Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n
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A59770
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Practical meditations upon the four last things viz. I. Death, II. Judgment, III. Hell, IV. Heaven / by R. Sherlock ...
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Sherlock, R. (Richard), 1612-1689.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing S3245; ESTC R9873
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61,623
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132
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the beginning c. The Prayer ALmighty God the Fountain of all Wisdom grant me so wisely to number and compare the short and sorrowful days of this mortal Life with that joyful and never ending day of a blessed eternity that despising the vanities of the one I may zealously aspire to the happiness of the other O satisfie the panting desires of my Soul with the sense of thy mercy in the pardon of my sins and let the glory of thy grace appear in prospering me to perform all those good works of Faith and Obedience which conduce to my eternal Salvation through Jesus Christ THE Second general Meditation UPON JUDGMENT And first the Particular Judgment IT is appointed unto man once to die Heb. 9.27 and after that the Judgment No sooner shall this house of flesh wherein the immortal Soul doth now inhabit be shattered in pieces by the hand of death but in the same moment the departing Soul shall be conveyed by the Angels of God before his Judgment-seat and this is call'd The particular Judgment that shall pass upon every person in particular immediately upon his death Eccl. 12.7 when the dust shall return to the earth as it was then shall the Spirit return unto God that gave it To give an account of the works done in the body whether they be good or whether they be evil That grand enemy of man the Devil awaits thy Soul's departure hence to dog thee to the great Tribunal of Heaven Ille enim tunc saeviens capit quos nunc blandiens decipit Greg. In this life he fawns to seduce but in the other he will roar to devour as a Lion over his prey to this end he will vehemently accuse thee aggravating all thy miscarriages through his suggestions committed and claiming thee as one of the subjects of his kingdom of darkness saying to the great Judge of all as several Fathers observe This person thou Judge of the world though he be thine by Creation Euseb Emiss Hom. Aug. orat cont Judaos Pag. yet he is mine by Depravation He is Thine by nature but mine by sin for he has obeyed my suggestions and disobeyed thy Laws and therefore though he belong to thee by right yet he is faln to me by default he is thine in respect of his workmanship but mine by the rebellion of his will and disorder of his affections having yielded himself to follow my temptations and to forsake the paths of thy Commandments But 't is not the Devil alone that shall thus accuse thee when arraigned at the Bar of divine Judgment but as S. Chrysostom saith the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea the Sun and the Moon and the Stars both Nights and Days and all the Creatures thou hast abused shall bear witness against thee but above all Thine own Conscience shall be as a thousand witnesses for being then freed from this clog and damp of the corruptible flesh all thy imaginations and desires all thy words and works spoken and done in the body shall appear to thy Conscience in their native genuine and proper colours without any ignorance or oblivion misperswasion or misprision which now blinds the minds of many thousands to their eternal ruine on that day O who shall then be able to answer thee one of a thousand thou most worthy Judge eternal if thou shouldst be extream to mark what is done amiss Job 9.2 Ps 130.3 and thy great mercy intervene not to mitigate the rigor of thy Justice But in thee have I put my trust Ps 38.15 Thou shalt answer for me O Lord my God I have no other Advocate to plead my cause but my righteous Judge himself from whom in my daily prayers I have required that they even mine enemies should not triumph over me when I stand to be judged before the Tribunal of Heaven Eccl. 23.2 3. Who will set scourges over my thoughts and the discipline of wisdom over my heart that they spare me not for mine ignorances and pass not by my sins Lest mine ignorances increase and my sins abound to my destruction And I fall before mine adversaries in the day of my trial and mine enemies the spirits and powers of darkness rejoyce over me whose hope is far from thy mercy Meditat. II. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee Psal 119.120 and I am afraid of thy Judgments when I consider the severity of many of thy temporal judgments which are now intended to drive sinners to Repentance that thou mightest spare them hereafter I cannot but foresee the unconceivable rigour of thy eternal judgments which intend punishment only without any thought of future mercy to spare and to forgive as in this life And I vile sinner have great cause to fear as a strict examination which all must undergo so severe a sentence to pass upon me having not so conscienciously as I ought obeyed the sacred dictates of the saving grace of God teaching us Tit. 2 11 12 13. that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world With what face then shall I look for the blessed hope or hope for blessedness upon the appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ I have a greater cause to fear than to hope to wave than to await his coming But how shall I avoid or whither shall I flee from the face of my Judge whither but from an offended God to a merciful Redeemer from the Throne of thy Justice to thy Mercy-seat To meet thee now with Repentance in my heart and the fruits thereof brought forth in the actions of my life and with such spiritual wings cemented with the bloud of my Redeemer I may hope to flee from the wrath to come O God who art justly displeased for our sins Mat. 3.7 8. and pacified by our true and sincere Repentance spare O spare all those who confess their sins unto thee that they whose consciences by sin are accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved through Christ our Lord. Meditat. III. Before Judgment examine thy self Eccl. 18.20 and in the day of visitation thou shalt find mercy And I upon the examination of my self do find my heart foul and polluted and my life stain'd with manifold offences but that I may escape the judgment of God I judge my self to be a miserable sinner I judge my self to have incurr'd the Lord's just indignation to have deserved the dismal sentence of condemnation to pass upon me For I have sinned and I have done wickedly and I have committed iniquity and have rebelled against the Lord by departing from his most holy Laws and Judgments Many will be my accusers when I come to my great Trial upon life or death eternal and many and great accusations have they to lay against me the Devil and his Angels whose suggestions unto evil I have too often followed many men and many women too who have been conscious