course wherein every Act is a step to Perdition To restrain thee from great Sins especially Thou wilt not chuse to live without God in this World for fear thou shouldst be forc'd to live without God in the other World Thou wilt not dare to continue in wilful Ignorance or Disobedience considering that Christ will come * 2 Thess 1.8 9. in flaming Fire to take Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of Christ Thou wilt not give way to Vnbelief considering it is the damning Sin Nor live and die in wilful Impenitency lest thou perish eternally Thou wilt not surely be boldly guilty of such open Profaneness and gross Impiety as to bid God damn thee damn thee Body and Soul and the Devil take thee Thou wilt never use such cursed Forms of Speech thy self and wilt tremble to hear such horrid and worse than hellish Words proceed from the Mouths of mad and desperate Sinners Nor wilt thou offer to cherish and nourish hidden Hypocrisy since Hell is prepar'd of purpose for Hypocrites and the Punishment of Hypocrites is made the Standard of the Infernal Sufferings of other Sinners whose * Mat. 24.51 portion shall be appointed with Hypocrites Thou wilt not indulge thy self in Sensuality and Voluptuousness which has a terrible †Isa 5.11 12 14. Wo denounc'd against it Thou wilt not destroy thy Soul for the Pampering of thy Body lose fulness of Joy for the pleasing of a single Sense rivers of Pleasures for a superfluous Cup of drink Pleasures at God's Right Hand for evermore for the Pleasures of Sin which are but for a season for a minute for a moment Thou wilt not take thy short Pleasure to pay so dear as to suffer eternal Pain for it Thou wilt not allow thy self in Intemperance Nor venture to walk after the flesh in the Lust of Vncleanness remembring that the Lord knoweth how to ‖ 2 Pet. 2 9 10. reserve such Persons chiefly unto the Day of Judgment to be punished And well knowing (*) 1 Cor. 6.9 10. that neither Fornicators nor Adulterers shall inherit the Kingdom of God Thou wilt not burn in the fire of Lust lest at last thou beest scorch'd in the slames of Hell Thou wilt set the Fire of Hell in opposition to the Fire of Lust that the one may abate and put out the other As it is storied of a vertuous Christian Woman that being tempted and earnestly solicited to yield to commit Folly with a certain Wanton who made profession of great Love to her and how ready he was to do any thing for her sake To convince him and to deliver her self out of the Temptation she strait requested this one thing of him that he would hold the Tip of his Finger in the Flame of the Candle for one Quarter of an Hour He shrunk and wondered at the Proposition But if you be loth said she at my desire to indure such Pain for a Quarter of an Hour how can you expect that I for your pleasure should expose my self to suffer for Ever in Soul and Body the Wrath of God and the eternal Flames of Hell-fire Thou wilt resolve deliberately and endeavour carefully to refrain bad Company Whenever idle and evil Companions tempt thee and say Come to thee thou wilt be ready to think presently how Christ will say at Last Day Depart from me Thou wilt take heed of doing the Devil's Work for fear of suffering the Devil's Punishment Thou wilt have no Intimacy and Familiarity with the Devil now thou wilt not give him heart-room nor house-room lest thou beest compell'd to bear him company in Hell-fire for ever hereafter Thou wilt by no means be of the Devil's Party nor side and associate with the Ungodly and so deserve to be kept and continued in that Society which was formerly chosen by thee and acceptable to thee Thou wilt also zealously flee Idolatry and hate and abominate that Religion wherein the practice of gross Idolatry is made necessary the Worshipping of Images of Bread and Wine in the Eucharist the Worshipping and Invocating of Saints and Angels Considering * 1 Cor. 6.9 that Idolaters are of the Number of those that shall not inherit the Kingdom of God but are appointed to have their †Rev. 21.8 part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone Nor wilt thou fall inconsideratly into damnable Heresy nor hold so grossly corrupt Opinions as may bring upon thee ‖ 2 Pet. 2.1 swift Destruction nor be deluded to believe the Lies of Antichrist to thy utter * 2 Thess 2.10 12. perishing and eternal undoing Thou wilt abhor wilful Lying to save thy Credit or get Gain and hate to set thy [t] Servum nolle mentiri nova religio est Plaut Servants to tell Lies to vend thy Wares and put off thy Commodities Thou wilt be loth by a gainful Lie to cheat thy Brother of Twelve-pence and to lose thy Soul by the bargain remembring that Lying is a damnable Sin and that †Rev. 21.8 all Liars shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the Second Death Thou wilt be fearful of speaking any thing that looks like Detraction still minding thy self that ‖ Rom. 1.29 30 32. Whisperers and Back-biters are join'd in the Catalogue with Haters of God who are worthy of Death And that he that (*) Ps 15.1 3. Back-biteth with his Tongue and taketh up a Reproach against his Neighbour is not likely to dwell in God's holy City That if thou shouldst prove such a Devil incarnate thou wilt be fit to keep company perpetually with the Devil and his Angels That if thy Tongue should here be so set on Fire of Hell it would presage that without Repentance and Reformation it will surely be set on Fire in Hell Thou wilt watch against the rising of rash Anger which is a Sin that has Hell at the heels of it and be careful to prevent its breaking out in Expression or Action revolving in thy Mind that of thy Saviour (†) Mat. 5.22 Whosoever shall say Thou Fool to his Brother shall be in danger of Hell-fire Thou wilt dread the Thoughts of Vnfruitfulness under Means having fixed and imprinted this in thy Mind that * Mat. 3.10 every Tree which bringeth not forth good Fruit is hewn down and cast into the Fire †11.23 And that Capernaum which was exalted unto Heaven by her enjoyment of special Means was threatned for want of answerable Improvement to be brought down to Hell Thou wilt not harden thy Heart in Vnmercifulness pondering in thine Heart how Dives in Hell wanted the refreshment of a [u] Desiderabat guttam quia non dedit micam Aug. Drop of Water for refusing to give poor Lazarus the small comfort of a Crumb of Bread when he himself fared so sumptuously and feasted deliciously every Day Thou wilt not be unmerciful in not
though the Apostles preached and celebrated the Lord's Supper on other Dates of the Week yet why are the4se Things mentioned as done on that Day particularly and remarkably unless it were for some singular Eminency of this above any other Day and because they were bound to do those Duties on this Day more than on any other And the Apostle gave express Order that †1 Cor. 16. 1 2. the Collection for the Saints a Work especially fit for a Sabbath-Day should be made particularly on the first Day that is [d] Beza in loc every first Day of the Week which was the fore-ordain'd and customary Day of the Christian religious Church Assemblies Vpon or [e] Bp. of VV. Opuse Speech against Mr. Trask p. 73. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the VVord is used Mark 15.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Sense is against the Feast against the first Day of the Week every Person was to lay apart what God should move and encline him to offer The Preparation and Separation of it was to be at home every Week but the Collation and Contribution to be in the Publick Congregation every Lord's Day For [f] Hammond's Par. it was not reasonable for any to come to the Lord * Exod. 23.15 Deut. 16.16 empty upon the Day of the most solemn Christian Assembly And this Day was appointed for the Oblation of their Alms because of the inestimable Benefits and infinite good Things we this Day had bestowed upon us And the Church of Christ has constantly observ'd this high Day ever since the Apostles Daies and spent it in Reading Exhortation Praier Sacraments [g] Si die Solis laetitiae indulgemus alia longe ratione quà m religione Solis secundo loco ab eis sumus qui diem Saturni otto victus â—ecernunt exorbitantes ipsi à Judaico more quem ignorant Tertul. Apol. c. 16 The Primitive Christians were suspected to worship the Sun because they used to celebrate the Sunday It was an [h] Bp. of VV. Speech in the Star-Chamber Opusc p. 74. usual Question put of old by the Heathen to the Christians before ever they offer'd to torture and martyr them Num Dominicum servasti Did you keep the Lord's Day To which they answer'd Christianus sum intermittere non possum I am a Christian and dare not omit or give over the Observation of it This is a Day in which God is to be solemnly worshipped and served and Christ to be pbulickly magnified and glorified A special Season to be laid hold on a particular Opportunity to be improved for our Soul's Good This is a special Day of Grace in which as I may say the Mint is going and in which we may take our Stamp of Holinefs [i] VVhole duty of man Partit 2. sect 18. This is the gainfullest the joyfullest Day of the Week a Day of Harvest wherein we are to lay up in store for the whole Week nay for our whole Lives This is a Market-day for our Souls in which we may trade for Eternity This is a Day in which we may hear and understand the Things that belong unto our Peace Pious and pathetical is that of the divine and holy Mr. Herbert Sunday O Day most calm most bright The Week were dark but for thy Light Thy Torch doth show the way Sundaies They are the fruitful Beds and Borders In God's rich Garden that is bare Which parts their Ranks and Orders On Sunday Heaven's Gate stands ope Blessings are plentiful and rife More plentiful than Hope This is a Day in which the most precious Commodities that ever the World saw or heard of are set forth in which the Riches and Treasures of the Gospel are opened Christ himself offered his Merit and Spirit tendred Pardon and Grace Light and Life Strength and Comfort held out and exhibited This is a Day in which no Pandora's Box is opened but in which the Cabinet of God's Jewels is unlocked and his precious Gifts and Graces dispensed This is a Day in which a spiritual Mart a divine Fair is publickly kept in which with the wise Virgins we may buy Oil for our Lamps buy spiritual Eye-salve to anoint our Eyes that we may see as our Saviour counsels excellently buy the Truth as the wise Man advises us and be perswaded so well to like it as never to sell or part with it buy Wine and Milk and Bread to fill and satisfy our empty hungry and thirsty Souls buy white Rainment that we may be clothed and that the Shame of our Nakedness may not appear buy the Christian 's compleat Armour that we may be furnished for our Warfare and well provided against the Assaults of our Spiritual Enemies buy Gold tried in the Fire that we may be rich yea in which we may buy the Pearl of Price in which we may receive and lay hold on Christ and all his Benefits and embrace and apply the great and precious Promises of the Gospel This is a Day in which the Word of God's Grace is opened and applyed and the holy Sacraments the Seals of the Covenant frequently administred in which we have the Priviledg of hearing God speaking unto Sinners and wooing and beseeching Rebels to be reconciled and in which we may enjoy the glorious Liberty of speaking our selves to God with an holy Boldness at the Throne of Grace and pouring out with one Accord our Supplications and Souls in Praier to him This is a Day of solemn Rest from servile Offices and worldly Works A Time of drawing nigh to God and of meeting the Lord in his own Ordinances of joining with the Saints and Servants of God in the Worship of God in Praiers to God and the Praises of him of having Communion and Fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ through the blessed Spirit and of enjoying a kind of Heaven here upon Earth The Lord's Day you see is a special Season of Grace and Mercy O let 's be spiritually thrifty of this Opportunity Let 's not live as if we were of the same Mind with the modern carnal Jews who think as the learned [k] Tempore Sabbati matutino non tam citò quà m solent alias cubitu surgentes in lucem multam voluptatis certè magis quà m Sabbati debitè colendi causâ stertunt Quantò enim voluptatis isti plus percipiunt tantò se devotrùs Sabbatum colere statuunt Buxtorf Synag Judaic c. 11. initio Buxtorf tells us that sleeping excessively on their Sabbath is a great Honour dòne to God Let 's not content our selves with an idle Rest Let our Rest be the Rest [l] Lawson's Theo-Pol p. 179. of Men and not of Beasts and the Rest of holy Men as holy Let 's not only cease from secular Works but exercise our rational and spiritual Faculties in heavenly and divine Employments and set our selves to Works of Piety Charity and Mercy Let us redeem this Time out of the Hands of
Simplicity and Godly Sincerity I have had my Conversation in the World To say with Hilarion as St. Jerom reports in his [b] Egredere anima quid times Egredere quid dubitas Septuaginta prope annis servisti Christo mortem times Hier. in vita Hilar. Life Go out my Soul why art thou afraid go out why lingrest thou thou hast served Christ well nigh these seventy Years and dost thou now fear Death To see that it has been to thee * Phil. 1.21 to live Christ and to be able to look on thy Death as thy Gain And with good old [c] His Life inserted among Mr. Clark's Lives of ten emin Div. p. 123. When his good Sister said to him in his Sickness Brother I am afraid to leave you alone VVhy Sister said be I shall I am sure be with Jesus Christ when I die Ib. p. 123 124. Dr. Gouge in thy last Sickness to term Death thy best Friend next to Jesus Christ With †Phil. 1.23 St. Paul to desire to depart and to be ready to utter such Language as this Oh loose this Frame this Knot of Man unty That my free Soul may use her Wing Which is now pinion'd with Mortality As an entangled hamper'd Thing As the pious [d] Home Mr. Herbert pathetically expresses it in one of his sacred Poems Dwell upon these Considerations That the Loss and Misimprovement of Time will make a Death-bed uneasy to you and that the right redeeming of time will render a Death-bed comfortable to you And this will be very apt to move you to prepare for Death by dying to Sin dying to the World and living to Righteousness before you die 'T will help you to live every Day so indeed as others wish that they had liv'd when they come to lie upon a Death-bed To live so now that you may with comfort think of dying and may be freed from the slavish Fear of Death and be held no longer ‖ Heb. 2.15 in bondage by it 'T will cause you to live the Life of the Righteous that so you may die the Death of the Righteous die safely and die comfortably 'T will make you careful to set not only your House but your Heart in order your Life in order and so to dispatch your work and Business that when you come to die you may have nothing to do but to die and freely and cheerfully to resign your Spirit to the Father of Spirits and to surrender your Soul to your faithful Creator and gracious loving Lord Redeemer In a Word it will enable you so to live that you may have * Prov. 14.32 Hope in your own Death and that when Friends shall mourn for your Departure they may not sorrow without †1 Thess 4.13 Hope And so much shall suffice for your Direction as to your Meditation of Death your own particular Death in order to your Redemption of Time 2. Meditate here moreover of the general Dissolution of all Things at least in this inferiour World Think well of what (*) 2 Pet. 3.11 St. Peter informs you that all these Things shall be dissolved Consider that the Description which is there given of this Dissolution is too august and [e] Dr. ore's y st of Godl p 214. big by far for so small a Work as [f] Of which Dr. Hammend in eâ—prets it the Destruction of the City of Jerusalem That the Scoffers arguing there against the Promise of christ's coming that (†) Verse 4. all Things continue as they were from the Beginning of the Creation does clearly shew that this Coming of Christ was not understood by them and consequently not by St. Peter of the Burning of a City by War a Thing which might as probably and easily happen to Jerusalem as it had already fallen out in many other Places of the World But of the final glorious Coming of Christ to judge the World which [f] Superest I 'e ultimus perpetuus judicis di s ille nationibus insperatus ille derisus cùm tanta secult vetusta tot ejus nativitates uno ignt haurientur Tertull. lib de Spectae cap 30. Judgment the Conflagration of the Earth is to attend Think very seriously with thy self that * Verse 7. the Heavens and the Earth which are now are reserved unto Fire How †Verse 10. the Heavens shall one Day pass away with a great Noise and ‖ Verse 12. being on Fire shall be dissolved and the (*) Verse 10 12. Elements or [g] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ordine mitiari incedo The host of the Aethereal Heavgens are the Stars and Planets The Host of the Aereal Heavens are Clouds and Meteors Fowls and flying Creatures Hosts shall melt with fervent Heat the Earth also and the Works of Nature or Art that are therein shall be burnt up That though the superiour Aethereal starry Heavens may be exempted as [h] He that considereth both the super-eminent Nature and Immensity of the Aethereal Heaven and of those innum rable Bodies therein in regard of which the whole Sublunary VVorld is but a Point or Centre and that it no way can be prov'd that ever those Bodies received any Curse for Man's Sin or Contagion by the VVorld's Deluge or that any Enemies of God dwell in them to pollute them He that considereth this will not easily be induced to believe that the Fire of the Day of Judgment shall burn them It remaineth therefore that the Sublunary Heavens only with their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are to be the Subject of this Conflagration Mr. Mede's Works p. 614 615. some with probable Reason conceive yet that without dispute or doubt [i] Dr. More 's Myst of Godl p. 231. the Globe of the Earth and the circumjacent Air with all the Garnishings of them shall be burnt up That this Air and Earth shall be strangely and wonderfully alter'd though not annihilated That the present Order and comely Beauty of the Compages and Frame of this visible lower World shall be dissolv'd That this great House and goodly Building made for Man to dwell in shall be taken down and all the Furniture wherewith it was fitted for his Use and Service shall be destroyed That it will be an Act of Wisdom for God to abolish these Things when the Time appointed for Probation and Trial of immortal Spirits cloathed with Flesh is ended and expired and Men shall enter into so different a State in which there will be no need of any Thing that serves and ministers to this terrene and animal Life And though God think good to continue this World for a while that it may be a Theater whereon his Wisdom Goodness Mercy Patience and other his glorious Attributes may be displayed and made conspicuous yet it is convenient and reasonable that this Stage of God's Acts and Works of Providence when all is finished should be taken down And
think yet farther That it will be an Act of Justice for God to do this That though he Sin yet he does not revoke the Sentence but in due Time will execute Judgment and Vengeance upon it for the first Sin that Man committed and for all the rest that have been acted in it That Man not only being a Tenant at will but having unworthily broken his Covenant and forfeited his Possession by breaking the Articles of his Lease his Lord at last will turn him out of Doors or rather pull down his House about his Ears and not suffer it to be alwaies a Nest of Rebels and Covenant-breakers That this World the Creature made for the Use of Man being defiled and abused by him to serve him in his Sin when the Sins of the Inhabitants of the Earth as of the * Gen. 15.16 Amorites of old shall arrive to a * Gen. 15.16 Fulness when once the rebellious Generations of Adam shall have fill'd up the Measure of their Iniquities and are ripe for Judgment the Day of Dissolution will then certainly come called expresly †2 Pet. 3 7. the Day of Judgment and Perdition of ungodly Men That then the wicked and abominable Men shall be burnt in the Place of their Wickedness and the Objects and Instruments of their Sin shall be destroyed with them and become the Instruments of their Punishment For so the Garden of Eden wherein Man was at first plac'd was destroyed and defac'd when once he had sinned in it And what more usual even among Men than to order the Execution of notorious Malefactors in the Places where they have committed their Wickedness and to sentence the Houses wherein themselves and their Families liv'd to be demolished ‖ Dan. 3.29 Their Houses shall be made a Dunghill You have heard of great and terrible Fires in the World and of famous Cities consum'd thereby and have seen not many Years since the devouring desolating Flames of London the Metropolis and chief City of our Nation But think with thy self that all this is nothing at all to that great Fire which one Day God will kindle at once setting Heaven and Earth in a Flame together Let me here assist your Meditation by proposing and presenting to you a notable Description given by a very learned [k] Dr. More 's Myst of Godl p. 238. Concerning the Partibility of the Conflagration of the Earth See there Book 6 c. 7 8. Doctor of the general and final Conflagration of the Earth Christ will cause saies he such an universal Thunder and Lightning that it shall rattle over all the Quarters of the Earth rain down burning Comets and falling Stars and discharge such Claps of unextinguishable Frie that it will do sure Execution wherever it falls so that the Ground being excessively heated those subterraneous Mines of combustible Matter will also take Fire which inflaming the inward Exhalations of the Earth will cause a terrible Murmur under Ground so that the Earth will seem to thunder against the tearing and ratling of the Heavens and all will be fill'd with sad remugient Echo's Earth-quakes and Eruptions of Fire there will be every where and whole Cities and Countries swallowed down by the vast gapings and wide Divulsions of the Ground And this fiery Vengeance shall be so thirsty that it shall drink deep of the very Sea nor shall the Water quench her devouring Appetite but excite it Wherefore the great Channel of the Sea shall be left dry and all Rivers shall be turned into Smoak and Vapour so that the whole Earth shall be inveloped in one entire Cloud of an unspeakable Thickness which shall cause more than an Egyptian Darkness clammy and palpable to be felt which added to this choaking Heat and Stench will compleat this External Hell Consider how the Scripture testifies that God will do this and the Power of God assures us that he can do it for nothing is hard or difficult to him much less impossible Think of the Creation God's raising and building this Frame of the World out of nothing and reason thus with thy self Cannot he that made it by the Word of his Power easily dissolve it And argue further in this manner Cannot he that destroyed the old World by a Floud of Waters destroy this by Fire and cause this to die of a Feaver as the did of a Dropsy Cannot he that turned Sodom and Gomorrah into Ashes do the like with the World it self also Is not he that made Mount Sinai shake and smoak at the giving of the Law able to dissolve all these Things The close and intent Meditation of this general Dissolution will clearly convince thee that Sin is an evil and a bitter Thing and will move thee to hate and abhor to shun and avoid Sin which is of a Nature so mischievous and destructive which is the meritorious procuring Cause of so dreadful a Judgment which not only of old brought the Floud of Water upon the World of the Vngodly and forced down Gehennam de Coelo as Salvian speaks caused God to rain Hell-sire and Brimstone from Heaven * Jude 7. 2 Pet. 2.5 6. upon Sodom and Gamorrah and miserably destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and turned their fruitful Land into a barren Wilderness but will one Day set this World on fire and put it in a flame and turn this stately Structure and beautiful Frame into a rude confused Chaos The deep and earnest Thoughts of this will affect and influence thy Heart and Life and quicken thee exceedingly to all Sincerity Diligence and Zeal in the Exercise of Godliness to an holy Fear and Aw of him who can and will destroy the World 'T will constrain thee to use the Words of the Apostle and to say in good Sadness * 2 Pet. 3.11 Seeing then that all these Things shall be dissolved what manner of Person ought I to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness Seeing this Destruction shall thus involve all what an engagement does this lay upon me to live the most pure strict Life that ever Man liv'd It will incite thee by a constant course of true Piety wisely to provide for thy Escape in that Day to save and secure thy self from the Evil and Danger of it that thou maiest not be undone by this general Dissolution nor suffer Loss in this Conflagration nor perish in this Burning 'T will put thee in mind to sit thy self for this Day of Dissolution of all Things by getting the Works of the Devil throughly dissolved in thee and the Kingdom of God set up and established in thy Soul The due Consideration of this general Dissolution and final Conflagration will certainly keep thee from setting thy Heart inordinately upon any outward earthly Things from heaping up Treasure to thy self here from dreaming that any of thy Houses here shall continue for ever from having unlimited everlasting Affections for flitting fugitive transitory Things for the World the †1
Cor. 7.31 Fashion of which passeth away or for the Things of the World which either ‖ Col. 2.22 perish with the present using or must at last be burnt up in the general Conflagration It will preserve thee from placing thy Heaven and Happiness in any Thing here below from being transported and infinitely pleased with thy convenient Situation thy well-built House thy pleasant Gardens fruitful Grounds rich Furniture gorgeous Apparel store of Provisions and all manner of Accommodations as to earthly Possessions and outward Enjoyments since all those Things which sensual and voluptuous Persons now take excessive Delight in shall be demolished at the great Day and they themselves shall then like Bees be smother'd in their own Hives This Meditation will enforce thee to make this Inference and Conclusion Shall all this Frame be certainly dissolv'd then surely this is not the Place of my Rest I will be wiser hereafter than to take this World for my Dwelling-house I will only look upon 't as my Cottage my Tent and Tabernacle wherein as a Pilgrim I am to sojourn for a Time Nor will I reckon the Things of this World my Goods but only my Lumber which I can easily bear the Loss of I will presently put my self in a [l] Mundus ecce nutat lab tur ruinam sui non jam senecture rerum sed fine testatur tu non Deo gratias agis non tibi gratutaris quòd exitu maturtore subtractus rutuis manufragtis plagis imminentibus extaris Cypr. Serm 4. de Mortai readiness to leave and forsake this Place which is so near to ruin and shortly will surely be burnt up I have no continuing City here I will therefore seek one to come look after an heavenly Countrey set my Affections on Things above make sure of an enduring Substance of something much more certain and lasting than any of the Enjoyments of this World I will labour by charitable laying out to lay up a Treasure in Heaven quite out of the reach of this terrible Burning To store up such durable Riches as neither Moth nor Rust can now corrupt nor Thieves break through and steal nor this flaming raging Fire be ever able to devour I will make it my constant Care to provide that as when the little House of my earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolv'd so when this great House of the World and its fair Furniture shall be destroyed I may have another a better House to receive me * 2 Cor. 5.1 an House not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens I find [m] Homil. 7. de Poenit. St. Chrysostome discoursing much to this Sense and Purpose If some body should give notice to thee that this City in which thou livest would all fall down within a Year or should very quickly be destroyed and that it and all Things in it should utterly be consum'd with Fire and nothing at all be lest unburnt and that of necessity thou must depart hence and go into another City in which thou shouldst spend thy whole Life and in which thou shouldst have nothing at all to sustain and relieve thee but such Goods only as thou shouldst send from hence thither If thou shouldst undoubtedly believe this no reason certainly could ever induce thee to hord up Treasures in this City to begin to build a great House here to plant a Vineyard to set Gardens and Groves but thou wouldst bend and turn all thy Thoughts and use and apply all thy Endeavours to transmit all into that City into which thou knewest thou shouldst thy self be forc'd to remove The second of the four last Things proposed as the subject Matter of Meditation in order to the right Redemption of Time II. Proceed to meditate of a future and final Judgment Think 1. That such a Thing will certainly be 2. That the Time of it is to us as uncertain as can be 1. Consider seriously of the Certainty and Necessity of a Judgment to come in another Life Think how the common universal Consent of all Ages of the World avouches and declares it That the very Heathens had natural express Notions of a final Judgment and a future Reward or Punishment [a] See Dr. Jackson 3 vol p. 379 384 385 389. which made some among them prefer the Exercise of Vertue and Goodness before the Enjoyment of this mortal Life and the outward Comforts of it and abhor the Practice of any Dishonesty more than Death And do but give Audience to your own Conscience and you will find internal Experiments sufficient to convince you of a Judgment to be looked for after this Life to cause you to conclude that the private Session kept in the Conscience of a Sinner here is but the Antecedent and Fore-runner of a publick and general Assize That Conscience which is God's Deputy and keepeth Court for him here does but begin now what God hereafter at the great Audit will himself complete and finish Look upon the secret Checks and Rebukes of thy own Conscience upon thy Commission of any base or unworthy Action and upon the inward Applauses and Gratulations the hidden Joys and Exultations of thy Conscience upon the Performance of any laudable vertuous Action to be so many Tasts and Pledges Earnests and Assurances of a twofold Sentence or Award that shall be given at the Last Day and some Suggestion and Intimation of that Horrour and Confusion that shall seize upon the Wicked and of that Peace and Comfort which the Righteous shall be filled with at the general Day of Judgment Consider how thy Conscience reflecting upon thy past Actions does not only allow and approve thy good Actions but does also create a wonderful Boldness and Confidence in thee and does not only disapprove thy evil Actions but does also breed a strange Dread beget a fearful Expectation and Terrour in thee and all this without relation to any Thing either to be suffered or enjoyed in this Life and therefore that Conscience is not only a Judg in this Life but is also a Witness bound over to give Testimony for or against thee at some Judgment after this Life to pass upon thee Consider moreover That the many remarkable particular Judgments inflicted by God either upon Nations or Cities or Persons here in this World do not obscurely seem to signify and foroshew that a general Judgment shall surely come and certainly pass upon the whole World and that Justice shall be infallibly executed upon all final impenitent Rebels hereafter And consider yet farther That in reason there must be a future final Judgment that God at present may [b] The necessity of this Principle to the Government of Mens Lives and Actions is the ground of that Saying amongst the Rabbins that Paradise and Hell are two of the seven Pillars upon which God is said to have founded the World As if it could not be upheld without such a support Bp. Wilkins Princip and Dut of Nat.
voluntary Crimes and according to the measure of them And think again That as thou shalt suffer variety of Punishment Punishment of Loss and Punishment of Sense so thou shalt undergo extremity of Torment That thou shalt be forc'd to depart into Fire †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 25.41 the Fire emphatically which whether it shall be material or metaphorical speaks the sharpness and severity of thy Torment That thou shalt be cast into Fire prepar'd suffer a contrived Punishment that falls under the solemnity of a Preparation Prepared by God the wise and just Lord and Judg For the Devil and his Angels A great and inevitable Punishment such as the Devils must suffer and such as thou must suffer with the Devils That if thou servest the Devil here thou must dwell with him in hell-Hell-fire And if it be so great an Affliction to the People of God who have a true Sense and a right Judgment of Things to be necessitated to live among * Ps 120.5 the Wicked here in this World Think then what a grievous Misery it will be to thee when thy Eyes are open'd in Hell to see thy self under a necessity of dwelling continually with the Devils and cursed Fiends of Hell Think how it would [d] Shepheard's S C. p 95. scare thee almost out of thy wits to have the Devil frequently appear to thee here and what Horror then shall fill thy Soul when thou shalt be banish'd from the Face of God and Presence of Christ and from Angels Society and be joined in Fellowship with the Devil and his Angels be shut up in the darkest Den with that roaring Lion and be chained with the Devil in fiery Fetters Nor will it at all relieve thee to have Companions in all thy Pain and Distress in Hell But the more there be that shall suffer with thee there the less ease and comfort shalt thou enjoy for as [e] Dr. Jackson 3 vol. p. 495. one of profound Judgment well observes there will be no Concord or Consort there nothing but perpetual Discord which is alwaies so much the greater by how much the Parties discording are more in number It being a Thing too well known that to live in continual Discord though but with some few is a kind of Hell here upon Earth Think yet further That thy Punishment in Hell will be perpetual thy Torments be endless as well as easeless thy †Mat. 25.41 46. 3.12 Fire everlasting and unquenchable That thou shalt be * Rev. 20.10 tormented in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone day and night for ever and ever That if it were possible for one Eternity to be spent for one ever to expire and come to an End there should be another ever for thee to be tormented in That in Hell †Mark 9.44 46 48. thy Worm shall never die That thou shalt be punished with ‖ 2 Thess 1.9 everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord That thou shalt be destroyed in a moral not in a natural Sense That thy Essence and Being shall be everlastingly preserv'd but thou shalt be everlastingly depriv'd of God and Glory and of all that makes to thy well-being and everlastingly afflicted and punished with all that tends to thy ill-being That as Nero refus'd to put [f] Philostr in viâ—a Apoll. Tyanaei Apollonius to Death who was very desirous to die because he would not so far gratify him And as Tiberius Caesar when a certain Offender petition'd him to hasten his Punishment retur'd this Answer [g] Suetonius l. 3. c. 6. Nondum tecum redii in gratiam Stay Sir you and I are not Friends yet So if thou provest a damned Person that God won't be mov'd by all thy entreaty to grant a quick and speedy Dispatch to thee nor after [h] See Mr. Bolton's 4 last Things p. 107 108 109 110. If thou hadst an Head as big as Archimedes and couldst tell how many Atomes of Dust weâ—e in the Globe of the Earth yet think that such a vast number is but as one little Atome in compare with those endless Sorrows and those endless Joys Let this be thy Impress or Motto let this be writ upon the minâ— that a learned man writes upon all his Books Aeternâ—tatem cogita Think of Eternity Johan Meursius D. Patrick's Div. Arithm p. 40 41. thousands and millions of Years spent in Torments yield to let thee die at last And that the Eternity of thy Torments will be the Hell of Hell and the very Sting of the second Death That the Eternity both of Loss and Sense will even break the very Heart of thee If good Men here do grieve and mourn when God withdraws and absents himself but for a Moment from them Think then how lamentably and intolerably it will perplex and punish thee to be made sensible hereafter that God will hide his Face from thee for ever That if here thou art unable to bear a tedious Fit of the Tooth-ach Head-ach Cholick Gout or Stone what then thou wilt do to endure those akings of Heart and wounds of Spirit and convulsions of Conscience and complicated torments of Soul and Body which will be the Portion of damned Persons to eternal Ages And if it be so sad a Misery for any to be burnt to Death here Think then how incomparably greater a Misery it will be to be alwaies burning and frying in Hell and yet never to be burnt to Death there Nay if here to lie long on a Bed of Down or on a Bed of Roses and not once to rise in several Years together would prove a grievous sore Trouble and heavy Affliction what an overwhelming Thought is this then of lying in Flames to all Eternity Consider here that so great is the Folly of Man's Mind and the Hardness of his Heart and the Power of present sensual Allurements that [i] See Baxter's Reas of the Christ Rel. p. 171. nothing less than the Threatning of an endless Misery was an apt and sit Instrument of God's ruling and governing the World That Men would not have been sufficiently awed and effectually restrain'd and deterr'd from Sin and kept in order and obedience if God had not intimated and foretold that the obstinate Sinner shall certainly suffer perpetual Punishment in another World That it is too evident that the Denunciation even of eternal Pain and infinite Torment does [k] Id. ib. p. 164 170. not move and sway the greatest part of Men and therefore that the Threatning of meer Annihilation or of some lighter and shorter Punishment would surely have less prevail'd and wrought upon the World And now when everlasting Punishment is plainly threatned that the just and holy Law-giver doth not intend to affright thee with a Lie or with an uncertainty That his Threatning is not like the prediction of an Almanack It may be so it may be not But that he meaneth really to execute and inflict the Penalty of eternal
giving Nor in not forgiving never forgetting how the wicked uncompassionate Servant in the Parable was delivered by his Lord to the Tormentors Thou wilt strive and labour against sinful [w] Mr. Latimer having in a Sermon at Court in Henry the Eighth's daies much displeased the King he was commanded the next Lord's-Day to preach again and make his Recantation He coming prefaced to his Sermon with a kind of Dialogism in this manner Hugh Latimer Do'st know to whom thou art this day to speak to the high and mighty Monarch that can take away thy Life if thou offend therefore take heed how thou speakest a Word that may displease his Majesty But as recalling himself Hugh Hugh saies he do'st know from whom thou comest and upon whose message thou art sent even the great and mighty God that is able to cast both Body and Soul into Hell-fire for ever and therefore take heed to thy self that thou deliver thy message faithfully and so came to his Sermon and what he had deliver'd the Day before confirmed and urged with more vehemency than ever The King that day called for him and taking him off from his Knees embraced him in his Arms saying he blessed God that he had a Man in his Kingdom that durst deal so plainly and faithfully with him Mr. Newcomen's Serm on Heb. 4.13 p. 37. Fearfulness and not be drawn to do any Evil or omit any Good against clear and full Light of Conscience for Fear of any outward Trouble or Danger recollecting in thy Thoughts that the ‖ Rev 21.8 Fearful shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone Thou wilt be ready (*) Mat. 10.28 Luke 12.5 to set the Fear of God and the Fear of Hell against all carnal Fear of Men or of any temporal Evil whatsoever As the Primitive Martyrs did who when they were solicited by Heathen Emperours to sacrifice to their Idols with these Arguments That then they should save their Houses and Lands and Liberties and Lives but should otherwise lose all They put off all with this Answer [x] Da veniam Imperator tu carcerem minaris ille gehennam Pardon us O Emperour you threaten a Prison to us but God threatens Hell to us So Biblis as [y] Eccl. Hist l. 5. c. 1. Eusebius relates the Story a Woman who having fainted before and renounced her Profession of Christianity out of fear of suffering Persecution and being brought to the Place where the Christians Bodies were burnt to Ashes that others might be drawn from their Profession by means of her expected publick blasphemous Denial and Recantation was at the very Hour of Suffering thoroughly awaken'd as out of a dead Sleep by the sight of those Flames which were the Instruments of the Martyrs Torments to consider the intolerable eternal Torture of hell-Hell-fire which she must unavoidably suffer if she should dishonour Christ and his Religion and asperse the innocent and unblameable Professors of it And thus expelling the lesser Fear by the greater and happily returning unto her self she disappointed her Persecutors Expectation and by being faithful unto Death obtain'd the Crown of a Martyr of Jesus and animated others to endure the Cross with Christian Fortitude and the Patience of the Saints Fix thy Cogitations on the Infernal Flames and this will make thee resolve and determine to chuse rather to do or suffer any thing here than to suffer the sad and bitter Pains of Hell hereafter Concluding that the Pains and Difficulties of Duty are no way comparable to the troublesome uneasy Condition and piercing raging Pains of Hell yea that the Suffering of Martyrdom here is a light Affliction to the dreadful Suffering of Hell-fire hereafter The serious frequent Meditation of the exquisite Punishments and dolorous Torments of Hell will moreover powerfully perswade thee to be far from [z] De horribili eorum exitio admoniti fideles praesentem illis sortem non invideant Calv. envying the greatest Prosperity of wicked Men who shall one day change their present Felicity for extream Want and utmost Misery lose the Presence of God and Christ and the full Fruition of endless Pleasures in Heaven and suffer an Eternity of distracting Pains and racking heart-renting Torments in Hell for a few bitter-sweet transient Pleasures here on Earth Yea this will help thee to bear any outward Affliction patiently and quietly to accept of any temporal Punishment of thy Iniquity considering thou deservest Hell it self and that all thy present Straits and Sufferings are nothing to the Wants and Losses the Pains and Miseries of damned Persons That eminent Pattern of Christian Patience the holy [a] His Life among Mr. Clark's Lives of ten em Div. p. 178. Mr. Jeremy Whitaker did humbly adore God's Goodness in the midst of his sorest sharpest Sufferings and violent excruciating racking and grinding Pains which were caus'd and continued by a complication of acute Diseases the Stone Ulcer Gangrene and expressed himself with marvellous Meekness in such Words as these Lord thou givest me no occasion to have any hard Thoughts of thee O who would not even in Burnings have honourable Thoughts of God Blessed be God there is nothing of Hell in all this Again This will throughly awaken and quicken thee to take heed of beginning the Hell here which will be compleated and consummated hereafter of being now of an hellish frame and temper of Mind of departing from and living without God and Christ which is not only Man's Sin but Misery which is a very Hell upon Earth and will be a great part of the future Hell of contracting and strengthning vicious habits here and of exposing thy self to the Misery that naturally arises from Sin to the Rebukes and Upbraidings of a guilty Conscience Considering with thy self that an hellish Temper and Disposition if thou livest and diest in that Condition will surely continue and be confirm'd in the other World and that an hellish State will prepare thee for and bring thee to the place of Hell This will also engage thee to bless God for Christ for giving his only begotten Son to * 1 Thess 1.10 deliver thee from the Wrath to come by suffering Tribulation and Anguish for thee and †5 9. not appointing thee to Wrath but to obtain Salvation by Jesus Christ. And to be truly thankful to Jesus Christ who condescended to be forsaken of God that thou mightst not be totally deserted and eternally forsaken of him and endured the Fire of God's Wrath that thou mightst be perfectly freed for ever from Hell-fire This will provoke thee by Faith and Repentance and bringing forth Fruits * Mat. 3.7 8. meet for Repentance * Mat. 3.7 8. to flee from the Wrath to come and to seek to escape the Damnation of Hell And this will cause thee to hate and abandon the cursed Arts and wicked Waies of †23.15 making others the Children of Hell to dread the