my Sin III. O Lord be merciful unto me heal my Soul for I have sinned against thee Call to remembrance O Lord thy tender mercy and thy loving kindness which hath been ever of Old O remember not the Sins of my Youth nor the Offences of riper years but according to thy mercy think thou upon me IV. Cast me not away in the time of Age forsake me not now that my strength faileth me Go not far from me O God my God haste thee to help me Thou O God hast taught me from my youth up until now Forsake me not therefore in my old Age when I am Gray-headed V. The days of our Age are Threescore years and ten and though some be so strong that they come to Fourscore which is a mercy wherewith thou hast Crowned me thy unworthy Servant yet is their strength then but Labour and Sorrow so soon passeth it away and we are gone But Lord suffer me not to go hence in thy Displeasure O suffer not my Sun to go down in thy wrath nor my days to be shut up in the darkness of thine Anger VI. But as thou art pleased to bring me to my Grave in a full Age like as a shock of Corn cometh in his Season so let me be gathered at last like Wheat into thy Heavenly Granary And let mine Age be renewed as the Eagles in thy Kingdom of Glory Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end Amen VII Thou in whose hands are the Keys of the Grave and the issues of Life and Death Thou in whose Power alone it is to kill and to make alive and to bring down to the Grave and to raise up again Thou who hadst Compassion upon Peter's Wives Mother by recovering her out of a Fever Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole VIII Thou who didst shew thy mercy to those Daughters of Abraham the Woman that for twelve years together was diseased with an Issue of Blood and another who by the space of eighteen years was so bowed together that she could in no wise lift up her self thou didst loose both these and many more from their long infirmities Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole IX Thou who didst restore to Life the young Maiden that was dead Lord if thou wilt thou canst restore me to my Health who am an aged Sinner and a sick feeble Creature Thou canst mitigate my Pains and renew my Strength and lengthen my days For thou makest our Beds in our Sickness and art the Lord of Life and Health and Strength even thou art the Almighty God and the Horn of my Salvation O thou ancient of days X. But Lord as for these outward Blessings I wholly submit my self and them unto thy good Pleasure If it be thy Blessed Will to have the days of my Pilgrimage prolonged upon Earth make me to live always to thy Glory and to my own Souls Comfort as thou dost add days to my years so do thou likewise add Repentance to my days XI But if thou thinkest it more expedient for me that I should die than live then welcome my Death and Dissolution without which there is no entring into Life eternal nor hopes of being with Christ Welcome Jesus who by thy Death hast taken away the Sting of Death Welcome that Cup whereof thou my dear Saviour hast drank before me and which even to the very Dregs thou hast drank off for me XII And therefore I will readily take this Cup of Death which thou hast begun unto me and Praise the Name of the Lord. I will Praise thy Name O sweet Saviour who givest me this Cup of Death the Cup of Salvation I will Praise thy Name who hast born all our Sicknesses for us and all our infirmities XIII I will Praise thy Name who art the Physician of Souls and callest all such unto thee as are weary and heavy Laden that thou mayst refresh them Amongst which great number behold me O Lord thy poor and aged thy weak and sick Servant weary in my Bones and laden with my Sins But Lord I come unto thee in obedience to thy Call and of those that come near unto thee thou castest none out Lord I come unto thee for ease and refreshment XIV O my beloved Saviour Jesus in the midst of the weariness of my Body in the midst of the load and burthen of my Sins in the midst of the Sorrows which are in my Heart O let thy Comforts and Consolations refresh my Soul XV. And when the snares of Death compass me round about let not the Pains of Hell take hold upon me But by all the Merits of thy Nativity Death Resurrection and Ascension I beseech thee to seal unto me in thine own precious Blood and by thy most Holy Spirit the full-Pardon of all my Sins and to admit me who am thy own Purchace to a Participation of thy Glory A Prayer for a Happy End in time of Sickness O Most glorious Jesus Lamb of God Fountain of eternal mercy Life of the Soul and Conqueror over Sin and Death I humbly beseech thee of thy Goodness and Compassion to give me Grace so to employ this transitory Life in vertuous and pious Exercises that when the Day of my Death shall come in the midst of all my Pains of Body I may feel the sweet refreshings of thy Holy Spirit Comforting my Soul and relieving all my spiritual necessities II. Lay no more upon me than thou shalt enable me to bear and let thy gentle Correction in this Life prevent the insupportable Stripes in the World to come give me Patience and Humility and the Grace of Repentance and an absolute renouncing of my self and a Resignation to thy Pleasure and Providence with a Power to perform thy Will in all things and then do what thou pleasest to me only in Health or Sickness in Life or Death let me feel thy Comforts refreshing my Soul and let thy Grace pardon all my Sins Amen Meditation XXIII Thanksgiving for Ease in Sickness or Recovery out of it BLessed by thy Name O Lord for blessing the means which are applyed unto me It is thy hand and the help of thy mercy that thou hast relieved me The Waters of affliction had long since drowned me and the Stream of Death had gone over my Soul if the Spirit of the Lord had not moved upon these Waters and led me forth besides the waters of Comfort II. O spread most gracious God according to thy mercy thy hand upon me for a Covering and also enlarge my Heart with Thanksgivings and fill my Mouth with thy Praise Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me Praise his Holy Name who hath saved thy Life from Destruction and Crowned thee with mercy and loving kindness III. Grant Lord that what thou hast sown in Mercy may spring up in Duty Let my Duty and
Memory as the Christian use of them may prepare thee before Death summon thee and in this vale of Misery fit thee for thy Heavenly Voyage to Eternity IV. And yet whilst I entertain thee with these Precepts I find thy Condition to be dangerous For if thou seriously ponder them in thy mind and lay them home to thy Heart the very thoughts of them cannot chuse but startle thee and if thou neglect them which are so useful for thy Salvation thou wilt stand amazed when they encounter thee The Prayer O Lord remember me in thy Mercy and so prepare my Memory that these four necessary Remembrances may never depart from me Let me be prepar'd for Death before it come that it may never surprize me unprovided whensoever it shall come Let me think of that dreadful day of Judgment and judge my self before I am judged that I may not when I am weighed in the Ballance be found wanting II. Let not me forget there is a Hell for the damned and consider that it is better by timely fearing to avoid it than by never dreaming of it to fall headlong into it Lastly let me think of Heaven that it is the Habitation of the Blessed and that none but those that are of a clean Heart shall dwell in it O cleanse thou my Heart that I may be prepared for it and with piritual Joy be received into it Meditation XII On Death IT is strange that Death should be such a Stranger to thee when he so daily visits thy Neighbours Thou hast been familiarly acquainted with many whose Habitations are not now to be found which have enjoyed the Pleasures of Sin freely others who have inlarged their Barns and Store-houses carefully others who have in a splendid manner arrived to Honours highest Pinacle and could deliver their Commands with Grandeur and Magnificence And now behold All these have endured Death's Arrest and were forced to obey his grim Command II. And now consider having made their Beds in the dark They have left their Houses unto others they are gone unto their Graves and must not return again their Substance they have left unto others and Strangers are become their Heirs They are rooted out from the Face of the Earth and now they consider the Vanity of their Desires How they who laid Land to Land while they were here are now content with a small scantling in their return to their last home III. Poor Shell of Corruption what dost thou think of these things I am certain that great Revenues swelling Honours smiling Pleasures are dangerous and pernicious Eye-sores to a dying Man He looks back upon his Honours and enquires of them if they can relieve him but like false hearted retainers they fly from him and present their Service to another so quickly have they forgot their dying Master IV. He looks back then upon his Revenues those Goods of Fortune his inchested Treasures and asks of them if they cannot Ransome him But alas they have no such Commission they reserve themselves for his Prodigal Successor or succeeding Rioter for they were so poorly used and employed by him that they have quickly forgot their dying Master At last he looks back upon his unhappy Pleasures which now torment him more than ever they did delight him and he would be inform'd of them if they can allay or any ways mitigate his Pain But alas they soon leave him for they find nothing near him that can give them Entertainment V. An easie farewel then have these taken of their dying Master But thou poor Sinner hast no Honours to transport thee no Fortunes to detain thee no Pleasures to ensnare thee For the first the Countenance of Greatness never shone upon thee for the second Worldly Wealth could never yet so burden thee And for the last though thy Youth might affect them the infirmities of Age have now estranged them from thee VI. And yet the voice of Death is more terrible to thee than the loud Report of a roaring Cannon No Note more doleful or Summons more fearful in this thou art in some measure excusable because Death is fearful to all Flesh Plant not thy hopes so upon Earth as if thou intendedst never to go from Earth or to return to it from whence thou wast taken If thou canst find nothing on Earth worthy to entertain thee thou art in the unhappiest Condition that may befall thee VII O think then of that time even now while thou hast time when thy poor languishing Soul finding thy Eyes shut thy Mouth closed and all those Senses of thy Body perished by which she used to pass forth and be delighted in these outward things wherewith she was affected shall return unto her self and seeing her self all alone and naked as one afflicted and affrighted with exceeding Horror shall through Despair fail and fall under her self O whither wilt thou fly in hope of Succour to comfort thy poor Soul in such a time of Danger The Prayer EVen to thee will I fly O God of my Salvation for thou wilt not suffer my Soul to descend to Corruption such is thy loving kindness as thou hast promised to make all my Bed in my Sickness And because nothing is more certain than Death nothing more uncertain than the hour and that the pale Messenger may appear less fearful unto me send thy Holy Spirit to Comfort me that being inwardly armed by thee against the Assaults of Death and fury of my Ghostly Enemy I may fight a good Fight and with Fortitude cry out O Death where is thy Sting O Hell where is thy Victory Meditation XIII Upon Judgment I Tremble to think of that dreadful day and yet know not how to avoid it Judged I must be and who will answer for me An infallible Witness I have within to accuse me Sins of Omission and of Commission to impeach me Sins of Ignorance Knowledge and of Malice to convict me though any one of these were sufficient to condemn me II. But perhaps thou wilt be upon the Enquiry to know for what thou art to be brought to Account for And the occasion of thy appearing before the great Tribunal Seat of Judgment Solomon will furnish thee with a ready Answer and informs thee it is even for all thy Thoughts Words and Works For God will bring every Work into Judgment with every secret thing whether it be Good or whether it be Evil Eccles 12.12 III. And that it may appear that thou shalt be accountable for all these First touching thy Thoughts of these thou shalt be judged For froward Thoughts separate from God Wisd 1. and He shall judge the secrets of Men. Their Conscience also bearing Witness and their Thoughts the mean while accusing or excusing one another Rom. 2.15 IV. Next thou shalt give an Account of all thy Words Of every idle Word that Men shall speak they shall give Account in the Day of Judgment Mat. 12.36 Thirdly thou shalt be accountable for all thy Works For
trembling Heart shall I poor Sinner stand expecting the supream Judge when I shall be banished from that blessed Countrey of Paradise to be devoured in the gaping bottomless Pit where I must never have the Prospect of a Glimpse of light nor feel the least drop of Refreshment but be tormented for Millions of years and so tormented as never to be from thence deliver'd where neither the Tormentors become wearied nor they die who are tormented The Prayer O My dear Lord look upon the price of thine own Blood Thou hast bought me with a great Price O deliver thy Darling from the Power of the Dogs remember me in Mercy whom thou hast bought O let me not go down into the Pit neither let the Deep swallow me up II. For who shall Praise thy Name in the Deep or declare thy Power in the Grave of Silence O thou who art a God of infinite Majesty though the Terrors of Death and Torments of Hell encompass me yet art thou my Saviour my Succour and wilt deliver me and my Soul shall live to Praise thee evermore Meditation XV. Upon Heaven O How should I look up to thee that have so provok'd thee O thou Mansion of the Saints thou Portion of the Just thou City of the great King thou Heavenly and most happy Kingdom where thy blessed Inhabitants are ever living and never dying where thy glorious State is ever flourishing and never declining II. I must Confess to my great Grief and Shame that I have no Interest in thee I have unhappily lost thee in losing my Soul by selling it to Vanity I sometimes resolv'd to Play the part of a wise Merchant and to sell all I had for the purchace of one Pearl But I held the Purchace at too dear a Rate and therefore I have deservingly lost the Jewel III. Foolish Sinner couldst thou find any thing of greater weight to entertain thy best thoughts or bestow thy Care than the Salvation of thy Soul Didst thou think it so easie a Task to get Heaven by an earthly Purchace yet hadst thou but taken half so much Pains to deserve Heaven as thou hast done to win Hell Thou mightest have challenged more Interest to Heaven than now thou canst IV. Many Summer Days and long Winter Nights have thy Follies taken thee up And these seem'd short unto thee because thou tookest delight in those short Pleasures of Vanity but to bestow one short hour upon Devotion how many Distractions did that meet withal and how long and tedious seem'd that hour because the Task was wearisome and thy wandring mind was not inclin'd to so serious a work V. And canst thou now think that so Rich a Kingdom would reserve it self for thee when thou wouldst neither knock to be admitted entrance nor seek after so great a Happiness Health thou art well inform'd comes not from the Clouds without seeking nor Wealth from the Ground without digging and yet Heaven thou thinkest is got by sloth but great Prizes are not so purchased VI. For as the Gate of the Blessed is strait and few there be that enter so are our Tribulations many that we may be of that few which may gain Admittance But I hear thee now cry out as one that had some Sense of his Misery and of the loss he has incurred by Sins committed Thou dost now bewail thy past Follies and correct thy self for so great a neglect thou knowest not how to allay thy Passion till Reason inclines thee to this Meditation VII Miserable Sinner I cannot behold this Earth I tread on without blushing nor can I think upon Death without sorrowing the Day of Judgment without trembling Hell without shaking nor of the Joys of Heaven without Astonishment For Earth I loved it so well as the remembrance of Death became sorrowful For by it I understood I was to be brought to Judgment and from thence having no defensive Answer to be hurried down to the place of torment and consequently to forfeit all my Title and interest in Heaven VIII These Meditations ought to make a deep impression upon our Minds for to acknowledge our Infirmities may make us the speedier look for a Remedy and by degrees find a happy Recovery joyn then all thy Faculties and offer up thy Prayer to the Throne of Grace that God in his Mercy would look upon thee The Prayer GRacious God though I am altogether unworthy to lift up my Eyes unto Heaven or to offer up my Prayers unto thee much less to be heard by thee yet for his Merits and Mercies sake who sitteth at thy right hand and maketh intercession for me reserve a place in thy Heavenly Kingdom for me II. Dear Lord in thy House are many Mansions O bring me thither that I may joyn my voice with those voices of the Angels and sing Praises to thy Holy Name who sittest in the highest Heavens for ever World without end Amen Meditation XVI The remembrance of the four last things reduced to Practice I Find my Soul like a dry ground where no water is and wheresoever I turn my self I find Affliction and Misery on all sides surrounding me What shall I do or where shall I fly When I repose my self from the World in some with-drawing Room intending to forget this lower Orb and prepare my self for the Joys of a better Life while I begin to commune with my own thoughts in the secret Chamber of my Heart I become so affrighted with the Representment of those four last Remembrances as I wholly forget what I intended to speak II. My Tongue begins to cleave to the Roof of my Mouth my Moisture is dryed within me those Active Faculties of my Soul leave me And my understanding departs from me O Death how bitter is the Remembrance of thee with Terror thou summonest me and like a surly Guest thou rushest upon me and resolvest to lodge with me then immediately I feel my self wounded and so mortally as not to be cured III. O how my Divine Eye-sight grows dim my panting Breast beats my hoarse Throat ratleth my Teeth grow black and rusty my Countenance grows pale all my Members stiff every Sense and Faculty fails and my wasted Body threatens a speedy Dissolution yet desires my poor Soul to be a Guest though there is cold Comfort to be found in such a forlorn Inn. IV. But what are all these Terrors of Death to the dreadful Day of Judgment when at the voice of the Arch-Angel and sound of the Trumpet all the little heaps of Dust shall rise where none shall be exempted but all judged How terrible in Majesty will that great Judge appear to such as in this Life would neither be allured by his Promises nor awakened by his Judgments V. How doleful will that Echoing voice sound in their Ear Depart from me I know you not And how ready will that officious Jaylor be upon the delivery of this heavy Sentence to cast them into utter darkness a place of endless Torments where
Returns to thee be so great as my necessities of thy Mercies are O Let thy Grace so strengthen my purposes of amendment that I may sin no more lest thy threatning return upon me in Anger and thy sore Displeasure break me in pieces IV. What am I O Lord what is the Life and what are the Capacities of thy Servant that thou shouldst do thus unto me Praised be the Lord daily even the Lord that helpeth us and poureth his Benefits upon us He is our God even the God from whom cometh Salvation God is the Lord by whom we escape Death V. In the midst of the Sorrows which were in my Heart thy Comforts O Lord have refreshed my Soul It is thou O Lord who hast made my Flesh and my Bones to rejoyce Behold happy is the Man whom God Correcteth therefore despise not the chastising of the Almighty VI. For he maketh sore and bindeth up he woundeth and his hands make whole In the midst of Judgment he remembreth Mercy Lord thou hast lifted up the light of thy Countenance upon me Yea Lord thou hast put gladness into my Heart O be thou pleased graciously to add Thankfulness to it VII I will lay me down in Peace and take my Rest for it is thou Lord only which makest me dwell in safety O Lord I give thee humble and hearty thanks for thy great and almost miraculous bringing me back from the bottom of my Grave what thou hast further for me to do or suffer thou alone knowest VIII Lord give me Patience and Courage and all Christian resolution to do thee Service replenish me evermore with thy Grace to submit to thy Holy Will and let me not live longer than to Honour thee through Jesus Christ Lord I have been sick and feeble and thou hast recovered my strength I am very aged and greatly stricken in years yet thou art still pleased to add unto my days sanctifie therefore good Lord the remainder of my Life and sweeten unto me the approaches of my Death A Prayer of Thanksgiving MOst Gracious God whose mercy is as high as the Heavens and whose truth reaches unto the Clouds thy Mercies are as great and many as the moments of Eternity thou hast opened wide thy hand of Providence to fill me with Blessings and the sweet Effects of thy loving kindness fill my Soul with great apprehensions and impresses of thy unspeakable Mercies that my Thankfulness may be as great as my necessity of Mercies are II. O Lord thou hast heard my Prayers and hast broken in sunder the Bonds of Sickness and hast delivered my Soul from trouble and heaviness thou hast snatched me from the snares of Death and saved me from the Pains of Hell O let my Soul rest in thee and be satisfied in the Pleasures of thy mercy that when thou shalt call all the whole Universe to judgment from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof I may in thy Heavenly Kingdom sing Praises to thee for evermore Amen Meditation XXIV Comfortable refreshments at the hour of Death to be used by those who are present GOd so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life John 3.16 If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World 1 John 2.1 2. II. Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my Word and believeth in him that sent me hath everlasting Life and shall not come into Condemnation but is passed from Death unto Life John 5.24 All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out John 6.37 III. Why art thou so full of heaviness O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me put thy trust in God for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his Countenance Psal 42.6 In my Fathers House are many Mansions John 14.2 What things were Gain to me those I counted loss for Christ Phil. 3.7 IV. For our Conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ Who shall Change our vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3.20 21. I press towards the Mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.14 V. Set your Affections on things above not on things of the Earth For ye are dead and your Life is hid with Christ When Christ who is our Life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in Glory Colos 3.2.3 In whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of our Sins Col. 1.14 VI. If in this Life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable 1 Cor. 15.19 For we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our House which is from Heaven 2 Cor. 5.1 2. For our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of Glory The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 1 Cor. 4.17 18. VII I am in a great Strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better For to me to live is Christ and to die is Gain Phil. 1.21 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Phil. 2.5 None of us liveth to himself and no Man dieth to himself For whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord Whether we live therefore or die we are the Lord's Rom. 14.7 8. VIII I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me write from henceforth Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 I am the Resurrection and the Life saith the Lord He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die John 11. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And though after my Skin worms destroy this Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and my Eyes shall behold and not another Job 19.25 26 27. IX We brought nothing into this World and it is certain we can carry nothing out The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the Name of the Lord 1 Tim. 6.7 Job 1.21 O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory The Sting of Death is Sin
we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 V. Immortal but afflicted Soul canst thou hear all this and not dissolve thy self into Tears When not only in thy Bed of Sickness by a secret Divine Power all those Works which thou hast done be they Good or Evil shall be presented and appear before thee but in that great and fearful day of Account when all Flesh shall come to Judgment All these in Capitals shall appear written before thee VI. Not one Bosome Sin were it never so closely committed subtilly covered or cunningly carried but must be there discovered Adam shall be brought from his Bushes and Sarah from behind the Tent-Door and miserable perplexed Man shall say to his Conscience as Ahab said to Elias Hast thou found me O mine Enemy What innumerable Bills of Inditements then will there be preferred against thee To all which thou must hang down thy Head and plead Guilty VII O how art thou fallen into the Gall of Bitterness and Misery what can the Thoughts and the Imaginations of thine Heart say for themselves but that they have been evil continually What can the words of thy Mouth speak for themselves but that they have been full of all filthiness and obscenity Lastly what can the works of thine hands plead for themselves but that they have been loaden with Transgressions and Iniquities VIII But perhaps thou hast some fond hopes of a Pardon and so like some deluded Offenders by flattering thy self with a vain hope of Life alienatest thy thoughts from thinking of a better Life But do not so deceive thy self for if it be not by saithful Repentance sought for here there is no hope for any Pardon there to be procured nor for any Appeal to be there admitted not one minutes reprieve granted nor one moment of Adjournment of Death's heavy Sentence That severe Sentence of eternal Death Depart from me shall be the Sentence to lose whose Countenance and depart from his Presence is to bring thy Soul into endless Torments The Prayer O My God thou who hast appointed a time for every Man to die and after that to come to Judgment make me to remember my End that fitting my self for it I may cheerfully encounter it and so prepare my self for that Judgment which shall come after it II. O make me walk in thy light now while I have light to walk in and to work out my Salvation now while I have time to work in For time will come unless we walk here as Children of light when we shall have neither light to walk in nor time to work in O inflame my Heart with thy Love and teach me thy Judgments and my Soul shall live Meditation XIV Upon Hell HArk how the Damned cry out that while they were here on Earth they lived better than thou and yet they undergo the Sentence of Damnation thus they tax God's Mercy and indulgence towards thee of Injustice and Partiality Such is those Damned Souls Charity mean time thou livest securely feedest deliciously and puttest the thought of the evil day from thee by walking foolishly in the ways of Vanity II. Little desire then mayst thou have sinful Man to see Death having so little hope of Life after it Had some of those damned Objects who are now lost for ever received those many sweet Visits Motions and free Offers of his Grace those opportunities of doing good and many means of eschewing evil no question but they would have been as ready to entertain them as thou hast been to reject them III. Think with thy self how happy had that Rich Glutton been if he had rewarded poor Lazarus with some few Crumbs from his Table Had it not been far better for him to have given to the Poor all that ever he had To have disrobed himself and exchang'd his purpled Garments for Rags of Poverty than to dwell in everlasting Burnings IV. How happy had that rich Man in the Gospel been if instead of encreasing his Barns he had inlarged his Bowels to the Poor little dreamt he how soon his Soul should be taken from him when he addressed his Care for so needless a Provision His thoughts were so taken up with Building his Barns wider that he never considered How Tophet was ordained of old how it was made deep and large the Pile thereof Fire and much Wood and how the Breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it Esay 30.33 V. Turn unto thy self O my Soul and see whom thou canst find in more Danger of falling into that place of Horror than thy self How hast thou bestowed thy time how hast thou employed thy Talent hast thou not laid it up in a Napkin or hast not thou worse improved it by employing it to some ignoble Ends have not many been damned for less than thou hast committed and did it grieve thee to repent of what thou hadst done that thou might'st escape that Condemnation VI. Many a wretched Soul lies there tormented for less Offences than ever thou transacted and hast thou yet turned to the Lord that thou mayst be pardoned It is written in what hour soever the Righteous committeth iniquity his Righteousness shall not be had in Remembrance Ezck. 18.24 Now if the Righteousness of him shall be forgotten by committing iniquity who leaveth what he once loved relinquisheth what he once professed what can we think of the Repentance of that Sinner who returns again to his Sins like the Dog to the Vomit or like the Sow to her wadowing in the Mire VII How many have ascended even up to Heaven and amongst the Stars have built their Nests and yet have suddenly faln from that Glory by glorying in their own Strength and so drench'd themselves into endless Misery And this was the Reason of their lost Estate because they aspired unto that Mountain to which the first Angel ascended and as a Devil descended VIII And canst thou excuse thy self of being one of that number Hast thou not sometimes made a fair shew to the World of plausible Arguments of Piety hast thou not been sometimes like the King's Daughter all glorious without but how soon didst thou lose this Glory and fall from that seeming Sanctity or Holy Hypocrisie into open Prophaneness and Impiety IX And now what will become of me in this extremity the Wages of sin I know is Death a Death that never dieth but liveth eternally where nothing shall be heard but weeping and wailing groaning and howling sorrowing and gnashing of Teeth How grievous then shall be my Anguish how endless my Sorrow and Sadness when I shall be set apart from the Society of the Just deprived of the sight of God deliver'd up unto the Power of the Devils and forced along with them into unquenchable Fire there to remain to all Eternity X. With what dejected Eyes and a
Mortification for times of Sickness and old Age when 't will be easie to leave their Pleasures because their Pleasures will leave them yet in the Judgment of God the Son the Word and Wisdom of the Father 'T is the part of a Block-head and a Fool to make Account of more years than he is sure of days or hours XI He is a Sot as well as a Sinner who does adjourn and shift off the Amendment of his Life perhaps till twenty or thirty or forty years after his Death 'T is true indeed that Hezekiah whilst he was yet in the Confines and Skirts of Death had a Lease of Life granted no less than fifteen years long but he deferr'd not his Repentance one day the longer 2 Kings 20.6 XII And shall we adventure to live an hour in an impenitent Estate who have not a Lease of Life promised no not so much as an hour shall we dare enter into our Beds and sleep securely any one Night not thinking how we may awake whether in Heaven or in Hell we know 't is timely Repentance which must secure us of the one and 't is final impenitence which gives us assurance of the other XIII What the Apostle of the Gentiles hath said of wrath may be as usefully spoken of every other provoking Sin Ephes 4.6 Let not the Sun go down upon it Let us not live in any Sin until the Sun is gone down because we are far from being sure we shall live till Sun-rising XIV How many Professors go to sleep when the Sun is gone down and the Curtains of the Night are drawn about them in a State of Drunkenness or Adultery in a State of Avarice or Malice in a State of Sacriledge or Rebellion in a State of Deceitfulness and Hypocrisie without the least Consideration how short a time they have to live and how very much shorter than they imagine XV. Yet unless they believe the y can Dream devoutly and truly repent when they are sleeping they cannot but know they are damn'd for ever if the Day of the Lord shall come upon them as a Thief in the Night and catch them napping in their impieties 1 Thes 5.2.4 2 Pet. 3.10 XVI Consider this all ye that forget God lest he pluck you away and there be none to deliver you Psal 50.22 Consider it all ye that forget your selves that forget how few your days are and how full of Misery Consider your Bodies from whence they came and consider your Souls whither they are going Consider your Life is in your Breath and your Breath is in your Nostrils and that in the management of a moment for the better or for the worse there dependeth either a joyful or a sad Eternity XVII If our time indeed were certain as well as short or rather if we were certain how short it is there might be some Colour or Pretence for the putting off of our Reformation But since we know not at what hour our Lord will come Matth. 24.42 43 44. this should mightily engage us to be hourly standing upon our watch Hab. 2.1 XVIII Next let us consider that if our days which are few are as full of trouble it should serve to make us less fond of Living and less devoted to Self-preservation and less afraid of the Cross of Christ when our Faith shall be called to the severest Tryals XIX O Death saith the Son of Sirach Eccles 41.2 acceptable is thy Sentence to the Needy and to him that is vexed with all things The troubles incident to Life have made the bitter in Soul to long for Death and to rejoyce exceedingly when they have found the Grave Job 3.20 21 22. XX. If the Empress Barbara had been Orthodox in believing Mens Souls to be just as mortal as their Bodies Death at least would be capable of this Applause and Commendation that it puts a Conclusion to all our Troubles XXI If we did not fear him Who can cast both Body and Soul into Hell Matth. 10.27 28. We should not need to fear them Who can destroy the Body only because there is no Inquisition in the Grave Eccles 41.4 There the wicked cease from troubling And there the weary are at rest There the Prisoners lye down with Kings and Councellors of the Earth The Servant there is free from his Master There is sleep and still silence nor can they hear the voice of the Oppressour Job 3.14 17 18 19. The Prayer O Lord God of my Salvation thou hast delivered me from the Captivity and Bondage of Sin and Misery fill my Heart with holy Sorrow and Compunction whenever I trespass against thee and teach me so to deny my self to mortifie my Affections to crucifie my Lusts and all the Temptations of the Flesh that I going on my way Mourning and Weeping despising the Pleasures of this Life may when thy great Harvest shall come and thy Reapers the Angels shall separate the Wheat from the Tares come before thee with Joy and escape everlasting Burnings through the Mercies of Jesus Christ Amen Meditation XXXI The Sick Man's last Will and Testament IN the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost I a poor Sinner of sound and perfect Memory being daily read in the Lecture of Man's Mortality how all Flesh is Grass and the Beauty thereof as the Flower of the Field which this day flourisheth to morrow withereth and that it is every Chriftian's Duty to Prepare himself before Death come lest it find him unprovided at such time as it shall approach II. Moved I say with these Considerations I have here made this my last Will and Testament as followeth First I bequeath my Soul into the hands of my gracious Redeemer by whose most precious Blood I was Ransomed and by whose Merits and Mercies I hope to be Glorified III. And forasmuch as there was no safety out of the Ark nor no Salvation now without the pale of the Church figured by the Ark and that the Tares from the Wheat must be severed And the Sheep and the Goats must not into one Fold be gathered IV. Here in the Presence of God and his Holy Angels for the discharge of my own Conscience and the Satisfaction of others who perchance have in their Opinions been divided doubting much how I in Points of Religion stood affected do I make a free and publick Confession of my Faith Being that Cement by which we are knit unto her and made Members of her V. I believe the Holy Catholick Church to be the Communion of the Faithful whereof I desire to live and die a Member to suffer for which I should account it an Honour holding this ever for a Principle that none can have God for his Father that will not take this Holy Spouse the Church for his Mother VI. There is no Article in the Apostles Creed which I do not believe for Catholick and Orthodoxal with the Exposition thereof and every Clause or Particle thereof in such manner as it hath been universally