divers Gestures and Expressions which are not requisite or necessary for any but God and the Soul to be privy to Now what Place soever you find to be necessary for this important Duty be sollicitous to make choiee of II. As for the Time the best Opportunity is in the Morning for the First Fruits of the Day being Holy all the rest are Sanctified Moreover our Thoughts being then not polluted with worldly Affairs they are not so liable to distraction and the Body it self is more serene than after Meals and this Duty requires a vacuity in the Stomach not only because the Head will be more perspicuous and apt for Meditation but also because many Passages of Meditation require so much Attention of the Mind and Fervency of Affection that they do hinder Digestion And this Duty being performed in the Morning it will have an influence upon the whole Day But this Rule is not universal for we read that Isaac went forth in the Evening to medirate Gen. 24. 63. And if the Subject of your Meditation be a Sermon then perhaps the properest time is immediately after the hearing of it before your Affections cool or your Memory fail you III. FOR the Duration considering the Parts of Meditation are so many as Preparation Considerations Affections Resolutions and the like And not one of these are to be past slightly over for Affections are not quickly raised nor are we to cease blowing the fire if it flame until it be well kindled Half an Hour may be reckon'd to be the least for Beginners and an Hour for those that are Proficients in this Duty IV. But in this Particular there is Two Rules especially to be observed First That as we ought not to desist from our Prayers before that temper and frame or heart is wrought which is suitable to the Requests of our Petitions so we should not desist in our Confession of Sin till our Hearts are truly sensible and humbled for Sin neither should we slacken our Praises until our Hearts are filled with holy Admirings and inflamed with the Love of the Almighty Now the End of Meditation are Affections and Resolutions therefore we should not desist till those are effected V. SO in Private Prayer when we find our Hearts enlarged by the Effusion of the Spirit of Supplication upon us we are not to desist unless by our persisting in that Duty we omit another to which we are more particularly obliged at that juncture so in Meditation when we perceive the Heart affected we are to continue it But this Caution must be observ'd That in our Enlargements we must not continue them longer than while they flow freely without much Straining and Compulsion for Honey which comes freely from the Comb is pure but forced by Heat and Pressure is not so well relish'd Now if the Heart is dead we must use our utmost diligence to awaken it and when once our Hearts are inflamed and enlarged by holy Affections in an extraordinary manner 't is but an impediment to our Affections to return to the Meditation of those Points that raised them SECT IV. Of the Subject and Method of Meditation FIRST Avoid Controversie for that will convert Meditation into Study and nice Speculations for they are sapless without Nutriment besides being so light they fluctuate in the Brain and want ponderosity to sink them down into the Heart and inddeed were they admitted they are so insignificant as the Heart by its reception could acquire no Affectation But let the Subject of your Meditation be the plainest powerfullest and usefullest Verities of the Almighty as Death Iudgment Hell and Heaven the Mercies of God our own Sins and the Love and Sufferings of a crucified Saviour Contemplate on that which is most suitable to your Spiritual Wants as in the time of Desertion meditate most of the Love and Mercies of God and thy own Unworthiness c. II. NOW the Rules for Meditation are these Three 1st Preparatory 2dly For the Body of the Duty And 3dly The Conclusion In our Duty of Preparation besides the choice of the Subject we are to be convinced and affected with the Presence of the Deity and to use fervent Prayer for the Divine Assistance Secondly For the Body of Meditation it consists of Three Parts The First is Consideration which is the convincing our Hearts of several Verities appertaining to that Subject whereof we meditate III. IF the Subject of our Meditation be Death the Considerations may run thus Alas O my Immmortal Soul the Manner Time and Place where we shall expire we are ignoraut of generally Mens Lives come to a period sooner than they expect and certain it is whensoever that Hour or Minute approaches we must bid adieu to Honours Pleasures Riches Friends and at last our own frail Bodies c. The Second Part is Affections whether it be Love of God Christ or Spiritual Things despising of the World admiring of the Omnipotency or any other Spiritual Affection The Third Part are Resolutions to perform that which is agreeable to God's Command and to desist from all manner of Evil. IV. NOW that this is the most proper and genuine way of Meditation evidently appears First Because it is not Artificial and such as requires Learning as those Instructions are which advise us to consider the Efficient Final Formal Material Cause of Defunction with the Adjuncts Concomitants and Concatenations c. which though they perhaps may please the Learned yet such difficult words astonish the Ignorant Now this is the Method by which every one that is brought home to God is converted V. AND the first thing in Coversion is our being convinced of some Truths which Conviction raiseth Affections For if the Verities of the Divine Omnipotence end in Conviction and go no further nay if they end in Aflections only and never arrive to Resolutions of shunning Evil and performing of Good Conversion can never be perfected As for Example One is convinced that he is a miserable undone Wretch by reason of Original and Actual Abomination Upon this Conviction Fear and Sorrow are excited yet if these do not operate in us a fixed Resolution of forsaking those Sins we are yet in our Sins and unconverted Thirdly There are several things for the concluding of Meditation which I shall treat of in its proper order SECT V. Of being affected with the Divine Presence WE are to consider God is present in all places as really and Essentially as he is in Heaven For Omnipotency did not create Heaven for his Confinement but to manifest his Glory for the Heaven of Heavens are not able to contain him neither is the Almighty included by nor excluded from any place And though Iacob said Surely the Lord was in this place and I knew it not Gen. 28. 16. yet we must not imagine that Iacob was ignorant of the Verity of it but did not actually consider it but the the Psalmist in the 139th Psalm is perspicuous in explaining and
extracted Nay they may properly be called Good because they are God's Messengers and proceed from him who is the Fountain of all Goodness Moreover they lead us unto the chiefest Good even Life Everlasting Christ by his Passion entered into his Glory Luk. 24. 26. And Christians by Tribulations enter into Life Eternal Act. 14. 22. And consequently Sin is the chiefest Evil because it draws us from the chiefest Good VI. THE Sinner is accused by his Conscience which he hath defiled by his Creator whom he hath offended by the Sins he hath committed by the Creatures he hath abused and by the Devil who hath seduced him How saving then is Repentance which frees us from such Accusations Let us haste then with speed to such a soveraign Catholicon If thou deferr thy Repentance till Death thou do'st not forsake thy Sins but they forsake thee and it is very difficult to trace out an Example of sincere Repentance at the Hour of Death except that of the Thief upon the Cross. VII FOVRTEEN years have I served thee said Iacob to Laban it is time now that I should provide for my own house Gen. 31. 41. And if thou hast pursued the World and chased after the Vanities of it so many Years it is now high time to provide for thy Soul Every Day nay every Hour and Minute we accumulate Sin Oh let the Spirit every Moment wash it away with Tears of Repentance The Almighty infuses not the Oyl of Mercy but into the Vessel of a contrite Heart He first mortifies us by Contrition and then quickens us by his Spirit of Consolation He leads us into a deep abyss of Grief and brings us back by his Restraining Grace VIII Elias first heard a vehement Wind overturning Mountains and cleaving Rocks and after the Wind an Earthquake and after the Earthquake Fire 1 King 19. 11. At length there followed a still small Voice ver 12. From whence we may inferr That Terrour is the precursor of the Love of Omnipotency and Sorrow precedes Comfort God binds not up any Wounds that are laid open by Confession He Pardons and Justifies none except they Acknowledge and Condemn themselves He Comforts not unless they first Despond And this is the sincere Repentance which God by his Holy Spirit operates in us MED IV. Of Man's Salvation Tit. ii 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men WHY art thou perplexed O my Soul and why art thou dubious of the Mercy of God Remember thy Creator who created thee without thy Assistance who formed thee in secret in the lower parts of the earth Psal. 139. 15. He who took care of thee before thou wer 't born Will his Providence neglect thee now thou art fashioned after his own Image To Thee the Great Creator does thy unworthy Creature address himself Though my Nature is infected by Satan and wounded by Thieves which are my sinful Corruptions yet my Creator liveth II. HE which made me can renew me He that created me without any Evil can chase all Evil from me whatsoever hath gain'd admittance by the Devil's Suggestions Adam's Prevarication or my own Actions yea though it hath over-spread my whole Substance The Almighty never hated his own Workmanship We are before him like Clay in the Hands of the Potter Had he hated me certainly he would never have created me when I was nothing He is the Saviour of all men but especially of them that believe 1 Tim. 3. 10. He created me wonderfully and redeemed me miraculously but his Love was never so highly expressed than in his Wounds and Passion III. SURELY we were indulgently belov'd for whose sakes the only begotten Son of God is sent from the Bosom of his Father Dear was the Price of our Redemption and great was the Mercy of our Redeemer To make us Rich he embraced Poverty for he had not where to lay his head Mat. 8. 20. To make us the Sons of the Most High he condescends to become Man and doth not after he had accomplish'd our Redemption neglect us but still intercedeth for us Rom. 8. 34. IV. LET my Sins Satan and all the Powers of Darkness accuse me in Jesus my Mediator will I trust who is Greater than my Accusers Let my Weakness affright me yet in his Strength will I glory For the Sufficiency of my Merit I am familiarly acquainted my Merits is not sufficient it suffices me that he is propitious against whom I have sinned and whatsoever he hath decreed not to impute will be perform'd and all Guilt with the Price of his most precious Blood shall be done away V. LET it not then perplex me that my Sins though many and of such a magnitudâ— discomfort me For were I not oppress'd and heavy laden with Sins what need I earnestly request Christ's Righteousness Had I no Distemper I had no necessity to implore the Physician 's Help but I am spiritually sick and He who is the Lord our Righteousness is both our Saviour and Physician Lord I am Sick a Sinner and Condemned and upon the Grand Inquest of my Conscience pronounce my self Guilty but have Mercy on me O my Physician my Saviour and my Righteousness MED V. The Youth's Memento Eccles. xii 6. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth IT was both seasonable and profitable Advice and one of the elegantest and choicest Expressions in the Royal Preacher's Sermon For who is he which is now Young and Vigorous that is certain he shall live to be Old And yet that potent Voice which loudly proclaims to all the World and whose Sound will remain till Death shall be expired is scarce aucible in the Ears of thousands II. 'T IS one of this divine Chanters harmonious Lessons and yet the World thinks it too harsh a Note and is very much displeased with the Tune 'T is strange and an amazing Wonder That the Sweetest and Wisest of Preachers should have so slender a Train of Followers being his Oratory is so Rhetorical and Divine And yet it is so weighty a Text which though they shun to hear understand or read they cannot evade the seeing for the whole Universe is but a Comment on it every Creature we behold preaches this useful Doctrine which we so supinely sleep out with our Eyes open III. NATURE her self carries this Memento in her Forehead and the very Bruit Beasts in this Philosophy can reason with us And it is strange madness that Man should forget his Maker did he but remember himself But alas blooming Youth affects not to be put in mind of Heaven which he is not acquainted with 't would impair his Memory and make him think of his Prayers too often Piety will but chill his Blood Religion makes him look wither'd the Thoughts of Heaven and a Future-State will make him sager than his years requires his Blood informs him he is not yet qualified to turn Divine he may serve his Creator time enough when he is more at
leisure IV. THUS these Temporal Objects of Vanity and Pleasure chase away our Thoughts from Heaven and its Celestial Raptures We can spend the Flower and Beauty of our Years in Vice and think the Almighty will be well enough pleas'd with the Deformity of decrepit Age We can sport and revel our Piety and Time in vain and frivolous Delights and conclude our selves potent enough to compel Heaven and become Religious when we are bowed down with Infirmities and have nothing left us but Repentance and a Tomb. V. WE are so highly pleas'd with the Sweetness of Sense that we are negligent of any greater Felicity and so extraordinary much delighted with the Happiness of Sinning freely that we could willingly embrace that Religion which tolerates Vice most We place all our Devotion with the luxurious Epicure in the Riots of Nature Jolly Meetings are our best Religious Exercises a Sermon is as troublesom and melancholy to us as a Funeral and to hear of our Latter-end in the mid'st of our Pleasures sounds like a Lecture of Death the unwelcome and faint Eccho of the Grave VI. LET the Preacher instruct us never so earnestly to remember our Creator we rather chuse to follow Satan's Doctrine to enjoy this World as long as we can and entertain Thoughts of Heaven at our leisure And shall the Lusts of this vain World O Lord be greater in my Soul than the Love of Thee Shall the temporary Allurements of Sin eclipse the Memory of thy Glory My Life I know is but a Span and yet I beseech thee abreviate that rather than it shoud be spent in a neglect of Thee better this Earthly Tabernacle of my Body be dissolv'd than become a Theatre for Sin to revel in VII LET me pay unto Nature the due Debt I owe her sooner than perhaps she would summons it rather than run deeper in score with thy Justice 'T is far better I should die and be lost in the memory of the World than to forget thee Thou broughtest me at first from nothing not to sin but to serve and fear Thee and has impressed in me a Ray of thy blessed Self that I might not seek my own perverse Will nor pursue this vain World but heavenly Mansions inure me therefore to Thee that I may behold those solid and ravishing Joys and Consolations that is in serving of Thee what Tranquility accompanies thy Grace that so I may no longer follow my own depraved Sense but my Saviour VIII IT is none of the least Sins of our Youth that we are negligent and forgetful of Thee our Creator And no wonder we are ignorant and insensible of the Joys to come that live in such a constant and continued neglect of Heaven Make me therefore O my God seriously to consider that had I the perfect Fruition of all I could wish or long for here I should not only be unsatisfied but in the end find how miserable he is that fixeth his Heart on any thing but Thy Self Teach me therefore so to enjoy the World that I lose not Thee nor the Memory of that Blessed and Eternal Reward Thou hast promised to them that Honour and Fear Thee MED VI. General Rules for a Godly Life Ephes. xv 16. See then that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil EVERY Day Death approaches thee and then follows Judgment and Eternity Therefore think often how thou may'st be able to Answer in that most strict and severe Judgment Look circumspectly unto thy Thoughts Words and Actions for at that great Tribunal thou must render up an exact Account Eccles. 12. 14. Every Evening and Morning entertain thy Thoughts of the pale Messenger and deferr not thy Repentance till the next Day for the Morrow is uncertain but Death is certain and waits no Person 's leisure II. NOTHING is more opposite to Piety than Procrastination If thou contemnest the inward Voice of the Holy Spirit thou will never attain to a sincere Repentance Make it thy business and study to walk in the Law of the Lord. In thy Conversation be Affable and Courteous to all Perplexing to none and Familiar with few To God live Piously to thy self Continently and to thy Neighbour Justly Shew Favour to thy Friend Patience to thy Enemy thy Good-Will towards all and thy Bounty to whom thou art able Always call to mind Three things past the Evil committed the Good omitted and the Time pretermitted And ever bear in mind Three things present the Brevity of this present Life the Difficulty of being saved and the Paucity of them that shall be saved III. LET thy Evening Prayers ascend and humbly confess the Sins of the Day past and think how many are in danger of Hell-fire Let the last Day of the Seven correct and amend what Enormities thou hast committed the whole Week Shew Obedience to thy Superiours give Counsel and Aid to thy Equals and Defend and Instruct thy Inferiours Subdue thy Body to thy Mind and thy Mind to the Will of God Heartily bewail thy past Evils and set not thy Affections on Temporal Enjoyments but fix them on that which is Eternal Mourn for Sins upon remembrance of them and often remember Death that thou may'st cease from Sin Let the Justice of the Almighty keep thee in Fear and his Mercy preserve thee from Despair IV. WITHDRAW thy self as much as thou can'st from the World and addict thy self wholly to God's Service In Pleasures and Delights be vigilant of thy Chastity in Riches exercise thy Humility and in worldly Affairs neglect not Piety Be studious in pleasing none but thy Saviour neither fear to displease any but Him Deprecate Him always that his Will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven and beseech Him to forgive thee what is past and to guide and govern what he has wrought in thee for the future V. ABANDON all Hypocrisie for God judgeth not according to external appearance but according to the Heart In thy Words take heed of vain repetitions Mat. 6. 7. because for every idle word thou must give an account in the day of judgment Mat. 12. 36. Let thy Words Works and Actions be good or evil they pass not away but remain as Seeds of Eternity And the Apostle assures us If thou sowest to thy flesh of the flesh thou shalt reap corruption but if thou sowest to the spirit of the spirit thou shalt reap life everlasting Gal. 6. 8. Neither Honours Riches Pleasures or Vanities of this Life can attend thee after thy Glass is run out Set a low value upon what thou possesseth but esteem highly what thou wantest VI. LET Holy Meditation produce in thee Knowledge and Knowledge Compunction and Compunction sincere Devotion The Silence of the Mouth creates Peace in the Heart and and the more thou separates thy self from the World the more acceptable thou art to the Almighty Whatsoever thou requestest ask it of God and whatsoever thou enjoyest resign
Almighty and by Legions of apostate Spirits haled away to the dismal Place of Horrour and Confusion where they shall languish under the pressure of intollerable Punishments and by Wonder of Omnipotency shall in Torrents of Fire endure Extremity of Frigidity and in Rivers of Ice be tormented with perpetual Burnings There they shall feed the Worm that never dies and transude in those Flames which cannot be extinguish'd And the Consideration of the Perpetuity of those Supernal Felicities which they rejected for Vanities and of the infinite Continuation of their infernal Tortures will shipwreck all their Hopes in the formidable Gulf of Desperation and plunge them into the bottomless Abysses of the lowest Hell The Prayer O BLESSED Father since Thou art Formidabe in Thy Judgments and Thy Anger is a Consuming Fire since those incorrigible Sinners who despise the Offers of Thy Mercy shall become the Victims of Thy implacable Vengeance and glorifie Thee in unimaginable Pains since Thou hast appointed a Season when an Eternity of Felicity or Misery shall be the Reward of our Actions and we must either stand or fall according to our handy Operations Vouchsafe that the Contemplation of these weighty Verities may be such a prevalent Inducement to the Amendment of our Lives that we may work out our salvation with fear and trembling Let not the pernicious Allurements of this fraudulent World make us negligent of the Wrath to come but let us walk with that aweful Care and vigilant Circumspection that we may appear with Joy in that dreadful Day wherein the greater part of mis-call'd Christians shall be consign'd to an Immortal Ruine and Destruction MED XXVII Upon Hell Isa. xxxiii 14. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burning ETERNAL Death is the dreadful State of the Damned by which they are not only depriv'd of the Presence of the Almighty but are also tormented with perpetual Suffering both in Soul and Body Oh how horrid is it then to incurr the Displeasure of the Divine Omnipotence How strangely infatuated are ye O senseless Sinners to run on so swiftly in the Ways of Sin Tell me Can you freely receive your Wages which is Death and take up your Habitation in Everlasting Burnings there perpetually to abide for ever II. COULD we but obtain by Divine Permission a Visionary Prospect of that incorrigible Miscreant and Traytor Iudas what a Scene of Horror would that be to behold him violently dragg'd by Infernal Spirits and loaded with Chains of Fire his Diabolical Countenance pale and Wan the Voice within him his Conscience Worm-eaten his Pestilential Skin cover'd with Leprosie from whence issues out Stinks not to be endured his Limbs and Body wounded and tormented and his Tongue filled with bitter Lamentations and Execrations What a dreadful Apprehension will the Vision of so deplorable a Spectacle create in thee III. SHOULDST thou in Contemplation fix that dire Object before thine Eyes and upon a strict Disquisition examine him saying Tell me O thou perfidious Iudas what Griefs what Pains and Torments are these thou undergoest What number of Years has thou reign'd in sulphurous Fire And how many Centuries of Ages must thou yet remain buried in Flames and roaring among the Infernal Crew His guilty and amazing Conscience would soon reply The Pains which which I endure are intollerable no intermission for Relief is here to be found but the Torments thus ininflicted are perpetual The least of our Miseries far exceed all Punishments which either the Justice of God or the Cruelties of Men upon Earth did ever execute Despair is our continual Associate and there is no vacant Place for Hopes of ever to be freed for these unexpressible Torments You upon Earth take your Ease you Eat and drink in full Bowls whil'st we want Water to cool our Tongues which are tormented in these Flames IV. Let the Thoughts of Hell's Terrors ever put me in a Method to escape their Fury Consider the Damned in their fatal Circumstances their Life is to die without expiring and their Death is to live in perpetual Punishment There the Tormentor is never wearied the Fire never consumes and the Torments never decrease And this Decree is according as the irrevocable Sentence requires the fulfilling of the Justice of the Almighty and the Reward due to wilful Impenitents and obdurate Offenders that they should never want a sufficient measure of Punishment who were continually glutted and never ceas'd from Sin V. There the least Sin has its peculiar Punishment wonderfully extracted out of its own Sordidness The Salacious shall inhabit in unextinguishable sulphurous Fire continually flaming from their own inordinate Affections The Epicure and Ebrious shall sigh in vain for a little Water to cool their Tongues The Outragious and Passionate shall snarl like mad Dogs and the Malicious and Uncharitable shall corrode their own Entrails The Wealth of the Misers shall be as Goads in their Sides and the Arrogant and Ambitious shall be hurried down from the Precipice of Scorn to the Bottomless-Pit of Contempt The Infatuated shall miserably deplore their mispent Time and pine away with Grief for their not being diligent VI. BUT O what strange Convulsions shall fasten on their Spirits and vulnerate and search the utmost of their Souls When they shall with Amazement behold themselves eternally bereft of the illuminating Vision of the Most Highest When they shall behold themselves eternally exil'd from the joyful and amiable Presence of Jesus that Omnipotence who created 'em to inherit His Kingdom that Saviour who purchas'd 'em to reign with Him in Glory then shall they execrate the Hour of their Nativity and those sordid Associates that enticed them to Ruine They shall exclaim against the Folly of the fraudulent Universe and belch out with a raving Distraction Are these the Products of those infatuated Desires whose empty Enjoyments we esteem'd our Happiness Alas what will our loose Liberties and those fond Delights we so eagerly chas'd after now yield us What Happiness receive we from those fleeting Honours and transitory Treasures we so highly valued They are all fled away as a Vapour and past away as a Morning-Cloud VII BUT the Sting and Torment perpetually endures and plagues our Vitals with Everlasting Anguish Thus shall they roar out but all is deaf to their Complaint Thus shall they lament but no Compassion shall relieve them O dismal Spectacle of a wicked Life O terrible Sequel of a destructive Death perpetually to wish for what they never can obtain perpetually to undergo that which is inevitable O magnify'd be Thy Divine Omnipotence that with such an indulgent Affection gives us timely Notice of our Ruine Save us O blessed Lord from all Impieties Oh save us for Thy Own dear sake Quicken our Minds against the Effects of Sin and with Thy Fatherly Corrections chastise us often that at last the Terrors of Hell may force us into Thy Heavenly Kingdom MED XXVIII Upon Heaven Psal.