sin in our esteem An idle thought to us not to the Lord Doth seem a lesser Sin than idle words Unprofitable thoughts and words they both Seem lesser Sins than doth a dreadful Oath But in God's sight the very least offence If with our Wills is Disobedience And Disobedience is a sin as great As is the Sin of VVitchcraft God doth threat All Disobedience with Death Eternal The smallest sin deserves the Lake infernal If to the same we freely give consent And live and dye therein and not Repent So as to Duties some may seem but small Compar'd with others of no weight at all Obedience to a Minister appointed To feed the Flock of Christ the Lord 's Anointed Seems but a little duty when compar'd With that Submission Reverence and Regard VVe owe to God yet as we understand This doth proceed from God as his Command Our being found in wilful negligence God will account it as a great offence A bare profession though indeed it be A Christian duty 't is the least degree It seems indeed as nothing if we bring It to be ballanced with suffering Compar'd with Charity a bare profession â—s but like promis'd Gold without possession And to be brief Christians must not neglect The smallest duty shews the least respect Unto the smallest sin a little leak VVill find a passage for the Seas to break â—nto thy Vessel and without endeavour To stop this Leak thy Ship may sink for ever A little negligence at Sea when Storms Threaten the Sea-men with approaching harms Neglecting to look out the Ship is tost Upon the raging Seas broken and lost VVherefore that thou may scape eternal death Endeavour while on Earth thou drawest breathâ— By searching of God's Word to understand VVhat is thy duty neglect no command Hate every Sin and quite forsake them all Whether the Sin thou loves be great or small So shall not Death affright thee thou shalt be From Death as 't hath a dreadful sting set free North-West by North. Our next's North-West by North Wish not tâ— dyâ— Nor covet after Death immoderately Some under torturing Pains to ease their grieâ— Have wisht for Death thinking to find Relief Within the Grave and in a Pet would cry Let Death now strike his Stroke that I may dye Others again finding themselves distasted Perhaps because some great Design was blasteâ— Will presently puff out their angry breath And in a suddain Passion wish for Death Just like to Jonah when the Lord design'd The Ninevite's Destruction yet inclin'd To Mercy if the Ninevite's Repented Jonah crost in his Mind was discontented And wish'd to dye for which he was reprove Altho a holy Prophet and beloved Alas poor Souls you that cry out so fast For Death as if indeed you were in hast Should God but grant your unadvis'd Petition You quickly would bewail your sad Condition And cry as fast Oh that the Lord would spare My Life a little longer Oh beware Lest God provoked take away thy breath Against thy mind Poor Soul prepare for Death but dye Before thou wish so unadvisedly That when Death comes thou 'st nought to do If God be pleased to lengthen out thy dayes Be then well pleas'd to spend them to his Praise And if he 's pleas'd thy Dayes shall be but few Be thou content and labour to eschew All kind of Sin whereby thou may'st offend Him that alone can Crown thy latter End With Happiness unto Eternity Thus learn to live that thou may learn to dye North North-West Our next Point's North North-West Th' art now lanch't forth Into the Deeps and drawest nigh thy North Thy Dayes is spent and now thy Spirit must Return to God thy Body to the Dust God is thy Northern Star from thence thou came Who was and is unchangeably the same 'T was He who at the first did give thee Breath 'T is He for Sin doth summons thee by Death 'T is God who in his Image first did make thee And never since was willing to forsake thee 'T was He that did appoint a Second Life To put a Period to that deadly Strife That Sin has made 'twixt Man and his Creator 'T was God that did appoint a Mediator Even Jesus Christ to whom God doth direct thee Because he is not willing to reject thee From North to East thou wast at first conducted From God to Christ his Son to be instructed And brought into the way of Life where thou The things belonging to thy Peace might know Thy time on Earth that short uncertain Space Has been the Day of Patience and of Grace Which if thou hast neglected till thy Sun Be wholly set the Day of Grace is done T' expect another Day of Grace is vain From North to East thou must be brought again From God to Christ thou once again must pass Who is appointed not as first he was To be the Saviour of thy Soul but He By God's Appointment now thy Judge must be Your Consciences whose Checks you now refuse Will testifie against you and accuse Thee to thy Judge and none will intercede Thou 'st not a Friend in thy behalf to plead Christ was thy Friend whose Counsel thou refus'd And all his gracious Promises abus'd Thou that rejected Counsel heretofore Shall never have a Word of Counsel more The Prince of Peace that sacred Lamb of Sion Is now become a fierce devouring Lyon He that being fill'd with Mercy and Compassion Laid down his Life to purchase thy Salvation Is cloath'd with Fury now and burning Ire And is become a Soul-consuming Fire This sacred Truth is left upon Record Within the Volumes of God's holy Word 'T will be a Soul-cousening Day of trouble Wherein the Wicked shall become as Stubble Which in an Oven is consum'd away So dreadful is that Soul-amazing Day To all the Wicked such as do Rebell Depart depart you Cursed into Hell Will be the Sentence that the Judge will give Unto all such as in Rebellion live Depart to Hell where you Eternally Shall be a dying but shall never dye Go down to Hell depart out of my sight To utter Darkness to eternal Night Depart to Hell for as your Works are evil So shall you now be Sharers with the Devil Depart to Hell to everlasting Pain From whence expect not to return again You that can scoff at Resurrection now Would then avoyd it if you knew but how Your dismal Night will never find a Morrow Your Merriments will all be turn'd to Sorrow Who can express the dolorous Grief and Pain That damned Souls shut up in Hell sustain Where Fire goes not out where Worm ne'r dies Where cursed Oaths is turn'd to hidecous Cryes Sad is the Case with Hell-confined Souls Who now in stead of drinking Wine in Bowles Gnashing their Teeth with anguish they must spend Their doleful Hours in pain World without end You that have spent some time in sinful Pleasure To satisfie your Lusts shall find no leasure To fix your Eye
God commend The Holy Scripture to us to the end That man might search them and in searching find What 's there revealed of the fathers mind And do the same that so they may obtain Eternal peace when they shall rise again â— erre not here in faith and that thou may Scape Shipwrack here observe what I say Search but the word of God and thou wilt find The Apostles did foresee vain man inclin'd â—o much to Atheism there would arise â—ain men that would Gods sacred Word despise â—aving of Scripture man might live without them â—ea venture to deny the Lord that bought them Which mock at Heaven and without regard Of God or Christ do scoff at Saints reward Who of the Resurrection say in vain Do men that die hope to rise again These be the men of which th' Apostle saith Th' are turned aside and as concerning Faith Have err'd here let thy Faith be sound For want of care here thou mayst run aground And split thy Ship and sink into that Lake Of everlasting Fire and partake With damned Spirits in eternal woe Where fearful and where unbelievers go Thirdly remember this aâ—d understand That thou art to obey to â—â—rists command It is not Moses nor Elias neither Nor Holy Angels take them altogether That God hath made thy Leader to be brief Christ is thy Leader and Commander in chief If I or Angels saith St. Paul do bring Another Gospel teach another thing Believe it not whatever men shall say See how 't agrees with Christ ere you obey Inquire if Christ command it first of all In Person or by Apostolical Decree If neither of them do command God never will require it at thy hand Wherefore be sound in Faith in all these three Forenamed particulars as thou shall be Directed by Gods Word to which I 'll leave thee As to a guid that never will deceive thee And this be sure if thou dost not steer Drectly on this Point bur errest here In matters of thy faith thou makes a poor And slender Voyage though thou comes safe to shore But that I may these errors yet explain In this short breviate read them once again A man may erre in faith in three respects All which produce most dangerous effects In not believing universal love It is a dangerous error and may prove The ruin of thy soul but secondly He errs in faith that doth presumptuously Deny the use of holy Scripture and Presumes to say that men may understand Gods mind without them from a light within This is an error and a dangerous sin Denying use of Scripture is the ground Of all the erors that do now abound Men erre in Faith that do not understand That they are wholly under Christs command But run to Moses Law to be directed In Gods true worship as if Christ neglected To leave his Gospel Churches a supply Of Laws to rule and Rules to worship by East by North. The next Point unto this thou art to learn Is North by East a Point of high concern As Christ for man by Gods degree was slain So Christ by God is rais'd to life again And as Chist by his Death did reconcile Man who by sinning did himself defile Unto his maker and hath now appeas'd Gods wrath who justly might have been displeas'd With man for ever but now reconcil'd He doth in Christ adopt man as his Child And make him heir with Christ in that possession Whose endless glory is without expression So Christ doth by his glorious Resurrection Raise man from death to life his imperfection Is Chang'd into a pure perfect state Which once begun will never terminate Mortal shall put on immortality And man thus rais'd to life shall never die Christ by the Word of God he overcame Satan that was the cause of sin and shame And that a Saint may do 't God doth afford Every Child of his the self same sword He that thus Conquered Satan by his breath Hath by his Resurection conquered Death Mans fatal enemy that first anoy'd The Sons of Adam is at last destroy'd The Son of God is Captain King and Head And is the first that riseth from the dead Whence we a certain testimony have That we should be redeemed from the grave The grave yields up her dead so must the deep The Trump must sound and all must wake from sleep Some unto dismal Darkness woe and sorrow Some to eternal light and joyful moâ—â—ow Sin causes Death both temporal and eternal Then fly from sin as from a foe infernal The Second Death is a perpetual dying Attended with Sorrow and continual Crying Whoever then would wisely undertake A prosperous Voiage for his soul to make And scape the second Death sin doth procure And all the sorrows sinners shall indure And would arrive at heaven fear no weather Storms is no hindrance in your Voiage thither Fear naught but sin there 's nothing else can harm You may get good advantage by a Storm Eschew but sin and storms will drive you faster To your desired Port there 's no disaster That thou canst meet with in this restless ocean Fly but from sin resist it in its motion And do not fear for thou art safe enough Thou 'lt find thy crasie Vessel weather proof 'T is neither whisling Mast nor ratling Pum The noise of storms or tempests that may come T is neither leaking Vessel or Lee shore Nor sinking Ship all these and many more Like seeming dangers that will lose thy prize Or hurt or hazard thy souls merchandize There 's nought but sin I say that can deceive us Of our souls trafique sin will quite bereave us He that doth fear and fly from sin shall never Perish in sinking no nor sink for ever Although his body sink his precious store His soul I mean shall surely come to shore Then fly from sin as from a Serpent least Sin sink thy soul which brings us to the East To Christ I mean whose precious blood was spilt To save thy soul and free thee from the guilt Of all thy sins if thou wilt but obey His precious voice now while it is too day East Next is our Eastern point that equal space Twixt North and South stablish thy heart with grace Grace is the only balast thou canst have It is by grace that God will sinners save Not of our selves so saith his servant Paul Christ is the gift of God given for all Stablish thy heart with grace not with notion Which fills the head and not the heart with motion 'T is neither gifts nor high expressions can Upon right grounds establish any man Grace is that balast makes thy Ship go steady But high aspiring notions makes men heady How many floating and unwary Souls Wanting this balast is tost about and rouls Now here now there no place of rest they find Are tost and turn'd about with every wind And almost overset with every wave And can no solid satisfaction have Sometimes their curious
shadows of the night Doth put the Suns fair pleasant beams to flight â—o where true holiness doth take possession â—here's no allowance for the least transgression Nor is there any place for holiness Where sins usurping power doth possess Sometimes we see the Sun appears so bright As if no darkness now could stain its light But presently we see a Cloud arise And then the Sun is hidden from our eyes Just thus it 's with a Saint a little folly O how it stains him that 's reputed holy If once a Christian do contract a blot His former holiness is quite forgot A Saint whose conversation is upright 'T will put whole legions of his sins to flight Let Christ our blessed Eastern Star shine clear Within thy soul and sin will disappear Thus have we given thee a brief relation Of three first Points of Sacred Speculation Of North of South of East the next must be Our Western Point which take with brevetie God is our North and Christ our Morning Sun Holiness our South at West our day is done As Moses councell'd Israel so do I First learn to live and yet prepare to die That faithful servant of the Lord whose breath Propounds to Israel both life and death I have saith Moses set before your eyes This day both life and death may I advise Or give you council how to make your choice Could I perswade you to obey my voice You should not die saith he for I would givâ— You counsel to obey Gods Word and live â—th life is but a momentary space â—f times most fwift yet most uncertain race â—nd that as certain as you draw your breath â—th open air so certain is your death â—nd yet your death no other but a sleep â—our Grave no other than a place to keep â—he broken pieces of your brittle clay â—hich are reserved till the judgment day â—hen your dead corps shall live again and never â—hall be dissolved but remain for ever â—hen do the thing saith Moses that may be â—f soul concernment to eternity Death is our Western Point by death we pass â—ut of this world return to what we was â—o dust again Sentence of death was given â—hen men transgress'd the sacred will of Heaven The certain wages disobedience brings â—â— death our night of silence whence four things â—â— to be noted needful to be known â—y spiritual Seamen which I thus lay down First Death is certain every soul must taste â—f death or else be changed first or last â—he stroke of death can never be avoided â—owever some may vainly be perswaded â—ur lives our days our Suns resplendant light â—ill set in death will terminate in night â—herefore in vain some foolishly assay â—o flatter death and send it far away â—rom youth to manhood and from thence to age â—or death must act its part upon this Stage Though man would flatter death it never stays Death strikes the child the aged man betrayâ— The hopeful young man even in his prime And gives him not sometimes a minutes time Uncertain when but certain death will strike Respecting Kings and Beggers all alike But in the sccond place it is as plain Our Sun that sets i' th West will rise again From God we pass to Christ and Christ doth bless That serious soul brings it to holiness Which fits man for his Western Point from whence By death he 's brought to God his N. from thence He 's brought unto his Eastern Point again He 's rais'd by God through Christ and doth remain Now in a state of perfect holiness Which he shall then eternally possess His Southern Sun is always now at height 'T is always noon and never will be night No Clouds shall now his perfect glory stain His day is perfect and shall so remain No Western Point no dying any more No setting of our Sun as heretofore No shadows nor eclipses shall obscure This glorious day it always shall endure Sin and temptations which now interpose Between the glorious Face of God and those Which from some present glimpses of his Grace Like Moses longs to see his glorious Face Shall now like Clouds disperse and flie away By reason of the glory of the day Those sighs sorrows and those clouds of fears Which sin now raises those soul-melting tears Which sin now causes for which Saints complain They shall be all disper'd and none remain No Satan then the tempter now remains â—n darkness and in everlasting chains O happy he thrice happy he I say That doth arrive at this so glorious day He now is freed from sorrow and distress From thirst and hunger cold and nakedness From all his persecutors he 's set free He 's with the Lord and evermore shall be The glory that his eyes shall then behold One thousand part thereof cannot be told 'T is not in man that lives upon the earth To find out words to set his glory forth But that some glimpses Christians may behold Scriptures compares it with refined gold To precious Pearls whose excellence and worth Exceeds all other treasures in the earth When John that Evangelical Divine By Heavens high appointment did design To leave the Saints a copy of their joy The Lord presents it to his Servants eye Who in a Vision did behold such glory That faith must help a man to read the story The glory of this vision was so great As that the highest pitch of mans conceit Can hardly reach the strength of mans desire Can scarcely reach so high but never higher He sees a City that to ' th Saints is given Made by the wisdom of the God of Heaven Nay furthermore our Author adds beside The City was adorn'd and beautifi'd Like to a Bride in splendant rich aray Deckt for her Husband on her wedding day Strong is that place glorious that habitation Where God Almighty lays the first foundation Great must the splendor of that glory be Where Gods most soveraign blessed Majestie Improves his sacred wisdom in adorning Bright is that day that hath so clear a morning Blessed is he that feels this warm reflection In the clear morning of his resurrection Eye hath not seen nor can mans heart conceiveâ— This sacred glory yet we may receive Some glimpses of this glory if with care Spiritual with temporal things we do compare Suppose that all the worlds united power Should as one man attempt to build a Tower Whose Heaven aspiring top should reach so high As men might make their dwelling in the Sky Should all the wisdom that the Lord hath given To all the world residing under Heaven Be now improved with united power To beautifie as well as build this Tower With sparkling Diamonds and burnisht Gold Rich for their value glorious to behold With precious Jewels beautifi'd all over While pure Gold the Streets thereof did cover How fair and beautiful with splendor clear Would such a glorious place as this appear That famous Temple Herod once erected â— fair Jerusalem how it affected
real ground to exercise their faith That all the world as holy Scripture saith Might look up unto him and saved be By faith in Christ whose blood was shed for the If thou be careless here and do'st not learn To know this Point thou hardly wilt discern The pleasant Banks of blessed Canaans shore Which if thou miss th' art lost for ever more North East Now learn thy fourth Point 'twixt N. and Eaâ— For in thy Compass so thou'lt find them plac't Man 's saved by the Word of God indeed Which Word of God is that same promis'd seâ— In Gods appointed time this Word became Flesh in our form St. John affirms the same He took not on him Blessed Angels nature But Abraham's seed the shape of humane Creâ—tuâ— A sinless man into the world did come Not by the will of man but from the Womb Of a chaste Virgin came he to fulfil What was decreed in the Fathers will That he might purchase mans eternal good By no less price than his most precious blood This is that Lamb of God to whom is given All soveraign power both in earth and heaven â—gels in heaven are at his Command â—d earthly Potentates shall not withstand â—s mighty power to him all knees shall bow â—gels above and Mortals here below â—om this Point therefore thou may'st understand â—at God the Father doth by Christ command â—ee to submit unto his easie yoke â— else thou must submit unto the stroke â— God 's offended Justice which be sure â—hether thou wilt or no thou must endure â—ey Christ as thy Leader O neglect â—ot this Command if e'r thou do'st expect â—at heavenly consolation from above â—t Christ and not thy Lust command thy love â—rve not thy lusts which leaves thee at thy grave â—t serve the Lord thy Saviour that can save â—y precious soul and if thou dost rebel â—n cast both soul and body into Hell stretch not forth thy hand be not so bold â— take a Comfort touch not take not hold â—on a Gospel Promise in no case â—til a Gospel Precept thou embrace â—bserve the word that holy David spake â—e'll not adventure nor presume to take â—ld of a Promise till he stretch his hand â—rth to take up a Precept and Command â—y hand saith David while his heart consents â—e lifted up to thy Commandements vain men cry for mercy and expect â—r help in storms that do in calms neglect To yield obedience to that Sacred Word Of him whom God hath made our Sovereigâ— Lorâ— God by his holy Prophets spake his mind Once to the Fathers but hath now confin'd The world to hear his Son no other voice Is man to make the object of his choice Therefore observe this Fourth Point with heeâ— And to the Fifth Point we will next proceed North East and by East North East and by East this doth next ensue All you that sail for Heaven take a view Of God and Christ see how they both agree In ones eye how unanimous they be In seeking after mans eternal good God freely sends his Son that by his blood Poor man might be redeem'd from Death likewisâ— Christ freely did become a Sacrifice How wilingly did Christ lay down his life That he might put a period to the strife That sin had made 'twixt God and his Creation That freely brought about poor mans Salvation If God and Christ with such a joynt consent Sought thus to free man from the punishment Of Death eternal and that man might live For ever happy Christ did freely give His Life a ransom was 't the Fathers pleasure At such a rate to purchase endless treasure For mortal man Then suffer not thy lust To hanker after Egipts Golden dust â—ich flies away like chaffe before the wind â—hose place in seeking for thou canst not find 〈◊〉 longest date is but a mortal day â—st Threescore years and ten it will not stay â—d often times it threatens to bereave thee â— heavenly treasure and at last doth leave thee â—member Moses that holy man how he â—spised Egipts wealth thought the degree â— Son in Phraohs Court was much below â—e meanest servant in Gods house to know Crucified Christ's a glorious thing â—mpared with any earthly crowned King â—ath puts an end to Kings and kingly glory â—cause their honours is but transitory â— longer King the body being dead â—ath sets the Crown upon the Christians head Death a Christians Crown begins its date â—ich once begun will never terminate â—is Life is short uncertain and impure â— at Life is certain holy doth endure â—ell let not this Fifth Point neglected be â— not forget that God and Christ agree â— bringing Man unto this life again â—o had himself by his trangression slain â—ristians that sail for heaven do not fear â—e raging Seas for Christ your Pilot's there â— not afraid because thy Vessel 's poor â—ou'rt safer there than if thou wer 't on shore â— stately Palaces with sumptuous Feasts â—ongst thy sins those soul devouring beasts 'T is better go to heaven in foul weather Through many dangers if thou get'st but thitheâ— Than in a pleasant gale to swim to hell Where gentle winds do make th' canvass swell East North East The next Point East North East learn carfully This Seventh Point doth bring thee very nigh To Christ thy East mark what his servant saith Erre not be not mistaken in thy faith Concerninâ— Christ that soul that here mistakes Doth run himself upon a rock and makes The worst of Ship-wracks like to Alexander Who erring from the Christian faith did wander In paths of Darkness let Philotas be A mark of information unto thee That by this Seamark thou mayst understand How nigh thou art the rocks and scape the sand Remember well the greatness of Gods grace Do not forget his love in any case Not to some few but all without exemption God did propound his Son formans redemption No man shall die because God did not give His Son to suffer Death that he might live But for this cause God would have cleansed mans spot In Christs dear blood but man believ'd it not 'T is unbelief that causes man to die That Christ himself doth plainly testifie God loves the World but all will not believe it Christ died for all but some will not receive it This truth shines clearly but some will refuse To walk therein and many rather chuse To walk in Darkness this is condemnation Saith Christ our Lord that purchast mans Salvation That God is real in what he doth say Shines like the Sun it is as clear as day But that the Lord with words makes men believe Christ is there Saviour only to deceive Their understandings Oh that men would see How dreadful dark such apprehensions be He errs in faith that thus forsakes the light He needs must fall that wanders in the night But Secondly a man may erre in faith That make what men not what the Scripture saith Their rule to worship by though
dyes And so doth Jacob and his Sons likewise Moses and Joshua and good Samuel Elisha David all which did excell In Holiness yet Death must act his part Impartially must throw his fatal Dart Pains are the Messengers that Death will send Sickness and Weakness brings thee to thy End Yet when we look on Death Coelestially In such a case a Christian cannot dye He only sleeps his Death is but a Night The Trump will wake him in the morning light The holy Fathers all are said to sleep Their Graves as in in a sacred Bed doth keep Their breathless Bodies which must there remain Till God restore both Breath and Life again Yet with respect to Man this is a Death Because all Men surrender up their Breath To God who unto Man at first did give A comely Form and Breath to make him live Yet wicked Men oft take away by force That sacred Breath contrary to the course That God appoints If here you do not mind To stear aright although against the Wind Your weather-beaten Vessels may be driven Upon the Rocks and split but God hath given Such true Directions that thou needs not fear For Holiness directs thee how to stear Upon this dangerous Point and not miscarry Though Waves be rough and Winds be quite contrary South South-West Seventeen Points already is exprest This Eighteen Point draws nigher to the West An useful Point and needful to be known By all that do the Christian Compass own Death is the King of Terrors doth arrest All sorts of Men spares not the very best â—t is not Holyness that will excuse When Death sends forth his Summons Men may use Means to prolong their days but yet they must Direct or indirectly come to Dust Directly all Men tast of Death we know â—ecause the Lord hath said it shall be so â—ut holy Men do often yield their Breath â—t Tyrant's Pleasures who conspire their Death Abel a holy Man and yet must dye â—y Cain's inraged causless Cruelty wicked Man cannot endure the sight â—f him that 's Just because he brings to light â—is wicked Deeds and secretly reproves â—hose sinful Lusts his Soul so dearly loves â—nd for this cause did Herod lay his hand â—pon John Baptist and at his Command â—e holy Prophet must be put to Death â—d to the Cruel Tyrant yields his Breath â—r my Names sake saith Christ you shall be hated â—en of those to whom you stand related As Natural Brethren in the Flesh or rather As Children dear unto a tender Father Yet these Relations being wicked brings Their Children dear before the Face of King And Governours who with their Rulers will Imprison some and other some they 'l kill Thus did the best of Men by wicked Force Ere God's appointed time of Nature's Course Be fully spent This Point well understood You may ride safely on the raging Flood Of earthly Troubles but without Endeavouâ— To learn this Point you may be lost for ever Both Ship and Lading Holyness will guide yâ— Upon this Point no danger shall betide you For Holyness prepares the Soul for Death When God directly takes away thy Breath And frees thee from the fear of Death likewisâ— Which wicked Men maliciously devise South-West and by South South-West and by South Behold how tâ— Point liâ— This Point you must be sure to learn likewise Death is a Terror it can be no less When 't is not usher'd-in with Holyness If thou would dye in perfect Peace be sure Thou persevere in Holyness Indure Faithful to Death and thou shalt surely have A Crown of Life on th' other side the Grave But if upon this Point thou stears not right Thy hope't-for Morning will be turn'd to Night Thou wilt by storm beset and fiercely driven On Rocks Sands and never come to Heaven South-West South-West's the 20th Point o' th Compass and Even between the South and West doth stand â—his is an useful Point and therefore thou Must labour to be skill'd therein And know Tho Death with his impartial Sythe cut down The best of Men that ever yet was known Yet to the Saints Death's but an Agent sent On an Embassage and to this intent To tell the Saint That now the Sun grows low And Night draws on and now 't is time to go To his desired Bed where he must rest From all his Labours Such a Saint is blest Who while he lives all Filthiness abhorr'd And when he dies Death finds him in the Lord. Store up therefore before you go from hence Some solid and well-grounded Evidence That thou art in the Lord and when you dye Then take this Cordial that thou hast laid by One dram thereof will stand thee in more stead Than all the World Then Blessed are the Dead Will be a sweet and comfortable Sound And make your Joys though dying to abound Oh what a Comfort is it now to dye VVhen Souls can rightly to themselves apply The precious Promises God doth afford VVithin the Volumes of his holy VVord Even this Promise that the Lord doth grant To Man as Terms of the New Covenant Their Sins and their Iniquities no more Shall be remembered as heretofore In the first Legal Covenant they were Still called to remembrance every Year That Soul that sees himself by Christ remitted And also knows he freely stands acquitted When others mourn he can rejoyce and sing The worst that Death can do is but to bring â—im Tydings that he 's going to lay down An Earthly to enjoy a Heavenly Crown He freely in his arms can Death embrace O happy he that dies in such a Case The happy Tydings that grim Death doth bring To such a one doth take away the Sting Death only is a Terror unto those That do themselves to Righteousness oppose When such a one doth look Death in the Face O then he cryes out for a longer space But all too late Death will not be deny'd The Day of Grace is past thou 'st mist thy Tyde Well to this Point I now shall say no more But only this Get Evidence in store That thou art in the Lord that Death may be A Messenger of Joy and Peace to thee South-West and by West South-West by West this Point must also be Well taught and also learn'd by every He That Launcheth forth upon each raging Wave â—n hope he shall a happy Issue have Oh let me lodge this Errand in thy Breast Now thou art drawing near unto thy West Know that as Righteousness will not excuse A holy Man from Death So they that use To spend their Hours in wickedness and strife Shall not thereby prevent another Life For live they must Man's Life is purchased By Christ's dear Blood that on the Earth was shed Yea tho their Lives have been so vilely evil That they have striven to exceed the Devil â—n Wickedness yet shall not that prevent That Life in order to their Punishment Could Wicked Men by Sin prevent that Day How would
impression leaves a pleasant savor Makes them in love with goodness lets them seâ— The foolish madness of Impiety Men truly brought unto a sight of sins Soon sees the danger of it and begins To take up resolutions to forsake it Hear now this Counsel O my Soul take it Be like the Sea-man who while he make sure To save himself doth all the rest secure Yet by the way this one thing must be knovvn While thou seeks others good slight not thinâ— ownâ— 8. From these unconstant various mutations Which Sea-men daily see these Meditations Which under this eighth circumstance doth sheâ— It self is here presented to our view How do calm Evenings many times deceive The too secure Sea-men who believe Perhaps because they see no present Storm Before the Sun goes down there will no harm Suprise their quiet rest but that they may Lye down in safety sleep till brake of day But now behold before the Night is spent A sudden Tempest is from Heaven sent That doth awake them they are dispossest All of a sunden of their quiet rest Their Evening's Calm's turn'd to a Night of sorrow In great distress they cry out for the Morrow Hoping the Day when come will bring Relief But Day Alas doth still increase their Grief O sad disastrous Accident most strange O great Mutation unexpected Change Who would have thought but some few Hours past Those Calms would usher in so great a Blast The Day is come but yet no Hope remains They call and cry but yet their fruitless pains Goes unrewarded till the dismal Night Comes on puts their slender Hopes to flight Their Hope is at an end their Day is done Their sable Night has now obscur'd the Sun And now they are expecting every Minit Their Ship should sink with every thing that 's in it But of a suddain as the Night came on The Tempest ceases all their Fears are gone They that were now with fear of Death possest Can now dispose themselves to quiet Rest They whose perplexed Thoughts the Storms did fright Who were in dread of a Tempestuous Night Can now lye down in safety sleep secure These strange Mutations Seamen do endure Thus stands the Case my Soul The same Mutation Dayly attends upon Soul-Navigation How calm sometimes an Evening doth appear The Soul goes on in sin and doth not fear He sins and sins again without relenting And not so much as dreams of his Repenting While others fear the losing of their Souls He sins and meets with nothing that controuls Can laugh at Vices and can play with Sins So great 's the Calm But suddainly begins An unexpected Alteration and He now begins to see and understand That God's an Enemy to Sin and will Not clear the Guilty but in wrath will kill All the Ungodly such as do rebell He will cast down into the Pit of Hell Where Sinners shall be Subjects of his Ire And live Eternally in Flames of Fire O what a Tempest is there now begun His Joy is over and his Peace is done Now every Sin seems like a mighty Wave He now cryes out with Peter O Lord save A miserable Wretch that am undone O may I see the Morning may the Sun Arise and fill my darkned Soul with Light And free me from the Terror of the Night Thus with Soul-melting lamentable crys My soul did long to see the Sun arise But when the Morning came alas my grief Seem'd rather more than less and my relief Seems farther off the Sun did shine so clear That now my sins like Armies do appear I saw Gods Love in Christ indeed most plain And understood that he for Sin was slain Yea furthermore I also understood T was for great Sinners that he shed his Blood But yet withall I also did perceive That such as did the Benefit receive Were real Converts such as did repent But I beheld my self Impenitent â— disobedient Rebell With Delight Have I committed sin both day and night â—or could I see a Reason to expect â—hat which was only due to God's Elect. Thus in the Day the Tempest did increase â—he more I saw the further off from Peace â—he Tempest thus continued till the Light â—as quite obscur'd and a dreadful Night â—ame fast approaching on my Watchful Eye â—ees nothing now but Death Eternally Behold My Sorrow 's now at height extream â—ow all the World for one refreshing Beam â—ut when I thought this dark and dismal Night â—ould sink my Soul I saw by Candle-Light spotless Dove bringing a Branch of Peace â—id to the Seas Be still Their Rage did cease was the sacred Candle of Gods Word â—at did this precious Beam of Light afford â—lainly saw from thence that Christ was sent â— save the sinful disobedient I saw from thence God never past Deaths Sentencâ— On any Man till he refus'd Repentance I saw from thence God never did respect Any Man's Person nor did he reject The worst of Sinners that were but content To leave his sins and truly to repent I saw from thence God's Universal Love To every Man This sacred Light did prove That God loves all Men from his first Creation And from this Light I saw his great Compassioâ— Unto his Creature Man whom he did make In his own Image for which Creature 's sake He made a gracious Promise of Redemption Unto his Creature Man without Exemption I saw my self from thence as one of those That God out of the whole Creation chose To bear his Image hence I knew likewise If any one that bears his Image dies 'T is not because the Lord before hath said This Man whom I have in my Image made Shall dye Eternally he shall not have Sufficient Means allowed him to save His Soul from Death But 't is because he chuâ— To walk in Paths of Darkness and refuses That sacred Path of Light and Life that 's givâ— Wherein all Men may stear their Course for Hâ—vâ— All these bright Beams of glorious Light Diviâ— Forth from the Candle of God's Word did shine Even in the Night the stormy Wind did cease Which fill'd my Heart with Comfort Joy and Peace 9. How beautifull's the Ship when under sail Having th' advantage of a pleasant Gale With how much Pleasure Ease Chearfulness Do Seamen then attend their Business How pleasant is their passage when no Storm Puts them in fear of an approaching Harm When neither Wind nor Weather interpose How well all matters in their Voyage goes How beautiful's the Soul when its Affections Is wholly guided by Divine Directions When holy Breathings makes th' Affections swell With Love and Zeal for God and to excell When sacred Breathings thus possess the Mind He 's like a Ship that runs before the Wind Upon the smooth-fac'd Seas when never a blast Is sent to interpose O then what hast The Soul doth make for Heaven when it's Corruptions Is all subdu'd and makes no Interruptions How pleasant O my Soul and with what ease Thou dost