practise of this duty be not always like Martha troubled with this and that business but remember Maries choice who chose the better part in attending upon Christ's Ministry I would have all rich men every day think of that Text Luk. 12. 20. Thou fool this night shall thy soul be taken from thee and what then will become of all thy possessions I confess God doth not require this at the hand of the daily labourer or at the hands of servants that are not masters of their own time and those that are very poor and are not able to set time apart for Meditation But you may remember I gave you a distinction between Ejaculatory Meditation and solemn Meditation a poor man when he is at his work may have a short Ejaculatory Meditation though he hath not time for this set and solemn meditation when he is at his work he may meditate upon the Promises and of Heaven and of Hell and of Death and Iudgment and the vanity of the world I have heard of a godly man was wont to say I thank God I can be in heaven in the midst of the croud of Cheapside I can meditate on the Rest I shall have in the other world 3. The third Direction is this The Sabbath-day especially is a day wherein all sorts of people are to busie themselves in this excellent work of Divine Meditation this is a day wherein the labourer ceaseth from his work the Plowmans yoke is taken off and the labouring-man and the serving man have their rest therefore it concerns all of us to spend some time every Sabbath-day in Meditation to meditate of the work of Creation or Redemption for the Lords-day is so called because Christ rose on that day and Christ set apart that day in memory of his Resurrection in memory of his Redemption therefore this is thy work Oh Christian not only to come to the publick Ordinances not only to pray in thy family but to set some time apart for Divine Meditation and the Lord forgive us this sin that we have omitted this duty so long Oh that I could be Gods instrument that there might be a resurrection of it that you would make conscience of it every sabbath-Sabbath-day as you make conscience of attending upon publick and private duties so you would put this as one of your sabbath-Sabbath-day duties for it is the very Quintessence the life and soul of all duty the sabbath-Sabbath-day is a type of the eternal Sabbath which we shall keep for ever in Heaven and shall not I think of my eternal Sabbath upon the Sabbath shall not I be much in Heaven when I am keeping a rest upon earth that represents my eternal rest in Heaven let us upon our day of rest meditate much upon our eternal rest Oh let us upon our sabbath-Sabbath-day meditate upon the everlasting Sabbath which we shall keep with God Almighty the Father Son and Holy Ghost for ever in Heaven 4. And last Direction is this That Sacrament-days are especially to be meditating-days to be set apart for this great work of Divine Meditation it is the great end why Christ hath appointed the Sacrament to shew forth the Lords-death till he come and saith Christ Do this in remembrance of me There are two things make us worthy receivers of the Sacrament Preparation before we come and Meditation when we are come and though thy Preparation be never so serious yet if thou dost not act aright in thy Meditation as well as thou hast done in thy Preparation thou maist lose the benefit of the Sacrament Now if any should ask me What are those things you would have us to meditate of when we are come unto the Sacrament or when we are at the Sacrament There are twelve Meditations which ought to take up our Sacramental-time which I call twelve common-place-heads I do not say we can meditate upon all of them at one Sacrament but my design is to give you matter sufficient that you may sometimes meditate of one sometimes of another I will but name them 1. You must meditate of the great and wonderful love of God the Father in giving Christ not only to die for us upon the Cross but in giving him to be our food at the Sacrament there was nothing moved God to give Christ but pure love and great love For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son So how so infinitely so inexpressibly the love of God in bestowing Christ is so great that the Angels desire to look into it And you that are not affected with this love I fear you have little share in it That is enough to take up one Sacrament 2. You are to meditate at the Sacrament not only of the love of the Father in giving of his Son but of the love of Christ in giving himself Ephes. 5. 2. Who loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour As God gave Christ so Christ gave himself as God gave himself as man the Godhead infused this will into the Manhood that Christ willingly laid down his life Ioh. 10. 17 18. Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up this commandment have I received of my Father Now the love of Christ in giving himself to be a curse for us is a love that passeth knowledg yet it is a love that we must study to know It is a riddle but such a riddle as the Apostle himself doth in so many express words declare unto us Ephes. 3. 19. That we may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and heigth and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledg Great is the love of Christ which passeth knowledg great is the love of Christ in dying for us and being made sin for us and being made a curse for us 3. We must meditate of the heinousness of sin when we were all fallen in Adam we were ingulphed into such a bottomless abyss of misery that none but the blood of a God could deliver us for there was an infinite breach by sin between God and us and this breach could never be made up but by the blood of God That is a rare meditation at the Sacrament to meditate of the heinousness of sin when you see the bread broken it was sin that caused Christs body to be broken and when you see the wine poured out it was sin caused Christs blood to be poured out it was sin that caused Christ to suffer so much 4. You must meditate of the excellency of this Sacramental feast for the Sacrament is a commemorative Sacrifice it is a commemoration of that blessed Sacrifice that was offered on the Cross for our sins and it is an obsignation
thy children if thou hast any thy estate all that thou hast recommend them unto thy God shut up all with a sweet resignation of thy self and all thy affairs and all thy ways As David saith Commit your ways unto the Lord commit your selves and your affairs all that you are all that you have into the hands of the Lord as a faithful Creator and a merciful Redeemer I would have you close up all with a committing and a submitting committing thy ways unto God submitting unto God in all his ways purposing to live to his glory and to walk worthy of that heavenly calling to which thou art called And thus I have put an end to this subject of Divine Meditation Now what remains but to perswade you to the practise of these things That which a learned man who hath written a Tract called The art of Divine Meditation closeth his Book withal let me close this with saith he Oh that my words were as so many gourds to quicken up the dead and dull and drousie hearts of Christians to a conscientious practice of this excellent duty of Divine Meditation It is a strange speech that he useth saith he I will give any man leave to curse me upon his death-bed if he doth not then acknowledg that those hours that he hath spent in Divine Meditation have been the best hours that he hath spent in all his life if he doth not then confess he is sorrowful that he spent no more hours in so blessed a work Sure I am when you lye upon your death-bed this will be your comfort Lord I have been often in Heaven in Meditation and now I am going to that place that I am acquainted withal Oh my God! I have been often with thee in the Mount I have been often meditating of thee Oh my blessed Saviour thou art no stranger to me I have been often meditating of Christ. Oh what comfort will this be to you when you lye upon your death-beds I will not say curse me if you do not find this true but I will say this is as sure as the Word of God is true you will find it so There are four things I will conclude this Discourse withal 1. I would humbly beseech you that you would mourn before God that you have lived so many years in the School of Christ and have been no more acquainted with this duty of Divine Meditation I believe there are very many that have been long standers in Christ's School that never yet practised this duty of Divine Meditation that never were half an hour together in the Mount of God solemnly and seriously Now I beseech you mourn before the Lord that we have been no more acquainted with this blessed and heavenly duty 2. Let us mourn before the Lord that we have misplaced our meditation for the heart of man is restless it is like the weight of a Clock that will never leave going down as long as it is wound up the heart of man will always be meditating of something or other like mill-stones if they once grind they will grind one another the heart of man will always be grinding always musing always meditating on something or other Now mourn before God heartily and go into your Closets and bemoan it that you have ground chaff to your immortal souls all your lives long that you have spent your days in meditating what to eat and what to drink and what to be clothed withal and how to grow rich and how to manage your trading and your calling how to thrive in the world how to get such preferments you have been meditating all your lives long upon vain things and have not meditated upon the things of eternity those things that do most concern you you have been meditating upon trifles upon things that will not profit at the hour of death and forgot to meditate of those things that are of eternal concernment our Saviour Christ complains of those men Mat. 6. Take no thought for your lives what you shall eat and what you shall drink nor for your body what you shall put on as if he should say why do you spend all your time in taking thought of eating and drinking and clothing and outward things Which of you saith he can by taking thought add one cubit to your stature All your musing and meditating of them is vain Can a Dwarf by thinking he is a Dwarf make himself taller it is not all your musing and your meditating of these outward things I mean your inordinate meditating will advantage you I grant Tradesmen must have time to meditate of worldly things I will not lay heavier burdens than the Scripture doth lay but when you ravel away all your time in meditating upon earthly things and never are serious in the Meditation of heavenly things this I would have you mourn for you that are old people and have been many years professors of Religion Oh mourn that you have wasted your intellectual faculty that you have wasted that glorious faculty of soul your understanding in such vain and trifling things nay are there not some that do not only meditate of vain things but spend many hours in meditating on vile things that devise mischief upon their beds and meditate how to cozen their neighbours how to be revenged upon their neighbour how to do mischief how to compass about their wicked designs are there not some that meditate to do evil and rejoice in the meditation of evil when they have done it Many old men meditate with joy of their youthful vanities and wickedness committed in their youth they chew over their wicked ways with delight which we call contemplative wickedness Oh let us bewail and bemoan it before God that we have squandered away our immortal souls by exercising the glorious faculty of the understanding in such poor trifling things it may be lustful revengeful vile wicked thoughts either in doing that which is evil or in meditating on the evil we have done instead of mourning for it rejoicing in it 3. I would perswade you to study the necessity the excellency the usefulness and profitableness of Divine Meditation let me tell you for the conclusion this duty is not only a duty but the quintessence and marrow of all other duties there is no duty will take impression upon your souls without the practise of this duty it is the very life and soul of Christianity without which a Christian is but the carcass of a Christian. I have shewed that the want of Divine Meditation is the cause of all sin and all punishment I have shewed you that the practise of Meditation will help to beget Grace and increase Grace and resist the Devil and all his temptations 4. Let me perswade you all that you would put this duty in practise especially you that are rich people Gentlemen Merchants and others you that have estates you that are Gentlemen may spare time from your sports and you that are rich Merchants and others may take time from your outward occasions O let me intreat you that you would take some spare-time every day to go up to the Mount of God to meditate of some of those Subjects that I have propounded to you whether it be Death or Hell or Heaven or Iudgment or Sin or Christ or God or the vanity of the world whatsoever the Subject is that is holy and heavenly I will not lay burdens upon you I know there may be such occasions that you cannot but ordinarily that you would as often as you can make conscience to accustom your selves to this necessary and long-neglected duty of Divine Meditation Let me tell you you would be tall Christians in grace if you did accustom your selves to this duty the reason why you are such Dwarfs in Christianity and so unacquainted with God and the Promises and Christ and Heaven is for the want of the practice of this duty this is the reason why you creep upon the ground and are so poor in Grace and so lean in Religion Therefore let me intreat you especially you whose happiness is that you need not work every day to provide for your families the Lord hath given you an estate and you may spare time Oh let it not be said at the day of Iudgment that you lost Heaven for the want of the practising this duty of Divine Meditation And then you that are poor people and cannot find time you that are Servants and Apprentices that have not time remember what I said concerning Occasional Meditation I shewed you how you might meditate when you were about your worldly business there is no lawful calling that a man can be in but if he hath a heavenly heart he may heavenlize that calling he may take occasion as Christ takes occasion to heavenlize his Discourse from outward things to raise Heavenly Discourse when thou art at work thou maist be by Divine Meditation in Heaven But let me perswade you all on the Sabbath-day though you have not time on the week-day for set solemn Meditation yet then you have time for occasional Meditation for on the Sabbath all your work ceaseth that is the day that God hath set a part for publick service and private Meditation Meditation on the work of Creation and the work of Redemption it is a great work we are to do upon the day of our rest to meditate of our Eternal Rest in Heaven therefore let me perswade you to spend some time on the Sabbath-day upon Meditation but especially on the Sacrament-days There are Twelve Meditations I propounded to meditate on upon the Sacrament and I chose this Subject to help you with Sacramental Meditation it hath pleased God to carry me out further in the handling of it than ever I thought The Lord give a Blessing to it FINIS
heaven His course was to consider all the Creatures that were under the Heaven I have seen saith he all the works that are done under the Sun and behold all is but vanity and vexation of spirit After he had meditated upon the world he goes over the riches and the pleasures of the world and when he had reckoned them all he concludes in Chap. 2. 11. Then I looked on all the works my hand had wrought and on the labour that I had laboured to do and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit I gathered me silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of Kings and of the Provinces I got me men-singers and women-singers and the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments and that of all sorts so I was great and increased more than all before me in Ierusalem also my wisdom remained with me and whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them And when he had looked upon all these glorious Excellencies what was his Conclusion Behold saith he all was vanity and vexation of spirit and there was no profit under the Sun Did we meditate much on the vanity of the world we would not idolize it so much 7. Divine Meditation is a mighty help to beget in us the grace of thankefulness for the mercies and blessings we receive from God Certainly it is a great duty that lyes upon us to be thankful for Gods mercies now there is no way to stir you up to thankefulness so much as meditation upon the mercies of God for he that forgets the mercies of God cannot be thankful for them and therefore mark the course that David takes Psal. 8. 3. When I consider the heavens the work of thy fingers the Moon the Stars which thou hast ordained then he crys out What is man that thou art mindful of him or the son of man that thou visitest him for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels When he considered what God had done for man then he admires the love of God to man and breaks out into thankfulness Certainly a Christian forgetful of Gods mercies can never be thankful for them and the way to beget thankefulness is to meditate on what God hath done for us 8. Divine Meditation is a mighty help to beget in you a preferring of Gods house before your own house It is the great sin of this age wherein we live that every man studies to build his own house and no man cares for the house of the Lord We may truly say as Ieremiah saith This is Sion whom no man regards every man seeks his own interest and no man almost cares what becomes of Religion There is a strange kind of lukewarmness that is upon the spirits of all men in this age that so men may grow great themselves they care not what becomes of the House of God Now Divine Meditation would make you prefer the building of Gods House before the building of your own house And for this purpose let me beseech you to read Hag. 1. 4. Is it time for you Oh ye to dwell in your cieled houses and this house lye waste It was the sin of the people of Israel that they neglected the building of Gods House and every man strove to grow rich in his own particular Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts consider your ways here the Prophet calleth them to consideration ye have sown much but bring in little ye eat but you have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ye clothe you but there is none warm And he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes What was the matter because they did not build Gods House therefore God did not build their house v. 7. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your ways ye looked for much but lo it came to little and when you brought it home I did blow upon it why saith the Lord of Hosts because of my house that is waste and ye run every man into his own house therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew and the earth is stayed from her fruit God will never settle England God will never settle your houses till you make conscience to build Gods House and till you have more zeal for the House of God than for your own houses though you may dream of peace and plenty yet certainly the Lord will never build your houses until you build Gods House And therefore he saith further Hag. 2. 17. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands yet ye turned not to me saith the Lord. Consider now from this day and upward from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month even from the day that the foundation of the Lords Temple was laid consider it from this day will I bless you And certainly the world is much mistaken the way to build your own house is to join together to settle Religion God will never prosper you till Gods House be setled And did you meditate on these two Chapters the first and second Chapter of Haggai it would by Gods grace beget in you a mighty zeal toward the setling of the House of God and to prefer that before the setling of your own house 9. Divine Meditation will beget in us a keeping of all the commandments of God There is no Commandment of God but Divine Meditation when it is sanctified I do not say otherwise will work in us and inable us to keep Deut. 4. 39 40. Know therefore this day and consider it in thy heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath there is none else thou shalt keep therefore his statutes and his commandments And David saith Psal. 119. 55. I have remembred thy name Oh Lord in the night and have kept thy Law 2. Divine Meditation is not only a means to beget grace but it is a mighty help to preserve and increase grace As the wood preserves the fire as the oil preserves the flame as the water preserves the fish so doth meditation preserve your graces It preserves every grace and it increaseth every grace for Meditation is a Divine pair of bellows to blow up the sparks of grace when there is but a little fire meditation will kindle this fire more and increase it when you find your love of God grows cold meditate upon the love of God and this will kindle the love of God in your hearts and when you find the fear of God to diminish in you meditate upon the power of God that thy breath is in his hand that he hath thee in his hand this will increase the fear of God and so when the love of the world increaseth upon you meditate upon the vanity and nothingness of it and this will decrease the love of the world 3. Divine Meditation as it is a means to beget grace and to increase grace so it is
a man that is ambitious you need not perswade him to think of honour and preferment but the love that he hath to preferment will force him to think of it So did you love God Christ Heavenly things you would be much in the meditation of them And the reason why you meditate no more of them is because you love them no more Psal. 119. 97. Oh how do I love thy law what then it is my meditation all the day What made David meditate all the day upon the Law of God because he loved it Psal. 1. 7. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth he meditate day and night A man that is deep in love with a woman you need not bid him think of that woman Where the love is there the soul is Oh did you delight in the things of Heaven I need not lay down rules to perswade you to the practise of it the very love would be a loadstone love is a loadstone of Meditation and he that loves good things will think of them Cogitatione crebra cogitatione longa cogitatione profunda that is very often very long and very deep a man that is deep in love is deep in meditation of the party he loves The seventh Rule Labour to get an interest in Heavenly things labour by Scripture-evidences to make out thy interest in Heavenly things what comfort can that man have of meditating of Heaven that doth not know he hath a right to Heaven what comfort can that man have of meditating of Christ that doth not know that Christ is his what comfort can that man have in meditation of God that looks upon God as his enemy It is interest that will facilitate Divine Meditation a man that hath an interest in an inheritance will often think of it if he hath a thousand pound a year that is his own he is often thinking how to improve it and enjoy it but if he hath no title or right to it alas he will not think of it what doth he care for it It is your interest in the things of Heaven that will raise your meditation of them and as long as you have no assurance of a title to Heaven you will never heartily meditate of it you may know it by rote and by form but you will never heartily meditate of it till you know it to be your inheritance and you will never heartily meditate of the Promises till you know you have a title to them that they are Promises made to you The eighth Rule is this Labour to get a heart disengaged and disintangled from the world a man that is dead and buried in the world it is in vain to perswade him to go up the mount of Meditation a bird that is in a Lime-twig it is in vain to bid that bird fly alas poor bird she is intangled in the Lime-twig a man that is intangled in the lime-twigs of the world it is in vain to bid this man mount up in Meditation The love of the world is like the plague of flies that Pharoah had in Egypt he could not eat a bit of meat but the flies got into his meat and got into his drink so a man that is up to the ears in the world cannot pray cannot hear a Sermon and cannot receive the Sacrament but this plague of flies comes there the thoughts of the world is at the Sacrament with him in Prayer with him on the Sabbath-day with him The love of the world pray pardon me in this expression is just like a familiar spirit for indeed I cannot speak too much against it a Witch that hath a familiar spirit it will go along with her wheresoever she goes when she hath once entertained it she can never be rid of it but the Devil will haunt her so the love of the world is an invisible Devil and will haunt you wheresoever you go if you go to the Sacrament there the Devil will haunt you if you go to the mount of Meditation the Devil and the world will be there if you go to pray there the Devil will be And you that are in these lime-twigs it is in vain to preach to you the Doctrine of Divine Meditation and therefore let me speak to you as God did to Moses Put the shooes off thy feet for the place whereon thou stands is holy ground So do I say if ever you would be qualified for this duty of Divine Meditation put the shooes off your feet You must labour to be mortified to the world and worldly things you must labour to get a Heavenly frame of spirit it is in vain to perswade a worldly man to meditate of Heavenly things I do but beat the air for such as the heart is such will the man be if the heart be lustful the man will meditate of lustful things and act lustful things if the heart be worldly the man will be worldly such as thy heart is such is thy thoughts such are thy affections such are thy actions and till thy heart be Heavenly thou canst never be a fit practitioner of this duty and therefore labour for a Heavenly heart The ninth Rule is this Be not discouraged though you find a difficulty in the beginning of practising this duty but accustom thy self to it Custom will make perfectness usus promptus facit Custom will make it an easie thing as an Apprentice that is newly bound to his Master finds his Trade very hard at first but afterwards by custom when he hath been a year or two at it then it is very easie so at the first you will find it very hard to meditate of Christ to abide and dwell long at it but let me assure you accustom your selves to it and you will find it very easie through Gods mercy Have you not known many a man and woman that hath been by the Physician prescribed to walk up a hill every day at the first he finds it very hard he is not able to do it but within a month or two it begins to be easie and they that before could not go up the hill without resting almost twenty times now they can go up without resting at all Oh the hill of Meditation is hard for us to climb that are so full of the world so full of vanity and folly but if you did accustom your selves to climb up this hill by often doing of it you would find it very easie The tenth and last Rule is this Do all these things by power derived from Iesus Christ I do not think that it is in your power to do these things but I know there is power in Christ and Christ will give you power as the Apostle saith Phil. 4. 13. I am able to do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me Go to Christ for a Heavenly heart for a serious spirit to kindle in thee a love to Heavenly things to shew thee thy interest in Heavenly things for if thou didst
Vncertainty 3. The fitness for it 4. How to be above the hurt of it 5. To live in expectation of it 6. To be free from the fear of it 122 2. Judgment 1. The terribleness of it 2. Solemnity of the great Assizes 3. Account to be given to God 4. Separation at that day 5. Happiness of the Godly 6. Miserableness of the wicked 123 3. Heaven 1. The joys of it 2. Beatifical Vision 3. Perfection 4. Perpetuity 5. Fitness for 6. What to do to get to Heaven 125 4. Hell where of the punishment of 1. Loss 2. Sense 126 2. God Christ the Holy Ghost and thy self 127 1. Of God where of his 1. Attributes 2. Works 3. What Relation towards him 128 2. Christ where of his 1. Divine 2. Humane nature 3. Offices and then of his 1. Life 2. Death where 1. what he suffered 2. for whom 3. who he was 4. what love he suffered with 5. what interest you have in it 6. his Resurrection 7. Ascension 8. Intercession at Gods right hand ibid. 3. Holy Ghost 1. nature 2. office 3. motion 4. graces 131 4. Our selves in the state of 1. Innocency 2. Apostacy 3. Regeneration 4. Glory 132 Further of our 1. Sins 2. Duties 3. Evidences 4. Comforts 5. frailty of body 6. immortality ibid. 3. Dependance upon God 4. Advantages God hath us at he may throw into Hell at pleasure therefore we should study and think on 1. our Relations 2. Calling 3. Company 4. our hearts Hereof 1. Thoughts 2. Affections 3. Words 4. Actions ibid. 5. Sinfulness of sin 137 6. Vanity of the Creature 138 7. Excellency of the Gospel 8. Commandments Threatnings Promises Ordinances of the Gospel as 1. Prayers 2. reading the Word 3. hearing the Word 4. the Sacrament 139 9. Errors of the times Iudgments of God great changes of the Nation several passages of Providence the mercies of God 140 6 Rules and Directions and those of three sorts respecting person subject manner 1. For the right qualifying of the person that is to meditate viz. 143 1. Convince thy soul of the necessity of it 144 2. Of the benefits and advantages of it as 145 1. The begetting Repentance 2. The Love of God 3. Fear of God 4. Love of Christ. 3. The mischiefs of not-meditating 4. Get a sufficient furniture of saving knowledg 148 5. Labour to get a serious spirit 149 to which purpose a fourfold frame of spirit is to be avoided as namely 150 1. A slight frame of spirit 2. A trifling frame of spirit 3. A watry frame of spirit 4. An inconsiderate frame of spirit 6. Labour for the love of heaven and heavenly things 153 7. Labour to get an interest in Heaven and heavenly things 154 8. An heart disengaged from the world 155 9. Be not discouraged though you have difficulty in the beginning 157 10. Do all these things by power deriv'd from Iesus Christ 158 2. Rules for the right ordering the subjects or materials ibid. 1. At the beginning pick out easie subjects as of Heaven 1. the happiness of it in general 2. in particular 161 2. Vse variety as heads of several materials were suggested 162 3. Pick out such subjects more especially as dispose to godly sorrow and holiness 163 4. Such as are most seasonable to thy condition and suitable to thy relation As suppose thou art 164 1. Troubled in mind and exceedingly dejected think of the willingness of Christ to receive poor ones 165 2. Troubled in conscience think of the promises not only to grace but of grace to give grace 167 3. In outward want consider the wonderful providences of God ibid. 4. Sick like to thy own life or some dear Relative think on a seasonable subject as Death c. 168 5. To receive the Sacrament consider the nature thy need of it c. 169 3. Rules for the manner of ordering Meditations on the foremention'd or like subjects viz. 170 1. To begin and enter upon the practise of Meditation and here be six Directions ibid. 1. Be sure to pick a fit place to meditate in ibid. 2. A fit and seasonable time according to our circumstances ibid. 3. Be sure to have a fit subject prepar'd not to seek at the time 171 4. Then set your self as in Gods presence under his eye ibid. 5. Begin with some short ejaculatory not long prayer 172 6. Keep your hearts with all keeping 173 2. To proceed better in this work here we must know there be two faculties of the soul the understanding and will or heart and affections 175 1. Rules to help the understanding more logically and plainly 176 1. Logically as Topicks or Common-place-heads ibid. viz. 1. Description 2. Distribution 3. Causes 4. Effects 5. Properties 6. Opposites 7. Comparisons 8. Titles 9. Testimonies ibid. An instance in considering sin as the subject ibid. 1. Consider description as a transgression of Gods Law 178 2. Distribution as sin by imputation propagation and action ibid. 3. Cause of sin God not the cause but Satan and self 179 4. Effects and cursed fruits temporal carnal and eternal 5. Properties and Adjuncts in general and particular 181 6. Opposites grace and holiness 182 7. Comparisons as bruises leprosie c. ibid. 8. Titles given to sin in Scripture as robbing God c. 183 9. Testimonies in Scripture against sin wrath of God c. ibid. 2. Plainly where particularly consider 184 1. What the Scripture saith of the subject you would meditate upon ibid. 2. What Sermons you have heard upon that subject 185 3. Take a Book that treats on the subject you would metate upon 186 4. Be sure to join Application with your Contemplation 187 5. Consider the means how to obtain what you meditate upon 188 2. Rules to help the will heart and affections and to raise them 189 1 Labour to get a relish and savour of the things you meditate on to have the heart affected 2. Complain before God for the want of this relish 3. Wish you had a supply of the tast you want 190 4. Confess your inability as of your self to do this 5. Petition to God for help 6. Confidently believe God will help you 3. Rules to conclude all after entrance and progress 197 1. Lift up your heart to God with thankfulness and bless his Name ibid. 2. Resolve to live as one who hath been thinking on the things of God 199 3. Recommend your self body soul relatives c. to God 200 A Perswasion to the practise of these things concluding in four particulars 201 1. Mourn before God that you have liv'd so long in the School of Christ and have not practised this duty of solemn Meditation 202 2. That you have misplac'd your Meditation ibid. 3. Study the necessity excellency usefulness and profitableness of Meditation as the marrow of all other duties 205 4. Defer not to practise according to the directions given in expectation of Gods blessing ibid. GEN. XXIV 63. And Isaac went out to meditate in the
he tasts of when he takes an occasion by any thing that is sensitive to raise up his thoughts to Heavenly meditation Or take it thus Occasional meditation is when a man makes use of the Creature as a footstool to raise him up to God as a ladder to Heaven when a man upon the sudden makes use of what he sees with his eyes or hears with his ears as a ladder to climb to Heaven withal You have a pattern of this Psal. 8. 3 4. When I considered thy heavens the work of thy singers the Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained mark what is his meditation of this what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him Lord what is man that thou shouldest make the Heaven the Sun and the Moon and the Stars for his sake You must know that all the whole Creation is a picture of God it is Gods Looking-glass wherein you may behold the God of Heaven and Earth there is no Creature but it hath the Image of God upon it there is not the least spice of grace but you that are spiritual may read God in it It is the saying of a Heathen Every herb that you have in your Garden doth represent the Divinity or nature of God There are two books that God hath given us Christians to know him by the book of the Scripture and the book of the Creature now though the book of the Scripture be the better book of the two and the book of the Scripture will teach us more of God than the book of the Creature for the book of the Creature cannot teach us God in Christ cannot teach us the mystery of Redemption nor the mystery of the Trinity yet the book of the Creature is a rare book wherein a man may learn excellent things concerning Heaven and heavenly things excellent instructions I remember a story of a godly man Antony that was driven into the Wilderness for Religion sake and having no book at all in the Wilderness he was asked How he could spend his time saith he I have one book and that is the book of the Creation and as long as I have this book I want no other book Speaking how much he could behold God in that book And it is a good saying of Tertullian The same God is the God of nature that is the God of grace And it is the duty of a Christian to receive instruction and spiritual benefit from natural things as well as from gracious and spiritual things because there is the same God of nature as of grace The Creatures of God are a Divine Book in which we may read the power of God the goodness of God the love of God the mercy and wisdom of God Rom. 1. 20. That that may be known of God may be read in the Creature Now the Creatures are but Spectacles by which we are enabled to read these things concerning God I have read a story of a Painter Hermogenes he was a rare man for that Art and coming into a Painters shop he sees a line drawn so curiously that he crys out Surely Apelles hath been here none but Apelles could draw such a curious line And as the story saith he went out of theshop and never left till he had founb out this Apelles that so he might come to the acquaintance of that man that had so much skill The application of this is most excellent when you look upon this Creature of God and that Creature of God you must needs confess that none but a God could make such a glorious world digitus Dei est hic here is the finger of God and the consideration of this if you have any thing of God in you will make you to seek out after this God and to love this God and honour this God 2. I will give you some examples of this occasional sudden extemporary meditation of Divine things First I will give you Scripture examples Prov. 6. 6. there the wise man sends the sluggard to the Pismire Go to the Ant thou sluggard consider her ways and be wise which having no guide overseer or ruler provideth her meat in the summer Here you see what a rare meditation a man may have from the little Pismire and how the sluggard is sent to behold the Pismire to be ashamed of his sluggishness let the sight of that put thee in mind of thy laziness Ier. 8. 7. there God sends the unthankful Israelite to the Stork and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow The stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed time and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming Here you have a sudden and occasional meditation from the Creatures of God the Turtle the Crane the Swallow observe the time of their coming the Stork at such a time of the year goes out of the land and at such a time of the year comes into the land but my people there is the meditation know not the judgments of the Lord. And thus Christ sends the distrustful Christian to the fowls of the air and to the lillies of the field Mat. 6. 26. Behold the fowls of the air for they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly father feedeth them here is an occasional meditation are you not better than many sparrows And why take you thought for raiment consider the lillies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these You have another example Ioh. 4. where Christ discoursing with the Woman of Samaria and intreating some water from the Woman takes an occasion from the water of the Well to discourse of the water of life And Ioh. 6. from the loaves Christ fed the people withal he takes an occasion to discourse of the bread of life You follow me for the loaves saith Christ but labour not for the meat that perisheth but labour for the meat that endureth for ever I am the bread of life that came down from heaven Christ takes occasion from the natural bread to meditate on the bread of life the bread of heaven To give you some other examples I read in St. Austin that he had a water-course near his lodging a great flowing down of waters and observing how sometimes the water went down silently sometimes made a great noise from the consideration of the different streaming of the water he made a rare discourse of the Order of Providence the manner how God governs the World in order There was a Minister Mr. Deering in Queen Elizabeth's days a man of famous memory in whose Life it is reported that just when he was a dying the Sun shone upon him and he takes occasion from that most excellently to discourse of that Sun of Righteousness of the glory of heaven of the happiness he was going
things to be glasses to see God in pictures to behold God in the Goodness of God and the Wisdom of God and he endeavours to receive spiritual instruction by them 2. Herein a child of God exceeds all wicked men there is no wicked man can use the Creatures spiritually it is above his sphere a wicked man makes the Creatures a wall of separation between God and him not a glass to see God there is no wicked man useth the Creatures of God as a looking-glass to behold God in or as a footstool to raise him up to God or a ladder to climb to God by this is proper only to a godly man 5. Consider this It is the greatest affront you can offer to God not to take spiritual notice of his creatures not to make a spiritual use of his Creatures God hath put mankind upon the stage of this world and God hath made all the Creatures for mans use and God hath made man to be the tongue to praise him for all his Creatures and if man doth not praise him God loseth the praise of all the whole Creation God made all the Creatures for man and man to praise him for all the Creatures which if man neglect God loseth the glory of the whole Creation for how doth the Sun and the Moon and the Stars praise God! The Prophet David calls upon the Ice and the Snow and the Rain and all the Creatures of God to praise God How do they praise God How doth the fire and the water praise God When we praise God for these things then they praise God when we use them for God and draw Heavenly things spiritual instruction out of them and when we do not do this we offer the greatest affront that can be offered to God in that kind and we deprive God of the glory of the whole Creation 6. It is a soul-destroying sin not to observe the works of God and to make a good use of them Psal. 28. 5. Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hand he shall destroy them and not build them up These are the six motives Now in a word to put an end to this Discourse let me beseech and intreat you that you would put this duty in practise let me tell you Sirs that though occasional ejaculatory meditation be but as a Parenthesis as one very well saith in your worldly businesses yet this Parenthesis is more worth than all your worldly business yea it signifies more than all your worldly business As for example I will conclude my Discourse by giving you a little help When I rise in a morning what an excellent thing were it for a man to meditate of the great morning of the Resurrection and that it shall be as easie for men to rise out of the grave at the great Resurrection as it hath been for me this morning to arise out of my bed And when the Sun begins to arise and we behold the Sun shining what a rare meditation is it to consider there will a day come wherein the Sun of Righteousness shall come in the clouds and all his holy Angels with him and all the Saints at that day shall shine as so many Suns in the firmament O what a glorious day will that be when there shall be as many Suns as there are Saints there shall be as many Suns as there are Stars now in a bright shining night in the Heaven And when thou art going abroad it would be very comely spiritual and useful to remember that thou hast two companions always going with thee that is God and the Devil pardon me that I join them together thou hast thy judg and thy accuser to go with thee wheresoever thou walkest in the day time one Devil or other is always waiting upon thee and God is always present with thee who will call thee to an account for all that thou dost and the Devil scores up all that thou dost for to acaccuse thee afterward And when thou walkest abroad and seest a debauched wicked man it is an excellent thing to have a meditation and to say Blessed be God that hath made me to differ from this man if it had not been for the grace of God I had been as wicked as this man And when thou meetest with a godly man a man eminent for godliness Oh put up a prayer to God that he would make thee as godly and mourn that thou art not as godly as he When thou meetest with a learned man or a wise man or a beautiful creature it is a very excellent meditation to consider if there be so much beauty so much wisdom in the creature O what is there in God who is the ocean of beauty if there be so much comeliness so much excellency here below Oh what is there above It is a rare thing to use the creatures reflexively it is Idolatry to use the creature terminately but the admirable the superlative excellency of a Christian is to use the Creature reflexively to reflect from the Creature to the Creator So likewise when thou art in thy Shop and weighing thy Commodities would it not be an excellent meditation to think there will a time come when God will weigh thee in a ballance and weigh thy actions and weigh all that thou dost And meditate on that Text Prov. 11. 1. A false ballance is an abomination to the Lord. And so likewise when you walk in the fields and behold the grass that grows and behold the flowers of the field doth it not become you to meditate that all flesh is grass and all the glory of the world is but the goodliness of the grass and all earthly things are but like the beauty of a flower My little Child that I love so much is but like this flower it is beautiful but it is but fading And when thou seest a wicked man grow great by wicked ways would it not be a very comfortable thing to remember that Text Fret not thy self because of evil doers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity for they shall be soon cut down as the grass and wither as the green herb And you that are Merchants when you are upon the Exchange a short sudden ejaculation would not be hurtful but helpful to you As for example to remember that as you are Merchant-adventurers for earthly things so you are all Merchant-adventurers for heaven and your souls are in the midst of the Sea of this world this world is like a Sea and your soul is here like a ship at Sea and is in danger to be split upon the rocks in danger of pirates and in danger of being lost Your Ships have not half so many dangers as your Souls have the temptations of the Devil the allurements of the world the corruptions of your own hearts Now to consider as in the Exchange what is become of such and such a Ship so to ask thy soul in what
case is thy soul now that is on the Sea of this world and then to go to the Ensuring-office you know you have your Ensuring-offices wherein you ensure your Ships at Sea to get your souls ensured by reconciliation with God and by true faith manifested by holiness and righteousness to get your souls assured that they may come safe to the haven of Happiness In a clear bright frosty Winter-night when thou goest out and beholdest the bespangled heaven multitude of bright Stars what a rare thing were it to meditate This glorious bespangled Firmament is but the stable as it were but the out-houses of that Heaven where I am to go it is but the outward Court but the Wash-house as I may say and if the Stable and Out-houses be so glorious Oh what is the inward palace above the spangled Heavens is my Fathers house where I hope to live for ever with God and there my Christ is now interceding for me and by the power of his Spirit shall I be brought one day to that house Oh when will that time come when will my soul mount thorough these Heavens into the heaven of Heavens Now is not this comely for a Christian will not this heavenlize you and spiritualize you And then when you go to bed at night to remember I have one day more to answer for to remember there will a last night come after which there will be no day but the Resurrection of all Remember thy last night thy concluding night the end of thy life But I have been over-long in this a great deal more than I thought but I do it because here I shall put an end to this discourse of occasional meditation There is a second sort of Meditation and that is that that I call set solemn and deliberate when a man sets apart an hour a day it may be sets a part some time and goes into a private Closet or a private Walk and there doth solemnly and deliberately meditate of the things of Heaven Now concerning this meditation I shall handle by Gods assistance these two Particulars 1. I will shew you the nature of it 2. I will shew you the necessity of it 1. The nature of this duty what this meditation is that I would press you to I will describe it in two Particulars 1. This holy meditation is a dwelling and abiding upon things that are holy it is not only a knowing of God and a knowing of Christ but it is a dwelling upon the things we know as the Bee that dwells and abides upon the flower to suck out all the sweetness that is in the flower so to meditate upon God and Christ and the Sacrament it is to dwell upon God and the Sacrament to suck out all the sweetness we can in the things we meditate upon As we read of Anna Luk. 2. 37. She continued in the Temple praying and fasting day and night To meditate is to continue and fix our selves and our hearts upon the things we know this meditation in Scripture is called a holy musing Psal. 39. 3. My heart was hot within me while I was musing to meditate is to muse or else it is to commune with our own hearts Psal. 4. Stand in awe and sin not commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still It is a communing a consulting with our own hearts or if you will it is a bethinking our selves so it is expressed 1 King 8. 47. If they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captive and repent The Hebrew word is if they shall bring back to their hearts if they shall reflect upon themselves for meditation is a reflecting act of the soul whereby the soul is carried back to it self and considers all the things that it knows Meditation is an inward act of the soul a spiritual act whereby the soul doth recoil upon it self and looks back upon it self and considers all the things that concern its everlasting happiness and if I be not mistaken it is rarely typified under the Law two manner of ways 1. By those beasts that did chew the cud you shall read Lev. 11. of the clean beasts and the unclean beasts now the clean beasts were such as did chew the cud of those they were to eat now the unclean beasts were those that did not chew the cud a meditating Christian is one that chews the cud that chews on the Truths of Jesus Christ that doth not only hear good things but when he hath heard them chews them over ruminates upon them that so they may be fitter for digestion and concoction and spiritual improvement an unclean Christian is one that doth not chew the cud that doth not ruminate and ponder and bethink himself of the things of Heaven 2. Another type of this rare grace of Meditation is that of the Beasts Ezek. 1. that Ezekiel saw that had eyes within and without Vers. 18. their wings were full of eyes round about them And so likewise the Beasts Rev 4. 6. Round about the Throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind A notable and a rare type of Meditation for meditation is nothing else but a looking thoroughly into the things of God a looking before and behind as I may so speak a meditating Christian is a man full of eyes that doth not only know God but sees much of God There is another metaphor to express it Psal. 119 59. I thought on my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies The word in the Hebrew is taken from Chapmen that when they buy a commodity they turn it over and over and over again they look all about it into every part of it Meditation is a thorow contemplation and a thorow consideration of the things of God a meditating Christian is full of eyes full of heavenly understanding 2. It is an act of the heart as well as of the head it is not only a speculative knowledg of things Divine but a practical knowledg it is not only an act of the intellect and understanding but of the will and affections it is an affective grace as well as an intellective grace and therefore it is said of the Blessed Virgin Mary She pondered all these sayings in her heart she did not only think of them with her head but she pondered on them with her heart and you shall read Deut. 4. 39. Know therefore this day and consider it in thy heart A true meditation is when a man doth so meditate of Christ as to get his heart inflamed with the love of Christ so meditate of the Truths of God as to be transformed into them and so meditate of sin as to get his heart to hate sin when it is such a musing of God as kindles a fire in the whole soul as David doth express it Psal. 39. 3. While I was musing the fire burnt When a man doth so contemplate on God that his heart is all on fire with the love of God
so must you when these roving thoughts come upon you when you are in the Temple or the mount of meditation you must thrust them out that is you must use all your spiritual strength to thrust them out and you must pray unto God as Moses prayed Exod. 8. that God would take away this plague of flies and do as Pharoah did he sent for Moses Oh pray pray unto God for me that this swarm of flies may depart out of the land Speak to thy godly Ministers thy godly friends to pray for thee and do thou pray for thy self that the Lord would deliver thee from these noisome imaginations and fancies and roving thoughts that do disturb you in the Worship of God and in the practise of this duty of Divine Meditation So much for the place where we are to meditate The 2d thing to speak to is the time when we are to meditate it is said in the Text And Isaac went out to meditate in the eventide it seems Isaac found the Evening to be the fittest time for Meditation Dr. Hall in his excellent Tract of Meditation tells us out of his own experience that he found the evening-time to be the fittest time for Meditation And there is a learned Minister in that excellent Book of the Saints Everlasting Rest doth likewise from his own experience commend the eventide for the best and suitablest time for Meditation and he saith from the Sun-setting to the twi-light and sometimes in the night when it is warm and clear I will not lay clogs upon any mans conscience that which is seasonable for one is unseasonable for another some mens tempers are fittest to meditate in the morning and some mens tempers are fittest to meditate in the evening Now there are four Propositions four rules of Direction concerning the time when I would have you to meditate 1. It is the duty of all those that are not hindred by necessary business if it be possible to set apart some time every day for meditation whether it be morning afternoon or night For Meditation is the life and soul of all Christianity it is that which makes you improve all the Truths of Christian Religion you are but the Skeletons of Christians without Meditation it is as necessary as your daily bread and as you feed your bodies every day so you ought to feed your souls every day with meditating on your sins or your Evidences for Heaven or the everlasting burnings of Hell or of the day of Judgment the great account you are to give at that day or of the joys of Heaven or of the Promises c. We are every day assaulted with the Devil therefore we should every day put on the armour of Divine Meditation to consider how to resist the wiles of the Devil we are every day subject to death we are every day subject to sin therefore we should every day consider how to prepare our selves for death and every day consider how to resist sin Meditation is nothing else but a conversing with God the souls colloquie with God and it is fit we should every day walk with God Divine Meditation is nothing else but the souls transmigration into heaven the souls ascending up into Heaven now it is fit every day that we should have our conversation in Heaven David when he describes the blessed man Psal. 1. 2. saith he His delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his law will he meditate day and night And he saith of himself though he was a King and had many worldly businesses the affairs of his Kingdom to hinder him yet he saith Psal. 119. 97. Oh how do I love thy law it is my meditation all the day v. 148. Mine eyes prevent the night-watches that I might meditate on thy word There is the morning-time for Meditation I prevent the dawning of the morning that I might meditate in thy word v. 15. I will delight my self in thy statutes and I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto all thy ways And Ioshua that great General of the Army though he was a man surely of great imployments yet God doth lay an injunction upon him Iosh. 1. 7 8. The book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day night 2. I will go higher yet it is our duty to set a sufficient proportion of time apart every day Oh it is a hard matter to get our hearts in tune for this duty as it is with a Musician he hath a great deal of time to string and to tune his Instrument before he can play the best Christian is like an Instrument unstrung and untuned he had need take a great deal of time to get his heart in tune for Divine Meditation the best Christian is like wet wood which will not burn you know without a great deal of blowing he had need to take a great deal of time to kindle a holy zeal in his heart to God to blow up the sparks of grace that are in him If a man would fill a Chest that is full of dirt full of Gold he must take time to empty the Chest before he can fill it By nature we are all full of the world full of the dirt of the world full of vanity full of carnal creature-pleasure now it is our duty first to take pains to empty the Chest before we can fill it full of Heaven full of God and Christ. Now I propound this to you that have a great deal of spare time especially you that spend whole afternoons in idle visitings and vain recreations Oh that I could perswade you to give God a visit every day and to meditate of God and of Christ and your selves and the recreations of the other world let me perswade you that count it your happiness to live vainly that you have not so much work to do as other men have to set some time apart to go up into the mount of God to meditate of the things of the other world And that I might provoke you let me tell you thus much it is the greatest curse under heaven for God to give a man over to live an idle life to trifle away his days in vanity and so it is reckoned Psal. 78. 33. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity Therefore it is spoken as a curse hearken to this you that idle away your time there cannot be a greater curse of God upon you than to suffer you to idle away your time herein you idle away your salvation this direction belongs to you that are rich men rich Merchants that have whole Exchanges full of business in your heads to beseech you that you would contract your worldly affairs into a narrower compass that you may have time for the practise of this rare duty of Meditation which is the very life and soul of all duty And the reason why you are so lean and poor in grace is for want of the
doing of the duty that God looks after as the right manner of doing the duty It is not the hearing the Word will please God unless we hear the word of God aright therefore Christ saith take heed how you hear it is not prayer that will prevail with God unless we pray after a right manner unless we pray in faith with fervency and humility so it is not the meditation of God and Christ and the Promises will do us any good unless we meditate after the right manner that God would have us to meditate Now I shall acquiant you with six properties of Divine Meditation for the right manner of performing it 1. Divine Meditation must be often and frequent Deut. 6. 7. there God commands Thou shall teach the words of the Law diligently unto thy children thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou lyest down and when thou risest up Josh. 1. 8. The book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night Though he was a great Commander and had affairs of great concernment yet God commands him to meditate day and night in the Law of God And David tells us of a godly man Psal. 1. 2. That he will delight himself in the law of God and in his law will he meditate day and night Psal. 119. 97 98 99. David professeth of himself though he was a King and had many diversions yet saith he Oh how do I love thy law it is my meditation day and night Thou through thy commandments hath made me wiser than my enemies for they are ever with me or it is ever with me speaking of the Commandments of God he had them always in his thoughts I have more understanding than all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation Psal. 139. 8. When I awake I am still with thee What is the meaning of that that is by the meditation of God in the morning as soon as ever he awaked he begun the day with Meditation with some sweet pious thought of God It is the duty of a Christian as you have heard if it be possible if his worldly occasions do not necessarily hinder him there may you know be necessary avocations to spend some time every day in Divine Meditation You that are Ladies men of great Estates and have time are to set some solemn time some solemn part of the day for Meditation but all of us are to have Ejaculatory Meditation though it be in our worldly business There are three Reasons to perswade you to frequent Meditation 1. Because the oftner you meditate of God and Christ and Heaven the more you will know of God and Christ and Heaven and the more you will love God and Christ and the more earnestly you will seek after the things of Heaven for you must know the things of Heaven are like a beautiful Picture the more you view them the more will you admire them and seek after them to enjoy them I have read a story of Necrasophus who was an excellent Painter that viewing wistly a Picture there came a Country-man by and seeing him view that Picture so wistly he asked him Why do you look upon that Picture so much saith the Painter to him If you had my eyes you would never ask me this Question if you knew the excellency of this Picture you would never ask me why I look so much upon it The things of Heaven the things of God the Promises of God are most glorious and excellent things and the more you look into them the more you will look into them and the oftenr you view these Pictures the more you will admire them and the more you will view them God and Christ and Heaven are like unto a bottomless Mine of treasure the more you dig in this Mine the more riches you will find in it they are like unto a sweet cordial the more you chew them the more sweetness you will find in them They are like an excellent garden in the Spring-time the oftner a man goes into the garden still he finds a new flower and another flower and another flower so the things of God and Christ and the Promises and Heaven the more you walk in this garden the more flowers you will gather you will have still new flowers to pick. And the reason why the Saints of God love God no more and prize Christ no more and seek no more after Heaven is because they do not meditate more of God and Christ and Heaven the want of frequent meditation of them is the reason why we love them and esteem them so little and seek so little after them The second Reason why we should frequently meditate upon things Divine is because the oftner we meditate of God and Christ the more near and intimate acquaintance we shall have with them as you know Neighbours the oftner they visit one another the more acquainted they come one with another and the seldomer they visit one another the more estranged they are one to another Visitation breeds acquaintance so the seldomer you think of God and Christ the more you are estranged from them and the less acquaintance you have with them and the oftner you meditate of God the more intimate society you will have with him as I have told you Divine Meditation is nothing else but a dwelling upon the things of God a conversing with God and Christ and the Promises and it will be matter of rare comfort to a child of God when he lies upon his death-bed and is going out of the world to consider I am now going to a God that I am acquainted withal that I am not a stranger to I am going to heaven where I have been often in my meditation It is reported of Dr. Preston when he was dying he used these words Blessed be God though I change my place yet I shall not change my company for I have walked with God while I lived and now I go to rest with God A man that is often in meditation is often in Heaven often walking with God and Christ and the Promises and when he dies he goes to enjoy the Promises and to be and to live for ever with this Christ. It is a sad and a disconsolate thing for a man when he comes to die to think of God as a stranger to think of Heaven as a place where he hath never been he hath hardly had a thought of it all his life I verily perswade my self it is one reason that the Saints of God are so unwilling to die because they have no more acquaintance with God in this life they think of him as a stranger the more you are acquainted with God while you live the more willing you will be to die to go to him for death to a child of God is nothing else but a resting with God with whom he walked while
he lived to rest in the bosom of God in whose bosom he hath often been by holy meditation when he was alive 3. You must be often and frequent in the duty of Divine Meditation by often using it to make it more easie there is great complaint of the difficulty of this duty it hath been often said to me Sir there is no duty in the world so hard as Divine Meditation and it is true it is a hard matter to keep the heart close in Meditation of Divine things and therefore you must accustom your selves to this duty and use will make perfectness usus promptos facit by often doing it at last through grace it will become easie When a young youth is bound Prentice to a Manual Trade at first it seems very hard to learn his Trade but by long custom at last he is very expert in it A man that is to go up a hill every morning at first he pants and breathes and cannot get up the hill within a little while he can get up with ease so this duty of Divine Meditation though it be exceeding difficult because it is exceeding spiritual yet by often and frequent practising of it through the assistance of Gods Spirit it will become at last very easie whereas the seldomness of the practice of this duty makes it difficult and intermission of any thing makes it very hard A man that learns the Greek or Hebrew Tongues or learn to speak French if he intermit the speaking eleven or twelve years he will quickly forget to speak it so long omission of this duty is the reason why it is so difficult would you but resolve to practise it for one twelve month you would find it at the twelve months end an easie duty through the help of God The second property is this Divine Meditation must be solemn and serious though we must accustom our selves to this duty yet we must take heed of customariness and formality in the duty formality in good duty is the dead fly that spoils the box of precious ointment God hates a formal Christian he hates a formal prayer a formal hearer of the word formality in Gods service is like the plague of locusts of which you read Exod. 10. that did eat up all the green things in the land formality in good duties eats up all the beauty and all the comfort and benefit of a good duty there is nothing God hates more than formality in his service therefore you must take heed above all things of being formal in the practice of this duty of Meditation it must be solemn and serious and you must be very intent about it slight thoughts of God will make but a slight impression upon the affections and he that thinks slightly of God will serve him slightly and love him slightly he that thinks slightly of sin will slight sin he that thinks slightly of God God will slight him And the reason why we serve God with so little affection and so little devotion and reverence is because we meditate slightly of God for slight thoughts of God work but a slight heart and a slight conversation I will give you an instance or two of this slight way of Meditation Ioh. 6. you shall read of certain men that when Christ was preaching had a very good ejaculation ver 34. Lord say they evermore give us of this bread it was a sweet Meditation but it was but a short a slight and formal one for at the end of the Chapter these men forsook Christ it was not a solemn and serious Meditation Ioh. 18. 38. you read of Pilate Pilate saith unto him what is truth here is a good question that arose from some inward thought that he had and when he had said this he went out again he never thought of it more he never tarried to hear an answer but now our care must be to be very solemn and serious in this work of Divine Meditation let me give you an example of Alexander the Great a Heathen man was offering Sacrifice to his God the Priest that held the Censor the Chafing-dish wherein the Incense was there was a spark of fire fell upon his hand and he was so intent and unwilling to hinder the Sacrifice that he suffered his hand rather to be burnt than he would intermit the Sacrifice this shews how devout and intent this Priest was even in the service of the Heathenish God and Chrysostome tells a story of a Lady that being to make a precious ointment she calls in all her handmaids to help her so saith he when we converse with God in any holy duty we must call in all our handmaids all our affections when we are making any holy ointment the meaning is this when you are conversing with God by meditation or conversing with Christ or the Promises you must call in all your affections to assist you you must be very solemn and serious and intent upon this work And yet I must give you one caution here you must take heed you be not over-intent though you must be serious you must not be over-serious I have heard a story of a godly Minister Mr. Welsh that was one day meditating of eternity and he was so serious in the thoughts of Eternity that he fell into a trance into a swound that they could hardly ever recover life in him again he was so swallowed up in that Meditation he was too serious we must be serious but not over-serious we must do as good travellers do that will be careful not to over-ride their horses lest they tire they will ride moderately that so they may hold out to their journeys end so must we be serious but we must be moderate not over-serious we must remember we have a body of flesh that is not able to bear over-much seriousness in these weighty Meditations of Eternity and God and Christ and Heaven 3. Divine Meditation must not only be notional and speculative but practical and affectionate therefore consideration and meditation are not only acts of the head but acts of the heart Deut. 4. 39. Know therefore this day and consider it in thy heart There are three doors as I may so speak that Meditation must get into or else it is of no use 1. It must get into the understanding that must ponder the things of Heaven but it must not tarry there But 2. It must get into the door of the heart and affections to stir them up for the understanding must be as a Divine pair of Bellows to kindle a Divine fire in the heart and affections and to inflame and raise them up as David saith Psal. 39. While I was musing the fire burned we must so muse upon God and Christ that our affections may as it were burn within us as the Disciples hearts burnt within them while Christ was speaking 3. It must get into the door of the conversation that is we must so meditate of Christ as to live according to
Principles not being able to hold out in meditation to keep themselves from wandring thoughts read in the Bible this in it self is not sinful but this is not sutable nor proper for certainly the proper way of meditation at the Sacrament is to be raised up in the Sacramental Elements the Sacramental actions the Sacramental promises and therefore thou must make the whole Sacramental frame and carriage to be thy Bible at the Sacrament and learn to be raised up by that to Heavenly Meditation The fifth Particular in order is the Materials of Meditation and here I am to shew you what are those Divine Truths that we are to meditate upon this is a subject of large comprehension for the truth is there is no divine object but it doth deserve our serious meditation Give me leave to make you a Common-place-book of Divine Meditation I will lay down some heads of Divinity that a Christian ought to spend his life in meditating upon sometimes upon one of them sometimes upon another of them as for example he that would avoid all sin and thrive in all godliness must meditate frequently and seriously of Death of Iudgment of Heaven and Hell these are called quatuor Novissima the four last things 1. You must meditate of death now I will not shew you how you should go about to meditate of death but I will give you some heads to help you 1. You must meditate of the certainty of death there is nothing so certain as that thou must die 2. You must meditate of the uncertainty of death there is nothing so uncertain as the time when we must die death comes certainly and death comes uncertainly death comes suddenly there is no Almanack can tell you when your death shall come your Almanacks will tell you when the next Eclypse of the Sun and Moon will be but they will not tell you when the eclypse of your lives shall be And death comes irresistibly it comes like pain upon a woman in travel it comes like an armed Giant that will not be resisted when it comes 3. You must meditate concerning your fitness for death whether thou hast got thy graces thy evidences ready for death whether thou art a wise Virgin or a foolish Virgin whether thou hast got oyl into thy lamp or no 4. You must meditate concerning death how you may so live as to be above the hurt of death that death might be an out-let to all misery and an in-let to all happiness 5. You must meditate how to live in continual expectation of and continual preparation for death 6. You must especially meditate how to be free from the slavish fear of death there are many of Gods children that live all their lives long under the bondage of the fear of death and it is the excellency of a Christian to meditate how to be above the hurt and fear of death and for that purpose you must look upon death with Scripture-spectacles you must look upon death as the going from the prison of this life to the palace of Heaven as disarmed by Christ as perfumed by Christ as a Serpent without a sting as a passage to eternal life Thus you see how you must meditate of Death 2. You must meditate of the day of Iudgment 1. You must meditate of the terribleness of the day of Judgment it is called the terror of the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 11. It is called by the ancient Fathers the great and terrible day of Iudgment In which Iesus Christ will come in flaming fire to render vengeonce upon all those that know him not 2. You must meditate of the great assizes that will be kept at that day in which all the men and women and children that ever have lived since Adam's time to the end of the world shall all appear before the Tribunal-seat of Jesus Christ. 3. You must meditate of the great account you are to give to God at that day the strict the exact the particular account it is a day in which we must answer for all our idle words for all our idle thoughts in which all our secret sins shall be made manifest 4. You must meditate of the great separation that shall be made at that day when the goats shall be placed on the left hand and the sheep on the right hand there will be a perfect separation In this life goats and sheep are mingled together but at that day there will not be one sheep on the left nor one goat on the right hand 5. You must meditate of the happy condition of a child of God at that great and terrible day of Iudgment it shall be a day of his Coronation in which he shall be crowned with glory and immortality it shall be a day of salvation to him 6. You must meditate of the cursed condition of an ungodly man at the day of Iudgment it shall be a day of perdition and everlasting destruction to him 3. You must meditate of Heaven 1. You must meditate of the joys of Heaven that are so great that eye never saw nor ear heard nor ever can it enter into the heart of man to conceive the greatness of them 2. You must meditate sometimes of the Beatifical Vision of the blessed sight of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and of the happiness that that soul shall enjoy that is admitted to that blessed sight for because God is infinitely perfect and all perfection is in God whosoever is admitted to the sight of God beholds and enjoys all things in God 3. You must meditate of the perfection of the happiness of Heaven 4. You must meditate of the perpetuity of the happiness of Heaven there you shall have fulness of joy and pleasures at the right hand of God for evermore 5. You must meditate of your fitness for heaven whether you are made meet and fit to partake of that glorious inheritance you must meditate whether God hath sent Heaven down into thee for no man shall ever go up to Heaven but Heaven must first come down to him you must meditate whether that Christ that hath prepared Heaven for thee hath prepared thee for Heaven 6. You must meditate what you must do that you may be meet to go to Heaven how you may lead your lives so that you may be sure at last to obtain Heavens eternity 4. You must meditate of Hell as Bernard saith you must go often down into hell by your meditation while you live and you shall be sure not to go down to hell when you die Descendamus vivenles non descendemus morientes as Chrysostome saith excellently if the not thinking of Hell would free you from Hell I would never have you think of hell but whether you think of it or no Hell-fire burns and your not thinking of it will bring you thither And the reason why so many go to Hell when they die is because they do not think of Hell while they live 1. You must study the
know thy interest in them thou wouldest often think of them or if thou didst love them thou wouldest often think of them or if thou hadst a Heavenly heart thou wouldest often think of them Oh therefore go to Christ and whatsoever you ask in the name of Christ it shall be given unto you 2. I am to set down Rules for the right ordering the materials the subjects that we are to meditate upon And here I shall give you in these four Rules I. Be sure that in the beginning till you come to be acquainted with this duty you pick out easie subjects to meditate upon there are some subjects that are very abstruse and sublime and difficult it is a hard matter for a weak Christian to spend an hour in the meditation of the ineffable and great mystery of the Trinity or in the meditation of the Hypostatical Vnion of the two Natures of Christ in one Person or in the meditation of the Mystical Union between Christ and a Christian. And therefore my advice is that in the beginning of the practice of this rare duty you would pick out easie subjects to meditate upon As for example I should think that it were an easie thing to spend an hour in meditating upon the Attributes of God to meditate of Gods Omnipotence and Gods Omniscience and Gods Omnipresence and the All-sufficiency of God the Everlastingness of God the Eternity of God the Perfections that are in God and so to meditate upon the works of God the work of Creation to meditate what God made the first second third fourth fifth sixth day to meditate on the goodness and mercy of God in creating the great fabrick of Heaven and Earth and to meditate of the work of Redemption to meditate of Iesus Christ of the Divine and humane nature of Christ. I should conceive it were an easie thing especially to you that love Christ to spend a great deal of time in meditation of the love of God in sending Christ to become man and of the love of Christ the mysery of love the miracle of love in God becoming man and to meditate of the life of Christ and the death of Christ what Christ suffered in the Garden when he sweat drops of blood and what he suffered upon the Cross when he cried out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Of the love of Christ that died for us and of the persons for whom Christ died for us when we were sinners and of the patience and humility of Christ whilst he was dying for us and to meditate of the Resurrection of Christ the Ascension of Christ and the Offices of Christ the Kingly Priestly and Prophetical Office and to meditate of our interest in Christ and how we should do to walk worthy of Christ. I conceive there are few that truly fear God that are so little furnished with spiritual knowledg but are able to spend an hour in meditating upon these things I might add another meditation and that is the meditation of Heaven who is there that hath any thing of Heaven in him that cannot spend an hour in meditating 1. Of the happiness of Heaven in general It is a place where we shall have such joys that eye never saw nor ear heard nor ever entred into the heart of man to conceive it is a place where we shall be crowned with three Crowns a Crown of Life a Crown of Glory a Crown of Righteousness It is an inheritance that hath three Properties which any understanding Christian may spend many years in thinking of An inheritance immortal undefiled and that never fadeth away 2. To meditate of the happiness of Heaven in particular as for example who is there of such a low form of grace that cannot spend time to meditate of the Beatifical Vision what a happiness it will be in Heaven to see God face to face for God is an universal Good all good is in God God is all happiness and therefore he that is admitted to see God sees all happiness in God And then to meditate of the sight of Christ what a rare thing will it be for a poor soul to live for ever in Heaven with Jesus Christ and to behold his face to be with the Lord Christ And then to meditate of the company that we shall have in Heaven to be present with Angels and Archangels with all the Patriarchs and with all the holy men of God that ever have been And then to meditate of the place it self Heaven is the Paradise of God it is the Throne of God it is the first building the highest building the largest building the best building of the Creation of God And then to meditate of the perpetuity of those joys who cannot spend a little time in meditating of the eternity of the joys of Heaven not only the perfection but the perpetuity of them and then to meditate of thy interest in these joys whether thou be'st a person qualified to go to Heaven and then to meditate how thou maist do to get to be qualified to go to that holy place in which no unclean person shall ever enter That is the first Rule 2. I would have you use variety in your Meditation I would not have you always dwell upon one subject the strongest stomack will loath to eat always of one dish and therefore I gave you in several particulars to meditate upon I gave you a large field to walk in and I did this the rather that so you might have matter enough you might not be drawn dry for want of subjects that you might sometimes pick one flower and then another flower and then another flower Variety will much delight a Christian. And truly I would fain have this duty not be a burden to any but a delight to all Sometimes I would have you meditate of the vanity of the world and sometimes of death of the certainty and uncertainty of death and how to be fit for death Sometimes I would have you meditate of the day of Judgment sometimes of Hell sometimes of Heaven sometimes of the sinfulness of sin sometimes of the love of Christ. So I would have you walk in the garden of Divine Meditation from flower to flower that you may take the more delight and content in it The third Rule is this Be sure to pick out such subjects to meditate upon especially which do most of all work compunction in the heart that do most of all stir up holiness and provoke you to godliness and piety Of this kind is the meditation of the Incarnation of Christ the Meditation of the Life and Death and Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. It is a meditation if the Lord bless it that will mightily provoke you to holiness and to piety and to thankfulness so the meditation of death is a sin-mortifying meditation and so the meditation of Heaven and the day of Judgment these are soul-sanctifying meditations So likewise the meditation of the vanity of the
of pardon Thus I have cut out a pattern and gone over these nine heads and you will say here is work for many hours to that Christian that is of a mean capacity that is able in some measure to go over these here you see what a rich furniture you have by going over these Logical helps and as I have done concerning sin so may you do concerning the Sacrament and when you meditate of Heaven you may go over these heads and consider the description of Heaven and the distribution of it and the causes and the effects and the opposites and the comparisons and this will furnish you with intellectual matter Now because these Logical heads are somewhat difficult I will give you some plainer rules for helping ordinary Christians those that are babes in the school of Grace and are not able to enlarge their thoughts upon any subject I will give you briefly five easie Rules to help you to enlarge your thoughts upon what subjects you chuse to meditate on 1. You must consider what the Scripture saith of the subject you would spend an hour in meditation about as for example would you meditate of the Promises do you want matter to furnish you take the Bible and consider what the Scripture saith concerning the preciousness of the Promises the freeness the riches the infallibleness of the Promises the universality of the tender of the Promises the variety of the Promises consider what the Scripture saith of Promises to Grace and promises of Grace consider all the many rare and admirable Promises that are in the Word of God and pick out some choice of them to meditate on So likewise would you meditate of the Sacrament take your Bible and consider what you have read concerning the Sacrament the nature of it and the excellency of it the excellency of the Feast and the end why God hath appointed the Sacrament and the way and means by which you may come to be prepared and made fit to be worthy receivers and consider the danger of coming unworthily and the happiness of coming worthily But if this be too hard I will give you an easie help 2. Consider what Sermons you have heard of that subject you would meditate upon and labour to recollect the heads of any Sermon you have heard and make use of them to help you to enlarge your thoughts in meditation As for example I have made many Sermons of late upon the Promises any of those Sermons would furnish you with matter enough for Meditation upon the Promises I have made many Sermons upon the week-day to set out the happiness of Heaven and many Sermons I have preached lately of the Divine Attributes of God which is a rare subject to meditate upon If you would meditate of the Attributes of God you must labour to recollect what you have heard of this subject and that would furnish you with matter So would you meditate of Heaven or of any thing that you find too hard to enlarge your selves about take the help of Sermons that you have heard or if that be too hard for you let me propound a third The third way that is easier than both these Take a book that treats of the subject you would meditate upon there is no Divine Subject but there is some book or other that doth treat of it there are many books that treat of the four last things which are four rare materials of Meditation the Quatuor Novissima Death and Hell and the day of Judgment and Heaven and there are many books that treat of the preciousness of the Promises the sinfulness of sin the excellency of Christ and the Sacrament Now if thou findest thou art barren in Meditation and knowest not how to spend an hour in meditating upon any of these Subjects take one of these books before thee Now I do not mean you should read these books but only pick out some choice things and then muse and meditate what these books will suggest unto you 4. Let me add another Rule Be sure always in your meditation to join application be sure to join examination and application and contemplation and consideration this is a rule of great concernment to the weakest of Christians As for example would you meditate of sin of the sinfulness of sin be sure to draw down your meditation to application make application to thy own soul and consider whether thy sins are pardoned not only consider the grievousness of sin in general for general contemplation of things though never so excellent will not work upon the soul I hardly ever heard of a man that was converted by Generals it is the particular application that works upon the heart and affections Nathan as long as he told David of his sin in a Parabolical way David was not wrought upon he was fain at last to tell him Thou art the man then David confesseth his sin you shall seldom hear a general Sermon do good it is the particular application that works upon peoples hearts And therefore in all your exercise of Divine Meditation be sure to draw down things to particulars As for example wouldst thou meditate of Heaven apply it to thy soul and ask thy soul Am I fit and meet to go to that place have I a Heavenly disposition have I Heavenly qualifications am I one of those whose names are written in Heaven is that my inheritance is that my house This will exceedingly affect you it will make your Meditation to be very useful and very powerful and so when you meditate of death still draw down to examination Am I fit for death will death be an happy hour to me am I one of those that shall enjoy God after death The fifth Rule is this Be sure always in your meditation to consider the means how to obtain what you meditate upon if it be good and the means to shun it if it be evil The means to get what you meditate upon if it be good if you meditate of Heaven then consider the means how to enjoy that blessed inheritance and if you meditate of the Promises consider how you shall do that by which you may be heirs of all these Promises and on the contrary if you meditate of evil things what means there are to be used to shun these evil things if you would meditate of sin what must I do to avoid sin that I may be unpoluted and undefiled that I may get my sins pardoned and my soul purged and when you meditate of Hell what shall I do to escape those everlasting burnings these are the five helps to weak Christians 6. You to whom the Lord hath given understanding I would have you fly to those nine common-place-heads if you be able study the cause of the thing you meditate upon the effects and the properties and the distribution and description c. and this I am sure will furnish you with rare matter with abundance of materials of meditation that man that is