is a continual Inquisition on our own hearts to consider all our thoughts how they work towards a good or a bad end and then to cherish or suppress them as they arise for some appear in forms at first fight so ugly they cannot be too soon smothered and some so disguised in pleasing shapes as may deceive a careless heart if not acquainted with the marks the wearâ— and that way Armed and well warned by former harms so as to avoid new wounds from Enemies so dangerous that we must not Treat nor dally with but make them Retreat by a brisk Charge and bold Defie We are also to study to discover another sort of Foes more dangerous then all the rest who lye in close Ambush until some opportunity do call them forth for an Assault and are of form so lovely and so innocent in shew that Charity her self would warm their cold Limbs in her own Bosom and not discern the danger until these cunning Serpents bite beyond resistance and then declare for the Supremacy over the whole man and then muster up all his senses and all his faculties against himself and thus steal a Victory by corrupting those Guards that were given for his defence So that by a long negligence we grow so ignorant of our selves that every assault from Satan shakes the whole man until at last he Roots him up for ever But if our Eternal Being is considerable we should allow some tiâ—â—le to study our own natural inclinations and affections to good or evil and to learn such Rules as may rectifie our senses to submit unto our more rational Souls when led by Grace to work upward towards God which will teach us the wisdom of Salvation and raise our Faith to such dependance on Christ as no worldly Learning can contest for the priority Let us then imploy our time so as to learn to know our selves and our duty unto God in which our everlasting happiness is most concerned CLXX THere can be no better Arguments for frequent Meditations then to think seriously of our sins of Death and our Resurrection to Judgment as we ought and to prepare for so great a concern at a minutes call to step into Eternity so ready that we may so love God and fear Him as to serve him with delight here and to have Celestial joy when we expire CLXXI. NO man ought to think himself above the reach of temptation for when Satan finds us but a little relaxed in our Devotion or any thing cold in our affection to God he can dress an old forsaken sin so like to an Angel of Light as to surprize a young Divine Lover at first sight when his Guards are withdrawn but when his Beloved sees him in such danger He will by His Divine guiding Light unmask the disguised Fiend and so reclaim his near lapsed Lover unto his devout Addresses as before and make him see by such Assaults that he can stand no longer in favour then by his Grace supported But he that is become a well-settled Regenerate man so as to stand ever on his Guard with holy courage to repell all approaches from Satan as fast as they appear will make such frequent Victories his chief delight and when our common Enemy sees that all his attempts on such a man are in vain he will desist who only watches opportunities for his attempts on those he finds remiss and who is often belyed by some men who do invite him to such easie Victories on those of his own complexion as black within and as great Devils as himself CLXXII ALas poor man dost thou complain because thou canst not sleep ten hours every night when Nature doth require but five Thou fearest to die Yet wouldst be dead near half the time thou hast to live for sleep is so like death that we cannot distinguish wherein they differ until we awake But thou art tired for want of entertainment in long Nights Alas poor man that is a sad grievance indeed and worthy of pity for thy Saintship has no sins to confess nor pardon to ask of God no cause to wash thy Bed with tears Heaven and Hell with Eternity to come are not worth thy thinking on until the Bell toll thee to thy Grave and then too late thou wilt wish for some of thy time lost in sleep then to watch and pray and to lament in Sackcloth and Ashes While the Regenerate man finds no time so fit to raise his Soul to Heaven as when he awakes at Mid-night nor any consolation so great as in those hours borrowed from sleep to converse with God in holy Meditations which fills his heart with present joy and peace of conscience that lasts the whole day after and is a good remedy to prevent such fancies as do invade the drowsie Souls of lazie men when they cannot sleep CLXXIII ARt thou fallen by a surprize who has not or may not fall so But if these falls be frequent there is much danger in such Relapses and though not fit to cause despair yet worthy of great care for the future lest thy surprizes grow into a habit and prove but an excuse when thy self betrays thy self so often which will find no credit at the day of Judgment to procure a pardon from the Almighty searcher of our hearts whose Omnipotence is affronted if we think by a trick to hide from Him those crimes we are commanded to confess bewail and forsake CLXXIV WHen God gives us grace to make holy Vows for self-denials with power to perform them He fails not by his Holy Spirit to assure us of his acceptance thereof by the joy our hearts will feel after every resistance of Satanical assaults which will in little time encourage us to take more and more delight in those Victories over our selves who are the greatest Enemies we have CLXXV IT is no easie work for men in health and prosperity to think so often and seriously of Death as is requisite for our preparation to the Grave though no other time is so proper for it For when pains and sickness dâ— distract our minds we are only diligent to seek remedies for cure and often find none but do die with a short prayer sighed out as if Lord have mercy on us were a charm to redeem threescore years mis-spent in sins and vanities without any thought of our Salvation all that time as if Heaven were too melancholly a business to trouble our idle heads with while Youth in vigour reigns which seldom affords any credit for the felicity of Piety and such Romance discourses as they understand not while a Righteous man knows no joy on Earth like his expectation of Heaven and living ever ready to die in hope to be with God there CLXXVI WHen God endows the hearts of men with Holiness it is a sure mark of his especial favour to give us a free admission into the Court of Heaven to be with Him there as often as we please in our Meditations
and gives sufficient grace accordingly at the hour of Death CXXXIII A Great Reprobate by the Grace of God become Regenerate can experimentally judge how much the felicity of Piety doth exceed his former Epicurisms Men in this World without putting Eternity into the Scales against moments and observes that the continual tranquility of a quiet Conscience is much more pleasant then all his past unlawful Fruitions attended with such Terrors as a guilty Soul is loaded with CXXXIV EVery Pious man that has forsaken his sins for fear to offend God who he pretends to love also does begin well And when God sees his sincerity to obey him in all things He will not let him rest there but adds Faith and Grace till his heart longs for a nearer Communion with Christ in Heaven and by a daily custom of such elevated Meditations God will bring this Pious man to despise this World and to overcome the Terrors of the Grave by his expecâ—ation of Heaven where his Soul longs to be CXXXV WE must not desire to die to be rid of affliction here But if we can obtain Grace for so Divine a Love to God as to be glad to go to Him when He calls for us That will be enough and such holy courage at the hour of death will bring great Joy to our expiring Souls CXXXVI THe Souls of Righteous men are said to be with God the moment they expire But to what degree of Bliss they are admitted before the Resurrection is not revealed unto men But it is enough for us to believe that God takes care of those Souls that served and trusted in Him as well as for his departed Saints We need to desire no more then to be with them CXXXVII THe Design of Reading the Scriptures Preaching Praying and Fasting is to bring us to lead such Pious Lives as may shew our Faith and Love to God And so to divert our hearts from Worldly vanities by constant Meditations on the Ioys of Heaven to invite us thither And also encourage our timerous Souls with grace from above to contemn the Grave where they shall not rest one moment Which if well considered our Holy Resolutions would scorn to fear and shrink back from the last step we must make to take possession of the Crown we seem to labour for which will shew that we have but cold desires to be with God CXXXVIII NO Regenerate man can be mistaken in Gods Service who sets his Hâ—art sincerely to that workâ— for God who sees our hearâ—s throughout will not lose such a Votarrâ— but will Sanctify his zeal and make hâ—m see that an humble contriâ—e heart is the Sacâ—ifice He likes And will shew by his 〈◊〉 of Comfort and Consolation to such a man that his Soul will be transported with Raptures of joy in his Divine Contemplations when he finds such inward assurance of Godâ— favor that he cannot doubt of his Reconciliation when thus enriched with Grace and thus led by the Holy Ghost his devout heart will rise higher with bright flames of Love aspiring to get into Christs bosom CXXXIX WE should in our Meditations often reflect on the unquiet and uncertain wealth and Honours of this World and how unworthy such fleeting fruitions are to be preferred before Eternal felicities that so we may not set our hearts and spend our time on such vain acquisitions when immortal happiness will be had on easier and more certain terms and we surely become the Sons of God CXL THe greatest business of our Lives is to learn to die with holy courage and not to start from the Grave nor repine at such means and methods as our kind God appoints to make us willing to come to Him and by such gentle corrections to withdraw us from the World that our hearts may be always working up towards his Throne of Mercy where Christ has purchased places for converted sinners amongst the Angels and has appointed his Holy Spirit to invite and conduct us thither by his inward comforts which grow from the Gospel-promises and is the Christian Faith that repented sins forsaken shall not be charged on us in this World nor the next which is the foundation of Divine valour in a dying convert CXLI THe generality of mankind are naturally inclined to love those who love them and to judge of Friendship and Hatred by the assisting or crossing our designs in this World and the universal object herein is Death So then we are to consider the real effects of this great Monarchs power that controuls the World and see whether he be a more general Friend or Enemy to mankind For as he cuts down some in their first Buds others in the prime Blossoms of their youth and surprizes many of ripeâ— years by hurrying them into unexpected destruction from such Wealth and Honours as their carnal hearts were most delighted with yet the same Death is kind to the most of men who are oppressed with various sorts of Agonies both of mind and body beyond the cure of the best Remedies until by Death released from all degrees of maladies and miseries Now if all this be well considered we may bring our selves to such an acquaintance with this mighty Monarch Death by a daily conversation and preparation for our submission to his unresistable command so as to rejoyce when we are freed from future evils and by Death conducted to our Eternal Rest. And the same moment that our Souls expire we shall conquer Him who conquers all the World and for ever Triumph over his Victories over us So that 't is our weak Faith and frail Nature that makes Death seem so terrible an Enemy unto unrighteous men only CXLII THe true joy of a good Soul in this World is the very joy in Heaven only there 't is superinvested with Glory which a Righteous man enjoys that moment he dies without any stop by the way CXLIII THere is nothing more worthy of our continual thoughts our utmost endeavours and hearty prayers then to obtain the Blessedness to become Regenerate For when the Holy Ghost sanctifies the heart of such a man with the comfortable marks of his Reconciliation and Adoption that man will soon find the continual feast of a good conscience while he lives to be more pleasant then all other things which this World affords and at his hour of death the felieity of his Adoption will fill his Soul with holy valour and accompany him to his Everlasting Glory Which joy no mortal fancy can conceive and is the highest works of our strongest Faith to think on and to prepare for CXLIV HE that can upon examination find such comfort in his Soul as to be ever ready and willing to appear at the day of Judgment must be enlightned and guided by the Holy Ghost and sanctified by a Spiritual Resurrection from sin to grace and from all worldly temptations so as his chief delight will be in a Divine conversation with God by frequent approaches for the continuance
to God by Him and may also have an humble assurance in our own hearts of such a joyful Resurrection as will allay the terrors of Death and give us a chearful passage to his Eternal Bliss and thus Pious Penitents may die chearfully without presuming on their own Justification and less assurance then this may prove a groundless despair on our diffidence in Gods promises or an undervaluing of Christs Merits and Intercession for us on which our Repentance and Conversion is grounded and our Salvation depends CLXV COnsideration has a vast extent it reaches all past time and looks on towards Eternity to come it searches into Hell and up to Heaven and humbly consults the glorious Attributes of God and teaches us how to know and obey his Will it enquires into the bottom of our own hearts and the fathomless thoughts of our unbounded fancies how they stand towards the Obedience we profess to God And if on a full confideration of all our ways we find our hearts fixed on God it does produce Divine consolations it entertains and satisfies us with a continual variety of joyful objects to enlarge our Souls on suitable to the great end we aim at So that consideration is the greatest and most useful Lesson that was ever taught to man and the most delightful study we can practice to make our troublesom travels in this World easie to us by our constant expectation of Eternal Joy and Glory at our Journeys end which requires much consideration how to reach lest we miss our way thither He that retires to consider what he must do to be saved makes his Religion his business for without retirement our thoughts â—low at large but in retired Holy Meditations some awe and reverence does seize on the Soul which while that Pulse beats declares it to be alive and active in searching for its Salvation and never fails of finding those comforts it seeks in this World by the assurance of Glory in the next CLXVI IF the felicity of Piety were generally understood men would make more hast to become Regenerate that in our assaults from Satan and injuries from men we might Triumph in such Storms as terrifie the hearts of impious Livers But above all if we consider an impenitent habitual sinner on his Death-bed full of despair 〈◊〉 through the horror of his Crimes and apprehension of the Hell he is falling into and at the same time observe a converted sinner reconciled to God long before now delivering up his Soul unto his Saviour with a fixed Faith and a chearful heart hasting to take possession of a blessed Seat in Heaven prepared for him it must needs invite the lookers on to cleansing and reconciling to God before Death surprize us This great concern for our Eternity is in few words thus God has pronounced that impenitent sinners shall not enter into Heaven nor shall true penitents be shut out which confirms the felicity of Piety unto a Regenerate man CLXVII FAith ever was and ever will be the foundation of Religion for no man can worship what he believes is not nor can endeavour to please or fear to offend he knows not who nor what nor why so that we must believe there is some Divine Existence from whence all things are and by which all things subsist and we among the rest are what we are From these natural reasonings and notions we enquire into Traditions and by searching the Holy Scriptures we are powerfully taught concerning God Christ and Holy Ghost and there also learn to improve our Faith to believe the Resurrection after death and that if we do live Righteously we shall when we die participate of that glorious Being in the Eternal presence of our incomprehensible Creator The next step our Faith leads us towards Heaven is from the consideration that our Dust and Ashes is entertain'd on Earth with so great pomp and such high delights that we must believe and expect that our Immortal Souls will have much greater transporting Joys in Heaven then our flesh is capable of until refined for the Day of Judgment And if thus by pious living we can raise our Faith to trust in Christs merits and intercession 't will bring us unto an humble confidence of our Salvation when we die which cannot be had but from above and such Grace from God will encourage us to look more kindly on Death who only can conduct us to this everlasting Joy we believe in and hope for So that by such Meditations of Heaven Death will become so familiar an acquaintance as not to fright us from going to God in His company and will in our last hour support those Souls with comfort whose sincerity God sees through all our failings and accepts of CLXVIII 'T Is a wonder to see what pains men â—ake and what hazards run to gain â—â—rishing wealth to entertain our Bodiâ—â— with which are more perishing then the wealth we seek and all that time neglect our Immortal Souls for their Eternity And though Time be our great concern we value nothing less but vex our Brains and study still how to be rid of what we cannot keep nor ever can recall And though from day to day we are cloy'd with our fruitions and tired with new delights even worn out with various diversions yet in our whole lives never can afford a few minutes time to gain true Rest but still from Age to Age intice and betray our Souls unto new vanities till youth and vigour is decayed and then too revive our dead appetites with fresh budding idle fancies often worse then all that went before until we are surpriz'd by Death and hurried into Eternity before we do see our selves old enough to be at leasure to think of that Grave which is every moment ready to swallow us whereas if we did set our selves at first to resist all Assaults from Satan with a pious vigour and observe it we shall find and feel great pleasure in every Victory over every Temptation which formerly did enslave and triumph over us And then what honour what ambition can be greater then to conquer so great a Conqueror and by practice thus improving our Divine Military skill this way we shall raise daily Trophies so acceptable to God that we shall discern our Souls climbing up to Heaven thereon CLXIX IT is worthy consideration how many men do spend their whole lives in reading Books to learn what has been done of old thereby to instruct the present Age and to inform the future and when by much study and by time grown decrepit they slip into their Graves with the most ignorant and do there create and feed their own Worms who understand not that great wisdom so much labour'd for and then too late such Learned men will find that more advantage might have been made by studying themselves ne're thought on still labouring for a few bubbles of momentary praise as of more use then to secure Eternal Bliss for their immortal Souls Self-study
Celestial joys as the highest and most delightful entertainment he can wish for on this side of Heaven for God is the Centre of a Divine Lovers Soul it cannot move from him without some impulsive force which we should disdain to yield unto XIX HOw frail is humane Nature that can never be so much pleased on Earth as within some time not to become weary of what we most delight in And how much greater frailty is it to know how to be ever pleased and for ever happy but cannot set our hearts sincerely to endeavour for it And yet there is another frailty in some men above all the rest most wonderful that such as have on serious thoughts of their Eternity resigned their hearts to God and for some time known no joy like their transports for Heaven that such men so raised should prove so weakly fixed as boldly dare make room for Satan in their hearts again as the more welcome guest where God did sometime dwell this were a dreadful thing to think on if the mercies of God were not far beyond the reach of sinners to deface And from hence we may learn that holiness is the peculiar gift of God and that we are raised to all degrees of Piety by his holy Spirit who of ourselves can neither rise nor stand one moment in his favour longer than supported by the same Spirit thus to give us humble thoughts of our own little or no strength And yet we are not obliged to rest in such humility but ought to labour and to pray for more and more Talents of faith and grace till their encrease do raise our Souls higher and higher in ambitious zeal to become Divine Lovers and not to be content with less preferment than adopted Sons when we find the Holy Ghost thus at work within us and so may strive to raise our new affections by holy thoughts to the highest pitch of devour extasies of Devotion and by this Divine experiment to try if we can love God too much and have more zeal in prayer than he does like of or can so tire him with our importunate addresses that He will turn away his face and deny his love unto Souls wholly devoted to serve and please him But when we find our hearts full of such sincere raptures in Devotion we may assure our selves they come from God who does ever approve and accept of such flaming sacrificed hearts as are enkindled from above and are much different from any such Enthusiams as Satan can infuse only to infect those wavering hearts that do still incline to be his Vassals XX. THose who have obtained of God to become truly Regenerate do find that a sincere repentance with contrition and conversion of heart to God are rewarded with peace of Conscience and so great a delight in humble converses with God on their meditations of Heaven and their Eternal bâ—iss that all Worldly pleasures do give way to those Divine transports which flow from the Holy Ghost within them And no time so proper to meet God as when they awake at mid-night before any Worldly concerns entertain their hearts for he that chearfully recommends his Soul to God when he lyes down to rest will to his infinite comfort find God ready to receive his first waking ejaculations who begins the day with the same adoration and trusts in him that he lay down to sleep with so that our mid-night conferences with God will by custom grow more pleasant than sleep and will fix such a Divine love on our Creator as will produce great joy here and some glimpse of that glory we shall have in Heaven for God never receives our sincere Addresses without multiplying of his favours in return by such manifestations of his grace as will preserve us in his service until we meet again to pursue those holy meditations which will bring us unto Him in Heaven when we die XXI A Righteous man is a Divine Philosopher that enjoys all his heart can wish in this World by his faith in Christ Love to God Charity to men purity and humility And the Holy Ghost is the great Chymist that conveys all these ingredients into the furnace of a pious heart and there by His influence and operation produces the grand Elixir of true righteousness which preserves the Soul unto Eternal happiness And whoever finds the Holy Ghost thus working in him will find the comfort and consolation of his Salvation in this life which with the serious consideration of his future felicity will be entertainment for his whole time here and keep him always ready for his summons to Heaven and will make his passage thither as easie to the Righteous as it is terrible to an impenitent sinner XXII IT is impossible to fancy and to find any Earthly entertainment for the heart of man but Devotion that can raise his delights higher and higher by fruitions without laâ—situde unto Eternity which elevated devotion is a felicity that the Divine Lover only has and is created in his heart with his Resurrection from sin to grace by a continual succession of growing joys on the assurance he finds of his second Resurrection to Glory at the day of Judgement which is God's peculiar work in the Souls of his Beloved to make them see that He is never absent from such as are totally devoted to love and serve Him for such and only such can securely enjoy God in all his Creatures here and have him also to eternity in Heaven If then the rugged way thither be so pleasant to a Righteous man what will his Seraphick joys be there and how worthy of our utmost endeavours to live so that we may die capable to participate of those joys then XXIII MEn do generally create terrors to fright their own hearts as they do Children with ugly Vizards we represent Death unto our fancies in dismal forms as a Messenger sent from Satan to hurry us from our present delights into everlasting flames And then 't is no wonder that habitual impenitent sinners do start back from the approach of Death when so dressed But the Regenerate Man has an Antidote against this evil He summons his Celestial thoughts and sets his Soul in order as a great Prince in State incircled with Heavenly joys as his Nobility and is also attended by crouds of Guardian Angels to receive the same Death with caresses of great friendship who appears before him drest in bright gorgeous Raiments as an Embassador sent from the King of Kings to consummate a League of Amity and to give him possession of his new Conquest with a Crown of Eternal Glory long fought for and at last obtained So that we generally mistake our passage into the next World and call it death which is assured Life and that Eternal It is our faults if we be frighted at the terrors of torment there where everlasting joys do answer every pious mans expectations who looks on the pangs of his departing Soul but as the
momentary touch of a sharp Lancet that makes him bleed for future health So that men prepar'd for Heaven may change the terrible aspect of a grisly Death into a Divine Angelical form fit to be courted with a most hearty welcome who is sent by God to conduct us unto Him where every wise good man desires to be and this is a great â—ark of the Holy Ghost on the hearts of men to bring sinners to such an Evangelical felicity to live so in Gods favour as to rejoyce to ride on Deaths Chariot in Triumph into Heaven XXIV A Pious man is never alone when most alone but then takes more delight in his approaches to God then this World can afford the greatest Epicure for his devout heart is ever on the wing towards the Throne of mercy from whence his Soul is filled with Divine comforts beyond expression for God never fails to entertain a sincere Soul with high consolations XXV WAtch thy first waking thoughts which will declare thy Soul unto thy self whether Carnally minded or Spirituallized for then is thy fancy fresh unclogg'd with Worldly affairs and then the time to blow up thy flaming gratitude to God in some proportion towards what thou hast received from Him in mercies and in blessings though short in point of merit yet such holy aimes such pious ambitious contests God allows of and is well pleased to see such use made of his grace by such Divine emulations in the hearts of men who do endeavour to raise up their gratitude in competition with his benefits But this must be in such humble Addresses as doth become Dust and Ashes who can do nothing of our selves that is good nor think beyond what we receive and must thank God for the thanks we give him For it is the Holy Ghost that excites and enables us to such a frequent and free conversation with our Great Maker by which elevated zeal and sincere affection in our daily acknowledgments we â—hew that we have some taste of that joy and some glimpse of that glory here which we expect in Heaven and is some Testimony that we have not received the grace of God altogether in vain For no Man can give effectual thanks to God for his mercies until he find some assurance of his reconciliation by the Bloud of Iesus Christ which is the Fountain of all mercies and the great argument for our gratitude to the Father of mercies who forgives transgressions to raise our gratitude to Love XXVI WHoever has so much Faith as to create true notions of the Holy Trinity and Gods eternal habitation of Glory and Bliss in Heaven where he believes that Christ has purchased places for all penitent reconciled sinners that man cannot chuse but wish and indeavour to be one of that blessed number so redeemed from Hell and raised to everlasting Glory on Christs account But how to attain unto this felicity and to find in our hearts that we have attained it is our greatest work in this World and our most joyful entertainment here which is a pre-possession of Heaven as much as our frail nature is capable of with the Divine assistance of the Holy Ghost So then we must observe if our hearts are become so Regenerate as to find more pleasure in our approaches to God and our devout conversation with Him then all the fruitions this world can afford us for then we shall find an inward dependance on God in our own hearts such as will guide us by his Divine guiding Light unto the means and methods of attaining our wished salvation and within a little time certainly grow to a much more habitual delight in Piety then our forsaken sins formerly were and will hold our hearts up to Heaven ever ready to enter in when Death comes to conduct us thither and it will be great joy to pass the pangs of a Death-bed and â—errors of the Grave with an assurance that our Souls shall be with God the moment that we depart from this World if we live Righteously in it XXVII IF we give our whole hearts to God wherever we are whatever we do our minds will be fixed on Him the only Centre of our Souls intrinsick happiness 't is like a man forced from his beloved companion by some great affair he dispatches it quickly and with speed returns where he left his heart And thus we may try our hearty Love to God But when trivial objects and vain diversions do easily withdraw us from his converse and then detain us whole days in idleness so as to afford God but some few moments for our morning and evening Sacrifices we may reckon that our Love bears the same proportion with the time spent in his service we may also find on a strict search that we are mistaken in the Donation of our hearts to God by keeping of a small corner of our hearts in reserve for diversions only to gratifie some fair-faced appetites which do insensibly rob the major part until that corner have ingrossed the whole heart by which we fool our selves to think our All-seeing God will be mocked with such thin Vizards on our hearts Take heed therefore of idle diversions and pray for grace to become Regenerate to set thy heart on things above which begets true Love to God with Blessedness here and for ever which eternity can never be too much thought on nor the Lord who disposes of Eternity be too much loved or too much feared and if when we lye down to sleep we could but learn to think that we might wake in the other World we should labour to live close up to God so that Satan may find no time to come between to tempt and then such reconciled sinners would discern their conversion to be a sure Testimony of God's mercy and the Spirit of Faith fixing the foundation of true Piety by which we must ascend as the first step of that Ladder towards Heaven XXVIII IT is a stupendious thing to think how our corrupt Dust and Ashes may be exalted when the Spirit of God is at work in the heart of man when a great sinner is cleansed from his pollutions and all his past transgressions are so wiped off by the Holy Ghost in the receiving of the Sacrament that he finds Christ born within him and his Soul filled with a new kind of Divine transports which raise him in Meditations up to Heaven by such devout Addresses as grow higher and higher in ambitious zeal to be near God until he obtain to be owned an Adopted Son and while he remains on Earth by Faith to share with Angels in some degree of Heavenly joy and to perceive some beams of their Glory which he shall participate of at the Resurrection and until then be here feasted with such devout Celestial delights as will give him an assurance that these are the marks of his Election to comfort and to fix his heart on God who will guide his Soul through his Pilgrimage on Earth
full of storms and calms more dangerous untill He brings him unto his Glory For if we believe it to be Gospel-truth that our bodies are capable to become the Temples of the Holy Ghost dwelling in us we must also believe that He will manifest Himself so as we shall discern his being in us by such a Divine Life with such extasies of joy as no Soul can reach without his assistance which if we practise to observe we shall find will prove to be our greatest consolation that the heart of man can have XXIX WE talk of Death as we do of Eating Drinking and Sleeping and do flatter our selves too much by thinking we are as ready for the Grave without a full consideration how nice and great a preparation is fit for our appearance at the Resurrection when our whole Lives here spent in the service of God is not too high a price for the Crown of Glory we then expect And yet few men do afford the hundred part of their time to become capable to receive that inestimable Purchase which Christ has made for us by his bloudshed And nothing is more strange then that we should so much forget what we are always a doing which is dying and is God's great mercy to free our Souls from the Dungeon of this World to fix them in his Eternal Bliss XXX GOD sees our first intentional approches towards Heaven so that we cannot make more hast in our Addresses unto Him then He makes to meet and welcom our sincere devotions with Raptures and Extasies of joy to encourage and guide our frail nature to love and serve Him above the World that can in no degree afford so high delights as our Souls find when our whole hearts are offered up to Him in daily Sacrifice while that holy flame lasts XXXI OUr greatest concern is to live so Righteously as to be ever ready to die which no man can think of too often nor prepare to much for if he considers that every moment advances towards the Grave through which we must pass to Eternal joy or Eternal misery and is an argument enough not to mispend our time but Day and Night to call on God for his Divine guiding Light to shew us the way to Him XXXII SLeep is so like Death that it is no wonder if we Dream often that we are amongst the dead for though we are not now visited by Visions as of old yet such frequent conversation with dead friends when we Sleep may be looked on as kind notions from above to give us some reflections on the Grave towards which we do walk as fast in our Sleep as when we are awake so that we ought to imploy more of our thoughts on every minute that so hasts on to our Eternity then men generally do and by such Dreams we may learn to converse Day and Night with God in our humble Addresses to make us fit company for His departed Saints when we Die XXXIII IF we could attain to as great Faith as the first Martyrs had we might have as much felicity in Piety as they had who rejoyced so much to leave this World that no torments could deâ—er them from death to be with Christ. And if we could raise our Souls to fancy the Glory of Heaven as they did we should believe that nothing there is so dirty as our brightest Diamonds where the beauty of Holiness by Faith as by reflection does Eclipse all the beauty wealth honour and glory of this World in the hearts of such as are become Regenerate And if our Souls were so sanctified and advanced in Divine Love as those Blessed Martyrs were we should admit no Rivals with God in our hearts where He delights to Reign alone And then we should find our God every where with us carefully providing for all our wants and supplying all our defects as if He attended on us Dust and Ashes with his Providence to guard us while we sleep and to watch if our first waking thoughts be set on Him and to expect them as his due and his delight as if the Almighty courted us for favours more then we do him for his mercies and his blessings and when our Souls become thus enlightned by his Divine Rays from Heaven we shall find our hearts so full of Him that a Wilderness â— Prison or a Dungeon will seem a Throne and will be our Heaven here and then we shall know no joy like having God ever in our sight with hearts fixed on our Eternal Bliss already thus begun XXXIV IF we consider the extent of Miracles those we call the greatest are but as wonderful as the smallest for every thing we see all we think every motion that answers to our thoughts in every part of our selves is Miraculous as to Dust and Ashes and so in the same Ballance we may weigh our Birth and Dissolution and Resurrection to be equally Miraculous But if we consult our own consciences and throughly examine our own hearts we may be confirmed in the belief that there is no higher Miracle then when the Holy Ghost turns the hearts of men from their long habitual idolized carnal appetites into a Spiritual affection towards God with such Heavenly transports as do create the peace of conscience with such a settled joy in God's service as will accompany our Souls from hence to Heaven which Spiritual Resurrection from sin being God's work in us is a sure mark of our Adoption and by this Miracle of mercy to become thus Regenerate we may account it the highest because of highest concern to us to be so raised from Hell to Heaven And a greater Miracle to confirm the Christian Doctrine no man needs to seek after then what he may thus find in himself if thus led by the Holy Ghost and thus exalted from Reprobate Dust to be the Adopted Son of God XXXV PIety is the best policy because by it we obtain all that the heart of man can wish in this World and the next which every Pious man has a great proportion of here and the Fool only thinks he can mock God or flatter Him while he does only deceive himself in hoping to serve God and the Devil at once to satisfie vitious natural appetites and enjoy Spiritual felicities at the same time as if the way to Heaven were through Hell But if we do doubt whether Eternal happiness is preferable before short fruition on Earth we may enquire of a Voluptuous sinner when he is become truly Reâ—generate if he does not find that the peace of conscience is a more constant delight then the greatest Momentary gratifications of flesh and bloud For when he is so called to an assurance of his Sonship by his Spiritual comforts from the Holy Ghost within him and such transports as do afford Heavenly joys with some glimps of that Glory which he shall participate of at the Resurrection He will perceive it is the same gift of God beyond humane acquisition so that
maintain this Christian Warfare without Thy strong supplies from Heaven for which I daily pray and by which I shall at last subdue the World and my own heart with all the Powers of Hell and Death together Then from the Grave in Triumph rise with thee my God and thy departed Saints to my Eternal Rest in thy Celestial Glory XLVIII THe uncertain certain time of death was by Divine Providence concealed from Mankind to make us live ever ready for that great concern which sets a period to our Mortality the same moment on which our Immortality depends for Eternal joy or misery yet this known truth by all believed is by our perverse nature so much neglected as if not believed or as if by our wisdom and care we could foresee or prevent the moment of our Dissolution contrary to God's decree by which blind contradiction few men do prepare for their Pass to Heaven until too late and so become wilfully surprized by an Enemy we might subdue if ready Armed and well prepar'd for the encounter for 't is we that make Death terrible who is sent in kindness to conduct unto everlasting Bliss unless we by our Impiety do compell him to lead us the wrong way into eternal Flames A near dead-despairing sinner reviving from the Jaws of the Grave can best describe its terrors and best judge of the felicity to become fit to die when next summoned to step into his Eternity XLIX THough we cannot guess at the glorious Essence of God nor fancy what Heaven is nor can tell whether the Joy or Glory there be greatest nor do know any thing whereby we may express either of them yet by our Faith in all Gospel-truths God does so enlighten and encourage those Souls that are wholly devoted to love and serve him and that approach his presence with such humble Zeal and sincere Awe as is due to His Almightiness that He sometimes descends into the hearts of such men and spiritually dwells there as in his own Temple and sometimes raises the Souls of men with such high transports of Sacred Love to Him that they are filled with Holy Air or something nameless so Divine for joy and glory while that Seraphick flame doth last it looks like Raptures and holy Extasies sent from Heaven to invite men thither by shewing them so vast a difference of delight between Heaven and Earthly fruitions so to encourage us to expell all carnal Vapours when ever they ariâ—e to interpose that nothing may Eclipse that Divine Light from shining on us by which God gives us grace to endeavour with all our power to raise up our hearts to Him as often and as high as our clogged Souls can mount with such a weight of flesh and bloud about them But when the Holy Ghost lends wings to a Divine Lovers heart in his devotions nothing can hinder his Souls ascent to Heaven and by Faith to raise his â—ancy to such a joyful conversation with God as will enrich his mind with chearful thoughts the whole day after L. IF the felicity of Piety were as generally known as it is despised there would be more Saints then Reprobates on Earth But as it is Satans chief work to amuse and abuse our frail natures with present fruitions of fallacious delights that last not so it must be our business to get better Guides that we may find our way to Heaven in spight of His diversions which the Pious man finds in a constant conversation wiâ—h God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost in his sincere Meditations and Prayers when They are all at work within him raising his Soul to such a Divine felicity that he has no room for such contemptible delights as carnal fancies can suggest to dâ—vert him for his pious Life keeps him as much above all the fading gaieties of this World as the Reprobate is enslaved to them And if it were possible to make a voluptuous Epicure see and relish those continual joys which true peace of conscience affords to a Regenerate man it might wean him from his mistaken momentary happiness while the Pious mans felicity is founded on a sure Rock that reaches up to Heaven and shews him such a delightful prospect of his Eternal Interest there as gives him a holy courage to out-face Death when he chearfulâ—y submits unto his summons to the Grave as the only Gate to Heaven LI. THe great felicity of true Piety is only known to the Regenerate man become a Divine Lover whose Soul is ever busie in servent Addresses to his Beloved from whom he receives such welcom that his transported Soul forgets this World while that bright flame burns within him which fills his heart with such transcending joys in conversation with his Beloved as can only be expressed when two such Divine Rivals meet with pleasure to repeat the great favours that both do daily receive from the glorious object of their Love and with such Angelical affections to each other as doth raise their felicities by the holy emulation their united hearts have to joyn in a constant Adoration of their Beloved whose universal kindness does afford so great pleasure and consolation to all his true Lovers that their joys increase by the number of new Rivals which makes them invite all they can get into their Society and together sing Hallelujahs on Earth until they be added unto those Choirs of Angels already in the Glory of God LII WE all know that we are every moment dying and that Death is but the last puff of breath and though nothing else be worth the thinking on nothing is less thought on then Death which we can neither prevent nor delay and should therefore be made as easie as we can by a constant expectation of his approach because surprizes are most terrible which the Divine Lover is ever Armed for and best knows how to baffle that great Conqueror by chearful embraces as a welcom Friend who comes to conduct him to his Souls joy in Heaven which holy Valour God always provides his Lovers with at their hour of death LIII A Divine Lover has ever in mind the glorious Idea of his Beloved and remembers that he is always in His sight who doth observe all his looks thoughts words and actions how they do agree with his professed Love that is if the whole man be resigned up to study and to do the will of his Beloved with a chearsul heart as the supreme delight and fullest happiness his Soul can wish for here on Earth This Divine Lover does also take all the opportunities he can every day and night by holy Meditations and Prayers to approach the Throne of Mercy with a sincere heart so full of his Beloved as to leave no room for sin or Worldly vanities to abide there either to divert or clog his Soul when raised on the wings of servent Devotion And thus he spends his time ever striving to please and as careful not to offend his Beloved still jealous
take us from God but what we love better And though there is no felicity to be compared to Piety nor any diversions so delightful as Devotion when we love God and serve him with sincerity yet we mind it not enough that mind it most too much no man can LXXIV WE are naturally apt to cozen our selves with thinking we believe what we do not believe and for want of due consideration of all our ways we run on in such undiscernible errors as must offend God while we think we serve him best and this by indulging many kinds of innocent diversions until they become crimes though we know that vain and idle thoughts do often grow to foul suggestions which pious men should therefore not admit of LXXV WE are often misled by thinking too much of what may be and too little of what must be in providing too much for our uncertain hope of living from year to year with too little regard â—o our assured death that must come as if our moments here were of more value then our Eternity in Heaven though we do know that nothing in this World is worthy to entertain our Immortal Souls with true delight but by making ready to go unto God with chearful hearts of which few men do think enough and none can think too much because it is the greatest felicity that our Piety can reach and a sure mark that the Holy Ghost is working in us which no habitual sinner is capable of LXXVI NO man can want a subject for Meditation nor have a more useful entertainment than frequently and seriously to consider and examine his own life by recollecting what mercies what blessings and deliverances he has had from God and to enquire of his own heart how little obedience gratitude and love he has return'd what vows made in sickness dangers and in times of trouble but never kept And above all to consider how often God has knocked at our hearts for entrance and been denied or delayed to admit of some more pleasing Guest or whenever permitted to enter how coldly received and slightly treated until thrust out again to make room for some darling sin that must be welcomed This if fully considered may bring us to a sense of our offences and shame to think how unfit we are for our Death-beds and Eternity to come with the amazing terrors to think how we can call on our so much offended God for mercy which He could never prevail with us to accept of and what hope then can such insolent contemners of God have in their last day But on the contrary this Meditation will bring comfort to a Regeneâ—ate man who has entertain'd Christ in a chearful heart with sincere integrity to such a joyful trust in God's love by his fixed Faith that no carnal affections can remove his transports for Heaven the expectation whereof is delightful to him above the terrors of death to lessen LXXVII THe sum of all the great Lessons we can learn is to shew that a faithful penitent sinner who is become so Regenerate as to forsake all his iniquities and can perform an universal obedience to all God's Laws with such Evangelical sincerity as to make a total resignation of himself with all his Interests into God's hands must be led by the Spirit of God which will keep up his heart to Heaven in a constant concern for God's favour where Satan dares not appear to tempt when he sees us so united unto Christ and this will bring a Penitent to endure his Pilgrimage through all the storms of this World and defend him from the glittering vanities also so as to know no fear nor joy to interrupt his expectation of Heaven and the happy hour to breath out his Soul into the Bosom of God which holy ambition will entertain his heart here with more present happiness than all the Worlds wealth can afford to a wilful habitual sinner LXXVIII A Prayer LOrd I beseech thee let thy Holy Spirit direct my prayers in my approaches to thy Throne of Mercy and there pray within me that so guided I may find grace from Heaven to support me in my passage out of this World unto thy habitation of Eternal Bliss And now wean me from longer wandering in the vain Labyrinths and Glories here by having ever in mind that all the greatness and various pleasures I have seen and shared in are vanished like a Dream and thereby find that nothing is so delightful to a Regenerate reconciled sinner as a retired habitation free from the noise of Worldly affairs where by thy Grace peace of conscience may encourage me to be ever ready at thy call O God! with a joyful heart to make my last step into the glorious Eternity I hope for by the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ. LXXIX WHen the Holy Ghost dwells in our hearts we shall find new principles of a Divine Nature producing there an universal Victory over all our carnal appetites and an universal obedience to all God's Laws with trust in his Providence and such Faith in Christ's Merits and Intercession as will assure us of all God's promises as if now actually in our possession from whence will arise continual comforts with hearty gratitude for such love and mercy to penitent sinners And by this first Resurrection from Sin to Grace be assured of our second to Glory so that to be thus sanctified by the Holy Ghost we are united unto Christ brought home to God the Father as his adopted Children and do begin to enter on our everlasting happiness even in this World by our continual Meditations and Prayers so to raise this Holy flame as high as here we can reach without presumption so to fix in our hearts the joyful practice of such a Divine Life and Divine Love to God as will produce Divine joys here and for ever in Heaven which no carnal fruitions can attain And thus we are led by the Spirit of God and do become the adopted Sons of God LXXX IF the most voluptuous sinners could discern the felicity of an Holy life what constant elevated joys the peace of a quiet conscience brings to those who can wean their minds from the fading pleasurâ—s and drudgeries of this World to fix their hearts on things above sinners would make hast to become Regenerate For if we consider right of Eternity we must know that our Immortal Souls when freed from the slavish appetites of flesh and bloud can have no transports like those immortal joys they find when settled in their Centre God's Bosom from whence they came so that our Souls can relish no felicity like the hope of Heaven nor be much concerned for any thing less then Eternal Bliss which though of our selves we cannot reach yet if we give our hearts to God we cannot miss it But if in contempt of God we live and die in endless sinning we may justly fear that our Eternity will be in scorching flames We ought also to consider
to perform our self-denials for us and to raise our Souls to such a selicity here in our Love to God and delight in his worship as will give us a tast of our Eternal Bliss when we shall see and enjoy Him as the Angels in Heaven do XC IT is no wonder to see men very devout in a time of danger sickness or any other afflictions but when the Evils are removed does our gratitude for deliverance justifie our Love to God by future obedience do we in health and prosperity approach God with the same vigour in our Prayers as in our sickness For Souls led by the Spirâ—t of God are alike devout in all changes and we being made whole ought to thank God and to sin no more lest a worsâ— thing come unto us XCI OVr greatest affair in this World is to make ready to go out of it for ever because every moment may be our last here and then how dismal an Eternity are we hasting to if not reconciled unto God before we die this is enough to perswade us to set our hearts on the Love and Service of God who will never let their devout endeavours be lost that seek how to please Him when with sincere affections they prepare to come unto Him XCII WHoever finds that the power of Divine Love with the expectation of Heaven at this distance doth create such joy in his Regenerate heart as doth bring him to delight in a Divine Life also by his frequent conversation with God in humble sincere approaches he will soon grow to such a habit of Holiness as will raise his Faith to foresee some beams of that Coelestial Light which his Soul shall shine in at the Resurrection as a reward of his inward dependance on God here And if thus reconciled and led by the Holy Ghost he shall also find this is a good Antidote to prevent relapses into sin and thus Armed with Divine joy he will be safe from Carnal temptations and will have his Soul full of such Heavenly comforts as will sweeten all afflictions and at last beget such Holy courage as will destroy the sting of Death by living ever ready to die for he that can love God above his creatures will gladly part with them to go to Him XCIII LEt no man boast of his own Righteousness for no man has any but what is given him from God yet let every man rejoyce and be thankful for such Grace as doth sanctifie and enable his Dust and Ashes to become Regenerate and learn so to welcom the Spirit of God in a chearful heart that he may make it Paradise where he is pleas'd to dwell And then that man's natural corruptions will be refined and his Body consecrated into the Temple of God and by this miracle of mercy the most incarnate sinner may become an Angel of Light but not by his own inherent Righteousness but by God's grace and mercy with Christ's Righteousness imparted unto Him XCIV AMongst all the great Lessons we have learnt Holiness is most worthy of our study to search our hearts if we can find there the Gospel-marks of our Election for when God invites us by his Holy Spirit to this sincere enquiry He will direct us by his Divine guiding Light to find and to feel when we have found the treasure that we seek by the comforts that will still grow until they fill our Souls with such Coelestial joy that we cannot miss of nor mistake what we search for to assure our Election for God will not be hid from such as he sees does seek Him with their whole hearts and that do hunger and thirst after Holiness and when we do obtain Grace to discern such marks of our Spiritual Filiation we may in great humility rejoyce and sing Hallelujahs unto God with the Angels in Heaven to shew the highest Adoration our hearts can express in gratitude for such mercy afforded unto men on Earth And by thus entertaining our selves within our selves avoid temptations and set our hearts above the power of all vain objects to divert us from the prime end and felicity of our Christian calling which is our Resurrection from sin to grace as the chief mark of God's favour to assure our reconciliation for Grace accepted and persevered in is the infallible earnest of Glory because Christ has made the Kingdom of Grace here all one with the Kingdom of Glory Which is much talked of by many that prepare not for it because most men in health do think themselves ready to die and do not find they are not until the Bell tolls them to their Graves hoping to jump from Hell to Heaven at once but the ascent is high steep and very hard to climb XCV THough the great art and mystery of self-denial to subdue all carnal appetites is the most difficult part of our Christian calling yet the same Holy Spirit that invites us to it will impower our hearty endeavours by diligence and custom to gain so absolute a Victory over our Tyrant fancies which before enslaved us as will raise our Souls by constant self-denials to much greater Spiritual delights even here on Earth which the Regenerate man can only judge of XCVI A Prayer O Lord prepare my heart to pray and bless me with contrition and repentance proportionable to my sins that my Love and my Obedience may now be as great as my crimes and my neglects have been who never thought on Thee in all my ways nor of my Souls Eternity till now being led by thy Holy Spirit to pray for Grace to set my heart continually on Thee my God that I may know no joy on Earth like my humble Addresses unto Thee in my retirements by which I can only judge of my new love and gratitude for thus turning of me from mine Iniquities and by this miracle of Mercy and Grace hast snatch'd me up from Hell into this Heavenly prospect of thine Eternal habitation of Glory Lord let these Divine transports in my approaches unto Thee wean me from the World that the remnant of my days may be spent in preparing of my Soul for thy summons to Heaven that the terrors of the Grave may not divert my frail nature from coming with joy unto Thee my God when thou art pleased to call And I beseech thee make this Holy flame burn still brighter and brighter when I draw near to pray that my heart may melt with joy for this my Reconciliation and comfortable hope of Eternal happiness in Heaven and that I may be so strong with Divine valour as to welcom Death that only can conduct me thither XCVII WHen God delivers a penitent sinner from the slavery of Satan to rejoyce in the freedom and felicity of his service it is to shew him a glimpse of Heaven to invite him thither How great a crime will it then be for such a man to turn Reprobate again after such mercy shewn XCVIII NOthing does ruine more Souls then not frequently examining
and though we cannot reach David's highest perfections as an inspired Prophet we may like him give continual thanks to God for all we have and sing praise honour and glory to his Holy Name whose mercy endureth for ever CIII DId men watch the deceitfulness of sin and would heartily check the first appearance of evil thoughts with the remembrance that our All-seeing God is ever present to observe if we do fight or do invite our long known Enemies to their accustomed conquest of us such precautions would make us either fear to offend or joy to please our God and would soon teach our careless hearts how to subdue those Tyrant appetites a far off which so often do enslave us when permitted to approach at a nearer distance who do hold such a natural intelligence within that if we but admit a Parley to Treat with those subtle Enemies they will with fair pretences lead us on until they undermine our Souls and blow us up before we can discern the danger we are in and when once entred at such a Breach 't is then too late to grapple with a Foe that is in possession of a Fort without resistance gained Yet this sad truth by long experience taught is seldom learnt because we too much love those glistering Fetters and consent to put them on before they be imposed and then fear to be too soon freed from such a pleasant Bondage vainly thinking we can at our own pleasure shake such shackles off and be at liberty until surprized by some unlook'd-for Doom from whence is no redemption CIV A Frequent examination of our hearts is of use to keep men close up to Godliness and some Rules are very necessary to examine our hearts by to know when we walk aright as well to check remissness as to cherish those Divine motions which do raise hearts up to Heaven and may keep them there when so raised which is a great assurance for flesh and bloud when converts and will beget a joyful hope of being received into God's Bosom when become so Regenerate as to find a sincere delight to dwell there which is a great degree of blessedness and a good assurance that we shall be so for ever in the next World What labour then or what time spent can be too much to obtain Grace to become so universally cleansed from sin and universally obedient to Gods commands as will produce a total resignation of our selves and all our Interests into Gods hands and keep our hearts close up to Heaven until we arrive there For when God is the prime object of our Souls desire we shall take all opportunities to retire from the World to converse with God in humble Addresses for our Eternal hâ—bitation with Him in Glory But if this Duty of Meditation be used as a servile Drudgery to avoid a Rod held over us we are not right at heart and far from being Regenerate far from loving God if we take no delight in being with him for though Humane Nature cannot reach to Angelical Holiness yet Evangelical sincerity may be acquired by the Divine assistance if rightly sought and then as many as are led by the Spirit of God are become the Sons of God beyond which no man can wish nor think and when this state of Bliss is obtained with what diligence ought we to keep it up to the highest pitch of love and gratitude that our fancy and our Faith can reach for by such emanations from the Holy Ghost we may judge of Gods love to us and thereby guess what immense Glory we shall have in Heaven And thus we may daily feast our Souls with Angels food if we can conveâ—se with God aright So that to be Regenerate multiplies our joys here and assures our happiness in Heaven and though no man can of himself attain to this state of Grace without the Divine assistance it is never denied if sincerely begged nor was â—ver given in vain to deceive any man in the point of being Regenerate CV WE have no better way to express our love and gratitude to God for all his Mercies and Blessings then by our self-denyals For our obedience to his Laws is duty and no virtue to forbear a sin that we take no delight in but to crucifie a beloved darling Lust rather then offend God by it that is self-denyal And unto whomsoever God gives grace to do so he gives a joyful satisfaction to his Soul for so great a victory as lays a firm foundation to raise his Thoughts to Heaven on And is a good argument to shew that he fears Gods Threats and trusts in his Promises as the greatest Testimony of an active Faith so much required And when all this is done our Christian Warfare is not done For when Carnal sins do cease and our Appetites are overcome by Grace Satan still pursues in hope to frustrate the felicity of our Conversion by disturbing our Piety with Spiritual Pride or some Enthusiasms to reduce us into his power again So that when we are best we must Watch and Pray most for supplies of Grace to enable us to fight on lest we end worse then we begun The sum of all that can be taught is to bring men to Godliness and Honesty which is the perfection of Christianity CVI. IT is said in Scripture That without holiness no man shall see the Lord By which we may observe that Gods Injunctions are designed for mans greatest Happiness because Holiness is certainly our only true Felicity in this World and cannot be less in the next For if by Righteousness and Faith we may see a glimpse of Gods Glory here We shall see him in fulness of Glory at the Resurrection and enjoy him too on Christs account CVII NO man did ever seek God with a sincere heart that missed to â—ind him God loves to be so sought and to be so found as we shall be sure we have found him by our delight in him All which is the work of the Holy Ghost within us to our great comfort here always to enjoy God if our delight be set on him above all earthly fruitions And thus we may find God and enjoy him as well in Courts of Princes as in a Wilderness if we prefer nothing before the finding of him and so the greatest Courtiers may live like Saints on Earth and be Saints in Heaven when they die CVIII 'T Is not amiss for a Righteous man sometimes to fancy himself on hâ—s Death-Bâ—d with his Friends bewailing his deparâ—ure from them while he pities their mistake who pities him that is going to see the face of God in the face of Death and to meet Christ who with open Arms comes to receive his Soul into his Eternal rest Such Meditatations will raise our hearts to endeavour to die so and will bring us great Consolation while we live so in Gods favour that our Faith fail not at the last gasp CIX THere is no Felicity like Piety no Peace no Security
Melancholly thing to be Religious But a man truly Regenerate will need no other arguments to convince the contrary then what he finds in his own Heart of Delight when the Holy Ghost has taken possession there and when his Retirements with God will furnish him so fully with his Loving Kindness and those Enlightning Gifts those Beatifying Graces and Refreshing Comforts those Divine Manifestations of his presence creating such a Ioy with such Peace of Conscience that no Carnal Appetites nor all the Malice of Men and Devils can remove him from his firm Station of Bliss which he participaâ—es of in this prospect of Heaven only But no man can believe this nor guess at the Felicity of a Pious Life until he do obtain Grace to become Regenerate CXXI WHoever considers that his day of Death is his day of Judgment for his Eternal Being will find that his time yet to Live is little enough to ask God Pardon for the time he has mispent Whoever doth closely and seriously set to this great work of Conversion will find that his Sighs and Tears will produce more Joy in his Latter-days then re-acting his former Crimes would be when the two Eternities are put into the Scales CXXII LEt us not please our selves with presumptuous Thoughts That we are the Temples of the Holy Ghost till we have examined our Hearts strictly to find if we are free from all Habitual Sins in Thought Word and Deed for God will not dwell in a Polluted Temple We must next examine what proportion of Divine Ioy the Holy Spirit â—ills our New Hearts with to Confirm and Sanctify our Souls in the Love and Service of God thus dwelling in us And then observe what a new kind of entertainment it is to Delight in God with the peace of a quiet Conscience which by frequent Meditations will hold us up above the reach of any storms that Satan can raise or the malice of Men can contrive against us And then we are to fix all this Happiness by worthy receiving of the Holy Sacrament So as Christ may be Born within us and be so Vnited unto us as to confirm our Spiritual Filiation Thus qualified we may look on our selves as Temples of the Holy Ghost In all humility rejoycing to be so Blessed when we are so CXXIII WE ought to enter Caveaâ—s in â—ur Hearts against the approaches of such sorts of Temptations as we fear most and on all occasions to search the Register of our Vows made to God to see if we do not stand pre-ingaged to Him to resist the Temptation then Assaulting us and if so how unworthy shall we be so to break our Word with God upon Record and how dangerous to provoke his anger by such a Contempt thus we may destroy many designs from Satan and our selves oftentimes the worse Devil of the two CXXIV WE are too often abused by flattering diversions as if Holy Meditations were not more pleasant and more durable then vain delights Which rob us of our real Essential Joys for shadows of Pleasures that ever abuse us CXXV WE ought often to consider of how little value all is that we have on Earth which we must for ever depart from when we die and should therefore set our selves to secure a Blessed Eternity where we go And which God invites us to on the easie terms of repenting our past sins and forsaking those Crimes which we have been so often cloyed with CXXVI LEt thy Spiritual Resurrection from sin which is Gods works within thee assure thy reconciliation and confirm thy Election so as to fill thy heart with bright flames of a sincere Evangelical Devotion that thou mayest live and serve God chearfully until thy time comes to die And then with a Holy valour pass through the Grave with a lively Faith to participate of His Glory at the Resurrection For by a ready submission thou wilt Conquer that great Tyrant Death by a foresight of those Celestial joys that raise thy Soul to know thou shalt be with God the moment that thou diest CXXVII WE ought to Pray continually for the Holy Ghost to dwell in us to inform and enable us to do our duty in all things with the Spirit of Faith which will improve our zeal and to contemn this Worlds Glories and will fill our hearts with higher thoughts for a joyful expectation of a Crown in Heaven prepared for those who value it CXXVIII WE should always have in mind when the Spirit and the Flesh contest within us That our Will is the Judge between those two Solicitors and that God leaves the option of our Eternal Bliss or Eternal Woe to us that is whether we will become Spiritual Disciples or Carnal Sinners for no Temptations can make us guilty unless we consent to sin CXXIX THe greatest argument against Despair and for a Pious Life is very short That if we do repent and forsake our sins with a sincere universal obedience for the future we shall be as certain to partake of Gods promised Mercies as if we had never gone on in those former sins Though great and frequently repeated which is great comfort unto all such as Hope to go to Heaven CXXX THe generality of mankind do spend most part of their Lives on the delightful Acquisition of Wealth Honour Learning or the like and are but unskilful Merchants that purchase Rich Jeweâ—s with more hazards and at higher Rates then their intrinsick value will afford them to be gainers by when obtained And for which we pay most part of our precious time that is the only Treasure we have and of much more worth then all we can purchase in this World by the profuse expence of that time on such glistering Triâ—les as must perish with us if not before us When a tenth part of our mis-spent time would procure Eternal Wealth Hoâ—our and Ioy beyond expression for our Immortal Souls if we would devoutly Traffick for Heaven But we are naturally inclined to set our hearts on present Fruitions more then a hundred times their value in reversion because Heaven is or may be far off and we have time enough to think of that when we have nothing else to do though this minute we may be called to our Eternal Doom and too late find the difference between a Reprobate and a Regenerate Life CXXXI A Man truly Regenerate will not admit of the least contest from Carnal Appetites his heart being so fixed on Heavenly joys that he detests all approaches to divert him as below the pleasure he has in his Conversation with God in private Who he believes will assuredly bring him to Heaven if he prefer his Service before the fading Bubbles of this World CXXXII OF all the Blessings that God bestows on men There is none greater then the Peace of Conscience which a Pious man finds when he is dying with great comfort And which ought to invite all men to live Divine Lives with assurance that God sees our sincerity
Old sick man would live on in pains the strong and healthy Youth the Rich the Poor the great in Titles and Commands the Mighty Princes and their Slaves all of all sorts are subject to repine to Envy and to Malice Revenge and Avarice to Ambition or some other discontent that robs their hearts of peace and yet all desire to live on though our days if justly divided we should find three parts of four allotted unto cares fears troubles and sorrows and the remaining part entertained with shadows of delight to mock our senses rather then such real pleasures as can affect our Souls and yet no time no arguments no examples nor our own daily experience can divert our frâ—il Natures from this infelicity which was created with us by a mighty Providence to shew that our time of Sojourning here must not afford any thing of value to divert our hearts from aiming at our Eternal habitation of Rest where we are to expect more felicity then we now know how to wish for But this the Regenerate man can only understand who knows the felicity of Piety and finds there is no security on Earth but in loving fearing and serving God which assures him of a place in Heaven and gives him a comfortable passage thither CLVI IF men did consider their Christian calling and the miraculous Plantation of the Gospel of Christ by twelve illiterate men who were taught by the Spirit of God for the conversion of the then Heathen World we should now have more active Faith then generally appears by the lives of men for though we are not called to a severe bloudy Martyrdom as in the Primitive Age to justifie our Faith by Torments unto death But by the great mercy of God our required Martyrdom is now so gentle in comparison of their sufferings that we are only called to Obedience and Faith only to own what those Blessed Martyrs died for So that if we prefer Gods Glory and his Service before our own Carnal Appetites we shall resist all temptations to Lust and Vanities which offend God and destroy our present felicity also When this easie happy Martyrdom of sin is only required of us to repent past crimes and forbear to repeat them we shall receive in lieu thereof Gods favour here and Eternal Joy in Heaven CLVII A Frequent consideration of our state towards God shews us the best prospect towards Heaven and doth teach us the way thither and begets holy desires on the expectatâ—on of our future joys and such consideration also gives us the prospect of those everlasting flames that attend us in Hell if we run on in sinning and will terrifie our hearts with the expectation of future Torments if we neither value Gods promises nor fear his threats So that nothing can be more concern to mankind then frequent and serious consideration of all we say do and â—â—â—nk CLVIII TO fear to die is a contradiction to our Faith and all the zeal we profess to God when we fear to be with Him in Glory and by which we undervalue Christs purchase of a place in Heaven for us by preferring our abode here before Eternal happiness with Him which we can nâ—ver obâ—ain but by dying CLIX. NO considerate man can pretend to fear God and do what he is sure will offend Him nor can he think that he loves God when by committing wilful known sins he contemns his Laws nor can he believe that he has any argument to trust in God who does neither love fear nor serve him as he ought nor can pretend to any parcel of Divine Graâ—e or comfort in death if he live and die in his habitual course of sinning CLX WHy do Christians fear to die but because we do not live after Christian Principles which neglect begets infidelity and makes us doubt to go unto Christ else we could not fear to be with Him who sits at Gods right hand in Heaven and where we may participate of his Eternal Glory if we live after his Gospel Rules here by which we shall scorn the terrors of Death and make our days on Earth also as happy as long But if we go on in Voluptuous Iniquities pamper'd up for the day of Slaughter 't will be no wonder that we tremble at our Dissolution and the approach of the terrible day of Judgment But if we live ready to die and fit to step into Eternity the Grave will prove easier then a long life if compared with the short pleasures of our best Worldly enâ—oyments that keep our hearts from Heaven CLXI FRequent consideration of our Eternity does beget a due examination of our hearts whether God be there to direct and support us in our way to Heaven or if Satan governs what a dismal Eternity we are hasting to so that to have God always in our sight by a frequent examination of our hearts we may check the first appearance of Evil with the thought of Eternal condemnation but if Goodness inhabit here then to cherish such thoughts as will blow the holy Fire into flaming Zeal and declare an Interest in Christ And by a daily custom thus to retire and consider of our Salvation will â—ill our hearts with such a pleasing habit of Holiness as will bring God home to us who will not permit a wicked thought where He is pleased to dwell CLXII IF we did duly consider that our transparent hearts do shew our most secret thoughts to God we should not so often provoke him to Anger by putting our evil thoughts into action this would be of great use if by practices we can bring our hearts to be as transparenâ— to our selvâ—s as they are to God and would in a little time obtain Grace to cast out wicked fancies as fast as Satan can suggest them or our own fancies create them which then would leave no stings behind to poison hearts so strongly guarded CLXIII WE ought to be ever mindful that true Religion is to lead a Divine Life and will beget Divine Love in our hearts to God and to endeavour to endear our selves so as to become capable of his Love to us though we can never be worthy of it we shall not fail to have it if we sincerely desire it CLXIV THe Gospel says that our Saviour died to satisfie God for the sins of all mankind that truly repent and amend and do stedfastly believe that if we do so all our sins how many and how great so ever shall be forgiven us We must then enquire of our own hearts for the truth of our repentance whether we shall find Arguments to doubt or to believe our selves to be in the number of them that Christ came to bless by turning us from our Iniquities and then it will be our Duties as an effect of our Faith to believe we are amongst such penitent sinners as Christ has Redeemed with his Bloud and will be no presumption to think we shall have places in Heaven on His account if we come
to find how much better and pleasanter it is to delight in God and by our utmost endeavours to improve that delight by frequent and fervent Addresses until we obtain new Celestial joys which soon discard all our old Carnal fruitions by a constant fixing of our whole hearts on Heaven so as to be really offended at the most necessary diversions when they interrupt our Divine communication with Christ for the hastning on of our preparation towards that Eternal Glory he has purchased for us Which is the most joyful expectation of a Regenerate man who sees the difference between momentary Vanities and everlasting Bliss and sets him on fire to desire above all things to fix his heart on God and to delight in Holiness as his supreme felicity on this side Heaven CXCI. WHoever has the patience to read and the Piety to practice these plain Lessons if he observe it will find that his felicity does increase with his Devotion and that his days will grow fuller and fuller of tranquility in the midst of Worldly Storms and feel them not Let him also observe with what security he sleeps with what joy he awakes at all hours to find his heart at work with God before his Eyes are quite open giving God thanks for all his Mercies and above all the rest for thus turning him from all his Iniquities before it be too late that he might not trust unto the uncertain security of the best Death-bed Repentance but to live and die so reconciled to God as to manifest his pre-conversion by a chearâ—ul Righteous life and a joyful Resignation of his Soul unto Christ when he expires will be joy indeed CXCII JUdge not the serious looks of every pensive man as if his heart were oppressed with discontents who may that minute be conversing with God in Meditation and triumphing over the Glories of this World which thou enjoyest with all its delights and which he may have had as high as mortal man can fancy fading happiness But now as tired with busie Crouds and cloyed with glistering Vanities He entertains his Soul with inward elevated joys for so great a Victory over himself which thou seest not and dost therefore pity or condemn what thou wouldst admire if clearly understood CXCIII IF the Spirit of Divine Meditation were wâ—th sincere affection fully improved by the diligent practice of raising our Souls as near to God as our mortal fancies can reach the Holy Ghost would at such times assist us with such increase of Piety and such growing joys in our near approaches to the Throne of Mercy as would shew us some bright Rays of that glorious Majesty we adore to affect our Souls with such transporting thoughts as would set our hearts on fire with eager desires to be amongst those Angels that do attend on the Majesty of Heaven whose love and goodness in mercy admits us Dust and Ashes so to converse with Him as a clear Testimony to our own hearts of our Adoption by which pious practising to fix our affections on God we shall so delight in Him as now to conquer all those Imperious Appetites that have so often conquer'd us and may soon learn the Celestial Military Art to subdue all temptations that assault us and from their Ruines raise fresh Trophies every day most acceptable to God and so beneficial to our selves that we may discern our Souls mounting up to Heaven thereon CXCIV WE ought to look on Death as chief Goaler on Earth God's prime Officer by Him intrusted only with the custody of our imprison'd Bodies in the Grave until the great Goal-delivery at the day of Judgment when Death must deliver up our imprison'd Dust at a moments warning to meet our Souls at God's Tribunal where his Office ends with Himself who is then no more So that instead of quarrelling with Death for doing of his duty let us make peace and get a Reconciliation with his great Master that we be not lodged in Deaths Dungeon amongst the impenitent Malefactors but may be placed in his best Apartment with the Reconciled sinners by God's Grace become Saints and pray that we may with them appear in their glorious Resurrection with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. CXCV. I That write my own thoughts only to review them for my own satisfaction must say again and again that whoever seeks God with sincerity will certainly find him and shall find that he has found him And though early seeking and early finding be best as most safe because no man can promise himself one minute longer to seek God then his first call to it yet if he find favour to be called again and be sent to work in God's Vineyard at the last hour of his day and God see that he works then with such vigour in that last hour as if he would equal or out-do any that came in to work before him the Lord of the Vineyard observes his endeavours and rewards him equal with the first comers Though no man ought to trust unto a Death-bed Repentance on this Argument Because the best Rule is to remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth the next best is to remember Him in the time of full Manhood in the strength and vigour of thy Age but if not then the next best is to remember him in thy Old Age before thou hast quite forgot him lest it be too late for though it be last and worst yet then is not too late with God if we answer whenever He calls He will give us Gâ—ace to do whatever he calls for And to give him then our whole hearts bathed in peniâ—ential tears full of contrition for all past offences he will accept thâ—m and make us see that his Mercy has â—ollowed us through all our wild insolent conâ—empts of the highest nature which aggravates repeated sins after pardons upon pardons begged So that when God doth not forsake but follow and watch over such Reprobates and does snatch them from the brink of destruction it is to bring them to a Reconciliation and such a Resurrection from sin as will support them for ever after by his Holy Spirit which shews that his Mercy and his Grace are beyond the power of our sins to deface for if our Repentance and Contrition be His own work within us the operation of that Grace will testifie that his Mercy endureth for ever Let no man then despair of Gods Mercy or think it too late to repent if he can forsake his Iniquities so as for the future to love and serve God as he ought for above all things we must believe that God does abound in Mercy and Grace more then we can do in sins and that Jesus Christ is the Lord our Righteousness and when we find that the Holy Ghost dwells so in our hearts as to create an effectual application of God the Father and the Sons work within us we may comfort our selves with an humble assurance that all three the whole Trinity
grow to such a delightful zeal to God that every step as he ascends will raise his holy ambition higher and higher with joy on joy until his last puff of breath conveys his Soul into God's Eternal Glory and all the way thither will teach him to tread on the Thorns and Thistles of this World as if he walked on Roses and Lillies through the joyful expectation of his felicity at last CCVIII A Divine Author says That every man ought to be of some calling that he may be of some use unto the State where God has made his station for he that will be good for nothing in this World is as nothing and shall be nothing in the next he is but as an Excrement on Earth none of Gods useful Creatures so that to be of a lawful calling and diligent in it may expect a blessing from Heaven on his honest endeavours And Princes whose calling is of a general concern are set on Pyramids that all the World may see and imitate their Virtues Judges must be vigilant in doing Justice great Commanders at Sea and Land must be prudently not rashly valiant the Workman must work the Courtier must wait the Merchant must travel the Preacher must teach and the greatest Reprobate if he becomes Regenerate has a great calling also for he ought to declare his conversion by his future life and conversation that his Devotion may be more eminent then his Crimes were so to manifest Gods mercy to himself and by his example to shew others the way to Heaven So that no man should hide his Talent that can by any honest means improve it for the good of others The Hypocrite is the only unhappy man this way who will himself perish though he do good by encouraging others to Piety by his example who cannot discern the Hypocrites counterfeit zeal that travels through the Church of God as his nearest way to Hell CCIX. WHen we have repented our sins and forsaken them and received the Holy Sacrament which is the Seal of our Reconciliation we are not to fright our selves with the memory of our forgotten crimes but must express our gratitude by recollecting and acknowledging the evils we have done with the highest aggravation that we can so to magnifie the free mercy of God with Christs merits for pardoning such great crimes and then to comfort our hearts with the Gospel-consolations thereon So that no man ought to despair of a place in Heaven that does sincerely endeavour to get in when the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are so active to bring us thither and yet we find it a very hard Lesson to learn to die chearfully when the practice of our whole lives can seldom teach us in seventy years to be perfect in it when we die CCX LEt us not lament the long time we lye in Dust before the day of Judgment for those who died six thousand years since and we that die now with them that die a thousand years after us shall all awake the same moment at the Resurrection and all this time shall be but as one moment divided amongst us all for death and sleep distinguishes no time until we awake from both So that we may reckon that we shall be in Abraham's Bosom the moment we expire though we shall not know what is meant by Abraham's Bosom until we with the departed Saints arise from thence together CCXI. HE that considers what Evils he has done with all the aggravations belonging to such crimes must needs be terror-struck at his hour of death to think what great punishments are due to such innumerable offences so often repeated if not reconciled unto God before that time but if so bless'd what comforts will that black Soul find when by truâ— Repentance and Faith he is washed white as Snow by Christs Bloud in the Sacrament and purified into Adams first Innocence and so be thus metamorphosed from a Devil into an Adopted Son of God by a blessed union with Christ and filled with such serene joys as are beyond expression and yet our frailties are such that when we know this and can do thus we are still so subject unto Relapses that we cannot stand in this happy station a minute longer then by Gods Grace supported to let us see that we must not depend on our own Righteousness but are to pray continually for Christs Righteousness to bring us to Heaven CCXII. CHrist said I am in the Father and you in me and I in you he also said that if you ask any thing in my Name I will do it these are two short Lessons of mighty consequence for what can man desire more then to be in God and what can we wish for more then to have what we ask and what can sinful man ask more then forgiveness of all past sins and Grace to sin no more by Christâ— sâ—nding the Holy Ghost to sanctifie us and to dwell with us for ever and so to conduct us into Heaven when we die CCXIII. WE ought to think often and to rejoyce as often as we think that the Holy Ghost is never absent from them that sincerely desire Him and do give Him a warm welcom into a chearful heart and he that can afford this Holy Spirit a full possession at his reception may keep him ever there and will always find that He is with him by the operation of his Grace where He inhabits still exciting him to love and delight in the Law of God and impowering him by his Divine-guiding Light to live after the Law of Righteousness which will bring him to such a union with Christ here as will assure his Eternal Rest with God in Glory at the Resurrection CCXIV. THough a lazie idle retired life be not according to the Christian Rule that says no man is born only for himself but is bound to imploy his Talent given to him for Gods Glory and the good of others yet some men who have spent many years in the busie affairs of this World with honest industry in their callings may without a crime retire in their old Age from the noise and hurry of business and also quit those gaieties which they find through a long custom that their frailty cannot totally reâ—ist their participation of and on that account may retire from such diversions as do disturb the full consideration and preparation for their Eternal Being in the next World By which retiring also they may teach others to become so Regenerate as to find more felicity in private contemplations of Heaven then in all Earthly fruitions which those that live in continual crouds can hardly find time for CCXV IT is great Piety for a man in health to live ever ready to die but it is another kind of story for a dying man to rejoyce that his hour is come to go to God and to quit his share in all the glories of this World So that we are often to contemplate this great point of Religion and to
practice on Deaths Image sleep every night when we lye down to Rest that we may learn to compleat our preparation for that mighty work of dying chearfully which is so much discours'd of and so seldom seen though our last Pangs do frequently seem to comply with what we cannot hinder and nothing can more conduce to cure this natural frailty then setting our hearts to love the Law of God and to shew it by word and deed and holding a constant conversation with our Creator in the daily raising of our Faith and our affection to our Resurrection from Deaths Dominion unto His everlasting Bliss in Heaven CCXVI THere is no felicity in this World without a contented mind and there can be no full contentment without such a fixed dependance on God as to be pleas'd with whatever He appoints as best for us Which Divine contentment will raise our hearts to such a gratitude to God with such a conversation in Heaven as will beget an holy courage to contemn all the crosses and all the allurements this World can afford and this Spiritual contentment we ought to cherish as Gods great favour for us to delight in while we live and to trust in when we die as a mark of our Election thus to divert us from longing after the perishing Glories of this World that never can assure us any lasting contentment by their enjoyment nor any comfort when we expire CCXVII HE that writes Devotion walks on a narrow Plank with Precipices on either side and is in danger to slip into the Gulf of Spiritual Pride on his own Righteousness or else in too much humility for his own unworthiness may presume to think that some things from the Holy Ghost informs him with Evangelical Rapsodies when his Soul soars so high towards Heaven So that in our best Actions we are with humble and grateful hearts to give the honour and the glory unto God for all that we do well CCXVIII TO love God and to be beloved of God is an immense Meditation which by practice must needs improve our Interest in Heaven for when God sees our Souls set to seek him this way He will send his Holy Spirit to raise our ambitions higher and higher to gain his favour in hope of such an union with Christ as our nature is capable of by which such elevated enlightned hearts will find a felicity on Earth that no mans thoughts can guess at that does not feel it with a joyful assurance of being received into Heaven when he dies so that we cannot have a better Argument to invite us to live Piously and to die chearfully then to love God thus for the true joy of a good Soul in this World is the very joy of Heaven which Death shall not take away nor interrupt it one moment CCXIX. WE may do well to observe Davids method in his Victory over his sins when they were his declared Enemies He did not retire from his charge and calling to hide himself from their assaulting temptations but forced them to fly from him and pursued them so as they might never be able to return upon him And having thus vanquished and discarded all those his old Companions when he perceived them to be his Enemies He soon became a man after Gods own heart and then found that he had strength company power joy wealth and honour enough in God alone with whom he spent the most of his time after in Prayers and in Praises So that as He did we should discard our old evil habits and all our old Companions workers of Iniquity and make them fly from us as David did and then we shall find all those joys in our conversation with God which David had CCXX DAvid says that God heard the voice of his weeping which shews that the sighs and tears of penitent sinners are heard in Heaven without words and that devout tears which cannot speak do speak aloud in Gods ears nay when we desire to weep but cannot pour out tears themselves Doctor Dunne says that God sees tears in the hearts of men before they blubber on their faces and He is said to hear the tears of a sorrowful Soul which for sorrow cannot shed a tear the very lifting up our Eyes to God in a sincere sorrow opens Him windows through which He sees a wet heart through the driest Eyes and by his returns of Grace gives comforts with the blessed peace of a quiet conscience to assure our Reconciliation unto Him that we may with chearful hearts expect Deaths summons unto our Eternal Rest in Heaven CCXXI THe supine Epicure the practical Atheist and the divine Hypocrite have gained so great a Vogue in some parts of the World as hath almost worn true Christian Religion out of Fashion and out of Countenance too while those are thought ill-bred men that practice any Piety and none so well accomplish'd as they who have those three eminent Vertues in most perfection which do very often dwell together in such careless Hearts as do not at all consider or not enough examine their integrity towards God CCXXII VVE do generally wonder at and pity the Melancholy Lives of some devout Hermits who are retir'd into desolate Habitations from the converse of Men But do not consider the blessed contentment which their Souls enjoy in a conversation with God as if themselves were then in Heaven with such an ambitious Zeal as fills their Hearts with Happiness and holds up their Souls so fixed on Christ as to despâ—se all the Glories of this World So that we ought not to pity those happy men but to look on them as Divine Objects fit for our devout Envy and immitation who do enjoy felicities above the reach of Earthly minds to judge of But yet every pious man that can give his whole Heart to God needs not give his whole time too for we are required to serve God more waies than one and may convert our Closets into Cells where we may be sure to find God as often as we desire to meet him there as well as on the tops of Rocks who will not be confin'd to time or place that is ever with us every where So that the Mountain Hermit and the City Hermit may have Spiritual entertainments and comforts alike while they Live and may Die with as high delight to be with God and may shine equally as bright in Heaven when they meet there CCXXI LEt us redeem the time we have mis-spent while we have time to do it by making ready for our summons to the Grave as our prime business here and when God sees our hearts are fully fixed on Him He will guide and conduct us through the dark rugged paths of Death by the bright consolations of his Holy Spirit to entertain us with comfort and delight in our passage unto His Eternal Rest. Let us then set our Souls joy on this great work and observe how Gods Grace and our felicity does increase together upon the