of Faith one smile of Christ one glance of Heaven one grape of Canaan one glimpse of my Crown of Glory yields more sweetness comfort and content than all the pleasures and delights the World affords the very gleaning of spiritual joy is better than the vintage of carnal delights Let no man then stand off for want of pleasures for here he shall not lose them only change them LIV. Meditat. SOlomon tryed many Conclusions but not one took but the last the fear of God Oh my Soul thou mayest tire thy self with varieties of Objects but none satisfies but this the fruition of thy God he only is the plenary and primary goodness he only is the efficient and sufficient fulness As it was said of manna that it was the delight of every pallate so it may be said of Jesus Christ that he is satisfaction to every soul Taste therefore and see how sweet the Lord is What 's the reason we wander after such variety of Creatures Because we cannot find sufficiency in one were one herb as virtual or one flower as delectable as the Collection we would never trouble our selves to gather many Take up then thy rest Oh my Soul in the chiefest and choicest good which comprehends all other goods Those golden rayes of goodness which lye scattered in the Creature are only to be found conjunctively in God Those pure ingredients which goe in to make up the highest excellency largest goodness fullest perfection are onely to be found collectively in him Knowest thou any thing is profitable delectable or desirable in the Creature Thou mayest see it in thy God find it in thy Christ Art thou captivated He is thy Redeemer Art thou wounded he is thy good Samaritan Art thou broken-hearted Go unto Christ and he will bind it up Art thou sick He is thy Physician Art thou persecuted He is thy refuge Art thou hungry or thirsty He is the living bread and the flowing stream Art thou weary He is thy rest Art thou in want or poverty He is an inexhaustible treasury Art thou in disgrace or contempt Why he is thy honour Art thou dull and heavy He is a quickning Spirit Would'st thou have grace He is the fountain Would'st thou have Heaven He is the way he shall guide thee by his counsel and after receive thee into glory Let that mans name therefore be written in the dust that leaves the flowing Fountain to quench his thirst at a broken Cistern Why should I tire my self to gather drops of honey from so many dying flowers when I can satisfie my self with streams of sweetness in the living Christ Therefore Creatures in this you and I must part for Christ out-bids you all LV. Meditat. A Christian may raise another Paradise here below may make a lower Heaven on Earth for this is life eternal to know thee and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent To know Christ in the evidence of his love revealed to us and Christ revealed in us is the very entrance of Heaven for what is the perfection of grace but the fulness of this knowledge And what is the consummation of glory but the blessedness of this fulness Therefore Lord be every day adding to my knowledge that so at my last day I may be perfect LVI Meditat. GOdly Sorrow like weeping Mary seeks Christ Saving Faith like wrestling Jacob finds and holds Christ Heavenly Love like the affectionate Spouse dwells with Christ here it brings him into the chambers of the Queen and hereafter Christ brings the loving Soul into the chamber of the King so that it is an eternal grace alwayes lodging in the bosome of Christ Lord thou art the desire of my soul Oh that I could seek thee find and love thee that I may for ever enjoy thee LVII Meditat. THe stream of sorrow like waters ascends no higher than the spring from whence it came We know that sin gives two bloody stabs the first is at the soul of man the second is at the heart of Christ And if the first stab only grieve me if I mourn for sin as it only wounded my soul it is a sign this stream flows but from a natural heart because it ascends but to a natural heighth but if I weep for sin as it hath wounded Christ as it hath shed that blood that would save me as it hath pierced that heart that would love me then no question but the spring is in Heaven because it riseth to a super-natural ascent Lord that my sorrow may be sound pierce my heart for sin as it strikes through my soul and pierces Christ LVIII Meditat. MY life is sweet but my Christ must be sweeter to me than my life my soul is precious but Christ must be dearer to me than my soul my salvation is much but Christ must be more to me than my salvation Christ must be loved above all Nay were there no armes of mercy to receive me no Heaven of bliss to entertain me no weight of glory to crown me yet Christ must be loved above and without all these As it is a sign of a carnal love to follow Christ for the loaves so it is a sign of a base mercenary love to seek Christ for a reward that 's but an adulterate affection that affects the present more than the party loves the Ring more than her Beloved that choice cannot be cordial that aims only at a portion that love cannot he real that aims only at a benefit Lord thou art amiable in thy self Oh that I could love thee for thy self LIX Meditat. I Must not venture on a Duty unless I bring God to it nor rest satisfied unless I carry God from it Hear David's precept Oh seek the Lord and his strength seek his face for evermore Be sure thou rise not from duty before the countenance of God rise in mercy upon thy soul it must be Christ that must fit thee and it must be Christ that must meet thee or else it will be no Ordinance of comfort to thee What is the Chariot if thy Beloved be not in it Then here St. Bernard's practice Lord I never come to thee without thee I nerver goe from thee but with thee Oh blessed be that soul that never prayes hears or receives but carries Christ to all enjoyes Christ in all and brings Christ from all Lord in all my approaches to thee let me goe out in thy strength and return in thy presence LX. Meditat. OH my Soul Thou art alwayes striving yet sin alwayes stirring thou fearest the truth of grace because thou findest the working of sin but it will be alwayes thus thou canst not come out of Aegypt but Amalek will lay wait in the way the flesh will be sure to trouble thee although it be never able to conquer thee He therefore that sits down and is at rest in sin it is a sign that Satan is there the strong man because his Kingdom is in peace But where there 's any work with Christ there
Praise of those that were slain in the Wars by the Lacedemonians received this answer from him Quales igitur nostros esse putas qui istos vicerunt If those were such brave and valiant men what dost thou think that we are that overcame those What though now we read a sad relation of the potency and policy of our enemies and find the heavy experience of it yet how glorious and victorious dost thou think we shall one day be when in the strength of Christ we shall have overcome those enemies What though my assaults be many my enemies mighty if God strengthen me I have enough to comfort me for the greater my enemy the more glorious my victory and the more glorious my victory the more triumphant my glory LXXXIII Meditat. I Have seen some Christians that for ordinary losses have been inordinate in their mourning as if not only the Stream but the Fountain had been exhausted whereas if the understanding part of the soul did truly act it self it would reason thus What must the stream of my sorrow run altogether in this channel Is there no mourning to be made for sin What shall I suffer my heart to swim away in tears Are there no duties to be performed for God And do I not know that a sad heart cannot serve a good God I have lost the Creature but I must keep my God I have parted with an outward comfort but I shall meet it again with advantage in Jesus Christ I have lost something were it more were it all so that I were not the owner of any thing yet enjoying Christ I should be the possessor of all things The failing Stream shall but therefore send me to the flowing Fountain Thus did the soul put forth it self it would quickly sweeten those bitter waters and presently turn those tears into duties For my part I will mourn for the loss of the Creature but it shall be in the Cause which is Sin so shall my sorrow be godly and not worldly and I will never be satisfied till I make good the absence of the Creature but it shall be in the Fountain which is Christ so shall it be a gain and not a loss LXXXIV Meditat. T Is observed as a point of wisdome in Husbandry to set those Plants together that have an Antipathy in their natures and draw severall juyces out of the Earth therefore it is thought a Rose set by Garlick is sweeter because the more fetid juyce of the Earth goes into the Garlick and the more odorate into the Rose I am sure 't is true in spirituals therefore I wonder not why afflictions are the portion of the righteous for I see prosperity is too strong a sucker to exhaust and steal the spiritual sap and celestial vigour of the Soul and so to debilitate the principles of growth and life Whereas adversity hath a contrary extraction it only draws out what may be malignant and leaves behind it what may be for nourishment it takes the dregs and leaves the spirits whereby the soul is elevated and made more fruitful in the works of holiness Therefore Lord so I may but grow if the Flowers of the World be too succulent transplant me among the Bryars LXXXV Meditat. WHen I look up to Heaven how oft do I both see the Sun shine and set When I look down into my soul how oft do I see my comfort rise and fall Eye but that Ship which now seems to touch the clouds and you shall see it in the depth anon as if it would be swallowed by the waves One while a Christian is upon mount Tabor and hath a glance of Heaven another while lyes in the valley of Bochim weeping because he hath lost the sight of his Country Joshuah's long day is many times turn'd into Paul's sad night God would quicken our affections therefore now and then he gives us a glance of Heaven that so we might be in love with what we see and now and then he draws a black veil over that bright vision that so we might not loath what we did love He suffers our happiness here to be imperfect that so we may be pressing on to that place where we shall be perfectly happy Lord when thou shewest thy self let me love thee and when thou withdrawest thy self let me follow thee and under all these changes here let my soul be always breathing panting longing and reaching after thee till I shall so perfectly enjoy thee that I may never lose thee LXXXVI Meditat. WHere the King is there is the Court and where the presence of God is there is Heaven Art thou in Prison with St. Paul and Silas If God be with thee thou wilt sing thy Hallelujahs Art thou at the Stake with blessed Martyrs As the beams of the Sun puts out the fire so the beams of Gods Countenance puts out the flames and turns their troubles into comforts so that 't is but winking and thou art in Heaven Therefore that soul that enjoyes the Lord though it may want the Sun or Moon to shine in Creatures comforts worldly delights to solace it yet it needs them not for the glory of God doth enlighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof God himself irradiates it with the brightness of his beauty and Christ himself fills it with joy unspeakable and full of glory This God brings his Heaven with him and that man that enjoyes God carries Heaven about him so that here is his happiness cast him in a Dungeon in a Furnace when you please yet he is still in Heaven Therefore for my part Lord give me thy self and then deal how thou pleasest with me LXXXVII Meditat. MArk the wicked man though his Intrat may be Comical his Exit is alwayes Tragical Belshazzar in his first Scene is revelling out his time in sin and pleasure feasting carousing with his Concubines in the vessels of the Lord but view him in the Catastrophe and you shall find the hand writing and him trembling Darius rending away his Kingdom and Death snatching away his Life If you look upon the entrance of a wicked man his gates are riches his seats honours his paths pleasures he goes delicately fares deliciously every day he hath more than hart can wish But wait his going out and see a sad conclusion in a moment he goes down to Hell The man is cast out from God as an everlasting curse Destruction closes her mouth upon him and his place beholds him no more His body is wrapt in the dust his soul is buried in the flames and his name is covered with darkness But now behold the perfect man it may be thou mayest see a few tragical Scenes the World hating mocking persecuting him but the end of that man is peace Though he may come forth weeping yet he goes off rejoycing Though he come forth combating yet he goes out triumphing so that the Saints and Angels clap their hands for joy When I therefore judge of a happy
see him clearly and directly face to face and enjoy his immediate communion with Jesus Christ We shall then be like him indeed when we shall see him as he is our bodies shall be like his our souls shall be like his our glory shall be like his our eternity shall be like his who is the God of beauty excellency and sweetness concord happiness and eternity Oh Lord let me have such clear visions such sweet fruitions of thee that I may not only hereafter be happy as thou art happy but may likewise now be holy as thou art holy XCVI Meditat. THe life of Faith is the noblest richest contentedst easiest truest life of all It is the noblest life for it takes the Soul out of the house of Adam and carries it into the houshould of God it makes the Soul forget her Fathers house and espouseth it to the King of Glory And then it is the pleasantest life it lives upon the choicest excellency and highest felicity often wrapt up in the third Heaven to take its repast in inexpressible glory it walks in the paths of pleasantuess and under all the heats of troubles and afflictions it shades it self under the Arbour of Paradise And then it is the richest life if our desires be according to our wants it is impossible we should want above what we desire Tantum quisque habet quantum credit Every man hath saith a Father according to his faith And be it unto thee according to thy faith saith Christ And then it is the contentedst life it carries the fading creature and layes him upon Christ and under all mutabilty still holds fast all-sufficiency and so sits down contentedly Then is it the easiest life Faith looks not on the strictness or difficulty of duty but on the power and strength of Christ therefore if it meet with a hard precept it dissolves it into a sweet promise it carries it to a loving Christ pleads it out till he hath drawn out a proportionable strength to facilitate and make easie the duty In fine it is the truest and the onlyest life for he is dead in sin that doth not live by faith therefore as one said Non vivere sed valere vita est Not to live but to be well is life So may I say Not to live well only but to believe is to live and to live well indeed XCVII Meditat. IF God be the highest perfection in himself and the highest good to the creature then it is the highest wisdome of the creature to choose him and the highest piece of his duty to live in observance of him If all creatures must certainly appear before this great Majesty and bow unto him I admire the wisdome of the godly and wonder at the folly of the wicked And seeing this certainly and of necessity must be Lord let me be of the number of those that choose thee here so as for ever hereafter I may enjoy thee and not as the number of those that refuse thee here and must for ever hereafter be separated from thee XCVIII Meditat. GRaces are the very Courtiers of Heaven those wait upon Christ in his privy Chamber Honour Riches Credit and the like may do much below you may keep out your betters here but in the Pallace of the King of Glory you must stand by for ever It is only Faith Love Humility and the like that shall have admittance into the Presence Chamber moral vertues you must likewise walk without All that goe bravely are not qualified for such a Presence you are but Splendida peccata beautifull Abominations base Hearts wrapped up in brave cloaths Parts and Gifts you may stay and wait at the gates but I can tell you there is a special Command gone forth that none but Grace and Holiness shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven therefore you may receive your answer if you please only these are welcome to the King of Glory only these are familiar and conversant with Jesus Christ Therefore as the Queen of Sheba said of the servants of Solomon so may 〈◊〉 say of the Graces of Gods Spirit which are only the retainers of Jesus Christ Oh! happy are these thy men and happy are these thy servants O God which stand continually before thee and hear thy Wisdome and see thy Glory True love doth not only preserve every heavenly motion of the Soul but raiseth the Soul â—t self to the highest perfection The more I love the more I shall be beloved and the fuller participation shall I have of him who is altogether lovely St. Bernard speaks fully to it Summum bonum amare est summa beatitudo To love the chiefest good is the greatest happiness The purest and the fullest love shall alwayes wear the weightiest Crown of glory Lord perfect this Grace in me that so I may be perfect in loving thee XCIX Meditat. THe Israelites must first pass over Jordan before they can land in Canaan but no sooner did the feet of the Priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant rest in the water but the proud waves saw it and fled and the swelling streams were driven back and laid in heaps to make them pass over safe and well So every child of God is like an Israelite in the Wilderness of this World travelling to the Land of Promise Death is that Jordan that runs between this wilderness and our Canaan it is that swelling stream that over-flows the banks of every mortal creature it is that last River which must be passed over But this is the happiness of a Child of God That Jesus Christ our High Priest that bears the everlasting Covenant on his shoulders hath already dipt his feet in the brims of this water insomuch that the streams of bitterness are diverted the sting of death pluck'd out the water of the salt Sea is dryed up and the power of the curse cut off so that death is but a sure step unto glory Why then am I afraid to dye the channel is dry and I see the footsteps of my Saviour in the bottom and Heaven and Happiness on the other side so that the waters shall not go over my Soul they may goe over my sins they may goe over my miseries they may goe over my troubles but my Soul shall goe over to its rest Lord therefore fit and sanctifie me for my removal and then take down my Tent I cannot be too soon with thee C. Meditat. HEre the Vessel is too capacious to be filled with all the pleasures and delights the world can lay together but hereafter our pleasures and delights shall be too full for the most capacious Vessel to comprehend our Glory shall be so great that power as well as goodness shall come forth from God himself for to renew and enlarge these Vessels that so they may be capable to receive and retain that glory strength and love shall goe forth together for to prepare and raise our dispositions that they may be suitable for such a transcendent
of mercy If God do so much for a Slave on Earth what will he do in Heaven for a Son Therefore ye holy ones that are so offended at the flourishing of the wicked Oh leave your envy and see your glory for Heaven lyes above ground As the adversity of the Saints shall therefore give me a glimpse of Hell so the prosperity of the wicked shall give me a glance of Heaven LXX Meditat. GOd hath made all things for his elect and his elect for himself All is yours and you are Christs I will therefore serve my God in all things my self in nothing LXXI Meditat. THe Creature hath a goodness in it no further than it stands in reference to the chiefest good if you cut the stream off from the fountain it will quickly lose its sweetness pureness and it self at length the comforts and enjoyments of the wicked because they flow not from the spring of love they are but like dainty Channels mudded and imbittered with the wrath of God fading Brooks which at length will make the soul ashamed so that he which only enjoyes the creature in it self shall lose the creature and himself The purest and the sweetest mercies only run in the rivulets which are fed by the upper celestial springs of mercy Therefore O Lord Whatsoever I enjoy let it stream from the fountain of thy love and flow to me in the blood of thy Son LXXII Meditat. AS the Rivers which flow from the Sea run back again into the Sea So those blessings wich come from God must alwayes be employed for God What I have received from God in his mercy he must have it back again in his glory Therefore Lord Whatever I enjoy let me find thee in it and serve thee with it LXXIII Meditat. LOve should alwayes be the life of motion Amor meus pondus meum eo terror quocunque terror That soul goes true that hath true love to way it and that soul loves truly that hath a true object to center it a gracious spirit loves the Lord not because he does good but because he is good I will not weigh that friends affection that loves a fluent sweetness before an inherent goodness that soul that loves Christ for himself though you take away all weights else yet there is strength enough in love to move and constrain the soul O blessed be that Saint Lord that 's so taken with thy love that can truly say Were there neither Heaven nor Hell yet sin should be my Hell and holiness my Heaven LXXIV Meditat. TO speak the truth our Life what is it but a vital death The Poet being asked What he did Answered very well Paulatim morior I dye by little and little We do but then begin to live indeed when we begin to live to God our life before is but a race to the sepulcher but when we live to God then we are in our way to eternity As Alexander when he reckoned up his age counted not his years but his victories so when I take an account of my life I will not reckon up my time but my duties LXXV Meditat. O Thou precious Saint thou gracious Soul Three questions calls for thy answer thy answer for thy praise 1. What wast thou 2. What art thou 3. What shalt thou be 1. What wast thou A Rebel to thy God a Prodigal to thy Father a Slave to thy Lust an Alien from the Common-wealth of Israel 2. What art thou The Son of God the Spouse of Christ the Temple of the Holy Ghost begotten of the Immortal Seed born of the Blood Royal of Heaven made free among the Denizens of Sion written among the living of Jerusalem 3. What shalt thou be A glorious Saint a Companion of Cherubins a triumphant Victor a crowned King and an Attendant on the Lamb wheresoever he goeth a spectator of those soul-ravishing and ineffable excellencies that are in God the beholding of the King of glory face to face and enjoying immediate communion with Jesus Christ Nay more made one with Jesus Christ cloathed with his excellencies enthroned with his glories crowned with his eternity filled with his felicity The glory which thou hast given me I have given them Oh! Stand amazed at free grace and seeing God hath made thy soul a vessell filled with his mercy make thy self thy life a spring flowing with his praise LXXVI Meditat. THe Soul takes its rise from every creature to Heaven When I see the Stars Lord I think if one Star be of such magnitude what are the dimensions of those Heavens in which so many are fixed Nay how immensible is that God whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain When I see the Sun I think if one Sun make such a glorious and lustrious day what a glorious Heaven will that be wherein every Saint shall be a Sun and every Sun so farr brighter than this as this is brighter than our bodies And yet all these Suns are but a shadow to the Sun of righteousness Again when I consider the rising Sun how by the perfection of his beams he puts beauty life and joy upon the face of the whole Creation paints the Flowers guilds the Corn puts a flourish upon the Plants chears and exhillarates the Birds and makes the Valleys shout for joy I then think what shall be the shining beauty and soul ravishing delights of that soul upon which the brightness of thy glory shall fully rise and rest and into which the glorious splend our of thy beauty shall clearly shine to all eternity And when I consider the Air this is my thought That as here I cannot think at all unless I draw in this Air so I cannot think well at all except thou puts goodness into my thought Lord When I view the variety of thy Creatures and see one excell in beauty another in strength another in wisdome another in love and of others in swiftness Lord I think these are but beams of thy brightness and streams of thy fulness as they had only their being from thy hand so they have only their perfection in thy essence here they are mixt but there they are pure how happy then shall that soul be that enjoyes all perfection in God and God infinitely above all Lord I see stately buildings shady groves and crystal brooks and pleasant meadows and yet perhaps a wicked man the owner why then I think if Simeon goes away with such a mess what will Benjamin's portion be If the Children of the Concubines have so large a gift what shall be the inheritance of a Son of Promise Again when I look upon my self in temporals Lord I bless thee that I have a convenient sufficiency a goodly heritage my tents are by the wells of Elim my portion is from the hands of thy wisdome and though corruption may think it of the least yet wisdome it self knows it to be best Now Lord if thou givest me so much in the time of my vanity what wilt thou do
for me in the day of my glory But above all that sweet communion I enjoy with God those glorious rayes which shine from the face of Christ those ravishing joyes that flow from the wells of Salvation sets me upon the top of Nebo and gives me the largest view of my happiness For if the Lord give me so choice a mercy for my earnest how rich a blessing shall I have for mine inheritance If this be the first fruits what shall be the full harvest If the Lord let me have such a glorious beam in my Prison what a glorious Sun shall shine in my Palace If there be such a joy in the expectation of what I shall be what a happiness shall there be in the consummation of what I shall be LXXVII Meditat. ANaxagoras being asked What he thought he was born for Answered Vt Coelum contemplar That I may meditate upon Heaven Oh my Soul what dost thou think thou wast re-born for Is it not that thou mayest live in Heaven God hath made thee to enjoy communion with himself thou needest not stay one hour on Earth but with Enoch spend thy dayes with God walk and converse with Jesus Christ in the galleries of his love with Moses live on the mount of glory Why then my dear Soul art thou one hour out of Heaven Oh live so strictly and walk so closely with God that thou mayest say with David Whether I awake in the morning or whether I walk abroad in the day I am ever with thee LXXVIII Meditat. LOrd How near wilt thou bring me to thy self Must I abide in thee and thou in me Must we be of one soul and of one spirit Is it not enough that I must alwayes repose my self in the bosome of thy sweetest affections that I should alwayes be enclosed in the embraces of thy choicest love that I should be ever wrapt up in the bowels of thy tenderest mercies But must I so dwell with thee and wilt thou so dwell in me as to be made an equal sharer in thy bliss a partmer in thy glory What is man that thou shouldest so regard him What am I that thou shouldest so remember me Lord let thy mercies so constrain me that all my affections may run out unto thee and all my strength may run out for thee LXXIX Meditat. EVery real Christian is the spiritual Temple of the living God Worldly cares and earthly desires are the buyers and the sellers that pollute this Temple Now what an unworthy part is this to make the House of God a Den of Thieves what an Idolatrous sin is this to set up Dagon by the Ark a Lust by Christ Again Every Member is a Vessel of that Temple Now what a debasing thing is this to take these golden Vessels with that drunken King and employ them to a sordid use To take that Heart which should be filled with God and fill it with Lust Those Ears which should be alwayes ready to hear what God shall speak to lay them open to a detracting tale a foolish jest That Tongue that should be setting out the praises and must hereafter be singing forth that sweet triumphant Hallelujah for to defile it now with idle speeches lying words What a sacrilegious thing is this to let forth Gods vessels to sin and Gods roomes to lust O Lord therefore what thou takest to be thy own owne rule and use it as thy own LXXX Meditat. MY Duties are then upright with God when they turn me into the very nature of themselves It was St. Jerome's praise of Nepolitan That by his continual reading and daily meditation he made his breast the very library of Christ This is the praise of a Christian when he shall see here that the word abideth in him it is as it were incorporated into him when he shall so read as that he shall make himself a living Epistle so that the world may read again in his life what he hath read before in the World when he shall so bless God as to make himself his praise when he shall so pray as that every petition shall as so many living veins run through his practice when his duties shall be the fire and his life the incense this is the only sweet acceptable sacrifice till worship is distill'd into practice it is but an empty cloud till duties are as vitals in our walkings they are but dead performances Lord therefore let my duties receive life from thy Spirit and let my walkings receive life from those duties LXXXI Meditat. I Read of Bazil that he perswaded himself if he were in the Wilderness free from the company of men he should be happy and serve God more devoutly but when he came there he said I have forsaken all things but yet I retain my old heart I have often sought the privatest place for duty and have often prest to hear the best men and to enjoy the best means thinking to have gained much ground in the advantages of the Place and of the Ordinance and yet Lord I have got but little good because I still carry with me a bad heart this is the that Remora that stayes my Ship in its course to Heaven So that I find it is not he with St. Bazil that treads the paths of retiredness that grows in grace but he that with that Father walks first into the cloysters of his own heart in the secret places and crooked turning of his own spirit it is not he that comes to the pure Ordinances that advances his Communion with God but it is he that brings a pure heart Lord I have often searched my heart and still my heart deceiveth me in the search Oh! come and fit my heart for every duty that every duty may fit for thy self LXXXII Meditat. PRinces combate with flesh and blood Christians wrestle with Principalities and Powers their warrs give dayes of truce ours not a minute of Cessation Conditions of peace there may cause retreat nothing but death here can raise the siege Kings if overcome may save themselves by flight but Christians may as soon flye from themselves as from their enemies whatsoever may make a battel dangerous here it is whether policy potency cruelty or perpetuity Not only the powers of Earth but all the forces and stratagems of Hell are alwayes charged upon thy soul so that a Christian is not in a Garrison of rest but in a Field of conflict and he cannot let fall his hands but Amalek prevails Not to be a conquerour is to be a prisoner not to winn the field is to lose the soul security wounds thee yielding kills thee nothing but victory crowns thee therefore watch as for thy life sight as for thy soul the time will come these enemies thou seest to day thou shalt see them no more for ever when thou shalt lay down thy Sword and take up thy Palm and solemnize thy victory in glory to perpetuity A certain man rehearsing a sad Oration to Aristotle in
never enter into the Kingdom of God no soul shall rest in Heaven hereafter but those that walk in Heaven here no soul shall enter into the gates of felicity but only that which treads the narrow paths of piety Lord make me holy as well as happy that I may love as well to glorifie thee as to be glorified of thee XLIV Meditat. THere be many to morrow Christians that set their day with God at such a day they will repent and not before as if they had the Lordship of Time and the Monopoly of Grace whereas Time and Grace are only at Gods disposing As St. Ambrose saith Poenitenti indulgentiam sâ—d dilaturo diem crastinum non promisit God hath promised pardon to the penitent but he hath not promised to morrow to the negligent As Saint Augustine saith Qui dat poenitenti veniam non semper dabit peccanti poenitentiam He that gives pardon to the penitent doth not alwayes give repentance to the sinner If I put God off to day he may put off me to morrow if I put off this hour of grace I may never have another gracious hour to day if I put by his hand of Mercy to morrow he may stretch out his hand of Justice It is true whil'st I have time I may come in but it is also true when I would come in I may not have time This is certain when I repent I shall have mercy but this is as certain when I would have mercy I may not find repentance O Lord thou hast given me this hour of grace to repent in Give me grace in this hour to repent with XLV Meditat. GOod Lord What a shaddow is the life of man What a nothing is it The time past that 's nothing just like a Bird fled from the hand of the Owner out of sight The time present that 's vanishing a running hour nay less a flying minute as good as nothing The time to come that 's uncertain the evening Sun may see us dead Lord Therefore in this hour make me sure of thee for in the next I am not sure of my self XLVI Meditat. ALexander when he had divided his wealth among his friends and being ask'd What he had reserved for himself Answered Hope He is a rare Christian indeed that can part with all for Christ and live by faith but when it comes to this that we must lose what we have here out of hope to find it again in Heaven the running Professor stops and goes back sorrowful Crates in his way to Philosophy threw his goods into the Sea to save himself saying Fgo vos mergam ne ipse mergar à vobis I had rather drown you than that you should drown me For he thought riches and vertue were incompatible But how many Christians are there that in their way to Jesus Christ throw away themselves and their souls to save their gold Before they will cast their bread upon the waters they will throw themselves into the Ocean many that make such specious shews of following of Christ in this same turning you may know their Master but this is a truth he hath no part at all in Christ that will not part with all for Christ and he lives but the life of sence that cannot make a living out of a promise Therefore Lord of what I have freely take thou what thou callest for Christ is my portion and reward I have enough to live on XLVII Meditat. WHen I look into the Treasures of men perhaps I see Chests of Plate Baggs of Gold Cabinets of Jewels but this is the misery of it that when he goes abroad he cannot carry them without a burthen or leave them without a fear But here now is the excellency of a Child of God that his treasure is alwayes in him and it is his happiness to carry it alwayes with him that as it is transcendent for riches being the fulness of God so it is likewise permanent for continuance because he is filled with that fulness insomuch that you may sooner rend his soul from his body than take his treasure from his soul This was that which sweetned the loss of Country-house and friends to Ovid in his exile the thoughts of his Genius the riches of his ingenous spirit was beyond the riches of Caesar's malice and this is that which refresheth the spirit of a Christian in all troubles and afflictions that he meets with in the Land of banishment he hath the possession of Jesus Christ whom he can never lose Oh the excellency of a Child of God! Though you cast him out of all yet you cannot cast any thing of this all out of him But as Bâ—as that Princely Philosopher said when he lost his City and was put to flight being asked by those that fled with him with their bagg and baggage Why he likewise took not something with him Answered Omnia mea mecum porto I carry all my riches with me meaning his Wisdom and his vertues So a Christian though you impoverish him banish him and cast him out of all yet he is able to say still Omnia mea mecum porto I carry all my treasure with me I have my Christ my fulness And truly Lord so thou wilt possess me with this all I care not though I am dispossessed of all XLVIII Meditat. LEgal dayes were but like winter dayes dark and cloudy sharp and stormy and yet how many of our Fathers travelled to Heaven in those dayes But Gospel-times they are like Summer dayes sweet and clear full of light and beauty so that we may truly say that God hath not been as a cloud of darkness to us for these are the dayes of grace that are full of the beams of mercy yet how slowly and sadly do many of us goe to Heaven But which is worse how sadly and slightly do we waste these precious dayes and neglect these golden opportunities Oh what time shall that soul find to repent in that shall be hardned in these melting times Oh what dayes shall that soul find to goe to Heaven in that shall idle away these Gospel-dayes Oh what grace shall that man find for sin that shall sin away the dayes of grace Oh to whom shall that soul appeal that shall renounce Jesus Christ Oh woe unto that soul for ever upon which the shaddows of death and of the evening are stretched out and yet never set forth for Heaven But wofuller is that man to whom the clearer and sweeter day doth only make the blacker and the sadder Hell Oh what blackness of darkness is reserved for that soul that shall walk in darkness in the midst and under such clearness of light We are those that are not only lifted up to Heaven but Heaven is let down to us Oh how long shall that man lye in Hell that Heaven presseth down Oh thou Gospel-Christian Thou art now under the clear demonstrations of Christ the sweet invitations of mercy the large manifestations of love look
man I 'le wait his end I care not for his entrance LXXXVIII Meditat. EArthly riches were they true riches yet they are not ours or were they ours yet they were not true because they are unuseful to the soul Nay for the most part our golden heaps are but the miserable spoyls of precious souls Dives aut malus est aut haeres mali And then they are not ours because we cannot carry them with us when we leave the World Thou fool this night shall thy soul be taken from thee c. And then thou shalt quickly know whose thy soul shall be which thou hast by these things so sinfully abused but thou shalt never know whose these things shall be which thou hast so miserably provided When we awake at the last day we shall find nothing of all those things in our hands Those things that are of the World saith St. Ambrose we shall leave them behind us in the World only vertue is the companion of the dead these things shall fail us but our good works shall follow us and abide with us for ever Would'st thou be truly rich Be not only in getting of goods but in doing of good raise vertue out of vanity so shalt thou lay up goods indeed for eternity LXXXIX Meditat. I Have not farr to my home therefore I need not make much provision for my way food and rayment will be sufficient for my journey superfluity will but prove a burden While Jacob had only his staffe he went on freely in his way but when he had his flocks and herds he drives but slowly We see it daily that rich men either lose their paths or â—â—d but little ground while poor men run the wayes of Gods Commandments I am well enough if I have but enough to carry me well to Heaven I will therefore desire no more than what will mend my pace and serve me in my journey XC Meditat. WE must not presume upon the means without God nor upon God without the means Not upon the means without God because the Pipe cannot convey except the Spring communicate not upon God without the meanes because the goings forth of providence are always in the paths of diligence Therefore in the assault of Amalek whilst Moses goes to prayer Joshua must goe and fight so in the proceedings of Christians Faith should alwayes be upon the mount and Industry in the valley While the heart is lifted up the hand shauld be stretched out He only may rest in God that hath been restless in the means He that can fully lay out himself in Gods way may confidently lay up his faith in Gods providence I must sow my seed and wait upon the clouds do my work and leave the event to God I must neither be idle in the means nor make an Idol of the means I will therefore henceforth lay my hands to the means as if they were all in all and yet raise my eye above the means as if they were nothing at all XCI Meditat. CIcero spake at random when he said Ad decus libertatem nati sumus We are born to liberty and honour It is thou O regenerate Soul that art born a Child of Love and Heir of Glory Thou art he O excellent Saint that art cloathed with the Sun and crowned with the Stars and reckoned among the Angels of God O think upon thy dignity and consider Will an Emperour live like a Beggar Is it a becoming thing for those that are cloathed in Scarlet to embrace a Dunghill Am I born of God and shall I live like a man Hath God raised my Spirits with the highest excellencies and shall I stain my Nobleness with poor empty vanities May I feed upon a Christ and shall I feed upon Dust Shall I sit to judge the World and shall I be a Drudge to the World Hath Christ prepared for me a Mansion in the Heavens and shall I be groveling in the Earth Am I a Child of light and shall I commit the works of darkness No as Seneca says I am born to great and higher things than to be a slave unto Lust or a drudge unto the World XCII Meditat. PUre Love runs clearly out of it self into the bosome of the object that 's beloved heavenly Love centres no lower than Heaven it self it is only God it loves and it is only in God it lives if it loves a beam it is only as it stands in reference to the Sun if it loves the creature it is only as it 's a step to advance it nearer God Lord I would not care for Heaven were it not for thee neither would I love my self were I not in thee CXIII Meditat. HEaven is the very Element and Christ is the Center of every gracious soul Heaven only is the breathing place and Christ only is the resting-place there 's the place of its respiration and here 's the seat of its repose it canot live out of that Element and it cannot rest out of this Center it is alwayes struggling till it gets to Heaven always rolling till it comes to Chirst Return unto thy rest O my Soul saith David Lord let me draw no breath but that which I fetch from Heaven and never let me rest till I rest in thee XCIV Meditat. I See Man is not only contented with a beeing but is still aspiring to an eminency in that beeing as Plants are continually growing up till they come to that maturity which makes them perfect So Man he is alwayes pressing forward till he comes to his proposed end he thinks will make him happy O my Soul God is the end and excellency and thy happiness lyes in moving forward till thou come to thy perfection Be thou alwayes rising untill thou comest to rest in the bosome of the Lord. XCV Meditat. THe closer association that we have here with Christ the nearer assimilation we shall have to Christ Moses did but talk with God and how did his face shine with a beam of God You may quickly know a soul that doth converse and is familiar with Jesus Christ you shall see it shining forth with the glories of Christ as Wisdome makes the face to shine so Jesus Christ he makes the soul to shine so that he that judiciously looks upon him can divine that soul hath met with and seen the Lord. I see by the strong reflects of the beams of righteousness that he hath been long in viewing of the Sun of righteousness he carries the very Image of Christ upon him and the very beauties of Christ about him he looks like Christ speaks like Christ walkes like Christ he lives like Christ he is just like Christ and knows he comes from Christ That soul that is always beholding the glory of the Lord shall be changed into the same Image from glory to glory If that soul be so glorious that beholds God darkly reflectively as in a glass and enjoyes God at a distance how glorious shall that soul be that shall
to it thou shalt goe either to Heaven or to Hell upon the easiest or hardest terms XLIX Meditat. ME-thinks I hear six voices cry aloud The first voice is of dying man The second is the voice of the Damned The third is the voice of my precious Soul The fourth is the voice of Jesus Christ The fifth is the voice of Evil times The sixth is the voice of the Day of Judgement First Methinks I hear dying man breathing out these groans Oh lose not a moment of time for thy time is but a moment Oh now make sure of Heaven for thou knowest not how soon thou must leave the Earth And then methings I hear the damned man roaring forth these lamentations Oh! Come and see the end of sin in these that know no end of sorrow Oh come and learn thy price of time from those that must for ever suffer for the loss of time And then me-thinks I hear my precious Soul using these expostulations Oh my Body What a fool am I to satisfie thy lusts thou art but for a moment of time but I must endure for ever when thou art wrapt up in rottenness where shall I spend my eternity I might now get Heaven for my Mansion Angels for my Companions God for my Possession and dost thou think I will lose my felicity to satisfie thy dainty Is it not better that I should carry thee to Heaven than that thou shouldest carry me with thee to Hell And then me-thinks I hear Jesus Christ using these invitations Behold I stand at the door and knock till my head is filled with dew and my locks with the dew of the night here I stand weeping knocking begging and waiting Oh open to me My tears begg my tears knock my blood knocks my groans knock Oh open to me My patience knocks and waits Oh open to me Let not sin lodge in thy heart and Christ wait at the door let not damnation rule within salvation wait without And then me-thinks Evil times use their invitations Oh now be living Christians for these are dying dayes Oh now be growing Christians for these are back-sliding times Oh now make Jesus Christ thine own for here thou knowest not what is thine own And then lastly me-thinks I hear the voice of the Archangel summoning the dead to come forth to judgment Arise ye holy and blessed Saints take your places with God and his holy Angels to judge the World Arise ye cursed naked Souls and take your standing in the sight of God and of his blessed Saints to be judged as you lived in the World Oh Lord let me hear with fear the first voices that I may not fear to hear the last voice L. Meditat. IN every choice we cannot take except we leave That Soul that chooseth life and grace refuseth all things else This is the heavenly breathing of such a gracious spirit Lord Let vain man follow vain fashions but cloath me with salvation and cover me with the robes of righteousness let them be all glorious without but let me be all glorious within let them crown themselves with rose-buds but crown me as thou dost thy Church with the Stars of Heaven these shall shine when those shall fade Let the wicked goe away with the World let them have all the sweetness beauties glories and excellencies of the Earth but let Jesus Christ be my portion There all things else are nothing at all where Christ is all in all therefore be serious Oh my Soul for thou hast none of Christ untill thou canst truly say None but Christ LI. Meditat. THree things methinks should make the heart of a Christian to tremble First To consider the brevity of their life Secondly The difficulty of their Work Thirdly The eternity of their end Our life is but a withering flower a flying cloud a vanishing shaddow a perishing breath the body returneth to the dust and the soul goeth suddenly to its long home the night instantly cometh when no man can work But now What work is to be done in this short inch of time Great enemies to be conquered Sons of Anach to be killed Principalities and powers to be over-powred dear lusts to be subdued right eyes to be plucked out right hands to be cut off strict rules to be followed a narrow way and strait gate to goe through to summ it up a long race to be run with a short breath a great way to be gone by a setting Sun But then What are we to expect when this Taper is out this breath is expired Even as we have sowed so to reap either to be eternally crowned or eternally damned Now therefore before the Sun be set or the shadow of the evening be stretched out whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdome in the grave whither thou goest Oh Lord help me so to work for thee in this moment of time that I may for ever rest with thee when time shall be no more LII Meditat. YOu have heard of the bloody Seige of Troy and yet it was said of Hellen that she was so beautiful that she deserved ten years War more and what was Hellen but a glorious heap of Clay You have heard of the hard labours of Jacob yet Rachel was so amiable in his eyes that he thought her worthy of fourteen years service If these deserved so much Oh what doth Jesus Christ deserve who is altogether lovely before whose shining glory the beauty of the whole Creation is but an indigested Chaos Therefore be not discouraged Oh my Soul though thine enemies be fierce thy assaults cruel thy resistance even unto blood thou fightest for a beautiful Christ that deserves it Neither be dis-heartened Oh my Soul though rules be strict duties hard thy labours great thou servest for an amiable Christ that will sufficiently reward it Look but upon the lovely beauties of thy Christ think but upon the glorious day of thine espousal and these fourteen years will be nothing to thee Lord let me alwayes have thy beauty in mine eye so shall I quickly find no difficulty in my hand LIII Meditat. I Have formerly with the World accounted the spirit of a Christian to be a melancholly spirit and the ways of holiness only unpleasant paths leading to the deserts of sad retiredness But now I see they have hidden Manna which the World knows not of glorious joyes which strangers do not meddle with and the closer and exacter they walk the fuller and sweeter are their joyes Formerly the very thoughts of parting with my pleasures and delights to embrace soul-humbling self-denying duties were grievous to me but now I bless my God I can say with Augustine Quà m suave suavitatibus istis carere Oh how sweet is it to want my former sweetness It is now my rejoycing to be without my former joyes for now I see there is a Heaven in the way to Heaven and that one look