in time In short we must not only quit and abandon all our Honors Dignities Treasures and Riches but we must also quit this Body this Flesh and Bones cover'd with this beautiful Skin O Man remember that thou art but dust and that thou shalt return to Dust 16. Saladine the famous Sultan of Egypt hath left to posterity an illustrious Testimony of the vanity of all Riches and worldly Grandeur for upon his Death-bed he Commanded that his Winding-sheet should be carried at the end of a Lance by an Herauld who was to proclaim Here is all that this great Prince hath carried away of his Riches Glory Principalities and Lordships which he hath enjoyed on Earth 17. Consider that it is a great cause of grief that we know not who shall inherit the Fruits of all our Labors which we keep with so much care and restless fears Who knows but our greatest Enemies and that which is worse Gods enemies shall cloath themselves with our spoils and that which we have been so long gathering many years shall be spent in a moment of this vanity and evil the Royal Prophet complains in the 39 Psalm Surely every man walketh in a vain shew surely they are disquieted in vain he heapeth up Riches and knoweth not who shall gather them 18. Consider well Christian people the dangerous effects wrought in us by the love of the World and the deceitfulness of Riches it stifles in our Hearts the good seed of the Gospel Matt. 3. it hinders it from growing up to salvation it keeps many from glorifying God and making an open profession of the truth As it is said of some of the chief Pharisees that they believed in our Lord Jesus Christ but they would not confess him before Men because they did love more the glory of Men than the glory of God therefore when Cyrus made Proclamation that the Children of Israel should have full liberty into their own Countrey to rebuild Jerusalem to repair God's Temple and to re-establish his neglected service there were many Jews that cared not to obey this Prince's Command nor God's Call because they were setled in Babylon they were too much wedded to the pleasures and delights of that City and therefore loath to part with their Concerns there for Jerusalâ—m for the same cause that young man mentioned before would not follow the Saviour of the World nor obey his Command because he had much Riches and had setled his Heart and affections upon them As God's Ark and Dagon cannot dwell together under one roof 1 Sam. 5. so the love of God and the love of the World can never subsist together therefore St. John adviseth us Love not the world nor the things that are in the world If any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2. 19. Take notice that this is the passion that stops so many in their first beginnings of Piety for as Lots wife was changed into a Statue of Salt assoon as she had looked behind her so when God sends us his Angels to take us by the hand and drag us out of the spiritual Sodom there is nothing more dangerous than to look with regret and longings for carnal Delights and worldly advantages which we are then totally to quit that alone is able to stop our proceeding forward to stifle our zeal and to cause all our pious intentions to vanish into the Air Therefore we must imprint in our minds this excellent sentence of our Saviour No body that puts his hand to the Plow and doth look back is fit for the kingdom of God 20. From hence it is that so many persons esteem'd well-grounded in Religion and Piety are perswaded at last to turn their backs to God and to make shipwrack of their faith What was the cause of the Israelites murmuring so often and desiring to return into Egypt was it not as we have already taken notice because their Hearts and Affections were setled and fixed in that cursed Land from whence God had deliver'd them by so many miracles and wherefore did Demas leave St. Paul and Christ's Gospel It was because he loved too much this present World In short our own experience confirms to us the saying of our Saviour No man can serve two Masters for he will hate the one and love the other or he will cleave to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and Mammon 21. Consider that if these worldly Goods and Honors don't produce in us these woful and lamentable effects they produce them in our posterity many would live happier in the World and be honester Men if their Parents had not left them so much Riches and so many Honors to possess Their Riches and Honors therefore do occasion many evils and oft-times they cast them headlong into several debaucheries and insolencies it is that which fills them full of a ridiculous vanity and of an unsufferable pride that renders them hateful to God and Man In a word it is that which makes them forget God and unmindful of the Treasuries and advantages of his Kingdom Prov. 30. Therefore Agar presented this excellent Prayer unto God Give me neither poverty nor Riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain Wretched Man to what purpose dost thou labor so carefully to gather up Riches for thy Children It may be that these Riches which thou dost snatch from others or which thou dost get with the loss of thy Soul shall serve but to get Golden Calves be the substance of infamous Idols as Gideon's Gold plunder'd upon the Midianites was employed in an Ephod which became a snare to his House and to all Israel Thus it happens many times that the Goods which are gotten with the expence of much blood and sweat and the Honors unto which we climb up with so much earnestness and passion become snares to our posterity they cast them headlong in an Abysse of misery 22. I should not forget that death is a kind of sleep therefore in Holy Scripture to dye and to fall asleep are to be understood in the same sence now as we cannot conveniently fall asleep unless we set aside and forget all the troublesome affairs of the World Likewise it is altogether impossible to dye comfortably and peaceably if we don't banish out of our hearts betimes all the foolish fancies that disturb us and all the cutting cares that undermine and consume us 23. To this purpose profane History tells us of a remarkable passage of Cyneas a great Minister of State to Pyrrhus King of Epirus That when he saw his Master so busy in raising of an Army to march against the Romans he began to argue with him in this manner Sir If it please God to grant you the victory over the Romans how will you employ your self next The
whole Nations and Kindreds the Flesh of all the Animals that have lived and died since the Creation of the World hath not been able to glut this horrid Monster All warfare is doubtful he that wins the Victory to day may soon after be put to flight He that rides at present in a Triumphing Chariot may become the footstool of his Enemy but Death is always victorious it triumphs with an insufferable insolency over all the Kings and Nations of the Earth it never returns to its Den but loaden with spoils and full of Blood The strongest Sampsons and the most victorious Davids who have torn in pieces and overcome Lions Bears and cut off the Heads of Giants have at last themselves yielded and been cut off by Death The Great Alexanders and the Triumphing Caesars that have made all the World to tremble before them and conquered the most part of the habitable Earth could never find any thing that might protect them from Deaths power when glorious Statues and stately Trophies were rais'd to their Honor Death did laugh at their Vanity and make sport with their Persons The rich Marbles where so many proud Titles are Engraven cover nothing but a little rotten Flesh and a few Bones which Death hath broken and reduc'd to Ashes We read in the Revelations of the Prophet Daniel That King Nebuchadnezar saw in a Dream a large Statue of Gold both Glorious and Terrible Its head was of pure Gold its Breast and Arms were of Silver its belly and thighs of Brass its Legs of Iron and its Feet were partly of Clay and partly of Iron As the Prince was beholding it with astonishment a little Stone cut out of a Mountain without hands was roll'd against the feet of this prodigious Statue and broke it all to pieces not only the Clay and the Iron were broken but also the Gold the Silver and the Brass all became as the chaffe which the wind blows to and fro This great Image represents the four Universal Monarchies of the World That of Babylon that of the Persians and Medes that of the Greeks and that of the Romans It represents also the Vanity and unconstancy of all things under the Sun for what is the Pomp the Glory the Strength and Dignities of this World but a smoak that the wind drives before it and a vapor that soon vanishes away All is like a shadow that flies from us or like a Dream that disappears in an instant when crazy Man that was created in the Image of God riseth out of the Dust he seems to be very glorious for awhile and becomes terrible but assoon as Death strikes at his Earthly part and begins to break his Flesh and Bones all the Glory Pomp Power and Magnificence of the richest of the most terrible and victorious Monarchs are chang'd into a loathsome Smell into contemptible Dust and reduc'd to nothing Vanity of vanities all is vanity Seeing therefore that Deaths cruelty is so notable that it spares none and that its power is so great that none can escape or resist it It is no wonder if Death is become so terrible and fills with fears grief and despair the minds of all Mortals who have not setled their Faith and Assurance upon God for there is no condemned prisoner but trembles when he beholds the Scaffold erecting upon which he is designed to be broken upon a Wheel or when he spies in the fire the Irons with which he is to be pincht to death In the midst of a sumptuous Feast King Belshasar saw the fingers of a Mans hand writing these words upon his wall of the Palace Mene Mene Tekel Vpharsin which the Prophet Daniel hath thus interpreted Mene God hath numbred thy Kingdom and finished it Tekel Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting Perez or Vpharsin Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians As soon as this Great Monarch had cast his eyes upon this miraculous writing it is said that his countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joynts of his Loyns were loosed and his Knees smote one against another Certainly the profound Worldling hath a greater cause to be dismayed in the midst of his Glory and Pleasures when he may perceive Death writing upon every wall of his House in visible Characters and printing upon his Forehead that God hath numbred his days and this in which he now breaths shall be soon followed by an eternal night That God hath weighed him in the ballance of his Justice and found him lighter than the Wind And that the terrible Creator unto whom vengeance belongs will soon divest him of all his Glory and Riches to cloath therewith his Enemies what comforts can be found by the wretched sinners who do not only understand the particulars of their final sentence but do also hear the thundring noise of the Great Judge of the world offended at their impieties They may now perceive Hell prepared to swallow them up and the fiery Chains of that doleful prison ready to receive them They may at present feel the hands of the executioner of Gods justice that seizeth upon them already and see themselves before stretcht and tortur'd in that place where there shall be nothing but weeping and horrible gnashing of Teeth at present they feel the fierceness of that fire and brimstone for it may justly be said of these wretched Varlots That Hell comes to them before they go to Hel and that in this life they are tormented with the grievous pangs of the second Death therefore some of them in despair do offer violence to themselves and commit an horrid murder upon their own persons as if they were afraid not to dye by a hand wicked enough the expectation of Death to them is more insufferable than Death it self and they had rather cast themselves into the bottomless pit of Hell than endure the apprehensions and fears of Hell in their guilty Consciences to be delivered of the flashes of Hell-fire that mounts up to their souls in this life they cast themselves in a brutish manner into that unquenchable Burning That which is most terrible is that the horrid and unsufferable fears that seize upon the wicked are not only for a moment for as a Criminal that knows that there is a sentence of Doom pronounced against him doth continually fancy and think upon those torments that are preparing for him assoon as he hears the door unlocking or a Fly bussing about his ears he imagines that some are entring to drag him from his prison to execution in some sense he desires what he apprehends and hastens the approaches of that for which he wishes and cannot avoid Thus desperate sinners that know there is a sentence of eternal Death pronounced against them in the Court of the King of Kings and that from this Sentence there is no Appeal nor Escape must needs be in continual fears Such foresee the fearful image of Death that disturbs
they began to draw near one another then the Nerves began to appear the Flesh to grow and to be covered with skin but there was no life until God Commanded the Prophet to prophecy again Thus saith the Lord Spirit come from the four winds blow upon these dead bodies and let them rise from the dead Then the Spirit entred into them they began to revive and they stood upon their Legs This is the lively and true image of the first resurrection for the Spirit of God that blows whither it listeth doth regenerate us by degrees John 3. and the new man is created in our hearts by little and little as the Child grows in its Mothers Womb. When Joshua brought the Children of Israel into the Land of Promise he did not destroy all the Cananites Josh 23. there remained some who became Scourges in their sides and Thorns in their Eyes Thus our true and Spiritual Joshua who hath led us into the kingdom of his Grace hath not altogether destroyed all our evil affections some yet remains that are like prickles in our sides and like swords that pierce through our souls They do yet render our life bitter and unpleasant and therefore we often desire death to come and put a period to this combat Sin was in possession of us as a strong man armed in an House but Jesus Christ is entred into our Souls and become the Master He hath therefore bound and chained sin and hath nailed it to his Cross But this furious Beast although it hath received a mortal wound and is ready to give up the last gasp it strugles and fumes within us our blessed Saviour hath extinguished with the Red Stream of his Blood the infernal flames of all our cursed affections but yet there remains in the ashes some sparkles of this devilish fire that do cause in us some furious fits This only merciful Redeemer of his infinite mercy hath loosed us from the Devils Chains but that we might have cause to be humbled to desire the increase of his Grace and to long for the advent of his Glory he leaves about us some of the troublesome Fetters by his Holy Spirit he files them off by degrees but one day he will take them away from us He doth now receive us as his beloved Children into the Celestial Kingdom of his Grace Joh. 11. nevertheless he suffers in us some ill-favoured reliques of sin and corruption At the voice of this Prince of Life that reaches to the very bottom of our hearts we are risen from the sepulchre of our Vices with our Grave-Cloaths about us as Lazarus when he came out of his Tomb we are like the antient Slaves that were set at liberty we bear upon our Forehead the visible marks of our antient slavery but one day our Lord Jesus Christ shall cover these marks of infamy and disgrace with an heavenly Diadem If you desire another image of our spiritual condition fancy to your selves a dead man cast into a foul Pit or Sink unto whom life is restor'd in a moment afterwards by degrees he is wash'd and cleans'd of the filth that covers his body We were not only dead of a Spiritual death but we were also overwhelmed in an Abysse of corruption and filth The Son of God hath pull'd us out of this Abysse and hath already restored unto us life but the dirt and putrefaction with which we were disfigured he washes it away by the waters of his Grace Zaâ— 13. For there is a fountain opened for sin in the House of David Isai 4. in the which God hath promised to wash away all the filth of the Daughter of Sion and all the bloud of Jerusalem and as it happened to the cruel King Adonibezech when the Tribe of Juda took him prisoner he lost the Thumbs of his Hands and the great Toes of his Feet but he did not suffer death until he was come to Jerusalem Thus our great God and Saviour the Prince of the Tribe of Juda hath cut off the strength and power of the old man that did tyrannize in our souls and hath deprived him of his venemous nails with which he did wound our hearts he hath also given him his mortal wound but he suffers him to enjoy a languishing life and will not take away his last breath until we bring him to the Gates of the heavenly Jerusalem But to speak more openly sin is yet in us but he doth not Reign for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ hath broken its Scepter and hath pull'd him from his Throne and as he hath taken from it all Command in us he constrains it to leave the possession of our souls by degrees As a strong and mighty King who having won the Battel pursues and drives his Enemy until he hath totally exposed him out of his kingdom so doth our Saviour deal with sin And as it happens with a Woman with Child in her old age there is in her Body two contrary lives that of the Mother and that of the Child the one decays and dies insensibly the other that is the Childs life grows and increaseth by degrees So it is in the faithful and regenerate Soul There are two lives that of Sin that the Scripture names the Old man and that of the New man which is created according to God in Righteousness and true Holiness the one diminishes and approacheth to its final end but the other grows and gathers strength until we arrive to the perfect stature of our Lord Jesus Christ the Spirit of God every day gets ground of our corruption and darkness As it happens with the Rivers of fresh water that encroach upon the Earth they undermine the nearest Banks or as the Sun when he riseth upon our Horison he drives before him all shadows until the Air be perfectly enlightned so it is with the Grace of God in our Souls CHAP. 5. Why we are yet subject to the Corporal or Natural Death and what advantage we do thereby receive in Jesus Christ THe wise King teacheth us in the 9 of the Ecclesiastes That the same accident happens to all to the righteous and to the wicked and to the clean and to the polluted to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not These words are to be understood of the several afflictions unto which we are exposed during this mortal life but we may apply it to the Natural Death for it is appointed unto all once to dye and after that the judgement follows Heb. 9. By one man sin is entred into the World and by Sin Death and thus Death is come upon all men because they have all sinned Rom. 5 Therefore when Joshua felt himself feeble and decaying he told the Children of Israel That he was going the way of all flesh Josh 23. and Job complains unto God I know that thou wilt reduce me to death and to the house appointed for all living Job 30. It was upon this subject that the Royal Prophet
was exercising his Meditation when he cryed out Who is he that liveth and shall not see death shall he free his soul from the power of the Grave Eccles 12. And to speak in the language of Salomon or ever the Silver Cord be loosed or the Golden Bowl be broken or the Pitcher be broken at the Fountain or the Wheel broken at the Cistern That is to say The Back-bone whereof the Marrow is as white as Silver be unloosed when the Scull which is like a precious vessel of Gold be broken when the Vena Cava receives no more Bloud from the Liver the fountain of Life when the Lights that draw in and push forth the breath move no more or when the Kidneys that extract the humidity from the Veins and cause it to drop down into the Bladder as into a Cistern begin to fail Then shall the Body return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it To express unto us this inevitable fate Moses reckons up all the antient Fathers that have lived longest in the first world he mentions some who lived 700 others 800 others 900 years and some near a thousand Gen. 5. But when he hath well spoken of their deeds and of the Children which they left in the world he adds in the conclusion of all And then such an one died So that our Creator doth execute upon all men the Sentence once pronounced against Adam the Father of all Mankind Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return Gen. 3. By this means God declares his Justice and Truth and accomplisheth what was signified by the antient Types Levit. 14. For according to the Laws which God gave to Israel by Moses the house that was infected with the Leper was to be demolished and cast into a noisome place There was a far more important reason for mans body to be destroy'd and laid in the Sepulchre because he was created to be the Palace of the living God the Dwelling of his Glory But Sin that is a kind of infectious Leper hath insinuated it self and disfigured it it hath entred the Skin corrupted the Blood disordered the Spirits it is crept into the Joynts and Marrow and hath speard its venom in such a manner that there is none of our Members but is an instrument of iniquity and unrighteousness Rom. 6. For the same reason we cannot sufficiently admire the difference that God had put between the Vessel that were clean and such as were unclean for he commanded that the earthen Vessel that was infected should be broken to pieces Levit. 11. but that such as were of a more precious substance should be only washt with water and purified with fire Numb 11. The Commands and Laws of the great God are excellent Commentaries upon his actions our Soul is like a Golden Vessel because it is of a Spiritual and Heavenly substance therefore God doth not altogether destroy it although it be infected with sin but causeth it to be washed and cleansed at the fountain of his infinite mercy he purifies it with the blood of his Son and causes it to pass through the fire of his Holy Spirit but for this miserable Body that is but an earthly Vessel and Tabernacle he doth break it to pieces and reduce it to dust and ashes It is my judgement that death is an excellent means to demonstrate the infinite power of our great God and Saviour for the greater the disease is the more admirable is the Cure without doubt the finger of God and his infinite power is far more visible in raising one man from the dead than in preserving many thousands alive As God is wont to draw light out of darkness so he makes use of death to cause his infinite wisdom to shine and appear to all his Creatures Sin hath brought forth death and death on the contrary by a most fortunate paricide kills and destroys its Parent Sin for it is Death that totally roots out of our Souls all corrupt affections Moreover God who is the same yesterday to day and for ever Heb. 13. will have all his Children pass through the same path to take possession of his eternal Inheritance and enter by the same Gate into his Royal Palace All the faithful of the Old Testament are gone already this way through many tribulations Acts 24. they are arrived to the kingdom of God and through death they are come to the abode of life and immortality The Holy Scriptures that are inspired of God tell us That the Reubenites and half of the Tribe of Manasseth Numb 32. Josh 1. left their dwellings which they had beyond Jordan to go over and fight in the Army of Israel and that they did not offer to return until God had given rest to their brethren and put them into a peaceable possession of their inheritances If I may make some stop at such an excellent Allegory I may say that these passages represent unto us a lively image of the faithful that dye before the end of the world for they leave their bodies the abode and dwellings of their souls and they pass through death as through another Jordan into the Celestial Canaan to encounter with God by their Prayers in the society of the first-born whose names are registred in Heaven and they will not return to the bodies that they have quitted until the number of the Saints be compleat until the building of the Church be finished and until our great Joshua hath introduced us into his Eternal Rest and put us in possession of the incorruptible inheritance reserved for us in Heaven Then we shall not need to fight but to enjoy peaceably the fruits of our victories and to rest for ever from all our labours We shall have no cause to offer unto God Prayers and Supplications but our business shall be to sing unto him Praises and eternal Thanksgivings The strongest and the most considerable Reason in my judgement of this our destiny is That God hath predestinated us to be comformable to the image of his Son that he might be the first-born among many brethren he will have us baptized with his Baptisme that we drink in his Cup and that we enter into Bliss by that same Gate through which he hath already past through Shame and Disgrace he is arrived to Glory and through Death he is ascended into life he hath drunk of the bitter waters before that he hath tasted of the Rivers of Celestial Joys and he is gone down into the Grave before he would mount up to the right hand of God Although it is appointed unto all men once to dye Heb. 9. I dare maintain that death hath no cause to boast it self and that it cannot sing Songs of Triumph with any Reason because that it looseth the most glorious and happiest victory for we read in the Book of Esther that King Ahasuerus would not abolish nor recal the Proclamation that he had set forth against the
in the face we shall not only contemn it but we shall also seek it boldly in its retreats and with an assured and undaunted countenance we shall behold Death let fly all its Arrows and Launces all its Thunderbolts without the least apprehension As it is with them who are not wont to see Savage Beasts they dare not draw near to them and can scarce look upon them without fear but such as are familiarly acquainted with them can touch them without apprehension and freely play with them Thus it is with those who have never had the confidence to look Death in the face they tremble and are fill'd with astonishment assoon as they see its approaches but those who do often behold Death are familiarly acquainted with it and therefore they can with confidence thrust their Fists into its jaws Moses fled away from his Rod when it was first turned into a Serpent but when he began to take it into his hands and saw that it return'd to its former shape and being he was far from running from it or entertaining the least apprehension of it but rather he made a very happy use of it and by Gods Command he wrought many great miracles Thus it is with Death it frights us at first but if we can but take hold of it with the hands of a true and lively faith it will be so far from scaring or frighting of us that it will discover to us a world of delightful Wonders Death therefore is so far from terrifying such as are accustomed with it that it fils them full of comfort and joy as a Child that looks upon his Father who hath a Vizard on his face is frighted and begins to cry but if he hath but the confidence to pull off the Vizard and take but notice of the loving smiles of his Parent hid under that horrid deformity he will not only cease from weeping and settle his mind but he will also leap for joy and embrace him Thus if we look upon Death with a timerous countenance and behold its hideous appearance we shall be struck with a sudden horror but if we can with any assurance lift up its ugly Vizard we shall soon discover our heavenly Father and with tears of Joy we shall run to embrace him as the Apostles when they espied our Saviour in the night walking upon the Waves of the Sea cried out in a fright thinking that it had been a Spirit but when he drew near to them and heard his voice they perceiv'd him to be their Saviour when therefore they took him into their Ship the storm ceas'd immediately Thus if we look upon Death at a distance the blindness and ignorance with which we are possess'd will represent to us a frightful Spirit but if we examine and behold it nearer by the help of the Gospel Light we shall find it to be our Salvation and the accomplishing of our Redemption All our fears will then be calm'd and our Souls will return to their former repose In a word as he that runs from his Enemy increases his courage and renders him more earnest and resolved to pursue him Thus when Death sees us tremble and decline its approaches it becomes more proud and imperious over us We must therefore think betimes of Death represent it to our selves continually and enter into an acquaintance with it it was holy Job's practice for he cried unto the Pit thou art my Father and to the Corruption and the Worms you are my Mother and my Sisters Job 16. And imagine that this was the chief reason of Philip of Macedon's commanding a Page every morning to rouse him up out of his sleep with O King remember that thou art a mortal man For by this often repeated Lesson he labour'd to humble his lofty mind and teach his frail nature not to glory too much in the splendor of his Crown and Scepter nor to abuse the power committed to his Trust By this means also he became acquainted with Death that it might not seem strange when it should come in earnest to snatch him away This was also the designe of that Emperor Meruaan or Meruanes who caused this Motto to be Engraven upon his Seal Remember that thou must dye These words did call to his mind that which his Courtiers did not dare to mention to him So that this great Prince never confirm'd with his Seal the death of any man but at the same time he did represent to himself that his own death was not to be avoided for the same reason the Noblemen of China are wont to have their Coffins ready made betimes in their Chambers that at every moment they might look Death in the face for the same cause the Aegyptians in their most sumptuous Feasts did commonly place a dead mans Scull in an eminent corner of the room by this spectacle they intended not only to oblige the Guests to a moderation of their Joys and to a curbing in of their unruly Lusts but also to bring them acquainted with and to accustome them to behold it amongst all their Delights They treated Death as if their designe had been to invite it to their most delicious Feasts that they might rejoyce together with it Iohn 19. I conceive that the Jews for the same cause did build their Sepulchres in their Gardens of Pleasure that they also might have the image of death continually before them and that in the midst of all their divertisements it might be their most pleasant and ordinary entertainment For us Christians to oblige us to think upon Death there is no need that a Page should remember us every day that we are Mortal nor that the Motto of a Ring should call to our minds that we must dye there is no need of a Coffin to be plac'd in our Chambers in such things there is many times more Ostentation than Piety nor is it needful that a dead mans Skull be put before our Eyes or that a Sepulchre be built or hewen in our Gardens and places of Recreation and Delight for as Alexander the Great understood that he was a Mortal Man by the Bloud that ran out of his Wounds Thus the Diseases unto which we are subject and the daily infirmities that we feel do sufficiently instruct and assure us that we are Mortals And as a famous Philosopher when he receiv'd the unhappy news of his only Son 's untimely death answer'd the Messenger with a setled countenance I knew said he that I had begot him a Mortal man Xenoph. Thus will the faithful say without change of countenance or appearance of fear when his death is declar'd to him I knew that my Mother had conceiv'd me a Mortal Man I knew very well that Death is the Tribute that we must all pay to Nature and that upon this condition I am enter'd into the world If we will make use of any exterior help to imprint this Lesson into our Fancy we must practice with care the advice of
view every stop from the top to the bottom Of an Hour-Glass we look to every grain of Sand Of a Voyage or Journey we reckon the first League as well as the last And in a Race we take notice of the first step that we go out as well as of the last when we stop Thus we must reckon our Death to begin from the first moment that we draw our breath until the last when we yield up the Ghost Besides what happens every moment to this poor and despicable nature an infinite number of strange unwonted and unexpected accidents do stop and shorten our Race The Taper is not always consum'd by its own flame many blasts of wind and showers of rain do extinguish it If our Life is short it is no less weak and uncertain The Body in which we lead a languishing life is like Jonas's Goard for if it be but mov'd with a contrary and unwholsome blast or toucht by an unhappy Worm it withers upon a suddain Jonas 4. This was the thought of Eliphas when he saith We dwell in houses of Clay our foundation is in the Dust we are crushed before the moth Job 4. When God intends to destroy Mankind in his wrath and kill multitudes in his displeasure he doth not always employ the agency of Angels as when he cut off all the first-born of the Land of Egypt when he stretched forth the sword of his vengeance upon Jerusalem and when he kill'd of Senacharib's Army in one night one hundred fourscore and five thousand Men he doth not always let loose the wicked Spirits as when he gave them leave to raise a furious Tempest which cast to the ground the House where Job's Children were and buried them in the ruines Job 1. He doth not always open the fountains of Heaven as when he wash'd away the first wicked world with a fearful deluge Gen. 7. He doth not always cause fire and brimstone to rain from Heaven as he did upon Sodom and Gomorrah upon Adma and Zeboim he works not always miracles in the waters as when he drown Pharaoh and his Egyptian Host in the waves of the Red Sea He prepares not always Whales to devour us as he did Jonas He sends not always burning Serpents as to the murmuring Generation of Israelites in the Desarts He commands not always the Earth to open and swallow us up as it did Corah Dathan and Abiram He sends not always from above great Hailstones as when he knocks down the Amorites He destroys us not always by flames that proceed from his presence as he did Nadab and Abihu who offered unhallowed Fire upon his Altar He Commands not always the Lions and the Bears of the Forrest to issue out and devour us as he did when the rebellious Prophet was kill'd and when the ill-tutor'd Children of Bethel mockt Elisha In short God employs not always the Plagues and Judgements of Pestilence of War and of Famin the unpleasant smell of a fuming Snuff a flying vapor of malignant Smoak is able to choak and kill us in a moment A Fly the Kernel of an Apple an Hair of the Head or the Seed of a Grape or Ashes or Sand or some other Atom may stop the breath of our life Therefore God adviseth us by the Prophet Isaiah Cease ye from Man whose breath is in his Nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of Isai 2. It is to be consider'd that these mischances happen very frequently and in every place Death lays for us its snares every where as well in the bosom of our tender hearted Parents and in the embraces of our dearest friends as amongst the most barbarous and savage People and amongst our most inhumane Enemies It s invisible Darts fly up and down every where and as the Psalmist informs us The pestilence walketh in darkness and destruction wasteth at noon-day Psal 91. Death is as busy on the solemn Festivals as well as in the working days it drags us as easily from the Table where we take our delights as from the bed of Sorrow where we sigh and groan there is no sacred retreat where we may find a refuge it hath no more regard of the Temples dedicated to Gods service than of the common houses All the Riches of America and the power of the greatest Monarchs are not able to protect us from its pursuance it requires a present payment of the debts that we owe and it is not possible to appear by an Attorney at the Summons that it sends to us Death claps not its warnings on the posts of Doors it thrusts them not into the hands of Messengers or Lacqueys there is not one Summons but it may write down upon it those words Speaking to him in Person it surpriseth us â—t home and abroad in our Closets and in the Streets in our Beds in our Sedans in the midst of our Feasts and all our Pompe It offers violence to the Sacred Person of the greatest Kings in their most sumptuous Palaces in their most flourishing Cities and in their strongest Fortifications in the midst of their most faithful subjects and most victorious Armies upon their Thrones and in their triumphing Chariots As King Ahab when he was going to take possession of Naboth's Vineyard told the Prophet Elijah in a rage Thou hast found me mine Enemy 1 Kings 21. Thus when the prophane Worldlings dream of nothing but of the pleasant enjoyment of their unjust possessions and of swimming in the Blood and Sweat of the meaner people they meet unexpected Death which they curse in their hearts and if it did not stop their mouths they would say also in their rage Hast thou found me out mine Enemy This Holy Meditation caus'd the wisest King upon Earth to tell us Man knoweth not his time as the Fishes that are taken in an evil Net and as the Birds that are caught in the snare so are the Sons of Men snared in an evil time when it falls suddainly upon them Eccl. 9.12 This same consideration hath caused this excellent Sentence to be written in the Book of Job In a moment shall they dye and the people shall be troubled at midnight and past away and the mighty shall be taken away without hand Job 34. That is that to destroy Kingdoms and whole Nations and to carry away the most lusty and mighty Men Death hath no need of other assistance but it s own Arm. Do you desire Christian Reader the design of all this discourse Let me tell you then that seeing Death is certain and not to be avoided and that there is nothing so uncertain as the hour of its arrival we must so live as if we were to breathe forth the last gasp at every moment We should behave our selves as if we had always our Souls upon our Lips ready to yield them into the hands of our great Creator and to speak in Job's Language Having our Flesh between our teeth and our Souls in our hands Job 13. Seeing that
before his journy to Damascus where he was strangly converted by a Miracle how could Gods immutable decree be accomplish'd for he had designed him from his Mothers Womb to be a Noble Vessel of his Grace and Mercy and a faithful Ambassador of his Son Gal. 1. If the good Thief had died before he had seen the Light or if he had been kill'd in one of his Robberies how could he have been converted upon the Cross where he Repented of his Crimes Or how could he have heard from our Saviour these blessed and comfortable words Verily I say unto thee Thou shalt be with me this day in Paradise Luke 31. The Heathens have perceiv'd and understood this Truth but they have darkened and defaced it by their impertinent and ridiculous Fictions for their Poets tell us that there are three Parcae or infernal Goddesses the one holds the Distaff and Spins the other winds up the Thred the third cuts it and puts a period thereby to the Life of Man By this Fable they intend to teach us that God lengthens or shortens at his pleasure Mans Life As it is therefore certain that God hath numbred our days he hath also appointed in his infinite Wisdom the means to convey us out of the world If one dieth in Peace another is kill'd in War If one departs in his Bed another hangs upon a Gibbet If one perisheth by Famine and another is stifled with the Plague If one is struck with the Thunder and the other is torn in pieces by wild Beasts If one is choak'd in the Waters and the other perisheth in the Flames In short if the separation of the Soul from the Body happens in a different manner it is not without the express Leave and Orders of our Heavenly Father Therefore when we see the strangest accidents come to pass and the most unexpected and tragick Deaths before our Eyes We must remember the saying of the Prophet Jeremy when he saw the burning and plunder of Jerusalem Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not out of the mouth of the most high proceedeth not evil and good Sam. 3. We must then consider with the Prophet Isaiah That it is God that creates the Light and the Darkness and that sends Prosperity and Adversity Isai 15.45 Or with Amos who enquires whither there be any evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3. That is to say that there is no Affliction nor Death that happens but God hath appointed it and fore-ordain'd it by his wise providence If the Devil cannot destroy Job's Flocks of Sheep nor hurry headlong into the Sea the Herds of Swine without his leave who holds him fast in Chains Matt. 8. Let us perswade our selves that all the powers of Hell and the World cannot cause us to dye by a violent Death if God hath not ordain'd it before in the resolutions of his infinite Wisdom so that if at any time a Prince or a Magistrate speaks to us in Pilats language to our Saviour Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and power to save thee John 19. being strengthened with an Holy Confidence Let us answer him as our Saviour Thou shouldest not have that power over me were it not given to thee from above Without the leave and pleasure of my God thou canst not take from me an Hair of my Head We read in the Book of Judges that when Abimelech assaulted the Tower of Thebez with a resolution to win it upon a suddain a Woman cast from the top a piece of a Milstone that fell upon his Head and broke his Scull Judg. 9. If we look only upon the second Causes this accident may appear to be strange and unexpected but we must lift up our Eyes to the Almighty hand of an al-seeing Power and Wisdom far more dextrous than that of this poor Woman for the same Relation declares That God by this means brought to pass Jotham's Prophecy and rendred the wickedness of Abimelech which he did unto his Father in slaying the seventy Brethren with his merciless hand upon his own guilty head Ahab King of Israel was disguised with a designe to fight with the Syrians 1 Kings 22. An unknown Soldier le ts fly by chance an Arrow out of his Bow which struck him in the weakest part of his Armor wounded him to death and the Dogs lickt the Blood that gushed out of his Wounds At this sight a carnal and an earthly Mind will say That this was but a mischance of War an unfortunate accident But the Spirit of God informs us better that this happen'd to fulfil the Prophecy of Elias and the dreadful threatnings which he had pronounced against this wicked Prince who labor'd by Tyrannical and devilish attempts to invade other mens Possessions Thus saith the Lord in the place where Dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall Dogs lick thy blood even thine 1 Kings 21. When we cast our eyes upon the Tragical death of Josias King of Juda at the first sight it appears but the effect of the boiling fury of Youth which carried him against all reason obstinately to fight with Pharaoh Neco King of Egypt or of the strength and swiftness of his Enemies according to the complaint of Jeremiah the Prophet Our persecutors are swifter than the Eagles of the Heaven they pursued us upon the Mountains they laid wait for us in the Wilderness The breath of our Nostrils the anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits of whom we said under his shadow we will live among the Hâ—â—then Lam. 4. But to understand the Truth we must enter farther into the Sanctuary and adore the wisdom of Gods Decree that had resolved to take away this good and religious Prince into his Eternal Rest and bestow upon him a more noble and a richer Crown before he took in hand the sword of his vengeance to punish the people of Israel for the many Idolatries and horrid Crimes of which they had been guilty By this means God fulfilled the Prophecy of Husda Behold I will gather thee unto thy Fathers and thou shalt be gathered into thy Grave in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place 2 Kings 22. When we look upon the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ we may imagine at the first view that only the Pharisees envy Judas's Treason the mutiny of the rude Rabble Pilates Injustice Herods Jests and the cruelty of the Roman Soldiery were the causes of his Tragedy but the Holy Apostles Peter and John unto whom our Saviour had discover'd the rarest secrets of his Wisdom consider these outward Agents but as the Instruments to bring Gods great designe Mans redemption to pass Therefore they speak of it in this manner in the fourth of the Acts Against thine Holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
wicked Conscience In the decay of their Age the vices of their Mind gather strength and flourish Instead of weeping for the sins of their youth they add sin to sin and are more hardened in evil Old Age imprints more furrows and wrinkles in their malicious Hearts than it doth upon their Foreheads Neither Men nor their Lives are to be measured by a Yard or an Ell We must not only consider how long we have liv'd but how well we have liv'd and employed the course of this Life for there are some young Men who have the Wisdom and Prudence of Gray Heads and there are Gray Heads that become as weak as Infants and some that scarce go out of that simple Age The first are twice Children the other continue always in their Childhood Some young Men have perform'd such brave and Glorious Deeds that one would judge by the passages of their Lives that they have lived several Years or Ages on the contrary Some old and decrepid persons can scarce prove that they have bin long in the World unless it be by their Church Register by their Gray Hairs or by the great number of their wicked and abominable actions This consideration causeth the Author of the Book of Wisdom to say That that old Age is not the most Reverend that can shew a number of years but Wisdom is to be reckoned old Age amongst Men and a Life without spot Ch. 4. It is certain he hath lived sufficiently who hath learn'd to live well and hath prepar'd himself to dye well To what purpose should this miserable and languishing Life be lengthened a few days Art thou afraid to be happy too soon and fearest thou to see the end of thy Torments Doth the Traveller endeavour to lengthen out a painful and dangerous way Doth the Workman grieve to have finish'd betimes his laborious Task Doth the Soldier murmure because he comes off from his Watch and Guard Miserable Man What are all the years for which thou dost so impatiently afflict thy self and vainly desire for a day with God is as a thousand years and a thousand years in his sight are but as one day He that sails upon the Seas admires the spacious extent of the Waters the difference of the rowling Waves that mount up sometimes to the Clouds and then fall down again into an Abysse And such as travel by Land are delighted to see on one side deep Vallies and on the other high Mountains that reach above the Clouds but if God had but taken us up into the seat of his Glory and that we should from that high Heaven cast down our Eyes upon this base and unworthy Globe of the Sea and Land to behold the proud and stately Mountains with the most swelling Waves they would appear unto us but an even Plain or rather they would seem altogether very little Thus when we compare the Men of the World the one with the other we shall find that some have liv'd long and others but a little while that some are old others are young but in respect of God there is no difference between the young and the old between an over-aged Methusalah who lived Nine hundred threescore and nine years Gen. 3. and a Child that hath only seen the Light of the Living for the life of all Mankind is but a moment in comparison of Eternity If thou art ready to dye for Righteousness of a violent Death meditate seriously upon the saying of the Prophet David Psa 116. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Arm thy self with an Holy confidence and say with Eli 1 Sam. 3. It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good Imitate the generosity of St. Paul Acts 20. and grave in thine heart these Divine expressions The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every City saying That Bonds and Afflictions abide me but none of these things move me neither count I my life dear unto my self so that I might finish my course with joy and the Ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God Remember always the Prayer that our Lord and Saviour offered up unto God in the greatest Agony Father O my Father if this Cup may not pass away from me except I drink it thy Will be done Forget not also at this time Christs advertisement He that loveth his life shall loose it and he that hateth his life in this world shall save it to eternal life John 12. O Great and Glorious Lord God the Enemies of thy Truth and Glory are met together against thy dear Children whom thou hast sanctified by the blood of the Covenant but they are not able to do any thing but what thou hast appointed to be done in thine Eternal Wisdom A Prayer and Meditation upon the time of Death O Merciful Lord who dost govern all things by thine infinite wisdom and hast reserved the times and the seasons in thine own power thou hast not only written my name in the Book of the living but thou hast also measured the length of my life and appointed the hour of my death Thou hast numbred my days and prescribed to me my bounds that I cannot pass beyond them O Soveraign Lord of the World that hast from all Eternity mark'd out with thy finger the moment of my entrance into this life and the time of my going cut This miserable body is but a crazy Tabernacle made up of Earth subject to all manner of infirmities Nevertheless none is able to destroy it without thy Divine assistance the same hand that hath fashioned and formed it must break it to pieces if a Sparrow fals not to the ground without thy leave it is not possible that my soul should fly away into Heaven without thy express Command My God and Father give me Grace not to be of the â—â—â—ber of suâ—h wretches as are in daily apprehensions of Death but let me rest upon thee who dost kill and give life who dost cast into the Grave and fetch him thence again Let Satan and all the enemies of thy Glory plot against me what they can they are not able to do any thing but what thy Wisdom hath ordained and appointed before the fâ—undation of the world Without thy leave and permission they are not able to pluck an Hair from my Head nor diminish a moment from the time that I am to live in this earthly Tabernacle O Almighty and most merciful God I recommend unto thee my Soul as to my faithful Creator and leave it wholly into thine hands Here I am to accomplish thy Will and to submit my self to thy pleasure without any resistance whether this Soul which thou hast created after thy likeness and which is an Image of thy Divinity remain in this Body that I may be able to serve thee on Earth or whether thou dost call for it and take it up into Heaven that it may glorify thee in the company of thy
O Lord my God are thy wonderful Works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee If I should declare and speak of them they are more then can be numbred and being ravish'd into an Holy Admiration thou wilt say in the language of the same Prophet O God who is like unto thee who when thou hadst made me see many distresses and evils at last thou hast restored me to Life and drawn me out of the depths of the Earth Psal 71. Thou shalt increase my greatness again thou wilt comfort me And elsewhere What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me Psal 116. 18. The Consideration of God's redeeming us doth chiefly require us to deny our selves and consecrate our selves to his service for the Slave don't belong to himself but to him that hath redeemed him and paid his ransom As when God had deliver'd the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt he gave unto them his Law and his Ordinances in Mount Sinai Thus God hath redeemed us from the Tyranny of the Devil of the World of Sin of Death of Hell and from the power of all our Enemies that we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our life Luk 1. He hath given himself a ransom for us that we might become a peculiar people to him given to good Works Tit. 2. You are bought with a price Glorify then God in your Bodies and your Souls that belong unto God 1 Cor. 6. 19. One love must kindle another the Sacred Fire that is come from Heaven must enflame our hearts with an Holy Zeal for his Glory God hath loved us so much that he hath given his Holy Son that believing we might not perish but have everlasting life He hath not spared him who is the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person He hath deliver'd him to death for us yea to the ignominious death of the Cross And is it not just that we should love him above all worldly things a God so good and merciful Is it not just that we should love nothing but him and for his sake Is it not reasonable that we should offer unto him our Bodies and Souls as a Living and Holy Sacrifice pleasing to his Eye And if we have any Lust that offends him is it not just that we should willingly leave it betimes when it should appear as useful to us as our Hands and Feet and as dear as the Apple of our Eyes Whosoever he be that doth not deny himself is not worthy of him Matt. 10. 20. We must treat the body of Sin which the Holy Scripture stiles the Old man and the First Adam almost in the same manner as Christ the New Man and the Second Adam was treated upon the Cross Rom. 6. Instead of flattering it and seeking to satisfy its Lusts we must deprive it of all its pleasures make it drink Vinegar and Gaul teare its Head with Thorns bind and chain its Affections and nail them to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ with all its inordinate and brutish desires Mortify therefore your Members that are upon Earth Fornication Uncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry Gal. 5. Coloss 3. 21. To live in sin and to delight our selves in iniquity is to frustrate as much as in us lies our good Lord from that principal end which he designed in leaving for a while the Celestial Abode of his Glory and Immortality for he is come into the World to destroy the Works of the Devil Now the chief Work of the Devil the great Enemy of our Salvation in which he takes most Delight and Glory is Sin with which he ensnares Mankind for by Sin Death and all kind of Calamities are enter'd into the World John 3. Rom. 5. 22. It is to trample upon the only Son of God to affront the Spirit of Grace and esteem the Bloud of the Covenant a prophane thing It is to destroy the Fruits of the Death and Passion of our good Redeemer and pull down his Cross for he hath carried our Sins in his Body upon the Cross that dying unto Sin we might live unto Righteousness He hath given himself for his Church to sanctify it and to render it a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle nor any such thing If the Bloud of Bulls and of Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkled did Sanctify the uncleanness of the Flesh how much more shall the Bloud of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead Works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 23. Our Lord and Saviour was not only Dead but also buryed to teach us to bury also with him our sins and shut up in his Sacred Tomb all our carnal Lusts Don't you know all ye that have been baptized in Jesus Christ that you have been baptized in his Death we are then buried with him in his death by Baptisme 24. This Glorious Saviour is risen from the Dead and hath left his Sepulchre with his Funeral Attire to teach us to rise to newness of Life and to leave in our Grave that sin that encompasseth us and the ties of our corruption that bind us so fast To speak in St. Paul's language As Jesus Christ is risen from the dead by the Glory of the Father we also ought to walk in newness of life for if we are made one Plant with him by a conformity to his Death we shall also be One by a conformity to his Resurrection and as Christ who is risen from the Dead dies no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Likewise we ought not to apply our Members as instruments of iniquity unto sin but we ought to apply them unto God as being made alive from the dead Rom. 6. He is dead and risen again that he might have dominion over the dead and the living If any be in Jesus Christ let him be a new Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new Rom. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 25. Jesus Christ after his Glorious Resurrection is ascended up into Heaven to lift up thither our Hearts and to draw thither our affections and to teach us to reform our manners to live an Holy Angelical and Celestial life If you are risen with Christ seek those things that are above where Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God think upon things above and not upon things upon Earth Coloss 3. 26. There is nothing in the World so lovely as Vertue It is the delight and pleasure of Heaven it is the Daughter of the living God and the true and lively Image of our great Creator O blessed decking of a Christian Soul O rich and precious Ornament of God's Children O Heavenly Grace what rare and strong Charms hast thou to win the
Hearts and Affections of all such as behold thy Perfect and Divine Beauty 27. On the contrary there is nothing so ugly and ill-favour'd as sin it is a woful Monster of Hell and a frightful Image of Satan It is true that it disguises it self and takes a beautiful appearance but if you lift up this borrowed Mask you shall perceive the Devils fearful looks and the depths of Hell 28. Faithful Souls weigh in the ballance of the Sanctuary the fearful evils that sin hath brought into the World it hath blotted out God's Image and defaced the Beauty of the Creation it hath put a division between Heaven and Earth and kindled a grievous War between God and Man it is an heavy burden under which Nature it self groans for because of sin all Creatures sigh and are in labor until now 29. It continues yet its woful Effects for it is Sin that grieves the Holy Spirit that afflicts the Angels that offends the Weak that hardens the Ignorant and that gives an occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme his Holy Name and to curse his Gospel Rom. 8. It is Sin that pleaseth the Devil that rejoyceth Hell that upholds the tottering walls of Babylon that strengthens the Kingdom of the Prince of Darkness and that causeth him to work with efficacy in the Hearts of the Children of Rebellion Eph. 2. 30. Lift up your Eyes to the Cross of Jesus Christ and you shall perceive how abominable sin is for neither in Heaven nor on Earth there could not be found an offering able to make expiation for it God hath chosen rather to punish it in the person of his only begotten Son than to leave it unpunished O that the stain of sin is grievous and deep seeing that nothing but the Bloud of a God can wash and cleanse it 31. When you meditate upon our Lords Death and Passion make it not your business to cry out against Judas's Treason the Pharisees envy the Peoples mutiny don't lay the blame upon the Impiety of Caiphas the unjustice of Pilate or Herods Scoffs and Jests nor upon the cruelty of the Roman Soldiers but be angry against your own Sins and let an Holy Displeasure rise in you against your iniquities and crimes Say to your selves our sins our sins alone have betrayed Christs innocent Body bound and fastened the Lord of Glory to this ignominious Cross and deliver'd him into the Executioners hands our sins have crown'd him with Thorns nailed him to the Wood deliver'd to him Gaul and Vinegar to drink In short our sins have pierced his Hands and Feet and open'd his Side You would abhor the sight and acquaintance of the Hangman that should have fastened your Father to the Gallows and you would scorn to kiss his bloody hands how much more abominable shall we be to God and his Holy Angels if we do cherish and delight to entertain Sin whereas we should be stirred up against it with an Holy Zeal and an earnest desire of Revenge Instead of nailing to the Cross this unmerciful Parricide and crushing to pieces this hellish Monster if we feed and nourish it in our bowels we shall then be guilty of crucifying afresh the Son of God and of putting him to an open shame guilty of treading him under feet and of esteeming the Blood of the Covenant wherewith we were sanctified an unholy thing 32. Consider seriously the fearful effects that Sin produces in you have you never been sensible of the horrid and cruel torments of a poor Soul disturb'd with the sight of its crimes How sharp and piercing are the remorses of a Conscience awaken'd from a prophane sleep It is a pain and an anguish that cannot be expressed it causeth our head to dissolve into water our eyes to become a Fountain of Tears it causeth our Blood to be congeal'd our Skin to become black our Bones to be crack'd and broken It is a common saying that the punishment follows the sin close at the heels but imagine that it keeps always its company and that it is a Rack and Torture that never leaves the guilty for there is no peace for the wicked saith my God Isai 48. 33. Whereas there is no satisfaction like unto that of a good Christian who loves his God sincerely and worships him in Spirit and in Truth There is no kind of delight to be compar'd to that of a regenerate Soul that applies himself without hypocrisie to the works of Piety and Holiness John 4. for the quiet of the Soul and the peace of Conscience are more worthy than great Treasures than Scepters and Crowns therefore the wise Solomon tels us That the Righteous mans Heart is a continual Feast Prov. 15. To perswade us that there is nothing like to this hidden Manna to this spiritual Food that the world knows not and to these Angelical and Divine Pleasures the Holy Apostles inform us that it is an unspeakable and glorious Joy and a peace of God that passeth all understanding Phil. 4. 34. If any Delight or Pleasure accompanies Vice it is but in appearance superficial as a dream it vanisheth away for the Triumph of the wicked is of a short continuance and the Joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment There is always some Thorn some Grief hidden and secret in their laughter their Heart is afflicted and their Joy is cut off by Sorrow Prov. 14. 35. But the Holy Joys and Celestial Delights of one that fears God and that worships him in purity and innocency of life are solid and lasting they cast a deep Root into the very bottom of our hearts and enter into the Joynts and Marrow and disperse themselves all over the inward parts The Gibbets the Wheels It is the French custome to break notable offenders upon a Cart-wheel and the most grievous torments of this life cannot pluck these joys from us but they comfort the soul in the midst of the greatest distresses and heal up the broken bones 36. The Worldlings become weary tired with the accomplishment of their Lusts and are afflicted at their greatest success they loath at last all their carnal sports and their greatest sweetness turns into bitterness we grow out of taste with the pleasures of sin so that we begin to loath and abhorr them It is what Zophar intends to shew us when speaking of the wicked he saith His meat in his Bowels is turned it is the gall of Aspes within him he hath swallowed down Riches and he shall vomit them up again God shall cast them out of his belly Job 20. 37. It is otherwise with them who apply their hearts to the fear and service of God and that find his Yoak easy and his burden Light Matth. 11. They take great satisfaction in the ways of Righteousness they run with an holy freedom to their happy end and to the price of their spiritual Calling the more they drink of the Waters of Siloah the more they thirst their Zeal is like an
thy beautiful Face and as a beam of thy Glory as the rich Jewel which the Devil had taken from us as the highest perfection represented by thy Son Jesus Christ and as the chief part of that felicity unto which we pretend and into which thou wilt bring us in thine heavenly Paradise O God of my Salvation how bitter are the fruits of sin thou seest my displeasure for having yielded so long to that loathsome Tyrant and assisted my carnal Lusts that war against the Soul Thou seest the inward grief of my mind for having neglected to employ that life which I have received from thy Mercy and Goodness that I might live to fear serve and obey thy Sacred and Divine Commands What shall I say O Soveraign Lord of the World I have sinned against thee against thee have I sinned and done that which is abominable in thy sight but I repent in Dust and Ashes my sins appear before me day and night I consider them with horror Alas O Lord before whom all things are naked and open thou knowest that my greatest grief proceeds from my not grieving enough and that my most sensible affliction is of not being afflicted sufficiently because I cannot feel a Repentance answerable to the greatness and number of mine offences O God that searcheth the Heart and knowest all things thou understandest the greatness of my crimes and what should be my sorrow for their Commission thou desirest not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn and live Turn me O Lord and then I shall be turned Almighty God who fetchest Water out of the hardest Rocks draw out of my stony Heart the tears of sincere Repentance which might he acceptable unto thee Break and mollify this hard heart that it may receive the Waters of Eternal life but rather pluck out this wicked heart and give me a new heart fashioned with thine own hands an heart where thy Glorious Image with all its most beautiful features may appear with the most sacred beams that proceed from thy Divine Face an heart that may be enflam'd with an Holy Zeal for thy Glory and burn with a love for thee O God of all goodness who hast not spared the bloud of thine only Son to blot out the sentence of my doom grant me thine Holy Spirit that may sanctify me and make me a new creature that I may bear the marks and the Livery of thy chosen and that I may shine in the World as a Lamp that burns with an Heavenly Fire Crucify this miserable flesh with all its Lusts that I may live not I but that Christ may live in me that from henceforth I may live in the faith of the Son of God who hath loved me and given himself for me that he might redeem and cleanse me from all iniquity Animate my Soul enlighten mine understanding direct and govern the actions of my life take possession of me and rule me in such a manner that all mine affections words and thoughts may be sanctified by thy Grace and tend to the promotion of thy Glory That I may not only abhor all such things as are displeasing to thee but that I may also shun those which I know not whether they will be acceptable to thee that I may not only abominate the filthy vices but also hate the Garments infected with sin and that I may abstain from all appearance of evil If the Devil the World and mine own flesh tempt and stir me up to any sin let the dread of thy Divine Majesty seize upon my Soul let Death enter into my mind and fill me with such an holy fear as may stop and hinder me Give me grace to consider that I should be the most miserable of all Creatures if I did dye in offending and sinning against thee if I were buried with my crimes Let me always think upon St. John 's saying Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second death shall have no dominion over him Seeing that thy saving grace unto all men hath appeared so openly unto me Grant that renouncing all impiety and worldly Lusts I may live soberly justly and religiously in this present life that I may apply my thoughts to all those things that are True Honourable Just Pure Lovely of good Renown and generally to all things that are vertuous and worthy of praise More especially grant O good God that I may be possessed with a violent Charity which may carry me to actions of Love and Mercy for thou delightest in such Sacrifices Charity covers a multitude of sins O merciful Lord the task which thou hast given me is long and tedious my life is but short and I know not how soon thou wilt come to knock at the door of mine house O God whose Mercies are for ever performe in me that which thou dost command and then command what thou wilt produce in me with power both the Will and the Deed according to thy good pleasure Give me grace to employ myself in thy work with Diligence Faithfulness and Zeal that I may not be troubled at thy Glorious coming Give me the Lamp of thy Sanctuary lighted at the beams of the Sun of Righteousness Fill my Soul with the precious and Divine Oil that runs from thy Spirit and cloath me with the Robes of Holiness and Light that I may be ready to follow the Bridegroom into the Banqueting Chamber and sit at thy Table with the holy Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and the Holy Virgin and with all those who have wash'd and whitened their Robes in the Bloud of the Lamb. Let me live the life of the Saints that I may dye the death of the Righteous that I may be admitted into thy Glorious Rest with thy Chosen and that when I am breathing forth thy last gasp thy Son Jesus Christ may call to me from Heaven Come good and faithful Servant enter into the joy of thy Lord Amen CHAP. 12. The sixth Remedy against the fears of Death is to repose our selves upon God's good Providence SOme persons there are so brutish and stupified that they never think upon the great end and designe of their Creation they are not able to give a just account wherefore God hath put them into the World they are Carnal and Earthly minds who imagine that they were created for themselves as brute Beasts onely to eat and drink Such are of the number of those that are mentioned by St. Paul their God is their Belly and their end is Eternal Misery But there are also some wise and vertuous minds that are continually meditating upon the favors that they received from Heaven which they employ to their right and proper end Such Celestial understandings being enlightned from above consider very well that they are not born for themselves but for their Countrey for their Parents for their Friends and chiefly for to serve God and his Church on Earth therefore they desire to live only to
Death an affliction Must I abandon my dear Children whom I love as my Soul without guide and in danger of loosing the small temporal means that I have provided for them in danger also of being overcome by the vicious customs of the age and inticed to Idolatry and Superstition That we may be able to govern this violent passion that prevails so much upon our minds we must labor betimes to bring our selves to this That we may rest upon the good Providence of our Heavenly Father Christian Souls meditate upon this excellent saying in the 37 Psalm Leave thy ways to the Lord and trust in him and he will direct thee And in the 59 Psal Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he will sustain thee Forget not also that blessed exhortation of St. Peter Cast all your cares upon God for he careth for you Imprint also in your minds St. Paul's assertion All things work together for good to them that love God Remember the noble resolution of this great Apostle According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my Body whether it be by life or by death Thou desirest to be instrumental in the service of God and of the Publick it is an excellent desire indeed and praise worthy but it belongs to God to appoint the service that he intends to receive from thee it belongs to him to prescribe unto thee thy task and to order thy bounds he knows when he is to release thee from thy labor and how long thou must fight Is thine eye evil because thy God is so good and gracious as to shorten thy work and troubles All such as follow chearfully the Banners of the God of Hosts and never retreat without the Command of the great General of Heaven and Earth shall enjoy a blessed victory and obtain the honor of the Triumph as well the Novice and the fresh Soldier as the old and long experienced All such as labor faithfully in the Lord's Vineyard shall receive from him an eternal Reward as well he that continues but an hour as the other that bear the heat and burden of the day When thou shouldest have gone but a few steps in the paths of Righteousness thy God is so noble and liberal that he will bestow upon thee an uncorruptible Crown of Glory as well as if thou hadst continued there many years Great Princes that yield unto the King of Kings a Religious Respect and that seek your greatest Glory in the Cross of Christ submit your selves altogether to the pleasure of your universal Monarch for seeing the Lives of all Men are governed by his wise Providence he hath a particular regard and an high esteem of the Lives of Kings and Princes the Sons of his right hand Therefore whilst it is expedient for his Glory and their Salvation that they should live upon Earth he placeth round about their Sacred Persons his Holy Angels and encompasseth them with a wall of Fire Remember that as soon as the King of Israel was seated upon the Throne God commanded him to take in hand the Book of his Law and to read in it all the days of his life Ask from him that Wisdom and Prudence that is requisite to govern such multitudes of People and beseech him to grant unto you the strength and virtue that is necessary to bear so great a burden Let the Sword that he hath intrusted in your hands be to do justice upon Offenders and to protect the Guiltless As you are living Images of God's Soveraign Authority over his Creatures Remember that you should also represent his Goodness and Mercy follow the example of him who resists the Proud but gives grace to the Humble Live in such a manner that your Subjects may cherish and honor you as their common Father may obey and serve you as their Lord and may respect and fear you as their King Suffer not your Heart to be puft up with pride when you behold the large Dominions that God hath put under your Command and the People that own you for their Soveraign But lift up your eyes to the spacious Heavens take a view of their vast Extent and see how the whole Earth is inconsiderable in comparison of them and think upon God before whom all Nations are but as the smallest dust of a Ballance and as a few drops of Water Consider well that your Subjects are Creatures that God hath made after his own likeness and redeemed by the death of his Son and that they are to Reign with you for ever in Heaven Remember that the more God hath committed to your Trust the greater must be your reckoning and that you must one day appear in person before his dreadful Throne without Scepter or Crown as so many wretched Sinners to implore his Mercy Search into your selves and examine what you are your Bodies are subject to wounds infirmities and diseases as that of the meanest of your servants Your Souls also are moved with the same Passions and Lusts as theirs In short you are entered into the World in the same manner as the most miserable Slave and you shall go out of it again as he doth so that if a crowd of flatterers sooth you up as they did Herod A voice of God and not of Man Acts 12. Mind well what God speaks to you from Heaven I have said that ye are Gods and the Children of the most high nevertheless you shall dye as Men and you that are the chiefest shall fall as the rest Psal 72. During the time of your abode in the World employ your Blood Sweat and all the Strength and Power that God hath put into your hands for the good and advantage of your States and for the defence and preservation of the people that shelter themselves under your wings And if in the midst of your greatest and most flourishing Prosperities Death comes to give you a summons to depart let fall the Scepter willingly to joyn your hands together and to fall down and adore the King of the whole Earth Grieve not for the loss of worldly Glory that passeth away as a Lightning or as a shadow for God promiseth another that shall be more lasting than the light of the Sun If you can but overcome Death and your selves God will cause you to sit down upon another Throne and will bestow upon you a Kingdom that shall never be moved Revel 3. Heb. 12. Wise and Religious Princes be not solicitous for the things that shall happen after your decease He by whom Kings Reign and Princes do Justice is able enough to enrich your Successor with the Graces and Qualities that become a powerful Prince It may be that he will bestow upon him more Glory and Happiness than upon you When King David had ended his mortal Race God took him into his Rest it seems at first that the loss of so
Armies I speak not unto you prophane Atheists that laugh at the most Holy things and that are of opinion that all fear of God must be banished out of your Troops and Companies and that the most wretched Varlets are the best Soldiers but I speak to you Christian and Religious Commanders who forget not by your promotion amongst Men that you are nevertheless the Soldiers of Jesus Christ and although you wear at your side a material Sword forget not to employ also the sword of the Spirit the word of God that dwels in your hearts Neither do I intend to speak to you who manage War with an intent only to satisfy your Revenge your Ambition or your Covetousness but I speak to you brave and worthy Captains who have purified your weapons in an Heavenly Fire who undertake War only to procure a more lasting Peace to the publick and who fight only to serve your Prince and Countrey you that are the great bulwarks of States and Empires by whose labors and watchings Men sleep in security Let the whole World see by experience in your persons that there is nothing that agrees better with true generosity than Piety and the fear of God behave your selves always as in the sight of your Maker who is at your Elbows and accompanies you in all your actions Remember that he commanded to remove all filth from the Camp of Israel because of his Holy and Divine Presence If you will obtain his Blessing upon your persons and designes cast out of your Armies the filth of Vice and Punish without Mercy the Rapes Burnings all Impiety and Blasphemies make your Soldiers put in practice St. John the Baptist's most excellent advice to the Soldiers of his time who enquired what they were to do to be be saved Do violence said he to no man neither accuse any falsly and be content with your wages Live as Lambs and fight as Lions Spare as much as you can the bloud of your Soldiers and shed not that of your Enemies but against your Wills because they are God's Creatures and Men that bear his Image Never trust to your own valor and experience but remember that it is God who gives Courage and strengthens the hands in the day of Battel who causeth Fear and Terror to fly whither he listeth Look always upon David's example There was never a Captain more couragious nor more willing to venture his life and yet there was never a person more zealous in Prayer to God nor more submissive to his Will nor more careful to return unto him the praise of all his advantages and if Death comes to put a stop to your victories or to call you away in a trice in which your Prudence and Courage is requisite wonder not at it consider that God offers you by this means an occasion of a more Glorious Victory and of a more Magnificent Triumph for the victory over thousands of Mortal Men and of the whole World is nothing in comparison of a victory over Death and Hell Inquire not who shall succeed you in the Conduct of your Army out of a distrust of God's good providence for he who is able to raise up Children unto Abraham out of Stones can raise up also from thence Captains and Soldiers when he pleaseth to give a check to the Enemies pride and to deliver his People from their hands he can make Gideons Jephtha's Sampsons and such like extraordinary Commanders Who knows but that he will cause a General to succeed you that shall have more Courage and Generosity and that shall be blessed with a greater Happiness and more Glorious Successes When Moses departed to his Rest Joshua Commanded in his stead and for that purpose God enabled him with a noble Spirit of Wisdom and Courage for one Enemy that Moses overcame Joshua destroyed thousands whereas Moses did but coast along the Land of Canaan and turn up and down in the Wilderness Joshua brought the People of Israel into that pleasant Countrey and into a peaceable possession of it Seeing therefore that it is God's pleasure leave to others the care of worldly Wars and ye go to gather the pleasant and delicious Fruits of an Eternal Peace which hath been purchased unto you by the Bloud of Christ Likewise ye faithful Ministers of Jesus Christ remember to shew the example of a resignation to God's good pleasure according to your Doctrine Let not Death cause you to draw back thou hast my Brother a Will to Glorify God on Earth well but thou shalt Glorify him better in Heaven with more zeal and less hindrance whilst thou art surrounded and fetter'd with these Fetters of Mortality thy Ministry must needs be accompanied with many imperfections Thou imaginest that if it pleased God to prolong thy days thou mayest be instrumental in the reformation of the World but thou art mistaken My Brother for this World is accustom'd to Evil and this Age is hardened in Iniquity Preach as much as thou wilt to the Inhabitants of this inferior World it shall be as in the times of Noah the Herald of Righteousness when the patience of God waited for the conversion of Sinners for the whole Earth hath corrupted its ways so that all the thoughts and imaginations of the Heart of Man are evil continually from his Cradle they are corrupt and filthy And if God doth not interpose his Almighty Hand and declare in us the Virtue of his Holy Spirit our thoughts will grow worse and worse until we tumble into our Graves If thou afflict never so much thy just and innocent Soul and spend thy self in exhorting the greatest Sinners to fly from the wrath to come and the judgements of God that hang over their guilty Heads it may be thou shalt be mocked by thy nearest Relations as Lot was by his Sons-in-law When thou wouldest thunder out the threatenings of God's Law against the abominations of Israel as the Prophet Isaiah did once thou shouldest be forced at last to confess I have labour'd in vain I have employed my strength for nought Isai 49. Jer. 6. When thine Eyes should be converted into a fresh Spring of Tears and when thou shouldest spend the days and the nights in calling upon the Superstitious the Schismaticks and Idolaters to forsake their false worship and their unchristian proceedings thou shalt not be able to soften the hardness of their Hearts nor overcome their obstinacy but they will be ready to speak to thee in the Jews language to Jeremiah As for the word that thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not hearken unto thee but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouths to burn incense unto the Queen of Heaven and to pour out Drink-offerings unto her as we have done we and our Fathers our Kings and our Princes in the Cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem for then had we plenty of Victuals and were well and saw no evil Jer. 44.
Strength and Vertue of thy Holy Spirit that I may resist all my spiritual Enemies and obtain a Glorious Victory Give me Grace to overcome Sin the World and my Self all my Passions and wicked Lusts that I may see Hell confounded and Satan crush'd under my feet Lastly Give me strength to fight with courage against Death and to overcome it O great and living God! it is not necessary that any should remember me that I am Mortal because Death is to be seen every day before me I walk continually upon its Footsteps if it gives me an assault in the midst of my Prosperities and in the first increase of my Glory I shall then go to obtain a more happy and magnificent Victory than these earthly ones for it is far more Honourable to conquer Death and triumph over Hell than to be a Conqueror of thousands of Mortal Men. And if this cruel death carries me away in a time that my Life and Services are so useful to my Prince and Countrey Let me learn to rest upon thy wonderful Providence that cannot want Captains and Soldiers Thou wilt raise up after me more happy and victorious Commanders but I shall enter into thy Heavenly Rest and Peace that reigns in thy Kingdom Lord Jesus I shall gather the fruits of a blessed immortality which have been purchased by thy wonderful Victories and by thy glorious sufferings and I shall share in the joy of thine Eternal Triumphs Let this death therefore come when it pleaseth I shall be ready to say to it as St. Paul I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Judge or Magistrate O Glorious Judge of Mankind who first honoured me with this noble employment and put into my hands the sword of Justice Let me always remember that I am not called to this noble Office by Man alone but by thee who lifts up and pulâ—s down who raiseth the poor out of the Dust to make him sit with the Mighty Enlighten my understanding with thy Divine Knowledge and strengthen me with that Spirit which thou gavest to Moses and to his Judges in Israel Give me grace to do the duties of my Office faithfully and to be an uncorruptible Judge Let my Ears be always open to hear the cries of the afflicted but shut to all unjust suggestions so that the wind of unlawful favor may never be admitted Let me without any respect of persons render unto every one what is his right and that nothing may hinder me from condemning the guilty and justifying the innocent Let it never happen to me to follow my passions or the Lust of others but let me be a faithful interpreter of thy Holy Laws and Commands At every time that I sit to judge thy people let me remember that thou art amongst the Judges and seest their most secret thoughts Let me always consider that when I have done judging others I shall be judged my self and nothing shall be able to oppose the Decrees of thine infinite wisdom If at any time the considerations of Flesh and Bloud tempt me to evil let me recal to mind my approaching Death that I may be bridled with an Holy Dread let me consider that it warns me already to appear in person before thy Tribunal where I must give up an account not only of my Words and of my Actions but of my most secret Thoughts and of the most plausible Acts of Judicature O Lord thou hast Eyes to see into the very depths an Ear to listen to the whisperings of the Heart and a powerful Hand to find out the Guilty When I think upon that Glorious Throne upon which whole Legions of Executioners of thy Justice do continually attend I should tremble for fear were it not that the Judge is my Advocate and Redeemer and that he is ascended up into Heaven there to intercede and prepare for me a place O let me therefore willingly quit these vain Honors of the World that pass away on a suddain Seeing that thou preparest for me above a Dignity far more Excellent Eternal and Vnchangeable Let me cast off without murmuring this Robe where Worms do breed and so many cares that consume my Heart Let my Soul put on with transports of joy the Heavenly Garments of Light and Glory that will render it Eternally happy Let me go down from this Seat of Judicature without grief seeing that the Lord Jesus promiseth to every one that overcometh that he will make them to sit with him upon his Throne When I am gone from hence thou wilt raise up wise and uncorruptible Judges that shall judge thy People according to Justice and Equity In the mean while I shall enjoy the sweet and comfortable effects of thine Eternal Mercy which thou hast discover'd in thine only Son who hath been made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a Minister of the Gospel who beholds Death with Joy and Comfort OVniversal Shepheard and Bishop of our Souls I cannot sufficiently acknowledge and admire the Graces and Mercies which thou hast bestowed upon me thou hast called me to an Office in which the Angels of Heaven esteem it an Honor for themselves to be employed and in which thou thy self hast been diligent during the days of thy Flesh Thou hast been pleased to make me one of the Ministers of thy People and to commit to my trust that which thou dost cherish as the dearest and most precious thing of the World namely thy Church for which thou hast expressed so much love as to give thy self for it and to redeem it with thy precious Bloud But alas my Lord and my God who is sufficient for these things The employment is heavy and painful and I am weak and feeble The World hates and persecutes us most vehemently and the Devil like a roaring Lion walks continually about us to seek to devour the Shepheard with his Flock In thine own Inheritance I am forced to swallow many bitter Fruits and drink Waters of affliction I find more Briers and Thorns than Flowers and Roses They that should encourage me in the midst of so many Labors do often weaken my Hands and afflict my Heart that which should cause my great'st joy and fill my Soul with the sweetest Comforts is the occasion of my deepest sorrows and of my most violent grief Merciful Lord whilst thou art pleased to leave me in this mortal Life and in my Ministry accomplish thy Vertue in my weakness and do thou the work which thou hast enjoyn'd to me thy poor Servant Open the door wide to the Gospel of thy Grace that all people of the Earth may learn to serve and worship thee in Spirit and in Truth Defeat all the Counsels and all the strength that riseth up against
Spring of Comfort that can never be stopt nor dried up Let the Storms and Flouds beat against thee Let the defluxions endeavour to check thee Is 58. thou mayest say with King David I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Psal 16. When I should walk in the valley of the shadow of Death when I should have no other help nor assistance in the World when there should be no more strength remain in my Body I would not fear for O God thy staff and thy Rod will comfort me Is 26. God will not only draw near to thy bed of Sickness but he will embrace and receive thee into his protection he will kiss thee with the kisses of his mouth and make thee taste of the sweetness of his Divine Comforts Cant. 1. He will cherish thee as a Mother doth her Child to pacify it and make thee so sensible of his Love that thou mayest say with the Spouse his left hand is under my head and his right doth embrace me With his Gracious Hand he will wipe off thy cold sweat and into his bosom he will receive thy sighs thy groans and thy tears he will gather up into his most precious bottles And as it happened when our Lord and Saviour was in his Agony when drops of Bloud fell from him the Holy Angels appeared to comfort him Luk 22. Likewise in our greatest and most difficult encounters when thou shalt be at handy-blows with death it self his faithful Ministers hâ—s Messengers the Angels of his right hand shall visit thee to supply thee with spiritual Comforts 2 Cor. 5. Revel 5. And when these earthly Comforters shall fail he will send to thee some of those powerful Spirits that wait before his Glorious Throne Dan. 7. O good God if we could but perceive the things that are of themselves invisible and if thou didst but give us eyes like unto those of the Holy Prophet we should behold Legions of immortal Spirits flying about in the houses of Sorrow with an intent to comfort the Christian Souls Is 6. 2 King 6. Finally as the Sun with its Light and the strength of its Beams drives away the thickest Clouds and comforts with its delightful countenance the face of the whole Earth Thus Jesus Christ the Sun of Righteousness that carries healing under his wings banisheth all sadness with the light of his Divine Graces Mal. 3. and with the presence of his Holy Spirit he drives away the most sensible griefs and fills us with unspeakable joy and with the Peace of God which passeth all understanding A Prayer and Meditation for a sick Person who desires to prepare for Death O Almighty and Gracious God! who hast created both light and darkness and who dost by the wisdom of thy Providence bestow good and evil things upon us I acknowledge that thine Hand hath cast me upon this bed of sickness and that this disease proceeds not so much from the disorder of my Body 〈◊〉 from the corruption and extravagancy of my Soul far be it from me to complain of thy justice I adore thy Goodness and Wisdom O Lord how favourable are thy punishments if compared with my deservings I have miserably abused thy former Mercies mispent that time of health that I received from thee in whom we live move and have our Being I confess that I have loved the vanities of the World and the satisfaction of this wretched Flesh more than the Glory of thy great Name 〈◊〉 the Salvation of my Soul therefore I could willingly water this Couch with my Tears O God who understandest all things thou knowest that my weeping proceeds not from any fretful humour but out of a sincere displeasure of having offended so good a Father and merciful Lord In thâ—â— thy chastisement I feel the workings of thy tender compassion and I perceive thy most wonderful Love I see thâ— thou dost not rebuke me in thy wrath nor dost not correâ— me in thy fury Thou dost not punish me as a Judge bâ— dost chastise me as a Father so that this disease is a tesâ—â—mony of thy Love and of thy Fatherly care of me 〈◊〉 thou dost correct all them whom thou lovest and causest tâ—â—â—â— to feel the smart of thy Rod whom thou ownest for 〈◊〉 Children therefore if we were without reproof wh◠〈◊〉 all are partakers we should be no longer Children but bastards If this chastisement is at present grievous and painful one day it will produce the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness and as at the end of Jonathan 's Rod he tasted Honey that comforted him and opened his Eyes Likewise when I shall have felt the Rods of thy displeasure I shall taste the sweet comforts and unspeakable joys of thine Holy Spirit and my understanding shall be more enlightened O Almighty and ever wise God who drawest Light out of Darkness and causest that all things work together for good to them â—hat love thee it matters not how thou orderest this disease so that it may advance thy Glory and further my Salvation Thou beholdest mine affliction and poverty and thou knowest better than I can what is good and expedient for me O great God I know that thou canst do all things and that thou givest the wound and bindest it up thou strikest and thy hands must heal thou castest into the Grave and bringest up again The most desperate and irrecoverable diseases thou canst cure the dead thou canst bring to life again and call the things that are not as if they were O Almighty Physitian thou canst not only vouchsafe thy Blessing to these Remedies prescribed and administred to me but if thou speakest the word I shall be perfectly whole and well again But if thou judgest expedient to continue this disease upon me continue O merciful Lord unto me and increase thy Fatherly assistances and the comforts of thine Holy Spirit Strengthen me with a Christian patience and with a resolution worthy of my hâ—nourable Profession seeing that thou art the Soveraign Physitian both of Soul and Body I beseech thee my God if thou dost not remove the distemper of my Body at least pluck out of my Heart and mind all the grief and displeasure that torments me Fill my Soul with thy Peace Joy Love and Heavenly Comforts while my Body languisheth upon this Earth and while I am kept from my former societies of Men. Let my mind be lifted up to Heaven Let my Soul delight it self in a familiarity with thee I have lost too much time already about the affairs of the World that is nothing but vanity and vexation of Spirit Give me Grace to employ now these few moments of leasure which thou dost grant to me to think seriously upon my sins to beg thy pardon with an earnest Repentance Give me Grace to meditate upon thine unspeakable and eternal Mercy to embrace it with a true and lively Faith upon thy Glory and the Happiness of thy Kingdom
that I may labor to attain unto it with transports of joy so that I may say with the Prophet David My Soul shall be satisfied as with Marrow and Fatness and my Mouth shall praise thee with joyful Lips when I remember thee upon my Bed and meditate on thee in the night Watches My Sickness seems very tedious but alas Lord my Sins have continued longer and all this pain that afflicts me and forceth from me so many sighs is nothing in comparison of the advantages and happiness that waits for me in Heaven When the whole course of my life should be a continual languishing it is but a moment in respect of Eternity And this moment of affliction produceth in us a weight of Eternal Glory that excels all things else O Lord Let the distempers and pains of my Body turn to the health of my Soul and a powerful obligation to the Practice of Piety and of all Christian Vertues Let me learn thereby to renounce the World and deny my self and to cast my self wholly into thy Divine Hands and submit my self to thy Holy Will As Jesus Christ is gain to me whether I live or whether I dye give me Grace to be ready to praise and glorify thy Mercy both in Life or Death If it be thy pleasure to spare me my life O that I may live more circumspectly than ever I have done in the fear and obedience of thy Sacred Commandements and as St. Peter's Wives Mother rose up from her Bed of Sickness to serve our Lord Jesus if thou freest me from my plague let me rise out of thy Couch to glorify and serve thee until the last moment of my life But if thou art pleased to call me out of the world here I am O God ready to do thy Will and obey thee without the least resistance for my Soul is already separated from this languishing Carkass and resolved to follow thee It is not grieved to see this wretched Body weakened and crazy as an Habit worn out because thou hast prepared for it a Garment of immortal Colours It is not vexed because this earthly Tabernacle decays for it hath a more lasting Dwelling in Heaven whereof thou hast been the Builder I have long looked upon this Couch as a representation of my Grave where I shall shortly lye down to take my last repose I have long expected Death that will break in pieces the last link of this chain of Misery to put a period to all my pains and grievance to take me out of this woful and rotten Lodge that falls to pieces to introduce me into a Glorious Palace of immortality where thy Divine Majesty dwels and where I shall for ever Glorify thee with the thousands of Angels and with all the sanctified Souls Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a sick Person tormented with grievous pains O Father of Mercies and God of all Comfort have pity upon me thou knowest that I am vexed with fearful pains that disturb my Mind and torment my Body thine Arrows run through me on every side and my Soul hath its fill of bitterness Thy wrath hath torn me to pieces and thou seemest to have set thy self against me One depth calls for another At thy Command the Waves and Flouds have passed over my head Thou hast given me many days of affliction and nights of torment I am like a person breaking upon a wheel or burning in hot flames I feel a fire that consumes me as a Worm that gnaws and darts that pierce through my Heart Sure my sins must be abominable and grievous seeing thou infflictest this great punishment upon me for thou art Mercy it self and it is not willingly that thou afflictest the Sons of Men. O good God consider what thou art and what I am wilt thou stretch forth thine invincible Arm against the Leaf that the wind tosseth up and down wilt thou declare the fierceness of thine Eternal displeasure against Chaff and Stubble wilt thou let fly all thine Arrows against a wretched Worm of the Earth and wilt thou cast out all thy Thunderbolts against a little Dust O Great God I am not a worthy Object of thy wrath against which thou shouldest kindle all thy displeasure Remember that I am but flesh a Wind that passeth away and returneth not again but rather remember Lord that I am thy Child and that thou hast redeemed me with the Bloud of thine only Son O my God it is not possible for me to withold my complaints suppress my groans and to dry up this torrent of Tears my Soul is wearied out with this languishing life or rather with this unmerciful Death for is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow Is there any torture or pain like unto my torment When the Prophet Jonas saw a little Goard withered that afforded him before a favourable shelter and shadow from the Sun-beams when he felt them beating hot upon his Head he cried out Death is better to me than life How much more cause have I to speak in this manner I of whom the strengh is withered as the parched Ground in the midst of Summer I who feel a Fire in my Bones and an Heat in my Bowels that burns and consumes me by day and by night Shall not thine Almighty and Merciful Hand that hath freed me from Hell take me out also of this deep Abysse of Misery Thou who deliverest thy Children from the burning Furnace wilt thou not quench the fury of this Flame that devours me O Lord shut up my Lips and let there come out nothing repugnant to that respect that I owe to thy Divine Majesty To thee Great God belongs Justice but to me shame and confusion of face when thou shouldest cause me to endure a thousand Plagues and Torments more if this poor Body were able to suffer them and when thou shouldest cast me irrecoverably into the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone I should have no cause to complain of thy severity It is true my pains are great but they are nothing in comparison of my sins and offences my torments are violent but they are not to be compared with my Saviours bitter sufferings with that cold sweat and those drops of Bloud that fell from his precious Body My affliction is unmerciful but it is not to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed in them that worship thee and persevere to the end in an obedience to thy Holy Will When thou shouldest kill me Lord yet would I hope in thee for thou afflictest me that I might not perish for ever with the rest of the World Thou causest my Body to be destroyed that my Soul might be saved Bruise me Lord and crush me to pieces so that I may become some of thy precious Wheat Cut and burn me in this momentary Life so that thou wilt be favourable to me in the life to come Cause this bitter cup to pass from me that I may not drink up all its dregs Nevertheless
O Heavenly Father not my Will but thy Will be done Pluck this Thorn out of my Flesh or vouchsafe unto me sufficient strength to endure its deadly wounds with patience O good God thou knowest that my Spirit is willing but my Flesh is weak and that my misery is heavier than the Sand of the Sea-shore but thou that quickenest the dead wilt accomplish thy Vertue in mine Infirmities Therefore instead of speaking in Cain's Language My punishment is greater than I can bear I will say with St. Paul I can do all things in Christ that strengthens me O Lord punish me not in thy wrath nor correct me in thy heavy displeasure but chastise me in reason that I may not be reduced to nothing When thou didst wrestle with Jacob thou tookest upon thee an Humane Body and didst strengthen thy Servant by the vertue of thy Divine Spirit O Merciful and Graciouus God let thy punishments be proportionable to my great weaknesses suffer not any temptation to seize upon me but only Humane and give me with the temptation an happy issue that I may support it that neither Death nor Life nor Pain nor Torment may ever separate me from thy Love or pluck me out of thine Hand Good Lord forsake me not that I may never forsake thee but enable me with Strength Patience and Constancy to bear my burden and make me more than Conqueror by Jesus Christ our Lord. Merciful God pity thy servant or rather thine adopted Child Awaken thy jealousie and let thy Bowels that are hardened against me move thee to compassion Strengthen me in this encounter with the assistance of the good Angels that comforted thine only Son in the night of his most bitter affliction cause this black night of my Sorrows to pass speedily away or rather in the midst of these dark shadows cause me to see the ravishing beams of thy Mercy Heal my grievous wounds or else pour into them the refreshing Balm of thy most tender and Divine Consolations my Heart and my Flesh fail and faint away but look upon me with a Gracious Eye and receive me into the embraces of thine Eternal Mercy Declare I beseech thee how sensible thou art of my affliction by a present relief receive my Sweat and Tears and put them into thy Bottles O good God thou seest that I am fainting and that my Soul is weary within me comfort me therefore with thy Cordials and with thy most Divine refreshments Give me to drink of the Wine of thy most effectual Consolations that may restore unto me my spirits apply the right hand of thy Mercy that it may strengthen my Soul and drive from thence all poison and infection Let thine Holy Spirit the Spiritual Dove light upon me to bring joy unto me O living God thou seest that I dye but give me some of that living Water whereof if a man drink he shall live Eternally my Friends are grieved with me and weep for my bitter affliction but can give me no assistance but thine only look would be able to deliver me O my God either pull me out of this Sea of Trouble into which thou hast cast me or cause me to pass through these waves to the Inheritance prepared for me from the foundation of the World Quench these violent Flames that burn and consume me or let them serve as fiery Chariots to carry me in triumph to Heaven O how mad and senseless should I be if I did fear Death seeing that it will put an end to my torments it will break in pieces my grievous Chains it will wipe away all Tears from mine Eyes and banish all grief from my Heart O my God when shall all my Cries my Sighs and Groans be changed into Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving when shall I see my self in the Glorious company of the Blessed who are come out of the great tribulation and who have wash'd and cleansed their Garments in the Bloud of the Lamb. Draw me and I shall run after thee and Glorify thee for ever in thine Heavenly Temple Amen CHAP. 14. The second Consolation against the fears of Death is to look upon God as a merciful Father and to trust upon his infinite Goodness THere is no Child well descended but desires earnestly to see his Fathers Face and especially the Face of a Good and Gracious Father A great Princes Son who hath been brought up in a Forreign Countrey rejoyceth at his own Happiness when his Father sends for him to make him partaker of the Glory and Dignity of his Empire he is not then grieved nor troubled he seeks not to delay his going but rather he embraceth with transports of joy the Messenger of such good news he thinks of nothing but of hasting his departure if he could borrow wings he would fly with an unspeakable swiftness to his Fathers Palace Now we are the Children of the Great God whose Throne is Heaven and whose Footstool is the Earth for our Faith that looks upon Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer considers God as our God and Father for to them who have received this only Son of the Father hath been granted the priviledge of being the Sons of God to them who believe in his name 1 Job 1. So that we have just cause to be transported in an Holy Excess of Joy with the Apostle St. John Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God 1 Joh. 3. We were by nature Children of Wrath as others but God who is rich in Mercy hath predestinated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his Will Eph. 2. He gives us the Gracious assurances of this free adoption in this life for as we are Children he hath sent the Spirit of his Son in our Hearts to cry Abba Father Eph. 1. This Holy Spirit bears witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God If we be Children then Heirs of God and Co-heirs with Christ Gal. 4. Yea if we suffer with him that we may be also Glorified with him Rom. 8. That we might be the Children of God he hath not only adopted us by Jesus Christ but also regenerated us by uncorruptible Seed We are not born of Flesh and of Bloud but we are born of God His infinite Goodness perswaded him first to grant us a Being and his incomprehensible love hath moved him to reform our Beings and reprint his Divine Image in our Hearts John 1. 1 Pet. 1. He hath begotten us by his pure Grace by the word of his Truth that we might be the First Fruits of his Creatures Jam. 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us 1 Pet. 1.
it causeth that death it self proves our Salvation and brings unto us unspeakable comforts I may also liken it to the Meal which the same Prophet cast into the Pot of which the Sons of the Prophets had made this complaint O thou man of God there is death in the pot It is the death of Death because it removes from it all deadly poison and causeth us to relish Angelical satisfactions I may therefore justly say of this Glorious Cross that it is The Tree of Knowledge of good and evil Because it makes known and understood the dreadful evils from which we are delivered and the infinite advantages which are procured to us 〈◊〉 Christ's death I may call it also the Tree of Life for every one that takes of the Fruit of this Tree with the hand of Faith and he that eats of it shall live for â—ver John 6. Believing Souls it is that Mystical Ladder which Jacob saw in a vision for it unites Heaven and Earth sinful Man with his God Gen. 28. It pleased the Father to make peace by the Bloud of the Cross of his Son and to reconcile all things unto himself whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven Coloss 1. It is by the means of this Blessed Cross that the good Angels are sent to our assistance and that all the Graces and Blessings of God are procured unto us by this Cross we shall ascend up to God and to his Eternal Happiness under the shadow of this Divine Cross our Souls do rest and enjoy the Peace of God which passeth all Understanding It is like the Golden Scepter which King Ahasuerus stretched out unto Esther for if we touch this precious Cross with the hand of Faith if we embrace it with a contrite Soul we shall obtain from the King of Kings not only the half part but all his Kingdom with all its Delights Honours and Advantages 18. Moses's Rod was chang'd into a Serpent as well as the Rods of Pharaoh's Magicians but this Serpent devoured all the rest Thus the death of our Lord and Saviour is accompanied with Sorrow Fear and Anguish but these fears swallow up all other fears and cause us to draw near with confidence to the Throne of Grace his Sorrows drive away all our Griefs and fill us with Joy and Eternal Comfort his Anguish gives ease and satisfaction to our Souls his troubled Mind is the cause of the settlement of our Consciences his drops of Bloud do wash down our Tears his Groans hinder us from Sighing and his grievous cryings do cause us to sing with Joy The Fetters of this Glorious Redeemer have purchased our Freedom and his Condemnation our Absolution he hath been content to drink Vinegar mingled with Gall and to swallow the very dregs of the Cup of God's Wrath and Justice that he might cause us to drink of the Rivers of his Divine Pleasures He cried out in the violence of his Grief My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matth 27. That God might never forsake us and that in our greatest troubles we might have always his fatherly assistance ready at hand he hath stooped his Head to raise our hopes In short he is dead that he might deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to a cruel and unsufferable Bondage Heb. 2. So that all such as tremble and are afraid at the approaches of Death have not yet felt the power and efficacy of the Cross of our Lord Jesus They trample under feet the Bloud of the Son of God and as much as in them lies they render the fruits and efficacy of this blessed death of no effect 19. Consider well Christian Souls and imprint into your minds this Lesson Remember that death is never to be feared but when it proceeds from God's wrath and the curse of his Law and when our sins and offences have supplied it with offensive weapons when the Devil who seeks to devour us as a roaring Lion follows death at the heels and when at the same time Hell opens its infernal jaws to swallow us up But those who have placed their Faith and Hope in the Death and Passion of the Saviour of the World and who embrace his Cross are exempted from all its fears and out of the reach of all its poisonous Darts 20. My beloved Souls be not therefore frighted to see the face of the great Judge of the World 1 Tim. 2. Seeing that there is such an excellent Mediator between God and Man namely the Man Christ Jesus who hath given himself a Ransom for all Rom. 3. He hath disarmed God's Eternal Justice and stopt the proceedings of his Vengeance for God hath appointed him for all Eternity to be a Propitiation by Faith in his Bloud John 5. The Father judges no man but hath given all Judgement to the Son as he is the Son of Man There is now no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ whosoever believes in him shall never come into condemnation but is passed from Death to Life Rom. 8. John 5. 21. Fear no more the Thunderbolts and the flashes of Fire of Mount Sinai neither do you tremble when you hear its horrible Thunder Cursed is every one who continues not in all things written in the Book of the Law to do them Deut. 28. For although Christs Hands be nailed and fastened to the Wood they pluck nevertheless out of the Hands of God's Justice his terrible Thunderbolts and the Sword of his Vengeance The precious Bloud that runs down from the wounds of this Divine Redeemer do quench the scorching heat of his Eternal burning As at the morning of our Saviours Passion he had a care of his Disciples and therefore he desired those that came to take him If you seek me let these goe John 18. Likewise he hath now a care of all such as believe in his name to secure them under the shadow of his Cross He takes their place and for them he stands before God's justice saying Seeing that you have taken me to be their pledge and that you have pursued me without Mercy seeing that I have sufficiently satisfied for all their crimes and have tasted for them the most bitter and cruel death suffer them to enjoy the freedom that hath been purchased at such a dear rate Suffer them to pass through death into the enjoyment of a blessed Life which is the price of my Bloud and the fruit of my Victories This merciful Redeemer hath put himself of his own accord in our stead and hath endured in his own Person all the pains which were due to our sins he hath been struck with Moses's Rod and pierced through with the Darts of the Law he hath been made a Curse for us for it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a Tree Gal. 5. But we are not only by his means redeemed from the Curse of the Law but we are also blessed in him with all manner of
Heavenly Blessings when we were without Christ we were Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel having no Hope and without God in the World But we who were far off are made nigh by the Bloud of Christ we have access with confidence by Faith in his precious Bloud so that we may go with boldness to the Throne of Grace to find mercy and help in time of need Heb. 4. Rejoyce therefore Christian Souls for you are not come to the Mount that might be touch'd with hands nor to a burning Fire nor unto Blackness and Darkness and Tempest and the sound of a Trumpet and the voice of words which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more but ye are come unto mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the bloud of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel For Abels Bloud called for vengeance against his own Brother Heb. 12. Col. 1. but the Bloud of Christ pleads for Mercy Pardon and Forgiveness for them who were his enemies in their understandings and wicked deeds And if when we were enemies we have been reconciled unto God by the death of his Son Rom. 5. How much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life and intercession 22. Never fear neither the Devil nor all the powers of Hell for according to God's antient promise The seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents head Gen. 3. The Lord of Glory hath spoiled the Principalities and Powers he hath made a show of them openly triumphing over them in his Cross Colos 2. By his death he hath destroyed him who had the Empire of death that is the Devil so that he hath crusht to pieces this red Dragon that did devour whole Nations and People Heb. 2. Rev. 12. As it happened when the Children of Israel did look to the brazen Serpent which Moses set up in the wilderness they were perfectly cured of the bitings of the fiery Serpents Likewise you wretched sinners who feel the venemous and deadly wounds of the old Serpent cast the eyes of your faith upon Jesus Christ crucified and you shall be saved from death John 3. As when the Angel destroyed the First-born of Egypt he had not the power to meddle with the Children of Israel who had sprinkled their doors with the bloud of the Paschal Lamb so the Devil who destroys the Children of this world hath no power to touch those whose Hearts and Consciences are washed in the Bloud of the spotless Lamb. And as Pharaoh and all the Egyptians that followed him were overwhelmed and drowned in the waters of the Red Sea Heb. 10. which served as a passage to the Children of Israel to their promised Land Thus Satan and all his wicked Spirits are as it were swallowed up in this precious Sea of Christs Bloud which opens unto us a way to the celestial Canaan Rejoyce you Heavens and you that dwell in them for the accuser of our Brethren is cast out who accused them day and night before God but they have overcome him by the Bloud of the Lamb 1 Pet. 1. Jam. 5. Christian Souls resist the Devil and he will fly from you If he goes about as a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour be not troubled at his fury nor at his infernal power for he is tied to a Chain that he cannot stretch nor break He hath been overcome by the Lion of the Tribe of Juda Take therefore the shield of Faith that you may be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil Rev. 6. and speak to him with an undaunted Soul Get thee behind me Satan for thou hast no part in me I belong to the Lord Jesus who hath paid my ransom who hath redeemed me with his Bloud and sealed me with his Spirit The Gates of Hell have no power upon those that are built upon the Rock of Eternity Matth. 16. 23. Let not your sins cast you into the Abysse of despair nor drive you from the Anchor of your Hope for God hath so loved the World that he hath given his only Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life they that are whole have no need of the Physitian but they that are sick John 3. Our Saviour is not come to call the Just to Repentance such as are puft up with a vain conceit of their own Righteousness but sinners who acknowledge their faults and are sorry for them The sacred Arms of your Redeemer that were stretched wide open upon the Cross are yet stretched wide open to receive us and from the highest Heavens where he dwells he causeth these comfortable words to be heard Come unto me all ye that travel and are heavy loaden and I will give you rest Matth. 11. This merciful Lord is come to seek for the lost Sheep to save such as were perished and to redeem his people from their sins As by one Man Sin came into the World and by Sin Death thus death is come upon all Men for they have all sinned likewise by the obedience of one we are become conquerors over death Rom. 5. And we have obtained the gift of Righteousness and Immortality it is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World and that hath made an atonement for all our iniquitites John 1. For as the Ram that was caught by the Horns in a Thicket was offered up unto God as a burnt-offering instead of Isaack Eph. 5. Thus the true Lamb of God hath been offered up unto God upon the Cross for us as a Burnt-Sacrifice well-pleasing unto him he hath born our iniquities in his Body upon the Tree and by his stripes we are healed Isai 53. He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows the chastisements of our peace was upon him As Aaron did put upon the live Goat Hazazel all the sins of the People Lev. 16. God hath made him who knows no sin to be made sin for us that we might become the Righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. Acts 10. Whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins in his Name Therefore rather than to play the desperate as Cain Achitophel and Judas let us cry out with King David O blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered O blessed is he unto whom the Lord imputeth no sin Psal 31. Or let us burst out into St. Pauls language Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect it is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that dyed Rom. 8. Let us therefore embrace this crucified Jesus and say with the Blessed
and ready with its jaws open to devour me But Lord I come to cast my self before thy Blessed Cross I take hold of the Horns of this Altar I dip my self in thy Bloud I put on the Robes of thy Righteousness and wrap my self up in thy Death O Holy Redeemer I know that thou hast been distressed and grievously perplexed at the approaches of Death and that thine Agony hath been so bitter that thou hast sweated drops of Bloud and the Holy Angels have come down to comfort thee whereas thy Servants the Martyrs have gone to death and their sufferings with expressions of Joy as to a most splendid Banquet or to a Triumph Thou hast prayed with strong Crying and Tears to be delivered from death and that this Cup might pass away so that thou mightest never tast of its bitterness But Lord thy death was not as mine and as that of thy blessed Martyrs Thy death was an atonement for the sins of the whole World whereas our death is not intended as a satisfaction to God's justice but rather to render us capable of receiving the blessed Fruits of his Eternal Compassions Thou didst bear the strokes of God's Justice and endure the fierceness of his wrath enflamed against the sins which thou hast loaded on thy self But we instead of this consuming Fire which thou hast quenched with thy precious Bloud we perceive the flames of Love instead of the Hand of thy justice we see thy Arms wide open to receive us into Eternal Happiness Death good Lord was armed with our sins and iniquities and with all that is dreadful in Hell but I see that all the Armor of Death are hung upon thy Cross they are the Trophies and everlasting marks of thy Glorious Victory Thou hast felt not only the most sensible Darts of Death but also the most terrible Thunderbolts and fearful Curses of the Law Thou hast secured us from all that violence thou hast redeemed us from the dreadful Curses When thou wast made a Curse for us thou hadst not only to encounter with death but also to destroy him who had the Empire of Death and to break in pieces the Gates of Hell Thou didst spoil Principalities and Powers shewing them openly and triumphing of them in thy Cross O wonderful Saviour How marvellous are thy Works and worthy of the continual admiration of Men and Angels Thou hast drunk up the very dregs of the Cup of God's fury that we might never taste of it and thou hast taken upon thee all the punishment that our sins and offences had deserved that we might never feel them Thy grievous pangs alleviate my torments thy bruises and wounds are my health and cure thy fears do comfort and settle my mind and thy distressed Soul doth fill mine full of joy and comfort thy crying doth appease the troubles of my Conscience and thy drops of Bloud do wash down my Tears thine affliction comforts me thy sorrow is my joy and thy bitterness is my sweetness thy death is my victory and thy Cross is my Triumph I shall no longer apprehend to dye seeing thou didst procure unto me Life and Immortality O Glorious and Merciful Lord the Kingdom of Heaven belongs unto thee by a twofold Right it belongs to thee because thou art the only Son of God and the Heir of all things it belongs to thee also because thou hast purchased it with the infinite Merits of thy Sufferings the first is sufficient for thee the second thou hast resigned unto me that I might one day enjoy this Heavenly Kingdom as the fruits of thy Death and the price of thy Bloud I have hoped in thee Lord I shall never be confounded I know that nothing impure or defiled shall enter into thine Holy Jerusalem but thy Bloud shall wash me from all my sins and make me as white as Snow O Glorious Lord O thou that art wonderful how precious is thy death unto me It is the payment of all my debts the atonement of all my crimes and the ransom of the whole World It is our peace with God our re-union with Heaven and our reconciliation with the Blessed Angels of Light It is the death of Death it self and the ruine of Hell In short it hath not only drawn me out of an Abysse of Misery freed me from Eternal Damnation and the infinite torments of the bottomless Pit but it hath purchased for me Heaven with all its Glory and Paradise with its unspeakable Delights David was much admired for making use of Goliah 's Sword to cut off his Head but who will admire and wonder at thee O victorious Son of David seeing thou hast swallowed up Death into Victory by thine own death Sampson was wondered at because he killed a few Enemies by his death but who will not wonder at thee O Son of Righteousness who by thy death hast destroyed all the enemies of our Salvation and given to death itself its death's wound Jacob slept peaceably at the bottom of the mysterious Ladder which reacht from the Earth up to Heaven But O my Lord God I shall lay my self down and find more peace and quiet at the bottom of thy blessed Cross seeing that by its means I have access to the Father unto whom thou hast reconciled me seeing that I may with boldness go to the Throne of Grace to obtain Mercy and Help in time of need Lord Jesus I discover in thy Cross not only the source of my sweetest Comforts of my greatest Joys and of my noblest expectations but I learn also there how to dye well and I perceive all the Vertues in their greatest perfection that should accompany my Soul at its Egress out of this Body O Lord Who art Perfection it self and who hast left me such a notable Example that I might imitate it give me Grace to express to all my Relations that cordial and holy affection and that tenderness which I see in thee give me Grace to forgive with all mine Heart mine Enemies that I may pray God for them who have persecuted me with fury Give me Grace in my greatest pains to follow the example of thy sweet Nature of thy Goodness of thy Patience and noble Resolution Inflame my Soul with an earnest Zeal for thy Glory and with such a love as caused thee to offer thy self up in Sacrifice to God Here I am O God ready to perform thy Will my Soul is none of mine but thine who art its faithful Creator and its merciful Saviour Seeing that thou hast paid its Ransom that thou hast washed and cleansed it in thy Blood cloathed it with thy Righteousness and put it in a capacity of entring into thine Heavenly Sanctuary and of appearing before the Father of Lights do with it as it shall seem good unto thee O sweet Jesus who hast been pleased to Dye and be Crucified for me wretched Sinner give me that Grace that I may for ever live and raign with thee and that I may at every
Children of Adam of what condition or degree soever likewise it is a great comfort and unspeakable joy to us to behold this cruel and proud Enemy brought down overcome and disarmed to see our Lord Jesus Christ marching out of Deaths fortifications loaden with its Spoiles rejoyce therefore ye Heavens and ye that dwell in them for the Murderer of our Brethren is swallowed up into Victory We who are the Members of this great Conqueror have a share in his Honour and Glory in his Person we are Conquerors of Death so that we may say with the Apostle That God hath quickened us together and raised us up with him This Prince of Life hath not only loosened all the bands of Death and broken to pieces all its chains but he hath led away Death in Triumph and made it subject to his Celestial Empire He hath an absolute power over Death as he himself declares in these words I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen and have the Keys of Hell and of Death For it stands with reason that if this invincible Lord when he was in the Prison of Death commanded over Death itself if he broke in pieces its Iron bars and its Brasen gates if he caused the Dead to go out and led them into the Holy City now that he is out of the Grave a victorious Conqueror he must needs command with an uncontrolable power this dreadful Enemy which he hath already overcome and brought under by his Almighty Hand O Death fret and fume out thy rage and fury I see that thou art tied as a Prisoner to the Triumphing Charriot of Jesus Christ my Saviour and I am certain that thou canst do nothing without leave and that thou canst not go a step unless he lengthens thy Chain As Joshua when he had overcome the Kings of Canaan called for his Captains and spoke to them in this manner Come near and put your feet upon the necks of these Kings fear not nor be dismayed be strong and of good courage Likewise we may imagine believing Souls that our Divine Joshua now that he hath conquered Death calls to us from Heaven tread upon this wretched Death with boldness fear not nor be dismayed The Children of Israel that trembled at the threatnings of Goliah were freed from all apprehensions when they saw him fall with a Stone from Davids sling so that the most timerous could have freely put their feet upon his Neck And shall not you Christians banish from your Hearts all fears and dread of Death now that you see that it is cast down at the feet of our true David the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls for although it opens its Jaws and that it fomes out flames of Fire it hath nevertheless received the Stroke of Death and is ready to give up the last gaspe And as the servant of Jonathan the Son of Saul dispatched and killed those whom his Master had cast down Thus we need but pursue the glorious Victories of the Son of the King of Kings or rather we need but gather up the pleasant Fruits of his Conquests for this Prince of Life that hath overcome Death for us offers to overcome it also in us with the Weapons with which he arms us In short to speak properly there can be no Death for such as are Incorporated in Jesus Christ by a true and lively Faith for he that lives and believeth in him shall never Dye and he that believeth in him though he were dead yet shall he live Joh. 11. A Prayer and Meditation for the believing Soul that strengthens it self against the Fears of Death by a Meditation upon the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ LOrd Jesus who hast been fully declared to be the Son of God with power by thy Resurrection from the Dead and who livest for ever and ever strengthen me in my weakness comfort me in my Sorrows and drive from my Soul all Fears and apprehensions of Death O wonderful Saviour I need no longer fear this cruel and proud enemy for thou hast broken all its fetters and chains and hast overcome Death and the Grave O glorious and triumphing Monarch what cause have I to dread a discomfited and disarmed Enemy whom I see lying under thy feet and chained to thy Triumphing Charriot I need but follow the sacred Footsteps of thy Victories and gather its excellent Fruits If thou hast been able to deal with Death when thou wast shut up in a Dungeon if thou didst then bring down its pride and carry away its prisoners what may not I expect from thy Victorious and Almighty Arm now that thou hast in hand the Keys of Hell and of Death O most mighty and merciful Lord Thou hast not only overcome Death for me but thou wilt also overcome it by me who am thy Child and the Sheep of thy pasture whereof thou hast paid the Ransome Thou art not only raised from the Dead but thou art also the Resurrection and the Life Thou the Prince of Life and the Lord of Glory and Immortality so that he that lives and believeth in thee shall never Dye and whosoever believeth in thee though he were Dead yet shall he live Sampson was worthily admired when he slept until midnight rose up and carried away the Gates of Gaza upon his Shoulders up to an high Mountain but who would not admire thee O invincible Nazarite who having slept until the third day in the bowels of the Earth didst rise again by thy Divine Vertue carry away the Gates of Hell and made them to become the Gates of Heaven and the entrance into thy celestial Paradice Let me Dye seeing that my Redeemer liveth and seeing that he intends to introduce me into an happy Life purchased for me with his most precious Blood and secured unto me by his glorious resurrection Amen CHAP. 18. The Sixth Consolation against the Fears of Death is the Ascention of Jesus Christ into Heaven and his sitting at the Right Hand of God IT is a great joy and comfort indeed to behold a cruel and a proud Enemy overcome and disarmed and our selves freed by that means from the heavy yoke of his unsufferable Tyranny but our joy would be turned into grief and our comfort into sadness if we did but perceive at the same time the Author of our Freedome choked with his own Blood and breathing out the last gasp at the moment of his Victory that our Sanctification might be entire and our joy perfect such a Friend to our welfare should continue afterwards alive and receive the Honors and Rewards due to him for such an expression of his Valor and Kindness to us There is no Enemy more cruel and more terrible then Death we have beheld it disarmed upon the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and perfectly vanquished and subdued by his glorious Resurrection But if with the eye of our Faith we look a little higher to behold the glorious
Ascension of our Divine Saviour we shall see this same Death bound to his Triumphing Charriot and we shall see this glorious Redeemer exalted above the highest Heavens and sitting gloriously at the Right hand of God we shall see him invested in an almighty Power worshipped by all the Creatures we shall see him commanding not only the Angels of Light and the celestial Spirits that are about his Magnificent Throne but commanding also over this World over Death the Devils and Hell Because he hath been obedient unto Death yea to the ignominious Death of the Cross God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven in Earth and under the Earth Phil. 4. and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father Every Souldier doth not always bear a part in the Triumph of their General and all the Subjects do not tast of their Princes happiness but as we are the Brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Members of his Mistical Body we have a share in his Triumph and in the glory of his Empire therefore the Apostle St. Paul informs us that our Life that is to say our glory and eternal Felicity is hid with Christ in God in another place he tells us in express words That God who is rich in Mercy hath made us sit in Heavenly places with Jesus Christ This glorious Saviour is gone to take possession of the Kingdom of Heaven not only for himself but also in our names and for us therefore he informs the Holy Apostles and all true believers That in his Fathers House there are many Mansions I am going to prepare a place there for you In the same manner he speaks in that admirable Prayer in the which he consecrates himself to God for the great Work of our Redemption Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me For the same reason St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Hebrews for our comfort Heb. 6. that Christ is gone into Heaven as our forerunner The High Priest of the Jews did enter into the earthly Sanctuary to present himself before God for the people Heb. 9. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ is gone into the Heavenly Sanctuary to appear for us in the presence of God The High Priest of the Jews did bear upon his Breast and Shoulders the Names of the 12 Tribes of Israel but Jesus Christ hath graven us upon his Heart according to the Prayer of the Spouse in the Canticles Can. 8. Set me as a Seal upon thine Heart as a Seal upon thine Arm for Love is strong as Death The High Priest of the Jews did cast off the Names of the Twelve Tribes with his Robes But neither Death nor Life nor things present nor things to come shall ever separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ Rom. 8. The Royâ—â— Diademe that was put upon Esthers Head never câ—â—sed her to forget her People and Parentage she was mâ—gâ—â—â—ly grieved for her Hamans Conspiray and the Decree which he had caused King Ahasuerus to Sign and 〈◊〉 with his Signet I may likewise say that the Glory unto which our Lord Jesus Christ is now raised can never make him forget the People that he hath redeemed with his Blood He is not unmindful of Satans plots nor of the Sentence of Doom pronounced against us by the great Monarch of the World and confirmed with his great Seal His glorious Head may be Crowned with the Râ—inbow but his merciful Heart is inflamed with Love for us He thinks it no disgrace to acknowledge us for his Brethren and to pray God for us upon his glorious Throne where thousand millions wait upon him and ten thousand thousands Worship him He is able to Save to the full all such as draw near to God through him for he lives always to intercede for us If the Father hath always granted him his Request when he was in his greatest abasement can we imagine that his Intercession will be fruitless now that he is ascended up to the highest Glory From the Chariot of his Triumph he beholds all our Encounters and our struglings with Death he sees all the Enemies that Assault us and all the Dangers unto which we are exposed He is acquainted with the deep Malice and the crafty Designs of the Enemies of our Salvation He perceives all the Darts that they let flie against us therefore he covers us with his Shield and will not suffer us to yield to Temptation He fulfills his Vertue in our Infirmities and makes us more then Conquerors he hath an eye alwayes upon his Flock he holds his Sheep all in his hand and none is able to pluck them from thence When he was upon Earth in his Agony at this word that dropt out of his Mouth I am he John 10. his Enemieâ— fell backward and when he was in Deaths Prison he constrained it to obey him and shall he not now that he is exalted up to the highest Heavens in the glory of his Triumph have the same power and command over Death the World and Hell When he walked upon the Waters he cried to his Apostles It is I be not affraid John 6. how much rather may he speak unto us in this manner now that he sits upon the Throne that can never be moved Christian Soul who trembles at the approaches of Death imagine that the Lord Jesus Crowned with Glory calls to thee from Heaven fear not for I call thee and hold out unto thee my Arms I that am thy Saviour and Redeemer who have satisfied for all thy sins with my Blood and who have redeemed thee from the Curse of the Law and eternal Damnation I have disarmed Gods Justice vanquished Hell broken the Serpents Head and swallowed up Death into Victory I have purchased for thee the Glories of Heaven and the Delights of Paradice I have trampled upon the World and all its powers I am Worshipped by all the Church triumphing in Heaven and by Legions of holy Angels that fly about my Throne I will therefore send some of them to guard thee and when thou shalt leave the Body where thou livest as a Sttranger they shall bring up thy Soul into this glorious abode of Immortality whether I am come to prepare a place for thee Without doubt if the Author of our hope is fixed in the vaile that is in Heaven where Jesus Christ is gone in as our forerunner we shall not apprehend the most contrary and boisterous storms raised against us by the Prince of the powers of the Aire who works with efficacy in the Children of Rebellion we shall tred under foot all the billows of this troublesome Sea and through these swelling waves we shall march safe to our Divine Jesus If at
they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the Fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the Flame kindle upon thee and say with David When I should walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil for thou art with me thy Staff and thy Rod shall comfort me Psal 23. It seems the Primitive Christians had adesigne to shew us this Truth by the Picture of a Giant-like man wading through the Sea with a Staff in his hand and a Child upon his Shoulder for this Giant is the Emblem of a Christian who lifts up his mind as high as Heaven The Sea signifies the dangers of this World and the fears of Death The Staff represents Faith that keeps us up in our passage through Life and Death upon which when we lean we worship the living God of Heaven and Earth and the Child is an Image of Christ therefore he that bears him is called Christophorus that is He that bears Christ Cesar could not endure to see his Pilot tremble in a furious Storm at Sea because he was in his Boat we have far less reason to be afraid seeing that we carry in our Hearts the great Emperor and Monarch of the World the Hope and Comfort of Israel Cesar was as much in danger as his Pilot to make Shipwrack but our Lord Jesus Christ hath all the Winds at his Command He can still the most disturbed Sea and through the most grievous death he can cause us to pass and arrive to the safe Haven of an Eternal Rest and of a most happy and glorious life When David shewed himself with a purpose to fight with Goliah he spoke to this prodigious Philistines in this manner I come unto thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts the God of the Armies of Israel But you Christian Souls when you are to encounter with Death you may say to it not only I come to thee in the name of him who Commands legions of Angels and all the Armies of immortal Spirits but I come to thee cloathed with his Armor strengthened by his Holy Spirit and assisted by him in person for Jesus Christ who hath overcome death for us intends to overcome it by us We are the living Stones which he hath chosen of his disinteressed Mercy to bring down that proud insulting Enemy that causeth all Worldlings to tremble and cover their faces with Shame and Confusion Judg. 6. We have already seen a Sampson breaking in pieces with a wonderful strength the Cords with which he had been bound by the Philistians and tearing also the Body of a young Lion in which he found some few days after Honey most pleasant to his taste It will be much easier for us when we shall be strengthened with the Divine Vertue of the Lord Jesus of whom Sampson was but a Type to tear in pieces all the Cords and Chains of Death We shall rent in pieces the Body of this old Lion and when we shall search into his Bowels with a serious and repeated meditation we shall find the sweetest and most ravishing Comforts As when the Prophet Elias was carried up to Heaven in a fiery Chariot he let fall his Cloak with which Elisha separated the Waters of Jordan so that he passed through the River on foot Likewise our Saviour Jesus Christ being ascended up above the Clouds to the Throne of his Glory he hath left us the precious Cloak of his Righteousness he hath granted us his Holy Spirit that we might pass through the turbulent Waves of this tempestuous Sea of the World by its Divine Vertue and that through death we might enter into immortal Life And as the death of our Lord Jesus Christ separated his Soul from his Body although both his innocent Soul and Holy Body remained always united personally to his Divinity In the same manner the Believers death disunites for a time his Soul from his Body but it can never separate it from the Spirit of the Lord Jesus that is the Soul of our Souls and such an Holy Flame that it can never be extinguished When the High Priest of the Jews put off his Priestly Garments he cast off at the same time his Breast-plate where the names of the twelve Tribes were engraven Exod. 20. Not only our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life not only our Pictures are printed upon the Palms of his hands with the Bloud of the Covenant but we be as a Signet upon his Heart Cant. 8. so that we cannot be separated from him no more than his heart can be taken from him his Love is stronger than Death and his embraces are embraces of Love Ruth promised to Naomi that Death alone should be able to separate them Ruth 1. But on the contrary we may tell our Lord and Saviour who is as our Father Brother and Husband not only death shall never be able to separate us but it shall rather bring us nearer unto thee and cause us to rest in thy bosome where we shall be for ever satisfied with thine Heavenly delights Christians you need not fear Death for you are not to be wounded by all its Darts for you have been dipt in the River that springs to Eternal Life The Spirit of the Lord Jesus that is in you is the Spirit of Life the beginning of immortality and the only Spring of Eternal Glory and Happiness Seeing that the breath of the Prophet Elias raised a dead Body to life the Spirit and the Breath of the Father and of the Son will be able to keep your Spiritual life from decaying unless it be in Death's power to stop the breath of the Almighty unless it be able to limit the beams of Light and Glory that came from his Divine countenance unless it can cause the Rivers of living Water that spring out of his Throne to cease and dry up It is not possible that it should cause us to perish and render us miserable Therefore you are certain of your Eternal Happiness while Jesus Christ shall be the Author and Well-Spring of Light Life Glory and Immortality and that his Holy Spirit shall be victorious over Death and Hell and you may sing with David I shall not dy but live and declare the Works of the Lord Ps 118. You be not only sure of this Glory and Eternal Happiness and you be not only enter'd into possession of it by your Faith and Hope but you begin already to enjoy it and its First-Fruits for he that believes in Jesus Christ is past from Death to Life and whosoever hath the Son of God hath Eternal Life As the Prophet Moses when he was in the Wilderness did not only see afar off the Land of Promise but he tasted of its delicious Fruits Thus we don 't only behold afar off with the Eye of Faith our Celestial Inheritance but we taste at present and relish some of its blessed Delights And as the Fruits brought by the Spies were the same
It is most certain that this death is not to be feared as an evil and an enemy but it is rather to be desired as a good Friend and a Blessing It is reported of the Thracians that they buried their dead with expressions of joy and the Inhabitants of the fortunate Islands did Sing and Dance at the Funerals of their dearest Friends I don't recommend these foolish examples of these extravagant and barbarous People who were without Hope and without God in the World such cannot fear death too much for if it frees them from some present and light evils it casts them into an Abysse of excessive torments Death is an Happiness it brings with it solid Comfort and Joy but it is when we dye in God's Favour and in the Faith of our Lord Jesus God hath sufficiently declared the Happiness and Pleasure of his Childrens death for he doth often abridge the days of those whom he favours and esteems Because he had seen some good things in the person of Abijah the eldest Son of Jeroboam King of Israel he took him away in the flower of his Age 1 Kings 14. He granted the same favour to Josias King of Judea one of the most Religious Princes of the World for he had declared to him by Hulda the Prophetess Behold I will gather thee unto thy Fathers and thou shalt be gathered into thy Grave in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place 2 Kings 22. It is not to be doubted but that such are most happy as die in the Lord and rest from their Labours but I judge such happy in a twofold manner as Dye or rather cease from Dying in such miserable times so full of confusion and disorder Would not you laugh at a Workman that should grieve when his Task is ended and his Labour finished or at a Wayfaring Man that should lament to see the end of his painful journey through Prickles and Thorns and the scorching heat of the Sun or the unsufferable cold of the Winter Or would you not wonder at one that should vex himself when he is safely arrived in the Haven escaped the Waves of a tempestuous Sea and in a shelter from the Storms Wretched Man thou art far more foolish and extravagant than those of whom we speak for the most painful Labours of a Workman the most grievous weariness of a tedious journey and the swelling Waves of a troubled Sea are nothing in comparison of the Labours Misery and Troubles of this languishing Life You would doubtless esteem it a very great folly and madness in a prisoner to be sorry of being delivered out of his noisome Dungeon or in a Gally-Slave to be angry when he is to be loos'd from his Chains or in an offender to vex when he is freed from his Torments What think ye is there less madness and extravagancy in you when ye are grieved to see death freeing your Souls from this miserable Body where it is imprison'd withdrawing it from the painful employments of this unhappy Age more grievous and intolerable than that of the Gally-slaves and discharging you from the troubles of the Soul far more painful than the most unsufferable tortures of the Body no no death that thou dreadest so much is not the death of the faithful but the end of his miseries and the last period of all his torments Gen. 8. Noah when he went out of the Ark that stopt upon Mount Ararat had never so much cause to praise God and to offer unto him the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving as we have when he is pleased to cause us to see the end of the Inundation of so many evils and calamities and to make this floating Life or this living Death to stop upon Mount Sion The Children of Israel sung Songs of Thanksgiving when they came out of Egypt and saw themselves deliver'd out of a bitter and painful Bondage where they had been employed in gathering up Stubble and burning Brick but we have much more cause to rejoyce and to sing Songs of Praise when Death takes us out of the World where we suffer a kind of bondage laboring in vain employments and enduring the scorching heat of many afflictions that consume us Thou findest fault with some of the unconstant people that murmured to return again into Egypt when they were upon the borders of the promised Land but rather find fault with thine own filthy flesh if it offers to murmure and revolt when thou art at the entrance of thy Celestial Canaan Joseph rejoyced when the King of Aegypt sent for him out of prison Gen. 41. and have we not cause to be joyful when God sends for our Souls out of the World and causeth them to go out of their Bodies which to them is a kind of a Dungeon If therefore we can speak without impatient murmuring I conceive we have as good reason as Jonas to say O Lord take I beseech thee my life from me for it is better for me to dye than to live Jonas 4. Or as the Prophet Elias It is enough Lord take away my life 1 Kings 19. Such a Soul may in an Holy transport safely speak in the language of David the Man after God's own Heart Bring my Soul out of prison that I may praise thy name the righteous shall compass me about for thou shalt deal bountifully with me Psal 141. A Prayer and Meditation for a Christian who comforts himself with the Consideration that Death delivers us from all evils which are so numerous in the World and which so often assault us O Glorious Prince of my Salvation thou hast hitherto strengthened me against all fears of Death but now I beseech thee with all mine Heart to give me Grace that death may not terrify and afflict me but also fill me full of Joy and Comfort Suffer me not to be like thy People Israel when they had forgotten their hard and cruell Bondage when they thought upon the Pleasures and Plenty of Egypt they did mutiny to return thither again when they were upon the borders of Canaan Give me Grace O my God to blot out of my Soul the fancy for the vain delights of the World and for the deceitsul Pleasures of this wretched Flesh Let me have always in my mind the Labours the Pains and Troubles of this miserable Life that I may continually look upon Death in the same manner as the Workman looks upon the end of his days work As the Wayfaring man looks upon the end of his Journey and as the Traveller looks upon the Haven of his last Rest Let me often meditate upon these horrible confusions that are this day in the World the Deluge of all manner of Evils that cover the face of the Earth the Rivers and Streams of Bloud that is shed the Fires and the Swords that devour so many Let me never forget the sad and lamentable state of thy poor Church that is like a small Boat upon
of that uncorruptible Inheritance which God keeps for thee in Heaven and hath prepared since the Creation of the World Hast thou a pleasant Garden or a rich Field But what are all the Gardens of the World in respect of the Heavenly Paradise where the Tree of Life grows that brings forth its Fruits every moneth of the year and where the River of living Water as transparent as Chrystal runs continually What reason hast thou Christian Soul to grieve when thou forsakest the pleasures of the World that thou enjoyest with the Children of the Earth or the Delights of the Body which are common to thee with the bruit Beasts Seeing that God will satisfy thee with his most precious Delights for in the blessed Vision of his Face thou shalt meet with fulness of joy Hast thou any friends on Earth Let it not trouble thee to leave them for instead of one friend here below whom thou fanciest to be real and sincere thou hast thousands in Heaven who will receive thee into the Eternal Mansions and embrace thee as their companion and the partaker of the same Glory and Happiness Hast thou any Parents or Relations I suppose that they are not burdensome to thee and that thou receivest much more Pleasure and Assistance from them than Grief and Ingratitude yet thou hast a spiritual Parentage in Heaven and Eternal Relations Thou hast in the Mansion-House of thy Heavenly Father a great number of Brothers and Sisters with whom thou shalt live in a blessed Unity as Members of one Body governed by the same Spirit and enflamed with the same Zeal Thou Husband whom Death snatcheth away from thy beloved Wife seriously consider that God will unite thee to himself by an unscparable Union and that he purposeth to take up to him some part of thy self that thy expectations thy hopes and affections might be now in Heaven And thou also O Woman whom Death plucks out of the embraces of thy dear and loving Husband remember that thou hast a Husband also in Heaven who hath espoused thee to himself for ever in Righteousness in Mercy and Compassion a Husband always Living and Glorious a Husband who loves thee with an Eternal Love that is stronger than Death whose affections are enflamed for thee in such a manner that the Water of all the Seas and Rivers are not able to extinguish a Husband who bears with all thine infirmities and hath redeemed thee from all thy sins a Husband who hath not spared for thee his precious Bloud that he might procure for thee the Glory and Happiness of his Kingdom who invites thee to his Heavenly Nuptials having prepared and appointed for thee a Room in the Banqueting-Chamber where thousands of glorified Saints shall sit and where the meledious Tunes of Angels shall be heard a Husband who calls to thee reacheth out unto thee his Hand and opens his Bosom to receive thee If thou hast found any satisfaction and pleasure in the company of that Person whom God had given thee for an Assistant and Mate judge from thence what Angelical Delights thou shalt meet with in the ravishing embraces of thy Heavenly Spouse The most pleasant Marriage days are gone as a shadow but the day which shall bring thee to thy Celestial Bridegroom shall never depart nor darken so that the Heavenly Contentments shall abide and continue with thee for ever without the least distaste You beloved and loving Children who are yet in the bosom of a good Father or of a tender-hearted Mother suffer Death patiently to remove you far from them and depart with joy to that good God that will receive you as his Children satisfy your Souls with the Milk of his most Blessed Consolations and will make you his Heirs and Co-Heirs with his Son Jesus Christ Say to him as the Holy Prophet When my Father and my Mother should forsake me yet the Lord will receive me Isai 66. Rom. 8. Psal 27. And you Fathers and Mothers that have a tender affection for your Children if Death takes them out of your sight and deprives you of the comfort of their company grieve not as those who have no hope for when they should be never so accomplish'd when they should have never given you but pleasure and divertisement What are all these pitiful Delights that pass away in a moment and that change oft-times into bitterness and sorrow if compared with the Eternal Pleasures which we shall enjoy in the contemplation of God's Glorious Face and in a familiar acquaintance with his Divine Wisdom You shall not return to them but they shall in their time go to you so that you shall shortly see one another in the Dwelling of the Father of Spirits Matth. 27. Death separates you for a while but the Author of your Life will bring you together for ever Finally of what age and condition soever you be if you perceive the breath of your Life to stop never grieve nor murmure at it for if Death separates you from your Selves it brings you nearer to God your chief Good and instead of a wretched and perishing life it will promote you to the fruition of an Eternal and ever happy one If we had lived in the days when our Saviour was on Earth there is none of us but would have looked upon it as a singular Happiness and Honor to have been admitted with Peter James and John when they went up to Mount Tabor to be Eye-witnesses of our Saviour's transfiguration A far greater Honor and Happiness Death is endeavouring to procure you it will usher you up to Mount Sion it will transport you above all the Heavens where you shall behold more excellent wonders than ever the Apostles beheld upon Mount Tabor for you shall not only see this Glorious Saviour whiter than the Snow and brighter than the Sun but you your selves shall be transfigured with him and cloathed with an exceeding great Glory The Holy Apostles saw but two Prophets but you shall see all the Prophets all the Patriarchs Apostles Confessors Martyrs the Holy and Blessed Virgin and generally all the Saints that Reign and Triumph in Heaven The Apostles had a sight of this Glory of our Saviour as of a flash of Lightning it continued with them but for a moment for soon after they came down from the Holy Mountain and were again in danger of the same temptations as before and besieged by the same Calamities It will be otherwise with thee O Christian Soul thou art flying up to Heaven from whence thou shalt never descend till the great day of the Glorious Resurrection of our Bodies Thou shalt not be assaulted any more by any temptationâ— thou shalt have no more Enemies to overcome nor Bitterness to digest Thou art going to reap and enjoy the Blessed Fruits of thy Saviours Victories and to be Eternally satisfied with the Celestial Pleasures that are at the right hand of the God of Mercies We esteem St. John highly priviledged because the Lord gave him
my Sins and all my Sufferings and Grief I shall enter into a new Glory into the ever blessed company of Saints and Angels If your love be sincere and real prefer my Felicity and Rest to the small satisfaction that you find in my company here below Consider that in the House of my God and in the vision of his Glorious Face I shall find every moment more Joy and Pleasure than I should have met with upon Earth in thousands of Ages All the Pomp and Splendor of the World all the Glory and State its Riches and Treasures its Pleasures and Delights are as unconsiderable to those that I am going to enjoy in Heaven as a few drops of Water to a boundless Sea or as a flash of Lightening to the Noon-Sun Must the blind Passion which you have for to see me continue with you hinder me from seeing the face of my God and Heavenly Father Suppose I were now shut up with you in some dark Dungeon and bound with the same Chain would you rather see me your companion to continue in your misery and sufferings than to behold me at a distance at liberty in the fruition of a perfect satisfaction Tell me not that we shall never see one another any more for can you be so great an Unbeliever to doubt of God's Mercy that intends to bring us together again in Heaven Death separates us for a moment but the Prince of Life will unite us together for ever in his Fathers House whither he is gone to prepare a place for us O Devout and Religious Soul by such Language as this thou shalt be able to mollify the hardest Hearts and prepare them to behold thy Translation into Heaven as Elisha was when he saw his Masters Rapture If they feel any displeasure and grief for thy separation from them they will have more joy and comfort to consider with the Eyes of Faith that extraordinary Glory and Happiness into which God intends to receive thee of his infinite Goodness and Mercy If it happens otherwise and that thou art to deal with weak minds whose Love is blind and whose Passions are so unreasonable as to resist God's appointment and to hinder thy promotion to Happiness thou must overcome by the strength of God's Grace and the assistance of his Holy Spirit all the furious reluctances of Nature Thou must imitate St. Peter when he saw our Saviour Christ in his transfiguration upon Mount Tabor he forgot his Family and all his dearest Enjoyments in the World therefore in that excess of joy he cried out Lord it is good for us to be here In the same Language must you speak Christian Souls I dare be bold to affirm if your mind is raised up by Faith into Heaven to behold Jesus Christ shining in Light and Glory and surrounded by all the Holy Angels and Immortal Spirits Assoon as you shall have but the least relish of Paradise you will be so ravish'd with that extraordinary Happiness that you will easily forget the most lovely Enjoyments of the Earth unto which you had devoted your affections so that in that transport of Joy you will be ready to burst out in this Language My Lord and my God I am sick with Love for thee I wish for nothing but for thy glorious Presence My chief Happiness is to be with thee and to behold thy face where I see already so much Light and Love I confess we shall not say as St. Peter Let us build Tabernacles For we shall never be concerned as Soldiers and Travellers in Fights and Journeys We shall not say let us build an House that we may dwell with thee and thy blessed company for I see O God with the eye of Faith the Palace which thou hast built from the foundation of the World where thou hast prepared a place for me Lord open to me the Gates of this Glorious Palace that I may enter in and sing forth thy Divine Praises My dear Friend shall the miserable Pagans who never tasted of the Heavenly Gift who were never made partakers of the Spirit of Grace nor of the powers of the Life to come the Heathens who were without Hope and without God in the World shall they march courageously to meet Death and wilt thou that hast had some foretasts of the happiness of Heaven that hast seen some beams of its Glory canst not thou resolve to depart out of the World Shall a Seneca who had no other means to strengthen himself but the perswasions of his vain Philosophy who had no expectation of advantages of the life to come shall such an one look with a stedfast countenance upon his Blood and Life gushing apace out of his veins and thou my Brother hast thou been brought up under the tuition of an Eternal Wisdom Dost thou embrace by Faith the Glory and Felicities prepared for thee by God and art not able to look upon Death with resolution and courage and canst not leave the World with expressions of Joy Shall Socrates whose crazy Body was animated by a sinful Soul and who had no manner of Antidotes against Death drink up that poison that was mixed for him as a pleasant cup of Drink And thou Christian that art animated by the Spirit of the living God that seals to thee his great and most precious promises Thou Christian that enjoyest the earnest of that Inheritance prepared for thee in Heaven shalt not thou be able to swallow down with content the cup that death holds out to thee Thou hast a powerful and an infallible Antidote against this poison for after this bitter Cup thou art going where thou shalt drink at leasure out of the Rivers of Eternal Pleasures Shall it be said that in the Jews Houses at the time of death the sound of Instruments of Musick was heard together with Crying and Lamentations and at thy Dwelling who hast an interest in Christ crucified and seest him Reigning and Triumphing in Heaven there shall be nothing heard but weeping and sighing that praising God and giving of Thanks shall not be seen at such a time Finally seeing so many persons of all Ages Sexes and Conditions have desired Death to be freed from all Earthly Evils and Calamities hast not thou good cause to wish for it heartily when it shall please God that thou mayest enter in the fruition of the advantages and happiness of the Heavenly Life How excellent is thy loving kindness O God therefore the Children of Men or rather thy Children the Brothers and Sisters of Jesus Christ thy Well-beloved Son put their trust under the shadow of thy wings They shall be fully satisfied with the fatness of thy House and thou shalt cause them to drink out of the Rivers of thy Pleasures If you be passionately desirous to taste of the Angelical delights and relish the Divine pleasures that flow from the Throne of God and of the Lamb if you be really athirst for God will not you speak in Davids Language Psal
Natural ignorance it cannot of it self find out the glorious Mystery but as soon as it is enlightned with this light from above it discovers its most temarkable circumstances and acknowledgeth the Justice and Necessity of the future Resurrection of our Bodies First Seeing that Rewards and Punishments ought to be proportionable and answerable to him who is to punish and reward we must of necessity establish the Resurrection of our Bodies otherwise the pains of the wicked cannot be most violent nor the happiness of the Godly can never be absolute and perfect Secondly As when a Traytor is executed men are wont to fasten to the Scaffold or to burn in the fire the Instruments and Tools with which he had assaulted or offended his Prince in the same manner the bodies of the prophane and impious varlets of the Traytors against God's Divine Majesty ought to be treated they ought to be eternally punished with their Soul in Hell fire because they have been the unhappy instruments employed in affronting our Creator Thirdly The body is not onely the instrument employed by the wicked against God but encourageth them and hurries them on in sin for its humors stir it up inflame it and carry it to evil Acts For example its sanguine constitution makes it luxurious and inclinable to the filthy lusts of the flesh its choler carries it to violent and furious actions its mellancholy prompts it to the most horrid and hellish attempts So that if such are to be punished that cause us to perform such grievous actions it belongs to Gods justice to inflict upon the body as well as upon the Soul eternal punishments Fourthly To every thing ther eis a season and a time to every purpose under the Heaven Eccles 3. As the body of the wicked and of the reprobate hath had its good things and its satisfactions during this life it must needs have also in another life its punishments and its torments Fifthly But not to forget the reasons which have a relation to the faithful and which are the Pillars and supporters of our faith and hope we may say That Jesus Christ is no less able to save us then Adam was to damn us Now Adam having lost both Soul and body we must conclude that it belongs to Christ to save them also Therefore the body is to rise again that it may partake of that Salvation or Redemption procured unto us by this great Saviour Sixthly As we have born the Image of the first man who was of the dust of the Earth we must also bear the Image of the second man who comes from Heaven 1 Cor. 15 Now we bear not this Image at present in this life we must therefore bear it in another Seventhly God hath not made a Covenant with part of man but with all man composed of Soul and body The body therefore must needs rise again that it might gather the eternal fruits of glory and happiness which are promised unto us by this Divine Covenant Eighthly God is not onely stiled The Father of Spirits and the God of the Spirits of all flesh Heb. 12. But he declares himself to be the God of Abraham and of his Posterity Numb 16.27 He is not onely the God of the Soul or the God of the body alone but he is the God of believing persons of both their Souls and bodies from hence it follows of necessity That the bodies of such as are deceased are not utterly destroyed for God will raise them up again With this argument Christ stopt the mouths of the Saduces who denyed the Resurrection Concerning the Resurrection of the Dead said he Have you not read what God himself speaks to you I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the living Ninthly God hath adopted us to himself by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his Will to make us the heirs of his Kingdom and coheirs of his Son From this passage we may gather a certain assurance of the Resurrection for when this Father of Mercies shall see our bodies lying in the dust out of his tenderness and compassion he will say there are the bodies of my Children the members of mine onely Son it is not convenient to leave them alwayes in that shamefull estate in the bowels of the Earth that love that I bear to them cannot suffer it doubtless it was this consideration that caused the Apostle to call the redemption of our bodies Adoption for by that he assures us that he shall fetch out of their graves the bodies of all them whom he hath Adopted and that our future Resurrection is an effect and a necessary consequence of our Adoption Tenthly If we consider Death in it self as it is in its own nature we shall find it to be the wages of sin and a punishment of our crimes Now Jesus Christ hath paid for us these wages and satisfied for all our sins abolishing them in his Cross we may therefore conclude that Death 〈◊〉 to be destroyed in respect of believers and that their bodies must needs rise again Eleventhly St. Paul assures us that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of his body Now the body of this great God and Redeemer consists not onely in that infinite number of Souls purchased with his Blood but also in the Union of all the bodies that have been the companions of these blessed Souls Therefore as he hath saved our Souls from Spiritual Death and eternal damnation he must also save our bodies from corporal death and redeem them from the power of the grave Twelfthly If death did for ever detain our bodies in the grave we could not say to speak properly that our Saviour hath swallowed up death into victory and that he hath destroyed the Sepulcher for in such a case Death and the Grave would remain victorious and triumph eternally over these miserable Bodies Thirteenth Our Saviour hath suffered in his Soul and in his Body and by that means he hath purchased to himself both our Souls and Bodies according to St. Pauls excellent intimation You are bought with a price glorify therefore God in your Bodies and in your Souls that belong unto God From hence we must conclude that this glorious Saviour will be deprived of part of that which he hath purchased by his inestimable sufferings if our Bodies did alwayes continue in the power of Death Fourteenth The holy Ghost hath Sanctified our Bodies and made them his Temples as St. Paul teacheth us Know ye not that you are the Temple of God and that the holy Ghost dwelleth in you From hence the Resurrection of our bodies must needs follow as a necessary consequence for can we imagine that God will suffer the Temple of his Holiness to continue for ever in its ruines and Desolation will he not rear up again the noble Pavillion of his glory cast down by Death Fifteenth God hath predestinated us to make us
unprofitable servant to be cast into utter darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth It may also be worthy of our observation that the felicities of Heaven are represented to us by a Feast where all partake of the same Meats but some are seated in a more Honourable Room than others This as I conceive may be gathered from our Saviours words Many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit at Table in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham Isaac and Jacob. It may also be gathered from that other passage where Lazarus is carried by the Holy Angels into Abraham's bosom Lastly I ground my opinion upon the 12 Chapter of Daniel where this blessed Prophet when he had spoken in general terms of the future Happiness of the faithful who shall rise to Eternal life he comes down to particularize some unto whom God hath bestowed more light upon Earth and whose Ministry he hath made use of to bring many Souls to Salvation amongst these he seems to put many degrees of Glory They that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that bring many to righteousness as the Stars from ever and ever From this passage one may apparently conclude that as the light of the Firmament differs much from that of tha bright Stars and as amongst the Stars there is a diversity and variety of Light in the same manner there shall be divers and differing degrees of Glory amongst the glorified in Heaven Now in answer to that reason that Jesus Christ hath purchased for us the Glory and Happiness of Heaven and that therefore this Glory and Happiness should be equal I confess this reason is weighty I intend not to refute it altogether but I shall propose several things to the consideration of the Pious and Devout Souls that shall peruse this Treatise First that although the bloud of Jesus Christ hath purchased for us Heaven and that we are not able to deserve it by our most regenerate Actions nor by our most grievous sufferings and Martyrdom because that when we have performed all that is Commanded our Saviour requires us to say We be unprofitable servants because we have done but what we were bound to do Luk 17. And because his Holy Apostle assures us that When all things are reckon'd up the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us Rom. 8. Nevertheless God is so Good Merciful and Bountiful that he bears with our imperfections that he rewards as a Father with a free Reward all the good Works of his fervants especially the works of Charity Therefore Jesus Christ tells his Apostles and generally all the faithful Whosoever shall give unto you to drink a cup of water because you are Christs verily I say unto you he shall not loose his reward And because 't is the custome of the Eastern People to warm their drink therefore to give a cup of cold water may be reckoned the smallest assistance Our Saviour saith Whosoever shall give unto one of these little ones to drink a cup of â—old water only in the name of a Disciple verily I say unto you he shall not loose his reward Matth. 10. If such as bestow a cup of cold water for God's sake are rewarded in Heaven what may not those bountiful Souls expect there who now spend their Estates in charitable Deeds He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully 1 Cor. 9. These be the words of St. Paul which in my judgement declare plainly an inequality amongst the Glories and Happinesses which we are to reap in Heaven Besides we have heard a Prophet tell us that all such as by the light of their Doctrines and the Holiness of their Lives lead many Souls to their Salvation shall shine for ever in Heaven as so many bright Stars It stands with reason that if our Saviour will in his infinite Mercy reward such a small kindness as the gift of a draught of Water to one of his Children they shall excell in Glory who pour forth for his sake in his quarrel every drop of their Bloud and by their deaths confirm his Holy Gospel This is a faithful saying If we dye with Jesus Christ we shall also live with him if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him But that which seems to me yet stronger which makes for this purpose is That all the spiritual Graces which are bestowed upon us in this life proceed from the Holy Ghost purchased for us by the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and by his precious Bloud Now these Graces are differing and various if therefore there are divers degrees in Grace why should not there be also divers degrees in Glory seeing that both have been purchased for us with the same price by the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ The other Argument drawn from the happiness and perfection of the Glorified is rational but not invincible for several Diamonds may be perfect in their kind so that the clearest Eye cannot take notice of any imperfection nevertheless they may differ in weight and price All the Stars have their perfection and light Nevertheless one Star differs from another Star in Glory All the Angels of Heaven are perfectly Happy and Holy and yet there is a great inequality amongst them in Glory and Dignity Likewise although all the Blessed shall attain to a perfect Holiness in my judgement that cannot hinder the diversity of degrees of Glory and Happiness I acknowledge also that the other objection drawn out of these words The Just shall shine as the Sun in the kingdom of their Father is not to be despised but it concludes nothing to the purpose for if you should cut out excellently well some Orbs of Chrystal of differing sizes some greater some less and should put them all in the Sun they would be all full of Light in every part every one of them would represent the beautiful Image of that Sun that looks upon them so that it may very well be said of all of them that they shine as the Sun Nevertheless according to their bigness and size they receive more Light and the Sun seems greater in the one than in the other To the other objection that all the Glorified in Heaven are named Kings I answer That this is not to be understood in a litteral Sence no more then when it is said that they had on their Heads Crowns of Gold That I may continue in the same comparison I may say that as all Kings have a Soveraign Majesty which acknowledges none above it but God from whom it proceeds Nevertheless some have a greater Power and Riches than others Likewise all the glorified Saints shall enjoy a Soveraign and perfect Happiness and receive it immediately from God This cannot hinder them from differing from one another in Glory I answer next to the other
is gone into Heaven to Rest from all his Works Revel 5. and to take possession of all power riches wisdom strength honor glory and praise The third Work is that of our Glorification when we shall see new Heavens appear and a new Earth when our Bodies shall be cloathed with Incorruption and Immortality and united again to our Souls and when in both Soul and Body we shall attain to the highest glory and most perfect happiness Then he that sits upon the Throne of Eternity shall say with a loud voice Revel 21. All is finished Afterwards the Sabbath of Sabbaths shall succeed that Eternal rest and that peace which shall never be interrupted by any unhappiness We may say that the first rest is that of God the Father the second belongs to the Son the third is the rest of the Holy Ghost that shall have then gathered all the Saints together reared up the House of God to the roof and perfectly enlightened and sanctified the Catholick Church from whence shall proceed its Eternal Glory and Happiness or rather we may say that this last rest is the rest of all the Three Persons of the most holy and most glorious Trinity for then they shall rest from all manner of Works for ever and ever and we in the bosome of their Glory we shall also enjoy an everlasting test When the Works of Creation were finished the Works of Redemption were next expected and after the Works of Redemption we hope for the Works of our final glorification But when God shall have brought us all into his Glorious Rest and that he shall have declared for the third time from Heaven All is finished We shall then expect nothing neither from Gods justice nor from his mercy for all Gods Enemies shall be then destroyed and it shall not be possible to add any thing to the grievousness of their punishments nor to the violence of their torments There shall be no more Tears to be wiped no more evils to be feared nor advantages to be expected not Crowns to receive for then all the Children of God shall be perfectly glorified They shall injoy God himself who shall he their inheritance for ever and the bottomless fountain of all their Delights so that it shall not be possible to add any thing to their infinite Glory nor to their Eternal happiness God shall then as it were take away all means of expressing any greater liberality and bounty Abraham leaped for joy when he saw the Birth day and humiliation of the Son of God how should we rejoyce and be transported out of our selves when we think upon this glorious Day of the appearing of our Great God and Saviour when with the eye of Faith we behold him sitting upon the Clouds of Heaven coming to put a period to Sin and Death to shut up the Devil and his Angels in the bottomless pit of Hell to deliver his Church from all Evils Enemies and Dangers and to promote it to the highest felicity and to an everlasting glory After this Believing Souls I must draw the curtain and suffer my pen to fall from my hand for mine eyes dazle at the sight of so much light and my Soul is surpriprised at the consideration of so much glory and so perfect an happiness Although I have continued in this Treatise longer then I first proposed to my self I must needs confess that whatsoever I have said upon so rich and glorious a subject falls far short of the Truth But I am perswaded that there shall be here enough for pious and devout Souls that seek not for the ornaments of Language nor for the flourishes of Rhetorick but seek for the true and solid comforts of Gods holy Word You Christian and Believing Souls for whose sakes I have undertaken this Work I intreat you by the Glory of God and by your own Salvation to preserve in your minds the Ideas of these things that I have now spoken of Imprint them in your Memories grave them upon your Hearts with the point of a Diamond and especially take delight in following my direction and you shall assuredly find both joy and comfort Think often upon Death let it be the most familiar and most pleasant subject of your Discourse expect it at every Moment and lead such a Life as if Death were already upon your Lips Fear not the many troubles of this humane Life doubt not but that God hath determined the time and manner of your going out of the World and that every kind of Death of the Children of God is precious in his sight Seeing that you are to live yet but a moment here upon Earth settle not here your Hearts but injoy your Riches and advantages as not enjoying them remembring that the fashion of this World passeth away seeing that it is Sin alone that makes Death appear so terrible to us hate all manner of Vice and study the practice of Piety And seeing that there is no body at the hour of Death but wisheth that he had lived well think upon your latter end and you shall never be able to Sin If your mind is disturbed with the consideration of those things which shall happen after our Decease learn to rest upon the wise Providence of God that sees into the depths of Eternity that provides for all things and that draws Light out of the greatest Darkness Are you cast upon a Bed of Sickness and Disease open the eye of Faith and you shall see your selves encompassed about with holy Angels and in the Arms of God himself dread not the violence of pain for God shall never forsake you in your grief he shall never suffer you to be afflicted above what you are able to indure fancy him not as a dreadful and a merciless Judge but look upon him as a gracious and a loving Father who desires not the Death of a Sinner but rather that he should repent and live If Death appears to you with a frightful Countenance if it fills you full of Terror cast your eyes by Faith upon the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and you shall see there all the Weapons and Armour of this Death broken in pieces You shall see there a Divine and precious Blood running down which hath satisfied for all your Sins and marked unto you the way to Gods Eternal Sanctuary Let not the Grave that is digging for you terrify you seeing that the King of Kings hath been laid there before you and filled it with his most Divine Perfumes Let Death seem to you never so Dreadful remember that our Saviour hath overcome it by his Resurrection fear not therefore to incounter it seeing that our Great God and Saviour shall make you partaker of his Victory And that you might beget in your Souls an earnest longing to go to Heaven Look upon Jesus Christ there who prepares a place for you and desires that you should be eternally with him to behold his Joy and Glory Fear not the separation
Souls and Bodies when thou shalt come down from Heaven with Flames of Fire to revenge thy self of such as know thee not and will not obey thy Holy Gospel and to be glorified in thy Saints and become wonderful in all Believers Let me sometime consider that glorious Throne where thou shalt sit to judge the quick and the dead before which the greatest Princes Kings and Monarchs as well as the vilest Servants Subjects and Slaves and generally all the Men of the World shall appear to receive in their Bodies according as they have done whether it be good or evil O that I might rejoyce in an expectation of seeing the total and intire destruction of all the Enemies of thy Glory and of our Salvation That I might look upon Satan his wicked Angels his Agents and the instruments of his Kingdome at if they were already bound up in everlasting Chains cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone and shut up in that bottomless pit from whence they shall never be released That I might think upon that Blessed time when Death shall be no more when all the living shall be Immortal but chiefly give me Grace to behold with the eye of that precious Faith which thou hast formed in my Soul the joy and Coronation of thy Church to consider that Divine dwelling where the stately and most magnificent City is built with pure Gold Pearles and Precious Stones where thou thy self art the Light and the Sun where the uncorruptible inheritance is which cannot be defiled and cannot fade away where the River of living water runs which is as bright as Chrystal where the Tree of Life is which yields fruit every Month of the year whereof the Leaves are for healing of the Gentiles Give me Grace to comfort my self in the expectation of that blessed estate where we shall neither hunger nor thirst where there shall be neither giving nor taking in Marriage but where we shall be as the Angels of God where thou shalt cloath us with Light and incompass us about with the beams of thy Glory where thou shalt put into our hands Palmes of Victory Crowns upon our Heads and in our mouths the Songs of the blessed and of all the Holy Angels where we shall sit with the Patriarcks Prophets Apostles Confessors and Martyrs and with all the Princes Kings and Monarchs that have lived in thy fear and that are dead in thy favor Where we shall for ever solemnise the Divine Nuptials of the Lamb and shall be inflamed with his love where we shall behold God face to face and shall be changed into his glorious Image and satisfied with his Divine likeness O Lord give us Grace to think continually upon his glorious and joyful day which shall put a period to the current of time which is the accomplishment of all the Prophecies and Promises the body and reallity of all types and figures the Crowning of all our Works the fulfilling of all our desires the highest of all our hopes and the perfection of all the designs intended by God the Father from all Eternity And seeing that we know not when this beautiful day shall break forth which shall never end give us Grace to expect it at every moment and behave our selves in such a manner as if we were already at the Eve of this everlasting Sabbath and of this glorious Rest That we may provide holy oyl in our Lamps faith hope and charity in our hearts that these Lamps may be ready and always burning that our Souls may be cloathed with the Wedding Garment with Righteousness and innocency that we may not stumber in the vain Delights of the World in the pleasures of the flesh but that we may spend the days and the nights in watching and Prayers Give us Grace to lift up our heads looking for our Redemption as if we did already bear the sound of the last Trumpet as if we did see already the Lord Jesus coming in the Clouds of Heaven O that we might not only expect him but go to meet him and hasten his coming by our continual Prayers and earnest desires O most powerful and merciful Lord forgive our impatient wishes and hasten that day for the elects sake Lord Jesus come with the Angels of thy power and the thousands of Saints and cause thy glory to appear and thine eternal Happiness Come with the Weapons of thy just resentment to require Justice and to destroy all the ungodly for there is no Faith amongst Men nor charity All flesh is become corrupt Come and destroy this World which is as an House infected with a spreading Leprosie but rather come to free it from corruption and vanity unto which our Sins have made it subject Come and purifie with an universal fire this wretched Earth which was cursed for our Crimes Come Almighty Lord come and trample upon the pride of the World and of all the Enemies of thy Sacred Truth Come and execute judgement upon her that is drunk with the Blood of thy holy Martyrs Come and bind the roaring Lyon in Chains and shut him for ever in the bottomless pit Come and put to Death the Murderer of thy Brethren and Members and totally abolish it Lord Jesus hearken to the crying of thy people and to the groans of thine inheritance Come and take thy Church out of this cruel Egypt where our Sins have inthralled it deliver it out of this Babylon where it hath been kept so long in Bondage O merciful Lord it is high time that thou shouldst introduce it into thy Celestial Canaan where the Milk and Hony of the most refined joyes and divine comforts flow continually That thou shouldst bring it into the holy Jerusalem the City of Peace and of everlasting Rest Come therefore to wipe away the Tears and stop the crying of thy afflicted Children Come and take them out of this cruel and infamous Prison open to them the Gates of thy glorious Palace Come and cloath them with thy Light cause them to drink of the Rivers of thy pleasures and Crown them with thine Immortal Glory Lord Jesus hasten this day of this Divine Coronation and magnificent Rejoycing We have been fighting and travelling upon this Earth long enough separated from thee our Souls long for thee they can no longer live without thee O wonderful Lord whose Works are so great that they are past finding out and whose Wonders are so many that they are not to be numbred thou hast with the Father perfected the Creation of the World thou hast performed all the Works of our Blessed Redemption perfect also the Works of the future Glorification of thy Church Take us up to that highest Glory and Happiness which hath beex prepared for us from the beginning of the World and which is the price of thy Blood and the fruits of thy Death O bountiful and glorious Lord put us in a condition that we may have nothing to dread nor nothing to desire nor nothing to pray or
wish for but that we may only have cause to return to thee Thanksgiving and to celebrate thy Divine praises That in this glorious and everlasting day we may sing continually with the Seraphims that flie about thy Throne holy holy holy is the Lord God of Hosts all that is in the Earth is his Glory and with the Blessed Saints now is come to pass Salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for Death is swallowed up into Victory the accuser of our Brethren is shut up in the bottomless pit he that accused them day and night before God They have overcome him by the Blood of the Lamb. They have not loved their own Lives unto Death Vnto him who hath loved us and washed us from all our Sins in his Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God his Father to him I say as to the Father and the Holy Ghost be Glory power and Dominion 〈◊〉 ever Amen FINIS A TABLE OF THE CHAPTERS In this BOOK CHap. 1. That there is nothing more dreadful than Death to such as have no hope in God Page 1. Chap. 2. That in all the Heathens Philosophy there is no solid or true comforts against the fears and apprehensions of Death p. 8. Chap. 3. Of divers sorts of Death with which we must incounter p. 16. Chap. 4. That Jesus Christ our Lord hath redeemed us from Eternal Death and by Degrees doth deliver us from a Spiritual Death p. 22. Chap. 5. Why we are subject to the Corporal or Natural Death and what advantages we do thereby receive in Jesus Christ p. 28. Chap. 6. From whence proceed the Fears of Death p. 44. Chap. 7. The first Remedy against the Fears of Death is to Meditate often upon it p. 52. Chap. 8. The Second Remedy against the Fears of Death is to expect it at every hour p. 65. Chap. 9. The Third Remedy against the Fears of Death is to consider that God hath appointed the time and the manner of our Death p. 77. Chap. 10. The fourth Remedy against the Fears of Death is to separate our Hearts from the World p. 109. Chap. 11. The fifth Remedy against the Fears of Death is to renounce Vice and to apply our selves to the practice of Piety and Sanctification Page 147. Chap. 12. The sixth Remedy against the Fears of Death is to repose our selves upon Gods good Providence p 206. Chap. 13. The first Consolation against the Fears of Death God will not forsake us in our most grievous pangs p. 267. Chap. 14 The second Consolation against the Fears of Death is to look upon God as a Merciful Father and to trust upon his infinite goodness p. 296. Chap. 15. The third Consolation against the Fears of Death is to represent continually unto our selves the Death and Sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to trust upon the Merits of his Cross p. 315. Chap. 16. The fourth Consolation against the Fears of Death is to Meditate often upon our Lord Jesus Christ as he did lie in his Tomb p. 335. Chap. 17. The fifth Consolation against the Fears of Death is to Meditate upon the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ p. 342. Chap. 18. The sixth Consolation against the Fears of Death is the Ascention of Jesus Christ into Heaven and his sitting at the right hand of God p. 346. Chap. 19. The seventh Consolation against the Fears of Death is our strict and unseparable union with Jesus Christ by the means of his Holy Spirit and the First Fruits of our Blessed Immortality p. 357. Chap. 20. The eighth Consolation is to consider that Death frees and delivers us from all the Evils that are in the World and what we daily suffer p. 375. Chap. 21. The ninth Consolation Death shall deliver us from Sin which we may see Reigning in the World and from the Reliques of our Corruption p. 391. Chap. 22. The tenth Consolation is the Glory and Happiness of our Souls at their egress out of the Body p. 412. Chap. 23. The eleventh Consolation is the glorious Resurrection of our Bodies p. 443. Chap. 24. The twelfth Consolation is the Destruction of Death and the Eternal and most Blessed Life which we shall injoy both in Soul and Body after our Resurrection Page 486. The Several Prayers and Meditations proper for every condition the devout Reader shall find at the end of those Chapters unto which the Prayers are sutable A CATALOGUE OF BOOKS Printed for John Starkey Bookseller at the Miter in Fleetstreet near Temple-Bar DIVINITY 1. A Discourse of the Freedom of the Will by Peter Sterry sometime Fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge in folio price bound 10 s. 2. The Jesuits Morals Collected by a Doctor of the Colledge of Sorbon in Paris who hath faithfully extracted them out of the Jesuits own Books which are Printed by the permission and approbation of the Superiours of their Society Written in French and exactly Translated into English in folio price bound 10 s. 3. A Practical and Polemical Commentary or Exposition upon the third and fourth Chapters of the latter Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy By Thomas Hall B. D. in folio price bound 10 s. 4. Tetrachordon Expositions upon the four chief places in Scripture which treat of Marriage or nullities in Marriage Wherein the Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce is confirmed by explanation of Scripture by testimony of Ancient Fathers of Civil Laws in the Primitive Church of famousest Reformed Divines And lastly by an intended Act of the Parliament and Church of England in the last year of Edward the Sixth The Author J. Milton in quarto price 1 s. 6 d. 5. The Christians Defence against the Fears of Death with seasonable Directions how to prepare our selves to Dye well Written Originally in French by the Reverend Divine of the Protestant Church at Paris Char. Drelincourt and Translated into English by Marius d'Assigny in octavo price bound 6 s. 6. The Living Temple or the Notion improved that A good Man is the Temple of God By John Howe M. A. sometime Fellow of Magdalen Colledge Oxon in octavo price bound 3 s. 7. A Confutation of the Millenarian Opinion plainly demonstrating that Christ will not reign visibly and personally upon Earth with the Saints for 1000 years either before the day of Judgement in the day of Judgment or after it By Tho. Hall B. D. price bound 1 s. PHYSICK 8. Basilica Chymica Praxis Chimiatricae or Royal and Practical Chymistry augmented and enlarged by John Hartman To which is added his Treatise of Signatures of internal things or a true and lively Anatomy of the greater and lesser World As also the Practice of Chymistry of John Hartman M. D. Augmented and inlarged by his Son with considerable Additions all faithfully Englished by a Lover of Chymistry price bound 10 s. 9. The Art of Chymistry as it is now practised Written in French by P. Thybault Chymist to the French King and