sense but my Saviour It is none of the least sins of our youth that we are carelesse and forgetfull of Thee our Creatour and no wonder we are so insensible of the Joyes to Come that live in such a constant and continued neglect of Heaven Make me therefore O my God to consider that had I the fruition of all that I can wish or long for here I should not onely not be satisfied but in the end find how miserable he is that setteth his heart on any thing but Thy selfe teach me therefore so to enjoy the World that I lose not thee nor the memory of that Blessed reward thou hast promised to them that Honour Thee GEN. Chap. 2. v. 8. And the Lord God planted a Garden East-ward in Eden WHat an airy fancy was it of some then to place Paradise beyond the middle region could they transplant the earth at pleasure or did the clouds like so many moving walks become a seminary of vegetables Was Erasmus of this opinion when he wisht himselfe encaged betwixt heaven and earth How vaine is ambitious frailty in its quest after knowledge We search for Paradise with more Curiosity then Adam lost it and when we cannot find it here yet we will fancy it a place though above our reach That there was a Paradise we need not doubt He that made it tells us so but where to find it he that lost it knowes not So suddenly doth sin blast our most innocent pleasures Scarce had Man taken a view or walke in Paradise but this expell'd him the earth was but in its youth scarce warm'd by the new born Sun when this wither'd it into a sterill and decrepit Complexion nay the heavens scarce seated in their orbs were shaken by it and interrupted almost in their Motions by the pride and fall of Angells No sooner had the Serpent breath'd out his Contagion but Paradise changed it's vordure The Creatures fly from the Garden of the world and infected Man is shut out from his beautifull enclosure he that was an Inhabitant of pleasure it self for whom the most choise and various fragrancies of the New Created earth were epitomised together is stript and cheated of his happinesse by the Spirit of lies and is glad to be beholding to a Figtree for his first vestment How perfectly hath his naked Issue inherited his fortune how many of his wretched sons have been ever since selling their Paradise for an Apple How does the Covetous wretch adore his Mammon his yellow God and Coines heaven and his Salvation into Money though the stamp be Hell or the image of the beast how readily will ambition Court Hell it selfe to serve his interest make no scruple to sell his Soul for a Glorious vanity and worship Satan for a kingdome how does the Sensualist make his life an enterlude leaving Paradise for Tantalus his Garden and makes wantonnesse his heaven pleasure his Divinity and never thinks of a better or another life but when he is in danger of losing this How many upstart lights hath Satan sprung to darken Religion and eclipse the Gospell how many eyes hath he put out by opening pretending to cloathe us with more Knowledge and Sanctity that he might dismantle us of heaven and happinesse I had rather be for ever blind then use an eye-salve of the Divells prescribing and be for ever ignorant then learne Satans lesson to belie heaven and distrust my Maker So miserable hath sin made us O Lord that by it we have lost not onely Paradise but heaven too forfeited not onely the pleasures of this life but also the joyes to Come and with the true Comforts of the world are stript of thy favour too He whom thou madest the Monarch of the Creatures grones under the bondage of sin and by the Misery of his Crimes hath cancell'd almost the glory and miracles of thy work And now might we have been extinguisht in our guilt had not He who is the brightness of thy Glory dropt a new life into our eclipsed natures by the power of his Blood and Merits and by reconciling us to thy selfe given us an admission to better and more enduring pleasures Grant therefore that having obtained mercy we may walke accordingly that being bought for heaven we may no more sell our selves to sin nor vainely preferre a few moments of pleasure before an eternity of joy that so when our souls shall expire with our breath they may be transplanted to that Paradise that never fades and enjoy the pleasures of eternity in the bosome of thy Glory 1 King Chap. 10. v. 18. Moreover the King made a great Throne of Ivory and overlay'd it with the best Gold T was fit that the best of Kings should be sutably serv'd and now he sees himselfe in so glorious a condition he need not repent of that happy and eternall election he made in Gibeon where amongst all his Sacrifices there was none so pleasing as that which he made of himselfe to the disposall of his God Did the Princes of the world but make Solomon their Pattern they might participate of his fortune and find a more Glorious Hand supporting their Scepters beyond the reach of the most admired Achitophel 'T is not the paint but the piety of a Throne that both secures and adornes it He must needs be the greatest of Princes whom God Crownes the richest Monarch that besides the enjoyments of the world receives even a Treasure from heaven Piety never went unrewarded God can bestow on his as well the felicities of this life as that which is hereafter But if Solomon bow downe to Harlots his Crown must fal and if he forsakes God sin dethrones him Greatnesse cannot priviledge from punishment nor the eminency of a Throne excuse the guilt thereof He that breath'd out so many Divine Songs is struck dumbe at the aires of a female tongue and those Ivory steps the seat of Honour grow black with sin Had his Guard of Lyons proved true they would have quickly dismembred those Syrens that having lost their vertue had nothing but their vices left to charm their fury with Solomons youthfullnesse in his old age praecipitated him the sooner to his end the end both of his life and Glory O Lord if Solomon's Throne was so glorious how infinitely transcendent must Thine be from whom Solomon received his that under which the pillars of the earth tremble and in comparison of which the lustre of the heavens is but a spark Though thou hast many thrones yet the most glorious one is that of thy Mercy which thou art pleas'd to open to the penitent Sinner I will look upon the glittering guilded eminencies of the world with more delight because I see the footsteps of thy Glory in them and the royalties of the earth shall make me but with the greater reflection aspire after the enjoyment of that Throne whose beauty and holinesse ravishes the Seraphick Attendants with joy unspeakeable and full of Glory 1 King ch 19.
laboriously wicked and for a profitable iniquity think it no loss to be thrivingly damn'd Are there not nobler wayes of living then by losing our names and Souls at once Is infidelity a preservative against misery and must we build our supports on the ruines of our faith Piety makes no man poorer nor does religion robbe us of our enjoyments but makes them sweeter Our contentments are not lessened but enlarged and lengthned by adoring the Giver nor is he the further from but the neerer to a blessing that begins with Heaven and preferres his Saviour before the World Designes thus founded are not ever unfortunate and he that plots for his Soul as well as his body shall learne a policy will bafle the World and non-plus its wisest Generations when after all his losses he shall finde a reward richer then all the revenues of the Earth together And yet so insensible are we O Lord both of thy Glory and our own felicity that we can entertaine any thing with more pleasure then the thoughts of an eternity we can spend the allowance of our time in sin and sacrifice even all our yeares to vice but count a moment too long too much to be employed in thy service we can dwell and drown our selves in pleasures and think a few spare minutes a faire gift of time for our devotion The treasures of the world are a poore gaine for the Morgage of a Soul and the losse of thy favour even the richest enjoyments of this life are but wretched contentments without Thee Do thou therefore elevate our Souls and withdraw them from these beggerly elements to purer and more celestiall addresses let thy Kingdome be not our refuge onely but our choice and the perfect resolution of our souls to despise the flatteries of the world for that glory which nothing but our sins can deprive us of And as thou hast made us for thy self O Lord inable us to continue so that as we have received all that we have from thy bounty we may sacrifice all our desires to thy glory knowing that as nothing in this life can make us happy without thee so nothing can make him miserable that hath Thy Kingdome for his Inheritance A Prayer O Lord who inhabitest Eternity Thou art Exalted above all Principalities and powers Saints and Seraphims are ravished with thy Glory Angels and Archangels adore thy Greatnesse Holinesse and Honour waite upon Thy Throne the Scepter of thy Kingdome is an everlasting Scepter Thou lovest Righteousnesse and hatest iniquity and therefore they that come before Thee must worship Thee in Spirit and in Truth if they would be either heard or received of Thee Wee confess we are not worthy to appeare in Thy Presence that can present unto Thee no other offering than Sinfull and deformed Soules which deserve no longer to be accounted thine having lost that purity and likenesse which made them so We are not worthy to receive any more tenders of Mercy that have so often despised it nor to see what is the riches of thy Love that have so unworthily preferred the trifles of this Life before the treasures of thy Grace Thou mad'st it the end of our Creation that we should Glorifie Thee but we of all thy Creatures have least performed it That time which we should have employed in adorning and devoting our lives to thy Worship which is our most rationall and religious service have we Sacrificed to sinne and the pleasures of the World Thou art so infinitely Good that thou desirest but unfaigned Sorrow for sinne to excuse it and yet so miserable and deeply guilty are we that we cannot bring so much as humble and contrite Spirits to plead for our selves Thou didst so love the World that Thou sentest thy Son to dye for it But we have so lov'd the World that we have despised Heaven and our Saviour rejected the Holy One whom Thou hast sent and by our unworthy lives dishonoured that happy Name whereby we are called Thine and intitled to thy Kingdome But though our sinnes cry aloud for punishment yet the voyce of thine owne mercy and Our Saviours blood begs more powerfully for Pardon O Let His Sufferings be our reconciliation his punishment for sin our freedome from it let the bitternesse of thy wrath on Him be turn'd into the sweetnesse of thy love to us that his crosse may be our triumph and the merits of his passion the purchase of our peace and grant that having obtained mercy we may walk accordingly that being bought for heaven we may no more sell our selves to sin nor prefer a few moments of pleasure before an eternity of joy Make us to consider those Divine ties that bind us to serve Thee the infinit and abundant testimonies of thy love which invite our gratitude and that happinesse which is the reward of them that seek Thee O let not the motions of sinne be more powerfull in us than the obligations of thy grace nor the pleasures of this life of more value to us than the joyes that are to come But make us to walke cheerfully in that way which thou hast set before us that our temptations may but strengthen us more that neither the crosses nor yet the pleasures of this life may be able to deject or drowne our piety but that in whatsoever condition wee are we may be still found crowned and triumphing in faith O thou infinite Goodness teach us to a dore Thee with our whole heart and to conforme our lives unto thy law with a perfect constancy Make us to consider that exceeding weight of glory which thou hast promised to those that strive to conquer the world for thy sake O let those joyes which are so much above our thoughts be ever in them let our inability to comprehend the happinesse of thy kingdome heighten the piety of our Ambition after it more that the greater thy goodnesse is the greater may our desire after it be the greater thy love the greater our obedience and the lesser our deserts the greater our humility Make us to see the litle use but the great vanity of this world that so the pleasures of it may not steale away our hearts from the contemplation of a better but that our lives may be a perfect and perpetuall sacrifice of obedience ever pleasing in thy eyes O let thy service be ever most delightfull to us that we may labour to improove our selves before Thee by our inward and onely desires after thee that whatever defects attend our actions this may be inseparable in us even to feare thy name That so leading holy lives here we may lead happy and heavenly lives hereafter and being filled with Righteousnesse we may be filled with glory and possesse joyes unspeakable for evermore A Poenitentiall Prayer THe flesh evermore rebelleth against the spirit in me O my God and the infirmities of my nature are too strong for me of my self to conquer Behold how my frailties fight against my soul and have
there where the same Jesus shall receive us with an Euge to his Glory Thou sentest thy Son O Lord to die for us that by beleeving in him wee might have life He under whom thou hast put all things was pleased to put himself under them and left his Throne to be Crucified for our soules that we might receive the Triumphs of his passion and be partakers of his Glory O let not those miseries of our natures which first invited thy mercy make us uncapable of it let not those that knew Thee not but by thy miracles be more zealous in their acknowledging thy goodnesse then we who by the manifestation of thy love plead an interest in thy blood But grant that we may live in a perpetuall Gratulation to thy merits who camest from the Bosome of thy Father to save our souls To this end do thou give unto us that faith without which it is impossible to please thee and with which thou givest every other grace teach us so to rely on thy mercy that we may not neglect the meanes or thinke that a Dead faith will carry us to that life which Thou hast promised to none but such as worke out their salvation with feare and trembling Iohn Chap. 20. v. 11 And she stopped downe and looked into the Sepulcher SEe how religiously Mary stoopes to behold her Saviour in his Toomb whilst her yonger Sisters that spend more time on their dresse then their devotion will scarce kneel to their praiers 'T was not an apparition of Angels in the shape of Ghosts nor the mournfull silence of a toomb where dwelt no other object then death cloathed all in horrour that could fright her from her contemplation See the power of Divine love that can even with pleasure looke that in the face whose very aspect onely strikes the world to palenesse and stand not onely at its doore but enter into its chamber to meet heaven and without feare in the sad and solitatry vault repose it self among the bones and carkases of the Dead and make a Coffin its pillow till the morne Thus the martyrs triumph'd in their flames and were charioted up in raptures by fire as if the greedie element had warm'd them only How nobly did they meet death and sang Anthems to the musick of their Chaines as if they had been rather Priests then sacrifices in that cruel solemnity How sweetly did Stephen close his eyes after he had seen Jesus and heaven opened and then cheerefully expired under an heape of stones a monument richer than the proudest marble having with his owne blood writ himselfe this Epitaph the best of any I am the first Martyr Thus the Saints made their torments their pleasure and turned death with all its terrours into a scene of mirth 'T was not the rage of Tyrants nor the fury of the most ingenious kinds of torture that could force them from the love of Jesus He that loves his Saviour will with Mary not only stoop but step into a Toomb and passionately embrace even a Coffin for his sake he will looke on death but as the Messenger of his Glory the Harbinger of his happinesse and therefore with St. Paul all in raptures all in flames beg a dissolution whilst his soul full of nothing but approaching heaven is all in extasies transported thither How hardly can we be perswaded O Lord to forsake the vanishing pleasures of this life for thy glory and our owne happinesse How unwillingly should we lay downe our lives for thy sake or the Gospells that can so hardly part with one sin in obedience to thy Law Thy yoake is easy and thy service a perfect freedome and yet we count thy sanctuary a prison thy law a trouble and can scarce sacrifice so much time to our devotions as to pay unto Thee the honour due unto thy name Pardon and pity this Corruption of our frames and teach us whether we live or die to delight in that for which thou mad'st us even to glorifie Thee that so whensoever this earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved we may receive our change with joy and be carried by Angells to an everlasting inheritance Joh. Chap. 11. v. 25. Jesus wept O Who can hear this and not dissolve all in pious showrs Can the most most frozen eye read this and not thaw its selfe all in streames He that hath not so much piety as to weep for himself or his sins yet let him have so much humanity as to accompany his Saviour's teares And yet see how the marble Jewes instead of seconding censure his greife with a Could not he that restored the eyes of the Blind have kept Lazarus's open No wounder they would not be mourners with him who were to be murderers of him and be but little sensible or compassionate of his teares whose cruelty was scarce satisfied with dearer drops when his whole body became an eye that wept blood And yet Divinest Saviour how many are there that beare thy title but indeed are Jewes that pretend to wear the livery of thy name but blot out the golden characters of thy cross How coldly must they needs be affected with thy teares that are scarce sensible of thy sufferings and be but carelesse of thy life who are so forgetfull of thy death O Mary how richly are thy teares now required those eyes that became moving baths for thy Saviour's feet did sure now run over to see His brim-full and distill drops whose very inbalming revived thy Brother O Lazarus didst thou but know thy glory thou wouldst dye still to be so lamented and willingly be buried in thy grave again to be so honorably bedewed No question when thou wert a spectator of his sufferings but thou didst exceed the women in their teares and sacrifice thy Eyes in showers to thy divine Restorer This was indeed the grearest funerall that ever the world saw or is like to see for the Lord himselfe was a Mourner here Divinest Saviour thou wept'st so those that could not and for many that would not weep for themselves and wouldst not denie thy tears who pouredst out thy life thou art so in initly good thou desirest but unfained sorrow for sin to excuse the gilt thereof and yet so farre are we such is our misery from accompanying thy teares that we can scarce weep for our owne sins O teach us in a pious gratitude to do something for thy sake who hast done so much for ours that as thou hast glorified thy selfe by our redemption wee may also glorifie thee by a constant thanksgiving and may no more sell ourselves to sin that have been so dearly bought for heaven and the joys of thy kingdome John 12. v. 2. But Lazarus was one of those that sate at the table with him CAn the dead eate then was not Lazarus but new wound up in his grave and is he set at meale Is his toombe turn'd into a table and does he wipe his hands in the napkin that bound up his