loved her, to her Christ that hath died for her, and to her crown 
that was prepared for her. Abraham mourned moderately for his dear 
deceased Sarah, Gen. xxiii. 2, as is imported by a small caph in that 
Hebrew word that signifies to weep ; and that not because she was old 
and over-worn, as some Rabbins say, but because death to her was but 
an inlet into glory : death did but bring her to a happy fruition of all 
those glorious things that God hath laid up for them that love him. 
Death, that seems to dispossess a Christian of all, puts him into a pos- 
session of all ; of all joys, of all comforts, of all delights, of all contents, 
of all happiness, of all blessedness; and why then should our sorrow, our 
tears overflow the banks of moderation ? Sorrow is good for nothing 
but for sin. Now that the child is dead, wherefore should I fast and 
weep ? said David. Grief preceding evil, if it be used for a remedy, 
cannot be too much ; but that which follows an evil past, cannot be too 
little. 

When Ezekiel lost his wife, the delight of his eyes, he must not 
weep, Ezek. xxiv. 15-17. When Mary the mother of Jesus stood by the 
cross of her only dear Son, she wept not, as Ambrose saith,- John xix. 
25-27. We may say of our deceased friend, as the Jews of their father 
Jacob, Non est mortuus, he is not dead ; or as our Saviour of Lazarus, 
' He is not dead, but sleepeth,' John xi. 1 1 ; and the maid, ' Why trouble 
you yourselves ? they are not dead, but sleep/ To die, in the prophet 
Isaiah's phrase, is but to lie down in our beds, Isa. xliii. 17 ; lvii. 1, 2. 
So Asa the king's coffin is called a bed, 2 Chron. xvi. 14. And when 
' thy days shall be fulfilled,' saith Nathan to David, ' and thou shalt sleep 
with thy fathers ;' or, as the original hath it, ' and thou shalt lie down 
with thy fathers,' 2 Sam. vii. 12. Death is nothing but a sleeping with 
our fathers, or a lying down in the bed with our fathers and friends, 
who have lain down before us. And, therefore, when a friend, a wife, a 
child dies, and leaves this world, we are to bid them but good night, as 
the primitive Christians used to do, in sure and certain hope to meet 
them in the morning of the resurrection. 

The ancients were wont to call the days of their death natalia, not 
dying days but birth-days. It hath been the custom, saith Haymo, 1 
when a child of God departed this life, to call it not the day of his death, 
but the day of his nativity. The Jews to this day stick not to call their 
Golgothas Batte Cajim, the houses or places of the living. 

The Jews' ancient custom was, by the way as they went with their 
corpse, to pluck up every one the grass, as who should say, they were 
not sorry for the death of their friends and relations, as men without 
hope, for they were but so cropped off, and should spring up again in 
due season. 2 Ah, friends ! if you will needs mourn, then mourn for 

. 1 Bishop of Halberstat : see list of writings in Watt's Bib. Brit., sub nomine. — G. 
2 The Persian kings would have no mournings, nor mourning apparel worn in their 
presence. 

VOL. I. G S 



466 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 

yourselves, mourn for your sins, mourn for the barrenness and baseness 
of your own hearts ; but do not mourn, at least excessively, for the death 
of any Christian friend or relation, seeing that death gives them a quiet 
and full possession of all that glory and happiness that is reserved in 
heaven for them. 

The next use is cause of comfort and consolation to all the people of 
God. If it be so that the best things are reserved for believers till they 
come to heaven, then this may serve to comfort the people of God, 
and that, 

(1.) First, against their poor, low, and mean condition in this world. 
Ah ! poor Christians, what though you have little in hand, yet you have 
much in hope; though you have little in possession, yet you have much 
in reversion. He that hath but little in present possession, yet if he 
hath a fair estate in reversion, he comforts himself, and solaces his spirit 
in the thoughts of it, that there will come a day when he shall live like 
a man, when he shall live bravely and sweetly ; and this makes him sing 
care and sorrow away. Why ! Christians, do you do so : you have 
a fine, a fair estate in reversion, though you have but little in posses- 
sion ; and therefore bear up bravely and live comfortably, James ii. 5 ; 
2 Tim. iv. 7, 8 ! Ps. xvi. 6. 

Christ, who was the heir of all, yet he lived poor and died poor, Mat. 
viii. 20. As he was born in another man's house, so he was buried in 
another man's tomb. When Christ died he made no will ; he had no 
crown lands; only his coat was left, and that the soldiers parted among 
them. If thy outward condition be conformable to his, there is no 
reason why thou shouldst be discouraged, for thou hast a rich and royal 
revenue that will shortly come into thy hand, and then thou shalt 
never know what poverty and penury means more : and for thy comfort, 
know, that though men may for thy poverty despise thee, yet the Lord 
doth highly prize thee. It was a good saying of Basil, Placet sibi Deus 
abstrusam in despecto corpore margavitam conspicatus. 1 God pleaseth 
himself, beholding a hidden pearl in a despised and disrespected body. 
The truth is, Christians, if there were any real happiness in the things 
of this life, you should have them, but it is not in all the wealth and 
glory of this world to make up a happiness to you ; and therefore, as the 
enjoyment of them should not swell the rich, so the want of them should 
not trouble the poor. The angels and saints departed in heaven are 
happy, and yet they have neither silver nor gold; they are blessed and 
yet they have none of the gay things of this life, they have none of the 
gallantry and glory of this world. You have now your worst, your best 
days are to come; it will not be long before you shall have your portion 
in hand; therefore live sweetly and walk comfortably up and down this 
world. But, 

(2.) Secondly, If the best things are reserved for believers till they 
come to heaven, then this may serve to comfort them against all outward 
abasements from the malignant world? What though you are counted 
as the scum, the dirt, the filth, the scraping, the offscouring of the 
world, by men that know not, that see not, that believe not what great 
and glorious things are reserved in heaven for you ? Yet at last you 

1 Basil, Selu oratione 16. 

2 No man is able to bear so mucb contempt as Cbriat bears daily, saith Luther. 



1 Peter I. 4.] a string of pearls. 467 

shall be advanced to that dignity, and be made partakers of that felicity 
and glory, which shall work amazement and astonishment in those that 
now despise you and vilify you. Those that now count you the troublers 
of their Israel, shall be troubled with a witness, when they shall see you 
with crowns upon your heads and the royal robes of glory upon your 
backs, and two-edged swords in your hands, to execute the vengeance 
written, Ps. cxlix. 4-9. Men that know their future greatness, are 
not troubled at reproaches ; they think themselves above reproaches ; 
they can divinely scorn scorns and contemn contempts. Ah, Christians ! 
how can you seriously consider of your future greatness, happiness, and 
glory, and not bear up sweetly and comfortably against all the contempt 
that you may meet with in this world ? 

And thus I have done with this subject, which of one sermon is 
multiplied into several, by a good hand of heaven upon me. I shall 
follow this poor piece with my weak prayers, that it may be a mercy to 
hearers, readers, and writer. 



AN ELEGY 

Upon the Death of Mrs Mary Blake, the Wife of Mr Nicholas 
Blake, of London, Merchant. 

Wheke virtue, seated in the heart, 
Shining forth in suiting acts of life, 
Oh ! what delight doth it impart 
To pious minds ! Experience rife 

Of thee we have, as otherwise, 

So in this godly woman's guise. 

Her sweet endowments, pregnant wit, 
And holy graces from above, 
How made they her an object fit 
No less for wonder than for love ! 

Such precious fruit, so ripe, though green 

In so few years, is seldom seen. 

They who enjoyed the sight and sense 
Of her dear converse, to her close, 
Oh ! what contentment did from thence 
To them arise ! chiefly to those 

Who nearest to her did relate, 

In blood, in grace, or married state. 

Parents' dear comfort, husband's glory, 
Kindred's honour, friendship's praise. 
To after-times a fair writ story 
For a pattern to their ways : 

All these in her did meet, as one 

That suited all and failed none. 

Thus, while we her enjoyed, she was 
A precious cordial to us all ; 
Rut now, being taken hence, alas ! 
From joys unto laments we fall. 

Thus sith her loss to all extends, 

Sorrow doth seize on all her friends. 



468 A STRING OF PEARLS. [1 PETER I. 4. 



It doth indeed ; nor do we find 
That God Almighty doth dislike 
Good nature's working in this kind. 
When us in ours he thus doth strike. 
Their deathbeds, while in this sad trim, 
We may besprink, but not make swim. 

Tears from our eyes like precious dew, 

As from a lymbeck may drop out, 

Not flow, as usually we view, 

Like common water from a spout. 
Why should they ? sith to our relief 
We have cause no less of joy than grief? 

This friend of ours for whom we weep 

Is safely come unto the shore ; 

She is not dead, but fall'n asleep, 

And only gone to bed before. 
And we, when ended is our pain, 
Shall sleep with her, and wake again. 

Mean season, as for her, we know 
Where, aud with whom, and how she dwells, 
In heaven with Christ, and myriads mo,; 
Whose presence all delight excels ; 

And there she sings with high desire 

Her hallelujahs in full choir. 

All this she studied here, but never 

Could fully tell what it should be, 

Till God did soul from body sever, 

And took it up these joys to see : 
There let her rest, until we meet 
Each other in that place to greet. 

Mart. Blake. 



END OF VOL. I. 



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