past being dead the future unborn and onely the narrow compass of the present all that man can challenge We know not how soon death may overtake us when we are sent into the world the greatest part of our errand is to dye and the onely business of our life to prepare for death We are not certain to be Masters of one minute of time when we begin to breath the next moment may be our last How many have lien down to take a healthful sleep that have wak't in another world Death saith a learned man lies in wait for us in all places and there 's no escaping his tyranny Death borders upon our Births and our Cradles stand in our Graves How many have we seen carried from the Womb to the Tomb from the Birth to the Burial and what a short cut hath the longest liver from the Grave of the Womb to the Womb of the Grave Ever since the fall of our first Father death hath ranged through the world and made a general slaughter of mankinde sparing none The most eloquentest Orator that ever was could never charm him nor the potentest Monarch that ever breathed could never bribe him the greatest Warriour that ever was death hath civilized and made a green turf or weather-beaten stone cover that body that living a Lordship could not cloathe or the world contain the most famous persons that ever the world enjoyed hath death laid at his feet without regard either to Worth Dignity Majesty Youth or Age Sex or Condition he favours not the best nor spares the worst Samson with all his strength Absolon with all his beauty Josiah with all his zeal David with his conquests and Solomon with his glory Crasus with his wealth and Irus with his poverty Lazarus with his boyles and Dives with his bravery the Beggar with his rags and the Courtier with his robes all come under the rugged imbraces of this grim Sergeant He spared not Innocency it self but had the confidence to look the Son of the Highest in the face arrests him and keeps him three dayes his prisoner in the Grave The mortal Sythe is master of the Royal Scepter and it mows down the Lillies of the crown as well as the grass of the field death uses no civillity to Princes more then Pesants he findes them out in their Palaces and it may be in their most retired Closets and handles them no otherwise then the meanest person in the street Death saith a learned Divine suddainly snatcheth away Physicians as it were in scorn and contempt of Medicines when they are applying their preservatives and restoratives to others as it is storied of Caius Julius a Chyrurgeon who dressing a sore Eye as he drew the Instrument over it was struck by an Instrument of death in the act and place where he did it Besides diseases many by mischances are taken as a bird with a bolt while he gazeth at the bow Death is that King against whom there is no rising up which all men are sure to meet with whatever they miss of but when that 's unknown Of Dooms-day there are signs affirmative and negative not so of death every day we yield something to him our last day stands the rest run And how should this put us all in minde to prepare for death that he snatcheth us not away at unawares Whatsoever thou takest in hand therefore remember thine end saith the wise Man and thou shalt never do amiss No thoughts so wholsome as those of death and none so profitable as those of our end We read of Isaac that he brought his new Bride Rebecca into his Mother Sarahs Tent thereby to moderate those Nuptial pleasures with the thoughts of her Memory whose Corps but few dayes before were carried thence And King Saul was no sooner anointed but Samuel sends him by Rachels Sepulchre lest his new greatness of being a King might puff him up and make him to forget that he was a man We read of many heathens who did so much contemplate on their mortality as their discourses their houses and their tables should be constant Monitors of it The Aegyptians were wont to carry about their Tables a Deaths head at their greatest feasts and the Emperours of Constantinople on their Coronation day had a Mason appointed to present unto them certain Marble-stones using these words or to this purpose Choose mighty Sir under which of thesâ— Stones Your pleasure is ere long to lay your Bones And 't is storied of Philip King of Macedon that he caused a Lackey everâ— morning to awake him with that shâ— Memento of Sir remember that you arâ— a man Shall heathens be thus mindful 〈◊〉 their dissolution and shall we put thoâ—â— thoughts far from us surely no but â—â—ther cogitate of it and make every dâ—â— our last Certainly did we but considâ—â— that we are Men that all our actioâ—â— stand upon record and shall one day be impartially rewarded We should so demean our selves every day as men that endeavoured that no action of any day should be such as should stand against us at the last Young men remember this you that may promise your selves many dayes upon earth let not every day that is added to your life bring new sins with it but let grace be added to your dayes that so your last dayes may be better then your first and your burial day better then your birth as the wise Man speaks Make God the Alpha and Omega of all your actions and remember him in your work and he will remember you in the reward remember him as an Omniscient and Omnipotent God one that beholds all thy actions and will reward them remember him in thy youth and let him have thy best dayes as well as thy worst the blossoms of thy Youth as well as the leaves of thy Old age and be sure that thou spend the glory of thy years as well as the dregs of thy age in his service so shall thy life be prosperous thy death happy and thy resurrection glorious On the contrary if thou forget him now a day will come when he will not remember thee but strangely excommunicate thee with a depart from me for I know you not therefore ever bear this wholsome lesson in minde and forget it not Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy Youth It may be some may think that Old Men come not within the verge of this exhortation and that Solomon had nothing to say to them when he directed his speech to the Young Man I answer that Old Men are more concerned to take notice of this then the Young man and thus I prove it Young Men are but newly come into the world and they must have some time to look about them Old Men are ready to leave the World and 't is not long ere they must render an account to God for all their actions 'T is but the dawning of the day with the Young Man but night begins to shew it self
and swells highest in a joyfull imitation when she is in the Spring-tyde of her light either towards the heavens as in the change or towards the earth as in the full and as she doth wax or wain so doth he either flow into a Pleuresie or ebb into a Consumption of his waters And even thus is the World the Page of Fortune whose unconstant and ever changing motions do hurry about like spokes in a wheel the condition of all Mortalls We have it confirmed to us by a more then humane authority 1 Cor. 7.31 That the glory of this world passeth away An Hour-glasse doth change its posture every hour and that part which was even now above is now below that which was but now full is now empty nor can one side be filled but by emptying the other Such is the world every moment turn'd upside down and men are now full now empty Nor can they often fill themselves without the ruine and prejudice of others and although sometimes it be at the full of glory yet is it even then like her also mingled with the spots of adversity and subject to the change of every moment And therefore as 't is reported at the Consecration of the Popes the Master of the Ceremonies going before carries in one hand a burning Taper in the other a stick with some flax tied on the top thereof which he setting on fire cries with a loud voice Pater sancte Sic transit gloria mundi Holy Father so passeth away the glory of this world The plenty of Histories in this kinde exceeds our Arithmetick Every particular mans condition almost being a volumn of the worlds fraily and a constant witness of its inconstancy Adonibezek who had been the Triumphant Victor over 70. Kings and in his wanton cruelty had cut off their thumbs c. and made them pick up the crumbs under his table enforcing the Act and depriving them of thâ—â—â— power making them do that which hâ— had disenabled them to perform was ere long in full measure paid home for his cruel frolicks which made him cry out that he was justly requited Judges 1.7 Nabucadnezzars unparallel'd Metamorphosis who knoweth not who from a man and so great a King became a beast in nature now as he was in practice before to shew that when men sin against the light of nature they may sufferagainst the law of nature It is reported of Dimetrius one of Alexander the Great 's Captains that in the whole circle of his life being sixty four years after the measure of his age had stil'd him a man never continued three years in one condition Of Julius Caesar also that great awer of the world and victorious Martialist it is doubted whether in the whole course of his life fortune were an indifferent Arbitrer to him of good and evil success but in the sadness of his death no doubt all his lifes happinesse was exceedingly over-bâ—lanced who in the Zenith and highest erection of his glory with twenty three wounds the deepest whereof given him by his dearest Brutus in the Senate House yielded up his life a sacrifice to the peoples liberty The like unhappy change pursued the ever renowned and once highly advanc't General Bellizarius who after he had triumphed over the Persians and reduced to the Roman obedience all Africa and Italy so long possest by the Goths and Vandalls his wife that was given him for an help became the onely help to his destruction whose insolent behaviour against the Empresse like windes thrown upon the seas rais'd such billows of indignation in the Emperour that this mans fortune was put to utter shipwrack not onely to the loss of his goods but of the means by which he might get more his sight and forc't to beg his bread with a Da Obolo Bellizario Thus he that had made Armies fly Kingdoms quake and Kings his Captives is now an humble Petitioner to the meanest for a bit of bread 'T is storied of Dyonisius King of Syracusa that he represented the brittle felicity of his Kingdom to his Parasite Democles who had made his happiness to seem exceeding great through the multiplying-glass of his flattery by seating him in a Royal Throne at a sumptuous banquet with all the state and glory of the Kingdom about him but withal a naked sword hanging over his head onely held by a horse-hair which every minute threatned his destruction It was the custom of the ancient Romans in their triumphs for a slave to ride behinde in the Chariot with the Triumpher who did often whisper unto him to look behinde him there being likewise a Whip and a Bell tied to the Chariot to admonish him that notwithstanding the present exaltation his honour he might be brought to such a degree of calamity as to be scourged or put to death of which the Bell was the sign How hath the world frowned on those she sometimes smil'd and made them that seem'd the happiest most miserable Instance Pompey that famous Warrior for his eminency stil'd the Great who after all his victories and triumphs put to a violent death and that head taken off by the hands of a Traytour that had so oft been adorn'd with victorious Laurels and being dead denied a burying place Queen Cleopatra once so formidible as to be rather fear'd then contemn'd by her neighbour Princes she drank Jewels desolv'd a draught worth a Kingdom expir'd on a dunghill Guillemer King of the Goths who long reigned in so much prosperity but taken Prisoner by Bellizarius was reduc't to so much misery that he onely beg'd these things of the Conquerour Bread and Water the one to keep him from famishing the other from thirst a spunge to wipe his eyes and a harp to tune his sorrows to Andronicus Emperour of the East a man of such large and vast Dominions that his very name was terrible to all Neighbour-Kings all his glory is eclipst in one Battel and he delivered into the hands of those who think themselves happy in inventing and inflicting new tortures he is thrown into the common Goal where the best sents are the excrements of nature taken thence and derided and abus'd through the streets of the City put to open disgrace in the Market-place and to the further grief of so great a spirit the muddy brain'd Rabble are both his Judges and Executioners Alexander the Great who was said to conquer the World could not guard his own person from a violent and untimely death He that had vanquisht a world was himself overcome by an inferiour person in it poysoned to death and his corpse for thirty dayes denied a burying place his Conquests above ground gave him no title to a possession under ground So our William the Conquerour lay three dayes unburied he that had vanquisht Kingdoms living is denied six foot of ground being dead Coriolanus that famous Grecian who was once admir'd and fear'd of all murthered openly in the Market-place at Antium and none to pitty
THE PILGRIMS PASS To the New JERUSALEM OR The serious CHRISTIAN his Enquiries after HEAVEN With his Contemplations on himself reflecting on his Happiness by CREATION Misery by SIN Slavery by SATAN and Redemption by CHRIST Together with Observations on the Vanity and Inconstancy of worldly Glory And Considerations on the Saint and Sinner as to their disagreeing conditions and dispositions here their various Entertainments of Death and different Rewards after Death Relating to those four last and great things of Death Judgement Hell and Heaven Seasonable for these Times By M. R. Gent. Phil. 3.14 I press towards the mark c. 1 Cor. 9.24 So run that ye may obtain London Printed by R. W. for the Author and are to be sold by John Andrews at the White Lion near Pye-Corner and by William Lugger at the Sign of the Kings Head over against the Shire-Hall in the City of Hereford 1659. To all those that love the Peace of Zion and welfare of Jerusalem Grace and Peace be multiplied FRIENDS THe Life of a Christian is not onely Speculative but Active speculation and action like the Soul and Body attend each other in performing the Duties of Christianity The most Wise God hath ordered and determined a set time for Man upon earth to fit and prepare himself for an everlasting condition how then are we all concern'd to redeem that short time we have allowed us which we know not how soon may be taken from us to enter into a strict examination of our wayes knowing that one day all our thoughts words and actions even our most retired and secret sins shall be exposed to the view both of Men and Angels O Time one of the most glorious things that ever God made how many blessed and glorious Spirits are now in Heaven for making a right use of thee And how many damned Ghosts are now in Hell for abusing thee who would now give a thousand worlds had they so many to dispose of for to have that opportunity we now enjoy to improve thee For mine own part I am but a yong Man who came into the world but as yesterday ere to morrow for ought I know may be taken hence For how many dayes are alloted me upon Earth none but the Ancient of days know wherefore during my continuance in this Tabernacle I desire to walk circumspectly that when my Lord shall come to call me to a reckoning I may like a good steward be found faithful of the charge committed to me You know his doom that hid his Talent in a Napkin It was in this consideration that I did now put Pen to Paper and raised my contemplations above the things of this world to those of a better in order to the gaining and attaining a right and title to that glorious undefiled and unfading Inheritance purchaste for Believers in the highest Heavens Let not any taxe me of Ambition for exposing my Lines to Publike view and my self to open Censure 'T was not to get me a Name but to further the weak Christian in his approaches towards Heaven Neither let any contemn the Work of this Author for the Author of this Work but remember that God can by weal means perform great matters Ravens those unclean Birds by the Law were Caterers to Elijah in his extremity at the Brook Cherith brought him bread and meat to sustain him he neither scorn'd those strange kinde of Purveyors or the Viands which they brought but admired the hand that sent it The Gifts and Graces of Gods Spirit are not to be slighted where ever found I speak not this by way of Ostentation but with a desire that my Readers would judiciously read ere they rashly censure and instead of carping at my failings correct their own that Love which covers a multitude of faults may cast the favourablest construction on mine 'T is Charity to judge well of others and Piety to look well to our selves If any thing of worth appear in me more then in the meanest person upon earth attribute it to him who is the giver of every good and perfect gift What have we that we have not received And let me further request you that after the clashing of Armor thunderings of Canons sound of Drums and the alarm of Trumpets you would in this your day enquire after your everlasting Peace and contest no longer about Niceties Circumstances and Shadows not worth contending for but for that one thing necessary which will reward your labours with no less then a Crown Our present division is a sad Omen of our future miseries and our â—…y unity would abundantly faciliate our desired felicity I wish we did all practise what we all profess Faith and Love we should all procure what we all desire Truth and Peace were we all united in the Tri-une-God we should not be thus divided one from another The Lord in his good time compose all our Differences that Malice Errour and Debate may return to the cursed Womb whence they deriv'd and all our Strife may end in this to excel each other in the power of Godliness and Christian Love For my Conclusion let me request you to vouchsafe a serious perusal of this small Manual and the Lord make it in some measure beneficial to you for next the Glory of God your good is chiefly aimed at by the Author And if this finde civil entetainment I shall if God prolong my life to finish what I have begun present you with something else In the mean time accept this as the earnest of his Love who subscribes himself Your Servant in our Immanuel M. R. The Contents of the following Book 1. ABrahams Profession and the Pilgrims Condition Or the inquiring Sojourner Directed A Meditation on Gen. 23.4 2. The Young Mans Monitor and Olds Mans Admonisher A Meditation on Eccles 12.1 3. Sin the cause of Sorrow and Death the effect of Sin A Meditation on 2 Sam. 24.14 4. Balaam's happy Wish and unhappy End A Meditation on Numb 23.10 5. The meritorious Ransom or the unparalleld Sufferings of the Son of God for the sons of Men. A Meditation on 1 Tim. 1.15 6. Observations on the Vanity and Inconstancy of worldly Glory 7. Considerations on the Saint and Sinner as to their disagreeing conditions and dispositions here their various entertainments of Death and different Rewards after Death reflecting on the Temporizing Professor illustrated and interlaced with the Historical Examples of Dying men 8. Godliness bearing its Rewards with it both here and here after and Sins pursuit of the Sinner to the other world Of the last Judgement and those succeding Events that ensue thereupon A Meditation on 1 Tim. 4.8 To his Judicious Friend the Author TO praise thy Work I need not though Divine It is enough I tell the world 't was thine Good Wine needs not a Bash the more I look The more I love the more I like thy Book So grave so wise in Youth Nature did place An August in thy Pen
whilst they were all fast bound up with a band they were secure either from cracking or bending but when once divided by one and one easily snapt asunder Whilst we are all under the bond of peace we are secured by Gods protection but when once divided at the Devils mercy Whilst we hold together we need not fear treating an enemy in the Gate but when once broke asunder with distractions a prey to them that hate us Remember that Joah and Abishai's united strengh put the Syrians and Ammonites to flight consider that ye have enemies enow abroad ye need not seek any so near home Make not those the objects of your malice that should be the bulwarks of your defence against the impetuous storms and batteries of an insnaring world a bewitching flesh and an envious Devil c. Know that there 's unity amongst wicked men for they hold together against the Righteous Simeon and Levi are Brethren in evil and shall we be at odds Nothing can be done well that 's not done in unity that 's not well done that 's done through discension The Apostle tells us That love is the fulfilling of the Law how then can the Law be fulfilled without love Those blessed Angells who wellcomed the new Born Saviour into the world with a Song did in a short sentence express both Tables They sang Glory to God on High Good will to men Peace on earth makes joy in Heaven and those that will not embrace peace on earth shall have nothing to do with the God of peace or the peace of God in Heaven You know what our Saviour said to his Disciples By this shall men know ye have an interest in me if ye love one another If ever therefore ye expect to end in peace or have peace in the end be peaceable in your Pilgrimage so shall ye in good time arive at your journeyes end and be no longer strangers abroad but Kings at home The Young mans Monitor AND Old Mans Admonisher A Meditation on Eccles 12.1 THis golden Book of Ecclesiastes was pen'd by the wisest King upon his repentance and may be fitly stil'd King Solomons Recantation which he wrote after he rose from that fall occasioned through his inordinate love of strange women and after he had with all his Wisdom found out the true Natures of all things here below then this wisest of Kings wrote this Book in the Front whereof he gives a briefe but full description of all the Glory and Pleasures of this world Vanity of vanities saith the Preacher all is vanity Saith the Preacher something must be said to that Solomon the son of David the richest wisest and mightiest Monarch that then reign'd vouchsafes to take upon him the title of Preacher though the Preacher in these dayes must not think much of the worst of titles but no more of that Solomon having thus truly weighed all the pomps and greatness of this world in the balance of his understanding and finding them too light to give satisfaction to the enjoyers thereof in the end of this Book he gives a heavenly Exhortation tending to the attainment of that true felicity as will make those eternally happy that reach it Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man And for our better direction to keep Gods Commandments this last Chapter is usher'd in with a most excellent wholesome and seasonable Exhortation Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth Before I proceed further here must one Objection be remov'd Some may perhaps question the Preacher why he did not as well say Remember thy Creator in thy old age as in the dayes of thy youth I answer This memento is chiefly given to young men because they take the greatest liberty to wallow in all kinde of sensual pleasures and with the greatest eagerness to pursue the deceiving vanities of this world for now are their veins full of blood and their bones full of marrow and Repentance seems as unseasonable to them as Snow in Summer or Rain in Harvest Is not our youth say they given us to glut our selves with all kindes of pleasures and to walk in the wayes of our own hearts Shall I then sayes one grieve in my prime and repent for my crimes to hasten old age and make my smooth face full of wrinkles and bring gray hairs on my head ere I am an old man old age will fasten on me soon enough without all this let me therefore make hay while the sun shines and make the best use of my time I can to the utmost improvement of Pleasures and when I am growne so old as to be past using them I le cast them off and think of repentance and another world when 't is not possible to stay long in this These are the Common Pleas of Youth and therefore the Preacher looking upon them as the furthest from instruction and to stand in the greatest need of advice directeth his speech in a most especiall manner to them Remember now c. Young men have no more a lease of their lives then aged persons and there doth as many of them go to the grave as of older persons Death arrests some in their Cradles and many in their Infancy Childehood and Youth The dayes of man upon earth are but a shadow no certainty of any thing as of Death and nothing more uncertain then the time when and the maner how Come hither then thou darling of the world thou great favorite of flesh and blood thou whose Honors here are as blooming as the Lillies and Roses in thy youthful cheeks know Image that though thy Head be of Gold thy Body of Silver thy Feet are but of Clay If thou walk'st into the fields in the forward time of the Year thou canst not be unfurnisht of lively Emblemes of thy own Mortality how do the Lilly the Rose the Cowslip and the Gillyflower bemantle the earth as so many stars to represent Heaven glorious tapestry upon sight whereof you may easily be convinc't to believe That Solomon in all his glory was not arayed like one of these And yet how subject are they to fading pluck them and they are stubborn soon crapt assunder smell them and they wither and if the winde but blows over them they are gone and be no more And is it not so with thee doth not St. James compare our life to a vapor and that 's but short David to a span a thought a tale and those not long Isaiah to grass and the flower of the field and those you see not lasting But of all the sacred Limners in holy Scripture I finde Jobs pencil to be the freest in pourtraying man to stubble and that not standing neither to a leaf and that not fast but shaken and to a weavers shuttle and many other such transient resemblances He came something near the drawing man to the life who compared this life to a spot between two Eternities the time
in its sable Robes to the Old Man The Young Mans Sun is but newly risen the Old Mans is ready to set the Young Mans glass is but newly turned up the Old Mans sand is almost run out the Young Man is but newly come from the Grave of the Womb the Old Man is ready to go to the Womb of the Grave But it will be objected that the Young Man often leaves the World as soon as come in it onely begins to breathe and so breathes his last that many go away as well at the dawning of the day as at the approaches of the night and at Cocks crowing as in the afternoon and that the Young Mans Sun doth often set when but newly risen and his sand run out when his glass is but new turn'd up and that the Womb oftentimes become his Tomb. I grant all this that Young Men may dye by casualty or otherwise as manifold examples before our eyes do hourly manifest Young Men may dye but Old men must dye for nature is almost extinguisht in them and in all probability they cannot hold out long What are those gray Hairs but so many Monitors of their approaching Mortallity What are the shrinking of the Veins the coldness of the Blood the wasting of the Flesh the wrinkles in the Skin the numness of the Joynts the stiffness of the Limbs the weakness of the Sinews and the aches in the Bones but so many harbengers of death or friendly Memento's to minde them of their Graves and that those dayes are now come in which they may truly say They have no pleasure in them And what a time is this for repentance when the tongue begins to faulter deafness hath possest the ears dimness vail'd the eyes and the memory departed I confess 't is good to call upon God at any time even on our death-beds but 't is better that we make our peace with God ere sickness attache us Physicians observe that grief in time of sickness is the greatest enemy of health the greatest hinderer of Physick and the greatest hastner of death Indeed we should be ever prepar'd for that ere it comes that when we come to lie upon our sick beds there may be no discontent at it or disturbance in it and nothing to be done but to lie down and dye Late repentance is seldome good I will not say never true The example of the Thief upon the Cross forbids me that whom we know repented at the last hour he was saved at the last minute that none might despair and but he he had no fellow though another dyed with him thaâ— none might presume I will say of late repentance what a Father long since said in another case As their damnation is not certain so their salvation is doubtful My conclusion shall be this though you cannot remember this discourse be sure not to forget the Foundation on which 't is built Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy Youth Sin the Cause of Sorrow AND Death the Effect of Sin A Meditation on 2 Sam. 24.14 MY Contemplations are now fallen amongst Davids troubles and this I am now to treat of not the least he was a man that went through many afflictions and underwent many and great sufferings but neither time or the narrow limits I am confin'd to will give me leave to descant upon all his Troubles I shall therefore onely glance at some and speak home to this which may be term'd the greatest But before I treat of the Troubles of this man I shall speak something of this Man of Troubles give a short description of the Man then of his Sufferings The first mention we have of Davids name is in the 1 Sam. 16.11 and there we finde him under a four-fold description who he is what he was whence he was and when he liv'd First for his Parentage or Pedegree he was the son of Jesse the son of Obed c. of the Tribe of Judah and the youngest son of his Father Secondly for his Profession a Shepherd as most of his Fathers were before him but he soon relinquisht that kinde of life exchang'd his Crook for a Scepter and his Sheep-fold for a Throne became a publique Person and grew so famous that all places sounded with his Praises That 't were now but time lost to stand playing with his name or to use much discourse upon it for all that hear him mentioned know that he was a Prophet and a King and all other descriptions or definitions were altogether needless Thirdly for his Countrey he was of Bethlehem a City scituate in that Countrey which was the most renowned of the World and in the various dispensations of Gods Providence underwent several denominations For as an eminent Author judiciously observes it was first called the Land of Canaan from Canaan the son of Cham. Secondly the Land of Promise because the Lord had promised it to Abraham and his seed Thirdly Israel of the Israelites so called from Jacob who was surnamed Israel Fourthly Judea from the Jews or people of the Tribe of Judah Fifthly Palestine quasi Philistim the Land of the Philistims a potent Nation that once inhabited it And now sixthly The Holy Land because that herein was wrought the Work of our Redemption Now whether the Regality of the tribe of Judah was so predominant as to give a Name to the whole Countrey I determine not but this is certain that the little City of Bethlehem the place of Davids Nativity and thence called the City of David belonged unto and was a part of that Portion or Inheritance denomited to that Tribe when first this Countrey was conquer'd by the son of Nun. Fourthly the time when he lived it was in the dayes of King Saul upon whose disobedience David is by Gods appointment and approbation anointed King but not Sauls Competitor but Successor David did long shroud himself among the sheep-cotes ere he came to the Kingdom and for no short time in an ambitious eye did he content himself with the garb of a shepherd after he was anointed ere he was known to be a King or the son-in-law to one but the rayes of his fame did shine from under the mean veil of a shepherd that he could not be long concealed but the world must be witness of his glory Sauls Reign was very troublesome perpetual Wars betwixt him and the Philistines all his dayes and this shall make way for Davids greatness God many times keeps the best men for the worst times he loves to help at a dead lift and therefore David shall act for him at such a time when Saul and all Israel are at their wits ends then forth comes David arm'd with the power of Jehovah does wonders even to admiration turns the Israelites Fears into Triumphs and their Enemies Brags into Lachryma's The manner thus The Philistines had invaded the Land and put their Armies in a posture of Battle and King Saul having also assembled the Israelites to give
were so amaz'd at the proposal of those terrors for it that he breaks out into the discontented expressions of the Text And David said unto Gad I am in a great strait Had it not been for Sin Death had never fetcht his circuits through the world Neither Adam or any of his sons had never come under his power 'T was Sin that brought in those terrible Harbengers of Death those various kindes of sicknesses to afflict mankinde For as the shadow follows the body so plagues attend Sin and had the cause been wanting which is Sin the effects had never been which is Misery There had been no sweeping away of mankinde by Sword or Famine Famine should never have conquered his thousands or the Sword his ten thousands There should have been no wasting Consumption no grievous Gout nor groaning Stone or tormenting Collick no burning Feaver or quaking Ague nor trembling Palsie or loathsome Jaundies nor a thousand other Infirmities and Casualties which now attend frail man to his Grave But this is not all for Death eternal also is the reward of Sin which is the second Death Rev. 20.14 and may well be term'd a death and no death being a privation from all that 's good or to a life desirable and a constancy in suffering that which is evil even intollerable torments that shall never know either end or measure impossible for life to suffer did not an infinite Justice keep the tortured from dying for there the best company shall be Devils and the best musick Blasphemy The ear shall be entertained with the grievous screeches of parties condemned and hideous howlings of woful Devils the eye with no better prospect then damned Ghosts the taste with no greater dainties then grievous hunger the smell with no choiser odours then sulphurous brimstone and the feeling with those terrible extreams of burning and gnashing of Teeth In a word 't is a death because they are excommunicated from such glory as the wit of man is not able to express and 't is a life too or rather a living death because they are alive to endure such hellish torments as the learnedst pen is not abâ—e to delineate nor the eloquentest tongue to describe the rarest wit to imagine or the knowingest mortal to define Ever to be dying yet never dye This this shall be the unrepentant sinners portion Matth. 25.41 Rev 20 10. To conclude since the effects of sin reach not onely to heap plagues upon the sinner here but also everlasting torments upon soul and body hereafter â—hat manner of persons ought we to he in all holy conversation My advice is that we shun thâ—t cause which brings such sad effects avoid sin that we never partake of those plagues as the rewards of it And in order hereunto that we set a narrow watch over our thoughts words and actions that we give not way to the least temptation but kills this cockatrice in the egge destroy sin in the birth get the mastery of every corruption and bid defiance to the destructive alurements of our immortal enemy And because all of us brought such a load of gilt with us into the world as without an infinite mercy would sink us into that place whence is no redemption and being not of our selves not able so much as to think a good thought let 's make our addresses to that all sufficient Saviour who for our sakes wrought glorious salvation conquered Death Sin and Satan foiled the powers of darkness and led the devils in Triumph as his Captives Hos 13.14 1 Cor. 15.57 Let 's endeavour to have an interest in him that his merits may be imputed unto us and we may be cloathed with the long white robes of his righteousness Rev. 4.4 That at the great day of Audit we may hold up our heads with joy before that bar whence the wicked shall be sentenc't and rejoyce that all straits are at an end and all our miseries out of date that our sins and death are laid in one grave ever to be forgotten and forgiven and are now ready to take livery and seizin of that glorious incorruptible and unfading Inheritance which the Lion of the Tribe of Judah the Captain of the Lords host and of our salvation hath purchast for us and be ever enjoying that glory which Moses so earnestly desired onely to behold and eternally chant forth Halle lujahs to the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity to whom be ascrib'd by Men and by Angels here and hereafter all Honour and Glory Thanksgiving and Obedience World without End Balaams happy Wish ANDVnhappy End A Meditation on Numb 23.10 Let me dye the death of the Righteous and let my latter end be like hiâ— THese words were utter'd by Balaam the son of Beor of Mesopotamia the notedst Conjuror of those times whom Balak King of Moab sent for to curse Israel and being come for that purpose from the Mountains of the East to the high places of Baal beholds a glimpse of Heavens Glory and Israels happiness discovers better wages then Balak could give him greater preferment then Balak could exalt him to and infinitely more honour then was at Balaks disposal Balaam being in an extasie and as it were ravisht with the glory which he sees turns his prophesie into a prayer and his prayer is this Let me dye the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his Were these the words of a Sorcerer a better mouth might have spoke it we may well admire that so sweet a saying should proceed from so foul a mouth that such a flower of Paradise should grow on such a Dunghil that a stranger and an enemy to the God of Israel and the People of Israel should so excellently set forth the glory of the one and the happiness of the other and that he should have so much of heaven in so short a prayer Let me dye c. 'T was our Saviours question Matth. 7.16 Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles Here 's a Thorn brings forth Grapes an Inchanter with the expressions of a Prophet How can we sufsiciently admire the wisdome and power of God in making wicked men to sound forth his praises even the Devil himself to set forth the glory of the Father and proclaim the divinity of the Son Hard hearted Pharaoh must confess his power the Magicians his works and Balaam shall be sensible of his glory witness his Petition Let me dye c. A foul breath may make a Trumpet sound sweetly a crackt Bell may toll in others to Church a stinking carcase may have a honey-comb in it and a Sorcerer may speak good Divinity I am sure Balaam did and a prayer as excellent Let me dye the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his Hence observe that we are not to judge of any man by his words or pass our verdict by the out-side for many cry Templum Domini with their mouths that have the Devil in
their hearts and the Devil himself sometimes counterfeits an Angel of light Many make a fair profession of Christianity that speak well hear much and understand more upon examination you will finde by their actions that they have meerly a form of godliness but deny the power of it that at best will appear but like the Devil in Samuels Mantle We use to say that all is not gold that glisters and 't is as true that all are not holy that seem so all not Saints that have demure looks and specious pretences Our Saviour hath told us that the tree is known by his fruit and God that searches the reins knows the heart and judges of the outward actions by it Balaams words bespeak him both a Prophet and a Saint and he did as clearly prophesie of Christ as any Prophet of the Lord either before or after him and 't is thought by some that his Prophecy of a Star to rise out of Jacob c. drew those Persians King to attend the motion of that Star that appeared at our Saviours Incarnation 'T is most certain that Balaam spake so well that no man could speak better yet he could speak so bad that the Devil himself could not speak worse as when he advised the Moabites to send their Daughters to commit whoredom with the Israelites which occasioned the death of twenty four thousand Hebrews And so I pass from the Speakers description to the description of his Speech The speaker was Balaam and his speech or rather his prayer was Let me dye the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his Balaam is so taken with the rayes of that Glory he beholds at a distance that he grows impatient No more of life nothing in it so desirable No more of this world he sees more glory in the next and therefore courts death to convey him to that glory which he so much longs for Let me dye c. What could he not dye without asking leave without much intreaty death was ready to attend him and for want of help he might have been his own executioner and as King Saul did a long time after made his own sword to have given him his Mittimus to the grave No Balaam as bad as he was would not lay violent hands on himself he knew that God would not entertain any runnagate or straggling sons that came without his call That God who infus'd a living Soul into our Bodies when we began to be will not have that soul come forth till he require it 'T is written Revel 3.21 To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne To him that overcomes not to him that runs away to him that conquers not him that flies from his colours We are now but on our way not yet in our countrey In this world we must do our work in that to come we must have our wages Here we must fight under the Banner there we must receive if we deserve it the Crown This world is a Sea of trouble that a Haven of rest and those who to avoid the troubles of this rush themselves out by laying violent hands on themselves shall never reach the happiness of that For how can God afford Mercy to those who have none for themselves Balaam would dye but how There are saith one three sorts of death the death of Nature the death of Sin and the death of Grace or rather a gracious death or the death of the Just 'T is onely the last that Balaam sues for Let me dye sayes he but no death will serve his turn but that of the Just Let me dye the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his My latter end he is not altogether for himself he hath some care of his posterity after him he knew that God would be Abrahams exceeding great reward and that he would be the same to his seed that he was to him be the God of his seed and of his seeds seed and in them should all the Nations of the world be blessed So Balaam prayes in respect of his own particular end and for his posterity those that were come or were to come out of his loins Let my latter end be like his Now for the further amplifying of this Prayer of Balaams I shall draw these following Conclusions from it First That the Righteous dye c. Secondly That their death is happy and attended with glory Thirdly That none shall dye so but those that live so or that a holy Life is the onely prologue to a happy Death Lastly I shall present you with some short Directions how to lead such a life how to reach such a Death and this shall be my conclusion That Death is a debt of Nature to be paid by all the sons of men is so known a truth that it needs no further proof then common experience the decree hath long since gone forth that all men must once dye So sure as death sayes our common Proverb and that 's so sure that nothing more certain For of all the Priviledges that Christ purchast for the sons of men he never granted this for he himself tasted of death and so must all those do that breathe upon this earth except those onely that shall be found alive at the day of judgement which shall not dye but be chang'd None are exempted from deaths rage no honey without this gall no exaltation without this humiliation all must pass through his black Gates ere they can enter into glory And this brings me from the first conclusion to the second from the certainty of death to all mankinde to the Happiness of it to the righteous Let my latter end be like his I cannot blame Lalaam for making such wishes and it had been well for him if it had fallen so he had then been eternally happy as now miserable Indeed death to a righteous man is but a sleep for so our Saviour stiles it it puts an end to our miseries and a beginning to our joyes it cures all diseases the aking head and the fainting heart Asa of his Gout and Mephibosheth of his lameness Lazarus of his Sores and Gehazi of his Leprosie finishes that life that was a kinde of death or a passage to it and gives birth to another not subject to mutation and serves as a short bridge to conduct the Pious soul to a spacious inheritance But it may here come within the verge of an inquiry whether the righteous may desire death 't is answer'd that it may de desired not for it self but for what it brings First we may desire it as it puts a period to sin there 's no offending of God in the Grave sin will be an inmate with the choicest of Gods Saints whilst they are here but is forc't to leave them when they leave the world For as one observes sin was
and the abominable stench he there was sensible of For his taste he had nothing administred it to sweeten the bitterness of death but Gall and Vinegar For his feeling we have spoken of that before if it were not altogether unspeakable what he felt In a word all heads are working and all hands busied in lengthning his torments and now tormentors and tormented both weary the one in doing the other in suffering he yeilds up the ghost But their malice doth not terminate with him though he be dead their malice still lives which we shall see presently break forth for though Joseph of Arimathea one of their councel but not against his life had begg'd the body of Pilate they also go to Pilate fraught with malice against his memory that had done their worst to his person and bespeak Pilate Sir This deceiver said whilst he was yet alive that in three dayes he should rise again therefore let his Sepulchre be made sure with a guard lest his Disciples come and steal him away by night and say he is risen Pilate grants their request and now they triumph in their villany and think perpetually to keep him there whom they had brought thither Is this the Saviour of the world say they that could not save himself Where now are these dreaming shepherds who spake so big of a quire of Angels that should sing his Nativity Where those Angels that they come not to his Rescue Where are those besotted vulgar that rob'd the trees of their branches and themselves of their garments to strow his way to Jerusalem and sang Hosanna's to him as the son of David a Saviour of the world have not we laid their Hosanna's in the dust and he whom they adored as a Deity executed as a Malefactor Is this he that would deliver Israel that could not himself We do not expect ever to be delivered by so mean a hand and so slender a retinue we expect a glorious Prince with a princely train of unconquer'd warriors not a Carpenters son and silly fisher-men God never gave us any promise or president of such a Saviour We know that 't was by a strong arm he delivered our Fathers out of Egypt and that he gave them Saviours afterwards when they were in Canaan such as by force of arms broke the bonds of their oppressors and are not we involv'd in as miserable slavery and bondage as ever our fathers were hath not the invincible Roman Eagle spread his wings o're the greatest part of the world and seized many kingdoms with his ravenous talons making Kings his Prey and Scepters his Conquest and who but a mighty Saviour can deliver us and our Countrey from so potent an adversary If this be he that undertook to do it or were sent from God for the purpose where 's his power to make him so where 's his red-coat Souldiers whose very garments might speak nothing but blood and death to our insulting foes where 's his Magazin and Money his Swords and Pistolls his Granado's and Murdering-pieces his Captains and Officers to lead his Army that they did not perfect that happy work but suffer their Lord and Master thus to fall O fools and slow of heart to believe what the Prophets have spoken ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory was he not long before prophesied of to come in the form of a servant not in the gayish magnificence of an earthly prince that he should be a man of sorrows and by his sufferings should purchase freedom and happiness for inthral'd mankinde How exactly doth your Prophet Isay pourtray to the life both his person and sufferings and writes of him in the Present Tense not the Future as a thing then really acted not after to be fulfilled as more becoming an Evangelist then a Prophet in giving rather a History of his sufferings then a Prediction of them but lest ye should not think one witness enough look upon all the Prophets that have been since the world began you will finde they did all unanimously breathe with one mouth the mystery of his coming and of that redemption which by his death he was to accomplish Was not his Birth long before prophesied of as to the time manner and place of it his person names and offices his tribe and Family his eternal Generation the union of his God-head with his Humanity his Humiliation upon earth his perfect obedience to his Father his riding to Jerusalem in triumph the childrens Hosanna's his Agony in the Garden the manner of his delivery the price he was sold for the flight of his Disciples the parting his garments the piercing his hands and his feet his revilings on the Cross his companions in death his patience in suffering his dying words for whom be should lay down his life and whom he should conquer and what clearer proof could ye desire then the mouths and attestations of so many witnesses and could ye be so blinde as not to discover this to be he that was of old design'd and foretold to be the worlds Saviour did ye not behold a majesty in the sufferer did not the refulgent beams of his divinity shine through the greatest clouds of his adversity and did not Humility and Glory go hand in hand through the several passages of his life and death that by miracles as well as miseries he might convince the world That he should abase himself so low as to be born of a Virgin that spake his humility but to have his incarnation publisht by an heavenly host and kings to rise to the brightness of his coming this his glory to suffer himself to be baptized in the common river of Jordan that speaks his humility but there to be proclaim'd the onely beloved Son and Saviour of the world both by the testimony of the Father and presence of the Holy Ghost this his glory to receive the slaunders of his Countrey-men that he cast out devils by Belzebub that spake his humility but to make the devils confess him to be the Son of the Highest this his glory to suffer death even the death of the Cross that speaks his humility but to make the foundations of the world to shake the Sun to vail it self in black the moon to hide her head the rocks to rend and the vail of the temple to part in sunder at his yielding up of the ghost this his glory to be laid in another mans Sepulchre that shews his humility but to make the Graves to open to receive him as their Lord and the dead to rise to attest his Divinity this his glory to suffer himself to be seal'd up in his Sepulchre with a guard of Souldiers to keep him there that was humility but in that house of death to have the visits of Angels and to rise from thence by his own power this his glory to sojourn forty dayes on that earth where he had been so cruelly handled speaks his humility but
to have a convoy of Angels to fetch him away and to ascend on high with such a guard of attendants in view of so many witnesses this his glory And thus did he evidence his mediatorship by the lowest humiliation of his humanity and exaltation of his divinity by the glorious miracles by the one he did do and the insufferable injuries in the other he did undergo How many glorious miracles did he work certainly if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they had repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes Did he not seed your admiring multitudes 5000 of them at one time with five barley loaves and two fishes and twelve baskets of fragments to spare did he not turn water into wine heal the sick make the lame to walk the deaf to hear the blinde to see and the dumb to sing did he not cleanse the Leper cast out Devils raise the dead even a Lazarus that had been a four dayes prisoner in the Grave Many things of him were remarkable and suited with him as he was the Messiah as to his Birth Death and Burial he was born under Augustus Caesar at such a time when there was an universal peace o're the whole world to shew that he was the prince of peace and came to reconcile his Father to fallen man In Bethlehem the house of bread for him that was the bread of life and the life of the world In an Inne a place of common resort for all persons to shew that all persons should have free admission to him and that he was in publick to manifest himself to the world He was Crucified without the Gates of Jerusalem to shew that he died for those out of the pale of the Church on Mount Calvary a place of death to shew that he came to destroy death on a Cross to shew that that was the way to a Crown and by his sufferings on that tree of shame he purchast for us diadems of glory He was buried in a Grave cut out of a Rock to shew that he was the Stone cut out of the Mountain a Grave untoucht for a body undefil'd in a Garden where mankinde was lost for him by whom the world was saved But this is not all he was a King and such a one you lookt for but here 's the difference you lookt for one to come in outward pomp and splendor he in meekness and humility for the glory of his kingdom consists not in outward shew but hidden splendor you lookt for a temporal Savior he an eternal you to be freed in bodies and estates he to save your souls in comparison of which the whole world is not worthy a name you to be delivered from the Roman yoke he from the Devils tyranny The weapons of his warfare were spiritual and his glory not temporal witness his progress to the Royal City for instead of Chariots and Steeds and Trains of State he hath not a beast but a borrowed one to ride upon no Crown on his head no Scepter in his hand no Cloth of State over him no precious Furniture about him no Tissue upon him no Caparisons of Gold under him No rich Carpets and curious Tapestries before him No Heralds in robes No Clarions No Trumpets to proclaim him And yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like this Lilly of the Vallies No Coats of Arms like his Fisher-mens No Laurels to the peoples Boughs No vests of beaten gold to their spread Clothes No Troops of Nobles to his Trains No Grandees to his Disciples which have even the Devils themselves for their subjects no Heralds to the Babes that bless him No Salve's no Jo 's no Ave's to the Hosanna's and Benisons bestowed on him He was a King as he told Pilate but 't was of another world his Throne Heaven the Angels his Courtiers and the whole Creation his Subjects his Judicatory the Courts of Conscience and Church Tribunals and at Doomsday the Clouds It was ordered by Divine Providence that you should put him to death else you should never have had the power to have done it Had he pleas'd he could have call'd Legions of Angels to his rescue one of which armed with his permission able to destroy a world In testimony of which did not the whole fabrick of heaven and earth acknowledge him whom the devils themselves beheld with terror and are you so stupied as not to take notice of him did not you see the rocks rend at his Passion and are you so senseless as to think that a stone shall bar his Resurrection did ye not hear of dead Saints walking up and down the City and do you think to hinder it in a dead Saviour Was not a whole band of you struck down with a word of his Mouth and can a watch keep him from rising up though your Souldiers be too strong for weak Disciples are they able to contend with Angels 'T was strange that he that was immortal should taste of death but impossible he should see corruption Wherefore notwithstanding all your guards he shall rise the third day all the powers of hell shall be too weak to detain him longer or hinder his return to his Fathers Bosome there to continue till the last day and then this Carpenters Son shall come in the Clouds with Power and great Glory and those silly Fishermen sit upon twelve Thorns and judge the twelve Tribes of Israel Look therefore on him now with faith whom else you shall then behold with horror and amazement and now mourn lest then too late ye repent strive to have an interest in his Blood as well as a hand in his Death And now dear Christian let me request thee seriously to look back admire and make a right use of thy Saviours sufferings behold his readiness to suffer his willingless to save the unspeakableness of his pains the greatness of his patience and the luster of his victory how ready was he to save how did his bowels yearn for lost man after the lost sheep of the house of Israel was he come and to save sinners was his errand how ready was he to lay down his life when they came with Swords and Staves to apprehend him did he not betray himself by his so ready a confession I am he How did he hasten that bitter cup and how was he straitned till he did suffer did he not forbid Saint Peter the use of his Sword though in so just a quarrel as his defence how ready was he to pardon how meek and patient in his sufferings was he not the Lamb dumb before the shearers that opened not his mouth who being revil'd revil'd not again but prayed for his enemies whilst they blasphem'd him which prayer of his was so prevalent with his father that in fifty five dayes it occasioned the conversion of eight thousand of his enemies at one time Christs sufferings did as far transcend any other as his Person but they were
nor railing Rabshake's shall come there to belch infectious gorges forth to poison the hearts of any subjects in that Kingdom of glory No Polubragmatical Michiavelians nor crafty Boutefews shall interrupt that Kingdoms endlesse peace No bold Sejanus can insinuate into that glorious presence to corrupt it No male-contented Cataline can lurk there either to traduce the glorious Majesty of the King of kings or to seduce inferiour Officers Nor is there any warlike Ammunition magazin'd there No Civil Warrings can destroy that glorious Kingdom nor can any factious Jarrings deface that glorious Church No new-fangled Athenians nor schismatical Corinthians can disturb the unity or destroy the uniformity of that Church No over-mastering Pope nor undermining Jesuit no new Church-making Familist nor no Church-making Atheist can gain such favour or get such footing there as to eject the settled Saints and work the ruine of all the Church No ravenous Wolves in sheeps clothing can creep by any Postern-gates into that fold to flea or fleece the flock and mistake feeding on them for feeding of them Nothing that worketh any abomination can come there and therefore every thing that tendeth towards the grand abomination of desolation must needs be for ever excluded thence the glory of all there must last for ever and all in that glory must live for ever being free from sin they shall be from death from death spiritual in it from death temporal by it and from death eternal for it that presence of the ever-living God doth set them free from all for ever there is no dying they that are there are sure to live for ever the glorified Saints shall never be reduc't to a nullity those crowned personages shall not be folded up in a confused Chaos death has no power here they are free from the sting of death and from the stroke free from all tendencies unto death and from all fears of dying Now who would not gladly live in such a priviledg'd place where that boldest Sergeant Death cannot come to arrest Such is the sanctuary of Gods glorious presence that 's free from all kinds of death and free from unkinde Devils too from Devils infernal and Devils incarnate too No evil Angels can ascend from the bottomless pit into the presence to tempt any there to sin nor hellish Furies to torment for sinning in times past No Devil of the lower hell nor any of this wicked world above it can finde any entrance thither There is indeed free quarter for Saints but none for sinners the Free men of that City and all the Denizons of that Kingdom are always freed from all unwelcome troublesome intruders the spirit of strife and debate can never thrust the Devils mysterious cloven foot into that presence to set Divisions to cause Distractions to bring Destruction No carnal pride can ever beget fond fashionists in the streets of that most holy City nor spiritual pride breed up fantastical Factionists in those Mansions No hideous blasphemies nor filthy obscenities nor thumping oathes not hellish cursings nor peevish censurings are used by any in that presence all profane and black-mouth'd monsters of men are exiled for ever from that society of Saints and so are all insinuating Sycophants and false-hearted Pharisees that place shall be free from all evil or tending to it no evil company no evil by company no company of evil no devils not be devill'd men no tempters no tormentors nor any other infernals no devils incarnate either white or black no kinde of death either temporal or eternal no kinde of wars no kinde of woes no kinde of sufferings surely they must needs be happy that are in such a case Yet let me tell you that it is not the absence of evil alone that can make a man truly and fully happy it may cause some joy but not the fulness of joy till the affluence of all good things be enjoyed with it Now in the glorious presence of God there is not onely the absence of all evil but the presence of all good All things that are desirable are there and all things there are desireable there are profitable pleasures and pleasurable profits things inconsistent here are all coincident there those gifts that go not here together are all united there those comforts which are divided here in several streams do meet all there as in their fountain or rather in the ocean No one here may look to enjoy all good things but all there do ever so There are the precious Merchandices of all Cities for that 's the City of all precious Merchandices there are the true Delights of all Countreys for that 's the true Countrey of all Delights There are all the real Honours of the the Court that can never be lost and that 's the right Court of Honour that can never be put down There are all the true pleasures of Paradise for that 's the true Paradise of all pleasures What does any of your souls take most delight in what do you most of all desire there you may have it in the fullest measure and there enjoy it in the finest manner There is to satisfie all desires do you desire or delight in Gold or precious Stones or costly Gems or stately Palaces there 's a City of pure Gold clear as crystal walled and gated and garnished with Jaspers and Saphires and all sorts of Pearls and precious stones as St. John describes it Revel 21.18 c. Or do you delight in glorious triumphs and pompous shews there are triumphs everlasting and the glory of all Nations shall flow into that City in triumphant manner Revel 21.26 Or do you delight as Massinissa and Dioclesian did in curious Gardens in fruitful Orchards in healthful Walks in pleasant Fountains there is the Celestial Paradise wherein the most curious and nice had he a hundred times as many eyes as Argus might employ them all at once with various curiosities and transcendent rarities All those admir'd Gardens of Adonis and Alcinous of Po. and Tantalus and the Hesperides could never boast no not in any fiction of the Poets of such a living Fountain as that which floweth in the middle of this Garden of Heaven and affords the Water of life nor yet of such a Tree as that of Life which bears twelve kinds of fruits and brings forth every moneth as Saint John expresses Revelations 22.1 Or do you delight in or desire peace there can you never want it that new Jerusalem is the true Jerusalem the blissful vision of Peace a City at Peace and unity in it self There endless triumphs of peace are solemnized by all the Citizens that 's the place of peace there 's the Prince of peace the Authour of peace the Maker the Creatour of it There 's the full enjoyment of that mother blessing and all other blessings with it the true God of peace is there and the true peace of God which passeth all understanding Or do you desire truth with peace there are both together the God of peace is the God of truth and the truth of God is there revealed fully the true worship of the most holy God is there established and the true God is worshipped there in the beauty of holiness Or do you delight in the melody of curious musick there are soul-ravishing Anthems chanted and warbled by the sweetest of all the heavenly Quire in that Mother Church that glorious Temple Christs Church Triumphant Or do you delight in ease and rest from wearisome labours there the true Christian Sabbath is kept holy whereof our Sunday Sabbath is but an adumbration or preparatory Eve Jerusalem below hath six dayes for working for one Sabbath day for rest but Jerusalem above is free to sanctifie an endless Sabbath as free from labour as from sin Or do you delight in the presence of great Personages there is the mighty and Almighty Monarch of Heaven and Earth the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and there is his second self his onely begotten Son the Son of his love in whom he is well pleased his right hand Favorite his Christ our Lord and Jesus in the height of his honour invested with power to unlock the Exchequer of his Fathers richest favours with the key of his eternal merits and to deal them forth in glory to those that followed him in grace In a word there are all sorts of rich delights that endless fountain can never be drawn dry for there is all in all to draw them forth there are soul-ravishing joyes and soul-admiring felicities everlasting joyes without any interrupted mutation such are those divine Raptures which shall flow from that communion they enjoy in that glorious presence with unspotted Angels and glorified Saints I shall shut up all in the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard or is it possible for the minde of man to conceive the glory that God hath laid up for them that love him It being beyond the power of Mortals to imagine the glory of that Kingdom the brightness of that Diadem and the splendour of that Crown which no hand of treason shall be ever able to take off the Wearers head Having now brought this happy Pilgrim to the New JERUSALEM where I leave him to take his fill of those everlasting pleasures To which place through the merits of that all-sufficient and satisfactory Redemption may I and my Readers in his good time arrive FINIS
in Unity and Unity in Trinity There you shall see the Lamb with his train of Attendants Cherubims Seraphims Principalities Powers Thrones Dominions Archangels and Angels Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Confessours crying Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbath And there shall those good Angels which were your Guardians upon earth be your everlasting Companions in Heaven In a word 't is such a home where you shall be made perfectly happy Time shall not rust or diminish your glory nor adversity with her frowns ever approach near those Mansions for you shall be ever in the Sun-shine of Gods favour and your happiness as everlasting as his that made it Oh! did we but all consider the shortness of the sweetest pleasure here in comparison of those endless and eternal joyes that the Saints shall there partake of and the shortness and smallness of the longest and greatest misery or torture that can be endured here to the Worm that never dyes to the fire that is never quencht to those everlasting torments that shall in full viols be poured upon the wicked in Hell for ever we should think less of this world and more to be happy in a better And this brings me from the first particular observable to the second From being mindful of our home to our choice of Guides to conduct us thither Choose the best guides These guides are in the Old Testament called Seers in the New Overseers and these are they whom God hath appointed to lead us the way to that home to which many Saints are already gone in Soul and many more shall in Gods due time arive and be fully glorified both in soul and body These Seers or Overseers are those that open the Scriptures and make plain the way of the Lord and cause his paths to be known to the sons of men they are also for their dignity term'd Ambassadors of Christ Christs Stewards Publishers of glad Tidings proclaimers of Salvation Fellow-workers together with Christ and Ministers of the Gospel These God hath set up as lights that by their soundness of Doctrine and Integrity of life many Souls may be recalled from darkness unto his marvellous light they are Cities set upon a Hill for men to see and Candles lighted upon candlesticks to light the Traveller the way and these by their eminency are or at least ought to be Men of excellent qualifications and rare endowments Angelicall persons men made up of Heaven and if we take such for our guides we need not fear crooked paths but may be confident of our way But because all is not Gold that glisters nor all such as they seem it behoves us to be very cautious in the choise of our guides for if the blinde lead the blinde whither will they go The way to Hell is broad and easily found 't is a pleasant way beset with Roses able to intice the foolish Traveller who is ignorant that it leads to death And on the contrary the way to heaven seems to flesh and blood very uncomfortable a narrow sharp steep and unpleasant way very intricate long tedious troublesome and hard to finde in which many a passenger hath stumbled and many a blinde guide lost his way But that we may be warned by others harms and reach that which they fell short of let 's bear with the sharpness of the way and be incouraged by the happiness of the end The advice of a late ingenuous Author to this purpose is worthy your observation Regard not saith he how difficult the passage is but whither it tends nor how delicate the journey is but where it ends If it be easie suspect it if hard endure it He that cannot excuse a bad way accuseh this own sloth and he that sticks in a bad passage can never attain a good journeyes end It cannot be denyed but that many a passenger hath suffered by bad guides such as have let them go out of their way and made them believe the pleasantest way was the best and the poor Traveller not sensible of the mistake till it hath been too late to talk of returning But of such we are cautioned to beware and though they speak never so smoothly This is the way walk in it we are to turn our deaf ear to erring Charms of such blinde guides and witless Councellours And this brings me from the second particular observable to the third from the choice of our guides to our haste in setting out and perseverance in our course Set out betimes and hold out to the end As this Exhortation is two-fold so shall be my discourse upon it I shall in the first place apply my self to young men who like my self are but newly risen or scarce set out And in the next humbly address my self to aged persons who are or at least ought to be near their journeys end And first to young men let me request you to make God and Heaven the constant objects of your thoughts the one of your fear the other of your love so walk that ye displease not the one and ye need not fear the attaining of the other Are you setting out lose no time remember that many have squandred away the morning and have not reacht their journeyes end ere night and with those foolish Virgins for their tardiness have been excommunicated that place of repose where the early Traveller safely and in good time ariv'd An hour in the morning you know is worth two at night and God is better pleased with young Zeal then decreped Holiness Josiahs forwardness makes him renown'd to posterity and young Timothy's Piety eternizes his name to future generations Are you on your way persevere in your Christian course and think upon the end whilst ye are at the beginnings and even now upon the race have an eye to the recompence so shall the splendid glory of the one faciliate the irksome tediousness of the other Every true Christian saith a learned writer is a Traveller His life his walk Christ his way and Heaven his home his walk painful his way perfect his home pleasing Let 's not therefore loiter lest we come short of home nor wander lest we come wide of home but be content to travel hard and to be sure to walk aright so shall our safe way find its end at home and our painful walk make our home welcome We are all concerned to make our best use of time lest too late we lament the abuse of it yesterday cannot be recalled to morrow cannot be assured to day therefore is onely ours which if we slight we lose which lost is lost for ever Young men remember this I mean you whose bodies are strong and healthful not beset with any sickness or besieg'd with any diseases nor loaded with those common infirmities incident to old age consider that you know not how short your time is your Sun for any thing you know may go down in the morning and your night may fall ere noon Therefore be early
up and earnest on your way towards home that if death shall snatch you away in a moment it may be onely to waft you to happiness whilst ye are inquiring after it David rose up early in the morning and was earnest in his inquiries after this Jerusalem he long'd after it panted for it and perpetually did he during his tedious Pilgrimage in Mesech lift up his hands with his soul towards it The Father of the Faithful rose up early too and did chearfully set out and held out to the end as all those must do that hope to reach his bosom I le now leave the young man on his march and after a good beginning expect a Perseverance in well doing and a happy conclusion And now come and direct my speech to the Ancients even to you whose decreped bodies signifie your night at hand when you shall lie down in the dust and rest in oblivion till the last Trumpet shall summon you before that dreadful tribunal Let me humbly request you now to be inquisitive after the other world have you trifled away the morning of your day and all this while not put one foot forward on your journey for Heaven Let me acquaint you that it may not now be too late if you defer no longer remember there were some called at the third hour as well as at the first and labourors entertained in the evening that were rewarded with those that came in the morning Are you on your way go chearfully along and you may yet finish the work of the day ere the approaches of the night wherefore be not weary of well doing but remember that the end crowns the work and he onely the gainer who endures to the end How many have set out betimes and made a promising beginning that have fainted on their journey and fallen short of Heaven that which hath a diadem in the end may well admit some bitterness in the beginning Let therefore the worth of the reward promp you in your greatest difficulties to undergo all with patience who would not do much for such a crown and what will not some do for a worse In Races all press towards the mark but the foremost onely wins the prize Not so here here 's a reward for every one that deserves it a prize for more then the foremost not onely he that runs swiftest and is soonest there but every one that runs well though he comes behinde shall have something My advice to you is that you would so prepare your selves in the evening of your day for the approaches of your night that all things being ready for a change you may court death to convey you from the work to the reward And it may not unfitly be said of you as of that glorious courser of Heaven The Sun knoweth his going down and your setting here may but make you rebound to shine more glorious in a higher Sphere And this brings me from the third particular observable to the fourth from our haste in setting out and perseverance in our walk to the choice of our Comrades to accompany us in our journey Sort your selves with the best company Remember thou art a Kings Son said Mindemus to his Pupil so say I to thee Christian Reader thou art son to a greater King then Mindemus was and wilt thou undervaluethy self with base company shall one so nearly allyed to the Prince of Light be a companion for a brat of darkness an heir of Heaven for a firebrand of Hell the son of a King for the slave of a Devil It may be guest by the company we keep to whom we belong for birds of a feather will flock together sayes our comon Proverb 'T is most certain that nothing of good can be gained by bad company and to shun the workers of evil is the way to decline an evil work for we are apt to be drawn more by example then precept and to intimate those we have most converse with be it to good or evil better therefore to have no company at all then not have good I had rather go to Heaven alone then to Hell with company How then are we all concern'd to make choice of such religious consorts as by their Heaven-like conversations may draw us to a trade of godliness such as may be thought fit by the most wise God to be both our companions upon earth and with us to be admitted Denizons of Heaven To keep company with our betters is the way to improve our selves for as a late Author wittily observes that to be best in the company is the way to grow worse and the best means to grow better is to be the worst there If therefore you have chosen such endear your selves each to other for there 's no such friend to a tedious journey as a good companion and let your souls be as it were linkt in the bonds of true friendship that as David and Jonathan ye may be lovely in your lives and in your deaths may not be divided And like the same David ye may bid defiance to the works and workers of iniquity with a depart from me ye wicked so shall ye clearly quit your selves from the number of those that shall at the last day be terrified with that direful excommunication of the great judge Depart from me for I know you not And this brings me from the fourth particular observable to the fifth from the choice of our company to our deportment in our journey Take heed that ye fall not out by the way For brethren and fellow so journers to disagree is against the rules both of Piety and Policy small harmony nor delight in that journey where Travellers do jangle When two Israelites fell at variance Moses a spectator of the discord useth no other arguments of perswasion to compose and appease the difference then this Sirs ye are Brethren intimating that 't was not for brethren to wrong one another The Father of the Faithful how tender was he in preserving friendship with his Nephew Lot Let there be no strife betwixt me and thee for we be brethren What manner of men were those whom ye slew at Tabor said Gideon to Zeba and Zalmunna Oh! they were my brethren Oh! had you favoured them I should have spared you For my Brethren and Companions sake saith David I will wish thee prosperity 'T is for enemies to fall out not for such near and dear allyes to disagree they must hold together live together and walk together in love as being related in an higher and nobler sense then that of Nature being fellows of one family Sons of one Father Children of one Mother Stones of one Building Branches of one Vine Sheep of one Fold Members of one Body and Professors of one Truth Made by one God Redeemed by one Jesus and Sanctified by one Holy Ghost one would think these tyes enough to debar division from among such friends Esops bundle of Cudgels in the Fable are very remarkable