grow to such a delightful zeal to God that every step as he ascends will raise his holy ambition higher and higher with joy on joy until his last puff of breath conveys his Soul into God's Eternal Glory and all the way thither will teach him to tread on the Thorns and Thistles of this World as if he walked on Roses and Lillies through the joyful expectation of his felicity at last CCVIII A Divine Author says That every man ought to be of some calling that he may be of some use unto the State where God has made his station for he that will be good for nothing in this World is as nothing and shall be nothing in the next he is but as an Excrement on Earth none of Gods useful Creatures so that to be of a lawful calling and diligent in it may expect a blessing from Heaven on his honest endeavours And Princes whose calling is of a general concern are set on Pyramids that all the World may see and imitate their Virtues Judges must be vigilant in doing Justice great Commanders at Sea and Land must be prudently not rashly valiant the Workman must work the Courtier must wait the Merchant must travel the Preacher must teach and the greatest Reprobate if he becomes Regenerate has a great calling also for he ought to declare his conversion by his future life and conversation that his Devotion may be more eminent then his Crimes were so to manifest Gods mercy to himself and by his example to shew others the way to Heaven So that no man should hide his Talent that can by any honest means improve it for the good of others The Hypocrite is the only unhappy man this way who will himself perish though he do good by encouraging others to Piety by his example who cannot discern the Hypocrites counterfeit zeal that travels through the Church of God as his nearest way to Hell CCIX. WHen we have repented our sins and forsaken them and received the Holy Sacrament which is the Seal of our Reconciliation we are not to fright our selves with the memory of our forgotten crimes but must express our gratitude by recollecting and acknowledging the evils we have done with the highest aggravation that we can so to magnifie the free mercy of God with Christs merits for pardoning such great crimes and then to comfort our hearts with the Gospel-consolations thereon So that no man ought to despair of a place in Heaven that does sincerely endeavour to get in when the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are so active to bring us thither and yet we find it a very hard Lesson to learn to die chearfully when the practice of our whole lives can seldom teach us in seventy years to be perfect in it when we die CCX LEt us not lament the long time we lye in Dust before the day of Judgment for those who died six thousand years since and we that die now with them that die a thousand years after us shall all awake the same moment at the Resurrection and all this time shall be but as one moment divided amongst us all for death and sleep distinguishes no time until we awake from both So that we may reckon that we shall be in Abraham's Bosom the moment we expire though we shall not know what is meant by Abraham's Bosom until we with the departed Saints arise from thence together CCXI. HE that considers what Evils he has done with all the aggravations belonging to such crimes must needs be terror-struck at his hour of death to think what great punishments are due to such innumerable offences so often repeated if not reconciled unto God before that time but if so bless'd what comforts will that black Soul find when by truâ— Repentance and Faith he is washed white as Snow by Christs Bloud in the Sacrament and purified into Adams first Innocence and so be thus metamorphosed from a Devil into an Adopted Son of God by a blessed union with Christ and filled with such serene joys as are beyond expression and yet our frailties are such that when we know this and can do thus we are still so subject unto Relapses that we cannot stand in this happy station a minute longer then by Gods Grace supported to let us see that we must not depend on our own Righteousness but are to pray continually for Christs Righteousness to bring us to Heaven CCXII. CHrist said I am in the Father and you in me and I in you he also said that if you ask any thing in my Name I will do it these are two short Lessons of mighty consequence for what can man desire more then to be in God and what can we wish for more then to have what we ask and what can sinful man ask more then forgiveness of all past sins and Grace to sin no more by Christâ— sâ—nding the Holy Ghost to sanctifie us and to dwell with us for ever and so to conduct us into Heaven when we die CCXIII. WE ought to think often and to rejoyce as often as we think that the Holy Ghost is never absent from them that sincerely desire Him and do give Him a warm welcom into a chearful heart and he that can afford this Holy Spirit a full possession at his reception may keep him ever there and will always find that He is with him by the operation of his Grace where He inhabits still exciting him to love and delight in the Law of God and impowering him by his Divine-guiding Light to live after the Law of Righteousness which will bring him to such a union with Christ here as will assure his Eternal Rest with God in Glory at the Resurrection CCXIV. THough a lazie idle retired life be not according to the Christian Rule that says no man is born only for himself but is bound to imploy his Talent given to him for Gods Glory and the good of others yet some men who have spent many years in the busie affairs of this World with honest industry in their callings may without a crime retire in their old Age from the noise and hurry of business and also quit those gaieties which they find through a long custom that their frailty cannot totally reâ—ist their participation of and on that account may retire from such diversions as do disturb the full consideration and preparation for their Eternal Being in the next World By which retiring also they may teach others to become so Regenerate as to find more felicity in private contemplations of Heaven then in all Earthly fruitions which those that live in continual crouds can hardly find time for CCXV IT is great Piety for a man in health to live ever ready to die but it is another kind of story for a dying man to rejoyce that his hour is come to go to God and to quit his share in all the glories of this World So that we are often to contemplate this great point of Religion and to
Christ praying in y e Garden â—u 〈◊〉 And there appeared an Angel c. v. 43. And when he rose up from Prayer and was come to His Disciples He found them sleeping c. v. 45. And said unto them c. v. 46. Mid-night THOUGHTS Writ as some think by a London-Whigg OR A Westminster-Tory Others think by a QUAKER OR A JESUIT But call him what they please they may find him a true PENITENT Of the Church of CHRIST London Printed for Benj. Clark Bookseller in George-Yard in Lombard-street 1682. THe Constant Meditations of a Man who for many â—ears built on Sand which every blast of cross Fortune â—as defaced But now he has â—aid new Foundations on the Rock of his Salvation which no Storms can shake and will out-last the Conflagration of the World when time shall melt into Eternity TO THE READER YOV are to know that the Author being no Scholar had no design to teach others nor other Aims by writing these his Mid-night Thoughts then by reviewing them to keep up his own heart to Heaven But by this practice he grew to such a habit of Nightly Meditations at his first waking as prov'd more pleasant then sleep and in a short time became more delightful then any other Thoughts could entertain his mind with So that without any intent to publish them they swell'd into this bulk you see and brought him such consolation that he thought it Gods Mercy to bring him this way to Heaven And if any Reader do find the like advantage by doing the like he will have as 〈◊〉 cause to thank God as the Author has who set his fancy on work this way to defend his heart from indulging such vain Thoughts as day and night did formerly invade and seduce him unto evil purposes And on this account the Author was perswaded by some Friends to transcribe these loose Papers as they were first writ and tacked together without any method of coherence observed as appears by the frequent repetitions of the same expressions in many of them yet they wish'd him to keep them as they were to shew how such unlearned men as himself might better imploy their busie fancies at all times on the serious thoughts of their Eternity then to drop into their Graves without any consideration whither they are going And the Author on the same account was some time after by the same Friends against his own Iudgment over-ruled and perswaded to permit them to be Printed without his Name who gave him such Arguments for it as he could not resist hoping that amongst so much sincere natural Devotion something of great use may be found to enrich the Souls of those who are of no more capacity then himself who knew no true felicity until he learnt to meditate on his Eternity which every man has some Talents to practice on Mid-night THOUGHTS I. MOst men do miss of the Feâ—icity they seek on Earth because the Wealth and Honours that we gain and all our joys in them are with our selves still perishing in the height of our Fruitions and in a little time must all return unto the dust we came from Yet nothing does disturb the heart of man so often and so much as pampering of it with hopes of what we seldom reach and always over-valuing what we aim at which our Fancies like Magnifying Glasses represent unto us with such multiplied Felicities as dazle our understanding and captivate our reason with an expectation of what we never find But such men as can set their hearts on God above all his creatures and delight in him and his Celestial joyes will find a constant Felicity here by an inward assurance of Eternal Glory hereafter for sâ—ch a man can never want arguments to encrease his joys on earth when his repeated sorrows for past sins do create new joys for those sorrows and every new victory over a new temptation does afford him fresh joys for such frequent conquests over Satan and himself So that if we can set our whole hearts sincerely to delight in God and his service We may have so many tasts of his Heavenly joys here and such frequent glimpses of that glory that we cannot hide our comforts in the Holy Ghost from our own hearts while we live and when we die our Souls will rejoyce to fly into Christs arms for the consummation of all our hopes all our joys unto Eternity And whoever doth observe will find that the deepest sorrows for sin does raise the highest joys for our reconciliation and will prove our fullest happiness on earth II. THe more we search into the ways of Devotion the clearer we shall see and experimentally find that true Divine Philosophy when fixed in the heart of a Divine Lover is the highest extract of all the blessedness that mans nature is capable of in this world For God may be said to delight in filling those Souls with his Celestial joys that study him and will bring a regenerate man to such a sense and contempt of his past life that he shall soon arrive at so great a degree of Felicity in his approaches and converse with him in Holy Meditations as to lament when he thinks of what joys he has lost by wandring so long from God For the felicity to love God and to be beloved of God is a pleasant Meditation to entertain a pious mans heart his whole life And will invite him to spend more time with God then with all his creatures III. WE should always pray with such intention of Spirit in that great duty unto God and with such fervent zeal as if our Souls were that moment to expire and to carry our Pardon with us to Heaven And every time that we receive the Holy Sacrament we should consider that we are climbing a step nearer to Heaven then we were before so to shew our desires to be there And whoever will have patience to read these plain Lessons and mind them so seriously as to practice them sincerely will find more pleasure therein then he can fancy before he tries if he never tried to Meditate till now because a firm fixed ratified Devotion has in all Ages been experimentally approved of for the highest delightful diversion that the heart of man can enjoy IV. DElight in the Lord and he will give thee thy hearts desire that thou maist still increase that delight more and more in his mercies and blessings in his love and thy trust therein with a comfortable peace of Conscience until he brings thee unto the supream delight of all delights to see his face in Glory and until then to entertain thy heart with the joyful assurance of that Felicity to come as the highest desire a man can have by continual improving thy delight in God for from him who is the Fountain of Mercy and Grace continual joys do flow V. WE are to seek earnestly and to pray daily for Christs righteousness as our chief treasure and not to rest until our
of Judgment A concern so great that no man can guess at the terrible terrors of a dying despairing sinner but he that has felt them nor can any man know the Felicity of living ever ready to die but he to whom God has given the grace to live so and to accustom himself to compare frequently those past amazing terrors of despair from which God did then deliver him with such new light by grace from above as will exalt his Soul out of those dark despairing clouds to expire in a full reconciliation to God at his last hour XIII IF we believe Christ on earth did all those Miracles the Gospel mentions and that by Faith so many of all sorts were healed of their Infirmities the same faith now no doubt will procure the like mercies from the same Christ now he is ascended anâ— united unto God the Father where he sees all our Maladies and hears our Cries and is as ready now to Cure our Leprous Souls our Withered Limbs our Bloody Issues and to cast out as many Legions of Devils thaâ— possess us with Pride Envy Lust Revenge Gluttony Avarice and all the rest of that black train So that if we be now as desirous to be Cured as they were then anâ— do cry out for Mercy as they did we shalâ— be made whole like them and follow Christ 〈◊〉 ever after until we enter into 〈◊〉 Eternal Rest. XIV IF we observe how the Holy Ghost works on our Souls when our sincere â—â—evotions do raise our hearts to Heaven â—â—d how much our fancy soars above â—â—r own reach in Extasies of joy and â—elestial delight at that time we may â—ereby know how God accepts such Saâ—â—ifices and by his returns of comfort â—nd ardent desires to repeat such adresses as often as our affection and feliâ—ity does encrease by our devotion for â—â—en God meets our sincere prayers with â—â—ch consolations and inward depenâ—ance on his mercy and grace as will â—â—lighten our hearts with divine love and â—â—ing us to a constant conversation with â—im by living a divine life So to wean 〈◊〉 from the World and fill us with such â—oly flames from Heaven as nothâ—ng â—â—all shake our faith nor divert our â—houghts from making ready for our â—ourney thither But 't is neither writing â—hus nor talking thus nor praying thus â—â—ut doing thus must bring us thither XV. IT were well if we did treat God with as much respect as we give to one another for men generally when invited to a great man's house in common civility do dress themselves to their best advantage suitable to such Company and fit for such respect and welcom as they expect there How much more ought we to prepare and adorn our Souls and Bodies when we are invited by the glorious Majesty of God unto Heaven and by his Holy Spirit are daily solicited to come where we are sure to be received and welcomed by his Son our Saviour and all the Host of Heaven with Divine Caresses suitable to the dress we appear in and what we want of that innocent whiteness we shall find the Angels adorned with there his Son will make up by covering us all over with his bright Rayment of Celestial purity So then such men whose hearts are ambitious of that Ornament and that Honour will prepare for it before they go and then will not miss of being so arrayed when they come thither So that our sincerity in making ready is our work here as it is Christ's work to own us there and is also in a great measure the business of God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost all three as one to encourage and contribute to assist us in our desires and endeavours towards this Holy dressing for our blessed reception into Heaven and our whole lives are given us here for time to make ready to enter into that Eternal Glory at the Resurrection Let no man then who has faith in Christ's Bloud afflict himself with doubts or fears that he knows not how to serve God acceptably for God sees through the hearts of men and observes such as are set humbly and sincerely to love fear and obey him unto such he will send his Holy Spirit to fill their Souls with his guiding Light so fully as thâ—y cannot miss their way to Heaven XVI IF we consider the Soul of man as an Extract of the Divine nature we may well think that true devotion is the highest Epicurism we are capable of in this World where we may make Evangelical Righteousness our superlative delight and by it express our gratitude to God in raising our hearts to Divine love of Him So to manifest our high and glorious extraction by a constant joyful conversation with God in humble Addresses and so fix our election as the consummation of God's prime purpose to adorn his best Creature Man with his greatest blessings for nothing can be greater than to give himself as He always doth unto those who desire him in whom they have all that Heaven and Earth contains XVII WE are to seek God and not to leave seeking till we find him and we may be sure to find him who desires to be found by those that seek him as they ought and delights to be so sought that we may be sure we have found him that is when we delight in him more than in all his â—reatures So we do not deceive our selves by mistaking our delight in God but are pleased with all his methods in weaning us from the uncertain glories of this perishing World that our Souls may be ever â—oaring up to Him when we have found him so as not to lose him again But we too often meet with men who have skill to make the World believe they have found God and do enjoy him above others and are full of Divine joys in shew from their dissembled Piety professed so to obtain credit and trust to deceive the Innocent which when gained they soon unmasque themselves to act as they designed And then how vaâ—t a difference is seen betwen such and a truly Regenerate man that has found God indeed and does converse with his Great Maker in full tranquility of Soul through the expectation of his joyful Resurrection from the grave while the Hypocrite has an aking heart in the midst of all his joys and all his hopes that fears to find God too soon whom he never had a thought to seek XVIII THe Divine Lover who is accustomed to converse with God at midnight will then at first waking find his heart so full of fervent zeal so glowing hot that no sleepiness can suppress those devout flames from soaring up towards Heaven where his Soul enjoys those refreshing comforts it is used to find from the kind welcomes of his beloved while that holy flame lasts and when his Soul descends from this early visit it retains the Idea of that delight the whole day after still exciting this Divine Lover to retire and repeat those
way thither as will make their hearts glad to think they shall Arrive where they are to Rest for ever in peace and Glory CCXXX IF we believe Charity to be a prime Christian Duty to relieve the Poor by our purses and by our good councel and vertuous lives to reform sinners How great an offence is it for Christians to oppress their Neighbors by unjust power and to seduce others unto evil actions or to defame and scandalize the most Innocent on any design or for envy and in general to be more eminently wicked than Heathens as if we strove in emulation to out-do the Devil in Malice and rapine to shew how we can defye all Christian principles that should lead us unto our salvation CCXXXI HE who truly loves desires to be much with his beloved and if God be that object of his hearts delight he will desire to be ever with him and may assuredly have what he so desires by raising his soul in frequent Meditations unto the Divine Presence where God will sometimes admit of his transported elevated affection in prayer to some degree of his Celestial Bliss and will sometimes send down his Holy Spirit to sanctify his heart with such growing comforts there as will consecrate that to be his Temple where he will abide so long as he finds a sincere welcome with a total resignation unto Him And this Divine felicity this pre-possession of Heaven this holy conversation with God will invite such a man unto continual ambitious endeavors to get nearer and nearer with delight towards his entering into the eternal joy of his beloved And by such a dayly practice he will find his heart so fill'd with grace and so Armed with Holy courage as to be always ready to die Cheerfully which is our only way to shew our love and our desire to be with God And is the chief business that we were born for and when rightly understood is the supremest pleasure we can have on Earth in our way to heaven to be ever so ready for our summons thither that no crosses losses or afflictions in this world nor all the glories therein shall be able to give us any interruption in our journey thither CCXXXII IT may sometimes be useful in our Meditations to compare small concerns with greater and so to set our frequent troubles opposite unto our delights in this world and then to Judge ingeniously between them and if our joyes do weigh down the scales then to re-weigh those joyes below with the joy and glory above that when we are most Laden with wealth and honors most elevated with the smiles and favours of great Princes here then to raise our souls unto a holy emulation with the Saints in Heaven for Gods favor there as our supream felicity which will creat such a purity of heart within us as will be more constantly delightful than all this world can give us And by such a Resurrection from earthly pleasures to long after the next worlds everlasting joys will fix our affections on that eternal Bliss with a Divine transporting joy to foresee that glory we shall find â—he moment we expire CCXXXIII A Regenerate Mans frequent devout Meditations do raise in him a delight to converse so with God and doth increase that delight unto the most immense joys that the soul of man can reach on earth It is like the adding of Ciphers to a formeâ— summ payable from a Banck of treasure that can never be exhausted but the more we multiply that score the more we may and the greater our account grows this way the surer will our payment be by fast linking our earthly joyes unto the everlasting chain of Joys in Heaven FINIS ERRATA PAge 9. l. 12. r. will so fill it p. 10. l. 17. induced r. endued p. 14. l. 9. then r. there p. 25. l. 9. mark r. work p. 26. l. 12 times r. Aims p. 47. l. 8. concealed r. cancelled p. 49. l. 11. r. without p. 150. l. 13. r. despair p. 151. l. 19. of r. our p. 155. l. 7. r. marks they wear
mans best policy is to lead a pious Life which will fully satisfie all his ambitions and answer the highest affections his heart can fancy by having God so by whom he has all that is in Heaven and in Earth And whoever God does thus give himself to will find that he has Him and will perceive this is his Spiritual Adoption to incourage and inable him to live Righteously all his days in more honour Glory wealth and felicity then all the Empires of this World can afford without God so that Piety is the best policy to establish our happiness in this World and the next XXXVI THere can be no comfort in this World beyond an assurance of sins forgiven with a full reconciliation to God and no man can have surer marks of his Election then to find his former contempt of God turned into Divine Love of him with the Holy Ghost converting the Hell that was in his heart into a Paradice by his habitation there which is an infallible earnest of Glory for when God gives us grace to will and to do his will by the power of his Spirit we shall want no comforts here and be also filled with holy courage and a joyful Faith to turn the terrors of the Grave into a delightful desire to be with God which is a Righteous mans greatest consolation XXXVII IF a Regenerate man blessed with Divine Love do observe how the Holy Ghost works in his heart at the time of his sincere vigorous Addresses to the Throne of mercy He will find that his delight in the service of God does increase with his devotion and that his devotion is raised by that delight so that his Soul by custom in such approaches does grow higher and higher by so joyful a confidence in God's favour that no allurements can divert his Love nor storms shake that trust on which his peace of conscience is surely founded here and his salvation at the Resurrection as sure Yet care must be had that such Elevations of the Soul may not grow beyond those Gospel Rules set us to follow So that the felicity of piety may be sometimes allayed by humble recollections of our own unworthiness when at best lest Spiritual pride do puff up our hearts with such Seraphick joys as use to rise from such extasies in devotion so as to think if Angels in the presence of God do rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner what joy may that sinner have above those Angels who is so much more concerned then they are when he finds himself snatched up from the brink of Hell and become as an Angel in Heaven before he arrives there Which is a kind of Epicurism in devotion and may be too much indulged if not acknowledged from whence it comes with gratitude for so great a benefit received XXXVIII CHrist gave us a sure Rule to know and to shew our Love to God which is to obey his Commandments and not to treat Him like our fellow creatures with passionate words sighs or tears or joys but by the sincerity of our thoughts and actions to shew our obedience better thâ—n by vehement extasies in devotion though such exterior declarations from the heart do advance our zeal they may deceive us with flattering hopes of our being better then really we are for 't is not our frequent prayers nor hearing the Word preached with dâ—light nor receiving the Holy Sacrament with an elevated Faith that â—ully expresses or denotes such Love to God as He expects from us but it is our 〈◊〉 endeavours in all selfdenials towards an uniform obâ—dience to all his known Commandments an Evangelical sincerity in the duty required that manifests our Love to God and is most acceptable to Him for though our performances do prove short of our Duties God sees our integrity and esteems us for that our sincerity towards obedience is very acceptable with God XXXIX GOd sees our frailties and knows that no mans fancy can reach the felicity of Divine Love but his who is endued with it from Him nor can that man by words express those joys that his transported Soul finds in such welcoms as God affords in his Divine endearments to his true Lover by such Celestial Raptures as do make him forget that he dwells on Earth while that bright flame of his Devotion lasts and on his return from Heaven while the thoughts of that Blessed Address remains it grieves him to find that he is still on Earth so that his body cannot mount upwards with his Soul to the Throne of Glory and fix there together XL. HOw weak is our Faith in the matter of Death and how strong the frailty of our nature that makes us fear to go where we desire to be So to create terrors in the passage when there is really none or if any they are such as cannot be avoided how vain then is it to raise melancholly-Clouds to Eclipse the Glory and dull the joy we are entring into the moment that we Die XLI GReat converted sinners ought frequently to consider the wonderful goodness of God for his double mercies who does not only forgive all past transgressions on our reconciliation but on our future obedience our Faith Love and gratitude He rewards such great sinners with grace to obtain Eternal Bliss easie conditions to be admitted by God's immense goodness unto this purchase of mercy and reward on Christs account Which grace we must improve by rising still higher and higher in God's favour for the future and then we shall have a double joy in all such fruitions and diversions as we may own in God's sight here and at the day of Judgment and may now thank him for with hearts full of purity and such bright shining innocence as God delights in XLII GOd's Spirit is never absent from those that seek him sincerely and whoever observes it will find it so God Loves a Souls whiteness that flies all approaches towards sin with detestation When God delivers a penitent sinner from the slavery of Satan to rejoyce in the freedom of his service it is to shew him a glimpse of Heaven to invite him thither XLIII AS a good conscience is a continual feaâ—t and a great blessing so 't is a dangerous thâ—â—g to â—e over-much delighted 〈…〉 duties though peace be in 〈…〉 should forget from whenâ—â—â—ll 〈◊〉 pâ—â—â—ormances do come and so 〈◊〉 attribute holiness to our seâ—â—es â—â—ich is God's peculiar gift There ought also great care to be haâ— that 〈◊〉 be not mistaken to think we do enjoy truâ— peace of conscience when we have it not and that we do not flatter and abuse our own hearts with some things of fancy like more holiness then we have and so believe our vows and desires to Piety are effectual performed before our actions do justifie those good resolutions and self-denials to avoid such snares as lie concealed under innocent diversions lest we fall when we think our selves most safe So that a Pious man is to be
as careful how to manage his Piety as a sinner is to obtain it XLIV WHen we are assaulâ—ed by any temptations to sin we may recollect our thoughts thus shall I for this moment of sensuality part with my interest in God shall I quit my Sonship now I am reconciled and my Title to an Eternal Crown of Glory in Heaven to satisfie my vitious fancy and a few momentary appetites on Earth and now cast off the felicity and security I have by peace of conscience while I Love fear and serve God and by my trusting Faith in Christ do stand fast fixed above the reach of malice and all the storms this World can raise Shall I depart from this Regenerate state so full of Blessedness to become a trembling Coward frightned at every shadow of every evil that approaches me and so become justly terrified with the horrour of a despairing Soul when Death approaches which may be this minute to step into that Eternal woe denounced against the sin I am tempted to commit Such reflections with such sincere prayers as such Mediations will suggest are surely good guards to defend and free us from the danger of yielding to any temptations to sin XLV A True penitent sinner whose heart is touched by grace from Heaven with remorse for his wicked life and a sence of God's many mercies to him He repents and recollects to the best of his memory all the actual and mental transgressions of his whole life and offers them up to God in confession with an humble sincere contrition and makes new vows for an universal cleansing from all iniquiâ—ies with a total resignation of himself Soul and body in a full obedience unto all the Gospel Laws for the future Thus this Penitent sets himself with holy vigour and his utmost endeavours to walk after his Saviours steps submitting his will to God's will in all things whose favour he now seeks with so great hungering and thirsting affection that God in mercy has cancelled all the Records of his long neglects and insolent repeated sins so as to remember them no more and also by his Divine power does raise this Penitent to a Spiritual Resurrection from sin to grace and so fills his contented converted heart with frequent comforts and such assurance of his Adoption as to encourage him to perform this new Covenant unto the end of his Life By whiâ—h infinite mercy and grace this Penitent does become so Regenerate as to perceive the Spirit of God at work within him raising his Soul to such a Sacred Love of his great Maker as to think all time mispent that is not imployed in gratitude to God for his diliverance from Hell and his Promotion towards Heaven of which Glory he has now some prospect and from hence he grows higher in Gods favour until his holy ambitions do increase desiring to be always in his Creators â—ight and aiming at a Favourites Sons place in the Court of Heaven Thus by degrees his Soul becomes so elevated and transported with these Celestial honours that he contemns the Empires of this World with all the glistering objects here below as unworthy to divert his thoughts on such perishing trifles as he did admire before his heart was fixed above on his Eternal Bliss which now fills his Soul with such continual joyful extasies in Devotion that he is sometimes frighted at the joy he feels lest he may embrace presumptuous Enthusiasms by such high consolations as his Soul delights in when his Meditations and Addresses do ascend in such bright flaming zeal unto the Throne of Mercy But when he considers that God who sees his sincerity through his heart will not reject such sinâ—ere Sacrifices He then hopes that these joys do arise from the Emanation of the Holy Ghost to let him see how God receives and welcoms a whole heart offer'd up to Him with such Divine Lights as Earthly Souls can neither see nor comprehend and by this tast of Bliss and by this beam of Glory here he judges how much greater he shall have in Heaven And thus upon a full search of his whole heart throughout this Penitent now finds with great felicity that God is pleased to dwell in his heart where Satan did so long triumph until these new transports for his Celestial Bliss have quite extinguished those dim shadows of delight that formerly misled him to neglect his God without a serious thought of Heaven or Hell or the least concern for his Eternity until his Soul was thus raised above the reach of his iniquities by his conversing day and night in Heaven And thus the Soul of this new Convert is caressed with bright Seraphick joys by Grace so fixed and so enlightned from above that his inward dependance on God is his continual consolation and support full of such high comforts as he must think do proceed from the Holy Ghost to furnish this his new Temple with sufficient Grace where he now intends to dwell And by all these Blessed guiding Lights this Penitent is invited to live such a Righteous Life as will give him an humble assurance to trust and rejoyce in his reconciliation with a settled Faith that he shall see the face of God in the face of Death the moment that he dies his Soul shall be with Christ where his departed Saints abide until the Resurrection XLVI WE need no better Argument for God's Love to us then our Love of Him which is the highest work of his Grace planted in our hearts by which only we are enlightned to know how to love and serve God as we ought that we may be capable to enter into his Eternal Glory prepared for his Lovers XLVII A Prayer LOrd Jesus I beseech thee forgive my transgressions and now send down thy Holy Spirit to cleanse my heart from all impuriâ—ies and then dwell there to guide my Meditations and Prayers aright with such servent Zeal as will encrease my Faith my Love and trust in thee my God that I may know no joy on Earth like my approaches to thy Throne and from thence impower me so to practise these great Lessons I have writ as to live with holy courage ever ready to die and fit to appear at thy Tribunal on the great day of Judgment with such reconciled Sinners as by thy infinite mercy are become the Sons of God Lord I beseech thee let my heart be now so filled with Divine transporting thoughts of Thee and thy Salvation as to leave no place for Satan there that my enlightned Soul may be ever on the wing hasting towards that Eternal Bliss which Thou hâ—st purchased for me at so high a rate And though my Zeal supported by thy Grace do now encrease let me never think my self near enough to Heaven till I am there For now I find that no repulses will make Satan quit the Field nor my Rebellious Sences to obey that I may gain a perfect Victory beyond the reach of a surprize nor can I alone
of such mercies as have so raised him from the terrors of Hell unto the joys of Heaven CXLV THe truly Pious man is always blowing up his smoaking Flax to flaming Love for those daily mercies and blessings he receives from God so to teach others the felicity he finds therein to invite them to Heaven CXLVI TO hear to read to wâ—ite and meditate and to pray often are the means to understand our Duty unto God as also to â—ix our Faith But if we do not live and practise accordingly our great knowledge will aggravate our crimes and provoke God's anger against us for slighting those Divine Instructions which the Holy Ghost inspires us with and for which God expects an account from us CXLVII HE that can make a total resignation of himself with all his Interests into God's hands has made a great advance towards Heaven and may trust in God so the foundation of his Trust be laid deep in a fixed heart on a Spiritual Resurrection universally cleansed from all known sins and so Reconciled that God will accept of the Trust But we are too apt to mistake such Resignations and to flatter our selves with Peace of Conscience on that account without a due Examination whether all our actions and affections do justifie such a Resignation as we offer up to God without which it is a great presumption to pretend to Trust in God CXLVIII TO be Regenerate does include all Blessedness that we are capable of in this World with a joyful prospect into those Eternal felicities we shall have in Heaven and is a sure Testimony of our Reconciliation CXLIX THere is nothing more clear then that Holiness is the foundation of true Happiness even in this World and cannot be doubted in the next for whoever lives a Divine life will have his heart full of Divine love to God and then will soon find the felicity of Piety to be so much more pleasant then all other Diversions that he will take all the opportunities he can both day and night to approach God in Holy Meditations and humble Prayers as the most delightful entertainment his Soul is capable of on this side Heaven and will find God's favour confirmed to him by Grace sufficient to support his contented heart through all the Storms this World can raise and fill him with joyful thoughts of his Salvation at the hour of death which is our highest Aim by the perfection of Piety to obtain CL. A Prayer LOrd give us Grace to discern the bottom of our own hearts that we be not deceived by too slight a search for Divine Love there nor flatter our selves with hopes of being Favourites in Heaven while we prefer thy Creatures before Thee and see it not Lord guide us by thy Divine Light and make us see that true Devotion is the most satisfying diversion we can have and will enrich our hearts with desires to be with Thee in Paradise and will create courage to pass chearfully through the Grave so to â—ustifie our Faith by our last step out of this World into a glorious Eternity with Thee our God CLI IF we consider how many times we have stumbled in our Christian course and how many times fallen and by what small Rubs been overthrown we should take more care to stumble no more at such Straws but pray for Grace to enable us to run over all Mountainous temptations if they cross our way to Heaven and when God sees a vigorous sincerity to serve love and trust in Him He is then ready to support us through the whole course of our lives which no man can doubt of that observes how God admits of our many risings after so many great and wilful falls as most men make and yet He still invites us to repair past Evils by running out our new course better with a due prospect to our last step into the Grave from whence we must arise to claim the Crown we run for And this will raise all devout hearts to the brightest flame of Faith and Love that men are capable of when we consider that every moment of our life may be that last step by which we must gain or lose the Crown we run for CLII. BEcause Angelical obedience is a perfection of Holiness above the capacity of Humane Nature God does make allowance for sincerity in performance of Duties bâ—t Himself holds the Scales to see that our sincerity be full weight according to the grains He allows us And the Holy Ghost within us has a continual Treasury where those grains are so reposited as to be ever ready to supply our sincerity and to turn the Scales for our advantage according to every mans utmost endeavours which will never be rejected for want of weight CLIII LEt no man despair of the forgiveness of his sins if he do confess them to God and do turn from them to Him with sincere contrition and repentance devoutly practised for the future in Obedience Love and Faith trusting in Gods Mercy and Grace with our reliance on Christs Righteousness imparted unto us on which assurance we may live with comfort and die with joy And whoever doth entertain himself with such frequent Meditations will find them to be the most delightful diversions he can have to consider that though we may fail in our best endeavours Gods Mercy and Christs Righteousness can never fail can never be exhausted on our sins by supporting sincere Penitents until brought unto Heaven so that in this high expectation of future Eternal Bliss we ought to be contented with our Lots on Earth whatever they be trusting in Gods free Mercy and Christs Merits without despairing of our Salvation if we can repent past crimes and forsake them for the future But if we have not a Resurrection from sin in this World we shall have no Resurrection to Glory in the next World CLIV. PIety and Faith include all Christianity but we often mistake Praying Preaching and Godly talk for Piety which are but steps towards it for we are obliged to do Righteousness or else we are not of God and so it is with those who think their Faith sufficient that can Parrot-like repeat their Creed when 't is our active Faith that is required to do what the Gospel teaches So that if a due regard to Faith and Piety be settled in our hearts we should find more time for Meditations on those great concerns whatever our Callings or Imployments be for our Bodies cannot be so engag'd to labour or in any Courtcrouds so imploy'd but our Souls may be raised up to God in â—ervent Ejaculations without any Tongue-noise or Facediscovery to inform God who knows our hearts better then our selves do So that by Faith and Piety we may converse with God here and begin our Eternal happiness on Earth CLV IT is a wonder to see that all mankind should be loth to leave this World where so few are truly happy or that think themselves so as to be contented The weak