love Christ when he is with those in Princes Courts cloathed in soft Rayment sat in Royal Apparel on the Throne when the people cry him up but when he is traduced when in the High Priests Hall when trampled upon then they are gone like Summer birds in Winter they are all for a Pompous Reign on earth before that more glorious Reign in Heaven and therefore they will secure themselves by might and main against all danger and diminution here Do these consider Christ had never been glorious but by sufferings nor the Church been victorious but by the red Cross How much of holy Writ do these men make Apocryphal while they entail external prosperity to Saintship and think none worthy to live but those who look upon the Cross as a curse servile supplicium What think they of those words of the Lord Jesus In the world yee Who my holy Apostles as pure Saints as any such none excepted nay to whom compared those are but as Jewish Sepulchers shall have affliction not be afflicted but have affliction in the Abstract there shall be a kind of connaturality betwixt you and affliction What judge they of Saint Pauls peremptory position All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shal suffer persecution What of Saint Peters prediction of fiery Tryals and Encouragements to prepare for them Nay what of our Saviours Benediction on those that suffer for Righteousness sake Are these Tales and Figments Are these Legends and Foysts Are these Lillies of his field not to be compared to the Solomons of their fancy in all his Royalty I trow there is no man so fond but sees self more set up then Christ in this Pageant for take away sufferings and where is Faith where Charity where Martyrdome nay where is or to what purpose that animative reference of the Holy Ghost displaying Christ glorious in witnessing a good confession before Pentius Pilate his Judg who could wash his hand and protest Christs innocency and yet durst not deliver him from the rage of the multitude No wonder they cry down Scripture and Fathers and Church Stories who cry up such wild excentrick worldly subtilties for Religion and own Christ with their mouthes as the Jewes did him on the Cross only the more to reproach him Well let these stray from the fold as wildly as they will it is thy part O holy foul to keep close to thy colours Voti tunc Curistianis crat pro Christi nomine gladio percuti S. Hieâ—on in vita Pauli Eremitae de Temp. Decii Christ looketh thou shouldst not only he ready to own but of need be to dyefor him thou must expect sorrows perhaps not such as with Spira will make thee despair turn thy back on Gon as Ephraim did in the day of Battel but such as may exercise thy Grace correct thine out-goings mind thee of thine end admonish thee of thy duty rouze thee to get thine Evidence ready to make thy Calling and Election sure and by a holy end prepare thee for a blessed Exchange The Promise is to be secure not exempt not that yee shall not to be assaulted but not be overcome not that ye shall not be chastned but that ye shall not be condemned not that evils shall not come neer you but that they shall not domineer over you not that ye shall not be buâ—fetted by Satan but that Divine Grace shal be sufficient for you The Peace of God gained by Acquaintance with him is no plea of prescription against trouble and evil but this it doth it modifies evil so that it comes not noxiously neer a godly man as it is evil so it s kept at distance as it is a Mark of Divine love as it is a voice to reclaim as it is commanded to be Gods Monitor to us so we must welcome it as did David It is good for me that I was afflicted and pray for it as preventive Physick that keeps us from Plethorick Distempers Many men may thank God for their crosses without which they had never come to Heaven there is a most notable Story in the Legend of a blind woman who besought Saint Bridget to give her sight the Saint so called at her intreaty Quo presentor sum mundo co absenâ—ior sum Christo did and when she had seen four dages she desired Saint Bridget that she would take away her sight again adding this for reason The more I see of the world the less am I conversant with Christ 4. Lastly The peace in Acquaintance with God will keep thee from thr Evil of Evils Death eternal God suffers not his to fall into that pit out of which there is no redemption His as they have no part in the sin of the Damned so shall they not partake in the torment of the Damned 'T is not Go ye Blessed but Go ye Cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Divel and his Angels And indeed this is the Mercy of Mercies this is one part of the Recompence of Vertue and Godly life that it shall not only have comfort in seeing God gloriously waving the Banner of love over it but becoming its Guard to Heaven and nullifying Satans attempts on it this is that in which the mercy of God shines as at noon tide and comfortably exalts its self above Justice as that which crowns God and renders him Beloved and admired of all that know him But perhaps O man thou art curious to know what this Death Eternal is This is a vanity and if thou beware not may be the vexation of thy spirit but if thou wouldest ken the scantling of it our blessed Lord hath defined it to be utter darkness Matth. 8.12 where is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth it is exile from God and judgment to the society of damned spirits for ever Death Eternal what is it not that is absolute tristicity it is a living death and a dying life it is the wages of sin the sentence of Justice the utmost period of Plagues a most exquisite misery a most Merciless Torment an Eternal Passion Eternal Death it is misery to the eye for it shall not see God it is a worm gnawing on the heart for it shall consider the evil it hath done for which is inflicted that evil it suffereth it is a vexation to the senses which to augment the tortures of their condition shal be renewed and made more sensible it is an excess which shall never have end but be eternally what it is and impossible to be what it is not Death Eternal it is the region of Blasphemy the Caldron of Nimrods Nero's Judasses those chambers of ruine into which they descend who desert God by sin and are deserted by God in just Judgment Death Eternal it is a gulfe without bottom a doom beyond ransome a fire that burnes and is never extinguished and a restless craver never satisfied What shall I say other then that of the Psalmist Remember this yee that frrget
the old world Sin the hearts ake thus in Saint Paul crying out Rom 7.24 Psal 39.1 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Sin the feets snare against which David cautions I said I wil take heed to my ways Sin the tongues temptation to speak unadvisedly Sin the Catholick Cross to all that are crucified with Christ and mystical members of him Sin the breach of Gods Law the grief of his Spirit the price of his Son the torment of his Combatant and the triumph of his Crowned ones Sin the Monster of Paradise for there it was plotted the first born of life for therein it is acted the plague of this world on whose Stage it is attyred and thence maturated Sin something of nothing a tumourous bubble of pestilent pride scorching Lust and empty vanity evaporating in nothing but the Lust of the flesh Lust of the eye and the Pride of life Sin an evil inward in the thought outward in the act upward against God whom it contemnes and downward against earth whom it burthens and all to gratifie him who is Prince of the Air and rules in the hearts of the Children of disobedience Sin against the Creation whom it disorders against Redemption which it frustrates against Sanctification which it defies against Preservation which it contradicts against Salvation which it abjures Sin against which as the greatest evil God protests to prevent which Angels watch to recal from which the Spirit sollicites to direct how to avoid which the word is positive against which to practise the holy men of all ages are presidents yea to expiate which the blood of Christ the Lamb of God was shed and his soul for it made an Offering What shall I say more against this which is so dishonourable to God and ought to be execrable to his people but in the words of Moses Cursed be he that continues not in all the words of the Law to do them that is who desires not to give sin the foil by a contrary and constant course of virtue according to the will of God in his Word and the assistance he hath from God in this Race to complete this resolution for without that we can do nothing Wel then to be helped from this evil is a mercy a consequent of Gods peace with the soul that is clear from the Prophet Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace or neerer the Original in peace peace whose heart is stayed on thee because hee trusteth in thee He. O holy soul that keepeth thee never slumbereth his eye is on thy feet to keep them He keepeth the feet of his Saints saith Hannah On thine eye to hinder thy lust on thy hand to prevent thy cruelty on thy tongue to suspend thine obscenity on thy whole man to keep thee from sin that it raign not in this mortal body of thine He was with Noah in the Ark to keep him from despair of out-living the Floud which drowned the world with Moses in the wilderness to preserve him from disbanding his rude multitude whom God designed for Canaan and inclining him to bear the petulancies of popularities rather then chuse the contents of a private retirement He was with David in his flights from Saul and fights with Philistims And kept him from desponding upon assurance of a Kingdom for his reward He was with Jeremy in the Dungeon and with Jonah in the Whales belly to sweeten straights to his and to make them more pure in their enlargements He was with Peters tongue converting thousands at a Sermon and making his pride do pennance where it offended yea weep out its own retraction He was with Paul by grace sufficient for him when he saw the messenger of Satan tempted him by abundant revelations to be lifted up above measure In the fire he is with his and in the water he is with his yea with you O holy souls he is alwayes to the end of the world With you O holy souls to keep you in all your wayes to secure you in all your dangers to resolve you in all your doubts to support you under all your sufferings and with you to deliver you out of them With you as a Sun to enlighten as a shelld to defend as an Anchor to rest on as a Pilot to guide you and as a Champion to overcome your feares With you to keep you in your Race that you faint not and with you to reward you with fulness of joy in his presence This is second to the former priviledge the peace of God keeps from Evil. 1. Satan 2. Sin The third Viol is not yet past but behind that is Sorrow and Sufferings those it also preserves against not that they dash not on us but that they overwhelm us not not that they come not nigh but that they come not over us to overcome us Christ in the Ship priviledgeth not from tossing but drowning I will not fear the ranting Seas if my rebuking Saviour whose voice those waves and winds obey be embarqued with me Mistake not O holy soules your Lesson it is the voice of your Beloved that sayes In the world yee shall have Tribulation Job 16. last the Cross is your Saviours Sheep-mark and those that are of his flock brook his Eare mark their ear must not refuse the Tryal Christs side had if that was pierced they must expect like measure and those that will not follow him in the Regeneration have little cause to conclude him theirs in his Kingdome What O man wilt thou with thy Saviour wear the Crown of Glory and refuse that other of Thornes with him Wilt thou be acclamated for a Co-heir a King and Priest with Christ and not be spit upon and derided with him here Wilt thou drink the new wine with him in his Kingdom and decline the Vinegar and Gall here given him Dost thou hope to be drawn up after him and not resolve here to tread the Wine-press of wrath to endure the contradiction of sinners with him If this thou lookest for thou art on thy wander far from thy Mark thou art of the rich young mans pack who would keep Christ and his Wealth too or no Christ Cresianus es non Christianus there is one thing necessary which thou needest Deny thyself take up the Cross and follow Christ to Mount Calvary before thou come to Mount Zion And O that this Meditation were but canon with many such Zelots as Julian was who grasp Power and worldly greatness with as eager tallons as Lions and Panthers do Lambs and Infants and think they never have enough till they have too much Mammon for Christ to cohabit with These are they that are Saints as Peter was a Penitent after many denyals and perjuries not Saints because penitent as was he whom a Cock wakened when these stop their eares against good counsel and harden their hearts against reproof yea hate him that reproveth in the Gate These are they who
a Description of it that which forms it is the being and that which expatiates it is the wel-being of it For the more this grace for lesse it is not is meditated upon the greater are the touches of sweetnesse in the Souls visage from this lovely Pensill of the most lovely Artist GOD And therefore I shall conceive it to ascend its Zenith by these Gradations Step. 1 1. The lowest and inchoate step to this Mount is the Vnderstanding that must know him the chief good or else it will never desire him mans intellect is the Bucket by which he drawes and the Ladder at which he climbs to will and wed the object he knowes good without this 't is as impossible to love and obey as without eyes to judge of colours or without taste to discriminate Liquor and Meats God hath given the priority to this faculty as that which must season to and prepare appositely for the rest And truly this is of the foundation and reall nature of the rationall soul for from this are we determined to be worthy as to other creatures of that Supremacy and jurisdiction God hath given us over them for did not our Understandings direct us to a carriage proportionate to the natures of Creatures and things we should soon discover our follies to be too brutish either to be admired or followed and the Creation would soon renite obedience to so senslesse Governours But blessed be God he hath not left us without a witnesse of his liberality He hath informed our specious bodies with perfect souls and made a noble Lodging of State for himself that high room and top battlement our Understanding which though too vast to be filled with the little puncto's and contemptible grains of worldly nothings yet receives completion from God and those apprehensions of him which he in much condescension to us is pleased to vouchsafe us not to make us proud of our fatnesse but provident to improve fulnesse to gratitude and to serve him more compleatly who does good and is good and from whom goodnesse effluxeth to all creatures for of his fulnesse they receive fulnesse That this Understanding is the Key of Discovery and Acquaintance needs no second to confirm it for even nature tels us by the Rule that there is no desire of what we know not Ignoti nulla cupido and Scripture directs to this as the path to all gracious Intercourse with God in one passage of holy Writ I hear this asserted Psal 9.10 They that know thy Name will put their trust in thee in another He that cometh to GOD must believe that he is Heb. 11.6 Now effects imply causes as Cisterns do Springs and Rivers Seas If God be to be believed on he must be conceived of and understood by those that thus believe him for as articulation is consequent to generation so is adhaesion to assent and assent to intellect The necessity of intellect to head the will and affections which in a sort compleat acqaintance is evincible from many things from the order of God in Creation Nature which makes this as the womb at which port every thing which tends in its progresse to action enters The light natural typicall of this internall Luminary was the first Creature as that which God erected to give light to his Library the World which God compiled of nothing by a power eternal complete and indeterminable and the first tryall hee put man upon was to touch his Intellect and to try the magnetisme of that faculty which could draw all things to it and incorporate it self with every thing And if when there was no distortion if befote the mis-rule which sin and Satan brought into the Understanding this was the tendency of that Faculty It must still remain what it was as to the Nature and sacred Design of God though vayled and denegrated by accessions of sin and contractions of punishments which by understanding any thing but God and in order to God is just up on it The faculty then is the same in its nature in its imployment onely the Rose hath prickles the Swan deformed legs Death is in the pot if God doth not heal the waters and turn our Understandings to that right object Himself whom to know is life eternal And whom to glorifie as God our most excellent and onely good is the sole end of our creation Nor is the order of God in Creation the only Instance of this precedence of the Intellect but experience attests this in the whole latitude of Instances the Heavens by that instinct they have as it were and after their kind do their duty to earth Man nay their Maker by a duct which to them is in stead of Intellect do they serve times and seasons do they remit and extend influence according to the law of their first Cause and the Birds and Beasts by their sensual Energy analogous in some sort to Intelect in man direct their course and run their race not attempting to love or flye that which is not Good or Evil in their eye and pleasing or displeasing to their Natures Now if that rule of the Schools be true which neither is yet nor ever will be contradicted That the work of Nature is the work of the God of Nature Opus Naturae est opus Authe ris then what is the concurrent practice of Universal Nature according to its specifick being must be Positive and Absolute and so from him who is the Beginning and End of all things and therefore most true And so I have mounted the first Step the Vnderstanding Acquaintance imports Understanding for how shall Desire be heightned but from Knowledge and Knowledg be gained but by that Faculty Rom 10.14 which is admissive and receptive of it How can they saith S. Paul believe on him of whom they have not heard and how can they hear without a Preacher Nor is this Step consummative to our Acquaintance if here we stay pitching this as the Non ultra beyond which we will not go for God hath placed his Seat on High and the Rounds of the Ladder which reacheth him are many he will have us engaged in much colluctation many breathings and pantings before we come up to the Mount of Mercy where Peace is and Evil is not and therefore he cryes out to man Step. 2 in the second place for his Heart his Will which is the Jewel in this Cabinet of Glory This this to the Intellect is as the Sailes to the Ship takes the Winds gales and carrys it to the Port of Loss or Gain this this is the Womb in which are the Issues of life and death this this is the Paradise which we ought to guard with the Flaming Sword of an uninterrupted and earnest Zeal for as the Sailes move the Ship by reason of the wind which acts upon them and so is causal of their swelling as they of the Ships motion and according to the quantity of the
soul that receives him is Scot-free from Terror and Fear of Divine displeasure for this Guest secures his Quarters yea the power of the Almighty overshadoweth those with Grace whose hearts are prepared to cry Veni Spiritus Sancte And till O man this be thy temper thou art as unfit for Acquaintance with God as for Heaven of which it is a real Type and to which it is the Baptist for as into Heaven flesh and blood quà such cannot enter so into familiarity with God can none be admitted who have not the Test of this Comforter who never beares witnesse that they are the sons of God who rest unreconciled to Christ unresigned to him But how may these Graces appear in me may the soul say God Christ and the Holy Ghost have their Court in Heaven I am in the Valley of Bochim in the frigid Zone of earthly vanities where dust and ashes wormes and no men live and acclamate the Diana of Pomp and splendid nothing my bucket is not deep enough my stature not high enough to reach Heaven my bulk will not bear those breadthy Sails which that Glory fils What shal I do How may I contract acquaintance with God by union with Christ and rendition to his Spirit To these the third Step is answer Adore his Ordinances Those are his Leidgers which here he leaves to negotiate about affaires of Heaven these are the Chariots in which Eliahs are whirled thither these bring forth and there is none barren amongst them the good will of him that was in the bush are upon these Deut. 33.16 which Atheism and Irreligion would separate and unbrother as rejectitious and illegitimate God hath appointed his Word for our Rule his Ministers for our Guide his Sacraments for our Comfort his Day for our Rest and Refection his Church for our Pillar and Ground of Truth and those who adore not these are not like to be Gods Acquaintance Soveraignty will have no limits prescribed by Subjects Heaven knowes no Method but that of its own dictation Those that will be beggars must not be chusers Interest with God is worth gaining by cap in hand and upon bended knee and they deserve not to be heard in their request who request any thing contra formam Statuti inde editi the Declarative Law is Search the Scriptures John 5.3 9. Luke 16.29 for they do testifie saith Christ of me And in another place If they will not hear Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded if one rise from the dead Wander not then O soul after wild phansies and blazing figments exposed to view and set on broach of purpose to deceive and mislead ignorant and inquisitive worldlings who set the Crown on Coridons and believe Christ the Saviour of the world rather from his riding on an Ass-Colt and obscure parentage then from his glorious attestation from Heaven or his convincing conversation here on earth and judg nothing Sacred but what is indeed common and unclean But O soul keep thou close to the Ordinances of Christ which his servants have received from him by the unquestionable tradition of the Church to the Truth of which the lives and deaths of holy Martyrs and glorious Confessors have in all ages born witness and do not believe that any thing is so lovely and truly advantageous to thy peace and orderly conduct as to serve thy God in that manner which he hath appointed and adore thou these holy mysteries Psal 46.4 by which waters the City of God in thy soul ought only to be made glad 5 And though thus to do be to do more then many now will yet is it not the totum postulatum of thee God O man requires of thee some tribute of praise the quit-rent of Gratitude The Psalmist tells us in the person of God Psal 50.23 Whose offereth me praise honoureth me and to give God the glory of his Munificence is but to offer him of his own it is but to pay him our Fine in his owne Coyn 1 Cor. 4.7 for what have we that we do not receive And in no kind is this sense of our obligation to God better resented by him then by Admiration of his Works which is the fourth Requiry of God towards the perfection of our Acquaintance with him Admiration of his Works And here me thinks I am enforced to exclamate with the holy Pophet Lord what is Man What his Being Capacity Dignity that thou shouldest honour him with Contemplation of thee and of those Works which set thee out in thy back parts though not to the ineffability of thine Essence Who O who wishes not his tongue were untied and tipped with Eloquence excelling mortal Emulation Psalm 150.2 that he might give to God the glory due to his name and praise him according to his excellent greatness not only for that he is high not for that he is and there is none besides him but for that he vouchsafeth to look down upon us here below and calls us to contemplate his good Will as well as matchless Power in the Formation of things and the orderly production of them Here is Matter to amuse the Secretary of Nature and to puzzle the greatest Oedipus here is a full point to Plato's Eloquence and Plotinus his Profundity Who can search the Center of that Idea which was in God when he made the Sun Moon and Stars appointing them their seasons influences order and sweetly tuning them each to other Who knowes the Nature of Creatures animate and inanimate vegetive and sensitive and can say of their Natures as God doth of the Seas proud Waves Hitherto and no further this you can and this you cannot do Where is he that sees the abyss of Providence and penetrates into that privy Chamber of Divinity which is for Gods eye only daring to affirme what shall and shall not be and the consequences of things natural and contingent Sure no mortal man undementated dare so confide in Art and dote so fondly on his vain shadow as to boast of this which is Gods incommunicable Jewel and the Prerogative of his Crown Our portion Oman is to wait Gods discovery Secret things belong to God Deut. 29.29 Exod. 24.2 but things revealed to us and God forbid we should come neerer the Mount then is indulged us or endeavour after Wisdom beyond Sobriety Our duty is to acquaint our selves with God not by knowing him as he is for that 's impossible but by knowing him as he manifests himself in works of Power Providence Mercy and in the improvement of what light we borrow from this Lamp we may see enough to make us in love with him who made all things as and what they are and to what they shall be In him the Rich and the poor the wise and the simple the Brute and the Rational the Worm and the Angel the Flye and the Eagle the Ant and the Elephant the Mouse and the Lion the Eele and
secrets so his comforts are with those that fear him Clusters of Canaan grow not upon Crabstocks of Sodom Divine familiarity is not with mortal foedity They which will have God their Lord must have his Rule for their Guide Penitence must supply the want of Innocence or else God will deny acceptance it is not for me to say I will return after and be received first God will have his Doles of Mercy distributed to Pennancers and the Oyle of Gladness returned to those faces whose heads were covered with ashes A weeping eye is no small Favourite with a merciful God who not only greets with an Euge Luke 15,7 returning sins but commands an Exultate in Heaven amongst the Angels for it and those that sow their wild oats in tears shall reap their wages in due time namely Mercy and Joy in Come ye Blessed of my Father receive the Mansion prepared for you by Acquaintance with God namely Peace which is the third hinge of my Meditation and followes in the Scripture Acquaint now thy self with God and be at peace Quest 3 The third Quere is What Peace it is those have who are acquainted with God And here silet lingua stupet animus deficit oratio Peace which passeth Understanding such the Peace of God is may well exceed utterance The tongue is the hearts Bell-man and the cry is acording to the conception As what food nourisheth not will not transide into the members aggrandization so what the thought springs not will never swell into words Peace then of this peace of God it is somewhat ineffabile past finding out it is hid in the hollow of his hand under his pavillion from the strife of tongues which in treating of its peace would break the peace of Truth But O my soul is this the forbidded tree maist not thou taste and not dye Hath God cabinetted up this Jewel and must not man see it and live Is this the one thing necessary yet prohibited Doth God require that of me which is impossible to me And are my comforts surrounded with a flaming Sword inaccessible Nothing less The well is deep O my soul but thy backet is sutable the Pearle is dear but thy price in hand will reach it thy peace is precious and it is desposited with him who hath broke down the wall of Separation Ephes 2.14 there is a new and living way to this Holy of Holies not by blood of Bulls and Goats but by the blood of Christs Cross the Christians glory and Signature of his Peace But is this peace a complete Armature and Panoply Doth it fit every part Is it proof in every joint is there no soft place in it through which the poison of Satans power or policy will pierce Is it a sweet Nightingale in the brest as well as a Head-piece and Guard to the outward man Yes sure the peace spoken of in this Scripture is every way lovely like Jonathan lovely in life and lovely in death a great source of Joy to thee while thou art on thy way and a glorious Epitaph on thy Monument when thou hast done thy work and run out thine Hour-glass This Peace is Tripartite Pax Temporis Or External Of vision to the Eye This Peace is Tripartite Pax Pectoris Or Internal Of Contemplation to the Mind This Peace is Tripartite Pax Numinis Or Eternal Of Fruition both to Soul Sense 1 Peace outward that is a fruit of Acquaintance with God for thus he giveth his Beloved rest that the Creatures are under thine awe that the Elements are thy Pavillion the Clouds thy Cisterns the Sun Moon and Stars thy Tapers the earth thy Granary the Cattle thy Food and Rayment is from God who is good and doth good I do not say that Peace is always the Badg of Grace or that it ever in regard of Externities fares well with those who are good I know the contrary and so did David to his trouble long ago and Job chap. 12.6 complainins that the Tabernacles of Robbers prosper and they that provoke God are secure yea and Jeremy reasons with God concerning his Judgments Why do the wicked prosper and those that hate God are exalted Jer. 12.1 While holy men are clad in sack-cloth and covered with ashes go mourning all the day long have not with their Saviour a hole to hide their heads in nor a crumb to feed their bellies or a rag to cover their nakedness Luke 16.19 Dan. 5.23 Do I not read of Dives faring deliciously of Nebuchadnezzar quaffing in the holy vessels yet the one wanting nothing but room to lay his wealth in and the other priding in the Babel that he had built for the glory of his Majesty And doth not the same ear let in the Narrative of Elijahs poverty fed by a Raven 1 King 17. Act. 20.34 and of Pauls necessities supplyed by the labour of his hands Are not wicked mens Oxen strong to labour and see we not their persons and fortunes free from captivity and restraint when men more holy then they having no oxen to labour for them are fain themselves to labour like oxen to tread out their support and to pay from the sweat of their brows a tribute to their Tyrannous Masters who with more then Egyptian severity lay load of brick and withdraw the allowance and furtherances thereto If it be so how is acquaintance with God a way to outward peace I answer Yes it is the way to outward peace truly so called that is to sanctified outward peace which is peace in a proper and savoury sense Meer serenity of state is as far from blessing as ease is from health which seldom is propagated by it but often impeached and deflowred When peace and prosperity is bestowed upon bad men 't is to reward some good thing in them some service they have done God God leaves not those unrewarded whom his own bounty not their propensions hath made serviceable to him or at least to leave them without excuse that they may be silent when they are judged Isa 45.1 4. This is the portion that Hagars children have this is the husk that Gods prodigals feed upon this is the mark they level at like Hel and the Grave they cry Give Give And what do they gape after 'T is auri sacra fames Alexanders Conquests Craesus his Wealth Tully his Oratory Metellus his prosperity these take up their prospectives bound their aims swell their plumes This fatted calf have these for their entertainment Vltra neque spes neque timor they consider not the sowr sawce that follows this Passover On the contrary When Affliction befalls the Godly it is to ventilate to winnow their chaffe from them to correct them for frailtie and to chase them out of their covert in which they delighted themselves as on beds of Ivory and in wayes of Roses Suppurated sores must have Corrosives 'T is too much cruelty to powr in Oyl where there is need of
and dung Peace of Conscience to which Power and Policy Arts and Armies Councels and Senates are but as Molehils to Mountains Ants to Men Atomes to the body of this earth and the dwindling light of the candle to the center of light enveloped in the Sun Peace of Conscience the Musick to which Orpheus his Harp and Arions Pipe helped on with Syrens voice are but so many straines of perfect discord and displeasing Harmony Peace of Conscience the best companion of life the sweetest Confessor at death the noblest Memorial after death nay the souls prodomus next under Christ to Heaven for thither it ran on Cornelius his errand to display his Almes and thither it must go to the credit and comfort of all that have it For there is none of this peace to the wicked saith my God Here O profane worldlings here O wretched Politico's yee are outstripped pleasures profits honors have no suffrage in this consistory they cannot make their Masters partakers of this delight to which all others are but shadowes as far beneath them as drops to the Ocean Neither Alexanders Power nor Solomons Wisdom nor Mithridates his Wealth nor Justinians Learning nor Galens Receipts nor Archimedes his Experiments can procure this 't is a gift from above descending from the Father of Lights Jam. 1.17 and referring the soul to him as the Author and Finisher of its Felicity Here is somewhat stupendious but this how far soever transcending the utmost outward advantage is but porch and prologue to those Magnal a Dei those Arcana Patriae which neither eye hath seen nor ear have heard nor entred into the heart of man to think of namely the good things God hath laid up in heaven for those that fear him not to be attained or enjoyed here alas our Vessels are too narrow to receive that Ocean where there is incapability of reception there is no probability of retention if we cannot be in possession while in the flesh let us covet to depose this garment of incapability and thirst after that glory which Heaven exalts us to specified to us in that Jewel Peace Eternal Acquaint now thy self with God and be at Peace that is be every way blest within in a serenity of mind without in a fortunate condition exempt from evils or sanctified to thee in spight of evils Prov. 17.7 for when a mans wayes please the Lord he will make his enemies be at peace with him or without fail above in the beatitude of thy soul to all eternity This is the rest that remains to the people of God Heb. 4.9 John 14.3 this is the Mansion prepared by Christ of which he took possession by his Ascension and in which he now is in Session at the right hand of God This is that Jerusalem above Gal. 4.26 which is free the mother of us all where Hallelujahs are Musick Angels Choristers the Divine Nature prospect Saints Companions and the Lamb Light in the midst thereof This is Heaven not in Enthusiastick rapsodies not in fanatick Novelties not in raving Blasphemies but in deed and truth This is Heaven not that of pleasure in ' Amnons Lust in Achans Wedg in Solomons Wisdom in Methuselahs long life in Achitophels Craft or in Judas his gain by Treachery but Heaven in the bosom of Christ who is Exalted above Principalities and Powers This is heaven not in Types and Figures not in dark and remote viewes not in variating forms and unfixed Stations but in real consistence and unalterable duration This is Heaven not blemished by sin not tedious through sorrow not ruled by sinful will not vanquished by lawless power not tainted by profaneness not deserted by time not impairable in value and real worth but ever what can be wished for and never less then it at any time was or is Lastly This is Heaven not infected with pride not dejected with poverty not shrivelled with age not scorched with heat not determining with time Heaven a Kingdom for its glory and capacity purchased by the price of blood and the pre-appointment of Mercy for not all but for many yet those a little flock those who are acquainted with God in grace and by him rewarded with this Peace Now I am in Meditation at the Ladders top but have we spoke well of this Canaan Is not this Peace of eternity the least of our treatment though in it Christ be as was Bethlehem Ephrata little amongst the Tribes of Judah Micah 5.2 out of which Christ came Is not Isaak mistaken and sent away with a smal pittance in stead of the son of Hagar What means my line upon line on other Subjects less worthy and my brevity on this head that exceedeth them all Truly more Devotion then words more Admiration then Oratory befits this Subject Scholastick Dispute and eloquent Panegyricks are the Fucusses that adorn this Elementary world and please its Aery Inhabitants these are the Diana's of vain men and those Treasures which they pride in and relye on as inexhaustible and with these they delude souls and dishonour him who beautified us with that bravery that we might honour him as our Creator follow him as our Pattern yea fall down before him as our Judge When I am in Meditation of Heaven I rather pray for a warm heart and keen affections for abilities to believe in and adhere to God then for curious Speculations and pathetick words and therefore since faith must supply what sense cannot attain to and those things that are secret and ineffable are rather to be adored then searched into or written upon I can here conclude this part of my Meditation in the Wisemans words The knowledg of this is too Wonderful for me it is high I cannot attain unto it And declining further thought of this Peace which here I cannot understand enquire into the evil we are assured to escape both here and hereafter which is the fourth Enquiry How this Peace may be said to repel evil from us in that clause So shall no evil come unto thee Peace and Evil are here opposed not more in the words then sense Evil like the Canker eats out either our Peace or at least eclipseth the comfort of it evil of sin deserves no peace evil of punishment believes and finds no peace to the one peace is not to the other it seems not to be and so is not at all as to the present discovery That therefore the Holy Ghost might set every Trophie upon its proper basis I conceive him using this order in this Scripture to teach us that as Acquaintance with God is the way to peace so is the peace of God crowned with exemption from evil and that none can expect to have Gods custodye but those which are in League and Amity with him Bee at Peace so shall no evil come unto thee No Evil Not Satan the Tempter to it and the Traducer for it Christs Prayer is our Antimure Deliver us from evil that is from that
God Psal 50 2◠lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver These are the Evils from which peace in Acquaintance with God priviledgeth the soul But how cries the holy soul cometh this to be my priviledge How O soul Surely not by thy merit but 1. By the Mercy of God which hath bestowed that good as an Enticement to be his God invites sinners to his Mercy He waites to be gracious 〈…〉 18. he would have them come to the waters of Life and drink freely 〈…〉 11 28. he calls to you to come Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden he rewards them when they come Those that come unto me I will in no sort cast away he complains of them when they do not come They will not come unto me that they might have life God in goodness begins with man and gives him co-operating Grace and it is his own obduration that makes Mercy retreat while we are willing he assists us but when we draw back he will have no pleasure in us Mercy makes the Marriage betwixt God and the Soul and Peace is the Dowry that God gives his beloved those that are one with him by Grace cannot be sever'd from him and themselvs through Evil. Here is the best Exchange for profit here is the Indiaes of holy Riches here is Canaan flowing with Milk and Honey here is the light which admits no darkness and the day that never sees night here is the Price and the Pearle the work and the wages God to whom by faith we must run and Mercy which by faith from him we may receive here is the door by which we must enter into the joy of our Master and here is the Master who will not shut the door against us because we come not before bid nor can we stay there longer then welcome By thee O Sun of the Morning and first born of Heaven for thou wast in the beginning is our Acquaintance wrought with God and our evil from sin prevented 2. This comes to be the holy souls priviledg from the Purchase of Christ 〈◊〉 1.21 He he redeemed us not only from our vain conversation but from the wrath to come from the bondage of sin and Satan into the glorious liberty of the sons of God Gal. 3.13 Rom. 8.21 Ephes 2.14 'T is he that is our Peace and 't is he that keeps us from that Evil one The Redemption wrought by him on the Cross was not only from wrath but to himself He hath redeemed us to himself out of every Nation c. Rev. 5.9 10. Not only to free us from the rage of sin and Satan but to make us Kings and Prists to preserve us to his Heavenly Kingdome and herein he is a Saviour to the utmost to the utmost of men Heb. 7.25 he is the Saviour of his whole body Jewes Gentiles far neer bond free rich poor high low his Providence is over his whole family his rain rains upon bad as well as good To the utmost of things all co-operate hy his interposition and ordination to the good of his the Graces of Godly men make them admire him the sins of others to watch over themselves more nay their own failings carry them to God by Petition for pardon and grace sufficient for them the crosses they carry have Christ in them the reproaches they suffer have Christ with them the glory they aim at Christ will bring them to Life which to many is a pleasure Christ imbitters and yet rescues them from any provocation to impatience they use it as the time wherein to work but they desire to be dissolved in Christs time For to be with him is best of all To the uttermost of time his merit is a light unextinguishable was is and ever shall be the Patriarks before the Prophets in the holy men after the Law got to Heaven upon this wing in this Chariot were they thither transported in the garment of this elder brother were they wrapped for that only is the Wedding garment This is the one and only way narrow not open to all but to those that believe but yet a sure way bounded by the sure mercies of David and herein he is a Saviour beyond all a Superlative Redeemer for he is eternal whereas others are but Temporary he is complete whereas others are but partial Where are Moses and Joshuah David and Jeptha who saved the Jewes Where Caesar Scipio Metellus the Deliverers of the Romanes Where Codrus Themistocles Photion by whom the Greeks were delivered These are dead and their Territories by others possessed nay their ashes are become the prey of Tyrants who glut themselves with revenges on their relicts but Christ is the Saviour of his body the Church for ever he is and ever will be the light in the midst of it and a wall of fire round about it For Christ hath purchased its peace and paid with reverence be it conceived for that interest in God which will keep off evil from coming to his 3. This priviledg from evil is the natural child of Acquaintance with God God never gives himself without all that is his and if all then his peace then his protection from evil the Prophet tels us of Gods speaking peace to his people Psal 85.8 Isai 26.20.41.14 Psal 145.20 of his counsels to them to enter into rest till the indignation be over of his cordial Fear not thou worm Jacob I will be with thee of his corrasive to wicked men whom he will destroy And whence O holy soul comes all this but from that proximity twixt God and the soul This is the pay of our patience the result of our fidelity to God Rev. 2.17 he that followes the Lamb shal not miss his white stone and new name God never dismisses his without a blessing like that from the womb of the Morning he gives them peace to poyse them here amidst their many storms in this life and he keeps evil far from them yea that which is the greatest evil after their deaths eternal evil And now me thinks I am of S. Peters mind on the Mount It is good to be here here are three words in this Scripture like the three Tabernacles in that Acquaintance with God Peace and Protection from evil and these are as Christs face was transfigured in a sort seraphickly expressed and proposed after a celestial method here is Acquaintance usually res doloris a vanity of vanity in the multitude of which there is sorrow and distraction strangely meliorated by its adjunct highly imbeautied by its entail to God of a Ceremony and a necessity made a virtue Acquaint thy self with God Next here is the Lady Peace not like that of the world with Rachel mourning with Thamar thrust out of doors after it hath served a turn but like the Queens daughter glorious within as beloved of God and beauteous without as decked with the Needle work of external
accommodations Lastly here is evil profligated and dismantled of its force the Lion exungued and the sting taken out of the Serpents tall as an effect of divine bounty and this by the Chimistry of God who is able to bring good from evil What then remains to this Meditation but to summon the last Quere to give in its verdict And that is the season when this Acquaintance w th God is to be had and these consequences obtained in the Particle now Acquaint now thy sef with God c. Now Season seasons every thing the Wise man said it Prov. 25.12 A word in season is like apples if Gold in Pictures of Silver a fair shew but Mettal upon Metal makes no Heraâ—dâ—y but in a Picture 't will pass and so will time pass of which this now is a part and the best part because present Acquaint new Now when in life in the day of time in the season of Mercy in Youth before time be not thou go down into the grave and be seen no more yea before thou be gathered to dust and worms feed upon thy flesh Now not anon Now left sickness age death prevent anon and thou have no time t o groan for Peace or cry for Mercy our pardon is ever in danger where our repentance is in debate Now this is to be wise for thy self O soul for it only is in thy possession what a day wil bring forth thou knowest not therefore hearken to Wisdoms voice While it is called to day delayes ought to be as past time out of thy power since to work out now thy salvation with fear and trembling is thy prudence Time hath no longer a race than a Creature hath it is alwayes on a swift Ebb â—ere long it will be low water and then where the tree falls it must lye and since time and tide stay for no man O my soul do thou watch them and take time to do thy task eternity gives good wages Remember who said 2 Tim. 4.7 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith from henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness Now not at the sixth or last hour of the day for it is not certain whether thou shalt live upon this hazard to receive the penny of Eternity which followes the orderly expence of time but now this instant moment set to thy Tackling the storm is great and thy vessel queasie and therefore put in to the next Habour What thou dost do quickly Eccles 9â—â— For there is neither wisdom nor strength in the grave whither thou goest nor ever will be in thy power to untie thy chain of torments or regain a lost happiness Therefore O my soul receive thou this counsel with joy and perfect it by holy industry while thou hast time talents and what may further help thee in this blessed Husbandry and Sacred Thrift Look not upon the Lions in the way the narrow passage to life eternal the obloquies of men who will judge thee mopish because thou labourest for that Jewel that thou hast lost and wouldst find again These discouragements may work on lazy and thriftless souls who starve when there is bread enough in their fathers house follow thou the Saints of all ages who by Faith and Patience inherit the Promises and by their holy example be thou stimulated to take the Cross for thy Title to the Crown of Life yea contest thou for their Crown not to rob them but to right thy self who art born to equal hopes with them and comfort thy self in that promise of the holy Apostle who is now at peace with God Gal. 6.9 and is taken from the evil of this world unto the glory above In due time ye shall reap if you faint not FINIS