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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A06685 The soules pilgrimage to a celestial glorie: or, the perfect vvay to heaven and to God. Written by J.M. Master of Arts Monlas, John.; Maxwell, James, b. 1581, attributed name. 1634 (1634) STC 17141; ESTC S102722 91,677 186

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is accustomed every five hundred yeares to build an Artificiall nest whereunto the rayes of the Sunne reflecting and darting it at one time reduceth to ashes both the worke and the workman So if wee desire to revive to the love of immortall beatitude and celestiall felicity wee must set fire to our vices by the art and flame of a true and lively repentance and burne them all together in the feare of God All the world is a field richly strewed and diapred with the miracles and wonders of God whereof man is the principall Master-peece and the chiefest workmanship of his hands and the sacred Scriptures are as it were the Epitomie and Compendium thereof wherein I every way see nothing but Gods love of his side towards man and read nothing but subjects of honour and causes feare of man towards God But among divers other places I finde one exceedingly agreeable and concurring with our text which is Daniel Chap. 2.32 concerning the Statue which Nabuchadonozer saw in his dreame The head of this Image was of fine gold his brest and armes of silver his belly and thighes of brasse his legges of iron his feete part of iron and part of clay a stone was cut out without hands which smote the Image upon his feete that were of iron and brake them to peeces and having broken them the Statue fell backwards and was reduced to Summer dust This Statue doth lively represent unto us a sinner By his golden head I understand Pride Vanity and Ambition which fumes and swims in the head of a sinner who esteemes himselfe as pretious as gold and as rare as Pearles His brest and armes of silver markes unto us his affection to covetousnesse as having all his desires every way bent and levelled to rapine and extortion His belly and thighes of brasse represents unto us his voluptuousnesse and insatiety His legges of iron shew us his cruelty His feete of earth depaynts us his weakenesse and fragility and this stone cut without hand from the mountaine of Sion is the feare of God which God casts and rolles at our feete to beat us to dust and to make us consider the nothing from whence we came The world the flesh and the devill the professed mortall enemies of our soules who will never want subtilty or malice to make us stumble in the way to life seeing that this feare of God is a soveraigne Antidote against all the diseases of the soule not being able to diminish its vertue by their artifice and deceipts at least they will make us lose the rellish thereof by their insinuations and perswasions figuring us out this feare of God to be so hard sharpe and bitter that it is impossible for us to enjoy any rest or tranquillity of minde as long as wee are possessed of that passion That the wayes to heavenly Sion are not so craggie and difficult but that they are all paved with silke with delights and contentments But the faithfull man fearing God ought to be as wise as a Serpent Hee must stop his eares to this false Imposter and Inchanter who would surprise him to strangle him Hee must remember the words which Christ Iesus spake and dictated to him by Saint Luke Acts 14.22 We must thorow much tribulation enter into the Kingdome of God And againe by Saint Mathew 7.13 Enter yee in at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction No no let us not flatter our selues there are no Roses without prickles we shall never obtaine and carie away the incorruptible Crowne of glory before wee have first fought the good fight wee shall never put our foote in celestiall Canaan before wee have first past the red sea of the afflictions of this life and departed forth of the wildernesse of our sinnes and in a word before we have fought with the infernall Gyants and Devils who strive and endevour to prevent and hinder our entry thereinto For it is absolutely impossible ever to possesse or enjoy the love of God here belowe in Earth or much lesse above in Heaven before we have first sworne to him a perfect feare honour and obedience Amoris Ianua timor est The feare of God is the entry and gate to his love as also Love is a feare entermix'd with care and anxiety Res est solliciti plena timoris amor In the 19. Chap. verse 4. of the 1. Booke of Kings the Prophet Elijah flying the persecution of Queene Iezahel being weary of his way hee sate downe slept under a Iuniper Tree where an Angell came and found him out and caried him a Cake baked upon coales which hee pleasingly eate and relished and so satisfied his heart and stomacke for forty dayes and forty nights after which they came to the mountaine of Oreb the place of his refuge arid security This Iezabel is the devill and this Prophet may lively represent unto us our soule which of all sides is persecuted by this cruell and implacable enemie who flying his assaults if shee come to repose her selfe under the sharpe Iuniper of a truly holy and filiall feare Then without doubt the Angell of Divine consolations will bring him the bread of Love favour and mercy baked upon the coales of his affection and the good will and clemency of God which will then refresh and replenish our hearts and soules during all the pilgrimage of this our mortall life un till wee are arrived to the mountaine of Sion which is the centre of our desires the residence of our delights and the impregnable Fort and Castle of our felicities I finde Saint Augustines comparison to be very excellent and pretty upon Feare and Love and that we must passe thorow that before wee can arrive to this Hee sayes that feare is as a Needle and Love as the silke which it drawes after it The Needle is sharpe hard and piercing but the silke is soft faire and pleasing Feare is indeede a sharpe and distastfull passion but that which doth sweeten lenifie and cure his prickings it is love which immediatly followes it being fraughted with courtesie goodnesse and favour Wee must not therefore apprehend the small stings of Bees because they afterwards promise to delight satiate us with their honey which distills and flowes from the rocke of our salvation And it is the Enigme of Sampson to the Philistims from the bitter came sweet from the rage and gall of the Lion issued sweet honey to delight and refresh Sampson If Iesus Chrivt the true Lyon of the tribe of Iuda had not endured for us the bitter and cruell death of the Crosse then wee had never tasted the excellent vertue of the honey of his resurrection Indeed to flesh and blood the Feare of God is as it were a kinde of gall and bitternesse because it daunts and out braves his passions and it still keepes him waking as we doe to wild birds thereby to tame him and to make him quiet