Word of God, to ftrick terrour in the cauterized confciences of the most stupid mifcreants, and allo to force divine confolations upon the wounded fpirits of thofe who have long refufed to be comforted, the glancings of this Sword will dart light into the understanding, and the fhakings thereof make the Routeft bearts to tremble, fpecially when guided by the hand of God, Heb. 4, 12. The Word of God is quick and powerfull, and sharper than any two edged ward, &c and we find this weapon fo fit & framed for use and service, that none has been more inflrumental in great exploits & feats,therefore the great Captain of Salvation (who knew very well how to Wail His Weapons) made ordinary ufe of it, in His Combatings with Satan and other enemies, Matth. 4. It is written, it is written, fays Chrift. See then that ye follow your Captain, in making daily use of the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

4,

5. Ye have need of the Shoe of the preparation of the Gospel of Peace; if ye be not well fhodd, ye will never be able to travel, fpecially in flonie places, through which the Chriftian-fouldier may fometimes be forced to make a march,fo that this kind of fence is moft neceffary;therefore wifely prepareyour felves for fach trials, & what better preparation can there poffibly be than to bave the Peace of God planted in the Soul, which is fuch a piece of Gofpel-furniture as will make us ftrong in weakness, and bold in the mid of Deaths.

6. Ye bave need of the Shield of Faith, the forenamed pieces were all for particular ufe, adapted & fitted for the guard of the feveral parts of the

G

one for the head, and one for the breaft &c. but this shield of faith is of more general ufe, for they who can dextroufly handle a Shield or Target, may ma nage it so as to hide their whole Bodies under the fconce and protection of it, Faith can quench all the fiery darts of Satan, whether directed at the fate or the feet, Hence Eph. 6. 16. above all take the fhield of faith, which is of fo great ule, not only because it is a general piece of armour as faid is, but because it is as it were the hand that skilfully wields & mas nages all the reft of our Weapons, and becaufe it is only fighting in Faith, and the good fight of Faith that will make us victorious, or again because it is only Faith that engages the Captain of Salvation to fight all our Battles in us and for us, Heb. IL. ye may fee the mighty Feats of Faith,

SECTION XII.

Some Motives to come and buy Armour from Chrifi, 1. Mr. O Chrißians, ye have no Weapons and Armour of your own, there is none bora with aHelmet on his head, with a Sword by his fide, or a Shield in his hand,ye come into the world nak ed every way, I fay ye are born without Faith, with out Love, without Hope, &c. Eph. 2. 12.

2. Mt. O Chriftians, ye are furrounded withe nemies, both open declared enemies, and also with clandeftine underhand ones, and your enemies are intent, fubtile, cruel and unmercifull,and very fuc.

hence Satan a main adverfary, that great

Dragon

Dragon, that old Serpent, is laid to deceive the whole world, Rev, 12, 9.Oh if ye knew your bazard, you would never think your felves fate or fecure out of your armour and a pofture of defence; and above all enemies have ye not the worft within, that perhaps ye are leaft in fear of, even the evil heart of unbelief, that like a Traitor within the Calle is ready to throw the Keys over the Walls.

3. Mot. Ye are ordinarly feeble and faint-hearted in your felves; and no doubt this pubillanimitie will grow upon you, to fee a formidable armed es nemie come againft you naked & unprovided, what can more animate you to a due contittency of cous rage and manlinefs, than that ye put on your Ar mour, that ye put on the Lord Jelus Chrift, and have the feveral Graces of His Spirit in vigourous exercise as a ready ftore of martial Helps; then ins deed might ye fight with the enemie in the gate, Pfal. 27. 13. 15.

4. Mor. O Chriftians, are ye faint-hearted, have ye many Enemies, are ye without Weapons, come to our Lord Jefus, and from Him ye may have a Compleat Suit of Armour, that will fence and cover you Capra pe; bere ye may have Armour of Proof, even the best and moft excellent of Armour, there fore called the Armour of God, i. e. Armour of Gods making, or Armour that God will pals His Word for; and this Armour ye may have very cheap, even at the fame rate with the reft of Chritts Wares, only to come and take it, Eph 6. 13. Take you the whole Armour of God.

to

The feventh fort of Chrifts Wares, what wi

4.23.

buy will ye buy Medicaments, Salves & Ointments for healing your fpiritual Difeafes, for curing the dangerous Wounds ye have got in your Conflicts with Sin and Satan; Cbrif is the Phyfician of Souls, and can cure all manner diseases, Matth. O Chriftian, haft thou no confcience-aikings halt thou no heart-wounds halt thouno foul-diftempers & maladies? farely thou art not without fome fpirita al plagues, whether thou feel them or not, and the lefs thou art fenfible, the more dangeroufly ill thou art, like thir Laodiceans, who knew not that they were blind and miferable &c, now as in the Con text we have difeafes (poken of, fo in our Text we have a cure propofed,and are exprefly called to buy Eye falve, one fpecies of Medicaments being put Synecdochically for many more.

Methinks there is no body will refufe, but they have Soul fores and Sicknees, and confequentlie need Christ the great Phyfician, for none can deny they have fin, which were a fin to deny, and fin fore Fy is our greatest fickness, and that a hereditarie dif ease, that runs down from Adam through all his Pofterity; it is fo Epidemical that every Man and Woman (Chrift only excepted) is therewith fmitten and infected, and thereupon the whole World may justly be designed one Hofpital of Lame, Blind

Pjal s. 5. Eccl. 7,20, and this Sin-lickness is a most dangerous fickness, a sickness unto death, both fpiritual and eternal, which none is capable to core but Chrift alone, and therefore it flands you in band, to Come under His hand, as His Patient for cure & re

; and for your perfwation and encourage

men

ment to give Him Employment, would ye know what an excellent Phylician Chrift is.

Chrift is an authorized approven Phyficism, appointed and anointed of His Father for this purpote, that He may beal the Nations, He is not a Quack or Empyrick that tries the Trade at his own hand, Luke 4. 18. He is an able and expert Phyfician, univerfal ly knowing in all manner Difeafes, & He cores the molt defperate fickneffes, which others gives over as bopeless; there are fome difeafes called opprobria medicorum because they can neither know them nor core them, but it is not fo with Hm, never was there a Malady that none-pluffed Him, yea never was there one that died under His hand, whom He undertook to cure: And he is molt bumble and condefcending, Beggars are as welcome to Him as Kings, the Poor as much as the Rich, and ordinarly the for mer fort give him mere employment than the latter; and how loathfom foever thy difeafes are, be they wounds, bruifes, putrifying fores, he will not difdain or fand to handle them,and that with his owu bands, not leaving it to fervants for states fake; yea and even his enemies who bave affronted him, and wounded his glory, will be condefcend to heal: and as be is humble, fo is be kind, he will vifit you often, he will admit you to lean on his bofom, and exprefs a great deal of tender fympathie with you, and all this gratis or freely, looking for none other fee or reward, but to be content to be cured by him, and to thank him for his care and kindness: and further be cures moft perfe&ly for he heals the heart, the fountain of all fpiritual plagues, Hof, 14.4.but mor