must stay eight years longer O Sir says the youth I have gone thorow the burying-place and have seen little graves as well as long and I may be dead before I am so old therefore pray teach me the Law of God O Young People think of it begin now to be religious because your youthful time may be all your time Let me hint a few things more by way of argument 1. Consider your youthful time is Gods time the first fruits of your time is the Lords he required the first fruits as his due you rob God if you do not give up your selves to him betimes 2. Consider your youthful time is the best time now you are most active vigorous quick as you are now more capable to understand any trade of life so to take in the principles of Religion if you would give your minds to it Religion will be more facile and easy to you you are not possest with such evil notions and corrupt principles as you may be if you come to age you will then be more indisposed you will be habituated in sin and the devil will have a stronger claim and interest in you who will not be so easily put off O then mind Religion while you are young it will be a great deal more delightful and easy and comfortable if you begin betimes 3. Consider this timely beginning will prevent a great deal of guilt and trouble in your souls when a man in a journey sets forth early he goes on with comfort but if he neglects the morning and sets out late he must run and ride and that in the dark O they that set forth for Religion in the morning of their time prevent a great deal of trouble and sin 4. Consider by this means you will be very desirable grateful delightful acceptable to God and good men O! to see an holy humble gracious spirit in young people to hear them speak of the things of Christ and find them pliable to the ways of God O what a pleasant sight is this What delight do such to the Lord Such have a principal share of Christs love who seek him betimes Prov. 8.17 I love them that love me and they that seek me early shall find me 'T is spoken by way of Emphasis and addition those that seek me early shall be sure to find me the Lord takes special notice of the love of his people in their youthful time Jer. 2.2 I remember the kindness of thy youth O what a lovely fight it delights God and Saints to see young souls humble holy serious savoury heavenly full of knowledg full of zeal O what a beauty is a young Samuel a young Abijah a young Jeremiah a young Timothy What honourable mention is made of these in Scripture And it was the honour of Andronicus and Junia that they were in Christ betimes Rom. 16.7 Oh if you give up your selves to Religion betimes you will be exceeding acceptable to God and good men 5. Begin betimes to be religious for hereby you will attain to a greater growth in Christianity and settlement in the truth and wayes of Godliness you shall bring more glory to God be more serviceable to your generation and lay up a greater and more sure foundation for glory yea the more eminent and abundant you have been in grace the greater Crown of Glory will be set on your head in Heaven O now you young people bestir your selves labour after knowledg set apart time to read the Scripture and other good books and be earnest with God to give you an heart to know and an eye to see the excellency of Jesus Christ fly the lusts of youth endeavour what you can to be under a faithful Ministry and get into acquaintance and communion with good people and cast off all vain company O there is a great deal of advantage by being in good company they will instruct counsel comfort and encourage you in your course of godliness Consider what I have said and the Lord bless these good counsels unto you FINIS
Blessed are all those that trust in him The last Psalm that ever I heard was the fifteenth the description of a Citizen of Zion And the last Hymn that ever I heard was that entituled Trust in Gods Providence it was very good There it is said The righteous shall not be forsaken or his seed beg their bread A righteous man may have a wicked child as David had an Absalom but the righteous-children of the righteous shall not want their bread The eternal Spirit shall be their comfort Should I live a long time in the world I should not want for I know the Eternal God will supply me The words I speak I know not in what order they are but they are as the Spirit directs and helps me The Lord is good to his servants to all that trust in him I hope I shall be ashamed of nothing but for the works of the flesh The Lord is the same yesterday to day and for ever He is Alpha and Omega the first and the last and my times are in Gods hand My dear Father so long as you trust in the Lord you have your reward with the Father which is in Heaven Father you must be patient with your little Daughter in the flesh I have been in heats and colds but the Lord is able to raise me up as well as to cast me down I desire when my departure is at hand that I may lie down in peace The Grave is a sweet bed I never found such a sweet bed as that bed the Grave is to me in all my life This flesh is laid down in dishonour but it shall be raised in Glory About a year ago I was you know where For certainty sake one asked her saying where do you mean To which another that stood by said I think she means at Morton was it not She replied yea it was There I heard a good man I believe he is so he spake from the spirit I believe he did But when I went unto him once and again hoping to receive some comfort from him in private He was to me strange and filent and his silence at first much troubled me but since I trust my Father which is in Heaven his mind was to teach me himself that was by my close studying of good books and earnest prayer thereby he would teach me himself His mind in that which I went to a man to be resolved in and thereby he comforted me and it was that himself might have all the Glory My dear Brothers and Sisters I love you so well that I could give you my heart I have many good books and I made many * She privately earned some small matter with her needle when able and it was to bestow it in books as she did every envy thereof shifts that is according to the flesh to get them but never wronged any person in the least for them And I have one paper written when in much pain which I shall leave with you Think upon that but mostly think upon the Glorious God and upon the preciousness of your own immortal souls they are more worth than ten thousand worlds I have been much troubled and I have gone to God and have received much comfort but never had so much joy and comfort in all my life as when I was I think you know where Here one asked where To which another near her said I think she meaneth when she was at Mr. Serles at the Lords Supper Then she said yea it was so O the joy and comfort that I then received It was such as I never had in all my life I cannot express it When many others stayed in the outer rooms and outer Courts as hinted before through their cowardliness and childishness with such 't is sad But had I breath for ever I could not do enough for my Saviour I return praises to the Eternal God for himself and for my Saviour and for the Holy Ghost The Lord will cease a little and refresh me before I go hence and shall be here no more Tho I have but a little breath yet the Lord can give in more if I had none he can raise me up again The will of the Lord be done Here she breathed a little and afterward with an austere countenance and her voice altered she thus proceeded A Backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways Backsliding is a filthy thing but a good man shall be satisfied from within himself in his heart and conscience by the Spirit of God God made all things at first very good but the best was the living Soul but we all sinned and were good for nothing but to lie with Devils then God sent his Son to redeem his Elect And I trust I am one of them but I cannot as yet assure my self my hope is in the Lord for ever and ever I trust in him I trust in him I commit my self to him for ever and ever and ever Amen The Lord will give in more Grace I wait for him and for him alone All that I am and all that I enjoy is the Lords Hitherto one wrote in short-hand but not all that she spake lack abundance Here she stopt whereupon the writer ceased A little while after she spake again much more but the pen being laid aside and she spake so fast and all in short sentences that none thereof was written Next a Copy of the written Paper aforementioned of her own composing which she had delivered as her last legacy to her Brothers and Sisters whom she obliged by promise to improve to the Glory of God and the good of their own souls and was the last thing that ever she wrote But before you have an account thereof give me leave to premise this request to the Reader That in reading he would mind by whom written viz that he would mind her sex age and education A maid young and plain And likewise that he would mind for whom designed and intended viz. for her Brothers Sisters of whom there were double the number younger to those that were elder than her self all young Considering this and the intention of her affection towards them so let none naustate at the plainness of the stile or phrase or if now and then he find repeated and used the same matter words or Texts of Scripture or somewhat borrowed from others Such to whom this plain fare is beneath may leave it Such to whom it affords any savoury relish let them feed on it and improve it A Copy of the last things written by Damaris Pearse O that I could but win Souls to Christ Prov. 11.30 ALL men by nature are under the power of their sins Psal 51.5 They are naturally bent to do evil their hearts are bent after sin and iniquity and it is by the convincing awakening and sanctifying power of Gods Spirit that the hearts of any are changed And except a man be converted and born again he cannot enter into the
the small company in comparison of them that shall be saved Mat. 7.13 14. I am a poor weak Creature and it hath pleased the great God to cause distempers and weakness and sickness to light on my body These two years and †This was written at least a year and half before she died and she sickly two years and a quarter before she wrote it quarter I never having a days health in this time but very much distemper and infirmity on my body Many times I have thought that the Lord had sent the Messenger of Death to take me at that time out of this present life but by his good hand my life is lengthened unto this present hour Beside all this I have had great trouble and perplexity in Spirit and mind which none but God doth know of which I could never have stood under had not the Lord wonderfully supported me and born me up under it by his mighty hand Now I desire not so much the restoring of my body for I do think I shall never have the enjoyment of health more in this world tho it is not impossible with God But if it were the Lords Will that I should have health again I do hope by his help and assistance to improve it to his praise and glory Tho I have a sinful and corrupt heart within me yet the Lord is mighty to save and help and succor those that trust that put their trust in him Now the Will of the Lord must be done and I desire that the Lord would lay no more on me than he would enable me to bear with patience and that he would comfort me under his afflicting hand and that all sin and guilt cleaving to me may be fully expiated and discharged through the blood of Christ and that the Lord would give me assurance of his love through Jesus Christ tho I am a sinful creature That I may have true and saving faith to lay hold on the Lord Jesus Christ for Salvation that I may never fall away from him If the Lord should leave me to my self then I shall perish eternally but I trust in the Lord and hope that he will pour down his rich and precious mercies on me for Jesus Christs sake that my soul may be truly and perfectly sanctified by his holy Spirit and that I may never be lead aside by the devices of Satan and the corruption of my heart and the deceitfulness of this world but that my soul may be stablished in righteousness and confirmed in the end that I may be blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ that I may have a sure interest in the Lord Jesus then I shall be happy to all eternity O my desire is that however the Lord be pleased to deal with my body that it may go well with my Soul to eternity and that I may have the enjoyment of God through Christ for there is nothing else can give real comfort to any Soul I hope that the Lord hath begun a good work in me and that he will make it perfect in the end and that he will sanctifie his dealings towards me that it may be for his glory and my eternal comfort and I desire that my will may be throughly resigned up into the will of God either for life or death and that I may have much of Gods presence with me and may always have good thoughts of him and of his dealings towards me in all that he doth or shall lay upon me and that I may improve all his mercies for his glory and my eternal comfort and that when he is pleased to put an end to this temporal life that my Soul may be fitted for Spiritual and eternal life in Jesus Christ O now that people would seriously think what shall become of their Souls considering how great the multitude is that go in the broad way that leadeth to destruction and how few there be that enter in at the strait gate that leadeth unto life as Mat. 7.13 14. We have but a little time to live here in this world and that is of very great concernment that we should make a good improvement of it eternity doth depend upon it as we live here so it will be with us to eternity we are now brought upon the Stage of this world here to act our parts for a whole eternity if we make not a wise choice now we are undone for ever What our present choice is such must our everlasting condition be Luk. 10.42 Luk. 16.25 Now is your time to repent of your sins and to make peace with God it cannot be done after death now is the time that Christ is offered unto you and if you will not receive him now you shall never have any part in him hereafter now is the day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 Now is the time you may be accepted of by God and therefore do not stop the mouth of Conscience for if you do it will be the greatest Witness against you hereafter then it will tare and lash you and be a continual torment For their worm shall not die neither shall their fire be quenched Isa 66.24 If you now refuse the calls of God your conscience will continually accuse you hereafter therefore have a care do not refuse to hearken to Gods call for it you refuse now you shall never have any calls nor invitations from God hereafter Have you any business any concern of greater importance to you than the concern of your souls and eternity If you are to appear before some earthly Judg especially if it be about a matter that concerns your life O how thoughtful are you to have all things ready and in order in reference thereunto and should not you be as thoughtful and as careful to make all ready and to set all right in order to your appearing before the Judg of all the earth and that about a matter which concerns the life of your souls about a matter of eternal life or death Well what shall I say Will you set about this great business this great concern Or is it all one with you whether you live or die are saved or damned to all eternity Oh that people would consider how near they are to eternity How near we are to our everlasting habitation You are all going down amain the stream of time into the great ocean and you will shortly come thither There is not a step you step nor a breath you draw nor a word you speak nor a moment of time you live but hath an influence upon eternity Oh now that unconverted sinners would set about this great work to prepare for their souls and eternity before they go hence and be no more in this world Sinners will you set about this great business Your work is wholly yet to do tho it may be your day far spent your glass is almost run your sun near setting and all your work to do Oh 't is high time for
pain full seven weeks The first day whereof in the Morning she delivered this following Speech The foregoing night had been very trouble some with her she having had little o no rest very much sickness whereupon she had a desire to see her Parents faces once more together they being called came forthwith into her Chamber her Brothers and Sisters after a little while came in likewise Her Father asked her how she did She answered I have had this Night many sweats and colds and have been very weak and in much pain but yet it hath been a very good night with me for therein I have had many comfortable refreshing thoughts Her Father replyed that in Heaven there are no sweats or colds no sickness or weakness Whereupon she began to speak at first very sparingly with long stops and pauses through weakness of body and stoppage of breath but after a little while she spake wonderfully quick and fast faster than ordinarily when in health Thus she began When Shimei cursed Dovid some that were nigh would have gone and taken off his life but David replied let him curse the Lord hath bid him David was a great and noble person and Shimei was a wicked man and should David so noble a Person take it so patiently as to say let him curse And I am a little piece of dust not so much as this pointing at her singers end yea not so much as this holding up the utmost corner of a linnen cloth yea I am nothing nothing nothing to thee Lord and shall the Lord from himself thus visit me and shall not I bear it patiently that have deserved infinitely infinitely infinitely more Let the Lord do to me and with me what pleaseth him Here a little stop afterward thus My Dear Parents you must not suffer your inferior part meaning the Flesh corruption and Carnal Affections as afterward she expressed her self you must not suffer your inferior part to rise up and prevail over the higher and spiritual part You must not murmur or repine whatsoever befals me Know that there is nothing comes to pass by Fortune or Chance Gods will cannot be altered or changed in the least His Will is Holy Just and Good and howsoever it be with me it is according to the Good Will of God Then she called for some cordial and her Father stept a little out of her presence When he was come again she thus spake Have you been with the Father There hath been and there is one with the Father meaning Jesus Christ our Intercessor as afterward she expressed her self for me and tho I am filthy dust yet the Goodness of the Father hath followed me all the days of my life and it is the Lords mercy that you and I and all others are not consumed I see that his compassions fail not The Lord doth not grieve or afflict the Children of men willingly and tho he afflict yet he will not cast off and the Lord is breathing in more breath to make me ready a living Soul for himself I have lived twenty years as I take it from your selves but I have been a sinful piece of dust yet there is enough in him to make me white again I am in a weak house but I wait for a house in Heaven whose Builder and Maker is God I desire my dear Parents and dear Sisters that my words may be in sincerity and may take deep root in you through the Spirit of God Then she took a little Liquor after which she proceeded thus I desire that the words I speak may be with a sanctified Spirit and pure conscience I have lived in the world and have been so * Tho she thus speak of her self yet she was a very lowly and humble maid high I would not be contented with this and that but did still look higher but that was vanity Now I see it is better to live in the Courts of the Lord than in the Tents of wickedness tho it were ten thousand years Now I desire you my dear Parents and Sisters I do not know how long I shall live neither doth any man know his time but if you live to see such a time that this my weak Tabernacle lie before you you would not be moved at it but say good is the will of the Lord in all his doings I am sorry that I should bestow so much of the breath that the Lord hath given me in vain words but there is enough in Jesus Christ to make it up again I rejoice to see you my dear Parents and Sisters but I should rejoice more to see you in our Fathers house If we do well here it will be well with us in our Fathers house and howsoever it be with me now I hope it will be well with me when this Tabernable is dissolved I have desired sometimes to live in some Town or City but the Lord in his Providence hindred it and it was to fit me for his heavenly City I am sorry for nothing that ever I have done but what hath not been agreeing to the good will of God Concerning my being next to God who was the first Author and chief Giver thereof I received it from you my Parents and I do return hearty thanks to God and also to you and as for my being so for my maintenance I give thanks to God and to you unfeigned thanks I am sorry for the dishonour the great great great dishonour I have done against the Great God and next for the dishonour to you My Sisters I desire you to mind the things of the eternal Spirit if you neglect now while here you will lose it for ever and if you do not find your selves striving against sin now you will not find the benefit hereafter Here a little pause afterward thus This Night hath been a painful one but yet a sweet night to me the sweetest that ever I have enjoyed I have had many sweet inward refreshings in it I have sometime thought to speak of spiritual things but could not the flesh hath hindred but now I will keep the flesh under I have heard my Saviour say you must not think what you shall speak and now I find it so He Christ is my Saviour You were talking last night of Mr. * A Godly Ministor who departed this life a little before this i me Whiddon and I think as I believed that he was a good man I have some time grieved and stranged at it that God takes away such †He being as to his age in the best of his time men but then I thought as men gather their fruit and as you that have but a little do by your †It being the time of Gathering in such fruit apples you gather them in for store and use hereafter and you take some delight therein and you may do so so the Father when he hath made his servants ripe then he gathers them to himself for store for eternity and he
received it but mostly for himself his Christ and Grace to her At other times thanking her Parents acknowledging that next to God she derived her Being from them she thanked them also for her Maintenance she thanked those that Watched with and attended her And once when a Reverend Minister visited her whom she often heard and from whom she sometimes received the Lord's Supper when able to go though at this time very weak and much faultered in her speech yet when she saw him she stir'd up her self with much difficulty and forcing her self to speak said I heartily heartily heartily thank you and I thank God for you for all the good I have received by your means With many other good words she spake to him She was restless in desiring the Prayers of godly Ministers and People And if at any time she felt the least abatement of her pain she would forthwith say to those present ' Go praise God for this Her Holy Care for the Spiritual and Soul-good Of her Holy Care both of Relations and others she much evidenced Partly in her speech on her bed of which before and in her Written Paper she had delivered to her Brothers and Sisters with a charge given by her and taking a promise from them they joyntly receiving it of making improvement thereof to the Glory of God and the good of their own Souls And partly in her suitable distribution of some choice Books that she had with the same charge given to and promise taken from those that were present and some Books she gave to others at a remote distance whom she will'd might have the like charge when the Books were delivered them And said she tell such an one naming one that I thought she had had more care of her Soul before of late when she and I were some days and nights in one house together but then I observed that which since hath made me afraid of her and have shed many tears in seeking God for her The like she said she had done for one of her Brothers with hopes that God would hear her prayers for him And partly in her constant minding others to prepare for Death and Eternity as hath somewhat been hinted before and likewise several other instances thereof might be given Two days before she died she charged one of her near * M. W. Relation and one of her Sisters that was present to be witness and to mind her of it though very badly able to speak That Christ came to Redeem sinners and to seek and save that which was lost Will you remember it and believe it and cost your self upon him for Salvation many other good words worth observing were spoken by her For some days before she died she would often say I had wont to say since on my bed O spare me a little before I go hence c. but now I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ And O when shall I appear before God and yet not because of my pain but I long to know more of the affairs of the Kingdom of Heaven for I know very little thereof while here At another time Thus O what an astonishing admiration will it be at first when I come to Heaven to be in the immediate presence of God and Christ and of such an innumerable company of Blessed Angels and Glorified Saints Once she spake somewhat long what her Perswasion was concerning the Non-conforming Ministers which I shall here omit For more than Six weeks after she first kept her bed she took nothing within her Lips but now and then a spoonful of Sack which gave her occasion thus to speak Here I take a little Wine to do me good but wo to them that drink up whole Bowls thereof and that follow strong drink until night till Wine inflame them She would often be speaking of God's Presence with her and admiring God's goodness in providing for her saying I see God and his goodness every day present in this Room yea within these Curtains I see his holy Angels here present round about me for my good they are Ministring Spirits for me and are always present for God taketh care for me and sends them to be helpful to me in bringing every drop of Liquor I receive and in helping me to receive it and in every breath I draw O the goodness of the great God in coming down to help such a poor worm as I am On a time when she had often repeated a Verse of Scripture one that was present asked whether she did intend and desire that it should be Preached upon after her Death No said she it matters not to me whether there be any Preaching upon that occasion or not but my desire is that it may be Preach'd home here pointing towards her heart on mine and your hearts After my departure said she then say No sighs nor groans from her do come But Everlasting Joys are in the room Another time thus Coffin this Corpse and lay 't in Grave A Glorious Rising it shall have She would often say some one or part of one of Barton's Hymns but mostly Hymn the 49th against love of the World and the 69th concerning Redeeming of Time both of the first Cent. Some Verse of a Psalm or Hymn or Scripture-sentence she would say when able to speak About the middle of the time of her keeping Bed having a little ease one present was hoping she might Recover again and that shortly she should see her up again in that Chair pointing to one in the Room O no she replyed I am pressing on towards the Mark c. and that would be a drawing back and I would rather go on to be with Christ than go back if it were to enjoy thousands of Gold and Silver therefore do not you tell me of that which will draw back now I am so earnestly pressing on Once seeing one whom she dearly affected pensive and sorrowful said she Those that depart from Iniquity shall undergo many Reproaches it being the very case of the Person to whom it was spoken Towards the latter end of her Sickness she would often breathe forth Saying Come Lord Jesus come quickly and O how I long to be with thee that I may know how it is there And in her last Night and but a little while before she Departed when her Speech was almost gone it was very little and low and could hardly be understood she said O Lord God King of Heaven and Earth how dearly do I love thee I love thee I love thee I love thee often repeating it those that watched think it was more than twenty times She gave a Solemn farewel to her Parents Brothers Sisters and Friends and Acquaintance and to those that Watched and to several others that visited her These were some and but some of the Gracious Speeches uttered by her after she kept her Bed And though there hath been this Collection thereof before mentioned yet they are
good that can secure them against all evil therefore compared to such things as shelter persons in danger as to a sheild Gen. 15.1 Wall of fire Zech. 2.5 And that he can fill them with all good being the God of all grace and in whom are all the treasures of Heaven and Earth and infinitely more the God of all comfort 2 Cor. 1.3 the God of peace that fills with all joy Rom. 15.13 2. They know further that God is a proportionable suitable good They know that nothing can give true comfort but that which hath a relation and beareth a proportion to their souls and to all the exigences of it Now God is the only suitable good He is suitable to all their wants and necessities he is an object every way for kind and quality suitable and commensurate to all their cases and conditions A man that is thirsty finds his stomack craving the veins do suck and pull and draw for cooling and moistning now give this person Company Musick Silver Gold yet here is no sati action for these are not suitable to his condition still he thirsts but give him drink and then it is well with him so it is with the souls of Gods people they are full of cravings and longings give them the profits and pleasures of the world these do not abate their desires for these do not answer the souls nature and therefore cannot answer its necessities but let them enjoy God this is a proportionable suitable good and this satisfies and therefore it is that Gods people do so long after God 3. They know God is a permanent good and therefore that he alone can make them happy The soul can enjoy no perfection of happiness if it be not commensurate to its own duration Gods people understand this and believe this that God only is an indeficient a never-failing good a fountain that can never be drawn dry a treasure never to be emptied one whose perfections never leave himself and one who never leaves any that ever truly injoyed him 4. They know that though God be never so perfect suitable and sure good yet it is no comfort to them unless they have an Interest in him That which must make them truly happy must be a propriety in God that they may be able to say with the Church Psal 48.14 This God is our God for ever and ever And Psal 67.6 God even our own God shall bless us They know that this Pronoun our is as much worth to their Souls as the boundless God all is wrapt up in this Propriety Luther hath a saying Much Religion lieth in Pronouns Truly all the Consolation of Saints lyeth in this Pronoun our God the all of Believers depend on this therefore it is observable How David doth roul this as a lump of Sugar under his Tongue as one loath to lose the sweet savour of it too soon Psal 18.1 2. I love thee O Lord my strength The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer my God and my strength my buckler the horn of my salvation and my high tower This Pronoun My and Our is the door at which the King of Saints entreth into our hearts with his whole train of delights and comforts and therefore it is that the desires of God's people are so much carried out after God Before I speak to the third Particular in my proposed Method I shall make some Improvement of what already hath been spoken Vse 1. If this be the Character of God's People thus earnestly to long after God Hence we may see the difference that is between Gods People and the Men of the world They as you have heard have vehement ardent longings after God But these have their affections thoughts longings desires after the thing of the World Ease Pleasure Wealth Honours and the like There is nothing that they desire and which they think worthy the pursuing of but onely these things God is not in all their thoughts as the Psalmist saith Psal 10.4 They are thirsty for worldly things they cry out as Psal 4.6 Who will shew us any good The way to be rich and great in the world Whence is this I conceive upon a double account 1. The men of the world know no other good than that which the world affords It is as true as a common observation Ignoti nulla cupido The good which is not known is not desired before any thing raises the Affection it must first touch the apprehension it must begin there Now the apprehension of the most are very low and confin'd in this particular They think there is no other happiness than the enjoyment of these outward things and therefore they desire and endeavour no other Solomon hath exprest it well to us speaking as it is conceived in the person of an Epicure and worldly man Eccles 2.24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour and Eccles 8.15 Nothing better under the sun than to eat drink and be merry Here is the heaven of a Worldly person and because he knoweth no other therefore he desires no other if thou knowect the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee Give me to drink thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water saith our Saviour to the Woman of Samaria Joh. 4.10 Therefore she did not ask for it because she knew it not and so it is likewise with all others besides They knew no better than Carnal things and therefore desire no other 2. As it proceeds from want of knowledge of God so it likewise proceeds from want of relish and savour of the things of God though some may in some general confused manner apprehend that the enjoyment of God is the best happiness yet they have not any Spiritual relish of the sweet streams of Grace that flow from him from whence they might desire him They have no such Principles in them as to close and comply with God The Apostle speaking of himself and all believers saith 1 Cor. 2.12 We have not received the spirit of the World but the spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God You see here it is for the Spirit of God and this Spirit received by us and in us that we know the things of God and this is opposite to the spirit of the world which savours onely the things of the world This is a sure rule that mens desires do partake of their dispositions look what the men themselves are such are the desires that issues from them as our Saviour speaks to the Jews Joh. 8.23 Ye are from beneath I am from above ye are of this world I am not of this world And what doth he infer from it even this that therefore there were different and contrary desires in them from himself because they were of the World
therefore they minded onely Worldly Matters and things from below And so it is with all others besides they have Worldly Earthly Unsavoury dispositions in them and therefore they desire no other things than such as may be suitable to them Oh that people would bethink themselves and lay to heart their notorious folly in letting out their affections upon such poor mean things of the world a little airy honour an empty pleasure beggarly treasures things of nought Amos 6.12 A Fashion 1 Cor. 7.31 A Fancy Act. 25.23 Vanities Eccles 1.2 Uncertain perishing things all the enjoyments and comforts of the world they are but as liquor in a brittle glass soon crackt and soon lost A Great Man a Bishop once boasted of three things that he could not lose his Riches Learning the Kings Favour but a while after in seeking a blessing on his meat he could not speak sence was forced to beg relief and before he died professed he was sure the King did care more for the worst of his dogs than for him Oh take off your affections from all worldly things study God his insmite perfections that he is an all-sufficient good a suitable permanent everlasting good and that you can never be truly happy till you have an interest in him Oh let out your affections after him Vse 2. Of Exhortation Consider your selves look into your selves where are your desires which way and to what coast do these winds of your souls drive you Is it towards God or towards the world You crave and thirst and long and desire something there is which you would have and cannot be satisfied till you have it now what is it Is it the husks of this world or is it bread Do you pant after the dust of the earth according to the Prophets Phrase Amos 2.7 Or with the Church The desire of our souls is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee Isa 26.8 You are hungry and thirsty unquiet and unsatisfied what is the matter Do you like the dry earth gape and cleave for showers to bring forth Corn and wine Is the voice of your hearts Who will shew us any good or is it Lord lift up the light of thy countenance upon us Physitians judg of the state of their Patients bodies by their appetites they who long for trash speak their stomach foul they who hunger afer wholsom food are esteemed to be in health so ye may judge of the estate of your souls by your desires if you chiefly desire the trash of the world your spiritual state is not right But if you can say with David Psal 73.25 Whom have I in heaven but thee and here is none upon earth that I desire besides thee Blessed are you of the Lord you are in a safe condition but here have a care that your desires be qualified as I spake of before that they be constant desires not occasional desires as it is with some when at a Sermon or in time of danger and fear of death O then such cry out O for an interest in God for a reconciled God but after a while these desires are off again which argues them not to be a thirst which still holdeth on and increaseth changeable desires are false desires and look to it that your desires be ardent desires vehement not low flat weak indifferent as it is with many they pray as if they prayed not seek as if they seek not not pressing not wrestling striving with God Spiritual thirsts are not lazy wishes nor indifferent formal lukewarm requests there is alwayes an edg upon that spiritual appetite which we call thirsting Oh I beseech you consider your selves and know that this is your great interest to have ardent fervent desires after God and that you cannot be contented without an interest in his favour The third thing to be spoken to is Wherein the people of God chiefly long after God and pant to appear before him To this I shall say They do according to the exhibitions and conveyances that God makes of himself to his people Now know that God doth convey himself to his people 1. Here on earth in the way of his Ordinances 2. in Heaven by the immediate communication of himself And in both these respects they vehemently desire after God To speak to these two a little 1. Gods people desire God in ordinances thus it was with David here in this Psalm this was his great desire and longing he was debarrred of the ordinances and now he longs and thirsts after God with a great deal of vehemency and intention Now his soul thirsteth for God It appears that he desired after God in ordinances by that which is said in the 4th verse When I remember how I had gone with the multitude I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise with a multitude that kept holy day He minds the happiness of his former condition I had gone with the multitude I went to the house of God and we may see what impression this made upon his spirit when he compar'd his former condition with his present his very soul was grieved saith he When I remember these things I pour out my soul in me and this made him to break out in these words Oh when shall I appear before God and Psal 63.1 2. When he was in the Wilderness of Judah My soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in thy sanctuary He desires to be restored to the publick ordinances and to his former injoyments of them he would have communion with God in his Ordinances he would have that communion which he had formerly so Psal 84.1 2 How amiable are thy tabernacles O Lord of Hosts My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh crïeth out for the living God Yea he envieth the bird the sparrow and the swallow who might come near the Altars when he was thrust from them and crieth out Blessed are they that dwell in the house of God ver 3 4. and Psal 27.4 One thing have I desired of the Lord that I will seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple His desire to enjoy God in ordinances had the chief place in his heart above all earthly desires and delights whatsoever one thing have I desired this only thing that I may dwell in the house of the Lord so again Psal 119.20 My soul breaketh for the longing it hath unto thy judgments at all times my soul breaketh What ardent strong desires were in the heart of David after the ordinance No question but David had communion with God in prvate in his closet in his own heart he was not neglective of private duties but frequent
right hand there are pleasures for evermore Under this are comprehended those great and glorious things that make up and compleat the positive happiness of the Saints 1. As to their Souls 2. As to their Bodies 3. As to their Company 1. As to their Souls Their understanding being inlarged and widened shall have a right knowledg of all things a clear sight and vision of God Now we know but in part saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 13.12 but then shall we know even as also we are known The will shall be perfected with an absolute indefective holiness with an exact conformity to the Will of God and perfect Freedom from all servitude of Sin The affections shall be set right by an unalterable regularity there shall be a constant cleaving to God a constant loving him without satiety or weariness The Soul shall enjoy a full imediate uninterrupted Communion with God and fruition of him While we are here we are absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 Here our comforts are in and through Ordinances but there God will be all in all immediately 2 Cor. 15.28 2. As to their Bodies There shall be glory upon them they shall be made like the glorious body of Christ Phil. 3.21 What that is was in some glimpse of it seen in Christs transfiguration Matt. 17.2 His face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light that was a little glimpse and specimen of the future visible glory of Christ and the Saints shall be like him they shall shine forth as the Sun Matt. 13.43 Their Bodies shall be indued with new and glorious qualities as incorruption immortality strength and power activity nimbleness Their Bodies shall be spiritual not that the Body shall be turned into a Spirit but the Body shall then live as Spirits and Angels do without Meat Drink Sleep and such like bodily Supports and shall be perfectly conformable and obedient and subservient to the Operations of the Spirit the ready Instrument of the Soul 3. As to their Company They shall be blessed oh the blessed Company that is in the new Jerusalem God Christ Angels Saints And that which Crowns all the Saints shall have the perpetual injoyment of all this blessedness secured to them without any fear of losing it or being deprived of it The Saints shall never put of their glorious Robes after they have once put them on their State is a sure eternal State of actual delights Upon these accounts the people of God do long and pant after the immediate fruition and presence of God in Heaven Vse Let us consider our selves by this property Have we desires after God thus Truly it is to be feared that abundance that do live under the preaching of the Word from whence are held forth such glorious things to be conveyed by God in the immediate fruition of him do not believe or at least do not desire the same but they are well contented with their Portion here on Earth like that Cardinal of Burbon who professed that he would not give his part in Paris for his part in paradise There are they that are of this mind they would think themselves well a paid if there were no other Heaven nor no change of their estates that they have here in this world But I beseech you see to it that you be of another temper and disposition that ye are panting after God in Heaven To this purpose practice these counsels 1. Endeavour after a settled and well-grounded assurance that you have an interest in Gods special love and favour and that you are of the number of those that shall one day be admitted into the immediate presence of God that you may be able to say with the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens Labour after this pray much for this It is our Saviours own direction Joh. 16.24 Ask that your joy may be full O sweet consideration that it is the Mind and Will of Christ that we should seek for full joy and peace in believing And take this for an evidence that you shall be admitted to the immediate presence of God if you seek and and enjoy Communion with God in his Ordinances if you do behold him in the beauties of holiness through these glasses I say this is a pledg a beginning and so an evidence of that full Communion you shall have with him in Heaven and of your seeing him there face to face Are your Sabbath-days days of Communion with God that is a sweet evidence that you shall keep an everlasting Sabbath with him in glory but if strangers to God and profane-hearted on Sabbaths you cannot be for Heaven 2. Be in an actual preparation of your selves for it Spouses and Brides that wish and look for their beloved prepare for their coming to them and prepare for their going to them so do you prepare your selves for the enjoyment of God in Heaven To this purpose observe these Rules 1. Labour after the mortifying and subduing of sin especially your most beloved sin Your own iniquity as David calls it Psal 18.23 While that prevails that darkens the sincerity and efficacy of grace in the Soul breaks the peace thereof grieves the holy Spirit therefore remember what the Apostle saith 1 Joh. 3.3 He that hath this hope of seeing God purifieth himself as he is pure Hence when the Apostle would raise up people to an heavenly frame he calls on them to mortifie their special corruption Col. 3.1 5. We find these joyned together denying ungodliness and worldly lusts and looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Tit. 2.13 14. 2. Be loosned from the World for while staked down and fixed here you are unfit and unready to remove to Heaven It is he that is a stranger and pilgrim on the Earth and that dwells in Tents here ready on a short warning to pluck up stakes and be gone that is a faithful seeker of that better country and a traveller toward it Heb. 11.9 10 13 14. You cannot have two homes nor two rests nor two portions if you take up your home and rest in the World you are not prepared nor principled for Heaven nor fit to go thither Be loosning and drawing off your hearts every day from the World expect not either a perpetual nor yet a long abode here Be sensible of the vanity and emptiness of things here be often thinking of and expecting and waiting for your removal from hence into another World 3. Be finishing of your work and to that end continually doing your present work with all your might do what God hath appointed and called you to is there any work that lies upon your hand that conscience tells you should be done without delay as to get your selves setled in the assurance of Gods love