Irreversible so certainly shall all the Off-spring of Adam High and Low Rich and Poor Learned and Unlearned descend unto the gates of the Grave mingle their dust and pay down their Symbole of Mortality Divesne prisco natus ab Inacho Nil interest infimâ De gente sub dio morieris Victima nil miserantis orci Omnes eoâ—em cogimur c. Horat. Carmin Lib. 2. Ode 3. St. Austin observes three kinds of â—eath The first is when God forsakes â—he Soul so he forsook Saul 1 Sam. 6.14 and so he forsook Pharaoh Exod. â—13 This Death is also mentioned Matt. â— 22 Let the dead bury their dead The second is When the Soul forâ—â—kes the Body which is in the common â—urse and order of Nature So Lazaâ—s died John 11. The last is When both Body and Soul â—ffer eternal Death and this is mentiâ—ned Matt. 25.46 and so also Luke 16. â—2 23. The Rich also Man died and was â—uried and in Hell he lift up his Eyes â—eing in torments c. Now Sin is the parent of all these â—ut great sins and a state of impenitency â—nd hardness of heart are the cause that â—ove God to the first and last First to â—rsake the Soul but not till the Soul â—rsakes him next to consign him over 〈◊〉 that state of Immortal Death The second kind of Death is common â—o the Godly as well as the Wicked to â—im that feareth an Oath as well as â—im that sweareth to the Religious as â—ell as the Profane because Gods Decree 〈◊〉 unchangeable Eccles 7.20 and because â—hat even they also cannot lead a sinless life but have many sins many frailties and imperfections that they cannot totally be freed from while they live Death saith the Apostle passed upon all Men for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 Death then is certain to all nullum Saevà caput Proserpina fugit and yet nothing more uncertain than the time of it Mors certa est incerta dies One dies in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and vigor of his Age when his Bones are full of Marrow and his Blood of Spirits Another in his Infancy wen there are great expectations of future comfort and hopeful successes Another is intombed in his Mothers Womb and never sees the Light Another dies in the Flower of his Youth Another in Old Age but all sooner oâ— later come to one Seat the Grave One goes well at Night to his Bed and in the Morning is found dead Lotus nobisum est hilaris coenavit ideâ— Inventus mane est mortuus Andragoras Martial l. 6. Another goes out of his doors anâ— his beloved Consort is with much joâ— and impatience expecting his happy reâ—urn and anon she receives the sorrowâ—â—l news of his Death by a Fall or a â—eavor Of all the uncertain things in â—â—e World I know not a more uncerâ—â—in thing than the times of our Death There are so many thousand Casualâ—es that may intervene to deprive a Man â—f life that it is a greater wonder that â—e is than that he is not A Plague or â—â—me popular Disease or Fevour or Smallâ—ox an Immoderate Grief or profuse â—y an Intemperate Draught or undiâ—ested piece of Meat yea a Hair or a â—rape-stone with Myriads of other acciâ—ents may introduce Death And as Death is certain so is Judgâ—ent too As it is appointed unto Men once to â—e so after this the Judgment As one fixed by an irrevocable unalterable Deâ—ee so is the other too He hath appointed a day in which he â—ill judge the World Acts 17.31 This Judgment will be universal both 〈◊〉 to persons and things God will judge â—e secrets of all hearts by Jesus Christ â—om 2.16 Every Man shall receive the â—â—ings done in his body according to â—â—at he hath done whether it be good or evil 2 Cor. 5.10 and to that end we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ God is said to be the Judge of all Heb. 12.23 which evinces the certainty of a day of Judgment Otherwise to what purpose is there a Judge And shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right Here the good man finds the sharpest Misery and greatest Afflictions the Evil Man the sweetest Felicity and fullest Pleasures Here the Rich mans Table stands pressed with Delicacies and poor Lazarus lacks even Crums to feed him Therefore it would much impeach the Justice and Goodness of God if there were not a time and place to make some retribution to each of these to reward the Righteous and to punish the Wicked Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompence Tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels 2 Thess 1.6 7. Remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Luke 16.25 So that a Man shall say Verily there is a reward for the Righteous Verily he is a God that judgeth in the Earth Psal 58.11 Otherwise where is our Hope For if in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable 1 Cor. 15.9 Nothing could buoy up the Spirits of a good Christian amidst all the heavy Pressures and Afflictions of this Life but that he has the Hopes and Assurance that there is an exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory laid up for him in the life to come St. John in his Revelation tells us Chap. 20.12 13. That he saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works And the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it and Death and Hell delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every Man according to their Works From the whole you see there is a certainty nay a necessity of Death and Judgment This then should teach thee O my Soul 1. First to be often meditating of it before it comes Nil sic revocat a peccato quam frequens Mortis et Judicii meditatio This will restrain thee from Sin and make Death and Judgment less terrible when it comes Is there such a day approaching for all the Sons of Men How should we then resolve with David to make a Covenant with our eyes that they behold not vanity that we set a Watch before our Mouths and keep the door of our lips as with a bridle that we offend not with our tongues that we always have clean hands and a pure heart that at length we may dwell in his Tabernacle and rest upon his holy Hill for ever Si sapis utaris totis Colinediebus Extremumque tibi semper adesse puta Martial I know the sting of Death is Sin but thanks be to God who giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 2. Are there
multiplicity of Lusts and Sins insnared with passions amazed with fears divided between cares and impertinencies wearied with labours loaden with diseases afflicted with want evil spoken of with and without a cause I have had many disappointments and losses been unfortunate in my Friends and Relatives and which is worst of all I have been daily harrassed with many impetuous Lusts and Temptations My sins have prevailed against me I have displeased my God and wounded my own Conscience interrupted my hopes of Heaven and am continually tormented with evil and wicked inclinations I find still a Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Lavv of Sin and Death Those things vvhich I vvould do I cannot do but those things that I would not do those I do O Wretched Man that I am Who shall deliver me from this Body of Sin and Death that I carry about me I am afraid lest my Faith should fail lest having received the Grace of God and tasted of the heavenly Powers I should again be entangled by the Snares of my old beloved Lusts and so forfeit all my right to Heaven lose the Reward of all my strict and circumspect Walking and not continue faithful unto Death But O my Soul there is something the remembrance of which alleviates my grief and sweetens this bitter Cup These my sorrows will not last long a few years are the most and they will suddenly come and then I shall go the way whence I shall not return I shall then cease to grieve any more cease to sorrow cease to fear and cease to sin any more for ever All tears shall then be wiped away from mine Eyes and there shall be no more Sickness nor Sorrow nor Death nor Crying nor Pain I shall then have perfect rest and joy peace and quietness without any interruption for in his presence is fulness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore Though the way be foul and troublesome yet the Journey is but short and the end will be pleasant and peaceable and this consideration shall make me go cheerfully away with my present burthen for when a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return Meditations before or at Dinner or Supper 1. VVHen you see the Table spread Meditate on Gods Fatherly goodness and providence towards all his Creatures what vast infinite numbers there are and yet he carefully as a loving Father for his Children provides for them all their Meat in due season 2. Meditate how much more gracicious God is to thee who hath richly furnished thy Table and prepared these his good Creatures for thee without any great care or trouble of thine whereas there are many thousands in the World far better than thy self who are sentenced to a necessitous Condition and are enforced daily to tug at the Oar to delve in the Dirt to wash their Faces and bathe their Bodies in their own Sweat and yet for all this must be content at last with course Fare and hungry Stomachs 3. Meditate that every Creature of God is good if it be received with Thanksgiving and that it is sanctified by the Word of God and by Prayer and therefore resolve always to implore his blessing on the same in the first place 4. Meditate that several of Gods Creatures lose their lives to preserve thine whose Nature have as great a repugnancy to Annihilation as thy own and as thou now feedest on them so the Worms shall shortly feed on thee and let this excite thee to be temperate in the use of them and so to eat and drink as may the better dispose thee for any service of God thy Neighbour or thy self Let not the daintiness of the Cheer tempt thee to Luxury remembring that it is the greater Vertue to abstain when there is the greater Temptation 5. Lastly Meditate that God who filleth things living with his goodness expects no other return but praise and thanksgiving therefore when thou hast eaten and art full have a care that thou forget not to pay him that so easie Tribute Occasional Meditations Vpon the sight of a Dying Friend IT was not many days since that we had sweet Commerce together and our Conversation was dear to each other we frollick'd it till the Night parted us and then our separation was as the shadow of Death We thought the Nights tedious and the Days long till we should be again happy in each others Embraces but â—o how soon the Scene is altered my Friend is arrested by a fatal Disease and is just expiring his last Breath I came to comfort him and to receive Comfort and Satisfaction from him but alass all that is left me to do now is to be only a witness of his dying groans to close his Eyes and to receive his departing Breath Those Arms that used to hug and imbrace me at our first Meetings are now become so weak and languid that he cannot shake hands at parting nor lift them up unto his Maker That Tongue that was formerly the Conduit of Eloquence and Charm'd all that heard him by its sweet and mellifluous Expressions into a sensible but silent admiration is now become mute and speechless that he cannot as much as take his Vltimum Vale or bid me farewell at parting Those Ears that were heretofore delighted with pleasant Discourse and melodious Sonnets are now become thick of hearing and cannot distinguish between the soft murmurs of some and the louder cries of other his mournful Friends nor can admit of the least comfortable Advice in this his greatest extremity His Eyes sometimes so sparkling and sprightly that they would not suffer the most minute Object to pass their Advertency are now become so dull and heavy that they can scarce peep out of their Casements to behold the most glorious Object nay not so much as to salute that Heaven which he is just going to be the possessor of That countenance which a few days since was so amiable and pleasant as to attract the Eyes as well as raise the Envy of all beholders is now so pallid and ghastly and his Cheeks so bedewed with Cold Sweats that his dearest Friends and Relations draw the Curtains about him that they may not contemplate his grim Visage In a word his brother Body the Receptacle of his Divine Soul and partner with her in all her Actions which till now kept an indissoluble Relation with it is turning into Dust and says to the Grave Thou art my Father and to the Worms my Mother and my Sister Job 17.13 Good God how great a change is this in so short a span of time This shall teach me to put a very slight estimate on all the imperfect Perfections of this World and to seek after those things which alone are truly valuable This shall teach me also to think often of my latter end and all the days of my appointed time to wait until
of the first Covenant The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works Behold thou hast now made my days as it were a span length and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee and I am altogether vanity The sentence of Death hath passed upon all for that all have sinned And I who have had so great a share in sinning cannot but expect to receive the due Wages of it Death Only I beseech thee blessed God to make me wise now in the time of my Health and Srength to understand this and to consider my latter end Grant O Lord that by departing from every known sin by keeping Innocency and always taking heed to the thing that is right I may be in an habitual preparation for Death and find peace at the last Wean my heart daily more and more from the love of the World and worldly things and place my affections upon their right and more deserving Objects Heaven and Heavenly things that my heart may be where my Treasure is and that whenever I shall be called to part with them I may leave all without any murmuring or reluctancy and be willing and content to die Let every pain and sickness mind me of my last And that Death may not be a surprize unto me furnish my Soul with all those Graces before-hand which I shall have greatest occasions to make use of in my last Conflict Give me Repentance unto life not to be repented of A Stedfast Faith that worketh by Love towards thee my God and Charity to all the World A Firm Hope such as maketh not ashamed but may become an Anchor of my Soul entring even within the Vail True Christian Courage and Patience and a resolvedness of a cheerful submission to thy Fatherly Correction And Grant that in all things I may so put my Soul and House in order that when I come to die I may have nothing else to do but to die Let not my Death be unexpected untimely or violent if it be thy holy will And when it shall please thee to cast me on my last Bed give me Grace to search my Heart to renew my Repentance and Interest in Jesus and to compose my Soul for God Give me the opportunity and refreshment of thy holy Sacrament the Seal of the Divine Love the benefit of Absolution Some irradiations of thy Love and Favour in the assurances of pardon and peace together with a patient and comfortable expectation of the performance of all thy promises Let not the Devil take advantage of my weakness nor any of his Suggestions prevail upon me Let not his Accusations or my Sins distract me in my last hour but do thou interpose thy seasonable Relief O forsake me not when my strength faileth me but in the mid'st of the sorrows and temptations that I have upon my Bed let thy Comforts refresh my Soul O suffer me not for any pains of death to fall from thee And in my last Agonies when my Soul shall quit the ruinous habitation of my Body let thy holy Angels convey it into the Regions of a glorious Eternity where there shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying nor pain Grant this O merciful Father for the sake of him who by death hath overcome death even Jesus Christ my High Priest and blessed Redeemer Amen A Prayer for Sincerity out of the Whole Duty of Man O Holy Lord who requirest Truth in the inward parts I humbly beseech thee to purge me from all Hypocrisie and unsincerity The heart O Lord is deceitful above all things and my heart I fear is deceitful above all hearts O thou who searchest the Heart and Reins try me and seek the ground of my heart and suffer not any accursed thing to lurk within me but purifie me even with Fire so thou consume my dross O Lord I cannot deceive thee but I may most easily deceive my self I beseech thee let me not rest in any such deceit but bring me to a sight and hatred of my most hidden Corruptions that I may not cherish any darling Lust but make an utter destruction of every Amalekite O suffer me not to speak peace to my self when there is no peace but grant I may judge of my self as thou judgest of me that I may never be at peace with my self till I am at perfect peace with thee and by purity of haert be qualified to see thee in thy Kingdom through Jesus Christ Amen For Contrition out of the same Author O Holy Lord Who art a merciful Embracer of true Penitents but yet a consuming Fire towards obstinate sinners how shall I approach thee who have so many provoking sins to inflame thy Wrath and so little sincere Repentance to incline thy Mercy O be thou pleased to soften and melt this hard obdurate heart of mine that I may heartily bewail the Iniquities of my life Strike this Rock O Lord that the Waters may flow out even Floods of Tears to wash my polluted Conscience my drowzy Soul hath too long slept securely in sin Lord awake it though it be with Thunder and let me rather feel thy Terrors then not feel my sin Thou sentest thy blessed Son to heal the broken hearted but Lord what will that avail me if my heart be whole O break it that it may be capable of his healing Virtue and grant I beseech thee that having once tasted the bitterness of sin I may fly from it as from the Face of a Serpent and bring forth Fruits of Repentance in amendment of Life to the praise and glory of thy Grace in Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer Amen Those whose Devotions are apt to be assisted by variety or are desirous of Forms for other Graces or more particular occasions may find a plentiful supply in the Books of the aforementioned-Pious Author in Dr. Tailor's holy Living and Dying but more especially in the Book of Devotions composed by the Reverend and Learned Dr. Patrick A Prayer to be used by any Pious Christian in these difficult times O Most just and holy Lord God thou art Righteous in all thy ways and holy in all thy Works I must needs confess that when I seriously consider the multitude and hainousness of my own Sins and those of the whole Nation which cry loudly to Heaven for Vengeance that it is even a miracle of Mercies that we have not long since felt the severities of thy Wrath in some direful Judgments but thou O Lord hast been exceedingly gracious and with much patience and long suffering hast waited for our Repentance and Amendment of Life but yet we have abused this Mercy of thine beyond all the former and have not returned unto thee And now O Lord seeing we would not be allured by thy Mercies thou art pleas'd to threaten us with the approach of thy Judgments which if thou wilt not avert O fit and prepare me for the cheerful Entertainment of whatsoever thy Wisdom shall think fit to
contribute some assistance to them who have not better advice And being to make this publick I know no person that I have so many Obligations to dedicate it to as your Ladyship and having nothing better to present by way of an ackonwledgment I hope your Ladyship will not refuse to accept this though of a small value from From Newcastle upon Tine Nov. 2d 1682. Your Honours most Faithful and most Obedient Servant Henry Atherton THE PREFACE HAving in the former Treatise I hope satisfied all rational persons concerning the Existence of a Deity it will I judge naturally follow that this Deity is to be Worshipped I say Naturally because I never read of any of the Heathens who acknowledged gods but they paid them homage and adoration Qualescunque sunt saith Cicero in his Book De Natura deorum after he had reckoned up the variety of gods hos does venerari colere debemus Whatsoever they are if we own them gods we ought to honour and worship them Nay He though a Heathen goes farther Cultus autem deorum est optimus idemque castissimus atque sanctissimus plenissmusque pietatis ut eos semper pura integra incorrupta mente voce veneremur For indeed the worship of the gods is best of all most pure most holy and most full of Piety and he advises that when we worship them it should be always with a sincere honest Heart and undefiled Tongue There are many ways by which God may be worshipped but that which I only intend to mention here is by Prayer and Invocation which I shall not curiously dissect neither into its various parts but only tell you that this being a part of Gods Worship those that own his Existence and their dependance upon him are indispensably obliged to pay him that so easie Tribute and Adoration Prayer is the great duty and greatest priviledge of a Christian By it we have intercourse with Heaven and bear a part with Angels and beautifi'd Spirits It is the Medium by which we discover all our wants and necessities unto God the Key to unlock Heaven and draw down all Blessings spiritual and temporal upon us Is any Man Afflicted let him Pray Doth any Man lack Wisdom James 1.5 Let him ask of God who giveth to all Men liberally and it shall be given him Therefore seeing it is so much our interest as well as our priviledg and duty let us not be wanting to our selves in it You will find in the following Sheets a small Manual of Directions and Devotions which as by the homeliness of the dress you may easily see were composed only for my own private use and addresses and never intended that they should as much as peep out of my Closet door And now I shall not tell you as many do that they were press'd out or extorted from me by importunity of Friends or the like but indeed after a little pause and consideration with my self they came out voluntarily hoping at least they may have some good influence on some or other either for Direction or Encouragment to a Holy Life and if not they will only remain useless to others as they did before in my Closet and yet however I shall have this satisfaction in my own Conscience that I intended them well and I hope the purity of the Intention will some way sanctifie the Action and procure Acceptance if not with Men yet with God I am very sensible of the most excellent and unparallell'd composure of the Liturgy of our Church for all publick and most private concerns and how the deficiency of this as to particular wants if any such be is supplied by the incomparable Authors of the Whole Duty of Man Practice of Piety Method of Private Devotions Devout Christian by Bishop Taylor and many other worthy and pious Persons whose Shoes I am not worthy to bear out of some of which you will find several Collections in the following pages But yet give me leave to east in my Mite too and take in good part my weak endeavours also which probably in some things may be more particular than what you meet in them Neither dare I being a Laick prescribe them as Forms for others but only acquaint my Reader that they are such as I use my self and may perhaps be beneficial to him upon the like occasions These I know are very defective too and as he grows more prolifick in Grace so he will be able to supply my defects by a new Additament of his own And if these may give any such encouragment or have any good effect upon any one I have my aim and shall think my self well recompenced for my Studies Hic Rhodus Hic saitus I know this little Tract will fall into the hands of many a Momus who will either carp at or deride it The Learned will perhaps think it impertinent or at least not dainty enough for their curious Paluts and the looser vulgar taunt and scoff at it This is the best usage I can expect it shall meet withal in this profligate Age but however I doubt not but amongst sober and pious Christians it will find better entertainment which will make me dis-esteem the Censures of the one and the revilings of the other it being my design to gratifie â—ot the most but the best Directions how to spend every day in the Fear of God EVery Morning as soon as thou awakest out of Sleep endeavour to get thy Soul Affected with the Majesty and Mercy of God Consider his Power that he was able to raise thee again and his Goodness that he would not suffer thee to sleep in death his Mercy that he hath carefully defended thee and thine from the many sad Casualties and Accidents which might have justly faln either upon thee or them by reason of your Sins and then lift up thy Soul to God in these or the like short Prayers or Ejaculations O Almighty God who hast in thy Mercy awak'ned my Body out of Sleep so I beseech thee by thy grace awaken my Soul from the sleep of Sin and grant I may so walk before thee this day and all the days of my life hereafter that when the last Trumpet shall awaken my Body out of the Grave I may rise to the Life Immortal through Jesus Christ My Voice shalt thou hear in the Morning O Lord in the Morning will I direct my Prayer unto thee and will look up I will sing of thy Power yea I will sing aloud of thy Mercy in the Morning for thou hast been my Defence and my Refuge in the time of my Trouble My Soul desires to wait for thee O Lord more than they that wait for the Morning O God therefore be thou merciful unto me and bless me and cause thy Face to shine upon me O fill me with thy Mercy this Morning so shall I rejoyce and be glad even all the days of my life So teach me to number my days that I may apply
my Heart unto Wisdom when I awake up I am ever with thee Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the ginning is now c. Then have an especial care that no vain filthy or impure thoughts have any entertainment within thy Breast but if any such endeavour to crowd themselves in presently discard them with detestation and abhorrency emembring that the First Fruits belong to God and he ought to have the râ—ime of all thy Thoughts then cast thy self out of Bed and whiles thou art dressing thy self desire God to cloath thee with the Righteousness of his Son Christ Jesus and use the following Ejaculations O Lord grant that I may put on the whole Armour of God that I may be able to stand against all the Fiery Darts of the Devil Above all things O Lord give me the Shield of Faith the Breast-plate of Righteousness the Sword of the Spirit the Girdle of Verity the Helmet of Salvation and let my Feet be shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace O grant that I may put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no Provision for the Flesh to fulfil it in the Lusts thereof Before thou art throughly dressed kneel down by the Bed-side and say In the Name of the Father and of the the Son and of the Holy Ghost prevent me O Lord in all my doings with thy most gracious Favour and further me with thy continual Help that in all my works begun continued and ended in thee I may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy Mercy obtain everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Our Father which art in Heaven c. On Combing your Head or Plaiting the Hair you may use such Ejaculaions as these Grant O Lord my Ornament may not be that of the Hair but that of a lowly meek quiet and humble Spirit Let it not be that of the outer but of the inner and hidden Man of the Heart Make me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me While you are Washing you may Ejaculate thus O Lord wash me throughly from mine Iniquities and cleanse me from my Sin O cleanse me from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit Not only my Hands and my Face O Lord but my Heart also Purge me with Hysop and so shall I be clean O Lord wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow I am unclean I am unclean but O Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean O touch me and say I will be thou clean Being now compleatly dress'd withdraw to thy Closet or place of Retirement and there lift up thy Soul to God in this or the like manner O Lord I beseech thee let thy holy Spirit direct me how I may spend this day most of all to thy Glory and my own and others benefit And then ponder a while on the business of the day and consider what sins either thy natural Temper Business or Company may most subject thee to to what dangers thou art most liable and what opportunities thou art like to have either of doing God Service or thy Neighbour good Against the former implore Gods Aid and Assistance in a particular Petition which you may find a convenient place to insert in your Morning Devotions and also Arm your self before-hand with Resolutions and the best Means you can to prevent them that so you may avoid the occasions of Sin And for the latter resolve to embrace all opportunities for the discharge of your Duty and then use this Ejaculation Thus thus O Lord I purpose by thy Grace to spend this day O be thou pleased to be present with me by the preventings and assistings of thy Grace and Holy Spirit that so I may perform what I intend to the Glory of thy Name the discharge of my Duty the benefit of others the comfort of my own Soul here and everlasting happiness hereafter in and through Jesus Christ Let thy Grace be sufficient for me Consider also seriously what Sins have passed from thee since thy Evening Devotions Being thus prepared take Gods Holy Book into thy hands yet not without Reverence and to put a distinction between this and other Books it will be commendable if thou uncover thy head in the reading of it or stand up even the Hearhens pay it Reverence the Jews hear the Law with Adoration and the Turks kiss the Alcoran thou maist also use one of these or the like Ejaculation or the Collect of the second Sunday in Advent Assist me I pray thee O Lord with thy Holy Spirit in the reabing of thy holy Word enlighten the Eyes of my Vnderstanding that I may understand the same give me a retentive Memory and Grace to reduce the same into Practice in my Life and Conversation through Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour Amen Open thou mine Eyes O Lord that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law Blessed art thou O Lord O teach me thy Statutes O Lord sanctifie unto me my present Reading and Meditations for Jesus Christ his sake Then read that portion of Scripture that is either accommodated to the day or most fitted for your own condition and that with much seriousness attention and particular application of it to your self When you have ended use the common Doxology of Glory be to thee O Lord. Then re-collect what things observable you have met with in your reading and spend some time in Meditation of them and consider what use you may afterwards make of them either to encourage to Vertue or deter from Vice without this Post Meditation you will reap no more benefit by this â—alutary Word than a Body by the reception of the most nutritious Aliment which is not well digested in the Stomach Nay as this will be apt to turn into Crudities and Diseases to the Body so will the other prove fatal to the Soul and that which should have been the savour of Life unto Life will be nothing else than the savour of Death unto Death Meditation being ended betake your self decently and reverently to your knees and with great fervency offer up your Morning Devotions unoâ— the Throne of Grace which being done follow your lawful Studies or Employments still having an awful sense of Gods Omnipresence But if you be a Master of a Family then call your Family together and let they as well as you serve the Lord. Read a Chapter unto them and Pray again with them before you dismiss them to their business And if you live in a place where Publick Prayers are Celebrated and your manner of Life be such that you can without considerable inconveniences dispense with it think your self not excused from the Prayers of the Church in the Congregation At Noon when you see the Table spread you may meditate concerning Gods Mercy and Bounty towards thee and all mankind and use those or the like Ejaculations hereafter prescribed for that purpose and then receive
the good Creatures of God with an hearty desire of his Blessing Moderation and Thankfulness remembring that every Creature of God is good and not to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving and that it is sanctified by the Word of God and by Prayer At any other time besides at Set Meals venture not to eat or drink without craving a Blessing and returning Praise at least by Ejaculation After a little Diversion return to thy Closet read a Psalm or two meditate and follow David's Example by offering up a Meridian Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving in the following or like Method Then betake thy self again â—o thy Employments or Studies and be â—iligent in them At Four in the Afternoon if thy occasions permit as there are but very few who can not spare so much time if the â—eart be inclin'd for thou maist do this â—n the midst of thy business and make â—hy Closet in the very Street use some â—f the following Ejaculations either as â—hy Devotion or particular necessities â—rompt thee to If there be again any Publick Prayers if thou be not a Man of Employment and Business omit them not Use the same Meditations again at Supper as before at Dinner and after Supper if the time of the Year or Season permits walk into the Fields and there contemplate and admire the wonderful Works of God the strange Effects of his Wisdom exhibited to us in the variety of Plants their decorous Order exact Symmetry of Parts and the like Praesentem narrat quaelibet herba Deum Let thy Soul say O how marvellous are thy Works O Lord in Wisdom hast thou made them all The Earth is full of thy Riches Who can express the noble Acts of the Lord Or shew forth all his praise c And if you use any Recreation have an especial care first that it be not unlawful or with evil Company next that it be not immoderate and take up too much time but that it may be such as may either tend to the health of thy Body or refreshment of thy Mind that so thou may'st be the better disposed either for the Service of God thy Neighbour or thy Self And because we are too apt to be led by Sense and to forget God in our Mirth thou may'st often lift up thy Soul to God to set a Watch before thy Mouth and to keep the door â—f thy Lips and take care that no lying â—ain-glorious Jesting frothy or idle Discourse proceed from thence consisering that thou must give an account â—f every idle word as well as sinful action Keep always a Religious sense of God in thy Soul and let no sensual pleaâ—ure or delight stain thy innocency When the time for Rest draws nigh â—etire to thy Closet cast off as much as â—hou canst all worldly thoughts and use â—hese or the like Ejaculations Let the words of my Mouth and the Meditations of my Heart be now and â—lways acceptable in thy sight O Lord my Strength and my Redeemâ—r O Lord I beseech thee bring into my â—emembrance the Sins of the day past whether of Omission or Commission whether of Thoughts Words or Actiâ—ns that so I may humbly confess them â—efore thee and find favour at thy Hands â—r the pardon of them in and through fesus Christ And also I humbly pray â—hee the mercies of the Day past wheâ—her Spiritual or Temporal that so I â—ay in some measure offer unto thy Divine Majesty that praise which is due unto thy Great and Glorious Name for them Then reflect and consider how you have spent the Day in what Company you have been how you have discharg'd your Duty in your Place Relation or Calling and how you have in all things behaved your self And if any Sin beyond the common frailties of Nature hath passed from thee keep a Diary of it that thou mayest repent it over again on thy Fast Days or before the Sacrament And that you may not think this Task and Discipline too severe to speak nothing of the common practise of pious Christians even Heathen Philosophers took this Course Pythagras Seneca and Plutarch yea the poor barbarous Indians as Apuleius reports used to call themselves to a daily account of the good and evil of the day and how much greater obligation lies upon us Christians besides the serenity and tranquility of mind every Man feels by such short reckonings with God Almighty I leave to every Man piously inclined to consider And that thou mayest do this the better after a general survey of thy Company Actions and the like in particular examine if thy thoughts have not been vain peevish uncharitable or unchast Whether they have been so holy or at least so innocent as they ought to have been c If thy words have not been vain and empty rash and inconsiderate Whether no foolish speaking or jesting lying or frothy and corrupt Communication hath proceeded out of â—hy Mouth Whether thou hast not slanâ—ered or back-bitten thy Neighbour Whether thy words have been mix'd with that Grace Discretion tending â—o Reprehension and Edification as they ought to have been Whether thy Actions have not been â—nweighed and inconsiderate Whether â—hou hast had purity of intention in â—hem Whether thou hast been so temâ—erate so chast so careful of spendâ—ng thy Time and Estate as thou oughtâ—st to have been Whether thou hast â—ischarged thy Duty in thy Calling as â—hou shouldest or whether thou hast oâ—itted any Duty which thou oughtest 〈◊〉 have perform'd and hast had opporâ—nity for Where thou hast been faulâ— confess it humbly to God and anâ—ex this short Ejaculation Lord be merâ—ful to me a Sinner And venture no more to sleep in thy sins unreconciled to God than thou would'st to die so for for ought thou know'st thou maist now sleep in Death and never see the dawn of another day Then seriously and thankfully consider also the Mercies of the day past both spiritual and temporal which may be commonly such as these delivering thee from those many sad casualties and accidents which might justly have faln upon thee by reason of thy Sins refreshing thee plentifully with his good Creatures blessing thee in thy Studies Labours and Undertakings giving thee leave to lift up thy Soul to him by some tho weak and imperfect Prayers and Praises and also preserving thee if it hath so happen'd from any presumptious sin into which thou would'st certainly have fallen had not Gods restraining Grace prevented thee c. Then say Not unto me not unto me but unto thy Name be the praise Blessed be the Lord God which daily loadeth me with his benefits even the God of my Salvation and blessed be the Name â—f his Majesty for ever Then read a Chapter in the New Testament meditate on it and theâ— immediately before you Address your ielf to God by Prayer to help your Devotion consider that God is a most Holy God that he will be sanctifi'd of all them who draw near unto him that
Lord I beseech thee mercifully hear my prayer and spare me who now confess my sins unto thee that I whose conscience by sin is accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved from all my offences through Christ our Lord. Amen O most Mighty God and Merciful Father who hast compassion upon all Men and hatest nothing that thou hast made who wouldest not the Death of a Sinner but that he should rather turn from his Sin and be saved mercifully forgive me my Trespasses receive and comfort me who am grieved and wearied with the Burthen of my Sins Thy property is alwayes to have mercy to thee only it appertaineth to forgive Sins Spare me therefore good Lord spare me whom thou hast redeemed Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant who am vile Earth and a miserable Sinner but so turn thine anger from me who meekly acknowledg my vileness and truly repent me of my faults and so make hast to help me in this World that I may ever live with thee in the World to come through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen This being done you are next to review your Sins again and consider what were the occasions which drew you into each particular Sin and then consider and think of those ways and mean by which you may for the future avoid them and arm your self before-hand with reasons and holy resolutions against their assaults whensoever they invade which you may do well to commit to Writing After this consider what Graces directly oppose your Vices that you may in the next place petition for them for it is not enough that you are pardoned but you must also remember that that will not stand you in stead If you again return to your Old Vices An Examplification of this you have in one or two Sins following As January I fasted and upon Examination I found my self guilty of unclean and unchast thoughts and that with delight and approbation which sometimes brake forth into corrupt frothy Discourse and immodest or unclean Actions Upon reflecting into the Causes of this Sin I found them to be Eating and Drinking too highly keeping light or idle Company not keeping that Guard over my self as I ought nor behaving my self in all places with that gravity and seriousness as I should and giving way to the first motions of vain and impure thoughts Upon which I resolved to use my self to a spare low Diet to avoid Drinking much Wine or Strong Liquors to avoid light Company and not suffer mine ears to hear or my tongue to utter any frothy or corrupt Communication to carry my self always with a becoming gravity in my behaviour to deport my self as in the immediate presence of God remembering that he is a God of infinite Purity and Holiness I will be watchful over my own Heart that I do not permit any unclean thoughts or fancies to enter within me much less give them Entertainment and as soon as they offer themselves to my fancy I will endeavour to divert them by holy and heavenly Meditations And last of all I will be frequent in my prayers to God for a clean heart and purity of spirit and for the Graces of Temperance and Chastity When I fasted likewise I found my self guilty of muth deadness and dulness in my Devotions vain and wandring thoughts in them c. Upon Examination of my self I found the great Causes of it to be the want of keeping my self continually in a serious frame and temper of spirit my not spending some some time in Meditation before I came to pray my want of frequency in my Devotions and want of the due sense of God's great and dreadful Majesty and my own necessities of those things I come to pray for Upon which I resolved constantly to keep my self in an habitual frame and temper of piety to be more frequent in Prayer and to praemeditate of the dread and awfulness of that Majesty before whom I appear to consider before-hand that nothing but what is hearty and from the ground of the Soul will be accepted by him and how great need I have of those things I ask I will pray often for the Spirit of Devotion and Sincerity and will be sure to watch over my thoughts when I am at my Devotions but if any such enter I will presently repel them and then pray with greater fervency to cross the Devil's design therein These meditations and resolutions being over you may begin again thus O Lord increase my weak Faith Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief and give me Grace to live and die according to my belief for I believe in thee O God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth And in Jesus Christ thy only Son our Lord who was conceived by the holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried He descended into Hell The third day he rose again from the dead He ascended into heaven and siteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the Forgiveness of Sins The Resurrection of the Body and the life everlasting Amen O Lord be with my Spirit O Most gracious God make me careful to discharge and perform all my Vows and Resolutions which I have made unto thee both in publick and in private Make me a serious and professed enemy to every sin and to all ungodliness especially O Lord to all c. Here meition thy most prevailing Sins and Corruptions and let no sinful thought surprize me without a sorrowful sigh no ungracious word pass me without a suddain retractation and devour confession no wicked action defile me without a sincere and godly humiliation Unto each measure of sin enable me to allow a due measure of sorrow Let those sins that have been reigning over me be at set times constantly revenged by me and as my body hath been a deep sharer in my Sins so let it have a daily share in my Sufferings Help me at set times to deny my self some of those outward Enjoyments which thou O Lord in mercy hast allowed me as a true sign of my godly sorrow for that sinful excess which I have too oft taken without thine allowance Let those sinful hours which have been vainly lost in idleness and emptiness be willingly redeemed in a constant observation of Religious Duties Let no day pass me with out a solemn and devout task of Devotion no hour without some sweet Ejaculation and when at any time the troubles and disturbances of this frail life shall deny me happy opportunities for those heavenly performances what is wanting in act let it be made up in desire which thou Lord I trust wi lt graciously accept and look upon because faithfully intended These and whatever mercies thou knowest needful and requisite I humbly beg in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ
let not the Lights of the World any more be put under Bushels but keep them in their Candlesticks that they may give light to all that are in the House Let not Jeroboam's Priests profane thy service but let the seed of Aaron still minister before thee And O thou Father of mercies and God of all comfort succour and relieve all that are in affliction and deliver the outcast and poor help them to right that suffer wrong Let the sorrowful sighing of the Prisoners and the Captives come before thee and according to the greatness of thy Power preserve thou those that are appointed to die Grant easie to those that are in pain health to those that are in Sickness Here mention any that you know in that Condition Give them patience and contentation under this thy Visitation and a happy Issue out of all their Afflictions when and which way it shall seem best to thy godly Wisdom only so preserve them by thy Grace that Christ may be unto them whether in Life or Death advantage Give suitable supplies to all that are in want to all presumptuous sinners give a sense of their sins and to all despairing a sight of thy mercy and do thou O Lord for every one above what they can ask or think forgive my Enemies Persecutors or Slanderers overcome all their evil with thy infinite goodness turn their hearts and draw them powerfully to thy self Pour down thy blessings on all my Friends and Benefactors all that have commended themselves to my prayer or that I am bound to pray for especially c. Here specify thy nearest relations particular Friends and all committed to thy Charge O Lord infuse Grace where it is not and where it is weak do thou strengthen it give them all things necessary for their Souls and Bodies guide them here by thy counsel and afterwards receive them to thy self in glory And grant O merciful Father that through this Blood of the Cross we may all be presented pure and unblamable and unreproveable in thy sight that so we may be admitted into that place of Purity where no unclean thing can enter there together with Saints and Angels to sing eternal Praises Doxologies and Alelujahs to Father Son and holy Ghost for ever Amen Either before or immediately after this Intercession make an oblation unto God of something for the Poor or Pious Uses and if it be the tenth of all thy Acquists thou wilt in the end be no looser by it but 't will prove unto thee a piece of frugal prodigality He that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully 2 Cor. 9.6 We put our money into sure hands it is but lent though it be given We engage God himself and he will pay us again Pro. 19.17 This is the Fast that God hath chosen and delights in Isa 58.7 This stock that you thus lay up is the treasure that you send before you to heaven your Friend of the mammon of unrighteousness that when these earthly things fail will receive you into everlasting habitations 'T is call'd a Sacrifice wherewith God is well pleased Heb. 13.16 and again Phil. 4.18 a Sacrifice acceptable well pleasing to God St. Augustine saith that Jejunium sine Eleemosina Lampas sine Oleo Fasting without Alms is a Lamp without Oyl It may shew beautiful to the Eye but will never lead you by it's light to Heaven When you have separated that portion which you chearfully design for this Charitable Use it may not be amiss if you offer and devote it to God in this or the like manner O Blessed Lord God I know that my goodness extendeth not to thee thou art infinitely happy in and from thy self alone Lucret. and wants nothing of ours to make any addition to thy happiness Yea O Lord all that we have and enjoy is from thy bounty and goodness and I can retribute nothing to thee but what must first come from thee Yet O Lord seeing there are many of thy poor necessitous Servants that stand in need of our Charity and thou hast said that whatsoever we do unto these we do it unto thee in consideration of my duty and thy mercies I here offer and devote unto thee for pious and holy uses this small portion as thou hast been pleased to bless me the week past O let it be a Sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing in thy Sight throughâ— Jesus Christ Amen Put this up in the poor Man's Purse by it self By this course thou wilt have always something in store by thee to give all indigent persons as there is opportunity offered and this great advantage thou wilt have by it also thou wilt not give grudgingly as the Apostle terms it 2 Cor. 9.7 or murmur when a poor Man asks an Almes of thee Deut. 15.10 for thou lookest upon this stock as not thy own and thy self only as Gods Purser and the Hand to dispense it yea thou will rejoyce and give God thanks when thou hast a fit opportunity to distribute do good and refresh the hungry bowels of thy poor Brother After this spend some time in Reading or Meditating or both Then call to mind and consider your Mercies both Spiritual and Temporal which you have in the foregoing Week received at the hands of God and if they have been any way eminent omit not to commit them to your Diary where also you may place your Vows if you have made any the benefit which may accrue from hence I shall hereafter shew you If you have no other mercies but the preservation of you from your own vile-Lusts Lusts and Affections from Presumptuous Sins and from Death and Damnation for the Temporal Mercies of each particular day and the mercies even of this day thou hast Matter enough of thanksgiving therefore you cannot do better than conclude your Fast with Praises and Thanksgiving The Thanksgiving and Conclusion of the Work O Most holy and for ever blessed Lord God thy Name only is excellent and thy praise above Heaven and Earth Heaven is thy Throne and that thou fillest with thy Majesty the Earth is but thy Foot-stool and yet that thou fillest with thy Goodness O how great are thy tender Mercies to us O Lord how large is the Summ of them If I would declare them and speak of them they are more than I am able to express I may as well count the sands upon the Sea Shore or the drops of the Ocean as enumerate thy favours Thou didst at first create me out of nothing instamp thine own Image upon me and gavest me Dominion over the Works of thy hands Thou art he that took me out of my Mothers womb By thee have been holden up ever since I was Born thy Almighty hand hath constantly supported me and thy Providence watched over me and I still acknowledg my dependance on thee When Mankind had departed from thee by Disobedience and erased that Image and Innocency in which he was created and for feited that Right to all thy
review your Catalogue of old Sins and your holy resolutions against them that you may be still humbled for the one and be put in mind to perform the other And because I have here mentioned the Catalogue of Sins I shall in the next place shew you the reasons and benefits of keeping such a Catalogue or Narative by you and afterwards direct you to the manner of doing it by giving you â—n Exemplification thereof in some Sins Reasons why we ought to keep such a Narrative or Catalogue of our Sins and the benefits of it 1. FIrst the committing of our Sins to such a Diary or Catologue â—eeps them in perpetual Memory and makes them in David's phrase Psal â—1 3 to be ever before us so that we may Novas agere penitentias renew our â—epentance for them which probably was â—ot so compleat at first as it ought to have been besides we should think such Sins never sufficiently bewailed and repented of and possibly too our memory may be too willingly treacherous we may forget them or at least the aggravating Circumstances of them we desire God indeed not to remember them but then we our selves must and ought 2. The committing of our Sins to such an Accomptal makes us presently to remember when God sends any Judgment upon us for what particular Sin it is Punishment is the natural effect and consequence of Sin God many a times spares when we deserve punishment but he never punishes us without our demerits yea God many times doth so adapt the punishment to the sin that we may very intelligibly read the one in the other and then we shall have this benesit that understanding the Cause we may hasten to the Cure confess and bewail the same kiss his Rod acknowledge the Justice of his proceedings and say Righteous art thou O Lord and just are thy Judgments This affliction is but the genuine product of my Sin I may thank my self for it and therefore I will bear the Indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him the Cup is bitter but salutary God chastens me here that he may satisfie his Justice and spare me hereafter And so the Sin repented of the removal of the Judgment soon follows seeing it hath answered that end for which it was sent 3. The keeping our sins in memory hath this great benefit in it to teach us how to arm our selves against the same sins for the time to come If we have been once foiled by an Adversary it is ten to one but if we have adverted to it we may easily remember what it was that gave him the advantage over us and so like Alfrid strongly prepare against the next Assault Si modo victus erat ad crastina bella parabat It will be no difficult matter having an account of your sin and the circumstances of it to re-collect also what inducements and temptations prevailed against you at what avenue the sin entred and so thou mayst immediately guard and fortifie thy self that thou do not twice fall by the same Stratagem 4. It is profitable that you may see what strength you have got over them and know how to keep your ground against them Though an Enemy be several times repulsed yet if he be still potent subtil and malicious he will not cease to assassinate King Alfrid sate as unquiet when he was Conqueror as when he was conquered Si modo victor erat ad crasâ—ina bella pavebat We have entered the lists against a strong and malicious Combatant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Enemy of Mankind by way of Eminency and he is constantly upon his Guard going his Round and seeking whom he may devour and so subtil that like Hanibal he will lay an Ambush even in the smoothest Field let us not therefore â—emit our watchfulness or diminish our force lest he again enter and our last Estate be worse than the first 5. A fifth Reason is That we may frustrate the Devils great Design and Endeavour which is either to make them appear small in our Eyes when they are indeed very great or else to hide them altogether from us until the Judgment of the great Day No sin is indeed positively small being committed against a God of infinite purity and holiness but comparatively so with relation to other sins but yet the Devil is such an Impostor that he would needs perswade us that even great sins are no sins at all or very small ones peccadillo's and tells us as Lot of Zoar Is it not a little one 'T is but a small inconsiderable Lust a humane Frailty this will not ruin thy Soul many thousands are guilty of far greater than this Thus he will endeavour to hood-wink thee for the present but then at the hour of Death or day of Judgment he will take off this Vail and open thine Eyes when to thine astonishing amazement thou wilt find how miserably how irremediably thou hast been deceived The constant sight of thy sins will be apt to raise thy thankfulness to God for being delivered from the power of them Sin is the greatest Evil and if we once come to be sensible of it we shall not only fly from it but have our hearts enlarged with the greatest thankfulness to God for our delivery from the power and dominion of it Lastly The keeping of such a Catalogue is very profitable that by reflex thoughts on our sins we may be kept in the greater humility and low opinion of our selves We have generally in our Natures an inbred Principle of Pride which puffs us up with a vain conceit of our selves and more especially in respect of Grace with which being but slenderly imbued we are presently opinionated of our selves undervalue others and think that we have arrived to the very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and heighth of Grace in a moment not unlike your young Sophisters who having suddenly suck'd in some of the Elements of Logick and Philosophy think as well or better of themselves than the Doctors of the Chair Now the serious remembrance of our former Obliquities and Follies will be apt to chastise this Vanity and correct our Pride It is storied of the Peacock that though his Train be never so much expanded and his Crest elevated yet one glance of his Eye upon his black Feet will presently depress his Crest shrink and contract his Plume In the highestâ— thoughts of our selves the consideration of our great enormous sins if we be any way pious or ingenious will humble us and make us confess That in us dwelleth nothing that is good He that covereth his sin shall not prosper but he that confesseth his sin shall find mercy The manner of keeping your Narrative and an Exemplification of it in some Sins SUffer no sin to pass by you unregarded and make every day a particular reflection upon the actions of the day as before directed that you may discover what sins you have been guilty of and what most inclined to And
us in the face our Consciences accuse us our faces are appaled and our thoughts Distracted to think that if this Sickness should prove our last we must certainly not only be excluded from God's presence for evermore but have our portion with Devils and Reprobates in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone to all eternity 2. In the time of thy greatest health be frequent in the meditation of Sickness and Death Si sapis utaris totis Coline diebus extremumque tibi semper ad esse puta Martial It was the passionate Wish of Moses Deut. 32.29 O that Men were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end The consideration of our latter end before-hand is the very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the highest pitch of wisdom and understanding and on the contrary the putting far from us the evil day is the perfection of folly It is reported of Bilney the Martyr that he used some time before his Martyrdom to acquaint himself with the heat and burning of a Candle that the greater flames might not be novel and strange unto him at the time of his Suffering The Grave would be no surprize to us if we did sometimes in our Health descend there in our thoughts and meditations Praecogitati mali mollis ictus venit Senec. Ep. 76. Thou may'st therefore sometimes when thou art in thy retirement fancy thy self to be then Arrested with thy last Sickness and consider then what thou would'st do and how thou would'st behave thy self in it Imagine thy sickness long and tedious thy pains violent thy nights wearisome and restless think that thou seest thy helpless Friends mourning about thy Bed and thy hands so feeble that thou canst not stretch them forth to take thy last farwell of them and at length findest thy Spirits quite Languishing thy Eye-strings Cracking Cold sweats bedewing thy Face and thy extream parts growing chill and dead and thy Soul just taking it's flight to appear in the presence of God Believe it This is more than Romantick Story or an Imaginary thing and 't is only a fancy with relation to the difference of time otherwise a great reality Thou may'st proceed farther likewise with these Considerations Probably I may die a suddain death and may possibly be snatch'd hence before I have time to make my peace with God if I do it not now in the time of my health and then how shall I be of all men the most miserable It is but the just reward of my demerits for trifling away so much precious time as was allotted me for that purpose I know many have died suddainly a Syncope Imposthume or an Apoplexy a small Obstruction in my Veins or Arteries a Stone falling from the top of a House a fall from my Horse a Thousand casualties and accidents may take me off or if I have the favour of a Death-bed probably my pains may be so sharp a Lethargy or Phrensy may seize my head and dethrone my reason or my thoughts may be so distracted and in confusion that I may be altogether unfit then to perform the great Work of repentance or secure my peace with God therefore take up holy Job's resolutions Job 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change shall come 3. In the time of thy greatest Health lay up in store a stock of proper Graces against the time of Sickness and Death In the time of peace and quietness we discover no want of our Armour but let an Enemy invade us we are sensible of the folly of our neglect because we are now destitute of that which should secure us in our greatest necessity If we provide not before-hand a stock of Faith and Patience and most Christian Fortitude and Resolution Armour to shield and Weapons to repel the Frauds and Encounters of our great Assailant the Devil which will then take all advantages of our weakness we must certainly be foiled in the Combate The Graces then to be exâ—â—cised are chiefly these Faith Hope Râ—pâ—ntance Patience Devotion and Charity of which I shall speak more Particularly when I shew you this manner of exercising them on your Death-bed 4. Set not your Affections too much on the World and the vanities of it but wean your self from them by degrees lest at last your heart come to be so united to them that you cannot think of leaving them without great Reluctancy and you be apt with the Disciple to talk of building Tabernacles here and set your Affections on things on the Earth more than things of Heaven therefore Love not the World nor the things of the World Lay not your Affections that way more than a natural conveniency requires put now your House in order and dispose of your outward concerns prudently piously charitably Insere nunc Maelibaee pyros pone ordine vites that so when you come to die you may have nothing else to do but to die Emori satis est and having nothing else to do it well This alone will exact our greatest care our greatest diligence 5. Lastly In the time of thy health be frequent in prayer unto God that he will fit and prepare thee for that fiery Tryal that so Death find thee not unprovided Pray often for those Graces that thou shalt then have occasion to make use of that so When this Earthly Tabernacle of thy Body shall be dessolved thou may'st have a Building with God not made with hands but Eternal in the Heavens Of the Proximate Preparations for Sickness and Death FIrst Therefore when it shall please God to visit thee with Sickness â—hink thus This Sickness will put a peâ—â—od to my days I shall now go to the â—ates of the Grave whence I shall not â—eturn but before it comes to that I â—ust pass through a tedious Sickness and â—ost acute Pains but however be it â—hat it will I resolve by Gods Assiâ—ance patiently to undergo it and â—eerfully to submit to Gods Will and â—easure in it My Sins have deserved â—uch more Thy will O Lord be done 〈◊〉 Earth as it is in Heaven If thy Distemper will suffer it before â—ou takest thy Bed kneel down and pray to God that he will sanctifie unto thee this his Fatherly Chastisement give thee a cheerful patience under it and convert this thy Sickness into the advantages of Holiness and Religion that he will strengthen thy Faith encourage thy Hope support thy Weakness pity thy Infirmities and that being tried thou may'st come out of thy Affliction as Gold out of the Fire more pure and more refined and more fit for thy Masters use Or if he hath in his Wisdom otherwise disposed that he will be unto thee in death as well as in life advantage That he will not suffer thee to be tempâ—ed above what thou art able but with the Temptation will make a way for the to escape that thou may'st be able 〈◊〉 bear it That he will arm thee againâ—â— all the
certainly if we are dutiful Children we shall not suffer the remembrance of them to be buried in ungrateful silence but as the Heart will be filled with the sense so will the mouth with the acknowledgment of his Mercies Who can express the noble Acts of the Lord or shew forth all his praise Psal 106.2 Oh how great is the Sum of them If we tell them they are more in number than the Sand Psal 139.17 18. Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his Holy Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits 3. And is God so merciful Then this O my Soul should teach thee humility and to have low thoughts of thy self If thou wert not miserable thou hadst no need of Mercy If thou wert righteous 't were but justice to receive good from the hands of God not mercy Every particular blessing I enjoy is the fruit and effect of the mercy of God and ought to each me a Lesson of Humility Many Stripes many Judgments indeed have I deserved but I must confess with holy Jacob That I am not worthy of the least of all his Mercies Gen. 32.10 4. Is God a God of such infinite Mercies This then should teach thee O my Soul in all thy difficulties and distresses in all thy wants and necessities to have recourse unto him to rest and depend upon him The Angel of the Lord saith holy David tarrieth round about them that fear him Psal 34.7 and delivereth them And Psal 34.22 The Lord delivereth the Souls of his Saints and all that put their trust in him shall not be destitute And as in temporal dangers so in temporal wants we must cast all our care upon him for he careth for us 1 Pet. 5.7 They that fear the Lordlack nothing Psal 34.9 and v. the 10. They that seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good God is a God all-sufficient and able to help me in my greatest necessities He is a God rich in Mercy and will not suffer me to want therefore I will cast my burden upon him I will put my trust in him 5. Is God so Merciful This should teach me to fear him This may perhaps seem strange What shall I fear him because of his Mercifulness I have great reason to trust him indeed and to love him but shall I fear him for it Yes certainly we ought to fear him even for his Mercy There is forgiveness with thee saith David therefore thou may'st be feared Psal 130.4 and 67. ult God shall bless us and all the ends of the Earth shall fear him Though he forgives though he blesses though he shews us mercy yet we must fear him Yea I must needs say that of all Gods Attributes Mercy is the dreadfullest for where-ever his Mercy lights and is neglected or returns empty without answering Gods Designs he will certainly recompense his abused Mercy with double Severity Laesa patientia furor fit 6. Is God thus Merciful This should teach us to imitate his Mercy by being merciful to our poor necessitous Brethren Let us imitate it in its universality it is over all his works Who is there under the Sun that hath not tasted of it in its reality He giveth liberally and upbraideth not It is far from God to do any thing seemingly 't is not enough to profess Compassion and to say as those in St. James ch 2.16 Depart in peace be ye warmed be ye filled and yet give nothing to cloath or to feed them But thou shall do according to the Precept in Deuteronomy ch 15.10 Thou shalt surely give him and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him And to encourage thee take Gods own promise annex'd to it Because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy Works and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto Thus we must imitate God in being merciful unto all and in being really merciful All our acts of mercy to our poor Brethren Christ takes as done to him Matth. 25.40 In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me The miseries of my Brethren are my own miseries and therfore your mercies to them are in a sense mercies to me Lastly Is God thus merciful This should teach thee O my Soul to be continually praising him for his Mercies Praise is a Duty incumbent on all the Sons of Men because that all have tasted of his goodness and his mercy Give the Lord saith David the honour due unto his Name Psal 29.2 Shewing that it is not an arbritrary or voluntary act but a just debt which we owe to God God not only supplieth but even daily loadeth us with his benefits as the Psalmist observes and as he expects no other so we can make no other retribution unto him but our Praises and Thanksgivings O let us never then defraud him of that so easie Tribute but let our Hearts be continually filled with the sense and our Mouths with the acknowledgment of his Mercies We confess O Lord that we are not worthy of the least of all thy Mercies and therefore the less we deserve them the more thou deservest our Praises O let us not by our ingratitude provoke thee to discontinue thy Mercies or to shut up thy tender Mercies in displeasure and so teach us to value them by making us feel the want of them Alelujah Of the certainty of Death and Judgment Hebrew 9.27 And as it it appointed unto Men once to die but after this the Judgment GOD at first Created Man in a state of Innocency and appointed him Laws to observe and gave him withal a power to keep them and to the keeping of which he annexed the continuation of a happy life and immunity from death and lest his credulous Nature might be too easily imposed upon to his own and his posterities ruin lest the ties of Love and promise of a Reward were not strong enough to bind him to his Duty and Allegiance God was pleased to hedg in his way with a denunciation of threatnings and judgments in case he should any way disobey those Laws set and tells him Gen. 2.17 In the day that thou eatest thereof transgressest my commands for I have told thee positively thou shalt not eat of it thou shalt surely die but Man degenerate Man soon cast off his primitive Innocence violates those Laws and thereby renders himself and all his posterity obnoxious to that Judgment of Death before threatned And now God ratifies his former denunciation establishes it by a perpetual Decree That unto dust he shall return Gen. 3.19 So that now we see whence Death had its first beginning Rom. 5.12 It is but the product and birth of Sin Sin having once conceived never prove abortive but brings forth Death James 1.15 It is now appointed unto Men once to die and as certain as the Decree of God is
such days approaching and is the time uncertain this then should teach thee O my Soul to be continually preparing for them Upon this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this moment of time depends eternity After a few years perhaps months or days it may be minutes thou shalt be arrested by Death and thence pass to Judgment Are thy Accounts fair Canst thou give them up with joy and not with grief Art thou reconciled to God and hast thou peace with him and thy own Conscience then come blessed day But if not neglect not one day nay one minute more thou knowest not what a day may bring forth How many have thy Eyes seen or thy Ears heard of that have been one day frollicking and taking their fill of pleasure and the next shut up in the prison of the grave whence there is no return to rectify thy former aberrations and where there is no more repentance The Grave is a safe repository and as it receives so it will keep thee to the Judgment of the great Day He that goes thither filthy will be filthy still and he that is unjust will be unjust still He that is righteous will be righteous still and he that is holy will be holy still Revel 22.11 Give me grace Good God all the days of my appointed time to wait until my Change shall come to think every day my last and to prepare Accordingly that so though the time be uncertain I may not be at any time unprovided but when I come to die I may have nothing else to do but to die that my Soul in the Arms of the Holy Jesus may be deposited with safety and joy there to expect the Revelation of his day and then to partake the Glories of his Kingdom 3. Are there such days approaching Then this should strike Horrour and Amazement to all loose and wicked persons The consideration of a Judgment to come made stout Felix tremble The foolish Virgins did bethink them of Oil for their Lamps when they heard the noise of the Bride-groom's Coming and perhaps these when on their Death-beds will then too late think of this Day but 't is not then a few still-born abortive prayers a Lord have mercy upon us or the like will serve their turn The Sinner may frollick it now follow his intemperance and unlawful pleasures and say still these are but tricks of youth or frailties of his Nature but let him remember that for all these things God will bring him into Judgment Eccles 11.9 'T is strange that Sinners should be so stupid and put so far from them the evil Day they think they shall still rejoyce as in their youth and see no evil and so never bethink them of their condition till they find themselves in the confines of Hell Tell them now of preâ—aration for Death they will answer â—ou 't is time enough yet and the fitâ—est season for that is when they are â—perannuated and unfit for any thing â—â—se Their time must now be divided â—etween their lusts and vanities between â—nlawful pleasures and imoderate sleep 〈◊〉 idleness they cannot now find a time â—r Repentance Prayer and attending upâ—n the things of God never considerâ—â—g that they must find a time to die in â—â—d that when Death comes they must â—e at leisure for that All their false pleasures are vanished like a shadow and â—ow nothing remains but the sense of â—uilt and a fearful expectation of Judgment they now perceive the Arrows of â—â—e Almighty stick fast on them and â—â—at there is no profit but extreamless 〈◊〉 those things whereof they are now â—hamed they now feel their Torments â—â—gin and court death to be freed from â—â—e stingings of Conscience but that onâ—â— consigns them over to greater and â—ore impassible miseries who like priâ—ners condemned to die they are â—rought out of prison their Chains â—nock'd off and yet carried to a more â—eadful Execution 4. Are there such Days approaching Then this brings great comfort and satisfaction to the Godly Man he is ready to say with Jonah Chap. 4.3 And now I beseech thee take away my Life for it is better for me to die than to live or with Saint Paul I desire to be dissolved Death I know is but a stepping behind the Dark Curtain and a passage into another Room I set here in this Horizon but I shall presently rise in another 'T is not a Period but a Parenthesis which may be put in or left out To me to die is gain I have had my Portion of evil things in the World my share of miseries and troubles but now I shall be free'd from them all and gain my port which I have so long looked out after And can you blame a Man that is toss'd up and down the turbulent Waves of the Sea to desire a safe Harbour to land in Can you blame the poor Man that labours and toils all the day long in the sweat of hiâ— Brows when his Work is done to desire the night wherein he may take hiâ— ease and sweet repose Neither is the Godly man by Death only free'd froâ— those Calamities and Troubles from with out but from the depraved Corruption of his Nature from Temptations from within and without and from Sin it self the greatest joy to a pious Soul who more rejoyceth that he cannot sin than that he cannot suffer And as the approach of this Day brings great comfort and satisfaction to the Godly upon the score of those Negatives so it is much enhansed upon the consideration of those positive Rewards styled by the Apostle the recompence of Reward promised by Almighty God which they have oftentimes some praelibations or foretastes of This makes them chuse Death rather than Life and to take up St. Austin's Words breaking out in a holy rapture commenting upon Moses's desire of God Exodus 33. That he would shew him his glory and God's answer Thou can'st not see my Face for there is no Man shall see my face and live O let me die that I may behold thy glory Eia Domine moriar ut videam videam hic ut moriar nolo vivere volo mori dissolvi cupio esse cum Christo St. Aug. I know that my Redeemer liveth that where he is there his Servant shall be I shall see him as he is and my eyes shall behold him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 face to face and then Olim haec meminisse juvabit It will be very pleasant to think of those many past troubles and escaped dangers Grant me gracious God so to live that at last I may lay down my Head in the dust with joy rest in hope and at length rise to a blessed and glorious Immortality Amen even Amen Lord Jesus Of Heaven and Hell the Joys of one the Torments of the other JVxta se posita magis elucescunt The darker the Foyl the more radiant doth the Diamond appear The blackness and deformity of the Maid makes the Mistris's Beauty more remarkable
The Meditation of the torments of Hell renders the joys of Heaven the more valuable and therefore I begin with the former God hath set before us Life and Death eternal Rewards and eternal Punishments He hath given us just and holy Laws to observe and keep and power to keep them and to the keeping of which he hath annexed an everlasting reward by an irrevocable Decree to the violation of which he hath by the same Decâ—ee annexed an everlasting punishment so that if we embrace the former we shall not fail of the recompence of reward but if we persevere in the latter we treasure up Wrath against the day of Wrath and shall be sure at length to feel the Righteous Judgment of God This is God's Covenant that he makes with us To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal Life but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish Rom. 2.7 8 9. Now 't is essential to God to be just to his Covenant The Lord is just saith the Prophet Zephan 3.5 He is Just in all his decrees and just in the Execution of them He is just in himself and just in his Law just in his rewards just in his punishments He is Justice in the abstract He is the Judge of all and shall not he do right Yes certainly he shall and will As he keeps mercy for the righteous so he will by no means clear the guilty Exodus 34.7 Let no wicked person therefore condemn in this the severity of God's justice in proceeding against wicked Wretches Whose damnation as the Apostle says Rom. 3.8 is just For it is their own voluntary free choice their Destruction is of themselves Hos 13.9 Let God be true and every man a Liar that he may be justified in his saying and clear when he is judged by wicked and unreasonable men Rom. 3.4 5 6. St Paul puts the question Is God unrighteous who taketh Vengeance and answers it himself God forbid for how shall God then Judge the World For if God be a Judge he be must just and distribute punishments as well as rewards The Lord is just saith the Psalmist and there is no unrighteousness in him Psal 92.15 O enter not into Judgment with thy Servant O Lord for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified O Lord if thou condemn me thou art righteous thou hast but dealt with me after my sins end rewarded me according to the demerits of mine iniquities Righteous art thou in all thy ways just and true are thy Judgments Holy St. Jerome was wont to say That whether he did eat or drink sleep or wake or whatever he did he thought the Sound of the last Trump did eccho in his Ears and heard a voice saying Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment If this holy Man were under such continual apprehensions and had such fears of the approach of the last day that he could not at any time disband them from his thoughts How then should it strike horror and amazement into the hearts of obstinate impenitent sinners to think of the dreadfulness of that day and the greatness and perpetuity of their torments which shall then commence but never have an end They have had their Heaven upon Earth and now they shall have Hell instead of Heaven Bona accepisti Remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things none remain now but evil things now thou art tormented Ezekiel's Role was sweet in his Mouth but bitter in his Belly Had Solomon's simple Man seriously considered what Shot his fatal Banquet would have cost him He would never have commended the sweetness of his stoln waters and pleasantness of his Bread eaten in secret for he knew not at least would not know that he was a companion with the dead and that his fellow guests were in the depths of Hell Prov. 9.17 18. where being once come he can never return Facilis descensus Averni Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras Hic labor hoc opus Hell is a place appointed by God for the tormenting of the Devil wicked Angels and sinful Souls to all Eternty and we are told that it is a place downwards and beneath us Prov. 15.24 The way of Life is above to the Wise that he may depart from Hell beneath and so ch 7.27 speaking of the Harlot Her house is the way to Hell going down to the Chambers of Death besides in Prov. 9.18 It is called Profundum a Depth to define the local place of which is too deep for me God grant I may never be able better to define it Sin I am sure laid the Corner-Stone of that deep and dark Vault and it must be my Innocency that must preserve me from being an Inhabitant in it The Ingenious Mr. Cowley hath given this Description of the place in his Davideis BEneath the silent Chambers of the Earth Where the Sun 's fruitful Beams give Mettals birth Where be the growth of fatal Gold does see Gold which above more influence has than he Beneath the Dens where unfletch'd Tempests ly And infant Winds their tender voices try Beneath the mighty Ocean's wealthy Caves Beneath the Eternal Fountain of all Waves Where their vast Court the Mother Waters keep And undisturb'd by Moons in silence sleep There is a place deep wondrous deep below Which genuine Night and Horror does o'r flow No bound controuls the unwearied space but Hell Endless as those dire pains that in it dwell Here no dear glympse of the Sun 's lovely face Strikes through the solid darkness of the place No dawning Morn does her kind reds display One slight weak Beam would here be thought the day No gentle Stars with their fair gems of Light Offend the tyran'ous and unquestion'd Night But it is not so much the Place as t h Torments there to be endur'd Who can express their Sharpness Who their Number Non mihi si centum linguae sint oraque centum Ferre a vox omnes scelerum compr'endere formas Omnia poenarum percurrere nomina possim No heart of Man can think no tongue can tell The direful pains ordain'd and felt in Hell All the Senses shall be rend'red more exquisite than ever the more fully to perceive their Torments and every one have their fill of them The Sight shall be afflicted with a more than Egyptian Darkness and the continual beholding of monstrous Fiends and Devils The Hearing with Shreeks and horrible Cries The Smelling with Fumes of Brimstone and noisome Stenches The Taste with ravenous Hunger and insatiable Thirst The Feeling the most exquisite of all the Senses with intolerable yet unquenchable Fire because the Breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it Isaiah 30.33 Add to these a Fire continually flashing in the Reprobates Face which shall yield no more light than with a glympse to shew
Man shall seriously consider That though he now gives himself the full swing and liberty of his unlawful pleasures and desires and denies himself nothing that his depraved Appetite can crave or suggest unto him yet these are but fleeting and momentany That when a few years are come he shall be taken from them and go the way whence he shall not return this will certainly imbitter his false joys and lay some restraint upon him in the Career of all his Sensual Delights On the other side when a good and holy Man shall consider that although in the ways of Vertue and Holiness he meets with many straits and difficulties he hath many fears and troubles within many trials and temptations without yet these will not continue long when a few years are come he shall be free'd from them all he shall go the way whence he shall not return This certainly will encourage him to persevere and to continue faithful unto Death This was that which afforded holy Job so much comfort in the midst of all his Afflictions He was in a very miserable Condition under the power of Sathan's Malice full of noisome Boils and grievous Pains laughed at and mocked by his cruel Enemies nay reproached and contemned by his nearest Friends as you may see a Catalogue of his Sufferings from verse the ninth to the 17th yet he still maintains his Integrity with the considerations of the shortness of his life and consequently of the duration of his afflictions saying When a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return from the words we may collect 1. The certainty of Death When a few years are come then I shall go the way c. 2. The uncertainty of the time of it When a few years are come The Prophet leaves it in indefinite he doth not say Such a number of years or in such a year I shall die but when a few years are come c. 3. The brevity of Mans Life Thought he mentions years yet they are but few When a few years c. 1. The certainty of Death St. Paul tells us Heb. 9.27 That it is appointed unto Men once to die and this Royal Decree of Heaven is like that of the Medes and Persians irreversible had Man continued in his primitive Innocence he should not indeed have died but when once Man put off that white Robe he became immediately obnoxious unto Death and God tells him Gen. 3. Dust thou art and to Dust shalt thou return The wages of sin is Death As certainly as we live so certainly shall we die Neither the Majesty of the Prince nor the meanness of the Peasant the Wealth of the rich Man nor the Poverty of the Poor The strength of the Mighty nor the holiness of the Pious can exempt from Death so that I may take up that Interrogation of the Prophet What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death 2. The uncertainty of the time of it Astrologers by Calculating Nativities have pretended to foretell the Deaths of others as well as themselves but have seldom ever hit right in either and have been miserably deceived Our times are in God's hand This is one of the Arcana Imperis those incommunicative prerogatives God keeps to himself and dare any Mortal be so bold as to pretend to it God hath said that he comes as a thief in the Night and hath bid us Watch That of the hour and the season knoweth no Man and yet shall we say that we have any certainty of his coming Do we not see how many are daily snatch'd away by a sudden and untimely Death And yet shall we boast our selves of too morrow Infancy Childhood Youth Manhood and Ripeness of years can no more plead Exemption from Death than old Age so that you see how uncertain the time of it is 3. The brevity of Mans Life David observed that the days of our Age are Threescore years and ten and at most but fourscore and if we wade through many thousand Accidents and at last arrive to that Age it is still but short with respect to Eternity and we spend our years as a Tale that is told scarcely remembring when or where we began But it is not one of many thousands whose Lamp burn thus long to its lowest Basis but either the Oyl is consumed or a puff of wind hath blown it out long before What is our life saith St. James It is even a vapour that continueth but a little while and then vanisheth away David compares it to sleep which lasteth but for a Night to Grass which in the Morning is green and groweth up but in the Evening is cut down dried up and withered Lucian calls it a Bubble which by the next breath of wind vanisheth into Air. Homer a Leaf which if it be not gathered by the hand or eaten by a Worm or forced by the wind will wither and fall of its own accord at Autumn Pindar the Dream of a shadow what more vain unconstant short liv'd things than these Yet such is the Life of Man Well then might Job say When a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return From the words we may gather these four Corollaries or Observations 1. From the Example of this holy Man I learn that we ought to think of Death before it comes When a few years are come then I shall go the way c. 2. That we ought not only to think of Death in general but of our own Death in particular I shall go the way whence I shall not return 3. That it is the highest piece of Prudence to prepare for it before it comes because that after Death we shall not be able to return to amend or rectifie the deficiency of our former preparations I shall go the way whence I shall not return 4ly and Lastly That to a pious and innocent Soul the consideration of Death and never returning again to a troublesome and sinful Life is matter of great joy and comfort When a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return 1. As to the first That we ought from the Example of holy Job to think of Death before it comes There is nothing so much discomposes a Man or unfits him for the due Exercise of his Reason and Prudence in the conduct of any weighty Affair as to be surprized suddenly and without his expectation Even a sudden and profuse joy as well as an immoderate and unlook'd for grief hath cut off the thred of the lives of many What disorder and discomposure then will a sudden Arrest from Death make in the heart of that Man that never as much as thought on or looked for it before hand How will it amaze or distract him And turn all his Senses into Confusion If a Man had only one thing of great moment to do in his whole Life upon the success of which depended
either his happiness or misery we should count him certainly the most stupid and careless Fool that should not as much as think and consider of it and contrive all ways possible before hand how he might succeed in it You have seen already that Death is certain and upon our dying depends our Eternal Salvation or Eternal Damnation how insensible must we then be if we are not often in the time of our life and health taken up with some serious thoughts and contemplations of it 2. That we ought not only to think of Death in general but of our own death in particular I shall go the way whence I shall not return Death is a general term and if it touch not us or our Family our Friends or Relations we are as unconcern'd as to hear of a Sickness or Mortality beyond the Seas in which we are like to be no fellow sufferers or sharers We can read every Week the Bills of Mortality and hear of this and the other great Person dead nay we can take many turns in the Church and Yard and walk over the Graves of our deceased Friends and yet be as unmoved and unsensible of our own change as the Stones we walk upon But Alass Do we think that our selves alone are Immortal That we only shall have an Exemption from Death Shall not the Passing Bell at length Toll for us and shall it not at length be said in the Streets That such a one is dead Yes certainly when a few years perhaps weeks or days are come then thou in particular shalt go the way whence thou shalt not return O then think of Death before it comes and of thy own death in particular say thus within thy self I am now in a state of health and strength I have now time and opportunity for Repentance my Lamp is yet burning I am invited to the Marriage of the Bride and the Door is yet open now my Tears will be accepted now my Prayers will be heard now is the acceptable tme now is the day of Salvation Now or never must I prepare for Eternity now or never must I make my peace with God What madness what folly will it be in me to hazzard my Eternal Salvation upon the hopes of a long life Or upon the possibility of having time to repent on my Death-bed Our time you see is uncertain and many there are who are taken away by a sudden death even in the midst of their sins Why may not I be one of those Many that thought as little of it as I do and had as good Resolutions as I have have yet perished to all Eternity Others there have been who though they have had timely Warnings of their Death by a lingring and tedious Disease yet either their pains and uneasiness have discomposed them for Repentance and fitting themselves for their change or else God hath then in Justice denied them the grace of Repentance who have been so long time neglective of it Repentance is the gift of God and he that hath promised pardon to the Penitent whensoever he repents hath not always promised to give the Sinner Repentance And if God should thus deal with me as he may justly do even then deny me Repentance without which I cannot be saved when I call upon him for it Qui promisit paenitenti veniam non promisitpeccanti paenitentiam because I refuse to do it now when he calls upon me how miserable and deplorable will my condition be Can I endure the Wrath of a Sin-revenging God Can I dwell with everlasting Burnings Can any thing screen me from those direful Torments prepared for the Devil and his Angels but now I to have my share in them O remember what God says Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out minn hand and no Man regarded but ye have set at nought my counsels and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear comâ—th 3. That it is the highest pice of Prudence to prepare for Death before it comes because that after Death we shall not be able to return to amend or rectifie the deficiency of our former preparations I shall go the way whence I shall not return Vestigia nulla retrorsum The grave receives all that come into it but will never suffer any to return thence before it hears the Voice of him that hath the Keys of it saying Arise ye dead and come to Judgment As the Tree falls so it lies there is no Repentance in the Grave whither we all go As Death leaves us so the Resurrection will find us If we died Sinners no Purgatory can make us to rise Saints He that was filthy at his Death will be found to be filthy still and he that was unjust then will be unjust still and he that was righteous will be righteous still and he that was holy will be holy still Rev. 22.11 O then let it be now thy care as it is thy prudence and interest so to prepare in life that thou may'st receive comfort in death that thy accounts may be fair no error or deficicncy in them and thou may'st be able to give them up with joy and not with grief and receive that blessed Character and Reward of Well done thou good and faithful Servant enter thou into thy Masters joy 4. That to a pious and innocent Soul the consideration of Death and never returning again to a troublesome and sinful life is matter of great joy and comfort VVhen a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return This life is a life of trouble we no sooner enter into it but we commence miserable the best part of it is Checkered with Sorrows and when we leave it it is not without pains and groans So that the whole Series of it from the Cradle to the Grave is nothing else but one Chain and Link of Misery This lot happens both to the good and to the bad to the just and to the unjust and the latter as well as the former might seem to solace himself with the consideration of the brevity of the duration but yet the righteous and holy Man as his troubles are far greater having the addition of grief for his own and others Sins the fears of Relapses into them the difficulty of conquering Temptations and being faithful unto death This enhanses his sorrow and multiplies his troubles and so consequently the consideration of his approaching Death and never returning more to so troublesome and sinful State of Life must needs revive his Spirits and magnifie his joy Methinks I hear him expostulating with himself in such language as this Ah Wretched Man that I am I came into the World with pains and tears my Infancy was spent in sleep and ignorance but yet not without its allay of sickness and inquietude My riper years have been wholly taken up with Folly and Vanity dishonoured with the
about me a Body of Flesh which is ready to shrink at the approach of any thing grievous do thou O Blessed Jesu pray for me that my Faith fail not that no terrors of Death or Pains may ever shake my constancy or cause me to deny that Lord that suffered such bitter Agonies for me but that I may continue faithful unto Death and so receive a Crown of Life 13. Vpon an Epileptick Person falling into the Fire and being thereby Cured of his Disease THis Person had for a long time laboured of his Epilepsie the accessions of which at length were so frequent and violent that it would often precipitate him to the Ground without as much as giving him any warnings of it's approaches where he would lie as incapable of helping himself as he was insensible of his condition The Patient used to have a Servant attending him to prevent danger but was now by God's providence out of the way In the mean time a fit seizes him he falls into the Fire which being fervent scalded and burned the hinder part of his Head and Neck whereby were produced many Blisters and Ulcers which afterwards unexpectedly by Gods blessing effected a Cure of that obstinate Disease which hitherto had eluded the force of all Medicines Good God! what a Providence is this how wonderful art thou in all thy doings what an allay of Mercy with Judgment is here judgment in Afflicting mercy in Relieving The impotent Man which thirty and eight years had been Diseased lay a long time at the Pool Bethesda but could not be cured till our Saviour came when we are all together unable to help our selves and when all outward means do fail then God comes with his seasonable Relief and to our amazement and admiration perfects that which we could not expect He that once brought light out of darkness can still bring good out of evil nothing shall impede or hinder his Designs but even that which in humane Judgment seems contrary shall prove a salutary Remedy This shall teach me even in the mid'st of the heaviest pressures not to despond but to trust in him who is able by ways tho altogether unknown to me to relieve me in the greatest difficulties Ejaculations for several Occasions For Pardon of Sin HAve mercy upon me O God according to thy loving kindness according to the multitude of thy tender Compassions blot out all my Transgressions Wash me throughly from my Iniquity and cleanse me from my Sin For I acknowledg my Transgressions and my Sins are ever before me O God thou knowest my foolishness and my Sins are not hid from thee Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow If thou Lord should'st be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who could abide it But there is forgiveness with thee therefore thou may'st be feared Hide thy Face from my Sins O Lord and blot out all mine Offences Be Merciful unto me O Lord heal my Soul for I have sinned against thee Remember O Lord thy tender mercies and loving kindness for they have been ever of old For thy Names sake for thy Mercies sake yea for thy dear Son Jesus Christ his sake pardon all my Iniquities for they have been very great For Grace TEach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee for thou art my God Shew me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy Truth O knit my heart to thee that I may love and fear thy holy Name Lead me in thy Truth and teach me for thou art the God of my Salvation on thee do I wait all the day With my whole heart have I sought thee O let me not wander from thy Commandments Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies and not to Covetousness Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Search me O God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way Everlasting Set a Watch O Lord before my Mouth and keep the door of my Lips Blessed art thou O Lord teach me thy Statutes So teach me O Lord to number my days that I may apply my heart unto Wisdom Lord make me to know mine end and the measure of my days what it is that I may know how frail I am For the Light of Gods Countenance O Lord hide not thy Face far from me put not thy Servant away in anger thou hast been my help leave me not neither forsake me O God of my Salvation O Lord whatever thou art pleas'd to deny me yet lift up the Light of thy Countenance upon me Thy loving kindness is better than life My Lips shall praise thee Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me Give me the comfort of thy help again and stablish me with thy free Spirit Withhold not thy tender Mercies from me O Lord let thy loving kindness and truth continually preserve me Turn me again O God of Hosts and cause thy Face to shine upon me and so shall I be saved Make me to hear of joy and gladness that the Bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Speak peace unto my Soul and Conscience and say unto my Soul Thou art my Salvation Thanksgiving I Will praise the Lord according to his Righteousness I will sing praise to the Name of the Lord most high I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart I will shew forth all thy marvellous Works I will freely sacrifice unto thee I will praise thy Name O Lord for it is good Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which only doth wondrous things Morning and Evening and at Noon will I praise thee Seven times a day will I praise thee because of thy Righteous Judgments While I live I will praise the Lord I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Blessed be the Lord God which daily loadeth us with his benefits who is the God of our Salvation and blessed be the Name of his Majesty from everlasting and to everlasting Amen Amen In the time of outward or inward Trouble O Lord rebuke me not in thine Anger neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure Look upon my Adversity and Misery and forgive me all my sin Be merciful unto me O Lord for my Soul trusteth in thee and under the shadow of thy Wings shall be my refuge until these Calamities be overpast Have Mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my Bones are vexed My Soul also is sore vexed but thou O Lord how long Be not far from me for trouble is near at hand and there is none to help Give me help for I am in trouble and vain is the help of Man Keep me as the