and may we at length be blest with the Enravishing Approbation of well-done Good and faithful Servants enter ye into your Master's Joy Amen Amen Meditation XVIII On Heaven HEaven A place where God's Honour dwells where his Honour and Glory dwell in the most Supereminent Degree Where is the blessed Jesus in all the pompous Resplendencies of his Exaltation Surrounded with infinite Honours of his perfect Obedience and most meritorious Sufferings Where the Reflected Rays of the Divine Majesty add New lustre to the brightest Cherubims and the innumerable Host of Heaven the Glorified Company of Saints and Angels drink plentifully of those Rivers of pleasure which are at God's Right hand for Evermore Pleasures Refin'd and Spiritual Sincere and unallay'd with any mixture of Sorrow pleasures fixt and Durable as God the Unchangeable Author of them so compleat as to Satisfie and yet so Recreatively Satisfying as not to become Dull and Cloying For in Heaven a Continual fresh Addition of Happyness flowing in upon the Soul both Gratifies its appetites and also Quickens and New-Excites them There the blessed Inhabitants beholding constantly the Beatifick Presence are changed thereby from Joy to Joy from Glory to Glory Receive incessant Communications of the Divine inherent Fulness and have their Desires hereby the more Enflamed their Capacities the more Enlarged to receive still further participations of God's inexhaustible bounty And thus they spend a Rapturous Eternity ever-Loving ever-Praising ever-Adoring and Delighting in God their Saviour And the more they Love and Praise and Delight in Him still they find more Cause more Reason more Desire and Longing of Soul to do so Here 't is the happy Residentiaries Understandings are wide open'd to all the amazing Lights and Discoveries of Truth to the Mysteries of Creation and Providence of Redemption and Sanctification to the now puzling Difficulties of Nature and of Grace of God's Prescience and Man's Free-will Here 't is the Wills also of the Glorified are render'd conformable unto are Swallowed up in and made one with God's Holy Will and Pleasure that their Affections become Seraphickly pure Spiritual and servent that both the Spirits of Just Men made perfect and their brethren Angels burn with Divine Love are enflamed with holy Ardours of Devout Gratitude and Thanksgiving to God the Author of their Beings and kind bestower and preserver of all their Enjoyments Heaven The bright Aboad of all bright and pure and clarified Souls Of all those who have had Heavenly Tempers and Dispositions implanted in them here who have Contemned the World Triumph'd over its depraving pomps and Vanities who have Crucified the flesh with the Corrupt Lusts and Affections thereof who have vanquish'd Hell overcome the Temptations of the Devil offer'd a Grateful violence to Heaven by the importunities of servent Effectual Prayer by the Severities of Repentance Mortification and Self-denyal There in the happy Regions Above they reap the fruit of their pious labours with a plentiful Interest and Encrease of Glory There all the Good all the truely Wise all the Just and Chaste and Charitable Souls of whom this World was not Worthy who were burning and shining Lights amidst a crooked and perverse Generation by their Singularly holy Examples shine as Scars of the first Magnitude in the Kingdom of Heaven they Love God with the Intensest most Dutiful Affection and they Love one another as themselves without any Envying or Repining at their Neighbours happyness who enjoy a Greater Degree thereof than they but each Beatified Spirit enjoying as much of God and Heaven as he is capable of Receiving is fully Satisfied with his own measure of blessedness and derives also pleasure and Contentment from the possessions of his brethren though more highly Glorifyed There in Heaven they Love there they Adore and there they Enjoy for an Endless Duration there their United Employ of Loving Praising and Worshipping God of Returning him Thanksgivings for all the Miracles of his Stupendious Love Unite them the more intimately unto God and Unite them also more closely in Affections to one another a Glorified Saint not repining at the more Advanced Glory of an Angel an Angel of an inferiour Order not Grudging at the Happyness of a Superiour nor any of those Morning Stars of the Creation Envying the Saints their most Illustrious Honour in having the Humanily Dignified with a Personal Union to the Godhead O Heaven The Glorious Receptacle of Heaven-born Souls of the Favourites and Sons of God when shall I come and Appear before him When shall I be made more exactly Like unto him seeing him as he Is When shall I be joyn'd to the Devout Adoring Quire of Angels O Celestial Temple how my Soul Longs to Enter Thee the Holy of Holies One Day in thy Courts is better than a Thousand elsewhere Gracious God deny me what Thou wilt of this Earth so thou givest me at last an inheritance in Heaven That will make ample Amends for all my wants here below That will fully Recompence all the Sufferings of this Mortal Life O my Soul is such a Glorious prize as that of thy high Calling in Christ set before thee and shall not this incite thee to press forward to that Mark To Run the Race of holy Obedience with patience chearfulness and a pious Contention Is such an Heaven such an Exceeding Great and Eternal weight of Glory the Object of thy Hopes and hast thou the Stupidity not to let it be the Object of thine Endeavours also Hast thou the heart to neglect so Great Salvation Shall it not encourage and stir thee up to give all Diligence to make thy Calling and Election Sure Oh how unworthy are they of Eternal Life who will not Exert their utmost power and industry to obtain it Blessed Lord Bring down much of an Heavenly Frame and Temper into our Souls which may Qualifie us for an Enjoyment of Heaven hereafter let there be Divine God-like habits of mind wrought and implanted in us at present that Awaking up at the Resurrection after thy Likeness we may he Satisfied therewith Amen Amen holy Saviour The Prayer O Soveraign Excellency and most Exalted Blessedness whose Delight some Presence makes Heaven and the hiding away of whose face in Displeasure is the chiefest Constituent of Hell O grant that having Such an Heaven such an Exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory the Object of our Faith and Hopes we may labour after an Heavenly frame and Disposition in our Souls which may Qualifie us for the celestical State hereafter Grant that we having Given unto us such Great and precious promises as those appertaining to this Life and a better may by the incitement of these become partakers of thy Divine Nature escaping the Corruptions which are in the World through lust O Holy Father give us a Lively View of Heaven by an Eye of Faith and so Raise up our minds thither that we may always have our Thoughts our Desires our Conversation there whence we look for the
Life Amen Amen The Prayer O Holy Jesu thou Lord of Life and Glory who by thy Death hast overcome Death and open'd unto us the Gate of Everlasting Life at the hour of Death and in the Day of Judgment Good Lord Deliver us Grant that the End of our life on Earth may be the Beginning to us of a blessed Eternity in Heaven that the Second Death the never-ceasing one may have no Dominion over us but that when we discontinue Living with men we may dwell with thee our God and Converse with all the blessed Society Above Grant Heavenly Father that when we come to lye on a Death-bed we may be able to look backward with Comfort and Consolation on a well spent Life and forward with a bright prospect of Glory and Immortality beyond the Grave that when we are nigh unto Death and our bodyly strength Languishing our faith and hope may Revive and become vigorous and we may then feel the joyous Approaches of that Salvation which we before had wrought out with fear and trembling We know O Lord that 't is appointed for all men once to Dye and that no one can rescue his life from the pit of Destruction and yet do we live as if we had made an Agreement with Hell and had an unforfeitable Lease of our lives O give us to Dye unto sin Now that we may sleep in Christ at our Departure and be Awaken'd be Rais'd to life again in the Restitution of all things Afford us some Refreshing beams of the Light of thy Reconciled Countenance when passing through the dark valley of the Shadow of Death grant that we may then fear no evil but may have the Testimony of a Good Conscience which may be a supporting Cordial to our weak and fainting Spirits Grant that we may not live in such an unprepar'd state of Soul as that we should be afraid to Dye and Appear before thy Judgment seat but cause us so to Demean our selves as that the Sting and Terrour of Death Sin may be taken away before Death it self lays hold on us that when it comes we may welcome it with Smiles and Gladness may lift up our heads with Joy at our hastening Dissolution as knowing that then the time of our Redemption draweth near Be Thou present with us at the hour of Death O blessed Jesu who sufferedst Death for us upon the Cross by the vertue of that thy precious Death Sweeten we beseech thee the bitterness of ours When our Eyes shall be Darkned in the Agonies of Death kindle in our hearts the Light of saving Faith when our Speech shall fail and leave us O do thou speak Inwardly unto us by the Comforts of thy Spirit and grant that we may speak mentaily unto Thee by Devoul Sighs and Groans which cannot be utter'd when we are nigh unto the End of our Days may we be nigh the end of our Hopes even the Salvation of out Souls O give us in our last Exiremities Joy in believing Hope in our Latter End humble Resignation of our Spirits into thy hands an holy Contempt of this Earth an Enflamed Love of Heaven Longing desires to be with Thee with our Saviour christ with Angels and Glorified Saints which is much better than being here Amen Amen for thy Mercies sake Meditation XVII On the Last Judgment MEthinks I view the Judge of the whole Earth Terrible and yet Gracious coming in the Clouds of Heaven with all his Glorious Retinue of holy Angels methinks I hear the Arowzing Call of the last Trumpet see the innumerable Dead take the Alarm Awake Move and Rise at its all-powerful Summons I behold methinks the Righteous Rising first with Smiles and Exultation in their Faces as knowing that their Redemption that the Reward of all their Pious Labours draweth near I behold also the ungodly Rising Last and yet even then most unwillingly shaking and trembling for fear of their approaching Tryal and Condemnation Heaven above Threatning them Hell beneath Gaping wide for their Reception I bâ—hold too the Court-Book of an Universal Registry open'd each Mans Indictment and Accusation publickly Read his own Conscience the while bearing Witness and either Accusing or Excusing him in that fearful Judgment I hear methinks the Decisive Sentence 〈◊〉 ronourced of either Eternal Happyness or Misery of either come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepar'd for you before the foundations of the World or else of Depart from me ye Accursed into Everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Oh the different Effects these different Sentences have on the Persons they are directed unto The Righteous receive their Sentence with Joy and Acclamations with transporting Thanks and Hallelujahs with an humble Admiration that the Recompence of their finite Defective Services should be a far more Exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory The ungodly Reprobates entertain their Doom with hideous Howlings and Lamentations with heart-piorcing Sorrows and Affrightments with fruitless desires to return again into their Graves or to be perfectly destroyed and Annihilated Come ye blessed O Delightsome sound O wellcome hearing wellcome especially from the moâ—â—â— of our Judge Come There is no need sure of a pressing Invitation to accept of so much Bliss and Happyness behold they Run they draw near upon the first Intimation of it they fly with haste into the possession of their Eternal Inheritance They now please themselves in the Remembrance of their former Godly Sorrows Mortifications and Self-denyals which through the Mercy 's of God and Merits of their Saviour have procured them such an exceeding Great Rejoycing All their former Tears dry up at the sight of their Glorious Redemption and they would not for a World but they had Denyed themselves in the Life past that now in the Resurrection of the Just they may be own'd and Approved of by their Advocate and Acquitter Depart ye Cursed blessed Lord whither should they depart Can they Goe any where where thou art not present who sillest all things tho' they descend into the Deep and remain in the uttermost parts of the Sea yet Thou art there though they make the Darkness of Hell their hiding-place yet thou art there also thine Omniscient Eye shall even there find them out and thine Almighty Arm shall punish them Depart from Me A Dâ—parture from thy Beatifick presence O God must needs render the Departed Accursed for Thou art all that 's Good the Loss therefore of Thee is an Universal Loss Thou art the Center and Rest of the Soul and therefore to be separated from Thee must be the most unquiet and miserable Condition imaginable A Departure from the Joyous Light of thy Countenance O blessed Jesu who only hast the words of Eternal Life can certainly be no other than Eternal Death One would have thought indeed that to be Deprived of Thy Sight might have been punishment enough without the Damneds Entrance in Hell-flames and tortures but that besides the mental Anguish for their
our Lives out of the filthy Sodom of every wicked impurity never so much as looking back upon them with an Eye of complacency lest the flames due unto them overtake us unawares Cause us we beseech thee to flee from sin by the awakening Consideration of its being the only way whereby to flee from the wrath to come O may the Eternity of Hell-punishments restrain both our Inclinations and Embraces from the pleasures or profits of sin which are but for a Season Give us often holy Father to Ask our selves these Startling Deterring Questions when about to sin wilfully How can we do this Great wickedness and by sinning against God provoke his infinite Justice and Almighty power to punish us Who of us can dwell with everlasting burnings Is it not a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Everliving God who is a Consuming fire Is it not a most horrid misery to be Eternally a seeking Death and yet never to find it in the Regions of Darkness and Despair O cause us to Dread and Abhor sin which leads to this place of infernal torments as much as the suffering place it self Cause us to think often on Hell that we may thereby be kept from falling into it Grant O holy Jesu Thou who art the Resurrection and the Life that we may never fall into the bitter pains of Eternal Death What else can expose us as sewel to Hell flames but our Sins They are the combustible matter which the fire which cannot be Quenched will ever be preying upon Give us therefore Good Lord to burn up that immoral hey and straw and Stubble at present and then the fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels will have no power over us neither will so much as the Smell thereof have past upon us but we shall be received into Everlasting habitations of Celestial Glory and felicity Amen Amen Meditation XX. On Prayer and the Powerful Efficacy thereof PRAYER 't is a Duty of Natural Religion and Worship the Obligation thereunto being founded in the Eternal and immutable Reason of things In God's Supereminent Excellencies and perfections and in our own Dependent Indigent Condition as Creatures We are born infirm and weak poor and Necessitous Beings in Condition Alms-People and Beggars and therefore to pray alwayes is a Duty incumbent on us from the state of our Nature as well as by the Command and Enjunction of God-Allmighty Prayer 't is an Acknowledgemant of God's Awful Transcendent Majesty and of our own despicable meanness and imperfection of his Sovereignty and our Subjection of his Self-sufficiency and over-flowing plenitude of Happyness and of our own penury straightness of fortune and impotency of his immaculate Purity and Holyness and of our Vileness and Corruption by Reason of sinning And upon these Accounts our Addresses to Heaven ought to be accompanyed with all Lowlyness and Humality with all holy Dread and Reverence Prayer being also a Duty of the greatest Importance to us an instrument of bringing down all manner of Blessings Temporal Spiritual and Eternal ought to be offer'd up with the most fixt Attention of mind with the most zealous Intention and fervour of Spirit with the most hearty Sorrow in Confession the most Earnest Desires in Petition the most urgent and yet Lowly importunity in Deprecation with the most Rais'd Joy and affectionate Gratitude in Thanksgiving We ought also in Prayer to Exercise an unshaken Faith Hope Trust and Confidence but however to wait with Patience and Dependance with an humble Submission and Resignation to God's will whether or no he shall be pleas'd to Gratifie the Desires of our hearts to Answer the requests of our lips And to induce us with the greater Willingness and Alacrity to set about this Duty of Prayer let us consider the mighty Honour and high Dignity accuring to us therefrom for is it not an Honour for us Creatures to be permitted to talk and freely converse with our Creator Is it not an Honour for us vile worms for us sinful Dust and Ashes to be allow'd the priviledge of having ready Access at any time to the Supream Majesty of Heaven and Earth thereby to make known to him our sins our infirmities our wants our calamities and distresses and hereupon to obtain the pardon of our sins the healing of our infirmities the Supply of our pressing wants the mitigation or entire Removal of our Distresses Consider also the inestimable Benefit of Prayer 't is the Channel through which are convey'd all our Mercyes the best Desensative against impendent Dangers and mischiefs against Divine Judgments and corrections for sinning The great Repeller of Temptations the powerful Subduer of our vices and evil inclinations the fruitful improver of our Graces and vertuous Dispositions Lastly Consider together with the Honour and Benefit the great Delight and pleasure resulting from a due discharge of Prayer for what can be more pleasurable than to maintain a constant Intercourse with the Highest and most Excellent of Beings Than to hold Communion by Addresses to the Throne of Grace with our Creator Preserver Redeemer Sanctifier and Continual Benefactor and hereby to have the frequent Effects and Emanations of his Goodness and Benignity derived down upon us and the Devotional Testimonies of our Love and Gratitude Ascending up again unto him What can be a greater Ease and Refreshing to our minds than to Disburthen them of the oppressive weight of Guilt contracted by a free and ingenuous Acknowledgment thereof by humble petitioning for forgiveness of the same by Deprecation of punishment and resolutely promising by the Assistance of God's Grace never to Re-act the like or any other wilful wickedness for the future In sine what more Delightful than to vent our Griefs our fears our wants our Anxieties and Distresses into the Ears of our Heavenly Father one so Tender and Affectionate so True to his word so mindful of his promises so Large in Bounty and beneficence so thoroughly Able so exceedingly Willing to supply all our wants to Dry up all our Tears to Remove all our Affrightments to Satisfie our Anxieties and Relieve our sorest Distresses Prayer rightly circumstantiated what is' t it cannot do It has subdued Kingdoms obtain'd promises wrought Miracles Stopt the Mouths of Lions Quench'd the violence of fire out of weakness made Men Strong Rais'd the Dead to Life again It makes at present through the meritorious Mediation of our Saviour peace both in Heaven and Earth unlocks the Gates of Divine Mercy rifles the Celestial Treasury brings down much of its rich Stores unto us has power both with God and Man and mightily prevails Rendring both yielding entreatable compassionate Prayer 't is another Jacobs Ladder which maintains a mutual Commerce and Correspondency between Heaven and Earth 't is a Burning-Glass of Divine Love wherein all the heats and warmths of a servently pious Soul are concenter'd wherein it exerciseth all its Grace with the greatest vigour and Activity Exerciseth its profoundest Humility towards
that of an Afflictive sense of having no Lot or Portion in the Love and Enjoyment of God an infinite Good Sin must needs be the greatest Evil the worst of any thing which is Enemy to either God or Man because 't is God's usual method to punish sin with sin when all his other Reclaiming Essays of Providence have through the obstinacy of the sinner proved ineffectual I will chuse their delusions says God and give them over to their Iniquities he that is unjust let him be unjust still and he that is filthy let him be filthy still As if to be a Sinner was misery sufficient and no vengeance for Impiety like that of being permitted a continuance therein The exceeding Great Malignity of Sin is in nothing more seen than in this that it cost God more to Redeem the World than at first to Create it cost him but the fiat of his Will but a Word 's speaking to make it out of Nothing but stood him at the invaluable Expence of his Son's Blood to Ransom it out of worse than Nothing a polluted sinful self-undone Condition At God's Creation of the World there was only want and absence of previous matter whereout to make it no repugnant inaptitude no contrariety in the subject whereby in the least to obstruct or retard the Divine Efficacy whereas in the Redemption of the lost World there was the deep rooted Corruption of our Nature inveteracy of Evil Custom and Habit depravity of Affection and perverseness of Man's Will to be conflicted with and overcome by God's Spirit by his holy Word and Sacraments before the Ransome purchased could be applyed and made Savingly Effectual So much more is there in Sin of inconquerableness and Difficulty of subjection than in the most difficult and miraculous material product of an Almighty power O let but our thoughts carry us to the places of our Saviours bitter Agonies and Sufferings and there let us behold him greatly Amazed and sore troubled Sweating great drops of blood bowing beneath the weight of his Fathers Displeasure crying out Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me and at last suffering on a painful and Ignominious Cross those extream torments both of body and mind which the sins of all Mankind had deserved which none but the Manhood in Conjunction with the Godhead could have undergone and which were abundantly Sufficient to Expiate the Guilt of the whole world and of multitudes of worlds were multitudes really existing Let us consider our Blessed Lord suffering all this though without Sin in himself only because he had taken it on him by Imputation and by becoming our Surety bore the iniquities of us all and then let us if we can continue to think so Lightly so harmlesly oâ— Sin as we do Here 's a sight our Redeemers Crucifixion which at once shews his inestimable Love to us and the mighty Malignity of Sin in that nothing Less than his precious Bloodshed that Seal of the New-Covenant could Aâ—one Divine Justice and do away the Guilt the Condemnation of our impieties The Prayer O Thou immaculate Purity Thou perfectly holy and Righteous Divine Being who hast manifested thy Love to holyness and thy Hatred against all impiety chiefly in sending thy Son into the World by his pure Example and by his holy Doctrine to destroy the sinful works of the Devil and to promote a Life of uprightness O that those Excellent Graces which shined so eminently in our Saviour may be formed within us thy servants the Hope of Glory that the life which we henceforth lead in the Flesh may be by the Faith of the Son of God Conform us we beseech thee to his Image in Holiness making us partakers of a Divine Nature Ah blessed Lord 't is not the Guilt 't is not the Condemnation of sin we so much desire to be deliver'd from as the foul stain and pollution as the Reigning power and prevalency thereof destroy then Vice within us as well with respect to the inward Love and Approbation as to the outward Act and Performance While we are in the World preserve us holy Father from the Corruptions of the World suffer not sin to have Dominion over us in any kind for we are not under the Law but under Grace O may thy Grace be sufficient for us Keep us holy Spirit by thy power thorough Faith unto Salvation Let not Sin Reign in our mortal Bodies that we should fulfil the lusts thereof but Grant that thy good Spirit thy holy Word and heavenly Graces may bear sway in us and abound Turn our Eyes from beholding sinful vanity and cause thou us to make much of thy Law O give us to behold more of the malignant Nature of Sin of the Turpitude Folly Baseness and Ingratitude thereof and then shall we more thoroughly Grieve Detest and Resolve on the abandoning of it Convince us gracious God that Sin 't is the greatest of Evils and then shall we betake our selves to Thee the greatest of Goods work in us that Holiness without which we not only Shall not but also Cannot see Thee the Lord by reason of a natural Incapacity in us for Seeing Thee O divine Object of blessedness imports Enjoying thee a seeing thee with Delight and Satisfaction and this we can never do unless we first become Like Thee in Purity in the holy Tempers and Dispositions of our Souls O lay in us that Foundation of future Happiness Grace the Hope and Qualification of inheriting Endless Glory Lord we are poor and blind and naked blind as to true saving Knowledge operative by Love poor and naked as to any inherent Acceptable Righteousness of our own O let us be cloath'd upon with the Robes of thy perfect imputed Righteousness we are Dead in sins and trespasses O do thou Quicken do Thou Raise us up to Newness of Life and Obedience Purge our Consciences from dead Works that we may henceforth serve more Acceptably thee the Everliving God Let our lives be a continual Endeavour of subduing in our selves the Love of Sin of becoming Enamoured with the Beauty of Holiness of becoming Like thee therein more Approved of by thee and every way such as Thou wouldst have us to be Cleanse us O God from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and cause us to endeavour after the perfecting of Holiness in thy fear And then Holiness the chief ingredient of Heavenly Happiness being our New-Nature being the fix'd Temper and Habit of our Regenerate Minds we shall be both Meet for Heaven and our Souls will Tend thither as to their proper place and most desireable state of Enjoyment Amen Amen Meditation V. On Watchfulness against Sin and Temptations THat this is a Duty our Saviour teaches us Watch and Pray says he that ye enter not into Temptation that ye come not within the reach or first Enticements thereof And St. Peter exhorts Be ye sober be vigilant because your Adversary the Devil goes about as a roaring Lion
beat down Satan under our feet we are beset with Spiritual Enemies we have no might to help our selves against the Great Company of Temptations which dayly assault us our eyes are only upon thee from whom alone cometh our Health and Salvation Help Lord or we perish help or we are Ruin'd Eternally stretch forth thy Right hand to save us or we sink in the waves of vicious Allurements which so impetuously beat against us O be Thou pleased to speak those Tempests into a Calm do Thou either Restrain the unruly waters of strife sinful Assaults which aâ—â— ready to come in even unto our Souls or else Assist and bear us up that they may not overwhelm us Suffer us noâ— O Lord to be Tempted above that 〈◊〉 are Able but together with the Temptation make a way to escape that we may resolutely withstand it and having done all may stand O make us diligent in all our Duties watchful against all Temptations that they never become a snare to catch and entangle us but cause us to Resist manfully according to our Baptismal Engagement the World the Flesh and the Devil striving against sin against alâ— wicked Enticements Provocations and Opportunities leading thereunto And in all our pious conflicts makes us more than Conquerors through Christ which strengthens us O holy Father Thou Preserver of men the Prince of this world Satan cometh he cometh to search and to Try us O Grant he may find nothing in us to close with his Temptations keep us from sin keep us from every evil way of the Destroyer Deliver us from all our Ghostly Adversaries for we fly unto Thee to secure and hide us O pluck our feet out of the wicked Net which they have privily layd for our souls We fly unto thee O thou Refuge of all those who put their Trust in thee we fly unto thee to Repel and Quench all the fiery darts of the Devil let him not have any Advantage over us but give us strength in the day of battle and holy Contention Grant that thy Kingdom may daily Rise and the Kingdom of Satan dayly fall in our hearts Lord We wrestle not only with flesh and blood with the Corruptions of our own Nature but with Principalities and Powers with Spiritual wickednesses in high places O Give us therefore Power in thee our God let thy Spirit be sufficient for us let thy strength be manifested in our weakness and make us in the conclusion mightily to prevail Cause us to take unto our selves the whole Armour of God to watch and pray to fast and mourn and strive our utmost against sin and Temptation that having fought a good fight and finished our course and kept the faith henceforth may be laid up for us a Crown of Righteousness a Crown which fadeth not away Eternal in the Heavens Amen Amen Meditation VI. Against the Sin of Pride PRide How incongruous a thing to a poor Indigent Dependant Creature To a compound of Vileness and Corruption of Misery and Folly whose foundation being in the Dust ought to humble him thither from whence he was taken Pride was not made for Man says Solomon it Becomes better any other part of the Creation for they still Retain that beautiful Goodness at first impress'd upon them by their Divine Maker the Stormy wind and Tempest the Sea and raging Floods as boisterous and unruly as they be are yet Elements fulfilling God's Word The Moon observes her certain seasons and the Sun knoweth his going down All Nature keeps its Regular Course at first ordain'd it only Man Irregular Man has Deviated from his primitivâ— state of Order and Innocence anâ— thereby has Degraded himself belovâ— the very Beasts which perish so thaâ— 't is much more a matter of profounâ— humbling to Man that immortal Corruption was his Off-spring than thâ— Mother Earth Natural Corruption was the Parent-principle of his formation To be proud and yet to be a Beggar to live upon Alms what a Solâ—cism what an inconsistency is it And yet thus it is with us we aâ— Beggars of our dayly Bread froâ— God or at least should be such alâ— we possess all we Are was Originally from him we are his Pensiâ—ners and Alms-People And how in sufferable a thing then is Pride 〈◊〉 Man how indecorous What hast thoâ— says the Apostle St. Paul which thoâ— didst not Receive and yet boastest thâ—â— as if thou hadst not Received it Surely all boasting is excluded where whatever we have is of Grace and not 〈◊〉 Debt is ours in Trust only not in Propriety Ah 't was this sin of Pride which first brought sin into the world which first came into it and which will Last go out of it Ambition was as early as Nature and Adam was little sooner a Man than he Aspired to be as God knowing Good and Evil But alass 't was this his undue Aiming at so Great a height which was the occasion of his fall and he knows now Evil only by the Loss and Privation of Good Pride 'T was this turned the Apostate Angels out of Heaven which made even that infinitely Blissful place uneasie to them while proudly reaching at the incommunicable Prerogatives of the Deity that Aspiring sin changed their Angelick Nature into that of Devils And 't is this Vice of pride which is more or less an ingredient in all the wickedness committed by degenerate Mankind foâ— every wilful iniquity is a rejecting the Divine Authority and Soveraignty of God and a Vertual saying within our selves Who is Lord oveâ— us 'T is this sin of excessive Self-Loveâ— and too good an opinion of our own Endowments which includes in itâ— mixture of the greatest folly for 〈◊〉 implies misapprehension and Error Ignorance and Inconsideration Ignorance of those Imperfections and Deformities Sins and Seeds of Misery within us which were they discovered must needs humble and abase us An how troublesome a Guest 〈◊〉 Pride in a Man's bosome it create both uneasieness to himself and alâ— others about him while it makes him Envy Superiours take to Heart the slights of Equals and even to rage with passion at the Disrespect of Inferiours O 't is this vice of over-rating our selves keeps us Strangers at home makes us unjust Censurers abroad Causes us to think too highly of our own worth too meanly of that of others 't is this hinders our growing Wiser and Better our imagining we are wise and good enough already But alass did we see all we lack we should soon fall in our own Conceit and wish for much more Wisdom and Goodness than we have Pride nothing more looses a man Friends and Gains him Enemies nothing more renders him an object of universal Scorn and Contempt so that the proud person by Pride defeats his own Aims he challenges Honour as his due but by unduly challenging it he reaps Dis-respect and Derision But above all nothing more than Pride renders us the Scorn and Hatred of God the Lord beholdeth the lowly with an Eye
of Love and Approbation but the proud heâ— knoweth afar off Psalm 138. versâ— the 6th Nothing also more obstructs the holy Influences of the Divine Spirit upon our Hearts God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to thâ— humble 1 Pet. 5. 5. He has but two Habitations wherein he more especially delights to dwell Heaven and the Soul of him who is of a contriâ— and humble spirit Isa 57. 15. On the contrary nothing is more oppositâ— to the Nature of the Deity or to the Humiliation of his blessed Son Christ Jesus than Pride and Haughtiness And therefore our Saviour thougâ— the Brightness of his Father's Glory and the Express Image of his Person who thought it no Robbery to be equal with God yet took on hiâ— the form of a Servant came not to be minister'd unto but to Minister appeared in a mean and low condition that he might teach us Meekness and Lowliness of Heart the first Good disposition for the Receipt of his Self-denying Gospel and of all Evangelical Graces And indeed What have we poor silly Worms and no Men to be proud of What should hinder our Humility Alass how do Angels so much Rais'd above us in Excellency Angels who see our Vileness by reason of sinning how do they both pity and wonder at our Pride At our Folly of being exalted in our own Conceits above Measure They though they much transcend us in Knowledge in Beauty in Strength and all other Endowments both Natural and Moral yet are they Humble and Modest they cover their faces before God and cast down their Crowns at the feet of the Lamb Christ Jesus acknowledging him alone worthy to be prais'd The sense they have that their Angelick Excellencies however Great and Glorious are yet Finite and derived from their Creator their sense of hiâ— Divine Perfections infinitely suâ— mounting theirs keeps them meek anâ— lowly and the Abundance of theiâ— Celestial Revelations by this meaâ— no way puffs them up but render them the more Thankful the morâ— sensible of God's Goodness unto theâ— Let Them therefore be our Patterâ— of Humility nay rather let the eveâ— blessed Jesus be our Example herein who has directed us to learn of him for he was meek and lowly thougâ— the most High God! Ah 't is but comparing our selveâ— with the Deity and then 't will appear how there is no comparison between us what vile Creatures an miserable Sinners we are and whaâ— an infinitely Glorious Being and imâ—maculate Purity is God! and theâ— the sense of his Greatness and Glorâ— will lessen and humble us in cur owâ— Conceits Amen blessed Saviour Amen The Prayer O THOV King of Glory who dwellest in the Heaven of Heavens and yet condescendest to look down from the habitation of thy Holyness on us poor Vnworthy Mortals whose foundation is in the Dust and our Soujourning in houses of Clay we beseech thee take up thy Glorious Residence in our Hearts by banishing thence the sin of pride and Self-conceit by possessing us with high Reverential thoughts of thy Divine Majesty which may make us appear Mean and Low and Despicable in our own apprehensions O that we may appear such Now in thy Presence for that thou Resistest the Proud but givest Grace an Increase of Grace unto the Humble humble us therefore O Lord amidst these our Devotions that thou mayst exalt us in thy due season Mortifie in us at present all Haughtiness of Spirit for what more incongruous than Pride and a Lowly Begging Supplication What more incongruous than a Display of our wants 〈◊〉 Acknowledgment of our Vileness and Dependance an Imploring of Mercy and Relief all which import thâ— deepest Humility and yet a self-conâ—ceited Arrogant and Lofty temper 〈◊〉 Mind O grant it may no longer beaâ—â— Sway over us Grant that we may 〈◊〉 cloathed with Humility that we 〈◊〉 see the imperfections of our best Services Make us pure in Heart yet poor 〈◊〉 Spirit vile in our own Eyes that 〈◊〉 may be precious in thy sight Strike 〈◊〉 with a deep and lively sense of our wreâ—â— chedness by reason of sinning and maâ—â— us as Humble as we are Wicked What O Lord are all the Nationâ— of the Earth if compared with Thee 〈◊〉 Creator and Supream Governour of 〈◊〉 things What but as a drop of 〈◊〉 Bucket and as the small dust of 〈◊〉 ballance How may we then justly 〈◊〉 with shame when we consider our multiplyed hainous transgressions against so great and glorious a God! when we consider in what manner we lift up our hearts against Thee the Giver of every Good and Perfect Gift by arrogating to our selves the propriety of thy free beneficence O make us account our highest Attainments in Humane Knowledge as Dung and Dross for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord make us Ambitious of being found in him cloathed with his Spotless imputed Righteousness Suffer us not O our God to exalt our selves above measure by placing undue Confidence in any thing we do or in what-ever we Suffer for thy Names sake lest we fall not only from the Stedfastness of our holy profession but also into the Condemnation of the Devil sinning according to the Similitude of his transgression O let him not Rule in our hearts by the Disobedience of pride permit us not to Resemble him in so foul a Vice which will Deface thine Image within us but teach us to tread in the Steps of our blessed Saviour and to learn of him who was Meek and Lowly 〈◊〉 shall we find Rest unto our souls Grant Holy Father that in Lowlyness of mind we may think meanly of our selves in honour preferring each other that neglecting the praise of men or making it a subordinate motive in our practice of things vertuous we may have a principal Regard to the Testimony of a Good Conscience and may seek in the first place that praise which cometh of thee our God O let us be nothing in our own account that Thou mayest be all in all unto us Make us to imploy all industry and care in Approving our selves unto Thee that being Conformed unto our Redeemer in Humility who humbled himself unto Death even the Death of the Cross we may become thy workmanship O God ready prepar'd unto every Good work and may Abound therein without any vain ostentation Amen for thy Mercies sake Amen Meditation VII Against the Sin of Vnchastity UNchastity Ah how small is its Temptation when placed in Equal View with the deterring evil consequents thereof For who can be allured with Poverty and Beggery with Shame and Ignominy with Rottenness and Corruption which are the usual Attendants of impure Embraces Ah to burn in Lust is to Anticipate Hell-flames and to burn in uneasie Torments of Mind even in this life for the eager appetite of Lust is full of Anxiety and disquieting impatience till such time as 't is Gratified Hence the usual terms of expressing a violent Amour are Flames and Darts are Feavours and
Saviour O make us such obedient Subjects of this thy Kingdom of Grace that we may become capable of thy Kingdom of Glory Convince us blessed Lord that Grace and Glory differ not in Kind but only in Degree of purity Grace being Glory in its Dawn in its progressive light of Sanctisication and Glory being Grace Ripened into Maturity Consummated into perfection and therefore as we hope for and would become partakers of Celestial Glory bring down Holy Jesu much of an Heavenly Temper and habit into our hearts at present Make us to conceive of Heaven as of a pure and holy State of Life rather than of it as a place and Seat of Enravishing Enjoyments to Conceive of it as consisting more in the blissful frame and pious Qualities of our Souls than in the fruition of any External Heavenly Objects and consequently cause us to be Equally desirous that Heaven should enter into us by the way of Holyness here as that we may enter into Heaven by the way of Happyness hereafter That considering Heaven as a place whereinto no Unclean thing can enter considering it as a City wherein only dwelleth Righteousness we may purifie our selves even as Thou the Author of it art pure perfecting of Holyness in thy fear O our God make us more and more meet for an inheritance with the Saints in Light and Glory more and more Resemblant of such a State in our Spiritual Tempers and Dispositions of mind We are as yet in Haile we are Strangers and Sâ—journers here as all our Fathers were O make us fit for our Fathers House for an Heavenly Countrey and safely Conduct us thither whilst on Earth in the midst of Life we are in Death O cause us to see the Goodness of thee our Lord in that Land of the Living Above which only deserves that Name There I here will be no need of the Sun by Day neither of the Moon by Night for the Glory of thee our God will Enlighten it and in the Light of Thy Countenance we shall be Sure to see Light O lift up the partial Light of that Countenance upon us at present causing us to long after a more plentiful manifestation thereof in the Life to come Enable us Heavenly Father more to Admire those inexhaustible Treasures of thy Goodness prepared for such as Love and fear Thee which Eye hath not Seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of Man to conceive O thy unmeasurable Goodness whereby we are not only deliver'd from suffering the vengeance of Hell-torments but also made capable of the Enjoyments of Heaven What shall we render unto the Lord for these inestimable benefits which he Designs to bestow upon us O give us to conform our selves to thine Image in Holyness that we may behold Thee our God in Glory where certainly we can want nothing where all our Desires and Expectations will be compleatly Gratified because Thou our Supream Happyness will be All in All unto us O let us be Thine and be Thou Ours to all Eternity Amen Amen Blessed Redeemer Meditation XIX On Hell and the Eternity of its Torments WHAT can the Wrath of God do more than punish with an Eternity of Misery O the malignity of Sin whose Short pleasures and Empty profits whose false Honours and Transient acts of wickedness have an Infinity of punishment their Recompence O who would buy the pleasures of sin which are but for a moment at the Dear rate of never-ceasing Sufferings Who would refuse the initial troubles of a Religious Course since in the End it srees us from the Torments of Hell and instates us in all the Joys and Glories of Heaven Hell the punishment of the Disobedient and Rebellious of the haters of God Despisers of Goodness and wilful Rejecters of their own Everlasting Mercies Hell A place where is Variety of torments Extremity of torments and Eternity of torments not one way but a Thousand ways to make a poor Soul miserable Everlastingly miserable And who can be ar Variety Who can bear Extremity Who can bear Eternity of torments And yet all this we must bear if ever it be the sad lot of any of us to be cast into Hell Here a mixture and interchange of Mercies allays our Afflictions and Occasions of sorrow but in Hell there 's nothing but pure unmigled misery nothing to be seen but Objects of Terrour and Affrightment nothing to be heard but hideous howlings and Self-Execrations nothing to be felt but utmost pain and torment Not one merry Day and one sad not one hour of Grief and another of Ease not one Cross and another Comfort as it fares with us on Earth but all Crosses and all Curses without any the least mitigation do concur in Hell like lines meeting in their proper Center And no wonder they do so for t is the doleful Residence of the miserably Depraved and sinfully Degenerate of the fearful and unbelieving of the abominable and Murtherers of the proud Angry malicious and Revengeful Qualities of mind which are their own torment and Damnation which render the unhappy possessors of them Suitable Associates only for Devils and Reprobate Spirits Lost to Goodness Sunk into the very Dregs of sin and impiety O Hell where nothing Good inhabits where Darkness fills both the place and minds of those banished from God's Presence blackness of Darkness for ever fills the place blackness of Guilt horrour and Despair their Spirits Oh the Sense of their Loss afflicts more those wretched Souls than does the sense of their pain and Anguish The sense of what the Righteous enjoy and of what themselves might have done had it not been their own fault afflicts more the Damn'd than do all their Hellish Sufferings for that there should be an Heaven which they shall never Enter into that there should be a God whose blissful sight they shall ever be excluded from O this is the bitterest ingredient in Hell A Consideration which pains more the Objects of Divine wrath than all their flames and fire and brimstone O Eternity Eternity A thing which is a Rack to our minds but to Think of it even Abstracted from the Notion of annext misery how much more Amazing then and Dreadful must be the joynt Consideration of Torment accompanying Eternity Ah is it not enough that the Miseries of the Damned are the most Intense and Exquisite but must they be Endless also As Intense they are intolerable as Endless how much more so Alass Alass what are the Greatest Temporal Punishments when compared with those which are Eternal No more than painted fires and tortures compared with the Real Sensible ones whereof they are Representatives To be miserable as Long as God shall continue to be who is Everlasting what an insupportable what an Inconceivable misery is that And O the Just Judgment of an Incons'd Deity provoakt by Irreclaimable wickedness Impâ—nitent Sinners Seek Death Eternal in the wilful Error of their ways they chusing Sin the procuring Meritorious
be heal'd Wash his Soul clean O God in Christ's most Precious Blood Conform him more and more to the Holy Doctrine and Example of the Ever-blessed Jesus Sanctifie him with all the Saving Graces of thy Renewing Spirit Give him if it be thy Will some Delightful Foretastes and Anticipations of Celestial Blessedness Hope towards Thee an Enravisht Sense of thy Favour Joys in the Holy Ghost unspeakable and full of Approaching Glories However if this be too great a Vouchsafement make him at least Willing to be Dissolved Fit for Heaven Full of his Saviour Empty of himself and of all Trust in his own Defective Righteousness and whenever thou takest him out of this World take him we Beseech Thee unto thy self into Everlasting Felicity Amen Holy Jesu for thy Precious Death and Passions sake Amen A Prayer to be used on the Lord's Day in the Morning Preparatory to the Duties of the Day BLessed and Glorious Lord God Thou Lord and Instituter of the Sabbath who allowest us Six Days in Seven for our Temporal and Worldly Concerns and hast Set Apart the Seventh only for thine own more Especial Service O how wisely hast thou Provided for both our â—ouls and Bodies For how would our Outward Man want Food and Raiment were not Days of Labour afforded it wherein by honest Industry to procure those Necessaries and how would our Spirit Pine away and Languish as to all Gracious Endowments were not Seasons appropriated to thy Divine Worship O that therefore at present we may Rest from the works of Sin as well as from those of our particular Callings O that we may be in the Spirit on this thine own Day that we may worship thee thereon in Spirit and in Truth that we may keep it so Holy and Sanctified unto Thee as that it may be a Pledge and Earnest of an Eternal Sabbatisme with thee in Light and Glory This is the Day which the Lord hath made by his Justifying Resurrection O may we Rejoice and be Glad therein with an Holy Rejoycing This is the Day which was the Birth-Day of our Hopes and future Blessed Expectations O may it prove a Day of Growth and Improvement in Grace of holy Ardours and Devont Enravishments Grant Gracious Father that we may not find our own Pleasure nor Speak our own Words nor do our own Deeds on this thine Hallowed-Day but may both Call and Esteem it a Delight Holy of the Lord Honourable O that Heaven an a Heavenly Frame and Temper of Spirit may be Begun in us Here by means of our pious Intercourses with Heaven amidst the Duties of thy Day We are Going O Lord unto thy House of Prayer the Place where thine Honour dwells O pardon us that we are not Prepared according to the Preparation of thy Sanctuary that we have not yet put off our Carnal and Earthly Affections Considering that the place whereon we are to stand is Holy Ground O do Thou our God vouchsafe to Go along with us into thy Temple by the Holy Aids and Assistances of thy Spirit Cause us to Approach Thee there with Reverence and to worship before thee with a Zealous Affection when we Meditate let us do it with all Seriousness Heavenly-Mindedness and Edification when we Pray let it be with the utmost Attension Faith and holy Fervour when we Hear the Glad Tidings of thy Gospel may it be with all Diligent and hearty Attendance on thy Word and Doctrine when we Read thy Holy Scriptures may they make us wise unto Salvation may we Read them with Vnderstanding with an Affectionate Gust and Relish with a Reforming Change and inward Digestion of them into Spiritual Grace and Nourishment O may this Day be added to our Share in an Happy Eternity by our Religious Improvement of it mayst Thou our God come Down unto us herein by thy Divine Influences and may we be Taken up unto thee by Devout Praises and Adorations Accompany we beseech Thee O Lord with thine own more Especial Presence thine own more Especial Ordinances and holy Institutions Cause us by the Spiritual food of pious Duties to Increase in Grace and to be Nourished up to a perfect Manhood in Christ Jesus Being Rooted and Grounded in Divine Love and built up through Faith unto a Capacity of Eternal Salvation How Earthly O God would beour Affections How Carnal and Sensual our Souls were their Thoughts and Desires alwayes busied about the things of this World Blessed be thy Name therefore that thou hast Enjoyn'd us a Season wherein to call off our Thoughts and Affections from things Temporal wherein to unloosen our Spirits from Sense and Sensual Concernments and allowest us a Sweet Converse and Communication with Thee the Fountain of all Happyness O make us more to value this inestimable Priviledge make us at present to Improve it to the best Advantage Cause us to hold a pious Harmony of Praises and Hallelujahs with thy Blessed Saints and Angels now in Heaven 'T is the Employment will be our Continual Joy and Blissful Recreation in the Regions Above O give us therefore to Habituate our selves to it Now and thereby partake of Heavenly Satisfactions even on Earth Give a Blessing to thy word Preached and to the Prayers offer'd to thy Divine Majesty on this Day while Paul plants and Apollos â—aters do Thou O God Give the Sanctifying Increase That we may be able Experimentally to say we have Tasted and Seen â—ow Gracious the Lord is we have of a Truth found how 't is Good for us that â—e have waited upon thee in the midst of thine holy Ordinances And then by these means of Grace being Train'd up and Fitted for Everlasting Glory we shall at length be Translated thither where the Exercises of Holyness shall Cease being means of Begetting or Confirming us in Grace and shall only be our Delight and Joy and Heavenly Entertainment for an Eternal Duration Amen Blessed Lord Amen FINIS Books Printed for and Sold by Thomas Speed at the Three Crowns near the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1693. THirty Six Sermons viz. 16 Ad Aulum 6 Ad Clerum 6 Ad Magistratum 8 Ad Populum With a large Preface by the Right Reverend Father in God Robert Sanderson late Lord Bishop of Lincoln The Eight Edition corrected and amended Whereunto is now added the Life of the Reverend and Learned Author Written by Isaac Walton Folio Conversation in Heaven Being Devotions consisting of Meditations and Prayers On several Considerable Subjects in Practical Divinity Written for the Raising the Decay'd Spirit of Piety By Lawrence Smith LL. D. Fellow of St. John's College in Oxford A Sermon at the Funeral of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Grey Late Vicar of Dedham in Essex Preach'd in the Parish-Church of Dedham Febr. the 2d 1691 2. With a short Account of his Life By