must call to mind that as this Blessedness also is the Offspring of Comforts so are they of Mourning And therefore as we would be blest in such Comforts as shall free us from extravagant Fears when we dye or as shall turn our Fears into Desires of Death we must live holy Mourners CHAP. XIV The Tenth Motive to Mourning in General being the Seventh Branch of that Blessedness which springs from the Comforts annexed to Mourning They sweeten our Life by conducing to our Health and by bettering the Temper of our Minds as well as the Habit of our Bodies THat holy Comforts are blessedly useful and beneficial to our Souls what hath been said on the foregoing Heads does sufficiently prove But then they have a benign and blessed Influence on our Bodies too Nor is it at all strange that those Comforts which are no other than the sweetness of Heaven in our Spirits should sweetly affect the bodily Part of our Beings For while the Spirit and the Flesh continue in this state of vital Union as what is agreeable to the Flesh or Body is frequently pleasing to the Soul or Spirit so on the contrary what is highly delightful to the Spirit will often be recreative to the corporeal fleshly Part of us A most excellent Man who knew this in himself hath transmitted his happy Experience to us in the infallible Book * Psal 84.2 My heart and my Flesh says he rejoice in the Living GOD. Where by the Heart cannot be meant that musculous piece of Flesh in the middle Region of the Body properly so called for then the Expression would have been tautological and might as well have run thus My Flesh and my Flesh rejoyce in the living GOD. But by it we are to understand the Mind or the Soul which is the Source of Understanding and of all Sense and the Spring of all Thoughts Desires and Actions But then this informs us that when Joy or Comfort descends upon the Soul it snatches the Body into Sympathy with it For here it is said of the Heart and the Flesh at once * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they have rejoyced or they have broken out into †To 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 usurpatur etiam de dolore sed praecipuè de gaudio cum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ☊ conjunctum ut hic significat ovationem c. Pol. Synop. Jubilations or Ovations in which excessive Joys do commonly shew and naturally spend themselves Not that divine Joy affects the Body no farther than just the visible Gesture or the audible Voice in which it sometimes runs out or discharges it self for the Body hath its share as well in the sweet Passion as in those Expressions of it As it is said of the Soul and Body both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Septuagint well renders the Hebrew they have exulted tho' the Soul in strictness cannot leap for joy but must leave that chiefly for the Body to do so the Body cannot strictly rejoyce neither but must leave that principally to the Soul Yet as when the Body leaps for joy the Soul must have a Perception of that Exultancy so when the Soul rejoyces for Comfort the Body hath some sense shall I say or shares in the effects of that heavenly Gladness The holy Psalmist cries out Psal 63.1 My Soul thirsteth for Thee ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Flesh longeth for Thee Whence it is plain that when the good Soul is carri'd with passionate and thirsting Desires after GOD her very Flesh at the same time pines and languishes through their Eagerness and Ardency as if that were capable of divine Longings too So when the Soul is ravisht with transporting Joys the fleshly Body it wears rejoyceth with her according to its measures It is affected I mean with the Blessed Passion Which rising at first from a spiritual Motion begun in the Soul does yet terminate in the Body which is the Instrument of Passions and by causing grateful Motions there which return upon the Soul in way of Sensation she is thereby pleased with reflected Delights Now when holy Comforts that descend upon the Soul do thus influence the Body its partaking of them may be a means to keep it in a regular state and to sweeten Life by preserving of Health The Scripture seems to insinuate as much Psal 118.15 The voice of Joy and * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omnimodam salutem significat tam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Health is in the dwellings of the Righteous Where by Joy a great †Interiora gaudia August Man understands the inward Joys of righteous Livers And as they have cause to lift up their Voice in praising GOD for those Joys so many times they have cause to do it likewise for that Health which is the Fruit or Product of them For the HOLY GHOST may not only signify here that the Righteous have more Joy and Health than others to praise GOD for but also that their Health may be derived from their Joy And in the Third of the Proverbs Solomon suggests something like this For there he tells us that Wisdom or true Religion ‖ Ver. 18. is a tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her That is it is like * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the tree of Lives which GOD planted in the midst of Paradise And that we know was to keep Man from Sickness as well as from Death and so not only to prolong his Life but to preserve his Health And as we find in the same Chapter also to fear the LORD and depart from evil which is Wisdom or Religion in other Terms * Ver. 8. shall be Health to the Navel and Marrow to the Bones A good Evidence that where-ever true Religion dwells in Men in the due Course or just Order of things it will have Health for its Inmate Unless GOD for great Reasons best known to Himself shall please to order it otherwise But then we must enquire whence is this Or how comes it to be thus Why should Religion in the Soul conduce to Healthfulness in the Body The making out this is the Scope of that Point which we are upon and Solomon hath done it to our hand I mean where he declares that the ways of Wisdom are ways of Pleasantness and that all her paths are Peace Prov. 3.17 That virtuous Livers by being virtuous have great Advantages of Health on their side beyond others who are loose and vitious in the World cannot be denied For their Piety and Purity their Self-denial and Sobriety their meek or dispassionate Temper and the Like besides that they entitle them to the Blessing of Heaven do effectually secure them from those Disorders of Mind and Distempers of Body which the contrary Evils naturally breed in them or bring upon them And then they as certainly prevent those dreadful Visitations which as often come down judicially from above and are
the 〈…〉 Love O that Thou wouldst satisfy it with the abundance of thy Goodness of thy sweet delicious and most ravishing Kindness I know Thou discernest and understandest every thing and if Thou seest any thing that hinders me from loving Thee above all I beseech Thee take it forthwith out of the way or make it for ever cease to be any manner of impediment of my Love to Thee Especially dispel O dispel and scatter those Clouds of Darkness and Mists of Ignorance which keep me from beholding thy great and wonderful and most amiable Perfections and give me a Sight of Thy Beauty and a Prospect of Thy Glories and such clear Apprehensions of Thy marvellous Excellencies that I may never conceive amiss of Thee But seeing Thy incomparable and surpassing Loveliness the Eyes of my Soul may so affect my Heart that my Heart may burn with holy Fervours towards Thee With such Fervours as may make me not only live in thy Love but ready to dye even with Torments for the same if Thou callest me to it And that I may ‖ Cant. 1.4 run after Thee with a LOVE * 8.6 stronger than Death with a LOVE kindled into so †ib. vehement a Flame as no ‖ v. 7. Waters of Affliction can quench or Flouds of Temptation or Persecution drown draw me I intreat Thee with the Cords of Thy Love Give me such a lively and powerful sense of * Tit. 3.4 the Kindness and Love of GOD our SAVIOUR which hath appeared towards men as may †2 Thes 3.5 direct my Heart into the Love of GOD and make me most entirely to love Thee ‖ 1 Joh. 4.19 because Thou hast first loved me and that so miraculously And help me so to * Jude 21. keep my self always in Thy Love that no †Rom. 8.39 Creature may be able to separate me from it Of all the Sections here I may safely say that this deserves to be oftenest used to be used even day and night For of all the Divine Graces there is none more sweet than divine Love None more excellent in it self or useful unto us as being most conducive to an Heavenly Life upon Earth VI. For Love to Neighbours LET Him enrich me with a large and noble Charity With such a Charity as is the ‖ Col. 3.14 Bond of Perfectness and will make me * Mat. 19.19 love my Neighbours as my self With such a Charity †1 Cor. 13.4 5 6 7. as is kind and long-suffering and neither envieth vaunteth nor is puffed up As thinketh no evil as seeketh not her own as is not easily provoked nor behaves it self unseemly As rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the Truth bearing all things believing all things hoping and enduring all things ‖ Rom. 13.10 Love I know is the fulfilling of the Law * Mat. 22.39 and the great and †1 Joh. 2.8 New Commandment which thou hast given us As it behoves me therefore let me keep it inviolate in all respects Let me never shut up the Eyes of my Observation or the Bowels of my Compassion or the Hands of my Bounty from those that are in need But let me chearfully ‖ Luk. 11.41 give Alms of all things that I have and be * 1 Tim. 6.18 19. ready to distribute and willing to communicate according to my Abilities laying up in store for my self a good foundation against the Time to come that I may lay hold on Eternal Life And as GOD laid down His Life for me so let me be content to do the same for others upon good accounts as †1 Joh. 3.16 I ought to do that so I may prove I am passed from ‖ ver 14. death to life because I love the Brethren * Rom. 12.9 without dissimulation Nor let my Charity extend only to †Psal 16.3 the Saints upon Earth to such as excell in virtue and are of the Houshold of ‖ Gal. 6.10 Faith but to all that partake of humane Nature and even to the worst with whom I converse Let it teach me gently to forbear and frankly to forgive * Col. 3 13 if I have quarrels against any even as GOD for CHRIST's sake hath †Eph. 4.32 forgiven me chusing rather to take ‖ 1 Pet. 2.20 all patiently than to * 1 Thes 5.15 render evil for evil to any man And let my Charity I pray Thee be more ample still and raise me up to so Christian a Temper as that I may not only be able to put up evil but forward and desirous to the utmost of my power to do good against evil and never to †Gâ—l 6.9 be weary of such well-doing till I ‖ Rom. 12.21 overcome evil with good If my * ver 12. Enemies hunger let me feed them if they thirst let me give them drink Let me love them †Mat. 5.44 that hate me and bless them that curse me and pray for them that despitefully use me and persecute me that so I may ‖ Luk. 6.35 be one of the Children of the HIGHEST who hath declared He is kind to the unthankful and the evil VII For Humility LET Him * 1 Pet. 5.5 clothe me with real and profound Humility Even with such an Humility as my REDEEMER practised That so the same †Phil. 2.5 8. mind that was in Him who humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross may be in me and I may never ‖ Rom. 12.3 think more highly of my self than I ought to think VIII For Patience LET Him beget in me a true Christian Patience Such a Patience as may make me submissive to GOD's Pleasure in all His Providences Such a Patience as may make me thankful and make me joyful in the worst Emergencies and Occurrencies of the World and in the wofullest Circumstances and contingencies of Life and in the Approaches and Agonies of Death it self That I thus * Luk. 21.19 possessing my Soul in Patience and †Jam. 1.5 Patience having its perfect work upon me I may be perfect and entire wanting nothing IX For Chastity LET Him beautifie me with an excellent and unspotted Chastity With such a Chastity as becomes the Servants and the Spouse of CHRIST With such a Chastity as may enable me to hate Uncleanness and to ‖ 1 Cor. 6.18 flee Fornication and to * 1 Thes 4.4 possess my vessel in Sanctification and honour as a †1 Pet. 2.11 Pilgrim and stranger abstaining from fleshly lusts which war against the Soul With such a Chastity as may make me * Mat. 5.8 pure in my Heart as well as in my Actions that so I may see GOD. See Him to my comfort while I live upon Earth and my Eternal Satisfaction and Bliss in Heaven X. For Meekness LET Him adorn me with Religious Meekness which in †1 Pet.
3.4 the sight of GOD is of great price With such a Meekness as may make me never to be angry at any thing but sin and never to be reveng'd on any one but my self But may cause me ‖ Eph. 4.31 to put away all wrath as knowing * Jam. 1.10 that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of GOD. With such a meekness as may keep me from strife and †Eph. 4.31 clamour and evil speaking and make me ‖ 1 Pet. 3.8 courteous and * 2 Tim. 2.24 gentle unto all men That being thus truly meek in spirit I may be †Ps 37.11 refreshed in the multitude of peace and be happy in Thy Heavenly conduct and instruction who hast said ‖ Psal 25.8 The meek Thou wilt guide in Judgment and such as be gentle them Thou wilt learn Thy ways XI For Fear LET Him plant in me a Reverend Fear of thy Name * Psal 99.3 which is Great Wonderful and Holy Such a Fear as is †Psal 111.10 the beginning of Wisdom and will make me ‖ Prov. 16.6 depart from evil Such a Fear as will not only make me * Psal 4.4 stand in aw and not sin against Thee but moreover will put me upon †Eccles 12.13 keeping thy Commandments That I ‖ Act. 10.33 fearing GOD and working righteousness may be accepted of Him who hath owned * Ps 47.11 His delight in them that fear Him XII For Trust LET Him strengthen me with confidence and sure Trust in GOD. With such a Trust as Thou expectest from me and requirest of me Even such as may engage Thee to keep me from falling into evils or else to support me under them or rescue me out of them With such a Trust as in all wants and necessities in all streights and difficulties in all dangers and distresses may encourage me to seek Thee and commit my self to Thee and fiducially to rest and depend upon Thee Considering Thou hast assured us that †Psal 34.22 whoso putteth His Trust in Thee shall not be destitute but ‖ Isa 26.3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staid on Thee because he trusteth in Thee XIII For Temperance and Contentedness LET Him make me throughly contented * 1 Cor. 9.25 and Temperate in all things So temperate and contented as not to take too much thought for this momentany Life †Mat. 6.25 what I shall eat or what I shall drink but to ‖ Joh. 6.27 labour for that meat which endureth unto Everlasting Life which the Son of Man shall give me and to seek first * Mat. 6.33 the Kingdom of GOD which is †Rom. 14.17 not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and Joy in the HOLY GHOST So Temperate and contented as not anxiously and solicitously to ‖ Mat. 6.25 care for the Body what it shall put on but to * Rom. 13.14 put on the LORD JESUS CHRIST or the Practice of His pure Religion wherewith whosoever is not clothed is naked in Thy Sight So Temperate and Contented as never to find fault with my own Circumstances in the World nor to envy or repine at other Mens but to be humble and thankful and highly pleas'd in all states and conditions as believing them the issues of thy Gracious Providence which is able to make all things work together for my Good XIV For Justice and Uprightness LET Him inable me to be perfectly Just and upright in all my Dealings So Just and upright as to be like to Thee my GOD who art †Psal 145.17 righteous in all Thy Ways and holy in all Thy Works So Just and Upright as ‖ 1 Thes 4.6 not to go beyond or defraud my Brother in any matter because the LORD is the Avenger of all such and * Col. 3.25 he that doth wrong shall receive for the wrong that he hath done a meet Punishment from Thee with whom there is no respect of Persons So Just and Upright as †Mat. 7.12 to do unto all men whatsoever I would they should do unto me as knowing my self strictly oblig'd thereunto not only by the Law and the Prophets but also by the Doctrine of CHRIST Himself So Just and Upright in every thing and to every one as not to be afraid to die at last and to ‖ Rom. 14.10 stand before that Judgment-Seat where * 2 Cor. 5.10 we must all appear that we may receive the things done in the Body according to that we have done whether good or bad XV. For a right Use of Ordinances LET Him be present with me and His Grace assist me O GOD in all thine Heavenly Ordinances that I may never exercise my self in any of them but to Thy Honour and my own improvement When I read thy Word let me do it discerningly so as I may †Luk. 24. â—5 understand the Scriptures and they may ‖ Psal 119.130 give Light and Understanding to me When I hear let me do it attentively so as my * Isa 55.3 Soul may Live When I Fast let me do it Religiously not to make a noise or †Mat. 6.16 to be seen of Men but to ‖ Isa 58.5 afflict my Soul and to humble my self before GOD and to heighten my Affections and Duties to Him When I pray let me do it devoutly so * Act. 2.21 calling upon the Name of the LORD as that I may be saved When I partake of the Sacrament of the LORD's Supper let me do it worthily so duly commemorating His Blessed Death as that the holy Performance may raise me the higher in Spiritual and the nearer to eternal life In all those Services and Divine Imployments which Thou hast called me to or put upon me let me use such faithful care and Diligence as Thou expectest from me and wilt crown with Acceptance and a Glorious Recompence XVI For Comfort in Death LET Him vouchsafe me His sweet and reviving Influence at my last hour to support and comfort me in my Departure hence Let Him fill my Soul with such generous courage as may make me not to fear Death With such Heavenly Consolations as may make me pleas'd with it With such hearty Love to Thee O GOD as may make me long †2 Cor. 5.2 and groan earnestly for it as a Translation or Passage to thy Eternal Kingdom Let Him possess my mind with such Thoughts and Hopes and Desires of thy Presence to which Death leads me that I may reckon it a Privilege or special Blessing as opening me a way to immortal Happiness And at what time or in what place or manner soever Thou shalt send it let me willingly and chearfully submit unto it rendring thanks to God who hath given me the * 1 Cor. 15.57 victory over it and great Benefits by it XVII For Thankfulness LET Him raise up my Heart the highest pitch of true
flourishes in the World Guilt within dulls his Happiness and makes it insipid yea imbitters the same and makes it unsavoury And in case he declines or falls under Misfortunes the same Guilt aggravates and inrages his Miseries It adds extreamly to the weight of his Calamities and sets so terrible an Edge upon them as makes them to cut more deeply and direfully And as the Guilt which Impious Men have contracted tortures them thus wofully while they live so it racks them a thousand ten thousand times worse when they come to die if they be not senseless of their sad condition Then quick Apprehensions of the Justice of GOD and of their own unworthiness break in upon them And being once entred they startle their Minds and they awaken their Souls that before perhaps slept securely in sin and dreamt of nothing but Ease and Pleasure And the same Apprehensions that rowze them out of their wretched Security help them to form right Notions of Death They tell them plainly and they tell them truly what it must be to their unprepared Spirits Namely a Messenger of Wrath and an Instrument of Vengeance and a sad Consignation to endless Torments A terrible Breach which the divine Anger makes upon them whereat Condemnation and their Ruine enter When GOD summons them from hence out of the Body they can think no other than that 't is to send them directly to Hell and to confine them for ever to the Regions of Darkness and the Prisons of Sorrow and the cursed Habitations of rebellious Sinners And when once they are convinc'd that their Passage hence is a Descent to everlasting Plagues and Miseries how must they fear and what Horrors will seize them when they feel it approaching As the * De Serres Historian relates concerning Lewis the Eleventh of France when he drew on a pace to his Dissolution he strictly charged all about him that they should not so much as mention that cruel Word Death to him And no wonder that from the aforesaid conviction such excessive Fear should arise to such as die impenitent For when Men perceive that they are sinking down into the bottomless Depths of eternal Sufferings how can they chuse but be lamentably overwhelmed with raging Horrors Nor does the amazing Prospect of this dismal Calamity overset Men with Fears only at their last Hour but hurries them on to other Expressions of their Astonishing Troubles For when they feel they must die and that Death will convey them to interminable Punishments then poor Souls they sigh and lament Then they ring their Hands and they tear their Hair and they curse the Day that ever they were born to be so unhappy Then they sigh when they are awake and they start in their sleep and are continually frighted with such inward Terrors that they would gladly run away even from themselves if so be they did know but how and whither Then they call for Ease but they cannot have it they seek for Rest but they cannot find it and therefore bursting out into doleful Tears in the heighth of bitter but fruitless Passion to those about them they make either this or the like heavy complaint Now we are undone O wretched Creatures we are lost for ever We might have been saved if we would and we verily thought we should have been so but alas we find that we were greatly deceived For our Hopes are now gone and our Confidence is quite sunk we are leaving the World and GOD hath left us and who can relieve whom He rejects Once we were offered Peace and Love and might have had them both upon easy Terms But those blessed Tenders are now over and the Hand that kindly reach'd them towards us is armed with Rage and stretcht out with fierce Indignation against us Oh the precious Hours that we imbezilled the sweet Opportunities that we neglected the gracious Invitations that we refused the holy Motions that we resisted the heavenly Glories that we despised Foolish rash and senseless Creatures that we were to do it O that we might but repeat our Lives that we might injoy these Mercies but once again But here 's the thing that breaks our Hearts we know that this shall never be Our Time is spent and Grace is past the LORD is just and we must perish Such are the Wailings of hopless Sinners and in such mournful Strains as these they sometimes relate their Death-bed Miseries And let none blame them as if they were too querulous at such a time they have cause enough for the Complaints they make Yea when in bitterest Words and loudest Out-cries they express their Grief they rate the Accents of it too low their Sorrow is bigger than their Lamentation Grant O GOD of Mercies we beseech thee that we may never fall under the one and never have occasion to take up the other Of all the sad Spectacles in the whole World I think none more lamentable than to see a wicked Man upon his Death-Bed To see how the nearer he draws to dying the more afraid still he is to do it because he is unfit With what terrible Anguish must this Fear of his needs sting his Soul and how intolerable must that Anguish be because it is incurable Yea the truth is in reference to the ungodly Death is armed with a double sting before it comes it strikes them with the Sting of woful Horror when past with that of cursed Misery Death to them is but an Inlet into Hell that Kingdom of Misery where Sorrow reigns without Measure or End And as they that are in this miserable state cannot but languish in grievous Tortures so they that feel themselves hasting to it cannot but lie under as grievous Fears But now when the righteous go from hence they do it in far more easy circumstances because they do it in a better condition They profess themselves strangers here upon Earth and they seek a City that hath Foundations in Heaven And as they have wisely laid up their Treasure there so their Hearts are with it already which makes them very willing to follow When their Turns come they never repine or quarrel at their Destiny nor lament the case of their dislodging Souls but lie down contentedly at the Feet of Providence and are really pleas'd that they have leave to be gone And one good Help to make them so is the Sweetness of their Passage Their uprightness according to the Royal Psalmist brings them Peace at the last And that Peace keeps all those Thorns out of their Death-bed Pillows or else plucks them thence which prick and gall ungodly Wretches and make their Heads to lie uneasy And when that is done instead of these Thorns it wreaths Olive Branches about their Temples fills them with Tranquillity and holy Quietness And then though Death comes never so suddenly and though when it comes it strikes never so furiously its fiercest Blow cannot make them unhappy They can bear it composedly and without Fear