God and contending with Flesh and Blood that strongly oppose and speak contrary things But yet to prevent Sloth and rouze up our dull and sluggish Hearts I add 8. That more of this Spirit ought diligently to be laboured after I shall have occasion briefly to urge this in the Application Which I now hasten to Vse 1. Is Heaven desirable to you under this notion whereby our Apostle sets it forth It is amiable in your Eyes as a place where you hope to be eased of all those Afflictions that sit so very uneasy upon your Spirits You like it as a Refuge from Hell But can you savour it and take any delight in it under this consideration as a place where you shall be for ever with Christ You may know this by the standing frame and workings of your Hearts towards him If your Eyes have not been opened to see his Beauty if your Hearts have not been drawn to him if your Souls do not pant and thirst after him and rejoyce in him if he be as a wither'd Flower to you the Heaven which the Gospel hath propounded to us cannot be grateful to you How can such a Man tune his Voice to sing the Song of the Lamb or take any pleasure in that place if it were possible for him to crowd into it 2. See to it that you be persons so qualified that when you die you may be present with the Lord. Suppose God should say to you This night shall thy Soul be required of thee Whither do you think it would go Don't many of your Hearts misgive you and your guilty Consciences tell you not to be with Christ but with Devils and damned Spirits beneath Die ere long you must and the youngest and strongest among you know not how soon There 's a common Executioner that stands invisibly by us all and hath not promised the Civility to wait till we give the Sign he may suddenly and without any warning give us the fatal Blow It may be in a little while you may be filled with such intolerable Pains that you may long to be absent from the Body that you may be out of your Misery But yet how will you be able to wish for that if you are tortured with Fears of hearing those dreadful words Depart from me ye cursed Will you then believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all your hearts For the unbelievers will be shut out Will you seek after Regeneration For verily verily John 3.3 I say unto you Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God Give God no rest till he put this good Principle into you that you may cease from evil and do good Without this the most glittering Profession will not avail and multitudes will find it so when 't is too late You have the Superscription of God upon you see that his Image also be stamped on your Souls otherwise you will be rejected Our Saviour in propounding the Parable of the Virgins Matth. 25. speaks of them as though there was an equal number of wise and foolish ones five of one sort and five of the other But in our days we have reason to apprehend the latter do vastly exceed the former and then they will look like foolish ones indeed when that Scripture shall be fulfilled wherein it is written Luke 13.26 27. that the Judge shall say to many that have eat and drunk in his presence and heard him in their streets I know not whence you are Depart from me all ye workers of iniquity The Sentence is Severe but Righteous and Univerfal too All that fall under that Character shall fall under that Condemnation and 't is worth our while to observe the disdainful manner wherein their Plea is over-ruled and Execution awarded against them Then shall ye begin to say q. d. this is so idle and frivolous an Allegation in the behalf of the workers of Iniquity that they have eat and drunk in my presence and I have taught in their streets that I can have no patience to hear it I will cut off such foolish Babblings and idle Arguments immediately for they do not deserve any regard And I tell you I know not whence you are I scorn to be thought to have any Acquaintance with or Respect for so vile a Generation of Men. I often warned them that I would disown them and I now judicially declare I am unalterably fixed and will never change my mind Will you serve and imitate the Example of Christ For if any man John 12.26 saith he will serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall my servant also be Oh that Men were wise for themselves that they would consider and prepare for their latter End that then an entrance may be administred to them into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 3. Let holy Souls labour after this divine and raised frame of Spirit to be willing rather to be absent from the body that they may be present with the Lord. How willing was Christ to come from Heaven a far better Place than this where we are to undergo a sharper Death for you than you can suffer to be with him And should you be unwilling to depart hence and go to him How unkindly may he take such a temper when he is gone to prepare so glorious a Place for you that you should be so backward to enter into it He desires that you may be where he is to behold his glory And should not the same mind be in you that is in him What though Death lie in the way Is it not an Enemy that he hath Conquer'd and pluck'd out its Sting What have you in this World the Element of Sin and Sorrow whose Pleasures are so thin whose Miseries are so weighty that you should hang about it and cleave so fast to it Methinks you should groan earnestly within your selves to be gone to that better Place and Company That you may be willing draw off your Affections from every thing here below take heed of over-indulging the Body and the Pleasures of it familiarize Death to your selves by serious Meditations encrease in the Knowledge of the Mystery of the Father and of Christ Faith in him and love to him beware of wilful Sins get and keep your Evidences for Heaven clear and let the Glory of God and Christ be the end of your lives 4. Let not surviving Friends too much regret and bewail the Death of their Holy Relatives They are gone from us but they are with Christ where they were and are willing to be And this I doubt not is the Case of your late Reverend deceased Pastor Mr. Richard Mayo He was a Man of sincere Godliness A worthy Person Mr. Singleton sufficiently known in this City for his great Skill and Pains in training up of Youth was the happy Instrument which Providence made use of for the first awakening and enclining him to look out after God
give us a clear Comment on St. Paul's words where he makes a distinction between principalities and powers and thrones and dominions Colos 1.16 Whither some of them are subordinated to others is not so clear But sure we are they are all subjected to Christ and there is not the least shadow of Confusion or Disorder among them The Spirits of just Men there are perfect and their number daily encreasing None there hath so much as a Thorn in his Foot a Cloud on his Face a Tear in his Eye or a Spot on his Soul There 's neither Pride nor Envy Jealousy nor Strife Weakness or Folly to render them uneasy to themselves or each other they are like flaming Tapers in a Branch of burnished Gold which so mingle their several Lights that at a distance they seem to be but one though indeed they are many They live in glorious Light entire Love and perfect Harmony and such a fulness of Joy that there is no room for any Sorrow to creep in among them Now if the Queen of Sheba when she saw the Glory and Wisdom of Solomon the Stateliness and Magnificence of his Buildings and the Riches Beauty and Order of his Court was wrapt up into such an Admiration of him and said 1 King 10.7 8. Happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee Who can imagine the Extasies of a holy Soul when brought into the presence of Christ the Glory of whose Court and Government doth more exceed his than the place where Christ is is higher than that Throne on which Solomon sate 8. The universal Adoration given to Christ by all the Host of Heaven They all say with a loud voice Rev. 5.12 13. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing And they actually give him what they acknowledge him to be so worthy of for they add blessing and honour and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever O the pleasant melodious found of this Song sung by so many sweet Voices in the heavenly Choir to a holy Soul that sees so much of Excellency and Glory in Christ and is so sensible of the straitness of his own narrow Spirit that he unfeignedly wishes that wherever there is a Heart he had a Throne and is daily grieved here below to behold him so despised and rejected of Men that know neither him nor their own Mercies So much for that second Consideration The State that Christ is in and what shall be manifested concerning him above To this I must add 3. The Circumstances which holy Men themselves shall be in when present with him And here consider 1. what lies in the Text viz. The being absent from the body i. e. the present one Not that it can be the happiness of a Soul to be eternally unclothed of any body at all and commence a purely naked Spirit nor the matter of a regular desire Departed Spirits retain an inclination to their old Collegue and the being reunited to it when 't is so much improved as it shall be at the last day will be an additional bliss to what they now enjoy But yet a removal from this Body as now it is where the bright Sword is so much impaired by the rusty Sheath wherein 't is lodged may justly be esteemed no small advantage For what vile things are these Bodies of ours at present 'T is an humbling description given of us while we are in this World Job 4.19 Ch. 17.14 that we dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust that corruption is our father and the worm our mother and our sister and these unnatural Parents will ere long devour their Children How many inconveniences and evils are we subject to while we are lodged in these sorry Tenements Sleep which is the rest of our Nature is the Image of Death and interrupts our most noble Thoughts and Designs 'T is to life like long and frequently returning Parentheses in an Author that suspend his sense and mar the beauty of his Stile The several Creatures that we live upon revenge themselves upon us for much of our precious time is eaten up while we feed upon them And he that never found any ones Table to be a snare to him is a perfect Man indeed Recreations tho innocent and necessary are a great Diversion from the main business of Life and hinder the Rational and Divine Exercise and Improvement of the Faculties of our Souls How doth the providing Accommodations for these Bodies of ours engross our Thoughts take off the edge and vigour of our Affections from heavenly things steal away our hearts from God and the one thing necessary and fill us with pale Fears and perplexing Cares so that we neglect our Duty or perform it with abundance of coldness and a world of distraction How much guilt do we contract How many follies are we betrayed into out of an inordinate love of bodily Pleasure and a sinful fear of bodily Pains How many Sins are Men strongly inclined to by their Constitution and Complection We need to make but one visit to a melancholy Person and we shall presently see what a fatal Enemy Bodily-Temper is to a Life of Grace and Peace How often doth Sin enter in at our Ears and our Eyes The Christian hath far more reason to complain of being deceived by his Senses than the Philosopher hath How frequently do bodily Passions darken our Minds and cloud our Judgments and involve us in Practical as well as Speculative Errors And the weakness and disorders of the Flesh cramp the forward motions of a willing Spirit What a multitude of tormenting Diseases are they subject to which shatter our Understandings and bow down our Spirits to a continual Meditation on our Misery are an Obstruction to the present performance of Duty as well as a Chastisment for our former neglects and expose us to strong Temptations to impatience and fretting against Gods jealousies and hard thoughts of him How many cruel methods of Cure are we forced to submit to How many Potions do we sometimes swallow down which are so very nauseous that they would make a man Sick if they did not find him so And when the Tempest is over how much time and pains doth it cost us to stop the Leaks and piece up the ruins of the poor weather beaten Vessel All which too is but the rigging it out for a new Storm that will arise again in a few days For the Sun doth not more certainly and more constantly run through the same Signs than many pass through the same Diseases And they who happily escape such Calamities as these shall have the rough Wind often blowing upon them from some other Corner in this open State where we are so much exposed every moment 'T is no small part of the Happiness of departed Saints
that they are absent from such a Body as this is which yet they know shall be restored to them with so great advantage at the last day 2. Consider the happiness of their Souls They shall be perfectly conform'd to God's Image and satisfied with his Likeness They shall never any more groan as now they do Wretched Creature that I am who have so much of Corruption and so little of Christ in me In this World sometimes they are sick of love to him Cant. 2.5 but have oftner reason to be so for want of it There they shall love him as they would which they never could do before They shall have no chilness on their Spirits no coldness on their Hearts Never more shall that doleful cry be heard Cant. 3.1 We sought him whom our souls loved but we found him not Now they have a small glimpse of him in an Ordinance as a Man of a Star through a glass held in a shaking and trembling hand which he just sees and loses Now a Cloud is often drawn between him and them but then they shall with a steady Eye always behold his pleased and glorious Face They sup with him now and how sweet but oh how short is the Banquet But then they shall always eat and drink with him at his Table sit with him on his Throne as he sat down on his Father's Throne shall be Heirs together with him and have a Kingdom appointed to each of them as his Father hath appointed one for him By such earthly Expressions because we are not capable of understanding heavenly Language doth the Scripture shadow forth to us their most intimate and delightful Converse and Communion with him and how in their respective Measures and Degrees they shall be partakers together with him of such Bliss and Glory as eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor can it enter into our hearts to conceive Now all these things being laid together no wonder that holy Souls are willing to be present with the Lord. One would think that all the true Lovers of Christ should say not as his Disciples Let us go away and die with him John 11.16 but let us go away and live and be for ever with him And so they would but that there 's a Lion in the way Death is the passage to him They must be absent from the Body before they can get to him a thing that few have a heart to desire tho our Apostle and his Brethren did so Which brings me to the II Point 'T is possible for a holy Person to be willing to dye rather than live any longer that he may be with Christ in Heaven I shall endeavour to open this in these following Propositions 1. All sincere Christians are willing to be with Christ above For they profess themselves to be Pilgrims and Strangers on the Earth and declare plainly by the Tenor of their Lives that they seek another Country Their Conversations and their Hearts are in Heaven they have set their Affections upon and seek after the things that are above Colos 3.1 2. where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God They love him more than life it self and can't bear the thoughts of being eternally at so great a distance from him They have been drawn to him by that promise among others John 12.26 Where I am my servant also shall be the fulfilling of it therefore cannot but be grateful to them 'T is the main business of their Lives to prepare for an eternal Abode with him and Ministration before him in the holiest of all This is what they have in their eye as the great end of their attendance on him in his Ordinances And is it possible for them to be unwilling to enjoy what they are continually providing for They hope for Heaven and that cannot be without desiring to be there that they may have the nearest Conjunction with him and the fullest Enjoyment of him 2. All holy Souls are willing in the general to dye some time or other that they may be with him This follows from the foregoing particular They know there is no other way but being absent from the Body to get to him This therefore doth so far reconcile them to Death that they had rather on the whole submit to its stroke than to an eternal distance from him whom their Soul loveth They fear the King of Terrors indeed but they fear and abhor an everlasting Separation from Christ a great deal more Tho when it comes to the Point many of them are afraid to dye and ready to contradict all again yet they would not for all this World and the Glory of it live always if they might in their present State And this doth not flow from a sullen and impatient humour For 3. A holy Soul's willingness to dye proceeds from noble Principles He is not like the men of this World who when crossed in discontent passion and despair madly wish for Death and sometimes sinfully hasten it which is not a desiring to be with Christ but only to be out of their present Misery Not but that a sincere Christian may have those short-liv'd fits and pangs that are very unbecoming but these are the sinful Infirmities of the man not the holy Groanings of the Saint within which we are now speaking of The accidental fretting of a rich and generous Wine must be distinguisht from its natural Ferment 'T is true indeed a sense of those Miseries that press so hard upon them is a help to these desires Being burden'd we groan after the heavenly House 2 Cor. 5.4 But the true Springs of their willingness to depart are such as these A certain Knowledge and serious Consideration of the Happiness of being with Christ and how much better that is than to continue here A new Nature that tends to the place whence it came A Divine Faith Love to Christ some degree of a weanedness from and deadness to this World and a serious preparation for the next some good hopes through Grace of Eternal Life some taste of the sweetness of an imperfect fellowship with Christ here below and desires of drinking more of this Water of Life at the Fountain-head These are the things that make these Doves be upon the wing ready to fly away towards Heaven But yet they are not too forward to be gone For 4. This willingness is duly regulated with an entire submission to the Divine Will Tho they are in a close and painful Confinement yet they are not for breaking Prison but resolve to wait till they are released by Authority They are not like an hasty Clock that out-runs time and strikes before the hour is come Tho they are willing rather to depart yet they are contented to stay as long as God hath any Work and Service for them to do in this World considering that the Presence of Christ when they are introduced into it will make abundant amends for the delays and
sufferings of a few moments and the more they do for him the greater shall be their reward But tho that be so very great yet 5. There are many things that do check and abate these Inclinations of a holy Soul A real desire of being further serviceable to the interest of Christ in this World This was the Apostle's case who was willing to have his happiness suspended for a time because to abide in the flesh was more needful for others Phil. 1.24 The weakness of their Faith and love to Christ Too great addictedness to this World Immoderate love to near Relations with some touches of a distrust of Divine Providence as tho God either would not or could not take care of them and their Affairs when we are gone But the more common and powerful Obstructions are these two 1. A natural Fear of Death Could they with a sudden Spring leap over the Gulf and in a moment be with Christ Could they but as easily get up to the place where he is as his three Disciples to the top of that Mountain where he was transfigured they would do it without any reluctancy or delay But alas the dark Valley must first be passed through Death must first be endured by them a fear of which the God of Nature hath inwrought into the very Frame and Constitution of Man it being necessary in order to the good Government of this World His own commands are enforced with the promises of a long Life and the threatnings of a speedy Death which Sanction of his would lose its edge and force did not Men love the one and dread the other Were it not for this the refined sort of Mankind would sinfully neglect the Body and never undergo all that Slavery which now they endure for its Preservation Upon every cross accident men would lay violent hands on themselves at least on every sore Affliction they would boldly cut the Cable that fastens them to this wretched Shoar and sail away to the invisible World and this Earth be unpeopled and much thinner of Inhabitants than God hath design'd it should be for a season The Magistrate would then always bear the Sword in vain for no one would fear the edge of it All places would be fill'd with Rapine and Blood for he that despiseth his own Life is master of his Neighbour's almost whenever he pleaseth And holy Men would not have that opportunity for the exercise and discovery of their Graces as now they have in conquering the Reluctancies of Nature and laying down their heads to receive the fatal stroke with steddiness and composure of Mind So to do is great indeed For to endure tedious Sickness and sharp Pains the rude Knocks the strong and repeated Blows that this Enemy gives to break asunder Body and Soul which are so strongly fastned together to be cast as a noisome Lump into the Grave there to crumble into Dust to be triumphed over by worms and turned into corruption and rottenness these are very formidable things How doth this beat down the ascending Flame and hinder its rise It is hereupon with a Christian as with an affectionate Child that is in another Land and desirous to go home that he may be with his beloved Father But there 's a dangerous Sea to be first passed over and therefore he often comes down to the Shoar looks wishly over to the other side and would be glad he was there But when he sees the swelling Billows his heart misgives him and he hardly knows how to think of venturing and launching forth 2. The want of Assurance Many are ignorant unskilful and negligent in the great work of Self-examination Many have but very low degrees of grace the hand-writing of God's Spirit on their hearts is in so very small a Character that they are not able to read it Too many are loose and careless in their Walk Not a few are over-run with Melancholy and have dismal apprehensions of their state tho a judicious Stander by may perceive the goodness of it the dark side of the Lanthorn is towards themselves and tho others behold the Grace of God in them as a burning and a shining Light yet the Persons themselves cannot discern it And in this gloomy State they conclude if they should dye they should be banisht from the Presence of Christ and under these apprehensions Death is such a thing as strikes Terror and Confusion into every corner of their Souls These are the things whereby the Soul of a sincere Christian is pressed down as the inferior Air is in the Judgment of Modern Philosophers by the incumbent weight of the superior Air and Clouds which as soon as 't is in any degree unfetter'd from by a spring that is natural to it self it flies up again Which brings me to the 6. As the heavenly Life improves so holy Souls get ground on the fears of Death and are more willing to be gone that they may be with Christ As Grace and Peace are multiplied in their Souls as these living Waters do encrease they lift them higher and nearer towards Heaven The young and tender Eagles are afraid to stir out of the Nest and try their feeble Wings but when they arrive to a greater strength they can mount upwards with a vigorous flight When they are arrived at the same height and stature in Christ as Paul was when they can say on as good grounds as he To us to live is Christ and to dye is gain especially at some seasons when their Hearts are listed up into a heavenly Frame and enlarged in sweet Communion with God in Christ They can long for Death welcome it and triumph over it When their near Relations and Friends stand round about their Sick-Beds very Sad and Melancholy they are the only chearful Persons in the Room they can die smiling and spend their expiring Breath in Hallelujahs that bear some resemblance with those they are to sing for ever Their last Speeches are like the grateful stroaks of a skilful Musician when his Instrument is almost brought in Tune a delightful Praeludium to the sweet Melody that shall immediately succeed Hence it follows 7. That this is not a mark whereby to try the truth so much as the strength of our Grace For though there be some true desires in the Soul this way yet they may be so born down by many things that they are not easily discernible like Seed in the ground that may be rooted there but yet hath not shot through the surface of the Earth nor is it crowned with a beautiful Flower or if it hath been so yet may be covered by an extraordinary Snow and be invisible for the present All cannot attain to Paul's Height and Spirit the Children come behind the young Men and the young Men themselves fall short of those that are Fathers in Christ Indeed no great measure of this can be attained but by great improvements in Grace a long and close walking with
Artists are able to keep a Castle from being taken which is strongly besieged by a numerous and poten◠Enemy and furiously battered by a great train of Artillery He was attack'd by a great variety of Distempers and while endeavours were using to dismount one Battery another as strong and threatning was raised and then no wonder the Fortress was so speedily taken even tho the Garison had not been weakned by any foregoing Siege But there was no Distemper in his Mind tho so many in his Body his Soul was in health and at ease Throughout the whole of his Sickness of six Weeks continuance all was clear between God and him His end was like the Light of the Evening when the Sun setteth 2 Sam. 23.4 an Evening without any Clouds He said to my self when I enquired of him concerning that matter I have not indeed those raptures of Joy which some have felt tho yet he added blessed be God I have sometimes tasted of them too but I have a comfortable well-grounded hope of Eternal Life Another time I have had my Infirmities and Failings but my heart hath been right with God as to the main and I look for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to Eternal Life Again another time I know that I have passed from Death to Life And again Blessed be God for our Lord Jesus Christ who hath delivered me from the wrath to come In the presence of others that stood by him when the sudden Blast was so strong as almost to puff out the Lamp of Life expecting to dye in a very few moments he said in the words of the Psalmist Into thy hands I commit my Spirit thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth and this was utter'd by him with a more than ordinary chearfulness visibly spread on his Face He would often say in his Sickness If God hath any pleasure in me and any more work for me to do he will raise me up but if not lo here am I let him do with his servant what seemeth him good In short I could neither observe my self nor learn from those that were constantly about him who must know this matter better than any others and would not lye for God himself that he had the least Darkness upon his spirit as to his present and future State from the beginning of his Sickness till he gave up the Ghost which he did the last Lords-day about five in the Morning the time when he was wont to arise and prepare himself for his Sacred Work Then did he enter upon his Everlasting Sabbath to the very great loss of his own Family of this Society in particular and indeed of the Church of God and Interest of Christ in general among us To our great loss but his own gain and therefore weep not as those that are without hope or comfort For he is entred into the Joy of his Lord he is gone within the Vail and hath left the People weeping without to whom he shall never return For the Eye that saw him in this place with so much delight shall see him here no more the Ear that so often heard him with pleasure shall hear his Voice no more But tho the Sower be dead let not the Seed be so Let me bespeak you in the words of the Apostle Heb. 13.7 Remember him that had the rule over you Who so often spake to you the word of God whose faith follow considering the end of his conversation For his END was PEACE The God of all Grace enable us to prepare to follow that when our turn shall come we may also go to the great Shepherd of the Sheep even that Jesus who hath loved us and washt us from our Sins in his own Blood and may be for ever with him singing Hallelujahs to God and to the Lamb that sitteth upon the Throne FINIS BOOKS c. published by the late Reverend Mr. Richard Mayo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Plain Answer to this Practical Question What course may a Christian take to have his heart quickned and enlarged in the the Duty of Secret Prayer A Sermon shewing That the Papists dangerously corrupt Holy Worship by their sinful Prayers to Saints and Angels In the Morning Exercise against Popery A Sermon shewing What we must do to prevent and cure Spiritual Pride In the Continuation of the Practical Morning Exercise Vol. 3. A Sermon shewing From what Fear of Death are the Children of God delivered by Christ and by what means doth he deliver them from it In the Casuistical Morning Exercises Vol. 4. The Life and Death of Dr. Staunton To which is added the Doctor 's Treatise of Christian Conference And his Dialogue betwixt a Minister and a Stranger Two Conferences One betwixt a Papist and a Jew The other betwixt a Protestant and a Jew In Two Letters from a Merchant in London to his Correspondent in Amsterdam A Letter from Leghorn A Comment on the Epistle to the Romans In the Second Volume of Mr. Pool's English Annotations The Cause and Cure of Strife and Divisions BOOKS Printed for Thomas Cockerill at the Three Legs in the Poultrey A Sermon Preached before the Right Honourable Sir John Shorter Lord Mayor of London By Nath. Taylor A Sermon of the Instrumentality of Faith And a Sermon upon the Resurrection Both by W. Cross M. A. A Sermon at the Funeral of Dr. Jeremiah Butt By Ed. Veal Infant Baptism God's Ordinance By Michael Harrison A Sermon at the Funeral of Mrs. Lobb late Wife of Mr. Stephen Lobb By Samuel Slater God the Guide of Youth A Sermon Preached by T. Cruso Instructions about Heart-Work what is to be done on God's part and ours for the cure and keeping the Heart c. By that Eminent Gospel Minister Mr. Richard Alleyn With a Preface by Dr. Annesley The 2d Edition The Evidence of Things not seen Or divers Spiritual and Philosophical Discourses concerning the state of Holy Men after Death By that Eminently learned Divine Moses Amyraldus Translated out of the French Tongue by a Minister of the Church of England A Discourse of Christian Religion in sundry points Preached at the Merchants Lecture By Tho Cole A Discourse concerning trouble of Mind and the disease of Melancholly in three Parts written for the use of such as are or have been exercised by the same By Tim. Rogers M A. who was long afflicted with both To which is added some Letters from several Divines relating to the same Subject Love to Christ necessary for all to escape the Curse at his coming By Tho. Doolittle M. A. An Exposition of the Assemblies Shorter Catechism with Practical Inferences from each Question By John Flavell late Minister of the Gospel at Dartmouth in Devon A Discourse of secret Prayer first Preached and now Published at the request of those that heard it By Samuel Slater Minister of the Gospel The future State or a Discourse attempting some display of the Souls Happiness in regard to that eternally progressive Knowledge or eternal increase of Knowledge and the consequences of it which is among the blessed in Heaven By a Countrey Gentleman a Worshipper of God in the way of the Church of England ERRATA Pag. 10. l. antep r. is as p. 14. l. 5. for Gods r. God