Scripture Light the Most Sure Light, Title page – To the reader
I. SCRIPTURE-LIGHT, THE MOST SURE LIGHT:
In compare with,
1. Revelations and Viſions.
2. Natural, and Supernatural Dreams.
3. Impreſſions with, and without the Word.
4. Light and Law within.
5. Divine Providence.
6. Chriſtian Experience.
7. Humane Reaſon.
8. Judicial Aſtrologie.
Delivered in Three Sermons, on 2 Pet. 1.19.
II. CHRIST IN TRAVEL:
Wherein
1. The greatneſs of his Travel, both in Soul and Body.
2. The firſt, and after Effects of his Death.
3. His Aſſurance of Iſſue.
4. His Satisfaction therein.
Are opened and cleered, in Three Sermons, on Iſai. 53.11.
III. A LIFTING UP for the DOWN-CAST:
In caſe of
1. Great Sins.
2. Weakneſs of Grace.
3. Miſcarriage of Duties.
4. Want of Aſſurance.
5. Affliction.
6. Temptation.
7. Deſertion.
8. Ʋnſerviceableneſs.
9. Diſcouragements from the Condition it ſelf.
Delivered in Thirteen Sermons, on Pſal. 42.11.
Four ſeveral Sermons, concerning,
1. The Sin againſt the Holy Ghoſt.
2. Sins of Infirmity.
3. The Falſe Apoſtle, tryed, and diſcovered.
4. The Good and Means of Eſtabliſhment.
Preached by VVilliam Bridge; ſomtimes Fellow of Emmanuel Colledg in Cambridg; and now Paſtor of the Church of Chriſt in Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk.
Sine gratia ſordet Natura.
London: Printed by Peter Cole in Leaden-Hall, and are to be ſold in his Shop, at the Sign of the Printing-Preſs in Cornhil, neer the Royal Exchange. 1656.
To the Worſhipful, Maurice Thompſon, Eſquire; George Thompſon, Eſquire; William Thompſon, Eſquire, Sheriff of London; Robert Thompſon, Eſq; SR John Wittewrong, Knight; William Ofield Eſquire; Samuel Champnes, Elias Roberts, and William Hawkins, Eſquires: With their Wives and Children, Grace and Peace.
Honored, and Beloved in our Lord Jeſus.
IT is not want of reſpect that I ſeem thus to crowd your Names together, I owe more than an Epiſtle to each of your Names, but becauſe God hath made you one, though branched into ſeveral Habitations, I take the boldneſs to preſent this work to you, as unto one Family: It is written of the Stork,Ciconiae mos eſt, unum è pullis relinquere Domui qua nidulata eſt. Ludo Vives. that ſhe uſeth to leave one of her Young ones to the Houſe where ſhe made her neſt, and upon that account ſome of my labors do belong to your Family, where I ſtudyed, and from whence I Preached them: ſome of you and yours have often deſired the Publiſhing of theſe Notes, and being Printed, whither ſhould the Preſs ſend them but to your Door? you are the Family with whom I have had the honor to converſe much whilſt living; and now the Bloſſoms of the Grave are upon me, I dedicate theſe Notes unto you, that by them I may live and ſpeak with you when my Head ſhal lie under the Clods: you are a Family whom the Lord hath bleſſed and rayſed not only to a great eſtate in the world, but to the ſaving knowledg of his Son, our dear Savior, and whom ſhould I ſerve and honor but thoſe whom God honors and bleſſeth?
1. That Family is not far from bleſsing, which hath Godly Children, Children trayned up and ſeaſoned with the Grace of Chriſt from the Cradle; The Lord bleſſed the Houſe of Obed-edom, and wherein did that bleſſing conſiſt? the Scripture tells us. 1 Chron. 26. That ſome of his Children were Porters in the Houſe of God, others were mighty Men of Valor, able Men for ſtrength and ſervice, and the reaſon is given ver 5. For the Lord bleſſed him, So that Children uſeful and ſerviceable both in Church and State are a great bleſſing unto a Family.foreign à foreign quia filius eſt aedificium patris. The Hebrews ſay, that Children are the Fathers building, and indeed he builds wiſely that doth lay the Foundations of his Houſe in a Godly Seed. Loe, Children (ſaith the Pſalmiſt) are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the Womb are his reward, as Arrowes in the Hand of the mighty, ſo are Children of the youth, bleſſed is the Man that hath his Quiver ful of them; Eſpecially where theſe Arrowes are wel headed & wel hearted too. And upon this account it is good for great Families to have good Servants: For, corrupt Servants do debauch Children, and debauched Children do ſcatter Brimſtone upon the Houſe of their Fathers.
2. Neither is that Family an unbleſſed Family which is ſtrict in the obſervation of the Sabbath or the Lords day; God hath bleſſed that day that he might bleſs them who do keep that day: hereby England hath been bleſſed with the power of godlineſs more than other Nations; My Sabbath, (ſaith God) ſhall be a ſign between me and thee. Servaſti diem Daminicam? Chriſtianus ſum 'intermittere non poſſum.And in the Primitive times when a Chriſtian was asked whether he had kept the Lords day, his anſwer generally was, I am a Chriſtian, I cannot neglect it; as if the obſervation of the Lords day were the badg of a Chriſtian: this is the Girdle of al our Duties, and in reſpect of this Girdle I may ſay, Ungirt, unbleſſed; the vallies of the week day are bleſſed by the upper ſprings of this day; and as the Commandement doth eſpecially poynt at, and look wiſhly upon the Maſter of the Family, (ſaying, Neither thou, nor thy Son, nor thy Daughter, &c.) So doth the bleſſing alſo.
3. Bleſſed is that Family which doth induſtriouſly ſeek to build the Houſe of God and the Houſe of the Poor; David did but intend to build Gods Houſe, and the Lord promiſed him to build his Houſe. The Egiptian Midwives ſpared the Iſraelites Children, whereby the Poor Families and Houſes of the Iſraelites were built, And the Lord dealt wel with the Midwives and made them Houſes, Exod. 1.20.
4. Neither is that Family far from bleſsing which is a friend to the Miniſtry. Receiving, hiding, and refreſhing the paynful, and faithful Miniſters and Preachers of the Goſpel; The Lord give mercy (ſaith Paul) to the Houſe of Oneſiphorus, for he hath refreſhed me, Not once and no more, but, he hath oft refreſhed me: nor did he do this becauſe I followed him and ſought him out, but, he ſought me out very diligently and found me And in the day of my greateſt affliction he was not aſhamed of me, for he was not aſhamed of my Chains, wherefore the Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy in that day; and give mercy unto the Houſe of Oneſiphorus. 2 Tim. 1.16.17.18. He that receiveth a Prophet (ſaith our Savior) in the Name of a Prophet, ſhal receive a Prophets reward, and what is the reward of a Prophet but to profit by the Prophet, and to have a ſhare in his Venture, and in al that good which he doth by his Miniſtry.
5. A praying Family alſo is a precious Family and bleſſed, Niſi Dominus aedificaverit domum fruſtra laborat quiſquis eam aedificat, Pſal. 127. Non enim dicit, Dominus aedificat domum nomine ſcilicet laborante, ſed ita, niſi Dominus aediſica verit fruſtra laborat perinde ac ſi diceret, labore quidem opus eſt, ſed hujus conatum fruſtra ſumi ſi ſolus erit, non enim laboris ſedulitas ſed Dei benedictio rem faecundatet omnia perficit. Luther farrago Epiſtol.eſpecially where Prayer and paynes, Religion and Righteouſneſs, Frugallity and Liberallity are in conjunction: ſome are much for payns taking, and Little for Prayer; Others are much for Prayer, and little for paynes taking; ſome are much for Religion, and little for Righteouſneſs; others are much for Righteous dealings, and little for Religion; ſome are much for Frugallity, & little for Liberallity; others are much for Liberallity, & little for Frugallity; but bleſſed is that Family, where Prayer and paynes, Religion and Righteouſneſs, Frugallity and liberality meet and dwel together under one Roof
Now thoſe things I have ſeen amongſt you: Only, as heretofore ſo now labor to abound therein more and more, that you and your Family may be as the field which the Lord bleſſeth. And as God hath raiſed you to an outward greatneſs in the world,Nec quicquam in te mutaverit fortunae amplitudo niſi ut prodeſſe tandundem poſſes et velles. Plin. Epiſt. ad Veſpaſ. ſo let your hearts be great for God, that what Pliny reported of Veſpaſian, may be truely ſaid of you; your abundance hath changed nothing in you, but this, that your power to do good is now made anſwerable to your wil; counting it greater mercy to lay out for God, than to lay up for your ſelves, for it may be when you come to die, you wil have more comfort in what you have laid out for God, than in what you have laid up for your Children. And why ſhould we not give that to God by an act of our Faith which he gave to us by an act of his Love?
And as for your Children, if I might not exceed the bounds of an Epiſtle, I would ſay to them.
1. Children, O Children know your Fathers, & the God of your Fathers, Know your parents, for that is the firſt Comandement with Promiſe, & you ſhal honor your ſelves in honoring them.Camerar. oper. ſubcis. Centur. 1. cap. 66. Its recorded of the Catanenſes, that they 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 Fathers Houſe was al in a Flame. And of al the Birds, the Stork hath the Name for the good Bird, and why? but becauſe the younger of them do help and bear up the Elder, their weak Parents;foreign pia avi…, cicon…s eximia ineſt pietas: etonim quantum temporis impenderint foetibus educandis, tancum et ipſae à pullis ſuis invicem aluntur Solinus, cap. 11. Schind. Parentes ſenectute confectos humeris ſuis geſtare dicuntur. Avenar. but though your Parent is to be honored, yet your God is more to be honored. If you know God when you are young, God wil know you when you are Old; remember therefore your Creator in the daies of your Youth: and your Creator wil remember you in the daies of your Age.
2. Take heed of youthful ſins, for the ſweet ſins of our Youth, do bite ſore in our Age.
3. Get an inward principle of Grace in your own Soules, For if you live on your Parents Root, when your Parents die, your goodneſs wil die too; and therefore look wel to the laying of your Foundation, which is not to be laid in diſputation but Humilation.
4. Be not unwilling, to bear the Yoak in the daies of your Youth, For he that can carry a calfe when he is Young, wil carry an Ox when he is old: Affliction gives you underſtanding, it is the School of Experience.Vituli triturantes quotidir ligantur vituli mactandi quotidie in paſcuis libere relinqountur. Auguſt. The Oxen that are for uſe, are kept tied up, when thoſe that are fatted for the Shambles are let looſe into the Paſtures to feed at their pleaſure.
5. Be not too confident of what you can do or wil do; Young Men are apt to be too confident, as Old Men are apt to be too fearful; but the beſt Swimmers are the ſooneſt drowned, becauſe of their confidence: wherefore in all thy waies acknowledg the Lord, and leane not to thine own underſtanding. Pro. 3.
6. When you come to the great turns of your life, be ſure that you make a right choyce, For every Man is as his choyce is, if there be any Dirt on the Hands, it wil appear in the Knuckles, the turning places; and if there be Dirt in your Lives, it wil be found, and appear in your great turns.
7. Let your dwelling place be, where God dwels, and he dwels where his Ordinances are, For there he records his Name; but though you live under Ordinances in regard of your Station, yet live above them in regard of your affection, paſsing through them unto Chriſt, and through Chriſt, into the Boſome of the Father; it was not Davids ſling that killed Goliah, but the Name of God in the uſe of the ſling.
8. Seek not great things for your ſelves, in this world, For if your Garments be too long, they wil make you ſtumble, and one ſtaff helps a Man in his Journey, when many in his Hands at once hinder him; but labor to do great things for God,Infima pars faelicitatis perfectae eſt terrena faelicitas. Auſtin. and God wil do great things for you; Terrene or earthly Faelicity, is the loweſt Part of perfect Faelicity.
9. Be much in private Prayer, for the more you come to God, the more welcome you are, his Cuſtomers have the beſt Pennyworths; and if God do much for you in the Morning-duty, do much for him al the day after;A prece principium. and if you have little from God in the morning, walk humbly all the day after.
10. Let your company be alwaies ſuch as you may get good from, or do good unto; When you are alone, think of good things; and when you are in company, ſpeak of good things.
11. Keep the truth, and the truth will keep you.
12. And whatever mercy or bleſsing you receive, trace it to Heaven Gates, and to Chriſts Blood; For it flowed from Chriſts Blood, and leades you to Heaven; And the God of peace, that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jeſus, that great Shepheard of the Sheep, through the Blood of the everlaſting Covenant, make you all (Parents and Children) perfect in every good work to do his wil, working in you, that which is wel pleaſing in his ſight, through Jeſus Chriſt, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Your Servant in the Goſpel of Chriſt. WILLIAM BRIDGE.
TO THE READER.
Good Reader.
THe following Sermons, on Pſal. 42. I have peruſed, and find that they are the ſame which I Preached divers years ſince, being then taken by a good Pen as they fell in Preaching: They have been long buryed in ſilence, and ſhould have reſted in their Grave, had not the importunity of ſome, who heard them Preached, raiſed them from that Death. Mine own Notes were not legible enough for the Preſs; In anſwer therefore to their deſires, I have corrected theſe; ſome things I have altered, ſome things added, and ſome Repetitions (fit enough for the Pulpit) I have filed off; what is wanting let thy goodneſs ſupply. I have alſo joyned with them, ſome other Sermons, of more doctrinal concernment (theſe being moſtly practical) that ſo thy mind, and Heart, may be at once exerciſed, wherein I have rather applyed my ſelf to the Jnſtructive part of Preaching, than to Scholaſtical diſputation. For, I know the Univerſities have able and faithful Men, more fit for that work. Neither have I undertaken any Engliſh Adverſary; and if I have troaden upon any Mans Toes, I hope he wil excuſe me, for I can ſay truly, Sir, I ſaw you not. And if any Man ſhal ſay to me, as Davids Brother Eliab ſpake to him,1 Sam. 17.29: I know thy pride, and Malice of thine heart, that thou art come down to ſee the battle: I might anſwer, as David did; Is there not a Cauſe? When ſtrange Opinions and Errors are dayly Publiſhed, is there not a Cauſe, that every man, who loves the truth, ſhould bear his Teſtimony for it? In performance therefore of mine own Duty, and for thine Eſtabliſhment; I have ſpoaken ſomthing to many truths, which are now queſtioned; Hold faſt, what thou haſt, leſt another take thy Crown: And the Lord Jeſus Chriſt and our God, even the Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlaſting Conſolation, and good Hope through Grace, Comfort thine heart, and Stabliſh thee in every word, and good work.
Thine in the Service of the Goſpel. WILLIAM BRIDGE.