must be first minded and then Charity It may be thou chearest thy heart with the thoughts of an honourable burial it delights thee to think how when thy Will is open people will applaud thee for the large provision thou makest therein for thy children with what a great Company thou shalt be attended to thy grave and what a costly Monument shall be erected to thy Memory Well! since thou art so much joyed with a curious Tomb I shall take the pains to write thine Epitaph and if thou hast a spark of true love to thy soul thou wilt think of it whilst thou livest Here lies Interred one that to make his Children Gentlemen on earth for a few days made himself a Beggar in Hell to all eternity He was one that to gain a little earthly treasure of which he hath now taken an everlasting farewel sold his precious soul and the endless blisseful fruition of the blessed God Did ever fool buy so dear or sell so cheap O look on him and learn to be righteous SECT IV. SEcondly Be righteous in thy Words and Expressions as well as in thy Works The Christians tongue should be his hearts interpreter and reveal its mind and meaning and the Christians hand should justifie his tongue by turning his words into deeds Though the right Christian is not a worshipper of Mercury to whom tongues were only offered in sacrifice yet with the Athenians he doth speak well as with the Lacedemonians do well The Burgesse of the new Ierusalem is known by this livery He walketh uprightly worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not Psal. 15. 2 4. First He speaketh the truth in his heart His speech is the genuine and natural off-spring of his heart there is a great resemblance between the Child and the Parent That language which is confused and not to be understood speaks not a Citizen of Sion but a builder of Babel or Babylon When the words are spurious and not the hearts own like Abimelech they destroy the Family of which they descend sometimes that tongue cuts the owners throat The getting of treasure by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death Prov. 21. 6. The deceitful tongue seeketh death though not intentionally yet euentually The Saints words and thoughts are univocal they speak as they think and are like clarified honey clear to the bottom his heart is the Mine his mind frameth the matter and his tongue is the shop that exposeth it to publique view Secondly He sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not His hand will make good his lawful promises how much soever they shall be to his prejudice There is a Symmetry between his hand and his tongue he is slow to promise not hasty to enter into bonds but being once engaged he will be sure to perform He dares not falsifie his word knowing that his God was an earwitness It was the saying of Lysander That if the Lyons skin would not serve to cozen with the foxes must be sowed to it and that Children were to be deceived with toyes and men with Oaths but this Fox himself was at last taken in a trap and slain at the foot of the Theban Walkes The Justice of God will some time or other seize upon such unjust men False conceptions are as dangerous to the souls of men as to the bodies of women The Romans built a Temple to the Goddess Fidelity and offered sacrifice to her image so highly did they esteem of faithfulness Attilius Regulus their General against the Carthaginians being taken Prisoner and sent to Rome with conditions of peace upon his word to return if the Terms were not accepted judging the conditions dishonourable he disswaded the Romans from embracing them and went back to his enemies according to his promise though he knew beforehand that upon his return they would presently put him to death The Prisoner that got from Hannibal by eluding his Oath was by the Senate apprehended and sent back again saith Livie Attica â—â—des was free or sure hold and Atticus testis one that keeps touch because the Athenians were so faithful to their words What a shame is it then for Christians to regard their Promises and Oaths no more then their old cloaths which they throw by when they have made what use of them they desire Such men do much wound their Credit that after a little knowledge of such Nullifidians none will trust them but much more their consciences The deceitful and bloody are joyned together Psa. 5. 6. He that is deceitful to others is bloody to himself he may rase others skin but he wrongs his own soul and draweth his own heart-blood Machiavel as bad as he was would not allow fraud to lodge save in Souldiers Tents The jealous God hath made himself known to be a God of truth in accomplishing his threatings on those that have affirmed and attested such lyes One Ann Averies Widow in the days of Queen Elizabeth having bought six pound of Tow in a Shop in Woodstreet falsly said that she had paid for it and swore to it but she presently fell down and dyed to the terrour of all such unrighteous and perjured persons The trade indeed of lying hath crept almost into all trades as if it were the only way to get a livelyhood when it hath deprived some of their lives Act. 5. 7 8. A lying tongue is one of the six things which the Lord hates Prov. 6. 17. The Scripture speaks of such persons that their own tongues shall fall upon them meaning to destroy them as Benaiah fell on Ioab and Davids Souldier on the Amalekite for so the Phrase is frequently taken Psa. 64. 8. 1 King 2. 29 30. 2 Sam. 1. 15. Reader Be so true to thy own soul as to put away lying and to speak the truth to thy Neighbors Eph. 4. 25. Do not delude thy self with mental Reservations or Iesuitical AEquivocation but let thy words and thoughts joyn in consort A Christian should be like Chrystal the same all over and visible throughout As our cloaths represent the proportion of our bodies so should our words the proportion of our minds T was an unpolitique precept which Lewis the eleventh of France gave his Son when he charged him to learn no more Latine then what would teach him to dissemble Deceit is a gin that men set often to catch serpents which when they have caught sting themselves Cleomenes King of Lacedemonia who making Truce with the Argives for seven days and fell upon their Quarters in the night was repelled by the Argive Women and afterwards banished into Egypt where he miserably slew hiself Promises are as it were the Connection and Ligaments of the several parts in the body Politique if they be once broken asunder and losed the whole will quickly be dissolved Such men are like to some fruits which by their luscious smell
Psa. 16. 7. The sensual worldling is a stranger to such secrecy It hath in some respects an advantage of society it hath not those clamours nor distractions with it which hinder us in our heavenly trade As it hath fewer allurements to good so it hath fewer impediments of good and fewer suggestions to evil and truly the grand Argument to good which is instar omnium is not wanting to it It hath the presence of God Every godly man may say in a sense as Christ did when his Disciples were to leave him alone I am not alone because the Father is with me Joh. 16. 32. It is reported of Numa that after the death of his Wife Tatia he left the City and gave himself wholly to walk in Fields and Woods consecrated to the gods and thence was said to enjoy the goddess Egeria and that she made him her Husband Plut. in vit Num. Though such stories are fabulous yet its true of the Christian that he enjoyeth much of his God when he is out of the worlds crowd Lovers give and return the sweetest kisses and embraces when they are together in secret Isaac and Rebeckah thought themselves in secret when they sported together David had his Sweet-meats and Heavenly Iunkets in the night when the eyes of others were closed and saw not the Charger which was sent from above for his spiritual refreshment His solitary meditations brought him more solace and comfort then the whole creation could afford him When I meditate on thee in my bed and think of thee in the night watches My soul is filled with marrow and fatness Psa. 63. 6. Communion with God in secret is an Heaven upon Earth What food can compare with the hidden Manna Some persons have excellent banquets in their Closets That bread which the Saints eat in secret how pleasant is it Ah what stranger can imagine the joy the melody which even the secret tears of the Saints cause Believers find rich mines of silver and gold in solitary places they fetch up precious jewels out of secret holes out of the bottom of the Ocean where are no inhabitants Naturalists observe that those fish are sweetest which lye hid Saints have often sweet joy and refreshment in secret they have meat to eat which the world knoweth not of The Fig-tree Olive and Vine would not leave their sweetness fatness and chearfulness to be Kings over other trees They that know what it is to enjoy God in secret would not leave it or lose it to be Kings or Commanders over the whole World Iudg. 9. 11,12,13 One place where the Israelites pitched in their passage to Canaan was called Iothatha from Iatab and Batha a pleasant Wilderness or delectable Desart A Christian hath many such stations in his travails to the Heavenly Canaan When he is in a Wilderness alone out of the noise of Pharoahs Court and free from the clamours and complainings of Gods Israel by reason of Epyptian Task-masters he hath the Pillar the extraordinary presence of his God which abundantly satisfieth and rejoyceth his soul. The highest Princes sometimes give their largest gifts to their favourites in private to prevent that envy which publique notice or knowledge of them might occasion Some Saints give their largest almes in secret that their left hand scarce knoweth what their right hand doth The great and holy God sendeth many a rich present giveth many a large almes to his indigent friends when there is none by to witness his bounty and charity In the dead time of the night when deep sleep seiseth on men the earth receiveth many pleasant refreshing showres The Children of God have many costly Collations and much curious Musick when no eye but their own seeth or tasteth the former and no ear save theirs heareth the latter The Prophet Hosea represents God thus speaking of his people Behold I will allure her and bring her into the Wilderness and speak comfortably unto her Hos. 2. 14. Gods method is marvellous he brings his Church into a Wilderness and then turns it into a Canaan causing it to flow with Milk and Honey By Wilderness some understand a sorrowful and others a solitary condition but then God appears to her the God of all consolation for he speaks comfortably to her He that chid her when she was in the crowd of the world saying as they said and doing as they did when he hath her alone reflecting upon her sins and recollecting her self will speak friendly and comfortably to her In the Hebrew it is I will speak to her heart and surely his powerful satable speech will banish all her heaviness This invisible trade brings in visible profit and comfort Secret correspondence with allies is most difficult but exceeding gainful and delightful Some curious mysteries are like Mines sprung under ground the less they are known the more efficacious and effectual they are The open air or breath of men would soil the beauty and lustre of exact pictures Christ calls his Spouse out of the worlds view and light when he intends her the fullest seals of his love Come my beloved let us go forth into the fields let us lodge in the Villages let us get up early to the Vineyards there will I give thee my loves Cant. 7. 11 12. Mark There in the Fields where no eye beholdeth the sweet meeting of our lipsâ—â— the close embraces of our armes the intimate conjunction of our hearts there I will give thee my loves Kings do not unbosome and open their hearts before a multitude The favourite is acquainted with the richest secrets of state in wereâ— saith Iob as in the days of my youth when the secret of God was with my Tabernacle Job 29. 4. As if he had said according to some O that I were as in my former days when God was secretly in my family and gave me familiar visits which the World took no notice of when I had many reviving soliloquies about God and refreshing colloquies with him The Egyptian Laws placed the Image of silence in all those Temples where the Image of Seâ—apis their god stood as if they might expect most of her favour when they approached her privately with as little noise as might be Addresses to the true God in secret have been accompanied with great successe 2. Consider If thou dost not exercise thy self to godliness in solitude thou wilt be in great danger of running into sin and contracting guilt on thy soul The benefit of solitude rightly improved may afford us comfort but the danger of it commandeth our caution A man in solitariness may be secure because he seeth no visible enemies but he is not therefore safe We are no sooner alone but armies of evil thoughts present themselves to us and they will by force quarter with us if the lodging rooms of our hearts be not taken up beforehand When the Virgin is alone then she is in most danger of being ravisht In our solitude we should not
to his breast Hic sat lucis Hâ—re is abundance of light of joy He asked one of his Friends What news His Friend told him None Then saith he I will tell you some news I shall presently be with my Lord Christ. I shall give thee two or three quickening Motives and then direct thee about the workâ— of exercising thy self to Godliness on a Dying Bed and because its the last time of a Christians working for his God I shall in the third place annex some brief helps to this duty In reference to the Motives Consider First What a serious thing Death will be to every Man and Woman in the World It s ill and dangerous for any to cozen themselves and undertake to mock God in their health and life but it s worst of all and desperate for any to do this on a sick and dying Bed The Heathen hardened in sin and wholly under the power of Satan ignorant of the evil of their hearts and lives and of the sad consequence of a wicked end made light of death Flavius Vespasian none of the worst of the Roman Emperors died as Sir Thomas Moor with a jest in his mouth Vt puto Deus fio Methinks I am going and growing to be a God Augustus Caesar esteemed the best of them whose death the people so much lamented that they said Vtinam aut non nasceretur aut non moreretur Would he had never been born or never dyed went off the Stage of the World with a Complement Livia Nostri Conjugii memor Vive Vale Farewel and Live Wife mindful of our Marriage Galba dyed desperately crying out Feri si ex re sit Populi Romani Strike if it be for the common good Tiberius dyed dissemblingly of whose death Tacitus wittily Iam Tiberium vires corpus non dissimulatio deserebant Now strength and life hath lest Tiberius but not dissimulation But Christians who understand the holiness and justice of God the infinite demerit of sin the certainty of an unchangeable condition in the other World either in joy or torment know that death is no jesting matter that to dye is one of the most serious searching things that they can possibly do Two or three Particulars will shew what a serious thing death is 1â— Death will try men When the Bridegroom comes it will appear who have Oyl in their Vessels and who have noneâ— As soon as ever thou takest thy leave of temporal good things thy spiritual riches will be known A scorching Summer discovers what streams are fed with Ponds and what with Springs The Wind sheweth which Clouds have Rain in them and which have none Death will anatomize every soul and reveal all that is in it Conscience will then bring in a true Verdict in despight of all those bribes and frights which formerly kept the Bill in suspense or caused it to write on it an Ignoramus There are marks by which Saints and Sinners may be distinguished whilst they live as great mens servants are by the Liveries that they wear but these characters being most inward and known to none but themselves and the Lord they serve it is their dying onely that will reveal infallibly what they are and to whom they belong This World is as a common Inn wherein all are lodged and no difference is made between the good and bad onely that the worst men have the best usage but the very moment of mens dissolution makes a plain and vast distinction Death is the way of all the earth according to Ioshua's Periphrasis of it but this way hath two turnings one on the right hand to joy and bliss another on the left hand to misery and horror now as when the attendants of two Lords travail together on the road their servants cannot easily be distinguished especially if the Servants of the one counterfeit the livery of the other but when they come to the Bivium the parting way then it s clearly known who belong to the one and who to the other for each then followeth his own Master waits on him to his house stayeth and abideth there with him So though whilst men live all professing themselves Christians and most for a shew at least putting on the livery of Christ it is not known who belong to the Prince of Life and who to the Prince of the powers of the Air but death will discover it to themselves and the Elect Angels 2. It will appear that Death is a serious thing in that Eternityâ— When thou diest thy condition will be like the Law of the Medes and Persians such as cannot be altered At death thou goest the way that thou shalt never return David speaking of his dead Child saith I shall go to him but he shall not return to me And Iob by asking the question denyeth it If a man dye shall he live again God will never trust thee with a second life or give thee leave for second thoughts or better purposes or more serious and sober actions when thou art once landed in the other world He will not offer thee a Christ and Grace and Heaven when thou art gone from this earth Think of it seriously is not that work to be done well which can be done but once Shouldst thou not use thine utmost care and strength and diligence to dye well when thy everlasting making or marring dependeth on it Ah Friend If thou failest now thou failest for ever if thou dalliest now thou art undone eternally There is no wisdom nor knowledge in the Grave whither thou art going Eccles. 11. 7. 3. Death will appear to be a serious thing in that all the powers of Hell will then assault thee Thou mayst say of it in some respects as Christ did to wicked men and the Wicked one This is your hour and the power of darkness The Devil its observeable is most busie at the conclusion of a duty as of prayer that the Christian might be hindered and distracted when he closeth up all in the name of Christ and so all his desires be frustrated so he is most busie in the conclusion of our days adding fearful dreams to our slumbers strong distractions to our fancies increasing our pains with terrors driving the good if possible to despair and intoxicating the bad with presumptuous conceits and all because his time is little The Devil is come down having great rage knowing that his time is short Rev. 12. 12. At the approach of death through pain of body and perplexity of mind men are least able to resist and therefore this cowardly enemy will then be most ready and fierce to assault When the Christian is down then if possible he will â—rample upon him The last persecutions of the Church under Dioclesian and Maximinian were the soarest The last messenger the Devil sent to Iob concerning the sudden violent death of all his Children pierced his heart deepest The subtle serpent reserved that great Ordnance for the last hoping the former small
God much more eligible then the pleasures of sin Symphorianus a Christian young man after he was almost scourged to death being draged to Execution at Augustodunum met his Mother not crying or tearing her hair but like an Holy Lady thus comforting him Son my Son I say Remember life eternal look up to Heaven Life is not taken from thee but exchanged for a better At which words of his Mother he went on willingly to the Block and exposed his Throat to the fatal Ax One of the Dutch Martyrs feeling the flame coming to him said O what a small pain is this to Heaven Our blessed Saviour had an eye to the joy set before him and thereby was encouraged to endure the Cross and despise the shame Indeed if Faith spring a leak then the waters break in and the Christian sinks apace as we see in Peters denial of his Master As Faith in the Promises so also Faith in the Threatnings makes the Christian a Conquerour over the worlds affrightments where the World threatens Bonds and Whips and Dungeoâ—s and Death if the Christian will not sin against God and begins to stagger the soul. Take heed what thou dost saith Faith for God threateneth Fire and Brimstone and Chains and Blackness of Darkness for ever as the wages of all sin Is the Wrath of an Infinite God not more to be feared then of weak dying Men Is the pains of a violent death which will quickly be over and the most the World can do against thee comparable to the pains of eternal death And thus Faith by the terror of this great Ordinance drowns the noise of those small peices that the soul is deaf to their report 2. Faith enableth the soul to overcome the allurements of the world If the world cannot terrifie the Saint with its fiery Furnace to disown and deny his Saviour it will seek to inchant him with its Musick and thereby to make him deaf to the Call and Commands of Christ. Thus it served Ioseph When it could not prevail on the left hand by selling him for a slave it tryeth him on the right hand by setting a Dalilah to tickle him with pleasure but by Faith he saw the Hook under the Bait and durst not nibble at it much less swallow it Though the world like Iezabel painteth her face and tireth her hair to render her amiable and lovely and as a Srumpet sheweth her naked Breasts of pleasure and profit to entice the beleiver to go a Whoring after her yet he vieweth by Faith the deformity of her person under all her dawbery and the dregginess and deceitfulness of her pleasures notwithstanding their shew of clearness and so rejects them with scorn and disdain Pliny saith of Cato that he took as much pleasure in the Honours he denied as in those that he enjoyed The beleiver can glory more in his refusal of glory for Christ then unbeleivers in all their preferments Indeed if the Christian did consult with sense or carnal reason he would take the worlds present money but the beleiver doth not consult with flesh and blood like wise Abigal knowing how much it will conduce to his advantage he can part with his estaâ—e for God and never make those Nabals privy to the design lest they should hinder it Besides Faith discovers pure Rivers of pleasures more noble and excellent delights to be the portion of those that refuse to grate their teeth with such kennel water As man is a rational creature he would sell his wares to them that will give most Now Faith sheweth how infinitely God out-bids the world Sense saith The world offereth fair it offereth comforts sutable to thy flesh such as they desire and it offereth ready money present possession But saith Faith God offereth thee better The comforts he offereth are more excellent being sutable not as the Worlds to a carnal brutish nature but to an heavenly divine soul and more durable being eternal when the pleasures of sin are but for a season He that hopes for no better market will take the present money offered him But he that is assured of greater gains will refuse the lesser An unbeleiver who expects no better bargain then what this life affords him may well take up with present pay what ever it be but the Beleiver who seeth the glory to be revealed and fulness of joy in Heaven and is assured that if he be faithful unto death he shall receive that eternal crown of life turns his eyes off the honours and comforts of this beggarly world Those stars of creature joys do all disappear in the presence of this Sun Gold bears little sway with the soul that knoweth his title to the new Ierusalem that is paved with Gold in which gold is trampled under foot Those birds that flie aloft in the Firmament are not so easily snared by the Fowlers Gins Though the things of this world were glorious in his eyes during his estate of unbeleif yet now he hath discerned a world beyond the Moon and sent Faith as a spie to search and coast that Country which hath brought word back that its a good land flowing with Milk and Honey and in it there is want of nothing they have no glory by reason of that glory that doth so infinitely exceed When a man is below things above seem small the great Stars that are bigger then the Earth seem not so big as a bushel and things below seem great but when a man is above as upon the top of a Steeple then things below seem little he beholdeth men like Grashoppers Were he conveyed to the highest hill in the World men would not be discerned great Kingdoms would be but small Cottages Unbeleif sets a man below here on earth and so the things of Heaven are little in his eye but Faith soars aloft it carrieth the Christian up to Heaven and then the whole earth is but a small spot in his eye Ioseph bids the Patriarchs Regard not your stuff for the good of all the Land of Egypt is yours So saith Faith to the Christian Regard not the lumber and rubbish of this world for all the great and good things of the other world are thine Faith gives the soul a taste the first fruits of Heaven And as no man having drunk old wine desireth new for he saith the old is better So no man having tasted the wine of Heavens pleasures desires carnal delights A Pilgrim travelling to Ierusalem saith one came to a City where he saw a goodly Training and Mustering there he had a mind to stay but that he remembred that was not Ierusalem He came to another City where he saw gallant sports and pastimes there he had some good will to abide but that he remembred it was not Ierusalem He came to a third where were goodly buildings Fair Ladies curious Musick c. where also he had some thoughts of setling but still he remembred it was not Ierusalem So the beleiver when the
were desirous to reclaim from their vicious course of life One of the men told one of the women that he was desirous to enjoy her company so it might be with secrecy and when she had brought him into a close room that none could pry into he told her All the bars and bolts here cannot keep God out The other desired the other woman to company with him openly in the streets which when she rejected as a mad request he told her It was better to do it in the eyes of a multitude then of God How doth the Adulterer or Drunkard or Theif when they come abroad at midnight for the satisfaction of their lusts sneak and steal away when they spye the watch or any persons who would be witness of their vices and shall not the presence of that God who hates sin who is resolved to punish it with hell-flames make us ashamed or afraid to sin and dare him to his face 2. The thoughts of this Omnipresence of God will quicken thee to holiness The Souldiers of Israel and Iudah were prodigal of their blood in the presence of their two Generals 2 Sam. 2. 14. Servants will generally work hard whilst their Master stands by and looks on It s said of Alexander that his presence caused such courage in his Souldiers Vt illo presente nullius hostium arma vel iner mes timuerunt That when he was with them though they were unarmed they feared not the weapons of any of their enemies Our blessed Redeemer exhorteth to prayer in secret upon this consideration that God seeth and heareth it Mat. 6. and to charity in secret because though the left hand knoweth not what the right hand doth God knoweth what the right hand doth Your Father which seeth in secret will reward you openly There is a story of Bishop Latimer that he having in a Sermon at Court much displeased the King Henry 8. was commanded to Preach again the next Lords day and to recant his former sermon according to appointment he cometh up and prefaceth to his Sermon in this manner Hugh Latimer dost thou know this day to whom thou art to speak even to the High and mighty Monarch the Kings most excellent Majesty who can take away thy life if thou offendest therefore take heed how thou speakest a word which may displease but as if recalling himself he proceeded Hugh Hugh dost thou know from whom thou comest upon whose message thou art sent and who it is that is present with thee and beholdeth all thy ways even that Almighty God who can cast body and soul into Hell for ever therefore look about thee and be sure thou deliverest thy message faithfully and so he went to his Text and confirmed what he had spoken the day before and urged it with the more vehemency then ordinary The eye of God as of the Sun will call the Christian to his work Those Countries that are governed by Viceroys seldom flourish or thrive so well as those Kingdoms where the Prince is present in person Conscience Gods Viceroy may much quicken a Christian to holiness but God the Prince himself much more I have kept thy precepts saith David for all my ways are before thee CHAP. X. Means whereby Christians may exercise themselves to Godliness A constant watâ—hfulness Frequent Meditation of Death Daily performance of â—aored Duties FOurthly If thou wouldst exercise thy self to Godliness Watch over thy self continually This spiritual watchfulness is the Main-guard of the soul which if once called off we lye open to the shot of every enemy This like one of the Nethinim must stand continually Porter at the door of our hearts Gods Temple to keep out whatsoever iâ— uncleanâ— Watchfulness is a diligent observation of our selves in all things and at all times that we may please God always He that watcheth hath his eyes in his head according to the wise mans phrase and seeth as the Chineses say of themselves with both eyes David expresseth it fitly I said I will take heed to my ways Psa. 39.1 i. e. I will ponder my paths and consider where I set my feet lest I should tread awry Without this wariness there is no safe walking Secure Laish is made a prey to their enemies and the secure soul is made a prey to his spiritual adversaries Iudges 19.9,10 Soul-Lethargies are most dangerous most deadly Those that slept in the sweating sickness generally died He who watcheth not is led about like one in his natural sleep by any temptation he knoweth not how nor whether When the Wolves in the Fable once prevailed with the Sheep to part with the Dogs they soon devoured them If Satan can but get men to forgo this means of their safety he will soon make them his prey The old World was drowned in sleep before they were drowned in water Sodom and Gomorah were secure when they were destroyed by fire It s reported of the Dragon that whilst he sleepeth a jewel is taken out of his head Noah lost the jewel of Temperance David the jewel of Chastity whilst they were fallen asleep If this eye of watchfulness be once shut the soul is open to all wickedness When Argus notwithstanding his hundred eyes was by Mercury piped into a sleep he was transformed into a Cow Reader hearken to Gods Watch-word Ye are all children of light and children of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness Therefore let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober 1 Thess. 5. 5,6,7 Sleep is not seasonable in the day of grace nor sutable to a childe of light They that sleep sleep in the night Rom. 13.11 The night is for sleep therefore in it God draweth a curtain of darkness about us as the Nurse when she would lay her babe to sleep throweth a cloth over the head of the cradle But the day is for watching for working He hath little reason to give himself to sleep who is every moment surrounded with mortal enemies which are neither few nor weak Naturalists tell us that the bird Onocratulus and the Pellican take their rest with their Beaks upright expecting the Hawk and that the Whale and Dolphin sleep with their heads erected above water for fear of hurt Though there were but that one text of Scripture 1 Pet. 5.8 relating to this duty t were enough to alarm any wise man and to call him to his arms Be sober be vigilant for your adversary the Devil walketh about as a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour If that voyce among the antient Romans Hannibal ad portas Hannibal is at the gates were sufficient to make them leave whatsoever they were about and run to their weapons and stand upon their guard what watchfulness should this voyce of the holy Ghost The Devil is at the door call thee too Reader Take that verse a little in pieces and see what a foe thou hast to fight with and then tell me whether it doth not
take thy leave of hours and days and months and years and time and to sail into the boundless Ocean of Eternity Suppose thou sawest death creep in at thy Chamber window come up to thy Bed-side draw the Curtain take thee by the hand and tell thee that he is come from the Infinite Almighty jealous most holy God to fetch thee immediately into his presence there to answer for all thy thoughts words and deeds and to receive either matchless and endless pain or unchangeable and unconceiveable pleasures according as thy practices have been What wouldst thou think at such a time of godliness Good Lord what a price wouldst thou set upon it what wouldst thou not do or give for it Then godliness will be godliness indeed as little and as lightly as thou settest by it now And why is it not worth as much now Dost thou not see death like a Mole digging thy grave under thee Dost thou not feel that worm within thee which will ere long consume thee Beleive it thy death may be nearer then thou dreamest the glass of thy life may be almost out though thou thinkest it s but new turned The Murdering-peice which kills thee parting thy soul and body may be discharged with white powder give thee no warning at all The next Arrow which is shot may hit thee The next time the Bell goes may be to tell others that thou art dead The next time the Earth is opened may be to receive thy body in Thou seest some fall on thy right hand some on thy left hand some of thy very age and of greater strength and health and canst thou esteem thy self shot-free Is not every carcass a cryer and every Tomb a teacher calling upon thee to number thy days and apply thine heart unto wisdom Silly man is like the foolish Chicken though the Kite comes and takes away many of their fellows yet the rest continue pecking the ground never heeding their owner nor minding their shelter Death comes and snatcheth away one man here a second there one before them another behind them and they are killed with death undone for ever Rev. 2. 23. yet they who survive take no warning but persist in their wicked and ungodly ways They are destroyed from morning to evening they perish for ever without any regarding it Doth not their excellency which is in them go away they dye even without wisdom Job 4.20 21. It is the saying of an Heathen That it is impossible for a man to live the present day well who doth not purpose to live it as his last I may say to thee Friend It is impossible for thee to live the present day ill if thou wilt but live it as thy last day If thou dost but consider Well this place may be the last place I shall come into shall I pollute it with sin or shall I not rather perfume it with sanctity This expression may be the last that ever I shall speak shall it â—e tainted with vice or shall it not rather be seasoned with grace This action may be the last that ever I shall do and shall it be a deed of darkness or shall it not rather be a work of the day of the light This Sermon may be the last that ever I shall hear and shall I now be heedless After this I shall never more have a call from Christ and â—hall I now be careless This Prayer may be the last Prayer that ever I shall poure out to God if God deny me now I am damned and undone for ever and shall not my head and heart and will and mind and all be working that it may be a prosperous a prevalent prayer This Sabbath may be the last Sabbath that ever I shall sanctifie I may from henceforth and for ever be deprived of all such opportunities of getting and increasing grace of serving and honouring my Saviour and of working out my own salvation If I sow not now good seed I must never expect an happy harvest If I buy not now the market will be quickly over Shall I lose any precious minute of this holy day Is it time now to trifle about the affairs of my soul and eternity Well I will through Christ take heed how I hear I will hear in hearing I will pray in praying I will hear and hearken cry and call with all my heart and strength and soul and mind that if it be possible the Lord may not leave me without a blessing When the Oratour thinketh he is at the close of his Oration then he useth his chiefest Art and Rhetorick to move his Auditors affections he would have his last part his best part O Reader if thou wilt but often wind up this weight of thine approaching death it would keep thy soul in a quick spiritual and regular motion at all times As ashes preserve fire and keep coals from going out so the thought that we shall ere long be turned into ashes will preserve the fire of grace alive and in action Sixthly If thou wouldst exercise thy self to godliness Mind a daily performance of sacred duties He that hath nothing of his own whereupon to live must be frequently fetching in provision from the Shops or Market where it is to be had The Christians life is maintained not by himself but by what he receiveth from God Not that we are sufficient of our selves our sufficiency of God therefore there is a necessity of daily converse with God by holy Ordinances and of waiting at his gate as the beggar who hath neither a bit of bread nor a penny to buy any at the rich mans door for supply Our spiritual strength is like Israels Manna rained down daily we are kept by a divine power and allowed but from hand to mouth that we might continually depend on and resort to the Lord Jesus for our allowance Paul speaks in some places of his great disbursements how much he laid out for God and his people that he laboured more then all the Apostles but you must think Whence had Paul such a spiritual stock that he was able to outvy all others in his expences he tells you that the Son of God kept house for him and that he was the Steward to spend of his treasure and thence his disbursements were so large I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I live in the flesh is by the faith of the Son of God Gal. 2. 20. As the Plant Mistel having no root of its own both grows and lives in the stock or body of the Oak So the Apostle having no root of his own did live and grow in Christ. As if he had said I live I keep a noble house am given to Hospitality above many in labours more abundant in watchings in fastings more frequent in perils and dangers and deaths often but the truth is I do all this at anothers cost and charge not at mine own I am beholden to Christ for
to them Faith is a Christians guide and good Works his garment As the Fish by the Fins are raised from the mud to the top of the water so faith lifteth the soul from earth to heaven It is the evidence of things not seen Good works are as Scales a shield to a Christian and are not unfitly called the Breast plate of righteousness Thus O my soul though thou couldst not read a line in any Printed book thou mightest read many good lessons in this natural book Even things without mouths can Preach and speak thy Makers praise and pleasure Their voices are heard in every language and their words go to the end of the world Psa. 19. 4. Wheresoever O my soul thou goest thou mayst by meditation get some steps nearer thine eternal weal Art thou walking Consider thou art but a sojourner and traveller in this world thy life is a continued moâ—ion thy way is the Son of God thy home is the Fathers House thy motion is painful thy way is perfect and thy home will be full of pleasure Why shouldst thou wander and come wide or loyter and come short of Heaven O be sure to walk in the right way and be content to travail hard that thy saâ—e way may find its end in solace and thy painful walk make thy home more welcome Art thou walking in thine Orchyard thou mayst from every tree as a Text gather many profitable doctrines and inferences Take a turn or two among the Trees and thou mayst find much wholsom fruit on them 1. Some Trees are profitable for one purpose some for another some to quench thirst some to comfort and refresh the inward parts c. so the Children of God are diversly serviceable according to the different gifts bestowed on them by the Holy Ghost 2. Every living fruit tree is in some measure fruitâ—ul though some bring forth more fruit some less yet all bring forth some All living Christians are thriving and bearing fruit though some are more eminent for growth and proficiency in grace yet all bring forth fruits worthy of repentance The Hypocrite like a dead stake in an Hedge continueth at a stay is without good fruit nay groweth more rotten every moneth then other but the true Saint like the living Tree the longer he continueth rooted in Christ the more abundant he is in the work of the Lord. 3. The best Trees have a winter wherein they seem to be dead and barren yet they have their life and sap at that time remaining in the root Christians under desertions and temptations may be judged by themselves and others to be dead and undone but even at such seasons their life is hid with Christ in God Though they may fall fouly they cannot fall finally 4. Fruit-trees are tossed and shaken by the wind but there is no danger of their overturning or death whilst their root remains firm in the earth Saints may be stirred and tossed by the high winds of Satans and the worlds temptations but can never be overthrown because they are rooted in Christ. Grace may be shaken in but never out of their souls 5. The winter which the Trees suffer in frosts and snow and the continuance of their sapunder ground is profitable for them and helpful to their greater growth in Spring So the various and severest providences of God towards his people are serviceable to their good and their seeming declensions in order to their greater growth As Children under a fit of an Ague they may at present be weakened and stand at a stay but afterward they shoot up the more 6. The fruits of trees are harsh and little worth till they are grafted so the fruits of all by nature are wild and unpleasant to God till they are grafted into Christ. 7. Those trees that stand most in the Sun bring forth the sweetest and the largest fruit So those believers that live nearest God by an holy communion do the more abound in the fruits of righteousness and their fruits are the more acceptable springing from a principle of love to God 8. The more the boughs are laden the more they bow down to the earth so the more abundant any are in holiness the more humble and lowly they will be 9. The Husbandman chuseth what plants he pleaseth to bring into his Orchyard and his grafting of them and care about them makes the difference between them and others So God chuseth whom he pleaseth out of the wilderness and waste of the world and his grafting them by regeneration and conduct of them by his Spirit distinguisheth them from all the rest of the earth 10. The Leaves drop from the Trees in the beginning of Autumn Such is the friendship of this world whilst the sap of wealth and honour lasteth with me and whilst I enjoy a summer of prosperity my friends swarm in abundance but in the winter of adversity they will leave me naked O how miserable is that person who hath no friends but of this world How happy is he that hath the sap of grace which will remain with him in the coldest winter Thus O my soul whilst thou art walking with regenerate creatures thou mayst better thy spiritual senses and walk with thy Creator O how may thy thoughts be raised to the trees that are planted in the house of the Lord and flourish in the Courts of thy God that are planted by the Rivers of waters and bring forth their fruit in due season Lord I confess thy goodness in giving me so many ushers yet alas my dull and blockish heart to this day hath not learnt those lessons which thou hast set me by them Vnless thou who art the chief Master of the Assemblies undertake the work all will be in vain Thy creatures are as burning glasses they cannot make the Sun to shine but when it doth vouchsafe its heavenly beams they help to increase both light and heat It s thine own promise that all Sions Children shall be taught of God Let it please thee to undertake the tuition and instruction of thine untoward Scholar O do thou spiritualize my heart and then I shall spiritualize all the works of thine hand do thou enlighten me so powerfully by thy blessed Spirit that I may turn every spark into a candle and every candle into a star and every star into a Sun and by the light of all be enabled to see more of thy beautiful face and blessed perfections I Wish that I may not onely taste by occasional but make a full meal by set and serious meditation of that food which may God provideth for my soul If a drop a little be reviving and strengthening surely a good draught will yeild me more comfort and profit If ever it be true it s here the best is at the bottom That rare object which upon a transient view gives me some delight upon a permanent vision will afford more pleasure If my meat abide in my body it will afford me the better
but God forbears none upon any such grounds His goodness is the onely string that tieth his hand from striking Yea many years didst thou forbear them for thou art a gracious and a merciful God Neh. 9. 30 31. The Final Cause is manifold 1. That he might exalt his great name It s light straw that upon the least spark takes fire The discretion of a man deferreth his anger and it s his glory to pass by infirmities Mean and low spirits are most peevish and passionate Sickly and weak persons are observed to be the most impatient God makes his power known when he endureth with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction He intendeth the advancement of his praise in the lengthening of his patience For my names sake will I defer mine anger for my praise will I refrain for thee that I out thee not off Isa. 48. 2. That sinners might amend He is patient that men might not perish The Lord is not slack as some men count slackness but is long suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance He defers their execution that they might sue out their pardons The Lord waiteth not that he might be blessed in himself but that he may be gracious to sinners 3. That impenitent sinners might be left without excuse If sinners that are turned out of the womb into hell will justifie God surely those upâ—on whom he waited twenty or thirty or forty or fifty years for their conversion will condemn themselves if all mouths shall be stopped then they that tasted so largely of forbearing mercy may well be silent O how little will they have to say for themselves upon whom grace waited so many years knocking hard at the door of their hearts for acceptance and they refused to open to it or bid it come in How justly will they suffer long in the other world to whom God was so long-suffering to no purpose in this world Rom. 4. 2. How fully O my soul doth the Scripture mention this patience of thy God! The Lord passed by and proclaimed his name the Lord the Lord God gracious long suffering Though sinners trie his patience by their heaven-daring provocations yet the Lord is gratious slow to anger and of great kindness Oftentimes they do their utmost to kindle the fire of his anger but many a time turned he away his anger and did not stir up all his wrath What monuments of his patience hath he reared up in his word It is also written in broad letters in his works He bore with the Iews after their unparalleld murder of his own Son above forty years The old world had larger experiences of his â—orbearance My Spirit shall not always strive with man yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years The Egyptians though cruel persecutors of his own people that were as dear to him as the apple of his eye yet were suffered four hundered years He beareth with men till he can no longer forbear The woman with child is forced though she hold out long to fall in labour at last I have long time holden my peace I have been still and refrained my self now will I cry like a travailing woman Isa. 42. 14. O thou dear friend of mankind that thou wert imprinted in my thoughts engraven in my heart and always before mine eyes O my soul Consider this long suffering of thy God till thou tastest some rellish of its sweetness This name of thy God is as oyntment poured out which yeildeth a refreshing fragrancy Hath it been all thy days so near thee and done so much for thee and wilt thou not give it some warm entertainment within thee Hast thou not infinite cause to cry out God! As soon as thou wast conceived thou wast corrupted before thou wast born sin wâ—â— brought forth in thee thy God might have turned thee out of thy mothers belly into the belly of hell divels might have been the Midwife to deliver thy mother of such a monster and their dungeon of darkness the first place in which thou didst breath yet he who might have caused eternal death to have trodden upon the heels of thy natural birth spared thee Had he then suffered the roaring lions his executioners to have dragged thee to their own den he had got himself glory and prevented much dishonour which thou hast since brought to his name As thou didst grow up sin grew up in thee and patience grew up with thee Numberless haâ—â— thine iniquities been and his advantages for thy destruction yet he hath forborn thee What hath he got by all his long-suffering towards thee He might have ruined thee to his eternal honour but his forbearance hath seemed to impair the revenues of heaven Wicked men question his power and good men quarrel with his providence and all because of his patience When some sinners are hanged on Gibbets as spectacles of his justice others are kept in the more awe but if judgement be not speedily executed the hearts of the Sons of men are set in them to do mischief The thanks that are usually paid him for his patience are indignities and affronts The sleeping of vengeance occasioneth the awakening of sin Besides their thoughts of him are the more prophane as well as their actions If he be patient towards the sinner he is judged a party in the sin These things thou didst and I kept silence thou thoughtst that I was altogether such a one as thy self Because he is silent they judge him consenting O my soul may not thy God be well called the God of all patience when he aboundeth so much in it though he be so great a loser by it Was not the patience of thy Redeemer on earth wonderful in bearing such mockings smitings on the cheek spittings in his face scourgings on his back But thy Redeemer in Heaven endureth more affronts every moment against his divine nature then he did all his time of abode in this world against his humane nature O why art thou no more warmed with it and wondering at it Even a Saul was so affected with the forbearance of David that he should spare his enemy when he had him in his hands and might as easily have cut his throat as the skirt of his garment that he lift up his voice and wept And art not thou affected with the patience of thy God in whose hand is thy life and breath and all thy comforts who can with a glance of his eye turn thee into the fiery furnace against whom thou art an open traytour and profest rebel that he should spare thee so many years and instead of heaping up judgements on thee lade thee with his benefits Consider 1. He is not patient towards all men as he hath been towards thee Some have found justice arresting them immediatly upon their contracting of new debts and haling them presently to hell upon the
commission of their sin There are those of the Serpents brood that have been crushed in the egge and others that have stayed longer have been ripe for ruine before they had attained their full age Though the Creditour hath forborn thee five hundred talents yet he hath not forborn some others five hundred pence wrath hath sometimes followed sin so closeâ— that it hath lodged where sin supped Gehezis leprosie and lie were contemporary Absolons life and treason against his Father expired toâ—gether A sudden Thunder-bolt from Heaven hath struck some into Hell without any fore-runner to give warning of it yet thy God hath spared thee 2. He that forbore thee who hast so often offended him did not forbear Angels a moment after they had once offended Behold the severity and goodness of God! towards Angels the highest and noblest house of the creatures severity towards thee goodness He that stated those excellent natures in an irrecoverable condition of wo and misery upon their first fault hath born with and forborn thee after millions of affronts 3. He that spares thee did not spare his own Son The Son of God did no sooner stand in the place of sinners but it pleased the Lord to bruise him and to put him to grief and to make his soul an offering for sin Though he were free from sin he was a man of sorrows and thou who art little else then sin hast not so much as tasted what such sorrows are Thy God hath forborn thee a monster of rebellion and wickedness when he would not in the least forbear him who was a miracle of obedience and dutifulness Nay he did not spare him that he might spare thee and would not forbear him because he intended to forbear thee Wonder O my soul at this transcendent grace and goodness Is it possible for thee to consider how a sudden Arrow hath shot others dead on thy right and left hand how Angels themselves upon their first breach of the divine law were without any pity or forbearance reserved in chains of darkness to the judgement of the great day Nay how the Son of Gods boundless love who never offended him for becoming onely a surety for others sins was without the least forbâ—arance arrested and forced to pay the utmost farthing and that thou who art a lump of lust a sink of sin an old enemy and traytour against the crown and dignity of the King of Heaven after thousands and millions of provocations against Law and Gospel Light and Love Precepts and Promises art to this day spared Canst thou I say consider all this and not be transported into an high and holy passion of love and admiration at such unparalled patience Thou mayst well say with the holy Apostle In me Jesus Christ hath shewed forth all long-suffering and patience for an example to them that should hereafter believe on him unto life eternal O my soul what dost thou think of these things was ever patience represented in such lively lovely colours Thou mayst now fully satisfie thy self in the reason of thine abode so many years on this side the unquenchable lake Dost thou ask Why was I not cut off from the womb and hurried through the light of this world to blackness of darkness for ever I answer because thy God is patient Dost thou ask Though I was not as a poisonous viper crusht to death as soon as brought forth with the foot of divine wrath for the venome which was in me yet when I put it forth to the injury of others and did spit it in the face of God himself why was I spared I answer because God is patient Thou sinnest often every day every hour in every thought in every word in every deed and he spares as often because He is patient Thou readeâ—t of a season when the patience of the Saints doth especially triumph Here is the faith and patience of the Saints This world is the stage and this life is the time wherein the patience of thy God doth act its part to the amazement of all judicious spectatours Here is the faithfulness and patience of thy God O that I could affect and admire it embrace and entertain it according to its worth O that my heart were filled with its warmth my tongue with its praise and my life with its end O thou that art so much in favour with God and so great a friend to men that thou wert engraven upon the palms of my hands and thy walls were ever before me O that thy noble deeds and what wonders thou hast wrought for the children of men were written for the generations to come that the people yet unborn might praise the Lord When O when shall this patience of my God make a suitable impression upon my spirit I live upon it I live by it I had been a fire-brand of Hell at this moment had it not been for it yet how great a stranger am I to it It goeth with me when I walk abroad it abides with me when I stay at home it followeth me up and down day and night I am beholden to it for my life and all my mercies for my present enjoyments and future expectations yetâ— alas how little am I affected with it I wonder at the patience of some choice Christians that hold their tongues when others revile them and their hands when others assault them and do not wonder at the patience of my God when their injuries are nothing to his either for nature or number and their patience to his far less then the smallest Drop to the Ocean O my soul how wilt thou be able to answer for this sensless stupidity Must the Candles of creatures be gazed at with amazement and thy God alone be neglected Is a beam of the Sun worthy of such admiration and not its glorious body worthy of much more Wilt thou not value a pearl of such infinite price and disesteem all the meekness and forbearance of men in comparison of the patience of thy God O where is thy judgement that thou valâ—est so little such unsearchable riches that thou dost not cry out O the height and depth and length and bredth of the forbearance of God Where are thy affections that they do not cling about it cleave to it close with it delight in its presence and desire its continuance Where is thy heart that it doth not taste its sweetness smell its savour love its gracious Author and meditate on its precious nature and pleasant effects night and day Where are my spiritual senses that they are not conversant about so worthy an object I cannot open mine eyes but I may behold it in every thing that is visible The food and raiment and life and health and strength and liberty that I and others enjoy present the patience of God unto me Every friend I converse with every drunkard and unclean person and atheist yea every man I meet tells me God is patient The Oaths and Curses and
jealous God to call him to an account Secondly Consider Gods eye is all the day long upon thee and therefore thou hadst need to be all the day long in his aâ—e It was a frequent speech of Seneca Vbicunque eo quodcunque ago Demetrium circumfero Wheresoever I go whatsoever I do I carry Demetrius along with me Thou mayst upon better grounds say Whatsoever I think or speak or act wheresoever I go whither to my Closet or Shop or Field or Neighbours Houses I have an holy jealous God along with me Thou mayst write over every room which thou enterest into Thou God seest me and call it by the like name which Hagar did the Well Beerâ—la-haroi The Well of him that liveth and seeth me Thou hast in all the passages of the day that God with thee who takes notice of and will reckon with thee for every passage Thou mayst call every place thou comest into Bethel or Penuel I have seen God in this house or God is in this place He is not like Iupiter of Creet whom some pictured without ears and publish never to be at leasure to take notice of small matters He is all eye all ear He observeth the greatest the smallest things and actions As the Optick vertue in the eye he seeth all and is seen of none Cicero tells us the King of Lydaea had a ring which when he turned the head of it to the palm of his hand he was invisible to others and yet others were visible to him The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good though none hath seen God at any time nor can see him As a well-drawn picture which way soever you turn your self it seems to have its eye still upon you and to follow you God doth that really which the Picture doth seemingly he beholds every person and every action with so direct a face as if he beheld none or nothing else Reader It concerns thee to be every day pious who art all the day long in so holy a Gods presence I have kept thy precepts saith David for all my ways are before thee Psa. 119. 68. The Scholar will ply his Book when his Master is present though he play and prate in his absence The Thief will not steal when the Iudge looketh on He that was accused to force the Queen before the Kings face had a Gallows for his end If the eye of good or great men will prevail with us to be handsom and comely in our behaviour and carriage how holy should they always be that are ever in the presence of the infinite God who is cloathed with Majesty as with a garment and who is so holy that the Heavens are unclean in his sight If a King sitting upon his throne sâ—attereth evil with his eye how much more should the eye of a God! Prov. 15. The Sun locally in Heaven is virtually on Earth its light heat influence over-spreadeth the face of Sea and Land He that shuts his eyes and will not see the light of it doth feel its heat and influence Its presence scattereth Clouds and Mists and Fogs Though Gods glorious and most joyful presence be in Heaven his real essential and gratious presence is on earth they who put out the eyes of their reason and conscience and will not see him do yet feel him in their beings and blesâ—ings for in him they live and move and have their beings Shall not his presence disperse those clouds of sin which would obscure his glory and hinder the light of his countenance from shining on us SECT II. AS to the exercising thy self to Godliness on a week-day though what I have write in former Chapters in this and the two former Parts hath much prevented me yet I shall commend to the Reader six particulars First Begin the day with God Never expect a good day unless you begin with a good duty He hath the best good-morrow who meets Ged first in the morning Though some sunshiny mornings are overcast before night yet the Heavens are usually all day clear to him that sets out early in the way of Gods commandements The mind retains a tincture all day of its first serious exercise in the morning When the right Watch or Clock is wound up well in the morning it will be regularly going and moving all day after He that loseth his heart in the morning in a throng of worldly affairs seldom finds it to purpose in any part of the day It was the honoâ—r of Rusticuâ— that though Letters were brought him from Caesar he refused to open them till the Philosopher had done his lecture Surely the worship of the blessed God is of more worth in it self and of more concernment to us then any moral Philosophical Doctrines to him or any affairs whatsoever and therefore ought to be first minded and performed As soon as thou awakest lift up thine heart to Heaven Great and Noble persons are usually first served Though others that are our inferiours wait out leisure our Superiours have the precedency of our time Let the first Messenger thou sendest forth be sent to the Lord of thy life to present thy humble service and thanks to him for his providence over thee and the rest and refreshment he hath afforded thee the last night Thou mayst say with the Psalmiâ—t I laid me down and slept I awaked for the Lord sustained me For except the Lord keepeth the City the watchman waketh but in vain He giveth his beloved sleep Psa. 3. 5. and 127. 1 2. Be mindful also in some short ejaculation to beg his guidance protection and blessing all the ensuing day For 't is he that can make an hedge about thee thine house and all that thou hast If he bless the work of thine hands thy substance will increase in the Land Iob 1. 10. This small taste of ejaculatory prayer will quicken thine appetite after a full meal of â—et and solemn devotion If thou canst after this keep thy mind intent whilst thou art dressing thy self on some divine subject thou wilt be much the more fit for thy secret duties and in a fair way to walk with thy God all the day The next thing I would advise thee to or rather Câ—rist enjoyneth Enter into thy Closet and when thou hast shut thy Door pray to thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly Here is 1. A Precept to secret prayer Pray to thy Father in secret The Priest was every morning to renew the Fire on the Altar and to offer Sacrifice And they offered burnt-offerings unto the Lord even burnt-offerings morning and Evening And they offered the daily burnt-offerings offerings by number according to the custome as the duty of every day required Ezra 3. 3 4. So also in Davids time Asaph and his Brethren ministred before the Ark continually as every days work required 1 Chron. 16. 33. Solomon took after his Father 2 Chron.
Joseph shall send to convey me to the true Goshen I Wish that I may with patience submit on my dying bed to the divine pleasure It hath been far from some Moralists to murmure either at the extremity of their sickness or the necessity of dying By impatience I do not help but rather kill my self before-hand It s the general lot of mankind to sickeâ— and dye Am I angry that I am a man that I am mortal Because I know that I must be sick and dye I know that I must submit The knowledge of an approaching evil is no small good if improved Though it cannot teach me to prevent it by all my power or providence yet it may teach me to prepare for it and to bear it with courage and patience Discontent and quarrelling are great arguments of guilt and a defiled conscience The harmless sheep conscious of their innocency do quietly receive the Knife either on the Altar or in the Shambles and give death entrance with small reluctancy when the filthy loathsom Swine roar horribly at their first handling and with hideous cries are haled and held to the fatal block The Children of God and members of Christ who are perfect through their head do often give up the Ghost and desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ when the souls of wicked men are required of them and they are strangely passionate at the approach of death and with dreadful screeches salute its Harbinger sickness O that patience might have its perfect work in me when I am taking my leave of it and its work is near an end Lord my heart is too prone to be impatient under thy hand though thou art infinitely wise as well as gracious and knowest what is best for me In my sickness turn mine eyes upon my sins that my discontent may be at my self for that which is the original of all my sorrows and then I shall never repine or murmur against thee I Wish that I may daily think of death and wait beleiving and repenting and working out my salvation till my change shall come My whole time is given me that therein I might prepare and dress my soul for my blessed eternal estate Why should it not be imployed for that end The Child who hath all day been diligent about his duty may expect his Fathers good word at night But what Master will give a reward to him in the evening who hath all the day long served his enemy My life is the seed which will yeild a crop of horror or comfort in an hour of death If that be good my Harvest will be glorious and joyful if that be sinful my Harvest will be bitter and sorrowful Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles The Grapes of comfort are not to be expected from the Thistles of corruption nor the Figs of peace from the thorns of impiety I should blush to commit to the keeping of a cleanly and considerable person a foul and filthy vessel With what face can I commend to the holy and glorious God an impure and polluted soul O how dreadful will it be to meet with my dying bed before I have met with the Lord of life and to be going out of the world before I have seriously considered why I came into it My great work in this world is to get my depraved nature healed by the blood and spirit of Christ ifâ— I forget my business when I have time to do it and trifle away my days in doing evil or doing nothing I lose my soul am unfaithful to my Master and deepen my judgement by the number of my days â— That Traveller may well be agast and perplexed who hath a long journey to go upon pain of death in one day for which the whole day is little enough and seeth the sun near setting before he hath begun his journey How ill doth the evening of my time and the morning of my taske accord together How justly may God reserve the dregs of his wrath for me if I reserve the dregs of myâ— days for him What folly am I guilty of in deferring my preparation for death If he be a ridiculous person that having choice of lusty horses should let them all go empty and lay an extraordinary heavy load upon a poor tired jade that is hardly able to go much more foolish is he that prodigally wasteth his youth and health and strength in the service of the flesh and the world and leaves the great and weighty affairs of his soul and eternity to be transacted on a sick or dying bed O my soul what little cause hast thou to future or delay thy solemn provision for the other world First thy life is uncertain thou hast not another day at thy disposal There are some creatures they say in Pontus whose life lasteth but one day They are born in the morning come to their full growth at noon grow old in the evening and dye at night What is thy life but a vapour that soon passeth away The first minute thou didst begin to live thou didst begin to dye Death was born when thou wast born the last act of life is but the completing of death As on thy birâ—hâ—day thou didst begin to dye so on the day of thy death thou dost cease to live How many outward accidents and inward diseases art thou every moment liable to May I not say to thee as Michael to David Save thy self to night for tomorrow thou shalt be slain Others have died suddenly by imposthumes or the falling-sickness or violent means and if thou promisest thy self a fair warning before the fatal stroak thou dost but cozen and cheat thy self But secondly If thou wert sure to see the evening star of sickness before the night of death overtake thee thou art not sure thy sickness shall not be such as may not incapacitate thee for the working out thy salvation Extremity of pain anguish of body lack of sleep the violence of a fever may indispose thee and distract thee that thou canst not so much as think of God Or thy distemper may be such that the Physitian may charge thee not to trouble thy self with melancholy or sad thoughts lest thou wrongest thy body and yet the Minister commandeth thee to pull up those sluces of sorrow if thou wouldst not lose thy soul for ever Or cold diseases as the Lethargy or Palsie may surprise thee and incline thee to continual slumbers till at last thou sleepest the sleep of death O how sottish art thou and how grosly doth the destroyer of souls delude thee to defer that work of absolute necessity of conversion to God upon which thine endless weal or wo dependeth to a dying Bed when thou art not sure to dye in thy bed but mayst as well dye in thy Shop or Fields or in the Streets when thou art uncertain what disease if thou shouldst meet with a dying bed should send thee to thy eternal