how to reason very wisely argues to the purpose in this matter * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 M. Anton lib. 4. sect 47. That if we make any difference betwixt dying to morrow or dying next day betwixt dying to morrow or a thousand years hence this must proceed from an ungenerous or abject Mind For truly as many as are of a noble Temper and think worthily always ought as he says to * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ib. sect 48. look upon all humane things as but of a day's continuance and that it is but a †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meer Moment or indivisible Point of Time which we have to spend here And perhaps something of the same Passion is visible in Hezekiah's Carriage Who when he received the Sentence of Death from Isaiah's Mouth turned his Face towards the Wall and wept Esay 38.2 3. Which plainly shews that his Mind was cast down and consequently that he was afraid to die For Fear it self according to Theophrastus his Definition of it ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eth. Char. cap. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is but a timorous Dejection of Mind And if in the Breasts of such excellent Persons where so much Piety and Goodness dwelt there could be room for the Fear of Death then where Graces and Virtues are lower and weaker there must be higher and stronger Fears of that nature But here again divine Comforts shew themselves to be most blessed things and that very eminently and conspicuously For where these Fears are full-grown as I may say and run up to the highest Pitch that they can reach to in pious Souls holy Comforts are able to expel them Such is their Force that they no sooner enter the religious Heart but they immediately quell all Fears of Death in it or in a great measure exterminate them out of it Nor are they only able to damp the Terrors of Death in us or effectually to abolish or drive them out of us but to turn those Terrors into real Triumphs and Transports of Mind accompani'd with high and heavenly Delights Let none take these for loud Words only or think that they are spoken meerly at random Many righteous Souls departing this Life as subject to Infirmities and Fears as we have sealed them up for certain Truths by very remarkable experimental Testimony For by seasonable Influxes of these mighty Comforts they have not only had their Fears suppress'd or chased from them but their Spirits so ravisht at their dying hour that they have been forc'd to give vent to their rapturous Pleasures and delightful Passions in strange and amazing Exclamations In such exalted and surprizing Strains as have not only sweetly affected but even astonisht all those about them O the Joys the Joys the Joys that I feel said * Mrs. Brettergh See her Life and Death annext to Mr. Leigh's Souls Solace one upon her Death-bed they be wonderful they be wonderful they be wonderful I am as full of comfort as my Heart can hold said †Mr. Bolton See his Life and Death prefixt to his Discourse of the four Last things another and feel nothing in my Soul but CHRIST with whom I heartily desire to be Now farewel World and welcome Heaven the Day-star from on high hath visited my Heart O speak it when I am gone and preach it at my Funeral GOD dealeth familiarly with Man I feel His Mercy I see His MAJESTY whether in the Body or out of the Body I cannot tell GOD He knoweth I see things inutterable O my dear Brethren Sisters and Friends it pitieth me to leave you behind c. So said a * Mr Holland See Mr. Leigh's Souls Sollace c. Third upon sight of a glorious Brightness suddenly appearing to him a little before he died He took it at first for some ordinary Light and asked if any Candles were set up Answer was made no it was the Sun-shine for it was about four a clock in a clear Summer's Evening Sun-shine said he nay it is my Saviours shine c. I know whom I have preached whom I have professed whom I have believed and now I see Heaven open and ready to receive me said a Mr. Hieron See the Relation of his Death before the 2d Vol. of his Works Fourth I shall die But O what unspeakable Glories do I see What Joys beyond Thought or Expression am I sensible of I am assured of GOD's Mercy through JESUS CHRIST Oh how I long to die and to be with my SAVIOUR said a †The Earl of Rochester See the Sermon at his Funeral by Mr. Robert Parsons Fifth And memorable it is of Severinus the Indian Saint that GOD in his last Sickness did so replenish him with holy Consolations that he earnestly besought him either to take him presently out of the World or to stay his divine Joys from descending so freely and exuberantly upon him Lest if he out-liv'd them he should be miserable through the want of them when they were withdrawn and the more miserable for having drunk so deep of their abounding Sweetness Now in the midst of such blessed Comforts what Fear even of Death it self can fasten upon us The Pleasures of them do so powerfully divert our Minds and delight our Souls that we can neither attend to any formidable Objects nor becapable of afflictive Impressions from them They give us such a lively and overcoming sense of GOD's Love to us of His Care of us of His Protection over us and of the strange Felicities He hath provided for us and is putting into our eternal Possession as quite bears down and perfectly swallows up all manner of Dread So that in these circumstances we are not only free from Fear but impossible it is that we should be touched with it while they continue Where Souls swim in such a Deluge of Comforts their Fears must be drowned in the Inundation It is a great Word which the Psalmist speaks and very significant as to our purpose * Psal 37.37 Keep innocency and take heed to the thing that is right or Mark the perfect Man and behold the upright the Original may be rendred either way for the End of that Man is Peace There 's the good Man's Felicity Whatever Troubles or Tumults Disquietments or Uneasinesses Tossings or Terrors he meets with in the Beginning or Progress of his Life yet before it comes to its final Period in all likelihood he is sure of Peace Of Prosperity that is for same time before he goes hence if best for him and of Comfort at the hour of his Departure Thus as David noted it was in his Days and so perhaps we may see it to be in ours if we take but due Care and Pains to observe it With the unrighteous Person it is quite otherwise He lives in frequent Feuds with himself and is seldom at quiet for Frays with his Conscience That checks and twitches and gripes him at every turn If he
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
displaced let them never be disappointed Absolve me from my sins assure me of Thy Love and fill me with thy Graces which may fit me for Thy Glory Pity my Infirmities pardon my Imperfections Hear my Prayers and grant me my Requests Bless preserve and govern me while I live and when I die take me O GOD and Father to Thy self where Thou knowest I would fain be for ever And all for the sake of my LORD JESUS CHRIST to whom with Thy Self and ever Blessed SPIRIT three most Divine Adorable PERSONS and one infinitely Glorious and most Perfect GOD be all Love and Honour and Obedience World without End Amen Amen Ejaculations to be used on Mourning-Days THE Blessing of the ALMIGHTY rest upon me the Grace and Comfort of the HOLY SPIRIT support and sanctify me and the Mercy of GOD in the Bloud of JESUS save me from the dreadful Wrath to come and Crown me with Glory everlasting Amen LORD pity my Soul and pardon my Sins strengthen my Graces and assure me of Thy Favour let me always please Thee in religious Duties and never offend Thee by any Miscarriages Amen Make me vigilant and circumspect in my Life that so my Death may be safe and blessed and a sweet and happy Passage to Thy Self Amen Gracious GOD I desire to love Thee and nothing but Thee or at least nothing in comparison of Thee My dear GOD in Mercy grant me but this one desire and as for all other deny them as Thou pleasest Amen Cause me O LORD to be tender of thine Honour and zealous for Thy Glory painful in Thy Service and sorrowful for my Sins while I live and when I die translate me I beseech Thee into Thy Kingdom and Presence where I may dwell in Rest and Peace in the Heighth of Joy and the Fulness of divine and heavenly Pleasure for evermore Amen Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Sion build Thou the Walls O blessed LORD of Thy Jerusalem Amen Have Mercy upon all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks and so fetch them home unto Thy Self O GOD as that they may be saved at the last Amen Create in the sinful People of this Land such new and contrite Hearts O LORD as that they may forthwith turn from all their Sins and through thy Mercy obtain forgiveness of the same Amen LORD I cannot live without Thee LORD I cannot die without Thee O Thou who art the GOD of my Life be Thou my GOD and Guide unto Death Amen NOTES NOTE I. Pag. 7. FOR there the Agency is direct without the dull Help or Mediation of Organs and wherever the Soul is toucht immediately she must be mov'd more forcibly And this may probably give much strength to Temptations I mean to Satanical ones or such as the Devil assaults us with For He being a Spirit for that Reason tho' his actings upon us be secret and invisible yet they may be exceeding strong and powerful For spiritual Beings are capable of nearer mutual Unions than material ones Because things corporeal touch but superficially and join only in their outsides whereas Penetrability being a Property of Spirits they can easily pervade or run through one another mingling their very Substances together And thus 't is like the Tempter deals with us He may not only make use of our Blood and our Spirits and the Humors of our Bodies to imprint and fasten his Temptations upon us but moreover may insinuate himself to our very Souls and so by most inward presential Applications strongly incline us to that which is evil Thus we sometimes find by uneasy Experience that our Minds are held close to sinful Objects even against our Wills and when we would fain break loose and turn our Fancies another way they are kept intent even by reluctant Animadversion upon Motives to Naughtiness Now what could thus far force our Minds and keep them fixt in such unvoluntary postures or dispositions but the great Enemy of our Souls And how can we conceive he should do it so well as by his own striking through them by unperceiv'd Penetration For so he may impregnate his pernicious Motions with the fiercest vigour and raise them to the highest degrees of Strength by conveying himself into us together with them Yea some Temptations are so extravagant and unreasonable so base and malicious and so much against Religion and the Christian Temper as those to atheistical and blasphemous Thoughts and the like that methinks they could never break in upon us if Satan himself were not there already to help them to enter nor could they ever continue so long with us nor press so mightily as they do upon our Souls if he were not intimately joined to us to maintain and uphold them in so high a force But then since he can tempt us so powerfully by virtue of his Spirituality which qualifies him for nearest accesses to us and conjunctions with us we should be so wise as to keep our selves always by holy living in GOD's favour and custody that so the utmost of our Adversary's fury and violence may never be able to prevail against us And as evil Spirits may tempt Men as abovesaid by insinuating into them so according to the Number and Malice of those Spirits in any loose Persons will their Temptations and their Sins be And therefore the HOLY GHOST speaking of one whose Mat. 12.45 last State was to be worse than his first gives this account of the sad Cause of that dismal Effect that seven Devils worse than that which actuated him before Were gotten into him And for the like reason Mary Magdalen was so scandalously guilty of carnal impurities even because seven Devils or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unclean Spirits as the Gospel terms them were in her as Tempters to that sort of Lewdness For so many were cast out of her by the SON of GOD S. Mark 16.9 Yet still we must allow that there is some difference betwixt the Persons thus tempted by Devils and those that are down-right possessed of them For in the first Case evil Spirits apply themselves only to our Souls and that with intention and endeavour to stimulate and urge them on to Sin But in the latter Case they seem to settle in the Body and to take up their Residence in that designing some way or other to be injurious to it And the Injuries they do it of this Nature are commonly very visible or apparent and are mostly done one of these ways Either by vitiating its Organs and so hindring its Functions or hurting its Faculties or its Senses Thus we read of one that was dumb by the Devil 's possessing him Mat. 9.32 And of another that was deaf and dumb upon the same account Mar. 9.25 Or by offering ruder Violences to it As casting it into Mar. 9.22 the Fire or casting it into the Water Or tearing it inwardly or Luk. 9.39 bruising it outwardly or Luk. 13.11 putting it into some distorted or disfiguring Posture and keeping it in the
Thankfulness to Thee for Thy various Dispensations That so according to the Rule in Thy Sacred Word I may * Eph. 5.20 give thanks unto Thee always and for all things And let me †Psal 50.23 honour Thee not only by offering thanks and praise to Thee but also by ordering my Conversation right that so at length Thou maist shew me thy Salvation and give me cause to praise Thee for ever and ever XVIII For Communion with GOD. LET Him uphold and inlarge my Communion with Thee O LORD and carry me on every day to higher degrees of holy and humble ‖ Job 22.21 acquaintance with the ALMIGHTY Let Him so throughly sanctifie me that I may be a Temple or meet Habitation for thy self And then Thou who * Isa 57.15 art the HIGH and LOFTY ONE and dwellest in the high and holy place vouchsafe to take up thy Residence in me And let me so desire thy blessed Presence and delight in it as that †Rom. 8.38 39. neither life nor death nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor Depth nor any other Creature may be able to separate me from Thee or to break off my friendship or converse with Thee But ‖ 1 Joh. 1 7. walking in the Light as Thou art in the Light we may so have fellowship with Thee O GOD. A constant and most happy communion with Thee in this life till I pass into the blissful vision of thy Face and the Endless fruition of thy Glories in the next XIX For Joy and Assurance LET Him derive into me plenty of Spiritual Satisfactions and so * Psal 23.2 lead me forth besides the Waters of comfort that I may drink my fill of those purest Joys and divinest Pleasures that do ever flow from Thee Thou callest Him the COMFORTER of Thy People O let Him answer that His Name and let Him accomplish that His Work upon me Thy Servant Let Him shed down store of His Consolations unto me and sweeten my Soul with the Delights of GOD and give me that Peace which the World cannot give That so I may †Psal 106.5 see the Felicity of Thy Chosen and rejoyce in the gladness of thy People even with Joy ‖ 1 Pet. 1.8 unspeakable and full of glory With Joys so excellent as may evidence themselves to come down from above and beget in me not only a deep sense of thy Favour but certain expectation and full Assurance of the Blessedness to come XX. For Power to do well LET Him furnish me with abilities for those virtuous imployments and Religious Performances which thy commands have laid upon me and my Soul's Interests make necessary to be done As weak and insufficient as I am in my self * Phil. 4.13 through Thee strengthening me I can do all things So strengthen me O GOD with thy gracious Aids that my hardest duties may become easie to me and may all be performed with a ready chearful and never failing Diligence Tho' heretofore I have been too much inclined to vanity and sin yet now let my Heart be taken off from both and perfectly set against all such gratifications as may be hurtful to me And instead of being conform'd to this evil World or too far ingag'd in pursuing after it let me be so †Rom. 12.2 transformed by renewing my mind that I may prove and know what is that acceptable Will of GOD which I am to execute and then fulfill it with zealous alacrity to the end of my life And let the same HOLY SPIRIT and all these Heavenly GRACES of His which I have humbly craved for my self be plentifully bestowed upon others likewise Upon all men O GOD if Thou seest fit especially upon all in the Catholick Church And where any stand in need of particular Graces or Blessings from Thee give them O LORD most liberal Supplies of the same I beseech Thee Give unto Magistrates Wisdom and Courage give unto Ministers Learning and Holiness To Students Understanding and the Key of Knowledge to Husbandmen Industry and the Fruits of their Labours To Souldiers Valour and Integrity to Merchants Conscientiousness and Success To Tradesmen Sincerity to Artificers Ingenuity To all that travel safety to all at Home Tranquility To them that are Married sweetness of Society to them that are single Continence and Modesty To Children Instruction and pious Education To Men and Women perfection in Religion To those that are Masters Mildness and Clemency to those that are Servants Diligence and Fidelity To the Rich Charity and Humility to the Poor Honesty and Contentedness To the Sick Patience to the Healthful Thankfulness To the Sorrowful Thy Comforts to the Helpless thy Succours To Prisoners Liberty to Malefactors Repentance To the sinful Conversion to the Righteous Perseverance To them that hate me thy Love to them that hurt me thy Pardon To all Christians Piety to live in thy Fear that at last they may die in Peace and thy Favour and possess that state of Glory and Honour and eternal Life which Thou hast graciously promised to ‖ Rom. 2.7 them that seek it by patient continuance in well doing Hear me O King of Heaven I beseech Thee and that for Thine own Mercies sake and the infinite Merits of thine only SON with whose holy Words I end these my Requests Our Father which c. If the foregoing Form with other Prayers Publick and Private which you are to attend be not sufficient for the whole day you may then return to the Mourning Office used in the Forenoon and repeat as much of that as you shall judge convenient beginning at the first Confession of Sins But alway conclude your Mourning Solemnity with this Prayer following I Adore Thee most Glorious and Everlasting GOD for all thy Mercies conferred upon me and for every Assistance in any Duty which Thou hast been pleas'd to afford me especially for that of this day O let thy Blessing turn what I have done to thine Honour and my own present and eternal Benefit And now as for me O LORD give me leave to say that I am Thine For thine I desire to be wholly and thine I desire to be only and most earnestly I beg that I may always be so I was given to Thee long ago and here I ratifie and renew what then was done by Devoting my self to Thee now again I most humbly * Rom. 12.1 present my Soul and Body as an entire living Sacrifice to Thy MAJESTY O make it an holy that it may be an acceptable one And then I beseech Thee O dearest GOD be Thou mine be Thou mine O be Thou mine for ever and ever Thou art the Rock in which I trust Thou art the Refuge to which I fly †Heb. 13.5 O never leave me nor forsake me My Heart is fixed on Thee my Soul gaspeth after Thee Her longing eager desires are towards Thee O let them never be
Plenty they fill her with such solid Pleasure and Sweetness as never can result from external Injoyments The choicest of that sort of Contentments in comparison to these are but slight and superficial but frothy and insipid things For the same Reason that holy Sorrows are the heartiest as hath been * Chap. I. noted holy Comforts will and must be the sweetest upon Earth even because as they are seated in the Soul so they are raised by the profound and mighty Workings of the SPIRIT of GOD. And where He is active in a Soul on purpose to comfort it what an Heaven of Sweetness must He produce in it It was the Sweetness of these Comforts that made St. Austin cry out in a kind of rapturous Surprise or in a Pang of Admiration when he felt Himself happily incircled with them †Nescio in quam dulcedinem me duces Domine O LORD I know not into what sweetness Thou wilt lead me It was the Sweetness of these Comforts that made St. Jerom profess with a Solemn Appeal to ALMIGHTY GOD that he thought he convers'd with Quires of Angels * Testor DEUM post Hebdomadarum Jejunia visus sum mihi inter ipsa agmina Angelorum versari I take GOD to witness that after my keeping the Lenten Fast I seemed to be conversant with Throngs of Angels It was the Sweetness of these Comforts that hath so fortifi'd and animated some pious Christians that in confidence of their Pardon and Salvation they have Scorn'd and Triumph'd over the Devil and His Angels and in their Languishing Sickness and under near and sensible Approaches of Death have even mockt and derided the Powers of Darkness and challenged and dared them to do their Worst It was the Sweetness of these Comforts that hath privileg'd some with a desirable Euthanasy or easy Death And not only with an easy but most blessed and hapyy one Exalting their Souls to such Excess of Rapture as their frail Bodies were unable to endure they have broken in pieces as it were just as we see Glasses crack and fly through the Strength of Spirits contained in them Farther yet such is the Sweetness of these Comforts that 't is really inutterable And therefore St. Peter says of the Saints of his time that they rejoyced †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 1.8 with Joy unspeakable All the Rhetoric in the World and all the Orators who use that Rhetoric cannot fully express the delicious Sweetness which holy Comforts derive to good Men. Don't think therefore that I am here going about to explain the native Sweetness of these Comforts or that I am attempting to give in an exact Account of it For when Heaven tells us it is unspeakable that must needs be a Task impossible As we noted even now insufferable is the torment of a wounded Spirit And one Reason may be because the Wounds are made in it by the force of Spirits Either by GOD Himself touching them with the finger of his heavy wrath which no poor Creature is able to endure * Psal 76.7 Who may stand in thy Sight when thou art angry or else by Devils the Ministers of His Severity For whenever GOD gives up sinners to them by withdrawing the care of their Guardian Angels to whose watchful Tutelage or Custody they were committed or by removing any other Defence of His Providence whereby they were protected they immediately assault them with dreadful Violence and in the Heat of their Malice lay on such furious Strokes upon them as poor Mortals are not able to stand under As in time of temptation they tickle Mens minds with Thoughts of Pleasure which wind and draw them to evil Inclinations not easy to be resisted and which indanger their falling into Deadly sin So in time of Desertion they Strike mens Consciences with such dismal Terrors as that being unable to sustain the terrible concussions they sink into horror and raging despair And if the wrath of GOD or of His revengefull Ministers can make such direful Impressions on our Spirits as wound them with Pains beyond all manner of Patience well may His comforts infused by His SPIRIT affect us with Pleasures which for Sweetness shall exceed all measure of Apprehension For such Comforts wrought in us by such a Comforter must needs enter deep enter very deep into our Souls They will pierce to the very Root of their Being and to the center of their Life and flow in upon them with most exquisite Sweetness With such a Sweetness that as it can come from none but GOD so it will draw us most powerfully after Him And were it not for the Luggage of these earthly Bodies which weigh us down it would not fail when it is strong upon us to snatch us hence and carry us up into the glorious Place above O Blessed Creatures they that are favoured with the injoyment of such sweet Comforts Yet that solemn Mourners are sensible of them I dare confidently appeal to themselves to say When ye have withdrawn from the World betaking you to your Chambers or entring into your Closets hath not your FATHER who seeth in secret visited you there Hath He not visited you with sweet Consolations in the midst of your closest mournful Privacies Yea hath He not so visited you as to fill your Hearts with consolatory Sweetness And so hath He filled you many times as that you have been overflowed with it So overflowed as that you have Sunk in it as it were or have been swallowed up by it And then forgetting the World and forgetting your selves like to Angels in their heavenly Extasies ye have perceived nothing but divine Delights And tho' these be Heighths to which all Mourners do not ascend and to which the same holy Mourners cannot at all times attain yet I doubt not but their own Experience being witness their Mournings do commonly lift them up to very raised Comforts Even to such Comforts as are attended with Sublime and inlivening Sweetness tho' some degrees below the highest of all For let me ask when thou hast spent a Day in religious Mourning how hast Thou found thy self after it at night Hast thou not felt a grave Lightsomness in thy Spirit and a serious Gladness in thy Mind and a most pleasant Joy lie glowing at thine Heart And was not the Gratification arising from thence such for Sweetness as no Worldly things did ever afford thee When thou hast spent several Days or it may be some Weeks in the worthiest civil Imployments or Recreations hast thou met with any thing in them so grateful as this or hast thou perceived any such satisfaction after them or can any like it be derived from them But then when the Comforts which here rest upon Mourners are so incomparably Sweet must they not contribute to their being Blessed in this present state In way of Corollary I add but this When the Christian that is constant to his Mourning-days and accustom'd on those
vanquisht and the Parties urged and solicited by them most happily secured Now this Kindness divine Comforts do us when Temptations assault us They dash them to pieces or help us to do it by diluting or deadning the Pleasures which they proffer And that they do by out-shooting Temptations as I may say in their own Bow or by producing higher Pleasures in us than any that they can allure us with For when two sorts of Pleasures are tendred to us common sense will incline us to the sweetest And look how far one sort excells the other and so far it recommends it self more forcibly to our choice tho' at the same time it diminishes our Estimate of the other and causes us to despise it as inferior to it and the more for thrusting it self into competition with that sweeter pleasure Now when Temptations court us tho' they bring pleasures with them to recommend them yet if comforts strike in at the same Juncture they will come attended with so much nobler and sweeter Pleasures that those of Sin which gild the Temptation or set it off will be nothing to them For be they never so high these will far surmount them be they never so sweet these will far out-vie them And therefore for us to close with them and to reject these would be to go against inward Sense as well as against Reason and to prove our selves stupid as well as inconsiderate Whence it will follow that if Comforts and Temptations chance to be co-incident or to come together we must as certainly refuse the Pleasures of the latter for the Pleasures of the former and so by resisting bring the Power of Temptations to a stand it is impossible but People in their right Wits must preferr Gold before Dirt. As it is impossible but Christians * Heb. 5.14 who have their senses exercised to discern Good and Evil must preferr Life before Death and the solid vital Delights of Heaven before the frothy deadly and damnable Complacencies of lewd and vile and vitious Satisfactions And if Comforts do not always keep Time with Temptations yet that will not hinder them from strengthening us against them For as when they come before them they fortify us in way of Preparative so when they follow them they fortify us against others yet to come by recompencing our Constancy in those already past To what hath been said we may add that these sacred Comforts do not baffle Temptations and sink them only by their own proper Weight but also as they help us to look upward and inable us to form fair and lovely Idea's of those Superlative Joys and Consolations above The Man that never beheld the glorious Sun will know the better what to make of it if he sees but the twinkling Stars And the viewing and sounding some large and deep Lake will help us to conceive what the Ocean is So from the holy Comforts we feel in this Life we may argue and conclude what shall be in the next And if our present Comforts can convince us that there are more and better to come and our present Capacity of injoying these Comforts can also convince us that better Capacities of injoying better Comforts are now dormant in us and shall at last be awakened and drawn forth into Action than which nothing can be more probable then these Comforts which we have as they point out others which are ours in Expectancy and Reserve must strengthen us more against Temptations still For when the single Pleasures of the Comforts we possess can swallow up the biggest unlawful Pleasures that can tempt us then when they open us a Window into Heaven as it were and back their own Force with the Prospect of others much beyond themselves the sight of those Comforts in Reversion together with the sweetness of these in our Fruition cannot but double our Courage against Temptations Be they never so pressing and importunate here 's enough methinks to make us so inflexible to them that even Stiffness it self should bend and yield sooner than we Will not this be a most blessed Circumstance Yet thus Blessed thus really and highly Blessed shalt Thou be if thou wilt but make one amongst Holy Mourners For they that mourn shall assuredly be comforted and Comforts will fortify against all Temptations CHAP. XIII The Ninth Motive to Mourning in General being the Sixth Branch of that Blessedness which springs from the Comforts annexed to Holy Mourning They animate us against the Fear of Death and instead of Dreading make us Desire it THO' Good Men differ greatly from others in regard of their Principles and their Practices their Perfections and their Privileges yet they are made of the same Matter and so must consist of the same Nature and consequently must be liable to the same Destiny with the Rest And so they are for Death being the * Eccles 7.2 End of all Men the very best of Men cannot escape it And as the best are mortal and must die as well as others so they are too subject to the Fear of Death also tho' others are more afflicted with it than they To the Heathen for Instance it was the most dreadful thing According to †Aristot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one of their greatest Philosophers the most Terrible of all Terribles And well might it be so to such as knew so little what they should be after it Nor is it less formidable to ill living Christians when they come to suffer it And in Reference to the Impious it is that Bildad calls it ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the King of Terrors or Conturbations Job 18.14 And as it is called so it really is to all ungodly Persons the most terrible and troublesome Evil that can befall them They fear to think of it They fear to bear of it and they fear to view it at a distance but when it approaches them they faint and sink and are amazed and astonished Nor can I blame them for being so over-powred with Dread For as Death is their Enemy so when it comes GOD knows 't is to do them a sad Office To rend their immortal Souls from their Bodies and to hale them out into the eternal State And there we believe but two Conditions of abode Heaven and Hell For the first they are unfit and for the second how shall they endure it Well therefore may they fear and tremble too when they are about to die nor can they ever do it too much Now tho' good Men are not thus afraid of Death as indeed they have not equal cause for it yet in them the Fear of Death is too predominant It may be somewhat of this Timorousness discover'd it self in that good Man's Petition when he prayed O my GOD take me not away in the midst of my Days Psal 102.24 For what but Fear should make him more loth to die in his middle-age than when he should be older And therefore the Philosophic Emperour who knew
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
Soul is athirst for GOD yea even for the living GOD when shall I come to appear before the Presence of GOD Psal 42.1 2. Which pathetic Expressions tho' in their primary Aspect they look to GOD's Presence in the Sanctuary yet they may extend to His Presence in Heaven as well And so they show the vehemently transported Passions of a Soul ravish'd with Comforts from GOD and languishing with eager and importunate Desires of the Body's Dissolution that so she might be carri'd up hence to an everlasting Participation of more of those Comforts And therefore here we must note that none desire Death merely for it self nor can they in reason do it as being destructive to their Nature For the Nature of Man we know consists in the Vital Union of Soul and Body But Death divides these two and very rudely tears them asunder And who can desire such contra-natural Violence should ever befal them for its own sake a Violence that separates those essential Principles whereof they are compounded and so brings with it the present Ruin of their Persons The Law of Self-preservation in the animate World is universal and so must be in force among Rational Beings and can never be rooted out where Humanity grows For us therefore to desire what is fatal to us merely for its self must be nothing less than to put off our own Nature and to be what we are not even while we continue what we are which is perfect nonsense and manifest contradiction and a thing most unpracticable because impossible And then besides there is a farther malignity in Death which makes it that it cannot be desirable for its self For it is not only an enemy to Man as it demolishes his Body and breaks his vital Frame to pieces but also as it contains malediction in it For it is the cursed fruit of Adam's sin and so carries with it the bitterness of a penal severity it being justly inflicted as a punishment of Disobedience But tho' none can desire Death for it self yet we may desire it upon other Accounts particularly upon account of Divine Comforts And here let me add these Desires * Note that what follows is spoken only of eminent Christians and but of some of them neither in some eminent Christians are strangely vehement and importunate They grow so high and they run so strong that they are fain to give vent to them in Solemn Expressions For sometimes they sigh and sometimes they weep and sometimes they are ready to fret and be half discontented and sometimes to repine and be holily impatient that they cannot dye They are fit to cry out and that very often O Death where art thou thus long Why comest thou so slowly Mend thy pace and make more haste that so thine hand which others fear may lead my weary Soul to Heaven They wonder what shift those famous Men made who liv'd so long in the Primitive World and should they be condemned to the Like Abode upon Earth they would think it an hard and most cruel Sentence They rejoice exceedingly upon their own account that the Life of Man is so very much shortned and next to the Mercy of dying at all they reckon it a choice one that they dye so soon And as short as the Thread of Life is now made they grudge it should run out to its utmost Length but are willing rather to have it cut off betimes that so they may be happy in a speedier Dismission Whereas others quarrel with Time for its Swiftness and angrily wish that its Wings were clipt for flying so fast they cry out 't is slow and blame it that it does not mend its Pace For if they must be old before they depart they would be so quickly that they might the sooner be gone They hope for Death every Year they look for it every Month and they long for it every Day If they envy not the Saints that dye young they are hugely pleas'd with their happy Lot and had it been in their choice how very contentedly would they have been of their Number So very desirous are they to dye that they can scarce hear of one desperately Sick but they are ready to grieve that it is not their case So very desirous are they to dye that when they hear of one dead or see him carri'd to his Grave they are ready to cry out O that I had gone in his stead and that he had staid in my Room So very desirous are they to dye that high Distempers do but chear their Spirits and tho' through weakness of Body their countenance may droop yet their Souls even then rejoice and triumph and are vested with Robes of Light and Gladness So very desirous are they to dye that when dangerous Sickness wears off again and fair Possibilities of Life return the Sense of this makes them dumpish and heavy and is matter of Trouble and Affliction to them Now how Divine Comforts may stir up such eager desires of Death is obvious and easy enough to apprehend As for Death it self we have already hinted it is no more desirable to the very best than to any else nor is there any Reason why it should be so Pain and Sickness which usher it in and the Coffin and the Grave which follow after it if considered in themselves are as little pleasing to them as to others But then this is confessedly true on all hands that when we have once tasted what is rarely sweet 't is natural for us to desire more of it and where we are sensible most of it is there we are most desirous to be Now the Comforts of GOD which descend from Heaven being so incomparably sweet and pleasant they inflame us with Desires of removing thither And tho' our Way lies through the Gates of Death yet our burning Desires make us earnest to pass them that so we may exchange these imperfect Measures of delicious Comforts for the Entire Fulness and Immensity of them The little Draughts we drink of them here enrage our Appetites after the Fountain from whence they spring The slender Rivulets which run through us now make us thirst insatiably after that Ocean from whence they flow Those single Rays which strike us at present as through a crevise make us long incessantly to ascend into the clear and open Light and to sit under the Gleams of that Eternal Sun whose consolatory Glories shall irradiate our Souls and delight and satisfy them to everlasting Ages Thus the sweet foretasts of future Satisfactions make us greedy of dying that we may be finally settled in the Possession of them And who can deny this to be a piece of true Blessedness All must dye and most are afraid of Death and many fear it immoderately they therefore that fear it not at all but are lifted up so far above Fears that they earnestly Desire it must needs be reputed signally Blessed and which is more must really be so But then here we
taught he that is * Prudens nemini miseretur prudent pities none But as the Wisdom of this World is foolishness with GOD 1 Cor. 3.19 so this Piece of Wisdom as the Stoics reckon'd it amongst true Religionists is the worst sort of folly as being a real and an hainous Sin And tho' †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Rep. lib. 3. Plato who was Master of a nobler Philosophy excluded Tears from great Mens Eyes yet it cannot be deni'd but his Political Rule in that case does plainly interfere with the Evangelical Law and His Maxim of state lies cross to the precepts of Orthodox Christianity And then the weakness of their Principles is notoriously manifest from the contrary Practice For notwithstanding the Doctrines of both these Schools great and wise Men have been struck with commiseration and upon just occasions have exprest their Pity in plenty of Tears Thus Julius Caesar wept when the Head of Pompey was brought before Him Scipio Africanus wept excessively when he saw Carthage in flames Marcellus wept when he beheld Syracuse which he was to enter in so sad a condition tho' Livy says he wept for Joy at so great an Atchievement as his Conquest of it Now these were not only great and wise Men but wise and great Generals and by being Martial Heroes were Sons of Bloud not to add of Rapine and Violence and so by reason of their Office might be much harder than others Yet these very Persons had a natural Tenderness for Mankind and Sympathized deeply with such as were their proclaimed and professed Enemies And when heathen Soldiers could with Tears lament the sufferings of their Enemies shall not we Christians mourn for the sins of our Brethren In case we do not besides that we refuse to tread in the steps of the best we plainly call our own Goodness in question For according to the Greek Proverb * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good Men are prone to Tears And as they are so upon many accounts so especially for the sins of others And therefore in the Judgment of an admirable Divine †Guil. Paris lib. de Morib none can doubt but pious Souls do so much the more flow with tears of Pity by how much the more they see or hear the sins of their Neighbours to abound Secondly We must mourn for the sins of others because to neglect it is highly blameable It is GOD's Command to Christians Phil. 2.15 and so should be our care and endeavour to be harmless and blameless and without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation Tho' the Generation wherein we live be never so irregular and unrighteous yet we must not only be harmless as to others but blameless in our selves So blameless as to be guilty of nothing that the piercing Eye of the All-seeing GOD shall discern to be a wilful fault or that the fierce and malicious Accuser of our Souls may be able to charge upon us as such But then in order to this 't will be necessary for us to mourn for the known and scandalous Sins of those about us else the very omission of that will render us grossly culpable So it did a whole Church once and laid it under Apostolical Censure The Church I mean was that at Corinth It was newly planted and had lately received the Christian Faith and being just born and in her tender Infancy one would have thought she might have been innocent Especially having one so skilful and careful so pious and prudent as St. Paul was to super-intend her 1 Cor. 5.1 But we find it far otherwise with Her and that She was over-run not only with early but great Disorders Amongst the rest there was one corrupt and scandalous Member that liv'd in open and horrid Incest with his Father's Wife And yet which aggravates the Crime he was a Person that made some figure in the Church for according to S. Chrysostom and Theodoret both * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he had obtained the Degree of a Doctor Now so grievous a Lewdness being so publickly committed amongst the Corinthians how should they have behav'd themselves in reference to the bold and shameful miscarriage They ought by all means to have lamented it or mourned for it And because they did not they are reprehended and blamed by the great Apostle in these Words ye are puffed up and have not rather Mourned Which gives us to understand that when any in the Communion which we are of fall into deadly and damnable Sins it lies upon us to mourn for the same And in case we do not we are utterly in a fault In a fault so great that it deserves express Reproof from Heaven And as it highly deserves it it shall certainly have it for indeed such a fault where-ever it happens stands actually reproved by GOD already in those very words which we last cited As therefore we would escape the Dint of this Reproof we must bewail the great Sins of all those Christians that come to our knowledge but especially of those who belong to the same Church or Nation with us And if they be so many as GOD knows they are very numerous that we cannot consider and bewail them apart or every one in particular it must suffice that we do it in gross by a more comprehensive and general Mourning But then we must take care that this our Mourning be not slight and superficial but deep and hearty such at least for the sadness and seriousness of it as we usually bestow on our departed Friends And let none despise this Rule or Measure as being borrowed from no meaner Person than learned Origen For where he describes the Discipline of the Primitive Church he thus informs us That as the venerable School of the Pythagoreans * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Con. Celsum lib. 3 set up empty Coffins in the places of all such as deserted its Philosophy to shew they were esteemed no better than Dead so for those that were conquered either by Carnality or any other Evil Christians us'd to mourn as for Creatures lost and dead to GOD. So that look how we mourn for dead and so we must mourn for sinful Christians Or if there be any Difference to be allow'd betwixt them the abatement must be made on the Deceased's side inasmuch as Moral or Spiritual Death is far more deplorable than that which is Natural Thirdly We must mourn for the Sins of others because such Mourning prevails with Heaven As we read Lam. 3.26 The LORD is good to the Soul that seeketh Him But how good He is to such and how strangely he manifests His Goodness to them in a gracious Readiness to be found of them none can tell like the well experienc'd Yet this I must say that none prevail more and none prevail sooner with GOD than they who seek Him with holy Mourning And therefore when Jacob had Power with GOD and such Power as to have his
us with constant and most powerful Preaching of Thy Word but we do not hear it so as to obey it Thou indulgest to us a blessed Liberty and frequent Opportunities of calling upon Thee by Public Prayer but we do not join it so as to honour Thee and advantage our selves by it Instead of keeping holy * Isai 58.13 Thy Day we break and pollute it Instead of Reverencing Thy †Levit. 19.30 Sanctuary we neglect or prophane it Instead of ‖ Mat. 6.9 Hallowing Thy Name we abuse and blaspheme it Instead of Duly frequenting Thy Table we turn our Backs upon it or come unworthily to it Instead of rightly attending on any of Thine Ordinances we either so slight them as to absent from them or if we resort to them we are so lukewarm in them that we profit little or nothing under them Instead of * 1 Thess 5.13 Esteeming Thy Ministers very highly for their Works-sake we despise them too much and vilify them too often upon that account These are great and provoking Sins O LORD and who besides Thy patient Self could ever have born so long with us in them But yet I have more and more hainous Sins to confess unto Thee which multitudes amongst us most Blessed GOD commit against Thee For many are guilty of horrid Atheism They do not only say in †Psal 14.1 their Hearts there is no GOD but profess and contend for it and maintain it in their Discourse Notwithstanding they are Baptiz'd into the Faith of Thy SON they doubt of thy Being and dispute against it O Heavenly Father Many are guilty of abominable Idolatry The Glory which is due to Thee alone they superstitiously give unto a meer Creature against the plainest sense and clearest Reason adoring even the Bread which themselves do eat Many are guilty of damnable Heresie and some allow not of Thy DIVINITY O Eternal and most Glorious JESUS But though Thou hast laid down Thy Life as a ‖ Mat. 20.28 Ransom for our Souls they wretchedly deny * 2 Pet. 2.1 the LORD that bought them Many are guilty of hideous Perjury They make light not only of common Swearing but of the Solemn Oaths of GOD upon them They count them such sorry and trifling Obligations as impiously to neglect the necessary Duties to which they are bound by those Sacred Ties And O LORD how lamentable must our case be when in this one miscarriage alone there is malignity enough to make †Jer. 23.10 a Land to mourn Many are guilty of most filthy Pollutions Thou feedest them to the full and they assemble themselves by Troops in the ‖ Jer. 5.7 Harlots Houses Instead of * Gal. 5.24 crucifying the Flesh they †Ephes 4.19 work uncleanness with greediness and Adultery and ‖ 5.3 Fornication which should not once be named amongst Christians are matters of their common and continual Practice How shalt thou * Jer. 5.7 pardon us for this O LORD and what direful effects of thine Anger may we justly expect when for †Eph 5.6 these things sake the wrath of GOD cometh upon the children of Disobedience Many are guilty of high Injustice They oppress the Widow and wrong the Fatherless and instead of living righteously in the World they steal and they kill and addict themselves to Fraud and all manner of violence Many are guilty of Faction in the State Instead of being ‖ Rom. 13.1 subject to the higher Powers which are ordained of GOD and of * 1 Pet. 2.13 submitting themselves to every Ordinance of Man for the LORD's sake they are so †2 Pet. 2.10 presumptuous as to confront Government ‖ Jude 8. despise Dominion and speak evil of Dignities Many are guilty of Schism in the Church Instead * Eph. 4 3. of keeping the Unity of the SPIRIT in the bond of peace of being of one †Act. 4.32 heart and of one Soul of ‖ Rom. 15.6 glorifying GOD with one mind and with one mouth they have sowed Dissentions and have caused Divisions they have invaded the Ministry and seduced thy People drawing them away into divers Sects by dangerous Separations Many are Guilty of Gluttony and Drunkenness Instead of eating and drinking to thy * 1 Cor. 10.31 Glory O GOD they do it continually to their own great shame and to thy dishonour And notwithstanding the many and great Obligations upon them to Sobriety they abuse themselves and the good Creatures Thou vouchsafest them to most brutish Intemperance and Excess And which mightily aggravates all our sins so deadly in themselves they have been acted directly against Knowledg and Conscience We can plead no Ignorance O LORD in excuse of our Enormities For Thy word from Heaven hath taught us plainly and told us aloud that we †2 Cor. 5.10 must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ That ‖ Rom. 6.23 the wages of Sin is Death That there shall be * Rom. 2.9 tribulation and anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth evil That except we †Luk. 13.3 repent we shall all perish That the Wicked shall go into ‖ Mat. 25.46 everlasting Punishment But all this and whatever else should have hindred us from sin through our own perverseness hath but heightned our Guilt Nor have we sinned only against strongest Convictions but with greatest Boldness We have boasted of our Lewdness we have bragged of our Baseness and have been ready to defend if not to applaud it Our Immoralities and Irreligion have fac'd the Sun and instead of concealing them we have gloried in them And as thus we have offended the upright and virtuous so the vitious we have encourag'd to do like our selves Nor are our Sins few O LORD that have been thus hainous For they are greatly multiplied as well as scandalous and are not more notorious than innumerable * Jer. 5.9 Shall not GOD visit for these things shall not His Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this Here rest again and by reflecting and ruminating on the Nation 's Sins raise your Sorrow for them as high as you can And to help to increase it use these Petitions LORD make mine Eyes a Fountain of Tears to weep for the Transgressions of this sinful Nation Let mine †Lam. 1.16 20. Eye run down with Water O GOD and let my Bowels be troubled because this People have so grievously rebelled We have ‖ Ps 106.6 sinned with our Fathers we have committed iniquity we have done wickedly for this let mine * Lam. 2.11 19. Eyes flow with Tears and let me pour out my heart like Water before the face of Thee O LORD I have contributed too much to the Sins of this Land which call for Vengeance inable me Good GOD to help to drown that hideous Cry with holy Mourning If Sorrow swells to such a rate as to debilitate or dispirit you then once more