that of an Afflictive sense of having no Lot or Portion in the Love and Enjoyment of God an infinite Good Sin must needs be the greatest Evil the worst of any thing which is Enemy to either God or Man because 't is God's usual method to punish sin with sin when all his other Reclaiming Essays of Providence have through the obstinacy of the sinner proved ineffectual I will chuse their delusions says God and give them over to their Iniquities he that is unjust let him be unjust still and he that is filthy let him be filthy still As if to be a Sinner was misery sufficient and no vengeance for Impiety like that of being permitted a continuance therein The exceeding Great Malignity of Sin is in nothing more seen than in this that it cost God more to Redeem the World than at first to Create it cost him but the fiat of his Will but a Word 's speaking to make it out of Nothing but stood him at the invaluable Expence of his Son's Blood to Ransom it out of worse than Nothing a polluted sinful self-undone Condition At God's Creation of the World there was only want and absence of previous matter whereout to make it no repugnant inaptitude no contrariety in the subject whereby in the least to obstruct or retard the Divine Efficacy whereas in the Redemption of the lost World there was the deep rooted Corruption of our Nature inveteracy of Evil Custom and Habit depravity of Affection and perverseness of Man's Will to be conflicted with and overcome by God's Spirit by his holy Word and Sacraments before the Ransome purchased could be applyed and made Savingly Effectual So much more is there in Sin of inconquerableness and Difficulty of subjection than in the most difficult and miraculous material product of an Almighty power O let but our thoughts carry us to the places of our Saviours bitter Agonies and Sufferings and there let us behold him greatly Amazed and sore troubled Sweating great drops of blood bowing beneath the weight of his Fathers Displeasure crying out Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me and at last suffering on a painful and Ignominious Cross those extream torments both of body and mind which the sins of all Mankind had deserved which none but the Manhood in Conjunction with the Godhead could have undergone and which were abundantly Sufficient to Expiate the Guilt of the whole world and of multitudes of worlds were multitudes really existing Let us consider our Blessed Lord suffering all this though without Sin in himself only because he had taken it on him by Imputation and by becoming our Surety bore the iniquities of us all and then let us if we can continue to think so Lightly so harmlesly oâ— Sin as we do Here 's a sight our Redeemers Crucifixion which at once shews his inestimable Love to us and the mighty Malignity of Sin in that nothing Less than his precious Bloodshed that Seal of the New-Covenant could Aâ—one Divine Justice and do away the Guilt the Condemnation of our impieties The Prayer O Thou immaculate Purity Thou perfectly holy and Righteous Divine Being who hast manifested thy Love to holyness and thy Hatred against all impiety chiefly in sending thy Son into the World by his pure Example and by his holy Doctrine to destroy the sinful works of the Devil and to promote a Life of uprightness O that those Excellent Graces which shined so eminently in our Saviour may be formed within us thy servants the Hope of Glory that the life which we henceforth lead in the Flesh may be by the Faith of the Son of God Conform us we beseech thee to his Image in Holiness making us partakers of a Divine Nature Ah blessed Lord 't is not the Guilt 't is not the Condemnation of sin we so much desire to be deliver'd from as the foul stain and pollution as the Reigning power and prevalency thereof destroy then Vice within us as well with respect to the inward Love and Approbation as to the outward Act and Performance While we are in the World preserve us holy Father from the Corruptions of the World suffer not sin to have Dominion over us in any kind for we are not under the Law but under Grace O may thy Grace be sufficient for us Keep us holy Spirit by thy power thorough Faith unto Salvation Let not Sin Reign in our mortal Bodies that we should fulfil the lusts thereof but Grant that thy good Spirit thy holy Word and heavenly Graces may bear sway in us and abound Turn our Eyes from beholding sinful vanity and cause thou us to make much of thy Law O give us to behold more of the malignant Nature of Sin of the Turpitude Folly Baseness and Ingratitude thereof and then shall we more thoroughly Grieve Detest and Resolve on the abandoning of it Convince us gracious God that Sin 't is the greatest of Evils and then shall we betake our selves to Thee the greatest of Goods work in us that Holiness without which we not only Shall not but also Cannot see Thee the Lord by reason of a natural Incapacity in us for Seeing Thee O divine Object of blessedness imports Enjoying thee a seeing thee with Delight and Satisfaction and this we can never do unless we first become Like Thee in Purity in the holy Tempers and Dispositions of our Souls O lay in us that Foundation of future Happiness Grace the Hope and Qualification of inheriting Endless Glory Lord we are poor and blind and naked blind as to true saving Knowledge operative by Love poor and naked as to any inherent Acceptable Righteousness of our own O let us be cloath'd upon with the Robes of thy perfect imputed Righteousness we are Dead in sins and trespasses O do thou Quicken do Thou Raise us up to Newness of Life and Obedience Purge our Consciences from dead Works that we may henceforth serve more Acceptably thee the Everliving God Let our lives be a continual Endeavour of subduing in our selves the Love of Sin of becoming Enamoured with the Beauty of Holiness of becoming Like thee therein more Approved of by thee and every way such as Thou wouldst have us to be Cleanse us O God from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and cause us to endeavour after the perfecting of Holiness in thy fear And then Holiness the chief ingredient of Heavenly Happiness being our New-Nature being the fix'd Temper and Habit of our Regenerate Minds we shall be both Meet for Heaven and our Souls will Tend thither as to their proper place and most desireable state of Enjoyment Amen Amen Meditation V. On Watchfulness against Sin and Temptations THat this is a Duty our Saviour teaches us Watch and Pray says he that ye enter not into Temptation that ye come not within the reach or first Enticements thereof And St. Peter exhorts Be ye sober be vigilant because your Adversary the Devil goes about as a roaring Lion
be heal'd Wash his Soul clean O God in Christ's most Precious Blood Conform him more and more to the Holy Doctrine and Example of the Ever-blessed Jesus Sanctifie him with all the Saving Graces of thy Renewing Spirit Give him if it be thy Will some Delightful Foretastes and Anticipations of Celestial Blessedness Hope towards Thee an Enravisht Sense of thy Favour Joys in the Holy Ghost unspeakable and full of Approaching Glories However if this be too great a Vouchsafement make him at least Willing to be Dissolved Fit for Heaven Full of his Saviour Empty of himself and of all Trust in his own Defective Righteousness and whenever thou takest him out of this World take him we Beseech Thee unto thy self into Everlasting Felicity Amen Holy Jesu for thy Precious Death and Passions sake Amen A Prayer to be used on the Lord's Day in the Morning Preparatory to the Duties of the Day BLessed and Glorious Lord God Thou Lord and Instituter of the Sabbath who allowest us Six Days in Seven for our Temporal and Worldly Concerns and hast Set Apart the Seventh only for thine own more Especial Service O how wisely hast thou Provided for both our â—ouls and Bodies For how would our Outward Man want Food and Raiment were not Days of Labour afforded it wherein by honest Industry to procure those Necessaries and how would our Spirit Pine away and Languish as to all Gracious Endowments were not Seasons appropriated to thy Divine Worship O that therefore at present we may Rest from the works of Sin as well as from those of our particular Callings O that we may be in the Spirit on this thine own Day that we may worship thee thereon in Spirit and in Truth that we may keep it so Holy and Sanctified unto Thee as that it may be a Pledge and Earnest of an Eternal Sabbatisme with thee in Light and Glory This is the Day which the Lord hath made by his Justifying Resurrection O may we Rejoice and be Glad therein with an Holy Rejoycing This is the Day which was the Birth-Day of our Hopes and future Blessed Expectations O may it prove a Day of Growth and Improvement in Grace of holy Ardours and Devont Enravishments Grant Gracious Father that we may not find our own Pleasure nor Speak our own Words nor do our own Deeds on this thine Hallowed-Day but may both Call and Esteem it a Delight Holy of the Lord Honourable O that Heaven an a Heavenly Frame and Temper of Spirit may be Begun in us Here by means of our pious Intercourses with Heaven amidst the Duties of thy Day We are Going O Lord unto thy House of Prayer the Place where thine Honour dwells O pardon us that we are not Prepared according to the Preparation of thy Sanctuary that we have not yet put off our Carnal and Earthly Affections Considering that the place whereon we are to stand is Holy Ground O do Thou our God vouchsafe to Go along with us into thy Temple by the Holy Aids and Assistances of thy Spirit Cause us to Approach Thee there with Reverence and to worship before thee with a Zealous Affection when we Meditate let us do it with all Seriousness Heavenly-Mindedness and Edification when we Pray let it be with the utmost Attension Faith and holy Fervour when we Hear the Glad Tidings of thy Gospel may it be with all Diligent and hearty Attendance on thy Word and Doctrine when we Read thy Holy Scriptures may they make us wise unto Salvation may we Read them with Vnderstanding with an Affectionate Gust and Relish with a Reforming Change and inward Digestion of them into Spiritual Grace and Nourishment O may this Day be added to our Share in an Happy Eternity by our Religious Improvement of it mayst Thou our God come Down unto us herein by thy Divine Influences and may we be Taken up unto thee by Devout Praises and Adorations Accompany we beseech Thee O Lord with thine own more Especial Presence thine own more Especial Ordinances and holy Institutions Cause us by the Spiritual food of pious Duties to Increase in Grace and to be Nourished up to a perfect Manhood in Christ Jesus Being Rooted and Grounded in Divine Love and built up through Faith unto a Capacity of Eternal Salvation How Earthly O God would beour Affections How Carnal and Sensual our Souls were their Thoughts and Desires alwayes busied about the things of this World Blessed be thy Name therefore that thou hast Enjoyn'd us a Season wherein to call off our Thoughts and Affections from things Temporal wherein to unloosen our Spirits from Sense and Sensual Concernments and allowest us a Sweet Converse and Communication with Thee the Fountain of all Happyness O make us more to value this inestimable Priviledge make us at present to Improve it to the best Advantage Cause us to hold a pious Harmony of Praises and Hallelujahs with thy Blessed Saints and Angels now in Heaven 'T is the Employment will be our Continual Joy and Blissful Recreation in the Regions Above O give us therefore to Habituate our selves to it Now and thereby partake of Heavenly Satisfactions even on Earth Give a Blessing to thy word Preached and to the Prayers offer'd to thy Divine Majesty on this Day while Paul plants and Apollos â—aters do Thou O God Give the Sanctifying Increase That we may be able Experimentally to say we have Tasted and Seen â—ow Gracious the Lord is we have of a Truth found how 't is Good for us that â—e have waited upon thee in the midst of thine holy Ordinances And then by these means of Grace being Train'd up and Fitted for Everlasting Glory we shall at length be Translated thither where the Exercises of Holyness shall Cease being means of Begetting or Confirming us in Grace and shall only be our Delight and Joy and Heavenly Entertainment for an Eternal Duration Amen Blessed Lord Amen FINIS Books Printed for and Sold by Thomas Speed at the Three Crowns near the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1693. THirty Six Sermons viz. 16 Ad Aulum 6 Ad Clerum 6 Ad Magistratum 8 Ad Populum With a large Preface by the Right Reverend Father in God Robert Sanderson late Lord Bishop of Lincoln The Eight Edition corrected and amended Whereunto is now added the Life of the Reverend and Learned Author Written by Isaac Walton Folio Conversation in Heaven Being Devotions consisting of Meditations and Prayers On several Considerable Subjects in Practical Divinity Written for the Raising the Decay'd Spirit of Piety By Lawrence Smith LL. D. Fellow of St. John's College in Oxford A Sermon at the Funeral of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Grey Late Vicar of Dedham in Essex Preach'd in the Parish-Church of Dedham Febr. the 2d 1691 2. With a short Account of his Life By
Exstatick Raptures And besides the Fears and Dangers and Dis-Grace of a Discovery in the Unchaste Action when the beastly desire is Satisfied then Succeed Dissatisfaction Shame and Regret of Mind in a bashful Novice Sinner of this Nature and worse than Shame and Regret an hardned Impudence and confirm'd Searedness of Conscience in an old habituated fornicator But alas alass that Men should buy Repentance of unlawful Satisfaction of fleshly Appetites at the Dear ratâ— of Disease Torment and Unsoundness of Body in Conjunction with Disquietude of Spirit Alas that they should purchase so high Eternal Miseries as to incur them for the Dyeing sensual pleasures of a few moments Ah where is I say not Religion but where is even Reason and Understanding in such Unclean Persons It shews impure Sense that the Animal and Brutish part is uppermost in them Ah shall we be Ashamed to Commit Acts of Uncleanness in the sight of Men in the sight of but a Child and yet shall we without blushing Commit them in the sight of an Omniscient God Shall not His Excellency make us afraid of any filthyness of flesh or Spirit And His dread fall upon us that we become not Guilty of the same If any Man defile the Temple of God says St. Paul him will God destroy 1 Cor. 3. 17. and he must have little sense either of the Majesty and Purity of God who will dare to Desecrate his Temple or of the Divine Justice and Power who will hazard his own Salvation thereby Alas Unclean Wretch one would think thou shouldst have more Reverence for the Dignity of Humane Nature for the Awful and Stupendiously beautiful Structure of thy Body than to make it the foul instrument of Lust and Uncleanness that to take thus the Members of Christ and make them Members of an Harlot God forbid Thou shouldst do it Ah dost thou know what a 〈◊〉 't is to Grieve to Resist to Quench to Drive from thee in this manner the Good Spirit of Grace What Sin did I say Nay dost thou know what a Loss what a Prejudice it is unto thee both Corporal and Spiritual While the Holy Ghost inhabits the Temple of a Sober Pure and Chaste Body Angels are its Guardians the Holy Spirit its Guide its Defendeâ— against all Assaults of Temptations but when Unchastity has forced him from that Abode and sent both Him and our Tutelar Angels Sadden'd away then Enters the Unclean Spirit the Devil takes possession of an Impure Body as of his own proper Right and House of Inheritance and the Man lyes exposed to as many other Sins aâ—d Temptations as will please to Assail him For the Fence of Vertue Modesty being broken down Modesty that Greatest Restraint on Degenerate Human Nature next to the checks of Conscience and of God's Spirit being lost what shjould hinder Unchast Persons who have yielded their Members instruments of Uncleanness already from proceeding to yield them further Servants of iniquity unto iniquity without any stop or forbearance Oh Unchastity it is a very Stupisying sin It Seals a Man up in impenitence and renders him usually beyond the force of a Reclaimment any otherwise than as Disease and Disability of Body prove his Reformers The Debauch'd Mind within for all that remaining Unreclaimed but as lasciviously inclined as ever Ah for Remedy of Unclean Cogitations and Desires which lead to Corporal Pollutions and which defile the Soul as much as Unclean Acts do the Body nay which arrived to a plenary unchaste Consent of the Will become the Adultery of the Heart Matth. 5. 28. Let us consider how unfitting it is that the Soul and Body which are both the deaâ— purchase of Christ's most precious Blood should be Debased and Vilified by any Lustful indulged Desires or Actual uncleannesses rather let the Remembrance of the blessed Jesus Crucified Crucifie in us all sensuaâ— appetites of the flesh let the Remembrance of Everlasting burnings Quench and Extinguish in us the fire of Concupiscence Let the fear of God make thy flesh Tremble and so Awe it into Subjection that thy fleshly lusts may not at any time war against thy Soul and gain the Victory Think Think each hour on the mortifying Considerations of Death Hell and the Grave on Rottenness and Putrefaction therein and on thy Appearance at the General Resurrection before the Tremendous Majesty of thy Judge who is of purer Eyes than to behold impurity with Approbation and this will suppress in thee lustful thoughts and wishes even in their Infancy and first motions Be alwayes busied in some lawful Employment and then Satan when he comes will find no Share in thee no Room for his unchaste Temptations to Enter no impure matter within for their setting fire thereto and Exciting it into a flame of Desire Consent or Unclean Action Observe but Sobriety and Moderation of Dyet joyned with Prayer and occasional Fasting and thou shalt soon observe how all Carnal Appertites will dye and become vanquish'd within thee Yes I will endeavour do Thou O my God Assist me thereunto I will endeavour by the strength of thy Grace to Conquer all Temptations all the least Tendencies to this vice of Unchastity I will suppress the first unclean Fancy with loathing and indignation I will stifle the first impure Desire after Satisfying my undue Sensual Appetites I will Fly and not Fight I will keep out of the way of Unchaste Allurements rather than Try and hazard my Chastity by Resisting them I will Escape out of the filthy Sodom of impure Cogitations without looking back or so much as Revolving them in my mind My Mortifications my habitual Mortificatious and Temperance shall shew how much I abhor to Gratifie the flesh into Rebellion against the Spirit I will Quel Concupiscence in its Primeval Origine for the very Entertaining of foul Thoughts though they proceed no further is an Abomination before God a Repugnancy to his Unspotted Purity and a dangerous Temptation or praedisposition to go on to more Advanced degrees of Unchastity I will therefore by the help of my God abstain from all manner of Impurity External and Internal Corporal and Spiritual Amen Blessed Jesus Thou Author and Pattern of all Purity and Holyness Amen Amen The Prayer O Holy Jesu immaculate Lamb of God Prince of Purities Captain of Salvation to all those who have kept themselves pure and unspotted with the World and the Flesh keep us pure keep us sober chaste and modest in all our Deportment Create clean hearts O God and renew right Spirits in thy Servants that we may dread all impure Thoughts all polluting Desires all ecrrupt Communication much more may fly all Actual compliances with fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul O let no impure Imaginations pollute our Spirits which God hath sanctified no immodest obsâ—ere Speech pollute our Tongues which God hath commanded to be Instruments of his Praises no unchaste Actions rend the Veil of those Temples our Bodies which the Holy Ghost hath chosen
not to Depart hence at any time but with all imaginable Preparations for Eternity with a Soul thoroughly Changed and Renewed with a Soul full fraught with thy Divine Love Humble and Resign'd Chearful and Enravish'd with future Expectations And then whenever this his Earthly Tabernacle shall be Dissolved he shall have a building of God an house not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens Which we beseech thee to Grant both him and us for the alone Sake and Merits of thy Son our Saviour to whom together with Thee O Father and thy Holy and Ever-blessed Spirit be Ascribed as is most Dâ—e all Honour Praise Might Majesty and Dominion from this time forth and for Evermore Amen Amen Another Prayer for the Sick when there appears small Hopes of Recovery O Most Glorious and Merciful Heavenly Father the Lord and Giver of Life the Healer and Repairer of our Decay'd Nature who bringest down to the Grave and then sayst Come again ye Children of Men Giving Power to the Faint and to those who have no Might increase of Strength Behold we beseech thee Favourably Visit Graciously and Relieve speedily this thy Servant who standeth in Need of thy Pitty and Relief Be Thou a very Present Help unto him O Lord now in the Necessitous time of his Trouble O let thy tender Mercies come unto him that he may Live Encompass him with thy Favour as with a Shield Pitty and Purifie him Sanctifie and Save him we most humbly beseech thee Either Asswage his Pain or else Increase his Faith and Patience to bear it Either Remove his Affliction or else move towards him with Divine Comfort and Sâ—pport Lay upon him Gracious God no more than thou shalt enable him with Willingness and Submission to undergo and then lay on him whatsoever shall seem Good in thy Sight O Give him a Sanctified Use and Improvement of thy Fatherly Corrections let them teach him more Humility Contentedness and Resignation less Trust and Relyance on the Creature Cause him O Lord by means of his present Distress to see the Empâ—iness Deceit and Instability of all Earthly Possessions and may this Conviction carry up his Mind to the satisfieing Everdurable Enjoyments of Heaven O that his Devout Conversation there in Holy Meditations Fervent Prayers and Transporting Praises may Allay much of his Corporal Pains and Disquietudes and render him in a manner Insensible of them O that thy Word and blessed Promises may be his sure Trust and Confidence in Adversity tho' he walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death yet let him fear no Evil may thy Rod as well as thy Staff Comfort and Sustain him Give him Holy Lord unseigned Repentance for all the Miscarriages of his Life past Stedfast Faith in thy Son Jesus Compleat Pardon and Forgiveness through the Merits of his Blood a lively Hope of that Immortal Bliss which his Redeemer has Dearly Purchased and most Graciously Promised to true Believers a strong Sense of thy Fatherly Love towards him and tender Care over him even amidst his Sufferings O cause this Sick Person to Apprehend and be Assured that thou intendest his Spiritual Benefit and Amendment by these thy Corrections that they are the Chastisements of a Loving Father and not of an Incensed Judge that they are the healing Medicines of a Friend and not the avenging Wounds of an Enemy O Convince him Convince him that in making him endure Chastening thou dealest with him as with one of thy Children for what Son is he whom the Father Chasteneth not That thou seekest to Conform him by Afflictions to the Likeness of his Blessed Saviour O may he be made Perfect through Sufferings Teach him we Pray thee more Obedience through the things which he Endures May his Chastening however Grievous for the Present afterwards yield him the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness may it turn to his Spiritual Profit and Advantage and help him forward in the Right way which leadeth unto Life Everlasting Take O God from this thy Servant all Murmuring Discontent under thy Disciplining Providence Cause him rather Quietly to submit to thy Afflicting Hand as Considering that Affliction ariseth not out of the Dust proceedeth not meerly from Natural Causes but from thy Wise Providence and Appointment who Orderest all things toward us for our Good O Perswade this Sick Person 't is for his Good that he is Afflicted that of very Faithfulness thou hast Caused him to be troubled O make him by Searching and Trying his ways to find out those particular Sins and Failings which thou Aimest at in this his Chastisement to Observe and Understand thy Meaning in the Calamities which befall him that he may accordingly meet thee in thy Providential Ways and Dealings towards him that so the Removal of his Guilt by Repentance through the Merits of his Saviour may make Way for the Removal of thy Divine Rod of Punishment And do Thou the God of all Grace and Truth who hast called this thy Corrected Son to Suffering by thy Fatherly Wisdom and Goodness after that he hath suffered a while for his Souls Profit Stablish Strengthen Settle him Let we Pray thee thy Merciful Kindness be this Afflicted Person 's Succour and Safety send him Help from Above and Evermore mightily Defend him Defend him O Lord from all Satan's disquietting Assaults from all his Wicked Temptations O let not that Evil one have any Advantage over him in these his sorrowful Hours but Rebuke him Good Lord Rebuke him Tread that old seducing Serpent under this thy Servant's Feet and make him more than Conqueror through Christ who strengthens him Worâ— Holy Father Dâ—liverance for 〈◊〉 whom thâ—â— Châ—stisest Heal him and he shall be Healed Save him and he shall be saved for thou aâ—â— the God of his Praise O make him to hear again of Joy and Gladness that the â—ones which thou hast bâ—oken mâ—y â—â—joice But if thou in thy Wisdom hast Decreed that this thy Servants Sickness shall be unto Death Fit and Prepare him for it we beseech thee Give him a more perfectly Holy and Heavenly Constitution of Soul an Heart Wean'd and Estranged from this World a sanctified Meetness to be made Partaker of an Inheritance with the Saints in Light and Glory O may his last Hours be his Best Hours his last Thoughts his Best Thoughts and his last Words and Actions his best Words and Actions The Nearer he draws to the End of his Days cause him so much the Nearer to draw to the End of his Hopes even the Salvation of his Soul For this Purpose Apply we Entreat thee all the Benefits of our Saviour's Perfect Obedience and Meritorious Sufferings unto this Dying Person for Reconciliation and Acceptance Impute not Gracious Lord unto him his former Sins but thy Well-beloved Son 's Alsufficient Righteousness who was Wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities O let the Peace purchased by thy Son's Chastisements be upon this thy Servant and by his Redeemers Stripes let him
should ease and recreate and usually bends and weighs down the Soul with Covetousness to the Earth Riches what are they but vanishing Treasures Which if not taken out of our Hands by the Fraud Violence and Injustice of others may in time make themselves Wings and fly away from us which we certainly must leave at the day and hour of our Death Riches attended with disquieting thoughts and brain-cracking Projects in the procuring them with anxious Cares and Solicitudes in the keeping them with jealous fears and distrusts of loosing or being despoil'd of them The immoderate Love of which is the Root of all evil That which puts men upon the worst of wicked practices which pierces their Hearts through with many Sorrows and finally drowns them in the Gulph of Perdition Worldly Pleasures what be they But the joyous sensations of a few moments which Decease as soon almost as born and which tasted straightway loose their flavour and Relish Which if dishonest and sinful are likewise hurtful and prejudicial and very severely paid for by succeeding shame sorrow and repentance if innocent and harmless yet carrying vanity in their Nature they add also Vexation of Spirit through a deceit of our Expectations For how should what is Finite as all Terrene Comforts are afford any compleat and settled Satisfaction Oh no Absolute and Durable Contentment is not contain'd within the narrow limits of the Creature Nothing but what is Infinite is proportionate to an immortal Souls Capacity which are next to Infinite O our God that such a thing of Nothing or worse than Nothing of pain sorrow and disappointment as is this World should take up so much of our Affections as it does and that Heaven a Region of the sublimest sincerest ever-durable and most enravishing Delights should share so little in our Love and Approbation Thither did we mount our Thoughts our Desires our Religious Enterprizes even to the Celestial Mansions above oh with what Disdain should we look down on this vile inferiour Earth How little would it appear in our sight Nay how would it in a manner disappear our God our Heaven our spiritual and eternal Concerns having pre-ingaged the main of our Affections and consequently having left little Room for meaner Objects and Entertainments We are Pilgrims here on Earth and therefore ought to have the coldness and indifferency of Pilgrims to its most entertaining Gratifications we are strangers here on Earth and ought on that account to be shy of using too much Familiarity with the World lest it should ruin and betray us with its wicked Seductions For who would trust himself too far who would live careless and unguarded in a Forreign in an Enemies Country We are Strangers here 't is so very Little a time we shall continue in this Alien Countrey that 't is not worth our while to set our hearts upon it to learn its Language or Conform our selves to its Customs and Manners We are Citizens of the New-Jerusalem which is above Heirs of an Heavenly Canaan and shall we basely hanker after the Garlick and Onions of this viler Egypt Can we think this howling Wilderness-Condition a Paradise of Delights Or do we account Heaven the End of our Hopes not worth making it the End of our Pious Labours Not worth the looking after or earnest contending for it Does a life of Voluptuousness of too free indulgence unto or too much Affection for Worldly Pleasure Honour or Profit suit with the Gospel-Duties of Mortification and Self-denial With a being Crucified to the World and the World to us in the immoderate Love thereof With the End of our being sent into it viz. to prepare for our happy going out of it and for a Blessed Eternity Does it suit to our profession of a Suffering Religion suit to the Disciples of a Crucified Saviour To his Mortified Poor and Lowly Example Who was made perfect through Sufferings and Worldly Renunciations Does it suit lastly to our Baptismal Vow and Covenant wherein we solemnly engaged to Renounce the Devil and all his Works the vain Pomp and Glory of the World with all covetous desires of the same and no longer to follow or be led by them O what Perfidiousness what Perjury is it after all this to be false to our Christian Profession false to our Baptismal Vow and Covenant by becoming Idolaters of Earthly Vanity following and being led by it and preferring the things Sublunary before those of Heaven and Eternal Glory The Prayer O Most Amiable Divine Majesty Give us a lively Transporting Prospect of the Glories of Heaven give us a prospect of the Enravishing Beauties and Perfections of thine own Nature and then how will all Sublunary Pomps and Vanities appear dim and faded in our sight How shall we look down with Scorn and Contempt upon them Wilt Thou O Lord allow us to Raise our Thoughts to Thee to Exalt them above this World and shall we still lye Groveling upon it Wilt Thou Admit and Accept our weak imperfect Affections and shall we not do all we can to Elevate our Thoughts to Spiritualize our Affections for thy Service O give us that Victory of Faith whereby we may overcome the World that Assurance of Hope whereby we may live above its Corruptions purifying our selves even as Thou art pure Mortifie in us O Sovereign Excellency the Love of the World with the Quickning Enflamed Love of thy self shew thy Self a Loving Father to us and it sufficeth a Glance of the Light of thy Countenance is enough to Eclipse all Earthly Splendour O make us to see the Vanity of all things here below and then we shall soon discern the Vanity of our Affections in inordinately doteing on them Cause us O Spirit of Divine Grace to consider how our Blessed Saviour the Lord of all things the Lord of Life and Glory despised and contemned the World and certainly after this we cannot continue overvaluing it Cause us to have our Thoughts our Desires our Conversations more in Heaven and then shall we be much less fond of this Earth for finding our infinitely more valuable Treasures Above our Hearts our Affections will be there also Make us O our God to evidence daily our contempt of this World by the coldness and indifferency of our Love towards it by wanting its Enjoyments without Impatience by possessing them with Temperance and Moderation and by Loosing them without murmuring and discontent Perswade us O Lord effectually perswade us that we can never be happy till we have disintangled our Affections from every empty unsatisfying disappointing and transient Good here below and till we love Thee above all things who alone canst fill our desires gratifie all our wishes till we despise this World think lowly of our selves highly of our God and are wholely dead and crucified to all Polluting sensual Lusts and Appetites O come Thou then unto us O our God come and satisfie our Souls with thy Fulness replenish them with thy Likeness in Holiness and
all probability renders his Distemper desperate and incurable To delay Amendment and continue in Sin with intent of quitting it hereafter is to wound our Consciences with the stings and remorses of Guilt on purpose of healing them again some time hence 'T is to refuse to do what is in our power and to defer the doing it till it may be out of our power 't is to make our future work of Repentance much greater more grievous and difficult than it would be at present and yet to hope to set about it more Advantagiously in time to come 'T is to increase our Task to lessen both our Will and Ability to perform it with and yet to think to perform it better under these Disadvantages To defer Conversion is to persist becoming vain in our Imaginations erroneous in our Elections corrupt in our Performances that afterwards we may become Wise and retract with Bitterness of Self-condemning thoughts our former vain Judgments wrong Choices evil Practices that we may upon change of Mind Will and Affections call our selves fools a thousand times for our former wicked goings astray and may be ashamed of may abhor and grieve for our past Impieties as much as ever heretofore we loved and delighted in them all these Absurdities and Foilies Delay of Repentance implies 'T is a refusing to become well and safe and happy at present and a referring our spiritual Welfare our everlasting safety and happiness to the hazardous uncertainties of Futurity But do we act thus imprudently in other Affairs of far lesser moment No certainly when Sick we delay not the use of means for our Recovery when Maim'd or Wounded we apply our selves immediately to a Cure but when sick with Sin nigh unto death Eternal when wounded in Mind by the Rebukes of Guilt contracted and maimed in all the Faculties of our Souls by the disorders of Impiety so that from the Crown of the head to the sole of the feet there is no whole part in us yet here we hug our Distemper seem unwilling to be cured at present and defer the healing remedy Repentance till some further season but ah that we should be so wise and provident in Temporals and so careless and inconsiderate in Spirituals Ah that we should be so much concern'd for the Body and so little for the Soul Oh that men should judge it too early to become instantly secure of endless Salvation when they are not secure of living till to morrow till the next moment Vain inadvertent Wretches That they should be daily a dying hourly subject to Death and yet promise themselves some years hence the making sure of Eternal Life Certainly they know not what it means of what value and importance it is that they thus stupidly neglect it Ah can they think God will lengthen out that Life which is a design'd Course of Audacious Defiance and wicked Rebellion against him Ah can they think he will so unweariedly wait to be Gracious unto them Alas they consider not what Bonds and Fetters an Evil Custom puts upon the Soul how frequent Acts of doing wickedly improve into a confirm'd habit and an habit of Impiety becomes a second Nature almost unrelinquishable and yet do they imagine they shall be freer to break loose from Sin after a long-continued Bondage thereunto That their Chains of Iniquity will be the easier shaken off after they are Rivited by Custom and Inveteracy of wicked Practice Can we make too much haste to be Saved To get out of a state liable to Eternal Death and Condemnation into a state of Divine Grace and Favour Are our Minds Wills and Affections likely to be softer more melting and impressible with the sorrows of Repentance after they are Harden'd through the Deceitfulness of continued sinning Will God's Grace the more abound towards us the more we abound in Transgressing against him What Surety hast thou impenitent Delayer but thy day of Grace may be ended before the day of thy Life But that not Believing and Repenting at present hereafter may be too Late He that Believeth and Repenteth not says our Saviour is condemned Already The Irreversible Sentence may be Pronounc'd on thee here though Executed in another World Repent Hereafter Why dost thou consider what Hereafter means It imports the utmost Hazard and Uncertainty In reckoning on Futurity thou reckonest on a thing out of thine own Power and only in God Almighty's Disposal for the Grace of Repentance as all other Graces is the Divine Gift and He who has promised pardon to the Penitent has no where told us we can be penitent when we Please On the contrary God has inform'd us that 't is his Spirit which works in us both to Will and to do of his Own Good pleasure and canst thou think he will work it though never so long Resisted in the endeavour That his Divine Patience will never be tired the Treasures of his Long-suffering be never exhausted The Holy Scripture indeed tells us God waits to be Gracious but how Long he waits we are not acquainted on the contrary it is written My Spirit shall not Always strive with manâ— To Day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts Seek the Lord while he may be found call upon hiâ— while he is near What can be thâ— meaning of these places of Sacreâ— Writ but that if we neglect thiâ— present Accepted time hereafteâ— may be an unacceptable one buâ— that if we hear not Now God's Voice calling us to Repentance he may hereafter refuse to hear our Voice calling to him for Grace Mercy and Acceptance But that if we neglect the instant Season of seeking the Lord while he may be found and calling upon him while he is near there may and will come a time when he will not be found a season when he will be afar off with his Divine help and Assistance and when as holy David says in the great water-floods in the time of our bitterest Distress and Calamity we shall not come nigh him Read Proverbs the First the 28 and 29 verses God despises that Death bed Repentance when men leave sin meerly because sin must leave them because they can keep that and the World no longer when being by constraint a going hence they desire to go unto God rather than into the place of Torments prepared for the Devil and his Angels But no imposing upon Omnisciency The searcher of Hearts sees that such a forsaking of sin is forced imperfect flowing from no right Principle and therefore he values it not Ah there is a time when God leaves sinners to themselves when they will not by any means be perswaded to leave their sins There is a certain measure of God's Grace and of man's Impieties after which the Holy Spirit withdraws himself and will not any longer be entreated And how knowest thou persevering Impenitent but that if thou neglectest Grace and the season thereof Now the measure of thy sins may hereafter be compleated and both
thy allowance of Grace and the opportunity of making use of it may be over with thee Which God grant that it may not be Amen Amen The Prayer MOST Merciful Father Patitient and Long-suffering who waitest to be Gracious and yet whose Spirit will not always strive with obstinate impenitent sinners dost Thou O Lord call unto us Behold Now is the Accepted Time behold Now is the Day of Salvation and do we cry to morrow is soon enough some Days or Years hence will be as Acceptable a time as this present one Ah Mad-men that we are Ah foolish Self-deceiving Creatures who should know best the Day of our Salvation Thou our God the Author of it or We Who should know best how Long thy Spirit will strive with us How Long Thou wilt wait to be Gracious O cause us to Day while 't is call'd to Day to hear thy voice and not harden our hearts against thy Invitations to Repentance Convince us blessed Lord in order to a present amendment that 't is some degree of hardening our hearts not to hearken to thy Voice this Day That every continuance in sin is one Advance more towards final Impenitence a rendering our future Conversion the more Grievous and Difficult and our Confirmation in wickedness the Greater and nearer to irretrievable And in a sense of all this make us we beseech thee to Retire out of the ways of Iniquity immediately For would we be willing to be surprized by Death Judgment and Eternal Torments in an Impenitent State Would we be willing to be summon'd before thy Judgment-seat to give an Account of our Stewardship before our Accompts are duely Stated and made up If we would not O cause us then to give all Diligence at present to make our Calling and Election Sure to work the Religious work for which we were sent into this World while 't is Day before the Night of Death cometh wherein 't is impossible to work out our Salvation Is there Lord any one of us but would willingly Repent and turn unto Thee sometime before he Dyes because otherwise he knows he cannot be saved but who of us can be sure he shall Repent before Death that delays the work till to morrow For who can tell what a Day may bring forth Cause us therefore Gracious God to live every day as if it were to be our last for that we know not but it may be such Cause us to live so at present as we shall wish we had done when we come to Dye O grant we may not Dye with any Guilt upon our Consciences or any known sin unrepented of Grant that we may not put far from us the Evil Day and thereby flatter our selves into a state of impenitence and endless Destruction but give us Grace to use well the means of Grace and improve the opportunities of Salvation while they are mercifully afforded us lest we provoke thee our God to swear in thy wrath that such obstinate sinners shall never enter into thy Rest Let holy Father the uncertainty of the time of our Saviour's coming to Judgment either to the universal one or that of each particular person soon after his Death make every one of us live in a continual Readiness and Preparation for it that we may not have our Oyl of Grace to seek our Lamp of an holy Conversation to Trim and Replenish when we should enter in with the Bridegroom of our Souls Christ Jesus into his Marriage-Feast But grant that at what Season soever our Lord comes to call us to an Account of the Talents committed to our trust he may behold all our Debts to his Divine Justice ready Cancell'd by our Repentance through the Merits of his Blood and finding us perseveringly employ'd in Good Works he may say unto us Well done Good and Faithful Servants Enter ye into your Master's Joy Amen blessed Jesu Amen Meditation IV. On the Malignity and Evil Nature of Sin O Sin how common art thou and yet how little understood How Common and therefore how little Dreaded and Abhorr'd Did men consider and understand thee more they would sure Love and Practice thee Less Alass they consider not thy direct opposition to God's Soveraign Authority Rectitude of Will and purity of Divine Essence thy contrariety to the Laws of Nature of Reason and of Grace How thou art a Violation of God's Revealed Will and Pleasure in the Sacred Scriptures Writings which contain nothing but precepts Holy Just and Good and which consequently 't is our greatest Interest and Advantage as well as Bounden-Duty to observe and our greatest Disadvantage as well as Disobedience to break and violate They consider not Sin how opposite thou art to their own Personal Welfare and Happiness Temporal Spiritual and Eternal how Degrading and Defiling to their Souls and Consciences what an Ignominy and Reproach to our Understandings what a Violence and Affront to our Reasons what a perversion and wrong-byass of our Wills and Affections what a cause of Regret and Disquietude of Mind to those who voluntarily Commit thee how offensive to God how injurious to Man how prejudicial to the Common Order Peace and Prosperity of the Universe What an ungrateful Return thou art to the Divine Goodness Patience and Forbearance how thou art an offering despite to the Spirit of Holiness a Grieving a Quenching a total Driving it away from us a Crucifying afresh the blessed Son of God a Treading him under foot and accounting the Blood of the New-Covenant an unholy thing a Rejection of all the Merciful Terms and offers of Gospel-Reconciliation a rendering the means and instruments of begetting Grace in us ineffectual a choosing Death Eternal Death rather than Life Eternal Life a wilful Treasuring up of Wrath against the day of Wrath and Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of a provok'd offended Deity All this and much more the Commission of known voluntary Sin implies and can we be so irrational so Vile and Dis-ingenuous so even like Beasts before God as to continue practicing vicious Impurity with Greediness after having thus weigh'd and consider'd how Evil how bitter and Lothsom a thing it is Oh is there no knowledge no understanding in the Workers of Impiety is there no Shame no Fear no Regard in them to their Everlasting Salvation that they drink down Iniquity like Water and Rush into the occasions of their own Ruin into the performance of all Wickedness as the War-Horse rusheth into the Battle fearlessly and inconsiderately Ah Vice how stupifying a thing art thou What a polluter first of our Souls and Consciences and after long Custom of sinning what a layer of them Asleep what an hardener of our hearts through thy continued and dayly advancing deceitfulness Thou Wickedness art pleasurable indeed in the Act but alass how transient the Act how vain and inconsiderable the pleasure whereas the after-Memory of thee is tormenting and much more exquisite much more Durable a Pain than thy vicious Enjoyment was a Delight
Alas How art thou all over Disorder and Irregularity Madness and Unreasonableness Shame and Disgrace Depravity and Corruption How dost thou render the practicers of thee the Objects of God's curse and hatred who is otherwise the most kind and benign being for God who is Love it self Love in the very Abstract does however infinitely hate the Sinner hates him even unto Death Eternal O the Guilt the inexpiable Guilt of sin unrepented of that nothing less than an Eternity of punishment is its Recompence that it shall ever be Attoning for and yet never be Attoned that the precious blood of Jesus as infinitely satisfactory as it is can yet never quench the infernal flames to which sin unforsaken exposes us Ah did men but thoroughly understand the Evil Nature of Sin the baseness the turpitude the Disingenuity and Ingratitude thereof the Greatness of that Everlasting Vengeance to which it renders Sinners obnoxious the full import of Damnation Damnation occasioned through Neglect of so great Salvation as that the Gospel offers us no Temptation sure would be big or prevalent enough to entice them to the wilful commission of Impiety but they would reject it with the same holy scorn and abhorrence as Joseph did the impure sollicitations of his Egyptian Mistress crying out How can we do this Great wickedness and sin against God our Heavenly Father How can we do this great wickedness and sin against his Son our Saviour's most plenteous and merciful Redemption against the Holy Ghost our Sanctifier's most kind and earnest and often repeated Strivings with us to bring us to repentance who wou'd we suffer him to do it did we not resist him by sinning would seal would Confirm and Establish us in Grace unto the Day of Redemption 'T is observable that St. Paul describing the odious and heinous Nature of sin knew not better what to call it than by its own filthy impure Name sinful sin that Sin says he might appear sin and sin by the Commandment appeared exceeding sinful Any other Name than its own had been too Good for it any other than its own would have seemed to have Lessen'd its evil Quality There is nothing in the Creation Irregular and Deformed but as Sin has defaced and brought a Curse upon it Sin the Reverse to all that 's Great and Good Praise-worthy and Honourable the bane and Disorder of Universal Nature That which turned Angels of Light and Glory into Angels of Darkness and Confusion changed their once happy and pure Beings into the unhappyness and impurity of Devils which expelled Mankind out of Paradise expelled them at once out of a state of Innocence and felicity Sin that which exposed us to Sickness Misery and Death Temporal of the Body to Depravity of mind Disorderlyness of Appetites perturbation of passions and the Spiritual Eternal Death of the Soul 'T was fatal impiety and transgression which turned a fruitful Eden into a barren Wilderness turned the Garden of God into a Seed-plot of Temptation for the Devil Subjects the Creature unwillingly to bondage and Corruption makes it Groan earnestly for a Deliverance for the Renovation and Restitution of all things when there shall be no more pain Sorrow Sickness or Death because no more sin the occasion of them no more Bodily Evil because no more mental and moral evil Sin 't is the great Malady and Distemper of the Soul the destruction of its health beauty vigour and Safety that which puts it into a preternatural temper puts all its powers and faculties out of order renders it enflamed with violent passions Sick with inordinate appetites tortured with various and contrary desires and is it not madness to be in Love with such our Disease To hug and Retain so much Spiritual Sickness and infirmity Sin is also the Death of the Soul the Death of it to the Life of Grace and Vertue the Death of it to the Quickning influences and Renewing Efficacy of Gods Spirit the Death of it to any pleasing sense and Grateful Relish of Divine and Heavenly Good things and is it not the highest imprudence to be Jocund and Merry amidst a Dying condition Nay to be Dead actually Dead stupid and benummed in Sins and trespasses and yet Alive delighted in and well-pleased with such our calamitous estate Sin is likewise the most abject Slavery of the Soul that which renders us the Servants of Corruption a Slavery of it to impure lusts and vices to Tyrannous evil customs and habits to the over-ruling Temptations of the Devil who leads wilful sinners Captive at his pleasure And is it not folly to be Gratified and Contented with such a Servile state with such a base and loathsome Drudgery Sin 't is opposite to all God's glorious Attributes and Perfections for if we consider his Soveraignty of Dominion Sin is Disobedience and Rebellion if his Wisdom 't is Folly and Madness in contradicting it if his Power 't is Impotency in vainly defying it if God's Justice is respected Sin is Iniquity if his Goodness and Forbearance 't is Disingenuity and Unthankfulness if his Holyness and Purity 't is the Greatest Pollution and Degeneracy if his Truth and Veracity Sin is Falsehood and Error So that Sin being contrary to the pure and holy Nature of God which is the Original Pattern and Standard of all good Sin consequently must needs be the Top the Abstract and Epitome of all Evil And ought such a thing to be the Object of our Choice of our Love and Approbation of our practice and prosecution Sin contains in it the very formal Nature of Hell and future punishment for what makes Hell What but the Hellish that is the wicked impure tempers and dispositions of the wretches inhabiting it which evil tempers of mind would prove their unhappy owners internal Torment and Disquietude were there no External Lake of fire and brimstone of avenging flames and utter Darkness Nay Sin is not only the principal and constituent part of Hell but also a much worse and far Greater Evil than Hell it self for Hell is Good for something to take vengeance on the finally impenitent and disobedient and thereby to vindicate God's Justice and Holiness but sin serves only to abuse his Grace and Goodness Hell was of Gods making Sin of the Devils Nay Hell was made in pitty to Mankind to deter them from coming into that place of Torments but Sin offers violence to Hell as if it were the seat of Happiness forces open the Gates of that Infernal fiery Furnace dragging men into it much against the Will and Rescuing Endeavours of their Creator Preserver Sanctifier and Redeemer O Sin where is thy profit when as thy Loss is that of our immortal Souls that of Heaven of peace of Mind and Joys in the Holy-Ghost unspeakable and full of Glory Where thy pleasure when-as thy Torment is that of a guilty disquieted Conscience that of continual dread of Divine Punishment that of short empty Delights and after vexatious Reflections on them
seeking whom he may devour He watches for our Ruin and Seduction and therefore we ought to watch for our own preservation he is diligent to betray us and therefore it imports us to be very careful that we avoid his treacherous Snares He walketh about is never at Rest from attempting our Corruption seeks occasions lies in wait to offer us Temptations then when he finds us most unguarded then when he finds our hearts most light and vain and consequently most liable to entertain his Suggestions He watches what sinful Allurement is likeliest to take Effect with us by means of his observing what our General Temper of body most inclines us to or what our occasional disposition of Mind renders us the most subject to comply with and he baits his hook with such a Temptation as is most agreeable to our sinful Inclination which he hath aforehand discover'd or at least shrewdly Ghest at and therefore it nearly concerns us to Guard our selves against him with Watchfulness to keep us from those sins we are most inclinable to that they gain not the Dominion over us to keep us from Constitutional Sins to which our Tempers byass us from those of frequent occurrence from sins of Infirmity which being Lesser ones are on that account less Observable and Dreaded and consequently the more Dangerous to be very careful to avoid the Occasions of sinning the pre-dispositions means and opportunities leading thereunto to shun the very shews and Appearances of Evil In short to watch against all Sin and Temptation in General There is no Condition of life free from its Enticements to sinning they are apt to intermingle themselves with whatever we Think Speak or Act Wealth and Prosperity is a dangerous Temptation to the sinful Abuse of Divine Blessings into Excess and Wantonness into Pride and Carelesness into Forgetfulness of God and our Duty owing to him and Want and Adversity is a strong tho' undue Provocative to Distrust and Diffidence of God's Goodness presiding Care over us is an Incitement to Murmuring Impatience and Discontent with his Providential Dispensations So that in every state we are Unsafe and Insecure in every thing Sin lies at the door to surprize and Assault us its Snares are spread for us every where though we are insensible of them though perhaps for the present they have not in any Gross instance Caught and Entangled us and when we live thus among vicious Baits and Dangers always Near always Expos'd to 'em ought we not to be extream wary and vigilant Alass the Partition Line between Lawful and Unlawful is so small and narrow that the passage from one to the other is but a Step or rather if we advert not a sudden and easie Slip The utmost Freedom in things Allowable is a Bordering on the confines of Disallowable nay not only a Bordering upon what 's prohibited but also an hazardous Temptation thereunto We must not come Nigh a Pest-house if we would not be infected with its Contagion Temptation is indeed the Subject-Matter and Exercise of Vertue so far from Moral Evil in it self that 't is the Tryal and Improvement of our Graces the Tryal of an honest upright Heart of our sincere Love to God and Goodness of our resolved Constancy in the ways of Holy Obedience But however 't is a perilous proof of our Vertue and better be without the Proof than without our Innocency better be out of the reach of Temptation than by coming in its way endanger our being over-power'd therewith Yet since we can never be wholely out of the Reach of Temptation at least out of a Liableness thereunto good Reason have we to be continually watchful and circumspect over our Hearts and our Behaviour that sin through its Deceitfulness Gain not upon us For Satan's wicked Allurements his vicious suggestions could never take hold on us would never find Admittance into our souls were not the way prepared for their Entrance by our evil Lusts and corrupt Appetites those Foes of our own Household who like Treacherous false friends in a Besieged Cittadel set open the Gates thereof in time of Rest and Security for the Besiegers to enter in at Let us chiefly therefore have an observant eye over our own Hearts endeavour our utmost to free them of all impurities and beg of God that he would cleanse the Thoughts the Desires of our Hearts by the Inspiration of his most Holy Spirit and then we might bid safe Defiance to all the Devils wicked solicitations to all the Worlds enticeing Flatteries We are apt to say of Smaller sins of sins of humane Frailty and Infirmity of some Bosom Lust as Lot did of Zoar is it not a Little one and my Soul shall live But ah how do we deceive our selves with such vain words For can any Sin be Small which is an offence against an infinitely Great and Glorious Divine Majesty which is a violation of an Holy Just and Good Law can any sin be Small the wages whereof is Death Eternal The Price of whose Expiation was the precious Bloodshed of the Son of God The Distinction of sins into Greater and Lesser ones is made not in regard that Lesser sins for their matter are not Great ones in their Evil Quality are not great Repugnancies to the Divine Purity highly displeasing unto God equally exposing of us with Greater Vices to the Sentence of Condemnation and to a suffering the vengeance of Eternal fire but for that they are Lesser breaches of the Established Order and Harmony of things in this World Offer Less violence to the checks of our Consciences are Less offences against the well-fare of our brethren or smaller injuries to our own Temporal Interests whether of Mind or Body of Goods or Good-Name However in strictness of speaking Small Sins are of a great Guilt because more easily Resistible because the Temptation to them is Lighter and therefore a complyance with it is an Evidence of great Degeneracy of Spirit of an evil Heart within which chooses sin with Little Bait in great measure for Sinnings sake The Weakness of Assaults from Lesser Temptations adds to the inexcusableness of our Cowardice if we suffer them to vanquish us and therefore they ought the more unyieldingly to be withstood This then being my Duty watchfulness against all iniquity against all Temptations all Occasions tending thereunto I will by the Grace of God be very diligent in the Exercise of it And dothou O God strengthen my Purposes confirm my Resolutions Assist my sincere Endeavours of Striving against sin of Resisting all its Allurements of being brought under the Dominion of none of them O Lord lead me not permit me not to be led into Temptation but Deliver me from all evil both Moral and Natural Corporal and Spiritual for thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen The Prayer O THOV Divine Supporter of the weak thou strengthner of such as do stand and Raiser up of them that fall
beat down Satan under our feet we are beset with Spiritual Enemies we have no might to help our selves against the Great Company of Temptations which dayly assault us our eyes are only upon thee from whom alone cometh our Health and Salvation Help Lord or we perish help or we are Ruin'd Eternally stretch forth thy Right hand to save us or we sink in the waves of vicious Allurements which so impetuously beat against us O be Thou pleased to speak those Tempests into a Calm do Thou either Restrain the unruly waters of strife sinful Assaults which aâ—â— ready to come in even unto our Souls or else Assist and bear us up that they may not overwhelm us Suffer us noâ— O Lord to be Tempted above that 〈◊〉 are Able but together with the Temptation make a way to escape that we may resolutely withstand it and having done all may stand O make us diligent in all our Duties watchful against all Temptations that they never become a snare to catch and entangle us but cause us to Resist manfully according to our Baptismal Engagement the World the Flesh and the Devil striving against sin against alâ— wicked Enticements Provocations and Opportunities leading thereunto And in all our pious conflicts makes us more than Conquerors through Christ which strengthens us O holy Father Thou Preserver of men the Prince of this world Satan cometh he cometh to search and to Try us O Grant he may find nothing in us to close with his Temptations keep us from sin keep us from every evil way of the Destroyer Deliver us from all our Ghostly Adversaries for we fly unto Thee to secure and hide us O pluck our feet out of the wicked Net which they have privily layd for our souls We fly unto thee O thou Refuge of all those who put their Trust in thee we fly unto thee to Repel and Quench all the fiery darts of the Devil let him not have any Advantage over us but give us strength in the day of battle and holy Contention Grant that thy Kingdom may daily Rise and the Kingdom of Satan dayly fall in our hearts Lord We wrestle not only with flesh and blood with the Corruptions of our own Nature but with Principalities and Powers with Spiritual wickednesses in high places O Give us therefore Power in thee our God let thy Spirit be sufficient for us let thy strength be manifested in our weakness and make us in the conclusion mightily to prevail Cause us to take unto our selves the whole Armour of God to watch and pray to fast and mourn and strive our utmost against sin and Temptation that having fought a good fight and finished our course and kept the faith henceforth may be laid up for us a Crown of Righteousness a Crown which fadeth not away Eternal in the Heavens Amen Amen Meditation VI. Against the Sin of Pride PRide How incongruous a thing to a poor Indigent Dependant Creature To a compound of Vileness and Corruption of Misery and Folly whose foundation being in the Dust ought to humble him thither from whence he was taken Pride was not made for Man says Solomon it Becomes better any other part of the Creation for they still Retain that beautiful Goodness at first impress'd upon them by their Divine Maker the Stormy wind and Tempest the Sea and raging Floods as boisterous and unruly as they be are yet Elements fulfilling God's Word The Moon observes her certain seasons and the Sun knoweth his going down All Nature keeps its Regular Course at first ordain'd it only Man Irregular Man has Deviated from his primitivâ— state of Order and Innocence anâ— thereby has Degraded himself belovâ— the very Beasts which perish so thaâ— 't is much more a matter of profounâ— humbling to Man that immortal Corruption was his Off-spring than thâ— Mother Earth Natural Corruption was the Parent-principle of his formation To be proud and yet to be a Beggar to live upon Alms what a Solâ—cism what an inconsistency is it And yet thus it is with us we aâ— Beggars of our dayly Bread froâ— God or at least should be such alâ— we possess all we Are was Originally from him we are his Pensiâ—ners and Alms-People And how in sufferable a thing then is Pride 〈◊〉 Man how indecorous What hast thoâ— says the Apostle St. Paul which thoâ— didst not Receive and yet boastest thâ—â— as if thou hadst not Received it Surely all boasting is excluded where whatever we have is of Grace and not 〈◊〉 Debt is ours in Trust only not in Propriety Ah 't was this sin of Pride which first brought sin into the world which first came into it and which will Last go out of it Ambition was as early as Nature and Adam was little sooner a Man than he Aspired to be as God knowing Good and Evil But alass 't was this his undue Aiming at so Great a height which was the occasion of his fall and he knows now Evil only by the Loss and Privation of Good Pride 'T was this turned the Apostate Angels out of Heaven which made even that infinitely Blissful place uneasie to them while proudly reaching at the incommunicable Prerogatives of the Deity that Aspiring sin changed their Angelick Nature into that of Devils And 't is this Vice of pride which is more or less an ingredient in all the wickedness committed by degenerate Mankind foâ— every wilful iniquity is a rejecting the Divine Authority and Soveraignty of God and a Vertual saying within our selves Who is Lord oveâ— us 'T is this sin of excessive Self-Loveâ— and too good an opinion of our own Endowments which includes in itâ— mixture of the greatest folly for 〈◊〉 implies misapprehension and Error Ignorance and Inconsideration Ignorance of those Imperfections and Deformities Sins and Seeds of Misery within us which were they discovered must needs humble and abase us An how troublesome a Guest 〈◊〉 Pride in a Man's bosome it create both uneasieness to himself and alâ— others about him while it makes him Envy Superiours take to Heart the slights of Equals and even to rage with passion at the Disrespect of Inferiours O 't is this vice of over-rating our selves keeps us Strangers at home makes us unjust Censurers abroad Causes us to think too highly of our own worth too meanly of that of others 't is this hinders our growing Wiser and Better our imagining we are wise and good enough already But alass did we see all we lack we should soon fall in our own Conceit and wish for much more Wisdom and Goodness than we have Pride nothing more looses a man Friends and Gains him Enemies nothing more renders him an object of universal Scorn and Contempt so that the proud person by Pride defeats his own Aims he challenges Honour as his due but by unduly challenging it he reaps Dis-respect and Derision But above all nothing more than Pride renders us the Scorn and Hatred of God the Lord beholdeth the lowly with an Eye
how can we expect to obtain Mercy from Thee if we Exercise it not first towards our offending Brethren O Rebuke in us then the evil Spirit of Rage and fury Dispossess and Change it into a Spirit of Mildness Still the Storms becalm the boisterousness of our passions which otherwise like a troubled Sea will never suffer us to be at Rest Convince us O Lord that Immoderate Anger is the Impotency of Reason and Vnderstanding the wild breaking Loose of head-strong lust and passion that 't is a short kind of Madness an Effect of Pride and Haughtiness the Discovery of a weak impatient and Effeminate Mind which can bear very Little And by force of these Considerations in Conjunction with thy Grace cause us to cease from Anger to let go wrath and have a care we fret not our selves in any wise to do evil Convince blessed God the furious that by studying Revenge they Resemble their Father the Devil the most Malicious of Beings that they act quite Contrary to thy Mercyful and Gentle Nature who takest not Advantage against sinners punishing them according to their provocations but much beneath their sinful Demerits Convince Passionate Persons that they are their own Greatest Tormentors while they possess not their Souls in Patience but turn other mens sins and offences into their own both Sins and Punishments O that we may therefore walk as the Ever-blessed Jesus did in abundance of Love Meekness and Patience and so find Rest unto our Souls O that we may put off all Anger Wrath Malice Strife and every turbulent uneasie passion and may put on bowels of Mercy Kindness Humbleness of mind Long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another If any of us have a Quarrel against any even as Christ forgave us Grant that we may do so likewise O Give us Grace to Quench the first Sparks of an Angry Resentment before they kindle into a flame not to suffer our whole Anger to arise but to suppress the smallest Beginnings of it before it Settles on our minds and grows to a greater height Convince us holy Father that we give place to the Devil when ever we indulge a furious Passion that the wrath of man worketh not the Righteousness of thee our God O thou therefore who Rulest the Raging of the Sea-Still the madness of our Passions O thou who commandest the Winds and the Waves and they obey thee allay the Storms of our enraged Displeasure Grant O Gracious Lord that we may so watch over the least Tendencies to immoderate Anger that the Sun may not at any time Go down upon our wrath that it may not ranckle into Hatred and a desire of a Revenge but that it may be as Soon Dismists as Excited Turn we beseech Thee our natural passion of vicious fury into the Channel of an holy Zeal for Revenge upon our Lâ—â—sts and Vices let us be excessively Angry at our selves instead of being Displeas'd with others for our weak estate in Grace and for our abounding Strength in wickedness O make us ward to Give an Offence and as forward to Forgive one offer'd us may a Spirit of Meekness and Gentleness Rest upon us let the Peace of God so Rule in our Hearts that we may Love and shew Kindness to our most implacable Enemies Cause us to Forgive as we Desire and Look to be forgiven make us Calm and Dispassionate that thy Dove-like Spirit of Truth and Holyness may visit us with an Olive-branch of Peace And then Tranquillity and quiet Sedateness of mind having been the General temper of our Souls on Earth we shall at Death be Removed as Quietly out of our Bodies into Celestial Regions where there is nothing but Eternal Calm 〈◊〉 the least Disturbance or Dis 〈◊〉 of Spirit Amen Amen Meditation IX Against the Sin of Murmuring and Impatience amidst Divine Chastisements IMpatience under Affliction is our punishment as well as Sin it frets and corrodes the Mind and thereby doubles upon us our sufferings adding to that of the Body that of the Spirit also and most Just and Agreeable is it that those who refuse submission to God's Government should be punish'd by their own perverseness Ah how foolish a Vice is Discontent with God's Dispensations of Providence toward us it can in no wise make our Condition better but will certainly render it much worse both on a Natural account and likewise by Divine most just Ordination For wriggling our Necks under the Yoke of Distress is the ready way to make it sit more heavy and Galling and Repining Discontent at the Chastisements of Heaven is so far from Relieving us of them that they provoke God both to continue and Aggravate them upon us Alass Man how knowest Thou but thy Affliction is Design'd to thee in Mercy but that 't is the Greatest Blessing can be bestow'd upon thee by keeping off the Greatest Plague Spiritual Sickness Death and Destruction And canst thou think it Reasonable to Repine at thy Soul's Cure or preservative in health Canst thou think it suitable to murmur at what may be thy highest instance of Happiness thy Greatest Matter of Rejoycing God sees thou canst not be happy Eternally and free from Temporal Affliction and hadst thou rather imprudent Creature enjoy thy Good things here with Dives than Rest with Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom God foresees that his Blessings of Earthly prosperity would be Real Curses unto thee by proving Dis-advantages to thy Soul and therefore is it he in Compassion with-holds them Thus he denies thee Temporal Riches that thou may'st be Rich towards God Rich in Faith and Good Works He with-holds from thee plenty of provision and fulness of Bread lest giving it thee he might send Leanness withall into thy Soul lest being full thou might'st Deny him and say who is the Lord He finds poverty of Spirit most consistent with thy poverty of Fortune he finds thy Dependance upon him the more firmly Establish't by dispensing to thee Day by Day his Fatherly Allowance Does he deny thee Health of Body and soundness of Constitution Why he does it 'tis likely to a very Good purpose that thy Soul may be the more healthy and Thriving in the Graces of his Spirit in Humility in Patience in Contempt of the World in Resignation to the Disposals of his All-wise and Just and Gracious Providence A person who does not consider 't is in order to his future ease and welfare will be apt to account his Chirurgeons painful Launcing and laying open the Ill-affected part in his Body a cruel unkindness unto him but he who is mindful that all the Smart and Anguish he is put to is only in order to his subsuent Ease and for Recovery of the unsound part to its accustomed Constitution This Man will be ready to Kiss the hand that probes and cuts him and will Thank his healer for dealing faithfully with him though never so severely Yet ah the perverseness which is in most of us who wound our selves by
Righteous in all thy Works Just and True in all thy ways and stedfastly believing that in very Faithfulness thou hâ—st caused us to be troubled Nay even to Bless and Praise thy holy Name amidst the greatest 〈◊〉 that thou dost so far condescend to take Notice of us worthless Creatures as to punish us with thine own hand and chasten us with afflictions that we should not be condemned with the sinfuâ—â— World O how know we but we are more indebted to thee for thy Corrections than for thy more Apparent favours and Benefits and shall we then murmur and be impatient under them God forbid Convince us rather Good Lord that whom thou Lovest thou Chastenest and Correctest every Son whom thoâ— Receivest that if we are without Chastisements then are we bastards and not Sons Convince us that 't was through many Tribulations that the Glorious Company of the Apostles that the Noble Army of Martyrs made their Entranâ—â— into the Kingdom of Heaven that it was through such violences that they took it as it were by force Remind us that 't was through Sufferings that our blessed Saviour was made perfect that He himself went not up to Joy efore he first suffer'd Pain that He enter'd not into Glory before he was Crucified O make us in Conformity to him the Captain of our Salvation patiently to charge thorough all Adversities Losses and Disappointments till we arrive at the mark for the prize of our high calling in Christ Give us holy Father to lye Prostrate at thy feet whenever thou contendest with us let us Repent to the Amendment of our evil ways and not Repine at those smarting Sufferings which tend to Rebuke our foolish forsaking Thee the Author of our Blessedness let us be dumb with a silent Reverence whenever thy heavy hand of Chastisement is upon us O cause us then in all lowliness and Humility to submit to thyProvidence to make diligent Search after the Accursed thing for which thou art Displeas'd with us to Kiss thy Rod of Correction and Learn that Reforming Lesson which it dictates lest otherwise it Breaks us in pieces and there be none to Deliver us O Suppress in us all Repining thoughts and make us drink chearfully the cup of Affliction how bitter soever it is we shall have reason to Thank thee O Lord for it if it proves Medicinal to our Souls O make it such we entreat thee Let this be the use of Temporal Calamities their weaning our Affections from the Vanities below their Raising and Setling our desires on the infinitely more valuable things Above their rendering us Meek Humble Contented Resign'd that so our Faith Hope and Patience may be found in the Day of our Lord Laudable Glorious and Honourable and that being Afflicted for a season we may be endlesly comforted Amen Blessed Saviour Amen Meditation X. On Love to God 'T IS our Duty and 't is our Interest and Priviledge our Duty we being commanded to Love him with all our hearts souls and strengths and our Interest for what greater Love to our selves than to Love the fountain of all Loveliness than to Love him in whom are compriz'd all those Excellencies in infinite Degrees which Scatteringly and imperfectly reside in the Creatures and yet render them Amiable and Admired Nothing is more Reasonable also than to Love God a being so transcendently Good in himself so Gracious and Loving unto us for to Him we owe all the powers of our Bodies all the noble faculties of our Souls all that we Are all that we have comes Entirely from him we should be very ungrateful persons should we Love any thing so well as him much more should we Love any thing Above him for he hath not only created us doth not only preserve and provide for us Comforts as well as Necessaries but he hath also dearly Redeem'd us from everlasting Destruction not with corruptible things such as Silver and Gold but with no Less a Ransom than the precious Bloodshed of his Dear Son God Co-equal with the Father He hath likewise Sanctified us with the Regeneration of his blessed Spirit Thus hath God not only provided us all the Coveniences of this life but also all things appertaining to a Better has given us Spiritual Blessings as well as Corporal means of Grace and hopes of Glory So that He hath layd on us the Strongest obligations to Love him and if any thing else in the whole Creation is Lovely much more Eminently so is the Divine Majesty who is owner of all his Creatures Lovelyness and of Infinite more If Beauty is an object of Love behold God the most beautiful Being in whom dwells perfection of Comelyness If Riches are attractives of Esteem and Valuation behold the Deity the Treasury of all Wealth and of whatever is valuable If pleasure is a thing Lovely and desirable behold in God's presence Fullness of Joy and at his Right hand pleasures for Evermore Sure I must hate my self if I Love not God for therein consists my Wellfare and Happyness Shall I love other things and not Him from whom they Borrowed their Lovelyness Shall I Love the Stream and not the Fountain of blessedness What Joy do I deprive my self of if I Love not God If I hate not all other things in comparison of him He that Loveth Father or Mother sayes our Blessed Saviour more than me is not worthy of me and he that Loveth Son or Daughter the most Near and Dear things more than me is not worthy of me O who know the Enravishing Delights but those who have experienced them of Loving the Deity and being beloved by him of holding such Sweet Communion with the God of all Consolation It is a very Great Favour and Condescension that the Majesty of Heaven and Earth will Admit of our imperfect Love will Graciously Accept it for 't is imperfect though never so Sincere 't is finite Love though never so Seraphical What an inconceivable Honour is it to be vouchsafed the Loving our Creator 'T is certain we can have no better Object no one so Good the benefit of Loving God redounds wholly to our selves not at all to him However I will Love the Lord not so much for my own Ends as because he hath Commanded my Love as because he is a supereminently Amiable Being infinitely Deserving my Love as because 't is a Debt due from me a Dependant Creature to my Maker and the Author of all my Enjoyments I will Delight in Loving and Obeying him as long as I live and I by his Grace will Evidence the Truth of my Love by paying an Universal Respect unto all his Commandments Amen Amen The Prayer O Thou Supream Excellency whom to know is Life Eternal whom to Love is Heaven upon Earth Thou Being infinitely Lovely in thine own Nature Exceeding kind nad Loving unto us manifest thy self more and more unto us that we may Love Thee more and more and that Loving Thee with increase we may Enjoy Thee in a
Life Amen Amen The Prayer O Holy Jesu thou Lord of Life and Glory who by thy Death hast overcome Death and open'd unto us the Gate of Everlasting Life at the hour of Death and in the Day of Judgment Good Lord Deliver us Grant that the End of our life on Earth may be the Beginning to us of a blessed Eternity in Heaven that the Second Death the never-ceasing one may have no Dominion over us but that when we discontinue Living with men we may dwell with thee our God and Converse with all the blessed Society Above Grant Heavenly Father that when we come to lye on a Death-bed we may be able to look backward with Comfort and Consolation on a well spent Life and forward with a bright prospect of Glory and Immortality beyond the Grave that when we are nigh unto Death and our bodyly strength Languishing our faith and hope may Revive and become vigorous and we may then feel the joyous Approaches of that Salvation which we before had wrought out with fear and trembling We know O Lord that 't is appointed for all men once to Dye and that no one can rescue his life from the pit of Destruction and yet do we live as if we had made an Agreement with Hell and had an unforfeitable Lease of our lives O give us to Dye unto sin Now that we may sleep in Christ at our Departure and be Awaken'd be Rais'd to life again in the Restitution of all things Afford us some Refreshing beams of the Light of thy Reconciled Countenance when passing through the dark valley of the Shadow of Death grant that we may then fear no evil but may have the Testimony of a Good Conscience which may be a supporting Cordial to our weak and fainting Spirits Grant that we may not live in such an unprepar'd state of Soul as that we should be afraid to Dye and Appear before thy Judgment seat but cause us so to Demean our selves as that the Sting and Terrour of Death Sin may be taken away before Death it self lays hold on us that when it comes we may welcome it with Smiles and Gladness may lift up our heads with Joy at our hastening Dissolution as knowing that then the time of our Redemption draweth near Be Thou present with us at the hour of Death O blessed Jesu who sufferedst Death for us upon the Cross by the vertue of that thy precious Death Sweeten we beseech thee the bitterness of ours When our Eyes shall be Darkned in the Agonies of Death kindle in our hearts the Light of saving Faith when our Speech shall fail and leave us O do thou speak Inwardly unto us by the Comforts of thy Spirit and grant that we may speak mentaily unto Thee by Devoul Sighs and Groans which cannot be utter'd when we are nigh unto the End of our Days may we be nigh the end of our Hopes even the Salvation of out Souls O give us in our last Exiremities Joy in believing Hope in our Latter End humble Resignation of our Spirits into thy hands an holy Contempt of this Earth an Enflamed Love of Heaven Longing desires to be with Thee with our Saviour christ with Angels and Glorified Saints which is much better than being here Amen Amen for thy Mercies sake Meditation XVII On the Last Judgment MEthinks I view the Judge of the whole Earth Terrible and yet Gracious coming in the Clouds of Heaven with all his Glorious Retinue of holy Angels methinks I hear the Arowzing Call of the last Trumpet see the innumerable Dead take the Alarm Awake Move and Rise at its all-powerful Summons I behold methinks the Righteous Rising first with Smiles and Exultation in their Faces as knowing that their Redemption that the Reward of all their Pious Labours draweth near I behold also the ungodly Rising Last and yet even then most unwillingly shaking and trembling for fear of their approaching Tryal and Condemnation Heaven above Threatning them Hell beneath Gaping wide for their Reception I bâ—hold too the Court-Book of an Universal Registry open'd each Mans Indictment and Accusation publickly Read his own Conscience the while bearing Witness and either Accusing or Excusing him in that fearful Judgment I hear methinks the Decisive Sentence 〈◊〉 ronourced of either Eternal Happyness or Misery of either come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepar'd for you before the foundations of the World or else of Depart from me ye Accursed into Everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Oh the different Effects these different Sentences have on the Persons they are directed unto The Righteous receive their Sentence with Joy and Acclamations with transporting Thanks and Hallelujahs with an humble Admiration that the Recompence of their finite Defective Services should be a far more Exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory The ungodly Reprobates entertain their Doom with hideous Howlings and Lamentations with heart-piorcing Sorrows and Affrightments with fruitless desires to return again into their Graves or to be perfectly destroyed and Annihilated Come ye blessed O Delightsome sound O wellcome hearing wellcome especially from the moâ—â—â— of our Judge Come There is no need sure of a pressing Invitation to accept of so much Bliss and Happyness behold they Run they draw near upon the first Intimation of it they fly with haste into the possession of their Eternal Inheritance They now please themselves in the Remembrance of their former Godly Sorrows Mortifications and Self-denyals which through the Mercy 's of God and Merits of their Saviour have procured them such an exceeding Great Rejoycing All their former Tears dry up at the sight of their Glorious Redemption and they would not for a World but they had Denyed themselves in the Life past that now in the Resurrection of the Just they may be own'd and Approved of by their Advocate and Acquitter Depart ye Cursed blessed Lord whither should they depart Can they Goe any where where thou art not present who sillest all things tho' they descend into the Deep and remain in the uttermost parts of the Sea yet Thou art there though they make the Darkness of Hell their hiding-place yet thou art there also thine Omniscient Eye shall even there find them out and thine Almighty Arm shall punish them Depart from Me A Dâ—parture from thy Beatifick presence O God must needs render the Departed Accursed for Thou art all that 's Good the Loss therefore of Thee is an Universal Loss Thou art the Center and Rest of the Soul and therefore to be separated from Thee must be the most unquiet and miserable Condition imaginable A Departure from the Joyous Light of thy Countenance O blessed Jesu who only hast the words of Eternal Life can certainly be no other than Eternal Death One would have thought indeed that to be Deprived of Thy Sight might have been punishment enough without the Damneds Entrance in Hell-flames and tortures but that besides the mental Anguish for their
Saviour O make us such obedient Subjects of this thy Kingdom of Grace that we may become capable of thy Kingdom of Glory Convince us blessed Lord that Grace and Glory differ not in Kind but only in Degree of purity Grace being Glory in its Dawn in its progressive light of Sanctisication and Glory being Grace Ripened into Maturity Consummated into perfection and therefore as we hope for and would become partakers of Celestial Glory bring down Holy Jesu much of an Heavenly Temper and habit into our hearts at present Make us to conceive of Heaven as of a pure and holy State of Life rather than of it as a place and Seat of Enravishing Enjoyments to Conceive of it as consisting more in the blissful frame and pious Qualities of our Souls than in the fruition of any External Heavenly Objects and consequently cause us to be Equally desirous that Heaven should enter into us by the way of Holyness here as that we may enter into Heaven by the way of Happyness hereafter That considering Heaven as a place whereinto no Unclean thing can enter considering it as a City wherein only dwelleth Righteousness we may purifie our selves even as Thou the Author of it art pure perfecting of Holyness in thy fear O our God make us more and more meet for an inheritance with the Saints in Light and Glory more and more Resemblant of such a State in our Spiritual Tempers and Dispositions of mind We are as yet in Haile we are Strangers and Sâ—journers here as all our Fathers were O make us fit for our Fathers House for an Heavenly Countrey and safely Conduct us thither whilst on Earth in the midst of Life we are in Death O cause us to see the Goodness of thee our Lord in that Land of the Living Above which only deserves that Name There I here will be no need of the Sun by Day neither of the Moon by Night for the Glory of thee our God will Enlighten it and in the Light of Thy Countenance we shall be Sure to see Light O lift up the partial Light of that Countenance upon us at present causing us to long after a more plentiful manifestation thereof in the Life to come Enable us Heavenly Father more to Admire those inexhaustible Treasures of thy Goodness prepared for such as Love and fear Thee which Eye hath not Seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of Man to conceive O thy unmeasurable Goodness whereby we are not only deliver'd from suffering the vengeance of Hell-torments but also made capable of the Enjoyments of Heaven What shall we render unto the Lord for these inestimable benefits which he Designs to bestow upon us O give us to conform our selves to thine Image in Holyness that we may behold Thee our God in Glory where certainly we can want nothing where all our Desires and Expectations will be compleatly Gratified because Thou our Supream Happyness will be All in All unto us O let us be Thine and be Thou Ours to all Eternity Amen Amen Blessed Redeemer Meditation XIX On Hell and the Eternity of its Torments WHAT can the Wrath of God do more than punish with an Eternity of Misery O the malignity of Sin whose Short pleasures and Empty profits whose false Honours and Transient acts of wickedness have an Infinity of punishment their Recompence O who would buy the pleasures of sin which are but for a moment at the Dear rate of never-ceasing Sufferings Who would refuse the initial troubles of a Religious Course since in the End it srees us from the Torments of Hell and instates us in all the Joys and Glories of Heaven Hell the punishment of the Disobedient and Rebellious of the haters of God Despisers of Goodness and wilful Rejecters of their own Everlasting Mercies Hell A place where is Variety of torments Extremity of torments and Eternity of torments not one way but a Thousand ways to make a poor Soul miserable Everlastingly miserable And who can be ar Variety Who can bear Extremity Who can bear Eternity of torments And yet all this we must bear if ever it be the sad lot of any of us to be cast into Hell Here a mixture and interchange of Mercies allays our Afflictions and Occasions of sorrow but in Hell there 's nothing but pure unmigled misery nothing to be seen but Objects of Terrour and Affrightment nothing to be heard but hideous howlings and Self-Execrations nothing to be felt but utmost pain and torment Not one merry Day and one sad not one hour of Grief and another of Ease not one Cross and another Comfort as it fares with us on Earth but all Crosses and all Curses without any the least mitigation do concur in Hell like lines meeting in their proper Center And no wonder they do so for t is the doleful Residence of the miserably Depraved and sinfully Degenerate of the fearful and unbelieving of the abominable and Murtherers of the proud Angry malicious and Revengeful Qualities of mind which are their own torment and Damnation which render the unhappy possessors of them Suitable Associates only for Devils and Reprobate Spirits Lost to Goodness Sunk into the very Dregs of sin and impiety O Hell where nothing Good inhabits where Darkness fills both the place and minds of those banished from God's Presence blackness of Darkness for ever fills the place blackness of Guilt horrour and Despair their Spirits Oh the Sense of their Loss afflicts more those wretched Souls than does the sense of their pain and Anguish The sense of what the Righteous enjoy and of what themselves might have done had it not been their own fault afflicts more the Damn'd than do all their Hellish Sufferings for that there should be an Heaven which they shall never Enter into that there should be a God whose blissful sight they shall ever be excluded from O this is the bitterest ingredient in Hell A Consideration which pains more the Objects of Divine wrath than all their flames and fire and brimstone O Eternity Eternity A thing which is a Rack to our minds but to Think of it even Abstracted from the Notion of annext misery how much more Amazing then and Dreadful must be the joynt Consideration of Torment accompanying Eternity Ah is it not enough that the Miseries of the Damned are the most Intense and Exquisite but must they be Endless also As Intense they are intolerable as Endless how much more so Alass Alass what are the Greatest Temporal Punishments when compared with those which are Eternal No more than painted fires and tortures compared with the Real Sensible ones whereof they are Representatives To be miserable as Long as God shall continue to be who is Everlasting what an insupportable what an Inconceivable misery is that And O the Just Judgment of an Incons'd Deity provoakt by Irreclaimable wickedness Impâ—nitent Sinners Seek Death Eternal in the wilful Error of their ways they chusing Sin the procuring Meritorious
thee in Contempt of thy Goodness Patience and forbearance in Contempt of thy Astonishing Love manifested in Christ Jesus in Defiance of the clearest Revelation of thy Will and Pleasure by him in Defiance of thy Great and precious Gospel Promises of all the Convictions of our own Consciences calls of thy blessed Spirit Sacred Word and Gracious Providences admonishing us to be Reconciled unto thee our God! And can'st thou O Lord wilt thou after all this Disobedience after all this presumptuous offending thee be yet Reconciled to such vile wretches and miserable sinners as we are Is there still Mercy with thee that thou may'st be fear'd Is there still Hope for us in a Crucified Saviour O blessed Saviour help and deliver us we most humbly beseech thee by the Merits of thy Death and Passion by the Justifying power of thy Resurrection and Ascension by the prevalency of thy Mediation and Intercession have Mercy upon us Thy Compassions are always free and ready towards Repentant Offenders Lord we Repent perfect our Repentance Lord we believe O help thou our unbelief we solemnly promise thee a more Reformed Obedience a more exalted Righteousness O strengthen us to keep this our promise to perform this our holy Resolution Deliver us O Heavenly Father not onely from the Guilt and Condemnation but also from the power and pollution of our sins Assist us to break off those Chains of evil Custom and Habit those fetters of Wordly Cares and Temptations those sensualizing Tyes of Corrupt Inclinations or inordinate Passions in which we have formerly been held Captive Create clean hearts O God and renew a-right Spirits within us for the time to come beget in us a true Faith a sincere Repentance an enflam'd holy Love towards thee that we may Delight our selves in thy Commandments that we may walk before thee in uprightness in an ingenuous fear of Displeasing thee in a joyous Carefulness of doing what is Acceptable in thy Sight Diligently seeking thee constantly Depending on thee chearfully Submitting to thy Will and Zealously practicing it in the Duties of our several Callings with Godly sincerity and constancy unto our Lives End O Lord keep our feet order our steps that they stray not out of the paths of thy Commandments out of the Paths of Truth Righteousness and Peace O Lord keep our mouths as with a bridle that we offend not at any time with our Tongues through profane Swearing through lying slandering immodest filthy Speech or false-witness-bearing endue us with the most enlarged and raised Christian Charity with Temperance and Sobriety with Purity and Chastity with Meekness and Humility that we may possess these our Earthly Vessels in Sanctification and Honour and being Meek and Lowly may find Rest unto our Souls Give us holy Father to Live more by Faith and Less by Sense to Overcome by Faith the World to live Above its Allurements or Determents to have our Conversation in an higher degree in Heaven to lay up to our selves Treasures there that where our Treasures are there may our Hearts be also Make us account it our very Meat and Drink to be doing thy Will Cause us to Evidence the Sincerity of our Love to thee our God by our keeping Universally thy Commandments open thou our Eyes that we may see the Delightsome Excellencies of thy Law the charming Beauty of Holiness and then none of thy Divine precepts shall appear Grievous unto us amidst all our Temptations whether of the World the Flesh or the Devil make thou us O blessed Lord more than Conquerors through Christ who strengthens us And after we have done all after we have Grown in Grace which we beseech thee cause us to do after we have been fill'd with the fruits of thy Spirit and endeavour'd our utmost the perfecting of holiness in thy Fear keep us humble keep us abased under a sense of the manifold Imperfections of our best and choicest Services Neither Pray we This to be added to the Evening Prayer where you see this * mark for our selves alone but for the whole Race of Mankind That thy ways O God may be known upon Earth thy Saving Health among all Nations Look down in Mercy upon thy holy Catholick Church Enlarge its Borders Unite more its Members Purifie their Faith where Corrupt and work a General Reformation in their Lives and Actions Bless Holy Father more especially these Nations whereunto we belong Pardon our Great and Crying Sins Avert from us thy Judgments Encrease and Continue to us thy Blessings make us an Holy and an Happy People and Settle us upon the sure Foundations of Truth Righteousness and Peace Rule O Lord in the Hearts of our Sovereign Rulers by thy Faith Fear and Love Protect their Sacred Persons Assist and Direct their Counsels Succeed their Arms and all their Righteous Undertakings Make their Government a Great and Publick Blessing to these Kingdoms and to the whole Protestant Interest and after a Long and Prosperous Reign over us Here Crown them with Glory and Immortality in the highest Heaven Influence in a Peculiar Manner our Spiritual Governours and Teachers Give them Wisdom and Prudence from Above Make them O God Faithful and Zealous make them also Successful in the Discharge of their Duties and Grant that by the purity of their Doctrine and Integrity of their Lives they may be as burning and shining Lights amidst a crooked and perverse Generation Visit with thy Salvation O thou Father of Mercies all the Sons and Daughters of Affliction Sanctifie their Troubles Support them with Faith and Patience under 'em and in thy due time send them an happy Deliverance out of all their Sufferings Forgive O God all our Enemies Persecutors and Slanderers and Turn their hearts Bless all our Friends and Relations be thou a God in Covenant with them and make them Partakers of all the Benefits and Priviledges of that thy Covenant Bless all of us here present bless us in Turning us from our Iniquities in the Sanctifying and Renewing our Depraved Nature Bless us with all Temporal but especially with Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus Put us O God in frequent Mindfulness of our Latter End and Fit and Prepare us for it Help us to walk sincerely and uprightly in our whole Conversation that Living here in thy Fear we may Dye in thy Favour may Rest in thy Peace Rise by thy Power be Glorified by thy Bounty and Remain with thee for ever amidst Joys Celestial Enravishing Inexhaustible All which we beg through the Merits and Mediation of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath taught us when we pray to say Our Father which art in Heaven 〈◊〉 A Prayer for the Evening O OUR God thou Almighty Lord of Heaven and Earth Thou pure immaculate Spirit of Holyness humble us under a sense of our meanness as indigent Dependant Creatures of our exceeding Great Vileness and impurity as Sinners O with what pious fear and Reverence ought we to draw Nigh
unto Thee who art of purer Eyes than to behold the least iniquity with Approbation With what Joy and Thankfulness ought we to acknowledge this thine inestimable favour that thou who art so highly Exalted wilt humble thy self to take notice of such Despicable polluted Beings as we are For ever blessed be thy Goodness who hast made Prayer our Duty which is so much our Interest and Priviledge O how inexcusable should we be should we neglect so Great a means of Grace and Salvation Wilt thou O Lord Admit and Accept our poor unworthy Services and shall not we Gladly Embrace the Vouchsafement Since our Righteousness Extendeth not unto Thee since we only are the Gainers by thy Service which is its own Reward which is our perfect freedom O cause therefore all that is within us to bless thy holy Name Cause all that is within us to render thee most willing and Chearful Obedience But O God most Glorious whose Transcendent Excellency is Exalted above all Glory and Praise the more we Speak of thine Honour the more we become Sensible how infinitely we fall short of it O make us to shew forth thy praise not only with our Lips but in our Lives by giving up our selves to thy Service by conforming our selves to thy Likeness in Holyness by â—aising Spiritualizing and Enflaming by thy help our Affections towards thee in Prayer Yet Alass Alass how soon are we weary of this most Delightsome most Beneficial Duty of Devotion How much Averseness is there in us unto the Vndertaking how much Distraction of Thoughts and Deadness of Spirit in the performance What formality want of Relish want of Zeal and fervour is there mingled with the best of our Religious Services How prone have we been to Deceive our selves with Shadows of Piety and Devotion instead of the Substance With a form of Godlyness instead of the Life and power thereof How prone to Content our selves with the bare praises of thy Divine perfections which we have not had the Godly Ambition the Sincerity of heart to imitate O pardon the sins and iniquities of these our Holy things But besides the imperfections of our best performances how many ways have we presumptuously offended thee our God! By innumerable Omissions and Commissions Omissions of Duty Commissions of Evil by many frequently Repeated and long Continued acts of wickedness by sinful provocations in Thought Word and Deed against thy Divine Majesty O how often have we Stifled the Convictions the Reproofs of our own Consciences How often Resisted the holy motions the Restraints of thy blessed Spirit How long neglected the Great Salvation of thy Gospel How many times violated our most Solemn Baptismal Vow and Covenant The very Multitude of our sins is Enough to Amaze and Affrighten us to cover us with Shame and Confusion of face but the Heinousness the Baseness the Ingratitude of our mis-demeanours towards so Gracious and heavenly a Father so Long-suffering a preserver so Mercyful a Benefactor Sanctifier and Redeemer O how Grievous is the Remembrance thereof to us the burthen of so much wickedness how Intolerable O our God Strong and patient hadst thou not been God how couldst thou have had patience with such perfidious such ungrateful such willfully Disobedient Rebells Well for us is it that thy mercy and forbearance Exceed that of Man are like the self unlimited O the Riches of thy Grace wilt thou again Receive such prodigal Children into thy favour Wilt thou Still be Reconciled unto us Ah let thy Goodness let thy Reconcileableness lead us to Repentance to a more compleat consummated one and our Repentance may it fit us for thy pardon and Acceptance And not meerly for the Pardon of our sins implore we mercy at thy hands but for a Divine power to enable us to subdue them Set we beseech thee O Lord our hearts in such a perfect Enmity against all things contrary to thy blessed Will and Nature that we may never be Reconciled to them any more dispose us to such an Entire Affection to thy Commandments that they may become our Choice our Desire our Exceeding Great Rejoycing O that we may walk more circumspectly Redeeming the time because the days are Evil O that we may give all Diligence to make our Calling and Election Sure O that the life the pure unspotted life of Christ Jesus may be formed within us the hope of Glory Fill us Gracious God with the whole Knowledge of thy Will in all Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding and Assist us with thy Grace unto the Conscientious practice of such knowledge Increase in us that faith which worketh by Divine Love which purisieth the heart and life and overcometh the wicked world Excite in us that ardent Affection to thee which may make us chearfully Do thy Will or patiently suffer it in all instances and which will cause us to Love our brethren as our selves for Christ's sake with a pure heart out of Love unfeigned not in Tongue only but also in Deed and in Truth Keep us O Lord pure and unspotted with the World Temperate Chaste and Unspotted with the flesh keep us Safe and unseduced by our own hearts lusts by Satans wicked Suggestions and Allurements Cause us to have our Conversation without Covetousness to have it more in Heaven less on Earth teach us contempt of Earthly things teach us to deny our selves to conquer all Temptations to live above the corruptions which so much abound in the Age Give us Patience give us supporting comfort and quiet submission in Adversity let a contented mind be instead of all we want and a thankful heart sweeten all our Enjoyments O that we may mind more the one thing Necessary that we may seek in the first place the Kingdom of Heaven and its Righteousness and whatever other things we leave undone we may be still working out our Salvation with fear and trembling Make us O our God more careful of pleasing thee fearful of offending thee diligent and industrious in thy Service more observant of thy Good Providence in every thing more grateful for thy benefits Received more readily disposed in all conditions to every good thought word and work * Stir us up we entreat thee to a frequent mindfulness of our Latter End and fit and prepare us for it let our approaching sleep this Night put us in mind of our last sleep our Bed remind us of our Grave and the darkness of the evening of the days of Darkness which shall be many in the Chambers of Death Lighten our Eyes O Lord that they sleep not therein but that we may Awake with the morning Light unto thy Praise and Glory Forgive those actual sins of thy servants which the day past hath been witness unto Lord give us a Godly sorrow for them a perfect hatred of them and more carefulness to avoid them for the future and whether we sleep this night in death or awake to the fresh Mercies of the following day O Grant that Christ
Jesus may be unto us both in Life and Death great Advantage Grant this for the Merits and Mercy's-sake of him who dyed for our sins and rose again for our Justification and who hath left us this most Absolute form of Prayer wherewith to conclude our imperfect ones Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name c. A Prayer for a Sick Person O OUR God full of Compassion and Truth whose Ears are ever open to the Cryes of the Distressed who afflictest not neither Grievest willingly the Children of Men but in very Faithfulness Causest us to be Troubled Chastising us for our Profit that we may be Partakers of thy Holyness We thy Poor Unworthy Creatures Address our selves to the Throne of thy Grace in behalf of this thy Servant Grieved with Sickness O let his Grief of body move thy Succouring Pity behold him with the Eyes of thy Mercy Rescue him with the Al-Almightiness of thy Power however Grant that the Infirmity of his outer-Man may tend to the Health and Improvement of his Soul in all Gracious Qualifications O make him by means of thy Divine Chastisements Resemblant in a larger Measure of thy Divine Nature make him Perfect through Sufferings Train him up a Good Souldier of Jesus Christ by such Disciplining Hardships Teach him a more Compleat Obedience and Conformity to thy Will by the things which he Endures Relieve him under all his Distresses Give him Patience Repentance and Submission under all his Uneasiness Support him under all Tryals and Temptations O suffer not his Faith to fail in this Day of Adversity Strengthen him in the Inner-Man especially now he lyes on a Bed of Languishing O make Thou his Bed in all his Sickness In the midst of the pains of his Body let thine Inward Comforts Refresh his Soul make all things Tribulation as well as Prosperity work together for his Good may he Continue to be thy Servant under all Conditions Permit him not Gracious God for any troubles of Life or fears of Death to fall from Thee but Give him Joy and Consolation in Believing when encompassed with the Sorest Distresses Encrease therefore his Faith Confirm his Hopes Enlarge his Contentedness and Resignation Wean his Affections more and more from the things Below and Raise and Settle them on the Good things Above Free Blessed Lord this thy Servant from all Murmuring and Repining at thy Afflictive Providence and Cause him rather to Rejoyce and Glory in Tribulation as knowing that the Tryal of his Faith worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope and Hope maketh not Ashamed O let Patience have its Perfect work in him that he may be Compleat and Entire wanting no Vertuous Endowment let thy Grace be Sufficient for him that he may not faint in the time of Calamity O may his Affliction prove an Exercise and Enlargement of all his Graces Let it beget in him greater Trust and Affiance in thy Divine Mercy less Relyance on and Confidence in the Creature a being Crucified to the World and the World to him as to the immoderate Love of it Cause Holy Father this thy Afflicted Son to Humble himself under thy Correcting hand that Thou mayst Exalt him in thy due Season make him to Cast all his Care upon Thee because Thou carest for him Give him to feel now in this his Distress what is the Hope of his Spiritual Calling and what the Exceeding Greatness of thy Mercy and Power towards them who Believe in Thee O Give him that Saving Faith which worketh by Love and Purifieth the Heart and Overcometh the World Give him Repentance unto Newness of Life never to be Repented of Cause him by means of this Affliction to Search and Try his wayes and turn him unto Thee his God who in Mercy Chastisest him Afford him Gracious Lord afford this Sick Person the Comfort of an holy Hope that thou Acceptest his Penitential Tears and Contrition of heart Support him by this Hope under all his Sickness and Distemper Say unto him by the inward Testimonies of thy Spirit I am thy Salvation Son be of Good Chear thy Sins are forgiven thee I have heard thee in an Acceptable time I have laid Help for Thee on one who is mighty to Save Jesus Christ the Righteous He is the Propitiation for thy sins O Apply the Merits and Satisfaction of his Dying Redeemer unto the Soul of this thy Servant for Pardon and Acceptance wash it clean in the Blood of that Immaculate Lamb which was Slain to take away the sins of the world and through his Saviour's Stripes let him be Heal'd Bless and Succeed we beseech Thee those Remedies which have or shall be used for the Recovering this weak Afflicted Person to his former Health Command Deliverance for him Thou who art the God of Nature Speak Nature within him into a due Temper and Composure Known unto Thee are the most hidden things O do Thou therefore adapt suitable Medicines to any unknown Cause or hidden Spring of this present Distemper Suffer us Heavenly Father to have Power with thee in Prayer and mightily to Prevail on this thy Servants behalf Thou hast Promised that the Prayer of Faith shall Save the Sick and that the Effectual fervent Prayer of the Righteous shall Avail much O make us Pray in Faith and Believing so as to be Heard make us fervent and Zealous in Prayer so as to have our Prayers Answered Restore we entreat Thee this Diseas'd Person that he may be continued a Blessing and Comfort to his Relations that he may live to Performe his pious Vows and Resolutions made in time of Sickness that he may spend the Residue of his Life more to thy Honour and Glory But if in thy Fatherly wisdom thou seest it fitting to Prolong his Corrections thy Blessed Will be done and may thy Afflicted Servant say Amen with an Entire Submission May he bear further Chastisement in his Body so that his Soul be but Saved in the Day of our Lord. Yet O God most Gracious O most Holy and Mercyful Saviour Thou most worthy Judge Eternal be not Thou Extream to mark whatever he has done Amiss Correct him O Lord but with Judgment not in thine Anger lest Thou bring him to nothing and though thou take not off the Rod of Affliction yet take away thy Displeasure we beseech thee far from him Remember O Lord thy tender Mercies and thy Loving-kindnesses which have been ever of old and Cause this our Sick Friend in Thankful Recollection of former Divine Rescues to put his Trust in thee for a Present Deliverance O suffer him not for any Anguish of Body to let Go his Faith and Confidence in Thee but give him to say with the Stedfastness of holy Job though he Kills me yet will I hope in him Fit O God this Languishing Person for whatever Condition thou shalt call him unto that thy Son Christ Jesus may be unto him whether in Life or Death great Advantage O permit him