their last end will be thus qualified for there be many intermediate Ends of Vice which have not in them any appearance or symptoms of Death but of some good as Gain Sweetness Pleasure Honour but the last end will be deadly 'T is true the Wanton acts that he may have Pleasure and not Shame and Disease and the Thief robs to get Gain but the last end follows these which are intermediate and that is Death nay Deaths for it is Spiritual and Eternal And this will be found true in every vicious Course that wicked Men approve of and take to be vertuous because pleasing to their carnal Appetites for since the keeping of Gods Commands are recompenced with a double Reward of this Life and a better 't will follow that the breaking of them may be recompenced with a double Death and indeed in one and the same Vice not only a double Death but a manifold way of Destruction may be found as shall appear as we proceed The Holy Scriptures Seal to us the Truth of this Proposition for they say That the way of the wicked shall perish Psal. 1. 7. and if a Man wont turn from the Folly of his false Imaginations God will whet his Sword and bend his Bow and make it ready and prepare for him the Instruments of Death and ordain his Arrows against Psal. 137. 14. him St Iames says Sin bringeth forth Death the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and thence the Apostles meaning is that Sin goes with Cap. 1. 15. Child of Death And this shall be made evident in several Instances That the end of Heresie is Death tho this Assertion the end of Adultery Sins are them up upon one the spiritual Death in it self a numerous for it doth not 〈◊〉 Greatness like a 〈◊〉 for many but because the Soul every fresh Heresie like a 〈◊〉 gives it a stab and 〈◊〉 it far more then once Brutus did Caesars shirt Now one Instrument it makes use of to destroy Mans Soul is by killing the Truth which is its Food and Sustenance for that being gone his Soul can no more subsist than the Body can without Meat and Drink But besides these Metaphorical Deaths which Heresies produce the Death of the Body and that more signal than ordinary hath through Gods just Iudgment followed them For Simon Magus who called himself a God could not by his Magical Power get to Heaven but the attempting of it by flight cost him a Fall which cost Euseb. Eccl. H. B. 5. c. 16. him his Life Such a corporal Death besel Theodotus the Montanist and Sorcerer Manes the Founder of the Maniches Socrat. B. 1. C. 22. undertook by Sorcery to heal the King of Persia's Son but instead thereof kill'd him and thereupon was taken and flaid alive his Skin fill'd with Chaff and hang'd at the Gates of his City Arius Socrat. B. 1. C. 38. did vent his Excrements and Life together Olympus an 〈◊〉 Bishop as he Bained himself at Carthage and blasphemed the ever Blessed Trinity was suddenly smitten from Heaven with three Darts and burned 〈◊〉 Cyrinus the Heretical Bishop of Calcedon from Socrat. B. 6. C. 19. a small accidental hurt of his Foot suffered much Misery he first lost both his Feet and then his Life Once more Severus the Heretical Bishop of Antioch had his Tongue pulled out by the Command of the Emperour Iustin Evagr. Eccl. H. A. D. 517. because he reviled the Orthodox Council of Calcedon and Preach'd railing Sermons Thus Heresie the Calenture Plague and Poyson of our Souls winds up fatal Bottoms for us and procures not only one but many ways of Death 2. As for those Carnal ways of Pleasure and Delight and of worldly Gain and Profit which deceive most Persons many of them as Murder Rebellion Sodomy Thieft and others are the High Roads to Capital Punishents and many instead of finding Riches and Content from them have been put off with an Ax or an Halter Yet if the eye of the Law cannot spy them or they escape the Execution of it yet Death will not be so baffled or deluded for if they run from one yet another Death will overtake and Arrest them tho' they run from the Corporal yet the spiritual Death will draw its Bow and fix its Dart in them Tho' they live to the World yet they are dead to Grace walking Carcasses living in Tombs and Sepulchres having putrid and rotten Souls And in good earnest such a living Death was accounted no Contradiction even amongst the Heathens for Persons who ran-counter to Philosophical Rules and whose Actions seemed wise only thro' the Medium of their sensitive Appetites were by them esteemed Dead and no better than rotten and stinking Carcasses Now to avoid this Soul Death the better sort of Heathens have physick'd themselves by mortifying their Bodies for they supposing that corporeal Pleasures were as great Murderers as Syrens who sang Persons into their fatal Embraces did prescribe a moral Purge and a strong one too called by the Pythagoreans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which was a whipping Lecture for beating down those Motions which rose up against Reason and begot in the Body a downey softness and did flide them down into the Gulph of iniquity and they unstitched their Souls from too much sticking to bodily Delights and then proposed to them the love of Vertue and heavenly Matters The Stoicks used the same Medicine against this kind of Soul Death or Hectic of Vertue for their Doctors or great Philosophers prescrib'd their Schollars things severe and laborious for some were willing to be bound and others that their Bodies should smart with Rods and Whips How sad and lamentable his Condition is who through counterfeit Knowledge and false Wisdom hath brought his Soul into the Snares of Death may appear because in this Case it is stripp'd stark naked of all Grace and Vertue and it being thus swept and garnished the Devil enters in and takes Possession of it as of a Tenement of his own thus forfeited to him and there Commands as a most cruel and bloody Tyrant and is not this Condition sad Should we see a Person all naked bowed down and sadled and whipt into a full Career by the Devil thro' Church-Yards and over Vaults and Monuments of dry Bodies and Rottenness we would be much affected with the hideous condition of this Person and account it superlative Misery and in Anticipation of Hell it self Yet such is every one who through his own Glass looks well and at the same time is Domineer'd over by his carnal Appetite for he 's possessed and at the Command of Satan and is taken out and Rid up and down by him where he pleaseth And could this be made appear to his Senses it would horribly affright and make him break his Glass through which such a prodigious Monster did look fair and lovely But because this sort of Death is one of a subtle Nature
necessary and therefore should engage us in the Meditation of it because it is the most proper means for that end And when we have fix'd our thoughts to this purpose then we should fix them upon the main thing requir'd in us as We are Christians And that is set down by our Lord and Master from whom we have our Names in the Phrase of being Born again and the necessity of it is added Io. 3. 3. to stir up our diligence in assuring our selves that we are in that Condition for except it be thus we shall not see ver 3. the Kingdom of God So that we must be New or Undone Creatures live in Grace or die in Sin And next to the Necessity if it we must Meditate upon the Excellency the superlative Excellency of that New State As that it makes us partakers of the Divine Nature that is Regenerate by the 2 Cor. 5. 17. Holy Ghost or indewed with new qualities of Righteousness and Holiness wherein we resemble God as Children do their Father bearing the Image of his Wisdom and Purity And also that hereby we become Kings and Priests unto God Kings because of the Victories which in that Condition we obtain against the Flesh the World and the Devil and Priests because then we offer up to God a pure Body and Holy Prayers and the Works of Piety and Mercy The next Object we should fix upon in reference to our selves is to know what we shall be or what kind of future Life we shall live And in order hereto it will highly concern us to Meditate on the four last things namely Death Iudgment Hell Heaven These last things well consider'd will make us always last and live in spight of Death it self Now as a previous motive to six our thoughts upon the first of these Objects DEATH Let us Note that the Regular Death performance hereof may cause our Sins to Dye before they be Old and thereby secure us from the full strength and force of them in our Hearts for 't is the Nature of Sin to be stronger and more fierce when Old than Young the wither'd and drooping Body proves a Medicine for Sin 's growth and flourishing for when the Fort or Outwork of the Soul is Dismantled by many Breaches made in it by Lust and Intemperance and from the frequent Detachments and fresh Supplies sent by Satan from those vicious Habits as from a well furnish'd Magazine which he hath laid up against it then Sin retires into the Castle of Mans Soul and there un tes his Forces and makes them stronger and what Ruines the Out-work that is the Body hath suffer'd doth but Alarm Satan's Industry to make the Castle the more Invincible for himself Now the frequent thoughts of Death may out-wit Satan and prevent this his Stratagem and this should stir us up to be exercis'd in that counterplot and employment and that this will herein prove successful we may be assur'd from hence namely that the Heavenly Arithmetick of Numbering our Days that we may apply our Hearts to Wisdom must be learned by Meditation Hereby we should often visit our Sepulchres and take a turn in our Tombs and Dress our selves up in our winding Sheets By this Art we may make Death our Natures grim Enemy our choice Friend and hereby learn an Acquaintance with it and procure its familiarity and even touch and stroke it and so abate much of its fierceness when of necessity and according to Heavens Statute Law it must and doth come Believe it Meditation of it before is the best Receit to heal the anguish and sharpness of Death when it doth come and after our Thoughts have taken some Turns in the Charnel House let them come forth and by Meditation mount up to the place of Iudgment And there fix we our Minds upon the Righteous Iudge and the Glorious Tribunal and the Various Qualities and Postures of the Prisoners some smiling with their Pardons in their Hands and called by their Loving Master and Saviour from the Bar and plac'd at his Right Hand Others pale and ghastly and trembling under the terrours of a guilty Conscience and Seated on the Left Hand to be thrown down into a Prison of Eternal Darkness Meditate on the never Dying Worm that is bred in that Prison and there will fix his Venemous Teeth and Torment the Conscience for ever How to go through Hell to Heaven is a Road well known to those who have examined all the Passages which lead thither and are resolved upon that Iourney mauger all the dangers and frightful Objects and cruel usage which lye in the way to hinder them supposing it much better hereby to be scared to Happiness then to slide down delightfully to Misery we all know that the most dreadful State of those which are in Hell is express'd by Fire because it is the most terrible Element and the Meditation hereof may cause us through God's Grace to use all the proper means whereby we may escape it and that it may not be the Portion of our Cup. Now after such black and frightful thoughts which are as the Rod rather to keep us in awe and order than to assright and hurt us Let us Meditate on Heaven and this Heaven Object when duely entered upon will be so delightsome and delicious to our Souls that with the Spouse in the Canticles 2. Cap 5. they will crave whole Flaggons of it and drink so deep till they be inebriated with its sweetness For there all the precious and gracious Promises in God's Holy Word shall be fully accomplish'd and perform'd to them and what Draught can be more sweet and comfortable So that 't is our Recreation and Pleasure as well as our Obligation and Duty to Meditate on Heaven And that we may not be discourag'd from fixing our thoughts upon this Object because of the vast extent of it or surfeit them with the variety of those Delicacies which it affords For Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor can Man's Heart conceive what they are Let us set this Breviate or Epitomy of it before us and Meditate thereon Namely on the Incomparable and Incomprehensible Excellency of the Place of the unexpressible Ioys laid up in that place of the Fatness of that House of the innumerable Rivers of pleasure which glide along those Banks of the Transcendent Glory that fills every part of the Noble and Seraphical Quiristers which there attend of the Ravishing Anthems which are there heard and of the Vision of God himself which is Eternal Happiness And here Meletus looking about him and perceiving by the chearful aspects and diligent attention of his Hearers that their Ears were not yet satiated with his Lecture he went on to shew them some unquestionable Reasons why they should perform this Pious Office of Meditation and to what end and for what profit they should be so employ'd And the first Reason was because there is nothing more truly
Beneficial to us than the right and constant management of this Office for hereby God's Holy Word will be fruitful to us A Meditating Heart is an honest and good Heart and such is very fruitful under the means of Grace If we won't step aside and take time to fix our Thoughts upon what we hear or read in God's Word and from his Messengers we should be very extravagantly conceited to imagine that we should be ever the better for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. By Meditation we may prepare our Souls for all Holy Performances As for Prayer and Reading Holy Writ and Receiving the Lord's Supper and forgiving and forgetting Injuries and all other Duties of Mercy and Charity This Exercise will compose our minds and fetch them in when they have been abroad upon the World and 't is fit we make our selves comely and orderly by this Act of Meditation before we approach to wait upon God We are not to Rush all of a sudden upon any Holy Duty but to consider Eccles. 5. 4. of it and prepare for it Now Meditation puts us into this way it causeth us to Wash and Trim up our Souls with sincerity and an awful Reverence that so we may enter into God's presence with that Decency and Order which becomes his Faithful Servants and Dutiful Children 3. Meditation will prove an excellent Reason 3. means against all our tempting Lusts and Corruptions and also a strong Bulwark for our Vertues and Graces For he who frequently fixeth his mind upon the Nature of Sin may through God's Grace be soon perswaded to hate and abhor it For the Nature of Sin is to be evil in it self and dangerous to the Soul which harbours it Now as a Landlord will by no proffers of advantage entertain a Guest which he knows to be an egregious Robber and will Plunder him of his Substance and Fire his House No more will the Soul admit of Sin when it considers that it will deprive him of God's Favour and inflame him with his Wrath and Displeasure If Men would in their serious Meditations set the pleasures and profits of Sin on one side and the loathsomness and danger of it on the other did they view her Portion and Dowry with one eye and her Deformity and Vicious Qualities with the other it would be an admirable way to make them defist from Courting her and to avoid her with the greatest abhorrency If they would in their Meditations Rev. 9. compare Sin as they aptly may to the Locusts mention'd in Sacred Writ which tho' they had Crowns like Gold on their Heads and the Faces of Men and their Hair like Womens yet withal had Teeth like Lyons and Tayls like to Scorpions that is did they but think what Shame and Death would follow their sinful delights and honours what bitterness lay at the bottom of Sins Cup Questionless such a thought would make them Crucify it to Death in its most rich and pleasing Attire Now as Pious Meditation would after this manner ruine sin so 't would be a means to save and secure Grace For the thoughts of the loveliness hereof would put Courage into us to engage for it against all its Spiritual Enemies and 't would invite us to quicken it with our warmest affections and hereupon we should place it in the Garrisons of our Hearts and keep those Garrisons with our greatest watchfulness Moreover Meditation is a means to encrease and multiply our Graces for this Duty will bring supply of Grace and by it we should know what Armory to go to that is where to be Releiv'd And besides all this it will employ them and not suffer them to perish by ease and idleness It will rouse up our Faith and kindle our Charity and fortifie our Hope and enliven our Desires and multiply our spiritual Ioys 't will also loosen our Affections from earthly things and give us a foretaste of Eternal Glory By Meditation we enjoy God here and 4. Reason see Heaven upon Earth This is the Souls Perspective Glass through which it may view things a far off by it we take a turn in Heaven and view the Beatifical Vision by it we make a Visit to God himself and enjoy the ravishing delights of his presence and by it we invite and bring him even into our own Houses for when we fix our minds upon him he will vouchsafe to draw near to us and hereby we Humbly and Reverently and submissively confer with him and speak to him and have as much of him as the Soul of Man can bear Believe it there can be no Intercourse between Heaven and Earth betwixt God and Man without Meditation but in the exercise of it there may and this will bring a large Harvest of Spiritual Ioy and Comfort into our Souls for true Meditating Christians are usually most acquainted with God and this acquaintance will procure the best Peace and the most real comfort And here Meletus having Cruised thus far in this Ocean of matter made into the next Port and furl'd up his Sails thinking it proper to give himself and his Friends an opportunity of unbending their Bow or some Relaxation of their strict attention that it might not slacken by too much use and also an occasion of fixing their minds upon what he had deliver'd and told them that he would Launch out a few more Leagues on this subject at their next meeting and upon their breaking up at that time he put them in mind that tho' delay seemed ill favour'd yet for the reasons beforemention'd it might prove the Mother of Beautiful Wisdom CHAP. IV. Meletus's Third Discourse of Meditation THE next meeting being come and Glycon having put the Assembly in mind of the occasion of it and then made some sign to Meletus to proceed in the same Path and with the same Foot he had begun he freely embrac'd the motion and broke silence after this following manner It is written saith Meletus of the Bird Vid. Causin de Symbol Egypt sapient P. 8. called Phatalia that it is wont to fill it self with Shell-fish and to vomit them up when he hath concocted them by the heat of his Stomack and then choose out of them those which were most proper to be eaten I would perswade my self that in like manner you have by Meditation put in good order what you have already heard and chose out some peculiar observations whereby you have been made more strong in Christian Virtues then you were before and that you may have fresh supply to add to your increase herein for Christians must like the Crocodile be growing as long as they live I shall now shew you the manner how the Duty of Meditation must be exercis'd and it is necessary that you be inform'd hereof for the manner of doing any good action is the main thing which renders it acceptable in God's sight and beneficial to us and the difficulty of it will require directions for its performance in