Ascension of our Divine Saviour we shall see this same Death bound to his Triumphing Charriot and we shall see this glorious Redeemer exalted above the highest Heavens and sitting gloriously at the Right hand of God we shall see him invested in an almighty Power worshipped by all the Creatures we shall see him commanding not only the Angels of Light and the celestial Spirits that are about his Magnificent Throne but commanding also over this World over Death the Devils and Hell Because he hath been obedient unto Death yea to the ignominious Death of the Cross God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven in Earth and under the Earth Phil. 4. and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father Every Souldier doth not always bear a part in the Triumph of their General and all the Subjects do not tast of their Princes happiness but as we are the Brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Members of his Mistical Body we have a share in his Triumph and in the glory of his Empire therefore the Apostle St. Paul informs us that our Life that is to say our glory and eternal Felicity is hid with Christ in God in another place he tells us in express words That God who is rich in Mercy hath made us sit in Heavenly places with Jesus Christ This glorious Saviour is gone to take possession of the Kingdom of Heaven not only for himself but also in our names and for us therefore he informs the Holy Apostles and all true believers That in his Fathers House there are many Mansions I am going to prepare a place there for you In the same manner he speaks in that admirable Prayer in the which he consecrates himself to God for the great Work of our Redemption Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me For the same reason St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Hebrews for our comfort Heb. 6. that Christ is gone into Heaven as our forerunner The High Priest of the Jews did enter into the earthly Sanctuary to present himself before God for the people Heb. 9. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ is gone into the Heavenly Sanctuary to appear for us in the presence of God The High Priest of the Jews did bear upon his Breast and Shoulders the Names of the 12 Tribes of Israel but Jesus Christ hath graven us upon his Heart according to the Prayer of the Spouse in the Canticles Can. 8. Set me as a Seal upon thine Heart as a Seal upon thine Arm for Love is strong as Death The High Priest of the Jews did cast off the Names of the Twelve Tribes with his Robes But neither Death nor Life nor things present nor things to come shall ever separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ Rom. 8. The Royâ—â— Diademe that was put upon Esthers Head never câ—â—sed her to forget her People and Parentage she was mâ—gâ—â—â—ly grieved for her Hamans Conspiray and the Decree which he had caused King Ahasuerus to Sign and 〈◊〉 with his Signet I may likewise say that the Glory unto which our Lord Jesus Christ is now raised can never make him forget the People that he hath redeemed with his Blood He is not unmindful of Satans plots nor of the Sentence of Doom pronounced against us by the great Monarch of the World and confirmed with his great Seal His glorious Head may be Crowned with the Râ—inbow but his merciful Heart is inflamed with Love for us He thinks it no disgrace to acknowledge us for his Brethren and to pray God for us upon his glorious Throne where thousand millions wait upon him and ten thousand thousands Worship him He is able to Save to the full all such as draw near to God through him for he lives always to intercede for us If the Father hath always granted him his Request when he was in his greatest abasement can we imagine that his Intercession will be fruitless now that he is ascended up to the highest Glory From the Chariot of his Triumph he beholds all our Encounters and our struglings with Death he sees all the Enemies that Assault us and all the Dangers unto which we are exposed He is acquainted with the deep Malice and the crafty Designs of the Enemies of our Salvation He perceives all the Darts that they let flie against us therefore he covers us with his Shield and will not suffer us to yield to Temptation He fulfills his Vertue in our Infirmities and makes us more then Conquerors he hath an eye alwayes upon his Flock he holds his Sheep all in his hand and none is able to pluck them from thence When he was upon Earth in his Agony at this word that dropt out of his Mouth I am he John 10. his Enemieâ— fell backward and when he was in Deaths Prison he constrained it to obey him and shall he not now that he is exalted up to the highest Heavens in the glory of his Triumph have the same power and command over Death the World and Hell When he walked upon the Waters he cried to his Apostles It is I be not affraid John 6. how much rather may he speak unto us in this manner now that he sits upon the Throne that can never be moved Christian Soul who trembles at the approaches of Death imagine that the Lord Jesus Crowned with Glory calls to thee from Heaven fear not for I call thee and hold out unto thee my Arms I that am thy Saviour and Redeemer who have satisfied for all thy sins with my Blood and who have redeemed thee from the Curse of the Law and eternal Damnation I have disarmed Gods Justice vanquished Hell broken the Serpents Head and swallowed up Death into Victory I have purchased for thee the Glories of Heaven and the Delights of Paradice I have trampled upon the World and all its powers I am Worshipped by all the Church triumphing in Heaven and by Legions of holy Angels that fly about my Throne I will therefore send some of them to guard thee and when thou shalt leave the Body where thou livest as a Sttranger they shall bring up thy Soul into this glorious abode of Immortality whether I am come to prepare a place for thee Without doubt if the Author of our hope is fixed in the vaile that is in Heaven where Jesus Christ is gone in as our forerunner we shall not apprehend the most contrary and boisterous storms raised against us by the Prince of the powers of the Aire who works with efficacy in the Children of Rebellion we shall tred under foot all the billows of this troublesome Sea and through these swelling waves we shall march safe to our Divine Jesus If at
any time we begin to sink and that our Soul is frighted this almighty Lord who hath not only delivered himself but is the Saviour and Deliverer of his Church will speak unto us as to his Apostle O Man of little Faith why didst thou doubt knowest thou not that I command the Winds that I can still the Waves and drive from thee the Tempest knowst thou not that I have in my hands the Keys of Hell and of Death When a person is to go to a place of rest and happiness and that he cannot pass to it but through a painful and thorny passage he marcheth with resolution and courage when a friend of his is gone before and stretcheth out unto him his hand to help him Now it is not possible to attain to the glories of Heaven and the joys of Paradise but through the passage of Death a passage very uneasie and grievous to our present seeming But Jesus Christ who loves us with an eternal Love hath gone through this passage before us he is past from this World to the Father he is gone to his God and to our God And that we might go to him he hath sent the Light of his holy Word to direct us John 2. he vouchsafes unto us his Staff and his Rod to comfort us Ps 23. and stretcheth out the right hand of his Almighty power to cause us to pass from Death to Life where I am saith he there shall also my Servant be Joh. 12. When the Apostles went up to Jerusalem and Jesus went before them Mark 9. they were terrified and frighted but we that go up to the Heavenly Jerusalem and tred upon the footsteps of this mighty Saviour ought to be full of boldness and Christian confidence This great God and Saviour Reigns in Heaven he Commands in the Earth the Sea and the Deep therefore we may Dye without Fear and with an holy Joy For who would not rejoyce to enter into the Glorious Palace of Immortality where we should see not only the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs the holy and blessed Virgin with all the Saints of Paradice but we shall see face to face our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ whom so many Kings and Prophets have desired to see and hear While we remain in these Bodies we are absent from the Lord therefore we rather desire to be absent from the Body and to be with Christ this Consideration causeth the holy Apostle to confess That his desire was to depart and to be with Christ which was far better for him Phil. 11. The Queen of Sheba left her Kingdom and came from a corner of the Earth to see King Solomon who was but a Type of Christ and who had but a little of his wisdom and glory and is there any Treasure on Earth any Honour in this Age or pleasure in this Life that might hinder us from going to see our Saviour Jesus Christ When he was in his Infancy the Shepherds left their Flocks and made hast towards Bethlehem to look upon him the wise Men came from the East to adore him and if he were yet on Earth we should undertake a tedious Pilgrimage to the ends of the World and part with our dearest enjoyments to see him But the little Village of Bethlehem is nothing in comparison of the celestial Jerusalem and what is the sight of the Lord Jesus in swadling Cloathes lying in a Manger and in the Arms of his Blessed Mother in comparison of the sight of a Christ cloathed with Light Crowned with Glory and sitting at the right hand of God the Father upon a Magnificent Throne Worshiped by all the Angels and the glorified Spirits The Father of the Faithful was transported with Joy when he saw in Spirit the day of the Lord and the Spouse in the Canticles was exceeding glad when she heard him knocking at her door and old Simon was ravished above measure when he held Christ in his Arms how much more shall we be transported and ravished into admiration and Joy when we shall look upon him as he is now in the highest Glory and raised to the most magificent Estate when we shall enjoy him never to leave him again When St. Stephen beheld the Heavens open and Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand of God the Father his face became radiant as that of an Angel Therefore how luminous and shining shall our Countenances be when we shall be entered into these places of Light and when we shall behold with open face this â—iessed Redeemer for ever When old Jacob heard that Joseph was alive and Reigning 〈◊〉 Egypt whom he had so tenderly loved and for whom he had shed so many tears he was most passionately â—esirous to see again this dear Son and to behold his glorâ— It is enough saith he Joseph is yet alive I will go and see him before I dye Gen. 45. And what think you believing Souls when you understand that your true Josâ—ph whom you heartily love Lives and Raigns above in â—â—eâ—ven and that he is there Worshipped by all the glorified Spirits do not you earnestly desire to see his Face and â—o behold his Divin Glory and Happiness This old Father was weak and feeble through Age and oppressed with Grief but his Spirit did revive when he saw the Wagons that Joseph hâ—d sent to fetch him and you my Christian Brethren when old Age and Sickness have weakened your bodies and grief and displeasure have undermined your Hearts do not you feel your selves revive when Death draws near and you perceive with the eye of Faith the Horses and Charriots which Christ hath sent ot carry you away to the Paradice of his Glory Seeing that Joseph received his Father and Brethren with Tears of Joy and all the House of Pharoah rung with outward expressions of gladness with what Joy with what kindness and love will Christ embrace us and what Joy will there be in Heaven at our arrival it is not to be expressed but with the Tongues of Angels Joseph fed his Father and his Brethren but he never yielded up unto them any part of his Glory Whereas our Lord Jesus Christ who excells Joseph as much in Power and Glory as in Love and Mercy shall not only feed us with the Bread of his Kingdome and give us to Drink of the Rivers of his Pleasures but he will also impart unto us some of his Glory and Magnificence as he promised to his Apostles I appoint unto you a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me Luke 22. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne be thou faithfull untill Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Rev. 3. Josephs Brethren notwithstanding his Glory and Power became afterward Slaves but Jesus Christ will place upon our Head a Crown of pure Gold Joseph could never defend his Brethren from Death they all Died
one after another and he also in his time yielded up the Ghost But Jesus Christ who is Risen from the Dead Dyeth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him so that he lives for ever and ever and will cause us all to become Immortal Therefore instead of desiring as Jacob to Live to go down into Egypt to see his Son Joseph we should earnestly desire to Dye that we might ascend up into Heaven there to behold our Lord Jesus Christ our Father and Redeemer When Jacob embraced again his wonderful and beloved Child in the exceeding transport of his Joy and Love he burst forth into this kind of Language Let me now Dye now that I have seen again thy Face and that thou art alive On the contrary when we shall embrace Christ in his Glory when we should behold his Divine Countenance we shall speak in another manner my Lord and my God seeing that I now look upon thee alive and Raigning in Heaven I shall live also and Raign with thee for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a believing Soul who strengthens it self against the Fears of Death by considering the glorious Ascention of Jesus Christ into Heaven and his sitting at the right hand of God O Holy and Divine Saviour I have often looked upon thy generous Behaviour and glorious Victories to strengthen my self against all apprehensions of Death but if thou wilt render my joy most perfect and accomplished give me Grace to Meditate upon thy Divine Triumph As thou hast engaged in many Encounters for my sake and hast vouchsafed unto me a share in thy Victory grant me also a share in thy glorious Ascention and Triumph As thou hast suffered for my Sins and art risen again for my Justification thou art also ascended up into Heaven to prepare a place for me thou art willing that I should be admitted into thy Noble and Divine Palace that I should be where thou art that I may behold thy Glory which thou hast enjoyed with God the Father before the Creation of the World O sweet and Merciful Lord what cause have I to fear to go to Heaven seeing that thou art there seated in the highest Glory and Felicity and that thou stretchest out thy merciful hand to receive and admit me Have not I good reason to expect to be glorified in thy Kingdom seeing that thou thy self dost bestow upon those that serve thee the Immortal Crowns and Scepters O great God and Saviour thy Throne is surrounded with Glory and Splendor nevertheless I will draw near unto it with boldness for it is a Throne of Love and a Throne of Mercy unto which every penitent Sinner may come Round about this glorious Throne I see a Rainbow of an Emerald colour that certifies me that thy Covenant is everlasting When thy Glory and Majesty did increase thy Love for me did not lessen and thy compassion and goodness were always the same Thou art the same yesterday and to day and thou shalt always be the same for ever Thou hast been pleased for my Salvation to lye in a Manger and to be nailed to a Cross Thou hast given thy Soul for my Ransome and hast spilt thy precious Blood to wash and cleanse me from my Sins and to make me a way that I might enter into thine holy Sanctuary In the midst of all that Glory and Light with which thou art now cloathed thou hast not thought it a scorn to acknowledge me for thy Brether and for a Member of thy Mystical Body It is for my sake that thou appearest before thine Heavenly Father it is for me that thou offerest up unto him Prayers and Supplications O wonderful Lord it is in thy power to give unto me the things which thou hast merited by thy Sufferings and which thou desirest for me by thy Prayers and Intercession for all power is given unto thee in Heaven and in Earth O Soveraign Monarch of the whole World hast not thou given unto us this great and gracious promise When I shall be lifted up from the Earth I shall draw all Men after me And is it not for us that thou hast prayed in this excellent manner Father I will that they also whom thou hâ—st given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me Seeing therefore that thou hast left this wretched Earth to go and Raign above in Heaven take unto thee my Soul O wonderful Redeemer and deliver it from this valley of Tears and Misery cause it to understand at the time of its departure those words of joy and eternal comfort Verily I say unto thee this day thou shalt be with me in Paradice Lord Jesus draw me with the cords of thy Mercy and Grace and I shad run after thee And seeing that I must of necessity pass through Death to come to thee the Prince of Life and Immortality give me Grace to consider it in the same manner as the Prophet Elias did the Fiery Charriots that carried him up to Heaven or as Jacob did the Waggon that carried him into Egypt to his Son that did Raign there this holy Father in a transport of joy cried out let me see my Son Joseph again and then let me Dye But when I shall be ravished with an unspeakable and glorious joy I shall speak in another manner Let me Dye that I may behold my true Joseph the Soul of my Soul the light of Life the Author of my Glory and Happiness O sweet Jesus I shall freely and willingly leave this wretched and crasie dwelling to enter into thy heavenly Palace to behold thy Glory and Magnificence O King of Kings and Lord of Lords when shall I hear that Divine Wisdom that drops from thy Lips and when shall I see thee sitting upon the Throne of thy Glorious Majesty where a thousand thousands wait upon thee and ten millions Worship thee When shall I enter into the Glorious Company of the Saints and Blessed Spirits that Sing forth thy Praises and cast at thy feet their most precious Crowns O glorious Monarch that art now in thy Kingdome enjoying a perfect happiness forget not thy poor Servant be not unmindful of thy Sâ—n or Daughter who am now overwhelmed with the sorrows of this miserable life and the anguish of Death Let not the Songs of the holy Angels and applauses of all the glorified Spirits hinder thee from listning to my Sighs and Groans O Almighty and merciful Lord look upon me with the eyes of thy Love and reach unto me thine helping hand Send unto me thine Angels of Light to receive my Soul and prâ—tect me from the Angels of Darkness that endeavâ—r to destroy me and to drag me headlong into Hell Let Some of thâ—se glorious Spirits that wait for thine orders and fly at thy command deliver me from Death and carry me upon their wings into thy Bosome I see the Heavens open and Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand
the Waves of the Sea always in danger of sinking if thou didst not still the Winds and Command the roaring Storms it is in the World as it were in a flanting Furnace ready to be consumed if thou didst not withdraw from thence the furious heat Or in the midst of Lions that would soon devour it if thou didst not close their jaws O my God when wilt thou shut mine Eyes that I may not see so many Tragical appearances When wilt thou stretch out unto me from above thine Hand to draw me out of this Abysse of Wickedness When wilt thou send down unto me thine Holy Angels to carry me out of this grievous burning When is it that I shall see no more the Nations drunk with the Wine of thy Fury and thy Holy Church stooping under the heavy weight of its Cross When shall I hear no more the bitter complaints of thy Spouse the lamentations of thy Children the groans of thy Servants the sighs of the Prisoners and the mournings of thine Inheritance O Heavenly Father my only Hope and my All When wilt thou loose me from this Chain of Misery When wilt thou carry me above the reach of the Storms and Tempests of this troublesom Sea When shall the cares and griefs cease to devour my Soul and when shall my Body no more be subject to Sickness and Pain and Torments O Lord thou knownst all things thou seest that I am in the World as in a Prison and that my Soul is in this wretched Body as in a woful Dungeon Cause therefore thine Heavenly Light to shine upon me thy Servant strike me with thy merciful Hand and awake me out of my dumpish and sottish Humour cause all my Chains to fall off and open unto me the Gates of this black Prison that I may go out and follow willingly the steps of that good Angel that intends to take me out of this miserable Captivity and secure me for ever from the malicious designes of Satan and the World that endeavour to destroy me and triumph over my Misery When I shall be in the streets of thine Heavenly Jerusalem I shall then know for certain that thou hast delivered me I shall then praise thy wonderful Works in the Company and Church of the First-born that rejoyce in Heaven where the former miseries shall no more be remembred where there shall be neither Crying nor Pain where we shall not be tormented with Hunger and Thirst and where no Affliction shall disturb us for the Lamb that is in the midst of the Throne shall feed and lead us to the Fountains of living Water where be shall wipe away all Tears from our Eyes Amen CHAP. 21. The ninth Consolation Death shall deliver us from Sin which we may see Reigning in the World and from the Reliques of our Corruption WHen God sent Angels from Heaven to lead Lot out of Sodom and to draw him out of the Flames with which he intended to destroy that abominable City this good Man's Wife could not but look back but she was in that very moment sufficiently punished for she was turned into a Pillar of Salt The Emblem of that Holy Prudence that this example recommends to posterity The cause of this unhappy Womans breaking the Angels express Command was her consideration of the Riches Plenty and Pleasures of that Countrey which she had left not thinking upon the baseness filth and abominable Vices that brought God's Wrath and Vengeance upon the unworthy Inhabitants Likewise when God intends to take us out of the World and to secure us from the sence of his dreadful judgements that which causeth us to look back and hinders us from following the Angels that God sends unto us to lead us up to the Mountain of our Salvation are our thoughts and affections for the Riches Honors and Pleasures of this wretched World whereas we should then fix our minds upon the sins that govern here below wherewith we are defiled whilst we remain in this corrupted Flesh Christian Souls will you prepare your selves to go to God and do you wish that Death would comfort and rejoyce your Hearts instead of afflicting them Cast your Eyes upon those dreadful Vices that are so usual under which the whole Creation groans as under an heavy burden O good God in what age are we born an age like that of Noah for all the Earth hath corrupted its ways Gen. 6. nothing but a deluge of Fire is able to purge it There was never more Injustice more Perfidiousness Treachery Debauchery Insolency and Envy never more Vanity Luxury Pride Cruelty Blasphemies Impiety and Atheism we may justly apply to our days that which the Prophet Hosea said of the corruption of his time There is no Truth no Mercy nor Knowledge of God in the Land there is nothing but Swearing Lying Killing Stealing and committing Adultery they break out and bloud toucheth bloud Hos 4. Therefore we have good cause to make David's Prayer Help Lord for the Godly man ceaseth for the faithful fail from among the Children of Men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbor with flattering Lips and with a double Heart do they speak Psal 12. O wicked World a World overflowing with Iniquity a sink of Impurity a burning Furnace heated with the impure flames of the bottomless Pit and choakt with the smoak of Hell But sin reigns not only in this wretched World but it defaces also the Church of God and causeth most fearful disorders amongst those that bear the Glorious name of Christians they were antiently to be discerned from the rest of the World by their Speech Conversation and Behaviour but the Devil hath wonderfully debauched them he hath blotted out God's Image in their Souls he hath taken from them that noble distinction and removed far away all difference between them and the World we cannot with justice say to most Christians of our age as was said to the Apostle St. Peter Thy speech bewrayeth thee Nor to appropriate to them what Isaac said of one of his Sons Thy voice is the voice of Jacob but thou hast the hands of Esau for they have both the Voice and Hands of prophane Esau they speak and live as he did they publish their crimes with a brazen face and endeavour to glory in their shame the Air is infected with their prophane and dirty Language with their impudent Lying with their fearful Oaths and grievous Blasphemies and the Earth is defiled with their horrid Sins and abominable Crimes Covetousness Ambition Lust and all manner of Vices have mounted upon the Throne they Act and Command in a furious manner in every place They that have in their mouths the Holy Name of the Lord Jesus and that make profession of following his Sacred Footsteps give us good cause to take up again St. Paul's lamentation and complaint Many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ whose
my Sins and all my Sufferings and Grief I shall enter into a new Glory into the ever blessed company of Saints and Angels If your love be sincere and real prefer my Felicity and Rest to the small satisfaction that you find in my company here below Consider that in the House of my God and in the vision of his Glorious Face I shall find every moment more Joy and Pleasure than I should have met with upon Earth in thousands of Ages All the Pomp and Splendor of the World all the Glory and State its Riches and Treasures its Pleasures and Delights are as unconsiderable to those that I am going to enjoy in Heaven as a few drops of Water to a boundless Sea or as a flash of Lightening to the Noon-Sun Must the blind Passion which you have for to see me continue with you hinder me from seeing the face of my God and Heavenly Father Suppose I were now shut up with you in some dark Dungeon and bound with the same Chain would you rather see me your companion to continue in your misery and sufferings than to behold me at a distance at liberty in the fruition of a perfect satisfaction Tell me not that we shall never see one another any more for can you be so great an Unbeliever to doubt of God's Mercy that intends to bring us together again in Heaven Death separates us for a moment but the Prince of Life will unite us together for ever in his Fathers House whither he is gone to prepare a place for us O Devout and Religious Soul by such Language as this thou shalt be able to mollify the hardest Hearts and prepare them to behold thy Translation into Heaven as Elisha was when he saw his Masters Rapture If they feel any displeasure and grief for thy separation from them they will have more joy and comfort to consider with the Eyes of Faith that extraordinary Glory and Happiness into which God intends to receive thee of his infinite Goodness and Mercy If it happens otherwise and that thou art to deal with weak minds whose Love is blind and whose Passions are so unreasonable as to resist God's appointment and to hinder thy promotion to Happiness thou must overcome by the strength of God's Grace and the assistance of his Holy Spirit all the furious reluctances of Nature Thou must imitate St. Peter when he saw our Saviour Christ in his transfiguration upon Mount Tabor he forgot his Family and all his dearest Enjoyments in the World therefore in that excess of joy he cried out Lord it is good for us to be here In the same Language must you speak Christian Souls I dare be bold to affirm if your mind is raised up by Faith into Heaven to behold Jesus Christ shining in Light and Glory and surrounded by all the Holy Angels and Immortal Spirits Assoon as you shall have but the least relish of Paradise you will be so ravish'd with that extraordinary Happiness that you will easily forget the most lovely Enjoyments of the Earth unto which you had devoted your affections so that in that transport of Joy you will be ready to burst out in this Language My Lord and my God I am sick with Love for thee I wish for nothing but for thy glorious Presence My chief Happiness is to be with thee and to behold thy face where I see already so much Light and Love I confess we shall not say as St. Peter Let us build Tabernacles For we shall never be concerned as Soldiers and Travellers in Fights and Journeys We shall not say let us build an House that we may dwell with thee and thy blessed company for I see O God with the eye of Faith the Palace which thou hast built from the foundation of the World where thou hast prepared a place for me Lord open to me the Gates of this Glorious Palace that I may enter in and sing forth thy Divine Praises My dear Friend shall the miserable Pagans who never tasted of the Heavenly Gift who were never made partakers of the Spirit of Grace nor of the powers of the Life to come the Heathens who were without Hope and without God in the World shall they march courageously to meet Death and wilt thou that hast had some foretasts of the happiness of Heaven that hast seen some beams of its Glory canst not thou resolve to depart out of the World Shall a Seneca who had no other means to strengthen himself but the perswasions of his vain Philosophy who had no expectation of advantages of the life to come shall such an one look with a stedfast countenance upon his Blood and Life gushing apace out of his veins and thou my Brother hast thou been brought up under the tuition of an Eternal Wisdom Dost thou embrace by Faith the Glory and Felicities prepared for thee by God and art not able to look upon Death with resolution and courage and canst not leave the World with expressions of Joy Shall Socrates whose crazy Body was animated by a sinful Soul and who had no manner of Antidotes against Death drink up that poison that was mixed for him as a pleasant cup of Drink And thou Christian that art animated by the Spirit of the living God that seals to thee his great and most precious promises Thou Christian that enjoyest the earnest of that Inheritance prepared for thee in Heaven shalt not thou be able to swallow down with content the cup that death holds out to thee Thou hast a powerful and an infallible Antidote against this poison for after this bitter Cup thou art going where thou shalt drink at leasure out of the Rivers of Eternal Pleasures Shall it be said that in the Jews Houses at the time of death the sound of Instruments of Musick was heard together with Crying and Lamentations and at thy Dwelling who hast an interest in Christ crucified and seest him Reigning and Triumphing in Heaven there shall be nothing heard but weeping and sighing that praising God and giving of Thanks shall not be seen at such a time Finally seeing so many persons of all Ages Sexes and Conditions have desired Death to be freed from all Earthly Evils and Calamities hast not thou good cause to wish for it heartily when it shall please God that thou mayest enter in the fruition of the advantages and happiness of the Heavenly Life How excellent is thy loving kindness O God therefore the Children of Men or rather thy Children the Brothers and Sisters of Jesus Christ thy Well-beloved Son put their trust under the shadow of thy wings They shall be fully satisfied with the fatness of thy House and thou shalt cause them to drink out of the Rivers of thy Pleasures If you be passionately desirous to taste of the Angelical delights and relish the Divine pleasures that flow from the Throne of God and of the Lamb if you be really athirst for God will not you speak in Davids Language Psal
42. As the hart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God my Soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God Psal 63. And elsewhere O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my Soul thirsteth for thee my Flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty Land where no water is to see thy Power and Glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary It is not possible to taste of the heavenly Joyes but we are constrained to cry out as the man after Gods own heart How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh crieth out for the living God Psal 84. Consider well believing Soul what vast difference there was between the earthly Jerusalem for which David was so passionate and the heavenly Jerusalem where God intends to receive thee What great disproportion was there between the little stream of Shilo and the large River of Paradise between the material Tabernacle the mercy Seat covered over with fine Gold upon which the Cherubims did stretch out their Wings and the immaterial Sanctuary of Heaven Jesus Christ the true Ark of the Covenant in whom are hid the richest Treasure of Wisdome and Knowledge in whom the fulness of the God-head dwells bodily and in whose glorious presence the Seraphims cover their Faces with their Wings Coloss 2. How contemptible were the Sacrifices Oblations and Burnt-offerings of the Children of Israel in comparison of the Spiritual Sacrifices that are presented unto God in Heaven in comparison of the Offerings burning there entire in the Flames of an Holy Zeal and of a perfect Charity And what was all the Frankinsence of Arabia and the sweet smells of the Holy-Land which were burnt in God's presence if compared with the sacred persumes that mount up out of the Golden Vials that are in the hands of all the members of the Glorified Church Seeing David esteems a Door-keeper of the House of the Lord an happy man on Earth How great shall thy Glory be and extraordinary thy happiness O believing Christian for thou art going to be advanced to the most Honorable Room of that Celestial Dwelling which God hath built with his own Hands To this purpose our Lord Jesus hath made to thee this gratious promise Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the City of my God which is new Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new name Revel 3. If this great King was so desirous to hear the Levites singing the praises of God with their Tongues and Instruments of Musick How much more passionate should we be to hear the Harmonies of Heaven and the Celestial Hymns of the Holy Angels Archangels Cherubims Seraphims and of all the Glorified Saints who have in their mouths every one a new Song the Song of Moses and of the Lamb When the Shepherds heard some few expressions of the Angels Songs who praised God at the Nativity of the Son of God they began to rejoyce with an exceeding great joy they left their Flocks and ran in haste to look upon the Child Jesus in the Manger of Bethlem and thou devout Soul thou hearest already the sweet Anthems of Paradise and the ravishing consorts of thousands of Angels thou knowest that thy Saviour sits there upon a Throne cloathed with Glory and Divine Majesty and wilt thou not forsake all the base Employments of this sensual and animal life to go and see this wonderful Saviour who expects thee and intends that thou shalt sit also with him upon his Throne Zacheus climed upon a Sicamore-tree with an unspeakable swiftness and an earnest desire to behold the Lord Jesus as he passed by when he was in the estate of his humâ—liation and abasement Shouldest not thou be as earnest O Christian Soul to fly up above the Heavens to see this merciful Saviour in the estate of his Glory and elevation and to have him alwayes in thine eye for ever and ever When our Lord was come into the house of this poor Publican he told him That Salvation was that day come to his house And shalt not thou O blessed Soul have more reason to say when thou shalt enter into the Palace of this glorified Redeemer I am this day going into my Salvation and my Glory We highly esteem Iacobs happiness when he was in Bethel because God appeared unto him in that surprising Vision mentioned in the 28 of Genesis But if thou art an Israelite without fraud I esteem thee to be in a more happy and a more blessed estate thou hast a greater cause to break out into Iacobs Language This is Gods house and the Gate of Heaven Jacob it is true saw the Heavens open but he was not admitted into them at that time but now God opens these Heavens to receive and lodge thee for ever The holy Angels of God went up and down the Ladder that reached up from the Earth to Heaven but they left Jacob at the bottom of this Ladder whereas the Angels that are about thee are come down to cause thee to ascend up with them or rather to carry thee up in their hands and bring thee to Christ typified by this mysterious Ladder Jacob saw God at the top of this Ladder but he was to go afterwards to padan Aram he was to travel up and down to suffer many inconveniences the heat of the day the frost of the night the displeasure of his Father-in-Law and his Treachery he was forced to fly from the cruelty of his Brother Esau nay more then that he was forced to struggle and wrestle with God himself Whereas here is now the end of thy Pilgrimage of all thy troubles and encounters Thou shalt never feel the burning and scorching heat of thy Afflictions Thou shalt be no more tortured with the fears and Apprehensions that now congele thy Blood Thou shalt no more stand upon thy guard for fear of the deceits and violent dealings of Men Thou shalt wrestle no more with God by Prayers and Supplications and tears for they shall be no more in use God shall load thee with his most extraordinary blessings and bestow himself upon thee The Prophet Moses wished very passionately to see but for a moment God's Face whereof he had beheld so many glorious expressions and shouldest not thou desire as passionately to see that beautiful and ever shining countenance in its Glory and Splendor O Religious Soul thou art enflamed with this Divine affection God will shortly fulfil all thy mind so that thou mayst say to him as one of the Prophets Thou shalt cause me to know the way of Life Thy face is the fulness of Joy and at thy right hand are
Man Lastly That after the Resurrection God shall be in us all in all which expression declares the highest and most compleat Happiness and Glory Others think the contrary that in Heaven there shall be an inequality of Glory and several degrees of Happiness This their opinion they strengthen chiefly with two passages of Holy Scripture the one is in the 14 of St. John where Christ saith to his Apostles In my Fathers house there are many Mansions The other is in the 1 Cor. 15. where St. Paul discoursing at large of the happiness of the Saints after the Resurrection saith There is one Glory of the Sun another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another in Glory so is the resurrection of the dead There are some that are not content to believe an inequality of Glory and Happiness but they undertake further to discourse of this matter with as much boldness as if God had admitted them to the knowledge of his Eternal Secrets as if he had discovered to them all the wonders of the Heavenly Jerusalem more plainly than to his beloved disciple Such tell us not only that there shall be divers degrees of Glory and Happiness but they inform who they are that shall obtain such and such Degrees they prescribe in a Dogmatical and Magisterial manner which shall be the Glory of Virgins which shall belong to Confessors which shall be that of Martys In a word some are so much puffed up with an high conceit of themselves and of their own deservings that they make an open profession of being of the number of such as shall obtain the highest degrees of Glory and Happiness But my opinion is that the Truth is to be found between these two extreams I shall not impose any Law upon the Consciences of any Man in this particular whereof the decision is not absolutely necessary to Salvation yet we may say that in Heaven there shall be divers degrees of Glory and Happiness but we dare not describe them nor venture to apply them to any persons or to tell who of us shall possess such and such degrees This were a bold attempt upon Heaven and a taking of the forbidden Fruit by such an impudency we should loose our selves instead of saving others for such as are so audacious as to search into the Divine Majesty shall be swallowed up by his Glory Prov. 25. And although we verily believe degrees of Glory yet we may say without offence to any person that this belief is not to be established upon the fore-mentioned passages from whence we cannot gather any such conclusion for in the 14 of St. John our Saviour saith not that there are divers Degrees or divers Mansions whereof some are Richer and more Glorious than others but only that in his Fathers House there are many Mansions The meaning of this Divine Saviour is as clear as the day he had an intent to raise up the drooping courage of his Holy Apostles and to comfort them in his absence for that purpose he assures them that he is going to lodge in an House where there is not only room for himself but also for them and for all that shall believe in him by their Teaching He expounds his words plainly in the 17 Chapter of the same Gospel where he speaks to God in this manner Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me For the other passage of the 1 of the Corinth I beseech you devout Souls read over the Apostles words and consider with a Religious observation what goeth before and what follows after you shall find that the Apostle intends not to compare the Saints the one with the other but only to discover the difference which is between our Bodies as they are in this corruptible and mortal life and as they shall be when they shall have put on incorruption and immortality Therefore when he had said One is the Glory of the Sun another is the Glory of the Moon another the Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in Glory He doth not add likewise so shall be the Glory of one blessed Person differing from another but he saith So shall be the resurrection from the dead The Body is sown in corruption it shall be raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonour it it raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body From whence is it therefore that we gather these divers degrees of Glory and Happiness I answer First from the divers and different pains and punishments of the damned For as in Hell there shall be several degrees of Torments Likewise it is very probable that in Heaven there shall be divers degrees of Happiness and several degrees of Glory Secondly God to declare his Divine Wisdom which is various in all things bestows at present all his Blessings and Riches with a wonderful variety and with an admirable order Thus you may see in nature that God hath scattered up and down the World divers gifts and excellencies for example the smell and beauty of Roses is different from that of the Lillies the brightness of the Diamonds is not like that of Rubies the light of the Sun differs from that of the Moon and Stars Likewise it is very probable that above all the Heavens there shall be divers degrees of Light and Glory Amongst the Holy Angels there are Titles of Honor and several Dignities therefore they are named Archangels Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers As therefore amongst the Angels there are divers degrees of Glory it is also likely that the same order shall be observed amongst the Glorified in Heaven Besides as in the Church militant the Graces of God differ very much The Souls of the Faithful are not the same in all respects they have differing qualities and excellencies there are in them divers degrees of Light of Knowledge of Faith of Hope of Charity and Holiness Likewise according to the Analogy of Faith there should be also in the Church glorified divers degrees of Glory and Happiness and the rather because Glory is nothing else but the compleating and perfection of Grace This reason is so much the stronger because in the parable of the Talents Jesus Christ gives to his servants a Glory proportionable to the former Riches of his Grace None can conceive that the words relate to God's Favors bestowed upon his Children on Earth for our Lord speaks of that which he intends to do to them when he shall come down from Heaven to judge the World The words relate to the time when he shall say to such as have well employed the Talents of his Mercy Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord They relate also to the time when he shall cause the
at break of day when the Sun riseth upon our heads but rather looseth all obscurity and darkness which the presence of the Sun drives away untill it be perfectly enlightened Likewise our understanding shall loose nothing of that light and perfection which it receives now from the breaking of the day of Gods Grace but as the Son of Righteousness riseth upon iâ— more and more in joy and Salvation it shall perfectly loose all Darkness and Ignorance by degrees until it be fully enlightned From hence it seems we may conclude that we shall know all the persons in Heaven whom we have known here below on Earth for if the glorified shall remember the wicked who have Tormented them they must needs remember also Believers who have bestowed upon them their Alms and done them good If it were otherwise the Apostle St. Paul would not tell the Corinthians We are your glory as also you are ours at the day of the Lord Jesus And he would not write thus to the Thessalo What is our hope our joy and our Crown of Glory Is it not you before the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming verily you are our glory and our joy Now if in the estate of Glory St. Paul should not know the Corinthians and Thessalo unto whom he had Preached the Gospel how shall they be his Joy his Glory and his Crown at the coming of the Lord Jesus This reason seems to me as clear as the Sun Nevertheless I cannot affirm that in Heaven we shall know again them whom we have known upon Earth by the features of their countenance for there shall be a wonderful alteration The faces of all the Saints shall be so beautiful so perfect and so full of light and glory that the most knowing shall not be able to judge them to be the same whom we have seen upon Earth Some therefore fancy that we shall know one another by the assistance of the discourse but our voice shall then be changed as well as our countenance and it is doubtful whether we shall discourse of the former things happened on Earth for our chief employment shall be to behold Gods face and to sing forth his praises I had rather therefore affirm that we shall know one another by an infused knowledge by which we shall know all things which are possibly to be known and by the light of that glory with which God shall fill our Souls In short this knowledge shall proceed from no other principle then that of all the knowledges which we shall have in that State of Glory and Perfection I am therefore more than fully perswaded that we shall know in Heaven our Parents and our Friends and generally all the persons whom we have known here below but we shall also perfectly know them whom we never knew in the World and never saw with he eyes of the flesh We shall know the holy and Blessed Virgin Mary the Patriarks the Prophets the Apostles the Evangelists the Confessors the Martyrs and generally without exception all the Saints who shall be Crowned with Glory and joy in Heaven There is no body can question but that in the Celestial Paradice we shall have more knowledge and understanding then ever Adam had in the earthly Now when God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him when he took one of his Ribs and formed therewith a Woman he had seen none of this done nevertheless when his eyes were open he knew her therefore he declared his judgement in this manner This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh And shall not we when God shall rouse us up from the deep sleep of Death with the sound of the last Trumpet know the Spouse of the Son of God which he hath drawn out of his side and fashioned with his own precious Blood St. Peter when he was enlightned by a beam of our Saviours Glory in his transfiguration knew Moses and Elias whom he had never seen before And shall not we know all the Children of God upon Mount Sion when we shall be transfigured our selves and that we shall shine all as the heavenly light whereof that of Mount Tabor was but an imperfect shadow and representation But although we shall know in Heaven all the persons whom we have known on Earth we shall look upon them in another manner and love them with another affection for all that we have of the animal and earthly life shall be totally abolished and as our knowledge shall be clear and certain our love shall be pure and heavenly I am not able to express this better than St. Paul doth in these words Although I have known Christ according to the flesh nevertheless I know him no more according to the flesh Christians consider well these expressions they will be able to remove all difficulty and doubts out of your minds We are all fully perswaded that all the Inhabitants of Heaven shall know very well our Lord Jesus Christ for how can it be otherwise but that we must know this glorious Monarch of Men and of Angels whose sacred countenance shall shine as the Sun and who shall sit upon his Magnificent Throne about which Legions of Seraphims flie and who shall be there adored for ever by all the Church glorified Nevertheless St. Paul saith That although he hath known Jesus Christ according to the flesh That is to say according to the manner of this low and earthly life when he lived here on Earth at present he did not know him in the same manner he did not consider him otherwise but as he is at present invested with an unspeakable Glory and splendor In the same manner although we shall know all them whom we have known on Earth we shall no more know them according to the flesh that is to say according to this animal and sensual life our love shall have nothing of earthly or carnal but it shall be altogether Spiritual and Heavenly I beseech you Christians consider well what St. Math. tells us in 22. Chap. The Saduces who say that there is no Resurrection came to Christ to intangle him with this difficult question Master Moses said if a Man Die having no Children his Brother shall Marry his Wife and raise up seed unto his Brother Now there were with us seven Brethren and the first when he had Married a Wise Deceased and having no Issue left his Wife unto his Brother likewise the second also and the third unto the seventh and last of all the Woman Died also therefore in the Resurrection whose Wife shall she be of the seven for they all had her Our Saviour answers not that this Woman shall belong to none of those Husbands because they shall not know her nor distinguish her from other Women but he replyes to them you err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God for in the Resurrection they neither Marry nor are given in Marriage but are as the Angels of God in Heaven From hence
the glorious liberty of the Children of God And in the 3. Chap. to the Colos he saith you are Dead and your Life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is your Life shall appear you shall appear also with him in Glory Therefore this glorious appearing is stiled a blessed Hope that is to say the fulfilling and accomplishment of all that we expect or hope for as in the 2 Chap. to Titus St. Paul saith We expect the Blessed Hope the appearing of the Glory of our great God who is the Saviour Jesus Christ Then shall be the consummation of the Glory and of the head and of the Members for then the Son of God shall cause the Damned to feel that Power which he possesseth in Heaven and in Earth and in the Depths he shall discover himself to the faithful in his greatest Glory and most Divine Splendor Therefore this glorious Day of his descent from Heaven with the Angels of his power is mentioned as the first day of his manifestation of his appearing and of his Kingdom for this cause when the Holy Ghost speaks of this day it stiles it The day of the Lord Jesus Christ or the day of the Lord Jesus as also the Day of the Lord and the day of God As it shall be the Day of the Lord Jesus it shall also be our Day therefore St. Paul calls it The day of our Redemption because that in this day our Lord shall redeem our Bodies out of their Graves and shall bestow upon both our Souls and Bodies Eph. 4. all the Fruits of that Redemption which he hath purchased for us with his Blood Rom. 8. and shall raise us up to the highest Glory and most perfect happiness Heb. 9 It is the happy Day of the Consummation of our Marriage with this Divine Lamb. It is the day of our Joy and Triumph with the glorified Men and Angels It is the day of our Coronation and of our entrance into our Kingdom when the King of Kings the Lord of Lords shall Crown us with his own hand and put us in possession of an Empire prepared for us from the beginning of the World In a word it is the day when we shall come to the Lord Jesus and be with him as he is with the Father that we may be all in one Because of the glorious and wonderful things which shall come to pass on this day it is named The great Day St. Jude calls it thus when he speaks of the Revolted Angels he saith That God hath reserved them in everlasting Chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the Great Day In this manner many understand the words of St. John when he describes the Foul Spirits and likens them to Frogs which he saw coming out of the Dragons Mouth and of the Beast and out of the Mouth of the False Prophet and saith They are the Spirits of Devils working Miracles which God sent forth unto the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World to gather them to the Battle of that great Day of God Almighty Revel 16. Lastly this glorious Day is not only called The day of Judgement the Day of the Lord the Day of our Redemption and the Great day but oftimes without any addition it is stiled the Day and that Day as in the 10. Chap. to the Hebrews Let us consider one another to provoke unto Love and good Works not forsaking the assembling our selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as ye see the day approaching In the first Epist to the Thessal You are not in Darkness that that Day should surprise you Thus in 2 Epist to Timothy and first Chap. St. Paul saith I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that Day And when he remembers the good and charitable Deeds of Mesiphorus he prays for him in this manner The Lord grant unto him that he may find Mercy of the Lord in that day And in the 4 Chap. speaking of himself he saith I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give at that Day It is so stiled because of its excellency it is the Day of Dayes the end of all the Seasons the Consummation of all Ages and Times after this there shall be no more alteration of Days Months and Years Therefore an Angel is represented in the Revel lifting up his hand to Heaven swearing by the living God who hath Created Heaven and all things therein the Earth and all things in it and the Sea and the things that are there That there shall be no more Time for instead of this unconstant time which flies away without leaving any sign of its being an everlasting Eternity shall succeed an Eternity always the same always Blessed with Happiness alwayes glorious and joyful This Divine and Magnificent Day shall begin at the end of all other Days but shall never draw to an end Therefore St. Peter in these words calls it an Eternal day or Eternity 2 Pet. 3. Glory be to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ both now and for ever Amen And in expectation of this Day of Days all Creatures are groaning and travailling in pain until now but especially Believers who have the First Fruits of the Spirit groan in themselves desiring with an earnest and holy desire to see the breaking of this great and glorious Day It is the end of all the Prophecies and the accomplishment of all Gods gracious promises to his People in all the Ages of the World It is the end and price of our Spiritual Calling the fulfilling of all our desires and expectations the Crowning of all our Labors and the highest step of that glory and happiness unto which we pretend You Devout Souls that delight in the contemplation of Celestial things I pray consider with me the accomplishment and the perfection of three kinds of works which have been succeeded by their several Rests The first was that of the Creation of the World for in six days God Created the Heaven and the Earth and all things in them and when he had finished his Works and found that they were good and perfect he rested the seventh day Gen. 1. 2. Therefore he Blessed and Sanctified it The second great work was that of Redemption for when our Saviour had fulfilled all the Prophesies which meâ—tioned him when he had caused the meaning of all the ancient Types and Figures to appear in his person and in his sufferings when he had fully satisfied the justice of God and purchased for us with his Blood an Eternal Redemption he cried out all is finished John 19. and he bowed his Head and gave up the Ghost After this Christ had nothing more to do nor to suffer but he
Souls and Bodies when thou shalt come down from Heaven with Flames of Fire to revenge thy self of such as know thee not and will not obey thy Holy Gospel and to be glorified in thy Saints and become wonderful in all Believers Let me sometime consider that glorious Throne where thou shalt sit to judge the quick and the dead before which the greatest Princes Kings and Monarchs as well as the vilest Servants Subjects and Slaves and generally all the Men of the World shall appear to receive in their Bodies according as they have done whether it be good or evil O that I might rejoyce in an expectation of seeing the total and intire destruction of all the Enemies of thy Glory and of our Salvation That I might look upon Satan his wicked Angels his Agents and the instruments of his Kingdome at if they were already bound up in everlasting Chains cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone and shut up in that bottomless pit from whence they shall never be released That I might think upon that Blessed time when Death shall be no more when all the living shall be Immortal but chiefly give me Grace to behold with the eye of that precious Faith which thou hast formed in my Soul the joy and Coronation of thy Church to consider that Divine dwelling where the stately and most magnificent City is built with pure Gold Pearles and Precious Stones where thou thy self art the Light and the Sun where the uncorruptible inheritance is which cannot be defiled and cannot fade away where the River of living water runs which is as bright as Chrystal where the Tree of Life is which yields fruit every Month of the year whereof the Leaves are for healing of the Gentiles Give me Grace to comfort my self in the expectation of that blessed estate where we shall neither hunger nor thirst where there shall be neither giving nor taking in Marriage but where we shall be as the Angels of God where thou shalt cloath us with Light and incompass us about with the beams of thy Glory where thou shalt put into our hands Palmes of Victory Crowns upon our Heads and in our mouths the Songs of the blessed and of all the Holy Angels where we shall sit with the Patriarcks Prophets Apostles Confessors and Martyrs and with all the Princes Kings and Monarchs that have lived in thy fear and that are dead in thy favor Where we shall for ever solemnise the Divine Nuptials of the Lamb and shall be inflamed with his love where we shall behold God face to face and shall be changed into his glorious Image and satisfied with his Divine likeness O Lord give us Grace to think continually upon his glorious and joyful day which shall put a period to the current of time which is the accomplishment of all the Prophecies and Promises the body and reallity of all types and figures the Crowning of all our Works the fulfilling of all our desires the highest of all our hopes and the perfection of all the designs intended by God the Father from all Eternity And seeing that we know not when this beautiful day shall break forth which shall never end give us Grace to expect it at every moment and behave our selves in such a manner as if we were already at the Eve of this everlasting Sabbath and of this glorious Rest That we may provide holy oyl in our Lamps faith hope and charity in our hearts that these Lamps may be ready and always burning that our Souls may be cloathed with the Wedding Garment with Righteousness and innocency that we may not stumber in the vain Delights of the World in the pleasures of the flesh but that we may spend the days and the nights in watching and Prayers Give us Grace to lift up our heads looking for our Redemption as if we did already bear the sound of the last Trumpet as if we did see already the Lord Jesus coming in the Clouds of Heaven O that we might not only expect him but go to meet him and hasten his coming by our continual Prayers and earnest desires O most powerful and merciful Lord forgive our impatient wishes and hasten that day for the elects sake Lord Jesus come with the Angels of thy power and the thousands of Saints and cause thy glory to appear and thine eternal Happiness Come with the Weapons of thy just resentment to require Justice and to destroy all the ungodly for there is no Faith amongst Men nor charity All flesh is become corrupt Come and destroy this World which is as an House infected with a spreading Leprosie but rather come to free it from corruption and vanity unto which our Sins have made it subject Come and purifie with an universal fire this wretched Earth which was cursed for our Crimes Come Almighty Lord come and trample upon the pride of the World and of all the Enemies of thy Sacred Truth Come and execute judgement upon her that is drunk with the Blood of thy holy Martyrs Come and bind the roaring Lyon in Chains and shut him for ever in the bottomless pit Come and put to Death the Murderer of thy Brethren and Members and totally abolish it Lord Jesus hearken to the crying of thy people and to the groans of thine inheritance Come and take thy Church out of this cruel Egypt where our Sins have inthralled it deliver it out of this Babylon where it hath been kept so long in Bondage O merciful Lord it is high time that thou shouldst introduce it into thy Celestial Canaan where the Milk and Hony of the most refined joyes and divine comforts flow continually That thou shouldst bring it into the holy Jerusalem the City of Peace and of everlasting Rest Come therefore to wipe away the Tears and stop the crying of thy afflicted Children Come and take them out of this cruel and infamous Prison open to them the Gates of thy glorious Palace Come and cloath them with thy Light cause them to drink of the Rivers of thy pleasures and Crown them with thine Immortal Glory Lord Jesus hasten this day of this Divine Coronation and magnificent Rejoycing We have been fighting and travelling upon this Earth long enough separated from thee our Souls long for thee they can no longer live without thee O wonderful Lord whose Works are so great that they are past finding out and whose Wonders are so many that they are not to be numbred thou hast with the Father perfected the Creation of the World thou hast performed all the Works of our Blessed Redemption perfect also the Works of the future Glorification of thy Church Take us up to that highest Glory and Happiness which hath beex prepared for us from the beginning of the World and which is the price of thy Blood and the fruits of thy Death O bountiful and glorious Lord put us in a condition that we may have nothing to dread nor nothing to desire nor nothing to pray or
Death an affliction Must I abandon my dear Children whom I love as my Soul without guide and in danger of loosing the small temporal means that I have provided for them in danger also of being overcome by the vicious customs of the age and inticed to Idolatry and Superstition That we may be able to govern this violent passion that prevails so much upon our minds we must labor betimes to bring our selves to this That we may rest upon the good Providence of our Heavenly Father Christian Souls meditate upon this excellent saying in the 37 Psalm Leave thy ways to the Lord and trust in him and he will direct thee And in the 59 Psal Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he will sustain thee Forget not also that blessed exhortation of St. Peter Cast all your cares upon God for he careth for you Imprint also in your minds St. Paul's assertion All things work together for good to them that love God Remember the noble resolution of this great Apostle According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my Body whether it be by life or by death Thou desirest to be instrumental in the service of God and of the Publick it is an excellent desire indeed and praise worthy but it belongs to God to appoint the service that he intends to receive from thee it belongs to him to prescribe unto thee thy task and to order thy bounds he knows when he is to release thee from thy labor and how long thou must fight Is thine eye evil because thy God is so good and gracious as to shorten thy work and troubles All such as follow chearfully the Banners of the God of Hosts and never retreat without the Command of the great General of Heaven and Earth shall enjoy a blessed victory and obtain the honor of the Triumph as well the Novice and the fresh Soldier as the old and long experienced All such as labor faithfully in the Lord's Vineyard shall receive from him an eternal Reward as well he that continues but an hour as the other that bear the heat and burden of the day When thou shouldest have gone but a few steps in the paths of Righteousness thy God is so noble and liberal that he will bestow upon thee an uncorruptible Crown of Glory as well as if thou hadst continued there many years Great Princes that yield unto the King of Kings a Religious Respect and that seek your greatest Glory in the Cross of Christ submit your selves altogether to the pleasure of your universal Monarch for seeing the Lives of all Men are governed by his wise Providence he hath a particular regard and an high esteem of the Lives of Kings and Princes the Sons of his right hand Therefore whilst it is expedient for his Glory and their Salvation that they should live upon Earth he placeth round about their Sacred Persons his Holy Angels and encompasseth them with a wall of Fire Remember that as soon as the King of Israel was seated upon the Throne God commanded him to take in hand the Book of his Law and to read in it all the days of his life Ask from him that Wisdom and Prudence that is requisite to govern such multitudes of People and beseech him to grant unto you the strength and virtue that is necessary to bear so great a burden Let the Sword that he hath intrusted in your hands be to do justice upon Offenders and to protect the Guiltless As you are living Images of God's Soveraign Authority over his Creatures Remember that you should also represent his Goodness and Mercy follow the example of him who resists the Proud but gives grace to the Humble Live in such a manner that your Subjects may cherish and honor you as their common Father may obey and serve you as their Lord and may respect and fear you as their King Suffer not your Heart to be puft up with pride when you behold the large Dominions that God hath put under your Command and the People that own you for their Soveraign But lift up your eyes to the spacious Heavens take a view of their vast Extent and see how the whole Earth is inconsiderable in comparison of them and think upon God before whom all Nations are but as the smallest dust of a Ballance and as a few drops of Water Consider well that your Subjects are Creatures that God hath made after his own likeness and redeemed by the death of his Son and that they are to Reign with you for ever in Heaven Remember that the more God hath committed to your Trust the greater must be your reckoning and that you must one day appear in person before his dreadful Throne without Scepter or Crown as so many wretched Sinners to implore his Mercy Search into your selves and examine what you are your Bodies are subject to wounds infirmities and diseases as that of the meanest of your servants Your Souls also are moved with the same Passions and Lusts as theirs In short you are entered into the World in the same manner as the most miserable Slave and you shall go out of it again as he doth so that if a crowd of flatterers sooth you up as they did Herod A voice of God and not of Man Acts 12. Mind well what God speaks to you from Heaven I have said that ye are Gods and the Children of the most high nevertheless you shall dye as Men and you that are the chiefest shall fall as the rest Psal 72. During the time of your abode in the World employ your Blood Sweat and all the Strength and Power that God hath put into your hands for the good and advantage of your States and for the defence and preservation of the people that shelter themselves under your wings And if in the midst of your greatest and most flourishing Prosperities Death comes to give you a summons to depart let fall the Scepter willingly to joyn your hands together and to fall down and adore the King of the whole Earth Grieve not for the loss of worldly Glory that passeth away as a Lightning or as a shadow for God promiseth another that shall be more lasting than the light of the Sun If you can but overcome Death and your selves God will cause you to sit down upon another Throne and will bestow upon you a Kingdom that shall never be moved Revel 3. Heb. 12. Wise and Religious Princes be not solicitous for the things that shall happen after your decease He by whom Kings Reign and Princes do Justice is able enough to enrich your Successor with the Graces and Qualities that become a powerful Prince It may be that he will bestow upon him more Glory and Happiness than upon you When King David had ended his mortal Race God took him into his Rest it seems at first that the loss of so
and like unto them that the Children of Israel did eat in the Promised Land In like manner the Fruits that we relish in the Wilderness of this World are Fruits of the Tree of Life with which we shall be fully satisfied in Heaven for the Grace that God bestows upon us here below by his Divine Spirit is the beginning of the Glory with which he shall Crown us above The same Light that shines upon our Souls on Earth shall shine much more for ever in Heaven But whereas we look upon it at present as it were through a black mist with much imperfection then we shall see it clearly without Vail or Darkness The same Holiness that adorns at present our Souls shall be their Ornament and Glory then it shall appear without spot or blemish That same peace of Conscience that preserves our Hearts and Sences shall Crown us above it shall be without the least disturbance In short the same Jesus that is conceived in our Hearts and that is formed and grows in us by degrees shall then appear in a perfect Stature that shall want no more increase As it is with the Sea it enters into the Rivers before the Rivers can run to the Sea in like manner God comes to us before we go to him and Heaven enters into our Souls before we can enter into Heaven Aged Simâ—on waited patiently for Death but assoon as he had seen the Saviour of the World and embraced him he ran to meet Death he thought upon nothing but his latter end therefore he prayed most earnestly to receive him into his Glorious Rest O Christian Soul how shouldest thou dispose and prepare thy self to dy seeing thou beholdest with the Eyes of Faith this Blessed Redeemer not wrapped up in Swathling Cloaths but Crowned with an infinite Glory and Light He is not in thine Arms but he lodges in thine Heart thou hast not received him to return or part with him again but to be united unto him for ever and to be incorporated into his mystical Body Seeing therefore that Death brings thee nearer to thy Redeemer perfects this Blessed Union and casts thee into the very Fountain of Life instead of being frighted at her and grieved when it comes to thee thou shouldest then rejoyce and be transported above measure with gladness we should meet this Death with a cheerful countenance I mean that we should meet the Lord Jesus this merciful Prince of Life who having vouchsafed unto thee the sight of his Salvation intends to receive thee into his Rest and Eternal and Glorious Peace that Reigns above in Heaven A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian Soul that strengthens it self against the fears of Death by considering our strict and unseparable Union with Jesus Christ by his Holy Spirit and the First-Fruits in us of our Blessed Immortality O Mighty and Merciful Lord who art the Son of Righteousness and the Fountain of Living Water drive away from me the dark shadows of death and quench all the Fires that it kindles in my Soul thou art not only dead for me but thou art pleased to live in me that I might one day live for ever with thee Thou hast of thy pure Mercy chosen me for thy Child and hast made me a Member of thy Mystical Body Flesh of thy Flesh Bone of thy Bone and caused me to be partaker of thine Holy Spirit God hath not given thee the Spirit by measure that out of thy fulness we might receive Grace for Grace By the means of this Blessed and Infinite Spirit that rests in my Soul I am united unto thee in a more perfect manner than the Tree is to the root that bears it or the Child to its Mother that nourisheth it in her Womb or the Members of the Humane Body to the Head that gives them Life The Ties that unite me unto thee O Glorious Saviour are more unchangeable than the Heavens and the Earth As nothing can pluck me out of thine Hands there is nothing can separate me from thine Heart Whether I live or dye I am thine my Lord and my God and nothing can alter thine affection for me Death can take me out of the World and carry me out of the embraces of my dearest friends but it can never separate me from thine Holy Spirit the Soul of my Soul and the Light of my Life which cannot be put out by all the envious Blasts and Storms of the Prince of Darkness this Holy Spirit will bring me to behold thy Face to rest in thy bosom and unite me unto thee for ever To whom Lord shall I go thou hast the words of Eternal life and thou art the inexhausible Fountain Thou art my Hope and my Treasure my Glory and mine only Happiness O faithful and unquestionable Witness I should be worse than an Infidel if I did call in question my future Salvation and Glory seeing the Father hath not spared thee for me although thou art his only and beloved Son the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Seeing that thou O merciful Lord hast willingly suffered the most shameful death of the Cross and spilt thy precious Bloud to wash away all my sins and satisfy for my crimes and seeing that thine Holy Spirit is come into my Heart to make me a partaker of that precious Bloud and Seal me for the day of Redemption O Glorious Spirit of my Saviour that rests upon me when I should be able to speak the Language of Angels I could not sufficiently express the wonderful operations that thou dost produce in my Soul thou kindlest in me such Heavenly Flames as never go out but are always alive as the fire of thine Altar Thou formest in me a white Stone where a new Name is written which no man knows but he that receives it Thou givest me to eat of that hidden Manna of that food of Angels that the World knoweth not Thou witnessest with my Spirit that I am a Child of God an Heir of God and a Joynt Heir with Jesus Christ the King of Kings Thou dost not only Seal unto me the pardon of all my Sins but thou dost also purify my Conscience from all dead Works to serve the living God Thou causest me to cry out Abba Father and imprintest in my Heart the Glorious Image of my Heavenly Father Thou art the Seal of my Adoption the earnest of mine uncorruptible Inheritance prepared for me in Heaven Thou hast given me the infallible assurances of a Glorious and Eternal Life and begun it already in my Soul granting to me its First-Fruits Thou causest me to behold the Sun-shine of thy Grace and makest it to give Light in mine Vnderstanding Thou dost not only vouchsafe unto me the favour of beholding from this Valley of Tears thine Heavenly Canaan but thou causest me to tast of its Fruits I am not yet come to the Fountain of Waters that spring forth to Eternal Life but I feel the Streams and the
pleasures for evermore Christian if thou hadst but as much Faith and assurance as there is Glory and happiness in Heaven with what excess of Joy shalt thou leave the World and all its vanities to ascend up to that magnificent Palace purchased for thee with the precious Blood of thy Redeemer Jonathans eyes were once enlightned when he tasted some Hony with the end of his Rod which he had found in a Rock And thou believer if thou hast by Faith tasted the Divine sweetness that proceeds from Christ the Rock of Eternity thine understanding will be all enlightned Thou shalt need no other Consolation against Death for Death it self shall fill thee full of Consolation and real Joy So that thou shalt have cause to speak not onely as Jacob O God I expect thy Salvation Gen. 49. but as King David I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the House of the Lord our feet shall stand within thy Gates O Jerusalem Psal 122. By this means thou shalt not onely expect with patience and embrace with Joy the blessed news of this Glorious Salvation but thou shalt endeavor to hasten its coming by thy continual and repeated Sighs O my God When wilt thou stretch out unto me from above thy Gracious Armes When shall I go into thy Celestial Sanctuary When shall I see plainly thy Divine and Glorious Face When wilt thou cause me to drink out of the Rivers of thy Pleasures How blessed is the man whom thou hast chosen and taken to thy self to dwell for ever in thy Holy Courts such shall be satisfied with the good things of thy House and of thy Glorious Palace Joseph mâ—rched out of his Prison in haste to go to the Palace of the Kings of Egypt and haste not thou as much reason to make as much hast out of the Prison of this wretched Body O believing Soul that thou mayest go up to the Palace of the King of Kings who intenâ—s to install thee into such a Glorious estate in comparison of which all the pomp of Pharaoh and of all the Kings and Princes of the Earth is nothing but as the hore-frost of the night Bartimeus forsakes willingly his Mantle to creep to the Lord Iesus when he called him and thou Christian Soul wilt not thou leave this body which is as a troublesome garment to thee to ascend up to this Divine Saviour who intends to cure thee of all thy distempers and Diseases and who purposes to load thee with his blessings and unspeakâ—ble favors He will not onely bring thee to behold the refreshing light of Heaven but he will also cause thee to shine as the Sun for ever and ever Religious Soul cast off this spotted garment of the flesh and so much the more chearfully because God holds out in his Hand a Garment of Light and Glory which he will bestow upon thee for it shall happen to thee as to the Prophet Elias who having let fall his Mantle he found himself all encompassed about with Flames of fire and an extraordinary light for assoon as thou shalt put off this miserable body thou shalt be surrounded with Celestial flames in which thou shalt mount up to Heaven into the dwelling of immortality where thou shalt be like God who cloaths himself with light as with a Garment To this purpose the words of the Prophet Zachariah concerning the High-Priest Iehoschuah are very proper he was arayed with filthy Garments but an Angel from Heaven calls to them that waited before him Take away the filthy Garments from him and cloath him with change of raiment let them set a fair Mitre upon his head This O Christian Soul is the true Image of thy condition at thy departure and the lively portraiture of thy future happiness At present thou art cloathed with a body undermined by sickness and labor thou bearest about thee the relicks of the old man but behold God calls to thee from his Holy Sanctuary Take away from him this old garment pluck off all remains of this old cloathing bespotted with sin where the Devils Image is yet to be seen and give him the Sacred ornaments of a Royal Priesthood cloath this Soul with a long garment whitned in the Blood of the Lamb gird it about with the Ephod of righteousness put upon its head an uncorruptible Crown and in its hand a Golden Viol that it may for ever offer up the Heavenly perfumes in the company of all the glorified Saints If after all this O Christian thou doubtest of the felicity and glory of such as die in the Lord Iesus hear what an Apostle saith who was himself ravished up into the third Heaven where he beheld in this Glorious Palace unspeakable things We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens for in this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from Heaven If so be that being cloathed we shall not â—e found naked for we that are in this Tabernacle do 〈…〉 burdned not for that we would be uncloathed but cloathed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of Life And listen to what the Holy-Ghost saith Blessed are the Dead that die in the Lord for so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labors and their works do follow them Would to God that we had some other Word besides that of Death to express the wonderful and happy change that we make when we go out of this miserable World for to speak properly we cannot be said to die when we leave a place full of misery to enter into another blessed with an endless felicity when we exchange a laborious estate for a peaceable and an happy rest when we come off from a cruel War to enjoy the pleasures of everlasting Joy when we pass through Death to an endless life and forsake a Tomb to mount up on a Throne Christian Soul remember thy beginning and thine end consider what thou art from whence thou proceedest and whither thou goest Thou art a living Image of thy Creator and a beam of glory thou art of a celestial and immortal nature God hath washed and cleansed thee in the Blood of his Lamb without spot and blemish and sanctified thee by his holy Spirit he hath brought thee to an estate convenient to enter into his holy City and he is ready to admit thee to take the fruition of his glory Thou hast fought the good fight finished thy course and kept the faith it is therefore high time that thou shouldest receive the Crown of life Thou hast this precious Crown already in thine hands Thou art at the Gates of Heaven and at the entrance of Paradise Go therefore O believing Soul go with Joy and gladness to this great God that calls thee to this mercifull Saviour that stretcheth forth his hands unto thee and opens his bosome to receive thee go into the
voice the praises of Almighty God in the glorious company of the Church triumphant with these unsteddy hands that can scarce hold any thing thou shalt one day receive Immortal Palmes and Golden Viols which thou shalt never quit with these feet that are dying and that can scarce hold thee up thou shalt follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth and thou shalt walk about the Streets of the heavenly Jerusalem and this same body that is going to rot and to be turned to dust shall one day shine as the Firmament and as the Sun in its greatest splendor What desirest thou more Christian Soul for thy comfort what addition can there be made to thine happiness for thou art going to the fruition of eternal Joyes and of endless pleasures in Heaven In the mean while thy Body shall endure no pain nor grief and God will shortly raise it up again from this deep sleep that begins to dull thy senses and close thine eye lids Shortly God will publish the year of the great Jubile all the Prisons of Death shall be then opened and the Prisoners shall be set at liberty Thou shalt shortly hear the found of the last Trump that shall rouse thee out of the dust and cause thee to appear in the presence of thy great Redeemer Thou leavest a wretched Body full of darkness and corruption assaulted by Death on all sides but it shall shortly be made uncorruptible immortal and adorned with Light and Glory Let therefore thy Heart rejoyce thy Tongue be glad and thy flesh rest in hope for the Lord will not leave thee always in the Grave he will not suffer thee to continue for ever in dust and corruption he will not only discover to thee the ways of life but he will shortly come down himself from Heaven for to lead thee thither When Death should be already upon thy lips when she should be ready to lay thee in thy Grave let not this disturb the quiet of thy Soul nor the peace of thy Conscience let it not shake thy precious Faith that keeps thee up nor drive thee from the Author of thy Blessed hope fixed in Heaven where Jesus Christ is entered as thy forerunner in short when thy Body should be all covered with sores and boiles as that of Job Job 19 when it should all fall to pieces before thine eyes let nothing hinder thee from crying out with this patient Man I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth and though after my skin worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my se f and mine Eyes shall behold and not another And with St. Paul Phil. 3. We look from Heaven for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the mighty working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian who being ready to depart out of the World comforts himself with an assurance and expectation of the glorious Resurrection of his Body from the Dust O Eternal and Divine Word by whom all things were Created and without whom was not any thing made that was made Thou hast not only created our Souls and fashioned our Bodies with thy skilful hands but when they were miserably lost and corrupted with Sin thou hast been pleased to redeem both our Souls and Bodies with thy most precious Blood and to restore thy glorious Image in us This wretched Body is but an Earthen Vessel yet thou hast inclosed in it the richest Treasuries of Life and Light Thou hast appointed it to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost and a noble Pavillion of the Godhead to participate with the Soul in the eternal happiness of thy Kingdom I feel my strength failing me and this Earthly Tabernacle decaying every day and every hour so that I am certain that it shall shortly fall to dust But Lord I am sufficiently comforted with the knowledge that if the outward Man decays the inward is renewed day by day If this wretched Body falls down by Death thou shalt raise it up again at the general Resurrection My Lord and my God thou art sufficiently able for all power is given to thee in Heaven and in Earth and in the depths of the Sea As the Father raiseth and quickneth the Dead thou dost also quicken them whom thou hast chosen Thou hast fashioned my Body of Dust and created this Dust of nothing and shalt not thou be able of the same dust into which this my Body shall be turned by Death to make and fashion it again Thou hast by thine Almighty power created my Soul and infused it into this Body and canst thou not return it again when it shall please thee to live for ever in a more blessed society than ever it hath been before O Prince of Life Death hath sufficiently felt thy great and overflowing power It intended to swallow thee up but thou hast swallowed it up in a glorious manner into Victory Thou hast been dead but thou art returned to life and thou livest for ever and ever And now thou holdest in thy hands the Keys of Death Thou openest and shutest up thy black Dungeon at thy pleasure Thou killest and makest alive thou castest into the Grave and fetchest up again Lord Jesus who art the Resurrection and the Life as thou hast an ability to cause my Body to come out of the Dust thou art willing and resolved to take it out again for thou hast promised to awake with the sound of the Archangels Trump and to lead away with thee all them that sleep in thee and repose themselves upon thee when thou shalt come from Heaven with thy powerful Angels at the great day of thy Triumph and at the Crowning of thy Spouse all the Prisons of Death shall be opened and the prisoners set at liberty It shall not be long O Lord before thou wilt cause the last Trumpet to sound to publish and proclaime the great Day of Rest and Joy Thou shalt then put us in possession of all the advantages which we have lost Thou shalt command the Sea the Earth and the Grave to restore all the Bodies which they have swallowed up and they shall readily obey thee Thy mighty word that Created the World and sustains it shall be heard in our very Graves and at that instant we shall go out to appear before thy dreadful Tribunal We shall not go out in the same manner as Lazarus with our winding sheets about us we shall leave in the Grave all tokens of our former infirmities Thou shalt not only draw our Bodies out of their Tombs but thou shalt make them more beautiful more perfect and glorious than ever they were before so that we are able to say for a truth I hat the glory of this second House shall be greater than the glory
imagine that this Sign of the Son of Man is the Sign of the Cross which shall appear in the air This opinion in it self is harmless but in regard that it hath no foundation in holy Scripture I am not to insist upon it Others believe that it shall be the Fire with which Jesus Christ shall burn the Earth dissolve the Elements and punish unbelievers This conceit is grounded upon St. Pauls words to the Thessal 2. Thes 1. It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Others conceive that this Sign of the Son of Man is nothing else but the Body of Jesus Christ bearing and discovering the print of the nails in his hands and feet and the wound of the Spear in his side This they gather from these words of the first of the Revel Behold he cometh with Clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him There be others yet that take it in another sence and that believe that there shall be no particular Sign but that we must understand by this Sign of the Son of Man all those things which shall declare the end of the World and the coming of Jesus Christ to judge the quick and the dead If we take the words in this manner there will be an excellent allusion to that which is commonly practised when Kings and Princes make their publick entrance into great Cities for their coming in is proclaimed by the sound of a Trumpet and by the attendants of Majesty a Train and Pomp that usually accompanies it In the same manner the glorious coming of Jesus Christ shall be known by the sound of the Archangels Trumpet and by all the Signs and wonderful alterations which shall suddenly happen in the Heavens This last opinion is very likely and the former advanceth nothing contrary to the analogy of Faith Therefore in harmless matters which are controverted and not plainly decided by the Word of God we leave to every pious Soul a liberty to chuse that which it likes best Some inquire further If it be true that the Souls of the Damned go down into Hell immediately after their egress out of the Body and if they are tormented in a Fire that goeth not out whereof the heat never lessens as the Christian Religion teacheth and as we may see in the Parable of the rich Glutton doth it not follow that these wretches are already judged How is it therefore that the Son of God will judge them again at the last day and send them to an everlasting burning prepared for the Devil and his Angels I answer First That it is no absurdity to say that one Sentence shall be pronounced twice for Men are wont to read the Sentence of Doom to the Prisoner before he is taken out of Prison afterwards the same Sentence is published before all the people at the time of execution Likewise when the Souls of the Wicked go out of their wretched Bodies God pronounces to them the Sentence of his Death But when Jesus Christ shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory he shall publish the same Sentence before all the Men of the World and all the Angels of Heaven Besides that Sentence was never pronounced but to the Soul but then it shall be declared both to the Soul and Body and both together shall be sent to the everlasting burning from whence they shall never be reprieved From hence therefore Christians you may gather that there are three degrees of Punishments or Torments to the Wicked for in this Life they have a Worm that knaws their Bowels and Heart and a kind of Hell that Torments their Consciences At the going of their Souls out of the World they are cast headlong into the Eternal flames of Hell where they suffer unspeakable Torments at that time their Bodies are senseless in their Graves as the Bodies of the righteous But at this last and dreadful day of Judgement as the Grave shall restore all the Dead Bodies Hell which is the place designed for the Torment of the Damn'd shall give up all the Souls that are tormented in its flames and these cursed Souls shall be remitted to their miserable Bodies to suffer the pangs of an eternal Death Revel 20. Thus they shall be cast in Body and Soul into the bottomless pit where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth At that time the Beast the false Prophet and all the Enemies of God and of his Church shall be cast alive into the Lake burning with fire and brimstone which is the second Death Revel 19.10 11. And when all these Offenders shall be executed the Executioners themselves shall be punished for their Crimes when the Damned shall be cast into eternal Tortures the Devils and infernal furies shall be sent after them as it is said The Devil who seduced the Nations shall be cast into the lake of fire and Brimstone where the Beast and the false Prophet are and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever Revel 20. What a dreadful sight is it to behold all those Roaring Lions those furious Dragons in their rage vomiting forth fire and flames What a joyful spectacle shall this be to the Children of God to look upon these infernal Devils bound fast with those Chains which they shall never be able to break and shut up in this bottomless pit out of which they shall never be released Our Lord shall cast into this Lake of fire and brimstone and shut up in this bottomless pit not only the Devil and his Angels the Beast and the false Prophet and generally all wicked Souls and unbelievers but he shall cast therein also Death and the Grave or rather he shall abolish them for ever As Josuah when he conquered the Kings of the Amorites he never killed them until such time as he had overcome all his Enemies Likewise our Lord Jesus Christ our true Joshua hath encountered with Death upon the Cross and overcome it by his Resurrection but he will not destroy it altogether until the last day when he shall come to judge the World Then to perfect all his glorious victories he shall destroy this last Enemy this destroyer of his Brethren and of his Members so that Death shall be no more It shall be no more for the wicked they shall seek it in vain to be freed from their Torments It shall flie away from them as a shadow that departs and is no more to be found Death shall be no more for Gods Children for it shall never disturb their Rest and Happiness If the old Serpent could enter into Paradise we should fear his temptations and inflamed Darts and if Death did continue in its Empire and Command
must take notice of two or three distinctions which if we understand well we shall find no more difficulty in this question First God may be considered in three several respects as he is in Himself and in his proper Being It is in this respect that our Souls do earnestly long for h m and desire to draw near to him and be united unto him as to their Soveraign Good and the bottomless Fountain of Glory and Happiness Secondly as he doth reveal and discover himself on Earth by certain Images and Tokens of his favourable Presence Thirdly as he shall manifest himself in Heaven by the Glorious Images and Divine marks of his Glorious Presence Secondly we must distinguish the several kinds of sight for there is the sight of the Body which looks only upon the objects whereof the Images and Species are within the reach and capacity of our Eye-sight as are Colour and Light There is the sight of the understanding which sees and beholds the things that are at a distance from our sences as the spiritual and invisible substances and the Essential forms of the Body There is also the sight of Faith which riseth yet something higher than our understanding as it is during our abode here below when it is enlightened with God's Divine Grace it sees and beholds things which the eye of the Body never saw and the sensual understandings of Men can never comprehend as the Mysteries of Christian Religion and the powers of the World to come Lastly we must distinguish the knowledge of the Understanding for sometimes it is obscure and confused at other times it is plain and distinct Moreover that knowledge which is most certain and the plainest is of two sorts the one hath bounds and limits suitable to its subject that is to say suitable to the ability and reach of the Understanding the other is absolute and of the same nature as its object that is to say as the thing it self which the understanding looks upon and beholds God as he is in himself and in his own Essence and Being hath never been seen by the Eye of the Body and shall never be neither in this life nor in the life to come for God is a Spirit and of an invisible Nature 1 Timothy 6. In this respect St. Paul affirms That God dwels in a Light which no man can approach unto that no man hath ever seen him nor can see him John 3. But this good God who of himself is invisible delights to shew him self to his Creatures in several ways First God shews himself unto all Men in the works of the Creation of the great World for as St. Paul saith in the 1 of the Romans The invisible things of God from the creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead Especially he hath been pleased to give in the Light a production of Nature and the first of all visible Creatures a lively Image of himself for as there is nothing more ample purer and more beautiful than the Light Likewise there is no visible Creature that represents so well this great God who is a Being most pure most beautiful and perfect the Father of Lights and the true Sun of our Souls Secondly God discovers himself in all the workings of his wonderful Providence and chiefly in his extraordinary and miraculous Operations for when men perceive productions which exceed all the ordinary strength of Nature they are forced to acknowledge that they come immediately from an infinite Power As Pharaoh's Magicians for when they saw that by their Magick Art they were not able to counterfeit Moses's Miracle they confessed That it was the finger of God Thirdly God discovers himself in his Holy and Divine Word which is to us as a beautiful and perfect Looking-Glass where we may see his Image and the brightness of his Glory This was St. Pauls judgement when he saith That all we that behold as in a Glass the glory of the Lord with open face are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3.18 Fourthly God revealed himself to the Church of Israel in the Ark the Signe and ordinary Token of his Gracious Presence He did speak unto this People from the midst of the two Golden Cherubims and did publish his Divine Oracles there he was pleased to discover himself in divers representations chiefly in the Cloud and Fire which came down from Heaven Therefore the Signe bearing the name of the thing signified is sometimes stiled The Lord as in that passage where David saith My Soul is athirst for God for the mighty and living God O when shall I go and appear in the presence of God Psal 42. Fifthly God manifested himself to the Patriarchs and Prophets in Dreams and Visions by Divine Raptures and Prophetical Elevations In this manner he appeared to the Patriarch Jacob in Bethel for when it is said that God was at the end of the mystical Ladder which reach'd up to Heaven without doubt he gave some Sign and Testimony there of his Presence And when the Prophet Isaiah mentions his Glorious Throne he makes no difficulty to say I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up and his Train filled the Temple above it stood the Seraphims each one had six wings with two he covered his Face and with two he covered his Feet and with two he did fly and one cried to another and said Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory and the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried and the House was filled with smoak Isai 6. And the Prophet Micah when he speaks of his Vision he saith I have seen the Lord sitting upon his Throne and all the Hosts of Heaven standing at his right hand and at his left 1 King 12. And the Prophet Daniel describing one of his visions speaks in this manner I beheld till the Thrones were cast down and the antient of days did sit whose Garment was white as Snow and the hair of his Head like the pure Wooll his Throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as hurning fire a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him Sixthly God shewed himself unto Moses in a particular manner not only when he appeared unto him in Horeb and spoke to him out of the flaming Bush but especially when God appeared unto him in the Holy Mountain and for the space of forty days and forty nights discoursed with him familiarly as with a friend for at that time he exposed before him such Glorious and Magnificent Tokens of his Divine Presence that it was almost the same thing as if he had seen God himself God gave him more Light and Knowledge of his Glory than to any other of
seek amongst the rarest and most precious Treasuries of Wit and Learning belonging to the Heathen Antiquity turn over the Writings of the most Eloquent Orators of the Subtlest Philosophers of the most famous Poets examine the Secrets of the most expert and experienced Physitians consider their Practice and all the Remedies that they prescribe to the Soul and you shall find them too unskilful to perform the least Cure They do but charm and divert the Disease hardens us against the evil they furnish us with a good exterior and teach us to bear a good Meen but they have no real Antidote against the Venome that kills the Principle of Life nor Remedy that reaches to the Heart And as the Torrents that dry up in the hottest seasons such Consolations that flow not from the Fountain of Life vanish away without effect and dry up to nothing when a deep sorrow fear and affliction seize upon a sinful Soul It seems the contrivers of the Heathens Religion were sensible of this Truth for they have dedicated Temples and erected Altars to all manner of gods and goddesses not only to Vertues and Health but also to Vices and Diseases to Fear Cowardise Anger the Feavor the Pestilence and an infinite more but they left Death out of their Devotions This is an open Declaration that they knew not how to strike acquaintance with Death and win its esteem and favor They had no Sacrifices nor Incense that could allay its fury they lookt upon it as their most inhumane and unreconcileable Enemy The very name of Death did terrify them therefore it was one of their most unfortunate Omens Adrian the Emperor is a witness of what I say he was one of the greatest Princes in former Ages he had made most part of the habitable World tremble under his Scepter and put to death an infinite number of Men but at last he trembled and was astonished himself at the approaches of Death he had overcome the most barbarous Nations and tam'd the most savage Beasts but when he came to this last Enemy he had no weapons fit for the Encounter therefore in this occasion he discovers the weakness and unconstancy of his Mind far more disturb'd than his Body was with the Disease Sometimes he did employ the Magick Art to retard Death sometimes he did make use of his Sword and Poison to hasten it at last he kill'd himself by an abstinence from Food necessary to entertain his life He had conquer'd all the World and given Peace and Happiness to his Empire but he could not overcome himself or appease the troubles of his Conscience he was so far from satisfying the troublesome thoughts of his Soul that he suffers himself to be overwhelmed with despair he flatters his Soul in hastening its ruine for when his Disease did suffer him to breath he talkt unto it in this manner My little Soul my dearest Companion Thou art now going to wander in obscure Cold and strange places Thou shalt never jest again according to the wonted custom thou shalt never give me any sport or pleasure any more But some may say that Adrian was a powerful Monarch but no great Philosopher that he knew how to Govern and was well acquainted with the Politicks but that he was ignorant of the Morals and had no skill to dye well To answer this Objection let us give an example of one without exception who will satisfy all Opponents Aristotle is generally esteem'd to have been the Subtlest and the most Learned of the Heathen Antiquity he was the Prince of all the Philosophers the Glory of his Age and the Founder of his Sect when his excellent Soul had viewed all things examined the Heavens searcht among the excellencies of the Earth pryed into all the Wonders of the World and found out the rarest Secrets of Nature He could never find any solid Comforts against the apprehensions of Death Notwithstanding all his admirable Subtleties and his profound Learning the fears of this cruel Death terrifies his Conscience in such a manner that he confessed That of all terrible things Death was the most dreadful CHAP. 3. Of divers sorts of Death with which we must encounter WHen David had a design to fight with Goliah he could not make use of the Armor of King Saul therefore he took a smooth stone out of his Bag cast it with his Sling struck the Philistine in the Forehead and brought down this proud Giant who had defied the Armies of Israel We have already examined and tried all the Armor of humane Wisdom and Learning laid up in the Storehouses of the greatest wits of former Ages and we have found that they are not able to yield us any benefit when we shall encounter with Death Let us therefore now see whither we may overcome this Proud Enemy with the Sling of our mystical David with the weapons of our Divine Shepheard but before we begin the Encounter let us look and behold it in the face The enemy that I intend that you should overcome is a Monster with three Heads for there are three sorts of death the Corporal the Spiritual and the Eternal The Corporal Death is a separation of the Soul from the Body although our Body hath been fashioned with the Finger of God it is but a weak and frail Vessel made with the slime of the Earth but our Soul is of an Heavenly Spiritual and Immortal Substance it is a Sparkle and a Raie of the Godhead and the lively Image of our great Creator for when God had made our first Parent He breathed into his Nostrils the breath of Life Gen. 2.7 that we might thereby understand that our Souls do proceed from his immediate hand therefore he is named the Father of spirits Heb. 12. and The faithful Creator of Souls 1 Pet. 4. This Soul doth raise us a degree above all the Animals and above the Celestial Bodies and renders us like to the Angels of Heaven It is the Light that enlightens us the Salt that preserves us from Corruption In one word by this Soul we live enjoy our Sences move and understand as soon as this Angelical Guest leaves its Lodging and Earthly abode it looseth all Beauty and falls of it self into an inevitable ruine For this Flesh that we entertain with care and pamper with all manner of Dainties doth then corrupt and rot after that it hath been stretcht awhile upon Beds of Gold and richly attired in Purple and Scarlet it is cast upon a Bed of Worms and covered with the vilest insects of the Earth notwithstanding all its former perfumes it yields then a most horrid stink before it did ravish the eyes of the Beholders with its admirable Beauty but now it becomes so odious and horrible that the living care not to see it at last it is reduc'd to ashes according to the Sentence that was pronounc'd in the Earthly Paradise Dust thou art and to Dust thou shalt return The Spiritual Death is the separation
persons that they had never been born therefore they shall seek death and shall not find it Mat. 26. They shall desire to dye that is to be reduc'd to nothing Revel 9. but this death shall fly from them who of you can dwell in everlasting burning Is 33. who of us can dwell in Eternal Flames Revel 6. If the viols and little cups full of Gods wrath do force the wicked to cry out how much more shall the Rivers and the Ocean of Gods vengeance force from them O mountains fall upon us O rocks cover us and hide us from the face of him that sits upon the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the day of his anger is come and who may abide it Prov. 1. But as they have stopt their ears to Gods gracious calls and hardned their hearts to his invitations to repentance then God shall also stop his ears to their outcries and his eyes to their horrid sufferings and when they shall be overwhelmed with fear and despair God will scorn and mock at their insufferable misery CHAP. 4. That Jesus Christ our Lord hath redeemed us from Eternal Death and by degrees doth deliver us from a spiritual Death WE read in the fifth Chapter of the Revelation of S. John That this beloved Disciple wept bitterly because no being in Heaven and Earth nor under the Earth was able to open the Book sealed with seven Seals that was in Gods right hand at that instant one of the 24 Elders spake to him Weep not behold the Lion of the Tribe of Juda hath overcome to open the Book and to loose the seven Seals Thus we have until now wept bitterly because we could find no body in the Armies of Israel to encounter with that horrid Monster Death But let us also wipe our Tears and take good courage my beloved for this same Lion of the Tribe of Juda hath order to fight with this dreadful Enemy our victorious and triumphing David who hath torn in pieces the infernal Lion bruised the antient Serpents Head and spoiled Principalities and powers triumphing of them in his Cross Col. 2.15 It is he that hath undertaken this glorious combat It was for that purpose that he left for a while the Throne of God the Father and the company of his Holy Angels 1 Sam. 17. It was for that intent that he came into the Camp and confusion of Israel contemning the shame and reproaches of his brethren He hath not borrowed the weapons and assistance of the world Heb. 2. all that he hath taken from us is our frail nature But he hath armed himself with righteousness as with a breast-plate and hath put on the Helmet of salvation He hath cloathed himself with vengeance as with a garment and hath covered himself with Jealousie as with a cloak he hath alone troden the Wine-press and no body hath assisted him Isa 59. Isa 63. but his arme hath saved him and his hand hath upheld him As David cut off Goliahs Head with his own sword Jesus Christ hath overcome Death by Death like unto the powerful Sampson he hath destroyed all the Enemies of his Glory by his Death 1 Sam. 17. He hath overcome in dying him who had the Empire of Death that is the Devil Heb. 2. and hath delivered them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage then was fulfilled this proof out of Hosea O death I will be thy plague O grave I will be thy destruction Hos 13. and that of Isaiah He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the Earth Isai 25. 1 Tim. 6. This blessed Prince King of Kings and Lord of Lords who only hath immortality and dwelleth in an inaccessible light hath destroyed death and brought to light life and immortality by the Gospel 1 Tim. 1. O death where is thy victory O grave where is thy sting The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law but blessed be God who hath given us the victory by our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15. This great God and Saviour hath perfectly redeemed us from Eternal death as he himself doth teach us in the Gospel of St. John He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life chap. 5.25 I am the living bread which came down from Heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever Chap. 6.51 v. 40. Your fathers did eat Manna in the wilderness and are dead This is the bread which cometh down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not dye Chap. 8. Verily verily I say unto you If any man keep my word he shall never taste of death I am the resurrection and the life he that lives and believeth in me shall never dye and he that believeth in me although he were dead yet shall he live Chap. 11. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life by our Lord Jesus Christ Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection Revel 20. the second death shall never have any power upon him In one word the Gates of Hell that is to say Death can do no prejudice to them that are built upon Jesus Christ the rock of Eternity This merciful Saviour hath also delivered us from the spiritual death Eph. 2. For we being dead in our trespasses and sins he hath quickened us and raised us up together unto newness of life Colos 2. He hath carried our sins in his body upon the Cross that he dying unto sin we might live unto righteousness We are buried with him in his death by Baptisme that as Jesus Christ is raised from the dead by the Glory of God the father we also likewise should walk in newness of life 1 Pet. 2. Awake thou that sleepest and rise from the dead and Jesus Christ shall enlighten thee Rom. 6. For by his death he hath not only reconciled us to God the Father Eph. 5. Colos 11. but he hath also procured unto us the Holy Spirit that creates in us a new heart and imprints the image of his Holiness Ezek. 36. 2 Cor. 5. He makes us become new creatures and regenerates us by the uncorrptible seed 1 Pet. 1. This is that which the Scripture names the first resurrection Revel 20. St. Peter was ravisht in admiration at this great and wonderful benefit and therefore he acknowledgeth it Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 1 Pet. 1. God discover'd to the Prophet Ezekiel a field cover'd with dry bones and commanded him to prophecy upon those bones Ezek. 37. At the Prophets Command
like to vanity his days are as a shadow that passeth away Psal 144. and say as David I am gone as the shadow when it declineth Psal 109. If thou hearest the roaring of the Winds that God taketh out of his Storehouses Lift up thy Soul unto God thy Creator and say with Job Job 7. Remember that my life is but a wind mine eye shall no more see good Job 30. that is the imaginary Good of this miserable World And elsewhere Thou liftest me up to the wind thou causest me to ride upon it and dissolvest my substance If thou takest any delight in the sight of Birds that fly in the Air Let this excellent thought enter into thy mind My days are passed away as the Eagle that hasteth to the prey Job 9. If thou lookest up to the Glory and Beauty of the Heavens and seest the ravishing light of the Stars consider that thy God who hath form'd thee after his Image is so good and noble that he will not suffer thee to dwell for ever or perish amongst this slimy and miserable Earth but to dwell with him for ever in the Heavens and that at the end of thy Race he will raise and carry thee into the Palace of his Glory where thou shalt shine as the Sun in its greatest splendor If thou dost meditate upon the changeableness of the seasons remember that the spring of thy infancy the hot Summer of thy Youth the Autumn of thy Maturity and the sad countenanc'd Winter of thy cold and decrepid age shall succeed one another in the same order Let him who travels by Land think upon Job's complaint My days have been swifter than a Post they flee away they see no good Job 9. Let him call to mind the Apostles excellent saying This one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press forwards towards the mark for the prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. Let him who sails upon the Sea fancy the whole World as a great Sea tost up and down with several furious Waves our Life as a dangerous Voyage and our Days as Ships that pass away in a moment and let him consider that the last breath of Death will drive us into the Haven of Eternal Felicity to the enjoyment of immortal Glory Job 9. Doth God bless us with Children let us understand that we are minded by them of our Mortality for they come to take our room and to succeed to our Estate Doth God take them away to his Rest and those of whom we are most fond Let this advertise us That God intends thereby to cut off all the lower Roots that tye us to this Earth to unloose our hearts and affections that we may offer them up to him alone Instead of spending our selves in Tears and indulging our foolish humour in needless displeasures Let us comfort our selves with this consideration That by this means a part of our selves is enter'd into Heaven and that tother part will follow apace Let us say with David We shall go to them but they shall not return to us 2 Sam. 11. Let the Rich Man when he reckons his Money remember that God hath reckon'd and appointed his days and let this Order sound continually in his Ear Give an account of thy Stewardship Luke 16. Let the Magistrate when ever he delivers his Vote or pronouce a Sentence be arm'd with this consideration That he who sits in the Judgement Seat here below shall stand at the Bar and be judged himself above That one day he shall appear as a poor prisoner at the Tribunal of his great God That the Books will be open'd and that the universal Judge of the World will peruse every particular of his accusation That he must tender an account not only of his words and actions but also of his most secret thoughts and that without any examination at the Rack God will discover the very bottom of his heart Let the Gentleman whenever he receives his Rents and his Revenues call to mind the Tribute that he must needs pay to death Let the Prince and the Lord when he handles his Royal Parents and his antient Charters or when he examines the Homage and Duties to be paid to his House and Family take notice that he must go in person to Heaven Gates and pay his Homage to the Divinity Let the King who sits in his Seat of Justice or Chair of State think upon the Throne of the King of Kings before which he must appear as well as the most wretched Caitiff and the meanest of his subjects and that he must give account before a just God who is no respecter of Persons Let the Minister be never employed about the Duties of his Function but let him Long and wish for that happy day in the which the Lamb shall instruct and feed him in person and lead him to the Fountains of living water Let the Christian Soldier engrave upon his Sword this Sentence of Job Is there not as it were a warfare appointed to all Mortals on Earth Job 7. And instead of thirsting after humane blood let him prepare to encounter with Deathit self Let the Husbandman when ever he sows his Seed or when he reaps the Corn of his Fields be mindful of the season that comes on apace in which his Body must â—ot in the Earth that it might grow up to Eternity Let him think upon what St. Paul saith O fool that which thou sowest is not quickened except it dye 1 Cor. 15. and let him meditate upon Davids comfortable perswasions They who sow in Tears shall reap with Songs of Triumph Psal 126. Let an Handy craftsman that works in his shop imprint in his mind this excellent Sentence Our days are like the days of an hireling and when he hath ended his Task and that he is departing to his Rest let him comfort himself with this assurance That assoon as he shall have ended that work that God hath given him to do he shall rest from all his labors Job 7. When ever the Physitian visits his Patient or when the Chyrurgeon tends upon his wounded Bodies let them consider that they have no Secret nor Art able to protect them from Death or to cure the wounds that it strikes in our corruptible Nature Let the most cunning Lawyers the most advised Counsellors and the most eloquent Orators remember that all their Rhetorick and subtilty will never obtain for them their Suit against Death nor procure a moment of respite and delays And let the most Learned Philosophers learn That the soundest Philosophy is the meditation of Death In short What ever be our Imployment Condition or Age let us lift up our minds and hands unto God to speak to him in the Language of the Prophet David Lord let me know my end and the number of my days that I may know how long I am to live Or of Moses So teach
of Gods everlasting Will and that it carries with it a Commission sealed with the Signet of the living God Adore therefore with all humility the supream Monarch of Heaven and Earth and say to him as David with a profound submission Lord I held my tongue and said nothing because it was thy doing Psal 39. I don't wish thee to have an Heart of Flint without natural affection Piety and Religion are not barbarous they don't deprive us of our Bowels the affection that thou bearest to thy Children is not displeasing to the Father of Mercies if it be but well govern'd and don 't exceed the natural bounds It is lawful for thee to be sensible of their griefs to weep for their distempers and to pray for the recovery of their health But when God hath dispos'd of them and receiv'd them into his Eternal Rest thou must stop all thy Sighs wipe all thy Tears and say as David did after the death of his beloved Child We shall go to them but they shall not come to us 2 Sam. 12. Do they dye of a violent death stop not thy consideration at the evil blasts that have carried them away but lift up thy mind to the great God that draws these winds out of his Treasuries and being arm'd with an Holy constancy say with the patient Job The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken them away blessed be the name of the Lord. I am but a weak instrument which God hath employed to put them into the World but he is their King their Father and their Creator he is also their Saviour and Redeemer Now it is both just and reasonable that God should dispose of his Subjects of his Children of his Workmanship and of those whom he hath redeem'd with his precious blood The Master of a Family gathers at his pleasure the Flowers and the Fruits of his Garden sometimes he cuts off the Buds sometimes he suffers them to blossom sometimes he gathers the green Fruit sometimes he stays till it be ripe and shall not Almighty God have the liberty to dispose at his Will of all that grows in his own Territories The Master of the Family hath not created the Trees and Plants that are at his Command but God hath made and fashioned with his Almighty hand all his Children and all the Men of the World our Flowers wither and spoil in a moment and our Fruits are soon rotten and become unprofitable notwithstanding all our care and skill to preserve them But the Flowers that God cuts or pulls off he transplants them in his Heavenly Garden and gives them a perfect and a Divine Luster and Glory that shall never fade and the greenest fruits that he gathers he preserves them for all Eternity in unspeakable sweetness Doth this Death draw near to threaten thy person when it hath dispatch'd thy dearest friends be not frighted at its appearance for it is not able to anticipate not a moment the hour appointed by the wisdom of Almighty God and when that moment shall be come that he shall call thee to himself from Heaven offer no resistance and stop not thy Ears at thy Creators voice say with the Prophet Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth 1 Sam. 3. Exod. 33. O merciful God seeing that thy Glorious presence goes before me I am ready to depart out of this crazy Tabernacle and to quit this miserable wilderness to enter into the Heavenly and happy Canaan Say with our Saviour Father the hour is come Glorify thy Son that thy Soâ—may Glorify thee John 17. Hast thou lived many years upon Earth ascribe not the cause to the constitution of thy Body to the manner of thy Living nor to the skill of thy Physitians but remember that it is God that lengthens thy days and come and humble at his feet thy Reverend gray Hairs which the Holy Scripture stiles a Crown of Silver or a Crown of Glory Prov. 16. Art thou threatened with Death in the Flower of thine age Fret not thy self at it and let not the least words proceed out of thy mouth but what is seasoned with the Salt of true Piety Remember that it is God alone that cuts off the thread of thy Life and puts a period to thy mortal Race Thou hast as much reason to be grieved because thou art born too late as to be sorry that thou diest too soon Instead of spending thy self in useless complaints which is as if thou that art but an earthly Vessel newly formed shouldest cast thy self against the Rock of Eternity remember to adore and praise thy Great Creator and return him hearty thanks in that he is so well pleased to crown thee in the middle of thy Race and so bountiful as to bestow the Salary of the whole day upon thee who hast labour'd but a few hours He shews thee much favor to transplant thee before thou hast felt the heat of the day and the scorching of the Sun Remember that is it the pleasant gale of his Divine Mercy that drives thee so fast into the secure Haven of Eternal happiness think not therefore that Gods calling thee away in thy strength is a testimony of his displeasure and hatred for to hasten and render a person most happy is no sign of ill will It may be that God calls thee because he hath found some good thing in thee as in Abija the Son of Jeroboam King of Israel because he loves thee dearly and favours thee he intends only to remove thee from the approaching evils as he did Josias one of the Holiest and most Religious Princes that hath ever been because thou dost walk before him and seekest to please him he will take thee up into his Holy and Heavenly Paradise as he did Enoch for fear that the temptations of the World should alter thy Religious disposition and for fear that the Enemy of thy Salvation should prevail upon thee by his continual and wicked suggestions to leave the way of Righteousness in which thou dost walk at present As there are some rich Stuffs whereof the Ashes are most precious and others whereof the Cinders are good for nothing but to be cast away Thus there are some happy gray Heads where the rich and precious Relicks of Justice and Piety do shine whereas others are only fit to discover the follies and vanity of our humane Nature As there is some sort of Wine that grows better by old age and preserves its strength until it comes to the Dregs whereas other Wine there is that soon becomes sower and useless Likewise there are some Men whom old Age makes better and wiser so that they are like to the Indian Trees that yield precious Persumes and Frankincense only when they begin to decline and wither The old Age of such is most Honourable and sends forth a mâ—st blessed perfume of Piety Whereas others do but corrupt with Age and give out a most silthy stench under a white Head they hide a black Soul and a
an affliction I am unworthy of all thy favors seeing thou dost take from me such a precious jewel which was shewn to me as a Lightning I am afraid to have been wanting in my Duty and that this death that kills me is the effect of my stupidity and blindess Methinks I could have hinder'd this doleful accident for if I had behav'd my self otherwise than I have done my Life and Soul should not be now in its Grave O God of all comfort pardon my excessive grief pacify my sighs stop the currant of my Tears remove all these vain displeasures that consume me deliver my Soul from this unmerciful grief and torment that it suffers and from these troubles that are more than humane Instead of looking to these inferior Causes and to the circumstances of the death of this person that I did love as mine own Soul give me grace to remember that the least things as well as the greatest are govern'd and rul'd by thy wise Providence and that the good and the evil proceed from thy Divine appointment Give me Grace to consider that thou dost hold in thine Almighty hand the Keys of Life and Death and that thou alone dost cast us into the Grave and lift us up from thence again Thou O Soveraign Monarch of the Vniversal World who dost not only let death loose but dost also appoint all the means to talke us out of the World make me truly submissive unto thy Sacred Pleasure and to put the Finger upon my Lips because it is thy doing If I open them let it be to adore thy Justice and sing forth thy Praises the person for whom I lament so much was nearly related to me like another my self but it was also thy Creature thy Child and a Member of our Saviours mystical Body We for our parts believe to have the right of disposing of our Workmanship and of that which we have bought with our Money and hast not thou O God the liberty to dispose of that which thou hast created after thy likeness bought not with corruptible things as with Gold and Silver but by the precious Blood of the Lamb without spot or blemish Thou hadst a Son who is the brightness of thy Glory and the express image of thy person whom thou hast not spared for me and shall I Lord refuse thee my Heart and my Bowels Thy only begotten Son came down upon Earth to suffer the most cruel and ignominious Death of the Cross but thou hast taken up into Heaven the person whom my soul did love to crown it with a glorious and ever happy Immortality Shall his or her Felicity be the cause of my Misery and that his or her Rest occasion my displeasure It is the property of true love to prefer the happiness of the beloved Persons to our own satisfactions Therefore our Saviour told his Apostles If you did love me you would rejoyce because I go to my Father for my Father is greater than I. Between thee O great and living God and us miserable Worms of the Earth there is a vast difference as there is between the innocent and harmless delights of this world and the unspeakale pleasures of thy presence for these are but as drops of Water that are dried up with the least wind whereas the satisfactions of Heaven are like a bottomless Sea of Delights in which we shall swim for ever Do I therefore weep for him or for her whose tears thou hast wip'd away Do I wear a mourning Apparel and a black Scarf for him who is now cover'd with a Glorious Attire of Joy and Gladness and who is adorned with an Habit as white as Snow Do I delight my self in darkness and doth he solace himself at the Fountain of Light and Glory Do I seek a solitary and melancholly Retreat and doth he rejoyce amongst the thousands of Angels and the Glorious company of the immortal Spirits I sigh and groan and he sings a new song the Song of the Blessed which is always in his mouth All my complaints and groanings cannot bring him back upon Earth but when that were possible it is not just to attempt it my kindness would be cruel and my love most inhumane How could I resolve to make him leave the Haven of Eternal Felicity to expose him again to the furious Waves and storms of this troublesom Sea of the World How can I have the heart to pull him down from his Triumphing Chariot and from the magnificent Throne unto which thou hast raised him to engage him in new and fresh encounters and to bind him again with a chain of misery how could I pluck off from him the Habits of Light and Glory to cloath him with darkness and cover him with our infirmities Is it possible that I should be so inhumane to draw him out of Rivers of pleasures to cast him again into a Sea of Gaul and Bitterness to take from him the Bread of thine Heavenly Kingdom and the Fruits of the Tree of Life to give him the Bread of affliction and the Apples of Sorrow and grief Can I be so cruel to pluck him from thy bosom from the Breasts of thy most tender favours and from that fulness of Joy which he hath in the sight of thy Countenance to make him languish in our embraces swallow the poison of this miserable Life and groan under the burden of our mortal afflictions In short can I be so senseless as to remove him out of that Eternal Life to cause him to become again the sport of Death He is pass'd from Death to Life is it my desire that he should return back from Life into the merciless hands of Death we shall go to him but he cannot come to us seeing that this life is so short that it is spent and gone as a thought we shall see one another shortly in the light of the Living O Lord how wonderful art thou in thy Works how Magnificent in the means that thou employest and how various is thy Wisdom in all things I see that what thou hast done is not only for thy Glory and for the advantage of this happy Creature a that thou hast received into thy Rest but it is also for my happiness and the instruction of my neighbors for in taking from me my most dearly Beloved my Joy my Pleasure and my Hopes thou hast put my Obedience and faith to a Tryal As thou didst heretofore try the Father of the faithful in requiring from him his only Son Isaac in whom thou hadst promised to bless all the Nations of the World I confess good Lord to the praise of thy Grace and Goodness that my tryal is loss than his for thou didst command Abraham to sacrifice his Son with his own hands to spill his Blood in thy presence and to reduce his Body into Ashes but thou requirest of me no other Sacrifice but that of my Obedience and of my Submission to thy Holy Will Thou wilt have me say with
as if he had been lying upon the Ashes of Jerusalem Some pittiful Beggars are more loath to quit their Rags than the Soveraign Princes to lay down the Ensignes of their Dignity and Honour Such are more enslav'd to their filth and baseness than the greatest Monarchs to the Glory and Splendor of their Empire Death labors as much to free a man from his Prison and to take him out of his Dungeon as to drive him out of his Palace and to tumble him from his Throne The Poor and the Indigent who have no other Bed to lye upon than the hard ground doth make as much resistance as the Rich who are stretched upon the softest Couches The Galley-slaves are as unwilling that Death should loose them from their Chains and take them out of their misery as the Kings and Princes are to leave their Scepters and their Crowns I am fully perswaded that David was more willing to go from his Command and from his Riches than many poor wretches are to depart from their Dunghils and their meanness Some persons are tormented with the Gout the Stone and other grievous and sensible pains they desire nevertheless more passionately to live than many that enjoy a perfect and a flourishing Health Carnal and Earthly Souls are so much bound to the Earth that they feel an horrid reluctancy and an unspeakable displeasure when they are to depart from a Body rotten and falling to pieces with old Age whereas others that are more spiritualiz'd and that have tasted of the Heavenly Gift and of the powers of the World to come depart most willingly out of young and lusty Bodies flourishing in their Strength and Beauty We must not therefore remove out of the World our Legs and Arms but our Affections and vain Lusts If God bestows upon us his Earthly Blessings we are not to follow the example of that extravagant Philosopher who cast into the Sea his Silver and his precious Stones that he might not have the trouble to keep them and who lost them willingly that he might not be in any further danger of loosing them afterwards but we must take heed that they cause not our Faith to make Shipwrack and that we regard them not more than our Consciences for the Soul is a far more precious Jewel than the Body and Life far more considerable than Cloathing Seeing that God bestows upon us so many good things with an intent that we should enjoy them we should shew our selves unthankful to his goodness contrary to his wise Providence and unjust and cruel to our selves to refuse the means of ever using and employing these Blessings All Gods creatures are good and none are to be rejected so that we take them with thanksgiving for they are sanctified by the word of God and by Prayer The Honors and Riches that we receive from our Birth or that we obtain by lawful and just means are to be rank'd amongst the Blessings of God therefore Esther who was but a poor stranger received with joy as a favor from Heaven the Imperial Crown that was put upon her Head and she refused not to be the Wife of the greatest Monarch of that time Joseph accepted willingly the power and dignity with which King Pharaoh had invested him and the Prophet Daniel did not only receive the honourable Commands which were bestowed upon him by the King of Babylon but he employed his Power and Credit to raise also his Companions to the places of Trust and to the Government of that Empire God doth sometimes give the Scepters into the hands of cruel and prophane persons such as was Pharaoh Ahab Nebuchadnezar Belshasar and Herod to teach us that it is not the chief good of Man and that we must aim at a more excellent Kingdom and at more solid and constant Felicities He doth also place upon the Throne Men according to his own heart whom he cherisheth as the Apple of his Eye as David Solomon Jehosaphat Hezekiah and Josias to teach us that the fear of God and the expectation of an immortal Crown is not inconsistant with the Honors of this Life nor with worldly Glory For true Piety hath the promises of this life and of that which is to come The Riches of the Earth are no more hurtful than the Honors and Dignities unless it be by acciddent they are very useful and advantageous to such as employ them well and that dispose of them with an Holy discretion They are powerful helps to true Piety and excellent means to glorify God and to exercise our Mercy and Compassion I may say that they give a Lust to the Zeal and Charity of God's Children Riches turn into evils and are ill bestowed in the hand of a Brute and sordid Nabal at the disposition of a merciless and voluptuous Glutton as the rich Man of the Gospel of a perfidious and treacherous Judas of a silly and debauch'd Youth as the prodigal Son but they are the Blessings of Heaven when they happen in the hand of a Joseph who nourished therewith his Father and all his kindred in the hands of a David that employed them in offerings to Almighty God in the sight of his people of a Solomon who built a magnificent Temple and of a Mary Magdalen who spent them not in Luxury and Vanity nor in curious Trinkets but to buy a box full of precious Ointment which she poured on the head of the Saviour of the World They are blessings indeed when such an one enjoys them as Cornelius the Centurion who employed them in Almes whereof the perfume ascended up to the Throne of the God of Mercies In short our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Eternal Wisdom of his Father hath uttered out of his Sacred mouth that It is more blessed to give than to receive Acts 20. I am not ignorant of the Oracle pronounced by this Great God and Saviour That whosoever doth not renounce Father Mother Houses and Lands for my sake is not worthy of me Mat. 10. This was said to teach us that we must renounce with Heart and Affection all things in the World and of this present Life and that we must be always ready to abandon all in case we cannot keep them without offending God and giving a scandal to his Church but without such an absolute necessity God doth not require from us in any place of Scripture actually to quit and leave our worldly Possessions I know also very well that when a young man did enquire from our Saviour What he was to do to inherit Eternal life Luke 18. This wise Teacher return'd him this answer Sell all that thou hast and give it to the poor and thou shalt have Riches in Heaven then come and follow me Luk 18. This was a particular Commandement made only to that man upon a singular occasion from whence it is not possible that we should gather any conclusion to oblige others to the same action for otherwise this might oblige all Christians in
to grant us the blessed disposition of St. Paul that we may be able to speak as he did I have learn'd to be content in whatsoever estate I am I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me Phil. 4. Remember Christian Souls to settle your Treasure in Heaven where neither the Moth nor Rust can corrupt and where Thieves cannot break through and steal Labor to be rich in Faith and in good Works that you may inherit the Kingdom that God hath promised to them that love him 7. But if it hath pleased God to bless thy labors and if his powerful and liberal hand hath raised thee up to great Honor so that thou enjoyest Riches in abundance thou must remember to possess them in such a manner that they may not enslave thee and according to St. Paul's advice thou must remember to enjoy them as if thou enjoyest them not and that the fashion of this World passeth away we must not trust upon them nor pride in them we ought to glory in something else as God himself exhorts us Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom nor the strong of his strength Let not the rich man glory in his Riches but he that glories let him glory in that he hath understanding and knows me Jer. 9. 8. We must not only take off our hearts and affections from the world and its vanities trample upon them and esteem them like Dung in comparison of the unspeakable Treasures of Heaven but we must also be ready to leave them at every moment as so many trifles vain and perishable things as we are to possess them without displeasure and fear so we must part with them without grief and murmuring When we should loose in a day all that God hath bestowed upon us in the world it becomes us to strengthen our selves with an Holy confidence and resolution saying with Job The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord Job 1. 9. If we happen to part with our Goods Honors and Dignities in the service of God and for the profession of Christs Gospel in such a case we ought to endure the loss with a Christian patience and an excessive joy because that such a loss for a just cause will prove at last to our advantage and glory This was the practice of the faithful Hebrews of whom St. Paul renders this testimony You have received with joy the spoiling of your Goods knowing that you have in Heaven a better and a more lasting inheritance Heb. 10. Christian Souls represent unto your selves the example of the Prophet Moses who esteem'd the reproach of Christ greater riches than the Treasures of Egypt for he had a respect unto the recompense of the reward Heb. 11. 10. Whilst we enjoy our Goods we must take care of the poor and be bountiful in Alms and to speak in St. Paul's language Whilst we have any time let us do good especially to the houshold of faith Gal. 6. Whoever hath compassion of the poor makes God his debter he will assuredly return him his good Deed Prov. 19. Our Saviour promiseth to recompense a Cup of cold water that shall be given to the meanest of such as believe in his name Matt. 10. Alms is a Seed that is cast upon Earth but its Flowers and most excellent Fruits are to be gather'd in Heaven He that sows liberally shall reap liberally It is not therefore as that other Seed mentioned Psal 126. That they that sow in Tears shall reap with Songs of Triumph 2 Cor. 9. For whosoever bestows his Alms sparingly and unwillingly he shall be Treated in the same manner as him that refuseth to part with it therefore St. Paul declares When I should give all my Goods to nourish the poor if I have no Charity I am nothing 2 Cor. 13. God loves a chearful Giver and delights in such Sacrifices 2 Cor. 9. Remember therefore Christians that God shall judge you at the last day not by your Learning Knowledge Riches or Dignities and Honors of this life but by your Alms Deeds and acts of Charity and Hospitality and by the distributing of your Goods to the necessities of the Saints Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when you fail they may receive you into the everlasting Habitations Matt. 25. Rom. 12. Luke 16. That upon your Tomb one may justly engrave He hath scattered he hath given to the poor his Righteousness that is his Charity and Alms-deeds remain for ever Psal 112. 11. Finally we must not only take off our Heart and Affections from the Riches Honors and Vanities of this World but we must also deny our selves tame and overcome our passions and crucify our Flesh with its Lusts Therefore our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ calls upon us from Heaven He that will follow me let him deny himself take up his Cross daily and come after me Matt. 10. That we may be able to imprint this good Lesson in our minds we should seriously consider in the first place that we are but strangers and pilgrims in this world and that we have no lasting City Heb. 13. The Houses that God grants to us are no perpetual Dwellings but only Inns for our present accommodation This was the frequent consideration of the great Patriarchs Abraham Isaack and Jacob who saw the promises afar off believed and embraced them for St. Paul informs us that they did ingeniously profess that they were no better than strangers and pilgrims upon earth and that their intention was to march forwards to their Celestial Countrey This was Jacobs language when he appeared before Pharaoh The days of my pilgrimage have been short and evil they have not attain'd to the years of the life of my Fathers and of the time of their pilgrimage Heb. 12. Gen. 47. And not only the antient Patriarchs who never had any other possessions in the world than a Tomb or some small piece of ground have acknowledg'd themselves to be strangers and pilgrims but Princes and Kings also whom God hath sanctified by his Holy Spirit have freely confess'd the same for David declares not in the time of his banishment nor of his flight nor in his calamities and misery but in his most flourishing Estate and in the midst of his Triumphs Glory Plenty and Prosperity he declares unto God I am a stranger and a forreigner with thee as all my Fathers were Psal 39. 119. And when he speaks not only of himself but also of the rest of God's Children that are upon Earth he makes no difficulty to confess We are strangers and forreigners with thee as all our Fathers were and our days are as a shadow upon Earth that have no stop 1 Chron. 29. Rich and Poor Masters and
Servants Princes and Subjects all of us in general we may with reason say to the Men of this World as Abraham to the Children of Heth I am a stranger and a forreigner in the midst of you Now he that travels in a strange Countrey may gather some Flowers in his passage or take with him a few Ears of Corn but if he be wise he will never tarry to build a Palace If he be well Treated in his Inn he must not cast away the good chear but if his Entertainment be bad he must endure with patience the inconveniencies and contemn all the disorders that happen during his abode if the way be deep full of Mud Bryars and Thorns he must get out of them assoon as he can and if it be good and pleasant he must not stop in it nor busy himself with needless inquiries Every one that is a Traveller dreams of nothing but how to advance in his journey and go forward Likewise we being accustomed to Plenty and Want to Riches and Poverty to Honor and Dishonor we ought to leave the things that are behind and proceed forward to such as are before that we may attain to the end and reward of our Heavenly Calling Phil. 3. 2. Consider not only I beseech you that we are strangers and forrainers in the world but that we are not to inhabit always in this forrain Countrey but that our passage will be but of few days Revel 7. We need but little to nourish and entertain us in this short race at the end of it we shall neither hunger nor thirst and the Sun shall burn us no more As it happen'd with Jacob and his Family when they went into Egypt they had no other Corn nor Food but what was needful and necessary for them in the way because they were certain to meet with plenty of all manner of good things in Joseph's House Likewise we need not make any great provision for our selves in this life because we are marching apace towards our Saviour Christ our elder Brother unto whom God hath given all power in Heaven and in Earth Matt. 28. We are marching into a Countrey that abounds with all manner of true Riches Excellency Glory and Happiness 3. Consider that we are not only strangers but Soldiers to fight under the banners of Christ our Captain who judges and fights justly Revel 19. Job acknowledges That there is a warfare appointed to all Mortals upon Earth Job 7. But I may say that this War is chiefly for such as aim at the glorious immutability For God calls them to endure grievous and violent encounters Therefore St. Paul exhorts his beloved Disciple Timothy to behave himself as a good Soldier in this just War and to fight the good fight of faith 1 Tim. 1. Now he that goes to War must not incumber himself with the affairs and enjoyments of this life 4. Moreover consider that we are like to Soldiers that are engag'd in an Enemies Countrey not with a design to conquer and establish our Selves but only to obtain a free passage having only an intent to pass thorough into our own Native Countrey We don't desire to get into our hands the Inheritances and possessions of the Worldlings nor to rob them of their Crowns and Scepters We have no other request to make to them but that which the Children of Israel made to the Inhabitants of Edom when they were going to the promised Land Numb 20. We desire leave to pass peaceably and go along by the Kings high way to take possession of the Inheritance which God hath prepared for us from the beginning of the World We would not so much as taste a bit of Bread without paying for it nor drink a cup of water without leave 5. Consider that this Life is a Race and the World the place to run in now such as are in a Race must take heed that the Thorns do not catch hold of them in their Course nor that their Feet sink into the Mire or the Clay and that they may run swifter they must cast off all burdens and incumbrances If therefore we will run in this Race in such a manner as that we may obtain the Prize we must see that the Thorns and Briars of the World do not take hold of us and that we sink not into the mire of the dirty Pleasures of this life we must cast away all the burdens that overcharge us and especially the burden of sin which is so grievous that Nature it self grâ—ns under it It is the design of St. Paul's exhortation Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the Race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross Rom. 8. Heb. 12. 6. Consider that our life is a continual wrestling for we must wrestle not only against Flesh and Blood but also against Principalities and Powers against the Lords of the World and the Rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual wickedness in high places Eph. 6. 1 Cor. 10. Now he that intends to wrestle well must diet himself accordingly If therefore for a corruptible Crown Men tame their Bodies render them supple and pliant and abstain from Delights and Pleasures how much more reason have we to do the like for an uncorruptible and a Glorious Crown 7. Consider that God will have us to be conformable to the image of his Son and that we should follow his footsteps Now this good Saviour represents to us his own condition Rom. 8. 1 Pet. 2. The Foxes have holes and the Birds of the air have Nests but the Son of man hath not whereon to lay his head Luke 9. Therefore he made this confession before Pontius Pilate My Kingdom is not of this World John 8. and for that reason he reproves the gross and carnal imaginations of the two Disciples as they were going to Emaus O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken Luke 24. ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his Glory according to his blessed example we must have little part and concernment in the World and enter by many afflictions into the kingdom of God Acts 24. 8. I judge that it is also necessary that we should represent at every moment unto our selves that to speak exactly we can have but the 〈◊〉 and not the right enjoyment of Gods Creatures We are intrusted with his favors as the Stewards of his Blessings and Riches At every moment he may call us to an account and require from us a reason of our behaviour and take from us our enjoyments we should therefore look upon our Houses and Possessions as upon things that are let unto us for as we are not displeas'd to restore what we had
in time In short we must not only quit and abandon all our Honors Dignities Treasures and Riches but we must also quit this Body this Flesh and Bones cover'd with this beautiful Skin O Man remember that thou art but dust and that thou shalt return to Dust 16. Saladine the famous Sultan of Egypt hath left to posterity an illustrious Testimony of the vanity of all Riches and worldly Grandeur for upon his Death-bed he Commanded that his Winding-sheet should be carried at the end of a Lance by an Herauld who was to proclaim Here is all that this great Prince hath carried away of his Riches Glory Principalities and Lordships which he hath enjoyed on Earth 17. Consider that it is a great cause of grief that we know not who shall inherit the Fruits of all our Labors which we keep with so much care and restless fears Who knows but our greatest Enemies and that which is worse Gods enemies shall cloath themselves with our spoils and that which we have been so long gathering many years shall be spent in a moment of this vanity and evil the Royal Prophet complains in the 39 Psalm Surely every man walketh in a vain shew surely they are disquieted in vain he heapeth up Riches and knoweth not who shall gather them 18. Consider well Christian people the dangerous effects wrought in us by the love of the World and the deceitfulness of Riches it stifles in our Hearts the good seed of the Gospel Matt. 3. it hinders it from growing up to salvation it keeps many from glorifying God and making an open profession of the truth As it is said of some of the chief Pharisees that they believed in our Lord Jesus Christ but they would not confess him before Men because they did love more the glory of Men than the glory of God therefore when Cyrus made Proclamation that the Children of Israel should have full liberty into their own Countrey to rebuild Jerusalem to repair God's Temple and to re-establish his neglected service there were many Jews that cared not to obey this Prince's Command nor God's Call because they were setled in Babylon they were too much wedded to the pleasures and delights of that City and therefore loath to part with their Concerns there for Jerusalâ—m for the same cause that young man mentioned before would not follow the Saviour of the World nor obey his Command because he had much Riches and had setled his Heart and affections upon them As God's Ark and Dagon cannot dwell together under one roof 1 Sam. 5. so the love of God and the love of the World can never subsist together therefore St. John adviseth us Love not the world nor the things that are in the world If any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2. 19. Take notice that this is the passion that stops so many in their first beginnings of Piety for as Lots wife was changed into a Statue of Salt assoon as she had looked behind her so when God sends us his Angels to take us by the hand and drag us out of the spiritual Sodom there is nothing more dangerous than to look with regret and longings for carnal Delights and worldly advantages which we are then totally to quit that alone is able to stop our proceeding forward to stifle our zeal and to cause all our pious intentions to vanish into the Air Therefore we must imprint in our minds this excellent sentence of our Saviour No body that puts his hand to the Plow and doth look back is fit for the kingdom of God 20. From hence it is that so many persons esteem'd well-grounded in Religion and Piety are perswaded at last to turn their backs to God and to make shipwrack of their faith What was the cause of the Israelites murmuring so often and desiring to return into Egypt was it not as we have already taken notice because their Hearts and Affections were setled and fixed in that cursed Land from whence God had deliver'd them by so many miracles and wherefore did Demas leave St. Paul and Christ's Gospel It was because he loved too much this present World In short our own experience confirms to us the saying of our Saviour No man can serve two Masters for he will hate the one and love the other or he will cleave to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and Mammon 21. Consider that if these worldly Goods and Honors don't produce in us these woful and lamentable effects they produce them in our posterity many would live happier in the World and be honester Men if their Parents had not left them so much Riches and so many Honors to possess Their Riches and Honors therefore do occasion many evils and oft-times they cast them headlong into several debaucheries and insolencies it is that which fills them full of a ridiculous vanity and of an unsufferable pride that renders them hateful to God and Man In a word it is that which makes them forget God and unmindful of the Treasuries and advantages of his Kingdom Prov. 30. Therefore Agar presented this excellent Prayer unto God Give me neither poverty nor Riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain Wretched Man to what purpose dost thou labor so carefully to gather up Riches for thy Children It may be that these Riches which thou dost snatch from others or which thou dost get with the loss of thy Soul shall serve but to get Golden Calves be the substance of infamous Idols as Gideon's Gold plunder'd upon the Midianites was employed in an Ephod which became a snare to his House and to all Israel Thus it happens many times that the Goods which are gotten with the expence of much blood and sweat and the Honors unto which we climb up with so much earnestness and passion become snares to our posterity they cast them headlong in an Abysse of misery 22. I should not forget that death is a kind of sleep therefore in Holy Scripture to dye and to fall asleep are to be understood in the same sence now as we cannot conveniently fall asleep unless we set aside and forget all the troublesome affairs of the World Likewise it is altogether impossible to dye comfortably and peaceably if we don't banish out of our hearts betimes all the foolish fancies that disturb us and all the cutting cares that undermine and consume us 23. To this purpose profane History tells us of a remarkable passage of Cyneas a great Minister of State to Pyrrhus King of Epirus That when he saw his Master so busy in raising of an Army to march against the Romans he began to argue with him in this manner Sir If it please God to grant you the victory over the Romans how will you employ your self next The
King answered We will then endeavour to conquer the rest of Italy and when we shall have Italy in our possession replyed Cyneas what shall we do afterwards we will go against Sicily saith the King the discreet Cyneas continued to demand and when we have all Sicily what shall we do Pyrrhus answered him we wil pass into Africa and take Carthage and after that we may recover Macedonia and command all Greece without controul But Sir replyed Cyneas when we shall have got all into our possession what shall we do then The King answer'd him with a smiling countenance My friend we will then repose our selves and take our fill of Delights and Pleasures then Cyneas began to tell the King What hinders us now Sir from taking our Rest and Delights for we have all that in our hands that we are going to seek so far with so much Bloodshed and Danger We may apply this to our selves we have most of us intricate and hidden designes which cannot be accomplish'd in the age of one Man We are afraid to dye as if Death had already caught us by the throat and yet we have so many desires to fulfil as if we were all immortal we build and adorn our sumptuous Dwellings as if we were never to leave the World And we are always gathering so much as if we had the charge of providing for a Royal Army Let us therefore in this case imitate this wise Minister of State Let us ask our selves for what purpose are these vast designes what end do we propose to our selves of all our labors and care what do we aim at when we run so many dangers and endure so many inconveniencies our Souls will answer us without doubt that it is with an intention at last to rest our selves in peace to live at ease and enjoy the fruits of our labors Let us enjoy that happiness and that satisfaction at present Let us not stay to rest our selves until the time when Death shall stretch us in our Graves Let us be satisfied with the goods that God hath already bestowed upon us and let us use them with thanksgiving Miserable wretches that we are why do we labor and torment our selves for so many things seeing that there is but one thing necessary and that is Piety the fear of the Lord and the expectation of his eternal Felicities Let us therefore make election of this good part and it shall never be taken from us Luk 20. 24. If we desire to imprint in our minds the contempt of the World and of its Vanities we must often meditate with serious attention upon the excellency of our Nature sanctified by Grace upon the worthiness of our spiritual calling and upon the Riches and Glory of that eternal Happiness which God hath prepared for us in Heaven It is impossible to look upon these things as we ought but we must conclude with the Apostle that the World with all its Pleasures and Treasures is not worthy of us The Woman that appeared to St. John in a vision was cloathed with the Sun having the Moon under her feet and a Crown of twelve Stars upon her Head This is a lively Image of Christs Church in general and of every faithful Soul in particular for when we are cloathed and adorned with Jesus Christ the Son of Righteousness we ought to trample upon all the pomp and magnificence of the World and laugh at the revolutions of the Ages at the Vanities and unconstancy of the Earth we must seek our greatest Glory and our most ravishing Delights in the Doctrine of the twelve Apostles who are as so many Stars shining in the firmament of the Church Let the World alter its face as often as the deceitful Laban we ought to be as the Rayes of the Sun always like our selves for our Glory is not as that of the World and of the Princes of this age that is reduc'd to nothing it is not setled upon a vain and failing foundation but upon the living and true God who is the same yesterday and to day and who shall be the same for all Eternity Heb. 14. Some glory in their Chariots others in their Horses but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God Heb. 13. Psal 29. 25. Consider that God hath lifted up our countenance and turned our face to look up to Heaven that he might thereby teach us to lift up thither also our Hearts and carry thither our Affections and Desires He hath created our Souls and given them a spiritual Being that they may take their flight above all earthly substance He hath adorned them with immortality that they might contemn all things that are not immortal as themselves all decaying and perishing enjoyments In short seeing God hath prepared for us his Heaven his Paradise his Glory his Treasures and the Rivers of Eternal Delights how can we yet stop our desires and be content with this dust of the Earth where Serpents crawl 26. When Alexander was preparing to leave Maceâ—onia and go to the Conquests of the Persian Monarchy he gave away all his Goods to his faithful friends and servants Perdicas one of his Favorites demanded of him what he had reserved for himself The King answered that he had reserved HOPE Thus ought we to fit our selves to depart out of the World by leaving our Parents Friends and Estates that we now enjoy and if our Flesh enquires of us what we kept for our selves let us confidently answer That we have kept our HOPE I may assure you Christian Souls that this your answer shall be more rational and better grounded than that of Alexander to his Favorite for this Prince did leave his Patrimony and Kingdom without any need but whether we will or no we must leave the World Alexander did quit his certain Goods for a doubtful Hope but we abandon perishing enjoyments for an Hope more secure and setled than Heaven and Earth Alexanders expectation was but of a temporal Kingdom and of a short and vanishing Glory but our expectation is of an uncorruptible Crown and eternal Triumphs Death hath seized upon Alexander in the flower of his Age put a period to all his Victories and consum'd all his Trophies but we are in hopes of conquering Death it self and this hope will not deceive us Rom. 5. This therefore being our assurance it is no wonder if St. Paul tels us That Hope is as a sure and unmoveable Anchor of the Soul piercing into the Vail that is into Heaven it self where Jesus Christ is entered as our fore-runner 27. God hath hid in the Earth Gold Silver and Jewels to teach us to trample upon all the Riches and Pomp of the World but he hath rais'd up to the highest Heavens our spiritual Treasure and our immortal Crowns that we might lift up thither our Hearts and our most earnest Affections he desires that we should imitate the Prophet David who did always comfort himself with the expectation of the
is by the vertue of Gods Divine Spirit which he hath bin graciously pleased to grant unto us and if the persons that we love and cherish as tenderly as your souls or those whom we are to reverence and honor labor to stir up the bowels of our compassion and to impede us in our Holy resolutions by base and earthly considerations let us tell them as our Saviour did to Mary Magdalene Le me alone for I am going to my Father John 20. Stop not my course for I hold already the prize and the promised Crown In short as Abraham let the Ram loose whereof the Horns were taken in a Thicket and offer'd it up in Sacrifice to God Gen. 21. Likewise let us free our minds from all worldly cares and carnal affections Let us offer them up all to God as a sweet smelling Sacrifice let us present them as a Burnt-offering consume them in the Flames of an Holy Zeal and love of his Divine Majesty When the Christian shall be thus prepar'd he shall never stand in fear of Death he will say to it with an assured countenance Come when thou wilt O Death I desire no reprieve for along while ago I have setled my affairs and wait for thee with patience the chief part of my self is not here below my Heart is already ravish'd into Heaven where God expects me with Arms wide open Therefore notwithstanding thy fearful darkness and the designe that thou hast to destroy me I will follow thee as couragiously and as joyfully as St. Peter did the Angel of Light that open'd to him the Gates of his Prison and freed him from his Chains Acts 12. A Prayer and Meditation for such as prepare for Death by a renunciation of the World O Infinite Lord of Heaven and Earth who dispossest of good and evil by thy Divine Providence and admirable Wisdom thou hast not suffer'd us to have here a lasting City that we might seek for that which is to come Thou dost discover before our eyes the vanity and unconstancy of all things under the Sun that we might labor to attain to solid and everlasting advantages Thou hast placed and reserved in Heaven an inexhaustible Treasure of Riches uncorruptible Crowns of Glory and Eternal Triumphs that thither we might transport our Heart and affections The source of Heavenly pleasures is with thee that we might always be athirst for the strong and living God and that we might desire with an Holy earnestness to look upon thy beautiful and glorious Face Most Glorious Creator seeing thou hast bestowed upon me an â—mmortal Soul suffer me not to be so wretched as to content my self with these mortal vanities and seeing thou hast made it of a Spiritual and Heavenly nature suffer me not to be so unhappy as to wallow in this miserable dust of the Earth or to cast my self into the puddle and dirt of carnal Lusts Give me Grace to renounce the World and all the Vanities that the World adores Give me Grace to possess all these decaying and perishing things as not possessing them that I may tramble upon all the pomp and glory of the Age that I may consider that the Gold the Silver the precious Jewels whereof the apparent beauty deceives the carnal eyes of Men is nothing else but hardened Earth that will crumble away and dissolve into Dust that I may remember that after my decease all these things will profit me no more than that vile Earth and the Stones that shall cover my dead Corps or the Wood or Lead which shall be given to it for a Coffin Give me grace to despise all the Honors and Dignities after which the Men of the World run so impatiently for they are but like a shadow that passeth away and like the smoak that ascendeth up put of our reach Pluck out of my heart the cares of this life and all solicitousness for the Earth that Death may never surprize me unawares and that there may be nothing to stop or hinder from going to thee when thou shalt be pleased to call me that my soul being totally disengag'd and freed from all these Bryars and Thorns I may be always ready at every moment to be offered unto thee as a living and a burnt Sacrifice The Children of Israel did fix and raise their Camp at thy Command Give me also Grace to be as ready prepar'd to live and dye to remain in this Tabernacle and to depart out of it when thou shalt send thine Orders and as this people did pass over the River Jordan with a wonderful joy to take possession of the promised Land O that I might also leave this miserable Wilderness with transports of joy to enter into the Celestial Canaan where the Milk and Hony of Divine Pleasures and of Eternal Comforts flow as in their natural Channel O God who art my portion and mine inheritance cast me not away with the men of the World whose portion is in this life Thou dost fill their paunch with thy good things they are full and leave sufficient for their Babes but for me all my comfort is that I shall behold thy face in Righteousness and shall be sanctified when I awake with thy likeness Amen CHAP. 11. The Fifth Remedy against the fears of Death is to renounce Vice and to apply our selves to the practice of Piety and Sanctification GOd is so wonderful in all his Works and he governs all his Creatures in such a manner that his very Enemies are constrain'd to acknowledge this Truth You have an excellent example in Balaam who beholding the Tents of the Children of Israel breaks out into this passionate wish Let me dye the death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his Numb 25. He was a wicked Varlot that loved the wages of iniquity nevertheless he perceived by that Prophetical Light with which his Soul was enlightened how sweet and comfortable Death was to such as addict themselves in this life to the service and fear of Almighty God and how different it is from the death of the profane Worldlings who give themselves over to their Lusts and Delight in the unlawful pleasures of the Flesh for as the Drunkards sleep with a disturb'd and unquiet fancy likewise such as are drunken and full with the base and rotten pleasures of this life if they be not hardened by Atheisme do commonly depart out of the World with strange frights and horrid gripings of Conscience that cannot be express'd It is otherwise with a good Christian for as the Handicrafts man who hath work'd all the day in his Shop and the Husbandman who hath wearied himself in following his Plow lays himself down at night in peace so it is with a good Christian who hath carefully attended the works of Piety and Mercy in this life he sleeps his last sleep with a great quiet of mind and satisfaction of soul as righteous Jacob when he travelled a journey to his Mothers friends with his Fathers
clean and pure that they cannot suffer the sight of iniquity and sin it is that which doth most afflict and grieve him Therefore when St. Paul had advis'd the Ephesians That no corrupt Communication should proceed out of their mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister Grace unto the hearers he adds immediately after Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption And if there be any that are not moved with the presence of such a Glorious Person let him tremble at this fearful threatening If any destroy the Temple of God God will destroy him 1 Cor. 3. 12. There was two Tables of Stone in the Ark of God's Covenant where God himself had written his Law which he gave to his People by the Ministry of Moses 1 Kings 6. Seeing that the God of all mercy hath chosen thy Soul to be his Sanctuary and the pavillion of his Glory his Sacred Commandments must be there engraven upon the Table of thy Heart thou must be moved with an earnest desire for the service of God and for an exact conformity to his Holy Will that we may be able to say to you what St. Paul said to the Christians of his days Ye are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ written not with Ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of Stone but in fleshly Tables of the Heart And that you may say with the Royal Prophet My God my Delight hath been to do thy Will thy Law is within me 2 Cor. 3. 13. Let us represent to our selves continually the great and many Obligations that we have to fear God to love him and to serve him he is the most perfect of all Beings he is perfection it self infinitely lovely so that if there were neither Hell to punish us nor Heaven to reward us he ought to be served and reverenc'd because of Himself and of his Divine Perfections This consideration causeth Jeremiah to break forth into these lofty expressions Who would not fear thee O King of Nations for to thee doth it appertain forasmuch as among all the Wise Men of the Nations and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee Jer. 10. 14. Whilst we are travelling here below we are not capable of such an high and Celestial Meditation it belongs only to the Angels whom God hath invested with Light and Glory and to the Heavenly Spirits whom he hath admitted to the contemplation of his Face Let us therefore seriously consider the Blessings and Favors which we have received from this great God who hath created us in his own Image and who hath made us to be the Master-pieces of all his inferior Wonders He hath placed in us a breviation of all the Beauties and Perfections of the World he hath given us a Being as to the Sun Moon and Stars A Life like the Plants Sence as to the Animals Understanding as to the Angels In short he hath infused into this Body fashioned with his own fingers an immortal Soul of an Heavenly Substance a beam of his Glory and a living Image of his Godhead My Soul therefore bless the Lord and all that is within me bless his Holy name my Soul bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits Psal 103. 15. It is for mans sake that God hath stretched out the Heavens established the Earth poured out the waters and prescribed Limits to the roaring Sea It is for Man's sake that this Gracious Creator hath adorned the Heavens with such a number of Beautiful Stars that he hath given to the Moon its unconstant Motions with its wonderful influences that he hath setled in the Sun such a bountiful source of Light and that he hath appointed the unvariable succession of the seasons of the Days Months and Years It is for Man's advantage and lawful recreation that so many Birds sing and fly in the open Air that such prodigious numbers of Fishes swim in the Seas and Rivers that the Earth is beautified with so many delicate Flowers that it brings forth so many wholsome Herbs and pleasant Fruits that it nourisheth so many kinds of Animals and engenders in its Bowels Gold Silver and precious Stones In a word it is for Man's sake that God hath created the World and hath filled it full of so many Riches and beautified it with so many excellent Perfections Therefore it is no wonder if the Royal Prophet is ravished into an Holy Admiration and bursts forth into these expressions O God what is mortal Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou dost regard him Thou hast made him a little lesser than the Angels thou hast Crowned him with Glory and Honor Thou hast establish'd him Governor over the Works of thine Hands Thou hast put all things under his Feet the Sheep and the Oxen the Beasts of the Fields the Birds of the Heavens and the Fishes of the Sea If the example of this great Prophet hath not power sufficient to stir you up and perswade you to the fear and worship of God by the consideration of the wonderful Works of the Creation Hear what the Angel declares who took his slight through the middle of the Heavens having the Eternal Gospel in his hand Fear God and give him Glory worship him that liveth for ever and ever for he hath made the Heaven and the Earth the Sea and the Fountains of Waters 16. We have not only in God our Life Motion and Being but he hath not left himself without witness in doing good and sending Rains from Heaven fruitful seasons filling our hearts with Food and Joy He doth nourish us with his Manna and gives us to drink of his abundance he overshadows us with his Protection and enlightens us with his Heavenly Fires He hath always his Eyes open to our Miseries and his Ears to our Sighs and Groans He is always near them that call upon him yea them that call upon him faithfully Let us therefore say as David I love the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my Supplication for he hath enclined his Ear unto me therefore will I call upon him all the days of my life Psal 14. Psal 116. 17. Meditate often upon the advantages that are common to thee with the rest of Christians and upon the Blessings and Favours which God hath vouchsafed to thy Person in particular Remember how many times he hath sent his assistance from above how he hath wrought Miracles to deliver thee from the Evils that did threaten thee Consider how liberal he hath been to thee in the whole course of thy life what admirable and noble means he hath employed to crown thee with his most precious Favors then thou wilt say with Jacob O God I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercies and of all the Truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant Gen. 32. And with David Many
O Lord my God are thy wonderful Works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee If I should declare and speak of them they are more then can be numbred and being ravish'd into an Holy Admiration thou wilt say in the language of the same Prophet O God who is like unto thee who when thou hadst made me see many distresses and evils at last thou hast restored me to Life and drawn me out of the depths of the Earth Psal 71. Thou shalt increase my greatness again thou wilt comfort me And elsewhere What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me Psal 116. 18. The Consideration of God's redeeming us doth chiefly require us to deny our selves and consecrate our selves to his service for the Slave don't belong to himself but to him that hath redeemed him and paid his ransom As when God had deliver'd the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt he gave unto them his Law and his Ordinances in Mount Sinai Thus God hath redeemed us from the Tyranny of the Devil of the World of Sin of Death of Hell and from the power of all our Enemies that we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our life Luk 1. He hath given himself a ransom for us that we might become a peculiar people to him given to good Works Tit. 2. You are bought with a price Glorify then God in your Bodies and your Souls that belong unto God 1 Cor. 6. 19. One love must kindle another the Sacred Fire that is come from Heaven must enflame our hearts with an Holy Zeal for his Glory God hath loved us so much that he hath given his Holy Son that believing we might not perish but have everlasting life He hath not spared him who is the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person He hath deliver'd him to death for us yea to the ignominious death of the Cross And is it not just that we should love him above all worldly things a God so good and merciful Is it not just that we should love nothing but him and for his sake Is it not reasonable that we should offer unto him our Bodies and Souls as a Living and Holy Sacrifice pleasing to his Eye And if we have any Lust that offends him is it not just that we should willingly leave it betimes when it should appear as useful to us as our Hands and Feet and as dear as the Apple of our Eyes Whosoever he be that doth not deny himself is not worthy of him Matt. 10. 20. We must treat the body of Sin which the Holy Scripture stiles the Old man and the First Adam almost in the same manner as Christ the New Man and the Second Adam was treated upon the Cross Rom. 6. Instead of flattering it and seeking to satisfy its Lusts we must deprive it of all its pleasures make it drink Vinegar and Gaul teare its Head with Thorns bind and chain its Affections and nail them to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ with all its inordinate and brutish desires Mortify therefore your Members that are upon Earth Fornication Uncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry Gal. 5. Coloss 3. 21. To live in sin and to delight our selves in iniquity is to frustrate as much as in us lies our good Lord from that principal end which he designed in leaving for a while the Celestial Abode of his Glory and Immortality for he is come into the World to destroy the Works of the Devil Now the chief Work of the Devil the great Enemy of our Salvation in which he takes most Delight and Glory is Sin with which he ensnares Mankind for by Sin Death and all kind of Calamities are enter'd into the World John 3. Rom. 5. 22. It is to trample upon the only Son of God to affront the Spirit of Grace and esteem the Bloud of the Covenant a prophane thing It is to destroy the Fruits of the Death and Passion of our good Redeemer and pull down his Cross for he hath carried our Sins in his Body upon the Cross that dying unto Sin we might live unto Righteousness He hath given himself for his Church to sanctify it and to render it a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle nor any such thing If the Bloud of Bulls and of Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkled did Sanctify the uncleanness of the Flesh how much more shall the Bloud of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead Works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 23. Our Lord and Saviour was not only Dead but also buryed to teach us to bury also with him our sins and shut up in his Sacred Tomb all our carnal Lusts Don't you know all ye that have been baptized in Jesus Christ that you have been baptized in his Death we are then buried with him in his death by Baptisme 24. This Glorious Saviour is risen from the Dead and hath left his Sepulchre with his Funeral Attire to teach us to rise to newness of Life and to leave in our Grave that sin that encompasseth us and the ties of our corruption that bind us so fast To speak in St. Paul's language As Jesus Christ is risen from the dead by the Glory of the Father we also ought to walk in newness of life for if we are made one Plant with him by a conformity to his Death we shall also be One by a conformity to his Resurrection and as Christ who is risen from the Dead dies no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Likewise we ought not to apply our Members as instruments of iniquity unto sin but we ought to apply them unto God as being made alive from the dead Rom. 6. He is dead and risen again that he might have dominion over the dead and the living If any be in Jesus Christ let him be a new Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new Rom. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 25. Jesus Christ after his Glorious Resurrection is ascended up into Heaven to lift up thither our Hearts and to draw thither our affections and to teach us to reform our manners to live an Holy Angelical and Celestial life If you are risen with Christ seek those things that are above where Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God think upon things above and not upon things upon Earth Coloss 3. 26. There is nothing in the World so lovely as Vertue It is the delight and pleasure of Heaven it is the Daughter of the living God and the true and lively Image of our great Creator O blessed decking of a Christian Soul O rich and precious Ornament of God's Children O Heavenly Grace what rare and strong Charms hast thou to win the
Holy Fire that never saith that it is enough Prov. 10. As the Prophet Moses after that he had been 40 days and 40 nights conversing with God in his Holy Mountain came down with a Glorious Countenance shining as bright as the Light with two Tables of the Law in his hands Likewise a Christian Soul that hath bin lifted up to God by fervent Prayers and bin conversing with him in devout Meditations cannot hide its spiritual Joys and its unspeakable Delights it burns with an earnest desire of glorifying God and of pleasing him in all things when the Apostle St Peter saw our Saviour transfigured upon Mount Tabor he was ravish'd and transported in such a manner that he cryed out Lord it is good for us to dwell here let us make three Tabernacles Thus the good Christian who is enlightned from above is never weary in the company of his God when he should live several ages he would not believe that he hath too much time to serve his Creator to worship his Divine Majesty and to refresh himself with the unspeakable pleasures of his presence As the time of Jacob's service seem'd to him but a few days because of the love that he had for Rachel thus the days that we spend in the service of God seem to be but of a few hours or moments in case our love for God be earnest and sincere 38. Represent unto your selves the fearful curse denounced against the wicked and the prophane Gen. 29. they carry about them every where the Works of God's anger and just revenge they are the objects of his hatred and execrable to the publick they who flatter and fawn upon them most for their own advantage do abominate and curse them in the bottom of their hearts and they who out of a servile fear seem to honor and worship them in the light of the Sun would be many times very joyful to dance upon their Graves and erect a Gallows to hang them thereon 39. It is not so with good Men they are honoured by God and Man and their greatest Enemies admire their Vertues let us be never so poor and contemptible in the World we are rich and noble enough if we fear God as we ought and obey his Holy Will for the fear of the Lord is our chief Treasure it is our Crown our Diadem and our greatest Ornament 40. The wicked Man is frighted and troubled of his own accord he trembles in the midst of his Guards and he flies when no man pursues all things scare him he is jealous and distrusts his best friends his Children are suspected and in the embraces of his dearest Wife he slumbers with an unquiet Soul 41. It is otherwise with a good Man he marcheth every where with an Head lifted up and his Heart rejoyceth in a perfect tranquility of mind for there is no Bulwark like that of a good Conscience it is like a Wall of Brass that abides and withstands the injuries of the times and seasons He that fears God is free from all other fears Psal 125. The finger of God that hath setled in his Soul the dread of his Holy Name banisheth all other apprehensions Psal 112. He is like Mount Sion that cannot be moved he fears no ill report his Soul is firmly setled upon God in the midst of his greatest dangers and violent storms he saith with David The Lord is my light and my deliverance of whom should I be afraid the Lord is the strength of my life whom then should I fear O God thou art a Buckler round about me my Glory and the lifter up of my Head I have laid my self down I have slept and I have awak'd for the Lord upholds me I will not fear thousands of People when they should sett themselves round about against me when a whole Army should camp against me my heart would never fear Psal 117. 42 Let the wicked be never so great and honourable and never so highly advanc'd in the world their Fame shall perish Eternally 'T is to no purpose that they rear up stately Trophies and fill whole Volumes with the remarkable passages of their lives making the Marbles to speak forth their Praises whatsoever they do to render their Glory Eternal their name shall be always abominable to God and all his Holy Angels and Mankind shall never remember it but with curses and detestation these infamous persons are like unto a stinking Lamp that gives light for a time but when it is put out it leaves a most odious stink they may be also compar'd to certain Devils that never go out of a place without causing an ill smell to be behind them 43. It is otherwise with good Men their Fame shall flourish for ever and like the Palm the more Men press it down the more it will rise their name is Engraven in Heaven it self in the Glorious Temple of Eternity it shall always be blessed by God and the Angels of his Glory and the example of their Christian Vertues shall remain after them for a Model for their posterity to imitate a faithful Christian whose Soul is sanctified by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is like to the Alablaster-box af Ointment which when it was broken spilt upon our Saviour's Head a precious Liquor that perfum'd all the room for such an one lives after his death when his Body is broken and reduc'd to Ashes his good name spreads abroad to the Glory of God and the edification of his Church Mary Magdalene's Perfume filled only the Chamber where they were sitting and was soon spent but the good Perfume of an innocent and Holy life fills both Heaven and Earth with a sweet scent and continues for ever and ever 44. I judge that another powerful means to withdraw us from Vice and to induce us to Vertue is to represent unto our selves at every moment the Excellency and Dignity of our Calling to take a delight in beholding with the Eyes of our Soul the white Stone where our new Name is written which none knowâ— but he who receives it It is the noble and high quality of the Children of God and of Believers which he bestows upon none but upon such whom he hath elected from all Eternity for the eternal enjoyment of Bliss in his glorious Kingdom It is reported of a certain young Prince that when he had a designe to disgrace himself by lustful actions and debauchery a wise Philosopher reclaim'd him from his wicked purpose by telling him Remember that thou art a Kings Son Thus you Christian Souls when Satan the Flesh and the World shall tempt you to filthy and unjust actions or to any other sin call to your remembrance that you are the Children of the King of Kings Take heed you defile not such a precious Crown and as our Saviour said to him who should have followed him but was desirous first to go and bury his Father suffer the dead to bury the dead likewise we say unto you devout
our ears and in our mind Put off thy shooes from thy feet for the place where thou standest is holy ground Exod. 6. Cast off there thy base and earthly affections and renounce thy sottish and filthy Lusts for thou art always before my eyes that are too clean and pure to suffer the sight of evil and the place where thou standest is sanctified by my presence Heb. 1. Remember that I see thine Heart that I search thy Reins and that I read thy most secret thoughts Revel 2. Christian souls imagine that God calls unto you from Heaven continually as hed id unto Abraham Walk before me and be perfect Gen. 17. Let therefore the dread of this Divine Majesty seize upon thee and possess thee When Potiphar's Wife tempted chaste Joseph to defile himself with Adultery she perceived nothing in the room but this object of her Lust but this Holy man perceives the Glorious Godhead between him and this lascivious Woman he perceives God's Eye that seeth into the greatest depths This made him break out into this expression How can I do this thing and sin against God Thus if our Flesh tempts us and if the vicious and prophane intice us into secret and shameful retreats to share in their filthy crimes Let us then remember that God is every where and wheresoever we hide our selves God hath an Ear to hear us an Eye to see us an Hand to record our Deeds Words and Thoughts God is all Ear all Eye and all Hand he discovers us as easily under the dark shadows of the night as at break of day he spies us through our Fig-leaves and beholds us in our most subtle disguises he understands our most inward thoughts and listens to the silent language of our Hearts he searcheth into all the Clossets of our Souls and into all the foldings and windings of our Consciences In a word all things are naked and altogether open to the Eyes of him with whom we have to doe An antient Philosopher did perswaded such as desire to be vertuous to chuse some grave and vertuous person and to represent him always in their presence and to live as in their sight Seneca We need not represent unto our selves imaginary appearances for in every place where we are and what ever we can do or think we are always in the sight of the Holy of Holies who is both our Witness and our Judge It was David's Meditation when he cried out O Lord whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whether shall I flye from thy presence If I mount up to Heaven thou art there if I go down into the pit thou art there also if I take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the Sea thither shall thine hand guide me and thy right hand uphold me If I say the darkness shall cover me behold the night shall be like light round about me darkness shall not hinder me from thee and the night shall shine as the day the night and the day are to thee alike 53. If the Devil and the World have ensnared us in their Nets and if we have been unhappily lull'd asleep in the bosome of some deceitful pleasure This consideration alone that God sees and understands us is able to awake us with an Holy dread and fear Let therefore the words of St. Paul sound continually in our minds Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall enlighten thee or Awake to Righteousness and sin not Eph. 5. 1 Cor. 15. Truly if we be not stupified and besotted above measure This dreadful voice that God thunders from Heaven is able not only to awake us from the sleep of iniquity but to oblige us also to cry out with Jacob God is here and I knew it not O that this place is dreadful it is the house of God it is the Gate of Heaven Gen. 28. Assoon as Peter had taken notice of our Saviours looks that were cast upon him he went out of the High Priests Hall and wept bitterly for his Apostacy Thus if we could but perceive and acknowledge that God casts his eye continually upon us we should repent of our Vices and our Hearts would quickly melt into Tears of Contrition 54. And because it is sometimes necessary to retain our selves with an Holy awe and to withdraw our selves out of Lust as out of the Fire you Religious Souls keep always in your mind a short Collection of the Judgements of God that have happened from time to time upon all manner of sinners Consider how God dealt with the Celestial Spirits who have not kept their original purity they are reserv'd for utter darkness and for eternal Chains until the great day of Judgement and say unto your selves If God hath not spared the Apostate Angels with he spare Man that rebels against him and offends him with delight remember the dreadful fall of our first Parents who although they had been fashioned with Gods own hand and instructed by himself have lost both themselves and all their posterity by listning to the deceitful suggestions of the old Serpent Cast your thoughts upon the first wicked World that was destroyed by a Deluge and upon the Cities of Sodom Gomorrah Admah and Zebolim upon whom fell the Fire and Brimstone of God's hot displeasure Look upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians overwhelmed with all their pride in the waves of the Red Sea Consider the three thousand that were kill'd with the Levites Swords because of the Idolatry of the Golden Calf and the four and twenty thousand whom a suddain death swept away because they went a whoring after Paal-Peor Look with fear upon the burning Serpents of the Wilderness that did cast their poison upon the Murmurers against God and their Superiors upon the Earth that open'd its mouth to swallow Corah Dathan and Abiram upon that Heavenly Fire that consum'd Nathan and Abihu who offered strange Fire unto the Lord upon the Bears that went out of the Forrest to devour two and forty young Rascals who mock'd Elisha the Prophet upon the Lion that devour'd the Prophet who disobey'd God's Command and hearkened to a lying Brother In short cast your eyes with astonishment upon Nebuchadnezzar feeding amongst the Beasts of the field Jezabel eaten up by Dogs Agrippa consumed with Worms and the rich Miser burning in the flames of Hell Dan. 4. 2 Kings 9. Acts 12. Luke 16. 55. Above all things think upon the last Judgement and consider this last day in which we must all appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ to receive in our Bodies that which we shall have done whether it be good or evil remember that in this dreadful day God will bring to light the hidden things of darkness the secret contrivances and thoughts of the Heart before this Throne of Fire the Books shall be opened not only God's Books where all our Sins and Impieties are Registred but also the Books of our Consciences where the frightful
contentments of the Soul Let the nearer approach of my death make me to draw nearer to thee in love and obedience Give me power to overcome all carnal temptations O that the excellency of my Place and Dignity the precious Bloud of my Saviour with which thou hast washed my Soul and that immortal Bliss prepared for me might fill me with an hearty loathing and contempt of the vain and unprofitable Delights of the World that my Soul may not be fettered and enslaved to these filthy vanities so far below the excellency of its Being O Gracious God! with my Person I leave to thee the disposition of my Scepter and Kingdoms thou art able to give to my successor the same Piety Zeal and Love for thy Truth that I have always expressed I leave to thee the care and preservation of that Religion which thy powerful hand hath planted amongst us thou art able to cause it to flourish in the midst of so many envious attempts of adversaries Let me not therefore distrust thy good providence but grant to the person that thou hast appointed to succeed me a Love and Fear of thy Holy Name enrich his Soul with all Divine Graces and Royal Vertues My God and my King thou gavest me an earnest desire of building thee a Temple as to David a Man after thine own heart I have labour'd to recruit in my days the sensless divisions of my people but seeing that it is not thy pleasure that I should accomplish such a glorious Work Give to my Successor the Grace and Wisdom as to Solomon that he may perfect the pious designes that I have begun Establish his Throne with true Religion and sincere Reformation Let Justice and Peace flourish in his Reign Let Truth prosper Charity and Love enflame the Hearts of thy People Let all his neighbors bless him Let him have as many Guards as Subjects and as many Fortresses as Hearts in his Dominions But especially good God give him grace to build thee a setled House in these Nations and to raise it up to the highest pitch of Glory and Happiness that is possible on Earth In the mean while I shall depart out of this life and go to Glorify thee in the magnificent Palace of immortality where I shall cast down my Crown at the feet of the Lamb and adore him who liveth for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Vice-Roy or a Governor O Almighty Governor of this great World seeing that thou hast granted to me the honor of representing the Person of my Prince thy living Image it is but just that I should return unto thee my unfeigned thanks for such a special Favor for I should not have this Power if it were not given to me from above and if thou who art the King of Kings and holdest in thine Almighty hand the Hearts of Princes hadst not caused the superior Powers to favor my Person Give me Grace never to forget that the Persons that I am to Govern are not my Slaves but the Subjects of my Prince moreover they are thy Creatures and Children it belongs not to me to dispose of them at my pleasure according to my passions but to observe the Orders that have been given me and to obey thy Divine Commandments Let me behave my self as if my Prince were always and every where at my elbows to be a witness of all my actions But especially let me remember that I am always before thine holy Eyes that behold my Heart and read my most secret thoughts Let me consider night and day that I must give an account to my Great Master of the Stewardship intrusted in my hands and that I must one day appear before thy dreadful Tribunal where disguising and lying will never take place If whilst I am diligently employed in the Duties of mine Office and managing my business with all the care and faithfulness that I am able Death comes to call me away out of the World give me such a courage that I may not be afraid but that I may quit my Dignities without repining for the Honor of Governing a Kingdom or a Monarchy or of Commanding many Worlds is nothing in comparison of the Glory and Happiness prepared for me in Heaven Let not the care of the time to come trouble the quiet of my Soul thou canst raise up other Governors unto whom thou canst grant a Spirit of Wisdom and Discretion with an happy and glorious Governance whilst I shall rest for ever from all my labors and cares and when I shall have overcome Satan the World Sin and Death and kept thy Works until the end thou wilt give me into my hands a never-fading Palm thou wilt put upon my Head a Glorious Crown and into my mouth the Songs of the Blessed in whose company I shall sing Praises and Tranksgivings unto thee for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a General of an Army and for a Captain O God of Hosts I have been perswaded that this employment in which I have engaged my self for the service of my King and Countrey would not be displeasing to thy Divine Majesty seeing that thou hast appointed Military Laws unto thy People and hast been so Gracious to them as to govern their Armies march out before them and Command in Chief when they have encountered with their Enemies Although thy Son is the Prince of Peace his first Minister and Fore-runner did not forbid the use of Weapons to the Soldiers that resorted to him but only to be content with their wages and to do violence to no man besides the Holy Apostles teach us that it is not in vain that thou hast put the Sword into the hands of Soveraign Princes and Kings who are the Images of thine Almighty power and of thy uncontroulable Justice Let me never appear at the head of an Army or of a Company but let me imagine my Prince to be there present as if I were to sight before his eyes but let me chiefly remember that I am in the sight of thy Holy Angels and of thee who art the King of Kings of all the Nations of the World and of their Armies Let not the power which thou hast given me over others cause me to neglect the obedience that I owe unto thee my great God and Creator Let not the honor of being a Captain make me forget that I am a Soldier of Jesus Christ who Judges and Wars according to right Let not the Sword that I carry at my side hinder me from receiving into my Heart the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God that is sharper than a two-edged sword that searcheth to the division of the Soul and Spirit Joynts and Marrow Give me with this Heavenly Sword the Breast-plate of Righteousness and the Helmet of Salvation and especially give me the Buckler of Faith that I may be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil O my God! cloath me with the
thee and bring all thoughts to thine obedience Let the World be confounded in all its purposes and let it never have the power to scare me by its threatenings or to corrupt me by its fair promises Let Satan once more fall from Heaven as a Lightning and let him be for ever shut up in the bottomless pit Shut up the mouths of all false Prophets and let thy Truth be victorious over Error that we may see the Congregations of thy true Catholick Church increase in number of persons that may worship thee with more Affection and Zeal or rather increase in them thy Grace and Heavenly Blessings O let me always consider that the Sheep that I am to feed belong not to me nor to any mortal Man but to thee Lord Jesus who hast created them by thine infinite power and redeemed them by thy wonderful Goodness Thou hast willingly offered thy self to the sufferings of a painful death that thou mightest deliver them from the Wolfs Paw and Claws of the infernal Lion Let me remember that I am shortly to appear before thy Glorious presence and to give thee an account of my Stewardship O Lord who knowest all things unto whom nothing is hid thou seest the very bottom of my Heart and spiest my most secret thoughts Thou knowest how faithfully and affectionately I have been employed in thy service I have led thy Sheep to the wholsome feeding of thy Heavenly Pastures I have led them to the Waters that burst forth unto Eternal Life my Conscience bears me witness before thee and thy Holy Angels that I have declared nothing neither by Word nor Writing but that which I firmly believe to be agreeable to the Oracles of the Prophets Apostles and Evangelists I have drawn out of the Sacred Treasuries of thy word things new and old for the beautifying of thy House and for the instruction of such as dwell there I have labour'd day and night in the hings that thou hast put into my heart for thy Glory for the advance of thy Kingdom and the comfort of thy Children In the important passages of my life I have not taken counsel from Flesh and Bloud but I have preferred the Honour of thy great Name and the Glory of thy Divine Truth to all Earthly advantages and to my particular interest I have despised all the Riches of this World and the Honors of the Age for the sake of the spiritual Treasuries and of that Heavenly Light which thou hast put into me as into an Earthly Vessel that all Glory may be ascribed to thee who art the Author of all good and of all perfect Gifts My most delicious Meat and my most pleasant Drink was to do thy Holy Will and to perfect thy Work I have taken a singular delight in declaring the wonderful Councils of thy Wisdom and discovering the Mysteries of thy Kingdom I have shared in the evils and sufferings of thy Members I have not been sparing of the comforts which thou hast furnished me in all my afflictions and temptations Thy Holy Law is in my Heart and thy Gospel is there engraven with the finger of thy Blessed Spirit Thou hast kindled in me an earnest desire of saving Souls and bringing them to Righteousness O Lord who searchest into the bottom of the most secret Hearts Thou knowest that I may say with the Holy Prophet The zeal of thine House hath caten me up Or with the Apostle The care of thy Church cometh upon me daily But for all this I pretend not to be justified in thy presence I am so far from resting upon mine own Righteousness and of being puft up with the opinion of my deservings that I confess my self a poor and a miserable sinner therefore with my whole Heart I desire the forgiveness of my great imperfections and miscarriages which I have been guilty of in thy service I have not been enflam'd with a Charity pure enough nor with a disinteressed Zeal I have been sometimes too indulgent and sometimes too severe in the reprehension of Vice and I have not been as I ought the Director of my Floâ—k in all manner of good Works the love of my self hath crept in with that affection that I owe to thee alone and I have have not served thee only for thy sake and for thy Divine perfections but also for the expectation of the Rewards which thou hast promised to thy faithful Servants when thou shalt render unto every one according to his Works I have been too sensible of the wrongs done to mine own Person and especially when I have seen my best deeds misinterpreted and my most charitable cares requited with ingratitude I have not always possâ—ssed my Soul with patience and I have not had that Meekness Love and Humility which thou Divine Jesus hast recommended to me by thine example on Earth O Lord if thou should est treat me according to the exacâ—ness of thy justice and require at my hands the Souls that are perished by my negligence or evil example I should be cover'd with shame and confusion and I should soon be cast with the unprofitable Servant into the Eternal Torments of Hell where are weeping and gnashing of Teeth But O Merciful Lord thou art goodness it self Love and the very being of Charity Thou acceptest the Will for the Deed and the Vndertaking for the Performance and thou hast thy Arms always wide open to receive thy poor Servants that weep for their mistakes and that humbly prostrate themselves before thee to implore thy Mercy and Forgiveness O Divine Saviour Thou art rich in Goodness and ready to cause thy Glorious Countenance to shine upon such as call upon thee to their unspeakable joy and comfort and upon such as draw near to thee by a true and serious Repentance Therefore I pour forth my Soul before thee and acknowledge that thou hast heard me and accepted the contrition of my heart and heard the voice of my Tears Thou strengthenest my Faith raisest my Hopes and fillest my Soul with refreshing and excellent considerations of thy Love Thou causest me to tast the Salvation which thou often preachest to others I feel thy Gracious Hand drawing me to thyself I see that thou openest to me the Gate of Paradise unto which I have had so many good and Holy Souls that rest now in the enjoyment of thy Glory Thou causest me to have the confidence of saying with the Holy Apostle I know that God will show Mercy unto me and receive me into his Heavenly Kingdom O Good and Merciful Lord I feel my Body consuming away and my strength decaying but thou art the Rock of my Heart and my portion for ever I see death coming apace to me but instead of afflicting and frighting me it comforts and rejoyceth my Heart for it comes to put an end to this miserable life that is no better than a languishing kind of death it comes to take me from my continued labors and loose me from my greivous and
you may then conclude that such an one is strengthened by God's Divine Spirit who upholds him and accomplisheth his Heavenly Vertue in his Servants infirmity This is the most wonderful and excellent of all Deliverances I confess some approve this discourse very well and admit these Consolations in their ordinary diseases but assoon as any extraordinary and violent griefs seize upon them they are apt to murmure against God and to complain that their punishment is too grievous Some proceed further to curse as Job the day of their birth and being hurried into despair are ready to cry out with Cain My punishment is greater than I am able to bear Unhappy Man Wilt thou imitate the barbarous Heathens who curse the Sun when it burns them and let fly their Arrows against Heaven when it Thunders wretched Man What will it avail thee to affront thy Creator what advantage wilt thou reap from the Blasphemies which thou dost belch forth against the Son of Righteousness miserable Worm of the Earth less than Dust and nothing wilt thou undertake to contend against God to pluck him from his Throne and to break the invincible Arm of his strength Dost thou imagine to stop the hand of his Vengeance by offending and sinning against him Wilt thou quench the fury of his wrath by spitting in his Face Believest thou that he will stretch forth his hand to deliver thee and to increase thy Blessings whilst thy mouth is open to blaspheme him who is thy Soveraign Lord. Listen well I beseech thee friend to my advice and I will draw thee out of the Abysse where thou art unhappily fallen and with God's help I will cause thee to understand that thou complainest wrongfully against him who doth all things advisedly and with Justice and Reason First run over the whole course of thy life and consider how many wicked deeds thou hast committed some by indiscretion others wilfully how many words have gone out of thy mouth how many thoughts have been entertained in thy mind against the Commands of Almighty God Consider seriously the number and grievousness of thy sins and miscarriages and thou shalt find that God's punishments are far less than thy deservings and that for one sensible word and bitter pain that thou feelest thou hast deserved many thousands so that thou shalt have cause to confess with the Prophet Daniel O Lord Righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of Faces Dan. 9. And thou wilt say with David Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of my Head therefore my heart faileth me there is no whole part in my Flesh because of thine indignation nor rest in my bones because of my sin Ps 40. 2. Consider how many there are in the world more righteous than thou who suffer more grievous and longer evils than thou hast hitherto endured and yet have not had so much comfort and assistance If thou comparest thy condition with theirs thou shalt find that God spares and favors thee very much 3. Cast thine Eyes upon the death and passion of our Lord and Saviour who being righteous and innocent hath suffered for us wicked and abominable sinners Thine affliction is painful I confess but that which this merciful Redeemer hath suffered for thee was far more unsufferable Let his Exclamations his Tears and drops of Bloud which came out of his veins be witnesses and that earnest Prayer which he repeated three times upon his bended knees Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me that I may not drink it Let that doleful voice upon the Cross be also witness My God my God why hast thou sorsaken me 4. Weigh in just and equal Scales of the Sanctuary all the sufferings of this life with the torments of Hell which thou hast justly deserved and compare them together thou wilt quickly conclude that all thy pains are nothing if compared with the grievous tortures of that lake of Fire and Brimstone where there are weeping and gnashing of Teeth If thou art so sensible of these vanishing pains consider well how much thou art obliged to the goodness of God who hath freely pardoned all thine offences and redeemed thee from that eternal and unspeakable Misery of the t'other life 5. Thou must imitate those men who having their Sight dimmed with the extraordinary splendor of bright Colours or of a Body of Light turn off their Eies to look upon less offensive objects instead of handling always thy Wounds and Sores instead of thinking of the afflictions that lye heavy upon thee meditate upon the goodness and favors of God vouchsafed to thee since thy Conception until now I give thee leave to put in one side of the Scales all thy crosses losses diseases pains and grief upon condition that in the t'other Balance thou wilt put all the Mercies Favors Blessings and Deliverances which thou hast received from God's liberal Hand It is true thou groanest under thy Misery and complainest of thy condition thou verily believest that there is none so miserable as thou art so that willingly thou wouldest say with the Prophet Jeremiah Doth not this move ye O ye that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger But when there should be nothing else but this alone that God hath called thee to the knowledge of his Holy Will enriched thee with the Graces of his Divine Spirit and sown in thy Heart the seeds of Eternal Life and the blessed hopes of seeing his Face in Glory thou oughtest to look upon thy self as one of the happiest Creatures under Heaven 6. Finally thou must meditate with a Religious attention upon the joys of Heaven and the Eternal Blessedness of Paradise for I reckon with the Apostle that the sufferings of this present life art not worthy to be eompared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us Lam. 1. When we cast our Eyes upon the Earth alone we judge it to be very spacious and large our sight is lost in the contemplation of so many Provinces Cities and Kingdoms but when we compare it with Heaven we find it to be but a point Likewise when we look upon and reckon up the hours days weeks months and years of our sufferings the time appears very tedious and long but when we compare all these parcels of time with Eternity they seem to us but a moment when we should have been overwhelmed with evils and miseries from the first instant of our entrance into the World until the last of our going out Yet we have reason enough to say with St. Paul Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things
that I may labor to attain unto it with transports of joy so that I may say with the Prophet David My Soul shall be satisfied as with Marrow and Fatness and my Mouth shall praise thee with joyful Lips when I remember thee upon my Bed and meditate on thee in the night Watches My Sickness seems very tedious but alas Lord my Sins have continued longer and all this pain that afflicts me and forceth from me so many sighs is nothing in comparison of the advantages and happiness that waits for me in Heaven When the whole course of my life should be a continual languishing it is but a moment in respect of Eternity And this moment of affliction produceth in us a weight of Eternal Glory that excels all things else O Lord Let the distempers and pains of my Body turn to the health of my Soul and a powerful obligation to the Practice of Piety and of all Christian Vertues Let me learn thereby to renounce the World and deny my self and to cast my self wholly into thy Divine Hands and submit my self to thy Holy Will As Jesus Christ is gain to me whether I live or whether I dye give me Grace to be ready to praise and glorify thy Mercy both in Life or Death If it be thy pleasure to spare me my life O that I may live more circumspectly than ever I have done in the fear and obedience of thy Sacred Commandements and as St. Peter's Wives Mother rose up from her Bed of Sickness to serve our Lord Jesus if thou freest me from my plague let me rise out of thy Couch to glorify and serve thee until the last moment of my life But if thou art pleased to call me out of the world here I am O God ready to do thy Will and obey thee without the least resistance for my Soul is already separated from this languishing Carkass and resolved to follow thee It is not grieved to see this wretched Body weakened and crazy as an Habit worn out because thou hast prepared for it a Garment of immortal Colours It is not vexed because this earthly Tabernacle decays for it hath a more lasting Dwelling in Heaven whereof thou hast been the Builder I have long looked upon this Couch as a representation of my Grave where I shall shortly lye down to take my last repose I have long expected Death that will break in pieces the last link of this chain of Misery to put a period to all my pains and grievance to take me out of this woful and rotten Lodge that falls to pieces to introduce me into a Glorious Palace of immortality where thy Divine Majesty dwels and where I shall for ever Glorify thee with the thousands of Angels and with all the sanctified Souls Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a sick Person tormented with grievous pains O Father of Mercies and God of all Comfort have pity upon me thou knowest that I am vexed with fearful pains that disturb my Mind and torment my Body thine Arrows run through me on every side and my Soul hath its fill of bitterness Thy wrath hath torn me to pieces and thou seemest to have set thy self against me One depth calls for another At thy Command the Waves and Flouds have passed over my head Thou hast given me many days of affliction and nights of torment I am like a person breaking upon a wheel or burning in hot flames I feel a fire that consumes me as a Worm that gnaws and darts that pierce through my Heart Sure my sins must be abominable and grievous seeing thou infflictest this great punishment upon me for thou art Mercy it self and it is not willingly that thou afflictest the Sons of Men. O good God consider what thou art and what I am wilt thou stretch forth thine invincible Arm against the Leaf that the wind tosseth up and down wilt thou declare the fierceness of thine Eternal displeasure against Chaff and Stubble wilt thou let fly all thine Arrows against a wretched Worm of the Earth and wilt thou cast out all thy Thunderbolts against a little Dust O Great God I am not a worthy Object of thy wrath against which thou shouldest kindle all thy displeasure Remember that I am but flesh a Wind that passeth away and returneth not again but rather remember Lord that I am thy Child and that thou hast redeemed me with the Bloud of thine only Son O my God it is not possible for me to withold my complaints suppress my groans and to dry up this torrent of Tears my Soul is wearied out with this languishing life or rather with this unmerciful Death for is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow Is there any torture or pain like unto my torment When the Prophet Jonas saw a little Goard withered that afforded him before a favourable shelter and shadow from the Sun-beams when he felt them beating hot upon his Head he cried out Death is better to me than life How much more cause have I to speak in this manner I of whom the strengh is withered as the parched Ground in the midst of Summer I who feel a Fire in my Bones and an Heat in my Bowels that burns and consumes me by day and by night Shall not thine Almighty and Merciful Hand that hath freed me from Hell take me out also of this deep Abysse of Misery Thou who deliverest thy Children from the burning Furnace wilt thou not quench the fury of this Flame that devours me O Lord shut up my Lips and let there come out nothing repugnant to that respect that I owe to thy Divine Majesty To thee Great God belongs Justice but to me shame and confusion of face when thou shouldest cause me to endure a thousand Plagues and Torments more if this poor Body were able to suffer them and when thou shouldest cast me irrecoverably into the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone I should have no cause to complain of thy severity It is true my pains are great but they are nothing in comparison of my sins and offences my torments are violent but they are not to be compared with my Saviours bitter sufferings with that cold sweat and those drops of Bloud that fell from his precious Body My affliction is unmerciful but it is not to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed in them that worship thee and persevere to the end in an obedience to thy Holy Will When thou shouldest kill me Lord yet would I hope in thee for thou afflictest me that I might not perish for ever with the rest of the World Thou causest my Body to be destroyed that my Soul might be saved Bruise me Lord and crush me to pieces so that I may become some of thy precious Wheat Cut and burn me in this momentary Life so that thou wilt be favourable to me in the life to come Cause this bitter cup to pass from me that I may not drink up all its dregs Nevertheless
Mercy rejoyceth against Judgement his Justice is like an exceeding high Mountain but his Mercy may be compared to the bottomless deep Psal 39. Therefore Moses who had seen God more than any living Man cannot be satisfied to extol and magnify his infinite Mercy and the overflowing Riches of his love Psal 36. He names him but once Just but many times he calls him Merciful Gracious Long suffering abundant in Goodness and Truth Exod. 4. It is not unworthy of our observation that the word Righteous or Just attributed to God doth often signify also Merciful Gracious and Loving in the Holy Tongue It is true God holds in his hand the sword of his Justice but he is girded and cloathed with his Mercy as with a Garment In short God is not only Good and Merciful but he is also Goodness and Mercy it self 1 John 4. His compassion and tenderness is far greater than that of the best Fathers or Mothers as he himself declares by the Prophet Can a Woman forget her Sucking-Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her Womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my Hands yea in the bottom of my Heart Is 49. These fatherly Compassions force him to let fall the sword of his justice as he tells us in Hosea How shall I make thee as Admah how shall I set thee as Zeboim mine heart is turned within me my repentings are kindled together I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger Chap. 11. Therefore David had good cause to be perswaded That when his Father and Mother should forsake him the Lord would receive him When all Love Kindness and Mercy were totally banished from the Earth when all natural affections should be extinct my God will not forsake me while I live and at the hour of my death he will receive me into his bosom and cover me with his wings Christian Souls Let not the sad remembrance of your former sins and miscarriages discourage you for when we appear before the Throne of Gods Majesty we must not trust upon our own Righteousness nor be pust up with the fancy of our merits but we must place all our assurance and hope in the Mercy of God alone we must imitate Daniel who speaks thus of himself and of his proceedings We do not present our supplications before thee for our Righteousnesses but for thy great Mercies Dan 9. The compassions of God are our Mercies while God hath store of compassions we shall not want merits St. Bern. Now God's Mercies and Compassions can never fail they renew every morning his faithfulness is very excellent Lam. 3. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33. I am he I am he that blots out all thy sins for mine own sake and will not remember thy transgressions Isai 45. Although our sins and iniquities appear to us with all the deformity and ugliness of Hell Be not overcome with grief nor cast your selves into despair Let us rather say with the Prophet Jeremiah Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our Heart with our Hands unto God in the Heavens Or let us speak in the language of Micah Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of his Heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy He will come again he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast out their sins into the depths of the Sea Micah 7. Let us comfort our selves with the words of the Prophet Daniel To the Lord our God belongs Mercies and Forgivenesses though we have rebelled against him Dan. 7. Tell me not again I know that God is Good and Merciful but I have offended him too much to believe that he will vouchsafe me a Pardon and have Mercy upon me After many repented Vows after many Groans Sighs and Tears of Repentance I have returned as the Dog to his Vomit and as the Swine to wallow in the Mire 2 Pet. 2. But wretched sinner learn for thy comfort that when thy sins should be as many as the Sand of the Sea-shore or as the Stars of the Sky Is 44. If thou dost now sincerely repent of them with a contrite Soul God will blot them out as the Cloud and will cast them into the Sea for God's Mercy hath no bounds and his Compassions are infinite Micah 7. When thy Brother hath offended thee if he aske forgiveness the Lord Commands that thou shouldest pardon him not only seven times but seventy and seven times Matth. 17. How much more reason hast thou to believe that God of his infinite Goodness and Mercy will pardon thee more sins and oftener therefore instead of murmuring over thy miscarriages accept of the precious Balm of his Divine Consolations and say with the Royal Prophet Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his Holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindnesses and tender mercies who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles The Lord executeth Righteousness and Judgement for all that are oppressed the Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and plenteous in mercy He will not always chide neither will he keep his anger for ever he hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities for a the Heaven is high above the Earth so great is his mercy towards them that fear him as far as the East is from the West so far hath he removed our transgressions from us Like as a Father pitieth his Children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him Psal 103. Don't answer me that your sins are so grievous and abominable that you cannot expect a Pardon for when they should be as high as the proudest Mountains if thou art really sensible of their weight if they make thee to sigh and groan God's infinite Mercy like a Deluge shall cover and wash them away Lam. 5. or like a Torrent it shall transport them out of his sight for when sin abounds God's Grace will super-abound in case there be true Repentance Is 1 When your sins should be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow when they should be as red as Vermilion they shall become as white as Wooll All the offences that you are guilty of since you are in the World are finite and limited but God's Mercy is infinite O Lord if thou shouldest mark iniquities who shall stand but there is
and consider what thou art I am astonished and the sight of thy Divine Majesty frights me for I am but Dust and Ashes and my Being is less than nothing but thou art infinite in thy Being and Glory the Heaven is thy Throne and the Earth is thy Footstool I am cloathed with darkness but thou dwellest in a light that no man can approach unto How dare I that am all covered with sin draw near unto thee who art the Holy of Holies and Holiness it self How can I that am but dry Straw and Stubble stand before an everlasting burning O God of Gods if I did see thee sitting upon the Throne of thy Glory as Judge of thousand thousands of immortal Spirits wait upon thee and ten thousand Millions worship thee if I did see thee armed with Thunderbolts encompassed with Flames of Fire like to those of Mount Sinai I should not be only afraid but I should fall into despair Instead of drawing near to thee I should fly from thee as Adam and endeavour to hide my self from thine Eyes that cannot suffer the sight of evil I should cry out as Moses I am afraid and I tremble all over Or as the Prophet Isaiah Woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean Lips and I dwell in the midst of a People of unclean Lips Isai 6. Or it may be I may say with the Holy Apostle Depart from me for I am a sinful Creature But good God I see that thy Throne so full of Glory is encompassed about with a Rainbow of an immortal and a refreshing Colour I see in it the undoubted assurances of my Peace and Eternal Reconciliation with thee therefore I dare go to it with confidence as to the Throne of Grace to obtain Mercy and find Grace to be helped in time of need Although thou art Clothed with Majesty and Crowned with Glory thou dost stretch out unto me the Golden Scepter of thine infinite Mercies I see that thou hast put off the Arms of thy Justice and Vengeance to put on the Bowels of Love and Compassion I hear no more over my Head the dreadful Thunder of thy Curses but I hear the still voice of thy Mercy that comforts my trembling Soul that raiseth up my drooping Spirit and that causeth me to conceive the assured hopes of Happiness and Glory in thine Heavenly Paradise I see no more about thee the grievous flames and burnings to devour sinful Men but I perceive the pleasant and refreshing flames of thy Love that rejoyce and comfort me and that do not destroy me as they did the two Captains and Soldiers of Ahaziah but they carry me up to Heaven as the Prophet Elijah was The spirit which thou hast given me is not the Spirit of Bondage to encline me to fear but the spirit of Adoption whereby I cry Abba Father It is this spirit that witnesseth with my spirit that I am thy Child thy Heir and Co-heir with thy Holy Son Jesus Seeing thou hast reconciled me to thy self by the Bloud of thy Beloved Son when I was a Slave of Satan and thy sworn Enemy now that I am so nearly related to thee wouldest thou refuse me mine Inheritance O my God my Heavenly Father I know that I have grievously offended thee and that if thou didst treat me exactly according to thy Justice of a thousand Articles I could not answer one therefore I should have cause to expect to be cast into the Eternal Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels but Lord thou dost not desire the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn to thee and live Moreover thou hast confirmed this with an oath and thou wilt never break it I confess that my sins are many and that their hainousness appears unto me day and night but Lord where sin abounds thy Grace or thy Mercy superabounds and when mine iniquities should be as red as Vermilion thou hast promised to render them as white as Snow Thou shalt be moved for me with the same compassion as a Father is moved for his Child and thou wilt put away from thee all mine offences as far as the East is from the West O my Soul why art thou afflicted why dost thou fret within me return to thy Rest my Soul for the Lord hath done thee good he prepares for thee an Eternal Felicity It is not Death's voice that I hear but the Call of mine Heavenly Father who invites and commands me to come away to him Therefore though I am a most miserable sinner I am going to cast my self at thy feet and to say to thee as the prodigal Child Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son O my God and Father thou hast bestowed upon me thy most Divine Favours thy greatest Riches and Blessings nevertheless I have been estranged from thee and have unhappily abused all thy Mercies I have too much given my self over to the debaucheries of the Flesh and of the World evil company hath corrupted my behaviour so that from the sole of the Foot to the crown of the Head there is nothing whole in me In this miserable Estate I fly to thee my Judge for Mercy or rather I implore and intreat with all my Heart thy Fatherly Love to have compassion of me O Divine Flames O Abysse of Charity O God whose tenderness for me is far greater than that of the best Fathers and of the most tender hearted Mothers for their Babes I see thy Bowels move for me thy compassions kindle and thy Arms wide open to receive me thou art not only ready to embrace me but thou meetest me in the way not only as the Father of the prodigal Son thou dost not only receive me but thou hast sought me out in my former abode of corruption and drawn me out of those depths of Misery O unparalell'd Love what may not I expect from thy Fatherly kindness thou shalt embrace me with the Arms of thy Mercy and kiss me with the kisses of thy Love thou shalt confirm my assurance of being admitted into the liberty of thy Children and give unto me a white Stone where thou shalt write the new Name of Elect or Believer that none knows but him that hath it Thou wilt shooe my Feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace or rather thou shalt give unto my Soul that peace of God that passeth all understanding Thou shalt put upon me the Robes of fine and white Linnen which are the Righteousness of the Saints and thou shalt cloath me with the Rayes of the Sun of Justice Thou shalt lead me into thy Dwelling I mean thy Glorious Palace where instead of killing the fatted Calfe we shall solemnize the Nuptials of the Lamb offered from the foundation of the World there we shall meet with the Angels the immortal Spirits and all the First-born whose names are written in Heaven who shall not murmure nor
and ready with its jaws open to devour me But Lord I come to cast my self before thy Blessed Cross I take hold of the Horns of this Altar I dip my self in thy Bloud I put on the Robes of thy Righteousness and wrap my self up in thy Death O Holy Redeemer I know that thou hast been distressed and grievously perplexed at the approaches of Death and that thine Agony hath been so bitter that thou hast sweated drops of Bloud and the Holy Angels have come down to comfort thee whereas thy Servants the Martyrs have gone to death and their sufferings with expressions of Joy as to a most splendid Banquet or to a Triumph Thou hast prayed with strong Crying and Tears to be delivered from death and that this Cup might pass away so that thou mightest never tast of its bitterness But Lord thy death was not as mine and as that of thy blessed Martyrs Thy death was an atonement for the sins of the whole World whereas our death is not intended as a satisfaction to God's justice but rather to render us capable of receiving the blessed Fruits of his Eternal Compassions Thou didst bear the strokes of God's Justice and endure the fierceness of his wrath enflamed against the sins which thou hast loaded on thy self But we instead of this consuming Fire which thou hast quenched with thy precious Bloud we perceive the flames of Love instead of the Hand of thy justice we see thy Arms wide open to receive us into Eternal Happiness Death good Lord was armed with our sins and iniquities and with all that is dreadful in Hell but I see that all the Armor of Death are hung upon thy Cross they are the Trophies and everlasting marks of thy Glorious Victory Thou hast felt not only the most sensible Darts of Death but also the most terrible Thunderbolts and fearful Curses of the Law Thou hast secured us from all that violence thou hast redeemed us from the dreadful Curses When thou wast made a Curse for us thou hadst not only to encounter with death but also to destroy him who had the Empire of Death and to break in pieces the Gates of Hell Thou didst spoil Principalities and Powers shewing them openly and triumphing of them in thy Cross O wonderful Saviour How marvellous are thy Works and worthy of the continual admiration of Men and Angels Thou hast drunk up the very dregs of the Cup of God's fury that we might never taste of it and thou hast taken upon thee all the punishment that our sins and offences had deserved that we might never feel them Thy grievous pangs alleviate my torments thy bruises and wounds are my health and cure thy fears do comfort and settle my mind and thy distressed Soul doth fill mine full of joy and comfort thy crying doth appease the troubles of my Conscience and thy drops of Bloud do wash down my Tears thine affliction comforts me thy sorrow is my joy and thy bitterness is my sweetness thy death is my victory and thy Cross is my Triumph I shall no longer apprehend to dye seeing thou didst procure unto me Life and Immortality O Glorious and Merciful Lord the Kingdom of Heaven belongs unto thee by a twofold Right it belongs to thee because thou art the only Son of God and the Heir of all things it belongs to thee also because thou hast purchased it with the infinite Merits of thy Sufferings the first is sufficient for thee the second thou hast resigned unto me that I might one day enjoy this Heavenly Kingdom as the fruits of thy Death and the price of thy Bloud I have hoped in thee Lord I shall never be confounded I know that nothing impure or defiled shall enter into thine Holy Jerusalem but thy Bloud shall wash me from all my sins and make me as white as Snow O Glorious Lord O thou that art wonderful how precious is thy death unto me It is the payment of all my debts the atonement of all my crimes and the ransom of the whole World It is our peace with God our re-union with Heaven and our reconciliation with the Blessed Angels of Light It is the death of Death it self and the ruine of Hell In short it hath not only drawn me out of an Abysse of Misery freed me from Eternal Damnation and the infinite torments of the bottomless Pit but it hath purchased for me Heaven with all its Glory and Paradise with its unspeakable Delights David was much admired for making use of Goliah 's Sword to cut off his Head but who will admire and wonder at thee O victorious Son of David seeing thou hast swallowed up Death into Victory by thine own death Sampson was wondered at because he killed a few Enemies by his death but who will not wonder at thee O Son of Righteousness who by thy death hast destroyed all the enemies of our Salvation and given to death itself its death's wound Jacob slept peaceably at the bottom of the mysterious Ladder which reacht from the Earth up to Heaven But O my Lord God I shall lay my self down and find more peace and quiet at the bottom of thy blessed Cross seeing that by its means I have access to the Father unto whom thou hast reconciled me seeing that I may with boldness go to the Throne of Grace to obtain Mercy and Help in time of need Lord Jesus I discover in thy Cross not only the source of my sweetest Comforts of my greatest Joys and of my noblest expectations but I learn also there how to dye well and I perceive all the Vertues in their greatest perfection that should accompany my Soul at its Egress out of this Body O Lord Who art Perfection it self and who hast left me such a notable Example that I might imitate it give me Grace to express to all my Relations that cordial and holy affection and that tenderness which I see in thee give me Grace to forgive with all mine Heart mine Enemies that I may pray God for them who have persecuted me with fury Give me Grace in my greatest pains to follow the example of thy sweet Nature of thy Goodness of thy Patience and noble Resolution Inflame my Soul with an earnest Zeal for thy Glory and with such a love as caused thee to offer thy self up in Sacrifice to God Here I am O God ready to perform thy Will my Soul is none of mine but thine who art its faithful Creator and its merciful Saviour Seeing that thou hast paid its Ransom that thou hast washed and cleansed it in thy Blood cloathed it with thy Righteousness and put it in a capacity of entring into thine Heavenly Sanctuary and of appearing before the Father of Lights do with it as it shall seem good unto thee O sweet Jesus who hast been pleased to Dye and be Crucified for me wretched Sinner give me that Grace that I may for ever live and raign with thee and that I may at every
Rivers that run in my Soul I am not yet come to thine Holy Paradise but thou hast caused Paradise to be in me Thou hast given unto me an unspeakable and glorious Joy and hast bestowed upon me that Peace of God that passeth all understanding O living and quickening Spirit unknown to the World thou strengthenest me in such a manner that death will never be able to fright me Thou hast united me to thy self by an unseparable Vnion O Prince of Life and hast put in me a Seed of Immortality an infallible Principle of Glory and a source of unspeakable Happiness Thou art in me to dwell with me for ever therefore thou shalt fill up the measure of thy most signal Favors My Faith by thy Divine assistance hath spied out the Kingdom prepared for us from the beginning of the World and shortly I shall see with mine Eies the unexpressable Beauties of that Celestial Countrey that flows with the Milk of the purest and sincerest Joys and with the Honey of the sweetest and most ravishing Comforts Thou hast sent a fore-taste of the Fruits of the Tree of Life but I shall come into thine Heavenly Paradise I shall ever have my fill of these delicious Fruits Now thou hast caused some drops of the dew of Heaven to fall upon mine Heart but then thou wilt make me drink of the Rivers of thy Divine Pleasures At present in my painful passage through this Valley of Tears in the midst of my Groans and Tears I may gather some Herbs but when I shall come to my Heavenly Countrey I shall reap my Hands full with Songs of Joy Here upon Earth I see God as in a Glass obscurely but in Heaven I shall behold him face to face and I shall be satisfied with his likeness My Lord and my God who by the infinite Merits of thy sufferings hast purchased for us this Spirit of Life and who hast given to my Soul such an Authentick Seal of my Salvation and such a precious earnest of thine Eternal Bliss I feel in me the motions and endeavours of of this New Man that Essays to leave this Body of Darkness and Death to enter into the Light of the Living Lord Jesus seeing thou hast made me partaker of the Spirit of thy Grace enlightned my Soul with thy Divine Knowledge and caused me to know the way of Life Seeing that thou hast given me to taste of the Heavenly Gift of the Powers of the life to come Seeing that thou hast vouchsafed to me the First-Fruits of thy Glory and that I already feel Heaven in my Soul Seeing that I behold thee with the Eyes of my Faith that I embrace thee with all my affections and that thou dwellest in my Heart perfect in me the work of thy Grace and bring me at last to thine Eternal Glory Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Amen CHAP. 20. The eighth Consolation is to consider that Death frees and delivers us from all the Evils that are in the World and that we daily suffer THere are certain Pictures with two Faces the one represents most ugly Features and the other beautiful and pleasant things This is the true Emblem of Death for it may be painted with a fearful Face a lean Body and iron Hands that ravish from us our Goods and our Honors and that divide our Persons dragging our bodies into a loathsome Sepulchre If we look upon Death in this manner we can do nothing less but tremble and fear We may also look upon it as a powerful Deliverer that unlooseth all our Fetters breaks our Chains to pieces lifts up our Souls to the highest Glory and Happiness If we consider thus there is nothing more lovely than death and nothing more to be desired I have hitherto endeavoured to shew how a Believer shall strengthen and comfort himself against the fears of Death but now I shall say something more with Heavens assistance I shall labor to prove not only that Death is to be expected without apprehension but to be received with an Holy Joy That it is not at all dreadful but rather it is to be earnestly desired I shall no longer give to speak right any Consolations against the fears of Death for I hope to make it plain that Death it self is to be looked upon as the greatest Consolation and Comforter That I may attain unto mine end I shall shew as in a Picture a short view of all the dreadful miseries of which Death delivers us and then I shall endeavour to paint out in the brightest Colours or rather I shall chaulk out unto you the Blessedness and Glories into which it ushers us Man's Life and Misery are Twin-Sisters that are born at the same time and owned Adam for their First Father they dye together at the same instant in true Believers We all know that Man begins his Life weeping and crying and ends it with sighs and Groans We come into the World all covered with Bloud and we go out wet all over with a cold Sweat If the Child cries not assoon as it is born we judge that it is dead and when the sick Body ceaseth to groan and sigh we say that he is past hopes so that as our crying is a token of Life likewise is and the end of thy sighs an infallible signe of thy Death Wretched Man how miserable is thy condition thy best friends rejoyce at thy crying and they weep and lament when thou ceasest to sigh and groan All the rest of thy time between thy Cradle and thy Grave is no happier it is but a continued Chain of Misery a mixture of pains a succession of evils and a Sea of bitterness As one Wave falls upon the back of another one evil is no sooner gone but another meets and threatens us one depth calleth another and all manner of Flouds and Storms pass over our Heads Job 5. As the Sparks rife out of the Fire to fly up and down Man is born for Misery and Pain and as the wisest of Kings speaks His days are nothing but pain and his employment but trouble in the night his Heart resteth not Eccles 3 There are scarce any dwellings but Messengers of ill news do sometimes come to them as they did to that of Job Job 1. By God's unchangeable order and appointment the days succeed the nights and divide the year into two equal parts for if the nights are longer in one season so much the shorter are they in another but the nights of our afflictions are so long that they seem to last several Ages whereas the days of our prosperity are so short that they are gone in a moment so that we may justly say with the Prophet Moses The best of our days are but labour and sorrow so soon doth our life pass away and we are gone Psal 90. It is as easy a taske to number the Stars of the Firmament and to reckon up the grains of
Assemblies and the devoutest Congregations as well as where we are engaged in the most hellish and debauched companies of the World But these Lusts that War against the Soul are as subtil and malicious as they are cruel and obstinate When they perceive us upon our guards and see that there is nothing to be got they conceal their weapons and their fire but it is with a design to surprize and burn us when we are least aware As there are certain Creatures that counterfeit the Dead that Men might not spend their labor to kill them Likewise this treacherous Flesh appears of its own accord as dead that we might spare it and not totally deprive it of Life If then we leave it in peace and quiet it recovers its strength and vigor and assaults us afresh with its poisoned Darts When we imagine that we have cut up this wretched Plant by the root it grows and breaks forth into bitterness When we think that we have put out this Fire with the Tears of our Repentance it kindles again and bursts forth into fiercer Flames Assoon as we have cut this cunning Serpent to pieces with the sharp knife of true Repentance it gets together and when it seems to have lost all strength and heat it recovers again in our Breasts and wounds us to the very Heart In short as that evil Spirit mentioned by our Saviour in the Gospel when he was driven out of one House waited for a good opportunity to return which assoon as he perceived he took unto himself seven other Spirits worse than himself so that the last condition of that Man was worse than the first Mar. 12. Likewise after an afflicting Fast and fervent Prayers after a torrent of contrite Tears when we imagine that we have cast out of our Hearts the most dangerous Lusts if we begin to relent and open to them the door they burst in again upon us with more fury and render the sequel of our Life far more bitter and unpleasant But if you had not so many sins and that your Lusts were not so violent when the old Man should not have so much strength in our Members and that the temptations should not overcome us so often tell me I pray Christian Souls in what Vertues do you excell Have they all the Beauty the Glory and Perfection that God requires Is your Holiness without the least spot or blemish Is your Innocency as white as Snow and as bright as the Light Is your Zeal as hot and burning as that of the Seraphims Is your Charity sincere without Paint or Disguise as that of Christ who gave his Life for you Do you love God for his Name sake or because of his excellent Perfection Do you love him with all your Heart with all your Strength and with all your Thoughts Do you love him more than you love your Selves or any thing in the World Do you hate all things that he hates and do you carefully abstain from every thing that displeaseth him Do you love your neighbor in God and for the sake of that good God whose Image he bears Do you love him as you love your Selves without Hypocrisy or Disguise Do you never deal otherwise with others than you would have them deal with you And do you perform to them the same good Offices that you would have them perform to you if they were in the same Estate as you be at present Do you shine in the midst of the dark night of this Age as so many Tapers lighted with the beams of the Sun of Righteousness Phil. 2. Do you live as Citizens of Heaven and as fellow-Citizens of the Saints and as the Children of God Phil. 5. Or as such as expect the Blessed Hope and appearing of the Glory of the Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ Is your Heart in Heaven where your Treasure should be and your Glory and Happiness And do you walk as Persons that ascend up by the steps and degrees of Piety to the Heavenly Jerusalem Tit. 2. Do you go from Faith to Faith from Hope to Hope and do you make every day some new progress in Holiness Do you never grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you have been sealed for the day of Redemption Are you immutable abounding always in the Work of the Lord Eph. 4. And do you endeavour to be found in him without spot or blame in Peace 1 Cor. 15. 2 Pet. 2. Tell me devout Souls whether you be not as the Fire and the light For as there is no Flame so pure but hath its Smoak nor Star so bright but becomes dark and invisible at the first approach of the Sun Likewise there is no Life so Holy and Harmless but hath its imperfections and cannot abide the sight of an impartial God and the exact inquisition of his Justice When we have well Prayed and Wept and begg'd Forgiveness and when God hath bestowed upon us a new Heart and a new Spirit After all we have need that God should enlighten us afresh with the Gracious Beams of his Divine Countenance that he should lead us by the Hand direct us by his Wisdom and accomplish his Vertue in our Infirmities Examine seriously My dear Friends unto what exercises of Devotion you are most addicted and what secret motions you feel in your Souls Who is it that hath the greatest share in your Heart and Affections What Thoughts do lull you asleep and what are those that awake you What do you think upon for the most part upon God and his Glory or upon the World and its Vanities upon Heaven and its Excellencies or upon the Earth and its Riches upon Paradise and its mortal Delights or upon the Flesh and its base satisfactions And when you meditate upon Divine things are you certain that you do it with a Religious attention with an inward delight that ravisheth and comforts your Souls And when you offer any Prayers unto God do you perform this Duty with Humility and an Holy Zeal Are your Hearts and Affections carried up to Heaven before you lift up thitherward your Eyes and Hands Are your Oraizons like the perfume of the Saints that came out of Golden Viols Are they like the Incense of the antient Israelites that did smoak upon an Altar burning with a Celestial Fire Do they thus proceed from a Soul purified with Faith which is more precious than fine Gold Do they come from an Heart that is enflamed with a Zeal that never dies and that ascends continually on high Do you bestow your Alms with that earnest and fervent Charity that God requires from you Do you open your Bowels to your Brethren before you open to them your Purse And do you bestow your Hearts upon the Poor before you bestow your Money And for the publick Devotions that you owe to God Pray tell me with what Humility and Respect they are performed Do you call your Delight the Days dedicated to his Glory and to the Celebration of
burning is quite cold or lukewarm I have not a sufficient trust upon thy promises and upon thy fatherly care my Hope is not setled It doth not sill my Soul with Heavenly Joys and Comforts Thine eyes O Lord that sees all the secret Clossets of the Heart and that pierce into the depths are too Holy and Pure to pass over the sight of evil and to approve of the ill-favour'd Features of Satan yet imprinted in my Soul they don't only discover my sins and iniquities and all my evil Deeds but they also behold all the spots and imperfections of my best performances and of my most Glorious Acts. My Lord and my God I am not only grieved to see so much sin in the World in the Church and in my Self but I am also grieved and vexed that I have not grief enough That my Soul is not sufficiently vexed as that of Righteous Lot That the Zeal of thine House doth not eat me up as it did the Man after thine own Heart That mine Eyes are not become a Well-Spring of Tears as those of the Prophet That the cares of the Churches do not besiege me as they did thine Holy Apostle And that I do not sigh and cry as the servants whom thou didst mark with the Letter Thau O wonderful Lord Seeing that thou dost give me leave wherefore is it that I do not embrace thee with a lively Faith and a serious Repentance VVherefore do not I wrestle with thee by Prayers and Supplications and Tears and that I continue not in these Devotions until I have obtained thy most precious Blessings until thou hast changed my Being and my Life until thou hast renewed my Spirit and my Heart to love thee fear thee and worship thee answerable to thine infinite Merits and Glory O Lord I perceive thou hast not altogether forsaken me I perceive the day of my deliverance breaking in upon me I see Death coming to carry me out of this painful Dwelling out of this life of bitterness and sorrow I have this comfort that it shall put to death my most cruel and unreconcileable Enemies and introduce me into the freedom of thy Children It will cut off all the remains of that corruption in which I was first conceived and usher me into that Eternal Light that shines for ever in Heaven Therefore instead of frighting me the sight of Death rejoyceth and comforts my Heart for this cause I shall not fly from it and turn my back but I shall go and meet it I will endeavour to hasten its coming by my Prayers and continual VVishes I will embrace it when thou shall be pleased to send it O Almighty God of an infinite Goodness when wilt thou reach unto me thy Hand from Heaven to draw me out of this Egypt that I may no longer see the cruelties and abominations committed in it VVhen wilt thou deliver me out of this Babylon where Vice and Vertue are intermixed and where the Creature receives the Honor only due to the Creator VVhen wilt thou have Compassion of my poor Soul that drags yet some of its Chains And when shall I hear that sweet and comforting voice Loose him and let him go to his God who calls him and to his Saviour who holds out unto him his Arms wide open VVhen wilt thou send unto me thy good Angels to lead me up to thine Holy Mountain to thine Heavenly Jerusalem where no impure thing shall ever enter or that committeth Abomination or a Lye VVhen shall I see my self in that blessed Paradise where there shall be no Serpent to seduce us nor Lusts to war against us nor evil company to corrupt and spoil us VVhen shall I behold the new Heavens and the new Earth where Justice Righteousness and true Holiness are sitting upon the Throne How long Lord shall I hear thine Holy Name blasphemed and the Bloud of thy Covenant trampled under foot How long yet shall I listen to the impieties and abuses of the Children of this age VVhen wilt thou lift me up to the Dwelling of thy Glory where I shall be no longer assaulted with temptations from the VVorld with enticements from the Flesh and with the fiery Darts of the Devil where I shall be no more vexed with evil desires false Fears and vain hopes where I shall never offend my God nor grieve his Holy Spirit that hath sealed me to the day of my Redemption O Holy of Holies when shall thy Church be so sanctified and cleansed that no spot or wrinkle nor any such thing shall appear in it When shall I see it decked with fine Linnen cloathed with the Sun and crowned with the Stars When shall my Heart be as a golden Viol from whence sweet Perfumes may ascend VVhen shall I behold thy Face continually VVhen shall I love thee without interruption and serve thee without any Lett or Hinderance VVhen wilt thou put into my Hands a Celestial Harp and into my Mouth the Songs of the Blessed and when shall I worship thee in the company of all the Holy Spirits without intermission and for ever VVhen shall I sing forth thy Praises in Heaven O Lord when shall I appear with the Holiness of thy Saints in the white Robes of thy Martyrs and be as fiery as the Seraphims that fly about thy Glorious Throne O my God! Let this Holy Zeal which thou hast kindled in my Soul be like a Fiery Chariot and an Holy Flame to carry me up to the Heaven of thy Glory where I am to shine in thy presence for ever Amen CHAP. 22. The Tenth Consolation is the Glory and Happiness of our Souls at their Egress out of the Body IF there were neither Punishment nor Torment after this life to be feared the Wicked and Unbelievers that prosper in the World might justly esteem themselves the happiest of all men And if there were neither Glory nor Rewards to be expected after death the Righteous and the Faithful who drink here below Cups full of bitterness and sorrow would be the most miserable of all Creatures The condition of the Beasts would appear more happy than theirs for they enjoy in quiet and peace all the pleasures that the animal Nature is able to relish They are not tormented by so many diseases that vex our Bodies neither do they know the cares and displeasures that consume and fret our minds They grieve not for the time past nor trouble themselves with any apprehensions of the time to come They never feel the grievous disputes of Lusts They know not most of those Passions that torment and domineer over our Souls All their pains and sufferings end with their breath so that when they are dead they endure nothing If we make our Eyes the Judges of these things we may say The accident that happens to Men and Beasts is the same accident as is the death of the one so is the death of the other But if we search and examine further we shall find more difference than
a sight of his Glory of the Riches and Divine Excellencies of the New Jerusalem but how much greater is thy priviledge for that which this Holy Apostle beheld in a Vision and a Dream God will discover to thee in Truth and Reality Let thine Heart listen and thou shalt hear the voice of thy Saviour calling already to thee feom Heaven as unto his Beloved Disciple Come and see Come my good and faithful Servant come my Son or my Daughter and I will shew thee my Glorious and Magnificent City I will shew thee the Palace of my Glory and all the Splendor and State of my Kingdom Come and I will expose before thine eyes all my Riches Treasuries and my most precious Crowns Come and I will cause the River of Living Water which proceeds from my Throne to run before thee and the Eternal Delights that proceed from my Face I shall shew thee all these Heavenly Treasures and Glory all the Angelical satisfactions not in the visions of the night in an extasy in an Holy ravishment of the Mind or in a Prophetical elevation of the Soul but I will discover them to thee in Reality and Truth by the assistance of a purer and more Glorious Light than that of the Sun I shall not only cause thee to behold this Glory these Treasures and Delight but I will cause thee to be partakar of them for ever for as thou hast pledged me in the Cup of my bitterness and sorrows as thou hast continued with me in my afflictions and hast been faithful unto Death I will give the Kingdom to thee as the Father hath given it to me I will give thee the Crown of Life and will cause thee to swim in the vast Ocean of the Eternal Pleasures Thou shalt not only see all my Treasures all my Pomp and Glory thou shalt not only behold the Rivers and the Seas of my most wonderful Delights and shalt be a partaker of them but thou shalt see me as I am in my Kingdom I will pull off the Vail that covers me and scatter the Clouds and Mists that hide me so that thou shalt look upon me without hindrance and behold me face to face thou shalt be transformed into my Likeness and be satisfied with my Resemblance You see therefore Christians that although Death appears to us grievous and ill-favoured we may apply to it what David said of Ahimaz that it is the Messenger of good news Notwithstanding its hideous Vail and Cloak of Darkness we have just cause to liken it to the Chariot of Fire that carried up the Prophet Elijah into Heaven From what we have said you may easily conclude with the wisest of Kings That the day of our death is better than the day of our birth for our Birth brings us upon a wretched Earth but death carries us into a Paradise of Heavenly Delights Our Birth exposeth us to several Encounters but Death lifts us up upon a Chariot of Triumph Our Birth expresseth from us Crying and Tears but Death makes us sing for joy our Birth brings us into the Light but Death causeth us to shine as the Sun our Birth makes us to live a sensual and animal Life of a short continuance but Death introduceth us into a Spiritual and Angelical Life that shall continue for ever In short our Birth casts us into the Arms of Death but Death leads to the Well-spring of Life Therefore the Apostle St. Paul confesseth that Christ is gain to him both in life and death Phil. 1. And for the same reason the Primitive Christians could not endure to see any person afflicting himself for the decease of Believers because that it was the day of their Deliverance Rest Glory and Happiness they did commonly forbid all manner of Mourning for they judged that it is not proper that we should cloath our selves with black and sadness for their sakes who are clothed in white and shining Garments of Light and Immortality They look'd upon this Life as upon a continual Death and upon Death as upon the beginning of a real Life Therefore they stiled the aniversary day of the Martyrs death The day of their Nativity From hence proceed the usual Songs of Praise which they did commonly sing to perpetuate their Blessed Memories I need not cause you to take notice devout Souls of the notable difference between the death of God's Children and the death of the wicked It is as great as between Heaven and Earth between Paradise and Hell Balaam had good cause to desire the one and fear the consequence of the other we have as much reason to cry out as he did Let me dye the death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his Numb 23. You have heard how an Heathen Prince made this address to his Soul My little Soul my little Darling Hostess and Companion of my Body Adrian thou art going to wander up and down in cold obscure and fearful places thou shalt never delight thy self in jesting as thou hast been wont thou shalt never give me any more pastime but when a Christian Soul goeth out of this mortal Tabernacle he may talk to it in another manner O my Soul pleasant Hostess and Heavenly Companion of this crazy Body thou canst not wander out of thy way for thou hast a faithful and a knowing Guide Thou art already in the blessed company of Angels that shall bear thee upon their wings thou art going to a Noble place enriched with Light and Glory and blessed with the sincerest and most Heavenly Delights Thou shalt meet with no more Sorrows Grief nor Displeasure which so often disturb thy quiet here upon Earth Thou shalt rejoyce for ever with all the Glorified Saints and sing Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving for ever with all the Celestial Spirits O my Soul how great is that Glory and Happiness which thou mayest justly expect from thy God who hath both an infinite Power and an infinite Mercy and Goodness seeing that he hath endeared thee unto himself by giving his own Life to free thee from Death and Eternal Damnation If your friends or rather your enemies in this occasion weep and are grieved at your departure if they labour by their Tears and Sighs to move your Heart and to perswade you to remain yet here below speak to them as St. Paul did to those that wept about his neck What mean ye to weep and to break my heart Acts 21. St. Paul was then in his journey to Jerusalem where he was to be bound and imprisoned and to be carried to the City of Rome where he was to dye upon a Scaffold by the separation of his Head from his Body notwithstanding St. Paul's friends comforted themselves with this expression The VVill of the Lord be done And what mean ye my friends will ye hinder me from going up to an Heavenly Jerusalem at the Gates whereof I must cast off all these Chains and Fetters of Mortality I must leave
of old materials and dost thou wonder â—ow the great Architect who hath built the great World â—y his Word alone can gather up the old pieces and maâ—erials of this little World to make up a new building â—dorned with Divine Graces and Beauty Shall the Statue â—aker be able to restore again his bruised Image reduced to Ashes and shall not God be able to restore man created after his own Image and likeness to his primitive estate and being In a word let the difficulties seem never so great remember Christian Soul what the Angel Gabriel told the blessed Virgin With God nothing shall be unpossible I know very well that it is an old Axiome of Philosophy From privation to the habit there is no returning That is to say when once we are deprived of and have lost a natural faculty it is never to be recovered again But the prophane Atheists do wrongfully abuse this Maxime against the Article of our Resurrection for it is most true in respect of natural and secondary causes It is not to be doubted that when the faculties of nature are once lost they are not to be restored by Humane Art or Skill and when a man is dead 't is not possible for all the Creatures to bring him to life again But nothing is able to limit the power of an infinite Agent He that hath formed the wonderful eye in whom we live move and have our being cannot he open the Eyes of a Man born Blind and restore Life to a dead Corps This same Philosophy whereof the Maximes are brought against the Resurrection declares openly That God can do all things that imply not contradiction Now there is no contradiction in believing that God can render life to him that had lost it and that what is fallen down by Death should rise again by the Resurrection To the end that this Resurrection of our Bodies might seem less strange God hath been pleased to give us in nature many Images and likenesses I am perswaded Believing Souls that you will not be displeased if I mention here some of the chief As when the Sun goeth down and the Earth is covered with the dark shadowes of the night Mans declining and the darkness of the Grave is represented likewise when this King of the Stars rises when he brings with him the day over our Heads there is a beautiful and perfect Image of the Resurrection Secondly When the Moon parts with all its light and Splendor which it borrowes from the Sun when it covers it self with a Vaile of darkness 't is the Image of Death and a representation of that Vaile which it draws over our eyes but when the Sun begins to look upon it again and by that means it recovers its former brightness and Glory it discovers before our Eyes in a manner that which shall happen to our Bodies when the Sun of righteousness shall rise and cast upon them his favourable aspect Thirdly The Spring Summer and Autumn follow one after another and the Winter shews us an Image of Death but when the Sun begins to return again upon our heads when it covers the Earth with a beautiful green and revives the sleeping vertues of Nature he expresseth to us the Resurrection in lively colors Fourthly The Trees that are in Winter without Flowers Fruits or Leaves discover to us the hideous aspect of Death that strips mans body and deprives him of all that is beautiful and pleasant to the eye but when these same Trees flourish again and are loaden with fresh leaves and fruits they put us in mind of the blessed Resurrection of our Bodies Fifthly The seeds that corrupt and rot in the ground represent our Bodies rotten in their Graves but when these seeds appear above Ground and flourish they express excellently well the blessed estate of our Bodies rising again to a new life and recovering a perfect beauty and a new glory This similitude the Son of God himself recommends to us If the grain of Wheat which falls to the Earth doth not die it remains alone but if it dies it brings forth much fruit John 22. And the Apostle St. Paul insists at large upon this comparison thereupon he exclaimes against the stupid Atheists who will not believe that a dead Body can revive again O fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die 2 Cor. 15. Sixthly I find more wonderfull what is said of certain herbs which rise again out of their Ashes for example if you burn Gall. Armois and fling its Ashes upon the Earth you shall see the same herb grow again Many have tryed and found this by experience The same is reported of a kind of Palm-tree and because in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Palm is called Phaenix this experiment hath given occasion to the Fable of the Phaenix a Bird that is said to revive again out of its own marrow and Ashes Who is it but will say that this is an excellent expression of the Resurrection of our Bodies Seventhly There are also several sorts of Insects which shadow out unto us Death and the Resurrection As the silk Worms for when these small creatures have finished their work and spun out that silk with which the Garments and stately attire of Kings and Princes are made they bury themselves in the Tomb which they build afterwards they become like to a little Beane which hides under its thin skin the formation of a white Butter-fly The same is observed of the Chenilles Caterpillars for when they seem stark dead they creep out of their little Sepulchers in the forms of Butter-flies of so many rare and various colors that they ravish the Eye into admiration so that many curious persons keep them in their Clossets amongst their rarities Eightly Amongst the Beasts also some seem to be dead for several Months of the year being without Sense or Motion but afterwards they awake again or rather they begin a new life to move about as they did before Ninthly But we need go no further then our selves to find the Image of Death and of the Resurrection for Is there any thing that can express Death more perfectly then our dead sleep that Stupifies our Senses puts a stop to the Spirits of our Bodies and binds up our most active faculties So that we have then Eyes without feeing ears without hearing a nose and cannot smell and a living Body but we have no feeling But as soon as such a person comes to awake again to open its eyes to stir and to act he represents a most perfect Image of the Resurrection I might also add amongst the Images of Death and the Resurrection the several changes and alterations that happen to the States and Empires of the World for oftimes they appear as dead and buried but afterwards they rise again from their falls and march out of their obscurity as in a glorious Resurrection But I shall wave these similitudes and consider only such as the
as the fire St. Paul intends to teach us this truth when he tells us that this Body is sown an earthly and a sensual Body but it shall rise again an heavenly and a spiritual Body we are not so to understand these words as to think that God will change them into Spirits or into such uncomposed bodies as are the Heavens for they shall yet be made up of flesh and bones and they shall have all the essential parts of an humane Body as we have already taken notice but I conceive that they are named spiritual and heavenly because they shall have no more the gross and earthy qualities and they shall live no more a Sensitive and an animal life In a word they shall need no more meat or drink than the Stars and Celestial Bodies no more than the holy Angels of God I confess that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended up into Heaven in a cloud not because that a Cloud was necessary to uphold and keep up his glorious Body for if in the estate of his infirmity and humiliation this divine Body was able to walk upon the waves of the Sea without sinking by the assistance of his divine Nature how much more since its glorification shall it be able to ascend up on high and to go whither he listeth If the help of any Creature had been necessary to uphold him he might have had Legions of Immortal Angels to carry him up but Christ needed not to be assisted neither by a Body nor a Spirit nor by any other Creature This Cloud therefore that appeared at his Ascention was no token of the infirmity of his humane Nature it did rather manifest the glory and magnificence of his Divine Majesty unto which this precious Body was united personally God hath often revealed himself attended by a Cloud as upon Mount Sina in the Ark of the Covenant at the Dedication of Solomone Temple therefore that Cloud in which God was pleased to discover himself is stiled The Glory of God that is the Sign and visible expression of his Glorious Presence and Divine Majesty Let us therefore gather from hence that the Cloud which attended upon the glorified Body of Jesus Christ was no needful help to carry him up to Heaven but as it were a Chariot of Triumph to cause him to go with more glory and pomp The Bodies of the Saints after the Resuriection shall shine and be full of glory they shall not only have some superficial splendor upon their Countenance or Skin as Moses when he had been with God forty days and forty nights in the Holy Mountain but they shall shine within and without as a true Diamond that casts abroad on all sides its light and flames So that it shall happen to them as it happened to our Saviour upon Mount Tabor for it is said that his Garments became White as the Light In the same manner at the time of our Transfiguration our bodies that are but the Garments of our Immortal Souls shall be as clear as the Light and as bright as the Celestial Globes I speak here nothing but what the Prophet Daniel saith before me Daniel 12. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever And our Saviour assures us Math. 23. That the Children of God shall shine in the Kingdom of their Father as the Sun These glorified Bodies shall never corrupt nor putrify but they shall be for ever uncorruptible Therefore St. Paul assures us that the Corruptible must put on incorruption so that I may safely affirm that their glory shall be more durable than that of the Sun or of the Moon or of the Stars for although these Celestial Bodies never corrupt out of any inward principle although there can be no alteration happen to them neither from their essential form nor from the properties that come from it nor from any other inherent quality they shall nevertheless corrupt out of an external principle for the Almighty hand of God which made them shall change and alter them as the royal Prophet tells us in 102 Psalm The heavens shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed 1 Pet. 5. Unto this St. Peter doth very well agree The Heavens saith he shall pass away with a great noise Where as the glorified Bodies shall never corrupt neither by any internal principle nor by their essential form nor by the properties and accidents that flow from it nor by any external cause nor by any accident whatsoever that can be imagined for the Almighty hand of God shall make them never to marr them again From hence it follows that they shall Die no more but shall continue Immortal for with incorruption they must put on Immortality therefore when our Saviour speaks of the estate of the glorified Saints Luk. 20. he saith not only that they shall not Die but that they cannot Die any more because they shall be like the Angels being the Children of the Resurrection In this consists the difference between them and those whom God hath raised up already mentioned in the Old and New Testament For they were forced to return to their sensual life to eat and drink and therefore they were again subject to corruption and Death but at the day of the general Resurrection whatsoever is Mortal shall be swallowed up by Life therefore St. Paul applies to this glorious day the accomplishment of this Prophecy Death is swallowed up into Victory and he brings in these who shall be cloathed with this Immortal Glory braving Death and the Grave in this triumphing Language O Death where is thy Victory O Grave I where is thy Sting In short to make us sensible that our Bodies shall put on all the richest and most noble qualities that can be imagined and to express all in a word the Holy Ghost assures us that they shall bear the Image of the Son of God and be made conformable to his glorious Body St Paul declares this Truth in the 15 Chap. of the first of the Corinth The first Man saith he was of the Earth Earthly the second Man was the Lord from Heaven as is the Earthy such are they that are are Earthy and as is the Heavenly such are they also that are Heavenly and as we have born the Image of the Earthy we shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly And in Philip. 3. he saith we wait for the Lord Jesus from Heaven who shall change our vile Body that it may be like to his glorious Body from hence you may gather Christians that at the rebuilding of this little Temple of the Godhead there shall happen no such thing as at the rearing up of the Temple of Jerusalem for when that was Rebuilding at the return from the Babilonish Captivity they that had seen the former
Temple and its wonderful glory wept aloud so that their weeping interrupted the others expressions of joy and gladness At the Restauration of the Temple of our Bodies nothing shall be heard but Songs of Triumph and Jubile Such as have seen with the eyes of Faith Mans Body as it was in the estate of its integrity in the earthly Paradise shall not be then sorry that it hath been defaced by Sin and destroyed by Death they shall not be sorry for any thing that is passed they shall not be able to wish for any increase of happiness and glory for the future for at the very instant of its rising from the Grave it shall be raised to its highest Splendor Happiness and Magnificence so that it shall be truly said That the glory of this Second House shall be greater than that of the First Hag. 2. Now that we have treated sufficiently of such as shall rise from their Graves it remains that we take a view of them whose Bodies shall never be laid in the Dust and who shall be alive at Christs coming down from Heaven for that purpose St. Paul informs us 1 Cor. 15. Behold I shew you a Mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall be all changed in a moment at the twinckling of an eye at the sound of the last trumpet and he speaks in this manner to the Thessalonians 1 Thes 4. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep for the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God and the Dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and we shall ever be with the Lord wherefore comfort one another with these words I know very well that St. Paul tells the Hebrews that it is appointed unto all Men once to Die Therefore I conceive that this great change that shall be made in the Bodies of them that shall be then alive shall be a kind of Death for Christ will destroy and abolish altogether in them all corruption and inclination to Mortality And when he shall change the Bodies of the Reprobates he will make them like to the other Reprobates whom he shall fetch out of their Graves he will make them Immortal that they may be eternally tormented in Hell But he will cause the Bodies of Believers then alive to be like the other Believers that they may all partake and enjoy the same glory and eternal Bliss Christians in what condition soever you be in seriously apply to your selves these Divine Consolations you that are grieved to see your Bodies maimed and deprived of one of your Members of your Eyes Hearing or of some other of your senses whether you be so born or whether such a privation hath happened unto you by a Disease by a Mischance or by any other Means rejoyce and comfort your selves with this assurance that you shall see one day this wretched Body restored to a perfect estate to a perfection that shall never be lost you that fret and vex your selves to behold now old Age and Sickness have disfigured your Bodies what breaches and ruines they have caused in you Comfort your selves in expectation of this glorious Resurrection which shall supply this decayed and languishing Body with new strength and vigor and adorn it with a perfect beauty and an eternal glory And you whom Death undermines and intends shortly to lay in the Dust grieve not at it for you shall loose nothing at present but you shall find it again at the great day of the Resurrection When Joseph died he commanded his Brethren concerning his Bones that they should carry them out of Egypt into the Land of Canaan Now our Bones are the Bones of Jesus Christ our true Joseph Therefore he will command his Angels to gather them up safe he himself will have a care to preserve them at the great Morne of the Resurrection he shall fetch them out of their Graves as out of an Egypt out of an House of Bondage and will carry them to his Celestial Canaan When the Tabernacle was taken in pieces the High-Priest did deliver every piece in charge to the Levites so that when they were to set it up again there was nothing wanting Likewise our Saviour hath given in charge and delivered by retail every Member and part of our Bodies these Tabernacles which he hath Consecrated for himself to our Graves therefore they shall all be found again at the Resurrection without the least imperfection These Tabernacles shall not only be found entire but they shall be beautified with a far greater Glory and Splend or than before There is none but would be glad to lay himself down to sleep in his Bed and pull off his garments willingly if he were certain to be more healthy and to find his garments fresher and more beautiful in the Morning if he were perswaded that instead of old rags he were to cloath and put on a royal attire and most mâ—gnificent garments Who would not willingly go out of a pittiful Cabin and forfake a miserable lodge which shall be one day changed into a Golden Palace adorned with precious Stones Comfort thy self believing Soul and rejoyce in God thy Redeemer cast off willingly this Garment that is so incommodious and troublesome to thee forsake this wretched Body undermined by sickness and diseases and consumed by time Sleep quietly in the Lord Jesus and repose thy self in his Bosome for when thou shalt wake again at the sound of the Archangels Trumpet thou shalt find this garment whither then Snow and as bright as the Light grieve not to see this crasy dwelling fall to pieces and rot for God shall build it up again with his own hands and convert it into his Temple and a pavillion of his glory Thou mayst be certain shortly to return again and to find this woful lodge of Earth become an heavenly Palace purer than fine Gold and brighter than the Diamonds the Rubies and all the precious Stones Weep not for thy beautiful eyes that are shut nor for the rest of thy Senses that are lost nor for the Members of thy Body that consume away one after another for with these same eyes that have lost or shall shortly loose the sight of the day light thou shalt behold a Divine Light that shall shine eternally in Heaven thou shalt behold the face of the King of Kings and all the Glory and Magnificence of his Kingdom with these ears that are deaf and that shall shortly be stopped thou shalt hear with transports of Joy the ravishing harmonies of the Saints and the Songs of the Blessed Angels with this stammering Tongue which is to loose the faculty of Speech thou shalt sing with a loud
his Prophets and revealed himself unto him in a more familiar manner than to any other living Man Because of these glorious and extraordinary appearances of God's presence and of the brightness of his Light which shined so clear in the Soul of Moses because of that Holy familiarity which he had with God that he speaks of it in such a manner in the 12 Chapter of the Book of Numbers for we cannot understand that place in a litteral sence That Moses did really see God himself and that with the Eyes of the Body he beheld his Being which is altogether invisible But we must understand it in this manner that never any man beheld such glorious expressions of the Godhead with the Eyes of the Body That never any Man discoursed so familiarly with God as Moses never any man◠hath ever had so clear and plain a knowledge of his great Glory and Divine Majesty Seventhly God hath often appeared unto Men in Humane shapes and hath given them such visible expressions of his Holy Presence that such as have seen those Images tell us that they have seen God It is in this manner that Jacob speaks when he had wrestled with God in his Body when he was moved not only by an assisting Angel but also by God himself who discovers there his Divine Vertue I have seen saith he God face to face and my soul hath been saved Gen. 32. Manoah the Father of Sampson tells asmuch when he had seen the Humane shape in which God was pleased to appear when he ascended up into Heaven in the flame of his sacrifice For certain we shall dye for we have seen God Judg. 13. In like manner when God appeared to Abraham in the shape of a man this man is called the Lord and Abraham bowed himself before him and worshiped and at one time this Holy Patriarch saw no less than three Humane shapes which appeared to him at once Some think that God appeared but in one of these shapes and that the two others were Angels That which confirms this opinion is that of these three persons there is but one that speaks as God and receives Abraham's Adoration And when he appears no more the two others are stiled Angels in the beginning of the 19 Chapter But others believe with some antient Doctors of the Church that these three Humane shapes were a true Image and living Representation of the most Holy most Glorious and most Wonderful Trinity In this opinion there is nothing contrary to the Analogy of Faith Finally God hath discovered himself by his Son in a particular manner he is named therefore The Image of God the Image of the invisible God and God manifested in flesh God hath not only imprinted in him some tokens of his Godhead and Marks of his Divine Power he caused him not to walk and move as the borrowed Bodies of the old Testament He hath not only ingraven in him the perfect Image of all 〈◊〉 Divine Vertues God is not in him in a shadow or Figure as he was in the Ark and in Solomons Temple but he hath dwelt in him bodily and by his Eternal Godhead as St. Paul informs us That in him dwelleth Bodily that is to say Really and Essentially all the fulness of the Godhead therefore our Saviour tells St. Philip That he that hath seen him hath seen the Father John 14. This being thus let us now consider how we see God now here below and how we shall see him hereafter in Heaven At present we see him with the eyes of the Body in his visible Works And we see his Being also with the Eye of our Understanding but in a weak and a languishing manner we know him with a very obscure and imperfect Knowledge for this cause St. Paul saith very well and truly That we know in part and we prophecy in part We see God also with the Eye of Faith it is with this Eye that we see him as Moses did who is invisible and that we behold our Lord Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand of God the Father above all Principalities and Powers worshiped and adored by all the glorified Church in Heaven In Paradise we hope to see with the Eyes of our glorified Body the Images and Marks of the Divinity so Glorious and Magnificent so Beautiful and full of Majesty that in comparison of that whatsoever appeared to the Prophets and Patriarchs in their illustrious Visions was nothing but obscurity and darkness And with the same Eyes of the Body we shall see God in the Person of our glorified Saviour who is the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person so that we may well say with Job in a full assurance of Faith I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body I shall see God in my Flesh whom I shall see for my self and my Eyes shall be hold and not another Job 19. But for the Essence and Being of God and for the Eternal Godhead we shall not nor cannot see it with the Eyes of the Body Let them become never so Glorious Incorruptible and Immortal We shall neither see it with the eye of Faith for then Faith shall be totally abolished and we shall not walk any more by Faith but by sight but we shall see God with the Eye of the Understanding enlightened with a Divine Glory Now as we have taken notice there are two sorts of Contemplations and Knowledges the one perfect proportioned to the object which we behold and look upon the other imperfect suitable to the being beholding and to the abilities of the understanding Our future knowledge of God shall not be of the first but of the latter sort that is to say That we shall never see into the bottom of the Mysteries of God's Divine Majesty and of his Glory We shall never know perfectly this highest Perfection this infinite Being this Incomprehensible and Glorious Godhead for things are in their Actions as they are in their Beings and Abilities Now in the most glorious State of Heaven our Beings and Abilities shall be limited and circumscribed therefore it shall be absolutely impossible for us to comprehend perfectly the Being of God who is infinite in it self and in all its wonderful perfections The Holy Angels themselves the Cherubims and Seraphims these Beings of Light and Glory are not able to pry into these bottomless depths they are not able to approach this infinite Light In a word it is necessary to be God himself to comprehend and understand perfectly the infinite Glory and the highest perfections of the Godhead Although our sight shall not be able to search into the bottom of these depths of the Divinity although we shall never be able to comprehend perfectly the infinite Being of God nevertheless we hope to behold openly this wonderful object and to obtain as much knowledge of it as shall
this there be any other Sphere whereof the motion is so furious and swift as to carry with it the inferior Globes and to cause them to roul round in the space of four and twenty hours Of this Heaven David speaks in the 19 Psalm The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work be hath put in them a Tabernacle for the Sun Now above all these Heavenly Spheres mentioned by the Astrologers some reckon up nine or ten and others more There is yet a third Heaven spoken of by St. Paul 2 Cor. 12. I know saith he a man in Christ which was taken up into the third Heaven I know that he was taken up into Paradise and heard words which cannot be spoken which are not possible for Man to utter The Holy Apostle removes in these words all doubts concerning the place intended by this Third Heaven for he calleth it Paradise where he heard unspeakable words which are not possible to be uttered The Celestial Globes rowl about continually but this Third Heaven which for its excellency is stiled Heaven is fixed and without motion in Eternal Rest And as much as these beautiful Orbs have a greater Light and Glory than the Air and the inferior Bodies so much the more doth this Third Heaven excel them It is my judgement that Solomon means this Third Heaven scituate above all the rest which exceeds them so much in Beauty and Glory when he speaks to God of the Heavens and of the Heaven of Heavens 1 Kings 8. That is to say the most Excellent the highest and the most Glorious of all the Heavens are not able to contain thee and God himself saith by his Holy Prophet The Heavens are my Throne and the Earth is my Footstool Isai 66. for in this high Heaven God hath placed his Throne where he discovers his Glory and the brightness of his surprizing Countenance there the Seraphims fly and thousand thousands worship him and ten thousand Millions stand continually before him Isai 6. Dan. 7. Here it was that the Blessed Soul of our Saviour Christ was admitted assoon as it had left the Body according to what he promised to the crucified Thief Verily I say unto thee this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Luk 23. Hither this Glorious Saviour is ascended both in Soul and Body after his Resurrection and here it was that St. Stephen saw him when he cryed out I see the Heavens open and Jesus Christ fitting at the right hand of God Acts 7. And hither it is that the Souls of all such as dye in his favour are carried up Therefore St. Paul to the Hebrews mentions immediately after the thousands of Angels The Spirits of just Men made perfect and the Church and Congregation of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven In short it is the Glorious Seat where we hope that God will receive us both in Soul and Body at that day when we shall be taken up into the Air above the Clouds of Heaven to be for ever with the Lord Jesus Some inquire then what shall become of this Elemental World whether this Heaven that appears to our Eyes and this Earth which sustains us shall perish or whether they shall remain yet after the great day of Doom Certain prophane Atheists are perswaded that the World shall remain for ever as it doth at present and that there shall be no manner of alteration The Apostle St. Peter hath Prophesied of these Persons and described them in their own Colours There shall come at the last day mockers walking after their own Lusts saying where is the promise of his coming for since the Fathers are asleep all things continue in the same manner since the beginning of the World I need not trouble my self in a refutation of such impieties I speak to none but to the devout Souls which reverence the Divinity of the Holy Scriptures and are fully perswaded of the Truth of all the Articles of our Creed It oft-times happens when Men oppose a false Doctrine and an erroneous opinion they run from one extremity to another therefore some imagine that the World shall totally perish and that as God hath called the Heavens and Earth and the rest of the Elements out of nothing he will reduce them all again into the same Nothing and that he intends to create others more beautiful more Holy and far more Glorious There are two kinds of expressions that seem to favor this opinion The first which speaks of the Heavens and of the Earth as of perishing and decaying Creatures In this manner David discourseth of them in 102 Psalm and after him the Apostle to the Hebrews Thou Lord hast established the Earth and the Heavens are the Works of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure they shall wax old as doth a Garment and as a Vesture shalt thou fold them up and theyshall be changed And our Saviour tells us in the 24 of St. Matt. The Heavens and the Earth shall pass away but my Words shall not pass away Especially the words of St. Peter in the 2 Epistle and the 3 Chapter are remarkable The Heavens shall pass away with a noise and the Elements shall melt with heat and the Earth with the works that are therein shall be burnt up The other passages mention new Heavens and a new Earth as in the 65 of Isaiah Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former things shall be remembred no more Likewise in the fore-mentioned Chapter the 3 of the 2 Epistle of St. Peter We look for new Heavens and a new Earth according to his promise wherein dwelleth Righteousness And in the 21 Revel I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea Moreover St. Paul to the Hebrews speaks of the World to come from hence some conclude that the old World ought to be abolished and that God shall create a new World There is no man that is a Christian can doubt of that wonderful change which shall happen to the world at the last day if he considers the fore-mentioned passage of Holy Scripture especially that of St. Peter The Heavens shall pass away with a noise and the Elements shall melt with heat and the Earth with the Works that are therein So that as the Walls of Jerico fell at the sound of the Priests Trumpets Likewise this great world shall be turned upside down at the blowing of the Arch-Angels Trumpet Our Reason alone being enlightened by Divine Revelation seems to confirm this Truth for seeing that the House infected with a spreading Leprosy was to be demolished how much the rather should the world be destroyed because in it is to be seen apparently the spots and blemishes of sin the Spiritual Leprosy But although this great Fabrick of the World ought to be ruined and turned upside down we do not believe that it shall
be reduc'd to nothing its qualities shall be changed and it may be its form shall be altered but its substance and matter shall continue always the same for First As God hath created the World for his own Glory he cannot be disappointed of the intent of his Creation And because this world hath not glorified him as it ought he will put it into a condition proper to glorify him according to that purpose for which he drew it out of nothing Secondly Seeing that this World was created to serve Man as a Looking-Glass to behold the Eternal Power of God and that this beautiful Looking-Glass hath been spotted and sullied by sin It is yet possible to cleanse it and make it brighter that it might represent its Creator better and shew forth a more perfect Image of his Divine Majesty Thirdly Seeing that God doth nothing in vain there is no likelyhood that he should destroy the World totally and reduce the primitive Matter to nothing from whence it is drawn to create new Matter because he is able of this old Matter to make a new Earth and new Heaven as pure and undefiled as if the Matter had been newly created Fourthly Sin hath spoiled and disfigured the Works of the Creation but it hath not touched neither the first Matter nor its Being so that God can take away this defilement and remove the deformity without touching the Matter which of it self is innocent and harmless In Man the little World and the compendium of the great I find a beautiful and perfect Image of that which God shall do with the whole World God intends not to destroy the substance of our Souls but only to purge them from all vicious qualities and beautify them with Righteousness and true Holiness so that they shall be as the Angels of Heaven Likewise he intends not to destroy the substance of our Bodies but he will free them from corruption from death and cloath them with Glory and Immortality so that this vile Body shall be rendred conformable to the glorious Body of the Son of God and shall shine as the Sun Likewise God will not altogether destroy the World and abolish its substance but he will rectify all its imperfections and add to it a greater Glory If it be lawful for me to discover here all my thoughts I must say that I put a great difference between Heaven and Earth for the Earth is altogether corrupt and spoiled with sin it is the Earth especially that groans under the burden of so many iniquities which reign in it but if Heaven is guilty of any crime it is because it hath given Light to such as have been Rebels against the Divine Majesty and assisted the cursed Earth by its Gracious and continual influences Because of this great difference it is my opinion that the Earth shall be destroyed by Fire and that all its beautiful Buildings and proud Palaces shall be turned into Ashes but the change which shall happen in Heaven shall only be to make it more beautiful and brighter that Children of God might have there a more Glorious Palace This seems to have been typified in the ceremonial Law for as we have already observed speaking of that which shall happen to the Soul and Body that when an Earthen Vessel was defiled it was to be broken to pieces but such Vessels as were of a more precious Metal as of Brass of Silver or of Gold were to be purified with Fire Likewise the Earth with all its works shall pass through the Flames so that it shall loose its present shape and qualities But Heaven that is as Brass or rather as fine Silver shall only he purified by the Fire of the last Judgement If you remove the cause you take away also the effect if you remove away sin you also remove its punishment Now it is because of Man's sin that the World hath and shall see so great a change Therefore as God by his infinite Mercy hath forgiven Man's sin it is also to be expected from the same Mercy that he will not totally destroy the World but that he will rather free it from corruption unto which our sins had enthral'd it Unless God deals in this manner our Joy and Comfort cannot be accomplished and God will not appear perfectly satisfied While a Subject continues in rebellion and in the displeasure of his Prince not only his person is pursued and punished but all that belongs to him bears the marks of the wrath and indignation of the Prince whom he hath offended his dwelling House is commonly pulled down his Woods are cut and mangled and his Inheritance is destroyed but when his Peace is concluded and his pardon granted his houses are built up again al signs of the King's displeasure are taken away and every thing appears with a more pleasant countenance likewise because of our Rebellion and our Treason against God he hath punished the World for our sakes and hath made it sensible of his wrath But now that our peace is made or rather God having made peace by the blood of his Son we may justly expect that he will remove all signs of his displeasure and revenge I remember upon this subject what David saith to God when he saw the Angels destroying Jerusalem I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these Sheep what have they done 2 Sam. 24. In the same manner every Believer may say unto God Lo I have sinned O Lord I and my Brethren have done wickedly but these inaminate Creatures what have they done our sins have defiled the Earth and all things that may be objected against Heaven it is to have yielded Light and assistance to us Rebels Seeing therefore that thou hast blotted out our Sins and pardoned our Rebellions spare these harmless Creatures which are punished only for our sakes At present we can find no difficulty to understand the forementioned passages of holy Scripture and such as tend to the same purpose For when David and St. Paul assure us That the Heavens shall perish that they shall be changed as a garment I answer that they shall perish in respect of their qualities and not of their substance and that the change shall not be as when one Garment is cast off and another is taken but as when the spots and blemishes of an old Garment are taken away and it becomes fresher When your cloathing is grown old and worn out if it were in your power to make it become new again and as fresh as ever it was you should never dream of seeking for new Stuffe That which is impossible to Men is possible with God Luke 6. And when our Saviour in St. Mathew's Gospel saith That the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away I might say that these words are to be understood comparatively that is to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away rather then that the words of God should fail of
an accomplishment our Saviour confirms this interpretation when he saith in St. Lukes Gospel It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away then that one tittle of the Law should not be fulfilled The Holy Scripture is full of such kind of expressions but I would rather stick to the answers which I have already given to the former passages and to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away not in regard of their substance but only in regard of their accidental qualities In St. Peters expressions I find a double comparison or allusion the one relates to the Tents that are pulled down when the pieces are taken asunder This comparison is very proper for this World is like a great Tabernacle a glorious Pavillion God shall pull off all the coverings he shall cut the Cords and separate every piece But he shall one day raise it up again gather every piece and make it a Royal Tabernacle full of splendor and glory The other comparison is borrowed from Goldsmiths who cast the Gold and Metals into pots and then melt them in the fire Now as they do not destroy by this means the Gold and the Silver but they cleanse it from drosse and from dirt they cause them to appear in all their brightness and beauty and give them a new shape and form Likewise the fire of the last Judgement shall not consume the Heavens and the Earth but shall only give them a new form and beauty The strangest objection in my opinion is occasioned by the words of St. Peter The Earth and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up But I answer to this that there is a great difference between burning and being totally consumed and abolished If it were in the power of a Man whose House is burned to the ground to raise it up again from its ruines and to make it more beautiful and glorious then before by his word alone he would never seek for other Materials Now I shall say again that what is impossible with Men is possible with God he hath already Created the World by his Word and he is able to restore it again by the same word Art hath found a way to make beautiful Vessels of melted ashes and shall not Gods Hand unto which all the skill of Art and the strength of Nature cannot be compared be able to gather up the ashes of this Earth and to make of it a Body full of glory and light From hence you may perceive how we are to understand that there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth they shall not be new in regard of their substance and matter which shall have been from the beginning of the World but they shall be new in regard of those noble qualities which God shall give them When a debaucht fellow leaves his wicked life and applies himself to the practice of Piety and Vertue we commonly say that he is not the same but that he is become another Man Besides when a Man hath cast off his old rags and puts on a glorious Garment we are wont to say that he is another Man We shall have much more cause to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall be new when God shall have renewed them In short he shall enrich the World with so many wonderful beauties he shall fill it full of so much glory and excellency he shall cause it to be so perfect that we shall have just reason to look upon it as upon a New World and to say with the Apostle The old things are passed away behold all things are become new I would not have you think Christians that this opinion is grounded only upon humane reason it is drawn from the words of St. Paul who speaking of the earthly and insensible Creatures as may appear by his intention he saith not only that they are subject to Vanity not willingly but because of him who hath subjected them he means Man who by his Sin and Rebellion hath spoiled the World and corrupted Nature but he adds immediately after That they hope to be delivered from the Bondage of corruption to be in the glorious liberty of the Children of God afterwards he saith for we know that the whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now and before he saith That the earnest expectation of the Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God In which passages pray take notice that St. Paul saith not that these Creatures shall be abolished and totally destroyed but only that they shall be delivered from Vanity and from the bondage of corruption unto which the Sin of Man hath made them subject and that this blessed deliverance shall be brought to pass at the day of the Redemption of our Bodies that is to say at that day when God shall redeem our Bodies from their Graves and raise them up to the highest glory and happiness which hath been prepared for us from the Creation of the World Then shall happen that which is wont to be seen at the Marriage of a great King or at a Coronation or a Triumph for not only the Prince and his Spouse and all their Court appear in their richest and most glorious Attire and loaden with their most precious Jewels and the usual Pompe of Triumphs was as extraordinary and glorious as Invention could make it In such occasions the Princes Palace is adorned with the richest with the most magnificent and rarest ornaments and the Town where this Solemnity is kept shews forth some Signs of the publick rejoycing many places are beautified with several Rarities Theaters are erected the Streets are covered with Flowers and Tapistry fires are kindled and Torches are lighted and there is no corner but shews some expressions of the publick joy Likewise when our Lord Jesus Christ shall come down from the Clouds of Heaven upon a Charriot of Triumph when he shall come to consummate his Marriage with and to Crown his Spouse He shall not only appear in his greatest Glory and most Divine Pomp but the Church also his Spouse shall be cloathed with a Garment brighter than the Sun and Crowned with an Immortal Glory All the Blessed Saints shall appear in their attire of Joy having Palms in their Hands and Crowns upon their Heads and the Companies of Holy Angels shall sing round about At that time Paradice which shall be as his Palace and Bridechamber shall be adorned and enriched with all the light anp glory which I have already essayed to describe unto you The whole World also and every part of it shall partake of this great Glory and Celestial Pomp. The richest Coronations the most Magnificent Triumphs the most stately Nuptials are gone in a few hours Therefore the fires of Joy are soon put out the hangings of the Streets are taken down and the Arches and Pageants disappear and the City is to be seen in its wonted dress But as this Glory and Joy of the Church shall never
we may conclude that although in Heaven we shall know one another we shall have nothing of that carnal love which we have at present and which causeth us to put so much difference between one person and another A father may know his Children but his love shall not be grounded upon considerations of flesh and blood he shall love them only because they are amongst the Children of God and the Heirs of his Kingdom and because he shall see them appear in the Image of the Heavenly Father cloathed with his Light and Crowned with his Immortal Glory Finally we shall love no body but in God and for his sake as they shall be in God and God in them In this manner it shall not be possible to love them more or less Charity or Love the Queen of Vertues shall then sit upon its Throne and attain to its highest degree and perfection If you think seriously upon this Christians you shall easily find arguments to answer the vain objections of such as say that if we come to the knowledge of one another in Heaven that shall be able to disturb our satisfaction and rest for as it will be a comfort and joy to meet there with our Parents and Friends in like manner it will be a trouble and dissatisfaction not to find there all such whom we have formerly loved We may retort the same objection in a stronger manner against those that believe that we shall not know one another in Heaven for we may say also that if we know not the persons we shall not know whether our Parents or our Friends are there and that this is as likely to disturbe and trouble the quiet and satisfaction of our minds But to argue in this gross manner is to confound Heaven with the Earth Grief and displeasure can never be admitted in a Paradice of joy and perfect happiness In this glorious condition our knowledge shall be so clear our Charity so pure our Love for God so servent that as we shall love all things which God shall love and where his Image shall appear so it shall not be possible for us to love them whom God shall hate them who shall bear the marks and similitudes of the Devil When David was yet here on Earth he said unto God Lord shall not I hate them that hate thee I hate them with a perfect hatred they have been to me as mine Enemies Ps 39. In the same manner we shall rather speak in Heaven in the estate of perfection when God shall be in us all in all and we shall be all in God Some there are that inquire what kind of language we shall speak in Heaven some reply that we shall speak the Language of Angels grounding their opinion upon what St. Paul speaks to the Corinthians When I should speak with the Tongues of Men and Angels If I have not charity I am become as sounding Brass and a tinkling Simbal But this is a Chimerian opinion for as the Angels are pure Spirits by consequence they can have no Tongue nor proper language I confess in some holy Apparitions Angels have spoken to Men but it was by moving the Tongues of their borrowed Bodies or by employing some other corporal Organ then they did speak in the Language of those unto whom they were sent they had no particular or proper Dialect But if Angels did speak their Language would excell as much that of Men as the Angelical Nature excells the Humane by the Tongues of Angels therefore our Apostle understands an excellent Tongue better then that of Men. Others fancy that in Heaven we shall speak no other Language but the Hebrew because say they that it is the Tongue which God hath Sanctified from the beginning of the World in which he spoke to the Patriarcks and Holy Prophets in which he proclaimed his Law upon Mount Sina in the audience of all the People of Israel and in which he hath Recorded his Sacred Law with his own Finger They say that it is the Language which Adam did speak in the Earthly Paradice in the state of innocency and which all the Inhabitants of the World did speak before God sent amongst them a Division of Tongues Others are yet of opinion that as then we shall attain to all Knowledge and Sciences we shall not be ignorant of all kind of Languages but that we shall speak them all in a most perfect manner and that with them we shall declare the wonderful Works of God as the Apostles did at the day of Pentecost As the holy Scripture is silent upon this matter I shall affirm nothing But in general terms I may say that as God caused a division of Tongues to punish Mans insolency and pride and that as the differing Languages of People is an effect of their Sin it is most certain that this confusion and difference shall be altogether taken away and that nothing shall be said in Heaven but shall be very well understood by all the glorified Saints I may add moreover that in case we should speak so well all manner of Languages which have been in the World it is nevertheless very likely that we shall all speak but one Language that we may all praise God with the same voice but whether this shall be the Holy Language or another more perfect and majestick which God shall sanctifie for this purpose we cannot know until God of his infinite Mercy shall have raised us to this estate of Glory and perfect Happiness From what we have already said Christians you may easily understand that our happiness hath three steps or degrees the first is attainable in this Life the second at the Egress of the Soul out of the Body the third at the great day of our glorious Resurrection for already in this Life God bestows upon us the First-Fruits of his Glory and the fore-tasts of Heaven The Spirit of God and of his Glory rests at present upon us which fills us full of an unspeakable glorious joy and with the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding When our Souls depart out of this wretched and crasie Body God gathers them up into the bundle of Life he introduceth them into the blessed company of the Angels and Glorified Spirits and admits them to the Contemplation of his Face which is fulness of Joy But in this joyful day when Christ shall come down from Heaven to judge the quick and the dead he will carry us both in Soul and Body to the highest Glory and Happiness whereof we are capable for this reason the Name of Glory is ascribed to this high degree of happiness which is promised to us at the blessed appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ as in the 8 Chap. to the Romans where the Apostle saith That the Creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope because the Creature it self shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into
is gone into Heaven to Rest from all his Works Revel 5. and to take possession of all power riches wisdom strength honor glory and praise The third Work is that of our Glorification when we shall see new Heavens appear and a new Earth when our Bodies shall be cloathed with Incorruption and Immortality and united again to our Souls and when in both Soul and Body we shall attain to the highest glory and most perfect happiness Then he that sits upon the Throne of Eternity shall say with a loud voice Revel 21. All is finished Afterwards the Sabbath of Sabbaths shall succeed that Eternal rest and that peace which shall never be interrupted by any unhappiness We may say that the first rest is that of God the Father the second belongs to the Son the third is the rest of the Holy Ghost that shall have then gathered all the Saints together reared up the House of God to the roof and perfectly enlightened and sanctified the Catholick Church from whence shall proceed its Eternal Glory and Happiness or rather we may say that this last rest is the rest of all the Three Persons of the most holy and most glorious Trinity for then they shall rest from all manner of Works for ever and ever and we in the bosome of their Glory we shall also enjoy an everlasting test When the Works of Creation were finished the Works of Redemption were next expected and after the Works of Redemption we hope for the Works of our final glorification But when God shall have brought us all into his Glorious Rest and that he shall have declared for the third time from Heaven All is finished We shall then expect nothing neither from Gods justice nor from his mercy for all Gods Enemies shall be then destroyed and it shall not be possible to add any thing to the grievousness of their punishments nor to the violence of their torments There shall be no more Tears to be wiped no more evils to be feared nor advantages to be expected not Crowns to receive for then all the Children of God shall be perfectly glorified They shall injoy God himself who shall he their inheritance for ever and the bottomless fountain of all their Delights so that it shall not be possible to add any thing to their infinite Glory nor to their Eternal happiness God shall then as it were take away all means of expressing any greater liberality and bounty Abraham leaped for joy when he saw the Birth day and humiliation of the Son of God how should we rejoyce and be transported out of our selves when we think upon this glorious Day of the appearing of our Great God and Saviour when with the eye of Faith we behold him sitting upon the Clouds of Heaven coming to put a period to Sin and Death to shut up the Devil and his Angels in the bottomless pit of Hell to deliver his Church from all Evils Enemies and Dangers and to promote it to the highest felicity and to an everlasting glory After this Believing Souls I must draw the curtain and suffer my pen to fall from my hand for mine eyes dazle at the sight of so much light and my Soul is surpriprised at the consideration of so much glory and so perfect an happiness Although I have continued in this Treatise longer then I first proposed to my self I must needs confess that whatsoever I have said upon so rich and glorious a subject falls far short of the Truth But I am perswaded that there shall be here enough for pious and devout Souls that seek not for the ornaments of Language nor for the flourishes of Rhetorick but seek for the true and solid comforts of Gods holy Word You Christian and Believing Souls for whose sakes I have undertaken this Work I intreat you by the Glory of God and by your own Salvation to preserve in your minds the Ideas of these things that I have now spoken of Imprint them in your Memories grave them upon your Hearts with the point of a Diamond and especially take delight in following my direction and you shall assuredly find both joy and comfort Think often upon Death let it be the most familiar and most pleasant subject of your Discourse expect it at every Moment and lead such a Life as if Death were already upon your Lips Fear not the many troubles of this humane Life doubt not but that God hath determined the time and manner of your going out of the World and that every kind of Death of the Children of God is precious in his sight Seeing that you are to live yet but a moment here upon Earth settle not here your Hearts but injoy your Riches and advantages as not enjoying them remembring that the fashion of this World passeth away seeing that it is Sin alone that makes Death appear so terrible to us hate all manner of Vice and study the practice of Piety And seeing that there is no body at the hour of Death but wisheth that he had lived well think upon your latter end and you shall never be able to Sin If your mind is disturbed with the consideration of those things which shall happen after our Decease learn to rest upon the wise Providence of God that sees into the depths of Eternity that provides for all things and that draws Light out of the greatest Darkness Are you cast upon a Bed of Sickness and Disease open the eye of Faith and you shall see your selves encompassed about with holy Angels and in the Arms of God himself dread not the violence of pain for God shall never forsake you in your grief he shall never suffer you to be afflicted above what you are able to indure fancy him not as a dreadful and a merciless Judge but look upon him as a gracious and a loving Father who desires not the Death of a Sinner but rather that he should repent and live If Death appears to you with a frightful Countenance if it fills you full of Terror cast your eyes by Faith upon the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and you shall see there all the Weapons and Armour of this Death broken in pieces You shall see there a Divine and precious Blood running down which hath satisfied for all your Sins and marked unto you the way to Gods Eternal Sanctuary Let not the Grave that is digging for you terrify you seeing that the King of Kings hath been laid there before you and filled it with his most Divine Perfumes Let Death seem to you never so Dreadful remember that our Saviour hath overcome it by his Resurrection fear not therefore to incounter it seeing that our Great God and Saviour shall make you partaker of his Victory And that you might beget in your Souls an earnest longing to go to Heaven Look upon Jesus Christ there who prepares a place for you and desires that you should be eternally with him to behold his Joy and Glory Fear not the separation