Christ's sufferings we should still be found such wicked and unprofitable Servants as to have no more hope than worth in our best performances On therefore O my Soul and for all thy former demerits indeavour by the devoutest applications of God's Grace to be raised unto Mount Sion and to be made thy self a Temple an Habitation for the God of Jacob where thy Lord himself may delight to dwell thou canst not aspire to more Happiness than to be a Mansion for his Son and Spirit Therefore know the way of truth and walk in it make right paths for thy Feet since they that wander through Ignorance are lost or confounded by their own darkness Let thy Knowledg and thy Zeal prevent thy self and other Sinners too from rejoicing in their own Errors by due Austerities detourn them from their Perverseness By good Counsel assist others in their affairs and succor them in their affliction With the Shield of Patience break through the thickest Ranks of thine Adversaries and overcome them by thy Charity Receiving Injuries without being galled by them without retorting such venomed Artillery but rather pray for Enemies do good to such as hate and persecute and then thou shalt find as the Hospitable King of Israel did that God shall be on thy side 2 King 6.16 23. and more for thee than against thee But woe to that Soul that by its dis-belief of God's Word hath trespassed so hainously as to drive away God's Love that was unwilling to leave it Woe to that Soul which becomes blind by its profane Obstinacy in such a manner as to make it self an Object of God's Scorn and derision then when it might be the Object of his Love and Delight No Words no Thought can exemplify the direful miseries of that State which becomes so infinitely wretched as not onely to be left Sentenced by God but justly Punished and Condemned Nay Scorned and derided and instead of being pitied by the unspeakable Bowels of an Heavenly Father for its perpetual loss and torment have the Furnace of Hell made seven times hotter by the derision of God and holy Angels as if they rejoyced and took pleasure in the Pains of the Damned while they adore and praise the Justice and Holiness of God in giving to each one his due And Thus it comes to pass as there is Joy in Heaven for the conversion of a Penitent so there may be Joy too there for the eternal Punishment and deserved Ruine of an un-repenting and obstinate Offender As we may infer from the words of Divine Wisdom spoken in the First Chapter of Proverbs from the 24th Vers to the end of that Chapter Prov. 1.24 So that of all those many Showers of Grace that God so plentifully and continually sends down in these days of our Visitation there will not be one drop left to cool the tongue of a Dives when he may be sweltring in perpetual Flames All that which might have nourished and feasted the Soul turns to its Poyson and infects it more with the Disease and Nature of the Devils But on the other side How blessed is the choice Spirit which laying hold on the Promise and obeying the Precepts of its God thrives so wonderfully under his gracious Blessing Dan. 4.12 13. as to be fruitful notwithstanding its height and out of danger of falling No evil Spirit shall have power to cast it down since it is watched by an Angel and an Holy one receiving the Birds of Paradice within its Arms. O Lord What Solace and what Happiness may I not secure to my self if I have the favour of thy good Will and Protection for thou dost not baffle the hopes of such as anchor themselves upon the Rock Christ Jesus thou dost not break the Knees that are bowed down or bruised in their frequent Devotion before thee Thou dost not weary our Expectations neither dost thou hate our Prayers or our Persons but thou lovest thy Creature yet not his Sin Thou hearest his requests by Christ's Intercessions Thy Promises not blended with self-interest are never subject to alteration as men's are too much Thine immense bounty is the Parent of thy good Will to Mankind and is unchangeable because exempt both from Jealousy and Fear Thy wisest Providence leades all our operations through several amazing Labyrinths to most excellent ends and many times far otherwise than we designed them Thy Mercy that is so tender as to be wrought on by a Mortal's Sigh or Tear calls every Sinner watches and waits his leisure as it were accepts and welcoms him almost at any time after it hath provided the Festival too for his Cheer without any Contribution or Charges of the Guest Thy Wisdom is a depth past fathoming too and therein like though transcending our Demerits it knows though we do not always who are thine and can work good and Glory out of the worst of man's Misery and the Devils Malice O that this fore-praised Wisdom and Love of thine may work these following Effects First Let the one subdue those Adversaries of thy Glory and my Good who oppose themselves to my thorough Conversion Tyrannizing over my Will and perverting the devout Affections that now and then warm my Heart Secondly Let the other enrich my Soul with Grace As David was blessed in thy Love and became an Illustrious Instrument for the advancing thy Glory So I may be installed for ever with the tokens of thy Favour and with the ornaments of thy meek and holy Spirit I see the World arrayed with Vanity and dawbed over with excesses its sweets like too hot perfumes strongly assault the weakness of our senses and the softness of my Constitution discover the Rebellions of the Flesh against the Spirit I fear my Levity and inconsideration will lay me open to the inveiglements of my subtilest Foes And shall I not pray then against their wickedness that thou wouldest frustrate their attempts against me and confound their Devices Least I be confounded who repair to thy holiest Sanctuary for Protection Save me then O Lord who Renouncing the Devil and his Works and forsaking the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all the sinfull Lusts of the Flesh would be faithful unto death and receive from thee alone a Crown of Life of Grace here and Glory hereafter Amen The fourteenth Step on the fourteenth PSALM of Degrees being the 133 PSALM Ecce quam bonum c. LIft up thy self O my Soul and be thou raised up from the burthen of my Sins unto the Throne of the Most High for though God be the absolute dispenser of his own Grace yet he loves to have it coveted and looked after by Mankind since his delights are placed amongst us Be sure not to leave his presence wander no more like a Cain from his sight for although nothing be covered from his inspection yet as he that travels far Northward banishes himself from the Sun's power and will not be advantaged by his heat so
be took for a Jesuit If I conceal some of his Expressions 't is not to abuse his intent of appearing to the World a true Catholick he is now I trust Orthodox and English too Nor would I damp his Spiritual Heats while I fan Superstition from his great Ingenuity and Zeal I know the Silk his words put on is pure Venetian of too curious a Fabrick for me to mend or indeed to meddle with farther than to add a List of courser Materials to the Piece Lest it should seem too nice in its Address to the holy Altars and there be reproved like an Agag for its Delicacy falling under the Censures which many such Works have incurr'd of having more Wit than Zeal in it and too much Rhetorick for much Religion I have rebated the point of Loredano's stile and where I have cut off some reiterated Elegancies and Musical words that as long Fuges were but to the same Tune I took away the Lap of the Senator's Robe I hope without doing him any injury at all 'T is pity a rich Sleeve should be so long as to hang like their Laticlavians in the Dirt Acts 25.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or that Berenice's appearance should hinder Agrippa's Christianity I am more apt to exclude Tertullus than St. Paul and therefore instead of Oratory put in Scripture into the Work that what is lost in Fancy may be retrieved in Devotion And surely no time nor labour would be lost could I be but as much more useful to the Reader as I should be just to the Writer in setting forth his Thoughts with the same pious Impressions and Advantages which they once brought to my Heart To this they have done good as I may publickly own and I am not of so strait so narrow a Spirit as not to endeavour to communicate a good according to the Nature and my Experience of it Indeed before I travell'd into Italy I heard so much ill said of that Country especially of the Venetians in it that I was possessed with a prejudice like his John 1.46 who cryed Can there any good come out of Galileâ— And also prompted by the irreligion of too many Travellers to think that Contagion the Epidemical Disease of Foreigners principally those of higher Rank Therefore when I went abroad lest I should learn Vices more fast than Language or live as formerly in the proud Greek and Roman conceit that every Land was barbarous but our own and all the World was naught but England I was curious to find out what was Spiritual and rightly so called beyond Sea if the lawful Issue of a Noble Laick I look'd upon such a piece of Devotion as more capable of doing good than the more elaborate Volumes of Churchmen who are not thought well enough on because they make it their business to write well whereas the slighter Essays of other Gentlemen which are not of the long Robe fall more gratefully into the hands of great Persons and by Emulation of the precedent if no better motive work often upon them some Pious effect Being acquainted with the Truth before-mentioned and with the mighty number of Memoires and other Works lately put forth by the Noblemen of France I ramass'd a good quantity of the most Illustrious modern Writers in Italy and amongst them the first which I laid hold on was the Third of the seven Volumes of the Honourable Signor Gio. Francesco Loredano's Works Stamp à Venetia 1654. which though set out with all the Garnish that the Poets and Painters could enrich them with yet discouraged my perusal of them because I found the beginning of this Volume very Toyish and Romantic 'Till I consider'd that Men's Books are oftentimes like their Lives the first Parts of them slight and youthfull and such Leaves as will scarce hide a Nakedness nay were better skipt over than perused yet their latter Ends may be Grave and Pious well-order'd and disposed as the Frize and Cornice of all their Works So I searched on for the Pearl among the Shells and left not this great and brisk Wit 'till I found him terminate so well in Meditation as that I fixed my hand upon his Table thus to Copy out his Piety if not his Eloquence and to say to those who cried Come from among them Come and see is not here a Prophet Though he might have been formerly a Saul he is now with the divinest David and this his properest Subject merited Discovery though it lay hid like Saul in a heap of Stuff Nor was I content only to open the Mine or fetch out the Oar but also to fine it from the Dross that this silken Ladder might be useful where stronger like the Bibles were not so portable for to raise or keep up some Devotion in me And this I thank God it did by my often looking on it as La Scala Santa once had done too when it happened to me at Rome as to St. Paul at Athens that I had a good opportunity from an Idolatrous place to pray with much Fervour and Charity for my self and all Men that we might not be mistaken or Hypocritical in our Worshippings of God while with Pity I considered the Superstitions of some Christians there who adored Stocks and Stones more than their Maker and with shame thought upon the Prophaneness of others among Protestants that would not allow God a peculiar manner nor place of Worship Thus have you the occasion of the Title I give to this Book and shall have something concerning the Frontispiece Though by the way take notice that I was never a Promoter of Superstitious Pilgrimages nor so far reconciled to the Church of Rome as to follow her Steps farther than the Church of England approves them For all I have gone up the Stairs above-mentioned and the Ascents of Loredano's Soul I hope with some such true Efforts as that Illustrios Senator design'd in his Preface and endeavour'd in his Paraphrase to which good Act this is but a Scene or rather as the Curtain which may now be drawn away lest it hinder the Spectators better Objects I have fancied the whole Piece to be a Skâ—tch of Jacob's Vision and David's Psalter like Israel's Scale reaching to the Divine Throne whereon devout Spirits have scope to run descant up and down and by the various Motions of their Piety as by the several Degrees of their Understandings they make better Music than the imagin'd Spheres could ever be supposed to do For surely thereupon is grounded the best Harmony of Heaven and Earth and thereon we shall meet with a grateful Consort when we are left never so much alone by the World For they who make no use of the Psalms nor Feast upon them by frequent Meditation are as obnoxious to Errors as I can be in any of these Thoughts Therefore like a Travelling Pilgrim to Mount Sion I pursue my Journey hoping to reach the end of it by doing some good to my self if not
designs waits for all his comforts here below I who for my part store my chiefest Treasure of bliss and solace in a Heav'n above turn all my thoughts and my affections towards thee who art my only Lord and Master I have ventured again to lift up these two doores of mine eyes these humble gates of vision even to the lofty Throne of thy Majesty and my desires have made bold to enter like Esther unto Artaxerxes even into the Cabinet of thy graces and glories unto the bosome of thy Love Christ Jesus and they have found admittance hitherto by the confidence thy goodness and pity doth afford Them in a Saviour I acknowledg my self like an humble slave that waits for pardon of his faults Relief of his necessities protection from injuries freedom from his chains deliverance from further persecutions in a word I expect through thee my dear Redeemer Jesus whatsoever may advantage my outward man or felicitate my inward I am not for retireing any farther from thy presence like a guilty Cain since it is by the light of thy countenance by the favour of thy grace that I would chase away the thick clouds of my sins and never more loose the light of thee my Father which art in Heaven c. Thou art the Chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof the putting thee far away from us is the foolish and desperate attempt of loosing God of loosing his favour indeed as Jonas once did to meet with what is monstrously Horrid but not of getting out of thy sight as that Prophet did experiment for though we goe down into Hell There art Thou also and thine eye can reach us Therefore will I keep mine eye fixed on thee O thou Father and fountain of Lights and will fear to fall under any such eclipses as thy displeasure or my transgressions may bring upon me I was once so hoodwinckt by the pleasures of sin as to be led about fondly by the false glitterings of the World I have been dazled by a frail Womans beauty so as to think there hath been no Heaven like a kind look from her nor have I look'd at any other happiness then hath shone from from her eyes which were two wandering stars alass which in a little space of time must set without hopes of shineing out again My blind ambition carried me no farther then mortals praises and my designs smelt of the ground from whence they sprang my passions grew not feebler while my person did but waxed more robust as I grew older and when I became nearer to my end and had less need of worldly entertainments such as wealth and honour then I became more greedy after them How base is that mental Idolatry inslaves us to the worship of that which hath it self no more value then is given by the opinion of some foolish adorers and as the femal graces of shape or complexion come as it were by accident so these are subject to ten Thousand casualties from them neither gave these to themselves nor can keep them unless by great deceipt and Colour I now see what phantasmes all those honours are which are sought with great pain possess'd with fear and lost again with torment Therefore dearest God! I am returning to thee and leaving worldly pomps and passions to thee alone address my prayers my desires and my vows I will be like those Domesticks who serve faithfully and and seek Diligently to please their Lord by minding his business and his beck that they may please and profit him to the utmost I will attend with longing eyes for thy favour and pardon and look to thy mercy seat while I cast not a glance upon the glories of the world as I have done Psalm 19. that Basilisk shall no more invenâ—ome my life by its regards but shall be trampled under the feet of my contrition luxury and vain glory shall be trod down into the dust as low as Humility can lay them or me and the richest intrals of both Indies shall have no treasures big enough to bribe my desires from the service of thy Heavenly Majesty Have mercy then O gracious Lord have mercy on thy poor indebted steward and deliver me from the evil of this defect and transgression both from sin and suffering by grace and glory If thou dost not by the transcendencies of thy power and goodness free me from the miseries of my guilt and restore me to some degree of pardon which is Innocence in thy sight where can I firm my hopes from whom can I expect Salvation I was form'd according to thy Image imbellished with thy resemblance in a superfluity of spiritual and temporal indowments and yet I could not for all this preserve my selfe in a state of purity or safety So that without the renew'd favours of thy goodness I might expect nothing but thunders and lightnings from the Throne and flashes from the lake that burns for ever Without thy Assistance O my God! I am affraid of thy foregoing promises that I shall not be able to keep my word with thee nor keep my heart from worldly lusts for indeed I have sound my spirit running out of it self too often into the Arms of sin and mischief frail humane nature being utterly disabled from maintaining thy favour without thy overruleing grace I am not a little sensible of the impotent commotions of my Soul and the frequent domineering of my passions sometimes Ambition drives me after the seeking a trouble which our ignorance calls a Title of Honour Somtimes I am wrackt with suspicion of disgrace or I hunt after reputation by any means but by godliness Now I am affraid of dying or of leaving that to the earth which was borrowed of her for me anon I am vex'd in the possession or acquest of Riches which some call felicities others find to be torments and then complain of any slight mischance as if these happened without thy providence or were not produced by my demerits Thus my state doth sufficiently experience each excess of humane wretchedness by the agitation of my faculties to my disturbance or danger nor without thy help and mercy Lord can I find how to get out of this wretched condition nor how to keep my self well if I were out My weak shoulders stoop under the weight of thy commands as if these were like my sins too heavy for me to bear and my corruptions exhale matter continually to cross my resolutions of not offending thee Stay therefore O Lord and take the sword of thy Spirit and stop the way for me Stetch forth thy hand above the fury of mine adversaries and shield me with thine arm against them Let not the fiery darts of my Concupiscenses divert or prevent thy bounties or turn thy patience into displeasure For as I have said before I must again acknowledg that without thy continual aid I shall become a prey to their force and malice who to the disparagement of thy power would in spight of it
let them joyn all the force of their Malice and perfidiousness together I will remain firm and unshaken like Mount Zion and baffle their attempts and deride their ineffectual fury The good Angels are appointed by thy great care over us to be a watchful Guard and Bulwark for our weakness and they are called Mountains of strength from the excellency of their natures and thy supporting Grace But for all that they are not strong enough or rather not commissioned to keep us always from the attacks of Sin or from the Snares of the Devil Doubtless those Guardian Spirits direct us to Good and very oft do turn us from Evil. But alas the pravity of our Nature makes it not still capable of Angel-like perswasion we are so immersed in the satisfaction of our Lusts and so inured to sinful compliancies that we have neither Ear nor Heart left us to listen to the Whispers of Holy Spirits We still want O Lord thy Admonitions Assistance and Conduct 't is to the Glory of thy Omnipotence onely that I owe my safety Henceforth I live with a chearful trust sprung from the greatness of thy Mercy that thou wilt ever stand by my Soul in its frequent perils and every action of my Life shall be smiled on with the favour of thy presence and with the direction of thy Will For as the Mountains give a defence and shelter round about the City of God so God who is the Rock of Ages a vast Mountain of Power and Charity will continually succor and secure his People Since 't is the peculiar effect of thy gracious Providence O my God! to favour and defend such who relying on thy Pity still implore thy help and Sanctuary themselves under thy Providence this is always ready to lend a helping hand to such as rightly ask it and although sometimes the Righteous Cause is oppressed by wicked Judges and Cruelty domineers over Goodness and the Purple of Tyrants is double dyed in the Blood of Innocents yet all this is done upon righteous and wise grounds Thereby thou hast a mind O Lord to try the Constancy of thy Servants to Correct their Errors to exercise their Patience to brighten or refine their Graces or else thou wouldst have them serve for excellent patterns and directions for others that they may become thy Portion and be fit to address themselves to thee and then thou sufferest not their Slavery to be tedious nor their Rod too heavy Because they who are thus Obedient both to thy preceptive and providential Will are thy Children Heb. 12.5 6 7. whom thou Chastisest as a Father and wilt not suffer the Scourge of the Wicked to dwell long upon thine Inheritance Psal 80.4 especially when it earnestly begs Relief It would be no less contrary to that Dear Relation thou standest in to us than to the proper goodness of thy Nature not to restrain the fury of the impious didst not thou hook up Leviathan in dne time it might be dangerous that thy weak and infirm Disciples waving thy protection would depart from thee and either abandon themselves to Vice charmed by the short prosperity of evil doers or else grow fearful of Persecution and so put forth their hands to Iniquity and render themselves uncapable of thy Compassion Therefore most Gracious Lord do not forsake them who adore the greatness of thy Love and Wisdom and study to observe the Holyness of thy Will and Pleasure Heap thy bounties on their Goodness which hath no other end but God and Righteousness O how blessed is the Man who by the integrity of his Affection hath fouled neither Hand nor Tongue in the blemish or blood of his Neighbour How blessed is he that by not obeying the usurpations of Sin hath not made his Reason close Prisoner to his Concupiscence He is also blest who content with what he hath would not robb nor envy the enjoyments of others And he is blest too that by the sincerity of his Behaviour by the probity of his Life by the faithfulness of his Heart by the innocence of his Eyes hath endeavoured to fit himself for the High-calling whereunto he is called in Jesus Christ and thereby gain thy favour and work out his own Salvation I am assured O Lord that thou powerest forth the Treasure of thy Blessings on them who make streight paths for their Feet who keep the way of Righteousness and are as constant as Couragious to resist all Vice since to accommodate the Thoughts and fix the Will to thy Dispensations is the way to get Christ and to be found in him not having our own Righteousness But on the contrary Those who forget thy greatness O Lord and fall down to the Worship of themselves those who enter the wrong way into their Mother's Womb and embowel the Earth to steal away her Treasure and seem to have no other end thereby than to bury their Souls and Hopes therein Those who being swallowed up in Voluptuousness believe no other Paradice than the delights of Flesh and Bloud or those who place next their own misfortunes every prosperous event of others such as choak all Virtue by imperious appetites and Sacrifice their best faculties unto Fury and Madness turning all Sobriety and Reason out of doors Lastly such as being lost to themselves and in their own Opinions too sometimes knowing not how to wake themselves out of the Lethargy of Vice nor get up beyond the terms of nothing that is Sin and Vanity Such as all these are I say these unhappily cursed ones shall be struck down from Heaven's glorious presence like Nimrod's Gyants with hot Thunderbolts they shall be confounded with Babel's Workmen and become the wretched Objects of the severity of such Corrections as are given by a Hand no less Powerfull and Just than Jealous and Pure They shall feel the Scorching of those immortal Flames which yet can never burn out their Spots since they have rendered themselves Heirs of Wrath and Children of the Devil whereas the Righteous before-mentioned such as may be set far from these Goats blest with thy Love and Protection O Lord shall enjoy the serenity of that peace which resides in thy favour and surpasseth our Understanding The seventh Step on the seventh PSALM of Degrees being the 126 PSALM In Convertendo Dominus c. O My God! how can I express the Consolation of my Soul My Words are lost in my joy of Heart and can break forth but lamely at my Lips for I behold my self Redeemed I find my self delivered also from the dangerous Labyrinth of my winding Errours thanks be to thy goodness only The confused Chaos of my Life hath been called to by thy Word and looked on by the Beams of thy Grace nay distinguished and reformed by thy Son into a new Lump a new Conversion The mischiefs of my guiltiness are not aggravated by the continual Remorse of Conscience but my steps are directed by sweet methods how to keep thy Statutes to the
end Terrene Objects have now no priviledge to control my Thoughts My Delights and Desires retain no other relish than of a Crucified Saviour Mine Ears took up with the name of Jesus cannot understand or listen to the low dumb Musick of Vanity Mine Eyes are fascinated by one glance of thine and follow none of those Wildfires which did use to misguide them My Tast savouring the things of God the Glories of another State disgusts those Treats which Satan entertained me withal while he would have me take Stones for Bread All those Appetites which mere most my own and seemed Connatural to a deluded mind having left me nothing but Shame and Sorrow they take their leave of me I trust for ever not to return any more with seven Devils worse than themselves to possess me Wherefore advanced by so much Grace and replete with so much Happiness as to find Favour in thy sight O most gracious Lord how great is my Jubile how infinite my Consolation Methinks the rough and narrow way to Heaven is now made plain and smooth before my Face and my Feet are not apt to wander so as they did formerly but are more steadily guided to the Observance of thy Commands and I find these as David saith exceeding broad on every side of me that I have no Temptation without much perverseness to depart from them My Conscience doth not Goad me with unsound Repentance or unsafe Despair Mine Eyes do not stay themselves on terrene Objects except it be to make them more contemptible even to my outward sense The Sin that erewhile was the Idol of my enjoyments is now the Subject of my Hate and Abhorrence My Actions are levelled at the love of Virtue My Desires are converted from the enhansing my Account and running on further on the score of guilt to the making all the satisfaction I can for the Debts I have contracted and my hope is grounded on thy Mercy not on my poor endeavours for the raising up the Pillar of my constant happiness And can the Mouth that is filled with such good things savour any thing else than the repetition of thy Bounty and the excesses of thy Love Surely my Tongue shall be now as the Pen of a ready Writer and being urged on by the Solace of my Heart shall like the Angels by whom thou dost succour me resound the Praises and the Proofs of thy Divinity far and near by thy saving and conserving of my state O dearest Lord thou hast condescended more than once to seek and to save that which was in danger to be lost and to call not the Righteous but Sinners to thee How doth the particular care thou takest of Sinners even to this day encrease and burnish the Glories of thy Name Jesus When the very Heathens view the Smoak of Sensualities to a disappearance and the brighter Sparks of holy Affections mounting up in lieu of the other in us When they observe the Rebellions of our Hearts turned into Evidences of Obedience and shall behold such a Worm as I am the greatest of Sinners no longer a servant of Sin but a contemner of the World and a resister of the Devil surely they will glorify the Operations of thy Power and the mightiness of thy love in the Pardon and Conversion of so frail a Creature Even those very Animals as the Apostle calls them who were lost in the Labyrinths of their vicious Habits 1 Cor. 2.14 15. and sought not the Clew of Repentance to help them out of Perdition Psal 51. They shall be converted unto thee through the demonstratio of thy goodness to others they shall be convinced as the Idiotae were in the Primitive Church and be constrained to magnify thy Kindness implore thy Mercies and advance thy Praises For to see a man who in himself is poor and naked and stript by his Infernal Enemies of all succour divested of all good and left in a more wretched condition than the wounded Travellor to Jericho or than the Daemoniack among the Tombs to behold such an one cloathed and in his right mind dressed in the needful habit of Reason and trimmed up with the ornaments of Grace installed in the Throne of Piety which is at the Feet of Jesus and there instructed better than under a Gamaliel What an Argument of Wonder may be such an example and such an one I wish to be that while I stir up admiration by the recount of what thou hast done for my Soul I may perswade the un-resolved that thou canst do far more for them and that these are but small instances of thy Almightiness in respect of its infinity Thou canst doe thou canst suffer much more for the good of Mankind if so be they will but credit thy mighty Works and not be like Bethsaida and Capernaum Woe be to such as believe not the marvellous testimonies of thy good will to the Sons of Men. For didst not thou Eternal Lord incorporate thy self with our nature as if thou didst esteem it braver than thy own Divinity Art thou not ready to wash out the stains of our Nature even with the Life and Blood of thy assumed one which hath so wonderfully overvalued ours Wouldst thou not load thy most glorious person to remove our Burthens taking off the pressures of our base Captivity by the perfect ease of thy Yoke Lord Jesu thou hast humbled thy self to a servile state to a conversation upon earth to reconcile contradictions the Son of God and the Sons of Belial and so to unite the most sinful to the most Holy though not as they are impure as themselves but as cleansed by thy Grace and Redeemed to be thine By these effectual merits of thy working upon Earth by Water and Blood by thy Tears and Prayers by thine Agony and Bloody Sweat by thy Cross and Passion and by the coming of the Holy Ghost though he be grieved also in the handing of the benefits thou hast purchased for such Enemies as we have been both to them to thy Spirit to thy Love and to thee The sense of these over-flowing Bounties like strong perfumes to a weak body might easily dissipate my Spirits and untie my being I might be soon unloosed from Life and all the World as I desire to be by the full apprehensions of their Vigor In the mean time good God accept my Heart all Jubile and Thanksgiving for that thou hast dealt so strangely with thy Servant as to give me enough nay all yea more than this All far more then my Capacities or the Universe may contain I have all and abound and what more can a Sinner expect or Receive What more can a God do for such a Sinner Yes he can still enlarge my measures for Reception as well as fill them more and more unto Eternity Bless the Lord then always O my Soul and least at any time thy Joys should flag or lessen be daily taking preservatives against Sin and get farther from the
hopes of Happiness for indeed obstinate Sinners are like the Ground which the Lord hath Cursed unworthy to have one Shower of good Wishes or Consolations bestowed upon them from good men and much more uncapable of the Dew of God's Blessing But Ah! let not my Portion be with such nor shut up my Life with the Bloody-minded but impower me to resist the Malice of the Evil-ones and so to rely upon thy Favour as to live under thy Protection and Cognisance and to be known for ever by the white Stone with a new name even by the blessing of thy holiest Name O Lord Jesus Amen The eleventh Step on the eleventh PSALM of Degrees being the 130 PSALM De profundis c. O Lord how wretched woful lamentable is the Condition of a Sinner who being turned into his own Enemy doth nothing but lay Ambushes for himself while he forgets ungratefully thy benefits he becomes most worthless and hated both of Heaven and Earth He deserves no Mansion but in Hell Alas unhappy Sinner how art thou forsaken by thy Creator Redeemer and Comforter even by all of thy God! and thy hopeless state is the more dreadful being accompanied with the fearful expectation of Judgement Thy Crimes bring with them unspeakable bitterness because they fore-bode Eternal Torments and thy Life is but a continual Death by reason of the gnawings of Conscience the Horror of thy guilt and the domineering of thine Enemies over thee Yet for all this with the lowest Humility that is due to the height of thy State and to the meanness of mine own while the requests of my Heart keep time with the Words of my Mouth I am bold to cry aloud for Mercy and beg thy Compassion O Lord God! although thy Mercy and Compassion may seem to stoop too low while they take up my Petitions unto thine Ears And if these are better emploied in hearkening to the Ecchoes of thy Glories to the Lauds of thy Saints and to the Harmony of Heaven yet let them not disdain the importunity of those longings after thee which arise from a firm desire and a deliberate Resolution and address themselves to the Footstool of thy Goodness O Lord I know the King of Israel is a merciful King I know thou takest pleasure in hearing the Requests of thy poor Creatures especially if they proceed from humble Hearts and contrite Spirits I know that thou art ready to put a stop to the Musick of Heaven and to give a pause to thine own Praises rather than the Prayers of such a poor Supplicant's should not be listened to Therefore Receive with grateful attention those cries of mine which bring with them the true evidences as I trust of Conversion as well as of Contrition It is the great prerogative of thy Uncircumscribed Majesty as to hear and determine of my guilty State So by thy Mercy to receive my Petitions and reprieve me from the Sentence passed on me by reason of my Crimes Therefore I beg thou wouldst not regard the number of my Sins nor the Quality and Aggravations of them which I will not pretend to enumerate by some few instances because thou knowest the minutest grain of my Offences Thou hast a particular of them all And Shouldest thou weigh our Guilt in the Ballance of thy Justice only shouldst thou be extreamly severe in thy punishment of what is amiss about us if thou shouldst not in thy Displeasure think upon thy pity and give this leave to Plead while the other arraigns O Lord who might abide thy presence or stand before thee in Judgment The brightest Angels are not pure in respect of thee and the most Holy would scarce be safe Where then should the Wickekd and Sinner appear but in the bottomless Pit of Destruction Had thy Wisdom thought good to have set thee only upon the Correction of our failings the World it self as well as we had been long since buried in the Cinders of our last Funerals and wholly burnt up with the Fire of thy just Displeasure But since thou hast set thy Pity and Good-will thy Son and thy Spirit as better Advocates between thy own Purities and thy Creatures Frailties than Mans weakned Nature or worse Infirmities could be for we all are too apt to set these on pleading for us as being ever near us yet Ah! let us beseech thee rather to listen to the others in our behalf hearken to that chiefest Councellor of thy self and us the most holy and gracious Paraclete and hear thy Son Interceding for us Wretches more freely than we hear him instructing of us Continue the incomparable Acts of thy Mercy and exercise the accustomed proofs of thy goodness towards us with the merits of Christ's precious Blood wash out my spots with the floods of my Tears quench the fire of my Lusts that I may not be found the Heir of Wrath or Child of the Devil For indeed the true Repentance of a Sinner is the sole effect of thy Bounty Man that is now made up of nothing but the mud of Earthly Debauches cannot so little as look up to Heaven with the Publican though he look no higher than the Clod he stands on without thy special influencing aid But this Ray thou hast promised by Ten thousand solemn attestations and 't is the Light of Mankind which thou hast afforded that it might light every one coming into the World Saints and Prophets have born witness that thou art the God of Sinnes if Penitent thou art the Redeemer of the most vile and miserable when they truely return to their Father's embraces Let it then be an Addition to thy Glories that thou hast more of Pity than I have of Provocation and that thou yet retainest better Dispositions to pardon Sins than I have Inclinations to commit them Through the excess of thy Goodness thou hast bounded thy own self and given less to thy Power and Justice than it might have challenged and therefore have I long waited for thy Salvation O Lord. I have endured the Stings of delay while I looked for thy Redemption and sighed for the effects thereof and I must avert my Labour hath not been in vain for I have found the Hopes thou gavest me to be answered thy Word concerning me to be true and good and thy promises to be performed They may be left to their own deceivings who wait upon the vanity of the world and build their expectations on mortal assurances My Heart being fixed on the verity of thy Covenant on the certainty of thy Promises on the Anchor of a lively Hope secures it self of meeting with such favour as is inseparable from thy Majesty For my own part I am guilty of a Thousand Crimes nor is there any thing in me but Filth and Frailty I have triumphed in my Vices as if I had liberty to commit them and not to overcome them even while I denied my betters the liberty of reprending them Instead of abasing my self to the Dust that Principle of
my Being I have dared to contend with Omnipotence Death and Hell have been imagined Dreams and Phantasms only to scare the simple and not to be Instruments of thine anger to scourge the guilty But yet my Soul doth humbly now suppose it self an Object not less proper for thy incomprehensible Mercy because of its infinite Unworthiness and will rely only upon that Mercy of thine since it is worse than Folly to trust in any thing else He that doth place his hopes under the protection of great men doth but pass away his Liberty into the Hands of Tyrants He that founds his security on the Commonweal's builds up his Comforts on great Improbabilities He that counts Wealth the Mine of all Happiness is not acquainted with the Wheel of Fortune he that sooths himself with pleasures in worldly Knowledge knows not enough the weakness and incertainty of our Understandings as well as of all intelligible Subjects and whosoever presumes upon his own Merits let him call to mind from whence he came and whither he must return being liable to Myriads of Infirmities and to more than a single Death Friends themselves and Health the best of humane enjoyments are in this point like Honours Riches and other mortal entertainments very short and transient under the influences of a changing state subject to alterations from our own age as much as from the malice of our Enemies Therefore O Mortals cast your Anchor on no other security but on my God there is no Rock like him as I have experienced He can Love us freely and Defend us fully he doth heal our Infirmities and makes up our Losses he protects our Weakness and succors our want Where he associates there it is that Felicity both Roots and Flowers To him let us have recourse every Watch of the Night and every Minute of the Day To him let us offer up both our Lives and Deaths the Beginning and Accomplishment of all our Undertakings For he that is all Goodness hath no other Scope but our Happiness Deut. 32.4 By how much the more our humane Ignorance tempts us out of the Road to Heaven by so much the more his Pity strives to lead us the right way and to keep us in it For all 〈◊〉 universal Impiety weaves a Spider's Webb in every ones Mansion Prov. 30.28 and Pride heaps up Mountains of Guilt to defy Heaven while Avarice scrapes up Dirt to make an Idol of it and Lasciviousness dissolves its own pleasure by excess though Gluttony returns often with the Dog and Idleness looks after no good nor Anger meets with any thing but Precipices Yet for all these the goodness of God abides continually and is not discouraged by our Unworthiness when even this is aggravated by his Love but strives the rather to appear still as far above our Vileness and beyond our Merits as the Heavens are distanced from the lowest Earth And shall I not fly to this City of Refuge when pursued by a many ful-mouth'd Sins that cry aloud for Vengeance the Diseases and Corruptions of my Nature and Condition are not so inveterate but there is Balm in Gilead and a Physician there who can ease them My Wounds though festered by long and evil Habits are not gangrened by Despair nor is thy Hand shrunk up into thy Bosom but thou wilt put it forth to reach me a Cure Thy Remedies O Lord are always ready as thy mind to recover us and thou art never weary of well doing Thou alone canst reduce me into a state of doing better than I have done Thou alone canst pour the Oyle and Wine into my Hurts and bear the Charges of my Recovery Lord lay down the price of this and give Bail for me thy Insoluble Debtor As thou didst upon the cursed Tree Redeem thy Israel from trouble so let the Merits of thy bitter Passion be the powerful means of my deliverance from the slaveries of Sin that I may serve thee without base Fear without any great Disease or Disgust or Luke-warm indifference It must be the heat of thy Love which can dissipate such bad Distempers of my Soul as have brought an Ague upon my Devotion and a Plague upon my Heart Lord see me set right again by the health of thy Countenance when I am made whole see that I Sin not again lest worse things fall upon me But assure the whole residue of my time by such a just and severe Repentance for my past Infirmities as that I may never relapse into them nor thou strive with me who have contended too long with thee But crowning the greatness of thy Glories by the Pardon of my greatest Sins thou mayest give me leave to rely wholly on thy sweet Compassion till I may take Harbour in a Course of Sanctity in the state of Justification and at last in a full and perfect Redemption Amen The twelfth Step on the twelfth PSALM of Degrees being the 131 PSALM Domine non est exaltatum Cor c. O Lord I perceive the greatest Enemy of Mankind leaves no means un-attempted whereby he may draw us out of thy blessed way Sometimes with prosperous Success and sometimes with earthly Grandeurs he well-nigh masters such to their Eternal Ruine as he durst not assail by Crosses or by Want At other times when neither fair means nor foul will do his Work he takes a stranger course and represents to those too good Opinions which we ordinarily have of our selves a long Bead-roll of Religious Performances that wee Priding our selves in our own doings might infect them and arrogate that to our own merit which is wholly due to thy goodness * Aristot in Eth. 1.4 4.3 inquit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ita fecrunt Optimi Gentium Stotcorum scilicet Epicuraeorum qui dixerunt Nos exaequat Victoria Caelo immo ipse Philosophorum Romanorum Imperator Marcus Aurelius erat famae suae curiosissimus c. The Best men of all are too much addicted to this Sacrilege and few there are alass who are so well bred in Humility as not to like their own Reputation or not to covet Glory here no less than above Who doth not think too well or too much of his Service if it appear faithful to God and Charitable to others while he is patient in Adversity and temperate in all his Desires Is he not apt to be exalted above measure Therefore while I purpose with my self to avoid the Pride and Pomps of the World and to give my self up wholly to the execution of thy Commands let not my Heart applaud it self in private but so turn mine Eyes to thy Testimonies that they may not cause nor discover any Vain-glory about me Give me such a likeness to my Jesus such a lowliness of Spirit as to referr all things duely to thy bounty and nothing to my Power or Merit And as by the excesses of undeserved loving-kindness thou hast advantaged my Birth with the Characters of Illustrious
Soul I know mine Ears have been like the Adder's and deaf to thy Commands and to every good Exhortation though open to the Whispers of a lying World The motions of my outward man like those of my inward have been but to hurry me to ruine I know my Heart hath been most vain in its desires blind in its appetites mad in that indulging of them yet I rely upon thy Pity and despair not of thy Forgiveness As thou didst comply with the Vehement struglings of Jacob for a Blessing when he had cause enough to fear his own weakness so do thou afford me thy Guidance and Protection that I may not only begin well to turne towards Thee but that I may go on from Strength to Strength to meet Thee and if thy Grace so forward my Regeneneration I shall not doubt of performing what I have promised that is to give Thee all which the devoutest Soul can offer My Heart would have no other place to recreate its affections in but in the Presence-Chamber of thy Love What do the richest Marbles signify though they have often sweat under the Tools of Cunning Workmen for the adorning of some Closet for me if my Rocky Heart be not broke by thy divine Precepts The Battels wrought in Tapistry which hide the nakedness of my Walls do silently upbraid my Vanity Hypocrisy the Commotions and Quarrels that engage my Soul by many differing Passions all which make spoil of my Reason instead of serving her While the Eye Tries it self through a long Prospect of Apartments wherein much skill might be likewise tired by its Observations of Ten thousand Rarities even there my Remembrance offers me an Inventory of my faults which seem desperate enough to snatch the Golden Scepter of thy goodness even out of thy Hand and to cut me off from all hopes of Mercy Yet Lord cast me out of doors let me be onely covered with the Canopy of Heaven take away not onely my Fineness and Superfluities but my Ease and Prosperity nay even my Houses and Lands my other Comforts and Health too from me rather than deny me thy Grace for what greater Blessing can I beg than it The Favours of Princes are lightnings that blind us with their Splendor Riches and Beauty corrupt daily They seemingly depend upon strange uncertain accidents Power and Honours are no less dangerous than Elevating But the possession of thy Favour is a boundless Gulf of Happiness What Golden Shours of ineffable sweetness are pour'd into their breasts who enjoy the priviledg thereof Wherefore although I should deny Sleep to mine Eyes and Slumber to their Lids for thy sake O God! yet even by such actions I should meet with the greater Repose nay with that unspeakable Quiet and serenity of thy beloved and chosen People So that I desire not that any part of me should find Ease and Rest without a sensibility of thy Grace and a respect to thy Will All my Bones shall say Lord Who is like thee and as thou hast obliged so do thou unite all my disorderly affections Bind them with the Cords of Divine Love unto thine Altars that they may not be undone by the dissoluteness of this Age strengthen my Weakness encourage my Resolutions to get the better of my Frailties and of my Inconstancy least I fall into every Temptation of Sin or Snare of the Devil I seek no farther security than thy Favour no fairer Boon than thy Grace no fuller Bliss than thy Bosom affords But to obtain these Lord there is requisite a more intire Obedience to thy Will a continued Repentance of my Transgressions and a resolution fixed rather upon dying than offending Thee any more And is not this Disposition the Ephratah mentioned wherein we may find Christ Surely he that can behave himself Righteously Soberly and Holily towards the World Himself and Satan need not doubt but that he may see God's Face and Live also For God is good and doth good to all such as keep his Testimonies and walk in his wayes Where there is any goodness he will not be a far off Where there is any true Piety there is God at hand for he loves to Crown his own Gifts and to Glorify his own Graces and to have his delights with the Sons of Men when these are willing to become the Sons of God by coming to his onely begotten Jesus Christ This I have found by experience and how great is my Obligation to thee most dear Redeemer who would suffer thy self to be found in the sharp Covert of my Breast in that strong Wood where Sin left none of the Cedars of God which are full of Sap but only a few Shrubs of impotent affections which are so full of Briars and Asperities as that they opposed thy entrance into my Soul and presented Thee with nothing but another Crown of Thorns Yet since I have not onely heard of Thee with the Hearing of the Ear but my other Senses have been sufficient Witnesses of thy inestimable Kindness and of thy Addresses to me that I might find thee O that I may find such favour in thy sight as to have a sight still of thy Favour Let my Worshipping of Thee keep some measure with thy Working upon me that I may be renewed day by day Undress my Soul of all such mean Garbs and sinful Compliances as will render it uncomly or unfit for thy sight This Soul dear Lord of which thou wouldest be the Maker and Redeemer also doth not more triumph in thy present bounty than it is afraid to forfeit it Therefore Come now and take up thy abode therein Shall my Sins keep Thee knocking at the Door No dearest Lord come in my Lord come in while I am ready as thy Spouse should always be to entertain Thee my beloved Bridegroom What Sinners need despair of Mercy while a Saviour Invites Intreats and even pulls them by force out of the Sodom of their Sins and dangers unto a Repentance which may bring them to Salvation And How easily is Heaven opened by the Tears of Contrition How pleased is the Divine Pity at such Tears These Showers return again upon the Earth with Peace to it Good will to Men they bring God Glory and his Glory to us they cause Heaven's Jubile and the Angels Triumph because the Return of a Sinner is the most grateful Tribute that the Creature can offer to its Creator and God delights himself in the Election of such Instruments as are changed from Vessels of dishonour and fitted for his service by Conversion Since the procurement of his Grace and Favour is not the Fruit of our Merit but of his own Goodness For all we may Weep Sigh Pray Fast make Restitution give Almes resolve against Sin and mortify our Passions and bridle our Affections and our corrupt Appetites in some decent manner yet our Nature hath many Frailties and renders our best deeds so imperfect as without the excess of thy Compassion without the Merits of
much as if he stayed near the place where the Sun makes his Bed at Noon So neither can he receive the warmest influences of Gods Favour who departs from it like an offending Adam Therefore O my Soul Renounce thy Worldly affections altogether and know that whosoever leaves his Heart to be entrapped by the fair semblances of Earthly Toys may lose his share in an Eternity of Glory while he embraces nothing but a Cloud and catches unhappily at a Shadow Alas all Sublunary things are too slight to be compared with the pleasures at God's Right-hand What is most compleat here is ever assailed by its contraries and what appears most Gygantick or mighty is but the greater Imposture cheating our apprehension by the cast of a huge Shadow That which is sweetest to our Senses is incompassed with the most stings as our loveliest Roses have the sharpest prickles here is no Hony but what is scoured with Wormwood and the whole course of our Lives is but a L'ambigue a strange Hotchpotch of Good and Evil. But in God in God alone is found true Good and perfect Happiness Many things that are useful are not pleasant and many pleasant things are noxious Fasting Abstinence and large Alms-deeds enrich the Mind mortify the Passions while they seem to impair our Worldly Concernments On the contrary the satisfaction of sensuality may caresse the Body but they torture the Soul In God alone meets that Profit and pleasure which constitute the chief Good Therefore O my Soul with fervent Devotion sincere Conversion and settled Resolution be fixed to thy Redeemer and enjoy such bliss as is made over to those who are acquainted with God's Mind and obedient to his Commands How unhappy are the Scorners of such acquaintance and Union with God Sit not thou in their place if thou meanest to be happy for they have took leave of their Felicity they have shook hands with Faith and Charity they are Eclipsed from the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness Yet let those sottish Animals inform me if they can why the bright Planet of the Day is so welcom to universal Nature Why the sending forth its Light and Heat draws up their Eyes and the Faculties of the whole World as it were to the admiration of it self Why are the four Elements so needful if they be not Communicative and assistant to every Body and is not the Maker of these much more wonderful as much more necessary to us all He that will lean to his own imaginations makes them his Idols and forfeits the Inheritance that might be had by Communion with God But he that with a right affection and with Filial Reverence binds up all Cravings within the good pleasure and will of God may receive all the Joys that can be handed to him by a Deity for such an Observance Such Union of a Soul to Christ is more sweet and acceptable to Heaven than was that holy Oyle which the High-priests onely were to make and use And as the Heavenly dew that falls upon the Hills of Hermon and of Sion brings Fruitfullness to their Rocks and Health to their Inhabitants so the Largesses of the Divine Bounty many ways advantage all such as are united to a Saviour and to one another by a copious Charity The Dew comes down silently from Heaven and waters the Earth being nourishing and medicinal and such a Celestial thing is Love and Concord Curing all the Diseases of the Mind It softens the very Marbles of a proud Niobe improves the sterile bottom of Good-works sweetens the Asperities of Contrition and prevents the withering of our Hopes Send down this precious Dew upon my Soul O Lord as thou didst another on the Fleece of Gideon that being over-shadowed by thy Love I may never Divorce my self again from it but value my affections as thou dost even as Faculties more considerable than are all those earthly Objects upon which they have been too often cast away but since Mundanities are so imperfect Comforts so vanishing they should be despicable And I would devote my Heart altogether to those Joys of thine which are Eternal Guard it therefore with a generous Fortitude to resist all the assaults of the Devil to disarm all my Senses to defeat all my Corruptions from ever having any more Power to make me rebel against thy Goodness And Lord command all the Forces of my Soul to concur in the desires of thy Mercy in the doing thy Will in the magnifying thy Greatness so shall I be secure of thy Grace here and of thy Glory hereafter Amen The fifteenth Step on the fifteenth PSALM of Degrees being the 134 PSALM Ecce nunc benedicite O My Soul how art thou engaged by the Mercies of thy Creator to reinforce thy Powers for the setting forth his Praise Now lay the Top-stone of thy Happiness in the blessing of thy dear Redeemer who hath suffered thee to get up thus near unto him and to free thee from Sin hath shewed the mighty skill of his Mercy in diverse manners First In the delivering thee from the perils of Infidelity and Profaneness Secondly In giving thee the due confidence thou oughtest to have in his Goodness Thirdly In letting thee see how all true pleasures flow from him who is all Love and Kindness Hath he enriched thee with the Ornaments of Hope Hath he built thee upon the Groundwork of Charity with the strength of a right Faith Hath he taught thee the fear of the Lord and the respect due to his Command Hath he shewed thee the Consequence of Holy Sorrow Meekness and Exinanition and at last invited thee to all Happiness by a perfect union to Himself And Art thou not inaugurated with a Crown of Privileges Art thou not wholly subdued to God and overcome by such powerful Reasons to confess that Religion must needs be thy greatest advantage and highest advancement also Then forget not thy self so much as not to exalt his Merits and bless his Mercy and declare what he hath done for thee as Loudly as Plainly as Continually as 't is possible for thee to do If thou slipp the time for these requisite performances and which is thy time but the present It will look like an Act of Ingratitude and an effect of Obduration To the wicked saith God What hast thou to do to take my Name in thy Mouth since thou hatest to be reformed O Lord thou wilt have none of their Commendations who indeed are unworthy to utter thy holiest Name being thy professed Enemies their Addresses are but like the gnashings of the Damned meer Profanations and no Worship of Thee But thy Servants are the Ecchoing Trumpets of thy Goodness Thou lovest their Eulogies whom thou hast adorned with thy Favours and Redeemed from the Tyranny of their Accuser Consider then again and again O my Soul how Great how Incomprehensible is the Goodness of thy God! since he would Create thee after his likeness and give thee Understanding and Dominion over and