the glorious liberty of the Children of God And in the 3. Chap. to the Colos he saith you are Dead and your Life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is your Life shall appear you shall appear also with him in Glory Therefore this glorious appearing is stiled a blessed Hope that is to say the fulfilling and accomplishment of all that we expect or hope for as in the 2 Chap. to Titus St. Paul saith We expect the Blessed Hope the appearing of the Glory of our great God who is the Saviour Jesus Christ Then shall be the consummation of the Glory and of the head and of the Members for then the Son of God shall cause the Damned to feel that Power which he possesseth in Heaven and in Earth and in the Depths he shall discover himself to the faithful in his greatest Glory and most Divine Splendor Therefore this glorious Day of his descent from Heaven with the Angels of his power is mentioned as the first day of his manifestation of his appearing and of his Kingdom for this cause when the Holy Ghost speaks of this day it stiles it The day of the Lord Jesus Christ or the day of the Lord Jesus as also the Day of the Lord and the day of God As it shall be the Day of the Lord Jesus it shall also be our Day therefore St. Paul calls it The day of our Redemption because that in this day our Lord shall redeem our Bodies out of their Graves and shall bestow upon both our Souls and Bodies Eph. 4. all the Fruits of that Redemption which he hath purchased for us with his Blood Rom. 8. and shall raise us up to the highest Glory and most perfect happiness Heb. 9 It is the happy Day of the Consummation of our Marriage with this Divine Lamb. It is the day of our Joy and Triumph with the glorified Men and Angels It is the day of our Coronation and of our entrance into our Kingdom when the King of Kings the Lord of Lords shall Crown us with his own hand and put us in possession of an Empire prepared for us from the beginning of the World In a word it is the day when we shall come to the Lord Jesus and be with him as he is with the Father that we may be all in one Because of the glorious and wonderful things which shall come to pass on this day it is named The great Day St. Jude calls it thus when he speaks of the Revolted Angels he saith That God hath reserved them in everlasting Chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the Great Day In this manner many understand the words of St. John when he describes the Foul Spirits and likens them to Frogs which he saw coming out of the Dragons Mouth and of the Beast and out of the Mouth of the False Prophet and saith They are the Spirits of Devils working Miracles which God sent forth unto the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World to gather them to the Battle of that great Day of God Almighty Revel 16. Lastly this glorious Day is not only called The day of Judgement the Day of the Lord the Day of our Redemption and the Great day but oftimes without any addition it is stiled the Day and that Day as in the 10. Chap. to the Hebrews Let us consider one another to provoke unto Love and good Works not forsaking the assembling our selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as ye see the day approaching In the first Epist to the Thessal You are not in Darkness that that Day should surprise you Thus in 2 Epist to Timothy and first Chap. St. Paul saith I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that Day And when he remembers the good and charitable Deeds of Mesiphorus he prays for him in this manner The Lord grant unto him that he may find Mercy of the Lord in that day And in the 4 Chap. speaking of himself he saith I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give at that Day It is so stiled because of its excellency it is the Day of Dayes the end of all the Seasons the Consummation of all Ages and Times after this there shall be no more alteration of Days Months and Years Therefore an Angel is represented in the Revel lifting up his hand to Heaven swearing by the living God who hath Created Heaven and all things therein the Earth and all things in it and the Sea and the things that are there That there shall be no more Time for instead of this unconstant time which flies away without leaving any sign of its being an everlasting Eternity shall succeed an Eternity always the same always Blessed with Happiness alwayes glorious and joyful This Divine and Magnificent Day shall begin at the end of all other Days but shall never draw to an end Therefore St. Peter in these words calls it an Eternal day or Eternity 2 Pet. 3. Glory be to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ both now and for ever Amen And in expectation of this Day of Days all Creatures are groaning and travailling in pain until now but especially Believers who have the First Fruits of the Spirit groan in themselves desiring with an earnest and holy desire to see the breaking of this great and glorious Day It is the end of all the Prophecies and the accomplishment of all Gods gracious promises to his People in all the Ages of the World It is the end and price of our Spiritual Calling the fulfilling of all our desires and expectations the Crowning of all our Labors and the highest step of that glory and happiness unto which we pretend You Devout Souls that delight in the contemplation of Celestial things I pray consider with me the accomplishment and the perfection of three kinds of works which have been succeeded by their several Rests The first was that of the Creation of the World for in six days God Created the Heaven and the Earth and all things in them and when he had finished his Works and found that they were good and perfect he rested the seventh day Gen. 1. 2. Therefore he Blessed and Sanctified it The second great work was that of Redemption for when our Saviour had fulfilled all the Prophesies which meâ—tioned him when he had caused the meaning of all the ancient Types and Figures to appear in his person and in his sufferings when he had fully satisfied the justice of God and purchased for us with his Blood an Eternal Redemption he cried out all is finished John 19. and he bowed his Head and gave up the Ghost After this Christ had nothing more to do nor to suffer but he
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
thee and bring all thoughts to thine obedience Let the World be confounded in all its purposes and let it never have the power to scare me by its threatenings or to corrupt me by its fair promises Let Satan once more fall from Heaven as a Lightning and let him be for ever shut up in the bottomless pit Shut up the mouths of all false Prophets and let thy Truth be victorious over Error that we may see the Congregations of thy true Catholick Church increase in number of persons that may worship thee with more Affection and Zeal or rather increase in them thy Grace and Heavenly Blessings O let me always consider that the Sheep that I am to feed belong not to me nor to any mortal Man but to thee Lord Jesus who hast created them by thine infinite power and redeemed them by thy wonderful Goodness Thou hast willingly offered thy self to the sufferings of a painful death that thou mightest deliver them from the Wolfs Paw and Claws of the infernal Lion Let me remember that I am shortly to appear before thy Glorious presence and to give thee an account of my Stewardship O Lord who knowest all things unto whom nothing is hid thou seest the very bottom of my Heart and spiest my most secret thoughts Thou knowest how faithfully and affectionately I have been employed in thy service I have led thy Sheep to the wholsome feeding of thy Heavenly Pastures I have led them to the Waters that burst forth unto Eternal Life my Conscience bears me witness before thee and thy Holy Angels that I have declared nothing neither by Word nor Writing but that which I firmly believe to be agreeable to the Oracles of the Prophets Apostles and Evangelists I have drawn out of the Sacred Treasuries of thy word things new and old for the beautifying of thy House and for the instruction of such as dwell there I have labour'd day and night in the hings that thou hast put into my heart for thy Glory for the advance of thy Kingdom and the comfort of thy Children In the important passages of my life I have not taken counsel from Flesh and Bloud but I have preferred the Honour of thy great Name and the Glory of thy Divine Truth to all Earthly advantages and to my particular interest I have despised all the Riches of this World and the Honors of the Age for the sake of the spiritual Treasuries and of that Heavenly Light which thou hast put into me as into an Earthly Vessel that all Glory may be ascribed to thee who art the Author of all good and of all perfect Gifts My most delicious Meat and my most pleasant Drink was to do thy Holy Will and to perfect thy Work I have taken a singular delight in declaring the wonderful Councils of thy Wisdom and discovering the Mysteries of thy Kingdom I have shared in the evils and sufferings of thy Members I have not been sparing of the comforts which thou hast furnished me in all my afflictions and temptations Thy Holy Law is in my Heart and thy Gospel is there engraven with the finger of thy Blessed Spirit Thou hast kindled in me an earnest desire of saving Souls and bringing them to Righteousness O Lord who searchest into the bottom of the most secret Hearts Thou knowest that I may say with the Holy Prophet The zeal of thine House hath caten me up Or with the Apostle The care of thy Church cometh upon me daily But for all this I pretend not to be justified in thy presence I am so far from resting upon mine own Righteousness and of being puft up with the opinion of my deservings that I confess my self a poor and a miserable sinner therefore with my whole Heart I desire the forgiveness of my great imperfections and miscarriages which I have been guilty of in thy service I have not been enflam'd with a Charity pure enough nor with a disinteressed Zeal I have been sometimes too indulgent and sometimes too severe in the reprehension of Vice and I have not been as I ought the Director of my Floâ—k in all manner of good Works the love of my self hath crept in with that affection that I owe to thee alone and I have have not served thee only for thy sake and for thy Divine perfections but also for the expectation of the Rewards which thou hast promised to thy faithful Servants when thou shalt render unto every one according to his Works I have been too sensible of the wrongs done to mine own Person and especially when I have seen my best deeds misinterpreted and my most charitable cares requited with ingratitude I have not always possâ—ssed my Soul with patience and I have not had that Meekness Love and Humility which thou Divine Jesus hast recommended to me by thine example on Earth O Lord if thou should est treat me according to the exacâ—ness of thy justice and require at my hands the Souls that are perished by my negligence or evil example I should be cover'd with shame and confusion and I should soon be cast with the unprofitable Servant into the Eternal Torments of Hell where are weeping and gnashing of Teeth But O Merciful Lord thou art goodness it self Love and the very being of Charity Thou acceptest the Will for the Deed and the Vndertaking for the Performance and thou hast thy Arms always wide open to receive thy poor Servants that weep for their mistakes and that humbly prostrate themselves before thee to implore thy Mercy and Forgiveness O Divine Saviour Thou art rich in Goodness and ready to cause thy Glorious Countenance to shine upon such as call upon thee to their unspeakable joy and comfort and upon such as draw near to thee by a true and serious Repentance Therefore I pour forth my Soul before thee and acknowledge that thou hast heard me and accepted the contrition of my heart and heard the voice of my Tears Thou strengthenest my Faith raisest my Hopes and fillest my Soul with refreshing and excellent considerations of thy Love Thou causest me to tast the Salvation which thou often preachest to others I feel thy Gracious Hand drawing me to thyself I see that thou openest to me the Gate of Paradise unto which I have had so many good and Holy Souls that rest now in the enjoyment of thy Glory Thou causest me to have the confidence of saying with the Holy Apostle I know that God will show Mercy unto me and receive me into his Heavenly Kingdom O Good and Merciful Lord I feel my Body consuming away and my strength decaying but thou art the Rock of my Heart and my portion for ever I see death coming apace to me but instead of afflicting and frighting me it comforts and rejoyceth my Heart for it comes to put an end to this miserable life that is no better than a languishing kind of death it comes to take me from my continued labors and loose me from my greivous and
you may then conclude that such an one is strengthened by God's Divine Spirit who upholds him and accomplisheth his Heavenly Vertue in his Servants infirmity This is the most wonderful and excellent of all Deliverances I confess some approve this discourse very well and admit these Consolations in their ordinary diseases but assoon as any extraordinary and violent griefs seize upon them they are apt to murmure against God and to complain that their punishment is too grievous Some proceed further to curse as Job the day of their birth and being hurried into despair are ready to cry out with Cain My punishment is greater than I am able to bear Unhappy Man Wilt thou imitate the barbarous Heathens who curse the Sun when it burns them and let fly their Arrows against Heaven when it Thunders wretched Man What will it avail thee to affront thy Creator what advantage wilt thou reap from the Blasphemies which thou dost belch forth against the Son of Righteousness miserable Worm of the Earth less than Dust and nothing wilt thou undertake to contend against God to pluck him from his Throne and to break the invincible Arm of his strength Dost thou imagine to stop the hand of his Vengeance by offending and sinning against him Wilt thou quench the fury of his wrath by spitting in his Face Believest thou that he will stretch forth his hand to deliver thee and to increase thy Blessings whilst thy mouth is open to blaspheme him who is thy Soveraign Lord. Listen well I beseech thee friend to my advice and I will draw thee out of the Abysse where thou art unhappily fallen and with God's help I will cause thee to understand that thou complainest wrongfully against him who doth all things advisedly and with Justice and Reason First run over the whole course of thy life and consider how many wicked deeds thou hast committed some by indiscretion others wilfully how many words have gone out of thy mouth how many thoughts have been entertained in thy mind against the Commands of Almighty God Consider seriously the number and grievousness of thy sins and miscarriages and thou shalt find that God's punishments are far less than thy deservings and that for one sensible word and bitter pain that thou feelest thou hast deserved many thousands so that thou shalt have cause to confess with the Prophet Daniel O Lord Righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of Faces Dan. 9. And thou wilt say with David Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of my Head therefore my heart faileth me there is no whole part in my Flesh because of thine indignation nor rest in my bones because of my sin Ps 40. 2. Consider how many there are in the world more righteous than thou who suffer more grievous and longer evils than thou hast hitherto endured and yet have not had so much comfort and assistance If thou comparest thy condition with theirs thou shalt find that God spares and favors thee very much 3. Cast thine Eyes upon the death and passion of our Lord and Saviour who being righteous and innocent hath suffered for us wicked and abominable sinners Thine affliction is painful I confess but that which this merciful Redeemer hath suffered for thee was far more unsufferable Let his Exclamations his Tears and drops of Bloud which came out of his veins be witnesses and that earnest Prayer which he repeated three times upon his bended knees Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me that I may not drink it Let that doleful voice upon the Cross be also witness My God my God why hast thou sorsaken me 4. Weigh in just and equal Scales of the Sanctuary all the sufferings of this life with the torments of Hell which thou hast justly deserved and compare them together thou wilt quickly conclude that all thy pains are nothing if compared with the grievous tortures of that lake of Fire and Brimstone where there are weeping and gnashing of Teeth If thou art so sensible of these vanishing pains consider well how much thou art obliged to the goodness of God who hath freely pardoned all thine offences and redeemed thee from that eternal and unspeakable Misery of the t'other life 5. Thou must imitate those men who having their Sight dimmed with the extraordinary splendor of bright Colours or of a Body of Light turn off their Eies to look upon less offensive objects instead of handling always thy Wounds and Sores instead of thinking of the afflictions that lye heavy upon thee meditate upon the goodness and favors of God vouchsafed to thee since thy Conception until now I give thee leave to put in one side of the Scales all thy crosses losses diseases pains and grief upon condition that in the t'other Balance thou wilt put all the Mercies Favors Blessings and Deliverances which thou hast received from God's liberal Hand It is true thou groanest under thy Misery and complainest of thy condition thou verily believest that there is none so miserable as thou art so that willingly thou wouldest say with the Prophet Jeremiah Doth not this move ye O ye that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger But when there should be nothing else but this alone that God hath called thee to the knowledge of his Holy Will enriched thee with the Graces of his Divine Spirit and sown in thy Heart the seeds of Eternal Life and the blessed hopes of seeing his Face in Glory thou oughtest to look upon thy self as one of the happiest Creatures under Heaven 6. Finally thou must meditate with a Religious attention upon the joys of Heaven and the Eternal Blessedness of Paradise for I reckon with the Apostle that the sufferings of this present life art not worthy to be eompared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us Lam. 1. When we cast our Eyes upon the Earth alone we judge it to be very spacious and large our sight is lost in the contemplation of so many Provinces Cities and Kingdoms but when we compare it with Heaven we find it to be but a point Likewise when we look upon and reckon up the hours days weeks months and years of our sufferings the time appears very tedious and long but when we compare all these parcels of time with Eternity they seem to us but a moment when we should have been overwhelmed with evils and miseries from the first instant of our entrance into the World until the last of our going out Yet we have reason enough to say with St. Paul Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things
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
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. A Practical and Polemical Commentary or Exposition upon the third and fourth Chapters of the latter Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy By Thomas Hall B. D. in folio price bound 10 s. 4. Tetrachordon Expositions upon the four chief places in Scripture which treat of Marriage or nullities in Marriage Wherein the Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce is confirmed by explanation of Scripture by testimony of Ancient Fathers of Civil Laws in the Primitive Church of famousest Reformed Divines And lastly by an intended Act of the Parliament and Church of England in the last year of Edward the Sixth The Author J. Milton in quarto price 1 s. 6 d. 5. The Christians Defence against the Fears of Death with seasonable Directions how to prepare our selves to Dye well Written Originally in French by the Reverend Divine of the Protestant Church at Paris Char. Drelincourt and Translated into English by Marius d'Assigny in octavo price bound 6 s. 6. 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
whole Nations and Kindreds the Flesh of all the Animals that have lived and died since the Creation of the World hath not been able to glut this horrid Monster All warfare is doubtful he that wins the Victory to day may soon after be put to flight He that rides at present in a Triumphing Chariot may become the footstool of his Enemy but Death is always victorious it triumphs with an insufferable insolency over all the Kings and Nations of the Earth it never returns to its Den but loaden with spoils and full of Blood The strongest Sampsons and the most victorious Davids who have torn in pieces and overcome Lions Bears and cut off the Heads of Giants have at last themselves yielded and been cut off by Death The Great Alexanders and the Triumphing Caesars that have made all the World to tremble before them and conquered the most part of the habitable Earth could never find any thing that might protect them from Deaths power when glorious Statues and stately Trophies were rais'd to their Honor Death did laugh at their Vanity and make sport with their Persons The rich Marbles where so many proud Titles are Engraven cover nothing but a little rotten Flesh and a few Bones which Death hath broken and reduc'd to Ashes We read in the Revelations of the Prophet Daniel That King Nebuchadnezar saw in a Dream a large Statue of Gold both Glorious and Terrible Its head was of pure Gold its Breast and Arms were of Silver its belly and thighs of Brass its Legs of Iron and its Feet were partly of Clay and partly of Iron As the Prince was beholding it with astonishment a little Stone cut out of a Mountain without hands was roll'd against the feet of this prodigious Statue and broke it all to pieces not only the Clay and the Iron were broken but also the Gold the Silver and the Brass all became as the chaffe which the wind blows to and fro This great Image represents the four Universal Monarchies of the World That of Babylon that of the Persians and Medes that of the Greeks and that of the Romans It represents also the Vanity and unconstancy of all things under the Sun for what is the Pomp the Glory the Strength and Dignities of this World but a smoak that the wind drives before it and a vapor that soon vanishes away All is like a shadow that flies from us or like a Dream that disappears in an instant when crazy Man that was created in the Image of God riseth out of the Dust he seems to be very glorious for awhile and becomes terrible but assoon as Death strikes at his Earthly part and begins to break his Flesh and Bones all the Glory Pomp Power and Magnificence of the richest of the most terrible and victorious Monarchs are chang'd into a loathsome Smell into contemptible Dust and reduc'd to nothing Vanity of vanities all is vanity Seeing therefore that Deaths cruelty is so notable that it spares none and that its power is so great that none can escape or resist it It is no wonder if Death is become so terrible and fills with fears grief and despair the minds of all Mortals who have not setled their Faith and Assurance upon God for there is no condemned prisoner but trembles when he beholds the Scaffold erecting upon which he is designed to be broken upon a Wheel or when he spies in the fire the Irons with which he is to be pincht to death In the midst of a sumptuous Feast King Belshasar saw the fingers of a Mans hand writing these words upon his wall of the Palace Mene Mene Tekel Vpharsin which the Prophet Daniel hath thus interpreted Mene God hath numbred thy Kingdom and finished it Tekel Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting Perez or Vpharsin Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians As soon as this Great Monarch had cast his eyes upon this miraculous writing it is said that his countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joynts of his Loyns were loosed and his Knees smote one against another Certainly the profound Worldling hath a greater cause to be dismayed in the midst of his Glory and Pleasures when he may perceive Death writing upon every wall of his House in visible Characters and printing upon his Forehead that God hath numbred his days and this in which he now breaths shall be soon followed by an eternal night That God hath weighed him in the ballance of his Justice and found him lighter than the Wind And that the terrible Creator unto whom vengeance belongs will soon divest him of all his Glory and Riches to cloath therewith his Enemies what comforts can be found by the wretched sinners who do not only understand the particulars of their final sentence but do also hear the thundring noise of the Great Judge of the world offended at their impieties They may now perceive Hell prepared to swallow them up and the fiery Chains of that doleful prison ready to receive them They may at present feel the hands of the executioner of Gods justice that seizeth upon them already and see themselves before stretcht and tortur'd in that place where there shall be nothing but weeping and horrible gnashing of Teeth at present they feel the fierceness of that fire and brimstone for it may justly be said of these wretched Varlots That Hell comes to them before they go to Hel and that in this life they are tormented with the grievous pangs of the second Death therefore some of them in despair do offer violence to themselves and commit an horrid murder upon their own persons as if they were afraid not to dye by a hand wicked enough the expectation of Death to them is more insufferable than Death it self and they had rather cast themselves into the bottomless pit of Hell than endure the apprehensions and fears of Hell in their guilty Consciences to be delivered of the flashes of Hell-fire that mounts up to their souls in this life they cast themselves in a brutish manner into that unquenchable Burning That which is most terrible is that the horrid and unsufferable fears that seize upon the wicked are not only for a moment for as a Criminal that knows that there is a sentence of Doom pronounced against him doth continually fancy and think upon those torments that are preparing for him assoon as he hears the door unlocking or a Fly bussing about his ears he imagines that some are entring to drag him from his prison to execution in some sense he desires what he apprehends and hastens the approaches of that for which he wishes and cannot avoid Thus desperate sinners that know there is a sentence of eternal Death pronounced against them in the Court of the King of Kings and that from this Sentence there is no Appeal nor Escape must needs be in continual fears Such foresee the fearful image of Death that disturbs
to grant us the blessed disposition of St. Paul that we may be able to speak as he did I have learn'd to be content in whatsoever estate I am I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me Phil. 4. Remember Christian Souls to settle your Treasure in Heaven where neither the Moth nor Rust can corrupt and where Thieves cannot break through and steal Labor to be rich in Faith and in good Works that you may inherit the Kingdom that God hath promised to them that love him 7. But if it hath pleased God to bless thy labors and if his powerful and liberal hand hath raised thee up to great Honor so that thou enjoyest Riches in abundance thou must remember to possess them in such a manner that they may not enslave thee and according to St. Paul's advice thou must remember to enjoy them as if thou enjoyest them not and that the fashion of this World passeth away we must not trust upon them nor pride in them we ought to glory in something else as God himself exhorts us Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom nor the strong of his strength Let not the rich man glory in his Riches but he that glories let him glory in that he hath understanding and knows me Jer. 9. 8. We must not only take off our hearts and affections from the world and its vanities trample upon them and esteem them like Dung in comparison of the unspeakable Treasures of Heaven but we must also be ready to leave them at every moment as so many trifles vain and perishable things as we are to possess them without displeasure and fear so we must part with them without grief and murmuring When we should loose in a day all that God hath bestowed upon us in the world it becomes us to strengthen our selves with an Holy confidence and resolution saying with Job The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord Job 1. 9. If we happen to part with our Goods Honors and Dignities in the service of God and for the profession of Christs Gospel in such a case we ought to endure the loss with a Christian patience and an excessive joy because that such a loss for a just cause will prove at last to our advantage and glory This was the practice of the faithful Hebrews of whom St. Paul renders this testimony You have received with joy the spoiling of your Goods knowing that you have in Heaven a better and a more lasting inheritance Heb. 10. Christian Souls represent unto your selves the example of the Prophet Moses who esteem'd the reproach of Christ greater riches than the Treasures of Egypt for he had a respect unto the recompense of the reward Heb. 11. 10. Whilst we enjoy our Goods we must take care of the poor and be bountiful in Alms and to speak in St. Paul's language Whilst we have any time let us do good especially to the houshold of faith Gal. 6. Whoever hath compassion of the poor makes God his debter he will assuredly return him his good Deed Prov. 19. Our Saviour promiseth to recompense a Cup of cold water that shall be given to the meanest of such as believe in his name Matt. 10. Alms is a Seed that is cast upon Earth but its Flowers and most excellent Fruits are to be gather'd in Heaven He that sows liberally shall reap liberally It is not therefore as that other Seed mentioned Psal 126. That they that sow in Tears shall reap with Songs of Triumph 2 Cor. 9. For whosoever bestows his Alms sparingly and unwillingly he shall be Treated in the same manner as him that refuseth to part with it therefore St. Paul declares When I should give all my Goods to nourish the poor if I have no Charity I am nothing 2 Cor. 13. God loves a chearful Giver and delights in such Sacrifices 2 Cor. 9. Remember therefore Christians that God shall judge you at the last day not by your Learning Knowledge Riches or Dignities and Honors of this life but by your Alms Deeds and acts of Charity and Hospitality and by the distributing of your Goods to the necessities of the Saints Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when you fail they may receive you into the everlasting Habitations Matt. 25. Rom. 12. Luke 16. That upon your Tomb one may justly engrave He hath scattered he hath given to the poor his Righteousness that is his Charity and Alms-deeds remain for ever Psal 112. 11. Finally we must not only take off our Heart and Affections from the Riches Honors and Vanities of this World but we must also deny our selves tame and overcome our passions and crucify our Flesh with its Lusts Therefore our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ calls upon us from Heaven He that will follow me let him deny himself take up his Cross daily and come after me Matt. 10. That we may be able to imprint this good Lesson in our minds we should seriously consider in the first place that we are but strangers and pilgrims in this world and that we have no lasting City Heb. 13. The Houses that God grants to us are no perpetual Dwellings but only Inns for our present accommodation This was the frequent consideration of the great Patriarchs Abraham Isaack and Jacob who saw the promises afar off believed and embraced them for St. Paul informs us that they did ingeniously profess that they were no better than strangers and pilgrims upon earth and that their intention was to march forwards to their Celestial Countrey This was Jacobs language when he appeared before Pharaoh The days of my pilgrimage have been short and evil they have not attain'd to the years of the life of my Fathers and of the time of their pilgrimage Heb. 12. Gen. 47. And not only the antient Patriarchs who never had any other possessions in the world than a Tomb or some small piece of ground have acknowledg'd themselves to be strangers and pilgrims but Princes and Kings also whom God hath sanctified by his Holy Spirit have freely confess'd the same for David declares not in the time of his banishment nor of his flight nor in his calamities and misery but in his most flourishing Estate and in the midst of his Triumphs Glory Plenty and Prosperity he declares unto God I am a stranger and a forreigner with thee as all my Fathers were Psal 39. 119. And when he speaks not only of himself but also of the rest of God's Children that are upon Earth he makes no difficulty to confess We are strangers and forreigners with thee as all our Fathers were and our days are as a shadow upon Earth that have no stop 1 Chron. 29. Rich and Poor Masters and
King answered We will then endeavour to conquer the rest of Italy and when we shall have Italy in our possession replyed Cyneas what shall we do afterwards we will go against Sicily saith the King the discreet Cyneas continued to demand and when we have all Sicily what shall we do Pyrrhus answered him we wil pass into Africa and take Carthage and after that we may recover Macedonia and command all Greece without controul But Sir replyed Cyneas when we shall have got all into our possession what shall we do then The King answer'd him with a smiling countenance My friend we will then repose our selves and take our fill of Delights and Pleasures then Cyneas began to tell the King What hinders us now Sir from taking our Rest and Delights for we have all that in our hands that we are going to seek so far with so much Bloodshed and Danger We may apply this to our selves we have most of us intricate and hidden designes which cannot be accomplish'd in the age of one Man We are afraid to dye as if Death had already caught us by the throat and yet we have so many desires to fulfil as if we were all immortal we build and adorn our sumptuous Dwellings as if we were never to leave the World And we are always gathering so much as if we had the charge of providing for a Royal Army Let us therefore in this case imitate this wise Minister of State Let us ask our selves for what purpose are these vast designes what end do we propose to our selves of all our labors and care what do we aim at when we run so many dangers and endure so many inconveniencies our Souls will answer us without doubt that it is with an intention at last to rest our selves in peace to live at ease and enjoy the fruits of our labors Let us enjoy that happiness and that satisfaction at present Let us not stay to rest our selves until the time when Death shall stretch us in our Graves Let us be satisfied with the goods that God hath already bestowed upon us and let us use them with thanksgiving Miserable wretches that we are why do we labor and torment our selves for so many things seeing that there is but one thing necessary and that is Piety the fear of the Lord and the expectation of his eternal Felicities Let us therefore make election of this good part and it shall never be taken from us Luk 20. 24. If we desire to imprint in our minds the contempt of the World and of its Vanities we must often meditate with serious attention upon the excellency of our Nature sanctified by Grace upon the worthiness of our spiritual calling and upon the Riches and Glory of that eternal Happiness which God hath prepared for us in Heaven It is impossible to look upon these things as we ought but we must conclude with the Apostle that the World with all its Pleasures and Treasures is not worthy of us The Woman that appeared to St. John in a vision was cloathed with the Sun having the Moon under her feet and a Crown of twelve Stars upon her Head This is a lively Image of Christs Church in general and of every faithful Soul in particular for when we are cloathed and adorned with Jesus Christ the Son of Righteousness we ought to trample upon all the pomp and magnificence of the World and laugh at the revolutions of the Ages at the Vanities and unconstancy of the Earth we must seek our greatest Glory and our most ravishing Delights in the Doctrine of the twelve Apostles who are as so many Stars shining in the firmament of the Church Let the World alter its face as often as the deceitful Laban we ought to be as the Rayes of the Sun always like our selves for our Glory is not as that of the World and of the Princes of this age that is reduc'd to nothing it is not setled upon a vain and failing foundation but upon the living and true God who is the same yesterday and to day and who shall be the same for all Eternity Heb. 14. Some glory in their Chariots others in their Horses but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God Heb. 13. Psal 29. 25. Consider that God hath lifted up our countenance and turned our face to look up to Heaven that he might thereby teach us to lift up thither also our Hearts and carry thither our Affections and Desires He hath created our Souls and given them a spiritual Being that they may take their flight above all earthly substance He hath adorned them with immortality that they might contemn all things that are not immortal as themselves all decaying and perishing enjoyments In short seeing God hath prepared for us his Heaven his Paradise his Glory his Treasures and the Rivers of Eternal Delights how can we yet stop our desires and be content with this dust of the Earth where Serpents crawl 26. When Alexander was preparing to leave Maceâ—onia and go to the Conquests of the Persian Monarchy he gave away all his Goods to his faithful friends and servants Perdicas one of his Favorites demanded of him what he had reserved for himself The King answered that he had reserved HOPE Thus ought we to fit our selves to depart out of the World by leaving our Parents Friends and Estates that we now enjoy and if our Flesh enquires of us what we kept for our selves let us confidently answer That we have kept our HOPE I may assure you Christian Souls that this your answer shall be more rational and better grounded than that of Alexander to his Favorite for this Prince did leave his Patrimony and Kingdom without any need but whether we will or no we must leave the World Alexander did quit his certain Goods for a doubtful Hope but we abandon perishing enjoyments for an Hope more secure and setled than Heaven and Earth Alexanders expectation was but of a temporal Kingdom and of a short and vanishing Glory but our expectation is of an uncorruptible Crown and eternal Triumphs Death hath seized upon Alexander in the flower of his Age put a period to all his Victories and consum'd all his Trophies but we are in hopes of conquering Death it self and this hope will not deceive us Rom. 5. This therefore being our assurance it is no wonder if St. Paul tels us That Hope is as a sure and unmoveable Anchor of the Soul piercing into the Vail that is into Heaven it self where Jesus Christ is entered as our fore-runner 27. God hath hid in the Earth Gold Silver and Jewels to teach us to trample upon all the Riches and Pomp of the World but he hath rais'd up to the highest Heavens our spiritual Treasure and our immortal Crowns that we might lift up thither our Hearts and our most earnest Affections he desires that we should imitate the Prophet David who did always comfort himself with the expectation of the
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
good a Prince could not be repaired but God caused Solomon to sit upon his Fathers Throne and made him the wisest and the most happy Monarch of the World David did but remove God's Ark but Solomon built for him a stately and magnificent Temple David was a Type of the Encounters and Victories of the Son of God but Solomon represented his Glorious Triumphs and that Eternal Peace with which he shall bless his Chosen in the Kingdom of Heaven What if you leave your Children under age be not discouraged for God will preserve them as the Signet upon his Right Hand or as the Apple of his Eye Think upon Josias who was but eight years old when he succeeded in the Kingdom of Judea nevertheless there was never a Prince more Holy and more Religious none ever did more good to the Church of God and that you may be able to strengthen your Faith and confirm your glorious expectations meditate upon the Life of Joas who was but a year old when his Father was killed and an infernal fury sought to destroy him but in the middle of so many Tragedies God preserved him alive by a Miracle and placed him in a Glorious manner upon the Throne of his Fathers Seeing therefore that it is the pleasure of him who gives and takes away the earthly Crowns leave cheerfully this corruptible one to receive another that is immortal and uncorruptible You also noble Governors of Countreys and Castles that represent the Persons of your Kings and Princes remember that this Dignity comes not only from the appointment of your Masters but from God himself who holds in his hands the Hearts of all the Kings and Princes of the world Remember what our Saviour told the Governor of Judea Thou shouldest have no power upon me if it were not given to thee from above John 19. Let all the world see by you that there is nothing more consonant and to your suitable than Piety towards God with faithfulness Prince Take heed that you abuse not your Power and Authority in satisfying your passions and pleasing your covetousnes or vanity Protect not the guilty and oppress not the innocent Seeing that you are appointed to punish evil doers and to encourage such as do well behave your selves as if ye were always in the sight of your Prince or rather behave your selves as in the presence and in the sight of God before whom all things are naked and open as if you were to give up unto him an account of your Stewardship Whilst you are happily employed in the service of your Prince and of your Countrey if Death comes to interrupt your prosperity yield your selves without resistance to the wise Governance and Orders of him who is both your Soveraign Lord and unto whom you must be subject on Earth Trouble not your selves with the thoughts of the things that shall happen after your death and think not but that there are yet some worthy and able to succeed you in your employments When God is pleas'd to be favourable to Kings and to cause their Seats to flourish he raiseth up faithful Ministers and wise Governors as when he gave to Pharaoh a Joseph to Hezekiah an Eliakim to Nebuchadnezzar a Daniel When he pleaseth to search into his unfathomed Treasuries he can quickly provide Men after his own Heart adorned with all the abilities required for a worthy discharge of a glorious employment In the mean while if thou hast overcome Satan Sin the World and Death thou shalt go and take possession of a greater and more lasting Glory He that bears upon his Garments and Thighs this Inscription The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords hath given out this unchangeable promise he that shall overcome and hath kept my Works until the end I will give unto him power over the Nations and he shall govern them with a Rod of Iron Right Honourable Counsellors that assist your Prince with your wise Counsels and you inferior Magistrates and Judges never forget what Jehosaphat said to the Judges of his Kingdom 2 Chron. 9. Take heed what ye do for ye judge not for Man but for the Lord who is with you in the judgement Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you take heed and do it for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God nor respect of persons nor taking of Gifts Psal 85. Whensoever you go to take your place amongst the Judges of the Kingdom remember that God sits there upon his Throne and every time that you give a Charge or pronounce a Sentence consider that you are to follow God's directions and that this Great Creator takes notice of your Actions Words and of the motions of your Heart and that he understands your most secret thoughts Judge with the same equity and justice with which you desire to be judged If you be tempted to do Wrong to conceal the Truth or to commit an injustice either by a base compliance or by an expectation of Worldly advantage or for filthy Lucre remember that it is the Devil that tempts you pray therefore to God to deliver you from his power and that you may be better able to command your selves with an Holy dread think upon death that warns you in person nay drags you to appear before the Universal Judge of Mankind to give up an account of all your Actions and of the Sentences that you have given but if Death surprizeth you when you are discharging your Offices with all the diligence and integrity imaginable stay not till it forces you but cast off willingly the Robes of Judicature to take the Habit of a Supplicant and pray to God that he may not enter into judgement with you because no living creature shall be justified in his presence Psal 13. Let not the consideration of the passages that shall happen after your decease obstruct your Christian resolution There are men enough in the World of a sufficient ability to supply your places And God is able to raise up some that we dream not of as when he created in one day threescore and ten Judges in Israel whom he endowed with sufficient abilities and with the graces of his Holy Spirit He may produce some that will be as Righteous and Just as your selves and it may be more enlightened with discretion and prudence than you Come off therefore willingly from these seats of Judicature so beset with Thorns upon which you should never rest without horror and dread if you sincerely fear God and go with confidence to the Throne of Grace that you may obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in time of need Heb. 4. And as true Piety is assoon to be found in the Tents of David as in the Temple of Solomon as the Sword of Gideon agrees well with that of the God of Hosts I may make my addresses to you worthy Generals brave Captains and generous Nobility unto whom Kings Princes and Commonwealths commit the leading of their
him from their Mothers womb Our Lord Jesus Christ when he was on Earth took up in his Arms the little Children that were brought unto him laid his hands upon them and recommended them to God his Father and now that he is in Glory his Love and tender compassion for them is no less Therefore if we offer him our Children with all our hearts he will take them into his protection he will stretch over them the Arms of his Mercy and will never take them away again In short seeing that he promiseth to them the Kingdom of Heaven and his Eternal Felicities he will never with-hold from them things needful for this present life We can do nothing without God but God can do all things without us A great many Children become debauch'd and are spoil'd in their Parents over-fond tuition wherecas many that are out of their sight and that live when they are departed shew good examples of Piety and Godliness for example in Isaack's House in the presence of this Holy Man there was a prophane Esau a Glutton whereas Jacob that lived at a distance from his Parents when he fled for fear of his Brother had always before his eyes the fear of Isaack his Father Gen. 27. Gen. 31. that is to say the God whom his Father worshipped In Jacob's House Ruben defiled his Father's Bed in an incestuous manner whereas Jâ—seph in Potiphera's House chose rather an apparent death and present sufferings than to touch his Masters Wise Gen. 39. David had the unhappiness to see some of his Children guilty of Incest and Murder whereas Joas and Josias two Orphan-Princes in their tenderest infancy became Vertuous and Religious Kings zealous for the service of God How many Children are there who notwithstanding all the care and labor of their Fathers fall into extremity of misery How many are taken from their Parents embraces and dragg'd from thence to the Gallows whereas there are others that without Father or Parents assistance don't only escape grievous dangers but rise to Honors and Dignities as Joseph in Aegypt Daniel in Babylon and Esther that was Fatherless and a poor Captive became a Queen and moreover God made use of her and of her credit to deliver his People from Haman's conspiracy We see every day that God blesseth in an extraordinary manner many Orphans Cast your Eyes upon the Children of the blessed Martyrs and thou shalt perceive many that God hath made notable instances of his especial favors and of the Mercy that he promiseth to shew unto thousand Generations of them that serve him and obey his Holy Commands Thou shalt find some that have much more happiness in this life than the posterity of the Persecutors Thou shalt see them with astonishment bestow their Alms upon the Children of such as have plundered their Houses and spoiled their Goods Whilst you are yet in being exhort your Children to fear God to serve and to addict themselves with all their Heart to the study of Piety that hath the promises of this life and of the life to come Teach them first to seek the Kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all these things shall be added to them over and above Finally when your life should be much more useful to your Children than it is remember what our Lord and Saviour saith He that loves Son or Daughter more than him is not worthy of him Heaven is far more excellent than the Earth The Salvation and the Happiness of our Souls is to be preferr'd to all the considerations of Flesh and Bloud It is not just that such as have given us or to whom we have given the enjoyment of a temporal life should hinder us from the fruition of a Spiritual and Eternal Life Besides when we recommend them to God we put them into the protection of a true and of a wise Friend who is acquainted with their necessities who is so Good to procure them that which shall be needful for them and Almighty to accomplish all things which may be for their advantage Let us therefore conclude that it is the duty of a good Father that fears God not to resist death not to fly from it when the Lord calls but according to the good example of the antient Patriarchs he ought to end his days willingly with the praises of God in his mouth and with exhortation to his Children to love him fear him and serve him with all their heart to continue in his Holy Covenant and to prefer him to all the Riches and Honors of this miserable Earth And as when our Saviour had bestowed his Blessings upon his Disciples a Cloud carried him out of their sight into Heaven Likewise when a good Christian shall have thus given his Blessings to his Children he will shut his eyes to all inferior things and think upon nothing but upon the Eternal Bliss of the Heavenly Paradise If God calls us to himself in a miserable and wretched time when our beloved Infants are weeping about our Bed ready to say to us as Isaack unto Abraham My Father here is Wood a Fire and a Knife but where is the Beast for a Burnt-offering Gen. 22. God causeth the visible signes of his heavy displeasure to appear every where In every corner we see nothing but Fire and Sword Death's frightful Image and the fearful appearance of Masacres do scare and terrify us Destruction is come into the Holy places the Fire hath reacht as far as God's own Sanctuary and no body is able to deliver us The deluge of God's wrath hath overspread our Land in such a manner that as Noah's Dove we cannot find where to pitch our feet All our expectation is that God would also reach down his hand unto us from above to receive us into that Ark which is above the Heavens and unto which your Soul is now departing Gen. 8. If our dear Children speak unto us in this Language Let us with the courage assurance and faith of the Father of the Faithful return unto them this answer My Children the Lord will provide Gen. 12. Rom. 4. It is he that acts beyond appearance and against all hope who causeth the dead to live and calls things that are not as if they were he will send to you his good Angels to help you in all your necessities when you shall be reduc'd to the uttermost misery ready to receive the last stroke of death God's hands will stop the sword of his justice he will change your crying and fears into joy and Eternal gladness There will be some Holy and devout Soul that loves the publick peace and tranquility that will bring to you the Olive-branch of Peace God can appease the Tempest with his breath at his Command the winds will be still and the roaring Waves that are ready to devour you will return to their former tranquility Otherwise he will preserve you miraculously alive in the midst of the greatest troubles and most fearful confusion And as
which are not seen for the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal 2 Cor. 4. The chief Spring of all our Comforts is God's Gracious promise of seasonable help in time of need Imprint therefore in your minds these Divine passages When he that loveth me shall call upon me I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honor him Psal 91. The Lord delivers from all temptations them that honor him he is rich unto all that pray unto him 2 Pet. 2. He is near to all them that call upon him yea to all them that call upon him faithfully Rom. 10. He accomplisheth the desire of the humble he hears their cry Psal 145. The Righteous is encompassed with many evils but the Lord will deliver him from them all Psal 34. Call upon me in the day of thy distress and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me Psal 50. When a poor Subject is courted and visited by his Prince in the time of his sickness he looks upon it as a great favour and an happiness indeed And when we enjoy the presence of a dear friend whom we desired to see in the midst of our most grievous pains we are wont to say Methinks I feel no more pain now that I have the satisfaction of your good company Now the Glory of God's Majesty doth accompany the tenderness of his Love He is the Father of Mercies and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our afflictions He is like that faithful friend who never forsakes us for in our greatest calamities he succors us Prov. 18. He is the King of Kings and yet our most cordial and sincere friend who frequently visits the Houses of sorrow and is near to every broken and bruised Heart Psal 34. The more we are oppressed with evil the more he remembers us Psal 136. Notwithstanding our Childrens imperfections and miscarriages we cannot suffer to see them in distress but we are moved with compassion and perswaded to help them according to our ability and shall thy God who loves thee more sincerely and more cordially than the best Fathers and the most tender-hearted Mothers do their Children forsake thee in the day of thy distress This Merciful and loving Father who hath taken thee into his protection when thou didst enter into the World and who since hath furnished plentifully all thy necessities shall he deny his Gracious assistance now in the time of thy calamity He who hath fulfilled his praise by thy mouth when thou didst yet suck at thy Mothers Breasts who hath crowned thy youthful days with his Divine Blessings will not forsake thee now in thine old age he will not cast thee off in the last moments of thy life when thy strength is decayed and thou art scarce able to help thy self When we offer any assistance to our sick or wounded friends we labor to lessen their pain we employ all our skill and discover our most excellent Secrets at least we endeavour to make them sensible of our displeasure and grief for their distemper by our Sighs and Tears and by all good Offices their complaints and outcries are Darts that strike to our very hearts Likewise our merciful God is sensible of our calamities when he sees us oppressed with grievous pains his Bowels earn his Heart is as it were moved and his tender Love for us is concerned In all our afflictions he is afflicted and whosoever toucheth us toucheth the very Apple of his Eye Hosea 1. Isai 63. He is said to weep and grieve at the torments that we feel and to be sensible of our infirmities Luk 2. He binds up our wounds and poures into them his Divine balm he cures the diseased Heart and causeth the bruised Bones to rejoyce Job 5. He casteth into our beds of Sickness his most excellent Perfumes and drives from thence all grief and displeasure when a pestilentious Feavor hath seized upon you this Heavenly Physitian can give you some Carduus Waters powerful Antidotes to keep the poison from the Heart Jer. 30. Psal 147. Psal 51. Psal 34. Cant. 1. His Gracious Hand can drive from thy Soul the venom with which the old Serpent labors to infect it He will in thy need clap upon thy Head thy Stomach or rather to thine Heart not a bleeding Pidgeon but the living and cherishing Vertue of his Holy Spirit only discover to him the afflicted and diseased part or member of thy Soul or Body and he shall anoint it with the Oil of Joy and Gladness that shall run down into thy Joynts and Marrow If thou feelest thy self weak or fainting say to him as the Spouse in the Canticles Comfort my Heart with wine Chap. 2. and he will not fail to present unto thee of the new Wine of his Kingdom If thou art thirsty ask him some drink and he will give thee of that Water which if a man drink he shall never be athirst My Brother or My Sister cast thy self upon God for his Power is as great as his Love to thee he understands better than thou or we can what is expedient and good for thee in his due time he will make thy pains to cease and will pull out of thy Flesh its incomodious Thorn either he will drive from thee the Spirit that afflicts thee or accomplish his Vertue in thine Infirmity He will strengthen thee in such a manner and with such Patience Constancy and Faith and fill thee with so much extraordinary joy and comfort that every one shall visibly perceive that God himself is thy help and that his Vertue sustains thee O how sweet and pleasant is God's assistance to a Christian Soul it brings along with it so much pleasure and admirable delight it causeth such undeniable testimonies of our Predestination to appear it gives us so many rare fore-tasts of our Celestial Inheritance that St. Paul doth not only prefer it to all the Pleasures and Honors of the World but he prefers it also to his being ravish'd into the third Heaven and to his seeing unspeakable things which cannot be uttered 1 Cor. 12. If Afflictions are increas'd with Christ Joy and Comfort increase also with him for as God commands Wine to be given to a Man whose Heart is oppressed with sorrow to drive away his sadness and bury his troubled thoughts in oblivion Thus in the greatest evils God supplieth us with the strongest and most cordial Consolations It is in this occasion that he declares his greatest Power and pours out most plentifully his Divine Graces Is 4. When thou shouldest walk through the Flames the Fire shall not burn nor touch thee for as the Son of God was in the Furnace with Daniels three Companions in Babylon Thus in thy most violent fits of the Feaver in the midst of thy most grievous aches he will satiate thy Soul and thou shalt be like a watered Garden Dan. 5. Or as a living
complain but shall be transported with joy and adore that infinite Goodness which thou hast declared to us poor and miserable sinners who out of thine incomprehensible Love hast made us thy Children and Heirs of thy Kingdom O Goodness worthy of the admiration of Heaven and Earth we were all lost but we shall be all found in God we were dead but by death we shall return to life we were over-whelmed in a grievous misery but by this means we shall attain to the greatest happiness O my God I recommend unto thee my Soul as to a faithful Creator Heavenly Father my Spirit I leave in thy Hands Amen 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 IF we will dye with a peacable and quiet mind we must always represent to our selves the death and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ and rely upon the merits of his Cross for the death of this Prince of Life should be the Model of ours and the bottomless Fountain of Comforts to a believing Soul 1. By looking upon this perfect example the wonder of Men and Angels we learn to endure with an Holy resolution and patience all the evils and pangs that accompany Death Luk 22. For although our Saviours Torments were most bitter so that his Soul was sorrowful unto death although there issued out of his innocent Body a bloudy Sweat for the violence of his pain nevertheless none ever heard the least murmuring or expression of impatience Isai 53. He was led to the slaughter as a Lamb and as a Sheep before the Shearer is dumb 2 From hence we learn that the last hours of our life must be employed in fervent and continual Prayers unto God seeing that this Beloved of the Father offers unto him at such a time his Prayers and Supplications with great Cries and a floud of Tears as to him who was able to deliver him from Death Heb. 5. In the bosoms of this Heavenly Father he poureth out all his Griefs and three times he presents this request Father if it be possible that this cup should pass away from me except I drink it Matth. 26. 3. We learn to present our selves before God's Divine Majesty with Humility and to resigne our selves wholly to his wonderful Providence seeing that he who thought it no robbery to be equal with God he whom the millions of Angels and Seraphims worship continually thought it no disgrace to himself to fall upon his knees three times to the ground and submit his Will to that of his Heavenly Father for after that he had said Father if it be possible let this cup pass away from me except I drink it He adds these words Nevertheless O Father not as I will but as thou wilt Matth. 26. 4. If at the time of our death an excessive sorrow or a malignant humour seize upon our minds so that in that disposition we are not able to see the Heavens open nor God who stretcheth out his Arm to receive us into his Rest Let us remember that this merciful Lord speaks to us as he did to his three Apostles who fell asleep when he was in his Agony Cannot you watch one hour with me Mat. 29. My dear Children it is no time to fall asleep with the foolish and inconsiderate Virgins trim your Lamps put on the Garments of Light to meet your Celestial Bridegroom and to enter with him into the Marriage Chamber Matth. 25. 5. God requires that we should do as much good at all times to our friends as we are able and to express the sincerity of our affections to those with whom Nature and our Duty have caused us to be related but especially at the hour of death we are more bound to this Religious Duty therefore Jesus Christ hath shewn us an excellent example for when he was nailed to the Cross and ready to breathe forth his Soul into the hands of his Heavenly Father he had an especial care of his Holy and Blessed Mother saying to his beloved Disciple My Son behold thy Mother and to her Woman behold thy Son 6. We must not only do good and shew kindness to our friends but we must forgive our greatest enemies such also as employ their greatest fury against us for by this means we shall follow the Blessed footsteps of our Gracious Saviour for he had compassion upon them that crucified him and mocked him Father said he forgive them for they know not what they do 7. By the Cross of Jesus Christ we learn to put our trust in the goodness of God in our greatest pangs and to embrace him as our most loving Father and Redeemer when he seems to discover to us a severe countenance full of wrath and displeasure for this Eternal Son of God in his most violent tortures when his Heavenly Father did suspend his aid and assistance and withheld the effects of his Grace the expressions of his Love and the comforts of his Divine Spirit nevertheless he looks upon him as his God and reposes himself upon him he prays unto him with an Holy assurance and repeats these passionate words My God my God! 8. If we will dye willingly and leave these crazy Bodies with a joyful mind when the time is come that we must go to the Father of Spirits we must remember with what resolution our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ prepar'd himself for death and how willingly he commended his innocent Soul into the hands of God his Father when he required it No man taketh my life away from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again this Commandement have I received of my Father John 10. Heb. 10. This caused him to speak in this manner Here am I O God to do thy will Luk 23. Therefore when he gave up the Ghost he cried with a loud voice to shew that his precious Soul was not taken from him by violence but that he did willingly offer it up as a Sacrifice to God 9. In this rich description of Christ crucified we may further learn what should be our last words and last thoughts for if God vouchsafes to us the use of our Tongues until the last gasp we cannot end our life more comfortably than by such expressions as our Saviour made use of upon the Cross Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit But if we cannot move our Lips and that we cannot pronounce these words we must inwardly meditate upon them in our minds and express them with motions of the Heart 10. When we look more narrowly into the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ we may easily find how much we are bound to give up our souls unto God when he is pleased to call for them for this Blessed death is the price and ransom that he hath paid
as it is Recorded of St. Stephen that when he had commended his Soul into the hands of the Lord Jesus that he fell asleep Acts 7. Therefore when St. Paul reproves the Coriâ—thians and acquaints them that God had punished them with divers Diseases and Death because they had profaned the Lords Supper he tells them For this cause many are feeble and sick amongst you and many sleep And when he speaks of all those that were dead in the profession of Christs Religion he saith they sleep in Jesus and he names them they that sleep Now we are not better and nobler then the Saints of Paradise to expect that our Bodies should receive a better and more favourable entertainment then they In short there is nothing more able to remove from our fancy that horror of our Graves then the consideration of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is entred into the Earth as well as other Men and hath laid himself down there He hath Sanctified and perfumed that place with his Divine Presence he hath made it the object of our desires and the cause of our glory for there is no Subject but judgeth it an honour to lodge in his Princes Chamber and to lay down and sleep upon the Bed where he hath taken his rest although he hath remained there but a moment or an hour O glorious Tomb where Death and Life Disgrace and Glory are lodged together and where the Prince of Life the Author of all Honor and Happiness did rest himself Christians who desire to banish from your Souls all fears of Death and apprehensions of your Graves look upon your Sepulchres in the same manner as if you should see there Jesus Christ the King of Glory the Prince of your Salvation yet remaining asleep When old Jacob heard the mistaken news of the Death of his Son Joseph he was overcome with a violent grief so that he cryed out I shall go down with Sorrow to my Son into the Grave But the certain news of the Death and Burial of our true Joseph will fill us full of unspeakable comforts and will cause us to speak in another manner I shall go down to my Father into the Sepulcher with Joy The Prophet Elias raised to Life a Child which laid in his Chamber upon his Bed when he stretched himself upon it the Soul that was departed came again And Elisha raised another in the same manner by applying his Mouth to the Childs his Hands and Eyes to the little Infants But believing Soul God works for thee in this occasion a far more wonderful Miracle for our Resurrection and Life proceed from the Death and Burial of our great Prophet If we go into this holy Tomb if we lay our selves down upon this precious Body if we embrace it with a true and living Faith and a serious Repentance he will quicken us again and cause us to become Immortal for he hath been pleased to enter into the estate of the dead with an intent to procure unto us a blessed and a glorious Immortality A Prayer and Meditation for a Christian who strengthens himself against the horrible aspect of the Grave by looking upon our Lord Jesus Christ stretched out in his Tomb. O Wonderful Mediator between God and Man Thou art God Immortal and yet hast vouchsafed to take upon thee our Mortal Nature and to Dye for me miserable Sinner and to remain for a time in the estate of the Dead that thou mightest procure unto me a blessed Immortality Give me Grace to Meditate as I ought upon thy Sacred Body wrapped up in a winding sheet and laid in the Earth for by this means O sweet Jesus I shall be brought not to abhor the Grave I shall look with a stedfast and setled countenance on the Grave digging into which I must enter when thou shalt appoint it for the Servant is not greater then his Master It belongs not to the Creature to lift it self up above the Creator seeing that I expect to share in thy Glory and Exaltation it is but just and reasonable that I take some part in thy Disgraces and Abasement My reason assisted by thine holy Spirit teacheth me that I must be content to be wrapped up in thy Darkness and remain with thee in the valey of the Shadow of Death seeing that I hope to be cloathed one day with Light and Crowned with an eternal Life I must not only look upon the Grave without Fear but I shall consider it with Joy seeing that thou hast honoured it with thine holy presence and perfumed it with thy Divine and celestial perfumes I shall behold it in the same manner as if thou didst yet lye down in it as if I were to keep thee company there my Lord and my God A dead returned to Life again when he did but touch the Bones of thy Prophet but I do not only touch the Prince of Prophets but embrase thee with Faith as thou art dead for my Sins and as resting in thy Grave for my Salvation Thou shalt therefore make me sensible of thy Divine Vertue put in me the Seeds of Immortality and raise my hopes up to Heaven Already my Soul hath a share in the first Resurrection and one day this crazy Body shall return to newness of life If my Resurrection be not so quick and speedy as that of the Dead raised to Life by the Prophet It shall be far more glorious and lasting that I may bless thee with all thy Saints and praise thee for ever with thine Inheritance in Heaven Amen CHAP. 17. The Fifth Consolation against the Fears of Death is to Meditate upon the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ AS there is nothing more grieveous and unsufferable than to behold a proud and insulting Enemy who is alwayes victorious and whom none can overcome in his insolent and braving humor likewise there is nothing more pleasant and comfortable then to see such a pride cast down and to overcome such an Enemy Therefore the Children of Israel who had long groaned under the cruel tyranny of Pharaoh sung with Joy a Song of Triumph and Thanksgiving when God destroyed that wretched Tyrant and Buried him and his Army in the waves of the Red Sea For this cause when the Red Dragon the ancient Serpent called the Devil and Satan Exod. 15. who seduceth whole Nations was overcome and cast down from Heaven to the Earth There were Songs of Joy and Gladness heard in Heaven Revel 12. Now is come Salvation and Strength and the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ for the Accuser of our Brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night therefore rejoyce ye Heavens and ye that dwell in them From hence let us conclude Christian Souls as it was a grievous Affliction and a sensible Grief to behold Death tyrannising over all the World and shutting up in its Dungeons Kings and Monarchs Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and generally all the
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
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
appointed unto me Luk 22. In another place he speaks to all his Church in general Fear not little flock for it is your Fathers pleasure to give you the Kingdom Luk 20. And at the last day he will say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World Matth. 25. And to the Angel of his Church in Smyrns and to all faithful Souls this Divine Saviour makes this promise Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Revel 2. And to the Angel of the Church of Laodicea To him that over cometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne Revel 3. And St. Paul tels us That we run to obtain an uncorruptible Crown 1 Cor. 6. And when he saw himself at the end of his Race he cries out I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4. And St. James speaks in the same Language Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him Jam. 1. Finally we read that the glorified Saints have Palms in their Hands and Crowns of Gold upon their Heads and in their Songs of Praise they speak thus to our Saviour Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy bloud out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and hast made us to our God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on the Earth Revel 4.4 The great Men of the World delight in gorgeous Apparel some in perfum'd Garments therefore the Holy Ghost condescends to this weakness of Man and promiseth in Heaven Robes more flagrant than the perfumes of Arabia he promiseth a Garment whiter than Snow and brighter than the Light it self And Solomon when he considers his Spouse as the Type of the Church he saith The Kings daughter is full of glory within her clothing is of wrought Gold she shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needle work And when God himself speaks of the glory of his Church which he begins now and will consummate hereafter he saith that he adorned her with Gold Silver and precious Stones that he hath clothed her with fine Linnen with Silk and Needle-work therefore the Church speaks in this manner I will greatly rejoyce in the Lord my Soul shall be joyful in my God for he hath clothed me with the Garments of Salvation he hath covered me with the Robes of Righteousness as a Bridegroom decketh himself with Ornaments and as a Bride adorneth her self with her Jewels And if you take notice of such as stand before the Throne of God and in the presence of the Lamb that worship him day and night in his Temple you shall find them clothed with long Robes whitened in the Bloud of the Lamb. Look also upon that Glorious Woman of the Revelations the true Type and representation of the Church and you shall see her clothed with the Sun and a Crown of twelve Stars upon her Head In a word hearken to the Song of the glorified Saints and you shall hear them speaking to one another Let us be glad and rejoyce and give honor to God for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready and to her was granted that she should be arayed in fine Linnen clean and white for the fine Linnen is the righteousness of Saints Men commonly love good cheer to partake of sumptuous Feasts therefore the Heavenly Delights are represented to us under the notion of rare Meats and exquisite Drinks of Noble Feasts and Magnificent Banquets In this manner the Royal Prophet speaks of them in the 36 Psalm How excellent is thy loving kindness O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy House and thou shalt make them drink of the River of thy pleasures And in the 65 Psalm Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy Courts he shall be satisffed with the goodness of thy house even of thy holy Temple And the Prophet Isaiah speaks in the same language In this Mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a Feast of fat things a Feast of Wine on the Lees of fat things full of Marrow of Wines on the Lees well refined This consideration causeth a Doctor in the Gospel to say Blessed is he that shall eat Bread in the Kingdom of Heaven And our Saviour himself saith that many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit at Table in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Ahasuerus's Feast continued 180 days but the Feast of which we shall be partakers in Heaven and which hath been preparing from the foundation of the World shall continue for all Eternity Of all Feasts such as are prepared for Nuptial Solemnities are most esteem'd when they are for Kings and Princes of the Earth for in such occasions there are the greatest and the most extraordinary rejoycings therefore the happiness of Heaven is expressed by a Marriage our Saviour himself makes use of this comparison in the 22 Chapter of St. Matthew The Kingdom of God saith he is like unto a King which made a Marriage for his Son This caused the glorified Church to speak in this manner Let us rejoyce and be glad and give glory to the Lord our God for the Marriage of the Lamb is come Finally The Holy Ghost hath Commanded to Write and Record these words for ever Blessed are those that are called to the Marriage-Feast of the Lamb. Some persons are very much delighted with the sweet and pleasant Consorts of Musick Therefore the Holy Ghost to signify unto us That in Heaven there shall be all manner of pleasures and nothing wanting tells us that about God's Throne millions of Angels and glorified Saints shall sing forth the Divine Praise Besides it acquaints us with the substance of their Heavenly Songs when Isaiah mentions these wonderful Seraphims that fly round about God's Glorious Throne he saith That they cry one to another Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts the whole Earth is full of thy glory And when St. John speaks of those glorified Saints he saith that they stand before this magnificent Throne playing with their Harps and singing a new Song that is to say a most rare and excellent Song and that they have always in their mouths the song of Moses and of the Lamb and that Heaven it self resounds with their Sacred Halelujah's which signifies Praise
unprofitable servant to be cast into utter darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth It may also be worthy of our observation that the felicities of Heaven are represented to us by a Feast where all partake of the same Meats but some are seated in a more Honourable Room than others This as I conceive may be gathered from our Saviours words Many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit at Table in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham Isaac and Jacob. It may also be gathered from that other passage where Lazarus is carried by the Holy Angels into Abraham's bosom Lastly I ground my opinion upon the 12 Chapter of Daniel where this blessed Prophet when he had spoken in general terms of the future Happiness of the faithful who shall rise to Eternal life he comes down to particularize some unto whom God hath bestowed more light upon Earth and whose Ministry he hath made use of to bring many Souls to Salvation amongst these he seems to put many degrees of Glory They that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that bring many to righteousness as the Stars from ever and ever From this passage one may apparently conclude that as the light of the Firmament differs much from that of tha bright Stars and as amongst the Stars there is a diversity and variety of Light in the same manner there shall be divers and differing degrees of Glory amongst the glorified in Heaven Now in answer to that reason that Jesus Christ hath purchased for us the Glory and Happiness of Heaven and that therefore this Glory and Happiness should be equal I confess this reason is weighty I intend not to refute it altogether but I shall propose several things to the consideration of the Pious and Devout Souls that shall peruse this Treatise First that although the bloud of Jesus Christ hath purchased for us Heaven and that we are not able to deserve it by our most regenerate Actions nor by our most grievous sufferings and Martyrdom because that when we have performed all that is Commanded our Saviour requires us to say We be unprofitable servants because we have done but what we were bound to do Luk 17. And because his Holy Apostle assures us that 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 Rom. 8. Nevertheless God is so Good Merciful and Bountiful that he bears with our imperfections that he rewards as a Father with a free Reward all the good Works of his fervants especially the works of Charity Therefore Jesus Christ tells his Apostles and generally all the faithful Whosoever shall give unto you to drink a cup of water because you are Christs verily I say unto you he shall not loose his reward And because 't is the custome of the Eastern People to warm their drink therefore to give a cup of cold water may be reckoned the smallest assistance Our Saviour saith Whosoever shall give unto one of these little ones to drink a cup of â—old water only in the name of a Disciple verily I say unto you he shall not loose his reward Matth. 10. If such as bestow a cup of cold water for God's sake are rewarded in Heaven what may not those bountiful Souls expect there who now spend their Estates in charitable Deeds He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully 1 Cor. 9. These be the words of St. Paul which in my judgement declare plainly an inequality amongst the Glories and Happinesses which we are to reap in Heaven Besides we have heard a Prophet tell us that all such as by the light of their Doctrines and the Holiness of their Lives lead many Souls to their Salvation shall shine for ever in Heaven as so many bright Stars It stands with reason that if our Saviour will in his infinite Mercy reward such a small kindness as the gift of a draught of Water to one of his Children they shall excell in Glory who pour forth for his sake in his quarrel every drop of their Bloud and by their deaths confirm his Holy Gospel This is a faithful saying If we dye with Jesus Christ we shall also live with him if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him But that which seems to me yet stronger which makes for this purpose is That all the spiritual Graces which are bestowed upon us in this life proceed from the Holy Ghost purchased for us by the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and by his precious Bloud Now these Graces are differing and various if therefore there are divers degrees in Grace why should not there be also divers degrees in Glory seeing that both have been purchased for us with the same price by the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ The other Argument drawn from the happiness and perfection of the Glorified is rational but not invincible for several Diamonds may be perfect in their kind so that the clearest Eye cannot take notice of any imperfection nevertheless they may differ in weight and price All the Stars have their perfection and light Nevertheless one Star differs from another Star in Glory All the Angels of Heaven are perfectly Happy and Holy and yet there is a great inequality amongst them in Glory and Dignity Likewise although all the Blessed shall attain to a perfect Holiness in my judgement that cannot hinder the diversity of degrees of Glory and Happiness I acknowledge also that the other objection drawn out of these words The Just shall shine as the Sun in the kingdom of their Father is not to be despised but it concludes nothing to the purpose for if you should cut out excellently well some Orbs of Chrystal of differing sizes some greater some less and should put them all in the Sun they would be all full of Light in every part every one of them would represent the beautiful Image of that Sun that looks upon them so that it may very well be said of all of them that they shine as the Sun Nevertheless according to their bigness and size they receive more Light and the Sun seems greater in the one than in the other To the other objection that all the Glorified in Heaven are named Kings I answer That this is not to be understood in a litteral Sence no more then when it is said that they had on their Heads Crowns of Gold That I may continue in the same comparison I may say that as all Kings have a Soveraign Majesty which acknowledges none above it but God from whom it proceeds Nevertheless some have a greater Power and Riches than others Likewise all the glorified Saints shall enjoy a Soveraign and perfect Happiness and receive it immediately from God This cannot hinder them from differing from one another in Glory I answer next to the other
thy beautiful Face and as a beam of thy Glory as the rich Jewel which the Devil had taken from us as the highest perfection represented by thy Son Jesus Christ and as the chief part of that felicity unto which we pretend and into which thou wilt bring us in thine heavenly Paradise O God of my Salvation how bitter are the fruits of sin thou seest my displeasure for having yielded so long to that loathsome Tyrant and assisted my carnal Lusts that war against the Soul Thou seest the inward grief of my mind for having neglected to employ that life which I have received from thy Mercy and Goodness that I might live to fear serve and obey thy Sacred and Divine Commands What shall I say O Soveraign Lord of the World I have sinned against thee against thee have I sinned and done that which is abominable in thy sight but I repent in Dust and Ashes my sins appear before me day and night I consider them with horror Alas O Lord before whom all things are naked and open thou knowest that my greatest grief proceeds from my not grieving enough and that my most sensible affliction is of not being afflicted sufficiently because I cannot feel a Repentance answerable to the greatness and number of mine offences O God that searcheth the Heart and knowest all things thou understandest the greatness of my crimes and what should be my sorrow for their Commission thou desirest not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn and live Turn me O Lord and then I shall be turned Almighty God who fetchest Water out of the hardest Rocks draw out of my stony Heart the tears of sincere Repentance which might he acceptable unto thee Break and mollify this hard heart that it may receive the Waters of Eternal life but rather pluck out this wicked heart and give me a new heart fashioned with thine own hands an heart where thy Glorious Image with all its most beautiful features may appear with the most sacred beams that proceed from thy Divine Face an heart that may be enflam'd with an Holy Zeal for thy Glory and burn with a love for thee O God of all goodness who hast not spared the bloud of thine only Son to blot out the sentence of my doom grant me thine Holy Spirit that may sanctify me and make me a new creature that I may bear the marks and the Livery of thy chosen and that I may shine in the World as a Lamp that burns with an Heavenly Fire Crucify this miserable flesh with all its Lusts that I may live not I but that Christ may live in me that from henceforth I may live in the faith of the Son of God who hath loved me and given himself for me that he might redeem and cleanse me from all iniquity Animate my Soul enlighten mine understanding direct and govern the actions of my life take possession of me and rule me in such a manner that all mine affections words and thoughts may be sanctified by thy Grace and tend to the promotion of thy Glory That I may not only abhor all such things as are displeasing to thee but that I may also shun those which I know not whether they will be acceptable to thee that I may not only abominate the filthy vices but also hate the Garments infected with sin and that I may abstain from all appearance of evil If the Devil the World and mine own flesh tempt and stir me up to any sin let the dread of thy Divine Majesty seize upon my Soul let Death enter into my mind and fill me with such an holy fear as may stop and hinder me Give me grace to consider that I should be the most miserable of all Creatures if I did dye in offending and sinning against thee if I were buried with my crimes Let me always think upon St. John 's saying Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second death shall have no dominion over him Seeing that thy saving grace unto all men hath appeared so openly unto me Grant that renouncing all impiety and worldly Lusts I may live soberly justly and religiously in this present life that I may apply my thoughts to all those things that are True Honourable Just Pure Lovely of good Renown and generally to all things that are vertuous and worthy of praise More especially grant O good God that I may be possessed with a violent Charity which may carry me to actions of Love and Mercy for thou delightest in such Sacrifices Charity covers a multitude of sins O merciful Lord the task which thou hast given me is long and tedious my life is but short and I know not how soon thou wilt come to knock at the door of mine house O God whose Mercies are for ever performe in me that which thou dost command and then command what thou wilt produce in me with power both the Will and the Deed according to thy good pleasure Give me grace to employ myself in thy work with Diligence Faithfulness and Zeal that I may not be troubled at thy Glorious coming Give me the Lamp of thy Sanctuary lighted at the beams of the Sun of Righteousness Fill my Soul with the precious and Divine Oil that runs from thy Spirit and cloath me with the Robes of Holiness and Light that I may be ready to follow the Bridegroom into the Banqueting Chamber and sit at thy Table with the holy Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and the Holy Virgin and with all those who have wash'd and whitened their Robes in the Bloud of the Lamb. Let me live the life of the Saints that I may dye the death of the Righteous that I may be admitted into thy Glorious Rest with thy Chosen and that when I am breathing forth thy last gasp thy Son Jesus Christ may call to me from Heaven Come good and faithful Servant enter into the joy of thy Lord Amen CHAP. 12. The sixth Remedy against the fears of Death is to repose our selves upon God's good Providence SOme persons there are so brutish and stupified that they never think upon the great end and designe of their Creation they are not able to give a just account wherefore God hath put them into the World they are Carnal and Earthly minds who imagine that they were created for themselves as brute Beasts onely to eat and drink Such are of the number of those that are mentioned by St. Paul their God is their Belly and their end is Eternal Misery But there are also some wise and vertuous minds that are continually meditating upon the favors that they received from Heaven which they employ to their right and proper end Such Celestial understandings being enlightned from above consider very well that they are not born for themselves but for their Countrey for their Parents for their Friends and chiefly for to serve God and his Church on Earth therefore they desire to live only to
glorify their Creator and advance his Kingdom When this good desire is well governed it is as acceptable to God as a sweet smelling Sacrifice This was David's earnest desire in the 119 Psalm Let my Soul live that it may praise thee This Holy Zeal forced so many bitter Tears from King Hezekiah in his sickness and caused him to intreat most earnestly to live yet longer in the World This Wise and Religious Prince did well foresee the fearful Evils the grievous Confusion and the abominable Idolatry that was likely to succeed after his Death in the Kingdom of Judea He was therefore very desirous to glorify God on Earth and to accomplish the Reformation which he had begun He desired to have Children whom he might teach to fear God with all their heart and to serve him according to his Holy and Divine Will that he might cause Piety to continue in his House and Royal Family he discovers this Holy desire in his Divine Hymn which he sung unto God after his miraculous recovery Behold for Peace I had great bitterness but thou hast in love to my Soul delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back for the Grave cannot praise thee Is 38. Death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy Truth the living he shall praise thee as I do this day the Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth The Lord was ready to save me therefore we will sing my Songs to the stringed Instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. We find the same earnest desire in St. Paul for when he looks upon himself and upon the miseries that attend upon him on Earth and lifts up his Eyes to see the Heavenly Bliss that waits for him above he desires to depart out of this earthly Tabernacle and to be with Christ and acknowledgeth that it would be his great advantage but when he looks upon the Church of Christ his desire of the Salvation and instruction of his Brethren causeth him to prefer their Comfort to his own Happiness and Joy It is saith he more expedient for you that I remain in the Flesh and I know for certain that I shall abide and remain with you for your advantage and the joy of your faith This desire of Life with an intent of Glorifying God is Good and Holy but it is no easy task to keep it within its just and lawful bounds for very often it becomes vicious when it is stirr'd up by a fond love of our own persons which makes us so loth to dye For example when a great Prince animated with an Heroical Vertue is engaged in a War for the preservation of his Subjects and for the delivery of many afflicted People from oppression and Tyranny if God blesseth his Armies and causeth his Glorious designes to succeed he will not be well pleased if Death at that instant offers to cross him to break in pieces his victorious Arm to put an end to his Conquests and to cast his Crown to the ground he may justly complain in this manner Must I now leave off such a noble and a brave Designe must I here stop in the midst of such a glorious Race and must Death bury with my Body the expectations of so many good Men I am afraid that all my labors will vanish away with my breath I have just cause to fear that my fall will draw after me the destruction of many poor People that depend upon me I fear that oppression and Tyranny will resume fresh Spirits and a greater Boldness and prove for the future more grievous and unfufferable O cruel and inhumane Death by taking away my Life thou bringest my Friends to Execution and the Arrows that thou stickest in my Heart do pierce the Souls of many innocent People Likewise he that is promoted to be the King's Vicegerent in a Province or to be a Governor of a rich Countrey and an important Place may be grieved because Death snatcheth him away in the middle of all his business especially if it be in troublesome times and if he sees none of a sufficient ability to succeed him Must I will such an one say Must I quit so soon this Glorious employment Must I so quickly leave my Prince's service and forsake so many poor People as a Flock without a Shepheard Death how hateful and odious art thou Thou delightest to bring all things into confusion and trouble Thus a brave General of a victorious Army who being full of Courage manageth a successful War for the Honor of his Prince and the advantage of his Countrey cannot but complain against Death when it comes to subdue him before he hath totally subdued and overcome his Enemies especially if the times be so unhappy that none is able to undertake that employment after him he will be ready to break forth into complaints Must I leave off so many Glorious designs Must I forsake my most faithful Soldiers and abandon them to the mercy of their Enemies or to the capricious humour of an unexperienced Successor O Death full of envy wilt thou pluck out of my hands so soon this conquering Sword and cut off with one blow of thy Sithe so many great expectations In the same manner he that sits in the most Honourable seats of Judicature as a Judge a President or a Counsellor or any other chief Magistrate will doubtless mourn if Death seizeth upon him in the flower of his age especially if he fears that after him corrupt Men will succeed who may be likened to whitened Walls Must I will he say leave so soon this noble Office in which I took so much delight O inconsiderate Death why dost thou not suffer me to wear my Purple until such time as I shall be weary to bear it Why dost thou not permit me to sit here upon this magnificent Seat until I tumble off with old Age Likewise a faithful Minister of the Gospel when he perceives the work of the Lord to prosper in his hands Satan falls from Heaven by his means as a Lightning and Dagon to be brought upon his Face to the ground may justly wonder at Death's approaches and speak in this manner Must I so soon quit the duties of this Holy Function in which I took my greatest delight Must I break off from this Sacred Work by which I did advance so happily the Glory of God I am afraid that when I am gone ravening Wolves will enter into the Lord's Flock and a terrible night of ignorance will involve our posterity Thus a Father of a Family who passionately loves his Wife and Children shall never see death but shall feel all his Bowels move and his Heart tormented with grief he will sigh out such expressions as these Must I forsake a poor forlorn Wife swimming in Tears Must I leave my tender-hearted Parents who found my life a comfort and will find my