ever and ever Let it warn us to be perpetually mindful of our Mortality and humbly and diligently to wait all the days of our appointed time till our Change come In a word Let it oblige us to forget those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before to press with all possible Vehemence towards the Mark for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus 2. You have seen how great and glorious the Rewards that expect us in the other World are that they are both proportion'd to the utmost Capacity of the Soul and also will be enjoy'd to all Eternity Do not you then long for this happy state and sigh and desire ardently with St. Paul to be dissolv'd and to be with Christ * My Father and Mr. John Gregory in his posthumous Discourse of the Morality of the Sabbath pag. 101. Here as says a Blessed Author you have hard Working-days sore Labour and Travel under the Sun The Devil assaults you the World hates you your own evil Hearts many times distress you and crazy Bodies discourage you We are all here clouded with Sin and Misery and ah our Vileness is upon us Let us then bear up our Souls upon the loftiest Wing of Divine Contemplation and follow our Ascending Lord above this Darkness and miserable Habitations into the radiant Mansions of his Fathers House the Kingdom of Glory Let us meditate Day and Night upon that blessed time when we shall have our Feet upon the Top of Mount Sion and rejoyce in the Felicity of his Chosen the unfolded and essential Glories of his Divine Countenance which are too bright for our mortal Faculties and which none can see and live When we shall give Thanks with his Inheritance the blessed Societies of Saints and Angels and everlastingly enjoy the delicious Repasts of Anthems and Allelujahs in short upon the infinite Transports and Ravishments of the Soul in the secure and everlasting Fruition of the Divine Love upon the mutual Endearments and Caresses of Immortal Spirits and upon all those glorious things which are spoken by him who made and fully understands them of the City of God Let us frequently and seriously I say contemplate these things and they will most assuredly so influence our Wills and fan the Flame of our Affections that we shall become perfectly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dead to our selves and to all the luscious Relishes of the sensual Nature continually tending upwards with importunate Reaches towards heavenly Objects Then we shall be sufficiently encourag'd to take up the Cross of Christ and willingly and chearfully undergo all the Afflictions and Tribulations of this Life well knowing that the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compar'd with the Glory that shall be revealed in us this light Affliction which is but for a moment working for us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an infinitely more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Lastly As our future Happiness proceeds from the Vision of God so you have seen that without Holiness no Man can see him Let this then excite us to form and fashion the Frame of our Minds into a Likeness and Affinity with our Blessed Maker Let it oblige us to prepare our selves for the Intuition of his Beauty to purifie ourselves as he is pure and to purge refine and spiritualize our Nature that we may be qualify'd for the Possession of our proper Centre our home and native Region the Highest Heaven Let it lead our awak'ned Souls to the Divine Goodness and Philanthropy for the Regulation of their disorderly and tumultuous Appetites and induce them humbly and intensly to pray at the Throne of Grace that they may perfect Holiness in the Fear of God For when we thus sincerely desire to shake our selves from the Dust to arise and put on our beautiful Garments and to see the King in his Beauty the Glory of the Lord will be revealed to us and we shall certainly behold the Excellency of our God As the Bridegroom rejoyceth over the Bride solacing himself in the ardent and dear Reciprocations of her Love so will our God rejoyce over us He will be in the midst of us he will save us he will rejoyce over us with Joy He will rest in his Love he will rejoyce over us with Singing He will take away all our Dross and for his Name 's sake purifie and cleanse the Corruptions of our Nature until the Righteousness thereof go forth as Brightness and the Salvation thereof as a Lamp that burneth In a word He will vouchsafe us the most gracious Visitations and Elapses of his Holy Spirit and never leave letting himself down into us till he has quite loosen'd us from Sin and from ourselves and wrought us up into such a blessed Uniformity with the Divine Nature as will make us meet for his amiable Dwellings the City of Righteousness where we shall joyfully mention the loving Kindnesses of the Lord and be for ever delighted with the Abundance of his Glory Which God of his Infinite Mercy grant c. HEBREWS ii 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation IN handling these Words I shall endeavour to shew 1. The Greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ and 2. Our Inexcusableness and the intolerable Aggravations of our Guilt and Punishment if we neglect it That so either common Gratitude in reflecting upon the infinite Condescensions of Divine Love may draw us or at least the Terrors of the Lord may affright us into Obedience For how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation I. I am to shew the greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ And this appears 1. From the Consideration of the Greatness and Majesty of the Person undertaking it Now 't was not any one of the Patriarchs who were burning and shining Lights in their Generations 'T was not Moses nor one of the Prophets by whom in times past he spake unto the Fathers But when the Fulness of the time was come God dealt with us as the Lord of the Vineyard did with his Husbandmen last of all sending even his own Son to be his Ambassadour to Mankind His own Son from whom by the Spirit all those Divine Teachers which from the Beginning of the World to his Birth went before him in the Flesh receiv'd their Power and Commission Of whom Moses and the Prophets were only Types Fore-runners and Shadows Figures Ministers and Substitutes to prepare and enable the World by degrees to receive this great Mystery of Godliness God manifested in the Flesh this last and universal Declaration of Life and Immortality brought to light in his Gospel His own Son who is his only-Begotten Co-essential and Co-eternal with himself the Heir of all things the Lord of Glory the very Brightness of his Fathers Glory the Express Image of his Person full of Grace and Truth His own Son * Col. 1.16 17. by whom were
which demand our Faith as well as those that call for our Practice in many places displaying themselves in such Capital Letters that he who runs may read them There are indeed in these Writings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some obscure Places and hard to be understood But these I conceive are not necessary to be understood For if they were our Heavenly Father had undoubtedly so deliver'd them that by his Blessing upon our honest Labour and Study we should at length certainly clearly and distinctly understand them But since as I humbly conceive they are not so deliver'd but after all our Pains and Industry lie securely envelop'd with their own Darkness we may safely conclude from the Goodness of our Maker that they are not necessary to be understood Nay I verily believe that such is the nature of some of these Places especially of some in St. John's Revelations that 't is prodigious Impertinence and unpardonable Vanity to determine peremptorily upon them They seem to be Prophecies which belong not to us but to our Children Not to the Present but Future Ages of the Church when they will all clear up and apparently unfold themselves in their utmost Completion Then at last will the Clouds all vanish and disappear and these places shine forth with untainted Lustre and Brightness Then will the Church behold with Joy and Transport the manifold Wisdom of God which for wise and great Ends is hid from these Ages and Generations and which therefore 't is no ways necessary we should understand Let others then if they dare venture curiously pry into these Recondite Points Let them continually rack and torture their Brains in the fruitless search after these hidden Mysteries till their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge falsly so call'd so swell add puff them up that they either wrest them to their own Perdition over-looking the plain self-evident places and by unwarrantable contradictory expositions of the obscure bringing in damnable Heresies and Corruptions into the Church or of all which this present Age is abundant proof they cause their own Heads to grow vertiginous and irrecoverably fall into the lamentable state of Delirancy and Madness But let us be sober and wise unto Salvation not impertinently prying into things beyond our reach but studying the things which make for Peace and things whereby we may edifie one another Let us meditate in the Law of the Lord not to gratifie our Curiosity but to meliorate our Lives not to encourage and patronize Divisions and Schism but to preserve Union and Concord in the Church of God Not to be litigious noisy and impertinent but holy and unblameable in all manner of Conversation The fourth and last thing to be advis'd 4. Study to live well or in all the Accidents and Emergencies of your Lives to keep a Conscience void of Offence towards God and towards Man This is the best and surest way to preserve your selves pure from all manner of Contagion For I can never entertain such unworthy Thoughts of my Blessed Maker as to think he will suffer an ingenuous Soul who makes it her Business sincerely to search after Truth and diligently to walk in the old Paths ever to die in any Damnable Error And if I am not unpardonably mistaken the Sacred Oracles do abundantly confirm me in this Persuasion Great peace says the * Psal 119. ver 105. Psalmist have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them and †Ver. 130. again When thy word goeth forth it giveth light and understanding unto the simple and ‖ Ver. 104. again Thro' thy Commandments I get understanding therefore I hate all evil ways And our ** Joh. 7.17 Lord himself If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God And as I am persuaded that 't is absolutely impossible for a devout well-meaning sincere and pious Soul ever to die in any damnable Error so on the other hand I conceive it almost as impossible for a Man who has cast off all Care of his Conscience to keep his Faith long pure and undefil'd †2 Tim. 1.19 20. St. Paul tells us of Hymeneus and Alexander that having put away their Conscience they miserably made Shipwrack of their Faith And 't is observable of the Learned Jews that when about three or fourscore Years before the Nativity of Christ they began to relax their Discipline and to dissolve into the loose and wanton Customs of their neighbouring Orientals they immediately betook themselves likewise to transform their Faith resolving the Commandments of God into their own Inventions and making his Word of none effect through their upstart Traditions You see they first defil'd their Conscience and then their Faith May then the God of all Grace who hath call'd us unto his Eternal Glory by Christ Jesus keep us stedfast in the Faith once deliver'd to the Saints and to that End stablish strengthen settle us in every good Word and Work To Him he Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Amen 1 PET. Ch. v. Ver. 8. Your Adversary the Devil as a Roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour WHether that ancient Opinion of the Heathens de invidiâ Daemonis had its Rise only from those grand Cheats and Delusions which the more inquisitive and searching Heads amongst them observ'd to be impos'd upon the World not only in their more common and ordinary ways of divination but likewise by the most celebrated Oracles themselves as * De Myst Aegypt Jamblichus argues or rather as the Learned †Orig. of Temp. Eo Casaubon contends borrow'd its Original from the History of the Fall of Man which the several Nations are suppos'd to have receiv'd by Tradition from the Sons of Noah and Plato more particularly from some Learned Jews in Egypt I shall not take upon me to determine My present Scope and Design being only to shew 1. That in the Confession of All as well Heathens as Christians there are a sort of wicked and malignant Daemons which are Enemies to mankind Express'd in these Words of my Text The Devil your Adversary 2. That these wicked and malignant Daemons are permitted to wander up and down in the Earth Express'd in these Words The Devil your Adversary walketh about 3. To lay open with what indefatigaable Pains and various Stratagems they seek to ruine Men and with what Cruelty they treat them when they are deliver'd up into their hands Express'd and imply'd in these words As a roaring Lyon he walketh about seeking whom he may devour 4. Though they have Malice enough to destroy us all yet that they cannot do us the least Mischief unless God permits them Express'd in these Words Seeking whom he may devour or may be permited to devour 1. In the Confession of All as well Heathens as Christians there are a sort of wicked and malignant Daemons which are Enemies to mankind Should we take the Wings of the
consume away and constrain the Wise and thinking Few to pronounce them Vanity But as the Things that are seen these present Entertainments of Sense are Temporal so the Things that are not seen those Glories Crowns and Scepters that expect us in the other World are Eternal Heaven is an Eternal Sabbath the Saints Everlasting Rest Their Inheritance is not only Undefil'd but incorruptible likewise and such as fadeth not away There they Labour no more Sin no more Sorrow no more but secure of the Everlasting Fruition of those Unutterable Glories bask themselves in the pleasant Rivers of overflowing Felicity Their Crowns are set with the invaluable and sparkling Diamonds of Immortality Their Glory is immarcessible and suffers no Eclipse and they follow the Lamb in white Robes and shine like the Stars in the Firmament for Ever and Ever O come then thou bright and Everlasting Day and break in upon these sad benighted Souls of ours Put an End to this toilsome this wearisome State and take us into the possession of thine own Rest and Peace that these superficial fallacious Pleasures may never beguile us more but we securely Sabbatize in the Kingdom of God the Eternal Comprehensions of Celestial Glory 3. 'T is our Interest as well as Duty to set our Affection on things above not on things on the Earth because They only refine and spiritualize our Nature widen and enlarge our Faculties and so fit and prepare us for the spiritual and abstracted Entertainments of an immortal and Divine Life whereas all things here degravate and weigh down the Soul reach out to her that Cup of Oblivion which makes her forget her own Nature and Excellencies and ingloriously to take up with the Enjoyments of Brutes When the deluded Soul is once taken Captive by the superficial false glossing Excellencies of temporary Objects and suffers herself to be lull'd asleep in the Lap of sensual Enjoyments they immediately spoil her of her Strength and Beauty and betray her into the hands of her immortal Enemies They entirely shave off those golden Locks which rendred her at once invincible and comely and by clipping her radiant and sublimating Wings confine her to the lower Regions of Sense and Materiality Nay by the delusive Strains of their Magical Songs they so effectually steal away and inchant her Affections that she grows utterly unmindful of her Relations above and resigns herself wholly to their unequal Embraces Her noble Aspirations which could easily ascend above the utmost Limits of corruptible Nature into the boundless Habitations of immortal Blessedness like heavy terrene Exhalations arise now no higher than the Regions of Sense and all the rational and delicious Entertainments of abstracted Contemplations give way to the vile impure suggestions of an earthly sensual and brutish Imagination In short They so vastly decline her from her true and natural Point and sink her so low into the loathsome Faeculencies of the material World that as tho' 't was the Perfection of her Nature to be subservient to the Body and uninterruptedly to enjoy the beggarly Delights and Gratifications of Sensuality she openly Prosecutes the exalted Entertainments of the Divine Life with all the Expressions of Rudeness and Disdain and shamelesly chooseth that for her Portion and Inheritance which is the particular and discriminating Curse of the Serpent Vpon thy Belly shalt thou go and Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life But now as the scanty disproportionate Enjoyments of Sense naturally debase and impoverish the Soul so do the Contemplation of spiritual Objects unconceivably improve and enlarge all her Faculties As when Moses convers'd with his most glorious Maker and the attending Myriads of Holy Ones upon Mount Sinai he deriv'd upon his Face such Reflexions of their Beauty such bright and vivid Irradations of their excellent Glory that the Children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon it so when we frequently meditate upon the noble and exalted Beings of the other World they naturally dilate and expand all our Faculties sublimate and brighten our enlarged Spirits till they appear like those of their own Company Beautiful and Majestick as the Sons of the Morning They raise such importunate and insatiable Desires such towring and seraphick Aspirations in the Soul as will acquiesce and terminate only in the blissful Enjoyments of the Supreme Good the everlasting Fruition of his incomprehensible Glory The best Enjoyments the noblest Entertainments this World can afford savour of nothing now but Dung and Filthiness to their Palates which can relish nothing but the Dew of Heaven the spiritual Manna the Food of Angels those pure and divine Joys which refresh the Saints above for evermore And thus whereas the Degenerate Soul which is clogg'd with the Propensions of the Animal Life needs no angry Cherub with a flaming Sword to keep her unhallow'd hands from off the Tree of Life her own corrupted Nature as the excellent Pythagorean and Academick have long since observ'd being utterly uncapable of the Joys of Heaven this enlarg'd and purify'd Soul on the contrary is duly qualify'd for the noblest Entertainments of that exalted State From the Suitableness and Congruity of her Faculties with the Objects she will sweetly centre upon those intellectual Pleasures and most amply spend all her Powers upon the Infinite and Essential Goodness as upon her most proper Object the End of her Being the Author and Finisher of her Happiness and Glory In a word She will go away from her earthly Tabernacle ready tun'd to the Musick of Heaven in the first moment of her Entrance skilfully strike in with the Quires of Angels and harmoniously raise her Voice to the Songs of Sion Thus you have my Reasons which enforce the Exhortation in the Text. I shall now briefly deduce from them two or three practical Inferences and conclude 1. Then You have seen how vain insufficient empty and unsatisfying all the Profits and Pleasures of this World are that the whole Earth tho' chang'd into one Paradise would not be able to yield the Soul Satisfaction and likewise if it could that she is not certain of enjoying it one minute Let this Consideration then teach us to pray with the Excellent * Vide Simplicii Orationem apud Jamblichum ad calcem notarum Edit Ox. eandem videas ad finem Epicteti Philosopher That we may know our selves and not devote our Exalted Nature to the empty Gayeties of these momentary Bubbles but apply our Minds constantly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the glorious Realities of the other World the substantial Entertainments of Life and Immortality Let it remind us I say not to trust in these uncertain Riches these broken Reeds these slender Stays of Vanity these Impertinencies Dreams and Nothings but to lay up our Treasures in Heaven those secure and everlasting Store-houses where no Thief approacheth nor Moth corrupteth nor Death which blasts all our Enjoyments here interposeth but we shall reign Kings and Princes with our God for
Olive-branches in its hands to offer them Peace to set them at perfect Liberty from the Bondage of Corruption the Servitude and Thraldom of their mortal Bodies They know their happy Souls will be immediately convey'd by Angels into the Presence of their Savior and by him presented to his Father without Spot or Wrinkle invested with his Righteousness compleat in his Holiness and prepar'd and qualified for an Everlasting Communion with him in Glory That they are the Reward of his Sufferings the precious and dear Purchase of his Blood and therefore that they shall be joyfully received into Heaven by him who will then see the glorious Effects of the Travail of his Soul and be satisfied That the Angels who rejoyc'd at their Conversion will much more do so at their Glorification and the Church of the First-born who have before them entred into Glory have a new Accession of Joy to see them safely arriv'd at the same undefil'd and immortal Inheritance These things I say thus duly considered must needs inspire them with Courage and Alacrity and enable them chearfully to lay down their Bodies that they may ascend to the Seat of Blessedness this happy Society above that inspires mutual Endearments and Joys for evermore I am sure 't was thus with the Primitive Christians S. Paul with the most earnest Affections and passionate Zeal desir'd to depart hence to leave the transitory dissatisfying Pleasures of this Life to be dissolv'd and to be with Christ and the Martyrs with all imaginable Boldness and Gallantry encountred Death that interpos'd between them and Glory They as willingly left their Bodies as Elias let fall his Mantle to ascend into Heaven Some indeed of these excellent Persons as ‖ Hom. 8. S. Chrysostom tells us went to Death with many Appearances of Fear When they heard the wild Beasts roar they were struck with Horror At the sight of the Executioners and the Instruments of Torture they were pale and trembling The Flesh seem'd to cry out O! Let this Cup pass from me But these alas were but the little ineffectual Struglings of innocent Nature which though weak and faint follow'd the Spirit and corrected its own Desire with Not my Will but thine be done As the Moon in Eclipse though obscure goes on in a Regular Course as when 't is full of Light by the Reflection of the Sun so these Christian Heroes though as it were forsaken and depriv'd of the kind Influences of the Spirit the bright Beams and Irradiations of Divine Comfort persever'd notwithstanding in their Regular Motion the resolute and undaunted Profession of the Truth No Torments could force them to renounce their Saviour no Terrors of Death to warp from the Profession of their Faith but the Consideration of that eternal weight of Glory which after a short night of Sorrow and Heaviness they should receive in the Inheritance of the Saints in Light enabled them at length to overcome their Fears and in spight of all the Reluctancy of Nature to keep the Command of God and the Faith of Jesus Thus the Stars fall down from Heaven and Clods of Earth ascend and shine in the Firmament The Angels that excell'd in Strength and Knowledge kept not their state of Purity and Glory but are shamefully sunk down into Corruption and Misery but these humble Believers though weak and encompass'd with many Difficulties were preserved by the Blood of Jesus from destructive Evil from the Fear of the First and the Power of the Second Death passing undauntedly through the Dominions of the King of Terrors to their Fathers Kingdom where with all the Company of Holy Angels and Beatified Souls they now lie infolded in the Circles of Peace and Joy expecting the Consummation of Blessedness the Redemption of their Bodies in the joyful and glorious Morning of the Resurrection Which brings me to my Seventh and Last Particular which is to shew the Greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ in that he has not only merited the Salvation of our Souls but the Redemption likewise or the Resurrection of our Bodies 7. Of all the Christian Doctrines this was ever esteemed the most incredible and has accordingly in all Ages met with the greatest Opposition The Learned Heathens generally look'd upon the Body as the Prison the Dungeon and Sepulchre of the Soul and therefore do not stick to affirm That for a separated Soul to return into a Body is to undergo a second Death Nay that famous Rabbin Ben Maimon was of the same Perswasion it being a known Aphorism of his in his Great Work That in the World to come or state of consummate Happiness there shall be nothing but pure Incorporeity This engag'd them to employ all their Learning and Parts to represent this Doctrine as a monstrous and ridiculous Paradox not fit to be embrac'd by any of the genuine Sons of Wisdom and Learning Accordingly we find St. Paul was counted mad by Festus and but a Babler at best by the great Wits at Athens for venturing to preach to them Jesus and his Resurrection and it chiefly stomachs the Heathen in Minutius Felix that the Christians should peremptorily assert the Resurrection of the Body which every Eye saw to be subject to Corruption and yet at the same time threaten Ruin and Destruction to the Heavenly Bodies which the generality of Philosophers acknowledg'd incorruptible Nay some Christians themselves have not been very careful to answer us fairly in this matter Photius tells us of Synesius that for his great Parts and singular Abilities he was made a Bishop before he believ'd this Article and the Socinians Anabaptists and some other Sectaries seem to be no great Favourers of it at this day But what if these Men believe not Shall their Unbelief make the Faith of God of none effect God forbid Yea let God be true as the Apostle speaks though every Man a Lyar. He then that is Truth it self who therefore can neither deceive nor be deceived has told us that the hour is coming in the which all that are in the ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Joh. 5.28 Grave shall hear his Voice and shall come forth they that have done good to the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of Damnation And now my pious Brethren how joyful and pleasant a thing is this to hear of the Restitution of our lost Parts the Renovation of our corrupted and putrefy'd Bodies that they shall not be devour'd in the Jaws of Death and the Grave but restor'd to us again all Fair and Beautiful and Glorious Sin indeed removes us all into the Retirements of the Grave and securely locks us up for a time in the Iron Embraces of the King of Terrors It dismantles us of all our Strength and Beauty and dooms us to dwell for ever in those dark Houses of Forgetfulness and Corruption We lie in the Grave like Sheep helpless and fast bound in the Chains and Fetters of
Death This last Enemy has at present an absolute and entire Domination over us our Beauty Honour and Glory mouldering and consuming all away in his insatiable Dwellings But yet he who hath the Keys of Hell and of Death hath promis'd to unlock the Doors of these loathsome Prisons and to let the Prisoners go forth into a state of Liberty and Glory He turneth Man to Destruction but his Almighty Voice will one day call through all the Receptacles of Nature Come again ye Children of Men. By him lastly who liveth and was dead and is alive for evermore shall those that sleep in the Dust of the Earth be awak'd and sing Death is swallowed up in Victory Which Consideration alone as it is full of Comfort and Joy and Triumph to every faithful Christian so is it likewise sufficient to curb the Arrogance and Haughtiness of that Apostate Spirit Who therefore says an ingenious * Br. Rel. Med. pag. 87. Author of our own chiefly frequents Coemeteries Charnel-Houses and Churches because they are the Dormitories of the Dead where like an insolent Champion he beholds with Pride the Spoils and Trophies of his Victory over Adam And thus I have discharg'd my first General Head which was to shew the Greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ I now proceed to my Second which is very briefly to lay before you our Inexcusableness and the intolerable Aggravations of our Guilt and Punishment if we neglect it How shall we escape c. 1. Then we shall be utterly inexcusable and intolerably aggravate our Guilt and Punishment if we neglect this great Salvation which Christ hath wrought for us because we shall be entirely destitute of the mollifying Circumstances and Considerations of Ignorance Whilst Men had little or no Understanding but walk'd on still in Darkness 't was no wonder that the Foundations of the Moral as well as of the Intellectual World were out of course Their broken Notices of another State and beggarly Conceptions of its Delights and Entertainments induc'd them rather to let loose the Reins to their Intemperance than to correct and retrench the Luxuriancy of their Vices A more delicious Canaan the Fields and Groves of Elysium and a Mahometan Paradise naturally lead Men to an unbounded Gratification of their sensual Appetites as to that which is the End and Perfection of their Beings their ultimate Portion in the Regions of Eternity So that a truly moral Man with such Perswasions about him would be an Object equally strange and surprizing as Fewel or dry Stubble that will not take fire in the midst of a burning firy Furnace But now with Christians is the Case quite otherwise We know for certain both the Existence and Nature of the other State That for pure and holy Souls who are entirely cleans'd from the Stains and Pollutions of corrupted Nature and rais'd to the Possession of their Primitive Brightness remains a most glorious and undefil'd Inheritance Entertainments most agreeable to their enlarged Faculties exalted and divine Joys for evermore That for impure and sensual Souls on the contrary who fight under the Banner of the World and the Flesh forsaking God that made them and lightly esteeming the Rock of their Salvation is prepar'd a Worm that will never die and a Fire that will ne'er be quench'd We know I say that Refin'd and Purified Souls will be receiv'd into serene undisturbed Mansions of everlasting Happiness the City of the Living God the Heavenly Jerusalem where with all the shining and innumerable Companies of Holy Angels they shall for ever behold and praise the unfolded Beauties of their God and Saviour That on the other hand there are sad uncomfortable Regions of Darkness and Misery where Fire and Brimstone Storms and Tempests will be the lamentable and everlasting Portion of the Ungodly Fire and Brimstone to possess inflame and torment their Bodies and the Storms and Tempests of an enraged Conscience impetuously to hurry their awak'ned Souls through all the unhappy Stages of that woful Eternity If we then dare to commit Wickedness who have received this clear Knowledge of its sad Effects and Consequences that it cuts off all our hopes of the Glories of Heaven and irrevocably condemns us to the unconceivable Agonies and Amazements of Hell we put our selves beyond all possibility of Excuse and as our Saviour himself assures us unmeasurably enhanse the Severities of our Condemnation This is the Condemnation * Joh. 3.19 says he with an Emphasis i. e. the highest the greatest the most intolerable Condemnation that when Light is come into the World Men love Darkness rather than Light In a word God may vouchsafe to wink at the times of Ignorance and graciously overlook the unhappy Miscarriages of the unenlightned World He may be favourable to the Servant that knows not his Will and therefore does unwittingly things worthy of Stripes But Christians who know their Lord's Will and yet prepare not themselves nor do accordingly will have nothing to plead or pretend for their Disobedience and therefore will most certainly be beaten with many Stripes 2. We shall be utterly inexcusable and intolerably aggravate our Guilt and Punishment if we neglect this great Salvation which Christ has wrought for us because we thereby become guilty of the vilest Ingratitude We know the infinite Obligations to Duty and Gratitude which our Heavenly Father has laid upon us all the Stratagems of his Goodness the astonishing Miracles of Divine Mercy and Condescension That he whom the Virgins the untainted Beings above adore and love meekly drew a veil over his Essential Glories and cloath'd himself with Flesh for the Society of Mankind That the Eternal Independent All-sufficient One stoop'd down for our sakes to the lowest Estate of Uneasiness and Need and the Lord and Governour of all the Kingdoms of the Earth vouchsaf'd to dwell among us though he scarce found a place where to lay his Head That the King of Glory was contented not only to be despis'd and rejected of Men to become a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief but also to suffer his most precious Life to be most cruelly and ignominiously taken from among Men that be might entitle us again to Happiness and Glory Nay we have seen the only begotten Son of the Living God oppress'd and groaning under a heavier load of Misery than all this almost sinking under the insupportable Burthen of his Father's Wrath and in the Anguish and Bitterness of 〈◊〉 Soul most lamentably complaining tâ— his Father too whom he had never offeâ—â—ed had for the Foulness and Blackneâ—â— our Iniquities hid his Face from him 〈◊〉 more we are sensible that we our seâ— have been the Betrayers and Murtherers of the Lord of Life that he has frequently bled afresh and been crucify'd again 〈◊〉 our new Sins that our repeated Impieties have wounded his sacred Side and the 〈◊〉 rows of our Ingratitude pierc'd him to 〈◊〉 very Heart How notwithstanding 〈◊〉 this he
is so merciful that he will not suffer his Displeasure to arise but that he calls us daily importunes us incessantly and intreats us earnestly to return That he begs us not to ruin and destroy our selves opens his Arms to receive us tho' we have been never so ungrateful and promiseth Pardon for all that is past if we will but take care to be obedient for the future Lastly we know that if we will return and do Works meet for Repentance he will in due time take us from this Vale of Misery these Regions of Exile this State of our Pilgrimage into his Father's House there solemnly pronounce our Discharge before all his Saints and crown us with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Now then to trespass against this great Friend and Benefactor whose wonderful Love even condescended to assume our Nature into his Divinity and so to exalt it above Cherubims and all the brightest Orders of Intelligences who in our Nature thus assum'd graciously embrac'd for our â—akes both the Miseries and Calamities of a distressed Life and also the Infamy and Tortures of an accursed Death who still notwithstanding all our disingenuous and most ungrateful Returns continues his Tenderness and Compassion for us even â—ayly offering his Grace and Pardon to the greatest of Sinners and by all the gentle Insinuations of an unwearied â—over endeavouring to allure and entice them into Happiness To trespass I say against this great Friend and Benefactor is certainly a Provocation of the most amazing Proportions a Sin of the deepest Dye the basest and soulest Ingratitude that can be imagined What then think you will be the Condition of such Sinners when God shall come to Judge the World When they shall see him whose infinite Love they have despised and rejected coming in the Clouds of Heaven and all his Holy Angels with him to reward every Man according to his Works Alas every Circumstance of this glorious Day will frightfully represent to their awak'ned Consciences the monstrous Aggravations of their unparallell'd Ingratitude This God who now comes in the Clouds with Vengeance is that very Saviour who dy'd to redeem them Those Emeralds or sparkling Jewels that shine so gloriously in his Body the deep and gastly Wounds he receiv'd 〈◊〉 their sakes Those glittering Attendantâ— and Myriads of holy Ones the Company he design'd for their Eternal Conversation and those bright Regions of Everlastâ—â—â— Day which appear over their Heads thâ— Place he so dearly purchas'd for their immortal Inheritance These things I say thus united and at once represented to their view will swell their Passions to that Height and Fullness as infinitely exceed the Measures of Mortality to conceive They will occasion such sharp such acute Reflections as like two-edged Swords will every way rend and tear and stab and gash their mollified Spirits with fresh incurable Wounds to all Eternity Their monstrous Ingratitude will then look them broad in the face and like frightful and terrible Gorgons or Furies possess their Souls with Horror and Trembling with ineffable Amazement and everlasting Confusion In a word The thorough and lively Apprehensions which they shall then have of their Sins and Follies will so incense and enrage them that they 'll be all in a flame with Fury and Indignation against themselves weeping and wailing and gnashing their Teeth always as it were uon a Rack without any Intermission of their Pains and Anguish distorted afflicted distracted confounded What then remains but that since these things are so we seriously take our Case into Consideration That since our Burden is lighter than that of Jews or Gentiles we run with greater Chearfulness the ways of God's Commandments That we grieve not the Holy Spirit nor turn the Grace of God into Lasciviousness but that the great extraordinary Assistances which we now enjoy under the Gospel influence our Wills direct our Choice and give Warmth and Vigour to our Affections That the certain Faith and Assurance which we have of a Future State and of its Rewards and Punishments work most powerfully upon our Minds to conquer all the Temptations of this Life to deterr us from doing any thing whereby we may forfeit our Crown and to render us stedfast immoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord forasmuch as we know that our Labour will not be in vain in the Lord and since the greatest Punishments imaginable attend our Miscarriages that we lift up the hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble knees and run with patience the Race that is set before us Let us then look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith and follow his Example who for the Joy that was set before him endur'd the Cross despis'd the Shame and is therefore now sat down at the Right-hand of the Majesty on High Let us frequently contemplate his stupendious unfathomable Love in vouchsafing to assume our Nature that he who is Mighty should so debase himself to magnifie us and evermore say with the inflam'd and seraphick Virgin Holy and Blessed is his Name Let us with her Piety and Devotion view the Immaculate Lamb of God crown'd with Thorns upon the Cross Let us behold him there bleeding and dying for our Sins Let his unconceivable Agonies sink deep into our Hearts and make us to weep bitterly for those Sins which caus'd such Torments to our Dearest Lord. Let us beseech him by all that Anguish and Amazement his Soul endur'd for our sakes never to suffer us to crucifie him any more but that he would be pleas'd to come and take up his Lodging with us to drive out all those Usurpers the World with its Vanities to make an utter Destruction of every Amalakite and to take to himself the entire Possession of our Hearts Let us most passionately intreat him not to suffer our immortal Souls the price of his own Blood to perish but that he would be graciously pleas'd to wash away all their Stains to cloath them in his white Robe and so to present them spotless and unblameable to our Heavenly Father Lastly If the Author of Salvation and that Eternal too be worthy to be prais'd let us now begin these Songs upon Earth which will be our happy Employment and Business in Heaven with all those glorious Angels and Holy Ten Thousands that worship about the Throne saying Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that fitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for Ever and Ever Amen Amen Allelujah ECCLES ix v. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might WEre we to take the Measures of our most holy Profession as they are reach'd out to us in the Systems of some Christian Rabbins how prodigiously irrational and absurd an Institution would it appear to be An Institution both repugnant to the glorious Attributes of God and also destructive to the Welfare and Happiness of Mankind They pronounced it a state of absolute Liberty and Emancipation a perfect Discharge from
may also fall short of that Period by the Interposition of a Cloud He carries within himself the Causes of a necessary and speedy Dissolution and is also liable to ten thousand Accidents without that may hasten his Ruin Nay though by the good Providence of God he happily escapes all these and arrives to his utmost Period that natural Term which is set him by the Temperament of the First Qualities yet what an airy fleting and fantastick Appearance is he Our Life is but a Vapour says St. James which appears and dances up and down a few Minutes over the places that gave it Birth and then vanisheth and sinks back into its primitive Night and Darkness The Day wears away apace our Sun hastens to go down the Shadows every Moment encrease and the Hours of Darkness come on that long Night of Silence and Solitude wherein no Man can work It is appointed for all men once to die says the * Heb. 9.27 Apostle and then for ever to cease from labouring and improving their State for immediately follows Judgment which consigns them either with Lazarus to the Refreshments and Consolations of Abraham's Bosom or to the dismal Dwellings of Dives in everlasting Burnings †Phaedon c. 45. p. 178. in Dialog select Edit Cantab Plato indeed and from him the Romanists at this day talk much of an intermediate State where Satisfaction may be made for some Miscarriages of our Lives here But in all the Word of God there is not so much as one place that countenanceth this Opinion 'T is not the Doctrine of God but the Invention of Men the weak and beggarly Element of this World not the Revelation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ He only commands us to be therefore prepar'd continually for our Last Hour because we then enter upon a state eternal and immutable that private particular Sentence which passeth upon the Soul at her Departure from the Body being to be openly renew'd and confirm'd upon the whole Man at the General Day of Judgment How ought then this Consideration to alarm all the dormant Powers and Faculties of our Souls and to wind them up to the highest pitch of Action in this momentous Affair How careful I say should we be by a prudent Management and Husbandry of these fleting Moments to secure to our selves a happy Portion in the Regions of Eternity If we mispend these Days of Probation you see there remain no more If we neglect these present Opportunities we are lost for ever And what a dismal Reflection think ye will this be in the other World when we shall remember that Mercy was frequently offer'd us and that we as frequently rejected it and that for the little imperfect Services of a few Days our Maker graciously offer'd to place a Crown of Eternal Glory upon our Heads Alas This is the chief Ingredient of that bitter Cup which afflicts and torments the Damn'd for ever and ever This that dismal Thought which raiseth the Storms and Tempests in the Kingdom of Darkness below Once they might have been sav'd once they had their Day and they refus'd the Light when it shin'd Their God was gracious and merciful to them but they were cruel to themselves He offer'd them Mercy but they would never accept it He call'd them to Life but they obstinately chose Death No Tortures so exquisite as such Reflections No Lashes so severe as the Upbraidings of such an enraged Conscience These I say are the Snakes that twist about their Heads and sting and hiss and make them roar to all Eternity From which miserable State God in Mercy preserve us all through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus the Beloved To whom c. MATTH xi 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you Rest BUT am I call'd indeed may the ravish'd Soul say Call'd too to Ease and Refreshment and Peace though my Sins and Impieties are so many Does the Holy One of Israel regard so vile a Creature and will He who is the God of all Purity vouchsafe to receive into his Arms so impure a Wretch Yes for 't is the Voice of my Beloved that spake He stands not as formerly behind the Wall nor looks in at the Window shewing himself only through the Lattess but has open'd the Door and is come in and speaks and says to me Rise up my Love my Fair one and come away Draw me then O my Beloved and we will run after thee Receive me though the Sun has look'd upon me though I am black and coarse as the Tents of Kedar I am bow'd down and ready to sink under the weight of my Sins I have no might against this great multitude of Transgressions that is set in Array against me nor know I what to do only my longing my languishing Eyes are still upon thee and I will patiently hearken what the Lord God will farther say unto me who so graciously speaks to Sinners that like his Saints they turn and come unto him Come unto me says he all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you Rest In which Words are four things observable I. A gracious Invitation Come II. The Person to whom the Invitation is made Vnto me that is unto Christ III. The Persons invited All Penitent Sinners in general All ye that labour and are heavy laden All ye that sigh and groan and are bow'd down and ready to sink under the grievous Burden of your Sins IV. The Benefit of accepting this Invitation I will give you Rest. 1. We have in the Text a gracious Invitation Come God spake once and twice also have I heard the same that Mercy belongeth unto God For this is the Voice of him who is the Wisdom of the Father that Wisdom which by the Mouth of his Prophet * Chap. 55. ver 1. Isaiah called in the same manner to the Sons of Men inviting them to come freely and partake of his Divine Refreshments Ho every one that thirsteth says he come to the waters and he that hath no money come buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price The Angels indeed that sinn'd are fall'n into the gloomy and lamentable State of utter Desperation There is no Mercy in store for these self-deluded inexcusable Apostates of the Upper World but because they foolishly exalted themselves against the Lord whom they could not but know to be the Author and Fountain of all Happiness and Glory they are entirely dismantled of their primitive Robes of Light and cast down from their Heavenly Mansions into this Lower Orb where in miserable and darker Habitations they are reserv'd as condemn'd Malefactors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says ‖ 2 Ep. 2.4 S. Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says †Ver. 6. St. Jude for everlasting Chains of the Blackness of Darkness at the Judgment of the Great Day when they shall be brought forth as out of
a Prison before the Tribunal of Christ and hear the just Sentence of Eternal Death more solemnly pronounc'd against them before the General Assembly of the Saints and Angels This I say is the deplorable and undone Condition of the Apostate Angels Their Fall is irrecoverable their Sin irremissible and the Decree that is gone out against them irreversible But Man tho' a Being of a much lower Class and an Apostate too finds Favour and Mercy at the hands of his God He vouchsafes him the liberty of Second Thoughts and if we will but be obedient and hearken promiseth an entire Renovation of his Corrupted Nature by the abundant and powerful Communications of his most Holy Spirit Nay so desirous is he of this happy Change that he long prostitutes his Patience as I shall instantly shew more at large to Mens wanton Humours in Expectation of it is contented to lay aside his amazing Glories and seems to divest and strip himself of all his Attributes save that of Mercy His All-seeing Eye graciously overlooks our manifold Sins and Wickednesses and as tho' he saw them not continues to shine upon us with its reviving Brightness His Justice gives way to his Forbearance and Long-suffering and when it takes place 't is so temper'd and qualify'd that in the midst of Judgment he always remembers Mercy Mercy is his Favourite his darling Excellence that lovely and amiable Attribute which is over all his Works and in which we are sure his Soul takes most Delight and Complacency 'T was by this Name he in the Presence and Assembly of his invincible Holy Ones upon Mount Sinai most solemnly proclaim'd himself to his Servant Moses The Lord Exod. 34.6 says he the Lord God merciful and gracious Nay tho' he is the God of all Truth and therefore can no more deceive than be deceived yet as though it had been a small thing thus to have proclaim'd himself before Men and Angels he has likewise in a gracious and wonderful Condescension to the Infirmities of his Creatures and that the broken and contrite Spirit might have the surest Word of Promise that could possibly be given it vouchsaf'd even to interpose his Oath and as solemnly to swear the same thing 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 Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel What tender what compassionate Strains are these 'T is as if he had said Since there is no Being so great as my self by my self I have sworn that as sure as I am God that eternal and faithful Being with whom is no Variableness or Shadow of Turning I desire not the Death of any Sinner but had rather ten thousand times over that you would all from the least to the greatest hear my Voice in this Accepted Time this day of Salvation and repent and be sav'd For now do I freely offer you my Grace which I most passionately beseech and intreat you to accept and to return and live Turn ye then turn ye unto me for why will ye die Why will ye weary me out with your continued Provocations Why will ye constrain me by your unworthy and most wretched Abuses of my Grace your insufferable Grievings of my Spirit at length to depart from you and to leave you to die in your Sins Is Eternal Death so desirable a thing Is Heaven and my Glory so despicable and vile Why then let me ask you again since you have my free Grace to enable you to Return nay since 't is far easier for you to be saved than to be damned why why will ye die O house of Israel Thus does our Heavenly Father by the most solemn Protestations demonstrate his Everlasting Love and Kindness to Mankind And how exactly do all his Dispensations correspond with these his gracious Declarations With what Patience I say and Forbearance does he deal even with the greatest of Sinners How affectionately intreat them to fly into the Harbour and to secure themselves by a timely Reformation from the Wrath which is to come Such various Ways and Methods does he contrive to bring them to Repentance so earnestly beg and sollicite them to accept in time the Terms of Salvation that one would think 't was his own not their Interest that Men should be sav'd He always like a generous Enemy declares Sinners his just Anger and Displeasure and excites them before it be too late to prepare to Meet him and with Weapons which will most certainly prevail viz. Prayers and Tears to disarm his Justice Thus when within the small compass of about two thousand years his gracious and marvellous Works of Creation and Providence were so far from being prais'd and had in Honour that all Flesh had degenerated from this great End of its Creation and most shamefully corrupted its way upon the Earth tho' he was griev'd to speak after the manner of Men at the very Heart and it repented him that he had made Man yet he could not immediately withdraw his Hand and let him fall into Ruine but mercifully prolong'd the day of Vengeance and gave his sinful Creatures time and space for Repentance He resolv'd indeed that the Spirits which he had made should not Eternally remain in their Bodies as Slaves and Vassals to those Instruments of Unrighteousness but that if Men repented not he would open the Windows of Heaven and break up the Fountains of the great Deep and bring in a Flood upon them that should sweep them all away But before he can do this Noah a Preacher of Righteousness must daily assure them of their Danger and he waits their Repentance a hundred and twenty Years Thus too tho' the Sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were very grievous and cryed loud and the Cry of them ascended up into the Ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth yet could not they prevail with him to let loose his Thunder to overwhelm them with a swift and deserv'd Destruction but on the contrary to prevent if possible their Ruine he by his good Providence so order'd and dispos'd things that Lot a holy and pious Person living amongst them should first lay before them their prodigious Impieties and warn them to prevent the heavy Judgments due to them by a speedy Repentance And when notwithstanding all this they sinned yet more and forc'd his Holy Spirit to forsake them utterly by their intolerable Fornications yet would not his Goodness then give him leave to execute upon them the Fierceness of his Indignation but still stay'd his hand and engag'd him to be gracious As though 't was possible for him to be deceiv'd it induc'd him to make a further Enquiry to go down and see whether they had indeed done altogether according to the Cry of it which was come unto him Nay tho' their Sins and Provocations were so many and so great yet so much
free Possession of your Estates and the Happiness of being Members of the most uncorrupted Church in the World are things that can in reason pretend to our Gratitude we of all Men in the World are the most indebted O then let us never with the ungrateful Israelites hanker again after these loathsome Flesh-pots nor when we have eaten and drank to the full rise up to play with this Harlot any more She will often no doubt be tempting and ensnaring you and by her Paints and Colours gaudy Shows and Pompous Pageantry endeavour to entice you again into her Embraces But remember 't is only a treacherous Syren's Voice which only therefore courts you that she may make you her Prey She seeks not you but yours and how Zealous soever she may seem for your Welfare the Term of her desire is only her own She knows the Fruitfulness of your Land the Liberality of your Soil and the Pleasantness of your Dwellings She remembers how she once rang'd without Controul over all your pleasant Pastures and chose out the fattest of your Lands for her to sport and play in and therefore since for the foul Apostasie she made from her Primitive Innocence the flaming Sword and the Guardian Spirits debar her from re-entring this Paradise 't is no Wonder if the better to deceive us she transform her self for a time into an Angel of Light But I trust the wakeful eye of Providence will still discover her Treacheries and not suffer us any more to be ensnar'd by her Smiles And then for her Frowns we are sure they cannot hurt us Those Curses she so liberally throws against us will I doubt not take wing and fly back upon her self and all those Bulls and Interdicts Anathema's Curses and Excommunications which yearly in Passion Week the better to prepare her self for the Celebration of the Lords Supper she charitably denounceth against us either prove Bruta fulmina Thunder-claps which indeed make a Noise but want a killing Bolt or by woful Rebounds turn the direful Execution upon her own Head In a word If we take care to walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are call'd and not dishonour Reform'd Religion by the Deformity of our Lives maugre all the Malice of Earth and Hell of Men and Devils we shall undoubtedly be sav'd Damnation will not be inflicted according to mens Passions and Uncharitableness neither will the grim Faces and dreadful Menaces of Romish Emissaries exclude us from the Favour and Blessing of Heaven Tho' they reject us Christ will embrace us Tho' they turn us out of their Synagogues God will receive us under his Wings and provided we forfeit not his Protection by our Misdemeanours the Angel of his Presence will undoubtedly continue to save us till Time it self shall be no more Wherefore that we may not peculiarly incur this Judgment by our Ingratitude but duly express our Joy and Thankfulness to God for the transcendent Mercy of this Day let us 3. Take Care both to continue our selves and also to bequeath to our Posterity a grateful Remembrance of it How near was the Daughter of Zion to be covered with a Cloud and to be trampled under foot by her treacherous Enemies The Net you have heard was cast about her and the Fowlers even hasting to the Slaughter The Train was laid all the Instruments of death prepar'd and there remain'd nothing to make us an Holocaust to the Roman Moloch but just putting the lighted Match to the Powder And yet methinks I hear the Church full of Faith saying Tho' no Danger was ever like to any Danger yet I charge You O ye Daughters of Jerusalem by the Roes and by the Hinds of the Field that ye stir not up nor awake my Love 'till he please For how forlorn and destitute soever I may seem to some yet I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine tho' therefore he tarries he will not be long but will in due time look forth as the Morning fair as the Moon clear as the Sun and terrible as an Army with Banners And indeed her Beloved came when she expected him not He was found of her when she sought not after him He awaked as one out of Sleep and look'd and saw there was none to help and wondred that there was none to uphold Therefore his own Arm brought Salvation to her and his infinite Goodness alone upheld her May then that God who has thus wonderfully wrought for us in snatching us from the Mouth of the Lion and the Paw of the Bear be ever blessed and the Remembrance of this unspeakable Mercy never defac'd so long as the Sun and Moon shall endure May those glorious Spirits which before pity'd our Danger and now rejoyce at our Deliverance never be frustrated in their Expectations but see all our Members and Faculties our Lips and Lives Hearts and Voices harmoniously singing the Triumphs of the Lord and in the continual Order Concord and Congruity declaring the infinite Goodness of our God that so our Candlestick may never be remov'd for our Ingratitude but tho' Darkness cover the Earth and gross Darkness the People This Church may still be a Crown of Glory in the Hand of the Lord and a Royal Diadem in the Hand of her God that the Gentiles may admire her Beauty and the Sons also of them that afflicted her come bending unto her and all they that despis'd her bow themselves down at the Soles of her Feet and all the Nations round about call her the City of the Lord the Zion of the Holy one of Israel Lastly May she be covered with the Robes of Righteousness and continually cloath'd with the Garments of Salvation 'till the Great Year of Jubilee the time of her final Redemption shall come when God shall put an End to all Prejudices and Animosities all Struglings and contentions and all the Elect with Crowns on their Heads and Palms in their hands shall make one perfect Harmony in singing the eternal Praise of God and of the Lamb. Which blessed time God in his Mercy hasten through Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit Three Persons and One God be ascrib'd as is most due all Honour Glory Power Might Majesty Dominion and Thanksgiving from this time forth and for evermore Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for RICHARD SARE AND JOSEPH HINDMARSH FAbles of Esop and other Eminent Mythologists with Morals and Reflections Folio The Visions of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Octavo Seneca's Morals Octavo Erasmus's Colloquies Octavo Tully's Offices Twelves Bona's Guide to Eternity Twelves All six by Sir Roger L'Estrange The Genuine Epistles of St. Barnabas St. Ignatius St. Clement St. Polycarp The Shepherd of Hermas and the Martyrdoms of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp Translated and Published with a large Preliminary Discourse by W. Wake D. D. 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