Night without warning or noise Let thy careful vigilance expect it and thy Soul shall not be surprized nor confounded Thine Audit is sure and uncertain Sure that it will be but uncertain the time If thou wilt approve thy self a good Steward have thine Account ready and set thy reckoning even betwixâ— God and thy Soul Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Mat. 24.46 15. LOOK upon the Heavens and Earth as Dissolving and think with St. Jerome that thou hearest the last Trump and voice of the Arch-angel shrilling in thine Ears Arise ye dead and come to judgment Let it be thy main care to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World looking for that Blessed Hope and the Glorious Appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Chirst who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity VVho shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his Glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself Phil. 3.21 A preparatory Prayer of the Judgment to come O Omnipotent Lord God who hast appointed a day wherein thou wilt bring all the world to judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil O make me try my Soul daily and hourly at the Bar of my own Conscience that accusing and judging my self for my sins and transgressions thou mayst not condemn me at thy dreadful Tribunal Lord let that remarkable day be often in my thoughts that the fear of it and thee may be ever before my eyes And my Conscience may be kept more pure by the power of that dread and fear give me an earnest desire and a careful endeavour to direct all my ways and to order the whole Course of my Life according to the Rule and Precepts of thy Holy VVord let it be my utmost care and diligence to have a good Conscience in all things and to live so that my Life being approved of thee my Death may be happy and my appearance before thee in the day of thy coming surrounded with joy and comfort 2. GRANT that the Merit of thy Death and Vertue of thy Resurrection may both Mortifie all my Sinful and Corrupt Affections and raise me to the Life of Righteousness that dying to Sin and governed here by thy â—ower and hereafter Acquitted by thy final Sentence I may at last arrive to a perfect Union with thee with a full view and eternal enjoyment of thee and thy Blessed Presence Grant this through thy Mercies O Heavenly Father thy Merits O Gracious Jesu and thy Assistance O Holy Spirit Three Persons One only VVise Omnipotent and Immortal God to whom belongeth all Honour Praise Might Majesty and Dominion in Heaven and Earth from this time forth and to all eternity Amen SECT XVIII Spiritual Conflicts 1. THOU art affrighted at the thought of Spiâ—itual Enemies Earth nor Hell hath any thâ—ng so formidable Power Malice and Subtilty are mâ—t in them Neither is it easie to say in which of these they are most eminent Certainly were we to match with him on even hands their was just cause not of Fear but Despair 2. I could tremble thou sayst to think what Satan hath done and what he can do With what Contestation he enabled the Egyptian Sorcerers to stand with Moses how they turn'd their Rods into Serpents and seemed to have the advantage of many Serpents crawling and hissing in Pharaoh's Pavement Exod. 7.12 How they turn'd waters into blood vers 22. and brought Frogs upon the Land of Egypt Exod. 8.7 as if thus far the power of Hell would presume to hold Competition with Heaven What furious Tempests he raises in the Air as that from the Wilderness beat upon the four corners of the House of Job's eldest Son and overthrew it Job 1.19 Now Job was the greatest Man in the East Job 1.3 His Heir dwelt not in a Cottage but a strong Fabrick which could not stand against this Hurricane of Satan 3. WHAT fearful Apparitions he makes in upper Regions What great wonders causing Fire to come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of Men Rev. 13.13 Lastly what grievous Tyranny he exerciseth upon the Children of Disobedience Eph. 5.6 Couldst thou expect any less from those the Spirit of God himself styles Principalities and Powers and Rulers of the Darkness of this World and spiritual wickednesses in high Places Eph. 6.12 and the Prince of the Power of the Air Eph. 2.2 4. SURELY it were no Victory to be a Christian if we had not powerful Opposites but dost thou not consider that this Power is by Concession and the Exercise but with Permission and Limitation What Power is their in any Creature which is not derived from the Almighty This Measure the Infinite Creator was pleased to communicate to them as Angels which they retain and Exercise as Devils their damnation hath stript them of Glory but we know not how much their strength is abated 5. AND we may perceive how their Power is bounded Those that turn'd their Rods into Serpents could not keep 'em from being devour'd of that one Serpent of Moses Those that brought Frogs upon Egypt cannot bring Lice those that were suffer'd to bring Frogs lose that power to take 'em away Restrained Powers must know their Limits and we knowing them must set limits to our Fears a Lion chain'd can do less harm than a Cur loose Why art thou concern'd at the powerfulness of Spirits whilst they by an over-ruling Power are tied to their Stake that they cannot hurt thee 6. THY Fears are increas'd with their number which are as many as Powerful one Demoniack was possessed with a Legion how many Legions then tempt those Millions of Men upon the face of the Earth whereof none is free from their Solicitations to evil That holy Man whom our counterfeit Hermits pretend to imitate in the Vision of his retiredness saw the Air full of them and their snares for Mankind and were our Eyes as clear as His we might perhaps meet with the same Prospect But be not dismaid Couldst thou borrow the eyes of the Servant of an Holier Master thou shouldst see that there are more with us than against us â— Kin. 6.16 Thou shouldst see the blessed Angels of God pitching their Tents about thee as the Powerful Vigilant and Constant Guardians of thy Soul These are those Valiant ones about thy Bed They all hold Swords being expert in VVar every one his Sword upon his Thigh because of fear in the night Cant. 3.7 8. 7. FEAR not therefore but make the Lord Even the Most High thy Habitation then there shall no evil befall thee neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling For he shall give his Angels charge over thee in all thy ways they shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone and besides this indemnity Thou shalt tread upon
wish well to the Publick and make thine own Peace with God for thy particular Offences Renew the Covenant with God of a holy and strict Obedience and then pour out thy Prayers and Tears for an universal Mercy Then thou wilt not only pull away one Brand from this Consuming Fire but assist to quench the common Conslagration 11. THY Heart bleeds to see the woful Vastation of Civil Discord and the deadly fury of domestick Enemies Certainly there is nothing under Heaven more dreadful than the Face of an Intestine War nothing that so nearly resembles Hell Killing Dying Torturing Burning Shrieks Cries and Ejaculations fearful Sounds and furious Violences and whatsoever may increase Horror The present Calamity oppreâ—â—es one another Fear One is quivering in Death another trembles to expect it One begs for Life another will sell it dearer Heâ—e one would rescue one Life and loseth two another would hide himself where he finds a Merciless Death Here lies one bleeding groaning and grasping parting with his Soul inextremity of Anguish and another of a Vigorous Spirit kills and dies at once Here one wrings her Hands teaâ—s her Hair and seeks for some Instrument of a self-inflicted Death rather than yield her Chastity to a bloody Ravisher another clings to her Husband and takes part of the Murtherers Sword rather than let go her Embraces One is tortured for the Discovery of hid Treasure another dying upon the Rack out of Jealousie 12. IT is pity that Christians should be so bloodily Cruel to one another That he who bears the Image of God should thus turn Fiend to his own Flesh and Blood These are worthy of our bitterest Lamentations I love the Speculation of Seneca's Resolutely-Wise Man that could look upon the glittering Sword of an Executioner with undazled Eyes and makes it indifferent whether his Soul pass out of his Mouth or Throat But I should more admire the Practice Whilst we carry this Clay about us Nature in the best of us must shrink in at the sight of Death Yet these are the due Revenges of the Almighty's Punitive Justice so provok'd by our Sins that we cannot claim an easier Judgment 13. DOST thou not see Physicians when the Body is highly Distemper'd and the Blood Inflam'd to order the opening of a Vein and extracting out so many ounces as may leave the rest sit for Correction Why art thou over-troubled to see the great Physician of the World take this Course with sinful Mankind Certainly had not this great Body by wilful Disorder contracted these Spiritual Diseases and defiled the Blood that runs in these Vulgar Veins with Riots and Surfeits we had never been so Miserable as to see these Torrents of Christian Blood running down our Channels But could we bewail and abandon our former Wickednesses we might live in hope that at last this deadly Issue might stop and dry up and leave a Possibility of a Blessed Recovery 14. THOU art amaz'd with Grief to see the Pestilence raging in our Streets in so frequent a Mortality as breeds a question concerning the number of the Living and the Dead That which is wont to abate other Miseries heightens this the Company of Participants It was certainly a hard and sad Option that God gave to David after his numbring the People Chuse thee whether Seven Years Famine shall come unto thee in thy Land or three Months Flight before thine Enemies or two days Pestilence 2 Sam. 24.13 We may believe him when we hear him say I am in a great Strait but his wise Resolutions soon brought him out Let us fall now into the hands of the Lord for his Mercies are great And let me not fall into the hands of Man 2 Sam. 24.14 He that sent these Evils know their Value and the difference of their Malignity 15. YET he opposes three days Pestilence to seven Years Famine and three Months Vanquishment He knew there was advantage betwixt the dull Activity of Man and the quick Dispatch of an Angel It was a favour that the Angel who in One Night destroy'd an Hundred fourscore and five thousand Assyrians 2 King 19.35 should in three days cut off but Seventy thousand Israelites But the Almighty in his Judgments remembers Mercy We read of Grand Cairo wherein Eighteen hundred thousand were swept away in one Years Pestilence enough one would imagine to have De-Populated the whole Earth And in our Chronicles of so general a Mortality that the Living were hardly sufficient to Bury the Dead In the Year 1624 died of the Plague in one Week Four thousand four hundred sixty three and in our last Visitation 1665 was a larger Number In one Week Seven thousand one hundred sixty and five and in the whole Year Sixty eight thousand five hundred ninety six It was his tender Mercy that he spared any Alive But he Wounds that he may Heal and in wounding heals us for his Compassions fails not to us Sinners 16. THESE are dreadful demonstrations of God's Displeasure but there is this alleviation of our Misery that we suffer more immediately from a Holy Just and Merciful God The Kingly Prophet had never made that distinction in his Choice if he had not known a difference betwixt the Sword of an Angel and an Enemy betwixt God's more direct and immediate Infliction and the Malice of Men. It was but a poor Consolation given by a Victorious Enemy to dying Lausus Comfort thy self in thy Death with this that thou fallest by the Hand of Aeneas But surely we have just Reason to Comfort our Souls when a Pestilential Death compasses us about from the Thought and Intuition of that Gracious Hand under which we suffer So as we can say with good Eli It is the Lord. 17. IT is not amiss to nominate those Maâ—ks of Infection God's Tokens such they are and ought to Summon up our Eyes and Hearts to that Almighty Power that sends them with the Resolution of Holy Job Tho thou kill me yet will I trust in thee It is none of the least Miseries of Contagious Sickness for it bars us from the Comfortable Society and Attendance of Friends or else repays their Love and kind Visitation with Death Be not dismaid with this Solitude thou hast Company with thee whom no Infection can indanger or exclude There is an invisible Friend that will be sure to adhere to thee though thou art avoided by Neighbours and will make all thy Bed in thy Sickness and supply thee with those Cordials which thou in vain expect'st from earthly Visitants 18. INDEED justly do we stile this Sickness for the Mortalness and Generality of the Dispersion Yet there is a Remedy that can cure and confine it Let but every one inspect the Plague of his own heart and the Land is healed Can we with David see the Angel that smites us and erect an Altar and offer God the Sacrifices of our Prayers Penitence and Obedience we shall hear him say It is enough 2 Sam. 24.16 His
an Annalogical Death a speedy Consumption of all our corrupt and drossy Parts so as the pain must be the more intense by its shortness than in the ordinary course of death Briefly that change is death and our death is a change as Job stiles it Job 14.14 The difference is not in the pain but in the speed of the Tâ—ansaction Fear not then the sentence of Death remember them that have been before thee and that come after for this is the sentence of the Lord over all flesh Ecclus. 41.3 11 THOU fearest Death So do not Infants Children or Distracted Persons as the Philosopher observes Why should reason render us more Cowardly than defect of reason doth them Thou fearest that which others wish for O Death how acceptable is thy sentence to the needy and to him whose shrength faileth that is now in the last age and is vexed with all things and to him that despaireth and hath lost patience Ecclus. 41.2 VVherefore is light given saith Job to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in Soul VVhich long for hid Treasures which rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Job 3.20 21 22. 12. HOW many invite the violence of Death and if refus'd do as Ignatius threatned he would do to the Lyons force his Assault Death is the same to all The Difference is in the Disposition of the Entertainers could'st thou loost upon Death with their eyes he would be as welcome to thee as to them At least why shouldst thou not labour to have thy heart so wrought upon that this Face of Death which seems lovely and desirable to some may not appear over-terrible to thee 13. THOU art afraid to die Could'st thou have been capable in the Womb of the use of reason thou wouldst have been more afraid of coming into the World than thou art of going out For why should we be more afraid of the better than of the worse Better is the day of death than the day of ones birth saith the Preacher Eccles. 7.2 better every way our birth begins our miseries our death ends them The one enters the best into a wretched World but the other enters the good into a World of Glory Certainly were it not for our infidelity as we came crying into the World so we should go rejoycing out And as some have solemnized their Birth-day with feasting and triumph the Primitive Church hath enjoyned rejoycing upon the Dying day of her Martyrs and Saints 14. THOU abhorrest Death and fleest from it as from a Serpent but dost thou know his sting is gone what harm is there in a sting-less Snake Hast thou not heard of some delicate Dames that have carried 'em in their Bosom for coolness and pleasure of their smoothness The sting of Death is Sin 1 Cor. 15.56 He may hiss and wind about us but cannot prejudice us when that Sting is out Look up O thou believing Soul to thy blessed Saviour who hath pluckt out this sting of Death and happily triumphs over it O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory 1 Cor. 15.55 15. THY Soul and Body old Companions are loth to part It is but forbearing their Society a while they but take leave of other till they meet at the Resurrâ—â—â—â—on in the mean time they are safe and the better 〈…〉 It is commendable in the Jews otherwis◠〈…〉 Men that they call their Grave 〈…〉 thâ— House of the Living and when thâ—y 〈…〉 â—urial of their Neigbours they 〈…〉 â—nd cast it into the Air with those words of the Psalmist 72.16 They shall flourish and put forth as Grass upon the Earth 16. DID we not believe a Resurrection of the one part and a re-uniting of the other we had reason to be daunted with thoughts of a Dissolution But now we have no cause to be dismayed with a little Intermission It was the saying of a Wise Heathen That Death which we so fear and flee from doth but respite Life for a while not take it away The day will come which shall restore us to Light again Settle thy Soul in this assurance and thou canst not be discomfited with a necessary Parting 17. THOU art afraid of Death when thou art weary of thy days labour art thou afraid of rest Hear what thy Saviour who is the Lord of Life esteems of Death Joh. 11.11 Our Friend Lazarus sleepeth and of Jarius his Daughter Matt. 9.24 The Maid is not Dead but Sleepeth Neither useth the Spirit of God any other Language concerning his Servants under the Old Testament Now shall I sleep in the Dust saith holy Job Job 7.21 and of David 2. Sam. 7.12 When thy days be fulfilled thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers nor yet under the New For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 11.30 18. THE Philosophers were wont to call Sleep the Brother of Death but God says Death is no other than Sleep it self a Sleep sure and sweet When thou liest down at Night to thy Repose thou canst not be certain to awake in the Morning as when thou layest thy self down in Death thou art sure to wake in the Morning of the Resurection Out of this Bodily Sleep thou may'st be startled with some noise of Horror fearful Dreams Tumults or allarms of War but here thou shalt rest quietly in the place of Silence free from all internal and external Disturbances and in the mean time thy Soul shall see none but Visions of Joy and Blessedness 19. BUT oh the sweet and hearty expression of our last rest and the Issue of our happy resuscitation which our holy Apostle hath laid forth for the consolation of his mournful Thessalonians 1 Thess. 4.14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him So that our belief is Antidote enough against the worst of Death And why are we troubled when we believe Jesus dyed and what a Triumph is this over Death that the same Jesus who dyed rose again And what a comfort is it that the same Jesus who arose shall come again and bring all his with him in Glory And lastly what a strong Cordial is this to all good Hearts that all which die well sleep in Jesus Thou thoughtest perhaps of sleeping in the Bed of the Grave and there indeed is Rest But he tells thee of sleeping in the Bosom of Jesus and there is Immortality and Blessedness O blessed Jesu in thy presence is the fulness of Joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore Psal. 16.12 Who would desire to walk in the World when he may sleep in Christ. 20. THOU fearest Death But on what terms doth Death present himself to thee If as an Enemy as the Apostle stiles him 1 Cor. 15.26 The last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death thy unpreparedness will make him dreadful but thy readiness and
had not been in such an extasie but to depart and to be with Christ is that which raiseth his Soul 35. WHEN Socrates was to dye for his Religion he comforted himself with this that he should go to Orpheus Homer Musaeus and the other Worthies of former Ages Poor Man Could he have known God manifested in the flesh and received up into Glory 1 Tim. 3.16 and in that glorified state sitting at the right hand of Majesty could he have known the Blessed Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Angels Arch Angels Principalities and Powers and the rest of the most Glorious Hierarchy of Heaven Could he have been acquainted with that Celestial Choir of the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect Heb. 12.23 Could he have known the God and Father of Spirits the Infinite and Incomprehensible Glorious Diety whose Presence transfuses Everlasting Blessedness into all those Citizens of Glory And could he have known that he should have an undoubted interest in that infinite Bliss how gladly would he have taken of his hemlock and how joyfully would he have passed to that happy World 36. ALL this we know and no less assured then of our present being with what comfort should we think of changing our present Condition with a Blessed Immortality How sweet a Song was that of old Simeon Luke 2.29 Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation That which he saw by the Eye of Sence thou seest by the Eye of Faith even the Lords Christ verse 16. he saw him in Weakness thou seest him in Glory why should'st thou not depart not in peace only but in joy and comfort 37. HOW did the Proto-Martyr Stephen triumph over the rage of his Enemies and the fury of Death when he had once seen the Heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God Acts 7.56 God offers the same blessed prospect to the Eye of thy Soul Faith is the Key that opens the Heav'n of Heav'ns fix thy eyes upon that Glorious and Saving Object Thou canst not but lay down thy Body in peace and send thy Soul into the hands of him that bought it with the cheerful and sweet Recommendation of Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Acts 7.39 A Prayer at the Hour of Death O LORD GOD Almighty I humbly acknowledge my own vileness through the whole course of my Life And seeing thou hast thus long spared me now accomplish thy Mercy in me Be thou my God forever and my Guide unto the end O Comfort me now my Heart trembleth in me and the terrors of Death are fallen upon me give me the long expected fruits of my hopes proposed to me in thy Word O Blessed Jesu who art the Death of death now shew thy self my Saviour Take from my afflicted Soul the sting of Death and assure me of Victory Loose the Pains allay the Fears and Sorrows and Sweeten the bitterness of Death untill in my enjoying thy Presence it be swallowed up in Victory O Holy Saviour who hast had Experience of all our miseries for Sin without Sin and hast admitted us to be Baptized into the Similitude of thy Death and Resurrection Let me now feel in my Languishing Soul the Power and Efficacy thereof 2. O Christ whose Human Soul in thy Passion for my Redeemption was heavy unto Death now mercifully Consider my Frailty who am now at the point of Dissolution O now give me an Invincible Faith in thee against which the Gates of Hell shall never prevail now speak Peace and Comfort to my poor Soul Thou who pouredst out thy Soul to Death for me receive my wearied Spirit to Eternal Life Let not this fearful passage be too bitter to me but be thou ever present with me in all my sufferings O Holy Ghost the Comforter of all the Elect leave me not Comfortless let me be gathered to my Fathers in Peace Bring me to that Life wherein thou hast promised to wipe away all Tears from our Eyes Where shall be no more Death Sorrow Pain nor any bitter Effects of Sin Lord hear me O thou who despisest not a broken contrite Heart have mercy upon me Lord receive my Petitions and in thy appointed hour come Lord Jesus my Saviour and Redeemer deliver me from this bondage of Corruption even so come Lord Jesus come quickly Amen SECT XVII Of Judgment 1. THOU apprehendest true Death is terrible but Judgment more both succeed upon the same decree It is appointed unto Men once to dye but after this the judgment Heb. 9.27 It is not more terrible than thought on Death because he strikes and lays before us examples of Mortality cannot but sometimes take up our hearts but the last Judgment having no visible proofs upon our thoughts too seldom fright us 2. YET who conceives the Terror of that day When the Sun shall be turn'd into darkness and the Moon into blood Acts 2.20 That day which shall burn as an Oven when all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be as the stubble Mal. 4.1 That day in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 That day wherein the Lord Jesus shall be reveal'd from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Thess. 1.7 8. That day wherein the Lord will come with fire and with his Chariots like a whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh Isa. 66.15 16. That day wherein the Son of Man shall come in his Glory and all the Holy Angels with him and shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory and all Nations shall be gathered before him and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats Mat. 25.31 32. And that day wherein all the kindreds of the Earth shall wail because of him Rev. 1.7 3. THAT great and terrible day of the Lord Joel 2.31 wherein if the powers of Heav'n be shaken how can the heart remain removed And if the World be dissolved who can abide it Alas we are ready to tremble at Thunder in a Cloud and at Lightning that glances our Eyes what shall we do when the Heavens shall break in pieces and be on flame about our Ears Oh who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth Mal. 3.2 4. YET be of good cheer amidst all this horror there is comfort whether thou be one whom it shall please God to reserve upon the Earth to the sight of this dreadful day he knows in whose hands our times are but this we are sure of that we are upon the last days And we may spit
Mar. 12.7 Luke 20.14 How sure work did they think they had mâ—de when they saw him through their subtil procurement nailed to the cross and dying upon that tree of shame and curse when they saw him laid under a Sealed and Guarded Gravestone And now begins their Confusion and his Triumph Now doth the Lord of Life trample upon Death and Hell and to perfect his own Glory and Man's Redemption by his most Glorious Resurrection 20. AND as it was with the Head so with the Members When Satan had done his worst they are zealouser upon their sins and happier upon their miscarriages God finds out a way to improve their evils to advantage and teaches them of Vipers to make Soveraign Treacles and safe and powerful Trochises The Temptations of Satan sent from his Power Malice and Subtilty are but fiery darts for their Suddenness Impetuosity and Penetration If we can hold the Shield of Faith before us Eph. 6.16 They shall not be quenched but retorted in the Face of him that sends them and we shall with the holy Apostle find and profess that In all things we are more then Conquerors through him that loved us Rom. 8.37 And in a bold defiance of all the Powers of Darkness say ver 38 39 I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. A Prayer in Spiritual Conflicts O Blessed Jesu the Lord of Life Prince of Glory and Captain of our Salvation the perplexing trouble of my destracting thoughts do by their sly insinuations and secret importunities disturb the quiet of my mind and make my holy duties become a weariness to my Soul They cool the heat they damp the Vigor and dead the Comfort of all my Devotions Yea even when I beseech God to forgive my sins I then sin whilst I am praying for forgiveness whether it be in the Church or the Closet so Frequently and so Violently do these vain thoughts withdraw my heart from thy service that I cannot have confidence thou hearest my Suit because I know by Experience my own deafness and therefore sure needs must thou O God be far off from my Prayers whilst my heart is so far out of thy presence and hurried away with a Crowd of vain Imaginations 2. But Lord keep my Faith fixt upon thy Mediation let me behold thy Incense when I offer my Sacrifice and though distractions have withdrawn me from my self yet let not distrust drive me from my Jesus O give me an encrease of Saving Knowledge which will prove a sure means of Sanctifying my thoughts Mortifie in me all vile Affections and Inordinate Passions and suppress all evil thoughts and vain Imaginations and by thy Special Grace Excite and Cherish in me Holy and Speritual Affections Thou who hast vanquisht Satan and all the powers of Darkness O give Victory to me and all languishing Souls in our Spiritual Conflicts guide us with thy Counsels sustain us with thy Grace refresh us with thy Comforts preserve us in thy Love and crown us with thy Glory Amen Amen Hallelujah SECT XIX The Character of Patience 1. PATIENCE is a peaceable disposition of the whole Man not troubled nor troublesome but abstaining from whatsoever may disturb himself or others In its Definition we may observe these five heads first the nature of Patiencâ— it is peaceable and quiet not subject to sudden Passion light Motions or short Affections towards it but an habitual Disposition and due Composure of a Mans self which may bear the impression of David's Motto Psal. 120.7 I am for Peace 2. SECONDLY the subject of Patience The whole Man not the external but the internal the heart and head the mind and manners must be dispos'd and compos'd towards it Principally indeed the Heart For out of it are the issues of Life Prov. 4.23 and unless there be a Meek and Quiet Spirit 1 Pet. 3.4 It is impossible to acquire it but withall there must be a quiet Hand Psal. 24.4 A quiet Eye Job 31.1 A quiet Ear Prov. 2.2 And a quiet Tongue Psal. 39.1 And all parts and faculties of the Soul disposed to Patience 3. THIRDLY the parts of Patience is not in being troubled or being troublesom neither actively impatient in displeasing others nor passively impatient in being disquieted by others Fourthly the practice of Patience is an abstinence from whatsoever may disturb for so the word Patience commonly Translated doth import And St. James doth thus describe it Jam. 1.21 A laying aside of all filthiness and superfluity of maliciousness 4. FIFTHLY The Object of Patience or Impatience either in our selves or others Men disquiet themselves either by Causeless conceit of offence offered when it is not By being too suspicious and Inventers of evil things Rom. 1.30 or by too much taking to heart an offence when it is offered by being too Furious 2 Tim. 3.3 Men disturb others either in offering occasion of offence by being Injurious and Disorderly 2 Thess. 3.11 or by bitter seeking Revenge being full of Maliciousness Rom. 1.29 So Men likewise disturb themselves and others when they continue in their sins and never think of Repentance As Elijah told Ahab 1 King 18.18 It is thou and thy Fathers house that trouble and disquiet Israel 5. BY this short view we have taken of Patience we may behold the true Character of a Patient Man He is one of a Mild Nature and true Christian Temper swift to hear slow to speak and slow to wrath 1 Pet. 3.4 Phil. 2.5 Jam. 1.19 His head is not over-laden with Cares of this Life nor his heart with Fears his eyes are not itching after Vanities nor his Ears after Novelties Luk. 21.34 Prov. 29.25 Jer. 22.17 Act. 17.21 6. His Hands are not intermeddling with impertinent business nor his Feet swift to run into Evil His Mouth is far from Cursing and Bitterness kept in as a Bridle that it should not Offend 1 Thes. 4.11 Prov. 4.26 Rom. 3.14 Psal. 39.1 Psal. 17.3 His whole body is fit for a Load of Injuries which he bears not out of baseness and cowardise because he dares not Revenge but out of Christian Fortitude because he will not Rom. 12.13 7. HIS Arms are strengthned by the Mighty God of Jacob his hands are washt in Innocency and his breast is the breast plate of Righteousness Gen. 49.24 Psal. 26.6 Eph. 6.4 The hid-man of his heart consisteth of A meâ—k and a quiet Spirit and his Bowels are Bowels of Mercy Meekness and Compassion 1 Pet. 3.4 Col. 3.12 His Loins are girt about with Truth his Knees are pliable to Bow his Legs to bear and his Foot standeth in an even place Eph. 6.14 Psal. 26.12 8. HE is one can moderate himself in Prosperity and content himself in Adversity His hopes are so strong they can insult over the greatest discouragements and his apprehensions so deep that
THOU art pained with Sickness Consider seâ—iously from whence it comes and what makes it so bitter to thee Affliction cometh not out of the dust Job 5.6 Couldst thou but hear the Voice of thy Disease as thou now feelest the Stroke of it it hath proclaim'd loud enough Am I come up hither without the Lord to torment thee The Lord hath said to me Go up against this Man and afflict him 2 Kings 18.25 Couldst thou perceive the Hand that smites thee thou wouldst be eager to kiss it since it is the Father of all Mercies Comfort and Consolation that lays these Stripes upon thee He that made thee and bought thee at so dear a Price as his own Blood it is He that chastiseth thee And canst thou think He would scourge thee but for thine own Advantage For what tender Father is there but has Bowels of Compassion and never takes the Rod in hand out of a Pleasure to chasten that Flesh which is derived from his own Loyns Or is it any ease to him to make his Child smart and bleed But rather himself suffers more than he inflâ—cts and would be content to Redeem those Stripes with his own yet he sees the Chastisement proper not to spare him for his Frowardness and Tears but will plead he had not lov'd him if he had not been so kindly severe And Solomon gives us this advice Chasten thy Son while there is Hope and let not thy Soul spare for his Crying Prov. 19.18 And if we that are evil know how to give loving and beneficial Correction to our Children how much more shall our Father which is in Heaven know how to Chastise us for our Advantage So as we may sing under the Rod with the Blessed Psalmist I know O Lord that thy Judgments are right and that thou in Faithfulness hast afflicted me Psal. 119.75 Might a Child be made Arbiter of his Chastisement do we think he would adjudicate himself to be Corrected Yet the discreet Parent knows he shall wrong him if he give not due Correction as having learned of wise Solomon Prov. 23.14 Thou shalt beat him with the Rod and shalt deliver his Soul from Hell Love hath its Stroaks saith St. Ambrose which are the sweeter the harder they are inflicted 5. DOST thou not remember the Message the two Sisters sent to our Saviour John 11.3 Lord behold he whom thou lovest is Sick Were it so that Pain or Sickness or any of the Executioners of Divine Justice ere let loose to tyrannize over thee at Pleasure to render thee perfectly Miserable there were just Reason for thy utter Diffidence But they are stinted and march under Comission neither can they be allowed to have any other Limits than thy own Advantage Hadst thou rather be Good or be Healthful I know thou wouldst imbrace both and think thy self in a happy State For who is so little in his own favour as to imagine he can be the worse for faring well But he that made thee has a far greater Inspection into thee than thine own Eyes can have he sees thy Vigor is turning wanton and if thy Body be not sick thy Soul will If he therefore think it fit to take down thy worst part a little for the preventing of a Mortal Danger to the better what cause hast thou to complain yea rather not to be thankful When thou hast felt thy Body in a distemper of Fulness thou hast gone to Sea on purpose to create a Sickness yet thou knewest that turning of thy Head and Stomach would be more painful to thee than thy former Indisposition Why then should not thy All-wise Creator take Liberty to Cure thee with an Afflictious Remedy 7. THOU art now Sick Wert thou not a long time Healthful and canst thou not take that patiently which God hath allotted thee If thou hast enjoy'd more dayes of health than hours of sickness how canst thou think thou hadst cause to repine Had the Divine Wisdom thought fit to mitigate thy many days pain with the Ease of one hour it had been worthy of thy Thanks But now that he hath requited thy few painful hours with years of perfect health how unthankfully dost thou repine at thy Condition It was a gross mistake if thou didst not from all Earthly things expect a Vicissitude They cannot have their Being without a Change as well may Day be without a Succession of Night and Life without Death as a Mortal Body without Fits of Distemper And how much better are these momentary Changes than that last Change of a Misery unchangeable It was a deplorable Word that Father Abraham said to the Rich Glutton Son remember that thou in thy Life time receivest thy good things and Lazarus evil things but now he is Comforted and thou art Tormented Luke 16.25 How happy then are we that are here chastned of the Lord that We may not be Condemned of the World O then welcome Feavers and all other Diseases of the Body that may quit my Soul from Everlasting Burnings 8. THOU complainest of Sickness and many have effused Tears for their superfluity of Health condoling the fear and danger of losing God's Favour for their not being Afflicted Bromiard tells us of a Devout Man that complained at his Prosperity as no small Affliction whom God soon after accommodated with Pain enough according to his Desires The poor Man was joyful at this Change and look'd upon his Sickness as a Mercy for so it was intended by him that sent it Why are we too much dejected with that which others complain the want of Why should we find that so tedious to our selves which others have wish'd to enjoy There have been Medicinal Agues which the wise Physician have cast his Patient into for the Cure of a worse Distemper A secure and illegal Health however Nature takes it is the most dangerous Indisposition of the Soul If that be healed by some few bodily Pangs the advantage is unspeakable Look upon some vigorous Gallant that in the height of his Spirit and heat of Blood eagerly pursues his Carnal Delights thinking of no Heaven but the free delectation of his Sense and compare thy present Estate with his Here thou liest groaning and sighing panting and shifting thy weary Sides complaining of the slow motions of thy tedious Hours whilst he is frolicking with his jocund Companions Carousing his large Healths sporting himself with his wanton Delilah and bathing himself in all sensual Pleasures And tell mo whether of the two thou thinkst in the happier Condition If thou art not shrunk into nothing but Sense and hast not cast off all Thoughts of another World thou wouldst pity the Misery of that Atheistical Jollity and gratulate to thy self the advantage of thy humble and faithful suffering that which will at last make thee ample Satisfaction by yielding thee the peaceable Fruit of Righteousness Heb 12.11 9. THY Pain is grievous but dost thou not hear the great precedent of Patience crying out from his
forth to the Field and shews the an Enemy where is thy Christian Fortitude if thou recoilest and chusest rather to fly than resist And is this a proper Character for thee who professest to sight under his Banner who is the Conqueror of Death and Hell Is this the way to that happy Victory and to acquire a Crown of Glory If thou faint in the day of Adversity thy Strength is but small Be strong in the Lord and in the Power of his Might Ephes. 6.10 Encounter with that fierce Enemy wherewith God would have thee assaulted look up to him who hath said and cannot fail to perform it Be faithful to the Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 14. THOU art surpriz'd with Sickness accuse thy self for it Who forbid thee expecting so sure a Guest Thy Frame of Body should have prompted thee to other Thoughts Dost thou perceive this living Fabrick made up as a Clock consisting of many Wheels and imagine that some of 'em shoud not be ever out of order Couldst thou think that a Cottage not strongly built and standing so bleak in the very Mouth of the Winds could for ever hold firm and strong Or art thou not amazed it hath out-stood so many blust'ring Blasts utterly unruined It was scarce a patient Question which Job asked Is my Strength the Strength of Stones or is my Flesh as Brass Job 6.12 Alas thy best Metal is but Clay and fading Flesh is but Grass the Clay mouldereth and the Grass withereth Why do we reckon of any thing but Misery and Fickleness in this woful Region of Change If we wiâ—l needs over-reckon our Condition we do but assist to aggravate our own Wretchedness 15. THOU art retir'd to thy sick Bed be of good Comfort God was never so near thee never so indulgent to thee as now The Whole saith our Saviour needs not a Physician but they that are Sick Mat. 9.12 The Physician cometh not but where there is necessity and where that is will not fail to come Our Wants is motive enough to Him who took our Infirmities and bare our Sicknesses Mat. 8.17 Our Health alienates him from us but whilst thou art this Patient he cannot be from thee The Lord saith the Psalmist will strengthen thee upon the Bed of Languishing thou wilt make all his Bed in his Sickness Psal. 41.3 The Comforter doth not only visit but attend thee If thou find thy Bed uneasie he will soften it for thy Repose Canst thou not read God's Indulgence in thine own Disposition Thou art a Parent Perhaps thou affectest one Child more than another though all dear enough But if any of them be cast down thou art more careful about that than the rest How thou pitiest and pliest it with Offers and Receipts With what silent Anxiety dost thou watch by it listning for every Breathing jealous of every whispering that might break its Slumber responding its Groans with Sighs and in fine taking such Care that thy greatest Darling seems the while neglected in comparison of this under Affliction How much more shall the Father of Mercies be compassionately Intent upon the Sufferings of his dear Children according to the Proportion of their Afflictions 16. THOU art wholly entertain'd with the Extremity of thy pains Alas poor Soul Thy dimness perceives nothing but what is near thee It is thy sense which thou followest but where is thy Faith Couldst thou inspect the end of thy Sufferings thou wouldst rejoyce in Tribulation Let Patience have her perfect Work and thou shalt once say It is good for me that I was afflicted Thou mightest be jocund long enough ere thy Jollity could make thee happy Yea Woe to them that laugh here Luke 6.25 But on the contrary Our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 O blessed improvement of a few Groans Oh glorious Issue of a short Storm of Sorrow Why do we imitate Christians if nothing but Flesh and Blood And if better we have more cause of Joy than Complaint for whilst our Outward Man perisheth our Inward Man is renewed dayly 2 Cor. 4.16 Our External Man is Flesh our Internal is Spirit infinitely more noble than this living Clay that we carry about us Whil'st our Spirit gains more than our Flesh is capable to lose what reason have we not to boast of the Bargain Let not then these close Curtains confine thy sight but lift up thine Eyes to Heaven whence thy Soul came and view there that Crown of Glory which thy God holds forth to all thaâ— overcome And then Run with Patience the Race that is set before thee looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith who is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God Heb. 12.1 2. Then chear thy self with the Expectation of that Blessedness which if thy Toâ—ments were no less than those of Hell would make more than ample Amends for all thy Suffeâ—ings 17. THOU art sick to Death And hast received the Sentence of Mortality in thy self thy Physician hath given the up to act the last Scene Neither art thou like to rise till the General Resurrection How many are lately expired that would have thought it a great happiness to die thus quietly in their Beds Whom Storms of War hath hurried away furiously into another World not suffering them to taâ—e leave of that Life which they were forced to abandon Whereas thou hast leisure to prepare thy self for the Entertainment of thy last Guest to set both thine House in order and thy Soul It is no disadvantage to thee thus to behold Death at a distance and to observe every one of his Paces towards thee that thou mayst put thy self into a fit Posture to meet this grim Messenger who Ushers thee to Immortality that dying thus by Degrees thou hast leisure with the Patriarch Jacob to Summon thy Children to bequeath them thy last Benediction and being encompassed with thy sad Friends now in thy long Journey to a far Country thou mayst take a Solemn Farewell as going somewhat before them to the appointed happy Meeting-place of Blessedness And lastly That one of thine own may close those Eyes which shall in their opening see the Face of thy most Glorious Saviour and see this Flesh now ready to lye down in Corruption made like to his unspeakable Glory A Prayer for a Sick Person O Most Gracious and Merciful Lord God the only Author of our Health and Being thou castest us down upon our Beds of Sickness and sometimes draws the Curtain between the World and us O Lord my time is in thy hand and I know not how soon my change which thou hast appointed shall be whether this Week this Day this Hour yea or this very Moment O Lord sanctifie unto me this thy present Visitation which my Sins have long since deserved heal my Soul which in great bitterness hath sinned against thee
and then if it stand with thy good Pleasure heal my Body and raise it that I may glorifie thy Holy Name in the Congregation of the Righteous 2. BUT if in thy Omniscency thou hast otherwise determined that this Visitation shall put a period to my frail Mortality I humbly beseech thee to fit and prepare me for that last and great change Wean me from all the fading pleasures and vain allurements of this sinful World that I may become a meet partaker of thy Heavenly Kingdom Send down O LOrd thy Light and thy Truth into my inward parts that I may understand thy Wisdom secreetly Support the weakness of my Faith that I may with a strong Assurance lay hold upon the Blood of Jesus by whose Merits I expect Salvation and to Reign with thee in thy Heavenly Kingdom Amen SECT III. Affliction of Conscience 1. THY Sin is ponderous upon thy Soul Bless the Omnipotence thou art sensible of it Many hath more weight and boasteth of Ease There 's Musick in this Complaint the Almighty delights to hear it next to the Melody of Saints and Angels Pursue and continue these sorrowful Notes if ever thou expectest Comfort It is this Godly Sorrow that worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 Weep still and be not too much hastly to exhaust thy Tears for they are precious and rendred fit to be reserv'd in the Bottle of the Almighty Psal. 56.8 Over-speedy Remedies may prove injurious to the Patient And as in the Body so in the Soul Diseases and Tumours must have their due Maturation ' ere there can be a Cure The Inwards of the Sacrifice must be three times rinsed with Water Lev. 1.9 One Ablution will not serve turn But when thou hast Evacuated thine Eyes of Tears and unloaded thy Breast of leisurely Sighs I shall then by full Commission from him that hath the Power of Remission say to thee Son be of good Comfort thy Sins are forgiven thee Mat. 9.2 2. THINK not this Word meerly formal and forceless He that hath the Keys of Hell and of Death Rev. 1.18 hath not said in vain Whose Sins ye remit they are remitted John 20.23 The Words of his Vicegerents on Earth are ratified in Heav'n only the Priest under the Law hath power to pronounce the Leper clean Lev. 13.3 Had any other Israelite done it it had been as unprofitable as presumptuous It was a good Expression that fell from Elihu When a Man's Soul draweth nigh unto the Grave and his Life to the Destroyer if there be a Messenger of God with him an Interpreter one among a thousand to shew unto that Man his Uprightness then He i. e. God is Gracious unto him and saith Deliver him from going down into the Pit I have found a Ransom Job 33.22 23 24. Behold this is thy State thy Souls Life is in danger of the Destroyer through his powerful Temptations I am howsoever unworthy a Messenger sent to thee from Heaven and in the Name of the Almighty that sent me do here upon thy serious Repentance before Angels and Men proclaim thy Soul fix'd in the Court of Heaven The Invaluable Ranson of thy dear Saviour is accepted for thee so thou art deliver'd from descending into the Pit of Perdition 3. OH happy Message thou replyest were it receiv'd with Comfort But Alas my heart is possest with deep Grounds of Fear and Diffidence not easily to be remov'd That convicts me whil'st you offer to acquit me and positively acquaints me I am a worse Criminal than a Spectator can imagine My Sins are beyond measure hainous such as my Thoughts tremble at and Tongue dare not express to God that knows 'em against whom only they are committed If there is Horror in their very Remembrance what will their be then in their Retribution 4. THEY are bitter things thou urgest against thy self no Adversary could plead worse But I admit thy vileness be thou as wicked as Satan can make thee It is not his Malice or thy Wickedness that can exclude thee from Mercy Be thou as sordid as Sin can expose thee yet There is a Fountain opened to the House of David Zach. 13.1 a bloody Fountain in the Side of thy Saviour for Sin and for Uncleanness Be thou as Leprous as that Syrian was of old 2 King 5.18 if thou canst but Wash seven times in the Waters of this Jordan thou wilt be clean Thy Flesh shall come again to thee like to the Flesh of a little Child Thou shalt be at once sound and innocent Be thou stung with the Fiery Serpents of this Wilderness yet if thou cast thine Eyes to that Brazen Serpent erected for thy Malady thou wilt find Cure Wherefore came Christ into the World but to save Sinners Add if thou wilt Whereof I am Chief 1 Tim. 1.15 Thou canst alledge no worse by thy self than the best did before thee who in the Right of a Sinner claimeth the Benefit of a Saviour 5. WERE it not for Sin what use were there of a Redeemer Were not Sin hainous how should it require such an Expiation as the Blood of Christ The magnitude of thy Sins merits but to magnifie the Mercy of the Forgiver To remit the Debt of Farthings were insignificant but to forgive thousands of Talents is the height of Bounty Thus God deals with thee He permits thee to run on to so deep a Sum that when thy Conscious heart hath proclaim'd thee a Bankrupt he may infinitely oblige thee and glorifie his own Mercy in crossing the Reckoning and acquitting thy Soul All Sums are equally dischargable to the Munificence of our Great Creditor in Heav'n As it is the Act of his Justice to expect the least so it is of his Mercy to forgive the Greatest Had we to do with a Finite Power we might sink under the Burthen of our Sins But having an Infinite Power to attend us let thy Care be to lay hold on that Infinite Bounty and as thou art an Object of Mercy sinful and miserable enough so conclude thy self as thou art a Subject proper to receive it as a Penitent Believer Open and enlarge thy Bosom and assume this Free Grace and close wth thy Blessed Saviour and in him possess thy self of Remission Peace and Salvation 6. COMFORTABLE Expressions thou confessest to those that are capable of them But what is this to me that am neither Penitent nor Believer Alas That which is Honey to others is Gall and Wormwood to me who want the Grace to Repent and Believe as I ought Why art thou so imprudent and unjust as to conspire with Satan against thy own Soul Why wilt thou be so unthankfully injurious to the God of Mercies as to deny those Graces which his good Spirit hath bestowed upon thee If thou wert not penitent why are these Tears What means these Sighs and Passionate Expressions of Sorrow which thou utterest It is no Temporal Loss that afflicts thee nor Corporal Distemper that thus
are happy that can feel and maintain it and it must be our holy Ambition to be diligent in the Aspiraration But such a height of Perfection every Traveller in this wretched Pilgrimage cannot whilst he is in this perplexed and heavy Road hope to attain to It is an unsafe and dangerous Path which those Men have walked in who have used to define all Faith by Assurance Should I conduct thee that way it might be prejudicial So sure a Certainty of our constant and reflected apprehension of Eternal Life is both hard to acquire and not easie to hold unmovably considering the many strong Temptations that we are subject to in this Vale of Misery and Death Should Faith be reduced to this Trial it would be more rare than our Saviour hath foretold it For as many boasts of such an Assurance who is yet failing of a true Faith embracing a vain Presumption instead of it So many also hath true Faith in the Lord Jesus who yet complains to want that Assurance Canst thou in a sense of thine own Misery close with thy Saviour Canst thou throw thy self into the Arms of his Mercy Canst thou trust him with thy Soul and relie upon him for Forgiveness and Salvation Canst thou prostrate thy self before him as a miserable Object of his Grace and Mercy And when it is offered thee canst lay some tho weak hold upon it Labour for further degrees of Strength daily Set not up thy Rest in this pitch of Grace but cheer up thy self and thus much Faith shall save thy Soul Thou believest and he hath said it that is Verity it self He that believeth on the Son hath Everlasting Life Joh. 3.36 12. I know thou averrest that Jesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners and that Whoever believeth on him shall not Perish but have eternal Life Joh. 3.15 Neither can I deny but in a sense of my sinful Condition I cast my self in some measure upon my Saviour and lay hold upon his All-sufficient Redemption But Alas My apprehensions of him are so weak that they can afford no Comfort to my Soul Were it not that thou expectest to be Justified and saved by the power and act of thy Faith thou hast reason to be disheartened with the imbecility of it But now that the Vertue and Efficacy of this happy Operation is in the Object apprehended by thee which is the infinite Merits and Mercy of thy Saviour that cannot be abated by thine Infirmities thou hast reason cheerfully to expect thy Salvation Understand thy case aright Here 's a double Hand that helps thee towards Heaven thy hand of Faith lays hold on thy Saviour Thy Saviour's hand of Mercy and plentious Redemption lays on thee thy hold of him is feeble and easily loosed his hold of thee is strong and irresistable Comfort thy self therefore with the blessed Apostle when thou art Weak then thou art Strong when weak in thy self then strong in thy Redeemer Shouldst thou boast and say Tush I shall never be moved I should suspect the Verity and Safety of thy Condition Now thou deplorest thy Weakness I cannot but Congratulate the happy Estate of thy Soul If a greater Work were expedient strength of Hand were necessary But now only receiving of a precious Gift is required why may not a weak Hand perform that as well as a strong tho not so forcibly Be not dejected with Impotency but comfort thy self in the Mercies of thy Redeemer 13. THOU expressest Sometimes I find my heart at ease in a comfortable Reliance on my Saviour and being well resolv'd of the safety of my State promise good days to my self and after the banishment of my former Fears dare bid defiance to Temptations But Alas how soon is this serenity over How suddenly is this clear Skie clouded spread over with obscurity and I return to my former Despondency Did'st thou conceive that Grace would put thee into a constant and perpetual invariable Condition of Soul whil'st thou art on this side Heav'n Didst thou ever hear or read of any of God's Saints upon Earth that were unchangeable in their holy Dispositions whil'st they continued in this Region of Mutability Behold the Man after God's own heart thou shalt find him sometimes so couragious as if the Spirits of all his Worthies were met in his own Bosom how resolutely doth he blow off all dangers trample on his Enemies and triumph over all cross Events Another while thou shalt find him so dejected and transform'd from what he was When chearful The Lord is my Shepherd I shall lack nothing Psal 23.1 In Affliction Why art thou so sad my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me Psal. 42.14 In Fortitude I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about Psal. 3.6 In Trouble Hide me under the shadow of thy Wings from the Wicked that oppress me from my deadly Enemies who compass me about Psal. 17.84 In his Integrity Thy Loving Kindness is before mine Eyes and I have walked in thy Truth Psal. 26.3 In contrary Events Lord where are thy loving Kindnesses Psal. 89.49 And dost thou not hear him in one Breath professing his Confidence and lamenting his Dissertion Lord by thy Favour thou hast made my Mountain to stand strong Thou didst hide thy Face and I was troubled Psal. 30.7 Look upon St. Paul Sometimes thou shalt see him erecting Trophies of Victoâ—y to his God In all these things we are more than Conquerors through him that loved us Rom. 8.37 On the contrary thou shalt find him lamenting his own sinful Condition Oh wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Rom. 7.24 In a holy Rapture thou shalt find him caught up into the Third Heaven and by Permission of the Almighty buffetted by the Messengers of Satan and uttering Complaints to God of the Violence of that Assault Here the Spouse of Christ bemoaning her self I opened to my Beloved but my Beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone My Soul failed when he spoke I sought him but I could not find him I called him but he made me no answer Cant. 5.6 Thus is it with thee whil'st thou art in this Carnality The Temper of thy Soul will be subject to Vicissitudes Should'st thou continue always in the same State I should suspect thee This difference betwixt Nature and Gâ—ace the One is still uniform the Other varies â—â—cording to the pleasure of the Giver The Spirit â—eaths when and where it listeth Joh. 3.8 When therefore thou find'st the gracious Inspirations of the Holy Ghost within thee be thankful to the Infinite Munificence of that Blessed Spirit And still pray Arise O North and come thou South Wind that the Spices thereof may flow out Cant. 4.16 But when thou finds thy Soul becalm'd and not a Leaf stirring in its Garden be not too much dejected with an ungrounded Opinion of being destituted of thy God neither repine at
following If you add to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness Charity 2 Pet. 1.5 6. 23. IF Thou wouldst be inform'd what God hath written concerning thee in Heaven look into thy own Bosom and see what Graces he hath wrought in thee Truth of Grace saith the Divine Apostle will make good the certainty of your Election Not to instance the rest of that Heavenly Combination do but single the first and the last Faith and Charity For Faith how clear is that of our Saviour He that believeth in him that sent me hath Everlasting Life and shall not come into Condemnation but hath passed from Death to Life Joh. 5.24 What danger can befall us in our acquiring Heaven All the Peril is in the way Now the Believer is already passed into Life This is the Grace by which Christ dwells in our Hearts Ephes. 3.17 and whereby we have Communion with him and an assured Testimony of and from him For he that believeth in the Son of God hath the Witness in himself And what Witness is that This is the Record that God hath given us Eternal Life And this Life is in his Son he that hath the Son hath Life 1 Joh. 5.10 11 12. Oh happy Connexion Eternal Life first This Life Eternal is in and by Christ Jesus he is ours by Faith and this Faith testifieth to our Souls assurance of Life Eternal Charity is the last which comprehends our love to God and Man For from the reflection of God's Love to us ariseth a Love from us to him again The beloved Disciple can say We love him because he loved us first 1 Joh. 4.19 And from these resulteth our Love to our Brethren And such an Evidence we have that the Apostle tells us expresly That we know we are passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren 1 Joh. 3.14 For the love of the Father is inseperable from the love of the Son He that loveth him that Begets loves him that is Begotten of him 1 Joh. 5.1 25. NOW deal impartially with thine own Heart and enquire seriously as in the Presence of the Searcher of all Hearts Whether thou dost not find in thy self these Evidences of thine Election Art thou not effectually tho not perfectly called out of the World and corrupt Nature Dost thou not inwardly abhor sinful ways and think of what thou wert with Detestation Dost thou not endeavour to be in all things approved to God and confirmed to thy Saviour Dost thou not cast thy self upon the Lord Jesus and depend upon his free All sufficiency for Pardon and Salvation Dost thou not love that infinite Goodness who hath been so rich in Mercies to thee and bless those Beams of Goodness which he hath cast upon his Saints on Earth Lastly Dost thou not love a good Man because he is so Comfort thy self in the Lord and let no Fear and Distrust possess thy Soul Faithful is he that hath Called thee 1 Thes. 5.24 who will also Preserve thy whole Spirit and Soul and Body blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes. 5.23 A Prayer for an Afflicted Conscience O GOD the Father of all Mercies and Heavenly Consolation suffer me not at any time to fall from thee or to be swallowed up in the depth of Affliction but when ever it shall please thee to try me in that Furnace let my sure Hope and Confidence be fixed on thee that when multitude of Sorrows shall encompass my Soul my only trust may be in thy Mercies Give me the Oil of Joy for Mourning and the Garment of Gladness for the Spirit of Heaviness that thy great Name may be Glorified by me in a thankful acknowledgement of thy Goodness towards me 2. LORD thou beholdest afar off the manifold Perils and Dangers I am exposed to in this World which is a sea of Miseries and numerous Calamities The Winds blow the deep Waters lift up their proud swelling Waves and the stormy Tempests threaten me with Ship-wrack to the Ruine and Destruction both of Soul and Body But O thou who art the God of Unity speak Peace unto this inward Voice and say unto it I am thy Salvation so shall I be refreshed with thy loving Kindness and Praise thee ever more Amen SECT IV. Remedies against Temptations 1. THOU art assaulted with Temptations And what the Enemy cannot do by Force or Fraud he seeks by Importunity Can this seem averse to thee when the Son of God was in the Wilderness forty Days and forty Nights under the Tempter He that durst set upon the Captain of our Salvation Heb. 2.10 How shall he spare frail Flesh and Blood Why should Christ suffer himself to be Tempted but to support thee in all thy Temptations The Keys of the Bottomless Pit are at his disposal He could have confin'd that Presumptuous Spirit to Chains of Darkness and admitted him no nearer to him than Hell but he would let him loose and permit him to act his worst purposely that we might not dislike to be Tempted and that he might foyl our greatest Enemy 2. CANST thou think that he who sits at the right Hand of Majesty commanding the Powers of Heaven Earth and Hell could not keep off that malignant Spirit from assailing thee Canst thou think him less Merciful than mighty Would he die to save thee And will he turn that Miscreant of Hell loose to worry thee Dost thou not Pray daily to thy Father in Heaven to Lead thee nâ—t into Temptation Thou hast to do with a God that heareth Prayers Oh thou of little Faith why fearest thou He that was led by his Divine Spirit into the Wilderness to be Tempted of that Evil Spirit bids thee pray to the Father that he would not Lead thee into Temptation implying that thou couldst not go into Temptation unless he lead thee and whilst he that is thy Father leads thee how canst thou miscarry Let no Man when he is Tempted say I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with Evil neither tempteth he any Man Jam. 1.13 God Tempteth thee not yet being his thou couldst not be Tempted without him both permitting and ordering that Temptation to his own Glory and thy eternal Welfare 3. THAT Grace which God hath given thee he will have thus manifested How had we known the admirable Continency of Joseph if he had not been strongly sollicited by a Wanton Mistress Or David's Valour if the Philistines had not had a Giantly Challenger to encounter him How had we known the invincible Piety of the Three Children had there been no Furnace to try ' em Or of Daniel if no Lyons to accompany him Be assured thy Glory shall be Proportionable to thy Tryal Neither couldst thou ever be so happy hadst thoâ— not been beholding to Temptations How often sayst thou have I beaten off these base Suggestions yet still they retort upon
are raised to a greater height of Godly Zeal than ever Corinth had never been so rich in Grace if not defiled with so foul a Crime Confess now if this be not in effect thy Case Shouldest thou ever have detested thy Sin if thou had'st not been drawn in to commit it Shouldst thou have had so fervent a Love to God had it not been out of a sense of his great Mercy in remitting it Wouldst thou have been so weary in thy Stops as thou art if thou hadst not slip'd Give Glory to God but shame to thy self and Bless him for the benefit that he hath been pleased to make of thine Offending him 11. BUT Alas thou sayst my Case is far worse than it is conceiv'd I have been more than once miscarried into the same Sin For after I have made profession of my Repentance I have been transported into my former Wickedness Having washt off my Sin as I thought with many Tears yet I have suffer'd my Soul to be defiled again I must not flatter thee this Condition is Dangerous Those Diseases which upon their first Seisure have receiv'd Cure after a Relapse have threatned Death Look upon the Saints of God thou shalt find they have kept a distance from that Fire wherewith they have been formerly Burn'd Thou shalt not find Noah again Uncovered through Drunkenness Nor Judah climbing to Tamer's Bed Thou shalt not take Peter again in the High-Priest's Hall denying his Master or after St. Paul's Reproof Halting in his Dissimulation Gall. 2.11 12 13. 12. BUT tell me notwithstanding Art thou truly serious with thy God Hast thou doubled thy Humiliation for the Reduplication of thine Offence and sought God more instantly with an unfeigned Contrition Hast thou found thy Soul hath a greater detestation of Sin than thine acquaintance with it hath indulg'd thee Hast thou taken this occasion to lay hold on thy Saviour and to reinforce the Vows of strict Obedience If so this unpurpos'd Reiteration of thy Sin shall be no Prejudice to thy Salvation It is one thing for a Man to walk on willingly in a beaten Path of Sin another thing for him to be led out of the way of Righteousness by the violence of a Temptation which he soon recovers by a sincere Repentance 13. THE Best cannot but he overtaken with Sin But He that is Born of God doth not commit Sin 1 Joh. 3.9 He may be transported but makes not a Custom of doing ill His Heart is against that his Hand is drawn to And if in this inward Strife he is over-power'd he lyes not down with a willing Mind but struggles and with a reassumed Courage tramples on that which formerly supplanted him Didst thou give thy self to a resolved course of Sinning and betwixt whiles smite thy Breast with a formal God forgive me I should have no Comfort for thee but rather send thee to an afflictious Remedy of the Almighty for Correction if possibly those Stripes may prevent thine Everlasting Torments 14. BUT now since What thou hatest that thou dost and thou dost that which thou wouldst not and it is no more thou that dost it but Sin that dwels in thee Rom. 7.19 20. Exclaim as much as thou wilt on the sinfulness of thy Sin bewail thy Weakness with a better Man than thy self O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Rom. 7.24 But know that thou hast found Mercy with God Thy repeated Sin may grieve but cannot prejudice thy Soul Had we to do with a Finite Compassion it might be abated by wasting it self on a frequent Remission as a great River may be drawn dry by many small Out-lets But now that we deal with a God whose Mercy is Infinite it is not the greatness or number of our Offences that makes a difference in his free Remission That God who hath charged our weak Charity Not to be overcome of Evil but to overcome Evil with Good Rom. 12.21 justly scorneth that we should imagine his Infinite and Incomprehensible Goodness can be check't with our Evil. 15. IT was not without a singular Providence that St. Peter came to our Saviour with that Question in his Mouth Lord How often shall my Brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times That it might produce this Gracious Answer for our perpetual Comfort I say not unto thee until seven times but until seventy times seven Matth. 18.21 22. Lord if thou wilt have us sinful Creatures indulgent to one another in our Mutual Offences what Limits can be set to thy Mercies in our Sins against Thee Be we Penitent for thou art Gracious A Prayer against Temptations O Lord thou art the God of my Strength and to thee alone I fly for refuge the Tempter is now busie and labours to undermine me and more especially when I least suspect him But O let me be always ready to meet him in the Gate before he advances too far upon me Let not a Supine carelessness seize upon my Spirits but excite me to Vigilancy that I may stand upon my Guard ever prepared to resist him even in the beginning of his first Assaults Lord grant I may be fortified with Faith Courage and Resolution so that with the Assistance of thy Grace I may gain the Conquest 2. FURNISH me with thy compleat Armour the Helmet of Salvation the Sword of the Spirit and the Shield of Faith whereby Satan may be vanquished do thou Arm and so Strengthen me with thy Grace that through the Power of thy Might I may prevail against him and put him to flight when he is intending the greatest mischief and most advantage against me so shall I sing Praises unto thy Name both now and ever and teach others to resort unto thee in their greatest dangers and hardst Conflicts even then when the powers of darkness shall most obstruct them Amen SECT V. Imbecillity of Grace 1. THOU complainest of the Imbecillity of Grace Some little motions thou art sensible of God's Spirit but so insignificant that thou canst not find any solid Comfort Thou seest others thou say'st whose Breasts are full of Milk and their Bones moistned with Marrow Job 21.24 whil'st thou languishest under a Spiritual Leanness and Imbecillity Thou wantest that vigorous Heat of holy Affections and that Alacrity in the Performance of Holy Duties which thou observest in other Christians I like this Complaint and tell thee That without this thou could'st not be in the way to happiness 2. THINK'ST thou that those whom thou esteem'st eminent in Grace make not the same moan that thou do'st Certainly they never had any if they did not complain of too little Every Man is sensible of his own wants and ready to pass secret Censures upon himself for being applauded by others Even the Man after God's own heart can say But I am Poor and Sorrowful Psal. 69.29 He was a great King when he said so it was not Meaness in Estate that troubled him but
are thy Guests and Inmates to Sojourn with thee in this Retiredness What if the Light be excluded from thee It cannot hinder thee from seeing the Invisible The Darkness hideth not from thee saith the Psalmist but the Night shineth as the Day the Darkness and the Light are both alike to thee Psal. 139.12 5. I may say without dubiousness God hath never been so evidently seen as in darkest Dungeons for the external Light of Prosperity directs our Visive Beams which are strongly contracted in a deep Obscurity He must descend low and be in Darkness that would see the glorious Lights of Heaven by day They ever shine but not seen except in the Night If thine Eyes be blessed with this invisible Prospect thou art exempt from envying those Persons tho they could see all that the Tempter represented to the view of our Saviour upon the highest Mountain All the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them 6. THOU art forced to Retiredness but with what Disposition of Mind and Body If thou hadst a burden'd Soul the open and free Air could not refresh thee and if thou have a sincere Heart a strict Closeness cannot dismay thee thy Thoughts can keep thee Company and cheer thy Solitariness If thou hadst an unsound Body afflicted with the Gout Rupture or Luxation of some Limb thou wouldst not complain of thy Retiredness thy Pain would make thee insensible of thy Confinement But if God have blessed thee with Health how easily may'st thou digest an harmless Limitation 7. A Wise Man as Laurentius observ'd doth much in Solitude So may'st thou employ the Hours of thy close Retiredness and bless God for so happy an Opportunity How memorable an Instance hath our Age afforded us of an Eminent Person to whose Learning we are all oblig'd for that noble History of the World The Court had his Youthful Years and the Tower his latter Age The Tower Reform'd the Court in him and produc'd these worthy Monuments of Art and Industry which we should in vain expected from his Freedom and Jollitry It is observ'd that shining Wood within doors loseth its Light It is otherwise with this and many active Wits which had never shin'd if not for Confinement 8. THOU art close shut up Anchorets have sued for this as a Favour which thou esteemest a Punishment and having obtain'd it have plac'd Merit in that thou apprehend'st Misery Our History relates of one who when the Church Where his Cell was annex'd was on Fire would not come out but Die and lye Buried under the Ashes of that Roof where his Vow had fix'd him 9. THOU art Imprison'd Wise Men are apt in all Events to enquire into the Causes Wherefore dost thou suffer Is it for thy Guiltiness Make thy Goal God's Correction-House for the reforming of thy Wickedness Remember and imitate Manasses the evil Son of a good Father who upon Humiliation by his just Imprisonment found an happy Expiation of his horrible Idolatries Muders and Witchcrafts whose Bonds brought him home to God and himself Is it for Debt Think not to pay thy Creditors with a lingring Durance if power be in thine hands for a Discharge If there is Fraud and Injustice in this Confinement Fear thou a worse Prison if thou wilt wilfully live and die Indebted when thou mayst be Free and Honest 10. STRETCH thine ability to the utmost to satisfie others tho thou art Impoverish'd But if the hand of God have disabled thee labour what thou canst to agree with thy Creditors If they are Cruel look up with Patience to the Almighty who thinks fit to afflict thee with their Unreasonableness and make the same good use of thy Sufferings as if from the immediate Hand of thy Creator If it be for a good Cause rejoyce in this Tribulation and be exhilerated with the Blessed Apostles that thou art Counted worthy to suffer shame and bonds for the Name of the Lord Jesus Acts 5.41 For every just Cause he owns Neither is he less a Martyr that sufâ—ers for his Conscience in any of God's Commandments than he who suffers for matter of Faith and Religion 11. REMEMBER that Cordial Word of thy Saviour Blessed are they that are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 5.10 In such a Prison thou shalt be sure to find good Company as Joseph Micaiah Jeremiah John Baptist Peter Paul and Silas and all the Holy Martyrs and Confessors of Christ from the first Plantation of the Gospel to this present Repent if thou canst to be thus accompanied and choose not rather to violate a good Conscience for freedom than to be kept under a Momentary Restraint 12. THOU art a Prisoner Make the best of thy Condition close Air is warmer than open and how frequently do we hear Birds sing sweeter Notes in Cages than in Woods It is thy defect if thou art not amended by thy Retir'dness Thou art a Prisoner So is thy Soul in thy Body there not restrain'd only but fetter'd yet complains not of the straitness of these Clay-Walls or weight of those Bonds but patiently waits for a happy Goâ—l-delivery So do thou attend with all Long-suffering the good hour of the Pleasure of God Thy period is set not without regard to thy Advantage He in whose hand are all Times hath determined a sit time to free thy Body from these Prison-Walls and thy Soul from this Prison of thy Body and to restore Body and Soul from the Bondage of Corruption to the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God Rom. 8.21 A Prayer in Confinement O Holy Lord God who wouldest not the death of a Sinner but rather that he should turn from his Wickedness and live Lord Convert my Soul remove my Sins and frame my Heart Affections and Life according to thy blessed Will Thou who hearest the Poor and despisest not the Wretched Captive visit all that are bound Lord hear them in an acceptable time and help them in the day of Salvation Preserve the Oppressed and Despised of Men Say unto the Prisoners go forth and to them that are in Darkness shew your Selves Bind up the Broken Hearted proclaim Liberty to the Captives and open the Prison to them that are shut up Comfort them that Mourn let their deep Sighing come before thee And according to the greatness of thy Power preserve thou them that are appointed to dye 2. LORD lift thou up my head enlarge my feet and bring me out of all bondage that I may live to serve and praise thee in the Assembly of thy Servants However thou pleasest to dispose of me Let all my Sufferings redound to thy Glory and my own Salvation Give me Patience to endure and a constancy to depend on thee a firm Faith to apprehend thy Promises and a hope to expect thy Saving Health Consider my Weakness and lay no more upon me then thou wilt Enable me to bear cheerfully Sanctifie my Afflictions and make them good to me in the
beset with Parasitical Friends Young Man said he I pity thy Solitude Perhaps thou may'st be more alone in such Society than in the Wilderness Such Conversation is better lost than continued If thou canst but be well acquainted with thy self thou shalt be sorry thou wert no sooner solitary 12. THOU art from thy Country Who is not so We are all Pilgrims together with thee 1 Pet. 2.11 Heb. 11.13 Whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 Miserable are we if our true home be not Above That is the Better Country which we seek even an Heavenly Heb. 11.16 And thither thou mayst equally direct thy Course in whatsoever Region This Center of Earth is equidistant from the Glorious Circumference of Heaven If we may once meet there what need we make such Difference in the way A Prayer in Exile O LORD GOD Lord of the Mountains and Vallies Land and Sea and the God of the Exiled and Out-crst thou dost with much Patience behold Oppression and Wrong until the measures of Iniquity be filled up O Lord behold the pressures of me thy poor dispised and dejected Servant Thy Mercy and Gracious Audience of the Afflicted is neither limited to Jerusalem nor this Mountain every place is equally near Heaven and where ever Men lift up pure Hands and Hearts Worshipping of thee in Spirit and Truth thou art there present to hear and help them Lord thou seest good to permit me to the power of Men to Exercise me yet can they not shut thy Merciful Ear against me O let my Complaint therefore come before thee Let thy word be as the Cloudy-Pillar to lead me in thy Way and let thy good Spirit direct me 2. LORD leave me not destitute and comfortless in my Afflictions Be my Guide and Helper in this Earthly Pilgrimage and Valley of Tears unto and in the Hour which thou hast appointed to take me hence into the incorruptible and undefiled Inheritance which thou by â—hy Power hast reserved in Heaven for all Believers There no hand of the Oppressor can reach and where shall be no Curse no Sin nor fear of Forfeiture Into which no Enemy shall be admitted and from which no Inhabitant shall ever be cast out Lord Hear and Help me Lord have Mercy on me and grant me that which I ask according â—o thy will and that which I should ask which thou knowest best for me through the Infinite Merits of of the Son of thy Love the Author and Finisher of our Salvation Christ the Righteous Amen SECT XII Of Blindness and Deafness 1. THOU hast lost thine Eyes a Loss which all the World is uncapable to repair and thou art condemn'd to perpetual Darkness For the Light of the Body is the Eye and if the Light that is in thee be Darkness how great is that Darkness Mat. 6.22.23 Couldst thou have foreseen this Evil thou hadst anticipated this Loss by weeping out those Eyes for Grief which now thou art destitute of There are but two Senses by which any external Comfort can have free access to thy Soul Seeing and Hearing One of 'em is now extinguish't for ever Yet thou hast two internal Eyes that can supply the want of thy external the Eye of Reason and the Eye of Faith The One as a Man the Other as a Christian. Answerable to which there is a double Light apprehended by 'em Rational and Divine 2. SOLOMON tells thee of the one Prov. 20.23 The Spirit of a Man is the Candle of the Lord searching all the Inward Parts of the Belly St. John tells thee of the other 1 John 1.5 7. God is Light and in Him is no Darkness and we walk in the Lgiht as he is in the Light Now the two Lights so far exceed that external and visible of which thou art depriv'd as Light Darkness If then by the Eye of Reason thou attainst to intelligible Things and by the Eye of Faith to things Supernatural and Divine the Improvement of these Eyes will make amends for the want of thy Natural ones 3. THY Sight is lost Let me tell thee what Antony the Hermite whom Ruffinus is not doubious of stilling Blessed said to Learned Didymus of Alexandria that was Blind Let it not trouble thee O Didymus that thou art bereft of thy Carnal Eyes for thou lackest only those Eyes which Mice and Flyes and Lyzards have But rejoice that thou hast those Eyes which the Angels have whereby they see God and by which thou art enlightned with a great measure of Knowledge Endeavour to perfect this and thou shalt not be much discomforted with the absence of them 4. THINE Eyes are lost and the chief Comfort of thy Life gone with them The Light is sweet saith Solomon and a pleasant thing it is for the Eyes to behold the Sun Eccles. 11.7 Hath not God done this purposely that he might take thee off from all Earthly Objects that thou might'st fix thy self upon him and seek those Spiritual Comforts which are to be found in a better Light The Sun is the most glorious Planet the Eyes can possibly see but thy Spiritual ones may behold him that Created that glorious Luminary who is infinitely more glorious than what he Created If thou hast now an Inspection into him more than thou hadst that which thou countedst thy Loâ—s hath prov'd thy Gain 5. THOU art Blind and certainly it is a sore Affliction The Men of Jabesh Gilead offered the Tyrant of the Ammâ—nites to serve him 1 Sam. 11.1 But when he required the loss of their Kâ—â—ht Eyes as a Condition of Peace they will rather hazard their Lives in an unequal War as if Servitude and Death were a less Mischief than one Eye's loss How much more of Both For tho one Eye be but Testis Singularis yet the evidence of that is as true as of both and in some Causes more For when ye take a perfect Aim we shut one Eye as being conducive to an accurate Perspective Yet for ordinary use we value equally these Lights that there is no wise Man but would rather lose a Limb than one of them 6. A Person not less Religious than Witty when his Friends bewail'd the loss of one of his Eyes ask'd them whether they wept for the Eye which he had lost or the Eye which remain'd Weep rather said he for the Enemy that stays behind than for the Enemy that 's gone He look'd upon his Sight with Eyes different from others he look'd upon 'em as Enemies which others beheld as Officious Servants good Friends and dear Favourites 7. INDEED they are all of these as they are us'd Good Servants if they go faithfully on their Errands and return true Intelligence Good Friends if they advise and invite us to Holy Thoughts But Enemies if they suggest Evil. If thine Eyes have been employ'd in evil Offices to thy Soul God hath done that for thee which he hath in a Figurative Sense enjoyn'd thee to
prove deform'd unnatural and wicked what a Corrosive is this to the Parents Rebecca thought it long to be twenty Years Childless her Husband at Sixty prays for Issue Gen. 25.20 21. his Devotion carried him to Moriah the place where his Life was miraculously preserved from the Knife of his Father hoping it might by the like Miracle be renew'd in his Posterity 6. GOD hears him Rebecca Conceives But when she felt that early Combat of her strugling Twins she can say If it be so why am I thus Gen. 25.22 And when she saw a Child Red all over like a hairy Garment Gen. 25.25 and saw his Conditions no less rough than his Hide Gen. 27.41 do we not think she wish'd that part of her Burden unborn Certainly Children are Blessings or Crosses Hast thou a Child well dispos'd well govern'd A wise Son maketh a glad Father Prov. 10.1 Prov. 19.13 Hast thou a Child disorderly and debauch'd A foolish Son is the Heaviness of his Mother and the Calamity of his Father Prov. 10.1 Chap. 19.13 Hast thou a Son stubborn and unnatural Then Solomon tells us He that wasteth his Father and chaseth away his Mother is a Son that causeth Shame and bringeth Reproach Prov. 19.26 And if such a Son live and die impenitent what can answer the Discomfort of that Parent 7. THOU hast no Children As thou hast less Joy thou hast less Trouble It is a continual Care that belongs to these Possessions Artimedorus observes that to dream of Children imports Cares As they are our greatest Cares many lesser ensues For thou hast many Mouths to feed and 't is thy Duty to provide for 'em For If any provide not for his own especially for those of his own House he hath denied the Faith and is worse than an Infidel 1 Tim. 5.8 8. DOES not many Rivulets from the main Channel leave the Stream shallow So is it with thee But this Expence is not more necessary than comfortable A Great Man visited a Gentleman in the Country and seeing his Children placed according to their Age and Stature said These make Rich Men Poor But immediately he receiv'd this Answer Nay my Lord these make a Poor Man Rich For there is not one of these I would part with for all your Wealth 9. INDEED we receive to distribute and are but Farmers of those we leave behind If we freely lay out of our Substance before-hand so much of our Rent is happily clear'd It is observable none are so Covetous as the Childless For those who for maintenance of large Families are inur'd to frequent Disbursements find such Experience of Divine Providence in Prudent Managing of Affairs that they lay out with more Cheerfulness then they receive So that their Care must be abated when God takes it to himself 10. AND if not wanting to themselves Faith gives them Ease in casting their Burden upon him who hath more Power and Right to it since Children are more his than our own He that feedeth the Young Ravens Psal. 147.9 can he fail the best of his Creatures A worthy Divine tells us of a Gentlewoman coming to the Cottage of a poor Neighbour furnished with Children could say Here are the Mouths but where is the Meat But not long after was answer'd to that Question for the poor Woman after the Burial of her last Child inverted the Qustion upon her Here is the Meat but where is the Mouths 11. SURELY the Great Governour of the World will never leave any of his without the Bread of Sufficiency and who so fit to be his Purveyors as Parents for their Children Nature hath taught Birds to pick out the best of Grains for their Young Nature sends Moister out of the Root which gives Life to Branches and Blossoms Sometimes indeed it meets with a kind Retaliation some Stork-like Disposition repairs the loving Offices done by the Parents in a dutiful Retribution to their Age or Necessity 12. BUT how frequently proved often the contrary By an unsatiable Importunity of extracting from the Parents that Maintenance which is extravagant Sometimes an undutiful neglect in not owning the Meanness of their Parents or supporting their decay'd Estate by due Maintenance Ingratitude is odious in Man but in a Child monstrous 13. IT is thy Grief thou never hadst a Child There is not so much Comfort in having of Children as Sorrow in parting with 'em especially when their parts and Disposition have raised our Hopes and doubled our Affections towards 'em And according to the French Proverb He that hath not cannot lose so on the contrary he that hath must lose Our Meeting is not more certain than our Parting Either we must leave them and so their Grief doubles ours or they leave us and so our Grief will be no less than our Love was extended 14. IF thou wilt be truly wise set thy heart upon that only Good which is not capable of losing Divided Affections abate their Force and since no Objects of Dearness distracts thy Love place it wholly upon that Infinite Goodness which entertains it with Mercy and rewards it with Blessedness If Elkanah therefore could say to his Barren Wife Hannah 1 Sam. 1.8 Why weepest thou and why is thy Heart heavy Am not I better to thee than ten Sons How much more comfortably may'st thou hear the Father of Mercies say to thy Soul Why is thy Heart heavy Am not I better to thee than ten Thousand A Prayer of Comfort in Sterility O GOD the Great Creator and Redeemer of all the World who dist Command our first Parents to Encrease and Multiply Yet those Blessings thou thinkest not fit to dispence where thy Wisdom and Providence knows it not requisite O LORD thou hast been pleased to give me dry Breasts and shut up my Womb and hast kept me from that great pain and peril of Child-Birth which many have undergone which hath put a period to their Lives O let me Bless and Praise thy Holy Name that I am at this day a living Monument of thy Mercy And that thy Servant whom thou hast been pleased to ordain for my Husband is not yet Summoned by Death from me 2. LORD thy Omnipotency knows what is most necessary for me and the less Incumbrances and Cares I meet with in the World grant that I may the more attentively serve thee let me in every State O Lord submit to thy Holy Will and not murmure and repine at what thy good pleasure has allotted me Comfort me O Lord I beseech thee and increase my Love and Affection towards my Husband that I may say as Elkanah did to Hannah that he is more worth to me then ten Sons But O Lord grant that when thou shalt be pleased to call me out of this dark World into thy marvellous Light that I may be ready to leave all and follow thee who art my God and all things Amen SECT XIV Want of Repose 1. THOU are afflicted with that which is incident to distemper'd Bodies
Infancy and Youth have their limits age admits of no certain Determination 2. AT Seventy King David was old and stricken in Years and they cover'd him with Cloaths but he got no heat 1 King 1.1 Whereas Caleb can profess Now loe I am fourscore and five Years old and yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me to spy out the Land As my Strength was then even so is my Strength now for war both to go out and come in Josh. 14.10 11. And beyond him Moses was an hundred and twenty Years old when he died his Eye was not dim nor his Natural Force abated Deut. 34.7 Methuselah was but Old when he was Nine hundred sixty and nine Gen 5.27 3. BUT for the generality of Mankind the same Moses who liv'd to see an hundred and twenty hath set Man's ordinary Period at half his own Psal. 90.10 The days of our Age are threescore Years and ten And tho Men be so strong that they come to fourscore Years yet is their Strength but Labour and Sorrow So passeth it away and we are gone Fourscore Years are load enough for the Strength much more for the weakness of Age. But when Labour and Sorrow are added to the Weight how can we but sink under the Burden 4. HE was old and wise that said by Experience That our last Days are the Dregs of our Life The clearer part is gone and all drawn out the Lees sink down to the buttom Who can express the miserable Inconveniencies that attenst the Aged For Cares must needs be multiplied according to the manifold occasions of Affairs For the World is a Net wherein the more we stir we are Entangled 5. AND for Bodily Grievances What Varieties do we meet withal What Aches in the Bones Pains in the Joynts Convulsions of Sinews and Torments in the Bowels the Stone Collick Stranguary and Distillation of Rheums What Hollow Coughs weaknesses of Retention Expulsion Digestion and Decay of Senses So that Age is the common Sewer into which all Diseases of our Life are Evacuated Well therefore might Sarah say After I am waxed Old shall I have Pleasure Gen. 18.12 And good Barzillai justly excuses himself for not accepting the gracious Invitation of David 2 Sam. 19.35 I am this day fourscore Years old and can I discern between Good and Evil Can thy Servant taste what I eat or what I drink Can I hear any more the voice of Singing-Men and Singing-Women Wherefore then should thy Servant be yet a Burden unto my Lord the King 6. THESE are they the Preacher calls the Evil Days and the Years wherein a Man shall say I have no Pleasure in them Wherein the Sun or the Light or the Moon or the Stars are darkned and the Clouds return after the Rain When the Keepers of the House shall tremble and the Strong Men shall bow themselves and the Grinders cease because they are few and those that look out of the Windows be darkned Eccles. 12.1 2 3. In short what is Old-Age but the Winter of Life And how can we expect any other but gloomy Weather chilling Frosts Storms and Tempests 7. BUT whilst we thus querulously aggravate the incommodiousness of Age we must beware lest we derogate from the Bounty of our Maker and disparage those Blessings which he accounts Precious amongst which Old-Age is none of the meanest Had he not put that value upon it he would not have honour'd it with his own Stile calling himself The Ancient of Days Dan. 7.9.13.22 Or would he else have set out this Mercy as a Reward and Obedience to himself I will fulfil the number of thy days Exod. 23.26 and of Obedience to our Parents To live long in the Land Exod. 20.12 8. WOULD he have promised it as a marvellous Favour to restor'd Jerusalem now become a City of Truth That there shall yet Old Men and Old Women dwell in the Streets of Jerusalem and every Man with his Staff in his Hand for every Age Zach. 8.4 Would he else have denounc'd it as a Judgment to over-indulgent Eli 1 Sam. 2.32 There shall not be an Old Man in thy House for ever Far be it from us to despise that which God Honors and turn his Blessings into a Curse For the same God who best knows the Price of his own Favours as he makes no small estimation of Age himself so he hath thought fit to call for a high Respect to be given it by Men out of an Holy Awe to himself Lev. 19.32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary Head and Honor the Face of the Old Man and fear thy God I am the Lord. 9. HENCE it is that he hath pleas'd to put together the Ancient and the Honourable Isa. 9.15 and hath told us that an Hoary Head is a Crown of Glory if it be found in the way of Righteousness Prov. 16.31 Chap. 20.29 And lastly makes it an Argument of the deplorable State of Jerusalem Lam. 4.16 That They favoured not the Elders Therefore as we too sensibly feel what to complain of so we know what Priviledges we may challenge due to Age even such as Nature hath taught those Heathens which are in the next degree to Savage If Pride and Skill have made the Athenians Uncivil yet a Young Lacedemonian will rise and yield his Place in the Theatre to neglected Age. 10. IT is not a little Injurious to fasten our Eyes upon the disadvantages of any Condition as not to take in the Advantages that belong to it which carefully laid together may perhaps sway the Ballance to an equal Poise Suppose Old-Age is oppress'd with Bodily Griefs yet it may yield other Immunities to keep the Scales even And it is not the least that it gives us firm Resolutions and bold Securities against Dangers and Death it self For the Old Man knows how little of his Thred is left in the Winding and therefore when just Occasion is offer'd insists not much upon so inconsiderable a Remainder OLD-AGE and Orbity as Ceselius profess'd were those things that emboldened him And when Castritius refus'd to deliver the Hostages of Placentia to Carbo the Consul and was threatned with many Swords he answer'd those Menaces with his many Years What young Man would have been so easily induc'd to part with his Life and having been so ready to give entertainment to an unexpected Death Surely the hope and love of Life commonly softens the Spirits of vigorous Youth and disswades them from those Enterprizes which are attended with manifest Perils Whereas extream Age teacheth us to contemn Dangers 12. YET a greater priviledge of Age is a Freedom from those impetuous Passions wherewith Youth is commonly over-sway'd for with our Natural Heat the Fire of our inordinate Lusts is abated so as our weaker Appetite may be subdu'd to Reason The Temperate old Man in the Story when one shew'd him a Beautiful Face could answer I have long since left to be Eye-sick And could say
the days of a mispent Youth so now accomplish thine own Work give me an Heart faithfully to adhere unto thee that I may constantly Endeavour to Redeem the many Errors of my life past by becoming a Pattern of Faith and Obedience in all those with whom I Converse with for the Future Lord fill me with thy Holy Spirit that I may bear more fruit in my Age Forsake me not now I am Old and Gray-Headed Neither Remember the Sins and Follies of my Youth 2. O let thy Power appear in my Weakness and the Operation of thy Spirit in the Decays and Ruins of this Earthly Tabernacle by the evident repair of thine own Image in me Mortifying the remainds of Sin and assuring me of my Election and Calling in Christ Jesus And now O Lord that the time of my departure draweth nigh give me a vigilant Spirit that I may be ready when thou Summonest me Lord there are but few steps between me and this Worlds period O strengthen me with thy Grace give me a lively Faith an Invincible and Constant perseverance in this Race of the few and evil dayes of this Earthly Pilgrimage that by thy merciful Assistance I may so run that I may obtain That when thou pleasest to give me rest from my Labours and gather me to my Fathers I may against all the pains and Sorrows of Death willingly and cheerfully yield up my Soul into thy Gracious Hands in full assurance of my Redeemption and Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen SECT XVI Of Mortality 1. THOU fearest Death The Holiest Wisest and Strongest have done no less He is King of Terrors and must command Thou mayst hear the Man after God's own heart say Psal. 116.3 The sorrows of Death compassed me And Psal. 88.3 4 5. My Soul is full of troubles my life draweth nigh to the Grave I am counted with them that go down to the Pit as a Man that hath no strength free among the Dead And Good Hezekiah upon the message of Death Chattered like a Crane or a Swallow and went mourning as a Dove Isa. 38.14 2. THOU fearest as a Man but must strive too ver-come as a Christian which thou mayst perform if from the terrible aspect of the Messenger thou cast thine eyes upon the Amiable Face of God that sends him Holy David shews the way Psal. 18.5 6. The snares of Death prevented me In my distress I called upon the Lord and cryed unto my God and he heard my voice out of his Temple and my cry came before him even into his ears He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues of death Psal. 68.20 3. MAKE God thy Friend and Death shall be an advantage Phil. 1.21 It is true what the Wise Man said VVisd 1.13 Chap. 2.24 that God made not death but through envy of the Devil death came into the VVorld But though God made him not he is pleas'd to employ him as his Messenger to Summon some to Judgment and Invite others to Glory and those the Psalmist makes mention of are these latter Psal. 116.15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the Death of his Saints And what reason hast thou to abomâ—nate that which God accounts precious 4. THOU art afraid of Death Acquaint thy self with him more and thou wilt fear him less Bears and Lyons at the first sight affright us but upon frequent viewing lose their Terror Inure thine eyes to the sight of Death and that Face shall not displease thee Thou must shortly dwell with him for a long time for the days of darkness are many Eccl. 11.8 but in the mean time entertain him as the blessed Apostle doth 1 Cor. 15.31 I protest by your rejoycing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord I dye daily 5. INVITE him to thy Board lodge him in thy Bed discourse him in thy Closet and walk with him in thy Garden as Joseph of Arimathea did and by no means suffer him to be a stranger to thy thoughts This familiarity shall bring thee to delight in his company whom thou didst formerly dread then thou mayest with the blessed Apostle say Phil. 1.23 I have a desire to be with Christ which is far better 6. THOU art gievously afraid of Death Fears are apt to imagin and aggravate evils Even Christ himself walking upon the waters and the Disciples trembled as at some dreadful Apparition perhaps thou lookst at Death as some utter abolition or extinction of thy being and nature must needs shrink at the thought of not being at all This is an ill and dangerous misprision For it is but departing which thou call'st Death 7. SEE how God stiles it to Abraham Thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace thou shalt be buried in a good old Age Gen. 15.15 And Jacob Gen. 49.33 When Jacob had ended commanding his Sons he gathered up his feet into the bed and yielded up the Ghost and was gathered unto his People So that dying is going to our Fathers and gathering to our People with whom we shall live in a better World and re-appear Gloâ—ious Let but thy Faith represent Death to thee in this shape and he will not appear terrible 8. DO but observe in what familiar terms God Confer'd with Moses concerning his Death Deut. 32.49 Get thee up into this Mountain Abarim unto Mount Nebo which is in the Land of Moab and behold the Land of Canaan which I gave unto the Children of Israel for a Possession and dye in the Mount whither thou goest up and be gathered to thy People as Aaron thy Brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his People So it is no more go up there and dye should it have been go a days Journey in the Wilderness to Sacrifice it could have been no otherwise expressed or as if it were all one to go up to Sinai to meet with God and go up to Nebo and dye Neither is it otherwise with us only the difference is that Moses must first view the Land of Promise and then dye whereas we must first dye and then see the Promised Land 9. THOU art troubled with the fear of Death What reason hast thou to be Afflicted with that which is common to Mankind Remember the words of Joshua Josh. 23.14 Behold this day saith he I am going the way of all the Earth If all the Earth go this way couldst thou think there is a by-path left thee to tread in were it so that Monarchs Princes Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles were allow'd any easier passage out of the World thou mightst perhaps repine at a painful dissolution but now since all go one way there can be no ground for a discontented murmur 10. GRUDGE if thou wilt that thou art a man but grudge not that being a man thou must dye It is true those whom the last day shall find alive shall not dye but they shall be changed 1 Cor. 15.51 52. but this change shall be
fortitude takes off his terror If as a Messenger of God he is sent to convey thee to happiness what reason hast thou to be afraid of thine own bliss It is one thing what Death is in himself a privation of Life such as nature cannot chuse but abhor Another what he is by Christ made unto us and introduction to Life and a harbinger to Glory 21. WHY would the Lord of Life yield unto Death and by yielding vanquisht him but to alter and sweeten him to us and of a fierce Tyrant make him a Friend and Benefactor And if we look upon him thus changed and reconciled how can we chuse but bid him welcome 22. THOU art afraid of the pangs of Death Some have dyed without any great sense of pain Some have yielded up their Souls without a groan And how knowest thou what measure God hath allotted thee Our Death is a Sea-Voyage The holy Apostle desired to lanch forth Phil. 1. wherein some find a rough and tempestuous passage others calm and smooth Such thine may prove and so thy dissolution may be easier than a fit of sickness 23. BUT if God had determined otherwise look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith Heb. 12.2 the Son of God the Lord of Glory see with what Agonies he conflicted what torments he endured for thee Look upon his Bloody Sweat Bleeding Temples Furrowed Back Nailed Hands and Feet Rack'd Joints and Pierc'd Side Hear his strong Cries consider the Shame Pain and Curse of the Cross which he underwent for thy sake Say whether thy sufferings can be comparable to his He is a Cowardly and Unworthy Soldier that follows his General sighing Behold these are the steps wherein thy God and Saviour hath trod before thee Walk on couragiously in this deep and bloody way and after a few paces thou shalt overtake him in Glory For if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him 2 Tim. 2.12 24. THOU shrink'st at the thoughts of Death Is it not for over-valuing Life and making Earth thy home Rich Persons that live at ease are loth to stir abroad especially upon hard and stormy Voyages Perhaps 't is so with thee wherein I cannot but much pity thy weakness in placing thy contentment where a wiser Man could find nothing but vanity and vexation 25. ALAS what is our Exile if this be our home What entertainment to be enamour'd on Distempered humours hard usages violent passions and bodily sicknesses sad complaints disappointed hopes and frequent miscarriages Momentany Pleasures mixt with sorrows and lastly umbrages of joy and real miseries Doth these so bewitch thee that when Death calls thou art ready to reply as the Devil to our Saviour Mat. 8.29 Art thou come to torment me before the time 26. ARE these such contentments as allures thee to the World as St. Peter was to Mount Tabor Mat. 17.4 Master It is good for us to be here if thou have any Faith in thee look up to the other World where thou art going and see whether that true Life pure Joy perfect Felicity and Eternity may not be worthy to draw thy heart to a longing desire of Fruition and a Contempt of what the Earth can promise in comparison of infinite blessedness 27. IT was one of the defects which Sir Francis Bacon found in Physicians that do not study Remedies to procure the easie passage of their Patients through the Gates of Death Such helps I leave to the care of the skilful Sages of Nature the use I supose must be with caution lest whilst they endeavour to sweeten Death they shorten Life 28. BUT let me prescibe this spiritual means of thine happy Euthanasia which is a faithful disposition of the labouring Soul that can truly say with Timothy 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed and Chap. 4.7 8. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day 29. THOU startest ar the mention of Death How canst thou but blush to read of Socrates when the Message of Death was brought him applauded the News with much joy Or of a Cardinal of Rome that received the Intimation of his approaching Death Cry'd out the news is good and welcome Is not their Confidence thy Shame who believing that when our Earthly house of this Tabernacle shall be dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 yet shrinks at the motion of taking possession of it 30. CANST thou with dying Mithridates be unwilling to forsake this light when thou art going to a light more Glorious than the Sun It is our infidelity that makes us unwilling to die Did we think the Soul sleeps as well as the Body from the moment of the dissolution till the day of Resurrection death might be unwelcome 31. OR did we think we should wander to unknown places to uncertain entertainment or fear a scorching Tryal upon the Emigâ—ation in flames little inferiour to those of Hell there were some cause to tremble at the approach of Death But we can boldly say with the Wise Man VVisd 3.1 2 3. The Souls of the Righteous are in the hands of God and there shall no torment touch them In the sight of the unwise they seem'd to die and their departure is taken for misery and their going from us to be utter destruction but they are in peace 32. OH thou of little Faith why fearst thou â—hide thy self as that dying Saint of old and say my Soul go boldly forth what art thou afraid of Lo the Angels are ready to receive thee and carry thee to Glory leave there this wretched Body and be possess'd of Heaven After a momentary darkness upon Nature thou shalt enjoy the Beatifical Vision of God Be not afraid to be happy but say in Faith what Jonah said in Anger Jonah 4.3 It is better for me to dye than to live 33. I am afraid to dye This is Natures voice But wilt thou hear what Faith saith To me to live is Christ and to dye is gain If therefore Nature reigns in thee thou must be affrighted with Death But if true Grace be prevalent in thy Soul that Guest shall not be unwelcome Was ever any Man afraid of Profit and Advantage Such is Death to the Faithful Whosoever finds Christ his Life shall be sure to find Death his gain for he is thereby brought to a near Communion with him Whereas before he enjoyed him by the dim apprehension of Faith now he clearly and immediately enjoys that Glorious Presence which only makes blessedness 34. THIS is it that causeth Death to change his Copy and renders him who is formidable pleasing and beneficial I desire to depart and to be with Christ saith the Man who was rapt up in the third Heaven had it been only departing he
in the Faces of St. Peters Scoffers that say where is the promise of his coming Knowing that the Lord is not slack but he that shall come will come and not tarry 2 Pet. 3.4 9. Heb. 10.17 And some may live to see the Son of Man come in the Clouds of Heaven in this last Scene of the World 5. IF so let not thy heart be dismay'd with these fearful things Thy change shall be sudden one Moment shall put off Mortality and clothe thee with Incorruption not capable of fear and pain The Majesty of this appearance shall add to thy Joy and Glory Thou shalt then see the Lord himself descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Arch-Angel and with the trump of God Thou shalt see thy self and those other which are alive and remain to be caught up into the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shalt thou be ever with the Lord. On this Assurance the Apostle subjoyns Wherefore comfort one another with these words 1 Thes. 4.16 17 18. And if ever there were comfort in words not of Men or Angels but of the God of Truth these will afford it to our trembling Souls 6. BUT if thou be one whom God hath determin'd to Summon before the great day of his appearance here is a joy unspeakable and full of Glory For those that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him 1 Thes. 4.15 They shall be of that Glorious Train which shall attend the Great Judge of the World Yea they shall be Co-assessors to the Lord of Heaven and Earth in this Judicature sitting upon the Bench when guilty Men and Angels shall be at the Bar To him that overcometh saith Christ will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father upon his Throne Rev. 3.21 What place is here for any terror since such heavenly Magnificence fulness of Joy and Eternal Glory 7. THOU art afraid think of Judgment I had rather thou wert awful than timorous when St. Paul Acts 24.25 discoursed of the judgment to come it is no marvel that Felix trembled But the same Apostle when he pressed to his Corinthians the certainty and generality of our appearance before the Judgment-Seal of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body whether good or evil adding knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men but we are made manifest to God 2 Cor. 5.10 11. 8. THE holiest Man is not exempted from the dread but slavish fear of the great Judge We know his infinite Justice and are Conscious of our manifold failings And how can we acknowledge these and not fear But this fear works not in us a Malignant repining at the severe Tribunal of the Almighty but a careful endeavour to approve our selves that we may be acquitted by him and appear blameless in his presence How justly may we tremble when we look upon our Actions and Deserts But confidently appear at the Bar where we are assur'd of a discharge Being justified by Faith we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 5.1 When we think of a Conflagration of the World how can we but fear But when we think of a happy restitution of all things how can we but rejoice in trembling Acts 3.21 9. THOU quakest at the expectation of Judgement Surely the Majesty of that great Assize must needs be formidable And if the delivery of the Law on Mount Sinai Exod. 19.16 18. were with so dreadful a Pomp of Thunder and Lightning Fire Smoak and Earthquakes that the Israelites were half dead with fear in receiving it with what terrible Magnificence shall God come to require an account of that Law at the hands of the whole sinful generation of Mankind 10. REPRESENT unto thy thoughts that which was shewed to the Prophet Daniel Dan. 7.9 10. Imagine thou sawst the Ancient of days sitting upon a Throne like a fiery flame a fiery stream issuing and coming forth from before him thousand thousands ministring unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before him the judgment set and the Books opened Or as John the Daniel of the New Testament saw Rev. 20.11 12. A great white throne and him that sat on it from whose Face the Earth and the Heavens fled away and the dead both small and great standing before God and the Books opened and the Dead judged out of those things which were written in those Books according to their works 11. LET the eyes of thy mind foresee that which these bodily eyes shall once see and tell me how thou feelest thy self affected with the sight of such a Judge such an appearance and such a process And if thou art in a trembling Condition cheer thy self with this that thy Judge is thine Advocate that upon that Throne sits not greater Majesty than Mercy It is thy Saviour that shall sentence thee how safe art thou then under such hands Canst thou fear he will doom thee to death who dyed to give thee life Canst thou fear he will condemn thee for those sins which he hath given his blood to expiate Canst thou fear the rigour of that Justice which he hath so fully satisfied Or canst thou misdoubt the miscarriage of that Soul he hath so dearly bought 12. NO all this Divine State and Magnificence makes for thee Let those guilty and impenitent Souls Rom. 2.5 who have heaped unto themselves Wrath against the day of wrath quake at the Glorious Majesty of the Son of God for whom nothing remains but a fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries Heb. 10.27 But for thee who art reconciled unto God by the Mediation of the Son of his love and incorporated into Christ and made a Member of his Mystical Body thou art Commanded with all the Faithful to look up and lift up thy head for now the day of Redemption is come Luk. 21.28 Ephes. 4.30 13. AND indeed it is thy priviledge since by vertue of a blessed Union with thy Saviour this Glory is thine every Member hath an interest in the Honour of the Head Rejoyce therefore in the day of the Lord Jesus Phil. 2.16 And when the Tribes of the Earth shall wail Rev. 1.7 Do thou Sing and call to the Heavens and Earth to bear thee Company Let the Heavens rejoyce and let the Earth be glad Let the Sea make a noise and all that is therein Let the Fields be joyful and all that is in it Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoyce before the Lord for he cometh for he cometh to judge the Earth and with righteousness to judge the World and the People with his Truth Psal. 96.11 12 13. 14 THOU art affâ—ighted with the thought of the Great Day Think oftner and thou shalt less fear it it will come surely and suddenly let thy frequent thoughts prevent it it will come as a Thief in the