few Meditations taken from the ends wherefore God sendeth afflictions to his Children Those are ten 1. That by afflictions God may not only correct our sins past but also work in us a deeper loathing of our natural corruption and so prevent us from falling into many other sins which otherwise we would commit like a good Father who suffereth his tender Babe to scorch his finger in a candle that he may the rather learn to beware of falling into a greater fire Soâ— that the Child of God may say with David It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn thy statutes for before I was afflicted I went astray but now I keep thy word And indeed saith St. Paul We are chastened of the Lord because we should not be condemned with the World With one Cross God maketh two Cures the chastisement of sins past and the prevention of sin to come For though the eternal punishment of sin as it proceedeth from Justice is fully pardoned in the Sacrifice of Christ yet we are not without serious judging of our selves exempted from the temporal chastisement of sin for this proceedeth only from the love of God for our good And this is the reason that when Nathan told David from the Lord that his sins were forgiven yet that the Sword of Chastisement should not depart from his house and that his Child should surely die For God like a skilful Physician seeing the Soul to be porsoned with the setling of sin and knowing that the reigning of the flesh will prove the ruine of the Spirit ministereth the bitter Pill of affliction whereby the reliques of sin are purged and the Soul â—ore soundly cured the Flesh is subdued and the Spirit is sanctified Oh the odiousness of sin which causeth God to chasten so severely his Children whom otherwise he loveth so dearly 2. God sendeth affliction to seal unto us our Adoption for every child whom God loveth he correcteth And he is a Bastard that is not corrected Yea it is a sure note that where God seeth sin and sinites not there he detests and loves not Therefore it is said that he suffered the wicked sons of Ely to continue in their sins without correction because the Lord would stay them Oâ— the other side there is no surer token of God's fatherly love and care than to be corrected with some Cross as oft as we commit any sinful crime Affliction therefore is a seal of Adoption no sign of Reprobation For the purest Corn is cleanest â—anned the finest Gold is ofâ—est tryed and the sweetest Grape is hardest pressed and the truest Christian heaviest crossed 3. God sendeth affliction to wean our hearts from too much loving this world and wordly vanities and to cause us the more earnestly to desire and long for Eternal Life For as the Children of Israel had they not been ill intreated in Egypâ— would never have been so willing to go towards Canaan so were it not for the crosses and afflictions of this life God's Children would not so heartily long and willingly desire for the Kingdom of Heaven For we see many Epicures that would be content to forego Heaven on condition that they might still enjoy their earthly Pleasures and having never tasted the joys of a better how loth are they to depart this life Whereas the Apostle that saw Heavens gloryâ— tells us that there is no more comparison betwixt the joys of eternal life and the Pleasâ—res of this world than there is betwixt the filthiest dung and the pleasantest meat or betwixt the stinkingest Dunghill and the fairest Bed Chamber As therefore a loving Nurse puts 〈◊〉 or Mustard on the Breast to make the Child the rather to forsake the 〈◊〉 so God mixeth sometimes â— affliction with the pleasures and prosperity of 〈…〉 lest like the Children of this 〈◊〉 ration they should forgâ—â— God and fall into too much love of this 〈◊〉 sent evil World and so by Riches grow proud by Fame insolent 〈◊〉 â—iberty wanton and 〈…〉 against the Lord when they 〈◊〉 For if God's Children love the World so well when like a curst Step-mother she misâ—seth and strikes us how should we love this Harlot if she smiled upon us and stroaked us as she doth her own worldly Brats Thus doth God like a wise and loving Father embitter with crosses the pleasures of this life to his Children that finding in this earthly state no true and permanent joys they might sigh and long for eternal life where firm and everlasting joys are only to be found 4. By affliction and sickness God exerciseth his Children and the Graces which he bestoweth upon them He refineth and tryeth their faith as the Goldsmith doth his Gold in the Furnace to make it shine more glistering and bright he stirreth us up to pray more diligently and zealously and proveth what patience we have learned all this while in his School The like Experience he maketh of our Hope Love and all the rest of our Christian Vertues which without this Trial would rust like Iron unexercised or corrupt like standing Waters that either have no current or else are not poured from Vessel to Vessel whose taste remaineth and whose scent is not changed And rather than a Man should keep still the scent of his corrupt Nature to damnation who would not wish to be changed from state to state by crosses and sickness to salvation For as the Camomile which is tâ—odden groweth best and smelleth most fragrant and as the Fish is sweetest that lives in the saltest Waters so those Souls are most precious unto Christ who are most exercised and afflicted with his Cross. 5. God sendeth afflictions to demonstrate unto the world the trueness of his Childrens love and service Every Hypocrite will serve God whilst he prospereth and blesseth him as the Devil falsly accuseth Job to have done but who save his loving Child will love and serve him in adversity when God seemeth to be angry and displeased with him yea and cleave unto him most inseparably when he seemeth with the greatest frown and disgrace to reject a Man and to cast him out of his favour yea when he seemeth to wound and kill as an enemy yea then to say with Job Though thou Lord kill me yet will I put my trust in thee The loving and the serving of God and trusting in his mercy in the time of our correction and misery is the truest note of an unfeigned Child and Servant of the Lord. 9. Sanctified affliction is a singular help to further our true Conversion and to drive us home by Repentance to our heavenly Father In their affliction saith the Lord they will seek me diligently Egypts burthens made Israel cry unto God David's troubles made him pray Hezekiah's sickness made him to weep and misery drove the prodigal Child to return and sue for his Father's
estate for evermore Therefore it is termed everlasting life and Christ saith that our joy no man shall take from us All other joys be they never so great have an end Ahasuerus's Feast lasted an hundred and eighty days but he and it and all his joys are gone For mortal man to be assumed to heavenly glory to be associated to Angels to be satiated with an delights and joys but for a time were much but to enjoy them for ever without intermission of end who can hear it and not admire it who can muse of it and not â—e amazed at it All the Saints of Christ as soon as they felt once but a true taste of these eternal joys counted all the riches and pleasures of this life to be but loss and dung in respect of that And therefore with uncessant prayers fastings alms-deeds tears faith and good life they laboured to ascertain themselves of this eternal life and for the love thereof they willingly either sold or parted with all their earthly goods and possessions Christ calleth all Christians Merchants Luke 19. and Eternal Life a precious Pearl which a wise Merchant will purchase tho' it cost him all that he hath Matth. 13. Alexander hearing the report of the great riches of the Eastern Country divided forthwith among his Captains and Soldiers all his Kingdom of Macedonia He phaestion asking him what he meant in so doing Alexander answered That he preferr'd the riches of India whereof he hoped shortly to be master before all that his Father Philip had left him in Macedonia And should not Christians then preferr the eternal riches of Heaven so greatly renowned which they shall enjoy ere long before the corruptible trash of the Earth which lasts but for a season Abraham and Sarah left their own Country and Possessions to look for a City whose builder and maker is God and therefore bought no Land but only a place of Burial David preferred one day in this place before a thousand elsewhere yea to be a door-keeper in the house of God rather than to dwell in the richest Tabernacles of wickedness Elias earnestly besought the Lord to receive his Soul into his Kingdom and went willingly tho in a fiery Chariot thitherâ— St. Paul having once seen Heaven continually desired to be dissolved that he might be with Christ. St. Peter having espied but a glimpse of that eternal glory in the Mount wished â—hat he might dwell there all the days of his life saying Master it is good for us to be here How much better doth Peter now think it to be in Heaven it self Christ a little before his death prayeth his Father to receive him into that excellent Glory And the Apostle witnesseth that for the joy which was set before him he endured the Cross and despised the shame If a Man did but once see those joys if it were possible he would endure a hundred deaths to enjoy that happiness but one day Saint Augustine saith That he would be content to endure the torments of hell to gain this joy rather than to lose it Ignatius St. Paul's Scholar Being threatned as he was going to suffer with the cruelty of Torments answered with great courage of Faith Fire Gallows Beasts breaking of my bones quartering of my members crushing of my body all the torments of the devil together let them come upon me so I may enjoy my Lord Jesus and his Kingdom The same constancy shewed Polycarp who could not by any terrours of any kind of death be moved to deny Christ in the least measure With the like resolution answered Basil his persecutors when they would terrifie him with death I will never said he fear Death which can do no more than restore me to him that made me If Ruth left her own Country and followed Naâ—â—i her Mother-in-law to go and dwell with her in the land of Canaan which was by a type of Heaven only upon the fame which she heard of the God of Israel though she had no promise of any portion therein how shouldst thou follow thy holy Mother the Chruch to go unto Christ into the heavenly Canaan wherein God hath given thee an eternal inheritance assured by an holy Covenaâ—t made in the word of God signed with the Blood of his Son and sealed with his Spirit and Sacraments this shall be rhine eternal happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven where thy life shall be a communion with the blessed Trinity thy joy the presence of the Lamb thy exercise singing thy ditty hallelujah thy consorts Saints and Angels where youth flâ—urisheth that never waxeth old beauty lasteth that never fadeth love aboundeth that never cooleth health continueth that never slacketh and â—ife remaineth that never endeth Meditations directing a Christian how to apply to himself without delay the aforesaid knowledge of God and himself THou seest therefore O Man how wretched and cursed thy state is by corruption of â—â—ture without Christ insomuch that whereas the Scriptures do liken wicked men unto Lions Bears Bulls Horses Dogs and such like savage Creatures in their lives it is certain that the condition of an unregenerate man is in his Death more vile than a Dog or the filthiest Creature in the World For the Beast being made but for Man's use when he dieth endeth all his miseries with his death But Man endued with a reasonable and immortal soul made after God's image to serve God when he ends the miseries of this life must account for all his misdeeds and begin to endure these miseries that never shall know end No creature but man is liable to yield at his death an account for his life The brute creatures not having reason shall not be required to make any account for their deeds and good Angels tho' they have reason yet shall they yield no account because they have no sin And as for evil Angels they are without all hope already condemned so that they need not make any further accounts Man only in his death must be God's accountant for his life On the other side thou seest O Man how happy and blessed thy estate is being truly reconciled unto God in Christ in that through the restauration of God's Image and thy restitution into thy soveraignty over other creatures thou art in this life little inferiour to the Angels and shall be in the life to come equal to the Angels Yea in respect of thy Nature exalted by a personal Vnion to the Son of God and by him to the glory of the Trinity superior to the Angels a Fellow-Brother with Angels in spiritual Grace and everlasting Glory Thou hast seen how glorious and perfect God is and how that all thy chief bliss and happiness consisteth in having an eternal Communion with his Majesty Now therefore O impenitent sinner in the bowels of Christ Jesus I intreat thee nay I conjure thee as thou tenderest thy own salvation seriously
â—â—at the place shall be thereabouts 2. Because that as Christ was thereaâ—â—uts crucified and put to open shame â—â— over that place his glorious Throne â—hould be erected in the Air when he â—â—all appear in Judgment to manifest his Majesty and Glory For it is meet that â—â—st should in that place judge the â—orld with righteous Judgment where â— himself was unjustly judged and conâ—mned 3. Because that seeing the Angels shall â— sent to gather together the elect from the â—â—â—r winds from one end of heaven to the other it is most probable that the place whither they shall be gathered to shall be near Jerusalem and the Vally of Jehoshaphat which Cosmographers describe to be in the midst of the supersicies of the Earth if the termini à quibus be the four parts of the world the terminus ad quem must be about the Center 4. Because the Angels told the Disciples that as they saw Christ ascend from Mount Olivet which is over the Vally of Jehoshaphat so he shall in like manner come down from Heaven This is the opinion of Aquinas and all the Schoolmen except Lombard and Alexander Hales 5. Lastly When Christ is set in his glorious Throne and all the many Thousands of his Saints and Angels shining more bright than so many Suns in glory sitting about him and the Body of Christ in glory and brightness surpassing them all the Reprobates beiâ—g separate and remaining beneath upon the earth for the right-hand signifies a blessed the left-hand a cursed estate Christ will first pronounce the sentence of absolution and bliss upon the Elect First because he will thereby increase the grief of the Reprobate that shall hear it Secondly to shew himself more proâ—e to mercy than to Judgment And thus from his Throne of Majesty in the Air he shall in the sight and hearing of all the World pâ—onounce unto his Elect Come ye blessed of my Father and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world c. Come ye Here is our blessed Vnion with Christ and by him with the whole Trinity Blessed Here is our absolution from all sins and our plenary Endowments with all Grace and Happiness Of my Father Here is the Author from whom by Christ proceeds our Felicity Inherit Here is our Adoption The Kingdom Behold our Birth-right and Possâ—ssion Prepared See God's Fatherly Care for his chosen From the foundation of the World O the free Eternal unchangeable Election of God! How much are those Souls bound to love God who of his meer good Will and Pleasure chose and loved them before they had done either good or evil For I was hungry c. O the goodness of Christ who takes notice of all the good works of his Children to reward them How great is his love to poor Christians who takes every work of mercy done to them for his sake as if it had been done to himself Come ye to me in whom ye have believed before ye saw me and whom ye have loved and sought for with so much devotion and through so many tribulations Come now from labour to rest from disgrace to glory from the jaws of Death to the joys of eternal Life For my sake ye have been railed upon reviled and cursed But now it shall appear to all those cursed Esau's that you are the â—rue Jacobs that shall receive your heavenly Father's blessing and blessed shall you be Your fathers mothers and nearest kindred forsook and cast you off for my truth's sake which you maintained but now my Father will be unto you a Father and you shall be his Sons and Daughters for ever You were cast out of your lands and livings and forsook all for my sake and the gospels but that it may appear that you have noâ— lost your gain but gained by your loss instead of an earthly inheritance and possession you shall possâ—ss with me the iâ—heritance of my heavenly kingdom where you shall be for love sons for birth-right heirs for dignity kings for holiness priests and you may be bold to enter into the possession thereof now because my Father prepared and kept it for you ever since the first foundation of the World was laid Immediately after this sentence of Absolution and Benediction every one receiveth his crown which Christ the righteous Judge puâ—s upon their Heads as the reward which he hath promised of his Grace and Mercy unto the Faith and good Works of all them that loved that his appearing Then every one taking his crown from his head shall lay it down as it were at the feet of Christ and prostrating themselves shall with one heart and voice in an heavenly sort and consort say Praise and Honour and Glory and Power and Thanks be unto thee O blessed Lamb who sittest upon the Throne wert killed and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests to reign with thee in thy Kingdom for evermore Amen Then shall they sit in their Thrones and Orders as Judges of the Reprobates and evil Angels by approving aâ—d giving testimony to the righteous Sentence and Judgment of Christ the Supreme Judge After the pronouncing of the Reprobates Sentence and Condemnation Christ will perform two solemn Actions 1. The presenting of all the Elect unto his Father Behold O righteous Father these are they whom thou gavest me I have kept them and none of them is lost I gave them thy word and they believed it and the world hated them because they were not of the world even as I was not of the world And now Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me and that I may be in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one that the world may know that thou hast sent me and that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me 2. Christ shall deliver up the Kingdom to God even the Father that is shall cease to execute his office of Mediatorship whereby as he is King Priest Prophet and supreme Head of the Church he suppressed his Enemies and ruled his faithful People by his Spirit Word and Sacraâ—â—â—ts So that his Kingdom of Grace over his Church in this World ceasing he shall 〈◊〉 immediately as he is God equal with â—he Father and the H. Ghost in his Kingdom of Glory for evermore Not that the dignity of his Manhood shall be any thing diminished but that the glory of his Godhead shall be more manifested so that as he is God he shall from thenceforth in all fulness without all external means rule all in all From this Tribunal-seat Christ shall arise and with all his glorious company of Elect Angels and Saints he shall
iniquities are full he will make the land to spue out every Canaanite Religion then and the Service of God in a Family is the best building and surest entailing of House and Land to a Man and his Posterity for the righteous Man shall inherit the Land and dwell therein for ever As therefore thou desirest to have the blessing of God upon thy self and upon thy family either before or after thy own private devotions call every morning all thy family to some convenient room and first either read thy self unto them a Chapter in the Word of God or cause it to be read distinctly by some other If leisure serve thou maist admonish them of some remarkable notes and then kneeling down with them in reverent sort as is before described pray with them in this manner Morning Prayer for a Family O Lord our God and heavenly Father who art the only Creator and Governour of heaven and earth and all things therein contained we confess that we are unworthy to appear in thy sight and presence considering our manifold sins which we have committed against heaven and before thee and how that we have been born in sin and do daily break thy holy Laws and Commandments contrary to our knowledge and consciences albeit that we know that thou art our Creator who hast made us our Redeemer who hast bought us with the blood of thine only begotten Son and our Comforter who bestowest upon us all the good and holy graces which we enjoy in our souls and bodies And if thou should'st but deal with us as our wickedness and unthankfulness have deserved what other thing might we O Lord expect from thee but shame and confusion in this life and in the World to come wrath and everlasting condemnation Yet O Lord in the obedience of thy Commandment and in the confidence which we have in thy unspeakable and endless mercy in thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ we thy poor servants appealing from thy Throne of Justice where we are justly lost and condemned to thy Throne of grace where mercy reigneth to pardon abounding sin do from the bottom of our hearts most humbly beseech thee to remit and forgive unto us all our offences and misdeeds that by the virtue of the precious blood of Jesus Christ thine innocent Lamb which he so abundantly shed to take away the sins of the world all our sins both original and actual may be so cleansed and washed from us as that they may never be laid to our charge nor ever have power to rise up in judgment against us And we beseech thee good Fatherâ— for Christ his death and passions sake thaâ— thou wilt not suffer to fall upon us thaâ— fearful curse and vengeance which thy laâ—â— hath threatned and our sins have justly deserved And for as much O Lord as we arâ— taught by thy word that Idolaters Adulterrers covetous Men contentious Persons Drunkards Gluttons and such like inordinate livers shall not inherit the kingdom of God pour the grace of thy Holy Spirit into our hearts whereby we may be enlightned to see the filthiness of our sins to abhor them and may be more and more stirred up to live in newness of life and love of thy Majesty so that we may daily increase in the obedience of thy Word and in a conscionable care of keeping thy Commandments And now O Lord we render unto thee most hearty thanks for that thou hast elected created redeemed called justified and sanctified us in good measure in this life and given us an assured hope that thou wilt glorifie us in thy heavenly kingdom when this mortal life is ended Likewise we thank thee for our life health wealth liberty prosperity and peace especially O Lord for the continuance of thy holy Gospel among us and for sparing us so long and granting us so gracious a time of repentance Also we praise thee for all other thy mercies bestowed upon us more especially for preserving us this night past from all dangers that might have befaln our souls or bodies And seeing thou hast now brought us safe to the beginning of this day we beseech thee protect and direct us in the same Bless and defend us in our going out and coming in this day and evermore Shield us O Lord from the temptations of the Devil and grant us the custody of thy holy Angels to defend and direct us in all our ways And to this end we recommend our selves and all those that belong unto us and are abroad from us into thy hands and Almighty tuition Lord defend them from all evil prosper them in all graces and fill them with thy goodness Preserve us likewise this day from falling into any gross sin especially those whereunto our Natures are most prone Set a watch before the door of our lips that we offend not thy Majesty by any rash or false Oaths or by any lewd or lying Speeches give unto us patient Minds pure and chaste Hearts and all other graces of thy Spirit which thou knowest to be needful for us that we may the better be enabled to serve thee in holiness and righteousness And seeing that all Man's labour without thy blessing is in vain bless every one of us in our several places and callings direct thou the work of our hands upon us even prosper thou our handy-work for except thou guide us with thy grace our endeavours can have no good success And provide for us all things which thou O Father knowest to be needful for every one of us in our Souls and Bodies this day And grant that we may so pass through the pilgrimage of this short life that our hearts being not setled upon any transitory things which we meet with in the way our Souls may every day be more and more ravished with the love of our home and thine everlasting Kingdom Defend likewise O Lord thy universal Church and every particular Member thereof especially we beseech thee to continue the peace and prosperity of these Churches and Kingdoms wherein we live Preserve and defend from all evils and dangers our gracious King Charles Queen Mary the noble and hopeful Prince Charles with the rest of the Royal Progeny the Lady Elizabeth the King 's only Sister and her Princely Issue Multiply their days in bliss and felicity and afterwards crown them with everlasting Joy and Glory Bless all our Ministers and Magistrates with all graces needful for their places and govern thou them that they may govern us in peace and godliness and of thy mercy O Lord comfort all our brethren that are distressed sick or any way comfortless especially those who are afflicted either with an evil conscience because they have sinned against thy Word or for a good conscience because they will not sin against thy truth Make the first to know that not one drop of the blood of Christ was a drop of vengeance but all drops of grace powerful to procure pardon upon repentance for
the greatest sins of the chiefest sinner in the World And for the other let not O Lord thy long sufferance either too much discourage them or too much incourage their enemies but grant them patience in suffering and a gracious and speedy deliverance which way may stand best with their comfort and thy glory Give every one of us grace to be always mindful of his last end and to be prepared with faith and repentance as with a wedding garment against the time that thou shalt call for us out of this sinful World And that in the mean while we may so in all things and above all things seek thy Glory that when this mortal life is ended we may then be made partakers of immortality and life eternal in thy most blessed and glorious Kingdom These and all other graces which thou O Father seest to be necessary for us and for thy whole Church we humbly beg and crave at thy hands concluding this our imperfect prayer in that absolute form of prayer which Christ himself hath taught us saying Our Father c. After prayers let every one of thy Houshold taking in the fear of God such a breakfast or refreshing as is fit depart the children to School the servants to their work every one to his office the Master and Mistress of the Family to their callings or to some honest exercises for recreation as they think fit The Practice of Piety at meals and the manner of feeding BEfore Dinner and Supper when the Table is covered ponder with thy self upon these Meditations to work a deeper impression in thy heart of God's fatherly providence and goodness towards thee Meditations before Dinner and Supper 1. MEditate that Hunger is like the sickness called a Wolf which if thou dost not â—eed will devour thee and eat thee up and that meat and drink are but as physick or means which God hath ordained to relieve and cure this natural infirmity and necessity of Man Use therefore to eat and to drink rather to sustain and refresh the weakness of nature than to satisfie the sensuality and delights of the flesh Eat therefore to live but live not to eat A Scavenger whose living is to empty is to be preferred before him that liveth but to fill Privies There is no service so base as for a man to be a slave to his belly The Apostle termeth such Belly-Gods Phil. 3. 19. Therefore we may boldly term them as the Scriptures do other idols Gillulim Dungy gods Hab. 2. 18 19. 2 King 17. 12. And as no one action God's ordinances excepted makes a man more to resemble a beast than eating and drinking so the abuse of eating and drinking to surfeiting drunkenness and spewing makes a man more vile than a beast 2. Meditate on the omnipotenâ—â— of God who made all these creatures of nothing of his wisdom who feedeth so many infinite Creatures through the universal World maintaining all their lives which he hath given them which surpasseth the wisdom of all the Angels in heaven and of his clemency and goodness in feeding also his very enemies 3. Meditate how many sorts of Creatures as beasts fish and fowl have lost their lives to become food to nourish thee and how God's Providence from remote places hath brought all these portions together on thy table for thy nourishment and how by these dead creatures he maintains thee in health and life 4. Meditate that seeing thou hast so many pledges of God's fatherly bounty goodness and mercy towards thee as there are dishes of meat on thy Table Oh suffer not in such a place so gracious a God to be abused by scurrility ribauldry or swearing or thy fellow brother by disgraceful back-biting taunting or slandering 5. Meditate how that thy Master Jesus Christ did never eat any food but first he blessed the Creatures and gave thanks to his heavenly Father for the same And after his last Supper we read that he sung a Psalm For this was the Commandment of God When thau hast eaten and filled thy self thou shalt bless the Lord thy God c. This was the Practice of the Prophets For people would not eat at their feast till Samuel came to bless their meat And saith Joel to God's people Ye shall eat and be satisfied and praise the Name of the Lord your God This also was the practice of the Apostles For St. Paul in the ship gave thanks before meat in the presence of all the people that were therein Imitate thou therefore in so holy an action so blessed a Master and so many worthy Precedents that have followed him and gone before thee It may be because thou hast never used to give thanks at meals therefore thou art now ashamed to begin Think it no shame to do what Christ did but be rather ashamed that thou hast so long neglected so Christian a duty And if the Son of God gave his Father such great thanks for a dinner of barley bread and broiled fish what thanks should such a sinful man as thou art render unto God for such variety of good and dainty cheer How many a true Christian would be glad to fill his belly with the morsels which thou refusest and do lack that which thou leavest How hardly do others labour for that which they eat and thou hast thy food provided for thee without either care or labour To conclude if Pagan Idolaters at their Feasts were accustomed to praise their false Gods what a shame is it for a Christian at his dinners and suppers not to praise the true God in whom we live move and have our being 6. Meditate that thy body which thou dost now so daintily feed must be thou knowest not how soon meat for worms When thou shalt say to corruption thou art my Father and to the Worm thou art my Mother and my Sister 7. Meditate how that many a Man's table is made his snare so that through his intemperance and unthankfulness the meat which should nourish his body kills him with a surfeit insomuch that more are killed with this snare than with the sword And seeing that since the Curse the use as of all creatures so likewise of meat and drink is unto us unclean till the same be sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer and that man liveth not by bread only but by the Word of God's Ordinance and his blessing which is called the staff of bread Sit not therefore down to eat before you pray and rise not before you give God thanks Feed to suffice nature yet rise with an appetite and remember thy poor Christian brethren who suffer hunger and want those good things wherewith thou dost abound These things or some of them premeditated if there be not a Samuel present lift up with all comely reverence thy heart with thy hands
together and addest unto those the sins of Cain and Judas and puttest unto them all the sins of all the Reprobates in the World doubtless it would be a huge heap yet compare this huge heap with the infinite mercy of God and there will be no more comparison betwixt them than betwixt the least Mole-hill the greatest Mountain in a Country The cry of the grievous est sins that ever we read of could never reach up higher than unto Heaven as the cry of the sins of Sodom but the mercy of God saith David reacheth up higher than the Heavens and so overtoppeth all our sins And if his Mercy be greater than all his works it must needs be greater that all thy sins And so long as his mercy is greater than the sins of the whole world do thou but repent there is do doubt of pardon If â—â—tan shall object that thou hast many times vowed to repent and hast made a shew of repentance for the time and yet didst fall to the same sins again and again and that all thy repentance was but feigned and a mocking of God And that seeing thou hast so often broken thy vow therefore God hath withdrawn his mercy and hath changed his love c. mediâ—ate 1. That though this were true which indeed is hainous yet it is no sufficient cause why thou shouldst despair seeing that this is the common case of all the Children of God in this life who vow so oft to forbear some sin till perceiving their weakness nor able to perform it they vow that they will vow no more Their Vows shew the desires of their spiritual Man their breaking the weakness of their corrupt flesh And our oft slips into the same sins Christ foresaw when he taught us to pray daily Our Father forgive us our trespasses And why doth Christ enjoyn thee who art but a sinful man to forgive thy brother seven times in a day if he shall return seven times in a day and say it repenteth me But to assure thee that he being the God of mercy and goodness it self will forgive unto thee thy seventy times seven-fold sins a day which thou hast committed against him if thou return unto him by truâ— Repentance The Israelites were cured by looking though with weak eyes on the Brazen Serpent as oft as they were stung by the fiery Serpent in the Wilderness to assure thee that upon thy tears of repentance thou shalt be recovered by â—aith in Christ as often as thou are wounded to death by sin 2. That thy salvation is grounded not upon the constancy of thine obedience but upon the firmness of God's Covenant Though thou variest with God and the Covenant be broken on thy behalf yet it is firm on God's part and therefore all is safe enough if thou wilt return for there is no variableness with him neither shadow of change He hath locked up thy salvation and made it sure in his own unchangeable purpose and hath delivered to thy keeping the keys which are Faith and repentance and whilst thou hast them thou mayst perswade thy self that thy salvation is suâ—e and safe For whom God loveth he loveth to the end and never repenteth of bestowing his love on them who repent and believe Lastly If Satan shall perswade thee that thou hast been doubting a long time and that it 's best for thee now to despair seeing thy sins increase and thy judgment draweth near meditate 1. That no sin though never so great should be a cause to move any Christian to despair so long as God's mercy by so many millions of degrees is greater and that every penitent and believing Sinner hath the pardon of all his sins confirmed by the Word and Oath of God two immutable things wherein it is impossible that God should lye His Word is that at what time soever a sinner whosoever doth repent of his sin whatsoever for both time and sins and sinners are indefinite from the bottom of his heart God will blot forth all his sins out of his remembrance that they shall be mentioned unto him no more If we will not take his word which God forbid we should doubt of he hath given us his Oath As I live I desire not the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live As if he had said will ye not believe my Word I swear by my life that I delight not to damn any sinner for his sins but rather to save him upon his conversion and repentance The meditation hereof moved Tertullian to exclaim O how happy are we when God sweareth that he wills not our damnation O what miserable wretches are we if we will not believe God when he sweareth this truth unto us Listen O drooping Spirit whose soul is assailed with ways of faithless despair how happy were it to see many like thee and Hezekiah who mourn like Doves for the sense of sin and chatter like Cranes and Swallows for the fear of God's anger rather than to behold many who die like Beasts without any feeling of their own estate or any fear of God's wrath or Tribunal Seat before which they are to appear Comfort thy self O languishing soul for if this earth hath any for whom Christ spilt his blood on the Cross thou assuredly art one Chear up therefore thy self in the all-sufficient atonement of the blood of the Lamb which speaketh better things than that of Abel And pray for those who never yet obtained the grace to have such a sense and detestation of sin Thou art one indeed for whom Christ died and from whom a wounded spirit judging rather according to his feeling than his faith hath wrung that doleful voice of Christ My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And doubt not but ere long thou shalt as truly reign with him as now thou dost suffer with him for Yea and Amen hath spoken it No sin bars a man from salvation but only Incredulity and Impenitency nothing makes the sin against the Holy Ghost unpardonable but want of repentance Thy unfeigned desire to repent is as acceptable unto God as the perfectest repentance that thou couldest wish to pâ—râ—orm unto him Meditate upon these Evangelical comforts and thou shalt see that in the very agonâ— of death God will so assist thee with his spirit that when Satan looketh for the greatest victory he shall receive the foulest foil yea when thy eye-strings are broken that thou canst not see the light Jesus Christ will appear unto thee to comfort thy Soul and his Holy Angels will carry thee into his Heavenly Kingdom Then shall thy Friends behold thee like Manoah's Angel doing wonders indeed when they shall see a frail man in his greatest weakness by the mere assistance of God's Spirit overcoming the strength of sin the bitterness of death and all