Kingdom promised to him and confirmed by Samuels anointing in his flight and grievous persecutions God would have us do as the true Israelites did in the Babylonish Captivity they had always their Hearts and Affections in Jerusalem and in the midst of their deepest sorrows Jerusalem was all their comfort Likewise we who are wandring up and down in this miserable Wilderness that live in the World as in a Babylon in a kind of Captivity we ought to comfort our selves and rejoyce in expectation of the Kingdom of Heaven that hath been prepared for our fruition from all Eternity and whereof the Holy Spirit is the true Unction that hath confirmed the promise of it and given us the earnest Psal 137. Gal. 4. The Eye of our Faith should always be fixed upon our Celestial Jerusalem that is the Mother of us all and the place of our Eternal Rest Colos 3. The Apostle doth therefore exhort us If you be risen with Christ seek those things that are above where Christ sits at the right hand of God Think on things that are above and not on things on the Earth for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God 28. When Men are going to live in another Countrey where their Money will not pass they furnish themselves with Bills of Exchange and find the means of receiving it in other Coyn Therefore seeing that our Gold our Silver and our present Jewels will not pass in Heaven the place of our Eternal Abode let us send thither betimes all our Riches and Treasures by Bill of Exchange and that we may entrust them with an assurance of a notable advantage and of a lawful gain let us put them into God's hands for he will restore one hundred times more in his Kingdom Let us now distribute them to the poor to the Members of Christs Mystical Body and this Divine Saviour will then acknowledge that they have been given to his own Person You that fear so much to loose your Money get such Purses that will never decay and make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when you fail they may receive you into Eternal Habitations 29. Lastly as the Israelites when they had tasted of the Fruits of the Land of Canaan desir'd with a most earnest Passion to enjoy such a noble and delicious Countrey and their Abode in the Wilderness became tedious and unsuffererable Likewise we who have the First Fruits of the Spirit and a fore-taste of our Heavenly Paradise let us aspire with all our Heart to the Heavenly Canaan and let us long continually for those unspeakable Delights All worldly Pleasures have no relish with us and the greatest sweetness of this life is turn'd into bitterness so that we do often present Davids Prayer unto God Remember me O Lord with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people O visit me with thy Salvation that I may see the good of thy chosen that I may rejoyce in the gladness of thy Nation that I may glory with thine Inheritance Psal 106. To conclude this discourse Seeing that we have no lasting City here below but that we seek for that which is to come seeing that we know not the hour when God shall take us out of the World to introduce us into his Holy Jerusalem Heb. 11. Luk 21. Let us take heed that our hearts be not over-charged with surfeiting and drunkenness and with the cares of this life least that day surprize us unawares And as the Holy Apostles left their Nets to follow Jesus Christ Matt. 24. Let us also leave the vain cares the ill-grounded fears and deceiving hopes that intangle our Souls that when it shall please God to call us we may be ready to answer his Heavenly Message Let us accustom our selves betimes to Will what God willeth and to obey him without resistance Let us cast all our cares upon God and repose our selves upon his wise and fatherly Providence 1 Pet. 5. Let us look with contempt upon the World upon its vain Grandeur and decaying Riches esteem not any thing upon Earth nor that which Man is able to promise or to procure but esteem and value the blessed advantages that we expect in Heaven and that are disposed and entrusted in God's own hands 2 Tim. 1. Tit. 2. Let us prefer Job's Dunghil and Ashes before the proud Throne and Glorious Monarchy of Nebuchadnezar Let us fancy the begging Estate of poor Lazarus more happy then the overflowing abundance of the rich Miser Imprint in your minds that blessed saying of the Son of God What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world if be destroys himself and looseth his Soul Luk 9. Let us have always before our eyes the image of that rich Worldling who had gathered much wealth for his Soul but his Soul was not wealthy nor rich before God Remember what he saith â—o his Soul Soul thou hast much Goods gather'd up for many years rest thy self eat and drink and be merry but what doth God say to him Thou fool in this very night thy soul shall be taken away from thee and the things that thou hast gathered whose shall they be Instead of studying how to enlarge our Barns and Cellars and to increase our Revenues and Treasures let us labor to set some bounds to our desires and let us be content with what we have at present seeing that we have but a breath in our Nostrils and that we are cloathed with a mortal Body let us not entertain such great designes and suffer not our longings to be immortal Let us always and in every place be ready to end our life to put the last stone to this building or rather let us be always in a disposition of dissolving this earthly Tabernacle let us willingly break all the bands and ties that unite us to this miserable Earth that when Death shall come it may have nothing to do but to cut the last string by which our soul is naturally joyned to this languishing Body Settle and fix your strongest affections in Heaven that where your Treasure is your Hearts may be there also Let us not be lull'd asleep as the foolish Virgins but having our Reins girded our Candles lighted Let us be prepared at every moment to go to meet our Heavenly Spouse and follow him into the Marriage Chamber Let us be like a Ship at Anchor ready to set sail with the first favourable wind and as a Soldier entirely arm'd that waits for the day of Battel and for the Signal to mount upon his Horse that he may appear in the field at the sound of the Trumpet Let us send before-hand all our most precious Jewels into the most glorious Palace of Eternity that our Bag and Baggage being ready prepar'd we may have nothing to do but to take our last farewel If any consideration of Flesh and Bloud hinders us let us break asunder all these Bands by the strength of our Nazareth that
Spring of Comfort that can never be stopt nor dried up Let the Storms and Flouds beat against thee Let the defluxions endeavour to check thee Is 58. thou mayest say with King David I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Psal 16. When I should walk in the valley of the shadow of Death when I should have no other help nor assistance in the World when there should be no more strength remain in my Body I would not fear for O God thy staff and thy Rod will comfort me Is 26. God will not only draw near to thy bed of Sickness but he will embrace and receive thee into his protection he will kiss thee with the kisses of his mouth and make thee taste of the sweetness of his Divine Comforts Cant. 1. He will cherish thee as a Mother doth her Child to pacify it and make thee so sensible of his Love that thou mayest say with the Spouse his left hand is under my head and his right doth embrace me With his Gracious Hand he will wipe off thy cold sweat and into his bosom he will receive thy sighs thy groans and thy tears he will gather up into his most precious bottles And as it happened when our Lord and Saviour was in his Agony when drops of Bloud fell from him the Holy Angels appeared to comfort him Luk 22. Likewise in our greatest and most difficult encounters when thou shalt be at handy-blows with death it self his faithful Ministers hâ—s Messengers the Angels of his right hand shall visit thee to supply thee with spiritual Comforts 2 Cor. 5. Revel 5. And when these earthly Comforters shall fail he will send to thee some of those powerful Spirits that wait before his Glorious Throne Dan. 7. O good God if we could but perceive the things that are of themselves invisible and if thou didst but give us eyes like unto those of the Holy Prophet we should behold Legions of immortal Spirits flying about in the houses of Sorrow with an intent to comfort the Christian Souls Is 6. 2 King 6. Finally as the Sun with its Light and the strength of its Beams drives away the thickest Clouds and comforts with its delightful countenance the face of the whole Earth Thus Jesus Christ the Sun of Righteousness that carries healing under his wings banisheth all sadness with the light of his Divine Graces Mal. 3. and with the presence of his Holy Spirit he drives away the most sensible griefs and fills us with unspeakable joy and with the Peace of God which passeth all understanding A Prayer and Meditation for a sick Person who desires to prepare for Death O Almighty and Gracious God! who hast created both light and darkness and who dost by the wisdom of thy Providence bestow good and evil things upon us I acknowledge that thine Hand hath cast me upon this bed of sickness and that this disease proceeds not so much from the disorder of my Body 〈◊〉 from the corruption and extravagancy of my Soul far be it from me to complain of thy justice I adore thy Goodness and Wisdom O Lord how favourable are thy punishments if compared with my deservings I have miserably abused thy former Mercies mispent that time of health that I received from thee in whom we live move and have our Being I confess that I have loved the vanities of the World and the satisfaction of this wretched Flesh more than the Glory of thy great Name 〈◊〉 the Salvation of my Soul therefore I could willingly water this Couch with my Tears O God who understandest all things thou knowest that my weeping proceeds not from any fretful humour but out of a sincere displeasure of having offended so good a Father and merciful Lord In thâ—â— thy chastisement I feel the workings of thy tender compassion and I perceive thy most wonderful Love I see thâ— thou dost not rebuke me in thy wrath nor dost not correâ— me in thy fury Thou dost not punish me as a Judge bâ— dost chastise me as a Father so that this disease is a tesâ—â—mony of thy Love and of thy Fatherly care of me 〈◊〉 thou dost correct all them whom thou lovest and causest tâ—â—â—â— to feel the smart of thy Rod whom thou ownest for 〈◊〉 Children therefore if we were without reproof wh◠〈◊〉 all are partakers we should be no longer Children but bastards If this chastisement is at present grievous and painful one day it will produce the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness and as at the end of Jonathan 's Rod he tasted Honey that comforted him and opened his Eyes Likewise when I shall have felt the Rods of thy displeasure I shall taste the sweet comforts and unspeakable joys of thine Holy Spirit and my understanding shall be more enlightened O Almighty and ever wise God who drawest Light out of Darkness and causest that all things work together for good to them â—hat love thee it matters not how thou orderest this disease so that it may advance thy Glory and further my Salvation Thou beholdest mine affliction and poverty and thou knowest better than I can what is good and expedient for me O great God I know that thou canst do all things and that thou givest the wound and bindest it up thou strikest and thy hands must heal thou castest into the Grave and bringest up again The most desperate and irrecoverable diseases thou canst cure the dead thou canst bring to life again and call the things that are not as if they were O Almighty Physitian thou canst not only vouchsafe thy Blessing to these Remedies prescribed and administred to me but if thou speakest the word I shall be perfectly whole and well again But if thou judgest expedient to continue this disease upon me continue O merciful Lord unto me and increase thy Fatherly assistances and the comforts of thine Holy Spirit Strengthen me with a Christian patience and with a resolution worthy of my hâ—nourable Profession seeing that thou art the Soveraign Physitian both of Soul and Body I beseech thee my God if thou dost not remove the distemper of my Body at least pluck out of my Heart and mind all the grief and displeasure that torments me Fill my Soul with thy Peace Joy Love and Heavenly Comforts while my Body languisheth upon this Earth and while I am kept from my former societies of Men. Let my mind be lifted up to Heaven Let my Soul delight it self in a familiarity with thee I have lost too much time already about the affairs of the World that is nothing but vanity and vexation of Spirit Give me Grace to employ now these few moments of leasure which thou dost grant to me to think seriously upon my sins to beg thy pardon with an earnest Repentance Give me Grace to meditate upon thine unspeakable and eternal Mercy to embrace it with a true and lively Faith upon thy Glory and the Happiness of thy Kingdom
of God the Father Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Amen CHAP. 19. The Seventh Consolation against the Fears of Death is our strict and unseparable union with Jesus Christ by the means of his holy Spirit and the first Fruits of our Blessed Immortality OUr Lord Jesus Christ doth not onely live and triumph in Heaven but it is from thence our life our glory and our blessed Immortality proceed For as the Father hath life in himself he hath also given to the Son to have Life in himself and as the Father raiseth and quickneth the Dead likewise the Son quickneth whomsoever he will So that we may not only say to him as St. Peter Thou hast the words of eternal life John 6. but we may justly speak to him in Davids Language with thee is the fountain of Life in thy light shall we see light Ps 36. Therefore all those that are united and incorporated into Jesus Christ do participate of the fulness of his holy Spirit and by that means they became Immortal Now by the vertue of Christs Death and Pastion we are not only made partakers of the Fruits of his Sufferings but we are united to and Incorporated in him so that by that means we have obtained not only the grâ—â—t and precious promises of Glory and Immortality which he hath purchased for us by the infinite merits of his Sufferings but we receive the First-Fruits and foretasts of our future blessedness He that is lifted up and dwells on high quickens the Spirits of the humble Is 57. he dwells in our hearts by Faith Eph. 31. he pours into our Souls his holy and quickning Spirit for because we are the Children of God he hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry Abba Father Gal. 4. Whosoever hath not this Spirit of the Lord Jesus he is none of his By the means of this Spirit he dwells in us and we in him we become the Members of his Body and we may boast that we are his Flesh and his Bones All things that are most strictly united by Nature or Art are employed to represent this admirable union John 6. which we enjoy with Jesus Christ by the means of his Spirit that quickens us Rom. 13. From hence are derived these expressions of the holy Apostles We have put on the Lord Jesus Christ Gal. 3. And that when we draw near to him who is the living stone rejected of Men but lifted up and of great price with God 1 Pet. 2. we like so many living stones are built up together to make a Spiritual House For the same reason our Saviour informes us John 15. That he is the true Vine and that we are the branches And St. Paul assures us that if we are become one Plant with him by the conformity of his Death we shall also be one by the resemblance of his Resurrection Rom. 6. To shew unto us that this Sacred Union contains many ties of Love our Lord Jesus Christ is represented as our Brother our Father and our Bridegroom therefore the Apostle tells us that he thinks it no Disgrace to own us for his Brethren in saying Heb. 1. I will declare thy name unto my Brethren and also where he informes us Rom. 8. that God had predestinated us to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first born among many Brethren And after his Resurrection he speaks in this manner to Mary Magdalen John 20. Touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my Father but go to my Brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father and to my God and your God Heb. 2. Therefore this glorious Redeemer shewing himself unto God with all the Elect saith Here I am and the Children which thou hast given me Hosea 2 And by the Mouth of Hosea he speaks to his Church and makes this promise unto her I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judgment and in loving kindness and in Mercies From hence it is that this Church is called The Spouse of the Lamb in the Revelations and in the Canticâ—es the Spiritual Union betwixt Christ and his Church is expressed by a continual Allusion to a Marriage between Man and Woman And because our Meat and Drink are turned into our Body and Substance Jesus Christ assures us That his Flesh is truly Meat and his Blood is truly Drink That he is the true Bread come down from Heaven that gives Life to the World and that whosoever shall eat him shall live for ever But amongst all the Similitudes borrowed to represent our Union with Jesus Christ by his holy Spirit there is none employed more frequently in holy Scripture than that of the Humane Body for there is not any more proper for us all the Spirits that give life and motion proceed from the Head and assoon as the Members are separated from it they Dye In the like manner the Spirit that quickens us and makes us become new Creatures proceeds from Jesus Christ so that whosoever is separated from this Head he falls into Death and Eternal Destruction And as there are many Members nevertheless they make up but one Body because they are all animated with the same Spirit and they are kept alive by the same Head l kewise there be many Members belonging to Christs Mystical Body some engaged yet upon Earth and others glorified in Heaven nevertheless they make up but one only Mystical and Spiritual Body for they are all quickned by the same Spirit and receive all the celestial influences from the same Head St. Paul teacheth us this Doctrin in expresse terms 1 Cor 12. For as the Body is one and hath many Members and all the Members of that one Body being many are one Body so also is Christ for by one Spirit are we all Baptised into one Body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one Spirit Finally because the same spirit that is in our Lord as in the Head and Fountain and in the Church in general as in the Body which is quickned and moved is also in every particular Member The holy Apostle is not satisfied to call this Spiritual Body of Christ and his Church Christ but he tells us moreover that whosoever is united unto him is made but one Spirit with him These and such like Representations let them be never so lively and noble are but dark shadowes and unperfect Images of our Union with Jesus Christ by his holy Spirit for the richest and most Magnificent Garment can never keep off from the Body Diseases nor hinder the approaches of corruption that creeps upon it There is no foundation never so firm and well setled that can free the house built upon it from the ruines and breach s of time and the weather Although the Sap mounts up from the root of the vine and runs
and like unto them that the Children of Israel did eat in the Promised Land In like manner the Fruits that we relish in the Wilderness of this World are Fruits of the Tree of Life with which we shall be fully satisfied in Heaven for the Grace that God bestows upon us here below by his Divine Spirit is the beginning of the Glory with which he shall Crown us above The same Light that shines upon our Souls on Earth shall shine much more for ever in Heaven But whereas we look upon it at present as it were through a black mist with much imperfection then we shall see it clearly without Vail or Darkness The same Holiness that adorns at present our Souls shall be their Ornament and Glory then it shall appear without spot or blemish That same peace of Conscience that preserves our Hearts and Sences shall Crown us above it shall be without the least disturbance In short the same Jesus that is conceived in our Hearts and that is formed and grows in us by degrees shall then appear in a perfect Stature that shall want no more increase As it is with the Sea it enters into the Rivers before the Rivers can run to the Sea in like manner God comes to us before we go to him and Heaven enters into our Souls before we can enter into Heaven Aged Simâ—on waited patiently for Death but assoon as he had seen the Saviour of the World and embraced him he ran to meet Death he thought upon nothing but his latter end therefore he prayed most earnestly to receive him into his Glorious Rest O Christian Soul how shouldest thou dispose and prepare thy self to dy seeing thou beholdest with the Eyes of Faith this Blessed Redeemer not wrapped up in Swathling Cloaths but Crowned with an infinite Glory and Light He is not in thine Arms but he lodges in thine Heart thou hast not received him to return or part with him again but to be united unto him for ever and to be incorporated into his mystical Body Seeing therefore that Death brings thee nearer to thy Redeemer perfects this Blessed Union and casts thee into the very Fountain of Life instead of being frighted at her and grieved when it comes to thee thou shouldest then rejoyce and be transported above measure with gladness we should meet this Death with a cheerful countenance I mean that we should meet the Lord Jesus this merciful Prince of Life who having vouchsafed unto thee the sight of his Salvation intends to receive thee into his Rest and Eternal and Glorious Peace that Reigns above in Heaven A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian Soul that strengthens it self against the fears of Death by considering our strict and unseparable Union with Jesus Christ by his Holy Spirit and the First-Fruits in us of our Blessed Immortality O Mighty and Merciful Lord who art the Son of Righteousness and the Fountain of Living Water drive away from me the dark shadows of death and quench all the Fires that it kindles in my Soul thou art not only dead for me but thou art pleased to live in me that I might one day live for ever with thee Thou hast of thy pure Mercy chosen me for thy Child and hast made me a Member of thy Mystical Body Flesh of thy Flesh Bone of thy Bone and caused me to be partaker of thine Holy Spirit God hath not given thee the Spirit by measure that out of thy fulness we might receive Grace for Grace By the means of this Blessed and Infinite Spirit that rests in my Soul I am united unto thee in a more perfect manner than the Tree is to the root that bears it or the Child to its Mother that nourisheth it in her Womb or the Members of the Humane Body to the Head that gives them Life The Ties that unite me unto thee O Glorious Saviour are more unchangeable than the Heavens and the Earth As nothing can pluck me out of thine Hands there is nothing can separate me from thine Heart Whether I live or dye I am thine my Lord and my God and nothing can alter thine affection for me Death can take me out of the World and carry me out of the embraces of my dearest friends but it can never separate me from thine Holy Spirit the Soul of my Soul and the Light of my Life which cannot be put out by all the envious Blasts and Storms of the Prince of Darkness this Holy Spirit will bring me to behold thy Face to rest in thy bosom and unite me unto thee for ever To whom Lord shall I go thou hast the words of Eternal life and thou art the inexhausible Fountain Thou art my Hope and my Treasure my Glory and mine only Happiness O faithful and unquestionable Witness I should be worse than an Infidel if I did call in question my future Salvation and Glory seeing the Father hath not spared thee for me although thou art his only and beloved Son the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Seeing that thou O merciful Lord hast willingly suffered the most shameful death of the Cross and spilt thy precious Bloud to wash away all my sins and satisfy for my crimes and seeing that thine Holy Spirit is come into my Heart to make me a partaker of that precious Bloud and Seal me for the day of Redemption O Glorious Spirit of my Saviour that rests upon me when I should be able to speak the Language of Angels I could not sufficiently express the wonderful operations that thou dost produce in my Soul thou kindlest in me such Heavenly Flames as never go out but are always alive as the fire of thine Altar Thou formest in me a white Stone where a new Name is written which no man knows but he that receives it Thou givest me to eat of that hidden Manna of that food of Angels that the World knoweth not Thou witnessest with my Spirit that I am a Child of God an Heir of God and a Joynt Heir with Jesus Christ the King of Kings Thou dost not only Seal unto me the pardon of all my Sins but thou dost also purify my Conscience from all dead Works to serve the living God Thou causest me to cry out Abba Father and imprintest in my Heart the Glorious Image of my Heavenly Father Thou art the Seal of my Adoption the earnest of mine uncorruptible Inheritance prepared for me in Heaven Thou hast given me the infallible assurances of a Glorious and Eternal Life and begun it already in my Soul granting to me its First-Fruits Thou causest me to behold the Sun-shine of thy Grace and makest it to give Light in mine Vnderstanding Thou dost not only vouchsafe unto me the favour of beholding from this Valley of Tears thine Heavenly Canaan but thou causest me to tast of its Fruits I am not yet come to the Fountain of Waters that spring forth to Eternal Life but I feel the Streams and the
Jews but that he gave them full liberty to take up Arms to defend themselves to attack their Enemies and to make them suffer all the evils that they intended against them I find something like unto this proceeding for God would not call back the sentence of Death that he had pronounced against Mankind in the Garden of Eden nevertheless he allows us nay he commands his true Israel to take up Arms against Death to conquer and trample it under feet In the first place Jesus Christ who is our head hath encountered with Death and conquered it he hath pursued it into its Trenches and overcome it in its own Fortification Death thought to have devoured him but it hath been devoured it self as the Fishes are taken by the Hook that they think to swallow and as the Bees do hurt those whom they sting and doe greater harm to themselves for they cause but a present pain in our body and a heat that soon ceaseth but it causeth to it self greater damage for it breaks its sting and looseth thereby its life Thus Death by fixing its sting in the Humanity of Jesus Christ hath put him to a great deal of pain for a time but it hath thereby lost all strength vigor and sting by this means The men of Juda to satisfy the furious Philistins delivered into their hands Sampson bound with Ropes when they saw him the Philistins gave several joyful shouts but the Spirit of God came upon him in such a manner that he tore in pieces the two Ropes wherewith he was bound and overcame them by whom he was led away prisoner and kill'd a thousand of them Thus the miserable Jews for fear of the Romans deliver'd unto them our Lord Jesus Christ their Brother according to the flesh bound like a Malefactor when Hell saw him nailed to the Cross and afterwards laid in a Grave it did wonderfully rejoyce the Devil and his Angels began to sing Songs of Triumph But it was altogether unpossible that the Prince of Life should be detained in the Prisons of Death he hath not only broken out of the Grave by his infinite power but he hath also trampled under feet all his most furious enemies and overcame millions of infernal Fiends and to declare how Life and Death were in his power he hath Commanded Death when he was as it were a prisoner shut up in its Dungeon He hath broke open the Gates of this black prison and torn in pieces all its Fetters for when he was yet in his Grave he raised to life many that were dead who were seen in the Holy City and yet at present he holds in his hand the keys of Death and of Hell Therefore as Children do rejoyce at their Fathers Victory and as the Subjects are concerned at the prosperous proceedings of their King and as the Members are the better for the Glory and Honor of their Head thus we may justly glory in the most notable Victories and famous Triumphs of Jesus Christ who is our Father King and Head we may also justly glory that we are Lords of Death and that we have overcome it in the person of our Great God and Saviour I say this after the Apostle St. Paul That God hath quickened us together and raised us together and made us sit together in Heavenly places with Jesus Christ Eph. 2. Moreover as our Saviour hath once overcome Death for us he continues to overcome it in and by us he doth not suffer us to encounter with our enemies alone nor doth he leave us in time of need but as in a day of Battel a wise and provident General hath an eye in every place and encourages by his action and voice his Soldiers whom he perceives at handy-blows with the Enemy some he loads with praises others with promises by that means he encourageth such as behave themselves bravely rescues the weak and feeble and to such as are over-born he furnishes them with fresh Supplies Thus deals with us our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the great God of Hosts who sits above in the Heavens in his triumphal Chariot and beholds all our combats and encounters when he perceives us too weak that we might not be overcome by our most dreadful Enemies he furnisheth us with his Holy Spirit and his own Armor as Jonathan did to David when he deliver'd to him his Cloak his Bow his Belt and Sword besides this merciful Saviour disarms Death of its most hurtful weapons and takes away all its Arrows and Darts As the strength and power of Sampson did lodge in the hair of his Head which the Philistines could never have imagined so the strength and power of Death consists in such things as the world do least dream of The most dreadful weapons with which it terrifies and beats us are the Thunderbolts and Curses of the Law and our sins are as the poison in which it dips its Arrows or rather our sins are the fiery Dart with which it wounds and destroys us Now Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law when he became a Curse for us Gal. 3. He hath carried our sins in his Body upon the Cross 1 Pet. 2. And as the He-Goat Harazel he hath transported them away into an inhabitable Desart Levit. 16. He hath removed them from the eyes of our God as far as the East is from the West he hath cast them into the bottom of the Ocean and drown'd them in his Bloud so that we now see fulfilled what was foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the sins of Juda and they shall not be found chap. 50. Therefore being invested with the Grace of God and armed with the Vertue of his Holy Spirit Let us shew our courage and defie death let us look it in the fâ—â—e without fear laugh at all its threats and encounter with it without dread for it is now but like a Soldier who without his weapons carries himself proudly It is like a Bee that buzzeth about without its sting It is like an old Lion that roars but hath lost all his Claws It is like a Snake that would cast its poyson but hath no venemous Teeth left because they have been all pull'd out by him who hath bruised the Serpents Head If you consider nothing but Deaths Exterior its Face and fearful appearance its frightful Eyes its meager Body its iron'd Hands you cannot perceive any difference between the death of Gods Children and that of the most wicked Varlets but if you lift up the vizard and examine the Death of the one and of the other more exactly you will meet with as much difference as between Heaven and Earth the Paradise of God and Hell for as Moses's brazen Serpent which he lift up in the Desart had the form and appearance of a burning Serpent but nothing of the Prison and Fire thus the death of the faithful appears as the
secure and that you shall loose nothing but this Ship Acts 27. We may yet furnish them with stronger comforts for these good Mariners lost their Ship without any hopes of recovering it again but we are assured that God will one day gather up every piece of these broken Vessels of our Bodies and will joyn them together in a more perfect estate Therefore Death doth not carry away our bodies by violence but we leave them willingly we do not stay for its summons but we do prevent Death and give it a Licence when we have packt up our Bag and Baggage we are ready to depart out of this wretched abode where we endure all manner of calamities for in this house defluxions do rain down If Vapors do arise the Pillars and Foundation does tremble the Joynts do open the Windows are darkened and the burning Feavers like violent fires consume it I must not forget that the faithful do name their death not only a removal of their Lodging but a removal from a Tabernacle this teacheth us that we must depart from hence with as much joy and readiness as a Soldier doth out of his Tabernacle at the end of a laborious and bloudy warfare and with as much pleasure as the Children of Israel did out of their Tents under which they had remained in the Desart to enter into the sweet and comfortable dwellings of the Land of Canaan Not only this Body is like to an hired House or to a Tabernacle transported up and down but it is by Sin become to our Soul a woful prison Therefore Death may be compared to the Messengers sent by King Pharaoh on purpose to take Joseph out of his Dungeon and bring him to his Palace The Body that was created to be a noble Pavillion of Joy and Honor is become to our Soul a wretched and incommodious Prison Death is like to the Furnace of Babylon that burned and consumed the Bonds of the three Children without prejudicing their Persons or Attire Dan. 3. for it consumes those sad Bonds that detain our Soul enâ—laved to the Earth but it doth not meddle with the Oâ—naments of our Justice and Sanctification it is like the Skin that encloseth the Child in his Mothers Womb or like the Shell where the Chicken is formed for of necessity it must be broken before we can enter into immortal Life In short we may say That the Body which was given to the Soul to be its Palace is become by Sin its Grave and loathsome Sepulchre far more noisome than that of Lazarus and that Death is like the voice that calls upon us Lazarus come out Faithful Souls you see then that as Sampson carried away the Gates of the City of Gaza and transported them to the top of the Hill so hath Jesus Christ our true Sampson transported and carried the Gates of death to the highest pitch of Glory Therefore whereas before we did look upon it with horror as the very entrance of Hell now we may behold it with Confidence and Joy saying as Jacob did of Bethel This is the Gate of Heaven Seeing therefore that this is the nature and condition of Death I find that Men do give it too much advantage for we should not offer to say that such are dead whom God hath admitted into Eternal life because the qualification should be derived from the chief and noblest part as it is in nature there is no generation without corruption and we commonly say that it is a Generation when the thing engendred is more excellent than the thing corrupted as we say that it is a corruption when the thing corrupted excels the thing that is engendred Therefore our change and removal out of this world should be rather stiled a Life than a Death for if our Body Dies and Rots in the Earth our Soul revives and mounts up to Heaven and this mortal life that we leave in leaving the Earth is nothing in comparison of that life that we shall enjoy with Christ and his Holy Angels God is named the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Jacoh Now he is not the God of the Dead but of the Living Exod. 4. Matt. 22. I may also without any Figure say That Death in respect of the Body is no real Death but a kind of sleep as it is said in the Prophet Daniel Many do sleep in the dust of the Earth chap. 12. and in Isaiah that the Just sleep in their beds Therefore our Saviour speaking of Jairus's Daughter declared The Child is not dead but sleepeth Mat. 9. and of Lazarus his friend Lazarus our friend sleepeth but I go to awake him Beloved if thou art of the number of such as Christ loveth thy Death will be but a kind of sleep of a short continuance and a few days The Lord will raise thee up again For the hour cometh and is already That the Dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that shall hear shall revive John 5. During this Life the assaults of Death are no better than light skirmishes the most sensible and most dangerous blow that it strikes in appearance is when Death separates the Soul from the Body but the last and most signal encounter which will put an end to all disputes will happen at the day of Judgement Jesus Christ will then appear from Heaven in the company of all his immortal Angels and Saints to encourage us to the encounter He will come with a terrible voice of an Archangel and the last Trumpet shall sound then Death will endeavor to keep us still in its black prison and our Bones will be found without life or motion but the Spirit of God shall breathe upon these dry Bones and will cause them to revive As the Prophet Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the Whale God Commanded the Fish to vomit him up again upon the ground Thus when we shall have made so long our abode in our Graves as God hath appointed in his wisdom Death shall be constrained to restore all that it hath swallowed and as Daniel came out of the Lions Den by break of day these savage Beasts having done him no harm Thus at the break of the last day at the Rising of the Sun of Righteousness we shall all go out of Deaths deep Den and as if God had sent his Angel on purpose to shut the mouth of this old Lion we shall then find that he shall have done us no harm instead of devouring of us he will prove a faithful keeper of our bones therefore the faithful may speak unto Death in the language of the Prophet Micah Rejoyce not against me O mine Enemy when I shall fall I shall rise when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me Mic. 7.8 As Moses said to Pharaoh we will go into the Wilderness to sacrifice unto God we will go out of thine Egypt with our young and with our old with our Sons
by the Root then are hewen down of old and overgrown Trees O that I might have always in my mind this consideration That a greater number of Babes and Children are buried than of old Men and that the first person who was dead and buried in the Earthly Paradise was but a young Man in the flower of his Age. Great God of the Spirits of all flesh wean my Heart and Affections from the World from all deceitful Pleasures and from these inferior Vanities that I may find in thee all my Joy and my most ravishing Delights Let me not feed my fancy with the vain hopes of having yet many years to spend in ease and in the pleasure of this life but let me remember that there is no part of it free from evils from crosses cares and displeasures That the greenest Fruit hath many times a secret Worm that devours it as well as the ripâ—st and that the freshest blossom hath prickles as well as the most flourishing or decaying Roses The more I shall live in this miserable and corrupted Age the more evil I shall suffer and the more bitterness I shall drink and the more I shall spot my Soul and offend my God I shall have liv'd sufficiently if I have learnt to live well and to prepare to dye well I shall do both if thine Holy Word become my guide and if thine Holy Spirit Sanctify me and Direct me in thy Will which is Good Holy Pleasant and Perfect Assist and strengthen me O Lord that I may find thy Yoke easy and thy burden light O good God if thou prolongest my days increase in me the Riches of thy Grace and enflame my Soul with thy Love but if thou dost cut me off betimes let me not be so great an Enemy to my self as to be sorry because thou wilt so soon transport me into an happy and immortal Estate because thou art pleas'd to abridge my Labors to put a period to the cruel War against my filthy Lusts and to bestow upon me the Crown in the middle of my Race I shall obtain sufficient Glory and Comfort if thou dost grant me strength enough to overcome the Devil vanquish Death and triumph over the Enemies of my Salvation O let me not be so mad and foolish to lament for the loss of a moment that flies away apace Seeing thou dost promise to introduce me into an Eternity where there is no alteration nor shadow of change and where thou shalt bless me with an eternal flourishing and happy Youth O my good God I am ready to Glorify thee either in Death or in Life seeing that thy Son Jesus Christ is to me gain whether I live or whether I dye Amen A Prayer and Meditation for Old Age. O God the Antient of days and Father of Eternity it is thy pleasure that in every Season and Age thy Children be prepared for Death I have therefore good cause O Lord to prepare and dispose my self for that last hour I who have already a foot in the Grave Grant I beseech thee that the more this outward Man decays the more the inward man may be renewed day by day That this weak and infirm Body that stoops towards the Earth teach me to lift up my Mind and thoughts towards Heaven Grant that old Age that hath furrowed my Face and wrinkled my Skin may also wipe off all the spots of my Soul and drive from my Heart all displeasure and grief That Age that causes my Knees to quiver and whitens my Skin may strengthen my Faith and refresh my Hope and Assurance upon thee and that Death that pursues me close at the heels may cause me to seek a shelter under the protection of the Prince of Life O Soveraign Lord of Heaven and Earth thou seest the pitiful condition unto which I am reduc'd I am become a trouble to my self and useless in the world my Soul is weary of its abode by reason of the griefs that it endures for I do but lead a dying Life or rather a living Death My Good God and Creator I have been under thy protection before I was born from the Womb of my Mother thou hast bin my God and assured Refuge Thou O Gracious Lord hast bless'd my Infancy and Youth and crown'd all my years with thy Fatherly Grace and loaden me with thy Blessings Leave me not I pray thee in my white and decrepid old Age and now that my strength faileth be thou the Rock of my Soul and the strength of my Life My years are pass'd as a Torrent of Waters at present I am nothing but the shadow of a shadow that ceaseth to be but thou art always the same and thy years shall never fail As thou hast no beginning thou shalt never have an end Renew my days as the Eagles Animate I beseech thee and quicken this Death these Ashes that I carry but rather reach to me thy hand and take me out of this Dwelling of Clay that rots and decays with age into thine Heavenly Jerusalem I have lost all tast of earthly Meats and Drink It is now high time that thou shouldest satiate me with the Dainties of thy Holy Table and give me to drink of the Wine of thy Kingdom I am already as out of the World my life holds but by a weak string O Gracious Lord now let thy Servant depart in Peace according to thy word for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Amen CHAP. 9. The Third Remedy against the fears of Death is to consider that God hath appointed the time and the manner of our Death EIther we are Hypocrites who draw near unto God with our Lips and honor him with our Tongues whilst our Heart is far from him Matth. 14. as we must desire the accomplishment of the Will of God and resigne our selves wholly to it for every day we say to him in our Prayers Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Therefore we cannot abhor nor fly from Death so cowardly if we be rightly perswaded as we ought That God hath limited the Time and appointed the manner of our Death That which moves us for the most part to complain of this last Enemy is a continual eye that we have sixed upon the Flesh and its Power and a too great confidence upon second causes We are like the dog that bites at the stone that strikes him for we commonly curse the means that God employs to call and withdraw us out of the World It will easily appear that God hath numbred our days and that by his wonderful and eternal Wisdom he hath decreed the hour and moment of every mans death for besides what our Saviour Christ saith in general That God hath reserv'd the Times and the Seasons in his own power Acts 1. Job tels us expresly The days of Man are determined the number of his months are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass Job 14. The Royal Prophet speaks to the same purpose
wicked Conscience In the decay of their Age the vices of their Mind gather strength and flourish Instead of weeping for the sins of their youth they add sin to sin and are more hardened in evil Old Age imprints more furrows and wrinkles in their malicious Hearts than it doth upon their Foreheads Neither Men nor their Lives are to be measured by a Yard or an Ell We must not only consider how long we have liv'd but how well we have liv'd and employed the course of this Life for there are some young Men who have the Wisdom and Prudence of Gray Heads and there are Gray Heads that become as weak as Infants and some that scarce go out of that simple Age The first are twice Children the other continue always in their Childhood Some young Men have perform'd such brave and Glorious Deeds that one would judge by the passages of their Lives that they have lived several Years or Ages on the contrary Some old and decrepid persons can scarce prove that they have bin long in the World unless it be by their Church Register by their Gray Hairs or by the great number of their wicked and abominable actions This consideration causeth the Author of the Book of Wisdom to say That that old Age is not the most Reverend that can shew a number of years but Wisdom is to be reckoned old Age amongst Men and a Life without spot Ch. 4. It is certain he hath lived sufficiently who hath learn'd to live well and hath prepar'd himself to dye well To what purpose should this miserable and languishing Life be lengthened a few days Art thou afraid to be happy too soon and fearest thou to see the end of thy Torments Doth the Traveller endeavour to lengthen out a painful and dangerous way Doth the Workman grieve to have finish'd betimes his laborious Task Doth the Soldier murmure because he comes off from his Watch and Guard Miserable Man What are all the years for which thou dost so impatiently afflict thy self and vainly desire for a day with God is as a thousand years and a thousand years in his sight are but as one day He that sails upon the Seas admires the spacious extent of the Waters the difference of the rowling Waves that mount up sometimes to the Clouds and then fall down again into an Abysse And such as travel by Land are delighted to see on one side deep Vallies and on the other high Mountains that reach above the Clouds but if God had but taken us up into the seat of his Glory and that we should from that high Heaven cast down our Eyes upon this base and unworthy Globe of the Sea and Land to behold the proud and stately Mountains with the most swelling Waves they would appear unto us but an even Plain or rather they would seem altogether very little Thus when we compare the Men of the World the one with the other we shall find that some have liv'd long and others but a little while that some are old others are young but in respect of God there is no difference between the young and the old between an over-aged Methusalah who lived Nine hundred threescore and nine years Gen. 3. and a Child that hath only seen the Light of the Living for the life of all Mankind is but a moment in comparison of Eternity If thou art ready to dye for Righteousness of a violent Death meditate seriously upon the saying of the Prophet David Psa 116. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Arm thy self with an Holy confidence and say with Eli 1 Sam. 3. It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good Imitate the generosity of St. Paul Acts 20. and grave in thine heart these Divine expressions The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every City saying That Bonds and Afflictions abide me but none of these things move me neither count I my life dear unto my self so that I might finish my course with joy and the Ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God Remember always the Prayer that our Lord and Saviour offered up unto God in the greatest Agony Father O my Father if this Cup may not pass away from me except I drink it thy Will be done Forget not also at this time Christs advertisement He that loveth his life shall loose it and he that hateth his life in this world shall save it to eternal life John 12. O Great and Glorious Lord God the Enemies of thy Truth and Glory are met together against thy dear Children whom thou hast sanctified by the blood of the Covenant but they are not able to do any thing but what thou hast appointed to be done in thine Eternal Wisdom A Prayer and Meditation upon the time of Death O Merciful Lord who dost govern all things by thine infinite wisdom and hast reserved the times and the seasons in thine own power thou hast not only written my name in the Book of the living but thou hast also measured the length of my life and appointed the hour of my death Thou hast numbred my days and prescribed to me my bounds that I cannot pass beyond them O Soveraign Lord of the World that hast from all Eternity mark'd out with thy finger the moment of my entrance into this life and the time of my going cut This miserable body is but a crazy Tabernacle made up of Earth subject to all manner of infirmities Nevertheless none is able to destroy it without thy Divine assistance the same hand that hath fashioned and formed it must break it to pieces if a Sparrow fals not to the ground without thy leave it is not possible that my soul should fly away into Heaven without thy express Command My God and Father give me Grace not to be of the â—â—â—ber of suâ—h wretches as are in daily apprehensions of Death but let me rest upon thee who dost kill and give life who dost cast into the Grave and fetch him thence again Let Satan and all the enemies of thy Glory plot against me what they can they are not able to do any thing but what thy Wisdom hath ordained and appointed before the fâ—undation of the world Without thy leave and permission they are not able to pluck an Hair from my Head nor diminish a moment from the time that I am to live in this earthly Tabernacle O Almighty and most merciful God I recommend unto thee my Soul as to my faithful Creator and leave it wholly into thine hands Here I am to accomplish thy Will and to submit my self to thy pleasure without any resistance whether this Soul which thou hast created after thy likeness and which is an Image of thy Divinity remain in this Body that I may be able to serve thee on Earth or whether thou dost call for it and take it up into Heaven that it may glorify thee in the company of thy
Hearts and Affections of all such as behold thy Perfect and Divine Beauty 27. On the contrary there is nothing so ugly and ill-favour'd as sin it is a woful Monster of Hell and a frightful Image of Satan It is true that it disguises it self and takes a beautiful appearance but if you lift up this borrowed Mask you shall perceive the Devils fearful looks and the depths of Hell 28. Faithful Souls weigh in the ballance of the Sanctuary the fearful evils that sin hath brought into the World it hath blotted out God's Image and defaced the Beauty of the Creation it hath put a division between Heaven and Earth and kindled a grievous War between God and Man it is an heavy burden under which Nature it self groans for because of sin all Creatures sigh and are in labor until now 29. It continues yet its woful Effects for it is Sin that grieves the Holy Spirit that afflicts the Angels that offends the Weak that hardens the Ignorant and that gives an occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme his Holy Name and to curse his Gospel Rom. 8. It is Sin that pleaseth the Devil that rejoyceth Hell that upholds the tottering walls of Babylon that strengthens the Kingdom of the Prince of Darkness and that causeth him to work with efficacy in the Hearts of the Children of Rebellion Eph. 2. 30. Lift up your Eyes to the Cross of Jesus Christ and you shall perceive how abominable sin is for neither in Heaven nor on Earth there could not be found an offering able to make expiation for it God hath chosen rather to punish it in the person of his only begotten Son than to leave it unpunished O that the stain of sin is grievous and deep seeing that nothing but the Bloud of a God can wash and cleanse it 31. When you meditate upon our Lords Death and Passion make it not your business to cry out against Judas's Treason the Pharisees envy the Peoples mutiny don't lay the blame upon the Impiety of Caiphas the unjustice of Pilate or Herods Scoffs and Jests nor upon the cruelty of the Roman Soldiers but be angry against your own Sins and let an Holy Displeasure rise in you against your iniquities and crimes Say to your selves our sins our sins alone have betrayed Christs innocent Body bound and fastened the Lord of Glory to this ignominious Cross and deliver'd him into the Executioners hands our sins have crown'd him with Thorns nailed him to the Wood deliver'd to him Gaul and Vinegar to drink In short our sins have pierced his Hands and Feet and open'd his Side You would abhor the sight and acquaintance of the Hangman that should have fastened your Father to the Gallows and you would scorn to kiss his bloody hands how much more abominable shall we be to God and his Holy Angels if we do cherish and delight to entertain Sin whereas we should be stirred up against it with an Holy Zeal and an earnest desire of Revenge Instead of nailing to the Cross this unmerciful Parricide and crushing to pieces this hellish Monster if we feed and nourish it in our bowels we shall then be guilty of crucifying afresh the Son of God and of putting him to an open shame guilty of treading him under feet and of esteeming the Blood of the Covenant wherewith we were sanctified an unholy thing 32. Consider seriously the fearful effects that Sin produces in you have you never been sensible of the horrid and cruel torments of a poor Soul disturb'd with the sight of its crimes How sharp and piercing are the remorses of a Conscience awaken'd from a prophane sleep It is a pain and an anguish that cannot be expressed it causeth our head to dissolve into water our eyes to become a Fountain of Tears it causeth our Blood to be congeal'd our Skin to become black our Bones to be crack'd and broken It is a common saying that the punishment follows the sin close at the heels but imagine that it keeps always its company and that it is a Rack and Torture that never leaves the guilty for there is no peace for the wicked saith my God Isai 48. 33. Whereas there is no satisfaction like unto that of a good Christian who loves his God sincerely and worships him in Spirit and in Truth There is no kind of delight to be compar'd to that of a regenerate Soul that applies himself without hypocrisie to the works of Piety and Holiness John 4. for the quiet of the Soul and the peace of Conscience are more worthy than great Treasures than Scepters and Crowns therefore the wise Solomon tels us That the Righteous mans Heart is a continual Feast Prov. 15. To perswade us that there is nothing like to this hidden Manna to this spiritual Food that the world knows not and to these Angelical and Divine Pleasures the Holy Apostles inform us that it is an unspeakable and glorious Joy and a peace of God that passeth all understanding Phil. 4. 34. If any Delight or Pleasure accompanies Vice it is but in appearance superficial as a dream it vanisheth away for the Triumph of the wicked is of a short continuance and the Joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment There is always some Thorn some Grief hidden and secret in their laughter their Heart is afflicted and their Joy is cut off by Sorrow Prov. 14. 35. But the Holy Joys and Celestial Delights of one that fears God and that worships him in purity and innocency of life are solid and lasting they cast a deep Root into the very bottom of our hearts and enter into the Joynts and Marrow and disperse themselves all over the inward parts The Gibbets the Wheels It is the French custome to break notable offenders upon a Cart-wheel and the most grievous torments of this life cannot pluck these joys from us but they comfort the soul in the midst of the greatest distresses and heal up the broken bones 36. The Worldlings become weary tired with the accomplishment of their Lusts and are afflicted at their greatest success they loath at last all their carnal sports and their greatest sweetness turns into bitterness we grow out of taste with the pleasures of sin so that we begin to loath and abhorr them It is what Zophar intends to shew us when speaking of the wicked he saith His meat in his Bowels is turned it is the gall of Aspes within him he hath swallowed down Riches and he shall vomit them up again God shall cast them out of his belly Job 20. 37. It is otherwise with them who apply their hearts to the fear and service of God and that find his Yoak easy and his burden Light Matth. 11. They take great satisfaction in the ways of Righteousness they run with an holy freedom to their happy end and to the price of their spiritual Calling the more they drink of the Waters of Siloah the more they thirst their Zeal is like an
Holy Fire that never saith that it is enough Prov. 10. As the Prophet Moses after that he had been 40 days and 40 nights conversing with God in his Holy Mountain came down with a Glorious Countenance shining as bright as the Light with two Tables of the Law in his hands Likewise a Christian Soul that hath bin lifted up to God by fervent Prayers and bin conversing with him in devout Meditations cannot hide its spiritual Joys and its unspeakable Delights it burns with an earnest desire of glorifying God and of pleasing him in all things when the Apostle St Peter saw our Saviour transfigured upon Mount Tabor he was ravish'd and transported in such a manner that he cryed out Lord it is good for us to dwell here let us make three Tabernacles Thus the good Christian who is enlightned from above is never weary in the company of his God when he should live several ages he would not believe that he hath too much time to serve his Creator to worship his Divine Majesty and to refresh himself with the unspeakable pleasures of his presence As the time of Jacob's service seem'd to him but a few days because of the love that he had for Rachel thus the days that we spend in the service of God seem to be but of a few hours or moments in case our love for God be earnest and sincere 38. Represent unto your selves the fearful curse denounced against the wicked and the prophane Gen. 29. they carry about them every where the Works of God's anger and just revenge they are the objects of his hatred and execrable to the publick they who flatter and fawn upon them most for their own advantage do abominate and curse them in the bottom of their hearts and they who out of a servile fear seem to honor and worship them in the light of the Sun would be many times very joyful to dance upon their Graves and erect a Gallows to hang them thereon 39. It is not so with good Men they are honoured by God and Man and their greatest Enemies admire their Vertues let us be never so poor and contemptible in the World we are rich and noble enough if we fear God as we ought and obey his Holy Will for the fear of the Lord is our chief Treasure it is our Crown our Diadem and our greatest Ornament 40. The wicked Man is frighted and troubled of his own accord he trembles in the midst of his Guards and he flies when no man pursues all things scare him he is jealous and distrusts his best friends his Children are suspected and in the embraces of his dearest Wife he slumbers with an unquiet Soul 41. It is otherwise with a good Man he marcheth every where with an Head lifted up and his Heart rejoyceth in a perfect tranquility of mind for there is no Bulwark like that of a good Conscience it is like a Wall of Brass that abides and withstands the injuries of the times and seasons He that fears God is free from all other fears Psal 125. The finger of God that hath setled in his Soul the dread of his Holy Name banisheth all other apprehensions Psal 112. He is like Mount Sion that cannot be moved he fears no ill report his Soul is firmly setled upon God in the midst of his greatest dangers and violent storms he saith with David The Lord is my light and my deliverance of whom should I be afraid the Lord is the strength of my life whom then should I fear O God thou art a Buckler round about me my Glory and the lifter up of my Head I have laid my self down I have slept and I have awak'd for the Lord upholds me I will not fear thousands of People when they should sett themselves round about against me when a whole Army should camp against me my heart would never fear Psal 117. 42 Let the wicked be never so great and honourable and never so highly advanc'd in the world their Fame shall perish Eternally 'T is to no purpose that they rear up stately Trophies and fill whole Volumes with the remarkable passages of their lives making the Marbles to speak forth their Praises whatsoever they do to render their Glory Eternal their name shall be always abominable to God and all his Holy Angels and Mankind shall never remember it but with curses and detestation these infamous persons are like unto a stinking Lamp that gives light for a time but when it is put out it leaves a most odious stink they may be also compar'd to certain Devils that never go out of a place without causing an ill smell to be behind them 43. It is otherwise with good Men their Fame shall flourish for ever and like the Palm the more Men press it down the more it will rise their name is Engraven in Heaven it self in the Glorious Temple of Eternity it shall always be blessed by God and the Angels of his Glory and the example of their Christian Vertues shall remain after them for a Model for their posterity to imitate a faithful Christian whose Soul is sanctified by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is like to the Alablaster-box af Ointment which when it was broken spilt upon our Saviour's Head a precious Liquor that perfum'd all the room for such an one lives after his death when his Body is broken and reduc'd to Ashes his good name spreads abroad to the Glory of God and the edification of his Church Mary Magdalene's Perfume filled only the Chamber where they were sitting and was soon spent but the good Perfume of an innocent and Holy life fills both Heaven and Earth with a sweet scent and continues for ever and ever 44. I judge that another powerful means to withdraw us from Vice and to induce us to Vertue is to represent unto our selves at every moment the Excellency and Dignity of our Calling to take a delight in beholding with the Eyes of our Soul the white Stone where our new Name is written which none knowâ— but he who receives it It is the noble and high quality of the Children of God and of Believers which he bestows upon none but upon such whom he hath elected from all Eternity for the eternal enjoyment of Bliss in his glorious Kingdom It is reported of a certain young Prince that when he had a designe to disgrace himself by lustful actions and debauchery a wise Philosopher reclaim'd him from his wicked purpose by telling him Remember that thou art a Kings Son Thus you Christian Souls when Satan the Flesh and the World shall tempt you to filthy and unjust actions or to any other sin call to your remembrance that you are the Children of the King of Kings Take heed you defile not such a precious Crown and as our Saviour said to him who should have followed him but was desirous first to go and bury his Father suffer the dead to bury the dead likewise we say unto you devout
Souls who have consecrated your selves willingly unto God and to his Service and Worship cast away these vain and base actions and all these dead works leave them to such as are dead in their trespasses and sins but for you behave your selves according to your Celestial Calling and apply your selves to Righteousness and Holiness and to the practice of all other Vertues as such who were dead but now are made alive 45. We must continually meditate upon the Holiness and Purity of our future abode in Heaven and the expectation that we have there Rom. 6 For as Jesus Christ is gone to prepare a place for us in the House of his Heavenly Father John 14. It is but just and reasonable that we should fit and prepare our Souls for such Holy and Glorious Mansions Revel 21. It is not possible to go to Heaven by treading the paths of Hell Nothing impure nor filthy shall enter into the Holy City which is the new Jerusalem As in Solomon's Temple there was no way to the Holy of Holies but through the Sanctuary thus if we will one day enter into the Heavenly Sanctuary where Christ dwells the true Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy seat Eph. 2. It is absolutely necessary that we should tread in the paths of good Works which God hath prepared that we should walk in them Tit. 2. It is upon this consideration that St. Paul grounds this exhortation to Piety and Christian Vertues The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodlines and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good Works seeing that we have such promises let us cleanse our selves from all filth of the Body and of the Spirit finishing our Sanctification in the fear of God 1 Cor. 7. St. John makes use of the same reason to perswade us to Holiness Beloved we are now the Children of God but what we shall be doth not yet appear now we know that when he shall appear we shall be madè like unto him for we shall see him as he is and whosoever hath this hope in him let him purify himself as he is pure 1 Joh. 2. The Apostle St. Peter employs the same consideration to kindle in our hearts this pure and celestial fire We according to his promise look for new Heavens and new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless 2 Pet. 3. 46. You know Christians that God created our first Parents in his own Image and Likeness before that he brought them into his own terrestial Paradise there is a greater reason that this Divine Image should be imprinted in our Souls before we enter into the Celestial Paradise unto this the Apostle hath a regard when he tells the Ephesians be ye renewed in the Spirit of your mind and put on the new Man created according to God in Righteousness and true Holiness Chap. 4. 47. If the place of our future Abode unto which we are designed doth require from us Sanctification the quality of the persons with whom we shall spend an Eternity doth no less oblige us to the same behaviour for they shall be Angels of Light and the Blessed Saints who have wash'd and whitened their Robes in the Bloud of the Lamb Revel 5. It is a glorious Church that hath neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing Eph. 5. It is the Spouse of the Son of God cloathed in fine Linnen clean and white which are the Righteousness of the Saints Revel 19. St. Paul had this same consideration when he saith That we are fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God and That our conversation ought to be as becometh Citizens of Heaven To wean us from the filthy Deeds of the Flesh and from the prophane disposition of Esau he employs the same reason to perswade us in the 12 of the Heb. You are come saith he to the Mount Sion to the City of the living God to the Celestial Jerusalem to the thousands of Angels and to the Assembly and Church of the first-born who are written in Heaven and to the Spirits of the Just sanctified 48. As it is with a Child in his Mothers womb he begins to live there the same life that he leads when he is come into the World likewise the Christian ought to begin to live in the same manner upon earth as he hopes to live for ever in Heaven if we will live and Reign with Christ above in his Kingdom we must at present have him Live and Reign in our Hearts here below by faith 49. The chief happiness of Man consists not only in the true knowldge of God and of him whom he hath sent to save us nor in the Spiritual Peace nor Celestial Transports of the Holy Spirit but it consists in Holiness without which none shall see God John 17. Rom. 5. Therefore the Apostle inquires from the Romans of his time What fruit had you in those things whereof ye are now ashamed but now being free from sin and become servants of God ye have your Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting life Heb. 12. Rom. 6. 50. I find also that this is a very good remedy to keep our selves free from the Debaucheries and Corruptions of the Age to abstain from the company and acquaintance of vicious persons for as he who did touch things unclean did become thereby unclean and as such as haunt amongst the sick of the Plague are infected with their Disease Likewise it is the property of evil company to corrupt the best manners 2 Cor. 15. 51. Whereas we should accustom our selves to the company and acquaintance of good Men and Delight in the society of such who like the Seraphims excite and enflame one another to glorify God and sing forth his praises we must frequent such unto whom we desire to be like for as Jacob's Sheep Ewned Lambs spotted and marked as the Rods upon which they did cast their eyes Thus if we have our joyes fixed upon the Holy examples of Piety and Vertue we shall see our selves insensibly transformed into their Image and Resemblance we must delight our selves in the company of them with whom we hope to live for ever in the highest Heavens 52. The most powerful and the most effectual means to oblige us to the practice of Piety and of Holiness and purity of Life it is to look with the eyes of faith upon him who is invisible and to represent unto our selves the great world as a large Temple where he dwels Let the voice that came unto Moses out of the burning Bush sound continually in
painful Fetters Rejoyce O my Soul look up to that Rest that God prepares for thee above The blessed time is come that I shall no longer endure the heat of the day and the watchings of the Night but I shall rest eternally under the shadowes of the Tree of Life and there satisfy my self with its delicious Fruits I shall no longer withstand the contradiction of Sinners nor hear the mocks of the sensual and factious minds I shall no longer encounter with the enemies of thy Sacred Truth nor endure the stings of my Lusts but I shall live for ever in the blessed company of the Holy Angels and rejoyce with the Glorified Saints I shall preach no more against the obstinacy of Men. nor weep for the sins that disgrace thy Church and Profession nor complain of the injustice and affronts done to my Person nor grieve for my own imperfections but I shall sing for ever thy Divine Praises with the Seraphins and the Congregation of the first-born whose Names are recorded in Heaven O Lord who hast an infinite Power in thy Hands and bottomless Treasuries of Mercy be pleased to drive away from thy Flock all ravenous Wolves and mercenary Souls and raise up to this thy Church ☞ a Faithful Sober Wise and a Learned Clergy bring in our dissenting Brethren reconcile the differences that are amongst us and give to us all a friendly compliance that we may no longer be a hissing and a by-word to our Enemies Thou art able yet to clap an effeciual Plaister to our bleeding wound and to cure the distempered minds Be pleased therefore O great Physitian of both Soul and Body mercifully to look down from Heaven upon these Nations Check that bold spirit of division that causeth so much disorder amongst us and make us all sensible of our chief interests which consists in a Blessed Vnion Pour upon our Clergy abundance of thy Grace and give an happy success to their painful Ministry but now I am going to serve thee above in Heaven in a more glorious and excellent Ministry where I shall meet with no trouble nor resistance no weariness grief pain sorrow nor displeasure I shall enter into the joy of my Lord and receive from his merciful Hand the uncorruptible Crown of Immortality and Glory I shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes and he shall be my Shepherd for ever he will lead me to the Fountains of living water and wipe away all Tears from mine Eyes Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Father of a Family FAther of Eternity I yield unto thee my unfeigned thanks because thou hast made me an happy instrument to put into the World Children out of whose mouths thou mayest accomplish thine own praise and who may serve thee here below and worship thee for ever in Heaven amongst the thousands of Angels Whilst I have been in the World I have brought them up in thy Love and Fear I have caused them to suck from the Breast the Milk of Piety and when they were come to an age of understanding I have taught them to walk in thine holy Fear and obey thy Commandements I have laboured to shew them a good example and to guide them in thy Truth And now that I am ready to return unto thee who art the Author of my life and being the only source of my Happiness I leave them in thy merciful hands beseeching thee to look down upon them with the eyes of thy compassion they are thine Lord acknowledge thine own Image and Handywork Thy Finger hath fashioned these Bodies where so many wonders are to be seen And these souls that animate and move them are the breath and beams of thy Divinity Thou hast engaged to be our God and the God of our Posterity after us Thy great and precious promises have been made to us and to our Children O Heavenly Father I desire not that thou shouldest take them out of the World but that thou shouldest keep them from evil Cover them under the shadow of thy wings and preserve them from those Miseries and Calamities which thou hast threatened to send upon the Inbabitants of the Earth for their sins If thou dost chastise them let it be with the Rod of Men and with the scourges of the Sons of Men but withdraw not from them thy Grace and thy fatherly compassions Let the flames of affliction render their Faith more Pure their Lives more Holy and their Zeal more Sincere and Earnest and let it prepare them for thee and thine Eternal Bliss O Holy Father thou seest that the age in which we live is wonderfully corrupt that the Earth is inclined to Vice and that Sin raigns every where Thou knowest also how weak the Nature of Children is and how inclinable to evil therefore strengthen them I beseech thee with such Antidotes as may preserve them from the infection of the times Suffer not the wickedness of the World to win upon their affections nor Satan to prevail upon them by his suggestions nor evil company to spoil their pious Education Give them an understanding to know thee an Heart to love thee and Affections to embrace thee and thy Glory Let thy Holy Angels guard them by night and by day Let thy Providence defend them thy Word instruct them thy Promises comfort them and thy Holy Spirit Regenerate them and imprint in their Souls thy blessed Image Give them neither Poverty nor Riches but nourish them with Food convenient but especially give them that Bread which is come down from Heaven which hath brought Life into the World make them to raste of the Heavenly Gift and of the Powers of the World to come inflame them with thy Love and Charity and adorn them with all Christian Vertues but chiefly Sanctify them with thy Holy Spirit and make them to become new Creatures seeing that without Sanctification none shall see thy Face in Glory Confirm them for ever in thy Holy Covenant and give them grace to transmit it to their posterity after them as a blessed Inheritance that thou mayest be Glorified by them from Generation to Generation to all Eternity Suffer not the World nor Hell to pluck them out of thine Hand that nothing may separate them from the love which thou hast shewed to them in Jesus Christ thine only Son Let not Death terrify them but let it rather rejoyce and comfort them because that it is the entrance that leads to the Glorious Dwelling of their Heavenly Father and to the Celestial Paradise whatsoever change or alteration shall happen here below let them always lift up their Eyes to thee who art the same yesterday and to day and shalt be the same for ever Let them never forget their Duty to thee from whom they have received their Being and Life that they may prefer the Glory of thy Great Name the Purity of thy Worship and the hopes of thy Heavenly Kingdom to all worldly Glory Magnificence Riches advantages and Pleasures of the Flesh
Ascension of our Divine Saviour we shall see this same Death bound to his Triumphing Charriot and we shall see this glorious Redeemer exalted above the highest Heavens and sitting gloriously at the Right hand of God we shall see him invested in an almighty Power worshipped by all the Creatures we shall see him commanding not only the Angels of Light and the celestial Spirits that are about his Magnificent Throne but commanding also over this World over Death the Devils and Hell Because he hath been obedient unto Death yea to the ignominious Death of the Cross God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven in Earth and under the Earth Phil. 4. and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father Every Souldier doth not always bear a part in the Triumph of their General and all the Subjects do not tast of their Princes happiness but as we are the Brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Members of his Mistical Body we have a share in his Triumph and in the glory of his Empire therefore the Apostle St. Paul informs us that our Life that is to say our glory and eternal Felicity is hid with Christ in God in another place he tells us in express words That God who is rich in Mercy hath made us sit in Heavenly places with Jesus Christ This glorious Saviour is gone to take possession of the Kingdom of Heaven not only for himself but also in our names and for us therefore he informs the Holy Apostles and all true believers That in his Fathers House there are many Mansions I am going to prepare a place there for you In the same manner he speaks in that admirable Prayer in the which he consecrates himself to God for the great Work of our Redemption Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me For the same reason St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Hebrews for our comfort Heb. 6. that Christ is gone into Heaven as our forerunner The High Priest of the Jews did enter into the earthly Sanctuary to present himself before God for the people Heb. 9. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ is gone into the Heavenly Sanctuary to appear for us in the presence of God The High Priest of the Jews did bear upon his Breast and Shoulders the Names of the 12 Tribes of Israel but Jesus Christ hath graven us upon his Heart according to the Prayer of the Spouse in the Canticles Can. 8. Set me as a Seal upon thine Heart as a Seal upon thine Arm for Love is strong as Death The High Priest of the Jews did cast off the Names of the Twelve Tribes with his Robes But neither Death nor Life nor things present nor things to come shall ever separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ Rom. 8. The Royâ—â— Diademe that was put upon Esthers Head never câ—â—sed her to forget her People and Parentage she was mâ—gâ—â—â—ly grieved for her Hamans Conspiray and the Decree which he had caused King Ahasuerus to Sign and 〈◊〉 with his Signet I may likewise say that the Glory unto which our Lord Jesus Christ is now raised can never make him forget the People that he hath redeemed with his Blood He is not unmindful of Satans plots nor of the Sentence of Doom pronounced against us by the great Monarch of the World and confirmed with his great Seal His glorious Head may be Crowned with the Râ—inbow but his merciful Heart is inflamed with Love for us He thinks it no disgrace to acknowledge us for his Brethren and to pray God for us upon his glorious Throne where thousand millions wait upon him and ten thousand thousands Worship him He is able to Save to the full all such as draw near to God through him for he lives always to intercede for us If the Father hath always granted him his Request when he was in his greatest abasement can we imagine that his Intercession will be fruitless now that he is ascended up to the highest Glory From the Chariot of his Triumph he beholds all our Encounters and our struglings with Death he sees all the Enemies that Assault us and all the Dangers unto which we are exposed He is acquainted with the deep Malice and the crafty Designs of the Enemies of our Salvation He perceives all the Darts that they let flie against us therefore he covers us with his Shield and will not suffer us to yield to Temptation He fulfills his Vertue in our Infirmities and makes us more then Conquerors he hath an eye alwayes upon his Flock he holds his Sheep all in his hand and none is able to pluck them from thence When he was upon Earth in his Agony at this word that dropt out of his Mouth I am he John 10. his Enemieâ— fell backward and when he was in Deaths Prison he constrained it to obey him and shall he not now that he is exalted up to the highest Heavens in the glory of his Triumph have the same power and command over Death the World and Hell When he walked upon the Waters he cried to his Apostles It is I be not affraid John 6. how much rather may he speak unto us in this manner now that he sits upon the Throne that can never be moved Christian Soul who trembles at the approaches of Death imagine that the Lord Jesus Crowned with Glory calls to thee from Heaven fear not for I call thee and hold out unto thee my Arms I that am thy Saviour and Redeemer who have satisfied for all thy sins with my Blood and who have redeemed thee from the Curse of the Law and eternal Damnation I have disarmed Gods Justice vanquished Hell broken the Serpents Head and swallowed up Death into Victory I have purchased for thee the Glories of Heaven and the Delights of Paradice I have trampled upon the World and all its powers I am Worshipped by all the Church triumphing in Heaven and by Legions of holy Angels that fly about my Throne I will therefore send some of them to guard thee and when thou shalt leave the Body where thou livest as a Sttranger they shall bring up thy Soul into this glorious abode of Immortality whether I am come to prepare a place for thee Without doubt if the Author of our hope is fixed in the vaile that is in Heaven where Jesus Christ is gone in as our forerunner we shall not apprehend the most contrary and boisterous storms raised against us by the Prince of the powers of the Aire who works with efficacy in the Children of Rebellion we shall tred under foot all the billows of this troublesome Sea and through these swelling waves we shall march safe to our Divine Jesus If at
my Sins and all my Sufferings and Grief I shall enter into a new Glory into the ever blessed company of Saints and Angels If your love be sincere and real prefer my Felicity and Rest to the small satisfaction that you find in my company here below Consider that in the House of my God and in the vision of his Glorious Face I shall find every moment more Joy and Pleasure than I should have met with upon Earth in thousands of Ages All the Pomp and Splendor of the World all the Glory and State its Riches and Treasures its Pleasures and Delights are as unconsiderable to those that I am going to enjoy in Heaven as a few drops of Water to a boundless Sea or as a flash of Lightening to the Noon-Sun Must the blind Passion which you have for to see me continue with you hinder me from seeing the face of my God and Heavenly Father Suppose I were now shut up with you in some dark Dungeon and bound with the same Chain would you rather see me your companion to continue in your misery and sufferings than to behold me at a distance at liberty in the fruition of a perfect satisfaction Tell me not that we shall never see one another any more for can you be so great an Unbeliever to doubt of God's Mercy that intends to bring us together again in Heaven Death separates us for a moment but the Prince of Life will unite us together for ever in his Fathers House whither he is gone to prepare a place for us O Devout and Religious Soul by such Language as this thou shalt be able to mollify the hardest Hearts and prepare them to behold thy Translation into Heaven as Elisha was when he saw his Masters Rapture If they feel any displeasure and grief for thy separation from them they will have more joy and comfort to consider with the Eyes of Faith that extraordinary Glory and Happiness into which God intends to receive thee of his infinite Goodness and Mercy If it happens otherwise and that thou art to deal with weak minds whose Love is blind and whose Passions are so unreasonable as to resist God's appointment and to hinder thy promotion to Happiness thou must overcome by the strength of God's Grace and the assistance of his Holy Spirit all the furious reluctances of Nature Thou must imitate St. Peter when he saw our Saviour Christ in his transfiguration upon Mount Tabor he forgot his Family and all his dearest Enjoyments in the World therefore in that excess of joy he cried out Lord it is good for us to be here In the same Language must you speak Christian Souls I dare be bold to affirm if your mind is raised up by Faith into Heaven to behold Jesus Christ shining in Light and Glory and surrounded by all the Holy Angels and Immortal Spirits Assoon as you shall have but the least relish of Paradise you will be so ravish'd with that extraordinary Happiness that you will easily forget the most lovely Enjoyments of the Earth unto which you had devoted your affections so that in that transport of Joy you will be ready to burst out in this Language My Lord and my God I am sick with Love for thee I wish for nothing but for thy glorious Presence My chief Happiness is to be with thee and to behold thy face where I see already so much Light and Love I confess we shall not say as St. Peter Let us build Tabernacles For we shall never be concerned as Soldiers and Travellers in Fights and Journeys We shall not say let us build an House that we may dwell with thee and thy blessed company for I see O God with the eye of Faith the Palace which thou hast built from the foundation of the World where thou hast prepared a place for me Lord open to me the Gates of this Glorious Palace that I may enter in and sing forth thy Divine Praises My dear Friend shall the miserable Pagans who never tasted of the Heavenly Gift who were never made partakers of the Spirit of Grace nor of the powers of the Life to come the Heathens who were without Hope and without God in the World shall they march courageously to meet Death and wilt thou that hast had some foretasts of the happiness of Heaven that hast seen some beams of its Glory canst not thou resolve to depart out of the World Shall a Seneca who had no other means to strengthen himself but the perswasions of his vain Philosophy who had no expectation of advantages of the life to come shall such an one look with a stedfast countenance upon his Blood and Life gushing apace out of his veins and thou my Brother hast thou been brought up under the tuition of an Eternal Wisdom Dost thou embrace by Faith the Glory and Felicities prepared for thee by God and art not able to look upon Death with resolution and courage and canst not leave the World with expressions of Joy Shall Socrates whose crazy Body was animated by a sinful Soul and who had no manner of Antidotes against Death drink up that poison that was mixed for him as a pleasant cup of Drink And thou Christian that art animated by the Spirit of the living God that seals to thee his great and most precious promises Thou Christian that enjoyest the earnest of that Inheritance prepared for thee in Heaven shalt not thou be able to swallow down with content the cup that death holds out to thee Thou hast a powerful and an infallible Antidote against this poison for after this bitter Cup thou art going where thou shalt drink at leasure out of the Rivers of Eternal Pleasures Shall it be said that in the Jews Houses at the time of death the sound of Instruments of Musick was heard together with Crying and Lamentations and at thy Dwelling who hast an interest in Christ crucified and seest him Reigning and Triumphing in Heaven there shall be nothing heard but weeping and sighing that praising God and giving of Thanks shall not be seen at such a time Finally seeing so many persons of all Ages Sexes and Conditions have desired Death to be freed from all Earthly Evils and Calamities hast not thou good cause to wish for it heartily when it shall please God that thou mayest enter in the fruition of the advantages and happiness of the Heavenly Life How excellent is thy loving kindness O God therefore the Children of Men or rather thy Children the Brothers and Sisters of Jesus Christ thy Well-beloved Son put their trust under the shadow of thy wings They shall be fully satisfied with the fatness of thy House and thou shalt cause them to drink out of the Rivers of thy Pleasures If you be passionately desirous to taste of the Angelical delights and relish the Divine pleasures that flow from the Throne of God and of the Lamb if you be really athirst for God will not you speak in Davids Language Psal
glorious company of Angels and blessed Spirits take upon thee these beautiful Robes of light with which thine Heavenly Father will cloath thy nakedness and accept this immortal Crown that he offers to thee go and satisfie thy self with the Bread of the Kingdome of Heaven and remove thy thirst with the Christial Waters of that River of pleasure which proceeds from the Throne of God and of the Lamb Go and behold the face of the Father of lights go and be happy with his Divine resemblance and be transformed into his glorious Image O blessed Soul Seest thou not already the Heavens open and Iesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father holding out his hand unto thee offering to receive thee into his glorious rest Seest thou not the Angels of Heaven cloathed in white raiment coming to transport thee out of this miserable estate Seest thou not how thou art already encompassed about with light and Celestial Flames Dost thou not relish the sweetness of Paradise Is not there a Heaven already in thine heart Dost thou not hear the Hymns of the glorified Spirits Hath not the Lord caused thee to hear that sweet and comfortable voice sound in thine ear Verily I say unto thee thou shall be this day with me in Paradise Come good and faithfull Servant enter into the Ioy of thy Lord seeiest thou not thy self lifted up above all earthly and perishing things Dost thou not fly upon the wings of faith and repentance to the Throne of Gods glory Dost thou not cast thy self into Paradise into the Arms of Almighty God into the bosome of the Lord Iesus to rest there for ever and to be Satisfied with the good things which eye hath not seen ear hath not heard and which are not entered into the heart of Man but which God hath prepared for them that love him A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian Soul that prepares to go out of its Body and comforts its self in the Contemplation of the glory and happiness of Paradice O God! the Author of my being and the Soveraign Lord of my life thou seest all the motions and dispositions of my Soul thou knowest that I have wholly resigned my self into thy hands and desire nothing else but to depend upon thy good pleasure speak Lord for thy Servant heareth here I am to do thy Will O God Thy People Israel removed their Camp at thy Command in the same manner I am ready to remove out of this Earthly Tabernacle at the first motion of thy Will The Golden Cherubims were alwayes upon their feet with their wings stretched out and their faces towards the Mercy Seat O that I likewise might look up to him who hath purchased for me the eternal Mercies of God him who is the Propitiation for my Sins that I may be always ready to fly up to him Lord Jesus seeing thou callest me to thy self stretch out thy hand unto me from above and draw me out of this tempestuous Sea When a poor blind man understood that thou calledst him to restore his sight he left his Garment for haste and ran to thee with joy and shall not I quit this wretched body to go to thee my Lord and my God seeing thou callest me out of the mid-night of this World to thy marvelous and glorious light seeing that thou hast a design not onely to discover to me this surprising and refreshing light that shines in Heaven but thou wilt cause me to shine in thy Kingdom as the Stars and as the Sun When the Prophet Elias let fall his Mantle he was immediately received into a Chariot of Fire and carried up into Heaven also I hope in thy tender love and favor that as soon as my Soul shall forsake this wretched Body it shall be likewise received into a Celestial Charriot of Fire that will carry it up to Heaven thou wilt deal as gratiously with my Soul as with thine High-Priest Joshua thou wilt take away its Garments shattered and broken by sickness and distempers bespotted and bedaubed with sin to adorn it with Robes of fine and bright linnen and Crown it with glory Therefore I am so far from being afflicted to see the earthly house of this Tabernacle demolished that I rejoyce in a certain assurance that I shall be admitted to my eternal Tabernacle of Heaven O good God! thou seest upon me a contemptible body of dust that desires nothing more then to return to dust again but this Heavenly and immortal Soul of mine that is come from above that is thy breath and a beam of thy glory this Soul I say will return up to its source and origin It sighs for thee O God! and desires nothing but eternal happiness Is it possible that I can be happy too soon and too speedily admitted to the Contemplation of thy glorious face Lord I should be worse then an Infidel if I did doubt of my Salvation if I were not assured to partake of thy glory for thou hast promised to save all such as persevere to the end and to give the Crown of life to all those that are faithfull unto Death Seeing therefore that by the assistance of thine holy Spirit thou hast enabled me to continue in thine holy and Divine Covenant to fight the good fight to finish my course and to keep the faith thou wilt not refuse me this great Salvation this precious Crown O merciful and bountiful Lord thou hast promised all such as overcome to cause them to sit upon thy Throne now by thy special grace and wonderfull power that appears and is fulfilled in mine infirmities I have overcome the World sin the Devil and Hell at present I beseech thee give me a new supply of strength to overcome Death also that I may have no more Enemies to counter with but that I may mount upon the magnificent Throne designed for me let this Death be a passage that may bring me to life immortality eternal glory and to the happiness of thy Kingdom Thou art my God and Father that lovest me with an unchangeable affection reach thy hand to me thy childe for I long for thee and open for me the bowels of thy most wonderfull mercies O good Lord receive me into thy bosome and satisfie me with the most effectual Consolations of thy goodness thou art my Spiritual Bridegroom draw me and I shall run or rather I shall fly after thee to magnify thy tender compassions and to be filled with thine heavenly delights Thou art the chief Shepheard of my Soul help me therefore in this vale of the shadow of Death let thy Staff and thy Rod assist and comfort me send me thy light and thy truth that they may lead and conduct me up to thy holy Mountain and to thine eternal dwelling Send thy good Angels that they may carry me up upon their Wings I expect O Lord thy Salvation I do not onely expect and hope for it but I desire and wish for it with all mine heart
my Soul is athirst for God my flesh and mine heart leap for joy for the strong and living God O Lord when shall I go up to the Heavenly Jerusalem when shalt thou open for me the Gutes of righteousness When shall I go into the holy Sanctuary When shall I be in the blessed company of the glorified Saints who have Palmes in their hands Crowns upon their heads and Praises in their mouths When shall I be with the thousands of Angels that are cloathed with light and glory and with burning Seraphims that surround thy Heavenly Throne O my God and Father When wilt thou remove and take away this covering from mine eyes that I may behold thy beautiful and glorious Face When shall I see my self transformed into thy Divine Image and sanctified with thy likeness O Lord thy grace hath brought me to a most happy estate Who could express the joy and satisfaction of my heart with the eyes of faith I see the Angels descending from Heaven to encompass me about I see them ready to take me into their armes and to transport me into thy glorious Rest O my God! I have nothing to stop me in this World I shut mine eyes to all things under the Sun all my thoughts are employed about the glory of Heaven and the pleasures of Paradice Merciful Father glorify thy Child that thy Child may glorify thee let me enter into the magnificent Palace of immortality let me see my God face to face let me embrace my Saviour and onely Redeemer let me receive from his hand the incorruptible Crown let me drink out of the Rivers of of his pleasures and let me swim in the Sea of his Heavenly delights O God whose goodness is unspeakable speak to me in a Language suitable to those heavenly desires which thou hast kindled in my Soul O that I may soon hear these sweet expressions Verily I say unto thee this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise come believing Soul enter into the Joy of thy Lord And before that I shall go into thy Heavenly joy cause this joy to come into my Soul before thou receivest me into Paradise cause a Paradise to be in me O my God I feel an unspeakable and surprising gladness in me I enjoy a peace which passeth all understanding I see my self already surrounded with light and Glory If therefore my expectation be so happy and pleasant what shall be the fruition If the first-fruits are so ravishing what shall we say of the harvest I see the Heavens open and Jesus Christ stretching out his armes unto me and opening his bosome to receive me my Lord and my God my Saviour and my All I commend my Spirit into thy hands for thou hast Redeemed it thou who art the Almighty and true God Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Amen CHAP. 23. The eleventh Consolation The glorious Resurrection of our bodies WHen God Created Angels he gave them a Spiritual nature that had little or no relation with the Elements I confess that some of these Heavenly Spirits have often appeared in humane bodies to the ancient Patriarchs but those bodies were extraordinary and subitaneous formed by Almighty Gods Power for such occasions besides those holy Spirits were not in those bodies as the Soul is in ours quickning and animating them in the same manner but onely as the Pilot is in the Ship that he governs therefore as soon as they had fulfilled the work about which they were employed by God they left those bodies without prejudice to their beings as the Pilot leaves and goes out of the Ship when he hath brought it to the desired Haven All the happiness of these glorified Spirits consists in this that God hath confirmed them in his grace and love and admitted them for ever to a continual contemplation of his glorious face It is not so with our Souls for although they be also spiritual and of an Heavenly substance God hath not created them to be alone and to subsist at a distance from all matter but to live in the pleasant company of those Elementâ—l bocies which he hath fashioned in a most Artifiâ—ial manner When he creates an humane Soul and pours it into an organized body it is not that it should be there as water in a Vessel or as a King in his Palace it lives not thereas an assisting form or as an outward cause of the Bodies operations but it is united to it by a very strict union and serves as an essential form It is the Principle of our life the internal cause of motion of Sense and of understanding So that if we will speak properly Man cannot be said to be altogether of a Spiritual nature as the holy Angels nor a single body as the Sun and the Stars but he is made up of both Therefore if our Souls wish to depart out of this Earthly Tabernacle it is not out of any displeasure against it as it is in it self for none did ever hate his own body every one seeks to nourish and cherish it But by accident because of the vanity and corruption unto which sin hath enthralled it we desire earnestly to depart out of it to a place where righteousness and true holiness raign that we might be with the Lord Jesus to behold him nearer It is therefore an undoubted truth That unless the body partakes of the same happiness and glory of the Soul Man cannot be said to be perfectly and entirely happy I confess it is no light occasion of joy to us to know that when our Soul casts off this earthly body it enters into the eternal Dwellings of Heaven whether it goes to behold the face of the Father of lights But this holy Joy is disturbed with sad reflections and this Heavenly sweetness is strangely altered with the bitter considerations of this poor body cast into the earth and left to the mercy of the crawling Worms for it is a most hatefull thing to behold our body rotting and turning to ashes that body that was our pavillion our Palace nay more then so that was a half part of our selves Therefore if we will render our Joy accomplished and apply an effectual comfort to our Souls we must nourish and entertain this pleasant assurance That the ruine of our bodies which causeth us to lament so much shall not be eternal but as our bodies fall down by Death they shall rise again one day at the general Resurrection This is one of the noblest and most excellent Mysteries of our Christian Religion and one of its most glorious advantages The Wisdom of the World with all its reasonings and the heathenish Philosophy with its rarest subtleties could never attain to this wholesome and comfortable Doctrine Therefore when St. Paul Preached to the Council of Athens he was heard with admiration until he had spoken to them of the Resurrection as soon as he began to mention that they laughed at him Therefore while Humane Reason remains in its darkness and
Natural ignorance it cannot of it self find out the glorious Mystery but as soon as it is enlightned with this light from above it discovers its most temarkable circumstances and acknowledgeth the Justice and Necessity of the future Resurrection of our Bodies First Seeing that Rewards and Punishments ought to be proportionable and answerable to him who is to punish and reward we must of necessity establish the Resurrection of our Bodies otherwise the pains of the wicked cannot be most violent nor the happiness of the Godly can never be absolute and perfect Secondly As when a Traytor is executed men are wont to fasten to the Scaffold or to burn in the fire the Instruments and Tools with which he had assaulted or offended his Prince in the same manner the bodies of the prophane and impious varlets of the Traytors against God's Divine Majesty ought to be treated they ought to be eternally punished with their Soul in Hell fire because they have been the unhappy instruments employed in affronting our Creator Thirdly The body is not onely the instrument employed by the wicked against God but encourageth them and hurries them on in sin for its humors stir it up inflame it and carry it to evil Acts For example its sanguine constitution makes it luxurious and inclinable to the filthy lusts of the flesh its choler carries it to violent and furious actions its mellancholy prompts it to the most horrid and hellish attempts So that if such are to be punished that cause us to perform such grievous actions it belongs to Gods justice to inflict upon the body as well as upon the Soul eternal punishments Fourthly To every thing ther eis a season and a time to every purpose under the Heaven Eccles 3. As the body of the wicked and of the reprobate hath had its good things and its satisfactions during this life it must needs have also in another life its punishments and its torments Fifthly But not to forget the reasons which have a relation to the faithful and which are the Pillars and supporters of our faith and hope we may say That Jesus Christ is no less able to save us then Adam was to damn us Now Adam having lost both Soul and body we must conclude that it belongs to Christ to save them also Therefore the body is to rise again that it may partake of that Salvation or Redemption procured unto us by this great Saviour Sixthly As we have born the Image of the first man who was of the dust of the Earth we must also bear the Image of the second man who comes from Heaven 1 Cor. 15 Now we bear not this Image at present in this life we must therefore bear it in another Seventhly God hath not made a Covenant with part of man but with all man composed of Soul and body The body therefore must needs rise again that it might gather the eternal fruits of glory and happiness which are promised unto us by this Divine Covenant Eighthly God is not onely stiled The Father of Spirits and the God of the Spirits of all flesh Heb. 12. But he declares himself to be the God of Abraham and of his Posterity Numb 16.27 He is not onely the God of the Soul or the God of the body alone but he is the God of believing persons of both their Souls and bodies from hence it follows of necessity That the bodies of such as are deceased are not utterly destroyed for God will raise them up again With this argument Christ stopt the mouths of the Saduces who denyed the Resurrection Concerning the Resurrection of the Dead said he Have you not read what God himself speaks to you I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the living Ninthly God hath adopted us to himself by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his Will to make us the heirs of his Kingdom and coheirs of his Son From this passage we may gather a certain assurance of the Resurrection for when this Father of Mercies shall see our bodies lying in the dust out of his tenderness and compassion he will say there are the bodies of my Children the members of mine onely Son it is not convenient to leave them alwayes in that shamefull estate in the bowels of the Earth that love that I bear to them cannot suffer it doubtless it was this consideration that caused the Apostle to call the redemption of our bodies Adoption for by that he assures us that he shall fetch out of their graves the bodies of all them whom he hath Adopted and that our future Resurrection is an effect and a necessary consequence of our Adoption Tenthly If we consider Death in it self as it is in its own nature we shall find it to be the wages of sin and a punishment of our crimes Now Jesus Christ hath paid for us these wages and satisfied for all our sins abolishing them in his Cross we may therefore conclude that Death 〈◊〉 to be destroyed in respect of believers and that their bodies must needs rise again Eleventhly St. Paul assures us that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of his body Now the body of this great God and Redeemer consists not onely in that infinite number of Souls purchased with his Blood but also in the Union of all the bodies that have been the companions of these blessed Souls Therefore as he hath saved our Souls from Spiritual Death and eternal damnation he must also save our bodies from corporal death and redeem them from the power of the grave Twelfthly If death did for ever detain our bodies in the grave we could not say to speak properly that our Saviour hath swallowed up death into victory and that he hath destroyed the Sepulcher for in such a case Death and the Grave would remain victorious and triumph eternally over these miserable Bodies Thirteenth Our Saviour hath suffered in his Soul and in his Body and by that means he hath purchased to himself both our Souls and Bodies according to St. Pauls excellent intimation You are bought with a price glorify therefore God in your Bodies and in your Souls that belong unto God From hence we must conclude that this glorious Saviour will be deprived of part of that which he hath purchased by his inestimable sufferings if our Bodies did alwayes continue in the power of Death Fourteenth The holy Ghost hath Sanctified our Bodies and made them his Temples as St. Paul teacheth us Know ye not that you are the Temple of God and that the holy Ghost dwelleth in you From hence the Resurrection of our bodies must needs follow as a necessary consequence for can we imagine that God will suffer the Temple of his Holiness to continue for ever in its ruines and Desolation will he not rear up again the noble Pavillion of his glory cast down by Death Fifteenth God hath predestinated us to make us
as the fire St. Paul intends to teach us this truth when he tells us that this Body is sown an earthly and a sensual Body but it shall rise again an heavenly and a spiritual Body we are not so to understand these words as to think that God will change them into Spirits or into such uncomposed bodies as are the Heavens for they shall yet be made up of flesh and bones and they shall have all the essential parts of an humane Body as we have already taken notice but I conceive that they are named spiritual and heavenly because they shall have no more the gross and earthy qualities and they shall live no more a Sensitive and an animal life In a word they shall need no more meat or drink than the Stars and Celestial Bodies no more than the holy Angels of God I confess that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended up into Heaven in a cloud not because that a Cloud was necessary to uphold and keep up his glorious Body for if in the estate of his infirmity and humiliation this divine Body was able to walk upon the waves of the Sea without sinking by the assistance of his divine Nature how much more since its glorification shall it be able to ascend up on high and to go whither he listeth If the help of any Creature had been necessary to uphold him he might have had Legions of Immortal Angels to carry him up but Christ needed not to be assisted neither by a Body nor a Spirit nor by any other Creature This Cloud therefore that appeared at his Ascention was no token of the infirmity of his humane Nature it did rather manifest the glory and magnificence of his Divine Majesty unto which this precious Body was united personally God hath often revealed himself attended by a Cloud as upon Mount Sina in the Ark of the Covenant at the Dedication of Solomone Temple therefore that Cloud in which God was pleased to discover himself is stiled The Glory of God that is the Sign and visible expression of his Glorious Presence and Divine Majesty Let us therefore gather from hence that the Cloud which attended upon the glorified Body of Jesus Christ was no needful help to carry him up to Heaven but as it were a Chariot of Triumph to cause him to go with more glory and pomp The Bodies of the Saints after the Resuriection shall shine and be full of glory they shall not only have some superficial splendor upon their Countenance or Skin as Moses when he had been with God forty days and forty nights in the Holy Mountain but they shall shine within and without as a true Diamond that casts abroad on all sides its light and flames So that it shall happen to them as it happened to our Saviour upon Mount Tabor for it is said that his Garments became White as the Light In the same manner at the time of our Transfiguration our bodies that are but the Garments of our Immortal Souls shall be as clear as the Light and as bright as the Celestial Globes I speak here nothing but what the Prophet Daniel saith before me Daniel 12. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever And our Saviour assures us Math. 23. That the Children of God shall shine in the Kingdom of their Father as the Sun These glorified Bodies shall never corrupt nor putrify but they shall be for ever uncorruptible Therefore St. Paul assures us that the Corruptible must put on incorruption so that I may safely affirm that their glory shall be more durable than that of the Sun or of the Moon or of the Stars for although these Celestial Bodies never corrupt out of any inward principle although there can be no alteration happen to them neither from their essential form nor from the properties that come from it nor from any other inherent quality they shall nevertheless corrupt out of an external principle for the Almighty hand of God which made them shall change and alter them as the royal Prophet tells us in 102 Psalm The heavens shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed 1 Pet. 5. Unto this St. Peter doth very well agree The Heavens saith he shall pass away with a great noise Where as the glorified Bodies shall never corrupt neither by any internal principle nor by their essential form nor by the properties and accidents that flow from it nor by any external cause nor by any accident whatsoever that can be imagined for the Almighty hand of God shall make them never to marr them again From hence it follows that they shall Die no more but shall continue Immortal for with incorruption they must put on Immortality therefore when our Saviour speaks of the estate of the glorified Saints Luk. 20. he saith not only that they shall not Die but that they cannot Die any more because they shall be like the Angels being the Children of the Resurrection In this consists the difference between them and those whom God hath raised up already mentioned in the Old and New Testament For they were forced to return to their sensual life to eat and drink and therefore they were again subject to corruption and Death but at the day of the general Resurrection whatsoever is Mortal shall be swallowed up by Life therefore St. Paul applies to this glorious day the accomplishment of this Prophecy Death is swallowed up into Victory and he brings in these who shall be cloathed with this Immortal Glory braving Death and the Grave in this triumphing Language O Death where is thy Victory O Grave I where is thy Sting In short to make us sensible that our Bodies shall put on all the richest and most noble qualities that can be imagined and to express all in a word the Holy Ghost assures us that they shall bear the Image of the Son of God and be made conformable to his glorious Body St Paul declares this Truth in the 15 Chap. of the first of the Corinth The first Man saith he was of the Earth Earthly the second Man was the Lord from Heaven as is the Earthy such are they that are are Earthy and as is the Heavenly such are they also that are Heavenly and as we have born the Image of the Earthy we shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly And in Philip. 3. he saith we wait for the Lord Jesus from Heaven who shall change our vile Body that it may be like to his glorious Body from hence you may gather Christians that at the rebuilding of this little Temple of the Godhead there shall happen no such thing as at the rearing up of the Temple of Jerusalem for when that was Rebuilding at the return from the Babilonish Captivity they that had seen the former
voice the praises of Almighty God in the glorious company of the Church triumphant with these unsteddy hands that can scarce hold any thing thou shalt one day receive Immortal Palmes and Golden Viols which thou shalt never quit with these feet that are dying and that can scarce hold thee up thou shalt follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth and thou shalt walk about the Streets of the heavenly Jerusalem and this same body that is going to rot and to be turned to dust shall one day shine as the Firmament and as the Sun in its greatest splendor What desirest thou more Christian Soul for thy comfort what addition can there be made to thine happiness for thou art going to the fruition of eternal Joyes and of endless pleasures in Heaven In the mean while thy Body shall endure no pain nor grief and God will shortly raise it up again from this deep sleep that begins to dull thy senses and close thine eye lids Shortly God will publish the year of the great Jubile all the Prisons of Death shall be then opened and the Prisoners shall be set at liberty Thou shalt shortly hear the found of the last Trump that shall rouse thee out of the dust and cause thee to appear in the presence of thy great Redeemer Thou leavest a wretched Body full of darkness and corruption assaulted by Death on all sides but it shall shortly be made uncorruptible immortal and adorned with Light and Glory Let therefore thy Heart rejoyce thy Tongue be glad and thy flesh rest in hope for the Lord will not leave thee always in the Grave he will not suffer thee to continue for ever in dust and corruption he will not only discover to thee the ways of life but he will shortly come down himself from Heaven for to lead thee thither When Death should be already upon thy lips when she should be ready to lay thee in thy Grave let not this disturb the quiet of thy Soul nor the peace of thy Conscience let it not shake thy precious Faith that keeps thee up nor drive thee from the Author of thy Blessed hope fixed in Heaven where Jesus Christ is entered as thy forerunner in short when thy Body should be all covered with sores and boiles as that of Job Job 19 when it should all fall to pieces before thine eyes let nothing hinder thee from crying out with this patient Man I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth and though after my skin worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my se f and mine Eyes shall behold and not another And with St. Paul Phil. 3. We look from Heaven for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the mighty working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian who being ready to depart out of the World comforts himself with an assurance and expectation of the glorious Resurrection of his Body from the Dust O Eternal and Divine Word by whom all things were Created and without whom was not any thing made that was made Thou hast not only created our Souls and fashioned our Bodies with thy skilful hands but when they were miserably lost and corrupted with Sin thou hast been pleased to redeem both our Souls and Bodies with thy most precious Blood and to restore thy glorious Image in us This wretched Body is but an Earthen Vessel yet thou hast inclosed in it the richest Treasuries of Life and Light Thou hast appointed it to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost and a noble Pavillion of the Godhead to participate with the Soul in the eternal happiness of thy Kingdom I feel my strength failing me and this Earthly Tabernacle decaying every day and every hour so that I am certain that it shall shortly fall to dust But Lord I am sufficiently comforted with the knowledge that if the outward Man decays the inward is renewed day by day If this wretched Body falls down by Death thou shalt raise it up again at the general Resurrection My Lord and my God thou art sufficiently able for all power is given to thee in Heaven and in Earth and in the depths of the Sea As the Father raiseth and quickneth the Dead thou dost also quicken them whom thou hast chosen Thou hast fashioned my Body of Dust and created this Dust of nothing and shalt not thou be able of the same dust into which this my Body shall be turned by Death to make and fashion it again Thou hast by thine Almighty power created my Soul and infused it into this Body and canst thou not return it again when it shall please thee to live for ever in a more blessed society than ever it hath been before O Prince of Life Death hath sufficiently felt thy great and overflowing power It intended to swallow thee up but thou hast swallowed it up in a glorious manner into Victory Thou hast been dead but thou art returned to life and thou livest for ever and ever And now thou holdest in thy hands the Keys of Death Thou openest and shutest up thy black Dungeon at thy pleasure Thou killest and makest alive thou castest into the Grave and fetchest up again Lord Jesus who art the Resurrection and the Life as thou hast an ability to cause my Body to come out of the Dust thou art willing and resolved to take it out again for thou hast promised to awake with the sound of the Archangels Trump and to lead away with thee all them that sleep in thee and repose themselves upon thee when thou shalt come from Heaven with thy powerful Angels at the great day of thy Triumph and at the Crowning of thy Spouse all the Prisons of Death shall be opened and the prisoners set at liberty It shall not be long O Lord before thou wilt cause the last Trumpet to sound to publish and proclaime the great Day of Rest and Joy Thou shalt then put us in possession of all the advantages which we have lost Thou shalt command the Sea the Earth and the Grave to restore all the Bodies which they have swallowed up and they shall readily obey thee Thy mighty word that Created the World and sustains it shall be heard in our very Graves and at that instant we shall go out to appear before thy dreadful Tribunal We shall not go out in the same manner as Lazarus with our winding sheets about us we shall leave in the Grave all tokens of our former infirmities Thou shalt not only draw our Bodies out of their Tombs but thou shalt make them more beautiful more perfect and glorious than ever they were before so that we are able to say for a truth I hat the glory of this second House shall be greater than the glory
this there be any other Sphere whereof the motion is so furious and swift as to carry with it the inferior Globes and to cause them to roul round in the space of four and twenty hours Of this Heaven David speaks in the 19 Psalm The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work be hath put in them a Tabernacle for the Sun Now above all these Heavenly Spheres mentioned by the Astrologers some reckon up nine or ten and others more There is yet a third Heaven spoken of by St. Paul 2 Cor. 12. I know saith he a man in Christ which was taken up into the third Heaven I know that he was taken up into Paradise and heard words which cannot be spoken which are not possible for Man to utter The Holy Apostle removes in these words all doubts concerning the place intended by this Third Heaven for he calleth it Paradise where he heard unspeakable words which are not possible to be uttered The Celestial Globes rowl about continually but this Third Heaven which for its excellency is stiled Heaven is fixed and without motion in Eternal Rest And as much as these beautiful Orbs have a greater Light and Glory than the Air and the inferior Bodies so much the more doth this Third Heaven excel them It is my judgement that Solomon means this Third Heaven scituate above all the rest which exceeds them so much in Beauty and Glory when he speaks to God of the Heavens and of the Heaven of Heavens 1 Kings 8. That is to say the most Excellent the highest and the most Glorious of all the Heavens are not able to contain thee and God himself saith by his Holy Prophet The Heavens are my Throne and the Earth is my Footstool Isai 66. for in this high Heaven God hath placed his Throne where he discovers his Glory and the brightness of his surprizing Countenance there the Seraphims fly and thousand thousands worship him and ten thousand Millions stand continually before him Isai 6. Dan. 7. Here it was that the Blessed Soul of our Saviour Christ was admitted assoon as it had left the Body according to what he promised to the crucified Thief Verily I say unto thee this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Luk 23. Hither this Glorious Saviour is ascended both in Soul and Body after his Resurrection and here it was that St. Stephen saw him when he cryed out I see the Heavens open and Jesus Christ fitting at the right hand of God Acts 7. And hither it is that the Souls of all such as dye in his favour are carried up Therefore St. Paul to the Hebrews mentions immediately after the thousands of Angels The Spirits of just Men made perfect and the Church and Congregation of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven In short it is the Glorious Seat where we hope that God will receive us both in Soul and Body at that day when we shall be taken up into the Air above the Clouds of Heaven to be for ever with the Lord Jesus Some inquire then what shall become of this Elemental World whether this Heaven that appears to our Eyes and this Earth which sustains us shall perish or whether they shall remain yet after the great day of Doom Certain prophane Atheists are perswaded that the World shall remain for ever as it doth at present and that there shall be no manner of alteration The Apostle St. Peter hath Prophesied of these Persons and described them in their own Colours There shall come at the last day mockers walking after their own Lusts saying where is the promise of his coming for since the Fathers are asleep all things continue in the same manner since the beginning of the World I need not trouble my self in a refutation of such impieties I speak to none but to the devout Souls which reverence the Divinity of the Holy Scriptures and are fully perswaded of the Truth of all the Articles of our Creed It oft-times happens when Men oppose a false Doctrine and an erroneous opinion they run from one extremity to another therefore some imagine that the World shall totally perish and that as God hath called the Heavens and Earth and the rest of the Elements out of nothing he will reduce them all again into the same Nothing and that he intends to create others more beautiful more Holy and far more Glorious There are two kinds of expressions that seem to favor this opinion The first which speaks of the Heavens and of the Earth as of perishing and decaying Creatures In this manner David discourseth of them in 102 Psalm and after him the Apostle to the Hebrews Thou Lord hast established the Earth and the Heavens are the Works of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure they shall wax old as doth a Garment and as a Vesture shalt thou fold them up and theyshall be changed And our Saviour tells us in the 24 of St. Matt. The Heavens and the Earth shall pass away but my Words shall not pass away Especially the words of St. Peter in the 2 Epistle and the 3 Chapter are remarkable The Heavens shall pass away with a noise and the Elements shall melt with heat and the Earth with the works that are therein shall be burnt up The other passages mention new Heavens and a new Earth as in the 65 of Isaiah Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former things shall be remembred no more Likewise in the fore-mentioned Chapter the 3 of the 2 Epistle of St. Peter We look for new Heavens and a new Earth according to his promise wherein dwelleth Righteousness And in the 21 Revel I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea Moreover St. Paul to the Hebrews speaks of the World to come from hence some conclude that the old World ought to be abolished and that God shall create a new World There is no man that is a Christian can doubt of that wonderful change which shall happen to the world at the last day if he considers the fore-mentioned passage of Holy Scripture especially that of St. Peter The Heavens shall pass away with a noise and the Elements shall melt with heat and the Earth with the Works that are therein So that as the Walls of Jerico fell at the sound of the Priests Trumpets Likewise this great world shall be turned upside down at the blowing of the Arch-Angels Trumpet Our Reason alone being enlightened by Divine Revelation seems to confirm this Truth for seeing that the House infected with a spreading Leprosy was to be demolished how much the rather should the world be destroyed because in it is to be seen apparently the spots and blemishes of sin the Spiritual Leprosy But although this great Fabrick of the World ought to be ruined and turned upside down we do not believe that it shall
an accomplishment our Saviour confirms this interpretation when he saith in St. Lukes Gospel It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away then that one tittle of the Law should not be fulfilled The Holy Scripture is full of such kind of expressions but I would rather stick to the answers which I have already given to the former passages and to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away not in regard of their substance but only in regard of their accidental qualities In St. Peters expressions I find a double comparison or allusion the one relates to the Tents that are pulled down when the pieces are taken asunder This comparison is very proper for this World is like a great Tabernacle a glorious Pavillion God shall pull off all the coverings he shall cut the Cords and separate every piece But he shall one day raise it up again gather every piece and make it a Royal Tabernacle full of splendor and glory The other comparison is borrowed from Goldsmiths who cast the Gold and Metals into pots and then melt them in the fire Now as they do not destroy by this means the Gold and the Silver but they cleanse it from drosse and from dirt they cause them to appear in all their brightness and beauty and give them a new shape and form Likewise the fire of the last Judgement shall not consume the Heavens and the Earth but shall only give them a new form and beauty The strangest objection in my opinion is occasioned by the words of St. Peter The Earth and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up But I answer to this that there is a great difference between burning and being totally consumed and abolished If it were in the power of a Man whose House is burned to the ground to raise it up again from its ruines and to make it more beautiful and glorious then before by his word alone he would never seek for other Materials Now I shall say again that what is impossible with Men is possible with God he hath already Created the World by his Word and he is able to restore it again by the same word Art hath found a way to make beautiful Vessels of melted ashes and shall not Gods Hand unto which all the skill of Art and the strength of Nature cannot be compared be able to gather up the ashes of this Earth and to make of it a Body full of glory and light From hence you may perceive how we are to understand that there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth they shall not be new in regard of their substance and matter which shall have been from the beginning of the World but they shall be new in regard of those noble qualities which God shall give them When a debaucht fellow leaves his wicked life and applies himself to the practice of Piety and Vertue we commonly say that he is not the same but that he is become another Man Besides when a Man hath cast off his old rags and puts on a glorious Garment we are wont to say that he is another Man We shall have much more cause to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall be new when God shall have renewed them In short he shall enrich the World with so many wonderful beauties he shall fill it full of so much glory and excellency he shall cause it to be so perfect that we shall have just reason to look upon it as upon a New World and to say with the Apostle The old things are passed away behold all things are become new I would not have you think Christians that this opinion is grounded only upon humane reason it is drawn from the words of St. Paul who speaking of the earthly and insensible Creatures as may appear by his intention he saith not only that they are subject to Vanity not willingly but because of him who hath subjected them he means Man who by his Sin and Rebellion hath spoiled the World and corrupted Nature but he adds immediately after That they hope to be delivered from the Bondage of corruption to be in the glorious liberty of the Children of God afterwards he saith for we know that the whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now and before he saith That the earnest expectation of the Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God In which passages pray take notice that St. Paul saith not that these Creatures shall be abolished and totally destroyed but only that they shall be delivered from Vanity and from the bondage of corruption unto which the Sin of Man hath made them subject and that this blessed deliverance shall be brought to pass at the day of the Redemption of our Bodies that is to say at that day when God shall redeem our Bodies from their Graves and raise them up to the highest glory and happiness which hath been prepared for us from the Creation of the World Then shall happen that which is wont to be seen at the Marriage of a great King or at a Coronation or a Triumph for not only the Prince and his Spouse and all their Court appear in their richest and most glorious Attire and loaden with their most precious Jewels and the usual Pompe of Triumphs was as extraordinary and glorious as Invention could make it In such occasions the Princes Palace is adorned with the richest with the most magnificent and rarest ornaments and the Town where this Solemnity is kept shews forth some Signs of the publick rejoycing many places are beautified with several Rarities Theaters are erected the Streets are covered with Flowers and Tapistry fires are kindled and Torches are lighted and there is no corner but shews some expressions of the publick joy Likewise when our Lord Jesus Christ shall come down from the Clouds of Heaven upon a Charriot of Triumph when he shall come to consummate his Marriage with and to Crown his Spouse He shall not only appear in his greatest Glory and most Divine Pomp but the Church also his Spouse shall be cloathed with a Garment brighter than the Sun and Crowned with an Immortal Glory All the Blessed Saints shall appear in their attire of Joy having Palms in their Hands and Crowns upon their Heads and the Companies of Holy Angels shall sing round about At that time Paradice which shall be as his Palace and Bridechamber shall be adorned and enriched with all the light anp glory which I have already essayed to describe unto you The whole World also and every part of it shall partake of this great Glory and Celestial Pomp. The richest Coronations the most Magnificent Triumphs the most stately Nuptials are gone in a few hours Therefore the fires of Joy are soon put out the hangings of the Streets are taken down and the Arches and Pageants disappear and the City is to be seen in its wonted dress But as this Glory and Joy of the Church shall never
we may conclude that although in Heaven we shall know one another we shall have nothing of that carnal love which we have at present and which causeth us to put so much difference between one person and another A father may know his Children but his love shall not be grounded upon considerations of flesh and blood he shall love them only because they are amongst the Children of God and the Heirs of his Kingdom and because he shall see them appear in the Image of the Heavenly Father cloathed with his Light and Crowned with his Immortal Glory Finally we shall love no body but in God and for his sake as they shall be in God and God in them In this manner it shall not be possible to love them more or less Charity or Love the Queen of Vertues shall then sit upon its Throne and attain to its highest degree and perfection If you think seriously upon this Christians you shall easily find arguments to answer the vain objections of such as say that if we come to the knowledge of one another in Heaven that shall be able to disturb our satisfaction and rest for as it will be a comfort and joy to meet there with our Parents and Friends in like manner it will be a trouble and dissatisfaction not to find there all such whom we have formerly loved We may retort the same objection in a stronger manner against those that believe that we shall not know one another in Heaven for we may say also that if we know not the persons we shall not know whether our Parents or our Friends are there and that this is as likely to disturbe and trouble the quiet and satisfaction of our minds But to argue in this gross manner is to confound Heaven with the Earth Grief and displeasure can never be admitted in a Paradice of joy and perfect happiness In this glorious condition our knowledge shall be so clear our Charity so pure our Love for God so servent that as we shall love all things which God shall love and where his Image shall appear so it shall not be possible for us to love them whom God shall hate them who shall bear the marks and similitudes of the Devil When David was yet here on Earth he said unto God Lord shall not I hate them that hate thee I hate them with a perfect hatred they have been to me as mine Enemies Ps 39. In the same manner we shall rather speak in Heaven in the estate of perfection when God shall be in us all in all and we shall be all in God Some there are that inquire what kind of language we shall speak in Heaven some reply that we shall speak the Language of Angels grounding their opinion upon what St. Paul speaks to the Corinthians When I should speak with the Tongues of Men and Angels If I have not charity I am become as sounding Brass and a tinkling Simbal But this is a Chimerian opinion for as the Angels are pure Spirits by consequence they can have no Tongue nor proper language I confess in some holy Apparitions Angels have spoken to Men but it was by moving the Tongues of their borrowed Bodies or by employing some other corporal Organ then they did speak in the Language of those unto whom they were sent they had no particular or proper Dialect But if Angels did speak their Language would excell as much that of Men as the Angelical Nature excells the Humane by the Tongues of Angels therefore our Apostle understands an excellent Tongue better then that of Men. Others fancy that in Heaven we shall speak no other Language but the Hebrew because say they that it is the Tongue which God hath Sanctified from the beginning of the World in which he spoke to the Patriarcks and Holy Prophets in which he proclaimed his Law upon Mount Sina in the audience of all the People of Israel and in which he hath Recorded his Sacred Law with his own Finger They say that it is the Language which Adam did speak in the Earthly Paradice in the state of innocency and which all the Inhabitants of the World did speak before God sent amongst them a Division of Tongues Others are yet of opinion that as then we shall attain to all Knowledge and Sciences we shall not be ignorant of all kind of Languages but that we shall speak them all in a most perfect manner and that with them we shall declare the wonderful Works of God as the Apostles did at the day of Pentecost As the holy Scripture is silent upon this matter I shall affirm nothing But in general terms I may say that as God caused a division of Tongues to punish Mans insolency and pride and that as the differing Languages of People is an effect of their Sin it is most certain that this confusion and difference shall be altogether taken away and that nothing shall be said in Heaven but shall be very well understood by all the glorified Saints I may add moreover that in case we should speak so well all manner of Languages which have been in the World it is nevertheless very likely that we shall all speak but one Language that we may all praise God with the same voice but whether this shall be the Holy Language or another more perfect and majestick which God shall sanctifie for this purpose we cannot know until God of his infinite Mercy shall have raised us to this estate of Glory and perfect Happiness From what we have already said Christians you may easily understand that our happiness hath three steps or degrees the first is attainable in this Life the second at the Egress of the Soul out of the Body the third at the great day of our glorious Resurrection for already in this Life God bestows upon us the First-Fruits of his Glory and the fore-tasts of Heaven The Spirit of God and of his Glory rests at present upon us which fills us full of an unspeakable glorious joy and with the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding When our Souls depart out of this wretched and crasie Body God gathers them up into the bundle of Life he introduceth them into the blessed company of the Angels and Glorified Spirits and admits them to the Contemplation of his Face which is fulness of Joy But in this joyful day when Christ shall come down from Heaven to judge the quick and the dead he will carry us both in Soul and Body to the highest Glory and Happiness whereof we are capable for this reason the Name of Glory is ascribed to this high degree of happiness which is promised to us at the blessed appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ as in the 8 Chap. to the Romans where the Apostle saith That the Creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope because the Creature it self shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into
of the Soul from the Body seeing that Death which shall separate you from your selves is not able to separate you from the Spirit of the Lord Jesus The Soul of our Souls the Seal of the promises of God and the earnest of our future Inheritance Instead of looking backwards and longing for these perishing advantages and for Honors that can only dazle the eye consider that Death shall wipe away all Tears remove all your grief and raise you above all the storms of the World above all the miseries and troubles that cover the face of the Earth That you may be able to follow this Death more chearfully Remember that it draws you out of a place all polluted with Sin and infected with Impiety to transport you into a new Heaven adorned with Righteousness and Holiness and perfumed with the Prayers Praises and Thanksgivings of the Glorified Saints remember that it frees you from all remains of corruption and gives Deaths wound to all your Lusts Mind not so much the false appearance of Death for to the wicked it is as it were the Subburbs of Hell the jaws of the bottomless pit and the beginning of their endless Torments but to you Believers it is the Gate of Heaven an entrance into Paradice and a passage to a most happy Life Learn to relish now the Joys wherewith your Souls shall be for ever satisfied when God shall Crown you with his Glory and make you Drink of the Rivers of his Pleasure Seeing that your Soul is going to put on a Garment of an Immortal colour and to dwell for ever in the Palace which God hath built with his Almighty hand Cast off willingly this wretched crasie and corruptible Body depart willingly out of this Earthly Tabernacle which turns of it self into Dust Consider well that if it falls by Death it shall rise again at the Resurrection and that when it shall have been the Dwelling and the Food of Worms it shall at last become the Temple of God and the Tabernacle of his Glory Finally O Religious Souls shut your eyes to the World and to all the vanities in it which the World adores and aspire to the real advantages which God hath prepared for you before the Creation of the World and which you shall injoy when the World shall be no more Let your precious Faith and your blessed hope enter into Eternity it self to behold that extraordinary happiness and glory which God shall accomplish when he shall bring us both in Soul and Body into his Celestial Paradice to see his face in which is fulness of Joy Seeing that this perfect happiness and infinite Glory which never entered into the Heart and thoughts of Man shall never be perfectly accomplished but at that Day when Jesus Christ shall appear from Heaven to be glorified in his Saints and to become wonderful in all Believers Think alwayes upon this Glorious Day the end of all our wishes the fulfilling of all your hopes and the perfection of all the designes which God hath conceived in himself from all Eternity You Devout Souls that are grieved to see the World prosper and Satans Empire flourish to see Gods Children subject to all the Darts of Death take good courage and rejoyce with an holy Joy for shortly all the Enemies of God and of your Salvation shall be punished with an everlasting punishment as from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Shortly the Devil his Angels his Agents and Slaves shall be bound up in Chains of Darkness and cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone and shut up in the bottomless pit Shortly Death shall be no more and this Church of Jesus Christ ' whose Miseries and Afflictions cause you to weep shall be shortly cloathed with unspeakable light and glory It shall enter with Joy and Triumph into the Heavenly Jerusalem and you your selves shall sing with all the glorified Armies of Heaven Seeing that Christ shall come as a Thief in the Night and shall surprise all the Children of the World unawares prepare your Souls Believers with the love of God and an expectation of your Merciful Lord behave your selves in the same manner as you would do if you were now at the Eye of this great Festival as if you did spie already the breaking of this most happy day Entertain now the same affections and joy as if you did hear the voice of God and the Trumpet of the Archangel as if the Earth were already in a flame and as if Jesus Christ himself were coming in the Clouds of Heaven And seeing that no impure thing shall enter into the Heavenly and Holy Jerusalem and that without Holiness no Man shall see the face of God cleanse your selves Christians from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of the Lord forsake all manner of Vice give your selves over to Vertue and to the practice of good Works imitate the diligence of the Faithful Servant that you may not be ashamed at the coming of your Great Master Take heed that you be not like the Wise Virgins that slept as well as the foolish but watch and pray that you may not enter into Temptation for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak Redeem the time for the dayes are evil and make haste to put on the Garments of Righteousness and innocency fill your Hearts with the Holy Oyl of Faith of Hope and Charity Take your Lamps in your hands and let your Souls shine with a Divine Light In this blessed disposition let us go and meet our Heavenly Bridegroom and hasten his coming by our Prayers and Groans Let our Souls be full of Love let them sigh for our Divine Jesus and being moved with the same affection as St. John let us say to him with an earnest desire Come Lord Jesus and if he answers for certain I come quickly Let the Longing of our Souls increase more and more that we may be able to Pray more fervently and to cry out from the bottom of our Souls unto Heaven Come Lord Jesus even come Lord come quickly Amen A Prayer and a Meditation for a Believing Soul that rejoyceth and comforts it self in looking upon Deaths Destruction and the everlasting and Blessed Life which we hope to injoy both in Soul and Body after the Resurrection O Great Judge of the World bottomless Fountain of Life and happiness thy Gracious hand hath put into mine Heart the seeds of Immortality the first-fruits of Heavens Glory and the foretasts of everlasting Delights Thou hast made me to behold by Faith the joys and happiness of Paradice where thou shalt receive my Soul when it shall depart out of this wretched World and to Meditate upon the Glory which thou preparest for my Body when thou shalt take it to thy self to make it like to thy Glorious Body Now raise my thoughts and my hopes to this highest glory and happiness which thou hast promised to our
seek amongst the rarest and most precious Treasuries of Wit and Learning belonging to the Heathen Antiquity turn over the Writings of the most Eloquent Orators of the Subtlest Philosophers of the most famous Poets examine the Secrets of the most expert and experienced Physitians consider their Practice and all the Remedies that they prescribe to the Soul and you shall find them too unskilful to perform the least Cure They do but charm and divert the Disease hardens us against the evil they furnish us with a good exterior and teach us to bear a good Meen but they have no real Antidote against the Venome that kills the Principle of Life nor Remedy that reaches to the Heart And as the Torrents that dry up in the hottest seasons such Consolations that flow not from the Fountain of Life vanish away without effect and dry up to nothing when a deep sorrow fear and affliction seize upon a sinful Soul It seems the contrivers of the Heathens Religion were sensible of this Truth for they have dedicated Temples and erected Altars to all manner of gods and goddesses not only to Vertues and Health but also to Vices and Diseases to Fear Cowardise Anger the Feavor the Pestilence and an infinite more but they left Death out of their Devotions This is an open Declaration that they knew not how to strike acquaintance with Death and win its esteem and favor They had no Sacrifices nor Incense that could allay its fury they lookt upon it as their most inhumane and unreconcileable Enemy The very name of Death did terrify them therefore it was one of their most unfortunate Omens Adrian the Emperor is a witness of what I say he was one of the greatest Princes in former Ages he had made most part of the habitable World tremble under his Scepter and put to death an infinite number of Men but at last he trembled and was astonished himself at the approaches of Death he had overcome the most barbarous Nations and tam'd the most savage Beasts but when he came to this last Enemy he had no weapons fit for the Encounter therefore in this occasion he discovers the weakness and unconstancy of his Mind far more disturb'd than his Body was with the Disease Sometimes he did employ the Magick Art to retard Death sometimes he did make use of his Sword and Poison to hasten it at last he kill'd himself by an abstinence from Food necessary to entertain his life He had conquer'd all the World and given Peace and Happiness to his Empire but he could not overcome himself or appease the troubles of his Conscience he was so far from satisfying the troublesome thoughts of his Soul that he suffers himself to be overwhelmed with despair he flatters his Soul in hastening its ruine for when his Disease did suffer him to breath he talkt unto it in this manner My little Soul my dearest Companion Thou art now going to wander in obscure Cold and strange places Thou shalt never jest again according to the wonted custom thou shalt never give me any sport or pleasure any more But some may say that Adrian was a powerful Monarch but no great Philosopher that he knew how to Govern and was well acquainted with the Politicks but that he was ignorant of the Morals and had no skill to dye well To answer this Objection let us give an example of one without exception who will satisfy all Opponents Aristotle is generally esteem'd to have been the Subtlest and the most Learned of the Heathen Antiquity he was the Prince of all the Philosophers the Glory of his Age and the Founder of his Sect when his excellent Soul had viewed all things examined the Heavens searcht among the excellencies of the Earth pryed into all the Wonders of the World and found out the rarest Secrets of Nature He could never find any solid Comforts against the apprehensions of Death Notwithstanding all his admirable Subtleties and his profound Learning the fears of this cruel Death terrifies his Conscience in such a manner that he confessed That of all terrible things Death was the most dreadful CHAP. 3. Of divers sorts of Death with which we must encounter WHen David had a design to fight with Goliah he could not make use of the Armor of King Saul therefore he took a smooth stone out of his Bag cast it with his Sling struck the Philistine in the Forehead and brought down this proud Giant who had defied the Armies of Israel We have already examined and tried all the Armor of humane Wisdom and Learning laid up in the Storehouses of the greatest wits of former Ages and we have found that they are not able to yield us any benefit when we shall encounter with Death Let us therefore now see whither we may overcome this Proud Enemy with the Sling of our mystical David with the weapons of our Divine Shepheard but before we begin the Encounter let us look and behold it in the face The enemy that I intend that you should overcome is a Monster with three Heads for there are three sorts of death the Corporal the Spiritual and the Eternal The Corporal Death is a separation of the Soul from the Body although our Body hath been fashioned with the Finger of God it is but a weak and frail Vessel made with the slime of the Earth but our Soul is of an Heavenly Spiritual and Immortal Substance it is a Sparkle and a Raie of the Godhead and the lively Image of our great Creator for when God had made our first Parent He breathed into his Nostrils the breath of Life Gen. 2.7 that we might thereby understand that our Souls do proceed from his immediate hand therefore he is named the Father of spirits Heb. 12. and The faithful Creator of Souls 1 Pet. 4. This Soul doth raise us a degree above all the Animals and above the Celestial Bodies and renders us like to the Angels of Heaven It is the Light that enlightens us the Salt that preserves us from Corruption In one word by this Soul we live enjoy our Sences move and understand as soon as this Angelical Guest leaves its Lodging and Earthly abode it looseth all Beauty and falls of it self into an inevitable ruine For this Flesh that we entertain with care and pamper with all manner of Dainties doth then corrupt and rot after that it hath been stretcht awhile upon Beds of Gold and richly attired in Purple and Scarlet it is cast upon a Bed of Worms and covered with the vilest insects of the Earth notwithstanding all its former perfumes it yields then a most horrid stink before it did ravish the eyes of the Beholders with its admirable Beauty but now it becomes so odious and horrible that the living care not to see it at last it is reduc'd to ashes according to the Sentence that was pronounc'd in the Earthly Paradise Dust thou art and to Dust thou shalt return The Spiritual Death is the separation
was exercising his Meditation when he cryed out Who is he that liveth and shall not see death shall he free his soul from the power of the Grave Eccles 12. And to speak in the language of Salomon or ever the Silver Cord be loosed or the Golden Bowl be broken or the Pitcher be broken at the Fountain or the Wheel broken at the Cistern That is to say The Back-bone whereof the Marrow is as white as Silver be unloosed when the Scull which is like a precious vessel of Gold be broken when the Vena Cava receives no more Bloud from the Liver the fountain of Life when the Lights that draw in and push forth the breath move no more or when the Kidneys that extract the humidity from the Veins and cause it to drop down into the Bladder as into a Cistern begin to fail Then shall the Body return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it To express unto us this inevitable fate Moses reckons up all the antient Fathers that have lived longest in the first world he mentions some who lived 700 others 800 others 900 years and some near a thousand Gen. 5. But when he hath well spoken of their deeds and of the Children which they left in the world he adds in the conclusion of all And then such an one died So that our Creator doth execute upon all men the Sentence once pronounced against Adam the Father of all Mankind Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return Gen. 3. By this means God declares his Justice and Truth and accomplisheth what was signified by the antient Types Levit. 14. For according to the Laws which God gave to Israel by Moses the house that was infected with the Leper was to be demolished and cast into a noisome place There was a far more important reason for mans body to be destroy'd and laid in the Sepulchre because he was created to be the Palace of the living God the Dwelling of his Glory But Sin that is a kind of infectious Leper hath insinuated it self and disfigured it it hath entred the Skin corrupted the Blood disordered the Spirits it is crept into the Joynts and Marrow and hath speard its venom in such a manner that there is none of our Members but is an instrument of iniquity and unrighteousness Rom. 6. For the same reason we cannot sufficiently admire the difference that God had put between the Vessel that were clean and such as were unclean for he commanded that the earthen Vessel that was infected should be broken to pieces Levit. 11. but that such as were of a more precious substance should be only washt with water and purified with fire Numb 11. The Commands and Laws of the great God are excellent Commentaries upon his actions our Soul is like a Golden Vessel because it is of a Spiritual and Heavenly substance therefore God doth not altogether destroy it although it be infected with sin but causeth it to be washed and cleansed at the fountain of his infinite mercy he purifies it with the blood of his Son and causes it to pass through the fire of his Holy Spirit but for this miserable Body that is but an earthly Vessel and Tabernacle he doth break it to pieces and reduce it to dust and ashes It is my judgement that death is an excellent means to demonstrate the infinite power of our great God and Saviour for the greater the disease is the more admirable is the Cure without doubt the finger of God and his infinite power is far more visible in raising one man from the dead than in preserving many thousands alive As God is wont to draw light out of darkness so he makes use of death to cause his infinite wisdom to shine and appear to all his Creatures Sin hath brought forth death and death on the contrary by a most fortunate paricide kills and destroys its Parent Sin for it is Death that totally roots out of our Souls all corrupt affections Moreover God who is the same yesterday to day and for ever Heb. 13. will have all his Children pass through the same path to take possession of his eternal Inheritance and enter by the same Gate into his Royal Palace All the faithful of the Old Testament are gone already this way through many tribulations Acts 24. they are arrived to the kingdom of God and through death they are come to the abode of life and immortality The Holy Scriptures that are inspired of God tell us That the Reubenites and half of the Tribe of Manasseth Numb 32. Josh 1. left their dwellings which they had beyond Jordan to go over and fight in the Army of Israel and that they did not offer to return until God had given rest to their brethren and put them into a peaceable possession of their inheritances If I may make some stop at such an excellent Allegory I may say that these passages represent unto us a lively image of the faithful that dye before the end of the world for they leave their bodies the abode and dwellings of their souls and they pass through death as through another Jordan into the Celestial Canaan to encounter with God by their Prayers in the society of the first-born whose names are registred in Heaven and they will not return to the bodies that they have quitted until the number of the Saints be compleat until the building of the Church be finished and until our great Joshua hath introduced us into his Eternal Rest and put us in possession of the incorruptible inheritance reserved for us in Heaven Then we shall not need to fight but to enjoy peaceably the fruits of our victories and to rest for ever from all our labours We shall have no cause to offer unto God Prayers and Supplications but our business shall be to sing unto him Praises and eternal Thanksgivings The strongest and the most considerable Reason in my judgement of this our destiny is That God hath predestinated us to be comformable to the image of his Son that he might be the first-born among many brethren he will have us baptized with his Baptisme that we drink in his Cup and that we enter into Bliss by that same Gate through which he hath already past through Shame and Disgrace he is arrived to Glory and through Death he is ascended into life he hath drunk of the bitter waters before that he hath tasted of the Rivers of Celestial Joys and he is gone down into the Grave before he would mount up to the right hand of God Although it is appointed unto all men once to dye Heb. 9. I dare maintain that death hath no cause to boast it self and that it cannot sing Songs of Triumph with any Reason because that it looseth the most glorious and happiest victory for we read in the Book of Esther that King Ahasuerus would not abolish nor recal the Proclamation that he had set forth against the
death of other men but hath not the deadly and pernicious consequences for it is not only a sign and a testimony of Gods Grace and Favour but the beginning of our deliverance and the cure of all our Diseases As Moses when he had cast wood into the waters of Marah they had the same colour but not the same bitterness and unpleasant taste Thus the death of Gods dearest Children hath the same tincture and appearance as before but Christs Cross hath taken away the danger the trouble and extracted out of it its unsufferable bitterness and changed it into unspeakable sweetness As Pharaoh was drowned with all his Army in the waters of the Red Sea but the Children of Israel found a secure and a pleasant passage into the promised Land When they were arrived upon the other shoar of that dreadful Sea they sung unto God Songs of Triumph and Thanksgiving Thus Death opens its Throat to devour the Reprobates It is an Abysse where they can find no bottom but unto the Children of God it is a favourable passage into an eternal Bliss assoon as they are gone through they are arrived to a place of Assurance Joy and Rest where God furnisheth them with Songs of Triumph and Thansgiving to the Lamb 1 Rev. 15. Moses's Rod was turned into a Serpent but Aaron's being laid up in the Tabernacle began to flourish and bear Almonds Exod. 4. and 7. Thus while we are in the hands of the Law Death is dreadful and terrible but when we draw near to Christ the true Ark of the Covenant it blossoms and brings Fruits forth of Joy and Eternal Comfort Balaam the Prophet was called to curse the People of God but he blessed it contrary to the vain expectation of Balak King of Moab Thus Death hath been brought into the world by the Devil to destroy and utterly abolish the Holy Seed but God by his infinite Goodness and Wisdom hath changed it into Salvation and Blessing Let us not therefore be any longer puzled to find out the meaning of Sampsons Riddle Out of the eater came forth Meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness Judg. 14. For the Church of God unto whom Christ hath discover'd the most excellent Secrets of his Kingdom teacheth us to seek the Hony the sweetest comforts out of the Belly of this old Lion It is not possible to Judge of Musick by a Tone or of an Oration by a Period nor of a Comedy by a Scene So we must not judge of a Battel by the first Assault nor of a wrestling by the first embraces and effects of the wrestlers for some in the beginning of the Battel turn their backs who nevertheless at the last doe sometimes win the day and the victory and some in wrestling are foiled at the beginning who nevertheless at last supplant their Enemy and cast him upon the back Therefore that we may better understand the great and notable advantages that we have over death we must examine it all along until the end of the encounter we must take notice of every Assault that we do give unto this unreconcileable Enemy Assoon as the Taper of our Life begins to burn Satan sends forth his blasts to extinguish it Death labours to undermine ' this poor Dwelling from the first moment that it was built it besieges it on all sides it makes its approaches in time it saps the foundation it batters us with several diseases and unexpected accidents every day it opens a breach and pulls out of this building some stones But if Death labours to demolish on her part we on ours labour to repair And as those who built the Walls of Jerusalem held with one hand the Trowel and with the other a Sword to sight so we defend our selves as well as we are able against the assaults of Death Therefore we do not only endeavour to preserve this earthly Lodge that God hath Lett and Sett to us for a term and to mend up the continual Dilapidations that happen in it but at the very sight of death when it gives us the Assault we do then also advance our Spiritual building and labour to bring it to perfection so that we may say as the Apostle St. Paul If our outward man decays the inward man is renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4. To speak true Death meddles with nothing but with the exterior part of Man for our principal Fort and chief Bulwark doth neither fear to be undermined nor sapt nor to be won by Assault for it is rais'd above the Heavens and built upon the Rock of Eternity it cannot be batter'd for as the Thunderbolts the storms of Hail and ill weather cannot prejudice the Sunbeams because they are of a Spiritual nature so all the Fury of the World all the Powers of Hell and the Rage of Death can never wrong the Soul that is of a Spiritual and Immortal Nature This Castle can never be famished for God furnisheth it with Manna from Heaven and from the Rock upon which it is built there runs a source of living waters that riseth to everlasting life In one word as the Serpents do crawl only upon the Dust Death hath no power but upon the earthly part of Man therefore our Lord Jesus Christ adviseth his Apostles To not fear them that kill the Body but cannot kill the Soul At the very instant of our Souls separation from the Body Death seeâ—s to have a great advantage upon us but when I consider all I find that it hath no cause to glory and that it is without reason that it chalenges the victory When a valiant Captain marches out of a Town almost destroyed to another more secure and better fortified with his weapons in his hand we say that he hath quitted his station and not that he is overcome Thus when this wretched Body decays and that our Souls depart well armed with Faith and Hope to lodge in a more secure place in the highest Heavens no body can say to speak properly that we have been overcome And as it happens with such as sail on the wide Sea when a violent storm threatens them with Shipwrack they think themselves very happy if they can quit then Vessel leave it to the mercy of the Winds and Waves and escape to Land with their Riches and Lives safe Thus it is with us who sail upon this tempestuous Sea of the world for when Death raiseth its most cruel storms we think our selves happy if we can leave this miscrable Body which seems as a ship to our Souls and if we can secure our Spiritual Life and our Heavenly Riches Therefore we may justly say to the faithful Souls that are frighted when they see Death threatening to drown them in its depths as St. Paul to his Ship-company who did tremble for fear at the sight of a roaring and furious Sea Take good courage my brethren for I do assure you in the name of the living God that your lives are
in the 31 Psalm I trusted in thee O Lord I said Thou art my God my times are in thy hand He is of the same judgement in the 39 Psalm Behold thou hast assured me my days as an band breadth and in the 68 Psalm Vnto God the Lord belong the issues of Death Moses teacheth us the same Lesson in his Divine Hymn Psal 90. for when he hath represented how that it is God who reduceth Man to Ashes and maketh him return to his first substance he tels us speaking unto God Thou turnest man to destruction and sayst return ye Children of Men. King Hezekiah's comparison is very notable he compares the Life of Man to a Thread that God hath twisted and that he cuts off at his pleasure Isai 38. Mine Age is departed and removed from me as a Shepherds Tent I have cut off like a Weaver my life he will cut me off with pining Sickness from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me Hannah Samuels Mother removes all difficulty and confirms this Truth sufficiently 2 Sam. 2. It is God saith she who killeth and maketh alive he bringeth down to the Grave and bringeth up There is nothing more significant to the same purpose than our Lord and Saviours words I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen and have the Keys of Hell and of Death Apoc. This great God and Saviour closeth the Gates of the Grave when he pleaseth and 't is not possible to open them against his will In short Whether we live we live to the Lord whether we die we die to the Lord whether therefore we live or die we are the Lords Rom. 14. And our Reason being enlightned with a Divine Revelation teacheth us this good and profitable Lesson for if God hath a hand in our Conception and Birth and if he appoints the time of our entrance into the world wherefore should not he also have an hand in our Death mark out the time of our last departure David speaks thus to God in the 139 Psalm My substance was not bid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect and in thy Book all my Members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there is none of them we may therefore for the same reason say to God My substance will not be hid from thee when this miserable Body shall fall to pieces as rotten Wood and as a Moth-eaten Garment thine Eyes shall see me when Death shall cut off the Thred of my Life and separate what thou hast joyned together so wonderfully thy Power and Wisdom shall have an hand in my last hours and nothing shall happen to me but that which thou hast afore ordained in thine unsearchable Decrees If God appoints the time of our Resurrection and if it be certain that without his express Commission the Holy Spirit will not breathe upon our dead bones to cause them to revive is it probable that the breath should depart out of our Nostrils and our Bodies should fall into the Bed of corruption without the Orders of this great and living God Ezek. 37. He hath appointed to the Sun its course and to the Stars that shine in the Heavens their several motions and stations Isai 40 and should not he also appoint to his Children their motions seeing that they are to shine for ever in the Heaven of Heavens where justice dwels as so many immortal Stars He hath measured the Waters in his hand he hath compassed the Heavens with his Span he hath weighed the Mountains in Scales and the Hills with a Ballance he hath fashioned the Earth with a Hive and given bounds to the roaring Sea and is it possible that he hath not not measured the time of our Life and that he hath marked out with his finger the last moment He who hath numbred the Kingdoms of Heathen Princes hath he not also numbred the days in the which he intends to reign in our hearts by his Holy Spirit hath he not appointed the time for us to ascend up into the highest Heavens where we are to reign with him in the Kingdom of his Glory If it be certain that God hath unmbred the Hairs of our Head Matth. 10. it is not to be doubted but that he hath also numbred the days of our Life And if a Sparrow doth not fall to the ground without his order how can it be that a Soul should take its flight up to Heaven without his express Commission He bottles up our Tears he keeps a Record of all our afflictions and takes an account of our Sorrows Psal 50. and can we imagine that he doth not keep an account of the life and death of Men and that he minds not the time that we are to spend in this vally of Tears He takes notice of our uprising and of our down-sitting he compasseth thee round about whither thou dost stop or go Psal 59. and can it be conceiv'd but that he observes thy rising at thy birth the several passages of thy Life and thy going down at thy Death In short if God hath appointed in his eternal Council the continuance of the great World he hath also without doubt limited the Life of Man the little World and the Image and Compendium of the Great As our Lord and Saviour teacheth us Man is not able by his solicitous care to add one Cubit to his stature and our experience sufficiently demonstrates that we cannot add a year a day nor a moment by all our labor and industry to the continuance of our Life If Life and Death were not in Gods hand there would be nothing setled nor constant neither in the Kingdoms of the World nor in the Church of Christ The Prophets would be often found in grievous errors and the eternal Election would be totally abolish'd for the most weighty affairs of a Commonwealth depend upon the Life of Princes The death of one Man is able to turn an Empire upside down and to change the state of a Kingdom If Alexander the Great had been stifled in his Cradle what would become of the Prophesie of Paniâ— who declares the glorious victories that this Prince should obtain against King Darius the Persian Monarch under the Embleme of an Hâ—-Goat that should run at a Ram with all his might that should break his two horns and trample him under his feet And if King Cyrus had died before the obtaining of the Kingdom of 〈◊〉 how should Isaiah's Prophesie be accomplish'd for he paints out this young Conqueror in his most lively Colours and calls him by his name in this expression I have said of Cyrus He is my Shâ—pheard and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem Thou shalt be built and to the Temple Thy Temple shall be laid Isai 44. If the Devil could have taken away St. Pauls Life
command was not frighted to behold the Sun go down although he was in the midst of an open field Gen. 28. but he laid himself down in peace and slept sweetly having no other Bed but the Earth no other Pillow but a Stone no other covering than the Heavens nor other Curtains than the dark shadows of the night Likewise a Soul sanctified by the Spirit of God that walks in all the Commands of his Heavenly Father shall never be astonished for wheresoever his Sun goes down wheresoever Death Arrests him he will look upon himself as in another Bethel he will sleep quietly in the Lord Jesus in the most cruel death he will feel unspeakable and glorious joys and a Peace of God which passeth all understanding Acts 23. We may take notice of this blessed disposition in the Apostle St. Paul who had behaved himself with a good conscience towards God and towards Man 1 Cor. 15. He had labor'd more in his Ministry than all the other Apostles therefore he stands in no fear of deaths approaches but rather we may see him full of expectation and desires to pass through Death into Glory and Eternal Felicity This disposition is no less remarkble in Stephen the first Martyr of Christ Acts 6. in the midst of his most grievous torments he had a countenance shining as that of an Angel which was a certain testimony of his inward peace of Conscience and of the extraordinary joy of his Soul for as the Wise man informs us A merry Heart maketh a chearful Countenance Prov. 15. From the same wisdom proceeds this other Oracle that foretels unto every one what shall happen unto him The wicked is driven away in his wickedness but the righteous hath hope in his death Prov. 14. Eccl. 1. Unto this is agreeable the excellent saying of Jesus the Son of Syrach It shall be well at the last with him who fears God he shall sind favor at the day of his death This life is but a moment that flies away apace and yet it determines our Eternal Estate it raiseth us to the highest Glory of Heaven or else it casts us headlong into the deepest Abysse of Eternal Misery for what Man soweth that shall he reap he that soweth in the flesh shall reap of the flesh corruption but he that soweth in the Spirit shall reap of the Spirit Eternal Life If you are afraid of a cruel and unhappy death keep your selves from an evil and a prophane life for commonly as Man's life is so is his death The most part of those who live in foul Lusts and Prophaness dye in hardness of heart or in grievous despair God's patience wearied out changes it self into a just resentment and fury Commonly God leaves at the hour of death such as have left him in the course of their lives he is inexorable to the cryes and sighs of such as have shut their Ears and Hearts to his Holy Word and his Fatherly Instructions he laughs at the horrid fears and most sensible torments of those that trample upon his sacred Commands according to his own words Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at naught all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh King Ahab was desirous to hear a pleasing Prophecy of happy things of the victory over the Syrian Army nevertheless he did continue in his Impieties and Tyranny therefore the Prophet Micah was not afraid of his displeasure but tells him boldly of the approaching Judgments of God which did hang over his guilty Head likewise some sinners desire to be flatter'd and soothed up in their extravagancies they expect notwithstanding their crimes declarations of Joy and Prosperity but we should be false Prophets possessed with a lying Spirit if we did not foretel to such people that a most lamentable and miserable death hastens apace upon them we should have a cruel charity for them if we did not labor to save them by fear as out of a fire if we did not shew them Hell with its jaws open ready to swallow them up and the Eternal Torments wherewith God will punish all impenitent and hardened sinners Knowing what God's vengeance is we must perswade Men to embrace Faith and Righteousness and if we did fail in this our duty their Blood should be required at our hands To what purpose have the Heathen Philosophers discoursed so Learnedly of the shortness of our life To what purpose have many of their Princes entertain'd things on purpose to mind them of their mortal condition Such kind of thoughts did fly in their fancy but they reapt but little benefit from them because they did not oblige them to an Holy and Reformed Life and by consequence they did not prepare them to a blessed Death It was also to no purpose that Balaam desired so passionately to dye the death of the Righteous and that his last end might be like a just man's Numb 23. for because he lived the life of a sinner and continued in his Abominations and Idolatry Numb 31. therefore he died as they and was comprehended in their punishment as he was a partner in their crimes it was but just and reasonable that he should share in their calamities and be a partaker of their torments To abandon Vice and Sin is to take from Death its Venom and all its fiery Darts It is to pluck from this furious Beast its Teeth and Claws it is to break the Cords and Chains by which the Devil drags us into Eternal damnation It is to destroy the Monsters that fright us and stifle the Furies that pursue us In short it tends to change Hell and its grievous Torments into an Heaven and its Glory There was never yet any person that lived an Holy and Religious Life but he died happily in the favour of his God Now that the Lord knocks open unto him the door of your hearts and at the hour of Death he will open unto you the Gates of Heaven present and give unto him whiles you are alive your Bodies and Souls and doubtless he will accept them and confirm the Gift with his own Seal here below he will enrich you with his Graces and crown you at last with his Glory Blessed are they that dye in the Lord but to dye in the Lord we must live to the Lord that we may be able to say with St. Paul Whether we live we live to the Lord whether we dye we dye to the Lord whether we live or dye we are the Lords To perswade us to this Religious Duty we must consider in the first place the Command that he gives us of loving him fearing him of repenting of our sins and of walking in his Holy ways unto this he exhorts us in the Holy Writings of the Old Testament as in the 6 of Deuteronomy Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy might And in the 26 of Isaiah Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and your dread and in the 55 Chap. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon In the 2 Chapter of Joel Turn ye to the Lord with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning And in the 1 Chapter of Malachi The Son Honors the Father and the Servant his Lord If therefore I am your Father where is the Honor due unto me If I am your Lord where is the fear of my Name 2. Jesus Christ is not come to abolish the Law but to fulfil it Matt. 5. Therefore in the New Testament he calls upon us as frequently to study Piety and Vertue As in the 5 Chapter of St. Matthew Let your Light so shine before Men that they seeing your good Works may Glorify your Father which is in Heaven And in the 1 Chapter of St. Mark Repent ye and believe the Gospel And St. Paul to the Romans exhorteth in this manner I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of God that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God hate evil and cleave to that which is good Rom. 12. And in the 13 Chapter Wâ—lk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness 〈…〉 chambering and wantonness not in strife and envyâ—â—â— but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no 〈…〉 for the flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof And in the 1 Ep. Corinth 15 Chap. Awake to Righteousness and sâ—n not And in the 4 Ephesians Put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts and put you the New man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness And in the 3 Coloss Mortify your Members which are upon Earth Fornication Vncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupisâ—ence and Covetousness which is Idolatâ—y In the 1 Ep. Thessalonians 5 Chap. Watch and be sober abstain from all appearance of evil And in Phil. 4. Whâ—tsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any Vertue and if there be any Praise think on these things I might with as much ease number the Stars of the Sky as to reckon up all the passages that call upon us and exhort us to an Holy life 3. God doth not only Command us to apply our selves to Holiness Justice and Innocency of life but he proposes himself also for our example That as the obedient and good Children delight to imitate their Fathers Vertues we also might endeavour to coppy out in our lives the Divine perfections of our Heavenly Father and imprint in our Hearts his Sacred Image Therefore in the 11 Levit. he tels us Be ye Holy for I am Holy And St. Peter repeats the same passage in this manner As he that calleth you is Holy so be ye also Holy in all manner of conversation for it is written be ye Holy for I am Holy 1 Pet 2. And our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ gives us the same Lesson Love your Enemies bless those that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them that persecute you that you may be the children of your Father that is in Heaven Matth. 5. for he causeth his Sun to rise upon the good and the bad and sends his Rain upon the just and the unjust be therefore perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect The Apostle St. Paul speaks in the same manner to the Ephesians Be followers of God as dear children put off the old man and put on the new man which is created according to God in justice and true holiness Chap. 5. And in the 3 Coloss Now put off all these Anger Wrath Malice Blasphemy filthy Communication out of your mouth Lye not one to another seeing that ye have put off the old man with his Deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledg after the Image of him that created him 4. Meditate seriously upon the excellent and precious promises that God hath given to such as addict themselves to Piety and good Works As in the 20 Ex. I shew mercy unto thousand generations of them that love me and keep my Commandments And in 1 Sam. 2 Chap. I will honor them that honor me And in the 3 of Isaiah Says to the Righteous that it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruit of their doings And in the 5 of St. Matthew our Saviour saith Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God and in the 6 Chapter Seek first the kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you over and above And in the 7 Chapt. Whosoever shall call me Lord shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven St. Paul speaks thus to the Romans If by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh you shall live Chap. 8. And in the 1 Ep. to Tim. Piety or Godliness is profitable unto all things having the promises of this present life and of that which is to come And in the 21 Revel Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second death shall have no power over him 5. Consider that the whole World trembles at the denunciation of the judgements with which God threatens to punish all impenitent Sinners as in Exod. 20. I am the Lord thy God strong jealous visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me And in 1 Sam. 2 Chap. I will honor them that honor me and will despise them that honor me And St. Matt. Chap. 12. Of every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account at the day of judgement And St. John Chap. 3. Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit that is of a Spirit purifying like water he cannot enter into the kingdom of God And in Rom. 8. They who are in the flesh cannot please God And in 1 Cor. Chap. 6. Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God And the Apostle to the Hebrews is not content to tell us That without Holiness no man shall see God but he saith something
O Lord my God are thy wonderful Works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee If I should declare and speak of them they are more then can be numbred and being ravish'd into an Holy Admiration thou wilt say in the language of the same Prophet O God who is like unto thee who when thou hadst made me see many distresses and evils at last thou hast restored me to Life and drawn me out of the depths of the Earth Psal 71. Thou shalt increase my greatness again thou wilt comfort me And elsewhere What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me Psal 116. 18. The Consideration of God's redeeming us doth chiefly require us to deny our selves and consecrate our selves to his service for the Slave don't belong to himself but to him that hath redeemed him and paid his ransom As when God had deliver'd the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt he gave unto them his Law and his Ordinances in Mount Sinai Thus God hath redeemed us from the Tyranny of the Devil of the World of Sin of Death of Hell and from the power of all our Enemies that we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our life Luk 1. He hath given himself a ransom for us that we might become a peculiar people to him given to good Works Tit. 2. You are bought with a price Glorify then God in your Bodies and your Souls that belong unto God 1 Cor. 6. 19. One love must kindle another the Sacred Fire that is come from Heaven must enflame our hearts with an Holy Zeal for his Glory God hath loved us so much that he hath given his Holy Son that believing we might not perish but have everlasting life He hath not spared him who is the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person He hath deliver'd him to death for us yea to the ignominious death of the Cross And is it not just that we should love him above all worldly things a God so good and merciful Is it not just that we should love nothing but him and for his sake Is it not reasonable that we should offer unto him our Bodies and Souls as a Living and Holy Sacrifice pleasing to his Eye And if we have any Lust that offends him is it not just that we should willingly leave it betimes when it should appear as useful to us as our Hands and Feet and as dear as the Apple of our Eyes Whosoever he be that doth not deny himself is not worthy of him Matt. 10. 20. We must treat the body of Sin which the Holy Scripture stiles the Old man and the First Adam almost in the same manner as Christ the New Man and the Second Adam was treated upon the Cross Rom. 6. Instead of flattering it and seeking to satisfy its Lusts we must deprive it of all its pleasures make it drink Vinegar and Gaul teare its Head with Thorns bind and chain its Affections and nail them to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ with all its inordinate and brutish desires Mortify therefore your Members that are upon Earth Fornication Uncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry Gal. 5. Coloss 3. 21. To live in sin and to delight our selves in iniquity is to frustrate as much as in us lies our good Lord from that principal end which he designed in leaving for a while the Celestial Abode of his Glory and Immortality for he is come into the World to destroy the Works of the Devil Now the chief Work of the Devil the great Enemy of our Salvation in which he takes most Delight and Glory is Sin with which he ensnares Mankind for by Sin Death and all kind of Calamities are enter'd into the World John 3. Rom. 5. 22. It is to trample upon the only Son of God to affront the Spirit of Grace and esteem the Bloud of the Covenant a prophane thing It is to destroy the Fruits of the Death and Passion of our good Redeemer and pull down his Cross for he hath carried our Sins in his Body upon the Cross that dying unto Sin we might live unto Righteousness He hath given himself for his Church to sanctify it and to render it a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle nor any such thing If the Bloud of Bulls and of Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkled did Sanctify the uncleanness of the Flesh how much more shall the Bloud of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead Works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 23. Our Lord and Saviour was not only Dead but also buryed to teach us to bury also with him our sins and shut up in his Sacred Tomb all our carnal Lusts Don't you know all ye that have been baptized in Jesus Christ that you have been baptized in his Death we are then buried with him in his death by Baptisme 24. This Glorious Saviour is risen from the Dead and hath left his Sepulchre with his Funeral Attire to teach us to rise to newness of Life and to leave in our Grave that sin that encompasseth us and the ties of our corruption that bind us so fast To speak in St. Paul's language As Jesus Christ is risen from the dead by the Glory of the Father we also ought to walk in newness of life for if we are made one Plant with him by a conformity to his Death we shall also be One by a conformity to his Resurrection and as Christ who is risen from the Dead dies no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Likewise we ought not to apply our Members as instruments of iniquity unto sin but we ought to apply them unto God as being made alive from the dead Rom. 6. He is dead and risen again that he might have dominion over the dead and the living If any be in Jesus Christ let him be a new Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new Rom. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 25. Jesus Christ after his Glorious Resurrection is ascended up into Heaven to lift up thither our Hearts and to draw thither our affections and to teach us to reform our manners to live an Holy Angelical and Celestial life If you are risen with Christ seek those things that are above where Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God think upon things above and not upon things upon Earth Coloss 3. 26. There is nothing in the World so lovely as Vertue It is the delight and pleasure of Heaven it is the Daughter of the living God and the true and lively Image of our great Creator O blessed decking of a Christian Soul O rich and precious Ornament of God's Children O Heavenly Grace what rare and strong Charms hast thou to win the
the shield of Faith extinguish the first enflamed Darts of the Devil for as it is very easy to put out the first sparkles of an increasing fire but if we neglect or cherish it it may come to be a fearful burning and as we can without pain pluck up with one hand a young Tree planted but a few days but if we suffer it to take root and to get strength we shall not be able to pluck it up with both our hands but must be forced to employ the Axe the Wedge and the Sawe Likewise if we resist sin in its beginning we shall easily overcome and tame it we shall put out without labor these first beginnings of a strange fire and we shall pull up with ease this bitter plant that will grow to our sorrow but if we suffer this infernal Fire of Lust to increase all the Water of the Sea will not be able to extinguish it and if we give leave to this cursed Plant to grow it will never be pluckt up without much sweat and labor Sin never begins by the same means that it ends and it discovers not all its poison at once As the Child in his Mothers Womb is not made in an instant Thus this Monster of Satan is formed by degrees one Chain of Hell is link'd into another when Lust hath conceived it brings forth sin from the thought proceed the suggestion and from the suggestion pleasure and delight and from delight consent and after consent then follows the deed which begets the Habit from thence the sinner proceeds to be hardned in a custom of sin thus the Devil aggravates the yoke of Tyranny and of our Bondage and strengthens the tye and chains by which he drags us into eternal damnation 61. As amongst the Planets there is always one that rules and causeth its influences to be felt upon earth more than the rest thus amongst Sins and Lusts there is always some one or other that rules in us unto which we are more addicted than to the rest by a natural propensity unto this therefore we must chiefly take heed here we must declare our strength and industry for fear that the Devil should employ it as a means to enter into our Souls and establish there his Tiranny we must imitate the wise and valiant Captains who having a place to defend against a vigilant and an active Enemy do fortify the places that are naturally the weakest and furnish them with the best Soldiers causing there a watchful and continual Guard to be kept Christian Souls be sure you take all the Armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day and having overcome all that ye may continue stedfast Eph. 6. 62. We must not neglect any sin nor imagine that there are some light and unconsiderable that God regards them not for a little Leaven seasons and Leavens the whole Lump and the least dead Fly corrupts and causeth several confections to bubble up and spoil The least scratch may cause a feavorish Inflamation and but little poison can lay us in our graves The Devil cares not by what Gate he enters into our Souls and by what tye he takes hold of our Hearts This cursed Serpent slides through the least and the narrowest cranies and holes of the House as well as through the widest Gates Christian Souls give not place to the Devil but shut your Ears to all his Enchantments 63. We must not only eschew all manner of sins and abstain from all appearance of evil but for our better security that we may not endanger our Salvation we must take heed of all those things whereof our Souls are doubtful and upon which our consciences cannot resolve We must never do any thing but we must be fully perswaded that it is acceptable unto God and agreeable to his Holy Will for Whatsoever is done without Faith is sin 64. As those who intend to stop the currant of a running Water are wont to cut for it a new Channel and Gutter Thus if your vicious Lusts and Passions are too violent you must divert them and propose unto your selves new and fresh objects are you Cholerick be angry and sin not fret and fume against your own Sins and Lusts and crush in pieces these Children of Babel Are you opprest with sadness and grief Let the causes of your sadness be your offences against God and the scandals of his Church Are you furious and violent Remember to be of the number of those blessed violent persons who ravish the Kingdom of God by violence Are you inclined to Covetousness Covet and be greedy for the Riches and Treasuries of Heaven Matt. 21. Are you lifted up with ambitious thoughts Let your ambitious aim be to raise you upon the immortal Throne and to attain to the uncorruptible Crowns of Glory Are you lustful and given to your pleasures Labor to enjoy the Divine and ravishing Delights of the Holy Spirit and meditate often upon the eternal pleasures that are reserved for you in Heaven 65. Devout Souls who sigh and groan for your infirmities who labor to attain to perfection apply your selves to read and meditate upon God's Holy Word with a Religious attention and before you enter into this Holy Reading say with the Prophet David Lord open mine eyes and I shall see the wonders of thy Law Psal 119. Intreat your good God to open your Hearts as he did Lydia to receive this uncorruptible Seed of your Regeneration and that he may give you a filial obedience Acts 16. In such a case assoon as you shall hear the Lord's voice you will find your Souls enflamed with his Holy Love 1 Pet. 1. When we do but only behold a beautiful countenance we become not more beautiful thereby nor do we take from it its excellent features 2 Cor. 3. but it is otherwise with us who behold as in a Glass openly the Glory of the Lord we are transformed thereby into the same image of his Glory as by the Spirit of the Lord. 66. Take pleasure to meditate often upon God's wonderful works and to sing forth his Praises The Spiritual Songs inspired by the Holy Ghost do commonly appease all the evil notions of our mind and beget in us an Holy Joy and Celestial Peace as when Saul was tormented with a wicked Spirit David was appointed with his Harp to play before him and by that means he quieted his troubled mind Likewise when Hatred Anger Revenge Covetousness Ambition or Lust or any other of the unruly passions which are as so many evil Spirits that disturb and torture our Souls within us we must seek a remedy from David's Harp and sing unto the Lord in Spiritual Songs and Hymns 67. We must carefully attend at all the publick exercises of Devotion and not leave off the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is for where there are but two or three met together in the name of Jesus Christ he is there in the
contentments of the Soul Let the nearer approach of my death make me to draw nearer to thee in love and obedience Give me power to overcome all carnal temptations O that the excellency of my Place and Dignity the precious Bloud of my Saviour with which thou hast washed my Soul and that immortal Bliss prepared for me might fill me with an hearty loathing and contempt of the vain and unprofitable Delights of the World that my Soul may not be fettered and enslaved to these filthy vanities so far below the excellency of its Being O Gracious God! with my Person I leave to thee the disposition of my Scepter and Kingdoms thou art able to give to my successor the same Piety Zeal and Love for thy Truth that I have always expressed I leave to thee the care and preservation of that Religion which thy powerful hand hath planted amongst us thou art able to cause it to flourish in the midst of so many envious attempts of adversaries Let me not therefore distrust thy good providence but grant to the person that thou hast appointed to succeed me a Love and Fear of thy Holy Name enrich his Soul with all Divine Graces and Royal Vertues My God and my King thou gavest me an earnest desire of building thee a Temple as to David a Man after thine own heart I have labour'd to recruit in my days the sensless divisions of my people but seeing that it is not thy pleasure that I should accomplish such a glorious Work Give to my Successor the Grace and Wisdom as to Solomon that he may perfect the pious designes that I have begun Establish his Throne with true Religion and sincere Reformation Let Justice and Peace flourish in his Reign Let Truth prosper Charity and Love enflame the Hearts of thy People Let all his neighbors bless him Let him have as many Guards as Subjects and as many Fortresses as Hearts in his Dominions But especially good God give him grace to build thee a setled House in these Nations and to raise it up to the highest pitch of Glory and Happiness that is possible on Earth In the mean while I shall depart out of this life and go to Glorify thee in the magnificent Palace of immortality where I shall cast down my Crown at the feet of the Lamb and adore him who liveth for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Vice-Roy or a Governor O Almighty Governor of this great World seeing that thou hast granted to me the honor of representing the Person of my Prince thy living Image it is but just that I should return unto thee my unfeigned thanks for such a special Favor for I should not have this Power if it were not given to me from above and if thou who art the King of Kings and holdest in thine Almighty hand the Hearts of Princes hadst not caused the superior Powers to favor my Person Give me Grace never to forget that the Persons that I am to Govern are not my Slaves but the Subjects of my Prince moreover they are thy Creatures and Children it belongs not to me to dispose of them at my pleasure according to my passions but to observe the Orders that have been given me and to obey thy Divine Commandments Let me behave my self as if my Prince were always and every where at my elbows to be a witness of all my actions But especially let me remember that I am always before thine holy Eyes that behold my Heart and read my most secret thoughts Let me consider night and day that I must give an account to my Great Master of the Stewardship intrusted in my hands and that I must one day appear before thy dreadful Tribunal where disguising and lying will never take place If whilst I am diligently employed in the Duties of mine Office and managing my business with all the care and faithfulness that I am able Death comes to call me away out of the World give me such a courage that I may not be afraid but that I may quit my Dignities without repining for the Honor of Governing a Kingdom or a Monarchy or of Commanding many Worlds is nothing in comparison of the Glory and Happiness prepared for me in Heaven Let not the care of the time to come trouble the quiet of my Soul thou canst raise up other Governors unto whom thou canst grant a Spirit of Wisdom and Discretion with an happy and glorious Governance whilst I shall rest for ever from all my labors and cares and when I shall have overcome Satan the World Sin and Death and kept thy Works until the end thou wilt give me into my hands a never-fading Palm thou wilt put upon my Head a Glorious Crown and into my mouth the Songs of the Blessed in whose company I shall sing Praises and Tranksgivings unto thee for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a General of an Army and for a Captain O God of Hosts I have been perswaded that this employment in which I have engaged my self for the service of my King and Countrey would not be displeasing to thy Divine Majesty seeing that thou hast appointed Military Laws unto thy People and hast been so Gracious to them as to govern their Armies march out before them and Command in Chief when they have encountered with their Enemies Although thy Son is the Prince of Peace his first Minister and Fore-runner did not forbid the use of Weapons to the Soldiers that resorted to him but only to be content with their wages and to do violence to no man besides the Holy Apostles teach us that it is not in vain that thou hast put the Sword into the hands of Soveraign Princes and Kings who are the Images of thine Almighty power and of thy uncontroulable Justice Let me never appear at the head of an Army or of a Company but let me imagine my Prince to be there present as if I were to sight before his eyes but let me chiefly remember that I am in the sight of thy Holy Angels and of thee who art the King of Kings of all the Nations of the World and of their Armies Let not the power which thou hast given me over others cause me to neglect the obedience that I owe unto thee my great God and Creator Let not the honor of being a Captain make me forget that I am a Soldier of Jesus Christ who Judges and Wars according to right Let not the Sword that I carry at my side hinder me from receiving into my Heart the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God that is sharper than a two-edged sword that searcheth to the division of the Soul and Spirit Joynts and Marrow Give me with this Heavenly Sword the Breast-plate of Righteousness and the Helmet of Salvation and especially give me the Buckler of Faith that I may be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil O my God! cloath me with the
O God who art the Creator and Father of their Spirits cause them to endure a thousand Deaths and reduce them to nothing from whence thou hast fetched them rather than to suffer them to be enslaved to Vice Error or to Superstition that robs thee O Great God of thine Honor to ascribe it to the Creature Merciful and Almighty Lord I shall not say to thee as Esau did to Isaac when he had blessed Jacob My Father hast thou but one Blessing for I am certain that thou hast an infinite number and many inexhausible Fountains of all manner of Blessings but I beseech thee with all the Zeal and Earnestness that I can to Bless my dear Children with thy Heavenly and especial Favors take them into thy protection bear them in thy Hands embrace them with thy tender compassion and let them be as dear to thee as the Apple of thine Eyes Let thy fear be always before them Let them love thee with all their Heart and serve thee with all their Powers that they may Glorify thee in prosperity and adversity in Life and Death that Christ may be their gain whether they live or whether they dye but I am now leaving the World and my Children without Grief or mistrusting thy care of them I am ascending with joy up to thee who art my God my Father and their Father and I trust in thy great and Eternal Mercies that one day we shall see one another in thine Heavenly Kingdom when we shall be admitted to behold thy Face which shall fill us with unspeakable Gladness and Pleasure Amen CHAP. 13. The First Consolation against the fears of Death God will not forsake us in our most grievous pangs MAn is naturally afraid of pain and abhors all sufferings and grief now the most of us are perswaded that it is impossible to dye without enduring great pains therefore they abhor Death not so much for its own sake as for the evils that it causeth to suffer That we may be able to drive away this ill-grounded Fear and strengthen our minds against all apprehensions we must first consider that death is not so dreadful and painful as commonly imagined the Holy Ghost calls it a Sleep and the Heathens themselves have said that Sleep is Death's Cousen-german and the Image of frozen Death Now Sleep creeps upon us insensibly it charms our Sences softly and with invisible Fetters it ties and stops all our most active faculties although we sleep every night we are not able to discover how this happens to us It is said of Socrates one of the most famous Men of the first Ages when he had in obedience to the Decree of the Judges of Athens drunk poison when he felt the venom benumming his Sences and Death creeping into his Veins he declared with a pleasant countenance That he had never swallowed anything more sweet and comfortable Nothing can be imagin'd more pleasant than the death of the old Patriarchs The Holy Scripture tells us That when Jacob had made an end of commanding his Sons he gathered up his Feet into the Bed and yielded up the Ghost Gen. 49. The same is related of King David That when he had perswaded Solomon to fear God and to do justice he slept with his Fathers 1 King 1. God is as merciful to many in these latter days to cause them to dye in speaking and calling upon his Holy name their Souls are not pluckt from them by violence but of their own accord they separate from the Body and fly into Heaven with an Holy chearfulness The separation of such Souls from the Body happens without pain grief or suffering Such are like to a Taper that extinguisheth without any blast of Wind of its own accord when the Wax that kept it alive and nourisheth its flame is totally spent If you perceive some tost and tortured with grievous pangs in their death-bed they are not properly the pangs of death but the last struglings and motions of life for I cannot imagine that at the moment of the separation of our Souls from our Bodies we suffer any pain because at that instant all the Senses are then lulled asleep and our Bodies have no more strength nor life to hinder the Souls departing Death is so far from being so dreadful and painful as we commonly imagine that on the contrary it is that very thing that puts an end to all our pains and miseries And I am perswaded that the diseases that bring us to our graves are not so grievous as the other distempers that we endure whilst we live here on Earth such as are a cruel Gout a Stone in the Kidneys or a Canker in the Breast for they are tortures that rack us continually and a Fire that consumes us without ceasing But when our pains should be far more sensible and that we should have reason to impute them to death we have no reason therefore to fly from it or to abhor its approaches for otherwise we have as good cause to curse the hour of our Birth and weep for our Victories for there is no Birth without pain nor Victory without strugling the most Glorious and flourishing Laurels are watered with Bloud and Sweat The most excellent things are the most painful and to speak according to the common saying that One nail drives another so one evil is a Remedy to many other evils we commonly seek with an earnest longing as a good thing that evil that frees us from the violent pains that we can scarce endure To be healed oâ—â— our distempers we swallow most bitter Pills and Potions that gripe and torment our Bowels To be freed from the Stone we suffer a most painful cutting And that the Gangreen that hath seized upon one of our Members might not get to our Heart we endure it with patience to be cut off whether it be Arm or Leg therefore when Death should be much more grievous bitter and more cruel than it is commonly represented yet we ought to embrace it willingly because that it delivers us not only from some disease or some particular pain but generally from all pains aches and distempers The Physick works not always out the humour that disquiets us When we have drawn out a Stone from the Bladder many times others grow in the place that are worse The Surgeons hand let it be never so perfect answers not always his Patients expectation instead of removing his pain it increaseth it But the working and cure of Death is always certain and never fails the success is always happy to a Christian Soul That I may supply thee with some comfort in the midst of thy great pains and sufferings My Brother or My Sister remember that these things happen not to thee by chance but it is God who sends them to thee according to the decree of his Wisdom Ascribe not thy Disease to the influences of the Stars to blind Fortune but lift up thine Eyes to his appointment who hath stretched
that I may labor to attain unto it with transports of joy so that I may say with the Prophet David My Soul shall be satisfied as with Marrow and Fatness and my Mouth shall praise thee with joyful Lips when I remember thee upon my Bed and meditate on thee in the night Watches My Sickness seems very tedious but alas Lord my Sins have continued longer and all this pain that afflicts me and forceth from me so many sighs is nothing in comparison of the advantages and happiness that waits for me in Heaven When the whole course of my life should be a continual languishing it is but a moment in respect of Eternity And this moment of affliction produceth in us a weight of Eternal Glory that excels all things else O Lord Let the distempers and pains of my Body turn to the health of my Soul and a powerful obligation to the Practice of Piety and of all Christian Vertues Let me learn thereby to renounce the World and deny my self and to cast my self wholly into thy Divine Hands and submit my self to thy Holy Will As Jesus Christ is gain to me whether I live or whether I dye give me Grace to be ready to praise and glorify thy Mercy both in Life or Death If it be thy pleasure to spare me my life O that I may live more circumspectly than ever I have done in the fear and obedience of thy Sacred Commandements and as St. Peter's Wives Mother rose up from her Bed of Sickness to serve our Lord Jesus if thou freest me from my plague let me rise out of thy Couch to glorify and serve thee until the last moment of my life But if thou art pleased to call me out of the world here I am O God ready to do thy Will and obey thee without the least resistance for my Soul is already separated from this languishing Carkass and resolved to follow thee It is not grieved to see this wretched Body weakened and crazy as an Habit worn out because thou hast prepared for it a Garment of immortal Colours It is not vexed because this earthly Tabernacle decays for it hath a more lasting Dwelling in Heaven whereof thou hast been the Builder I have long looked upon this Couch as a representation of my Grave where I shall shortly lye down to take my last repose I have long expected Death that will break in pieces the last link of this chain of Misery to put a period to all my pains and grievance to take me out of this woful and rotten Lodge that falls to pieces to introduce me into a Glorious Palace of immortality where thy Divine Majesty dwels and where I shall for ever Glorify thee with the thousands of Angels and with all the sanctified Souls Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a sick Person tormented with grievous pains O Father of Mercies and God of all Comfort have pity upon me thou knowest that I am vexed with fearful pains that disturb my Mind and torment my Body thine Arrows run through me on every side and my Soul hath its fill of bitterness Thy wrath hath torn me to pieces and thou seemest to have set thy self against me One depth calls for another At thy Command the Waves and Flouds have passed over my head Thou hast given me many days of affliction and nights of torment I am like a person breaking upon a wheel or burning in hot flames I feel a fire that consumes me as a Worm that gnaws and darts that pierce through my Heart Sure my sins must be abominable and grievous seeing thou infflictest this great punishment upon me for thou art Mercy it self and it is not willingly that thou afflictest the Sons of Men. O good God consider what thou art and what I am wilt thou stretch forth thine invincible Arm against the Leaf that the wind tosseth up and down wilt thou declare the fierceness of thine Eternal displeasure against Chaff and Stubble wilt thou let fly all thine Arrows against a wretched Worm of the Earth and wilt thou cast out all thy Thunderbolts against a little Dust O Great God I am not a worthy Object of thy wrath against which thou shouldest kindle all thy displeasure Remember that I am but flesh a Wind that passeth away and returneth not again but rather remember Lord that I am thy Child and that thou hast redeemed me with the Bloud of thine only Son O my God it is not possible for me to withold my complaints suppress my groans and to dry up this torrent of Tears my Soul is wearied out with this languishing life or rather with this unmerciful Death for is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow Is there any torture or pain like unto my torment When the Prophet Jonas saw a little Goard withered that afforded him before a favourable shelter and shadow from the Sun-beams when he felt them beating hot upon his Head he cried out Death is better to me than life How much more cause have I to speak in this manner I of whom the strengh is withered as the parched Ground in the midst of Summer I who feel a Fire in my Bones and an Heat in my Bowels that burns and consumes me by day and by night Shall not thine Almighty and Merciful Hand that hath freed me from Hell take me out also of this deep Abysse of Misery Thou who deliverest thy Children from the burning Furnace wilt thou not quench the fury of this Flame that devours me O Lord shut up my Lips and let there come out nothing repugnant to that respect that I owe to thy Divine Majesty To thee Great God belongs Justice but to me shame and confusion of face when thou shouldest cause me to endure a thousand Plagues and Torments more if this poor Body were able to suffer them and when thou shouldest cast me irrecoverably into the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone I should have no cause to complain of thy severity It is true my pains are great but they are nothing in comparison of my sins and offences my torments are violent but they are not to be compared with my Saviours bitter sufferings with that cold sweat and those drops of Bloud that fell from his precious Body My affliction is unmerciful but it is not to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed in them that worship thee and persevere to the end in an obedience to thy Holy Will When thou shouldest kill me Lord yet would I hope in thee for thou afflictest me that I might not perish for ever with the rest of the World Thou causest my Body to be destroyed that my Soul might be saved Bruise me Lord and crush me to pieces so that I may become some of thy precious Wheat Cut and burn me in this momentary Life so that thou wilt be favourable to me in the life to come Cause this bitter cup to pass from me that I may not drink up all its dregs Nevertheless
not wrath very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever behold see we beseech thee we are all thy People By this gracious and loving Title of Father the prodigal Son is perswaded to be able to oblige his Father to have compassion of him I will rise and go to my Father and will say unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son make me as one of thy hired Servants Thus although we have forsaken our Heavenly Father mispent the Riches of his Grace and lived a filthy and a prophane Life Nevertheless if we can be but moved with a serious and a true repentance and say to him from our hearts Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee I am no more worthy to be called thy Son He will forget all the miscarriages of our youth and will pass by all the offences that we have committed out of ignorance or mistake nay he will blot out all our wilful and deliberate sins he will not only embrace us when we shall cast our selves at his feet and in the arms of his Mercy but he will meet and receive us as his dearest Children he will kiss us with the blessed kisses of his Fatherly love he will give unto us his Holy Spirit that shall seal us for the day of Redemption and shall assure us that we are admitted to the liberty and all the priviledges of his Children he will shooe our Feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace and will give us all the assurances of our entire and perfect reconciliation He will cloath us here upon Earth with the Robes of Righteousness and Holiness and in Heaven he will bestow upon us uncorruptible Robes of immortality and Glory In this life he will give us the foretasts of Eternal Happiness and in the life to come he will lead us by the hand into the Banqueting Chamber and will cause us to sit there at Table with Abraham Isaack and Jacob and with all the First-born whose names are written in Heaven Out of this celestial abode all murmurings and complaints shall be banished but here shall be rejoycing and gladness for the conversion of poor sinners and for their admittance into the Kingdom of Heaven God himself shall invite the Holy Angels and blessed Spirits to share in these publick rejoycings saying to them We must rejoyce for these my Children were dead but now they are alive they were lost but now they are found again Let the miserable slaves of the Devil and of their filthy Lusts tremble at the approaches of death and let them look upon God as a dreadful Judge Rom. 2. For our parts we have not the spirit of Bondage to be again in fear but we have the spirit of Adoption whereby we may cry Abba Father Let the Sons and Daughters of Adam who have no other Being nor Life but that which they have received with their corrupted Nature fly from God's Presence for our parts we that are Regenerated by the Spirit of the second Adam we will draw near to him with boldness We will not say as that wretched Soul disturbed and frighted at the consideration of its crimes I heard thy voice I was afraid and hid myself Gen. 3. But rather having been brought up in the Schools of the Prophets and Apostles and having learn'd that we must prefer our Obedience to God's Will to all other things whatsoever we shall say unto him with Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth 1 Sam. 8. Or rather we will speak unto him in plainer terms O my God and Heavenly Father speak when thou wilt for thy servant is ready and resolved to obey thy Commands we will stay till God shall call the fourth time as that Holy Man Numb 31. Who because of his tender and unexperienced years could not distinguish between God's voice and that of a Man but we will have our Ears always open to his Divine Orders and at the first motion and summons of his Will we shall be ready to follow him as the Children of Israel were in the Wilderness when they raised their Camp and marched according to God's directions Numb 3. And as when the Levites stopt and put down the Ark in its own place 2 Chron. 3. Moses did commonly pray O Lord give rest to the thousands of Israel Likewise you believing Souls whom God hath chosen for his Ark and Temple assoon as you shall perceive that this wise Governor of Mankind intends to put a period to your painful Journey and laborious Race that is to say assoon as you shall perceive the least signe of death speak with an Holy confidence and joy Rejoyce O my Soul the time of thy freedom and of thine Eternal Rest approacheth Here is the Messenger of good news here is Death that will usher me in to the Glorious Palace of my Heavenly Father Father the hour is come Glorify thy Son that thy Son may Glorify thee John 17. When the hour was come that our Lord Jesus Christ was to go out of this World to the Father he said unto his Disciples who were grieved for his going from them If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I said I go unto the Father for my Father is greater than I John 13. John 14. Christian Souls speak in this manner at the hour of your departing If such as are about you happen to weep and lament if they endeavour to move and stop you by the considerations of Flesh and Bloud tell them why are you grieved at my deliverance and at the end of my misery why would you hinder and retard my Glory and Happiness O how cruel is your Love how blind and unconsiderate is your Affection Certainly if ye did love me as ye ought ye would prefer my satisfaction and the accomplishment of my happiness to the small advantages that ye might gather from my abode with you ye should consider that the least part of the joy that I shall feel in my Heavenly Fathers House is a thousand times more worth than all the Pleasures of the Earth than the Honors of the Age and the Pomp and Glory of the World My friends or rather my enemies let me go for I go to my Father I go to behold his Face which is the most Divine satisfaction I go to take possession of that Inheritance prepared for me from the foundations of the World John 20. Matth. 21. A Prayer and Meditation for a believing Soul that strengthens it self against the fears of Death by an Assurance and Trust upon God's Fatherly Goodness and Infinite Mercy MY God and Creator I perceive that the time of my departure draweth near and that Death presseth sore upon me It summons me to appear before thy dreadful Tribual it frights me when it brings to my remembrance all my former sins and represents unto me the hainousness of my crimes O Great God when I seriously think upon what I am
and consider what thou art I am astonished and the sight of thy Divine Majesty frights me for I am but Dust and Ashes and my Being is less than nothing but thou art infinite in thy Being and Glory the Heaven is thy Throne and the Earth is thy Footstool I am cloathed with darkness but thou dwellest in a light that no man can approach unto How dare I that am all covered with sin draw near unto thee who art the Holy of Holies and Holiness it self How can I that am but dry Straw and Stubble stand before an everlasting burning O God of Gods if I did see thee sitting upon the Throne of thy Glory as Judge of thousand thousands of immortal Spirits wait upon thee and ten thousand Millions worship thee if I did see thee armed with Thunderbolts encompassed with Flames of Fire like to those of Mount Sinai I should not be only afraid but I should fall into despair Instead of drawing near to thee I should fly from thee as Adam and endeavour to hide my self from thine Eyes that cannot suffer the sight of evil I should cry out as Moses I am afraid and I tremble all over Or as the Prophet Isaiah Woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean Lips and I dwell in the midst of a People of unclean Lips Isai 6. Or it may be I may say with the Holy Apostle Depart from me for I am a sinful Creature But good God I see that thy Throne so full of Glory is encompassed about with a Rainbow of an immortal and a refreshing Colour I see in it the undoubted assurances of my Peace and Eternal Reconciliation with thee therefore I dare go to it with confidence as to the Throne of Grace to obtain Mercy and find Grace to be helped in time of need Although thou art Clothed with Majesty and Crowned with Glory thou dost stretch out unto me the Golden Scepter of thine infinite Mercies I see that thou hast put off the Arms of thy Justice and Vengeance to put on the Bowels of Love and Compassion I hear no more over my Head the dreadful Thunder of thy Curses but I hear the still voice of thy Mercy that comforts my trembling Soul that raiseth up my drooping Spirit and that causeth me to conceive the assured hopes of Happiness and Glory in thine Heavenly Paradise I see no more about thee the grievous flames and burnings to devour sinful Men but I perceive the pleasant and refreshing flames of thy Love that rejoyce and comfort me and that do not destroy me as they did the two Captains and Soldiers of Ahaziah but they carry me up to Heaven as the Prophet Elijah was The spirit which thou hast given me is not the Spirit of Bondage to encline me to fear but the spirit of Adoption whereby I cry Abba Father It is this spirit that witnesseth with my spirit that I am thy Child thy Heir and Co-heir with thy Holy Son Jesus Seeing thou hast reconciled me to thy self by the Bloud of thy Beloved Son when I was a Slave of Satan and thy sworn Enemy now that I am so nearly related to thee wouldest thou refuse me mine Inheritance O my God my Heavenly Father I know that I have grievously offended thee and that if thou didst treat me exactly according to thy Justice of a thousand Articles I could not answer one therefore I should have cause to expect to be cast into the Eternal Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels but Lord thou dost not desire the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn to thee and live Moreover thou hast confirmed this with an oath and thou wilt never break it I confess that my sins are many and that their hainousness appears unto me day and night but Lord where sin abounds thy Grace or thy Mercy superabounds and when mine iniquities should be as red as Vermilion thou hast promised to render them as white as Snow Thou shalt be moved for me with the same compassion as a Father is moved for his Child and thou wilt put away from thee all mine offences as far as the East is from the West O my Soul why art thou afflicted why dost thou fret within me return to thy Rest my Soul for the Lord hath done thee good he prepares for thee an Eternal Felicity It is not Death's voice that I hear but the Call of mine Heavenly Father who invites and commands me to come away to him Therefore though I am a most miserable sinner I am going to cast my self at thy feet and to say to thee as the prodigal Child Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son O my God and Father thou hast bestowed upon me thy most Divine Favours thy greatest Riches and Blessings nevertheless I have been estranged from thee and have unhappily abused all thy Mercies I have too much given my self over to the debaucheries of the Flesh and of the World evil company hath corrupted my behaviour so that from the sole of the Foot to the crown of the Head there is nothing whole in me In this miserable Estate I fly to thee my Judge for Mercy or rather I implore and intreat with all my Heart thy Fatherly Love to have compassion of me O Divine Flames O Abysse of Charity O God whose tenderness for me is far greater than that of the best Fathers and of the most tender hearted Mothers for their Babes I see thy Bowels move for me thy compassions kindle and thy Arms wide open to receive me thou art not only ready to embrace me but thou meetest me in the way not only as the Father of the prodigal Son thou dost not only receive me but thou hast sought me out in my former abode of corruption and drawn me out of those depths of Misery O unparalell'd Love what may not I expect from thy Fatherly kindness thou shalt embrace me with the Arms of thy Mercy and kiss me with the kisses of thy Love thou shalt confirm my assurance of being admitted into the liberty of thy Children and give unto me a white Stone where thou shalt write the new Name of Elect or Believer that none knows but him that hath it Thou wilt shooe my Feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace or rather thou shalt give unto my Soul that peace of God that passeth all understanding Thou shalt put upon me the Robes of fine and white Linnen which are the Righteousness of the Saints and thou shalt cloath me with the Rayes of the Sun of Justice Thou shalt lead me into thy Dwelling I mean thy Glorious Palace where instead of killing the fatted Calfe we shall solemnize the Nuptials of the Lamb offered from the foundation of the World there we shall meet with the Angels the immortal Spirits and all the First-born whose names are written in Heaven who shall not murmure nor
for them now if there be any reason to render unto every one that which hath been dearly bought and purchased with a great price and seeing that it would be a great sin to refuse unto any man that which he hath paid for with the Bloud of his only and beloved Son how can we refuse our Souls unto God seeing that they belong to him because he hath not only created them and stamped in them his Image but he hath also purchased them with the Bloud of his only Son in whom from all Eternity he is well pleased We must not therefore imitate the example of naughty paymasters or unjust possessors of other Men's Goods we must not expect until our Souls be plucked from us by violence but rather like the good and righteous Debtors we must return them willingly and yield them up into his hands who hath paid for them an infinite and an unvaluable Ransome David was of this mind when he said Into thine hand I commit my spirit thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth Psal 31. 11. In this Death and Passion of our Glorious Redeemer we learn not only our Duty but also sufficient grounds of comfort and hope and if I may so say it is in the Bowels of this dead Lion that we find the sweetest and most ravishing Consolations this Chief Priest that bears us upon his Breast in his Heavenly Sanctuary or rather upon his Heart will not forsake us in the day of our distress and will not give us over to the fears and pangs of death for seeing that he hath encountred with this cruel Death seeing that it hath felt its sting its shiverings and pains and that he hath bin tempted as we have bin in all things except in sin he is merciful and faithful to have compassion of our infirmities he is no less able to assist us in our temptations and to make us in all things more than Conquerors 12. Believing Souls consider with me the noble expressions of St. Paul Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Mercies and the God of all comfort who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God 2 Cor. 1. These excellent Truths may be very well applied to our Lord Jesus Christ whom the Holy Ghost names The Apostle and High Priest of our Profession Heb. 3. For the comfortable assistances which he hath received from God in the time of his greatest anguish are precious tokens and infallibie assurances of God's future help in our need for as when he was in his bitter Agony when his Soul was cast down with deadly sorrow an Angel from Heaven comes to comfort him Likewise when we shall be engaged in an encounter with death when it shall endeavour to fill our Souls with sadness and apprehensions he will doubtless send unto us some of his good Angels that be at his right hand I mean the faithful Teachers of his Holy Word or else he will send from Heaven some of his blessed Spirits that stand about his Throne and that are commonly employed in the preservation of the Godly The Holy Ghost himself the Comforter of afflicted Souls and the true Oil of Gladness will then drive from our hearts all grief and refresh us with his Heavenly Comforts He will not forsake us until he hath brought us to the Head Spring of Eternal Joy and Comfort 13. Our Lord and Saviours deliverance from death is an Image and an assurance of our future deliverance which we are to expect from God's Mercy and Almighty Power for as when St. Paul saith that this High Priest in the days of his Flesh offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from Death And was heard in that he feard We are not to understand that he was freed altogether from death but rather that he had the favour granted to him of swallowing Death up into Victory and of triumphing over the Powers of Hell and that through the shame and bitterness of death he is gone into his Glory and into the Joys of his Heavenly Paradise Likewise when we pray unto God in our greatest distresses and deepest sorrows when we pour into his bosom the Tears of a sincere Repentance he hears us from his Sanctuary and delivers us from Death not by hindring us from dying but by raising our Souls to pass through Death into an immortal Life from this valley of Tears into Happiness and endless Bliss 14. If we will be sully perswaded that God will not with-hold from us the Joys and Comforts of his Holy Spirit and that he will make us more than Conquerors of death by admitting us into an Eternal Felicity we need but cast our eyes upon our Lord Jesus Christ for as he who bestows much will not refuse a little so God who hath not spared his only Son but hath delivered him for us all to an ignominious and cruel Death how shall not he with him freely give us all things St. Paul hath taught to argue in this manner and to gather this consequence necessary from God's proceedings Rom. 8. 15. When Christ our Lord gave up the Ghost upon the Cross the vail of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom Heaven was opened and a repenting Thief was admitted All this happened to teach us that we may enter into the Holy of Holies by the Bloud of Jesus by the new and living way which he hath consecrated by the Vail which is by his Flesh and that this merciful Lord hath always his Arms wide open to receive us and that he will never refuse the Glory of Heaven and the delights of his Paradise to the greatest sinners that repent and that seek to his Eternal Mercy by his infinite Merits 16. The Death of this great God and Saviour is the payment of all our debts and the expiation of all our crimes it is the healing of all our diseases the freedom from all our miseries for it hath overcome Satan and the powers of Hell It is the death of an Eternal Death it is this meritorious death that hath purchased for us Heaven and all its Excellencies and procured to us a Right to God's Paradise and to its Delights and Pleasures In short it is this Death that conveys Pardise into our Souls before we enter into Paradise and fills our minds with an Heavenly and Divine Peace and an unspeakable and glorious Joy 17. This Cross of our Saviour may be compared to the Wood which Moses cast into the Waters of Marah for it takes away from the natural Death of God's Children whatsoever is incommodious and bitter and causeth us to relish Sweetness and Comforts that cannot be express'd It is like the Salt which the Prophet Elisha cast into the Waters of Jerico to make them wholsom and fruitful for
Heavenly Blessings when we were without Christ we were Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel having no Hope and without God in the World But we who were far off are made nigh by the Bloud of Christ we have access with confidence by Faith in his precious Bloud so that we may go with boldness to the Throne of Grace to find mercy and help in time of need Heb. 4. Rejoyce therefore Christian Souls for you are not come to the Mount that might be touch'd with hands nor to a burning Fire nor unto Blackness and Darkness and Tempest and the sound of a Trumpet and the voice of words which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more but ye are come unto mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the bloud of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel For Abels Bloud called for vengeance against his own Brother Heb. 12. Col. 1. but the Bloud of Christ pleads for Mercy Pardon and Forgiveness for them who were his enemies in their understandings and wicked deeds And if when we were enemies we have been reconciled unto God by the death of his Son Rom. 5. How much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life and intercession 22. Never fear neither the Devil nor all the powers of Hell for according to God's antient promise The seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents head Gen. 3. The Lord of Glory hath spoiled the Principalities and Powers he hath made a show of them openly triumphing over them in his Cross Colos 2. By his death he hath destroyed him who had the Empire of death that is the Devil so that he hath crusht to pieces this red Dragon that did devour whole Nations and People Heb. 2. Rev. 12. As it happened when the Children of Israel did look to the brazen Serpent which Moses set up in the wilderness they were perfectly cured of the bitings of the fiery Serpents Likewise you wretched sinners who feel the venemous and deadly wounds of the old Serpent cast the eyes of your faith upon Jesus Christ crucified and you shall be saved from death John 3. As when the Angel destroyed the First-born of Egypt he had not the power to meddle with the Children of Israel who had sprinkled their doors with the bloud of the Paschal Lamb so the Devil who destroys the Children of this world hath no power to touch those whose Hearts and Consciences are washed in the Bloud of the spotless Lamb. And as Pharaoh and all the Egyptians that followed him were overwhelmed and drowned in the waters of the Red Sea Heb. 10. which served as a passage to the Children of Israel to their promised Land Thus Satan and all his wicked Spirits are as it were swallowed up in this precious Sea of Christs Bloud which opens unto us a way to the celestial Canaan Rejoyce you Heavens and you that dwell in them for the accuser of our Brethren is cast out who accused them day and night before God but they have overcome him by the Bloud of the Lamb 1 Pet. 1. Jam. 5. Christian Souls resist the Devil and he will fly from you If he goes about as a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour be not troubled at his fury nor at his infernal power for he is tied to a Chain that he cannot stretch nor break He hath been overcome by the Lion of the Tribe of Juda Take therefore the shield of Faith that you may be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil Rev. 6. and speak to him with an undaunted Soul Get thee behind me Satan for thou hast no part in me I belong to the Lord Jesus who hath paid my ransom who hath redeemed me with his Bloud and sealed me with his Spirit The Gates of Hell have no power upon those that are built upon the Rock of Eternity Matth. 16. 23. Let not your sins cast you into the Abysse of despair nor drive you from the Anchor of your Hope for God hath so loved the World that he hath given his only Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life they that are whole have no need of the Physitian but they that are sick John 3. Our Saviour is not come to call the Just to Repentance such as are puft up with a vain conceit of their own Righteousness but sinners who acknowledge their faults and are sorry for them The sacred Arms of your Redeemer that were stretched wide open upon the Cross are yet stretched wide open to receive us and from the highest Heavens where he dwells he causeth these comfortable words to be heard Come unto me all ye that travel and are heavy loaden and I will give you rest Matth. 11. This merciful Lord is come to seek for the lost Sheep to save such as were perished and to redeem his people from their sins As by one Man Sin came into the World and by Sin Death thus death is come upon all Men for they have all sinned likewise by the obedience of one we are become conquerors over death Rom. 5. And we have obtained the gift of Righteousness and Immortality it is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World and that hath made an atonement for all our iniquitites John 1. For as the Ram that was caught by the Horns in a Thicket was offered up unto God as a burnt-offering instead of Isaack Eph. 5. Thus the true Lamb of God hath been offered up unto God upon the Cross for us as a Burnt-Sacrifice well-pleasing unto him he hath born our iniquities in his Body upon the Tree and by his stripes we are healed Isai 53. He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows the chastisements of our peace was upon him As Aaron did put upon the live Goat Hazazel all the sins of the People Lev. 16. God hath made him who knows no sin to be made sin for us that we might become the Righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. Acts 10. Whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins in his Name Therefore rather than to play the desperate as Cain Achitophel and Judas let us cry out with King David O blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered O blessed is he unto whom the Lord imputeth no sin Psal 31. Or let us burst out into St. Pauls language Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect it is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that dyed Rom. 8. Let us therefore embrace this crucified Jesus and say with the Blessed
into the twigs and branches they wither at last and are cast into the fire The rarest Meats and the most delicious Drinks can never make our Bodies become Immortal Death snatcheth away the Brother from the Brother the Father from the Child and the Wife from her Husband The stroke of a Sword can separate a Body from the healthiest and strongest Head nay without any such violence the Head dies as well as the Body and the Spirits that run in our Ve ns are far from hindring the corruption of our Bodies for they corrupt of themselves and vanish away In short the strictest Unions of Nature and Art are dissolved by time so that all things under the Sun are subject to vanity and unconstancy But the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is the principle of an eternal Life and the Seed of an uncorruptible glâ—ry whosoever is united to him by this Spirit nothing can separate him from Christ neither Life nor Death neither Hell nor the World nor things present nor things to come Therefore because our Blessed Saviour could find nothing here upon Earth nor amongst all the Creatures worthy and able to represent this perfect and unseparable Union he seeks an Image of it beyond all natural beings in the holy Trinity in that unchangeable Union which was which is and which shall ever be between him and God the Father As we may see in his excellent Prayer John 17. Father I pray for them all which shall believe on me that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that they may be one ever as we are one Banish therefore from your Souls all apprehensions and fears O believing Souls for all the Three persons of the most holy most glorious and most wonderful Trinity are engaged for your Salvation and to bring you to your eternal happiness The Father by his infinite wisdom hath found out a means to reconcile us unto himself to satisfie his offended Justice and to declare the riches of his unparalleld Mercies The Son hath purchased for us this great Salvation by suffering the shameful Death of the Cross and by spilling his most precious Blood for the forgiveness of our Sins and the holy Spirit by incorperating us into Jesus Christ makes us partakers of the infinite Merits of his Sufferings Revel 2. That is the true Hysop that sprinkles the Divine Blood of the Lamb without spot or blemish to cleanse our Souls It is he that gives to our Souls the white Stone where the new name of Elect and Believers is written Heb. 12. which none knows but he that hath it He gives us to eat of the hidden Manna and of the food of Angels Iohn 4. which the World knoweth not It is instead of a precious Ring or Jewel by which our spiritual Bridegroom promiseth and confirms unto us his conjugal Faith It is the Seal of the Living God that Seals unto us the Covenant of Grace and the promises of Glory and Happiness made unto us in the Gospel as the Apostle himself tells us Eph. 2. that now having believed the Gospel of our Salvation we have been Sealed by the holy Spirit of promise Therefore he exhorts us Eph. 4. not to grieve the holy Spirit of God by whom we have been Sealed for the day of Redemption Finally this is the Spirit that witnesseth with our Spirits that we are the Children of God If we be children we are Heirs Heirs of God and joynt Heirs with the Lord Iesus Christ Rom. 8. Think not Christian Souls that I labor to perswade you that this holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus shall come and whisper in your ears or cry unto you from within that you are the Children of God as the extravagant Quakers amongst us imagine the Testimony that he gives to our Spirits is a real and an effectual testimony if I may so speak for he regenerates us and makes us become new Creatures he gives us a more certain assurance of our adoption then if he did declare from Heaven Thou art my Child and thy name is written in the Book of Life As the Seal imprints its Image in the wax thus the Spirit of the Lord Jesus imprints in our Souls the Image of Holiness and all Divine Vertues now as the Figure that remains upon the Wax makes us judge without dispute what manner of Seal did print it likewise when you find Gods Image imprinted in your Hearts acknowledge the finger of God and the Vertue of his holy Spirit to have been there for none can have that blessed Image but he must needs be the Child of God The holy Spirit that gives it to our Souls kindles in us the blessed flames of holy Love and produceth in us Tongue of fire he makes us speak to God with boldness as to our Father and lift up our eyes to Heaven with joy and gladness as to the place of our Inheritance All the goods of this present life may be nay will be lost at last Pro. 23. Riches take wings and flie away like an Eagle Honor vanisheth away as a smoak carried away with the wind Earthly Delights and Pleasures hast away as a Torrent or the waters of a River that slide along the Banks and they end at last in a Sea of bitterness and sorrow If by chance these vanities continue with the Worldlings while they remain on Earth Ps 49. they can continue no longer for they cannot carry beyond and the Grave their Riches their Honours are not Buried with them and all their unsetled delights fly away with their Breath but Death hath no power upon this Spirit of Life which is our true Treasure our glory and everlasting delight Moreover the true and living Faith that embraceth Jesus Christ our Saviour shall cease and hope that considers the advantages to come shall one day be abolished Whilst we are in this earthly Pilgrimage we walk by Faith and not by sight and while we are tost up and down upon this dangerous Sea of the World Heb. 6. we have need of the Anchor of our Hope and to expect with patience the fulfilling of that we hope for Rom. 8. but when we shall come to our heavenly Country we shall neither need a staff to walk with nor a shield to defend us and to quench the fiery darts of the Devil when we shall be secure in the Haven of Eternity we shall have no occasion to make use of this Anchor for our hope shall be changed into a perfect Fruition When we shall be in Paradice we shall need no Wings to carry us up to God but only to fly about his Throne as the Seraphims In short we need no looking glass to see the glory of God for we shall behold face to face All that we believe at present without seeing we shall then see and believe no more But the Spirit of the Lord Jesus whom the World knoweth not and cannot receive he
is not given us for a time but to dwell in us for ever As that Flesh which our Lord took from us was never cast off nor never shall Thus the Spirit which he given us shall never be taken from us The flesh which our Saviour united in the same person with the Divine word hath been glorified by this eternal Union but the Spirit which he hath united to our Spirits by this gracious Union is the foundation of Glory and of our eternal happiness This Spirit of Life is not only the Seal of the promises of God but also the earnest of our uncorruptible inheritance reserved for us in Heaven This is St. Pauls Doctrine Ephes 1. for when he had said you have been Sealed by the holy Spirit of promise he adds which is the earnest of our inheritance untill the Redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his â—glory Because this Divine Spirit is the Seal of the living God he is the earnest of his Inheritance for this heavenly Image that it imprints in our Souls shall be part of that glory with which he will Crown us in his holy Paradice Therefore the Wisdom that is various in every manner doth not call this Spirit a Gage but an earnest for although both be given as a confirmation of promises and an assurance of their accomplishment there is this difference that Men commonly take back again the thing engaged when that which is promised is done but the earnest remains always and is part of the summe to be paid As therefore the earnest which is given is never taken away but Men commonly add to it the remaining summe promised likewise our Saviour never takes away from his Elect the Spirit of Adoption which hath been once bestowed upon them but he increaseth its Graces and Advantages until he hath raised them to the highest glory and most Divine happiness which he hath promised It is in this occasion as with the Sun which as soon as it appears upon our Horizon increaseth the Light more and more untill he is mounted up to our Meridian or as the Rivolets and Rivers which the farther they run the more they increase untill they discharge into the Sea Therefore when our Lord and Saviour speaks of this Spirit of Grace which such as believe in him receive he tells the Jews John 8. He that believeth in me Rivers of living Water shall flow from his Belly John 4. and to the Samaritan Woman he speak in this Language He that shall Drink of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing to eternal life This was sometimes shewn in a Vision to the Prophet Ezekiel Ezek. 47. by the waters that ran down from the Sanctuary for at the first they did reach no higher then the Prophets Ankle bone afterwards they rise up to his knee and then to his middle at last they increased in such a manner that they became a great Torrent and a deep River which was not to be forded over and which discharged it self into the Sea As David in the beginning of his Raign commanded but one Tribe but afterwards he enlarged the limits of his Kingdom over all the Tribes of Israel that small portion of the Kingdom was not then taken from him but only increased and became greater thus it is with us during this Life we have small part of the Kingdom of Heaven intrusted in our hands or if I may so say we have now some Jewels of the uncorruptible Crown which is promised hereafter This part shall not be taken from us this bright beam of our future glory shall never be put out but in the Life to come we shall possess as much of this Kingdom as we are able and shall be cloathed with all that light and splendor of the Heavenly Glory But as there is no comparison never so just but is faulty in some respects there is no small difference in this for the Tribe of Juda was the noblest and the richest part of the Kingdom of Israel but that part which our Souls enjoy at present of the happiness and glory of the Kingdom of Heaven is but as a drop of Water in comparison of the Ocean or as a weak raye of light in comparison of the Sun 2 Cor. 12. Therefore the Apostle St. Paul who had been ravished into the Third Heaven and who knew better than any Man in the World what were the Joys and glories of Heaven when he mentions this Spirit of Adoption that God sends into our hearts he calls it Rom. 8. The First Fruits of the Spirit To teach us that there is as vast a difference between the measure of the gifts and graces which we receive here below and the overflowing abundance which we shall enjoy in Heaven as between some few ears of Corn and the whole Harvest of a Field It is like the small quantity of Fruits which were broughâ— to the Children of Israel in the Wilderness compared to the great abundance of all the Land of Canaan It is like some small crums of the Heavenly Bread of which we shall have our fill in the Kingdom of God as some small drops of that New Wine which we shall drink for ever in the heavenly Jerusalem Therefore believing Souls you may from hence conclude that the approaches of Death ought not to scare or fright you because that you have within you the principles of a life everlasting and the seeds of a glorious Immortality which cannot be taken from you Jesus Christ doth not only wait for you and stretch out unto you his Arms to receive you into his Rest but he himself is also with you and will render the passage easie and pleasant to this new World where Justice and Righteousness dwell Iohn 11. He will make Miracles for your sake and if you believe you shall see the glory of God Ioshua 3. We do not only follow the footsteps of this Divine and real Ioshua but we pass with him and he passeth with us Exod. 19. We are not like the Children of Israel that went through the River of Iordan whilst the Priests held the Ark in the middle of the River but we may be compared to the Priests themselves 1 Pet. 2. that did bear the Ark of the Covenant and caused the Waters to return up to their Fountain again for we are a Generation of Priests and we bear in our Souls the Lord Jesus in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily and in whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge In short our Souls return to God the Fountain from whence they came Let therefore that heavenly voice which was heard in the holy Land sound in our ears Is 43. Fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy Name thou art mine when thou passest through the Waters I will be with thee and through the Rivers
they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the Fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the Flame kindle upon thee and say with David When I should walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil for thou art with me thy Staff and thy Rod shall comfort me Psal 23. It seems the Primitive Christians had adesigne to shew us this Truth by the Picture of a Giant-like man wading through the Sea with a Staff in his hand and a Child upon his Shoulder for this Giant is the Emblem of a Christian who lifts up his mind as high as Heaven The Sea signifies the dangers of this World and the fears of Death The Staff represents Faith that keeps us up in our passage through Life and Death upon which when we lean we worship the living God of Heaven and Earth and the Child is an Image of Christ therefore he that bears him is called Christophorus that is He that bears Christ Cesar could not endure to see his Pilot tremble in a furious Storm at Sea because he was in his Boat we have far less reason to be afraid seeing that we carry in our Hearts the great Emperor and Monarch of the World the Hope and Comfort of Israel Cesar was as much in danger as his Pilot to make Shipwrack but our Lord Jesus Christ hath all the Winds at his Command He can still the most disturbed Sea and through the most grievous death he can cause us to pass and arrive to the safe Haven of an Eternal Rest and of a most happy and glorious life When David shewed himself with a purpose to fight with Goliah he spoke to this prodigious Philistines in this manner I come unto thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts the God of the Armies of Israel But you Christian Souls when you are to encounter with Death you may say to it not only I come to thee in the name of him who Commands legions of Angels and all the Armies of immortal Spirits but I come to thee cloathed with his Armor strengthened by his Holy Spirit and assisted by him in person for Jesus Christ who hath overcome death for us intends to overcome it by us We are the living Stones which he hath chosen of his disinteressed Mercy to bring down that proud insulting Enemy that causeth all Worldlings to tremble and cover their faces with Shame and Confusion Judg. 6. We have already seen a Sampson breaking in pieces with a wonderful strength the Cords with which he had been bound by the Philistians and tearing also the Body of a young Lion in which he found some few days after Honey most pleasant to his taste It will be much easier for us when we shall be strengthened with the Divine Vertue of the Lord Jesus of whom Sampson was but a Type to tear in pieces all the Cords and Chains of Death We shall rent in pieces the Body of this old Lion and when we shall search into his Bowels with a serious and repeated meditation we shall find the sweetest and most ravishing Comforts As when the Prophet Elias was carried up to Heaven in a fiery Chariot he let fall his Cloak with which Elisha separated the Waters of Jordan so that he passed through the River on foot Likewise our Saviour Jesus Christ being ascended up above the Clouds to the Throne of his Glory he hath left us the precious Cloak of his Righteousness he hath granted us his Holy Spirit that we might pass through the turbulent Waves of this tempestuous Sea of the World by its Divine Vertue and that through death we might enter into immortal Life And as the death of our Lord Jesus Christ separated his Soul from his Body although both his innocent Soul and Holy Body remained always united personally to his Divinity In the same manner the Believers death disunites for a time his Soul from his Body but it can never separate it from the Spirit of the Lord Jesus that is the Soul of our Souls and such an Holy Flame that it can never be extinguished When the High Priest of the Jews put off his Priestly Garments he cast off at the same time his Breast-plate where the names of the twelve Tribes were engraven Exod. 20. Not only our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life not only our Pictures are printed upon the Palms of his hands with the Bloud of the Covenant but we be as a Signet upon his Heart Cant. 8. so that we cannot be separated from him no more than his heart can be taken from him his Love is stronger than Death and his embraces are embraces of Love Ruth promised to Naomi that Death alone should be able to separate them Ruth 1. But on the contrary we may tell our Lord and Saviour who is as our Father Brother and Husband not only death shall never be able to separate us but it shall rather bring us nearer unto thee and cause us to rest in thy bosome where we shall be for ever satisfied with thine Heavenly delights Christians you need not fear Death for you are not to be wounded by all its Darts for you have been dipt in the River that springs to Eternal Life The Spirit of the Lord Jesus that is in you is the Spirit of Life the beginning of immortality and the only Spring of Eternal Glory and Happiness Seeing that the breath of the Prophet Elias raised a dead Body to life the Spirit and the Breath of the Father and of the Son will be able to keep your Spiritual life from decaying unless it be in Death's power to stop the breath of the Almighty unless it be able to limit the beams of Light and Glory that came from his Divine countenance unless it can cause the Rivers of living Water that spring out of his Throne to cease and dry up It is not possible that it should cause us to perish and render us miserable Therefore you are certain of your Eternal Happiness while Jesus Christ shall be the Author and Well-Spring of Light Life Glory and Immortality and that his Holy Spirit shall be victorious over Death and Hell and you may sing with David I shall not dy but live and declare the Works of the Lord Ps 118. You be not only sure of this Glory and Eternal Happiness and you be not only enter'd into possession of it by your Faith and Hope but you begin already to enjoy it and its First-Fruits for he that believes in Jesus Christ is past from Death to Life and whosoever hath the Son of God hath Eternal Life As the Prophet Moses when he was in the Wilderness did not only see afar off the Land of Promise but he tasted of its delicious Fruits Thus we don 't only behold afar off with the Eye of Faith our Celestial Inheritance but we taste at present and relish some of its blessed Delights And as the Fruits brought by the Spies were the same
Rivers that run in my Soul I am not yet come to thine Holy Paradise but thou hast caused Paradise to be in me Thou hast given unto me an unspeakable and glorious Joy and hast bestowed upon me that Peace of God that passeth all understanding O living and quickening Spirit unknown to the World thou strengthenest me in such a manner that death will never be able to fright me Thou hast united me to thy self by an unseparable Vnion O Prince of Life and hast put in me a Seed of Immortality an infallible Principle of Glory and a source of unspeakable Happiness Thou art in me to dwell with me for ever therefore thou shalt fill up the measure of thy most signal Favors My Faith by thy Divine assistance hath spied out the Kingdom prepared for us from the beginning of the World and shortly I shall see with mine Eies the unexpressable Beauties of that Celestial Countrey that flows with the Milk of the purest and sincerest Joys and with the Honey of the sweetest and most ravishing Comforts Thou hast sent a fore-taste of the Fruits of the Tree of Life but I shall come into thine Heavenly Paradise I shall ever have my fill of these delicious Fruits Now thou hast caused some drops of the dew of Heaven to fall upon mine Heart but then thou wilt make me drink of the Rivers of thy Divine Pleasures At present in my painful passage through this Valley of Tears in the midst of my Groans and Tears I may gather some Herbs but when I shall come to my Heavenly Countrey I shall reap my Hands full with Songs of Joy Here upon Earth I see God as in a Glass obscurely but in Heaven I shall behold him face to face and I shall be satisfied with his likeness My Lord and my God who by the infinite Merits of thy sufferings hast purchased for us this Spirit of Life and who hast given to my Soul such an Authentick Seal of my Salvation and such a precious earnest of thine Eternal Bliss I feel in me the motions and endeavours of of this New Man that Essays to leave this Body of Darkness and Death to enter into the Light of the Living Lord Jesus seeing thou hast made me partaker of the Spirit of thy Grace enlightned my Soul with thy Divine Knowledge and caused me to know the way of Life Seeing that thou hast given me to taste of the Heavenly Gift of the Powers of the life to come Seeing that thou hast vouchsafed to me the First-Fruits of thy Glory and that I already feel Heaven in my Soul Seeing that I behold thee with the Eyes of my Faith that I embrace thee with all my affections and that thou dwellest in my Heart perfect in me the work of thy Grace and bring me at last to thine Eternal Glory Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Amen CHAP. 20. The eighth Consolation is to consider that Death frees and delivers us from all the Evils that are in the World and that we daily suffer THere are certain Pictures with two Faces the one represents most ugly Features and the other beautiful and pleasant things This is the true Emblem of Death for it may be painted with a fearful Face a lean Body and iron Hands that ravish from us our Goods and our Honors and that divide our Persons dragging our bodies into a loathsome Sepulchre If we look upon Death in this manner we can do nothing less but tremble and fear We may also look upon it as a powerful Deliverer that unlooseth all our Fetters breaks our Chains to pieces lifts up our Souls to the highest Glory and Happiness If we consider thus there is nothing more lovely than death and nothing more to be desired I have hitherto endeavoured to shew how a Believer shall strengthen and comfort himself against the fears of Death but now I shall say something more with Heavens assistance I shall labor to prove not only that Death is to be expected without apprehension but to be received with an Holy Joy That it is not at all dreadful but rather it is to be earnestly desired I shall no longer give to speak right any Consolations against the fears of Death for I hope to make it plain that Death it self is to be looked upon as the greatest Consolation and Comforter That I may attain unto mine end I shall shew as in a Picture a short view of all the dreadful miseries of which Death delivers us and then I shall endeavour to paint out in the brightest Colours or rather I shall chaulk out unto you the Blessedness and Glories into which it ushers us Man's Life and Misery are Twin-Sisters that are born at the same time and owned Adam for their First Father they dye together at the same instant in true Believers We all know that Man begins his Life weeping and crying and ends it with sighs and Groans We come into the World all covered with Bloud and we go out wet all over with a cold Sweat If the Child cries not assoon as it is born we judge that it is dead and when the sick Body ceaseth to groan and sigh we say that he is past hopes so that as our crying is a token of Life likewise is and the end of thy sighs an infallible signe of thy Death Wretched Man how miserable is thy condition thy best friends rejoyce at thy crying and they weep and lament when thou ceasest to sigh and groan All the rest of thy time between thy Cradle and thy Grave is no happier it is but a continued Chain of Misery a mixture of pains a succession of evils and a Sea of bitterness As one Wave falls upon the back of another one evil is no sooner gone but another meets and threatens us one depth calleth another and all manner of Flouds and Storms pass over our Heads Job 5. As the Sparks rife out of the Fire to fly up and down Man is born for Misery and Pain and as the wisest of Kings speaks His days are nothing but pain and his employment but trouble in the night his Heart resteth not Eccles 3 There are scarce any dwellings but Messengers of ill news do sometimes come to them as they did to that of Job Job 1. By God's unchangeable order and appointment the days succeed the nights and divide the year into two equal parts for if the nights are longer in one season so much the shorter are they in another but the nights of our afflictions are so long that they seem to last several Ages whereas the days of our prosperity are so short that they are gone in a moment so that we may justly say with the Prophet Moses The best of our days are but labour and sorrow so soon doth our life pass away and we are gone Psal 90. It is as easy a taske to number the Stars of the Firmament and to reckon up the grains of
between Heaven and Earth between Light and Darkness for it is true that the death of Beasts delivers them from the sense of all evils but it doth not introduce them into any real happiness when it puts an end to their Misery it puts a period to their Being and to all that pleasure and content which they formerly enjoyed for their Souls and Bodies die together without any hopes of living again If we look to the wicked and unbelievers we shall find that death deprives them not only of their Honors Riches and of all their Pleasures and carnal Enjoyments but it puts out their Taper in their blackest Darkness and all their greatest Delights are lost in a vast Sea of bitterness If Death looseth them from that Chain of Misery from which all the Children of Adam are unseparable if it frees then Bodies from the pain of any temporal evils it casts their Souls into Eternal Torments but for the vertuous and believing Christians if Death is so great a friend to them because it delivers them from many Evils and Miseries it is a greater friend because it opens to them the Gate that leads to an endless Glory and Happiness The Son of God had a desire to perswade us this Truth in that remarkable Parable of the 16 of St. Lukes Gospel for at one hand he shews a rich Miser cloathed in Purple and fine Linnen feeding upon Dainties and living in much Splendor and Magnificence and at the other hand he discovers to us a poor Wretch named Lazarus all covered with Soars lying at this rich mans Gate intreating that he might share with the Dogs in the Crums that fell from the rich Man's Table the Dogs had compassion upon him and lick'd his Sores at last the poor Man dyed and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom O wonderful change He that was lately a companion scarce good enough for Dogs now solaces himself in the Angel's Embraces He that was lying at the Gate of a proud and unmerciful Wretch is admitted into the Glorious Palace of Immortality and reposes himself in the bosom of a charitable and rich Abraham where he is sanctified with the Bread of the living God and drinks of the Rivers of his Pleasures The rich Man dyed also but it happened that while his Body was laid in the Earth with State and Honor the Devils dragg'd his Soul into Hell and cast it into a Fire that burns continually and that nothing is able to extinguish Therefore our Saviour represents this damned Soul crying out of Hell fire Father Abraham have pity upon me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my Tongue for I am tormented in these Flames In the next Verses our Saviour shews how all the complaints of the damned are fruitless and their tortures remediless he makes Abraham return an answer to this wretched Son My Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented The Heathens have look'd upon Death as the end of all their Afflictions and Sufferings but they have never tasted of the Powers of the life to come they have never had any assurance of future Glory and Happiness The Spiritual Joys and Celestial Comforts God keeps for them that fear him and worship him in Spirit and in Truth These precious Riches and Divine Excellencies are only discoverable to the faithful especially since the time in which Christ our Saviour hath put Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel Hitherto I have given you a short survey of the calamities that attend upon us in this mortal life I have essayed to present unto you all the Comforts that we may gather from thence to strengthen a believing Soul and enable it to withstand and endure all the encounters with which it is assaulted in this Valley of Tears At present I intend to describe its future Happiness when it is separated from the Body and introduc'd into Heaven I shall as far as I am able discover unto you that Glory and Bliss which our Souls enjoy in expectation of the great Morn of the Resurrection You must not think to see here any perfect Image of our Celestial Paradise or any magnificent draught of the advantages reserved for us there it would be as difficult a taske as to paint the Sun in its splendor or to measure the Waters of the Sea I cannot find words to express my thoughts all my conceptions are far below that perfect Happiness and highest Glory I shall think that I have done enough if I can but represent unto you some few beams of so great a Light If I can but shew some drops of that Ocean of Heavenly pleasures in which we shall swim for all Eternity I shall not deliver any thing from my own fancy nor offer to speak of that which I have never learned from the great Doctor of our Souls I shall not engage my self in vain speculations more fit to please and puff up the curious Wits then to comfort and rejoyce the devout Souls and satisfy such as hunger and thirst after Righteousness one word from the mouth of the Lord is better and far more worth than all the reasonings of Humane Wisdom than all the subtilties of Philosophy than all the arguings and conclusions of the most refined and eloquent Ages In this description I shall not seek mine own Glory nor the applauses of the World but the Glory of my God and the instruction of the Souls which he hath purchased with his Bloud I desire to be understood of the weakest capacities as well as of the strongest I hope that such as know the language of Canaan such as have tasted of the good word of God and of the powers of the Life to come will not mistake me for such as have not been accustomed in the discernment of spiritual things unto whom the language of God's Holy Spirit is insipid and unsufferable if they are not moved nor benefited by this Treatise I dare say 't is none of my fault but theirs Therefore as the wise Men when they travell'd to Bethlem where Jesus Christ was lying in a Manger took the Star of the East for their guide Likewise we that be marching to our true Bethlem where our great God and Saviour is sitting upon the Throne of his Glory we will follow no other guidance but that Divine Light which comes down from Heaven And as it is impossible to number all the Stars that shine in the Heavens therefore we are wont to reduce them to certain Figures and Constellations Thus we will not undertake to shew you every particular of our private Meditations upon this Rich and Divine Subject but we will discourse unto you of the chief Heads leaving the rest to your pious Thoughts and the information of God's Holy Spirit Whosoever thou art that hast embraced Christ dead and crucified by Faith
and Repentance and knowest thy self united to him and incorporated into his mystical Body remember to praise this Merciful Lord and rejoyce in his Salvation Learn to admire the superexcellent Riches of the Treasuries of his Grace and seriously consider how magnificent and liberal he is to thee for he intends not only to deliver thee from all the sufferings and calamities that afflict thee but he will also raise thee up to the highest and most transcendent Felicity He will not only draw thee out of the deep Abysse of Death and eternal Damnation but he will take thee up to the Enjoyment of the most blessed Life and an immortal Glory He will not only remove thee from this wretched Wilderness where thou art tormented with Hunger and Thirst and expos'd to the scorching heat of a burning Sun to poisonous bitings of the fiery Serpents but he will introduce thee into his Celestial Canaan where the Milk and Honey of the purest Joys and most solid Comforts flow in abundance and where thou shalt for ever repose thy self under the refreshing Shadows of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God He will not only deliver thee from the captivity of this miserable World which is a true Babylon full of all manner of abominations but he will lead thee in to his Holy Jerusalem and carry thee thither upon his Arms not with an intent that thou shouldest build and repair it with cost and labor but that thou shouldest behold the Glorious and Magnificent Structures reared up by himself alone from the creation of the World and that thou mayest be Eternally satisfied with his overflowing Plenty He will not only pluck off from thee the filthy rags of Sin and Corruption but he will cloath thee with a Garment of Light of perfect Righteousness and Holiness He will not only wipe away all Tears from thine Eyes but he will put into thy Mouth Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving He will not only break the Fetters from thy Feet but he will place upon thy Head a Crown of pure Gold He will not only draw thee out of a black and noisom Dungeon but he will place thee upon a Throne of Glory and Magnificence He will not only extinguish all the carnal Lusts that War against thee and put an end to all thy troublesome disputes but he calls thee to the fruition of an Eternal Peace and Celestial Triumphs In short God will not only separate thee from the acquaintance of sinful and debauch'd Men but he will cause thee to enter in amongst the thousands of Angels and admit thee to the vision of his Glorious Face When a compounded thing comes to be dissolved every part returns to its first Principle Likewise when Man dies his Body returns to Dust from whence it is taken and the Soul returns to God that gave it As the Bird when its Cage is broken flies away into the Air to seek lits Liberty and Pleasure Thus when this Body is broken to pieces by Death the Soul flies above the Heavens where it meets with Rest and Happiness or as it is when the Net is torn the Fish falls into the Water where it lives and enjoys all its Delights Thus when Death comes to break the strings of this wretched Body the Soul enters into the River of Living Water and into an Ocean of Heavenly Delights Finally as the death of our Saviour Christ rent in pieces the Vail of the Earthly Sanctuary and discover'd all its wonderful Mysteries Thus the death of a Believer rents the Vail of this crazy and sinful Flesh and gives us a sight of the rich Treasuries and magnificent Excellencies of the Heavenly Sanctuary You Christians whom God calls to his Glorious Rest who may express the greatness of your future happiness It is not possible to imagine it as it is When your whole Lives should have been nothing else but a continuation of Misery and a Chain of Calamities you have now just cause to comfort your selves and rejoyce in God with an unspeakable joy for when all things are reckon'd up the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us You can loose nothing in this life but God will restore to you an hundred times more in his Kingdom besides there is no comparison between the advantages of the life to come and of this mortal Estate and Being Grieve not Believing Sâ—uls to forsake an Earth overspread with darkness full of Misery and all infected with Sin seeing that thy God purposes to receive thee into new Heavens all enlightened with a Divine Light and enriched with endless Felicities where Righteousness and Holiness sit upon the Throne Grieve not for the loss of the most Pious and Regenerated Societies Seeing that thou art to be admitted into the Companies of the Glorified Saints and Blessed Martyrs who have washed and whitened their Garments in the Sacred Bloud of the Lamb Seeing that thou art from henceforth to be reckoned in the number and of the society of the Angels of Light and of the glorious Cherubims Fret not to leave behind thee the Holy Congregations of the Militant Church for thou art going apace to the Glorious Congregation of the Church triumphing and in a few moments thou shalt find thy self amongst the thousands of Angels and Saints that worship God day and night and adore him who lives for ever and ever If God hath bestowed upon thee worldly Riches leave them without Regret or displeasure for thou art going to possess inestimable Treasures which shall never be taken from thee If thou art advanced to great Employments and Honors cast off thy Purple and Scarlet willingly and of thine own accord for God will shortly cloath thee with an infinite Glory that shall never change When thou shouldest be raised up to the highest and most splendid Dignities when thou shouldest enjoy a great and flourishing Kingdom come down from thy Throne with joy and let fall thy Scepter and thy Crown for God calls thee to sit upon a Throne that can never be shaken to an incorruptible Crown and to endless Joys Can there be any Town so Rich so Great and Noble a Seat that thou mayest justly grieve to forsake it at that time when God intends to make thee a Citizen with the Glorified Saints of the Jerusalem from above where neither Crying nor Labor neither Fear nor Grief neither Poverty nor Want shall ever come near thee where all the Inhabitants are Kings and possess Riches without value Is there any Dwelling so Beautiful and Magnificent that should cause thee to depart out of it with sorrow for God will lead thee into his own Palace all built with fine Gold and precious Stones where God himself is the Light and the Lamb is the Sun Art thou delighted in the enjoyment of some pleasant Inheritance here on Earth Then consider that all the Inheritances of the Earth are nothing in comparison
of that uncorruptible Inheritance which God keeps for thee in Heaven and hath prepared since the Creation of the World Hast thou a pleasant Garden or a rich Field But what are all the Gardens of the World in respect of the Heavenly Paradise where the Tree of Life grows that brings forth its Fruits every moneth of the year and where the River of living Water as transparent as Chrystal runs continually What reason hast thou Christian Soul to grieve when thou forsakest the pleasures of the World that thou enjoyest with the Children of the Earth or the Delights of the Body which are common to thee with the bruit Beasts Seeing that God will satisfy thee with his most precious Delights for in the blessed Vision of his Face thou shalt meet with fulness of joy Hast thou any friends on Earth Let it not trouble thee to leave them for instead of one friend here below whom thou fanciest to be real and sincere thou hast thousands in Heaven who will receive thee into the Eternal Mansions and embrace thee as their companion and the partaker of the same Glory and Happiness Hast thou any Parents or Relations I suppose that they are not burdensome to thee and that thou receivest much more Pleasure and Assistance from them than Grief and Ingratitude yet thou hast a spiritual Parentage in Heaven and Eternal Relations Thou hast in the Mansion-House of thy Heavenly Father a great number of Brothers and Sisters with whom thou shalt live in a blessed Unity as Members of one Body governed by the same Spirit and enflamed with the same Zeal Thou Husband whom Death snatcheth away from thy beloved Wife seriously consider that God will unite thee to himself by an unscparable Union and that he purposeth to take up to him some part of thy self that thy expectations thy hopes and affections might be now in Heaven And thou also O Woman whom Death plucks out of the embraces of thy dear and loving Husband remember that thou hast a Husband also in Heaven who hath espoused thee to himself for ever in Righteousness in Mercy and Compassion a Husband always Living and Glorious a Husband who loves thee with an Eternal Love that is stronger than Death whose affections are enflamed for thee in such a manner that the Water of all the Seas and Rivers are not able to extinguish a Husband who bears with all thine infirmities and hath redeemed thee from all thy sins a Husband who hath not spared for thee his precious Bloud that he might procure for thee the Glory and Happiness of his Kingdom who invites thee to his Heavenly Nuptials having prepared and appointed for thee a Room in the Banqueting-Chamber where thousands of glorified Saints shall sit and where the meledious Tunes of Angels shall be heard a Husband who calls to thee reacheth out unto thee his Hand and opens his Bosom to receive thee If thou hast found any satisfaction and pleasure in the company of that Person whom God had given thee for an Assistant and Mate judge from thence what Angelical Delights thou shalt meet with in the ravishing embraces of thy Heavenly Spouse The most pleasant Marriage days are gone as a shadow but the day which shall bring thee to thy Celestial Bridegroom shall never depart nor darken so that the Heavenly Contentments shall abide and continue with thee for ever without the least distaste You beloved and loving Children who are yet in the bosom of a good Father or of a tender-hearted Mother suffer Death patiently to remove you far from them and depart with joy to that good God that will receive you as his Children satisfy your Souls with the Milk of his most Blessed Consolations and will make you his Heirs and Co-Heirs with his Son Jesus Christ Say to him as the Holy Prophet When my Father and my Mother should forsake me yet the Lord will receive me Isai 66. Rom. 8. Psal 27. And you Fathers and Mothers that have a tender affection for your Children if Death takes them out of your sight and deprives you of the comfort of their company grieve not as those who have no hope for when they should be never so accomplish'd when they should have never given you but pleasure and divertisement What are all these pitiful Delights that pass away in a moment and that change oft-times into bitterness and sorrow if compared with the Eternal Pleasures which we shall enjoy in the contemplation of God's Glorious Face and in a familiar acquaintance with his Divine Wisdom You shall not return to them but they shall in their time go to you so that you shall shortly see one another in the Dwelling of the Father of Spirits Matth. 27. Death separates you for a while but the Author of your Life will bring you together for ever Finally of what age and condition soever you be if you perceive the breath of your Life to stop never grieve nor murmure at it for if Death separates you from your Selves it brings you nearer to God your chief Good and instead of a wretched and perishing life it will promote you to the fruition of an Eternal and ever happy one If we had lived in the days when our Saviour was on Earth there is none of us but would have looked upon it as a singular Happiness and Honor to have been admitted with Peter James and John when they went up to Mount Tabor to be Eye-witnesses of our Saviour's transfiguration A far greater Honor and Happiness Death is endeavouring to procure you it will usher you up to Mount Sion it will transport you above all the Heavens where you shall behold more excellent wonders than ever the Apostles beheld upon Mount Tabor for you shall not only see this Glorious Saviour whiter than the Snow and brighter than the Sun but you your selves shall be transfigured with him and cloathed with an exceeding great Glory The Holy Apostles saw but two Prophets but you shall see all the Prophets all the Patriarchs Apostles Confessors Martyrs the Holy and Blessed Virgin and generally all the Saints that Reign and Triumph in Heaven The Apostles had a sight of this Glory of our Saviour as of a flash of Lightning it continued with them but for a moment for soon after they came down from the Holy Mountain and were again in danger of the same temptations as before and besieged by the same Calamities It will be otherwise with thee O Christian Soul thou art flying up to Heaven from whence thou shalt never descend till the great day of the Glorious Resurrection of our Bodies Thou shalt not be assaulted any more by any temptationâ— thou shalt have no more Enemies to overcome nor Bitterness to digest Thou art going to reap and enjoy the Blessed Fruits of thy Saviours Victories and to be Eternally satisfied with the Celestial Pleasures that are at the right hand of the God of Mercies We esteem St. John highly priviledged because the Lord gave him
pleasures for evermore Christian if thou hadst but as much Faith and assurance as there is Glory and happiness in Heaven with what excess of Joy shalt thou leave the World and all its vanities to ascend up to that magnificent Palace purchased for thee with the precious Blood of thy Redeemer Jonathans eyes were once enlightned when he tasted some Hony with the end of his Rod which he had found in a Rock And thou believer if thou hast by Faith tasted the Divine sweetness that proceeds from Christ the Rock of Eternity thine understanding will be all enlightned Thou shalt need no other Consolation against Death for Death it self shall fill thee full of Consolation and real Joy So that thou shalt have cause to speak not onely as Jacob O God I expect thy Salvation Gen. 49. but as King David I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the House of the Lord our feet shall stand within thy Gates O Jerusalem Psal 122. By this means thou shalt not onely expect with patience and embrace with Joy the blessed news of this Glorious Salvation but thou shalt endeavor to hasten its coming by thy continual and repeated Sighs O my God When wilt thou stretch out unto me from above thy Gracious Armes When shall I go into thy Celestial Sanctuary When shall I see plainly thy Divine and Glorious Face When wilt thou cause me to drink out of the Rivers of thy Pleasures How blessed is the man whom thou hast chosen and taken to thy self to dwell for ever in thy Holy Courts such shall be satisfied with the good things of thy House and of thy Glorious Palace Joseph mâ—rched out of his Prison in haste to go to the Palace of the Kings of Egypt and haste not thou as much reason to make as much hast out of the Prison of this wretched Body O believing Soul that thou mayest go up to the Palace of the King of Kings who intenâ—s to install thee into such a Glorious estate in comparison of which all the pomp of Pharaoh and of all the Kings and Princes of the Earth is nothing but as the hore-frost of the night Bartimeus forsakes willingly his Mantle to creep to the Lord Iesus when he called him and thou Christian Soul wilt not thou leave this body which is as a troublesome garment to thee to ascend up to this Divine Saviour who intends to cure thee of all thy distempers and Diseases and who purposes to load thee with his blessings and unspeakâ—ble favors He will not onely bring thee to behold the refreshing light of Heaven but he will also cause thee to shine as the Sun for ever and ever Religious Soul cast off this spotted garment of the flesh and so much the more chearfully because God holds out in his Hand a Garment of Light and Glory which he will bestow upon thee for it shall happen to thee as to the Prophet Elias who having let fall his Mantle he found himself all encompassed about with Flames of fire and an extraordinary light for assoon as thou shalt put off this miserable body thou shalt be surrounded with Celestial flames in which thou shalt mount up to Heaven into the dwelling of immortality where thou shalt be like God who cloaths himself with light as with a Garment To this purpose the words of the Prophet Zachariah concerning the High-Priest Iehoschuah are very proper he was arayed with filthy Garments but an Angel from Heaven calls to them that waited before him Take away the filthy Garments from him and cloath him with change of raiment let them set a fair Mitre upon his head This O Christian Soul is the true Image of thy condition at thy departure and the lively portraiture of thy future happiness At present thou art cloathed with a body undermined by sickness and labor thou bearest about thee the relicks of the old man but behold God calls to thee from his Holy Sanctuary Take away from him this old garment pluck off all remains of this old cloathing bespotted with sin where the Devils Image is yet to be seen and give him the Sacred ornaments of a Royal Priesthood cloath this Soul with a long garment whitned in the Blood of the Lamb gird it about with the Ephod of righteousness put upon its head an uncorruptible Crown and in its hand a Golden Viol that it may for ever offer up the Heavenly perfumes in the company of all the glorified Saints If after all this O Christian thou doubtest of the felicity and glory of such as die in the Lord Iesus hear what an Apostle saith who was himself ravished up into the third Heaven where he beheld in this Glorious Palace unspeakable things We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens for in this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from Heaven If so be that being cloathed we shall not â—e found naked for we that are in this Tabernacle do 〈…〉 burdned not for that we would be uncloathed but cloathed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of Life And listen to what the Holy-Ghost saith Blessed are the Dead that die in the Lord for so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labors and their works do follow them Would to God that we had some other Word besides that of Death to express the wonderful and happy change that we make when we go out of this miserable World for to speak properly we cannot be said to die when we leave a place full of misery to enter into another blessed with an endless felicity when we exchange a laborious estate for a peaceable and an happy rest when we come off from a cruel War to enjoy the pleasures of everlasting Joy when we pass through Death to an endless life and forsake a Tomb to mount up on a Throne Christian Soul remember thy beginning and thine end consider what thou art from whence thou proceedest and whither thou goest Thou art a living Image of thy Creator and a beam of glory thou art of a celestial and immortal nature God hath washed and cleansed thee in the Blood of his Lamb without spot and blemish and sanctified thee by his holy Spirit he hath brought thee to an estate convenient to enter into his holy City and he is ready to admit thee to take the fruition of his glory Thou hast fought the good fight finished thy course and kept the faith it is therefore high time that thou shouldest receive the Crown of life Thou hast this precious Crown already in thine hands Thou art at the Gates of Heaven and at the entrance of Paradise Go therefore O believing Soul go with Joy and gladness to this great God that calls thee to this mercifull Saviour that stretcheth forth his hands unto thee and opens his bosome to receive thee go into the
conformable to the Image of his Son that he might be the first-born amongst many Brethren Now the Soul and the Body of this onely begotten of the Father that were separated by Death have been joyned again in his glorious Resurrection and received into Heaven therefore our Soul that departs out of the World to enter into Paradise must return again to its Body that we may ascend up to Heaven both in Soul and Body All the difference that appears between Christ and us is that the precious Body of our noble Chieftain could not be subject to corruption but was raised again as soon as it fell because of that strict and personal Union between his Humanity and Divinity whereas the most part of all other bodies are corrupt and reduced to Ashes Sixteenth We have the same holy Spirit and Divine vertue dwelling in us which was in our Lord Jesus Christ the efficient cause of his Resurrection although not in the same measure and degree therefore it will produce in us the same effect and raise our bodies also from the dust St. Paul makes use of this Reason in the 8 of the Romans if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Seventeenth The dead body that touched the bones of the Prophet Elisha revived again on a sudden We have more cause to expect the Resurrection of our bodies because our bodies don't onely touch Jesus Christ dead and risen again but we are become one body with him flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone I am said he the Resurrection and the life he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die and he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live Eph. 5. John 11. Eighteenth God hath imprinted upon our bodies his own Signet and the marks of his love he hath given to them visible and palpable assurances of their future blessedness Under the Old Testament believers carried the Seal of the Covenant of God in their flesh for Circumcision was the Seal of the righteousness obtained by Faith and hope of a blessed immortality they did also eat the flesh of the Paschal Lamb which was a type of Jesus Christ the true Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World Likewise under the New Covenant God consecrates to himself our Bodies by the Waters of Baptisme and by the Bread and Wine of the Lords Supper So by this means he assures them of a Joyfull and glorious Resurrection For if by eating of this Bread and drinking of this Wine we eat and drink spiritually the flesh and the Blood of Jesus Christ it is an infallible assurance that this Divine Saviour will raise us up again at the end of the World as he himself promiseth Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day St John 6 54. Nineteenth The body of believers endures many assaults and evils for Christs sake and for his holy profession it is often exposed to the most shamefull and most cruel torments and partakes on the same sufferings as he did on Earth therefore it is just that it should partake in his triumphs glory and eternal happiness It is a faithful saying for if we be dead with him we shall also live with him if we suffer we shall also raign with him We always bear about in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh 2 Tim. 2. 2 Cor 4. Twenty There is nothing that God doth in vain he never bestowes upon us useless desires therefore to what purpose hath he kindled in us such an earnest desire to see this wretched Body out of the misery and corruption into which sin hath enthralled it and the fruition of glory and immortality As St. Paul tels us in these words The creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope because the creature it self also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Children of God He adds immediately after For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travelleth in pain together until now and not onely they but our selves also which have the first fruits of the Spirit even we our selves groane within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the Redemption of our Body Rom. 8. Finally Seeing that whatsoever God hath appointed in his eternal Councel must be fulfilled in time and that all things in the World attain to those ends for which he made them and seeing that he created our Souls not to be alone but to live in the company and fellowship with the Body therefore this Body which falls down by Death must needs rise again at the Resurrection that the immortal Soul might return to and dwell with it for ever To say that the Resurrection of our bodies is impospossible is the greatest and most abominable Atheism in the World 'T is to deny with impudency the infinite power of God and the sacred History of the Worlds Creation For if things are in their beings as they are in workings and if their operations are correspondent to their natures we must of necessity conclude That if there be a God of an infinite being he must needs have a power answerable to his being And by consequence that this Almighty God may without difficulty raise the dead If thou believest that God calls the things that are not as if they were Wherefore dost thou not also believe that this same God will also call the things that have been already to restore them that being which they have formerly enjoyed from his Almighty Hand If thou believest that God hath fashioned Eve out of one of her Husbands ribs that he made Man of the dust and created this dust out of nothing canst thou not also believe that God is able at the day of the Resurrection to make again thy body of that dust into which it is reduced by Death If thou believest that God hath breathed into Adams Nostrils the breath of Life that he hath created thy Soul and infused it into thy Body where it was never before How canst thou question his power of returning one day the same Soul into the same Body where it formerly made its abode In short if thou believest that the holy Ghost by moving upon the Waters hath caused so many beautiful and noble Creatures to appear and that he hath made light to shine out of darkness canst thou not be also perswaded that this same holy Ghost can shew his Power amongst the Graves and fetch thy Body out of the dark shadows of Death to introduce it â—nto the light of the living Thou seest by experience that every day a new House 〈◊〉 built up
Temple and its wonderful glory wept aloud so that their weeping interrupted the others expressions of joy and gladness At the Restauration of the Temple of our Bodies nothing shall be heard but Songs of Triumph and Jubile Such as have seen with the eyes of Faith Mans Body as it was in the estate of its integrity in the earthly Paradise shall not be then sorry that it hath been defaced by Sin and destroyed by Death they shall not be sorry for any thing that is passed they shall not be able to wish for any increase of happiness and glory for the future for at the very instant of its rising from the Grave it shall be raised to its highest Splendor Happiness and Magnificence so that it shall be truly said That the glory of this Second House shall be greater than that of the First Hag. 2. Now that we have treated sufficiently of such as shall rise from their Graves it remains that we take a view of them whose Bodies shall never be laid in the Dust and who shall be alive at Christs coming down from Heaven for that purpose St. Paul informs us 1 Cor. 15. Behold I shew you a Mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall be all changed in a moment at the twinckling of an eye at the sound of the last trumpet and he speaks in this manner to the Thessalonians 1 Thes 4. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep for the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God and the Dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and we shall ever be with the Lord wherefore comfort one another with these words I know very well that St. Paul tells the Hebrews that it is appointed unto all Men once to Die Therefore I conceive that this great change that shall be made in the Bodies of them that shall be then alive shall be a kind of Death for Christ will destroy and abolish altogether in them all corruption and inclination to Mortality And when he shall change the Bodies of the Reprobates he will make them like to the other Reprobates whom he shall fetch out of their Graves he will make them Immortal that they may be eternally tormented in Hell But he will cause the Bodies of Believers then alive to be like the other Believers that they may all partake and enjoy the same glory and eternal Bliss Christians in what condition soever you be in seriously apply to your selves these Divine Consolations you that are grieved to see your Bodies maimed and deprived of one of your Members of your Eyes Hearing or of some other of your senses whether you be so born or whether such a privation hath happened unto you by a Disease by a Mischance or by any other Means rejoyce and comfort your selves with this assurance that you shall see one day this wretched Body restored to a perfect estate to a perfection that shall never be lost you that fret and vex your selves to behold now old Age and Sickness have disfigured your Bodies what breaches and ruines they have caused in you Comfort your selves in expectation of this glorious Resurrection which shall supply this decayed and languishing Body with new strength and vigor and adorn it with a perfect beauty and an eternal glory And you whom Death undermines and intends shortly to lay in the Dust grieve not at it for you shall loose nothing at present but you shall find it again at the great day of the Resurrection When Joseph died he commanded his Brethren concerning his Bones that they should carry them out of Egypt into the Land of Canaan Now our Bones are the Bones of Jesus Christ our true Joseph Therefore he will command his Angels to gather them up safe he himself will have a care to preserve them at the great Morne of the Resurrection he shall fetch them out of their Graves as out of an Egypt out of an House of Bondage and will carry them to his Celestial Canaan When the Tabernacle was taken in pieces the High-Priest did deliver every piece in charge to the Levites so that when they were to set it up again there was nothing wanting Likewise our Saviour hath given in charge and delivered by retail every Member and part of our Bodies these Tabernacles which he hath Consecrated for himself to our Graves therefore they shall all be found again at the Resurrection without the least imperfection These Tabernacles shall not only be found entire but they shall be beautified with a far greater Glory and Splend or than before There is none but would be glad to lay himself down to sleep in his Bed and pull off his garments willingly if he were certain to be more healthy and to find his garments fresher and more beautiful in the Morning if he were perswaded that instead of old rags he were to cloath and put on a royal attire and most mâ—gnificent garments Who would not willingly go out of a pittiful Cabin and forfake a miserable lodge which shall be one day changed into a Golden Palace adorned with precious Stones Comfort thy self believing Soul and rejoyce in God thy Redeemer cast off willingly this Garment that is so incommodious and troublesome to thee forsake this wretched Body undermined by sickness and diseases and consumed by time Sleep quietly in the Lord Jesus and repose thy self in his Bosome for when thou shalt wake again at the sound of the Archangels Trumpet thou shalt find this garment whither then Snow and as bright as the Light grieve not to see this crasy dwelling fall to pieces and rot for God shall build it up again with his own hands and convert it into his Temple and a pavillion of his glory Thou mayst be certain shortly to return again and to find this woful lodge of Earth become an heavenly Palace purer than fine Gold and brighter than the Diamonds the Rubies and all the precious Stones Weep not for thy beautiful eyes that are shut nor for the rest of thy Senses that are lost nor for the Members of thy Body that consume away one after another for with these same eyes that have lost or shall shortly loose the sight of the day light thou shalt behold a Divine Light that shall shine eternally in Heaven thou shalt behold the face of the King of Kings and all the Glory and Magnificence of his Kingdom with these ears that are deaf and that shall shortly be stopped thou shalt hear with transports of Joy the ravishing harmonies of the Saints and the Songs of the Blessed Angels with this stammering Tongue which is to loose the faculty of Speech thou shalt sing with a loud
of the former For thou shalt change this vile body and make it like to thy glorious body this corruptible shall put on incorruption and whatsoever is mortal in us shall be overcome and swallowed up by life With these same languishing eyes I shall behold thee upon a Cloud of the Heavens and a Throne of fire with these ears that are going to be stopt I shall hear the sound of the last Trump and the Songs of the blessed Angels with this Tongue that can scarce speak and move I shall sing forth thine Eternal and Divine praises with the Church Triumphing with these dying hands I shall embrace and take hold of thee with these feet that are already in the Grave I shall follow thee whither soever thou goest and walk about the streets of the new Jerusalem this same Body that is now dropping into the rotten Grave shall be carried up into Heaven to shine as the Stars or as the Sun for ever and ever O Lord I am ready to depart out of this Tabernacle there is nothing but a breath in my nostrils the shadow of Death appears upon mine eye lids and my Soul is upon my lips but I am fully perswaded that in this flâ—sh which shall be cast away to the worms and left in a rotten Grave I shall behold thy Glory and magnificence I shall see thy face and shall be satisfied with thy likeness when I shall awake again Amen CHAP. 24. The Twelfth Consolation the Destruction of Death and the Eternal and most Blessed Life which we shall enjoy both in Soul and Body after our Resurrection WE have sufficiently treated of that happiness which is prepared for our Souls at their departure from the Bodies and of the glorious Resurrection promised to these Bodies when Jesus Christ shall come down from Heaven in his Glory to judge the quick and the dead It seems 〈◊〉 we have nothing more to say but as Moses when he had made the Ark of Shittim wood and lined it with fine Gold he put round about a Crown of Gold upon the Top. In the same manner now that we have declared unto you the incorruption and future glory of our Bodies which are to be look'd upon as sacred Arks 〈…〉 God 's Majesty shall dwell for ever Now that we 〈…〉 how by the Almighty and gracious power of 〈…〉 they shall become more uncorruptible than the 〈◊〉 wood and more glorious than fine Gold I will nâ—w with Gods a â—â—â—ance draw about them a Crown more precious than the purest Gold and richer than all the â—ewels in the World I mean to Crown this work and intend to end it with as perfect a Picture as I am able to draw of the Eternal Glory and Happiness which we expect to enjoy both in Soul and Body after our Resurrection But first I must say something of the entire and perfect destruction of all our Enemies and represent unto you the overthrow and the fatal end of Death When Jesus Christ shall appear again to Judge the World in Righteousness he shall sit upon a glorious and a most splendid Throne Solomons magnificent Throne was but its shadow and imperfect Type he shall then send forth his Angels who shall gather together the Elect with the sound of a Trumpet from the four parts of the World and from one end of the Heavens to the other The sight of this glorious Saviour shall then fill us with an unspeakable joy and cause us to burst forth into this Language Is 25. Lo this is our God we have waited for him and he will save us This is the Lord we have waited for him we will be glad and rejoyce in his Salvation But when all the kinreds of the Earth shall behold this glorious King in the Clouds of Heaven with power and great glory they shall lament and strike their Breasts in despair they shall call to the Mountains and Rocks Revel 6. Fall upon us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath is come who shall be able to stand It is then that the Lord shall bring to light the hidden things of darkness and shall manifest the thoughts of the heart with the most secret contrivances The Books shall be opened not only of the guilty Consciences where Satans Image and Deeds shall be engraven but also the other Books where God himself hath written with his own finger all our actions words and our most secret thoughts All Men shall be judged according to the things written in the Books St. John declares this in the 20. of the Revelations I saw a great White Throne and him that sate on it from whose face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was no place for them And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their works Unto this St. Paul agrees we must all appear before the judgement Seat of Christ that every one may receive in his Body according as he hath done whether it be good or evil There are three sorts of persons that are to stand before this glorious Tribunal such as never had any other teacher but Nature who were not acquainted with any other Works of God but of Creation and Providence for God hath not left himself without witness in doing good The second sort have been assisted with a Divine Revelation from above under the Law which hath distinctly taught them what Works are pleasing to God These may have heard something of a Messias from the ancient Prophets they may have seen his pourtraiture in the Types and Shadows of Moses ordinances The other sort have had the Grace of God clearly and plainly revealed unto them unto whom our Lord Jesus Christ hath brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel There are none of these persons if they have lived in Impiety and debauchery and are dead in impenitency that shall be able to excuse themselves in this dreadful day of Judgement But some are more guilty than others therefore they shall be condemned to more greivous Tortures The knowledge that God hath bestowed upon Man hath been darkened by the Prince of darkness but it hath not been totally extinct and that Law which God hath engraven in the Soul of Man hath not been altogether blotted out but there remains yet some relicks So that there is no Man living that can affirm that he hath done all the good deeds which his Conscience was perswaded that he ought to perform and that he hath omitted all the evil acts of which his Conscience did convince him They who have lived and are Dead without any Law of God revealed unto them shall be judged without the Law Such shall be condemned for having taken pleasure in
imagine that this Sign of the Son of Man is the Sign of the Cross which shall appear in the air This opinion in it self is harmless but in regard that it hath no foundation in holy Scripture I am not to insist upon it Others believe that it shall be the Fire with which Jesus Christ shall burn the Earth dissolve the Elements and punish unbelievers This conceit is grounded upon St. Pauls words to the Thessal 2. Thes 1. It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Others conceive that this Sign of the Son of Man is nothing else but the Body of Jesus Christ bearing and discovering the print of the nails in his hands and feet and the wound of the Spear in his side This they gather from these words of the first of the Revel Behold he cometh with Clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him There be others yet that take it in another sence and that believe that there shall be no particular Sign but that we must understand by this Sign of the Son of Man all those things which shall declare the end of the World and the coming of Jesus Christ to judge the quick and the dead If we take the words in this manner there will be an excellent allusion to that which is commonly practised when Kings and Princes make their publick entrance into great Cities for their coming in is proclaimed by the sound of a Trumpet and by the attendants of Majesty a Train and Pomp that usually accompanies it In the same manner the glorious coming of Jesus Christ shall be known by the sound of the Archangels Trumpet and by all the Signs and wonderful alterations which shall suddenly happen in the Heavens This last opinion is very likely and the former advanceth nothing contrary to the analogy of Faith Therefore in harmless matters which are controverted and not plainly decided by the Word of God we leave to every pious Soul a liberty to chuse that which it likes best Some inquire further If it be true that the Souls of the Damned go down into Hell immediately after their egress out of the Body and if they are tormented in a Fire that goeth not out whereof the heat never lessens as the Christian Religion teacheth and as we may see in the Parable of the rich Glutton doth it not follow that these wretches are already judged How is it therefore that the Son of God will judge them again at the last day and send them to an everlasting burning prepared for the Devil and his Angels I answer First That it is no absurdity to say that one Sentence shall be pronounced twice for Men are wont to read the Sentence of Doom to the Prisoner before he is taken out of Prison afterwards the same Sentence is published before all the people at the time of execution Likewise when the Souls of the Wicked go out of their wretched Bodies God pronounces to them the Sentence of his Death But when Jesus Christ shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory he shall publish the same Sentence before all the Men of the World and all the Angels of Heaven Besides that Sentence was never pronounced but to the Soul but then it shall be declared both to the Soul and Body and both together shall be sent to the everlasting burning from whence they shall never be reprieved From hence therefore Christians you may gather that there are three degrees of Punishments or Torments to the Wicked for in this Life they have a Worm that knaws their Bowels and Heart and a kind of Hell that Torments their Consciences At the going of their Souls out of the World they are cast headlong into the Eternal flames of Hell where they suffer unspeakable Torments at that time their Bodies are senseless in their Graves as the Bodies of the righteous But at this last and dreadful day of Judgement as the Grave shall restore all the Dead Bodies Hell which is the place designed for the Torment of the Damn'd shall give up all the Souls that are tormented in its flames and these cursed Souls shall be remitted to their miserable Bodies to suffer the pangs of an eternal Death Revel 20. Thus they shall be cast in Body and Soul into the bottomless pit where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth At that time the Beast the false Prophet and all the Enemies of God and of his Church shall be cast alive into the Lake burning with fire and brimstone which is the second Death Revel 19.10 11. And when all these Offenders shall be executed the Executioners themselves shall be punished for their Crimes when the Damned shall be cast into eternal Tortures the Devils and infernal furies shall be sent after them as it is said The Devil who seduced the Nations shall be cast into the lake of fire and Brimstone where the Beast and the false Prophet are and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever Revel 20. What a dreadful sight is it to behold all those Roaring Lions those furious Dragons in their rage vomiting forth fire and flames What a joyful spectacle shall this be to the Children of God to look upon these infernal Devils bound fast with those Chains which they shall never be able to break and shut up in this bottomless pit out of which they shall never be released Our Lord shall cast into this Lake of fire and brimstone and shut up in this bottomless pit not only the Devil and his Angels the Beast and the false Prophet and generally all wicked Souls and unbelievers but he shall cast therein also Death and the Grave or rather he shall abolish them for ever As Josuah when he conquered the Kings of the Amorites he never killed them until such time as he had overcome all his Enemies Likewise our Lord Jesus Christ our true Joshua hath encountered with Death upon the Cross and overcome it by his Resurrection but he will not destroy it altogether until the last day when he shall come to judge the World Then to perfect all his glorious victories he shall destroy this last Enemy this destroyer of his Brethren and of his Members so that Death shall be no more It shall be no more for the wicked they shall seek it in vain to be freed from their Torments It shall flie away from them as a shadow that departs and is no more to be found Death shall be no more for Gods Children for it shall never disturb their Rest and Happiness If the old Serpent could enter into Paradise we should fear his temptations and inflamed Darts and if Death did continue in its Empire and Command
we should dread its approaches but then it shall not have the least power it shall be totally abolished All the living shall become immortal And although God will not destroy the Being nor take away the malice of the Devil yet to us he shall be as if he were not for he shall never be able to break his Chains nor to escape out of his Prison and between him and us there shall be depths that can never be filled So that as Moses when he cast his Eyes upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians who pursued the frighted Israelites he told them Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which he will shew to you to day for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day ye shall see them again no more for ever Likewise when we think upon Satan and all his infernal Armies that pursue you We may say with confidence Settle your minds Christian Souls and with the Eye of Faith behold the Salvation of the Lord for these hellish furies that have persecuted us so long shall be reduced to that estate that they shall not be able to do you the least displeasure or to give you any apprehension God is going to drown them in the Red Sea of his wrath and to shut them up for ever in the bottomless pit of his just revenge So that as in the Heavenly Paradise there shall be neither pain nor sorrow nor grief nor crying nor sighs heard Likewise there shall never be any fear nor fright nor the least alarm but we shall live there in a setled Peace and quiet for ever It is reported of the Macedonians that they wept for joy when they beheld their King Alexander the Great seated in the Throne of Darius and trampling under feet the Pride and Empire of Persia But how exceeding great shall our joy be when we shall behold Jesus Christ our great Monarch sitting upon the Throne of God and trampling under feet the pomp of the World crushing the Red Dragon and all the tyrannical powers of Hell The Glory of Alexander vanished away with his breath Death destroyed all his Trophies but our Lord shall triumph over death it self It shall be the last act of his Eternal Justice to destroy the destroyer and murderer from the beginning At that time there shall be no more enemies to encounter with no evils to be feared neither shall there be any Advantages to be desired nor Honors to be expected for God will cast us into the bottomless Ocean of the most Divine Pleasures and shall raise us up to the highest Glory that our Nature shall be capable of This Happiness and this Glory shall be infinite in regard of its durance It shall not be like to the Pomp and Magnificence of the Kings and Princes of the World which vanisheth away in an instant nor like to the brightness of Moses Face which departed with his life nor like the transfiguration of Christ upon mount Tabor which soon disappeared for when it shall have continued as many hundred ages as there are Stars in the Firmament it shall then but begin and appear in its rising so that there we may have just cause and more reason than St. Peter to say Lord it is good for us to be here There is no place in the world so pleasant and delightful but at last one shall be weary to continue in it nor company so amiable and sweet but becomes tedious in time nor pleasure so ravishing but grows into distast The greatest persons on earth sigh under the burden of their greatness the brightness of their Glory dazles them When nothing troubles them they are troubled of their own accord and the most magnificent Triumphs disturb and weary them Oft-times their Heart groans in the midst of the greatest rejoycings and of the publick applauses they think themselves more unhappy than those who envy their apparent happiness for all that shines is not Gold the most beautiful Roses are not without their prickles and many times they hide dangerous Serpents As the Glory and Happiness of Paradise is insinite in regard of its Durance so in respect of its Dignity and Excellency for God will not only satisfy all our desires and answer all our expectations but he will also give unto us above all that we can ask or think Shall I undertake to paint out unto you this Glory and perfect Happiness When St. Paul speaks of these Evangelical Mysteries he assures us that they are things that the Eye of Man hath never seen that his Ear hath never heard and that never enter'd into his Heart 1 Cor. 2. If this is true of the Doctrine which declares this Glory and Eternal Happiness how are we able to comprehend that Glory and Happiness it self therefore the same Apostle tells us in another place That God worketh in us abundantly above that we are able to ask or think Eph. 3. I cannot boast of having spoken with God face to face as Moses Numb 11. of having been ravished as St. Paul into the third Heaven 1 Cor. 12. God hath not transported me up as St. John into the Celestial Jerusalem neither hath he delivered to me as to his Holy Angels a Reed to measure the holy City But when I should have enjoyed these Glorious priviledges this Divine Entertainment these supernatural Elevations when I should have walked about and taken a full view of the Celestial Jerusalem when I should have been in the company of the Seraphims that fly about God's Throne when I should have beheld God face to face although I were the most eloquent of all Men and did speak with the tongues of Angels and had in my hand the Pencil of an Arch-Angel I should not dare to undertake to represent this exceeding great Glory nor to paint out unto you the brightness of that Heavenly Light wherof the least beam is able to dazle me St. Paul had been near the body of this great Light he had beheld the Riches and Glory of Paradise yet he confesseth that they be things unutterable not to be expressed by any tongue But as those who cannot cast their eyes directly to look upon the Sun because that it dazles them with its exceeding great Light behold its Body with more ease and leasure in the Water or in a Looking-Glass Thus shall we consider and look upon the Images which God himself hath expressed for us in his Holy Word of this Divine brightness of Heaven which we are not able otherwise to comprehend for God hath dealt with us as a Father doth with his young Babes who babbles with them and represents to them the light of the un with a black Coal Or as the Astrologers who represent the Heavenly Constellations by the Figures of Birds of four-footed Beasts and of creeping things For nothing can enter into our understanding but by the door of our Sences therefore Spiritual and Celestial things are represented under the Notions of Corporal and Earthly Enjoyments which we
be requisite to render us perfectly happy for as when our Eye beholds the Noon-Sun it cannot stedfastly look upon it nor receive all its beams but it partakes of as much as is necessary to enlighten it and when there should be a thousand Suns our Eyes would never make use of more Light then they do at present Likewise in beholding the Father of Lights this beautiful Sun of our Souls it is altogether impossible to receive the immensity of its Beams but we shall partake of as much as shall be necessary to drive away all our darkness and to fill us full of a perfect Light to make us become Light in the Lord and to cause us to shine for ever as so many Stars and little Suns As an empty Vessel when it is cast into the Sea comprehends not all its Waters but receives only enough to fill it up so that there is no part empty Likewise when we shall be cast into the Ocean of the Godhead we shall not be able to comprehend and receive God's infinite Glory and Happiness but we shall receive and comprehend as much as shall content all our desires and satisfy all our craving Appetites so that there shall be nothing at all wanting in us which might be expected in the highest felicity of an humane Creature I do not say in the highest Felicity absolutely without limitation for there are two kinds of Felicities the one absolutely perfect beyond which there can be nothing expected This Felicity or Happiness is only to be found in God the other is perfect in a certain degree As the perfect happiness of the Angels 〈◊〉 to attain to that degree of Glory of which the Angelical Nature is capable Likewise the perfect happiness of Man is to enjoy all that Blessedness whereof the Humane Nature alone and single is able to enjoy I must say the single Nature of Man to distinguish it from that which is united to the Person of the Eternal Son of God for by this means this hath attained to an uncommunicable Glory of which other Creatures cannot partake in the same perfection it hath attained to an happiness far above the Glory of all the Children of God and of all the Holy Angels of Heaven far above what they can or may expect Moreover I may say that there is a supreme and perfect Happiness independant which subsists of its self without any forreign assistance this kind of happiness is only to be found in God For as he is of himself an infinite Being which borrows nothing from others Likewise of himself he is absolutely and perfectly happy The other happiness is that which proceeds not of our selves but is derived to us from another such is the Glory and Happiness of the Angels This Lesson the Holy Ghost teacheth us in these words God puts Light into his Angels that is to say that these Holy Spirits have nothing of Light or Glory but it is derived to them from the Father of Lights and his gracious Aspect such also is the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ as Mediator therefore he speaks thus to God his Father Glorify thy Son that thy Son may Glorify thee John 17. In a word such shall be our Glory and Happiness for as we have our Being from God it is from him that we derive our Well-being also and it is from him that we expect all our Glory and Bliss From hence you may easily conclude that God is the only object and the only source of our Eternal Gloâ—â— and future Happiness If you enquire from me what shall be the Essential form I answer that it shall be our Likeness and Resemblance with God which shall be as perfect as an Humane Creature is capable of Now this Resemblance and Similitude shall consist in three things in a pure and bright Light which shall not be mixed with the least Darkness in a perfect and a compleat Holiness where there shall not be the least blemish and in an infinite and unalterable joy and content where there shall never be the least cloud of Grief but of this we have sufficiently Treated already Some there are that inquire whether in Paradise there shall be an equality or an inequality of Glories and Happinesses to say the truth this question is more curious than necessary for we need not inquire whether there shall be any more or less happy than our selves It should suffice us for our comfort to know that if we be true Believers and truly penitent if we fear God as we ought to do if we serve him with a Religious mind until the last gasp that in such a case we shall attain to the Glory of the Children of God and possess with them a perfect and Eternal Happiness Nevertheless that we may seem to omit nothing which might give satisfaction to every believing Soul I shall examine this particular but it shall be without advancing any new thing which I have not seen in the Holy Gospel nor learn'd from the true Doctor of our Souls I shall declare the opinion of the most Learned upon this rich and excellent subject afterwards I shall add mine own which I shall submit as the rest of this Treatise to the judgement of the Wiser and more Learned Persons who are better acquainted than I am with the Spiritual and Heavenly Enjoyments Some believe that in Paradise there shall be every where the same Glory and Happiness equal and uniform in every individual Person This opinion they back with these reasons First that we shall have no Glory nor Happiness but that which hath been purchased for us by the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and that as this Glorious Saviour hath purchased this Glory and Happiness for all the Elect equally they shall all enjoy it in the highest degree and perfection Secondly that the Holiness of all the Blessed shall be perfect therefore as they shall be all perfectly Holy they shall be all likewise perfectly happy in the same degree Thirdly that our Saviour saith expresly without any exception That the Saints shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Matth. 23. Now the Sun is the King of the Stars and the brightest of all the Heavenly Bodies Fourthly That the Elect are represented in Heaven as so many Kings having upon their Heads Crowns of Gold Revel 1.4 5. Now there is no inequality between Kings for each of them is in possession of Soveraignty and an independant and Supream Authority Fifthly That Jesus Christ represents to us the last transactions and passages of the World by the parable of a Father of a Family who at the end of the day bestows the same Salary upon every one that hath laboured in his Vineyard Matth. 20. Sixthly That it is said in general terms That we shall see God face to face and that we shall see him as he is 1 Cor 13. 1 John 3. and that in this blessed Vision shall consist the chief Happiness of
Man Lastly That after the Resurrection God shall be in us all in all which expression declares the highest and most compleat Happiness and Glory Others think the contrary that in Heaven there shall be an inequality of Glory and several degrees of Happiness This their opinion they strengthen chiefly with two passages of Holy Scripture the one is in the 14 of St. John where Christ saith to his Apostles In my Fathers house there are many Mansions The other is in the 1 Cor. 15. where St. Paul discoursing at large of the happiness of the Saints after the Resurrection saith There is one Glory of the Sun another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another in Glory so is the resurrection of the dead There are some that are not content to believe an inequality of Glory and Happiness but they undertake further to discourse of this matter with as much boldness as if God had admitted them to the knowledge of his Eternal Secrets as if he had discovered to them all the wonders of the Heavenly Jerusalem more plainly than to his beloved disciple Such tell us not only that there shall be divers degrees of Glory and Happiness but they inform who they are that shall obtain such and such Degrees they prescribe in a Dogmatical and Magisterial manner which shall be the Glory of Virgins which shall belong to Confessors which shall be that of Martys In a word some are so much puffed up with an high conceit of themselves and of their own deservings that they make an open profession of being of the number of such as shall obtain the highest degrees of Glory and Happiness But my opinion is that the Truth is to be found between these two extreams I shall not impose any Law upon the Consciences of any Man in this particular whereof the decision is not absolutely necessary to Salvation yet we may say that in Heaven there shall be divers degrees of Glory and Happiness but we dare not describe them nor venture to apply them to any persons or to tell who of us shall possess such and such degrees This were a bold attempt upon Heaven and a taking of the forbidden Fruit by such an impudency we should loose our selves instead of saving others for such as are so audacious as to search into the Divine Majesty shall be swallowed up by his Glory Prov. 25. And although we verily believe degrees of Glory yet we may say without offence to any person that this belief is not to be established upon the fore-mentioned passages from whence we cannot gather any such conclusion for in the 14 of St. John our Saviour saith not that there are divers Degrees or divers Mansions whereof some are Richer and more Glorious than others but only that in his Fathers House there are many Mansions The meaning of this Divine Saviour is as clear as the day he had an intent to raise up the drooping courage of his Holy Apostles and to comfort them in his absence for that purpose he assures them that he is going to lodge in an House where there is not only room for himself but also for them and for all that shall believe in him by their Teaching He expounds his words plainly in the 17 Chapter of the same Gospel where he speaks to God in this manner Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me For the other passage of the 1 of the Corinth I beseech you devout Souls read over the Apostles words and consider with a Religious observation what goeth before and what follows after you shall find that the Apostle intends not to compare the Saints the one with the other but only to discover the difference which is between our Bodies as they are in this corruptible and mortal life and as they shall be when they shall have put on incorruption and immortality Therefore when he had said One is the Glory of the Sun another is the Glory of the Moon another the Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in Glory He doth not add likewise so shall be the Glory of one blessed Person differing from another but he saith So shall be the resurrection from the dead The Body is sown in corruption it shall be raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonour it it raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body From whence is it therefore that we gather these divers degrees of Glory and Happiness I answer First from the divers and different pains and punishments of the damned For as in Hell there shall be several degrees of Torments Likewise it is very probable that in Heaven there shall be divers degrees of Happiness and several degrees of Glory Secondly God to declare his Divine Wisdom which is various in all things bestows at present all his Blessings and Riches with a wonderful variety and with an admirable order Thus you may see in nature that God hath scattered up and down the World divers gifts and excellencies for example the smell and beauty of Roses is different from that of the Lillies the brightness of the Diamonds is not like that of Rubies the light of the Sun differs from that of the Moon and Stars Likewise it is very probable that above all the Heavens there shall be divers degrees of Light and Glory Amongst the Holy Angels there are Titles of Honor and several Dignities therefore they are named Archangels Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers As therefore amongst the Angels there are divers degrees of Glory it is also likely that the same order shall be observed amongst the Glorified in Heaven Besides as in the Church militant the Graces of God differ very much The Souls of the Faithful are not the same in all respects they have differing qualities and excellencies there are in them divers degrees of Light of Knowledge of Faith of Hope of Charity and Holiness Likewise according to the Analogy of Faith there should be also in the Church glorified divers degrees of Glory and Happiness and the rather because Glory is nothing else but the compleating and perfection of Grace This reason is so much the stronger because in the parable of the Talents Jesus Christ gives to his servants a Glory proportionable to the former Riches of his Grace None can conceive that the words relate to God's Favors bestowed upon his Children on Earth for our Lord speaks of that which he intends to do to them when he shall come down from Heaven to judge the World The words relate to the time when he shall say to such as have well employed the Talents of his Mercy Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord They relate also to the time when he shall cause the
Souls and Bodies when thou shalt come down from Heaven with Flames of Fire to revenge thy self of such as know thee not and will not obey thy Holy Gospel and to be glorified in thy Saints and become wonderful in all Believers Let me sometime consider that glorious Throne where thou shalt sit to judge the quick and the dead before which the greatest Princes Kings and Monarchs as well as the vilest Servants Subjects and Slaves and generally all the Men of the World shall appear to receive in their Bodies according as they have done whether it be good or evil O that I might rejoyce in an expectation of seeing the total and intire destruction of all the Enemies of thy Glory and of our Salvation That I might look upon Satan his wicked Angels his Agents and the instruments of his Kingdome at if they were already bound up in everlasting Chains cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone and shut up in that bottomless pit from whence they shall never be released That I might think upon that Blessed time when Death shall be no more when all the living shall be Immortal but chiefly give me Grace to behold with the eye of that precious Faith which thou hast formed in my Soul the joy and Coronation of thy Church to consider that Divine dwelling where the stately and most magnificent City is built with pure Gold Pearles and Precious Stones where thou thy self art the Light and the Sun where the uncorruptible inheritance is which cannot be defiled and cannot fade away where the River of living water runs which is as bright as Chrystal where the Tree of Life is which yields fruit every Month of the year whereof the Leaves are for healing of the Gentiles Give me Grace to comfort my self in the expectation of that blessed estate where we shall neither hunger nor thirst where there shall be neither giving nor taking in Marriage but where we shall be as the Angels of God where thou shalt cloath us with Light and incompass us about with the beams of thy Glory where thou shalt put into our hands Palmes of Victory Crowns upon our Heads and in our mouths the Songs of the blessed and of all the Holy Angels where we shall sit with the Patriarcks Prophets Apostles Confessors and Martyrs and with all the Princes Kings and Monarchs that have lived in thy fear and that are dead in thy favor Where we shall for ever solemnise the Divine Nuptials of the Lamb and shall be inflamed with his love where we shall behold God face to face and shall be changed into his glorious Image and satisfied with his Divine likeness O Lord give us Grace to think continually upon his glorious and joyful day which shall put a period to the current of time which is the accomplishment of all the Prophecies and Promises the body and reallity of all types and figures the Crowning of all our Works the fulfilling of all our desires the highest of all our hopes and the perfection of all the designs intended by God the Father from all Eternity And seeing that we know not when this beautiful day shall break forth which shall never end give us Grace to expect it at every moment and behave our selves in such a manner as if we were already at the Eve of this everlasting Sabbath and of this glorious Rest That we may provide holy oyl in our Lamps faith hope and charity in our hearts that these Lamps may be ready and always burning that our Souls may be cloathed with the Wedding Garment with Righteousness and innocency that we may not stumber in the vain Delights of the World in the pleasures of the flesh but that we may spend the days and the nights in watching and Prayers Give us Grace to lift up our heads looking for our Redemption as if we did already bear the sound of the last Trumpet as if we did see already the Lord Jesus coming in the Clouds of Heaven O that we might not only expect him but go to meet him and hasten his coming by our continual Prayers and earnest desires O most powerful and merciful Lord forgive our impatient wishes and hasten that day for the elects sake Lord Jesus come with the Angels of thy power and the thousands of Saints and cause thy glory to appear and thine eternal Happiness Come with the Weapons of thy just resentment to require Justice and to destroy all the ungodly for there is no Faith amongst Men nor charity All flesh is become corrupt Come and destroy this World which is as an House infected with a spreading Leprosie but rather come to free it from corruption and vanity unto which our Sins have made it subject Come and purifie with an universal fire this wretched Earth which was cursed for our Crimes Come Almighty Lord come and trample upon the pride of the World and of all the Enemies of thy Sacred Truth Come and execute judgement upon her that is drunk with the Blood of thy holy Martyrs Come and bind the roaring Lyon in Chains and shut him for ever in the bottomless pit Come and put to Death the Murderer of thy Brethren and Members and totally abolish it Lord Jesus hearken to the crying of thy people and to the groans of thine inheritance Come and take thy Church out of this cruel Egypt where our Sins have inthralled it deliver it out of this Babylon where it hath been kept so long in Bondage O merciful Lord it is high time that thou shouldst introduce it into thy Celestial Canaan where the Milk and Hony of the most refined joyes and divine comforts flow continually That thou shouldst bring it into the holy Jerusalem the City of Peace and of everlasting Rest Come therefore to wipe away the Tears and stop the crying of thy afflicted Children Come and take them out of this cruel and infamous Prison open to them the Gates of thy glorious Palace Come and cloath them with thy Light cause them to drink of the Rivers of thy pleasures and Crown them with thine Immortal Glory Lord Jesus hasten this day of this Divine Coronation and magnificent Rejoycing We have been fighting and travelling upon this Earth long enough separated from thee our Souls long for thee they can no longer live without thee O wonderful Lord whose Works are so great that they are past finding out and whose Wonders are so many that they are not to be numbred thou hast with the Father perfected the Creation of the World thou hast performed all the Works of our Blessed Redemption perfect also the Works of the future Glorification of thy Church Take us up to that highest Glory and Happiness which hath beex prepared for us from the beginning of the World and which is the price of thy Blood and the fruits of thy Death O bountiful and glorious Lord put us in a condition that we may have nothing to dread nor nothing to desire nor nothing to pray or
wish for but that we may only have cause to return to thee Thanksgiving and to celebrate thy Divine praises That in this glorious and everlasting day we may sing continually with the Seraphims that flie about thy Throne holy holy holy is the Lord God of Hosts all that is in the Earth is his Glory and with the Blessed Saints now is come to pass Salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for Death is swallowed up into Victory the accuser of our Brethren is shut up in the bottomless pit he that accused them day and night before God They have overcome him by the Blood of the Lamb. They have not loved their own Lives unto Death Vnto him who hath loved us and washed us from all our Sins in his Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God his Father to him I say as to the Father and the Holy Ghost be Glory power and Dominion 〈◊〉 ever Amen FINIS A TABLE OF THE CHAPTERS In this BOOK CHap. 1. That there is nothing more dreadful than Death to such as have no hope in God Page 1. Chap. 2. That in all the Heathens Philosophy there is no solid or true comforts against the fears and apprehensions of Death p. 8. Chap. 3. Of divers sorts of Death with which we must incounter p. 16. Chap. 4. That Jesus Christ our Lord hath redeemed us from Eternal Death and by Degrees doth deliver us from a Spiritual Death p. 22. Chap. 5. Why we are subject to the Corporal or Natural Death and what advantages we do thereby receive in Jesus Christ p. 28. Chap. 6. From whence proceed the Fears of Death p. 44. Chap. 7. The first Remedy against the Fears of Death is to Meditate often upon it p. 52. Chap. 8. The Second Remedy against the Fears of Death is to expect it at every hour p. 65. Chap. 9. The Third Remedy against the Fears of Death is to consider that God hath appointed the time and the manner of our Death p. 77. Chap. 10. The fourth Remedy against the Fears of Death is to separate our Hearts from the World p. 109. Chap. 11. The fifth Remedy against the Fears of Death is to renounce Vice and to apply our selves to the practice of Piety and Sanctification Page 147. Chap. 12. The sixth Remedy against the Fears of Death is to repose our selves upon Gods good Providence p 206. Chap. 13. The first Consolation against the Fears of Death God will not forsake us in our most grievous pangs p. 267. Chap. 14 The second Consolation against the Fears of Death is to look upon God as a Merciful Father and to trust upon his infinite goodness p. 296. Chap. 15. The third Consolation against the Fears of Death is to represent continually unto our selves the Death and Sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to trust upon the Merits of his Cross p. 315. Chap. 16. The fourth Consolation against the Fears of Death is to Meditate often upon our Lord Jesus Christ as he did lie in his Tomb p. 335. Chap. 17. The fifth Consolation against the Fears of Death is to Meditate upon the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ p. 342. Chap. 18. The sixth Consolation against the Fears of Death is the Ascention of Jesus Christ into Heaven and his sitting at the right hand of God p. 346. Chap. 19. The seventh Consolation against the Fears of Death is our strict and unseparable union with Jesus Christ by the means of his Holy Spirit and the First Fruits of our Blessed Immortality p. 357. Chap. 20. The eighth Consolation is to consider that Death frees and delivers us from all the Evils that are in the World and what we daily suffer p. 375. Chap. 21. The ninth Consolation Death shall deliver us from Sin which we may see Reigning in the World and from the Reliques of our Corruption p. 391. Chap. 22. The tenth Consolation is the Glory and Happiness of our Souls at their egress out of the Body p. 412. Chap. 23. The eleventh Consolation is the glorious Resurrection of our Bodies p. 443. Chap. 24. The twelfth Consolation is the Destruction of Death and the Eternal and most Blessed Life which we shall injoy both in Soul and Body after our Resurrection Page 486. The Several Prayers and Meditations proper for every condition the devout Reader shall find at the end of those Chapters unto which the Prayers are sutable A CATALOGUE OF BOOKS Printed for John Starkey Bookseller at the Miter in Fleetstreet near Temple-Bar DIVINITY 1. A Discourse of the Freedom of the Will by Peter Sterry sometime Fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge in folio price bound 10 s. 2. The Jesuits Morals Collected by a Doctor of the Colledge of Sorbon in Paris who hath faithfully extracted them out of the Jesuits own Books which are Printed by the permission and approbation of the Superiours of their Society Written in French and exactly Translated into English in folio price bound 10 s. 3. 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The Living Temple or the Notion improved that A good Man is the Temple of God By John Howe M. A. sometime Fellow of Magdalen Colledge Oxon in octavo price bound 3 s. 7. A Confutation of the Millenarian Opinion plainly demonstrating that Christ will not reign visibly and personally upon Earth with the Saints for 1000 years either before the day of Judgement in the day of Judgment or after it By Tho. Hall B. D. price bound 1 s. PHYSICK 8. Basilica Chymica Praxis Chimiatricae or Royal and Practical Chymistry augmented and enlarged by John Hartman To which is added his Treatise of Signatures of internal things or a true and lively Anatomy of the greater and lesser World As also the Practice of Chymistry of John Hartman M. D. Augmented and inlarged by his Son with considerable Additions all faithfully Englished by a Lover of Chymistry price bound 10 s. 9. The Art of Chymistry as it is now practised Written in French by P. Thybault Chymist to the French King and
Saints and of thy blessed and Glorious Angels Amen A Prayer and Meditation upon the manner of our Death O God the Creator of all flesh and Father of the immortal Spirits I know that all manner of Deaths of thy Children are precious in thy sight and that howsoever they shall happen thou wilt take care of my Soul when I consider all things I sind that it matters not whether my Soul gets out by my Lips or by a wound so that it enters into thy Glory to enjoy thine Eternal Happiness What difference is there if my Lamp goes out of its own accord or if it be blown out by some envious blast so that it be lighted again by the immortal beams of the Son of Righteousness and continuâ— for ever Glorious in the highest Heavens I shall be sufficiently happy if I dye in the Lord and enter into mine Eternal Rest from all my Labors in what manner soever Death assaults me from all Eternity O Lord thou knowest all thy works and with a glance of thine Eye thou discoverest the depths and seest the bottom of Eternity As thou hast marked out and appointed the moment of my death thou hast also ordained the manner of it I must O Almighty God repose my self upon this wonderful and wise Providence and be contented with thy uncontroulable Decrees but O my God and Heavenly Father if thou wilt give me the liberty who am but Dust and Ashes to speak unto thee and to send up the thoughts of my Heart I beseech thee to be so Gracious as to let me know my end that I may not be surprised on a sudden by an unexpected death as Job's Children and so merciful as to give me timely notice of my departure as thou didst to thy servant Hezekiah I desire not the notice of many years but of a few days or at least of a few hours immediately before that my Soul may not be disturb'd with evil thoughts nor frighted with false conceits and malicious suggestions of the Devil but that I may end my days with all tranquility and satisfaction of mind that I may always have a perfect use of my sences of my reason and understanding and a certain perswasion of thy Grace and Favor that I may glorify thy name and edify my acquaintances until the last moment of my departure Suffer not therefore my Soul to be snatch'd away by force on a suddain but that I may have time to commit it into thy merciful hands Amen A Prayer and Meditation for one that dies in a strange Countrey in the midst of Infidels O My God and Heavenly Father how painful and grievous is this trial who can express the troubles of my mind at the moment of my most urgent necessity and of all the troubles of my mind at the time of my Agony I see my self destitute of all humane assistance Here I am at a distance not only from my natural soil and fare from the pleasant company of my friends and deprived of all spiritual Comfort of which I have at present greatest need in my extremity but also to my unspeakable grief here I am in a barbarous Countrey in the hands of my most inhumane and unreconcileable Enemies I have no body to comfort and rejoyce me nor to strengthen me in the faith of my Saviour Christ all things that appear before me do increase and add to my trouble I am here among the Enemies of the Truth who labour to destroy my interest in Christ and to cause me to perish now that I am entering into the Haven of Eternity I must encounter with Death with Hell it self and with the subtle insinuations of the infernal Spirits O Almighty and merciful Lord suffer me not to lose courage and to yield to the present temptations By thy wonderful Providence and out of the Treasuries of thy Mercy supply all my wants and infirmities and grant that I may with the Shield of faith quench all the siery Dorts of the Devil I am beset with many visible and invisible Enemies but they that are for me are more in number then they that are against me It is true I am far from my Native Countrey but I am not one jott farther from Heaven whereof the Earth is the Center I am at a distance from all my Earthly friends but nothing can put me at a distance from thee O good God who lovest me with an unchangeable affection I am in the imbraces of mine Heavenly Father and of my God I have not the comfort of a Minister to assist and help me in my grief and pain but I know that thou wilt send to me thine Holy Angels as once to thy beloved Son in his bitter Agony These Angels shall protect me against all the power of the Prince of darkness Thou wilt administer unto me thy self the sweet comforts of thy Salvation thy Rod and thy Staff will assist me in this Valley and Shadow of Death O Lord thou dost things that are not to be searched out and so many wonders thot it is not possible to number them Thy Grace is sufficient for me and thy power is made manifest in mine infirmities thine Holy Spirit who is the true comforter and the great Power of the Almighty shall refresh me in these my afflictions and in all things shall made me more than Conqueror Thou art stronger than all other beings so that I am perswaded nothing can ravish me out of thine hands I am certain that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor depth nor any other creature can separate me from the love that thou hast declared to me in Jesus Christ my Lord This precious faith with which thou hast enabled my Soul shall vanquish the World triumph over Hell and destroy Death in its own Empire Amen A Prayer and Meditation upon the death of a beloved Person O My God I acknowledge that there is nothing certain nor unchangeable on Earth but thy precious and Holy Promises therefore it becomes us to enjoy the things of the World as not enjoying them Thou hast snatch'd out of my embraces and pull'd from my bosom my greatest Darling and most intimate friend by this means thou hast open'd my Heart and torn my Bowels thou hast separated me from my self so that my life is but a burden and a pain to me I did often look upon this pleasant object of my love as a gift from above and a mark of thy favour and liberality It was my greatest joy and my seetest comfort The day that it took away loaded me with sorrows and overwhelmed me in a Sea of grief That which doth most disturb me is That I am afraid that this is a streak and an effect of thine anger and justice Lord my God I must needs acknowledge that I have grievously offended thee seeing thou dost thus chastise me with so much severity and makest me to feel so sharp
When thou shouldest speak with a Divine Tongue and with an Heavenly Wisdom thou mayest have good cause to cry out Who hath believed our report and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed Isai 5. John 12. In short as the Rivers of fresh Water that run continually into the Sea derive not from thence their natural bitterness thus thy good and Holy Life thy Learned and excellent Sermons will not be able to remove the corruptions of this present evil Age nor stop the Torrent and hinder the overflowings of Vice for thy labor and industry if compared with the corruption of the World are as unconsiderable as a few drops of water in comparison of the Ocean This cursed Earth may be watered with thy Sweat and Tears it will nevertheless bring forth nothing but Bryars and Thistles the Weeds which thou thinkest to pluck up will tear thy Skin and draw bloud out of thy Hands In short he that plants is nothing nor he that watereth but it is God who giveth the increase 1 Cor. 3. It is justly to be feared that in staying any longer time in this corrupt and unwholsome Air thou mayest receive some evil impressions from the general contagion It is to be feared that thou mayest sully thy pure Hands by handling so many Wounds and Sores and that the Thorns of this cursed Earth may pluck off the Wooll of thine harmless and innocent life But when thou shouldest have a thousand times more Gifts and Graces and that thy labors should bring far greater advantages and profit to Christ's Church it belongs not to thee to give Laws unto thy God but to follow the motion of his Will Leave to him the chief care of his own Houshold and rest upon his Eternal Providence He hath more right in the Church than thou canst pretend to for he hath created it by his Power and redeem'd it by his precious Bloud He that cares not for his own especially for those of his Family hath denied the Faith and is worse than an Infidel and can God who is Faithfulness it self and the very Being of Truth God who cannot deny himself and whose Gifts and Calling are without Repentance Rom. 12. Can such a God cast off all care of his Church of that Church which he embraceth with an Eternal Love and cherisheth as the apple of his Eye Jer. 31. This Father of Mercies who hath not spared his own Son but hath delivered him to dye for his Church how should not he with him freely give her all things Rom. 8. He understands better than thou and all the men of the World what is proper and advantageous for this Holy Congregation and for every member that composes it He knows how to provide for all its wants for his Wisdom is infinite and his Providence is most wonderful When this great God hath a designe to plague his Enemies and to declare his justice he hath always fit Agents ready and his Quiver full of Arrows As soon as he commands the Holy Angels that wait before him to cast their Sicles into the Earth and to reap or pour down the Viols of his wrath these Holy Spirits fly with an unspeakable swiftness to perform his Sacred Pleasure Revel 14 16. Likewise when he intends to do good to his Chosen he finds in every place the Heralds of his Mercy and his Divine hand is always full of Blessings As the Main Ocean of his wonderful Riches can never become dry Likewise the Channels by which he conveys them to us shall never fail The cause of thy complaints should serve to appease thy Grief nourish thy Faith and increase thy Hopes for if thou art graced with extraordinary Gifts this proceeds neither from thy Nature nor thine Industry but God's Favour and Bounty Now thou mayest be assured that his hand is not shortened his great Power is not lessened the Well-spring of all his Blessings and Wonders is not stopt nor dryed up Is 49. He that sends a desired whiteness the prognostick of an approaching harvest to the spacious Fields John 4. He sends also into his Spiritual Harvest Laborers when he sees it convenient In this latter Age and in this decay of the World as well as in the first appearance of his Church Luk 10. he finds Men to work in his Vineyard or rather he forms and fashions them with the hand of his Grace and enables them by his Holy Spirit for he gives the Mouth and the Tongue he makes deaf dumb blind and restores the eye-sight he calls things that are not as if they were Matth. 20. Exod. 4. Rom. 4. When he designes for himself a Tabernacle he calls by name a Bezaleel and fills him with his Spirit of Wisdom of Understanding and knowledge in all manner of Workmanship Exod. 31. When he resolves to deliver the Children of Israel from their Babylonish Captivity and to build the Temple of Jerusalem he hath at his Command Cyrus Darius and Artaxerxes Acts 14. He stirs up Zerobabels Esdras and Nehemiahs Likewise when he intends to repair the breaches of his House and to increase the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour he makes Servants and fit Agents and bestows upon them sufficient Graces for such a noble Work Psal 8. Mat. 21. As he hath never left himself without witness in doing good thus he hath never been without witnesses to declare his Sacred Truth Luk 19. By the mouth of Babes he perfects his praise and as our Saviour told the Jews If these held their peace the stones would cry out Luk 19. God will rather pluck the Pillars of the Idols Temples to prop up his Church rather than to suffer it to fall down he will change the Wolves into Lambs and the Lambs into Shepheards rather than that his Sheep should want their necessary Pasture He chooseth the feeble things of this World to confound the strong the despicable and such as are not to destroy such as are 1 Cor. 9. Thus God never leaves his Church without some testimony of his favour some powerful instrument of his Grace but many times it happens that when he removes one good thing from us he bestows upon us something more rare and excellent This consideration glads the Heart of Joseph upon his Death-bed as appears by what he said to his Brethren I am going to dye but God will not fail to visit you and cause you to go up from hence into the Land that he swore unto Abraham Isaac and Jacob Gen. 50. For instead of a Joseph who had occasioned their Bondage God raised up a Moses who deliver'd them with a mighty hand and a stretched-out Arm 2 Kings 2. Thus God took up Elijah with a Chariot of Fire but he gave unto Elisha a double portion of his Masters Spirit and caused his Glorious Miracles to appear with greater admiration Likewise our Lord and Saviour when he had finished the great work of our Redemption he ascended up into Heaven A Cloud conveying him
up to the Throne of his Glory but according to his promise he hath not left us destitute but hath sent us the Comsorter to dwell with us for ever namely the Spirit of Truth whom the world seeth not nor cannot know John 14. Christs Corporal presence was enjoyed but by a small number of People but this Divine Spirit is like a large River that swells and runs over every where John 7. This Holy Spirit is not only with us but also within us He is poured out into our Hearts He Seals us for the day of Redemption He is the earnest of our Inheritance until the full consummation of the Glory reserved for us in Heaven Therefore when this merciful Saviour saw his Apostles afflicted in an extraordinary manner for his Leaving of the World he speaks to them in this Language Because I have said these things unto you Sorrow hath filled your Hearts Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you But if I depart I will send him unto you John 16. When St. Paul took his last farewel of the Elders and People of the Church of Ephesus they wept bitterly being grieved to the Heart because he had said That none of them should see his face any more But to comfort them he assures them that in Heaven they had a Father and a Protector and such a Shepherd as would never forsake them I commend you said he To God and to the word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified Act. 20. Remember therefore O Man of God seriously to consider all these things If the Lord who hath called thee to the Sacred Function of the Ministry continues thee in the world labor with courage and diligence in thine Holy employment Be not tired in the service of this good Master and merciful Saviour fight the good fight of the Faith endure patiently all manner of Labors as a good Soldier of Jesus Christ be as earnest and as careful for the Lord's Sheep as Jacob was for those of Laban Here what he professed of himself In the day the drought consumed me and the frost by night and my sleep departed from mine eyes Gen. 20. Jacob endured patiently these grievous pains and labor and the time of his service seem'd to him to be but of a few days because of the love that he did bear unto Rachel Likewise thou wilt joyfully endure the troubles of thine Office digest with patience all the inconveniencies if thou dost sincerely love the Lord Jesus and his Heavenly Spouse If thou dost esteem the salvation of Souls for whom Jesus Christ hath suffered death if thou hast well understood the Excellency of thine Heavenly Reward and the Glory prepared for thee when thou shalt have finished the time of thy painful and difficult service and of thy mortal Race for they who bring many to Righteousness shall shine as the Stars for ever and ever Dan. 12. Jacob had to do with a deceitful and unfaithful man But God is not as Man that he should Lye or as the Son of Man that he should Repent Gen. 23. Be thou faithful until Death and he will give thee the Crown of Life Revel 2. If it is the Lord's pleasure to lessen thy task so that instead of employing thee in his Vineyard he intends to take thee up into his Kingdom to drink there of his new Wine if at the time that thou thinkest of sowing with Tears thou art transported to the place where thou mayest reap with Songs of Triumph If in lieu of the opposition which thou must suffer from sinners God will grant to thee his Eternal Consolations and receive thee into the harmonious Societies of the Church Triumphant adore his Goodness and his infinite Mercy cast thy self into his hands and resolve chearfully to will what is pleasing to him if during thine abode in this Valley of Tears God hath given thee a livelyhood and if thou hast found in him thy joy thy satisfaction and thy greatest comfort Death will be thy greatest advantage thou shalt find in thy Saviour thy Rest thy Glory and Eternal Delights Phil. 1. Meditate often upon the words of the Holy Apostle St. Peter The Elders which are among you I exhort who am also an Elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the Glory that shall be revealed feed the Flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready mind neither as being Lords over God's Heritage but being ensamples to the Flock and when the chief Shepheard shall appear ye shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5. You also who are afraid to leave behind you a desolate afflicted and comfortless Widow Come and learn this Lesson to relye upon the goodness and tender compassions of the Father of Mercies who never fails to comfort the forlorne in all their afflictions and who is always near to them that call upon him in their distresses 2 Cor. 1. Psal 145. He bears so much favor to the Widows that he calls himself The Judge of the Widows Psal 68. that is the Protector of their integrity and right and severe revenger of the wrongs that they suffer Therefore God tells us in express words That he maintains the Widow and establisheth her Borders Prov. 15. Seeing Job was so merciful as to cause the Widows Heart to sing Job 28. How much more may we expect from God's goodness he will doubtless fill her with his Heavenly joys and the ravishing comforts of his Holy Spirit I mean not the foolish Widows that seek for nothing but pleasure worldly diversion and carnal pastimes who live in the delights of the Age and who are dead whilst they live But I mean the wise Widows who being left alone by their Husbands death have their confidence and trust in God continuing in Prayer day and night Our great God and merciful Lord hath not only said in general that he is the Judge the Protector and Comforter of the Widow But he hath vouchsafed unto some his most signal Favors and extraordinary Blessings In the Reign of Abab while a cruel Famine overspread the Land God sent the Prophet Elijah to a poor Widow of Sarephtah who was preparing her self and her Son to dye as soon as they had eaten a little remnant of Meal and Oil that was left but the Holy Prophet comforted her in this manner Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel the barrel of Meal shall not waste neither shall the cruse of Oil fail until the day that the Lord sendeth Rain upon the Earth 1 King 5. Many Widows have been comforted in such a miraculous manner for God hath so ordered it that their provisions have not failed although it may
one after another and he also in his time yielded up the Ghost But Jesus Christ who is Risen from the Dead Dyeth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him so that he lives for ever and ever and will cause us all to become Immortal Therefore instead of desiring as Jacob to Live to go down into Egypt to see his Son Joseph we should earnestly desire to Dye that we might ascend up into Heaven there to behold our Lord Jesus Christ our Father and Redeemer When Jacob embraced again his wonderful and beloved Child in the exceeding transport of his Joy and Love he burst forth into this kind of Language Let me now Dye now that I have seen again thy Face and that thou art alive On the contrary when we shall embrace Christ in his Glory when we should behold his Divine Countenance we shall speak in another manner my Lord and my God seeing that I now look upon thee alive and Raigning in Heaven I shall live also and Raign with thee for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a believing Soul who strengthens it self against the Fears of Death by considering the glorious Ascention of Jesus Christ into Heaven and his sitting at the right hand of God O Holy and Divine Saviour I have often looked upon thy generous Behaviour and glorious Victories to strengthen my self against all apprehensions of Death but if thou wilt render my joy most perfect and accomplished give me Grace to Meditate upon thy Divine Triumph As thou hast engaged in many Encounters for my sake and hast vouchsafed unto me a share in thy Victory grant me also a share in thy glorious Ascention and Triumph As thou hast suffered for my Sins and art risen again for my Justification thou art also ascended up into Heaven to prepare a place for me thou art willing that I should be admitted into thy Noble and Divine Palace that I should be where thou art that I may behold thy Glory which thou hast enjoyed with God the Father before the Creation of the World O sweet and Merciful Lord what cause have I to fear to go to Heaven seeing that thou art there seated in the highest Glory and Felicity and that thou stretchest out thy merciful hand to receive and admit me Have not I good reason to expect to be glorified in thy Kingdom seeing that thou thy self dost bestow upon those that serve thee the Immortal Crowns and Scepters O great God and Saviour thy Throne is surrounded with Glory and Splendor nevertheless I will draw near unto it with boldness for it is a Throne of Love and a Throne of Mercy unto which every penitent Sinner may come Round about this glorious Throne I see a Rainbow of an Emerald colour that certifies me that thy Covenant is everlasting When thy Glory and Majesty did increase thy Love for me did not lessen and thy compassion and goodness were always the same Thou art the same yesterday and to day and thou shalt always be the same for ever Thou hast been pleased for my Salvation to lye in a Manger and to be nailed to a Cross Thou hast given thy Soul for my Ransome and hast spilt thy precious Blood to wash and cleanse me from my Sins and to make me a way that I might enter into thine holy Sanctuary In the midst of all that Glory and Light with which thou art now cloathed thou hast not thought it a scorn to acknowledge me for thy Brether and for a Member of thy Mystical Body It is for my sake that thou appearest before thine Heavenly Father it is for me that thou offerest up unto him Prayers and Supplications O wonderful Lord it is in thy power to give unto me the things which thou hast merited by thy Sufferings and which thou desirest for me by thy Prayers and Intercession for all power is given unto thee in Heaven and in Earth O Soveraign Monarch of the whole World hast not thou given unto us this great and gracious promise When I shall be lifted up from the Earth I shall draw all Men after me And is it not for us that thou hast prayed in this excellent manner Father I will that they also whom thou hâ—st given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me Seeing therefore that thou hast left this wretched Earth to go and Raign above in Heaven take unto thee my Soul O wonderful Redeemer and deliver it from this valley of Tears and Misery cause it to understand at the time of its departure those words of joy and eternal comfort Verily I say unto thee this day thou shalt be with me in Paradice Lord Jesus draw me with the cords of thy Mercy and Grace and I shad run after thee And seeing that I must of necessity pass through Death to come to thee the Prince of Life and Immortality give me Grace to consider it in the same manner as the Prophet Elias did the Fiery Charriots that carried him up to Heaven or as Jacob did the Waggon that carried him into Egypt to his Son that did Raign there this holy Father in a transport of joy cried out let me see my Son Joseph again and then let me Dye But when I shall be ravished with an unspeakable and glorious joy I shall speak in another manner Let me Dye that I may behold my true Joseph the Soul of my Soul the light of Life the Author of my Glory and Happiness O sweet Jesus I shall freely and willingly leave this wretched and crasie dwelling to enter into thy heavenly Palace to behold thy Glory and Magnificence O King of Kings and Lord of Lords when shall I hear that Divine Wisdom that drops from thy Lips and when shall I see thee sitting upon the Throne of thy Glorious Majesty where a thousand thousands wait upon thee and ten millions Worship thee When shall I enter into the Glorious Company of the Saints and Blessed Spirits that Sing forth thy Praises and cast at thy feet their most precious Crowns O glorious Monarch that art now in thy Kingdome enjoying a perfect happiness forget not thy poor Servant be not unmindful of thy Sâ—n or Daughter who am now overwhelmed with the sorrows of this miserable life and the anguish of Death Let not the Songs of the holy Angels and applauses of all the glorified Spirits hinder thee from listning to my Sighs and Groans O Almighty and merciful Lord look upon me with the eyes of thy Love and reach unto me thine helping hand Send unto me thine Angels of Light to receive my Soul and prâ—tect me from the Angels of Darkness that endeavâ—r to destroy me and to drag me headlong into Hell Let Some of thâ—se glorious Spirits that wait for thine orders and fly at thy command deliver me from Death and carry me upon their wings into thy Bosome I see the Heavens open and Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand