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
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
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
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
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
vain that they did beat at the gate with a Lord Lord open unto us Matt. 25. The door could not be open'd to them but it was answered from within Verily I say unto you I know you not I know that the chief and principal purpose of this and other Parables is to teach us how we should be prepar'd to expect the Glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but they may very well be applied unto Death for it hath pleased God to keep secret and hidden the day in the which he will call us to himself and that of our Saviours coming to judgment that we may be equally prepar'd and dispos'd for the one as well as for the other As we shall be found at the time of our death so shall we be judged at the great day when Christ shall come down from Heaven with the Angels of his Power and from that judgement there shall be no Appeal Let us therefore put off the Sin that doth so easily beset us and break all the Chains of our filthy Lusts Let us disarm death and take from it its venemous Darts and its piercing stings Let us pluck off the Claws and the Teeth of this furious Beast and extinguish all its fires and it shall never be able to terrify us Let us live the life of Saints and God will give us grace to dye the death of the Righteous and to end like unto them Let us live as we would that we had lived at that instant when Death is upon our Lips Let us live as if at every moment we were to dy and at every hour God did call unto us from his Heaven Come and appear to Judgement And when Satan the World and our own Flesh solicite and draw us to evil let us say within our selves Is it thus that thou wilt reward the Lord thy God and acknowledge all the Blessings and Favors that thou hast received from his bountiful hand O Fool dost thou conceive that thou canst go to Heaven by marching in the Read to Hell If thou dost wilfully cast thy self away into the depths of sin what assurâ—nâ—â—â—ast thou of rising again by Repentance If 〈◊〉 â—orsakest God art not thou afraid God will forsake thee Is it thus that thou preparest thy self to dye Are these Lusts the Arms with which thou must encounter Death Art thou ready to draw near to the Sacred Majesty of thy God and to appear before his great Tribunal The night is far spent the day is at hand Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the Armor of Light Rom. 16. Let us live as Children of God and Heirs of his Kingdom Phil. 3. Let us be blameless and shine as Lights in the World Let our conversation be as Citizens of Heaven from whence we expect the Lord Jesus Eph. 2. Let us go to the Holy and Heavenly Jerusalem by the way of good Works which God hath prepared that we might walk in them Zach. 13. In all our Actions Words and Thoughts let there be engraven Holiness to the Lord. Let us declare by our Deeds that we really believe without doubting whatsoever the Holy Scripture declares of the Eternal pains of Hell and of the unspeakable joys of Heaven Gal. 6. Whilst we have time let us do good to all but chiefly to the Houshold of Faith Eph. 5. Let us redeem the time for the days are evil Doe not as Adam did who to eat of the forbidden Fruit so pleasing to his taste lost the Paradise which God had given him Let us not loose the Eternal Delights that God hath prepared for us from the beginning of the World for a moment of carnal pleasure Let us imitate the Holy and Wise Virgins put Oil in our Lamps betimes let us fill up our Hearts with Faith Hope and Charity and put on the Robes of Righteousness and Holiness As God's faithful Servants Let us labor to accomplish our Taske Let us be stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord that when Death shall appear or rather when the Prince of Life shall call us to himself we may be ready to give him an exact account of our Talents with which he hath intrusted us and that we may say unto him in sincerity and truth I have done the work that thou hast given me I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith O most excellent Lord I have nothing else to do but to receive from thy hand the Crown of Righteousness which thou hast promised to all that love thine appearance I have nothing else to do but to enter into thy Glorious Rest where thou dost embrace in thine infinite Mercies all such as have overcome Sin and Death and kept thy Works unto the end A Prayer and Meditation for him that prepares for Death by Repentance and an Holy Life O God the Holy of Holies who art Holiness it self Sin hath introduc'd Death into the World and rendred this our Enemy so terrible Strengthen me with thy Divine Vertue that I may be able to take from it betimes its mortal Weapons and its fiery Darts and that strength and poison which is so natural to it Seeing that since the Creation of the World thou hast prepared thine Heavenly Kingdom for me give me Grace to employ the remainder of my life to purge my Conscience from dead Works and to sanctify my Body and Soul that I may be in an Estate convenient for such an Holy Abode into which no impure nor defiled thing shall enter that I may be in a disposition fit to behold thy Glorious Face that cannot be seen without Holiness O Heavenly Father enlighten mine understanding with the light of thine Holy Spirit that proceeds from thee that I may discover the ugliness of sin and its dangerous consequences that I may abhor and abominate it with all mine heart that I may look upon it as an infernal Monster and as Satans Image as a grievous filth which hath disfigured the Master-piece of thine hands and blotted out of our Souls the chief features of thy Divine Image Give me grace to esteem it as that cursed Fire that hath kindled thy wrath set the whole world in a flame as that unfufferable burden under which Nature it self sighs and groans and under which Heaven it self complains as the murderer of our first Parents and of all Mankind in general as the Executioner that crucified the Lord of Glory and spilt his precious Bloud In short give me grace to treat it as our most unreconcileable enemy that provoketh thy vengeance and that labors to cast us headlong into the Abysse of Eternal Torments O Father of Mercies give me grace to perceive all the Beauties of Holiness and the Glory that shall reward it that I may be enflamed with its love and embrace it with all the affections of my Soul that I may look upon it as the the off-spring of Heaven as an image of
When thou shouldest speak with a Divine Tongue and with an Heavenly Wisdom thou mayest have good cause to cry out Who hath believed our report and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed Isai 5. John 12. In short as the Rivers of fresh Water that run continually into the Sea derive not from thence their natural bitterness thus thy good and Holy Life thy Learned and excellent Sermons will not be able to remove the corruptions of this present evil Age nor stop the Torrent and hinder the overflowings of Vice for thy labor and industry if compared with the corruption of the World are as unconsiderable as a few drops of water in comparison of the Ocean This cursed Earth may be watered with thy Sweat and Tears it will nevertheless bring forth nothing but Bryars and Thistles the Weeds which thou thinkest to pluck up will tear thy Skin and draw bloud out of thy Hands In short he that plants is nothing nor he that watereth but it is God who giveth the increase 1 Cor. 3. It is justly to be feared that in staying any longer time in this corrupt and unwholsome Air thou mayest receive some evil impressions from the general contagion It is to be feared that thou mayest sully thy pure Hands by handling so many Wounds and Sores and that the Thorns of this cursed Earth may pluck off the Wooll of thine harmless and innocent life But when thou shouldest have a thousand times more Gifts and Graces and that thy labors should bring far greater advantages and profit to Christ's Church it belongs not to thee to give Laws unto thy God but to follow the motion of his Will Leave to him the chief care of his own Houshold and rest upon his Eternal Providence He hath more right in the Church than thou canst pretend to for he hath created it by his Power and redeem'd it by his precious Bloud He that cares not for his own especially for those of his Family hath denied the Faith and is worse than an Infidel and can God who is Faithfulness it self and the very Being of Truth God who cannot deny himself and whose Gifts and Calling are without Repentance Rom. 12. Can such a God cast off all care of his Church of that Church which he embraceth with an Eternal Love and cherisheth as the apple of his Eye Jer. 31. This Father of Mercies who hath not spared his own Son but hath delivered him to dye for his Church how should not he with him freely give her all things Rom. 8. He understands better than thou and all the men of the World what is proper and advantageous for this Holy Congregation and for every member that composes it He knows how to provide for all its wants for his Wisdom is infinite and his Providence is most wonderful When this great God hath a designe to plague his Enemies and to declare his justice he hath always fit Agents ready and his Quiver full of Arrows As soon as he commands the Holy Angels that wait before him to cast their Sicles into the Earth and to reap or pour down the Viols of his wrath these Holy Spirits fly with an unspeakable swiftness to perform his Sacred Pleasure Revel 14 16. Likewise when he intends to do good to his Chosen he finds in every place the Heralds of his Mercy and his Divine hand is always full of Blessings As the Main Ocean of his wonderful Riches can never become dry Likewise the Channels by which he conveys them to us shall never fail The cause of thy complaints should serve to appease thy Grief nourish thy Faith and increase thy Hopes for if thou art graced with extraordinary Gifts this proceeds neither from thy Nature nor thine Industry but God's Favour and Bounty Now thou mayest be assured that his hand is not shortened his great Power is not lessened the Well-spring of all his Blessings and Wonders is not stopt nor dryed up Is 49. He that sends a desired whiteness the prognostick of an approaching harvest to the spacious Fields John 4. He sends also into his Spiritual Harvest Laborers when he sees it convenient In this latter Age and in this decay of the World as well as in the first appearance of his Church Luk 10. he finds Men to work in his Vineyard or rather he forms and fashions them with the hand of his Grace and enables them by his Holy Spirit for he gives the Mouth and the Tongue he makes deaf dumb blind and restores the eye-sight he calls things that are not as if they were Matth. 20. Exod. 4. Rom. 4. When he designes for himself a Tabernacle he calls by name a Bezaleel and fills him with his Spirit of Wisdom of Understanding and knowledge in all manner of Workmanship Exod. 31. When he resolves to deliver the Children of Israel from their Babylonish Captivity and to build the Temple of Jerusalem he hath at his Command Cyrus Darius and Artaxerxes Acts 14. He stirs up Zerobabels Esdras and Nehemiahs Likewise when he intends to repair the breaches of his House and to increase the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour he makes Servants and fit Agents and bestows upon them sufficient Graces for such a noble Work Psal 8. Mat. 21. As he hath never left himself without witness in doing good thus he hath never been without witnesses to declare his Sacred Truth Luk 19. By the mouth of Babes he perfects his praise and as our Saviour told the Jews If these held their peace the stones would cry out Luk 19. God will rather pluck the Pillars of the Idols Temples to prop up his Church rather than to suffer it to fall down he will change the Wolves into Lambs and the Lambs into Shepheards rather than that his Sheep should want their necessary Pasture He chooseth the feeble things of this World to confound the strong the despicable and such as are not to destroy such as are 1 Cor. 9. Thus God never leaves his Church without some testimony of his favour some powerful instrument of his Grace but many times it happens that when he removes one good thing from us he bestows upon us something more rare and excellent This consideration glads the Heart of Joseph upon his Death-bed as appears by what he said to his Brethren I am going to dye but God will not fail to visit you and cause you to go up from hence into the Land that he swore unto Abraham Isaac and Jacob Gen. 50. For instead of a Joseph who had occasioned their Bondage God raised up a Moses who deliver'd them with a mighty hand and a stretched-out Arm 2 Kings 2. Thus God took up Elijah with a Chariot of Fire but he gave unto Elisha a double portion of his Masters Spirit and caused his Glorious Miracles to appear with greater admiration Likewise our Lord and Saviour when he had finished the great work of our Redemption he ascended up into Heaven A Cloud conveying him
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
which are not seen for the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal 2 Cor. 4. The chief Spring of all our Comforts is God's Gracious promise of seasonable help in time of need Imprint therefore in your minds these Divine passages When he that loveth me shall call upon me I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honor him Psal 91. The Lord delivers from all temptations them that honor him he is rich unto all that pray unto him 2 Pet. 2. He is near to all them that call upon him yea to all them that call upon him faithfully Rom. 10. He accomplisheth the desire of the humble he hears their cry Psal 145. The Righteous is encompassed with many evils but the Lord will deliver him from them all Psal 34. Call upon me in the day of thy distress and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me Psal 50. When a poor Subject is courted and visited by his Prince in the time of his sickness he looks upon it as a great favour and an happiness indeed And when we enjoy the presence of a dear friend whom we desired to see in the midst of our most grievous pains we are wont to say Methinks I feel no more pain now that I have the satisfaction of your good company Now the Glory of God's Majesty doth accompany the tenderness of his Love He is the Father of Mercies and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our afflictions He is like that faithful friend who never forsakes us for in our greatest calamities he succors us Prov. 18. He is the King of Kings and yet our most cordial and sincere friend who frequently visits the Houses of sorrow and is near to every broken and bruised Heart Psal 34. The more we are oppressed with evil the more he remembers us Psal 136. Notwithstanding our Childrens imperfections and miscarriages we cannot suffer to see them in distress but we are moved with compassion and perswaded to help them according to our ability and shall thy God who loves thee more sincerely and more cordially than the best Fathers and the most tender-hearted Mothers do their Children forsake thee in the day of thy distress This Merciful and loving Father who hath taken thee into his protection when thou didst enter into the World and who since hath furnished plentifully all thy necessities shall he deny his Gracious assistance now in the time of thy calamity He who hath fulfilled his praise by thy mouth when thou didst yet suck at thy Mothers Breasts who hath crowned thy youthful days with his Divine Blessings will not forsake thee now in thine old age he will not cast thee off in the last moments of thy life when thy strength is decayed and thou art scarce able to help thy self When we offer any assistance to our sick or wounded friends we labor to lessen their pain we employ all our skill and discover our most excellent Secrets at least we endeavour to make them sensible of our displeasure and grief for their distemper by our Sighs and Tears and by all good Offices their complaints and outcries are Darts that strike to our very hearts Likewise our merciful God is sensible of our calamities when he sees us oppressed with grievous pains his Bowels earn his Heart is as it were moved and his tender Love for us is concerned In all our afflictions he is afflicted and whosoever toucheth us toucheth the very Apple of his Eye Hosea 1. Isai 63. He is said to weep and grieve at the torments that we feel and to be sensible of our infirmities Luk 2. He binds up our wounds and poures into them his Divine balm he cures the diseased Heart and causeth the bruised Bones to rejoyce Job 5. He casteth into our beds of Sickness his most excellent Perfumes and drives from thence all grief and displeasure when a pestilentious Feavor hath seized upon you this Heavenly Physitian can give you some Carduus Waters powerful Antidotes to keep the poison from the Heart Jer. 30. Psal 147. Psal 51. Psal 34. Cant. 1. His Gracious Hand can drive from thy Soul the venom with which the old Serpent labors to infect it He will in thy need clap upon thy Head thy Stomach or rather to thine Heart not a bleeding Pidgeon but the living and cherishing Vertue of his Holy Spirit only discover to him the afflicted and diseased part or member of thy Soul or Body and he shall anoint it with the Oil of Joy and Gladness that shall run down into thy Joynts and Marrow If thou feelest thy self weak or fainting say to him as the Spouse in the Canticles Comfort my Heart with wine Chap. 2. and he will not fail to present unto thee of the new Wine of his Kingdom If thou art thirsty ask him some drink and he will give thee of that Water which if a man drink he shall never be athirst My Brother or My Sister cast thy self upon God for his Power is as great as his Love to thee he understands better than thou or we can what is expedient and good for thee in his due time he will make thy pains to cease and will pull out of thy Flesh its incomodious Thorn either he will drive from thee the Spirit that afflicts thee or accomplish his Vertue in thine Infirmity He will strengthen thee in such a manner and with such Patience Constancy and Faith and fill thee with so much extraordinary joy and comfort that every one shall visibly perceive that God himself is thy help and that his Vertue sustains thee O how sweet and pleasant is God's assistance to a Christian Soul it brings along with it so much pleasure and admirable delight it causeth such undeniable testimonies of our Predestination to appear it gives us so many rare fore-tasts of our Celestial Inheritance that St. Paul doth not only prefer it to all the Pleasures and Honors of the World but he prefers it also to his being ravish'd into the third Heaven and to his seeing unspeakable things which cannot be uttered 1 Cor. 12. If Afflictions are increas'd with Christ Joy and Comfort increase also with him for as God commands Wine to be given to a Man whose Heart is oppressed with sorrow to drive away his sadness and bury his troubled thoughts in oblivion Thus in the greatest evils God supplieth us with the strongest and most cordial Consolations It is in this occasion that he declares his greatest Power and pours out most plentifully his Divine Graces Is 4. When thou shouldest walk through the Flames the Fire shall not burn nor touch thee for as the Son of God was in the Furnace with Daniels three Companions in Babylon Thus in thy most violent fits of the Feaver in the midst of thy most grievous aches he will satiate thy Soul and thou shalt be like a watered Garden Dan. 5. Or as a living
O Heavenly Father not my Will but thy Will be done Pluck this Thorn out of my Flesh or vouchsafe unto me sufficient strength to endure its deadly wounds with patience O good God thou knowest that my Spirit is willing but my Flesh is weak and that my misery is heavier than the Sand of the Sea-shore but thou that quickenest the dead wilt accomplish thy Vertue in mine Infirmities Therefore instead of speaking in Cain's Language My punishment is greater than I can bear I will say with St. Paul I can do all things in Christ that strengthens me O Lord punish me not in thy wrath nor correct me in thy heavy displeasure but chastise me in reason that I may not be reduced to nothing When thou didst wrestle with Jacob thou tookest upon thee an Humane Body and didst strengthen thy Servant by the vertue of thy Divine Spirit O Merciful and Graciouus God let thy punishments be proportionable to my great weaknesses suffer not any temptation to seize upon me but only Humane and give me with the temptation an happy issue that I may support it that neither Death nor Life nor Pain nor Torment may ever separate me from thy Love or pluck me out of thine Hand Good Lord forsake me not that I may never forsake thee but enable me with Strength Patience and Constancy to bear my burden and make me more than Conqueror by Jesus Christ our Lord. Merciful God pity thy servant or rather thine adopted Child Awaken thy jealousie and let thy Bowels that are hardened against me move thee to compassion Strengthen me in this encounter with the assistance of the good Angels that comforted thine only Son in the night of his most bitter affliction cause this black night of my Sorrows to pass speedily away or rather in the midst of these dark shadows cause me to see the ravishing beams of thy Mercy Heal my grievous wounds or else pour into them the refreshing Balm of thy most tender and Divine Consolations my Heart and my Flesh fail and faint away but look upon me with a Gracious Eye and receive me into the embraces of thine Eternal Mercy Declare I beseech thee how sensible thou art of my affliction by a present relief receive my Sweat and Tears and put them into thy Bottles O good God thou seest that I am fainting and that my Soul is weary within me comfort me therefore with thy Cordials and with thy most Divine refreshments Give me to drink of the Wine of thy most effectual Consolations that may restore unto me my spirits apply the right hand of thy Mercy that it may strengthen my Soul and drive from thence all poison and infection Let thine Holy Spirit the Spiritual Dove light upon me to bring joy unto me O living God thou seest that I dye but give me some of that living Water whereof if a man drink he shall live Eternally my Friends are grieved with me and weep for my bitter affliction but can give me no assistance but thine only look would be able to deliver me O my God either pull me out of this Sea of Trouble into which thou hast cast me or cause me to pass through these waves to the Inheritance prepared for me from the foundation of the World Quench these violent Flames that burn and consume me or let them serve as fiery Chariots to carry me in triumph to Heaven O how mad and senseless should I be if I did fear Death seeing that it will put an end to my torments it will break in pieces my grievous Chains it will wipe away all Tears from mine Eyes and banish all grief from my Heart O my God when shall all my Cries my Sighs and Groans be changed into Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving when shall I see my self in the Glorious company of the Blessed who are come out of the great tribulation and who have wash'd and cleansed their Garments in the Bloud of the Lamb. Draw me and I shall run after thee and Glorify thee for ever in thine Heavenly Temple Amen CHAP. 14. The second Consolation against the fears of Death is to look upon God as a merciful Father and to trust upon his infinite Goodness THere is no Child well descended but desires earnestly to see his Fathers Face and especially the Face of a Good and Gracious Father A great Princes Son who hath been brought up in a Forreign Countrey rejoyceth at his own Happiness when his Father sends for him to make him partaker of the Glory and Dignity of his Empire he is not then grieved nor troubled he seeks not to delay his going but rather he embraceth with transports of joy the Messenger of such good news he thinks of nothing but of hasting his departure if he could borrow wings he would fly with an unspeakable swiftness to his Fathers Palace Now we are the Children of the Great God whose Throne is Heaven and whose Footstool is the Earth for our Faith that looks upon Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer considers God as our God and Father for to them who have received this only Son of the Father hath been granted the priviledge of being the Sons of God to them who believe in his name 1 Job 1. So that we have just cause to be transported in an Holy Excess of Joy with the Apostle St. John Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God 1 Joh. 3. We were by nature Children of Wrath as others but God who is rich in Mercy hath predestinated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his Will Eph. 2. He gives us the Gracious assurances of this free adoption in this life for as we are Children he hath sent the Spirit of his Son in our Hearts to cry Abba Father Eph. 1. This Holy Spirit bears witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God If we be Children then Heirs of God and Co-heirs with Christ Gal. 4. Yea if we suffer with him that we may be also Glorified with him Rom. 8. That we might be the Children of God he hath not only adopted us by Jesus Christ but also regenerated us by uncorruptible Seed We are not born of Flesh and of Bloud but we are born of God His infinite Goodness perswaded him first to grant us a Being and his incomprehensible love hath moved him to reform our Beings and reprint his Divine Image in our Hearts John 1. 1 Pet. 1. He hath begotten us by his pure Grace by the word of his Truth that we might be the First Fruits of his Creatures Jam. 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us 1 Pet. 1.
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
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
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
Natural ignorance it cannot of it self find out the glorious Mystery but as soon as it is enlightned with this light from above it discovers its most temarkable circumstances and acknowledgeth the Justice and Necessity of the future Resurrection of our Bodies First Seeing that Rewards and Punishments ought to be proportionable and answerable to him who is to punish and reward we must of necessity establish the Resurrection of our Bodies otherwise the pains of the wicked cannot be most violent nor the happiness of the Godly can never be absolute and perfect Secondly As when a Traytor is executed men are wont to fasten to the Scaffold or to burn in the fire the Instruments and Tools with which he had assaulted or offended his Prince in the same manner the bodies of the prophane and impious varlets of the Traytors against God's Divine Majesty ought to be treated they ought to be eternally punished with their Soul in Hell fire because they have been the unhappy instruments employed in affronting our Creator Thirdly The body is not onely the instrument employed by the wicked against God but encourageth them and hurries them on in sin for its humors stir it up inflame it and carry it to evil Acts For example its sanguine constitution makes it luxurious and inclinable to the filthy lusts of the flesh its choler carries it to violent and furious actions its mellancholy prompts it to the most horrid and hellish attempts So that if such are to be punished that cause us to perform such grievous actions it belongs to Gods justice to inflict upon the body as well as upon the Soul eternal punishments Fourthly To every thing ther eis a season and a time to every purpose under the Heaven Eccles 3. As the body of the wicked and of the reprobate hath had its good things and its satisfactions during this life it must needs have also in another life its punishments and its torments Fifthly But not to forget the reasons which have a relation to the faithful and which are the Pillars and supporters of our faith and hope we may say That Jesus Christ is no less able to save us then Adam was to damn us Now Adam having lost both Soul and body we must conclude that it belongs to Christ to save them also Therefore the body is to rise again that it may partake of that Salvation or Redemption procured unto us by this great Saviour Sixthly As we have born the Image of the first man who was of the dust of the Earth we must also bear the Image of the second man who comes from Heaven 1 Cor. 15 Now we bear not this Image at present in this life we must therefore bear it in another Seventhly God hath not made a Covenant with part of man but with all man composed of Soul and body The body therefore must needs rise again that it might gather the eternal fruits of glory and happiness which are promised unto us by this Divine Covenant Eighthly God is not onely stiled The Father of Spirits and the God of the Spirits of all flesh Heb. 12. But he declares himself to be the God of Abraham and of his Posterity Numb 16.27 He is not onely the God of the Soul or the God of the body alone but he is the God of believing persons of both their Souls and bodies from hence it follows of necessity That the bodies of such as are deceased are not utterly destroyed for God will raise them up again With this argument Christ stopt the mouths of the Saduces who denyed the Resurrection Concerning the Resurrection of the Dead said he Have you not read what God himself speaks to you I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the living Ninthly God hath adopted us to himself by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his Will to make us the heirs of his Kingdom and coheirs of his Son From this passage we may gather a certain assurance of the Resurrection for when this Father of Mercies shall see our bodies lying in the dust out of his tenderness and compassion he will say there are the bodies of my Children the members of mine onely Son it is not convenient to leave them alwayes in that shamefull estate in the bowels of the Earth that love that I bear to them cannot suffer it doubtless it was this consideration that caused the Apostle to call the redemption of our bodies Adoption for by that he assures us that he shall fetch out of their graves the bodies of all them whom he hath Adopted and that our future Resurrection is an effect and a necessary consequence of our Adoption Tenthly If we consider Death in it self as it is in its own nature we shall find it to be the wages of sin and a punishment of our crimes Now Jesus Christ hath paid for us these wages and satisfied for all our sins abolishing them in his Cross we may therefore conclude that Death 〈◊〉 to be destroyed in respect of believers and that their bodies must needs rise again Eleventhly St. Paul assures us that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of his body Now the body of this great God and Redeemer consists not onely in that infinite number of Souls purchased with his Blood but also in the Union of all the bodies that have been the companions of these blessed Souls Therefore as he hath saved our Souls from Spiritual Death and eternal damnation he must also save our bodies from corporal death and redeem them from the power of the grave Twelfthly If death did for ever detain our bodies in the grave we could not say to speak properly that our Saviour hath swallowed up death into victory and that he hath destroyed the Sepulcher for in such a case Death and the Grave would remain victorious and triumph eternally over these miserable Bodies Thirteenth Our Saviour hath suffered in his Soul and in his Body and by that means he hath purchased to himself both our Souls and Bodies according to St. Pauls excellent intimation You are bought with a price glorify therefore God in your Bodies and in your Souls that belong unto God From hence we must conclude that this glorious Saviour will be deprived of part of that which he hath purchased by his inestimable sufferings if our Bodies did alwayes continue in the power of Death Fourteenth The holy Ghost hath Sanctified our Bodies and made them his Temples as St. Paul teacheth us Know ye not that you are the Temple of God and that the holy Ghost dwelleth in you From hence the Resurrection of our bodies must needs follow as a necessary consequence for can we imagine that God will suffer the Temple of his Holiness to continue for ever in its ruines and Desolation will he not rear up again the noble Pavillion of his glory cast down by Death Fifteenth God hath predestinated us to make us
extinguishing the remains of their natural light and in smothering the good and rational dictates of their Consciences They shall be condemned because they have abused Heavens favors and filled themselves with Gods good Creatures without returning to him due thanks and because they have not meditated as they ought upon so many stately and noble works of nature nor learned by that means to know God who hath left in these works so many impresses of his eternal Power and Godhead and because that knowing God they have not glorified him as God this St. Paul teacheth in these words As many as have sinned without Law shall also perish without Law and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law for when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves which shew the work of the Law written in their Hearts their Conscience also bearing Witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another in the day when God shall judge the secrets of Men by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel Rom. 2. They that profess to know the Law shall be judged by the Law such as have already heard the Thunders of Mount Sinai they shall one day feel the Thunderbolts They shall understand by experience what it is to rebel against God and to draw upon themselves and their guilty heads the dreadful curses of Gods Law Deut. 17. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them Gal. 3. There is no doubt but that the Jews upon whom Moses and the Prophets have spent so many fruitless exhortations to live well shall be punished with more grievous Torments than the poor Savages unto whom God never sent any Messuage who never had any acquaintance with the Commonwealth of Israel being strangers from the Covenant having no hope and being without God in the World Eph. 2. For that servant who knoweth his Masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with more stripes then him who knoweth it not Luke 12. But no people upon Earth have cause to expect and dread a more severe Sentence then the wicked Christians that make profession of knowing God and believing in Jesus Christ who nevertheless deny him by their Works and trample under feet the riches of his Grace how can it otherwise be for such as have heard the Gospel Preached who have seen Jesus Christ as it were Crucified before their eyes and yet have made no advantage of all this they ought to be punished in another manner than the bare Auditors of Moses that never saw the Messias but afar off and in the shadows of the Ceremonial Law Take notice of these Divine ex pressions of St. Paul to the Hebrews He that despised Moses Law died without Mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith he was Sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace For we know him that hath said Vengeance belongeth unto me I will recompence saith the Lord and again the Lord shall judge his people It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Therefore when St. Paul speaks of such as obey not the Gospel he saith That they shall be punished with eternal Punishments from the presence of God and from the glory of his power And our Saviour teacheth us that such as reject so great Salvation shall be punished more grievously than the most abominable Sinners unto whom it was never declared Therefore when he sends forth his Apostles to Preach he tells them whosoever shall not receive you and hear your words when ye depart out of that House or City shake off the dust of your feet verily I say unto you it shall be more tollerable for the Land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of Judgement than for that City Likewise when he upbraids the Cities which had not believed in him for their unbelief and impenitency because they were not converted at the Preaching of his Gospel and at the sight of his glorious Miracles Math. 11. he tells them Wo unto thee Chorazin wo unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes But I say unto you it shall be more tollerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of Judgement then for you And thou Capernaum which art exalted unto Heaven shalt be brought down to Hell for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom it would have remained unto this day but I say unto you that it shall be more tollerable for the Land of Sodom in the day of Judgement then for thee The great Judge of the World shall place at his left hand all wicked Souls which have lived without any fear of God and without expressing Charity to the Members of his Mystical Body and shall pronounce to them this dreadful Sentence Depart from me ye Cursed to Eternal Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels for I was an hungrey and ye gave me no Meat I was thirsty and ye gave me no Drink I was a stranger and ye took me not in Naked and ye cloathed me not sick and in Prison and ye visited me not verily I say unto you in as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me But the faithful who have declared their Faith by a good and holy Life and by works of Charity and Mercy he will place at his right hand and in the Presence of God and all his holy Angels he shall say unto them Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World for I was an hungrey and ye gave me Meat I was thirsty and ye gave me Drink I was a Stranger and ye took me in Naked and ye cloathed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in Prison and ye came unto me verily I say unto you in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me There be some that make this question what sign shall precede immediately before or accompany the coming of Christ in the World Our Saviour hath given occasion to this demand for when he speaks of the things that are to happen about the time of his glorious Coming he saith That the Sun shall be darkened that the Moon shall not give light that the Stars shall fall from Heaven and that the powers of the Heavens shall be shaken and that then shall appear in Heaven the Sign of the Son of Man Some
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
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