Faith Here for his better Information I shall lay down Ten Principles which 'tis highly requisite he should be acquainted with 1. The Communicant must know That there is a God who is from Everlasting to Everlasting and every where present a Spirit of incomprehensible Wisdom Power Righteousness and Goodness the Maker and Governour of Heaven and Earth and all the creatures which are therein Heb. 11. Psal 90. 1. Jer. 13. 23. Joh. 4. 24. Rom. 16. ult Ps 147. 5. Psal 116. 5. Gen. 2. 1. Dan. 4. 34 35. 2. This God is but One and yet he is distinguished into the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost which have the same Godhead Power and Eternity 1 Joh. 5. 7. Matth. 28. 19. 1 Joh. 5. 20. Heb. 9. 14. Act. 5. 4. This Doctrine of the Trinity is revealed that we may have right conceptions of the True God when we Worship him Excellent is that passage of Nazianzen Orat. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am not able to understand One but I am presently struck with the brightness of Three I am not able to distinguish Three but I am presently brought back to One again We are also further to take notice how all these Three Persons in the glorious Godhead do concur in that great Salvation which is brought to light and offered in the Gospel The Father sends the Son to become Man and Mans Saviour the Son is made Flesh and puts away sin by the Sacrifice of himself The Spirit is sent to convince men of sin and of their need of this Saviour and to draw them to him that beleiving in him they may not perish but have Everlasting Life 3. The Communicant must know That Man was at first made upright The first Man Adam had his Makers Image when first he was made which Image did consist in Knowledge Righteousness and Holiness and in having Dominion over the Creatures A Covenant was made with Adam of Life and Immortality upon condition of perfect Obeaience which then he had Power if he would to yeild and he was threatned with Death if he did Eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Eccles 7. ult Gen. 1. 26. Ephes 4. 24. Col. 3. 10. Rom. 10. 5. Gen. 2. 17. 4. The first man Adam being a publick person and representing his whole Posterity did sin against God in Eating the forbidden Fruit and all his posterity Immanuel excepted who being conceived by the Holy Ghost was Born of a Virgin sinned in him and are Fallen short of the Glory of God so that all are Born the Children of Wrath all have corrupted Natures so that they are Reprobate to every thing that is Good and strongly inclined unto Evil in Thought Word and Deed and every sin being a Transgression of the Holy Law of the great God the Desert and Wages of it is no less then Death and Hell Rom. 5. 14. Gen. 3. 6. Rom. 5. 12. Rom. 3. 23. Luke 1. 35. Ephes 2. 3. Gen. 6. 5. 1 Joh. 3. 4. Rom. 6. ult 5. Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God did take mans Nature upon him but was perfectly free from Sin and suffered in that Nature becoming Obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross and his Blood is sufficient being the Blood of him that is God and Man to cleanse from sin and to make peace and he is able to save unto the utter most all that come unto God by him neither is there Salvation in any other Heb. 2. 16. Phil. 2. 6 7 8. Act. 20. 28. 1 Joh. 1. 7. Col. 1. 20. Heb. 7. 25. Acts 4. 12. 6. The Communicant must know That Christ after his Death and Eurial did rise again the third day which shewed that the price he paid for his Churches Redemption was sufficient and having Forty days conversed upon Earth with his Disciples and been seen of several other Witnesses even Five Hundred Brethren at once at length he did Ascend into Heaven and is at the Right Hand of God to make Intercession for them that Beleive in him and from Heaven where he now is He shall be at last revealed with Power and great Glory to Judge the World in Righteousness Rom. 4. ult 1 Cor. 15. 3 4 5 6. Luk. 24. 51. Rom. 8. 34. 2 Thess 1. 7. Matth. 25. 31. Acts 17. 31. 7. Christ has three Offices Prophetical Preistly and Kingly As a Prophet he does Teach his Church and who teacheth like him As a Preist he has made satisfaction and does intercede for them And as a King he does Govern and Defend them And this Church of his are Called Justified Sanctified and shall be Saved And though Earth and Hell hate them yet there shall be somewhere or other a Church of Christ always unto the end of the World Acts 3. 22. Heb. 4. 14. Heb. 10. 14. Rev. 19. 16. Ps 3. ult Rom. 8. 30. 1 Cor. 6. 11. Matth. 28. ult 8. The Communicant must know That the Holy Ghost did move and inspire the Penman of the Holy Scripture so that 't is of Divine Authority and contanis all things needful to be known beleived and done in order to Salvation The Books of the Old and New Testament are to be received as the Word of God Those therefore that lived under the Old Testament had some Knowledge of Christ and the Gospel and were saved no other way but by him But under the New Testament Christ and the things of our peace are much more fully revealed 2 Pet. 1. ult 2 Tim. 3. 16. Ps 19. 7. 2 Tim. 3. 17. Eph. 2. 20. Acts 26. 22 23. Matth. 13. 17. 2 Cor. 3. 18. 9. There is a New Covenant which God has made with his people who Repent and Beleive into which Covenant he has also taken their Infant Seed and therein he has promised to be their God to pardon Sin to give Grace after Death to raise them up at the Last day and to bestow upon them Life Everlasting and this Covenant as it was under the Old Testament confirmed by Circumcision and the Passover so under the New 't is confirmed by Baptism and the Lords Supper which two Sacraments are the Seals of it Heb. 8. 8. 10. 12. Acts 3. 19. Acts 16. 31. Acts 2. 39. Joh. 6. 39. 40. Rom. 6. ult Rom. 4. 11. 1 Cor. 5. 7. Matth. 28. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 24 25. 1 Cor. 10. 16. 10. The Communicant must know That the Law of God is not Abolished but Established by Faith as a Rule of Righteousness for Christians to walk by And sincere Obedience to the Law and Gospel through Christ shall be Accepted and Rewarded but those who live and dye Vnbeleiving Impenitent and Disobedient shall suffer the Vengeance of Eternal Fire and their Condemnation will be sorest who have been often offered but have neglected great Salvation Rom. 3. ult 1 Joh. 2. 1. 1 Cor. 15. 58. 1 Pet. 2. 5. 2 Thess 1. 8. 9. Heb. 2. 3. These are the Ten Principles of the Christian Religion which the Communicant is
new Creature 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are past away and all things become new The old Adam and deceitful lusts are put off and the new man put on which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness This Spirit of Christ mortifies the deeds of the Body Rom. 8. 13. and causes those who are led by him to walk in the Lords Statutes and he fills them with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the praise and glory of God 7. If we are in Christ and he in us we shall endeavour to walk as he walked He is the unerring Pattern to be followers of Christ is certainly to go right 'T is in vain to say that we abide in him unless in some measure we resemble him and long to be more and more conformable to the Image of the Son of God The Apostle tells us 1 Joh. 2. 6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked When we go about doing good when 't is our meat and drink to do the work and business of our heavenly Father when we walk in meekness and humility not rendring evil for evil or railing for railing but overcome evil with good then the same mind that was in Christ our Lord is also in us and 't is evident that Christ is in us of a truth 8. If Christ be in us we shall account it our happiness to be where he is and to behold his glory As long as we are upon Earth we are in a vale of Tears Sin remaining we cannot be free from trouble the remainders of flesh and corruption will make us sigh and cry O wretched Rom. 7. 24. But when we are absent from the Body we shall be present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 8. and then we shall be compleatly freed from whatever is matter of complaint and sorrow Believers value Heaven though the hypocritical and carnal are earthly minded The Apostle propounds it as the highest comfort that Believers shall certainly be with the Lord and shall be ever with the Lord 1 Thes 4. ult And Christ himself prays for this as the top of his Disciples happiness Joh. 17. 24. Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am that they may behold my glory This he promises to his Disciples to bear up their hearts and arm them against all fears and troubles whatsoever Joh. 14. 3. If I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to my self that where I am there ye may be also In the fourth place follows the Manner how we are to prove our selves 1. In Self-proving Self-love and Self-flattery must be banished Wicked men are said to flatter themselves in their own eyes until their iniquity be found to be hateful Psal 36. 2. that is till punishment overtake them and throughly convince them how hateful sin is in the eyes of an holy and Righteous God Self-flattery has undone thousands rather than have bad thoughts of themselves and their own condition they will frame a strange conception of God and think him like themselves and 't is ordinary to cry peace and promise safety to themselves till sudden destruction come upon them Psal 50. 21 22. These things hast thou done and I kept silence and thou thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thy self but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes Now consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver We must therefore deal plainly with our selves and pass a true judgment 2. A sufficient time must be allotted and allowed for this matter What is our time given us for but that we may make provision and sure work for Eternity Qui cito pronunciat ad pauca respicit He that judgeth hastily commonly judgeth amiss We must sequester our selves from other business that we may have a full conference with our selves Commune with your own heart upon your Bed says David and be still Psal 4. 4. that is when you are retired do this and be at leisure to understand what your hearts have to say for or against themselves If we commune but little but seldom with our hearts we may live and die ignorant of them 3. Self-proving ought to be managed with all possible seriousness and concernedness of spirit Matters which relate to our Estates and Livelihood are minded seriously and especially we do not trifle in matters of Life and Death But how much more serious should we be in a business upon which our eternal welfare does so very much depend A Mistake about our selves and our Spiritual Estate would be an undoing mistake indeed and after Death 't will be perceived and lamented but 't will be too late to rectifie and amend it And how much will it increase our woe to go out of the World with confidence that all 's Well and find our selves in Hell immediately after our dissolution where our condition will be so very ill and never never to be altered Our fear therefore must be the greater of being deceived and our care the more diligent to prevent it 4. We must be willing to Examine and Ransack our selves to the very bottom to know the worst to know the best to know the whole of our selves Travellers have taken a great deal of pains and gone many a weary step to view the greater World Man is a Microcosm little World And as in the greater World there is Terra Incognita much Land unknown so 't is in this lesser World much of it remains undiscovered Curiosity acts the Travellers in the viewing of Cities and Nations but truly Necessity should make us to take a view of our selves because Self-ignorance is so dangerous and damnable We are endued with a great many powers and faculties we have various affections desires and inclinations many imaginations reasonings and designs All these are corrupted by nature and need be renewed by the grace of God We should therefore be the more strict in searching that Sin wherever it lurks may not escape our knowledge and that grace also may be made manifest 5. All along the aid of the Spirit of God is to be called in David says Whither shall I go from thy Spirit and whether shall I flee from thy presence Psal 139. 7. The Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. Surely then the Spirit can discover the deepest things in Man 'T is the work of the Spirit to reprove the World of Sin He takes away the Fig leaves of excuses and presents Sin naked and bare He wipes off the paint that is upon Sin and shews the exceeding sinfulness of it that it may be lamented and abhorred He discovers also the truth of Grace and he does both infallibly His light and help therefore is the more to
but increase upon them 3. In proving our selves we must take heed of making an ill use of the falls of Saints which are recorded in Scripture Davids uncleanness Lots drunkenness are no arguments to prove that any may allow themselves in filthiness and intemperance and yet go to Heaven Nay the Scripture expresly says the contrary Eph. 5. 5. For this ye know that no Whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ of God and all words that would persuade otherwise are but deceitful and vain v. 6. The falls of Saints are mentioned not to encourage unto sin but to prevent despair and to encourage to repentance and returning unto God when there has been a departing from him And truely they are in a state quite different from the Saints who are only like them in their falls but not like them in their rising again Righteousness and Repentance 4. We must beware of thinking it sufficient to have escaped the more gross pollutions of the World When we compare our selves with the vilest of men and find our selves unlike them this is not enough to prove our selves or our state truely good It was not enough to justifie the Pharisee before God that others were extortioners unjust and adulterers but he was free from such gross and scandalous crimes as these Luk. 18. 11. There are degrees of Sin as well as Grace 'T is but a small commendation Pessimis esse meliorem to be better than the very worst of all we may be bad enough to ruine us for all that The Pharisees were righteous and blameless in the eyes of men but Christ saw how proud and how unsanctified their hearts were therefore he says Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 5. 20. 5. The providences of God must not be our Rule of Trial We must not judge of our spiritual condition by present external dispensations You find a wicked man in purple and fine linnen faring sumptuously every day and a godly man a beggar laid at his gate full of Sores desirous to be fed with the Crumbs that fell from the rich mans Table Luk. 16. The righteous are plagued all the day long and chastened every morning when the wicked prosper in the World and increase in riches and have more than heart could wish Psal 73. 12 14. If thriving in this World be all thou hast to shew as an evidence of the love of God thou hast indeed nothing at all to shew as an argument he loves thee with a special love for Solomon says No man knows either love or hatred by all that is before them but all things fall alike to all and there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked Eccles 9. 1 2. 6. We must take heed of a wrong notion of the Grace of God in Christ which may encourage licentiousness and presumption We must not look upon him as all Justice Jealousie Fury neither must we imagine him all Grace and Mercy We must not look upon our Lord Jesus as the Minister of sin Gal. 2. 17. for he was manifested to destroy the works of the Devil 1 Joh. 3. 8. 't is unreasonable therefore to continue in sin that grace may abound Rom. 6. 1. We must be fully persuaded that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Heb. 12. 14. for if the necessity of holiness be not apprehended we shall entertain a presumptuous confidence in the grace of God and indulge our lusts at the same time 7. We must take heed of putting our selves upon the Tryal farther than the Scripture ever does As whether we can be contented to be damned that God may be glorified Whether we would be so strict and circumspect as the word requires if there were no future reward or punishment 'T is not good to make suppositions which God in his word never makes As whether if we might live here in this world for ever we could be very well contented Whether if God were to be enjoyed but for a time we should prefer that enjoyment before an everlasting fruition of the creature Such suppositions as they have no Scripture warrant so they but perplex them that make them We must take things as they are and not suppose them to be what they are not And if things visible which are but temporal are despised in comparison of invisible things which are eternal it argues the heart is wise to make a right choice Having laid down these cautionary Rules I come now to speak of the Right Touchstone by which this Tryal of our selves is to be made and that is the Written word of God Saints cannot ascend into heaven at present and immediately search the Book of life to know whether their names are there registred Neither must they expect that an Angel should come to them as to Daniel of old to inform them that they are greatly beloved Neither shall the wicked and the hypocritical ones have an hand appearing as once to Belshazzer signifying how bad their state is and how sad their is like to be But to the written word all must repair that they may know what to conclude concerning themselves Now the word of God gives us a description and characters both of a state of nature and of a state of Grace The Prisoner at the bar which is tryed for his life with what trembling does he expect the verdict of the Jury When we are trying our selves in reference to Eternity Oh with what fear and trembling should we attend what sentence the word of God will pass upon us 1. I begin with a description of a State of Nature Now the Scripture pronounces those in a state of nature 1. Who have a vail of grosse and black ignorance upon their hearts As 't is life eternal to know so it must needs be granted to be no less than eternal death to be grosly ignorant of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent How can we obey that great Command of the Law to love the Lord with all our hearts or that great Command of the Gospel to believe in Jesus Christ if concerning both God and Christ there be a very gross ignorance Ignorance is commonly rejoyced in as an excuse for sin but it proves destructive where 't is thus liked Hos 4. 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge 2 Cor. 4. 3. If our Gospel be hid 't is hid to them that are lost And Isa 27. 11. It is a people that have no understanding therefore he that made them will not save them and he that formed them will shew them no favor 2. They are in a state of Nature who believe not the report of the Gospel The word speaks terribly against such as esteem the Gospel no more than if it were a cunningly devised Fable who stand no more in awe of
We have known and believed the love that God hath to us 1 Joh. 3. 14. We know that we have passed from death to life And v. 19. Hereby we know that we are of the Truth and shall assure our hearts before him This assurance was not the effect of a particular and extraordinary revelation peculiar to that first age of Christianity but was the result of those charcters of Grace which are to be found even in the Saints now as well as then The consolations of the Spirit were not confin'd to the Primitive times but as a Comforter he is to abide with the Church for ever Joh. 14. 16. And indeed those who walk in the fear of God may expect the comforts of the Holy Ghost without any presumption The Apostle bids us to draw nigh with a true heart in full assurance of faith Heb. 10. 22. And 2 Pet. 2. 10. We are commanded to give diligence to make our calling and election sure What impiety is it then to say that Assurance is an impious confidence What is it that the Church of Rome does not strike at She strikes at our Liberties at our Lives would clasp the Book of the Gospel and lock it up in an unknown Tongue She would baffle our very senses and lord it over our Consciences and exercise dominion over our Faith and rob us of our peace and comfort and joy in Gods Salvation Vse 2. It may serve for a great and just lamentation that this duty of Self-proving is so exceedingly neglected by the generality even of those unto whom the Gospel is preached Multitudes are as unconcerned what is likely to become of them in another World as if there were not a pin to chuse between Heaven and Hell as if eternal Life did not deserve to be desired and eternal Death were not worthy of their fear Men are willing to know whether they thrive in the World there is anxious enquiring what the Parliament does and what the times are likely to prove whether peaceable and prosperous or full of tumult and confusion But alass alass 't is no part of the enquiry of the most among us What Eternity is likely to prove to them whether an Eternity of horror and woe or an Eternity of joy and blessedness A great number live in the prophane and total neglect of God and godliness and will not give the Gospel so much as the hearing but truely there are also many who will pray attend upon the Word preached and profess high and talk religiously who never talk with themselves nor call their hearts to task nor speak such language as this to themselves O animula vagula blandula Quae nunc abibis in loca O my Soul in what state art thou And where art thou likely to be lodg'd when once thou hast left this earthly Tabernacle The consequences of this neglect of Self-examination are fatal and truely lamentable 1. These careless Sinners that prove not themselves know not themselves they know neither their Sore not the way of Cure their Sins are hid from them and so they must needs be strangers to Repentance and godly Sorrow they remember not their own wickedness so as to mourn and condemn themselves therefore God will remember it so to condemn and punish them He that is ignorant of himself must needs remain impenitent and hard-hearted and such do treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2. 5. 2. The not proving themselves is the ground of Sinners presumptuous confidence False hope cannot bear a serious Trial but they that try not themselves are full of such hopes and such hopes the stronger they are the more destructive The hope of them that are Hypocrites and forget God is compared to a Spiders Web 't is spun out of themselves but 't is easily cut off and they and their Hope shall perish together Job 8. 13 14. They that prove not themselves in how certain danger are they of building their house upon the sand And when the Rain descends and the floods come and beat upon their house 't will fall and great will be the fall of it Mat. 7. 27. 3. They that prove not themselves hide their faces and esteem not the Lord of Life and Glory they feel not their sickness they sancy they are whole and value not Physician they are more afraid to be cured of their Disease than to die of it They have no hunger and so they slight the bread of life they never were weary and heavy laden and so they mind not him that alone can give them rest they never were thirsty in a Spiritual sence so the invitation is not hearkned to to come and drink of the Water of Life freely for want of proving themselves they know not in what a most wretched and lost condition they are no wonder then if they neglect great Salvation and how shall such escape Heb. 2. 3. When the Apostle says How shall we escape He does not say what to intimate that the punishment which will follow upon neglecting the great Salvation whereof Christ is the Author is much sorer than tongue can utter or heart is able to conceive or reach 4. They that prove not themselves know not what they are doing they are breaking a Law most worthy to be kept with as great chariness as the Apple of our Eyes they are engaged in the service of Sin whose wages is Death and Hell they are the Devils Vassals who hates and strives to ruine those who serve him with the greatest labour they are provoking the Lord more and more to anger and provoking themselves to the confusion of their own faces 'T is very bad and sad work they are employed about and because they neither prove their work nor themselves they do not in a penitential way cry out What have we done But what they have done they will do still whatever comes on 't therefore the Lord complains Jer. 8. 6. I hearkned and heard but they spake not aright no man repented him of his wickedness saying What have I done Every one turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battel 5. They that prove not themselves know not whither they are going these careless Sinners consider not that their most pleasant Sins will be as bitter and as deadly as the very gall of Asps at last that of Solomon is verified in them Prov. 14. 12. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death The end of that broad way our Lord speaks of his hid from the multitude which go in it They are blind and do not see afar off nay though Death is near at hand and Hell follows immediately upon Death yet they do not see it Woe unto them they fly from God and they run post haste towards ruine and do not understand what dreadful and everlasting destruction they are near till they have actually and utterly destroyed themselves and that beyond
Thus have I finished this Subject of Self-Examination a Duty which the Ungodly mind not which Hypocrites are afraid and do not care to meddle with and which if Saints would more frequently and thorowly engage in there would be less unbelief and fear more joy and Faith in the Church of Christ You that are Saints In this discourse I have been helping of your Joy Let it not be hindred by your selves Some clusters of Canaan might be brought to the Wilderness and more of Heavens joys might be tasted in the Vale of Tears if the Heirs of Heaven would but take more pains in self-trial to clear up their Title And as for you that are Hypocrites and Vnbeleivers I have don you a kindness in telling you what you are and what you may expect hereafter If after all you will put a cheat upon your own souls you must be blamed and your selves must smart for it If you will cry peace and safety till Christ himself does thunder that sentence in your ears Go ye Cursed into Everlasting fire Who can help it Alas Alas 'T will be too late to look up to Heaven and to look into your selves when the Gulph is fixed between Heaven and you Let every sinner therefore try his own ways and cry to the Lord to search and change and turn his Heart For 't is the greatest Wisdom to prevent those mistakes which will be the mistakers Eternal ruine and which after death will be found impossible to be corrected Herbert page 105. CAnst he idle Canst thou play Foolish soul who sinn'd to day Rivers run and springs each one Know their home and get them gone Hast thou tears or hast thou none If poor soul thou hast no tears Would thou hadst no faults or fears Who hath these those ills forbears But if yet thou idle be Foolish Soul who di'd for thee Who did leave his Fathers Throne To assume thy Flesh and Bone Had he life or had he none If he had not liv'd for thee Thou hadst di'd most wretchedly And two deaths had been thy fee. He so far thy good did plot That his own self he forgot Did he die or did he not If he had not di'd for thee Thou hadst liv'd in misery Two lives worse than ten deaths be He that loseth Gold though dross Tells to all he meets his cross He that sins hath he no loss He that finds a silver vein Thinks on it and thinks again Brings thy Saviours death no gain Who in Heart not ever kneels Neither sin nor Saviour feels Meditations ON THE LORDS SUPPER MEDITATIONS I. WHerefore do I spend my money for that which is not Bread And my labour for that which can never satisfie Many a time have I made trial of the things that are visible but the higher my expectations have been raised the greater has been my disappointment I have sought that among the Creatures which is not to be found Sin has turned this World into a Country far from God and truly Husks are the best fare that ever this World hath yeilded me 'T is high time to come out from the World and to be separate left my Soul perish for hunger there Meat that perishes is improper for a Soul that is of an immortal nature and of an Everlasting duration I will arise and go unto my God and Father He has promised to satiate and replenish the weary and sorrowful Soul In his House I am sure there is Bread enough and to spare MEDITATION II. Boast not O Mammon of thy Treasures Unless thou hast that which is of sufficient value to be a ransom for me Can all the Wealth of both the Indies pay the debt which by sin I have contracted Can Riches satisfie for the wrong I have done to the justice of God by my Transgression Oh no I was not Redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Pardon Grace and Glory are such gifts of God as are not to be purchased with money for if they were so many Rich men would not be lost for ever Wealth cannot buy any out of the Devils possession but rather brings them more under his power it cannot save any from Hell but rather proves a means to send them thither For they that will be Rich fall into Tempttaion and a Snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in Destruction and Perdition MEDITATION III. O my Soul strive not to load thy self with the thick clay of this present World this will debase thee exceedingly and defile and burthen thee Thou needest that which is of more value then Gold that perishes to enrich thee and that is precious Faith Thou needest a garment to cover thy nakedness which no Shop on Earth can furnish thee withal and that is the Robe of Christs Righteousness Thou needest Food to satisfie thy hunger which cannot be got for money or price but may be had without it and that is the Bread of God which came down from Heaven to give Life unto the World Thou art of Heavenly original and therefore mind not Earthly things for it can never be well with thee untill thou return to that All-sufficient Lord who is the Father of Spirits and alone can fill them out of his own fulness MEDITATION IV. Lord Thou who art full of Love nay love it self and art jealous of my love lest it should be misplaced Turn away my Eyes that they may not be set upon that which is not If Riches take to themselves wings and fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven let my Heart be so wise as to get the start of them and fly away first from such transitory and fading vanities and fly towards the highest Heaven of all How great a gain will it be to lose my love to the World And though it be no gain at all to thee for me to love thee who art so self-sufficient from Everlasting to Everlasting yet I shall hereby be an Eternal gainer and shall be interested in that love which is Everlasting and unchangeable Oh! Love me freely in the Son of thy love and inflame my Heart with love to Thee 'T is my Honour that I have leave to love thee who art so high and glorious and 't is thy first and great Command that I should love thee with my whole Heart and Soul and Strength Let this Command be kept and let not the biggest offer the World can make me ever tempt me to break it so as to prevail with me MEDITATION V. Pleasures of sin and sence have often charmed and deceived me Those things which have gratified the Eye the Ear the Touch the Taste have had a kind of an inchanting Force and Power Sensual Delights have been some of the finest and strongest cords of vanity to draw me a way from God and Duty But now I see what madness 't is to please my self and displease my Lord
and amazing kindness and love of God The Father himself looks here and is delighted in the Obedience and Sufferings of his Son through whom without any prejudice to his Justice and Holiness his Grace and Mercy have a full vent and a free course to be glorified among the Sons of men The Beleivers under the Old Testament looked unto Jesus though he was more darkly represented to them Moses and the Prophets spake of him and Abraham himself rejoyced to see his day And under the New Testament he is more fully revealed Here therefore I will fix my eye and living and dying Behold this Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World MEDITATION XII I am in my self a lost Creature My sins my sins have ruin'd me the sins which I have lov'd and pleaded for and taken so much pleasure in have done me the greatest harm Wo wo is me that I have sinned I have broken the best Law and rebelled against the best Lord. I have sided with the Enemies of my Salvation to destroy my self 'T is an endless task to number the Stars in the Firmament or the Sand upon the Sea shore or the days of Eternity and I may as well do all this as number my iniquities Innumerable Evils have compassed me about my iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more then the hairs of my Head therefore my heart faileth me And if the wages of the least sin be Death and Hell what large wages and what a low place in Hell have I deserved Gods anger is just his power is terrible his patience is wonderful his mercy is utterly undeserved I should be all despair were it not for the Grace of God and the Blood of God but these are sufficient grounds of hope and Everlasting Consolation MEDITATION XIII I plainly perceive that all mankind have suffered shipwrack The first man Adam had the steering of the Vessel and he run it upon the Rocks and lost himself and his whole progeny All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God The calamity is general the whole World is become guilty before God there is none that understandeth or seeketh after God there is none that doeth good no not one 'T is truly lamentable that the humane nature should be so infected so corrupted as that every mind should be carnal and enmity against God that every Heart should be like an adamant stone that every neck should be like an iron sinew All are born the Children of wrath and with strong inclinations to be the Children of Disobedience So that when the Son of God came into the World to dye and save it He found the World lying in wickedness secure in sin and hastning towards Everlasting misery MEDITATION XIV Whence is this to Man that a Saviour should be provided for him Were there no Creatures fell besides Yes an innumerable Host of Angels kept not their first estate but left their own Habitation The Angels that sinned were excellent and glorious in their first Creation but they grew proud and Enemies to Truth and voluntarily departed and were justly banished from the Lord that made them And when these Angels sinned no mercy that we read of was extended to them The Scripture expressely says that God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell That was a dreadful fall indeed from the highest Heaven to the lowest Hell those mighty Spirits are fettered in Chains of darkness and are reserved unto the judgement of the great day they never that we find had a Redeemer provided nor a pardon offered nor after they had made themselves miserable were they ever brought within the reach and possibility of Mercy The Son of God took not on him the nature of Angels or he took not hold of the Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham MEDITATION XV. Lord What was man that thou wert thus mindful of him Or the Son of man that the Son of God should come and visit him Admirable condescension That thou whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain shouldst rejoyce in the habitable parts of the Earth and that thy delights should be with the Sons of men Can man be profitable unto God Is it any gain to the Almighty that any make their ways perfect Lord Man has the benefit of Salvation 't is but reason that thou shouldst have intirely all the Glory Man is therefore subservient to thine honour because his meanness makes thy condescension and his guilt and vileness does render thy Grace the more wonderful When 〈◊〉 Creature so undeserving nay that deserves so ill is so highly advanced as to be saved the power and grace which does advance and save him is matter of the greater admiration MEDITATION XVI Who is this Lord Jesus that undertakes the work of mans Redemption He is the express Image of his Fathers Person the Brightness of his Glory He is to be Worshipped with the same Worship and has the same Eternal Power and Godhead with the Father and the Spirit He it is who created all things in Heaven and Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist The Elect Angels adore him the Reprobate ones he has spoyled and triumphed over he has all power in Heaven and Earth and Commands the Keys of Hell and Death He is Wonderful in Counsel the Mighty God the Prince of Peace How safe is it then to trust in this Lord Jesus 't is the highest reason to believe in him that is so mighty that is Almighty for the must needs be able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him Whosoever Believeth in him shall not be confounded MEDITATION XVII O my Soul let thy Faith be fixed and settled on the Godhead of thy Lord and Saviour were he not God 't were both sin and folly to rely upon him Faith in him would be altogether vain but since he is the true God and Eternal Life They shall not perish but have Everlasting Life that do indeed beleive in him Christ thy Righteousness is the Lord Jehovah in him therefore thou mayst confidently expect to be justified and thou mayst Glory and rejoyce for ever The Blood of Christ is called Gods own Blood because 't is the Blood of him that is truly God and over all God blessed forever as well as truly man And surely the sufferings of him that was God can make satisfaction for the sins that thou hast been guilty of against God Thou art amazed to see thy iniquities increased and thy Trespasse grown up to the Heavens Thou art astonished and desolate and horribly afraid to see how high thy sin strikes even at God himself But withal take notice how Christ who is God does stoop and humble himself He that thought it no Robbery to be equal
with God the Father takes upon him the form of a Servant and becomes obedient to death even the Death of the Crosse and he is sufficient to make peace MEDITATION XVIII Christ as he was God could not die but he took mans nature upon him that he might be in a capacity to dye for sinful and lost Man He suffered in the same Nature that had sinned that he might make Atonement Sacrifices and Burnt-offerings could never take away the guilt of sin nor quiet the Conscience of the sinner nor cleanse and sanctifie a defiled soul therefore Christ had a Body prepared for him that by one Offering he might perfect his Church for ever Wonderful mystery of Godliness That God should be manifested in the Flesh and suffer upon the Cross to make peace Here is a wonderful contrivance Christ is the Sacrifice Christ is the Altar and Christ is the Priest Through the Eternal Spirit he offered up himself without spot to God to purge our Consciences from dead works that we might serve the Living God MEDITATION XXI Christ is God and has so effectually don the work of a Mediator that God is forward to be at Peace and entreats sinners to be reconciled Christ is Man and therefore Man may go with boldness to him O my Soul Thy Lord is near a kin to thee he bears good will to thy whole kind He is the Saviour of all men especially of them that Believe Being so nearly related to thee he has a right to Redeem thee nay he has actually paid the price of thy Redemption already so that nothing remains but that thou come to him and be made free indeed His Arms were not folded or hanging down but stretched out upon the Cross And oh How forward is this Saviour who died to embrace all that come to him When he says he will in No wise cast them out methinks it speaks the greatest readiness and gladness imaginable to entertain them Venture O venture to look to Jesus to come to Jesus and venture thy all with him Never any miscarried in this bottom and all must needs miscarry in any other He knows thy Sins thy Wants thy Foes thy Fears he knows how to Pity Protect and Succour thee He was in all things made like unto his Brethren that he might be a Merciful and Faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God to make Reconciliation for the sins of the People for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he knows how to succour them that are tempted MEDITATION XX. How excellent is the Knowledge of Christ Crucified Look O my Soul upon thy Lord who loved thee at such a rate as to dye for thee Behold him Arrested Arraigned and Condemned Thou wast guilty of the crime and thy Lord did bear the punishment Behold him going to execution going unto Golgotha and if he had not gone thither whither Oh! Whither must thou needs have gone for ever The Law had condemned Thee not only the first but also the second Death was the just desert of thy Transgressions But here thy Surety stept in and Redeemed thee from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for thee Look upon the Wrath of God revealed against thee because of thy ungodliness and unrighteousness look upon the glittering Sword of Justice drawn look upon devouring Fire and Everlasting Burnings prepared for thee and thy self just ready to be thrown into those unquenchable Flames And then behold and wonder at the kindness and love of Jesus who was willing to be made sin for thee and to bear the Wrath of God himself that he might appease it which was too heavy for thee to bear and which would have sunk thee into the lowest Hell and have kept thee there unto Eternity In what a deplorable and desperate case had the Sheep been if this good Shepherd had not stood in their room and layed down his Life for them MEDITATION XXI History tells us of Codrus the last Athenian King who was a great Lover of his People as appears by the manner of his Dying When the Grecians of Doris sought Counsel from the Oracle concerning the success of their Wars which they waged with the Athenians It was answered that undoubtedly they should prevail and become Lords of that State when they could obtain any victory against the Nation and yet preserve the Athenian King himself alive Codrus the King by some intelligence being informed of this answer withdrew himself from his own Forces and putting on the habit of a common Souldier he entred alone the Camp of the Dorians his Enemies and killing the first he met with was himself forthwith cut in pieces Thus he was willing to lose his own life rather then his Country should be ruined The Lord Jesus the Prince of Life and Glory did vail his Majesty appeared in the form of a Servant was contented to be counted a deceiver and to be numbred among Transgressours that his Life might be taken away and hereby Eternal Redemption be procured Codrus was deservedly honoured among the Athenians and certainly the Lord Jesus should be the higher in our esteem and love the lower he humbled and abased himself for our sakes The offence of the Crosse should cease since his Crucifixion was so necessary to our Eternal Salvation MEDITATION XXII Greater Love hath no man then this that a man lay down his Life for his Friends But Lord Thou didst dye for Rebels and for Enemies thou didst dye unsought to undesired therefore thy love is greater then the greatest love besides Thy love was stronger then Death no Water could quench it no Floods could drown it Hell it self could not discourage it 'T was a bitter Cup the Father put into thy hand but thou didst drink it and drink it off too the very dreggs of the Cup are gone Oh what a load did lye upon thee All the sins of all that ever were or shall be saved did meet on thee together How many stings had thy Death and yet thy Godhead and thy love did carry thee through all thy sufferings Oh! That I could comprehend with all Saints what is the heighth and length and depth and breadth and know the Love of Christ which passeth Knowledge that I may be filled with all the fulness of God! MEDITATION XXIII My Lord did know what was to come upon him Mans sin had been shamefull Christs Death was most Reproachful and Accursed Man had taken Pleasure in sin Christs Death was painful Man had been wilful in Transgression and Christs Death was voluntary though 't was violent Man had sinned against knowledge and with great contrivance and deliberation and Christ perfectly understood all that he was to endure He was well aware what he was to feel from Earth from Hell and from his heavenly Father and yet he makes no demur but endures the Cross and despises the shame and gives his Life a Ransom for many How was he straitned till his bloody Baptism was accomplished And
when his Disciple Peter through an ignorant and carnal Affection would have hindred him from dying for his Church how sharply does he rebuke him Get thee behind me Satan for thou art an offence to me thou savourest not the things that be of God but the things that be of men MEDITATION XXIV Dearest Lord Wert thou thus forward to dye and art thou not forward to reap the fruit of thy Death and to receive and save the Souls that come to thee If a Woman in Travel be willing to be delivered I need not question but thou art willing to see of the Travel of thy Soul since 't is so much for thy own satisfaction so much for thy Fathers Glory Certainly thou will not reject sinners that come to thee since thou hast done and suffered so much for their Salvation If thou hadst been really unwilling to save as sometimes Satan misrepresents thee that unwillingness would have shew'd it self when thou wast in thy terrible Agony when thy Soul was amazed and full of heaviness and exceeding sorrowful unto Death when the Heaven was black over thee and thy Fathers Face hid from thee and thou didst cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me But all this thou didst willingly undergo to save lost Man and therefore thy willingness to bestow the Salvation thou hast purchased is not to be questioned For surely thou art not willing that such a Death as thine so sharp so bitter and of so great value should be in vain MEDITATION XXV I do not wonder that the Apostle Paul does magnifie the knowledge of Christ Crucified above all other knowledge compared with this all the Philosophy of the Greeks was but vain legal prerogatives and indeed all the Ceremonies of the Law were but insignificant Christ Crucified Though he be a stumbling block to the Jews and to the Greeks foolishness yet he is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God and the greatest demonstration of his love I do not wonder that the Lords Supper should be instituted on purpose that the Crucifixion of Christ should be remembred for the Death of Christ is the sinners life the Foundation of his hope and his security against Eternal Death The Gospel is styled the Preaching of the Cross and the Apostle is resolved to Glory in nothing else the Truth is we can take comfort in no other knowledge unless we have some respect and relation to Christ and him Crucified The Papists foolishly adore the sign of the Cross but true Beleivers do prize the Doctrine the Blood and the Vertue of Christ Crucified MEDITATION XXVI What sights may I see in my Lord Crucified Peace is made by the Blood of the Cross and all things Reconciled both in Heaven and Earth The Saints who lived and dyed before Christ was born were reconciled to God by the Blood of his Son which was to be shed in time as well as Believers since his being manifested in the Flesh In Christ Crucified the Anger of God is appeased his Justice fully satisfied and though the Christians debt amounts unto millions of Talents yet justice acknowledgeth that Christ his surety has paid it all Look upon God in Christ and you will see that Fury is not in him through the Lord Jesus you may see his very Bowels he does earnestly remember sinners his Bowels are troubled for them and he will surely have mercy upon them Oh certain and comfortable Truths That the Lord is the God of Love and Peace that he waits to be Gracious that he delights in shewing mercy and takes pleasure in them that hope in his mercy if that hope be accompanied with a fear and careful eschewing of what is evil in his sight MEDITATION XXVII In Christ Crucified I may see a New Covenant of Grace and Life and Peace established so that it is most sure and Everlasting Jesus is the Mediatour of this Covenant and every time I come to the Table this Covenant is sealed and confirmed to me that I may with the greater confidence expect the accomplishment of the promises which are contained in it These Promises are exceeding great and precious Temporal blessings in such a measure as the Wise God sees convenient are here made over to me for he that is a Son and Heir of God is the Heir of the World the Heir of all things Spiritual blessings which are of greater value are more absolutely promised and may with greater vehemency be desired and with greater confidence expected And as the Lord has engaged to give me Grace so to give me Glory he has said he will give me himself and be my God and Guide my Shield and my exceeding great Reward And truly the Ordinances of Heaven are not so immutable and unchangeable as the Covenant of Redemption and Reconciliation Heaven and Earth shall passe away but one joy or tittle shall in no wise pass from the Covenant till all be fulfilled MEDITATION XXVIII In Christ Crucified I may see the Curse of the Law removed the sentence of condemnation reversed the sting of Death taken out the Principallities and Powers of darkness triumphed over I may see Hell fast lockt and shut up for ever and Heaven opened a way made plain in to the Holiest of all an abundant entrance administred into the Everlasting Kingdom Who would not study the Cross of Christ Who would not Glory and rejoyce in it Who would not desire conformity to it and to feel the power and vertue of it They that are Enmies to the Cross of Christ are Enemies to their own Souls They that are offended at the Cross 't is a sign they are blind and do no understand the benefits which comes by it MEDITATION XXIX Do this in remembrance of me said my dying Lord and Redeemer Lord Can I put my memory to a better use then to remember Thee Thy Tears thy strong Cryes thy being cruelly Mockt and Scourged thy dreadful Agonies and Desertion the peircing of thy Hands and Feet and Side thy Wounds and Bruises and giving up the Ghost and making thy Soul an Offering for sin and sinners Shall all or any this be forgotten The sufferings of such an One such sufferings so great so beneficial to me should always be kept in most affectionate remembrance Thy Death and Burial should never be buried in oblivion A dying Lord should always live in a Christians memory If the poor Captives in Babylon could not forget Jerusalem shall I ever forget Jesus Or my obligation to him or the Love and service which I owe him I desire to grieve for sin which made thee sorrowful and to be prickt at the Heart for my iniquities whereby thy Heart was pierced And as I wish that sin may be more my grief so I would prefer Jesus before my chief Joy MEDITATION XXX My Lord at the Table says Take and eat this is my Body This is infinitely more and better then if a Rich man should say to me take my estate or then