one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad so that as every one is found at the hour of death such shall he be judged They shall live happily in the other World that die well they miserably that die ill And thus it is that the hour of death separates the good from the wicked at the greatest distance To the good death is the end and determination of all troubles and the beginning of Eternal Felicity and Blessedness but to the wicked death is the privation of all the delights and pleasures and riches of this life and is the beginning of Eternal Misery and never ending Punishment The Prayer O Merciful Father who didst create me for a far more blessed condition then this miserable life which the brute animals enjoy vouchsafe so to direct me in my passage through this World that I may never set my affections on things below but use them with such indifferency that I may at length attain to the joys and glories of the blessed life above and that knowing I have here no continuing City I may with the greater earnestness seek one to come Heb. 13 14. CHAP. IV. The Consideration of the last Judgement AFter Death comes Judgment Think therefore O Man that immediately after Death thy Soul must appear before God Ecc. 12.7 and that at the last Day it shall be joyned again to thy body and then thou shalt be Judged before Gods Tribunal in the presence of all the Angels and Saints Consider that thou must appear before a Judge whose unerring Wildom thou canst by no means deceive whose power thou canst by no ways avoid whose Justice thou canst by no means corrupt A Judge who will enquire into thy vainest words and thy most trivial thoughts who is now present at and beholds all the words and actions of the whole World Who is there so bold so desperately wicked that dares contumaciously violate the Laws and commit Crimes worthy of Death in the presence of his King And yet more than this dare Men do who spightfully break the Commands of God before his face but this Judge who knows all our actions Eccl. 12.14 Rom. 14.12 shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil so that every one of us shall give an account of himself to God For he which is Lord over all Wisd 6.7 shall fear no mans person neither shall he stand in awe of any mans greatness for he hath made the small and great and careth for all alike Let therefore your thoughts be always employ'd in meditating on this severe Judgement in which there will be no more place for pardon nothing shall then be granted either by Prayers or Tears but either this merciful Sentence shall pass on the Righteous Matth. 25.23 Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee ruler over many things enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Ver. 34. Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World or on the contrary this terrible Sentence shall be thundred out against the wicked by the most just Judge Ver. 41. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels What can our minds conceive more sweet and pleasant than to hear God saying to us come ye blessed what more sad and dreadful than depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire In this day of Judgement wealth will not help the rich nor power nor honours the great Ones of this World Knowledge will not absolve the wise nor will force preserve the strong This Judge will not be pleased by flatteries nor brib'd by rewards no Prayers will move him no Tears will appease him Psal 9.8 but he shall judge the World in righteousness and shall minister judgement to the People in uprightness Then as 't is said in Wisdom shall the righteous man stand in great boldness Chap. 5.1 c. before the face of such as have afflicted him and made no account of his labours when they see it they shall be troubled with terrible fear and shall be amazed at the strangeness of his salvation so far beyond all that they looked for And they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say within themselves This was he whom we had sometimes in derision and a proverb of reproach We fools accounted his life madness and his end to be without honour How is he numbred among the Children of God and his lot is among the Saints Consider farther O man who they are that in this future Judgement shall hear this joyful word come ye blessed and shall be made partakers of eternal Glory and on the contrary who they are on whom this dreadful Sentence shall be pronounced depart from me ye cursed and so shall be cast into Hell fire and then give all diligence that you may be found in the number of the blessed and not amongst the miserable Now who both these are the Holy Scriptures do sufficiently declare Our Saviour himself tells us Mat. 13.41 that the Angels shall gather the wicked together and cast them into a furnace of fire John 3.36 He that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him John 3.19 And this is the Condemnation that light is come into the World and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil But the fearful and unbelieving Rez 21.8 and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death 2 Thes 1.7 8 9. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed 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 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit 1 Cor. 6.9 10. the Kingdom of God be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with monkind nor thieves nor coveteous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the Kindom of God Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Gal. 5.19 20 21. adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murthers drunkenness revellings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God On the contrary we are told who they are that shall be sav'd Joh. 3.18 Mark 16.16 Rom. 5.1 He that believeth on the Son of God is
good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not For the good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not v. 24. that I do c. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death None can be wholly freed from this corruption of the flesh in this life but after death we shall be altogether deliver'd from it and they who shall be thought worthy to enter into the blessed life above shall sin no more And farther a great trouble and misery it is to pious Men that they are forc'd to live and sojourn amongst so many wicked Persons Psal 120.5 like Sheep amongst Wolves this made David cry out Wo is me that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech and to have my Habitation among the Tents of Kedar Besides our Salvation is exposed to the greatest dangers the Devil as a Roaring Lyon 1 Pet. 5.8 walketh about seeking whom he may devour The World is daily exciting us to Sin by evil Examples and fair Promises the Snares wherewith Satan and the World endeavours to intrap us are every where laid for us in Riches in Meat and Drink in our Eyes and in our Ears in our Words and in our Actions now Death wholly frees us from the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil And not only from these but also from all the Calamities and Misfortues which so usually happen to Mankind in this Mortal Life That this Life is full of troubles there needs not many words to prove since both Sacred and Prophane Authors complain of the Miseries of Humane Life Job 14.1 whilst they teach that Man that is born of a Woman is of few days and full of Trouble And that the very name of Man imports all miseries This truth we all daily experience For how lamentable is our Nativity To how many evils is our Infancy exposed Our youth to how many injuries and dangers is it obnoxious With how many cares is our Manhood distracted And how is our old Age Surrounded with Calamities What reason then we have to fear death which at once frees us from all these miseries which is the only safe Haven to us who sail on this Stormy and Tempestuous Sea Nor doth death only deliver us from Sin and all the Troubles of this World but is also the gate through which we are to pass into Eternal Life wherein the just shall enjoy the most delightful Society of God the Father of Christ our Saviour of the Holy Ghost the Comforter and of all the Angels and Blessed Spirits How great this future Happiness and Beatitude is the mind of Man cannot conceive nor words express And although our Bodies shall rot in the grave or be other ways dissolved yet is there no danger that we shall be separated from Christ to whom we are joyned by the Bond of the Spirit but the dead shall remain united to Christ both in their Bodies and in their Souls and in the last Judgment their Souls and Bodies being made one shall arise together to Eternal Glory Hence in Holy Writ Death is called a Sleep and the Grave a Bed or Dormitory For all these reasons the True Christian is so provided that not only death but sudden death also doth not affright him men indeed do usually not without cause dread sudden death but if we duly consider it a wicked life spent without Repentance is much more to be fear'd than a sudden death nor is a sudden death bad because it is sudden but because for the most part it overtakes Men unprepar'd and impenitent and so casts them headlong into Destruction whereas if it finds us ready a sudden death is not evil but rather a more speedy passage from this to an Happy and Eternal Life The Prayer MOst Merciful Father open and enlighten the Eyes of my Mind to see and rightly consider the Misery and Vanity of this present life that I may not set my affections on the World nor the things in it but may with my whole Heart long after the Joys of Heaven O Lord excite in me an ardent Desire after the Celestial Life and vouchsafe me some fore taste of it by the sweetness whereof the bitterness of death may be so allay'd that I may be daily ready to leave this World and desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ our Lord Amen CHAP. X. The Duty of a Christian THE third Head of the Preparation for a Blessed Death Non potest malè mori qui bene vixerit de discipline christiana cap. 12. was to live holily and to enter into such a course of life as becomes a Christian for as St. Augustin says No Body can die ill that hath liv'd well Now he lives well that performs the Duties of a Christian He therefore who is mindful of his Eternal Salvation must diligently consider what the Duty of a Christian is or what way of living may best conduce towards the attaintment of everlasting life after this For he who would die like a Christian must live as a Christian But he who lives wickedly shall die wickedly and shall arise and be condemned with the Wicked Now although there be many Duties which belong to Christians in common with other Men yet are they not peculiar to a Christian but are ordained for the preservation of Humane Society and honest Behaviour in the World One kind of Duty there is which properly belongs to a Christian which only is needful and which whoever performs it will be well with him hereafter for evermore And what that duty is the very name of a Christian doth sufficiently intimate For whereas the Sects of all Philosophers and Religions have received their Names from their Author and Master whose Precepts Ordinances and Institutions they follow in like manner Christians are so called because they only imitate Christ and as much as in them lies tread in his steps and obey his command and moreover what cannot be said of any other Religion a Christian is one who doth not live himself but Christ liveth in him by Faith Gal. 2.20 so that Christ is the life of Christians who thenceforth manifests himself in all their actions It is then chiefly requisite a Christian should know who Christ is whose Name he bears and to whom he gave up himself in the Sacrament of Baptism what he hath done for our Salvation and what he requires of us to do To this end first we are to remember that Man was Created by God after his own Image Gen. 1. that is as the Apostle explains it Gal. 4.24 in true Holiness and Righteousness so that his understanding was comformable to God and gave to him alone all Honour and Glory Him alone he lov'd reverenced and worshipped and with Him hereafter he should have enjoy'd an immortal eternal and most blessed life Secondly 'T is to be remark'd
how unsuitable it would be to have a mind filthy and stained with sin under a fair and clean garment Never undertake any business unless you have first humbly compos'd your mind and body to Prayer Thank God from your very heart that he hath been pleased to preserve you the last night and even all your life from the Snares and Violence of Satan and to keep you and yours from all outward perils and dangers and pray unto him that he would mercifully forgive you all your sins for the Merits of Christ that he would preserve you and yours all the faithful and the universal Church from the power and subtilty of the Devil that he would please to defend you from all dangers of Body and Soul and so guide you by his Holy Spirit that you may not offend him this day by any sin but that all your Thoughts Words and Actions may be directed to the glory of God and the good of Mankind that he will please not to take you out of the World unprepared by a sudden death and that if he should think it fitting to take away your life this very day he would be merciful unto you and receive you to himself Every Morning renew your resolutions of serving God and as if this were the first day of your returning to God and that hitherto you had done no kind of good firmly purpose in your mind to love the Lord your God and serve him only And humbly pray unto God that he would please to keep and assist you in these your good Resolutions of serving him In the Morning advise with your self what you are to do that day in the Evening take an account of what you have done And that you may have comfort at night stedfastly determine to spend the day well Having offer'd up your prayers to God read a Chapter or two in the Holy Scriptures and attentively consider what there is contained in it for your Consolation or Instruction or Admonition From the Sacred History you may observe how great Gods anger is against sins and with what terrible plagues he hath punish'd sinners and on the contrary with what signal Rewards he hath recompenced Holiness and how wonderfully he hath conducted his own People In short so read the Scriptures as thereby to confirm your Faith and excite in you the practice of Piety Do the same also at night when you are going to Bed and thus in no long space of time you will have read over the whole Bible and so will be provided with a sure guide in the paths of Virtue all the days of your life As Holy David saith Thy Word is a Lamp unto my Feet Ps 119.105 and a Light unto my Path. The Law of the Lord is perfect Ps 19.8 c. converting the Soul The Testimony of the Lord is sure making Wise the simple The Statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the Heart the Commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the Eyes The fear of the Lord is clean enduring for ever The Judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together More to be desired are they than Gold yea than much fine Gold Sweeter also than Hony and the Hony Comb. Moreover by them is thy Servant warned and in keeping of them there is great reward Be careful therefore not to read the Holy Scriptures out of Custom only and as it were by the by but stay a while in the Meditation of what you have read for there is no Chapter but will yield very profitable matter for Holy Contemplations to wit on the Wisdom of God his Omnipotency Infinity Goodness Mercy and Justice On the Corruption of Humane Nature our own sins the Snares and Temptations of the Devil the punishments of the Wicked and the Rewards of the Righteous on the frailty shortness and mortality of Humane Nature On Repentance Faith the exercise of Holiness On our Blessed Saviours Incarnation Nativity Miracles Passion Death Resurrection Ascention Intercession and his Redemption of Mankind On the last Judgment the Happy State of the Blessed in the life to come and the misery of the Damned in Hell These and the like as they offer themselves are to be heedfully attended to and some time Meditated upon until some sorrow of Mind some ardor of Devotion some act of Faith some Divine flame of love springs up in your Soul Having thus performed your Devotions from which never suffer your self to be withdrawn by any thing whatever since there is nothing so serious and weighty as to be preferr'd before God you may then apply your self to the Duties of your Calling with a full intention to discharge them faithfully for the due performance whereof you are not only diligently to beware of offending God either in Thought Word or Deed and of injuring your Neighbour but you ought also to direct all your Actions to Gods glory and the good of others First as to what concerns your thoughts although the godly by reason of the Corruption of Humane Nature cannot avoid all evil thoughts yet be careful least you too much indulge them but suppress them betimes and be sure never to bring them forth to act nor suffer your self to be seduced in your Affections to any thing contrary to Honesty and Piety and which may in the least alienate your mind from the happiness of the life Eternal Never seek after popular Fame Be not Ambitious after Honours Riches or any Worldly thing but more especially do not prefer them before God be humble and contented with a competency and a good Conscience he is very happy and hath every thing who hath God for his Friend He is most miserable and hath nothing who hath God for his Enemy When ever any sinful affections begin by little and little to steal into your mind as Avarice Voluptuousness Envy Anger Enmity and Hatred and such like as we have before mentioned in the precedeing Chapter be diligent to stifle them in their first motions As to what concerns your words and discourse so govern your self as always remembring that severe expression of our Lords Mat. 12.36 That every idle word that Men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of Judgment And therefore in your jesting observe never to cast a blot upon Religion or Scandalize any one or offend against the Rules of Honesty and Modesty So order all your Speech that you never Scandalize your Neighbour but endeavour to build him up in the most Holy Faith to this end pray with David Set a Watch O Lord Ps 141.3 and keep the Door of my Lips There is no true joy but what is joyned with the love of God and a good Conscience We often laugh when if the great danger we are in were rightly consider'd there is more need we should weep let your words and your Heart go together and let both always agree with truth avoid lying and desraud none with deceitful words when ever you
not condemned He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Therefore being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ The Prayer LOrd Jesu Christ guide me by thy Holy Spirit that I may walk in thy ways and always have in my mind this sum of the whole Duty of Man Eccl. 12.13 14. fear God and keep his Commandments For God shall bring every work into Judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil O let every moment that voice sound in mine ears arise ye dead and come to judgement And at the last let me hear thy gracious voice saying come thou blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for thee from the beginning of the World I acknowledge indeed and confess that by my sins I have deserved the pains of Hell but thou by thy Passion Death and Resurrection hast redeemed me from them and merited Heaven for me In thee therefore in thy merits and mercies I put my whole trust and confidence and joyfully expect thy glorious coming Amen Come Lord Jesus Amen Rev. XXII 20. CHAP. V. The Joys of the Life eternal ALthough it cannot be imagin'd much less express'd in words what difference there is between the joys of Heaven and the pains and miseries of the damned yet for as much as many live as if it matter'd little or nothing whether after death they were to be admitted into the blessed Life above or to be cast into the bottomless pit it therefore well becomes a Christian daily to consider how vastly the miseries of Hell differ from the glories of Heaven that so he may be convinced how necessary it is earnestly to endeavour to avoid the one and obtain the other For who is there so void of sence that for the hopes of gaining one Farthing would run the hazard of losing an hundred thousand Crowns and yet this they daily do who defile themselves with sin that they may follow after the riches pleasures and honours of this World for all these things and even the whole World could any man gain it to himself are more vile if they be compared to eternal lise which is utterly lost by sin than the smallest mite compar'd to the greatest sum imaginable Or who is there so desperately wicked that would dare to commit crimes worthy of death in the sight of a Gibbet a drawn Sword or a flaming fire and in the presence of a Judge who he knew would immediately condemn him to these torments and yet this they do who well knowing that the pains of Hell are so plainly set before their eyes in the Holy Scriptures do yet daily commit such sins as justly deserve those infernal plagues Now eternal Happiness consists in these two things In the absence of all evil things and in the enjoyment of every thing that is good Rev. 21.4 For God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of the blessed and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain And as it is written 1 Cor. 2.9 eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him For what greater felicity can there be than to have no calamities to disturb us not to be terrified with the fear of death to behold the face of God to be amongst the Quires of Angels to serve our Creatour with the blessed Spirits and all the Saints and with perpetual Hyms and Praises to magnifie his glorious Name If you value and desire Health there shall be constant soundness and eternal Life If you are delighted with the friendship of good men there you shall have the familiar acquaintance of all the blessed inhabitants above who will all have one Heart and one Soul In short there will be nothing wanting that a man can wish for What saith St. Quid inquit Augustinus hac vita beatius ubi non est paupertatis metus non agritudinis imbectllitas nemo laeditur nemo irascitur nemo invidet cupiditas nulla exardescit nullum cibi desiderium nulla honoris aut potestatis pulsat ambitio nullus Diaboli metus insidia Daemonum nulla terror gehennae pracul mors neque corporis neque animae sed immortalitatis munere jucunda vita Nulla ibi discordia cuncta consona cuncta convenientia Sanctorum omnium una erit concordia Nox ibi nulla nullae tenebrae sed lux summa quoniam Dominus inluminabit civitatem Incerna ejus erit Agnus Sancti fulgebunt sicut stellae sicut splendor firmamenti Dabitur ibi consociare choris Angelorum intueri Patriarchas Prophetas videre Apostolos atque omnes Sanctos Gloriosa sunt hac sed multo glorisius erit D E V M intueri Manual cap. 17. Augustin can be more happy than this life where there is no fear of Poverty nor the weakness of Infirmities no body is hurt no body is angry none envies another no lust inflames them no longing after food no desire of honour and power disquiets them there is no dread of Satan no snares of the Devil no fear of Hell there is neither death of Body or Soul but by the means of immertality a most delightful life there will be no evil no discord but a perfect harmony because there will be a mutual agreement between all the Saints there will be no night nor darkness but the greatest light for the Glory of God will enlighten it Rev. 21.23 and the Lamb will be the light thereof Dan. 12.3 and the Saints shall shine as the Stars and as the brightness of the Firmament there we shall associate with the multitudes of Angels and Archangels and all the Heavenly Powers there we shall behold the Patriarchs and Prophets the Apostles and all the Saints these are glorious things but it will be yet much more glorious to behold GOD himself for the happiness and glory of eternal life doth chiefly consist in the vision and enjoyment of God who will then be all in all But how great this future felicity will be the mind of man is not capable to conceive however we may make some faint conjectures for seeing God is the Creatour and Preserver of all things it must needs be that all the things in the World which to us appear fair and beautiful are in him so much more eminently if therefore the prospect and contemplation of the Creatures be sweet and grateful the Creatour himself must needs be much more ravishing and delightful so that since we shall see God face to face all even the most beautiful things in this World will be surmounted by the transcendent beauty of God He shall be all in all the satisfaction of all desires and the perfect felicity of the Saints Psal 84.4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy House they will always be praising thee Psal 31.19 O
Son of God underwent such Grief and Torments for others Crimes no doubt but such an one will abhor himself and be amazed at the consideration of his own guilt and if he were left to himself to rely upon his own strength and knew no ways of appeasing the wrath of God he must of necessity be driven to despair The Prayer WO is me O Lord who was conceived and born in sin the thoughts of my heart are inclined unto evil from my Youth Wo is me who have sinned against thee my Creatour and bountiful Lord and have done evil in thy sight But I acknowledge mine iniquity and my sins are ever before me Jet 9.1 Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for my sins whereby I have so often offended thee my Lord and Creatour whether shall I fly who will intercede for me who will deliver me in the day of thy fierce anger that I perish not for ever Alas there is none to save but thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ But forasmuch as faith in him is not our own work but thy gift blessed Lord let thy Holy Spirit excite preserve and daily increase in my heart a true and lively faith Mat. 11.27 O Holy Father since no man knoweth the Son but thou only neither knoweth any man thee save thy Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal thee draw me I beseech thee unto him that he may lead me unto thee least I die in my sins Vouchsafe to strengthen my weak Faith and perfect that good Work which thou hast begun in me Establish in me a firm Faith in my Saviour to the last breath of my life that amongst the many various errors and opinions of this World I may not in the least be perverted from the true faith but may always ask and obtain the remission of my sins from thee through the merits and intercession of the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ Amen CHAP. XII That we are to fly for refuge to the mercies of God and to believe in Christ BUT the Christian is not to despair altho' he must acknowledge himself to be a sinner John 3.16 but for as much as he knows that God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life he therefore puts his whole trust and confidence in the mercies of God through the merits of Christ For the merciful God hath promised pardon of sins to true Penitents this we find in divers places of Scripture Ezek. 33.12 As for the wickedness of the wicked he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness 2 Pet. 3.9 for God is long-suffering to us ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance As I live saith the Lord God Ezek. 33.11 I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live A broken and a contrite heart Psal 51.17 God will not despise Therefore also now saith the Lord turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping Joel 2.13 and with mourning And rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil Zechar. 1.3 Turn ye unto me saith the Lord of Hosts and I will turn unto you Ps 69.33 Mat. 12.20 Seek ye after God and your Soul shall live A bruised reed shall he not break and smoaking flax shall he not quench Act. 3.19 Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out And therefore the true Penitent may with affiance approach unto God and say Ps 130.3 If thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities O Lord who shall stand Father I have sinned against Heaven Luk. 15.21 and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son Ps 51.1 But have mercy upon me according to thy loving kindness according unto the multitudes of thy tender mercies Lu. 18.13 And God be merciful unto me a sinner Nor let him in the least doubt of the mercy of God whilst he relies on the merits of Christ Mat. 18.11 1 Joh. 1.7 For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin 1 Joh. 2.2 And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole World Rom. 8.1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus so that he may rest quiet in the mercies of God and in the merits of Christ as knowing that a full ransom was paid for his sins and that a most absolutely perfect righteousness able to stand before the judgment of God was purchased and obtained for sinners by the most holy Obedience of Christ which he performed to his Father both in his life and death and which the Holy Spirit offers to all the World in the Word and Sacraments desiring them to accept of it And to those who do not resist these means he excites increases and confirms their Faith that they may receive the grace of God purchased by Christ's merits and tender'd unto them in the Divine Word and holy Sacraments so that they may be confident that he who hath begun a good work in them will also perfect it and preserve them in grace unto the end of their lives For saith St. Paul I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come Nor height Rom. 8. ult nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Prayer BEhold O Lord I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me I know that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing and I see another law in my members waring against the law of my mind from this corruption of nature it proceeds that I am so disobedient to to thy Laws and Commandments even from my infancy until now I have infinite ways transgressed them in thought word and deed the good things which I ought I have not done and the evil things which I ought not I have committed so great is the number of my sins that I can no longer remember them all O Heavenly Father I am not worthy to be called thy Son but I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before me Have mercy upon me therefore O God according to thy great goodness and cleanse me from all even my most secret sins enter not into judgment with thy Servant and remember not the sins of my youth Lord despise not a broken and a contrite
heart for with thee there is mercy and plenteous redemption To thee then O thou Son of God and my Saviour I fly for succour Thou camest into the World to save sinners thou hast called unto thee all that are weary and heavy laden and hast promised to give them rest and ease Behold I come unto thee bowed together with the weight of my sins O do thou lift me up for thou art the Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the World thou didest that all that believe in thee should not perish but have everlasting life Lord Jesu I believe in thee O pity and help my infirmities Amen CHAP. XIII That we must live Holily BUT it is not enough barely to know that Christ died for sin Since the Devils are not ignorant of this mere knowledge which puffeth up 1 Cor. 8.1 is one thing and a vain boasting of Faith is another and a true lively Faith is another which as by an inward formal Act it receives and apprehends Christ with all his benefits to Justification Gal. 5.6 so also outwardly it worketh by love And therefore Christ having redeemed us from the hands of our Enemies we ought to serve him in Righteousness and Holiness all the days of our life To this purpose St. Paul exhorts us 2 Cor. 5.15 That Christ died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again For the grace of God that bringeth Salvation Tit. 2.11 hath appeared to all Men Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts vers 12. we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World vers 13. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Who gave himself for us vers 14. that he might Redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good works All they therefore that think to have their sins remitted whilst they go on in their wickedness deceive themselves and make a mock at the Merits of Christ and may so fall away Heb. 6.6 as even to Crucifie unto themselves the Son of God afresh Heb. 10.29 and put him to an open shame And account the blood of the Covenant wherewith they were Sanctified an unholy thing and do despight unto the spirit of grace For since Christ hath redeemed us from the Slavery of Satan and restored us again to our former liberty it is very fitting that we should lead a new life bid farewel to all iniquity and serve God with a pure heart fervently Now this restoring Man to his pristine state in which God at first created him and from whence by sin he fell is in holy Writ called a Renovation Or a new Creature For so says the Apostle Eph. 4.22 23 c. Put off concerning the former Conversation the old Man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts And be renewed in the Spirit of your mind and put on the new Man which after God is Created in Righteousness in true Holiness Wherefore putting away lying speak every Man truth with his Neighbour for we are members one of another Be ye angry and sin not let not the Sun go down upon your wrath Neither give place to the Devil Let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labour working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth Let no corrupt Communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the Hearers And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of Redemption Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all Malice And be ye kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you And a little after Eph. 5.3 But Fornication and all Vncleanness or Covetousness let it not be once named amongst you Although it plainly appears from this Exhortation of the Apostle what a Regenerate Man whose sins are pardon'd is to do and what he is to avoid yet we may briefly comprize the whole exercise of Godliness under these two Heads viz. the love of God and of our Neighbour This is the Sum of all the Commandments as our Saviour himself teaches us Mat. 22.37 Luke 10.27 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength and with all thy Mind and thy Neighbour as thy self The Prayer O Merciful Father who in thy Son Jesus Christ hast pardoned all my sins what shall I render unto thee for all the Benefits which thou hast bestowed on me Grant that I may delight my self in thy Commandments that I may not love the World nor the things in it but may Crucifie my flesh with its Affections and Lusts guide me with thy Holy Spirit that I may daily persevere in true Repentance may war a good warfare keep Faith and a good Conscience and increase more and more in Righteousness and Holiness working that which is well pleasing in thy sight And for as much as of my self I am not able to do any good thing do thou O Lord who givest both to will and to do perfect that good work which thou hast begun in me and bring it to an Happy Issue and keep me in all my ways that I depart not from thy Statutes Lead me in the paths of thy Commandments Thy word is a Lanthern unto my Feet and a light unto my paths Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have Dominion over me Ps 119.133 CHAP. XIV That God is to be loved above all things FOR as much as God at first created us Christ by his Death redeemed us from eternal Death and the Holy Spirit sanctifies us and leads us to everlasting life therefore are we to love God above all things whatever Love naturally desires what is good and excellent and what any one loves that he always esteems best most profitable and beautiful now there is nothing can be suppos'd better and more beautiful than God and therefore he is to be loved above all things This is the first Commandment Exod. 20.3 Thou shalt have no other Gods before me Deut. 5.7.6.4 Mar. 12.29 And hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Might He who loves God above all things hath no other Gods but who ever loves any thing more than God he makes that his God for he prefers it before God and sets it up as an Idol in his Heart Therefore a Christian is to despise all things in respect of God how great and profitable how beautiful and
advice and Counsel which the Holiest Men have given to such as were ready to depart this life we shall find them all have recourse to that of David Ps 143.2 Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant O Lord Ps 130.3 for in thy sight shall no Man living be justified If thou Lord shouldest make iniquities O Lord who shall stand The best Men in the World when they have been in the agonies of Death have begg'd earnestly of God for the Remission of their sins nor could they expect or desire Salvation from any but only from our Lord Jesus Christ for there is none other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved A Man thus seriously reconciled to God will easily struggle with and overcome all the Temptations which are wont to press in upon dying persons For although the remembrance of all the sins of your past life and those too aggravated by the malice of Satan and with all the rigour of the last judgment and the severity of the Judge should come into your mind yet to these Terrours you may oppose the Mercies of God the Father the Merits of Jesus Christ and the most assured promises of forgiveness of sins which as you ought always and in your greatest health to remember as hath been said before so when Death approaches you ought more especially to have them in a readiness the principal whereof are contained in these following Texts of Scripture Isa 1.18 Though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow Isa 43.25 though they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wool I even I saith the Lord am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy sins Isa 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous Man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly Pardon Zek. 18.32 I have no pleasure in the Death of him that dieth saith the Lord God wherefore turn your selves and live ye As I live saith the Lord God Ezek. 33.11 I have no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Thou Lord art a God full of compassion and gracious Psal 86.15 Long suffering and plenteous in Mercy and Truth Psal 147.3.11 The Lord healeth the broken in Heart and bindeth up their Wounds The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him in those that hope in his Mercy 1 Joh. 1.7 Mat. 18.11 The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin The Son of Man came to save that which was lost This is a faithful saying 1 Tim. 1.15 and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief 1 Joh 2.2 He is the propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole World Whosoever liveth and believeth in him John 11.26 shall never die Eternally John 1.29 Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World Mat. 26.28 He shed his Blood for the Remission of sins Isa 53.5 He was wounded for our Transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities He that believeth on him shall not be Condemned Rom. 8.33 c. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect It is God that justifieth Who is he that Condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right Hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall Tribulation or Distress c. 2 Pet. 3.9 The Lord is long-suffering to us ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance 1 Tim. 2.4 c. He would have all Men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the Truth For there is one God and one Mediatour between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus Who gave himself a Ransom for all You are therefore in no wise to doubt of the Mercies of God and of the forgiveness of your sins for the Mercies of God are infinitely greater than the sins of all Mankind It is an Article of our Christian Faith I believe the forgiveness of sins So that if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Our Blessed Saviour invites all sinners unto himself with the kindest expressions saying Matth. 11.28 Joh. 3.16 Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest For God so loved the World that he gives his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 5.24 Verily I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live Joh. 6.35 c. I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out And this is the Father's will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day And this is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day My sheep bear my voice and I know them Joh. 10.27 28. and they follow me And I give unto them elernal life and they shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my hand For I am perswadâ—d that neither death nor life nor angels Rom 8. nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor an other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And every one that is grieved for his sin may say to himself as Paul and Silas heretofore said to the Keeper of the Prison at Philippi Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved If it should happen that your mind should be disturb'd with such thoughts as these that though Christ perhaps made satisfaction for some yet sure not for all nor for grievous sins let some of the same consolations be ready at hand As these the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin If any man sin 1 Joh. 1.7 we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world 1 Joh. 2.1 2. 1 Tim. 2.6 He gave himself a ransom for all
and if it be needful make his Will which ought to be plain and intelligible comformable to the Law of Nature to the Word of God and to the Laws of the Country wherein he lives that so there may be no occasion given to his Heirs and Executors to have any Litigious Disputes and Law-Suits after his Death and this he ought to do whilst his Mind and Tongue and Hand can perform their Functions and not to defer it till he is not able to make his mind known clearly and distinctly either by word or writing And indeed they do most conveniently and to the purpose who make their Wills whilst they are in perfect health on the contrary they very ill consult their own Affairs who put off the making of their Wills till some dangerous sickness assaults them and then perhaps they are suddenly taken out of the World or the Disease causes a Frenzie and so their minds become utterly indispos'd for the settling of their Worldly concerns If the sick Person remembers that he hath taken any thing away from any Man wrongfully let him restore it again to the right owner or if he be Dead and that cannot well be done let him appoint it to be given to pious uses to the poor of the Church or State For as St. Augustin saith Si res aliena propter quam peccatum est cum reddi possit non redditur non agitur poenitâ—ntia sed fingitur Epist 54. ad Maâ—don A Man is an Hypocrite and not a true Penitent if he doth not restore goods wrongfully taken when it is in his power to do it And let those also who abound in Riches honestly gotten take care that some portion of them be given to good and pious uses and that amongst the rest of their Legacies something be left and assigned to Christ Moreover the sick Person ought to look after such things as concern the Souls of those under his care and to commend unto all his Family that Religion which is contained in the Word of God and diligently to exhort them to a Holy life to the love and service of God Although as it hath been said such things were better to be ordered and provided for when we are well and in good Health because Death takes away many on a sudden and some Diseases are of such a Nature that they presently deprive a Man of the power of thinking on and ordering such things so that it will be most safe and prudent for the sick Person to put off all thoughts of Earthly things and not to distract himself with any cares but to fix his mind wholly upon God and on his happy passage out of this life And now when the sick Man finds his end approaching that the time of his departure is at hand and that he is now to struggle with the pangs of Death laying aside all Worldly cares let him intirely submit himself to Gods Will and in no wise withstand it and say Father thy Will be done whether it be by Life or by Death And then let him endeavour that he may die in the Faith of Christ and rest in the Lord that is let him give himself up wholly to the grace and mercy of God in the Merits of Christ and to the Consolations of the Holy Spirit For since in that last hour this World and all things in it Friends and Relations Riches and Pleasures and whatever else is taking and delightful must be quite abandon'd it is very fitting that his mind should bid farewel to all things here below and by Faith lift up it self to God alone And the Man being thus plac'd as it were out of himself he ought with the most earnest Affections and with the most Ardent Prayers and Fervent Sighs to fly unto the Mercy and Goodness of God and say with David Ps 73.26 My Flesh and my Heart faileth but God is the strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever In thee O Lord do I put my trust Ps 31.1 let me never be put to Confusion deliver me in thy Righteousness And then at last when he is just going out of the World let him commend his Soul unto God as unto a faithful Creatour and most Merciful Saviour and say with Christ Father Luk. 23.46 into thy Hands I commend my Spirit And with St. Act. 7.59 Stephen Lord Jesus receive my Spirit If any of the foregoing Temptations should be suggested by Satan to the sick Person when he lies under the agonies of Death let him not trouble himself to give an answer but commit himself wholly to Christ and depend only upon him and presevere to the last in pious Prayers and Ejaculations As also those that are present with him ought to do especially when they find his senses begin to fail him For the Prayers of the Righteous avail much and our Lord hath promised that where two or three are gathered together in his Name there will he be in the midst of them and that whatsoever we ask of the Father in his Name he will give it us Now where-ever Christs gracious presence is the Devil of necessity must flee before him Neither can the Devil tempt any Man beyond what God permits him And therefore every one ought not to be admitted to the sick Person when he is at the point of Death but only such who are Religious who by Devout Prayers can commend the departing Soul to God but such are not to be suffered to come to him who may in the least excite in him an hatred against any Man or a love towards any Worldly thing Or if they are permitted to come to him care must be taken that they behave themselves so as not to raise in his mind any evil affection which he had before laid aside and forsaken For a Soul that would depart happily out of this life ought to be inflam'd with the love of God alone and not to be mov'd either by the love or hatred of any Creature whatever And more especially let care be taken that the Dying Man may be visited and assisted by some Minister of Gods Word of good Learning and Judgment that he may know how to speak a word in season to the wearied Soul that he may so govern and temper his Discourse as neither to deceive the departing Soul by too much condescention and flattery nor to drive him to despair by an unseasonable sharpness and severity but may be able to instruct and fortifie him against all the Temptations of Satan with Divine Counsels and Consolations The Prayer O Lord God and my most merciful Father who hast now sent unto me the messenger of death and hast chastised me with sickness I confess my self to be a grievous sinner and that I have oftentimes offended thee even from my very infancy and therefore I acknowledge that this punishment is justly inflicted on me and that I desire death it self but I beseech thee of thine infinite mercies blot