Spiritual Bondage and Freedom, Title page – To the reader
Spiritual Bondage and Freedom.
OR, A TREATISE Containing the Subſtance of ſeveral SERMONS Preached on that Subject from JOHN VIII. 36.
By the late Reverend Mr. NATHANAEL BALL, M. A. Late Paſtor of Barley in Hartfordſhire.
Iſa. 61. 1.
The Lord hath ſent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the priſon to them that are bound.
LONDON: Printed for Jonathan Robinſon, at the Golden Lion in St. Pauls Church-yard. 1683.
To the Right Honourable and truly Vertuous, the Lady Archer, of Cooperſail in Eſſex.
Madam!
IT is too notorious, That the moſt uſual pretenſions of Epiſtles Dedicatory, are patronage from, and their real Scope flatteries of the Perſons to whom they are directed. For the former, 'tis an apparent vanity; in that a Worthy Work needs it not, and an Unworthy neither deſerves, nor is capable of it. For the latter, as it ill becomes the entrance of ſo ſerious and ſearching a Subject, as that of this Book, and the impartial ſimplicity of a Miniſter of Divine Grace and Truth: So I am confident, it would be entertained by your Ladiſhip with diſtaſte and contempt. Madam, To ſay my errand in ſhort, I do but pay to your Ladiſhip the Legacy of my reverend Brother, and your dear Friend in, and Miniſter from the Lord Jeſus, who is now at everlaſting reſt; A Legacy worthy his bequeathing, and your Ladiſhips accepting. Yet it is not only a Legacy of Love, but alſo a Debt of Juſtice, both which Obligations▪ he was not inſenſible of, when he deſigned and ordered the offering of this excellent Service more peculiarly to your Ladiſhip, than to any other. You were not ſo little acquainted with him, as not to know him to be a Perſon immured▪ in his Study, and ſtrongly (I wiſh, I could not ſay too ſtrongly) inclined to ſolitude and privacy. Otherwiſe, his large Talents of Grace, and Miniſterial Abilities, might have rendred him conſpicuous, and met with very large acknowledgments from the truly godly and intelligent, not only to himſelf alive, but to his Pious and Deſolate Widow, and his Children after his Deceaſe. Madam, I muſt beg your pardon (if it be a fault), that I omit not to confirm what I ſaid of the Juſtice of this Dedication; for what can be more juſt, than to render thoſe labours (next to Gods) primarily to your Service, who did ſo bountifully miniſter to the reverend Authors ſubſiſtence in his greateſt ſtraits, equally to, if not beyond any other mortal; ſo that this work is in no ſmall reſpects your own, and a reaping the bleſſing you have ſowed. But to make it your own beyond the intereſt a meer Dedication can give you, a ſenſible remembrance of the Spiritual Bondage, and a gracious experience of the Spiritual Freedom treated of in this excellent Diſcourſe, will exceedingly conduce.
Madam, I ſhall not undertake the unneceſſary task of commending the Book, it being commendation enough to its ſelf, where it meets with a Spiritual and Judicious taſte. Only I ſhall ſay, That the Author ſpeaks like one that hath felt and experienced what he ſpeaks, in his own Soul. I ſhall add no farther, only 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 that are ſanctified; and ſubſcribe my ſelf,
Your Ladiſhips Humble Servant, and an unworthy Miniſter of the Goſpel, JOHN FALDO.
ſhall be captivated unto the obedience of his Truth. Theſe Worthies of Chriſt have been very careful to avoid Scandals, and giving Offence, that their Miniſtry might not be juſtly blamed.
Hence in all things they have approved themſelves as the Miniſters of God, in much Patience and Affliction, in Neceſſities and Diſtreſſes, in Stripes and Impriſonments, in toſſings to and fro, and in labours, in watchings and faſtings, by pureneſs, by knowledg, by long-ſuffering, by kindneſs, by the Holy Ghoſt, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the Power of God, by the armour of Righteouſneſs on the right hand, and on the left; by honour and diſhonour, by evil report, and good report; as deceivers and yet true; as unknown, and yet well-known; as dying yet living [even to a miracle]; as chaſtened and not killed; perſecuted but not forſaken; caſt down but not deſtroyed; being reviled, they bleſs; being defamed, they intreat; they bleſs and curſe not.
Touching the Reverend and Bleſſed Author of this Book; it will not be unacceptable to give ſome ſhort Account of him, who was an Interpreter, one of a thouſand, an able and faithful Miniſter of the New-Teſtament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; a Miniſter, as of great abilities, ſo of great ſucceſs in his Miniſtry. The Lord himſelf hath erected Monuments to his dead Saints, and took care for the embalming their memories unto poſterity. Whileſt the name of the wicked doth rot, the memory of the juſt ſhall be bleſſed. Whileſt the ungodly are forgotten, or if remembred, 'tis with a note of Infamy; as, This is that Ahaz! This is Jeroboam that made Iſrael to ſin! the righteous are had in everlaſting remembrance: Remember them which have the rule over you, who have ſpoken to you the word of God, whoſe faith follow; conſidering the end of their converſation.
This holy man of God, Mr. Nathanael Ball, was born in the year 1623. at Pitminſter near Taunton Dean, in the County of Sommerſet. His Parents were godly, and of the number of them who in thoſe days were nick-named Puritans. They gave him Religious Education; he received it from their inſtructions and examples. Parents are either the beſt or worſt Copies to their Children; none can do more either to hinder or further their Childrens Converſion. They have the greateſt advantages for the ſowing Seeds of Grace in their very many were convinced and converted by him. He ſeldom ſpread the Net of the Goſpel, but this Fiſherman of Souls caught ſome Soul or other for Christ. He not only preached publickly, but viſited the Families of his Congregation, particularly examining and instructing the ignorant in private, and was never ſatisfied till he had wrought upon them a deep and awakened ſence and feeling of their woful estate by nature, the neceſſity of cloſing with the offers of Salvation tendred by Christ Jeſus. He left powerful impreſſions upon their conſciences (which stuck as ſo many daggers in their hearts) of the reality of things Inviſible, That there is a God and Devil, a Heaven and Hell; That they had precious and immortal Souls, which muſt be ſav'd or damn'd; and that as God was merciful, ſo alſo was he a juſt and terrible God, that would by no means acquit the guilty, and that it was impoſſible for them to eſcape the damnation of Hell, if they did neglect ſo great Salvation, as was now offered them in this day of their Viſitation. He put all Maſters of Families in their own Perſons upon the performance of Family-Duties, of prayer and reading the Scriptures, of Singing and Catechizing, that ſo their Families might be Bethels, not Bethavens; little Churches of God, not Synagogues of the Devil. And when ſome objected their want of gifts for prayer; he gave them ſuch Directions and Inſtructions both for matter and manner, that in a ſhort time the bleſſed fruits and effects thereof was very viſible; many being able to pour out their Souls in prayer unto God with proper Words, and melting Affections. He always charged them to be upon their knees in prayer; Gods familarity with us, ſhould not make us ſaucy towards him, but to ingage us to keep our diſtance, and to ſerve him with a more holy fear, and filial reverence. The Lord gave him a large ſeal unto his Miniſtry; in ſo much that he was the Spritual Father of many, whom he begat to Chriſt in the Goſpel.
When he altered his condition, he ſought and found a meet help for him every way; a neighbour Miniſters Daughter, to whom he was Married, and with whom he lived Religiouſly and comfortably to his dying day, and the bleſſing of God was upon his Marriage, giving him, by his vertuous Wife, ten Sons and three Daughters. She is now left a deſolate Widow, like the chaſt Turtle mourning for the loſs of her Mate, and her Children Orphans; but he laid up for them Treaſure in Heaven, a ſtock of prayers to the God hearing prayer, and they have the Promiſes. God is the Husband and Judg of his Widow, and Father to the fatherleſs, out of his holy Habitation; their Fathers God will be their God, and his ſeed will be bleſſed after him: Leave thy Fatherleſs children unto me, and let thy Widows put their truſt in me, ſaith the Lord.
In the government of his Family, he was very exact, and ſhewed a rare example of piety to his whole Family. He began with God firſt in his own cloſet, and ſuffered none under his roof to live without ſecret prayer. When it was a convenient time for the whole houſe to meet together, he came from his Study, and ſummoning them to Duty, he expounded one or two Chapters, and examined his Children and Servants what they did remember, encouraging the diligent, reproving the negligent; which being done he called upon God for them, and with them. In prayer he was always fervent, vehemently wreſtling with the Lord for his bleſſing. In his daily prayers, he begged hard for Mercy for King and Kingdom, for Church and State; he ſought the proſperity of Zion earnestly, and would not brook a denial. Duty being ended, he retired ſhortly upon it into his Study, where he commonly abode till Dinner; and when he crav'd a bleſſing upon his meat, it was in the preſence of his whole Family: he was very ſparing in his diet, and at Table ever turning his diſcourſe Heavenwards, and would lead his guests and family from their mercies to the God of Mercies. At every meal he preached as it were a ſhort Sermon; and Thanks being returned unto God, he hastned again into his Study; allowing himſelf no recreation, but what aroſe from reading, praying and instructing others. He ſpent most of his time in studying the Scriptures, ſearching out the Mind and Will God in them; Well knowing, that all humane writings had their defects, but the Book of God was perfect and infallible. He common-plac'd all his reading; this was a store-houſe for preſent and after uſes. At night he carefully kept good hours for Evening-prayer, ſo that his family did not ſerve God between ſleeping and waking. A Chapter being read, and prayer offered up unto the Lord, he withdrew himſelf again into his Study; where, as he began, ſo he cloſed the day with ſecret Devotion. When he lay down in his bed, it was with ſome heavenly diſcourſes, which took up his time till he fell aſleep. His firſt thoughts in the morning were of God. His meditations before his upriſing, were improved heavenward. He roſe early, and would diſcourſe in the day, how his reins inſtructed him in the night ſeaſon. 'Tis a thouſand pities, that ſo many precious thoughts as Gods Saints have of God, ſhould be loſt, and not recorded. A godly Gentleman of the Inner Temple, told a Reverend Miniſter, that he would not loſe his morning-thoughts of God, for all his worldly eſtate, which yet was a very fair and great one.
But his obſervation of the Lords day was moſt ſtrict and religious. The fourth Commandment is the hedg and mound about the whole Law. Break down this, and you violate all the reſt. The Jews ſtiled the ſabbath the Bride of the Synagogue. This holy man of God decked himſelf up for it, as a Bridegroom to meet his Bride. The Sabbath was his delight, and he was exceeding careful, not only in his own perſon, but that all in his family and under his charge, ſhould ſanctifie it unto the Lord. He had no worldly buſineſs, no worldly diſcourſes on that day; but he and his whole houſhold ſpent the whole day in the Service of God. Bleſſed is the man that doth this, and the ſon of man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it. In his houſe, 'twas the Lords day indeed, the Queen of daies, all his children, ſervants, and whoſo lodged within his gates, were wholly taken up in reading, hearing, repeating, meditating, praying, and ſinging of Pſalms that day. On the Sabbath evenings he examined his childrens & ſervants proficiency by the Sabbath-ordinances, and laboured mightily to awaken their conſciences, and to put them upon early ſeeking of God.
He was very communicative of his knowledg. As a Fountain freely yields its water, and the field its corn, and the garden herbs for the uſe of man; ſo did his heart and tongue diſperſe abroad his ſpiritual gifts and experiences to the edification of others. He would talk with any child or ſervant, that ſo he might drop into them ſomething of the myſtery of godlineſs. Frequently would he take his younger children into his cloſet, and offer up particular ſupplications for them; he would not indulge any of them in a ſinful action. 'Twas his judgment, that a Father might wink at any thing, ſaving ſin againſt God. Therefore in his uſe of the Rod he deſigned their good. He firſt convinced them of the diſhonour they had done the Lord, the danger they had brought upon themſelves; and profeſſed that as God their heavenly Father had not, ſo neither had he any pleaſure in chaſtiſing them; that ſin being bound up in the heart of a child, 'twas the Lords Ordinance, that the rod of correction ſhould drive it out; and therefore he always accompanied the rod with prayer that ſo they might have the ſpirit and bleſſing of the rod, and correction might be ſeconded with converſion, and crowned with univerſal reformation.
He ſeemed by his indulgence and kindneſs to his ſervants, a Father rather than a Maſter. He was very compaſſionate on their Souls, and preſſed them powerfully to ſecure the main, their intereſt in Chriſt. And ſome of them have cauſe everlaſtingly to bleſs God, they came under his roof, and ſtood related to ſo pious and good a Maſter.
The tenderneſs of his conſcience, and great zeal for the purity of Goſpel-worſhip, kept him from conformity. Hereupon with ſome thouſands of his brethren, he was ſlain by that fatal Axe, the Act of Bartholomew-day. O! when will the living God give them reſurrection? Lord, revive thy work in the midſt of our days, in the midſt of judgment, remember mercy. Theſe Abels, tho dead, are yet ſpeaking. The Buſh burns and is not conſumed. Certainly God hath ſome great work for them, who tho ſentenced unto death, are yet alive. We hope in the living God, who quickneth the dead, who hath delivered them▪ from many and great deaths; we hope, I ſay, that he will yet deliver them from this death alſo.
For ſometime after his ſilencing, Mr. Ball lived in the ſame Pariſh, where he had been formerly Miniſter; and when the Oxford Act came forth, he removed five Miles farther. Where he peaceably behaved himſelf, and won upon many of a different perſwaſion by his moderation, ſweetneſs of deportment, and holy, and unblameable converſation. He bore a ſingular love to all that lookt heavenward, tho of a different perſwaſion from himſelf, & therefore kept up a brotherly and Chriſtian correſpondence with that worthy Conformiſt in whoſe Pariſh he lived. He judged it his duty to preach, and that neceſſity was laid upon him; a wo unto him if he did not preach the Goſpel. Hereupon be neither could nor would be idle, but preached frequently, and ſtudied to preach in ſuch times and places, as were leaſt offenſive to authority. It grieved him to hear his ſpiritual children complain they wanted Bread, when he had it for them.
Very many reaped the fruit and benefit of his labours ſince he was outed his publick Miniſtry, as Cambridg, Epping, & Bayford, and other places to which he was related. He ſpent himſelf in doing good to Souls; for maintenance he relied upon that providence which feeds the fowls, and cloathes the Lillies; and was of bleſſed Mr. Hierons mind, That God who feeds the Ravens, would not ſtarve his young Hierons. And indeed his numerous family were maintained to a miracle. He ſought not the world, but his God. He did his maſters work, truſting to his bounty for wages; and would often ſay, he never lived better than when he knew not how to live. He liv'd by faith upon Gods promiſes; committed his ways unto God, and had a firm perſwaſion that the Lord would provide for him and his, which was verified.
He kept a Diary of Gods providences to himſelf and family, of mercies and afflictions, of ſupports and deliverances. This quickned him unto thankfulneſs; theſe experiences ſtrengthned his faith, and made him abound in hope, in the Lord his God. When his goods were ſeized on for preaching contrary to Law, this holy man took that ſpoil patiently, and joyfully, knowing that he had a better and more enduring ſubſtance reſerved in the Heavens and that thoſe loſſes ſuſtained for Chriſt and a good conſcience, would prove gains at laſt, and work out for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. If he was concerned, it was for his enemies, whom he pitied from his Soul, and for whom he prayed, as his Lord and Maſter, that they might be forgiven, becauſe they knew not that they did the Devils work.
His great labours in his Maſters Vineyard, ſhortned his days, but drew him the nearer and ſooner to his reſt. In his ſickneſs his patience was moſt exemplary, bearing his pains with a Chriſtian fortitude, & reſigning himſelf for life and death unto his Lords diſpoſal. For him to live, was to glorifie Chriſt, & to die gain. So he might be farther uſeful and ſerviceable in his Miniſtry, he was well contented with life; but to be diſſolved and to be at home with Chriſt, being better for him, in caſe of unſerviceableneſs this was earneſtly deſired by him. To ſuch as viſited him in his languiſhing, he gave ſerious counſels of providing in health for ſickneſs, in life for death, in time for eternity. He was much in prayer for the afflicted Church of God, bitterly lamenting the caſe of England; mourning for thoſe great ſins committed in the midſt of us, and trembling at the thoughts of thoſe heavy Judgments hanging over our heads. He ſadly and ſorrowfully laid to heart the unnatural breaches among Proteſtants, the diviſions of Reuben, the quarrels and enmities among Joſeph's Brethren; eſpecially, now the Canaanite was in the Land. He was grieved at the heart for the unbecoming lives of many Miniſters, and of multitudes of profeſſors of ſo pure a Religion, whoſe lives indeed are a flat contradiction to it, and for whoſe abominations God would certainly viſit (unleſs there were ſpeedy, ſincere, and extraordinary humbling and reforming) with ſeven worſe plagues than ever. But the Lord took him from the evil to come, after he had languiſhed for ſome time in a Conſumption, and breathed ardently after Heaven and Glory. He was called upon as the Witneſſes, to come up hither. He had long waited for his bleſſed charge, and that ſalvation he had believed, prayed and expected, the Lord his Maſter, whom he had faithfully ſerved, put him into the poſſeſſion of at laſt. He left this life for a better, this vale of tears for a Paradiſe of joys, for rivers of evelaſting pleaſures, the eight day of September, and in the year of our Lord 1681. and the 58th year of his age. Bleſſed are the dead that dye in the Lord from henceforth; yea, ſaith the Spirit, for they reſt from their labours, and their works follow them.
Spiritual Bondage AND FREEDOM.
John 8. 36. If the Son therefore ſhall make you free, ye ſhall be free indeed.