Faithful expectant For whom I forget they are cut of from my Hand are cast out of the light of my countenance and reserv'd for Judgment under chains of Darkness But whom I remember to them I am merciful whom I remember to be Merciful to in my Kingdom they are Eternally Blessed in the Presence of my Father Verily therefore I say unto thee that in remembring I will remember thee and with the Righreous thou shalt be had in Everlasting Remembrance Mine Eyes shall always be upon thee and thou shalt abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will defend thee under my Wings and thou shalt be safe under my Feathers Thou shalt be with me to be with whom the Saints have desir'd to be dissolv'd and it shall be there whence neither the a Gen. 3.24 flaming Sword nor Cherubims shall drive thee from an absolute enjoyment For it shall be in the Celestial and Heavenly Paradise the place of the blessed Angels and Saints where God with his Divine Majesty fills 'em with the light of Righteousness and quickens their Spirits with Everlasting Joy Yea thou shalt be the Example and Mirrour of my Mercy wherein every Penitent may see his own condition and know that my Bounty is greater then his Sin if he will truly turn to me that I may receive him and that while there is Life still there is hope of acceptance upon a sincere and hearty repentance and a stedfast Faith And that to the end of the World whosoever shall hear thy Sins were pardon'd may never despair but trust in Mercy and turn to me and seek Salvation and find it and desire it and receive it Prayer O Sweetest Saviour when I consider this Penitent I must needs confess that even Thieves and Barbarians would have serv'd thee better then I had they receiv'd so many Favours and Graces as it has pleased thee to bestow upon me Nevertheless since by the same instance of thy Mercy thou raisest me to a lively hope of acceptance by true Repentance and a strong Faith encrease in me I Beseech thee the Seeds of both making way for my Salvation by thy assisting Grace till my Soul being purified as another Miracle of thy Goodness thou Vouchsafe to receive me to those Blessed Enjoyments which thou hast purchased with thy precious Blood SECT XLII Of the Sorrowful Interview between Christ and the Virgin Mother his Compassion towards her and his Love to Saint John NOW while Jesus was receiving the Penitent Thief there b John 19.25 stood by his Cross the Holy Virgin Mother Sad and Silent with a modest Grief deep as the Waters of the Abyss but smooth and full of Love and Patience and by her side his Mothers Sister Mary the Wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalen and the Disciple whom Jesus loved When Jesus therefore saw his Mother and the Disciple by whom he loved then it was we may imagine burst forth those c Heb. 5.7 Tears which Saint Paul mentions to have been shed upon the Cross accompanying that Tender and Heart-breaking sight when he began first to behold her with his dying Eyes He would not acknowledge her of whose Sorrows he was most sensible least he might seem to have respected Persons or Affections But having before Prayed for his Malicious Crucifiers and then Comforted the Penitent Thief as a token that all these bitter Sufferings were to intercede for and save Sinners He now turns to his Mother in that manner the apprehension whereof must needs affect the most insensible Heart The presence of Friends is indeed a refreshment to the miserable while there is any comfort to be expected from them and two are better than one because they have advantage from their Society for if they fall one will lift up his fellow But here there was no such conveniency in the meeting which was most deplorable to the Mother standing by who could lend no assistance to her tortur'd Son and to the Crucified Son who by his incessant pains could only augment the grief of his Mother We read when he was a Child and missing but three days She sought him sorrowing among her kinsfolks and acquaintance d Luke 2.48 her Love Admiration and Meditation perpetually attending this mavellous Birth But now she may no longer find him among his Friends for they had all forsaken him and fled and left him environed with whole Troops of Enemies except those few which accompanied her there incited to it by her magnanimous constancy to be present at the Crucifixion of her dear Son For she had said in her heart where she ever e Luke 2.19 treasur'd whatsoever was Prophesied concerning his Person I will wait and expect the Death of my Beloved I will follow him out of Jerusalem tho' with the saddest thoughts and I will behold with weeping Eyes whither they bring him how they strip him how they bore his Hands and Feet how they nail him to the wood and how they lift him upon the Cross and when all this is done and they shall recede from him and stand afar off and look upon him as accursed then will I draw near and stand by the Cross of my Jesus then will I embrace the wood with my Arms and wash it with my Tears and kiss it with my Lips and thô I may not die with him yet will I fix my Eyes upon him to engrave his wounds deep in my Heart I will not now desert him dying who past by all other creatures and Children of Men to come to me the lowest of his Servants and receive from me an humble being But I will see how he goes out of this World who alone know how he came into it and in the miserablest kind of Fellowship will suffer invisibly in my Heart whatsoever he suffers visibly in his Body And thus was fulfill'd that f Luke 2.35 Prophecy of old Simeon which he spake at her Purification That a Sword also should pierce her very Soul Here then we may imagine the saddest conflict between the Soul of the Blessed Virgin and the Eyes of the Beloved Jesus which at the same time they were hastning unto Death were call'd back to look upon his Mother burning in an unutterable Flame of Love O how deep must the rays of that Vision penetrate not only her Heart but her very Soul wherewith the Lord vouchsaft to behold her dying And how opprest with Sighs and overwhelmed with Grief and drowned in Tears did she lift up her Eyes to behold his disfigur'd torn Body with the Blood distilling from the four great Wounds to behold him dying and looking upon her when she was ready to die her self There could nothing be represented to him in this view but the Martyrdom of the Soul of his dear Mother Nor could she do any thing but by most passionate reflections imprint in her heart all the Torments which he suffer'd At last after this most passionate and doleful interview wherein the rays of their
Satisfaction of my Sins SECT IV. Of the Grief of Christ for the Apostasie of his Servant The dreadful Condition of such as fall from him and the happy Privileges of Persevering in the Faith WE may perceive the great Lover of Souls was extreamly troubled at the Apostasie of one of his Disciples when he express'd so much Satisfaction in the Preservation of the rest l Joh. 17.12 13. Holy Father keep through thine own Name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are While I was with them in the World I kept them in thy Name Those that thou gavest me I have kept and none is lost but the Son of Perdition Nor would he conceal the Grief of his Spirit foreseeing in him a Representation of all those who should afterwards reject his Admonitions and Benefits and trample his Love under their Feet For though we may have hitherto thought but of one Judas who falling from his Profession sold his Lord deliver'd him to his Enemies betray'd him to be crucified yet such is every one who renouncing the Faith and following the Motions of Satan and his own Lusts m Heb. 6.6 Crucifies to himself the Son of God afresh and puts him to an open Shame The Wonder if not the Grief of the blessed Angels in Heaven who n Luk. 15.7 rejoyce at the Conversion of every penitent Sinner as o Heb. 1.14 ministring to those who shall be Heirs of Salvation is to see so many Christians falling from the Truth and abasing the great Mystery of the Religion which they profess by a settled Tendency to Sin and Death Who have given up their Names but not their Hearts to Christ who have begun well and are not established who have partaken of the Holy-Ghost and have chased him away again who have eat and drunk at their Master's Table and are the chief that lift up their Heel against him A most miserable Spectacle and not to be exceeded unless by that of their departure into everlasting Punishment For as an Angel falling became the Devil so a revolting Christian is the worst of Men because of the Eminency of his former Station and will have his p Mat. 25 41. Portion allotted him with that Apostate Rebel This was that which q Joh. 13.21 troubled the Spirit of the Holy Jesus when he testified and said Verily verily I say unto you That one of you shall betray me This was that which made the Disciples exceeding r Mat. 26.22 sorrowful and to begin to say Lord is it I And O that it might have the same effect upon us to search our Hearts to examine our Faith and all our Thoughts Words and Works that we fall not among those who draw back to Perdition How sad was this Feast where both the Master and the Disciples sympathize in an inexpressible Grief One that he must be betray'd to Death by his Friend the others that one of them should be the accursed Betrayer One that he knew the miserable Estate of that Wretch for whom it had been Å¿ Mark 14.21 better that he had never been born the others that they are not yet deliver'd from their Fear which it should be of whom he spake and whose Being should be worse than not to be at all Ah! Sinners where are we Alas do we not remain under the same Suspence One of you shall betray me is a fearful Saying and the Eccho of this Voice is addrest to all and loudly resounds the Danger of Sin and Impenitency Is this to live to have a Being worse than none And can we call that a desirable Estate which will inevitably tend to the Abyss of Misery through Pains Torments Terrors and Deaths O Life how sweet art thou when thou dost fear and love nothing but God! O Death how dreadful art thou when we have forsaken him and devoted our selves to the Creature What Favours and Benedictions are there in the Life and Death of a Virtuous Man But what Horrours Anathema's and Maledictions during the Course and at the End of the wicked Life of a Sinner Blessed was that Disciple who all this while might rest securely in the t Joh. 13.23 Bosome of his Lord. Whether Grief or Fear had inclin'd his Head or whether it were the Sweetness of his Master's Actions which ever drew the Admiration of the Beholders or whether it were Love which minds not what it does but silent in a sublime Tranquility of Passions adheres to its Beloved for an Eternity not admitting the least Disunion or whether it were Excess of Rapture and Contemplation of what he writ afterwards of the u Joh. 1. Divinity of the Word surely never any Mortal had so sweet a Repose or near Approach to the Beatifick Vision Since he might lean on his Breast to be admitted to whose Feet many Prophets and Kings would have accounted it the greatest Felicity A Spirit separated from the Pretensions of the World and purified from all the Forms of the Creatures intire to God and which lives by the flames of holy Love has a mighty Privilege with the Prince of Purity and neither doubts to ask nor fears to be deny'd while ungovernable Zeal receives many Repulses and hinders not a Votary from being less * Matt. 16.23 Satan than he that favoureth not the things that be of God but those that be of Men. Peter therefore whose Rashness had often been rebuk'd yet impatient and desirous to be rid of his Fear x Joh. 13.24 c. beckon'd to him who was lying on Jesus Breast that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake And Jesus answered He it is to whom I shall give a Sop when I have dipped it And when he had dipped the Sop he gave it to Judas Iscariot the son of Simon That the y Joh. 13.18 Psal 41.9 Scripture might be fulfilled He that eateth Bread with me hath lift up his Heel against me And after the Sop Satan entred into him A Speech truly dreadful but much more the thing it self for a Man to arrive at that height of Misery through the Obstinacy and Impenitency of his Heart as to be cast off reprobated and given up to the Devil Yet such is the admirable Analogy and Proportion between the Judgments of God and our Sins when we continue to despise the means of Grace He z Libravit Iter Psal 78.51 weighs a way to his Anger as it were in Scales punishing our Sins with evil Habits our evil Habits with hard Hearts our hard Hearts with Obstinacy our Obstinacy with Impenitency our Impenitency with Damnation Judas who had wilfully given up himself to Covetousness Hypocrisie Ingratitude and Contempt of all that was Holy is now deliver'd to be obsirmated by Satan and made incurable of his Sin that being like the Devil he might never return And this is the Malediction which the Holy Ghost had long since imprecated by the mouth of David
evil and pierce us through with many Sorrows till we are involv'd in a certain x Matt. 19.23 26. Impossibility of Salvation Why were ye reveal'd from your dark Repositories Why were you not suffer'd to lie buryed for ever that wanting the occasions of Injustice and Luxury we might Innocently have enjoy'd the necessaries of Life and have had our desires free to have waited on our God the only Adequate Object of our Immortal Souls But Mary has taught us the right use to convert 'em to the benefit of the Members of Christ and we cannot but think it the most excellent distribution which draws us to the nearest resemblance of our Maker whose Nature is to y Jam. 1. ◠Matt. 5. 〈…〉 Give and to do good which z 1 Pet. 〈…〉 covers Sins which is a Psal 〈…〉 everlasting Righteousness and Ascends for a b Acts 〈…〉 Memorial before God an c Phil. 〈…〉 odour of a great smell and an acceptable Sacrifice which shall d Rev. 〈…〉 follow us and be e Matt. 25. 〈…〉 own'd by the Great King in the last day and f Matt. 5. 〈…〉 obtain Mercy in the Time of Judgment Ye Candidates of Eternity whose business shall be Charity in the other World when Faith and Hope shall cease the Time is coming and we know not how suddenly that Death shall disarray us to the very Bones and leave us nothing but what we have given to God g Matt. 26.11 Deut. 15.11 and to the Poor in his Absence Let us therefore commence here our Heavenly Conversation and Bless the hour wherein we have opportunity to evidence our Love to God and Man and to part with something for the sake of our Dear Saviour to buy with the Superfluities of a trifling stock an h 1 Pet. 1.4 inheritance incorruptible and undefiled in Heaven where neither i Matt. 6.9 Moth nor Rust do corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal How comfortable will the reflections of our Charity be at the Hour of Death and in the Day of Judgment when Mercy shall rejoyce against Judgment Jam. 2.13 and Love shall constitute a part of Heaven and help to make up the enjoyment of that State Prayer Amiable Jesu since we cannot pour our Grateful Odours upon thy Head nor wash thy Sacred Feet with our Tears let us reach thy Divinity and Humanity with our Faith and let our Charity diffuse it self upon thy Mystical Body the Church That we may never esteem any thing too Precious to be bestow'd for thy sake never value any thing in competition with thy Service who art the true Riches of thine Elect. SECT VI. Of the Benignity of Christ supporting his Disciples in the absence of the Betrayer against the Time of their Trial. JUdas is gone and the Holy Jesus not more streightned with the thoughts of his Passion then with the Sorrows of his Disciples begins a most Heavenly and Salutary Discourse to enlighten their Understandings and alleviate their Minds l Joh. 13.31.32 Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him If God be glorified in him God shall also glorifie him in himself and will straightway glorifie him Now he was Glorified as to his Mystical Body by the recession of the Son of Perdition from his Society Now he was Glorified by the Separation of Judas prefiguring his future Glorification when he shall separate the Just from the Unjust and his Power Truth and Justice shall appear Now he was Glorified by the beginning of his Passion upon which depended the whole Mystery of Redemption Now he was Glorified in Relation to that Glory of which he had said m John 12.32 When I am lift up I will draw all men to me He had before been glorified by his Miracles when the People were astonished and n Mark 7.37 said he had done all things well when upon his satisfying Five Thousand with five Loaves they would have taken him and made him a o John 6.14.15 King when upon his suppressing the Winds and Waves they began to adore him as the p Matt. 14.13 Son of God when upon his restoring Lazarus to Life they receiv'd him publickly into Jerusalem with Psalms and q John 12.13 Acclamations due to the Eternal God But the Consummation of his Glory was to be raised from his Passion the r Phil. 2.9 ground-work of his Exaltation and Adorable Name Let then the Wicked One do what he can Sell Betray and incense even the whole World The Glory of the Son of Man is his Cross He is ravisht by the object of his Death and transported by the Idea of his Sufferings He encourages himself to the Combat with the Prospect of Glory He looks upon the Cross as the Fountain of his Happiness and Plants his Elevation upon the lowest Abasement He teaches us that Treachery Calumny and Death how horrible soever they seem in this World yet to a just Man are desirable or at least easily to be born by him forasmuch as there is no other way to Glory Let us never think then to be worthy of him till we bear the Ensigns of his War as well as the Ornaments of his Peace Every thing is a Paradise to him that knows how to love the Cross and every thing is a Hell to them that fly from it tho' no body flys from it but shall find it It is the Gate of our Mortality through which we needs must pass before we can ſ Acts 14.22 enter into the Kingdom of God Behold when the Sovereign Love comforts what Rivers of Balm flow from his Tongue and spread themselves with admirable Sweetnesses and refreshments into the wounds of afflicted hearts He gives as it were a foretaste of the Glory to be reveal'd hereafter and to which all present Sufferings are not worthy to be compar'd that we should ever have respect unto the recompence of Reward and repose our whole confidence in him that has promis'd He speaks of his Death in so desirable a manner that he draws his Disciples into the highest Consolation at the same time that he humbles them in the depth of Sorrow t John 13.33 Little Children The very Appellation bespeaks a Paternal Favour and Providence and that now by his Death and Sufferings for them they should be call'd and be the Son of God Nor do we read in the Holy Gospel they were ever stil'd before by this Name Whereby he seems to show an extraordinary affection because of the Tenderness of his Love and the infirm Infancy of their Understanding and Faith t John 13.33 Yet a little while I am with you A very little while but while Judas can go to the Jews and return again and then I shall be no longer with you unless that for a short space I shall see you again Not that he was to leave them and be no more with his Church For as when he
came from God he left not God so when he went to God he left not men and himself says expresly in another place Lâ— I am with you u Matt. 28.20 always to the end of the World But because he was now to be with them but a little time in a Visible Mortal Body as he had been hitherto therefore he says yet a little while and that they might more ardently enjoy him present and more diligently imprint in their minds what he should speak * John 13.33 Ye shall seek me For ye shall meet in my absence Persecution with great Fury both of Jew and Gentile insomuch that with anxiety ye shall desire my Presence of which you have thought it was x Matt. 17.4 good for you to be there Be not therefore terrified but prepare for the worst I know the desires of your Souls are with me and you would rather be for ever where I am But as I said to the Jews whither I go ye cannot come So now I say unto you Nevertheless that ye may decline as much as possible the Envy of the World which will hate you because ye are not of it and support one another under all contingencies with mutual consolation and after my Example of Patience Meekness Love Gentleness and an universal Charity trace the paths of Divine Perfection y John 13.34 A New Commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another The Pharisees have obscur'd the Law by their Traditions and have indulg'd the z Lev. 19.18 Matt. 5.43 hatred of an Enemy But my will is you should love your Enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you That ye may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven For he makes the Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth Rain on the Just and on the Unjust And that all men may a John 13.35 hereby know you to be my Disciples who have loved you freely voluntarily and plenarily without motive from abroad and according to what is in God and not what is in man Here it was that Peter throughly pierced with the rays of such immense Goodness and Clemency his Heart melting in the Fire of Love found himself unable to bear a separation and would fain know the reason why he must be left behind who had never hitherto been deny'd his Society and whither it was the Blessed Jesus would go from those for whom he had exprest and to whom he had taught so much Love b John 13.36 Lord whither goest thou Fountain of all Blessings what will become of me when thou art absent by whom I live and move and have my being If thou shalt hide thy Face all will be Barren Desolate and Night Eternal Night or whither is it Thou wilt go that we may not accompany Thee now who upon thy first call c Luke 5.11 Left all to follow Thee and ever since have d Luke 22.28 continued with Thee in all thy Temptations Have I especially been affected with so many Benefits and shall I ever fall to that Ingratitude to desert thee Have I been Elected by thee and fed with the e John 6.33 Bread of Heaven and the living f John 7.38 Waters of Comfort and tasted thy Celestial Joys upon the g Matt. 17.4 Mount and thought it was good for me to be there and Shall I leave thee at the appearance of danger Lord I am ready to go with Thee into h Luke 22.33 Prison and to Death Yea I will lay down my i John 13.37 Life for thy sake Ah Peter what hast thou promis'd Thou hast shew'd thy Fidelity but hast not consider'd how great a point of Wisdom it is to know ones self How soon may a Man lose that by negligence which he hath by much Labour and a long Time and a Mighty Grace scarcely obtainâ—d The Proud have fallen the Presumptuous been Disgrac'd the boldest talkers in the time of Peace have been most Dejected and Pusilanimous in the day of Temptation Thou esteemest thy self strong but in the sight of God who knows what is in Man will be found weak We cannot trust to our selves for that understanding is often wanting and the small Light that is in us we lose by Negligence and sometimes we perceive not our inward Blindness we are moved with Passion and think it Zeal Whenever we trust to our Stock of habitual Grace and depend on our own resolution we are then in a dangerous and declining State For what saith the Truth k Luke 22.31 Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as Wheat Thou art not apprehensive of the Devils power who lies in wait for the Souls of the Faithful and to precipitate thee into ruine as he has done Judas But I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not for he is not yet conquer'd and trampled under by the Elect. For this very l 1 John 3.8 purpose was the Son of God manifested that he might destroy the Works of the Devil The conquest over him and the infernal Powers is to be a part of the m Col. 2.15 Triumph of my Cross Thou believest thou canst follow me in the way of my Passion but thou hast not yet tasted the Power of my Death For thô there have been some who have died for their Country and others have exposed themselves to be slain for their Kindred yet all this proceeded from a Carnal Affection But to die for another in the judgment of Our Lord himself or to die for an Enemy this is not of the Flesh this is the Work of the Spirit of God This n Isa 63.3 Winepress I must tread alone These strengths of Death I must first break to make a way for my Ransomed to pass And therefore tho' now thou standest take heed least thou fall o John 13.38 Verily Verily I say unto thee thou shalt not long be insensible of humane weakness for the Cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice Nevertheless when I have pulled out the sting of Death and thou shalt be endued with p Luk. 24.49 Power from on High and have received the Holy Spirit to Strengthen thee and to reform thy Nature into an entire Charity then shalt thou q John 13.36 follow me without dread by the same way that I go to the Father Considering these Speeches I wonder not that St. Peter who had found such Fruit and Sweetness in the Words of Eternal Life such Virtue in this Treasury of the Power of God should think it blessedness to enjoy his Society and to partake with him in the worst of Miseries I rather grieve to see so great a mixture of Faith and Flesh I had almost said a Predominancy of the
combine to destroy the Heir of the m Isal 5.7 Vineyard of God and of whom the Prophets said n Psal 140.3 They had placed the Poyson of Serpents upon their Lips o Isai 5.7 I expected Justice and behold a cry p Jer. 12.8 My Heritage is unto me as a Lion in the forest it crieth out against me and therefore have I hated it For thus in the height of their wicked Imprecations they furiously persecute Christ to his Cross crying out the more q Mat. 27.22 23. Let him be crucified let him be crucified Why r Mat. 27.23 saith the Governour what evil hath he done and a Å¿ Exod. 13.21 third time declares I have found no cause of Death in him I will therefore chastise him and let him go When he saw the implacable Rage of the Jews neither to be restrained by force nor persuasion he hop'd a lesser Draught of his Blood might stop the Fury and Rapidness of their Passion and that by exposing his Body to Scourges the Roman Usage to Malefactors he might avoid the greater Evil of condemning him to Death and that when the Jews should see him so tormented they would relent in Pity and their Cruelty abate Thus he who cloaths all was despoiled of his Garments and confounded before the People who covers our Confusion and bound to a Pillar who went before them by day in a Å¿ Exod. 13.21 Pillar of a Cloud to lead â—em the way and by night in a Pillar of Fire to give them light to go by day and night that they might escape their Enemies and his Body which was the most sacred Temple of the Deity torn with vehement Stripes from unrelenting Hands till the Pavement was purpled with a Shower of holy Blood and his Person more beautiful than the Sons of Men wholly deform'd and hardly to be known according to what himself had t Mark 10.34 Luke 18.33 foretold of his being deliver'd to the Gentiles to be scourg'd and the u Isai 53.5 Prophesie of Isaiah long before his Incarnation He was wounded for our Transgressions he was bruised for our Iniquities the Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed For if Christ had not sustain'd for us this Denudation and Confusion we could never have been cloathed with the Garment of his Righteousness or been able to have appear'd unblameable before God's Justice Seat in Heaven Behold therefore O! my Soul with devout Meditation this Portion of the Sufferings of thy wounded Jesus which was the Wonder and Astonishment of Heaven and Earth Behold with what profound Humility and Silence the great Lord of the World condescends to undergo the Punishment of Slaves Behold with what a sweet Patience this innocent Lamb yields to have his Body plow'd and furrow'd by merciless Infidels Behold him naked helpless and unpitied whilst the furious Executioner tears his Skin and tender Flesh with forked Scourges to satisfie the Cruelty of a barbarous Multitude Prayer Grant me O my God who hast laid such Severities upon thy only and beloved Son that I may never think any Austerity Mortification or Pennance too much to be undergone for that great Guilt which I have contracted by my Sins and for which it was necessary my Redeemer should thus be punished And whatsoever shall be wanting in my Sufferings for the Iniquities I have committed heal with the Stripes of this bruised Love who came to shed his Blood a Ransom for the World That owing the Cure and Salvation of my Soul to such an inestimable Remedy as that I may for ever Praise thee for thy incomparable Mercy SECT XXIX Of the Injuries done to Christ by the Roman Soldiers AFter this the Soldiers who because of the frequent Seditions and Tumults of that Nation were quartered at Jerusalem and now especially call'd together to curb the prodigious Concourse at the Feast hoping by an extraordinary and cruel Officiousness to receive a liberal Reward from the Jews whom they saw so inveterately set against him take him and use him in that inhumane manner we should hardly believe were it not faithfully Recorded They strip him and put on him a * Mat. 27.28 Scarlet or x John 19.2 Purple Robe such as their Commanders used to wear jeering him by this as Herod had done by the white and when they had platted a y Mat. 27.29 30. Crown of Thorns in stead of a Royal Diadem they put it on his Head and a Reed in his Right Hand for a Scepter All to signifie he had made himself a King but that his Kingdom was as weak and vain as those Ridiculous Emblems of his Royalty And they bow the Knee before him with a contumelious Address and mock him with a reproachful Salutation saying Hail King of the Jews And then they spit upon him and strike him with z Mat. 27.30 Reeds and their a Joh. 19.3 Hands upon his Head pressing his Temples with a thousand Punctures and forcing the Blood under the Crown of Thorns to descend upon his Cheeks and mix with his Tears and the loathsome Spittle of the People till he became truly what the Prophet had describ'd him b Isai 53.2 Without form or comeliness and to those that saw him there was no Beauty that they should desire him Prayer Whither O whither Thou great Martyr of Love shall thy Humility descend thy Piety proceed thy Compassion extend I have been proud and thou art humbled I have been wicked and thou art punished I that am a lost Man have been the Cause of all thy Weaknesses and Afflictions It is thy Love and my Iniquity which has brought thee thus low Teach me I beseech-thee to apprehend the Baseness of my Sin in proportion to the Calamities thou hast suffered for me that I may hate the Cause of thy Sufferings adore thy Mercy and imitate thy Graces For Lord what is thy Servant that thou should'st suffer one Stripe or the least Irrision for so poor a Creature And how great a Misery must it be to provoke by Sin so great a Mercy as thou hast reveal'd But thy Love is infinite and I am Dust and Ashes Let thy Holy Spirit support and sanctifie me and suffer thy self to become the Object of my present Dolours that thou mayst hereafter be the Fountain of my everlasting Joy SECT XXX Of Pilate's fourth Declaration of Christ's Innocence OUR Saviour thus c Isal 53.3 despised and rejected of Men bearing our Griefs and carrying our Sorrows Pilate thought it impossible to behold him without Pity and once more brings him forth to shew him to the People hoping so sad and miserable a Spectacle would not only draw Tears from the Eyes of the Beholders but even Showers of Blood from their Hearts and a fourth time publickly declares him innocent and that he ought no further to proceed against him d Joh. 19.4 5. saying Behold I bring him forth unto you that ye
ruin But Christ would be dignified by the lowest abasement and by how much more he emptied himself and became poor for our sakes by so much more he was exalted to Glory by the Father and has left us an assurance of the Truth of that remarkable sentence h Luke 14.11 Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted Here being wearied and almost spent with a sleepless night past in shame and vexation a sorrowful morning of continual hurry from one judicature to another pain of cruel scourging and venomous Thorns barbarous Insolencies the weight of the Cross and his tiresome ascent to the Theatre of his Death they offer him something to Drink out of a feigned compassion as if they would now commiserate his Griefs But alas the tender Mercies of the Wicked are i Prov. 12.10 cruel it was k Matt. 27.34 Vinegar with Gall or l Mark 15.23 Wine mingled with Myrrh a nauseous Potion which they had prepar'd to mock his thirst and to stay and Afflict his decaying Spirits not thinking they were at the same time giving Testimony to his Truth For the Psalmist had long before predicted in his Person that they should give the Messiah m Psal 69.21 Gall to eat and when he was thirsty Vinegar to drink But our Saviour having tasted thereof would not n Matt. 27.34 drink Go now Intemperate and Luxurious Sinner who art strong in Wine and Valiant in excesses cloath thy self in Purple and fine Linnen and fare sumptuously every day while the Holy Jesus among dead Mens Bones and the greatest Impurities condescends to tast the bitter Antidote of thy debauches But remember the answer of Abraham in whose Bosom the once poor Lazarus then lay satisfied to Dives the Glutton tormented in Hell Flames and desiring a drop of Water to cool his Tongue o Lake 16.25 Son thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Temperance is a purgative Virtue of the Soul and exalts the Spirit by subduing the Body Is the Mother of good thoughts and leads us to God by a due consideration of our latter end when we must leave all that we have enjoy'd and render an account of the right use or abuse of 'em And surely if the p Rom. 8.18 Sufferings of this present Season are not worthy to be compar'd with the Glory which shall be reveal'd hereafter then the Religious forbearance of Temporal contentments can bear no proportion with the injoyment of God in whose q Psal 16.11 presence is the fulness of Joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore Prayer O Gracious Lord who lived'st Abstemiously and denyed'st thy self all refreshment in the greatest necessity and thirsted'st for me that I might thirst after thee Let all my Appetite be only for thee who art the r John 6.35 bread of Life which camest down from Heaven and the Fountain of living Å¿ John 4.10 Waters of which whosoever drinks shall be an everlasting t John 7.38 Spring himself never drie but fill'd Eternally with the dew of thy Exuberant Love SECT XXXVI Of the Crucifixion of Christ. THE Evangelists having attended our Lord to Mount Calvary are very short as to the cruel Circumstances wherewith he was nailed to the Cross and only u Matt. 27.35 Mark 15.25 Luke 23.31 John 19.18 say they crucified him there For our Tears are most suitable to this part of the Passion which none can be able fully to express and our powerfullest Eloquence on this Subject will be the Threnody of a broken Heart Nevertheless in expressing so little of the manner of it they have left us much to be thought on with most passionate Reflexions They force the Garments from his wounded Body and every Scourge now bleeds afresh while the hasty avulsion of the coagulated Blood causes in his tender Flesh intolerable Pain Besides the exposing his naked Body added to it the highest Indignity of Shame in the Interpretation of his barbarous Enemies who thought it so great an Ignominy to those that died to expose their Bodies to the view of the people that where the Bodys of the dead were out of the reach of their Adversaries they thought it most highly opprobrious to their Ghosts to take but their representation and affix it to a Cross His Body thus denudated but still crown'd with Thorns to add Terror to his unspeakable Grief they prepare the Cross before his Eyes the Altar on which the Lamb of God was to be sacrific'd but among the Jews the * Deut. 21.23 accursed Tree Not that Suspension was any of the Capital Punishments prescribed by the Law of Moses or that by any Tradition or Custom of the Jews they were wont to punish Malefactors by that Death but such as were punished with Death among them were for the Enormity of their Fact oft-times after Death expos'd to the Ignominy of a x Deut. 21.22 Gibbet and those being so hanged were accursed by the Law Among the Gentiles it was the worst of Deaths the Punishment of Slaves and of the most desperate Persons in the World For the Death of a crucified Man was the most continual Languishing and Tearing a Soul from the Body with most exquisite Violence and Agony in that the Hands and Feet which of all Parts of the Body are most nervous and consequently most sensible were pierced through with Nails which caused not a sudden Dispatch but a lingring and tormenting Death Insomuch that the Romans who most us'd it have thence deduc'd their Expressions of Cruciation or Pain And their Emperors which were naturally of any merciful Disposition first caused such as were adjudged to Crucifixion to be slain and then to be nailed to a Cross Now though Christ were not to die by the Sentence of the Jews who had lost the supream Power in Causes capital and so not to be condemned to any Death which was contained in their Law yet the Providence of God did so dispose it that he should suffer that Death which did contain in it that ignominious Particularity to which the legal Curse belong'd which was y Deut. 21.23 hanging on a Tree That he might become a Curse for us and abolish in his Flesh the z Eph. 2.15 Enmity even the Law of Commandments blotting out the a Col. 2.14 Hand-writing of Ordinances which was against us and which was contrary to us nailing it to his Cross So truly did he make himself of no Reputation and took upon him the b Phil. 2.7.8 Form of a Servant and humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross a servile Punishment of the greatest Acerbity enduring the Pain of the greatest Ignominy despising the Shame Having cast him on the Wood with great Immanity with the same Violence they snatch his Left hand and nail it forcing
Enemies could reduce him and when they had spent all the poison of their lips that they were now reduc'd to an involuntary silence He that he might leave nothing undone which might magnifie his Mercy above all their provocations and to give an undeniable proof of his Ministery that he came to reconcile the World to God broke into this most admirable intercession for them m Luke 23.34 Father forgive them for they know not what they do O God! O Goodness O Love What Word what Speech what Voice is this He was not more sensible of the madness of the People then he was compassionate of their infirmities nor griev'd with their Malice so much as Merciful to their Sins Hitherto they had objected against his being the Messiah and now he will give them an undoubted demonstration opposing himself by Prayer to the Anger of his God Heavenly Father whose Honour I have observ'd whose Commandments I have fulfill'd and at whose Will and Pleasure I was sent into the World and being of thy substance took humane Nature to be a Pacifier Intercessor and High-Priest to make reconciliation for the Sins of the People who now hang bleeding and dying upon the Cross in the midst of so many Reproaches Torments and Griefs offering up my self to thee in Tears and Crys for the Sins of all whoever offend thee Spare thy people Good Lord spare them and wash away their Sins in my propitiatory Blood Adam transgress'd and his posterity became abominable and the whole World lies in wickedness Even thine own Inheritance which thou hast chosen out of all People and lov'd above the rest of the works of thy Hands have added this weight to the guilt of all their Sins to deny the Holy one whom thou hast sent and to spill my innocent Blood upon the Earth For how great is my Dignity which they have set at nought How infinite is thy Majesty they have despis'd in me Nevertheless tho' hitherto thou hast justly dealt with Man in shutting Heaven against his transgressions and opening Hell and sending Death into the World nor shouldst thou ever justly spare without satisfaction to thy Eternal Justice nor could all the Blood of Men make that atonement yet now behold me who am come to satisfie thee by the dignity of my Divinity joyn'd to the nature of offending Man Man's Salvation depends on me on me alone who came an exile hither from those Essential Joys I had in thy Bosom to suffer Cold and Heat Hunger and Thirst Nakedness and Weariness Watchings and Temptations Afflictions Persecutions and this cruel Death What Griefs what Torments have I not endur'd in this tender body of Flesh What Sorrow what Streights what Agonies have I not experienc'd in this frail constitution of Mortals Was there ever any grief like mine wherewith thou hast afflicted me in thy fierce anger What remains then O Father of Mercies who hast n Exod. 34.6 proclaim'd thy self Gracious Long-Suffering and abundant in Goodness and in Truth forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin but that thou should'st lay aside thine Anger Remit Pardon and Pour forth thn Grace My Blood crys not for Vengeance as o Gen. 4.10 Heb. 12.24 Abel's did against his Murderer nor do I appeal to thee now as a Judge but as to a Father I implore thy Mercy unless there shall be any who shall account it unholy and trample my Covenant under their Feet I have Pardon'd who Suffer'd and am Crucified Pardon thou those whom that thou mightest Pardon thou sentest me into the World thus to suffer Now all manner of Sinners which shall ever be in the World they are my Tormentors they are my Crucifiers as well as these Jews and Romans about me I Pray therefore for all as I Suffer for all and offer my self a ransom for all But more particularly for these my Brethren because no Sin can equal theirs that thou wouldst be pleased to be favourable to their Blindness for they know not what they do The vail of Darkness is over their Hearts and this covering of Flesh has clouded me that they cannot discern my Divinity but hereafter they will look on him whom they have pierced and mourn and the World shall acknowledge me their Crucified Lord. Is it not by thy permission that Satan has thus blinded them and hid from their understandings the Mystery of my Incarnation Destroy not therefore an ignorant Nation who are to fulfil the designs of thy Wisdom and Mercy For did they know me they would not Crucifie me and notknowing me they are subservient thy Providence After the same goodness likewise do thou ever pardon all that offend against thee ignorantly and out of Infirmity that they may return to thee and Repent and be acceptable through the Merits of this my Sacrifice which I here offer for their Ransom Let my Death overcome their Death Let my Resurrection despoil their Hell And when I return Triumphantly to thee let me also make a way for my Ransomed to pass Prayer O Bleeding Love my Dear Intercessor who hadst the Patience thus to Pray for thine Enemies among so many Torments and Deaths wherefore didst thou not Pray thy Heavenly Father that he should mitigate thy own Griefs for thou neglected'st the Beloved of God and interceededest for his rebellious Servants Thy Hands and Feet were nailed to the Cross thy tender Flesh torn with Whips thy languishing Head pierced with Thorns and all the parts of thy Body disjoynted and strugling under inexpressible pains Why would'st thou not pitty thy Sacred Body who hadst such compassion of thy Tormentors Why would'st thou not be eas'd from temporal pains who wast so desirous to have them freed from the Eternal Art thou not bound to defend the Innocent And why dost thou not defend thy self who art most eminently and undoubtedly such by the Testimonies of thy Betrayer and Judge But thou becomst an Advocate for the guilty Thou excusest a Sin which cannot be paralel'd Without being desir'd thou Prayest for the Actors and for the love of those who kill thee art content to die And why all this Gracious Lord but for my instruction that I a Sinner should have compassion towards Sinners that I who commit so many Sins my self should not only forgive such as do offend me but also excuse and Pray for them that so I may become a Son of thy Eternal Father and a true Disciple of thy Beneficent Love O fill my Heart with thy Exuberant Charity and transform me into thine own likeness Dissolve into meekness all pittiless Spirits abolish with thy Grace all Mortal Vengeances and convert with thy Clemency those Tyrannous Souls who know not what it is to Pardon when once Offended That after thy Example we may embrace our Adversaries quench their passions with Tears of Love and become acceptable to that infinite Charity wherewith thou redeemest the the Sinning World SECT XLI Of the Penitent Thief and Christ 's Mercy towards him NO sooner had the
Let them on their Knees approach him on the Cross and reverently cover his naked Body We cover him when our Charity clothes his Servants and hides the infirmities of his little ones Let them with diligence unfasten the Nails and gently draw them out of his Hands and Feet We draw them out when we freely obey his Will and loosen our Affections from cleaving to the World And when they have thus rescued their adorable Lord let them Nail themselves in his stead to the Cross And this we do when we put off the old Man and Crucifie the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts Prayer O Blessed Jesu whose Sacred Body was laid in a Sepulchre after thou hadst Suffer'd Death for the life of my Soul make me so frequently to renew in my mind the memory of thy precious Death and Burial as may put me upon a serious preparation for my own And since thou didst not design to stay any longer on Earth then till thou hadst made a way for thy ransomed to pass let not my heart be set on any condition how comfortable soever it may appear to my senses which may make my Soul desire to be absent from thee But cause me to grow daily less and less affected towards the uncertain pleasures of Life and more and more in love with thy Eternal Joys Grant me My Redeemer a true Penitent Heart for all my former neglects of Thee Deliver me from the punishment my Sins deserve and from the Sins that deserve those Punishments That when I close mine Eyes in Death I may rest in thee and being absent from the Body may be refresht in the Repositories of thy Mercy So shall my Time be govern'd with thy Grace and my Eternity Crown'd with thy Glory SECT XLIX Of the Sealing and Watching the Sepulchre of Christ NOW the Chief Priests and Pharisees upon mature Consideration revolving all the accidents of the past day and comparing the circumstances of his Words and Actions with the Predictions of the Prophets concerning the Messiah and the wonderful ways by which they were compleated and especially remembring those Mystical words which before they pretended they could not understand and z Vid. Sect. 16 r.s wrested to a seditious intent against their worship of his building again in three days the Temple they should destroy and that he had given such his restoration from the Dead as a a Luk. 14.29 30. sign at their request to convince the World of his Truth they came to Pilate early on the next day that followed the day of the Preparation being the great Sabbath of the Pascal week wherein all other People were at their devotion and Prayers so restless and industrious were the Powers of Darkness to have buryed the Gospel in the Grave of Christ and said b Mat 27.63 64 65 66. Sir we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive after three days I will rise again Command therefore that the Sepulchre be made sure until the third day lest his Disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto the People he is risen from the dead So the last error shall be worse then the first Pilate said unto them ye have a watch go your way make it as sure as you can So they went and made the Sepulchre sure sealing the stone and setting a watch Thus did that obdurate and impenitent People harden themselves by those wonders which should have wrought their Faith and Conversion and justly feared the last error would be worse then the first hereby Prophesying ignorantly against themselves For their Sin became unpardonable because seeing they would not see But blessed be God all their obstinacy has been subservient to the Magistery of his Providence which orders all things prudently by the means of others They thought to have accomplished their malice against Christ and at the same time fulfill'd the determinations of his Will They thought by sealing the mouth of the Grave and setting a strict Guard over the Corps to have buried his Memory in perpetual silence and all the while were giving Testimony to his Resurrection and setting a sure seal to the Truth of his Divinity For securing and watching the Sepulchre with such diligence they have placed the Resurrection the Foundation of our Faith beyond doubt to future Ages and much firmer then if they had never watcht This is that which gives Glory to the Empire of Christ and whereby we perceive its Divine Power and the miraculous extent of its Conquests whose establishments have been so contrary to all humane ways When we consider how he was exalted by the lowest abasements glorified by his ignominies enriched by his Poverty lives by his Death and is Eterniz'd by his Sufferings And that our Religion ever oppos'd by the Wicked is nevertheless Victorious and Triumphant over impiety enricht by its Losses Glorious by its Persecutions establish'd by its Totterings and honour'd by its Wounds This is that which transports humane understanding into an admiration of the greatest of our Christian Profession Prayer O Crucified Jesu the Fountain of Love Let the wonders of thy Mysterious Incarnation and Death set all the Powers of my Soul on work that I may desire and pant after thee that I may Admire Adore and Imitate thee that I may take sweet and Heavenly delight in the Communion of thy Cross that I may with Praise and Thanksgiving receive thee into my Soul attend and watch thee till thou arise with thy Graces there There will I Love only Love always love to entertain thee SECT L. A Reflection on the foregoing History with Thanksgiving for the Death of Christ AND now my Soul thou hast seen this Great Mystery God Incarnate dying on the Cross to make satisfaction to the infinite Justice by the dignity of his Person Suffering in the Nature which had offended whereby thou art raised to a lively hope of obtaining Heaven which otherwise thou hadst lost and been for ever miserable in Hell with what words with what Affections with what Actions wilt thou glorifie the Author of so inestimable a gift as this O depth of Love Abyss unsearchable of the infinite Mercies of God! That God should delight to make his own Son a Sacrifice who would not suffer Abraham to offer his That God should design it from the foundation of the World foreseeing we should stand in need of it and without it perish Everlastingly That God should reveal it when we no ways deserv'd it nor could on any account hope for it and command us to seek the Benefits of it and enable us to obtain them by his preventing and assisting Grace O God Eternal who hast redeemed my Soul by the precious Blood of thy dear Son I am less then the least of all thy Mercies and of all that Truth which thou hast revealed to thy Servant I praise thee I bless thee I worship thee I extol thee I give thee thanks for thine infinite Compassion O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty O Lord the only begotten Son Jesu Christ Lamb of God Son of the Father that takest away the Sins of the World have Mercy upon me receivâ— my Prayer and unite me to thy self in the flames of Love For thou only art the Saviour thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the Glory of God the Father Glory and Honour and continual Thanks be given to Thee Lord God Almighty The Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of Christ whereby thou mightst exalt us to Eternal Life Amen FINIS