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upon tlie soul. Look, as it is in going to sea, those that only mind passage do not stay upon the ocean, and therefore do not fetch up the treasures of the great deep, but those that go to fish cast out the net again and again, so must you ; you must cast in reason upon reason, enforcement upon enforcement, till you bring up treasure, cast on weight upon weight till it weigh down. Now these rational enforcements are four — by arguments, similitudes, comparison, colloquies or soliloquies.
(1.) By arguments that are most effective. Inquire what kind of arguments have most force upon the spirits. The usual arguments you should look after are causes and effects ; by the one knowledge is increased, and by the other affections are stirred. Do not emptily declame, but see that your eye may affect your heart. Choose such arguments as are evident and strong ; you have them in the word and in sermons, and you should have them in your hearts : Luke vi. 45, ' A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.' A good man should be able to bring forth good arguments, that he might bring his heart powerfully to the acknow- ledgment of the will of God ; for what did God give you faculties, and the use of reason and discourse, and such helps in the ministry, but for such a purpose ?
(2.) By similitudes. The word will furnish you upon every point. Heaven speaketh to us in a dialect of earth. Heavenly mysteries are clothed with a fleshly notion. In the Book of Canticles communion with Christ is set forth by banquets and marriages, and spiritual things are shadowed out by corporal fairness and sweetness. In other places of scripture Christ's kingdom is set forth by an earthly kingdom, the word of God by a glass, the wrath of God by fire. Now apt similitudes have a great force upon the soul for two reasons — partly because they help apprehension, and partly because they help discourse. There is as it were a picture for the thoughts to gaze upon. By similitudes we come to understand a spiritual thing that we know not, being represented by sensible things with which they are acquainted ; the thing is twice represented to the soul — in reality and in picture, as a double medium helpeth the sight, the glass and the air in spectacles ; a shilling in a basin of water seemeth bigger, so it is here. Yea, they yield matter for much enlargement, and help discourse, as when they brought God the blind and the lame : Mai. i. 8, ' Offer it now unto thy governor ; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person ? saith the Lord of hosts.' Sin is expressed by death ; now the soul may reason thus : I tremble at death, why do I not tremble at sin ? So mortification is physic ; I can dispense with the trouble of physic for my body, this will make my soul healthy.
(3.) By comparisons, wherein other things are like or unlike the things we meditate upon. I urge this because it is a natural help ; it is a rule of nature that contraries being put together do mightily illustrate one another'; as when you compare fairness and deformity, black and white, deformity is more odious, and black is more black. So if I would con- template the beauty of virtue and of the spiritual life, I would compare it with the filthiness of vice, and of the profane life. So when you
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compare tlie pleasant path of wisdom with the filthy and dreggy delights that are in the path of sin, you gain upon the soul. Put earthly things into the scales with heavenly, and see which weigheth heaviest, set heaven against hell, and heaven against the world. Our Saviour teacheth us to meditate hy way of comparison : Mat. xvi. 26, ' For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? ' So by comparing yourselves with other creatures, as thus ; when you would shame yourselves for your disobedience, you may argue thus : All things obey the law of their creation, the sun delighteth to run his race, the stars keep their course, and do not go beside the path God hath set them, and I only have found out my own path. ■ So for your nncom- fortableness in the ways of God ; you may say. Wicked men delight to do wickedly, but I do not delight in the service of God ; shall it not be a pleasure to me to be exercised in the duties of religion ? shall I not rejoice in the Lord ?
(4.) By colloquies and soliloquies ; colloquies and speeches with God, and soliloquies with ourselves. Thoughts are more express and formal, ' but when turned into words and speeches, it is a sign the affections are stirred. Strong afiections must have vent in words ; speech is an help in secret prayer.