thy children if thou hast any thy estate all that thou hast recommend them unto thy God shut up all with a sweet resignation of thy self and all thy affairs and all thy ways As David saith Commit your ways unto the Lord commit your selves and your affairs all that you are all that you have into the hands of the Lord as a faithful Creator and a merciful Redeemer I would have you close up all with a committing and a submitting committing thy ways unto God submitting unto God in all his ways purposing to live to his glory and to walk worthy of that heavenly calling to which thou art called And thus I have put an end to this subject of Divine Meditation Now what remains but to perswade you to the practise of these things That which a learned man who hath written a Tract called The art of Divine Meditation closeth his Book withal let me close this with saith he Oh that my words were as so many gourds to quicken up the dead and dull and drousie hearts of Christians to a conscientious practice of this excellent duty of Divine Meditation It is a strange speech that he useth saith he I will give any man leave to curse me upon his death-bed if he doth not then acknowledg that those hours that he hath spent in Divine Meditation have been the best hours that he hath spent in all his life if he doth not then confess he is sorrowful that he spent no more hours in so blessed a work Sure I am when you lye upon your death-bed this will be your comfort Lord I have been often in Heaven in Meditation and now I am going to that place that I am acquainted withal Oh my God! I have been often with thee in the Mount I have been often meditating of thee Oh my blessed Saviour thou art no stranger to me I have been often meditating of Christ. Oh what comfort will this be to you when you lye upon your death-beds I will not say curse me if you do not find this true but I will say this is as sure as the Word of God is true you will find it so There are four things I will conclude this Discourse withal 1. I would humbly beseech you that you would mourn before God that you have lived so many years in the School of Christ and have been no more acquainted with this duty of Divine Meditation I believe there are very many that have been long standers in Christ's School that never yet practised this duty of Divine Meditation that never were half an hour together in the Mount of God solemnly and seriously Now I beseech you mourn before the Lord that we have been no more acquainted with this blessed and heavenly duty 2. Let us mourn before the Lord that we have misplaced our meditation for the heart of man is restless it is like the weight of a Clock that will never leave going down as long as it is wound up the heart of man will always be meditating of something or other like mill-stones if they once grind they will grind one another the heart of man will always be grinding always musing always meditating on something or other Now mourn before God heartily and go into your Closets and bemoan it that you have ground chaff to your immortal souls all your lives long that you have spent your days in meditating what to eat and what to drink and what to be clothed withal and how to grow rich and how to manage your trading and your calling how to thrive in the world how to get such preferments you have been meditating all your lives long upon vain things and have not meditated upon the things of eternity those things that do most concern you you have been meditating upon trifles upon things that will not profit at the hour of death and forgot to meditate of those things that are of eternal concernment our Saviour Christ complains of those men Mat. 6. Take no thought for your lives what you shall eat and what you shall drink nor for your body what you shall put on as if he should say why do you spend all your time in taking thought of eating and drinking and clothing and outward things Which of you saith he can by taking thought add one cubit to your stature All your musing and meditating of them is vain Can a Dwarf by thinking he is a Dwarf make himself taller it is not all your musing and your meditating of these outward things I mean your inordinate meditating will advantage you I grant Tradesmen must have time to meditate of worldly things I will not lay heavier burdens than the Scripture doth lay but when you ravel away all your time in meditating upon earthly things and never are serious in the Meditation of heavenly things this I would have you mourn for you that are old people and have been many years professors of Religion Oh mourn that you have wasted your intellectual faculty that you have wasted that glorious faculty of soul your understanding in such vain and trifling things nay are there not some that do not only meditate of vain things but spend many hours in meditating on vile things that devise mischief upon their beds and meditate how to cozen their neighbours how to be revenged upon their neighbour how to do mischief how to compass about their wicked designs are there not some that meditate to do evil and rejoice in the meditation of evil when they have done it Many old men meditate with joy of their youthful vanities and wickedness committed in their youth they chew over their wicked ways with delight which we call contemplative wickedness Oh let us bewail and bemoan it before God that we have squandered away our immortal souls by exercising the glorious faculty of the understanding in such poor trifling things it may be lustful revengeful vile wicked thoughts either in doing that which is evil or in meditating on the evil we have done instead of mourning for it rejoicing in it 3. I would perswade you to study the necessity the excellency the usefulness and profitableness of Divine Meditation let me tell you for the conclusion this duty is not only a duty but the quintessence and marrow of all other duties there is no duty will take impression upon your souls without the practise of this duty it is the very life and soul of Christianity without which a Christian is but the carcass of a Christian. I have shewed that the want of Divine Meditation is the cause of all sin and all punishment I have shewed you that the practise of Meditation will help to beget Grace and increase Grace and resist the Devil and all his temptations 4. Let me perswade you all that you would put this duty in practise especially you that are rich people Gentlemen Merchants and others you that have estates you that are Gentlemen may spare time from your sports and you that are rich Merchants and others may take time from your outward occasions O let me intreat you that you would take some spare-time every day to go up to the Mount of God to meditate of some of those Subjects that I have propounded to you whether it be Death or Hell or Heaven or Iudgment or Sin or Christ or God or the vanity of the world whatsoever the Subject is that is holy and heavenly I will not lay burdens upon you I know there may be such occasions that you cannot but ordinarily that you would as often as you can make conscience to accustom your selves to this necessary and long-neglected duty of Divine Meditation Let me tell you you would be tall Christians in grace if you did accustom your selves to this duty the reason why you are such Dwarfs in Christianity and so unacquainted with God and the Promises and Christ and Heaven is for the want of the practice of this duty this is the reason why you creep upon the ground and are so poor in Grace and so lean in Religion Therefore let me intreat you especially you whose happiness is that you need not work every day to provide for your families the Lord hath given you an estate and you may spare time Oh let it not be said at the day of Iudgment that you lost Heaven for the want of the practising this duty of Divine Meditation And then you that are poor people and cannot find time you that are Servants and Apprentices that have not time remember what I said concerning Occasional Meditation I shewed you how you might meditate when you were about your worldly business there is no lawful calling that a man can be in but if he hath a heavenly heart he may heavenlize that calling he may take occasion as Christ takes occasion to heavenlize his Discourse from outward things to raise Heavenly Discourse when thou art at work thou maist be by Divine Meditation in Heaven But let me perswade you all on the Sabbath-day though you have not time on the week-day for set solemn Meditation yet then you have time for occasional Meditation for on the Sabbath all your work ceaseth that is the day that God hath set a part for publick service and private Meditation Meditation on the work of Creation and the work of Redemption it is a great work we are to do upon the day of our rest to meditate of our Eternal Rest in Heaven therefore let me perswade you to spend some time on the Sabbath-day upon Meditation but especially on the Sacrament-days There are Twelve Meditations I propounded to meditate on upon the Sacrament and I chose this Subject to help you with Sacramental Meditation it hath pleased God to carry me out further in the handling of it than ever I thought The Lord give a Blessing to it FINIS
Principles not being able to hold out in meditation to keep themselves from wandring thoughts read in the Bible this in it self is not sinful but this is not sutable nor proper for certainly the proper way of meditation at the Sacrament is to be raised up in the Sacramental Elements the Sacramental actions the Sacramental promises and therefore thou must make the whole Sacramental frame and carriage to be thy Bible at the Sacrament and learn to be raised up by that to Heavenly Meditation The fifth Particular in order is the Materials of Meditation and here I am to shew you what are those Divine Truths that we are to meditate upon this is a subject of large comprehension for the truth is there is no divine object but it doth deserve our serious meditation Give me leave to make you a Common-place-book of Divine Meditation I will lay down some heads of Divinity that a Christian ought to spend his life in meditating upon sometimes upon one of them sometimes upon another of them as for example he that would avoid all sin and thrive in all godliness must meditate frequently and seriously of Death of Iudgment of Heaven and Hell these are called quatuor Novissima the four last things 1. You must meditate of death now I will not shew you how you should go about to meditate of death but I will give you some heads to help you 1. You must meditate of the certainty of death there is nothing so certain as that thou must die 2. You must meditate of the uncertainty of death there is nothing so uncertain as the time when we must die death comes certainly and death comes uncertainly death comes suddenly there is no Almanack can tell you when your death shall come your Almanacks will tell you when the next Eclypse of the Sun and Moon will be but they will not tell you when the eclypse of your lives shall be And death comes irresistibly it comes like pain upon a woman in travel it comes like an armed Giant that will not be resisted when it comes 3. You must meditate concerning your fitness for death whether thou hast got thy graces thy evidences ready for death whether thou art a wise Virgin or a foolish Virgin whether thou hast got oyl into thy lamp or no 4. You must meditate concerning death how you may so live as to be above the hurt of death that death might be an out-let to all misery and an in-let to all happiness 5. You must meditate how to live in continual expectation of and continual preparation for death 6. You must especially meditate how to be free from the slavish fear of death there are many of Gods children that live all their lives long under the bondage of the fear of death and it is the excellency of a Christian to meditate how to be above the hurt and fear of death and for that purpose you must look upon death with Scripture-spectacles you must look upon death as the going from the prison of this life to the palace of Heaven as disarmed by Christ as perfumed by Christ as a Serpent without a sting as a passage to eternal life Thus you see how you must meditate of Death 2. You must meditate of the day of Iudgment 1. You must meditate of the terribleness of the day of Judgment it is called the terror of the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 11. It is called by the ancient Fathers the great and terrible day of Iudgment In which Iesus Christ will come in flaming fire to render vengeonce upon all those that know him not 2. You must meditate of the great assizes that will be kept at that day in which all the men and women and children that ever have lived since Adam's time to the end of the world shall all appear before the Tribunal-seat of Jesus Christ. 3. You must meditate of the great account you are to give to God at that day the strict the exact the particular account it is a day in which we must answer for all our idle words for all our idle thoughts in which all our secret sins shall be made manifest 4. You must meditate of the great separation that shall be made at that day when the goats shall be placed on the left hand and the sheep on the right hand there will be a perfect separation In this life goats and sheep are mingled together but at that day there will not be one sheep on the left nor one goat on the right hand 5. You must meditate of the happy condition of a child of God at that great and terrible day of Iudgment it shall be a day of his Coronation in which he shall be crowned with glory and immortality it shall be a day of salvation to him 6. You must meditate of the cursed condition of an ungodly man at the day of Iudgment it shall be a day of perdition and everlasting destruction to him 3. You must meditate of Heaven 1. You must meditate of the joys of Heaven that are so great that eye never saw nor ear heard nor ever can it enter into the heart of man to conceive the greatness of them 2. You must meditate sometimes of the Beatifical Vision of the blessed sight of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and of the happiness that that soul shall enjoy that is admitted to that blessed sight for because God is infinitely perfect and all perfection is in God whosoever is admitted to the sight of God beholds and enjoys all things in God 3. You must meditate of the perfection of the happiness of Heaven 4. You must meditate of the perpetuity of the happiness of Heaven there you shall have fulness of joy and pleasures at the right hand of God for evermore 5. You must meditate of your fitness for heaven whether you are made meet and fit to partake of that glorious inheritance you must meditate whether God hath sent Heaven down into thee for no man shall ever go up to Heaven but Heaven must first come down to him you must meditate whether that Christ that hath prepared Heaven for thee hath prepared thee for Heaven 6. You must meditate what you must do that you may be meet to go to Heaven how you may lead your lives so that you may be sure at last to obtain Heavens eternity 4. You must meditate of Hell as Bernard saith you must go often down into hell by your meditation while you live and you shall be sure not to go down to hell when you die Descendamus vivenles non descendemus morientes as Chrysostome saith excellently if the not thinking of Hell would free you from Hell I would never have you think of hell but whether you think of it or no Hell-fire burns and your not thinking of it will bring you thither And the reason why so many go to Hell when they die is because they do not think of Hell while they live 1. You must study the
more good by our afflictions I have observed many of us the Lord pardon it unto us as soon as ever we are recovered from our afflictions we forget God presently we never consider the mercies of God in recovering us and then we return to our old vomit again for want of meditation 7. The reason why the Providences of God take no more impression upon our hearts is for want of this grace of meditation The Providences of God are very mysterious and God in the Government of the World doth walk in the Clouds And truly I am very confident that which God doth especially require of his children in these days is to meditate upon his Providences as well as upon his Ordinances there are many rare lessons to be learned from the consideration of the Providences of God the Providence of God toward England and toward Scotland and toward the Ministry God is now depriving you of Minister upon Minister many Ministers the Lord hath taken from you God is as I may so speak disburthening the Nation of this great burden of the Ministry which is a burden to a great many God takes his Ministers up to Heaven Now what is the reason that the Providences of God of late years do no more good though they have been wonderful toward England Scotland and Ireland towards all sorts of people The reason why we are never the better by them is because we do not study the meaning of all these Providences Isa. 57. 1. The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come This is the reason why we get no more good by the death of the godly and by the Providences of God because we do not lay them to heart we do not muse and study upon them 8. What is the reason that the Saints of God are so distrustful of Gods Providences when they are ready presently to sink and to say they are undone It is for want of meditation and therefore Christ Luk. 12. saith Take no thought what you shall eat or what you shall put on consider the ravens for they neither sow nor reap which neither have store-house nor barn and God feedeth them how much more are ye better than the fowls Consider the lillies how they grow they toil not they spin not and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these Did you consider the lillies and the ravens did you study the love of God to you you would not distrust him under any sad Providences The reason why the Saints of God are so full of unbelief when they are in a low condition is for want of meditation they do not consider the ravens and the lillies they do not study the Promises that God hath made to his children in their lowest condition 9. The reason why the professors of Religion are so censorious of other men and so little censorious of themselves why they judg every man and examine every man but themselves which is the condition of these days it is for want of meditation Mat. 7. Iudg not that ye be not judged for with what judgment ye judg ye shall be judged and with what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye but considerest not the beam that is in thy own eye If men did reflect more upon themselves they would censure themselves more and others less And the reason why people are so rash in censuring is for want of self-reflection 10. The reason why professors of Religion do offer the sacrifices of fools to God when they come to worship him why they pray headily and rashly why they rush upon Ordinances without preparation is for want of meditation Eccles. 5. 1. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifices of fools for they consider not that they do evil Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God Why do people rush upon Sacraments without preparation rush upon Sermons rush upon Prayer rush upon holy Duties why they do not consider what they do 11. What is the reason that people prepare no more for death Because they do not consider the shortness of life They do not meditate of the vanity of this life of the certainty and uncertainty of death and therefore it is said Deut. 32. 29. Oh that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Because men do not consider their latter end therefore it is that they are so unprepared for their latter end 12. And lastly What is the reason that we come so unworthily to the Sacrament and when we are there we gaze up and down and carry our selves so unseemly at that Ordinance what is the reason that we lose all the fruit of that Ordinance but meerly for want of preparation before we come and meditation when we are come now preparation cannot be without meditation preparation includes meditation in it 2. The want of the practise of this duty is the cause of all punishment Isa. 12. 11. The whole land is laid desolate because no man layeth it to heart Oh this is the cause of the sword that hath drunk so much blood in this Nation no man lays to heart the Judgments of the Lord therefore the land is become desolate Psal. 28. 5. Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hand he shall destroy them and not build them up because they do not meditate of Gods works therefore they Lord will destroy them Nay let me add that that is above all this for God to give a man over to a slight spirit an unmeditating spirit to a rashness and slightness of spirit is one of the greatest Judgments in the world A man of a slight head can never have a good heart a slight hearted Christian can never be a good Christian he that thinks slightly of God will speak slightly of God and he that speaks slightly of God will worship God slightly and he that slights God God will slight him now there cannot be a more cursed frame of spirit than to be given over to an unconsiderate frame of spirit an unconsiderate Christian is an inconsiderable Christian. Isa. 42. 24 25. Who gave Iacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned for they would not walk in his ways neither were they obedient to his law Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battel and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart Here is the curse of curses not so much to be burnt as not to know it
punishment of loss what a cursed thing it is to be excluded from the presence of God for ever and ever that is one great part of hell to be shut out of Heaven to be shut out from the Beatifical Vision from the glorious presence of God and Christ and the Saints of God 2. You must study poenam census the punishment of sense for the damned are not only shut out of Heaven but they endure endless easless torments you must meditate of the hell-worm and the hell-fire the Scripture speaks of a hell-fire and a hell-worm and of the eternity of the hell-fire and the eternity of the hell-worm Mat. 9. 44 46. Where the worm never dieth and the fire never goeth out What is meant by this worm nothing else but the gnawing of an awakened conscience Oh think of this hell-worm and this hell-fire that you may never come to be so miserable as to be made partakers of it These are the first four things In the next place to give you some more he that would thrive in all godliness and avoid all sin must meditate often of God of Christ of the Holy Ghost and of himself 1. He must meditate of God and that is a rare subject of meditation David saith Psal. 104. 34. My meditation of God shall be sweet 1. Sometimes you must meditate of the Attributes of God of his Eternity a God from everlasting to everlasting You must meditate of his unchangeableness a God in whom there is no shadow of turning You must meditate of his Omnipresence a God that fills Heaven and earth with his presence Of his Essence you must meditate of his Omnipotence a God that is able to do all things nothing is impossible with God You must meditate of his Omniscience a God that knows all things to whom all things are naked You must meditate of his Simplicity and the perfection of his nature of his all-sufficiency and his self-sufficiency here is a sea of matter What rare Christians should we be if we did often and often meditate on these things instead of meditating on vanities and follies 2. You must meditate of the works of God of the work of Creation of the glorious fabrick of Heaven and Earth and you must meditate of the work of Redemption that glorious work of God in sending Jesus Christ into the world this meditation is that which swallows up the Angels and Saints in Heaven You must meditate of the wonderful love of God in giving Christ to become a curse for us You must meditate of the incomparable goodness of God in giving the Son of his love his natural Son to die for his adopted Sons 3. You must meditate in what relation you stand towards God whether you stand in a Covenant-relation to God or no whether you stand reconciled to God or no whether God be your reconciled Father in Christ or no 2. You must meditate upon Christ. 1. You must meditate of the Divine Nature of Christ he is God from everlasting he is coequal coessential coeternal with his Father 2. You must meditate of the humane nature of Christ of God manifested in the flesh of God made man the union of two Natures into one Person 3. You must meditate of the Offices of Christ of the Kingly office the Priestly office the Prophetical office of Christ but more especially you must meditate of the Life the Death the Resurrection the Ascension the Intercession of Christ. 1. You must meditate of the Life of Christ and examine whether thy life be answerable to his life if thou dost not live as Christ lived thou shalt have no benefit in Christs Death and Passion thou must meditate of Christs life to follow the example of his life 2. You must meditate of his Death that is a rare meditation to prepare you for the Sacrament 1. You must meditate what Christ suffered what he suffered when he was in the Garden when he sweat drops of blood and prayed Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Oh the bloody agony that Christ was then in And then you must meditate what Christ suffered when he was upon the Cross when he cried out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me When there was darkness for three hours together upon the face of the earth when there was darkness without and darkness within too when there was a withdrawing the light of Gods countenance from Christ. You must meditate what Christ suffered in Pilates Hall when he was whipt scourged buffeted Oh what love to Christ would this kindle in your hearts if you had serious meditation of these things 2. You must meditate for whom Christ suffered all these things for us when we were his enemies us wretched damned creatures not the blessed Angels but us us sinful men 3. You must meditate who he was that suffered all this even Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God 4. You must consider with what love he suffered all this infinite love the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of God in suffering all this for us 5. You must consider what interest you have in Christ crucified whether Christ was crucified effectually for thee or no 3. You must study the Resurrection of Christ. 4. You must study the Ascension of Christ. 5. You must study the Intercession of Christ the sitting of Christ at the right hand of God the Father where he lives for ever to make Intercession for you 3. You must meditate of the Holy Ghost and there are rare things to fill up your thoughts 1. You must meditate of the Divine nature of the Holy Ghost that the Holy Ghost is the third person in the Trinity that the Holy Ghost is God blessed for ever 2. You must meditate of the Office of the Holy Ghost it is the office of the third Person in the Trinity to bring us into the possession of all the Father hath decreed and the Son hath purchased to make us partakers of the decree of the Father and the purchase of the Son 3. You must study the Divine motions of the holy Spirit and we must meditate how often we have quenched the Spirit of Christ how often we have resisted these motions how often we have imbraced these motions 4. You must meditate of the grace of the Spirit this will open a door to a great deal of excellent matter you must meditate of the grace of faith the grace of repentance the grace of love to God and Christ and thy neighbour the grace of fear of God and the grace of humility that is you must meditate whether your faith be a right faith or no whether it be the faith of a Simon Magus or the faith of a Simon Peter whether it be an Historical faith only or a justifying faith and whether your repentance be a true repentance or no and whether your love to Christ be a true love or a counterfeit love 4. You must meditate of your selves 1.
world and the sinfulness of sin I would have you pick out soul-awakening and soul-sanctifying subjects to meditate upon there are some men and not a few of those that spend many hours in meditating when the Iews shall be converted and in finding out the time when the great slaughter and massacre of the two Witnesses spoken of in Rev. 11. shall happen and in studying out the meaning of the Prophecy of Daniel and the Revelations to know whether there shall be a Personal Reign of Christ a thousand years upon earth and when that shall happen Now you shall observe that these men are very barren in devotion that ravel out all their thoughts and meditations in finding out the secrets of God such things as God hath kept secret unto himself these men are very barren and dry in practical Divinity I have read a story of a man that studied the Critical Questions of School-divinity so long that he forgat to say his prayers he could not pray And you shall find that those that empty all their strength and ability in studying speculations and notions are very barren in matters of practice and therefore my counsel is that you would especially pick out subjects that will help you to be weaned from the world to walk humbly with God that will kindle a holy fire of love in your souls to Christ and will make you more like unto Christ and more conformable to his death and resurrection It is true a great understanding and an acute wit will make a learned man but it is the holy life that makes a good man 4. Pick and chuse out such subjects especially to meditate upon that are most seasonable to thy condition most suitable to thy relation and to that estate in which God hath set you for these will most affect the heart As for example to give you three or four instances 1. Suppose thou art a man troubled in mind exceedingly dejected thou art ready to despair because thou art a great sinner and thou thinkest God will not be merciful unto thee and thou art afraid left Christ hath forsaken thee Now I would have thee pick out such a subject to meditate upon that will suit thy condition I would have thee go and meditate of the willingness of Christ to receive poor sinners not only the ability but the willingness of Christ to pardon all that come unto to him Iesus Christ is not only able but he is willing to pardon a penitent sinner one that comes to him for life he is more willing to pardon us than we can be to ask pardon If thou be'st willing to leave thy sins Christ is more willing to receive thee than thou canst be to be received Jesus Christ would never have took such a journey from heaven to earth if he had not been very willing to save poor sinners He is so willing to save you if you come to him as that he came unsent for the Patient did not send for the Physician but the Physician came of his own accord from Heaven The Son of man is come to seek and save that which is lost Mat. 18. 11. therefore he must needs be-willing For a Physician to take such a journey and to come of his own accord and when he came here and saw he could not cure his Patient but by his own death the Physician dies to cure the Patient the Physician makes a bath a medicine of his own blood to cure his Patient this did Christ and therefore he was very willing to receive you if he had not been willing to save sinners he could never have provided such Gospel-Ordinances And then again he must needs be willing for he hath sworn if any man come unto him he will receive him If any man come to me I will in no wise cast him out He hath engaged himself with promise and Christ must be a lyar I speak it with a great deal of reverence if you should come to him and he refuse you and when he was here upon earth he complains of nothing but that men would not come unto him You will not come unto me that you might have life He never complained of the greatness or the naughtiness of their diseases he cured the diseases of all that came unto him but all his complaining was that they would not come unto him Now did you go into your Closets and meditate upon these things and pray unto God to bless the meditation of these things would not this cure your troubled Consciences 2. And again you that are troubled in conscience meditate of the Promises of God and not only those Promises that are made to those that have grace but meditate of the Promises that God hath made to give grace Study the Promises God hath made not only to give pardon to them that repent but the Promises God hath made to give repentance to those that ask it God hath not only promised to give pardon to those that believe and repent but God hath promised to give repentance Act. 5. 31. and God hath promised to give faith Phil. 1. 29. God hath not only promised pardon to a broken heart but he hath promised to give a broken heart Ezek. 36. 26. Now do you go into your Closets and meditate of these things they would be very refreshing to you And then again 3. Suppose thou art in outward want the Lord hath blasted thy estate thou hast lost all thy estate and art like Job upon the dunghill thou art driven it may be to beg thy bread thou art now a poor man not worth an half-peny thou wert a rich man the Lord hath blown upon all thou hast this is a sad condition now I would have such an one spend a great deal of time in meditating of the wonderful Providences of God towards his poor children consider how God feeds the fowls of the air and the ravens how God provides for the lillies I would have him read Mat. 6. from the 24th verse to the end of that Chapter Consider saith Christ the lillies and the fowls of the air how God provides for them and therefore be not distracted in thy heart take no thought what thou shalt eat and what thou shalt drink c. but study the Providence of God And then meditate of the Promises that God hath made unto his children to give them whatsoever shall be necessary for them I would have such people as are low in estate read the Bible and pick out all the Promises that God hath made to those that want that fear his name God hath promised the young Lions shall lack and suffer hunger but they that fear the Lord shall want nothing that is good The Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly And I will never leave you nor forsake you Gather up all the Promises God hath made to believers when they are poor and have lost all 4. Art thou
sick like to lose thy husband or thy own own life then pick out seasonable meditations seasonable subjects go and meditate of death meditate how Christ hath taken away the sting of death Meditate how death is a gate to let us into everlasting life how death is an out-let to all misery and an inlet to all happiness that death is the best friend that thou hast next to Jesus Christ. 5. Suppose thou art to receive the Sacrament what must thou do a little before thou receivest it I would have you every Month before you come to the Sacrament spend one hour or two in meditating of the Sacrament of the nature of it the necessity of coming meditate whether thou be'st a worthy receiver and what thou must do that thou maist be a worthy receiver meditate of thy sins thy graces thy spiritual wants Let me commend this to you every Sacrament and never forget it meditate to find out thy sins to be humbled for them meditate to know whether thou hast any grace in truth and to get it increased and meditate of thy spiritual wants what they are to get them supplied What a rare deal of matter is here contained in these three particulars to find out thy sins by the glass of the Law by taking the Law of God and examining thy life and the Law together that would cost thee many an hour and then to get thy heart humbled for these sins and to confess them and to have grace to forsake them And then to examine thy Graces whether thou hast truth of grace whether thy grace be meerly counterfeit and a shadow of grace and if thou hast truth of grace how to get it increased by the Sacrament and then to meditate what thou wantest and what thou wouldest have from Christ and to get that supplied The third thing is to set down Rules and Directions for the right ordering of our meditation upon these subjects And here I will lay you down Rules to direct you how to meditate rules to help you how to begin and then how to go on and proceed to hold out an hour in meditation for the better progress in it and then rules how you shall finish and conclude this excellent duty of Meditation 1. Rules to teach you how to begin and enter upon this excellent work of Meditation and here I will lay down six rules for your first entrance 1. Be sure that you pick out a fit place to meditate in you know Isaac went out into the field to meditate and I have shewed you that this example doth not oblige us always to go into the field but it obligeth us to retire to some secret place whether it be thy Closer or the fields 2. When thou enterest upon this work be sure to get a fit time pick out a seasonable time Isaac picks out the evening and thou maist pick out the morning if thou pleasest thou art not obliged punctually to this example or thou maist pick out the afternoon but thou must be sure to pick out that time that is the fittest time you that are great persons have time enough you to whom the Lord hath given wealth I shewed the poor man how he should husband his time We have all time enough on the Lords-day to busie our selves with the work of Meditation it is a Sabbath-days work as you have heard 3. You must be sure of a fit subject you must not have your subject to seek when you begin to meditate meditate of a soul-awakening a soul-refreshing subject 4. When you have your place and your time and your subject these three are proper to the beginning of this work then I would advise you to set your selves as in Gods presence though no eye sees you yet consider the great God sees you and especially when you are meditating of Divine things for you must know that meditation of Divine things is a conversing with God When you meditate of Heaven you converse with Heaven and the glory of Heaven it is the souls transmigration to Heaven it is the souls transfiguration and therefore I would have you set your selves as in Gods presence and this will overawe you and make you serious the consideration of the presence of God will prepare you for every holy duty so consequently for this holy duty it is a rare preservative against all sin as Ioseph said to his Mistris How can I do this evil and sin against my God though no body saw him yet he knew God saw him Gen. 39. 10. And it is a rare encouragement to all godliness Psal. 119. 168. I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies why so for all my ways be before thee Therefore whensoever you go into your Orchards or Gardens or your Closets to set apart an hour in Divine Meditation I would have you do as David did Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before me 5. I would have you always begin with prayer now I do not mean to begin with a solemn set long prayer but I would have you begin with a short ejaculation I would have you pray unto God to enlighten your understandings to quicken your devotion to warm your affections and so to bless that hour unto you that by the meditation of holy things you may be made more holy you may have your lusts more mortified and your graces more increased you may be the more mortified to the world and the vanity of it and lifted up to Heaven and the things of Heaven And therefore in the Hebrew the same word that signifies to meditate signifies to pray and as it is said in my Text Isaac went out to meditate you shall find it in the Margent Isaac went out to pray Meditation must always be joined with Prayer Isaac went out to pray and meditate to meditate and pray saith Bernard Meditation without prayer is barren and unfruitful Therefore I I would have you begin with a short prayer 6. I would have you keep your hearts with all keeping Prov. 4. 23. have a care in the entrance of thy heart pray unto God to keep out inward company You know I told you of a twofold company of an outward company and inward company pray unto God not only to keep out outward company but inward company that is to keep out vain and worldly and distracting thoughts A man may easily drive out outward company he may easily be alone but it it a hard matter to drive away inward company thy vain worldly and distracting thoughts I would have you say to the world when you go up to meditate of Heaven or of Grace or of God as Christ said to his Disciples Mat. 26. 36. Sit you here while I go yonder and pray So I would have you say to the world and all worldly thoughts Tarry you here while I go into my Closet to meditate of the things of God and Heaven to meet with God in Heavenly things And I would have you say as Abraham
I cannot mourn that I have not power I can do nothing without power derived from Jesus Christ. 5. I would go to supplication after confession and I would petition to God for strength and I would say Oh Lord thou that hast promised to take away my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh hast thou not promised to work all my works in me and for me hast thou not promised to subdue my iniquities Micah 7. 19. hast thou not promised that Sin shall not have dominion over me this is the promise Rom. 6. now Lord thou hast promised these things I beseech thee perform these Promises thou God of Truth make good thy word take away my heart of stone and give me to mourn for my great abominations and work this work in me and for me and subdue my iniquities and let not Sin have dominion over me rather give me over to the dominion of men though I would not be a slave to men yet I had rather be a slave to all the men in the world yea a slave to the Turk than a slave to the Devil rather be a Galley-slave than a Devils-slave of all slavery Lord deliver me from soul-slavery And thus I would supplicate and petition and when I have done all this 6. I would encourage my self by faith in a confident hope and trust in God that the Lord will hear my prayer and give me strength against my corruptions and supply me with help in all my necessities and I would say thus Oh Lord thou hast promised that whatsoever I ask in the name of Christ shall be granted unto me blessed God! I ask this day in the name of Christ pardon of Sin and power against Sin and a broken heart for Sin and from Sin I ask repentance unto Salvation thou hast promised to give it I believe thou wilt give it I believe Lord help my unbelief And then I would say to my soul why art thou disquieted Oh my soul why art thou cast down why art thou troubled still trust in God depend upon God he is my help he is my joy in him will I put my trust Thus I have gone over these Six Heads I have given you one instance Now I would have you know whatsoever I have said of Sin I can go over of any Subject whatsoever suppose I would meditate of Heaven after I have meditated of the joys and excellencies of Heaven and all those particulars in the Intellectual part then to work upon my affections I would labour to get my heart affected with the joys of Heaven and then I would complain that I am no more affected with those joys and with the Beatifical Vision and the rare company that I shall there enjoys and then I would passionately wish Oh that my heart were more heavenly Oh that I could taste more of those everlasting joys that the Lord would come down and heavenlize me and then I would confess my inability of my self and I would supplicate for help and I would confidently believe that the Lord will send down heaven into my heart and the joys of it before I come thither That which I say of the sinfulness of sin you may make use of in all other Subjects that you meditate upon So much for the Rules and Directions for the better helping you to proceed and go on in the duty of Meditation 3. Now there remains only some Rules for the conclusion of all When thou hast begun and entred upon this duty and made a progress in it when thou comest to make a conclusion shut up thy Meditation of Divine things with thankfulness with resolution and with recommendation of thy soul to God 1. I say conclude with thankefulness lift up thy heart to God and bless his name that hath enlarged thy soul and enabled thee to spend an hour in meditation of holy things especially if you find your hearts affected with what you meditate upon if you have gotten from the intellectual part into the affectionative if you have gotten your souls raised up As for example if you have been meditating of Heaven and you find a Heavenly frame wrought in you you find a desire to be with the Lord and you find some assurance that your name is written there and some manifestations of God to your souls Oh then close up all with an Hallelujah Blessed be the Lord for the assistance of this hour So likewise have you been meditating of Sin and find at the conclusion that thy heart is somewhat soft and doth begin to mourn for thy Sin and thou art troubled that thou hast offended thy God and the Lord hath wrought in thee some confidence some spiritual assurance that thy Sins shall be mortified and that the Lord will keep thee that thy sin shall not have dominion over thee then conclude with a Hallelujah lift up thy heart and bless the Lord for his assistance I might likewise add when thou hast been meditating on the Promises or of Death whatsoever the Subject thou art meditating upon is if the Lord hath wrought thee to have a heart above the fear of death by meditating of death and thou hast learned to be willing and ready to die Oh bless the Lord for his assistance 2. I would have you close with a resolution of heart to spend thy life as becomes one that hath been meditating of holy and heavenly things As for example I have been meditating of the Promises I will shut up my Meditation with resolution by the grace of God to live more upon the Promises than ever I have done I have lived too much upon the Creature but now I will live more upon God and his Promises I will close up with a resolution by the power of my God to study my interest in the Promises more and suck out the sweetness of them more and to be more acquainted with the freeness and the fulness and riches and preciousness of them And so would you meditate of Heaven I would conclude with a resolution that I would labour to live more heavenly and walk as becometh one that looks to live with Christ for ever in Heaven You must know these spiritual resolutions are spiritualia vincula obedientiae they are spiritual bonds to tye the soul fast to God As the beast was tyed to the horns of the Altar in the old Law that was to be sacrificed so these blessed vows and resolutions are heavenly cords to tye the soul faster to God and that is the reason every why Sacrament we renew our vows and resolutions as God renews his engagements to us so do we renew our engagements to God every Sacrament Now I would have you close up your Meditation by binding your souls faster to God in a holy resolution Divine resolution is the spiritual hedg of the soul saith one to keep the soul from breaking out into ungodly courses 3. Shut up all with a short commendation of thy self thy body thy soul thy wife