into Hell That thy terrors may affright them from those evils which delight them Cause Sin to reign unto Death that Grace may reign unto Eternal Life thro Jesus Christ our Lord. Snatch them as Brands out of the Fire lest they be swallowed up in their own ruins Bring them out of their Spiritual Bondage with a mighty Hand and a stretched-out Arm. The pleasures of Sin the power of Satan and the source of Evil. Custom this three-fold Cord is not easily broken Translate them out of the Kingdom of Satan into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God Bring them from Darkness to Light and from the power of Satan unto God Glorifie thy self by their salvation and not by their damnation Turn their Vices into Vertues Altho now they be afar off make them nigh by the Blood of Christ Bring the Blind by a way they know not Make Darkness Light unto them and Crooked Paths straight O that Christ may be formed in them That the Blind may see the Deaf may hear the Dumb may speak the Lame walk and the Lepers may be cleansed We are all the Work of thy Hands make us all the Sheep of thy Pasture We are all of one common Mold make all of one common Salvation Purge them with Hysop and they shall be clean Say unto the dry bones live Cause the Leopards to change their Spots and the Ethiopians their Hue. For the Broken hearted O God shew thy Grace to them whose souls desire thee in the Night that sigh by reason of their bondage Who thou hast broke in the place of Dragons and covered with the shadow of Death The Spirit of a Man is able to bear his infirmity but a Wounded Spirit who can bear The troubles of the Spirit are the Spirit of troubles Even as the Wind when it gets into the Caverns of the Earth causeth it to quake so Guilt contracted and felt maketh the poor soul to tremble No Lyon roars like that in a Mans bosom If a spark of thy Wrath be so terrible when it flieth into our Consciences what will thy comeing be when thou comest with Flaming Fire to render Vengance to thy Adversaries Their own Guilt hath brought two Hells in their Hearts Horror and Shame Oh sin is of a Toady Complexion After the strong Wind the Earthquake and the Fire cause the Still Voice to come Hear the Cries out of the Deeps Be thou their Pilot in the dark and dangerous Storm Thou healest the Broken in Heart and bindest up their Wounds Let the sighing of the Prisoners come before thee and relieve them according to the greatness of thy Power Bring the Prisoners from the Prison and them that sit in Darkness from the Prison House Say to the Prisoners Go forth to them in Darkness Shew your selves Cause them to â—eed in the ways and their pastures to be in high places Pleasures of Sin merried their Senses for a while but horror followed after and vultures their unconsuming Hearts and those that carried the most pleasing tastes fit them with the largest reluctations Oh sympathize with the weary and heavy laden ones how they long for the Scape-goat to carry their Sins into oblivion They watch for him more than they that watch for the Morning That look thro the Windows and cry thro the Latesses Why is his Chariot so long in coming Why stay the wheels of his Charriot They who are sick with the sense of their misery comfort them with the sweetness of thy mercy They who see their miseries out of Christ cause them to see the light of the glory of God that shineth in the Face of Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of his Grace Loose off their Sack-cloth and gird them with gladness that their glory may sing praise Break their Bonds and they shall sacrifice the sacrifice of praise Bind up the broken hearted proclaim liberty to captives open the prison to them that are bound comfort all that mourn give them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heavinness that they may be call'd Trees of Righteousness That they may be of the ransomed of the Lord that return and come to Sion with Songs and everlasting joy upon their Heads Cause true joy and gladness to possess their souls that sorrow and sighing may fly away Even as the eye of the Servant waiteth upon the hand of his Master or the Maiden upon the hand of her Mistriss so they wait upon thee until thou hast mercy on them Cause them that lift up their souls unto thee to know the way wherein they should walk Lead them to the door of hope opened in the valley of Achor Be a Leader and Commander unto them instruct them and teach them what they should do and guid them with thine eye Guid these prisoners of hope unto the strong holds Remember them with the favour thou bearest unto thy people and visit them with thy salvation They who are stung with the Fiery Serpents give them a sight of the Brazen Serpent The sting of Death is Sin the strength of Sin is the Law give them the Victory thro our Lord Jesus Christ That the great Physician of Souls may heal their Spiritual Distempers Where spiritual sorrow sinketh the heart cause the pully of Faith to raise it They who look towards thee with contrition consolate them with remission They who turn unto thee with humilation and repentance turn unto them with commiseration and forgiveness According to thy promise be with them that are of contrite and humble spirits to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Be nigh unto them that call upon thee that call upon thee in truth Suffer not all their sighs to wander in fleeting Air. Cause them that sow in tears to reap in joy Turn their mourning into dancing loose off their sack-cloth and gird them with gladness Cause thy Face to shine upon them and they shall be saved They who are afflicted and tossed with tempest and are not comforted lay their stones with fair Colours and lay their Foundations with Saphirs Make their Windows of Agats and their Gates of Carbuncles and all their Borders of pleasant Stones The Vapors of Sin are risen and ingendred into a Cloud which interposeth between them and the Sun of Mercy Grant for the present that some glances from the edges of the interposed body may refresh them Where the stormy Clouds are risen when the distressed ones expect to be over-whelmed with the Deluge of thy Wrath then set thy Bow in the Clouds A discovery of Free Grace will be precious Make them to hear joy and gladness that the bones that thou hast broken may rejoyce Bring them on Eagles Wings from Sinai to Sion Cause them that mourn to be exalted to safety Open the Conduits of Soul-supportation and Soul-consolation Hope deferred maketh the heart sick but when the desire cometh it is a
but thou wilt see that Den and Cave of Uncleaness the deeps of Filth that is in thy own Heart which will cause Gods Mercy to be amazing and thee restless until thou be partaker of it by thy gaining of Achsach thou wilt see the things that are spiritually discern'd Take one Word of Advice how to go about this great Work and God speed thee well When thou readest that God is the Omnipotent Lord of all Glory and Majesty make way through thy Thoughts and Considerations to thy Vnderstanding and entertain the Notion there and let it be an Inhabitant with thee as Solomon saith concerning the Fear of God I say of the Knowledg of him Hold it fast and grow old therein This will make thee reverence Him his Name will be great in thy sight and when thou readest He 's the great Benefactor of Mankind c. Observe the former Method in bringing the Notion home this will exceedingly greaten thy Respect and increase thy Love to him And when thou readest That we have prophaned our Affections which are due onely to God by setting them upon unworthy things and that our Adulteries are between our Breasts Consider thou art the Man that hath promised to forsake the Devil the World and the Flesh and thy self only to thy great Lord to love him with all thy Heart and Mind and Soul and finding thy self guilty if thou have not an harden'd Whore's fore-head thou must blush and be confoundedly ashamed and acknowledg it Justice to be put away And when thou readest That we have continually lived in contempt of God and in the transgression of his Commands breaking his bands in sunder laying the Reins of our Loyalty upon the Neck of licentious liberty Consider then what it is for the so much obliged Creature to rebel against so great and good Creator Redeemer Sustainer and Preserver and reckon thy self in the throng of such Malefactors then thou canst not be keep'd from judging and abhorring thy self and thus apprehending of the Soul of the Letter taking Kirjath-sepher thou wilt find so much within the Word which is Divine that will rightly humble thee when thou comest to Gratulation so much sweetness in Mercy and so much Comfort in Grace that will take and hold thee that as Death is swallowed up in Victory that thy Miserable Wretchedness is swallowd up in Divine Bounty And when thou hast taken Kirjath-sepher and obtained Achsach thou wilt find that every good and perfect Gift cometh from the Father of Lights and that thou wantest nothing that he hath not for thee that he delighteth himself in shewing Mercy and doing Good this will incourage thee to lift up thy head upon the account of thy Redeemer and with boldness ask Relief And when thou hast taken Kirjath-sepher and injoy'd Achsach thou wilt see the State of the Church her Ruins and Wants and what is needful for her Also the Duty of Ministers what Blessing we want upon the Word Preached also the Deplorable State of Unregenerate Men and the Flashes of Hell Fire that irresistibly invade the Wounded Soul and see others in outward Troubles bleeding by the Arrows of Gods Fury and squeez'd in the Press of Adversity then thou wilt as Elihu feel thy self full of Matter the Spirit within thee will constrain thee When thou art seriously and divinely concern'd forget not thy Director NICO PEARSON ON THE AUTHOR AND HIS Elaborate Work WHil'st the dull clods of worse informed Earth Stifle the Spirit in its very birth See here the more refined mould aspire To Heaven which made it in the Flaming fire Of Ardent zeal to Praise and Pray to him That first endew'd the glorious Seraphim With Love like his he would not be alone But shews the way to others to that Throne Whose Monarch blesseth all but yet commands His Creatures Prayers to force it from his hands And shew'd the piercing Author to dispence Methods to take even Heaven by violence Which if by his Direction we attain He hath the trouble and we have the gain G. H. THE RAPTURES OF A Flaming Spirit ADORATION ETernally Blessed Incomprehensible most Mighty and most Glorious Lord our God The high and lofty One who inhabiteth Eternity whose Name is Holy who dwelleth in the high and holy Place The Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth and of all Things Visible and Invisible Heaven is thy Throne Earth is thy Foot-stool Thou art incircled with Millions of Angels cloathed with Glory and Honour deck'd with Majesty and Excellency and arrayed with Beauty and Splendor Before thee the glorious Angels cover their Faces not being able to behold so glorious a Majesty Thy Throne is Inestimable thy Glory Incomprehensible beforâ— thee the Host of Angels stand with trembling The First Cause of Things the Foundation of the Universe the Infinite Invisible and onely Wise God Thou hast no partner in thy Supream Soveraignty Thou even thou art Lord alone Who dwellest in the Splendors of that inaccessible Light unto which no mortal eye can approach Who with a powerful hand keepest an undisturb'd Order in all thy Affairs The Invisible Divinity that cannot be comprehended within the scanty compass of a Created Mind We thy poor Creatures with all Reverence desire to lift up our dim eyes to discover some of the light of thy Perfections to enkindle in our dull Souls some Devotion Nothing can be added unto thee to make thee more excellent Thou art eternal and infinite in Being and Perfection who consistest of thy self alone without participation from others being absolute endless and without all limitation of Perfection who derivest from thy own incomprehensible Infiniteness certain limited Natures and Perfections to Creatures which Natures and Perfections in Creatures are nothing else but little Particles and Participations of that Bottomless Sea of Infiniteness that is in thy Self whereunto they all are to be referr'd and reduced as the Beam to the Sun or as the Brook to the Spring Thou art Alpha and Omega and beside thee there is no God The Omnipotent Lord of all Glory and Majesty more high than all that can be imagined and conceived and all that can be understood and consider'd with any Created Understanding More high and precious than all that can be beloved enjoy'd or desired for the Infiniteness of thy Greatness doth far pass and exceed all this for thou art to all Creatures Incomprehensible no Understanding can reach unto thee nor Imagination nor Reason nor any other Vertue created can comprehend thee Thou hast thy Existence from thy Self and not from another such a Being as in comparison of thee nothing else hath a being Who hast no Succession always the same Thou our God art the Cause of Causes and the Being of Beings and in every Degree unspeakable and incomprehensible How can we express thy Noble Acts or speak out all thy Praise Thy Name alone is excellent Thou incomparably exceedest our best conceptions of thee Thou holdest back the Face of thy Throne and
afflicted them or the years wherein they have seen Evil. Thou hast watehed over them to break them down to root them out and to destroy them now watch over them to build and to plant In the interim help them to take up their Contentment in they Appointment That they may say Amen to Gods Amen If they cannot read Love in the Hands and Face of God by reason of Frowns and Strokes teach them to draw by the Vail and read Love in the Heart of God and cry out the Thoughts of God are Thoughts of Love and Peace That they may trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon their God They 'ave lost the Comforts which they could not keep give them to keep the Comforts which they cannot lose In regard their Cisterns are broken lead them to the Fountain Remember thy Footstool in the day of thine Anger Oh set bounds to those Seas Don't always Chide keep not thine Anger for ever Don't triumph in farther Executions Let thy Compassions say It is enough Plow not all the day to Sow Their strength is not as the strength of Stones Neither is their Flesh of Brass Thou knowest their Frame remember they are but Dust If thou should'st be extream in marking what is done amiss who is able to abide thy Wrath. Let it not be long before thou heal the Stroke of their Wound Regard their Affliction when thou hearest their Cry Doth the Wild Ass bray when he hath Grass or loweth the Oxe over his Fodder Deep calleth unto Deep at the noise of thy Water-spouts thy Waves and thy Billows are gone over them Wilt thou break a Leaf driven with the Wind Wilt thou pursue the dry Stubble Remember them in their low estate for thy mercies endure for ever Tho thou Chasten them sore give thm not over unto Death Tho thou take Vengeance of â—heir Inventions yet forgive them Psal 99. 8. Be their Defence and Refuge in â—he day of their Trouble that they may sing of thy Power Give Power unto the Faint and â—hem that have no Might Break the Yoke from their Neck burst their Bonds command Deâ—iverance for them Let not the Needy always be forgotten let not the Expectation of the Poor perish for ever Raise the Poor out of the Dust and the Needy out of the Dunghill Set them high from Affliction and make them Families like a Flock Bring back their Souls from the Pit and enlighten them with the Light of the Living The Conclusion GRant that all thy Dispensations to us may be a means to further us in that great Work in making our Calling and Election sure That in this our day we may improve our Talents get Oyl in our Lamps Grace in our Hearts that we may be own'd by the Bridegroom at his coming Make us live Spiritually before we die Naturally That the Temple of Grace may be raised before the Tabernacle of Nature be taken down That our Souls may be fit to be taken into Heaven before our Bodies be fit to be put into the Earth That the second Birth may have place in us least the second Death have power over us Let our Prayers be as Incense and the Lifting up our Hands as an acceptable Sacrifice Lord kindle our Sacrifice from Heaven That our Prayers may be as a Key to unlock the Bowels of Mercy Return Answers of Peaec into our own Bosoms That the Trade we drive in Prayer may increase our Stock of Grace We depend upon thee for we of our selves can do nothing Our Strength is never so un trusty as when 't is most trusted Thou know'st what we have to do and suffer before our course be finished All Futurities are treasured up in God Thou knowest Sin hath cut the Lock where our Strength lay We have lost the Rudder of Free Will Oh whither will the turbulenâ— Waves of our Corrupt Affections carry us if thou do not come to us and help us and stay the rageing of the Sea and command â— Calm If thy Presence go along with us we shall have Rest Let thy everlasting Arms be under us Put thy Left Hand under our Head and let thy Right Hand embrace us If thou do'st not provide us a Pillar of a Cloud by Day and a Pillar of Fire by Night If thou do'st not fight our Battles and make our Way plain before us we shall never reach Canaan Cover thou our Heads in a day of Battle and teach our Hands to War and our Fingers to Fight Our Souls have broke their Wings thou only canst restore us therefore inable us that we may mount up with Wings as Eagles that we may run and not be weary that we may walk and not faint If the Heavenly Bodies did not move there would be no Motion here below When thou didst not lead Israel on they took up their Standings Inlarge our Steps under us that our Feet do not slide Gird us with Strength for thou art our Rock our Fortress our Deliverer the Strength in whom we will trust our Buckler the Horn of our Salvation and high Tower If the Face of the Sun be intercepted the Moon loseth her Light when thou hidest thy Face we are in Darkness Because thou art our Strength we will wait upon thee for God is our Defence Unto thee our Strength will we sing for God is our Defence the God of our Mercy Stir up thy Strength and come and save us That the Place of our Defence may be Munition of Rocks that Bread may be given unto us that our Waters may be sure Advance and confirm all our Resolutions for doing Good give a Prevailing Issue to all our Endeavours and cause Blessed Success to attend all our good Enterprizes If there be any good Desires in us thou hast begun them perform them until the day of Jesus Christ Send Auxiliary Graces to actuate the dull Habits of Inherent Graces That the Buds of our Good Desires may blossom into Resolutions and that those Blossoms may come to such perfection as to produce the Fruit of good Actions That we may not only purpose to be religious but religious to purpose That we may not only desire but endeavour and give thou that blessing to our Endeavours that they may be successful that we may do that which is well pleasing unto thee When we press forward towards the high Price of our Calling suffer not any discouragment to fasten upon us Suffer us not to unbend our Resolutions for Heaven Suffer not the Earth to put out the Fire Let not the things of the World choke our Zeal nor stifle the Motions of the Spirit Tho all the Instruments sound suffer us not to fall down to the Image that Nebuchadnezzar hath set up Suffer not Secular Proviso's to blunt the edge of our Zeal nor the things of the World to eat out the Heart of Religion Suffer not the Worlds Silver Trumpet to sound a Retreat to call us off from the Pursuit of Heaven Let not the