lover of concord in knowledge of whom standeth our Eternal life whose service is perfect freedom defend us thy humble servants in all the assaults of our Enemies that would disturb our peace that we surely trusting in thy defence may not fear the power of any adversaries through the might of Jesus Christ MEDITAT III. Of the good things of Heaven 1. HONOUR HOnour in Heaven is not that which swells with vain-glory and is puft up with the infectious breath of Flattery and the praise of men Joh. 5.44 but the honour that cometh from God only Honour is the reward of vertue and he who is the donor of vertue and obedience has promised to honour the obedient and vertuous saying If any man serve me Joh. 12.26 him will my Father honour What and how great this honour is we read Rev. 3.31 Rev. 3.31 To him that overcometh will I give to sit with me in my Throne even as I have overcome and am set down with my Father in his Throne There cannot be surely an higher Honour than this to be exalted by the right hand of the most High and placed in the same Throne with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords O what Hymns of divine Praise what applauses and exultations what shouts of joy shall sound through the whole Court of Heaven when thus it shall be done to the man whom the King delighteth to honour Esth 6.11 2. POWER 2. Honour without Power is but a titular empty airy happiness And the Saints shall have all power of what they will as God hath of what he wills For as God can do what he will by himself so can they do what they will by him For as they will nothing but what the Lord wills so the Lord wills nothing but what they will have 't is not possible but that they have Power to do whatever they will so Aug. Manual c. 35. The Power of the Saints in Heaven is promised by the Lord of all power saying of the faithful and wise servant Matt. 24.45 46. he will make him ruler of all his goods implying a power given to his Saints not only over all that is called good upon earth but also over all the joys of Heaven which are an aggregation of all that is good 'T is promised to him that overcometh that he shall inherit all things for being the Sons of God they are also heirs of God and joynt heirs with Christ partakers of all power with him both in Heaven and Earth Closs ord in loc Rev. 21.7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things wherein are implicitely promised 3. RICHES 3. The Riches of Heaven are not such corruptible things as Silver and Gold gorgeous Attire delicious Fare large Demesnes fair Habitations but without any such frail deceitful pelf there shall be abundance of peace Ps 72.7 2 Cor. 4.17 2 Cor. 15.28 a fulness of perfection and felicity an exceeding and eternal weight of glory and in a word in Heaven God shall be all in all He who is the Fountain and Well-spring of all good gifts and graces upon Earth will be himself the Reward and Crown thereof in Heaven than the which there can be nothing more high and honourable nothing more great and powerful nothing more rich full eminent perfect joyous and all that can be desired conducing to true happiness Happy then and thrice happy are they who now in this life covet chiefly covet only to have the Lord for their portion saying not from the teeth only but from the bottom of their hearts Psal 16.6 The Lord himself is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup thou shalt maintain my lot The lot is fallen to me in a fair ground I have a goodly heritage And surely he must needs be most exorbitantly covetous that will not be content with such a heritage and to possess the Lord himself who possesseth all things is the Riches of Heaven 4. PLEASURE Pleasure consists in the union of the Soul with an object of Delight and in Heaven the Soul shall be united with the most beautiful and blissful object viz. The Lord of glory The light of the World The God of all Consolation We read 1 Cor. 6.17 He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit which is the height of pleasure and perfection of Delight to be so intimately joyned to the Lord as to become one spirit with him such do deliciously taste and fully see how gracious the Lord is Psal 34.8 There is no earthly pleasure like the taste and sense of the Lord's grace and favour to us 'T is yet a greater pleasure to enjoy the Lord as the only object of Love and Delight 'T is yet more sweet and pleasurable to acquiesce and be fully satisfied in the enjoyment of the divine Majesty But the fulness of joy is not only to enjoy but to know that we shall ever enjoy the beatifical vision and have the fruition of the supream beauty and divine goodness for ever and ever Now then Psal 37.4 O my Soul Delight thou in the Lord and he shall give thee thy hearts desire In the satisfaction and peace of thy desires does thy happiness consist and this is alone in the Lord obtainable Ps 89.16 Blessed are the people O Lord that can rejoyce in thee they shall walk in the light of thy countenance Their delight shall be daily in thy name and in thy righteousness shall they make their boast For thou art the glory of their strength But the soul that will rejoyce in God must be stampt after his Image and be like unto him pure as he is pure holy as he is holy merciful as he is merciful Eph. 5.1 2. Be ye followers of God as dear children and walk in love and so thou may'st hope to enjoy the Lord as the supream object of love and delight in Heaven How infinite is the goodness and how exceeding the bounty of the Lord to his good and faithful servants to admit them into the same joy which himself enjoys for so shall it be said to each of them Well done good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord Matt. 25.25 The joy and felicity of God does consist in the contemplation and fruition of his own perfections and felicities and such is the happiness of the Saints in Heaven to contemplate and enjoy the divine Majesty in the fulness of his joy and pleasure for evermore Beloved now we are the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is 1 John 3.2 To see God as he is in himself clearly fully and with fulness of satisfaction is the happiness both of God himself and of all his Saints in him O Lord who hast prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass man's understanding Pour into our
mercy is most transparent And in the day of Judgment shall his justice most eminently shew forth and exercise its strict and severest measures 2. Sad and dismal is the sentence that upon this great day shall pass upon all such whose Faith hath not according to ability and opportunity been fruitful in the good works of Charity Mat. 25.41 42. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat And if these shall be eternally damned who have not given of their own goods for the relief of others what shall become of the Oppressor the Extortioner the Cheater the Thief and of every one who either by force or fraud publickly or secretly hath either taken or detained what of right belongs unto others Surely if the one shall go the other shall be driven hurried with a vengeance into everlasting fire Ver. ult 3. Great unconceivably great shall be the perplexity and anguish of the impenitent sinner in this great day beholding as Anselm meditates on the one side his sins accusing him and on the other the strict and impartial justice of Heaven ready to pass sentence upon him seeing below him the mouth of Hell gaping to devour him and above him an angry Judge condemning him to that place of Horror feeling within an accusing Conscience tormenting him and without the whole world in consuming flames 1 Pet. 4.18 And if the righteous shall scarcely be sav'd where shall the ungodly and sinner appear or where shall he hide himself that he may not appear For any wicked one to lie hidden on that day is impossible and to appear is dreadful and intolerable S. Chrysostom saith that the very sight of an angry Judge shall be then more unsupportable than a thousand Hells 4. This is that dismal day foretold by our Lord himself wherein they shall say Blessed are the barren Luke 23.29 and the womb that never bare and the paps which never gave suck Then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover us And hide us from the face of him that siteth upon the throne Rev. 6.16 and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Woe is me that I have sinned woe woe is me that I have offended this great and terrible Judge of all the world but as is his Majesty so is his Mercy great and wonderful Have mercy upon me O God on that great day have mercy upon me and deliver me now in this world from the society from the temptations from the guilt of the wicked Ps 141.4 Let me not be occupied in any ungodly works with the men that work wickedness that I be not reckoned and ranked amongst them in the world to come III. The day of Judgment is not only of all days the most dreadful but the most joyful also The righteous and the holy and the just shall appear in glorified bodies encircled with the shining rays of excessive light but the wicked in bodies or carcasses rather both hideous and loathsome To the impenitent and wicked of the world 't is a day of the greatest terror but to the holy and humble of heart and life a day of Jubilee and greatest joy a day of shame and confusion to the one of glory and consolation to the other How great then shall be the glory of the holy Christian and how great the shame of infidelity and Atheism how great the joy of the true Believer whose Faith has been fruitful in all good words and how great the sorrow of the Heretick Hypocrite the profane and dissolute for then and not fully till then shall God render to every man according to his works Rom. 2.6.7 To them who by patient continuing in well doing do seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life But to them who are contentious and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile But glory honour and peace to every man that worketh good For there is no respect of persons with God What heart can worthily think of these things without trembling and great astonishment if not purified and sincerely devoted to the service of God Teach me O Lord thy way Ps 86.11 and I will walk in thy truth O knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy name fear to offend thee the great and righteous Judge of the world in the least particular of thought or desire of word or of deed Lord who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love keep us we beseech thee under the protection of thy good providence and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen IV. When the Son of man cometh Luk. 18.8 shall he find faith upon the earth All we who are called Christians profess to believe both the certain coming of Christ to Judgment and the uncertainty of the time That we must all stand before his dreadful Tribunal and receive every man according to his works but this is generally a dead Faith it quickens not the affections it excites not to such holy conscientious actions as the firm and cordial Belief of all this does imply and command and so will prove as dangerous to the Souls of such Believers as if they had no faith at all With most of men the Judgments of God and all the amazing concerns of Eternity are no more but words which they hear they have but very narrow very shallow and dark conceptions of them they understand not their great astonishing importance and are not therefore deeply affected therewith to become wise unto Salvation O raise up thy stupid Soul I do here summon there whosoever thou art that regardest these Meditations and thou art hereby summon'd particularly as by name to make thy appearance at this general Assizes to be held at the great and last day and there to give an account of every passage throughout thy whole life which shall be as strictly and throughly sifted and examined as if there were none but thy self to be tried as if no cause but thine alone were to be heard Eja Charissime Consider my dear Christian brother out of what great danger thou mayst now deliver thy self and from what great fear thou mayst be freed if now thou dost alway stand in awe and sin not if now thou beest alway suspectful of death and solicitous of the Judgment to come T. K. l. 1. c. 23. Prepare then prepare thy self now now that thou hast time and leisure prepare thy self for that great day for upon thy Trial then depends either thy everlasting well-being 1 Cor. 11.31 Jam. 4.8 9 10. Act. 10.4 Luk 2.37 2 Cor. 11.27 or
the one and the other but a frail mortal life which taking end the Soul that is enriched with the ornaments of divine Grace is immediately cloathed with the Robes of Glory and therefore both the one and the other is stiled by our Lord Life Eternal John 17.3 This is Life Eternal that we might know thee 3. The happiness of Heaven is the end of all Holiness upon Earth and that must needs be the greatest good which is the end of all that is good for the end is more noble than the means 'T is the last good we hope for and so the most perfect as being the perfection and accomplishment of all the good we can imagine or desire nay 't is a blessedness beyond our frail imaginations to comprehend as it is written eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him * Quod Deus praeparavit diligentibus se fide non capitur spe non attingitur charitate non comprehenditur desideria vota transgreditur acquiri potest aestimari non potest Aug. in 1 Cor. 2.9 4. Raise up thy affections O my Soul as to be ravish'd with the love of Heaven so to lament with tears of sorrow and shame thy sloth and negligence thy coldness and indevotion thy sinful security and earthly mindedness and what obstructs thy way and slackens thy pace towards this place of joy unspeakable and glorious O how slight and trivial how inconsiderable are all the most strict and rigid labours of Repentance and Mortification of the most profound Piety and ample Charity in respect of those Celestial joys whereunto they lead thee And if it shall once please God through the merits of Christ to receive thee into Heaven thou wilt then think all thy prayers and tears Age quod vgis fideriter labora in vinea tua ego inquit Dominus ero merces iva scribe lege canta geme tace ora sustine viriliter contraria digna est his omnibus vita aeterna majoribus praeliis T.K. sighs and groans fastings and watchings all thy labours of love both to God and Man very well spent that they have wafted thee over the troublesome waves of this worlds vast Sea into the Haven of Eternal peace and felicity Vouchsafe me O Lord a good end of my life a happy passport out of this world and lead me in the streight and even path that leads to thy Kingdom where that I may at last arrive it shall neither be my care nor fear what and how great things I suffer and undergo in my passage thither MEDITAT II. Of the place we call Heaven and first its Greatness THat Empyreal Heaven 2 Cor. 12.2 Deut. 10.14 2 Chr. 6.18 which is the seat of God and of all his holy Angels and Saints for ever is called also the Third Heaven and the Highest Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens and 't is of all the places of the Universe the most spacious large and ample for it contains all the Heavens and the Earth also even the whole Creation within its verge and compass Do but consider the vastness of the Sun and of the Moon with the multitude and magnitude of all the Lights of Heaven most of which are greater and some of them far bigger than the whole body of the Earth Consider also that besides the vast number of Stars there are empty spaces in the firmament for as many nay for many more than as many yet and then admire with astonishment the vast extent and amplitude of the Heaven of Heavens which containeth all these and all that is above and all that is below all these within its circuit and circumference Secondly Its brightness and Beauty The brightness of the Sun the Moon and the Stars do but imperfectly represent the Beauty and Brightness of Heaven as 't is described Rev. 21.23 Rev. 21.23 And the City had no need of the Sun nor of the Moon to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof which exceeds as much the light of the Sun as the Suns light transcends that of a glimmering Taper The Air of this Country of Heaven is continually pure and clear bright and splendid 't is not capable of any Clouds Mists or Vapours not liable to any Rains Storms and Tempests not hick infectious Air offends the Inhabitants of this happy Land whilst the wretched Miscreants of the nether Hell are involved in blackness of darkness stifled with the suffocating fumes of sulphureous fire without the least hope of any purer Air wherein to breath for ever Thirdly Its Tranquillity All in this City of God is peaceable and quiet tranquil and secure and free even from the fear of the least disturbance Psal 90.10 no evil comes nigh this dwelling 'T is promised by our Lord John 16.22 Your joy no man taketh from you 'T is alone the joy of Heaven which cannot be taken away not by the world which is overcome and trampled under foot not by the flesh for that is so spiritualized and refined as no more to rebel against the dictates of the spirit not by sin for here enters nothing that is unclean not by death for immortality reigneth here not by any pain or sickness for these are but the Messengers and Forerunners of Death not by chance or fortune for Heaven knows no such heathen Deity not by Envy Hatred Malice Strife for all the Inhabitants of Heaven are combined in the sacred Bonds of everlasting Charity And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away Rev. 21.4 What the Lord promiseth to his Church Militant is fulfilled in his Church Triumphant Ps 147.13 The Lord hath made fast the bars of thy gates they are inexpugnable by any by the utmost force and fury of all the Spirits and Powers of Darkness The Lord maketh peace in thy borders Blessed peace dwells here without the least fear or danger of interruption For the grand Enemy of Peace is hence cast down fallen like lightning from Heaven Luk. 10.18 there 's no room here for that Author of all division nor yet for any of his instruments Ps 68.30 The people that delight in war 'T is the inheritance of Peace-makers Mat. 5.9 and of the peaceable minded and of such only as live in Peace upon Earth And O that it might please the God of Peace to allay that rancour to depress that tumour to asswage that itch of contention which now so much disturbs the peace of his Church upon Earth and obstructs the way to this heavenly Hierusalem the City of Peace Heb. 12.14 Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. O God the Athour of peace and
makes so many millions of persons die unpreparedly And so pass from a temporal to death eternal For death is then most generally the nearest when 't is conceited to be furthest off Bern. Mors enim propior esse solet cum longius abesse putetur 2. 'T is the thought of a longer and still of a longer life that is the great impediment of Repentance and amendment of life whereby the Devil hurries men by throngs to be his woful companions in his Region of blackness of darkness for ever And the great Reason is because Repentance delayed till Sickness or Old Age come is not only uncertain and unsafe but very seldom or never truly and sincerely performed 'T is a dreadful saying of S. Hierome That scarce one of ten thousand who have continued in any sinful course of life without the conscientious practice of a true and timely Repentance do ever so perfectly repent as to obtain the remission of their sins in the hour of death For the prevention of so great and general a mischief and perdition of ungodly men the All-wise and good Providence of Heaven hath ordained that in all ages and conditions of men this life shall take end that so none how young and lusty soever with his bones full of marrow should yet dare to live unprepared for death presuming still upon further time for Repentance and Amendment of life Tu in senectutem sana defers consilia inde vitam vis inchoare quo pauci perduxerunt stultitia magna est tunc vivere incipere cum desinendum est Blessed Lord suffer me not thus to deceive my self through the sly insinuations of Satan and my own sensual inclinations and desires but make me so mindful of my end that I may pass the remainder of my days in the constant practice of Repentance and Godly fear that living in thy fear I may die in thy favour and in a well grounded hope to live with thee for ever Amen VI. 1. Every change in my frail constitution every little pain and ache in my corruptible flesh all distempers and diseases are as so many memorials of my mortality but the older I grow Heb. 8. ult the nearer still is the approach of my dissolution by the hand of death for that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away 2. Happy is the man who on his bed of death can say with the Apostle 2 Tim. 4.7 I have fought a good sight against all the assaults of the Devil the World and the Flesh which war against the Soul I have finished my course as the course of my life so the course of godliness in all its respective duties enjoyn'd me I have kept the Faith untainted by any Atheistical imaginations heretical opinions or sinful practices and I have been faithful in the discharge of those offices and relations wherein my great Lord and Master hath entrusted and enstated me If my heart condemn me not in any of these respects I may thence conclude with joy and exultation from henceforth there is laid up a Crown of righteousness which the righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but to all them also that love his appearance The Prayer LOok graciously upon me O Lord I beseech thee in the time of my approaching dissolution and the more the outward man decayeth strengthen me so much the more continually by thy Grace and Holy Spirit in the inner man give me unfeigned repentance for all the errors of my life past and a stedfast Faith in thy Son Jesus that my sins may be done away by thy mercy and my pardon sealed in Heaven before I go hence and be no more seen II. IN the midst of life we be in death of whom may we seek for succour but of thee O Lord who for our sins art justly displeased Yet O Lord God most holy O Lord most mighty O holy and most merciful Saviour deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal Death Thou knowest Lord the secrets of our hearts shut not up thy merciful ears to our Prayers but spare us O Lord most holy O God most mighty O holy and most merciful Saviour thou most worthy Judge eternal suffer us not at our last hour for any pains of Death to fall from thee III. IN my last hour O Lord I humbly beg thy protection from the busie suggestions and direful insultings of my grand enemies the Devil and his Angels Oh let not then my Faith fail or my Hope wither or my Charity wax cold with the waining flesh but when all my joynts shall tremble by the batteries of death mine eyes be darkned and my tongue falter then O then let my heart be enlarged towards my God waiting upon thee longing for thee and incessantly praying shew me thy mercy O Lord and grant me thy Salvation The XXXIX Psalm Verses 1. I Said I will take heed to my ways that I offend not in my tongue * The meditation of death makes every wise man careful of all his ways and more especially to avoid the offences of the tongue 2. I will keep my mouth as 't were with a bridle while the ungodly is in my sight * The tongue is an unruly evil and must be tam'd as a wild horse with a bridle especially when provok'd by captious contentious and quarrelsome persons 3. I held my tongue and spake nothing I kept silence yea even from good words but it was pain and grief unto me * Reproaches are for the most part best answered with a discreet silence so was our Lord as a Lamb dumb before the Shearers 4. My heart was hot within and while I was thus musing the fire kindled * To abstain from good words is sometimes necessary for the avoiding of an evil construction but such silence is grievous to the pious Soul which burns with the fire of divine love and zeal to God's glory The zeal of thine house hath even eaten me up and at the last I spake with my tongue ‖ Though it be often inconvenient to speak before wicked Men yet it is alway necessary to speak unto God by Prayer 5. Lord let me know mine end and the number of my days that I may be certified how long I have to live * 'T is a blessing we ought alway to pray for to be feelingly sensible of the shortness of our life 6. Behold thou hast made my days as 't were a span long and mine age is nothing in respect of thee and verily every man living is altogether vanity * The life of man if compar'd with God's everlasting Being is rather to be called a death than a life a vanity not a verity of being 7. For man walketh in a vain shadow he disquieteth himself in vain he heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall gather them * The hearts of men are darkned with the shadows of happiness whilst they vainly care