sin deserves thy hatred does not thy Lord deserve thy love What and where hadst thou been if he had not loved thee and given himself for thee Thy Lord is every way excellent the chiefest among ten thousand altogether lovely the most admired among the visible Creatures the finest Gold the richest Jewels nay the shining Sun in the Firmament are but poor similitudes and faint shaddows to set forth his incomparable perfections The Heavens are not clean Angels themselves are black when compared with Jesus who is the image of the invisible God! This high this glorious and beautiful One became flesh and sin and a Curse for thee so that his love is incomparable as well as his loveliness O my soul set open all the flood-gates let thy love even all of it run in a strong and undivided stream towards him Love this Lord Jesus in sincerity love him with greater ardency love him with the greatest constancy Here is no danger of excess no danger of defilement or a snare in thy loving Christ as there is in loving of the Creatures Study him better and thou wilt see new beauties in him daily grow in knowledge that thou mayst grow in grace and love Let thy desires grow stronger and stronger his fulness can easily satisfie them Rejoyce in Him with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory and cry out with an affectionate and holy impatiency Come Lord Jesus come quickly Appear the second time without sin unto Salvation MEDITATION XLIII How much is mine if Christ my beloved is mine What unsearchable riches have I an interest in No match comparable to that with Christ either for the excellencies of the person or the largeness of the estate What poor offers doth the World and the God of the World make me They talk much of honour and wealth and mirth and pleasure but these afford no true contentment for that short time they are enjoy'd and they perish in the very using Death does quickly come with a convincing demonstration and proves the richest man a meer beggar the greatest Prince a contemptible clod of the Earth the fairest and most admired beauty a skinful of dirt Can Satan offer any thing that is Everlasting No good thing I am sure that is so Indeed Everlasting pains Eververlasting burnings Everlasting wrath he will bring all unto that are led Captive by him at his pleasure but these Eternal evils he does most studiously conceal and hide But this is the commendation of My Lords Benefits that they are permanent and durable The Treasures wax not old the one thing needful cannot be taken away the inheritance is incorruptible and the Kingdom he will give his followers cannot be moved MEDITATION XLIV If Christ is mine the Father is mine How sweet were those words which come out of my Lords mouth quickly after he came out of the Grave Go tell my Brethren I ascend to my Father and your Father unto my God and your God All the Attributes of God are engaged on my side His wisdom will be my guide his power and truth my guard and shield His presence will be with me wherever I am and his Grace sufficient for me in all my troubles and Temptations All my desire will be before him and my groaning will not be hid from him and he can easily furnish me with the good things I desire and deliver me from those evils which make me groan before him I shall not want while the All-sufficient God is my Shepherd my state is secure and safe for my God is unchangeable He will never turn away from me to do me good and his Grace will establish me and hinder my departing he will uphold me with the right hand of his Righteousness and guide me with his Counsel and afterwards receive me to his Glory Be not thou cast down or discouraged O my Soul be not disquieted within me Hope thou in God and continually praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God MEDITATION XLV If Christ is mine the Spirit is mine The same soul does animate and Act the Head and the Body the same Spirit is in Christ and in all his true and living Members The Spirit of Wisdom and Illumination will enlighten me and make me able to judge all things after a right manner The Spirit of truth will lead me into all necessary truth so that I shall be ignorant or mistaken in nothing which is needful to be understood and known in order unto Salvation This Spirit will make me hold the Head and from him I shall derive not only a directing light but a vital influx which will quicken me and make me alive more and more abundantly Glorious Spirit Thou art the Lord and Giver of Life without thee the Word of Life is dead and proves a savour of Death unto Death Without thee Ordinances are without efficacy without thee my Heart is cold and comfortless I grieve that I have grieved thee Oh let me be thy Habitation and thy Temple let me see thy blessed light let me feel thy glorious power and know by more abundant experience what thy peace and joy means The lusts of the flesh which defile thy Temple let them be destroyed mortifie the deeds of the Body fill me with Grace and make me fit for Glory Let the least check of thine restrain me every motion of thine let it be obeyed Let me perpetually have an ear to Hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches MEDITATION XLVI If Christ is mine the Creatures are also mine The Sun was created to give me light and to make me admire the God that made it The Stars observe their courses for my good The Ordinances of the Heavens which alter not at mans pleasure may serve as an instruction to me that Gods Covenant when Earth and Hell have done their worst shall be kept and stand fast for ever the Earth is Fruitful the Sea does Ebb and Flow the Rain descends the Beasts and Fish and Fowl do multiply to do me a kindness The Ground was made for me to tread on the Air for me to breath in and though such mercies as these are vouchsafed to wicked men yet they are given to me in another way My Lord has bought them for me with his blood for with him they are given to me they are not a trap a snare to me as they are to others but they are truly blessed to me as well as given The higher Creatures are also mine Paul and Apollo and Cephas nay the very Angels are said to be ministring Spirits and are ready to Minister to me and to guard me Those loving humble Spirits have a charge given them concerning the Members of Christ and willingly look after them that are the Heirs of Salvation MEDITATION XLVII If Christ be mine Death is also mine as well as Life Death is terrible indeed to Nature and causes the frame thereof to be dissolved but my Lord has reconciled this last Enemy 'T is really mine
so after death they will call themselves by that name and curse their folly everlastingly 7. We must examine what we elect and make choice of as our chief Good and take up with us the best Portion The men of the World are contented with a Portion here in this Life here they receive all their Consolation they live as they think very well without God in the World and do not care to know to serve or to enjoy him But if we are Saints we follow other Counsels we chuse the Lord for our Portion and resolve to obey him Psal 119. 57. Thou art my Portion O Lord I have said that I would keep thy Word we are persuaded of his al-sufficient goodness which is abundantly communicative of it self and desire him above all And the Lord himself being our Portion we are pleased we are satisfied we rejoyce and conclude the lines are fallen to us in pleasant places and that we have a very goodly heritage Psal 16. 5 6. 8. We must examine whether our naturally beloved sin be now loathed They that are sincere are made so wise as to find out their dilectum delictum darling iniquity or if more than one have been their darlings they take special notice of them and though they are alienated from the whole kind of Sin yet with more than ordinary vehemency they desire the mortification of the lust or lusts which were formerly most beloved because these have so loaded them with guilt have most of all defiled them and provoked the Lord most bitterly against them David proves his uprightness this way Psal 18. 23. I was also upright before thee and I kept my self from mine iniquity But as for those who resolve to spare their darling corruptions they are unsound these lusts will cost them the life of their Souls And are not those prodigies of folly who love sin so well as to be contented to be damned for the sake of it If Herod will keep his Herodias still against the admonition of John the Baptist it plainly argues that he is void of Grace though he hears gladly and in part practises the Word he hears 9. We must examine what pre-eminence Heaven has above Earth in our affections A wicked man when he comes to dye will prefer Heaven before Hell but a Saint prefers Heaven before Earth and when his heart treacherously hankers after earthly things he checks and chides it he goes unto God and complains of this and prays to be made more heavenly minded He is convinced of the vanity and fading nature of earthly things and chuses the better and enduring substance 'T is a sign we are enlightned and renewed by the same Spirit the Apostle was when we speak his Language 2 Cor. 4. 18. We look not at the things that are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things that are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal 10. We must examine what is our great End and Design The wicked man is swayed by carnal sinful and worldly self Worldly honour pleasure and advantage are the highest indeed the only things he seeks If our Ends are not right we cannot possibly be upright our selves Now our End ought to be the glorifying of God and the enjoyment of Him Whatever ye do says the Apostle do all to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10. 31. This should still be in the Christians eye and aim And truly the designing of Gods glory is the way to the enjoyment of him wherein our own glory and happiness does consist Those that honour God he will honour whatever thwarts this highest greatest End is to be avoided with the greatest care for we cannot dishonour or despise the Lord but ipso facto we degrade and prejudice our selves 11. We must examine whether we are not grieved at all discovered defects and miscarriages and desirous to have every thing amiss rectified and amended Though upon search we find much out of order nay nothing in such order every way as it should be if this be our serious trouble and we long indeed to be turned long to be savingly changed long to be throughly healed 't is a sign of some hopeful beginnings if they do but hold Ephraim bemoaned himself that he was as a Bullock unaccustomed to the Yoak he found a great reluctancy in corrupted nature and loathness to submit to the Yoak of God he is troubled at it and falls a praying for converting grace Turn thou me and I shall be turned his prayer is heard he is turned he is instructed he repented he is adopted and assured at last of mercy Is Ephraim my dear Son Is he a pleasant Child For since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still therefore my bowels are troubled for him and I will surely have mercy on him saith the Lord Jer. 31. 18 19 21. In the third place I am to inform you concerning what we are to prove our selves And at present I shall only insist on those two things which the Apostle mentions in the Context We are to prove whether we are in the Faith and whether Christ be in us yea or no 1. We are to prove whether we are in the Faith Sometimes Faith is said to be in us because it is a grace infused by the Spirit of God into our hearts With the heart man believeth unto Righteousness Rom. 10. 10. Sometimes we are said to be in Faith in opposition to others that are unregenerate who are affirmed to be in the flesh and to be in their sins And there is good reason for this phrase that the Saints are in Faith because Faith does cloth them with a justifying Righteousness and is a Shield to cover them and to quench all the fiery Darts of the evil one Now whether we are in the Faith may be thus proved 1. If we are in the Faith Truths being firmly believed will be particularly applyed our assent will be firm unto the truth of the Gospel as being of Divine Authority And as we shall believe that God himself does speak in his Word so we shall believe that he speaks to us in particular This particular application of the Word we read of Job 5. ult Lo this we have searched it so it is see it and know it for thy good A Medicine if not applied will not heal and the Word if not applied by Faith will not profit Heb. 4. 2. But the Word preached did not profit them not being mixed with Faith in them that heard it When Divine Commands are particularly applied we shall look upon our selves as obliged to obey them and submit to the Authority of our great Law-giver who has power to save and to destroy When comminations and threatnings are applied unto our Sins in particular we shall be afraid to allow of those Sins which bring us under the lash of threatnings so very dreadful And as for the promises of God being particularly applied how certainly will
blesses them they shall be blessed and promises they shall be filled Mat. 5. 6. Righteousness imputed is and that with very good reason prized by Believers and Righteousness inherent is earnestly desired they long to be made more holy more holy in heart more holy in all manner of conversation to have cleaner hands hearts purer they groan earnestly to be sanctified throughout in Body Soul and Spirit and to be established unblameable in holiness to the end Doest thou vehemently desire to be bettered by every mercy To be refined more and more every time thou art cast into the furnace of affliction And to become more holy by every Ordinance thou engagest in This Sacra Fames holy hunger is in thee and thou art blessed 6. Those are in a State of Grace who prize the Word of God at an high rate All that are born again desire as new born Babes the sincere milk of the Word that they may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2. 2. Hark to our Lord. Joh. 8. 47. He that is of God heareth Gods words ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God With good reason do gracious Souls value the Word of God for it is the incorruptible seed whereof they are born again 't is the Food whereby they are nourished 't is the Physick whereby they are healed 't is the Cordial whereby they are revived 't is the Weapon wherewith they defend themselves against their spiritual Enemies Finally 't is the main Deed they have to shew for the heavenly inheritance If this Word of God be understood believed and received by thee in the love of it if thou desirest to be cast into the mould of the Word and in all things to conform to it if Davids language be thine Psal 119. 33 34 35. Teach me O Lord the way of thy Statutes and I shall keep it to the end Give me understanding and I shall keep thy Law yea I shall observe it with my whole heart Make me to go in the path of thy commandments for therein do I delight This will argue that thou hast a good and honest heart indeed 7. Those are in a state of grace who have the Spirit of Prayer The Apostle Paul assoon as ever translated into this state has this Character Behold he prayeth Act. 9. 11. 't is more than probable he had spoken the words of prayer many a time before while he was a zealous Son of the Jewish Church but now he prayed in Gods account now he prayed in the holy Ghost They that are hypocrites may excell in the gift of Prayer God may be much in their mouths and their expressions may be fluent and seemingly affectionate when yet he is far from their reins But the Spirit of grace and supplication is peculiar to the Saints Now such as have the Spirit of prayer their desires are drawn forth with greatest strength and fervour after Spiritual and eternal blessings They intreat the favour of God and fellowship with him with their whole heart they beg for the increase of Faith Fear and Love and every other grace and that they may be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God and that being delivered from every evil work they may be preserved to his heavenly Kingdom Thus the Spirit makes intercession for them according to the will of God Rom. 8. 26 27. 8. They are in a state of Grace who love the brethren 1 Joh. 3. 14. Hereby we know we are passed from death to life because we love the brethren Now right love to the brethren is love with a pure heart and a good conscience 't is a fervent love 't is love to all the Saints though but poor in the world though of a different persuasion The image of God is loved wherever 't is found and the more of it is found 't is lookt upon as more lovely 'T is one thing to love the Saints because they are good natured because they are beautiful because they are bountiful because they are wise and discreet and 't is another thing to love them because they are holy And truly if the more holy they are the more we love them and the more plainly they deal with us by reprehension and advice in order unto our progress in sanctification and holiness the more and better we like them this is a clear and solid evidence of our being Saints our selves Moreover true Saints are of a publick Spirit they are concerned for the whole Church Militant and cry aloud that she may be preserved in purity unity and love and may more than conquer all enemies and come at last to be Triumphant 9. They are in a state of Grace who endure to the end and are not weary of well-doing He that endures to the end shall be saved says Christ and If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed Joh. 8. 31. The sincerely Righteous ones not withstanding all difficulties oppositions trials tribulations hold on their way and they that have clean hands do wax stronger and stronger Job 17. 9. They fight the good fight of Faith to the last breath and by patient continuance in wel-doing they seek for glory honour and immortality and at last lay hold on eternal life Rom. 2. 7. Thus you have the Touchstone of the Word to prove your selves by And what this Word binds on earth is bound in heaven what this Word looses on earth is loosed in heaven If you continue in a state which this Word pronounces bad you will certainly be condemned but if your state be such as this Word declares good you will as certainly be acquitted rewarded and crown'd at the great approaching Day In the sixth place I am to inform you of the special seasons when this duty of self-proving is to be performed and the seasons are these 1. We ought to prove our selves before we engage in the ordinance of the Lords Supper There must be a Spiritual life or else there cannot be a fitness to be a guest at the Lords Table A dead Corps set at a Feast would be a frightful Spectacle to all there neither could a dead body eat any of the dainties prepared He that is dead in trespasses and sins is not a worthy Communicant for he wants the grace of Faith which is as the eye to discern the hand to receive and the mouth to eat the Lord Jesus who is the bread of life The Lords Supper is not an Ordinance designed to work the first grace for if 't were then none ought to be excluded the greatest Sinners are to be admitted to converting Ordinances and there would be no such thing as Excommunication in the Church of Christ But the design of it is to increase and strengthen and make more and more evident that grace which is already wrought Therefore we must prove what we are before we engage 1 Cor. 11. 28 29. But let a man examine himself and
never ceases trembling till 't is turned towards the Northern Pole so the heart of one that has grace cannot be quieted or satisfied without the God of Heaven Pliny in his Natural History l. 36. c. 4. tells us that the Diamond which is a Stone of far greater value being put near the Loadstone ferrum non patitur abstrahi does not suffer the Loadstone to draw the Iron to it The World will lose its magnetick and drawing vertue when once the Lord has toucht the heart and manifested himself Gracious Souls had rather have God theirs than all the World theirs they see the Creatures unsuitableness and insufficiency and that their Souls do then return unto their rest when they return unto their God Case 8. The eight Case follows which is this How may Grace be discovered under Spiritual Desertion Although the Lord never quite leaves his people yet he may withdraw the sense of his Presence suspending the quickening and comforting influences of his Spirit and then they that before were like Eden or Sharon are become like unto the Desart before they resembled a Tree whose leaves are fair and the fruit plentiful and good But under desertion they are like a Tree in the Winter season the Sun being withdrawn when neither Fruit nor Leaves appear Now how shall the Saints be known to be Children of Light when they thus walk in darkness I answer 1. Saints under Desertion are troubled at Gods absence What perplexity was there in the Spouses Spirit when her Beloved had withdrawn himself Cant. 5. 6. I opened to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my Soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called him but he gave me no answer 'T is as real a sign of true love to mourn at the Lords absence as to rejoyce in his presence for they who grieve when he withdraws will be glad when he returns Thou didst hide thy face says David and I was troubled Psal 30. 7. God may hide his face from a true Believer but a Believer shews himself to be so by being troubled when God hides his face 2. Saints under Desertion justifie the Lord in deserting of them though holy Job stands stiffly in the vindication of his Uprightness against his Friends who charged him with Hypocrisie yet withal he consesses his Sins unto God Job 7. 20. I have sinned what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men And chap. 13. 26. Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth Deserted Saints dare not charge God foolishly but lay the blame of what they endure at their own door they have been proud of enlargements therefore God has justly left them to be straitned they were unthankful for comforts therefore just it is their sorrows should return they were not so watchful against Sin 't was righteous in God to hide his face nay they confess he would be righteous if he should be favourable no more but cast them off for ever 3. Saints under Desertion endeavour to find out the cause of Gods deserting them that it may be removed Hark what Job prays for Job 13. 23 24. Make me to know my transgression and my sin wherefore hidest thou thy face and countest me for thy enemy As the Seamen were willing that failed with Jonah to know for whose sake the Tempest was so furious upon them and as Joshua was desirous to find out the man that had taken of the accursed thing and proved the troubler of Israel So Deserted Souls cry unto God to discover what has offended him and grieved his holy Spirit And as Jonah that raised the Tempest was thrown overboard as Achan that troubled Israel was stoned unto death so having found out their Sins that have disturbed their peace and provoked their God they consent to have them throughly mortified that which is meet they say unto God I have born thy displeasure I will not offend any more that which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more Job 34. 31 32. 4. Saints under Desertion though the actings of faith may not yet fear is more evident in them Esa 50. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his Servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light Deserted Believers though they cannot with confidence call God their Father which is their trouble yet they are resolved to obey him as their Lord when he seems to fly from them they are afraid of losing him therefore they lament and follow after him No wonder that Gods withdrawing raises fear in his people for ordinarily Desertion speaks Divine displeasure and is so very sore a trial and distress that the continuance of it may very well be feared 5. Saints under Desertion are troubled for want of quickening as well as want of comfort therefore they cry for the return of the Spirit that he may revive their graces and make them lively and vigorous and active in the Service of God as well as restore peace and consolation Deadness certainly was Davids burthen when he prayed so often that the Lord would quicken him Deserted Saints do feel the prevalency of the body of death therefore they do look and they have reason to look unto Him who came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly Joh. 10. 10. 6. Saints under Desertion are unsatisfied till God return that 's their language Psal 90. 13 14. Return O Lord how long And let it repent thee concerning thy Servants O satisfie us early with thy mercy that we may rejoyce and be glad all our days Their life lies in his favour weeping continues while his face is hid when their God comes their joy comes to them again And as they are desirous that God should turn to them so also that themselves may be healed and turned unto God The Church had revolted and God was angry angry not only at their Sins but also at their prayers in this sad case the Church is earnest for her own recovery and return to God as well as for the shining of Gods face upon her therefore she cries once twice thrice Turn us again O Lord God of Hosts cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved Psal 80. 3 7 19. Case 9. The ninth Case is this How Grace may be discerned under the prevalency of that sad and black distemper of Melancholy The torture of this malady strangers to it cannot conceive but they that are afflicted with it do know their own bitterness And the advantage which Satan hath hereby is unconceivably great 'T is ordinary for him to represent the Lord unto Melancholick ones as furious and revenging and implacable and irreconcilable as hating them from everlasting to everlasting Oh whath dismal thoughts have they of themselves The darkness and confusion of their heads they call judicial blindness the deadness
of their hearts they call judicial hardness and when the black vapours ascend and seize upon their spirits and torment and affright them as if Nature were just ready to be dissolved this they are apt to think the hellish agonies of Cain and Judas and to conclude them the foretastes and certain forerunners of eternal Wrath and Vengeance Satan represents the grace they have as no grace that he may discourage them from duty if he does not persuade them to act desperately against their own lives Then a thought comes in that God is an hard Lord who will not give grace though they desire it above all the World but is resolved to destroy them Again Satan represents the Truth they have embraced and which the generality of the Generation of the Righteous do embrace as no truth and violently hurries them and bears it in upon their spirits especially in duty to distract and dead their hearts that they ought to turn to this or that or t'other erroneous way else they will never know peace Whatever comforts and encouragements the Gospel hands forth to them they with a strange obstinacy reject as too good for them and not belonging at all to them And though the hand and hatred of Satan be in all this yet he is so subtle as to hide himself under the dark shades of Melancholy so that he is unperceived Now for the relief of such I shall shew how the truth of Grace may be discerned under the prevalency of Melancholy 1. Melancholick ones that are gracious have usually very low thoughts of themselves they have not confidence in the flesh but are convinced that their own righteousness is rags their wisdom folly their strength weakness they see that no flesh has reason to glory in the Lords presence and being thus humble God has promised to have respect to them Psal 138. 6. Though the Lord be high yet hath he respect unto the lowly And Psal 10. 17. Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart an heart prepared to pray they desire thou wilt cause thine ear to hear 2. Melancholick ones who have grace though they are full of fears yet their fears are without Scripture ground they are apt to conclude themselves Hypocrites but not from Scripture premises Satan in a violent way does inject such thoughts that God hates them never was indeed near them or has quite left them and never any Saints were in the like condition and hereupon follows a stinging perplexity but not one word of God is produced to prove all this Though Satans injections are direful and doleful yet the Word speaks hopefully concerning them because they are weary of Sin willing to close with Christ and hunger after righteousness and true holiness and had rather have an assurance of the love of God and the light of his countenance than Corn and Wine and all the things of the World in the greatest plenty and abundance 3. Melancholick ones who have grace though they are filled with a great many fancies and fears yet the fear of God is predominant and they are afraid of Sin as the greatest evil The favour of God is most desirable his anger most formidable in their esteem therefore they dare not use sinful or suspected means for their relief and help They are not like Saul who in his distress and sadness ran to the Witch of Endor they dare not turn Gluttons and Drunkards nor attempt to drown their sorrows in sensuality but had rather remain Melancholick Saints than become boon Companions and jolly Sinners They do indeed imagine and fear a thousand things without reason but truely with a great deal of reason the fear of God rules in their hearts and they eschew what is evil in his sight 4. Melancholick ones who have grace endeavour to improve their melancholy after a gracious manner Now the World appears vain Creatures are miserable comforters delights have lost their relish and are become undelightful They take hold of the advantage to get more loose from the World and more above it If one perplexing fume turns all the World into an empty bubble into an insignificant cypher Why says the gracious Soul should I ever dote upon this World more Under Melancholy Death seems very near and as they are going to bed or at other times they have very strong and startling impressions of Eternity Gracious Souls take hold of this advantage the more seriously to prepare for Death and to provide for Eternity and this argues they are indeed the Children of Wisdom Psal 90. 12. 5. Melancholick ones who have grace have a great care of the Gospels credit nay truely sometimes this lies nearer their hearts than their own lives They are afraid of madness and frenzy lest Religion which they are professors of should suffer by it they resist temptations to self-Murther because if they who have heard and talkt so much of the Gospel should lay violent hands upon themselves prophane Sinners would speak evil of the way of Truth and be more strongly prejudiced and hardned against the Gospel as a Doctrine that has but a bad tendency this shews that they love the Gospel in truth and consequently are of God Joh. 8. 47. This care of the Gospel farther appears in that when their melancholy abates their seriousness remains Indeed the better their heads are their hearts are in a better frame because then their Souls and their Grace can act with greater freedom They long for clean hearts and desire clear heads that with heads and hearts they may be more serviceable unto God 6. Melancholick ones who have grace in all their distress and trouble desire to look unto God though they fear he is an enemy yet they cannot but look to him for help though they do but chatter as a Crane and mourn as a Dove yet they cannot refrain speaking Hezekiahs and Jobs language O Lord I am oppressed undertake for me Esa 38. 14. I am full of confusion see thou my affliction Job 10. 15. Case 10. The tenth Case is this How may Repentance be known to be true when 't is a Death-bed Repentance Or just before a Malefactors Execution It must needs be granted that Repentance at last is possible and that 's all probable or usual 't is not One instance we have in Scripture to hinder despair and but one to hinder presumption To dally and to delay in Religion how dangerous is it 'T is perfect madness willingly to lie under the wrath of God under the Devils power under the guilt and dominion of Sin and upon the brink of Hell one minute longer The longer you delay Sin grows stronger evil habits are more rooted Satan entangles you faster in his snare the heart grows harder the Spirit of the Lord is more grieved and Repentance becomes more difficult and unlikely We have cause to fear that many thousands who talked of Repentance hereafter have been surprized by Death and have suddenly dropt
Christ though the World seemed to be turned Arrian when persecutions cannot affright us from our Duty nor others Apostasies make us dislike Religion but we are the more stedfast and walk more closely with the Lord this shews that grace is much increased 9. Then we grow in Grace when our fruit is really better than formerly for quality and more for quantity If we bring forth more fruit than in times past it argues us more fruit than in times past it argues us more purged Joh. 15. 2. Every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit When we are filled with the fruits of righteousness as this is to the praise and glory of God so it declares that he has made all grace to abound towards us that we might abound unto every good work 2 Cor. 9. 8. Case 13. The last Case is this How may we understand when our joy is true and well grounded There is a joy of the Hypocrite the Hearers compared unto the stony ground received the Word with joy the Jews rejoyced in John that burning and shining light for a season so that there is a great deal of false joy which whoever entertain they will lie down in sorrow Esa 50. 11. How then shall true joy be known To this I answer 1. True joy follows after true sorrow they who reap in joy do first sow in tears Ps 126. 5. Our Lord tells us that the mourners are blessed for they shall be comforted Mat. 5. 4. Rest is given to the weary and the heavy laden That joy is sinful and utterly unseasonable where Sin is made light of and never was lookt upon as a burthen But if we are humble and broken and weary of all Sin and of all that is in Sin desiring to be delivered from the force and filth as well as from the guilt of it and then are revived we may conclude our peace is from the God of peace and comfort for though he be the high and the lofty one who inhabits Eternity yet he dwells with him that is of an humble and contrite Spirit to revive the Spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Eze. 57. 15. 2. True joy has ever the Lord Jesus for the foundation of it Phil. 3. 3. We rejoyce in Christ Jesus says the Apostle And Rom. 5. 11. If we joy in God 't is through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have received the atonement The Comforter does ever glorifie Christ so as to make us understand that all grace mercy and peace is given to us through a Mediatour His sorrows have purchased pardon and salvation and the joy of that Salvation The Churches joy is built upon the same Rock on which the Church her self is built and that Rock is Christ therefore her consolation is the stronger 3. True joy is never without true holiness The Spirits sanctification always goes before and ever accompanies his consolations Peace and righteousness do kiss each other where peace is of the right kind Rom. 14. 17. The Kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost A true Saint if he makes bold with Sin his joy will be lessen'd perhaps lost his peace which has been spoken to him will be broken if he return to folly 4. True joy is Spiritually rational not an Enthusiastical business my meaning is there can be good Scripture-reason produced for it The Spirit of God works sanctifying grace in the heart increases that grace and acts that grace so that there is a powerful exercise of it and then he does bear witness to the truth of it The Spirit discovers unto the Soul that he has made it willing to receive Christ and to hunger after holiness and willing to be the Lords and to serve him in sincerity and to escape the corruption that is in the World through lust and now his testimony of adoption is rational and may be received as indeed the witness of the Spirit Whereas when joys are but the fruits of stubborn and irrational impulses and the comforts of the Gospel are applied without any Scripture ground comfortable Scriptures are not brought by the True and Good but by the Bad and lying Spirit 5. True joy is not a seal unto error and delusion Some have fallen away from the truths of Christ and got above his Ordinances and cast his Word behind their backs and despised his Blood and yet have bragg'd of Joy Oh the subtlety of the Evil One As he makes use of false Teachers false Opinions and false Hopes so of false joys to ruine Souls 6. True joy is strength to them that have it Nehem. 8. 10. The joy of the Lord is your strength Spiritual joy affords great ability to do the work of God to bear Afflictions and Tribulations and to resist and overcome the Tempter and the World and the lusts thereof The joyful Christian is a man of might he wrestles with the principalities and powers of darkness and is too hard for them he is discouraged at no difficulty in Religion he mounts up with wings as an Eagle he runs and is not weary he walks without fainting Esa 40. ult he is faithful unto death and at last is rewarded with a Crown of life Rev. 2. 10. Thus have I resolved all the Cases I propounded I come now to the Application I begin with some inferences that may be drawn from this Doctrine If this be true that it highly concerns all to Examine and Prove themselves then 1. Hence I infer the misery of Man by nature who is in darkness so that till he is enlightned from above he is not capable of understanding himself his condition or his interest Man by nature is under the power of darkness of this power you read Col. 1. 13. and how deliverance from it is to be valued Darkness has a great power to keep men under Sin to make them careless stupid and utterly unconcerned what becomes of them to Eternity therefore evil Angels are stayled the Rulers of the Darkness of this World Nay the Natural Man is in the abstract called darkness it self Eph. 5. 8. For ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord. Now how can he that is in darkness look into himself or look into the Lord Oh the misery of dark Souls What unspeakable danger are they in and their not seeing their own peril does but the more increase it We pitty a man that has sustained a breaking loss and does not know it a Begger that being blind is near a precipice and does not perceive it but much more compassionable is the case of the Natural Man who neither knows himself nor the things which concern his peace 2. Hence we may infer the folly of the Natural Man who is so prone to cry peace unto and to deceive himself He loves to go upon sure grounds in other matters and is very serious about trifles but wofully trifles
We have known and believed the love that God hath to us 1 Joh. 3. 14. We know that we have passed from death to life And v. 19. Hereby we know that we are of the Truth and shall assure our hearts before him This assurance was not the effect of a particular and extraordinary revelation peculiar to that first age of Christianity but was the result of those charcters of Grace which are to be found even in the Saints now as well as then The consolations of the Spirit were not confin'd to the Primitive times but as a Comforter he is to abide with the Church for ever Joh. 14. 16. And indeed those who walk in the fear of God may expect the comforts of the Holy Ghost without any presumption The Apostle bids us to draw nigh with a true heart in full assurance of faith Heb. 10. 22. And 2 Pet. 2. 10. We are commanded to give diligence to make our calling and election sure What impiety is it then to say that Assurance is an impious confidence What is it that the Church of Rome does not strike at She strikes at our Liberties at our Lives would clasp the Book of the Gospel and lock it up in an unknown Tongue She would baffle our very senses and lord it over our Consciences and exercise dominion over our Faith and rob us of our peace and comfort and joy in Gods Salvation Vse 2. It may serve for a great and just lamentation that this duty of Self-proving is so exceedingly neglected by the generality even of those unto whom the Gospel is preached Multitudes are as unconcerned what is likely to become of them in another World as if there were not a pin to chuse between Heaven and Hell as if eternal Life did not deserve to be desired and eternal Death were not worthy of their fear Men are willing to know whether they thrive in the World there is anxious enquiring what the Parliament does and what the times are likely to prove whether peaceable and prosperous or full of tumult and confusion But alass alass 't is no part of the enquiry of the most among us What Eternity is likely to prove to them whether an Eternity of horror and woe or an Eternity of joy and blessedness A great number live in the prophane and total neglect of God and godliness and will not give the Gospel so much as the hearing but truely there are also many who will pray attend upon the Word preached and profess high and talk religiously who never talk with themselves nor call their hearts to task nor speak such language as this to themselves O animula vagula blandula Quae nunc abibis in loca O my Soul in what state art thou And where art thou likely to be lodg'd when once thou hast left this earthly Tabernacle The consequences of this neglect of Self-examination are fatal and truely lamentable 1. These careless Sinners that prove not themselves know not themselves they know neither their Sore not the way of Cure their Sins are hid from them and so they must needs be strangers to Repentance and godly Sorrow they remember not their own wickedness so as to mourn and condemn themselves therefore God will remember it so to condemn and punish them He that is ignorant of himself must needs remain impenitent and hard-hearted and such do treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2. 5. 2. The not proving themselves is the ground of Sinners presumptuous confidence False hope cannot bear a serious Trial but they that try not themselves are full of such hopes and such hopes the stronger they are the more destructive The hope of them that are Hypocrites and forget God is compared to a Spiders Web 't is spun out of themselves but 't is easily cut off and they and their Hope shall perish together Job 8. 13 14. They that prove not themselves in how certain danger are they of building their house upon the sand And when the Rain descends and the floods come and beat upon their house 't will fall and great will be the fall of it Mat. 7. 27. 3. They that prove not themselves hide their faces and esteem not the Lord of Life and Glory they feel not their sickness they sancy they are whole and value not Physician they are more afraid to be cured of their Disease than to die of it They have no hunger and so they slight the bread of life they never were weary and heavy laden and so they mind not him that alone can give them rest they never were thirsty in a Spiritual sence so the invitation is not hearkned to to come and drink of the Water of Life freely for want of proving themselves they know not in what a most wretched and lost condition they are no wonder then if they neglect great Salvation and how shall such escape Heb. 2. 3. When the Apostle says How shall we escape He does not say what to intimate that the punishment which will follow upon neglecting the great Salvation whereof Christ is the Author is much sorer than tongue can utter or heart is able to conceive or reach 4. They that prove not themselves know not what they are doing they are breaking a Law most worthy to be kept with as great chariness as the Apple of our Eyes they are engaged in the service of Sin whose wages is Death and Hell they are the Devils Vassals who hates and strives to ruine those who serve him with the greatest labour they are provoking the Lord more and more to anger and provoking themselves to the confusion of their own faces 'T is very bad and sad work they are employed about and because they neither prove their work nor themselves they do not in a penitential way cry out What have we done But what they have done they will do still whatever comes on 't therefore the Lord complains Jer. 8. 6. I hearkned and heard but they spake not aright no man repented him of his wickedness saying What have I done Every one turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battel 5. They that prove not themselves know not whither they are going these careless Sinners consider not that their most pleasant Sins will be as bitter and as deadly as the very gall of Asps at last that of Solomon is verified in them Prov. 14. 12. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death The end of that broad way our Lord speaks of his hid from the multitude which go in it They are blind and do not see afar off nay though Death is near at hand and Hell follows immediately upon Death yet they do not see it Woe unto them they fly from God and they run post haste towards ruine and do not understand what dreadful and everlasting destruction they are near till they have actually and utterly destroyed themselves and that beyond
Faith Here for his better Information I shall lay down Ten Principles which 'tis highly requisite he should be acquainted with 1. The Communicant must know That there is a God who is from Everlasting to Everlasting and every where present a Spirit of incomprehensible Wisdom Power Righteousness and Goodness the Maker and Governour of Heaven and Earth and all the creatures which are therein Heb. 11. Psal 90. 1. Jer. 13. 23. Joh. 4. 24. Rom. 16. ult Ps 147. 5. Psal 116. 5. Gen. 2. 1. Dan. 4. 34 35. 2. This God is but One and yet he is distinguished into the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost which have the same Godhead Power and Eternity 1 Joh. 5. 7. Matth. 28. 19. 1 Joh. 5. 20. Heb. 9. 14. Act. 5. 4. This Doctrine of the Trinity is revealed that we may have right conceptions of the True God when we Worship him Excellent is that passage of Nazianzen Orat. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am not able to understand One but I am presently struck with the brightness of Three I am not able to distinguish Three but I am presently brought back to One again We are also further to take notice how all these Three Persons in the glorious Godhead do concur in that great Salvation which is brought to light and offered in the Gospel The Father sends the Son to become Man and Mans Saviour the Son is made Flesh and puts away sin by the Sacrifice of himself The Spirit is sent to convince men of sin and of their need of this Saviour and to draw them to him that beleiving in him they may not perish but have Everlasting Life 3. The Communicant must know That Man was at first made upright The first Man Adam had his Makers Image when first he was made which Image did consist in Knowledge Righteousness and Holiness and in having Dominion over the Creatures A Covenant was made with Adam of Life and Immortality upon condition of perfect Obeaience which then he had Power if he would to yeild and he was threatned with Death if he did Eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Eccles 7. ult Gen. 1. 26. Ephes 4. 24. Col. 3. 10. Rom. 10. 5. Gen. 2. 17. 4. The first man Adam being a publick person and representing his whole Posterity did sin against God in Eating the forbidden Fruit and all his posterity Immanuel excepted who being conceived by the Holy Ghost was Born of a Virgin sinned in him and are Fallen short of the Glory of God so that all are Born the Children of Wrath all have corrupted Natures so that they are Reprobate to every thing that is Good and strongly inclined unto Evil in Thought Word and Deed and every sin being a Transgression of the Holy Law of the great God the Desert and Wages of it is no less then Death and Hell Rom. 5. 14. Gen. 3. 6. Rom. 5. 12. Rom. 3. 23. Luke 1. 35. Ephes 2. 3. Gen. 6. 5. 1 Joh. 3. 4. Rom. 6. ult 5. Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God did take mans Nature upon him but was perfectly free from Sin and suffered in that Nature becoming Obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross and his Blood is sufficient being the Blood of him that is God and Man to cleanse from sin and to make peace and he is able to save unto the utter most all that come unto God by him neither is there Salvation in any other Heb. 2. 16. Phil. 2. 6 7 8. Act. 20. 28. 1 Joh. 1. 7. Col. 1. 20. Heb. 7. 25. Acts 4. 12. 6. The Communicant must know That Christ after his Death and Eurial did rise again the third day which shewed that the price he paid for his Churches Redemption was sufficient and having Forty days conversed upon Earth with his Disciples and been seen of several other Witnesses even Five Hundred Brethren at once at length he did Ascend into Heaven and is at the Right Hand of God to make Intercession for them that Beleive in him and from Heaven where he now is He shall be at last revealed with Power and great Glory to Judge the World in Righteousness Rom. 4. ult 1 Cor. 15. 3 4 5 6. Luk. 24. 51. Rom. 8. 34. 2 Thess 1. 7. Matth. 25. 31. Acts 17. 31. 7. Christ has three Offices Prophetical Preistly and Kingly As a Prophet he does Teach his Church and who teacheth like him As a Preist he has made satisfaction and does intercede for them And as a King he does Govern and Defend them And this Church of his are Called Justified Sanctified and shall be Saved And though Earth and Hell hate them yet there shall be somewhere or other a Church of Christ always unto the end of the World Acts 3. 22. Heb. 4. 14. Heb. 10. 14. Rev. 19. 16. Ps 3. ult Rom. 8. 30. 1 Cor. 6. 11. Matth. 28. ult 8. The Communicant must know That the Holy Ghost did move and inspire the Penman of the Holy Scripture so that 't is of Divine Authority and contanis all things needful to be known beleived and done in order to Salvation The Books of the Old and New Testament are to be received as the Word of God Those therefore that lived under the Old Testament had some Knowledge of Christ and the Gospel and were saved no other way but by him But under the New Testament Christ and the things of our peace are much more fully revealed 2 Pet. 1. ult 2 Tim. 3. 16. Ps 19. 7. 2 Tim. 3. 17. Eph. 2. 20. Acts 26. 22 23. Matth. 13. 17. 2 Cor. 3. 18. 9. There is a New Covenant which God has made with his people who Repent and Beleive into which Covenant he has also taken their Infant Seed and therein he has promised to be their God to pardon Sin to give Grace after Death to raise them up at the Last day and to bestow upon them Life Everlasting and this Covenant as it was under the Old Testament confirmed by Circumcision and the Passover so under the New 't is confirmed by Baptism and the Lords Supper which two Sacraments are the Seals of it Heb. 8. 8. 10. 12. Acts 3. 19. Acts 16. 31. Acts 2. 39. Joh. 6. 39. 40. Rom. 6. ult Rom. 4. 11. 1 Cor. 5. 7. Matth. 28. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 24 25. 1 Cor. 10. 16. 10. The Communicant must know That the Law of God is not Abolished but Established by Faith as a Rule of Righteousness for Christians to walk by And sincere Obedience to the Law and Gospel through Christ shall be Accepted and Rewarded but those who live and dye Vnbeleiving Impenitent and Disobedient shall suffer the Vengeance of Eternal Fire and their Condemnation will be sorest who have been often offered but have neglected great Salvation Rom. 3. ult 1 Joh. 2. 1. 1 Cor. 15. 58. 1 Pet. 2. 5. 2 Thess 1. 8. 9. Heb. 2. 3. These are the Ten Principles of the Christian Religion which the Communicant is
Thus have I finished this Subject of Self-Examination a Duty which the Ungodly mind not which Hypocrites are afraid and do not care to meddle with and which if Saints would more frequently and thorowly engage in there would be less unbelief and fear more joy and Faith in the Church of Christ You that are Saints In this discourse I have been helping of your Joy Let it not be hindred by your selves Some clusters of Canaan might be brought to the Wilderness and more of Heavens joys might be tasted in the Vale of Tears if the Heirs of Heaven would but take more pains in self-trial to clear up their Title And as for you that are Hypocrites and Vnbeleivers I have don you a kindness in telling you what you are and what you may expect hereafter If after all you will put a cheat upon your own souls you must be blamed and your selves must smart for it If you will cry peace and safety till Christ himself does thunder that sentence in your ears Go ye Cursed into Everlasting fire Who can help it Alas Alas 'T will be too late to look up to Heaven and to look into your selves when the Gulph is fixed between Heaven and you Let every sinner therefore try his own ways and cry to the Lord to search and change and turn his Heart For 't is the greatest Wisdom to prevent those mistakes which will be the mistakers Eternal ruine and which after death will be found impossible to be corrected Herbert page 105. CAnst he idle Canst thou play Foolish soul who sinn'd to day Rivers run and springs each one Know their home and get them gone Hast thou tears or hast thou none If poor soul thou hast no tears Would thou hadst no faults or fears Who hath these those ills forbears But if yet thou idle be Foolish Soul who di'd for thee Who did leave his Fathers Throne To assume thy Flesh and Bone Had he life or had he none If he had not liv'd for thee Thou hadst di'd most wretchedly And two deaths had been thy fee. He so far thy good did plot That his own self he forgot Did he die or did he not If he had not di'd for thee Thou hadst liv'd in misery Two lives worse than ten deaths be He that loseth Gold though dross Tells to all he meets his cross He that sins hath he no loss He that finds a silver vein Thinks on it and thinks again Brings thy Saviours death no gain Who in Heart not ever kneels Neither sin nor Saviour feels Meditations ON THE LORDS SUPPER MEDITATIONS I. WHerefore do I spend my money for that which is not Bread And my labour for that which can never satisfie Many a time have I made trial of the things that are visible but the higher my expectations have been raised the greater has been my disappointment I have sought that among the Creatures which is not to be found Sin has turned this World into a Country far from God and truly Husks are the best fare that ever this World hath yeilded me 'T is high time to come out from the World and to be separate left my Soul perish for hunger there Meat that perishes is improper for a Soul that is of an immortal nature and of an Everlasting duration I will arise and go unto my God and Father He has promised to satiate and replenish the weary and sorrowful Soul In his House I am sure there is Bread enough and to spare MEDITATION II. Boast not O Mammon of thy Treasures Unless thou hast that which is of sufficient value to be a ransom for me Can all the Wealth of both the Indies pay the debt which by sin I have contracted Can Riches satisfie for the wrong I have done to the justice of God by my Transgression Oh no I was not Redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Pardon Grace and Glory are such gifts of God as are not to be purchased with money for if they were so many Rich men would not be lost for ever Wealth cannot buy any out of the Devils possession but rather brings them more under his power it cannot save any from Hell but rather proves a means to send them thither For they that will be Rich fall into Tempttaion and a Snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in Destruction and Perdition MEDITATION III. O my Soul strive not to load thy self with the thick clay of this present World this will debase thee exceedingly and defile and burthen thee Thou needest that which is of more value then Gold that perishes to enrich thee and that is precious Faith Thou needest a garment to cover thy nakedness which no Shop on Earth can furnish thee withal and that is the Robe of Christs Righteousness Thou needest Food to satisfie thy hunger which cannot be got for money or price but may be had without it and that is the Bread of God which came down from Heaven to give Life unto the World Thou art of Heavenly original and therefore mind not Earthly things for it can never be well with thee untill thou return to that All-sufficient Lord who is the Father of Spirits and alone can fill them out of his own fulness MEDITATION IV. Lord Thou who art full of Love nay love it self and art jealous of my love lest it should be misplaced Turn away my Eyes that they may not be set upon that which is not If Riches take to themselves wings and fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven let my Heart be so wise as to get the start of them and fly away first from such transitory and fading vanities and fly towards the highest Heaven of all How great a gain will it be to lose my love to the World And though it be no gain at all to thee for me to love thee who art so self-sufficient from Everlasting to Everlasting yet I shall hereby be an Eternal gainer and shall be interested in that love which is Everlasting and unchangeable Oh! Love me freely in the Son of thy love and inflame my Heart with love to Thee 'T is my Honour that I have leave to love thee who art so high and glorious and 't is thy first and great Command that I should love thee with my whole Heart and Soul and Strength Let this Command be kept and let not the biggest offer the World can make me ever tempt me to break it so as to prevail with me MEDITATION V. Pleasures of sin and sence have often charmed and deceived me Those things which have gratified the Eye the Ear the Touch the Taste have had a kind of an inchanting Force and Power Sensual Delights have been some of the finest and strongest cords of vanity to draw me a way from God and Duty But now I see what madness 't is to please my self and displease my Lord
when his Disciple Peter through an ignorant and carnal Affection would have hindred him from dying for his Church how sharply does he rebuke him Get thee behind me Satan for thou art an offence to me thou savourest not the things that be of God but the things that be of men MEDITATION XXIV Dearest Lord Wert thou thus forward to dye and art thou not forward to reap the fruit of thy Death and to receive and save the Souls that come to thee If a Woman in Travel be willing to be delivered I need not question but thou art willing to see of the Travel of thy Soul since 't is so much for thy own satisfaction so much for thy Fathers Glory Certainly thou will not reject sinners that come to thee since thou hast done and suffered so much for their Salvation If thou hadst been really unwilling to save as sometimes Satan misrepresents thee that unwillingness would have shew'd it self when thou wast in thy terrible Agony when thy Soul was amazed and full of heaviness and exceeding sorrowful unto Death when the Heaven was black over thee and thy Fathers Face hid from thee and thou didst cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me But all this thou didst willingly undergo to save lost Man and therefore thy willingness to bestow the Salvation thou hast purchased is not to be questioned For surely thou art not willing that such a Death as thine so sharp so bitter and of so great value should be in vain MEDITATION XXV I do not wonder that the Apostle Paul does magnifie the knowledge of Christ Crucified above all other knowledge compared with this all the Philosophy of the Greeks was but vain legal prerogatives and indeed all the Ceremonies of the Law were but insignificant Christ Crucified Though he be a stumbling block to the Jews and to the Greeks foolishness yet he is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God and the greatest demonstration of his love I do not wonder that the Lords Supper should be instituted on purpose that the Crucifixion of Christ should be remembred for the Death of Christ is the sinners life the Foundation of his hope and his security against Eternal Death The Gospel is styled the Preaching of the Cross and the Apostle is resolved to Glory in nothing else the Truth is we can take comfort in no other knowledge unless we have some respect and relation to Christ and him Crucified The Papists foolishly adore the sign of the Cross but true Beleivers do prize the Doctrine the Blood and the Vertue of Christ Crucified MEDITATION XXVI What sights may I see in my Lord Crucified Peace is made by the Blood of the Cross and all things Reconciled both in Heaven and Earth The Saints who lived and dyed before Christ was born were reconciled to God by the Blood of his Son which was to be shed in time as well as Believers since his being manifested in the Flesh In Christ Crucified the Anger of God is appeased his Justice fully satisfied and though the Christians debt amounts unto millions of Talents yet justice acknowledgeth that Christ his surety has paid it all Look upon God in Christ and you will see that Fury is not in him through the Lord Jesus you may see his very Bowels he does earnestly remember sinners his Bowels are troubled for them and he will surely have mercy upon them Oh certain and comfortable Truths That the Lord is the God of Love and Peace that he waits to be Gracious that he delights in shewing mercy and takes pleasure in them that hope in his mercy if that hope be accompanied with a fear and careful eschewing of what is evil in his sight MEDITATION XXVII In Christ Crucified I may see a New Covenant of Grace and Life and Peace established so that it is most sure and Everlasting Jesus is the Mediatour of this Covenant and every time I come to the Table this Covenant is sealed and confirmed to me that I may with the greater confidence expect the accomplishment of the promises which are contained in it These Promises are exceeding great and precious Temporal blessings in such a measure as the Wise God sees convenient are here made over to me for he that is a Son and Heir of God is the Heir of the World the Heir of all things Spiritual blessings which are of greater value are more absolutely promised and may with greater vehemency be desired and with greater confidence expected And as the Lord has engaged to give me Grace so to give me Glory he has said he will give me himself and be my God and Guide my Shield and my exceeding great Reward And truly the Ordinances of Heaven are not so immutable and unchangeable as the Covenant of Redemption and Reconciliation Heaven and Earth shall passe away but one joy or tittle shall in no wise pass from the Covenant till all be fulfilled MEDITATION XXVIII In Christ Crucified I may see the Curse of the Law removed the sentence of condemnation reversed the sting of Death taken out the Principallities and Powers of darkness triumphed over I may see Hell fast lockt and shut up for ever and Heaven opened a way made plain in to the Holiest of all an abundant entrance administred into the Everlasting Kingdom Who would not study the Cross of Christ Who would not Glory and rejoyce in it Who would not desire conformity to it and to feel the power and vertue of it They that are Enmies to the Cross of Christ are Enemies to their own Souls They that are offended at the Cross 't is a sign they are blind and do no understand the benefits which comes by it MEDITATION XXIX Do this in remembrance of me said my dying Lord and Redeemer Lord Can I put my memory to a better use then to remember Thee Thy Tears thy strong Cryes thy being cruelly Mockt and Scourged thy dreadful Agonies and Desertion the peircing of thy Hands and Feet and Side thy Wounds and Bruises and giving up the Ghost and making thy Soul an Offering for sin and sinners Shall all or any this be forgotten The sufferings of such an One such sufferings so great so beneficial to me should always be kept in most affectionate remembrance Thy Death and Burial should never be buried in oblivion A dying Lord should always live in a Christians memory If the poor Captives in Babylon could not forget Jerusalem shall I ever forget Jesus Or my obligation to him or the Love and service which I owe him I desire to grieve for sin which made thee sorrowful and to be prickt at the Heart for my iniquities whereby thy Heart was pierced And as I wish that sin may be more my grief so I would prefer Jesus before my chief Joy MEDITATION XXX My Lord at the Table says Take and eat this is my Body This is infinitely more and better then if a Rich man should say to me take my estate or then
if an Emperour should bid me take his Crown and Diadem or then if all the Kingdoms of the World and all the Glory of them were offered me When Christ offered up himself a Sacrifice unto God that he might put sin away how great was the Offering If all the Beasts in Earth the Fowls of the Air had been offered this offering could not have made Atonement for the sinner or for one sin Nay if all the Angels in Heaven had proffered themselves to be annihilated in case fallen man might be pardoned Neither would this have been sufficient satisfaction So that when Christ offered himself to God he offered more then all the World then millions of Worlds would amount unto And when the Lord Jesus bids me take him and feed upon this meat indeed this Bread of Life shall I refuse He that receives Christ how much does he recieve He does indeed receive all For Christ is all in all and filleth all in all MEDITATION XXXI Lift up your Heads O ye Gates and be ye lift up ye Everlasting Doors that the King of Glory may come in Who is this King of Glory The Lord Jesus is the Prince of Life the King and Lord of Glory Behold he stands at the door and knocks if any man hear his voice and open the door he will come into him and sup with him And when he comes and is admitted what entertainment does he bring Meat that perishes is contemptible in comparison Christ will give that Meat which endures to Everlasting Life His Love is better then Wine Nay his favour is better then life it self The Manna in the Wilderness was excellent food but many that Eat it perished But whoever by Faith do feed upon our Lord Jesus in reference to the second Death they become immortal This is the Bread which commeth down from Heaven that a Man may Eat thereof and not dy I am the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven if any man Eat of this Bread he shall live for ever and the Bread that I wil give is my Flesh which I will give for the Life of the World MEDITATION XXXII When an inheritance is conveyed to me by a sealed Deed the Nature of the wax is not changed but the use of it The Bread and Wine after the Sacramental blessing of them remain Bread and Wine still and so in Scripture they are called but their use is very much altered and they become Christs broad seal to convey to me and to assure me of the Remission of sin of the Renewing of my Nature and of Life and Immortality Let the Papists contend for a gross and carnal presence of the Body of Christ at his Table I am perswaded that as Circumcision is called the Covenant and the Lamb the Lords Passeover So the bread and wine are called the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus And yet I am also fully perswaded that though the Body of Christ is in Heaven yet he is most really present at the Table with them that do believe and such are nourished and strengthened in this Ordinance I learn from Scripture that Spiritual things are most firm most real most substantial most durable and if so then Christs spiritual presence is the most real presence Christ is absent where Transsubstantiation is believed and Romish Devotion and Adoration of the Host is turned into abominable Idolatry MEDITATION XXXIII Lord Thou art my Hope my Help my Saviour my Life my All Thou wouldst have me put thee on to cover my nakedness Thou wouldst have me take sanctuary under thy wings in all my dangers thou wouldst have me use thee as a Physician to cure all my spiritual maladies and when I am hungry and thirsty and my Soul faints within me thou hast enough to satisfie and fill me What one said concerning the Scripture I may apply to my blessed Lord. Adoro Christi plenitudinem I adore the fulness that is in Christ Jesus Draw neerer neerer O thou only Saviour thou deservest the highest the best nay all the room in my Heart thou oughtest to be the most welcom guest Let me have a clearer sight of thy transcendent loveliness a larger taste of thy incomparable sweetness let me clasp about thee and hold thee in more strict embraces Why should I be empty since in thee there is a fulness of the Spirit without stint or measure I would be poor in Spirit but why should I be poor in Grace since in thee there are unsearchable Riches MEDITATION XXXIV Bread is the staff of Life Lord I come to thy Table for support and strength Oh! Let the Bread of God strengthen me with strength in my Soul Let me find and feel the admirable vertue of the Broken Body that I may say from plentiful experience I this is meat indeed Let sin grow weaker and weaker and Mammons interest in me decline and languish but make me strong in Spirit and carry on the work of Faith with Power I have need of strength who have such a way to go and all up Hill who have so much work to do and such mighty Enemies to encounter and overcome My Life lies in believing in thee I stand no longer then Thou upholdest me Without thee I can do nothing or what is worse then nothing I can do nothing but sin and fall but if thou dost strengthen me I shall be able to do all things If thou withdraw from me I shall be weak as a Child unstable as the very Water but if thou dost confirm me by thy Grace I shall be like David nay like unto an Angel I shall fight the good fight of Faith and go on conquering and to conquer till I get the Crown MEDITATION XXXV How great was the breach which sin had made between God and Man that my Lord must be broken to make it up Could not something less have served the turn If Christ must die or sin must not be pardoned judg of the greatness of the fault by the greatness of the Sacrifice and Satisfaction What hath sin done It has filled Earth with troubles it has filled Hell with Souls it has turned Angels into Devils it has provoked the God of Heaven to great and Righteous indignation add unto all this It has killed Christ the Lord of Life He was wounded for our Transgression he was bruised for our iniquities Who would love who would like such an evil If my Father had been stabbed should I embrace the Murtherer or like the Dagger besmeared with his blood Oh hateful sin I 'le be revenged upon thee I will make no provision for thee I will lament because of thee I will detest and abhor thee I will be dead to thee and endeavour to mortifie and kill thee My Lord was not spared for thy sake and thou shalt not be spared Lord Away with these lusts all of them Crucifie them Crucifie them since Christ himself did bear my sins in his own Body on the Tree Oh let me be
Discourse of Excommunication The middle way of Predetermination Popery an Enemy to Truth by Mr. Sheldreck Dr. Dumoulins conformity of Independent Government to the Antient Primitive Christians Excommunication Excommunicated in a Dialogue between a Doctor of both Laws The Case of the Protestants in England under a Popish Prince A rebuke to Informers A modest Inquiry into Dr. Stilling fleet Historical mistakes The State of Blessedness An Answer to Dr. Stilling fleets Book by J. H. Liberty of Conscience in order to universal peace The Lords voice crying to England Life of Herod the Great A Manifesto or an Account of the State and differences between the King of Denmark and Norway and the Duke of Slesmick Phelps Innocencies reward Materials for Union A sheet of Union Rosses Mestogogus Poaeticus Phelps on the Revelations Gilaspys Ark of the Covenant Present State of New England Dr. Collings of Providence Froysells Sermons of Grace and Temptations Yarringtons Englands Improvement First part Idem second part Meaning of the Revelation by John Hayter The Morning-Lecture against Popery or the principal errors of the Church of Rome detected and confuted in a Morning-Lecture preached by several Ministers of the Gospel in or near London Four useful discourses 1 The art of improving a full and prosperous condition for the glory of God being an appendix to the art of Contentment in three Sermons on Philip. 4. 12. 2 Christian submission on 1 Sam. 3. 18. Philip. 1. 21. 4 The Gospel of peace sent to the sons of peace in six Sermons on Luke 10. 5 6. by Jeremiah Burroughts Dr. Wilds Letter of Thanks and Poems A new Copy-Book of all sorts of useful hands The new World or new-reformed Church by Doctor Homes The Vertuous Daughter a Funeral Sermon by Mr. Brian The Miracle of Miracles or Christ in our Nature by Dr. Rich. Sibbs The unity and essence of the Catholick Church visible by Mr. Hudson Brightman on Revelations Canticles and Daniel Canaans Calamity The intercourse of Divine Love between Christ and the Church or the particular Beleiving soul in several Lectures on the whole second Chap. of Cant. by John Collins D. D. Large 8 vo The sure mercies of David by Nath. Heywood Heaven or Hell here in a Good or Bad Conscience by Nath. Vincent Closet-Prayer a Christians duty all three by O. Heywood A Practical discourse of Prayer wherein is handled the nature and duty of Prayer by Tho. Cobbet Of quenching the Sprit the evil of it in respect both of its causes and effects discovered by Theophilus Polwheile The sure way to Salvation or a Treatise of the Saints mystical Union with Christ by Richard Stedman M. A. Sober Singularity by the same Author Heaven taken by Storm by Tho. Watson The Childs Delight together with an English Grammar Reading and Spelling made easie both by Tho. Lye Aesops Fables with morals thereupon in English Verse The Young-mans Instructor and the Old-mans remembrancer being an Explanation of the Assemblies Catechism Captives bound in Chains made free by Christ their Surety both by Tho. Doolittle Eighteen Sermons preached upon several Texts of Scripture by William Whitaker The Saints care for Church Communion declared in sundry Sermons preached at St. James Dukes-place by Zech. Crofton The life and death of Edmund Stanton D. D. To which is added a Treatise of Christian-conference and a Dialogue between a Minister and a Stranger Sin the Plague of plagues or sinful sin the worst of Evils by Ralph Venning M. A. Cases of Conscience practically resolved by J. Norman The faithfulness of God considered and cleared in the great Events of his Word or a second part of the fulfilling of the Scripture The immortality of the Soul explained and proved by Scripture and Reason to which is added Faiths-triumph over the fears of death by Tho. Wedsworth A Treatise of the incomparableness of God in his Being Attributes Works and Word by George Swinnock M. A. A discourse of the original c. of the Cossacks The generation of Seekers or the right manner of the Saints addresses to the throne of Grace with an Exposition on the Lords-Prayer The administration of Cardinal Ximones An Essay to facilitate the Education of Youth by bringing down the rudiments of Grammar to the sense of seeing which ought to be improved by Syncrisis by Lewis of Totenham An Artificial Vestibulum wherein the sense of Janua Linguarum is contained compiled into plain and short sentences in English for the great ease of Masters and Expeditious progress of Scholars by M. Lewis Speculum Sherlockianum or a Looking glass in which the admirers of Mr. Sherlock may behold the man as to his Acuracy Judgment Orthodoxy A discourse of Sins of Omission wherein is discovered their Nature Causes and Cure by George Swinnock His Majesties Propriety in the British Seas vindicated Quakerism no Christianity or a through-Quaker no Christian proved by their Principles and confirmed by Scripture by J. Faldo Differences about Water-baptism no bar to Communion by Jo. Bunian The Dutch-dispensatory shewing the virtues qualities and properties of Simples the vertue and use of Compounds whereto is added the Compleat Herbalist Judg Dodaridge's laws of Nobility and Peerage Dinglys Spiritual Feast Solitude improved by Divine Meditation by Matth. Ranew A Murderer punished and pardoned or Tho. Savage his life and death with his Funeral sermon Hurst Revival Grace Buryes Husbandmans Companion help to holy walking Hanmers view of Antiquity Nomenclaturas Wases Grammar Vincent of Conscience Gouges Principles of Christian Religion Christian Direction Word to Saints and Sinners Young mans guide Christian Housholder Perrots Englands duty The Nonconformists vindicated Wadsworths remains Shepherdy Spiritualized Calamys Art of divine Meditation Faldos Quakerism no Christianity vindication of 21 Divines Small 8vo A defence against the fear of death by Zach. Crofton Gods Soveraignty displayed by William Gearing The Godly mans Ark or a City of Refuge in the day of his distress in five Sermons with Mrs. Moors evidences for Heaven by Edmund Calamy The Almost-Christian discovered or the false-Professor tried and cast by M. Mead. The true bounds of Christian-freedom or a discourse shewing the extent and restraints of Christian-liberty by S. Bolton D. D. The sinfulness of Sin and fulness of Christ in two Sermons by Will. Bridg. A Plea for the godly or the Righteous mans Excellency The holy Eucharist or the Sacrament of the Lords Supper A Treatise of self-denial All three by Tho. Watson The life and death of Tho. Wilson of Maidstone in Kent The Life and Death of Dr. Samuel VVinter A Covert from the Storm or the fearful encouraged in the day of Trouble Worthy-walking press'd upon all that have heard the Call of the Gospel The Spirit of Prayer All three by Nath. Vincent The inseparable union between Christ and a Believer by Tho. Peck A discourse of Excuses setting forth the variety and vanity of them the sin and misery brought in by them by John Sheffield Invisible reality demonstrated in