be to the damn'd to be depriv'd of this unspeakable comfort for an Eternity 't is so deplorable that Scripture does place it in the first rank of all other losses damages torments miseries that can befall a damn'd Soul let the wicked man be taken away Tollatur Impius ne videat gloriam Dei Esai 16. to the end he may not see the glory of God says the Prophet From this loss proceeds that great and general torment so often repeated in Scripture by the name of the worm of Conscience so call'd because as a worm lies eating gnawing the wood wherein she abides so shall the remorse of their Consciences ly within the damn'd griping and tormenting them for ever it shall be to them a remembrancer to put them in minde of the means and causes of their everlasting damnation which will make them to fret and rage and admire their own folly to have hanker'd so much after the vanities of the World and neglected the grand work of their Salvation Hear how they exclaim in Hell what has our Pride Sap. 5. or what has the glory of our Riches profited us they are all now vanish'd like a shaddow We have wearied our selves in the way of iniquity and perdition and the way of our Lord we have not known This shall be their everlasting ditty thus shall their tormented Conscience rave in Hell O most gracious Saviour when I see to my great sorrow in this sad Age we live in poor Mortals so far blinded with their worldly interest so deeply engag'd in the mire of iniquity so much taken with their sinful recreations and pastimes so deaf to thy Inspirations and callings so avers'd to the practise of piety and devotion such great enemies to mortification and pennance I despair in a manner of their Salvation and the rather that these so powerful motives can't prevail with them or make them desist lusting after those poysonous baits which the Devll presents unto them dayly and at every moment and which they with as much ease swallow as he takes pleasure to destroy their Souls Their common discourse is 't is time enough to think of Pennance when we come to old Age for then we shall be fit for no other thing O most Sacred Saviour thou sayst thou wilt not the death of a Sinner wherefore be pleas'd to let them know the danger of delaying their conversion and of deferring their repentance untill their latter days SAVIOVR THere is a kinde of People in the World Rom. 16. Tit. 1. says my Apostle that do exteriourly and by words confess God and profess themselves to be as good Christians as the rest yet interiourly and by the products of their doble dissembling hearts they don't believe there is a God at least with those Attributes that are as essential to him as his divine Nature and which I call infinite knowledge Providence Care and disposition of humane affairs Justice Judgment Punishment and the like These they do not indeed believe because their life and actions are quite contrary to a well-grounded belief Scripture avers it with a wo unto the dissolute and careless in heart who do not believe God Vae dissolutis corde qui non credunt Deo Eccl. 2. Deut. 22. These are the men whom I do hate and detest with all my heart because they plow with an Ox and an Ass together because they sow their ground with mingl'd Seed and their Apparel is made of flax and wool together These are them I spoke of in the Revelations Apoc. 3. I would thou wert either cold or hot but for that thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot therefore will I begin to vomit thee out of my mouth These are they who can accord all Religions together and take up all Controversys by only saying that either they are differences of small importance or else that they are out of their Province and belong only to learned men to dispute of but not unto them moreover they are of opinion that both parts do erre in somewhat or may be agreed and go both to Heaven These are the men who can apply themselves to any company to any time to any Government to any Princes pleasure to any Religion but will not admit of any discourse of Devotion in their presence only they will have men eat drink and be merry with them tell news of the Court and affairs abroad Sing Dance Laugh and play at Cards and dice and so they spend their lives in their Sinful recreations without any thoughts of God without any care of Salvation without any apprehension of Death depending only upon a good Peccavi in their extremity and when God shall Summon them to another World but alas they shall finde themselves sadly mistaken Vae Impio in malum Esai 3. Ipsi videntes sic admirati sunt conturbati sunt commoti sunt tremor apprehendet eos Psal 47.6 for I shall turn them off with a wo to the wicked and then shall set before their eyes all their abominations and crimes their Usury their Drunkenness their whoredome their treacheries their false Oaths their Extortions and Oppressions of the poor their blasphemies and the rest of their wicked actions shall come in a crowd to confound their Souls their Gold and Silver their Estates and Fortunes which they had so unjustly acquir'd their pleasures treasures now the only object of their adoration shall then become the fatal Subject of their confusion and my Justice shall take delight to batter and break their understanding Conteret Dominus scelestos simul Peccatores Esa 1.28 and memory with the full knowledge of all their Sins and how often they had slieghted my Inspirations my Callings my amorous invitations other innumerable effects of my mercy O silly Souls says St. Paul be not deceiv'd be not so far overseen as to leade a licentious life in hopes to dye a good Death Nolite orrare quae enim seminaverit homo haec metet Qui seminat in carne de carne metet corruptionem Gala. 6.7 Mat. 7.16 for in that dreadful hour you shall reap no better grain then what you have sown if you have been such bad Husbands of your Salvation as to sow and plant nothing else in the Soil ground of your Souls but carnal works you can't pretend to no better Harvest then corruption and everlasting Damnation Do Men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles even so every good Tree brings forth good fruit but a corrupt Tree brings forth evil fruit A good Tree can't bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt Tree bring forth good fruit Every Tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down cast into the fire These are my words 't is I the Eternal verity that speaks them Dicite justo quoniam bene fructum adinventionum suarum commedent Esai 3.10 and therefore they can't be contradicted or falsify'd let all men
wrath will it have heap'd together with what an impetuous fury will it burst out upon a wretched sinner at the point of his death Tunc incipient dicere montibus cadite super nos Luk. 23.50 The same Prophet goes on with his description of this dreadful River which shall issue from my Countenance and says that it shall be so terrible that the wicked will invite even the Rocks and Mountains to fall upon them and shelter them from it's scorching waves The Prophet Isaiah sets forth my Justice in a more dreadful manner Isa 56. he says that I will come cloth'd in garments of vengeance and cover'd with a Robe of zeal and that I will give unto my Adversaries my Indignation and that my Enemies shall have their reward The Wiseman comes yet closer to the matter for he says that my zeal shall take up arms and that I shall animate all creatures to revenge me of my Enemies that I shall put on Justice as a brest-plate take the head-piece of righteous Judgment and shall sharpen my wrath as a lance nay I shall not only appear to Sinners at the hour of death as an enrag'd arm'd man Ose 13. but as a Bear that has been robb'd of her whelps that I shall tear their entrails in peices and devour them as a Lyon 'T is certain there is not among the Beasts a more fierce by nature then a Lyon or a more furious then a Bear especially when she has lost her young ones and that I who am by nature infinitely good mild and loving should compare my self to such monsters of nature for fierceness and cruelty is to express sensibly the terrors of my Justice and rigour against Sinners in that day of wrath full of calamity and misery Dies irae dies illa calamitatis miseriae dies magna amara valde miss de req in that great sorrowful and most bitter day O man take notice of this dreadful expression 't is able to terrify thy heart and to bring a trembling over all thy body Consider well how many poor Souls hast thou led astray from my paths by thy poysonous doctrine and evil examples how many poor Souls are now in hell-Hell-fire solely upon the account of the damnable principles which thou hast still'd into their ears and hearts and which they carry'd along with them to their graves How many innocent and virtuous young Maids and Women hast thou forc'd out of my service to satisfy thy lustful desires I say forc'd them because that perceiving them in a wanting condition thou hast wrought upon their necessity and weakness both by giving them what thou shouldst have kept for the maintenance of thy proper Wife and Children Assure thy self that in the hour of thy death I shall appear unto thee as a Bear whom thou hast robb'd of so many young ones yea and shall tear thy entrails in peices for all thy misdemeanours extortions and oppressions I will devour thee as a Lyon as well for working the destruction of thy own Soul as for contributing to the loss of many others by thy bad examples 'T is by reason of the severity of my Justice against Sinners in the hour of their death that Daniel says there shall proceed from my face a River of fire because this Element of all others is the most active and so pure that it will not admit of any mixture whereas Earth will lodge in its bosom Mines of several mettals and Quarries of divers sorts of Stone Water will entertain a pleasant variety of Fishes the Air gives liberty to all sorts of Fowl to fly through all it's region and does also harbour a vast multitude of vapours exhalations and several other bodies but Fire endures nothing it melts the hardest mettals reduces even stones into Cinders consumes living Creatures converts Trees into its own Substance and turns all that is contrary to it into its own nature The same shall happen in that day of my wrath all shall be rigour and Justice without any mixture of mercy nay the very mercies which I have exhibited to sinners in their life time shall then be both a motive to kindle my indignation and fuel to blaze up my incensed Justice against them O man consider therefore whilst thou hast time to repent nay and seriouslytoo what a sad condition thou shalt see thy self in at that instant when neither my bloud shed for thee nor my self crucifi'd for thy sake nor the powerful intercession of my most blessed Mother nor the prayers of my Saints no nor my divine mercy it self shall contribute any thing to thy safety No this life once past thou art to expect no Patron no Protectour but thy virtuous actions thy Angel Guardian and all the Saints thy Advocates shall abandone thee thy vast riches the greatness of thy Authority thy numerous Servants thy learned Counsels will not avail thee nor defend thy Process thy good works alone will defend thee from the rigour of my Justice when the Treasures thou hast heap'd up in the world and been so careful to preserve shall fail thee Thine Alms bestow'd upon the poor shall stick close to thee and pleade for thy pardon in a powerful manner Thy Wife thy Children thy Kindred Friends and Followers shall go no farther then the grave with thee but the Strangers which thou hast lodg'd the sick which thou hast visited and the needy which thou hast succour'd will bear thee company even before my dreadful Throne and place thee at my right hand among the number of my blessed for ever MAN O My most gracious Saviour withdraw thy hand far from me and let not thy dread make me afraid Job 13. Wherefore hidest thou thy face holdest me for thy Enemy wilt thou break a leaf that is driven to fro with every little puff of wind and wilt thou so rigorously pursue the dry stubble for thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks and lookest narrowly unto all my paths thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet who am to be consum'd as a rotten thing and as a garment that is moth-eaten Man that is born of a Woman is of few days and full of trouble He comes forth like a flower and is cut down He vanisheth also as a shadow and continues not And dost thou fix thine eyes upon such an one and bringest me into Judgment with thee Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean These are the words of the most afflicted of mortals and Mirror of Patience admiring the severity of thy Justice against Man a creature so weak so frail and so prone to all manner of evil against a wretch viciously inclin'd from his cradle that drinks up iniquity with as much pleasure and case as he would a glass of Spring-water in his greatest drougth on a hot Summers day It were a subject of
as would occasion their death but I am wholly an Alien to their feelings and do choose rather to side with the Prophet Samuel and in all humility do intreat that thou O Lord wilt be graciously pleas'd to speak to me Not Moises no nor any of thy Prophets for the instructions and lights they may give me be but gifts and Rays borrowed of thy incomprehensible Splendor thou alone without their Ministry canst perfectly instruct me alas their endeavours in my regard will signify just nothing without thy gracious concurrence They may indeed utter some words but unless thou dost influence them they 'l never mollify my stony Heart nor lodge thy Spirit within my bowels Their words may be indeed plac'd to admiration their Rhetorick Charming their Eloquence exceeding that of the very best Orators their Periods mannag'd in extraordinary good order but if they relish not of thy divine Spirit my heart alas will remain as cold as the very Ice They may Cite Scripture fluently to confirm their discourse and quote both Councels and Fathers to the astonishment of their Hearers but they cannot work so far on their understanding as to make 'em conceive the thing they aim at nor bring their Will to the practise of it that enterprize is out of their Province 't is a Prerogative pertaining alone to thee O Lord no mortal Man no the very Angels cannot pretend to it unless they have thy Commission to that effect They may entertain us with a learn'd and pleasant discourse of thy great and adorable Mysteries but thou alone can'st render our understanding capable to conceive them they may tell us of thy Precepts and Counsels but thou alone can'st help us to fulfil them They can shew to us the ready road leading to Salvation but thou alone can'st comfort us in our failings and give us then greater courage to walk therein till we arrive at our journeys end The most they can boast of is to be thy Sollicitors and Agents which thou mak'st use of to exhort us to the practise of this or that other Virtue they may describe unto us the many evil consequences of a wicked Licentious life Ego plantavi Apollo rigavit Deus autem incrementum dedit 1 Epist Pauli ad Câ—rintâ—ios c. 3. v. 6. Tanquam a facie Colubri fuge peccatum Eccl. c. 21. v 2. they may thunder from their Pulpits thy dreadful threatnings and the horrid effects of thy divine wrath but 't is thy Sanctifying Grace that alone can soften instruct and illustrate our Hearts They can exteriously water our barren and rebellous Souls but thou alone can'st give the increase cause them happily to comply with the sweet Influences of thy holy Inspirations They may cry out and warn us to fly from sin as from the venom of a Serpent but thou alone mak'st our understanding and will prompt to conceive and practise what they say Let Moises then for bear speaking to me 't is from thee my God I do expect the word which can subdue reform clear my heart from all terrene and sordid affections If I only be outwardly admonish'd and not inwardly inflam'd with the ardent fire of thy divine Love my Souls death may ensue or at best I shall be but a barren and wither'd tree Let me then hear thee speak O Lord and let thy word be no sooner heard but put in execution by me no sooner known but lov'd no sooner pronounc'd but deeply fix'd in the Center of my heart there to produce the worthy fruits of a sincere sorrowful and constant repentance 1 Reg. 3. Verba enim viâ—ae eternae habes Jo. 6. Speak then O Lord for thy Servant hears thee thy words are the happy seed of eternal life let me then hear them to the comfort of my Soul and to the reformation and perfect amendment of my whole life this is a work that will really be for thy greater Glory and my eternal Salvation SAVIOVR HEar my words O Man they are most sweet efficacious and vivifying far exceeding the science of the Philosophers and wise of this World my words are both spirit and life they are beyond the reach of humane understanding they don't affect a vain complacency but delight to be receiv'd rather in silence with all humility and with all the tenderness of love and affection that can be express'd My Servant David was throughly convinc'd of this undeniable assertion when he sent forth these seraphical expressions to my heavenly Throne Beatus quem tu erudieris Domine deâ—ege tua eum docueris ut mitiges ei a die bus malis c. Psal 93. v. 12. Blessed is the man O Lord whom thou shalt instruct in thy Law and teach how he may in the evil days of his mortal life heap up a vast treasure of merits for an Eternity I am the Lord who have taught the Prophets from the beginning and since have never ceas'd to speak unto all Men but alas few answer my expectation Satan has so blinded their understanding so perverted their will so benumb'd their senses that the most part of them make nothing of my words take no notice of my corrections and set no value on my most amorous invitations in order to revive their poor Souls and shelter them under the wings of my paternal and powerful protection from the rage and fury of that infernal and devouring Dragon The most of them are so infatuate as to be more inclin'd to give ear to the deluding Sirens of the world then to the inspirations of their God to the fatal perswasions of the flesh then to the salutary dictates of the Holy Ghost to the ruinous suggestions of the Devil then to the amorous invitations of their Creator and Redeemer What the world does promise 'em is but temporal and of no 〈◊〉 and yet for that small satisfaction they are content to become slaves to it and to lose that glorious title of Children of God and all pretentions to Heaven What I promise 'em is of an unspeakable estimate and of an everlasting continuance yet their hearts are strangely averse to it and seem to conceive as great an abhorrence of it as the people of Israel had against that food which I showr'd down upon them in the Desart Their obedience to the world and their other mortal enemies and their care of pleasing them is more prompt and far greater then what they shew in my service Esay 23. Let Sidon blush and why because that for a small Sallery for a trifle she will run a long way but for the purchase of Heaven for the gain of an everlasting and happy life she will hardly raise up her foot from the ground A man shall labour a whole day to get sixpence at night and perhaps less he will undertake the most vile work that can be nam'd and be at it both night and day and weary himself so extreamly as to be nigh breathing out his life and all
Land of everlasting darkness and misery where there is neither rest union comfort or order but a perpetual toil hatred sorrow confusion and horrour they all will unanimously answer our procrastinate conversion our delai'd repentance and our groundless hopes to have a peccavi at will tho' Death should on a sudden surprize us with an Arrest this was the fatal overture through which we fell into this endless misery And it stands with a great deal of reason for the longer a man loiters in his vicious and wicked ways the more obdurate his heart will be and the less inclin'd to produce an act of Contrition nay should his Confessarius break his brain to bring him to it his answer will be that which David gave to Saul when he was to encounter the Philistian Giant Saul would have him to put on his own Armour and to fight with his Sword Usum non habeo 1. Reg. 17.39 but David made answer that he was never accustom'd to it and therefore would not accept of his offer it s the same with an inveterate Sinner let his Confessor cry out Sir one Act of contrition one sincere and hearty Peccavi for God is mercyful and will be the same to thee if thou wilt reclaim and beg him most heartily pardon Ah Sir he will reply I was never bred to that divine Art 't is a lesson I never learn'd 't is a strong weapon against the Devil and all his power I must confess yet I never made use of it and therefore 't is but a folly to pretend to it at present Thou seest by this example O Man that the longer a sinner perseveres in sin the farther he will be from any desire of a true Contrition his heart will grow the more obdurate his Conscience more blinde his Soul so oppress'd with evil custome even as with a huge and weighty Stone that makes her wholly insensible of what concerns her Salvation But if any of such like reprobates should seem to repent 't is to be fear'd that his chief and only motive is the fear of hell-Hell-fire not the reall product of Justice nor any true Contrition Nolo mortem impii sed ut convertatur impius a via sua vivat Ezek. 33.11 however I would not have any inveterate Sinner despair neither would I have him be so careless of his Salvation as to neglect it whilst he has time and leisure to secure it and a saving God who is so easily mov'd to compassionate him and so ready to grant him so grateful a request as is the remission of his Sins and Life everlasting For a resolve of thy last objection that the way which leads to Heaven is both narrow difficult and craggy consequently that thy nature which is very fond of her own ease can hardly be brought to walk therein I answer that it is a million of times more tollerable to strike into that roade tho' never so irksome to thy corrupt nature then to suffer the pains of Hell for an eternity Quam areta est via angusta porta quae ducit ad vitam pauci inveniunt eam Mat. 7.14 Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis onerati estis ego reficiam vos jugum enim meum suave est onus meum leve Matt. 11.28 nay even the pains of Purgatory which are but temporal 'T is true I told thee and am still of the same opinion that Strait is the gate and Narrow is the way which leads unto life and few there be that finde it I told thee moreover that from the days of John the Baptist untill now the Kingdome of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force But thou didst likewise hear me say Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoak upon you and learn of me for I am meek and humble in heart and ye shall finde rest unto your Souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light For what is of it self burdensome to nature is made easy by the assistance of my grace and is sweeten'd by custom for wherever the Love of God is lodg'd and increas'd to the height and prime of its fervour all Tribulations Persecutions Crosses Losses nay Death it self will be look'd upon as the chiefest favours and blessings of a most loving Father so that there is nothing in the world more to be hated and abhorr'd then Sin which alone can cause the displeasure of God and his fatal Seperation from man MAN O Lord my God! thou art my Life my Treasure and all my happiness but what am I that I should prefume to speak to thee what but a poor and despicable servant a most vile and abject worm far more miserable and contemptible in thy sight then I can or dare imagine Remember therefore o' Lord that I am nothing have nothing and am absolutely the most indigent and sordid of all thy Creatures Thou alone art good thou only art both just and holy Thou alone canst do all canst give all canst fill all and I poor Soul am void of all that can be call'd good for nothing but misery is to be found where Sin predominates Forget not then o' Lord thy miserations to me and vouchsafe to replenish my heart with thy grace that I may carry my Cross cheerfully and follow thy steps with all alacrity whilst I continue my Pilgrimage in this tempestuous and miserable life Thou knowest that of my self I can perform nothing that may be grateful to thee or any way meritorious Psal 142. to my own Salvation wherefore o' Lord assist me with thy grace on all occasions turn not away thy face from thy poor and wretched Creature delay not thy gracious visit withdraw not thy consolations from me lest my Soul should remain a barren and dry Tree and become fuel for that unquenchable fire of Hell O' Lord teach me how I may fulfill thy blessed will instruct me in thy ways that I may walk therein with safety and in all humility Thou hast indeed resolv'd all my objections and hast broke all the chains which might detain both me and all other Sinners in the bondage of Sin and Slavery of the Devil thou said'st as much of virtue and vice as much of Satans rage and of thine own clemency to all poor Sinners as much of the joys of Heaven and of the torments of Hell as are able to move the most obdurate hearts and hasten them out of hand to give an everlasting farewell to th' one and to make their constant and happy choice of the other But alas I know by a fatal experience how weak I am in my resolutions how far from the love of God how much a stranger to virtue and therefore have great need of comfort and strength from thee to go through with what I resolve for the future Thou art my heavenly Physitian from thee I do expect a cure for all