as careful how to manage his Piety as a sinner is to obtain it XLIV WHen we are assaulâ—ed by any temptations to sin we may recollect our thoughts thus shall I for this moment of sensuality part with my interest in God shall I quit my Sonship now I am reconciled and my Title to an Eternal Crown of Glory in Heaven to satisfie my vitious fancy and a few momentary appetites on Earth and now cast off the felicity and security I have by peace of conscience while I Love fear and serve God and by my trusting Faith in Christ do stand fast fixed above the reach of malice and all the storms this World can raise Shall I depart from this Regenerate state so full of Blessedness to become a trembling Coward frightned at every shadow of every evil that approaches me and so become justly terrified with the horrour of a despairing Soul when Death approaches which may be this minute to step into that Eternal woe denounced against the sin I am tempted to commit Such reflections with such sincere prayers as such Mediations will suggest are surely good guards to defend and free us from the danger of yielding to any temptations to sin XLV A True penitent sinner whose heart is touched by grace from Heaven with remorse for his wicked life and a sence of God's many mercies to him He repents and recollects to the best of his memory all the actual and mental transgressions of his whole life and offers them up to God in confession with an humble sincere contrition and makes new vows for an universal cleansing from all iniquiâ—ies with a total resignation of himself Soul and body in a full obedience unto all the Gospel Laws for the future Thus this Penitent sets himself with holy vigour and his utmost endeavours to walk after his Saviours steps submitting his will to God's will in all things whose favour he now seeks with so great hungering and thirsting affection that God in mercy has cancelled all the Records of his long neglects and insolent repeated sins so as to remember them no more and also by his Divine power does raise this Penitent to a Spiritual Resurrection from sin to grace and so fills his contented converted heart with frequent comforts and such assurance of his Adoption as to encourage him to perform this new Covenant unto the end of his Life By whiâ—h infinite mercy and grace this Penitent does become so Regenerate as to perceive the Spirit of God at work within him raising his Soul to such a Sacred Love of his great Maker as to think all time mispent that is not imployed in gratitude to God for his diliverance from Hell and his Promotion towards Heaven of which Glory he has now some prospect and from hence he grows higher in Gods favour until his holy ambitions do increase desiring to be always in his Creators â—ight and aiming at a Favourites Sons place in the Court of Heaven Thus by degrees his Soul becomes so elevated and transported with these Celestial honours that he contemns the Empires of this World with all the glistering objects here below as unworthy to divert his thoughts on such perishing trifles as he did admire before his heart was fixed above on his Eternal Bliss which now fills his Soul with such continual joyful extasies in Devotion that he is sometimes frighted at the joy he feels lest he may embrace presumptuous Enthusiasms by such high consolations as his Soul delights in when his Meditations and Addresses do ascend in such bright flaming zeal unto the Throne of Mercy But when he considers that God who sees his sincerity through his heart will not reject such sinâ—ere Sacrifices He then hopes that these joys do arise from the Emanation of the Holy Ghost to let him see how God receives and welcoms a whole heart offer'd up to Him with such Divine Lights as Earthly Souls can neither see nor comprehend and by this tast of Bliss and by this beam of Glory here he judges how much greater he shall have in Heaven And thus upon a full search of his whole heart throughout this Penitent now finds with great felicity that God is pleased to dwell in his heart where Satan did so long triumph until these new transports for his Celestial Bliss have quite extinguished those dim shadows of delight that formerly misled him to neglect his God without a serious thought of Heaven or Hell or the least concern for his Eternity until his Soul was thus raised above the reach of his iniquities by his conversing day and night in Heaven And thus the Soul of this new Convert is caressed with bright Seraphick joys by Grace so fixed and so enlightned from above that his inward dependance on God is his continual consolation and support full of such high comforts as he must think do proceed from the Holy Ghost to furnish this his new Temple with sufficient Grace where he now intends to dwell And by all these Blessed guiding Lights this Penitent is invited to live such a Righteous Life as will give him an humble assurance to trust and rejoyce in his reconciliation with a settled Faith that he shall see the face of God in the face of Death the moment that he dies his Soul shall be with Christ where his departed Saints abide until the Resurrection XLVI WE need no better Argument for God's Love to us then our Love of Him which is the highest work of his Grace planted in our hearts by which only we are enlightned to know how to love and serve God as we ought that we may be capable to enter into his Eternal Glory prepared for his Lovers XLVII A Prayer LOrd Jesus I beseech thee forgive my transgressions and now send down thy Holy Spirit to cleanse my heart from all impuriâ—ies and then dwell there to guide my Meditations and Prayers aright with such servent Zeal as will encrease my Faith my Love and trust in thee my God that I may know no joy on Earth like my approaches to thy Throne and from thence impower me so to practise these great Lessons I have writ as to live with holy courage ever ready to die and fit to appear at thy Tribunal on the great day of Judgment with such reconciled Sinners as by thy infinite mercy are become the Sons of God Lord I beseech thee let my heart be now so filled with Divine transporting thoughts of Thee and thy Salvation as to leave no place for Satan there that my enlightned Soul may be ever on the wing hasting towards that Eternal Bliss which Thou hâ—st purchased for me at so high a rate And though my Zeal supported by thy Grace do now encrease let me never think my self near enough to Heaven till I am there For now I find that no repulses will make Satan quit the Field nor my Rebellious Sences to obey that I may gain a perfect Victory beyond the reach of a surprize nor can I alone
hearts be inriched with some portion thereof to carry us to heaven and in our way thither so to arm us here that no approaching evils may divert us We are also to consider that the Gospel does not invite us to forsake the pleasures of this World to go into a Dungeon which were a hard lesson but to remove from hence to inhabit Heaven with all its glory to Eternity yet this natural cowardly disease of fearing to die being born with us is without cure until the Holy Ghost do fall so on us and dwell so in us as to overcome our frailty by his grace and to make us see and understand how to value our Interest in Heaven on Christs account and by that faith to raise in us such holy courage as to pass through the Grave with joy to our Eternal Bliss which requires a Divine valour beyond the reach of a Natural mans fancy with assistance from above VI. MOst men do forget that our greatest affair on Earth is to serve God frequently diligently and publickly to own him in the first place to secure our blessed Eternity by his favour while we have time to do it And in the second place to follow our Callings for a Subsistance by his providence prospering our labour during our abode here But we do often invert this by doing quite contrary all our Lives by hungring and thirsting after perishing Goods and serving God at spare times only as our least concern until the Agonies of a Death-bed shews our mistake too late For it is a great presumption to neglect God all our days and expect a Crown of Glory at our last gasp as a reward for our neglect it is dangerous to provoke God so VII IF we did set our hearts to take pleasure in Piety as we do to improve our delight in other things we should find that Heaven Gates would fly open to our sincere addresses and perceived the Spirit of God working in our hearts with Divine transports full of unexpressible joys while that Sacred flame burns bright within us And such Emanations from the Holy Ghost are the greatest invitations we can have to encourage us to prepare for a place in Heaven and to make us esteem those Celestial joys above all the glories of this world where the greatest Princes terminate their highest ambition to die the Sons of God or should do so VIII WHat God hath revealed to us at Mid-night alone shall be our portions in the next World And if we can repeat the same Communication with joy in the day-time which we had with Christ in the night we may entertain a comfortable assurance that the Holy Ghost was at first and is at last enkindling those Divine flames within us to raise our elevated transported Souls to Heaven IX THe greatest Epicure cannot have so much pleasure in satisfying all his Appetites as a regenerate man has in his conversation with God during his devout Addresses in which he finds the Holy Ghost raising up his heart to an assurance of his favour with God and giving his Soul a delight far above all Carnal fruitions by the very victory over them But this is only intelligible by Pious hearts and requires a Divine Valour to encounter and overcome in such skirmishes with Satan and to relish the Felicity and Glory of such triumphant joys as follow every such victory X. IF we consider that God asks nothing of man for all his benefits bestowed but the heart of man and that nothing but man can give the heart to God and that we ever heard nor read of any man that ever made that sincere Present to God but did receive it back infinitely enlightned and enriched with treasures of never fading blessedness who then can believe this and omit to make so advantagious a Present of his whole heart unto God To shew his Faith his Love and Obedience as his greatest happiness on Earth For we may in a way of speaking and I hope without offence suppose the heart of man was made Triangular as three Seats for God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost who are all one God as the three Corners are one Heart which can no more be divided than the Godhead Who will so fiâ— when he dwells therein as to leave no place for the World the Flesh or the Devil to abide there And from hence it is that God forsakes us when we forsake him When we deliver up his Habitation in our hearts unto his enemies when we thrust him out to admit of any of those Rivals into any corner of our hearts we then affront the whole Trinity and drive away all them all him to entertain and court a destroying Guest instead of the Lord of Life XI GOd will not suffer those that are his to live in the dark for if God be with us he will make us see that he is with us and will never go out of our sight until he has brought us where we shall never go out of his and will sometimes make us start with a surprizing joy to find he is so near us as to give our hearts a taste of the same joy we shall have in Heaven though infinitely increased then and superinvested with Glory How great comfort then must this be when long habitual sinners are thus Blessed thus Converted and thus reconciled to God by faith in Christ's blood when God does so eminently manifest his glorious goodness in visiting the Souls of sinners and powerfully calling us great Criminals to become chosen Vessels where himself vouchsafes to dwell To think fully of this is to think of nothing else in comparison of this our great concern which now begins and now assures our Eternity with God which is above all earthly Felicities that pass away like Dreams As what signifies the Persian Grecian or the Roman Empires now Where are those Great Glorious Glistering Bubbles now Never worthy to come into competition with the higher aims of regenerate men indued with Divine love whose Immortal Souls are fed with such Celestial joys as can only flow from their Immortal object God on whom their ambitious hearts are fixed with such a lively Faith as doth create a contempt of all earthly Fruitions and stand ever ready as adopted Sons of God with joy to pass through the Grave to an immediate possession of a Crown of Glory for when God is pleased so to descend and dwell with us here it is to assure our Souls they shall ascend and dwell with him in Heaven XII HE that has heard the Bell Toll for him to the Grave and lives after it will do well to call to mind what Agonies he then felt and what Vows he then made to God on his Recovery and now every day to examine his heart how well he has performed those Vows and how much fitter he now is for his next Summons thither For every Bell that he hears now Toll for others is his Alarm to make ready for his day
Celestial joys as the highest and most delightful entertainment he can wish for on this side of Heaven for God is the Centre of a Divine Lovers Soul it cannot move from him without some impulsive force which we should disdain to yield unto XIX HOw frail is humane Nature that can never be so much pleased on Earth as within some time not to become weary of what we most delight in And how much greater frailty is it to know how to be ever pleased and for ever happy but cannot set our hearts sincerely to endeavour for it And yet there is another frailty in some men above all the rest most wonderful that such as have on serious thoughts of their Eternity resigned their hearts to God and for some time known no joy like their transports for Heaven that such men so raised should prove so weakly fixed as boldly dare make room for Satan in their hearts again as the more welcome guest where God did sometime dwell this were a dreadful thing to think on if the mercies of God were not far beyond the reach of sinners to deface And from hence we may learn that holiness is the peculiar gift of God and that we are raised to all degrees of Piety by his holy Spirit who of ourselves can neither rise nor stand one moment in his favour longer than supported by the same Spirit thus to give us humble thoughts of our own little or no strength And yet we are not obliged to rest in such humility but ought to labour and to pray for more and more Talents of faith and grace till their encrease do raise our Souls higher and higher in ambitious zeal to become Divine Lovers and not to be content with less preferment than adopted Sons when we find the Holy Ghost thus at work within us and so may strive to raise our new affections by holy thoughts to the highest pitch of devour extasies of Devotion and by this Divine experiment to try if we can love God too much and have more zeal in prayer than he does like of or can so tire him with our importunate addresses that He will turn away his face and deny his love unto Souls wholly devoted to serve and please him But when we find our hearts full of such sincere raptures in Devotion we may assure our selves they come from God who does ever approve and accept of such flaming sacrificed hearts as are enkindled from above and are much different from any such Enthusiams as Satan can infuse only to infect those wavering hearts that do still incline to be his Vassals XX. THose who have obtained of God to become truly Regenerate do find that a sincere repentance with contrition and conversion of heart to God are rewarded with peace of Conscience and so great a delight in humble converses with God on their meditations of Heaven and their Eternal bâ—iss that all Worldly pleasures do give way to those Divine transports which flow from the Holy Ghost within them And no time so proper to meet God as when they awake at mid-night before any Worldly concerns entertain their hearts for he that chearfully recommends his Soul to God when he lyes down to rest will to his infinite comfort find God ready to receive his first waking ejaculations who begins the day with the same adoration and trusts in him that he lay down to sleep with so that our mid-night conferences with God will by custom grow more pleasant than sleep and will fix such a Divine love on our Creator as will produce great joy here and some glimpse of that glory we shall have in Heaven for God never receives our sincere Addresses without multiplying of his favours in return by such manifestations of his grace as will preserve us in his service until we meet again to pursue those holy meditations which will bring us unto Him in Heaven when we die XXI A Righteous man is a Divine Philosopher that enjoys all his heart can wish in this World by his faith in Christ Love to God Charity to men purity and humility And the Holy Ghost is the great Chymist that conveys all these ingredients into the furnace of a pious heart and there by His influence and operation produces the grand Elixir of true righteousness which preserves the Soul unto Eternal happiness And whoever finds the Holy Ghost thus working in him will find the comfort and consolation of his Salvation in this life which with the serious consideration of his future felicity will be entertainment for his whole time here and keep him always ready for his summons to Heaven and will make his passage thither as easie to the Righteous as it is terrible to an impenitent sinner XXII IT is impossible to fancy and to find any Earthly entertainment for the heart of man but Devotion that can raise his delights higher and higher by fruitions without laâ—situde unto Eternity which elevated devotion is a felicity that the Divine Lover only has and is created in his heart with his Resurrection from sin to grace by a continual succession of growing joys on the assurance he finds of his second Resurrection to Glory at the day of Judgement which is God's peculiar work in the Souls of his Beloved to make them see that He is never absent from such as are totally devoted to love and serve Him for such and only such can securely enjoy God in all his Creatures here and have him also to eternity in Heaven If then the rugged way thither be so pleasant to a Righteous man what will his Seraphick joys be there and how worthy of our utmost endeavours to live so that we may die capable to participate of those joys then XXIII MEn do generally create terrors to fright their own hearts as they do Children with ugly Vizards we represent Death unto our fancies in dismal forms as a Messenger sent from Satan to hurry us from our present delights into everlasting flames And then 't is no wonder that habitual impenitent sinners do start back from the approach of Death when so dressed But the Regenerate Man has an Antidote against this evil He summons his Celestial thoughts and sets his Soul in order as a great Prince in State incircled with Heavenly joys as his Nobility and is also attended by crouds of Guardian Angels to receive the same Death with caresses of great friendship who appears before him drest in bright gorgeous Raiments as an Embassador sent from the King of Kings to consummate a League of Amity and to give him possession of his new Conquest with a Crown of Eternal Glory long fought for and at last obtained So that we generally mistake our passage into the next World and call it death which is assured Life and that Eternal It is our faults if we be frighted at the terrors of torment there where everlasting joys do answer every pious mans expectations who looks on the pangs of his departing Soul but as the
full of storms and calms more dangerous untill He brings him unto his Glory For if we believe it to be Gospel-truth that our bodies are capable to become the Temples of the Holy Ghost dwelling in us we must also believe that He will manifest Himself so as we shall discern his being in us by such a Divine Life with such extasies of joy as no Soul can reach without his assistance which if we practise to observe we shall find will prove to be our greatest consolation that the heart of man can have XXIX WE talk of Death as we do of Eating Drinking and Sleeping and do flatter our selves too much by thinking we are as ready for the Grave without a full consideration how nice and great a preparation is fit for our appearance at the Resurrection when our whole Lives here spent in the service of God is not too high a price for the Crown of Glory we then expect And yet few men do afford the hundred part of their time to become capable to receive that inestimable Purchase which Christ has made for us by his bloudshed And nothing is more strange then that we should so much forget what we are always a doing which is dying and is God's great mercy to free our Souls from the Dungeon of this World to fix them in his Eternal Bliss XXX GOD sees our first intentional approches towards Heaven so that we cannot make more hast in our Addresses unto Him then He makes to meet and welcom our sincere devotions with Raptures and Extasies of joy to encourage and guide our frail nature to love and serve Him above the World that can in no degree afford so high delights as our Souls find when our whole hearts are offered up to Him in daily Sacrifice while that holy flame lasts XXXI OUr greatest concern is to live so Righteously as to be ever ready to die which no man can think of too often nor prepare to much for if he considers that every moment advances towards the Grave through which we must pass to Eternal joy or Eternal misery and is an argument enough not to mispend our time but Day and Night to call on God for his Divine guiding Light to shew us the way to Him XXXII SLeep is so like Death that it is no wonder if we Dream often that we are amongst the dead for though we are not now visited by Visions as of old yet such frequent conversation with dead friends when we Sleep may be looked on as kind notions from above to give us some reflections on the Grave towards which we do walk as fast in our Sleep as when we are awake so that we ought to imploy more of our thoughts on every minute that so hasts on to our Eternity then men generally do and by such Dreams we may learn to converse Day and Night with God in our humble Addresses to make us fit company for His departed Saints when we Die XXXIII IF we could attain to as great Faith as the first Martyrs had we might have as much felicity in Piety as they had who rejoyced so much to leave this World that no torments could deâ—er them from death to be with Christ. And if we could raise our Souls to fancy the Glory of Heaven as they did we should believe that nothing there is so dirty as our brightest Diamonds where the beauty of Holiness by Faith as by reflection does Eclipse all the beauty wealth honour and glory of this World in the hearts of such as are become Regenerate And if our Souls were so sanctified and advanced in Divine Love as those Blessed Martyrs were we should admit no Rivals with God in our hearts where He delights to Reign alone And then we should find our God every where with us carefully providing for all our wants and supplying all our defects as if He attended on us Dust and Ashes with his Providence to guard us while we sleep and to watch if our first waking thoughts be set on Him and to expect them as his due and his delight as if the Almighty courted us for favours more then we do him for his mercies and his blessings and when our Souls become thus enlightned by his Divine Rays from Heaven we shall find our hearts so full of Him that a Wilderness â— Prison or a Dungeon will seem a Throne and will be our Heaven here and then we shall know no joy like having God ever in our sight with hearts fixed on our Eternal Bliss already thus begun XXXIV IF we consider the extent of Miracles those we call the greatest are but as wonderful as the smallest for every thing we see all we think every motion that answers to our thoughts in every part of our selves is Miraculous as to Dust and Ashes and so in the same Ballance we may weigh our Birth and Dissolution and Resurrection to be equally Miraculous But if we consult our own consciences and throughly examine our own hearts we may be confirmed in the belief that there is no higher Miracle then when the Holy Ghost turns the hearts of men from their long habitual idolized carnal appetites into a Spiritual affection towards God with such Heavenly transports as do create the peace of conscience with such a settled joy in God's service as will accompany our Souls from hence to Heaven which Spiritual Resurrection from sin being God's work in us is a sure mark of our Adoption and by this Miracle of mercy to become thus Regenerate we may account it the highest because of highest concern to us to be so raised from Hell to Heaven And a greater Miracle to confirm the Christian Doctrine no man needs to seek after then what he may thus find in himself if thus led by the Holy Ghost and thus exalted from Reprobate Dust to be the Adopted Son of God XXXV PIety is the best policy because by it we obtain all that the heart of man can wish in this World and the next which every Pious man has a great proportion of here and the Fool only thinks he can mock God or flatter Him while he does only deceive himself in hoping to serve God and the Devil at once to satisfie vitious natural appetites and enjoy Spiritual felicities at the same time as if the way to Heaven were through Hell But if we do doubt whether Eternal happiness is preferable before short fruition on Earth we may enquire of a Voluptuous sinner when he is become truly Reâ—generate if he does not find that the peace of conscience is a more constant delight then the greatest Momentary gratifications of flesh and bloud For when he is so called to an assurance of his Sonship by his Spiritual comforts from the Holy Ghost within him and such transports as do afford Heavenly joys with some glimps of that Glory which he shall participate of at the Resurrection He will perceive it is the same gift of God beyond humane acquisition so that
mans best policy is to lead a pious Life which will fully satisfie all his ambitions and answer the highest affections his heart can fancy by having God so by whom he has all that is in Heaven and in Earth And whoever God does thus give himself to will find that he has Him and will perceive this is his Spiritual Adoption to incourage and inable him to live Righteously all his days in more honour Glory wealth and felicity then all the Empires of this World can afford without God so that Piety is the best policy to establish our happiness in this World and the next XXXVI THere can be no comfort in this World beyond an assurance of sins forgiven with a full reconciliation to God and no man can have surer marks of his Election then to find his former contempt of God turned into Divine Love of him with the Holy Ghost converting the Hell that was in his heart into a Paradice by his habitation there which is an infallible earnest of Glory for when God gives us grace to will and to do his will by the power of his Spirit we shall want no comforts here and be also filled with holy courage and a joyful Faith to turn the terrors of the Grave into a delightful desire to be with God which is a Righteous mans greatest consolation XXXVII IF a Regenerate man blessed with Divine Love do observe how the Holy Ghost works in his heart at the time of his sincere vigorous Addresses to the Throne of mercy He will find that his delight in the service of God does increase with his devotion and that his devotion is raised by that delight so that his Soul by custom in such approaches does grow higher and higher by so joyful a confidence in God's favour that no allurements can divert his Love nor storms shake that trust on which his peace of conscience is surely founded here and his salvation at the Resurrection as sure Yet care must be had that such Elevations of the Soul may not grow beyond those Gospel Rules set us to follow So that the felicity of piety may be sometimes allayed by humble recollections of our own unworthiness when at best lest Spiritual pride do puff up our hearts with such Seraphick joys as use to rise from such extasies in devotion so as to think if Angels in the presence of God do rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner what joy may that sinner have above those Angels who is so much more concerned then they are when he finds himself snatched up from the brink of Hell and become as an Angel in Heaven before he arrives there Which is a kind of Epicurism in devotion and may be too much indulged if not acknowledged from whence it comes with gratitude for so great a benefit received XXXVIII CHrist gave us a sure Rule to know and to shew our Love to God which is to obey his Commandments and not to treat Him like our fellow creatures with passionate words sighs or tears or joys but by the sincerity of our thoughts and actions to shew our obedience better thâ—n by vehement extasies in devotion though such exterior declarations from the heart do advance our zeal they may deceive us with flattering hopes of our being better then really we are for 't is not our frequent prayers nor hearing the Word preached with dâ—light nor receiving the Holy Sacrament with an elevated Faith that â—ully expresses or denotes such Love to God as He expects from us but it is our 〈◊〉 endeavours in all selfdenials towards an uniform obâ—dience to all his known Commandments an Evangelical sincerity in the duty required that manifests our Love to God and is most acceptable to Him for though our performances do prove short of our Duties God sees our integrity and esteems us for that our sincerity towards obedience is very acceptable with God XXXIX GOd sees our frailties and knows that no mans fancy can reach the felicity of Divine Love but his who is endued with it from Him nor can that man by words express those joys that his transported Soul finds in such welcoms as God affords in his Divine endearments to his true Lover by such Celestial Raptures as do make him forget that he dwells on Earth while that bright flame of his Devotion lasts and on his return from Heaven while the thoughts of that Blessed Address remains it grieves him to find that he is still on Earth so that his body cannot mount upwards with his Soul to the Throne of Glory and fix there together XL. HOw weak is our Faith in the matter of Death and how strong the frailty of our nature that makes us fear to go where we desire to be So to create terrors in the passage when there is really none or if any they are such as cannot be avoided how vain then is it to raise melancholly-Clouds to Eclipse the Glory and dull the joy we are entring into the moment that we Die XLI GReat converted sinners ought frequently to consider the wonderful goodness of God for his double mercies who does not only forgive all past transgressions on our reconciliation but on our future obedience our Faith Love and gratitude He rewards such great sinners with grace to obtain Eternal Bliss easie conditions to be admitted by God's immense goodness unto this purchase of mercy and reward on Christs account Which grace we must improve by rising still higher and higher in God's favour for the future and then we shall have a double joy in all such fruitions and diversions as we may own in God's sight here and at the day of Judgment and may now thank him for with hearts full of purity and such bright shining innocence as God delights in XLII GOd's Spirit is never absent from those that seek him sincerely and whoever observes it will find it so God Loves a Souls whiteness that flies all approaches towards sin with detestation When God delivers a penitent sinner from the slavery of Satan to rejoyce in the freedom of his service it is to shew him a glimpse of Heaven to invite him thither XLIII AS a good conscience is a continual feaâ—t and a great blessing so 't is a dangerous thâ—â—g to â—e over-much delighted 〈…〉 duties though peace be in 〈…〉 should forget from whenâ—â—â—ll 〈◊〉 pâ—â—â—ormances do come and so 〈◊〉 attribute holiness to our seâ—â—es â—â—ich is God's peculiar gift There ought also great care to be haâ— that 〈◊〉 be not mistaken to think we do enjoy truâ— peace of conscience when we have it not and that we do not flatter and abuse our own hearts with some things of fancy like more holiness then we have and so believe our vows and desires to Piety are effectual performed before our actions do justifie those good resolutions and self-denials to avoid such snares as lie concealed under innocent diversions lest we fall when we think our selves most safe So that a Pious man is to be
by a constant graâ—â—â—ude which is as acceptable as prayers and the pious use of his Creatures and daily Blessings we shall fiâ—d a double delight in all the good things we receive from God's hand because we do enjoy Him in them and shall avoid all such evils as we dare not own to come from God And if we consider that our lâ—ves here are only to make our journey to Heaven we cannot have a better Guide thither then the Holy Ghost who will never mislead them who desire to be guided by Him and from whom we shall get such a habit of Holiness as will bring us to such an intimate acquaintance with Christ as will in a short time wean us so much from the Love of this World as to be chearfully ready to die when we see that the end of our journey is God's call to take possession of the Crown of Glory prepared for us LXVII APious man that lives ever ready to die has a continual prospect of his glorious Resurrection and can have no greater happiness on Earth then his inward assurance of being one of God's Elect who Christ says shall sit on his right hand in Heaven when the Reprobate are cast down into Everlasting flames LXVIII IT is said in Scripture that when Iacob found God was so near him he was afraid which may teach us that no man ought to think himself fit for a familiar acquaintance with his great Maker such as to remove the reverential fear that is due unto so high and supreme a Majesty and yet we may believe and find that His Kingdom of Grace is already come and is amongst us now so that we may with humble hearts say as Iacob did Surely the Lord is in this place and in our hearts too when we are led by his Holy Spirit to study Him and can fully consider that though all our senses are naturally inclined to like and covet varieties of all sorts and that our busie fancies are as readily subservient to work the same way and as eagerly do pursue the various desires of every appetite though we every day find that all objects do by fruition soon decay and cloy our highest desires that are not Rooted in Eternity How fit is it then to consider this and how much better it will be to perswade our Immortal Souls to rob our perishing senses of their depending fancies and imploy them on things above as far as they can reach towards the glorious Habitation of God where such objects are as Immortal as our Souls are and where our variety of joys will increase by such fruitions as never fade but will grow and multiply the more for gathering so as to be ever filling our hearts with high delights but yet never so full but still to admit of more and more felicity as our desires rise until we reach the Fountain of Eternal Bliss where our Souls will be replenished with Celestial joys but never so to overflow as to be weary of them And thus we may be as happy as Iacob was if we can perswade our hearts to throw out Satan with all his disguised flattering Troops and entertain the Holy Ghost as chearfully as we have indulged our blind affections that led us on towards our Eternal ruine And when we have thus discarded Gods Enemies as our own we must approach His glorious Majesty with fear and trembling though we do adore and worship Him at the same time with comfort LXIX IF we did well consider of dying and the joy our Souls will have as they expire when reconciled to God before that hour comes it will be ample reeompence for our whole lives spent in his service and 〈◊〉 worthy of our continual Meditation and devotion to prepare for so immense a mercy to penitent sinners such as will turn the terrours of the Grave into a joyful assurance of a blessed Resurrection to Glory beyond which no man can fancy a concern fitter for his thoughts to work on and his utmost eudeavours to obtain of God who never rejects a sincere heart offer'd up to Him in a daily Sacrifice which the Pious man never fails to do with delight and never misses of the consolation he seeks at his hour of death and in his way to it LXX THe true Idea of Holiness is Divine Love which we may judge of by entirely resigning our wills to the will of God and the perfection of Righteousness is to live a Divine Life such as takes delight to abhor the crimes we have loved and to press on in our devotions until we obtain a full Victory over all our carnal passions and by worthy receiving the Holy Sacrament to fix and confirm our Christianity on the assurance we find by a lively Faith thus qualified to live ever ready for our call unto Eternal Bliss which may be the next minute and cannot be too often thought on by those who love God and desire his Love on whose free mercy our Eternity depends LXXI WE may flatter our selves with a mistaken belief of Holiness which we have not and we may abuse the World with a disguised shew of Holiness which we know we have not but when Death comes such Vizards vanish and our hearts will be display'd in their true colours to our selves and others So that the best marks for Regenerate men to know themselves by is strictly to observe if they love God with their whole hearts with an universal delight therein that is with thankful hearts to praise his holy Name to fear obey worship and trust in Him with such a lively Faith and clear affection as to be ever ready to forsake all we have in this World and chearfully to breath our Souls into God's bosom when He calls for them And whoever shall obtain this Treasure of Grace to find these marks in himself will have such a proportion of that joy and that glory as will encourage him to persevere in Righteousness until he arrives at God's Eternal Rest where such blessed Souls desire to be who do know no diversions so delightful here on Earth as a daily preparation for Heaven LXXII TO think and try are two small words of great consequence because that man who will not think or dares not think what he has done or what he is doing or what he intends to do is in a sad condition for he can neither confess his sins nor repent nor forsake nor ever hope for a pardon for them while he neither thinks nor trys to learn to think of his Eternity He is past cure without a miracle of mercy for his conversion which is seldom afforded to such stubborn hearts as will not think nor ever try to think seriously of their Salvation before it be too late LXXIII NO Christian in his senses will own to love God's Creatures better then we love Him yet we do it and see it not that is not observe how often and how long we lay God aside to enjoy them for nothing can
and though we cannot reach David's highest perfections as an inspired Prophet we may like him give continual thanks to God for all we have and sing praise honour and glory to his Holy Name whose mercy endureth for ever CIII DId men watch the deceitfulness of sin and would heartily check the first appearance of evil thoughts with the remembrance that our All-seeing God is ever present to observe if we do fight or do invite our long known Enemies to their accustomed conquest of us such precautions would make us either fear to offend or joy to please our God and would soon teach our careless hearts how to subdue those Tyrant appetites a far off which so often do enslave us when permitted to approach at a nearer distance who do hold such a natural intelligence within that if we but admit a Parley to Treat with those subtle Enemies they will with fair pretences lead us on until they undermine our Souls and blow us up before we can discern the danger we are in and when once entred at such a Breach 't is then too late to grapple with a Foe that is in possession of a Fort without resistance gained Yet this sad truth by long experience taught is seldom learnt because we too much love those glistering Fetters and consent to put them on before they be imposed and then fear to be too soon freed from such a pleasant Bondage vainly thinking we can at our own pleasure shake such shackles off and be at liberty until surprized by some unlook'd-for Doom from whence is no redemption CIV A Frequent examination of our hearts is of use to keep men close up to Godliness and some Rules are very necessary to examine our hearts by to know when we walk aright as well to check remissness as to cherish those Divine motions which do raise hearts up to Heaven and may keep them there when so raised which is a great assurance for flesh and bloud when converts and will beget a joyful hope of being received into God's Bosom when become so Regenerate as to find a sincere delight to dwell there which is a great degree of blessedness and a good assurance that we shall be so for ever in the next World What labour then or what time spent can be too much to obtain Grace to become so universally cleansed from sin and universally obedient to Gods commands as will produce a total resignation of our selves and all our Interests into Gods hands and keep our hearts close up to Heaven until we arrive there For when God is the prime object of our Souls desire we shall take all opportunities to retire from the World to converse with God in humble Addresses for our Eternal hâ—bitation with Him in Glory But if this Duty of Meditation be used as a servile Drudgery to avoid a Rod held over us we are not right at heart and far from being Regenerate far from loving God if we take no delight in being with him for though Humane Nature cannot reach to Angelical Holiness yet Evangelical sincerity may be acquired by the Divine assistance if rightly sought and then as many as are led by the Spirit of God are become the Sons of God beyond which no man can wish nor think and when this state of Bliss is obtained with what diligence ought we to keep it up to the highest pitch of love and gratitude that our fancy and our Faith can reach for by such emanations from the Holy Ghost we may judge of Gods love to us and thereby guess what immense Glory we shall have in Heaven And thus we may daily feast our Souls with Angels food if we can conveâ—se with God aright So that to be Regenerate multiplies our joys here and assures our happiness in Heaven and though no man can of himself attain to this state of Grace without the Divine assistance it is never denied if sincerely begged nor was â—ver given in vain to deceive any man in the point of being Regenerate CV WE have no better way to express our love and gratitude to God for all his Mercies and Blessings then by our self-denyals For our obedience to his Laws is duty and no virtue to forbear a sin that we take no delight in but to crucifie a beloved darling Lust rather then offend God by it that is self-denyal And unto whomsoever God gives grace to do so he gives a joyful satisfaction to his Soul for so great a victory as lays a firm foundation to raise his Thoughts to Heaven on And is a good argument to shew that he fears Gods Threats and trusts in his Promises as the greatest Testimony of an active Faith so much required And when all this is done our Christian Warfare is not done For when Carnal sins do cease and our Appetites are overcome by Grace Satan still pursues in hope to frustrate the felicity of our Conversion by disturbing our Piety with Spiritual Pride or some Enthusiasms to reduce us into his power again So that when we are best we must Watch and Pray most for supplies of Grace to enable us to fight on lest we end worse then we begun The sum of all that can be taught is to bring men to Godliness and Honesty which is the perfection of Christianity CVI. IT is said in Scripture That without holiness no man shall see the Lord By which we may observe that Gods Injunctions are designed for mans greatest Happiness because Holiness is certainly our only true Felicity in this World and cannot be less in the next For if by Righteousness and Faith we may see a glimpse of Gods Glory here We shall see him in fulness of Glory at the Resurrection and enjoy him too on Christs account CVII NO man did ever seek God with a sincere heart that missed to â—ind him God loves to be so sought and to be so found as we shall be sure we have found him by our delight in him All which is the work of the Holy Ghost within us to our great comfort here always to enjoy God if our delight be set on him above all earthly fruitions And thus we may find God and enjoy him as well in Courts of Princes as in a Wilderness if we prefer nothing before the finding of him and so the greatest Courtiers may live like Saints on Earth and be Saints in Heaven when they die CVIII 'T Is not amiss for a Righteous man sometimes to fancy himself on hâ—s Death-Bâ—d with his Friends bewailing his deparâ—ure from them while he pities their mistake who pities him that is going to see the face of God in the face of Death and to meet Christ who with open Arms comes to receive his Soul into his Eternal rest Such Meditatations will raise our hearts to endeavour to die so and will bring us great Consolation while we live so in Gods favour that our Faith fail not at the last gasp CIX THere is no Felicity like Piety no Peace no Security
of such mercies as have so raised him from the terrors of Hell unto the joys of Heaven CXLV THe truly Pious man is always blowing up his smoaking Flax to flaming Love for those daily mercies and blessings he receives from God so to teach others the felicity he finds therein to invite them to Heaven CXLVI TO hear to read to wâ—ite and meditate and to pray often are the means to understand our Duty unto God as also to â—ix our Faith But if we do not live and practise accordingly our great knowledge will aggravate our crimes and provoke God's anger against us for slighting those Divine Instructions which the Holy Ghost inspires us with and for which God expects an account from us CXLVII HE that can make a total resignation of himself with all his Interests into God's hands has made a great advance towards Heaven and may trust in God so the foundation of his Trust be laid deep in a fixed heart on a Spiritual Resurrection universally cleansed from all known sins and so Reconciled that God will accept of the Trust But we are too apt to mistake such Resignations and to flatter our selves with Peace of Conscience on that account without a due Examination whether all our actions and affections do justifie such a Resignation as we offer up to God without which it is a great presumption to pretend to Trust in God CXLVIII TO be Regenerate does include all Blessedness that we are capable of in this World with a joyful prospect into those Eternal felicities we shall have in Heaven and is a sure Testimony of our Reconciliation CXLIX THere is nothing more clear then that Holiness is the foundation of true Happiness even in this World and cannot be doubted in the next for whoever lives a Divine life will have his heart full of Divine love to God and then will soon find the felicity of Piety to be so much more pleasant then all other Diversions that he will take all the opportunities he can both day and night to approach God in Holy Meditations and humble Prayers as the most delightful entertainment his Soul is capable of on this side Heaven and will find God's favour confirmed to him by Grace sufficient to support his contented heart through all the Storms this World can raise and fill him with joyful thoughts of his Salvation at the hour of death which is our highest Aim by the perfection of Piety to obtain CL. A Prayer LOrd give us Grace to discern the bottom of our own hearts that we be not deceived by too slight a search for Divine Love there nor flatter our selves with hopes of being Favourites in Heaven while we prefer thy Creatures before Thee and see it not Lord guide us by thy Divine Light and make us see that true Devotion is the most satisfying diversion we can have and will enrich our hearts with desires to be with Thee in Paradise and will create courage to pass chearfully through the Grave so to â—ustifie our Faith by our last step out of this World into a glorious Eternity with Thee our God CLI IF we consider how many times we have stumbled in our Christian course and how many times fallen and by what small Rubs been overthrown we should take more care to stumble no more at such Straws but pray for Grace to enable us to run over all Mountainous temptations if they cross our way to Heaven and when God sees a vigorous sincerity to serve love and trust in Him He is then ready to support us through the whole course of our lives which no man can doubt of that observes how God admits of our many risings after so many great and wilful falls as most men make and yet He still invites us to repair past Evils by running out our new course better with a due prospect to our last step into the Grave from whence we must arise to claim the Crown we run for And this will raise all devout hearts to the brightest flame of Faith and Love that men are capable of when we consider that every moment of our life may be that last step by which we must gain or lose the Crown we run for CLII. BEcause Angelical obedience is a perfection of Holiness above the capacity of Humane Nature God does make allowance for sincerity in performance of Duties bâ—t Himself holds the Scales to see that our sincerity be full weight according to the grains He allows us And the Holy Ghost within us has a continual Treasury where those grains are so reposited as to be ever ready to supply our sincerity and to turn the Scales for our advantage according to every mans utmost endeavours which will never be rejected for want of weight CLIII LEt no man despair of the forgiveness of his sins if he do confess them to God and do turn from them to Him with sincere contrition and repentance devoutly practised for the future in Obedience Love and Faith trusting in Gods Mercy and Grace with our reliance on Christs Righteousness imparted unto us on which assurance we may live with comfort and die with joy And whoever doth entertain himself with such frequent Meditations will find them to be the most delightful diversions he can have to consider that though we may fail in our best endeavours Gods Mercy and Christs Righteousness can never fail can never be exhausted on our sins by supporting sincere Penitents until brought unto Heaven so that in this high expectation of future Eternal Bliss we ought to be contented with our Lots on Earth whatever they be trusting in Gods free Mercy and Christs Merits without despairing of our Salvation if we can repent past crimes and forsake them for the future But if we have not a Resurrection from sin in this World we shall have no Resurrection to Glory in the next World CLIV. PIety and Faith include all Christianity but we often mistake Praying Preaching and Godly talk for Piety which are but steps towards it for we are obliged to do Righteousness or else we are not of God and so it is with those who think their Faith sufficient that can Parrot-like repeat their Creed when 't is our active Faith that is required to do what the Gospel teaches So that if a due regard to Faith and Piety be settled in our hearts we should find more time for Meditations on those great concerns whatever our Callings or Imployments be for our Bodies cannot be so engag'd to labour or in any Courtcrouds so imploy'd but our Souls may be raised up to God in â—ervent Ejaculations without any Tongue-noise or Facediscovery to inform God who knows our hearts better then our selves do So that by Faith and Piety we may converse with God here and begin our Eternal happiness on Earth CLV IT is a wonder to see that all mankind should be loth to leave this World where so few are truly happy or that think themselves so as to be contented The weak
and if we can improve this Holiness so as to become Divine Lovers of Him we shall be admitted as it were into the Bed-chamber of the King of Kings to enjoy all the Priviledges and Immunities that His departed Saints have there To know this and to do thus is to enjoy Heaven on Earth in which felicity the Atheist and the Hypocrite can have no share with a Divine Lover who is ever ready to be snatch'd up into Heaven while he is meditating of his going thither CLXXVII IF we have joy in Earthly fruitions what will our happiness in Heaven be and if the hope only and expectation of Heaven in pious hearts be pleasure above all our enjoyments here what transporting joy will the possession of Eternal Bliss be when we shall see God and participate of his glory as the Angels do and if we be so Regenerate as to believe this and do take delight in such contemplations it is a sure sign that the Holy Ghost is at work within us and will beget such holy courage in our hearts as to pass us through the Grave with chearful Souls to be with God And if we love and trust in Him as we ought there can be no Diversions so delightâ—ul as such Devotion is to a Divine Lover who converses day and night with God that is never absent from them who do sincerâ—ly delight in Him CLXXVIII WE are taught to pray against sudden death that is to perswade and lead us on to be always so prepared that no kind of death may be too sudden but that we like Eliah may every moment expect to be snatch'd up into Heaven by a fiery Chariot or taken up in a flaming zeal of Divine Love by an Apoplexy or some other accident of as quick an ascent as his Chariot was But generally our mistake is to pray for lingering long sickness only to gain time for terrors to awake our sleepy Souls with sighs and tears to move God to mercy then which we valued not before But the Regenerate man who has so cleared his accounts with God at the Holy Sacrament as to have Christ new born within him and is so led by the Holy Ghost as to sâ—nctifie his future life that he lives ever ready and willing to die That man will find the most sudden death to be God's mercy and a favour to free him from the Agonies of a tedious sickness for we too often do mistake such sudden dissoluâ—ions for God's Judgments to see men fall so when themselves feel a joy to be caught up into Heaven without pain to take possession of their Eternal Bliss Now God grant that all men may be so well prepared for all kind of deaths as none may be too sudden for any who call on his Holy Name CLXXIX A Prayer O Holy Ghost Lord God the Comforter who art never absent from those that desire thee with sincerity vouchsafe I beseech thee so to enter my heart that I may find thee there consecrating of it for thy Temple by thy abode therein and now direct me how to welcom so great a Guest with gratitude and joy for such Divine comforts as flow in hearts where thou inhabitest and where Satan dwelt before Lord keep possession against Him and all invading Enemies for I cannot defend my self without Thy aid nor of my self know when or how to approach the Throne of Mercy unless my Addresses be so guided and so sanctified by Thee as God will not reject them CLXXX A Prayer O Lord God I beseech thee give me Grace to imploy the great fancy thou hast given me on my greatest concern to obtain thy Mercy and Grace with Christs Righteousness to work out my Salvation that I may no longer mis-spend the time which every moment hasts on to my Eternity but with diligent zeal to pray for Faith in Christ such as will be the foundation for a Divine Life to shew my love to Thee my God by an universal obedience with purity charity and such humility as will raise my heart unto the highest pitch of Divine Love that my conversion may be now more eminent then my crimes have been And now O God! I beg thy Grace to confirm and fix my Soul in the assurance of my Reconciliation and Adoption by receiving â—he Holy Sacrament this day with such faith and due preparation as to put off the Old man for ever And so to eat and drink the consecrated Bread and Wine as the Body and Bloud of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ with all his benefits as He himself gave himself to his Disciples here on Earth that I now by thy Holy Spirit led may like them walk after Him And let thy mercy O Lord supply my defects in the peâ—formance of this great Duty according to the sincerity of my heart entirely offer'd up to Thee my God in this days Sacrifice so as the Records of my sins may be cancell'd in Heaven and my Name be now writ in thy Book of Life amongst thy reconciled Sons on my Saviour Jesus Christ's account CLXXXI TO spend our time on idle thoughts is like pursuing of vain waking Dreams a folly so much less then nothing that only Mad-mens fancies can delight in and is a shame for sober men to imitate whose Souls refin'd by Piety may be ever on the wing towards Heaven filled with felicities above the reach of any worldly hearts to guess at which is the Pious man's continual entertainment and delight so to pass his time with his Creator here on Earth as to find his heart full of something so Divine that he does think himself in Heaven while that Celestial flame enlightens him CLXXXII IDleness is the fountain of all evil the Devil directs his chief Emissaries on Earth with Addresses to an idle person who is then fit to take impressions from all sorts of temptations when God is absent 't is such men that invite Satan to steal by degrees into their empty hearts in such disguises as He well knows suits best with their idle fancies so to divert them from all Holy purposes with some Idea's of past delightful objects until they quite forget their sacred Vows to have God ever in their sight which secure them from all such assaults And it is but a slight Argument which many men use to excuse their time spent in idleness because they want Learning and the use of Books for their diversion when all Ages shew that Piety is not nor ever was confined to Learning 'T is not our Wisdom nor our Eloquence but our Faith and our saâ—ctified affections that is most acceptable to God and such sincere affections will never want devout entertainment to keep our hearts so fixed on Heaven and our concern there as will bassle Satan with all his Arts as often as He attaques us CLXXXIII TO be really contented is an Epicurism seldom thought on and so far from being understood as but little valued by the most of men who are over-busie in
momentary touch of a sharp Lancet that makes him bleed for future health So that men prepar'd for Heaven may change the terrible aspect of a grisly Death into a Divine Angelical form fit to be courted with a most hearty welcome who is sent by God to conduct us unto Him where every wise good man desires to be and this is a great â—ark of the Holy Ghost on the hearts of men to bring sinners to such an Evangelical felicity to live so in Gods favour as to rejoyce to ride on Deaths Chariot in Triumph into Heaven XXIV A Pious man is never alone when most alone but then takes more delight in his approaches to God then this World can afford the greatest Epicure for his devout heart is ever on the wing towards the Throne of mercy from whence his Soul is filled with Divine comforts beyond expression for God never fails to entertain a sincere Soul with high consolations XXV WAtch thy first waking thoughts which will declare thy Soul unto thy self whether Carnally minded or Spirituallized for then is thy fancy fresh unclogg'd with Worldly affairs and then the time to blow up thy flaming gratitude to God in some proportion towards what thou hast received from Him in mercies and in blessings though short in point of merit yet such holy aimes such pious ambitious contests God allows of and is well pleased to see such use made of his grace by such Divine emulations in the hearts of men who do endeavour to raise up their gratitude in competition with his benefits But this must be in such humble Addresses as doth become Dust and Ashes who can do nothing of our selves that is good nor think beyond what we receive and must thank God for the thanks we give him For it is the Holy Ghost that excites and enables us to such a frequent and free conversation with our Great Maker by which elevated zeal and sincere affection in our daily acknowledgments we â—hew that we have some taste of that joy and some glimpse of that glory here which we expect in Heaven and is some Testimony that we have not received the grace of God altogether in vain For no Man can give effectual thanks to God for his mercies until he find some assurance of his reconciliation by the Bloud of Iesus Christ which is the Fountain of all mercies and the great argument for our gratitude to the Father of mercies who forgives transgressions to raise our gratitude to Love XXVI WHoever has so much Faith as to create true notions of the Holy Trinity and Gods eternal habitation of Glory and Bliss in Heaven where he believes that Christ has purchased places for all penitent reconciled sinners that man cannot chuse but wish and indeavour to be one of that blessed number so redeemed from Hell and raised to everlasting Glory on Christs account But how to attain unto this felicity and to find in our hearts that we have attained it is our greatest work in this World and our most joyful entertainment here which is a pre-possession of Heaven as much as our frail nature is capable of with the Divine assistance of the Holy Ghost So then we must observe if our hearts are become so Regenerate as to find more pleasure in our approaches to God and our devout conversation with Him then all the fruitions this world can afford us for then we shall find an inward dependance on God in our own hearts such as will guide us by his Divine guiding Light unto the means and methods of attaining our wished salvation and within a little time certainly grow to a much more habitual delight in Piety then our forsaken sins formerly were and will hold our hearts up to Heaven ever ready to enter in when Death comes to conduct us thither and it will be great joy to pass the pangs of a Death-bed and â—errors of the Grave with an assurance that our Souls shall be with God the moment that we depart from this World if we live Righteously in it XXVII IF we give our whole hearts to God wherever we are whatever we do our minds will be fixed on Him the only Centre of our Souls intrinsick happiness 't is like a man forced from his beloved companion by some great affair he dispatches it quickly and with speed returns where he left his heart And thus we may try our hearty Love to God But when trivial objects and vain diversions do easily withdraw us from his converse and then detain us whole days in idleness so as to afford God but some few moments for our morning and evening Sacrifices we may reckon that our Love bears the same proportion with the time spent in his service we may also find on a strict search that we are mistaken in the Donation of our hearts to God by keeping of a small corner of our hearts in reserve for diversions only to gratifie some fair-faced appetites which do insensibly rob the major part until that corner have ingrossed the whole heart by which we fool our selves to think our All-seeing God will be mocked with such thin Vizards on our hearts Take heed therefore of idle diversions and pray for grace to become Regenerate to set thy heart on things above which begets true Love to God with Blessedness here and for ever which eternity can never be too much thought on nor the Lord who disposes of Eternity be too much loved or too much feared and if when we lye down to sleep we could but learn to think that we might wake in the other World we should labour to live close up to God so that Satan may find no time to come between to tempt and then such reconciled sinners would discern their conversion to be a sure Testimony of God's mercy and the Spirit of Faith fixing the foundation of true Piety by which we must ascend as the first step of that Ladder towards Heaven XXVIII IT is a stupendious thing to think how our corrupt Dust and Ashes may be exalted when the Spirit of God is at work in the heart of man when a great sinner is cleansed from his pollutions and all his past transgressions are so wiped off by the Holy Ghost in the receiving of the Sacrament that he finds Christ born within him and his Soul filled with a new kind of Divine transports which raise him in Meditations up to Heaven by such devout Addresses as grow higher and higher in ambitious zeal to be near God until he obtain to be owned an Adopted Son and while he remains on Earth by Faith to share with Angels in some degree of Heavenly joy and to perceive some beams of their Glory which he shall participate of at the Resurrection and until then be here feasted with such devout Celestial delights as will give him an assurance that these are the marks of his Election to comfort and to fix his heart on God who will guide his Soul through his Pilgrimage on Earth
maintain this Christian Warfare without Thy strong supplies from Heaven for which I daily pray and by which I shall at last subdue the World and my own heart with all the Powers of Hell and Death together Then from the Grave in Triumph rise with thee my God and thy departed Saints to my Eternal Rest in thy Celestial Glory XLVIII THe uncertain certain time of death was by Divine Providence concealed from Mankind to make us live ever ready for that great concern which sets a period to our Mortality the same moment on which our Immortality depends for Eternal joy or misery yet this known truth by all believed is by our perverse nature so much neglected as if not believed or as if by our wisdom and care we could foresee or prevent the moment of our Dissolution contrary to God's decree by which blind contradiction few men do prepare for their Pass to Heaven until too late and so become wilfully surprized by an Enemy we might subdue if ready Armed and well prepar'd for the encounter for 't is we that make Death terrible who is sent in kindness to conduct unto everlasting Bliss unless we by our Impiety do compell him to lead us the wrong way into eternal Flames A near dead-despairing sinner reviving from the Jaws of the Grave can best describe its terrors and best judge of the felicity to become fit to die when next summoned to step into his Eternity XLIX THough we cannot guess at the glorious Essence of God nor fancy what Heaven is nor can tell whether the Joy or Glory there be greatest nor do know any thing whereby we may express either of them yet by our Faith in all Gospel-truths God does so enlighten and encourage those Souls that are wholly devoted to love and serve him and that approach his presence with such humble Zeal and sincere Awe as is due to His Almightiness that He sometimes descends into the hearts of such men and spiritually dwells there as in his own Temple and sometimes raises the Souls of men with such high transports of Sacred Love to Him that they are filled with Holy Air or something nameless so Divine for joy and glory while that Seraphick flame doth last it looks like Raptures and holy Extasies sent from Heaven to invite men thither by shewing them so vast a difference of delight between Heaven and Earthly fruitions so to encourage us to expell all carnal Vapours when ever they ariâ—e to interpose that nothing may Eclipse that Divine Light from shining on us by which God gives us grace to endeavour with all our power to raise up our hearts to Him as often and as high as our clogged Souls can mount with such a weight of flesh and bloud about them But when the Holy Ghost lends wings to a Divine Lovers heart in his devotions nothing can hinder his Souls ascent to Heaven and by Faith to raise his â—ancy to such a joyful conversation with God as will enrich his mind with chearful thoughts the whole day after L. IF the felicity of Piety were as generally known as it is despised there would be more Saints then Reprobates on Earth But as it is Satans chief work to amuse and abuse our frail natures with present fruitions of fallacious delights that last not so it must be our business to get better Guides that we may find our way to Heaven in spight of His diversions which the Pious man finds in a constant conversation wiâ—h God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost in his sincere Meditations and Prayers when They are all at work within him raising his Soul to such a Divine felicity that he has no room for such contemptible delights as carnal fancies can suggest to dâ—vert him for his pious Life keeps him as much above all the fading gaieties of this World as the Reprobate is enslaved to them And if it were possible to make a voluptuous Epicure see and relish those continual joys which true peace of conscience affords to a Regenerate man it might wean him from his mistaken momentary happiness while the Pious mans felicity is founded on a sure Rock that reaches up to Heaven and shews him such a delightful prospect of his Eternal Interest there as gives him a holy courage to out-face Death when he chearfulâ—y submits unto his summons to the Grave as the only Gate to Heaven LI. THe great felicity of true Piety is only known to the Regenerate man become a Divine Lover whose Soul is ever busie in servent Addresses to his Beloved from whom he receives such welcom that his transported Soul forgets this World while that bright flame burns within him which fills his heart with such transcending joys in conversation with his Beloved as can only be expressed when two such Divine Rivals meet with pleasure to repeat the great favours that both do daily receive from the glorious object of their Love and with such Angelical affections to each other as doth raise their felicities by the holy emulation their united hearts have to joyn in a constant Adoration of their Beloved whose universal kindness does afford so great pleasure and consolation to all his true Lovers that their joys increase by the number of new Rivals which makes them invite all they can get into their Society and together sing Hallelujahs on Earth until they be added unto those Choirs of Angels already in the Glory of God LII WE all know that we are every moment dying and that Death is but the last puff of breath and though nothing else be worth the thinking on nothing is less thought on then Death which we can neither prevent nor delay and should therefore be made as easie as we can by a constant expectation of his approach because surprizes are most terrible which the Divine Lover is ever Armed for and best knows how to baffle that great Conqueror by chearful embraces as a welcom Friend who comes to conduct him to his Souls joy in Heaven which holy Valour God always provides his Lovers with at their hour of death LIII A Divine Lover has ever in mind the glorious Idea of his Beloved and remembers that he is always in His sight who doth observe all his looks thoughts words and actions how they do agree with his professed Love that is if the whole man be resigned up to study and to do the will of his Beloved with a chearsul heart as the supreme delight and fullest happiness his Soul can wish for here on Earth This Divine Lover does also take all the opportunities he can every day and night by holy Meditations and Prayers to approach the Throne of Mercy with a sincere heart so full of his Beloved as to leave no room for sin or Worldly vanities to abide there either to divert or clog his Soul when raised on the wings of servent Devotion And thus he spends his time ever striving to please and as careful not to offend his Beloved still jealous
life may be assaulted and diverted by such surprizing temptations as he cannot at first sight so resist and reject but that Satan may pursue until he drives a Regenerate Soul from all its Out-works into its Cittadel in Heaven where God does never fail to give such powerful Aids as make the invading Enemy retire and vanish LXI LEt a long habitual sinner that repents manifest his conversion to himself by frequent sincere retirements with God and then set his whole heart to raise and fix his collected thoughts on things above which will create a delight in the Lord more then in all his Creatures and by such custom he will grow to grudge all time as lost that diverts him from the pleasant conversation of this new gain'd acquaintance with his gracious God who also likes to have him wholly to Himself when he desires to be so and when this Convert doth obtain grace to arrive at this felicity of favour here he cannot rest so but will raise his ambitious Zeal to such pure Love as to hunger and thirst aâ—ter the sight of God's face in Glory For if thus enlightned by the Holy Spirit his Faith will increase and cherish such Divine flames with joy and gratitude as the surest marks of his Reconciliation and Adoption and will encourage him to proceed with vigour in his Advance towards Heaven LXII DO nothing in private in God's sight that thou darest not do in the view of all the World and own at the day of Iudgment and keep this resolution ever in thy mind and constantly pray for Grace to do so by which thou wilt avoid many sins LXIII THere is nothing more deceitfully prejudicial to a new converted sinner then to believe himself a favourite of Gods upon his first serious thoughts and inclination to Piety with some light flashes of Spiritual joys in Devotion which novelty an habitual sinner mistakes for a possession of Heaven at first sight and in too much hast thinks himself an Adopted Son which time and perseverance can only make legitimate and must also be tryed by a nice and serious examination of our hearts such as is seldom understood by new Converts who may rejoyce to find they have discarded some presumptuous sins and yet be far from a just pretence and tiâ—le to a place in Heaven For instance a man may resolve well and pray with zealous sincerity repent too with sighs and tears and have a great proportion of Faith Hope and Charity with Humility also but if he want the true Christian purity of heart the rest will not prove a full acceptable Sacrifice to God who only sets his seal on our whole hearts resigned unto Him So that if we keep a reserve but of one corner for unlawful diversions to bestow on our fellow Creatures or on carnal sinful appetites all the rest will not be accepted for God will admit of no sharer nor endure competitors So then we are to consider if the value of such a small reserve be worth the losing of the whole purchase we pretend to and next what kind of Salvation it would be if God deal with us accordingly if He should accept of so much of our hearts as we are pleased to spare Him and leave the remaining reserved part for Satan For though God designs a full perfect Eternal happiness unto all that give their whole hearts to him and affords his Divine guiding Light with power to find the way to Heaven for all those who pray to be so guided with sinceriâ—y and Faith yet the smoak of our parcel Sacrifices from our divided hearts will not ascend half way to Heaven LXIV IF we believe there is so great joy and happiness in Heaven why are we so lazie and cold in our approaches thither why do we not prefer that glorious Crown of Immortality before the perishing Goods of this World for which our hearts can have no rest until obtain'd which is a sad consideration to think how we neglect our greatest concern by delaying our reconciliation to God as if time were at our dispose either to recall or adjouâ—n and do not consider how every moment that we carelesly mis-spend carries us on to our last step inâ—o the Grave and our first step into Eternity but if we did think frequently and seriously of Heaven as we ought and that the Grave is the way thither we should not dread Death as we do nor fear to go where we desire to be but such Holy Valour does only belong to Righteous men and not to habitual sinners LXV MAny men fear to die because they are better acquainted with this World then the next which they want Faith for or else are loth to part from their beloved sins and fear God's anger for such crimes as they fear God's anger for yet will run that risque rather then forsake their sins until they die Though all men know that the best way to triumph o're the Grave is to live so well as ever to have in mind the two Eternities of Bliss and Torments to one of which Death conveys us So that it is no wonder if we tremble at the sight of Death when we prepare not for it by considering that every moment leads us on to what we so much dread and yet so much neglect And also men should consider that the youngest and most healthy do stand every minute on the brink of Eternity to perswade them to be ready for their summons thither So that unless we want Faith in Christ's merits and doubt God's promises that if we become so truly Pious as to love God so much above all his Creatures that we cannot fear to part with them to go to Him So that nothing can more concern mankind then frequent thoughts of our preparation to step into our Eternity when we all know there is no true Rest but that which is Eternal Is it not then great folly to know that we cannot live ever here and must be gone for ever and yet do still set our hearts on these moments and prefer them before that for ever Thus to fear petty troubles here and not be at all concerned for endless Torments and this for want of thinking seriously that we carry Immortal Souls within us and should have Immortal Aims and Immortal Ends when we consider that our Eternity begins with our Birth and we that moment do begin to die and so are dying until we are dead and gone for ever which words FOR EVER ought to ring ever in our ears to mind us to live ever ready for that For Ever which will make us not to fear death when we consider that we have a merciful God who when mans conversion begins His displeasure makes a period So that 't is want of Piety and Faith that makes us fear to die LXVI IF we believe all we have that is good does come from God we ought in all our enjoyments to give Him continual thanks so to keep up our hearts to Heaven
take us from God but what we love better And though there is no felicity to be compared to Piety nor any diversions so delightful as Devotion when we love God and serve him with sincerity yet we mind it not enough that mind it most too much no man can LXXIV WE are naturally apt to cozen our selves with thinking we believe what we do not believe and for want of due consideration of all our ways we run on in such undiscernible errors as must offend God while we think we serve him best and this by indulging many kinds of innocent diversions until they become crimes though we know that vain and idle thoughts do often grow to foul suggestions which pious men should therefore not admit of LXXV WE are often misled by thinking too much of what may be and too little of what must be in providing too much for our uncertain hope of living from year to year with too little regard â—o our assured death that must come as if our moments here were of more value then our Eternity in Heaven though we do know that nothing in this World is worthy to entertain our Immortal Souls with true delight but by making ready to go unto God with chearful hearts of which few men do think enough and none can think too much because it is the greatest felicity that our Piety can reach and a sure mark that the Holy Ghost is working in us which no habitual sinner is capable of LXXVI NO man can want a subject for Meditation nor have a more useful entertainment than frequently and seriously to consider and examine his own life by recollecting what mercies what blessings and deliverances he has had from God and to enquire of his own heart how little obedience gratitude and love he has return'd what vows made in sickness dangers and in times of trouble but never kept And above all to consider how often God has knocked at our hearts for entrance and been denied or delayed to admit of some more pleasing Guest or whenever permitted to enter how coldly received and slightly treated until thrust out again to make room for some darling sin that must be welcomed This if fully considered may bring us to a sense of our offences and shame to think how unfit we are for our Death-beds and Eternity to come with the amazing terrors to think how we can call on our so much offended God for mercy which He could never prevail with us to accept of and what hope then can such insolent contemners of God have in their last day But on the contrary this Meditation will bring comfort to a Regeneâ—ate man who has entertain'd Christ in a chearful heart with sincere integrity to such a joyful trust in God's love by his fixed Faith that no carnal affections can remove his transports for Heaven the expectation whereof is delightful to him above the terrors of death to lessen LXXVII THe sum of all the great Lessons we can learn is to shew that a faithful penitent sinner who is become so Regenerate as to forsake all his iniquities and can perform an universal obedience to all God's Laws with such Evangelical sincerity as to make a total resignation of himself with all his Interests into God's hands must be led by the Spirit of God which will keep up his heart to Heaven in a constant concern for God's favour where Satan dares not appear to tempt when he sees us so united unto Christ and this will bring a Penitent to endure his Pilgrimage through all the storms of this World and defend him from the glittering vanities also so as to know no fear nor joy to interrupt his expectation of Heaven and the happy hour to breath out his Soul into the Bosom of God which holy ambition will entertain his heart here with more present happiness than all the Worlds wealth can afford to a wilful habitual sinner LXXVIII A Prayer LOrd I beseech thee let thy Holy Spirit direct my prayers in my approaches to thy Throne of Mercy and there pray within me that so guided I may find grace from Heaven to support me in my passage out of this World unto thy habitation of Eternal Bliss And now wean me from longer wandering in the vain Labyrinths and Glories here by having ever in mind that all the greatness and various pleasures I have seen and shared in are vanished like a Dream and thereby find that nothing is so delightful to a Regenerate reconciled sinner as a retired habitation free from the noise of Worldly affairs where by thy Grace peace of conscience may encourage me to be ever ready at thy call O God! with a joyful heart to make my last step into the glorious Eternity I hope for by the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ. LXXIX WHen the Holy Ghost dwells in our hearts we shall find new principles of a Divine Nature producing there an universal Victory over all our carnal appetites and an universal obedience to all God's Laws with trust in his Providence and such Faith in Christ's Merits and Intercession as will assure us of all God's promises as if now actually in our possession from whence will arise continual comforts with hearty gratitude for such love and mercy to penitent sinners And by this first Resurrection from Sin to Grace be assured of our second to Glory so that to be thus sanctified by the Holy Ghost we are united unto Christ brought home to God the Father as his adopted Children and do begin to enter on our everlasting happiness even in this World by our continual Meditations and Prayers so to raise this Holy flame as high as here we can reach without presumption so to fix in our hearts the joyful practice of such a Divine Life and Divine Love to God as will produce Divine joys here and for ever in Heaven which no carnal fruitions can attain And thus we are led by the Spirit of God and do become the adopted Sons of God LXXX IF the most voluptuous sinners could discern the felicity of an Holy life what constant elevated joys the peace of a quiet conscience brings to those who can wean their minds from the fading pleasurâ—s and drudgeries of this World to fix their hearts on things above sinners would make hast to become Regenerate For if we consider right of Eternity we must know that our Immortal Souls when freed from the slavish appetites of flesh and bloud can have no transports like those immortal joys they find when settled in their Centre God's Bosom from whence they came so that our Souls can relish no felicity like the hope of Heaven nor be much concerned for any thing less then Eternal Bliss which though of our selves we cannot reach yet if we give our hearts to God we cannot miss it But if in contempt of God we live and die in endless sinning we may justly fear that our Eternity will be in scorching flames We ought also to consider
though God has promised pardon unto penitent sinners He has not promised one hour of Life to repent in since therefore we can neither prevent death nor foresee it let us always expect it as at hand and prepare for our Eternal Glory in the presence of God while we have time to do it LXXXI MOst men do say and do believe they love God and no doubt many good men do more or less but all mankind ought to enquire into their own hearts if they find not more joy in their idle diversions then in God's company if they be not quickly weary of conversing with God in Meditation and Prayers hasting to return unto their diversions which they love better then Him and then consider the consequence of such contempts and how much our selves do scorn a divided heart where we love much more then doth God despise those who prefer his Creatures before Himself LXXXII GOD knows our frailties and doth allow us diversions but they must be such as we may own in his sight and see Him in them with grateful hearts for such refreshments as Humane Nature does require and such as we may glorifie his Name in their frâ—itions and be sure not to flatter our selves into evil temptations by our fair-fac'd diversions too much indulged lest they sting us to death with smiles LXXXIII THere is another kind of happy and blessed diversions free from sinful vanities and fading glories of the World which David so much delighted in by his retirements to converse with God as his Souls chiefest joy and whoever seeks God with the like zeal no doubt will find Him as David did and be as fully happy as he was in God's esteem which is an ambition that does become good Christians as the best diversions we can have to raise our hearts to Heaven LXXXIV MEn ought with great care to watch their diversions for we are often betrayed into a neglect of God even by innocent diversions which by custom do insensibly engage our hearts to consent unto evil actions when we design nothing that is ill So that if we serve God as we ought we shall delight to converse with him in our retirements and account our holy Meditations of Heaven to be our most pleasant diversions so to refresh our Spirits when tired with Worldly affairs and we shall find that such Celestial diversions will be blessed with Divine joys that cannot be shaken by Carnal appetites nor by glistering Vanities when once fixed and ratified by God's reception of us into his List of Adopted Sons and then be so guided by his Holy Spirit as to grow higher and higher in his favour till we participate of his Glory which inward assurance will be a more pleasant subject for our diversion then all the Wit the Wealth the Honours and Beauties of this World can entertain our hearts with And when God dwells thus in the Souls of men it is the most ravishing diversion we can have to see our selves live ready to enter into His Eternal joy at a minutes warning LXXXV WHen we approach God with sincere hearts there can be no diversion more delightful then our Souls union with Him who knows all our wants all our oppressions and sees all our concerns whatever and is as ready to redress our grievances and to bless our honest endeavours as we can be to desire it which our pious diversions above all other diversions the most delightful so that the best of idle diversions though innocent is like warming frozen Vipers in our breasts until we give them strength to bite us to death And if we do observe it we shall find that there is no real essential pleasure in any diversions but in true Devotion which the Regenerate man finds to be true LXXXVI WE have two very remarkable notions fit for frequent consideration to judge how our hearts stand towards God and how we may discern his love to us The first is to observe if we have more joy in our retired Devotions then in the fruition and conversation of his Creatures in which we cannot be mistaken if we diligently observe how his Holy Spirit works in us at those times From whence arises the second consideration to observe how our Souls are elevated by his Divine comforts descending on us in such Devotions which is the best assurancc we can have that we do love God above all his Creatures and doth also shew that He sees it likes it and rewards us for it by his returns of Grace in giving a delightful perseverance in such sincerity to Him which is the highest experiment that our frail Natures can make when we love God so well as to câ—nverse with Him in our humble Addresses before all Carnal selicities and can rejoyce to go to Him when He calls for us LXXXVII AFter all that has or can be said the only way which God himself hath in his Holy Gospel fixed on for the exaltation of his Glory in the forgiveness of sins is that all sinners should come to Him merely upon the account of Grace in the bloud of Christ and not to rest on nor support our selves with general hopes of mercy mixed with our endeavours and obedience but to come up to the Gospel Rule by a fixed Faith in Christ and make that way our all by giving Glory to God therein as He hath appointed lest we perish Eternally For no man shall receive pardon and forgiveness of sins but those who come unto God by the bloud of Christ. And the sin against the Holy Ghost is only excepted from such forgiveness LXXXVIII ALl the Arguments we can hear or read or fancy to our selves by conversing with God in holy Meditations of Heaven and Eternal Bliss in his presence there will not extinguish the natural affection between our Souls and Bodies so far as to desire or to be willing to have a separation by death without a miraculous addition of Faith and Grace to work beyond the reach of our Nature though we do believe that the time between our Death and our Resurrection is but a moment to Eternity and though that moment should last an hundred thousand years it will be as undiscernible for its duration as while we sleep one minute So that we must be satisfied in this mystery without farther enquiry and pray to be contented in that point to be as happy when we die as God's departed Saints are until they and we arise together And this is great comfort to know that we shall be with them in death if we do sincerely endeavour to live and die in God's favour as they did And so make ready to go where we all pretend to desire to be when we can stay no longer here LXXXIX WE must not entertain Spiritual Pride nor welcom flattering Enthusiasms in our devotions nor attribute such Holiness to our selves as is the immediate gift of God but we may nay we must joy and rejoyce to find the Holy Ghost at work within our hearts
no Conversation no diversions can come into competition with a Divine Life and Divine Love to God So to fix our Interest in this world and the next for we shall fall as we live and shall rise to everlasting Judgment as we fall For though Christ came into the world to call and to enable the greatest of sinners to become capable of this Felicity here and Salvation after We must repent and forsake our Iniquities or can have no part in him CX WE cannot make too strict a Covenant with our Eyes and Hearts to waâ—ch the deceitfulness of Sin And observe how every look and every thought is naturally apt insensibly to convert innocent intentions into evil before we discern the subtle enemy undermining of our Souls with the fair appearances of harmless diversions if too much indulged until they become destroying Snares CXI GOd often treats his professed Lovers as we do one another when we find that a professed friend has some concealed Jewel that he prizes above his professions though he offer up all the rest which we desire not we reject his Complement and still desire to have that reserved beloved Jewel which he values above our Favours And so God rejects all our Complemental Services until our reserved darling Lust be offered up to him as the Jewel we most prize and the only sacrifice he will accept Then in return of our whole hearts he will give himself to us for ever CXII LEt him that thinks he stands most fixed in Heaven take heed lest he fall and remember that David and Solomon both of them Gods Favorites could not stand longer then by his Grace supported nor were our Saviours beloved Disciples all free from stumbling by which and many more examples we are taught not to presume on our own righteousness but to look on our Frailties as inherent to us lest Dust and Ashes should presume on our own performances without continual Addresses to God for such Supplies as we do every moment need And we may also think that God permits some good men to some relapses to awaken and quicken them to the frequent duty of his Worship so to own him that no man may hope to serve him as he ought without him For Satan is most busie and ambitious to reduce a Convert out of Christs flock to become his slave again rather then to continue his Celestial freedom such a victory he accounts his Master-piece so to subdue careless men who too much trust unto their own Integrity and take no heed how they stand lest they fall CXIII WE cannot Pray too often because frequent sincere Prayers do bring down Blessings from Heaven but when we makâ— negligent Addresses they shew such a disrespect that the Glorious Majesty we approach turns from us in contempt of such careless Petitions For when we are excited to Divine Worship by the Holy Ghost God looks for such intention of Spirit with vigour in our Devotion that shews how much we value what we pray for He admits of our frequent zeal at all times though he sees our unworthiness and never fails to cherish an humble contrite Spirit when he rejects a presumptuous Babbler So that when we approach to Pray our first Petition should be for Grace to prevent all diversions from Satan and our selves who where his publick temptations fail is ever busie to disturb our Devotions with frivolous or foul suggestions CXIV HOw can we think that God doth believe the frequent Professions we make that we love Him above all things when we forsake him so often for trivial and vain fruitions for though no man is free from such Frailties as we ought to Watch and Pray for amendment of by Grace from above For to be absolutely perfect is impossible because our Nature will not admit of such Angelical perfection yet no man ought to question his sincerity because he cannot do that which is impossible for men to do CXV WE spend much of our time in laying foundations for Happiness on Earth when our Happiness is that we have none here but what we can raise from our Hopes to find in Heaven which we are seldom inclined to think on but when we find we are not so well provided for here as we Hope to be there CXVI ALl men know that every moment of our Lives every step we make does advance us towards the Grave but we do not seriously enough consider of this our greatest concern while we march on with merry hearts towards our Eternal Habitation of Rest and happiness in Heaven as we think but in our careless journey thither do entertain our Souls with such worthless Vanities or such known Wickedness for our Diversions that we do often mistake the way if not quite lose it and so arrive at a dismal Habitation of Woe before we see whither we are going CXVII WE cannot Love or Fear God too much we cannot Thank Him or Trust in Him too much nor Think of Him too often from whom we have all that we enjoy and on whose free Mercy our Eternal Doom depends and this Moment may be that Doom to every one of us So then he is the most Happy man in this World that Lives ever the most ready to Die With a sincere desire to be with God which is a sure mark of his Reconciliation and Adoption To love God thus and to be thus beloved of Him will bring us to delight in God above all his Creatures which is the highest Felicity our Pâ—ety can aim at CXVIII A Prayer LOrd Enrich all Hearts with Divine Love that desire it and inflame their Souls with such desires towards Thee as to Live Righteously and to value such enlightning Comforts as flow from those Transports thou doest afford unto Reconciled sinners become Regenerate so to encourage them to Inform and Reclaim such as go Astray by seeing the vast delights that do attend thine Adopted Sons in their way to Heaven And by that bright Light from above to judge of thy Celestial joys prepared for them there CXIX NOt to think at all is impossible and to think too much of what we ought not to think of is too Natural to us but to think of the Everlasting Torments in Hell comparatively with our peâ—ty short Pains here will Fright us into some Care not to offend God so as to send us thither Puâ— to think of the Ioys of Heaven as we ought and by our Faith in Christ to bring us thither with our Love to God our Christian Charity our Purity of Heart and our Humility to God and Man Which is the Divine Lovers part who is ever thinking on his Eternal Bliss and how to please God most so to prepare for Heaven which he sees every moment is at hand and the joyful expectation of that Happy Hour is his Souls continual Consolation as those will find who do Sincerely labour for it CXX IT is one of the Devils chief Arts to cheat men into a belief that it is a
and gives sufficient grace accordingly at the hour of Death CXXXIII A Great Reprobate by the Grace of God become Regenerate can experimentally judge how much the felicity of Piety doth exceed his former Epicurisms Men in this World without putting Eternity into the Scales against moments and observes that the continual tranquility of a quiet Conscience is much more pleasant then all his past unlawful Fruitions attended with such Terrors as a guilty Soul is loaded with CXXXIV EVery Pious man that has forsaken his sins for fear to offend God who he pretends to love also does begin well And when God sees his sincerity to obey him in all things He will not let him rest there but adds Faith and Grace till his heart longs for a nearer Communion with Christ in Heaven and by a daily custom of such elevated Meditations God will bring this Pious man to despise this World and to overcome the Terrors of the Grave by his expecâ—ation of Heaven where his Soul longs to be CXXXV WE must not desire to die to be rid of affliction here But if we can obtain Grace for so Divine a Love to God as to be glad to go to Him when He calls for us That will be enough and such holy courage at the hour of death will bring great Joy to our expiring Souls CXXXVI THe Souls of Righteous men are said to be with God the moment they expire But to what degree of Bliss they are admitted before the Resurrection is not revealed unto men But it is enough for us to believe that God takes care of those Souls that served and trusted in Him as well as for his departed Saints We need to desire no more then to be with them CXXXVII THe Design of Reading the Scriptures Preaching Praying and Fasting is to bring us to lead such Pious Lives as may shew our Faith and Love to God And so to divert our hearts from Worldly vanities by constant Meditations on the Ioys of Heaven to invite us thither And also encourage our timerous Souls with grace from above to contemn the Grave where they shall not rest one moment Which if well considered our Holy Resolutions would scorn to fear and shrink back from the last step we must make to take possession of the Crown we seem to labour for which will shew that we have but cold desires to be with God CXXXVIII NO Regenerate man can be mistaken in Gods Service who sets his Hâ—art sincerely to that workâ— for God who sees our hearâ—s throughout will not lose such a Votarrâ— but will Sanctify his zeal and make hâ—m see that an humble contriâ—e heart is the Sacâ—ifice He likes And will shew by his 〈◊〉 of Comfort and Consolation to such a man that his Soul will be transported with Raptures of joy in his Divine Contemplations when he finds such inward assurance of Godâ— favor that he cannot doubt of his Reconciliation when thus enriched with Grace and thus led by the Holy Ghost his devout heart will rise higher with bright flames of Love aspiring to get into Christs bosom CXXXIX WE should in our Meditations often reflect on the unquiet and uncertain wealth and Honours of this World and how unworthy such fleeting fruitions are to be preferred before Eternal felicities that so we may not set our hearts and spend our time on such vain acquisitions when immortal happiness will be had on easier and more certain terms and we surely become the Sons of God CXL THe greatest business of our Lives is to learn to die with holy courage and not to start from the Grave nor repine at such means and methods as our kind God appoints to make us willing to come to Him and by such gentle corrections to withdraw us from the World that our hearts may be always working up towards his Throne of Mercy where Christ has purchased places for converted sinners amongst the Angels and has appointed his Holy Spirit to invite and conduct us thither by his inward comforts which grow from the Gospel-promises and is the Christian Faith that repented sins forsaken shall not be charged on us in this World nor the next which is the foundation of Divine valour in a dying convert CXLI THe generality of mankind are naturally inclined to love those who love them and to judge of Friendship and Hatred by the assisting or crossing our designs in this World and the universal object herein is Death So then we are to consider the real effects of this great Monarchs power that controuls the World and see whether he be a more general Friend or Enemy to mankind For as he cuts down some in their first Buds others in the prime Blossoms of their youth and surprizes many of ripeâ— years by hurrying them into unexpected destruction from such Wealth and Honours as their carnal hearts were most delighted with yet the same Death is kind to the most of men who are oppressed with various sorts of Agonies both of mind and body beyond the cure of the best Remedies until by Death released from all degrees of maladies and miseries Now if all this be well considered we may bring our selves to such an acquaintance with this mighty Monarch Death by a daily conversation and preparation for our submission to his unresistable command so as to rejoyce when we are freed from future evils and by Death conducted to our Eternal Rest. And the same moment that our Souls expire we shall conquer Him who conquers all the World and for ever Triumph over his Victories over us So that 't is our weak Faith and frail Nature that makes Death seem so terrible an Enemy unto unrighteous men only CXLII THe true joy of a good Soul in this World is the very joy in Heaven only there 't is superinvested with Glory which a Righteous man enjoys that moment he dies without any stop by the way CXLIII THere is nothing more worthy of our continual thoughts our utmost endeavours and hearty prayers then to obtain the Blessedness to become Regenerate For when the Holy Ghost sanctifies the heart of such a man with the comfortable marks of his Reconciliation and Adoption that man will soon find the continual feast of a good conscience while he lives to be more pleasant then all other things which this World affords and at his hour of death the felieity of his Adoption will fill his Soul with holy valour and accompany him to his Everlasting Glory Which joy no mortal fancy can conceive and is the highest works of our strongest Faith to think on and to prepare for CXLIV HE that can upon examination find such comfort in his Soul as to be ever ready and willing to appear at the day of Judgment must be enlightned and guided by the Holy Ghost and sanctified by a Spiritual Resurrection from sin to grace and from all worldly temptations so as his chief delight will be in a Divine conversation with God by frequent approaches for the continuance