participating of the Sacrifice offer'd up by our Lord. INDEED if this Sacrament had been instituted by CHRIST after his Resurrection which wholly effaced the Pourtraiture of his Shame and Sufferings it would have been much more difficult to have thence inculcated to us this important Truth of the Christian Religion But Our Lord did expresly choose the time immediately before his Death that so the Ceremony which was to preserve the Memory of it might so fill us with the sense of the Shame and Punishment he endured that it might lead us to make a continual Reflection upon these Truths viz. That when JESUS CHRIST dy'd He dy'd for Sinners That when He was nail'd to the Cross He bore their Sins in his Body on the Tree That when He was wounded it was for our Transgressions and that by his Stripes we are healed THE fifth Truth which our Saviour was willing continually to set before our Eyes by the Celebration of the Eucharist is That this Bloody Death of his was the Blessed Means by which GOD entred into Covenant with Mankind Moses had said of the Blood he sprinkled upon the People Behold the Blood of the Covenant which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words Exod. 24.8 And Our Saviour plainly opposing his Blood to that says concerning the Cup This Cup is the New Covenant or Testament in my Blood which is shed for the remission of your Sins This Covenant is the greatest and most important Truth of our Religion By it GOD delivers Men from Hell and restores them to his Favour and Protection It is this also displays before us the whole Mystery of our Redemption as 1. That Man being created Innocent fell into Rebellion against GOD by list'ning to the insinuations of the Devil 2. That though Man deserved to be not only reduc'd to nothing from whence the Hand of GOD had raised him at the first but to be cast into Hell there to undergo the punishment due to his Disobedience yet GOD being mov'd with pity resolv'd to forgive all and make a New Covenant with him 3. That it was the Will of GOD that his Own Son taking in due time Human Nature upon Him should be the Person in whose Blood this Covenant was to be Established 4. That JESUS CHRIST having really shed his Blood this Covenant was fully ratify'd and confirmed and Remission of Sins offer'd to all that would repent For that is the thing which is meant by the New Covenant according as GOD expresses it in Jeremy 31.34 saying I will forgive their Iniquity and remember their Sin no more THE sixth considerable Truth is That our Saviour would have us always to bear in mind his Last Coming to judge the World and consummate the Work of Our Redemption Accordingly this Sacrament contains solemn Marks and Instances of the fulfilling of the Promises God had made to send the Messias into the World. It sets forth in what manner He began to act and suffer for Mankind But He being to continue but a little while here upon Earth and to be taken up to Heaven there to remain to the End of the World this Ceremony acquaints us that He is then to come again from thence in order to fulfil our Hopes by causing us to reap the last Fruits of his Expiation of Our Sins that is in destroying Death by a glorious Resurrection and making us to live for ever with GOD a Life that neither Sin nor Death which Sin has brought into the World can ever disturb And it may be said that as the first Coming of the Messias was the great Object of the Religion Desires and Hopes of the Jews Art thou say they He that should come or do we look for another Mat. 11.3 as likewise of the Promises of Blessings which GOD had made to the Gentiles themselves He being called the Expectation and desire of all Nations Hag. 2.7 so is his second Coming the great Object of the Christian Religion This same JESVS said the Angels to his Disciples gazing up to Heaven who is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into Heaven Act. 1.11 On this account also the Church is represented to us Rev. 22.17 calling for her Bridegroom And the Spirit and the Bride say Come And let him that hears say Come And indeed as the Prophets describe these two Comings of the Messias under the notion of one single Object so we see that according to the mind of St. Paul who assigns for the continuance of this Holy Ordinance the whole Interval of time to the end of the World and Christ's Return Our Saviour has in this Sacrament united this his two Comings as being the greatest Objects of our Religion CHAP. V. Of the Comforts the Holy Eucharist administers to us THUS having explain'd the important Truths which the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper engages us to meditate upon it is very Evident that Our Participation of this Sacrament furnishes us with most lively and refreshing Comforts which I now come to propose in order with reference to the foregoing Truths FIRST then What joy must we needs feel when we reflect upon this great Event viz. the Death of Our Saviour Let us but compare our Happiness with the Condition of the Patriarchs and we shall easily perceive how high a pitch our Joy ought to be raised to St. Peter tells us that the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently what or what manner of time the Spirit of CHRIST which was in them did signifie when it testifi'd before-hand the Sufferings of CHRIST and the Glory that should follow 1 Pet 1.10 11. The Promises of GOD did fill their Hearts with gladness even before they came to pass yea tho' it was revealed to them that it was not to themselves but to us that they ministred those things which have been declar'd to us by the Preachers of the Gospel 1 Pet. 1.12 They rejoyced to see the Faithfulness of GOD in the future accomplishment of his Promises And to this purpose St. Paul informs us that the Patriarchs and Holy Men of old dy'd in the Faith not having receiv'd the Promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them Heb. 11.13 Yet all this at a distance Thus Balaam Numb 24.17 I see Him but not now I behold Him but not nigh But 't is our happiness that we are come to that Blessed State which Our Saviour appropriates to his Disciples We see those things which so many Kings and Righteous Persons desired to see and did not see them John the Baptist who Baptized Him bore Witness of Him and foretold his Death yet never saw it This was an Advantage reserved for us His Death is now in most lively Colours presented to our View It is Matter of Fact certain and indubitably attested He is come down from Heaven He has taken our Flesh upon Him discharged the Functions of his Ministery
delight to do thy Will O my God. O Ineffable and amazing Love to Mankind who deserved nothing but an Eternal Curse AS it was in the Blood of Lambs that GOD made a Covenant with the People of Israel so the Eucharist representing to us in the fifth Place that the Blood of CHRIST is the Ground and Foundation of the New Covenant which GOD has made with Christians we cannot look upon the Sacrament as the Pledge and Seal of this Covenant without being filled with an Excess of Joy and Consolation For indeed what greater Glory can be imagined than for Man to be admitted to a Treaty with GOD And what an inconceivable Advantage is this that GOD should vouchsafe to enter into Covenant with us There are none but are sensible of the Happiness of the Israelites in this regard To be convinc'd of which we need only hear them even at this day speaking with the greatest Comfort of the Honour GOD therein has done them notwithstanding their total dispersion and groaning under the Burthen of that Curse which pursues and overtakes them every where Now that ancient Covenant GOD has abolished as being imperfect but this which we commemorate is to endure for ever The Design of the former was only to give the Jews a lively Sense of Sin or at the best to administer a Typical Expiation whereas the latter viz. the New according to the Prophet Jeremy makes a true Atonement for Sin and affords a Remission rightly and properly so call'd That had no promises but what concern'd a Happiness here on Earth whereas This does promise a Resurrection and Eternal Glory THE greatest Honour the Old Covenant did confer upon the Jews was this That the MESSIAS should be born of their Blood but the Advantage of the New is That the MESSIAS partaking of Flesh and Blood with the rest of Mankind has given his own Blood to raise them to the Glory of Adoption who shall believe in Him. O how happy is the People whose God is the Lord And what does this Expression to be the God of any one import but this viz. To be his Great and Soveraign Benefactor Of old He was the GOD of Abraham but not of Loth and his Posterity Of Isaac but not of Ismael and his Off-spring Of Jacob but not of Esau and the Edomites Now He is the GOD of all the Earth But he has not made this Covenant with all the Nations of the World save only by virtue and on the Sole Account of the Blood of CHRIST And can we with any attention reflect on this Truth represented to us in the Holy Eucharist without feeling a Joy unspreakable and full of Glory GOD had promised to enter into such a Covenant as this and Jeremy describes it in the 31. Chap. of his Prophecies Yet the Old lasted till John the Baptist and so long the Ceremonies of it were in use But then comes CHRIST and instead of continuing the Celebration of the Old Covenant which was made in the Blood of the Paschal Lamb He abrogates it and in its room substitutes the New Covenant made in his own Blood. Do this says He in remembrance of me Not That which was done before but This For this Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for the Remission of your Sins TO conclude 't is to be considered and this is the last Vein of Comfort hid in the Eucharist that this Holy Sacrament inviting us to take a View of CHRIST'S second Coming as well as of his Dispensation in the Flesh 't is impossible but it must fill our Souls with surpassing Joy and Comfort The full Salvation of Believers does as yet only consist in Hope GOD indeed pardons their Sins but they are still subject to all the Miseries Sin has brought into the World. They hope for Eternal Life and yet dye like other Men. Their Bodies are laid in the Grave and become the food of Worms So that their Expectation seems to be quite frustrated And as the Jews and Gentiles find Matter of Scandal and Derision in the Death of the Son of GOD so according to all outward appearance they have the same reason to insult over the Faith and Hope of his Followers when they compare these with their present Condition which to the Eye differs not from that of other Men. But all these dark Clouds shall at last be scatter'd these Shadows vanish and the Glory of our Lord and his Faithful be revealed He shall appear from Heaven in the Glory of his Father and every Eye shall see Him even they who have pierced Him. And as He will thus display his Majesty in the Sight of all the World so will He at the same time unvail the Life and Glory of his Children who at present are ready to sink under the burthen of Sin the Violence of CHRIST's Adversaries the deceits of the World and the Devil and the Power of Death which is the last Enemy of CHRIST and his Church He that eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has Eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day Whosoever eats of this Bread shall live for ever These are our Saviour's Promises wherein as He terms the Embracing of Him by Faith an Eating of his Flesh in opposition to the Type of Manna So this Eating may be as truly ascribed to them who by Faith consider Him as the Sacrifice that has taken away the Punishment due to Sin. O what comforts do arise to the Faithful from the Expectation of this his Return What exulting Joys will they be filled with at his Coming What Delights flow in upon them as they mediate hereon What ravishing Pleasures does it afford us amidst the greatest Evils of this Life What quiet in the sharpest Trials And what Confidence even at the time when Death stares us in the Face CHAP. VI. Of the Duties prescribed to us in the Holy Eucharist I SUPPOSE I have very clearly made out that it is impossible attentively to consider the Truths which the Lord's Supper discovers to us without reaping the unspreakable Comforts which so naturally spring from it And it may with as much Ease be demonstrated that these Truths indispensably engage us to the most Essential Duties of our Religion and that GOD having comprehended what is most capable to administer the sweetest Consolations to our Souls in this Mystery it cannot but at the same time be very influential towards Sanctification and a Godly Life To the making out of which I design the Conclusion of this Treatise where I intend to represent these Duties as the necessary and natural Consequents of what I have before laid down It behooves every Communicant seriously to consider of these Engagements And the rather because this is a sure way for them to know whether they have worthily receiv'd the Sacrament or to amend the faults by them committed in any preceding Communion for want of discharging these Religious performances as they ought FIRST then
World. GOD has left us uncertain of the Hour of our Death What would not we wish we had done if this very Day CHRIST should come to Judgment or Death snatch us away and set us before GOD'S Tribunal WE lose opportunities of doing good and embrace those of doing ill because we think we are sure to live long and repent before Death surprizes us Strange blind Security I AM assur'd GOD will pardon me if I truly repent before the Day of my Death but should be stark mad to think of delaying the Duty of Repentance a Moment since 't is not impossible but that even that very Moment may be my last MAXIM XV. That we ought continually to set the Judgment of God before our Eyes HOW terrible will the Judgment of GOD be to the Wicked CHRIST whom they have outrageously abus'd is to give Sentence their own Consciences to be Witness against them and the Devil waits for the word of Command to put it in Execution No Grace now to be hoped for no room left for Repentance SECRET Thoughts idle VVords wavering Actions All shall be brought forth to Judgment GOD'S Assistance Patience and Benefits will be our reproach Sins committed good Deeds omitted Time lost and the like will be punished Excuses Prayers Tears All these will avail nothing against the Justice of this Tribunal OH How much ought the dread of this Judgment to come to possess our Minds How can we sleep in Sin quietly Our Souls may each moment be cited before the Throne of GOD there to be judg'd and sentenc'd to Eternal Pains MAXIM XVI That the Consideration of the Torments of Hell ought to affright us to Heaven IF the Divine Favours prove too weak to overcome our Obstinacy yet at least let the pains of Hell terrify us into Endeavours to prevent them LET our minds visit this Abyss of Misery where the Sinner suffers in every Sense Torments proportioned to his Crimes He has lost GOD for ever and is given up to Eternal Remorse of Conscience Prisons Dungeons Racks have their Terrours But what are these to Hell Eternal Darkness unquenchable Fire the presence of Devils and the Damned Lamentations Howlings Blasphemies Despair These are but a rude Draught of that Region of Anguish MAXIM XVII That the Glory of Heaven ought powerfully to incite our Piety HEAVEN is the Lot of the Righteous where the absence of all Evil an unspeakable fulness of Blessings both for Body and Soul and a perfect fruition of GOD shall make up our Happiness JESUS CHRIST the Bridegroom will there give Consummation to our Joys NO more Temptations no more Sins no more Sufferings no more Fears But Light in the Mind Comforts in the Heart Peace in the Conscience a perfect Union of the Faithful in giving Eternal Thanks to God in the enjoyment of Felicity that shall have no end VVhat ought not we to do what Miseries should not we be content to suffer to secure the hope of this Glory God has promis'd to us What Terrour ought to seize us when we reflect upon our Sins which if not repented of will deprive us of it for ever MAXIM XVIII That we are always to stand in a Religious Fear CHRIST having told his Disciples that one of them would betray him they all trembled at the horror of this Crime though there was but one that was to commit it Let us always be watchful against the inconstancy of our Nature Who knows whether the Eye of GOD does not discover that in our Hearts which is yet unknown to us The Example of the Saints ought to inspire us with a Religious Fear THE Fall of St. Peter was expiated by Tears of Repentance But how can he who considers on his failing trust to his own Strength The Looks of his Master infus'd the Motives to his Remorse But CHRIST does not always afford his Gracious Countenance to those who desert and deny him MAXIM XIX That Sin is more to be fear'd than Death SIN is Treason against the King of Heaven 'T is copying from the fallen Angels It is the only Object of GOD'S Aversion He punish'd it without remedy in those Cursed Spirits And who can cast up the Accounts of them Sin sends to Eternal Destruction IF Death could be separated from the Curse of GOD If it did consist in a total Annihilation Wicked Men ought to wish for it as a Cure of the Reproaches and Disquiets of their own Consciences But alas it is quite another thing LET us therefore fear Sin more than Death it self Or rather Let the Waters of the Deluge the Flames of Sodom and all other Exemplary Judgments upon harden'd Sinners display to us the horrors of Sin and the Everlasting Punishment reserv'd for it MAXIM XX. That we ought to fear GOD more than Men. WHAT blindness is it to fear Men more than GOD We bear with patience the wrongs done us by our Superiours least our Complaints should encrease our Oppression But we too often offend the Weak notwithstanding CHRIST'S Command to the contrary IT 's easier to restrain our Anger against our Inferiours as CHRIST requires than to endure injuries from Great Men. Why should we then kindle a Fire which CHRIST would have extinguished when the only fear of Men makes us careful to extinguish the Fire they kindle in us LET us therefore judge righteously be asham'd of our imperfections and blush at our doing less for the fear of the LORD that LORD we are so much bound to love than for the fear of Men who have to Title like his either to our fear or love MAXIM XXI That the whole Course of our Life ought to be a continual Study of Mortification SO horribly has Sin corrupted our Nature that unless we take great care continually to restrain our inclinations to Evil we shall unavoidably fall into all manner of Vices UNLESS the Flesh be mortify'd it will rebel against the Spirit Unless we resist our Passions they will prevail against the Light of our Reason and our Reason unless enlight'ned will oppose GOD'S Law and our Duty LET us beware of those things that flatter our Senses and feed our Passions Let us not suffer our Thoughts to wander but govern our Hearts and Minds by bringing them into a due Subjection to Reason and the Will of GOD. MAXIM XXII That we ought continually to strive against the Vnruliness of Self-Love THE Prevalence of Self-love is the Source of Sin. We all naturally aspire to Happiness this is innocent But we place Felicity either in Riches Honours or Pleasures which is our mistake GOD does not forbid us to love our selves for Self-love is necessary to our Preservation But he charges us not to love our selves with a blind and unaccountable Love that is to love our Body better than our Soul this Temporal more than Eternal Life LET'S labour to rectify our Passions by proposing to them due Objects things truly Good Solid Honours and Riches that take not to themselves Wings Let
shedding Tears of a true Repentance And what may then be expected from a Sinner who in the Sacrament of the Eucharist has all the Ideas of his Agony Sufferings and Death most lively delineated to Him What an irreconcilable Aversion ought not he to conceive for his Sins What Resolutions ought not he to take of leaving and forsaking them for ever AND to this we find our selves still more indispensably oblig'd by the Nature of this Sacrament For in the fifth Place it is as I have said before the Memorial of CHRIST'S Blood by virtue whereof GOD has made a New Covenant with Sinners In which He has assured us that He will forgive us our Sins and bestow the Glory of his Kingdom upon us But the Condition without which we cannot be made Partakers either of the Remission of Sins or of the Glory of Heaven is the Repenting of our Iniquities and applying our selves to the Study of Sanctification to our Life's End. The Benesit of this New Covenant is That God remembers our Transgressions no more but the Condition He requires of us is That whereas the Jews laid up his Laws in the Ark without having them in their Hearts we must always have them written in ours in order to a continual Religious Observance of them Now as it is his Will that we should daily beg of Him the Pardon of Our Sins which plainly shews He is ready to grant it us so the Only Command He lays upon us is That for the time to come we sin no more lest a worse thing befall us And indeed is it not exceedingly unaccountable that Men who would pass for Children of GOD should live the life of Devils That they who look upon themselves as Confederates with CHRIST should continually violate the Conditions of this Covenant GOD reminded the Jews of their Obligation to Holiness upon the account of his being their GOD. Moses implies thus much in the 24. Chap. of Exodus where the People having accepted of the Laws which he had propounded to them from GOD after he had wrote them in a Book and read the same in the Audience of the Congregation they answer'd All that the Lord has said will we do and be obedient Whereupon Moses sprinkled the Blood on the People and said Behold the Blood of the Covenant which the Lord has made with you concerning all these Words And shall Christians believe that GOD will own them for his People while they remain in their Bondage to Sin The Meaning of the Covenant we have made with GOD has been clearly expressed by a Pagan viz. Pliny who in his Epistle to the Emperour Trajan Lib. 10. Ep. 97. thus explains the Notion Christians had of this Glorious Covenant they were enter'd into with GOD They bind themselves says he by a Sacrament or Oath not to commit any such Crimes as are falsly reported of them but to abstain from Robbery Theft and Adultery to be as good as their Word and Faithful to their Trust c. He plainly shews that Believers looking upon themselves as Confederates and Parties in the same Covenant with GOD banished all manner of Divisions from the midst of them And further intimates that as they did all eat of the same Bread so they were of one Heart and Mind and united to GOD by their resemblance of Him and imitation of his Holiness Now since that time the Gospel is not alter'd for its Maxims are unchangable Neither is it only with respect to the Prophecies or Promises therein contained that it abides to Eternity without any possibility that so much as one tittle of it should ever fall to the Ground but the same must be understood of it as it is the Rule of our Life and Manners prescribed to us by our Lord and Master LAST of all Since JESUS CHRIST has in this Sacrament united the Memorial of his Coming in Glory to the Remembrance of his Humiliation even unto Death will not this Consideration most naturally inspire us with powerful Encouragements to Piety and an indefatigable Perseverance in that Fidelity we owe to Him In commemorating our Saviour's Passion we are oblig'd to deny our selves and to be ready to lay down our Lives whensoever it shall please God to require it in order to the advancement of his Glory JESUS CHRIST tells us that he is unworthy of Him who is not willing to leave all to follow Him. He has given his own Life for us and calls us to a like Abnegation of our selves They who seek their own Pleasures desire to be Rich But CHRIST chose a Voluntary Poverty They are Ambitious of Honours whereas He refused to be made a King. They fear Death but He freely submitted Himself to it They abhor the Cross that ignominious and painful way of Dying whereas He declined not to be Crucified We can commit no Sin but so far as we desire the things which He despised or endeavour to avoid those He so willingly underwent Certainly the sight of this Example ought powerfully to oblige us to an imitation of it It was a Saying of St. Cyprian's Epist 30. That Men are not fitted for Martyrdom when they are not furnished for the Fight out of the Church's Magazine and that the Soul is apt to faint when it is not strength'ned by a frequent Communion This Father was in the right and his Reason for it is the more Solid because the Eucharist immediately after it has exhibited to us the Representation of our Lord's Death which arms us with constancy shews us the Reward of Believers by setting before our Eyes his Coming again from Heaven to glorify them 'T is this Return of our Lord that will prove the great Comfort of the Righteous and at the same time a dread and trouble to the Wicked JESUS CHRIST by thus reminding us of his Glory while we are meditating upon his Sufferings does much the same thing He did upon the Cross where he accepted of the Repentance of the Converted Thief approved of the Acts of his Faith the Marks of his Love and Tokens of his Zeal for the Innocence and Glory of this JESUS whom he now look'd upon as his Saviour CHRIST kindly received and rewarded the evident Expressions of his Hopes But on the other hand punished the Unbelief and Impenitence of his Companion He assured the former that he would admit Him into his Kingdom because He saw in his Heart the Character of a sincere Believer and all the generous Inclinations of a Martyr but left the latter to the just deserts of his Iniquities A true Penitent meets with the greatest Comforts imaginable in the Eucharist where the Impenitent who treads under foot the Blood of the Covenant and discerns not the Lord's Body receives his own Damnation 'T is absolutely impossible this Sacrament should not have such different Effects upon these two sorts of Communicants For from it proceeds a Voice that proclaims Pardon to penitent Sinners and in it we plainly see the Solid
preserve me is the same who has redeemed me It is neither Man nor Angel but the Only Son of GOD JESUS CHRIST Himself who was willing to become my Surety and appease the Wrath of his Almighty Father in dying for me WHAT Outrages what Torments did not he suffer He was crucified like a Slave and underwent a Punishment that GOD Himself had call'd a Curse Not only the World and Hell insulted over Him but He complain'd of his being forsaken even of his Father O WHAT a strange and horrible thing is Sin that JESUS CHRIST must shed his Blood to deliver me from it What Profaneness What Sacriledge is it to trample under Foot that Precious Blood with which we are redeem'd How hellishly wicked must we be not to love a SAVIOUR who so dearly lov'd us MAXIM VII That we must follow the Divine Call. 'T IS GOD draws us that we may come to Him without which we could not have the least thought or desire thitherward We must obey his Voice while He is pleas'd to direct it to us For else Life and Redemption procur'd by Him will be unprofitable to us HOW many Heathens have been without the Advantages we injoy How many Infidels and Idolaters have been depriv'd of this Grace of Vocation without which a Man can never be converted Shall we make them rise up in Judgment against us O THE wonderful Patience and Forbearance of GOD who after a thousand Contempts of his Grace receives us to Repentance After many obstinate resistings of the Heavenly Inspirations of his Spirit is yet pleas'd to continue his Gracious Call to us Follow we then his Voice which invites us to the Supremest Good. MAXIM VIII That we must Study God's Conduct towards us WE lose the Benefit of the Mercies and Chastisements GOD dispenses to us while we are unacquainted with the Conduct He observes towards his Children Through our ignorance of this we afflict our selves with that which is Matter of Comfort and make merry in the midst of Temptations HAD Joseph understood GOD'S Leading he would have wept when he found himself his Master's Favourite and rejoyced when the accusation of his lustful Mistress cast him into that Prison which advanc'd him to little less than Pharaoh's Throne THE Devil prompts us to judge of GOD'S Conduct according to outward appearance This is one of his most dangerous Delusions It is therefore our Duty to meditate upon those Maxims GOD has revealed to us and upon the Examples of his Providence towards the Saints who have been before us MAXIM IX That we ought daily to examine our Conscience NOT to reflect upon our Behaviour is to live without Reason and not to remind our selves every day of the State of our Hearts is to live without Grace We ought to take daily notice what good we have omitted and what evil we have done WE cannot be saved without the sorrows of Repentance without a through resolution to amend what 's amiss and an anxious seeking after those Remedies that can heal us VVhich is not attainable but by a constant Review of our Thoughts Words and Actions WE daily behold our selves in our Glass and yet are careless of consulting the Law of GOD. 'T is to undervalue the Study of Perfection thus to neglect our own Hearts and bring our selves to that pass as not to pray any more out of a sense of our needs but out of meer Custom MAXIM X. That we ought to avoid too much Business A SOUL taken up with the Cares of Salvation does not cumber her self with the things of this present Life The retirement which she consecrates to to God by devoting it to Pious Reflections is much dearer to her than all the Employments in the World. LET us remember the Parable of Our Lord which assures us that the Word falling into the Heart of a Man distracted with worldly Cares is like Seed that falls among Thorns which growing up choak it at last MY GOD How much more advantageous is it by means of a calm and composed temper of Mind to resemble that good Ground which brings forth Thirty Sixty yea even an Hundred Fold than to have our Hearts crouded with a thousand vain Solicitudes how innocent soever they may appear to us MAXIM XI That we must often recollect our selves to think of our Salvation THE greatest part of our Life is spent in a guilty kind of Slumber Time flies away and the Glass of Life hastens to wards Death We come we go we talk and act and this almost continually without having the least regard to what concerns Salvation IF we judge aright we shall find that either we do that which is altogether evil or at least very remote from the Principal End of Life or else we Squander our time in idleness and do nothing at all Which neglect though it be least criminal yet is not quite faultless WE can make no better use of our Life than when by frequent retirement we renew the Pious Resolutions we have formerly taken We must examine very narrowly whether our Life and Actions are answerable to that Model we have set before us MAXIM XII That we ought carefully to consider the Vanity of this Life THERE is nothing more miserable than Life's inconstancy It s longest Date is but a Span. It is obnoxious to many thousand accidents that snatch it away when we least think on 't It is more brittle than Glass and at best but our way to Death AND can we thus reflect upon the Vanity of this Life and not be disgusted Can we help despising the pleasures of it and lifting our Hearts above Time fix them on the Life Eternal THE World passes away and we in it Its Delusions that have so often surprized us scatter and vanish proportionably to the growth of our Experience They only have attain'd a six'd and setled State who have resign'd themselves to GOD and the Contemplation of Eternity MAXIM XIII That we ought frequently to think of Death WE cannot avoid Death But the time place manner and circumstances of it we know not How great would be our Unhappiness should it surprize us in Sin and Impenitence and come to execute the dreadful Decree of our Everlasting Damnation THE very image of Death affrights us though we suppose it afar off What will it do when it shall stare us in the Face and set before our Eyes our great and innumerable Sins in opposition to GOD'S Favours and sill our Souls with Remorse and Terrour GOD makes use of this Prospect of the Grave to affright us to him It awakens our Consciences fortifies our Faith and animates our Hopes But Good GOD VVhat would become of us should we descend to Death without having once thought of or consider'd it and without being made wiser by the Instructions it affords MAXIM XIV That we ought to consider every Day as if it were our last JESUS CHRIST has commanded us to watch constantly for his Coming to judge the