Souls who have consecrated your selves willingly unto God and to his Service and Worship cast away these vain and base actions and all these dead works leave them to such as are dead in their trespasses and sins but for you behave your selves according to your Celestial Calling and apply your selves to Righteousness and Holiness and to the practice of all other Vertues as such who were dead but now are made alive 45. We must continually meditate upon the Holiness and Purity of our future abode in Heaven and the expectation that we have there Rom. 6 For as Jesus Christ is gone to prepare a place for us in the House of his Heavenly Father John 14. It is but just and reasonable that we should fit and prepare our Souls for such Holy and Glorious Mansions Revel 21. It is not possible to go to Heaven by treading the paths of Hell Nothing impure nor filthy shall enter into the Holy City which is the new Jerusalem As in Solomon's Temple there was no way to the Holy of Holies but through the Sanctuary thus if we will one day enter into the Heavenly Sanctuary where Christ dwells the true Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy seat Eph. 2. It is absolutely necessary that we should tread in the paths of good Works which God hath prepared that we should walk in them Tit. 2. It is upon this consideration that St. Paul grounds this exhortation to Piety and Christian Vertues The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodlines and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good Works seeing that we have such promises let us cleanse our selves from all filth of the Body and of the Spirit finishing our Sanctification in the fear of God 1 Cor. 7. St. John makes use of the same reason to perswade us to Holiness Beloved we are now the Children of God but what we shall be doth not yet appear now we know that when he shall appear we shall be madè like unto him for we shall see him as he is and whosoever hath this hope in him let him purify himself as he is pure 1 Joh. 2. The Apostle St. Peter employs the same consideration to kindle in our hearts this pure and celestial fire We according to his promise look for new Heavens and new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless 2 Pet. 3. 46. You know Christians that God created our first Parents in his own Image and Likeness before that he brought them into his own terrestial Paradise there is a greater reason that this Divine Image should be imprinted in our Souls before we enter into the Celestial Paradise unto this the Apostle hath a regard when he tells the Ephesians be ye renewed in the Spirit of your mind and put on the new Man created according to God in Righteousness and true Holiness Chap. 4. 47. If the place of our future Abode unto which we are designed doth require from us Sanctification the quality of the persons with whom we shall spend an Eternity doth no less oblige us to the same behaviour for they shall be Angels of Light and the Blessed Saints who have wash'd and whitened their Robes in the Bloud of the Lamb Revel 5. It is a glorious Church that hath neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing Eph. 5. It is the Spouse of the Son of God cloathed in fine Linnen clean and white which are the Righteousness of the Saints Revel 19. St. Paul had this same consideration when he saith That we are fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God and That our conversation ought to be as becometh Citizens of Heaven To wean us from the filthy Deeds of the Flesh and from the prophane disposition of Esau he employs the same reason to perswade us in the 12 of the Heb. You are come saith he to the Mount Sion to the City of the living God to the Celestial Jerusalem to the thousands of Angels and to the Assembly and Church of the first-born who are written in Heaven and to the Spirits of the Just sanctified 48. As it is with a Child in his Mothers womb he begins to live there the same life that he leads when he is come into the World likewise the Christian ought to begin to live in the same manner upon earth as he hopes to live for ever in Heaven if we will live and Reign with Christ above in his Kingdom we must at present have him Live and Reign in our Hearts here below by faith 49. The chief happiness of Man consists not only in the true knowldge of God and of him whom he hath sent to save us nor in the Spiritual Peace nor Celestial Transports of the Holy Spirit but it consists in Holiness without which none shall see God John 17. Rom. 5. Therefore the Apostle inquires from the Romans of his time What fruit had you in those things whereof ye are now ashamed but now being free from sin and become servants of God ye have your Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting life Heb. 12. Rom. 6. 50. I find also that this is a very good remedy to keep our selves free from the Debaucheries and Corruptions of the Age to abstain from the company and acquaintance of vicious persons for as he who did touch things unclean did become thereby unclean and as such as haunt amongst the sick of the Plague are infected with their Disease Likewise it is the property of evil company to corrupt the best manners 2 Cor. 15. 51. Whereas we should accustom our selves to the company and acquaintance of good Men and Delight in the society of such who like the Seraphims excite and enflame one another to glorify God and sing forth his praises we must frequent such unto whom we desire to be like for as Jacob's Sheep Ewned Lambs spotted and marked as the Rods upon which they did cast their eyes Thus if we have our joyes fixed upon the Holy examples of Piety and Vertue we shall see our selves insensibly transformed into their Image and Resemblance we must delight our selves in the company of them with whom we hope to live for ever in the highest Heavens 52. The most powerful and the most effectual means to oblige us to the practice of Piety and of Holiness and purity of Life it is to look with the eyes of faith upon him who is invisible and to represent unto our selves the great world as a large Temple where he dwels Let the voice that came unto Moses out of the burning Bush sound continually in
prodigal Child My Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee Or as the good Thief Lord remember me Luk 15. Luk 23. I have much to say against so great a mistake so dangerous and prophane a perswasion First what reason have we to believe that God will accept our Repentance when we cannot endure to accept of his Graces and Redemption that he will hear our Sighs and grant our Prayers when we will by no means give ear to his voice nor obey the Command that he sends us of repenting Wretched Man dost thou stay to glorify God till the moment when thy breath shall fail thee Is it just that thou shouldest then begin to serve him when thou shalt be able to serve and please thy flesh no longer nor satisfy thy foolish Lusts This great God who had Commanded during the Shadows and Types of Moses Law that the Children of Israel should offer unto him their First-born and the First-Fruits of their Inheritances will he take it well now in this admirable Sun-shine of the Gospel that thou shouldest offer to the Devil and to the World the First-Fruits of thy Youth the strength of thy years and that thou shouldest reserve for him only the dregs and the corruption of a decaying old age It is to mock God and Man to dream of living well when our life is far spent and gone To lift up our Eyes and Thoughts to Heaven when the Earth fails us under our feet To restore other mens Goods when we can keep them no longer To renounce all desires of Revenge when we have no power of being revengeful To abstain from the foul Lusts of the Flesh when we are able to continue in them no longer to abhor Theft Usury Rapine and Extortion when a Coffin is preparing to receive us and that Death looks us in the Face Such persons cannot be said to leave Sin but rather Sin leaves them as the Ravens leave a Tree that falls down by age or that is struck with the Thunder By our unreasonable delays Evil and Sin grow older and the cure becomes every day more uneasy for the more thou shalt be hardened in thy corruption and confirmed in thy sins the harder it will be for thee to break and melt thy corrupted Heart The more Lust shall have sunk its Roots in thy Soul the more labor thou wilt find in plucking them out In short he that gives too much liberty to his unlawful affections makes his Vices by custom become natural and cannot be converted without a great miracle Man's most important and difficult affair in the world is his Conversion to God Therefore it is a notable folly to put it off to such a time as we shall be in the feeblest and weakest condition to a time when we shall have most business to do and most trouble Certainly he doth not order his affairs well who puts off his praying unto God and his thoughts of Heaven until he comes to be stretch'd on his death bed for then we know not to whom we are to turn An account of our worldly Concerns is then required from us we are then to make our last Will and Testament we call for a Scrivener and are inwardly vex'd to behold him the visit of friends trouble us and their absence doth as much displease us Pain doth seize upon us Defluxions are ready to choake us Feavers burn us and disturb our minds Physitians oppress us with unpleasant Remedies the noise is a trouble to us and silence is suspected our Parents and Friends torment us by their officious in officiousness our Children and our greatest Darlings melt our Hearts and their Tears do force us to weep But the worst is the Devils are then most busy and active These hellish Fiends like the devouring Ravens fly about us endeavouring to fright us In short it is then that the Prince of the Powers of the Air stir up against us furious Storms and Tempests to cause us to perish in the very Haven In the midst of so many disturbances and of so many powerful Waves it is a difficult task to possess our Souls in peace to think upon our Consciences to hear God speaking to us to fear death as we ought and to keep our selves from sinking and from being swallowed up with its apprehensions and frights Old Age hath infirmities enough we need not defile it with youthful Sins and Lusts for many times it causeth more wounds in our Souls than there are wrinkles upon our Skin When the Body decays and grows weak the Lusts of the flesh become stronger and oft-times when it whitens the Face it spots the Conscience In a word The bones of old Age are weak enough and sufficiently full of pain that we need not over-burden them with the sins committed in the flower and strength of our Age. Moreover we know not when nor how Death will assault us nor what favor we are to expect from it who knows but that it intends not to give us the liberty of speaking to our Friends nor of thinking upon our Consciences for it sends not always a warning to us as to the good King Hezekiah Set thine House in order for thou shalt dye 2 Kings 20. For as we have already taken notice it surpriseth us in every Age in every Time and Place and in the midst of all manner of Employments Old Eli fell down backwards and broke his Neck when he heard the unhappy news of the taking of the Ark and the death of his Sons Job's Children dreamed of nothing but of solacing and delighting themselves in their Feasts and Jollity when the House where they were fell down and buried them in the ruines But besides these unhappy accidents how many are there whose mouth Death closeth on a suddain without suffering them to speak a word How many are there in the World who are thought to be in perfect health and yet suddainly fall into an Apoplexy and into other quick diseases so that they are seen to be sooner dead than thought to be sick Besides when we should have a greater strength and more vigor so that we might foresee the time of our departing drawing near Repentance is not at our Command it is given to us from above and a special favor of the Holy Spirit God works not miracles every day he changeth not at every moment Rocks into Springs of Water nor Stones into Rivers of Oil He grants not the favour to all Sinners hardened in their Lusts and confirmed in their Apostacy from him to be converted and to be wash'd with the Tears of Repentance If thou seest a Thief repenting at the time of his suffering it is a particular example that doth not abolish the general Rule By this Man God doth intend to comfort Sinners who truly Repent at the end of their days and to assure them that the Arms of his Mercy is always open to receive them into his favor I confess that true Repentance can never be too
Death an affliction Must I abandon my dear Children whom I love as my Soul without guide and in danger of loosing the small temporal means that I have provided for them in danger also of being overcome by the vicious customs of the age and inticed to Idolatry and Superstition That we may be able to govern this violent passion that prevails so much upon our minds we must labor betimes to bring our selves to this That we may rest upon the good Providence of our Heavenly Father Christian Souls meditate upon this excellent saying in the 37 Psalm Leave thy ways to the Lord and trust in him and he will direct thee And in the 59 Psal Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he will sustain thee Forget not also that blessed exhortation of St. Peter Cast all your cares upon God for he careth for you Imprint also in your minds St. Paul's assertion All things work together for good to them that love God Remember the noble resolution of this great Apostle According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my Body whether it be by life or by death Thou desirest to be instrumental in the service of God and of the Publick it is an excellent desire indeed and praise worthy but it belongs to God to appoint the service that he intends to receive from thee it belongs to him to prescribe unto thee thy task and to order thy bounds he knows when he is to release thee from thy labor and how long thou must fight Is thine eye evil because thy God is so good and gracious as to shorten thy work and troubles All such as follow chearfully the Banners of the God of Hosts and never retreat without the Command of the great General of Heaven and Earth shall enjoy a blessed victory and obtain the honor of the Triumph as well the Novice and the fresh Soldier as the old and long experienced All such as labor faithfully in the Lord's Vineyard shall receive from him an eternal Reward as well he that continues but an hour as the other that bear the heat and burden of the day When thou shouldest have gone but a few steps in the paths of Righteousness thy God is so noble and liberal that he will bestow upon thee an uncorruptible Crown of Glory as well as if thou hadst continued there many years Great Princes that yield unto the King of Kings a Religious Respect and that seek your greatest Glory in the Cross of Christ submit your selves altogether to the pleasure of your universal Monarch for seeing the Lives of all Men are governed by his wise Providence he hath a particular regard and an high esteem of the Lives of Kings and Princes the Sons of his right hand Therefore whilst it is expedient for his Glory and their Salvation that they should live upon Earth he placeth round about their Sacred Persons his Holy Angels and encompasseth them with a wall of Fire Remember that as soon as the King of Israel was seated upon the Throne God commanded him to take in hand the Book of his Law and to read in it all the days of his life Ask from him that Wisdom and Prudence that is requisite to govern such multitudes of People and beseech him to grant unto you the strength and virtue that is necessary to bear so great a burden Let the Sword that he hath intrusted in your hands be to do justice upon Offenders and to protect the Guiltless As you are living Images of God's Soveraign Authority over his Creatures Remember that you should also represent his Goodness and Mercy follow the example of him who resists the Proud but gives grace to the Humble Live in such a manner that your Subjects may cherish and honor you as their common Father may obey and serve you as their Lord and may respect and fear you as their King Suffer not your Heart to be puft up with pride when you behold the large Dominions that God hath put under your Command and the People that own you for their Soveraign But lift up your eyes to the spacious Heavens take a view of their vast Extent and see how the whole Earth is inconsiderable in comparison of them and think upon God before whom all Nations are but as the smallest dust of a Ballance and as a few drops of Water Consider well that your Subjects are Creatures that God hath made after his own likeness and redeemed by the death of his Son and that they are to Reign with you for ever in Heaven Remember that the more God hath committed to your Trust the greater must be your reckoning and that you must one day appear in person before his dreadful Throne without Scepter or Crown as so many wretched Sinners to implore his Mercy Search into your selves and examine what you are your Bodies are subject to wounds infirmities and diseases as that of the meanest of your servants Your Souls also are moved with the same Passions and Lusts as theirs In short you are entered into the World in the same manner as the most miserable Slave and you shall go out of it again as he doth so that if a crowd of flatterers sooth you up as they did Herod A voice of God and not of Man Acts 12. Mind well what God speaks to you from Heaven I have said that ye are Gods and the Children of the most high nevertheless you shall dye as Men and you that are the chiefest shall fall as the rest Psal 72. During the time of your abode in the World employ your Blood Sweat and all the Strength and Power that God hath put into your hands for the good and advantage of your States and for the defence and preservation of the people that shelter themselves under your wings And if in the midst of your greatest and most flourishing Prosperities Death comes to give you a summons to depart let fall the Scepter willingly to joyn your hands together and to fall down and adore the King of the whole Earth Grieve not for the loss of worldly Glory that passeth away as a Lightning or as a shadow for God promiseth another that shall be more lasting than the light of the Sun If you can but overcome Death and your selves God will cause you to sit down upon another Throne and will bestow upon you a Kingdom that shall never be moved Revel 3. Heb. 12. Wise and Religious Princes be not solicitous for the things that shall happen after your decease He by whom Kings Reign and Princes do Justice is able enough to enrich your Successor with the Graces and Qualities that become a powerful Prince It may be that he will bestow upon him more Glory and Happiness than upon you When King David had ended his mortal Race God took him into his Rest it seems at first that the loss of so
Mercy rejoyceth against Judgement his Justice is like an exceeding high Mountain but his Mercy may be compared to the bottomless deep Psal 39. Therefore Moses who had seen God more than any living Man cannot be satisfied to extol and magnify his infinite Mercy and the overflowing Riches of his love Psal 36. He names him but once Just but many times he calls him Merciful Gracious Long suffering abundant in Goodness and Truth Exod. 4. It is not unworthy of our observation that the word Righteous or Just attributed to God doth often signify also Merciful Gracious and Loving in the Holy Tongue It is true God holds in his hand the sword of his Justice but he is girded and cloathed with his Mercy as with a Garment In short God is not only Good and Merciful but he is also Goodness and Mercy it self 1 John 4. His compassion and tenderness is far greater than that of the best Fathers or Mothers as he himself declares by the Prophet Can a Woman forget her Sucking-Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her Womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my Hands yea in the bottom of my Heart Is 49. These fatherly Compassions force him to let fall the sword of his justice as he tells us in Hosea How shall I make thee as Admah how shall I set thee as Zeboim mine heart is turned within me my repentings are kindled together I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger Chap. 11. Therefore David had good cause to be perswaded That when his Father and Mother should forsake him the Lord would receive him When all Love Kindness and Mercy were totally banished from the Earth when all natural affections should be extinct my God will not forsake me while I live and at the hour of my death he will receive me into his bosom and cover me with his wings Christian Souls Let not the sad remembrance of your former sins and miscarriages discourage you for when we appear before the Throne of Gods Majesty we must not trust upon our own Righteousness nor be pust up with the fancy of our merits but we must place all our assurance and hope in the Mercy of God alone we must imitate Daniel who speaks thus of himself and of his proceedings We do not present our supplications before thee for our Righteousnesses but for thy great Mercies Dan 9. The compassions of God are our Mercies while God hath store of compassions we shall not want merits St. Bern. Now God's Mercies and Compassions can never fail they renew every morning his faithfulness is very excellent Lam. 3. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33. I am he I am he that blots out all thy sins for mine own sake and will not remember thy transgressions Isai 45. Although our sins and iniquities appear to us with all the deformity and ugliness of Hell Be not overcome with grief nor cast your selves into despair Let us rather say with the Prophet Jeremiah Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our Heart with our Hands unto God in the Heavens Or let us speak in the language of Micah Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of his Heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy He will come again he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast out their sins into the depths of the Sea Micah 7. Let us comfort our selves with the words of the Prophet Daniel To the Lord our God belongs Mercies and Forgivenesses though we have rebelled against him Dan. 7. Tell me not again I know that God is Good and Merciful but I have offended him too much to believe that he will vouchsafe me a Pardon and have Mercy upon me After many repented Vows after many Groans Sighs and Tears of Repentance I have returned as the Dog to his Vomit and as the Swine to wallow in the Mire 2 Pet. 2. But wretched sinner learn for thy comfort that when thy sins should be as many as the Sand of the Sea-shore or as the Stars of the Sky Is 44. If thou dost now sincerely repent of them with a contrite Soul God will blot them out as the Cloud and will cast them into the Sea for God's Mercy hath no bounds and his Compassions are infinite Micah 7. When thy Brother hath offended thee if he aske forgiveness the Lord Commands that thou shouldest pardon him not only seven times but seventy and seven times Matth. 17. How much more reason hast thou to believe that God of his infinite Goodness and Mercy will pardon thee more sins and oftener therefore instead of murmuring over thy miscarriages accept of the precious Balm of his Divine Consolations and say with the Royal Prophet Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his Holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindnesses and tender mercies who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles The Lord executeth Righteousness and Judgement for all that are oppressed the Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and plenteous in mercy He will not always chide neither will he keep his anger for ever he hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities for a the Heaven is high above the Earth so great is his mercy towards them that fear him as far as the East is from the West so far hath he removed our transgressions from us Like as a Father pitieth his Children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him Psal 103. Don't answer me that your sins are so grievous and abominable that you cannot expect a Pardon for when they should be as high as the proudest Mountains if thou art really sensible of their weight if they make thee to sigh and groan God's infinite Mercy like a Deluge shall cover and wash them away Lam. 5. or like a Torrent it shall transport them out of his sight for when sin abounds God's Grace will super-abound in case there be true Repentance Is 1 When your sins should be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow when they should be as red as Vermilion they shall become as white as Wooll All the offences that you are guilty of since you are in the World are finite and limited but God's Mercy is infinite O Lord if thou shouldest mark iniquities who shall stand but there is
the Waves of the Sea always in danger of sinking if thou didst not still the Winds and Command the roaring Storms it is in the World as it were in a flanting Furnace ready to be consumed if thou didst not withdraw from thence the furious heat Or in the midst of Lions that would soon devour it if thou didst not close their jaws O my God when wilt thou shut mine Eyes that I may not see so many Tragical appearances When wilt thou stretch out unto me from above thine Hand to draw me out of this Abysse of Wickedness When wilt thou send down unto me thine Holy Angels to carry me out of this grievous burning When is it that I shall see no more the Nations drunk with the Wine of thy Fury and thy Holy Church stooping under the heavy weight of its Cross When shall I hear no more the bitter complaints of thy Spouse the lamentations of thy Children the groans of thy Servants the sighs of the Prisoners and the mournings of thine Inheritance O Heavenly Father my only Hope and my All When wilt thou loose me from this Chain of Misery When wilt thou carry me above the reach of the Storms and Tempests of this troublesom Sea When shall the cares and griefs cease to devour my Soul and when shall my Body no more be subject to Sickness and Pain and Torments O Lord thou knownst all things thou seest that I am in the World as in a Prison and that my Soul is in this wretched Body as in a woful Dungeon Cause therefore thine Heavenly Light to shine upon me thy Servant strike me with thy merciful Hand and awake me out of my dumpish and sottish Humour cause all my Chains to fall off and open unto me the Gates of this black Prison that I may go out and follow willingly the steps of that good Angel that intends to take me out of this miserable Captivity and secure me for ever from the malicious designes of Satan and the World that endeavour to destroy me and triumph over my Misery When I shall be in the streets of thine Heavenly Jerusalem I shall then know for certain that thou hast delivered me I shall then praise thy wonderful Works in the Company and Church of the First-born that rejoyce in Heaven where the former miseries shall no more be remembred where there shall be neither Crying nor Pain where we shall not be tormented with Hunger and Thirst and where no Affliction shall disturb us for the Lamb that is in the midst of the Throne shall feed and lead us to the Fountains of living Water where be shall wipe away all Tears from our Eyes Amen CHAP. 21. The ninth Consolation Death shall deliver us from Sin which we may see Reigning in the World and from the Reliques of our Corruption WHen God sent Angels from Heaven to lead Lot out of Sodom and to draw him out of the Flames with which he intended to destroy that abominable City this good Man's Wife could not but look back but she was in that very moment sufficiently punished for she was turned into a Pillar of Salt The Emblem of that Holy Prudence that this example recommends to posterity The cause of this unhappy Womans breaking the Angels express Command was her consideration of the Riches Plenty and Pleasures of that Countrey which she had left not thinking upon the baseness filth and abominable Vices that brought God's Wrath and Vengeance upon the unworthy Inhabitants Likewise when God intends to take us out of the World and to secure us from the sence of his dreadful judgements that which causeth us to look back and hinders us from following the Angels that God sends unto us to lead us up to the Mountain of our Salvation are our thoughts and affections for the Riches Honors and Pleasures of this wretched World whereas we should then fix our minds upon the sins that govern here below wherewith we are defiled whilst we remain in this corrupted Flesh Christian Souls will you prepare your selves to go to God and do you wish that Death would comfort and rejoyce your Hearts instead of afflicting them Cast your Eyes upon those dreadful Vices that are so usual under which the whole Creation groans as under an heavy burden O good God in what age are we born an age like that of Noah for all the Earth hath corrupted its ways Gen. 6. nothing but a deluge of Fire is able to purge it There was never more Injustice more Perfidiousness Treachery Debauchery Insolency and Envy never more Vanity Luxury Pride Cruelty Blasphemies Impiety and Atheism we may justly apply to our days that which the Prophet Hosea said of the corruption of his time There is no Truth no Mercy nor Knowledge of God in the Land there is nothing but Swearing Lying Killing Stealing and committing Adultery they break out and bloud toucheth bloud Hos 4. Therefore we have good cause to make David's Prayer Help Lord for the Godly man ceaseth for the faithful fail from among the Children of Men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbor with flattering Lips and with a double Heart do they speak Psal 12. O wicked World a World overflowing with Iniquity a sink of Impurity a burning Furnace heated with the impure flames of the bottomless Pit and choakt with the smoak of Hell But sin reigns not only in this wretched World but it defaces also the Church of God and causeth most fearful disorders amongst those that bear the Glorious name of Christians they were antiently to be discerned from the rest of the World by their Speech Conversation and Behaviour but the Devil hath wonderfully debauched them he hath blotted out God's Image in their Souls he hath taken from them that noble distinction and removed far away all difference between them and the World we cannot with justice say to most Christians of our age as was said to the Apostle St. Peter Thy speech bewrayeth thee Nor to appropriate to them what Isaac said of one of his Sons Thy voice is the voice of Jacob but thou hast the hands of Esau for they have both the Voice and Hands of prophane Esau they speak and live as he did they publish their crimes with a brazen face and endeavour to glory in their shame the Air is infected with their prophane and dirty Language with their impudent Lying with their fearful Oaths and grievous Blasphemies and the Earth is defiled with their horrid Sins and abominable Crimes Covetousness Ambition Lust and all manner of Vices have mounted upon the Throne they Act and Command in a furious manner in every place They that have in their mouths the Holy Name of the Lord Jesus and that make profession of following his Sacred Footsteps give us good cause to take up again St. Paul's lamentation and complaint Many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ whose
his Holy Mysteries Isai 58. or do you look upon them as troublesome Don't they cause you to complain in your selves as those prophane Jews spoken of by Malachi Behold what a weariness is it Mal. 1. Do you go up to the House of God with the voice of Melody and transports of Joy Psalm 41. or do you go thither out of custom in a careless manner When Jacob went up to Bethel to offer Sacrifices he buried under ground all the Gods of Gold and Silver that were in his Family Gen. 35. Likewise you Religious Souls when you intend to go up to Offer your Spiritual Sacrifices in the true Bethel where God bestows in such plenty his Bread from Heaven that gives life to the World Do you not forget to bury all your Earthly Cares your Carnal Lusts Or else do you nourish in your Hearts all these false Gods of whom the World is so fond Do you look upon the Holy Assemblies with an unconcerned Eye Or do you behold them with Reverence and Respect as the living Images of that Glorious Church gathered together before God's Majestique Throne which worships him day and night in his Holy Temple Are those Divine Psalms that are there sung only upon your Tongues or do you sing them with your Hearts to the Lord Do you think upon the Angels Songs and the Holy Spirits Hallelujahs with Holy transports of Joy Is the Word of God only an Airy Sound that strikes your Ears or doth it reach your Consciences Coloss 3. Doth not your Heart burn within you while God speaks by the Ministry of his Servants and opens to you his Holy Scriptures Revel 19. Doth this Heart of yours burn with an Heavenly Fire or with restless impatience to see the end of your Devotions that you might return to your Domestick affairs to your worldly Delights or to your carnal pastimes Luk 14. Doth your Soul thirst for God for the strong and living God Psal 42. And is the performing of the Holy Will of your Heavenly Father become your Meat and your only Delight John 4. Psal 103. In short Do you fly as swift as the blessed Angels when your great God and Saviour offers to you an occasion of advancing his Kingdom of comforting his Chosen and edifying the Souls for whom he is dead When Abraham offered unto God many Beasts in Sacrifice a flight of Birds came and lighted upon his dead Offerings Gen. 15 Likewise when we present unto God the Sacrifices of Praise and Thanksgiving and intend to multiply the acts of our Devotion a great number of vain and idle thoughts come to interrupt us Abraham frighted away those troublesom Birds but it is not always in our power to drive away from our minds these intruding thoughts that disturb us in our Devotions When we will lift up our selves unto God and draw near to his Sacred Throne our Hearts are far more dull and heavy than ever Moses's Hands were so that they fall down again to the Earth and to mind Earthly things we need therefore that our Chief Priest should hold them up and furthermore it is necessary that they should be perfum'd with the sweet smells of his most Holy Sacrifice Exod 17. If David a Man after God's own Heart intreats that God would be pleased to sanctify the Words of his Mouth and the Meditations of his Heart Psal 15. If the Prophet Daniel whom the Holy Spirit stiles A man greatly beloved Dan. 9. who spent the days and the nights in Devotion seeks how to make his Prayers acceptable to God If the Prophet Isaiah hath need that his Lips should be purified with a burning Coal taken from the Altar Isa 6. Who will wonder if the Meditations of the devoutest Souls be so often interrupted if their Prayers be so cold and lukewarm who can think it strange that we are not able to pray as we ought Rom. 8. And that we have need to desire God's Holy Spirit of Prayer and Supplication who prays and intercedes for us with Sighs and Groans which cannot be expressed Zach. 13. Rom. 8. That which afflicts most the true Believers is that when they imagine that they have attained to some kind of Perfection in the exercises of Piety they find many times to their unspeakble sorrow that they are but beginners and that they have made no progress at all For as the Stone cast up into the Air falls down of its own accord by reason of its natural weight and as the Water often heated becomes as often cold and frozen because cold is a property belonging to it Likewise our Souls that mount up to God in Holy Meditations and Zealous Prayers fall down again to these Earthly Vanities they become cold and heavy for these are their natural Properties God refused the Sacrifices of such Beasts as were lame and sickly if therefore he should treat us according to our Deservings how will he accept of us or our Devotions we that are weak and infirm in his service and that cannot walk in his ways without stumbling at every moment For these Considerations I may apply to the spiritual Joy what was said of the Earthly and worldly mirth Joy is cut off by Sadness Isai 65. For when we have felt in our Breasts this unspeakable Joy of the Holy Ghost and that it begins afterwards to abate it seems to us as if it had taken its flight to Heaven as the smoak of Manoah's Sacrifice Then as great a Sorrow seiseth upon our Souls therefore we may complain and cry out as David Will the Lord cast me off for ever and will he be favourable no more is his Mercy clean gone for ever doth his promise fail for evermore hath God forgotten to be Gracious hath he in anger shut up his tender Mercies Psal 77. And pray in the Language of Isaiah Lord awaken thy jealousie and the stirring of thy Bowels that are shut up to me Finally if after all the exercises of Devotion if after a serious and setled Meditation upon God's Holy Word if after Fasting and Mortification Prayers and Tears and a constant attendance in the Duties of Religion we find any good Progress in Piety we may then also perceive Vice to proceed out of our most Glorious Vertues and Perfectest Graces For as the Moth enters soonest into the richest Stuffs and Cloth thus Pride creeps into the noblest Souls and breeds in the most enlightened understandings As a Primitive Doctor of the Christian Church hath very well observed all Vices are begot by corruption and by other Vices only Pride and Presumption proceed from Vertue O how hard a task is it for a Man enabled with Gifts and Perfections that raise him above the Vulgar not to be puffed up with Pride nor deceived with the love of himself As the beautiful Bird looks and admires the dainty and various Colours of its Wings we do thus behold and admire our selves we are in love with our own Beauty and idolize our Vertues Therefore as
of that uncorruptible Inheritance which God keeps for thee in Heaven and hath prepared since the Creation of the World Hast thou a pleasant Garden or a rich Field But what are all the Gardens of the World in respect of the Heavenly Paradise where the Tree of Life grows that brings forth its Fruits every moneth of the year and where the River of living Water as transparent as Chrystal runs continually What reason hast thou Christian Soul to grieve when thou forsakest the pleasures of the World that thou enjoyest with the Children of the Earth or the Delights of the Body which are common to thee with the bruit Beasts Seeing that God will satisfy thee with his most precious Delights for in the blessed Vision of his Face thou shalt meet with fulness of joy Hast thou any friends on Earth Let it not trouble thee to leave them for instead of one friend here below whom thou fanciest to be real and sincere thou hast thousands in Heaven who will receive thee into the Eternal Mansions and embrace thee as their companion and the partaker of the same Glory and Happiness Hast thou any Parents or Relations I suppose that they are not burdensome to thee and that thou receivest much more Pleasure and Assistance from them than Grief and Ingratitude yet thou hast a spiritual Parentage in Heaven and Eternal Relations Thou hast in the Mansion-House of thy Heavenly Father a great number of Brothers and Sisters with whom thou shalt live in a blessed Unity as Members of one Body governed by the same Spirit and enflamed with the same Zeal Thou Husband whom Death snatcheth away from thy beloved Wife seriously consider that God will unite thee to himself by an unscparable Union and that he purposeth to take up to him some part of thy self that thy expectations thy hopes and affections might be now in Heaven And thou also O Woman whom Death plucks out of the embraces of thy dear and loving Husband remember that thou hast a Husband also in Heaven who hath espoused thee to himself for ever in Righteousness in Mercy and Compassion a Husband always Living and Glorious a Husband who loves thee with an Eternal Love that is stronger than Death whose affections are enflamed for thee in such a manner that the Water of all the Seas and Rivers are not able to extinguish a Husband who bears with all thine infirmities and hath redeemed thee from all thy sins a Husband who hath not spared for thee his precious Bloud that he might procure for thee the Glory and Happiness of his Kingdom who invites thee to his Heavenly Nuptials having prepared and appointed for thee a Room in the Banqueting-Chamber where thousands of glorified Saints shall sit and where the meledious Tunes of Angels shall be heard a Husband who calls to thee reacheth out unto thee his Hand and opens his Bosom to receive thee If thou hast found any satisfaction and pleasure in the company of that Person whom God had given thee for an Assistant and Mate judge from thence what Angelical Delights thou shalt meet with in the ravishing embraces of thy Heavenly Spouse The most pleasant Marriage days are gone as a shadow but the day which shall bring thee to thy Celestial Bridegroom shall never depart nor darken so that the Heavenly Contentments shall abide and continue with thee for ever without the least distaste You beloved and loving Children who are yet in the bosom of a good Father or of a tender-hearted Mother suffer Death patiently to remove you far from them and depart with joy to that good God that will receive you as his Children satisfy your Souls with the Milk of his most Blessed Consolations and will make you his Heirs and Co-Heirs with his Son Jesus Christ Say to him as the Holy Prophet When my Father and my Mother should forsake me yet the Lord will receive me Isai 66. Rom. 8. Psal 27. And you Fathers and Mothers that have a tender affection for your Children if Death takes them out of your sight and deprives you of the comfort of their company grieve not as those who have no hope for when they should be never so accomplish'd when they should have never given you but pleasure and divertisement What are all these pitiful Delights that pass away in a moment and that change oft-times into bitterness and sorrow if compared with the Eternal Pleasures which we shall enjoy in the contemplation of God's Glorious Face and in a familiar acquaintance with his Divine Wisdom You shall not return to them but they shall in their time go to you so that you shall shortly see one another in the Dwelling of the Father of Spirits Matth. 27. Death separates you for a while but the Author of your Life will bring you together for ever Finally of what age and condition soever you be if you perceive the breath of your Life to stop never grieve nor murmure at it for if Death separates you from your Selves it brings you nearer to God your chief Good and instead of a wretched and perishing life it will promote you to the fruition of an Eternal and ever happy one If we had lived in the days when our Saviour was on Earth there is none of us but would have looked upon it as a singular Happiness and Honor to have been admitted with Peter James and John when they went up to Mount Tabor to be Eye-witnesses of our Saviour's transfiguration A far greater Honor and Happiness Death is endeavouring to procure you it will usher you up to Mount Sion it will transport you above all the Heavens where you shall behold more excellent wonders than ever the Apostles beheld upon Mount Tabor for you shall not only see this Glorious Saviour whiter than the Snow and brighter than the Sun but you your selves shall be transfigured with him and cloathed with an exceeding great Glory The Holy Apostles saw but two Prophets but you shall see all the Prophets all the Patriarchs Apostles Confessors Martyrs the Holy and Blessed Virgin and generally all the Saints that Reign and Triumph in Heaven The Apostles had a sight of this Glory of our Saviour as of a flash of Lightning it continued with them but for a moment for soon after they came down from the Holy Mountain and were again in danger of the same temptations as before and besieged by the same Calamities It will be otherwise with thee O Christian Soul thou art flying up to Heaven from whence thou shalt never descend till the great day of the Glorious Resurrection of our Bodies Thou shalt not be assaulted any more by any temptationâ— thou shalt have no more Enemies to overcome nor Bitterness to digest Thou art going to reap and enjoy the Blessed Fruits of thy Saviours Victories and to be Eternally satisfied with the Celestial Pleasures that are at the right hand of the God of Mercies We esteem St. John highly priviledged because the Lord gave him
the glorious liberty of the Children of God And in the 3. Chap. to the Colos he saith you are Dead and your Life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is your Life shall appear you shall appear also with him in Glory Therefore this glorious appearing is stiled a blessed Hope that is to say the fulfilling and accomplishment of all that we expect or hope for as in the 2 Chap. to Titus St. Paul saith We expect the Blessed Hope the appearing of the Glory of our great God who is the Saviour Jesus Christ Then shall be the consummation of the Glory and of the head and of the Members for then the Son of God shall cause the Damned to feel that Power which he possesseth in Heaven and in Earth and in the Depths he shall discover himself to the faithful in his greatest Glory and most Divine Splendor Therefore this glorious Day of his descent from Heaven with the Angels of his power is mentioned as the first day of his manifestation of his appearing and of his Kingdom for this cause when the Holy Ghost speaks of this day it stiles it The day of the Lord Jesus Christ or the day of the Lord Jesus as also the Day of the Lord and the day of God As it shall be the Day of the Lord Jesus it shall also be our Day therefore St. Paul calls it The day of our Redemption because that in this day our Lord shall redeem our Bodies out of their Graves and shall bestow upon both our Souls and Bodies Eph. 4. all the Fruits of that Redemption which he hath purchased for us with his Blood Rom. 8. and shall raise us up to the highest Glory and most perfect happiness Heb. 9 It is the happy Day of the Consummation of our Marriage with this Divine Lamb. It is the day of our Joy and Triumph with the glorified Men and Angels It is the day of our Coronation and of our entrance into our Kingdom when the King of Kings the Lord of Lords shall Crown us with his own hand and put us in possession of an Empire prepared for us from the beginning of the World In a word it is the day when we shall come to the Lord Jesus and be with him as he is with the Father that we may be all in one Because of the glorious and wonderful things which shall come to pass on this day it is named The great Day St. Jude calls it thus when he speaks of the Revolted Angels he saith That God hath reserved them in everlasting Chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the Great Day In this manner many understand the words of St. John when he describes the Foul Spirits and likens them to Frogs which he saw coming out of the Dragons Mouth and of the Beast and out of the Mouth of the False Prophet and saith They are the Spirits of Devils working Miracles which God sent forth unto the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World to gather them to the Battle of that great Day of God Almighty Revel 16. Lastly this glorious Day is not only called The day of Judgement the Day of the Lord the Day of our Redemption and the Great day but oftimes without any addition it is stiled the Day and that Day as in the 10. Chap. to the Hebrews Let us consider one another to provoke unto Love and good Works not forsaking the assembling our selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as ye see the day approaching In the first Epist to the Thessal You are not in Darkness that that Day should surprise you Thus in 2 Epist to Timothy and first Chap. St. Paul saith I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that Day And when he remembers the good and charitable Deeds of Mesiphorus he prays for him in this manner The Lord grant unto him that he may find Mercy of the Lord in that day And in the 4 Chap. speaking of himself he saith I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give at that Day It is so stiled because of its excellency it is the Day of Dayes the end of all the Seasons the Consummation of all Ages and Times after this there shall be no more alteration of Days Months and Years Therefore an Angel is represented in the Revel lifting up his hand to Heaven swearing by the living God who hath Created Heaven and all things therein the Earth and all things in it and the Sea and the things that are there That there shall be no more Time for instead of this unconstant time which flies away without leaving any sign of its being an everlasting Eternity shall succeed an Eternity always the same always Blessed with Happiness alwayes glorious and joyful This Divine and Magnificent Day shall begin at the end of all other Days but shall never draw to an end Therefore St. Peter in these words calls it an Eternal day or Eternity 2 Pet. 3. Glory be to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ both now and for ever Amen And in expectation of this Day of Days all Creatures are groaning and travailling in pain until now but especially Believers who have the First Fruits of the Spirit groan in themselves desiring with an earnest and holy desire to see the breaking of this great and glorious Day It is the end of all the Prophecies and the accomplishment of all Gods gracious promises to his People in all the Ages of the World It is the end and price of our Spiritual Calling the fulfilling of all our desires and expectations the Crowning of all our Labors and the highest step of that glory and happiness unto which we pretend You Devout Souls that delight in the contemplation of Celestial things I pray consider with me the accomplishment and the perfection of three kinds of works which have been succeeded by their several Rests The first was that of the Creation of the World for in six days God Created the Heaven and the Earth and all things in them and when he had finished his Works and found that they were good and perfect he rested the seventh day Gen. 1. 2. Therefore he Blessed and Sanctified it The second great work was that of Redemption for when our Saviour had fulfilled all the Prophesies which meâ—tioned him when he had caused the meaning of all the ancient Types and Figures to appear in his person and in his sufferings when he had fully satisfied the justice of God and purchased for us with his Blood an Eternal Redemption he cried out all is finished John 19. and he bowed his Head and gave up the Ghost After this Christ had nothing more to do nor to suffer but he
we know not at what time nor in what place Death intends to come upon us let us expect it at every moment and in every place Seeing that we lodge in this Earthly Tabernacle without any loss or assurance of Time let us be ready to depart at the first warning for it will be far better for us to goe out willingly than to be drag'd out against our wills it is not convenient that Death should carry us away in the same manner as the Sea bears and tosseth a dead Corps upon its wayes But we must in this occasion imitate the discreet Pilate or Mariner that trims his Sails and helps by his Art the Winds and the Tide to drive him to his desired Haven We should not follow Death as the Malefactor follows the Executioner that leads him to suffer but as the Child follows his Father that conducts him to a Feast we should not engage him in a combat with Death by constraint as the antient Slaves did with the wild Beasts in the Roman Amphitheaters but we should imitate David's generosity who of his own accord march'd out of the Camp of Israel to fight with Goliah It is better for us to attack and seize upon Death than to be surprized and devoured by it unawares Come when thou wilt O Death thou shalt never surprize me for I wait for thee at every moment with my weapons ready in my hand Thou shalt never drag me forcibâ—y for I will follow thee willingly and joyfully Although thou art mine Enemy yet will I speak to thee in the Language of the Spouse in the Canticles to her beloved Draw me and I will run after thee Nay I will meet thee in the way and receive thee with hearty embraces for instead of dreading thy coming I desire it passionately and hope for it for at thy first arrival assoon as I shall have seen thee I shall have overcome thee O blessed and happy day that assures me of such a glorious Victory and of such an Eternal Triumph A Prayer and Meditation upon the continual expectation of Death O Gracious God in whose power alone and at whose pleasure are the Times and the Seasons I know that it is appointed to all men once to dye and that the Grave is the dwelling which thou hast prepared to receive all Mankind we understand sufficiently by the experience of former Ages that none is able to say I shall live and shall not see Death Thou O Almighty God our Supreme Judge hast pronounced our irrevocable Sentence in the Earthly Paradise that we must dye so that I should be guilty of the greatest folly and madness if I did not firmly believe that I must dye as others and follow at my turn in the way of all flesh But Lord thou hast been pleased to hide from our knowledge the wonderful proceedings of thy providence and dost not suffer us to see the Hand that marks out the last hours of our Life We can perceive no shadow to discover to us with certainty when shall be the going down of our Sun we know not at what hour of the day or of the night thou wilt call us away to appear before thy great Tribunal Give us therefore Grace O merciful God to be alway ready to answer to thy Call and to obey thy Holy Commands that I may be as a Ship at Anchor that stays only for a Wind to set her Sails forward or as a Soldier who waits only for the Signal to march to the Encounter Give me Grace O good Lord that I may be like the good and faithful Servant who expects his Masters coming and hears his voice assoon as he calls Or like the wise Virgins who were ready to meet the Bridegroom and to follow him into the Marriage Chamber seeing that I can never know neither the time nor the place when Death will come to me O that I might expect and wait for it at every moment and at every place O that I might live in such a manner as if I were always ready to dye That my Soul were always upon my Lips prepared to fly away That I were continually in readiness to commit it into thy hands O my God my Faithful and Merciful Creator By this means I shall receive Death with Joy when it comes as thy Servant and Messenger and I shall follow it willingly being certainly perswaded that it will lead me into Eternal Life and introduce me into thy Glorious and Immortal Palace Amen A Prayer and Meditation for Youth O Almighty God and Vniversal Light that enlightenest every Man coming into the World the only Author of my Being by whose Gracious allowance I breath Thou O Lord hast formed and fashioned my Body with thy Divine hand and hast put into it an immortal Soul created after thy likeness Thou hast not only bestowed upon me a Life but hast by thy continual care preserved my Soul and kept my Body from all the dangers unto which this weak and frail Nature is always subject Although I feel my self lusty and strong if thou withdrawest away from me thy Spirit and that Divine Vertue that sustains me I shall instantly fall away and return again into nothing from whence thine Almighty Hand hath taken me O merciful Lord seeing that I live by thee alone make me to live only to thee and for thee that all my actions may tend to thy Glory and Praise thee That I may consecrate to thee with all my heart the First-Fruits of my Life and the Flower of my Age that I may remember my Creator in the days of my Youth and that I may abstain from Vice before the Time come in which I shall say That I have no pleasure therein O Father of Mercies pardon and forgive all the Sins and Infirmities of this foolish and unconsiderate Youth Give a stop to all the unruly motions and repress the violent attempts of this boiling Age tame this miserable Flesh that is not obedient to the will of its God That if the dread of thy Holy and great Name and the respect that I owe to thy Sacred Eyes that behold me are not sufficient to recall me from the Commission of sin and to oblige me to obedience Give me Grace to look continually upon Death that appears round about me and it may be in my very bosom Give me Grace to listen daily to the Heavenly voice that calls me to come forth before the Tribunal of the Great Judge of the World who spies my most secret actions who reads the most inward thoughts of my mind and examines all the passages of this most wretched life O that this flourishing Age and this perfect Health that I enjoy might never flatter me with the conceit of being free from and out of the reach of Deaths merciless Darts But let me remember that there are more Flowers and Blossoms that fall to the ground than Men gather of Fruits and that more tender and young Plants are taken up
of Gods everlasting Will and that it carries with it a Commission sealed with the Signet of the living God Adore therefore with all humility the supream Monarch of Heaven and Earth and say to him as David with a profound submission Lord I held my tongue and said nothing because it was thy doing Psal 39. I don't wish thee to have an Heart of Flint without natural affection Piety and Religion are not barbarous they don't deprive us of our Bowels the affection that thou bearest to thy Children is not displeasing to the Father of Mercies if it be but well govern'd and don 't exceed the natural bounds It is lawful for thee to be sensible of their griefs to weep for their distempers and to pray for the recovery of their health But when God hath dispos'd of them and receiv'd them into his Eternal Rest thou must stop all thy Sighs wipe all thy Tears and say as David did after the death of his beloved Child We shall go to them but they shall not come to us 2 Sam. 12. Do they dye of a violent death stop not thy consideration at the evil blasts that have carried them away but lift up thy mind to the great God that draws these winds out of his Treasuries and being arm'd with an Holy constancy say with the patient Job The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken them away blessed be the name of the Lord. I am but a weak instrument which God hath employed to put them into the World but he is their King their Father and their Creator he is also their Saviour and Redeemer Now it is both just and reasonable that God should dispose of his Subjects of his Children of his Workmanship and of those whom he hath redeem'd with his precious blood The Master of a Family gathers at his pleasure the Flowers and the Fruits of his Garden sometimes he cuts off the Buds sometimes he suffers them to blossom sometimes he gathers the green Fruit sometimes he stays till it be ripe and shall not Almighty God have the liberty to dispose at his Will of all that grows in his own Territories The Master of the Family hath not created the Trees and Plants that are at his Command but God hath made and fashioned with his Almighty hand all his Children and all the Men of the World our Flowers wither and spoil in a moment and our Fruits are soon rotten and become unprofitable notwithstanding all our care and skill to preserve them But the Flowers that God cuts or pulls off he transplants them in his Heavenly Garden and gives them a perfect and a Divine Luster and Glory that shall never fade and the greenest fruits that he gathers he preserves them for all Eternity in unspeakable sweetness Doth this Death draw near to threaten thy person when it hath dispatch'd thy dearest friends be not frighted at its appearance for it is not able to anticipate not a moment the hour appointed by the wisdom of Almighty God and when that moment shall be come that he shall call thee to himself from Heaven offer no resistance and stop not thy Ears at thy Creators voice say with the Prophet Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth 1 Sam. 3. Exod. 33. O merciful God seeing that thy Glorious presence goes before me I am ready to depart out of this crazy Tabernacle and to quit this miserable wilderness to enter into the Heavenly and happy Canaan Say with our Saviour Father the hour is come Glorify thy Son that thy Soâ—may Glorify thee John 17. Hast thou lived many years upon Earth ascribe not the cause to the constitution of thy Body to the manner of thy Living nor to the skill of thy Physitians but remember that it is God that lengthens thy days and come and humble at his feet thy Reverend gray Hairs which the Holy Scripture stiles a Crown of Silver or a Crown of Glory Prov. 16. Art thou threatened with Death in the Flower of thine age Fret not thy self at it and let not the least words proceed out of thy mouth but what is seasoned with the Salt of true Piety Remember that it is God alone that cuts off the thread of thy Life and puts a period to thy mortal Race Thou hast as much reason to be grieved because thou art born too late as to be sorry that thou diest too soon Instead of spending thy self in useless complaints which is as if thou that art but an earthly Vessel newly formed shouldest cast thy self against the Rock of Eternity remember to adore and praise thy Great Creator and return him hearty thanks in that he is so well pleased to crown thee in the middle of thy Race and so bountiful as to bestow the Salary of the whole day upon thee who hast labour'd but a few hours He shews thee much favor to transplant thee before thou hast felt the heat of the day and the scorching of the Sun Remember that is it the pleasant gale of his Divine Mercy that drives thee so fast into the secure Haven of Eternal happiness think not therefore that Gods calling thee away in thy strength is a testimony of his displeasure and hatred for to hasten and render a person most happy is no sign of ill will It may be that God calls thee because he hath found some good thing in thee as in Abija the Son of Jeroboam King of Israel because he loves thee dearly and favours thee he intends only to remove thee from the approaching evils as he did Josias one of the Holiest and most Religious Princes that hath ever been because thou dost walk before him and seekest to please him he will take thee up into his Holy and Heavenly Paradise as he did Enoch for fear that the temptations of the World should alter thy Religious disposition and for fear that the Enemy of thy Salvation should prevail upon thee by his continual and wicked suggestions to leave the way of Righteousness in which thou dost walk at present As there are some rich Stuffs whereof the Ashes are most precious and others whereof the Cinders are good for nothing but to be cast away Thus there are some happy gray Heads where the rich and precious Relicks of Justice and Piety do shine whereas others are only fit to discover the follies and vanity of our humane Nature As there is some sort of Wine that grows better by old age and preserves its strength until it comes to the Dregs whereas other Wine there is that soon becomes sower and useless Likewise there are some Men whom old Age makes better and wiser so that they are like to the Indian Trees that yield precious Persumes and Frankincense only when they begin to decline and wither The old Age of such is most Honourable and sends forth a mâ—st blessed perfume of Piety Whereas others do but corrupt with Age and give out a most silthy stench under a white Head they hide a black Soul and a
as if he had been lying upon the Ashes of Jerusalem Some pittiful Beggars are more loath to quit their Rags than the Soveraign Princes to lay down the Ensignes of their Dignity and Honour Such are more enslav'd to their filth and baseness than the greatest Monarchs to the Glory and Splendor of their Empire Death labors as much to free a man from his Prison and to take him out of his Dungeon as to drive him out of his Palace and to tumble him from his Throne The Poor and the Indigent who have no other Bed to lye upon than the hard ground doth make as much resistance as the Rich who are stretched upon the softest Couches The Galley-slaves are as unwilling that Death should loose them from their Chains and take them out of their misery as the Kings and Princes are to leave their Scepters and their Crowns I am fully perswaded that David was more willing to go from his Command and from his Riches than many poor wretches are to depart from their Dunghils and their meanness Some persons are tormented with the Gout the Stone and other grievous and sensible pains they desire nevertheless more passionately to live than many that enjoy a perfect and a flourishing Health Carnal and Earthly Souls are so much bound to the Earth that they feel an horrid reluctancy and an unspeakable displeasure when they are to depart from a Body rotten and falling to pieces with old Age whereas others that are more spiritualiz'd and that have tasted of the Heavenly Gift and of the powers of the World to come depart most willingly out of young and lusty Bodies flourishing in their Strength and Beauty We must not therefore remove out of the World our Legs and Arms but our Affections and vain Lusts If God bestows upon us his Earthly Blessings we are not to follow the example of that extravagant Philosopher who cast into the Sea his Silver and his precious Stones that he might not have the trouble to keep them and who lost them willingly that he might not be in any further danger of loosing them afterwards but we must take heed that they cause not our Faith to make Shipwrack and that we regard them not more than our Consciences for the Soul is a far more precious Jewel than the Body and Life far more considerable than Cloathing Seeing that God bestows upon us so many good things with an intent that we should enjoy them we should shew our selves unthankful to his goodness contrary to his wise Providence and unjust and cruel to our selves to refuse the means of ever using and employing these Blessings All Gods creatures are good and none are to be rejected so that we take them with thanksgiving for they are sanctified by the word of God and by Prayer The Honors and Riches that we receive from our Birth or that we obtain by lawful and just means are to be rank'd amongst the Blessings of God therefore Esther who was but a poor stranger received with joy as a favor from Heaven the Imperial Crown that was put upon her Head and she refused not to be the Wife of the greatest Monarch of that time Joseph accepted willingly the power and dignity with which King Pharaoh had invested him and the Prophet Daniel did not only receive the honourable Commands which were bestowed upon him by the King of Babylon but he employed his Power and Credit to raise also his Companions to the places of Trust and to the Government of that Empire God doth sometimes give the Scepters into the hands of cruel and prophane persons such as was Pharaoh Ahab Nebuchadnezar Belshasar and Herod to teach us that it is not the chief good of Man and that we must aim at a more excellent Kingdom and at more solid and constant Felicities He doth also place upon the Throne Men according to his own heart whom he cherisheth as the Apple of his Eye as David Solomon Jehosaphat Hezekiah and Josias to teach us that the fear of God and the expectation of an immortal Crown is not inconsistant with the Honors of this Life nor with worldly Glory For true Piety hath the promises of this life and of that which is to come The Riches of the Earth are no more hurtful than the Honors and Dignities unless it be by acciddent they are very useful and advantageous to such as employ them well and that dispose of them with an Holy discretion They are powerful helps to true Piety and excellent means to glorify God and to exercise our Mercy and Compassion I may say that they give a Lust to the Zeal and Charity of God's Children Riches turn into evils and are ill bestowed in the hand of a Brute and sordid Nabal at the disposition of a merciless and voluptuous Glutton as the rich Man of the Gospel of a perfidious and treacherous Judas of a silly and debauch'd Youth as the prodigal Son but they are the Blessings of Heaven when they happen in the hand of a Joseph who nourished therewith his Father and all his kindred in the hands of a David that employed them in offerings to Almighty God in the sight of his people of a Solomon who built a magnificent Temple and of a Mary Magdalen who spent them not in Luxury and Vanity nor in curious Trinkets but to buy a box full of precious Ointment which she poured on the head of the Saviour of the World They are blessings indeed when such an one enjoys them as Cornelius the Centurion who employed them in Almes whereof the perfume ascended up to the Throne of the God of Mercies In short our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Eternal Wisdom of his Father hath uttered out of his Sacred mouth that It is more blessed to give than to receive Acts 20. I am not ignorant of the Oracle pronounced by this Great God and Saviour That whosoever doth not renounce Father Mother Houses and Lands for my sake is not worthy of me Mat. 10. This was said to teach us that we must renounce with Heart and Affection all things in the World and of this present Life and that we must be always ready to abandon all in case we cannot keep them without offending God and giving a scandal to his Church but without such an absolute necessity God doth not require from us in any place of Scripture actually to quit and leave our worldly Possessions I know also very well that when a young man did enquire from our Saviour What he was to do to inherit Eternal life Luke 18. This wise Teacher return'd him this answer Sell all that thou hast and give it to the poor and thou shalt have Riches in Heaven then come and follow me Luk 18. This was a particular Commandement made only to that man upon a singular occasion from whence it is not possible that we should gather any conclusion to oblige others to the same action for otherwise this might oblige all Christians in
is by the vertue of Gods Divine Spirit which he hath bin graciously pleased to grant unto us and if the persons that we love and cherish as tenderly as your souls or those whom we are to reverence and honor labor to stir up the bowels of our compassion and to impede us in our Holy resolutions by base and earthly considerations let us tell them as our Saviour did to Mary Magdalene Le me alone for I am going to my Father John 20. Stop not my course for I hold already the prize and the promised Crown In short as Abraham let the Ram loose whereof the Horns were taken in a Thicket and offer'd it up in Sacrifice to God Gen. 21. Likewise let us free our minds from all worldly cares and carnal affections Let us offer them up all to God as a sweet smelling Sacrifice let us present them as a Burnt-offering consume them in the Flames of an Holy Zeal and love of his Divine Majesty When the Christian shall be thus prepar'd he shall never stand in fear of Death he will say to it with an assured countenance Come when thou wilt O Death I desire no reprieve for along while ago I have setled my affairs and wait for thee with patience the chief part of my self is not here below my Heart is already ravish'd into Heaven where God expects me with Arms wide open Therefore notwithstanding thy fearful darkness and the designe that thou hast to destroy me I will follow thee as couragiously and as joyfully as St. Peter did the Angel of Light that open'd to him the Gates of his Prison and freed him from his Chains Acts 12. A Prayer and Meditation for such as prepare for Death by a renunciation of the World O Infinite Lord of Heaven and Earth who dispossest of good and evil by thy Divine Providence and admirable Wisdom thou hast not suffer'd us to have here a lasting City that we might seek for that which is to come Thou dost discover before our eyes the vanity and unconstancy of all things under the Sun that we might labor to attain to solid and everlasting advantages Thou hast placed and reserved in Heaven an inexhaustible Treasure of Riches uncorruptible Crowns of Glory and Eternal Triumphs that thither we might transport our Heart and affections The source of Heavenly pleasures is with thee that we might always be athirst for the strong and living God and that we might desire with an Holy earnestness to look upon thy beautiful and glorious Face Most Glorious Creator seeing thou hast bestowed upon me an â—mmortal Soul suffer me not to be so wretched as to content my self with these mortal vanities and seeing thou hast made it of a Spiritual and Heavenly nature suffer me not to be so unhappy as to wallow in this miserable dust of the Earth or to cast my self into the puddle and dirt of carnal Lusts Give me Grace to renounce the World and all the Vanities that the World adores Give me Grace to possess all these decaying and perishing things as not possessing them that I may tramble upon all the pomp and glory of the Age that I may consider that the Gold the Silver the precious Jewels whereof the apparent beauty deceives the carnal eyes of Men is nothing else but hardened Earth that will crumble away and dissolve into Dust that I may remember that after my decease all these things will profit me no more than that vile Earth and the Stones that shall cover my dead Corps or the Wood or Lead which shall be given to it for a Coffin Give me grace to despise all the Honors and Dignities after which the Men of the World run so impatiently for they are but like a shadow that passeth away and like the smoak that ascendeth up put of our reach Pluck out of my heart the cares of this life and all solicitousness for the Earth that Death may never surprize me unawares and that there may be nothing to stop or hinder from going to thee when thou shalt be pleased to call me that my soul being totally disengag'd and freed from all these Bryars and Thorns I may be always ready at every moment to be offered unto thee as a living and a burnt Sacrifice The Children of Israel did fix and raise their Camp at thy Command Give me also Grace to be as ready prepar'd to live and dye to remain in this Tabernacle and to depart out of it when thou shalt send thine Orders and as this people did pass over the River Jordan with a wonderful joy to take possession of the promised Land O that I might also leave this miserable Wilderness with transports of joy to enter into the Celestial Canaan where the Milk and Hony of Divine Pleasures and of Eternal Comforts flow as in their natural Channel O God who art my portion and mine inheritance cast me not away with the men of the World whose portion is in this life Thou dost fill their paunch with thy good things they are full and leave sufficient for their Babes but for me all my comfort is that I shall behold thy face in Righteousness and shall be sanctified when I awake with thy likeness Amen CHAP. 11. The Fifth Remedy against the fears of Death is to renounce Vice and to apply our selves to the practice of Piety and Sanctification GOd is so wonderful in all his Works and he governs all his Creatures in such a manner that his very Enemies are constrain'd to acknowledge this Truth You have an excellent example in Balaam who beholding the Tents of the Children of Israel breaks out into this passionate wish Let me dye the death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his Numb 25. He was a wicked Varlot that loved the wages of iniquity nevertheless he perceived by that Prophetical Light with which his Soul was enlightened how sweet and comfortable Death was to such as addict themselves in this life to the service and fear of Almighty God and how different it is from the death of the profane Worldlings who give themselves over to their Lusts and Delight in the unlawful pleasures of the Flesh for as the Drunkards sleep with a disturb'd and unquiet fancy likewise such as are drunken and full with the base and rotten pleasures of this life if they be not hardened by Atheisme do commonly depart out of the World with strange frights and horrid gripings of Conscience that cannot be express'd It is otherwise with a good Christian for as the Handicrafts man who hath work'd all the day in his Shop and the Husbandman who hath wearied himself in following his Plow lays himself down at night in peace so it is with a good Christian who hath carefully attended the works of Piety and Mercy in this life he sleeps his last sleep with a great quiet of mind and satisfaction of soul as righteous Jacob when he travelled a journey to his Mothers friends with his Fathers
all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy might And in the 26 of Isaiah Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and your dread and in the 55 Chap. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon In the 2 Chapter of Joel Turn ye to the Lord with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning And in the 1 Chapter of Malachi The Son Honors the Father and the Servant his Lord If therefore I am your Father where is the Honor due unto me If I am your Lord where is the fear of my Name 2. Jesus Christ is not come to abolish the Law but to fulfil it Matt. 5. Therefore in the New Testament he calls upon us as frequently to study Piety and Vertue As in the 5 Chapter of St. Matthew Let your Light so shine before Men that they seeing your good Works may Glorify your Father which is in Heaven And in the 1 Chapter of St. Mark Repent ye and believe the Gospel And St. Paul to the Romans exhorteth in this manner I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of God that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God hate evil and cleave to that which is good Rom. 12. And in the 13 Chapter Wâ—lk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness 〈…〉 chambering and wantonness not in strife and envyâ—â—â— but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no 〈…〉 for the flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof And in the 1 Ep. Corinth 15 Chap. Awake to Righteousness and sâ—n not And in the 4 Ephesians Put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts and put you the New man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness And in the 3 Coloss Mortify your Members which are upon Earth Fornication Vncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupisâ—ence and Covetousness which is Idolatâ—y In the 1 Ep. Thessalonians 5 Chap. Watch and be sober abstain from all appearance of evil And in Phil. 4. Whâ—tsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any Vertue and if there be any Praise think on these things I might with as much ease number the Stars of the Sky as to reckon up all the passages that call upon us and exhort us to an Holy life 3. God doth not only Command us to apply our selves to Holiness Justice and Innocency of life but he proposes himself also for our example That as the obedient and good Children delight to imitate their Fathers Vertues we also might endeavour to coppy out in our lives the Divine perfections of our Heavenly Father and imprint in our Hearts his Sacred Image Therefore in the 11 Levit. he tels us Be ye Holy for I am Holy And St. Peter repeats the same passage in this manner As he that calleth you is Holy so be ye also Holy in all manner of conversation for it is written be ye Holy for I am Holy 1 Pet 2. And our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ gives us the same Lesson Love your Enemies bless those that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them that persecute you that you may be the children of your Father that is in Heaven Matth. 5. for he causeth his Sun to rise upon the good and the bad and sends his Rain upon the just and the unjust be therefore perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect The Apostle St. Paul speaks in the same manner to the Ephesians Be followers of God as dear children put off the old man and put on the new man which is created according to God in justice and true holiness Chap. 5. And in the 3 Coloss Now put off all these Anger Wrath Malice Blasphemy filthy Communication out of your mouth Lye not one to another seeing that ye have put off the old man with his Deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledg after the Image of him that created him 4. Meditate seriously upon the excellent and precious promises that God hath given to such as addict themselves to Piety and good Works As in the 20 Ex. I shew mercy unto thousand generations of them that love me and keep my Commandments And in 1 Sam. 2 Chap. I will honor them that honor me And in the 3 of Isaiah Says to the Righteous that it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruit of their doings And in the 5 of St. Matthew our Saviour saith Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God and in the 6 Chapter Seek first the kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you over and above And in the 7 Chapt. Whosoever shall call me Lord shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven St. Paul speaks thus to the Romans If by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh you shall live Chap. 8. And in the 1 Ep. to Tim. Piety or Godliness is profitable unto all things having the promises of this present life and of that which is to come And in the 21 Revel Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second death shall have no power over him 5. Consider that the whole World trembles at the denunciation of the judgements with which God threatens to punish all impenitent Sinners as in Exod. 20. I am the Lord thy God strong jealous visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me And in 1 Sam. 2 Chap. I will honor them that honor me and will despise them that honor me And St. Matt. Chap. 12. Of every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account at the day of judgement And St. John Chap. 3. Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit that is of a Spirit purifying like water he cannot enter into the kingdom of God And in Rom. 8. They who are in the flesh cannot please God And in 1 Cor. Chap. 6. Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God And the Apostle to the Hebrews is not content to tell us That without Holiness no man shall see God but he saith something
thy beautiful Face and as a beam of thy Glory as the rich Jewel which the Devil had taken from us as the highest perfection represented by thy Son Jesus Christ and as the chief part of that felicity unto which we pretend and into which thou wilt bring us in thine heavenly Paradise O God of my Salvation how bitter are the fruits of sin thou seest my displeasure for having yielded so long to that loathsome Tyrant and assisted my carnal Lusts that war against the Soul Thou seest the inward grief of my mind for having neglected to employ that life which I have received from thy Mercy and Goodness that I might live to fear serve and obey thy Sacred and Divine Commands What shall I say O Soveraign Lord of the World I have sinned against thee against thee have I sinned and done that which is abominable in thy sight but I repent in Dust and Ashes my sins appear before me day and night I consider them with horror Alas O Lord before whom all things are naked and open thou knowest that my greatest grief proceeds from my not grieving enough and that my most sensible affliction is of not being afflicted sufficiently because I cannot feel a Repentance answerable to the greatness and number of mine offences O God that searcheth the Heart and knowest all things thou understandest the greatness of my crimes and what should be my sorrow for their Commission thou desirest not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn and live Turn me O Lord and then I shall be turned Almighty God who fetchest Water out of the hardest Rocks draw out of my stony Heart the tears of sincere Repentance which might he acceptable unto thee Break and mollify this hard heart that it may receive the Waters of Eternal life but rather pluck out this wicked heart and give me a new heart fashioned with thine own hands an heart where thy Glorious Image with all its most beautiful features may appear with the most sacred beams that proceed from thy Divine Face an heart that may be enflam'd with an Holy Zeal for thy Glory and burn with a love for thee O God of all goodness who hast not spared the bloud of thine only Son to blot out the sentence of my doom grant me thine Holy Spirit that may sanctify me and make me a new creature that I may bear the marks and the Livery of thy chosen and that I may shine in the World as a Lamp that burns with an Heavenly Fire Crucify this miserable flesh with all its Lusts that I may live not I but that Christ may live in me that from henceforth I may live in the faith of the Son of God who hath loved me and given himself for me that he might redeem and cleanse me from all iniquity Animate my Soul enlighten mine understanding direct and govern the actions of my life take possession of me and rule me in such a manner that all mine affections words and thoughts may be sanctified by thy Grace and tend to the promotion of thy Glory That I may not only abhor all such things as are displeasing to thee but that I may also shun those which I know not whether they will be acceptable to thee that I may not only abominate the filthy vices but also hate the Garments infected with sin and that I may abstain from all appearance of evil If the Devil the World and mine own flesh tempt and stir me up to any sin let the dread of thy Divine Majesty seize upon my Soul let Death enter into my mind and fill me with such an holy fear as may stop and hinder me Give me grace to consider that I should be the most miserable of all Creatures if I did dye in offending and sinning against thee if I were buried with my crimes Let me always think upon St. John 's saying Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second death shall have no dominion over him Seeing that thy saving grace unto all men hath appeared so openly unto me Grant that renouncing all impiety and worldly Lusts I may live soberly justly and religiously in this present life that I may apply my thoughts to all those things that are True Honourable Just Pure Lovely of good Renown and generally to all things that are vertuous and worthy of praise More especially grant O good God that I may be possessed with a violent Charity which may carry me to actions of Love and Mercy for thou delightest in such Sacrifices Charity covers a multitude of sins O merciful Lord the task which thou hast given me is long and tedious my life is but short and I know not how soon thou wilt come to knock at the door of mine house O God whose Mercies are for ever performe in me that which thou dost command and then command what thou wilt produce in me with power both the Will and the Deed according to thy good pleasure Give me grace to employ myself in thy work with Diligence Faithfulness and Zeal that I may not be troubled at thy Glorious coming Give me the Lamp of thy Sanctuary lighted at the beams of the Sun of Righteousness Fill my Soul with the precious and Divine Oil that runs from thy Spirit and cloath me with the Robes of Holiness and Light that I may be ready to follow the Bridegroom into the Banqueting Chamber and sit at thy Table with the holy Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and the Holy Virgin and with all those who have wash'd and whitened their Robes in the Bloud of the Lamb. Let me live the life of the Saints that I may dye the death of the Righteous that I may be admitted into thy Glorious Rest with thy Chosen and that when I am breathing forth thy last gasp thy Son Jesus Christ may call to me from Heaven Come good and faithful Servant enter into the joy of thy Lord Amen CHAP. 12. The sixth Remedy against the fears of Death is to repose our selves upon God's good Providence SOme persons there are so brutish and stupified that they never think upon the great end and designe of their Creation they are not able to give a just account wherefore God hath put them into the World they are Carnal and Earthly minds who imagine that they were created for themselves as brute Beasts onely to eat and drink Such are of the number of those that are mentioned by St. Paul their God is their Belly and their end is Eternal Misery But there are also some wise and vertuous minds that are continually meditating upon the favors that they received from Heaven which they employ to their right and proper end Such Celestial understandings being enlightned from above consider very well that they are not born for themselves but for their Countrey for their Parents for their Friends and chiefly for to serve God and his Church on Earth therefore they desire to live only to
be that they have not enjoyed any unusual Plenty yet this wise Purveyor hath furnished them the things that have been necessary for them so that not only both they and their Children have subsisted in the greatest calamities but they have had the Honor of assisting God's Prophets and as that poor Widow of the Gospel gave Alms out of her poverty such Mites have been more pleasing to God than the Treasuries of the wealthy Morever when the Son of God was in the World he was pleased to express how much care and compassion he had of Widows for when he met at the Gate of the City of Nain a poor Widow weeping bitterly for her only Son that was carried out to be buried he was moved with a tender feeling of her affliction therefore he raised the young man to life again and restored him to his Mother It was also at the solicitation of some devout Widows that St. Peter raifed Dorcas from death to life I must needs take notice here of an admirable story proper to comfort every faithful servant of God The Widow of a deceased Prophet made this bitter complaint unto Elisha Thy Servant my Husband is dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord and the creditor is come to take unto him my two Sons to be bond-men 2 King 4. God who hears the cry of the afflicted had compassion of that poor distressed Widow so that he gave unto her by Elisha's means in a wonderful manner sufficient for the payment of her debts and for to nourish her Family by this glorious example God declares the care that he will have of his Prophets Widows whilst they walk in his fear and continue in his Holy Covenant In short the modern and antient Histories are full of notable examples of wise and vertuous Widows that have discreetly governed their Families and upon whom God's Blessings have visibly appeared Almighty God who is wonderful in all his Works doth sometimes order affairs in such a manner that Fathers don't gather up for their Children but he gives to some such Children in his Mercy that make provision for their Fathers such are an extraordinary Blessing to their Family as Joseph was to Jacob and his Houshold Such wise and vertuous Children who are so necessary to their Parents whom they Love and Honor might out of their violent affection for them speak unto Death in the language of the young man of the Gospel Suffer me to go first and bury my Father Let me alone awhile in the world suffer me to live O death until I have accompanied my Parents to their Grave until I have closed their Eye-lids and performed the last duties that Nature requires But hearken officious Son what the Lord saith to thee Suffer the dead to bury the dead but thou follow me Leave to them that remain after thee the care of Worldly affairs but do thou yield thy self at God's Call Thy Charity for others must not cause thee to be cruel to thy self and disobedient to the Commands of thy God Fear not to leave thy Father and Mother when thou art going to cast thy self into the ravishing embraces of thy Spiritual Bridegroom and of thine Heavenly Father The great God who hath given thee or rather lent thee to them and who caused them to subsist before thou hadst a Being can feed and bless them without thee his Mercy is not tied to thy Person nor confin'd to thine industry When our Lord and Saviour was upon the Cross seeing the Blessed Virgin and the Disciple whom he loved said to his Mother Woman behold thy Son and to St. John Son behold thy Mother John 19. and from that hour that Disciple took her unto his own home In the like manner when God cals unto his Eternal Rest him who was the supporter of his Family as Joseph was he provides for them by some other means so that if Elkanah had good cause to say to his Wife when she wept because she had no Child Am not I better to thee then ten Sons 1 Sam. 1. we may say with more reason that God's Grace his Assistance and the Comforts of his Holy Spirit are better worth than Ten thousand Children The strongest Passion and that which I judge to be the most apt to hinder a good Man is that which Fathers and Mothers have for their little ones especially if they be in an age unable to help themselves but that this natural passion may not hurry us beyond the limits prescribed by Reason and Piety consider well the promise that God made to Abraham I am thy God and the God of thy seed after thee Gen. 17. and what St. Peter told the Jews To you and to your Children was the promise made and to all such as are afar off as many as the Lord our God shall call Acts 2. especially meditate well upon and imprint in your minds that which God speaks unto you from Heaven by the Prophet Jeremiah Leave me thy Fatherless Children and I will give them to eat and let thy Widows trust in me Jer. 49. God is the Father of us all but more especially of the Fatherless he hath compassion of them and provides for all their necessities thy Children are more tender to him than to thee for thou hast been but a feeble instrument in his hand to put them into the world but he is the Creator of their Soul the fashioner of their Body and the redeemer of them both He loves them with a stronger and more constant Love than the best Fathers and the most tender-hearted Mothers therefore he assures us by his Holy Prophet that when the Mother should forget the Child unto whom she gives suck and when she should have no pity of the Fruit of her Womb he will never forget us so that all the Children that fear God may say as David When my Father and my Mother should have forsaken me the Lord will receive me Psal 27. Seeing that Job hath had a care of the Orphans Job 31. and Pharaoh's Daughter hath had compassion of the Tears of a little strange Child how much more shall God who is the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort have pity of Children that he hath redeemed with the precious Bloud of his only Son Exod. 2. 2 Cor. 1. Seeing that he hears the cries of the young Ravens he will sooner hear the Prayers Sighs and Tears of his Servants Children Psal 147. Matt. 6. he cloaths the Grass of the Fields which to day is and to morrow is cast into the Oven Gen. 21. how much rather will he cloath your Children O ye of little Faith Doth your Heavenly Father nourish the Birds of the Air and will not he rather feed your Children that are better worth than all the Birds together Jon. 4. In short seeing God hath had compassion of little Ishmael and of the Children of Ninivy how much rather will he regard Children that have been sanctified to
him from their Mothers womb Our Lord Jesus Christ when he was on Earth took up in his Arms the little Children that were brought unto him laid his hands upon them and recommended them to God his Father and now that he is in Glory his Love and tender compassion for them is no less Therefore if we offer him our Children with all our hearts he will take them into his protection he will stretch over them the Arms of his Mercy and will never take them away again In short seeing that he promiseth to them the Kingdom of Heaven and his Eternal Felicities he will never with-hold from them things needful for this present life We can do nothing without God but God can do all things without us A great many Children become debauch'd and are spoil'd in their Parents over-fond tuition wherecas many that are out of their sight and that live when they are departed shew good examples of Piety and Godliness for example in Isaack's House in the presence of this Holy Man there was a prophane Esau a Glutton whereas Jacob that lived at a distance from his Parents when he fled for fear of his Brother had always before his eyes the fear of Isaack his Father Gen. 27. Gen. 31. that is to say the God whom his Father worshipped In Jacob's House Ruben defiled his Father's Bed in an incestuous manner whereas Jâ—seph in Potiphera's House chose rather an apparent death and present sufferings than to touch his Masters Wise Gen. 39. David had the unhappiness to see some of his Children guilty of Incest and Murder whereas Joas and Josias two Orphan-Princes in their tenderest infancy became Vertuous and Religious Kings zealous for the service of God How many Children are there who notwithstanding all the care and labor of their Fathers fall into extremity of misery How many are taken from their Parents embraces and dragg'd from thence to the Gallows whereas there are others that without Father or Parents assistance don't only escape grievous dangers but rise to Honors and Dignities as Joseph in Aegypt Daniel in Babylon and Esther that was Fatherless and a poor Captive became a Queen and moreover God made use of her and of her credit to deliver his People from Haman's conspiracy We see every day that God blesseth in an extraordinary manner many Orphans Cast your Eyes upon the Children of the blessed Martyrs and thou shalt perceive many that God hath made notable instances of his especial favors and of the Mercy that he promiseth to shew unto thousand Generations of them that serve him and obey his Holy Commands Thou shalt find some that have much more happiness in this life than the posterity of the Persecutors Thou shalt see them with astonishment bestow their Alms upon the Children of such as have plundered their Houses and spoiled their Goods Whilst you are yet in being exhort your Children to fear God to serve and to addict themselves with all their Heart to the study of Piety that hath the promises of this life and of the life to come Teach them first to seek the Kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all these things shall be added to them over and above Finally when your life should be much more useful to your Children than it is remember what our Lord and Saviour saith He that loves Son or Daughter more than him is not worthy of him Heaven is far more excellent than the Earth The Salvation and the Happiness of our Souls is to be preferr'd to all the considerations of Flesh and Bloud It is not just that such as have given us or to whom we have given the enjoyment of a temporal life should hinder us from the fruition of a Spiritual and Eternal Life Besides when we recommend them to God we put them into the protection of a true and of a wise Friend who is acquainted with their necessities who is so Good to procure them that which shall be needful for them and Almighty to accomplish all things which may be for their advantage Let us therefore conclude that it is the duty of a good Father that fears God not to resist death not to fly from it when the Lord calls but according to the good example of the antient Patriarchs he ought to end his days willingly with the praises of God in his mouth and with exhortation to his Children to love him fear him and serve him with all their heart to continue in his Holy Covenant and to prefer him to all the Riches and Honors of this miserable Earth And as when our Saviour had bestowed his Blessings upon his Disciples a Cloud carried him out of their sight into Heaven Likewise when a good Christian shall have thus given his Blessings to his Children he will shut his eyes to all inferior things and think upon nothing but upon the Eternal Bliss of the Heavenly Paradise If God calls us to himself in a miserable and wretched time when our beloved Infants are weeping about our Bed ready to say to us as Isaack unto Abraham My Father here is Wood a Fire and a Knife but where is the Beast for a Burnt-offering Gen. 22. God causeth the visible signes of his heavy displeasure to appear every where In every corner we see nothing but Fire and Sword Death's frightful Image and the fearful appearance of Masacres do scare and terrify us Destruction is come into the Holy places the Fire hath reacht as far as God's own Sanctuary and no body is able to deliver us The deluge of God's wrath hath overspread our Land in such a manner that as Noah's Dove we cannot find where to pitch our feet All our expectation is that God would also reach down his hand unto us from above to receive us into that Ark which is above the Heavens and unto which your Soul is now departing Gen. 8. If our dear Children speak unto us in this Language Let us with the courage assurance and faith of the Father of the Faithful return unto them this answer My Children the Lord will provide Gen. 12. Rom. 4. It is he that acts beyond appearance and against all hope who causeth the dead to live and calls things that are not as if they were he will send to you his good Angels to help you in all your necessities when you shall be reduc'd to the uttermost misery ready to receive the last stroke of death God's hands will stop the sword of his justice he will change your crying and fears into joy and Eternal gladness There will be some Holy and devout Soul that loves the publick peace and tranquility that will bring to you the Olive-branch of Peace God can appease the Tempest with his breath at his Command the winds will be still and the roaring Waves that are ready to devour you will return to their former tranquility Otherwise he will preserve you miraculously alive in the midst of the greatest troubles and most fearful confusion And as
Abraham found a Lamb intangled in a Bush Likewise in the midst of the sharpest storms of affliction and in the most intricate difficulties that you dread you shall find unexpected sweetness and comforts And as several colours of the beautiful Rainbow appear upon the Cloud whence proceeds the Storms and the Rain Likewise thus in the greatest afflictions God will give you some testimonies of his fatherly care and of his Divine love The assurance that you shall repose in God shall never be confounded for the love of God is spread in your hearts by the Holy Spirit that he hath given you The hotter the fire of affliction shall be the greater and the more miracles it shall bring forth The higher the waters of your Floud shall rise the nearer they will approach your Souls good and the nearer you will draw to Heaven the place of your Souls birth Comfort therefore your selves my dear Children and assure your selves that by the favourable assistance of God's Grace and Mercy we shall see one another again speedily I shall not return to you but you shall come to me for I am going to that large and magnificent Dwelling whither our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is gone before to prepare a place for us and where he will embrace us all I am going up to my Father and your Father to my God and to your God A Prayer and Meditation for a King and a Soveraign Prince who prepares for death by reposing himself upon God's providence O King of Kings and Lord of Lords who hast been Graciously pleased out of thine especial goodness to make me a living Image of thine Almighty Power and a visible expression of thine Heavenly Glory suffer me not to be lifted up in pride by that Power and Majesty with which thou hast cloathed me That I may not imitate that vain glorious and prophane Monarch who discovered his impious mind in these terms Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the House of the Kingdom by the might of my power and for the honour of my Majesty But give me Grace to adore the Scepter of him who hath established me to humble my self before the Throne of thine universal Empire I have so much the more reason thus to abase my self because I am to appear before thy great Tribunal not only as a man to answer for my actions but also as a Prince I must there appear to give up an account of my publick Stewardship and of so many thousand Souls committed to my care If at any time the splendor and glory of my Crown dazle my Eyes and delude my fancy or if fond flatterers sing at my ears A voice of God and not of Man O let me then remember the frailty of my corruptible Nature I am born as other Men and subject to the same passions and the same infirmities Death will have no more regard for me than for the vilest of my subjects it will not treat me with more civility than them It will enter as boldly into my Palace as into the Huts of my meanest Soldiers and into the Cabans of the most contemptible Shepheards It will break my Scepter in pieces as easily as the Beggars staff and trample upon the Flowers and Jewels of my Crown in the same manner as upon the grass of the field My Life as that of my Slaves and Vassals is but the breath of my Nostrils a wind that vanisheth away a shadow that will quickly disappear O God of all flesh whilst thou continuest unto me my life here below Command in my Heart and amongst my affections Govern me by thine excellent Wisdom and by thy Royal and Divine Spirit Seeing that by thee Kings Reign and Princes do Justice give me Grace to lift up mine Eyes always unto thee and to employ all the Power and Authority which I have received from thee to thy Honor and Glory and to the advance of thine Heavenly Kingdom that I may look upon my Subjects as thy Creatures formed after thine own Image and as thy Children redeemed with the Bloud of thine only Son if thou hast been pleased to put a differance between them and me O that I may also consider that there is a more vast difference between me Dust and Ashes a Worm of this vile Earth me a nothing and less than nothing and thine Eternal Being O great and living God! whose Power is infinite when thou art pleased to send these Orders to the richest and to the most powerful Monarchs Sons of men return at the same instant they are not able to make resistance but they must needs return to Dust and with them all their contrivances all their high and glorious purposes vanish away O Soveraign Monarch of the World when thou shalt forewarn me by any of thy Servants or signify unto me by any other means that thy pleasure is to take me from my Throne to remove me from my Principality and to separate me from my self instead of troubling and afflicting my Soul as an Heathen Prince give me grace to shew a noble constancy and a Christian resignation to thine Holy and Divine pleasure If thou dost with one hand write the Sentence of my Death I know that thou wilt signe with the other the irrevocable Decree for me to go and take possession of a life infinitely happy Alas great God what are all these Territories that I must leave in comparison of the Celestial Inheritance which thou hast prepared for me from the Creation of the World for all the Earth if compared with the Heavens is but a point and what are all the inferior Crowns that fade away and fall to the ground in comparison of the uncorruptible Crown of Glory that waits for my coming at the end of my mortal Race O how willingly shall I cast off this Purple this Royal Attire to put on the precious Robes of Light and Immortality reserved for me in thine Heavenly Paradise How joyfully shall I put down this Scepter to take into my hands the flourishing Branches of Palms that I see in the possession of thy triumphing Saints O Almighty King of Kings thou hast entrusted me with the Governance of this Kingdom and Principality I return it willingly into thy Divine hands Thou hast subdued my people under me and taken me out of many Waters thou hast justified my Right to these Crowns by a gracious and a miraculous Restauration ☞ O let me never forget thine infinite goodness so visibly declared to me and my people How innumerable are thy Mercies O Lord Let therefore the former experience that I have had of thy goodness encourage me to cast willingly my Self my Life my Crown and my Kingdoms into thy Divine hands And while I yet remain amongst the living give me Grace O good and merciful Saviour to wean my self from the world and worldly pleasures Give me a hearty distaste of all unsatisfying delights of the Body and a true relish of the immortal
thee and bring all thoughts to thine obedience Let the World be confounded in all its purposes and let it never have the power to scare me by its threatenings or to corrupt me by its fair promises Let Satan once more fall from Heaven as a Lightning and let him be for ever shut up in the bottomless pit Shut up the mouths of all false Prophets and let thy Truth be victorious over Error that we may see the Congregations of thy true Catholick Church increase in number of persons that may worship thee with more Affection and Zeal or rather increase in them thy Grace and Heavenly Blessings O let me always consider that the Sheep that I am to feed belong not to me nor to any mortal Man but to thee Lord Jesus who hast created them by thine infinite power and redeemed them by thy wonderful Goodness Thou hast willingly offered thy self to the sufferings of a painful death that thou mightest deliver them from the Wolfs Paw and Claws of the infernal Lion Let me remember that I am shortly to appear before thy Glorious presence and to give thee an account of my Stewardship O Lord who knowest all things unto whom nothing is hid thou seest the very bottom of my Heart and spiest my most secret thoughts Thou knowest how faithfully and affectionately I have been employed in thy service I have led thy Sheep to the wholsome feeding of thy Heavenly Pastures I have led them to the Waters that burst forth unto Eternal Life my Conscience bears me witness before thee and thy Holy Angels that I have declared nothing neither by Word nor Writing but that which I firmly believe to be agreeable to the Oracles of the Prophets Apostles and Evangelists I have drawn out of the Sacred Treasuries of thy word things new and old for the beautifying of thy House and for the instruction of such as dwell there I have labour'd day and night in the hings that thou hast put into my heart for thy Glory for the advance of thy Kingdom and the comfort of thy Children In the important passages of my life I have not taken counsel from Flesh and Bloud but I have preferred the Honour of thy great Name and the Glory of thy Divine Truth to all Earthly advantages and to my particular interest I have despised all the Riches of this World and the Honors of the Age for the sake of the spiritual Treasuries and of that Heavenly Light which thou hast put into me as into an Earthly Vessel that all Glory may be ascribed to thee who art the Author of all good and of all perfect Gifts My most delicious Meat and my most pleasant Drink was to do thy Holy Will and to perfect thy Work I have taken a singular delight in declaring the wonderful Councils of thy Wisdom and discovering the Mysteries of thy Kingdom I have shared in the evils and sufferings of thy Members I have not been sparing of the comforts which thou hast furnished me in all my afflictions and temptations Thy Holy Law is in my Heart and thy Gospel is there engraven with the finger of thy Blessed Spirit Thou hast kindled in me an earnest desire of saving Souls and bringing them to Righteousness O Lord who searchest into the bottom of the most secret Hearts Thou knowest that I may say with the Holy Prophet The zeal of thine House hath caten me up Or with the Apostle The care of thy Church cometh upon me daily But for all this I pretend not to be justified in thy presence I am so far from resting upon mine own Righteousness and of being puft up with the opinion of my deservings that I confess my self a poor and a miserable sinner therefore with my whole Heart I desire the forgiveness of my great imperfections and miscarriages which I have been guilty of in thy service I have not been enflam'd with a Charity pure enough nor with a disinteressed Zeal I have been sometimes too indulgent and sometimes too severe in the reprehension of Vice and I have not been as I ought the Director of my Floâ—k in all manner of good Works the love of my self hath crept in with that affection that I owe to thee alone and I have have not served thee only for thy sake and for thy Divine perfections but also for the expectation of the Rewards which thou hast promised to thy faithful Servants when thou shalt render unto every one according to his Works I have been too sensible of the wrongs done to mine own Person and especially when I have seen my best deeds misinterpreted and my most charitable cares requited with ingratitude I have not always possâ—ssed my Soul with patience and I have not had that Meekness Love and Humility which thou Divine Jesus hast recommended to me by thine example on Earth O Lord if thou should est treat me according to the exacâ—ness of thy justice and require at my hands the Souls that are perished by my negligence or evil example I should be cover'd with shame and confusion and I should soon be cast with the unprofitable Servant into the Eternal Torments of Hell where are weeping and gnashing of Teeth But O Merciful Lord thou art goodness it self Love and the very being of Charity Thou acceptest the Will for the Deed and the Vndertaking for the Performance and thou hast thy Arms always wide open to receive thy poor Servants that weep for their mistakes and that humbly prostrate themselves before thee to implore thy Mercy and Forgiveness O Divine Saviour Thou art rich in Goodness and ready to cause thy Glorious Countenance to shine upon such as call upon thee to their unspeakable joy and comfort and upon such as draw near to thee by a true and serious Repentance Therefore I pour forth my Soul before thee and acknowledge that thou hast heard me and accepted the contrition of my heart and heard the voice of my Tears Thou strengthenest my Faith raisest my Hopes and fillest my Soul with refreshing and excellent considerations of thy Love Thou causest me to tast the Salvation which thou often preachest to others I feel thy Gracious Hand drawing me to thyself I see that thou openest to me the Gate of Paradise unto which I have had so many good and Holy Souls that rest now in the enjoyment of thy Glory Thou causest me to have the confidence of saying with the Holy Apostle I know that God will show Mercy unto me and receive me into his Heavenly Kingdom O Good and Merciful Lord I feel my Body consuming away and my strength decaying but thou art the Rock of my Heart and my portion for ever I see death coming apace to me but instead of afflicting and frighting me it comforts and rejoyceth my Heart for it comes to put an end to this miserable life that is no better than a languishing kind of death it comes to take me from my continued labors and loose me from my greivous and
because they have committed some grievous crime Rather consider that it may be a means which God hath a design to employ to declare his Power and his Servants Patience Faith Piety and Vertues Therefore our Lord and Saviour tells the Apostles when at the Sight of a Man blind from his Birth they enquired from him whether the Man had sinned or his Father or Mother because he was born blind That neither the Man nor his Father nor Mother had sinned but that the Works of God might be manifested in him John 5. By these words we are not to imagine that these persons were without sin for there is none just no not one but we must understand that they were not guilty of any grievous sin and they had not committed any such crime as had drawn upon them God's vengeance from above It was God's Will that this poor man should come into the World with that natural imperfection that he might make him an instance of his Grace and declare in him his Almighty Power and that our Saviour in giving him his sight might make it appear that he was the true God who fashions the wonderful Eye and that he was the true Light that enlightens every man coming into the World Psalm 94. John 1. Likewise when some came to inform this Great and Wise Saviour what had happened to the Galileans whose Bloud Pilate had mingled with their Sacrifice he replyed in this manner Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Or those eighteen upon whom the Tower in Siloam fell and slew them think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Luk 13. God is glorified divers ways by the afflictions and calamities which he sends to his Children for first he justifies them before all the world from the calumnies which are cast upon them and he discovers thereby to all the sincerity of their Love and their unfeigned Obedience Satan accuseth us for serving God for the advantages which we receive in this life Job 1. and because he is pleased to protect and favour us by his over-ruling Providence Therefore God removes many times from us that which is pleasing and delightful to the Flesh he gives us the Bread of Affliction for our Food and the Waters of Sorrow for our drink He presents us with cups full of bitterness and causeth his Rod to return upon us often By these grievous temptations he stops the mouth of the accuser of our Brethren who accuseth them day and night before God Isai 30. He declares by that means to all the Enemies of our Salvation and of his Glory that we put our full confidence in God alone and in his unchangeable promises and not in the outward tokens of his Mercy and Favor Revel 11. He shews to all the World that the Anchor of our Hope is not fixed here below but that it is cast into Heaven where Christ is entred as our forerunner Heb. 6. As God is glorified in our Afflictions he is also honoured by our deliverance If the Land of Judea had not been peopled with deaf dumb lame blind decrepid and possess'd with Devils Acts 9. If Aeneas had not been sick eight years If a poor Woman had not been grieved with a Bloudy Flux twelve years If another had not been vexed with a disease that had bended his Body If the sick of the Palsie had not been lying in his bed thirty eight years If the Daughter of Jairus had not been dead If the Widows Son of the City of Nain had not been carried to his Grave In short If Lazarus had not been buried four days the Glory and Divine Miracles of our Lord and Saviour had not been admired all over the World Matth. 9. Luk 13. John 5. Matth. 9. Likewise our desperate diseases and our unexpected recoveries when humane skill can do nothing declare to the most stupisied Souls that it is God alone that can give the wound and bind it up and that leads to the Sepulchre and brings back again Luk 7. John 11. Job 5. 1 Sam. 2. God's deliverances of his People from their afflictions are of two sorts for either he takes away the burden from us or else he stretcheth out to us his merciful hand and helps us to bear it either he removes our affliction and pacifies our grief or he strengthens us with Power and Courage and arms us with Patience and a generous resolution needful in such a case This appears in a notable manner in the Apostle St. Paul for fear that he should be lifted up in pride because of the excellency of his Divine Revelations God had given him a Thorn in the Flesh and had sent the Angel of Satan to buffet him and to increase the bitterness and sharpness of his disease This Holy man prayed often to remove it from him but God took not this Thorn away from his Flesh nor did not check that messenger of Satan that afflicted him but he delivered him from the inconveniencies in a more illustrious manner for he strengthened him with his Divine Spirit and enriched him with his Graces he made him feel the Vertue and Power of Christ within him and accomplish'd his Vertue in Pauls infirmity Insomuch that this great Apostle cries out in the deepest of his afflictions with transports of joy I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak then am I strong I can do all things in Christ that strengthens me 2 Cor. 12. This may be also seen in the Martyr St. Stephen for he was condemned to dye by a death the most painful and grievous that we can imagine but God gave him such powerful Comforts and fill'd his mind with such Joys that his face shin'd as that of an Angel You must understand the words of St. Paul in that manner in his Epistle to the Hebrews Acts 6. Heb. 5. Jesus Christ having offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong Crying and Tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared for he was not altogether freed from the sufferings and torments of the Cross but he underwent it couragiously and was more than Conqueror in all things he drunk up the very dregs of the Cup of God's wrath but by his Divine Power he overcame the strength of the poison His Heavenly Father took him not down from the Cross nor out of the hands of his Murderers but he hath upon this Cross raised up his Glorious Trophies the Cross hath been as his Triumphing Chariot Likewise when you see a Christian bear up in the midst of a grievous affliction and overcome his grief by his constancy and patience who instead of murmuring rejoyceth and comforts himself in his distresses
forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Psal 130. He that hides his transgressions shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain Mercy Prov. 1.8 It is certain that there is no sinner never so guilty that shall seek unto God's Mercy by a true Repentance but shall obtain his Request Psal 113. David had defiled himself with an horrible Adultery and imbrued his Hands in the Bloud of one of his most faithful Servants but assoon as he made his Suit unto God with a broken Heart and a contrite Spirit this good and merciful Creator cleansed this foul Sinner from all his guilt at the fountain of his infinite Mercy he made him whiter than Snow and comforted his bruised Bones This consideration caused him to cry out I said I will confess unto God my transgressions and thou O God hast taken away the punishment of my sin Ps 52 King Manasseh had been addicted to devilish Arts and to the most abominablee and grievous Idolatries 2 Chron. 33. Nevertheless as soon as he sighs in his Chains his Prayers and his Groans found a Gracious reception at the Throne of Grace The poor Publican in the Gospel being ashamed to lift up his Eyes to Heaven struck upon his Breast with this expression of his penitent Soul O God be merciful to me a sinner Luk 18. And God look'd upon him with an Eye of Mercy and stretched out unto him his Gracious Hand so that hâ— departed to his home justified The penitent Magdalen was inwardly grieved at her former filthy and debauched behaviour so that she came and cast her self at our Saviours Feet watering them with her Tears and wiping them with the Hair of her Head Luk 9. but Christ soon lifted her up with these comfortable words Thy sins are pardoned thy faith hath saved thee go in peace St. Peter by an unconstancy that should cause the best Christians to tremble for fear of falling into the same Apostacy denied his Lord and Master three times with cursing and swearing Matth. 26. but this merciful God looked upon him with an eye of compassion and gave him grace to repent most bitterly of such a foul crime I doubt not but at the same time that this wretched sinner poured forth his Tears in God's presence doubtless he poured into his Heart the Oyl of Joy and Gladness and comforted him most effectually by his Divine Spirit Likewise although your sins be grievous and abominable if your Souls be struck with grief and displeasure if your Hearts be truly penitent so that you shed sincere Tears of Repentance and in case you are heartily sorry for the want of a sufficient displeasure for your sins in case you prostrate your self before your Heavenly Father he will raise you up again by his infinite Goodness he will cast all your sins and transgressions behind him he will cry unto you in your Hearts by the voice of his Holy Spirit My Son or My Daughter thy sins are forgiven thee John 5. He will fill your Souls with an unspeakable Joy Luk 9. and will cause you to sing with the Psalmist Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile Psal 32. Finally think not that it is ever too late to repent and that when Death is upon your Lips it is no time to seek to the Mercy of God As the business of Repentance cannot be too soon because we know not when God will call us to himself It is most certain that it can never be too late for at what time or season soever the poor sinner melts into Tears of Repentance in case his Repentance be real and his Tears proceed from a penitent heart God will always have the Arms of his Mercy wide open to receive him The Thief crucified at our Saviours side was at the last gasp when he was converted and when he uttered this excellent expression Remember me Lord when thou comest into thy Kingdom Luk 23. Our good and merciful Saviour granted his Request and encouraged him with the most excellent and comfortable promise that we can imagine Verily I say unto thee To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise In like manner when thou art at the point of death if God speaks unto thee and awakens thy Conscience it is an infallible signe that he hath compassion upon thee and that he will not destroy thee It is a signe that he opens for thee his Heaven full of Light and Glory and offers unto thee his Paradice with all its Divine Excellencies Doubt not penitent sinner that this is the acceptable day the day of Salvation and the time of Gods good pleasure seeing that this good God draws so near thee thou mayest with freedom draw near him And seeing that he beats and knocks at the door of thine Heart it is an infallible token that thou mayest also beat at the door of his Eternal Mercies and that he intends to open to satisfy thee In short at what hour soever we go unto God and appear before his Throne he stretcheth out unto us the Golden Scepter of his Goodness that we should obtain Mercy and find Grace to be helped in time of need It is not needful that we should prepare long and elaborated Speeches or Prayers to perswade God to vouchsafe his Grace and needful help in such an urgent necessity It is not necessary that we should compose them with the Art and Industry of humane Wisdom We need but pray unto God as unto our Father and weep in his bosom we need but open unto him our Hearts and call our selves his Children that alone is sufficient to move him to compassion and to stir up his Fatherly affections to appease his anger and to draw upon us his most excellent Blessings The Prophet Isaiah the most Eloquent of the Men of his time seeks no other argument to perswade God to have Mercy and compassion but this Look down from Heaven and behold from the Habitation of thy Holiness and of thy Glory where is thy Zeal and thy Strength the sounding of thy Bowels and of thy Mercies towards me are they restrained doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledgeth us not Thou O Lord art our Father our Redeemer thy Name is from everlasting Isai 63. Likewise after that he had made this confession We are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy Rags and we all doe fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away and there is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee for thou hast hid thy face from us and hast consumed us because of our iniquities Chap. 64. He adds But now O Lord thou art our Father we are thy Clay and thou art our Potter and we all are the work of thine Hand Be
and consider what thou art I am astonished and the sight of thy Divine Majesty frights me for I am but Dust and Ashes and my Being is less than nothing but thou art infinite in thy Being and Glory the Heaven is thy Throne and the Earth is thy Footstool I am cloathed with darkness but thou dwellest in a light that no man can approach unto How dare I that am all covered with sin draw near unto thee who art the Holy of Holies and Holiness it self How can I that am but dry Straw and Stubble stand before an everlasting burning O God of Gods if I did see thee sitting upon the Throne of thy Glory as Judge of thousand thousands of immortal Spirits wait upon thee and ten thousand Millions worship thee if I did see thee armed with Thunderbolts encompassed with Flames of Fire like to those of Mount Sinai I should not be only afraid but I should fall into despair Instead of drawing near to thee I should fly from thee as Adam and endeavour to hide my self from thine Eyes that cannot suffer the sight of evil I should cry out as Moses I am afraid and I tremble all over Or as the Prophet Isaiah Woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean Lips and I dwell in the midst of a People of unclean Lips Isai 6. Or it may be I may say with the Holy Apostle Depart from me for I am a sinful Creature But good God I see that thy Throne so full of Glory is encompassed about with a Rainbow of an immortal and a refreshing Colour I see in it the undoubted assurances of my Peace and Eternal Reconciliation with thee therefore I dare go to it with confidence as to the Throne of Grace to obtain Mercy and find Grace to be helped in time of need Although thou art Clothed with Majesty and Crowned with Glory thou dost stretch out unto me the Golden Scepter of thine infinite Mercies I see that thou hast put off the Arms of thy Justice and Vengeance to put on the Bowels of Love and Compassion I hear no more over my Head the dreadful Thunder of thy Curses but I hear the still voice of thy Mercy that comforts my trembling Soul that raiseth up my drooping Spirit and that causeth me to conceive the assured hopes of Happiness and Glory in thine Heavenly Paradise I see no more about thee the grievous flames and burnings to devour sinful Men but I perceive the pleasant and refreshing flames of thy Love that rejoyce and comfort me and that do not destroy me as they did the two Captains and Soldiers of Ahaziah but they carry me up to Heaven as the Prophet Elijah was The spirit which thou hast given me is not the Spirit of Bondage to encline me to fear but the spirit of Adoption whereby I cry Abba Father It is this spirit that witnesseth with my spirit that I am thy Child thy Heir and Co-heir with thy Holy Son Jesus Seeing thou hast reconciled me to thy self by the Bloud of thy Beloved Son when I was a Slave of Satan and thy sworn Enemy now that I am so nearly related to thee wouldest thou refuse me mine Inheritance O my God my Heavenly Father I know that I have grievously offended thee and that if thou didst treat me exactly according to thy Justice of a thousand Articles I could not answer one therefore I should have cause to expect to be cast into the Eternal Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels but Lord thou dost not desire the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn to thee and live Moreover thou hast confirmed this with an oath and thou wilt never break it I confess that my sins are many and that their hainousness appears unto me day and night but Lord where sin abounds thy Grace or thy Mercy superabounds and when mine iniquities should be as red as Vermilion thou hast promised to render them as white as Snow Thou shalt be moved for me with the same compassion as a Father is moved for his Child and thou wilt put away from thee all mine offences as far as the East is from the West O my Soul why art thou afflicted why dost thou fret within me return to thy Rest my Soul for the Lord hath done thee good he prepares for thee an Eternal Felicity It is not Death's voice that I hear but the Call of mine Heavenly Father who invites and commands me to come away to him Therefore though I am a most miserable sinner I am going to cast my self at thy feet and to say to thee as the prodigal Child Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son O my God and Father thou hast bestowed upon me thy most Divine Favours thy greatest Riches and Blessings nevertheless I have been estranged from thee and have unhappily abused all thy Mercies I have too much given my self over to the debaucheries of the Flesh and of the World evil company hath corrupted my behaviour so that from the sole of the Foot to the crown of the Head there is nothing whole in me In this miserable Estate I fly to thee my Judge for Mercy or rather I implore and intreat with all my Heart thy Fatherly Love to have compassion of me O Divine Flames O Abysse of Charity O God whose tenderness for me is far greater than that of the best Fathers and of the most tender hearted Mothers for their Babes I see thy Bowels move for me thy compassions kindle and thy Arms wide open to receive me thou art not only ready to embrace me but thou meetest me in the way not only as the Father of the prodigal Son thou dost not only receive me but thou hast sought me out in my former abode of corruption and drawn me out of those depths of Misery O unparalell'd Love what may not I expect from thy Fatherly kindness thou shalt embrace me with the Arms of thy Mercy and kiss me with the kisses of thy Love thou shalt confirm my assurance of being admitted into the liberty of thy Children and give unto me a white Stone where thou shalt write the new Name of Elect or Believer that none knows but him that hath it Thou wilt shooe my Feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace or rather thou shalt give unto my Soul that peace of God that passeth all understanding Thou shalt put upon me the Robes of fine and white Linnen which are the Righteousness of the Saints and thou shalt cloath me with the Rayes of the Sun of Justice Thou shalt lead me into thy Dwelling I mean thy Glorious Palace where instead of killing the fatted Calfe we shall solemnize the Nuptials of the Lamb offered from the foundation of the World there we shall meet with the Angels the immortal Spirits and all the First-born whose names are written in Heaven who shall not murmure nor
for them now if there be any reason to render unto every one that which hath been dearly bought and purchased with a great price and seeing that it would be a great sin to refuse unto any man that which he hath paid for with the Bloud of his only and beloved Son how can we refuse our Souls unto God seeing that they belong to him because he hath not only created them and stamped in them his Image but he hath also purchased them with the Bloud of his only Son in whom from all Eternity he is well pleased We must not therefore imitate the example of naughty paymasters or unjust possessors of other Men's Goods we must not expect until our Souls be plucked from us by violence but rather like the good and righteous Debtors we must return them willingly and yield them up into his hands who hath paid for them an infinite and an unvaluable Ransome David was of this mind when he said Into thine hand I commit my spirit thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth Psal 31. 11. In this Death and Passion of our Glorious Redeemer we learn not only our Duty but also sufficient grounds of comfort and hope and if I may so say it is in the Bowels of this dead Lion that we find the sweetest and most ravishing Consolations this Chief Priest that bears us upon his Breast in his Heavenly Sanctuary or rather upon his Heart will not forsake us in the day of our distress and will not give us over to the fears and pangs of death for seeing that he hath encountred with this cruel Death seeing that it hath felt its sting its shiverings and pains and that he hath bin tempted as we have bin in all things except in sin he is merciful and faithful to have compassion of our infirmities he is no less able to assist us in our temptations and to make us in all things more than Conquerors 12. Believing Souls consider with me the noble expressions of St. Paul Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Mercies and the God of all comfort who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God 2 Cor. 1. These excellent Truths may be very well applied to our Lord Jesus Christ whom the Holy Ghost names The Apostle and High Priest of our Profession Heb. 3. For the comfortable assistances which he hath received from God in the time of his greatest anguish are precious tokens and infallibie assurances of God's future help in our need for as when he was in his bitter Agony when his Soul was cast down with deadly sorrow an Angel from Heaven comes to comfort him Likewise when we shall be engaged in an encounter with death when it shall endeavour to fill our Souls with sadness and apprehensions he will doubtless send unto us some of his good Angels that be at his right hand I mean the faithful Teachers of his Holy Word or else he will send from Heaven some of his blessed Spirits that stand about his Throne and that are commonly employed in the preservation of the Godly The Holy Ghost himself the Comforter of afflicted Souls and the true Oil of Gladness will then drive from our hearts all grief and refresh us with his Heavenly Comforts He will not forsake us until he hath brought us to the Head Spring of Eternal Joy and Comfort 13. Our Lord and Saviours deliverance from death is an Image and an assurance of our future deliverance which we are to expect from God's Mercy and Almighty Power for as when St. Paul saith that this High Priest in the days of his Flesh offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from Death And was heard in that he feard We are not to understand that he was freed altogether from death but rather that he had the favour granted to him of swallowing Death up into Victory and of triumphing over the Powers of Hell and that through the shame and bitterness of death he is gone into his Glory and into the Joys of his Heavenly Paradise Likewise when we pray unto God in our greatest distresses and deepest sorrows when we pour into his bosom the Tears of a sincere Repentance he hears us from his Sanctuary and delivers us from Death not by hindring us from dying but by raising our Souls to pass through Death into an immortal Life from this valley of Tears into Happiness and endless Bliss 14. If we will be sully perswaded that God will not with-hold from us the Joys and Comforts of his Holy Spirit and that he will make us more than Conquerors of death by admitting us into an Eternal Felicity we need but cast our eyes upon our Lord Jesus Christ for as he who bestows much will not refuse a little so God who hath not spared his only Son but hath delivered him for us all to an ignominious and cruel Death how shall not he with him freely give us all things St. Paul hath taught to argue in this manner and to gather this consequence necessary from God's proceedings Rom. 8. 15. When Christ our Lord gave up the Ghost upon the Cross the vail of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom Heaven was opened and a repenting Thief was admitted All this happened to teach us that we may enter into the Holy of Holies by the Bloud of Jesus by the new and living way which he hath consecrated by the Vail which is by his Flesh and that this merciful Lord hath always his Arms wide open to receive us and that he will never refuse the Glory of Heaven and the delights of his Paradise to the greatest sinners that repent and that seek to his Eternal Mercy by his infinite Merits 16. The Death of this great God and Saviour is the payment of all our debts and the expiation of all our crimes it is the healing of all our diseases the freedom from all our miseries for it hath overcome Satan and the powers of Hell It is the death of an Eternal Death it is this meritorious death that hath purchased for us Heaven and all its Excellencies and procured to us a Right to God's Paradise and to its Delights and Pleasures In short it is this Death that conveys Pardise into our Souls before we enter into Paradise and fills our minds with an Heavenly and Divine Peace and an unspeakable and glorious Joy 17. This Cross of our Saviour may be compared to the Wood which Moses cast into the Waters of Marah for it takes away from the natural Death of God's Children whatsoever is incommodious and bitter and causeth us to relish Sweetness and Comforts that cannot be express'd It is like the Salt which the Prophet Elisha cast into the Waters of Jerico to make them wholsom and fruitful for
Virgin My Soul doth magnify the Lord and my Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour Or with the Glorified Spirits of Heaven To him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his bloud be Glory and Strength for ever and ever Amen 24. Christian Souls if the vast number of your sins come into your remembrance consider that it is not said that the Bloud of Christ cleanseth us only from a certain number of sins but That if we confess our sins he is Faithful and Just that is True and Merciful to forgive us our sins and that the Bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sins Let them be never so numerous drown them all as so many hellish Monsters in the bloud of thy Saviour take hold of this Divine Jesus with the Arms of Faith and Repentance wrap your selves up in his Winding sheet repose your selves upon his Cross and rest secure in the shadow of his Almighty intercession 25. But if the grievousness of your crimes fright you take hold at the same time of the Horns of this mystical Altar and all the powers of Hell will not be able to pluck you thence Comfort thy self sinful Soul for there cannot be a spot so black nor so deep but the Bloud of Christ is able to wash it clean away There is no crime so grievous and horrid but the Sacrifice of this Lamb without spot that taketh away the fins of the world can make an atonement for it Let thy sins be never so great they have their limits but thy Redeemers Merits are without limits and the efficacy of his sufferings continues for ever To assure thee of this truth and to encourage thee he was pleased upon the Cross to discover the Riches of his Mercy upon a wretched Robber who suffered then the hands of Justice for his crimes assoon as he saw him moved with Repentance he changed his infamous and painful Cross into a Paradise of Glory and Happiness and filled his Soul with the sweetest Comforts of his Holy Spirit This merciful Redeemer is the same yesterday and to day and shall be the same for ever Therefore be never so foul and abominable a sinner if thou dost groan under the burden of thy sins and art moved with contrition Heb. 13. thou oughtest not to cast off thy hopes and to be discouraged draw near with humility to thy Saviours Cross and wash thy self in the Bloud that comes out of his veins All the diseased persons that entred into the pool of Bethesda were healed of all manner of distempers Joh. 5. Likewise all spiritual diseases are cured in this Divine Pool of all their griefs it is not necessary to stay till a good Angel from Heaven come to move the Waters for Christ's Bloud is always fresh living and of the same Vertue and Efficacy we need not fear that others should step down before us or that the throng should hinder us for a thousand worlds may be all healed at the same instant neither do ye pretend that there is no body to cast you into this mystical Pool for our Lord will never refuse to admit you when you shall have been Bedrid eight and thirty years as the poor man that was troubled with the Palsie and when you shall be nailed to a Cross as the good Thief you may nevertheless dip your selves into this Divine Pool and feel its saving and healing Vertue It doth not only wash away the filth and heal all thy diseases but it gives also life to the Dead and renders the living immortal Whosoever thou art that dippest thy self in this precious Bloud thou mayest say with the Apostle St. Paul This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners of whom I am the chief 1 Tim. 1. Howbeit I have obtained Mercy the Lord will deliver me from all wicked work and will preserve me to his Heavenly Kingdom to him be Glory for ever and ever Amen 1 Tim. 7. 26. You understand therefore very well believing Souls that you have no cause to fear Death seeing that all its Darts have been broken to pieces all its Armor hath been torn and that its spoils appear so visibly upon Christs Cross You may see the Claws of this old Lion the paw of this devouring Bear the Teeth and Poison of this infernal Serpent and the Head of this prodigious Dragon you may see death swallowed up into victory and the Prince of Life leading it in triumph follow then the Glorious Chariot of this noble Conqueror singing with the Apostle O death where is thy Victory O Grave where is thy Sting The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law but blessed be God who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15. 27. Therefore when God shall draw near to you covered with the vail of Death be not terrified seek not to run from him and to hide your selves from his all-seeing Eyes unto whom darkness is as the noon-day Gen. 3. Although you are by nature poor wretched blind and naked you have more substantial Garments than Fig leaves for you have the leaves of the Tree of Life that are designed for the salvation of the Gentiles Revel 22. The Leaves that shall never fade shall cover all your nakedness and adorn your immortal Souls for it is the Eternal Righteousness the most accomplished Righteousness of our Lord Jesus who hath been made unto us of God Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption Dan. 19. It is Jesus Christ himself who is named The Lord our Righteousness It is the precious Garment of Salvation the Glorious Cloak of Righteousness mentioned by the Prophet Is 61. It is the Wedding Garment whitened in the Bloud of the Lamb without spot and the fine and bright Linnen which are the Righteousness of the Saints Ezek. 16. In short it is a Garment which will not only cover and adorn you but it will also heal all your infirmities and make you become immortal Rev. 7. 28. If you come before your Heavenly Father with this perfumed cloathing of your Elder Brother Jesus Christ Gen. 27. or rather if you be cloathed with him as with a Garment Rom. 1. You shall not only obtain the best and most advantageous Blessing but you shall enter into the possession of the uncorruptible Inheritance prepared for you from the beginning of the World For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 6. A Prayer and Meditation for a Christian who strengthens himself against the fears of Death by meditating upon the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ O Merciful Saviour who hast cloathed thy self with our mortal Flesh that thou mightest offer it up as a Sacriffce to God succor me in my weakness and increase the Faith and Hope which thou hast begun in my Soul I see Death threatening to destroy me
and ready with its jaws open to devour me But Lord I come to cast my self before thy Blessed Cross I take hold of the Horns of this Altar I dip my self in thy Bloud I put on the Robes of thy Righteousness and wrap my self up in thy Death O Holy Redeemer I know that thou hast been distressed and grievously perplexed at the approaches of Death and that thine Agony hath been so bitter that thou hast sweated drops of Bloud and the Holy Angels have come down to comfort thee whereas thy Servants the Martyrs have gone to death and their sufferings with expressions of Joy as to a most splendid Banquet or to a Triumph Thou hast prayed with strong Crying and Tears to be delivered from death and that this Cup might pass away so that thou mightest never tast of its bitterness But Lord thy death was not as mine and as that of thy blessed Martyrs Thy death was an atonement for the sins of the whole World whereas our death is not intended as a satisfaction to God's justice but rather to render us capable of receiving the blessed Fruits of his Eternal Compassions Thou didst bear the strokes of God's Justice and endure the fierceness of his wrath enflamed against the sins which thou hast loaded on thy self But we instead of this consuming Fire which thou hast quenched with thy precious Bloud we perceive the flames of Love instead of the Hand of thy justice we see thy Arms wide open to receive us into Eternal Happiness Death good Lord was armed with our sins and iniquities and with all that is dreadful in Hell but I see that all the Armor of Death are hung upon thy Cross they are the Trophies and everlasting marks of thy Glorious Victory Thou hast felt not only the most sensible Darts of Death but also the most terrible Thunderbolts and fearful Curses of the Law Thou hast secured us from all that violence thou hast redeemed us from the dreadful Curses When thou wast made a Curse for us thou hadst not only to encounter with death but also to destroy him who had the Empire of Death and to break in pieces the Gates of Hell Thou didst spoil Principalities and Powers shewing them openly and triumphing of them in thy Cross O wonderful Saviour How marvellous are thy Works and worthy of the continual admiration of Men and Angels Thou hast drunk up the very dregs of the Cup of God's fury that we might never taste of it and thou hast taken upon thee all the punishment that our sins and offences had deserved that we might never feel them Thy grievous pangs alleviate my torments thy bruises and wounds are my health and cure thy fears do comfort and settle my mind and thy distressed Soul doth fill mine full of joy and comfort thy crying doth appease the troubles of my Conscience and thy drops of Bloud do wash down my Tears thine affliction comforts me thy sorrow is my joy and thy bitterness is my sweetness thy death is my victory and thy Cross is my Triumph I shall no longer apprehend to dye seeing thou didst procure unto me Life and Immortality O Glorious and Merciful Lord the Kingdom of Heaven belongs unto thee by a twofold Right it belongs to thee because thou art the only Son of God and the Heir of all things it belongs to thee also because thou hast purchased it with the infinite Merits of thy Sufferings the first is sufficient for thee the second thou hast resigned unto me that I might one day enjoy this Heavenly Kingdom as the fruits of thy Death and the price of thy Bloud I have hoped in thee Lord I shall never be confounded I know that nothing impure or defiled shall enter into thine Holy Jerusalem but thy Bloud shall wash me from all my sins and make me as white as Snow O Glorious Lord O thou that art wonderful how precious is thy death unto me It is the payment of all my debts the atonement of all my crimes and the ransom of the whole World It is our peace with God our re-union with Heaven and our reconciliation with the Blessed Angels of Light It is the death of Death it self and the ruine of Hell In short it hath not only drawn me out of an Abysse of Misery freed me from Eternal Damnation and the infinite torments of the bottomless Pit but it hath purchased for me Heaven with all its Glory and Paradise with its unspeakable Delights David was much admired for making use of Goliah 's Sword to cut off his Head but who will admire and wonder at thee O victorious Son of David seeing thou hast swallowed up Death into Victory by thine own death Sampson was wondered at because he killed a few Enemies by his death but who will not wonder at thee O Son of Righteousness who by thy death hast destroyed all the enemies of our Salvation and given to death itself its death's wound Jacob slept peaceably at the bottom of the mysterious Ladder which reacht from the Earth up to Heaven But O my Lord God I shall lay my self down and find more peace and quiet at the bottom of thy blessed Cross seeing that by its means I have access to the Father unto whom thou hast reconciled me seeing that I may with boldness go to the Throne of Grace to obtain Mercy and Help in time of need Lord Jesus I discover in thy Cross not only the source of my sweetest Comforts of my greatest Joys and of my noblest expectations but I learn also there how to dye well and I perceive all the Vertues in their greatest perfection that should accompany my Soul at its Egress out of this Body O Lord Who art Perfection it self and who hast left me such a notable Example that I might imitate it give me Grace to express to all my Relations that cordial and holy affection and that tenderness which I see in thee give me Grace to forgive with all mine Heart mine Enemies that I may pray God for them who have persecuted me with fury Give me Grace in my greatest pains to follow the example of thy sweet Nature of thy Goodness of thy Patience and noble Resolution Inflame my Soul with an earnest Zeal for thy Glory and with such a love as caused thee to offer thy self up in Sacrifice to God Here I am O God ready to perform thy Will my Soul is none of mine but thine who art its faithful Creator and its merciful Saviour Seeing that thou hast paid its Ransom that thou hast washed and cleansed it in thy Blood cloathed it with thy Righteousness and put it in a capacity of entring into thine Heavenly Sanctuary and of appearing before the Father of Lights do with it as it shall seem good unto thee O sweet Jesus who hast been pleased to Dye and be Crucified for me wretched Sinner give me that Grace that I may for ever live and raign with thee and that I may at every
one after another and he also in his time yielded up the Ghost But Jesus Christ who is Risen from the Dead Dyeth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him so that he lives for ever and ever and will cause us all to become Immortal Therefore instead of desiring as Jacob to Live to go down into Egypt to see his Son Joseph we should earnestly desire to Dye that we might ascend up into Heaven there to behold our Lord Jesus Christ our Father and Redeemer When Jacob embraced again his wonderful and beloved Child in the exceeding transport of his Joy and Love he burst forth into this kind of Language Let me now Dye now that I have seen again thy Face and that thou art alive On the contrary when we shall embrace Christ in his Glory when we should behold his Divine Countenance we shall speak in another manner my Lord and my God seeing that I now look upon thee alive and Raigning in Heaven I shall live also and Raign with thee for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a believing Soul who strengthens it self against the Fears of Death by considering the glorious Ascention of Jesus Christ into Heaven and his sitting at the right hand of God O Holy and Divine Saviour I have often looked upon thy generous Behaviour and glorious Victories to strengthen my self against all apprehensions of Death but if thou wilt render my joy most perfect and accomplished give me Grace to Meditate upon thy Divine Triumph As thou hast engaged in many Encounters for my sake and hast vouchsafed unto me a share in thy Victory grant me also a share in thy glorious Ascention and Triumph As thou hast suffered for my Sins and art risen again for my Justification thou art also ascended up into Heaven to prepare a place for me thou art willing that I should be admitted into thy Noble and Divine Palace that I should be where thou art that I may behold thy Glory which thou hast enjoyed with God the Father before the Creation of the World O sweet and Merciful Lord what cause have I to fear to go to Heaven seeing that thou art there seated in the highest Glory and Felicity and that thou stretchest out thy merciful hand to receive and admit me Have not I good reason to expect to be glorified in thy Kingdom seeing that thou thy self dost bestow upon those that serve thee the Immortal Crowns and Scepters O great God and Saviour thy Throne is surrounded with Glory and Splendor nevertheless I will draw near unto it with boldness for it is a Throne of Love and a Throne of Mercy unto which every penitent Sinner may come Round about this glorious Throne I see a Rainbow of an Emerald colour that certifies me that thy Covenant is everlasting When thy Glory and Majesty did increase thy Love for me did not lessen and thy compassion and goodness were always the same Thou art the same yesterday and to day and thou shalt always be the same for ever Thou hast been pleased for my Salvation to lye in a Manger and to be nailed to a Cross Thou hast given thy Soul for my Ransome and hast spilt thy precious Blood to wash and cleanse me from my Sins and to make me a way that I might enter into thine holy Sanctuary In the midst of all that Glory and Light with which thou art now cloathed thou hast not thought it a scorn to acknowledge me for thy Brether and for a Member of thy Mystical Body It is for my sake that thou appearest before thine Heavenly Father it is for me that thou offerest up unto him Prayers and Supplications O wonderful Lord it is in thy power to give unto me the things which thou hast merited by thy Sufferings and which thou desirest for me by thy Prayers and Intercession for all power is given unto thee in Heaven and in Earth O Soveraign Monarch of the whole World hast not thou given unto us this great and gracious promise When I shall be lifted up from the Earth I shall draw all Men after me And is it not for us that thou hast prayed in this excellent manner Father I will that they also whom thou hâ—st given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me Seeing therefore that thou hast left this wretched Earth to go and Raign above in Heaven take unto thee my Soul O wonderful Redeemer and deliver it from this valley of Tears and Misery cause it to understand at the time of its departure those words of joy and eternal comfort Verily I say unto thee this day thou shalt be with me in Paradice Lord Jesus draw me with the cords of thy Mercy and Grace and I shad run after thee And seeing that I must of necessity pass through Death to come to thee the Prince of Life and Immortality give me Grace to consider it in the same manner as the Prophet Elias did the Fiery Charriots that carried him up to Heaven or as Jacob did the Waggon that carried him into Egypt to his Son that did Raign there this holy Father in a transport of joy cried out let me see my Son Joseph again and then let me Dye But when I shall be ravished with an unspeakable and glorious joy I shall speak in another manner Let me Dye that I may behold my true Joseph the Soul of my Soul the light of Life the Author of my Glory and Happiness O sweet Jesus I shall freely and willingly leave this wretched and crasie dwelling to enter into thy heavenly Palace to behold thy Glory and Magnificence O King of Kings and Lord of Lords when shall I hear that Divine Wisdom that drops from thy Lips and when shall I see thee sitting upon the Throne of thy Glorious Majesty where a thousand thousands wait upon thee and ten millions Worship thee When shall I enter into the Glorious Company of the Saints and Blessed Spirits that Sing forth thy Praises and cast at thy feet their most precious Crowns O glorious Monarch that art now in thy Kingdome enjoying a perfect happiness forget not thy poor Servant be not unmindful of thy Sâ—n or Daughter who am now overwhelmed with the sorrows of this miserable life and the anguish of Death Let not the Songs of the holy Angels and applauses of all the glorified Spirits hinder thee from listning to my Sighs and Groans O Almighty and merciful Lord look upon me with the eyes of thy Love and reach unto me thine helping hand Send unto me thine Angels of Light to receive my Soul and prâ—tect me from the Angels of Darkness that endeavâ—r to destroy me and to drag me headlong into Hell Let Some of thâ—se glorious Spirits that wait for thine orders and fly at thy command deliver me from Death and carry me upon their wings into thy Bosome I see the Heavens open and Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand
and like unto them that the Children of Israel did eat in the Promised Land In like manner the Fruits that we relish in the Wilderness of this World are Fruits of the Tree of Life with which we shall be fully satisfied in Heaven for the Grace that God bestows upon us here below by his Divine Spirit is the beginning of the Glory with which he shall Crown us above The same Light that shines upon our Souls on Earth shall shine much more for ever in Heaven But whereas we look upon it at present as it were through a black mist with much imperfection then we shall see it clearly without Vail or Darkness The same Holiness that adorns at present our Souls shall be their Ornament and Glory then it shall appear without spot or blemish That same peace of Conscience that preserves our Hearts and Sences shall Crown us above it shall be without the least disturbance In short the same Jesus that is conceived in our Hearts and that is formed and grows in us by degrees shall then appear in a perfect Stature that shall want no more increase As it is with the Sea it enters into the Rivers before the Rivers can run to the Sea in like manner God comes to us before we go to him and Heaven enters into our Souls before we can enter into Heaven Aged Simâ—on waited patiently for Death but assoon as he had seen the Saviour of the World and embraced him he ran to meet Death he thought upon nothing but his latter end therefore he prayed most earnestly to receive him into his Glorious Rest O Christian Soul how shouldest thou dispose and prepare thy self to dy seeing thou beholdest with the Eyes of Faith this Blessed Redeemer not wrapped up in Swathling Cloaths but Crowned with an infinite Glory and Light He is not in thine Arms but he lodges in thine Heart thou hast not received him to return or part with him again but to be united unto him for ever and to be incorporated into his mystical Body Seeing therefore that Death brings thee nearer to thy Redeemer perfects this Blessed Union and casts thee into the very Fountain of Life instead of being frighted at her and grieved when it comes to thee thou shouldest then rejoyce and be transported above measure with gladness we should meet this Death with a cheerful countenance I mean that we should meet the Lord Jesus this merciful Prince of Life who having vouchsafed unto thee the sight of his Salvation intends to receive thee into his Rest and Eternal and Glorious Peace that Reigns above in Heaven A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian Soul that strengthens it self against the fears of Death by considering our strict and unseparable Union with Jesus Christ by his Holy Spirit and the First-Fruits in us of our Blessed Immortality O Mighty and Merciful Lord who art the Son of Righteousness and the Fountain of Living Water drive away from me the dark shadows of death and quench all the Fires that it kindles in my Soul thou art not only dead for me but thou art pleased to live in me that I might one day live for ever with thee Thou hast of thy pure Mercy chosen me for thy Child and hast made me a Member of thy Mystical Body Flesh of thy Flesh Bone of thy Bone and caused me to be partaker of thine Holy Spirit God hath not given thee the Spirit by measure that out of thy fulness we might receive Grace for Grace By the means of this Blessed and Infinite Spirit that rests in my Soul I am united unto thee in a more perfect manner than the Tree is to the root that bears it or the Child to its Mother that nourisheth it in her Womb or the Members of the Humane Body to the Head that gives them Life The Ties that unite me unto thee O Glorious Saviour are more unchangeable than the Heavens and the Earth As nothing can pluck me out of thine Hands there is nothing can separate me from thine Heart Whether I live or dye I am thine my Lord and my God and nothing can alter thine affection for me Death can take me out of the World and carry me out of the embraces of my dearest friends but it can never separate me from thine Holy Spirit the Soul of my Soul and the Light of my Life which cannot be put out by all the envious Blasts and Storms of the Prince of Darkness this Holy Spirit will bring me to behold thy Face to rest in thy bosom and unite me unto thee for ever To whom Lord shall I go thou hast the words of Eternal life and thou art the inexhausible Fountain Thou art my Hope and my Treasure my Glory and mine only Happiness O faithful and unquestionable Witness I should be worse than an Infidel if I did call in question my future Salvation and Glory seeing the Father hath not spared thee for me although thou art his only and beloved Son the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Seeing that thou O merciful Lord hast willingly suffered the most shameful death of the Cross and spilt thy precious Bloud to wash away all my sins and satisfy for my crimes and seeing that thine Holy Spirit is come into my Heart to make me a partaker of that precious Bloud and Seal me for the day of Redemption O Glorious Spirit of my Saviour that rests upon me when I should be able to speak the Language of Angels I could not sufficiently express the wonderful operations that thou dost produce in my Soul thou kindlest in me such Heavenly Flames as never go out but are always alive as the fire of thine Altar Thou formest in me a white Stone where a new Name is written which no man knows but he that receives it Thou givest me to eat of that hidden Manna of that food of Angels that the World knoweth not Thou witnessest with my Spirit that I am a Child of God an Heir of God and a Joynt Heir with Jesus Christ the King of Kings Thou dost not only Seal unto me the pardon of all my Sins but thou dost also purify my Conscience from all dead Works to serve the living God Thou causest me to cry out Abba Father and imprintest in my Heart the Glorious Image of my Heavenly Father Thou art the Seal of my Adoption the earnest of mine uncorruptible Inheritance prepared for me in Heaven Thou hast given me the infallible assurances of a Glorious and Eternal Life and begun it already in my Soul granting to me its First-Fruits Thou causest me to behold the Sun-shine of thy Grace and makest it to give Light in mine Vnderstanding Thou dost not only vouchsafe unto me the favour of beholding from this Valley of Tears thine Heavenly Canaan but thou causest me to tast of its Fruits I am not yet come to the Fountain of Waters that spring forth to Eternal Life but I feel the Streams and the
glorious company of Angels and blessed Spirits take upon thee these beautiful Robes of light with which thine Heavenly Father will cloath thy nakedness and accept this immortal Crown that he offers to thee go and satisfie thy self with the Bread of the Kingdome of Heaven and remove thy thirst with the Christial Waters of that River of pleasure which proceeds from the Throne of God and of the Lamb Go and behold the face of the Father of lights go and be happy with his Divine resemblance and be transformed into his glorious Image O blessed Soul Seest thou not already the Heavens open and Iesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father holding out his hand unto thee offering to receive thee into his glorious rest Seest thou not the Angels of Heaven cloathed in white raiment coming to transport thee out of this miserable estate Seest thou not how thou art already encompassed about with light and Celestial Flames Dost thou not relish the sweetness of Paradise Is not there a Heaven already in thine heart Dost thou not hear the Hymns of the glorified Spirits Hath not the Lord caused thee to hear that sweet and comfortable voice sound in thine ear Verily I say unto thee thou shall be this day with me in Paradise Come good and faithfull Servant enter into the Ioy of thy Lord seeiest thou not thy self lifted up above all earthly and perishing things Dost thou not fly upon the wings of faith and repentance to the Throne of Gods glory Dost thou not cast thy self into Paradise into the Arms of Almighty God into the bosome of the Lord Iesus to rest there for ever and to be Satisfied with the good things which eye hath not seen ear hath not heard and which are not entered into the heart of Man but which God hath prepared for them that love him A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian Soul that prepares to go out of its Body and comforts its self in the Contemplation of the glory and happiness of Paradice O God! the Author of my being and the Soveraign Lord of my life thou seest all the motions and dispositions of my Soul thou knowest that I have wholly resigned my self into thy hands and desire nothing else but to depend upon thy good pleasure speak Lord for thy Servant heareth here I am to do thy Will O God Thy People Israel removed their Camp at thy Command in the same manner I am ready to remove out of this Earthly Tabernacle at the first motion of thy Will The Golden Cherubims were alwayes upon their feet with their wings stretched out and their faces towards the Mercy Seat O that I likewise might look up to him who hath purchased for me the eternal Mercies of God him who is the Propitiation for my Sins that I may be always ready to fly up to him Lord Jesus seeing thou callest me to thy self stretch out thy hand unto me from above and draw me out of this tempestuous Sea When a poor blind man understood that thou calledst him to restore his sight he left his Garment for haste and ran to thee with joy and shall not I quit this wretched body to go to thee my Lord and my God seeing thou callest me out of the mid-night of this World to thy marvelous and glorious light seeing that thou hast a design not onely to discover to me this surprising and refreshing light that shines in Heaven but thou wilt cause me to shine in thy Kingdom as the Stars and as the Sun When the Prophet Elias let fall his Mantle he was immediately received into a Chariot of Fire and carried up into Heaven also I hope in thy tender love and favor that as soon as my Soul shall forsake this wretched Body it shall be likewise received into a Celestial Charriot of Fire that will carry it up to Heaven thou wilt deal as gratiously with my Soul as with thine High-Priest Joshua thou wilt take away its Garments shattered and broken by sickness and distempers bespotted and bedaubed with sin to adorn it with Robes of fine and bright linnen and Crown it with glory Therefore I am so far from being afflicted to see the earthly house of this Tabernacle demolished that I rejoyce in a certain assurance that I shall be admitted to my eternal Tabernacle of Heaven O good God! thou seest upon me a contemptible body of dust that desires nothing more then to return to dust again but this Heavenly and immortal Soul of mine that is come from above that is thy breath and a beam of thy glory this Soul I say will return up to its source and origin It sighs for thee O God! and desires nothing but eternal happiness Is it possible that I can be happy too soon and too speedily admitted to the Contemplation of thy glorious face Lord I should be worse then an Infidel if I did doubt of my Salvation if I were not assured to partake of thy glory for thou hast promised to save all such as persevere to the end and to give the Crown of life to all those that are faithfull unto Death Seeing therefore that by the assistance of thine holy Spirit thou hast enabled me to continue in thine holy and Divine Covenant to fight the good fight to finish my course and to keep the faith thou wilt not refuse me this great Salvation this precious Crown O merciful and bountiful Lord thou hast promised all such as overcome to cause them to sit upon thy Throne now by thy special grace and wonderfull power that appears and is fulfilled in mine infirmities I have overcome the World sin the Devil and Hell at present I beseech thee give me a new supply of strength to overcome Death also that I may have no more Enemies to counter with but that I may mount upon the magnificent Throne designed for me let this Death be a passage that may bring me to life immortality eternal glory and to the happiness of thy Kingdom Thou art my God and Father that lovest me with an unchangeable affection reach thy hand to me thy childe for I long for thee and open for me the bowels of thy most wonderfull mercies O good Lord receive me into thy bosome and satisfie me with the most effectual Consolations of thy goodness thou art my Spiritual Bridegroom draw me and I shall run or rather I shall fly after thee to magnify thy tender compassions and to be filled with thine heavenly delights Thou art the chief Shepheard of my Soul help me therefore in this vale of the shadow of Death let thy Staff and thy Rod assist and comfort me send me thy light and thy truth that they may lead and conduct me up to thy holy Mountain and to thine eternal dwelling Send thy good Angels that they may carry me up upon their Wings I expect O Lord thy Salvation I do not onely expect and hope for it but I desire and wish for it with all mine heart
Man Lastly That after the Resurrection God shall be in us all in all which expression declares the highest and most compleat Happiness and Glory Others think the contrary that in Heaven there shall be an inequality of Glory and several degrees of Happiness This their opinion they strengthen chiefly with two passages of Holy Scripture the one is in the 14 of St. John where Christ saith to his Apostles In my Fathers house there are many Mansions The other is in the 1 Cor. 15. where St. Paul discoursing at large of the happiness of the Saints after the Resurrection saith There is one Glory of the Sun another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another in Glory so is the resurrection of the dead There are some that are not content to believe an inequality of Glory and Happiness but they undertake further to discourse of this matter with as much boldness as if God had admitted them to the knowledge of his Eternal Secrets as if he had discovered to them all the wonders of the Heavenly Jerusalem more plainly than to his beloved disciple Such tell us not only that there shall be divers degrees of Glory and Happiness but they inform who they are that shall obtain such and such Degrees they prescribe in a Dogmatical and Magisterial manner which shall be the Glory of Virgins which shall belong to Confessors which shall be that of Martys In a word some are so much puffed up with an high conceit of themselves and of their own deservings that they make an open profession of being of the number of such as shall obtain the highest degrees of Glory and Happiness But my opinion is that the Truth is to be found between these two extreams I shall not impose any Law upon the Consciences of any Man in this particular whereof the decision is not absolutely necessary to Salvation yet we may say that in Heaven there shall be divers degrees of Glory and Happiness but we dare not describe them nor venture to apply them to any persons or to tell who of us shall possess such and such degrees This were a bold attempt upon Heaven and a taking of the forbidden Fruit by such an impudency we should loose our selves instead of saving others for such as are so audacious as to search into the Divine Majesty shall be swallowed up by his Glory Prov. 25. And although we verily believe degrees of Glory yet we may say without offence to any person that this belief is not to be established upon the fore-mentioned passages from whence we cannot gather any such conclusion for in the 14 of St. John our Saviour saith not that there are divers Degrees or divers Mansions whereof some are Richer and more Glorious than others but only that in his Fathers House there are many Mansions The meaning of this Divine Saviour is as clear as the day he had an intent to raise up the drooping courage of his Holy Apostles and to comfort them in his absence for that purpose he assures them that he is going to lodge in an House where there is not only room for himself but also for them and for all that shall believe in him by their Teaching He expounds his words plainly in the 17 Chapter of the same Gospel where he speaks to God in this manner Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me For the other passage of the 1 of the Corinth I beseech you devout Souls read over the Apostles words and consider with a Religious observation what goeth before and what follows after you shall find that the Apostle intends not to compare the Saints the one with the other but only to discover the difference which is between our Bodies as they are in this corruptible and mortal life and as they shall be when they shall have put on incorruption and immortality Therefore when he had said One is the Glory of the Sun another is the Glory of the Moon another the Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in Glory He doth not add likewise so shall be the Glory of one blessed Person differing from another but he saith So shall be the resurrection from the dead The Body is sown in corruption it shall be raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonour it it raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body From whence is it therefore that we gather these divers degrees of Glory and Happiness I answer First from the divers and different pains and punishments of the damned For as in Hell there shall be several degrees of Torments Likewise it is very probable that in Heaven there shall be divers degrees of Happiness and several degrees of Glory Secondly God to declare his Divine Wisdom which is various in all things bestows at present all his Blessings and Riches with a wonderful variety and with an admirable order Thus you may see in nature that God hath scattered up and down the World divers gifts and excellencies for example the smell and beauty of Roses is different from that of the Lillies the brightness of the Diamonds is not like that of Rubies the light of the Sun differs from that of the Moon and Stars Likewise it is very probable that above all the Heavens there shall be divers degrees of Light and Glory Amongst the Holy Angels there are Titles of Honor and several Dignities therefore they are named Archangels Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers As therefore amongst the Angels there are divers degrees of Glory it is also likely that the same order shall be observed amongst the Glorified in Heaven Besides as in the Church militant the Graces of God differ very much The Souls of the Faithful are not the same in all respects they have differing qualities and excellencies there are in them divers degrees of Light of Knowledge of Faith of Hope of Charity and Holiness Likewise according to the Analogy of Faith there should be also in the Church glorified divers degrees of Glory and Happiness and the rather because Glory is nothing else but the compleating and perfection of Grace This reason is so much the stronger because in the parable of the Talents Jesus Christ gives to his servants a Glory proportionable to the former Riches of his Grace None can conceive that the words relate to God's Favors bestowed upon his Children on Earth for our Lord speaks of that which he intends to do to them when he shall come down from Heaven to judge the World The words relate to the time when he shall say to such as have well employed the Talents of his Mercy Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord They relate also to the time when he shall cause the
clean and pure that they cannot suffer the sight of iniquity and sin it is that which doth most afflict and grieve him Therefore when St. Paul had advis'd the Ephesians That no corrupt Communication should proceed out of their mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister Grace unto the hearers he adds immediately after Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption And if there be any that are not moved with the presence of such a Glorious Person let him tremble at this fearful threatening If any destroy the Temple of God God will destroy him 1 Cor. 3. 12. There was two Tables of Stone in the Ark of God's Covenant where God himself had written his Law which he gave to his People by the Ministry of Moses 1 Kings 6. Seeing that the God of all mercy hath chosen thy Soul to be his Sanctuary and the pavillion of his Glory his Sacred Commandments must be there engraven upon the Table of thy Heart thou must be moved with an earnest desire for the service of God and for an exact conformity to his Holy Will that we may be able to say to you what St. Paul said to the Christians of his days Ye are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ written not with Ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of Stone but in fleshly Tables of the Heart And that you may say with the Royal Prophet My God my Delight hath been to do thy Will thy Law is within me 2 Cor. 3. 13. Let us represent to our selves continually the great and many Obligations that we have to fear God to love him and to serve him he is the most perfect of all Beings he is perfection it self infinitely lovely so that if there were neither Hell to punish us nor Heaven to reward us he ought to be served and reverenc'd because of Himself and of his Divine Perfections This consideration causeth Jeremiah to break forth into these lofty expressions Who would not fear thee O King of Nations for to thee doth it appertain forasmuch as among all the Wise Men of the Nations and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee Jer. 10. 14. Whilst we are travelling here below we are not capable of such an high and Celestial Meditation it belongs only to the Angels whom God hath invested with Light and Glory and to the Heavenly Spirits whom he hath admitted to the contemplation of his Face Let us therefore seriously consider the Blessings and Favors which we have received from this great God who hath created us in his own Image and who hath made us to be the Master-pieces of all his inferior Wonders He hath placed in us a breviation of all the Beauties and Perfections of the World he hath given us a Being as to the Sun Moon and Stars A Life like the Plants Sence as to the Animals Understanding as to the Angels In short he hath infused into this Body fashioned with his own fingers an immortal Soul of an Heavenly Substance a beam of his Glory and a living Image of his Godhead My Soul therefore bless the Lord and all that is within me bless his Holy name my Soul bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits Psal 103. 15. It is for mans sake that God hath stretched out the Heavens established the Earth poured out the waters and prescribed Limits to the roaring Sea It is for Man's sake that this Gracious Creator hath adorned the Heavens with such a number of Beautiful Stars that he hath given to the Moon its unconstant Motions with its wonderful influences that he hath setled in the Sun such a bountiful source of Light and that he hath appointed the unvariable succession of the seasons of the Days Months and Years It is for Man's advantage and lawful recreation that so many Birds sing and fly in the open Air that such prodigious numbers of Fishes swim in the Seas and Rivers that the Earth is beautified with so many delicate Flowers that it brings forth so many wholsome Herbs and pleasant Fruits that it nourisheth so many kinds of Animals and engenders in its Bowels Gold Silver and precious Stones In a word it is for Man's sake that God hath created the World and hath filled it full of so many Riches and beautified it with so many excellent Perfections Therefore it is no wonder if the Royal Prophet is ravished into an Holy Admiration and bursts forth into these expressions O God what is mortal Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou dost regard him Thou hast made him a little lesser than the Angels thou hast Crowned him with Glory and Honor Thou hast establish'd him Governor over the Works of thine Hands Thou hast put all things under his Feet the Sheep and the Oxen the Beasts of the Fields the Birds of the Heavens and the Fishes of the Sea If the example of this great Prophet hath not power sufficient to stir you up and perswade you to the fear and worship of God by the consideration of the wonderful Works of the Creation Hear what the Angel declares who took his slight through the middle of the Heavens having the Eternal Gospel in his hand Fear God and give him Glory worship him that liveth for ever and ever for he hath made the Heaven and the Earth the Sea and the Fountains of Waters 16. We have not only in God our Life Motion and Being but he hath not left himself without witness in doing good and sending Rains from Heaven fruitful seasons filling our hearts with Food and Joy He doth nourish us with his Manna and gives us to drink of his abundance he overshadows us with his Protection and enlightens us with his Heavenly Fires He hath always his Eyes open to our Miseries and his Ears to our Sighs and Groans He is always near them that call upon him yea them that call upon him faithfully Let us therefore say as David I love the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my Supplication for he hath enclined his Ear unto me therefore will I call upon him all the days of my life Psal 14. Psal 116. 17. Meditate often upon the advantages that are common to thee with the rest of Christians and upon the Blessings and Favours which God hath vouchsafed to thy Person in particular Remember how many times he hath sent his assistance from above how he hath wrought Miracles to deliver thee from the Evils that did threaten thee Consider how liberal he hath been to thee in the whole course of thy life what admirable and noble means he hath employed to crown thee with his most precious Favors then thou wilt say with Jacob O God I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercies and of all the Truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant Gen. 32. And with David Many
O Lord my God are thy wonderful Works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee If I should declare and speak of them they are more then can be numbred and being ravish'd into an Holy Admiration thou wilt say in the language of the same Prophet O God who is like unto thee who when thou hadst made me see many distresses and evils at last thou hast restored me to Life and drawn me out of the depths of the Earth Psal 71. Thou shalt increase my greatness again thou wilt comfort me And elsewhere What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me Psal 116. 18. The Consideration of God's redeeming us doth chiefly require us to deny our selves and consecrate our selves to his service for the Slave don't belong to himself but to him that hath redeemed him and paid his ransom As when God had deliver'd the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt he gave unto them his Law and his Ordinances in Mount Sinai Thus God hath redeemed us from the Tyranny of the Devil of the World of Sin of Death of Hell and from the power of all our Enemies that we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our life Luk 1. He hath given himself a ransom for us that we might become a peculiar people to him given to good Works Tit. 2. You are bought with a price Glorify then God in your Bodies and your Souls that belong unto God 1 Cor. 6. 19. One love must kindle another the Sacred Fire that is come from Heaven must enflame our hearts with an Holy Zeal for his Glory God hath loved us so much that he hath given his Holy Son that believing we might not perish but have everlasting life He hath not spared him who is the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person He hath deliver'd him to death for us yea to the ignominious death of the Cross And is it not just that we should love him above all worldly things a God so good and merciful Is it not just that we should love nothing but him and for his sake Is it not reasonable that we should offer unto him our Bodies and Souls as a Living and Holy Sacrifice pleasing to his Eye And if we have any Lust that offends him is it not just that we should willingly leave it betimes when it should appear as useful to us as our Hands and Feet and as dear as the Apple of our Eyes Whosoever he be that doth not deny himself is not worthy of him Matt. 10. 20. We must treat the body of Sin which the Holy Scripture stiles the Old man and the First Adam almost in the same manner as Christ the New Man and the Second Adam was treated upon the Cross Rom. 6. Instead of flattering it and seeking to satisfy its Lusts we must deprive it of all its pleasures make it drink Vinegar and Gaul teare its Head with Thorns bind and chain its Affections and nail them to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ with all its inordinate and brutish desires Mortify therefore your Members that are upon Earth Fornication Uncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry Gal. 5. Coloss 3. 21. To live in sin and to delight our selves in iniquity is to frustrate as much as in us lies our good Lord from that principal end which he designed in leaving for a while the Celestial Abode of his Glory and Immortality for he is come into the World to destroy the Works of the Devil Now the chief Work of the Devil the great Enemy of our Salvation in which he takes most Delight and Glory is Sin with which he ensnares Mankind for by Sin Death and all kind of Calamities are enter'd into the World John 3. Rom. 5. 22. It is to trample upon the only Son of God to affront the Spirit of Grace and esteem the Bloud of the Covenant a prophane thing It is to destroy the Fruits of the Death and Passion of our good Redeemer and pull down his Cross for he hath carried our Sins in his Body upon the Cross that dying unto Sin we might live unto Righteousness He hath given himself for his Church to sanctify it and to render it a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle nor any such thing If the Bloud of Bulls and of Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkled did Sanctify the uncleanness of the Flesh how much more shall the Bloud of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead Works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 23. Our Lord and Saviour was not only Dead but also buryed to teach us to bury also with him our sins and shut up in his Sacred Tomb all our carnal Lusts Don't you know all ye that have been baptized in Jesus Christ that you have been baptized in his Death we are then buried with him in his death by Baptisme 24. This Glorious Saviour is risen from the Dead and hath left his Sepulchre with his Funeral Attire to teach us to rise to newness of Life and to leave in our Grave that sin that encompasseth us and the ties of our corruption that bind us so fast To speak in St. Paul's language As Jesus Christ is risen from the dead by the Glory of the Father we also ought to walk in newness of life for if we are made one Plant with him by a conformity to his Death we shall also be One by a conformity to his Resurrection and as Christ who is risen from the Dead dies no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Likewise we ought not to apply our Members as instruments of iniquity unto sin but we ought to apply them unto God as being made alive from the dead Rom. 6. He is dead and risen again that he might have dominion over the dead and the living If any be in Jesus Christ let him be a new Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new Rom. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 25. Jesus Christ after his Glorious Resurrection is ascended up into Heaven to lift up thither our Hearts and to draw thither our affections and to teach us to reform our manners to live an Holy Angelical and Celestial life If you are risen with Christ seek those things that are above where Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God think upon things above and not upon things upon Earth Coloss 3. 26. There is nothing in the World so lovely as Vertue It is the delight and pleasure of Heaven it is the Daughter of the living God and the true and lively Image of our great Creator O blessed decking of a Christian Soul O rich and precious Ornament of God's Children O Heavenly Grace what rare and strong Charms hast thou to win the
the plenty of Bread Ease and Idleness Ezek. 16. Christians if you desire to keep your Souls pure and undefiled that the Holy Spirit may Reign in them give no entertainment to the Devil let him find you always well employed and let him never see you at leasure to assault you with his hellish temptations Eph. 4. 72. After all we must seriously think upon death and represent it always before our Eyes for as a Pilate that will govern and steer the course of this life as we ought we must consider our latter end live always as if we were ready to dye and to breath forth the last gasp therefore this Sentence is worthy to be Engraven upon Cedar in Golden Characters What ever thou sayest or what ever thou doest remember thy latter end and thou shalt never sin Eccl. 7. Wonder not Christian Souls if in this Treatise where I am to furnish you with Remedies against the fears of Death I would have death it self to be a Remedy against Sin for these things are united and linked together or rather they hold one another by the hand for as a good and Holy Life is a safe preparation to an happy Death Likewise Death is a strong motive to oblige us to live well for there is none unless it be a brutish and a furious Varlot but at the hour of Death laments at the consideration of his former wicked Life and grieves that he hath not applyed himself to the fear of God and to the practice of Christian Vertues If a Malefactor after that he is condemn'd to dye and hath heard the Sentence of his doom did mind nothing but drinking and playing and neglect Prayer and Repentance by which such an one is to dispose himself to go to God every one would wonder at him as at a Monster and a Madman likewise if we consider as we ought that Death is certain and unavoidable and that God hath pronounced the Sentence in his anger and that not one shall be excepted this will be able to withdraw us from Vice and to perswade us to Holiness without which none shall see God Heb. 12. Therefore at every moment when Satan the World our own Flesh shall solicite us to any evil action let us think within our selves would I have death find and seize upon me in this employment Am I in a good disposition to go thus unto my God and to appear before his Tribunal Jesus the Son of Syrac had well consider'd this when he pronounc'd this excellent Sentence which I could wish were engraven in the Soul of every Christian Remember thy latter end and thou shalt not sin We must therefore live in the World without being guilty of its corruptions and abominations As the Fish preserves its sweetness in the midst of the Salt Waves of the Sea and as the Sheep never learn to bark nor to bite although they be always with Dogs Likewise although our conversation be in the World amongst the prophane and vicious Men of this Age we must not imitate their filthy Words their Oaths their Blasphemies and less Reason have we to follow their wicked and abominable Deeds we must live among them as Lot lived in the City of Sodom as Joseph in Aegypt as Daniel in Babylon Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second Death shall have no power upon him When Jacob by God's Command went to Bethel he Commanded his Wives his Children and all that were with him Put away the strange Gods that are among you and be clean and change your Garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel Gen. 33. And I will make there an Altar unto God who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me in the way which I went Then they delivered into Jacob's hands all the strange Gods that were in their possession and he hid them under an Oak in Sechem Thus before we go to the true Bethel to the dwelling where we shall eat our fill of the Bread of the Kingdom of Heaven Before you offer unto God the Sacrifice of your Souls you must if you be true Christians renounce Sin and all wicked Lusts which have been formerly your Idols I shall desire of you willingly that you would bury them deep in this base Earth but you had better do as God Commands you from Heaven Trample under foot all these abominable Vices and all these worldly Lusts that are to you as so many false Gods that you worship Ezek. Put away from before me these Idols of jealousie that provoke me to jealousie and sanctify this Temple of my Holiness Cleanse your hands ye Sinners and fanctify your selves ye double-minded put off the Old man with all his Deeds and put on the New man created according to the Image of God Righteousness and true Holiness and then you shall be admitted to the Holy Temple of my Glory to offer unto me in the innumerable Companies of Saints the acceptable perfume of Praises and Thansgivings Jam. 4. Eph. 4. This is a Duty so just and necessary that natural reason it self enlightned by Grace acknowledges it to be so nay the most wretched Varlets are constrain'd to give Glory to God and to condemn themselves they confess that they are indebted to the Divine Majesty but the payment of this debt they put off from day to day and when ever you come to them they are ready to demand a delay they acknowledge their faults the hainousness of their Crimes and the necessity of Repentance but they are always putting off Repentance and Reformation of life As when a sluggard is newly awak'd out of his sleep he desires yet a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep Prov. 24. Thus when ever Death appears the Voluptuous are yet requesting to enjoy their carnal Delights when the Lords Messengers are calling upon us to repair the breaches that the Devil hath made in our Souls we could willingly answer as the Jews did to the Prophet That the time is not come that the Lord's house should be built Hag. 1. The young man in his Youth and Strength is apt to say that it is not yet time to busy himself about Wisdom and Reformation and that when he comes to be old he will then repent of the sins of his Youth and the old man he endeavours to put his Repentance until the hour of his departure He expects to make then a general confession of all his crimes to satisfy all his neighbors and to restore what he possesseth so unjustly In short all Men in general do flatter themselves in their evil courses and most are so extravagant as to be perswaded that when they have lived in sin and iniquity all their life mispent God's Blessings abused his Mercies a Tear or a Sigh at the time of our Death will make a sufficient amends for all and that he will be fully satisfied if we say then as the
a sight of his Glory of the Riches and Divine Excellencies of the New Jerusalem but how much greater is thy priviledge for that which this Holy Apostle beheld in a Vision and a Dream God will discover to thee in Truth and Reality Let thine Heart listen and thou shalt hear the voice of thy Saviour calling already to thee feom Heaven as unto his Beloved Disciple Come and see Come my good and faithful Servant come my Son or my Daughter and I will shew thee my Glorious and Magnificent City I will shew thee the Palace of my Glory and all the Splendor and State of my Kingdom Come and I will expose before thine eyes all my Riches Treasuries and my most precious Crowns Come and I will cause the River of Living Water which proceeds from my Throne to run before thee and the Eternal Delights that proceed from my Face I shall shew thee all these Heavenly Treasures and Glory all the Angelical satisfactions not in the visions of the night in an extasy in an Holy ravishment of the Mind or in a Prophetical elevation of the Soul but I will discover them to thee in Reality and Truth by the assistance of a purer and more Glorious Light than that of the Sun I shall not only cause thee to behold this Glory these Treasures and Delight but I will cause thee to be partakar of them for ever for as thou hast pledged me in the Cup of my bitterness and sorrows as thou hast continued with me in my afflictions and hast been faithful unto Death I will give the Kingdom to thee as the Father hath given it to me I will give thee the Crown of Life and will cause thee to swim in the vast Ocean of the Eternal Pleasures Thou shalt not only see all my Treasures all my Pomp and Glory thou shalt not only behold the Rivers and the Seas of my most wonderful Delights and shalt be a partaker of them but thou shalt see me as I am in my Kingdom I will pull off the Vail that covers me and scatter the Clouds and Mists that hide me so that thou shalt look upon me without hindrance and behold me face to face thou shalt be transformed into my Likeness and be satisfied with my Resemblance You see therefore Christians that although Death appears to us grievous and ill-favoured we may apply to it what David said of Ahimaz that it is the Messenger of good news Notwithstanding its hideous Vail and Cloak of Darkness we have just cause to liken it to the Chariot of Fire that carried up the Prophet Elijah into Heaven From what we have said you may easily conclude with the wisest of Kings That the day of our death is better than the day of our birth for our Birth brings us upon a wretched Earth but death carries us into a Paradise of Heavenly Delights Our Birth exposeth us to several Encounters but Death lifts us up upon a Chariot of Triumph Our Birth expresseth from us Crying and Tears but Death makes us sing for joy our Birth brings us into the Light but Death causeth us to shine as the Sun our Birth makes us to live a sensual and animal Life of a short continuance but Death introduceth us into a Spiritual and Angelical Life that shall continue for ever In short our Birth casts us into the Arms of Death but Death leads to the Well-spring of Life Therefore the Apostle St. Paul confesseth that Christ is gain to him both in life and death Phil. 1. And for the same reason the Primitive Christians could not endure to see any person afflicting himself for the decease of Believers because that it was the day of their Deliverance Rest Glory and Happiness they did commonly forbid all manner of Mourning for they judged that it is not proper that we should cloath our selves with black and sadness for their sakes who are clothed in white and shining Garments of Light and Immortality They look'd upon this Life as upon a continual Death and upon Death as upon the beginning of a real Life Therefore they stiled the aniversary day of the Martyrs death The day of their Nativity From hence proceed the usual Songs of Praise which they did commonly sing to perpetuate their Blessed Memories I need not cause you to take notice devout Souls of the notable difference between the death of God's Children and the death of the wicked It is as great as between Heaven and Earth between Paradise and Hell Balaam had good cause to desire the one and fear the consequence of the other we have as much reason to cry out as he did Let me dye the death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his Numb 23. You have heard how an Heathen Prince made this address to his Soul My little Soul my little Darling Hostess and Companion of my Body Adrian thou art going to wander up and down in cold obscure and fearful places thou shalt never delight thy self in jesting as thou hast been wont thou shalt never give me any more pastime but when a Christian Soul goeth out of this mortal Tabernacle he may talk to it in another manner O my Soul pleasant Hostess and Heavenly Companion of this crazy Body thou canst not wander out of thy way for thou hast a faithful and a knowing Guide Thou art already in the blessed company of Angels that shall bear thee upon their wings thou art going to a Noble place enriched with Light and Glory and blessed with the sincerest and most Heavenly Delights Thou shalt meet with no more Sorrows Grief nor Displeasure which so often disturb thy quiet here upon Earth Thou shalt rejoyce for ever with all the Glorified Saints and sing Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving for ever with all the Celestial Spirits O my Soul how great is that Glory and Happiness which thou mayest justly expect from thy God who hath both an infinite Power and an infinite Mercy and Goodness seeing that he hath endeared thee unto himself by giving his own Life to free thee from Death and Eternal Damnation If your friends or rather your enemies in this occasion weep and are grieved at your departure if they labour by their Tears and Sighs to move your Heart and to perswade you to remain yet here below speak to them as St. Paul did to those that wept about his neck What mean ye to weep and to break my heart Acts 21. St. Paul was then in his journey to Jerusalem where he was to be bound and imprisoned and to be carried to the City of Rome where he was to dye upon a Scaffold by the separation of his Head from his Body notwithstanding St. Paul's friends comforted themselves with this expression The VVill of the Lord be done And what mean ye my friends will ye hinder me from going up to an Heavenly Jerusalem at the Gates whereof I must cast off all these Chains and Fetters of Mortality I must leave