we know not at what time nor in what place Death intends to come upon us let us expect it at every moment and in every place Seeing that we lodge in this Earthly Tabernacle without any loss or assurance of Time let us be ready to depart at the first warning for it will be far better for us to goe out willingly than to be drag'd out against our wills it is not convenient that Death should carry us away in the same manner as the Sea bears and tosseth a dead Corps upon its wayes But we must in this occasion imitate the discreet Pilate or Mariner that trims his Sails and helps by his Art the Winds and the Tide to drive him to his desired Haven We should not follow Death as the Malefactor follows the Executioner that leads him to suffer but as the Child follows his Father that conducts him to a Feast we should not engage him in a combat with Death by constraint as the antient Slaves did with the wild Beasts in the Roman Amphitheaters but we should imitate David's generosity who of his own accord march'd out of the Camp of Israel to fight with Goliah It is better for us to attack and seize upon Death than to be surprized and devoured by it unawares Come when thou wilt O Death thou shalt never surprize me for I wait for thee at every moment with my weapons ready in my hand Thou shalt never drag me forcibâ—y for I will follow thee willingly and joyfully Although thou art mine Enemy yet will I speak to thee in the Language of the Spouse in the Canticles to her beloved Draw me and I will run after thee Nay I will meet thee in the way and receive thee with hearty embraces for instead of dreading thy coming I desire it passionately and hope for it for at thy first arrival assoon as I shall have seen thee I shall have overcome thee O blessed and happy day that assures me of such a glorious Victory and of such an Eternal Triumph A Prayer and Meditation upon the continual expectation of Death O Gracious God in whose power alone and at whose pleasure are the Times and the Seasons I know that it is appointed to all men once to dye and that the Grave is the dwelling which thou hast prepared to receive all Mankind we understand sufficiently by the experience of former Ages that none is able to say I shall live and shall not see Death Thou O Almighty God our Supreme Judge hast pronounced our irrevocable Sentence in the Earthly Paradise that we must dye so that I should be guilty of the greatest folly and madness if I did not firmly believe that I must dye as others and follow at my turn in the way of all flesh But Lord thou hast been pleased to hide from our knowledge the wonderful proceedings of thy providence and dost not suffer us to see the Hand that marks out the last hours of our Life We can perceive no shadow to discover to us with certainty when shall be the going down of our Sun we know not at what hour of the day or of the night thou wilt call us away to appear before thy great Tribunal Give us therefore Grace O merciful God to be alway ready to answer to thy Call and to obey thy Holy Commands that I may be as a Ship at Anchor that stays only for a Wind to set her Sails forward or as a Soldier who waits only for the Signal to march to the Encounter Give me Grace O good Lord that I may be like the good and faithful Servant who expects his Masters coming and hears his voice assoon as he calls Or like the wise Virgins who were ready to meet the Bridegroom and to follow him into the Marriage Chamber seeing that I can never know neither the time nor the place when Death will come to me O that I might expect and wait for it at every moment and at every place O that I might live in such a manner as if I were always ready to dye That my Soul were always upon my Lips prepared to fly away That I were continually in readiness to commit it into thy hands O my God my Faithful and Merciful Creator By this means I shall receive Death with Joy when it comes as thy Servant and Messenger and I shall follow it willingly being certainly perswaded that it will lead me into Eternal Life and introduce me into thy Glorious and Immortal Palace Amen A Prayer and Meditation for Youth O Almighty God and Vniversal Light that enlightenest every Man coming into the World the only Author of my Being by whose Gracious allowance I breath Thou O Lord hast formed and fashioned my Body with thy Divine hand and hast put into it an immortal Soul created after thy likeness Thou hast not only bestowed upon me a Life but hast by thy continual care preserved my Soul and kept my Body from all the dangers unto which this weak and frail Nature is always subject Although I feel my self lusty and strong if thou withdrawest away from me thy Spirit and that Divine Vertue that sustains me I shall instantly fall away and return again into nothing from whence thine Almighty Hand hath taken me O merciful Lord seeing that I live by thee alone make me to live only to thee and for thee that all my actions may tend to thy Glory and Praise thee That I may consecrate to thee with all my heart the First-Fruits of my Life and the Flower of my Age that I may remember my Creator in the days of my Youth and that I may abstain from Vice before the Time come in which I shall say That I have no pleasure therein O Father of Mercies pardon and forgive all the Sins and Infirmities of this foolish and unconsiderate Youth Give a stop to all the unruly motions and repress the violent attempts of this boiling Age tame this miserable Flesh that is not obedient to the will of its God That if the dread of thy Holy and great Name and the respect that I owe to thy Sacred Eyes that behold me are not sufficient to recall me from the Commission of sin and to oblige me to obedience Give me Grace to look continually upon Death that appears round about me and it may be in my very bosom Give me Grace to listen daily to the Heavenly voice that calls me to come forth before the Tribunal of the Great Judge of the World who spies my most secret actions who reads the most inward thoughts of my mind and examines all the passages of this most wretched life O that this flourishing Age and this perfect Health that I enjoy might never flatter me with the conceit of being free from and out of the reach of Deaths merciless Darts But let me remember that there are more Flowers and Blossoms that fall to the ground than Men gather of Fruits and that more tender and young Plants are taken up
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
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
glorious company of Angels and blessed Spirits take upon thee these beautiful Robes of light with which thine Heavenly Father will cloath thy nakedness and accept this immortal Crown that he offers to thee go and satisfie thy self with the Bread of the Kingdome of Heaven and remove thy thirst with the Christial Waters of that River of pleasure which proceeds from the Throne of God and of the Lamb Go and behold the face of the Father of lights go and be happy with his Divine resemblance and be transformed into his glorious Image O blessed Soul Seest thou not already the Heavens open and Iesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father holding out his hand unto thee offering to receive thee into his glorious rest Seest thou not the Angels of Heaven cloathed in white raiment coming to transport thee out of this miserable estate Seest thou not how thou art already encompassed about with light and Celestial Flames Dost thou not relish the sweetness of Paradise Is not there a Heaven already in thine heart Dost thou not hear the Hymns of the glorified Spirits Hath not the Lord caused thee to hear that sweet and comfortable voice sound in thine ear Verily I say unto thee thou shall be this day with me in Paradise Come good and faithfull Servant enter into the Ioy of thy Lord seeiest thou not thy self lifted up above all earthly and perishing things Dost thou not fly upon the wings of faith and repentance to the Throne of Gods glory Dost thou not cast thy self into Paradise into the Arms of Almighty God into the bosome of the Lord Iesus to rest there for ever and to be Satisfied with the good things which eye hath not seen ear hath not heard and which are not entered into the heart of Man but which God hath prepared for them that love him A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian Soul that prepares to go out of its Body and comforts its self in the Contemplation of the glory and happiness of Paradice O God! the Author of my being and the Soveraign Lord of my life thou seest all the motions and dispositions of my Soul thou knowest that I have wholly resigned my self into thy hands and desire nothing else but to depend upon thy good pleasure speak Lord for thy Servant heareth here I am to do thy Will O God Thy People Israel removed their Camp at thy Command in the same manner I am ready to remove out of this Earthly Tabernacle at the first motion of thy Will The Golden Cherubims were alwayes upon their feet with their wings stretched out and their faces towards the Mercy Seat O that I likewise might look up to him who hath purchased for me the eternal Mercies of God him who is the Propitiation for my Sins that I may be always ready to fly up to him Lord Jesus seeing thou callest me to thy self stretch out thy hand unto me from above and draw me out of this tempestuous Sea When a poor blind man understood that thou calledst him to restore his sight he left his Garment for haste and ran to thee with joy and shall not I quit this wretched body to go to thee my Lord and my God seeing thou callest me out of the mid-night of this World to thy marvelous and glorious light seeing that thou hast a design not onely to discover to me this surprising and refreshing light that shines in Heaven but thou wilt cause me to shine in thy Kingdom as the Stars and as the Sun When the Prophet Elias let fall his Mantle he was immediately received into a Chariot of Fire and carried up into Heaven also I hope in thy tender love and favor that as soon as my Soul shall forsake this wretched Body it shall be likewise received into a Celestial Charriot of Fire that will carry it up to Heaven thou wilt deal as gratiously with my Soul as with thine High-Priest Joshua thou wilt take away its Garments shattered and broken by sickness and distempers bespotted and bedaubed with sin to adorn it with Robes of fine and bright linnen and Crown it with glory Therefore I am so far from being afflicted to see the earthly house of this Tabernacle demolished that I rejoyce in a certain assurance that I shall be admitted to my eternal Tabernacle of Heaven O good God! thou seest upon me a contemptible body of dust that desires nothing more then to return to dust again but this Heavenly and immortal Soul of mine that is come from above that is thy breath and a beam of thy glory this Soul I say will return up to its source and origin It sighs for thee O God! and desires nothing but eternal happiness Is it possible that I can be happy too soon and too speedily admitted to the Contemplation of thy glorious face Lord I should be worse then an Infidel if I did doubt of my Salvation if I were not assured to partake of thy glory for thou hast promised to save all such as persevere to the end and to give the Crown of life to all those that are faithfull unto Death Seeing therefore that by the assistance of thine holy Spirit thou hast enabled me to continue in thine holy and Divine Covenant to fight the good fight to finish my course and to keep the faith thou wilt not refuse me this great Salvation this precious Crown O merciful and bountiful Lord thou hast promised all such as overcome to cause them to sit upon thy Throne now by thy special grace and wonderfull power that appears and is fulfilled in mine infirmities I have overcome the World sin the Devil and Hell at present I beseech thee give me a new supply of strength to overcome Death also that I may have no more Enemies to counter with but that I may mount upon the magnificent Throne designed for me let this Death be a passage that may bring me to life immortality eternal glory and to the happiness of thy Kingdom Thou art my God and Father that lovest me with an unchangeable affection reach thy hand to me thy childe for I long for thee and open for me the bowels of thy most wonderfull mercies O good Lord receive me into thy bosome and satisfie me with the most effectual Consolations of thy goodness thou art my Spiritual Bridegroom draw me and I shall run or rather I shall fly after thee to magnify thy tender compassions and to be filled with thine heavenly delights Thou art the chief Shepheard of my Soul help me therefore in this vale of the shadow of Death let thy Staff and thy Rod assist and comfort me send me thy light and thy truth that they may lead and conduct me up to thy holy Mountain and to thine eternal dwelling Send thy good Angels that they may carry me up upon their Wings I expect O Lord thy Salvation I do not onely expect and hope for it but I desire and wish for it with all mine heart
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
the plenty of Bread Ease and Idleness Ezek. 16. Christians if you desire to keep your Souls pure and undefiled that the Holy Spirit may Reign in them give no entertainment to the Devil let him find you always well employed and let him never see you at leasure to assault you with his hellish temptations Eph. 4. 72. After all we must seriously think upon death and represent it always before our Eyes for as a Pilate that will govern and steer the course of this life as we ought we must consider our latter end live always as if we were ready to dye and to breath forth the last gasp therefore this Sentence is worthy to be Engraven upon Cedar in Golden Characters What ever thou sayest or what ever thou doest remember thy latter end and thou shalt never sin Eccl. 7. Wonder not Christian Souls if in this Treatise where I am to furnish you with Remedies against the fears of Death I would have death it self to be a Remedy against Sin for these things are united and linked together or rather they hold one another by the hand for as a good and Holy Life is a safe preparation to an happy Death Likewise Death is a strong motive to oblige us to live well for there is none unless it be a brutish and a furious Varlot but at the hour of Death laments at the consideration of his former wicked Life and grieves that he hath not applyed himself to the fear of God and to the practice of Christian Vertues If a Malefactor after that he is condemn'd to dye and hath heard the Sentence of his doom did mind nothing but drinking and playing and neglect Prayer and Repentance by which such an one is to dispose himself to go to God every one would wonder at him as at a Monster and a Madman likewise if we consider as we ought that Death is certain and unavoidable and that God hath pronounced the Sentence in his anger and that not one shall be excepted this will be able to withdraw us from Vice and to perswade us to Holiness without which none shall see God Heb. 12. Therefore at every moment when Satan the World our own Flesh shall solicite us to any evil action let us think within our selves would I have death find and seize upon me in this employment Am I in a good disposition to go thus unto my God and to appear before his Tribunal Jesus the Son of Syrac had well consider'd this when he pronounc'd this excellent Sentence which I could wish were engraven in the Soul of every Christian Remember thy latter end and thou shalt not sin We must therefore live in the World without being guilty of its corruptions and abominations As the Fish preserves its sweetness in the midst of the Salt Waves of the Sea and as the Sheep never learn to bark nor to bite although they be always with Dogs Likewise although our conversation be in the World amongst the prophane and vicious Men of this Age we must not imitate their filthy Words their Oaths their Blasphemies and less Reason have we to follow their wicked and abominable Deeds we must live among them as Lot lived in the City of Sodom as Joseph in Aegypt as Daniel in Babylon Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second Death shall have no power upon him When Jacob by God's Command went to Bethel he Commanded his Wives his Children and all that were with him Put away the strange Gods that are among you and be clean and change your Garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel Gen. 33. And I will make there an Altar unto God who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me in the way which I went Then they delivered into Jacob's hands all the strange Gods that were in their possession and he hid them under an Oak in Sechem Thus before we go to the true Bethel to the dwelling where we shall eat our fill of the Bread of the Kingdom of Heaven Before you offer unto God the Sacrifice of your Souls you must if you be true Christians renounce Sin and all wicked Lusts which have been formerly your Idols I shall desire of you willingly that you would bury them deep in this base Earth but you had better do as God Commands you from Heaven Trample under foot all these abominable Vices and all these worldly Lusts that are to you as so many false Gods that you worship Ezek. Put away from before me these Idols of jealousie that provoke me to jealousie and sanctify this Temple of my Holiness Cleanse your hands ye Sinners and fanctify your selves ye double-minded put off the Old man with all his Deeds and put on the New man created according to the Image of God Righteousness and true Holiness and then you shall be admitted to the Holy Temple of my Glory to offer unto me in the innumerable Companies of Saints the acceptable perfume of Praises and Thansgivings Jam. 4. Eph. 4. This is a Duty so just and necessary that natural reason it self enlightned by Grace acknowledges it to be so nay the most wretched Varlets are constrain'd to give Glory to God and to condemn themselves they confess that they are indebted to the Divine Majesty but the payment of this debt they put off from day to day and when ever you come to them they are ready to demand a delay they acknowledge their faults the hainousness of their Crimes and the necessity of Repentance but they are always putting off Repentance and Reformation of life As when a sluggard is newly awak'd out of his sleep he desires yet a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep Prov. 24. Thus when ever Death appears the Voluptuous are yet requesting to enjoy their carnal Delights when the Lords Messengers are calling upon us to repair the breaches that the Devil hath made in our Souls we could willingly answer as the Jews did to the Prophet That the time is not come that the Lord's house should be built Hag. 1. The young man in his Youth and Strength is apt to say that it is not yet time to busy himself about Wisdom and Reformation and that when he comes to be old he will then repent of the sins of his Youth and the old man he endeavours to put his Repentance until the hour of his departure He expects to make then a general confession of all his crimes to satisfy all his neighbors and to restore what he possesseth so unjustly In short all Men in general do flatter themselves in their evil courses and most are so extravagant as to be perswaded that when they have lived in sin and iniquity all their life mispent God's Blessings abused his Mercies a Tear or a Sigh at the time of our Death will make a sufficient amends for all and that he will be fully satisfied if we say then as the
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
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
not wrath very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever behold see we beseech thee we are all thy People By this gracious and loving Title of Father the prodigal Son is perswaded to be able to oblige his Father to have compassion of him I will rise and go to my Father and will say unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son make me as one of thy hired Servants Thus although we have forsaken our Heavenly Father mispent the Riches of his Grace and lived a filthy and a prophane Life Nevertheless if we can be but moved with a serious and a true repentance and say to him from our hearts Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee I am no more worthy to be called thy Son He will forget all the miscarriages of our youth and will pass by all the offences that we have committed out of ignorance or mistake nay he will blot out all our wilful and deliberate sins he will not only embrace us when we shall cast our selves at his feet and in the arms of his Mercy but he will meet and receive us as his dearest Children he will kiss us with the blessed kisses of his Fatherly love he will give unto us his Holy Spirit that shall seal us for the day of Redemption and shall assure us that we are admitted to the liberty and all the priviledges of his Children he will shooe our Feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace and will give us all the assurances of our entire and perfect reconciliation He will cloath us here upon Earth with the Robes of Righteousness and Holiness and in Heaven he will bestow upon us uncorruptible Robes of immortality and Glory In this life he will give us the foretasts of Eternal Happiness and in the life to come he will lead us by the hand into the Banqueting Chamber and will cause us to sit there at Table with Abraham Isaack and Jacob and with all the First-born whose names are written in Heaven Out of this celestial abode all murmurings and complaints shall be banished but here shall be rejoycing and gladness for the conversion of poor sinners and for their admittance into the Kingdom of Heaven God himself shall invite the Holy Angels and blessed Spirits to share in these publick rejoycings saying to them We must rejoyce for these my Children were dead but now they are alive they were lost but now they are found again Let the miserable slaves of the Devil and of their filthy Lusts tremble at the approaches of death and let them look upon God as a dreadful Judge Rom. 2. For our parts we have not the spirit of Bondage to be again in fear but we have the spirit of Adoption whereby we may cry Abba Father Let the Sons and Daughters of Adam who have no other Being nor Life but that which they have received with their corrupted Nature fly from God's Presence for our parts we that are Regenerated by the Spirit of the second Adam we will draw near to him with boldness We will not say as that wretched Soul disturbed and frighted at the consideration of its crimes I heard thy voice I was afraid and hid myself Gen. 3. But rather having been brought up in the Schools of the Prophets and Apostles and having learn'd that we must prefer our Obedience to God's Will to all other things whatsoever we shall say unto him with Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth 1 Sam. 8. Or rather we will speak unto him in plainer terms O my God and Heavenly Father speak when thou wilt for thy servant is ready and resolved to obey thy Commands we will stay till God shall call the fourth time as that Holy Man Numb 31. Who because of his tender and unexperienced years could not distinguish between God's voice and that of a Man but we will have our Ears always open to his Divine Orders and at the first motion and summons of his Will we shall be ready to follow him as the Children of Israel were in the Wilderness when they raised their Camp and marched according to God's directions Numb 3. And as when the Levites stopt and put down the Ark in its own place 2 Chron. 3. Moses did commonly pray O Lord give rest to the thousands of Israel Likewise you believing Souls whom God hath chosen for his Ark and Temple assoon as you shall perceive that this wise Governor of Mankind intends to put a period to your painful Journey and laborious Race that is to say assoon as you shall perceive the least signe of death speak with an Holy confidence and joy Rejoyce O my Soul the time of thy freedom and of thine Eternal Rest approacheth Here is the Messenger of good news here is Death that will usher me in to the Glorious Palace of my Heavenly Father Father the hour is come Glorify thy Son that thy Son may Glorify thee John 17. When the hour was come that our Lord Jesus Christ was to go out of this World to the Father he said unto his Disciples who were grieved for his going from them If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I said I go unto the Father for my Father is greater than I John 13. John 14. Christian Souls speak in this manner at the hour of your departing If such as are about you happen to weep and lament if they endeavour to move and stop you by the considerations of Flesh and Bloud tell them why are you grieved at my deliverance and at the end of my misery why would you hinder and retard my Glory and Happiness O how cruel is your Love how blind and unconsiderate is your Affection Certainly if ye did love me as ye ought ye would prefer my satisfaction and the accomplishment of my happiness to the small advantages that ye might gather from my abode with you ye should consider that the least part of the joy that I shall feel in my Heavenly Fathers House is a thousand times more worth than all the Pleasures of the Earth than the Honors of the Age and the Pomp and Glory of the World My friends or rather my enemies let me go for I go to my Father I go to behold his Face which is the most Divine satisfaction I go to take possession of that Inheritance prepared for me from the foundations of the World John 20. Matth. 21. A Prayer and Meditation for a believing Soul that strengthens it self against the fears of Death by an Assurance and Trust upon God's Fatherly Goodness and Infinite Mercy MY God and Creator I perceive that the time of my departure draweth near and that Death presseth sore upon me It summons me to appear before thy dreadful Tribual it frights me when it brings to my remembrance all my former sins and represents unto me the hainousness of my crimes O Great God when I seriously think upon what I am
Ascension of our Divine Saviour we shall see this same Death bound to his Triumphing Charriot and we shall see this glorious Redeemer exalted above the highest Heavens and sitting gloriously at the Right hand of God we shall see him invested in an almighty Power worshipped by all the Creatures we shall see him commanding not only the Angels of Light and the celestial Spirits that are about his Magnificent Throne but commanding also over this World over Death the Devils and Hell Because he hath been obedient unto Death yea to the ignominious Death of the Cross God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven in Earth and under the Earth Phil. 4. and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father Every Souldier doth not always bear a part in the Triumph of their General and all the Subjects do not tast of their Princes happiness but as we are the Brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Members of his Mistical Body we have a share in his Triumph and in the glory of his Empire therefore the Apostle St. Paul informs us that our Life that is to say our glory and eternal Felicity is hid with Christ in God in another place he tells us in express words That God who is rich in Mercy hath made us sit in Heavenly places with Jesus Christ This glorious Saviour is gone to take possession of the Kingdom of Heaven not only for himself but also in our names and for us therefore he informs the Holy Apostles and all true believers That in his Fathers House there are many Mansions I am going to prepare a place there for you In the same manner he speaks in that admirable Prayer in the which he consecrates himself to God for the great Work of our Redemption Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me For the same reason St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Hebrews for our comfort Heb. 6. that Christ is gone into Heaven as our forerunner The High Priest of the Jews did enter into the earthly Sanctuary to present himself before God for the people Heb. 9. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ is gone into the Heavenly Sanctuary to appear for us in the presence of God The High Priest of the Jews did bear upon his Breast and Shoulders the Names of the 12 Tribes of Israel but Jesus Christ hath graven us upon his Heart according to the Prayer of the Spouse in the Canticles Can. 8. Set me as a Seal upon thine Heart as a Seal upon thine Arm for Love is strong as Death The High Priest of the Jews did cast off the Names of the Twelve Tribes with his Robes But neither Death nor Life nor things present nor things to come shall ever separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ Rom. 8. The Royâ—â— Diademe that was put upon Esthers Head never câ—â—sed her to forget her People and Parentage she was mâ—gâ—â—â—ly grieved for her Hamans Conspiray and the Decree which he had caused King Ahasuerus to Sign and 〈◊〉 with his Signet I may likewise say that the Glory unto which our Lord Jesus Christ is now raised can never make him forget the People that he hath redeemed with his Blood He is not unmindful of Satans plots nor of the Sentence of Doom pronounced against us by the great Monarch of the World and confirmed with his great Seal His glorious Head may be Crowned with the Râ—inbow but his merciful Heart is inflamed with Love for us He thinks it no disgrace to acknowledge us for his Brethren and to pray God for us upon his glorious Throne where thousand millions wait upon him and ten thousand thousands Worship him He is able to Save to the full all such as draw near to God through him for he lives always to intercede for us If the Father hath always granted him his Request when he was in his greatest abasement can we imagine that his Intercession will be fruitless now that he is ascended up to the highest Glory From the Chariot of his Triumph he beholds all our Encounters and our struglings with Death he sees all the Enemies that Assault us and all the Dangers unto which we are exposed He is acquainted with the deep Malice and the crafty Designs of the Enemies of our Salvation He perceives all the Darts that they let flie against us therefore he covers us with his Shield and will not suffer us to yield to Temptation He fulfills his Vertue in our Infirmities and makes us more then Conquerors he hath an eye alwayes upon his Flock he holds his Sheep all in his hand and none is able to pluck them from thence When he was upon Earth in his Agony at this word that dropt out of his Mouth I am he John 10. his Enemieâ— fell backward and when he was in Deaths Prison he constrained it to obey him and shall he not now that he is exalted up to the highest Heavens in the glory of his Triumph have the same power and command over Death the World and Hell When he walked upon the Waters he cried to his Apostles It is I be not affraid John 6. how much rather may he speak unto us in this manner now that he sits upon the Throne that can never be moved Christian Soul who trembles at the approaches of Death imagine that the Lord Jesus Crowned with Glory calls to thee from Heaven fear not for I call thee and hold out unto thee my Arms I that am thy Saviour and Redeemer who have satisfied for all thy sins with my Blood and who have redeemed thee from the Curse of the Law and eternal Damnation I have disarmed Gods Justice vanquished Hell broken the Serpents Head and swallowed up Death into Victory I have purchased for thee the Glories of Heaven and the Delights of Paradice I have trampled upon the World and all its powers I am Worshipped by all the Church triumphing in Heaven and by Legions of holy Angels that fly about my Throne I will therefore send some of them to guard thee and when thou shalt leave the Body where thou livest as a Sttranger they shall bring up thy Soul into this glorious abode of Immortality whether I am come to prepare a place for thee Without doubt if the Author of our hope is fixed in the vaile that is in Heaven where Jesus Christ is gone in as our forerunner we shall not apprehend the most contrary and boisterous storms raised against us by the Prince of the powers of the Aire who works with efficacy in the Children of Rebellion we shall tred under foot all the billows of this troublesome Sea and through these swelling waves we shall march safe to our Divine Jesus If at
into the twigs and branches they wither at last and are cast into the fire The rarest Meats and the most delicious Drinks can never make our Bodies become Immortal Death snatcheth away the Brother from the Brother the Father from the Child and the Wife from her Husband The stroke of a Sword can separate a Body from the healthiest and strongest Head nay without any such violence the Head dies as well as the Body and the Spirits that run in our Ve ns are far from hindring the corruption of our Bodies for they corrupt of themselves and vanish away In short the strictest Unions of Nature and Art are dissolved by time so that all things under the Sun are subject to vanity and unconstancy But the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is the principle of an eternal Life and the Seed of an uncorruptible glâ—ry whosoever is united to him by this Spirit nothing can separate him from Christ neither Life nor Death neither Hell nor the World nor things present nor things to come Therefore because our Blessed Saviour could find nothing here upon Earth nor amongst all the Creatures worthy and able to represent this perfect and unseparable Union he seeks an Image of it beyond all natural beings in the holy Trinity in that unchangeable Union which was which is and which shall ever be between him and God the Father As we may see in his excellent Prayer John 17. Father I pray for them all which shall believe on me that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that they may be one ever as we are one Banish therefore from your Souls all apprehensions and fears O believing Souls for all the Three persons of the most holy most glorious and most wonderful Trinity are engaged for your Salvation and to bring you to your eternal happiness The Father by his infinite wisdom hath found out a means to reconcile us unto himself to satisfie his offended Justice and to declare the riches of his unparalleld Mercies The Son hath purchased for us this great Salvation by suffering the shameful Death of the Cross and by spilling his most precious Blood for the forgiveness of our Sins and the holy Spirit by incorperating us into Jesus Christ makes us partakers of the infinite Merits of his Sufferings Revel 2. That is the true Hysop that sprinkles the Divine Blood of the Lamb without spot or blemish to cleanse our Souls It is he that gives to our Souls the white Stone where the new name of Elect and Believers is written Heb. 12. which none knows but he that hath it He gives us to eat of the hidden Manna and of the food of Angels Iohn 4. which the World knoweth not It is instead of a precious Ring or Jewel by which our spiritual Bridegroom promiseth and confirms unto us his conjugal Faith It is the Seal of the Living God that Seals unto us the Covenant of Grace and the promises of Glory and Happiness made unto us in the Gospel as the Apostle himself tells us Eph. 2. that now having believed the Gospel of our Salvation we have been Sealed by the holy Spirit of promise Therefore he exhorts us Eph. 4. not to grieve the holy Spirit of God by whom we have been Sealed for the day of Redemption Finally this is the Spirit that witnesseth with our Spirits that we are the Children of God If we be children we are Heirs Heirs of God and joynt Heirs with the Lord Iesus Christ Rom. 8. Think not Christian Souls that I labor to perswade you that this holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus shall come and whisper in your ears or cry unto you from within that you are the Children of God as the extravagant Quakers amongst us imagine the Testimony that he gives to our Spirits is a real and an effectual testimony if I may so speak for he regenerates us and makes us become new Creatures he gives us a more certain assurance of our adoption then if he did declare from Heaven Thou art my Child and thy name is written in the Book of Life As the Seal imprints its Image in the wax thus the Spirit of the Lord Jesus imprints in our Souls the Image of Holiness and all Divine Vertues now as the Figure that remains upon the Wax makes us judge without dispute what manner of Seal did print it likewise when you find Gods Image imprinted in your Hearts acknowledge the finger of God and the Vertue of his holy Spirit to have been there for none can have that blessed Image but he must needs be the Child of God The holy Spirit that gives it to our Souls kindles in us the blessed flames of holy Love and produceth in us Tongue of fire he makes us speak to God with boldness as to our Father and lift up our eyes to Heaven with joy and gladness as to the place of our Inheritance All the goods of this present life may be nay will be lost at last Pro. 23. Riches take wings and flie away like an Eagle Honor vanisheth away as a smoak carried away with the wind Earthly Delights and Pleasures hast away as a Torrent or the waters of a River that slide along the Banks and they end at last in a Sea of bitterness and sorrow If by chance these vanities continue with the Worldlings while they remain on Earth Ps 49. they can continue no longer for they cannot carry beyond and the Grave their Riches their Honours are not Buried with them and all their unsetled delights fly away with their Breath but Death hath no power upon this Spirit of Life which is our true Treasure our glory and everlasting delight Moreover the true and living Faith that embraceth Jesus Christ our Saviour shall cease and hope that considers the advantages to come shall one day be abolished Whilst we are in this earthly Pilgrimage we walk by Faith and not by sight and while we are tost up and down upon this dangerous Sea of the World Heb. 6. we have need of the Anchor of our Hope and to expect with patience the fulfilling of that we hope for Rom. 8. but when we shall come to our heavenly Country we shall neither need a staff to walk with nor a shield to defend us and to quench the fiery darts of the Devil when we shall be secure in the Haven of Eternity we shall have no occasion to make use of this Anchor for our hope shall be changed into a perfect Fruition When we shall be in Paradice we shall need no Wings to carry us up to God but only to fly about his Throne as the Seraphims In short we need no looking glass to see the glory of God for we shall behold face to face All that we believe at present without seeing we shall then see and believe no more But the Spirit of the Lord Jesus whom the World knoweth not and cannot receive he
the Nurse leaves sometime the Child to his Legs and suffers it to fall that it might know its own strength and learn to hold faster by the Hand Thus God withdraws from us the assistance of his Grace to humble us and to cause us to implore more earnestly the help and favourable succors of his Holy Spirit When St. Peter felt the Sacred Flames of that Holy Zeal that was kindled in his Heart and that sincere love that he had for Christ he rejoyced and imagined himself to be strong enough to resist all the powers of Hell and to frustrate all the fiery Darts of the Devil This good opinion that he had of himself and of his own ability transports him to that confidence as to contradict our Saviour Christ and to protest Although all should be offended in thee yet will not I be offended and when I should dye with thee yet will not I deny thee This was he who trembled at the voice of a Damsel so that his Fall and Apostacy was as notable as his Confidence was great therefore it warns such as stand that they should take heed of falling into misfortune Rom 11. There is no good natured Child but is vexed to live amongst such as Curse and Reproach its Parents and if we should happen to be concerned unawares in the offence or to occasion the death of him from whom it had its being it will feel an Eternal displeasure Now it is certain that whilst we live in this world we must spend our time amongst those that blaspheme the Holy Name of God and abuse the Glory of his Eternal Godhead Moreover Vice and Corruption are so universal that we our selves offend this Father of Mercies and Compassions we add sin to sin and heap up our iniquities together Let us therefore conclude from hence Believing Souls that Death is not to be feared as an Evil or a Misery but that it is rather to be desired as an Advantage and a Blessing For seeing that it is to be wished for because it frees us from all the calamities and sufferings of the World It is far more desirable because it closeth our Eyes and conveys out of our sight all the sins and abominations that abound in the World and because it stops our Ears and hinders us from hearing the Impieties and the filthy Discourses that infect the Air. Seeing that Death is to be embraced with joy because it delivers our Bodies from the diseases that torment them and our minds from the cares and displeasures that vex and afflict them It deserves to be welcomed with greater expressions of Gladness because it delivers us from all remains of sin and puts a period to our natural corruption so that it is to be esteem'd and look'd upon as the Death and Destruction of the Old Man rather than the Death of a true Believer Sampson rejoyced in his Death because he knew that in dying his mortal Enemies should dye also and be destroyed with him we have more cause to rejoyce at our Death and to give God thanks at that time seeing that in dying or rather in passing from Death to Life we may see the Destruction of all the dangerous Enemies of our Salvation Who are more dreadful to us than the Philistins were to Sampson All the most cruel and barbarous Men of the World are not so much to be feared as the Lusts of our filthy Flesh that put out the Eyes of our understanding that cause us to be the Devil's sport and to worship many false Gods We commonly run out with haste from a place infected with the Plague and should not we make as much speed by our Vows and Prayers to get out of the World seeing that Vice is so Infectious and Universal all over it that so many thousand Souls are therewith miserably spoiled Seeing the World is as a Babylon where all manner of Debauchery Vice and Vertue are mixed together where Unjustice and impiety Reigns have we not greater cause to be transported with Joy when God delivers us from our woful Captivity than the Children of Israel had when it pleased him to call them out of Babylon should we not sing unto him when the Lord returned back and restored them of Sion that came back from their Captivity we were as those that dream though our Mouths were full of Laughter and our Tongues with Songs of Triumph In short as the Lord Jesus when he had restored Lazarus to life and taken him out of his Grave he had compassion of him and could not see him any longer wrapped up in his Winding Sheet and tied with a Napkin therefore he commanded Loose him and let him go Likewise this Merciful Lord who hath made us to be partakers of the first Resurrection and called our Souls out of the noisom Grave of our Lusts is moved with compassion for us when he sees these wretched Souls drag about them the reliques of Sin and some Remains of that Corruption in which they were wrapped Therefore he will cause them to hear this sweet and comfortable voice Loose them and let them go Let them go to the Eternal Mansions to the City of the living God to the Heavenly Jerusalem to the Glorious Companies of Angels and to the Church and Congregation of the First-born whose Names are Written in Heaven A Prayer and Meditation for a true Christian who comforts himself with this Consideration That Death shall deliver him from Sin that Reigns so much in the World and from all Remains of his wretched Corruption O Most Gracious High Priest Holy Innocent separated from sinners exalted above all the Heaveâ—â— who art now shining in Light and Glory look upon mâ— from thy Sanctuary and Compassionate my wretched Estate Thou understandest well the cause of my grief O Lord who searchest the Hearts and readest my most Secret Thoughts Thou knowest O my God that I grieve to see so much Injustice and Impiety reigning this day in the World to see Vice Prophaness Superstition and Schism committing so many disorders in thy Holy Church But that which chiefly increaseth my pain and aggravates my displeasure is to see my self guilty and spotted with the general corruption and to feel my Flesh warring and strugling against the Spirit The Lusts of the Flesh do not only disturb me but they get many times the victory and insult upon my infirmities Sin shews not only it self to me in all its Hellish deformity so that I am thereby ashamed of my self but I also acknowledge to the praise of thy Grace that all that is best in me cannot endure an exact Inquisition of thy Justice Alas my God how imperfect is my Piety How languishing is my Devotion I worship thee too much for custom and in a very slight manner I often praise thee with my Tongue and Honour thee with my Lips whilst my Heart is far from thee The Love that I bear to thee is not pure and enflamed and my Charity instead of being
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
unprofitable servant to be cast into utter darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth It may also be worthy of our observation that the felicities of Heaven are represented to us by a Feast where all partake of the same Meats but some are seated in a more Honourable Room than others This as I conceive may be gathered from our Saviours words Many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit at Table in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham Isaac and Jacob. It may also be gathered from that other passage where Lazarus is carried by the Holy Angels into Abraham's bosom Lastly I ground my opinion upon the 12 Chapter of Daniel where this blessed Prophet when he had spoken in general terms of the future Happiness of the faithful who shall rise to Eternal life he comes down to particularize some unto whom God hath bestowed more light upon Earth and whose Ministry he hath made use of to bring many Souls to Salvation amongst these he seems to put many degrees of Glory They that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that bring many to righteousness as the Stars from ever and ever From this passage one may apparently conclude that as the light of the Firmament differs much from that of tha bright Stars and as amongst the Stars there is a diversity and variety of Light in the same manner there shall be divers and differing degrees of Glory amongst the glorified in Heaven Now in answer to that reason that Jesus Christ hath purchased for us the Glory and Happiness of Heaven and that therefore this Glory and Happiness should be equal I confess this reason is weighty I intend not to refute it altogether but I shall propose several things to the consideration of the Pious and Devout Souls that shall peruse this Treatise First that although the bloud of Jesus Christ hath purchased for us Heaven and that we are not able to deserve it by our most regenerate Actions nor by our most grievous sufferings and Martyrdom because that when we have performed all that is Commanded our Saviour requires us to say We be unprofitable servants because we have done but what we were bound to do Luk 17. And because his Holy Apostle assures us that When all things are reckon'd up the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us Rom. 8. Nevertheless God is so Good Merciful and Bountiful that he bears with our imperfections that he rewards as a Father with a free Reward all the good Works of his fervants especially the works of Charity Therefore Jesus Christ tells his Apostles and generally all the faithful Whosoever shall give unto you to drink a cup of water because you are Christs verily I say unto you he shall not loose his reward And because 't is the custome of the Eastern People to warm their drink therefore to give a cup of cold water may be reckoned the smallest assistance Our Saviour saith Whosoever shall give unto one of these little ones to drink a cup of â—old water only in the name of a Disciple verily I say unto you he shall not loose his reward Matth. 10. If such as bestow a cup of cold water for God's sake are rewarded in Heaven what may not those bountiful Souls expect there who now spend their Estates in charitable Deeds He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully 1 Cor. 9. These be the words of St. Paul which in my judgement declare plainly an inequality amongst the Glories and Happinesses which we are to reap in Heaven Besides we have heard a Prophet tell us that all such as by the light of their Doctrines and the Holiness of their Lives lead many Souls to their Salvation shall shine for ever in Heaven as so many bright Stars It stands with reason that if our Saviour will in his infinite Mercy reward such a small kindness as the gift of a draught of Water to one of his Children they shall excell in Glory who pour forth for his sake in his quarrel every drop of their Bloud and by their deaths confirm his Holy Gospel This is a faithful saying If we dye with Jesus Christ we shall also live with him if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him But that which seems to me yet stronger which makes for this purpose is That all the spiritual Graces which are bestowed upon us in this life proceed from the Holy Ghost purchased for us by the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and by his precious Bloud Now these Graces are differing and various if therefore there are divers degrees in Grace why should not there be also divers degrees in Glory seeing that both have been purchased for us with the same price by the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ The other Argument drawn from the happiness and perfection of the Glorified is rational but not invincible for several Diamonds may be perfect in their kind so that the clearest Eye cannot take notice of any imperfection nevertheless they may differ in weight and price All the Stars have their perfection and light Nevertheless one Star differs from another Star in Glory All the Angels of Heaven are perfectly Happy and Holy and yet there is a great inequality amongst them in Glory and Dignity Likewise although all the Blessed shall attain to a perfect Holiness in my judgement that cannot hinder the diversity of degrees of Glory and Happiness I acknowledge also that the other objection drawn out of these words The Just shall shine as the Sun in the kingdom of their Father is not to be despised but it concludes nothing to the purpose for if you should cut out excellently well some Orbs of Chrystal of differing sizes some greater some less and should put them all in the Sun they would be all full of Light in every part every one of them would represent the beautiful Image of that Sun that looks upon them so that it may very well be said of all of them that they shine as the Sun Nevertheless according to their bigness and size they receive more Light and the Sun seems greater in the one than in the other To the other objection that all the Glorified in Heaven are named Kings I answer That this is not to be understood in a litteral Sence no more then when it is said that they had on their Heads Crowns of Gold That I may continue in the same comparison I may say that as all Kings have a Soveraign Majesty which acknowledges none above it but God from whom it proceeds Nevertheless some have a greater Power and Riches than others Likewise all the glorified Saints shall enjoy a Soveraign and perfect Happiness and receive it immediately from God This cannot hinder them from differing from one another in Glory I answer next to the other
be reduc'd to nothing its qualities shall be changed and it may be its form shall be altered but its substance and matter shall continue always the same for First As God hath created the World for his own Glory he cannot be disappointed of the intent of his Creation And because this world hath not glorified him as it ought he will put it into a condition proper to glorify him according to that purpose for which he drew it out of nothing Secondly Seeing that this World was created to serve Man as a Looking-Glass to behold the Eternal Power of God and that this beautiful Looking-Glass hath been spotted and sullied by sin It is yet possible to cleanse it and make it brighter that it might represent its Creator better and shew forth a more perfect Image of his Divine Majesty Thirdly Seeing that God doth nothing in vain there is no likelyhood that he should destroy the World totally and reduce the primitive Matter to nothing from whence it is drawn to create new Matter because he is able of this old Matter to make a new Earth and new Heaven as pure and undefiled as if the Matter had been newly created Fourthly Sin hath spoiled and disfigured the Works of the Creation but it hath not touched neither the first Matter nor its Being so that God can take away this defilement and remove the deformity without touching the Matter which of it self is innocent and harmless In Man the little World and the compendium of the great I find a beautiful and perfect Image of that which God shall do with the whole World God intends not to destroy the substance of our Souls but only to purge them from all vicious qualities and beautify them with Righteousness and true Holiness so that they shall be as the Angels of Heaven Likewise he intends not to destroy the substance of our Bodies but he will free them from corruption from death and cloath them with Glory and Immortality so that this vile Body shall be rendred conformable to the glorious Body of the Son of God and shall shine as the Sun Likewise God will not altogether destroy the World and abolish its substance but he will rectify all its imperfections and add to it a greater Glory If it be lawful for me to discover here all my thoughts I must say that I put a great difference between Heaven and Earth for the Earth is altogether corrupt and spoiled with sin it is the Earth especially that groans under the burden of so many iniquities which reign in it but if Heaven is guilty of any crime it is because it hath given Light to such as have been Rebels against the Divine Majesty and assisted the cursed Earth by its Gracious and continual influences Because of this great difference it is my opinion that the Earth shall be destroyed by Fire and that all its beautiful Buildings and proud Palaces shall be turned into Ashes but the change which shall happen in Heaven shall only be to make it more beautiful and brighter that Children of God might have there a more Glorious Palace This seems to have been typified in the ceremonial Law for as we have already observed speaking of that which shall happen to the Soul and Body that when an Earthen Vessel was defiled it was to be broken to pieces but such Vessels as were of a more precious Metal as of Brass of Silver or of Gold were to be purified with Fire Likewise the Earth with all its works shall pass through the Flames so that it shall loose its present shape and qualities But Heaven that is as Brass or rather as fine Silver shall only he purified by the Fire of the last Judgement If you remove the cause you take away also the effect if you remove away sin you also remove its punishment Now it is because of Man's sin that the World hath and shall see so great a change Therefore as God by his infinite Mercy hath forgiven Man's sin it is also to be expected from the same Mercy that he will not totally destroy the World but that he will rather free it from corruption unto which our sins had enthral'd it Unless God deals in this manner our Joy and Comfort cannot be accomplished and God will not appear perfectly satisfied While a Subject continues in rebellion and in the displeasure of his Prince not only his person is pursued and punished but all that belongs to him bears the marks of the wrath and indignation of the Prince whom he hath offended his dwelling House is commonly pulled down his Woods are cut and mangled and his Inheritance is destroyed but when his Peace is concluded and his pardon granted his houses are built up again al signs of the King's displeasure are taken away and every thing appears with a more pleasant countenance likewise because of our Rebellion and our Treason against God he hath punished the World for our sakes and hath made it sensible of his wrath But now that our peace is made or rather God having made peace by the blood of his Son we may justly expect that he will remove all signs of his displeasure and revenge I remember upon this subject what David saith to God when he saw the Angels destroying Jerusalem I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these Sheep what have they done 2 Sam. 24. In the same manner every Believer may say unto God Lo I have sinned O Lord I and my Brethren have done wickedly but these inaminate Creatures what have they done our sins have defiled the Earth and all things that may be objected against Heaven it is to have yielded Light and assistance to us Rebels Seeing therefore that thou hast blotted out our Sins and pardoned our Rebellions spare these harmless Creatures which are punished only for our sakes At present we can find no difficulty to understand the forementioned passages of holy Scripture and such as tend to the same purpose For when David and St. Paul assure us That the Heavens shall perish that they shall be changed as a garment I answer that they shall perish in respect of their qualities and not of their substance and that the change shall not be as when one Garment is cast off and another is taken but as when the spots and blemishes of an old Garment are taken away and it becomes fresher When your cloathing is grown old and worn out if it were in your power to make it become new again and as fresh as ever it was you should never dream of seeking for new Stuffe That which is impossible to Men is possible with God Luke 6. And when our Saviour in St. Mathew's Gospel saith That the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away I might say that these words are to be understood comparatively that is to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away rather then that the words of God should fail of
in the 31 Psalm I trusted in thee O Lord I said Thou art my God my times are in thy hand He is of the same judgement in the 39 Psalm Behold thou hast assured me my days as an band breadth and in the 68 Psalm Vnto God the Lord belong the issues of Death Moses teacheth us the same Lesson in his Divine Hymn Psal 90. for when he hath represented how that it is God who reduceth Man to Ashes and maketh him return to his first substance he tels us speaking unto God Thou turnest man to destruction and sayst return ye Children of Men. King Hezekiah's comparison is very notable he compares the Life of Man to a Thread that God hath twisted and that he cuts off at his pleasure Isai 38. Mine Age is departed and removed from me as a Shepherds Tent I have cut off like a Weaver my life he will cut me off with pining Sickness from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me Hannah Samuels Mother removes all difficulty and confirms this Truth sufficiently 2 Sam. 2. It is God saith she who killeth and maketh alive he bringeth down to the Grave and bringeth up There is nothing more significant to the same purpose than our Lord and Saviours words I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen and have the Keys of Hell and of Death Apoc. This great God and Saviour closeth the Gates of the Grave when he pleaseth and 't is not possible to open them against his will In short Whether we live we live to the Lord whether we die we die to the Lord whether therefore we live or die we are the Lords Rom. 14. And our Reason being enlightned with a Divine Revelation teacheth us this good and profitable Lesson for if God hath a hand in our Conception and Birth and if he appoints the time of our entrance into the world wherefore should not he also have an hand in our Death mark out the time of our last departure David speaks thus to God in the 139 Psalm My substance was not bid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect and in thy Book all my Members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there is none of them we may therefore for the same reason say to God My substance will not be hid from thee when this miserable Body shall fall to pieces as rotten Wood and as a Moth-eaten Garment thine Eyes shall see me when Death shall cut off the Thred of my Life and separate what thou hast joyned together so wonderfully thy Power and Wisdom shall have an hand in my last hours and nothing shall happen to me but that which thou hast afore ordained in thine unsearchable Decrees If God appoints the time of our Resurrection and if it be certain that without his express Commission the Holy Spirit will not breathe upon our dead bones to cause them to revive is it probable that the breath should depart out of our Nostrils and our Bodies should fall into the Bed of corruption without the Orders of this great and living God Ezek. 37. He hath appointed to the Sun its course and to the Stars that shine in the Heavens their several motions and stations Isai 40 and should not he also appoint to his Children their motions seeing that they are to shine for ever in the Heaven of Heavens where justice dwels as so many immortal Stars He hath measured the Waters in his hand he hath compassed the Heavens with his Span he hath weighed the Mountains in Scales and the Hills with a Ballance he hath fashioned the Earth with a Hive and given bounds to the roaring Sea and is it possible that he hath not not measured the time of our Life and that he hath marked out with his finger the last moment He who hath numbred the Kingdoms of Heathen Princes hath he not also numbred the days in the which he intends to reign in our hearts by his Holy Spirit hath he not appointed the time for us to ascend up into the highest Heavens where we are to reign with him in the Kingdom of his Glory If it be certain that God hath unmbred the Hairs of our Head Matth. 10. it is not to be doubted but that he hath also numbred the days of our Life And if a Sparrow doth not fall to the ground without his order how can it be that a Soul should take its flight up to Heaven without his express Commission He bottles up our Tears he keeps a Record of all our afflictions and takes an account of our Sorrows Psal 50. and can we imagine that he doth not keep an account of the life and death of Men and that he minds not the time that we are to spend in this vally of Tears He takes notice of our uprising and of our down-sitting he compasseth thee round about whither thou dost stop or go Psal 59. and can it be conceiv'd but that he observes thy rising at thy birth the several passages of thy Life and thy going down at thy Death In short if God hath appointed in his eternal Council the continuance of the great World he hath also without doubt limited the Life of Man the little World and the Image and Compendium of the Great As our Lord and Saviour teacheth us Man is not able by his solicitous care to add one Cubit to his stature and our experience sufficiently demonstrates that we cannot add a year a day nor a moment by all our labor and industry to the continuance of our Life If Life and Death were not in Gods hand there would be nothing setled nor constant neither in the Kingdoms of the World nor in the Church of Christ The Prophets would be often found in grievous errors and the eternal Election would be totally abolish'd for the most weighty affairs of a Commonwealth depend upon the Life of Princes The death of one Man is able to turn an Empire upside down and to change the state of a Kingdom If Alexander the Great had been stifled in his Cradle what would become of the Prophesie of Paniâ— who declares the glorious victories that this Prince should obtain against King Darius the Persian Monarch under the Embleme of an Hâ—-Goat that should run at a Ram with all his might that should break his two horns and trample him under his feet And if King Cyrus had died before the obtaining of the Kingdom of 〈◊〉 how should Isaiah's Prophesie be accomplish'd for he paints out this young Conqueror in his most lively Colours and calls him by his name in this expression I have said of Cyrus He is my Shâ—pheard and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem Thou shalt be built and to the Temple Thy Temple shall be laid Isai 44. If the Devil could have taken away St. Pauls Life
before his journy to Damascus where he was strangly converted by a Miracle how could Gods immutable decree be accomplish'd for he had designed him from his Mothers Womb to be a Noble Vessel of his Grace and Mercy and a faithful Ambassador of his Son Gal. 1. If the good Thief had died before he had seen the Light or if he had been kill'd in one of his Robberies how could he have been converted upon the Cross where he Repented of his Crimes Or how could he have heard from our Saviour these blessed and comfortable words Verily I say unto thee Thou shalt be with me this day in Paradise Luke 31. The Heathens have perceiv'd and understood this Truth but they have darkened and defaced it by their impertinent and ridiculous Fictions for their Poets tell us that there are three Parcae or infernal Goddesses the one holds the Distaff and Spins the other winds up the Thred the third cuts it and puts a period thereby to the Life of Man By this Fable they intend to teach us that God lengthens or shortens at his pleasure Mans Life As it is therefore certain that God hath numbred our days he hath also appointed in his infinite Wisdom the means to convey us out of the world If one dieth in Peace another is kill'd in War If one departs in his Bed another hangs upon a Gibbet If one perisheth by Famine and another is stifled with the Plague If one is struck with the Thunder and the other is torn in pieces by wild Beasts If one is choak'd in the Waters and the other perisheth in the Flames In short if the separation of the Soul from the Body happens in a different manner it is not without the express Leave and Orders of our Heavenly Father Therefore when we see the strangest accidents come to pass and the most unexpected and tragick Deaths before our Eyes We must remember the saying of the Prophet Jeremy when he saw the burning and plunder of Jerusalem Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not out of the mouth of the most high proceedeth not evil and good Sam. 3. We must then consider with the Prophet Isaiah That it is God that creates the Light and the Darkness and that sends Prosperity and Adversity Isai 15.45 Or with Amos who enquires whither there be any evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3. That is to say that there is no Affliction nor Death that happens but God hath appointed it and fore-ordain'd it by his wise providence If the Devil cannot destroy Job's Flocks of Sheep nor hurry headlong into the Sea the Herds of Swine without his leave who holds him fast in Chains Matt. 8. Let us perswade our selves that all the powers of Hell and the World cannot cause us to dye by a violent Death if God hath not ordain'd it before in the resolutions of his infinite Wisdom so that if at any time a Prince or a Magistrate speaks to us in Pilats language to our Saviour Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and power to save thee John 19. being strengthened with an Holy Confidence Let us answer him as our Saviour Thou shouldest not have that power over me were it not given to thee from above Without the leave and pleasure of my God thou canst not take from me an Hair of my Head We read in the Book of Judges that when Abimelech assaulted the Tower of Thebez with a resolution to win it upon a suddain a Woman cast from the top a piece of a Milstone that fell upon his Head and broke his Scull Judg. 9. If we look only upon the second Causes this accident may appear to be strange and unexpected but we must lift up our Eyes to the Almighty hand of an al-seeing Power and Wisdom far more dextrous than that of this poor Woman for the same Relation declares That God by this means brought to pass Jotham's Prophecy and rendred the wickedness of Abimelech which he did unto his Father in slaying the seventy Brethren with his merciless hand upon his own guilty head Ahab King of Israel was disguised with a designe to fight with the Syrians 1 Kings 22. An unknown Soldier le ts fly by chance an Arrow out of his Bow which struck him in the weakest part of his Armor wounded him to death and the Dogs lickt the Blood that gushed out of his Wounds At this sight a carnal and an earthly Mind will say That this was but a mischance of War an unfortunate accident But the Spirit of God informs us better that this happen'd to fulfil the Prophecy of Elias and the dreadful threatnings which he had pronounced against this wicked Prince who labor'd by Tyrannical and devilish attempts to invade other mens Possessions Thus saith the Lord in the place where Dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall Dogs lick thy blood even thine 1 Kings 21. When we cast our eyes upon the Tragical death of Josias King of Juda at the first sight it appears but the effect of the boiling fury of Youth which carried him against all reason obstinately to fight with Pharaoh Neco King of Egypt or of the strength and swiftness of his Enemies according to the complaint of Jeremiah the Prophet Our persecutors are swifter than the Eagles of the Heaven they pursued us upon the Mountains they laid wait for us in the Wilderness The breath of our Nostrils the anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits of whom we said under his shadow we will live among the Hâ—â—then Lam. 4. But to understand the Truth we must enter farther into the Sanctuary and adore the wisdom of Gods Decree that had resolved to take away this good and religious Prince into his Eternal Rest and bestow upon him a more noble and a richer Crown before he took in hand the sword of his vengeance to punish the people of Israel for the many Idolatries and horrid Crimes of which they had been guilty By this means God fulfilled the Prophecy of Husda Behold I will gather thee unto thy Fathers and thou shalt be gathered into thy Grave in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place 2 Kings 22. When we look upon the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ we may imagine at the first view that only the Pharisees envy Judas's Treason the mutiny of the rude Rabble Pilates Injustice Herods Jests and the cruelty of the Roman Soldiery were the causes of his Tragedy but the Holy Apostles Peter and John unto whom our Saviour had discover'd the rarest secrets of his Wisdom consider these outward Agents but as the Instruments to bring Gods great designe Mans redemption to pass Therefore they speak of it in this manner in the fourth of the Acts Against thine Holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people