Goodness in preserving them to the beginning of another and withal excite them to pray for his Protection and Blessing for the New Year on which they now entred Maimonides the famous Jewish Rabbin thinks the sounding of Trumpets at this time was designed to signifie some such Exhortation as this (a) Canones de Poenitent cap. 3. can 6. Arise O ye sleepers out of your sleep and you that slumber awake out of your slumbering Search your works and turn by Repentance Remember your Creator you that have forgotten the Truth and have exchanged it for the Vanities of the World and have all your Lives wandred after Vanity which will not profit or deliver you Consider your Souls consider your Ways and Works and let every one of you forsake his evil way and his thoughts that are not good Some have imagined a typical Representation of the two Covenants in this Feast The Old Covenant figured by the Year passed and the Covenant of Grace or the Gospel state by the New Year then begun and that by the sound of Trumpets was prefigured the future Preaching of the Gospel according to that of the Apostle Their sound went forth unto all the Earth and their words unto the end of the World and so the Feast of Trumpets is abrogated by the Preaching of the Gospel if that were typically signified by it The publication of the Gospel is the joyful sound Psalm 89.15 And Ministers are to lift up their Voice like a Trumpet Isaiah 58.1 the discharge of their Office as Watchmen is exprest by setting the Trumpet to their mouth Hos 8.1 Ezek. 33. When the Jews shall be converted to the Faith of Christ it is said in that day the great Trumpet shall be blown and they shall come who were ready to perish Isaiah 27. ult 'T was the Office of the Priests to sound these Trumpets Numb 10.8 The publick Dispensation of the Gospel is committed to Ministers set apart for that Work as the Sons of Aaron for theirs We read but of two Trumpets at first for Eleazar and Ishamar the two Sons of Aaron Numb 3.4 But David added many musical Instruments And in Solomon's time at the dedication of the Temple we read of one hundred and twenty Priests who sounded with Trumpets 2 Tim. 5.12 Without supposing any Type here in a strict and proper sense we may yet farther consider the Parallel and observe how the Joy and Gratitude of these Trumpets did excite is exceeded by that greater rejoycing promised and foretold by the Prophets when the glad tidings of the Gospel of Salvation by the Messiah should be publisht to the World Isa 54.1 Luk. 2.11 Gal. 4.27 which hath been in part accomplisht And will be more compleat in that Kingdom of Peace and Purity which Christ will establish upon Earth toward the end of the World And shall be finally perfected at the end of Time when Days and Years and Time thus measured shall be no more When the Messiah our B. Saviour having finished his mediatory undertaking as to what concerns Earth shall come again from Heaven with the Trump of God to raise the Dead and summon all the World to their final Judgment Then shall he deliver up the Kingdom to his Father And the Faithful enter into the Joy of their Lord and be for ever with him There is a Tradition among the Jews mentioned by Maimonides (b) Canones de Poenit. ch 3. can 5. that on the first day of the New Year God enters into Judgment for the Sins of the Year and Life past That every ones Faults are weighed against his good Works He that is found Righteous is sealed unto Life And he that is found Wicked is sealed unto Death And 't is a general Custom that hath obtained among the Jews for the ten first days of the New Year to rise out of their Beds in the Night and to continue in their Synagogues praying and worshipping until break of day The superstitious and ridiculous Ceremonies of the (c) Vid. Ceremones Cout parmi les Iuifs d'aujourdhuy par 2. c. 53 modern Jews on this Day I shall not repeat However vain and groundless superstitious and absurd many of their Customs and Practises are on this Day Yet this blind Devotion of the Jews may justly shame and condemn the Christians of our Age Who commonly spend the Beginnings of every Year worse than any other parts of them and instead of any solemn Retirement for Prayer and Meditation which might assist them to number their Days and prepare for Eternity instead I say of such seasonable Exercises how do vain and hurtful Sports and Pastimes or trifling and unedifying mirth and fruitless conversations consume the greatest part of the Days and Nights too of the beginning of the Year And thus when the first fruits of the Year are offered up to Sin and Vanity 't is no wonder if the following parts of it are imployed to no better purpose without any due concern for the Soul and an Everlasting State. To endeavour some Remedy to those disorders and give some Assistance to them who desire seriously to make Religion their Principal Business is the end of publishing these Reflections I most heartily beseech the God of all Grace to influence by his Holy Spirit the Conscience of every Reader that some such effect may be attained Having found the Practice recommended to be of some use to my self and my own Heart warmed in composing the substance of these Papers tho' without any Intention at that Time of exposing them to the World 't is not unreasonable to hope That what hath been beneficial to one may be helpful to another It cannot certainly be unadviseable or improper to Begin the Year with God with whom we should begin every Day 'T is decorous and becoming to Dedicate our selves to Him in a more solemn manner than ordinary at such a Time Thankfully to acknowledge the Favours and Blessings we have particularly received the Year Past And to recollect the Sins we have been guilty of to aggravate them with Humility Contrition and deep Remorse to renew our Covenant with God to repeat and fortifie our Resolutions of living better imploring his Grace to assist us in it to reflect seriously on the Mutability Frailty and Brevity of our present Life to consider the Swiftness Uncertainty Irrecoverableness and consequently Value of our Time to look forward to a Blessed or Miserable Eternity one of which we must share in and to confirm our Faith in the Certainty thereof and consider our near Approach to such an unchangeable State to think what Improvement we should make at the Death of others especially of Relations and Friends who have lately been called home To make the Supposition in good earnest that we may follow them this Year and dye before another New Years-Day to imprint such a Thought on our Hearts and the Inferences that may naturally be deduced from it to beg of God to inable us to Redeem
that quick succession to one another The supposition of a perpetual night is a dismal gloomy Thought O what will the Everlasting Darkness of the Infernal Prison be The Sun by day enlightens the Earth directs our motion guides our way governs our Travail assists Conversation awakens Industry warms the Earth and Air gives life and vigor and fruitfulness to all things under the Sun and makes the whole Inferior Creation to rejoyce An Emblem of God's universal Goodness who is kind to all his Creatures How admirable is its Lustre how glorious is its Light how loudly doth it proclaim his Power and Wisdom who made this and the other Lights of Heaven his powerful Word and preserves them hitherto by his daily Providence If God be now so glorious contemplated in his works considered in the lustre of the created Sun viewed only through the Windows of Sense how much more glorious will he appear hereafter when we shall see him face to face and nothing interpose btwixt us and his incomparable Light If mine Eyes dazle to look upon the meridian Sun in what inaccessible Light must he dwell who is the Father of Lights If this lower World the common receptacle of his Friends and Enemies have so much of his Glory vouchsafed them by the Heavenly Bodies O what a place will Heaven be where shall be no Sun or Moon nor need of any but the Glory of God shall lighten it and the Lamb be the Light thereof While I thus consider the Sun and the Day I must not think the Night is useless which discovers another part of the Heavens not discernible by Day viz. the Stars and Planets refreshing the Earth cooling the Air giving necessary Rest to the Creatures c. their order motions aspects oppositions influences are all useful and instructive The agreeable mixture of Light and Darkness the regular succession of Day and Night within a few hours are exceeding wonderful and advantagious In other parts of the World where the Sun beams are more direct and its Heat excessive God hath made amends by the length of the night under the Equinoctial Line it is always Twelve hours and in the more Northern parts where the Influence of the Sun is weaker the days are proportionably longer So good is God to all his Creatures in all parts of the world As the Morning and Evening answer to the day of Twenty four hours so doth Spring and Autumn to the Twelve Months of the Year that we may not pass immediately from one extreme to another but gradually be disposed for so great a change as is between Summer and Winter and Winter and Summer So merciful and gracious and infinitely wise is God in all his Works so that we cannot say one part of the Year is more necessary than another The winter is as useful for the good of the Universe as the summer In this we are supplied with what is necessary to maintain us in that and the admirable situation of the Sun most probably in the Center of the World seems much to contribute to it If it had been at a farther distance from us our earth would have been in a manner desolate be cause the influence of the Sun could not have been considerable And if it had been nearer the Stars above would have wanted Light and this Earth under been burnt up The Excellent order which it hath now obeyed for above six Thousand Years is also wonderful The Sun never stood still but once and that by a miracle Tho much inferior to that of its daily Progress What a subject is here to admire the Power Goodness Wisdom and Faithfulness of God Lord what is Man for whom thou dost all this And because I find every year that the Day dies into Night the Summer into Winter and herbs and plants lose their beauty and verdure and shed their blossoms may I not hence learn to consider and prepare for my own approaching Change In prosperity health and ease and life to expect and make provision for trouble sickness pain and Death as every wise man in Summer would do for Winter and work all my might while it is called to day while the Light continues because the Night of darkness is at hand when none can work VIII Of Evils to be expected in this Year the Wisdom and Mercy of God in concealing from us the knowledge of future Events NOt only few and uncertain but Evil likewise are the days of the Years of my Life may every one say with the Patriarch Jacob. A sufficient portion of Evil for every year may well be expected when our Lord tells us there is a certain measure allotted for every day Sufficient to the day is the evil of it Not only is our Life short but troublesome full of vexatious Mixtures We cannot sing a Requiem to our Souls when one great Calamity is past for we know not in this Region of Changes but another a greater may be at hand One Messenger of ill News may succeed and out-do another as it was with Job We come weeping into the World in a most helpless forlorn state and if we escape the dangers of Infancy and the casualties of Childhood and after that out-live the Snares and Follies of Youth We are tost upon the Pikes of Time and Chance and sadden and disquiet our selves with a thousand Griefs and Sorrows by inevitable and unexpected occasions though we increase the number of needless Cares and Fears and Discontents Till at length a sudden stroke arrests us we fetch a groan and die Who can give a Catalogue of the Afflictions and Calamities Perplexities and Disappointments Incumbrances Crosses and evil Accidents of Humane Life By means whereof Millions are disconsolate and sad mourn and complain weep and sigh and from day to day are fed with the Bread of Affliction and the water of Adversity Not to mention mens fluctuating restless Thoughts of Heart importunate Desires baffled Projects defeated Purposes which suppose or bring vexation A good share of these is not to be avoided and yet very few can be particularly foreseen Who could prognosticate a year ago the Mercies or the Evils which have happened since Publick and private personal and relative to the Countries Cities Families and Persons we are concerned for And who can certainly foretel the Events of this ensuing Year God hath intermixt Good and Evil in the Life of Man He hath set Prosperity against Adversity saith Solomon to the end that Man should find nothing after him Eccles 7.14 that he may not know what shall come next whether a Prosperous or a Calamitous Event What a change may be made in a year by the meer Casualty of humane Events by the treachery of Friends or the malice of Enemies or the more immediate Hand of God We know not what shall be on the Morrow much less what a twelve Month may produce Because whatever may be disposed to happen from natural causes or civil counsels may be altered
which they enjoyed first in faith and hope and afterwards in fruition Yea they passed through the dark valley and so must we Their Earthly tabernacle was dissolved and so must ours be We must expect to go the same way to Rest and Glory and wait Gods Time for our admission We must finish first the work which God hath for us to do and suffer and then all Tears shall be wiped from our eyes we shall grieve no more we shall sin no more but be as the Angels in Heaven or as the Spirits of the Just made Perfect XIII What Influence the consideration of Eternity would have upon our Hearts and Lives if soundly believed and considered Especially if the supposition of Dying this year be annexed to it WIth what Humility Mortification and Self-denial what Seriousness Watchfulness and resolved Constancy would every Christian live on Earth did he act alwaies under the influence and power of a confirmed Faith concerning the Life to come We should not then grudge at a little labor or boggle at a few difficulties in our way What tho' I meet with injuries and affronts hadships and inconveniencies Being now in a Foreign Country and every day I live one daies journey nearer my Eternal Home Shall I not patiently bear momentany Sorrows while I believe I am hastening to Eternal Joys Did I look more to the Everlasting World should I not make the pleasing of God in order to my Eternal welfare the great business of my Life Should I not serve the Lord with more fervency of Spirit and be better fortified against the fears of man who can but hurt and kill the Body nor that neither without the permission of God Should I not order all my affairs answer all Temptations mortifie inward Lusts live in the Exercise of Grace and in circumspect persevering Obedience in order to it Should I not watch more over my Heart and Lips and Ways be more diligent to trim my Lamps more crucified to this world more careful to call my self frequently to an account and renew my Repentance Would not my converse be more useful and edifying my discourses more savory and full of Religion my Prayers to God more humble and earnest my Charity to men more unfeigned and extensive and my preparations every way more suitable to such a Faith and to such apprehensions of an Everlasting State Could we carry the thoughts of Eternity about with us every day and often admit them in our civil and secular affairs did we repeat it frequently to our selves at least every Morning as soon as we are awake that we are near Eternity this grain of Incense would perfume the whole Temple and be an Antidote against inward Lust and impure Thoughts against the Infection and defilement of bad Company and the snares of worldly Business and do much to prevent vain and sensual actions and to cure vain affections Did we believe it and believe it near should we not take as much pains to secure Eternal Life as we see Men do to get Riches Should we not use the same diligence care and circumspection the same prudent foresight watchfulness and perseverance to prevent Everlasting destruction as others do to provide against Poverty and to live in Plenty a little while on Earth Should we not rejoyce as much in the promise and hopes of it as others do in the prospect and expectation of some Earthly Advantage Lord I confess and bewail the weakness of my Faith. How often have I concluded and said that Heaven alone is the place of Happiness and yet my carnal Heart is too much affected with Earthly Things How often have I resolved upon the conviction of the certainty of the Eternal World to mind this less and to affect and seek it no more as I have done and yet my foolish Heart is hankering after it still O crucifie my affections to things below and let the believing Thoughts of the next Life render me victorious over all the Temptations of this Pardon and cure the staggering trembling Thoughts of an unbelieving Heart by greater measures of a lively Faith. That my desires may be strong and urgent and my diligence and stedfastness in the way of Truth be some way correspondent to this important Article Let me live only for Eternity hope for nothing but Eternity design and intend nothing as my chief end but Eternity and seek and mind nothing in comparison with Eternity Did we believe it how would every thing in this World be lookt upon as eligible or fit to be refused as it is like to be an help or an hindrance with reference to Eternity we should then endeavour to do nothing unbecoming such an Expectation Considering this World as our Passage and the invisible future World as our abiding Country where we are to dwell for ever whatever we meet with here whether sweet or bitter easy or troublesome pleasing or ungrateful we should not much matter but as it relates to hereafter And were I certain I should have no longer time of Trial in order to this Eternal State than this one year which is now begun if a Messenger from God should convincingly assure me of it what would I not do to prepare for Death and secure the interests of Eternity With what remorse and deep Repentance should I reflect on the Follies of my past Life With what importunate cries should I beg Forgiveness How patiently should I bear Calamity for so short a time How little should I value the favours or frowns of Men How circumspect to improve every Season of doing and receiving good How careful to avoid Temptation and how resolute in resisting it Did I verily believe I had no longer time to live on Earth than this one Year at most how insipid would be the offer of carnal Mirth vain Pastime sensual Diversions idle Company c. how should I value every Hour every inch of my little Time under the apprehension that Eternity is at hand O my Soul shall I make no provision against the possiblity of such a case Is not my change as certain as if it were this year as if it were to Morrow tho' I am not certain it is so near nor certain but it may be Let me then seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness let me fix it well and make it clear that I have secured my great Concern and am ready for a sudden summons XIV How a Good Man may improve and encourage himself under the Supposition of dying this Year even in the most uneasy and undesirable Circumstances I May dye this Year then all my Cares and Fears if I am Rich all my Sorrows and calamities as to this World if I am Poor will die too I may dye this Year then I shall have no more Enemies no more Sickness and which is infinitely better I shall Sin no more I must shortly die it may be this Year but there is no other way to come to a blessed Life
I not been told by Heathens as well as Christians that 't is not the length of time but its improvement that doth really make a Long Life If I have answered the ends for which I were born 't is not too soon to dye No Man ever miscarried as to his Everlasting Interest because his Life was short but Evil. He that is prepared for Death he that dies in the Lord hath lived long enough and should thank God for a speedy call to the possession of that Felicity which the Holiest Saints on Earth desire and breath after Gideon lost nothing by returning from Victory while the Sun was yet high He hath fought long enough who hath gained the Victory If I have wrought but a few hours in a Vineyard and done but a little Service for my Lord and Master and yet am dismist and rewarded before the rest of my Fellow Labourers shall I repine and think my Lord doth not befriend me If he hath any farther Service for me he will prolong my days and make me diligent I hope and contented Otherwise I pray he would make me ready to dye and make me willing and desirous to depart this Life For to be only content to dye that I may be perfectly Holy and fully Blessed is methinks too low for a Christian who acts like himself believing the Certainty of his avowed Principles and Hopes and knowing that while we are present in the Body we are absent from the Lord. XVI The contemplation of our approaching Change may assist us to mortifie the Lusts of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life to cure Ambition and promote Contentment ALL that is in the World saith the Apostle is the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life The Dust and Ashes of our own Mortality duly considered and applied will help to deaden and extinguish each of these By Pride of Life we lift up our selves against Heaven and despise our Maker by the lust of the Flesh we overlove and indulge the Body and study to gratifie the sensual Appetite by the lust of the Eyes our Desires are immoderate after Temporal and External Goods the thought of our approaching end hath a tendency to oppose and mortifie these Lusts to humble us before God to take us off from the inordinate love of the Body and to moderate our Passions to Earthly Things It may help us against Pride by shewing us the infinite distance between the Eternal self-sufficient God and such poor Dust as we who are but of yesterday and if he uphold us not and maintain our Souls in Life shall be laid in the dust to morrow It will mind us of his Justice against Sin the Parent of Death and of all the miseries of our mortal State and convince us of our weakness to resist his Will or avoid his Wrath. As to our fond Affection to the Body it may instruct us that it deserves not to be so much accounted of it will open our Eyes to discern the Preference of our immortal Souls and what concerns them to the interest of a perishing Body It may convince us that we are Cruel and unkind to our very Bodies by overloving them because we thereby contribute to their Eternal Sufferings and so teach us to love and use our Bodies as Servants to our Souls in this World and as expecting to share in Glory with them after the Resurrection It may also help to moderate our Desires after Earthly Good and so cure the Lust of the Eyes by letting us see the vanity uncertainty and short duration of these things and their insufficiency to make us Happy and give us true Content The Thoughts of an approaching Change may if any thing will do it damp the mirth of the Luxurious Epicure and strike him into a fit of trembling as did Belshazzar's handwriting on the wall It may discover the distraction of living in Pleasure and of care to please the Senses and the fleshly Appetite when the End is so near It may likewise check the folly of Ambitious Designs that Men should make so much ado to get into slippery places from whence they may so easily fall Where being puft up with vain applause they forget themselves and their latter end till their Life and Glory expire together Where are now the Great and Mighty and Honourable who have made such a noise in the world What is now the Difference between the Dust of an Alexander or Caesar and that of their meanest Slaves or Captives Could their Dignities and earthly Glory preserve any of them from the stroke of Death or the Judgment of God or without Repentance from his condemning Sentence Think O my Soul how little it will shortly signifie whether I have been known and honoured among Men or no any farther than God may be glorified by it How should it suppress vain Glory to think of being one day esteemed and worshipt reverenced and applauded by dying Men and laid in the Grave the next Let me rather seek that Glory and Honour to which Immortality is annext and labour to be accepted with God at whose Bar I most be judged endeavouring to keep the testimony of a good Conscience and then it is not much whether I pass through good Report or evil Report no contempt or frowns or threatnings of Men need then discourage me Tho' I should be trampled on by the foot of Pride while others are happy in a dream for a little while and it may be have a prosperous passage to damnation I 'le rather thank God for delivering me from their Temptations and giving me the opportunity and call to hasten my Preparations for a better World. Let God dispose of my Condition here and Reputation too as best shall please his Sovereign Will only be pleased to keep me upright and to preserve me from everlasting Shame and Confusion of Face after the general Resurrection and final Judgment Vouchsafe me a Portion now in thine approving Love and own me for Thine at last in the Great and terrible Day of Reckoning that then I may hear the Blessed Euge and enter into my Lord's Joy XVII The same Argument considered farther as dissuasive from Worldliness and Earthly mindedness and as proper to confute the vanity of long Projects and great Designs for this World. ARE the Years of my Life but few and they hastening to a Period and may this be my last Let me not then greedily covet Riches and abundance and waste my little time to scrape together large Provisions for many years to come when I have no assurance to see the end of this Is it becoming such a belief to toyl from day to day that I may lay up that which I must so soon leave as if I were to spend an Eternity here on Earth and in the mean while neglect the one thing necessary Am I not upon the shore of Eternity May not the next Tide carry me off And shall I
continual fresh Communications from his infinite fulness must needs make our subjective Happiness to be always new and eternally such Let me by such Thoughts quicken and excite my diligent Endeavours after a greater meetness to injoy so great a Bliss And to that end consider whether any of those happy Souls who have finisht their Course and obtained the Prize do now regret their utmost Diligence Patience and Perseverance during their short abode here to secure the Blessedness of an endless Life No no they are far from repenting the Time they spent the Trouble they were at the Care they used the Difficulties they met with the Sufferings they indured to conflict with the World and the Flesh to resist Temptation to watch over their Hearts and Words and Ways to work out their Salvation to please God and be faithful to him c. They find to their unspeakable Comfort and everlasting Joy that Heaven makes amends for all they could do or suffer in order to their coming thither Yea they find that they were not Diligent and Humble and Patient and Circumspect enough That they did not love God and seek his Glory redeem their Time and improve all their Talents and Opportunities of doing and receiving Good and give up themselves intirely to prepare for Heaven to that degree they should have done They find by the transcendency of the blessed Recompence that it deserved infinitely more than the most Active Zealous Christian upon Earth did ever do in order to it Lord quicken my Resolutions and Endeavours by such thoughts as these Inspire my sluggish carnal Heart with holy Light and Life and Zeal and Fervour that looking to the things which are not seen which are Eternal I may * 1 Tim. 1.19 lay up a good Foundation against the Time to come and so lay hold of eternal Life But alas How much have I neglected the great Duty of Holy Meditation How little skill and experience have I in it How tastless and insipid oftentimes are my Thoughts of God! how confused and unsteady how little Pleasure or Advantage have I by contemplating his highest Excellencies Yet methinks could I but retain the same awakened lively thoughts of Heaven and Eternal Life which sometimes I have had might I continually feel the sweet and sacred Influence as for a little season I have sometimes felt it how little how very a Nothing would all this World be to me how comparatively weak its strongest and most alluring Snares to draw me off from God! with what an unshaken mind could I refuse and resist ' em with what an unconcerned indifference could I look upon all its most charming Glory Could I maintain such a frame of Spirit as I have sometimes had for a little while in the serious Contemplation of Divine Mysteries in Fervent Prayers and other Solemn Duties of Religion when the acts of Faith were strong and lively my Heart set on fire with love to God and holy breathings after him admiring his matchless Grace to fallen Sinners and to my Soul in particular when he brought me to the very Suburbs of Heaven tho alas how seldom by the delightful Thought of what the Blessed Spirits above injoy in being where Christ is and beholding his Glory when I was ready to say within my self 'T is good to be here this is no other than the Gate of Heaven Oh when shall Mortality be swallowed up of Life But when I thought at any time to fix and settle in such sweet Contemplations how quickly did my lazy backward Heart fly off how soon did the flame decay and dye away how soon did I find my self fallen down to Earth again sunk down from the Bosom of my Lord presently forgot my self and Heaven to dwell among the Pots and imbrace a Dunghill 'T was not on my own Wings O Lord that I soared so high but I hope by the breathings of that holy Spirit of Light and Love who bloweth when and where and how long he listeth Who gave me at any time any such first fruits of the Spirit who convinc't me of the Certainty of the Heavenly Inheritance by a lively believing foresight of it who made me earnestly desire the Wings of a Dove to be gone and appear before God in Sion made me Pant and Groan to be delivered and to be with God and Christ with inexpressible Desire and Joy unconceivably mixt with Sighs and Groans O my God! let not this experience be only such a Taste of the Powers of the World to come as is consistent with final Apostacy only the seeming Zeal of the stony Ground the rapturous Joy of an Hypocrite from the Power of Imagination and a heated Fancy from the workings of meer natural Self-love upon mistaken apprehensions of God and a false Opinion of Heaven but by the holy effects let me be assured of the Cause and Principle that it was of God! Teach me from the sweetness of a Spiritual Communion with God now in any of his appointed Ordinances to argue to my self what that most ravishing Satisfaction will be that the Enjoyment of God in Heaven will afford the Soul. Our Holiness is now imperfect to what it shall be and therefore our Consolation Peace and Joy is but in part and incomparably less than we are assured it will be when we shall be admitted to behold the Glory of the Lord. 'T is now at most but as the Break of Day to the Lustre of the Meridian Sun. But if in this low imperfect State we can sometimes obtain so near a View of his Glory and feel such sweet Communications of his Grace how much more of this Consolation and Joy is reserved to Heaven If in this Pilgrim State the Gifts and Graces and Comforts of the Holy Spirit are so refreshing O! what hath God prepared beyond the Grave for those who love him If now he sometimes shed abroad his love in our Heart after such a manner how much better shall I love him and feel the influence and evidence of his Love to me when I shall be with him and see him Face to Face If the apprehensions of this future Blessedness do now encourage raise and animate my drooping Soul O what shall I know and see And how shall I rejoyce when the Vail is removed If a Sacramental Communion with God and Jesus Christ be sometimes so sweet and so affecting what will the Blessed Communion with God and all his Saints above amount to when I shall sit down with all the Children of God in the Presence of the Bridegroom at the last great Supper of the Lamb in Glory If the Earnest of our Inheritance be so reviving what will be the full Possession of it If the Hopes of that glorious Day by holy Meditation be so transporting what will be the end of our Faith and Hope If a Grape or two in the Wilderness be such a Cordial what will be the whole Vintage in the Land of Promise Shall I after all
this forget my own Experience and run from God and Heaven to imbrace or seek a perishing Toy Shall I hide my self with Saul among the Stuff and Lumber of this World when God is calling me to a Glorious Crown Art thou O my Soul a King's Son an Heir of Heaven an expectant of such great Felicity and yet stoop so low Hope for Heaven and yet grasp this Earth and hug the vain Appearances of earthly Good Hope to be like to God and oh how Glorious an Hope is that to partake of his Image and live Eternally with him and yet be sollicitous anxious and disquieted about Honour and Money and a Temporal Interest And mightily concerned about the momentany Gratifications of the Flesh and the Injoyments of this World Art thou a Pilgrim and Stranger here and travelling home to the Heavenly Country and yet eager and passionate about earthly Things Should an Heart that is set upon Heaven or may be so and ought to be so should it burn with such Kitchin such common Fire And neglect the unconceivable Riches and Pleasures and immortal Honours of the other Life and the dawnings of that Glory upon my Soul by the foretasts of it in this How great is the disproportion between the Heavens and the Earth How vast the Circumference of the one and how small a Point the other How many thousand Miles doth the Sun travel in the Heavens while it passeth but one Inch upon a Dial Oh that my Affections were carried to heavenly Things with a swiftness somewhat answerable to the glorious Object And let their motion to earthly Things be rather slow and insensible like that of the Sun on a Dial. Since I profess to believe and wait for the heavenly Glory should I not live as seeking such things as expecting such a Glory And are careless and indifferent Thoughts sleepy heartless Prayers faint and weak Endeavours becoming in such a case Shall I not mend my Pace and double my Diligence in my preparatory Work When I can believingly foresee the blessed Recompence waiting for that Everlasting Light of the Sun of Righteousness which no Eclipse shall ever darken or obscure for that Eternal Glorious Day which shall never be closed with an Evening When I shall see the Face of God in Christ and be like him participate more of his Image rest in his Love and dwell for ever in the Light of his Countenance according to the Prayer and Promise of my Blessed Saviour And ought not such a prospect to sweeten the Bitterness of all our intermediate Sufferings We are now oftentimes in Heaviness and Sorrow but Eternity will be enough for an interrupted Joy. When we shall exchange all our Troubles for everlasting Rest our Prisons for perfect Liberty our Poverty for the Riches of God Darkness for Light discord for Love Deformity for Beauty our Weaknesses and present Languishings for Strength and Vigor Folly for Wisdom Disgrace for Glory Sickness and Pain for eternal Ease and Health the Animal for the Angelical Life Imperfection and Pollution for consummate Holiness our Sighs and Tears and Sorrows and Complaints for triumphant Everlasting Praise our Losses Affronts Disappointments Perplexities Fears Groans and Death for Crowns and Scepters Hymns and Hallelujahs Light and Life and Bliss unutterable and such great things as are fit for us to hope but too great to be now particularly understood and talkt of while we know but in part and see through a Glass darkly yea it seems as if it were not lawful to utter 'em 2 Cor. 12.4 and now they cannot be exprest or fully known for Eye hath not seen or Ear heard or can it enter into the Heart of man to conceive that prepared Glory XXI A devout Meditation upon the 73. Psalm 25. Whom have I in Heaven but thee And there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee WHat is there in Heaven or in Earth O Lord but thy Presence to be valued loved desired chosen sought or delighted in There is nothing in either World desirable without Thee nothing certainly above Thee nothing in Comparison with Thee In Thee alone I trust on Thee I depend in Thee I repose my Confidence and Hope from Thee I expect all my Felicity and Salvation What ever I can lose yet with the continuance of thy Favour which is my Life I have still Enough With that I am Rich without it I am Poor and Miserable And if I want the Love of God all that Heaven and Earth can give besides will not make me Happy In Thee therefore I would terminate all my Affections all my Devotions There is nothing of Heaven to be had on Earth but in thy Favour Image and Love and the reviving Sense of it And all the Heaven I expect hereafter 't is in the more full and immediate Communications of these in thy blessed Presence I can desire nothing upon Earth I can injoy nothing in Heaven but Thee both here and there thou art and shalt ever be my all-sufficient satisfactory Portion my Everlasting All None else can be the Portion of my Soul. Nothing else can fill up all its Wants answer all its Cravings be suited to all its Capacities appease and charm all its restless Motions and give complacence to all its Desires and be the proper Object of all its Affections What is there else can justly claim my Love or pretend to my supreme Affection in comparison with God Thou art alone the proper Center of it Thine infinite and incomparable Excellencies who art Love it self deserve my choicest Love and thy numberless Mercies and Benefits challenge it as a just Debt as a piece of Homage due from all and of special Gratitude also from me Oh that I could love thee above all things who alone art worthy of all my Love O that Divine Love might be the ruling Principle within me to inspire all my Thoughts to regulate all my desires to set all the Powers of my Soul on Work O that it might take the full Possession of my Heart and so animate and order all my Actions to please him whom my Soul loveth If as yet I cannot say with thine Apostle Lord thou that knowest all things thou knowest that I Love thee Yet I can say Lord thou knowest that I would Love thee Thou hast provided for our Happiness by that first and great Command of loving thee with all our Hearts and Souls and Strength But alas how backward is my sluggish carnal Heart to this delightful Exercise Tho I have so oft been told that God is Love and that he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him O shed abroad thy Love into my Soul that I may feel the vital Power and Influence of it and live continually in the Love of God and that nothing may ever be able to separate me from it Whom have I in Heaven or Earth to Hope in but Thee I expect more from Creatures than they can or will perform but God
than Ignorant Heathens who never heard of Christ never saw his Miracles or were inform'd of his Doctrine How shall we escape For he will come again as a Conqueror and a Judge and not as a sufferer and a surety as he came at first and tho he was numbred with Transgressors and made his Grave with the Wicked at his first Appearance he shall hereafter be attended with the shouts of Angels who excel in strength and the joyful Acclamations of his Saints glittering as the Light and paying Homage to him as the Judge of Quick and Dead He whom we have despised shall then be encompast with a dazling Glory that will confound us He whom we have affronted will be clothed with a Majesty that shall astonish us He whom we have offended shall be armed with Power and with Wrath to punish us and all that continue to lift up the Heel against him shall then be made his Footstool all that refuse to kiss the Scepter of his Grace shall be broken in pieces by his Iron Rod. The holy Scripture doth frequently and expresly assure us that he will thus come again and for these ends He is exalted and gone to Heaven as the Head of his Church and the King of Glory and when he foretold his Ascension he gave a promise of his Return The Heavens are to contain him till the restitution of all things By his Providence and by the Holy Spirit he now carries on the designs of his Death and when these are accomplish'd he will appear to the Joy of Believers and the Confusion of the Wicked He is entred as our * Heb. 6 c. 19 20. 10 c. 10. Forerunner within the Veil to prepare Mansions and to take possession for us and will not always leave us in this dark and defiling World. He knoweth our Sorrows and heareth our Prayers and bottles our Tears takes notice of our Groans and in all our Afflictions he is afflicted Being reconciled by his Death at his first coming we shall be saved by his Life since he lives to make good his word of coming again How comfortable is the News of it how joyful will be the Meeting to such as expect and prepare to see him when the Sea and the Graves shall yield up their Dead and all the Prisoners of Hope lift up their heads arise go up and meet the Lord in the Air and ascend with him to the Heavenly Glory But who can express how dismal a sight this will be to the Secure and the Impenitent to all who die in their sins to behold their Judge who formerly offered to be their Saviour upon a glorious Throne and all the Children of Adam summon'd before his Tribunal to have nothing to answer against his Charge and no way to escape his condemning Sentence they despised him as a Lamb offer'd in Sacrifice to take away the sins of the World but shall no longer do so when he comes as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to devour and destroy the Enemies of his Cross Now they will not own him for their Lord but shall then find he is so by the Vengeance he will execute As a Jesus as a Saviour they rejected him making light of his Salvation despising his Mercy refusing his Grace but the neglected Gospel will then be a more killing Letter than the Law. He who by his Ambassadors doth now intreat Sinners to be reconciled will then be as deaf to their Intreaties as they have been to His Because they would not turn at his Reproof hearken to the Call of his Word and obey its Voice they must hear the Sentence of Condemnation and feel the Execution of it whether they will or no yea the Blood of his Cross will upbraid accuse and plead against them And whatever foolish Evasions they now make to continue in security they shall then be Speechless and Self-condemned Nothing will be able to hide them from the amazing Presence of their Judge or from the Wrath of the Lamb. He then will inflict an intolerable and righteous Vengeance an Everlasting Destruction upon all the ignorant and ungodly World the Greatest the Stoutest the Boldest of them shall then be humbled and stand before Christ's Tribunal upon an equal Level with the meanest seized with horror filled with guilt anguish and despair and find to their eternal Confusion that the Judge is no respecter of persons but every man shall receive according to his works The Mighty shall not be spared for his Greatness nor the mean man for his Poverty O Fool O Wretch that I am shall many then say who now brave it out in Pride and Vanity unconcern'd about a future Judgment not to be persuaded by the terrors of the Lord which I was so often warn'd and foretold of What Refuge of Hope can I now flie to What can I say for my self What can I do to escape to die to exist no longer I would have no compassion on my own Soul I would not so much as consider its danger I shall now find none from Christ I can expect none His Mercy is gone and gone for ever I am lost undone tormented and must eternally be so O the Amazement Horror and Despair of self-condemned Sinners in that day of Vengeance O my Soul what is there of greater consequence or of greater certainty from the Word of God than that I must appear to Judgment when Christ shall come again Lord teach me to believe it firmly to consider it often to lay it seriously to heart to act under the Influence and Power of it as long as I live that at the Great Resurrection from the Dead I may lift up my head with a joyful Hope and find the Judge to be my Friend my Advocate my Jesus and not my Enemy and Destroyer XXIII Meditations of the Glory of Christ in his Glorified Saints and of the thankful Admiration of Believers when He shall come again from Heaven which shall be continued to all Eternity THE terror of our Lord's Appearance to Judgment cannot be greater to the Wicked than the Comfort and Joy of it will be to the Saints When they shall see Him whom their Souls love ascend with him to Heaven and be welcom'd according to his promise with those endearing words * Matt. 25. Come ye blessed Children of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the World. 'T was for your sakes I assumed Flesh lived on Earth and died on the Cross to purchase this Glorious Kingdom for you which I now come to give you the Possession of 'T was for this I praied and suffered on Earth for this I interceded ever since in Heaven I was heard in that Prayer accepted in those Sufferings and my Intercession granted that where I am you may be also to behold my Glory Come therefore good and faithful Servants enter into your Lord's joy O what ravishing words will these be What an Extasie of Love and Kindness is
Body an Hair a Feather a Vapour a Breath hath done it and when the Apostle James asks the Question What is your Life He answers It is even a Vapour that appeareth a little while and then vanisheth away VI. Of the Redemption of Time how precious and valuable a Treasure it is and will be thought to be when 't is too late IS the Life of Man so short and fleeting our Days on Earth so few and so uncertain how careful should I be to manage every Hour endeavouring to match the Swiftness of Time by my celerity and diligence to improve it I can have no Business of greater or of equal Moment to mind than to secure the Happiness of my Soul in another World. And shall I lavish my Time and lose my Pains about things unnecessary What will all other Business signifie in the end if this be neglected Is there any Interest more weighty that calleth me from such work Is there any thing else that so well deserves my Time That may be put into the Scales or weighed in a balance against this Shall Eternity which comprehends all Time have the least share of my Time allotted for its concernments How little a part of my Time hath been hitherto employed in such work How reasonable how necessary is it to redeem the little Inch of Time that yet remains but hastens to a Period For as there is no Covenant to be made with Death so no Agreement for the Arrest and Stay of Time it keeps its pace whether I redeem and use it well or not The greatest part of our Life is designedly employed to avoid Death we eat and drink and sleep and labour and rest that we may not die and yet even by these we hasten to Death Every Breath every Pulse every Word leaves one less of the number which God hath appointed me and carries away some Sands of the Glass of Time and yet how little care is taken to employ it well We seldom value it till we can no longer use it to any advantage and though we know it can neither be retarded in its motion or recalled when past yet of nothing are we more prodigal Yea how many complain of it as a Burden and know not what to do with their Time are exceedingly at a loss wherein to employ it what to do to be rid of it But alas how near is that Change when they shall think nothing too dear to purchase some few Grains of that Sand which now seem too many while they are passing through their Hour-glass How sad will be the review of our lost and ill-spent Time How different an Opinion of its Value shall we have on a sick-Bed or when our Time and Hope is gone How many Weeks and Days and Hours O my Soul have I trifled away in Sloth and Idleness in foolish Mirth and hurtful Company in vain Thoughts and impertinent Discourse in excess of Sleep and needless Pastimes Feastings inordinate Care to adorn the Body or gratifie the sensual Appetite All that which is past is irrecoverable and the little remainder flies apace How quickly will it be gone How soon how suddenly may an unexpected Stroke of Death conclude it And yet this is all the opportunity I shall ever have to make my Peace with God and prepare for the everlasting World. Did we consider it as we ought we should not foolishly throw away so much of it in Trifles and things impertinent or what is worse How much more might we redeem than commonly we do To how much better purpose might we husband it How much more work might we do were we never idle or did not loyter We might walk far did we not often stand still or go out of our way We see it plainly by the great and excellent Effects of some few mens Industry in every Age. Art hath found mean to set Spies and Watches as it were on the Sun that he cannot look out but they take hold of his Shadow and force it to tell how far he is gone that day and yet while we are curious in making Time give a just account of it self to us how little do we consider the account of our Time which we must shortly give to God Oh that such a Thought might effectually persuade me to redeem it that I may not tarry till the end of Time to know the worth of it Let me not undervalue it while t is given me to be used that I may not eternally regret my Folly when Time shall be no more God calls me to Diligence and Labour the Work he calls me to is excellent and the Reward glorious to know and love and serve and obey him in order to eternal Life and shall I yet be idle Is this the Use and End of all my Time And do I know it and believe it Do I indeed believe it and yet delay and loyter and waste my precious Hours in vanity Am I going into Eternity and entring into another World and know that I must be in Heaven or Hell for ever and have I Time to throw away Am I fit to die and to appear before my Judge or am I not Am I made meet for Heaven by pardoning Mercy and sanctifying Grace Have I the Earnest of the Spirit to witness and assure me of it Is my Interest in the Promise of Eternal Life as firm and my Evidence of it as clear as it may be made Am I not conscious to my self that much of this necessary Work is yet to be done And shall such an unprepared Soul as mine be careless and indifferent how I spend my Time VII Of the Ordinances of Heaven Day and Night Summer and Winter Seed Time and Harvest their order and succession establisht by God is the effect of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness What they may teach us WHen I consider the beginning of another Year I can hardly avoid reflecting of its several parts Summer and Winter Spring and Fall Day and Night and their alternate Turns This calls me to observe and admire his Eternal Power and Godhead Wisdom and Truth who is the Great Author of this admirable variety Who hath fixed the Earth whith his Foot and hanged it on nothing and setled the Luminaries of Heaven for Excellent Ends The Sun to Rule by day and the Moon by Night thereby to distinguish Times and Seasons to seperate Day and Night Winter and Summer and consult the convenience of Man and Beast by their due succession The Day is thine the Night also is thine thou makest Summer and Winter How wonderful is their Order Beauty and constant course that when the Sun withdraws and the shadows of the Evening cover the Earth with darkness to conclude the Day the Moon and Stars supply the place of the absent Sun during the Night and that tho they differ in length yet gradually lessen till they are both equal at the years end and have made the same Circuit How excellent a work of God is
by a particular decree of Providence Prepare me Lord and every of those in whose Felicity I more especially take part for all the Calamities and Sorrows thine infinite Wisdom shall think fit to exercise us with this following year and by thy merciful Providence and gracious Conduct cause them to work for Good Furnishing us with suitable strength and wisdom to acquiesce in thy good Pleasure and obey thy Will. Let me follow thee as the Father of the Faithful ' tho I know not whither thou wilt lead me Knowing the wisdom and faithfulness of my Pilot let me therein be satisfied though I know not particularly what course he will steer I thank thee O Heavenly Father that thou hast reserved the knowledg of future Times and Seasons to thy self and hid Events from Men Lest by considering them Certain we should presume in case they are Good or should despairingly afflict our selves by foreseeing the Evil we know to be inevitable Did we certainly foreknow the Good that would befal us we should not Trust in thee to bring it to pass or heartily implore thy Care and Conduct Did we foresee the Evils we shall suffer before they overtake us we should be overwhelmed with diffidence and Despair Many a Mother who rejoiceth at the Birth of a Son would mourn to foresee what a Man what a Son he will prove Such an increase of Knowledg would increase our Sorrow such a Prescience would transport and discompose us by unseasonable Joys and Sorrows born out of Time make us remiss in our Duty to Thee and weaken our Dependance on thine own unerring Wisdom Truth and Power IX The Supposition of dying this Year should be improved the consequence of redeeming Time and providing for Eternity farther prest The Folly of Elder Persons is condemned and checkt from the Example of Children 'T is adviseable to familiarize the Thoughts of Death and to imagine before-hand what Apprehensions of things we shall then have THe longest Life is but a day multiplied and who can certifie or assure me which will be my last He only who was God as well as Man could say Mine Hour is not yet come Is all my Life given me to resolve this Question Whether I shall be in Heaven or Hell for Ever And have I any time to lose and squander away as superfluous have I any more than needs T is no impossible or unreasonable Supposition to make that I may dye this year Let me admit that Thought and imagine my self on a Bed of Sickness wearied with Pain and ready to leave this World the Physicians gone despairing of my recovery my Friends about me weeping and all things in a doleful melancholy Posture suited to such a state feeling within my self the presages of Death expecting the final stroke in an hour or two more What is then the value of sensual Pleasures can I then relish or savour them what then is Honour to me who shall never go abroad more to receive it till carried to my Grave will it then comfort me to have lived in Reputation and Applause if my Heart was not humble under it and the Honour of God promoted by it can Riches and a great Estate support me when I am just packing up for a removal to the other World in that hour will it be any satisfaction to have made a stir and noise for a few years upon Earth to be talkt of for a while longer than other Men are these the things my dying thoughts will be most concerned to reflect on These dignities pleasures and possessions offered to a dying Man would rather upbraid than tempt him they come too late as a Princes Pardon to a Man whose Head is off Die I must and appear before my Judge to answer for all that I have received and done in the Body Fool that I was shall I then too justly say to my self not to have considered this much sooner not to have provided for it at a better rate my Sins stare me in the face my Conscience tells me I am not ready for such a Trial I have lived a stranger to such thoughts as now I cannot refuse and which should have been admitted sooner But if to such a state any hope of Mercy may be granted tho it be unspeakably little yet I cannot promise my self any such warning by sickness The sleeping Virgins were called at Midnight and so may I. Where can I pitch my Tents on Earth to be secure against a sudden remove Lord make these Thoughts effectual to prevent my loss of precious Time which at such a season will be esteemed precious though now it be not O how swift how short is my Time of Trial in order to Eternity how difficult how important a work is it to prepare for an Everlasting State What is all this World how little how meer a nothing to a departing Soul and shall I after such Reflections continue to pursue shadows and please my self with empty dreams when being so near my final Judgment the common wisdom of a Man requires me to mind it in good earnest and be more sollicitous about it than for any thing Temporal O in what manner will Death open my Eyes by shutting the Windows of Sense How shall I then see the nothingness of what is but Temporal and the reality of what is Eternal We sometimes laugh to see the vanity of little Children who are greatly pleased with painted toys and busily imployed about trifles It extorts a smile to see them eager and industrious and mightily concerned in their childish sports to see them fight or weep for little things which we despise to observe with what sollicitude and care they 'l raise a little fabrick which three Moments after they themselves pull down or would otherwise tumble of its own accord We laugh at these but should weep over our selves as the greater and elder Fools who are every whit as silly yea infinitely more so that considering we know the frailty of our present Life and can look beyond the Grave to another World should yet mispend our precious time on things which cannot profit and please our selves with what is so unsuitable to our Age and State and suffer our Passions to work with violence for a thing of nought and our greatest diligence care and zeal to be exercised on things impertinent and vain that are perishing in themselves and can contribute nothing to our Eternal welfare And is it not thus with reference to all that Men toil and labour for with the neglect of an immortal State The voluptuous Sadducee will not refuse the present gratification of his sensual Appetite because he is uncertain of another day Let us eat and drink for to Morrow we dye Should not the same motive quicken my Diligence in a better work and because my Lord may come suddenly as a Thief in the Night immediately prepare to meet him Let me now therefore O my Soul look forward to the end of Life and
Time and so let me esteem and seek and choose and do every thing in the first place which then I shall wish I had Let me do nothing now which I verily believe I shall then be ashamed or sorry to reflect on that by thinking what a condition I shall then wish to have my Soul in I may now provide my self much better than I have done hitherto That while I am in the greatest probability of living I may suppose my change to be near and so not dare to do any thing but what I would or might do if I were in the present expectation of death To this end let me go down to the Potters house descend to the consideration of my Mortality and dwell among the Tombs remembring the Aegytians built themselves better Tombs than Houses because they were to dwell longer in them Let every Nights repose serve me as a memorial of my last sleep and let my Bed stand for the model of my Coffin This is the only way to be dead to this World to be able to judge of things now as we shall do after Death according to immutable Eternal Truth X. The Brevity of Life considered as the fruit of Sin. There are but three ways of leaving this World as Abel Adam or Enoch A diligent improvement of Time farther prest and the neglect of it bewailed THE shortning of our Days is the fruit of Sin. All the Funerals that have ever been in the World have been caused by Sin. We dye because we have sinned and yet we should not sin as now if this were not forgot that we must dye From the first Transgression of Adam we derive our death and therefore some of his Posterity lived longer than he Which proves that the lengthning of our Days is the peculiar Gift of God and yet 't is such a Gift as was more desired formerly than since the appearance of Christ for we read of none in the New Testament since Life and Immortality is brought to light by the Gospel who desired a long continuance here on Earth Were we delivered from Sin the sting of Death by having made our Peace with God in the Blood of Jesus Death would not be frightful or put on such a ghastly Vizor as to most it doth But we are uncertain of our Justification we waver between hopes and fears as to our final Sentence and are conscious to our selves that we are not ready for our great Account This makes Death so terrible Considering with all that it is inevitable the way of all the Living For tho' the curse be removed and the sting be taken out by our B. Saviour so that the Souls of Believers are safe and shall not be toucht by the second Death yet God hath not taken away the stroke of it from the Body Tho' a Christian is assured of deliverance from Hell he is not exempted from the Grave as his passage to Heaven Prepare me Lord by the free Remission of all my Sins and make me meet for the Blessed Inheritance by sanctifying Grace and then thy Time is best Thy holy Will be done No matter then whether my Death be violent or what we call Natural It will be one of the two for I can't expect to be Translated by a miraculous change as Holy Enoch was and as they shall be who shall be found alive in the World when our Glorious Judge shall come again There are but those three ways of leaving Earth and the Three first Men of whose departure we read in Scripture are Instances of all Three Abel of a violent Death Adam of a natural one and Enoch of a Translation The variety and order of their Departure as one observes is very admirable and deserves to be considered For all Mankind must follow one or other of those three Examples Every Man or Woman that is born into the World must leave it by one of those three ways Either be cut off by a violent Death as Abel the first Man who dyed or dye a natural death as Adam did who was the second or be translated as Enoch who was the Third we read of But tho' I know that within a few years at farthest I must leave this World by one or other of these ways tho' I have been dying ever since I began to live am Dead to the last year and to all the preceding Portions of my Time and know withal that what remains will quickly pass and be gone after the same manner yet how have I overloved this Body as if I should never live out of it and set my Heart and Affections on this World as if I should never remove to another and trifled away my precious Time and Life as if a change would never come That few do seriously admit such thoughts is too evident by the general course and practice of their Lives For to what hazards do Men expose themselves what pains will they take what Inconveniences will they bear with what unwearied Industry will they toyl and labour to get a little Money or Honour in this World tho' they know not but they may be called out of it before the end of this Year And yet the same Persons are remiss and slothful about a future Life negligent and unconcerned about an Eternal state careless and indifferent yea sottishly stupid about the welfare of their Immortal Souls Henceforward O my Soul whatever other others do let me resolve to live in the expectation of a Change which I know is certain and may be very near XI Of the Expectation of Another Life The Vanity and Misery of Man in his Best Estate if there be none The satisfactory removal of that supposition by the Thoughts of God and of Eternal Felicity in his Blessed Presence LET me retire a little O my Soul and bethink my self what a World this is what Men design and seek and do and suffer with what false and feigned Joys they are pleased being only happy by comparison and with what real Sorrows they are afflicted what innumerable disappointments sicknesses and as troublesome remedies dangers labors pains and calamities of all sorts Multitudes groan under and loudly complain of and what little unworthy ends are pursued by all that do not seriously seek Eternal Rest and how often frustrated And withal consider the Cares that disquiet us the errors that deceive us the many Temptations that assault and overcome us how busie we are about Vanities how often dejected and melancholy for the breaking of a Bubble how eager and industrious to pursue a Shadow active and in earnest to destroy our selves and one another and then reflect on the Malice and cruelty the Filthiness and Impiety and great Corruption which abounds every where whereby God is dishonoured and provokt to Anger After this what a Theater of Tragedies must this World appear what an Hospital of sick and diseased or rather distracted Persons How should I be tempted to say Lord why hast thou made all Men in
New Heaven and a New Earth in this However I rejoyce in Hope and pray incessantly for the Resurrection of the Witnesses and the rebuilding of Sion and the more plentiful effusion of the H. Spirit the great comprehensive Promise of the later Times to effect a glorious Kingdom for Christ on Earth and my Faith assures me I shall hereafter see the Son of God revealed from Heaven cloathed with Majesty sitting on a Cloud leading the Heavenly Host raising the Dead by his powerful Voice summoning all the World to appear to Judgment gathering his Elect and finally destroying Death and him that had the Power of it the Devil condemning the wicked to Everlasting Destruction but acquitting honouring and rewarding his poor Members with infinite and Eternal Blessedness XV. Of Dying in a Foreign Country and of Dying Young. Considerations proper to Reconcile the Mind to both I May not live to the end of this Year God in his Providence having called me abroad I may never see my Native Country more Let me still remember O my Soul that wherever I am I am travelling towards the Grave and passing to another World that I may live in all Places as a Pilgrim and Stranger here on Earth with Affections suited to my condition becoming one who is travelling in a Strange Land. Let me bear the Inconveniences I may meet with in this World as Strangers in their Travels are wont to do Let me not repine at the ill accomodations of an Inn where I am to lodge but a night or two but encourage my self with the assurance of better Entertainment at home when my Pilgrimage is ended and my Journey over One of my dearest Holy Friends and Fellow Travellers whose memory will be ever precious (g) Mr. Thomas Bent who dyed at Geneva May 10. 1683. with those who knew him quickly arrived to his Journeys end and is entred into Rest betimes Which of his Companions shall next follow we know not or how soon Lord make me apprehend the nearness of my change in every place and if I am prepared for dying no matter where it be There is no one Country farther from the Presence of God than another The whole World may be considered as one Great House and the several Kingdoms and Countries of it but as different Apartments in the same House and they who tarry at home are no more exempt from Death than they who travel abroad The Earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof I can go no where to be out of his Territories I shall still tread upon my Fathers's Ground I had rather be an Israelite in a Wilderness with the Presence of God than a Courtier in Idolatrous Aegypt Abraham the Father of the Faithful and the friend of God was banished from his own Country and should I never set foot again on my native Soyl there is no reason of murmuring against my God who hath dealt thus with many of his Favourites And while I have been in a strange Land he hath not suffered me to feel the wants and necessities and heart of a Stranger Among a People of a strange Language he can and doth provide for me all things richly to enjoy I may set up my Ebenezer Hitherto hath God supplied all my wants The Presence of my Gracious Father is every where the same in some measure Blessed be my God I have hitherto found it so And may I not rejoice in God in a Desert though all the World should forsake me though all the World should be against me Should I have no other Friend or Helper is not God an infinite God Enough and without his Favour and Presence what can all this World do for me If I am sick and in danger of Death among my Relations and Friends if the comforts of the Almighty do not refresh and delight my Soul they cannot and if I want not these in my last Agonies no matter in what part or corner of the Earth I breath my last If the word and promise of God be my Foundation an holy Hope my Anchor Christ my Pilot and Heaven my Country I shall not fail of being landed there at last Suffer me not to forsake thee O Heavenly Father while I live and do not thou forsake me in my last Hour and let it come when and where thou wilt If my blessed Saviour will receive my departing Soul at Death I am not sollicitous in what Country or part of the Earth it be And that I may not be unwilling in the flower of my Age and Time in Youth and Strength to leave this World let me think often that no one age or part of Life is more priviledged against the stroke of Death than another If I have done my work betimes as my deceased Fellow Traveller had is it not better to receive the Blessed Recompence than to tarry longer in a World of Sin and Suffering absent from the Lord Shall I not thereby escape a multitude of Temptations Sins and Sorrows which others by living longer are exposed to If my Peace be made with God what should make me willing to live at this distance from him What should render this World so desirable where God is so dishonoured where I am so often tempted to displease him and so often yield to such Temptations And may I not fear lest I should fall into such scandalous and grievous sins that may bring a publick reproach on the Gospel of Christ and sadden the Hearts of all my Acquaintance who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity By dying early I shall contract less guilt and commit less Sin and see and feel less Sorrow than others who live longer And tho' I should maintain my Integrity yet in this World my highest love and obedience to God and my sweetest Communion with him is but imperfect How many impediments and Diversions do I daily meet with that deaden my Heart to Heavenly Contemplations and Affections What disappointments and sorrowful disasters to convince me that this is not the place of Rest and Happiness What smart afflictions may some of my Relations prove What dangerous Snares may attend me in the remaining Portion of my Time What Opposition and Hatred from Men may the stedfast professing of the Truth and fidelity to God expose me to What publick national Calamities may I have my share in c. But if I consider old Age it self which we do desire to reach what and how many are the Infirmities and Griefs and troublesome Circumstances which attend that State which dying young will prevent Are not most Men who reach a very great old Age helpless objects of Pity A Burthen to themselves and to all about them And which commonly happens may I not then be as unwilling to dye as at present As loth then to leave the World as now tho' in a manner it will have left me For how many old Men past the relish of sensual Pleasures are yet inordinately fond of a longer Life Have
his Word obeying his Law adoring his Person imitating his Example trusting his Promise constrained by his Love partaking of his Image filled with his Grace and comforted by his Spirit my meditations of him may be sweeter and my love stronger and I may have nothing more left to desire for my self but that God who hath raised and exalted Him would keep alive my faith and hope and holy desires till he hath made me meet to be with him and after having guided me by his Grace and Spirit and Councels here on Earth would receive me to his most Blessed and Glorious Presence in Heaven Amen Amen XXII The Glorious Appearance of Christ to Judgment considered as Certain The Terror and Astonishment Confusion and Despair of Wicked Jews and Christians to behold their Judge and hear his condemning Sentence to EVERLASTING Destruction WHen our Blessed Saviour shall appear to judge the world I read that it shall be in his own Glory the Glory of his Father and of the Holy Angels If by the glory of his Father be meant that of the Divinity as the Original and Author of all things in nature as the Almighty Creator of the World and by the Glory of his holy Angels be understood that of the Legal administration the Law being given by the disposition of Angels and by his own Glory that of the Gospel as he is the Messiah that in the Glory of all these he shall come to Judgment we have a summary account of the three different Revelations which God hath made of himself to mankind by the Light of Nature that of the Law and the more manifest one of the Gospel According to which every man is to be judged at the last day Tho we cannot distinctly tell what or how great our Lord's Glory will then be we may be certain it will be suitable to the dignity of his Royal person suitable to the grandeur of his Father's Majesty with the splendor of a Triumphant Prince who is Heir of all Things and hath all power in Heaven and in Earth committed to him the Great Lord of both Worlds Head of Angels and Men and suitable to his glorious office as Mediator and the appointed Judge of Quick and Dead If at his Transfiguration his Face shone and his Rayment was white and glittering How much more splendid will his last Appearance be When the Bodies of his Saints shall be seven times brighter than the lustre of the Sun And if his Members shall then be so glorious how transcendantly more so will their Head their Lord appear If the delivery and promulgation of the Law on Mount Sinai was accompanied with such circumstances of terrible Majesty how much more may we suppose the Great Assize will be attended with When he comes to judge for the violation of the Law and the contempt of the Gospel And if even Moses did then exceedingly quake and fear what will be the consternation and trembling of the wicked World at the Coming of Christ When he shall be revealed from Heaven in flaming Fire with a glorious retinue of his mighty Angels as so many bright Stars about the more glorious Sun of Righteousness The lights of Heaven shall be Eclips'd the visible Sun shall vail its blushing head as infinitely out-shone the present glory of the Creation be all benighted by reason of his transcendant Brightness Yea the Heavens shall be wrapt up as a scroll the Elements melt away with a mighty noise the Earth and all its works be burnt up and the whole Universe as one great Bonefire to adorn the Triumph of our Lord's Appearance And this ushered in by the voice of an Archangel proclaiming his approach and the voice of God supplying the use of a Trumpet to raise the Dead and possess mankind with an aweful Reverence of their Judge Thus in Triumph as a Conqueror and a Judge shall he come again who once appear'd in the form of a Servant to be judged and condemn'd by Man. Then he was called King in scorn now he will appear as much above all Earthly and Humane Greatness as once he stoopt for our sakes beneath it Then the Contempt of Nations and no way esteem'd Desirable when he came from the womb of his Virgin-Mother now the Terror of the World when he comes again from the right hand of his Father No more to be subject to a state of Meanness but to render vengeance to all who know not God and obey not the Gospel and to be glorified in his Saints and admired in and by all them that believe * 2 Thess 1. chap. He was put to shame in the days of his Flesh made himself of no Reputation and accounted unworthy to live but when he comes again he will put on a Garment of Vengeance to repay Fury to the Enemies of his Cross and make his wicked Despisers rise again to shame and everlasting Contempt They that once bowed the knee to him in mockery and shaked their heads at him in derision shall then see every knee bow before him of things in Heaven things in Earth and under the Earth Angels Men and Devils in subjection to him as Lord and King. Pilate who condemn'd him as his Prisoner shall appear before him as his rightful Judge and know that he was another-guess King and Monarch than the Roman Emperor The false-witnesses who accused him of Blasphemy shall be impeach'd by one another and their own guilty Consciences before his Bar with the other Jews who once drag'd him before their Tribunal and be confounded to stand before his Judgment Seat. His Crucifiers shall behold him on a Throne of Glory whom they Nailed to an infamous Cross They shall be astonish'd to behold him sitting at the Right Hand of God whose Hands they bound whose Body they scourg'd whose Side they pierc'd They who Crown'd him with Thorns shall with all the World behold him with a Crown of Glory They that spit on him and smote him on the face with the fist of wickedness shall have their own faces covered with Confusion They that approved his Condemnation to Death as a Criminal shall be sentenced from his mouth as their Judge to Everlasting Destruction They that scourged him as a Malefactor shall be beaten with many stripes They that made him stagger under the weight of his Cross shall sink under the Guilt and Punishment of despising it They that Nailed him to the accursed Tree between Thieves and Robbers shall be sentenc'd to endless Punishment in much worse Company They who gave him Gall and Vinegar to drink shall not be able to get a drop of water to cool their own Tongues Where then shall the wicked and ungodly of the Christian World appear who Crucifie the Son of God afresh since he hath declared himself to be so by his Resurrection and the Mission of the Holy Ghost and fulfilling his threatned vengeance on the Nation of the Jews c If the Jews shall have a sorer Condemnation
my self once more to be the Lord's more unfeignedly more firmly than ever I have hitherto done that the Bonds of God upon me may be strengthned and my Soul more throughly ingag'd to be the Lord's O help me to do it with the greatest seriousness as the most important Affair of my whole Life by thine aid and Grace alone shall I be sincere and cordial in this surrender and Dedication of my self O breathe upon my Soul most Holy Spirit the Power of the Highest that there may be no Hypocrisie or Reservation in this so weighty and solemn Transaction between God and me O most Blessed and Glorious TRINITY Father Son and Holy Spirit Thy favor is my Life and thy Lovingkindness is better than Life Thy Will should have been my Rule thy Word my Law thy Glory my end to please thee my principal Business and to injoy thy Love and Presence my ultimate Felicity But I am one of thy revolted Creatures who have lost thine Image and rebell'd against thy Law slighted thy Authority and rejected thy Grace and deserve to be cast out of thy sight and banisht from thy Presence for ever Nevertheless O most merciful God and Father upon thy gracious invitation and call I now return to thee my rightful Lord acknowledging thee as my Almighty Wise and bountiful Creator my absolute Owner my Righteous Governour my End my Happiness and Chief Good. I now accept thine offer'd Mercy I now submit to the Scepter of thy Grace and give up my self to Thee as my King and my God to rule and sanctify me now and be my Everlasting Portion I desire to be no longer my own but Thine to whom of right I belong and ought to be devoted I yield my self to Thee O my Lord Accept and possess that which is thine own I lay my self at thy Foot at all Times and in all Conditions to be at thy dispose and in every thing to acquiesce in thy Good Pleasure Deliberately resolving with unfeigned and free consent of my Will to walk before Thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my Life Hereby I consecrate and devote my self to be thy perpetual Avowed Servant Lord I am thy servant I am thy servant the Son of thine Handmaid Though other Lords have had dominion over me I will now make mention of thy Name and of thy Righteousness only by Jesus Christ O Blessed Jesus my All-sufficient Saviour Thy dying Love infinite Condescention and matchless Grace hath at last overcome me and constrain'd me to resolve to be wholly Thine who hast redeem'd and bought me with thy most precious Blood. I now acknowledg and own Thee as my Lord and my Jesus my Prophet Priest and King my Sacrifice Surety and Ransom to satisfy for my Sins and reconcile me unto God to instruct me in his Will and teach me the Mysteries of his Kingdom and the way to the Father How often hast thou open'd thine arms and called me yea beseecht me to come unto thee and accept of Life but I refused to come I adore thy merciful Condescention that yet thou wilt receive me on such easy Terms O thou Lord of Life and Glory now accept of an unworthy helpless Sinner who flies to Thee as his only Refuge and Hope who is convinc't that None but Christ None but Christ can make his Peace with God and save from wrath to come I acknowledg thy Title to me and my obedience and to all I have by dying for me I desire to take thy Yoke upon me for it is Easie and thy Burthen which is Light. I desire to be intirely and for ever thine in an Everlasting Covenant never to be broken to take up the Cross and follow thee whithersoever thou shalt lead me through the straight Gate and the narrow way I will reserve no Lust refuse no Labour grudge at no Suffering stick at no difficulty so I may please and honour thee and continue in thy Love. O shed abroad more of thy Love in my Heart to make all Things easie for his sake who hath loved me and washed me from my Sins in his own Blood. O God the Holy Ghost I acknowledg Thee as my Great Teacher and Sanctifier and give up my self to Thee as the Author of all saving Knowledg and Holiness By Thee I have been convinc't of my Sin against the Law of God and the Gospel of Christ and of my necessity of his Merit Satisfaction and Righteousness to justify my guilty Soul by procuring the Forgiveness of Sin and my acceptance with God and of the freeness of his Love the Riches and alsufficiency of his Grace towards all who come unto God by Him. I adore Thee O most Blessed Spirit as proceeding and sent from the Father and the Son to renew all the Powers of my Soul and restore the Divine Image there to enlighten my mind to know and receive the Truth as it is in Jesus and purify my Heart and to sanctify all the Members of my Body and make them Instruments of Righteousness unto Holiness which before were Servants unto Sin and gradually to deliver me from the power the defilement and abode of Sin as from the Guilt and Punishment by the Blood of Jesus And as the Witness of God to the Truth of the Holy Scriptures and as the Great Paraclete to comfort and establish the Hearts of Believers sealing them up to the day of Redemption and giving them the Earnest of the Heavenly Inheritance O blessed Spirit be thou my Witness that though I have violated the Law of God and defac'd his Image and formerly undervalu'd the Love of Christ and the Grace of the Gospel yet by thine Aid I now accept what I have so long neglected and thankfully devote my self henceforward to be the Lord 's in a Covenant Relation But fearing and distrusting my self I give up my self entirely to the conduct of thy Grace depending upon it for my establishment and perseverance O form my Heart into an obediential Frame that in every thing I may endeavor to answer the Ends and Obligations of this Devoted State. To this One God I have once again dedicated and resign'd my self to serve and please and honour Thee in Thought Word and Act to the last moment of my Life in the Performance of all Duties even those which I have been most averse from in the mortification of every Lust and the forsaking of every Sin even those which I was once most addicted to Resolving deliberately to allow my self in nothing great or little secret or open which I shall know or believe to be contrary to thy holy Will making it my business to be fruitful in good Works to the praise of my Redeemer waiting in the use of all his appointed means for higher measures of Grace and Holiness to be more victorious over inward Lusts and outward Temptations still pressing towards the mark for the prize of my high and holy Calling even Eternal Life I call Heaven and Earth O Lord