lost his pristine purity and subjugated himself to the cruel tyranny and dominion of sin in this deplorable state being utterly unable to help himself our blessed Lord redeemed us from our captivity by offering up himself a ransom to satisfie divine Justice and all this that we might walk in newness of life And now what ingratitude is it to despise so much love Sure If he that despised Moses law died without mercy of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Bloud of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing Heb. 10.28 29. He must certainly be of a very base and disingenous spirit who takes pleasure in sin when he considers how dearly Christ paid for it Hath he been at so much pains undergone such dismal sufferings to purchase our peace and will we notwithstanding frustrate his designe how strange to astonishment is this that men should prefer captivity to freedom Alas is it not enough that our blessed Master was so barbarously and despitefully used by the Jews and Roman Souldiers but must we be also Actors in the Tragedy and by our sins crucifie him again Did he not die that we might live and shall we spend our life in offering despite unto him Strange that so much madness should lodg in the breasts of any into whom God hath breathed the breath of life I might here also adde that it is a contemning and offering of the greatest despite to the Holy Spirit to despise Holiness for upon this account is the third person of the blessed Trinity called the Holy Ghost because his peculiar office is to enable us to perform holy actions now if we continue in our rebellion if we reject the offers of grace and the internal motions of the Spirit to Holiness we do hereby become guilty of quenching the Spirit of God and offering despite unto him which is so horrid a piece of villany that Heaven threatens it with the severest torments SECT 5. Holiness the most proper and effectual means for attaining length of days Of all outward and temporal blessings length of days hath justly the precedency since without this all others can afford little or no comfort The possession and enjoyment of other mercies can bestow no satisfaction to men lying on their beds of languishing nay there is no comfort be it never so great but men would willingly quit with to acquire this Now since this is above all things so universally desired it cannot but very much enhance the value of Holiness to demonstrate that there is nothing so proper nor more effectual to procure length of days than this In order to my proving of this I shall first make it plain from Scripture that length of days is due to holy men by vertue of the many true and faithful promises and secondly I shall appeal to common experience to determine the case First there is nothing more evidently asserted in Scripture than that Holiness hath the promise of length of days annexed to it Prov. 3.1 2. My son forget not my law but let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life shall they adde unto thee This encouraging motive is pressed very effectually by Moses in his exhortation to obedience Deut. 4.40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes and his commandments which I command thee this day that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee and that thou maist prolong thy days upon the earth Upon this account we also finde that there are many promises of this nature to obedient Children Exod. 20.12 Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee And as Righteousness tendeth to life as the Wise man observes so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death Prov. 11.19 There is nothing more evident from Scripture than that sin hath a natural tendency to shorten mens lives nay the great God who is serious in his threatnings hath assured us it is so upon which account we may well conclude with the Wise man Prov. 10.27 The years of the wicked shall be shortned The whole tenour of the Scripture abounds with many such promises and threatnings and the thing is so plain that I need not stand to transcribe many texts But besides Scripture this truth is also plainly attested by common experience for if we examine who are the men who for ordinary are most obnoxious to diseases and live shortest we shall finde it true enough that the vitious are the men who live not out half their days Prov. 23.29 30. Who hath woe who hath sorrow who hath wounds without cause they that tarry long at the wine c. Holiness is repugnant and inconsistent with excess which naturally puts a period to the lives of men It forbids all manner of vice which leads down to the chambers of death and keeps men within due bounds in their eating and drinking Before mankind had corrupted themselves by their notorious and impudent vitiousness we read of their great length of days but the increase of sin multiplied diseases which hurry men to untimely deaths I deny not but the great Lord and Master of the Universe may for holy and wise ends known unto himself cut short the lives of the righteous yet surely if we consult either Experience or Reason we shall finde it certain beyond doubt that vertuous men enjoy for ordinary far the longest lives Some good men may be naturally of a brittle constitution yet how strangely has their life been protracted by their moderation and sobriety and how many strong men have had their days shortened by their intemperance and excess Indeed he that considers this well shall finde that Holiness is the most effectual means to promote long life both upon a moral and natural account Upon a moral account long life is the reward which the divine promises do secure to such men and on the contrary wickedness is threatned with shortness of days Upon a natural account the fire doth not more naturally produce heat than Holiness does procure health and length of days and there is nothing more evident than that the most of vices have a physical efficacy in the shortning of humane life That this is the necessary product and genuine effect of intemperance and lasciviousness needs no other argument to prove it but the daily examples of multitudes whom those sins have hurried to their graves And truly there is not any vice which does not like fire in mens bosoms torture and consume them and so disorders and discomposes them that they even neglect the necessary means of their health See Period of Humane life pag. 111 124 Edit 2. SECT 6. Holiness that which makes men honourable vice rendering men mean and ignoble Honour is an ornament so noble and venerable that he is but very sottish if not quite bruitish who doth not
whom the promises of eternal life belong In the last pace there is nothing in the world that will prove so effectual to comfort men at the hour of death as the sweet thoughts of their being separated from the pollutions of the world How unspeakably comfortable is it for men when they are just stepping into the other world to reflect upon the good life they have led and that they carry in their bosoms Consciences void of offence both towards God and towards man This is indeed that noble and Sovereign Cordial that revives the spirits of good men in their passage through the valley and shadow of death and makes their comforts abound and overflow Death is not so small a matter as some men think in Scripture it is not unfitly called the King of terrours Now nothing can free men from the terrour of it but a good Conscience and this cannot be had without Holiness which makes all calm and serene within It will afford men little pleasure when they come to die to reflect upon the earthly pleasures they have enjoyed these things profit not in the day of wrath but the Conscience of well doing makes men salute death without dread and astonishment and lift up their heads with joy because the day of their redemption approacheth But with the ungodly and wicked it is not so then their sins stare them in their face and so terrifie and affright them that no wonder though in the extremity of their agony they prefer strangling and death to life If holy Job doth so heavily complain of the terrours of God how much more terrifying shall the apprehensions of a severe and terrible judgement be to the unsanctified and polluted To think how shortly he must be everlastingly separate from the good things he enjoyed here and be cast into utter darkness to have his portion with the damned in devouring Flames to be an everlasting resident in the Lake of fire and brimstone where he shall be continually tormented with that gnawing worm that never dies These are the amazing thoughts that will seize upon the sinner his Conscience then will not sleep nothing will be able to allay those Storms and Tempests that are raised by the fearful expectation of the reward due to sin At death men are generally wiser than at other times then they begin to consider what they have been doing and call themselves fool a thousand times for their disobedience and wickedness The smoak of worldly cares that formerly blinded their eyes are now dispelled they see their folly when it is too late to mend it and if they do no more yet Balaam-like they will cry O that I might die the death of the righteous CHAP. IV. Frivolous Cavils and Objections removed THe former Chapters having discovered the Beauty of Holiness and the mighty power and force of Arguments that excite to the practice of it one who weighs all this by the measures of equity cannot as any man would think but look upon it as the strangest prodigie that so just a Cause should miss of its effect and finde the sons of men who pretend to be such Masters of Reason so monstrously foolish in rejecting it upon the account of some frivolous and very fallacious cavils But the truth is resolute Impiety is set upon the Bench and made Judge and no wonder though it pass an unjust sentence and condemn Holiness because of its opposition to Vice The common imputations and prejudices which wicked men load Holiness with I shall reduce to the four following Heads First Holiness lays upon men heavy burdens and grievous to be born which makes humane life joyless and uneasie they being so inconsistent first with Peace and secondly with Pleasure and Satisfaction Secondly Experience informs us that wicked men enjoy pleasure and satisfaction in their ways there being no men so jovial and merry as they and that men who pretend to Holiness are sullen and melancholy and are exposed to heavy sufferings and trials Thirdly 'T is singularity and ambition that prevail more with men than any other motive to be holy Fourthly 'T is the greatest piece of folly ignorance and impudence for men to quit with present pleasures for mere uncertainties The first being the most material Objection I shall therefore more largely and distinctly examine it and in doing of this I shall desire these four things may be considered First that the divine Laws are not grievous and uneasie Secondly that Vice is much more troublesom and difficult than Vertue Thirdly that Holiness conduceth both to the Peace and Happiness of humane Societies and to the temporal Advantage of private persons And Fourthly that there is a great deal of more pleasure in the ways of Holiness than in the commission of sin That the divine Laws are not grievous and uneasie but extreamly reasonable and wise is a truth I have already made plain when I discoursed of the rule of Holiness The whole tenour of the Laws of Christianity being so exceedingly suitable to the very nature of men it cannot be rationally supposed that they can be grievous to them St. Paul to the Philippians gives us a brief and compendious but very full and comprehensive account of what things the Laws of our Christianity enjoyn viz. Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely and whatsoever things are of good report all which are so agreeable to Reason that even the light of Nature prompts men to the doing of them and fully discovers it self to be an irreconcilable Enemy to all kinde of vices 'T is not then Reason but the impetuous Lusts of men that determines a holy Law to be grievous and uneasie and indeed no wonder though this unjust Judge make Holiness appear formidable and represent it as grievous to Mankinde it being so much the interest of this partial Judge to condemâ— it as criminal and to decrie it as a yoak intolerable and grievous to be born 'T is not probable that the most innocent shall pass uncondemned when an Enemy is set up in the Judgement seat to pass Sentence our blessed Saviour must be pronounced guilty by Pilat although even this uniust Judge openly profest he found no fault in him And seeing our great Law-giver met with so severe a sentence who can expect any more upright verdicts should pass upon his Laws But that the divine Laws are not indeed grievous to be born may easily appear from plain Texts of Scripture which is the onely infallible rule Our great Lord hath himself taught his Disciples That his yoak is easie and his burden light And one of his inspired Disciples has assured us that his commands are not grievous two Texts sufficient methinks to remove all those prejudices that are cast upon a holy life as if it were full of fatigue and trouble But besides Scripture Reason and Experience too come in to witness this truth First Reason
of the Lords mercy that we are not consumed sure many who have offended less have been justly sent to everlasting burnings do now dwell with devouring flames and why should a living man complain it were certainly more rational to be humbled for the evil that occasioned the rod that our present misery may not be the prelude to more lasting torments Nay there is nothing that more offends God that is more contrary to the pattern set before us than to murmur and repine let us therefore study to bear the resemblance of our eldest Brother that our Heavenly Father may acknowledge us for his Children In the next place Christ's obedience to the Will of his Father is set forth as our president and can any thing more powerfully perswade us to obedience than his example which not onely discovers our duty but also inspirits and enables us to perform it If the marvelous pattern of Christ's entire obedience does not form our wills to do what God enjoyns I scarce know any argument that will prove â—ffectual And now how serious was our Lord Christ in dispatching that business his Father intrusted him with The work that his Father gave him to do he finished it Joh. 17.4 and he testifieth of himself That he did always those things that pleased his Father Joh. 8.29 and that he might more emphatically express this he tells us Joh. 4.34 My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work and indeed in that he so entirely resigned the whole power of his Will to his Father Not my will but thy will be done we have the most unquestionable proof of his perfect obedience He was as the great Apostle tells us Obedient to the death of the Cross submitted to the most dreadful sufferings that he might instruct us to keep his commandments even as he kept his Fathers commandments Joh. 15.10 and that the same mind be in us that was in him But God knows how little we regard either his Precepts or Examples for although our great Master has made his obedience our rule yet how ready are we to despise it if in the least it cross our humors or carnal interest Alas little do we consider that obedience is essentially necessary in order to our supream happiness and that torments as severe and intolerable as they are lasting are the lot of the disobedient It were to be wished that the rebellious posterity of Adam would but seriously ponder what they will be able to say in the great day of Audit Sure I am the whole Contexture and Harmony of the divine Precepts and Doctrines are equitable and just and therefore call for our hearty compliance with them The wise God never issued out any Command which could not be obeyed He is not like the Aegyptian Task-masters to require Brick while there is no Straw Nay indeed our duty and interest are coupled together so closely that if we disobey and rebel we may thank our selves for the misery we have chosen And as his obedience is set before us for imitation so is his Love Charity and Compassion also His whole life was spent in doing good to men how transcendent is his love in pitying us in our degenerate and forlorn estate when we were at odds with Heaven and incapable to help our selves then even then did he commiserate our case and by his own Blood reconciled us to the Father It is the greatest demonstration of love imaginable for a man to lay down his life for his friend Joh. 15.13 and yet more wonderful was the love of our Redeemer in passing through so many cruel sufferings for us who were but Rebels and Enemies O how should the remembrance of his boundless compassions transport and ravish us with love how strange is it that the highest endearments of Love have not inflamed our spirits and made Love mutual and reciprocal Love is a most excellent affection of a noble original by which we resemble the best of beings the great God being by the beloved Disciple described to be Love and indeed well does this description sute with his dealings with men But alas how unlike are we to God in this there is scarce any duty more frequently inculcated by our Saviour than Love John 15.12 This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you and yet how little efficacy has either his precept or example with us Blessed Redeemer how unworthy do impure Earth-worms require thy love thou hast not been wanting to conquer our affections and to inflame our frozen hearts with love to thee and to our Neighbours also Thy life and Death comprehend the most endearing arguments imaginable and yet well maist thou ask us as once thou didst Peter Love you me but God knows there are but a very few who can unfeignedly say as this Disciple did Lord thou knowest that I love thee We can remember all thy sorrows without tears and look upon thy agonies with an unconcerned eye We can view thee in the Garden when grief and pain made thee sweat drops of bloud and behold thee as thou stoodst accused as a Malefactor before Pilate as thou wert contemned scourged and derided by impure worms and most spitefully represented in a fools habit we can ascend Mount Calvary and contemplate thee as enduring the most shameful death of the Cross and hanging betwixt two Thieves and all this time have Adamantine hearts which receive no impression Blessed Redeemer come touch these hearts of ours that they may be overcome with love that our wills and affections may be perfectly moulded according to thy pleasure Sure if we had any sparks of Generosity or common Ingenuity we could not thus despise so much love The very Publicans who were reputed the worst of men yet loved those that loved them And it hath even in the most degenerate times been reckoned the highest baseness to contemn Benefactors yet more brutish are we become than these and may very fitly be ranked in a Category inferior to that of bruits For the Ass as sacred Writ tells us knoweth his masters crib and the Ox his owner Isa 1.3 The very beasts in their own manner express a kinde of love to their Benefactors and yet although our Redeemer hath made our peace by his blood on the Cross and hath reversed that sentence of Damnation passed upon us although he hath endured the greatest dishonour and pain imaginable that we might be delivered from the wrath to come yet this unparallel'd kindness the greatest endearment of love hath not had the kindly effect to quicken our dead and benummed hearts but like a lifeless carcass we remain insensible without the least return of love And indeed it can scarce be well expected that the example of his love to us should engage us to love one another since it hath produced so little love in us to himself But however I need not take much pains to prove that hereby we demonstrate
darkly but then face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 they shall as the Angels in Heaven always behold the face of their Father Matth. 18.10 in whose presence as the Psalmist assures us is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 O the unspeakable delectability of the Saints future state where the most blessed God shines forth in his Glory where the beams of beauty ravish the beholders who stand continually in his presence receiving the manifestations of his Glory Sure if the faint expectation of enjoying the company of vertuous men in their fancied Elyzium did instigate some Heathens to imitate their vertues how much more perswasive should the heavenly Jerusalem and the City of the living God be where the holy Soul shall be admitted to converse with an innumerable company of holy Angels and taken into the blessed Society and Church of the first-born where all those imperfections that imbitter our communion here are removed where the holy Soul shall see Jesus the blessed Mediator of the new Covenant Heb. 12. who suffered so much for sinners now sitting in glory and majesty not crowned as once he was with thorns nor wearing a purple robe but having on his head the most transplendent Diadem and cloathed with Majesty and Beauty Methinks the thoughts of beholding this glory and participating of so much felicity should excite the most lazie to follow Holiness and to walk worthy of him who hath called us to his Kingdom and glory But I confess I am not able to express half of the glory of that future felicity The blessed Apostle seems to intimate that all Hyperbolical expressions fall short in describing it 2 Cor. 4.17 where he stiles it A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory and 1 Cor. 2.9 he tells us Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for those that love him For although we may be assured that the reward is of infinite value and that the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father yet the most glorious part is hid from the eyes of viators 't is onely those who taste the Honey-comb that can best discover its sweetness And yet it is prodigiously strange that the imperfect glance of future Glory that men may here behold is so ineffectual to form them to Holiness that men who know they may be for ever happy if they would study and endeavour to be holy in all manner of conversation yet live as if they thought such a happy state not worthy to be noticed I confess if the faithful and true God had not promised this state of blessedness and discovered by revelation the truth and reality of it we could never have dreamed of partaking of so much happiness The Heathen world could never be ascertained by Natures dim light that the Soul is beyond all doubt immortal and that there is a future state of rewards and punishments The wisest of their Philosophers by their most laborious search were exceedingly confused in their thoughts about it and could at the most only entertain some probable guesses and conjectures founded upon moral arguments which could never perfectly conquer their doubts They did indeed think it was very reasonable to believe that God who is holy just and good would in another life since he did it not in this reward good men and punish the bad but they could not be beyond all doubt ascertained that it would be so The most celebrated Socrates who parted with this life in expectation of a better plainly told his Friends it was God onely who knew whether there were a future felicity or not much less could either he or any other without revelation discover the nature and quality of the blessedness of that future state And indeed although they entertained some imperfect notions of a future life of bliss for the Soul yet they never thought of the resurrection of the Body although 't is true the felicity they formed was more congruous by far to satisfie sensual appetites than rational Souls The Poets Elyzium being much of the same nature with the Mahometan Paradise exactly accommodated to their flesh and senses In these thick clouds of darkness and ignorance did the wisest of the Heathens walk Exceedingly perplexed they were what to think their doubts being greater than their hopes But the arising of the Sunshine of Righteousness hath wholly dispelled all that darkness the Gospel hath brought life and immortality to light 2 Tim. 1.10 and hath undoubtedly assured us that there is a reward for the Righteous and that Holiness shall be crowned with Happiness SECT 3. Holiness the onely safe way to escape the wrath to come Fear is a passion so extreamly violent and repugnant to Humane nature that nothing imaginable is of more force to conquer the unruly wills of men to duty Hence is it that even humane Laws are much more secured by punishments than rewards Therefore if the promise of Heaven be not forcible enough to work upon our rebellious Wills we have a Map of eternal and intolerable torments to excite our fear and to affright us from the commission of those sins that lead down to the chambers of death and that drawn so exactly that it is the greatest miracle that men will notwithstanding slight Holiness which is the onely means to evite these lasting tortures In sacred Writ the torments of the damned are represented by such terrifying expressions that it is a wonder they impress not a fear and terrour upon the most daring sinner The Apostle St. Jude describing Hell calls it The vengeance of eternal fire and the blackness of darkness for ever Jude 7 13. And the Apostle St. John calls it A lake of fire and brimstone Rev. 20.10 15. Our Saviour more emphatically describes it to be A fire that can never be quenched and where the worm dieth not Mark 9.46 All which phrases do most significantly express the severity and intolerableness of the torments for what punishment is so terrible as that of Fire and how unspeakably does it inhance the misery in that it is eternal and that too as inflicted by an offended God who is executing his vengeance upon sinners Would God sinners would seriously consider whether they are able to endure the eternal pains of a gnawing Conscience or can patiently dwell with devouring Flames Whether the momentary pleasures of sin are to be balanced with those furious reflections those horrid stings and intolerable tortures the damned suffer day and night where nothing of life remains but the sense of pain Alas will no argument prevail with men how amazing is it to think that the everlasting God has used all the methods of love to excite men to Holiness and to reclaim them from sin and all to no purpose May I not well say to such men as St. Paul said to the Galatians Vnwise sinners who hath bewitched you Did
men seriously believe the threatnings of the Gospel I am sure they would not for the fullest enjoyment of carnal felicity run the hazard of dwelling with everlasting burnings That man that soberly considers that the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men will I think easily be scared into reformation and be thereby excited to be diligent in the pursuit of substantial Holiness which is the safe course to escape that wrath Alas that men who are so wise and diligent in their secular concerns should prove so foolish so remiss and careless in matters of the greatest weight and which require the utmost diligence That rational creatures should so willingly purchase their own misery and be at so much pains to damn themselves 'T will surely be an aggravating circumstance of their misery to think that they might have been happy if they had but taken as much pains to live holily as they took in the pursuit of sinful pleasures How astonishing a consideration will it be to the damned to think of their treading under foot the Son of God and their counting the blood of the Covenant whereby they were sanctifiâ—d an unholy thing Heb. 10.29 to think that the time was when they enjoyed not onely a possibility but a fair probability also of escaping the fury and indignation of God! But men will not believe that a merciful God will thus torment his creatures that he who delights not in the death of sinners will execute his vengeance upon them Alas what delusory imaginations arethese for although fury is not in God yet his honour calls for the execution of Justice upon ungodly sinners who obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus He has waited long upon sinners and has fully testified that he is a God long suffering and slow to wrath He has not instantly resented every injury offered to him but day from day has been intreating sinners to turn from the evil of their ways and now seeing they set at nought all his counsel and will not hearken to his reproof what wonder is it though he laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh Prov. 1.25.26 How heavy is that threatning Deut. 28.63 As the Lord rejoyced over you to do you Good so the Lord will rejoyce over you to destroy you To compleat the misery of the damned besides the intolerable and eternal pains they endure we may also adde that celestial felicity they are for ever excluded from How tormenting will it be to think of an everlasting separation from the divine Presence and instead of a holy Society to keep a continual correspondency with impure Spirits Would God that this brief discovery of the powers of the world to come might prevail with men to be holy in all manner of conversation But methinks I hear the over zealous Professor too ignorantly objecting that it is servile mercenary and legal to be holy for love of Heaven or fear of Hell Truly if it were so as these men teach I know not what can be the intent and designe of all the promises and threatnings of the Gospel And although I question not but it is a generous and Christian principle to serve God out of pure love yet I can never be induced to think that to be holy for love of Heaven and fear of Hell can be separate from that principle of love to God God knows how much in need men stand both of arguments to work upon their hope and fear to excite them to duty And since he who knows our natures has used promises to allure us and threatnings to awaken us we must not pretend to be wiser than God and reject those motives he has thought fit to prescribe and indeed if it were not for the fear of evil and the hope of good 't is to be feared the pressing of other motives should be but a mere beating of the Air. But that this is not servile and mercenary needs no other argument to prove it but our Saviour's enduring the Gross and despising the Shame for the joy that was set before him a Scripture sufficient enough to stop the mouths of all opponents SECT 4. Holiness the main design of the Gospel and the end of all Christs sufferings Subjects who know the intent and design of those Laws issued forth by their Prince will be loath to contemn his Authority especially when the whole intent of these is to make them by their obedience the more happy and sure 't is the most unaccountable thing that can be if they notwithstanding despise his Laws and quite counter-act his design Now the main designe of the Christian precepts is the promoting of Holiness and planting a good life in men This also was the onely intent of our Soveraign and Law-giver and it is certain the whole advantage redounds to us How impious then is it to despise the Authority of Heaven If God had made Holiness a matter of indifferency the want of such a qualification had not been criminal but since sacred Writ has declared That this is the will of God even our sanctification and that we must be holy as he is holy if we rebel the indignity and contempt we cast upon him is insufferable I have already shewed that it is the great design of the Gospel-Precepts Promises Threatings to exalt Holiness Hence the Apostle very aptly calls it A doctrine according to godliness and he tells us that the design of it is to teach men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world and the Character of its nature is to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgivness of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in Christ I wish the effect were answerable to the designe I doubt not but the Gospel has had a kindly influence upon some to form them to Holiness I would fain wish upon all But alas the perverse and corrupt conversations of men plainly tell us that there are but a few who have answered its design In the next place it were easie to demonstrate that to plant Holiness amongst men was the end of Christs descending from Heaven to Earth and of all that he suffered This the Apostle plainly enough holds forth Tit. 2.14 He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purisie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Now what argument should be so powerful and prevalent to engage Christians to be universally holy as the due consideration of Christ's redeeming them for that end Men who are endu'd with any sparks of ingenuity cannot but be inspirited to be separate from the pollutions of this world when they reflect what their Redeemer hath suffered in order to the purchasing of their pardon and reconciliation For when poor Man had cast himself headlong from Heaven to Earth had
irresistible power and force in her charmings which conquereth the hearts of men insensibly Now if Beauty mixed with so much deformity accompanied with so much attendance and slavery be so enchanting and attractive how much more powerfully should the Beauty of Holiness which is every whit perfect and unspotted and attended with no dismal accidents raise our admiration and make us say as David of Goliah's Sword There is none like it Alas all earthly beauty will be quickly laid in the dust a little time will deface the fairest face and make its beauty consume like a Moth an unexpected accident may disfigure it and marre the most lovely features and there is no doubt but old Age which draws on a pace will make wrinkles in the smoothest face and make it wither as a flower But the Beauty of Holiness is lasting it fades not with time nor can it be impaired by the most loathsome and nauseating disease Since then Pleasure is so ready to excite our affections and draw out our complacency 't is pity that the noblest the most satisfying and the most lasting should be so much contemned Eccl. 5.10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver nor he that loveth abundance with increase All the caresses of this World are unable to satisfie the Soul but how ravishing are the joys of a holy conversation The pleasures of this world are short and momentary are onely as the Apostle phraseth them for a season which quickly passeth but the joy of the Holy Ghost is as lasting as unspeakable and this joy saith Christ to his Disciples no man shall take from you It is without the reach of the malice of men and Devils too Alas how diminutive does it make the pleasures of the wicked to say they are short how exceedingly does this one circumstance diminish them But indeed this were not so very considerable if there were a concurrence of no worse circumstances but that which mostly is an allay and damp to temporal pleasures is the consequence a painful and lasting eternity of the severest punishments 'T is this life that puts a period and conclusion to the joys of wicked men whileas the pious have Rivers of pleasures for evermore to delight and ravish them 't is at Death that they enter into the joy of their Lord. This is a subject so ravishing and pleasant that I cannot without reluctancy conclude it O how unsatisfactory are all the delights of Sense if compared with those Spiritual Joys the holy Soul partakes of The delights that the Drunkard hath in his Cups and Companions the Covetous in his Riches the Ambitious in his Preferments c. fall all incomparable short of that joy that is the lot of the righteous The delights that the holy man enjoys do upon a double account far over-poise the transitory pleasures of the wicked First the present satisfaction that the holy Soul tastes of in this valley of tears is incomparably greater than the delights that arise from sense The soul that hath once tasted of the love of God findes more pleasure in the very acts of mutual love than in all the feasts of delight that sense is capable to enjoy Food is indeed sweet to the hungry and drink to those who are languishing with thirst the taste does without doubt finde some meats sweet and relishing even where there is no extremity of hunger much more where it is for to the hungry every bitter thing is sweet Beauteous Sights ravish the Eye melodious Musick the Ear and Odoriferous things please the Smell But alas how far beyond these is the delight which the devout soul receives in Ordinances the antipasts of joy which their Heavenly Father bestows upon them are more delightful than the concurrence of all sensual pleasures The soul that is in trouble can fetch more consolation from the promises of the Word than the carnal man can from his pleasures Vnless thy Law had been my delight saith the Psalmist I had perished in my affliction Other things could not avail him they could afford no relief but to have access to God in prayer and to pour out our complaints to our willing God this is more ravishing than I can express And I am sure there is no man who hath tasted these joys who would part with them for sensual pleasures and no man dare inveigh against those spiritual delights but strangers who intermeddle not with this joy The very Heathens have taught us that Vertue is a reward to it self they experimented more real satisfaction in moderation and temperance than in Drinking and Whoring But Christianity gives us more uncontrolable evidences of the reality of that joy that good men even in this state of absence taste of Into what a rapture and unexpressible extasie of joy did the abundance of revelation St. Paul met with put him and the Apostle St. Peter was so transported with joy when he did see Christ in his Transfiguration that he could not forbear crying Master it is good being here How full of joy have Martyrs been in the midst of the flames what comforts have they even then expressed And is not all this evidence that the joy of holy men is more real more sweet and ravishing than the transitory pleasures of the wicked which in several seasons can afford no delight a little pain or disease is such an allay and damp to their pleasures that it quite extirps them But besides those foretastes of joy that the holy Soul experiments here which as I have shewed infinitely overwhelms all trouble and pain that which contributes most to advance the joy of good men are those felicities above which are prepared for them and to these wicked men can lay no claim their farthest prospect being confined to temporal delights What abundance of delights and unexpressible pleasures are laid up for the holy Soul above How delectable will it be to be constant residents in the Heavenly Jerusalem whose Streets are pure Gold and whose Gates are Pearl how ravishing will it be to be always in his presence where there are Streams and Rivers of perpetual pleasures How sweet will it be to be a member of that blessed Society of the first-born in Heaven where there is a perfect concord and agreement But I confess I am not able to express half the joy of this future felicity Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the hearts of men to conceive what a store of happiness God hath laid up in Heaven for those who are holy in all manner of conversation SECT 8. Holiness accompanied with Peace There is nothing more suitable to and agreeable with Humane nature than Peace as those who endure trouble and vexation can fully attest Amongst earthly blessings it deserves not the last place it being a mercy which crowns all others and without which the fullest fruition could not prove satisfactory Those languishing and much to be pitied Kingdoms which now lie bathed in
requests and what else thou knowest needful and expedient for us and that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed Name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us Our Father c. A Morning-prayer for a private person O Lord my God merciful and loving to all thy servants pitiful and patient to me thy child gracious and favourable to all those that meekly come unto thee I dare not with the proud Pharisee justifie my self or say I have not sinned I dare not press into thy presence with hope or confidence through mine own merits to be saved but with the poor Publican laying my Soul upon the work of Repentance and with an unfeigned sorrow casting my self down at the footstool of thy Majesty I cry and say O Lord be merciful to me a sinner O my God the horn of my Salvation and my refuge my stony Rock and my defence in whom onely I trust and to whom alone I flee for succour miserable wretch that I am how have I provoked thee I have done evil in thy fight I have stirred up thine anger I have deserved thy displeasure I have sinned I have offended yet thou bearest with me One deep calleth to another the depth of misery to the depth of mercy I feel O Lord but it is thy Spirit that giveth me this feeling that mine Understanding is darkned Conscience seared Memory decayed Will bewitched Heart hardned Affections disordered Conversation corrupted my thoughts desires best actions are abominable in thy sight Mine eyes cannot see thee in thy Creatures mine ears cannot hear thee in thy Word my mouth cannot praise thee in thy Works my hands and feet cannot serve thee in my Calling destruction and calamity are in all my ways and the way of peace I have not known Unto whom now shall I come for comfort unto whom now shall I sue for succour but to thee O Lord whom I will look up to as unto the Brazen Serpent If I repent thou sparest if I return thou embracest yet beside all this though I defer thou waitest Thou teachest the ignorant thou comfortest the pensive thou liftest up from destruction after a fall thou givest to him that asketh thou reclaimest him which wandereth thou invitest him that resisteth thou lookest for him that sleepeth and him thou embracest which returneth Now O Lord what to answer for my disobedience I am ignorant for what am I not subject to by reason of my sins I cannot hide my self from thy presence I could not abide it if thou shouldst enter into Judgment O Father of mercies and God of all comfort pierce my flesh with thy fear so that by fearing I may escape such things as thou dost threaten and restore to me the Joy of thy Salvation that by loving I may taste the felicity which thou hast promised Put thou into my remembrance O Lord the things I should conceive of thee teach me by what words I may call upon thee instruct me with what good works I may please thee Cover thou mine head in the day of battle Let me not be of that number which for a time believe but when temptation cometh go back Grant me I beseech thee the gifts of regeneration to become thy child of Faith to believe thy promise of obedience to do thy will of prayer to seek thy presence of comfort to endure thy trials and of strength to continue thy servant to my life's end Open my blind eyes to see the sins I am most given to give me grace to sigh and groan under the burthen of them and give me spiritual understanding to discern and judge betwixt good and evil Thou hast been good unto me O Lord many ways in my creation redemption vocation sanctification in preserving me all the days of my life hitherunto and in opening thy hand continually and filling my mouth with good things Thou hast preserved me from all dangers of this night past and brought me safe to the beginning of this day whereas thou mightest have made my bed my grave thou mightest have turned my sleep into death unto me but thou lendest me a longer and a larger time to repent Lord increase my zeal further my repentance make me sincerely to imbrace thy mercies I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon thy Name Receive O Lord this early sacrifice both of my soul and body I offer them up into thy hands to be disposed at thy pleasure and with them unfeigned sighs for offending thee Go on with thy favours towards me thy humble servant go along by me and with me all this day and all the days of my life that I may not step into the path of sin but that thy Law may be my delight all the day long Thou O Lord Christ art risen from the dead Let the power of thy resurrection make me rise unto newness of life And that which is impossible to flesh and bloud make it possible by the virtue of thy blood And so in thy Name I shut up my imperfect prayers both for my self and others in that manner and form of prayer which thou hast taught me Our Father c. An Evening-prayer for a private person O Lord my God who aboundest in all good things and art a liberal bestower of the dainties of heavenly safety I praise and glorifie thee for thy love and bounty towards me this day past having bestowed upon me all things necessary for the day with-holding nothing from me that might be beneficial to me The night now stealeth upon me like a thief and I am nearer to old age than I was in the morning though not nearer to goodness I know not whether thou wilt this night make my bed in the dark and the hour of my visitation be this present evening A wake me then out of that slumber of sin remove from me that sloth that hath all this while hindred thy Grace Forgive me my sins which are more infinite than the stars and more heavy than if mountains lay upon my bosome but thy mercy and the merits of my Redeemer do I trust in in his Name do I sue for a pardon Let my mind O Lord flie from the parching heat of worldly cares under the shadow of thy wings that being hid in temperate coldness it may joyfully sing and say I will lay me down and also sleep in peace Let my memory sleep O Lord my God let it sleep from all evil Suffer not unclean thoughts this night to pollute my body and soul but keep my cogitations chast Let not the Sun go down upon my wrath but if any man this day have done me wrong grant that I may freely and heartily forgive him as I desire at thy hands to be forgiven Keep me from the adversary who sleepeth not but seeketh how he may devour me Anoint me O Lord with the Oyl of thy Spirit that of thy fulness I may be filled with Grace even that Grace which
may further my Salvation Keep me O Lord in my old age forsake me not when I am gray-headed And whensoever it shall please thee to cast me upon my sick bed grant that I may take my sickness patiently and at the last gasp let not either sin or Satan take such hold upon me that I depart this life with cryings and screechings and words of despair but that believing thy word and yielding to thine ordinance my last hour may be my best hour and I may say with the Psalmist Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth Pardon O Lord my misspending the time my unprofitableness my unthankfulness for thy goodness Supply what is wanting in me through the fire of compunction make me at all hours to seem a living sacrifice in thy sight Continue towards me thy love and make me to love thee again Without thee alas I die but when I think on thee I revive again To thee therefore be ascribed all honour and glory world without end Our Father c. A Prayer before the receiving of the Sacrament O Most gracious and merciful Lord God thou hast called all those that are weary and heavy laden with their sins to come unto thee and hast promised to ease and refresh them thou hast invited all those that hunger and thirst after thy Kingdom and the righteousness thereof to come to thy Table to tast of thy supper and hast promised that thou wilt satisfy them in assurance therefore of these promises I come to thee blessed Lord Jesus beseeching thee to ease me to refresh me to satisfy me with thy mercy for my Soul hungers and thirsts after thee and thy Salvation I confess and acknowledge that my daily sins have made me unworthy of my daily Bread much more of this Manna this Bread of Life that came down from Heaven I confess O Lord I am not prepared according to the preparation of thy sanctuary yet for as much as this day I have set my Heart to seek to thee thou O God be merciful unto me and though I cannot bring with me a clean Heart for who can say his Heart is clean yet behold O Lord I bring with me a contrite Heart and a broken Spirit despise not O God this Sacrifice As for the sins that I have committed against thee binde them up in one bundle and cast them into the bottomless Sea of thy mercy bury them in thy Wounds and wash them away in the blood of that immaculate Lamb Christ Jesus and for the time to come sprinkle my conscience with the same blood that being cleansed from dead works I may serve thee the Living God in righteousness and true holiness all the days of my life That so this blessed Sacrament may be a means to quiet my conscience to increase my Faith to inflame my Charity to amend my life to save my Soul and to assure me that I am of the number of those blessed ones who shall eat at thy Table and be called to the Marriage-supper of the Lamb. Grant this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake in whose Name and words I conclude these my imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught me Our Father c. A Prayer after the receiving of the Sacrament O Most gracious God from whose bountie every good and perfect gist is derived I and all that is within me praise and magnify thy holy Name for all thy mercies and favours which from time to time thou hast bestowed upon me But especially I thank thee for Jesus Christ thy Son the fountain and foundation of all blessings and benefits that thou hast sent him into the World to take our nature upon him and to die for us and that thou hast fed me who am unworthy of the least of thy favours with the precious merits of his death and passion Blessed Lord God thou hast been pleased this day to set thy Seal to the Pardon and forgiveness of all my sins Oh let me not lose it again by unthankfulness or relapsing into my old sins from which thou hast purged me lest my last end be worse than my beginning But if hereafter I shall be tempted by the Devil allured by the World or provoked by my own flesh then set before mine eyes by the remembrance of thy Spirit how dear the expiation of my sins cost my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ even the effusion of his most precious and holy blood that in the contemplation of his death and application of his most bitter passion I may die daily unto sin and so may shew forth the Lords death till he come and bring his reward with him I may receive the Crown of Righteousness which he hath purchased and prepared for all those that love and expect the day of his appearing with the precious price of his incorruptible blood And whereas I have this day renewed my covenant with thee my God in vows and purposes of better obedience assist me by thy grace and strengthen me by thy power that I may pay the Vows which I have made unto thee and that by vertue of thy heavenly nourishment I may grow up in grace and godliness till at last I come to be a perfect man in Christ Jesus Preserve and maintain always this thine Ordinance that it may be a note and a badge of my publick profession and give unto all of us that have been partakers of thy body and blood one heart and one mind in the unity of Spirit for the worthy and reverend receiving of the same whensoever we shall come to thy holy Table again And for this thy mercy towards me do I yield unto thee all praise and glory and power and might and majesty through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose most blessed Name and words I further pray Our Father c. Another Prayer before the Sacrament DEpart from me Luk. 5.8 for I am a sinful man O Lord. I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof For the house of my Soul which thou hast made a fit Temple for thy holy Spirit to inhabit in I have defaced and defiled with all manner of pollutions and abominations It is become a den of ravenous Beasts and a cage of unclean Birds and every corner so crowded with filthiness that thou wilt not find where to lay thy head Luk. 9.58 But thou O Lord which despisest not a penitent sinner but hast promised to dwell with the humble and contrite Spirit I beseech thee cast me not away from thy presence but cast out all profaneness and uncleanness out of my Heart and remove every thing that may offend the pure Eyes of thy glory and the holiness of thy presence and then O Lord vouchsafe to come and enter in and dwell there and abide with me for ever Behold O Lord I am before thee in my sins Zach. 3.1 clothed with filthy garments and Satan standing at my right hand accusing
dejections of spirit keep me from charging thee foolishly Bestow upon me a chearful spirit by an humble hope in thee and by referring my self wholly to thee Endue me with such wisdom and uprightness that I may neither neglect my duty nor suspect thy gracious acceptance of me Give me an hearty zeal to do the best that I am able and a setled perswasion that thou requirest no more of me Defend me O my gracious God from dishonouring thee and my Religion by distrusting thy goodness and calling thy loving kindness in question towards those that are sincerely bent to please thee Remove all troublesome imaginations from me and give me a clear understanding of thee and of my self or when I am in darkness and confusion of thoughts grant me so much light and judgment as not to conclude my self forsaken by thee but to reflect upon thy long-continued favours to me and many deliverances of me that so I may resolve still to hope in thee to bear my present trouble patiently and to resign my will absolutely to thy good pleasure And good Lord enable me to look beyond these clouds to that blessed state whither my Saviour is gone in which there is no darkness at all and in an humble hope of coming to the same place where he is to content my self with any condition whilst I am here so far remote from that Region of light and glorie Hear me most loving and merciful Father I most humbly beseech thee Pity my great dulness and deadness of heart Strengthen my weak and feeble endeavours support my fainting spirit and cause it humbly to hope in thee for ever Confirm and establish every good thought desire and purpose which thou hast wrought in me perfect that which thou hast begun make me to grow in wisdom faith love and willing obedience conduct me hereafter so evenly and steadily so peaceably and quietly so cheerfully and sincerely in thy ways that I may Glorifie thee whilst I live by encouraging others to accompany me in thy service and when I come to die may resign my Soul unto thee with an undisturbed mind and in an holy hope also of a joyful resurrection of the body at the great day of the Lord Jesus to whom be glory and dominion for ever Amen The Prayer for a Woman with Child MOst merciful and gracious God who wilt not turn away thine ear from those that call upon thee in sincerity and truth look down with an Eye of pity and compassion upon thy unworthy Servant I must confess my sins are very great and so is my danger which is at hand my pains to come will be grievous and my life is now most uncertain Assure me I beseech thee of the forgiveness of all my sins mitigate my fear and sorrows strengthen me with the comforts of thy Spirit confirm me in the faith of my Saviour and bless all good means appointed for my comfort that in due time I may be a joyful Mother and see the fruit of my Body safe sound and perfect without blemish or deformitie O Lord I know not how soon my travel will steal on me when I must fight that battle of Life and Death one drop of thy mercy hath soveraign power to cure all the Wounds of those sorrows shed therefore O holy Father that drop of grace upon me in that minute when I am to encounter with so stern an adversary strengthen me with patience bless me that I perish not bless the work of my Midwife let not the Child yet unborn the Babe in my womb be punished for mine offences but give it growth give it flourishing and form and when the time is come that thou wilt call it out of this close House of flesh where it now inhabiteth to dwell in the open World sanctifie thy Creature make it by Baptism a member of thy Church a Lamb of thy flock and direct it in the ways of Godliness to its lives end And all through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose blessed words I continue to pray Our Father c. A Thanksgiving by the Woman after safe deliverance to be used when she is able MY Soul doth magnify the Lord and my Spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour He hath given me my Hearts desire and not denied me the request of my lips Children are his heritage and the fruit of the Womb is his reward Glory be to thee O Lord God eternal who hast now delivered me from the great pains and peril of Child-birth who hast taken away my reproach and made me an instrument to increase thy Kingdom It is in thy power to strike death into my Womb but thou hast given me a double life all mine anguishes thou hast sweetned with gladness Continue thy mercies and favours to me thy servant put strength into my bloud bloud into my Veins and courage into mine Heart that my lips may render thee deserved thanks Thou that art the Father of love and life look upon this mine Infant which thou hast given me preserve it in health quicken it with grace crown it with long life that it may grow up to be a servant in thy houshold Send the Father of it and me much comfort by it that it may be a staff to our old age Bless it with store of friends in this World and be thou the chief friend to it for evermore and for the better growth in godliness feed it with the Milk of thy Word defend it from all dangers and all enemies Bodily and Ghostly And whereas it is written that the great red Dragon stood before the Woman which was ready to be delivered that he might devour her Child when she had brought it forth so guard me and regard this my birth that Satan rule not nor reign within us but deliver us still out of his Jaws as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler Let thy blessing O Lord be upon me and my Children strongly to help keep and defend us from this time forth for evermore Amen A Prayer to be used by one that is sick O Eternal and most merciful Father look down I beseech thee upon thy poor servant who is punished and afflicted in Body with the smart of my pain and sickness and who is also troubled with the fear of thy heavy displeasure for my many sins and iniquities wherewith I have provoked thy holy Majesty in the time of my health I confess that of very faithfulness and goodness to me thou hast laid this scourge upon me to the end that by the stripes of my flesh my Spirit might be healed and saved in the day of the Lord Jesus I valued not the benefit of health as I should have done and therefore thou hast made me sensible of it by the want of it in prosperitie I remembred not the afflictions of my Brethren and therefore thou hast afflicted me like unto them I was in a kind of Spiritual lethargy till thou didst awake me with the stroke of thy
hand And because I know that it is good for me to be thus disciplined by thee I humble my self under thy mightie hand and kiss this thy rod which I trust through thy grace shall make my Soul appear fair and beautiful in thine Eyes Comfort O Lord my fainting Spirit and strengthen my feeble knees and support my weak hands and revive my deaded heart and so powerfully assist me with the Spirit of strength that I may with confidence call upon thee with patience endure this trial with hope expect thy good pleasure with wisdom make use of this thy visitation and with thankfulness ever praise thy goodness and mercy for my safe recovery if it may be with thy sacred will whereunto I submit and wholy resign now and for ever through Jesus Christ my blessed Lord and Saviour in whose most holy words I further pray Our Father c. A Prayer to be said by them that visit the sick O Eternal God who in thy holy word by the Apostle hast promised that the Prayer of faith shall save the sick and thou wilt raise him up and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him We come unto thee in the behalf of our diseased and distressed friend visited under thine hand Speak comfortably O Lord unto his Soul seal in his heart by thy holy Spirit the forgiveness of all his sins Have mercie upon him and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away all his offences blot all his sins out of thy remembrance Grant him thy grace to bear willingly this Cross the Cross of sickness to drink heartily of this Cup the Cup of affliction to endure patiently this Yoak the Yoak of tribulation and to suffer meekly this Rod the Rod of correction He hath received good things of thee make him willing to receive evil also as heretofore he rejoyced in his health so teach him now to rejoyce in his sickness and as he was not ashamed to live so let him not be afraid to die because his life is hid with Christ in Heaven Let the sweet feeling and tast of a lively faith distast all the filthy corruptions that are in him and after the example of the good Samaritan after the sharp wine of grievous tribulation instill also the suppling Oil of comfort whereby he may be able to endure those troubles which otherwise would be intolerable unto him Strengthen his memory whereby to call upon thy glorious Name Settle his Spirits that they may not wander and fly out into any unruly motions Lay thy finger upon his lips that they may not fall into cursing or blaspheming thy Deitie or into any vain language Take from his Eyes all delight of this frail world and let his Soul make ready onely for a voiage to Heaven Set thy saving mark upon his Soul and give order to the destroyer that he hurt it not But having fought a good fight let him now triumphantly exult and say O Death where is thy sting O Hell where is thy victory I thank thee O Lord who hast given me victory by Jesus Christ Be merciful unto us here present who as feeling members of one body adore thy holy Name and implore thy Divine help for this thy servant grant him assistance of thy Spirit to the last gasp and us assurance to be heard of thee for him and all others upon the like occasion We could wish that thou shouldst speak to this our friend as thou didst unto thy servant when thou saidst Arise take up thy bed and walk but yet alas we know not whether we ask aright or not thy will be fulfilled we know that he shall but change this life transitory for Eternitie cast off mortalitie and be clothed with immortalitie and this light affliction which is but for a moment shall cause unto him a far more excellent and eternal weight of glory Wherefore make us all wise to salvation and teach us so to number our days aright that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom Give both this thy servant and all of us grace willingly to forsake this present evil world and so to live in thy fear that we may die in thy favour and so reign with thee for ever hereafter Grant this for Jesus Christ his sake our onely Lord and Saviour Amen A Thanksgiving after Sickness O Most merciful Lord God I thy late sick and sorrowful servant do with bended knees and a thankful heart prostrate my self before thee at this time acknowledging that thou hast been a loving Father unto me not onely before I was yet born but ever since I hung upon my Mothers breast Manifest experience have I had of thy manifold mercies many times but never more than in my late and last visitation I offer now unto thee a sacrifice of praise Because I employed not the faculties of my Soul and members of my Body as I should have done thou didst bereave me of the strength and vigor and use of them for a season but now because thy compassions fail not thou hast returned them to me again wherefore I consecrate and devote them perpetually to thy service and as I am in the state of my Body so by the power of thy renewing grace I will become in the estate of my soul a new man My broken heart which thou hast healed shall now entirely love thee my feeble knees and weak bones which thou hast setled shall night and day bow to thee my weak hands which thou hast strengthned shall continually be lifted up unto thee I confess unto thee O Lord that in my health I often read and heard that worldly delights and comforts were vain and much like Flags and Bulrushes which men in danger of drowning catch to bear them up but they sink down under water with them yet did I not learn till I suffered till thy rod had imprinted it even in my flesh Now O Lord I beseech thee to knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy Name create in me a new heart and renew a right Spirit within me I asked life of thee and thou gavest it me I now desire and crave thy salvation O my God with-hold it not make me to repent of my sins the cause of my sickness and to depend upon thee the giver of all good things and make me in the time of prosperitie to think of adversity in health to think of sickness in sickness to think of death and at all times so to think of judgment that whether I wake or sleep eat or drink or whatsoever I do else I may ever have this sounding in mine ears Arise ye dead and come to judgment Give me grace O Lord to make this use of mine affliction past and to cleave and stick fast unto thee in all holiness for the time to come through my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in whose Name and words I further pray Our Father c. Of DEATH ANd now I cannot think any conclusion more fit and proper
for a devout life than a short meditation on that which shall be the conclusion of life it self First therefore consider the shortness and miseries of this life That our days consume in vanity and our years in trouble That our whole life is but a Dream and when Death awakes us we find our hands emptie of all that which hath cost us so much labour and travail and sorrow and sin Remember the swiftness and suddenness of Death That our days are but a span-long and our flourishing but a flower of the field which though it be not plucked up yet soon withers of it self and falls away The young may die soon but the old cannot live long Remember that in this short life we are yet to provide for an Eternity either of weal or woe and therefore cannot be too careful how we spend every minute of that upon which depends a matter of so great so lasting importance There is but one way of Birth but many ways and means of Death and our life hangs by so small a thread that every little chance is ready to break it off After Death we are immediately called to judgment before the high Court of Heaven to give a severe account how we have performed that duty to which we were Created and accordingly to receive an irrevocable sentence of eternal happiness or misery The Judge before whom we shall stand is infinite both in Knowledge and Power so that it is impossible either to hide any thing from his all-seeing Eye or to escape out of the reach of his Almighty hand The Lord cometh in a day when we look not for him and in an hour when we are not aware Let us therefore watch and wait for his coming that when he knocketh we may open unto him immediately How dangerous and deplorable a condition would it be to be found and taken away in the midst of any sin or in a continued course of sinful life On the contrary how happy and blessed and joyful a thing would it be to be found practising and persevering in that which is good Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing A Prayer preparatory to Death O Eternal Lord God who hast Created the world and all Time who hast made my days as it were a span-long and mine Age even as nothing in respect of thee Teach me so to number my days that I may apply my heart to thy Heavenly wisdom and so carefully imploy this short time which thou hast appointed me to spend here so make up my recknings before that great day come that whensoever thou shalt call me hence I may give such an account of the Talent where with thou hast intrusted me that I may receive that joyful sentence Will done good and faithful servant Grant that I may be always provided with Oyl in my Lamp and ready to enter in with the wise Virgins whensoever the Bridegroom shall come and receive a blessing among those which watch and wait for thy coming so come Lord Jesu come quickly Amen Grace before Meat HUmble our Souls before thee O Lord and cause us to see the smalness of our desert even in respect of the least of thy mercies and bless these thy Creatures to us at this time to the rejoycing of the Soul of thy servants through Jesus Christ Amen Grace after Meat O Lord we return thee most heartie thanks for the mercy we have enjoyed in receiving these thy Creatures for our Bodily relief and let us also labour for the meat that perisheth not for the sake of our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen Grace before Meat WE look up unto thee O Lord who givest us life and breath and all things beseeching thee to forgive us all our sins and to make us such thankful partakers of these thy good Creatures that by a moderate use of them our Bodies may be refreshed and made more fit to accompany our Souls in hearty endeavours to do thee faithful service through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Grace after Meat WE return unto thee O Lord our hearty thanks for these and all other the like mercies bestowed upon us even since we had a being especially for the promises thou hast given us of eternal life by thy Son Christ Enable us we beseech thee to continue so patiently in all good works that at last we may attain it And bless thine Universal Church these Realms the King the Queen and all the Royal Family and grant us thy grace mercy and peace through Christ Jesus Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for and are to be Sold by Robert Sollers at the Kings Arms in Ludgate-street SErmons preached upon several occasions before the King at Whitehal By the Right Reverend Father in God John Wilkins late Lord-Bishop of Chester to which is added A discourse concerning the beauty of Providence by the same Author Rome a-la-mode or the Sentiments of the Court and Cardinals there concerning Religion and the Gospel as they are delivered by Cardinal Palavicini in his History of the Council of Trent Syncrisis or the most natural and easie method of learning Latine by comparing it with English Together with the holy History of Scripture-war Or the sacred Art Military Illustrated in fourteen Copper-plates with the rude Translation opposite for the exercise of those that begin to make Latin By E. Coles Cocker's Arithmetick the second Impression Cocker's Morals fitted for the use of all Grammar and Writing-schools For the Scholars of the first to turn into Latine and for those of the other to transcribe into all their various and curious Hands Nugae venales or the complaisant Companion being new Jests Domestick and Forrain Bulls Rhodomontado's pleasant Novels and Miscellanies Asteria and Tamberlain or the Distressed Lovers a Novel Madam Wheadle or the fashionable Miss discovered with all her modest Pretences and subtile Stratagems Scaramouch a Philosopher c. Acted at the Theatre Royal A Comedy written by Edward Ravenscroft Gent. A Treatise of the nature of a Minister in all his Offices To which is annexed an Answer to Dr. Forbes concerning the necessity of Bishops to ordain which is an Answer to a Question proposed in these late unhappy times to the Author What is a Minister By William Lucy Lord Bishop of St. Davids
pleasures he might otherwise freely enough delight in O how does it molest and torment him Nocte diéque suum gestare in pectore testem to have an inward principle of Fear haunting the sinner in his most retired enjoyment of pleasures which cannot be silenced by his utmost endeavours This this is it that torments him with anguish and confusion that allays the imaginary pleasure of the most charming Lust and in the midst of laughter makes his heart heavy which fully verifies the truth of what I said that the enjoyment of all other blessings can never free a man from torment nor a whit profit him that is destitute of Holiness Fourthly Holiness is the most incomparable blessing and frees the Soul from the worst of evils What David said of Goliahs Sword I may more safely say of Holiness There is none like it nothing in the world so apt to remove those disasters and turmoiling fears that inwardly work upon and damp the minds of men with severe checks and lashes as Holiness which being diametrically opposite to sin which is the worst of evils must therefore by a necessary consequence be the best of blessings Now seeing contraries placed near to other are the more discernable I shall therefore take a short view of the evil and malignity of sin that hereby the beauty and excellency of Holiness may appear the brighter and have the greater force to conquer our affections To express the evil and malignity of sin Scripture represents it by the most ugly and abominable things by the most dangerous and terrible Diseases Nay the great Apostle seems to want language and comparisons too to express the evil of it when he calls it exceedingly evil as if he had said it infinitely transcends all other evils the malignity of which no Pen can fully delineate and describe either in its nature or consequences In its Nature the Scripture-character of it is it is an enmity against God a transgression and voluntary violation of his most holy and righteous Law a disobedience of his Authority and a wicked contempt of all the divine Attributes 't is the woful stain and blemish of our Natures the disease of our Souls and the reproach of our Reason The consequences of sin are fearful and fatal So bad a cause can never fail to produce the worst effects for besides all the temporal calamities and mischiefs that befal Mankinde those unspeakable miseries and extream torments that accompany men to the other world are also the dreadful and sad effects of sin I have already shewed that every vice is naturally attended with some particular punishment but that indeed which is most terrible which should mightily amaze and startle the sinner are the dreadful miseries of another world Alas how dismal is the condition of those men who have lost the divine Image and consequently his love and favour and are liable to his fury and wrath who are possess'd with a legion of impure lusts which lead them captive and hurry them headlong to perdition where they must have their everlasting abode with impure spirits and devouring flames How impossible is it to give a just List and Catalogue of the sad and dreadful consequences of sin or fully describe the evil and malignity of it But yet this imperfect glance may in part satisfie and inform us that a holy and vertuous life which excludes all those mischiefs and inconveniencies which both in this and the next life attend sin is the best of blessings and frees us from the worst of evils Fifthly Holiness is the best evidence of our being in favour with God and of our adoption to Gods Family How sedulous and inquisitive are many good Christians to understand their spiritual state and condition that they may know into which of the two regions of the other world they shall be stated after death This is certainly a matter of the greatest consequence and deserves every mans most serious consideration a mistake here being so exceedingly dangerous like a wound in the vital parts it proves mortal and incurable if continued in Now the most infallible mark and character of our being in favour with God and that which comprehends all others is that which the beloved Apostle sets down 1 Joh. 3.7 8 9 10. Little children let no man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous And every one that doth righteousness is born of God Chap. 2.29 He that committeth sin is of the Devil Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the Devil Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God Let men pretend what they will if they be destitute of righteousness they are of their Father the Devil and can claim no interest in God as their Father seeing it is purity of Spirit that gives us a title to be the Children of the most high 2 Cor. 6.17 18. Be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty The whole tenour of the Scripture abounds with so many such instances that I shall supersede a tedious citation of texts This then being so infallible and certain a character methinks every rational man may quickly come to the knowledge of his spiritual estate A bad man may certainly enough know whether he breaks the divine Laws and goes in a continued course of sin and a good man may sufficiently know whether he obeys the divine Laws and is sincere in his actions These are things so plain and undeniable that all doubts of this kinde are ridiculous Now 't is no difficulty to draw these plain inferences I break the divine Laws therefore I am not of God or I obey them therefore I am a Child of God And thus every considering man who impartially considers and exactly examines his life and actions may be fully enough ascertained whether he be a Childe of God or not Alas how useless and dangerous is it to ascend unto Heaven to search the secret and eternal Decrees of God which belong not to us to pry into that we may know whether our Names be written in the Book of Life or not He that doth righteousness needs not fear any latent Decree concerning his reprobation and it is the vainest thing imaginable for impenitent and obstinate sinners to dream that God hath from eternity elected them to life The pure nature of God is so perfectly opposite to sin that it is quite impossible there can be any agreement betwixt him and sinners no more than there can be betwixt light and darkness The Psalmist acquaints us That he is not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness And the Apostle hath told us That the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men But yet the righteous Lord loveth the righteous These are the men whom he esteems his Children to