and condition where wilt thou go what wilt thou do to whom wilt thou call for help To return to life 't is impossible and to ease thy self thou wilt not be able In illa die occidet Sol in meridie tenebrescere faciam terram in die luminis c. Amos. 8. what shall become of thee when I will cause the Sun to go down at noon and when I will darken the Earth at mid-day what wilt thou say when I shall turn thy feasts into mourning and all thy Songs into lamentation when I will bring up Sackcloth upon all mens loins and baldness upon every head and when I shall make it as the morning for an only Son and the end thereof as a bitter day hast thou not therefore a far greater subject then Job to curse the day wherein thou wert born for he was so just a man that my eternal Father glori'd in having so good so gracious and faithful a Servant nay In omnibus his non peccavit Job labiis suis c. Job 1.22 the Holy Ghost avers that he sinned not in all what he had spoken in his troubles and calamities which I had permitted to come upon him not as a punishment for his Sins but as a trial of his patience to make him a worthy president to all mortals of virtue of constancy and of perfect resignation to my holy will in all their afflictions He himself does protest that his conscience did not accuse him yet he was so apprehensive of the strict judgment which a Soul is to undergo at her departing the body that amaz'd at the severity of my Justice he crys out protect me O Lord Dionys. Rikel Art 16. de novis and hide me in hell whilst thy fury passes Whereupon one of my devout Servants affirms that the instant wherein I give judgment of a Soul is not only more terrible then Death but more terrible then to suffer even the pains of hell for a certain time not only to those who are to be damn'd but even unto my very Elect. O man reflect seriously upon this and Judge what will become of a Sinner at the hour of his Death and at the lively representation of all his offences and crimes what a consternation he will be in how he will tremble and shake every limb of him at the very sight of me his Creator and Redeemer whom he had so often offended and injur'd in the course of his sinful life that very presence will be more dreadful to him then the suffering of the pains of hell it self MAN O Most gracious Redeemer I cann't deny what thou sayst of a dying man and of the Anguishes which he shall suffer at the departing of the Soul from his body she shall enter into Judgment alone naked poor and without any to patronize her cause except her good works if she has any to shew her Conscience will be the Deponent the Triall will be either for life or death not temporal but eternal and thou an injur'd Judge shall appear to her in a dreadful Throne to give sentence for her or against her either of Salvation or of her everlasting damnation If she be grievously indebted and not able to ballance her accounts O what a horrible confusion she will be in grief and sorrow sighs and tears dreadful lamentations and crys will be her woful entertainment and the only motives she can produce to mollify thee O Lord but all will be to no purpose her repentance comes too late 't is totally fruitless at that hour all her protestations of amendment will be in vain no bills or bonds of performance will be accepted of no bail shall be taken her lease is out she must remove her nobility her riches her honours cann't obtain for her a further respite of time the sentence is pronounc'd the decree is unavoidable she must submit O the unfortunate Sinner what will he do what will he say how can he express the greatness of his misfortune otherwise then by these words of thy Prophet Psa 18.4.5 The sorrows of Death have compassed me and the flouds of iniquity have made me afraid The sorrows of hell have compassed me about and the snares of Death have prevented me O what a woful circle is that into which his Sins have brought him and unexpected too when he had not the least thought of death what will his friends avail him now his dignities his riches his lands and all that he took most delight in they will remain after him to other Masters that will soon wast and consume 'em in a worse way perhaps then ever he gather'd them tho' that perchance was bad enough The Sins which he had committed in heaping them up are the only companions he is like to have along with him to another world where he is to be tormented for them according to their enormity If I should make my addresses to worldlings in hopes to be farther instructed in this so necessary a matter to Salvation Alas they know nothing of it and which is worse they will not believe it for they live as if they had no account at all to give after death and why should I think it strange being they live in Egypt that is in a land of darkness in a willful blindness overwhelm'd with all sorts of errors where scarcely two are found of one opinion in matters of Faith and manners I am then resolv'd to go farther off and streight into the land of Geshen where the light of verity is allways in its full splendour Non intres in Judicium cum servo tuo Domine quia non justiflcabitur in conspectu tuo omnis vivens Psa 143. and to consult with the Inhabitants thereof in this case they will certainly teach me not only by their words but also by their examples how much this dreadful day of so strict an account is to be fear'd The first I meet with is the holy'st man of his age a man according to thine own heart O Lord yet he is so terrifi'd even at the very remembrance of this accompting day that he begs thee with all the tenderness of a contrite heart not to enter into Judgment with thy Servant and the reason he gives for his request is that in thy sight shall no man living be justifi'd The second that appears to me In vitis Patrum Sect. 2.153 is that most renown'd and holy Arsenius a man of wonderful austerity a man always in prayer always in contemplation yet tho' he was so virtuous and so great a Saint tears were seen to trickle down his cheeks when he was a dying and all his body to tremble in his deep consideration of this reckoning day His Disciples that stood round his poor and hard bed setting him the question why he cry'd and whether he was afraid of death he made answer yes my dearly beloved Children I fear Death and I tremble at the approach of my dreadful Judge
ready to drop down upon their criminal and guilty heads the sweet perfumes of thy divine virtues and the rare examples of thy Saints cann't prevail with them no they cann't tast of thy Chalice nor feel thy Scorges nor acknowledge thy Benefits tho' they are sufficient to melt a heart of Steel In fine Sin takes quite away the peace the joy and the tranquility of a good eonscience it does extinguish the fervour of the Spirit and leaves poor man sordid maculate deform'd and abominable in the sight of God and of all his Saints Yet by the benefit of thy Justification we are happily deliver'd from all these plagues evil consequences of Sin and the abyss of thy divine mercies is not content to have forgiven us our offences and receive us into favour but does also expell all those evils which are inseparable from Sin leaving our interiour man in the real possession of his former prerogatives and likeness to God Thou dost heal up our wounds wash off our spots break loofe the fetters and chains of our iniquitys destroy the yoke of our evil desires retrieve us from the slavery of Satan qualify the fury of our unruly passions and the heat of our vicious affections Thou dost likewise restore to the Soul her former freedom and beauty revive her interiour fenses dispose them to the exercise of all good works and to the abhorrence of any that 's bad Thou givest strength to resist manfully all the temptations of the Devil and to go through all the difficulties that might hinder the practise of virtue and their increase of devotion In fine my Sweet Saviour thou dost so absolutely revive and repair our interiour man and all his faculties that thy Apostle Scruples not to call such men Justifi'd Souls metamorphos'd natures new modell'd Spirits Creatures of another stamp This innovation is so great and so much to be admir'd that it 's worth our labour to finde out how and after what manner it is perform'd O my Saviour thou alone canst tell me truly the nature of it and the only one that can impart so great a blessing to my poor and languishing Soul wherefore let me hear thy solution to the matter SAVIOVR THou must know then O man that this so great a renovation when 't is perform'd by the means of Baptism may be call'd Regeneration but if it be done by Contrition and with the assistance of Pennance then 't is call'd resurrection not only because the Soul is rais'd from the Death of Sin to the Life of Grace but by reason it resembles so nearly the glorious beauty of future Resurrection No mortal tongue is able to express the radiant Splendor and supereminent beauty of a Justifi'd Soul 't is a mistery reserv'd to my Holy Spirit who made her so glorious with a design she should be his own Temple and place of residence Were all the wealth of the World all the imaginable dignities and honours of this life all the natural Graces and gifts together with all the acquir'd virtues and all other earthly advantages that can be thought of conferr'd with the beauty and treasures of a Justifi'd Soul all in comparison with her is vile obscure ill-favour'd and of no value No for there is as much difference betwixt the life of Grace and the life of Nature betwixt the beauty of the Soul Justifi'd and that of the body betwixt the interiour Riches of such a Soul and the exteriour of the body as there is betwixt Heaven Earth betwixt the Spirit and the body or betwixt Time and Eternity Because all these are circumscrib'd with certain limits they are temporal they appear handsom to corporal eyes and require only my general concourse to support them whereas the other depends on my particular and supernatural influence and have no prefix'd bounds because I am their object and they are so precious in my sight and of so great an estimate that they provoke even my divine Essence to be ardently enamour'd with their beauty I might have wrought all these wonders with my sole presence yet I would not but was pleas'd to adorn the Soul with my infus'd virtues and the Seven gifts of my Holy Ghost whereby not only her Essence but even her very faculties are cloth'd and adorn'd with those habitual and heavenly dresses Besides all these divine favours and benefits she is made happy with the constant presence of my divine Spirit and of the most adorable Trinity for all resides in a justifi'd Soul to teach her how to manage so great a treasure to her best advantage Matt. 12. wherein I act the part of a most loving Father who is not satisfi'd to have given Riches to his Son but gives him withal a Futor that knows how to Administer them well Luc. 11. Thou know'st that a multitude of vipors Serpents and Dragons I mean of evil Spirits enter into the Soul of a Sinner and makes her their habitation as thou mayst reade in my Gospel but 't is otherwise with a justifi'd Soul for I with my Father and Holy Spirit dwell there and having banish'd thence all evil Si quis diligit me Sermonem meum servabit Pater meus diliget eum ad eum veniomus mansionem apud eum faciemus Joan. 14. and Infernal Spirits we make her our temple our throne and Garden of pleasure as thou mayst finde in St. John where I say if a man love me he will keep my words my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him All the Doctors of my Holy Church as well Ecclesiastick as Scholastick grounded upon these my words do firmly believe that my Holy Ghost dwells in a justifi'd Soul after a certain and peculiar manner and say moreover that he does not only confer his Gifts upon her but comes himself along with them with a fix'd resolution to clense Sanctify and adorn her as well with his constant presence as with all his heavenly treasures O man if all these extraordinary favours be not able to mollify thy flinty heart and force it to leave and forsake the paths of Sin and to gather also all thy Scatter'd affections and lead them towards me who am the most deserving of them I shall add more pressing motives to bring thee to so good so gracious and so benificial a resolution The First that occurs is that all the justifi'd are my living members so that I love and cherish them as my own and am no less careful to provide for them to protect and comfort them then were they all parts of my proper body nay without any intermission I influence them with my inspirations and graces even as the head communicates his vital Spirits into all the rest of its members moreover my Eternal Father beholds them with a gracious eye as being my living members united concorporate with me by the participation of his divine Spirit and therefore all their deeds are
esse filium hominis Mat. 16.14 I long to hear what Worldlings say of me and of my Kingdom for I suppose that some of them are apt to believe I am John the Baptist others will say perhaps that I am Elias others that I am Jeremiah or some one of the Prophets Noli me tangere Jo. 20.17 Vos autem quem me esse dicitis Ibid. v. 15. Some will think that it 's a folly for mortals to expect admittance to my Kingdom because that after my Resurrection I refus'd the Magdalen leave to touch me or to lay her hand upon any part of my garment But what dost thou say of me and of my glorious Residence MAN I Say Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi Jo. 6.70 Et regni ejus non erit finis Luc. 1.33 that thou art Christ Son of the living God and that thy Kingdom will never have an end it 's therefore I believe that Scripture calls it the land of the living to let us understand that this wherein we abide deserves no better denomination then that of the dead Alas we know it by our woful experience to be very true for tho' Adam and his Descendants for a long time liv'd each of them so many Ages yet this fatal Epitaph mortuus est which he has entail'd upon all his posterity came at last to shew that as the world is mortal the inhabitants thereof must be of the same nature but as for thy Kingdom O Lord 't is immortal and without any end 't is therefore St. Paul says that this corruptible body of ours shall put on incorruption and of mortal become immortal This flesh of ours which now is so burdensome and does so depress our minde which is now invested with so many inconveniences subject to so many alterations griev'd with so many diseases defil'd with so many corruptions overwhelm'd with such an infinite deal of miseries and calamities shall in thy Kingdom O Lord be made glorious and advanc'd to the height of perfection It shall be endu'd with Seven gifts suitable to thy liberality and to the dignity of thy beloved Servants which are Beauty Agility Fortitude Justi fulgebant sicut sol in regno Patris eorum Mat. 13.43 Penetration Health Pleasure and Perpetuity As for the first gift which is Beauty thou hast thy self declar'd that the Just shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father The second is Agility and this prerogative of the Just is no less then the former for by this their flesh is free'd from that lumpish heavy weight which kept their Spirits fetter'd whilst they remain'd in this life and made as light even as the Angels themselves who pass from one extremity of the world to the other in the twinkling of an eye the third gift is Supernatural Strength which does so abound in a glorifi'd body that he shall be able to move the whole globe of the Earth at thy command and give us a dry passage through the main Ocean with as much ease as thy Angel did to the People of Israel through the red Seas to avoid the Rage and fury of their pursuing Enemys The fourth is I enetration whereby he shall be able to penetrate any other bodies tho'never so hard or massy and make nothing to peirce Walls Doors the Earth and the very Firmament tho' it were made of Brass This thy glorifi'd body has perform'd after thy Resurrection for thou didst penetrate the house where thy Disciples were the Doors being all shut and at thy Ascension thou didst penetrate the Heavens also The fifth prerogative is absolute Health free from all pains of this life quit of all diseases troubles incumbrances and all other infirmitys incident to humane nature and shall be perpetually fix'd in a most perfect and flourishing state of health and felicity in no way liable to the least alteration for ever The sixth is Delight and Pleasure which shall be heap'd upon a glorifi'd body to that degree that all his senses shall finde their peculiar and proper objects in a far more delicious manner then ever they could expect in this world for his eyes shall be for ever recreated with the beatifical vision and with the sight of the most glorious and beautiful bodies of all the Saints One Sun is enough to bring a full joy over the whole continent of the Earth as also to depress the raging waves of the main Ocean in its greatest fury it revives the mortifi'd grain and makes it appear with it's green blades to assure the Labourer of it's being alive and sets at liberty all those varieties of flowers and simples which the cold season of winter kept a long time in it's prisons of Ice what joy then shall a blessed Soul conceive when he beholds as many Suns as there are Saints and when he sees himself to be one of them when he sees his hands his feet and the rest of his members to cast forth beams clearer then even the Sun in it's full height His ears shall be replenish'd wiih the most harmonious Songs and Musick of so many Quires of Angels of so many millions of Saints and of so many hundred thousands of heavenly Spirits as St. John in many several places of his Revelations makes mention of O my Soul here I would have thee stay a while and consider seriously what a great satisfaction this is to the blessed If the harp of David were so delightful to Saul and had so great a power as to asswage the fury of his passion and to recal him from that melancholy fit of which the Devil made use to destroy his Soul If the Lyre of Orpheus was able to operate such great prodigies in the World and to win the hearts not only of men but also of the Infernal Spirits if we may believe Poets who tell us that he recover'd his Wife out of their clutches with the sweetness of his melodious instruments If St. Francis thought himself already in Heaven hearing an Angel play on his instrument what pleasure what delight will a blessed Soul have when he hears the sweet harmony of so many thousands of Angels together Tradition which gives life to the best of Historys informs us that the singing of one little bird alone ravish'd a devout Monk to that degree that three hundred years seem'd no more to him then three hours what a sweetness will it be to hear the melody of those Songs which the innumerable citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem sing in praise of thee their eternal King his smell shall be recreated with the most odoriferous scent which comes from those beautiful bodies infinitely more sweet then all the perfumes of the Indies In fine the whole glorifi'd body shall be fill'd with abundance of all kind of consolation the Eyes the Ears the Nose the Mouth the Hands the Throat the Lungs the Heart the Stomach the Back nay the very Intrals and every part of the Body Inebriabuntur ab
lay their hands on their breasts and examine their own life and conversation if they finde themselves to be good Christians upright honest in all their ways it shall be well with them in the hour of their Death for they shall eat the fruit of their well-doings but if they be viciously given and found void of all good works they must expect no better wellcome from me then an order to cut them all down with the Ax of Death and to cast them headlong into hell-fire Thou shalt finde several proofs to confirm this assertion in the first Sermon I preach'd immediately after I was baptiz'd there shalt thou hear me recommend Matth. 5.4 and extoll the great advantages of a virtuous life of Poverty Meekness Justice Purity Sorrow for Sin patience in suffering contempt of Riches forgiving of injuries Fasting Prayer Pennance Entring by the straight gate and also of perfection Holyness Integrity of life and conversation and of the exact fulfilling of every particular of my Heavenly Fathers Laws and Commandments There thou shalt hear me say I came not to the World to break the Law but to fulfill the same and whosoever shall offer to break the least of them and bring others either by his ill example or by his erroneous doctrine to do the like should have no place in the Kingdom of Heaven There thou mayst hear me say to all Christians except their Justice did exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees which was altogether in words and outward appearance they could not be saved That they might not serve two Masters in this life but either must forsake God or abandon Mammon That they should decline from false Prophets that usually come in sheep's clothing but are no better then ravenous Wolves in their hearts and that all men should seek to enter by the straight gate but the conclusion of my long Sermon is that the only sign and token of a good Tree is the good fruit which it bears and without this fruit let the Tree be never so fair or pleasant to the eye yet it is to be cut down and burnt that 't is not every one that shall cry Lord Lord at the last day shall be sav'd or enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but only such as did execute really and in Deeds the Will and commandments of my Father in this life Where is there any incouragement here for the wicked to delay their conversion or to put it off till the hour of death in hopes of a good Peccavi I see none for they are all most pressing motives to force them rather out of their iniquity into a virtuous and godly life To be the better convinc'd of this undeniable truth thou must know that life is a time and season of sowing and planting the seed of virtue and the bitter roots of mortifications and pennance and that Death is Harvest time to reap the main profit of that happy Seed and the wonderful sweetness of those bitter roots It 's therefore my Prophet speaking of the manifold tribulations and anguishes of the Just Euntes Ibant flebant mittentes semina sua venientes autem venient cum exultatione portantes manipulos suos Ps 126.6 Tromsijt mesus finita est aestas nos salvati non sumus Jer. 8.20 Non potest male mori qui bene vixit vix bene moritur qui male vixit Aug. Venite bene dicti Patris mei posside te paratum vobis regnum a constitutione mundi Matth. 25.34 says they were going on weeping and sowing the precious seed of their eternal Salvation and that without any doubt they shall come again rejoycing bringing their sheaves with them and my Prophet Jeremy declares how the wicked shall say in the hour of Death and with tears in their eyes the Harvest is past the Summer is ended and we are not sav'd This was the lamentation of the Jews seeing themselves oppress'd under the slavish and heavy yoak of the Caldeans without any hopes of being reliev'd but it may be likewise taken for the sad moan which the wicked shall make in the hour of Death seeing themselves void of all good works and groaning under the heavy weight of their evil actions then indeed they may cry the Summer is ended the time of our life is now expir'd wherein we might have gather'd a plentiful stock of all virtues and good works but We unfortunate Souls We have spent that precious season in all manner of vices and now that the Harvest is past we must appear naked as we are of all good works replenish'd with evil ones before a dreadful Judge to be sentenc'd to Eternal Death which We have justly deserv'd for abusing his mercy by flattering our selves with a good Peccavi at our last farewell to the World and to all its deceitful pleasures The Harvest is past the Summer is ended and we are not sav'd What can be more terrible How should any Man dare delay his conversion hearing these words and having as many Presidents hereof as there have been Sinners surpris'd by death even in the heat of their wickedness O ye Blessed Souls says St. Augustin who have spent your days in the constant practise of virtue still submissive to the Laws of God always obedient to his commands thirsting after righteousness and justice great lovers of mortification and pennance hear what comfortable news I bring you and what is that You cannot dye an ill death no 't is impossible Orabat scelestus ad Dominum ad quo non erat misericordiam con secuturus 2 Machab. 9.13 De Centum Millibus quorum maia fuit vita vix unus salvabitur Aug. for God will assist you in that dreadful hour and will receive your Souls at their departing your bodys into the perfect enjoyment of my everlasting Glory Whereas the wicked tho' they should make as great a shew of an apparent repentance as Antiochus did yet will they hardly come to a better end for of a hundred thousand that lead a bad life continually to the hour of death scarce one shall be sav'd says the same St. Augustin and his doctrine is grounded upon my words because I have call'd and ye refus'd I have stretch'd out my hand and no man regarded and as ye have made naught of all my Counsels and been deaf to my reproof I also will laugh at your Calamity I will mock when your fear comes When it comes as desolation and when your destruction comes as a Whirlwind when distress and anguish comes upon you then shall ye call upon me but I will not answer ye shall seek me early but ye shall not finde me because ye hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Prov. 1.24 They would not accept of my Counsel they despis'd all my reproofs therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be fill'd with their own devices The devout St. Bernard confirms this truth by two
through the Merits of one man Jesus Christ can procure the salvation of a far greater number Man fell by his own fault but can't rise again by his own strength he wants one to help him out of the dunghil of Sin he requires a God and man Redeemer to restore him with th' effusion of his most precious Blood to Righteousness and this was mercifully perform'd to him What remains to compleat the grand work of his Salvation is that the same Redeemer may be graciously pleas'd to touch his heart with a true feeling of his sincere conversion Jo. 1.5 for he says himself that without him we can do nothing and that if a man abide not in him he is cast forth as a branch that is withered and fit for no other use than to be cast into the fire and burnt But he says in the same place that if we abide in him and his words in us we may ask what we will and it shall be granted to us Where upon the Sacred Councel of Trent Con. Trid Soss 6. Can. 3. and that of Nice thunders forth an Excommunication against all those who will believe or teach that we can operate our Salvation or be truly penitent without the precedent motion of Divine Grace And St. Augustin says that there 's nothing more necessary for a man to live and die happily than to be upon good terms with God who alone is able to create in our hearts the motions of a true Conversion He alone can breed in us a hearty detestation of our sins and a firm resolution to love him above all Creatures Most gracious Saviour thou art pleas'd to call thy self in several places of thy holy Writ our Father our Brother our Shepherd our Spouse and hast graciously convers'd with Sinners on Earth in order to their conversion thou didst discourse a Samaritane and a Harlot too Matth. 23 10. upon the very same Subject thou didst overthrow a Saul to raise him up a Paul and which is more 1 Cor. 4.1 thou didst make him a Vessel of Election Thou hast forbid us to have or call any one our Master on Earth for that thou alone art our Master and therefore I presume to call thee our Divine Master and to honour this Book with that specious Title of Academy or School of Vertue because what it contains is either thy Doctrine or grounded at least upon the solid foundation of thy Eternal Vereties The most that I can glory of in this Work is to be thy unworthy Minister and Steward to make known thy sacred Will and thy divine Mysterys to thy People which I have perform'd to the utmost of my Endeavours for here the Christian Reader shall find such deep Considerations and powerful Meditations as will divert him from hankering after even the smallest Vices They will tear all his ill habits up by the roots that they may never shoot again and will extricate his poor heart out of all the straights that commonly ensue a criminal and guilty Conscience They will teize a man though never so cold in Devotion to grasp at all manner of Mortifications to satisfy for his sins and appease the just Indignation of the Divine Justice They will deliver us from all blindness and preposterous Errors enriching our darkness with light and restoring all troubled souls to a profound peace They will hinder us from descanting upon other Mens lives and manners They will make remote Forreigners near Neighbours and cement them in Christian Charity They will bring us to pry into what ill abounds in our own hearts and find there work enough to imploy our pragmatical Spleen upon without hunting after the sins and imperfections of others They will bring Strangers to God's acquaintance dissolve all discords and make the Devil to despair of his aim which is to blow the hellish fire of a perpetual dissention into our souls They will conclude a League of everlasting Peace with God and if we believe St. Augustin they are the complement of a happy life and th' only immortal thing that belong to Mortals And no wonder being that God himself is the first and principal Author of this heavenly Exercise For as soon as he had given the Law to his People Deut. 6. He declar'd it was his will and pleasure it should be the worthy Subject of their serious and constant Meditation fix my words says he in your hearts and in your minds have them in your hands and before your eyes teach them to your Children Deut. 9. that they may meditate on them Meditate upon thy last end says the Holy Ghost and thou shalt never sin Memorare novissima tua in aeteraum non peccabis Eccles 7.40 This is also the wholsom Instruction which the holy Fathers have left us this is a beavenly Lesson which they would have us learn by all means One while speak to God says St. Jerome and another while give ear to what God speaks to you In speaking to God we beseech him to come to us with his Grace in hearkening to him we open our hearts to receive him In speaking to God says St. Ambrose St. Ambr. I Offic. â—0 we demand of him his Lights and Favours in hearkening to him we receive them and shut them up in our hearts to conserve and practise them upon all occasions This is likewise my Friendly Advice to you dear Reader and I wish you with all my heart the Grace of God to make good use of this Book that your own Eternal Happiness may ensue A Table of the Chief Matters contain'd in this Diological Treatise with a C or an M before the Numbers which marks either a Subject of Consideration or Meditation THat no exteriour Agent without th' interiour word of God is able to work the Conversion of a Sinner C. Pag. 1. That God is more free to impart his Graces and Favours to Sinners than they are sollicitous to improve them C. p. 4. The manifold Obstacles which hinder the Sinners Conversion and how strong and numerous are th' allurements to Sin C. p. 9. The motives to Vertue are far more pressing and more in number C. p. 11. The humble acknowledgment of mans innate weakness and the wonderful effects of Divine Love C. p. 19. The nature and properties of Divine Love and how it may be obtain'd C. p. 26. That Man can't so easily attain to Divine Love by reason of the manifold and great oppositions which are betwixt nature and grace C. p. 32. The examples of Christ and of his beloved Apostles on Earth together with Gods formal Precept and th' assured promise of his grace lays a weighty obligation on all men to lead a Vertuous and Godly Life C. p. 42. Why Sinners do often and earnestly implore th' assistance of Gods grace without obtaining their request C. p. 50. That God never refuses any one the concurrence of his grace nor th' effects of his Prayers if they be of decent and
necessary things and that he is firmly resolv'd to break off with Vice C. P. 52. How a Sinner by his frequent relapse into Sin may reasonably fear he never was really contrite for his Sins C. p. 56. That a Sinner must fix his hope in God of whose mercy he can't despair without a mortal offence C. p. 57. The nature and necessary conditions of a true and perfect contrition p. 60. The fatal consequences of Venial Sins and how by degrees they bring a Man to commit Mortals C p. 65. The greatness of Gods Love for Man is a most pressing motive to a sorrowful contrition M. p 67. The means which God was pleas'd to take in order to redeem Mankind is another pressing motive to a sorrowful contrition M. p. 71. What Christ has suffer'd from his Cradle to the Cross was only for the love of Man M. p. 74. His Death and Passion should breed in our hearts a mortal hatred and abhorrence of Sin M. p. 78. Several other Considerations upon the same subject able to move even a Heart of Steel to love God above all Creatures M. p. 82. The benefits of our Justification lays a weighty obligation on us to love God with all our hearts p. 88. Several other deep considerations of the same benefit Mp. 91. The manifold disasters and miseries occasion'd by Sin and how we are happily deliver'd from 'em all by the benefit of our Justification M. p. 95. The manifold and wonderful advantages of a Justifi'd Soul M. p. 99. The benefit of our Justification exceeds that of our Creation and Redemption M. p. 103. The certainty of Death and th'uncertainty of the hour of Death with the several and dreadful circumstances thereof is a most pressing motive to detest Sin M. p. 106. The particular Judgment which is given of the Soul at her departing the Body M. p. 114. How dreadful will the sight of her Judge be to her and what anguishes she shall suffer at her Trial M. p. 120. Of the most strict account which will be taken of the Soul in this particular Judgment M. p. 126. How remote is the Judgment of God from that of Man and of the severity of his Chastisements even in this Life by which we may easily conceive th'unspeakable rigour of his punishments in th' other M. p. 133. Of the Torments which the Damn'd suffer in Hell M. p. 140. Of the Glory of Heaven in what it consists of its great estimate and what we ought to suffer for the everlasting purchase thereof M. p. 148. Of th'everlasting happiness of the Saints in Heaven and of their glorious Prerogatives M. p. 162. The little value that Christians set upon Vertue and how their dissolutions surpass the debauchery even of the worst of Heathens M. p. 173. The Godly feelings and Heroick exploits of Heathen Philosophers will certainly confound the Christians in the Day of Judgment M. p. 188. Of Hell and of th'unspeakable and various Torments which the Damn'd shall suffer there for an Eternity M. p. 201 Of the severity of Gods Justice the rage and malice of the Devils and the horrid confusion of the Damn'd occasion'd by the full Knowledge of their Vanities main Folly and wilful neglect of their Salvation M. p. 217. The wonderful Austerities of Gods Servants as well in the Old as in the New Testament in order to avoid the Torments of Hell will be a main confusion to such Christians as live deliciously in this World M. p. 226. If men be so outragiously cruel one to th' other how excessive cruel must the Devil be to the Damn'd in Hell being a professed enemy to all mankind even from the Creation M. p. 234. An habitual Sinner that puts off his Conversion to the hour of Death in expectation of a good Peccavi lies under a moral impossibility to be sav'd M. p. 248. The Love of God should replenish our hearts to that degree to leave no place for any terrene or carnal affection M. p. 266. An ample description of th'ingratitude inconstancy treachery cruelty and vanity of the World with several presidents relating thereunto M. p. 278. The Lust of the Flesh with its fatal attendance and branches are most abominable in themselves most odious to God and the most destructive enemies of our Souls M. p. 293. Th' only thing that the Nobility should value themselves upon is Vertue how vain is the Wisdom of the World Of Corporal Beauty and Rich Apparel and how th' one as well as th' other has been the ruine of many Millions of Souls M. p. 310. That the State of Poverty is far more advantageous to the Soul than that of Riches though it may not be so pleasant to the mind which is never content M. p. 327. The Charming expressions of Christ and the several employments he takes upon himself in order to save our Souls are able to withdraw all our scatter'd affections from the World and settle them upon him alone M. p. 346. That the World is both a Cheat and a Lyar for his Promises ars false his Honours are vain his Pleasures are Poyson and his Treasures are Soul-Killing Thorns M. p. 368. That they who after all Gods sweet Inspirations loving Invitations and gracious Admonitions do not love him reciprocally shall be in danger of eternal Destruction M. p. 384. A Check to Man p. 391. A Check to the Christian Man p. 395. A Check to the Religious Man p. 402. A Wholesom Advice to Mankind in general p 410. Errata P. 10. L. ult R. remit P. 26. M N. R. hac P. 249. L. 4. R. double P. 254. M. N. R. transiit messis P. 255. M. N. R. quo P. 259. L. 12. R. axiom P. 265. L. 27. R. Prophet P. 271. L. 13. R. no more P. 315. M. N. R. putredini p. 329. L. 26. R. not P. 336. L. 8. R. the. P. 344. L. 27. R. be P. 352. L. 18. R. so P. 368. L. 22. R. doorkeeper P. 371. L. 6. R. martial P. 374. L. 17. R. Micheas P. 376. L. 21. R. were P. 384. L. 6. R. as A Dialogical Discourse betwixt the Saviour and Man wherein all Souls desirous of the Love of God are copiously suppli'd with means powerfull to attain it and to gain the happy accomplishment of their Salvation MAN SPeak O Lord for thy Servant hears thee 1. Reg. 3. grant me a right Understanding to know thy ways and lead my will to walk therein let the sacred Dew of thy divine Inspirations flow down from thy heavenly Throne into my obdurate Heart Psal 118. that I may more easily observe thy Commands and steer my course directly without any Remora towards the Region of everlasting Bliss Loquere tâ— nobis audiemus non loquatur nobis Dominus ne â—orte moriamur Exod. 20. for which thou didst Create my Soul Heretofore the Children of Israel would have Moises only speak to them not thou O Lord fearing thy words might strike such a terrour to their Hearts
as would occasion their death but I am wholly an Alien to their feelings and do choose rather to side with the Prophet Samuel and in all humility do intreat that thou O Lord wilt be graciously pleas'd to speak to me Not Moises no nor any of thy Prophets for the instructions and lights they may give me be but gifts and Rays borrowed of thy incomprehensible Splendor thou alone without their Ministry canst perfectly instruct me alas their endeavours in my regard will signify just nothing without thy gracious concurrence They may indeed utter some words but unless thou dost influence them they 'l never mollify my stony Heart nor lodge thy Spirit within my bowels Their words may be indeed plac'd to admiration their Rhetorick Charming their Eloquence exceeding that of the very best Orators their Periods mannag'd in extraordinary good order but if they relish not of thy divine Spirit my heart alas will remain as cold as the very Ice They may Cite Scripture fluently to confirm their discourse and quote both Councels and Fathers to the astonishment of their Hearers but they cannot work so far on their understanding as to make 'em conceive the thing they aim at nor bring their Will to the practise of it that enterprize is out of their Province 't is a Prerogative pertaining alone to thee O Lord no mortal Man no the very Angels cannot pretend to it unless they have thy Commission to that effect They may entertain us with a learn'd and pleasant discourse of thy great and adorable Mysteries but thou alone can'st render our understanding capable to conceive them they may tell us of thy Precepts and Counsels but thou alone can'st help us to fulfil them They can shew to us the ready road leading to Salvation but thou alone can'st comfort us in our failings and give us then greater courage to walk therein till we arrive at our journeys end The most they can boast of is to be thy Sollicitors and Agents which thou mak'st use of to exhort us to the practise of this or that other Virtue they may describe unto us the many evil consequences of a wicked Licentious life Ego plantavi Apollo rigavit Deus autem incrementum dedit 1 Epist Pauli ad Câ—rintâ—ios c. 3. v. 6. Tanquam a facie Colubri fuge peccatum Eccl. c. 21. v 2. they may thunder from their Pulpits thy dreadful threatnings and the horrid effects of thy divine wrath but 't is thy Sanctifying Grace that alone can soften instruct and illustrate our Hearts They can exteriously water our barren and rebellous Souls but thou alone can'st give the increase cause them happily to comply with the sweet Influences of thy holy Inspirations They may cry out and warn us to fly from sin as from the venom of a Serpent but thou alone mak'st our understanding and will prompt to conceive and practise what they say Let Moises then for bear speaking to me 't is from thee my God I do expect the word which can subdue reform clear my heart from all terrene and sordid affections If I only be outwardly admonish'd and not inwardly inflam'd with the ardent fire of thy divine Love my Souls death may ensue or at best I shall be but a barren and wither'd tree Let me then hear thee speak O Lord and let thy word be no sooner heard but put in execution by me no sooner known but lov'd no sooner pronounc'd but deeply fix'd in the Center of my heart there to produce the worthy fruits of a sincere sorrowful and constant repentance 1 Reg. 3. Verba enim viâ—ae eternae habes Jo. 6. Speak then O Lord for thy Servant hears thee thy words are the happy seed of eternal life let me then hear them to the comfort of my Soul and to the reformation and perfect amendment of my whole life this is a work that will really be for thy greater Glory and my eternal Salvation SAVIOVR HEar my words O Man they are most sweet efficacious and vivifying far exceeding the science of the Philosophers and wise of this World my words are both spirit and life they are beyond the reach of humane understanding they don't affect a vain complacency but delight to be receiv'd rather in silence with all humility and with all the tenderness of love and affection that can be express'd My Servant David was throughly convinc'd of this undeniable assertion when he sent forth these seraphical expressions to my heavenly Throne Beatus quem tu erudieris Domine deâ—ege tua eum docueris ut mitiges ei a die bus malis c. Psal 93. v. 12. Blessed is the man O Lord whom thou shalt instruct in thy Law and teach how he may in the evil days of his mortal life heap up a vast treasure of merits for an Eternity I am the Lord who have taught the Prophets from the beginning and since have never ceas'd to speak unto all Men but alas few answer my expectation Satan has so blinded their understanding so perverted their will so benumb'd their senses that the most part of them make nothing of my words take no notice of my corrections and set no value on my most amorous invitations in order to revive their poor Souls and shelter them under the wings of my paternal and powerful protection from the rage and fury of that infernal and devouring Dragon The most of them are so infatuate as to be more inclin'd to give ear to the deluding Sirens of the world then to the inspirations of their God to the fatal perswasions of the flesh then to the salutary dictates of the Holy Ghost to the ruinous suggestions of the Devil then to the amorous invitations of their Creator and Redeemer What the world does promise 'em is but temporal and of no 〈◊〉 and yet for that small satisfaction they are content to become slaves to it and to lose that glorious title of Children of God and all pretentions to Heaven What I promise 'em is of an unspeakable estimate and of an everlasting continuance yet their hearts are strangely averse to it and seem to conceive as great an abhorrence of it as the people of Israel had against that food which I showr'd down upon them in the Desart Their obedience to the world and their other mortal enemies and their care of pleasing them is more prompt and far greater then what they shew in my service Esay 23. Let Sidon blush and why because that for a small Sallery for a trifle she will run a long way but for the purchase of Heaven for the gain of an everlasting and happy life she will hardly raise up her foot from the ground A man shall labour a whole day to get sixpence at night and perhaps less he will undertake the most vile work that can be nam'd and be at it both night and day and weary himself so extreamly as to be nigh breathing out his life and all
he must not in respect of any tribulation decline from his beloved but rather adhere closely to his colours as well in the troubles of war as in the prosperity and pleasure of a joyfull peace SAVIOVR O Man Thou art well read I see and to hear thee speak Tues Magister in Israel hic ignoras Jo. 3 10. thou mayst be taken for a Master in Israel but I am certain thou art mistaken in the practise of thy knowledge Thou speakest admirably of the love of God but thou canst not perceive the motions and operations thereof within thy own heart by reason of its predominate inclinations to the carnal and fading objects of the world Therefore Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo Matth. 22.37 for thy better understanding I will in the first place tell thee that the principal and chief Command is to love God with thy whole heart Secondly that to be a proficient is to obtain a farther increase as well in all virtues as in the Seven gifts of the Holy Ghost Thirdly that without Charity nothing can be meritorious no nor acceptable to God Fourthly that Charity of all other virtues is the most worthy because it is the Primum mobile the Life the Queen the first beginning and end of them all and that no other virtue or thing whatever can so efficaciously move a Soul to all acts of Piety nor so speedily and powerfully withdraw her from sin and vicious habits as the Love of God Fifthly because the Intuitive vision of God which is th' essential reward of the Blessed has a perfect reference to the highest degree and sublimest perfection of Charity Now to give thee a perfect demonstration of thy own weakness and to let thee know how much thou art a stranger to the love of God I must tell thee that this heavenly Charity is a most resplendent and glorious Pearl a most precious and charming gem a most pure and noble Balm a most sweet and fragrant herb and consequently does require a most clean and spotless residence and a Seat adorn'd with all the rarest most precious ornaments that can be imagin'd I mean a Soul cleans'd from all mortal spots deck'd with all moral virtues throughly lin'd with the gifts of the Holy-Ghost and supported on each side with the Strong pillars of a firm and constant Hope and Faith I must tell thee likewise of the degrees of Charity the first of them is infus'd into the Soul by her Baptismal grace and this is not to be hid idlely but to be improv'd with a great deal of care and brought to its ultimate perfection O what a deal of care is to be taken in so great an enterprize the minde must be kept pure and clean free from all mortal spots and beautifi'd with all the virtues and gifts aforesaid as far as the condition and state of a new beginner will admit 'T is an incumbent duty on all Mortals that are lodg'd within this inferiour degree of Charity to wish ardently for the sight ond perfect injoyment of the Summum bonum to labour hardly for an utter extirpation of all their imperfections and vicious habits to reclaim and utterly subdue their unruly passions to be constantly imploy'd in the painful exercise and worthy works of Pennance to keep their mindes from all distractions in prayers to reform the exteriour man and keep it still in a modest decent posture in all their communications and conferences with God To divert their eyes from all unclean and dishonest objects to restrain their tongues from overmuch talking Vir linguosus non derigetur in terra Psal 139.12 for any man that gives himself the liberty of uttering words at random and to no good intent cannot be free from sin neither is he in the right way to the land of promise says my Prophet In fine they must decline from all evil and fly from Sin Tanquam a facie Colubri fuge peccatum Eccl. 21. even as from the dangerous sight of an infernal Serpent All these cleansing herbs together with several others of the same nature well season'd with the fear and love of God must be carefully handled dextrously shifted and exactly distill'd into a Salutary compound for the happy complement of a purgative life All these Ingredients I must confess are extraordinary bitter and irksome to thy corrupt nature however thou must endeavour with all thy might to swallow down those ill-pallat-pleasing Pills not for once but so often until thou dost acquire a habit of using them without any difficulty and then thou shalt perceive the great benefit thy Soul will reap by the constant practise of so divine a remedy Then thou wilt without any compulsion or contradiction from either the outward or inward man freely and constantly bewail thy former sinful life thou wilt earnestly dive into the most reclus'd and hidden corners of thy heart to finde out therein what may be displeasing to God with a resolution either to smother them in their cradle by a contrite Confession or to drown them all in the bitter tears of a sorrowful repentance Thy dayly entertainment will be to meditate on my bloudy Passion to think often of the dreadful day of Judgment of Death of the everlasting pains of Hell and of the many favours and graces which thou hast received at the most liberal hands of thy most mercifull God firmly grounding thy self in a profound humility in patience in a full resignation to Gods Decrees in the fear and love of thy dearly beloved Maker After this heavenly exercise thou art to proceed to a farther increase in virtue to a more accomplish'd Charity to Spiritual exercises and to devout meditations thereby to fix thy heart in God alone and to avoid Idleness which is the seat of iniquity thou must give some time to thy Studys some to Prayer some to writing some to the practise of charitable Deeds as visiting the Sick relieving Prisoners comforting the Poor and distressed as well with thy good advices as with a share of thy substance but in all thy actions be sure to have thy mind always fix'd upon God for whose sake alone thou must begin go on and end all thy good works thou must often raise up thy thoughts towards Heaven that happy residence for the enjoying of which thou wert created and be never wearied with labour or think the time long e're you gain it All this belongs to the illuminative life to the State of Proficients to the degree of purifying virtues and to those private friends that do sweetly adhere unto their God and embrace him with arms of Charity Being perfectly grounded in this kinde of life thou must ascend to a higher School where thou art to begin the rudiments of the perfective and unitive life which are pure contemplations most ardent most sweet and most loving Embraces of thy beloved the inseparable and continual unions with thy Spouse the practice of mistical Theology
who had kill'd his Master this animal runs at him and holds him fast looking on the by-standers with such a mournful countenance as if he had desir'd Justice whereupon the murderer was apprehended and forc'd to confess his crime for which he was immediately sentenc'd to dy O man If a Dog for a piece of bread had so great a love for his master and was so faithful to him as to lament and vindicate his death wilt thou not be displeas'd at thine ingratitude and principally when a dumb beast reprehends it and teacheth thee to be grateful If that irrational creature was so much incens'd against the murderer of his Master why art thou not displeas'd with those that have slain thy gracious Lord and Master and what are they but thy Sins 'T is true O man thy Sins have taken me have tyed me have scourg'd me have crown'd me have nail'd me to the Cross and were the sole occasion of my bitter death for the Jews could never have the power to crucify me but that thy Sins did both arm and incourage 'em to it Wherefore then art thou not highly displeas'd with them why dost thou not bend all thy wrath and fury against them seeing thy divine Master crucify'd by them before thine eyes and especially since my Death and Passion was design'd to breed in thy heart an eternal hatred of Sin It was in order to destroy Sin that I suffer'd death It was to set a stop to thy feet and hands which are so prone to evil even from thy very cradle that mine as an oblation for their evils were nail'd to the Cross How art thou so impious as to live after such a manner that all my pains taken for thy Salvation will signify nothing Why dost thou not tremble at the very mention of Sin seeing me suffer such cruel torments to destroy and root it clean out of the world How canst thou be so rash and so great an enemy to thy poor Soul as to dare to offend me seeing Heaven open to cast forth its thunder bolts upon thy criminal head and Hell with a dilated mouth ready to swallow thee both body and Soul MAN O My God my King my Saviour my Judge and my only comfort Thou art I confess the Eternal Wisdom and thy words to me are Spirit and Life for they have made me resolve to bid adieu for ever to Sin and to plant virtue where vice was before in great request but give me leave to ask thee what would the benefit of my redemption avail me if that of my Justification had not ensu'd for by this it is that the virtue of the former is appli'd to the diseases of my Soul and even as a plaister tho' never so soveraign will signify nothing except it be laid unto the wound so that heavenly medicine would be of no use or advantage to me if it had not been appli'd by the mediation of this unspeakable benefit to the bruises which I receiv'd in that fatal field of Eden where all mankinde were shamefully foil'd and quite overthrown in the Person of Adam The Sanctification of man does chiefly appertain to the Holy Ghost 'T is his prerogative to prevent the Sinner with the sweetness of his mercy then to call him being call'd to justify him and being justifi'd to direct him and leade him on to the end of his course and then to gratify him with a crown of glory wherefore I may justly say that this very benefit is the happy complement of all others for by this man is register'd in the number of Gods children discharg'd of the main weight of his iniquities deliver'd from the dominion and Tyranny of the Devil reviv'd from Death to Life brought from the state of Sin to that of Justice and of a child of malediction and woe he becomes the Son of God and Co-heir with thee in thy Glory Nemo potest venire ad me nisi Pater meus traxerit illum Joa 44. But this cannot be perform'd without the peculiar help and assistance of the holy Ghost as thou hast declar'd to thy beloved Disciple in these words No man can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him whereby I conceive that neither free will nor the power of humane nature can withdraw a man from Sin and bring him to Grace unless he be help'd on by the vertue of thy divine power The Angelical Doctor St. Thomas commenting upon these words says even as a Stone by its nature still falls downwards and can never ascend without some exteriour assistance so man overpress'd by the corruption of Sin tends always downwards and is powerfully hurri'd on by his inbred inclinations to the love and desire of terene and transitory things but if he be minded to aim higher that is at the love and supernatural desire of heavenly things he must implore the assistance of thy Divine Spirit without which he shall never be able to make any progress in virtue SAVIOVR O Man thou sayst well but I would have thee practise well what thou sayst for 't is the practise and not the discourse of good things that can make thee grateful to me the serious consdieration of this unspeakable benefit should indeed press thee to it make thee most diligent to atchieve it which is a matter of greatest moment to thee for by this thou art reconcil'd to me and cleans'd from Sin which is the worst of all evils and the only evil I most hate and abhor it alone is able to bring my indignation and wrath upon thee Odisti omnes qui operantur iniquitatem perdes omnes qui loquntur mendacium Psal 5. as thou mayst unerstand by my Prophet who says of me Thou art not a God which taketh pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee The foorish shall not stand in thy sight Thou hatest all workers of iniquity Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man Thou seest by this that Sin is the greatest of all evils nay 't is the very root and origine of them all On the contrary to be in my favour the object of my most tender affection is a real happiness the fountain of all goodness and the solid foundation of all other favours and virtues Why dost thou then delay thy endeavours refuse to concur with my holy inspirations If thou wouldst once firmly resolve an amendment imploy all thy faculties to destroy Sin in thee thou shouldst then receive the benefit of Justification by which thou art deliver'd from that pernicious evil and of a mortal enemy thou art made my friend not in a common degree of friendship but in the most supream that can be thought of which is that of a Father to his Son Videte qualem charitatem nobis dedit pater ut filii Dei nominemur fimus 1. Jo. 3. My Evangelist extols this extraordinary favour very highly where he says behold
grateful and meritorious to him as being the worthy products of my lively loving and gracious Children and because that all their virtue and power of doing well proceeds from me alone This certainly is a great incouragement to all justifi'd Souls to crave what favours they stand in need of and to ask of my heavenly Father with a great deal of confidence and hopes to obtain their requests being it is not only for themselves they ask it but also for me who am highly honour'd in them with them for no man will deny but what the members do the head does the same what is confer'd upon the one is also confer'd upon the other consequently being that I am the head of the justifi'd what they ask for themselves they ask the same for me My Apostle says Quam diu fecistis uni ex his fratribus meis miaimis mihi fecisti Matth. 25.40 that whoever offends and wrongs my members wrongs me likewise whoever persecutes them persecutes me also whoever honours them or gives them any relief in their distress I own the favour as done to my Self what a main comfort this is to a Just man when he considers that what boon he begs from the Father of Heaven for himself he begs the same for me who am his dearly beloved Son sure this is a principal ground for thee to hope that thou wilt not be refus'd what favour thou dost request of him For when a kindeness is exhibited to one for the love of another the favour is chiefly done to him for whose sake it was granted and indeed thou oughtest to believe that when thou shewest mercy to the poor for Gods sake thou art not only merciful to them but even to God himself MAN BLessed be thy holy name for ever my dear Jesus Capio dissoivi esse cum Christo Philip. 1.23 for thou hast replenish'd my heart with unspeakable joy and my Soul does thirst so much after thee the Fountain of life that she often desires with St. Paul to be deliver'd from the Prison of her frail ungrateful and rebellious flesh to stand in thy glorious presence for ever This I know is the reward of all justifi'd Souls For as thou makest use of thy Justice against Sinners who depart this life without Pennance and dost cast them headlong into the extremity of Hell-fire so thy mercy receives all true penitent Souls into life everlasting And tho' thou canst forgive them their Sins Non sunt condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam quae revelabituâ— in nobis Rom 8.18 quod Momentaneum est in praesenti ct leve tribulationis nostrae supra modum in sublimitate aeternum gloriae pondus operat 2 Cor. 4.17 and receive them into thy favour without communicating thy Glory yet thou wouldst not deprive them of so great an advantage for those that thy mercy does absolve of their Sins thou dost Justify and those whom thou dost justify thou makest them thy Children and those whom thou dost take for thy Children thou makest them thy Heirs and joint-heirs with thy self in thy Kingdom of Glory This is the grand foundation of that lively hope which does rejoyce and comfort the just in all their tribulation for when they see themselves oppress'd with any disasters loaden with afflictions depress'd with infirmities reflected upon by their Neighbours Persecuted by their Enemies they consider seriously and believe that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compar'd with the glory which shall be reveal'd in them They firmly believe also that their light affliction which is but for a moment will work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory All these favours and graces they receive from thee by the means of their Justification wherefore I must of necessity conclude with St. Augustin that benefit is of a far greater estimate then is that of our Creation the reason for it is that thou hast Created both Heaven Earth with one sole word whereas to Sanctify man thou hast suffer'd all the torments that the malice of men and the fury of Hell could invent thou hast spilt thy precious bloud gavest even thy sweet life to purchase his Salvation If we poor Mortals be so much oblig'd to thee for our Creation how much more are we thy Debtors for the benefit of our Justification for the obligation must be the greater by how much the purchase is dearer I must confess O Lord Nemo scit utrum amore an odio dignus sit Eccle 9.1 that a man does not know for certain whether he be Justifi'd or not being he cann't tell whether he be worthy of thy love or hatred however he may have very probable marks of his Justification whereof one and not the meanest is the reformation of ones life If he who was accuftom'd heretofore to commit several Sins in a day now commits none that man whoever he be is oblig'd to thee O Lord in a high measure in as much as thou hast deliver'd him from so many and such great evils and also hast gratifi'd him with all the eminent favours that We even now discours'd of But if any should be so great an enemy to his own Salvation as to continue his sinful and wicked life notwithstanding these most pressing motives which should oblige the most obedurat of men to love serve and obey thee Terribilium omnium terribilissimum mors Aristot O Lord I beg that thou wilt begin a discourse of Death which is the most terrible of all terrible motives in hopes it may retrive such poor wilful obstinate sinners and force them to comply with thy grace which is never wanting to any that purpose to amend SAVIOVR REmember O man that thou art a Christian and don 't forget that thou art a mortal man and consequently that thou must surely dy for thy fate is already decreed and the decree is unavoidable The Sons of mortall Parents must expect a mortal Posterity Death is the end of great and small Thou art born helpless and expos'd to the injuries of all Creatures and of all weathers The very necessaries of life may procure thy death for thou mayst meet with thy fate in thy dish in thy cup and in the very Ayr that refresheth thee nay thy very Birth is inauspicious for thou cam'st into the world weeping and in the middle of thy designs while thou art meditating great matters and stretching thy thoughts to after Ages Death will cut thee off and perhaps thy longest date is only the Revolution of a few days Death is common to all Men 't is a tribute Mors omnibus communis est Senec. Testamentum hujus mundi morte morietur Eccle. 14.12 that all mankinde must pay to Nature tho' not after the same manner for one may dye at his table another in his sleep a third in the heat of his unlawful pleasures a fourth with a glass
of wine in his hand and Blasphemy in his mouth another may be stab'd in a quarrel another crush'd with the fall of a horse In fine they have several ways to their end but the end it self which is Death is still the same For whether they dye by a sword by a halter by a potion or by a disease 't is all but Death which is so certain that thou can'st not doubt of it without a blemish to thy Faith none is exempted from drinking of this Chalice Regum Turres pauperumque Tabernas aeque pede pulsat Mors. Vir. Popes Kings and Princes must taste of it If there were any immunity or priviledge in the case surely I might have been exempted from Death as being the Law-maker and Promoter of that unavoidable sentence which I had pronounc'd against thy Progenitour for his transgression of my Commandment No the day shall come that thou wilt be alive in the morning and dead at night It will come sometime but when whether this day or to morrow 't is uncertain Thou art now in perfect health strong of body and found of minde thou dost measure thy life by the length of thy desires and by the multitude of thy business but the day will come that thou shalt be stretch'd on a bed candles lighted about thee thy Relations and Friends lamenting and weeping thy whole family in a great consternation expecting thee to breath out thy Soul every moment but when this day shall come 't is uncertain perhaps when thou dost least expect it perhaps when thou thinkst thy self secure from all dangers and when all thy thoughts are busi'd about building of Houses purchasing Lands matching thy Children settling their Fortunes 't is therefore said of Death Thess 5.23 that it comes like a Thief who takes that time to seize on his prey when men are in their dead sleep secure and without the least apprehension of being rob'd The day of the Lord says St. Paul shall come as a Thief in the night upon thee and when thou shalt say peace and security then sudden destruction shall come upon thee as Travail upon a Woman with Child and thou shalt not escape To consider seriously the preludes of death with their attendents which are a grievous sickness Aches and pains over all thy Limbs thy Stomach loaded with Apothecarys Stuffs so many sorts of loathsome drugs on a table before thy face which thou must of necessity swallow because thy Physician has order'd it so then art thou peevish and fretful continually tumbling and tossing from one place to another always restless this with several other emergencies weakens thy body and opens the gate for Death to come in even as when an enemy is resolv'd to Storm a City he first batters down its walls with his great Cannons and makes a breach large enough for a general assault then he commands his forces to stand to their Arms and he at the head of them marches on and makes himself Master of the place So before Death a mortal infirmity leads the van beats down thy natural Strength dismounts all thy senses gives thee no rest night or day batters down thy body with its violent fits so that the Soul is at last forc'd to withdraw from her old habitation to take up her quarters the Lord knows where But when the Infirmity is come to that height that thy Physitian and thy self too have no hopes of further life O what Anguishes what apprehensions what grief what trouble seizes thy poor heart and tares it asunder Videbunt quibus sacrificaverunt Eccl. then the whole series of thy former life comes into thy minde and thy dearest objects will then become the subjects of thy greatest sorrow thy Wife and Children thy Friends and Relations thy Riches thy Honours thy Titles thy Imployments with the rest which thou hast made thy Gods on Earth shall come in a croud to discompose thy Soul Soon after this alteration of thy minde comes another which is the forerunner of death thy forehead is harden'd and thy skin cleaves close to thy skull a cold sweat trickles down thy face thy eye-strings are already broken and thy eye-lids are fall'n down thy ears are deaf thy nose grows thin and sharp thy nostrils stuff'd up with corruption thy face turns to its original colour which is that of clay thy mouth is contracted thy tongue is stupifi'd and can no more perform its duty thy tast is gone thy lips are pale thy breath finks down to the bottom of thy breast thy hands are cold thy nails black thy pulse slow and weak sometimes at a stop and now and then revives thy feet have no more life they have lost their natural heat Infine all thy flesh is in a short space to be turn'd into corruption This is thy end O man but as thou art a Christian hear what shall enfue before the Separation of thy Soul from thy Body Then thou shalt imagine the Judgment of God to be at hand then thou shalt have a full view of all thy fins both great and small then all thy abominations and crimes shall come in a body to accuse thee before the dreadful Tribunal of my divine Justice Then thou shalt acknowledge tho' too late how sordid how heinous and how horrid were the crimes which thou hadst so easily so desperately committed against me without the least apprehension of my indignation wrath O what curses what bitter imprecations wilt thou utter at that fatal hour against the day in which thou hast offended me thou wilt curse even the place the occasion and complices of thy sins Thou wilt curse and condemn thine own folly and the wickedness of those which brought thee by their ill examples to forfiet the everlasting joys of Heaven for such trifles as are all the false and treacherous pleasures of this world pereat dies inqua natus sum c. Job 3.3 The afflictions of Job were nothing to those that shall be heap'd upon thee in that dreadful day of my visitation yet he cries out let the day perish wherein I was born and the night in which it was said there is a man-childe conceiv'd and what will thy feeling be when thou shalt see thy self depriv'd of all happiness and excluded from Heaven for an Eternity by the means of those vain sordid and transitory pleasures which thou hast taken in thy life-time when thou shalt behold thy self surrounded on all sides with tribulations and anguishes without any hopes of a longer life when there shall be no place for pennance when the days of grace are past when even those whom thou hast lov'd beyond all measure and reason cann't afford unto thee the least comfort but rather will kill thee with displeasure because they were thy beloved Idols and the only objects of thy adorations but now they shall become the subject of thy Eternall confusion Tell me O man when thou shalt see thy self brought to this deprorable state
wrath will it have heap'd together with what an impetuous fury will it burst out upon a wretched sinner at the point of his death Tunc incipient dicere montibus cadite super nos Luk. 23.50 The same Prophet goes on with his description of this dreadful River which shall issue from my Countenance and says that it shall be so terrible that the wicked will invite even the Rocks and Mountains to fall upon them and shelter them from it's scorching waves The Prophet Isaiah sets forth my Justice in a more dreadful manner Isa 56. he says that I will come cloth'd in garments of vengeance and cover'd with a Robe of zeal and that I will give unto my Adversaries my Indignation and that my Enemies shall have their reward The Wiseman comes yet closer to the matter for he says that my zeal shall take up arms and that I shall animate all creatures to revenge me of my Enemies that I shall put on Justice as a brest-plate take the head-piece of righteous Judgment and shall sharpen my wrath as a lance nay I shall not only appear to Sinners at the hour of death as an enrag'd arm'd man Ose 13. but as a Bear that has been robb'd of her whelps that I shall tear their entrails in peices and devour them as a Lyon 'T is certain there is not among the Beasts a more fierce by nature then a Lyon or a more furious then a Bear especially when she has lost her young ones and that I who am by nature infinitely good mild and loving should compare my self to such monsters of nature for fierceness and cruelty is to express sensibly the terrors of my Justice and rigour against Sinners in that day of wrath full of calamity and misery Dies irae dies illa calamitatis miseriae dies magna amara valde miss de req in that great sorrowful and most bitter day O man take notice of this dreadful expression 't is able to terrify thy heart and to bring a trembling over all thy body Consider well how many poor Souls hast thou led astray from my paths by thy poysonous doctrine and evil examples how many poor Souls are now in Hell-fire solely upon the account of the damnable principles which thou hast still'd into their ears and hearts and which they carry'd along with them to their graves How many innocent and virtuous young Maids and Women hast thou forc'd out of my service to satisfy thy lustful desires I say forc'd them because that perceiving them in a wanting condition thou hast wrought upon their necessity and weakness both by giving them what thou shouldst have kept for the maintenance of thy proper Wife and Children Assure thy self that in the hour of thy death I shall appear unto thee as a Bear whom thou hast robb'd of so many young ones yea and shall tear thy entrails in peices for all thy misdemeanours extortions and oppressions I will devour thee as a Lyon as well for working the destruction of thy own Soul as for contributing to the loss of many others by thy bad examples 'T is by reason of the severity of my Justice against Sinners in the hour of their death that Daniel says there shall proceed from my face a River of fire because this Element of all others is the most active and so pure that it will not admit of any mixture whereas Earth will lodge in its bosom Mines of several mettals and Quarries of divers sorts of Stone Water will entertain a pleasant variety of Fishes the Air gives liberty to all sorts of Fowl to fly through all it's region and does also harbour a vast multitude of vapours exhalations and several other bodies but Fire endures nothing it melts the hardest mettals reduces even stones into Cinders consumes living Creatures converts Trees into its own Substance and turns all that is contrary to it into its own nature The same shall happen in that day of my wrath all shall be rigour and Justice without any mixture of mercy nay the very mercies which I have exhibited to sinners in their life time shall then be both a motive to kindle my indignation and fuel to blaze up my incensed Justice against them O man consider therefore whilst thou hast time to repent nay and seriouslytoo what a sad condition thou shalt see thy self in at that instant when neither my bloud shed for thee nor my self crucifi'd for thy sake nor the powerful intercession of my most blessed Mother nor the prayers of my Saints no nor my divine mercy it self shall contribute any thing to thy safety No this life once past thou art to expect no Patron no Protectour but thy virtuous actions thy Angel Guardian and all the Saints thy Advocates shall abandone thee thy vast riches the greatness of thy Authority thy numerous Servants thy learned Counsels will not avail thee nor defend thy Process thy good works alone will defend thee from the rigour of my Justice when the Treasures thou hast heap'd up in the world and been so careful to preserve shall fail thee Thine Alms bestow'd upon the poor shall stick close to thee and pleade for thy pardon in a powerful manner Thy Wife thy Children thy Kindred Friends and Followers shall go no farther then the grave with thee but the Strangers which thou hast lodg'd the sick which thou hast visited and the needy which thou hast succour'd will bear thee company even before my dreadful Throne and place thee at my right hand among the number of my blessed for ever MAN O My most gracious Saviour withdraw thy hand far from me and let not thy dread make me afraid Job 13. Wherefore hidest thou thy face holdest me for thy Enemy wilt thou break a leaf that is driven to fro with every little puff of wind and wilt thou so rigorously pursue the dry stubble for thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks and lookest narrowly unto all my paths thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet who am to be consum'd as a rotten thing and as a garment that is moth-eaten Man that is born of a Woman is of few days and full of trouble He comes forth like a flower and is cut down He vanisheth also as a shadow and continues not And dost thou fix thine eyes upon such an one and bringest me into Judgment with thee Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean These are the words of the most afflicted of mortals and Mirror of Patience admiring the severity of thy Justice against Man a creature so weak so frail and so prone to all manner of evil against a wretch viciously inclin'd from his cradle that drinks up iniquity with as much pleasure and case as he would a glass of Spring-water in his greatest drougth on a hot Summers day It were a subject of
less admiration hadst thou dealt so rigorously with Angels that are spiritual creatures and of a far more eminent perfection then men can ever attain to To be so severe with poor man who lies groaning under the weight of so many predominant passions and such a number of evil inclinations which do wholly estrange him from the desire and practise of virtue To bring him I say to so strict an account of all his actions that thou wilt not pass by even the least idle word that ever he spoke nor the least moment of time that he has mispent O most gracious Saviour give me leave to tell thee that the rigour of thy Justice herein does transcend my admiration Amen amen dico vobis de omni verbo otioso quod locuti fuerint homines reddent rationem in die Judicij Mat. 12.36 and the more abundantly because I hear thy self say every Idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of Judgement If that be so as without doubt it is what a rigourous account must be taken of all dishonest impertinent and scurrulous words what of lies and perjuries what of horrid and abominable oaths what of all hellish imprecations and blasphemys what of all wanton and lacivious thoughts and looks what of Adulterers murtherers and highway robbers In fine what a rigourous account must be given of the whole time of life spent in the works of iniquity All that the best of Orators is able to say of the severity and rigour of thy Judgment will be far short of what it will really be in that dreadful day of thy wrath nay it will not be so much as an empty shaddow to the substance of the matter O what a confusion poor man will be in when he must appear before thy dreadful Throne in the presence of that great assembly of all mankinde and give an exact account of the least idle word he had spoken at this or that time who would not be astonish'd and totally stupify'd at such a reckoning who would dare speak of it but that thou sayst it thy self or who would presume to affirm it but that thou dost thy self confirm it with an Amen Amen What King was ever heard of that call'd his Servants to question for so slite an offence as is an idle word O Christian Religion how sublime is thy perfection how great is the purity of minde which thou dost require of thy Professors how strict is the reckoning which thou dost exact from them and with what severity dost thou chastise even the very least of their evil actions how great will the shame and confusion of Sinners be when all the abominations and sins which they had committed even from their Cradle to the hour of their death were they never so privately acted so carefully conceal'd or so secretly kept shall be discover'd and laid open to the eyes of the whole world If we be so much asham'd to discover our imperfections to a Ghostly Father who is oblig'd to secresy under a penalty full as bad if not worse then that of death that sometimes we have not a word to say Osee 10. how excessive great will our shame be in thy presence O Lord and in the sight of all ages past present and to come O' it will be so intollerable that the wicked shall intreat even the Mountains to cover them and the hills to fall upon them Psal 89. They shall say with thy prophet We are dismay'd O Lord with thy wrath and troubled with thy fury but for what reason because thou hast set our wickedness before thee and hast plac'd them in thy sight 'T is true that in this life Sin does not appear so pernicious to our eyes which makes us be the less concern'd for it but at the instant of death when it shall shew it self with all its deformity Pereat dies inquo natus sum Job ibid. the very sight of it will confound us to such an exremity that we shall curse the day that ever we were born They seem in this life but light and trivial and that makes us not scruple them much but in the day of thy wrath O Lord we shall finde them heavy grevious and insupportable We know by experience that a piece of Timber tho' never so great when it floats in a deep water may be mov'd and drawn from place to place even by a Child we know likewise that the most part of it lies under the water and clear out of our sight but when it is brought upon dry land no less then half a dozen horses will suffice to bring it off then we may perceive perfectly the whole bulk of it 'T is even so with our Sins in the tempestuous Seas of this unstable and transitory life they are conceal'd from our eyes but in the hour of death in the day of Judgment we shall clearly discover their bulk number and weight and shall groan under so heavy and so unsupportable a burthen Then we shall finde a number of our actions which we thought very good to be most grievous Sins 't is therefore thou sayst by thy Prophet when I shall take a proper time then I will Judge Righteousness Who would imagine that the action of Oza 2 Reg. 6.6 when he upheld the Ark in danger of falling was an offence yet O Lord thou hast chastiz'd it as a great Sin with no less a punishment then that of a most disastrous death who would ever believe that Davids numbring of his People was an offence 2 Reg. 24.13 but rather an act of discretion and Policy yet thou hast punish'd him for it with a Pestilence never to be paralel'd 1 Reg. 15.18 Saul was urg'd by his approaching Enemies and by Samuel's long delay to offer Sacrifice this was an act of Religion which is the most heroick and greatest of virtues consequently he thought it should be most acceptable to thee and of force to obtain him a victory against his Foes yet it was a most grievous Sin in thy presence since for that alone thou hast reprov'd him degraded him from his Royal Dignity and cast him off as a lost Soul for an Eternity Achabs action might be look'd upon as the worthy product of a masculine spirit for what is more generous then to pardon an enemy and what can be more divine then to spare his life the chief ground of Davids promotion to the Crown and Scepter of Israel Diligite Inimicos vestros Mat. 5.44 Pater ignosce illis Luc. 23.34 was his Clemency to Saul moreover thou dost expresly command it thy self and thou hast also earnestly pray'd thy Eternal Father to pardon thine enemies Achab having conquer'd Benhadad King of Syria pardon'd him gave him his life and took him up to sit by him in his Royal Chariot yet this action which was so much prais'd and so extoll'd by men was so hainous so displeasing to thee that thou
Philosophers have already so confounded me that I have not a word to say in my own defence and do very much apprehend that my confusion will be far greater in the day of thy wrath when they shall all appear as evidences against me and Judge me worthy to be their footstool in Hell for an Eternity and to be trampled on Ponet illum inconculcationem quasi lutum plarearum Isa 10.6 Castigo Corpus meum in servitutem redigo ne forte cum aliis predicaverim ipse reprobus efficiam 1 Cor. 9.27 like the mire of the streets because they did better things ass isted only by the feeble light of nature then I have perform'd having the powerful assistance of thy Grace St. Paul offers me the same means that himself took to prevent so horrid a confusion I keep my body under and bring it to subjection lest that by any means when I have preach'd to others I my self should be a cast-away but alas this remedy is in a manner as hard to me as the disease for certainly it would shorten my days to be always in prayer still weeping constantly watching lying perpetually upon the ground wearing of haircloth night und day And besides St. Augustin tells me Aug. Hom. ult ex 50.5 it is not enough to do all this to change my life and to desist hankering after vice but I must of necessity make attonement to God for my past Sins by the constant and dayly practise of sorrowful Pennance humble sighs contrition of heart and of giving Alms. St. Cypr. l. de lap l. 5. Epist ad Cornel. And the reason St. Cyprian gives for it is that a prevalent and tedious medicine must be apply'd to a desperate and deep sore and that the Pennance must be of as long continuance as was the fault St. Hierom is much of the fame opinion for he will have our long and sinfull pastime to be expiated with as long lamentations and sorrow Epist 7. ad Eustoch he will have our soft linnen and silk apparel to be chang'd into a sharp hair-cloth And St. Ambrose says positively that as a great malady requires a long course of Physick Ambr. ad Virg. lapsum 8. so great offences must of necessity be cleans'd with a long continn'd Pennance and often reiterated acts of Contrition What shall I do in this case Quid faciam fodere non valeo mendicare erubesco Luc. 16.3 my dear Saviour I know the remedies which thy Holy Doctors prescribe are most wholesome for my Soul but I am not able to swallow such bitter Pills on the other side I am in a strange confusion to see my felf out-done by Pagans even in the most essential parts of Christianity for they have more love for virtue and a far greater abhorrence of Sin then I have Aristotle declares it were better to dy Aristot 3. Eth. then do any thing against the good of virtue Seneca and Peregrinus are more resolute in the matter Tho' I were certain says the former that men should never know it and that God would pardon me yet I would not offend him for the filthiness of sin no says the latter for there is nothing can happen unto man more horrible and more destructive of his fame and fortune then to commit a Sin Nay even those Philosophers Plato in Demetrio who deni'd the immortality of the Soul and the Providence of God were of opinion that nothing no not even the loss of his life should oblige a man to commit it And there have been some who have suffer'd great extremitys to decline a vicious act Democles was one of them for he choos'd to be boil'd in scalding water rather then give his consent to Sin Verterius conceiv'd so great a horrour against uncleanness that he suffer'd Prison whips and other most rigorous torments rather then he would sin against chastity O my Soul if the manifold and rare examples of Heathens the Masculine courage and great exploits of Pagans the powerful and zealous exhortations of Saints be not able to move thee to a speedy resolution of amendment to labour hardly for an eternal weight of glory whilst thou hast time Descendant in Infernum viventes Ps 54.16 and to secure thy self from falling into the everlasting and insufferable torments of Hell by making a plentiful provision of good works in the days of thy life let the Holy Ghost at least perswade thee to undertake so good and so beneficial a work he exhorts thee to learn of the Emmet how to provide in the heat of Summer against the cold of Winter Pro. 20. Run about says he make hast stir up thy self give no sleep unto thy eyes let not thy eye-lids slumber Skip out as a Doe from the hands of him that holds her and as a Bird out of the hand of the Fouler Go unto the Emmet thou sloathful man and consider her doings and learn to be wise she having no guide no teacher or Captain provides meat for her self in the Summer and heaps together in the Harvest that which may serve her to feed upon in the winter The sloathful man says he again will not sow in the winter for that is cold therefore shall beg in the Summer and no man shall take pity of him O my Soul this is the very misfortune that came upon the rich Glutton he forgot to provide for his Soul in this world he fed himself with all the varieties that Gold and Silver could purchase and had no compassion of the poor but now he starves in Hell with hunger and dyes with thirst and none has compassion of him O my Saviour give us I beseech thee a full discourse upon this Subject for that or nothing will do the work with me SAVIOVR O Man Me non timebitis a facie mea non dolebitis qui posui arenam terminum mari praeceptum sempiternum quod non praeteribit intumescent fluctus ejus non transibunt illud Jer. 5.22 thou must know that I am great and wonderful in all my works great in the creation of man great in submitting all creatures to his disposition power to be us'd by him at will great in bringing out of nothing what wonders of nature thou seest dayly before thy eyes great in suppressing the raging waves of the Seas and setting bounds to that tumultuary and aspiring Element which these so many thousand years have withstood its frequent and furious attacks I am great and wonderful also in ordering a Hell and an Eternity of torments for all those that dye in my displeasure I am an Omnipotent God in all my actions omnipotent in my wrath omnipotent in my Justice and omnipotent likewise in the punishment which I do inflict upon the wicked It 's therefore the Prophet says O man fear ye not the Lord and wilt thou not tremble in his presence who has plac'd the land for the bound of the Sea by a
ease of all intermission of all comfort is shut up for ever There is none to be expected from Heaven none from Earth none from the Creatour and none from all the Creatures no were they thy dearest friends and nearest relations there is no consolation to be hop'd for but extream desolation for all Eternity Luc. 16. Thou hast a lively expression hereof in that dreadful Parable of the rich Glutton in Hell see to what an extream necessity he was driven to desire after so pittiful a manner that Lazarus might dip the top only of his finger in water to cool his tongue therewith in the midst of that scorching fire wherein he was tormented and yet this small favour this slender request would not be granted to him O ye rich of the world that make your Gods your treasures consider seriously the severity of my Justice Redde rationem villicationis tuae Luc. 16.2 what a strict account you are to give me of all your expences how and after what manner you have spent the least sarthing consider also what torments you shall suffer in Hell if you have imploy'd your wealth as this unfortunate glutton had done to pamper up your bodys without any regard to your Souls And let this consideration move you to the perfect amendment of your lives now while you do live and the gate of my mercy is open to you This is the only time wherein you may avoid all those everlasting misfortunes now is the only season to prevent my indignation wrath if you be wise you will not delay a matter of such great importance for you do not know what will become of you to morrow no nor what you may be an hour hence Noli te obdurate corda vestra c. Psal 94.8 Do not harden your hearts as the people of Israel did in the provocation as in the day of temptation in the wilderness Iest I swear in my wrath that you shall not enter into my rest If Pharaoh had resolv'd an amendment while Moises was with him how fortunate a Creature had he been If the rich Glutton had taken the time while Lazarus lay at his door how blessed a man had he made himself He was foretold his misery as you are now by Moises and other Prophets according to my directions but he would not take notice of their words he gave no ear to their exhortations but soon after he fell into such detestation of his own folly that he would needs have Lazarus sent from Abrahams bosom unto his Brethren in the world to warn them of his error and evil consequences thereof But Abraham answer'd it was to no purpose in as much as they would give no credit to Lazarus but rather stone him to death for disgracing their honour'd deceas'd Brother by revealing his torments The wicked men now alive would do no less to any that should tell them of their Parents and Friends being tormented in Hell for such offences as themselves are guilty of What could I do more to save their Souls then to send them Preachers and Teachers to give them necessary instructions to work their Salvation They were often told that leading the life they do they can't avoid the misfortune of this unhappy wretch they know or ought to know that many before them have been damn'd for less matters They cann't choose but know that they must shortly dy and receive themselves as they receiv'd living as they did or rather worse They are often told that the pains prepar'd for the wicked are intollerable and eternal too They do acknowledge them to be most unfortunate that for any pleasure or interest of this world have run the hazard of their own Salvation and have made themselves the worthy objects of my everlasting indignation and yet they continue their wicked course of life An divitias bonitatis ejus longanimi atem contemnis ignorans quoniam benignitas Dei ad paenitentiam te adducit secundum autem duritiam tuam impaenitens cor tuum thesanrirasti iram in die irae revalationis justi Judicy Dei qui reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus Rom. 2.4 5 6. despising the riches of my goodness and forbearance long suffering not knowing that my goodness leads them to repentance but after their harden'd and impenitent hearts they treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of my righteous Judgment who wil render to them according to their deeds Tell me O man who ever would be so earnest to heap up a treasure as not to let one day pass without adding something to it and that for the space of fifty or threescore years sure he would then at the opening of his trunks finde a vast treasure this is thy case O unfortunate wretch dost thou not know that there is not a day or an hour that passes wherein thou dost not increase the treasure of my wrath which is reserved for thy destruction and which is augmented by every Sin thou dost commit every lascivious look thou givest every unclean thought every impure desire thy hatred thy revenge thy great oaths thy perjurys thy blasphemys with the rest of thy wicked doings which are enough to fill up a vast volume and going on thus for the space of so many years how immense must be the treasure of my wrath against thee if thou diest impenitent Thou must know that I am thy God and thy Judge too consequently that my duty is to take care that the punishment be equal to the offence Hebr. 10.29 Rursum crucifi gentes sibimet ipsis filium Dei ostentui habentes Hebr. 6.6 Memorare novissima tua in aeternum non peccabis Eccl. 7.40 and satisfactory to the person offended Thou hast troden me under foot and hast counted the blood of the covenant wherewith thou wert sanctifi'd an unholy thing and hast done despite unto the spirit of my grace nay thou hast often crucifi'd me to thy self and put me to an open shame wherefore as I am infinite in all my Attributes and in all respects thy pains must be likewise infinite in all manner of rigour O man thou hast given me hitherto a reasonable account of matters belonging to thy Salvation and as this point is one of the chiefest conducing to it and besides is a main obstacle to the increase of vice I do not doubt but thou art sufficiently instructed herein let me therefore hear from thee what the holy Fathers and Doctours of my Church say of the Damn'd and of the rigour of their punishments MAN Infandum Jehova Jubes renovare dolores Inferni poenas quas detestabile Regnum Ditis habet quarum pars magna est faetor ignis Adde quod aeterno privantur lumine Solis Cunctipotentis ibi torquentur corpora miris Nocte diuque modis Nulli patet exitus ex hoc Ignivomente Lacn Densa in caligine pressi Damnati stabunt manibus pedibusque
ligatis Discite Mortales facilis descensus Avcrni Sed revocare gradum superûmque evadere ad orbem Hoc opus hic labor est Solis quos Christus amavit Arbiter aut ardens evexit ad Athera virtus Tantus erit concessus honor Jesuque potiri Perpetuo Aspectu Sanctis simul annumerari Angelicisque choris sine fine dicentibus hymnum Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus Dominus Deus omni Potens qui est qui erat qui venturus est MOst Gracious Saviour in order to comply with thy command I must premit these two considerations First that there is nothing happens to mortals in this life or in the other but by thy permission Secondly that the Devil who is the mortal Enemy of all mankind is to be the Executioner of thy Justice in Hell and sometimes on Earth as appears by what St. John says in his Revelations I saw says he Apoc. 9. a Star fall from heaven unto the Earth And to him was given the key of the bottomless pit And he open'd the bottomless pit and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great Furnace and the Sun and the Air were darken'd by reason of the smoke of the pit And there came out of the smoke Locusts upon the Earth and unto them was given power Adescription of the power of hell as the Scorpions of the Earth have power And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the Earth neither any green thing neither any Tree but only those men which have not the Seal of God in their for-heads And to them was given that they should not kill them but that they should be tormented five Months and their torment was as the torment of a Scorpion when he strikes a Man And in those days shall a man seek Death and shall not finde it and shall desire to dye and Death shall fly from them And the shapes of the Locusts were like unto horses prepar'd unto battle and on their heads were as it were Crowns like gold and their faces were as the faces of men And they had hair as the hair of women and their teeth were as the teeth of Lions And they had breast-plates as it were breast-plates of Iron and the sound of their wings was as the sound of Chariots of many horses running to battle and they had tails like unto Scorpions and there were Stings in their tails St. Augustin says that the meaning of the holy Ghost who is the undoubted Authour of this Scripture was to represent unto us under so formidable and dreadful a figure the severity of thy Justice the greatness of thy chastisements thereby to frighten the wicked debar them from ever offending so powerful and so dreadful a Judge He understands by that Star which fell from Heaven unto the Earth and to whom the key of that bottomless pit was given Exod. 8. Lucifer a most beautiful and resplendent Angel indeed who for his Pride was cast down from Heaven to assume the fatal Government of that Region of everlasting darkness and by those Locusts like unto horses arm'd and ready for a battle the infernal Spirits which were the associates of his rebellon in Heaven and now are become his Ministers and the tyranical executioners of his inbred rage and malice against men by that grass and green plants which they are prohibited to hurt he understands the Just whose Souls being moisten'd with the waters of thy divine grace do sprout out the green leaves the flourishing branches and the most odoriferous fruit of life everlasting But what are those that have not the Seal of God in their foreheads which is the glorious character and distinctive mark of thy faithfull Servants O Lord what but the wicked 't is then against them only that this great Army of Devils are to fight these are the People which they are to torment according to their demerits and the Services which they had exhibited unto them in their life even as the People of Egypt were punish'd by the very flies and frogs which they had ador'd as their Gods a little before What a horror will it be to them to behold in that most obscure and nasty dungeon of Hell so many thousands of hideous and ill shap'd Monsters what a fearful thing will it be to stand in full view of that hungry Dragon bursting with rage and fury against those unfortunate Slaves of that Behemoth that Job speaks of who eats grass as an Ox Job 40. who has his strength in his loins and his force in the navel of his belly who moves his tail like a Cedar who devours the mountains drinks up the rivers who makes nothing to draw Jordan into his mouth and eyes This dreadful Monster is to execute thy Sentence O Lord against the damn'd what favour what mercy can they expect at his hands being he deals so cruelly even with those who are not his slaves but are only deliver'd to his power in order to exercise their patience Behold how cruelly he treats that Innocent and harmless Job after he had consum'd by fire all his sheep and his Servants after he had taken away all his Cows his Camels Asses and slain their keepers after he had beat down his houses and Smother'd all his Children under their ruines he cover'd his body from head to foot with so loathsome an Ulcer that he was an eye-sore to his whole family and cast out upon a dunghill where he lay without any comfort relief or assistance from any friend or relation so that he was forc'd himself to scrape off the worms and corruption that came from his wounds with a pot-sheard His poor body was so far consum'd and left so lean that only so much flesh remain'd about his lips as might enable him to speak and make answer The night which brings some refreshment and ease to the afflictions of others augmented his misery and increas'd his pains with most dreadful apparitions his Wife which should be a great comfort to him in his deplorable state and condition was one of his greatest plagues for she did both rail and vilify him to that degree as to tell him to his face that she could not endure the noisomeness of his putrifi'd body and bid him to curse God and dye like a rotten dog as he was His friends were no less cruel to him upon the same account for in seven days they did not speak a word to condole his misfortune O most gracious Saviour if thou hast permitted that cruel and devouring Dragon to handle so roughly the simple pious obedient pure and Saint-like Job only to exercise his patience and convince the Devil that thou hadst a faithful Servant upon Earth what a large commission and full liberty wilt thou give him to torment in Hell Adulterers Murtherers High-way robbers Usurers Drunkards Cheats Knights of the Post Lascivious companions cruel Parents Disloyal and stif-necked Children and all
which was only stop'd for want of Enemies He caus'd seven thousand Citizens of Rome to be slaughter'd at once and some of the Senators being startled at their crys that were heard in the Senat-house let us minde our business says Sylla this is nothing but a few Mutineers that I have order'd to be sent out of the way A glorious Spectacle says Hannibal when he saw the Trenches flowing with humane blood and if the rivers had run blood too would hav lik'd it so much the better O most gracious Saviour how couldst thou suffer such monsters of nature to live upon Earth or how came it that the ground did not swallow them into it's bowels But alas why should I admire such cruelty among men being they were set on by the Devil who has been always a most cruel Tyrant to Mankind but especially when they are deliver'd over into his power We are amaz'd to hear of such unhumame and barbarous actions we are astonish'd to think of that hellish invention of Phalaris to roste men alive in his brasen Bull But alas all these torments and bloudy slaughters are meer toys in respect of what is exercis'd in Hell for the torments there are so great that they can't be express'd and no wonder being that the only pain of fire comprizes as many torments as the body of man has Limbs Joynts Sinews Arteries c. and especially being caus'd by so penetrating a fire in respect of which our temporal fire tho' it were made of all the combustible matter in the world is no more then a painted fire And in those flames of Hell the Souls of the damn'd must burn not for an hour nor a year De cadaveribus eorum ascendet faetor Isa 34.3 Famem patientur ut canes Psa 5.7 8. nor an Age but for an Eternity and have the Pestilential vapours of so many damn'd bodys perpetually at their noses and all that time suffer hunger as dogs which is one of the greatest torments in Hell Quintillian says that Famine is the most pressing of all necessities and the most dreadfull of all evils that Plagues and Wars are felicities compar'd with this affliction If then a famine of so many months or of a shorter time as that which the Inhabitants of Jerusalem suffer'd when they were brought to that distress as to eat their Children be the greatest of temporal evils what must we believe of the famine which the damn'd shall suffer in Hell for an Eternity O Epicures and ye that make your Gods of your bellys give ear unto what the Son of God foretels of you you shall finde it in St. Luke Wo says he unto you who make it your work to pamper your bodys and fill your paunches with the most delicious viands wine that can be purchas'd for Silver or Gold for the day shall come that you shall be hunger-starv'd and with a hunger that shall continue for an Eternity A Temporal hunger may bring men to such extremitys as to eat Dogs Cats Rats Mice Snakes Toads Leather and Dung nay it has already brought several Countrys and whole Cities to that calamity and forc'd Mothers to devour their own Children and men to eat the flesh of their own arms as it happen'd to Zeno the Emperour If hunger be so great a chastisement in this life how will it afflict the damn'd in the other where they shall tear one another to peices not for a year or an Age Apoc. 18. but for an Eternity Consider my Soul how the Devil measures his torments to the damned by their offences and how God commands him as the Executioner of his Justice in-Hell to make them suffer their pains proportionable to the pleasures they took in this life this puts me in minde of a very Remarkable passage of a Noble-man who took all his pleasure in Tilting and running at the Ring this was his constant exercise which he prefer'd even before the practise of devotion and piety so that he was a perfect Worldling without any care of his Soul or the least apprehension of Hell and in this neglect of his Salvation he dy'd his Lady being otherways inclin'd and very much addicted to contemplation always earnestly imploring of God the favour to let her understand the State and condition her Husband was in which was at last granted and he was represented unto her in the same shape as she had seen him alive but not attended by the same company for he was now encompass'd with a multitude of Devils the chief commander of them in her hearing gave orders they should fit their new Guest with a pair of fiery shoes whose flames might reach his very head then he commanded they should put him on a red-hot coat of Male made full of sharp Spikes Camtip l. 2.9.2 Joan. major v. Inf. Exemp 6. Werm Mon. Carthu in fasci morum which might pierce his body in all parts to accouter him like a compleat Champion he commanded a helmet to be put on him with a pointed nail that might pierce his head and be clench'd below his feet and after this a Target was Put about his neck of so great a weight that it might crush all the bones in his body All this being punctually and speedily perform'd the Prince of darkness made a speech to his Officers to let them know that this worthy Person after he had entertain'd himself in Tilting and the like atchievements of valour and gallantry was accustom'd to refresh his weari'd limbs with sweet Baths and then to retire to some soft bed where he usually sported with other dalliances of sensuality wherefore let him now have somewhat of those refreshments which our Palace does afford to welcome so deserving a Person who has been in his life so faithful to serve us and so obedient to our Suggestions whereupon they presently hurl'd him into a fire which was prepar'd for him then forsooth to ease him they plac'd with him in a bed warm'd red hot a Toad of a huge size with most dreadful eyes which clipp'd the noble Spark very closely kissing embracing him in so rufual a manner that he roar'd out like a furious Lion and brought him even to the pangs of death Another man she saw seated in a chair of fire and certain women thrusting into his mouth burning torches and drawing them out at other parts of his body these Women she was told were his accomplices and the instruments of his Sins But what are all these torments to the eternal loss of the fruition and sight of thee my Saviour wherein our Divines do place the everlasting beatitude and Supream felicity of mankinde in the next life St Thom. part 1.7 1 art 4 7.12 art 1. 7.6 art 3. c. for the Angellical Doctor says the sight of God or to see God in his own nature or Essence is the whole substance of our everlasting happiness in the life to come what a deplorable loss then will it
be to the damn'd to be depriv'd of this unspeakable comfort for an Eternity 't is so deplorable that Scripture does place it in the first rank of all other losses damages torments miseries that can befall a damn'd Soul let the wicked man be taken away Tollatur Impius ne videat gloriam Dei Esai 16. to the end he may not see the glory of God says the Prophet From this loss proceeds that great and general torment so often repeated in Scripture by the name of the worm of Conscience so call'd because as a worm lies eating gnawing the wood wherein she abides so shall the remorse of their Consciences ly within the damn'd griping and tormenting them for ever it shall be to them a remembrancer to put them in minde of the means and causes of their everlasting damnation which will make them to fret and rage and admire their own folly to have hanker'd so much after the vanities of the World and neglected the grand work of their Salvation Hear how they exclaim in Hell what has our Pride Sap. 5. or what has the glory of our Riches profited us they are all now vanish'd like a shaddow We have wearied our selves in the way of iniquity and perdition and the way of our Lord we have not known This shall be their everlasting ditty thus shall their tormented Conscience rave in Hell O most gracious Saviour when I see to my great sorrow in this sad Age we live in poor Mortals so far blinded with their worldly interest so deeply engag'd in the mire of iniquity so much taken with their sinful recreations and pastimes so deaf to thy Inspirations and callings so avers'd to the practise of piety and devotion such great enemies to mortification and pennance I despair in a manner of their Salvation and the rather that these so powerful motives can't prevail with them or make them desist lusting after those poysonous baits which the Devll presents unto them dayly and at every moment and which they with as much ease swallow as he takes pleasure to destroy their Souls Their common discourse is 't is time enough to think of Pennance when we come to old Age for then we shall be fit for no other thing O most Sacred Saviour thou sayst thou wilt not the death of a Sinner wherefore be pleas'd to let them know the danger of delaying their conversion and of deferring their repentance untill their latter days SAVIOVR THere is a kinde of People in the World Rom. 16. Tit. 1. says my Apostle that do exteriourly and by words confess God and profess themselves to be as good Christians as the rest yet interiourly and by the products of their doble dissembling hearts they don't believe there is a God at least with those Attributes that are as essential to him as his divine Nature and which I call infinite knowledge Providence Care and disposition of humane affairs Justice Judgment Punishment and the like These they do not indeed believe because their life and actions are quite contrary to a well-grounded belief Scripture avers it with a wo unto the dissolute and careless in heart who do not believe God Vae dissolutis corde qui non credunt Deo Eccl. 2. Deut. 22. These are the men whom I do hate and detest with all my heart because they plow with an Ox and an Ass together because they sow their ground with mingl'd Seed and their Apparel is made of flax and wool together These are them I spoke of in the Revelations Apoc. 3. I would thou wert either cold or hot but for that thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot therefore will I begin to vomit thee out of my mouth These are they who can accord all Religions together and take up all Controversys by only saying that either they are differences of small importance or else that they are out of their Province and belong only to learned men to dispute of but not unto them moreover they are of opinion that both parts do erre in somewhat or may be agreed and go both to Heaven These are the men who can apply themselves to any company to any time to any Government to any Princes pleasure to any Religion but will not admit of any discourse of Devotion in their presence only they will have men eat drink and be merry with them tell news of the Court and affairs abroad Sing Dance Laugh and play at Cards and dice and so they spend their lives in their Sinful recreations without any thoughts of God without any care of Salvation without any apprehension of Death depending only upon a good Peccavi in their extremity and when God shall Summon them to another World but alas they shall finde themselves sadly mistaken Vae Impio in malum Esai 3. Ipsi videntes sic admirati sunt conturbati sunt commoti sunt tremor apprehendet eos Psal 47.6 for I shall turn them off with a wo to the wicked and then shall set before their eyes all their abominations and crimes their Usury their Drunkenness their whoredome their treacheries their false Oaths their Extortions and Oppressions of the poor their blasphemies and the rest of their wicked actions shall come in a crowd to confound their Souls their Gold and Silver their Estates and Fortunes which they had so unjustly acquir'd their pleasures treasures now the only object of their adoration shall then become the fatal Subject of their confusion and my Justice shall take delight to batter and break their understanding Conteret Dominus scelestos simul Peccatores Esa 1.28 and memory with the full knowledge of all their Sins and how often they had slieghted my Inspirations my Callings my amorous invitations other innumerable effects of my mercy O silly Souls says St. Paul be not deceiv'd be not so far overseen as to leade a licentious life in hopes to dye a good Death Nolite orrare quae enim seminaverit homo haec metet Qui seminat in carne de carne metet corruptionem Gala. 6.7 Mat. 7.16 for in that dreadful hour you shall reap no better grain then what you have sown if you have been such bad Husbands of your Salvation as to sow and plant nothing else in the Soil ground of your Souls but carnal works you can't pretend to no better Harvest then corruption and everlasting Damnation Do Men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles even so every good Tree brings forth good fruit but a corrupt Tree brings forth evil fruit A good Tree can't bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt Tree bring forth good fruit Every Tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down cast into the fire These are my words 't is I the Eternal verity that speaks them Dicite justo quoniam bene fructum adinventionum suarum commedent Esai 3.10 and therefore they can't be contradicted or falsify'd let all men
and labour which they take to provide so amply for their Wives and Children is sinful and therefore will create an eternal displeasure to their poor Souls This is confirm'd by the Parable which thou didst rehearse of the Rich-man who said what must I do for I have no place vacant wherein to bestow my Fruits and he said this will I do Lac. 12.20 I will demolish my Barns and erect greater and in them will I bestow all my Fruits and my Goods And then I will say to my Soul Soul thou hast much wealth laid up for many years take now thine ease Eat Drink and be merry And did not God say unto him thou Fool this night thy Soul shall be requir'd of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided So He that impiously or immoderatly lays up treasure for himself his Wife and Family expecting to enjoy it many years deserves the same title and may as suddenly be disappointed because he had improv'd his own Stock and rob'd God his heavenly King of his Custom that is He never according to his capacity bestow'd any part of his treasure in pious works as Gods law doth require And indeed if this be well consider'd We shall finde it an excessive folly and maddness too What can it be term'd else to damn ones Soul to leave ones Wife and Children rich in the world This is certainly the height of madness and a meer delusion of the Devil for one moment after We are dead We shall care no more for all our Kindred then we shall for strangers and one penny given in Alms while we liv'd for thy sake O Lord shall bring us more comfort at that day then thousands of pounds bestow'd even upon our nearest Relations to make them rich It is of such People that the Prophet Royal speaks Universa vanitas omnis homo viveâ—s Psal 39. where he says that all their actions are nothing but meer vanity for what greater vanity is there then to bequeath such vast Sums of Gold and Silver to their own kindred and leave in a manner nothing for the good of their immortal Souls Vae vobis qui trahitis iniquitatem in funiculis vanitatis Esai 56. Were we to go a long journey We would be sure to carry some provision with us for to support our bodys and We shall take no care for our Souls when they are in their departing Agony ready to begin that painful and frightful voyage of Eternity Surely such men walk unprofitably certainly they are disquieted in vain they heap up Riches and know not who shall enjoy them their life is a gathering of all kinde of vansty vanity in ambition vanity in Riches vanity in pleasures vanity in their corporal beauty vanity in their Apparel vanity in all things which they most esteem vanity in all their life vanity in their death In fine vanity in their last Will and Testament wherein their noblest part the Soul has the least share Woe be unto you says the Prophet Psal 3. that do draw wickedness in the ropes of vanity of promotion of dignity of Nobility c. these are the ropes he means and which do always drag with them a vast croud of iniqnity and Sin Thou hast O Lord a mortal hatred for the observers of superfluous vanitys 1 Reg. 17. and thou hast utterly destroy'd the whole Family and Linage of Baasa King of Israel for no other reason but because they had provok'd thee in their vanity Blessed then is that man who has not suffer'd his heart to be seduc'd with the vanity and false madness of this World Beatus vir qui non respexit in vanitates insanias falsas Psal of this Vale of tears of this deplorable banishment of this boisterous Sea so full of disasters that there 's not a day nor an hour nor a moment of our life but is attended with some misfortune or another the best Arithmetician that ever took pen in hand cannot exactly set down or calculate milerys that are incident to humane nature no tongue is able to express the manifold infirmitys of our Bodys the passions of our Souls all the affronts and injurys we receive as well from Friends as from our Foes all the tribulations and crosses that are laid upon us daily both at home and abroad This Man commences a Law-suit against us without either Equity or Justice but meerly for spite and Malice another lys in wait for us to take away our lives a third man will make it his study to blast our reputation Some are in open wars one with th' other others more subtile will bear their neighbours a mortal grudge but will make no shew of it until they meet with a favourable occasion to execute their malice Da mihi in disco caput Joannis Baptistae Matt. 14.8 the hatred of Herodias against St. John the Baptist was not publickly known to the world until she had perswaded her Daughter to ask no greater favour of Herod then to give her in a dish the head of so renown'd a Prophet and of so glorious a Martyr Some to be reveng'd of their Brothers if they can't annoy their Persons will not scruple to produce false witness to criminate them and be themselves of the number too others will make it their whole business to trot up and down like so many infernal Emissaries and publish wherever they go as well the private as the publick imperfections of this or that other body even as they do maliciously and falsely surmise and will never revoke what they had tax'd him with tho' they were even upon the borders of Hell ready to be cast therein both Soul and body so great is the malice of such desperate and unchristian Sonls There are besides thefe usual calamities an infinite number of others that are nameless because they be sudden and unexpected chances one loses an eye in a Skirmish another his arm one gets a fall from his horse and breaks his neck another in a frantick fit flings himself out of a Window and is bruis'd to death a Third man falls into a Pool or a River and is drown'd If all the Writers of this Sinful Age We live in had taken an exact account from every particular man within the same Century of what distasters had happen'd to him in his life they would certainly have matter enough to fill as many volumes as they have hairs on their heads and if all the merry passages sad rencounters that every individual man had met with in his days were put in a balance the latter would much overweigh the former so he would visibly see that for one hour of pleasure true content he had in his life he met with a hundred of misery of tribulation and anguishes now if the life of Man which is so short be intermix'd with fuch a vast deal of sorrow what a small parcel thereof can pretend to any real felicity if
Lord are constantly fix'd upon those that fear him there 's not a step they go nor an action they do nor a word they speak but he takes an account of He is the powerful Protector of the godly the upholder of the virtuous the Defender of the zealous a comfort to the afflicted a refuge to the Just from the Scorching heat of Lust and all other vices a Preserver from all mortal offences their main help in all their adversitys exalting their Souls illuminating their eyes giving them life health and his everlasting blessings O how many kinds of employments do I take upon me for the welfare and preservation of man Apud Dominum gressus hominis dirigentur viam ejus volet cum ceciderit non collidetur quia Dominus supponit manum suam Psal 36.23 24. The Prophet Royal gives me another office which ought mightily to encourage all Christians to put themselves intirely under my protection which likewise adds very much lustre to my divine love for my faithful and loving Servants The steps of a good man says he are order'd by the Lord and he delights in his way Tho' he should fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him with his hand Consider seriously this amourous expression see what hurt can come to a man that falls upon so sweet and easy and so gracious a cushion as are my sacred hands none at all for I will preserve them so carefully that not even the least harm shall come upon 'em and if any should be so peremptory as to afflict or wrong any that is under my protection I shall take it for an injury done to my self Qui vos tangit tangit pupillam oculi mei Zacha. 2. for He that touches them touches the apple of mine eye Certainly this special care I take to protect the Righteous is a most convincing argument of my great love for them and the command I lay upon my Angels to keep and preserve them in all their ways is altogether as great a proof of my tender kindeness and especially Psal 90. the strict charge I give them to bear men up in their hands lest they should dash their feet against the Stones O Man consider how highly the Righteous are honour'd by me in that I have appointed my Angelical Spirits to bear them up in their Arms What Pope what Emperour what Monarch in the World was ever so well supported Beasts or Mens shoulders at most are enough to carry them but my Angels from Heaven are order'd to bear my Children even in their hands wherever they goe It 's usual with Elder-Brothers if they be not of a moross nature indeed to carry their younger-Brothers in their arms when they are not able to go themselves and this kindness my Angels do faithfully perform to the just as being their Elder Brothers not only in their life time but also in their death as thou mayst read in Scripture Luc. 16. Psal 33. where Lazarus after he died was carri'd by the hands of Angels into Abraham's bosom And my Prophet avers that they surround the Righteous in this life lest any hurt should befal them from any side and I keep a vigilant eye over them my self that no evil may annoy them In fine they shall tread upon the Lion Psa 91.13 14 15 16. and Adder The young Lion and the Dragon shall they trample under their feet because they have fixed their love upon me therefore will I deliver them I will set them on high because they have known my name They shall call upon me and I will answer them I will be with them in all their troubles I will also deliver them and honour them too I will bless them with a long life and shew them my Salvation at the hour of their death When the King of Syria came with a numerous Army to take my Prophet Eliseus Prisoner his Servant felt so great an Agony of trembling and was so terrify'd at the sight of so dreadful a power 4 Reg. 6.17 that my Prophet pray'd heartily I should open his eyes to let him see the far greater number of Angels which were on his side to beat down that vast multitude which came to annoy him whereupon the Servant was animated and seem'd to dare his Adversaries or at least to make slight of them had I open'd thine eyes likewise and set thee the question what dost thou see in Sunamite that is my Church or every Soul that lives in the state of Grace thou wouldst answer I see great Armies of Angels on every side of her O what a puissant Guard is this sure there 's no danger of any disaster falling upon my faithful Servants whilst they are so extraordinary well protected Quid videbis in sunamite nisi choros castrorum Cant. 7. Solomon's Couch was environed with sixty Men of the Strongest and stoutest of all Israel with their drawn Swords in their hands and were all expert in Martial discipline each one well Arm'd at all points for fear of any nocturnal incursions Cant. 3. or insurrections This is only a figure but a perfect representative of the great care which I take to preserve protect the Righteous otherwise how could they being conceiv'd in sin living in a frail corrupt flesh prone to all evil among so many snares and powerfull allurements to evil pass over as many years without the least mortal Sin this is the wonderful effect and chief benefit of my Divine Providence and Protection which is so extraordinary great that it does not only preserve them from evil but changes the very evil which they had carelesly committed into a subject of greater good Diligentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in bonum Rom. 8.28 because that by this little stumble they got they become more wary more humble and more thankful to me who have withdrawn them from so great a danger and forgiven them an offence against my infinite Majesty This was an occasion of St. Pauls saying Diligentibus deum omnia cooperantur in bonum Rom. 8.28 We know all things work together for good to them that love God If this great favour be worthy of all Mens admiration how much more astonishing will it be that I shew this great Mercy not only to my beloved Servants but also to their Children and to their Children's Children after them as I do solemnly declare in these words I the Lord thy God am a jealous God Exod. 20.5 visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments David is a sufficient President hereof for I did not reject his Children for many Ages and tho' their sins have often deserv'd my abandoning them yet I had patience with them for the love and esteem I bare to David their worthy Father and my faithful Servant When
Abraham sent his Servant to finde out a competent Gen. 17. and virtuous Wife for his dearly beloved Son Isaac I had a special care to direct him the safest and best way and also to bring his business to a most prosperous conclusion and all was for the great love kindeness I had for his Master Gen. 39 I would do as much to a bad Master for the sake of a good Servant and have already done it to Potiphar the Egiptian for the sake of my Patriarch Joseph for I have multiply'd all his substance as well in his house as in the Fields not upon his own account being an unbelieving Heathen but meerly for the love I had for his chast and godly Servant What mercy what care what Providence can be greater then this and is he not a mad man indeed that will refuse to serve so good so liberal and so bountiful a Lord as I am to all those that serve me and who am so careful of themselves Capillus de capite vestro non peribit Luc. 21.28 and of all that concerns them that I can't suffer so much as one hair of their head to be lost The effects of my Providence are so many and so wonderful that I am commonly call'd in Scripture the Father of the Righteous Psal 103. and I likewise call them my dearly beloved Children my Providence promoted the Prophet royal and was favourable to him upon all occasions neither was he ungrateful or unmindeful of my benefits for He gives me this Atonement of his gratefull acknowledgement 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 forgives all thine iniquities who heals all thy diseases who redeems thy life from destruction who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercies who satisfies thy mouth with good things by him thy youth is renew'd like the Eagles The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppress'd He made known his ways to Moises and all his actions unto the Children of Israel The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and prone to mercy He will not always chide us neither will he keep his anger for ever He has not dealt with us as our sins have deserv'd nor has he rewarded us according to our iniquitys For as 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 has he remov'd our transgressions from us even as a Father doth pitty his Children So the Lord pittys them that fear him for he knows our frame and he remembers that we are nothing but dust Esa 63.16 The Prophet Esaiah thinking the name of Father did not sufficiently express the tenderness of my love because it has been never yet paralel'd by any mortal Parents says Lord thou art our Father indeed Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel does not acknowledge us Thou O Lord art our Father our Redeemer and thy name is from everlasting and tho' they be our Father according to the flesh yet they don't deserve the name thereof 't is a qualification due to thee alone for their love for us is no more then a shaddow to that which thou hast express'd to us upon all occasions my love rather resembles that which a good natur'd Mother bears to her child and therefore I compare my self to the most passionate of the Sex Can a Mother forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her womb yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me Esa 49.15 Can any Mother speak with a more tender expression of love who will be so blinde so stupid and so far from good nature as not to rejoyce at the very sound of these superamourous words which are able to revive the deadest heart that ever was to all motions of love or devotion what man tho' never so great a drone hearing me give him this extraordinary assurance of my most ardent love and paternal Providence will not run with the spouse in the Canticles after the sweet scent of my perfumes I am a God that speaks to thee and the eternal verity too which was never guilty of the least falshood whose riches have no limits and whose power is of the same nature with the rest of my attributes which are all infinite I am therefore him only thou shouldst fear to offend and in whom thou shouldst place all thy hopes and confidence my words should comfort and rejoyce thy heart the title of honour I confer upon thee should unman thee so far as to take on the heart and spirit of a child of God and the assur'd demonstrations I give thee of my great Love and Providence should breed in thee an everlasting abhorrence of the World and all it's allurements What more shall I say Deut. 32.11 Deut. 1.31 or to what shall I compare the love which I bear unto thee the Eagle of all Mothers is the most tender of her little ones and it 's therefore the Prophet says of me as an Eagle stirs up her nest flutters over her young spreads abroad her wings takes them and bears them on her wings so the Lord has dealt with thee nay thou hast seen how the Lord thy God bears thee as a man does bear his young child in his arms in all the way that ye went until ye came into this place What could I do that I have not done to my People to wean their affections from the World and settle them totally upon so good and so Cordial a Father as I am to them I call them my beloved Children and so they are indeed for thou shalt find as many authentick testimonies as there have been Prophets in the World from the beginning that they are my Children in effect as well by their Creation as by their preservation from all dangers The Prophet Jeremy will tell thee that I have lov'd them with an everlasting love Jerem. 31. and that with loving kindness I have drawn them out of nothing to what they are at present and have preserv'd them as well from their temporal as from their Spiritual Enemies whilst they remain'd submissive to my Laws and gave me the reverence which is expected from dutiful Children to their Parents O ye Nations says the same Prophet hear the word of the Lord declare it in the Isles afar off say the Lord that has Scatter'd the People of Israel for their Sins will gather them again if they will cry to him for mercy and if they continue obedient to his commands he will keep them as a Shepherd does his flock For the Lord has redeem'd Jacob and has ransom'd him from the hand of him that was stronger then He. The same
for they live as if they were under no Law and do Sin even against the Law of Nature whereas the Heathens have a veneration for modesty and honesty and for all other moral virtues which are now adays totally neglected by Christians nay they are so much avers'd from them that the description which my Prophet Ezechiel gives of the Sinagogues abominations and villanys may be very well appli'd to their enormous crimes offences This general dissolution and sinful liberty of Christians gave occasion to several virtuous and zealous men to shed many bitter tears and induc'd them to believe that the generality of Christians had conspir'd even with all the Devils of Hell to dishonour and despise me and that so publickly and with so much impudence that even the very Heathens abhor their impietys and are opinionated that God has forsaken and deliver'd them up into their power to chastise them for their abominations and wickedness even as the People of Israel were expos'd to the rage and fury of Nebuzardan cheif Commander of the King of Babylon's Army He himself tells Jeremy Jerem. 41.2 that he had his commission from me to destroy them The Lord thy God says he has pronounc'd this evil upon this place and all it's Inhabitants and now the Lord has brought it upon them and has done according as he has said Psal 21â—8 because they have sinn'd against the Lord and have not obey'd his voice The Prophet Royal is no less dreadfull in his description of my Anger against the Wicked thy hands says he shall finde out thy enemies thy right hand shall finde out those that hate thee Thou shalt make them as a fiery open in the time of thine Anger The Lord shall swallow them up in his Wrath and the fire shall devour them Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the Earth and their Seed from among the Children of men for they intended evil against thee they imagin'd a mischievous device which they are not able to perform Job 20 22. Nay holy Job says that the wicked in the fulness of their sufficiency shall be in straits that every hand of the wicked shall come upon them that when the wicked is about to fill his belly God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him and it shall come upon him while he is eating The Heaven shall reveal his iniquity and the Earth shall rise up against him the increase of his house shall depart and his goods shall flow away in the day of his Wrath this is says he the portion of a wicked man from God and the Inheritance appointed unto him by God Thou wilt tell me perhaps that Christians would not be so very prone to vice and wickedness but that their Rulers and Superiours do spur them on by their ill examples and that I am rather to be blam'd because I had committed my Flock to such mercenaries ravenous Wolves who could not be ignorant of what might follow in so scandalous a government and chiefly for that I have said according as the Judge is so the people will be and that such will be the Inhabitants of the City as are the Magistrates That the Pastors and Rulers which I have set over my Flock have acted rather like Tygers then Pastours to them for the whole generality of Christians are so missed by them that they fix their affections only upon such terene objects as are most pleasing to their criminal inclinations But what is thy intention by making this objection Wouldst thou indeed make me the Authour of thy Wickedness That is not possible for thou know'st that I am just in all my ways holy in all my Works Thou canst not be ignorant but that my choosing such scandalous Pastors is an evident sign of my anger against the People nay Dabo Regem in furore meo Principes in indignatione mea Ose 13.11 Esa 3.4 thou hast heard me say by one of my Prophets I will give thee a King in my anger and Rulers in my indignation and by another I will give Children to be their Princes and Babes shall rule over them And the People shall be oppress'd one by another and every one by his Neighbour The Child shall behave himself proudly against the Ancient and the base against the honourable Nay Job 34.30 I will make the Hypocrite to reign for the sins of the People By this thou maist infer that if I withdraw the assistance of my grace from the wicked the fault is their own and not mine for I am always ready to comply with Sinners Prov. 1.26 when they answer my expectation and call otherwise I will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear shall come As for those Superiors and Rulers that do by their ill examples bring their Inferiours and Subjects to utter destruction and loss of their Souls I will certainly require them at their hands and they shall answer to me Soul for Soul Ezec. 3.17 for tho' I make use of them in this life to chastise my Flock yet after all I shall condemn them to Hell even as a compassionate Father does cast the rod into the fire after he has whip'd his dearly belov'd Childe therewith A Check to the Religious Man ANd thou O religious Man in naming thee I mean all those of thy profession whom I have chosen amongst all nations to be a peculiar People to my self to adhere unto me alone in all sincerity to love me with all thy heart and to serve me with all the purity perfection and fervour imaginable Wilt thou also be of the number of those ungrateful Christians that combine with the World to persecute me hast thou not declar'd thy self a mortal Enemy to it as well by thy Solemn vows as by thy Baptismal protestation The three fatal Armies the World brings into the field to fight poor Souls and worst them too if they can are the concupiscence of the Flesh concupiscence of the Eyes and Pride of Life to these three thou hast declar'd thy self an implacable Enemy by thy vow of Chastity thou hast depress'd or at least hast sworn to destroy the concupiscence of the flesh by thy vow of Poverty thou hast utterly renounc'd the concupiscence of the Eyes and by thy vow of Obedience thou hast made thy self an absolute stranger and a profess'd Enemy to the Pride of Life And besides thou hast solemnly in the presence of God and his Angels protested to renounce all proper love as the only ofspring and fatal source of all manner of vice I call proper love that whereby a rational creature loves himself in himself and another for his own advantage honour and pleasure without any reference to God or his last end This is a monstrous crime and a Soul-killing sin but the only way to destroy it is to love thy self and all things whatsoever purely in God and for God alone and to love God sincerely for himself more then all
by so doing thou shalt reign with God in his eternal felicity But if thou dost really aim at so glorious a conquest of thy self thou must make use of the means to attain it which are poverty frugality mortification pennance Fasting and humiliation thou must joyfully suffer derision injurys tribulation persecution Adversity Infirmitys Subjection and all things that are able to debase and depress thy old deprav'd man This is the only way to conform thy self to me who have suffer'd all that 's here rehears'd more too for thy love this is the way also to destroy thy proper love and to become a proficient in all sorts of virtue in humility patience meekness sobriety and Chastity in the love of God and that of thy Neighbour in pennance interiour peace and in all the gifts and fruits of the Holy Ghost In fine there 's nothing contributes more to the utter destruction of that curs'd and proper love then the continual mortification of thy sinful appetite and passions and the powerful hatred of thy self for he that hates his life in this World shall keep it to life Eternal The perfect abnegation of thy self together with the lively and cruciform imitation of me is a most exquisit and powerful means to expel it entirely from thy heart Jo. 12.15 If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross daily Luc. 11.23 and follow me for the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force Mat. 11.12 If thou wilt but learn to love thy self thus in God thou wilt be truly learn'd and wise but Alas the folly and perverseness of men is so great that they will not study this holy science they neglect this heavenly lesson and trifle away their time in riding or discoursing of terrene sordid and impertinent matters contrary to this good advice of the Wife Eccle. 3. think always of those things which God has commanded thee O Religious Man hadst thou imploy'd thy time faithfully in the serious consideration of thy incumbent duty to God and of thy main obligation to quit thy self intirely of that private and proper love which prevents thy increase in virtue and which is also the fatal fource of all disasters and crosses incident to thee in this World thou wouldst certainly enjoy plenty of ease and comfort in thy own mind and thy Soul would swim in the pleasant waters of my Grace thou wouldst also secure thy self from the eternal torments of Hell and purchase a most glorious Crown in Heaven Moreover thou must know that a Religious life is a state of perfection Non progredi regredi est and not to go forward therein is to go backward which is the utter perdition of thy Soul nay the Holy Fathers are of opinion that it is the highway to sempiternal damnation Now lay thy hand to thy breast and examine what progress thou hast made in this School of virtue if after so many years in Religion thou dost find thy self as prone to Pride Psa 26.12 to Vanity to Anger to impatience to foolish and idle words c. as thou wert before thy entring into it where 's thy glory where 's the fruit of all thy labours where 's the faithful performance of thy Vows Does not iniquity bely it self thinking thou art a Religious man when indeed thou art none at all thou only hast the name of one Thou appearest to be living Devisum est cor eorum nunc interibunti Osee 10. but really thou art dead Thy heart is divided and the World has the greater share thereof but what will follow thou shalt undoubtedly perish unless thou dost amend thy life I know thy works that thou art neither cold Apocal. 3.15 16 17. nor hot I would thou wert cold or hot but because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth And because thou sayst I am rich and increas'd with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable poor and blind and naked Such men do commonly think themselves to be upon very good terms with God and therfore are cock-sure of heaven but alas in the hour of Death they shall find themselves grossly mistaken 'T is a crime of the deepest die in a Christian Pro. 29.20 Ibid. 21.23 but 't is much more abominable in a Religious Person to be incessantly prating and uttering words at random it 's therefore the wise man says seest thou a man that is hasty in his words there 's no more hope of his correction then of a Fool 's he says in another place whosoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his Soul from troubles But St. Jac. 1.26 James is more plain in the case for he says if any man among you seem to be Religious and bridles not his tongue but deceives his own heart this man's Religion is vain 'T is not the habit that makes the monk neither is it the transporting of thy Body out of the World into a Monastery that makes thee Religious as it is not thy being in the World that makes thee a worldling 'T is the heart that does it if that be fix'd upon God alone thou art a perfect religious man but if thy affections be settled upon terrene and transitory objects thou can'st lay no claim to the title of Religious nor to the least share of God's glory Another touchstone whereby thou mayst easily know whether thou art really a Religious Man Jo. 13.35 or not is if thou beest in Charity with all the World by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another Moreover this is my precept and it alone is enough to work thy Salvation Rom. 13. Pet. 4. If punctually observ'd because that all other Precepts are virtually contain'd therein It 's therefore St. Paul says Eph. 5.1 2. whoever loves his Neighbour fulfils the law and my supreme Vicar on Earth exhorts all mortals to have a mutual love one for th' other because Charity covers a multitude of Sins And the same S. Paul after his return from his sweet and mysterious conference with God in the third Heaven says be ye therefore followers of God as dear Children and walk in love as Christ also lov'd us and has given himself for us an offering and a Sacrifice to God as a sweet smelling Savour so ye ought to expose your lifes for your Brethren And St. Jerome in his Monastical Rule says St. Jerome in his Monastical Rule that Charity revives a man in God she alone compleats the Religious man and the Monk too without her Monasterys are Hells upon Earth and th' Inhabitants are Devils but with her they are Paradises and the Dwellers are all Angels By the Premises thou mayst see that Fraternal Charity is the fundamental Virtue of a Religious state ahd of Christianity too but alas if I