many repusses thou hast given to the Messages of Heaven and withal how if they were ten thousand times ten thousand more God knows and remembers them all and then say with Job c. 9.2 how should men be just with God 2. Their greatness Indeed they seem little to us because they are a great way off Distance of place gives disadvantage to the prospect but lie that saith they are no bigger than they seem is as wife as that Philosopher that thought the Sun was no bigger than his head The Learned and most Skillful Astronomers do generally conclude it for a demonstrative Truth that the least Star in the Firmament is bigger than the Earth we live upon And yet these so great Bodies are carried so high supported only with the hand of the Almighty let not the Penitent Sinner then say can God raise me up from the Grave of Sin from things below and set me up on high and bring me safe to Heaven Tho thou liest now among the Potsherds sunk deep into sin and misery yet God is able to lift thee and thousands more and carry thee as upon Eagles Wings and set you as Stars in Heaven there to shine for ever and ever 4. Dstance from one another especially thePlanets and from the Earth The Moon is next to us Mercury next Venus in the third place the Sun fourth Mars the fifth Jupiter the sixth Saturn highest the Fixed Stars abovethemall Were they all the same Orb they would move together at the same time and make no distinction of Day and Night of Winter and Summer or not so much as would serve for our necessities And should they be all so low as the lowest or should he that holds them there let them fall thence by the reverse of his Decree or the withdrawing of his constant Providence they would soon set this World on fire and send us off the Stage and burn the Universe into a Scrole Should God draw back the hand of his Omnipotence but one moment the Stars would fall upon our Heads and make this whole World into a Hell in the twinkling of an Eye How necessarily do we depend upon the Divine Mercy for our safety and security every hour we live more ways than one than a thousand doth he keep death and destruction from us Let us consider a little this excellent Favour So many Globes as big as Worlds and most of them far greater hanging over our Heads all the days of our Life and westill walking safe under them how much methinks do we owe to the Power and Good Providence of God forsaving our Lives in such eminent danger were those excellent Bodies subject to the like irregularities as we are aptto go out of their place toleave their Orbs to disobey the Will of him that made them as Man generally is what a dangerous condition should we be in Damocles sat down to Table at a Feast with a naked Sword hanging over his Head with a Horse-hair had no such rouson of an awful fear upon him as we have if he that Govern'd the Stars were a Man and not God 5. Their Light Which is so great in all that if but one of the Stats or Planets except the Moon which hath none but borrowed Light that if they were not kept at a distance from us would certainly dazle our weak Eyes into absolute blindness or if removed much farther off would not serve our necessities p. 63. But of this more hereafter 6. Motion Incredibly swift insomuch that as Lessins saith such Stars as are near the Equinoctial Line do move every hour 40 millions ofmiles every million being 1000000 and so in one hour move more than comes to 2000 times the Compass of the Earth The Sun saith the same Author in the compass of one hour goes in its motion 1000000 miles whereupon 't is certain that in the same space of time it equals the Compass of the Earth in its course above 50 times What an amazing wonder of Omnipotence is this Let those Atheistical Sinners think of it that all daily for a Miracle to prove the Being of a God Here 's a Miracle that presents before us every day And every man that hath Eyes in his Head if he hath Brains too may see it and wonder Why what would men have a God todo more than this If he should make a fresh Creations of a World every hour men might still wink and disbelieve and still call for fresh Miracles As if the Almighty Jehovah had nothing else to do than humour the silly Passions of hard hearted sinners of pitiful ineredulous worm Well! it will not be long but God will justifie himself to these men before Angels and Devils and shew in spight of all their spightful insidelity that he did not leave himself without witness in the World 7. Influences which are divers and some of them not known to us or discoverable to us I shall mention some 1. Warming these Sublunary Bodies and insusing sueli a heat into them as is necessary for Life and Motion insomuch that without it there would be no generaton no motion no life in the Creatures of this World Take away but the Sun out of the Firmament and no Spring would appear Man would be no more the Acts of Accretion Growing Feeling Moving Seeing Living would all cease presently Sol Homo generant hominem Nay were the Sun removed but as far from us as the Fixed Stars England would be Ireland and all our year prove a cold Winter our very Senses would prove chill and our Reasons follow hard after them for temperamentum animi sequitur temperamentum Corpois What an excellent God have we to deal with who accommodates us so kindly seasonably suitably with Fire and Fuel from Heaven not only to ferment the Clouds in order to Rain to dissolve the Snow and Hail to warm the Ar that pierceth our Bodies to foment the Earth and make it fruitful but also cherish our Human Bodies and makes our Souls more pleasant which dwell in such warm Stoves If all the Wood and Combustible Matter on the Earth were heaped together to make one Pile in order to a great Bonefire for the benefit of the Earth it would not do so much good but would come infinitely short as the Stars and Planets of Heaven Besides if the warmth of the lower Orbs be so friendly and beneficial to our natures what is the Grace of God that comes down from the Inner Heaven the Light of his Countenance to our Inner Souls If the Sun with its Pleasant Rays makes the Sublunary World smile and laugh and sing shall not the Special Grace and Favour of the Almighty much more put gladness into our hearts and make us chearful in the Service of our Maker If the presence of the Hosts of Heaven the Sun Moon and Stars be so comfortable what is the presence of the Lord of Hosts the Blessed God the Communion of the Holy Jesus the Influences
a good beginning to my Conversion to find my Conscience touch'd for my sins yet it went off again Nay all my Life long I had a secret value and reverence for an honest man and lov'd morality in others But I had form'd an odd Scheme of Religion to my self which would solve all that God or Conscience might force upon me yet I was not over-well reconcil'd to the business of Christianity nor had that Reverence for the Gospel of Christ as I ought to have which estate of Mind continu'd till the 53d Chapter of Isaiah was read to him and some other portions of Scripture by the Power and Efficacy of which Word assisted by his Holy Spirit God so wrought upon his heart that he declar'd that the mysteries of the Passion appear'd so clear and plain to him as ever any thing did that was represented in a Glass so that that joy and admiration which possessed his Soul upon the reading God's Word to him was remarkable to all about him and he had so much delight in his Testimonies that in my absence he begg'd his Mother and Lady to read the same to him frequently and was unsatisfied notwithstanding his great pains and weakness till he had learn'd the 53d of Isaiah without Book At the same time discoursing of his Manner of Life from his Youth up which all men knew was too much devoted to the service of Sin and that the Lusts of the Flesh the Eye and the Pride of Life had captivated him he was very large and particular in his acknowledgments about it more ready to accuse himself than any one else could be publickly crying out O blessed God! Can such an horrit Creature as I am be accepted by thee who has denied thy Being and contemn'd thy Power asking often Can there be mercy and Pardon for me Will God own such a Wretch as I and in the middle of his Sickness said Shall the unspeakable joys of Heaven be conferr'd on me O mighty Saviour never but through thine Infinite Love and Satisfaction O never but by the purchase of thy Blood adding that with all abhorrency he did reflect upon his former Life that sincerely and from his heart he did repent of all that folly and madness which he had committed He had a true and lively sence of God's great Mency to him in striking his hard heart saying If that God who died for great as well as lesser Sinners did not speedily apply his infinite Merits to his poor Soul his wound was such as no man could conceive or bear crying out That he was the vilest Wretch and Dog that the Sun shined upon or the Earth bore That now he saw his Error in not living up to that Reason which God endued him with and which he unworthily vilified and contemned wish'd he had been a starving Leper crawling in a Ditch that he had been a Link-Boy or a Beggar or for his whole life time confin'd to a Dungeon rather than thus to have sinned against God How remarkable was his Faith in a hearty embracing and devout Confession of all the Articles of the Christian Religion and all the Divine Mysteries of the Gospel saying that that absurd and foolish Philosophy which the World so much admir'd propagated by the late Mr. Hobs and others had undone him and many more of the best Parts of the Nation He cast himself entirely upon the mercies of Jesus Christ and the Free-Grace of God declared to repenting Sinners through him with a thankful Remembrance of his Life Death and Resurrection begging God to strengthen his Faith and often crying out Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief His mighty love and esteem of the Holy Scriptures his resolutions to read them frequently and meditate upon them if God should spare him having already tasted the good Word for having spoken to his heart he acknowledged all the seeming absurdities and contradictions thereof fancied by men of corrupt and reprobate Judgments were vanished and the Excellency and Beauty appeared being come to receive the Truth in the love of it How terribly did the Tempter assault him by casting upon him wicked and lewd imaginations But I thank God said he I abhor them all and by the power of his grace which I am sure is sufficient for me I have overcome them 't is the malice of the Devil because I am rescued from him and the goodness of God that frees me from all my spiritual enemies He was greatly rejoiced at his Ladies Conversion from Popery which he called a Faction supported only by Fraud and Cruelty He was heartily concerned for the pious education of his Children wishing that his Son might never be a Wit that is as he explain'd it One of those wretched creatures who pride themselves in abusing God and Religion denying his Being or his Providence but that he might become an honest and a religious Man which could only be the support and blessing of his Family He gave a strict charge to those persons in whose custody his Papers were to burn all his prophane and lewd Writings as being only sit to promote Vice and Immorality by which he had so highly offended God and shamed and blasphemed that holy Religion into which he had been baptized and all his obscene and filthy Pictures which were so notoriously scandalous I must not pass by his pious and most passionate exclamation to a Gentleman of some Character who came to visit him upon his Death-Bed O remember that you contemn God no more he is on avenging God and will visit you for your sins will in mercy I hope touch your Conscience sooner or later as he has done mine You and I have been Friends and Sinners together a great while therefore I am the more free with you We have been all mistaken in our Conceits and Opinions Our Persuasions have been false and groundless therefore God grant you repentance And seeing him again next day said to him Perhaps you were disobliged by my plainness to you yesterday I spake the words of truth and soberness to you and striking his hand upon his Breast said I hope God will touch your heart He commanded me continues our Author to Preach abroad and let all men know if they knew it not already how severely God had Disciplin'd him for his sins by his afflicting hand that his Sufferings were most just tho' he had laid ten thousand times more upon him how he had laid one stripe upon another because of his grievous provocations till he had brought him home to himself that in his former Visitations he had not that blessed Effect he was now sensible of He had formerly some loose thoughts and slight resolutions of reforming and designed to be better because even the present consequences of sin were still pestering him and were so troublesome and inconvenient to him but now he had other sentiments of things and acted upon other Principles He was willing to die if it pleased God resigning himself
of the Spirit of Grace the Company of Angels Cherubim and Seraphim Let us say as Psalm 4. many say who will shew us any good c. Besides if the Outward Court of this World be so comforted with the warmth of the Outward Parts of Heaven is there nothing in the Emperial Orbs in the Inner Chambers to refresh and comfort the Church of God! Is the Atrium Gentium so pleasant and is the Sanctum Sanctorum the Holy of Holies devoid and desolate 2. The Flux and Reflux Ebb and Flowing of the Sea that indeed depends as generally concluded upon the Moon only But that is such a Wonder in Nature that it sufficiently illustrates the Power and Wisdom of God Psalm 107.21 22 23. Oh that men would praise the Lord c. Thus God who daily makes the great and wide Seas to Ebb and Flow is able also to make the like changes and visicissiudes in the World in the Church he turneth mand to destruction again be c. Psal 90.3 5 6. Bsal 107 31 32 c. 3. Other secret Influences and Operations unknown to us as to Weather Health Plenty and it may be Wars and Peace Prosperity and Afflictions Life and Death For so far Astrologers go but I would be wise unto sokiety and not peer too far lest I should be taxed for Curiosity in all this the Glory of God appears CHAP. V. Of Comets Thunder and Lightning Air and Winds Storms and Tempests Hail Rain Snow and Frosts Extraordinary Signs and Apparitions I Shall here speak of the other Insevlour Appurtenances of Heaven I choose to range them under that notion because I intend not so much a Lecture of Philosophy as a plain discourse of Divinity I mean the Comets Thunder and Lightning Wind and Air Vapours and Exhabations Storms and Tempests Hail Rain and Snow strange Apparitions and Phenomena I hope my time will not be quite lost nor I censur'd for impertinent in treating on these things God himself therefore exhibiting them that we might duly meditare upon them and deduce Inferences thence for his Glory 1. Comets and Blazing Stars or whatever else of that nature appears in the Heavens above us I pass over those Miteors of lesser moment Falling Stars Burning Launces Flying Dragons Skipping Goats Ignes Fatui and licking Fires as exhalations of inferiour wonder Comets are the most stupendious I hope no body amongst Christians is so silly as Democritus who took them for the Souls of the Saints Trimphing in Glory Or as others Fires carried thither by Spirits only to astonish the World Whatever they are generated of for I will not meddle here with the Physical Consideration their meaning is something the God of Nature who is so Wise as to make nothing in vain without all doubt puts them in the Heavens for some sign or other Nor dare I be peremptory to assign the particular signification I humbly conceive the most that we can read in those Coelestial Hierogliphycks is that God is going to do some great thing in the World and that at the hanging out of those Flags it behoves men to enquire into their Lives and search their ways more narrowly and prepare to meet their God who is coming to judge the World in equity and maketh these Flames of Fire his Harbingers to prepare his way and give notice of his coming I shall not trouble you with particular Instances of these kind of Meteors the Scripture tells us at the Birth of our Saviour a Star appeared which perhaps was the Comet spoken of by Heathen Authors in the days of Angustus of a stupendious greatness upon which the Tibertine Sibyl shewed the Emperor the Divinity of our Saviour in these words Hic Puer Major te est Ipsum adora Our last great Comet I doubt not was of extraordinary signification not to us only but to whole Europe and farther so far as it was conspicuous What a Gracious God have we that never scarce goes about any great Commotions or Changes in the World but he gives warning beforehand as if not willing to take us tardy He shews his signs in the Heavens above when he is about to do any great Work in the Earth beneath And therefore as Darius in the case of Daniel Chap. 6.26 27. Let men tremble and fear before this God for he is the Living God and steadfast for ever his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his Dominion shall be even unto the end he delivereth and rescueth and worketh signs and wonders in Heaven and Earth 2. Thunder and Lightning called by the Psalmist the Voice of God and by some supposed to be that Trumpet that shall sound at the last day to raise the Dead and to call to Judgment I will not trouble you with declaring the strange and divers effects of this kind of Meteor its hurting of things Inward when the Outward are safe shattering the Bones when the Flesh is left sound melting the Blade of the Sword when the Scabbard is free breaking the Vessel when the Wine flows not away exempting poisonous Creatures from their Venom and infusing it into those who are not so striking men dead and leaving them in the same posture it found them as if still alive c. It is enough to say that 't is a stupendious Meteor and may well be called the Voice of the Divine Excellency Job 37.2 3 4 c. Job 26.6 14. It is said of Nero that a Thunderbolt fell upon his Table and struck the Cup out of the Emperors Hand And we have known in our Age some strong Towers and high buildings demolished to the very gound with Lightning Some Men struck dead some lamed some blinded Trees clove asunder A Learned Divine of our Nation tells of a profane Person walking abroad with another upon the Lord's Day when it thundred to his Companion telling him of it made answer 't is nothing but a Knave Cooper beating of his Tubs but he had not gone much farther but himself was struck dead This may teach us to put on a Reverential awe of the Divine Majesty at such seasons That Emperor Caligula who used to brave it out as if he meant to vye with the Almighty and cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was an instance of the Divine Patience but no safe example for imitation The Psalmist is more ingenuous Psal 29. c. Give unto the Lord O ye Mighty c. and Psal 97.1 2 3 4. To see all the lower World cover'd with thick Clouds and the Cracks of Thunder shake the very Pillars of the Earth and terrible Flashes and Corruscations of Ligtning with a speedy pace fly from one end of the Heavens to the other is so like the Voice of God and a Type or Shadow of that Black Gloomy Day which shall put a period to the World that it may well be a Memento of our Duty and Reverence we owe to the Divine Majesty and may well put that Question into our Mouths Who shall
could reduce the World to such a Posture or put Mankind in such a pleasant frame and temper as these do could furnish us with such pure and untainted streams of Piety Virtue and good Nature as these Graces well got and thoroughly attained And therefore let your light so shine before men c. It hath been long since observed if a Man standing at a great distance see a company Dancing he wonders at their antick gestures and seemingly ridiculous Motions and thinks them a company of Mad men but if he approaches nearer and comes within the reach of the harmonious Musick and Melody which guides and measures all these Motions and observes how regularly one answers to the other he than admires them approves their decency and order and desires to Dance with them So if a Man takes up the reports of the World concerning serious Christians or sees them at a distance busily attending all the Duties of their Calling and holy Profession he thinks of them as Festus of Paul they are beside themselves c. But come we nearer to an Intimacy and familiar Acquaintance with the Rule of Holy Living and Prov. 3.15.17 She is more precious than Rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace 7. The Ordinances wherein whether it be the Preaching of the Word When the Man Preaches with such life and seriousness Orthodoxy and Authority Grace and Eloquence and such easie Methods and variety of Matter that the People are never weary of Hearing or Prays with heavenly life and fervour as may take the Souls of them that join with him or Praises with that alacrity and joyfulness which beseemeth those that are ready to pass into glory or Administers the Holy Sacraments with that veneration and solemnity that Pathos and Devotion as is due to those Sacred Mysteries this Decency this Beauty in the Divine Worship is enough to embellish the Church and make it look like Heaven in Emblem and signification More particularly 1. The Preaching and Hearing of the Word To speak familiarly 't is very becoming the Constitution of our Religion or any Religion in the World for an Ezra the Priest to bring the Law before the Congregation and to read therein from the morning till mid-day and the Tribe of Levi to cause the People to understand the Law to read distinctly and give the sense and cause them to understand the reading Neh. 8.12 to have a Testimony established in Jacob and a Law appointed in Israel which the Fathers are commanded to make known to their Children Psal 78.5 6. to go into the Synagogue on the Sabbath dayes and read and expound there the Will of God concerning our Salvation 'T is a pleasant thing for the Sons of Aaron to dispense the Manna of the Word with a good Conscience and in due season and to try what they can by the foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe to fill the Pulpit with Orthodoxy the Sentiments of the Divine Oracles the Authority of Heaven with wholsome Admonitions and suitable Reproofs and cordial Promises and the Ministry of Reconciliation to throw Coals from the Sacred Altar to warm the Hearts of all them that come Auditors out of the cold World and to stir them up to the Offices of Piety by putting them in remembrance of what God hath left upon record to that purpose in his Gospel And 't is a comely thing for the People to sit down in humble posture at the feet of Gamaliel to watch daily at the gates and wait at the Posts of Wisdom's doors to search for Knowledge for spiritual Knowledge with as much pains and diligence as Men are wont to search for Gold or Silver or hid Treasures when Men are glad to go to the house of the Lord and every Neighbour joggs his Brother and calls friendly upon him to go in society with him when the Tribes of Israel go up together with unanimous Consent with one Heart in one body as an Army with banners to gather Manna and eat Angels Food when they come with reverence to the House of God and take heed to their Feet and be more ready to hear believe and mediate than to offer the Sacrifice of Fools when the People are more willing to learn and practice than dispute and censure and contradict and disobey when Humility opens the Church door and Veneration attends their seats and Faith waits upon their Ears and Devotion hath taken possession of their Hearts When the Fields are ripe for Harvest and the Auditors as willing to learn as the Pastor to teach when the Lambs cry and bleat with importunity for the Udder and the Milk of the Word is taken greedily in and turns not into noxious Humours but into good Blood and Nourishment and makes the Conversation shine with good works and Evangelical Graces the fruits of a Holy Life when these things accord together as they should do then there is a beauty and comeliness of aspect in the Divine Worship 2. When they join in Prayers with that Unanimity and Concord that Faith and Sincerity that Devotion and Zeal as if all the Congregation had a mind to climb Heaven in a fiery Chariot to attach the Heavenly Jerusalem with a Volley of Prayers to take the Holy City with a sacred Violence to Pray the Gates open to that Coelestial Paradise in spite of all the Powers of Earth and Hell when our Prayers are well grounded and our Hearts well qualified and the Holy Jesus is the Fore man the Intercessor our High Priest to carry our Petitions within the Veil and to offer them there incensed with the Presenee of his own Merits and Mediation and we are resolved not to rise off our Knees without our Errand 'till we find sin bleeding upon the ground our Hearts melting in a gentle thaw under the benign influence of the Divine Clemency and we our selves clasping fast into the Embraces of the Almighty when the Breast pours out Prayers the Eye tears the Body kneels down the Soul lies in Paraphrase and the Man considers that Eternity depends upon the grant and is resolved to wrestle it out with the Angel of the Covenant 'till the dawning of the day the day-spring from on high does visit him 3. When they join in Praises and Thanksgivings to the God of Heaven with that chearfulness and alacrity as if they would send their Hearts also in their Eucharists and praise God not with the Calves of their Lips but the best Instrument they have their very Hearts and Souls When there are no Mutes in the Alphabet no jarring string in the whole Assembly no particular Member out of Tune but every individual Soul contributes to a Psalm and strives to make up an Harmonious Melody to that God that made their Tongues and calls for Hallelujahs Psal 66.1 Psal 76.11 Psal 81.1 2. Psal 92.1 95.1 Psal 96.1 4. When they all
join in a serious and solemn Commemoration of the Death Passion Love and Merits of our dying Lord when like Brethren of the same Society and of the same Family they symbolize together in Celebration of the Holy Eucharist eating at the same Table of the same Bread drinking of the same Wine in memory of that blessed Body and Blood which were both given for the Nourishment of us to Eternal Life when we commemorate his Cross with a Croud of Passions and crucisie our Lusts with a warm Devotion and look upon our Saviour's immense Love with weeping Eyes and wondering Hearts Faith Gladness and great Delight and with one Consent enter our selves afresh under his Banner to engage all the sinful Powers of the World and promise faithfully to be all for the time to come better Servants and more faithful in the precedure of our Lives When we solemnize the Memory of our dearest Saviour and his Love like loving Disciples with an ingenuous return of hearty Love to him agen and with a mutual Love to one another When Humility Faith Obedience and Charity all meet at the Passover together and we are in quarrel with nothing but what God himself quarrels at Sin and Hell Psal 96.6 8. The Glory for which we worship is exceeding beautiful If we consider 1. The Description given of it in Sacred Scripture under the Mosaic Oeconomy it was represented by Types and Emblems and figurative Expressions for in truth the Intellectuals of Mankind were then so gross and cloudy that they had need of Pictures and sensible Ideas to make things spiritual invisible and future intelligible and 't is not much better with Mankind now tho' the World be grown older yet not much wiser We have still need of Material Instruments and Opticks to help us forward in Quest of the World to come The Land of Canaan the Milk Oyl Honey and exceeding fruitfulness of the place were a lively Figure of the promised Inheritance They stuck then so deep in the Mud and adhered so close to the present World that it was hard to draw them over to abstracted and lofty speculations and therefore God Almighty indulged their Infancy of Reason and Judgment so far as to give them a Prospect of Heaven in a fine spot of ground here on Earth A sight of Life everlasting and the World to come in a piece of clear Landskip in this World But a Brighter discovery was reserved to these last times of the World when Men were come to some maturity of Age and Judgment and able to lay aside their Fescues and throw away their Pictures and ruder Elements they had been accustomed to and exercised in so that now we have as full a Discovery and Description of the future Glory revealed to us as we are capable at present of receiving And here I must confess the Beauty is so dazling the Apprehension so amazing that a deep Meditation upon it would go near to strike our Thoughts into a perfect stupor and incuriousness about the things of this World Life and Immortality are brought to light thro' the Gospel but such a light as we are able to receive and no more 2. The Nature of it collected from the chief Topicks of Consideration 1. God himself the Object and Author 2. The Design and Intention 1. God himself the Object and Author Of which I shall say but little for when we stare long upon such Transcendent Objects our Senses fail us and we commonly find our selves at our Wits end We may indeed discourse modestly about them and think at present so far as to make our Thoughts quick and Devotion lively but whatsoever is more than this is more than meet Can we think that that God who made the World and made us with so much Wisdom and exercised a continual Providence over us for so many thousands of Years did not mean some excellent admirable End at the last for the Reward of that Creature which was made the top of all the visible Creation For my part I expect to see and I think upon excellent Reason too the God of Mercy admit me in favour to that Enjoyment the most ravishing sight that ever was or will be in the Vniverse There and then I hope to see what will be the product and effect of that Infinite Wisdom Power and Goodness that first made and now maintains this World Then the Glory of all his Attributes will be made known and exposed to open view and Oh! the Beauty of that Prospect and therefore 2. The Design and Intention of it being to set forth the Divine Glory and Man's Happiness it must needs be full of Beauty As the Case stands with us now a little a lighter kind of Happiness would serve our turns Our Bodies are very frail our Intellectuals very infirm our Natures so bemired with sin and vicious Inclinations that a Mahomet's Paradise or an Elysian Field or a good Constitution of Body and a pleasant Soul and some cheerful Company and a full Purse or Barn would go a great way with us But when the Body is raised incorruptible and all the Man's Faculties renewed and repaired we shall not be content with that Draff we feed on now but call for Manna Angels food more glorious Objects and refined Notions and a clearer Medium for the Conveyance of Idea's and Communion with Spirits and then every thing will be and appear in its due place and order God Angels Men every sense and faculty suited and filled with its meet Object All things full of beauty and Glory without any intermixture of Deformity Defect or Disorder The supream Being in his Throne of Majesty and all his Creatures in their proper places of Subjection and Glory reciprocating the Acts of a Holy Sweet and blessed Communion one with another To which Blessed Estate the Lord grant that both he that writes and he that reads these Lines may be admitted for the sake of our dear Redeemer the Holy Jesus We shall now in the next place come to consider First The Deformity of an unholy life opposita juxta se c. 1. Sin is full of Deformity of its own nature 'T is all of it an Ireegularity a divaricating from the Rule a trangression of the Holy Law of God a disobedience to the Divine Precept a going aside into By-paths and Errors 2. It renders us uncomely and deformed in the sight of God Good Angels and Good Men They look not upon us with that loving eye that liking and approbation that pleasure and delight as upon the righteous and him that fears God As for the former 't is called by God in Scripture Abomination and that which his soul abhors so is all injustice diverse weights and measures proud looks and hypocritical prayers and in a word all the kinds of sin nay the Prophet tells us His Eyes cannot endure to look upon iniquity and besides he hates them so that he will never suffer these qualities to come into his
immediate presence into the Court of Heaven nothing that hath any spot or blemish or wrinkle must come into that Holy Quire All the dogs and all the impenitent unpurified sinners are banished thence all those unclean beasts are shut out of the Coelestial Ark No unclean thing shall enter there c. Good Angels are disobliged by the impurity of our lives and good Men are ready to say David Psal 101. 3. Depart from me c. It leaves a blot of deformity upon our Reputation Sin is a dishonourable thing it brings shame to us for its real effect it brings shame to us for its real effect and puts our Names into a dark Eclipse Whose glory is their shame Phil. 3. 19. What fruit had ye in these things c. The Name of the wicked shall rot Prov. 10. 7. In short almost all the sins that men are guilty of renders their Actions deformed their Lives unlovely their reputation noisome their Memories putrid in the eyes of God and all good Men and to make this more evident suppose a Scheme of our own Societies our present age exposed to open view in the presence of the Gravest Catoes the Wisest Senators the Holy Angels the Blessed Jesus the Almighty God the Searcher of Hearts and the Book of all Mens Actions unclasped and laid open to the eye of the whole World as they will shortly be without any hopes or possibility of Dissimulation or Hypocrisie how eager then and solicitous do ye think would all impenitent sinners be to sew leaves together to fain Excuses to hide in rocks to cover their shame to veil over their deformity In the mean time what makes the prophane Rabble abscond so industriously from the searching eyes of wise and good men what makes them that are drunken drunk in the night and they that commit fornication do it within the Confines of the close Curtains and every sinner desire the Twilight yea the thickest darkness and most Men put on Cloak to hide their Wickedness were it not that sin in its own nature is deformity at least is so esteemed in the eyes of them that judge according to right reason and the light of Truth Where 's the Man that dares avow wickedness in its own Colours and will plead for vice and profess Debauchery even Atheists themselves the grossest sinners of all others would fain prove Truth and Vertue on their side and they dare hardly speak with their mouths what they would willingly entertain in their hearts That there is no God nor Heaven nor Hell nor Vertue nor Vice in the whole World The fool hath said in his heart there is no God Secondly I would perswade to worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness 1. Beauty is an amiable thing 'T is lovely and inviting and as the Orator saith if we desire to observe a Decorum in those things that relate to our Bodies to our Garments to our Gestures we should be much more so to keep up a Decency and Beauty in all our Actions especially when we are conscious that an Omniscient Eye seeth all we do and Angels do still attend us and all our secret things shall sortly be broughtly into Cognisance before the whole World Turpe quid c. 2. All things that are true wise and good are beautiful Indeed there is nothing of Decency in any thing else but what is conform to a holy rule and what dares abide the examen of the Light and the Tryal of a searching eye Ignorance Error and Vice are apt to sneak and the guilty sinner hates the light because his deeds are evil Only Truth and Goodness as being conscious of their own Beauty Order Loveliness and Excellency are bold to appear before the Noon sun And therefore Sirs if there be such excellent qualities as these in the world be exhorted to pursue after them if Religion be lauidble Christinaity excellent a sincere Devotion a fervent Zeal a warm Charity and an Honest Life have any thing of Beauty and Commendation belonging to them if it be a pleasant thing to pour out the Soul in Prayer to offer Eucharists and Hallelujahs to the God of your Mercies to pay Devoirs to the King of Heaven to fing his Praises upon the Harp and Heart to live humbly holily and righteously in the sight of Men Do Sirs dare to take some pains to pursue carefully after these things Phil. 4. 4 8. 3. This Beauty of Religion commends it to the Approbation of the World and makes the Church shine to those that are without It represents it lovely and inviting to all Beholders and therefore for the sake of those incredulous souls that yet lye under prejudices and the disadvantages of an ill prospect we should do what we can to make our light shine before men and our Graces give a lustre to our Principles that if it be possible and as much as lies in us we may charm Proselytes court the Love and Embraces of the incredulous world stop the mouths of contradicting sinners make Proselytes of all that know us and are acquainted with our Conversations let our Words be true our Speech savory our Tables sober our Port grave our Actions honest and our Worship Evangelical and every instance of our lives impress'd with a tincture of Grace Holiness and Heaven and then our faces will shine and our light extend it self round about us to the Reputation of our Religion and the inviting or silencing of very Enemies 'T is a pleasant thing to behold the Sun but 't is much more so to behold the Son of Righteousness in his full glory shining in the Church and communicating his graces in plentiful manner to them that dwell on Mount Zion to see the Priests cloathed with righteousness and the Saints shouting aloud for ioy Psal 132. 9 16. To see the Disciples of the Holy Jesus in their Wedding Garments cloathed with such Raiment as may qualifie them for the Espousals of the King of Heaven the Ring on their hand and a Crown of Glory upon their head and the best Robes in the whole World the best manners the most amiable Graces for their common wear and their heads anointed with Oyl the most costly Ointments the Consolations of the Holy Ghost the peace of Conscience inward and spiritual joy their feet shod with the preparations of the Gospel of Peace to see all Orders and Ranks of Men among us keep up Order and Decency and Love in their full strength and vigour to see the Husband loving the Wife and Wife reverencing the Husband the Parents providing carefully for and instructing their Children and the Children dutiful and loving and faithful to their Parents Servants obedient to their Masters with fear and trembling in the singleness of their heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not as to Men and Masters again doing the same things unto them forbearing threatning knowing that they also have a Master in Heaven the Prince ruling in justice
always to the Divine Disposal but if God should spare him yet a longer time here he hoped to bring Glory to the Name of God in the whole course of his Life and particularly by his endeavours to convince others and to assure them of the danger of their condition if they continued impenitent and how graciously God had dealt with him The time of his Sickness and Repentance was just nine Weeks in all which time 30 hours about the middle of it excepted wherein he was delirous he was so much Master of his Reason and had so clear an understanding that he never dictated or spake more composed in his Life Three or four days before his Death he had Comfortable Perswasions of God's accepting him to his Mercy saying I shall Die but Oh what unspeakable Glories do I see What Joys beyond Thought or Expression am I sensible of I am assured of God's mercy to me through Jesus Christ O! how I long to die and to be with my Saviour His Dying Remonstrance For the benefit of all those whom I may have drawn into sin by my example and Encouragement The Lord Rochester's dying Remonstrance I leave to the World this my last Declaration which I deliver in the presence of the great God who knows the Secrets of all Hearts and before whom I am now appearing to be Judged That from the bottom of my Soul I detest and abhor the whole Course of my former wicked Life that I think I can never sufficiently admire the Goodness of God who has given me a lively sense of my pernicious Opinions and vile practices by which I have hitherto Liv'd without hope and without God in the World have been an open Enemy to Jesus Christ doing the Utmost despite to the holy Spirit of Grace and that the greatest Testimony of my Charity to such is to warn them in the name of God and as they regard the welfare of their immortal Souls no more to deny his being or his providence or dispise his Goodness no more to make a mock of Sin or contemn the pure and excellent Religion of my ever Blessed Redemer thro' whose Merits alone I one of the Greatest of Sinners do yet hope for Mercy and Forgiveness Amen Declared in the presence of Anne Rochester Rob. Parsons J. Rochester To this we shall add two Penitential Letters the one of Sir Duncomb Colchester late of Westbury in Gloucestershire a Gentleman well known to have been a person of Wit and Parts whose Repentance and Reformation may deserve a more perticular Relation then is proper for this place and occasion For the truth and certainty of it that is beyond all doubt there being Copies of it in many hands both in City and Country long before his Death and seen and perused by his acquaintance and by diverse persons of quality who visited him here in Town but little before he dyed c. He continued his Repentance and Resolution to the last often and very freely declaring upon all occasions the Horror he had suffered in his Soul for his sinful life past far exceeding all that he suffered in his Body which was very great his sense of the Wonderful Mercy of God to him and that he would die rather than commit the least wilfull Sin He dyed 25th May 1694. in his return from London toward Gloucestershire Sir Duncomb Colchester's Penitential Letter Gentlemen and Friends SInce it hath pleased Almighty God of his great and undeserved Mercy and Goodness to bring me one of the chiefest of Sinners Sir Duncomb Colchester's penitential Letter by a long and sharp Visitation to a sense of my Sins for which with all Humility of Soul I adore and praise him it is a Duty I know incumbent on me as ever I hope for his Pardon and Forgiveness to do what in me lyes to bring Honour to his Holy Name to make Reparation for the Mischief I have done by my former vitious Life and antidote as far as I can the Poyson which my Example has shed round about me In order whereunto I do hereby Declare that I am heartily sorry for all the Sins of my past life the remembrance whereof however pleasant they formerly seemed to be is now Grief and Bitterness to my Soul More particularly that I may take shame to my self I do with the deepest sorrow lament my Rioting and Drunkenness my Chambering and Wantonness those daring and presumptuous Sins which had so long dominion over me I do also most heartily lament that great sin which I was so frequently guilty of of encouraging and drawing others to Excess which has made me partaker O sad thought of other Mens sins and lyable to answer for more than mine own I am sensible that as it hath been my Practice so it is still of too many Gentlemen and that they as I did reckon excessive Drinking so far from a Fault as to be rather one of the best Indications of a hearty Respect and true Affection to the Persons they entertain But O false Love O treacherous Friendship to receive their Friends Men and send them out of their Houses Beasts I wish from the bottom of my Soul that any thing I could say would make all those whose Consciences accuse them of Guilt in this particular to loath and abhor this wicked Practice as I do And I do also heartily lament my great Neglect of putting the Laws in execution against common Drunkards Swearers and such like scandalous Sinners and do earnestly beseech all such as are in Authority and whose business it is to see the Laws executed if any such come to hear this Paper read that they will be more careful in that particular and consider that as their Power is a Talent entrusted in them whereof they must give a strict Account to their heavenly Lord so by their being duly conscientious in the discharge of their Duty herein we may hope for a Reformation amongst us and then with confidence expect God's Blessing to rest upon us And as I abhor my self for my Neglect in this particular now mentioned and all my great sins and Provocations against an Infinite Majesty so I do farther hereby deelare my full Purpose and Resolution if it shall please Almighty God with whom all things are possible to restore me to Health or prolong my days by his special Grace and Assistance without which I shall be able to do nothing to lead a New Life in all Holy Obedience to his Will and Commands and desire that this Declaration of mine if I fail to do so may be produced as a Testimony against me to my Shame and Reproach But since my Recovery is very uncertain and what I have the least reason in the world to hope for being heartily desirous to do what good I can in the Circumstances I am in I do hereby earnestly warn and beseech all Sinners especially those whom my Example has at any time encouraged the remembrance whereof still sills me with shame
and sorrow to repent of all their sins and provocations least God's Vengeance overtake them in their Security and there be no Remedy And I beseech them farther to take Notice that if this Warning be slighted the wilfull neglect and Refusal thereof will at last be charged upon them as a heinous Aggravation of all their Sins they shall hereater commit will encrease their Condemnation and make their Doom more dreadful and terrible But that it may have a contrary effect and be a means to reduce 'em from their Sins to a Holy and Religious Life that so their Souls may be saved in the great Day of the Lord is the earnest desire of their Languishing and sorrowful Friend Duncomb Colchester Who desires this may be read in the Parish Churches of Michel Dean and Westbury and shewn to such Gentlemen Friends and others as may bring God most Glory Nov. 1693. Signed and Delivered in the presence of several of his Friends The other Letter is written by a Woman The remarkable penitence of J. H. and one of inferior quality in the World but not at all inferior in her Repentance It was that and the Grace of God in her Heart which moved her to do it long before it wasdone and it was the pure effect of that when at last it was done and all her own composure we are assured by a credible person who hath most reason to know it who gave her absolution approved her purpose in it and perused it when she had done it and hath seen other Letters of her writing by which he could easily discern the Composure of this if there had been any other hand in it or any reason to suspect it It is published with her consent who is very ready to embrace any Motion tending to the Honour and Service of God or her own Humiliation Her Letter was directed to Mr. Minister in Portsmouth and is as follows viz. Reverend Sir I Have put Pen to Paper humbly beseeching you to hear me of your Charity a few Words The Enemy of my Soul hath raised many Objections to hinder my intended purpose and I have been almost perswaded to give it over but now having the advice of a Pious Holy Minister of God who says it may be of great use I desire to take shame to my self and to give Glory to the Majesty of Heaven who in great Love and Pitty hath pluckt me as a Firebrand out of the Fire and I am this day a Living Monument of Mercy I cannot but be grieved at the many sad Examples I have given at Portsmouth My Sins have have encreased the heap of the publick Impieties and made them cry the louder to Heaven for Vengeance both there and here too It is very meet right and my duty to confess to the Glory of God and Praise of his Grace my crying sins committed in that place that some of my Companions in evil may hear and fear and do no more such wickedness About 9 or 10 years agone I came a young Woman if I deserve that name to P my Husband Cook of a Ship in that Harbour a very ill Husband no excuse for me Almighty God did suffer two sinners to come together to plague one another and whilst he acted the part of a Drukard with shame and confusion of face be it spoken I acted the part of a Harlot giving my self over to work all uncleanness with greediness insomuch that my very Name was a Proverb of Reproach to all Civil Women Two or three years I lived openly scandalous and then it pleased the Almighty to visit me with a sore fit fit of Sickness even to the loss of my Limbs for a Season at which time I did beg of God to restore me to my Health and did faithfully promise never more to defile my Marriage Bed and the Lord was intreated at that time also and hath added to my life these remaining years Some time after it pleased the All-wise Providence to make me a Mother I was very thankful for the Mercy and was much reclaimed and I was in some measure convinced of the great Evil of sin and did put pen to paper with intent it should come to the Ministers hand but the Enemies of my Soul prevented and hindred that reasonable design and I was again lull'd to sleep in the Bed of Carnal Security where I continued three or four years with little Interruption in which time I buried my Husband and two Children After this I was in danger of being as bad as ever living at Service in the very midst of Temptation at Porthridge I continued there but a short space for the good hand of Providence brought me to London where I had time and opportunity to reflect upon my ill spent life O that I might improve the mercy O that I could tell you what God hath done for my Soul He hath brought me out of Darkness into his marvellous light O that I could prevail with my Companions in evil to seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near Some of them are old Sinners grey hairs are upon them and they know it not I could be content to stand in a white shet in your Church if I might but prevail with any one Soul to see the heinousness of my sin Nay I could be content to be stoned without the walls of the Garrison so I might but be a means of the Conversion of any one Sinner O that I could write these Lines with my purest Blood I am grieved for the Dishonour I have done to God by my abominable sin and heartily wish my Head were Waters and mine Eyss were a Fountain of Tears that I might weep day and night for abusing mercy O Sir you live in a place relating to Sodom cry aloud spare not to tell the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseer their Sins and my Companions in evil their Sins The Lord is coming to reckon with the Nations and with you God grant you may be found among the Faithful Shepherds watching them and giving them their meat in due Season I humbly beg your Blessing desiring to be remembred in your Prayers and I humbly beseech the Almighty that this poor paper may have its designed effect that God may be glorifi'd and our Souls saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Amen and Amen J. H. Jan. 22. 1693 4. To this SPECIMEM we designed to have added several other Remarkable Instances of this nature never yet in Print but for want of room cou'd not insert 'em here But though this Specimen will not allow of instances under every head for if it wou'd we had added Specimens upon the Works of Nature and Art as we have done here upon Providence having prepared materials for that end yet b y what is here exhibited the ingenious Reader may easily perceive the usefulness of our design and as a farther Evidence thereof we shall only add That under