must live again that his Life may be remember'd Nor yet is it so much the Terror of Death as the Horrors of a Guilty Conscience the formidable Prognosticks of a Future Etetnity that affrights the departing Soul The Pangs and Anguish of expiring Nature are insignificant to those Stings that attend the Memory of our Crimes The deep Sorrows of the Grave and our being Extinct here for ever are Joys to the Miseries which remain behind but will certainly come IV. INFORM me now thou that art so indulgent to the World and hunts for Paradise in a Park of Sins thou that makest Terrestrial things thy Treasure and foldest up the Riches of thy Hopes in the Bosom of Old Time or the Compass of a Span when those lucid and swift Guides of Life thine Eyes shall wax dim with Age or tired with Pain when every Member shall become Sorrow's Object and those Parts which were so employ'd in the Operation of Sin shall become Instruments of Despair when that delectable Frame that magnificent Darling Edifice thy Body shall by its shivering Qualms and trembling Convulsions consternate its disconsolate Owner how will the Fulgurations of a Future Justice and the Terrours of thy Ultimate End confound thee V. CAN those transitory Enjoyments that allured away thy Immortal Part restore it in convenient time Can those Pleasures which bereft thee of Heaven recover it again before Death puts a period to thy Life Can thy Pomps and Vanities asswage or allay thy deep Sorrows or the Memento of thy Sins the Destruction of thy End Where 's that soft Musick whose select Airs like David's Harp might charm the Cries of a Guilty Conscience and by its skilful Strains drop a pleasant Harmony that might pacifie the Trouble of thy anguish'd Soul IV. WHERE are those expanded Trophies of empty Glories thy Ambition has purchas'd at the easie Rate of only sinning for greedy Honour for which thou hast traffiqu'd and sold Heaven That Sovereignty for which thou enslavest thy self and lost the perfect Freedom of thy Immortal Soul Cannot all thy Grandeur excite thee up a little and by a fumy Power once so formidable and applauded reprieve thee from the unsatisfy'd Grave or a more Eternal Prison VII Where are those Goods of Fortune thou hast forfeited thine Inheritance for whose transporting Lustre deprived thee of thy Eye-sight and render'd thee dimmer than themselves Can they by their utmost Skill neither bribe nor purchase thy Pardon Or will the silent Grave require no other Fee than so rich a Miser Where are all those fine Diversions that divested thee of thy Piety and the Thoughts of thy Creator those pleasing deluding Vanities that swept away all sense of Heaven and fore-sight of thy Future State Are all shrunk into a Tomb and an unwelcom Period Are all thy Jocularities terminated in the Confines of a Sepulchral-Urn and no other Objects left for thy Concomitants but thy Crimes and those Terrours thy Guilt presents VIII BEHOLD now and stand amaz'd ye Adorers of the World more than of the Almighty and view the Portraiture of your End those Ruines you have so smoothly built on Try if your imaginary Felicities are Proof against this Arrow or can protect you from this Invader the only Conqueror of the World whose general Prison is but a Reserve for a worse and its Execution here but a Reprieve for a more durable and yet vital Mortality He that reign'd in Pleasures must expire in Flames and having long revelled it in Sin must expect to riot it in Torments and the misery is that wishing not to live he can never die IX AND yet how foolish and vain are our Desires still after the World How easie and alluringly O Lord are we led by the counterfeit and transitory Pleasures of this Life from Thee We cannot plead Ignorance but fully attest That the Wages of Sin is Death and yet how absurdly do we preferr its Service before Thine whose Recompence of Reward is Life and Immortality But The Period of Profaneness is Eternal Destruction and the Delights of Impiety end in Confusion and yet we eagerly embrace the fawning Proffers of Sin before the never-failing Promises of Everlasting Glory X. Have Pity O Holy Jesu upon the weak Frailties of our Humane and Corrupt Natures And we humbly implore Thee to pardon and forgive the profuse Irregularities of our whole Lives Grant unto us O Lord a perpetual Supply of noble and ardent Defires to run after Thee that the Pomps Vanities and Tinselware of the World may become Objects of our Scorn and Derision and that the bright Splendour of Thy Eternal Glory may create our Ambition to serve Thee all the Days we remain here that we may not for a present temporal Enjoyment in this transitory Life lose the blessed Hopes and future Inheritance of the Saints in Light but at last having finished our Course here we may arrive with Joy and Gladness at Thy Heavenly Kingdom MED XXVI Upon Judgment 2 Cor. v. 10. For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad IT is an Axiom confirm'd by woful Experience That the generality of them which bear the Name of Christians and pretend to fight under Christ's Banner against the Enemies of the Apostolick Faith are by their profligate Impieties the greatest Scandal to that glorious Profession They live in such a Universe of Wickedness as if the Redeemer of the World descended from Glory not to subvert but to establish the Empire of Sin as if the main Design of their State in this World were only to fulfil that voluptuous Maxim of the Licentious Epicure Let us eat and drink for to morrow we mst die II. BUT if these Proficients in Atheism had a serious Memento That there is a Deity inthron'd in Heaven who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity and so jealous of his Honour that he will not remit the least Guilt with Impunity could they be perswaded to devote a few Minutes of the Time which they consume away to finish their Debaucheries to a solemn Reflexion upon that inevitable Account which will be exacted from them at the General Resuscitation when not only their Words and Actions but the most occultest of their Cogitations shall be brought to Judgment it were impossible for them unless given over to a reprobate Sense to perpetuate under the Dominion of their Carnal Appetites and Infections III. THE very Apprehension of the Vengeance to come would fright 'em into an immediate Repentance and produce such an admirable Reformation that living soberly righteously and godly in this present world they might be found Unblameable in the Great Day of the Lord Jesus And what a Day will that be at whose Appearance the Sun shall be turned into Darkness and the Moon into Blood Act. 2. 20. When the Heavens shall be rolled together as a Scroll Isa. 34.
Profession only but our daily Practises too that must proclaim us Heralds of this Faith V. ALTHOUGH our Merits can never reach Heaven yet our pious Endeavours may if they are sincere because there is a Mercy hangs over our Heads that will pardon our Deficiency All the Blossoms and Buds of our Piety spring forth from this Stem and he that either believes or loves his Saviour that died for him cannot imagine he is too much industrious to live well This was the Female Sex's Faith here and she had scarce effus'd it out with floods of Tears when the Infernal Fiend in a Consternation forsakes his hold unable to endure the Eccho of that Sound which was repeated by the diviner Accent of our Redeemer's Lips and this Faith must be a Preservative against Sin and by its diviner Charms chase Satan to his Chains of Darkness 'T is this that prepares Heaven for us that makes us survive our Monuments become Immortal in our Graves and promises Eternity to our Dust and Ashes 'T is this that consummates our Happiness and will safely arrive us where the Blessed Jesus shall receive us into His Glory VI. O MOST Divine Omnipotence Thou sentest Thy Son Christ Jesus to die for us that by Believing in Him we might attain to Everlasting Life He under whom Thou hast put all things in Subjection was pleas'd to condescend to level Himself with them and dethron'd Himself to undergo a Crucifixion for our Souls that we might receive the Benefits of His Death and Passion and be Partakers of His Glory Oh let not those Miseries of our depraved Nature which petitioned Thy Mercy and Compassion make us uncapable of it Let not those that plead Ignorance of Thee but by Thy Miracles be more ardous in acknowledging Thine abundant Goodness than we who by the Manifestation of Thy Love claim an Interest in Thy precious Blood VII BUT grant O Lord that we may live in a perpetual Thanksgiving to Thy Merits who camest down from the Bosom of Thy Father to purchase and save our Immortal Souls To this end do Thou inspire into us that Faith without which it is impossible we should please Thee and with which Thou annexes all other Graces Teach us so to rely on Thy Mercies that we may not neglect the Means or imagine that a dead Faith will conduct us to that Life which Thou hast promised to none but them as work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling MED XVII Of Love and Charity 2 Pet. i. 7. And to brotherly-kindness charity TRUE and Sincere Love is an inseparable Property of a Pious Person No Christian can subsist without Faith and where that Vertue is Charity is not wanting Where the Lustre of Charity is extinguish'd the Heat of Faith must consequently be quenched Thou may'st as well rob the bright Luminary the Sun of his Light as deprive Faith of the Gift of Charity Charity is the External Act of the Internal Life of a Christian. The Body is dead without the Spirit and Faith is dead without Charity Jam. 2. 26. He is not a Member of Christ that is not inspired with his Spirit and he is not endued with his Holy Spirit that is destitute of the Gift of Charity II. THIS Theological Vertue is the fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22. And by the Goodness of the Fruit the Tree is demonstrated Charity is the bond of Christian perfection saith the Apostle Col. 3. 14. As the Bodily Members are united together by the Spirit so the true Members of the Mystical Body are united by the Holy Spirit in the Bond of Charity Solomon's Temple was all covered with Gold within and without 1 King 6. 21. So our Bodies and Souls which are the Almighty's Spiritual Temples ought in like manner both within and without to be beautified with Love and Charity Let this regent Vertue exercise its Efficacy in moving thy Heart to Compassion and thy Hand to Contribution For one without the other is not effectual III. FAITH receiveth all from God the Fountain of all Goodness and from that Stream Charity as a Channel conveys it to her Neighbours By Faith we are made Partakers of the Divine Nature who is Love 1 Joh. 4. 8. Therefore where Charity manifesteth not Externally Faith Internally doth not inhabit No Man believes in the Lord Jesus which doth not express Affections of Love to Him and none can fulsil that New Commandment except he loves his Neighbour None can really apprehend the Benefits of Christ with a Heart unfeigned which has not Bowels of Compassion to the distressed IV. CHARITY is the Seminary of all Vertues and nothing can be of good growth which proceeds not from that Root And this Vertue truly delineated is the Soul 's Spiritual Relish for unto it alone are all things dulcified all Adversity Pain Anguish Trouble nay even Death it self And And the Wise Man confirms this That Love is as strong as Death Cant. 8. 6. And indeed I think I may invert the Wise Man's Text and with Assurance proclaim That Love is stronger than Death For Love brought down a Saviour to die for us Sinners that the Sting of Death might be removed from us He when he had overcome the sharpness of death did open the kingdom of heaven to all believers Oh let us then embrace this Love and die unto Sin daily that we may live unto Righteousness V. ALL the Works of the Most High proceeds from this lovely Attribute even Punishments Denunciations and Judgments The Two great Luminaries and the Constellations of Heaven illuminate not themselves but us wretched Creatures Fire Air Earth and Water were created for our Necessity The Beasts Herbs Plants Trees Birds Fish and Fowls were all for our Use. And as God has been so gracious to give thee Plenty of these Blessings so do thou distribute to thy Neighbours according to their Necessities And this must be done freely with true Amity Affection and Compassion else all our Charity is nothing worth but will prove like sounding Brass or a tinkling Symbal VI. CHARITY is patient 1 Cor. 13. 4. For no Man is easily enraged with those whom he truly affects Charity likewise is bountiful And he who has been so liberal as to resign his Heart to his Friend will without all question not with-hold from him any temporal Enjoyments for the Relief of his Necessity Charity envieth not it thinketh no Evil is not puffed up and behaveth not it self undecently Next she seeketh not those things which are her own neither is she provoked to Anger she imagineth no Mischief nor rejoyceth not in iniquity but she beareth all things believeth hopeth and endureth all things she refuseth not to do unto others as she desires them to perform unto her Tongues and Prophecies shall cease and Arts and Sciences be destroyed but Charity shall never be extinguished VII LET us then study this Lesson of Love and Charity and howsoever thy Friend or Neighbour be qualified towards thee yet remember
to perceive the Evacuity of those Enjoyments he hath so long rouled himself in to resist the enticing Advantages of Sin and disesteem the glittering Flashes of this Life for that Lustre of Glory Thou wilt impart My God instruct me so to use the World that I forget not Thee Let the Blessings Thou showerest down quicken and encrease not stupifie my Devotion Elevate my Obedience not overwhelm my Thankfulness that so the Follies of the World may become my Derision and the Glories of Heaven my only Ambition that I may never for a fading Fruition in this World hazard both my Soul and thy Saving-Grace together MED XXIV In time of Sickness Mat. viii 2. Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean THIS Prayer was effectual and all Petitions are answer'd by the Almighty if deliver'd with a sincere Faith and a good Assurance Let us now be upon the Grand Inquest Is not Sin a Leprosie Then every Sinner ought to make the same Deprecation He that had been a Spectator of the Leper's Body would not have been amaz'd at his Prayer and yet could he but have inspected his Soul might perhaps have beheld Objects more prodigious and horrible the Corruption of his Blood which had lost its Vigour and proved but an useless help to Nature every part without Vitality by so nauseating a Nutrition instructed his Tongue this necessary though doleful kind of Confident Prayer Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean II. CHRIST whose Bounty and Compassion never fails to demonstrate that the Fountain of his Love was as large as his Power was potent would not reject such a Suit wherein his tender Mercy was so much concern'd and those Members which might have been sooner immers'd than bath'd into a Cure re-assume new Vitality and Complexion by the liberal Bounty of a Touch. Thus the Leper receives a new Body but we read no Lecture of any Operation upon his Immortal Part which perhaps effectually required it But his Successor who was Bed-rid was in a far greater state of Happiness for his Sin and Disease were both healed together III. HOW many be found that like the Leper view no higher than their Corporeal Substance whole Exteriour Part is all their Principles of Religion whil'st the Immortal Part that Spring of Life lies all neglected under Epidemical Infection Our Blood shall enjoy all the Delights that Art can reach or the most Chymical Luxury can extract to supply its Flames whil'st our splendid Part the Divine and Celestial Fire which inspires us lies all extinguish'd and bereft of his Immortal Aliment and can reserve nothing but a dull and hectick Lustre to its Maker IV. THE Anguish of a Limb can attract us to more Devotion in one Hour than all the Concernments of our Souls can produce in a Year and the deformity of the meanest Part will appear an Object of more Disgrace and Dolour to us than those pallid and infernal Forms that attend Sin and disfigure Heaven in us Of all Pestilences this is the grandest and yet least regarded as if Hell were but a Trifle Everlasting Damnation a Pleasure and the Eternal Misery of our Souls a Diversion Shew me that exquisite Beauty that is not Leprous that Innocence which is so perspicuous that it is Immaculate that Pattern of Sanctity which may become a Saint that Infant Man or Woman which is a Stranger unto Sin and then I shall be hold an Amazing Wonder V. DID our curious Veins excell the fragrant Violet whose Odour perfumes the Chymistry of the Air the Dew of the blushing Morn Were our Ancestor Adam's Sin an Alien to our crimson Blood and the Day of our Nativity as perspicuuous as the splendidst Morn immaculate as the new-blown Rose yet the Pollution of our irregular Lives would soon discipline us in this Prayer and the blackness of our occultest Thoughts would silently proclaim our own Deformity and be ready to join with the Leper in this Petition Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean VI. AND yet was there not to be found in those Days a Generation of Vipers that were righteous and clean in their own Eyes that justify'd themselves in their own Impurity and reckon'd all the World but Lepers to them Was not the lofty Pharisee a greater Leper than the poor Publicane though so ambitiously he display'd his proud Plumes His soaring Pride carrry'd more contagious Infection along with it than the other Persons Sins could e'er pretend too He that trusts to the Merit of his own Illustration may infallibly lose Heaven and those Eternal Joys which an humble Assurance doth procure VII O LORD though I am not so vile as some yet I am so vile in my own Eyes that the Leper here is a Pattern of Perfection to my imperfect Soul Lazarus's Corps a Perfume to my ulcerated Heart yet were I far more impotent and fractured than the poor Cripple of Bethesda more spotted with Leprosie than the Nine Unthankful Lepers which were cleansed whose Ingratitude was more odious than their Disease were those Legions of Infernal Spirits ejected by Thy Sacred Word infused in me and were I as execrable as Satan could wish to make me yet I know Thy Paternal Goodness and I do not despond of Thy Almighty Power for Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean MED XXV Upon Death Rom. vi 21. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of those things is death SINCE Sin must be destroyed who then would make choice of that for his Felicity which shall perish with himself whose End is not only Death but Hell and will be his Destruction not only now but hereafter Indeed were there no hopes that our Reliques should resuscitate again or the Ruines of our Frame resurrect to a politer Shape we might well plunge our selves in Enjoyments here and fix our Felicity in delectable Pleasures Every Person might then be tollerated without Sin to become an Epicure and he that could project new Modes of Luxry would not only pass for being Ingenious but be esteem'd Fortunate II. GOOD Morality would appear all Vice and yet Vice it self would be held no more a Crime but our Happiness not to be Lavish then were a Sin against Nature and he that excelled in Brutality would be render'd most Rational Legal Proceedings would then be a grand Enemy to Humanity there could be no Sociableness but in Confusion and were there no Heaven nor Hell we should pleasantly mingle to a Chaos and obey no other discipline but Riot every Person might then be Atheistical without Scandal To be without the Almighty and his Grace in the World would be render'd no Misfortune for then every Man might depend upon his own Merits without Blasphemy III. Could they which inhabit the Earth die like Bruits and Animals and revive no more the Hopes of not being Damn'd would be a greater Comfort than the Delights of Sin But alas he that enters the Grave now
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.