practice on Deaths Image sleep every night when we lye down to Rest that we may learn to compleat our preparation for that mighty work of dying chearfully which is so much discours'd of and so seldom seen though our last Pangs do frequently seem to comply with what we cannot hinder and nothing can more conduce to cure this natural frailty then setting our hearts to love the Law of God and to shew it by word and deed and holding a constant conversation with our Creator in the daily raising of our Faith and our affection to our Resurrection from Deaths Dominion unto His everlasting Bliss in Heaven CCXVI THere is no felicity in this World without a contented mind and there can be no full contentment without such a fixed dependance on God as to be pleas'd with whatever He appoints as best for us Which Divine contentment will raise our hearts to such a gratitude to God with such a conversation in Heaven as will beget an holy courage to contemn all the crosses and all the allurements this World can afford and this Spiritual contentment we ought to cherish as Gods great favour for us to delight in while we live and to trust in when we die as a mark of our Election thus to divert us from longing after the perishing Glories of this World that never can assure us any lasting contentment by their enjoyment nor any comfort when we expire CCXVII HE that writes Devotion walks on a narrow Plank with Precipices on either side and is in danger to slip into the Gulf of Spiritual Pride on his own Righteousness or else in too much humility for his own unworthiness may presume to think that some things from the Holy Ghost informs him with Evangelical Rapsodies when his Soul soars so high towards Heaven So that in our best Actions we are with humble and grateful hearts to give the honour and the glory unto God for all that we do well CCXVIII TO love God and to be beloved of God is an immense Meditation which by practice must needs improve our Interest in Heaven for when God sees our Souls set to seek him this way He will send his Holy Spirit to raise our ambitions higher and higher to gain his favour in hope of such an union with Christ as our nature is capable of by which such elevated enlightned hearts will find a felicity on Earth that no mans thoughts can guess at that does not feel it with a joyful assurance of being received into Heaven when he dies so that we cannot have a better Argument to invite us to live Piously and to die chearfully then to love God thus for the true joy of a good Soul in this World is the very joy of Heaven which Death shall not take away nor interrupt it one moment CCXIX. WE may do well to observe Davids method in his Victory over his sins when they were his declared Enemies He did not retire from his charge and calling to hide himself from their assaulting temptations but forced them to fly from him and pursued them so as they might never be able to return upon him And having thus vanquished and discarded all those his old Companions when he perceived them to be his Enemies He soon became a man after Gods own heart and then found that he had strength company power joy wealth and honour enough in God alone with whom he spent the most of his time after in Prayers and in Praises So that as He did we should discard our old evil habits and all our old Companions workers of Iniquity and make them fly from us as David did and then we shall find all those joys in our conversation with God which David had CCXX DAvid says that God heard the voice of his weeping which shews that the sighs and tears of penitent sinners are heard in Heaven without words and that devout tears which cannot speak do speak aloud in Gods ears nay when we desire to weep but cannot pour out tears themselves Doctor Dunne says that God sees tears in the hearts of men before they blubber on their faces and He is said to hear the tears of a sorrowful Soul which for sorrow cannot shed a tear the very lifting up our Eyes to God in a sincere sorrow opens Him windows through which He sees a wet heart through the driest Eyes and by his returns of Grace gives comforts with the blessed peace of a quiet conscience to assure our Reconciliation unto Him that we may with chearful hearts expect Deaths summons unto our Eternal Rest in Heaven CCXXI THe supine Epicure the practical Atheist and the divine Hypocrite have gained so great a Vogue in some parts of the World as hath almost worn true Christian Religion out of Fashion and out of Countenance too while those are thought ill-bred men that practice any Piety and none so well accomplish'd as they who have those three eminent Vertues in most perfection which do very often dwell together in such careless Hearts as do not at all consider or not enough examine their integrity towards God CCXXII VVE do generally wonder at and pity the Melancholy Lives of some devout Hermits who are retir'd into desolate Habitations from the converse of Men But do not consider the blessed contentment which their Souls enjoy in a conversation with God as if themselves were then in Heaven with such an ambitious Zeal as fills their Hearts with Happiness and holds up their Souls so fixed on Christ as to despâ—se all the Glories of this World So that we ought not to pity those happy men but to look on them as Divine Objects fit for our devout Envy and immitation who do enjoy felicities above the reach of Earthly minds to judge of But yet every pious man that can give his whole Heart to God needs not give his whole time too for we are required to serve God more waies than one and may convert our Closets into Cells where we may be sure to find God as often as we desire to meet him there as well as on the tops of Rocks who will not be confin'd to time or place that is ever with us every where So that the Mountain Hermit and the City Hermit may have Spiritual entertainments and comforts alike while they Live and may Die with as high delight to be with God and may shine equally as bright in Heaven when they meet there CCXXI LEt us redeem the time we have mis-spent while we have time to do it by making ready for our summons to the Grave as our prime business here and when God sees our hearts are fully fixed on Him He will guide and conduct us through the dark rugged paths of Death by the bright consolations of his Holy Spirit to entertain us with comfort and delight in our passage unto His Eternal Rest. Let us then set our Souls joy on this great work and observe how Gods Grace and our felicity does increase together upon the
Celestial joys as the highest and most delightful entertainment he can wish for on this side of Heaven for God is the Centre of a Divine Lovers Soul it cannot move from him without some impulsive force which we should disdain to yield unto XIX HOw frail is humane Nature that can never be so much pleased on Earth as within some time not to become weary of what we most delight in And how much greater frailty is it to know how to be ever pleased and for ever happy but cannot set our hearts sincerely to endeavour for it And yet there is another frailty in some men above all the rest most wonderful that such as have on serious thoughts of their Eternity resigned their hearts to God and for some time known no joy like their transports for Heaven that such men so raised should prove so weakly fixed as boldly dare make room for Satan in their hearts again as the more welcome guest where God did sometime dwell this were a dreadful thing to think on if the mercies of God were not far beyond the reach of sinners to deface And from hence we may learn that holiness is the peculiar gift of God and that we are raised to all degrees of Piety by his holy Spirit who of ourselves can neither rise nor stand one moment in his favour longer than supported by the same Spirit thus to give us humble thoughts of our own little or no strength And yet we are not obliged to rest in such humility but ought to labour and to pray for more and more Talents of faith and grace till their encrease do raise our Souls higher and higher in ambitious zeal to become Divine Lovers and not to be content with less preferment than adopted Sons when we find the Holy Ghost thus at work within us and so may strive to raise our new affections by holy thoughts to the highest pitch of devour extasies of Devotion and by this Divine experiment to try if we can love God too much and have more zeal in prayer than he does like of or can so tire him with our importunate addresses that He will turn away his face and deny his love unto Souls wholly devoted to serve and please him But when we find our hearts full of such sincere raptures in Devotion we may assure our selves they come from God who does ever approve and accept of such flaming sacrificed hearts as are enkindled from above and are much different from any such Enthusiams as Satan can infuse only to infect those wavering hearts that do still incline to be his Vassals XX. THose who have obtained of God to become truly Regenerate do find that a sincere repentance with contrition and conversion of heart to God are rewarded with peace of Conscience and so great a delight in humble converses with God on their meditations of Heaven and their Eternal bâ—iss that all Worldly pleasures do give way to those Divine transports which flow from the Holy Ghost within them And no time so proper to meet God as when they awake at mid-night before any Worldly concerns entertain their hearts for he that chearfully recommends his Soul to God when he lyes down to rest will to his infinite comfort find God ready to receive his first waking ejaculations who begins the day with the same adoration and trusts in him that he lay down to sleep with so that our mid-night conferences with God will by custom grow more pleasant than sleep and will fix such a Divine love on our Creator as will produce great joy here and some glimpse of that glory we shall have in Heaven for God never receives our sincere Addresses without multiplying of his favours in return by such manifestations of his grace as will preserve us in his service until we meet again to pursue those holy meditations which will bring us unto Him in Heaven when we die XXI A Righteous man is a Divine Philosopher that enjoys all his heart can wish in this World by his faith in Christ Love to God Charity to men purity and humility And the Holy Ghost is the great Chymist that conveys all these ingredients into the furnace of a pious heart and there by His influence and operation produces the grand Elixir of true righteousness which preserves the Soul unto Eternal happiness And whoever finds the Holy Ghost thus working in him will find the comfort and consolation of his Salvation in this life which with the serious consideration of his future felicity will be entertainment for his whole time here and keep him always ready for his summons to Heaven and will make his passage thither as easie to the Righteous as it is terrible to an impenitent sinner XXII IT is impossible to fancy and to find any Earthly entertainment for the heart of man but Devotion that can raise his delights higher and higher by fruitions without laâ—situde unto Eternity which elevated devotion is a felicity that the Divine Lover only has and is created in his heart with his Resurrection from sin to grace by a continual succession of growing joys on the assurance he finds of his second Resurrection to Glory at the day of Judgement which is God's peculiar work in the Souls of his Beloved to make them see that He is never absent from such as are totally devoted to love and serve Him for such and only such can securely enjoy God in all his Creatures here and have him also to eternity in Heaven If then the rugged way thither be so pleasant to a Righteous man what will his Seraphick joys be there and how worthy of our utmost endeavours to live so that we may die capable to participate of those joys then XXIII MEn do generally create terrors to fright their own hearts as they do Children with ugly Vizards we represent Death unto our fancies in dismal forms as a Messenger sent from Satan to hurry us from our present delights into everlasting flames And then 't is no wonder that habitual impenitent sinners do start back from the approach of Death when so dressed But the Regenerate Man has an Antidote against this evil He summons his Celestial thoughts and sets his Soul in order as a great Prince in State incircled with Heavenly joys as his Nobility and is also attended by crouds of Guardian Angels to receive the same Death with caresses of great friendship who appears before him drest in bright gorgeous Raiments as an Embassador sent from the King of Kings to consummate a League of Amity and to give him possession of his new Conquest with a Crown of Eternal Glory long fought for and at last obtained So that we generally mistake our passage into the next World and call it death which is assured Life and that Eternal It is our faults if we be frighted at the terrors of torment there where everlasting joys do answer every pious mans expectations who looks on the pangs of his departing Soul but as the
full of storms and calms more dangerous untill He brings him unto his Glory For if we believe it to be Gospel-truth that our bodies are capable to become the Temples of the Holy Ghost dwelling in us we must also believe that He will manifest Himself so as we shall discern his being in us by such a Divine Life with such extasies of joy as no Soul can reach without his assistance which if we practise to observe we shall find will prove to be our greatest consolation that the heart of man can have XXIX WE talk of Death as we do of Eating Drinking and Sleeping and do flatter our selves too much by thinking we are as ready for the Grave without a full consideration how nice and great a preparation is fit for our appearance at the Resurrection when our whole Lives here spent in the service of God is not too high a price for the Crown of Glory we then expect And yet few men do afford the hundred part of their time to become capable to receive that inestimable Purchase which Christ has made for us by his bloudshed And nothing is more strange then that we should so much forget what we are always a doing which is dying and is God's great mercy to free our Souls from the Dungeon of this World to fix them in his Eternal Bliss XXX GOD sees our first intentional approches towards Heaven so that we cannot make more hast in our Addresses unto Him then He makes to meet and welcom our sincere devotions with Raptures and Extasies of joy to encourage and guide our frail nature to love and serve Him above the World that can in no degree afford so high delights as our Souls find when our whole hearts are offered up to Him in daily Sacrifice while that holy flame lasts XXXI OUr greatest concern is to live so Righteously as to be ever ready to die which no man can think of too often nor prepare to much for if he considers that every moment advances towards the Grave through which we must pass to Eternal joy or Eternal misery and is an argument enough not to mispend our time but Day and Night to call on God for his Divine guiding Light to shew us the way to Him XXXII SLeep is so like Death that it is no wonder if we Dream often that we are amongst the dead for though we are not now visited by Visions as of old yet such frequent conversation with dead friends when we Sleep may be looked on as kind notions from above to give us some reflections on the Grave towards which we do walk as fast in our Sleep as when we are awake so that we ought to imploy more of our thoughts on every minute that so hasts on to our Eternity then men generally do and by such Dreams we may learn to converse Day and Night with God in our humble Addresses to make us fit company for His departed Saints when we Die XXXIII IF we could attain to as great Faith as the first Martyrs had we might have as much felicity in Piety as they had who rejoyced so much to leave this World that no torments could deâ—er them from death to be with Christ. And if we could raise our Souls to fancy the Glory of Heaven as they did we should believe that nothing there is so dirty as our brightest Diamonds where the beauty of Holiness by Faith as by reflection does Eclipse all the beauty wealth honour and glory of this World in the hearts of such as are become Regenerate And if our Souls were so sanctified and advanced in Divine Love as those Blessed Martyrs were we should admit no Rivals with God in our hearts where He delights to Reign alone And then we should find our God every where with us carefully providing for all our wants and supplying all our defects as if He attended on us Dust and Ashes with his Providence to guard us while we sleep and to watch if our first waking thoughts be set on Him and to expect them as his due and his delight as if the Almighty courted us for favours more then we do him for his mercies and his blessings and when our Souls become thus enlightned by his Divine Rays from Heaven we shall find our hearts so full of Him that a Wilderness â— Prison or a Dungeon will seem a Throne and will be our Heaven here and then we shall know no joy like having God ever in our sight with hearts fixed on our Eternal Bliss already thus begun XXXIV IF we consider the extent of Miracles those we call the greatest are but as wonderful as the smallest for every thing we see all we think every motion that answers to our thoughts in every part of our selves is Miraculous as to Dust and Ashes and so in the same Ballance we may weigh our Birth and Dissolution and Resurrection to be equally Miraculous But if we consult our own consciences and throughly examine our own hearts we may be confirmed in the belief that there is no higher Miracle then when the Holy Ghost turns the hearts of men from their long habitual idolized carnal appetites into a Spiritual affection towards God with such Heavenly transports as do create the peace of conscience with such a settled joy in God's service as will accompany our Souls from hence to Heaven which Spiritual Resurrection from sin being God's work in us is a sure mark of our Adoption and by this Miracle of mercy to become thus Regenerate we may account it the highest because of highest concern to us to be so raised from Hell to Heaven And a greater Miracle to confirm the Christian Doctrine no man needs to seek after then what he may thus find in himself if thus led by the Holy Ghost and thus exalted from Reprobate Dust to be the Adopted Son of God XXXV PIety is the best policy because by it we obtain all that the heart of man can wish in this World and the next which every Pious man has a great proportion of here and the Fool only thinks he can mock God or flatter Him while he does only deceive himself in hoping to serve God and the Devil at once to satisfie vitious natural appetites and enjoy Spiritual felicities at the same time as if the way to Heaven were through Hell But if we do doubt whether Eternal happiness is preferable before short fruition on Earth we may enquire of a Voluptuous sinner when he is become truly Reâ—generate if he does not find that the peace of conscience is a more constant delight then the greatest Momentary gratifications of flesh and bloud For when he is so called to an assurance of his Sonship by his Spiritual comforts from the Holy Ghost within him and such transports as do afford Heavenly joys with some glimps of that Glory which he shall participate of at the Resurrection He will perceive it is the same gift of God beyond humane acquisition so that
as careful how to manage his Piety as a sinner is to obtain it XLIV WHen we are assaulâ—ed by any temptations to sin we may recollect our thoughts thus shall I for this moment of sensuality part with my interest in God shall I quit my Sonship now I am reconciled and my Title to an Eternal Crown of Glory in Heaven to satisfie my vitious fancy and a few momentary appetites on Earth and now cast off the felicity and security I have by peace of conscience while I Love fear and serve God and by my trusting Faith in Christ do stand fast fixed above the reach of malice and all the storms this World can raise Shall I depart from this Regenerate state so full of Blessedness to become a trembling Coward frightned at every shadow of every evil that approaches me and so become justly terrified with the horrour of a despairing Soul when Death approaches which may be this minute to step into that Eternal woe denounced against the sin I am tempted to commit Such reflections with such sincere prayers as such Mediations will suggest are surely good guards to defend and free us from the danger of yielding to any temptations to sin XLV A True penitent sinner whose heart is touched by grace from Heaven with remorse for his wicked life and a sence of God's many mercies to him He repents and recollects to the best of his memory all the actual and mental transgressions of his whole life and offers them up to God in confession with an humble sincere contrition and makes new vows for an universal cleansing from all iniquiâ—ies with a total resignation of himself Soul and body in a full obedience unto all the Gospel Laws for the future Thus this Penitent sets himself with holy vigour and his utmost endeavours to walk after his Saviours steps submitting his will to God's will in all things whose favour he now seeks with so great hungering and thirsting affection that God in mercy has cancelled all the Records of his long neglects and insolent repeated sins so as to remember them no more and also by his Divine power does raise this Penitent to a Spiritual Resurrection from sin to grace and so fills his contented converted heart with frequent comforts and such assurance of his Adoption as to encourage him to perform this new Covenant unto the end of his Life By whiâ—h infinite mercy and grace this Penitent does become so Regenerate as to perceive the Spirit of God at work within him raising his Soul to such a Sacred Love of his great Maker as to think all time mispent that is not imployed in gratitude to God for his diliverance from Hell and his Promotion towards Heaven of which Glory he has now some prospect and from hence he grows higher in Gods favour until his holy ambitions do increase desiring to be always in his Creators â—ight and aiming at a Favourites Sons place in the Court of Heaven Thus by degrees his Soul becomes so elevated and transported with these Celestial honours that he contemns the Empires of this World with all the glistering objects here below as unworthy to divert his thoughts on such perishing trifles as he did admire before his heart was fixed above on his Eternal Bliss which now fills his Soul with such continual joyful extasies in Devotion that he is sometimes frighted at the joy he feels lest he may embrace presumptuous Enthusiasms by such high consolations as his Soul delights in when his Meditations and Addresses do ascend in such bright flaming zeal unto the Throne of Mercy But when he considers that God who sees his sincerity through his heart will not reject such sinâ—ere Sacrifices He then hopes that these joys do arise from the Emanation of the Holy Ghost to let him see how God receives and welcoms a whole heart offer'd up to Him with such Divine Lights as Earthly Souls can neither see nor comprehend and by this tast of Bliss and by this beam of Glory here he judges how much greater he shall have in Heaven And thus upon a full search of his whole heart throughout this Penitent now finds with great felicity that God is pleased to dwell in his heart where Satan did so long triumph until these new transports for his Celestial Bliss have quite extinguished those dim shadows of delight that formerly misled him to neglect his God without a serious thought of Heaven or Hell or the least concern for his Eternity until his Soul was thus raised above the reach of his iniquities by his conversing day and night in Heaven And thus the Soul of this new Convert is caressed with bright Seraphick joys by Grace so fixed and so enlightned from above that his inward dependance on God is his continual consolation and support full of such high comforts as he must think do proceed from the Holy Ghost to furnish this his new Temple with sufficient Grace where he now intends to dwell And by all these Blessed guiding Lights this Penitent is invited to live such a Righteous Life as will give him an humble assurance to trust and rejoyce in his reconciliation with a settled Faith that he shall see the face of God in the face of Death the moment that he dies his Soul shall be with Christ where his departed Saints abide until the Resurrection XLVI WE need no better Argument for God's Love to us then our Love of Him which is the highest work of his Grace planted in our hearts by which only we are enlightned to know how to love and serve God as we ought that we may be capable to enter into his Eternal Glory prepared for his Lovers XLVII A Prayer LOrd Jesus I beseech thee forgive my transgressions and now send down thy Holy Spirit to cleanse my heart from all impuriâ—ies and then dwell there to guide my Meditations and Prayers aright with such servent Zeal as will encrease my Faith my Love and trust in thee my God that I may know no joy on Earth like my approaches to thy Throne and from thence impower me so to practise these great Lessons I have writ as to live with holy courage ever ready to die and fit to appear at thy Tribunal on the great day of Judgment with such reconciled Sinners as by thy infinite mercy are become the Sons of God Lord I beseech thee let my heart be now so filled with Divine transporting thoughts of Thee and thy Salvation as to leave no place for Satan there that my enlightned Soul may be ever on the wing hasting towards that Eternal Bliss which Thou hâ—st purchased for me at so high a rate And though my Zeal supported by thy Grace do now encrease let me never think my self near enough to Heaven till I am there For now I find that no repulses will make Satan quit the Field nor my Rebellious Sences to obey that I may gain a perfect Victory beyond the reach of a surprize nor can I alone
maintain this Christian Warfare without Thy strong supplies from Heaven for which I daily pray and by which I shall at last subdue the World and my own heart with all the Powers of Hell and Death together Then from the Grave in Triumph rise with thee my God and thy departed Saints to my Eternal Rest in thy Celestial Glory XLVIII THe uncertain certain time of death was by Divine Providence concealed from Mankind to make us live ever ready for that great concern which sets a period to our Mortality the same moment on which our Immortality depends for Eternal joy or misery yet this known truth by all believed is by our perverse nature so much neglected as if not believed or as if by our wisdom and care we could foresee or prevent the moment of our Dissolution contrary to God's decree by which blind contradiction few men do prepare for their Pass to Heaven until too late and so become wilfully surprized by an Enemy we might subdue if ready Armed and well prepar'd for the encounter for 't is we that make Death terrible who is sent in kindness to conduct unto everlasting Bliss unless we by our Impiety do compell him to lead us the wrong way into eternal Flames A near dead-despairing sinner reviving from the Jaws of the Grave can best describe its terrors and best judge of the felicity to become fit to die when next summoned to step into his Eternity XLIX THough we cannot guess at the glorious Essence of God nor fancy what Heaven is nor can tell whether the Joy or Glory there be greatest nor do know any thing whereby we may express either of them yet by our Faith in all Gospel-truths God does so enlighten and encourage those Souls that are wholly devoted to love and serve him and that approach his presence with such humble Zeal and sincere Awe as is due to His Almightiness that He sometimes descends into the hearts of such men and spiritually dwells there as in his own Temple and sometimes raises the Souls of men with such high transports of Sacred Love to Him that they are filled with Holy Air or something nameless so Divine for joy and glory while that Seraphick flame doth last it looks like Raptures and holy Extasies sent from Heaven to invite men thither by shewing them so vast a difference of delight between Heaven and Earthly fruitions so to encourage us to expell all carnal Vapours when ever they ariâ—e to interpose that nothing may Eclipse that Divine Light from shining on us by which God gives us grace to endeavour with all our power to raise up our hearts to Him as often and as high as our clogged Souls can mount with such a weight of flesh and bloud about them But when the Holy Ghost lends wings to a Divine Lovers heart in his devotions nothing can hinder his Souls ascent to Heaven and by Faith to raise his â—ancy to such a joyful conversation with God as will enrich his mind with chearful thoughts the whole day after L. IF the felicity of Piety were as generally known as it is despised there would be more Saints then Reprobates on Earth But as it is Satans chief work to amuse and abuse our frail natures with present fruitions of fallacious delights that last not so it must be our business to get better Guides that we may find our way to Heaven in spight of His diversions which the Pious man finds in a constant conversation wiâ—h God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost in his sincere Meditations and Prayers when They are all at work within him raising his Soul to such a Divine felicity that he has no room for such contemptible delights as carnal fancies can suggest to dâ—vert him for his pious Life keeps him as much above all the fading gaieties of this World as the Reprobate is enslaved to them And if it were possible to make a voluptuous Epicure see and relish those continual joys which true peace of conscience affords to a Regenerate man it might wean him from his mistaken momentary happiness while the Pious mans felicity is founded on a sure Rock that reaches up to Heaven and shews him such a delightful prospect of his Eternal Interest there as gives him a holy courage to out-face Death when he chearfulâ—y submits unto his summons to the Grave as the only Gate to Heaven LI. THe great felicity of true Piety is only known to the Regenerate man become a Divine Lover whose Soul is ever busie in servent Addresses to his Beloved from whom he receives such welcom that his transported Soul forgets this World while that bright flame burns within him which fills his heart with such transcending joys in conversation with his Beloved as can only be expressed when two such Divine Rivals meet with pleasure to repeat the great favours that both do daily receive from the glorious object of their Love and with such Angelical affections to each other as doth raise their felicities by the holy emulation their united hearts have to joyn in a constant Adoration of their Beloved whose universal kindness does afford so great pleasure and consolation to all his true Lovers that their joys increase by the number of new Rivals which makes them invite all they can get into their Society and together sing Hallelujahs on Earth until they be added unto those Choirs of Angels already in the Glory of God LII WE all know that we are every moment dying and that Death is but the last puff of breath and though nothing else be worth the thinking on nothing is less thought on then Death which we can neither prevent nor delay and should therefore be made as easie as we can by a constant expectation of his approach because surprizes are most terrible which the Divine Lover is ever Armed for and best knows how to baffle that great Conqueror by chearful embraces as a welcom Friend who comes to conduct him to his Souls joy in Heaven which holy Valour God always provides his Lovers with at their hour of death LIII A Divine Lover has ever in mind the glorious Idea of his Beloved and remembers that he is always in His sight who doth observe all his looks thoughts words and actions how they do agree with his professed Love that is if the whole man be resigned up to study and to do the will of his Beloved with a chearsul heart as the supreme delight and fullest happiness his Soul can wish for here on Earth This Divine Lover does also take all the opportunities he can every day and night by holy Meditations and Prayers to approach the Throne of Mercy with a sincere heart so full of his Beloved as to leave no room for sin or Worldly vanities to abide there either to divert or clog his Soul when raised on the wings of servent Devotion And thus he spends his time ever striving to please and as careful not to offend his Beloved still jealous
though God has promised pardon unto penitent sinners He has not promised one hour of Life to repent in since therefore we can neither prevent death nor foresee it let us always expect it as at hand and prepare for our Eternal Glory in the presence of God while we have time to do it LXXXI MOst men do say and do believe they love God and no doubt many good men do more or less but all mankind ought to enquire into their own hearts if they find not more joy in their idle diversions then in God's company if they be not quickly weary of conversing with God in Meditation and Prayers hasting to return unto their diversions which they love better then Him and then consider the consequence of such contempts and how much our selves do scorn a divided heart where we love much more then doth God despise those who prefer his Creatures before Himself LXXXII GOD knows our frailties and doth allow us diversions but they must be such as we may own in his sight and see Him in them with grateful hearts for such refreshments as Humane Nature does require and such as we may glorifie his Name in their frâ—itions and be sure not to flatter our selves into evil temptations by our fair-fac'd diversions too much indulged lest they sting us to death with smiles LXXXIII THere is another kind of happy and blessed diversions free from sinful vanities and fading glories of the World which David so much delighted in by his retirements to converse with God as his Souls chiefest joy and whoever seeks God with the like zeal no doubt will find Him as David did and be as fully happy as he was in God's esteem which is an ambition that does become good Christians as the best diversions we can have to raise our hearts to Heaven LXXXIV MEn ought with great care to watch their diversions for we are often betrayed into a neglect of God even by innocent diversions which by custom do insensibly engage our hearts to consent unto evil actions when we design nothing that is ill So that if we serve God as we ought we shall delight to converse with him in our retirements and account our holy Meditations of Heaven to be our most pleasant diversions so to refresh our Spirits when tired with Worldly affairs and we shall find that such Celestial diversions will be blessed with Divine joys that cannot be shaken by Carnal appetites nor by glistering Vanities when once fixed and ratified by God's reception of us into his List of Adopted Sons and then be so guided by his Holy Spirit as to grow higher and higher in his favour till we participate of his Glory which inward assurance will be a more pleasant subject for our diversion then all the Wit the Wealth the Honours and Beauties of this World can entertain our hearts with And when God dwells thus in the Souls of men it is the most ravishing diversion we can have to see our selves live ready to enter into His Eternal joy at a minutes warning LXXXV WHen we approach God with sincere hearts there can be no diversion more delightful then our Souls union with Him who knows all our wants all our oppressions and sees all our concerns whatever and is as ready to redress our grievances and to bless our honest endeavours as we can be to desire it which our pious diversions above all other diversions the most delightful so that the best of idle diversions though innocent is like warming frozen Vipers in our breasts until we give them strength to bite us to death And if we do observe it we shall find that there is no real essential pleasure in any diversions but in true Devotion which the Regenerate man finds to be true LXXXVI WE have two very remarkable notions fit for frequent consideration to judge how our hearts stand towards God and how we may discern his love to us The first is to observe if we have more joy in our retired Devotions then in the fruition and conversation of his Creatures in which we cannot be mistaken if we diligently observe how his Holy Spirit works in us at those times From whence arises the second consideration to observe how our Souls are elevated by his Divine comforts descending on us in such Devotions which is the best assurancc we can have that we do love God above all his Creatures and doth also shew that He sees it likes it and rewards us for it by his returns of Grace in giving a delightful perseverance in such sincerity to Him which is the highest experiment that our frail Natures can make when we love God so well as to câ—nverse with Him in our humble Addresses before all Carnal selicities and can rejoyce to go to Him when He calls for us LXXXVII AFter all that has or can be said the only way which God himself hath in his Holy Gospel fixed on for the exaltation of his Glory in the forgiveness of sins is that all sinners should come to Him merely upon the account of Grace in the bloud of Christ and not to rest on nor support our selves with general hopes of mercy mixed with our endeavours and obedience but to come up to the Gospel Rule by a fixed Faith in Christ and make that way our all by giving Glory to God therein as He hath appointed lest we perish Eternally For no man shall receive pardon and forgiveness of sins but those who come unto God by the bloud of Christ. And the sin against the Holy Ghost is only excepted from such forgiveness LXXXVIII ALl the Arguments we can hear or read or fancy to our selves by conversing with God in holy Meditations of Heaven and Eternal Bliss in his presence there will not extinguish the natural affection between our Souls and Bodies so far as to desire or to be willing to have a separation by death without a miraculous addition of Faith and Grace to work beyond the reach of our Nature though we do believe that the time between our Death and our Resurrection is but a moment to Eternity and though that moment should last an hundred thousand years it will be as undiscernible for its duration as while we sleep one minute So that we must be satisfied in this mystery without farther enquiry and pray to be contented in that point to be as happy when we die as God's departed Saints are until they and we arise together And this is great comfort to know that we shall be with them in death if we do sincerely endeavour to live and die in God's favour as they did And so make ready to go where we all pretend to desire to be when we can stay no longer here LXXXIX WE must not entertain Spiritual Pride nor welcom flattering Enthusiasms in our devotions nor attribute such Holiness to our selves as is the immediate gift of God but we may nay we must joy and rejoyce to find the Holy Ghost at work within our hearts
to perform our self-denials for us and to raise our Souls to such a selicity here in our Love to God and delight in his worship as will give us a tast of our Eternal Bliss when we shall see and enjoy Him as the Angels in Heaven do XC IT is no wonder to see men very devout in a time of danger sickness or any other afflictions but when the Evils are removed does our gratitude for deliverance justifie our Love to God by future obedience do we in health and prosperity approach God with the same vigour in our Prayers as in our sickness For Souls led by the Spirâ—t of God are alike devout in all changes and we being made whole ought to thank God and to sin no more lest a worsâ— thing come unto us XCI OVr greatest affair in this World is to make ready to go out of it for ever because every moment may be our last here and then how dismal an Eternity are we hasting to if not reconciled unto God before we die this is enough to perswade us to set our hearts on the Love and Service of God who will never let their devout endeavours be lost that seek how to please Him when with sincere affections they prepare to come unto Him XCII WHoever finds that the power of Divine Love with the expectation of Heaven at this distance doth create such joy in his Regenerate heart as doth bring him to delight in a Divine Life also by his frequent conversation with God in humble sincere approaches he will soon grow to such a habit of Holiness as will raise his Faith to foresee some beams of that Coelestial Light which his Soul shall shine in at the Resurrection as a reward of his inward dependance on God here And if thus reconciled and led by the Holy Ghost he shall also find this is a good Antidote to prevent relapses into sin and thus Armed with Divine joy he will be safe from Carnal temptations and will have his Soul full of such Heavenly comforts as will sweeten all afflictions and at last beget such Holy courage as will destroy the sting of Death by living ever ready to die for he that can love God above his creatures will gladly part with them to go to Him XCIII LEt no man boast of his own Righteousness for no man has any but what is given him from God yet let every man rejoyce and be thankful for such Grace as doth sanctifie and enable his Dust and Ashes to become Regenerate and learn so to welcom the Spirit of God in a chearful heart that he may make it Paradise where he is pleas'd to dwell And then that man's natural corruptions will be refined and his Body consecrated into the Temple of God and by this miracle of mercy the most incarnate sinner may become an Angel of Light but not by his own inherent Righteousness but by God's grace and mercy with Christ's Righteousness imparted unto Him XCIV AMongst all the great Lessons we have learnt Holiness is most worthy of our study to search our hearts if we can find there the Gospel-marks of our Election for when God invites us by his Holy Spirit to this sincere enquiry He will direct us by his Divine guiding Light to find and to feel when we have found the treasure that we seek by the comforts that will still grow until they fill our Souls with such Coelestial joy that we cannot miss of nor mistake what we search for to assure our Election for God will not be hid from such as he sees does seek Him with their whole hearts and that do hunger and thirst after Holiness and when we do obtain Grace to discern such marks of our Spiritual Filiation we may in great humility rejoyce and sing Hallelujahs unto God with the Angels in Heaven to shew the highest Adoration our hearts can express in gratitude for such mercy afforded unto men on Earth And by thus entertaining our selves within our selves avoid temptations and set our hearts above the power of all vain objects to divert us from the prime end and felicity of our Christian calling which is our Resurrection from sin to grace as the chief mark of God's favour to assure our reconciliation for Grace accepted and persevered in is the infallible earnest of Glory because Christ has made the Kingdom of Grace here all one with the Kingdom of Glory Which is much talked of by many that prepare not for it because most men in health do think themselves ready to die and do not find they are not until the Bell tolls them to their Graves hoping to jump from Hell to Heaven at once but the ascent is high steep and very hard to climb XCV THough the great art and mystery of self-denial to subdue all carnal appetites is the most difficult part of our Christian calling yet the same Holy Spirit that invites us to it will impower our hearty endeavours by diligence and custom to gain so absolute a Victory over our Tyrant fancies which before enslaved us as will raise our Souls by constant self-denials to much greater Spiritual delights even here on Earth which the Regenerate man can only judge of XCVI A Prayer O Lord prepare my heart to pray and bless me with contrition and repentance proportionable to my sins that my Love and my Obedience may now be as great as my crimes and my neglects have been who never thought on Thee in all my ways nor of my Souls Eternity till now being led by thy Holy Spirit to pray for Grace to set my heart continually on Thee my God that I may know no joy on Earth like my humble Addresses unto Thee in my retirements by which I can only judge of my new love and gratitude for thus turning of me from mine Iniquities and by this miracle of Mercy and Grace hast snatch'd me up from Hell into this Heavenly prospect of thine Eternal habitation of Glory Lord let these Divine transports in my approaches unto Thee wean me from the World that the remnant of my days may be spent in preparing of my Soul for thy summons to Heaven that the terrors of the Grave may not divert my frail nature from coming with joy unto Thee my God when thou art pleased to call And I beseech thee make this Holy flame burn still brighter and brighter when I draw near to pray that my heart may melt with joy for this my Reconciliation and comfortable hope of Eternal happiness in Heaven and that I may be so strong with Divine valour as to welcom Death that only can conduct me thither XCVII WHen God delivers a penitent sinner from the slavery of Satan to rejoyce in the freedom and felicity of his service it is to shew him a glimpse of Heaven to invite him thither How great a crime will it then be for such a man to turn Reprobate again after such mercy shewn XCVIII NOthing does ruine more Souls then not frequently examining
and gives sufficient grace accordingly at the hour of Death CXXXIII A Great Reprobate by the Grace of God become Regenerate can experimentally judge how much the felicity of Piety doth exceed his former Epicurisms Men in this World without putting Eternity into the Scales against moments and observes that the continual tranquility of a quiet Conscience is much more pleasant then all his past unlawful Fruitions attended with such Terrors as a guilty Soul is loaded with CXXXIV EVery Pious man that has forsaken his sins for fear to offend God who he pretends to love also does begin well And when God sees his sincerity to obey him in all things He will not let him rest there but adds Faith and Grace till his heart longs for a nearer Communion with Christ in Heaven and by a daily custom of such elevated Meditations God will bring this Pious man to despise this World and to overcome the Terrors of the Grave by his expecâ—ation of Heaven where his Soul longs to be CXXXV WE must not desire to die to be rid of affliction here But if we can obtain Grace for so Divine a Love to God as to be glad to go to Him when He calls for us That will be enough and such holy courage at the hour of death will bring great Joy to our expiring Souls CXXXVI THe Souls of Righteous men are said to be with God the moment they expire But to what degree of Bliss they are admitted before the Resurrection is not revealed unto men But it is enough for us to believe that God takes care of those Souls that served and trusted in Him as well as for his departed Saints We need to desire no more then to be with them CXXXVII THe Design of Reading the Scriptures Preaching Praying and Fasting is to bring us to lead such Pious Lives as may shew our Faith and Love to God And so to divert our hearts from Worldly vanities by constant Meditations on the Ioys of Heaven to invite us thither And also encourage our timerous Souls with grace from above to contemn the Grave where they shall not rest one moment Which if well considered our Holy Resolutions would scorn to fear and shrink back from the last step we must make to take possession of the Crown we seem to labour for which will shew that we have but cold desires to be with God CXXXVIII NO Regenerate man can be mistaken in Gods Service who sets his Hâ—art sincerely to that workâ— for God who sees our hearâ—s throughout will not lose such a Votarrâ— but will Sanctify his zeal and make hâ—m see that an humble contriâ—e heart is the Sacâ—ifice He likes And will shew by his 〈◊〉 of Comfort and Consolation to such a man that his Soul will be transported with Raptures of joy in his Divine Contemplations when he finds such inward assurance of Godâ— favor that he cannot doubt of his Reconciliation when thus enriched with Grace and thus led by the Holy Ghost his devout heart will rise higher with bright flames of Love aspiring to get into Christs bosom CXXXIX WE should in our Meditations often reflect on the unquiet and uncertain wealth and Honours of this World and how unworthy such fleeting fruitions are to be preferred before Eternal felicities that so we may not set our hearts and spend our time on such vain acquisitions when immortal happiness will be had on easier and more certain terms and we surely become the Sons of God CXL THe greatest business of our Lives is to learn to die with holy courage and not to start from the Grave nor repine at such means and methods as our kind God appoints to make us willing to come to Him and by such gentle corrections to withdraw us from the World that our hearts may be always working up towards his Throne of Mercy where Christ has purchased places for converted sinners amongst the Angels and has appointed his Holy Spirit to invite and conduct us thither by his inward comforts which grow from the Gospel-promises and is the Christian Faith that repented sins forsaken shall not be charged on us in this World nor the next which is the foundation of Divine valour in a dying convert CXLI THe generality of mankind are naturally inclined to love those who love them and to judge of Friendship and Hatred by the assisting or crossing our designs in this World and the universal object herein is Death So then we are to consider the real effects of this great Monarchs power that controuls the World and see whether he be a more general Friend or Enemy to mankind For as he cuts down some in their first Buds others in the prime Blossoms of their youth and surprizes many of ripeâ— years by hurrying them into unexpected destruction from such Wealth and Honours as their carnal hearts were most delighted with yet the same Death is kind to the most of men who are oppressed with various sorts of Agonies both of mind and body beyond the cure of the best Remedies until by Death released from all degrees of maladies and miseries Now if all this be well considered we may bring our selves to such an acquaintance with this mighty Monarch Death by a daily conversation and preparation for our submission to his unresistable command so as to rejoyce when we are freed from future evils and by Death conducted to our Eternal Rest. And the same moment that our Souls expire we shall conquer Him who conquers all the World and for ever Triumph over his Victories over us So that 't is our weak Faith and frail Nature that makes Death seem so terrible an Enemy unto unrighteous men only CXLII THe true joy of a good Soul in this World is the very joy in Heaven only there 't is superinvested with Glory which a Righteous man enjoys that moment he dies without any stop by the way CXLIII THere is nothing more worthy of our continual thoughts our utmost endeavours and hearty prayers then to obtain the Blessedness to become Regenerate For when the Holy Ghost sanctifies the heart of such a man with the comfortable marks of his Reconciliation and Adoption that man will soon find the continual feast of a good conscience while he lives to be more pleasant then all other things which this World affords and at his hour of death the felieity of his Adoption will fill his Soul with holy valour and accompany him to his Everlasting Glory Which joy no mortal fancy can conceive and is the highest works of our strongest Faith to think on and to prepare for CXLIV HE that can upon examination find such comfort in his Soul as to be ever ready and willing to appear at the day of Judgment must be enlightned and guided by the Holy Ghost and sanctified by a Spiritual Resurrection from sin to grace and from all worldly temptations so as his chief delight will be in a Divine conversation with God by frequent approaches for the continuance
Old sick man would live on in pains the strong and healthy Youth the Rich the Poor the great in Titles and Commands the Mighty Princes and their Slaves all of all sorts are subject to repine to Envy and to Malice Revenge and Avarice to Ambition or some other discontent that robs their hearts of peace and yet all desire to live on though our days if justly divided we should find three parts of four allotted unto cares fears troubles and sorrows and the remaining part entertained with shadows of delight to mock our senses rather then such real pleasures as can affect our Souls and yet no time no arguments no examples nor our own daily experience can divert our frâ—il Natures from this infelicity which was created with us by a mighty Providence to shew that our time of Sojourning here must not afford any thing of value to divert our hearts from aiming at our Eternal habitation of Rest where we are to expect more felicity then we now know how to wish for But this the Regenerate man can only understand who knows the felicity of Piety and finds there is no security on Earth but in loving fearing and serving God which assures him of a place in Heaven and gives him a comfortable passage thither CLVI IF men did consider their Christian calling and the miraculous Plantation of the Gospel of Christ by twelve illiterate men who were taught by the Spirit of God for the conversion of the then Heathen World we should now have more active Faith then generally appears by the lives of men for though we are not called to a severe bloudy Martyrdom as in the Primitive Age to justifie our Faith by Torments unto death But by the great mercy of God our required Martyrdom is now so gentle in comparison of their sufferings that we are only called to Obedience and Faith only to own what those Blessed Martyrs died for So that if we prefer Gods Glory and his Service before our own Carnal Appetites we shall resist all temptations to Lust and Vanities which offend God and destroy our present felicity also When this easie happy Martyrdom of sin is only required of us to repent past crimes and forbear to repeat them we shall receive in lieu thereof Gods favour here and Eternal Joy in Heaven CLVII A Frequent consideration of our state towards God shews us the best prospect towards Heaven and doth teach us the way thither and begets holy desires on the expectatâ—on of our future joys and such consideration also gives us the prospect of those everlasting flames that attend us in Hell if we run on in sinning and will terrifie our hearts with the expectation of future Torments if we neither value Gods promises nor fear his threats So that nothing can be more concern to mankind then frequent and serious consideration of all we say do and â—â—â—nk CLVIII TO fear to die is a contradiction to our Faith and all the zeal we profess to God when we fear to be with Him in Glory and by which we undervalue Christs purchase of a place in Heaven for us by preferring our abode here before Eternal happiness with Him which we can nâ—ver obâ—ain but by dying CLIX. NO considerate man can pretend to fear God and do what he is sure will offend Him nor can he think that he loves God when by committing wilful known sins he contemns his Laws nor can he believe that he has any argument to trust in God who does neither love fear nor serve him as he ought nor can pretend to any parcel of Divine Graâ—e or comfort in death if he live and die in his habitual course of sinning CLX WHy do Christians fear to die but because we do not live after Christian Principles which neglect begets infidelity and makes us doubt to go unto Christ else we could not fear to be with Him who sits at Gods right hand in Heaven and where we may participate of his Eternal Glory if we live after his Gospel Rules here by which we shall scorn the terrors of Death and make our days on Earth also as happy as long But if we go on in Voluptuous Iniquities pamper'd up for the day of Slaughter 't will be no wonder that we tremble at our Dissolution and the approach of the terrible day of Judgment But if we live ready to die and fit to step into Eternity the Grave will prove easier then a long life if compared with the short pleasures of our best Worldly enâ—oyments that keep our hearts from Heaven CLXI FRequent consideration of our Eternity does beget a due examination of our hearts whether God be there to direct and support us in our way to Heaven or if Satan governs what a dismal Eternity we are hasting to so that to have God always in our sight by a frequent examination of our hearts we may check the first appearance of Evil with the thought of Eternal condemnation but if Goodness inhabit here then to cherish such thoughts as will blow the holy Fire into flaming Zeal and declare an Interest in Christ And by a daily custom thus to retire and consider of our Salvation will â—ill our hearts with such a pleasing habit of Holiness as will bring God home to us who will not permit a wicked thought where He is pleased to dwell CLXII IF we did duly consider that our transparent hearts do shew our most secret thoughts to God we should not so often provoke him to Anger by putting our evil thoughts into action this would be of great use if by practices we can bring our hearts to be as transparenâ— to our selvâ—s as they are to God and would in a little time obtain Grace to cast out wicked fancies as fast as Satan can suggest them or our own fancies create them which then would leave no stings behind to poison hearts so strongly guarded CLXIII WE ought to be ever mindful that true Religion is to lead a Divine Life and will beget Divine Love in our hearts to God and to endeavour to endear our selves so as to become capable of his Love to us though we can never be worthy of it we shall not fail to have it if we sincerely desire it CLXIV THe Gospel says that our Saviour died to satisfie God for the sins of all mankind that truly repent and amend and do stedfastly believe that if we do so all our sins how many and how great so ever shall be forgiven us We must then enquire of our own hearts for the truth of our repentance whether we shall find Arguments to doubt or to believe our selves to be in the number of them that Christ came to bless by turning us from our Iniquities and then it will be our Duties as an effect of our Faith to believe we are amongst such penitent sinners as Christ has Redeemed with his Bloud and will be no presumption to think we shall have places in Heaven on His account if we come
is a continual Inquisition on our own hearts to consider all our thoughts how they work towards a good or a bad end and then to cherish or suppress them as they arise for some appear in forms at first fight so ugly they cannot be too soon smothered and some so disguised in pleasing shapes as may deceive a careless heart if not acquainted with the marks the wearâ— and that way Armed and well warned by former harms so as to avoid new wounds from Enemies so dangerous that we must not Treat nor dally with but make them Retreat by a brisk Charge and bold Defie We are also to study to discover another sort of Foes more dangerous then all the rest who lye in close Ambush until some opportunity do call them forth for an Assault and are of form so lovely and so innocent in shew that Charity her self would warm their cold Limbs in her own Bosom and not discern the danger until these cunning Serpents bite beyond resistance and then declare for the Supremacy over the whole man and then muster up all his senses and all his faculties against himself and thus steal a Victory by corrupting those Guards that were given for his defence So that by a long negligence we grow so ignorant of our selves that every assault from Satan shakes the whole man until at last he Roots him up for ever But if our Eternal Being is considerable we should allow some tiâ—â—le to study our own natural inclinations and affections to good or evil and to learn such Rules as may rectifie our senses to submit unto our more rational Souls when led by Grace to work upward towards God which will teach us the wisdom of Salvation and raise our Faith to such dependance on Christ as no worldly Learning can contest for the priority Let us then imploy our time so as to learn to know our selves and our duty unto God in which our everlasting happiness is most concerned CLXX THere can be no better Arguments for frequent Meditations then to think seriously of our sins of Death and our Resurrection to Judgment as we ought and to prepare for so great a concern at a minutes call to step into Eternity so ready that we may so love God and fear Him as to serve him with delight here and to have Celestial joy when we expire CLXXI. NO man ought to think himself above the reach of temptation for when Satan finds us but a little relaxed in our Devotion or any thing cold in our affection to God he can dress an old forsaken sin so like to an Angel of Light as to surprize a young Divine Lover at first sight when his Guards are withdrawn but when his Beloved sees him in such danger He will by His Divine guiding Light unmask the disguised Fiend and so reclaim his near lapsed Lover unto his devout Addresses as before and make him see by such Assaults that he can stand no longer in favour then by his Grace supported But he that is become a well-settled Regenerate man so as to stand ever on his Guard with holy courage to repell all approaches from Satan as fast as they appear will make such frequent Victories his chief delight and when our common Enemy sees that all his attempts on such a man are in vain he will desist who only watches opportunities for his attempts on those he finds remiss and who is often belyed by some men who do invite him to such easie Victories on those of his own complexion as black within and as great Devils as himself CLXXII ALas poor man dost thou complain because thou canst not sleep ten hours every night when Nature doth require but five Thou fearest to die Yet wouldst be dead near half the time thou hast to live for sleep is so like death that we cannot distinguish wherein they differ until we awake But thou art tired for want of entertainment in long Nights Alas poor man that is a sad grievance indeed and worthy of pity for thy Saintship has no sins to confess nor pardon to ask of God no cause to wash thy Bed with tears Heaven and Hell with Eternity to come are not worth thy thinking on until the Bell toll thee to thy Grave and then too late thou wilt wish for some of thy time lost in sleep then to watch and pray and to lament in Sackcloth and Ashes While the Regenerate man finds no time so fit to raise his Soul to Heaven as when he awakes at Mid-night nor any consolation so great as in those hours borrowed from sleep to converse with God in holy Meditations which fills his heart with present joy and peace of conscience that lasts the whole day after and is a good remedy to prevent such fancies as do invade the drowsie Souls of lazie men when they cannot sleep CLXXIII ARt thou fallen by a surprize who has not or may not fall so But if these falls be frequent there is much danger in such Relapses and though not fit to cause despair yet worthy of great care for the future lest thy surprizes grow into a habit and prove but an excuse when thy self betrays thy self so often which will find no credit at the day of Judgment to procure a pardon from the Almighty searcher of our hearts whose Omnipotence is affronted if we think by a trick to hide from Him those crimes we are commanded to confess bewail and forsake CLXXIV WHen God gives us grace to make holy Vows for self-denials with power to perform them He fails not by his Holy Spirit to assure us of his acceptance thereof by the joy our hearts will feel after every resistance of Satanical assaults which will in little time encourage us to take more and more delight in those Victories over our selves who are the greatest Enemies we have CLXXV IT is no easie work for men in health and prosperity to think so often and seriously of Death as is requisite for our preparation to the Grave though no other time is so proper for it For when pains and sickness dâ— distract our minds we are only diligent to seek remedies for cure and often find none but do die with a short prayer sighed out as if Lord have mercy on us were a charm to redeem threescore years mis-spent in sins and vanities without any thought of our Salvation all that time as if Heaven were too melancholly a business to trouble our idle heads with while Youth in vigour reigns which seldom affords any credit for the felicity of Piety and such Romance discourses as they understand not while a Righteous man knows no joy on Earth like his expectation of Heaven and living ever ready to die in hope to be with God there CLXXVI WHen God endows the hearts of men with Holiness it is a sure mark of his especial favour to give us a free admission into the Court of Heaven to be with Him there as often as we please in our Meditations
and if we can improve this Holiness so as to become Divine Lovers of Him we shall be admitted as it were into the Bed-chamber of the King of Kings to enjoy all the Priviledges and Immunities that His departed Saints have there To know this and to do thus is to enjoy Heaven on Earth in which felicity the Atheist and the Hypocrite can have no share with a Divine Lover who is ever ready to be snatch'd up into Heaven while he is meditating of his going thither CLXXVII IF we have joy in Earthly fruitions what will our happiness in Heaven be and if the hope only and expectation of Heaven in pious hearts be pleasure above all our enjoyments here what transporting joy will the possession of Eternal Bliss be when we shall see God and participate of his glory as the Angels do and if we be so Regenerate as to believe this and do take delight in such contemplations it is a sure sign that the Holy Ghost is at work within us and will beget such holy courage in our hearts as to pass us through the Grave with chearful Souls to be with God And if we love and trust in Him as we ought there can be no Diversions so delightâ—ul as such Devotion is to a Divine Lover who converses day and night with God that is never absent from them who do sincerâ—ly delight in Him CLXXVIII WE are taught to pray against sudden death that is to perswade and lead us on to be always so prepared that no kind of death may be too sudden but that we like Eliah may every moment expect to be snatch'd up into Heaven by a fiery Chariot or taken up in a flaming zeal of Divine Love by an Apoplexy or some other accident of as quick an ascent as his Chariot was But generally our mistake is to pray for lingering long sickness only to gain time for terrors to awake our sleepy Souls with sighs and tears to move God to mercy then which we valued not before But the Regenerate man who has so cleared his accounts with God at the Holy Sacrament as to have Christ new born within him and is so led by the Holy Ghost as to sâ—nctifie his future life that he lives ever ready and willing to die That man will find the most sudden death to be God's mercy and a favour to free him from the Agonies of a tedious sickness for we too often do mistake such sudden dissoluâ—ions for God's Judgments to see men fall so when themselves feel a joy to be caught up into Heaven without pain to take possession of their Eternal Bliss Now God grant that all men may be so well prepared for all kind of deaths as none may be too sudden for any who call on his Holy Name CLXXIX A Prayer O Holy Ghost Lord God the Comforter who art never absent from those that desire thee with sincerity vouchsafe I beseech thee so to enter my heart that I may find thee there consecrating of it for thy Temple by thy abode therein and now direct me how to welcom so great a Guest with gratitude and joy for such Divine comforts as flow in hearts where thou inhabitest and where Satan dwelt before Lord keep possession against Him and all invading Enemies for I cannot defend my self without Thy aid nor of my self know when or how to approach the Throne of Mercy unless my Addresses be so guided and so sanctified by Thee as God will not reject them CLXXX A Prayer O Lord God I beseech thee give me Grace to imploy the great fancy thou hast given me on my greatest concern to obtain thy Mercy and Grace with Christs Righteousness to work out my Salvation that I may no longer mis-spend the time which every moment hasts on to my Eternity but with diligent zeal to pray for Faith in Christ such as will be the foundation for a Divine Life to shew my love to Thee my God by an universal obedience with purity charity and such humility as will raise my heart unto the highest pitch of Divine Love that my conversion may be now more eminent then my crimes have been And now O God! I beg thy Grace to confirm and fix my Soul in the assurance of my Reconciliation and Adoption by receiving â—he Holy Sacrament this day with such faith and due preparation as to put off the Old man for ever And so to eat and drink the consecrated Bread and Wine as the Body and Bloud of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ with all his benefits as He himself gave himself to his Disciples here on Earth that I now by thy Holy Spirit led may like them walk after Him And let thy mercy O Lord supply my defects in the peâ—formance of this great Duty according to the sincerity of my heart entirely offer'd up to Thee my God in this days Sacrifice so as the Records of my sins may be cancell'd in Heaven and my Name be now writ in thy Book of Life amongst thy reconciled Sons on my Saviour Jesus Christ's account CLXXXI TO spend our time on idle thoughts is like pursuing of vain waking Dreams a folly so much less then nothing that only Mad-mens fancies can delight in and is a shame for sober men to imitate whose Souls refin'd by Piety may be ever on the wing towards Heaven filled with felicities above the reach of any worldly hearts to guess at which is the Pious man's continual entertainment and delight so to pass his time with his Creator here on Earth as to find his heart full of something so Divine that he does think himself in Heaven while that Celestial flame enlightens him CLXXXII IDleness is the fountain of all evil the Devil directs his chief Emissaries on Earth with Addresses to an idle person who is then fit to take impressions from all sorts of temptations when God is absent 't is such men that invite Satan to steal by degrees into their empty hearts in such disguises as He well knows suits best with their idle fancies so to divert them from all Holy purposes with some Idea's of past delightful objects until they quite forget their sacred Vows to have God ever in their sight which secure them from all such assaults And it is but a slight Argument which many men use to excuse their time spent in idleness because they want Learning and the use of Books for their diversion when all Ages shew that Piety is not nor ever was confined to Learning 'T is not our Wisdom nor our Eloquence but our Faith and our saâ—ctified affections that is most acceptable to God and such sincere affections will never want devout entertainment to keep our hearts so fixed on Heaven and our concern there as will bassle Satan with all his Arts as often as He attaques us CLXXXIII TO be really contented is an Epicurism seldom thought on and so far from being understood as but little valued by the most of men who are over-busie in
labouring to change our conditions still aiming to get what we have not though the last acquisition rarely brings more satisfaction then what we had before Whereas a contented man has all that he desires and enjoys what he has because allotted to him by the Divine Providence who doth chuse better for those that do relie on Him then we can for our selves CLXXXIV WE ought not to repine at crosses nor to murmur at sickness or any other affliction whatever because they are God's Cordial Antidotes to repell the poison of such sins as He sees do use to infect our Souls with malignant diseases such as create a despairing conscience when we die and hazard Eternal Torments in the next World we are therefore to kiss the Rod that works so great a cure and that Hand that smites us in Love to make us fit for his Mercy by repentance and conversion from being great sinners to become his Adopted Sons and so above the venom of future biting afflictions for He only hath perfect peace whose mind is stayed on God the Rock of our Salvation CLXXXV NO man can do all that he should do but all men may do as much as they can do and God requires no more to obtain his Love here and Salvation hereafter But we are naturally so prone to flatter our selves in this point that when we think our hearts most safe we are often surprized by a forsaken sin and shamefully subdued by it For when we make a Covenant with our Eyes and Hearts not to go astray though we cannot hinder the first look or thought that is amiss we may so check them at first appearance as they shall not invade us a second time nor bite on to harm us so that if we do stumble heedlesly we may prevent wilful tumbling into Relapses and wallowing in them for which there is no excuse CLXXXVI IT is worthy of observing how some men by a long customed and settled habit of living ill have so Naturalized their sins to themselves and themselves to the Devil as in time they grow to think it a point of honour and conscience to be constant to that profession and are asham'd to quit Satans black Livery which they prefer before their first engagement to God in Baptism I have heard a Gentleman say that when he had lived many years in great Iniquities it pleased God by a long sickness to beget such remorse in his heart as upon his recovery to become a Convert But for a long time after he did conceal this change as asham'd to practise his conversion by a publick new course of life so much out of fashion and did many times in conversatioâ— seem to like what he liked not to avoid being thought an Hypocrite until he consider'd how much greater a shame it was to serve God in a corner so to smother his highest Act of Mercy towards him in not daring to own the thoughts of his Salvation and how unworthy he was to become an Adopted Son of God while he feared to declare his Hope of so high an Advancement On which account he did take courage to profess his Conversion which he thought not fully to manifest until the hour of his death By which we may see how dangerous it is to run on in habitual sins until we grow ashamed to forsake them CLXXXVII IT is a wonder to consider that mankind should be so universally bred up from our Infancy to study and by laborious callings to imploy our Talents of Sense and Reason in the acquisition of such perishing goods as the World affords and generally so late begin to inform our selves of our Souls intrinsick value being created for a participation of God's Glory when ascended into Heaven how unworthy an exchange then do we make who believe this and yet do violently labour for the short-liv'd vanities and indeed the nothingness of this World in comparison with Eternity at the immense price of our Immortal Souls loss and our Eternal joys in Heaven for everlasting flames in Hell And this because we do not consider that God did not make the World to mock man with fallacious delights in the enjoyment of his Creatures but intended it for our entertainment and diversions in our Journey to Heaven and therefore has given us rational Souls such as by living virtuously we may enjoy the World and Him together and so advance our selves by gratitude and love here to a confirmation of a full â—ruition of Him at the Resurrection Thus if we would sincerely study virtue and set a true value on the perfection of Righteousness we might enjoy this World with double pleasure and have Heaven hereafter with all its Glory also CLXXXVIII WE do mistake nothing in this World more then our pleasures which we do compell our fancies to comply in and do often take more pains to justifie those vanities then any delight we find in such short-liv'd fruitions Whereas if our hearts were set on God and our Souls raised to serious thoughts of our Eternal Bliss such Divine entertainments would grow to a continual feast â—ull of surprizing joys and such Heavenly delights that we should with pain suffer and with remorse endure our vain diversions and lament to see that our Nature does require such frequent relaxes from our most rarified and ratified Devotions CLXXXIX WE cannot want Arguments for Meditation if we call to mind our Christianity that is diligently examine if we do participate of Christs Righteousuess to such a degree that our conversion from sin and our natural corruptions be changed into such an Evangelical habit of Holiness as to manifest our Spiritual Resurrection and Election to our own hearts for then nothing can engage us unto higher gratitude and love then a true sense of so great a benefit received which when seriously considered will mount up our Souls to frequent extasies of blessed Joy by our devout approaches in Adoration of God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost who are all three always working us up to our Salvation Then which nothing can be more worthy of our Meditation and sincere examination that we may be ready for the day of Judgment which no man can be that does not live so as to be chearfully ready to die for it is a much greater business to go out of the World then to live in it CXC NO other man can cozen us so much as we cozen our selves in what we like because we naturally raise fallacious reasonings against true reason to justifie our unlawful desires and do very easily perswade our selves to comply with our most idle fancies and eagerest appetites to what we know is against all Reason and Religion too thinking that our frailty is excuse enough to follow our blind inclinations to evil and do also indulge our aversion to goodness on the same account so long as our endeavours do prosper in wickedness But when we are Thunder-struck by some surprizing affliction then we can begin to think and
together have wrought this Salvation for our sick Souls when restored to such health and favour as to fall into no more desperate Relapses after we come to a true sense and shame for our dangers past and such a joy for our escape as becomes Regenerate men And then we shall know no felicity on Earth that exceeds such an expectation of Heaven as will fill the hearts of men endued with such transports from above And this great Blessedness the most illiterate man is as capable of as the most Learned for God will be found according to the sincerity of those that seek Him not for their Abilities or Qualities and Jesus Christ is ever as willing to be the Rock of our Salvation as we can be desirous to build on Him for our Foundation CXCVI. WE do too often mistake Repentance and abuse our selves with a belief that a few customary sighs will blow our sins out of Gods remembrance and his Judgments also from lighting on us but we shall find it far otherwise in the end For if by the recollecting and renouncing of our sins with zealous confessing them to God will not draw tears from our Eyes we are to heighten our contrition by a foresight and aggravation of such Eternal torments as are due unto us from our incensed God and to pray with vigorous sighs and ardent groans instead of tears until our hearts do melt within us to express the sense we have of our offences and by frequent repeating our indignation against our selves with the greatest remorse we can raise our hearts to that so we may divert Gods Judgments and convert them into Mercy and Grace through our Faith in the Bloud of Christ which only can wash all sins and all sorrows for sin from our hearts and then fill our Souls with a joyful feeling of our Reconciliation Thus by sincerity striving with our utmost endeavours to imitate and to out-do the returning Prodigal in our Repentance we may be restored and welcomed into our Fathers house and in his Arms find our Eternal Rest. CXCVII WHen long habitual sinners are call'd to repentance by Grace from above so as to become fully reconciled to God such men ought to give Glory unto his Holy Name by some eminent way of expressing their gratitude for so great a blessing and for ever after to live close up to Heaven on the strength of their new Reconciliation and in expectation that every moment they breath may be their last puff of breath which is Death in which puff their Souls expire into everlasting Bliss So that as often as they lye down to sleep and when they awake to work until they sleep again they should with all their worldly affairs mingle devout reflections on the Mercies they have received and feed on those Celestial Fruits which grow from their Divine Reconciliation such as will keep them ever watchful and ever ready for Gods call to their Eternal Rest and make them joyful at their quickest passage thither For sudden death seems only uneasie and unsafe to lookers on unto whom surprizes are most terrible but can be none unto them who every minute do expect what they know is every minute coming on and is most welcom to such Souls as the Holy Spirit dwells with by which sure marks of their Election they are ever ready and desirous to be with God which expectation is the highest felicity that man can have on Earth CXCVIII. WE do generally flatter our selves with a belief that our chief aim is to be in Heaven and to enjoy God there while we fear nothing more then going thither and it is because we do not seriously enough consider what it is to die until the moment we are dying And yet our tongues do talk so frequently of Death as if we thought of nothing else but such slight thoughts do vanish with those Airy discourses and we as soon forget to prepare for what we were talking of which makes so many men start back from the fruition of their highest wishes and are frighted from taking possession of their Eternal happiness And though dying chearfully be a Divine valour above the reach of Dust and Ashes God doth ever support those that are his with such a proportion of Holiness and Righteousness for their Souls spiritual food and nourishment as shall add courage unto all that desire to be with Him and they shall be so the moment that they die which is sufficient consolation to invite men to live so piously as to die chearfully CXCIX THough no mans Piety can attain to the purity of Angels until they become Angels yet pious mens Evangelical Righteousness may be blessed with such a degree of Angelical Holiness as to raise their Divine affections towards God so high as to delight in Him above all the glories of this World and fix such a conversation in Heaven as to be humbly assured of a joyful Resurrection to Glory with Christ and his departed Saints which is felicity enough to set mens ambitious hearts on cleansing and purifying here that they may become capable of so great honour and Eternal joy as to have Angels places in Heaven when they die CC. THough the Divine Mysteries of Heaven and the Joys there be Gods secrets undiscernible by us yet we are allowed to think that all things there must be far more excellent then our highest fancies can reach and yet by the sanctified operations of the Holy Ghost which we find in our own Souls when inflamed with elevated zeal to God in our sincere Addresses and when our hearts are engaged in Meditations above whaâ— any words can express it is evident that those Seraphick joys which are reserved until we see God face to face must needs be infinitely more ravishing delightful then what is revealed unto flesh and bloud so that it is no wonder if some men who do believe this do retire from the diverting affairs of this World to entertain their Souls with such contemplations of Heaven as may bring them unto a more frequent and nearer conversation with God when they have such a taste of those joys in Heaven as no other man can guess at unless by the same Light led And then such Meditations will be of great use to prepare such men for a chearful departure out of this World for ever which nothing can so well do as an inward assurance from above that they shall go to a better place for ever and to better company for ever and happy is that man whose Soul is feasted here with the thoughts of the joys in Heaven CCI. OUr Time is the greatest Treasure that we have which we may call one way well spent when we give it with our selves to attend on Gods Vicegerents here on Earth by his appointment to serve his Princes and Himself together and so may live eminent examples of virtue and die with the credit of our time well spent to shew others that Piety may grow in Courts and prosper
remission of all our sins and Reconciliation to God CCXXII AN habitual sinner that perseveres in his wickedness unto the end of his days seems to think that his Baptismal Vow was to serve the World the Flesh and the Devil and to forsake God and all his Commandments CCXXIII. IT is not to be thought that any man can die chearfully that does not believe he is then going to God and no man can believe that he is then going to God but he that loves God and fears to offend Him so that he only can be truly happy here who can so fix his heart on God as to find that his highest Happiness in this World is in preparing to go out of it but most men in health are too apt to think themselves ever ready to die and do not find that they are not until the Bell tolls them to their Grave CCXXIV. IF there be one sin more predominant then all the rest that by its frequent Victories over thy frail Nature is now grown too strong for thy controul stand always on thy Guard hereafter to watch its first Assault and be so well Arm'd against surprizes as to have time to call in Aid from Heaven to assist when such an Usurping Enemy appears as thy own strength cannot resist But let not thy new courage fail fight bravely on to thy last gasp and rather die then yield never submit never comply with such a known Enemy for when it cannot compell thee to consent as formerly 't will quit the Field asham'd to be so baffled by its Slave so frequently subdued before And thus by a stout resistance thou wilt find inward unseen Aids to humble that Triumphant sin that has so often Tyrannized over thee CCXXV. TO die while we are dying is not strange But to be so unwilling to exchange Our anxious days in a distracted time For an Eternal Rest and joy sublime Is want of Faith or value for our God To shun his presence and embrace his Rod Pretend to Heav'n but still do from it fly Because we will not dare not learn to dye Though we can only when our Souls expire Obtain long life which we so much desire Could we divide a moment to the Eye We should see Life the moment that we dye And Faith does fully that defect supply For though my Body dies it is not I. CCXXVI POSTSCRIPT THe conceal'd Author doubting that he may be too soon known does think fit to make some Apology for exposing so many loose Lines unto the censure of the World and does only hope that all good men will in charity look on his Mid-night Thoughts as rough Oar found in a rich Golden Mine from which they may wash away the Soil and lay up the pure Gold for use FINIS CCXXVII NO man can guess at the felicity of holyMeditations but those who constantly converse with God that way and who have obtained grace to be admired at all times to such near aproaches that their souls seem to be entertained amongst the Angels in Gods presence while those Divine Addresses last by which God also seems to manifest his Mercy unto the souls of men in shewing them some glimps of that Eternal glory they shall share in at the Resurrection to fill our hearts with blessed Ideas of his Celestial Joyes CCXXVIII HE that would know true joy on Earth must secure his Eternal Bliss unto his own heart not only by confessing bewailing and forsaking his known sins in hope of pardon but must express his Love to God and his gratitude for that pardon with a true value of it by improving his peace of conscience thereon with a Continual Conversation in Heaven for the future and thereby raising his soul to such a delightful Love of God as to find that the prime entertainment of his heart is to be so retired with his Creator and Redeemer that he may observe how the Holy-Ghost is ever present with them to improve his delight in them unto as high joy as man is capable off on this side of Heaven And whoever can obtain grace thus to make his Devotion his prime pleasure on Earth will perceive a new kind of felicity by such an exaltation in his soul as will raise his affection to God above all other Divisions And then if such Meditations do shew him such a prospect of his Eternal Bliss as doth create a Faithful expectation of Heaven so delightful here He may presume that he shall not want Divine Valour to die cheerfully when he is called to take possession of that glorious purchase which Christ had made for him there CCXIX. IT is worthy of observation and our most serious Meditations to see how much all men of all humors and all conditions Young and Old are generally of one mind in our great Journey through this world Where we are humbled together and tossed and tumbled in rough rugged ways up and down steep Hills full of hopes and fears still entertained with more storms than shun-shine and never free from such dangers as do fill most mens hearts with unquiet thoughts through their own Journey though some good men well Armed can smile and sleep it out with patience while others sighing groan and weep the whole way through And too many there be in this great Caravan who Laugh and sing and merrily pass their whole time without a thought of whether they are going until their turn comes to be tumbled out into the Pit with as little regard as they went thither But almost all are all the way of the same mind to Linger on in their uneasie passage rather than once heartily to wish to see their Journeys end and very few there are that do entertain any joyful thoughts of their arrival there at Last So that till Time by Day and Night of course transports them thither though tied and Cripled by various hardships in their long travels very many do wish they might return the rugged way they came to endure another age of sorrows pains and troubles rather than to alight from their Woren-out Waggons to rest a while in their own Homes though they know there is no other way to pass unto Eternal Bliss But when they find the wheels and Axel-trees that bore them up do crack under their heavy burdens past all hope to carry them any Longer on then to late they flatter themselves with vain hopes to flatter God as if they did desire to be with Him When they do know that God doth see that nothing could by them be done to keep them longer from Him For which great frailty in Mankind the only sure cure is to think of and prepare for our journeys End all the way we travel thither And then the expectation of that joy and that Glory we march towards will sweeten all we suffer on our way to God And happy are those men that can obtain grace to travel so to Heaven as to get such a tast of those Celestial joys in their