soule goeth for certainly it shall bee with God for ever in Heaven where it shall enjoy the society of all the blessed Saints and Angels where it shall have riches honour peace and plenty where this soule shall bee ravished in her fruition which fruition like herselfe shall bee everlasting MEDITAT XX. Meditations of the joyes of Heaven reserved for the godly THe joyes that are prepared for the Elect are infinite beyond the capacity of any mortall man to conceive but so farre as they are revealed in the holy Scripture I may safely set downe here First that as soone as thy soule is departed from the body it goeth to Heaven where thou shalt see God thy Creator and Protector the Sonne thy Redeemer and Intercessor the Holy Ghost thy comforter and directer where thou shalt see Angels Archangels Vertues Powers Principalities Dominations Thrones Cherubins and Seraphins and these are a multitude of the heavenly hoast who are alway praysing God Thou shalt see the Celestiall Citizens arrayed in comely Robes of linnen pure and white like their innocency These are the soules of just and perfect men which even in the very in stant of departure from this life are presented by the Angels to their Saviour and by him adorned with these invaluable Robes of Righteousnesse Here mayest thou see the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Virgins and besides these an innumerable multitude of all Nations Kindreds and People and Tongues standing before the Throne of God and before the Lamb with palmes in their hands in token of assured victory and crying with a loud voice Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb And thou mayest heare all the Angels answering and saying Blessing and glory and wisdome and thanksgiving and honour and power and might bee unto God for ever and ever when God shall wipe away all teares from thine eyes and there shall bee no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away Oh God! what soule would not desire to be uncloathed to be cloathed upon to be at rest with thee to enjoy all this happines which farre exceeds any happines we can possibly thinke off Be joyfull and glad O my soule for thou hast a Kingdome provided for thee a Crowne of glory a place where all joy and blisse abounds This world is but dung and drosse in comparison of it therefore mind not the world nor worldly things but let thy conversation be in Heaven let thy sole delight be there think upon it continually and give thy soule no ease nor rest till it attaine that eternall rest MEDITAT XXI Meditations of mans vain mispending his time HOw comes it to passe that many men set their hearts and sole delight upon the world and worldly things neglecting the service of God and their souls good spending the greatest part of their time in carking and caring how they shall gaine riches being never satisfied with that portion of meanes God hath lent them but coveting for more and more as if they made this world the end of their happinesse Others there are that spend most of their time in the pleasures and delights of the world as if they were sent hither to no other end and purpose but to serve their own vaine wills and filthy desires sporting and delighting themselves in courting of women in chambring and wantonnesse in lusts and evill affections setting their hearts wholly upon the pleasures and delights of the world and so trifle out their owne time Suâ—e these men know not what the power of religion is for if they did they would consider that this is no abiding place they must not remaine here long this is not their home their home is Heaven But let me tell this sort of men they are travellers and pilgrims and if they loyter and wander out of the way perhaps they may come short of home O God what soul content can these men have when they shall consider seriously how they have spent their time what account will they make when thou O God shalt reckon with them for all the sinnes that ever they committed what a sad and dismall day will that be when they will not be able to answer one of a thousand how terrible will it be to thinke on the torments of Hell where there is nothing but howling and crying weeping and gnashing of teeth and where those torments shall be everlasting how sad will they be to thinke how they have neglected the service of God and their souls good in pleasing themselves with their ungodly vanities Consider these things in time all yee that forget God and be sure to spend your time in his service casting away all covetous desires and worldly vanities then shall you bee right Pilgrims and Travellers indeed and shall never goe out of your way your journey shall bee pleasant and delightfull to the end your home shall be Heaven and your entertainment shall be riches honour delight and pleasures for evermore Such as eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor ever hath entred into the heart of man what God hath prepared for them that love him MEDITAT XXII Meditations on the sight of a pleasant Garden MEE thinkes when I come into a faire and pleasant Garden and see the infinit varieties of flowers and herbs I cannot but admire the wonderfull goodnesse of God his power wisdome and love to mankinde I cannot but consider that these things had never been but for the bountifull providence of the Almighty intending the good of his creature man How pleasant and delightfull are these flowers to the eye we see various sorts of them yet not one like the other See the rarenesse of their dresse the beauteous variety of their colours how richly they are set forth and shadowed no Painter in the world is able to come neare them for excellency Art is but Natures ape doe but pluck them and make them into a Nose-gay and you shall see a most glorious shew and the scent of them will infinitly delight you See the different sorts of herbs they are all greene and yet if you view them well you shall find them all differ both in colour and fashion How pleasant and delightfull are they to the eye and scent nay that is not all they are usefull to some for food others for physick and many for green wounds and bruises nay the natures and uses of them all are not knowne to the rarest and most learned Herballist or Physitian in the world certainly none ever knew them rightly but King Solomon See the goodnesse of God to his people how he doth not only provide cloathing food and such necessaries but sends things delightfull medicinall and healing too My thinks this Garden puts me in minde of that heavenly Garden of Gods Word you may see there varieties of comfortable flowers both for soule and body and for all necessities There you may see
which without I could not subsist And when I see the ground bedecked with grapes the green meadows with pasture the multitude of woods abounding with trees both for timber fuell and thousands of other uses as also the varieties of fruit trees in abundance the rare mineralls which spring from the bowels of the earth affording infinite wealth I cannot but admire to see the multitude of cattle both for food cloathing and many other accommodations the infinite store of fowle of all kindes the sweet flowers in abundance and the innumerable sorts of vegetables all profitable and delightfull I cannot but wonder at the great Ocean and the innumerable varieties of fish besides the great commodity wee enjoy by the shipping voyaging to all parts of the world for commodities both for profit and pleasure When I consider the firmament how thou hast bespangled it with those glorious creatures the Sunne Moon and Starres and all for the use of man to give light both by day and by night but above all that thou hast given thy only begotten Son to dye for us this is love beyond all the love that ever was these things transport me into an admiration and compell me to praise and to love thee O my God with an exceeding great love who is he or what is he that will not praise thee O Lord for these thy unspeakable mercies to mankinde O grant that I may no longer live then I love thee O God I will love thee I will blesse thee I will magnifie thee so long as I have any being MEDITAT IV. Meditations of the love and sufferings of our Saviour Christ for mankinde O Sweet Saviour what hast thou suffered for my sake and what have I done to deserve thy sufferings alas my sinne was the cause of thy sufferings yet had'st thou not suffered for my sinne I had utterly perished and been out of all possibility of being saved I was guilty of sinne but thou knewest no sinne neither was there guile found in thy mouth and what shal I render to thee my Saviour for thy unspeakable love towards me all I have is thine and therefore I have nothing to give thee or make any satisfaction to thee for thy love O Saviour thou hast given me a tongue and understanding to the end I should praise thee therefore I offer unto thee my Redeemer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving exrolling thy infinite mercy and clemency to thy poore creature Thou O sweet Saviour wast naked and I cloathed thou my Redeemer wast hungry and I satisfied with bread thou wast scourged and buffeted and I at ease feeling no pain thou wast spit on and rail'd on among thine enemies and I in rest and quiet among my friends thou wast in prison and I at liberty thou sufferest storms and tempest at Sea and I being upon drie land was safe upon my pillow thou wast crucified upon the crosse for my sake and suffered'st death for me O unspeakable love for ever to be had in remembrance never can I sufficiently magnifie thy wonderfull mercie patience and long suffering O Saviour give mee a heart that may alwayes bee mindfull of these thy wonderfull kindnesses and unparallel'd sufferings and that I may endeavour by all meanes possible to love thee and to dye for thee as thou dyedst for me make me seriously to ponder and thinke of thee continually and that my soule may so desire thee that it may never be at rest till it enjoyes thee MEDITAT V. Meditations of Gods preservation of man I Confesse O God thou preservest me yea when I thinke not of thy providence it is my dull sottishnesse and ingratitude that makes me thus forget my God How oft have I been in dangers both by sea and land ready to perish and yet it was thou alone that preservedst me and I knew it not because I remembred not thee O God as I ought to have done Thou hast preserved mee from the venome of false tongues and I on a sudden forgat it I might have perished oft in my going abroad and comming home but it was thy mercy that preserved me I might have miscarried in my very meat and drinke but for thy providence thou hast preserved me from theeves and murderers who would have confounded me but above all thou hast preserved mee from that roaring Lion who still seekes to devoure me and from those that lye in wait to catch my soule O Lord how shall I extoll thy mercy sufficiently for these unexpresseable favours to me wretched man that I am thy love is wonderfull to me and farre be it from me to thinke that I merit any thing from thee O God O Lord make me I beseech thee to thinke on thee continually and to meditate on thee day night alway expressing my thankfulnesse to thee for these thy marvellous preservations make me to praise thee and to love thee with an exceeding great love knit my heart to thee that I may feare thee and keepe thy commandements O let me doe nothing that may offend thee lest thou draw thy care and providence from me for if thou O Lord shouldest leave me to my selfe I were utterly lost and deprived of all help and comfort I could bee no where safe because of mine enemies which are mighty and strong who leek to destroy both body and soule leave me not therefore O my God but hold thy hand of providence over me continually watch over my wayes and suffer not the enemy to have any advantage over me hide me under the shadow of thy wings and preserve both my body and soule so shall I be safe from mine enemies MEDITAT VI. Meditations of the miseries and calamities of the time O God how happy were we when we enjoyed that great blessing of peace and tranquility how were we both a mirror and a terror to all the eyes of the Christian world how did our corne spring up with encrease of an hundred fold so that the people did rejoyce and sing how fruitfull was our Land with all manner of graine how full of all creatures fit for the use of man yea how did we abound in all things so that we were able to live of our selves without the succours of any other Nation what a sweet harmony and agreement was there among our selves which made our enemies stand amazed at our felicity when they themselves enjoyed none of these blessings O God how comes this change and unexpected misery upon us that now we are in Surely we did not value that blessing of peace as wee ought to have done surely it is our sinne and ingratitude that hath drawne thy vengeance upon us what a sight is it to see the father shedding the bloud of the sonne and the sonne the father brother against brother kinsman against kinsman one neighbour cutting the throat of another and all the whole Kingdome divided and plunged into a world of miseries how doe our fields lye barren for want of tillage our pâ—stures trodden
thy wisdome knowest what is fittest for us wee beseech thee make us in prosperity to remember that all wee have or enjoy comes from thee and that we may make a right use of them to thy glory rendring thee thanks continually for them And in adversity order us so that we may remember and acknowledge that what we suffer is deservedly for our sinne and ingratitude Lord make us as thou wouldest have us to be then shall we be happy MEDITAT XV. Meditations of the covetous rich-man and the poor labouring-man SEe the difference betweene the rich-man and the poor-man how penurious and griping is the one being never at rest nor quiet for feare hee shall lose that he hath or that his plots bargaining or over-reaching will not take effect How doth he labour and toyle to increase his wealth scarce enjoying one good houre how doth hee impoverish himselfe by his greedy desires depriving himselfe of the benefit of those good things God hath given him when the other is content with little being not certaine of that little neither having nothing but what he labours for and many times failes of that by reason of sicknesse or ill pay-masters and yet this poore man I le warrant you enjoyes more happy dayes in one yeare then the rich-man doth in seven and sleepes more sounder ten to one then the other What difference is there in their dyet the rich-man perhaps hath variety of dainties at his table and may have them when he will if covetousnesse hinder not the poore-man he is sure of nothing but if any comes its welcome be it more or lesse nay if it be but a dish of herbs or roots he is as well content with it as the rich-man with all his dainties See the difference of their habiliments the rich-man he is cloathed in purple and fine linnen when all the pride the poor-man hath is to cover himselfe with a homely garment to keepe out the weather not regarding either fashions or costly rayment See the difference of their mindes how proud scornfull and above measure exalted is this rich-man how disdainfully doth he looke upon his inferiours as if they were not worthy to behold his pride how doth he trample the poor underfoot and looks as high as if all the world were under his power when the poor-man he contents himselfe with his humility and low thoughts being courteous loving and kinde to his neighbours living meekly and in the feare of God See the difference of their lives the rich-man his thoughts are most on his lands goods cattell tenants purchasing and what hee shall eat and drinke when the poor-man his study is to serve his God and to get his bread by the sweat of his brows this is all his delight Now you may see the difference the rich-man hee spends all or the greatest part of his time in pride covetousnesse gluttony idlenesse and worldly vanity the poor-man in his dayly labour and service of God O rich-man consider that thou hast a soule to save or to damne therefore spend not thy time so lavishly and foolishly let God have a part of it here lest hee deprive thee of the riches of his heavenly Kingdome hereafter Consider that thy wealth was not given thee on those termes thou shouldest forget him that gave it to thee Tell mee what joy canst thou have with all thy riches and possessions when death comes to summon thee to another world where thou must give an account for all thy actions will thy riches save thee no all the riches and possessions of this world will not keepe thee from that fearfull sentence Goe ye cursed into everlasting fire nay rather will they encrease thy account Therefore have a care whilest thou hast time to spend it in the service of thy God remembring that upon this moment depends eternity MEDITAT XVI Meditations of the sufferings of Gods dear children in this world and of the benefit they shall receive thereby O God what need wee care for these light afflictions here in this world they cannot last long and who would not willingly embrace them to purchase a better world nay to gain the Kingdome of Heaven Our Blessed Saviour he suffered ten thousand times more then any of us nay he suffered more then we are able to suffer and are we to good to beare a part rather let me not live then to bee such a sonne as the father will not correct Suppose a man hath a wound in his body and that wound full of dead flesh would he not willingly indure to have that dead flesh cut out rather then to have it gangren and destroy the whole body even so is it with the soule there is a wound in the soule by sinne and God sends crosses and afflictions to cure the soule Lord let my wound smart rather then my body perish let my body smart for a little time here rather then my soule burne for ever in Hell Holy David said It was good for him that he was afflicted for before he went astray was it good for him and is it not good for us sure none of us are so good as he for he was a man after Gods owne heart and knew very well that afflictions were good for him otherwise he would not have said so he remembred that whom God loves he chastiseth even every son whom he receiveth nay they are bastards and not sonnes that will not endure correction Lord how did the blessed Apostles and Martyrs suffer these were sawne asunder others stoned some whipt and scourged others crucified their faith was exercised in watchings fastings shipwracks imprisonments being naked and destitute of all comfort How were many others of Gods deare children tormented Daniel in the Lions den Ionas in the Whales belly Sampson among the Philistims Ieremy in the Dungeon besides multitudes of others whose tortures have beene very great and certainly none of these should have suffered thus had not God loved them and saw it fit for them surely hee did it to weane them from the world and worldly things and that their everlasting happinesse in the Kingdome of heaven might by their patience here bee improved where is all joy and no sorrow where is fulnesse of all beatitude Therefore consider O my soule and comfort thy selfe with these Meditations and feare neither want imprisonment nor death for all these shall work for the better to them that love God MEDITAT XVII Meditations of the covetous desire men have to attain riches LOrd what adoe is there in this world to gaine riches how doe men labour and toyle to get a little muck or dirt they think nothing too much no time so well spent in any thing as in the purchase of this unrighteous mammon when God knows whether they shall live to enjoy it one houre How vigilant and carefull are they to rise early and sit up late scarce enjoying one good houre in all their life time Nay many men there are and God knowes too