midst of them St. Thomas who was not with the Apostles when Christ first appeared amongst them lost the comfort then of seeing him risen from the dead And if this merciful Redeemer had not had compassion of him he had perish'd in his unbelief for ever If upon the day of Penticost any of the faithful had been found absent from the Holy company of the Faithful in Jerusalem they had not seen the Glorious appearance of the Holy Ghost who knows but in a Sermon that we have neglected we have lost some pious advice some seasonable exhortation by which God might have brought our hearts to repentance Who knows but instead of that Fire that devours us we might have felt the Holy Flames kindled in us like unto those Flames of the burning Bush that would burn in us and not consume us Who knows but at the breaking up of the Assembly we might have said as the two Disciples of Christ going to Emaus Did not our heart burn within us when he spoke to us and opened the Scriptures 68. We must be fervent zealous and persevering in Prayers and other Holy Duties and embrace our Lord and Saviour with the Arms of Faith and Repentance and say unto him as Jacob I shall not leave thee until thou hast blessed me especially we ought to apply our selves to these blessed exercises when we feel the inward and troblesome struglings of the Flesh against the Spirit we must imitate that Holy and vertuous Woman who feeling two Children stirring in her Womb fell to her Prayers and unburdened her sorrows in the bosome of our Heavenly Father And as St. Peter when he began to sink lifted up his Hands in Prayer saying Lord save me Matth. 14. Likewise we who walk upon this dangerous Sea of the World assoon as we feel our selves sinking into the Delights of the World or assoon as the Waves of vicious examples and dangerous customs do hurry us away Let us cry out from the bottom of our Hearts O merciful God stretch out thine hand from above and deliver me from these Waters of Hell that carry me away accomplish thy vertue in mine infirmities and give me Grace in resisting against sin to resist unto Blood Psal 69. Heb. 50. 2 Cor. 22. Let thine Holy Spirit overcome mine let Heaven command the Earth and let Paradise lead Hell in Triumph If we make this Petition with all our Hearts God will grant it from his Holy Sanctuary He will extinguish the Fire that burns us He will shut the Lions mouth that intends to devour us He will appease the Winds and the Storms that the Devils have raised in us and at his first entrance into our Ship tost up and down with fears and apprehensions he will bring Peace and a blessed tranquility and will lead us to the safe Haven of Eternal Happiness as the Prophet Moses when he had been familiar with God came down from the Mountain with a shining countenance and as our Saviour when he was in Prayer upon Mount Tabor was transfigured his Garments were white as the Light and his Face appeared as glorious as the Sun Likewise if we lift up our selves above all these earthly and corruptible things and pray unto God with an Holy Earnestness and Zeal we shall see that our Souls shall be thereby cloathed with Holiness and full of Glory and Light they will be transformed into the blessed Image of the great God whom we adore for as soon as we behold him we become enlightened 69. To the end that we may tame this Body and reduce it to obedience and to overcome all our wicked and dangerous Lusts Psal 69 34. It is necessary that we should joyn Fasting to our Prayers we must not always expect a time appointed by the Rulers of our Church upon solemn accasions but we must order unto our selves a Fast according as we shall see it expedient and useful for if this Flesh is unruly it is rebellious against God and his Holy Commandements if because it is fed in Ease and Plenty it is Lustful Impure and Insolent Let us cut off from it all its dainties and labor to mortify it by Fastings and Abstinence and remember what our Saviour Christ saith in the Gospel That there are some evil spirits that are not to be driven out but by Fasting and Prayer Matth. 27. 70. If God gives us the Grace to overcome Sin and weaken our Lusts by fervent and earnest Prayers and by austere Fasting and hot tears of Repentance and by the assistance of his Divine Spirit that will pour his Blessings upon our Devotions take heed that we become not careless and negligent in good Works deceive not your selves Religious Souls and be not surprized for many times the old Man looks as if he were dead that we might not offer to strike him again to the Heart and give him the last blow that he may recover more strength there is always in the Ashes something of that infernal Fire that is able to do much mischief Lust is not rooted out so perfectly but that there remains some strings in our Hearts that may grow again This source of Iniquity is not so dry but that it may run afresh As it is during the time of Peace Men exercise themselves in feats of Arms and prepare new Armor for the War Likewise during the calm and rest of our Souls we must prepare some Armor for our Spiritual Warfare And as it is not sufficient to win a place by Assault and to have driven out the Enemies Forces but we must also watch day and night and keep a constant and a strong Guard that we may not be surprized and driven out again Thus when we have forced out the Devil and banish'd him out of our Hearts we must be always upon our Guard and stop all the Avenues for fear that this evil Spirit should come upon us accompanied with seven worse Spirits and that our last condition should be worse than the first 71. To these Works of Piety and Devotion in which we cannot be always employed we must remember to add a lawful Calling for Idleness is the Mother of all Vices when we are doing nothing the Devil prompts us to evil this happened to David a man after God's own heart for when he gave himself over contrary to his former practice to an unworthy idleness whilst he was looking into his neighbors House the Devil entred into his Heart and by the assistance of a lustful Object inflamed his Soul with an unlawful desire as the Iron that is not us'd becomes Rusty as the standing Water putrifies and as the Earth that is not manur'd begets insects and venemous Serpentss Likewise a Soul that is not employed is soon cover'd over with the rust of Vice It is easily drag'd along into the corruption of the age and apt to beget and bring forth Monsters therefore the Prophet Ezekiel examines the very beginning and first spring of Solomon's Sin saying That it was
contentments of the Soul Let the nearer approach of my death make me to draw nearer to thee in love and obedience Give me power to overcome all carnal temptations O that the excellency of my Place and Dignity the precious Bloud of my Saviour with which thou hast washed my Soul and that immortal Bliss prepared for me might fill me with an hearty loathing and contempt of the vain and unprofitable Delights of the World that my Soul may not be fettered and enslaved to these filthy vanities so far below the excellency of its Being O Gracious God! with my Person I leave to thee the disposition of my Scepter and Kingdoms thou art able to give to my successor the same Piety Zeal and Love for thy Truth that I have always expressed I leave to thee the care and preservation of that Religion which thy powerful hand hath planted amongst us thou art able to cause it to flourish in the midst of so many envious attempts of adversaries Let me not therefore distrust thy good providence but grant to the person that thou hast appointed to succeed me a Love and Fear of thy Holy Name enrich his Soul with all Divine Graces and Royal Vertues My God and my King thou gavest me an earnest desire of building thee a Temple as to David a Man after thine own heart I have labour'd to recruit in my days the sensless divisions of my people but seeing that it is not thy pleasure that I should accomplish such a glorious Work Give to my Successor the Grace and Wisdom as to Solomon that he may perfect the pious designes that I have begun Establish his Throne with true Religion and sincere Reformation Let Justice and Peace flourish in his Reign Let Truth prosper Charity and Love enflame the Hearts of thy People Let all his neighbors bless him Let him have as many Guards as Subjects and as many Fortresses as Hearts in his Dominions But especially good God give him grace to build thee a setled House in these Nations and to raise it up to the highest pitch of Glory and Happiness that is possible on Earth In the mean while I shall depart out of this life and go to Glorify thee in the magnificent Palace of immortality where I shall cast down my Crown at the feet of the Lamb and adore him who liveth for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Vice-Roy or a Governor O Almighty Governor of this great World seeing that thou hast granted to me the honor of representing the Person of my Prince thy living Image it is but just that I should return unto thee my unfeigned thanks for such a special Favor for I should not have this Power if it were not given to me from above and if thou who art the King of Kings and holdest in thine Almighty hand the Hearts of Princes hadst not caused the superior Powers to favor my Person Give me Grace never to forget that the Persons that I am to Govern are not my Slaves but the Subjects of my Prince moreover they are thy Creatures and Children it belongs not to me to dispose of them at my pleasure according to my passions but to observe the Orders that have been given me and to obey thy Divine Commandments Let me behave my self as if my Prince were always and every where at my elbows to be a witness of all my actions But especially let me remember that I am always before thine holy Eyes that behold my Heart and read my most secret thoughts Let me consider night and day that I must give an account to my Great Master of the Stewardship intrusted in my hands and that I must one day appear before thy dreadful Tribunal where disguising and lying will never take place If whilst I am diligently employed in the Duties of mine Office and managing my business with all the care and faithfulness that I am able Death comes to call me away out of the World give me such a courage that I may not be afraid but that I may quit my Dignities without repining for the Honor of Governing a Kingdom or a Monarchy or of Commanding many Worlds is nothing in comparison of the Glory and Happiness prepared for me in Heaven Let not the care of the time to come trouble the quiet of my Soul thou canst raise up other Governors unto whom thou canst grant a Spirit of Wisdom and Discretion with an happy and glorious Governance whilst I shall rest for ever from all my labors and cares and when I shall have overcome Satan the World Sin and Death and kept thy Works until the end thou wilt give me into my hands a never-fading Palm thou wilt put upon my Head a Glorious Crown and into my mouth the Songs of the Blessed in whose company I shall sing Praises and Tranksgivings unto thee for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a General of an Army and for a Captain O God of Hosts I have been perswaded that this employment in which I have engaged my self for the service of my King and Countrey would not be displeasing to thy Divine Majesty seeing that thou hast appointed Military Laws unto thy People and hast been so Gracious to them as to govern their Armies march out before them and Command in Chief when they have encountered with their Enemies Although thy Son is the Prince of Peace his first Minister and Fore-runner did not forbid the use of Weapons to the Soldiers that resorted to him but only to be content with their wages and to do violence to no man besides the Holy Apostles teach us that it is not in vain that thou hast put the Sword into the hands of Soveraign Princes and Kings who are the Images of thine Almighty power and of thy uncontroulable Justice Let me never appear at the head of an Army or of a Company but let me imagine my Prince to be there present as if I were to sight before his eyes but let me chiefly remember that I am in the sight of thy Holy Angels and of thee who art the King of Kings of all the Nations of the World and of their Armies Let not the power which thou hast given me over others cause me to neglect the obedience that I owe unto thee my great God and Creator Let not the honor of being a Captain make me forget that I am a Soldier of Jesus Christ who Judges and Wars according to right Let not the Sword that I carry at my side hinder me from receiving into my Heart the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God that is sharper than a two-edged sword that searcheth to the division of the Soul and Spirit Joynts and Marrow Give me with this Heavenly Sword the Breast-plate of Righteousness and the Helmet of Salvation and especially give me the Buckler of Faith that I may be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil O my God! cloath me with the
Souls who have consecrated your selves willingly unto God and to his Service and Worship cast away these vain and base actions and all these dead works leave them to such as are dead in their trespasses and sins but for you behave your selves according to your Celestial Calling and apply your selves to Righteousness and Holiness and to the practice of all other Vertues as such who were dead but now are made alive 45. We must continually meditate upon the Holiness and Purity of our future abode in Heaven and the expectation that we have there Rom. 6 For as Jesus Christ is gone to prepare a place for us in the House of his Heavenly Father John 14. It is but just and reasonable that we should fit and prepare our Souls for such Holy and Glorious Mansions Revel 21. It is not possible to go to Heaven by treading the paths of Hell Nothing impure nor filthy shall enter into the Holy City which is the new Jerusalem As in Solomon's Temple there was no way to the Holy of Holies but through the Sanctuary thus if we will one day enter into the Heavenly Sanctuary where Christ dwells the true Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy seat Eph. 2. It is absolutely necessary that we should tread in the paths of good Works which God hath prepared that we should walk in them Tit. 2. It is upon this consideration that St. Paul grounds this exhortation to Piety and Christian Vertues The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodlines and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good Works seeing that we have such promises let us cleanse our selves from all filth of the Body and of the Spirit finishing our Sanctification in the fear of God 1 Cor. 7. St. John makes use of the same reason to perswade us to Holiness Beloved we are now the Children of God but what we shall be doth not yet appear now we know that when he shall appear we shall be madè like unto him for we shall see him as he is and whosoever hath this hope in him let him purify himself as he is pure 1 Joh. 2. The Apostle St. Peter employs the same consideration to kindle in our hearts this pure and celestial fire We according to his promise look for new Heavens and new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless 2 Pet. 3. 46. You know Christians that God created our first Parents in his own Image and Likeness before that he brought them into his own terrestial Paradise there is a greater reason that this Divine Image should be imprinted in our Souls before we enter into the Celestial Paradise unto this the Apostle hath a regard when he tells the Ephesians be ye renewed in the Spirit of your mind and put on the new Man created according to God in Righteousness and true Holiness Chap. 4. 47. If the place of our future Abode unto which we are designed doth require from us Sanctification the quality of the persons with whom we shall spend an Eternity doth no less oblige us to the same behaviour for they shall be Angels of Light and the Blessed Saints who have wash'd and whitened their Robes in the Bloud of the Lamb Revel 5. It is a glorious Church that hath neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing Eph. 5. It is the Spouse of the Son of God cloathed in fine Linnen clean and white which are the Righteousness of the Saints Revel 19. St. Paul had this same consideration when he saith That we are fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God and That our conversation ought to be as becometh Citizens of Heaven To wean us from the filthy Deeds of the Flesh and from the prophane disposition of Esau he employs the same reason to perswade us in the 12 of the Heb. You are come saith he to the Mount Sion to the City of the living God to the Celestial Jerusalem to the thousands of Angels and to the Assembly and Church of the first-born who are written in Heaven and to the Spirits of the Just sanctified 48. As it is with a Child in his Mothers womb he begins to live there the same life that he leads when he is come into the World likewise the Christian ought to begin to live in the same manner upon earth as he hopes to live for ever in Heaven if we will live and Reign with Christ above in his Kingdom we must at present have him Live and Reign in our Hearts here below by faith 49. The chief happiness of Man consists not only in the true knowldge of God and of him whom he hath sent to save us nor in the Spiritual Peace nor Celestial Transports of the Holy Spirit but it consists in Holiness without which none shall see God John 17. Rom. 5. Therefore the Apostle inquires from the Romans of his time What fruit had you in those things whereof ye are now ashamed but now being free from sin and become servants of God ye have your Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting life Heb. 12. Rom. 6. 50. I find also that this is a very good remedy to keep our selves free from the Debaucheries and Corruptions of the Age to abstain from the company and acquaintance of vicious persons for as he who did touch things unclean did become thereby unclean and as such as haunt amongst the sick of the Plague are infected with their Disease Likewise it is the property of evil company to corrupt the best manners 2 Cor. 15. 51. Whereas we should accustom our selves to the company and acquaintance of good Men and Delight in the society of such who like the Seraphims excite and enflame one another to glorify God and sing forth his praises we must frequent such unto whom we desire to be like for as Jacob's Sheep Ewned Lambs spotted and marked as the Rods upon which they did cast their eyes Thus if we have our joyes fixed upon the Holy examples of Piety and Vertue we shall see our selves insensibly transformed into their Image and Resemblance we must delight our selves in the company of them with whom we hope to live for ever in the highest Heavens 52. The most powerful and the most effectual means to oblige us to the practice of Piety and of Holiness and purity of Life it is to look with the eyes of faith upon him who is invisible and to represent unto our selves the great world as a large Temple where he dwels Let the voice that came unto Moses out of the burning Bush sound continually in
painful Fetters Rejoyce O my Soul look up to that Rest that God prepares for thee above The blessed time is come that I shall no longer endure the heat of the day and the watchings of the Night but I shall rest eternally under the shadowes of the Tree of Life and there satisfy my self with its delicious Fruits I shall no longer withstand the contradiction of Sinners nor hear the mocks of the sensual and factious minds I shall no longer encounter with the enemies of thy Sacred Truth nor endure the stings of my Lusts but I shall live for ever in the blessed company of the Holy Angels and rejoyce with the Glorified Saints I shall preach no more against the obstinacy of Men. nor weep for the sins that disgrace thy Church and Profession nor complain of the injustice and affronts done to my Person nor grieve for my own imperfections but I shall sing for ever thy Divine Praises with the Seraphins and the Congregation of the first-born whose Names are recorded in Heaven O Lord who hast an infinite Power in thy Hands and bottomless Treasuries of Mercy be pleased to drive away from thy Flock all ravenous Wolves and mercenary Souls and raise up to this thy Church ☞ a Faithful Sober Wise and a Learned Clergy bring in our dissenting Brethren reconcile the differences that are amongst us and give to us all a friendly compliance that we may no longer be a hissing and a by-word to our Enemies Thou art able yet to clap an effeciual Plaister to our bleeding wound and to cure the distempered minds Be pleased therefore O great Physitian of both Soul and Body mercifully to look down from Heaven upon these Nations Check that bold spirit of division that causeth so much disorder amongst us and make us all sensible of our chief interests which consists in a Blessed Vnion Pour upon our Clergy abundance of thy Grace and give an happy success to their painful Ministry but now I am going to serve thee above in Heaven in a more glorious and excellent Ministry where I shall meet with no trouble nor resistance no weariness grief pain sorrow nor displeasure I shall enter into the joy of my Lord and receive from his merciful Hand the uncorruptible Crown of Immortality and Glory I shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes and he shall be my Shepherd for ever he will lead me to the Fountains of living water and wipe away all Tears from mine Eyes Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Father of a Family FAther of Eternity I yield unto thee my unfeigned thanks because thou hast made me an happy instrument to put into the World Children out of whose mouths thou mayest accomplish thine own praise and who may serve thee here below and worship thee for ever in Heaven amongst the thousands of Angels Whilst I have been in the World I have brought them up in thy Love and Fear I have caused them to suck from the Breast the Milk of Piety and when they were come to an age of understanding I have taught them to walk in thine holy Fear and obey thy Commandements I have laboured to shew them a good example and to guide them in thy Truth And now that I am ready to return unto thee who art the Author of my life and being the only source of my Happiness I leave them in thy merciful hands beseeching thee to look down upon them with the eyes of thy compassion they are thine Lord acknowledge thine own Image and Handywork Thy Finger hath fashioned these Bodies where so many wonders are to be seen And these souls that animate and move them are the breath and beams of thy Divinity Thou hast engaged to be our God and the God of our Posterity after us Thy great and precious promises have been made to us and to our Children O Heavenly Father I desire not that thou shouldest take them out of the World but that thou shouldest keep them from evil Cover them under the shadow of thy wings and preserve them from those Miseries and Calamities which thou hast threatened to send upon the Inbabitants of the Earth for their sins If thou dost chastise them let it be with the Rod of Men and with the scourges of the Sons of Men but withdraw not from them thy Grace and thy fatherly compassions Let the flames of affliction render their Faith more Pure their Lives more Holy and their Zeal more Sincere and Earnest and let it prepare them for thee and thine Eternal Bliss O Holy Father thou seest that the age in which we live is wonderfully corrupt that the Earth is inclined to Vice and that Sin raigns every where Thou knowest also how weak the Nature of Children is and how inclinable to evil therefore strengthen them I beseech thee with such Antidotes as may preserve them from the infection of the times Suffer not the wickedness of the World to win upon their affections nor Satan to prevail upon them by his suggestions nor evil company to spoil their pious Education Give them an understanding to know thee an Heart to love thee and Affections to embrace thee and thy Glory Let thy Holy Angels guard them by night and by day Let thy Providence defend them thy Word instruct them thy Promises comfort them and thy Holy Spirit Regenerate them and imprint in their Souls thy blessed Image Give them neither Poverty nor Riches but nourish them with Food convenient but especially give them that Bread which is come down from Heaven which hath brought Life into the World make them to raste of the Heavenly Gift and of the Powers of the World to come inflame them with thy Love and Charity and adorn them with all Christian Vertues but chiefly Sanctify them with thy Holy Spirit and make them to become new Creatures seeing that without Sanctification none shall see thy Face in Glory Confirm them for ever in thy Holy Covenant and give them grace to transmit it to their posterity after them as a blessed Inheritance that thou mayest be Glorified by them from Generation to Generation to all Eternity Suffer not the World nor Hell to pluck them out of thine Hand that nothing may separate them from the love which thou hast shewed to them in Jesus Christ thine only Son Let not Death terrify them but let it rather rejoyce and comfort them because that it is the entrance that leads to the Glorious Dwelling of their Heavenly Father and to the Celestial Paradise whatsoever change or alteration shall happen here below let them always lift up their Eyes to thee who art the same yesterday and to day and shalt be the same for ever Let them never forget their Duty to thee from whom they have received their Being and Life that they may prefer the Glory of thy Great Name the Purity of thy Worship and the hopes of thy Heavenly Kingdom to all worldly Glory Magnificence Riches advantages and Pleasures of the Flesh
forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Psal 130. He that hides his transgressions shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain Mercy Prov. 1.8 It is certain that there is no sinner never so guilty that shall seek unto God's Mercy by a true Repentance but shall obtain his Request Psal 113. David had defiled himself with an horrible Adultery and imbrued his Hands in the Bloud of one of his most faithful Servants but assoon as he made his Suit unto God with a broken Heart and a contrite Spirit this good and merciful Creator cleansed this foul Sinner from all his guilt at the fountain of his infinite Mercy he made him whiter than Snow and comforted his bruised Bones This consideration caused him to cry out I said I will confess unto God my transgressions and thou O God hast taken away the punishment of my sin Ps 52 King Manasseh had been addicted to devilish Arts and to the most abominablee and grievous Idolatries 2 Chron. 33. Nevertheless as soon as he sighs in his Chains his Prayers and his Groans found a Gracious reception at the Throne of Grace The poor Publican in the Gospel being ashamed to lift up his Eyes to Heaven struck upon his Breast with this expression of his penitent Soul O God be merciful to me a sinner Luk 18. And God look'd upon him with an Eye of Mercy and stretched out unto him his Gracious Hand so that hâ— departed to his home justified The penitent Magdalen was inwardly grieved at her former filthy and debauched behaviour so that she came and cast her self at our Saviours Feet watering them with her Tears and wiping them with the Hair of her Head Luk 9. but Christ soon lifted her up with these comfortable words Thy sins are pardoned thy faith hath saved thee go in peace St. Peter by an unconstancy that should cause the best Christians to tremble for fear of falling into the same Apostacy denied his Lord and Master three times with cursing and swearing Matth. 26. but this merciful God looked upon him with an eye of compassion and gave him grace to repent most bitterly of such a foul crime I doubt not but at the same time that this wretched sinner poured forth his Tears in God's presence doubtless he poured into his Heart the Oyl of Joy and Gladness and comforted him most effectually by his Divine Spirit Likewise although your sins be grievous and abominable if your Souls be struck with grief and displeasure if your Hearts be truly penitent so that you shed sincere Tears of Repentance and in case you are heartily sorry for the want of a sufficient displeasure for your sins in case you prostrate your self before your Heavenly Father he will raise you up again by his infinite Goodness he will cast all your sins and transgressions behind him he will cry unto you in your Hearts by the voice of his Holy Spirit My Son or My Daughter thy sins are forgiven thee John 5. He will fill your Souls with an unspeakable Joy Luk 9. and will cause you to sing with the Psalmist Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile Psal 32. Finally think not that it is ever too late to repent and that when Death is upon your Lips it is no time to seek to the Mercy of God As the business of Repentance cannot be too soon because we know not when God will call us to himself It is most certain that it can never be too late for at what time or season soever the poor sinner melts into Tears of Repentance in case his Repentance be real and his Tears proceed from a penitent heart God will always have the Arms of his Mercy wide open to receive him The Thief crucified at our Saviours side was at the last gasp when he was converted and when he uttered this excellent expression Remember me Lord when thou comest into thy Kingdom Luk 23. Our good and merciful Saviour granted his Request and encouraged him with the most excellent and comfortable promise that we can imagine Verily I say unto thee To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise In like manner when thou art at the point of death if God speaks unto thee and awakens thy Conscience it is an infallible signe that he hath compassion upon thee and that he will not destroy thee It is a signe that he opens for thee his Heaven full of Light and Glory and offers unto thee his Paradice with all its Divine Excellencies Doubt not penitent sinner that this is the acceptable day the day of Salvation and the time of Gods good pleasure seeing that this good God draws so near thee thou mayest with freedom draw near him And seeing that he beats and knocks at the door of thine Heart it is an infallible token that thou mayest also beat at the door of his Eternal Mercies and that he intends to open to satisfy thee In short at what hour soever we go unto God and appear before his Throne he stretcheth out unto us the Golden Scepter of his Goodness that we should obtain Mercy and find Grace to be helped in time of need It is not needful that we should prepare long and elaborated Speeches or Prayers to perswade God to vouchsafe his Grace and needful help in such an urgent necessity It is not necessary that we should compose them with the Art and Industry of humane Wisdom We need but pray unto God as unto our Father and weep in his bosom we need but open unto him our Hearts and call our selves his Children that alone is sufficient to move him to compassion and to stir up his Fatherly affections to appease his anger and to draw upon us his most excellent Blessings The Prophet Isaiah the most Eloquent of the Men of his time seeks no other argument to perswade God to have Mercy and compassion but this Look down from Heaven and behold from the Habitation of thy Holiness and of thy Glory where is thy Zeal and thy Strength the sounding of thy Bowels and of thy Mercies towards me are they restrained doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledgeth us not Thou O Lord art our Father our Redeemer thy Name is from everlasting Isai 63. Likewise after that he had made this confession We are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy Rags and we all doe fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away and there is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee for thou hast hid thy face from us and hast consumed us because of our iniquities Chap. 64. He adds But now O Lord thou art our Father we are thy Clay and thou art our Potter and we all are the work of thine Hand Be
Heavenly Blessings when we were without Christ we were Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel having no Hope and without God in the World But we who were far off are made nigh by the Bloud of Christ we have access with confidence by Faith in his precious Bloud so that we may go with boldness to the Throne of Grace to find mercy and help in time of need Heb. 4. Rejoyce therefore Christian Souls for you are not come to the Mount that might be touch'd with hands nor to a burning Fire nor unto Blackness and Darkness and Tempest and the sound of a Trumpet and the voice of words which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more but ye are come unto mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the bloud of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel For Abels Bloud called for vengeance against his own Brother Heb. 12. Col. 1. but the Bloud of Christ pleads for Mercy Pardon and Forgiveness for them who were his enemies in their understandings and wicked deeds And if when we were enemies we have been reconciled unto God by the death of his Son Rom. 5. How much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life and intercession 22. Never fear neither the Devil nor all the powers of Hell for according to God's antient promise The seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents head Gen. 3. The Lord of Glory hath spoiled the Principalities and Powers he hath made a show of them openly triumphing over them in his Cross Colos 2. By his death he hath destroyed him who had the Empire of death that is the Devil so that he hath crusht to pieces this red Dragon that did devour whole Nations and People Heb. 2. Rev. 12. As it happened when the Children of Israel did look to the brazen Serpent which Moses set up in the wilderness they were perfectly cured of the bitings of the fiery Serpents Likewise you wretched sinners who feel the venemous and deadly wounds of the old Serpent cast the eyes of your faith upon Jesus Christ crucified and you shall be saved from death John 3. As when the Angel destroyed the First-born of Egypt he had not the power to meddle with the Children of Israel who had sprinkled their doors with the bloud of the Paschal Lamb so the Devil who destroys the Children of this world hath no power to touch those whose Hearts and Consciences are washed in the Bloud of the spotless Lamb. And as Pharaoh and all the Egyptians that followed him were overwhelmed and drowned in the waters of the Red Sea Heb. 10. which served as a passage to the Children of Israel to their promised Land Thus Satan and all his wicked Spirits are as it were swallowed up in this precious Sea of Christs Bloud which opens unto us a way to the celestial Canaan Rejoyce you Heavens and you that dwell in them for the accuser of our Brethren is cast out who accused them day and night before God but they have overcome him by the Bloud of the Lamb 1 Pet. 1. Jam. 5. Christian Souls resist the Devil and he will fly from you If he goes about as a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour be not troubled at his fury nor at his infernal power for he is tied to a Chain that he cannot stretch nor break He hath been overcome by the Lion of the Tribe of Juda Take therefore the shield of Faith that you may be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil Rev. 6. and speak to him with an undaunted Soul Get thee behind me Satan for thou hast no part in me I belong to the Lord Jesus who hath paid my ransom who hath redeemed me with his Bloud and sealed me with his Spirit The Gates of Hell have no power upon those that are built upon the Rock of Eternity Matth. 16. 23. Let not your sins cast you into the Abysse of despair nor drive you from the Anchor of your Hope for God hath so loved the World that he hath given his only Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life they that are whole have no need of the Physitian but they that are sick John 3. Our Saviour is not come to call the Just to Repentance such as are puft up with a vain conceit of their own Righteousness but sinners who acknowledge their faults and are sorry for them The sacred Arms of your Redeemer that were stretched wide open upon the Cross are yet stretched wide open to receive us and from the highest Heavens where he dwells he causeth these comfortable words to be heard Come unto me all ye that travel and are heavy loaden and I will give you rest Matth. 11. This merciful Lord is come to seek for the lost Sheep to save such as were perished and to redeem his people from their sins As by one Man Sin came into the World and by Sin Death thus death is come upon all Men for they have all sinned likewise by the obedience of one we are become conquerors over death Rom. 5. And we have obtained the gift of Righteousness and Immortality it is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World and that hath made an atonement for all our iniquitites John 1. For as the Ram that was caught by the Horns in a Thicket was offered up unto God as a burnt-offering instead of Isaack Eph. 5. Thus the true Lamb of God hath been offered up unto God upon the Cross for us as a Burnt-Sacrifice well-pleasing unto him he hath born our iniquities in his Body upon the Tree and by his stripes we are healed Isai 53. He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows the chastisements of our peace was upon him As Aaron did put upon the live Goat Hazazel all the sins of the People Lev. 16. God hath made him who knows no sin to be made sin for us that we might become the Righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. Acts 10. Whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins in his Name Therefore rather than to play the desperate as Cain Achitophel and Judas let us cry out with King David O blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered O blessed is he unto whom the Lord imputeth no sin Psal 31. Or let us burst out into St. Pauls language Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect it is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that dyed Rom. 8. Let us therefore embrace this crucified Jesus and say with the Blessed
and like unto them that the Children of Israel did eat in the Promised Land In like manner the Fruits that we relish in the Wilderness of this World are Fruits of the Tree of Life with which we shall be fully satisfied in Heaven for the Grace that God bestows upon us here below by his Divine Spirit is the beginning of the Glory with which he shall Crown us above The same Light that shines upon our Souls on Earth shall shine much more for ever in Heaven But whereas we look upon it at present as it were through a black mist with much imperfection then we shall see it clearly without Vail or Darkness The same Holiness that adorns at present our Souls shall be their Ornament and Glory then it shall appear without spot or blemish That same peace of Conscience that preserves our Hearts and Sences shall Crown us above it shall be without the least disturbance In short the same Jesus that is conceived in our Hearts and that is formed and grows in us by degrees shall then appear in a perfect Stature that shall want no more increase As it is with the Sea it enters into the Rivers before the Rivers can run to the Sea in like manner God comes to us before we go to him and Heaven enters into our Souls before we can enter into Heaven Aged Simâ—on waited patiently for Death but assoon as he had seen the Saviour of the World and embraced him he ran to meet Death he thought upon nothing but his latter end therefore he prayed most earnestly to receive him into his Glorious Rest O Christian Soul how shouldest thou dispose and prepare thy self to dy seeing thou beholdest with the Eyes of Faith this Blessed Redeemer not wrapped up in Swathling Cloaths but Crowned with an infinite Glory and Light He is not in thine Arms but he lodges in thine Heart thou hast not received him to return or part with him again but to be united unto him for ever and to be incorporated into his mystical Body Seeing therefore that Death brings thee nearer to thy Redeemer perfects this Blessed Union and casts thee into the very Fountain of Life instead of being frighted at her and grieved when it comes to thee thou shouldest then rejoyce and be transported above measure with gladness we should meet this Death with a cheerful countenance I mean that we should meet the Lord Jesus this merciful Prince of Life who having vouchsafed unto thee the sight of his Salvation intends to receive thee into his Rest and Eternal and Glorious Peace that Reigns above in Heaven A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian Soul that strengthens it self against the fears of Death by considering our strict and unseparable Union with Jesus Christ by his Holy Spirit and the First-Fruits in us of our Blessed Immortality O Mighty and Merciful Lord who art the Son of Righteousness and the Fountain of Living Water drive away from me the dark shadows of death and quench all the Fires that it kindles in my Soul thou art not only dead for me but thou art pleased to live in me that I might one day live for ever with thee Thou hast of thy pure Mercy chosen me for thy Child and hast made me a Member of thy Mystical Body Flesh of thy Flesh Bone of thy Bone and caused me to be partaker of thine Holy Spirit God hath not given thee the Spirit by measure that out of thy fulness we might receive Grace for Grace By the means of this Blessed and Infinite Spirit that rests in my Soul I am united unto thee in a more perfect manner than the Tree is to the root that bears it or the Child to its Mother that nourisheth it in her Womb or the Members of the Humane Body to the Head that gives them Life The Ties that unite me unto thee O Glorious Saviour are more unchangeable than the Heavens and the Earth As nothing can pluck me out of thine Hands there is nothing can separate me from thine Heart Whether I live or dye I am thine my Lord and my God and nothing can alter thine affection for me Death can take me out of the World and carry me out of the embraces of my dearest friends but it can never separate me from thine Holy Spirit the Soul of my Soul and the Light of my Life which cannot be put out by all the envious Blasts and Storms of the Prince of Darkness this Holy Spirit will bring me to behold thy Face to rest in thy bosom and unite me unto thee for ever To whom Lord shall I go thou hast the words of Eternal life and thou art the inexhausible Fountain Thou art my Hope and my Treasure my Glory and mine only Happiness O faithful and unquestionable Witness I should be worse than an Infidel if I did call in question my future Salvation and Glory seeing the Father hath not spared thee for me although thou art his only and beloved Son the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Seeing that thou O merciful Lord hast willingly suffered the most shameful death of the Cross and spilt thy precious Bloud to wash away all my sins and satisfy for my crimes and seeing that thine Holy Spirit is come into my Heart to make me a partaker of that precious Bloud and Seal me for the day of Redemption O Glorious Spirit of my Saviour that rests upon me when I should be able to speak the Language of Angels I could not sufficiently express the wonderful operations that thou dost produce in my Soul thou kindlest in me such Heavenly Flames as never go out but are always alive as the fire of thine Altar Thou formest in me a white Stone where a new Name is written which no man knows but he that receives it Thou givest me to eat of that hidden Manna of that food of Angels that the World knoweth not Thou witnessest with my Spirit that I am a Child of God an Heir of God and a Joynt Heir with Jesus Christ the King of Kings Thou dost not only Seal unto me the pardon of all my Sins but thou dost also purify my Conscience from all dead Works to serve the living God Thou causest me to cry out Abba Father and imprintest in my Heart the Glorious Image of my Heavenly Father Thou art the Seal of my Adoption the earnest of mine uncorruptible Inheritance prepared for me in Heaven Thou hast given me the infallible assurances of a Glorious and Eternal Life and begun it already in my Soul granting to me its First-Fruits Thou causest me to behold the Sun-shine of thy Grace and makest it to give Light in mine Vnderstanding Thou dost not only vouchsafe unto me the favour of beholding from this Valley of Tears thine Heavenly Canaan but thou causest me to tast of its Fruits I am not yet come to the Fountain of Waters that spring forth to Eternal Life but I feel the Streams and the
they began to draw near one another then the Nerves began to appear the Flesh to grow and to be covered with skin but there was no life until God Commanded the Prophet to prophecy again Thus saith the Lord Spirit come from the four winds blow upon these dead bodies and let them rise from the dead Then the Spirit entred into them they began to revive and they stood upon their Legs This is the lively and true image of the first resurrection for the Spirit of God that blows whither it listeth doth regenerate us by degrees John 3. and the new man is created in our hearts by little and little as the Child grows in its Mothers Womb. When Joshua brought the Children of Israel into the Land of Promise he did not destroy all the Cananites Josh 23. there remained some who became Scourges in their sides and Thorns in their Eyes Thus our true and Spiritual Joshua who hath led us into the kingdom of his Grace hath not altogether destroyed all our evil affections some yet remains that are like prickles in our sides and like swords that pierce through our souls They do yet render our life bitter and unpleasant and therefore we often desire death to come and put a period to this combat Sin was in possession of us as a strong man armed in an House but Jesus Christ is entred into our Souls and become the Master He hath therefore bound and chained sin and hath nailed it to his Cross But this furious Beast although it hath received a mortal wound and is ready to give up the last gasp it strugles and fumes within us our blessed Saviour hath extinguished with the Red Stream of his Blood the infernal flames of all our cursed affections but yet there remains in the ashes some sparkles of this devilish fire that do cause in us some furious fits This only merciful Redeemer of his infinite mercy hath loosed us from the Devils Chains but that we might have cause to be humbled to desire the increase of his Grace and to long for the advent of his Glory he leaves about us some of the troublesome Fetters by his Holy Spirit he files them off by degrees but one day he will take them away from us He doth now receive us as his beloved Children into the Celestial Kingdom of his Grace Joh. 11. nevertheless he suffers in us some ill-favoured reliques of sin and corruption At the voice of this Prince of Life that reaches to the very bottom of our hearts we are risen from the sepulchre of our Vices with our Grave-Cloaths about us as Lazarus when he came out of his Tomb we are like the antient Slaves that were set at liberty we bear upon our Forehead the visible marks of our antient slavery but one day our Lord Jesus Christ shall cover these marks of infamy and disgrace with an heavenly Diadem If you desire another image of our spiritual condition fancy to your selves a dead man cast into a foul Pit or Sink unto whom life is restor'd in a moment afterwards by degrees he is wash'd and cleans'd of the filth that covers his body We were not only dead of a Spiritual death but we were also overwhelmed in an Abysse of corruption and filth The Son of God hath pull'd us out of this Abysse and hath already restored unto us life but the dirt and putrefaction with which we were disfigured he washes it away by the waters of his Grace Zaâ— 13. For there is a fountain opened for sin in the House of David Isai 4. in the which God hath promised to wash away all the filth of the Daughter of Sion and all the bloud of Jerusalem and as it happened to the cruel King Adonibezech when the Tribe of Juda took him prisoner he lost the Thumbs of his Hands and the great Toes of his Feet but he did not suffer death until he was come to Jerusalem Thus our great God and Saviour the Prince of the Tribe of Juda hath cut off the strength and power of the old man that did tyrannize in our souls and hath deprived him of his venemous nails with which he did wound our hearts he hath also given him his mortal wound but he suffers him to enjoy a languishing life and will not take away his last breath until we bring him to the Gates of the heavenly Jerusalem But to speak more openly sin is yet in us but he doth not Reign for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ hath broken its Scepter and hath pull'd him from his Throne and as he hath taken from it all Command in us he constrains it to leave the possession of our souls by degrees As a strong and mighty King who having won the Battel pursues and drives his Enemy until he hath totally exposed him out of his kingdom so doth our Saviour deal with sin And as it happens with a Woman with Child in her old age there is in her Body two contrary lives that of the Mother and that of the Child the one decays and dies insensibly the other that is the Childs life grows and increaseth by degrees So it is in the faithful and regenerate Soul There are two lives that of Sin that the Scripture names the Old man and that of the New man which is created according to God in Righteousness and true Holiness the one diminishes and approacheth to its final end but the other grows and gathers strength until we arrive to the perfect stature of our Lord Jesus Christ the Spirit of God every day gets ground of our corruption and darkness As it happens with the Rivers of fresh water that encroach upon the Earth they undermine the nearest Banks or as the Sun when he riseth upon our Horison he drives before him all shadows until the Air be perfectly enlightned so it is with the Grace of God in our Souls CHAP. 5. Why we are yet subject to the Corporal or Natural Death and what advantage we do thereby receive in Jesus Christ THe wise King teacheth us in the 9 of the Ecclesiastes That the same accident happens to all to the righteous and to the wicked and to the clean and to the polluted to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not These words are to be understood of the several afflictions unto which we are exposed during this mortal life but we may apply it to the Natural Death for it is appointed unto all once to dye and after that the judgement follows Heb. 9. By one man sin is entred into the World and by Sin Death and thus Death is come upon all men because they have all sinned Rom. 5 Therefore when Joshua felt himself feeble and decaying he told the Children of Israel That he was going the way of all flesh Josh 23. and Job complains unto God I know that thou wilt reduce me to death and to the house appointed for all living Job 30. It was upon this subject that the Royal Prophet
in the 31 Psalm I trusted in thee O Lord I said Thou art my God my times are in thy hand He is of the same judgement in the 39 Psalm Behold thou hast assured me my days as an band breadth and in the 68 Psalm Vnto God the Lord belong the issues of Death Moses teacheth us the same Lesson in his Divine Hymn Psal 90. for when he hath represented how that it is God who reduceth Man to Ashes and maketh him return to his first substance he tels us speaking unto God Thou turnest man to destruction and sayst return ye Children of Men. King Hezekiah's comparison is very notable he compares the Life of Man to a Thread that God hath twisted and that he cuts off at his pleasure Isai 38. Mine Age is departed and removed from me as a Shepherds Tent I have cut off like a Weaver my life he will cut me off with pining Sickness from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me Hannah Samuels Mother removes all difficulty and confirms this Truth sufficiently 2 Sam. 2. It is God saith she who killeth and maketh alive he bringeth down to the Grave and bringeth up There is nothing more significant to the same purpose than our Lord and Saviours words I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen and have the Keys of Hell and of Death Apoc. This great God and Saviour closeth the Gates of the Grave when he pleaseth and 't is not possible to open them against his will In short Whether we live we live to the Lord whether we die we die to the Lord whether therefore we live or die we are the Lords Rom. 14. And our Reason being enlightned with a Divine Revelation teacheth us this good and profitable Lesson for if God hath a hand in our Conception and Birth and if he appoints the time of our entrance into the world wherefore should not he also have an hand in our Death mark out the time of our last departure David speaks thus to God in the 139 Psalm My substance was not bid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect and in thy Book all my Members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there is none of them we may therefore for the same reason say to God My substance will not be hid from thee when this miserable Body shall fall to pieces as rotten Wood and as a Moth-eaten Garment thine Eyes shall see me when Death shall cut off the Thred of my Life and separate what thou hast joyned together so wonderfully thy Power and Wisdom shall have an hand in my last hours and nothing shall happen to me but that which thou hast afore ordained in thine unsearchable Decrees If God appoints the time of our Resurrection and if it be certain that without his express Commission the Holy Spirit will not breathe upon our dead bones to cause them to revive is it probable that the breath should depart out of our Nostrils and our Bodies should fall into the Bed of corruption without the Orders of this great and living God Ezek. 37. He hath appointed to the Sun its course and to the Stars that shine in the Heavens their several motions and stations Isai 40 and should not he also appoint to his Children their motions seeing that they are to shine for ever in the Heaven of Heavens where justice dwels as so many immortal Stars He hath measured the Waters in his hand he hath compassed the Heavens with his Span he hath weighed the Mountains in Scales and the Hills with a Ballance he hath fashioned the Earth with a Hive and given bounds to the roaring Sea and is it possible that he hath not not measured the time of our Life and that he hath marked out with his finger the last moment He who hath numbred the Kingdoms of Heathen Princes hath he not also numbred the days in the which he intends to reign in our hearts by his Holy Spirit hath he not appointed the time for us to ascend up into the highest Heavens where we are to reign with him in the Kingdom of his Glory If it be certain that God hath unmbred the Hairs of our Head Matth. 10. it is not to be doubted but that he hath also numbred the days of our Life And if a Sparrow doth not fall to the ground without his order how can it be that a Soul should take its flight up to Heaven without his express Commission He bottles up our Tears he keeps a Record of all our afflictions and takes an account of our Sorrows Psal 50. and can we imagine that he doth not keep an account of the life and death of Men and that he minds not the time that we are to spend in this vally of Tears He takes notice of our uprising and of our down-sitting he compasseth thee round about whither thou dost stop or go Psal 59. and can it be conceiv'd but that he observes thy rising at thy birth the several passages of thy Life and thy going down at thy Death In short if God hath appointed in his eternal Council the continuance of the great World he hath also without doubt limited the Life of Man the little World and the Image and Compendium of the Great As our Lord and Saviour teacheth us Man is not able by his solicitous care to add one Cubit to his stature and our experience sufficiently demonstrates that we cannot add a year a day nor a moment by all our labor and industry to the continuance of our Life If Life and Death were not in Gods hand there would be nothing setled nor constant neither in the Kingdoms of the World nor in the Church of Christ The Prophets would be often found in grievous errors and the eternal Election would be totally abolish'd for the most weighty affairs of a Commonwealth depend upon the Life of Princes The death of one Man is able to turn an Empire upside down and to change the state of a Kingdom If Alexander the Great had been stifled in his Cradle what would become of the Prophesie of Paniâ— who declares the glorious victories that this Prince should obtain against King Darius the Persian Monarch under the Embleme of an Hâ—-Goat that should run at a Ram with all his might that should break his two horns and trample him under his feet And if King Cyrus had died before the obtaining of the Kingdom of 〈◊〉 how should Isaiah's Prophesie be accomplish'd for he paints out this young Conqueror in his most lively Colours and calls him by his name in this expression I have said of Cyrus He is my Shâ—pheard and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem Thou shalt be built and to the Temple Thy Temple shall be laid Isai 44. If the Devil could have taken away St. Pauls Life
O Lord my God are thy wonderful Works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee If I should declare and speak of them they are more then can be numbred and being ravish'd into an Holy Admiration thou wilt say in the language of the same Prophet O God who is like unto thee who when thou hadst made me see many distresses and evils at last thou hast restored me to Life and drawn me out of the depths of the Earth Psal 71. Thou shalt increase my greatness again thou wilt comfort me And elsewhere What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me Psal 116. 18. The Consideration of God's redeeming us doth chiefly require us to deny our selves and consecrate our selves to his service for the Slave don't belong to himself but to him that hath redeemed him and paid his ransom As when God had deliver'd the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt he gave unto them his Law and his Ordinances in Mount Sinai Thus God hath redeemed us from the Tyranny of the Devil of the World of Sin of Death of Hell and from the power of all our Enemies that we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our life Luk 1. He hath given himself a ransom for us that we might become a peculiar people to him given to good Works Tit. 2. You are bought with a price Glorify then God in your Bodies and your Souls that belong unto God 1 Cor. 6. 19. One love must kindle another the Sacred Fire that is come from Heaven must enflame our hearts with an Holy Zeal for his Glory God hath loved us so much that he hath given his Holy Son that believing we might not perish but have everlasting life He hath not spared him who is the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person He hath deliver'd him to death for us yea to the ignominious death of the Cross And is it not just that we should love him above all worldly things a God so good and merciful Is it not just that we should love nothing but him and for his sake Is it not reasonable that we should offer unto him our Bodies and Souls as a Living and Holy Sacrifice pleasing to his Eye And if we have any Lust that offends him is it not just that we should willingly leave it betimes when it should appear as useful to us as our Hands and Feet and as dear as the Apple of our Eyes Whosoever he be that doth not deny himself is not worthy of him Matt. 10. 20. We must treat the body of Sin which the Holy Scripture stiles the Old man and the First Adam almost in the same manner as Christ the New Man and the Second Adam was treated upon the Cross Rom. 6. Instead of flattering it and seeking to satisfy its Lusts we must deprive it of all its pleasures make it drink Vinegar and Gaul teare its Head with Thorns bind and chain its Affections and nail them to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ with all its inordinate and brutish desires Mortify therefore your Members that are upon Earth Fornication Uncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry Gal. 5. Coloss 3. 21. To live in sin and to delight our selves in iniquity is to frustrate as much as in us lies our good Lord from that principal end which he designed in leaving for a while the Celestial Abode of his Glory and Immortality for he is come into the World to destroy the Works of the Devil Now the chief Work of the Devil the great Enemy of our Salvation in which he takes most Delight and Glory is Sin with which he ensnares Mankind for by Sin Death and all kind of Calamities are enter'd into the World John 3. Rom. 5. 22. It is to trample upon the only Son of God to affront the Spirit of Grace and esteem the Bloud of the Covenant a prophane thing It is to destroy the Fruits of the Death and Passion of our good Redeemer and pull down his Cross for he hath carried our Sins in his Body upon the Cross that dying unto Sin we might live unto Righteousness He hath given himself for his Church to sanctify it and to render it a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle nor any such thing If the Bloud of Bulls and of Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkled did Sanctify the uncleanness of the Flesh how much more shall the Bloud of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead Works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 23. Our Lord and Saviour was not only Dead but also buryed to teach us to bury also with him our sins and shut up in his Sacred Tomb all our carnal Lusts Don't you know all ye that have been baptized in Jesus Christ that you have been baptized in his Death we are then buried with him in his death by Baptisme 24. This Glorious Saviour is risen from the Dead and hath left his Sepulchre with his Funeral Attire to teach us to rise to newness of Life and to leave in our Grave that sin that encompasseth us and the ties of our corruption that bind us so fast To speak in St. Paul's language As Jesus Christ is risen from the dead by the Glory of the Father we also ought to walk in newness of life for if we are made one Plant with him by a conformity to his Death we shall also be One by a conformity to his Resurrection and as Christ who is risen from the Dead dies no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Likewise we ought not to apply our Members as instruments of iniquity unto sin but we ought to apply them unto God as being made alive from the dead Rom. 6. He is dead and risen again that he might have dominion over the dead and the living If any be in Jesus Christ let him be a new Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new Rom. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 25. Jesus Christ after his Glorious Resurrection is ascended up into Heaven to lift up thither our Hearts and to draw thither our affections and to teach us to reform our manners to live an Holy Angelical and Celestial life If you are risen with Christ seek those things that are above where Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God think upon things above and not upon things upon Earth Coloss 3. 26. There is nothing in the World so lovely as Vertue It is the delight and pleasure of Heaven it is the Daughter of the living God and the true and lively Image of our great Creator O blessed decking of a Christian Soul O rich and precious Ornament of God's Children O Heavenly Grace what rare and strong Charms hast thou to win the
Hearts and Affections of all such as behold thy Perfect and Divine Beauty 27. On the contrary there is nothing so ugly and ill-favour'd as sin it is a woful Monster of Hell and a frightful Image of Satan It is true that it disguises it self and takes a beautiful appearance but if you lift up this borrowed Mask you shall perceive the Devils fearful looks and the depths of Hell 28. Faithful Souls weigh in the ballance of the Sanctuary the fearful evils that sin hath brought into the World it hath blotted out God's Image and defaced the Beauty of the Creation it hath put a division between Heaven and Earth and kindled a grievous War between God and Man it is an heavy burden under which Nature it self groans for because of sin all Creatures sigh and are in labor until now 29. It continues yet its woful Effects for it is Sin that grieves the Holy Spirit that afflicts the Angels that offends the Weak that hardens the Ignorant and that gives an occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme his Holy Name and to curse his Gospel Rom. 8. It is Sin that pleaseth the Devil that rejoyceth Hell that upholds the tottering walls of Babylon that strengthens the Kingdom of the Prince of Darkness and that causeth him to work with efficacy in the Hearts of the Children of Rebellion Eph. 2. 30. Lift up your Eyes to the Cross of Jesus Christ and you shall perceive how abominable sin is for neither in Heaven nor on Earth there could not be found an offering able to make expiation for it God hath chosen rather to punish it in the person of his only begotten Son than to leave it unpunished O that the stain of sin is grievous and deep seeing that nothing but the Bloud of a God can wash and cleanse it 31. When you meditate upon our Lords Death and Passion make it not your business to cry out against Judas's Treason the Pharisees envy the Peoples mutiny don't lay the blame upon the Impiety of Caiphas the unjustice of Pilate or Herods Scoffs and Jests nor upon the cruelty of the Roman Soldiers but be angry against your own Sins and let an Holy Displeasure rise in you against your iniquities and crimes Say to your selves our sins our sins alone have betrayed Christs innocent Body bound and fastened the Lord of Glory to this ignominious Cross and deliver'd him into the Executioners hands our sins have crown'd him with Thorns nailed him to the Wood deliver'd to him Gaul and Vinegar to drink In short our sins have pierced his Hands and Feet and open'd his Side You would abhor the sight and acquaintance of the Hangman that should have fastened your Father to the Gallows and you would scorn to kiss his bloody hands how much more abominable shall we be to God and his Holy Angels if we do cherish and delight to entertain Sin whereas we should be stirred up against it with an Holy Zeal and an earnest desire of Revenge Instead of nailing to the Cross this unmerciful Parricide and crushing to pieces this hellish Monster if we feed and nourish it in our bowels we shall then be guilty of crucifying afresh the Son of God and of putting him to an open shame guilty of treading him under feet and of esteeming the Blood of the Covenant wherewith we were sanctified an unholy thing 32. Consider seriously the fearful effects that Sin produces in you have you never been sensible of the horrid and cruel torments of a poor Soul disturb'd with the sight of its crimes How sharp and piercing are the remorses of a Conscience awaken'd from a prophane sleep It is a pain and an anguish that cannot be expressed it causeth our head to dissolve into water our eyes to become a Fountain of Tears it causeth our Blood to be congeal'd our Skin to become black our Bones to be crack'd and broken It is a common saying that the punishment follows the sin close at the heels but imagine that it keeps always its company and that it is a Rack and Torture that never leaves the guilty for there is no peace for the wicked saith my God Isai 48. 33. Whereas there is no satisfaction like unto that of a good Christian who loves his God sincerely and worships him in Spirit and in Truth There is no kind of delight to be compar'd to that of a regenerate Soul that applies himself without hypocrisie to the works of Piety and Holiness John 4. for the quiet of the Soul and the peace of Conscience are more worthy than great Treasures than Scepters and Crowns therefore the wise Solomon tels us That the Righteous mans Heart is a continual Feast Prov. 15. To perswade us that there is nothing like to this hidden Manna to this spiritual Food that the world knows not and to these Angelical and Divine Pleasures the Holy Apostles inform us that it is an unspeakable and glorious Joy and a peace of God that passeth all understanding Phil. 4. 34. If any Delight or Pleasure accompanies Vice it is but in appearance superficial as a dream it vanisheth away for the Triumph of the wicked is of a short continuance and the Joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment There is always some Thorn some Grief hidden and secret in their laughter their Heart is afflicted and their Joy is cut off by Sorrow Prov. 14. 35. But the Holy Joys and Celestial Delights of one that fears God and that worships him in purity and innocency of life are solid and lasting they cast a deep Root into the very bottom of our hearts and enter into the Joynts and Marrow and disperse themselves all over the inward parts The Gibbets the Wheels It is the French custome to break notable offenders upon a Cart-wheel and the most grievous torments of this life cannot pluck these joys from us but they comfort the soul in the midst of the greatest distresses and heal up the broken bones 36. The Worldlings become weary tired with the accomplishment of their Lusts and are afflicted at their greatest success they loath at last all their carnal sports and their greatest sweetness turns into bitterness we grow out of taste with the pleasures of sin so that we begin to loath and abhorr them It is what Zophar intends to shew us when speaking of the wicked he saith His meat in his Bowels is turned it is the gall of Aspes within him he hath swallowed down Riches and he shall vomit them up again God shall cast them out of his belly Job 20. 37. It is otherwise with them who apply their hearts to the fear and service of God and that find his Yoak easy and his burden Light Matth. 11. They take great satisfaction in the ways of Righteousness they run with an holy freedom to their happy end and to the price of their spiritual Calling the more they drink of the Waters of Siloah the more they thirst their Zeal is like an
vain that they did beat at the gate with a Lord Lord open unto us Matt. 25. The door could not be open'd to them but it was answered from within Verily I say unto you I know you not I know that the chief and principal purpose of this and other Parables is to teach us how we should be prepar'd to expect the Glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but they may very well be applied unto Death for it hath pleased God to keep secret and hidden the day in the which he will call us to himself and that of our Saviours coming to judgment that we may be equally prepar'd and dispos'd for the one as well as for the other As we shall be found at the time of our death so shall we be judged at the great day when Christ shall come down from Heaven with the Angels of his Power and from that judgement there shall be no Appeal Let us therefore put off the Sin that doth so easily beset us and break all the Chains of our filthy Lusts Let us disarm death and take from it its venemous Darts and its piercing stings Let us pluck off the Claws and the Teeth of this furious Beast and extinguish all its fires and it shall never be able to terrify us Let us live the life of Saints and God will give us grace to dye the death of the Righteous and to end like unto them Let us live as we would that we had lived at that instant when Death is upon our Lips Let us live as if at every moment we were to dy and at every hour God did call unto us from his Heaven Come and appear to Judgement And when Satan the World and our own Flesh solicite and draw us to evil let us say within our selves Is it thus that thou wilt reward the Lord thy God and acknowledge all the Blessings and Favors that thou hast received from his bountiful hand O Fool dost thou conceive that thou canst go to Heaven by marching in the Read to Hell If thou dost wilfully cast thy self away into the depths of sin what assurâ—nâ—â—â—ast thou of rising again by Repentance If 〈◊〉 â—orsakest God art not thou afraid God will forsake thee Is it thus that thou preparest thy self to dye Are these Lusts the Arms with which thou must encounter Death Art thou ready to draw near to the Sacred Majesty of thy God and to appear before his great Tribunal The night is far spent the day is at hand Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the Armor of Light Rom. 16. Let us live as Children of God and Heirs of his Kingdom Phil. 3. Let us be blameless and shine as Lights in the World Let our conversation be as Citizens of Heaven from whence we expect the Lord Jesus Eph. 2. Let us go to the Holy and Heavenly Jerusalem by the way of good Works which God hath prepared that we might walk in them Zach. 13. In all our Actions Words and Thoughts let there be engraven Holiness to the Lord. Let us declare by our Deeds that we really believe without doubting whatsoever the Holy Scripture declares of the Eternal pains of Hell and of the unspeakable joys of Heaven Gal. 6. Whilst we have time let us do good to all but chiefly to the Houshold of Faith Eph. 5. Let us redeem the time for the days are evil Doe not as Adam did who to eat of the forbidden Fruit so pleasing to his taste lost the Paradise which God had given him Let us not loose the Eternal Delights that God hath prepared for us from the beginning of the World for a moment of carnal pleasure Let us imitate the Holy and Wise Virgins put Oil in our Lamps betimes let us fill up our Hearts with Faith Hope and Charity and put on the Robes of Righteousness and Holiness As God's faithful Servants Let us labor to accomplish our Taske Let us be stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord that when Death shall appear or rather when the Prince of Life shall call us to himself we may be ready to give him an exact account of our Talents with which he hath intrusted us and that we may say unto him in sincerity and truth I have done the work that thou hast given me I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith O most excellent Lord I have nothing else to do but to receive from thy hand the Crown of Righteousness which thou hast promised to all that love thine appearance I have nothing else to do but to enter into thy Glorious Rest where thou dost embrace in thine infinite Mercies all such as have overcome Sin and Death and kept thy Works unto the end A Prayer and Meditation for him that prepares for Death by Repentance and an Holy Life O God the Holy of Holies who art Holiness it self Sin hath introduc'd Death into the World and rendred this our Enemy so terrible Strengthen me with thy Divine Vertue that I may be able to take from it betimes its mortal Weapons and its fiery Darts and that strength and poison which is so natural to it Seeing that since the Creation of the World thou hast prepared thine Heavenly Kingdom for me give me Grace to employ the remainder of my life to purge my Conscience from dead Works and to sanctify my Body and Soul that I may be in an Estate convenient for such an Holy Abode into which no impure nor defiled thing shall enter that I may be in a disposition fit to behold thy Glorious Face that cannot be seen without Holiness O Heavenly Father enlighten mine understanding with the light of thine Holy Spirit that proceeds from thee that I may discover the ugliness of sin and its dangerous consequences that I may abhor and abominate it with all mine heart that I may look upon it as an infernal Monster and as Satans Image as a grievous filth which hath disfigured the Master-piece of thine hands and blotted out of our Souls the chief features of thy Divine Image Give me grace to esteem it as that cursed Fire that hath kindled thy wrath set the whole world in a flame as that unfufferable burden under which Nature it self sighs and groans and under which Heaven it self complains as the murderer of our first Parents and of all Mankind in general as the Executioner that crucified the Lord of Glory and spilt his precious Bloud In short give me grace to treat it as our most unreconcileable enemy that provoketh thy vengeance and that labors to cast us headlong into the Abysse of Eternal Torments O Father of Mercies give me grace to perceive all the Beauties of Holiness and the Glory that shall reward it that I may be enflamed with its love and embrace it with all the affections of my Soul that I may look upon it as the the off-spring of Heaven as an image of
thy beautiful Face and as a beam of thy Glory as the rich Jewel which the Devil had taken from us as the highest perfection represented by thy Son Jesus Christ and as the chief part of that felicity unto which we pretend and into which thou wilt bring us in thine heavenly Paradise O God of my Salvation how bitter are the fruits of sin thou seest my displeasure for having yielded so long to that loathsome Tyrant and assisted my carnal Lusts that war against the Soul Thou seest the inward grief of my mind for having neglected to employ that life which I have received from thy Mercy and Goodness that I might live to fear serve and obey thy Sacred and Divine Commands What shall I say O Soveraign Lord of the World I have sinned against thee against thee have I sinned and done that which is abominable in thy sight but I repent in Dust and Ashes my sins appear before me day and night I consider them with horror Alas O Lord before whom all things are naked and open thou knowest that my greatest grief proceeds from my not grieving enough and that my most sensible affliction is of not being afflicted sufficiently because I cannot feel a Repentance answerable to the greatness and number of mine offences O God that searcheth the Heart and knowest all things thou understandest the greatness of my crimes and what should be my sorrow for their Commission thou desirest not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn and live Turn me O Lord and then I shall be turned Almighty God who fetchest Water out of the hardest Rocks draw out of my stony Heart the tears of sincere Repentance which might he acceptable unto thee Break and mollify this hard heart that it may receive the Waters of Eternal life but rather pluck out this wicked heart and give me a new heart fashioned with thine own hands an heart where thy Glorious Image with all its most beautiful features may appear with the most sacred beams that proceed from thy Divine Face an heart that may be enflam'd with an Holy Zeal for thy Glory and burn with a love for thee O God of all goodness who hast not spared the bloud of thine only Son to blot out the sentence of my doom grant me thine Holy Spirit that may sanctify me and make me a new creature that I may bear the marks and the Livery of thy chosen and that I may shine in the World as a Lamp that burns with an Heavenly Fire Crucify this miserable flesh with all its Lusts that I may live not I but that Christ may live in me that from henceforth I may live in the faith of the Son of God who hath loved me and given himself for me that he might redeem and cleanse me from all iniquity Animate my Soul enlighten mine understanding direct and govern the actions of my life take possession of me and rule me in such a manner that all mine affections words and thoughts may be sanctified by thy Grace and tend to the promotion of thy Glory That I may not only abhor all such things as are displeasing to thee but that I may also shun those which I know not whether they will be acceptable to thee that I may not only abominate the filthy vices but also hate the Garments infected with sin and that I may abstain from all appearance of evil If the Devil the World and mine own flesh tempt and stir me up to any sin let the dread of thy Divine Majesty seize upon my Soul let Death enter into my mind and fill me with such an holy fear as may stop and hinder me Give me grace to consider that I should be the most miserable of all Creatures if I did dye in offending and sinning against thee if I were buried with my crimes Let me always think upon St. John 's saying Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second death shall have no dominion over him Seeing that thy saving grace unto all men hath appeared so openly unto me Grant that renouncing all impiety and worldly Lusts I may live soberly justly and religiously in this present life that I may apply my thoughts to all those things that are True Honourable Just Pure Lovely of good Renown and generally to all things that are vertuous and worthy of praise More especially grant O good God that I may be possessed with a violent Charity which may carry me to actions of Love and Mercy for thou delightest in such Sacrifices Charity covers a multitude of sins O merciful Lord the task which thou hast given me is long and tedious my life is but short and I know not how soon thou wilt come to knock at the door of mine house O God whose Mercies are for ever performe in me that which thou dost command and then command what thou wilt produce in me with power both the Will and the Deed according to thy good pleasure Give me grace to employ myself in thy work with Diligence Faithfulness and Zeal that I may not be troubled at thy Glorious coming Give me the Lamp of thy Sanctuary lighted at the beams of the Sun of Righteousness Fill my Soul with the precious and Divine Oil that runs from thy Spirit and cloath me with the Robes of Holiness and Light that I may be ready to follow the Bridegroom into the Banqueting Chamber and sit at thy Table with the holy Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and the Holy Virgin and with all those who have wash'd and whitened their Robes in the Bloud of the Lamb. Let me live the life of the Saints that I may dye the death of the Righteous that I may be admitted into thy Glorious Rest with thy Chosen and that when I am breathing forth thy last gasp thy Son Jesus Christ may call to me from Heaven Come good and faithful Servant enter into the joy of thy Lord Amen CHAP. 12. The sixth Remedy against the fears of Death is to repose our selves upon God's good Providence SOme persons there are so brutish and stupified that they never think upon the great end and designe of their Creation they are not able to give a just account wherefore God hath put them into the World they are Carnal and Earthly minds who imagine that they were created for themselves as brute Beasts onely to eat and drink Such are of the number of those that are mentioned by St. Paul their God is their Belly and their end is Eternal Misery But there are also some wise and vertuous minds that are continually meditating upon the favors that they received from Heaven which they employ to their right and proper end Such Celestial understandings being enlightned from above consider very well that they are not born for themselves but for their Countrey for their Parents for their Friends and chiefly for to serve God and his Church on Earth therefore they desire to live only to
Armies I speak not unto you prophane Atheists that laugh at the most Holy things and that are of opinion that all fear of God must be banished out of your Troops and Companies and that the most wretched Varlets are the best Soldiers but I speak to you Christian and Religious Commanders who forget not by your promotion amongst Men that you are nevertheless the Soldiers of Jesus Christ and although you wear at your side a material Sword forget not to employ also the sword of the Spirit the word of God that dwels in your hearts Neither do I intend to speak to you who manage War with an intent only to satisfy your Revenge your Ambition or your Covetousness but I speak to you brave and worthy Captains who have purified your weapons in an Heavenly Fire who undertake War only to procure a more lasting Peace to the publick and who fight only to serve your Prince and Countrey you that are the great bulwarks of States and Empires by whose labors and watchings Men sleep in security Let the whole World see by experience in your persons that there is nothing that agrees better with true generosity than Piety and the fear of God behave your selves always as in the sight of your Maker who is at your Elbows and accompanies you in all your actions Remember that he commanded to remove all filth from the Camp of Israel because of his Holy and Divine Presence If you will obtain his Blessing upon your persons and designes cast out of your Armies the filth of Vice and Punish without Mercy the Rapes Burnings all Impiety and Blasphemies make your Soldiers put in practice St. John the Baptist's most excellent advice to the Soldiers of his time who enquired what they were to do to be be saved Do violence said he to no man neither accuse any falsly and be content with your wages Live as Lambs and fight as Lions Spare as much as you can the bloud of your Soldiers and shed not that of your Enemies but against your Wills because they are God's Creatures and Men that bear his Image Never trust to your own valor and experience but remember that it is God who gives Courage and strengthens the hands in the day of Battel who causeth Fear and Terror to fly whither he listeth Look always upon David's example There was never a Captain more couragious nor more willing to venture his life and yet there was never a person more zealous in Prayer to God nor more submissive to his Will nor more careful to return unto him the praise of all his advantages and if Death comes to put a stop to your victories or to call you away in a trice in which your Prudence and Courage is requisite wonder not at it consider that God offers you by this means an occasion of a more Glorious Victory and of a more Magnificent Triumph for the victory over thousands of Mortal Men and of the whole World is nothing in comparison of a victory over Death and Hell Inquire not who shall succeed you in the Conduct of your Army out of a distrust of God's good providence for he who is able to raise up Children unto Abraham out of Stones can raise up also from thence Captains and Soldiers when he pleaseth to give a check to the Enemies pride and to deliver his People from their hands he can make Gideons Jephtha's Sampsons and such like extraordinary Commanders Who knows but that he will cause a General to succeed you that shall have more Courage and Generosity and that shall be blessed with a greater Happiness and more Glorious Successes When Moses departed to his Rest Joshua Commanded in his stead and for that purpose God enabled him with a noble Spirit of Wisdom and Courage for one Enemy that Moses overcame Joshua destroyed thousands whereas Moses did but coast along the Land of Canaan and turn up and down in the Wilderness Joshua brought the People of Israel into that pleasant Countrey and into a peaceable possession of it Seeing therefore that it is God's pleasure leave to others the care of worldly Wars and ye go to gather the pleasant and delicious Fruits of an Eternal Peace which hath been purchased unto you by the Bloud of Christ Likewise ye faithful Ministers of Jesus Christ remember to shew the example of a resignation to God's good pleasure according to your Doctrine Let not Death cause you to draw back thou hast my Brother a Will to Glorify God on Earth well but thou shalt Glorify him better in Heaven with more zeal and less hindrance whilst thou art surrounded and fetter'd with these Fetters of Mortality thy Ministry must needs be accompanied with many imperfections Thou imaginest that if it pleased God to prolong thy days thou mayest be instrumental in the reformation of the World but thou art mistaken My Brother for this World is accustom'd to Evil and this Age is hardened in Iniquity Preach as much as thou wilt to the Inhabitants of this inferior World it shall be as in the times of Noah the Herald of Righteousness when the patience of God waited for the conversion of Sinners for the whole Earth hath corrupted its ways so that all the thoughts and imaginations of the Heart of Man are evil continually from his Cradle they are corrupt and filthy And if God doth not interpose his Almighty Hand and declare in us the Virtue of his Holy Spirit our thoughts will grow worse and worse until we tumble into our Graves If thou afflict never so much thy just and innocent Soul and spend thy self in exhorting the greatest Sinners to fly from the wrath to come and the judgements of God that hang over their guilty Heads it may be thou shalt be mocked by thy nearest Relations as Lot was by his Sons-in-law When thou wouldest thunder out the threatenings of God's Law against the abominations of Israel as the Prophet Isaiah did once thou shouldest be forced at last to confess I have labour'd in vain I have employed my strength for nought Isai 49. Jer. 6. When thine Eyes should be converted into a fresh Spring of Tears and when thou shouldest spend the days and the nights in calling upon the Superstitious the Schismaticks and Idolaters to forsake their false worship and their unchristian proceedings thou shalt not be able to soften the hardness of their Hearts nor overcome their obstinacy but they will be ready to speak to thee in the Jews language to Jeremiah As for the word that thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not hearken unto thee but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouths to burn incense unto the Queen of Heaven and to pour out Drink-offerings unto her as we have done we and our Fathers our Kings and our Princes in the Cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem for then had we plenty of Victuals and were well and saw no evil Jer. 44.
up to the Throne of his Glory but according to his promise he hath not left us destitute but hath sent us the Comsorter to dwell with us for ever namely the Spirit of Truth whom the world seeth not nor cannot know John 14. Christs Corporal presence was enjoyed but by a small number of People but this Divine Spirit is like a large River that swells and runs over every where John 7. This Holy Spirit is not only with us but also within us He is poured out into our Hearts He Seals us for the day of Redemption He is the earnest of our Inheritance until the full consummation of the Glory reserved for us in Heaven Therefore when this merciful Saviour saw his Apostles afflicted in an extraordinary manner for his Leaving of the World he speaks to them in this Language Because I have said these things unto you Sorrow hath filled your Hearts Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you But if I depart I will send him unto you John 16. When St. Paul took his last farewel of the Elders and People of the Church of Ephesus they wept bitterly being grieved to the Heart because he had said That none of them should see his face any more But to comfort them he assures them that in Heaven they had a Father and a Protector and such a Shepherd as would never forsake them I commend you said he To God and to the word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified Act. 20. Remember therefore O Man of God seriously to consider all these things If the Lord who hath called thee to the Sacred Function of the Ministry continues thee in the world labor with courage and diligence in thine Holy employment Be not tired in the service of this good Master and merciful Saviour fight the good fight of the Faith endure patiently all manner of Labors as a good Soldier of Jesus Christ be as earnest and as careful for the Lord's Sheep as Jacob was for those of Laban Here what he professed of himself In the day the drought consumed me and the frost by night and my sleep departed from mine eyes Gen. 20. Jacob endured patiently these grievous pains and labor and the time of his service seem'd to him to be but of a few days because of the love that he did bear unto Rachel Likewise thou wilt joyfully endure the troubles of thine Office digest with patience all the inconveniencies if thou dost sincerely love the Lord Jesus and his Heavenly Spouse If thou dost esteem the salvation of Souls for whom Jesus Christ hath suffered death if thou hast well understood the Excellency of thine Heavenly Reward and the Glory prepared for thee when thou shalt have finished the time of thy painful and difficult service and of thy mortal Race for they who bring many to Righteousness shall shine as the Stars for ever and ever Dan. 12. Jacob had to do with a deceitful and unfaithful man But God is not as Man that he should Lye or as the Son of Man that he should Repent Gen. 23. Be thou faithful until Death and he will give thee the Crown of Life Revel 2. If it is the Lord's pleasure to lessen thy task so that instead of employing thee in his Vineyard he intends to take thee up into his Kingdom to drink there of his new Wine if at the time that thou thinkest of sowing with Tears thou art transported to the place where thou mayest reap with Songs of Triumph If in lieu of the opposition which thou must suffer from sinners God will grant to thee his Eternal Consolations and receive thee into the harmonious Societies of the Church Triumphant adore his Goodness and his infinite Mercy cast thy self into his hands and resolve chearfully to will what is pleasing to him if during thine abode in this Valley of Tears God hath given thee a livelyhood and if thou hast found in him thy joy thy satisfaction and thy greatest comfort Death will be thy greatest advantage thou shalt find in thy Saviour thy Rest thy Glory and Eternal Delights Phil. 1. Meditate often upon the words of the Holy Apostle St. Peter The Elders which are among you I exhort who am also an Elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the Glory that shall be revealed feed the Flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready mind neither as being Lords over God's Heritage but being ensamples to the Flock and when the chief Shepheard shall appear ye shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5. You also who are afraid to leave behind you a desolate afflicted and comfortless Widow Come and learn this Lesson to relye upon the goodness and tender compassions of the Father of Mercies who never fails to comfort the forlorne in all their afflictions and who is always near to them that call upon him in their distresses 2 Cor. 1. Psal 145. He bears so much favor to the Widows that he calls himself The Judge of the Widows Psal 68. that is the Protector of their integrity and right and severe revenger of the wrongs that they suffer Therefore God tells us in express words That he maintains the Widow and establisheth her Borders Prov. 15. Seeing Job was so merciful as to cause the Widows Heart to sing Job 28. How much more may we expect from God's goodness he will doubtless fill her with his Heavenly joys and the ravishing comforts of his Holy Spirit I mean not the foolish Widows that seek for nothing but pleasure worldly diversion and carnal pastimes who live in the delights of the Age and who are dead whilst they live But I mean the wise Widows who being left alone by their Husbands death have their confidence and trust in God continuing in Prayer day and night Our great God and merciful Lord hath not only said in general that he is the Judge the Protector and Comforter of the Widow But he hath vouchsafed unto some his most signal Favors and extraordinary Blessings In the Reign of Abab while a cruel Famine overspread the Land God sent the Prophet Elijah to a poor Widow of Sarephtah who was preparing her self and her Son to dye as soon as they had eaten a little remnant of Meal and Oil that was left but the Holy Prophet comforted her in this manner Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel the barrel of Meal shall not waste neither shall the cruse of Oil fail until the day that the Lord sendeth Rain upon the Earth 1 King 5. Many Widows have been comforted in such a miraculous manner for God hath so ordered it that their provisions have not failed although it may
Abraham found a Lamb intangled in a Bush Likewise in the midst of the sharpest storms of affliction and in the most intricate difficulties that you dread you shall find unexpected sweetness and comforts And as several colours of the beautiful Rainbow appear upon the Cloud whence proceeds the Storms and the Rain Likewise thus in the greatest afflictions God will give you some testimonies of his fatherly care and of his Divine love The assurance that you shall repose in God shall never be confounded for the love of God is spread in your hearts by the Holy Spirit that he hath given you The hotter the fire of affliction shall be the greater and the more miracles it shall bring forth The higher the waters of your Floud shall rise the nearer they will approach your Souls good and the nearer you will draw to Heaven the place of your Souls birth Comfort therefore your selves my dear Children and assure your selves that by the favourable assistance of God's Grace and Mercy we shall see one another again speedily I shall not return to you but you shall come to me for I am going to that large and magnificent Dwelling whither our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is gone before to prepare a place for us and where he will embrace us all I am going up to my Father and your Father to my God and to your God A Prayer and Meditation for a King and a Soveraign Prince who prepares for death by reposing himself upon God's providence O King of Kings and Lord of Lords who hast been Graciously pleased out of thine especial goodness to make me a living Image of thine Almighty Power and a visible expression of thine Heavenly Glory suffer me not to be lifted up in pride by that Power and Majesty with which thou hast cloathed me That I may not imitate that vain glorious and prophane Monarch who discovered his impious mind in these terms Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the House of the Kingdom by the might of my power and for the honour of my Majesty But give me Grace to adore the Scepter of him who hath established me to humble my self before the Throne of thine universal Empire I have so much the more reason thus to abase my self because I am to appear before thy great Tribunal not only as a man to answer for my actions but also as a Prince I must there appear to give up an account of my publick Stewardship and of so many thousand Souls committed to my care If at any time the splendor and glory of my Crown dazle my Eyes and delude my fancy or if fond flatterers sing at my ears A voice of God and not of Man O let me then remember the frailty of my corruptible Nature I am born as other Men and subject to the same passions and the same infirmities Death will have no more regard for me than for the vilest of my subjects it will not treat me with more civility than them It will enter as boldly into my Palace as into the Huts of my meanest Soldiers and into the Cabans of the most contemptible Shepheards It will break my Scepter in pieces as easily as the Beggars staff and trample upon the Flowers and Jewels of my Crown in the same manner as upon the grass of the field My Life as that of my Slaves and Vassals is but the breath of my Nostrils a wind that vanisheth away a shadow that will quickly disappear O God of all flesh whilst thou continuest unto me my life here below Command in my Heart and amongst my affections Govern me by thine excellent Wisdom and by thy Royal and Divine Spirit Seeing that by thee Kings Reign and Princes do Justice give me Grace to lift up mine Eyes always unto thee and to employ all the Power and Authority which I have received from thee to thy Honor and Glory and to the advance of thine Heavenly Kingdom that I may look upon my Subjects as thy Creatures formed after thine own Image and as thy Children redeemed with the Bloud of thine only Son if thou hast been pleased to put a differance between them and me O that I may also consider that there is a more vast difference between me Dust and Ashes a Worm of this vile Earth me a nothing and less than nothing and thine Eternal Being O great and living God! whose Power is infinite when thou art pleased to send these Orders to the richest and to the most powerful Monarchs Sons of men return at the same instant they are not able to make resistance but they must needs return to Dust and with them all their contrivances all their high and glorious purposes vanish away O Soveraign Monarch of the World when thou shalt forewarn me by any of thy Servants or signify unto me by any other means that thy pleasure is to take me from my Throne to remove me from my Principality and to separate me from my self instead of troubling and afflicting my Soul as an Heathen Prince give me grace to shew a noble constancy and a Christian resignation to thine Holy and Divine pleasure If thou dost with one hand write the Sentence of my Death I know that thou wilt signe with the other the irrevocable Decree for me to go and take possession of a life infinitely happy Alas great God what are all these Territories that I must leave in comparison of the Celestial Inheritance which thou hast prepared for me from the Creation of the World for all the Earth if compared with the Heavens is but a point and what are all the inferior Crowns that fade away and fall to the ground in comparison of the uncorruptible Crown of Glory that waits for my coming at the end of my mortal Race O how willingly shall I cast off this Purple this Royal Attire to put on the precious Robes of Light and Immortality reserved for me in thine Heavenly Paradise How joyfully shall I put down this Scepter to take into my hands the flourishing Branches of Palms that I see in the possession of thy triumphing Saints O Almighty King of Kings thou hast entrusted me with the Governance of this Kingdom and Principality I return it willingly into thy Divine hands Thou hast subdued my people under me and taken me out of many Waters thou hast justified my Right to these Crowns by a gracious and a miraculous Restauration ☞ O let me never forget thine infinite goodness so visibly declared to me and my people How innumerable are thy Mercies O Lord Let therefore the former experience that I have had of thy goodness encourage me to cast willingly my Self my Life my Crown and my Kingdoms into thy Divine hands And while I yet remain amongst the living give me Grace O good and merciful Saviour to wean my self from the world and worldly pleasures Give me a hearty distaste of all unsatisfying delights of the Body and a true relish of the immortal
Strength and Vertue of thy Holy Spirit that I may resist all my spiritual Enemies and obtain a Glorious Victory Give me Grace to overcome Sin the World and my Self all my Passions and wicked Lusts that I may see Hell confounded and Satan crush'd under my feet Lastly Give me strength to fight with courage against Death and to overcome it O great and living God! it is not necessary that any should remember me that I am Mortal because Death is to be seen every day before me I walk continually upon its Footsteps if it gives me an assault in the midst of my Prosperities and in the first increase of my Glory I shall then go to obtain a more happy and magnificent Victory than these earthly ones for it is far more Honourable to conquer Death and triumph over Hell than to be a Conqueror of thousands of Mortal Men. And if this cruel death carries me away in a time that my Life and Services are so useful to my Prince and Countrey Let me learn to rest upon thy wonderful Providence that cannot want Captains and Soldiers Thou wilt raise up after me more happy and victorious Commanders but I shall enter into thy Heavenly Rest and Peace that reigns in thy Kingdom Lord Jesus I shall gather the fruits of a blessed immortality which have been purchased by thy wonderful Victories and by thy glorious sufferings and I shall share in the joy of thine Eternal Triumphs Let this death therefore come when it pleaseth I shall be ready to say to it as St. Paul I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Judge or Magistrate O Glorious Judge of Mankind who first honoured me with this noble employment and put into my hands the sword of Justice Let me always remember that I am not called to this noble Office by Man alone but by thee who lifts up and pulâ—s down who raiseth the poor out of the Dust to make him sit with the Mighty Enlighten my understanding with thy Divine Knowledge and strengthen me with that Spirit which thou gavest to Moses and to his Judges in Israel Give me grace to do the duties of my Office faithfully and to be an uncorruptible Judge Let my Ears be always open to hear the cries of the afflicted but shut to all unjust suggestions so that the wind of unlawful favor may never be admitted Let me without any respect of persons render unto every one what is his right and that nothing may hinder me from condemning the guilty and justifying the innocent Let it never happen to me to follow my passions or the Lust of others but let me be a faithful interpreter of thy Holy Laws and Commands At every time that I sit to judge thy people let me remember that thou art amongst the Judges and seest their most secret thoughts Let me always consider that when I have done judging others I shall be judged my self and nothing shall be able to oppose the Decrees of thine infinite wisdom If at any time the considerations of Flesh and Bloud tempt me to evil let me recal to mind my approaching Death that I may be bridled with an Holy Dread let me consider that it warns me already to appear in person before thy Tribunal where I must give up an account not only of my Words and of my Actions but of my most secret Thoughts and of the most plausible Acts of Judicature O Lord thou hast Eyes to see into the very depths an Ear to listen to the whisperings of the Heart and a powerful Hand to find out the Guilty When I think upon that Glorious Throne upon which whole Legions of Executioners of thy Justice do continually attend I should tremble for fear were it not that the Judge is my Advocate and Redeemer and that he is ascended up into Heaven there to intercede and prepare for me a place O let me therefore willingly quit these vain Honors of the World that pass away on a suddain Seeing that thou preparest for me above a Dignity far more Excellent Eternal and Vnchangeable Let me cast off without murmuring this Robe where Worms do breed and so many cares that consume my Heart Let my Soul put on with transports of joy the Heavenly Garments of Light and Glory that will render it Eternally happy Let me go down from this Seat of Judicature without grief seeing that the Lord Jesus promiseth to every one that overcometh that he will make them to sit with him upon his Throne When I am gone from hence thou wilt raise up wise and uncorruptible Judges that shall judge thy People according to Justice and Equity In the mean while I shall enjoy the sweet and comfortable effects of thine Eternal Mercy which thou hast discover'd in thine only Son who hath been made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Minister of the Gospel who beholds Death with Joy and Comfort OVniversal Shepheard and Bishop of our Souls I cannot sufficiently acknowledge and admire the Graces and Mercies which thou hast bestowed upon me thou hast called me to an Office in which the Angels of Heaven esteem it an Honor for themselves to be employed and in which thou thy self hast been diligent during the days of thy Flesh Thou hast been pleased to make me one of the Ministers of thy People and to commit to my trust that which thou dost cherish as the dearest and most precious thing of the World namely thy Church for which thou hast expressed so much love as to give thy self for it and to redeem it with thy precious Bloud But alas my Lord and my God who is sufficient for these things The employment is heavy and painful and I am weak and feeble The World hates and persecutes us most vehemently and the Devil like a roaring Lion walks continually about us to seek to devour the Shepheard with his Flock In thine own Inheritance I am forced to swallow many bitter Fruits and drink Waters of affliction I find more Briers and Thorns than Flowers and Roses They that should encourage me in the midst of so many Labors do often weaken my Hands and afflict my Heart that which should cause my great'st joy and fill my Soul with the sweetest Comforts is the occasion of my deepest sorrows and of my most violent grief Merciful Lord whilst thou art pleased to leave me in this mortal Life and in my Ministry accomplish thy Vertue in my weakness and do thou the work which thou hast enjoyn'd to me thy poor Servant Open the door wide to the Gospel of thy Grace that all people of the Earth may learn to serve and worship thee in Spirit and in Truth Defeat all the Counsels and all the strength that riseth up against
thee and bring all thoughts to thine obedience Let the World be confounded in all its purposes and let it never have the power to scare me by its threatenings or to corrupt me by its fair promises Let Satan once more fall from Heaven as a Lightning and let him be for ever shut up in the bottomless pit Shut up the mouths of all false Prophets and let thy Truth be victorious over Error that we may see the Congregations of thy true Catholick Church increase in number of persons that may worship thee with more Affection and Zeal or rather increase in them thy Grace and Heavenly Blessings O let me always consider that the Sheep that I am to feed belong not to me nor to any mortal Man but to thee Lord Jesus who hast created them by thine infinite power and redeemed them by thy wonderful Goodness Thou hast willingly offered thy self to the sufferings of a painful death that thou mightest deliver them from the Wolfs Paw and Claws of the infernal Lion Let me remember that I am shortly to appear before thy Glorious presence and to give thee an account of my Stewardship O Lord who knowest all things unto whom nothing is hid thou seest the very bottom of my Heart and spiest my most secret thoughts Thou knowest how faithfully and affectionately I have been employed in thy service I have led thy Sheep to the wholsome feeding of thy Heavenly Pastures I have led them to the Waters that burst forth unto Eternal Life my Conscience bears me witness before thee and thy Holy Angels that I have declared nothing neither by Word nor Writing but that which I firmly believe to be agreeable to the Oracles of the Prophets Apostles and Evangelists I have drawn out of the Sacred Treasuries of thy word things new and old for the beautifying of thy House and for the instruction of such as dwell there I have labour'd day and night in the hings that thou hast put into my heart for thy Glory for the advance of thy Kingdom and the comfort of thy Children In the important passages of my life I have not taken counsel from Flesh and Bloud but I have preferred the Honour of thy great Name and the Glory of thy Divine Truth to all Earthly advantages and to my particular interest I have despised all the Riches of this World and the Honors of the Age for the sake of the spiritual Treasuries and of that Heavenly Light which thou hast put into me as into an Earthly Vessel that all Glory may be ascribed to thee who art the Author of all good and of all perfect Gifts My most delicious Meat and my most pleasant Drink was to do thy Holy Will and to perfect thy Work I have taken a singular delight in declaring the wonderful Councils of thy Wisdom and discovering the Mysteries of thy Kingdom I have shared in the evils and sufferings of thy Members I have not been sparing of the comforts which thou hast furnished me in all my afflictions and temptations Thy Holy Law is in my Heart and thy Gospel is there engraven with the finger of thy Blessed Spirit Thou hast kindled in me an earnest desire of saving Souls and bringing them to Righteousness O Lord who searchest into the bottom of the most secret Hearts Thou knowest that I may say with the Holy Prophet The zeal of thine House hath caten me up Or with the Apostle The care of thy Church cometh upon me daily But for all this I pretend not to be justified in thy presence I am so far from resting upon mine own Righteousness and of being puft up with the opinion of my deservings that I confess my self a poor and a miserable sinner therefore with my whole Heart I desire the forgiveness of my great imperfections and miscarriages which I have been guilty of in thy service I have not been enflam'd with a Charity pure enough nor with a disinteressed Zeal I have been sometimes too indulgent and sometimes too severe in the reprehension of Vice and I have not been as I ought the Director of my Floâ—k in all manner of good Works the love of my self hath crept in with that affection that I owe to thee alone and I have have not served thee only for thy sake and for thy Divine perfections but also for the expectation of the Rewards which thou hast promised to thy faithful Servants when thou shalt render unto every one according to his Works I have been too sensible of the wrongs done to mine own Person and especially when I have seen my best deeds misinterpreted and my most charitable cares requited with ingratitude I have not always possâ—ssed my Soul with patience and I have not had that Meekness Love and Humility which thou Divine Jesus hast recommended to me by thine example on Earth O Lord if thou should est treat me according to the exacâ—ness of thy justice and require at my hands the Souls that are perished by my negligence or evil example I should be cover'd with shame and confusion and I should soon be cast with the unprofitable Servant into the Eternal Torments of Hell where are weeping and gnashing of Teeth But O Merciful Lord thou art goodness it self Love and the very being of Charity Thou acceptest the Will for the Deed and the Vndertaking for the Performance and thou hast thy Arms always wide open to receive thy poor Servants that weep for their mistakes and that humbly prostrate themselves before thee to implore thy Mercy and Forgiveness O Divine Saviour Thou art rich in Goodness and ready to cause thy Glorious Countenance to shine upon such as call upon thee to their unspeakable joy and comfort and upon such as draw near to thee by a true and serious Repentance Therefore I pour forth my Soul before thee and acknowledge that thou hast heard me and accepted the contrition of my heart and heard the voice of my Tears Thou strengthenest my Faith raisest my Hopes and fillest my Soul with refreshing and excellent considerations of thy Love Thou causest me to tast the Salvation which thou often preachest to others I feel thy Gracious Hand drawing me to thyself I see that thou openest to me the Gate of Paradise unto which I have had so many good and Holy Souls that rest now in the enjoyment of thy Glory Thou causest me to have the confidence of saying with the Holy Apostle I know that God will show Mercy unto me and receive me into his Heavenly Kingdom O Good and Merciful Lord I feel my Body consuming away and my strength decaying but thou art the Rock of my Heart and my portion for ever I see death coming apace to me but instead of afflicting and frighting me it comforts and rejoyceth my Heart for it comes to put an end to this miserable life that is no better than a languishing kind of death it comes to take me from my continued labors and loose me from my greivous and
the beloved of the Father Heb. 5. yet he learned obedience by the things that he suffered God hath predestinated thee to render thee conformable to the image of his Son that he might be the first-born amongst many Brethren God intends to strengthen thee with an Holy constancy and to teach thee to possess thy Soul with patience Luk 21. He causeth thee therefore to learn by experience that all Flesh is as Grass and all the Glory of Man as the flower of Grass He intends to teach thee how to humble thy self under his mighty hand that he may lift thee up in due time 1 Pet. 5. When God purposed to bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt Ex. 21.5 He caused the yoak of their grievous bondage to be more heavy and loded them with more unsufferable burdens For the same reason God sends afflictions and gluts us with bitterness because he would bring us to a loathing of the World and of its Vanities and to think upon Heaven and its Eternal Happiness 1 Cor. 11. He chastiseth thee that thou mayest not perish with the World He punisheth thy Body that thy Soul might be saved As the Gold is tried in the Fire thus the Lord casts us into the flames of affliction that our Faith might be tried and appear more precious than fine Gold 1 Cor. 5. We Glory in God in the midst of Tribulations knowing that Tribulation produceth Patience Patience Experience and Experience Hope 1 Pet. 1. Now Faith doth not make us ashamed because the love of God is spread in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which hath been given to us God will kindle again thy languishing Zeal and enliven thy Prayers that they may be more acceptable to him Tell me not that thy distemper is an heavy burden that hinders thy Soul from lifting it self towards Heaven and that thy grievous Aches dry up the Humidity of thy Tongue and cause thy Lips to stick together for I mean not the Prayers composed by Art but the Holy Affections and earnest Sighs of the Soul sent up to God A groan of an oppressed Soul and a Sigh forced from us by necessity and a Tear dropt from a penitent Heart are far more acceptable to him than Prayers of Forty hours that come forth of an hypocritical Mouth When the Prophet Moses saw himself inclosed between Pharaoh's Army and the Red Sea he was so grievously perplexed that he could not open his mouth but God heard the voice of his Heart and answered to his silent Request King Hezekiah muttered as the Crane or as the Swallow and groaned as the Pidgeon and God had a respect to his groaning and tears and heard him from his Holy Sanctuary The sighs of Jonas in the Whales Belly mounted up through the waves of the Sea and ascended to the sacred Habitation of God's Glory The Cries of Jesus dying upon the Cross have pierced through to the bosom of our Heavenly Father and have moved the Bowels of his Eternal Mercies In short God speaks thus of all his Children Before they cry I will grant them their request and as they shall yet speak I shall have heard them Therefore the Royal Prophet saith not only That God hath heard the Prayers but hath heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their Heart thou wilt cause thine Ear to hear For that reason when the Apostle St. Paul make mention of that Spirit that supports our weaknesses and that teacheth us to pray saith That he crieth in our hearts Abba Father and that he maketh request for us with sighs and groans that cannot be uttered Rom. 8. Take good courage my Brother or my Sister and be not frighted at the sight of Death Thou seest a narrow passage a way all beset with Thorns and Bryars but it is Heavens Gate and the way that leads to thine Heavenly Paradise For we must of necessity march through a Valley of Tears before we can enter into the City of the living God Psal 84. We must pass through many tribulations to come to the Kingdom of Heaven Acts 14. Blessed are they whom God afflicts for they shall be comforted Matth. 5. Blessed is the man that suffereth temptation for when he shall be sufficiently proved he shall receive the Crown of Life which God hath promised to them that love him Jam. 1. The Lord sends thee this affliction and this grievous temptation not only for thine own good and Salvation but also for the benefit of others by his wonderful Wisdom he preserves the communion of Saints and so disposeth of every one that we all contribute to the building of his Tabernacle Upon one he bestows Riches that he should be bountiful in Alms-deeds to another he gives Learning that he might instruct the ignorant and comfort the afflicted he raiseth others to great Honors and Dignities that they might be able to protect the innocent and deliver the oppressed others are afflicted with desperate evils and grievous and long diseases others are deprived of their most needful senses as of their Eye-sight or of their Hearing that they might edify their neighbors by an Holy Constancy and Christian Patience The Ashes of poor Joh have more luster than all the Gold and the precious Stones of the World It is many Ages since he endured greivous and dreadful calamities Nevertheless his patience is yet proposed to us for our example and to the end of the world it will always instruct the Church of God God teacheth thee by the evils which thou endurest to be moved with mercy and compassion towards others in the same condition for as he required that the Children of Israel should be gracious to strangers because they had been strangers in the Land of Egypt Likewise he sends to thee afflictions that thou mightest pity the afflicted and suffer with them as Members of the same Mystical Body This appears in Jesus Christ our Head for although the chief end of his sufferings was to redeem us and reconcile us unto God his Father nevertheless the Holy Ghost informs us That he was like unto us in all things Sin excepted that he might be a merciful High Priest and have compassion of our infirmities Finally the affliction that grieves thee is not only sent to thee for thy Salvation and for the instruction of thy neighbors but also for the Glory of the Great and living God who hath made and formed thee for we may say of every disease that happens to good Men as Christ said of Lazarus's distemper This sickness is not to death but for the Glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified by it Thou mayest be severe to thy self but thou must be charitable to others and judge discreetly of thy Brethren's affliction when thou art in pain or trouble think seriously upon thy miscarriages and turn unto God with all thy heart But when thou seest others cast upon a bed of sickness don't argue from thence as David's Enemies that it is
which are not seen for the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal 2 Cor. 4. The chief Spring of all our Comforts is God's Gracious promise of seasonable help in time of need Imprint therefore in your minds these Divine passages When he that loveth me shall call upon me I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honor him Psal 91. The Lord delivers from all temptations them that honor him he is rich unto all that pray unto him 2 Pet. 2. He is near to all them that call upon him yea to all them that call upon him faithfully Rom. 10. He accomplisheth the desire of the humble he hears their cry Psal 145. The Righteous is encompassed with many evils but the Lord will deliver him from them all Psal 34. Call upon me in the day of thy distress and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me Psal 50. When a poor Subject is courted and visited by his Prince in the time of his sickness he looks upon it as a great favour and an happiness indeed And when we enjoy the presence of a dear friend whom we desired to see in the midst of our most grievous pains we are wont to say Methinks I feel no more pain now that I have the satisfaction of your good company Now the Glory of God's Majesty doth accompany the tenderness of his Love He is the Father of Mercies and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our afflictions He is like that faithful friend who never forsakes us for in our greatest calamities he succors us Prov. 18. He is the King of Kings and yet our most cordial and sincere friend who frequently visits the Houses of sorrow and is near to every broken and bruised Heart Psal 34. The more we are oppressed with evil the more he remembers us Psal 136. Notwithstanding our Childrens imperfections and miscarriages we cannot suffer to see them in distress but we are moved with compassion and perswaded to help them according to our ability and shall thy God who loves thee more sincerely and more cordially than the best Fathers and the most tender-hearted Mothers do their Children forsake thee in the day of thy distress This Merciful and loving Father who hath taken thee into his protection when thou didst enter into the World and who since hath furnished plentifully all thy necessities shall he deny his Gracious assistance now in the time of thy calamity He who hath fulfilled his praise by thy mouth when thou didst yet suck at thy Mothers Breasts who hath crowned thy youthful days with his Divine Blessings will not forsake thee now in thine old age he will not cast thee off in the last moments of thy life when thy strength is decayed and thou art scarce able to help thy self When we offer any assistance to our sick or wounded friends we labor to lessen their pain we employ all our skill and discover our most excellent Secrets at least we endeavour to make them sensible of our displeasure and grief for their distemper by our Sighs and Tears and by all good Offices their complaints and outcries are Darts that strike to our very hearts Likewise our merciful God is sensible of our calamities when he sees us oppressed with grievous pains his Bowels earn his Heart is as it were moved and his tender Love for us is concerned In all our afflictions he is afflicted and whosoever toucheth us toucheth the very Apple of his Eye Hosea 1. Isai 63. He is said to weep and grieve at the torments that we feel and to be sensible of our infirmities Luk 2. He binds up our wounds and poures into them his Divine balm he cures the diseased Heart and causeth the bruised Bones to rejoyce Job 5. He casteth into our beds of Sickness his most excellent Perfumes and drives from thence all grief and displeasure when a pestilentious Feavor hath seized upon you this Heavenly Physitian can give you some Carduus Waters powerful Antidotes to keep the poison from the Heart Jer. 30. Psal 147. Psal 51. Psal 34. Cant. 1. His Gracious Hand can drive from thy Soul the venom with which the old Serpent labors to infect it He will in thy need clap upon thy Head thy Stomach or rather to thine Heart not a bleeding Pidgeon but the living and cherishing Vertue of his Holy Spirit only discover to him the afflicted and diseased part or member of thy Soul or Body and he shall anoint it with the Oil of Joy and Gladness that shall run down into thy Joynts and Marrow If thou feelest thy self weak or fainting say to him as the Spouse in the Canticles Comfort my Heart with wine Chap. 2. and he will not fail to present unto thee of the new Wine of his Kingdom If thou art thirsty ask him some drink and he will give thee of that Water which if a man drink he shall never be athirst My Brother or My Sister cast thy self upon God for his Power is as great as his Love to thee he understands better than thou or we can what is expedient and good for thee in his due time he will make thy pains to cease and will pull out of thy Flesh its incomodious Thorn either he will drive from thee the Spirit that afflicts thee or accomplish his Vertue in thine Infirmity He will strengthen thee in such a manner and with such Patience Constancy and Faith and fill thee with so much extraordinary joy and comfort that every one shall visibly perceive that God himself is thy help and that his Vertue sustains thee O how sweet and pleasant is God's assistance to a Christian Soul it brings along with it so much pleasure and admirable delight it causeth such undeniable testimonies of our Predestination to appear it gives us so many rare fore-tasts of our Celestial Inheritance that St. Paul doth not only prefer it to all the Pleasures and Honors of the World but he prefers it also to his being ravish'd into the third Heaven and to his seeing unspeakable things which cannot be uttered 1 Cor. 12. If Afflictions are increas'd with Christ Joy and Comfort increase also with him for as God commands Wine to be given to a Man whose Heart is oppressed with sorrow to drive away his sadness and bury his troubled thoughts in oblivion Thus in the greatest evils God supplieth us with the strongest and most cordial Consolations It is in this occasion that he declares his greatest Power and pours out most plentifully his Divine Graces Is 4. When thou shouldest walk through the Flames the Fire shall not burn nor touch thee for as the Son of God was in the Furnace with Daniels three Companions in Babylon Thus in thy most violent fits of the Feaver in the midst of thy most grievous aches he will satiate thy Soul and thou shalt be like a watered Garden Dan. 5. Or as a living
Spring of Comfort that can never be stopt nor dried up Let the Storms and Flouds beat against thee Let the defluxions endeavour to check thee Is 58. thou mayest say with King David I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Psal 16. When I should walk in the valley of the shadow of Death when I should have no other help nor assistance in the World when there should be no more strength remain in my Body I would not fear for O God thy staff and thy Rod will comfort me Is 26. God will not only draw near to thy bed of Sickness but he will embrace and receive thee into his protection he will kiss thee with the kisses of his mouth and make thee taste of the sweetness of his Divine Comforts Cant. 1. He will cherish thee as a Mother doth her Child to pacify it and make thee so sensible of his Love that thou mayest say with the Spouse his left hand is under my head and his right doth embrace me With his Gracious Hand he will wipe off thy cold sweat and into his bosom he will receive thy sighs thy groans and thy tears he will gather up into his most precious bottles And as it happened when our Lord and Saviour was in his Agony when drops of Bloud fell from him the Holy Angels appeared to comfort him Luk 22. Likewise in our greatest and most difficult encounters when thou shalt be at handy-blows with death it self his faithful Ministers hâ—s Messengers the Angels of his right hand shall visit thee to supply thee with spiritual Comforts 2 Cor. 5. Revel 5. And when these earthly Comforters shall fail he will send to thee some of those powerful Spirits that wait before his Glorious Throne Dan. 7. O good God if we could but perceive the things that are of themselves invisible and if thou didst but give us eyes like unto those of the Holy Prophet we should behold Legions of immortal Spirits flying about in the houses of Sorrow with an intent to comfort the Christian Souls Is 6. 2 King 6. Finally as the Sun with its Light and the strength of its Beams drives away the thickest Clouds and comforts with its delightful countenance the face of the whole Earth Thus Jesus Christ the Sun of Righteousness that carries healing under his wings banisheth all sadness with the light of his Divine Graces Mal. 3. and with the presence of his Holy Spirit he drives away the most sensible griefs and fills us with unspeakable joy and with the Peace of God which passeth all understanding A Prayer and Meditation for a sick Person who desires to prepare for Death O Almighty and Gracious God! who hast created both light and darkness and who dost by the wisdom of thy Providence bestow good and evil things upon us I acknowledge that thine Hand hath cast me upon this bed of sickness and that this disease proceeds not so much from the disorder of my Body 〈◊〉 from the corruption and extravagancy of my Soul far be it from me to complain of thy justice I adore thy Goodness and Wisdom O Lord how favourable are thy punishments if compared with my deservings I have miserably abused thy former Mercies mispent that time of health that I received from thee in whom we live move and have our Being I confess that I have loved the vanities of the World and the satisfaction of this wretched Flesh more than the Glory of thy great Name 〈◊〉 the Salvation of my Soul therefore I could willingly water this Couch with my Tears O God who understandest all things thou knowest that my weeping proceeds not from any fretful humour but out of a sincere displeasure of having offended so good a Father and merciful Lord In thâ—â— thy chastisement I feel the workings of thy tender compassion and I perceive thy most wonderful Love I see thâ— thou dost not rebuke me in thy wrath nor dost not correâ— me in thy fury Thou dost not punish me as a Judge bâ— dost chastise me as a Father so that this disease is a tesâ—â—mony of thy Love and of thy Fatherly care of me 〈◊〉 thou dost correct all them whom thou lovest and causest tâ—â—â—â— to feel the smart of thy Rod whom thou ownest for 〈◊〉 Children therefore if we were without reproof wh◠〈◊〉 all are partakers we should be no longer Children but bastards If this chastisement is at present grievous and painful one day it will produce the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness and as at the end of Jonathan 's Rod he tasted Honey that comforted him and opened his Eyes Likewise when I shall have felt the Rods of thy displeasure I shall taste the sweet comforts and unspeakable joys of thine Holy Spirit and my understanding shall be more enlightened O Almighty and ever wise God who drawest Light out of Darkness and causest that all things work together for good to them â—hat love thee it matters not how thou orderest this disease so that it may advance thy Glory and further my Salvation Thou beholdest mine affliction and poverty and thou knowest better than I can what is good and expedient for me O great God I know that thou canst do all things and that thou givest the wound and bindest it up thou strikest and thy hands must heal thou castest into the Grave and bringest up again The most desperate and irrecoverable diseases thou canst cure the dead thou canst bring to life again and call the things that are not as if they were O Almighty Physitian thou canst not only vouchsafe thy Blessing to these Remedies prescribed and administred to me but if thou speakest the word I shall be perfectly whole and well again But if thou judgest expedient to continue this disease upon me continue O merciful Lord unto me and increase thy Fatherly assistances and the comforts of thine Holy Spirit Strengthen me with a Christian patience and with a resolution worthy of my hâ—nourable Profession seeing that thou art the Soveraign Physitian both of Soul and Body I beseech thee my God if thou dost not remove the distemper of my Body at least pluck out of my Heart and mind all the grief and displeasure that torments me Fill my Soul with thy Peace Joy Love and Heavenly Comforts while my Body languisheth upon this Earth and while I am kept from my former societies of Men. Let my mind be lifted up to Heaven Let my Soul delight it self in a familiarity with thee I have lost too much time already about the affairs of the World that is nothing but vanity and vexation of Spirit Give me Grace to employ now these few moments of leasure which thou dost grant to me to think seriously upon my sins to beg thy pardon with an earnest Repentance Give me Grace to meditate upon thine unspeakable and eternal Mercy to embrace it with a true and lively Faith upon thy Glory and the Happiness of thy Kingdom
O Heavenly Father not my Will but thy Will be done Pluck this Thorn out of my Flesh or vouchsafe unto me sufficient strength to endure its deadly wounds with patience O good God thou knowest that my Spirit is willing but my Flesh is weak and that my misery is heavier than the Sand of the Sea-shore but thou that quickenest the dead wilt accomplish thy Vertue in mine Infirmities Therefore instead of speaking in Cain's Language My punishment is greater than I can bear I will say with St. Paul I can do all things in Christ that strengthens me O Lord punish me not in thy wrath nor correct me in thy heavy displeasure but chastise me in reason that I may not be reduced to nothing When thou didst wrestle with Jacob thou tookest upon thee an Humane Body and didst strengthen thy Servant by the vertue of thy Divine Spirit O Merciful and Graciouus God let thy punishments be proportionable to my great weaknesses suffer not any temptation to seize upon me but only Humane and give me with the temptation an happy issue that I may support it that neither Death nor Life nor Pain nor Torment may ever separate me from thy Love or pluck me out of thine Hand Good Lord forsake me not that I may never forsake thee but enable me with Strength Patience and Constancy to bear my burden and make me more than Conqueror by Jesus Christ our Lord. Merciful God pity thy servant or rather thine adopted Child Awaken thy jealousie and let thy Bowels that are hardened against me move thee to compassion Strengthen me in this encounter with the assistance of the good Angels that comforted thine only Son in the night of his most bitter affliction cause this black night of my Sorrows to pass speedily away or rather in the midst of these dark shadows cause me to see the ravishing beams of thy Mercy Heal my grievous wounds or else pour into them the refreshing Balm of thy most tender and Divine Consolations my Heart and my Flesh fail and faint away but look upon me with a Gracious Eye and receive me into the embraces of thine Eternal Mercy Declare I beseech thee how sensible thou art of my affliction by a present relief receive my Sweat and Tears and put them into thy Bottles O good God thou seest that I am fainting and that my Soul is weary within me comfort me therefore with thy Cordials and with thy most Divine refreshments Give me to drink of the Wine of thy most effectual Consolations that may restore unto me my spirits apply the right hand of thy Mercy that it may strengthen my Soul and drive from thence all poison and infection Let thine Holy Spirit the Spiritual Dove light upon me to bring joy unto me O living God thou seest that I dye but give me some of that living Water whereof if a man drink he shall live Eternally my Friends are grieved with me and weep for my bitter affliction but can give me no assistance but thine only look would be able to deliver me O my God either pull me out of this Sea of Trouble into which thou hast cast me or cause me to pass through these waves to the Inheritance prepared for me from the foundation of the World Quench these violent Flames that burn and consume me or let them serve as fiery Chariots to carry me in triumph to Heaven O how mad and senseless should I be if I did fear Death seeing that it will put an end to my torments it will break in pieces my grievous Chains it will wipe away all Tears from mine Eyes and banish all grief from my Heart O my God when shall all my Cries my Sighs and Groans be changed into Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving when shall I see my self in the Glorious company of the Blessed who are come out of the great tribulation and who have wash'd and cleansed their Garments in the Bloud of the Lamb. Draw me and I shall run after thee and Glorify thee for ever in thine Heavenly Temple Amen CHAP. 14. The second Consolation against the fears of Death is to look upon God as a merciful Father and to trust upon his infinite Goodness THere is no Child well descended but desires earnestly to see his Fathers Face and especially the Face of a Good and Gracious Father A great Princes Son who hath been brought up in a Forreign Countrey rejoyceth at his own Happiness when his Father sends for him to make him partaker of the Glory and Dignity of his Empire he is not then grieved nor troubled he seeks not to delay his going but rather he embraceth with transports of joy the Messenger of such good news he thinks of nothing but of hasting his departure if he could borrow wings he would fly with an unspeakable swiftness to his Fathers Palace Now we are the Children of the Great God whose Throne is Heaven and whose Footstool is the Earth for our Faith that looks upon Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer considers God as our God and Father for to them who have received this only Son of the Father hath been granted the priviledge of being the Sons of God to them who believe in his name 1 Job 1. So that we have just cause to be transported in an Holy Excess of Joy with the Apostle St. John Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God 1 Joh. 3. We were by nature Children of Wrath as others but God who is rich in Mercy hath predestinated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his Will Eph. 2. He gives us the Gracious assurances of this free adoption in this life for as we are Children he hath sent the Spirit of his Son in our Hearts to cry Abba Father Eph. 1. This Holy Spirit bears witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God If we be Children then Heirs of God and Co-heirs with Christ Gal. 4. Yea if we suffer with him that we may be also Glorified with him Rom. 8. That we might be the Children of God he hath not only adopted us by Jesus Christ but also regenerated us by uncorruptible Seed We are not born of Flesh and of Bloud but we are born of God His infinite Goodness perswaded him first to grant us a Being and his incomprehensible love hath moved him to reform our Beings and reprint his Divine Image in our Hearts John 1. 1 Pet. 1. He hath begotten us by his pure Grace by the word of his Truth that we might be the First Fruits of his Creatures Jam. 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us 1 Pet. 1.
Virgin My Soul doth magnify the Lord and my Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour Or with the Glorified Spirits of Heaven To him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his bloud be Glory and Strength for ever and ever Amen 24. Christian Souls if the vast number of your sins come into your remembrance consider that it is not said that the Bloud of Christ cleanseth us only from a certain number of sins but That if we confess our sins he is Faithful and Just that is True and Merciful to forgive us our sins and that the Bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sins Let them be never so numerous drown them all as so many hellish Monsters in the bloud of thy Saviour take hold of this Divine Jesus with the Arms of Faith and Repentance wrap your selves up in his Winding sheet repose your selves upon his Cross and rest secure in the shadow of his Almighty intercession 25. But if the grievousness of your crimes fright you take hold at the same time of the Horns of this mystical Altar and all the powers of Hell will not be able to pluck you thence Comfort thy self sinful Soul for there cannot be a spot so black nor so deep but the Bloud of Christ is able to wash it clean away There is no crime so grievous and horrid but the Sacrifice of this Lamb without spot that taketh away the fins of the world can make an atonement for it Let thy sins be never so great they have their limits but thy Redeemers Merits are without limits and the efficacy of his sufferings continues for ever To assure thee of this truth and to encourage thee he was pleased upon the Cross to discover the Riches of his Mercy upon a wretched Robber who suffered then the hands of Justice for his crimes assoon as he saw him moved with Repentance he changed his infamous and painful Cross into a Paradise of Glory and Happiness and filled his Soul with the sweetest Comforts of his Holy Spirit This merciful Redeemer is the same yesterday and to day and shall be the same for ever Therefore be never so foul and abominable a sinner if thou dost groan under the burden of thy sins and art moved with contrition Heb. 13. thou oughtest not to cast off thy hopes and to be discouraged draw near with humility to thy Saviours Cross and wash thy self in the Bloud that comes out of his veins All the diseased persons that entred into the pool of Bethesda were healed of all manner of distempers Joh. 5. Likewise all spiritual diseases are cured in this Divine Pool of all their griefs it is not necessary to stay till a good Angel from Heaven come to move the Waters for Christ's Bloud is always fresh living and of the same Vertue and Efficacy we need not fear that others should step down before us or that the throng should hinder us for a thousand worlds may be all healed at the same instant neither do ye pretend that there is no body to cast you into this mystical Pool for our Lord will never refuse to admit you when you shall have been Bedrid eight and thirty years as the poor man that was troubled with the Palsie and when you shall be nailed to a Cross as the good Thief you may nevertheless dip your selves into this Divine Pool and feel its saving and healing Vertue It doth not only wash away the filth and heal all thy diseases but it gives also life to the Dead and renders the living immortal Whosoever thou art that dippest thy self in this precious Bloud thou mayest say with the Apostle St. Paul This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners of whom I am the chief 1 Tim. 1. Howbeit I have obtained Mercy the Lord will deliver me from all wicked work and will preserve me to his Heavenly Kingdom to him be Glory for ever and ever Amen 1 Tim. 7. 26. You understand therefore very well believing Souls that you have no cause to fear Death seeing that all its Darts have been broken to pieces all its Armor hath been torn and that its spoils appear so visibly upon Christs Cross You may see the Claws of this old Lion the paw of this devouring Bear the Teeth and Poison of this infernal Serpent and the Head of this prodigious Dragon you may see death swallowed up into victory and the Prince of Life leading it in triumph follow then the Glorious Chariot of this noble Conqueror singing with the Apostle O death where is thy Victory O Grave where is thy Sting The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law but blessed be God who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15. 27. Therefore when God shall draw near to you covered with the vail of Death be not terrified seek not to run from him and to hide your selves from his all-seeing Eyes unto whom darkness is as the noon-day Gen. 3. Although you are by nature poor wretched blind and naked you have more substantial Garments than Fig leaves for you have the leaves of the Tree of Life that are designed for the salvation of the Gentiles Revel 22. The Leaves that shall never fade shall cover all your nakedness and adorn your immortal Souls for it is the Eternal Righteousness the most accomplished Righteousness of our Lord Jesus who hath been made unto us of God Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption Dan. 19. It is Jesus Christ himself who is named The Lord our Righteousness It is the precious Garment of Salvation the Glorious Cloak of Righteousness mentioned by the Prophet Is 61. It is the Wedding Garment whitened in the Bloud of the Lamb without spot and the fine and bright Linnen which are the Righteousness of the Saints Ezek. 16. In short it is a Garment which will not only cover and adorn you but it will also heal all your infirmities and make you become immortal Rev. 7. 28. If you come before your Heavenly Father with this perfumed cloathing of your Elder Brother Jesus Christ Gen. 27. or rather if you be cloathed with him as with a Garment Rom. 1. You shall not only obtain the best and most advantageous Blessing but you shall enter into the possession of the uncorruptible Inheritance prepared for you from the beginning of the World For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 6. A Prayer and Meditation for a Christian who strengthens himself against the fears of Death by meditating upon the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ O Merciful Saviour who hast cloathed thy self with our mortal Flesh that thou mightest offer it up as a Sacriffce to God succor me in my weakness and increase the Faith and Hope which thou hast begun in my Soul I see Death threatening to destroy me
instant be ready to say with all my heart I commend into thine hands my Spirit for thou hast redeemed it thou who art the strong and faithful God Amen CHAP. 16. The Fourth Consolation against the Fears of Death is to Meditate often upon our Lord Jesus Christ as he did lie in his Tomb. MAn doth naturally abhor and hate the sight of Graves some there are that cannot pass by a Church yard without expressing a distaste and secret displeasure not only such as make their abode in glorious Palaces and stately Dwellings but also such as reside in poor Huts or in pitiful Cabins such as are shut up in black Dungeons or exposed to the injury of the weather who have no other covering then the Sky can ever think upon Death without fear when they are to think that this Body must go into the Bowels of the Earth and lie down in a stinking and noisome Grave If ye will banish from your Minds this dangerous apprehension and these needless fears we must consider seriously with a religious application of our minds That we must never abhor the Earth because our Bodies have been made of Earth it hath been as it were the Mother that brings us forth We must also consider that it is the order of nature that all composed Bodies should return at their dissolution every part to its first principle therefore as the Soul mounts up to its first source and returns to God that gave it likewise it is no wonder if the Body returns to Dust because it proceeds from Dust and God hath pronounced a just Sentence in the earthly Paradise which shall never be revoked dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return Gen. 3. Nicodemus inquired of our Lord Jesus Christ How can a Man be born when he is old can he enter the second time into his Mothers Womb and be born John 3. This ridiculous and unprobable conceit is proved in a manner to be true in this occasion for we must enter again into the Womb of the Earth our common Mother that we might be Born again and pass into another Life It is not amiss to consider often the notable instances and excellent representations of our Death which St. Paul mentions in the 15 Chap. of the first Epistle to the Corinth for our Bodies are as the Seed which is cast into the Earth that it might bring forth O fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it dye It cannot flourish untill it rots The Students of Nature inform us that the generation of one thing is the corruption of another In this occasion we may say that the corruption and dissolution of this wretched Body is the means and way that leads to a more glorious Generation You that weep for the decease of your Friends and Kindred when you see them laid in their Graves remember what David saith They that sow in tears shall reap with songs of Joy Psalm 126. Consider that Death is the way of all flesh and the Grave is the last retreat which God hath appointed for all living so that if we be loath to enter into the Tomb we must desire Almighty God to grant us a Lodging by our selves to change the common course of nature or to create for us another World Now the Grave is not only the general Rendezvous of all Mankind but it is a Couch where they rest after this laborious and painful race therefore when the Prophet Isaiah speaks of the Death of good Men he saith They enter into peace they rest in their Beds Is 57. For when he looks to the blessed estate of their Souls he tells us that they are entred into that great and eternal Peace that raigns in Heaven but when he casts an eye upon their Bodies he saith that they rest in their Beds For this cause the places appointed to bury the Dead are named sleeping places by the Greeks to teach us that there they are fallen asleep in expectation of the great Morne when God shall send to awaken them with the sound of the Archangels Trumpet Therefore when Jacob was ready to give up the Ghost he commanded his Son Joseph not to bury him in Egypt that he might sleep with his Fathers Gen. 47. Likewise Job speaks in the same manner I shall sleep in the Dust of the Earth Job 7. And God held this Language unto Moses Thou art going to sleep with thy Fathers Deut. 31. and to David when thy days be fulfilled thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers 2 Sam. 7. And when the Prophet Daniel speaks of such as were deceased since the Creation of the World he saith They sleep in the dust of the Earth Dan. 12. Especially take notice Christian Souls that when God spoke to Moset from the midst of the burning bush he told him I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob Exod. 4. they had been dead many Ages before nevertheless God names himself their God Now God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living Mat. 22. Those holy Men were not Dead in regard of their Souls because they were Immortal and God had admitted them into Eternal Bliss Their Bodies also to speak properly were not Dead but slept in their Graves as our Sâ—viour said of Jairus's Daughter The Damsel is not Dead but Sleepeth Mat. 9. and of Lazarus Lazarus our friend Sleepeth John 11. Moreover we may justly â—â—y that the Estate of our Bodies in the Grave is better and more pleasant then our daily sleep for when we rest in our Beds we be often disturbed in our fancy we labour and sweat and the richest and most magnificent Couches are not free from this evil whereas in our Graves our Bodies are at rest and secure from all sense of pain so that they enjoy a perfect Sleep and a rest without disturbance The greatest Princes and the proudest Monarchs are constrained to take up their Lodging one after another here in this House which God hath prepared for all living and to repose themselves in that Couch which is to receive all the Sons of Adam When the Sacred History gives an Account of the Kings of Judea and of Israel it adds at the end of their Life He slept with his Fathers Let us be never so wretched poor and miserable we shall all be entertained in this dwelling of Kings and lay our selves down upon their Beds therefore when Job through the grieveousness of his pain complained because he had not Dyed immediately after his Birth he saith for now should I have lain still and been quiet I should have slept then had I been at rest with Kings and Councellors of the Earth which built desolate places for themselves or with Princes that had Gold who filled their Houses with Silver It is in this House and upon this Couch that the Patriarcks Prophets Apostles Evangelists Martyrs and generally all the Faithful do rest who have lived in all the Ages of the World
of God the Father Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Amen CHAP. 19. The Seventh Consolation against the Fears of Death is our strict and unseparable union with Jesus Christ by the means of his holy Spirit and the first Fruits of our Blessed Immortality OUr Lord Jesus Christ doth not onely live and triumph in Heaven but it is from thence our life our glory and our blessed Immortality proceed For as the Father hath life in himself he hath also given to the Son to have Life in himself and as the Father raiseth and quickneth the Dead likewise the Son quickneth whomsoever he will So that we may not only say to him as St. Peter Thou hast the words of eternal life John 6. but we may justly speak to him in Davids Language with thee is the fountain of Life in thy light shall we see light Ps 36. Therefore all those that are united and incorporated into Jesus Christ do participate of the fulness of his holy Spirit and by that means they became Immortal Now by the vertue of Christs Death and Pastion we are not only made partakers of the Fruits of his Sufferings but we are united to and Incorporated in him so that by that means we have obtained not only the grâ—â—t and precious promises of Glory and Immortality which he hath purchased for us by the infinite merits of his Sufferings but we receive the First-Fruits and foretasts of our future blessedness He that is lifted up and dwells on high quickens the Spirits of the humble Is 57. he dwells in our hearts by Faith Eph. 31. he pours into our Souls his holy and quickning Spirit for because we are the Children of God he hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry Abba Father Gal. 4. Whosoever hath not this Spirit of the Lord Jesus he is none of his By the means of this Spirit he dwells in us and we in him we become the Members of his Body and we may boast that we are his Flesh and his Bones All things that are most strictly united by Nature or Art are employed to represent this admirable union John 6. which we enjoy with Jesus Christ by the means of his Spirit that quickens us Rom. 13. From hence are derived these expressions of the holy Apostles We have put on the Lord Jesus Christ Gal. 3. And that when we draw near to him who is the living stone rejected of Men but lifted up and of great price with God 1 Pet. 2. we like so many living stones are built up together to make a Spiritual House For the same reason our Saviour informes us John 15. That he is the true Vine and that we are the branches And St. Paul assures us that if we are become one Plant with him by the conformity of his Death we shall also be one by the resemblance of his Resurrection Rom. 6. To shew unto us that this Sacred Union contains many ties of Love our Lord Jesus Christ is represented as our Brother our Father and our Bridegroom therefore the Apostle tells us that he thinks it no Disgrace to own us for his Brethren in saying Heb. 1. I will declare thy name unto my Brethren and also where he informes us Rom. 8. that God had predestinated us to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first born among many Brethren And after his Resurrection he speaks in this manner to Mary Magdalen John 20. Touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my Father but go to my Brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father and to my God and your God Heb. 2. Therefore this glorious Redeemer shewing himself unto God with all the Elect saith Here I am and the Children which thou hast given me Hosea 2 And by the Mouth of Hosea he speaks to his Church and makes this promise unto her I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judgment and in loving kindness and in Mercies From hence it is that this Church is called The Spouse of the Lamb in the Revelations and in the Canticâ—es the Spiritual Union betwixt Christ and his Church is expressed by a continual Allusion to a Marriage between Man and Woman And because our Meat and Drink are turned into our Body and Substance Jesus Christ assures us That his Flesh is truly Meat and his Blood is truly Drink That he is the true Bread come down from Heaven that gives Life to the World and that whosoever shall eat him shall live for ever But amongst all the Similitudes borrowed to represent our Union with Jesus Christ by his holy Spirit there is none employed more frequently in holy Scripture than that of the Humane Body for there is not any more proper for us all the Spirits that give life and motion proceed from the Head and assoon as the Members are separated from it they Dye In the like manner the Spirit that quickens us and makes us become new Creatures proceeds from Jesus Christ so that whosoever is separated from this Head he falls into Death and Eternal Destruction And as there are many Members nevertheless they make up but one Body because they are all animated with the same Spirit and they are kept alive by the same Head l kewise there be many Members belonging to Christs Mystical Body some engaged yet upon Earth and others glorified in Heaven nevertheless they make up but one only Mystical and Spiritual Body for they are all quickned by the same Spirit and receive all the celestial influences from the same Head St. Paul teacheth us this Doctrin in expresse terms 1 Cor 12. For as the Body is one and hath many Members and all the Members of that one Body being many are one Body so also is Christ for by one Spirit are we all Baptised into one Body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one Spirit Finally because the same spirit that is in our Lord as in the Head and Fountain and in the Church in general as in the Body which is quickned and moved is also in every particular Member The holy Apostle is not satisfied to call this Spiritual Body of Christ and his Church Christ but he tells us moreover that whosoever is united unto him is made but one Spirit with him These and such like Representations let them be never so lively and noble are but dark shadowes and unperfect Images of our Union with Jesus Christ by his holy Spirit for the richest and most Magnificent Garment can never keep off from the Body Diseases nor hinder the approaches of corruption that creeps upon it There is no foundation never so firm and well setled that can free the house built upon it from the ruines and breach s of time and the weather Although the Sap mounts up from the root of the vine and runs
into the twigs and branches they wither at last and are cast into the fire The rarest Meats and the most delicious Drinks can never make our Bodies become Immortal Death snatcheth away the Brother from the Brother the Father from the Child and the Wife from her Husband The stroke of a Sword can separate a Body from the healthiest and strongest Head nay without any such violence the Head dies as well as the Body and the Spirits that run in our Ve ns are far from hindring the corruption of our Bodies for they corrupt of themselves and vanish away In short the strictest Unions of Nature and Art are dissolved by time so that all things under the Sun are subject to vanity and unconstancy But the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is the principle of an eternal Life and the Seed of an uncorruptible glâ—ry whosoever is united to him by this Spirit nothing can separate him from Christ neither Life nor Death neither Hell nor the World nor things present nor things to come Therefore because our Blessed Saviour could find nothing here upon Earth nor amongst all the Creatures worthy and able to represent this perfect and unseparable Union he seeks an Image of it beyond all natural beings in the holy Trinity in that unchangeable Union which was which is and which shall ever be between him and God the Father As we may see in his excellent Prayer John 17. Father I pray for them all which shall believe on me that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that they may be one ever as we are one Banish therefore from your Souls all apprehensions and fears O believing Souls for all the Three persons of the most holy most glorious and most wonderful Trinity are engaged for your Salvation and to bring you to your eternal happiness The Father by his infinite wisdom hath found out a means to reconcile us unto himself to satisfie his offended Justice and to declare the riches of his unparalleld Mercies The Son hath purchased for us this great Salvation by suffering the shameful Death of the Cross and by spilling his most precious Blood for the forgiveness of our Sins and the holy Spirit by incorperating us into Jesus Christ makes us partakers of the infinite Merits of his Sufferings Revel 2. That is the true Hysop that sprinkles the Divine Blood of the Lamb without spot or blemish to cleanse our Souls It is he that gives to our Souls the white Stone where the new name of Elect and Believers is written Heb. 12. which none knows but he that hath it He gives us to eat of the hidden Manna and of the food of Angels Iohn 4. which the World knoweth not It is instead of a precious Ring or Jewel by which our spiritual Bridegroom promiseth and confirms unto us his conjugal Faith It is the Seal of the Living God that Seals unto us the Covenant of Grace and the promises of Glory and Happiness made unto us in the Gospel as the Apostle himself tells us Eph. 2. that now having believed the Gospel of our Salvation we have been Sealed by the holy Spirit of promise Therefore he exhorts us Eph. 4. not to grieve the holy Spirit of God by whom we have been Sealed for the day of Redemption Finally this is the Spirit that witnesseth with our Spirits that we are the Children of God If we be children we are Heirs Heirs of God and joynt Heirs with the Lord Iesus Christ Rom. 8. Think not Christian Souls that I labor to perswade you that this holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus shall come and whisper in your ears or cry unto you from within that you are the Children of God as the extravagant Quakers amongst us imagine the Testimony that he gives to our Spirits is a real and an effectual testimony if I may so speak for he regenerates us and makes us become new Creatures he gives us a more certain assurance of our adoption then if he did declare from Heaven Thou art my Child and thy name is written in the Book of Life As the Seal imprints its Image in the wax thus the Spirit of the Lord Jesus imprints in our Souls the Image of Holiness and all Divine Vertues now as the Figure that remains upon the Wax makes us judge without dispute what manner of Seal did print it likewise when you find Gods Image imprinted in your Hearts acknowledge the finger of God and the Vertue of his holy Spirit to have been there for none can have that blessed Image but he must needs be the Child of God The holy Spirit that gives it to our Souls kindles in us the blessed flames of holy Love and produceth in us Tongue of fire he makes us speak to God with boldness as to our Father and lift up our eyes to Heaven with joy and gladness as to the place of our Inheritance All the goods of this present life may be nay will be lost at last Pro. 23. Riches take wings and flie away like an Eagle Honor vanisheth away as a smoak carried away with the wind Earthly Delights and Pleasures hast away as a Torrent or the waters of a River that slide along the Banks and they end at last in a Sea of bitterness and sorrow If by chance these vanities continue with the Worldlings while they remain on Earth Ps 49. they can continue no longer for they cannot carry beyond and the Grave their Riches their Honours are not Buried with them and all their unsetled delights fly away with their Breath but Death hath no power upon this Spirit of Life which is our true Treasure our glory and everlasting delight Moreover the true and living Faith that embraceth Jesus Christ our Saviour shall cease and hope that considers the advantages to come shall one day be abolished Whilst we are in this earthly Pilgrimage we walk by Faith and not by sight and while we are tost up and down upon this dangerous Sea of the World Heb. 6. we have need of the Anchor of our Hope and to expect with patience the fulfilling of that we hope for Rom. 8. but when we shall come to our heavenly Country we shall neither need a staff to walk with nor a shield to defend us and to quench the fiery darts of the Devil when we shall be secure in the Haven of Eternity we shall have no occasion to make use of this Anchor for our hope shall be changed into a perfect Fruition When we shall be in Paradice we shall need no Wings to carry us up to God but only to fly about his Throne as the Seraphims In short we need no looking glass to see the glory of God for we shall behold face to face All that we believe at present without seeing we shall then see and believe no more But the Spirit of the Lord Jesus whom the World knoweth not and cannot receive he
is not given us for a time but to dwell in us for ever As that Flesh which our Lord took from us was never cast off nor never shall Thus the Spirit which he given us shall never be taken from us The flesh which our Saviour united in the same person with the Divine word hath been glorified by this eternal Union but the Spirit which he hath united to our Spirits by this gracious Union is the foundation of Glory and of our eternal happiness This Spirit of Life is not only the Seal of the promises of God but also the earnest of our uncorruptible inheritance reserved for us in Heaven This is St. Pauls Doctrine Ephes 1. for when he had said you have been Sealed by the holy Spirit of promise he adds which is the earnest of our inheritance untill the Redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his â—glory Because this Divine Spirit is the Seal of the living God he is the earnest of his Inheritance for this heavenly Image that it imprints in our Souls shall be part of that glory with which he will Crown us in his holy Paradice Therefore the Wisdom that is various in every manner doth not call this Spirit a Gage but an earnest for although both be given as a confirmation of promises and an assurance of their accomplishment there is this difference that Men commonly take back again the thing engaged when that which is promised is done but the earnest remains always and is part of the summe to be paid As therefore the earnest which is given is never taken away but Men commonly add to it the remaining summe promised likewise our Saviour never takes away from his Elect the Spirit of Adoption which hath been once bestowed upon them but he increaseth its Graces and Advantages until he hath raised them to the highest glory and most Divine happiness which he hath promised It is in this occasion as with the Sun which as soon as it appears upon our Horizon increaseth the Light more and more untill he is mounted up to our Meridian or as the Rivolets and Rivers which the farther they run the more they increase untill they discharge into the Sea Therefore when our Lord and Saviour speaks of this Spirit of Grace which such as believe in him receive he tells the Jews John 8. He that believeth in me Rivers of living Water shall flow from his Belly John 4. and to the Samaritan Woman he speak in this Language He that shall Drink of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing to eternal life This was sometimes shewn in a Vision to the Prophet Ezekiel Ezek. 47. by the waters that ran down from the Sanctuary for at the first they did reach no higher then the Prophets Ankle bone afterwards they rise up to his knee and then to his middle at last they increased in such a manner that they became a great Torrent and a deep River which was not to be forded over and which discharged it self into the Sea As David in the beginning of his Raign commanded but one Tribe but afterwards he enlarged the limits of his Kingdom over all the Tribes of Israel that small portion of the Kingdom was not then taken from him but only increased and became greater thus it is with us during this Life we have small part of the Kingdom of Heaven intrusted in our hands or if I may so say we have now some Jewels of the uncorruptible Crown which is promised hereafter This part shall not be taken from us this bright beam of our future glory shall never be put out but in the Life to come we shall possess as much of this Kingdom as we are able and shall be cloathed with all that light and splendor of the Heavenly Glory But as there is no comparison never so just but is faulty in some respects there is no small difference in this for the Tribe of Juda was the noblest and the richest part of the Kingdom of Israel but that part which our Souls enjoy at present of the happiness and glory of the Kingdom of Heaven is but as a drop of Water in comparison of the Ocean or as a weak raye of light in comparison of the Sun 2 Cor. 12. Therefore the Apostle St. Paul who had been ravished into the Third Heaven and who knew better than any Man in the World what were the Joys and glories of Heaven when he mentions this Spirit of Adoption that God sends into our hearts he calls it Rom. 8. The First Fruits of the Spirit To teach us that there is as vast a difference between the measure of the gifts and graces which we receive here below and the overflowing abundance which we shall enjoy in Heaven as between some few ears of Corn and the whole Harvest of a Field It is like the small quantity of Fruits which were broughâ— to the Children of Israel in the Wilderness compared to the great abundance of all the Land of Canaan It is like some small crums of the Heavenly Bread of which we shall have our fill in the Kingdom of God as some small drops of that New Wine which we shall drink for ever in the heavenly Jerusalem Therefore believing Souls you may from hence conclude that the approaches of Death ought not to scare or fright you because that you have within you the principles of a life everlasting and the seeds of a glorious Immortality which cannot be taken from you Jesus Christ doth not only wait for you and stretch out unto you his Arms to receive you into his Rest but he himself is also with you and will render the passage easie and pleasant to this new World where Justice and Righteousness dwell Iohn 11. He will make Miracles for your sake and if you believe you shall see the glory of God Ioshua 3. We do not only follow the footsteps of this Divine and real Ioshua but we pass with him and he passeth with us Exod. 19. We are not like the Children of Israel that went through the River of Iordan whilst the Priests held the Ark in the middle of the River but we may be compared to the Priests themselves 1 Pet. 2. that did bear the Ark of the Covenant and caused the Waters to return up to their Fountain again for we are a Generation of Priests and we bear in our Souls the Lord Jesus in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily and in whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge In short our Souls return to God the Fountain from whence they came Let therefore that heavenly voice which was heard in the holy Land sound in our ears Is 43. Fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy Name thou art mine when thou passest through the Waters I will be with thee and through the Rivers
Sand upon the Sea shore as to make an exact enumeration of all the evils that happen to us as Men belonging to a civil Society or as Members of God's and Church his adopted Children therefore old Jacob had cause to complain that the years of his life had been short and evil but ours are so evil that they cannot be too short I should compose many Volumes if I should undertake to describe perfectly all the infirmities and diseases that undermine the Body all the cutting pains and cruel tortures that torment and rack us The most languishing sicknesses and the most violent pains that afflict and disturb this poor Body are nothing in comparison of the excessive sadness and mortal anguish that seize upon our Souls and fill them full of Gall and Bitterness I think that there is no man upon Earth that can boast of having pass'd but one day without some displeasure either inward or outward for we either feel present evils that strike through our Hearts as so many Darts or the remembeance of former Griefs that trouble us or else the fear of future mischances vex and fret us I may justly say that the Devil is not so cruel to himself as we are to our own persons for this evil Spirit cares not to be tormented before the time whereas we anticipate the evils by unquiet apprehensions and wilful vexations entertained in our mind The fear of Misery makes us far more miserable and the apprehension of an imaginary evil causeth us to resent a real affliction and an unfeigned torment When we consider any Mans Life we only look upon that which appears most delightful and pleasant we consider the Nobility of his Bloud the variety of his Pleasures the greatness of his Riches the glory of his Offices and Victories and the pomp of his Triumphs but scarce is there any man that takes notice of his miseries and afflictions or if some be noted they are but such as are too obvious to every man's Eye as the publick affronts and disgraces the loss of a Battel the degradation from an Office Banishments Imprisonments and such like unhappy afflictions but besides these calamities which are visible to all the World and the common motives of the condoling lamentations of our friends there are many secret evils that be far more painful our dearest Relations discover not always our most sensible wounds to pour into them an healing Balm they seek not into our deepest sorrows nor do they dream of applying to our souls the most proper Comforts When ye behold Stage-Players capring upon a Theatre speaking as big as Kings and Princes you seldom think that under their Magnificent and Glorious Attire they hide many filthy Rags and perhaps some incommodious Vermin that stings them to the quick Likewise when you cast your Eyes upon the Riches Glory Pomp and Magnificence of Worldly Men you don't discover and see the Canker-worm that gnaws their Hearts and the secret Fire that devours their Souls Some there be that laugh in publick before company and appear with a merry countenance who are full of despair and in private tear off their Hair sigh and pour forth abundance of Tears Some feed themselves before the World with the most delicious Meats and Drink the rarest Wines but inwardly they are glutted with poison and gaul This was the consideration of the wisest of Kings when he writ this Sentence I have said of laughter it is mad and of gladness what profiteth it Eccles 2. As Poverty and a mean Estate are always accompanied with a grievous Train of fretful sorrows and cares Likewise Riches and Honors are never without Fears and Disturbances and as there is no Flame never so pure but sends up a Smoak nor a Rose so beautiful but hath its prickles so there is no condition in the World so beautiful and glorious nor any prosperity so well flourishing but hath its troubles and sharp Thorns Every Man upon Earth without exception bears his Cross or hath a grievous Thorn in his side The Moth sticks to the richest Stuffs and the Worm â—eâ—s â—nto the heart of the richest Flowers and Fruits and the Thunderbolt strikes down the loftiest Oaks the highest Steeples and the most glorious Palaces Likewise Care and Grief commonly eat up the flower of the great Prosperities and the noblest Dignities are often subject to the strangest alterations and to the most terrible downfals The richest Crowns cast all their splendor and glory outwardly but inwardly they are felt to be weighty upon the Heads of such as bear them A great Prince found his Diadem so burdensom and unsufferable that he cried out O Crown if thy weight were well known none would lift thee up from the ground It is not without good cause that such as are passionate for the World and inclinable to the delights of the Flesh are in a continual fear and dread for they be exposed to most imminent dangers if their Eyes were but open they should see a naked Sword always hanging by a small thread over their Heads As in that glorious Statue which Nebuchadnezar saw in his dream the Head that was of pure Gold was as easily broken as the Earthen feet and became as light as Chaff which the Wind carries away Likewise the most Honourable the Richest and the most Glorious Estate is as well subject to the same mischances as the Lowest the Poorest and the most Wretched where are any Riches and Treasuries that are not succeeded by Poverty Where rides that Pride and Pomp that hath not shame to attend it Is there any grandeur in the Age not subject to the furious blasts of Envy Where is that lighted Taper that a Whirlwind and a storm of Rain cannot put out Christian Souls take good notice of the Fruits which the World gives to its Servants and Children and you shall find that they are well like to certain Apples of America of an excellent beauty and of a sweet Smell and nevertheless they are full of the rankest poison that kills infallibly such as unadvisedly eat them There is no sweetness so great upon Earth but hath a mixture of bitter nor joy so pure and lasting but is often interrupted with Sighs and Tears The rarest Pleasures have a sad countenance and a groaning Accent our Hearts in the midst of laughter feel an oppression and our joy is accompanied with sorrow Therefore when the most experienced of all former Princes had taken an exact notice of all things under the Sun and tasted of all the delights of Life he concludes with this confession That all things under the Sun are nothing but vanity and vexation of Spirit It is not needful that I should make here an exact and a particular description of all the sad and troublesome accidents of this life that are able to turn the most flourishing Estate upside-down Remember ingenious Reader to run over carefully the whole course of thy life and examine in the just Seales of the
Assemblies and the devoutest Congregations as well as where we are engaged in the most hellish and debauched companies of the World But these Lusts that War against the Soul are as subtil and malicious as they are cruel and obstinate When they perceive us upon our guards and see that there is nothing to be got they conceal their weapons and their fire but it is with a design to surprize and burn us when we are least aware As there are certain Creatures that counterfeit the Dead that Men might not spend their labor to kill them Likewise this treacherous Flesh appears of its own accord as dead that we might spare it and not totally deprive it of Life If then we leave it in peace and quiet it recovers its strength and vigor and assaults us afresh with its poisoned Darts When we imagine that we have cut up this wretched Plant by the root it grows and breaks forth into bitterness When we think that we have put out this Fire with the Tears of our Repentance it kindles again and bursts forth into fiercer Flames Assoon as we have cut this cunning Serpent to pieces with the sharp knife of true Repentance it gets together and when it seems to have lost all strength and heat it recovers again in our Breasts and wounds us to the very Heart In short as that evil Spirit mentioned by our Saviour in the Gospel when he was driven out of one House waited for a good opportunity to return which assoon as he perceived he took unto himself seven other Spirits worse than himself so that the last condition of that Man was worse than the first Mar. 12. Likewise after an afflicting Fast and fervent Prayers after a torrent of contrite Tears when we imagine that we have cast out of our Hearts the most dangerous Lusts if we begin to relent and open to them the door they burst in again upon us with more fury and render the sequel of our Life far more bitter and unpleasant But if you had not so many sins and that your Lusts were not so violent when the old Man should not have so much strength in our Members and that the temptations should not overcome us so often tell me I pray Christian Souls in what Vertues do you excell Have they all the Beauty the Glory and Perfection that God requires Is your Holiness without the least spot or blemish Is your Innocency as white as Snow and as bright as the Light Is your Zeal as hot and burning as that of the Seraphims Is your Charity sincere without Paint or Disguise as that of Christ who gave his Life for you Do you love God for his Name sake or because of his excellent Perfection Do you love him with all your Heart with all your Strength and with all your Thoughts Do you love him more than you love your Selves or any thing in the World Do you hate all things that he hates and do you carefully abstain from every thing that displeaseth him Do you love your neighbor in God and for the sake of that good God whose Image he bears Do you love him as you love your Selves without Hypocrisy or Disguise Do you never deal otherwise with others than you would have them deal with you And do you perform to them the same good Offices that you would have them perform to you if they were in the same Estate as you be at present Do you shine in the midst of the dark night of this Age as so many Tapers lighted with the beams of the Sun of Righteousness Phil. 2. Do you live as Citizens of Heaven and as fellow-Citizens of the Saints and as the Children of God Phil. 5. Or as such as expect the Blessed Hope and appearing of the Glory of the Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ Is your Heart in Heaven where your Treasure should be and your Glory and Happiness And do you walk as Persons that ascend up by the steps and degrees of Piety to the Heavenly Jerusalem Tit. 2. Do you go from Faith to Faith from Hope to Hope and do you make every day some new progress in Holiness Do you never grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you have been sealed for the day of Redemption Are you immutable abounding always in the Work of the Lord Eph. 4. And do you endeavour to be found in him without spot or blame in Peace 1 Cor. 15. 2 Pet. 2. Tell me devout Souls whether you be not as the Fire and the light For as there is no Flame so pure but hath its Smoak nor Star so bright but becomes dark and invisible at the first approach of the Sun Likewise there is no Life so Holy and Harmless but hath its imperfections and cannot abide the sight of an impartial God and the exact inquisition of his Justice When we have well Prayed and Wept and begg'd Forgiveness and when God hath bestowed upon us a new Heart and a new Spirit After all we have need that God should enlighten us afresh with the Gracious Beams of his Divine Countenance that he should lead us by the Hand direct us by his Wisdom and accomplish his Vertue in our Infirmities Examine seriously My dear Friends unto what exercises of Devotion you are most addicted and what secret motions you feel in your Souls Who is it that hath the greatest share in your Heart and Affections What Thoughts do lull you asleep and what are those that awake you What do you think upon for the most part upon God and his Glory or upon the World and its Vanities upon Heaven and its Excellencies or upon the Earth and its Riches upon Paradise and its mortal Delights or upon the Flesh and its base satisfactions And when you meditate upon Divine things are you certain that you do it with a Religious attention with an inward delight that ravisheth and comforts your Souls And when you offer any Prayers unto God do you perform this Duty with Humility and an Holy Zeal Are your Hearts and Affections carried up to Heaven before you lift up thitherward your Eyes and Hands Are your Oraizons like the perfume of the Saints that came out of Golden Viols Are they like the Incense of the antient Israelites that did smoak upon an Altar burning with a Celestial Fire Do they thus proceed from a Soul purified with Faith which is more precious than fine Gold Do they come from an Heart that is enflamed with a Zeal that never dies and that ascends continually on high Do you bestow your Alms with that earnest and fervent Charity that God requires from you Do you open your Bowels to your Brethren before you open to them your Purse And do you bestow your Hearts upon the Poor before you bestow your Money And for the publick Devotions that you owe to God Pray tell me with what Humility and Respect they are performed Do you call your Delight the Days dedicated to his Glory and to the Celebration of
his Holy Mysteries Isai 58. or do you look upon them as troublesome Don't they cause you to complain in your selves as those prophane Jews spoken of by Malachi Behold what a weariness is it Mal. 1. Do you go up to the House of God with the voice of Melody and transports of Joy Psalm 41. or do you go thither out of custom in a careless manner When Jacob went up to Bethel to offer Sacrifices he buried under ground all the Gods of Gold and Silver that were in his Family Gen. 35. Likewise you Religious Souls when you intend to go up to Offer your Spiritual Sacrifices in the true Bethel where God bestows in such plenty his Bread from Heaven that gives life to the World Do you not forget to bury all your Earthly Cares your Carnal Lusts Or else do you nourish in your Hearts all these false Gods of whom the World is so fond Do you look upon the Holy Assemblies with an unconcerned Eye Or do you behold them with Reverence and Respect as the living Images of that Glorious Church gathered together before God's Majestique Throne which worships him day and night in his Holy Temple Are those Divine Psalms that are there sung only upon your Tongues or do you sing them with your Hearts to the Lord Do you think upon the Angels Songs and the Holy Spirits Hallelujahs with Holy transports of Joy Is the Word of God only an Airy Sound that strikes your Ears or doth it reach your Consciences Coloss 3. Doth not your Heart burn within you while God speaks by the Ministry of his Servants and opens to you his Holy Scriptures Revel 19. Doth this Heart of yours burn with an Heavenly Fire or with restless impatience to see the end of your Devotions that you might return to your Domestick affairs to your worldly Delights or to your carnal pastimes Luk 14. Doth your Soul thirst for God for the strong and living God Psal 42. And is the performing of the Holy Will of your Heavenly Father become your Meat and your only Delight John 4. Psal 103. In short Do you fly as swift as the blessed Angels when your great God and Saviour offers to you an occasion of advancing his Kingdom of comforting his Chosen and edifying the Souls for whom he is dead When Abraham offered unto God many Beasts in Sacrifice a flight of Birds came and lighted upon his dead Offerings Gen. 15 Likewise when we present unto God the Sacrifices of Praise and Thanksgiving and intend to multiply the acts of our Devotion a great number of vain and idle thoughts come to interrupt us Abraham frighted away those troublesom Birds but it is not always in our power to drive away from our minds these intruding thoughts that disturb us in our Devotions When we will lift up our selves unto God and draw near to his Sacred Throne our Hearts are far more dull and heavy than ever Moses's Hands were so that they fall down again to the Earth and to mind Earthly things we need therefore that our Chief Priest should hold them up and furthermore it is necessary that they should be perfum'd with the sweet smells of his most Holy Sacrifice Exod 17. If David a Man after God's own Heart intreats that God would be pleased to sanctify the Words of his Mouth and the Meditations of his Heart Psal 15. If the Prophet Daniel whom the Holy Spirit stiles A man greatly beloved Dan. 9. who spent the days and the nights in Devotion seeks how to make his Prayers acceptable to God If the Prophet Isaiah hath need that his Lips should be purified with a burning Coal taken from the Altar Isa 6. Who will wonder if the Meditations of the devoutest Souls be so often interrupted if their Prayers be so cold and lukewarm who can think it strange that we are not able to pray as we ought Rom. 8. And that we have need to desire God's Holy Spirit of Prayer and Supplication who prays and intercedes for us with Sighs and Groans which cannot be expressed Zach. 13. Rom. 8. That which afflicts most the true Believers is that when they imagine that they have attained to some kind of Perfection in the exercises of Piety they find many times to their unspeakble sorrow that they are but beginners and that they have made no progress at all For as the Stone cast up into the Air falls down of its own accord by reason of its natural weight and as the Water often heated becomes as often cold and frozen because cold is a property belonging to it Likewise our Souls that mount up to God in Holy Meditations and Zealous Prayers fall down again to these Earthly Vanities they become cold and heavy for these are their natural Properties God refused the Sacrifices of such Beasts as were lame and sickly if therefore he should treat us according to our Deservings how will he accept of us or our Devotions we that are weak and infirm in his service and that cannot walk in his ways without stumbling at every moment For these Considerations I may apply to the spiritual Joy what was said of the Earthly and worldly mirth Joy is cut off by Sadness Isai 65. For when we have felt in our Breasts this unspeakable Joy of the Holy Ghost and that it begins afterwards to abate it seems to us as if it had taken its flight to Heaven as the smoak of Manoah's Sacrifice Then as great a Sorrow seiseth upon our Souls therefore we may complain and cry out as David Will the Lord cast me off for ever and will he be favourable no more is his Mercy clean gone for ever doth his promise fail for evermore hath God forgotten to be Gracious hath he in anger shut up his tender Mercies Psal 77. And pray in the Language of Isaiah Lord awaken thy jealousie and the stirring of thy Bowels that are shut up to me Finally if after all the exercises of Devotion if after a serious and setled Meditation upon God's Holy Word if after Fasting and Mortification Prayers and Tears and a constant attendance in the Duties of Religion we find any good Progress in Piety we may then also perceive Vice to proceed out of our most Glorious Vertues and Perfectest Graces For as the Moth enters soonest into the richest Stuffs and Cloth thus Pride creeps into the noblest Souls and breeds in the most enlightened understandings As a Primitive Doctor of the Christian Church hath very well observed all Vices are begot by corruption and by other Vices only Pride and Presumption proceed from Vertue O how hard a task is it for a Man enabled with Gifts and Perfections that raise him above the Vulgar not to be puffed up with Pride nor deceived with the love of himself As the beautiful Bird looks and admires the dainty and various Colours of its Wings we do thus behold and admire our selves we are in love with our own Beauty and idolize our Vertues Therefore as
the Nurse leaves sometime the Child to his Legs and suffers it to fall that it might know its own strength and learn to hold faster by the Hand Thus God withdraws from us the assistance of his Grace to humble us and to cause us to implore more earnestly the help and favourable succors of his Holy Spirit When St. Peter felt the Sacred Flames of that Holy Zeal that was kindled in his Heart and that sincere love that he had for Christ he rejoyced and imagined himself to be strong enough to resist all the powers of Hell and to frustrate all the fiery Darts of the Devil This good opinion that he had of himself and of his own ability transports him to that confidence as to contradict our Saviour Christ and to protest Although all should be offended in thee yet will not I be offended and when I should dye with thee yet will not I deny thee This was he who trembled at the voice of a Damsel so that his Fall and Apostacy was as notable as his Confidence was great therefore it warns such as stand that they should take heed of falling into misfortune Rom 11. There is no good natured Child but is vexed to live amongst such as Curse and Reproach its Parents and if we should happen to be concerned unawares in the offence or to occasion the death of him from whom it had its being it will feel an Eternal displeasure Now it is certain that whilst we live in this world we must spend our time amongst those that blaspheme the Holy Name of God and abuse the Glory of his Eternal Godhead Moreover Vice and Corruption are so universal that we our selves offend this Father of Mercies and Compassions we add sin to sin and heap up our iniquities together Let us therefore conclude from hence Believing Souls that Death is not to be feared as an Evil or a Misery but that it is rather to be desired as an Advantage and a Blessing For seeing that it is to be wished for because it frees us from all the calamities and sufferings of the World It is far more desirable because it closeth our Eyes and conveys out of our sight all the sins and abominations that abound in the World and because it stops our Ears and hinders us from hearing the Impieties and the filthy Discourses that infect the Air. Seeing that Death is to be embraced with joy because it delivers our Bodies from the diseases that torment them and our minds from the cares and displeasures that vex and afflict them It deserves to be welcomed with greater expressions of Gladness because it delivers us from all remains of sin and puts a period to our natural corruption so that it is to be esteem'd and look'd upon as the Death and Destruction of the Old Man rather than the Death of a true Believer Sampson rejoyced in his Death because he knew that in dying his mortal Enemies should dye also and be destroyed with him we have more cause to rejoyce at our Death and to give God thanks at that time seeing that in dying or rather in passing from Death to Life we may see the Destruction of all the dangerous Enemies of our Salvation Who are more dreadful to us than the Philistins were to Sampson All the most cruel and barbarous Men of the World are not so much to be feared as the Lusts of our filthy Flesh that put out the Eyes of our understanding that cause us to be the Devil's sport and to worship many false Gods We commonly run out with haste from a place infected with the Plague and should not we make as much speed by our Vows and Prayers to get out of the World seeing that Vice is so Infectious and Universal all over it that so many thousand Souls are therewith miserably spoiled Seeing the World is as a Babylon where all manner of Debauchery Vice and Vertue are mixed together where Unjustice and impiety Reigns have we not greater cause to be transported with Joy when God delivers us from our woful Captivity than the Children of Israel had when it pleased him to call them out of Babylon should we not sing unto him when the Lord returned back and restored them of Sion that came back from their Captivity we were as those that dream though our Mouths were full of Laughter and our Tongues with Songs of Triumph In short as the Lord Jesus when he had restored Lazarus to life and taken him out of his Grave he had compassion of him and could not see him any longer wrapped up in his Winding Sheet and tied with a Napkin therefore he commanded Loose him and let him go Likewise this Merciful Lord who hath made us to be partakers of the first Resurrection and called our Souls out of the noisom Grave of our Lusts is moved with compassion for us when he sees these wretched Souls drag about them the reliques of Sin and some Remains of that Corruption in which they were wrapped Therefore he will cause them to hear this sweet and comfortable voice Loose them and let them go Let them go to the Eternal Mansions to the City of the living God to the Heavenly Jerusalem to the Glorious Companies of Angels and to the Church and Congregation of the First-born whose Names are Written in Heaven A Prayer and Meditation for a true Christian who comforts himself with this Consideration That Death shall deliver him from Sin that Reigns so much in the World and from all Remains of his wretched Corruption O Most Gracious High Priest Holy Innocent separated from sinners exalted above all the Heaveâ—â— who art now shining in Light and Glory look upon mâ— from thy Sanctuary and Compassionate my wretched Estate Thou understandest well the cause of my grief O Lord who searchest the Hearts and readest my most Secret Thoughts Thou knowest O my God that I grieve to see so much Injustice and Impiety reigning this day in the World to see Vice Prophaness Superstition and Schism committing so many disorders in thy Holy Church But that which chiefly increaseth my pain and aggravates my displeasure is to see my self guilty and spotted with the general corruption and to feel my Flesh warring and strugling against the Spirit The Lusts of the Flesh do not only disturb me but they get many times the victory and insult upon my infirmities Sin shews not only it self to me in all its Hellish deformity so that I am thereby ashamed of my self but I also acknowledge to the praise of thy Grace that all that is best in me cannot endure an exact Inquisition of thy Justice Alas my God how imperfect is my Piety How languishing is my Devotion I worship thee too much for custom and in a very slight manner I often praise thee with my Tongue and Honour thee with my Lips whilst my Heart is far from thee The Love that I bear to thee is not pure and enflamed and my Charity instead of being
glorious company of Angels and blessed Spirits take upon thee these beautiful Robes of light with which thine Heavenly Father will cloath thy nakedness and accept this immortal Crown that he offers to thee go and satisfie thy self with the Bread of the Kingdome of Heaven and remove thy thirst with the Christial Waters of that River of pleasure which proceeds from the Throne of God and of the Lamb Go and behold the face of the Father of lights go and be happy with his Divine resemblance and be transformed into his glorious Image O blessed Soul Seest thou not already the Heavens open and Iesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father holding out his hand unto thee offering to receive thee into his glorious rest Seest thou not the Angels of Heaven cloathed in white raiment coming to transport thee out of this miserable estate Seest thou not how thou art already encompassed about with light and Celestial Flames Dost thou not relish the sweetness of Paradise Is not there a Heaven already in thine heart Dost thou not hear the Hymns of the glorified Spirits Hath not the Lord caused thee to hear that sweet and comfortable voice sound in thine ear Verily I say unto thee thou shall be this day with me in Paradise Come good and faithfull Servant enter into the Ioy of thy Lord seeiest thou not thy self lifted up above all earthly and perishing things Dost thou not fly upon the wings of faith and repentance to the Throne of Gods glory Dost thou not cast thy self into Paradise into the Arms of Almighty God into the bosome of the Lord Iesus to rest there for ever and to be Satisfied with the good things which eye hath not seen ear hath not heard and which are not entered into the heart of Man but which God hath prepared for them that love him A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian Soul that prepares to go out of its Body and comforts its self in the Contemplation of the glory and happiness of Paradice O God! the Author of my being and the Soveraign Lord of my life thou seest all the motions and dispositions of my Soul thou knowest that I have wholly resigned my self into thy hands and desire nothing else but to depend upon thy good pleasure speak Lord for thy Servant heareth here I am to do thy Will O God Thy People Israel removed their Camp at thy Command in the same manner I am ready to remove out of this Earthly Tabernacle at the first motion of thy Will The Golden Cherubims were alwayes upon their feet with their wings stretched out and their faces towards the Mercy Seat O that I likewise might look up to him who hath purchased for me the eternal Mercies of God him who is the Propitiation for my Sins that I may be always ready to fly up to him Lord Jesus seeing thou callest me to thy self stretch out thy hand unto me from above and draw me out of this tempestuous Sea When a poor blind man understood that thou calledst him to restore his sight he left his Garment for haste and ran to thee with joy and shall not I quit this wretched body to go to thee my Lord and my God seeing thou callest me out of the mid-night of this World to thy marvelous and glorious light seeing that thou hast a design not onely to discover to me this surprising and refreshing light that shines in Heaven but thou wilt cause me to shine in thy Kingdom as the Stars and as the Sun When the Prophet Elias let fall his Mantle he was immediately received into a Chariot of Fire and carried up into Heaven also I hope in thy tender love and favor that as soon as my Soul shall forsake this wretched Body it shall be likewise received into a Celestial Charriot of Fire that will carry it up to Heaven thou wilt deal as gratiously with my Soul as with thine High-Priest Joshua thou wilt take away its Garments shattered and broken by sickness and distempers bespotted and bedaubed with sin to adorn it with Robes of fine and bright linnen and Crown it with glory Therefore I am so far from being afflicted to see the earthly house of this Tabernacle demolished that I rejoyce in a certain assurance that I shall be admitted to my eternal Tabernacle of Heaven O good God! thou seest upon me a contemptible body of dust that desires nothing more then to return to dust again but this Heavenly and immortal Soul of mine that is come from above that is thy breath and a beam of thy glory this Soul I say will return up to its source and origin It sighs for thee O God! and desires nothing but eternal happiness Is it possible that I can be happy too soon and too speedily admitted to the Contemplation of thy glorious face Lord I should be worse then an Infidel if I did doubt of my Salvation if I were not assured to partake of thy glory for thou hast promised to save all such as persevere to the end and to give the Crown of life to all those that are faithfull unto Death Seeing therefore that by the assistance of thine holy Spirit thou hast enabled me to continue in thine holy and Divine Covenant to fight the good fight to finish my course and to keep the faith thou wilt not refuse me this great Salvation this precious Crown O merciful and bountiful Lord thou hast promised all such as overcome to cause them to sit upon thy Throne now by thy special grace and wonderfull power that appears and is fulfilled in mine infirmities I have overcome the World sin the Devil and Hell at present I beseech thee give me a new supply of strength to overcome Death also that I may have no more Enemies to counter with but that I may mount upon the magnificent Throne designed for me let this Death be a passage that may bring me to life immortality eternal glory and to the happiness of thy Kingdom Thou art my God and Father that lovest me with an unchangeable affection reach thy hand to me thy childe for I long for thee and open for me the bowels of thy most wonderfull mercies O good Lord receive me into thy bosome and satisfie me with the most effectual Consolations of thy goodness thou art my Spiritual Bridegroom draw me and I shall run or rather I shall fly after thee to magnify thy tender compassions and to be filled with thine heavenly delights Thou art the chief Shepheard of my Soul help me therefore in this vale of the shadow of Death let thy Staff and thy Rod assist and comfort me send me thy light and thy truth that they may lead and conduct me up to thy holy Mountain and to thine eternal dwelling Send thy good Angels that they may carry me up upon their Wings I expect O Lord thy Salvation I do not onely expect and hope for it but I desire and wish for it with all mine heart
but Death shall flie away from them and give them over to a Worm that shall never Dye and to a Fire that shall never be extinguished O miserable Bodies O wretched Souls whom God shall cast into the midst of Hells furious flames and against whom the Devils shall let flie all their Arrows discharge all their Fury and kindle all their Fires and whom they will take pleasure to torment for ever and ever 9. Some inquire what manner of Bodies the Children of God and the Members of Christ shall have after they are risen from the Dead I answer that their substance shall be the same which they had before Death they shall not be Phantasms or false appearances but true humane Bodies made up of flesh and bones for we may say of all the Bodies of the faithful as of that of our Saviour Christ that the Resurrection will procure unto them a considerable Glory which they never had before but it shall not destroy their Nature and Manhood They shall be able to speak in the Language of our Redeemer feel and see a Spirit hath neither Flesh nor Bones as ye see that I have All our Soul shall lose nothing of its Being only it shall be perfectly cleansed from all Sin and Corruption and sanctified in such a manner that it will not be poffible for it to entertain any vicious inclination likewise there shall be no alteration in the essential part of our Bodies but there shall be a wonderful alteration in regard of the qualities for they shall cast off all corruption and mortality and shall never be subject to Sickness Pain nor to the inconveniences that disturb it during this life And if they have now any imperfection they shall be perfectly freed so that we may justly say of the Celestial Jerusalem that in it no Blind nor Lame shall be admitted to enter for all the Bodies of the Saints shall be so perfect and beautiful that the least spot or blemish shall not be seen in them 1 Sam. 6. I know that Jesus Christ tells us in his Gospel Matth. 5. If thy right Eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is better that one of thy Members perish than that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell and if thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is better that thou shouldst enter into life lame or maimed than to have two feet and two hands and to be cast into eternal Fire Mark 4. But these words are figurative by them our Saviour would teach us that for his sake and glory we must deny our dearest affections and our most importunate lusts and when these words should be taken in their literal sence we must understand a Supposition if it were possible to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with one eye lame maimed it would be far better to be admitted to that blessed estate then to have a perfect and a whole body and to be cast into the Torments of Hell From thence we cannot conclude that the faithful are to rise from their Graves with imperfect and deficient Bodies for that is repugnant to an accomplished happiness seeing that sin shall be utterly abolished and destroyed the punishment of Sin shall continue no longer There are nevertheless some that believe with several ancient Doctors of the Primitive Church that the holy Martyrs shall bear about them the scars and other marks of their Sufferings for the Name of Jesus in the same manner as this glorious Saviour after his Resurrection could shew the print of the Nails that had fastened his feet and hands to the Cross and in his side the hole that the Spear had made They esteem such Marks glorious and honorable Stars so that according to their judgement the Martyrs shall be like to the generous and noble hearted Souldiers who have received Wounds in the service of their Prince which they bear about as undoubted expressions of their Courage I shall not altogether contradict this opinion for it is not contrary to the Analogy of Faith but I dare not affirm it as a certain truth for we cannot learn from the holy Scriptures that represent these Blessed Martyrs cloathed with long Robes washed and whitened in the Blood of the Lamb without making any mention of their former sufferings Our Saviour he was pleased to preserve the Marks of his Sufferings that he might convince St. Thomas of his unbelief and that he may one day discover and shew them to those that have pierced him through But from this instance I cannot see how we can gather any consequence we may safely say either that the Martyrs shall have no such scars or if they have they shall bring no deformity to their Bodies nor shall they deprive us of any Member or part required in us to make us perfect If it should be otherwise we could not be entirely and perfectly happy After the Resurrection the Bodies of Gods Children shall have none of these imperfections that Sin hath brought into the World they shall not feel any of the infirmities unto which the Bodies of Adam and Eve were subject in the estate of their innocency for their life was sensual and animal like disturbed with hunger thirst and weariness therefore they had need of nourishment and drink and especially of the Fruits of the Tree of Life to supply so much of their radical humor as was decayed and consumed by their natural heat I conceive also that they stood in want of rest and sleep and although God would have protected them from all dangerous accidents if they had continued in their integrity if we consider them in themselves without any such protection they might have been injured by fire and sword and burned with the heat of the scorching Sun But it shall be otherwise with the Bodies of the Righteous after the Resurrection they shall not be subject to any infirmity they shall be free from pain weariness and from the sense of any displeasure as the holy Spirit promiseth they shall hunger nor thirst no more the Sun shall not beat upon them nor any heat incommode them It is not to be doubted but that a glorified Body shall enjoy all the perfections that a humane Body is capable of and that the greatest and rarest Beauties on Earth are but difform objects in comparison of the Celestial which shall never change nor fade away no accident shall ever be able to destroy or diminish them The years ages and thousand of ages shall not imprint upon our glorious faces the least wrinkle we shall always be young and lusty as a precious Stone that preserves its Luster and Beauty without alteration and as the Sun that never decreaseth in light and heat These glorified Bodies shall cast off all gross and heavy qualities that incline them to the Earth so that they shall be more nimble then the Eagles and shall be able to fly up as quick