Satan come and catch away the Seed but O that it may be as seed sown in good and honest hearts bringing forth fruit with patience meet for repentance and let it be for the weakning of sin but for the strengthening of faith and grace Let thy Word be as Manna for our poor Souls to feed upon for the week to come that thereby we may grow up in grace as we grow in years Let thy word be a sutable word unto every one of our conditions and come thou into our Souls with it with the freest influence of thy Spirit that we may of a truth meet with God communicating of himself unto us by his Word and Spirit And as the Soul is separated from the Body by Death so let sin be separated from our Souls by thy Word and Spirit O let it be separate from our Souls or else it will separate the Souls of us poor Creatures from God Let thy Minister who is thy Messenger be strengthened and touch his tongue with a coal from thine Altar that he may preach experimental truth to the hearts of us poor Creatures that desire to attend on thine Ordinances O let us taste and see how gracious the Lord is and let us have cause to say It is good to draw nigh to God in his own Ordinances on his own Day And let this day of rest be a certain pledge of an eternal rest purchased by our great high Priest who is preparing a place for his select ones O that this thy day may be spent in the performances of holy duties in praise and thanksgiving the work of thine appointment Unvail some secret this day let us be drawn nigher every day unto thy self Let us be so enlightened that sin may decay and grace may be renewed in us Let us come hungering and thursting after Spiritual Food for our Souls so that in the close of this day we by a grounded experience may say that God has satisfied our hungring Souls with refreshing influences from Heaven thorow the Blood of Jesus Christ in whose words we conclude our imperfect requests as he himself has taught us saying Our Father c. An Evening Prayer for the Sabbath MOst Holy and ever Blessed Lord God who fillest Heaven and Earth with thy presence fill the Souls of thy poor empty Creatures with the presence of thy Grace and let thy good Spirit bring to our remembrance the truths that we by thy providence have heard this thy day that we may lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives that we may be of those blessed ones that hear thy word and keep it and bring forth fruit in abundance and let it take root in our hearts downward and bring forth fruit upward Establish our Souls in the practice of Holiness without which we can never come to see thy self and let the power of sin be weakened but let Grace be strengthened every day Pardon that unpreparedness that we have intruded into thy presence with and that irreverence whilst under thy Ordinances and that carelesness after that we all have been guilty of Pardon our forgetfulness and pardon our imperfection in the perfection of Christ our weakness in the strength of Christ that thereby we may find acceptance with thee who art all fulness and in whose hands is all perfection Fill our Souls with the fulness of God and let the bedewings of thy Spirit and Word cause us to grow in our spiritual stature Help us to prize the priviledge of the Gospel at an inestimable rate and give us repentance from dead works that we may be changed from darkness unto light and from the power of sin unto God And help us to manifest in our lives and conversation what is the hope of our calling that we may be in Heaven whilst on Earth Pardon the sins of our holy things sins of omission and commission sins against thy Law and sins against thy Gospel Give us Wisdom to direct and teach us Righteousness to establish us Redemption to deliver us from the jaws of Sin and Hell Strengthen our weak Faith enlarge our shallow Capacities quiet our disturbed Consciences tread down Satan under our feet and subjugate our Necks under thy Yoak and help us to resign our selves to thy Will and fit us for Eternity at last that after these Sabbaths be ended here we may begin an everlasting Sabbath with the God of Sabbaths where we shall admire thy self in Christ in whose Name we conclude our imperfect requests in his own words as he hath taught us saying Our Father c. A Prayer for Monday Morning BLessed Lord thou renewest thy mercies every Morning it is of thy mercy that one day more is added to us poor Creatures Thou art he on whom depends our being rest life and all thou has been pleased to cause us to acquiesce in and under thy protection for our refreshment O Lord preserve us this day under the shadow of thy wing and keep us in thy ways and let thy watchful providence be an instigation to an holy walking and to redeem the time seeing the days are evil and to live as ever before the Eye of thy All-seeing Providence Keep us from sin and enable us to live with thankful hearts bearing in mind the acts of thy Spirit and the daily Mercies we enjoy help us to shew a thankfulness for Mercies received and humility for and under Afflictions Let the bitterness of Sin and the loveliness of Holiness make deep impression on the hearts of thy poor Creatures Let the great work of Salvation be much meditated upon that that work daily may be propagated by us with fear and trembling Let union and communion with Christ be our great design Let our Natures be changed Deliver us from a dark understanding and hardness of heart stupid consciences together with unmortisied wills Help us to be wise for the future wherein we have done foolishly and help us wisely to improve our Talents in every opportunity Let thy mercies constrain us to love fear and obey thee Subdue us wholly to thy self that our affections may be elevated from the Earth and transplanted into Heaven Help us in every transaction in our lives to consider that with thee every action is poised and thoughts words and works reviewed and taken notice of O that the affairs of this day and all the week to come may be no obstruction to the work of our immortal Souls And grant that every day that passes over our heads we may be a step nearer to thy self Preserve us by thy Grace and Spirit until it shall be thy will to translate us into that Glory that is prepared for them that wait for the coming of Jesus Christ Amen A Prayer for Monday Evening MOst Holy Eternal and ever Blessed Lord God in whom all our springs are it is good to draw nigh to thy self Thou that never slumberest nor sleepest suffer us not to sleep the sleep of Death The Day thou hast
regular in thy course and withal be mindful who it is that must be thy Judge 4. Be much in the attendance of the Word read and preached for that is the only way that God has appointed for himself to be found in moreover it is that that will discover unto thee what is thy Duty 5. And lastly Be much in Prayer for this is that that will give success to all other this is the Conduit-pipe to convay or discover all our wants to God and mercies from God to us FORMS OF PRAYERS For Particular Persons For every Day in the Week A Prayer for the Sabbath-day Morning MOst Holy and Glorious Lord God I sinful dust and ashes presuming to approach thy presence desire that thou wilt please to fit my heart for the approaching so holy a Presence as thine is that on this day I may be so sitted according to the preparations of thy Sanctuary as that I may meet with thy self that thou mayest communicate something that may be of refreshment unto my Soul by thy Word and Spirit yea that I may be found in the Spirit on the Lord's day O Lord pardon my sins that I have been guilty of this week past and all my life past and let them not stand as a flood to stop my Prayers from ascending unto thee or to keep back the influences of thy holy Spirit from my Soul O Lord looking upon them and upon my nature polluted by them it makes me afraid to look up unto Heaven Nay indeed I durst not only thou hast commanded me to come unto thee by the vertue of the precious Blood of thy Son Christ that is my strong consolation hope and comfort Moreover Lord thou hast prescribed a comfortable promise that thou wilt pardon the sins of thy People for thy own Names sake O therefore for thy own Names sake do away all my sins in the Blood of Jesus Christ that I may appear before thee in the Robes of Christ's Righteousness and and not in mine own seeing all mine is but as menstruous cloth and filthy rags Lord prepare me for this thy days work help me in it and keep me after it that thy Spirit may seal up Divine Truths in the closet of my heart that laying them up in my heart I may practise them in my life and bring forth fruit with patience meet for repentance Lord let neither the cares of the World nor the deceitful thoughts of riches choak thy Seed sown nor let Satan steal it out of my heart but let it be as good seed sown in a good and honest heart that taking root downward it may bring forth fruit upward being watered with the bedewings of thy Spirit O come in this day with fresh reviving Grace that thereby I may be so quickned and qualified as that I may meet with thy self Let this day be so sanctified to me as that I may say in the close thereof 't is not in vain but good to draw nigh to thy self that I am drawn a step nigher this day to thy self by the Blood of Christ Lord pardon the want of a reverent frame of spirit the unworthy obtrusion into thy presence at this time and look upon my unworthiness in the worthiness of Christ my imperfection in his perfection my sinfulness in his righteousness and my weakness in his strength that I may appear righteous in thy sight in his righteousness and that for his own sake Amen A Prayer for the Sabbath-day Evening GRacious God notwithstanding the much imperfection my Soul has been clogged with this day thou hast given me cause this day to say from a grounded experience that it is not in vain to draw nigh unto thee Lord I heartily thank thee for the refreshing smiles of thy countenance this day in thy Ordinances O how good is it to draw nigh to God in his own way Blessed be thy Name holy God That never saidst to the Seed of Jacob seek ye my face in vain Lord thou hast been so good in communicating thy self unto me by thy Word and Spirit that I may say with thy Servant David What shall I render unto the Lord for all his Mercies Lord it is matter of wonder and admiration to me that thou shouldest deal so with me seeing thou hast been provoked by my coldness and deadness in such a manner I beseech thee O Lord pass by all my miscarriages that I have been guilty of this day let not them be a prevention of a future supply of my wants and necessities Nay let not them be the cause of thy withdrawing thy self in future attendances on thee nor the cause of removing thy Ordinances thy Gospel thy faithful Ministers and Messengers O Lord thou hast declared thy self a God of mercy and indeed I may as it were set to my Seal seeing my provocations have been so many and so great Lord thou hast not dealt after the manner of men with me Let thy manifold Mercies be an engagement to stir me up to a more watchful frame of spirit that by my negligence I incur not thy displeasure Lord pardon sins past and humble me for sins present and keep me from sins â—o come that thereby I may be rendred meet for every good word and work Accept my willing ness and overlook my weakness in thy only Son Jesus Christ in whom thou art well pleased In whose Name I thank thee for all my enjoyments and through whose Blood I desire to receive all my Mercies and for whom I desire to bless thee To him and thee the onely wise God be praise for ever Amen A Prayer for Monday Morning BLessed God all thy dealings with the Sons of men attest thy liberality â—y and bounty thou renewest thy merâ—ies every morning Lord renew my â—eart that I may be capacitated to serve thee and to sing new Songs of praises â—o thee every morning Blessed God thank thee that thou hast made my life â—recious in thy sight that thou hast chained up Satan that roaring Lyon that goes about night and day seeking whom be may devour that would have devoured me Soul and Bâ—dy unless prevented by thy power and goodness O help me so long as I have a being to praise thee Lord how mightest thou have made my â—ed my grave my sleep my death and have cut me off from the Land of the living yet thou hast been pleased to preserve me and keep me from the rage of cruel Enemies both spiritual and corporal Seeing Lord thou hast dealt thus with me let this day be of great use to to me that I may learn some things in it that may be of special use for my Souls advantage and that seeing all time was given for the Service of God that I may in my employment meditate either on the word that I have heard thy day past or thy works in which are many wonderful mysterious things to be seen worthy taking notice of and contemplating upon Help me so to begin the week
he hath promised me and all others that will be Students in this Art that he will maintain them whatever it cost him and he as a President has left a Pattern his own act and deed Was he content to do so great things to suffer great things to undergo so hard things Was he content to suffer hunger Was he content to be weary and to shew himself submissive to whatsoever his Fathers will was and shall not we follow our Captain that have listed our selves under his Banner to be his Souldiers We listed our selves at our Baptismal Covenant and renewed it again at the Lords Table shall we be treacherous to him No no. This Jewel of Contentment is to be much esteemed and valued and that above any thing in this lower Orb it is an inestimable Pearl of great price it is of excellent Vertue and that of divers kinds It is of a healing or of a drawing vertue it is applicable to any sore it will make one in a frame for any condition Art thou rich it will be thy Steward and that a faithful one too for the improving of thy Estate Art thou poor it will supply thy wants for thee In both these we find it useful to Job in both the time of prosperity and adversity and in both these it was useful to St. Paul also I know both how to abound and how to suffer need compared with that forecited place Phil. 4.11 Art thou sick it will be Physick to thee it will teach thee to submit to God's will and that will bear up thy Spirits in and amidst thy greatest pain Art thou dejected this will lift thee up Art thou in prison this will visit thee Art thou hungry this will fill thee Art thou naked this will cloath thee Art thou friendless this will make God thy friend which is better than all the friends in the world besides Art thou in straits it will redeem thee and deliver thee out of them Nay Let thy condition be what it will it is of great use to thee Therefore learn this Lesson above all and that because it will sweeten all conditions to thee and teach thee to trust God in all conditions and be as a Sovereign Antidote against that poysonous and destructive sin of dispair And to the attaining of this rare Art of Contentment take these few Considerations as Directions to the attaining of this Christian Accomplishment 1. Consider That it was in the Omnipotents hand when he framed thee in the Womb to have composed thee after another fashion than thou art he might have framed thee an irrational Animal or if not he might have made thee despicable in every ones sight 2. Consider That it may be thy case whatever it is or may be 't is not so bad but some others have been in as bad or worse and then what cause hast thou to be disquieted 3. Consider That whatever thy condition is or may be sin is the instrumental cause of it for sin is the procurer of all our miseries 4. Consider That when God afflicts any one of his children it is in love to their souls as many as I love I rebuke and chasten Rev. 3. 5. Consider That God has promised all shall work together for good unto them that love him 6. Consider That whatsoever God inflicts upon any of us it is less than our sins deserve 7. Consider That God is a merciful God and will inflict no more upon thee than thou art able to bear 8. Consider That afflictions or crosses are but for a time they are not nor cannot be permanent 9. Consider These are but light afflictions to what God might afflict thee with 10. Consider That when God afflicts thee or any of his people it is but to fit us for himself and to fit us for a better state 11. Consider That God many times makes this his sign to his people that they are his and that he designs nothing less for them than to make them his heirs If we were without chastisement then we were bastards and not sons 12. Consider What Christ has suffered for us and what all the Apostles and Prophets witness that short Martyrology Heb. 11. and all the Martyrs since and then surely thou wilt not have much cause to complain I say consider these few things amongst many and then complain if thou canst or be discontent if thou darest David saith Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him He cries out three times in the 42. Psalm and the 43. as if he should have said Thou hast no reason to be discontent nor discouraged at all for in so doing thou distrusts God O thou Son of hope whosoever thou art therefore learn to be accumulating a stock of this Sovereign Antidote to apply to such wounds as tend to despair Be careful to bear in mind always the four great and last things 1. The day of Death 2. The day of Judgment 3. Heaven 4. Hell And this may be a means to keep up thy heart towards God and whereby thou mayest be kept free from that direful wrath and inextinguishable fire of Hell kindled by an angry and implacable enemy of all sin even the Lord Almighty which can nener be defined by humane nature nor by the best and most acute Philospher that ever moved in this lower Orb nor a dimension given by the best Student in the Mathematicks Nay it can never be decribed by any because none knows it but God alone As touching the profundity thereof it is bottomless Revel 9.1 as to the dimensity of it can never be full it is insatiable Prov. 2.7 10. As touching the duration of it it is for ever inextinguishable that when as many years are expired as there are Atoms in the Sun Sands on the Sea-shore Grass piles on the Earth and Stars in the Firmament it will be no nearer an end than before and who is he that can or dare undertake to express it This wrath to come cannot be expressed untll it most furiously express it self in Hell when the Devil as God's Executioner shall be loosed to inflict the most exquisite torments on those beastly sluggards that have neglected the day of their grace offered by Jesus Christ in the Gospel that would not know their peace before it was hid from their eyes and before they were everlastingly separated from Christs Lambs whom the Lamb of God redeemed with his precious Blood O! Where shall they appear that would not give the Lord Jesus any residence in the closets of their hearts They shall be straitned aud câ—ouded into Hell that were so far berest of their sight and understanding and so far blinded that they disown'd God that should have been their hope and their Redeemer that should have been the strength of their salvation O! what direful horror will then perplex their Souls What trembling their Joynts What horrour their Conscience
What distractions their Minds What fear their Hearts What deadness their Understanding at the Great Assize Then they will say what madness and distractedness did possess us that we should be so foolish as list our selves under his Banner that now will be our tormentor and that like so many Esau's sold our Birth-right for a mess of Pottage for a few merry hours and a little ease and delight When they see the Heavens pass away as a scroll and the Earth melt with fervent heat they shall see the resemblance of their approaching misery pourtrayed Then they shall feel the punishment both of sense and loss then they shall have God's Vials of wrath and indignation poured upon them then they shall be sensible of that devouring fire that God so many times by his faithful Ministers hath pressed upon them that fire that either consumes or refines the world shall burn the sinner to all Eternity and yet shall neither be consumed nor refined always a dying but never dead And then how will his merry days be vanished as a dream and his jovial life will be as a tale that is told and his Repartees pleasant Sports and wanton Dalliances his Cups and Queans his vain hopes of Heaven and confident Conceits all all deceased all will be pass'd away together This is the time that sinners that the wretched world shall be discriminated from the happy Saints whose misery and property is to be wise too late The Vizard of the World will then be taken off it will be then unvailed and then the seeming holiness of the Hypocrite will be conspicuous and will be exposed to the face and view of all the world and then shall he see his own folly not only in reference to his own Soul but also in slighting Christ offered to him in the Gospel then he shall see how nigh he came to the Kingdom of Heaven and yet came shert of it and how shall he expect or imagine to be hid in the day of the Lords anger that knew that his Judge every day was looking on when he so dissembled and cheated the world himself and God as he supposed O ye Hypocrites God one day will force your Consciences to witness against you and your tongues to consess the accusation Christ's Ministers must be brought in to â—â—â—est for God and if God be against you who shall then be for you If Christ that would have saved thee be against thee and condemn thee who shall be able to justifie thee All that feared God will attest against thee What a deplorable condition will it be to think how the Master shall evidence against his own Servant the Husband against the Wife and the Wife against the Husband the Parents against their own Children and the Children against their own Parents Sinful Compotators or Pot-Companions little conjecture they must bear witness of and concerning those sins that they have helped forward in others and they themselves heard and did swearing and execrating and mocking those that feared God and scoffing at an holy Life The Fornicators little think that their lustful and wanton Mates must bear witness against them that thought they had been concealed in secret places and that that secresie shall be laid open to the view of the world and that those that encouraged them to sin shall accuse them of sin O! the cold comfort that such will have in the reflection of all their pleasures at that day when the very devils that tempted them to such and such sins will stand at their elbows to accuse and witness against them and tell them that they were no readier to tempt than they were ready to assent to every temptation Where on the contrary they slighted Gods Ministers and strivings of God's Spirit within them The very Angels will witness against them at that day and Conscience will produce its black Bill of his secret reclamings and of all the Examples that have ever been to demonstrate the displeasure and hatred God has against such sins as they have been Assenters to and Agents in In turning the Grace of God into wantonness and in gaming and squandring away precious time in which time instead of working out their own salvation they have wrought out their damnation God's Book of Record will be produced concerning all the thoughts words and actions against sinners Nothing shall have been done in secret that shall not be revealed Luke 8.17 Nay every man shall be his own Accuser at that day The painted Hypocrite will then cry out of his out-side profession fair without but foul within a meer painted Sepulcher The covetous Usurers Conscience will accuse and condemn him for cozening and cheating others for griping and grinding the faces of others The rich Man's wealth will so cry out against him and the Canker of his Gold and Silver will witness against him that he shall be forced to say Lord I am in thy hand do as it seemeth good in thy sight with me His Riches will be corrupted and his Garments moth-eaten And the profane Sabbath-breaker that notwithstanding all the rebukes by evident Judgments from God did profane the Sabbath and instead of communicoting divine Truths as for spiritual Food and Manna for his Soul to feed upon from Sabbath to Sabbath shall be forced to cry out Lord I have neglected the day of Grace do as it pleaseth thee towards me I have instead of learning those things that would have instructed me in the way of life learned that that has brought me to destruction and this is the fruits of my Labour instead of keeping and subjugating my self to Divine Laws I have rebelled both against Divine and Humane Laws even the very Laws of Nature and Humanity have I broken Instead of attending thy Ordinances I have attended the Invitations of my own Lusts O you that are yet on this side Hell this side Eternity have a care of stifling a good Conscience and know that if you will not hear it now you shall be constrained to hear when all your political excuses shall be debarred your mouths stopped you shall stand speechless and Conscience God's Witness set up in every Mans breast shall be heard There were four sorts of Hearers specified in Christ's Parable but one sort good the rest were Sabbath-breakers such as there are many now a-days that instead of getting their hearts prepared according to the preparation of the Sanctuary to meet with God and hear what he will dispense to them from his Word they trim paint and pin away a good Conscience in trimming and painting and pinning their Bodies Where is that that the Scripture commands I say the time that should be spent in preparation for meeting with God is spent in dressing and trimming these crasie and rotten houses of clay that is like to fall at the blast of every Distemper and e're long shall be turned into earthy dross and clay as trees that cumber the ground and are useless in their Generation They
inconceivable delight to all Eternity in another World with St. Chrysostom chuse rather the punishments of Hell than offend Christ Of the pains of Sense 1. COnsider the horror anxiousness heart-corroding and too late vain repentance that will torment thy Soul for thy so sinful transacted life when thou thinkest how many precious opportunities thou mightest have improved for thy Souls eternal good but hast wilfully cast them away how many a good Sermon and Soul-market thou didst negligently go through How many dreadful things thou hast committed How many necessary duties thou hast omitted How thou hast dishonoured God grieved Friends and Relations and when thou wast call'd upon to repent thou wouldst not turn and live Ah! I say such considerations as these will then tear thy Soul to pieces and be a great part of thy Hell 2. And as to the things thou doest at present feel they will be unexpressible There is no tongue can express or heart conceive the extremity and exquisiteness of it all that the angry Arm of an Almighty power can inflict upon thee O sinner shall be inflicted upon thee to the full In a word If the several pains of Discases and Maladies incident to our Nature nay and add to it all the most exquisite and unheard of Tortures c. be collected all into one extream anguish yet it will be nothing to the Torment which shall ever possess and plague the least part of a damned Body And as for the Soul let all the griefs horrors and dispairs that ever rent in pieces any heavy heart and vexed consciences c. be heapt together into one extream Terror it would all fall infinitely short of that desperate rage and restless anguish which shall eternally torture the least and lowest faculty of the Soul Oh what rational man that hath Understanding Affections and Senses would not tremble at such thoughts as these and seriously project how to evade all this 3. As to the everlastingness of these Tortures consider that that will be another Hell to thee O Eternity Eternity upon which depends the height length breadth and depth of immortality in the World to come even two Eternities the one infinitely Blessed and the other infinitely Cursed the loss of everlasting joys and lying in eternal flames and never ending pleasures or pains follow the well or mispending this moment upon Earth With what unwearied Care and Watchfulness ought we to watch all the days of our appointed time to make our Calling and Election sure With what industry and diligence to ply this Moment to fit us for that Eternity Of the Joys of Heaven THe excellency of Heaven no mortal Heart no finite Head can possibly Conceive or Comprehend The Eye of Man hath seen Wonderful Things and the Ear heard most Delicious and Ravishing Melody the Heart can Conceive and Imagine strange Felicities yet cannot Apprehend this Our Gracious God in his Holy and unsearchable Wisdom doth detain from the Eye of our Understanding a full comprehension of the most Glorious state above to Exercise in the mean time our Faith Love Obedience Patience c. Heaven is caled a great City a Place most Glorious above all Comparison and Conceit Wherein many Mansions are Prepared for many thousands of glorified bodies after the last day besides the numberless numbers of blessed Angels Oh with what infinite sweet Delight may glorious Souls be Drowned in the Imaginations of these Felicities whilst in this vale of Tears Heaven is called the Kingdom of God of his own making who doth all things like himself It is called an Inheritance a rich and glorious Inheritance an Inheritance of the Saints in Light an Inheritance incorruptible a Crown of Righteousness a Crown of Life a Crown of Glory an exceeding Eternal weight of Glory fulness of Joys Everlasting Pleasures Who would not be ravisht with the very thoughts of this eternal and matchless Glory to which all other things are but as loss and dung and in comparison of whom are not worthy mentioning Of the Beauty and Blessedness of Glorfied Bodies THey shall be made like the Glorious Body of Christ and that is Honour enough and Happiness too besides their freedom from all Defects and Imperfections they shall be like the Angels of God in Heaven Pains Miseries and all Evils they shall have an Everlasting Redemption from and shall be Crowned Gloriously with many possitive Prerogatives c. 1. Imortality Glorified bodies cannot possibly die 2. Incorruptibleness never more to be obnoxious to the least Corruption or Putrefaction or Dissolution They shall be Spiritual and Heavenly as the Angels in Heaven and in all things subject to the Spirit of God Of the Happiness of the Soul WE shall know as we are known our Memory shall be perfected we shall be beatifically enlightned with a clear and glorious sight of God himself which Divines call a Beatifical Vision It is sufficient that in Heaven we shall see him face to face whose very Countenance to behold is the life of the Soul It ravisheth the Soul and fills it yea as full as ever it can hold or contain insomuch as some that have had but a glimpse of it whilest in this lower Orb have cryed out Enough enough Lord I can hold no more And if so full by one glance here what shall it be when immerg'd in the middest of that boundless Ocean of Immortality and Glory that for its Immensity can never be defined Paul when taken up in the Third Heaven saw things unutterable not to be express'd by any mortal man as if he should have said If any one should ask me what I saw I saw things a thousand times beyond what I or any montal man can express or imagine O the heighth breadth length and depth of that glory that is prepared for the Saints before the foundation of the the World Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what great things are laid up for them that love God O happy Soul that shall be drowned in this boundless happiness No wonder if the sense of this makes Martyrs to rejoyce in their sufferings Paul desired to be dissolved A Consolatary Discourse OR A DIALOGUE between CHRIST and a Disquiet SOVL Christ MY Beloved why fearest thou and art so disquieted within thy self do'st thou well to be angry with my Chastisement And why art thou offended that I should make thee like unto my self causing thee to walk in that way of inward and outward griefs which I did tread before thee Why refusest thou to take up my Cross and follow me and to taste of that Cup that I drank before thee Soul O Lord give me of that Spirit of thine and that trouble with thee and for thee shall be sweet unto me Whatsoever thou didst bear it was for me and if I were so disposed as I should then would I be content to bear all that thou my God shouldst lay upon me But ah
may continue therein serving thee in Holiness and Righteousnes all the days of my life till I shall enjoy thy self fully to all Eternity in Heaven where there shall be an end of these things and that for thy Names sake Amen Short though sweet MEDITATIONS Or sweet Cordials for the HEART 1. IT is folly to think that we should have Physick and Health both at one time resolve therefore upon waiting his leisure after a weary Week comes a Sabbath and after a Fight Victory 2. Unkindness of others to us is but a correction of our unkindness to God 3. He that can't abound without Pride and High-mindedness will never want without too much dejectedness 4. Let us not seek our selves abroad out of our selves in the conceits of other men That man shall never lie quiet that hath not learned to set light by others causeless ill conceits 5. Them that set too high a price upon themselves where others will not come up to their price they are discontented 6. Those whose condition is above their worth and their pride above their condition shall never want forrow yet we must maintain our Authority in our places for that is Gods and not ours and we ought ro carry our selves so as that we may approve our selves to their consciences though we can't have their good word 7. One end why God suffereth the Soul to tire and beat it self is that finding no rest in it self it might seek to God 8. A man can be in no condition wherein God is at a loss if comfort be wanting he can create Comfort not only out of nothing but out of discomfort He made the Whale that swallowed Jonas a means to bring him to Land 9. The only way to have our will is to bring it to Gods Will. 10. The way patiently to suffer Gods will is to enure our selves to do it they that have not enured themselves to the yoke of obedience will never endure the yoke of suffering 11. When we can say to God Wilt thou have me poor and disregarded I am well content Thus a gedly Man says Amen to Gods Amen and puts his Fiat to Gods Fiat 12. None feel more Experience of Gods Providence than those that are most resolute in their obedience 13 After we have given Glory to God by relying upon his Wisdom Power Strength and Truth we shall find him imploying these for our Direction Assistance and bringing things to our desired Issue yea above what we desire or thought of 14. The more Passion the less Discretion because Passion hinders the sight of what is to be done 15. It is good to observe the particular Becks of Providence how things joyn and meet together Fit occasions and suiting of things are intimation of Gods Will. Providence hath a Languags which is well understood by those that have familiar acquaintance with God They see a train of Providence leading one way more then another 16. Labour to fit a promise to every condition thou art in There is no condition but hath a promise suitable to it 17. He that loveth too much will grieve too much It is the greatness of our Affection that causeth our Affliction 18. All our noise proceeds from a Swelling Vapour of Pride It is Air inclosed in the Bowels of the Earth that shakes it which all the four Winds can't do 19. There is an Art of bearing troubles if we can learn it without over-troubling our selves as in bearing a burthen there is a way to poize it that it weigh not over heavy if it hang on one side it poizeth the Body down the greater part we pull on our selves by not imparting our Care so as to take upon us only the care of duty and leave the rest to God 20. We must not mingle our Passions with our Crosses like foolish Patients chewing the Pills which they should swallow dovvn 21. He that sees not God every where sees him no where 22. He that loses himself in self denia I finds himself in Gods Bosom 23. In Prosperity fear God in Adversity love God 24. Praying will make thee leave sinning or sinning make thee leave praying 25. Our weakness and inabilities break not the bond of our duties 26. No sin but is easier kept out than cast out 27. What we are afraid to do before men we should be afraid to think before God 28. Nature vexed and Nature armed soon discovers it self 29. They that retain the memory of mercies seldom lose the sight of mercies 30. What unthankfulness is this to think upon two or three crosses so as to forget an hundred blessings What folly is it to darken our Spirits and to indispose our selves to the taking or doing of good 31. A Limb out of joynt can do nothing without deformity and pain Dejection takes off the wheels of the Soul Joy is as Oyl to the Soul it makes Duties come off chearfully from our selves pleasing to others and acceptable to God 32. Let us go on to add Grace unto Grace a growing Christian is always a comsortable Christian the Oyl of Grace will bring forth the Oyl of Gladness 33. Melancholy Persons are things that seem black and dark to themselves their Souls are as it were dead-black whatsoever comes to a Melancholy Person comes in a dark way to his Soul 34. In all grievances let us look to something that may comfort us as well as discourage us let us look as well to what we enjoy as to what we want As in Prosperity God mingles some cross to diet us so in all crosses there is some thing to comsort us As there is vanity lieth hid in the best worldly good so there is a blessing lies hid in the greatest worldly evil 35. We must neither bring sin to nor mingle sin with our sufferings for that will trouble the Soul more than the trouble it self We are not hurt till our Souls be hurt 36. In sudden encounters some sin doth many times discover it self the seed whereof lieth hid in our hearts which we think our selves free from What cause have we then to fear continually that we are worse than we take our selves to be The force of Gun-powder is not known till some sparks lite in it 37. What a sight were it to see the Feet where the Head is and the Earth to be where the Heaven is To the Spiritual Eye it seems as great a deformity to see the Soul to be under sinful passions 38. A good heart when any Corruption is discovered by a searching Ministry is affected as though it found out some deadly enemy Techiness and Passion argues Guilt 39. The imaginary grievances of this life are more than the real 40. The way to expel Wind out of the Body is to take wholesome Nourishment so to expel Windy Fancies from the Soul is to feed upon Serious Truths Our best way therefore is to propound three objects to the mind as 1. To consider the greatness and goodness of God 2. The Joys of